The past 3 weeks we have been on a 3,100-mile adventure as we made our way from home, through eastern Europe, and back.  It began with a week in Switzerland in the Interlaken area.  While our son experienced the fun of scout camp for a week, the rest of us spent the week in a 400-year-old house in the mountain.  We had some amazing views of the Swiss Alps, and we got to take a few nature hikes to a gorge and to a glacial lake in the mountains.

   

           

     

We also enjoyed some Swiss dining such as fondue, raclette, rosti and an interesting place where we grilled skewers at our place at the table.  And no meal would be complete without some meringue desserts.

Day 1

After our week in the Alps at a slow pace, it was time to pick things up.  We retrieved our son from camp and began our journey to eastern Europe with a long drive through Italy which included 2 rail car transports-an interesting experience sitting in your car being ferried through a dark tunnel in the mountain.

By the late afternoon, we arrived in Slovenia and were treated to scenic, winding roads through densely wooded mountains and small villages alongside rivers and streams.  It was very beautiful although the roads were a bit nerve-racking.

Upon arriving at our rental unit, we were greeted by the host with a glass of her homemade blueberry liquour (a specialty in Slovenia).

We headed off to our first taste of Slovenian food-cottage cheese strukjli (dough filled with cottage cheese), Loska (local beer), ajdovi krapi (buckwheat dumplings stuffed with cottage cheese) and kranjska klobasa (Slovenian sausage).

After a long day of driving, it was time to go to bed.

Day 2

Our second day began with an early morning stop at the local bakery to grab some sweet struklji, apple strudel and a small cake.

With something in our stomachs, we were ready to tackle the Vogar hiking path in Triglav National Park.  The path began in a meadow at the foot of the mountains but quickly became a steep, rocky path up the mountain.

It took us about an hour of straight uphill walking to get to the alpine meadow at the top of the mountain.

After 30 minutes through the meadow, we reached the viewpoint to the lake below.

After enjoying the view, we began to make our way back down the rocky path which was also exhausting.

Once we made it to the bottom, we rewarded our efforts with a lunch stop in a nearby town.  We tried jota (a stew with beans, potatoes and sauerkraut), struklji filled with cottage cheese and breadcrumbs, 2 flavors (plum and herb) of zjange (liquors) and some kremsnita cake for dessert.  Everything was very good.

 

After the enjoyable break from the hiking, we were ready to take on another hike in the afternoon at Vintar Gorge.  The hike was beautiful with really clear water.  Along the way, we saw a lot of fish and barn swallows in the water.  We walked the length of the gorge to the Sum Waterfall at the end.

      

We grabbed a quick snack of potica (poppy seed filled dough).

Then, it was back to hiking to return to the car.  The trail back was through the forested area above the gorge, which was nice, but it was more uphill.  There were some nice views, though.

After completing the hike, we drove around Lake Bled where there are some really lovely spots.

It was time to get some dinner.  We found a cute little place at a gorge area, but they didn’t have many Slovenian dishes.  We were able to try some Slovenian wine and premurska gibanica (layered cake) for dessert.  The layers were poppy seed, apple, dough, etc.  It was pretty nice.

Day 3

On our way out of the area, we stopped at the bakery where we bought a bread that tasted a lot like dirt.  We might have found some pogaca (bread that is cooked in ashes), but we aren’t sure.  But, it was good once you got over the initial surprise of the earthy taste.

While munching our bread, we made our way to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia.  On the drive, we discovered that Slovenia does not have a huge population despite being a good-sized country.  Ljubljana only has about 300,000 people, so it really did not feel like a large, bustling capital.  Upon arriving, we made our way to Neboticnik skyscraper to enjoy the views of the city while having a barley coffee and some lemonade which turned out to be straight lemon juice.

   

After gagging down the lemon juice, we walked into the old town and saw several sites such as bridges (Dragon Bridge), old buildings, and the river.

It was all nice, but nothing was overwhelmingly exciting.  We decided to try a dumpling place for our final Slovenian meal.  We had some plum brandy, ajdovi zganci (buckwheat spoonbread with sour milk), and cottage cheese dumplings.  For dessert, we tried an orange and dark chocolate dumpling and a white chocolate coconut dumpling.  It was all very good, but it was so hot outside that we were ready to move on!

We got back in the car and drove for a few hours to get to Croatia.  Our first stop was Rovijn where it was even hotter!!  We walked along the harbor into the old town and were treated to really nice views along the way.

We walked up the cute, winding streets to a church overlooking the sea and through other narrow streets to a tiny art district that had a small gallery with insect paintings (perfect for one member of our group!) on our way to the port.

We saw some jellyfish and fish in the water around the boats, and everything was very cute, but when we could take the heat and blazing sun no longer, we found a spot for dinner on a shady street.  We tried medica (honey liquour) and biska (mistletoe liquour).  Both were good, but the honey was better as my husband liked to point out since he ordered that one!  We also tried Istrian pasta with shrimp, sea bass and truffle pasta with Istrian ham as well as a local wine.

 

Everything was very good, but the heat was unbearable as it felt like 102 degrees with no escape to air conditioning possible.  We left Rovijn and drove to our overnight apartment which was situated on a large farm property.  It was like an oasis in the middle of nowhere because it was impeccable inside and had air conditioning.  It even had a trampoline which was a big hit with our youngest!

Day 4  

Today, we made our way to the Croatian island of Mali Losinj.  We drove to the ferry and took that across to the start of the island chain.

We had nice views throughout the drive, and once we arrived in Mali and got checked in, we were ready to find some lunch.  We found a really nice place on a side street of the port area.

We started with some local cheese and bread along with a local beer and white wine called Malvazija.  Then for our main course, we had buzara mussels (a special broth that the mussels are cooked in), pasticada (marinated beef with gnocchi), and truffle pasta.  We decided to finish with a local dessert which was a sweet ravioli with a berry sauce.  It was really a nice meal.

                   

After lunch, we went to the island’s aromatic garden.  Due to the summer temperatures, most of the plants were not blooming, but you could still get a hint of the smell.  There were some sheep at the garden, and the kids enjoyed petting them.

After the heat of the garden, we were ready to jump into the sea to cool down.  We found a nice, shaded beach, but while it was beautiful, the water was still a bit chilly.  So, since we didn’t want to get all the way in and swim, we spent a lot of time looking at the sea life around the rocks near the shoreline.  The kids had a great time picking up tons of hermit crabs and letting them crawl all over them.  The water was clear enough to see them easily and to see other fish, urchins and flora on the rocks.

 

After cleaning up from the beach, we went to dinner at the port.  We had some pag skir (sheep cheese) and both medica (honey liquour) and loza (grape liquour).  The boys tried some seafood pasta and calamari while the girls went vegetarian.  The food was okay.

After dinner, we walked along the port and found a giant crab in the water near the boats as well as several smaller ones on the dock steps.  We got some ice cream which was pretty good and watched a show in the main area with baton twirlers and a concert band playing lots of recognizable classics.  It was a lot of fun as the weather was perfect and many of people of all ages were out having fun and dancing at the concert.  While no one really wanted to leave, we had an early day planned the next day in order to beat the heat, so we needed to get to sleep.

Day 5

We managed to make it out early to walk the Path of Vitality from Mali Losinj to Veli Losinj, the next island.  The path was a nice, albeit hot, walk along the shoreline and through some forest areas.  Veli was a cute little port area with some historic buildings.

From there, we walked a bit further to an even smaller fishing village called Rovenska.

By this point, it was time to walk back and try to cool off a little before going to lunch at the port.  We found a nice place serving local beer and Teran (local red wine), though it was so hot, I’m not sure how we managed to drink it!  For our meal, we had the sheep cheese followed by mussels buzara, fried calamari and a four-mushroom pasta.  Dessert was a really nice trifle of figs, prosecco, mascarpone cheese and cookies.

     

In the afternoon, we walked to a different beach.  Though we did find some crabs there, it wasn’t quite as fun as the one from the day before.  It was nice to have a chance to cool off though.

After cleaning up, we went to dinner at the port where we had white wine, Hugo Spritz (this is my new summer drink of choice!), medica and sheep cheese.  Our main meal was truffle suplice (pasta), pasta with scampi and caviar and some pizza.  We finished with a cherry brandy called Maraschino (really nice).

        

After dinner, we walked along the port and realized they were having a maritime festival.  So, we grabbed an ice cream and watched a few of the acts including some traditional dancers accompanied by a traditional bagpiper and some accapella singers.  We watched the sun set over the harbor before heading to bed.

Day 6

Today, it was time for us to leave the islands and head back to the mainland.  On our way back to the ferry dock, we saw a ton of Griffon vultures flying in the air.  They are endangered, and this is one of the last places that they can be found in Croatia, so it was really cool to see so many.

After making our way back to the mainland, we began our drive south toward Split.  On the way, we made a stop at Krka National Park.  We enjoyed a nice hike to view the Skradinski waterfall.  The area along the way was pretty with lots of little streams, falls and lakes filled with fish, ducks and dragonflies.  At the waterfall, we even saw a small snake in a little stream.

After the park, we drove the rest of the way into Split.  The city was much bigger and had more of a ritzy, party vibe.  We went to a ridiculously expensive restaurant by mistake, so we just ordered some appetizers and went to walk along the port past all the big yachts.

Day 7

Today began bright and early with an hour-long speed ferry to Bol on Brac Island.  After arriving, we walked along the port and the promenade to the dive shop that we would be using for the day’s activities.  We took a boat across the channel to a bay where our two divers went on a dive and the other two of us went snorkeling.  There were lots of sea cucumbers and small fish as well as some vegetation to be seen from the surface.  The divers saw an octopus.

After an hour or so in the water, we took the boat back to Bol where we enjoyed lunch on the beach.  Our youngest played in the water while we ate a cheese board appetizer.  For the main course, we had some really good scampi gyoza and scallops in cheese as well as some vegetable risotto.  To cap off the meal, we tried Rogac (carob liquour) and Orahovica (walnut liquour).

Then, it was back on the boat to go to a different bay for another snorkeling and dive session.  This time, the divers saw 3 octopi, scorpion fish, nudibranchs and fire worms.  Snorkeling revealed more interesting fish and really huge sea cucumbers as well as a glimpse of two nudibranchs.

After returning to Bol, we made our way back to Split via the ferry and to a late dinner where we had Hugo Spritz and wine, truffle pasta, clams buzara and sea bass.  For dessert, we tried a filled pancake and a Snicker ball.

Day 8

We decided to sleep in this morning and go to the beach for an hour and a half mid-morning.  It was so incredibly hot outside that it was just nice to stand in the water.

In the afternoon, we braved the heat to go to the old town of Split.  It was a bit interesting because from the outside you only see the wall of a city, so we didn’t expect there to be an entire city behind the walls.  It was quite large, and there were a lot of shops and restaurants hidden behind the walls.  We saw an old bell tower, palace, town hall, town squares and winding streets.

        

After wandering around for a while, we got some dinner which was okay.  We had scampi buzara, but we didn’t really enjoy having to shell everything, and there wasn’t actually much food there.  We did try some Dalmatian style Swiss chard and potato dish.

After dinner, we went to the other side of the harbor and walked past all the fancy yachts.  Some of them were unbelievable.

Day 9

We started early this morning in order to enter Plitvice National Park as all of the later time slots were already booked.  We walked Trail C through the upper and lower lakes of the park.  There were tons of waterfalls and clear turquoise water everywhere.  It was very pretty.  We even saw a little nature-lots of fish and a mouse.  We walked for an hour along the lower lakes before taking a boat on the large lake to the upper lakes.  Then, we walked for another hour or so before grabbing a quick lunch and taking the bus back to the entrance.

     

After the park, we drove into our destination for the day-Rastoke.  Rastoke is a city on a river with a bunch of waterfalls.  We decided to walk around Rastoke in the afternoon.  We started by walking along the river to see several of the falls.  The path was so hot, it felt like we were cooking.

         

We decided to go into the middle of the village to visit the museum.  We saw an old mill and an old washing machine.

   

We saw several falls viewpoints and a cotton/textile museum.

We walked through the little fairy garden, and the boys went to explore the cave/canyon, but it was just so miserably hot that we decided to go to dinner early just to get some drinks.

For dinner, we had some Croatian beer (Ozujsko) and wine from Slunj (the city we were staying in).  We tried a local cheese platter.  None of the food was too exciting, but one person did get bear meat goulash, and we tried potatoes from the dome (peka-a dish which is slow cooked under a clay dome).  For the dessert, we tried something called Miller’s cake (a polenta base and a cream top) and a cheese strudel.  We also tried a liqueur made from quince, but really, it was just too hot for anything.

   

Day 10

Today, we said goodbye to Croatia and made our way to Budapest, Hungary.  As we arrived in the city, we had a great view of the Parliament building coming across a bridge and past Margaret’s Island.  We found a spot for lunch-Gundel’s.  Apparently, the founder was quite a revolutionary on the food scene when he started it in the early 1900’s.  We started with a paprika, onion and cottage cheese spread with bread and had a nice, although hot, lunch of chicken paprikash and a paprika sausage dish along with a local IPA.  It was all good, but the dessert was really nice.  We had Gundel pancake (a pancake with ground nuts and orange filling) and Somloi galuska (a trifle cake).  We also tried apricot Palinka, a Hungarian spirit.

       

After lunch, we walked to Hero’s Square where we also saw a really cool castle in the distance.

From there, we drove down Andrassy Avenue to our apartment.  After getting settled and learning we did not have air conditioning (a major disappointment), we went out to see the Opera house, St. Stephen’s Basilica and a nice avenue heading toward the Chain Bridge over the Danube.

 

Along the Danube, we saw the shoes monument to those shot along the banks of the Danube during WWII.

From here, we walked to the Parliament building and the Justice building.  During the walk, my oldest taught me all about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 which she had researched for school during the past year.

After our walk around the city admiring the statues and architecture, we went to dinner in what seriously felt like an oven.  The meal was inside a slightly underground restaurant with no windows or anything for ventilation.  I really thought we were going to melt.  The food was good though.  We had some local beer and hortobagyi palascinta (a chicken stuffed pancake) to start.  Then, we tried stuffed cabage rolls, rantott sajt (fried cheese), mushroom paprika and schnitzel.  To finish, we had a sour cherry strudel and chestnut puree which was really nice.  We also tried Unicum which is another local spirit-interesting taste.

            

Day 11

We began the day with an early morning walk to Dohany Street Synagogue.  Along the way, we stopped and got some pogacsa from a bakery.  They were kind of like small biscuits.

After the history lesson the other day, our oldest asked if it would be possible to walk to the Magyar radio station, the site of the student protests and massacre in 1956 during the revolution.  As it’s always great when there is a chance to see something that the kids have learned about for school, we made our way there.  It is really just a marker on a building, but it was good to incorporate it into the itinerary.  Next, we went to the City Market, a large indoor market filled with various stalls.  We spent a little time looking at some souvenir items and then moved on.

We walked across the Danube using a cool looking bridge on our way to Buda Castle.

After taking the funicular up to the castle, we had some nice views of the city.

 

We walked around the area of the castle and went into a gallery.  We learned about the history of Budapest which was interesting.

From there, we walked to Fisherman’s Bastion.  There we saw Matthius Church which was very ornate and had a colorful, mosaic roof.

   

The Bastions were pretty and interesting looking.  It kind of looked like an area of Disneyland.

   

We went back down on the funicular and across the Danube to lunch.  We found a place with tables along the street and sat down to some local beer and cold raspberry soup (which was nice considering how hot it was).  Then, we had turos csusza (noodles with cottage cheese) and kaposztas testza (noodles with cabbage) which was really good.  We also tried mushroom paprikash and beef stew.  For dessert, we had Somloi galuska.

 

After lunch, we went to St. Stephen’s Basilica to see the inside.  It had a nice dome ceiling and lots of heavy marble.  Interestingly, we discovered that it also contains the mummified fist of Stephen, the first king of Hungary, in a glass case.

In the evening, we went to dinner where we had goulash soup and a garlic soup with langos (fried bread).  They were both good.  Then, the main dish came, and I can’t even begin to describe how awful it was-spaetzle with scrambled egg.  I do not recommend.  On the other hand, my husband liked his Hungarian stew and local Chardonnay.

 

Day 12

Today, we headed to Slovakia.  After all the heat in the other countries, we were ready to get to a country where the temperatures promised to not rise much above 80 degrees.  As we made our way out of Hungary, we enjoyed the fields of sunflowers that went on as far as the eye could see (hard to really capture in a picture).

Our initial impressions of Slovakia were a bit mixed.  We drove through a lot of little, shanty looking villages on our way to Brezno, where we were staying.

Our first stop was a restaurant recommended by our apartment host in the city.  The restaurant was up a hill in the mountains and had nice views.  We started the meal with a fruity Radler beer that almost everyone in the place was drinking and a Czech beer along with a cheese platter that was delicious.  It had smoked cheese knots, garlic cheese strips, paprika cheese strips and regular cheese pieces.  For our meal, we had bryndzova halusky (dumplings (almost spaetzle like) in a cheese sauce), nemiakovy placky (potato pancakes), polievka (garlic soup), vyprazany syr (fried cheese), and a porkloin stuffed with potato and wrapped in bacon.  To finish the meal, we tried a Slovakian digestif called Slivovica.

     

We also bought a box of Slovakian cookies at the restaurant shop.

After dropping everything at our apartment, we went to Bystrianska Cave.  It was a smallish cave, but it had a variety of interesting formations.

 

In the evening, we went to dinner at a restaurant with a nice hillside view.  We tried Kofola soda, potato pancake, sztrapacska (dumplings with cabbage) and bryndzove halusky (the cheese dumplings).  We also tried a tatratea digestif.  It is a tea based herbal liqueur.  It had an interesting taste.  For dessert, we had a pancake stuffed with ice cream.

          

Day 13

Today was an exhausting and physically demanding day.  We began at 8:45am on the Chopok trail in the Low Tatras National Park.

For one hour, we walked about 400 meters straight up the side of a mountain.  There were some nice wildflowers along the way, but the path was hard and a bit scary as it felt like you might fall backwards at times.

   

At the top of that mountain, we stopped for a snack and to rest.  We had some apple strudel and a dumpling filled with jam and sprinkled with chocolate.  It was nice, but we had to move on to the next phase.

For the next hour and a half, we gained another 500 meters or so.  It was hard and straight up but through a pretty wooded area.  The last 100 meters was pure rock going straight up which was hard.

 

At the top, we had lunch of cabbage soup and potato pancake, snitzel and fried cheese.  We had some beer and Kofola soda, too.  To reward ourselves (we thought the worst was over-laughing hysterically), we got another dumpling filled with jam, but this one was covered in vanilla sauce.

   

The next stage of the trail was a rocky path on the edge of the mountain.  It took us several hours, and, at times, it was pretty scary (it’s never great when hiking to wonder how many people may have died on the trail).  The views were nice, and there was hardly anyone else on the trail after a certain point.  Toward the end of this section, the path went upward which was exhausting after already hiking for several hours.

 

Finally, we reached the point of descent, but the path was awful.  It was a dried-up water flow bed with tons of rocks. The flowers around the area were nice, but we had to watch where we stepped, and by that point we were so tired, we barely noticed the plants.  It took us about 2 hours to get down the mountain.

          

The end of the hike was nice.  It passed through a forested area with little waterfalls and a stream.  At 7:30pm, we exited the forest, and we were so happy to finish!

 

We made it to a restaurant about an hour before closing, and we were thrilled to sit down and eat.  We had some Slovakian wine, the cheese sauce dumplings and a dumpling (like pierogi) filled with blueberries and topped with tons of poppy seeds and melted butter.  It was really good.

 

Day 14

We woke and weren’t crippled from our hike, so the day was off to a good start!  We got on the road early to visit Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia.  We saw several points of interest there such as the old town hall and square, St. Michael’s Gate, the Blue Church and St. Martin’s Cathedral.

          

We had lunch in the city of sheep cheese dumplings, halusky and fried cheese.  We had a Slovakian beer and Borovika, a juniper spirit.

     

We stopped at a bakery in the city and got Bratislavsky Rozok (walnut and poppy seed filled pastries).  We also tried some little pastries filled with jam and cheese.

Then, we hit the road again to get to Dresden, Germany where we planned to spend the night.  Once in Dresden, we went dinner at a restaurant on the main square where we had some Weisen beer, pretzel, cheese spaetzle with fried onions and schnitzel.  The meal was really good, but as a glorious end to the trip, they had our favorite German dessert which we haven’t had in almost 5 years-shredded pancake.  For those that can remember back to our first trip post, we almost lost our minds over shredded pancake at a mountain top restaurant in the south of Germany.  We had hoped to drive through the town where we had eaten it during this trip in order to get some, but before we left home, we found out that the restaurant had closed.  So, you can imagine how excited we were to find it in Dresden.  And, despite the fact that it was raining as we huddled under our umbrellaed table to eat it, it was delicious!

Day 15

Before leaving the city, we took an hour to walk around and see the center of Dresden.  There are some really nice buildings in the city, although they were all apparently destroyed in a bombing toward the end of WWII that also killed 25,000 civilians.  We grabbed some pastry while enjoying the sites before getting back on the road to bring the trip to a close.

     

After 3 weeks away from home, we were kind of ready to get back.  The trip was a lot of fun, and we always love getting to experience new things together as a family but living out of a suitcase for 3 weeks gets tiring.  Nonetheless, we were really glad to get to experience eastern Europe, and we would definitely consider going back to some of the places we visited in the future (just maybe not during a heat wave)!

With a long weekend looming and a guest from out of town visiting, we decided to take advantage of the extra days off and head to Tuscany.  While we had been there before, our guest had not, and so we made plans to fly into Bologna, visit there for a few hours and then spend a couple of days in Florence.  However, life had different plans because our morning flight got canceled which caused us to then only get to Bologna at night.  So, rather than spend any time there, we drove straight on to Florence.

On our first full day, we started off with a pastry and a cappuccino before heading past the Florence Cathedral on the way to the Galleria dell’Accademia to see the one and only David. He was quite large and really impressive in his degree of detail.

In addition to the famous statue, we saw many other statues and artworks, including this really pretty tapestry, before leaving the museum and walking to the Palazzo Vecchio for a cannoli, torta del nonno and another cappuccino.

The torta del nonno was really good!  After the quick break for our feet, we walked across the Ponte Vecchio amid a sea of umbrellas, as it drizzled and was cloudy the entire weekend, before making our way to Pitti Palace.  We walked through the palace exploring the rooms and the artwork and escaping the heaviest of the rain before heading into the Boboli Gardens for a quick walk.

After the palace and gardens, we made our way to a sidewalk restaurant for lunch.  We had some caprese and Tuscan cheeses before the main course of gnocchi with gorgonzola and walnut sauce, tagliatelle tartufo, tagliatelle porcini and ribollita with some Chianti.

After lunch, we stopped for a really nice gelato, and then went to rest for a bit before going out to dinner that evening.  Our dinner meal began with some bruschetta before we enjoyed pici cacio e pepe which was so good.  We finished with some tiramisu and cantuccini with vin santo and a little limoncello.  It was a nice meal.

Our second day, we went to see some more famous artwork at the Uffizi Gallery including Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, Caravaggio’s Medusa, and Titian’s Venus of Urbino.

There were also a lot of sculptures.  It was nice, but really quite big.  After the museum, we decided to see a bit more of Tuscany by heading to Lucca.  The city was nice and had some old world charm, though we struggled to find many food choices for the vegetarian members of our party.  In the end, we settled on buffala and quatro formaggio pizzas.  We spent a couple of hours walking around the city seeing the open squares, small winding streets and cathedrals including one with a wedding taking place.

After driving back to Florence, we went to dinner in an outside square where we had a little Aperol Spritz and Chianti along with gnocchi and cacio e pepe.

And being that it was our last night, we also had to have another tiramisu as well as a dessert we had never tried- zuccotto florentine which was really good!

We finished the meal with an amaro del capo and a limoncello.  We walked the meal off a bit, stopped and bought a leather bag, and may or may not have stopped for one final small gelato.

The next day we caught an early flight back home before our waistlines could expand any more.  All in all, while the travel plans and the weather didn’t really cooperate with us, it was a nice, quick trip.  Bellissimo!

Last week being our spring break, we decided to head north where the weather was certainly not better than home, but we got to enjoy Edinburgh and the Scottish Highlands.

Day 1

We took a morning flight to Edinburgh and made our way into the heart of the city via the tram.  Once there, we went to lunch at a pub where we jumped right in and tried haggis as an appetizer.  Surprisingly, it was really good-just don’t think too hard about what it is.  Surviving that, we got a pint of Scottish beer and vegetarian haggis, neeps and tatties (turnips and potatoes) as well as fish and chips for our main meal.  We also decided to try a few whiskies since we were in Scotland after all.  The bartender recommended some that are good for beginners, and also surprisingly, they were good and not too strong for our tastes.  To complete our meal, we had to order sticky toffee pudding as it is a favorite of ours.

Everything was really good, and with our first meal down, we headed into the old town.  Our first stop was the Scott Monument built for Sir Walter Scott.  Interestingly enough, the monument was not intended to be black, but all the coal that was burned in the city over the years turned it black.

Our next point of interest was St. Giles Cathedral.  It was quite nice inside with interesting architecture and stained glass.

From here, we walked to the Writer’s Museum with memorabilia about Walter Scott, Robert Burns and Robert Louis Stevenson-all Scottish writers.

Then, we walked up the Royal Mile to the Edinburgh Castle and back down.  We stopped in a few shops along the way and took in all the unique people walking the streets.  I truly have never seen so many interesting and unique individuals concentrated in one location before.

After checking into our apartment, we went to get some dinner at a restaurant around the corner.  There, we had vegetarian wellington, vegan shepherd’s pie and vegetarian haggis.  We all liked it.

On our way back to the apartment, we stopped at some of the buildings of the University of Edinburgh which was directly across from our apartment.  Then, we headed in for the night to try some of the candies we bought during the day-Edinburgh rock, Scottish tablet, Soor Plooms and some shortbread.  Everything was nice but the tablet sure was sugary!

Day 2

Today, we started with a big breakfast- a full Scottish which included haggis, eggs, mushrooms, tomato, bread, hashbrown, beans and tattie (potato) scone.  Most of us got the vegetarian version, but one got the regular and it also included black pudding.  We tried a little strawberries and cream tea with it as well.

After breakfast, we took a taxi to the outskirts of the city to visit Craigmillar Castle.  Some areas are not open to the public, but we walked through what is.  There wasn’t a lot to see, but we did see the room that belonged to Mary Queen of Scots when she recovered from an illness there and the area where her second husband, Lord Darnley, was killed.

Near the grounds, there was a small nature area that we walked through before getting back into the heart of the city for lunch in another pub.

We began the lunch with Irn Bru sodas for the kids and beer and a hot toddy for the grownups.  We also tried a cheese platter with relishes and oatcakes.  For the main meal, we got the vegetarian bangers and mash, fish and chips, a pork pie and Cullen skink soup which was really good.  For our dessert, we had to try the famed fried Mars bars-if you enjoy fried things, then it wasn’t too shabby.

After lunch, we walked to Holyrood Palace.

This is where the royal family (as in the British one) stay when they are in Scotland.  We walked through several rooms and saw some “treasures” such as jewelry, swords and mementos.  We also saw the rooms that had belonged to Mary Queen of Scots and Lord Darnley.  We walked out to the abbey ruins on the grounds and the garden.

Next, we made our way to Holyrood Park where we decided to sit around a lake with tons of swans, gulls, pigeons and ducks for a bit.

On our way back to our apartment, we stopped at the Greyfriar Bobby monument-a tribute to the dog who laid at his master’s grave every night for about 14 years before he died.

We also walked through the graveyard there which is where J.K. Rowling found inspiration for some of her characters’ names in the Harry Potter series.

For dinner, we decided to try a Brazilian place by our apartment.  Let’s just say we weren’t impressed.

Day 3

Today, we headed out of the city to the Highlands, so we grabbed a quick breakfast of cheese and onion pasties and a Scottish pie and got on our bus.

After driving for a while, our first stop was the small village of Pitlochry where we grabbed a quick snack of a tattie scone roll and caramel slice.

Back on the road, we drove through the Cairngorms National Park on our way to Inverness and Loch Ness.

We had a lunch on the edge of the loch of stovies (potato and other veggies stewed and mashed together) before boarding the boat to sail down the loch.

No sightings of Nessie but we did have some nice views before getting off at Urquhart Castle.  The castle was mainly just ruins, but we were able to walk around the area for a while enjoying some views before heading in the visitor center to watch a short film about the site.

Once we were back on the bus, we drove toward Ben Nevis-the highest point in Scotland.

We also stopped in Glencoe to see three hills referred to as the sister hills.

The views along the way were very pretty with waterfalls, mountains, hills, lochs, streams, fields and a huge peat bog called Rannoch Moor.

We saw several deer along the way including the Red Deer.  The tour did make a stop to feed some Highland Cows, but as we see them all the time near our home, we decided to watch the lambs in the fields nearby.  They were pretty cute!

On our way back to the city, we drove by Bannock Burn, the battlefield site of Robert the Bruce’s victory against the English, and we could see the site of William Wallace’s victory of Stirling Bridge in the distance.  It was a day of very nice scenery and no less than four rainbows!

Day 4

Breakfast was once again the full Scottish breakfast for most of the family, but I tried the porridge with fruit and honey which was really good along with some blood orange marmalade tea.

Then, we boarded our next tour which was a shorter day to the Borders in the south of the country.  Unlike the day before, the scenery here consisted of very wide, open, sweeping views.  It was still very hilly, though.  Everything was very green and looked pastoral with all the sheep.  We made a brief stop at what is known as Scott’s view (a place that Sir Walter Scott enjoyed visiting) and then headed into the town of Melrose to see Melrose Abbey.

Most of the abbey was closed for safety reasons so there wasn’t too much to see, but we had lunch in the town.

After lunch, we made our way to Rosslyn Chapel.  The chapel is quite small, but it has so many carvings and details.  The carvings are very symbolic and pretty.

We stopped in the museum café to have some scones with jam and cream before driving back to Edinburgh.

We went to dinner which was not that special, but we did have a cider and a whisky flight which was nice, and we tried cranachan (berries and cream) for dessert which was good.

Day 5

Today was our final tour out of the city.  Our first stop was the Kelpies which is a large metal monument to the horses that used to work pulling the boats down the canal in the area as well as the mythical creatures known as kelpies that take the form of a horse.

From there, we made our way to Loch Lomond for a cruise on the loch.  The views were pretty, and there were lots of nice “homes” along the shoreline.  These “homes” were large estates and castles-some privately owned, some hotels and some owned by foundations.  There was also a huge snowy mountain in the distance.

After the loch cruise, we went into a small town where we got some lunch of Scotch Broth and some whisky fudge.

After lunch, we drove through the Trossachs National Park.  The views were really great with hills, mountains, forested roads, lochs, streams and fields with tons of sheep and lambs.  It was very enjoyable to just look out the window!

Our next stop was Stirling Castle which had some interesting bits of history as it was built by Mary Queen of Scots’s father for her mother, and it was where her son was baptized.

I really enjoyed seeing the Stirling Faces which were the old wooden carvings that used to be on the ceiling of one of the rooms as well as the kitchens where they had information on things that they used to serve including recipes.

While we were at the castle, we got caught in a hail/snow storm that was immediately followed by full sun.  Once the sun came back out, we were able to get some good views of the William Wallace monument at Stirling Bridge as well as a statue commemorating Robert the Bruce.

With a few minutes to spare before our tour bus headed out, we ran down into the town of Stirling to see a unicorn (national animal of Scotland) statue which used to signal the site of a royal market and a cool old church with graveyard.

Our final stop of the day was a photo stop at the three bridges in Edinburgh that span the Firth of Forth-the Queens Ferry Crossing, the Forth Road Bridge and the Forth Bridge.  Interestingly, each was built in a different century-the 19^th, 20^th and 21^st.

After returning, we went to dinner where some of us got things we had before while others got sausages and mash (both vegetarian and regular).  We also tried a couple of whiskies, a beer and treacle for dessert.

Day 6

Our final day was a rainy one, but we made it to Deacon’s House Café for a breakfast of scones with cream and jam and an orange cake which was good.

We also learned a little about the café.  It was once the workshop of Deacon Brodie who was a cabinet maker by day and a burglar by night.  He is said to be the inspiration for the story of Jekyll and Hyde.  After breakfast, we went on a tour of the underground vaults of Edinburgh which was both a bit interesting and a bit spooky.  Apparently, many criminals and homeless used to live in the vaults centuries ago.  At one point, the city was on fire for many days and all of the people living underground died because they were trapped, and the stone walls heated up.  Therefore, it is thought to be very haunted but really it was just hard to imagine people living in those conditions.

After the tour, it was still raining, so we rode the hop on and off bus around the city for an hour or so to take in some more views of the city.

We then found a place for lunch where we had vegetarian haggis and cock a leekie terrine.  We also tried two whisky flights-a mild one and a seaweed and smoke flight which was pretty interesting and good.  For dessert, we tried a rhubarb cranachan and toffee pudding.

Finally, the rain stopped so we walked to St. Cuthbert’s cathedral.  We couldn’t go inside, but we walked around the graveyard.

Then, we collected our bags and made our way to the airport.  However, we were in for a surprise when they canceled our flight an hour and a half before departure.  After struggling to get everything sorted, we made our way to an airport hotel feeling a bit frustrated.  Interestingly enough though, once in our room, we saw a huge double rainbow that was so bright and vivid it was unreal!

I wish I could tell you that the rainbow signaled that all would be fine-good luck ahead.  Unfortunately, the next day we got a call that our dog was unwell at the boarders with a herniated disk, our daughter threw up 7 times from the moment we stepped onto the skywalk to board the plane until the car ride home from the airport (that’s only about a 3-hour time span) and the windshield of our month-old car got chipped on the way to pick up our animals.  But we arrived home in one piece, and we all had a nice time on our trip, so we can’t complain too much!  Until next time!

The Netherlands in February is cold and dreary, so when it came time to plan our February break, we wanted to go somewhere warm and sunny.  We couldn’t think of a better place than one that we had all been wanting to visit for many years-Egypt! 

When we arrived at night and walked out of the airport, we knew we had made a good choice because it was warm outside.  We were taken to our hotel, and once we got into our rooms, we found that we had an amazing view of the Nile and the city.

Day 1

The next morning, we woke to find that our alarm did not go off, so we jumped up and quickly got ready and ate something-not the best first meal because of the rush.  But, we met our guide on time and headed to Memphis, a 5,000-year-old city that was an ancient capital of Egypt.  Here, we saw a small sphinx, several different pieces with hieroglyphics and a mumification bed (where they would lay the body and drain bodily fluids). 

And then, we saw the giant statue of Ramses II.  The amount of detail on it was so impressive especially considering it was carved into a massive red granite block and made 3,200 years ago!

Our next stop was Saqqara where we toured the complex of the burial site and learned a lot about the features of such a complex such as the funerary temple, the mummification temple and the causeway.  We saw the first step pyramid (built 4,600) years ago and went into the tomb of King Teti.  The tomb is difficult to enter as you descend downward bent over because the ceiling is low.  Inside the tomb, we saw the first burial texts (hieroglyphics) that were later featured in all tombs. 

In another area of Saqqara, we saw the tomb of a member of nobility built as a mastaba-square tomb.  The ornate and intricate carvings depicted so much, particularly scenes of daily life, and the detail was amazing.  There was actually some color left in the carvings though they are 4,300 years old!

Next, we went to the Great Pyramids which are around 4,500 years old and are the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  We walked around all three pyramids and learned a lot about them.  It was interesting to see the size of the stones used to build them. 

We made our way to a restaurant overlooking the pyramids for our lunch.  We had some aish baladi bread that was being made on site by an older woman.  The bread was very soft and chewy. 

We also had some quinoa salad with hummus.  The meal featured a pyramid shaped mound of rice with veggie tajine and moussaka tajine.  We also tried some karkadeh tea which is made from hibiscus.  We finished with some traditional rice pudding.  Everything was really good and very filling. 

 

After lunch, we went to see the Great Sphinx and went to the only surviving Valley Temple (mummification tomb) of ancient Egypt.  We learned all about mummification and the Sphinx before returning to the hotel. 

We tried a national dish of Egypt for dinner-koshary.  They have restaurants that only serve koshary because the dish consists of many components and the best koshary comes from restaurants that specialize in only that because they can take the time to make all of the components well.  The dish has pasta, lentils, chickpeas, a tomato-based sauce and fried onions.  We had a fun demonstration from one of the workers on how to put the dish together.  It was delicious!  He also gave us some kind of chip to eat with our dinner, and we tried om ali (a very milky bread pudding) for dessert before heading back to the hotel for the night. 

Day 2

This morning, we had a more leisurely breakfast of ta’amiyya (falafel), foul medames (smashed and whole fava beans), an olive pastry and fiteer bread.  Everything was pretty good.  

We met up with our guide to head to the Citadel where we learned a lot about the Mamelukes (former slaves who ended up running the country) and Mohammed Ali (not the boxer, but rather an Egyptian ruler).  

We toured the large mosque and saw the tomb of Mohammed Ali. 

Then, we moved to the Mosque of Sultan Hassan.  It had some really pretty design elements.  We went into the mausoleum and there was a Sheikh inside who sang part of a prayer for us.  It was really cool to hear in the room. 

Next, we visited another mosque across from Sultan Hassan’s that was built by a woman.  There were a lot of royal tombs inside including one for the last king of Egypt and the last Shah of Iran.  Cairo is called the city of a thousand minarets referring to the number of mosques that they have.  Indeed, there were so many more than what we saw, and they all come with their own design elements and style based on when they were constructed.  

 

After the mosques, we went to lunch where we had stuffed vine leaves, bessara (fava bean dip), spicy cheese dip and tahini with bread.  We also tried some lentil soup.  The main dish was molokhiyya which is a soup made from jute leaves, okra tajine and spinach tajine. It was all very tasty.

After lunch, we visited the Egyptian Museum.  Out front, they had a pretty display of papyrus and lotus, the two symbols representing Upper and Lower Egypt. 

Inside, they had an amazing amount of 3,000-4,000-year-old artifacts.  We saw some really amazing statues including a life like wooden one, a huge one and some strangely shaped ones.  We also saw the mummies of some noble people. 

And, the crème de la crème-the treasure of King Tut’s tomb including his death mask.  It was really cool to see!  We even got to see the box housing the vessels that contained his organs. 

After the museum, we went to Ancient Cairo to walk through the Khan El Khalili Bazar where, luckily, the merchants were not too pushy.  The bazar was a neat experience especially on the quiet streets with all the Islamic architecture as a backdrop.  We walked the streets looking at mosques, various dwellings and water dispensaries.  We loved seeing the kids on bikes and mopeds with giant wooden trays on their heads loaded with breads-a real feat in balance!

On the way back to the hotel, we drove by a huge daily market.  The size was incredible considering it happens every day but Friday (weekend there). 

We made our way to dinner where we had falafel, bessara, tahini, grape leaves and rice stuffed pigeon.  Pigeon really has very little meat.  We had another rice pudding and om ali for dessert. 

Day 3

After sleeping in a bit, we went down to breakfast where someone important must have been eating because there were secret service type agents all over the breakfast room.  When we finished and were leaving the hotel, there was also a huge convoy of cars out front with special Egyptian forces escorts. 

We made our way to the Civilizations Museum.  The highlight there was about 21 royal mummies including Nefertari and Hatshepsut.  The preservation after 3,000 years is unbelievable-some even have hair in good condition!  We also saw some amazing artifacts including a 35,000-year-old skeleton.  They had some nice Islamic architecture designs and a tent like case that was placed on camels’ backs and used to carry the curtains for Mecca that were made in Egypt. 

In the afternoon, we flew to Luxor where we had another amazing view of the Nile. 

The hotel had a Lebanese restaurant inside an open courtyard, so we ate there.  While we at some hummus, muhmarra (pepper dip), tahini, samousek and grape vines, we watched some dance performers.  After the main dish of spinach tajine and some fatteh, our son was invited to perform onstage with the dancers.  That was fun! 

After dinner, we walked to some artisan shops in our hotel and while it was a bit uncomfortable with the pressure to buy, the oil guy did give us some testers which smelled nice. 

Day 4

The next day, we woke up to a view of hot air balloons flying over Luxor. 

We had some eggplant, bread and foul (fava beans) for breakfast before boarding a small boat on the Nile to take us to the other bank.

On the other side, we made our way to the Valley of the Kings.  On the way, we drove through the agricultural area and saw these sun-dried tomatoes being dried. 

We drove by the Valley of the Workers (the tombs of those that worked on the Kings’ tombs) before arriving at the Valley of the Kings. 

We got to see three tombs while we were there- Ramses I, Ramses III and Ramses IV.  They were so colorful and elaborate.  It was really hard to remember that they were 3,000 years old.

Next, we went to the Temple of Hatshepsut who was a female pharaoh.  She has a very interesting story, but basically, she ruled after her husband died by sending her stepson (the rightful heir) away to be educated.  When he grew up and returned, he had her temple desecrated (she was already dead) because he realized she had taken the throne from him.  This temple, which was simply used to mummify her body and is not her tomb, is what remains and it’s hard to imagine what it would have been like if it hadn’t been destroyed. 

After leaving the temple, we stopped at an alabaster shop for a demonstration on how they turn the alabaster into various products. 

Then, the Valley of the Queens where we saw the tombs of Queen Titi and her two sons that died at 14 and 16.  There is also the mummified 6-month fetus that she was carrying when her sons died and lost due to the grief.  Again, the colors and details were amazing.

We made a quick stop at the Colossi of Memnon which stand at the entrance to what was once another pharaoh’s mortuary temple.  The temple and much of the other statues were destroyed in an ancient earthquake and the Greeks found these statues and named them this after the noises they make when the wind blows through them.

We had lunch at a nearby restaurant that served hummus, muhamarra, lentil soup and vegetable tajine along with some guava juice.

After lunch, we visited the Temple of Karnak which was just so huge and impressive with hieroglyphics everywhere.  Again, we were just amazed at the level of preservation after 3,000 years. 

We stopped at a papyrus shop for a demonstration of how papyrus paper is made which was interesting, and we looked around at the different art they make on papyrus. 

Our final stop was the Temple of Luxor which was also huge.  We saw the Avenue of Sphinxes and many interesting statues and carvings. 

Back at the hotel, we took in the views of the sun setting on the Nile while enjoying some juice drinks like strawberry juice and lemon juice. 

Back in our room, we sat on the balcony and watched a bunch of bats flying around which was fun.

Day 5

Our day was mostly spent flying from Luxor back to Cairo and then from Cairo to Sharm-el-Sheikh.  We then drove for an hour or so through the Sinai Desert on our way to Dahab.  Our day never really ended because at 11:30pm, we were picked up by our guide to head to Mt. Sinai.

Day 6

The day began at 11:30pm the day before as we drove through the desert toward Mt. Sinai.  We reached the mountain (also referred to as Moses Mountain) at about 1am and began hiking at 1:30am.  That’s right-we hiked up the mountain all night with a Bedouin guide.  It took us about three and a half hours with frequent breaks to climb up the rocky sand slopes and the 750 steep rock steps to reach the summit which was about a 6-mile hike. 

Most of the journey we were by ourselves as the majority of people rode camels to the bottom of the steps.  One of the best parts was resting on a rocky wall and looking up to the ridge above us where the camel silhouettes could be made out against the dark, starry sky.  It’s a shame we couldn’t get a picture. 

Once we made it to the steps, everyone was together, and most people had to take frequent breaks to rest.  We made it to the summit about an hour before sunrise, and very few people were there at that point.  It was very cold, but one of the Bedouins was nice enough to let us sit in his tent to stay warm.  We made a little conversation, and it was much appreciated shelter.  Close to sunrise, we left the tent to see the area where Moses’s cave is and where he received the Ten Commandments.  Then, we watched the sun appear on the horizon and make its rapid ascent up to the skyline. 

After the sun was up, it was time to tackle the descent which was a bit of a killer on the knees.  The rocks and sand were actually quite slippery, so you had to be very careful.  I may have ended up on my backside one time, but we saw someone else really wipe out closer to the bottom.  Once we made it to the bottom, we had a quick stop to learn about the monastery that houses the descendent of the burning bush as well as other artifacts.  Unfortunately, the monastery was closed on this day, so we couldn’t go in. 

After this, we made our way back to Dahab where we got on a private boat to go diving and snorkeling.  While my husband and daughter dove twice, my son and I snorkeled the reef.  There were many colorful fish and lots of coral.  We even saw a clam with a blue inside.  They served us lunch on the boat of rice and vegetables.  The ride back to the harbor was very peaceful and the water was pretty.  We really enjoyed soaking up the sun!

Back at the hotel, we cleaned up and went to a buffet dinner where we had various grains and vegetables and a rather large assortment of Egyptian desserts which were very good.

Day 7

After all we had done over the last few days, this day was for pure relaxation.  We had breakfast of foul, cheese spreads, bread and vegetables before heading to the pool where we stayed for the whole day.

There were really nice views of the Red Sea.

We ate lunch by the pool, as well, where we had hummus, tahini and mutable (eggplant dip) with bread.  After finally extracting our son from the pool and getting cleaned up, we went to dinner where we again had rice and an assortment of vegetables.  There were again some Egyptian desserts including some little cookies and phyllo triangles in honey which were nice. 

After a final day of flying, we arrived back home.  Our trip was just what we wanted-amazing history, famous landmarks, some adventure and relaxation under the sun and warmth (writing this as the snow comes down in the Netherlands, I might be crying a little).  We feel really lucky to have been able to make this trip, and I’m sure we will all remember it for the rest of our lives. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As 2022 came to an end and 2023 began, we had the opportunity to travel to the Holy Lands to experience a trip filled with history, religion and culture.  After much debate over the prudence of the decision to travel to an area that is often portrayed in the media as ripe with strife and war, we hired a travel company and jetted off to Amman, Jordan.

As we arrived very late at night, we didn’t have much time in Amman, but we did have a nice view of the city from our hotel.

Day 1

Bright and early the morning after arriving, we began the culinary portion of our journey with a Jordanian breakfast of hummus, baba ghanoush, moutabel (baba ghanoush with yogurt mixed in) and muhammara (roasted walnut and red pepper spread) with pita bread as well as mujaddal (very salty stringy cheese), labneh (a cheese spread), manakish (like a pizza with herbs/seasonings only), mo’ajjanat (bread stuffed with cheese), potatoes and fruit pastry.

After what was much more food than I have eaten for breakfast in a long time, we were taken out of the city to Mt. Nebo which is the mountain where Moses died after only being allowed to look into the Holy Lands.

The views from the mountain were nice and most of the points in the Holy Lands are only a few miles away.  Though the weather was a bit hazy, we were still able to see the Dead Sea and areas like Jerusalem.

The mountain features an iron serpent and cross monument to commemorate the story of Moses putting a snake on a pole as God directed.

There was also a small church on the spot with some mosaic floors.

After this, we made our way to St. George’s Monastery where we got to see the large mosaic floor depicting the map of the Holy Lands from the 6^th century.  This is actually the oldest known map of the Holy Lands.  They had many beautiful mosaics in the church.

After leaving the church, we drove quite a while through small cities and the desert to get to Karak Castle which is the remains of a fortress from ancient people that was used extensively by the Crusaders.

There were many interesting rooms where the residents made olive oil and bread.  There was also a prison.

We had a buffet lunch at the castle grounds which included tabbouleh, Arabic salad, hummus and several yogurt-based dips.  There was also vegetable sambosa (a triangular dough stuffed with vegetables), stewed tomatoes and vegetables with rice and kibbeh in a yogurt sauce (kibbeh is a breaded minced meat ball that is fried, and if you were at our wedding years ago, you might have had it there as it is eaten in Brasil).  For a drink, we tried a limonana which is a lemon and mint concoction.  Dessert was hareeseh or haresih.  It was a nice cake.

After that lunch, we fell asleep on the long drive through the desert to reach Petra, but I woke a few times to see some of the tent villages and sheep herders on the way.

We made a quick stop to see one of the springs that was created when Moses hit his staff on the rock as described in the Bible.

Then, on to our hotel where they welcomed us with some Bedouin tea and Jordanian dates.

There wasn’t much time until dinner where we had a really nice meal of lentil soup, falafel, galayet (stewed tomato dish), muffarak batata (eggs and potato hash), strips of pita style bread dipped in olive oil and za’atar spice, taboon bread (seriously delicious!), musakan (chicken on a bed of seasoned rice and crispy onions) and mansaf (the national dish of Jordan) which is lamb meat cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt served on rice and with a yogurt sauce.  We tried some Jordanian wine and beer with it and finished the meal with kanafeh (a type of pastry with cream or cheese topped with a spun pastry and a syrup-kind of hard to describe).  The one that we had was cream.  Everything was very good!

As we were leaving the restaurant, we got to watch a local artisan making sand art using the stones found in the area near Petra.  He had learned the trade from generations of his family.  It was really incredible to watch the sand transform into a picture.

Day 2

We spent our second day in the Petra area which was once the home to the Nabateans.  We walked for 3 hours with our guide looking at the sites of Petra.  We saw a lot of tombs including the famous Treasury, the Dijn Blocks and the Street of Facades with 4 large tombs called the Royal Tombs.

We also saw the theater, the great temple used by the Romans and the temple of Pharoh’s daughter.

We learned a lot of history about the place and about the people that lived there and took in the architectural feats including the water system and the sculpted designs (I especially liked the remains of a sculpture featuring camels and herders).

After our walk with the guide, we grabbed some falafel sandwiches and some limonana before climbing a lot of steps past a lot of Bedouin stalls to reach the monastery which was a Nabatean tomb that Jesus supposedly stayed in when traveling through the area.

Then, we walked to an old church site that had a lot of mosaic floors before making our way up close and into the Royal Tombs.

After the tombs, it was time to make our way back through the siq (the opening in the rocks that leads to the large tombs) to head to another area called Little Petra.  This area is where the caravans used to stay away from the main “city” of Petra.  We saw the openings in the rocks that were the rooms they would stay in and the sinks that they would use to clean up in.

It was a long but interesting day, so when we got back to the hotel, we had a snack of arrays (like a quesadilla with lamb meat that was very good) and cheese.  After resting for a while, we had a smaller dinner with fattet salad (salad with pieces of pita in it), various olives, Jordanian wine and some ashta (a cream topped with rose and orange blossom water) for dessert.

Day 3

Today, we began with an early morning drive to the crossing point between Jordan and Israel.  As we left the Petra area, we saw the monument marking the place where Aaron, Moses’s brother, died.  We also made a stop along the way to enjoy the views of the Dead Sea and to see the pillar that is reported to be the remains of Lot’s wife.

The border crossing itself was a bit chaotic, but luckily, our guide stuck with us until we got in the van to be driven across the border line.  On the Israeli side, we got stuck in a line waiting first for security (we were behind a teenage girl who couldn’t figure out why the machine was going off as she pulled first two pieces of fruit, then a toilet paper roll and finally her air pods out of her pockets) and then for the passport check.  But, we made it through and met our new guide.

As soon as we left the crossing point, the Biblical locations and history immediately jumped to life as we drove by the city of Jericho on our way to the point where it is believed that Jesus was baptized on the Jordan River (for many years this location was closed, and an alternate location was used but it has recently been reopened).

After dipping our hands in the water, we drove to the Qumran caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.  We watched a film about the Essenes who were a mystic Jewish sect that lived in the caves and were the ones that wrote the scrolls and hid them in the caves before being driven out by the Romans.  In fact, it is believed that John the Baptist may have been a member of the sect.  At the site, we could see not only the caves where the scrolls were found but also the remains of the Essene commune.

From here we went to a beach point on the Dead Sea and changed into our bathing suits in order to do a little floating.  The salt content in the water is about 34% (normal saltwater is about 3.5%) so there are signs reminding you not to put your face in or splash so that you avoid burning in your eyes.  While it was a little chilly in the water, the float was fun for a little bit and the views around the sea (though it is actually a large lake) were nice.

After cleaning up, we drove through the Judean mountains to Jerusalem.  We drove up Mount Scopus and then to the Mount of Olives where we could overlook the whole city.

Our guide pointed out a lot of sites and shared a lot of history.  Probably the most important place in Jerusalem is the Dome of the Rock (golden domed building).  This is said to be the location on which the Earth began, where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac, where the Holy of Holies (the Temple) was erected and where Mohammed from the Muslim faith ascended.  Other locations that he pointed out were the site of the Last Supper, the Garden of Gethsemane and the spot of the crucifixion.

After hearing all of this information, we made our way down the mountain to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Lord’s Agony Church constructed around the site where Jesus prayed in the garden.  The olive trees there are 2000 years old, so they are the trees from Jesus’s time.  Inside the church, there were some beautiful mosaics and the stone on which Jesus prayed (of course, with all of the sites, the said spots are not confirmed exact locations but are the general area).

After this, we made our way to our hotel where we had afternoon tea which was a fun experience.  For dinner, our guide suggested a focaccia restaurant that was actually pretty good.  We tried something called sabich which is essentially an eggplant dish (there is a sandwich version, but this was just the filling to be eaten on focaccia).  We also had our first Israeli wine and beer.

Day 4

After breakfast where we tried Shashuka (essentially a tomato and pepper-based sauce with poached eggs on top), olives, cheeses, persimmon and some Challah bread, we ventured into the old city of Jerusalem.

The first stop was just outside the city at the site of King David’s tomb and the Last Supper.  The building itself is not the one from that time, but it is built on the site.  The tomb is on the first floor and the Last Supper room is on the second floor.  The room was very simple but pretty.

We also saw the church that is built on the spot where Mary ascended to Heaven.

We walked into the Old City through the Zion Gate and saw the bullet holes left there from the 1948 war for independence.

In the city, we walked by the remains of the old main street called the Cardo.

We walked into the Jewish Quarter (the city has 4 quarters) and to the Western Wall (this is considered a holy place because it is all that remains of the retaining wall of the Temple).  Men and women have separate sides of the wall, so we separated to go up to it and touch it.  The boys also got to see the old archways that are only accessible from the men’s side.

After the wall, we went to the Muslim Quarter and walked through the streets that have a bazaar style atmosphere to St. Anne’s Church which is reportedly the site where Mary was born.

We then began the walk along the Via Dolorosa (the path Jesus walked to the crucifixion point).  The first point on the path was the site where Pontus Pilot condemned Jesus.  There are two churches on this site.  They were both nice, but one had some very interesting 3-dimensional artwork as well as the original flooring.

We continued the path past the Ecco Homo arch and the various spots where Jesus fell or was helped by others.  Then, we arrived at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

We saw the spot marking where Jesus was undressed and the spot where he was crucified (there is an alter there, and you can get under it to touch the rock of the spot).

There was also the rock that is reportedly the one on which his body was laid and prepared for the tomb.

We saw the site of the tomb rock but there was a huge line to go in, so we didn’t do that.

After walking back through the Muslim bazaar and to the Jaffa Gate, we got some lunch of falafel and shawarma wraps.

Our next stop was going to Bethlehem, but it is under Palestinian control so Israeli citizens can’t enter.  As a result, we had to meet a driver outside the border line and be driven in to meet a Palestinian guide.  The Church of the Nativity was chaos.  You have to go down into a cave where you, again, can touch the rock of the site where Jesus was born.  They also have a manger display set up in the cave.  We had to wait in a line to be able to enter because different religious groups bless the cave multiple times each day, and no one can go in during the blessings.  It was pretty packed in the cave, but we touched the rock and made our way back out.

We went into a Catholic church on the site where we saw a statue monument to Mary, and then we stood in a courtyard where our guide said the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic which was Jesus’s native language.  That was kind of cool.

After this, we got transferred back to our Israeli guide across the Palestinian border and went to have a snack of Jerusalem bagel and sambusak (small breads stuffed with mushroom, potato or cheese-and, as I’m sure you guys could guess, we tried all three types!).

Later, we had freekeh risotto (this is a type of wheat) and sheikh al mahshi (zucchini stuffed with lamb).  We tried Taybeh, a Palestinian beer, and had some babka, several types of rugelach and some jam cookies for dessert.

Day 5

Today began in a sobering way with a trip to the newer part of Jerusalem to the Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial.  It was a very symbolic memorial with pathways lined with trees honoring those that helped people during the Holocaust.  We went into the children’s memorial which was an interesting visual depiction of the children who died.  We also went through the museum which had a lot of personal video testimonies and pictures.  After a while, it just became too much, and you really felt like you couldn’t take in any more of the atrocities.  One of the few places that we took any pictures there was in the building depicting the names of all of the concentration camps.

After this stop, we went to Ein Karem, a small village in the city, where John the Baptist was born.  We first saw the Church of the Visitation which is on the site where Mary visited Elizabeth when they were both pregnant.

Inside the church is a well said to be from the spring that erupted when the women greeted each other.  There is also a rock in the church said to be the one that hid John the Baptist as a baby when Herod had all of the Jewish babies killed.  Outside the church is a wall with the blessing that Mary gave Elizabeth in many languages.

After this, we went to the church on the site where Zechariah and Elizabeth’s home was and where John was said to be born.  Here, you again could touch the stone of the birth site.

We drove through the city past the Parliament and the Supreme Court on our way to the Israeli Museum where we saw a really cool model depicting the layout of the entire city during about the 1^st century.

Then we went into the Shrine of the Book (the Dead Sea Scrolls and the vessels they were found in are housed here).

Next, we went to the Machne Yehuda market area.  We stopped first for lunch at a very local restaurant (all Israelis inside).  We had pitas with a selection of small salads, as they call them, which are really small dips and accoutrements.  They included things like hummus, tahini, eggplant, tomato onion sauce, and pickles as well as small sauces.  Some of us tried the mixed grill which is grilled meat but includes parts like heart and liver while others opted for the vegetarian version of mixed grill.  Both were actually very good.  They came with okra and mujaddara which is like lentils and rice with crispy onions on top.  We washed it all down with some Israeli beer.  It was really good!

After lunch, we walked through the market where they had tons of fruits, vegetables, spices, nuts, olives and baked goods.

We stopped at a stand selling halva (candy made from sesame seeds).  We saw the machine that presses the seeds to make the paste which is used for the candy.  They had so many different flavors of halva, but we tried the lemon version.

We also stopped at a bakery and bought some fresh chocolate rugelach.  It was so good!

After the market, our guide took as to the new Mamilla shopping center for a look around, and then, we rested for a while before going to dinner.  No one was too hungry, so we just had adas (red lentil soup) and some hummus with lamb on top with a local beer.

Day 6

Today, we moved on from Jerusalem and made our way south along the Dead Sea to Masada.

On the way, we stopped in a national park area and saw some ibex and hyrax (rock rabbit).  As we continued the drive, we saw some really cool natural “rock” formations.

At Masada, we took the cable car up the mountain to the site of one of King Herod’s palaces and fortresses which was later used by the Zealots, the last Jewish stronghold against the Romans.  At the site, we saw many old ritual baths, water cisterns, water diversion and collection methods, storage rooms, a dove cote and the bathhouse of the palace with its steam pipe system.

In addition, what may be the first ever synagogue from the 1^st century is located on the site.

We watched a movie about the area, specifically about the period when the Zealots were under siege by the Romans for a three-year period before committing suicide.  At the site, you can still see many of the boulders that the Romans shot at the Zealots, the ramp that they built to enter the city and the encampment areas and siege wall that they built.

After leaving the area, we began making our way north through part of the West Bank where the land became less arid and more fertile.

Upon crossing back into Israel, we stopped in a small town for a lunch of falafel wraps made with laffa bread and some really delicious fried eggplant.

We stopped at a Kibbutz to see an ancient synagogue with a mosaic floor and watched a movie about its construction.

Then we went to another Kibbutz that had a store selling all kinds of dates and date products which was interesting.

From here, we drove the rest of the way to the Sea of Galilee where we could see the Golan Heights mountains with the Syrian and Lebanese borders just beyond them.  We drove a bit through Tiberias and saw some of the town’s ancient ruins before checking into our hotel.

For our dinner, we walked to a restaurant where we had the salads again, this time with both regular and garlic pita breads.  We tried some local beer and ate way too much!  It was pouring rain when we left, so we got a bit wet.

Day 7

We began the day by going to a Kibbutz where they discovered a 2,000-year-old fisherman boat.  They had a very interesting movie about how they removed it from the mud and information on the restoration process.

After viewing the boat, we took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee (again it’s just a very large lake).  From the boat, we got a view of the path through the mountains that Jesus would have taken from Nazareth, the area where Mary Magdalene was from and where she began following Jesus, where Jesus walked on water, where he lived with Peter in Capernaum as well as the sites of the Sermon on the Mount and the multiplication of the fishes and loaves.

After the boat ride, we went to the Church of the Beatitudes (Sermon on the Mount).  It was a small and simple church with all the beatitudes displayed around it.

Then, we drove up the mountains to Safed which is where the Kabbalah movement was started.

We visited a 2^nd century synagogue there that had a really beautiful and colorful ark.  We also saw the chair that they use for circumcision ceremonies.

We walked through an artist corridor that had some really cool art pieces.  We learned some interesting things from our guide about the typical Jewish items used in the home, and we visited a candle shop making some very elaborate candles and candle displays.

Then, we went to a shop where weavers were making customized prayer blankets among other things.

Right outside this shop, there was a 100-year-old fig tree.

After leaving Safed, we had a quick lunch of sabich sandwich (eggplant and egg) and Israeli salad.

We visited the Church of the Multiplication which had some nice original mosaic floors.

Then it was on to Capernaum where we saw the ruins of the town including Peter’s house which is where Jesus likely lived and an old synagogue.

Our final stop of the day was the Golan Heights Winery where we took a small tour and tasted three of the wines.

In the evening, we sat outside on the Sea of Galilee for some dinner.  We had the hummus, tahini and tabbouleh with both pita and garlic pita.  We also tried the anise flavored aperitif Arak which I really liked.  Our main courses were a grilled eggplant and the St. Peter’s fish (whole tilapia) with some Goldstar beer.  For dessert, we had malabi (a kind of custard with rose water on top) and something they called Switzerland.  Both were really good.

Day 8

Today at breakfast, we had labneh balls (cheese spread), potato bourkas and some cheese.

After leaving the Sea of Galilee area, we drove through Cana where Jesus turned the water to wine on our way to Nazareth.

In Nazareth, we went to the Church of the Annunciation which was quite an unusual church on the site where Gabriel visited Mary.

The lower level of the church was quite barren with the ancient site.

The upper level featured a lot of mosaics donated from countries all over the world.

Also within the church site is a smaller church built on what is believed to be the remains of Joseph’s house and workshop in Nazareth.

The remains of the old city of Nazareth were visible as well.

On the way back to the car, we stopped in a spice shop where they were selling tons of spices and candies.  They had several old grinding machines as well.

From here, we traveled north to Akko and walked to the old Crusader city.  We watched a short film about the area before heading underground (the current city is built on top of the old crusader city).  We walked through a tunnel that used to run from the city to the port and several other buildings in the ancient city such as the hospital.

On the upper level, we saw some of the old city walls and an old jail from before Israeli independence (under British rule it was the site of the imprisonment and hanging of several Jewish underground fighters).

We made our way down to the port area and through the market bazaar.

We stopped in an area that used to be a Turkish Ottoman market with each door to the current shops being the former market stall doors.

We ate in a restaurant in one of the stalls where we had hummus with mushrooms and hummus with shawarma as well as falafel and pickled eggplant.  At the end of the meal, they gave us some Arabic coffee.

From here, we drove along the Mediterranean Sea to Caesarea which was built by King Herod.  We were able to see the Roman amphitheater, hippodrome, city ruins, pieces of columns and sarcophagi.  We also saw the site of Herod’s palace which had a large pool right on the sea.  We watched a nice movie about Herod and the building of Caesarea.  On our way out of the city, we stopped by a very large aqueduct.

Finally, we completed our drive to Tel Aviv and checked into our hotel where we enjoyed the happy hour which featured bageleh (kind of like a pretzel) and stuffed grape leaves.

After a while, we walked along the coast to the port of Tel Aviv where there are many shops and restaurants.  We took some time to look around and to have a dinner of mujaddara (rice and lentils with onions on top) and sahlab which is hot milk sprinkled with orchid flower powder causing it to make a pudding like drink.  It was pretty good.

Day 9

We started our day with a nice breakfast, the highlight of which was some really delicious babka bread.

We walked along the sea to the Carmel Market which had some nice vendors.  We bought some fresh squeezed pomegranate juice.

We walked to Jaffa where we saw the clock tower and other old buildings.  We also saw the old port and old Jaffa which is where the story of Jonah and the whale occurred.  We walked through a few of the streets of the Jaffa flea market and to St. Peter’s Church.

We also saw an open square with a cute fountain that was built on the site of an old well.

After wandering through some streets of the old area, we grabbed a snack of sambusak from a bakery.  We got one potato and one cheese.

With our energy renewed, we walked to an old train depot that had been converted to a shopping space and into the shopping area of Neve Tzedeck.  We made our way back to the coastline to grab some lunch.  We had mushroom hummus, falafel and lemon mint slushies with some Maccabi and unfiltered Goldstar beer.  It was great until a downpour sent us inside at the end of the meal.

After the rain stopped, we walked back to our hotel along the coast.  It wasn’t long before the rain started again, so we decided to order our dinner in.  We bought something called jachnun which is a dense bread rolled up and served with a hard-boiled egg.  Apparently, it was introduced by Jewish Yemenites.  It was not bad but was a little greasy and heavy.

Day 10

For our last day, we grabbed some breakfast where we ate a few last olives and dates and tried one thing we hadn’t yet-kugel: basically, layered noodles with cottage cheese filling.  After breakfast, the weather was perfect, so we went to the beach for a while.  It was really nice to just sit and enjoy the weather as we knew we would be returning to cloudy skies at home!

We found a small place for lunch where we got falafel, shawarma, kubbeh and salad Fairuz (tomato and cucumbers on a bed of rice, lentils and onions).  We had a final beer and finished with a malabi (the custard with rose water dessert).

There was a bakery on our way back to the main road, and they were selling sufganiyot (a jelly filled donut that we thought we could only find at Hannukah time), so, of course, we got one to try.  It was pretty much just a jelly donut but not as heavy and sugary.

We walked along the beach promenade to a small shop specializing in kanfeh.  We had tried a version in Jordan, but this was quite different.  In Jordan, the dessert had a cream style filling; here it was cheese.  We got to watch it being made which was interesting, and it was good-not too sweet but not just savory.

With that, our time in Israel was basically done.  We took a stroll back along the coast trying to soak in the sun before making our way to the airport and flying back home.

Overall, we had a wonderful time in both Jordan and Israel.  It was really interesting and eye opening to see a place with so much history and such a convergence of religious beliefs.  Likewise, to get an inside perspective on the very complex situation surrounding these areas and their interactions with one another was enlightening.  But as our Palestinian guide said, it is not like the media portrays-everything was peaceful and felt completely safe.  For anyone that has the interest and means to take a trip there, we would definitely recommend it.  Another amazing experience in the books!  Thanks for coming along and bye bye for now.  We’ll see you on our next adventure!

This year, our fall break took us to England.  The first three days of our trip were spent sightseeing in London.  We walked all over the city from our apartment south of the Thames. The second half of the trip was spent venturing in a radius of a couple of hours outside of London.

On our first day, we arrived so early that our apartment wasn’t ready for us.  This meant that there was time for an English breakfast from a nearby restaurant.

After getting checked into our apartment we made a 45-minute walk along the Thames to the House of Lords and Big Ben (which we found out is actually the Elizabeth Tower; Big Ben is the bell inside).

Around the area is also Westminster and Scotland Yard as well as the Calvary Museum, all of which we took a brief look at.

We decided to walk farther north into Trafalger Square, the West End theater district and Picadilly Circus as well as some of the shopping streets and past the Ritz Carlton with its smartly dressed doorman before finding lunch at the Albert pub.

Now, at the Albert pub we had three things that we continued to enjoy several times on our trip.  Rather than detail them for you every time we ate them, I’m going to give you a collage of all of them now.  And the most eaten food in England award goes to: Fish and Chips, Sticky Toffee Pudding and beer.

 

After lunch we went to Westminster Cathedral (not to be confused with Westminster Abbey) and were quite impressed with its architecture and the pretty mosaics all over the walls and ceiling.

Then, we had a quick stop outside Buckingham Palace before making our way through Battersea Park to find dinner near our apartment at a nice little tapas restaurant.

As the start of our second day was a bit wet, we took a Hop On and Off bus around the city as we made our way to St. Paul’s Cathedral.

After a quick look inside, we walked over the Thames to Tower Bridge.  We toured the museum inside the bridge including a sky walk over the Thames.  We viewed the engine room to learn how they raise and lower the bridge and then after leaving, we got to see the engines in action as the bridge was raised for two large boats.

After the bridge, we entered the Tower of London, which is one of the castles built by William the Conqueror in the 1000s.

The Tower houses a lot of history including the site of the beheading of Anne Boleyn, the Bloody Tower where Walter Raleigh was held captive and one of the young kings of England vanished and was thought to be murdered by his uncle, and the apartments of the former kings.  We also enjoyed going in to the one remaining original building from the 1000s holding the armory, the torture chamber and the chapel.

But the best part about the Tower of London has to be the Crown Jewels.  They are a symbol of opulence and a complete waste of riches that could be used in so many better ways, but nonetheless, they are beautiful and steeped in lots of history and tradition. You can’t photograph anything inside the Crown Jewel exhibit so the best I could do was a picture of the outside.

After the Tower, we went to the Globe Theater of Shakespeare fame.  It’s not the original theater as that burned down in the fire of London in the 1600s; however, it is very near the original site, and it is a very authentic replication.  We took a guided tour and learned a lot about the theater and the productions that occur there (which are also kept authentic).

After the theater, we were five minutes from getting on the bus when the sky opened, and a torrential downpour drenched us and the dozen other people waiting under an extremely skinny overhang at the bus stop.  Our dripping selves tried not to be too miserable as we rode the bus for a while to a location for dinner and then walked home.

On day three we grabbed some cheddar and chive scones and some pastries on our way to Westminster Abbey.

After waiting in a very long line, we made our way inside where we got to see the resting places of some very notable people such as Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and authors like C.S. Lewis, Charles Dickens and Lewis Caroll among others.

There were also a few monarchs buried there: perhaps you are familiar with Elizabeth I, her sister, Bloody Mary, and her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots.

It was also interesting to see the coronation alter and coronation chair, both of which will be used when Charles is crowned next year.

After the Abbey, we went by Buckingham Palace and caught the tail end of the changing of the guard.

From the palace, we walked through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens to Kensington Palace for a peek from the outside.

We had lunch in a pub in Kensington before going to the National Gallery which houses a lot of works by very famous artists.  My favorite might have been The Water Lily Pond by Monet.

After the gallery, we ventured into Hambly’s Toy Store-more of an emporium really with seven floors all boasting demonstrations of various toys and merchandise by employees. The pandemonium inside was a bit much, so we made our way out and on to dinner.

On the fourth day, we got out of the city on a day tour to Leeds Castle, Dover and Canterbury Cathedral.  Leeds Castle featured a movie about all of the lady owners of the castle which was sort of interesting.  The castle itself was not all that interesting on the inside, but the outside and the grounds were quite pretty.

After the castle, we made our way to the cliffs of Dover and Dover Castle for a quick stop.

Canterbury Cathedral was the final stop.  The Cathedral was nice, and we saw the site of the murder of Thomas Beckett which then inspired pilgrimages to the cathedral and ultimately the story The Canterbury Tales.

After viewing the cathedral, we stopped at a pub in town to have a Kent beer and a cask beer as well as a lentil potato Shepard’s pie and a goat cheese and sweet potato tart.  We also tried a caramel biscuit tart for dessert.

The highlight of the day though (and maybe for me, the whole trip) was after our return to London.  We got some last-minute tickets to see the Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theater, the site of its debut in 1986.  The show was so good!

Day five was another day tour-this time north to Stratford upon Avon, Shakespeare’s home.  Here we saw the home he was born in and where he lived before moving to London to work in the theater.

We also saw the building where he attended school as a boy.

We took a walking tour of the city with our guide which ended at the cathedral where Shakespeare is buried.

The next part of the tour was in the Cotswolds-a very picturesque area with rolling green fields and stone homes.  We drove through several small hamlets and stopped in a few for a look around.

We even saw a door to a cathedral that inspired Tolkien’s Gates of Mordor.

Finally, we made our way to Oxford for another walking tour which began after a quick stop at the pub where C.S. Lewis and Tolkien used to meet and where they formed a literary society.

The tour of Oxford included several of the colleges and the library as well as the site of one of Bloody Mary’s executions.

We stopped at a well-known student pub, the Turf Tavern, before heading back into London.

We got a few pictures on our nighttime walk back to our apartment.

We had one final day tour on our sixth day.  The first stop on this tour was Windsor castle.  We made our way through the State Apartments which were very opulent, and then we went to St. George’s Chapel.  This is the burial place of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour.  In addition, it is where Queen Elizabeth II was recently laid to rest next to Prince Philip, so we walked by her tomb.

After leaving the chapel, we watched the changing of the guard procession into Windsor.

We grabbed a quick cheese and onion pasty before returning to the bus and heading to Stonehenge.

Here, we walked around the monument and enjoyed it from all angles and observed the burial mounds.

The final stop of the day was Bath.  We opted not to go into the bathhouse but to walk around the city instead.  The city had some lovely spots, and we went into a cathedral which was nice.

With a little time to kill, we ventured into a small pub to have some English beer and some apple cider (the liquor kind!).

Back in London, we went to dinner in an incredibly busy pub, but the food was good.

On our final day, I walked with the kids to get some scones and coffee at a bakery while my husband had a work meeting.  After packing up and heading out of our apartment, we killed some time in a pub called the Victoria before taking the train to the airport.

All in all, we had a good time.  London is a nice city with lots of things to do including a ton of free museums, so it would definitely be a good place to head back again some time.  Until then, Cheerio!

After our Kenyan adventure, we returned home for one day before heading off to our next destination, which may seem like an adventure to many of you, but for us feels pretty normal-Brasil (and yes, this is the correct spelling).  Because of the family we have there, we have made this trek many times, but I have probably never shared too much about what it is like.  Since I detail all our travel these days, it seemed like a good time to share some about Brasil.

Let’s begin with an important note-Brasil is huge.  There are many different cities and many different regional areas which all do have their own typical dishes, traditions, and locations.  Having prefaced with that, we spend our time in the state of Minas Gerais which is in the central to the slightly southeastern part of the country (it is nowhere near the Amazon and 5 hours by car from Rio).  Our family lives in a small city of about 45,000 in Minas state.

Like most cities in Brasil, the city has a praça (square for gathering) in front of a church.

While most of our time is spent at my in-law’s house in the middle of the city, we also do go spend some time at the farm which is on family land.

The hills of coffee surrounding the farmhouse, which is now used for rental and events, once belonged to my husband’s grandfather.   The coffee is still farmed there; though, it has been sold to a distant cousin.  We often stop and see the coffee being processed from washing to drying and shelling.  Many years ago, I also got to see it being picked as well.

In addition to visiting family and friends and going to the farm, no visit would be complete without eating some of our favorite dishes.

Typically, breakfast consists of several types of breads (the most common being small french bread) and/or cake along with cheese, deli meat, and fruit.  We often eat the french bread with requeijão (a spreadable cheese).  The one we eat is made in the city where my in-laws live.

And our favorite thing at breakfast: pão de queijo

Below is a cheese from the region that was often out at breakfast but also goes well with doce de leite (similar to what many of you know as dulce de leche-it’s Spanish name).

Lunch is generally a much bigger meal than dinner and usually features rice and beans in addition to a meat dish and maybe some other vegetable or pasta of some sort (as we were feeding many people at lunch, there are quite a few dishes in this picture).  My husband’s family almost always has freshly made juice (pineapple, passion fruit, orange, etc.) with the meal.

There is always dessert at the end of lunch.  Here is one of them, canudo de doce de leite, which is a crunchy cone kind of like a fried wonton consistency, filled with doce de leite.

Some of the other desserts we had were passion fruit mousse, pudim (flan with a caramel sauce), and pé de moleque (a candy made from peanuts and unrefined cane sugar).

Another important meal in Brasil is lanche or afternoon snack also called cafe da tarde (afternoon coffee) which often occurs fairly late in the afternoon.  The following are some of our favorites (curau which is like a corn pudding and broa which is a bread made from cornmeal, pamonha which is kind of like a corn tamale -we like one with cheese inside, and pastel which is a fried dough with a filling inside-generally cheese or meat but we also like heart of palm which is called palmito).  Often though, lanche often features bread or a cake and coffee.

We also had a few fun snacks while we were there:

cajuzinho-a peanut sweet from the city famous for pé de moleque

and brigadeiro candies (several types at a birthday party):

Another important event for Brasilians is churrasco.  I say event because, while it means grilled meats and side dishes, it is not just a meal as it can be a several hours long affair including drinking, socializing, and often the card game, Truco.  The meat is placed on skewers and cooked on the grill (special type of grill).  The fire is kept going so skewers are placed on and meat is brought out throughout the time of the event.  The sides such as rice, maionese de batata (potato salad),  salpicão (a mayonaise-based dish with chicken, olives, carrots, peppers and apple covered with shoestring potatoes) are left out the whole time.  There is also often garlic bread, vinagrete (tomato, onion, oil, vinegar, and seasonings), and farofa (ground mandioca flour).

On this visit, we also had the opportunity to experience a cultural event referred to as Festa Junina.  While this normally takes place in the month of June, Covid in the area caused the festivities to be delayed until July this year.  Festa Junina is basically a celebration of the harvest that originated in Portugal in the 16^th century.  Children dress up in traditional “farmer” outfits and put on dances that are somewhat akin to square dances.  The parties and dances usually occur at school.  We went to a party at our nephew’s school and our family put a small one on at the house so that we could eat the traditional foods.

The food of Festa Junina features quite a bit of corn, so for our party, we had popcorn, corn cake, and canjiquinha (a corn soup) as well as canjica (a corn dessert). We also had caldo de feijão (a bean soup) and caldo verde (a vegetable soup).

Aside from the parties and family time, we saw a few other fun things during this trip.  We saw several toucans in trees, tons of parrots (several of which were Yellow Headed Amazon parrots), canaries and zebu (a type of cow that can be found often in Brasil).  Sadly, on this trip, we didn’t get to see any capybaras as we have before.

All in all, we had a nice time with our family and while our trip was fairly low key this time around, we have a lot of experience with Brasil so if anyone ever has any questions or would like to know more, you can always let us know.  But for now, tchau!

This year is shaping up to be a year of adventure with our travels.  To kick it off, we just returned from a weeklong safari in Africa; Kenya to be exact.  We spent time in two different camps in the Maasai Mara National Park (for those that are not familiar with this park, it is the same area as the Serengeti but that is the Tanzanian side while the Maasai Mara is the Kenyan side).  Our first camp was located in the government-run area of the Mara while the second camp was in the North Conservancy which is land owned by the Maasai people.  It was an incredible trip in which we saw so many animals and learned a lot about them as well as the Maasai culture.  

After arriving in Nairobi, we stayed in a hotel before leaving the next morning to the Mara via a very small plane.  The plane could seat 12 people plus the pilot and second officer (though our flight only had 11 people) and the size of everyone’s baggage was restricted.  The plane takes off and lands at several stops along its path.  We were the final (and third) stop so we took off and landed three times (by our final takeoff there were only six passengers on board).  After the initial airport in Nairobi, the airstrips consisted of a small building and a dirt runway (one runway was surrounded by wildebeests).  It was a bit nerve-racking at first, but after the first stop, it wasn’t so bad.  The great thing was; because it stopped so many times, it never got very high, and, from the plane, we were able to see a ton of animals like elephant herds with babies, a huge bull elephant, wildebeests, ostriches, gazelles, and lions.  

Once we arrived, we were met at the airstrip by our guide who drove us out into the bush for a drink before taking us to the camp.

At the camp, we were greeted by the staff beating drums and singing a Hakuna Matata song (not the Disney one).  It was a fun welcome. 

The camp was a smallish camp in the bush with 8 luxury tents and a common space for meals/relaxation and a small spa.  It was a self-sustaining camp, so all the energy was generated from solar power, the water was filtered and reused and the vehicles were electric vehicles running on solar power as well. They also recycled and upcycled a bunch of products such as empty wine bottles that were turned into drinking glasses.   

In addition, the meals at the camp were generated from locally grown items with a focus on non-meat dishes.  And they were really delicious.  Every day we had breakfast at 9am, lunch at 1pm, and dinner at 8:30pm (dinner was preceded by drinks around a fire while chatting with staff and other guests). Breakfast and lunch were served outside at tables placed around the trees, overlooking the river.   Dinner was served inside the common space which was lit with candles and always had a bat flying around.  

Lunch on the first day featured Kenyan beer, a Kenyan mango vegetable salad, plantains, Kenyan lentils, and a version of tiramisu for dessert.  It was so good.

Dinner was leek and carrot soup, a Kenyan bread and polenta with vegetable stew and creamed spinach.  Dessert was a banana fritter and a green coconut-type bar dessert.  We also had some Kenyan wine and a Masaai mule.  Another outstanding meal.

On our second day, we had an avocado and pineapple salad and vegetarian lasagna with an ice cream pie for dessert. 

Dinner was butternut squash steaks with a sauce, fried zucchini fritters, and a nut butter and jam ball for dessert.  We also tried some Kenyan gin called Procera.  

Our breakfasts were different breads, pancakes, eggs to order, watermelon juice, fruit, baked beans, and fried potatoes.  Also, one of the days, they brought some zucchini with fried insects in it (maybe cricket)-we didn’t eat it.

At this camp, a free 30-minute massage per room was included, so my husband and I each got one.  The spa was an open room overlooking the river.  The massage table had a mirror underneath angled so that you could look at the river while receiving the massage.  It was fun to have a little pampering!  We also had some time to play some games in the common space with the kids which was fun.  

After two nights at the camp, we moved to the second camp in the conservancy.  When we left, the staff again sang a song and played the drums.  They had all been so nice (one of them even played chess with our children and spent time chatting with them) that it felt like leaving friends.

The second camp was much larger with 22 tents and a larger common space for dinner.  At this camp, breakfast and lunch were also served outside overlooking the river.  The difference was that at this river, there were resident hippos that were always there and giraffes, elephants, monkeys, and impalas that visited often.  There were a couple crocodiles too.

The food at the second camp that we stayed at paled in comparison and was nothing worth writing about.  The dinners and lunches were mainly pasta or Indian food.  The breakfasts were similar to the first camp with made-to-order eggs with beans and potatoes, fruit, and various breads.  The difference was that instead of watermelon juice, they served tree tomato juice.

At both camps, beer, wine, gin, and soft drinks were included as well as coffee, tea and hot chocolate.

But now, to the real purpose of the trip-the safari drives.  Each day we had two drives (with a couple of exceptions).  The morning drive would begin at around 6:30am each day after a quick drink of hot chocolate or coffee (around the campfire at the first camp).  We would be back by around 9am.  The afternoon drive would begin around 4:30pm and we would return by 6:30-7pm.  The afternoon drive always included a brief stop for drinks and a snack in the car.  

To give you an idea of where we were driving and what is common there, here are some signs from the two camps:

They have lists of the top 5 for various animals.  

The big five overall is: lions, leopards, buffalo, rhinoceros and wildebeests.

The ugly five is: hyenas, warthogs, wildebeests, vultures and marabou stork.

We saw all of them!

So, without further ado, here are pictures of the many animals we saw.  It was surreal to see them and really hard at times to remember that they were in their natural environment, roaming free without caretaking from humans, and not in a drive-through safari park.

We’ll start with the mammals:

How about some baby mammals?  We saw so many!  In fact, we saw the baby of a majority of the mammals that we saw (though we couldn’t get good photos of them all), and they were all so cute.  Some of the babies were very young.  According to our guide, the baby gazelle we saw was just hours old and a baby buffalo was born the night before.  We also saw a week-old giraffe and others that were just three weeks and a month-old elephant.  

Now the birds (there were so many- more than we have pictured here- and most were very interesting and beautiful):

Finally, even the reptiles and insects made their appearances:

 

And while the animals were the highlight, the landscape itself was also impressive.

 

We also did a couple of excursions during our visit.  The first was to a Maasai village where we were shown inside one of the typical Maasai homes (a mud-walled home with a roof made from sticks and dung).  The house we were in belonged to the chief. It seemed very small, but it had three bedrooms and the kitchen/common space.  We were also invited to join in a dance and they showed us how they make fire.  In addition to this visit, throughout the week, we learned a lot about the people and how they live from our guides.  We also saw the Maasai shepherds taking care of the cows, which they value greatly, throughout the bush.  

Our second excursion was a night drive.  As it got dark, we saw the huge herds of zebra, gazelle, impala, and topi coming down the mountain in lines to gather together and head closer to the villages for the night.  After dark, our driver took us with a red light to try to find nocturnal animals.  We didn’t see many new animals, but we did see a hare, a kangaroo hare, white-tailed mongoose, and jackals.  We also drove up to a group of 12 lionesses with cubs.  One was chewing on a bone.  It was a bit scary to be so close to them in the dark (we couldn’t have been more than 6-7 feet).  It was especially nerve-racking when they got up and left, and we were driving along, and, when the driver shined his light in that direction, they were walking not too far from the car, and we couldn’t even see them without light!  But, aside from the animals, the night sky was amazing-so many stars!

Our third excursion was a hot air balloon ride over the Mara.  I’ve been wanting to do this for some time, so we were pretty excited.  We had to get up at 4am to drive to the location, be checked in and briefed, and to watch the balloons be inflated.  The basket we were in held 16 people plus the driver.  I’m not going to lie, we got a little nervous when they told us that on landing we might topple over and we had to buckle ourselves in, grab some handles, sit all the way back and keep our “neck strong.”  Luckily, the conditions were favorable, and we stayed upright (they said it was the first upright landing in a month and an hour later, the conditions were back to unfavorable).  The views from the balloon were awesome, and it was fun to see the area from a different vantage point.  We got to see several animals from the balloon including one we had not seen yet-a serval cat.  I think we interrupted it hunting because, as we came over, it looked up and a few feet away a hare ran off.  After the hour-long balloon ride, we were driven to a location for a bush breakfast.  The location was apparently the area where they filmed scenes from the film “Out of Africa”.  They greeted us at the breakfast with champagne and orange juice, and the breakfast itself was huge and very good.

After our breakfast, we spent the day with our guide in the Mara Triangle, another area of the park.  He drove us to the border with Tanzania (we crossed into Tanzania for a while, and thus, we were also in the Serengeti).  In this area, we saw several of the crossing points for the wildebeests during the Great Migration.  We even got lucky and, though it was a week or two before the migrating wildebeests would arrive, some resident wildebeests decided to cross. It was funny watching them head toward the crossing, slow down, head back away and repeat this over and over before deciding to actually go.    

A couple of interesting experiences:

1. On our first night sleeping in the tents, we had all the sides open so that it was just the screen sides.  The boys slept in one tent, the girls in the other.  During the night we could hear so many noises-hyenas repeatedly, a lion growling a few times.  At about 4 in the morning, we were awoken by sounds of the nightwatch guards talking and flashing their flashlights around.  Strange, but we didn’t really know if that was normal or not as it was our first night.  In the morning when we joined the boys, we found out that they had been awoken during the night by loud sounds right outside their tent.  They weren’t sure what to do but were quite afraid of what it was.  They also heard the nightwatch, but didn’t find out until the morning that a hippo had come up from the river into camp, and its path was right next to the tent.  The guards had been using their lights and talking to it to get it to head back to the river.  
2. On one of our drives, as we were going along the path, a large growling noise suddenly occurred right next to my side of the car.  The car was pretty low to the ground, so, for a split second, I was sure we were getting attacked, but when I turned my head I saw three warthogs jumping out of a hole in the ground.  Even our driver said that was scary.
3. We were driving from the Maasai village and got stuck in some mud.  Our driver floored it to get out, and mud sprayed everywhere next to the car and on the inside back flaps of the car.  Then our son turned around from looking at the tires spinning, and his face was covered with splattered mud!
4. We saw lions eating many of their kills-hippo, baby buffalo, warthog, baby zebra.
5. We saw some hyenas go after a baby gazelle.  The mother gazelle tried desperately to stop them; she even chased them for some minutes after they caught the baby, but it was too late.  This was a bit difficult to watch, especially for the kids, but we tried to remind ourselves that this is part of life in the wild.
6. We watched an impala with its baby not notice a cheetah.  The driver kept saying, “that impala needs to get out of here; she’s risking her baby”.  The cheetah noticed and was watching for quite a while.  Suddenly, when the cheetah was not looking, the impala and the baby dashed off.  We were a bit relieved not to have to see another killing.
7. While having dinner one night, there was a sudden screeching in one of the trees.  A bush baby was running through the branches.  We didn’t think we would get to see one, so that was fun!
8. The people were so friendly.  When we would drive by the villages or people walking, they would always wave, especially the children.  Our son loved waving to them.
9. We saw some disgusting stuff like hippos that live in a pool of their own feces.  Hippos also apparently use their tail like a fan while they are defecating which causes it to spray everywhere.  We saw one hippo doing this while another was right behind it with its mouth open.
10. We also got a front-row seat to more hippos being created at the river viewing area at our camp.
11. The only way we were able to see the rhinos was by driving into a “sanctuary” where the only two white rhinos in the Mara live.  In this sanctuary, they are still free to roam and take care of themselves as they would in the wild, but they are followed 24/7 by armed rangers who protect them from poachers.  That is very sad.  The rangers told us that they are now mature, so they hope they will produce offspring soon.  We never saw a black rhino because there are less than 20 of them left in the Mara due to poaching.

Finally, after our six days in the bush, we took our little plane back to Nairobi.  We arrived at the dirt path airstrip where we just waited until some guys sitting around told us that it was our plane.  As the plane came in for landing, one of the guys drove off on his dirtbike to shoo all the animals away from the landing strip.  Once back in Nairobi, we had a driver to take us to dinner and the airport.  He shared information about Nairobi and Kenya which was nice.  

Overall, I think we all had a great time.  It’s not an experience for everyone I’m sure, but we really loved it.  Seeing all of the nature was amazing and learning about life there was enlightening.  The people were seriously some of the friendliest and most welcoming people I have ever seen.  They told us that we need to come back, and, while I don’t know if that will ever happen or when, I would definitely be willing to go.  What an exciting start to our travels in our fifth year abroad!  See you all soon as more adventures await!