Stella

Stella left us today. She had a good life with lots of adventures. She nested and cuddled with Kacey. She checked up on crying babies. She cleaned Mason. She was loved and loved us. She will be missed dearly and remembered fondly.

Baby Stella 2003

First Christmas 2003

Licking ice 2005

Why is he here? 2006

Mugshot 2006

Chillin 2008

Cleaning 2008

Helping with Nolan 2008

With Nolan 2008

Power struggle 2010

Helping with Liana 2013

Helping with Colin 2017

Nap time 2017

Maine and New Hampshire

This week, we visited Acadia National Park and the White Mountain National Forest. We decided for a last minute trip with the in-laws of the two areas. Booking last minute, needing two rooms, in Bar Harbor is difficult, but the Days Inn was good enough. We got in to town for a late lunch Saturday and went to the Finback, a place we ate at more than once two years ago when visiting. Following lunch we stopped by the Wild Gardens for a little hike on Jesup Path. Then we proceeded along the Park Loop Road to Schooner Head Lookout. We walked down for nice views of the coast, and Nolan and I went down to view the little cave. Then we stopped at Sand Beach. After enjoying a bit, we headed back in to town for some dinner. We walked around a bit and ended up at Lompoc. We ate here a couple years ago as well.

Sunday we first headed up Mt. Cadillac. The views were great! There was still some fog sitting over parts of the ocean. Next was Thunder Hole. The tide was out a bit, but it was still making some good loud booms for us. After some lunch at The Thirsty Whale we headed back out. Kacey, Nolan, and Liana went to spend some time at Sand Beach, while I drove Colin, Mike, and Maggie around a few more sites. We stopped at Otter Cove and the nearby overlooks for great views of the coast. Then after a quick stop at Seal Harbor, we went to Jordan Pond. The pond and surrounding mountains really looked amazing in the afternoon sun. I also cooled off with the local Old Soaker Blueberry Soda. After picking up everyone at the beach, we went in for dinner at the Bar Harbor Lobster Company. Everyone enjoyed their dinner! Unfortunately, I didn't feel too well that night after eating, which never happens.

On Monday the plan was to hike to Bubble Rock. There was no parking anywhere! I dropped everyone off and somehow found a spot a few miles south at Jordan Pond. I wandered around the pond for a bit before picking them up. We decided to head back in to town for lunch at Side Street Cafe. We started watching eclipse coverage on my phone and then after eating drove out toward Bass Harbor Head Light House to hike in the area and view the eclipse a bit. We hiked Ship Harbor trail out to a nice spot, and then hiked Wonderland trail out for views of the tide pools. We saw crab and a starfish. We also recreated a couple pictures we had done with the kids a couple years ago. After a not fantastic dinner at The Chart Room, we went back in to town for more ice cream and shopping.

Pictures from Maine can be found here.

After brunch at This Way Cafe Tuesday morning, we started the drive toward Mt. Washington. We got there in time to grab a very late bite to eat, check-in, and drive up. While the weather was quite nice in town, the top was completely fogged in, which happens a lot. So only a couple of us got out and walked around a bit and took a few pictures of stuff at the top. That night we ate at Mountain Fire Pizza, which was quite good! I had some of their famous bacon maple pizza.

Wednesday morning we headed for Diana's Baths. This place was packed too, and full of people bathing in the river. It is a site of an old mill. From here we drove Passaconaway Road over Albany Covered Bridge toward the Kancamagus Highway. The "Kanc" is a scenic drive highway that runs through the White Mountain National Forest. We tried stopping at the Lower Falls, but it was once again a spot full of people bathing in the river. Next we stopped at Sabbaday Falls, which we learned is a great hike to a really nice spot. The hike was uphill and a decent path and not too hard. The falls were a high, narrow channel of water moving pretty quick. Next we stopped at the CL Graham Wangan Grounds Overlook. The view was pretty nice! Immediately following was the Pemigewasset Overlook, looking the opposite way. I got out by myself and got a few pictures of the valley. We then headed to Lincoln to eat some late lunch at Black Mountain Burger Company. The food wasn't bad, but it wasn't that great either. We decided to go to Flume Gorge in the afternoon, as we hoped crowds would have dispersed by then. We were absolutely right, it was nearly empty! This is a really nice hike when there are very few people there, and if full would not be nearly as enjoyable. We checked in at our cabins at Mt. Liberty Lodging. These were neat little cabins that would be neat for a longer stay. And, the playground right outside our cabin helped with the kids! We researched and found The Common Man for dinner. It did not disappoint! Very good food and great looking menu. If we were in town longer, we would have went back.

The next day our plan was two hikes and then a drive to Boston for late lunch in the North End. We hiked the Basin and while it was nice, it was worth the hike a bit further to Kinsman Falls. It was all really beautiful. Lastly, we went to hike Artists' Bluff. And on our way, we finally spotted a moose! We were told to park at an old, free lot with a trail-head that was a bit out of the way. But, it just seemed wrong to me. So I figured out to park at the Echo Lake lot, also for free, and was right next to the trail-head. This is a pretty rugged trail, but everyone did great, and the view was stunning!

Pictures from the White Mountain National Forest can be found here.

We finished up our trip at Mike's Pastry and Al Dente in the North End of Boston. It was a great finish to our trip!

Colin is 15 months old

Colin is growing well. He is small like his brother was, but super active and climbing. All animals say ruff ruff, even the cats. He is 29.5 in long and 18lbs 5 oz. He says book and can point to things like brother, sister, cat, nose, ears, and mouth.

Colin is One Year Old!

Colin just turned one! He is 17lbs and 29". He is very fast and almost able to climb up on the couch. He is quite goofy and silly. He points a few things out (sis, brah-brah, ma, da, ball) and these are also all words he can use. He eats ok, maybe not quite as good as brother and sister did at this age. He gives great hugs and kisses. He is finally starting to read books instead of eat them.

I re-read Nolan and Liana's one year posts and it is funny (but not surprising) how similar they are!

chrisandkacey.com/Colin

Goodness, cake is yummy!

Colin is Ten Months Old!

Colin is getting pretty goofy. He baby-talks to us a lot now; it seems like he is sometimes trying to have a little conversation. He is eating most things now and pretty good at chewing. He still doesn't nap very well. He is trying to climb on stuff still, but hasn't YET been able to get up on anything. He is just now starting to point at things, so soon he may be able to point to things that I mention.

Swinging at the library

Colin is Nine Months Old!

This little guy is progressing well. He still seems small, but eats ok and is super active. He is walking! He started taking steps a few weeks ago, and now he almost walks more than crawls around. He can stand up quite well without holding on to anything. I need to find some more foods for him to eat. It is funny how you forget what you used to feed the first two kids when they were this age! He is very goofy; laughing and giggling a lot. He likes to dance and wiggle to music. He is also starting to learn how to climb up on things, so that will get interesting. Liana and Nolan both had very kid friendly play areas at this age; Colin, not so much. He still won't lay down for a nap except for maybe once a week. Most days, I still hold him.

Nolan is 7 and Colin is Eight Months Old

A little late, but better than never...

Nolan turned 7 and once again we weren't really in a place to have a party. So, we took him to Mystic for the day, then home for pizza and cake. He picked chocolate cake with blue icing and gold sprinkles. He picked out a stuffed octopus from the aquarium and got a new bike.

Colin is so close to walking. He is kinda taking a step, but mostly falling toward me. His fifth tooth popped through and more coming soon I am sure. He is eating bell pepper, cucumber, chickpeas, cheerios, apple, banana, and pear now too.

Colin is Six Months Old! And other happenings

Colin is six months old! Times going pretty quick now. He is crawling around so fast, it is a little challenging thats for sure. His two bottom teeth popped in a little over a week ago, and his top two are working their way through right now. We have been cup feeding most of the time, that works the best for him. He still isn't taking naps in his crib; he wakes as soon as I lean him over. We also let him try a few solid foods recently. He had a little avocado mixed with milk and some squash. He seemed to enjoy it.

A couple days ago, Nolan started riding his bike! We had tried a few week ago, but his balance was not very good (his training wheels were too tight giving the bike no lean at all). So, he has been riding his scooter around a lot. That seemed to help his balance a lot. He hoped on his bike and just took off without a second thought the other day! We are still practicing stopping and getting going, but he will have it mastered pretty soon I suspect.

New York City

For Memorial Day weekend, we drove to New York City for a few days to take in the sights. We stayed near Columbus Circle on the edge of Central Park. Thursday night after arrival, we ate some Thai food near our hotel. It was good, as we haven't had good Thai food in a long time.

We had a list of things to see and a possible order to see them in. Friday we started off at the Statue of Liberty. We arrived early (in line around 10) so the wait wasn't too long at all (maybe 20 minutes). The weather was nice and we enjoyed the view a bit. We didn't have tickets to get in as they were sold out a week in advance (crown tickets book 6 months out). We decided to skip Ellis Island as we didn't have a strong desire to go and we had lots of other things we wanted to do. Once we got off the boat, the security line was stretched around most of Battery Park. We started walking north and took a few pictures at the Charging Bull. Our next stop was the 9/11 Memorial and Reflecting Pools. We talked to Nolan a bit about what happened there. Next we went to Lombardi's for pizza. This is supposed to be an iconic New York pie. Honestly, I was not thrilled. It is heavy sauce, light cheese, and expensive. The crust is very good, though. Then Kacey went to Purl Soho while I let the kids play at a park for a little bit. Lastly, we went to the American Museum of Natural History for the last hour it was open. We walked back south through Central Park and ended up eating at The Greek Kitchen. Food was quite good!

Saturday, Kacey wasn't feeling super well so I took Nolan and Liana to Intrepid Museum. We got there as they opened, but as it was Fleet Week, the line was long to get in. Luckily it moved, but still took a while. We first went to see the Space Shuttle Enterprise. Nolan liked this and we checked out a lot of tools and other artifacts. The deck of the ship was covered in aircraft and the kids each picked out some favorites for pictures. We then climbed up to the officers control decks to look around a bit. Next we headed to the hangar deck to check out some kids activities. There was also a 1/40 scale of the Intrepid built in Lego. After playing a bit, we started to wrap up our visit and went out to look at the submarine and the Concorde. On our way to bus to Top of the Rock, we stopped for a snack of some fries. We then met Kacey and Colin at Top of the Rock. We decided to go up this rather than Empire State due to hearing it is just better all around (experience, view). It was pretty easy (stroller accessible) and a pretty good view. After this we went to Times Square to walk around and eat ice cream. Well, we didn't really do either as Times Square was packed (probably as usual) to the point it was hard to get around, and we couldn't really find any ice cream until we had almost given up. We ended up walking all the way back to Rockefeller and went to the Lego store and plotted out dinner. We found a place that looked good, but the wait was too long, so we ended up at Rosie O'Grady's. This was my first Guinness since Ireland and while it is true that they aren't as good here, our Irish waitress made it a pleasant, memorable evening. On our walk home, with a stop at Grom along the way, we happened to walk next to the Ed Sullivan Theater, home of the Late Show with David Letterman.

The next day we took our time getting up and our first stop was Eataly. While I had high expectations of this place, the things I was looking for were not really there. We did eat pizza and pasta here, and they were pretty good. We took a look at the famous Flat Iron building, which is next door, then started a walk north. Our plan was to walk past and look in the Empire State Building, the Library, Grand Central Station, and the Chrysler building. After we wrapped up the walk (and got some Junior's Cheesecake), we went back to the American Natural History Museum to see some things we didn't get to during our prior visit. Nolan had a lot of fun looking at the ocean animals exhibit. We picked Toloache for dinner, a modern Mexican place. The food was pretty tasty and the staff was nice to us. We decided to stop by a donut ice cream, Holey Cream, sandwich place on the way to the hotel. They source pretty good ice cream, and we were glad to have not tried the donut ice cream sandwich; we saw one and they looked intimidating!

The next day we visited the Bronx Zoo on our way home. This was a pretty good zoo and the kids had fun.

Pictures from our trip can be found here.

Colin is Five Months Old!

Colin turned five moths on Tuesday. He has been barrel rolling and scooting around for a week or so (also getting up on his knees), but Monday night he really crawled. Now, by the end of the week, he is getting much faster! He went to the doc today and he is 25" and 13lb 8oz. He is small, but also very active and not eating much during the days. He has been sleeping in his crib some during the day, but he doesn't sleep very long as he is probably hungry. He ends up sleeping on me quite a lot. Hopefully when I can start some solid food, he will start sleeping more (like how things went with Liana).

Colin is Four Months Old! And other progress..

Colin is 4 months! He is getting so big. He is rolling around; we already have to be careful about where we leave him. Transitioning to expressed milk via a bottle is a struggle. Liana and I really struggled with this and I am trying to not repeat that. One morning he figured it out, but forgot by that afternoon. Yesterday he drank some from a little cup, so hopefully that is our ticket to getting this boy fed during the day. He doesn't nap very long at all; 45 minutes is long for him, usually only 20-30 minutes. He has also gotten vocal. He does some loud squeals to talk to us.

Liana is potty trained! A couple weeks ago, she really wanted to start wearing her underpants and that was the step change to get her on her potty. She has only had a couple accidents, and also has been on some long road trips. The only real problem now is she is kind of scared of large toilets, so she won't go when not at home. She screams at restaurants. I am making her use big toilets more at home to help.

Nolan likes karate. We are not real sure what he is actually learning, but thats ok. Hopefully we can find some soccer soon as he wants to play that too.

Colin is Three Months Old! And other updates...

Colin is three months old! He gives lots of smiles, but makes funny/scared faces for the camera. So, mostly the smiles are just for us. His legs are quite strong and seems like he really wants to roll over. He likes playing on his back some, hitting the hanging toys with his hands. I think he is close to giggling, but not quite there. He is cooing at me some.

Liana is almost 2.5. We are starting some potty work. She does a great job talking in sentences to us and most of her words are now said the correct way, although some of them were quite cute (Nolni for Nolan). Her appetite and food habits changed somewhat during the moves and new baby, but she is getting back to eating a bit better. She loves to sing and dance. She is pretty stubborn some times, but probably just average for a two year old. Nolan never really went through the terrible twos, so I think we just aren't used to it.

Nolan is doing ok in school. He seems to have little desire for reading and speeds through his writing. We have been working with him to slow down in writing so it is more legible, and trying to find books he wants to read. He has a great imagination. In spite of a few fights, he and Liana actually do play well. He just started karate and said he wants to play soccer in the spring. We unfortunately haven't done piano since Ireland, but he and we want to keep doing lessons. With this transitioning life, things like this have been hard, though.

Colin Phillips

We welcome with love our new son, Colin Phillips!

He was born December 5, 2014 at 8AM. He weighed 7 lbs 2 oz and was 20.5 in long. At his one week check-up he was already at 7 lb 6 oz. He loves to try to hold his head up and watch his older brother and sister.
 

Liana Turned Two!

I completely forgot to write this, and actually thought I had already done so. She is a sweet little girl, but also stubborn at times. She isn't sleeping by herself, and we can't really enforce it living in an apartment as she just screams. (She hasn't been a good napper since about April/May). She eats a good variety of food, but grazes and won't eat much in one sitting generally. She saves it for later and eats all day. She is very good on her feet and loves to climb, almost more so than Nolan! She is counting to 10 and can kind of say her ABCs. She knows most of her colors and animals. She is a pretty good talker and understands pretty much everything we say. Her and Nolan like to play together sometimes (and sometimes it just generates screaming). She misses him while he is at school. She likes to take care of dollies, it is pretty cute. She still won't let us put anything in her hair, even though it gets nasty with food and she pushes it out of her eyes all the time. I believe she is around 34 inches tall.

She had a little help with this

Goodbye Ireland, Its Been Grand!

It has been a tiring week, emotionally and physically. Running around, packing, movers, hotels, flights, taxis. Monday our furniture went away, we finished packing our suitcases, and we moved to a hotel. Tuesday our belongings were packed up and we wrapped up some things around town. The cleaners also started at the house. Wednesday the cleaners finished and we handed our keys over. Our lovely landlord brought gifts for the kids, it was very sweet. On Thursday, me, my wife, and our two kids, two cats in crates, and 21 things (11 checked bags, 2 car seats, stroller, 7 carry-ons) got in a shuttle and traveled to the airport. It all went very smoothly! We had some time for breakfast before our 6 hour flight. The flight went so fast, I barely finished a movie. We then collected all the items and Nolan and I got in a van for Rhode Island. Kacey and Liana got a car and came down after us. I got some food and litter for the cats and let them investigate the apartment, and we got some Panera to eat before we all crashed around 8pm.

We are quite sad to leave Ireland. And I can't even really describe it much right now. But, here is a list of things I will miss, and some things I am looking forward to back in the good ole US of A.

Miss...

Roundabouts - Love them, and the few in the US don't seem to function correctly.
Easy flights to Europe - We have seen so much history, culture, scenery, and food, we are very fortunate.
Dun Laoghaire Presbyterian Church - Such a loving and well-ministered place!
People's Park on Sundays - Even when it was raining, I looked forward to heading down the hill.
Guinness - I never had a Guinness before entering Ireland, and I had only recently started to enjoy darker beer before moving to Ireland. And as I tried many stouts and porters, there is a reason for the reputation of Guinness. From the tap. In Ireland. It is just good.
Fuel prices that never change - You never really had to worry about the price of diesel, it is always expensive.
Coke made with real sugar - I love coke, and because of that I don't allow myself to drink it very often. It is a special treat once or twice a month. But it tastes so much better in Europe! I don't think I will drink it in the states unless I find real sugar coke.
Saying "grand" and "brilliant" and "thanks a mil" all the time - Common Irish phrases that you find yourself saying, because everyone there says them.
Father Ted - Great comedy from the late 90s, nice and dry. Find some DVDs and check it out!
Safe power outlets - Great, safe design that I will miss.
Brennans Bread - Delicious, healthy sandwich bread. Nothing like it in the states.
Friendly people everywhere - I think the percentage of friendly people is higher here than most places.
Our home - This was our home, full of wonderful memories, in a lovely suburb town of a lovely city, and will always be cherished.

Looking Forward To...

On-demand hot water and house heat - Imagine wanting to take a random shower at 3pm in the afternoon. No, wait! First turn on the hot water, then wait a while. Was the house cold yesterday yet warm today? Tough. There is no thermostat.
NFL
Seasons - I miss fall. And snow.
Mexican food - Where it does exist in Ireland, it is a huge disappointment.
Inexpensive fuel - DON'T complain about the cost of gas. It costs less than half of Europe.
Handbell choir - Presbyterian churches don't do this in Ireland. I miss playing.
Understanding all the dialects of the land - Sometimes, we just plain couldn't understand someone from the far north or far west or far south. But here, I can understand people from all over the country.
Good beef - The Irish love their beef. But it just flat out doesn't taste as good as US beef!
Sinks that mix the water for you in a single faucet - Want to wash your hands with warm water? Too bad!
Turn on red - Turning left on a red is illegal in Ireland, no matter how clear the view is. I already enjoy getting to turn right on red here!
Showers that don't open to the bathroom - I miss shower curtains! No more 10% of your shower water ending up on the floor.
Big, fast washer and dryer - Imagine being able to do only two very small loads of laundry a day. Or for my european friends, imagine doing the weeks laundry in just a few hours once a week!

Leaving the airport

County Donegal

We finally got up to County Donegal for bank holiday weekend. We were once again fortunate to dodge a lot of rain (started while in the car, stopped when we arrived). This is a beautiful area and due to its proximity from Dublin, most tours stay away.

Friday afternoon we drove to Belleek, a small town on the Ireland/NI border that is known for its pottery. We booked a little bar B&B there and then drove to Donegal town for dinner. I thought more of the town was on the water, but the bay barely makes it in to the town. After a brief walk through town, we ate at a restaurant that was top rated, but it really wasn't any good (except for their sticky toffee pudding). We then walked out by the docks and ended up at the old Friary and Abbey Cemetery. This was a pretty area against the setting sun.

The next morning we got up and went next door to the Belleek Pottery factory for a tour. It was a nice little tour and Kacey even got away with a little something extra. We then stopped by the SuperValu to grab some lunch food to eat while driving to Slieve League Cliffs. We also stopped at Wool N Things in Donegal, and the Donegal Craft Village, for Kacey to check out the goods.

We got to Slieve League and the parking was a little confusing. There was a small area for parking, packed with a few cars waiting to park. There was a small road that looked blocked off, possibly for services. After we got parked, we noticed a few cars going in and out, but we started the walk. After a tough walk along the road, we realized at the end that we could have driven and saved the legs. The views were quite nice. I only walked about half way up the hill because it didn't really look like the views of the cliffs would get better. Our next thoughts were to try to drive part of Rick Steves drive near Bunbeg and Dunfanaghy but people were tired and it was raining pretty good, so by Glenties, we changed course to Letterkenny for our hotel.

The next day our first stop was Glenveagh National Park to see the castle. We arrived right after a few tours did so we had quite a wait to get in. The castle is small but has very nice grounds and great views on the lake. The rain started right as we got in the car for our drive to Bunbeg. The fog was way too thick to see Mount Errigal, but I am sure the west side of it is quite beautiful. We got to Bunbeg and what we thought was town was quite small as expected. The only place we saw for lunch was a little slow and as we left town, we saw that town was a bit bigger than we thought. We drove out to the beach and once again it was a stunning view. The drive north was nice and scenic, and the rain kept trying to come, but never too much. We stopped at Cnoc Fola, which is the Hill of Blood or Bloody Foreland due to the color of the heather at sunset. We stopped at the Dunfanaghy Work House, but didn't go in as we wanted to get to a couple other places still.

Next we drove out to Horn Head. The views here are pretty nice, even when it is trying to rain. We also drove over to the WWII shelter, which can be seen to the west of Horn Head. Our next stop was just outside of Derry, an old ring fort. Grianan Ailligh is a 2000 year old fort (restored over 100 years ago) with grand views of the hillsides all around. After letting the kids run a bit, we drove in to Derry to our B&B. We drove around the old walled town and the murals a bit to see them without having to walk around in the rain.

The next morning we drove around the murals again and took some decent pictures, but we had to get on the road to make it to Malin Head, and then home. Originally we had hoped to drive the Inishowen 100, but we knew we didn't have for it. We decided to drive straight to Malin and see a few things up there. We started at Five Finger Strand. This is a big, beautiful beach area where low tides reveal what look like fingers. We played here a bit and collected shells. Then we drove to Malin Head. This was getting a bit crowded for parking, but we got in. Nolan and I hiked down toward the Head point. What I learned is that the marker is actually located on a set of rocks separated from the mainland by a raging ocean and steep cliffs. We were fortunate that the weather was absolutely gorgeous this day and the view and hike were nice. Next we drove south on the Inishowen 100/Wild Atlantic Way toward Malin town to find lunch. There were more nice views along the way. We stopped at this place that looked like a community center that was also serving lunch. We stopped at Northern Bites and it was nice with good people and information. We learned about a few other sites to see, so we set out with new GPS coordinates and sites.

We now knew where Wee House of Malin was, and it was close. So we saw this little cave and old cottage, with again, nice views of the ocean. We also set out to see a few high crosses on our way south, as well as an old stone circle. The Bocan Stone Circle was in a guy's field, and we parked in the mud. We then set out for a high cross, but the GPS coordinates led to some guy's field with no cross. Next we drove for Carrowmore Cross and found Cloncha Cross and church, the one we couldn't find! Too funny. Carrowmore crosses are just in a field with no where to stop really, but we did anyway. We set out for home via Moville, where we stopped for Cooly cross, in a little cemetery with a few sheep grazing inside. They were all great to see and learn about.

Donegal is beautiful and not too busy due to being far from tours and Dublin. I now see why the Wild Atlantic Way is quickly becoming quite popular.

Pictures can be found here.

Krakow

Our last city to visit was Krakow. We wanted to visit Krakow four years ago, but didn't get to it. We are really glad we did now as this is a great city that we really enjoyed. We arrived in the afternoon in time to get to the hotel and get out for pierogi dinner. The first place we had read about was not open during July, and the second place was a bit hard to find. But U Babci Maliny was pretty good. A small place where you order at the window and wait in the little upstairs or downstairs for your number. It was pretty tasty, but three plates wasn't enough and we headed back to something we spotted earlier, a summer festival at Mały Rynek square. I asked the girl at the beer tent (as her english was quite good) and it was a food and misc festival that was there all week. Awesome! We ended up here every night! We had pan fried pierogi, sausage, beer, kraut, potatoes, kebabs, and grilled oscypek cheese.

Our first day we scheduled a tour of Auschwitz-Birkenau and the Salt Mines. We knew this would be a long day, but we had a private driver who took care of everything and made it a doable day. We started at Auschwitz for 1.5 hours and then headed to Birkenau for an hour. Our tour guide was from the area and she did a great job taking us through. All I really want to say is everyone needs to visit here. Thoughts of this place are permanently engrained in my head. (Pictures from Auschwitz are here). After these tours, our guide took us to Wieliczka to tour the salt mines. He dropped us next door for lunch (pierogi and a delicious Mocno Dojrzale polish porter) and we started that tour at 5pm. This place is pretty interesting and an UNESCO world heritage site. The miners took a lot of pride in their work and carvings, especially the cathedral! After the main lift breaking and walking out to another lift, we didn't get back to Krakow until 8pm. And guess where we ended up for dinner...

The next day our plans were to talk around Market Square and just take in the sites, and then walk around Kazimierz (Jewish quarter) a bit. We watched the opening of the alter in St. Mary's Basilica and this church was quite interesting. We also visited the little church next door (made from left over bricks from St. Mary's), which contains the tomb of Jakub Wujek, who translated the Bible to polish. I took a quick trip up the Town Hall tower, but the view is obstructed as you can't get outside; you only look through 3 small windows. After eating some food at, guess where, we stopped at the hotel for water and toilets and then walked to Kazimierz. We checked out a couple synagogues and got some ice cream (lody) at the place our guide said was the best in Krakow. The place is possibly called 'Pracownia Cukiernicza Stanisław Sarga'. Lines form in the summer, but our line was only about 5-7 minutes. They use real fruit and it tastes great! For dinner we went to Zapiecek for pierogi. Another great place!

Our last day we went to Wawel Castle. The ticket process is a little cumbersome, but we bought several different tickets and spent the afternoon visiting places. Getting food here is a bit tricky unfortunately. Some of the sites sell out, so don't come up at the end of the day. I think I liked the cathedral best of all, which doesn't sell out at all. The views from the Sandomierska Tower was not that great as you only get to look out a few small windows. We finished our day by walking out through the caves, known as the Dragon's Lair, which lowers you down to the river. At the end once you are outside, there is a stone dragon statue that breathes fire! We finished by going back to Zapiecek and then the food festival again. Then, it was time to catch our night flight back to Dublin.

Krakow was our favorite, and I think Poland is a place we could drive around for a week. Nice people, yummy food, a tough history with resilient people, and beautiful countryside. Also, it is easy on the pocket book!

Pictures from Krakow and the Salt Mines can be found here.

Stockholm

Our second city on holiday was Stockholm, Sweden. We had two full days and our plan was not to run around too much and just enjoy walking around. The first night we arranged to fly in to have time to eat dinner there. We asked for a recommendation at the hotel and ended up at a place that had the food we were looking for, but a bit touristy. The food was ok but the atmosphere was not quite right. We stopped by a bakery/coffee house still serving some dessert and had a little treat.

Our first day, the plan was to tour the City Hall (where the Nobel Prize Banquet is held each year) first. There were some nice views of the city across the islands from there. The tour is pretty average, but some places of the hall are quite interesting. I climbed the tour for more views of the city and it was a good viewpoint. Next we walked toward Kungsträdgården to just walk around the park. Along the way we stopped along the Drottninggatan pedestrian walkway and ate at the Pickwick Irish bar, as they also had some Swedish food. Kacey got a delicious Jansson´s temptation, sliced herring, potatoes & onions baked in cream. We were considering a canal tour and while walking around we read more about it and booked a boat tour of the city for later in the day. We walked around the park a bit enjoying the sites before getting on the boat. The boat tour was good. It was nice to see lots of islands and different parts of the city. We even saw the two beaches they have. Not having done many of these tours before, I learned that I much prefer live guides as opposed to electronic headphone-only guides. After the tour we were going to walk the pedestrian way back toward the hotel and find food along the way. We couldn't find any local cuisine so we ended up at an Italian place for pizza.

Our second day was spent in Gamla Stan, the old town. We started off going to the Cathedral. Then our plan was to visit the different areas of the palace most of the day. We went to the royal chapel, apartments, treasury, Gustav III's Museum of Antiquities, Tre Kronor Museum, and the Royal Armory. We also visited the Royal Coin Cabinet next door. Most of these places were no photo, but there was nothing super special here. It rained a bit while going in the first few places, but we were fine and it stopped by time we were done. We walked toward Stortorget square to find some dinner. We stopped in a bakery and had a delicious hazelnut cream cookie. We ate dinner at De Svarta Fåren and we had pretty good food. I had a moose burger and Kacey's delicious raw spiced salmon with Västerbotten cheese, fennel, red onion, dill, horseradish and Swedish mustard sauce. The kids and Kacey got ice cream afterward at Lejonet & Björnen. We slowly walked back to the hotel along the pedestrian street, and I once again went to the bakery nearby the hotel for my treat.

The next morning we got up for a long bus ride to the far away Skavsta airport to get to Krakow. Stockholm was an ok city. It is pretty in parts, and the food is good if you are lucky enough to find a good place (but we found this was hard), but once again expensive. There are some nice outdoor areas which we didn't have time to visit.

Pictures from Stockholm can be found here.

Copenhagen

For our big summer holiday, we picked three cities to visit. We started first in Copenhagen, which is rated as one of the top cities to visit in Europe. We got a hotel close to the station and Tivoli, which is a decent location. Copenhagen is expensive (worse than Paris I think) so just be prepared if visiting. Everything is about double what it should be.

Our first day there we went to visit Rosenborg Palace. This is a little castle with nice gardens and a treasury in the basement. When we were done, it started hailing and didn't stop for a while. We got quite soaked making our way to some lunch. After struggling to figure out how to spend the rest of the day, the sun had some back out and we dried out a bit. We walked through Nyhavn a bit and made our way to Amalienborg Palace and the Marble Church. We were able to visit Christian VIII's palace, which is a little museum now. The church was different and interesting. We then headed toward Strøget, Europe's longest pedestrian only shopping street. We took in some sites and shops and kept an eye out for dinner. I went up the Round Tower for views while Kacey and the kids watched a street performer on a unicycle. Next on the street was the Lego store! Nolan played for a bit in there while Kacey shopped some. We could not find a good restaurant with food for kids, so we ended up getting Chinese takeaway for the kids and Kacey, and I watched the US world cup game against Germany at a bar filled with Germans. I had some Jacobsen Brown Ale (from Carlsberg) and quite enjoyed it.

The next day we went to Christiansborg Palace first and visited the palace, ruins, and royal stable. We ate a little lunch near Nyhavn and then decided to take an "under the bridges" canal tour. It was nice and the city is quite pretty in places. We even saw the royal family out on their ship (the tour guide was convinced the family was on board due to staff and flags at use). We also saw the famous Little Mermaid statue. Once done we walked Strøget some more and found an Italian place for dinner; probably a little touristy, but really one of the best options we could find. I tried a drink (can't recall the name) where beer is mixed with sprite. I would not order it again.

The next day was our day at Tivoli, an amusement park right in city center. But first we stopped in the City Hall (next door) to see Jens Olsen's astronomical clock. Pretty impressive craftsmanship. So next we walked next door to Tivoli. It isn't huge, but the big prices keep it from getting too ridiculously busy. Once you pay to get in, you quickly realize you should just buy an unlimited pass for rides. We were able to buy a child plus adult ticket, which meant that either Kacey or I could go with Nolan on a ride (but we couldn't do one by ourselves). Nolan had a lot of fun, and Liana got to play at the little kids area for a while too.

The next day, craving some big breakfast, we actually went to the Hard Rock for their American brunch. It was good for Nolan and now it was time to fly to our next city, Stockholm. Copenhagen isn't as great as we were expecting; more expensive than Paris without the sites of Paris. Yes there are some pretty streets, palaces and museums, but we didn't quite understand the hype.

Pictures from Copenhagen can be found here.

Nice and Monaco

This past bank holiday weekend, we traveled to Nice for a little getaway. We had heard good things about this little southern town in France and were looking forward to going to a place where we could just wander around and not feel like we had a lot of things to do (as you can see from most our trips, we are heavy into site-seeing). Nice is a great place for this! The Cours Saleya market is full of food. The Castle Hill has great views of the town and ocean, and a nice playground (as well as a lift up for those hot days). The old town has plenty of little shops, ice cream, and food to keep you interested for a few days. There is a 2.5 mile pebble beach with a Promenade for bikes and walking. And, Monaco is a 20 minute train ride away, to see how the 1% lives.

Our highlights were playing in the Promenade du Paillon, with water features and playgrounds, Castle Hill, throwing rocks in the ocean, taking a bike tour, walking the markets, and eating ice cream. Fenocchio is well known for its crazy flavours, and we tried quite a few (beer was average, a local specialty torte de blette was quite good, cola was great on a hot day, violet was quite good, and cactus was quite good). None of our meals were outstanding, but eating at Patin Couffin was probably the best meal we had there (even though the service was probably the worst; they completely forgot my food). I did try frog legs and I did enjoy them; it is like delicate chicken. We stayed at Hotel Univers and I do recommend them if needing a triple. We also walked to see the Russian Orthodox church when we were out by the station, but it was closed. We were able to just take in the view from the street, though.

Monaco is quite small, but the large buildings and the hillside make it seem larger than it is. We took the bus from the station to the old town and walked out toward a lookout. There are beautiful flowers everywhere. We walked through the gardens toward the cathedral, and then a couple blocks to the palace. We didn't go in to see the car collection, but just took in more views of the port and town from there. We could see that stopping at the port/harbour area looked less interesting than we expected, so we just took the bus to Casino Square. After walking for a bit and enjoying some more gardens, we took the bus back down to the station to head back to Nice. We only needed two or three hours to walk around and eat lunch, and it was enough.

Pictures from Nice can be found here.

Pictures from Monaco can be found here.