Ages ago, when I changed my blog's name to In Search Of, I mentioned that in search ofs are my dad's creation. Typically on Saturday mornings, my dad and I would head out to explore locally, often visiting restaurants and hardware stores. While back in Connecticut over the summer, I convinced my dad to take a Friday off of work and go on an in search of -- the destination and activity was his choice. He chose awesomely, because we spent the day in West Hartford, Connecticut with Baby ISO (and J and my sister) in tow.

If you are visiting West Hartford with a kid, start your day off at the very fun West Hartford's Children's Museum. Baby ISO wasn't quite walking at our time of visit, but there was still a ton for him to do and see. His highlight had to be either the room filled with massive, soft building blocks or the light room with colorful lights that could be rearranged.

The outdoor butterfly exhibit was also really neat, although I wasn't a fan of the indoor animal areas as the environments were not stimulating or natural enough for the animals. One other thing to note is that the prices are pretty expensive, so it is best to keep this in mind when planning your visit. You can find out more about the rates and hours on their website.

After the museum, we walked around West Hartford Center and Blue Black Square, where we ogled the window displays at Crate and Barrel and browsed the Green Teahouse. The Green Teahouse is an awesome shop selling loose leaf tea, teapots from Asia, and tea and bubble tea to go. Learn more on their website.

The most important find of the day was the fabulous cupcake shop called Nora Cupcake, which has a shocking 300 flavors (though not all at the same time). We ordered (if I remember correctly) the Mounds, Chocolate Peanut Butter Explosion, and Irish Car Bomb. Because that just wasn't enough sugar, we also ordered an insane "Gangsta Cookie," which is a cookie covered in chocolate and topped with caramel and gold dust. I'm dying to visit Nora Cupcake again, and luckily they have two other outlets in Connecticut and a cupcake truck.

If you want to start planning your trip now, head over to the new ISO Facebook community for budget travel tips and destination guides.


What else would you suggest to do in and around West Hartford?

Hello everyone. Today I wanted to have a little discussion because, honestly, I'm stumped. What do you do about a car seat while traveling?

Let me give you some background...

When Baby ISO was younger, he had a car seat that attached to his stroller, so this was no problem until he outgrew this attachment. Over the summer, we switched to a "big boy" car seat (Diono), but it is so large and heavy that it is an incredible hassle to bring with us when we travel. Here are some scenarios we've faced:

• We ordered a cab with a car seat in Vilnius to take us to the airport for our trip to The Netherlands. Unfortunately, the car arrived without a seat, so we grabbed ours and ended up storing it at the airport for 50 euros. We figured we wouldn't need it in The Netherlands because of the great public transportation. This was almost true until our early flight back to Vilnius from Amsterdam, as we had to leave before the trams started running. So, we took a cab without a car seat (no cabs had car seats), and arrived fine, but I was panicking the entire way.

• We lugged our car seat with us to Tallinn to find that almost all cabs in Tallinn have car seats (but we needed one for our transport in Vilnius). 

My big complaint is WHY don't cabs have car seats available. It is unsafe and against the law to drive without a child in a car seat in most countries -- except for in cabs.


This leads me to the question, what do you do when traveling? Do you lug a car seat along or do you leave it at home? Do you have some sort of magical car seat carrier that makes it less cumbersome to transport to your accommodation?


I would really appreciate if you'd share what you do in the comments --> help a traveling mom out, I really need the advice!

We spent an absolutely wonderful 9ish days in The Netherlands. I was impressed by the beauty of the country, the diversity of people, and how nice everyone was! We started our trip with 5 days in Rotterdam, not because there was more we wanted to see in Rotterdam, but because accommodations were much more affordable. Nonetheless, Rotterdam is an enjoyable city with impressive architecture and really had some fun things to do and see. A family taking a leisurely trip could easily see the sites below over a two-day city break.

What to Do and See:

Rotterdam Zoo: I can't say that I'm the hugest fan of zoos, but the Rotterdam Zoo gets great ratings, so I thought it would be a nice way to spend the day with Baby ISO. Many of the animals were now in their indoor enclosures, which certainly weren't as nice as the outdoor environments. Most of the park, however, wasn't too bad and Baby ISO seemed pretty amazed to see the different animals. Keep in mind that the Rotterdam Zoo is HUGE and you could easily spend all day, especially if you bring lunch along with you.

Museum Park: Though we didn't actually visit any of the museums in Rotterdam, we enjoyed a walk in Museum Park. We didn't find many parks in Rotterdam, so it was nice to get to a green space and let Baby ISO run around.

Het Park: Het Park is a giant park located slightly outside of the central city area. It is easy to walk to and is absolutely gorgeous. It was a great place to run around and play in the grass. There was also a really nice looking cafe in the park and an interesting wooden church.

Cool Architecture: Everywhere I looked in Rotterdam I was just amazed by the architecture. From the stunning Markthal Rotterdam, which was like a giant middle finger to a potential EU regulation, to the Cube Houses, Erasmusbrug, Rotterdam Central Station, and De Rotterdam, everything was shiny, new, and unique. I was also pleasantly surprised to see a giant, beautiful mosque among the skyscrapers If you love architecture, I bet that you'd love wandering Rotterdam.

Street Art: At first, I didn't notice much street art in Rotterdam, but as we wandered different parts of the city, I saw more and more awesome works. Many of my favorite pieces were on or near Witte de Withstraat, which also boasted numerous cool stores, cafes, and restaurants.

Floating Forest: Okay, this is pretty cool! After eating some snacks at the hip Fenix Food Factory (see below), we wandered along the water to the Floating Forest. The Floating Forest was inspired by a piece by the artist Jorge Bakker and consists of about twenty trees happily growing while floating in the water. I love the idea that cities can be greener with just a bit of innovation and creativity!

Where to Eat and Drink:

Fenix Food Factory: Fenix Food Factory is an indoor food market featuring restaurant stalls and cafes. Vendors also sold locally grown, fresh vegetables, Dutch cheeses, meat, and spices. I have to recommend getting a cheese plate from Booij Kaasmakers and a coffee from Stielman Coffee Roasters. The cheese plate featured five AMAZING cheeses and the coffee was necessary for the chilly day. I've written an article about what else you can find at Fenix Food Factory for Trip101, so feel free to check it out for additional tips and information!

Markthal Rotterdam: I mentioned the Markthal above, but in my opinion it deserves its own description. The Markthal is awesome. It is full to bursting with incredible prepared food options, cafes, bakeries, fresh fruit and veggies, and so much more. The food highlights for me were the Asian grocery store and Madam Cocos' coconut macaroons (get the original flavor). As expected, food was a bit pricey, so if you are on a budget, it may be best to only get snacks at the market.

Before visiting the Markthal, I honestly thought that all of the photos of the colorful ceiling were photoshopped to look brighter, but that wasn't the case. The ceiling is so vibrant that you can even clearly see the fruits, vegetables, and buildings from outside!

The Tea Lab: Things in Rotterdam didn't open until pretty late, but we luckily found The Tea Lab open earlier than most places. Located on Westewagenstraat 80, The Tea Lab had delicious cakes, teas, and coffees in a bright space that I bet would be great for working.

Bas Bakt: Located on Hartmanstraat 22a, Bas Bakt was my favorite cafe/breakfast spot that we tried in Rotterdam. The staff were incredibly friendly and one of the women had an adorable puppy hanging out while she worked. I found the prices to be reasonable here as well -- we spent 10 euros on two coffees, a ham and cheese croissant, macaroon, and a loaf of Dutch breakfast bread.

Lokaal: We visited Lokaal because it was on the hipster/design city map called Rotterday. Although the coffee was good and the carrot cake was delicious, the staff were clearly annoyed to have to stop their conversation to take our order. At this point in my life, I'd rather drink average coffee and talk to nice people than drink excellent coffee staffed by someone rude. If you'd like to try Lokaal for yourself, you can find it on Raampoortstraat 34b.

Little V: When people asked what I ate in Rotterdam, I answered Vietnamese food. Whenever traveling outside of the Baltics, I'm always looking for delicious flavors that we can't get here. In Rotterdam, we found Little V, which was such a cool restaurant with amazing pho and bun. They also had a reasonably large kid's play area, which is great for kids before or after the meal. You can find Little V on Grotekerkplein.

de Pelgrim: Instead of taking a day trip to The Hague, we decided to walk to Delftshavn on the outskirts of Rotterdam. In Delftshavn, try lunch at Pelgrim, which is Rotterdam's brewery. By the time they opened (everything really does open late!), we were starving and ordered pretty giant meals for ourselves and a separate meal for Baby ISO (he was hungry, too!). J went for a burger, but I wanted something a bit different and opted for the brouwerslunch, which was kind of like a cold, spicy meatloaf on a bread with cheese soup. It was really good! You can find Pelgrim on Aelbrechtskolk 12.

Where To Shop:

Although we didn't do a ton of shopping in Rotterdam, we did find a few places that I have to share.

Sweet Rebels: Sweet Rebels is the coolest vintage store ever. They had a wonderful selection of clothes and accessories for women and the prices were reasonable. I'm pretty sure my sister will be loving her Christmas gift from here!

Klein Beginnen & Grooot: If you are pregnant or have young kids of your own (or kids you like to shop for), you must visit Klein Beginnen & Grooot. They have a huge selection of actually nice looking clothes for pregnant women, cool toys, and baby accessories like cribs, strollers, and more. J and I both loved this store. You can find Klein Beginnen & Grooot on Hartmansstraat 24-26.

Getting To Rotterdam:

It is simple to get to Rotterdam from Amsterdam Schipol Airport as there are numerous trains connecting Schipol to Rotterdam Central. Tickets cost approximately 12.20 euros per person (for adults) and trains leave frequently.

Other Tips:

Public transportation: Enter trams at the very last entrance for space for a stroller. Trams are reasonably pricey (3 euro per ride per adult), so we walked a lot to save money.

Where to stay: We stayed in an Airbnb outside of the city center, but I wished we had stayed a bit closer. J and I decided that our ideal location would have been by the Maritime Museum or around Museum Square.

Places open late, so if you wake up early like we do, plan ahead and have coffee and breakfast available at your accommodation. Expect most cafes, restaurants, and activities to open around 12. There are some exceptions, but this seemed to be the norm.



What other tips do you have for Rotterdam? Have you visited Rotterdam before? Did you like this shiny city?

I'm linking up with Mummy Travels for #CityTripping. I'm linking up with Faraway Files.