Tag Archives: left column
May 15, 2013

Party On

As I look back on our trip around the world I am reminded of all the incredibly delicious food we ate. I think about the 6 months that I didn’t have to cook! After some discussion, we decided that if we could go around the world in just one day for the sake of our mouths this is where we’d go: Breakfast – Feta pastry and coffee in Greece Lunch – Picnic food from the Farmer’s Market in the south of France. ‘Fika’ – Coffee/Tea and pastry in Prague (even though it is a wonderful Swedish tradition.) Dinner – Ying Yangs on the island of Koh Tao in Thailand – hands down best food on the trip. Dessert – Garaway’s in Israel or the Sakakini’s in England. Late Night Cap – Glass of wine in Italy. There you have it! A party would definitely be taking place in our mouths that day.
Written by in Mom, Travel Tips 0 Comments
May 3, 2013

Homeward Bound

It didn’t matter that there was a bomb scare that delayed our train on the way to the airport and that we were running late. We were able to breeze through the security and passport lines and get to the gate just in time. What a way to end the trip! Rebekah and Levi are excited to see Seattle! IMG_2430 Unwrapping our bags for the last time… for now. IMG_2431 We made it! IMG_2434 Just a bit jet lagged and very happy to see Jewel. IMG_2436
Written by in Home, Logistics, Mom 3 Comments
May 3, 2013

Grand Finale

Well, we did enjoy Paris!  Its art wrapped up our art history lesson perfectly. Its food satisfied our appetites. Fortunately, and following a pattern typical of this trip, we arrived with weather perfect for each day and its activities.  In this case, the first good, warm spring weather.  The cliché Paris in Springtime is, well, you know, and as a bonus made us really happy to be coming home during this season. We ended up leaving our ascent of the Eiffel tower until the last day.  The Elevator door opened and the first thing we noticed was the lighted board above the windows that shows the major cities of the world at their bearing from Paris, along with the distance to that city and the height of its tallest tower.  “Hey!  We’ve been there, take a picture.”  There too, and there, and so on all the way around the observation deck.  This silly, unexpected exercise brought it home that we really did go all the way around.  We enjoyed the view until they were closing down for the night and we had to catch the last train to our apartment.  A perfect wrap for this travel around the world project! It all feels a bit overwhelming, so it may take us a week or two to process and be able to write some follow up posts.  Please continue checking our website!  We will let you know when we have finished up.
Written by in France, The Big Dad 0 Comments
May 2, 2013

60 Plus Posts by Mom

That’s kinda a lot and I don’t have too much more to say. Ha. Soon, logistics for me will look quite a bit different – answering phones, scheduling, cooking, cleaning, all that fun stuff. Life is good! Here’s a bit more showing our time in Paris. All four of us really liked it and we are super glad we ended the trip there.  
Written by in France, Logistics, Mom 0 Comments
April 30, 2013

Paris and the Questions

Well, its over… and I’m happy for that. I’m not saying the trip wasn’t awesome. It was! I’m just happy to be somewhere that I know. Paris was really fun and If I had to live in a city that would be on the top of the list. Now, to answer some of those questions that I know all of you will ask. #1. How was your trip? It was awesome… duh. #2.What was your favorite place? Well, that’s a hard one, but I would say my top three would be Ton Sai, Thailand, Jordan, and France. #3. What was the funnest thing you did? We went to see the play Monty Python in London. It rocked. #4. Would you do a trip like this again? NO, not one exactly like this. #5. Where would you like to go back to? Thailand, Israel, Greece ( I want to go to the Island, Kalymnos for the climbing) Nice, and Paris, France. #6. Where do you want to go next? Spain and  Portugal are next on the list. P.S. If you have read this, please don’t ask me the questions that I just answered. 😉  
Written by in A Thousand Words, France, Rebekah 0 Comments
April 24, 2013

Rewards

My eyes got all teary. I almost started to cry. I was so happy! Paris, France – We were in the Louvre. Having just admired the small, but famous Mona Lisa, we turn to leave the room when Rebekah stops and points at the far wall. “Hey, that is a ‘Paradise’. It was painted by one of those 14 famous artists that were commissioned for that competition to replace a piece that was burned in Venice. This is one of those pieces.  Remember?  Tintoretto won the commission, but the piece was finished by his son who screwed it up and painted it wrong. It’s the one we saw in the Doge’s Palace in Venice – the largest oil painting in the world.” IMG_2207 Then we proceeded to the sculptures where Levi points out, after a very quick glance, that we are in the wrong room since, “Hey, these are Greek, not Roman.” IMG_2214 My job is done and the reward is great!! IMG_2213 Jeb says he’ll look like this by end of summer. I’ll rub his toe just for extra measure.
Written by in France, Mom 0 Comments
April 23, 2013

Hallelujah Moment

We visited the Chateau Versailles today. The moment actually came first thing this morning when we stepped outside of our apartment and realized that we should put our sweaters back. We wouldn’t be needing them today. It was 70 deg. and sunny. Haaalleeelujah! P.S. We even all got a bit of a sun burn. Nobody’s complaining.
Written by in France, Mom 1 Comment
April 22, 2013

Budget Air Travel

Once upon a time mortal travelers could afford Eurail Passes.  Almost any mode is cheaper now and many times air is the cheapest of all.  Ticket buyers beware, though, it may not be so simple.  Poking the ‘buy now’ button feels good when the price is 15 Euro. But wait, there’s more…taxes are another 15. If you want to bring a 15 kilo bag that is another 35.  Still, you can fly point to point for around $100 usually.  Not bad! Except that you will embark from a farmer’s barn 40 miles from the nearest town.  The good news is that they will have syphoned all the fuel from his tractors.  It will definitely be enough to fly for at least an hour and allow you make a safe landing at one of the many available WWII auxiliary fields between you and your destination.  Busses will be staged there and for about the price of your airplane ticket they will take you on to the city that you thought you were flying to.  This is good because flying over all the sights so high up there and through a tiny little window the size of an ipad would suck.  It is nice to see some of them through a great big bus window and from ground level which is much closer. Also you get to push and shove for your seat, but that is no big deal because it only cost 15 Euro. xoxxoXoxxoO 🙂
Written by in Logistics, The Big Dad, Travel Tips 0 Comments
April 21, 2013

Yep, Yep, Uh Huh!

We’re tired.  Sarah is tired of wearing the same clothes.  We packed what we needed, remembering that whatever went into each pack had to be carried all the way around the world.  No one considered that wearing the same few clothes for six months would pretty much render them rags.  Rebekah is wishing for her own room where everything has its place and everything is in its place. It is really hard for Levi to gain access to the book or two a day that he consumes.  The “unreasonable” expectation that they be published in English isn’t helpful. Just one little Swedish book and some persistence would probably last him the rest of the trip. I wish that I could make Sarah a consistent cup of coffee each morning and I wish I wasn’t such a grumpy pants.  Our trip has been wonderful and we finish it off in Paris (our last stop). We are mentally prepared to enjoy that city (dangit!), but I am sure it will be with a longing eye turned toward our flight home. IMG_2091 Photo flying away from Sweden…    
Written by in The Big Dad 1 Comment
April 20, 2013

One More Flight

Here’s the thing. I can’t believe that we got away with only one session of this… IMG_2088 And, really, it wasn’t bad at all. We slept fine as it was a very quiet and small airport. We took a bus ride to the airport in the middle of the night. It was awesome because the bus had moose lights and we could see everything anyway. We didn’t see any moose, though. Darn it! Speaking of traveling, here are some interesting numbers for you. These represent ONLY major legs of our tip, not all the “touring about” that happened in between and at each place. We took: 5 rental cars, 7 taxis, 4 boats, 10 planes, 8 trains, 12 busses Metro rides – Too many to count. And leg power… We only have ONE more, long plane ride left!!!!!!!!!!!
Written by in Logistics, Mom, Sweden 0 Comments
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