I'm just trying to walk myself home.
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One of the advantages of where we live in Germany is that we are just a few hours from several other European countries. So earlier this winter we headed to the closest French town west of us: Strasbourg. I’m surprised it took us this long to get to Strasbourg because we have a dear friend who …
Walking and Eating in Venice with Walks of Italy I think that you plan a trip to Venice because you’ve seen how gorgeous it is in pictures and in films. And when you go, the canals, bridges and alleys of Venice will totally fulfill your expectations by being as enchanting as you always imagined. But another reason …
Oh Manarola, Italy. How do I love thee. Let me count the ways. So, I know I wrote about the end of our trip to Italy last week, but I have one more post because I really like to save the best for last. And maybe it is just because we stayed there and we …
One Day with Kids in Pisa, Italy After our glorious week in Cinque Terre, we were all a bit sad about leaving Italy. We had a 1pm flight out of Pisa, so we packed up the night before and left the beautiful town of Manarola at 6am. We each had a small daypack and then …
Hiking in the Cinque Terre from Manarola to Vernazza, Italy via the 506/AVT5/507 Vernazza was the only one of the five villages in the Cinque Terre we had left to visit at the end of our week in Italy. We had taken a day off from hiking to rest and enjoy Manarola and so I …
Hiking in the Cinque Terre from Manarola to Riomaggiore, Italy Here’s something you should know about hiking in the Cinque Terre in 2016. Once upon a time there was a trail that ran along the coastline all the way through all five towns of the Cinque Terre. It started in Monterosso al Mare and went …
Hiking in the Cinque Terre: A Hike from Monterosso to Levanto, Italy There’s just nothing like sitting in the blinding sunlight on a platform, waiting for a train to Monterosso al Mare. This is the start of a beautiful day! Steps off the train in Monterosso is the sea! We had to stop and play …
Hiking in the Cinque Terre: A Walk from Manarola to Corniglia, Italy. Right outside the doorstep of our apartment in Manarola, we climbed to the vineyard trail that runs around Manarola to begin our first big hike in the Cinque Terre, a trail that goes to Corniglia via Volastra. Corniglia is the next town up …
A Story About Deciding to Travel To Cinque Terre in Italy Alone With My Kids In Scotland, children have two weeks off of school in April, so back in January, the kids and I had a little family meeting to make some plans for our Easter Holidays. Taido would not be coming with us this …
Castles near Aberdeen and Beyond Oh Scotland, Land of Castles. Castles that are old estate homes. And castle ruins by the sea. Today I’m sharing a collection of photos of castles in Scotland. Like Dunnottar in Stonehaven, there are a few castles we return to with friends again and again because of their proximity to …
Sand Dunes in Scotland I took this picture of Mary Polly in September 2013, less than a month after we moved here, and it pretty much captures how I feel about the Sand Dunes in Scotland. The wind is always blowing the grasses that grow on the sand dunes so that you feel like you’re …
My Favorite Red Phone Booths in Scotland The bright red phone booths across the UK are always catching my eye! I have about a gazillion photos of these booths from hikes and walks and travels in the last three years. This one is from the Coast to Coast walk in Grasmere with Diane. But there …
Visiting Aberdeen: Dunnottar Castle and Stonehaven Our first excursion out of Aberdeen after our overseas move to Scotland was to a castle just outside of Stonehaven. We walked two miles down King Street from where we were staying as guests of a family who were back in the US at the time to Aberdeen’s city …
Snapshots of Grasmere: Hike To Easedale Tarn From my bottom bunk, I couldn’t see the mountains that were visible the day before. No one was awake yet, so I let them all sleep while I got up to contemplate the wisdom of dragging my mom and two boys up a misty hill. “The weather looks …
A Winter Visit to the Palace of Versailles I’m pretty sure there are three main reasons it took me five trips to Paris to finally make it to Versailles: Number 1. My first four visits to Paris were really short. Number 2. On three of those occasions I had children with me who would have whined …
In a corner of a massive gothic church in the heart of Paris is a monument to the fruit and vegetable sellers who, after 800 years of selling goods in front of this church, were relocated to a suburb in Paris to make way for a train station and a giant shopping mall. Until 1969, …
Snapshots of Shopping in Paris Mama was lagging behind as we made our way through the Tuileries. Jet lag had caught up with her on our first full day in Paris, and we all needed re-fueling after a morning of walking and sightseeing. But then, we hit the Champs-Élysées. The Grandest Boulevard in all of …
20 of my favorite Snapshots of Paris! I’m sharing a few highlight Snapshots of Paris today! This is just a little taste of our fab week in Paris. I’ll have to dedicate several posts just to the glorious food we ate, so look for la gastronomie themed photos next! Every time I go to Paris I …
Aberdeen, the third largest city in Scotland, is often overlooked by guidebooks and tourists, and there are good reasons for preferring Edinburgh and Glasgow to Aberdeen. However, now that I’ve lived here for a season and shown the area to countless friends, I would vouch for Aberdeen as a decent weekend getaway. Last month I went on …
Ten Days in the UK by Car This is a whirlwind tour of the UK in a rental car, and if you have more time, I would recommend doing a full week in England and a full week in Scotland, but like I said in my itinerary by train, 10 days seems to be about …