Europe 2015- The London Eye

When we asked Zoe and Felix what they would like to do after our cruise, we thought that their first response would be a theme park. Those two kids love Legoland. We were surprised when Zoe wanted to see The London Eye, rather than go on rollercoasters. As much as I love theme parks, a trip to the big city trumps all. I was thrilled.

London was appropriately grey for the kid's first visit. We drove into the city. Traffic was sluggish, so I took some snaps.

Iced tea= I love it. It's not a thing in England and I really miss it when I'm on vacation. I was gleeful to discover a pop-up Lipton event. Besides some free iced tea, I appreciated the splash of yellow to brighten up the day.

We had pizza at Bella Italia, a popular Italian chain. Here are some pictures that I took near the restaurant, which was right in the theatre district.

The kids had their first ride in a London taxi.

We arrived at The London Eye.

The London Eye is an extremely popular attraction. The first time that I visited, we bought "fast-track" tickets, which allowed us to skip a majority of the line with a timed entry. This visit, we went general admission. The wait took about an hour, which wasn't a huge deal, although we wished that we had just spent the money to skip the line. The queue was a bit chaotic, with loud and pushy tour groups.

Eventually, we got on, and it was worth the wait.

Mission accomplished = Happy kid.

Europe 2015- Cadiz ( Part Three) Jerez De La Frontera

With a fresh sherry buzz, we hopped back on the bus, and headed to the world famous Jerez De La Frontera ( aka- Jerez Horse Show).

The show is held one day a week at the Foundation Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art. We were told that this is one of the top equestrian schools in the world, attracting students from around the globe, accepting only a handful of applicants a year.

As we got close to the venue, we saw horse statues around the town.

Our tour guide got us to the equestrian school an hour before the Jerez De La Frontera was to begin. Here she is, emphasizing that the Jerez De La Frontera always begins exactly on time, and to find our seats early.

We were then turned loose to explore the grounds.

We watched outdoor training.

And saw saddles.

This stunning building reminded me of The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. Yes, I can always manage to be reminded of Disney. Look at it though, don't you think? Haunted Mansion with a Spanish twist.

Photography wasn't allowed inside the Jerez De La Frontera arena. The arena was enormous, and jammed with tourists. Every seat provided a good view, as the riders had the horses perform each move several times, so that the entire audience had a close look.

One of the moves/tricks that they are known for, is making the horses "dance", which is intricate hoof work with the horses lightly prancing. I'm left unsure if I should be impressed, or just concerned that the horses are taught to move in such an unnatural and awkward way. I guess I feel a bit of both? "How do they do that and whoa, that's bizarre. Why do they do that?". In addition to the "dancing", they had a lot of routines with the horses moving in formation, and with the horses pulling various types of carts.

The excursion desk on The Explorer of the Seas pitched this excursion to us as great outing for young children. Although many children might love horses and enjoy the show, my step-children did not. They were completely bored and antsy. I found much of it to be fascinating, and certainly a new experience, but at ninety-minutes ( with one intermission), the show ran long. There are only so many different things that a horse can do.

My favorite part of the experience was walking around the grounds prior to the show. On that note, I'll leave you with a statue of the creator and founder of the school, Don Alvaro Domecq Romero.

Europe 2015- Cadiz ( Part Two) Bodegas Tio Pepe

I don't often drink sherry, but when in Jerez... as part of our bus excursion, we spent a few hours touring the Bodegas Tio Pepe, where we learned all about how they manufacture sherry. Although I live in California, I've never been on a winery tour. Crazy, right? I love a good (aka any) glass of wine. The tour at Tio Pepe is what I imagine a winery tour to be like, except substitute sherry; wine with brandy and a higher alcohol content.

We started in the lobby, where we looked at pictures of celebrities who have visited Tio Pepe.

I like funny signs. I found this one in the restroom.

The first stop in the tour was a outdoor covered arena with barrels of Tio Pepe sherry stacked sky- high. Many of the barrels had pictures of flags from countries around the world.

Next, our tour guide took us inside of the factory. The sweet, syrup fragrance of the sherry was over-powering. It was too much for the kids, who held their nose in disgust until granny took them back outside. Even as an adult, the intensity of the smell was hard to handle.

The not-so-secret sherry formula.

We walked through beautiful courtyards that connected the buildings.

Posing with Mr. Tio Pepe.

We entered a reception area filled with antique furniture.

Which led to a dim, dusty room with streaming sunlight. The room held enormous barrels, antique equipment, and candelabras that were straight out of The Phantom of the Opera.

Another beautiful connecting courtyard.

One of my favorite parts of the tour was taking look at the barrels signed by royalty and celebrities. Plenty of famous visitors!

My absolute favorite part of the Bodega Tio Pepe is their unique way of dealing with rodents... graciously, leaving them a glass of sherry and a little ladder!

A few snaps on our way to the sherry tasting room.

In complete contrast to the older buildings, the sherry tasting room was a modern marvel. It was like one of the pavilions in EPCOT. We were given two tastings, admittedly, I didn't care for either. I found the sweeter of the two, to be slightly more palatable.

Naturally, all tours end at the gift shop. The Tio Pepe gift shop was huge. Even though we weren't thrilled with the tasting, it didn't stop us from buying several bottles of sherry, flavors that we didn't have a chance to try. As of this posting, we still haven't tried them. We need to have a party and break them out!

Coming next...the world famous Jerez horse show!