Beatles and Tea aka Beatlejuice!

Our stay in London is quickly winding down (tomorrow is our last day), so today was all about getting those quintesentially British things off our to-do list. 

First on the list was getting to Abbey Road where the Beatles recorded their Abbey Road album.  It was a quick trip.  We just wanted to see the recording studio and take a picture at the crosswalk from the album cover.  Or as the British call it, the crossover.  Crazy Brits!  The picture was a success...sort of.  It's not perfectly posed because we had to rush due to all the traffic.  However, it is THE crosswalk, and there's four of us in it so that's pretty good.  Daryl took it on his camera, so I don't have one for the blog yet. 

The second big one that I didn't want to leave London without doing was afternoon tea at Harrod's.  We had a reservation at 3:00 at the Georgian Dining Room.  The tea service was awesome!  There were tons of teas to choose from and I loved the little tea sandwiches, scones and pastries.  I finally tried clotted cream with our tea.  It sounds disgusting and I didn't think I'd like it but it was actually quite tasty.  It sort of tastes like sweet butter.  They really need to do something about the name, who wants to eat anything "clotted"?

That was pretty much the extent of our super British day. It was a great day and I'm sad I waited so long to have the real afternoon tea experience.  But it's probably better because it's an expensive habit to get into.  Tomorrow is our last day in London, so we'll be doing some last minute souvenir/gift shopping and packing.  Then it's off to the Basque Country!

The note we left in front of the Abbey Road Recording Studio

Amaya left a note too!

The famous crosswalk

Saying Goodbye to Amy

I've always been a big fan of Amy Winehouse.  I was greatly saddened by the news of her death.  Though she lived quite the wild life, I was still shocked when she died.  We were in Paris when it happened.  Now that we're back in London I really wanted to find her house and leave her some flowers and a note. 

I found out where she lived and on Tuesday I dragged Eli and the kids out to Camden Town to find her house.  After a bit of trouble (we took a wrong turn out of the tube station) we found it.  I was amazed by the scene.  There were lots of fans out there, but what amazed me was the number of gifts left there.  So many flowers, cards, pictures, bottles of beer wine and other alcohol, cigarettes and candles.  It was honestly a beautiful tribute.

It was sad, but I'm glad I went.  Ryan thought I was crazy to go.  The kid could not understand why anyone would leave flowers at "some dead person's house".  I tried to explain to him that sometimes we could love people that we've never met and that since her fans couldn't go to her funeral, it was our way of saying goodbye.  He could kind of understand that, but he still thought I was crazy.

I took some pictures and video of the house and all the gifts.  It should give you some idea of what it was like.

Amy's house in Camden Town, London

Messages to Amy on the street sign in front of her house

The flowers I left for Amy

An example of all the beer people left

Southend-On-Sea

On Tuesday Eli and I took the kiddies to the beach.  We figured since it was our last week in England we would try to swing it.  We took the train to Southend-On-Sea, which is a small resort town on the coast about two hours away in Essex.  We had a great time, but I now know why England is not famous for its beaches!  As you can see from the photos below, it is NOT the most picturesque piece of coast. 

The kids made the most of it though.  We had a picnic lunch on the beach then Ryan and Amaya played in the water for about an hour.  Eli and I had no desire to get in the water.  I didn't even stick my feet in.  Too many pebbles and seaweed.  Yuck!  You may or may not know, but I'm absolutely terrified of seaweed.  I think it's some sea monster trying to drown me or something.

Once the kids had enough of the ocean, we walked down to the pier area where they have a small theme park.  It's called Adventure Island and it was a lot like the Santa Cruz Boardwalk...without the sun.  We went on all the rides, several of them more than once, and just had a great time.  Eli and I were thankful for the theme park.  It would not have been worth a 2 hour train ride without it.

Like I said, not the most beautiful beach.

Ryan and Amaya tuckered out after swimming.

Southend-on-Sea Pier in the distance.  It's the longest in the world!

Eli being Eli.

J'Adore Paris

Bonjour everyone! Last weekend we were in fabulous Paris! I've been once before, but I was so excited to get back and have the opportunity to practice my French, which is really quite good. Everybody was impressed by it, I must say. Unfortunately, not all my blog readers speak French so I'll have to stick to English for this entry.

We arrived on Friday morning at about 10 am. The Keipers didn't get in until 11 so Eli and I waited for them at the airport. When they landed we all shared a cab to the hotel. It was a looong and expensive cab ride. 80 euros! The guy took us along "the scenic route" which we were not thrilled about. Rose and Daryl both had to get to work meetings so it was sort of stressful. When we finally got checked in, Rose and Daryl went to their meetings and Eli and I grabbed lunch with the kids. Then we walked around our neighborhood, but our hotel was a bit far from the action of Paris so there wasn't much to see. Thankfully though, we were right next to a metro station so getting into town was a breeze.

When Rose and Daryl got done with their meetings we decided that evening would be the perfect time to see the Eiffel Tower. We waited in line for about two hours but it was well worth it. The sights from the tower are stunning. The highlight for me was making it all the way to the top because the last time I was there we didn't make it past the second story, which is pretty damn high--not like the second story of a building. Anyway, we made it to the top via elavator and took lots of pictures and made fun of the people who were at the top of the Eiffel Tower playing games on their ipads. Seriously! Who does that??? By the time we were done it was about 11:00 pm, so we went back to the hotel and crashed. We were exhausted after being up since 5 am.

Saturday was our big touristy/shopping day. We tried to cram as much in as possible. We did our usual routine and got on those double decker hop on/hop off buses and saw the sights. We got to see Notre Dame, The Champs Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe. Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side and we got rained on for much of the day. We still managed to have a good time though. And the highlight for me? Going to the world's largest Louis Vuitton shop on the Champs Elysees and getting myself a new handbag. She's so pretty guys...wait till you see her! Rose, Amaya and I had a blast in the store. Amaya kept trying to get me to buy more things saying "They're not that expensive!" I don't think she quite understands conversion rates yet. I could have stayed there for hours just drooling over everything, but the boys were waiting outside and we had a dinner cruise to get to!

So granted, a dinner cruise might be a bit cheesy but it was seriously awesome. It was such a great way to see the city. I never realized there was so much action on the banks of the river! You can't see it from the streets unless you know about it, so for us it was great. We saw all these little makeshift bars and couples picnicing by the water. They even had outdoor dancing. You could see all the couples dancing along the banks of the river. It was so sweet! At the end of the cruise they took us down towards the Eiffel Tower and we got to see it all lit up and glittering one last time.

On Sunday we went to Montmartre which is by far my favorite neighborhood in Paris. If I ever get back, I'm staying in that area. It's sooo cute! It's where the Moulin Rouge and all the other famous cabarets are. There are also so many cute little shops, cafes and bars there. And let's not forget the red light district. Oh la la! Obviously, we didn't spend much time there since we were with the kiddies, but we did make it up to Sacred Heart. My one regret from my last trip was that I never made it up there so I was so happy to finally see it. It's on this great big hill and you get the most amazing views from Paris up there. We climbed all the way to the top of the dome and it was just breathtaking. And let's not forget the cathedral itself...gorgeous!

After Sacred Heart we went back into the heart of the city to take pictures at the Lourve and try to catch a glimpse of the Tour de France which was ending in Paris. We did catch a glimpse, but not of the actual riders. We saw all their team buses and cars but we got tired of waiting and the crowds were insane. We just gave up and had crepes at a cafe and watched the race on TV! Kind of lame I guess, but we were over it. Our hunger overpowered our desire to see the race. Apparently an Australian won it for the first time ever. Go Australia! After that it was time to head back "home" to London. Aurevoir Paris! (I'm sure that's probably spelled wrong.)

I must say, our weekend did have a sad note to it. While watching TV at night we learned of the devastating attacks in Norway and the death of Amy Winehouse. I was a huge fan and I'm saddened by the loss. RIP Amy.

P.S.  Sorry about the lack of pictures.  Eli's camera died so we barely have any.  The thing made it through Iraq but I guess Paris was just too much for the little guy.  Daryl took a bunch though, so maybe I'll be able to post them later.  Or just check facebook.

Amaya and I at the Eiffel Tower!

Getting Down in Dublin!

Last weekend was a real highlight for me on our trip.  We finally got to Dublin!  I've been wanting to go to Ireland for so long, and finally we had our chance.  It was just a quick weekend trip, since Rosemary had to go for work, but we still managed to cram a lot in!

Friday
Our flight arrived pretty early, so once we got checked in to our hotel, which was the lovely Conrad Dublin, we went straight for the Guinness Storehouse!  We got our hop-on hop-off bus tickets and we were off!  The storehouse is awesome.  It's seven stories of Guinness history and memorabilia.  The best part is the Gravity bar on the 7th floor where you get a free pint of Guinness!  The bar is all floor to ceiling windows so you get an amazing 360 view of Dublin.  You can see for miles.

After our bellies were full of Guinness, we got back on the bus and rode it around for the rest of the tour. We had a nice dinner on Friday night and then went to bed.  We were all pretty tired from getting up at 5 am for our flight.

Saturday
This was our super tourist day.  We got back on the bus and saw all the major sights in town and then got off the bus to tour Kilmainham Gaol (pronounced jail).  The jail was really interesting.  It's where they executed a lot of the rebels during the wars for independence against the British.  After the jail, we really worked up an appetite so we had lunch at Ryan's pub!  It's been in business for about 125 years and let me tell you, Ryan was VERY excited to eat there.  We had some awesome, Irish style pub food and of course, more Guinness! 

After lunch we went to Trinity College, which was on my must-see list.  It's a beautiful campus, built in the 1500s.  But the highlight was seeing the Book of Kells and the amazing collection of 200,000 old books in the Long Room.  The English teacher in me was having a field day!  After that, we went through the bookstore where I got some books on Irish history and some posters for my classroom!  Yay!  No more naked walls!

After Trinity College we walked around Grafton Street which is the main shopping area in Dublin.  Lots of great stores and entertaining street performers.  Unfortunately, it started raining on us so we had to run for cover in the mall. 

Dinner on Saturday night was awesome.  We went to the Arlington Hotel where they have a dinner show featuring Irish musicians and dance.  We loved it!  The three musicians were hilarious: telling jokes, drinking while playing and changing the words to some traditional pub songs to make them even naughtier.  It was right up my alley!  And of course, the dancers were awesome.  I can't get enough of the Irish step dancing!  The dinner and show lasted around three hours, so it was definitely money well spent.

Sunday
This was sadly our last day in town and the weather was pretty miserable. It was cold, windy and rained most of the day. We did manage to take a river cruise down the River Liffey which was fun. Other than that we just walked around seeing some more of the city. We all got so cold at one point that we all bought Ireland sweatshirts. It was cool though because it totally made us look like locals...

Under arrest for being too cute!

Jail is sad.

The very famously endowed, Molly Malone!

Celebrating our one year wedding anniversary with a pint of Guinness!

We like to start the kids young in our family.

Buckingham Palace and the V&A

Today we spent the day doing one of the most touristy things one can do while in London.  We went to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guard!  We took a guided walking tour and it was quite entertaining and informative.  Apparently, the last time I was in London (with Bernadette and Melissa) we did it all wrong.  Most people camp out in front of the palace, which is what we did, but if you do it that way you miss most of the action!

Our tour started at the food of the Royal Mall (the road which leads to the palace).  We learned that the pavement there is painted red to represent the Queen's red carpet.  Then we walked to St. James Palace (where Charles, Diana and the boys used to live) because that's where members of the old guard and the band begin the journey to the palace.  We watched the band start to play and then our guide rushed us back to the Mall so we could get a better look of the band and then we marched alongside of them for a bit.  Eli had Amaya on his shoulders the whole time so she could see.  It was very sweet and she just loved it!

When we made it up to the palace we watched the changing take place.  We were quite a ways back from the gates, but on a little rise so we could still see.  Then we headed back to St. James Palace to see the changing of the guard they do there.  That part was great because most people don't even know that happens.  For example, I didn't know they did that.  So there are no crowds and you can go write up to the guards.  There's literally one little chain separating us.  We were so close that we could hear the head guard giving instructions to the new guards beginning their duty.

We learned lots of tidbits about the palace and the guards.  For example, to guard Buckingham Palace you have to be a current member of the British army who has deployed in combat.  For many of them, they might only get one chance to be a guard at Buckingham so it's a great honor for them.    Also, their guns are real and loaded! 

We also learned about a man who broke in to the palace back in the 80s (Michael Fagan, I think his name was) and made it all the way to the queen's bedroom where they had quite a nice chat.  They only became suspicious when the queen rang down for a lighter at 4 am.  See the man wanted a smoke, and the queen doesn't smoke so she had to call down.  When the butler got the call he thought something was wrong so they stormed in and arrested the man.  He's out now and doing ok, apparently.   The queen was in residence today, but we didn't see her.  I guess she didn't get my email that we were coming.

After Buckingham Palace we had our picnic lunch (we've been packing lunches for the kids and us most days to save money) on the steps of the National Galleries at Trafalgar Square.  It's a great place for people watching.  Then we got on a hop on hop off bus to head to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The museum was a bit of a let down for me because I wasn't able to see the ONE thing I was really looking forward to.  The V&A houses this huge collection of fashions which date back a few hundred years from what I've heard.  Well, we get there only to find out that the exhibit is closed until Spring 2012.  I was pissed!  Ryan on the other hand was thrilled as he was not enjoying his time at the museum.  We did spend about an hour there looking at some of the other exhibits so it wasn't a complete waste.  I'm just glad admission is free or I probably would have asked for a refund!

Waiting for the band on the Royal Mall

Changing of the Guard at St. James Palace.  I want that fuzzy hat!

Ryan and Amaya gaining some culture at the V&A.

Hanging out by the fountain at the V&A.

Elisa and Jon's Wedding!

On Friday, we flew to Madrid, then rented a car and drove up to Elizondo for Elisa and Jon's wedding.  For those of you who don't know, Elisa is dear friend of mine.  We grew up together and back in 1994 she moved to the Basque Country with her family.  We've maintained a close friendship during all these years, and on Saturday I had the priveledge of attending her wedding to her boyfriend of 14 years!

The wedding was a blast!  After a quick ceremony at city hall in Elizondo (it MAYBE lasted 10 minutes), we were off to the reception.  Quick note about the city hall...as we were walking up to the ceremony, I noticed a painting of my aitetxi (grandfather) and his playing partner, Felix, there!  I had no idea it was there and was so excited to see it!  I took pictures to show my mom.  It made me miss him, but quite proud of him at the same time.  So now, back to the ceremony.  It was at a beautiful hotel restaurant named Etxalar.  The food was AMAZING!  It was literally a seven course meal, with each course more delicious than the next.  The liquor was also flowing!  Wine, hard cider, champagne, liquors after the meal...yum yum yum!

The best part though was just being with Elisa, Jon, Tony Josetxo and all the other friends and family that live out there.  Eli had so much fun with everyone.  He was actually surprised by how much he enjoyed himself.  People were so sweet to him and really made an effort to make him feel comfortable.  It's pretty funny...at the beginning of the day everyone was too shy to speak English, but once everyone had a few drinks in them, they were lining up to talk to Eli!  Everyone kept trying to teach Eli Basque as well.  We made some deals with some people too.  Tony's girlfriend and Jon's cousin are going to come visit me in the states so they can learn English and we'll send Eli to the Basque Country to learn Basque.  I think it's a great idea!

After the reception, we got on a bus (yes, Jon and Elisa rented a bus so folks wouldn't drink and drive) and went back to Elizondo with Tony, his girlfriend Marina, Josetxo and his girlfriend Idoia.  Jon and Elisa stayed at the hotel, where they had a suite.  We hung out at a couple bars and had a few more drinks and did a lot of dancing.  We also hung out with Christina and Francisco Irigoyen, which was fun.  They're heading to the states next week for a month-long vacation.  At about 2:30 am Eli and I were done, so we walked home to Elisa and Jon's apartment where we were staying and crashed!

Sunday was all about eating!  We got up late and had lunch at Mendialde.  Oh man was that delicious!  For the non Basques who are reading this, Mendialde is Elisa's family's restaurant.  We probably spent three hours there just eating and talking.  A typical Basque meal.  Then, Tony drove Eli and I around Baztan a bit so Eli could see the sites, and then it was off for a bbq at Jon's parents' house in Bozate.  Let me tell you...I was NOT hungry, but Elisa had made ensalada Rusa, and Jon had barbecued ribs, so I had to eat SOMETHING!  It would be rude not to!  After dinner we hung around the table chatting a bit, and laughing about all the crazy things that happened on their wedding day.  For example, Jon dropped the piece of cake with the cake topper that the bride and groom traditionally give to the couple they think should get married next.

On Monday morning we got up early to head to Pamplona because it's San Fermin.  Unfortunately, we couldn't do it up big, but I wanted Eli to at least get a taste of what it's like.  We left Elizondo at 6 am and made it to Pamplona in time to watch the running.  We watched it from the Bull Ring and Eli loved it!  After the runnning, we got some breakfast, then walked around a bit, had some churros con chocolate and then we were off to Madrid.  It was a bummer that we couldn't stay, but we had a flight to catch.

Made it to Madrid ok, only to have our flight back to London delayed by just over 4 hours!  It was sooo frustrating.  We didn't get back to London until 4 am on Tuesday morning.  We were supposed to arrive around 11:30 pm.  Not cool!

We had such a good time at the wedding and it was so sad to leave.  I can't believe I let seven years go by without going back!  Some things have changed, but it's still the same beautiful Basque Country.  We'll be back at the end of the month for about a week.  Hopefully we can squeeze in all the family visits.  Didn't get to see family since we were just in town for the wedding.

Elisa and Jon are off to their honeymoon in the states tomorrow. I'm sure they'll have a blast! The bummer is that our two vacations make it so we won't see much of each other, but I guess you can't have everything. Jon and Elisa return the day before we head back home, so we'll try to see each other one last time. Even if it's just for an hour so we can hear about their honeymoon. I'm sure they'll be exhausted!

Tony, Marina and I overlooking Elizondo.

Eli in the Plaza de Toros, Pamplona

It wouldn't be San Fermin without churros con chocolate!

The river in Elizondo

My grandfather, Mauricio, the txistulari!

Elisa and Jon after they were showered with rice.

Always classy

Eli, cleansing his pallate with sorbete.