London

Before London:

We went to a science museum with our Spanish teacher, Carmen.  This is a huge block of ice!

Jacob ordered blue hair this time...

We decided to be tourists one afternoon, to Nicholas' verbose displeasure.  :)(

We rode a tram over the coast of Barcelona on a chilly Sunday afternoon.

There were some awesome views!

There is the tram

In the waiting area in the tower before our tram arrived

The marina (one of them)

In an area called Barceloneta, that funky glass building is the hotel "W"

Skyscraper building called Agbar Tower, designed by a French architect (Jean Nouvel)

La Sagrada Familia, Antoní Guadí's church--still under construction, to be finished in 2030.

The coast of Vila Olympica (we lived close to here last August)

Barcelona harbor

The trees in their winter colors that line the famous street, La Rambla.

OK, now a few snapshots of our trip to London

If you order "hot chocolate" most anywhere in London, you will be served a LARGE mug of it, 

to the great pleasure of the boys in our family.

Our arrival in London

 The first night we ate at a well known vegetarian restaurant called Mildred's in the SoHo area of London.  It was PACKED (we waited an hour to be seated), but it was worth it!

This guy was an amazing beat boxer!  (Wish I could figure out how to put video on the blog...)

We spent a fabulous afternoon with our dear friends from London, Derek and Sheila, 

who we haven't seen since Jacob was an infant.  Here we are in front of the oldest bar in London.

We went to the street markets and shops in Camden Town (an inner city district of London), 

which is artsy and funky.

This look on Nicholas' face tells his whole impression of Camden Town...not his favorite.

We took a night bus tour of London to see the major sights.

Below is Harrods, a massive, upscale department store with many toys and items just for the wealthy. 

Of course...Big Ben

The London Eye ferris wheel

Going under Tower Bridge in London

The Tower of London

Old telephone booths have been converted into wifi stations

The boys requested to go into Harrods, which you could spend days in.  They had iPhones covered in diamonds (and many other jeweled options) and mini scuba machines for your personal yachts.  We only went through the food, electronics, furniture, and toy sections.  Very entertaining.  Last year Harrods closed their pet store, where you could purchase exotic animals.  There were stories (told to us by our bus tour guide) of people buying elephants, lions, etc.

Here we are in the toy section.

 In the streets of London

We stepped into a McLaren dealership.

I think Nicholas would love one of these...

We did other fun things while in London, of which I took no photos!

One highlight was that our friend, Mark, treated us to traditional English high tea, 

where we dined on mini sandwiches, scones and treats.  Super fun to hang with Mark!

We really want to return to London and do more than we had time for on this quick weekend trip.  However, there are still many places to visit, so we probably won't be back to London this year.