This was our first trip to the Amalfi Coast. We found this lovely B&B (La Fenice) right on the outside of town. Positano accommodations can be grotesquely expensive and although this B&B is not right in the middle of town, the walk to town is gorgeous and takes 10-15 min. Here's our daughter taking the stroll to town...
The room rate was 180 euro per night (cash only) for 4 people and that included a fabulous breakfast made each morning by the hosts. I talked to many people who have visited Positano and this was a great deal. My favorite review of the property was this one: "If you are looking for a 5 star luxury hotel experience with snowy white bed linen, fluffy towels, bathrobes and expensive toiletries then La Fenice is not a place for you.La Fenice is perfect for what I imagine Positano to be... perfect in its simplicity: basic amenities; very clean but mismatched towels and linen (adding to it's quirkiness); lovely, clean airy rooms with lovely tiles, old world furniture... ours had a huge balcony with full view of the Mediterranean Sea. Bliss." I could not agree more. What La Fenice lacked in luxury it made up for in charm. Here was the view from our room:
Afternoon snack time overlooking the Mediterranean.
We decided to take a boat charter to the island of Capri for the day. You must do this if you are visiting the Amalfi Coast. Don't miss the Blue Grotto tour. You might feel like they are ripping off the tourists a bit here as each of the "boats" charge to take you into the Blue Grotto, but that is the only way you can get inside. It's a once in a lifetime experience, so go for it!
Take a dip in the Mediterranean afterwards... what could be better?
Constantino and his family were the hosts at La Fenice and he offered to make our dinner plans every night. Most of the restaurants in the area offer complimentary shuttle service, which is highly recommended. We tried one of his favorite restaurants called Constantino's (no relation, he insists). This was quite an experience. The food is fabulous and the family who runs the restaurant are extremely friendly and entertaining. The girls loved it, too.
Positano is a fabulous town. We spent 3 days here and thought that was the perfect amount of time for us. Others might want to extend their stay to 5-7 days and really embrace the laid back and relaxed feel of the Amalfi Coast.
This was our second trip to Paris with the girls. This was actually the "second chance" trip since our first visit there was underwhelming. I have so many friends who absolutely love Paris and I get it. It is a gorgeous city with fascinating history, art, food and culture. However, I always judge a place by its people. I have found that Parisians, in general, are just rather unpleasant. So, if you can look past that and carry on, you will have any amazing time. We did!
We stayed on the Left Bank at the Hotel Left Bank in St. Germain, which I highly recommend. Book the suite on the top floor. It is a bit more expensive than their other rooms, but it's so worth it. It is the perfect size for a family and you get a fabulous view of Notre Dame. Ooh, la la.
The Left Bank is not as touristy as other areas in Paris and the restaurants and hotels are generally less expensive. But, you can walk to almost all of the sights. If not, the subway system is great. We took the subway to the Eiffel Tower after dark with the girls and felt very safe.
Now, if you are in Paris and don't visit the Louvre, you are crazy. We booked a tour of the Louvre through Paris Muse and it was fantastic. If you are visiting the Louvre for the first time, especially with kids, you should really book a personal tour. It's an "investment," but well worth it! Your guide will whisk you through the highlights and engage your children throughout the tour with a "scavenger hunt."
We absolutely loved our tour guide, Davinia and my opinion of Parisians was slowly turning around, except she was a Brit! Oh well.
If you want a more manageable museum, you should also visit the Orsay museum on the Left Bank. It is housed in a former train station... a bit odd, but a real gem.
Of course, you cannot leave Paris without a visit to the Eiffel tower. We decided to go at night to see it lit up. The girls loved it at the top of the hour when the lights starts to blink and everyone cheers. It's a celebration every hour!
The lines are much shorter late night, so make this visit on your 1st or 2nd night when your body clock is still confused. We traveled from NYC, so visiting the Eiffel tower on our 2nd night there at 11pm was no problem for the girls.
You must also visit Sacre Couer. You will get a great view of Paris from the highest point in the city.
One of my favorite sights was the "love bridge" that we crossed from the Left Bank every day... People have written their names on these locks and thrown the key into the Seine. There are hundreds of them and it just puts a smile on your face...
OK, I do love Paris!
We went on an incredible trip to Canada with my entire family in June. We started in Vancouver and travelled east by train on the Rocky Mountaineer. It was quite an amazing trip with stops in Whistler, Quesnel and Jasper. We rented vans and drove to Lake Louise from Jasper. I am embarrassed to admit that I never really thought much about visiting Canada, but this trip really opened my eyes. The scenery is gorgeous and the people are rather delightful. Whistler was probably our favorite spot. The girls loved doing the zip line with their grandparents and uncles... We will have to head back when it is a winter wonderland. Lake Louise is stunning. We were lucky enough to stay at the Fairmont, which is right next to the lake and has wonderful views.
We are in the midst of planning our summer trips as school is coming to a close for the year. We have two very different trips planned for this summer... the first trip is Canada. The girls grandparents have organized a week-long adventure with the help of a great company called Jet Set World Travel. It will be an on the road family reunion with my entire family. It should be an amazing trip as we explore to Canadian Rockies on the Rocky Mountaineer. Everyone I know who has been to Whistler has said it is one of their favorite places. We can't wait!
Our second trip is to Europe... Switzerland, France and Italy. We will be there for almost 2 weeks and have decided to take trains for the entire trip. Actually, we were inspired by my brother's upcoming Ultimate Train Challenge. If you aren't "friends" with him on Facebook, you should do it now! He has been on an almost 2 year long trek around the world. We aren't really sure if he is ever coming home. We would love any tips or suggestions you might have for these cities: Paris, Naples, Positano, Rome and Montreux.
Tip: Did you know that many of the "child discounts" end at age 12, especially in Europe? If you can swing it -- get exploring with your kids now. It's never too early.
We love traveling with our kids and do get some interesting comments from people... This article by one of our favorite travel sites, Ciao Bambino, sums it up perfectly. The time is now... get out there and travel WITH your kids... You will be so glad you did!
We stayed in Hawk's Cay for a few days in July and loved it. They have a great pool for the kids and a lagoon where you can rent kayaks that provides hours of fun.
They have a lot of great activities for kids throughout the day and dolphins on site.
It was close enough to Key West that we drove down for dinner at Antonia's one night... great Italian food.
We arrived in Miami a few days ago with the girls. We stayed a couple of nights in Duck Key at Hawks Cay resort (review coming soon) and headed out of the Port of Miami on Norwegian Epic (review coming soon). We will have many stories and pics soon. Stay tuned...
We took the girls to the Rancho Las Palmas resort in Palm Springs/Rancho Mirage for a couple of days during spring break. It is a really great resort, especially with kids. The lazy river was their favorite part -- ours was that kids under 12 eat for free. Seriously! Who does that anymore? Now, we did skip their Easter brunch there because it was outrageously expensive and we decided to check out The River (the outdoor mall across the street). It's hard to beat The Cheesecake Factory... yummy! If you are visiting Palm Springs with kids... consider Rancho Las Palmas... it is so fun!
Here's a tip from our daughter's teacher, Mrs. Warner that we followed: Eat at D'Carlos Italian Cafe near the resort... shhhh! Don't tell the tourists -- it's a secret and it is wonderful. The owner is really cute, too.
Also, make sure you stop by The Living Desert... that was really fun, too.
Our family has started a tradition of volunteering on Thanksgiving and this year we spent the morning cleaning up a beach in Encinitas called Moonlight ~ our favorite. We had so much fun and our girls loved the comments they were getting from the people on the beach. One surfer came up to our youngest daughter and said, "Are you picking up trash today?" When she said yes... He said, "You're awesome!" Both girls had a big smile on their face all day... Well done, girls! Happy Thanks'giving'!
We just returned from our trip to Costa Rica and it is a fabulous place to take kids. We landed in Liberia, which is the smaller airport in the north versus the major airport in San Jose. We found it was less expensive than flying into San Jose and closer to the areas we wanted to visit. We decided to split our trip between the Arenal volcano/jungle area and the beach communities of Samara and Tamarindo.
Out first stop was Leaves & Lizards, a wonderful cabin retreat near La Fortuna/Monterrey area. The owners are an American couple who moved to Costa Rica. We took our new Flip with us this time, so enjoy some short videos along with pictures of Costa Rica... Pura Vida!
We took the red eye in and had a 4 hour drive on our first day -- I would not recommend doing this unless you can sleep on a plane, which my husband and I cannot. We did not have a great map and got lost a few times. But, we eventually found our way and discovered that we are spoiled with the roads in the US because many roads in CR are not paved. The main roads are actually pretty good, but the back roads can be a challenge. Make sure you rent a 4 WD. Also, we opted to buy the full insurance from the car rental agency. Unless you bring a copy of your auto insurance plan or your credit card companies coverage, they will not let you rent a car without their insurance. I would recommend it anyway because you never know what is ahead of you and why worry...
We absolutely loved Leaves & Lizards... our daughters thought they were in heaven... We had a great view of the Arenal volcano from our cabin.
They have 11 horses, 2 dogs, 1 pig, 1 parrot, 1 cow and 10+ chickens. The girls loved washing Ms. Piggy and feeding her our leftovers at night...
We ate breakfast there every morning (all baked from scratch) with their parrot, Lorita (who loves pancakes) and headed out on our adventures... Debbie and Steve are the owners and are wonderful people, along with their entire staff. I just can't say enough wonderful things about this place.
We decided that our first adventure would be the canopy tour/zip line. Our 8 year daughter was a little hesitant, especially when the guide told us to pee before we left because they do not like to wash the harnesses. OK... we will find el bano pronto ;-) Our 10 year old was very independent all day... we would turn around to see where she was and she was already gone...
The canopy tour company was called El Mundo Adventuras -- right outside of La Fortuna... Awesome place... The guide who worked with our 8 year old daughter was Muerte (j/k)... I think he tricks some gringos with that one though! He was kind of disappointed when I asked him his name and he said, "Muerte" and I said, "Your name is death?" We did call him Muerte all day (after we realized we weren't going to die ;-)
The next day we went with a wonderful guide, Enrique to visit the Rio Frio on the border of Nicaragua. We took a boat trip through the rainforest and saw some amazing creatures. We saw the Jesus Christ lizard (who walks on water), howler monkeys, white faced monkeys, caiman, many rare birds, bats and so much more. It was an amazing journey. We even sat through a rather intense rainstorm while eating lunch... rainforest style.
Here is the Jesus Christ lizard in action:
We stopped at The Springs resort on the way back to Leaves & Lizards to eat and soak in the natural hot springs... very posh place, but your typical resort. You do not really get the feel of Costa Rica and the people if you stay in the high end resorts... But, it was a good lunch and the hot springs cannot be missed... at least for an afternoon.
We took the girls to visit a working Tico farm with a local Tico family. The husband and wife (Eric and Nayu), along with their 2 young daughters run a working dairy farm. It was fascinating. We milked cows, made our own cheese from the milk, fished in the small lake on their property, made homemade tortillas, went horseback riding and relaxed in hammocks throughout the day. Their daughter even caught a baby armadillo, which was quite a sight to see. Their life is truly extraordinary. The pace is slow and they are happy. If you have seen the new study that just came out that names Costa Rica as the happiest country in the world... when you visit, you really see why. They just have an ease and contentment about themselves. At first glance, you see that they are poor, but they do not value material possessions like many other countries such as our beloved, America. They live off the land and have a sense of community that is to be admired. It was quite an education for all four of us.
Riding horses:
Milking the cows:
After our amazing 4 days in the rainforest, we headed out to Playa Samara. If you are familiar with Costa Rica at all, you always hear about Tamarindo. But, the locals all know the secret -- Tamarindo is built up and very "Americanized" while Samara is a hidden treasure. It was very quiet and beautiful. We stayed at the Hideaway Hotel -- another hotel owned by an American couple who have relocated to CR. It was lovely and very inexpensive. Here is one of the howler monkeys right outside our door that would talk to us every day...
We ate where the locales ate in town and the food was very good. The people were very kind and we enjoyed our solitude on the beaches.
The first full day we were there, we decided to rent a boat with local guides and go in search of dolphins... we were not disappointed... it was a very small boat with lots of big waves... But, we found the dolphins and they put on quite a show... much better than any we have ever seen at Sea World!
We stopped at a local "zoo" in Playa Samara. It was really more of an animal sanctuary that a wonderful lady runs (on donations only)... The lady who runs it brings animals in with the intention of setting them back into the wild eventually... if possible. Some were brought up by humans and cannot be returned to the wild, but she can release most of them... awesome place and an amazing lady!
Here is Pancho -- one of our favorites at the "zoo." He will go back into the wild someday, too.
Now, we did want to check out Tamarindo and see what all the buzz was about... We decided to meet back up with a great Canadian family, the Prices that we met at Leaves & Lizards. They were staying at the JW Marriott... This is a really nice resort and we wanted to be pampered for a couple of days... it was really fun... The Marriott is about 8 km outside of Tamarindo and you need to drive to town.
We do see why surfers love Tamarindo -- it is a great surfers town... Very busy town center and lots of Americans... We did find a really cool coffee shop right outside of town called Cafe Cafe... Blink and you will miss it... But, we loved it... and really enjoyed seeing Tamarindo... But, we were glad we were staying at the Marriott outside of town.
