The kids had Madrid circled on the calendar. It had been more than half a year since they had seen their little cousins and they had major plans! The four of us were so anxious, we arrived in the city a couple days before my brother and his family. This ensured that we could scout the area surrounding their hotel and advise them on the good playgrounds. We would spend the next 10 days touring the city, partaking in kid-friendly activities and continue our search for street performers. The girls were happy to cause mischief with their cousins while Paige and I were happy to have other kids around!
I was sad we weren’t in Italy and the previous week travelling along the Mediterranean coast had some hiccups. Unlike Barcelona, we walked into Valencia unaware of what we would do for our extended stay. The focus was Julie’s birthday and we hoped there would be enough for the kids to do. We quickly realized Valencia was perfect for our little family as it is a kid-friendly European city. For the next two weeks, we would base ourselves with Paige’s mom in an Airbnb on the Plaza de la Reina in the heart of the old town. Paigey would dine with her mother at a Michelin-star restaurant, while I would dine with the kids at Mcdonald’s. We were both happy.
Located right on the main square, we were a mere 7-minute walk from the Turia park system that runs through the heart of Valencia. The first day, we rented bikes (bike rentals were crazy cheap!) to explore the 7km park. The kids hadn’t been on bikes for months and Isabella blissfully biked care-free and “car-free” for the day. Unfortunately, we had a parenting fail with Julie. She had forgotten how to ride a bike (apparently that can happen!). While the rest of the family went off exploring on their own, I ran beside her for the first day as she got the hang of things again. She fondly remembers her crash into the public artwork and her accidental “jump” off the edge of an elevated walkway.
Biking mishaps aside, we visited the park almost daily. Every second day, Paigey and I would do a morning run with the locals (by the end of our two weeks, we were dreaming about all the running gear we would purchase back home). The kids would fly paper airplanes (occasionally hitting strangers) and spend hours in the playgrounds. There’s a popular playground in the park in the shape of Gulliver from Gulliver’s Travels. It is a massive plastic contraption with slides, ropes, and walls. It has to be at least two stories tall and watching them clamber recklessly across it was nerve-wracking for us parents. Fortunately, the only one who got hurt was yours truly as I got a friction burn going down one of the slides!
It seemed like every day we would do a new activity in the city with the kids. The Ciutat de les Arts i les Ciencies kept us busy when we weren’t at the parks. The vast complex includes a science museum, a movie theatre and a top-notch aquarium. We have been to a lot of aquariums and outside of the actual ocean, this is as good as it gets. We spent hours trying to find animals from our snorkelling exploits a few months prior. Once we had exhausted all the CAC had to offer, the kids were treated to the zoo by their nan. That was an added bonus of having another family member with us. Somedays, we would split up the kids. Other days Paige and I would go off on date night. And occasionally, Paigey would hang out with her mother. During those times, the kids and I would venture into the city to find as many street performers as possible. We closed the gap to the goal of 100 Julie and I had established in Barcelona.
Street performers in Valencia
Did I mention that we were also in town during one of the large festivals in the calendar? We didn’t really understand what the Feast of our Lady of the Forsaken was, but the city was alive and jumping the last weekend of our stay. There were concerts, performers, food stalls and an enormous parade throughout the weekend. The actual procession passed right below our apartment’s window and for three hours we watched the celebration. The kids couldn’t believe the dresses and outfits worn by those involved and we probably took a bazillion photos. They tried to stay up until the fireworks but they kept the futility streak alive by falling asleep about a half hour before the culmination of the festivities.
But even that festival paled in comparison to the birthday blowout we threw for Julie. When she woke up, the apartment was decorated with a banner, streamers and balloons (we all forgot how much kids love balloons). She loved the desperately needed new clothes and dove right into her new Lego set. But the highlight had to be dinner as Nan made Julie nachos which she had been dreaming about for months. There was none left for leftovers. Paige special ordered a Nutella chocolate cake for the occasion (yep a cake full of Nutella! Seriously how has no one thought of that back home?). We knew the birthday was a success when Julie went to bed complaining about a stomach ache from the Nutella cake.
All credit needs to go to my wife for this one, as she was the driving force behind our three-day whirlwind through Barcelona! She refused to bypass this part of Spain on our way to Valencia. We mixed things up for this “weekend getaway” by staying in a hostel in the suburbs. The kids were excited as that meant bunk beds. We were excited as it meant spending as little time in the room as possible. It was our first time in Spain and we had food to eat, sites to visit and tours to take.
When planning the trip, each family member picked a destination where they wanted to go. And then it was up to us parents, to make it work. Mike picked the Yukon. I chose a Live-aboard boat, and Izzie selected Legoland. Now, it was Julie’s pick (or at least it was supposed to be). She had picked Disneyland. During the circumnavigation, the closest Disney park on our route was Paris Disneyland. So, it was added to the itinerary. When we actually got down to planning this leg, we realized that getting from Siena to Paris and then to Barcelona (our next planned stop) would be difficult. Without much backtracking and/or flying, we would spend 30 hours on a train to make this happen. Rail passes do not work as well as we once remembered because the “reservation fees” are much more common now, and going to Paris involved many of them. We could have flown for less than the booking fees! But at this point, we’ve flown 16 times in 6 months and feel quite guilty about our carbon footprint, so we really wanted to take advantage of the train pass. Instead, we got Julie excited about some theme parks in Spain and convinced her that we could skip Disney. She was satisfied, but we did not feel the best about it.
After Rome, we decided that we wanted to spend some time in Tuscany. Mike does not like renting cars in Europe (long story) and we did not want to be in the chaos of tourists in Florence. Instead, we decided to go to Siena – still full of tourists but fewer than Florence. We realized that most people were taking bus tours to Siena during the day but staying elsewhere, so we fell in love with the feeling of the city in the evening when everyone cleared out.
I booked an Airbnb that was perfect for us. It was an old Italian apartment with giant rooms and completely outdated elegant furniture. The kitchen had every gadget you could imagine so I enjoyed zesting citrus while the girls used the parmesan cheese grinder. Unlike these cookie-cutter Ikea Airbnbs, this one was the kind where they took their grandmother’s house, cleaned it up, and turned it into an apartment to rent. It even kind of smelled like a grandmother’s house. It was exactly what we wanted for this part of the trip. The kitchen alone, with its dining table, made this place magical for us. The view was also spectacular as you could see the skyline of Siena from our balcony.
Siena has some beautiful sites like a Duomo Cathedral and a tower well worth climbing. The outskirts of the city were pure Tuscan magic and we hiked one day amongst the olive and cypress trees. We also attended a soccer game since the Stadium was less than 100m from our apartment. Julie and I lasted until halftime but Isabella stayed for the whole game with her dad.
We took two day trips, finally getting to show the kids how the Eurail passes worked. We went to Florence one day and took another walking tour. Both Michael and I had been to Florence before but we had fun walking the city and showing the girls places like the Ponte Vecchia. Then a few days later, we went to Pisa and got the required photo at the leaning tower.
Siena was a great week of adventure coupled with fun daily living stuff. Living in a more “complete” home meant that we caught up on school, did lots of laundry, and cooked. It was amazing having not only a great grocery store nearby but also the Siena Agricultural Consortium which was like a treasure trove of Italian goodies. We were craving home-cooked rather than restaurant-cooked meals and were not disappointed. I even cooked a roast chicken dinner since we’d missed a few holiday meals and Julie told me that she did not remember what “stuffing” tasted like. For the record, she approved of the taste! Now we leave Italy on our most epic travel day yet (7 trains in 13 hours).
So we are very behind with the blog. My mom encouraged me this week to finish writing it, saying that we wrote for nine months and will always regret it if we leave it hanging in Amman. Michael is currently uninspired to write so I am going to try to write a few posts and re-inspire him to finish it with me.
To be honest, Rome is a very strange post for me to be doing because Michael loves Rome more than any other place in the world. He has been 3 times and was so thrilled to bring the girls. For him, a trip to Italy is not complete without a few days in Rome. We arrived a few days before Easter (yes, I am now admitting how far behind this blog is) and did not realize how chaotic Rome would be for Easter. To compound the situation, I had booked an Airbnb near the Vatican where a lot of the Easter celebrations take place so we were in a tourist-filled crazy zone. But our place was nice and we were happy to be in Europe finally, albeit sad because we knew that this was our last leg.
Mike hardly noticed how crazy Rome was over the Easter period. He was in his happy place and oblivious to anything around him. He would wake up every morning and go walking because he discovered that he could have Rome to himself at 6 am. He even took Izzie walking to the Colosseum and Pantheon before 7 am so that she could see the building from the outside without the hoards of people.
After 4 months in Southeast Asia, we were not prepared for the spring weather in Rome. The only pants the girls had were Boho elephant pants that were not thick enough to keep out the cool breeze. So Day 1 involved shopping (which I did not complain about). Julie got cute Camper shoes and Izzie was fully decked out by Benneton before we checked into our Airbnb.
Despite the fact that the apartment was so close to the Vatican, it was far enough away that we were in a real neighbourhood where people actually lived. We had a great Roman pizza shop across the street and loved looking out at the action below our giant floor-to-ceiling windows.
With both Michael and I having been to Rome before, we did not obsess over seeing all the sites again. We went to the catacombs one day and walked the Ostia Antica. We did the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps but mostly we just walked around exploring different parts of the city. It was nice to experience Spring and even the days of rain were nice since it hadn’t rained on us in months.
What will the kids remember about Rome? Probably their “special days” which are the days when we separate them and let them have one-on-one time with a parent. Julie had mom this time and so we went to an Art Supply Store and bought watercolours. We watched a Youtube video about how to watercolour paint and sat for hours mixing colours and painting. Then we cooked a 4 course meal. It might sound strange to some but painting and cooking are Julie’s favourite things so she was in heaven.
Isabella and Mike visited a park, threw paper airplanes and ate at McDonalds. Our kids love to travel but after nine months they are craving days where we do less. I guess that we are too!
Mike’s cousin Lorron came to Rome and visited us too. She brought her boyfriend Jamie and they were quite the opposite, visiting every site and cramming more into their week in Italy as we did in a month. Seeing Lorron was great and it even gave Michael and I a chance to go out to dinner by ourselves for the first time in a long time. We found a cute little Osteria and had a great meal.
We spent ten days in Rome and it was a great starting point for the European leg. We still have France, Spain and Portugal to go with many visitors planned. Off to Tuscany next!
Some of our stops are based less on destinations and more on people we want to visit. My friend Laura and her family live in Amman, Jordan, and we’ve always wanted to visit them. We planned to spend six days and were all very excited to see our friends and live in a home again (with toys!). Laura picked us up from the airport and took us back to her house where the kids could get acquainted with hers since they had not seen each other in several years (thanks COVID). It did not take long before all four of them were playing together and destroying Laura’s living room with Lego everywhere.
Laura and her partner were amazing hosts. Although we had not made plans to leave Amman during the six days in Jordan, they were adamant that we could not come to Jordan and not visit two places: Petra and the Wadi Rum. Before we arrived, they had gone ahead and booked hotels and tours in these two locations for a weekend trip together.
We were on our way to Jordan for the next leg of our trip. When booking our flight from Thailand, we realized we could add a stopover in Abu Dhabi for a pittance. This would be one of the best decisions of the trip as I loved our 3-night stopover. The city is clean, the waterfront is landscaped, and they have beautiful sidewalks and walking paths. With Ramadan commencing, the city had a different vibe and the children had plenty of questions about fasting. It provided quite the contrast to our last week in Bangkok.
You cannot spend more than a month in Thailand and not visit Bangkok. Can you? We decided you couldn’t, so we booked our last five nights in Asia at the Sheraton, Royal Orchid on the Chao Phraya River. Knowing how hot Bangkok could be, we opted for a well-air-conditioned hotel, some creature comforts, and a pool.
The hotel was right across the river from a Mega Mall with a nightly water fountain show (IconSiam) and a free boat shuttle to get there. Given Bangkok’s climate and oppressive heat, shopping malls are quite the scene with upscale restaurants and tons of action. We spent a lot of time at the megamall doing everything from eating Michelin-star roasted duck to entertaining the kids with a claw machine at the arcade (at only 20 cents per try, we actually won a stuffed animal). You could find every level of dining at the mall, which was great as the kids ate Japanese takeout while Mike and I savoured our last days of spicy Thai cuisine.
Most visitors to Bangkok can list all the impressive temples and palaces they visited with all their Buddha statues. Both Mike and I have been to Bangkok before and have seen the major tourist sites. We’ve also been to many temples over the last three months with the kids, so we discovered different things in the city this time.
On day 3, We decided it was time to split the kids up for a day. Isabella and Julie spend 24 hours a day together every day. They get along incredibly well and only fight about inconsequential stuff, like who gets to sleep with this stuffed animal tonight. But sometimes, we like splitting them apart and giving them one-on-one parent time. It is incredible how much Julie (the shy quieter one) opens up when you have her alone. Isabella just inundates us with questions about everything you can think of, from the tooth fairy to swear words. Anyhow, we split up in Bangkok on a stiflingly hot day and did not tell the other pair where we were going. Isabella and I took a taxi to a giant mall and went 10-pin bowling and shopping. Surprisingly Mike had a very similar idea and took Julie to a different mall with a trampoline park. Both kids finished off their days with special meals: steak for Izzie and Margherita pizza for Julie.
The next thing we did in Bangkok was go to the dentist. We are vigilant about going every six months at home and thought it would be cheaper to get this done in Bangkok than in Europe. We found a dentist who picked us up from our hotel and would take all four of us at the same time (many dentists would not take the kids). Mike was not impressed with the 60-minute car transfer (which turned into 90 minutes back during the evening rush hour) but the dentist’s office was something to behold. Apparently, he is known as the “rock star” dentist (you would not know this from the website) and his waiting room looks kind of like a Las Vegas wedding chapel. I was concerned when I saw how many people were ahead of us but we were quickly whisked into the celebrity dentist’s office and he examined each of us himself before letting us go for a cleaning. Julie was told that she is the best brusher in the family, a fact that she now reminds us of frequently. Mike and I experienced Air polishing, which we’d never had at home and we all left the office happy to have a fresh smile.
Another great part of Bangkok was getting to see my friend Chanisa again. Flashback to 15 years ago, my master’s degree program was a tiny class with only 25 close-knit students. Many of us now live in other parts of the world, and catching up is always fun. Chanisa planned an excellent day where we took a boat to a floating market with her family. We got to try some Thai foods that we would have never tried and the kids got to play with another kid which was great. A highlight was spotting water monitors in the river while we meandered through the canals. It is always nice to meet friends along our journey.
After the high of the liveaboard boat, Bangkok turned into a pleasant five days to relax, regroup and prepare for the next leg of the trip. We finally said goodbye to South East Asia and boarded a plane to Abu Dhabi.
First things first. You have to know that I utterly adore Scuba Diving. I discovered scuba diving at age twelve when my mom accidentally booked a scuba dive resort instead of an all-inclusive one in the Bahamas. She knew that the hotel offered scuba diving, but she wasn’t quite aware that everything there revolved around scuba: from after-dinner dive briefings to communal tables so that you could discuss the days’ dives. I was hooked from Day 1! On this first trip to the Bahamas, I was always accompanied by an instructor since I was so young and couldn’t dive alone. But as soon as I turned 14, I took a course and became a certified diver. I never had a dive partner or someone to take dive holidays with, so I resigned to a day of diving by myself here and there whenever I went somewhere near the ocean.
Family Travel Countdown 