So I know I am very late with this post but I went home for a long trip to states and was super busy. However, I just got back and will be catching up on all my long overdue blog posts.
My parents came to visit in July, they arrived on my dads birthday, July 10th and stayed through July 19. While they were there we visited London (July 10-13) Brussels (July 13-14) Amsterdam (July 14-16) and Barcelona (July 16-19). We had the best time showing them around London and exploring the other cities together. It was such a great trip we will always remember! Here are some of the highlights.
They arrived on Thursday, July 10 we planned a nice dinner to celebrate my dads birthday and my parents anniversary (July 11). We ate at a steak restaurant called Goodmans which had USA beef and was by far the best steak we have had here!
Friday we started the day early and took the hop on/hop off bus around and saw all of the London hot spots.
Big Ben & Parliment
Trafalger Square
Westminster Abbey
Tower of London
Fish and chips pub lunch
London Eye
Tower Bridge
Caught the Bridge opening
We had dinner at Browns with a great view of the river
Saturday we walked to Borough Market for lunch
Duck confeit sandwich...yum!
Even Dad found something!
Then had a Wine tasting at a bar in Borough
Saturday evening we went on the London Eye and had dinner at a pub by our building for rib night-haha!
Sunday we took the train to Brussels! We spent the next 24 hours enjoying Belgium beer, chocolate, waffles and fries! My parents are not beer drinkers at all but even they were converted. We explored Grand Place, shopped and saw Mannequin Pis. Brussels never fails to be an amazing time!
Mannequin Pis
Grand Place
At Toone Bar the Trappist Rochefort was our favorite
Delirium
Monday we took the train from Brussels to Amsterdam, we arrived late Monday afternoon and checked into our cute house. We walked around for a bit then headed to the Red Light District. Dinner at a burger bar and made a stop at a coffeeshop.
Tuesday we went out exploring: the Anne Frank house, had breakfast at the Pancake Bakery and made a stop at Popeyes.
We booked a boat for a canal cruise which was so much fun. We brought some wine and enjoyed the amazing weather and beautiful city.
Watch for low bridges!
Our navigator!
We had dinner at the Dutch restaurant, Cafe Sonneveld then back to the Dam Square/Red Light District.
Wednesday morning we flew to Barcelona and checked into our amazing apartment right in the center of the city.
View from the balcony
We spent the afternoon and night walking around Las Ramblas.
We went by La Boqueria Market and had dinner at Los Toreros. Dad was not up for the delicious tapas so this was his dinner for the night.
Saw a flamenco show at Los Tarantos
We went back to the beautiful bar that reminds me of Fern Gully, Bosc De Les Fades for some wine.
Thursday we spent the day on the hop on/ hop off bus seeing the city. We saw all the hot spots: Casa Batllo, Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Camp Nou, Placa de Catalunya and Gracia.
Casa Batllo
Lunch at an amazing restaurant in Gracia, El Glop
Our bus tour was cut short due to a huge protest that closed off the streets.
We had dinner in the El Gotico area at Gildas (yum)!
Friday the entire day was spent relaxing on the beach which was great and the weather was hot (prob not for SC standards but like 80). We lounged and had drinks and lunch on Barceloneta Beach.
On our last night we wanted to send my dad off happy so we had an American dinner at Bernies Diner followed by huge fishbowl gin and tonics at Rubi.
Saturday morning my dad flew back to the states and my mom, Matt and I flew back to London. We spent a couple more days in London followed by a girls trip to Paris (next post to follow). It was such a great trip and I am so glad we got to spend this time together while we are all easily able to. Such a fun family trip, it was definitely one for the books!
