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March 22, 2013

Battery Lodge

Finding lodging each place we go always proves to be an adventure. We’ve booked places in advance and had the dates all wrong. We’ve showed up cold turkey other places and found better prices than if we had booked. You just really never know. One thing is always the same, however, and that is that when we are “shopping around” for a place to stay, we’ve learned to ALWAYS pick the place with the nice people regardless of price. We do learn and on the occasion of arriving on the Isle of Bute, we went from B&B to hotel to B&B. We chose Battery Lodge on the waterfront because the lady of the house seemed so nice. We are glad we did! Lorraine and Martin were wonderful hosts, lighting the fire at night, letting us use the big, old kitchen for preparing food, and best of all, taking Rebekah out to the farm to have a ride on their horse, Finn, an honest to goodness English hunting horse. The Lady Bute (wife to the 7th Marquess of the Stuart Mansion) even hires the horse a few weeks a year to ride on her private mansion grounds. http://www.mountstuart.com Totally cool! Lorraine and Martin, if you are reading this post, we want to thank you again for such a lovely stay.
Written by in Logistics, Mom, Scotland 2 Comments
March 17, 2013

Milan and On

I’m sure you have all figured out how this blogging thing works. It’s a bit like a diet. Binge, starve, binge, starve… No consistency whatsoever. Please bear with us. If you care enough to do the math you would know that we are NOT actually in Milan anymore and haven’t been for almost 2 weeks. I guess that is how we roll!? I’ll tell you a bit about our last days in Italy anyway. Then Jeb promises to make 5 or 6 posts in a row. One every day in fact. Watch for them to start showing up and we’ll be in Prague by then. Duomo was beautiful on the outside but, to be honest, we all felt that the inside was a bit creepy. Maybe it was the deceased Popes’ corpses laying around? P1060877   The detailed work on the large church doors were magnificent. Pilgrims like to touch that sort of stuff too. P1060886   The shopping in Milan is glorious! There is a different kind of pilgrim that comes here just for that. P1060891   We walked around and gawked at it all. Who wears some of that stuff anyway? This guy caught Jeb’s eye and he was all too happy to pose for a euro. IMG_1369   Maybe looking at all the beautiful Italians and beautiful clothes convinced Jeb to go to a legit Italian barber. P1060893   P1060895   And Levi too! P1060903   We had to have pizza on our last day – one for each of us. IMG_1359 Then it was time to move on. Oh look, there’s a horizontal surface. P1060905  
Written by in Italy, Logistics, Mom 1 Comment
March 6, 2013

Viva La France

Things can change so quickly and I love it. Sitting in the lobby of a wonderful, 820 year old Hotel Duomo in snowy Siena, we decide to skip the Alps (for now) and fly to England. The cheapest and only reasonable option out of Milan (where we drop Jolyn off in 5 days) is a flight to London, so we booked the tickets. Now we are driving north from Pisa. The plan was to go to Cinque Terre (5 small coastal towns that you hike from one to the next), but the weather isn’t cooperating for hiking so we took a quick vote. It’s unanimous. Let’s just drive. Viva La France! IMG_1310
Written by in Italy, Logistics, Mom 1 Comment
February 26, 2013

When in Rome – Don’t

Don’t: Get lost driving around at night (It wastes a lot of time!) Trip on the black cobble-stoned streets (especially in front of cute Italian boys). Cry when you see the Sistine Chapel. Get run over by a moped or a smart car (Pedestrians are 2nd class!) Bother asking for directions. Drop your tiny gelato spoon (You might not find it.) Pass out at the Vatican (Like the little, old lady who did.) Ask to use a toilet (Makes you wonder if they want you to be here…) Punt a pigeon (Jeb and Levi!) Expect free wi-fi to be free. Stand in line at the Colluseum (Buy a Roma Pass!!) Stalk the gladiators in the grocery store (Rebekah and Jolyn!) Take pictures with Glutenous Maximus (It’s not free so it’s good we didn’t try it.) Go with your buddy to take profile pictures for dating.com (@ the Trevi Fountian). Sign the walls of the Catacombs (Don’t worry, we didn’t, but stupid people do.) Antagonize the local crow (Well, actually, you should. It’s really fun!) Expect to pop your head out of the Metro hole on the correct side of the street. Get stuck in the ancient elevator (at the apartment bldg. you’re staying at.) Get a sore neck from looking up at all the amazing ceilings.
Written by in Italy, Mom, Travel Tips 6 Comments
February 15, 2013

Money

It is interesting how the tour books suggest that one should travel to modern countries first and ease themselves into the 3rd world. The culture shock could kill you. The Butlers are finding that the best way to do it is start in super cheap, and underdeveloped places like Thailand and then ease ourselves into the money-sucking ones. The shock has been non-fatal. For those who are interested in how we are doing since arriving in the Eurozone…  30-50 euros for food, about 50-60 euros for a hotel with free camping whenever possible, 10-20 euros for entrance fees, 20 euros for a car (when rented) equals/averages about 125 euro a day for all 4 of us. Not bad, but we have just left Greece and arrived in Milan so we’ll see how we fare as we go north. Thankfully we will get to do some more couch surfing at some point. P1060298 Travel Tip:  This is a good way to send packs onto airlines. It keeps your straps all tucked away and safe in a neat bundle. P1060300 We had to catch a shuttle bus from the airport outside of Milan to the Central Train Station where we were then able to walk to our hotel.
Written by in Greece, Logistics, Mom, Travel Tips 0 Comments
February 14, 2013

The Loop

We made it all the way around. We’re back in Athens in time for our flight and it’s a lucky thing too. Greece is split into north and south and the farmers all live smack dab across the middle. When they decide to go on strike, they block ALL the roads between the two until their demands are met. It causes a real problem. Seriously, farmers striking!?  Against God who sends them rain and sunshine? Anyway, we had been noticing literally thousands of tractors parked in lines beside the roads in towns. We assumed they were making some sort of protest or demonstration. We had no idea that if we hadn’t decide to keep driving yesterday for an extra, unexpected 4 hours that we could’ve been royally stuck. We’ll spend the extra day in Athens relaxing. Pfhew! P1060259-001
Written by in Greece, Logistics, Mom 2 Comments
February 13, 2013

Meteora Café

Here we sit all tapping away on our devices. It is hard to concentrate with the LOUD Greek music playing and the 6 old guys talking over the music. I think the stories they are telling are supposed to be funny. Hey, the wi-fi works and the coffee is good. We’ve been camping the last 2 nights and plan on going back to last night’s spot by the river for a 3rd night. Hotel tomorrow since we all really need showers!  Camping also isn’t conducive to posting daily on our blog, which is why you get them in spurts. P1060207  
Written by in Greece, Logistics, Mom 0 Comments
February 5, 2013

Peloponnese

So, the ferry people decided to strike for another 48 hours. Amazing little story of how God protected us once again. I tried booking cheap, non-refundable tickets from the Santorini Island to Italy 3 times, but it wouldn’t work. That is because we weren’t going to Santorini afterall. We’ve rented a car and we’re on our way to see a different side of Greece! Rebekah is navigating very well despite that it is all Greek to her. We’re making our way around the Peloponnese, camping along the way.
Written by in Greece, Logistics, Mom 1 Comment
February 2, 2013

How To Go on a Date in Athens

First, run out and grab 2 gyros for the kids from a stand around the corner. Leave them in the hotel room with a laptop and those 2 gyros. Then you leave hand in hand and stroll down the tiny marble streets that cascade down from the Acropolis. Cafes are everywhere, literally falling down the steps. Look for the one that has the most people laughing and talking loudly (in Greek). Sit down under a heat lamp and join the party. It may take 15-20 minutes for a waiter to show up. When the beer still doesn’t arrive, wait for the next waitress. Order a very dark beer and plate of Dakos. Dakos is barley bread soaked in olive oil and topped with finely chopped tomatoes, feta cheese, more olive oil, olives, oregano, and capers. Split that since there will be more food to try. Enjoy the mood and lights. It’s probably colder by now so ask your hubby and then waitress if you can move inside by the fire. Next, order a spaghetti dish with white sauce, bacon, mushrooms, and cheese and an aptly named jug of wine. Sit by the fire for 1.5 to 2 hours and eat very slowly. By the time you leave at 11:15 you’ll see that EVERY last table and chair is full of happy Greeks. You’ve picked the right place! Before returning to the hotel, make sure you take a walk to enjoy the view of the Parthenon and other relics lit up like light bulbs. Whatever you do, don’t be in a hurry!
Written by in Greece, Logistics, Mom 4 Comments
February 2, 2013

Strife or Strategy or Just a Strike

We flew from Tel Aviv in the middle of the night and arrived in Athens, Greece early in the morning on Thursday. Sunny and warm with clear blue skies! Wanted to hop on a public bus into the city, but, guess what? They are on strike! No can do. A 30 minute taxi ride later and we were walking through the squares and streets looking for a place to stay. Our strategy worked this time. Got a super duper deal at the first hotel we walked into. It’s a great place, centrally located and has a killer roof-top garden with amazing views. Skip ahead… Our plan was to hop on a ferry tomorrow morning to Paros Island, but guess what? They are on strike. No problem. We’ll go to the Archeological Museum tomorrow instead of today. It’s free on Sundays. That saves us $50. Maybe that was part of the strategy?!  The strike will end sometime and then we’ll go. Or, who knows, maybe we’ll end up somewhere else entirely. The only other result of the political unrest that has affected us is the amount of political/slogan graffiti on the walls. Such a shame…unless of course it is done artistically and then it makes great pictures. Travel Tip #16: (You missed the ones in between since I’ve been kinda busy.) Have a no-stress strategy and absolutely no agenda. Oh wait, I think that was tip #2?
Written by in Greece, Logistics, Mom, Travel Tips 0 Comments
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