Walking the Jurassic Coast from Lyme Regis to Exmouth

on the South West Coastal Path in England

Recently we had the happy occurrence of my brother and nephew coming to visit while Taido and Simon were off for Easter Holidays. Visitors don’t always coincide with time off from school for the rest of us, so it worked out beautifully that we could all take off for a few days and head south of Bristol to the Jurassic Coast.

Being an island, Great Britain has a lot of coastline. And you can walk most of it. We did lots of coastal walking when we lived in Scotland and even though we were often nearly blown off the cliffs by the wind, it was some of the most beautiful hiking I’ve done.

But before this trip, we hadn’t explored the southern coast of England at all. I’ve earmarked the South West Coastal Path as a walk I want to do, but the whole path is 630 miles.

So for my brother’s visit I researched sections that were just south of us and we picked a 30-mile stretch to walk over three days.

We woke up early on a Thursday morning in April and caught a bus to the train station, and then a train to Axminster. From there, I had a cab booked to take us to Lyme Regis, which is right on the coast.

Lyme Regis was bustling when we arrived. We were making our trek over the Easter Holidays here in England so all the coastal towns we wandered through were fairly busy.

We quickly grabbed some early lunch and coffee and then headed off down the beach and followed a the trail markings into the woods. We walked through woodland trails that climbed up and down for most of the afternoon. I was surprised that for much of this section, we couldn’t see the sea at all. We seemed to be sort of between the sea and the cliffs above us, so we caught glimpses of the limestone through the trees.

Also the fog settled in heavily, so we might have been able to see out into the water but the view was shrouded anyway.

For the whole coastal trail, there was a lot of climbing and then descending. We would get high above the coastline and then descend all the way down to pebble beaches before climbing up again on the next section. I might not have prepared my crew for all the climbing, but they were troopers!

Simon and my nephew, Wilson, stayed well ahead of us for the whole walk. And Taido took turns between catching up with them and waiting for Peter and me. Whenever we were all back together, I would try to snap a quick photo before the boys ran off ahead of us again.

Around 4:30pm, we reached the town of Seaton, another sea town where folks were hanging out on the pebble beach, even in the fog. We stopped long enough in Seaton to eat the best blueberry ice cream I’ve ever tasted, and then we were climbing again up the hill.

We had just another hour or so to get to Beer, and then maybe a bit longer to walk from the coastline in Beer up to the YHA where we were staying. Everyone was moaning for the last little bit, but we celebrated with drinks at the YHA bar when we arrived.

Then we quickly showered and walked back into town for a lovely celebration dinner. I had a veggie pizza, which I devoured. And Peter, Wilson and Simon all had seafood linguine. Taido got some other kind of fish. Everything tasted amazing. After we’d all finished our meal, Taido looked at the boys and decided to order them a pizza. After all the miles of walking, they probably could have eaten two more pizzas. Good decision.

We wandered back to our bunk room and crawled into bed with full bellies and tired legs.

The next morning Peter and I woke up first so we got out and going ahead of the faster hikers. It was a gorgeous morning in Beer and we were excited that we were going to be able to see all the cliffs and coastlines that had been covered in fog the previous day.

We grabbed coffee, fruit and pastries out of the only open shop before getting on our way.

Every step of this day was drop dead gorgeous. I kept stopping to take pictures and to make profound statements like…”COME ON!!! Can you even believe??”

This sweeping scenery is what I had come for.

It was straight out of a Thomas Hardy novel, and I was gobsmacked by the beauty of it.

The boys soon caught up with us. They stopped for long enough to greet us and get a photo and then on they went, practically running ahead of us.

We stayed high for much of the morning so we could see all that we had walked the day before and where we were headed now.

As the morning wore on, we could see fog settling in up ahead but we seemed to be pushing it further away from us as we walked. We could still see well in almost every direction, a total contrast to the previous day.

A little before 10, we followed a steep descent into Branscombe.

The path looked like it was dropping off a cliff, but really it was just a steep staircase down to the water.

There was a tea shop right by the water in Branscombe. Peter and I had tea and scones with clotted cream of course.

The boys had milkshakes and muffins.

After our rest stop we climbed back up from Branscombe to the cliff tops.

Once we got up to the top, we stayed high for a longer stretch, which was lovely.

The fog came and went, but never entirely blocked our view of the sea.

In the afternoon we walked inland just a bit through another village and then just before we reached our destination of Sidmouth, we entered a forest.

When we emerged, we could see Sidmouth just below us. We were all excited to get to town so much earlier than we had the day before.

Sidmouth is another darling holiday coastal town.

We stayed (and ate) at Duke’s Inn right on the water (an upgrade from our hostel the night before). Since we reached Sidmouth in the early afternoon, we had plenty of time to explore and enjoy the area.

We all said we’d love to return to Sidmouth and spend more time there one day.

It was all blue sky when we walked out the next morning for Day 3 of walking, the final stretch from Sidmouth to Exmouth.

At the edge of town, the walkway runs along these gorgeous red cliffs. It was so striking on such a blue sky day.

All these cliffs are part of why this whole coastline is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The temperature had not even hit 50 degrees F yet and folks were swimming in the sea!

Above the red cliffs, there were houses or fortresses where people actually live and stay in this cutie town.

From the beach area, we began to climb again, of course.

Soon we were high above the sea again and looking back at Sidmouth.

I spent a moment trying to decide which day was the most beautiful walking, but really all three were amazing in their own ways.

As we walked over the green grassy-topped cliff, I decided I could happily turn around at the end and do the whole route again.

We pushed on along the trail, stopping every so often to rest.

Then we were off to another small beach area.

All along this trail, you can see an area way ahead that you know you will be descending down to, and then it gets closer and closer.

Eventually, the path descends down to the sea. Sometimes it carries on along a boardwalk and sometimes you walk right on the beach.

But before you know it, you are walking up the other side of it and turning back to catch the view of all you just walked.

Quickly it gets further and further behind you.

And then you carry on along the cliff top until you reach the next beach area or resort village.

I marked these spots out on my map and counted out hours we would be walking by estimating when we would get to each one.

I got to where I loved the rhythm of this trail, even with all the ups and downs.

I loved watching where I was walking to. The clear way forward.

The third day had longer flat stretches on top where I could spot Simon and Wilson far ahead of us.

When they reached a place where a river was flowing into the sea, and the trail was going to take us inland a couple of miles in order to cross it, they found a spot further in the opposite direction (towards the sea) where we could wade across.

Determined to save walking a couple of miles, we all stripped down to underpants and waded across the freezing water.

Then we debated whether it was worth it or not as we walked along the pebble beach towards the next part of the trail.

Once Exmouth came into view, everyone walked faster, ready to be at the end. I was a little sad our walk was almost over, but also so grateful for the time together walking.

We reached the beach at Exmouth in the afternoon, so after getting ice cream from a cart on the boardwalk, we went and found a pub to hang out in for a while before catching our train back to Bristol.

Everyone agreed that it was a great three days and that we’d had the best views and the best possible weather for our spring adventure together!

I’m always thankful when someone I love is willing to come for a walk with me!

What a gift to have hours and hours to talk with my brother as we walked behind our boys! I can’t wait to do it again!

Here was our itinerary for if you want to walk this beautiful coastline:

Day 1: Lyme Regis to Beer (8 miles)

Day 2: Beer to Sidmouth (8.5 miles)

Day 3: Sidmouth to Exmouth (13 miles)

The post A Walk on the South West Coastal Path appeared first on Alison Chino.

A little over a year ago, we packed up all our worldly possessions (again) and headed off to Switzerland before moving back to America. We said goodbye to our friends and rolled our suitcases down the street to the bus stop on an early morning in Tübingen.

And then we rode buses and trains to Engelberg, Switzerland, a familiar place we all love dearly.

It was pouring down rain when we arrived, and so we made our way up the hill to our friend’s house, where we took off wet clothes and breathed big sighs of relief.

Ben and Simon had just finished an entire year of German school. We would be headed back to the US in a couple of weeks to try and pick up where we left off in the summer of 2013, but for now, we would rest.

Everything else was far, far way except for this one thing:

Tomorrow there would be mountains to climb.

The next day was all blue sky and beautiful views.

We got up and wandered a few of our favorite nearby trails.

We returned to the abbey to buy the cheese that is made there.

We hiked high above the town on the little switchback trails that run behind the Swiss chalets.

We watched clouds roll across the sky.

For a week we rambled around Engelberg.

We went on long hikes in the morning and shorter wanders in the afternoon.

We sat around the house in the sunshine nursing our sore feet in the pool.

We found new trails and hiked old familiar ones.

We missed those who had been with us the last time we were in Engelberg.

And we enjoyed being together.

Just the other day, Simon said to me, “I miss walking in the forest.”

“Yes!” I said, “I miss it too.”

In the last year, we haven’t spent nearly the amount of time in the forest as we did in Europe.

So I dug out these pictures to remember our epic hikes in Switzerland.

I remembered how I love trailing behind my boys while they are running down a mountain.

I can feel their glee as they bound down a trail.

And I remembered how I love tea and treats after a long hike.

At the end of our first week in Switzerland, we did a large group hike up Mt. Titlis.

They had stations set up all along the way where we could fill up our water bottles with hot soup or tea, because it was super cold.

It was by far our hardest hike of the week, pushing me for sure to my limits.

The weather played chicken with us all day, and I was frequently ready to give in to it.

But then the sky would clear in places and the most amazing views would appear.

Sometimes the views below were just over the edge of some pretty harrowing clifftops.

But it was gorgeous.

The other hikers snaked above and below us. It was amazing to me that so many folks had come out for such a hard hike.

It was by far the highest I have hiked in Switzerland.

As part of the hike, we got to ride the gondola back down the mountain, saving my knees from the descent.

For our second week in Switzerland, we had friends from Scotland join us.

It’s always fun to share a favorite place with friends. Our boys had especially looked forward to the arrival of the Fitches, a family with three boys!

We took them first to maybe our favorite valley in all of Switzerland.

We hiked to a small hut for drinks and cake.

We had gorgeous weather for most of our time, with full views of all the mountains.

The next day we hiked up to the alpine lake above Engelberg.

Then we came down another gorgeous valley, a hike we did with all four of our kids in 2014.

On another day we took a gondola up to a mountaintop restaurant.

Just above the restaurant is the perfect spot for family photos!

Then we hiked back down to Engelberg after lunch.

We did one cloudy day hike in the lower hills of Engelberg.

This trail led us to a lower part of the river that runs out of Engelberg.

And then there’s a trail along the river that leads back up the valley, over a suspension bridge and back into town.

Taido and three of the boys managed to squeeze in a via ferrata one day that looked particularly harrowing.

Proud fellas.

For our final few days in Switzerland, we took the train to a different part of the country.

Lauterbrunnen.

We stayed in a hostel for just a couple of nights, so we could get in an epic hike before heading home to the US.

We started early in the morning. The boys are all pointing to the sign telling us how long it will take us to reach our destination, Kleine Scheidegg.

Higher and higher above Lauterbrunnen we climbed.

After a while, we started to get views between the clouds of Jungfrau, Monch and Eiger.

No matter how high you hike in Switzerland, there are little villages and huts.

And we crossed several times over where the trains climb up.

We constantly marvel at Swiss engineering while we hike around the country.

The temperatures dropped as we got closer to the tops of these mountains.

Finally we could see our destination, as well as the helicopters bringing tourists in and out. After lunch, we hiked down a different (and longer) way to another town (Grindelwald) before taking the train back to Lauterbrunnen. All in all we hiked well over 20 miles on our last day in Switzerland.

The next day we took the train to the airport and headed back to America with sore legs and loads of memories!

Goodbye Switzerland. And goodbye Europe!

The post Return to Switzerland appeared first on Alison Chino.

The overnight bus left Berlin at around 9pm and arrived in Gdańsk, Poland at 4:45am. It was one of those nights you think will never end. Ben and I pushed against one another on the sticky hot bus, trying to get some sleep.

I spent way too much time lamenting my unwillingness to pay for a flight before I started doing breathing exercises and remembering that I had previously survived many other wild and crazy travel ideas, and yes, I would survive this one too.

I woke Ben from a dead sleep when we pulled into the Gdańsk station and we stumbled off the bus and into a beautiful town we had never before seen.

In fact , I’d never even heard of Gdańsk before Ben and I started planning our trip to Poland.

But it’s position on the North Sea makes Gdańsk a popular summer destination, so it turns out that 5am is one of the most perfect times to wander around the city. We didn’t quite appreciate how wonderful it was to have it all to ourselves until later that day.

But since we couldn’t check into our hostel until later and nothing much was open, we set out on a walking tour of the town.

I was curious about this monument in front of Gdańsk Główny train station (maybe the most beautiful train station I’ve ever seen). It is called the Monument to the Evacuated Children, and here’s what I found about it:

During 1938 and 1939 it is estimated that the lives of some 10,000 Jewish children were saved thanks to the organisers of what would come to be known as ‘Kindertransports’. These evacuations of children from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Austria and the Free City of Danzig to the United Kingdom saw children carried away from the Nazis by bus, train and ferry to new families in Britain. Four kindertransports managed to leave Gdansk/Danzig in the spring and summer of 1939 carrying a total of 124 children to safety. Sculptor Frank Meisler was one of them, and on May 6, 2009 his memorial to this exodus was unveiled outside Gdańsk Główny train station.

From the monument and the train station, we wandered towards the Old Town and the harbor.

We were grateful it was already bright outside this far north in July. It made the early hour after very little sleep much more bearable.

It was a cloudy morning as we walked along, gazing in amazement at the colored buildings along the harbor and throughout the old town.

Much like Amsterdam, the city of Gdańsk has these rows of buildings that are tall and thin, but so beautiful in their unique structure and color.

The long center square of town has a gate at both ends, one that opens onto the harbor. In the square, we found billboards that explained that the city, which has a long history, like much of Poland, of being pulled back and forth between Russia and Germany. In fact it was almost completely destroyed in WWII.

The billboards showed photos of the destruction and helped us appreciate the way the town has been so lovingly restored, a process that was not easy, especially during the Soviet era of Poland. I read some more about the different architecture choices after we got back and was intrigued to learn that they decided to remove all German street names and references.

There are old ships along the harbor and a ferry that runs out to the North Sea.

We sat across from the Old Town for a while and ate some bread we bought out of a kiosk in the train station.

There’s an old black harbor crane that is no longer in use.

We walked as far as we could up the side of the channel before turning around to find some coffee.

It took us a minute to find the place that opened early (7:30ish). In general, I do not find that European cafés open very early, so we had to hunt to find this one. But we were glad when we did!

We sat with our coffees for a long time, Ben using the café internet and me reading my guidebook.

When we started moving again, we found that vendors were setting up all over town for a weekend market.

There were stalls with new products, as well as antique stalls.

Everything was super reasonable. And lots of fun things.  These are the moments I am grateful for my crazy light packing because there is no question of being tempted to buy all the things.

Of course, whenever we got to the food stalls, we wanted to try everything. But we’d just had breakfast so we came back to these later for lunch.

Almost every stall had some version of this thick bread with some kind of homemade spread called Smalec that was stored in a large ceramic crock. They were spreading it on slices of bread and topping it with pickles, also homemade. We bought a slice and split it and ate the whole thing while trying to guess what was in the spread. When we finally figured it out, we kind of wished we had opted for buying our bread plain, but this reminds me of why I absolutely love traveling with Ben. He is willing to try EVERYTHING.

We joined a free walking tour of the city where we walked around and noticed details like these hanging chains for prisoners.

We learned that the architect/designer of this armory included a detail to intentionally insult the city officials. We weren’t sure if this was a made up story. I’ll let you find seek out the insulting lion yourself.

Gdańsk is famous for its locally brewed beers. In fact, when we mentioned that we were going there, we were most often told about the beer. Our tour included a walk down “Beer street.” The Polish word for beer is Piwo.

Thankfully, our guide pointed out a couple of favorite pubs that served the best local brews, so we returned later to test them out.

The sky had cleared up some by the afternoon so we decided to take a tram to the seaside.

We felt like we were too close to the North Sea to not go and put our toes in it. It was fascinating to stand and think about how the water touching our toes was from the same body that splashes up on Aberdeen Beach, far away in Scotland and the same water that Mary Polly was near in Norway. It made the world seem smaller somehow.

After a long walk on the beach, we found some ice cream.

Then we took the tram back to town, found some dinner, and crashed early. We were hecka exhausted!

I loved riding the tram in Gdańsk. All Soviet era trams are the same, so whenever I ride one, it takes me back to my student abroad days in Prague. Even the sounds and the smells are the same.

The next morning we went to visit the European Solidarity Center, which commemorates and teaches about the peaceful struggle that began in Poland but spread throughout Europe to end communism in Eastern Europe. In Polish, it’s called Solidarność, and it began in the shipyard where the center is now housed.

Out front is the Memorial to the fallen Shipyard Workers who were killed in December 1970 protests. The first three workers to die were shot down where the crosses now stand.

It’s hard to tell how giant they are, but you can see them and the old shipyard cranes from all over the city. My favorite postcards from the city were from this place that featured these original drawings and many of them had these cranes and crosses on them.

The entrance to the shipyard looks much the same as it did long ago, with a gate and kiosk for checking into work. It’s been preserved as the site of the shipyard workers’ strike where 17000 workers protested in 1980 for better working conditions and pay.

The Solidarity Center is this incredibly beautiful building that has the feel of a ship in places and an indoor garden in others.

Ben and I both got the audioguides and went through it at our own pace (mine slower of course).

The audio included first hand accounts from folks who worked in the shipyard, and people who were part of the Solidarity Movement.

It was incredibly fascinating and they used so many of the pieces of the story in the actual displays.

At the end of the exhibition is this great wall of little tiny cards where visitors can write their own odes to solidarity.

You add yours to the wall of solidarity, where the movement logo is displayed through the cards.

The displays throughout the museum were creative like this, which made it fun + memorable to tour. Ben and I met back up here before heading back to town for a bite to eat before we caught our train to our next stop.

However, we should not have eaten one thing on this day. Now we have learned the hard way. When you are going to visit Polish friends, be sure to arrive with an empty stomach!

The real reason for our visit to Poland was so that Ben could see his friend Wiktor.

Wiktor (pronounced Victor) and Ben were friends in Aberdeen at school, but Wiktor went home every summer to Nowe Dobra, a small town in Poland where his family is from, to spend time with his extended family. He has two sets of grandparents that live on farms that are very near to one another. Ben and Wiktor arranged our entire visit. I just booked a train there and a hotel and hoped everything else would work out. I had never met Wiktor’s family before. I was really just going completely on Ben’s enthusiasm for seeing his friend and getting to visit the country that so many of his Aberdeen schoolmates called home.

Ben was so excited. I know he looks kind of stoic in the photos, but he honestly soaked up every minute of our visit with delight.

Wiktor and his mom met us at the station and we were all immediately like extended family. We drove straight to a restaurant where we had a beautiful lunch with several aunts, uncles and cousins. Even a sweet baby.

Everyone ordered this special dish that was like chicken fried steak covered in cheese, along with small potato dumplings and slaw. It was super yummy. And it began our nonstop eating and drinking for the next two days.

Thankfully we also did a bit of walking as we toured the town of Chełmno, where both of Wiktor’s parents attended school.

Also in Chełmno is the church were they were married.

It’s so lovely!

We climbed the tower to the top for the beautiful views of the town and surrounding farmland.

We loved the red-roofed buildings.

Below, the giant city hall seemed to have grown small.

I never get tired of climbing church towers for the view from above.

There are loads of churches in Chełmno actually, so we toured a few more.

And we walked through the gardens. It was a hot day, so we stopped for a drink before going back to the family home.

Next we got to visit all the grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Ben and Wiktor helped carry all the drinks that were needed to feed such a crowd.

Again, we never stopped eating. At one point a truck came to one of the houses to deliver pastries and bread in person.

We were constantly offered ice cream and drinks. Cakes and pastries.

We had homemade pickles that were pulled from a giant jar where Wiktor’s grandfather keeps them. His daughters showed me his cellar where he has put up more pickles that anyone could ever eat. Behind it he keeps a garden where he has grown tomatoes since his children were young. Now his youngest son runs the farm, which is the tradition in Poland.

We tagged along when it was time to milk the cows at one of the farms and I was amazed when Wiktor’s grandmother jumped up in the truck to shovel out the hay.

We all got to have the milk fresh from the cows! And we even got to help feed some of the babies.

The boys helped Wiktor’s dad check and mend the fence around where the cows get to graze.

I had a twinge of sadness for a minute for how rare it is these days that kids have the experience of visiting grandparents on the farm. It seems like that used to be such a common occurrence. My great-grandparents were farmers, and my grandparents had land and a huge garden, but none of my kids have farming grandparents. We have some adopted grandparents with farms though. I feel like there’s nothing quite like getting to touch the land (and animals) that feed you.

Although, I kind of snapped out of my reverie when I realized how much physical work it is to be on a farm. Goodness gracious.

Wiktor’s family stays in their old farmhouse when they go in the summer, and after the cows were milked and fed, we were all sitting around on the front porch chatting and enjoying drinks (of course).

In these family pictures, which are just a few of the many kind family members we met, I love how you can catch the sweet tenderness between Wiktor’s grandparents.

I know Wiktor and his family would like to live all year in Poland and not just in the summertime, but both his parents have found better opportunities for work in the UK.  So for now Nowe Dobra remains their summer home.

We asked them if they liked going to Gdańsk, as they always fly in there from Aberdeen and we had thought it was such a fun city, but they were all unanimous in their choice of favorite place, not just in Poland, but in all the world: Nowe Dobra.

We could definitely understand why. There was a lot of love and kindness stored up in these two precious extended families. We were so grateful that they welcomed us into their summer holiday like family.

They drove us to the train station and put us on the train with more food than we could possibly eat on our journey home. Ben and I were completely overwhelmed by their kindness.

We took a train back Gdańsk and then flew back to Stuttgart via Warsaw. We were sitting in the airport talking about how much we enjoyed Poland and about all the places we would like to come back and see. We hadn’t made it to Warsaw or Krakow. While we were talking, we overheard a daughter yelling at her mom about how much she hated coming to Poland every summer because she missed her friends back in the US. It seemed so sad to both of us that she didn’t love what we had seen as such a joyful time with family. In fact, part of what was delightful was how much Wiktor and his siblings came alive around their parents’ families. We felt like his parents had done a great job instilling in them a love for their home country as we listened to the dialogue between this mom and daughter. They continued arguing as they boarded their flight to Chicago, and after they were gone Ben looked at me and said, “Mom, thanks so much for bringing me to Poland.”

Which of course, will go down as one of the most precious moments of my life. I’m so thankful we made the trip, even the overnight bus.

The post Snapshots of Poland: Gdańsk and Chełmno appeared first on Alison Chino.

We have been in our new home in Tübingen, Germany for over a month now.

And I have to say that I have struggled to put together this first post from Germany, because I want to strike a balance between the two extremes of HELLO GORGEOUS PHOTOS OF OUR NEW HOME TOWN and HEY WE MOVED TO ANOTHER NEW COUNTRY AND IT IS HARD.

I think we all know that reality is usually different from how things look.

Even when they look super cute. Which they do.

In reality, Tübingen is one of the cutest places I have ever seen. If I was a visitor here, I would probably wish I could live here.

Tübingen is a university town in Southern Germany of 85,000 people, but if feels more like a big village. A big lovely village.

But in reality, our boys would be quick to tell you that they don’t find it lovely.

In my first few days here, Ben and I walked to the top of a hill in the center of the town and looked out over the rooftops.

Looking super far out into the distance you can see a high rise at the top of a hill, and we are living in some temporary housing right next to that high rise. (In a couple of weeks we are moving to a flat in the same neighborhood.)

It’s about a 30 minute bus ride to the center of town. Or a 45 minute walk.

It’s a bit longer than that to the south side of town where the boys are going to school.

The reality is that we spend a lot of time at bus stops or on buses.

People leave books that they have finished at bus stops, which is super fun.

I bet it is even more fun if you can read German.

The reality is that because we live at the edge of town, we can be in the woods in about five minutes.

And in the woods there are trees with books inside of them that you can take for free. And that is super cute.

Of course the books are all in German.

The reality is that school is hard and learning a language is very, very slow and you mess up and feel stupid a lot. But also on every corner there is a place to buy a scoop of gelato for about a dollar.

The reality is that we eat a lot of gelato.

This is really and truly the center of the town where we live. People sit on the edge of the river and eat lunch on pretty days.

There are these long boats called punts that people ride up and down the river.

And it is pretty dang picturesque.

And next to the river is a long island lined with old trees. It is a gorgeous spot to walk or take a picnic or a book.

In the old town are two different squares. One is where the church is and the steps next to the church serve as sort of a constant gathering space. We meet up there often to grab something to eat from one of the stalls or shops in town.

On every corner there is a bakery where you can get a pretzel or a loaf of bread for dinner.

Or a coffee. So much coffee.

Heading to town after school for a treat is a super regular occurrence.

Or sometimes I just bring pretzels from the bakery straight to the bench where Simon and I meet after school.

The treats are many in this town. And I keep finding new ones.

Food is definitely a theme of our new life in Germany.

The reality is that I love shopping for fresh fruit and vegetables at the many markets that happen around town.

I got a basket to fit in with all the other mamas and papas doing their daily shopping for dinner.

What I can fit in this basket is about what I can carry. And also what will fit into my fridge.

So daily shopping it is, at many different shops and stalls.

Including a frequent stop at the farm up by our flat where you can fill your glass bottles with fresh milk or buy cheese and eggs out of a vending machine when the farm shop isn’t open. I. Kid. You. Not.

Also sometimes we just grab an apple off the tree while walking.

We didn’t have any bowls or coffee mugs at our current apartment so I spent my birthday money carefully selecting a few pieces of locally made pottery at one of the weekend markets in town.

Serving meals on these dishes and drinking coffee and tea out of these mugs makes me smile every day. Small, simple beauties are powerful.

On Sundays we’ve been attending a little international church that meets in a room underneath a grocery store. The service is in German, and while I sit there for two hours listening and not listening, tuning in and tuning out, I get a little window into what school must be like for our boys.

But there are notes/handouts in English and also my Bible is in English, and the pastor’s wife serves lunch after church every week so you can stick around and visit with people.

It’s not home to me yet but there have been moments.

Glimpses of what heaven will be like when I sit at a table and share food and conversation with people from all over the world. Last week, Simon and I sat with new friends from India, China, Taiwan, Nigeria and Mauritius.

This town is HECKA international.

And when you walk across the main bridge in town, you can imagine why people might be drawn to come and spend a season here, but really the university is attracting the world because of a little detail called Free Tuition For Everyone In Germany.

Like for reals. At least three of the people I met last week came here for a few months to study German so they could apply to go to university here. You just need the first couple of levels of German to get in, and there are classes everywhere you can enroll in for a summer or a few weeks at any time of year.

I am starting my language classes next week, but not so I can go to university.

I’m just hoping to be able to tell the lady at the bakery and the man at my vegetable market to have a nice day.

Three or four times a week I walk through this park on my way to meet Simon at school because he and Ben don’t always get out at the same time.

I also walk down this long stairway.

And past this building covered in graffiti. There’s actually loads of street art in Tubingen.

These are the stairs to the office where Taido studies and writes, and they also lead to the room where his classes are. The reality is that Taido loves it here.

We had our first visitor last week. Major highlight for sure!

Nicola was so kind to come and visit before we really know what we are doing as far as traveling around Germany. As a result we spent a lot of time waiting for trains and buses, but she was such a great sport!

She also climbed to the top of the main cathedral tower with me, which the boys haven’t wanted to do.

After we looked out over the rooftops and took in the surrounding hills,

we found a table in the square below where we had coffee and sat and watched the people. It’s turning cold, but there are blankets draped on the chairs in the squares so you can still sit outside and chat with your friend over coffee.

We also made a trip to the nearby Ritter Sport chocolate factory.

Hello every kind of chocolate imaginable.

Our biggest outing with Nicola was a hike to a nearby castle.

Fall is definitely in the air here in Germany, and Nicola and I were very cold, but flowers were still in bloom in the windows and it was so nice to have my friend with me in our new home. Also she speaks German.

This week the leaves have turned bright yellow all over town, and we got a few more days of blue sky.

We did a walk to a chapel on a hill last weekend in the sunshine.

The trails around Tübingen seem to be super well maintained and they lead to lovely places.

This little village is called Bebenhausen and I walk the five mile loop there and back a few times a week because it’s my favorite so far.

So that’s pretty much our first month: lots of walking and meeting up with the boys and praying for them while they are at school.

Plus searching for a new place to live and filling out eleventy million forms and fumbling through German, shopping for Brot, Wein und Kase (bread, wine and cheese).

There is a chocolate festival here on the first weekend of December so more friends are coming from Aberdeen, because hello CHOCOLATE + FESTIVAL = good idea.

And then the Christmas Market happens in Tübingen the next weekend.

So the reality is that there are good things in store for us.

I’m hoping maybe one of those things is that the boys start to like it here as much as Taido does.

Want to keep up with all of my travels? Maybe you’d like to subscribe to future posts by email or receive my occasional email newsletter.

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Ten Days in the UK via Train

Friends, I have been playing a lot this month with creating itineraries around the UK, partly because I am still trying to fit in a few last wanders through the Britain before our time is up and also because I often find myself making recommendations to others about where to go. Because Ten Days in the UK seems to be about how long most of our friends can get away when they come, I have chosen to plan around that length of time.

What you want to do in the UK depends on how much time you have and on whether you want to see the cities or the countryside.

I have come to dearly love the Scottish and English countryside, which is why I spend so much time tromping through fields on foot. But, walking through the more remote parts of the UK is usually going to involve renting and driving a car. On the wrong side of the road. Down tiny little lanes.

And because that can be frustrating, I thought I would first create a trip you can take completely by train. This trip hits a lot of great UK cities and manages to cover England and Scotland, so you get a great variety of culture. I think this is a great trip for someone who has never been to the UK before, and actually the UK is a great first trip to Europe for anyone feeling intimidated by the idea of not speaking English.

So if you’ve never left the good ol’ US of A and you want to have a wander through the UK without the bother of learning to drive on the left side of the road or trying to speak another language, this trip is for you.

Itinerary:

Days 1-3. London

Arrive in London, preferably via Heathrow Airport where you can take the Underground straight into the middle of London.

Go ahead and purchase an Oyster Card at the machine at the London Heathrow station and put around 20GBP on it. (You can add more if/when you run out) You will use this card on the buses, the DLR and the underground in London to get around. You can even use it on some of the boats on the Thames. You tap your card to the yellow circle when you enter the Underground. Then you tap it again when you exit so that it stops charging you. On the bus you only tap it when you board the bus and you don’t have to tap out. I highly recommend figuring out how to get around by bus because it is cheaper and though sometimes slower, you get to see more by bus. (Go ahead and try for the top, front seat!)

My general rule on London transport is if I am going less than a half mile I walk, but anything between 1-5 miles, I take the bus and further than that I use the Tube because it’s the fastest. I find having internet and Google Maps available on my phone to be oh-so-helpful! But you can also use a paper map and London is wonderful for having maps around town to help you figure out where you are. 

On your first day you’ll be jet lagged and exhausted, but you want to stay awake as long as possible to adjust.

There is so much to see in London that I could not possibly cover it all. I would recommend checking out some guidebooks at the library and then making a list of your top ten sites you want to visit. I often even take photos of guidebook pages (museum descriptions, maps, etc).

But here are some of my fav things I’ve done in London:

Walk Southbank (the south bank of the Thames River) If it’s a pretty day, you can walk all the way from Tate Modern (at the Millennium Bridge) to the London Eye on the south side of the river. The river walk will be crammed with food stalls, street performers, used book sales and all kinds of people watching. I love it.

City Cruises I think seeing London from the water is a must. I love these little river cruises and all the funny tidbits that the boatmen share as you ride along. (They are funny). You can choose between a set cruise time or a hop on/hop off ticket that is good on any of their boats for 24 hours. I have done both. Love it.

Go to a show in the West End. Or go see a Shakespeare show at the Globe just as it was in Shakespeare’s day. (You can even stand up in the pit…cheap seats!)

Eating London: Food tour in East London. This is SUCH a great tour! A combination of food + street art + history. And they have a new one in Central London that looks fun as well. East London is my favorite part of London, and part of it is the food for sure! I also love Camden Market for browsing food stalls and eating all kinds of street food. Saturdays can be insane in Camden.

Go to Evensong at Westminster Abbey or St Paul’s Cathedral. Evensong is a short service that is sung that happens almost every day in these grand cathedrals and it is free to attend. I would always rather attend a service than tour a church.

Context Travel Tours of London: We did a great history of theater tour of London with Context Travel, but there are loads more to choose from. These are small (often private) tours with local experts, and they have some great ones for families.

Museums! There are so many museums in London and they are almost all free to visit. The British Museum is a favorite but I also enjoyed the Tate Modern and The National Gallery.

(More London info in the archives!)

Day 3. Travel from London to York via train.

A word about trains: The train times are available to search at trainline.com. You can search prices and times and pay with your credit card. But then you have to have THAT credit card to collect the train tickets at the station. You can buy your tickets on the day of travel at the station, but they are generally much cheaper if you buy them 9-12 weeks in advance and you can reserve your seats. Here’s another place to read about booking UK trains. 

I would take the train from London in the afternoon or evening to save on one night of expensive London accommodation. So grab a picnic for the train and then enjoy a drink in a pub in York before heading to bed.

Day 4. Visit York.

We loved our time in York! We learned about Vikings and chocolate, walked the city walls and drank loads of tea. Also Evensong in York Minster!

Day 5. Train to Durham. Visit Durham. Train to Edinburgh.

Durham is right on the train route between York and Edinburgh, so even if you don’t stop, keep your eyes peeled for a glimpse of this city on a hill out your window.  You can easily wander the city of Durham in a day, so if you grab an early morning train out of York and a later one to Edinburgh, it’s worth a wander.

On our day in Durham, we climbed to the top of the famous cathedral, walked the river that surrounds the city, found some gorgeous Italian food and spent some time in the town square. There’s also a castle and a fun market hall.

Days 6-7. Visit Edinburgh.

Wake up early on Day 6 and go for a walk in Edinburgh before anyone is awake. The city streets will probably be glistening with rain but don’t be daunted. My favorite moments on the famous Royal Mile always seem to be those dark, rainy mornings darting out for a coffee before the shops have opened up and the street is cluttered with kilts, tartan scarves and Celtic jewelry.

There’s so much to do in Edinburgh that you will easily fill two days! Here are a few suggestions, but consult a guidebook and the internet to find your own favorites or take a look through the archives to see what we’ve done on our many visits to the Scottish capital.

If you’re feeling up for a good hike/climb, head to the top of Arthur’s Seat. Gorgeous walk and great views of the city. The walk starts at the bottom of the Royal Mile in Holyrood Park, past Holyrood Palace.

A smaller hill to climb that also has a great view of the city is Carlton Hill. It’s on the opposite side of town from the Royal Mile. Turn right on Princes Street after crossing the bridge and head up the road.

Again Context Travel for a thorough history of this city. Several to choose from, but I did the Old Town tour where I learned much more in depth history of Edinburgh. There are also street tours up and down the Royal Mile that you can join in. Definitely worth it to do some kind of tour of Edinburgh because there is so much history! Also the underground tour is well-loved.

Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood Palace are both worth touring but are rather pricey. You can buy a combo ticket, but if you have pretty weather and you just want to walk up to these and see them from the outside, you can go all the way in the gates of both of them. (that’s where you buy the tickets) The insides are like touring fancy old rooms and lots of history.

The National Museum of Scotland is one of the best museums in the UK and it is free to visit. Loads to see in there. It’s massive. Just wander around until you can’t read little plaques anymore and come back later.
The National Gallery in Princes Street Gardens is also free and well worth a wander. There are some Italian masters in the collection and of course, famous Scottish artists. Look for McTaggart, landscape painter with gorgeous scenes from the west coast of Scotland.

A picnic in Princes Street gardens might be my favorite way to eat in Edinburgh. You can get lovely picnic food at the M&S food hall (either in the train station or a larger one on Princes Street), but if the rain pours and pours, we like the museum cafes for lunch as well.

Combine eating and sightseeing by popping in the Elephant Cafe if you’re a Harry Potter fan, as JK Rowling wrote from a table in the back with a view of the castle.

Days 8-10. Option A.

If you’re coming to visit me, you would travel to Aberdeen this day and I would show you around the Highlands and then put you on a plane on Day 10 to head home.

My favorite Aberdeenshire moments are:

Balmedie Beach wandering

Walking Coastal Cliffs (a few choices)

Touring a castle (also a few choices)

Touring a castle ruin (sometimes even better)

Eating fish & chips in small villages or on the beach

Touring whisky distilleries (so many choices)

Hillwalking or forest walking

However, if you’re not coming to see me, you would need a car for all of the best the Shire has to offer, so I’m going to go ahead and say skip Aberdeen and go on to Option B.

Days 8-10 Option B.

Day 8. Take the train from Edinburgh to Inverness. Visit Inverness and Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle. You can book a tour straight out of Inverness or you can take a bus to Urquhart Castle.

Day 9. Take a bus or a tour a little farther afield just to get a taste of classic Scottish scenery. Visit the Isle of Skye, Glencoe or Eilean Donan Castle.

Day 10. Fly home from Inverness.

A few more planning details:

An Option C for your last three days would be to take a bus tour of the Highlands straight out of Edinburgh and then fly back home via Edinburgh. There are great tour companies that leave straight from Edinburgh almost daily and for the end of your trip, you might enjoy being taken around a bit instead of navigating on your own. You can do a backpacker type tour or a little bit nicer highland tour.

Flights. I use several different websites/apps to search for flights. On Kayak you can easily check the price for flying into one city and out of another, which saves you traveling all the way back to London by train at the end of your journey through the UK. I also like Momondo and Skyscanner for checking flight prices.

Packing. Your time in the UK will be so much more pleasant if you are not weighed down with lots of luggage. Hopping on and off trains and buses is easiest with a small backpack. Here is what I pack when I am galavanting around Europe.

Sleeping. Of course there are SO many options for hotels and hostels in the UK, but as a family, we have enjoyed staying in private rooms in YHAs (youth hostels). We can usually get a room with the number of bunks we need (4-6 depending on who is coming along) and for breakfast, we either prepare our own in the hostel kitchen or eat from the menu at the hostel. There are many YHAs in London but I love the St Paul’s for location. And we have stayed in the YHA in York as well. In Edinburgh and Inverness, we have had luck with hostels and with renting apartments through airbnb. For Edinburgh, I recommend staying on or near the Royal Mile if possible.

Money and credit cards. The best way to pay for everything in the UK is to use a credit card has a chip in it. Also, side note: You want to get a credit card that does not have international fees before you come. Both Chase and Capitol One offer cards with chips that don’t have international fees.  You can also use your debit card to get cash, which some places will require. I try to use my credit card as much as possible because my bank does charge me a fee to pull out international currency. However this fee is generally lower than the one I would pay to exchange American dollars. So I leave all cash at home and just bring my credit card and debit card.

Ok that’s it! Any questions?? Ask in the comments and I will try my best to fill in details. Also, if you have been to other UK cities you love, feel free to highlight them in the comments. I only included cities I have been to so I might have missed your favorite.

Coming soon: Ten Days in the UK by Car. Road trip options for the adventurous souls who want to see more of the countryside or who have already been to London! 

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Packing Light for Europe

Today I’m sharing a few thoughts about the joys (and the practicalities) of packing light.

Often people ask me about what to pack for a trip to Europe or the UK. 

If at all possible, when I leave my house I am only carrying this Osprey Sirrus 24L backpack. I can get by for two weeks in almost all kinds of weather with this pack, and I am SO happy about it when I’m getting on and off buses and trains, walking around a city on a transition day, or just hopping on an airplane without checking a bag. I know it seems a little hard core, but packing light makes travel so much more pleasant.

I only let my kids bring small backpacks when we are traveling and I promise that everyone is happier.

If you need to bring more, I won’t judge you I promise. Not everyone has dreadlocks, rarely bathes, and is comfortable wearing the same pair of wool socks for a month.

A few reasons for packing light that might not be super obvious:

More time for sightseeing: On your last day somewhere, if you have a bunch of stuff, you usually have to set aside some time for packing. But you can throw in one more tour, one more stop at a museum, or just one more walk around the city if you don’t need that time to pack up. The same can be true of unpacking when you arrive somewhere.

You spend less money on souvenirs (AKA junk to carry back home that no one needs). If you have no room to carry that cute leather fringe bag or double decker bus piggy bank, you’re way less tempted to buy it. Sometimes if something reminds me of someone, I send them a picture and say “This reminded me of you!” It’s almost as good as taking it home to them and way cheaper.

At the risk of stating the obvious, Europe has almost everything you need. In the UK, there is a drugstore on every corner. If you need something, you’ll be able to find it. So the list of things you need to pack “just in case” is really small. A raincoat is about the only thing I recommend as a “just in case” and that’s because in the UK (and especially in Scotland), if it doesn’t rain, well, you need to be thankful. VERY. THANKFUL.

So here is what I actually pack:

In case you want to try packing in a small backpack, I thought I would share a quick rundown of what I pack + what I wear when I go wandering in Europe.

In my backpack:

Clothes:

1 small black dress

black leggings or tights

black flats (Toms) 

2 t-shirts

1 tank top

1 long sleeve t-shirt

1 pair socks (wool)

5ish changes underwear

1 bra

Electronics:

camera

converter for charging my phone + camera 

camera charger

1 book OR kindle

Other:

smallest available toiletries (soap/toothbrush/toothpaste/deo/chapstick/lotion) in a ziplock bag in top pocket, ready to pull out at airport security

deck of cards (seriously)

small package of tissues

money belt/wallet that holds my passport, debit card, credit card and cash. I wear this under my clothes after I get off the airplane and just put 1 credit card and 20-40 in cash in my pocket or a tiny change purse. Oh, and I don’t get cash until I am in the airport at my destination. Don’t bring a bunch of USD to Europe. It’s best to wait and pull cash out with your debit card after you get here than it is to exchange actual, physical money. 

water bottle

a granola bar

a ziplock bag of nuts/trail mix

a small pill bottle with a cocktail of meds I might need (ibuprofen, claritin, vit C, benedryl)

a rolled up cloth shopping bag for buying picnics/groceries

Wearing:

1 pair jeans (+ underpants)

1 t-shirt (+ bra or camisole)

1 sweater/cardigan

1 raincoat

1 scarf

1 pair wool socks

tennis shoes or comfortable walking boots or any shoe I can walk FOREVA in.

PS Don’t pack a hair dryer or hair straightener or any kind of small appliance. The conversion in the outlets burns them out. Everywhere you stay will have hair dryers available.

Do you have any other questions or thoughts about packing light?? Ask/Share away! 

The post Packing Light for Travel in Europe and the UK appeared first on Alison Chino.

While we were in Switzerland this past summer, we took a quick camping trip to the French Alps. We only managed to get in one real climb while we were there, apart from walks around our campground and the darling mountain town of Chamonix.

Taido chose a hike to Lac Blanc, a long walk up to a lake that would take us past gorgeous vistas of Mount Blanc and many of the other striking peaks in the area.

But when we started up the mountain, we couldn’t see much of anything.

Well, we did see a few mountain goats. That was exciting.

But for the most part, we were just heading up further into the clouds.

The kids found it to be super discouraging, and they kept asking to turn around. We had a picnic lunch in the car that we had left behind thinking we would be down before lunch.

We didn’t reach Lac Blanc until well after lunch.

Even in the mist, it was really gorgeous.

And lucky for us, there happened to be a crepe stand this high up in the French Alps.

On our way down, the mist began to clear.

We had to climb up (and then back down) all these ladders that I found to be a bit scary, but no one else was bothered.

About halfway down, we finally started to see blue sky and glimpses of Mount Blanc.

The clouds were constantly changing so you had to be watching to see all the different peaks.

One minute you could see them, and then the next they would be covered up again.

But when we could see them, they were just gorgeous.

We could even see the village below us.

As usual, I ended up being glad I had followed Taido up the mountain that day.

Everyone ran down the last few miles and then we went to town for ice cream.

I took a couple of vines on our day of climbing: one of goats and one of the mist then blue sky. Gorgeous!

The post A Walk to Lac Blanc {France} (41/48) appeared first on Alison Chino.

Y’all, let me be honest for a second.

I spend a seriously sick number of hours planning trips that might not ever even happen.

Just last week I did a ton of research for a camping trip to the Isle of Skye that we canceled because of A) rain and B) grumpy teenagers.

Since we’ve moved to Europe, I’m all THE WORLD IS AT OUR FINGERTIPS!

And Taido is like, Honey, we don’t have to fit all three years of traveling into our first three months here.

But still.  There are worlds to discover.

Sometimes I plan that we will all six take a ferry to Ireland and climb Benbulben.

Other days I focus on smaller excursions with just one or two of the kids.  You know, the happy ones.

Or I think that if I can get one of those teens alone on a long and winding road that they will soften a little and enjoy the ride.

But sometimes I dream about getting away…with just girls.

Ok not sometimes. A lot.

I have some girlfriends. And I miss them.

I’m pretty sure they miss me too.

Most of them have NEVER BEEN TO EUROPE. (Gasp!)

So when the apartment rental website, Go With Oh, announced that they were doing a blogger contest and the prize would be one of their European Apartment Rentals, I very quickly made the jump to APARTMENT IN PARIS + MY GIRLFRIENDS = HAPPILY EVER AFTER!

Ok, maybe not happily ever after, because we all know that I will start planning the next trip as soon as I get home, BUT, remember that time that I went with 11 of my besties on a cruise to Mexico?

Let’s all just stop for a minute and imagine transplanting that crazy mess to Paris, shall we?

Movies could be made from the material we would create.

I can see it now.  Mercedes + Stormy Take Paris!

We would definitely need this gorgeous apartment.

It would hold six of us, which honestly, is about all I could get to invest in the plane tickets.

We would go in February or March when tickets are cheap and the museums are empty-ish.

We would roam the city streets, most certainly get lost, have adventures and laugh hysterically.

If this sounds like more fun than you can possibly stand and you want in on this Paris party, leave a comment telling me so!  Who knows?  Maybe we’ll make it happen whether I win the apartment or not.

But it would certainly help, yo!

Photos of Paris Apartment from Go With Oh.  Photo of the Eiffel Tower, from Backpacker Steve.

The post Meet Me In Paris? appeared first on Alison Chino.

Last year at this time, I had already booked our Mediterranean cruise on the Carnival Breeze, and I was doing lots of searching for information about this ship and particularly, about the stateroom that would be our home for twelve nights.

From our first moments on the Carnival Breeze, we were blown away by the boat.  It was magical to watch Mary Polly take everything in since it was her first time to ever go on a cruise.  We ran all over the nearly empty boat checking everything out and taking lots of pictures.

We found places we knew we’d come back to over and over again: the sky course (MP loved doing this, the Lido deck (lots of nights here with blankets and movies), fun lounge chairs, and a nearly empty walking deck.  This boat is the only one I’ve seen that has a walking deck that circles the entire boat. (I think it is deck 5.)  It is much longer than the small track at the top of the boat for running.  I loved walking on this deck in the evenings, and it was a great escape from the hustle of the other decks, since it turned out to almost never be crowded.

There were so many beautiful spots to sit and enjoy being on the Carnival Breeze.  Because of our sailing time (September), our boat had 1000 less people on it than it did during the high summer season, and there were less than 100 kids on board.  I’m sure these lower numbers partly accounted for our very pleasant sailing.  We never had trouble finding a chair, and though it was often warm and sunny, it was not ever scorching hot.

The Food on The Carnival Breeze

The food choices on a cruise ship kind of make my head spin.  I have to pace myself because I want to eat everything all at once.  It was a good thing we had 12 nights to try all the food on this boat.  On a shorter cruise, I’m not sure we could have scratched the surface.

In the mornings, we were always trying to get off the boat very early to pack in our sightseeing, so we settled into a routine pretty quickly.  I had yogurt, fruit and nuts.   Mary Polly had a bagel with Nutella.  Every. Single. Day.

The breakfast choices were certainly more varied, but I was glad to find my usual fare that I knew would give me the steam I needed to get through a busy day.

At the end of our port days, we arrived back at the boat hungry, no matter what time it was, and we varied our afternoons with sushi, pizza and our very favorite, the Tandoori grill.  We ate at least a bite from the Tandoori grill every day.  Its offerings included Greek salad, hummus, naan and lots of different Indian dishes. We ended up back there again and again.  It was on the very back of the boat, on the outside, so it was also a great place to sit.

We actually only ate in the dining room for five nights of our twelve-night cruise.  It seemed like we were usually too full from hitting up the Tandoori grill in the late afternoon and then we’d get hungry again late at night when the dining room was closed.  We enjoyed roaming the boat and seeing what was available at different times.  And of course we ate lots of ice cream.

At night we would go make cups of tea and either watch a show or the movie, or go to the library bar and read or write in our journals.

On some of our sea days we ate at the various other restaurants on the ship.  The Italian restaurant that was open by reservation only at dinner was open every day for lunch to just walk in and enjoy.  It was delicious.  There was also a Barbeque outside on sea days that was out of this world.  They even had grilled veggies, including sweet potatoes.  Also, there is a burrito spot and a burger place, both very good.  Mary Polly and I both laughed thinking about how much the boys would love all the food on the boat.

Also, it is just such a treat not to have to cook or clean (or even buy groceries) for that long!  I loved being able to focus on where we were going each day, reading maps and guidebooks, without even having to give a thought to what we were going to eat.

Favorite Wind Down Spots on The Carnival Breeze

To say that I wore Mary Polly out at all the ports is an understatement.  With only one day in each place, I wanted to see as much as possible.

By the time we would get back to the ship, we were exhausted.  Mary Polly would usually take a shower and I would grab a book or my notebook and go find a spot to watch the ship leave (often on deck 5, pictured above).  If it was already dark, I would head to the library bar.

We loved how many nice tables and chairs there were on the boat for this perfect end-of-the-day activity.  We both checked books out from the library and I would sometimes have a glass of wine from the cute little wine tasting dispensers.

All of the comforts of the boat really made the trip for Mary Polly.  She loved getting back every day and being able to speak English again.  Even if we had gotten lost or fought with each other during the day, being back on the boat would kind of wash all that away.

We would usually get our second wind after an hour or two of reading and I’d let her look at the schedule and choose what we were going to do next.

The Porthole Stateroom

If you book your cruise far enough in advance, you can get a room with a window for the interior room price, because it either has an obstructed view (usually lifeboats) or it is a smaller “porthole room.”

I was so thrilled with getting such a good deal on room and board for two weeks in Europe with my daughter that I felt like it didn’t matter if our room turned out to be no more than a closet.  I figured we would hardly ever be in our room anyway, right?

As it happened we were delighted with our porthole room.  (From the outside of the boat, our room is the two little holes.)

Mary Polly was so exhausted from our daily wanderings that she relished every extra minute in her comfy bunk.  The room turned out to be really nice and had more than enough space for all of our things.  The bathroom on this shiny new ship was actually bigger than the one in a more expensive stateroom on my previous Carnival cruises.

The above and below pictures address a few of the details I had wondered about: Would there be enough hangers? (Yes.) Would there be both European and American plugs? (Yes.) Would there be a hair dryer?  (Yes.) Where would we hang wet clothes? (On a little built-in retractable clothesline in the shower!)

There were so many small well-designed details in our stateroom.  I think that is part of the fun of being on a brand new boat.  We had a wonderful stateroom steward and of course, we adored our towel animals every night.  In Venice, we even had a towel gondola!

All in all, we were so pleased with our room.  I would stay in it again in a heartbeat.  I love having the natural light from the window at the interior room price.

So there you have it.

We loved the Carnival Breeze.  I never stopped being amazed at how enormous it was.   We were always excited to spot our boat from different spots in the ports.

And of course, this view never got old.

I think I could stare at the sea forever.

Did you enjoy this post on the Carnival Breeze?  Visit other posts about cruising here.  Or subscribe to the Chino House via RSS feed or by email.

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Barcelona was the first stop on my trip with Mary Polly to Europe in September.  We spent two nights there, exploring this beautiful city before boarding the Carnival Breeze for a 12 Night Mediterranean Cruise. Read all about our first day in Barcelona here. 

Our second day in Barcelona started with a quick stop for pastries and coffee near our hotel.  We were off early on the Metro to see the works of Antoni Gaudi, starting with Park Guell.

We wandered the forest paths of Park Guell, a space I imagine to be a welcome bit of peace in the middle of the city.

We found several spots that overlooked the city and again caught sight of La Familia Sagrada in the distance.

A rock fortress marked the highest point in the park and there were musicians and trinket sellers all around it.  We reached this part of the park first and then took a winding path through trees and gardens to the long mosaic park bench that snakes all the way around a courtyard just above the main entrance of Park Guell.  We realized once we saw the main entrance that we had sort of unintentionally saved the best for last.

It’s difficult to describe, but I have found many photos online that are way better than my own.  I have pinned a lot of them to a Pinterest board, but here is one of the entrance that I found on Ken Kaminesky’s travel blog.

This entrance was fairly crowded even early in the morning in September, so I was fascinated to read about how this traveler managed to get this shot without any people.

We grabbed a spot on the bench (the back of the long bench is at the top of the columns in this picture) and watched the people come and go for a while.

Then we both walked around taking pictures of some of our favorites bits of mosaic.  There were so many to choose from.

As we exited the park between the two whimsical buildings that flank its entrance we walked backwards down the street enjoying the views from further and further away.

Then we made our way back to the Metro. Next stop, La Sagrada Familia.

Nothing makes me feel more proud as a traveler than successfully navigating public transportation!  I know this is silly because millions of people are using it every day but somehow I still get the feeling that I have cracked some sort of secret code when I get from Point A to Point B.

So when we came up from the Metro right in front of La Sagrada Familia, I was both overjoyed to finally see this amazing church close up and ecstatic that I had managed to take the right set of trains to get there.

And wow.  This building is just absolutely amazing.

But it’s not just a building, it is a story.  An ongoing project that calls artists, sculptors, architects, laborers and people of great vision that extends longer than their own lifetimes.

Born into being by a a Catalan bookseller in 1882, the church received its true vision from Antoni Gaudi who worked as its chief designer from 1883 until his death 1926. Less than a quarter of the building was done, but his designs and models have served to inspire the continuing work.

There are three facades or sides of the church: Nativity, Passion and Glory.  The Nativity Facade was completed first, but the Passion Facade was not done until my lifetime and the Glory Facade will probably not be finished until after I am gone.  I have read about cathedrals in Europe that took multiple lifetimes to complete, but I have never stood in the middle of such a project.

The more I continue to read about La Sagrada Familia, the more I feel that the entire project is an extension of the spirit of the town of Barcelona.  Walking around the church drew me to the city in a way I am still unwrapping.

We spent over an hour just walking around the outside.  We got some lunch and ate in the park across the street from the Nativity Facade.  The sculptures on this side of La Sagrada Familia look as though they are growing from the rock of the church. Gaudi wanted them to look like part of nature. All of the models for the sculptures were humble citizens of Barcelona.

The whole story of the first 12 years of Jesus’ life is told in these sculptures.

Even the parts that make you cry are included in the telling.

Opposite the Nativity Facade is the Passion Facade.  This portion was done between 1956 and 1976, and in 1987 a team of sculptors, headed by Josep Maria Subirachs began work on the scenes from the Passion of Christ.

When you walk around to this side, it’s like you are not even looking at the same building.  The fierce, angular lines of this facade contrast the swirls and curves of the Nativity Facade.

Yet, this seems to be on purpose.  As you get closer, you can see the story that’s being told here and somehow the stark sculptures draw lines around this part of the story.  It is harsh and dramatic.

You cannot walk into the building from this side without walking past Jesus, tied to a whipping post.

He is willing and resigned.  And yet just behind him is the sign of the Alpha and the Omega, a quiet reminder that he has always been and always will be.  This is not the end of the story.

These sculptures were my most favorite part.  I could return to them again and again.  I found Subirach’s drawings later in the museum and I loved seeing the progression from paper and pencil to three dimensional figure.

After we wandered around the outside, we went in.

The interior is full of columns that look like they are trees growing from the ground and artwork so beautiful that I strained my neck trying to take it all in.  I had to take a seat and lean back so I could just look.

Again, pictures cannot even begin to capture what it is like to be in this place, especially my pictures, but here is a better image of the ceiling from Wikipedia.

I love to come home from a trip and read more about a place I’ve seen or the people I’ve encountered.  After La Sagrada Familia, Mary Polly and I went to see two more buildings by Antoni Gaudi, so I have been reading more about his life.

Now I could go back to Barcelona and see this same building and notice all new details about it.

Don’t you want to go with me?

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