The Biggest Playground in the World & London!

No, the biggest playground in the world is not in London. It's in Alnwick and it's called Lilidorei. The play structure is massive and impressive but the favorite thing for the kids and us was painting and finding these rocks that were hidden throughout the playground. We brought a few of the rocks home as souvenirs. After a few days in Northumberland with family, we arrived in London! Hearing the kids recognize and callout the big sights was pretty cool. I often come across questions from adults questioning why travel with kids when they won't remember much? Here's my take.. while they may or may not remember (although my kids seem to remember), it's about the experience and how the experience will help them grow emotionally and mentally. Being in a foreign city and not being afraid to take public transportation, walk the unfamiliar streets, see different walks of life, eat various foods, and all that experience will help shape them into being more well adjusted humans.

Anyway, London in the summer is unsurprisingly crowded and you really grasp this visiting the Natural History Museum. We had reserved tickets for the 10:15am time slot (they open at 10am) and still the building is at capacity within 30 minutes. It gets so crowded that you actually just want to look for the exit, so first time visitors, keep that in mind! 

On our list was also the Transport Museum which the kids ran through the place trying to complete their scavenger hunt. They were quite successful at it but not without being asked to "slow down" from one of the security monitors. We had some really good meals while we were in London and hands down, our favorite was a restaurant called Dishoom. They have various locations and we frequented the Covent Garden one nearly every day. They open at 8am for one of the best breakfasts in town! 

For lodging, we stayed at the Park Plaza Hotel across the Thames River with a view of Big Ben and all the surrounding glory. Traveling with a family of 5, the challenging part is finding a property that would allow 5 of us in one room as the kiddos are too young to want to stay in their own and neither of us are interested in single parenting in the evening. I wish the property was a bit closer to the tube lines but it more than makes up for it in the view! Until next time, London!

Amsterdam With The Fam!

I was a bit worried that 8 days in Amsterdam would be too much but as it turns out, it was just enough! Weather was on our side.. what looked like rain throughout the week that we were there turned into mostly sunshine with increasing warmth as our time went on! We were picked up from the airport by an uber driver who did quite the sell for his tourist business and perhaps we will hire him again on a return trip! We stayed at the Lloyd Hoxton Hotel in the docks neighborhood of Amsterdam. They have an amazing room there called Gather with a huge bed that slept 5 but really could have slept 7-8 people! It's housed in a century's old building that started as a hotel for immigrants heading to the States and after, a quarantine hotel during the Spanish Flu era and lastly, art space before the Lloyd family bought it and turned it into a hotel which the Hoxton group then took over. The location was great as it was a few minutes walk to the bus, tram, and the underground metro. It was easy for us to get out and about everyday without much effort. Across the street from the hotel was a grocery store, laundry shop, restaurants, and the kids favorite- a splash pad playground!

We spent our first two days getting acquainted in Amsterdam. I had been there many years prior and it's always interesting to see what stayed the same and what has changed. Coming here with the added perspective of the kids is also always fun! One thing was definitely the same: get away from the crowded Amsterdam central zone as fast as you can! We explore all the quaint canals, visited the highlighted playgrounds, had some delicious meals which one of them was a 90 minute chef's menu multi-course ramen dinner that the kids did wonders at! The playgrounds here did not compare to the ones in Stockholm that we visited the previous summer but it served it's purpose. We also made a few trips to the Mouse Museum and did the canal cruise that the kids were asking about. If I were to do a canal cruise again, I'd avoid the large commercial ones that only cruise the main canals because by day two, you''ve seen and walked by all the main canals. Instead, hire a smaller boat and cruise the neighborhood canals. We also visited the NEMO Science Museum for kids which I would definitely recommend as it's housed in a beautiful building and stunning views. 

After two days, we picked up our rental car from the central train station and drove a little over an hour to Efteling- a place that I had discovered on instagram and wanted to take the kids to since they were born. Our first turn out of the car rental was into the bike lane but after that, it was pretty much smooth sailing! We had an overnight stay at the Wonder Hotel inside the park, two day park passes with breakfast for just under $600! I told Steve that we never had to go to Disneyland.. we can just fly here, come here, and it might still be cheaper than Disney! Efteling was a charm of a place. We spent the afternoon of the first day exploring their fairytale land which was basically a village full of houses for every childhood classic fairytale thar you can think of. We ended our first night watching their show called Caro. After a comfortable night's sleep and an abundant breakfast, we took on the rides of the park for the day before heading back to Amsterdam. 

We spent our remaining days visiting one of the oldest and beautiful zoos in Europe: Artis and also did a day trip to the former capital, Utrecht. Prior to visiting Artis, I had wondered why the entry was so expensive and then I understood... they upkeep of the stunning place had to come from somewhere! You can spend an entire day there and I am not sure that it would be enough. Utrecht was a charmer of a city. Canals everywhere lined with restaurants and quaint shops. It was also the city where I caught my obligatory European video of musicians performing on a bridge. We visited the Miffy Museum and after years of trying to get my kids to be fans of Miffy, I succeeded!

Next up: England!