Brugge...Charming Before the Crowds!

Of all the travel days we had, I was most nervous about this. We had to a 630am flight from Stockholm to Brussels which meant that we had to get the kids up at 3:30am. They were troopers though and got up excitedly in their travel pajamas that we had put on them the night previously. If anything can make a 630am flight, it would be flying business class. We flew Brussels Airlines and at the time at which I purchased tickets, business class was a fraction of economy, so business class it was! The looks that the twins were getting in their row 1 seats was pretty entertaining by all the passerby's.

We arrived to a sunny Brussels airport and then took a direct train to Brugge. An hour later, we arrived to an equally sunny Brugge. We reserved an apartment hotel room at the Hotel Aragon and the kids were going nuts playing with all the doors and cabinet doors. Word to the wise, bring your own childproofing! Our hotel wasn't ready yet and so we dropped off our luggage and headed for lunch at the markt square. We spent the rest of the day on a self walking tour of Brugge which we found to be entirely too crowded for our liking when it's prime time. Another observation that we had of Brugge, it's not nearly as kid friendly as Stockholm was. 

The next day, it was rainy but we managed to make it out to breakfast at what turned out to be one of our favorite places, That's Toast. We got to enjoy quiet and serene Brugge before the day trip crowds came in. With the sprinkles, we found it to the perfect opportunity to take a covered horse carriage ride which the kids had been asking about since we arrived. If anyone is thinking of doing a horse carriage ride in Brugge, it's cash only and they expect a tip above the 70 euros. 

On Day 3 and our last day in Brugge, we once again headed to That's Toast which we found to be one of the more kid friendly places to dine at. We then walked out to the charming outskirts of Brugge to the moat and windmills before rounding back inland to a playground called, Astridpark. Just before 3pm, it was time to take the train to Brussels where we would overnight before an early journey on the Eurostar to the UK.

We arrived in Brussels and checked into our transit hotel. Shortly after, we uber'ed to the Palace square for a quick tour before having dinner at Chez Leon where coincidentally, kids under 12 eat free. I don't know that we have to return to Brugge again although their waffles were quite tasty and we definitely don't have to return to Brussels but there are a couple of cities in Belgium that I'd like to visit in the future. One big learning that I had was that not all Uber XL's are the same. In Stockholm, when you reserve an Uber XL, it's a 6 passenger vehicle with room for luggage. In Brussels and the UK for that matter, it's just a vehicle for 6 passengers and no luggage or vice versa. 

Next up, onto the Eurostar to Alnmouth!

Stockholm... Most Kid Friendly City!

Stockholm has been on my list as a destination because I've once been told that it's a very cool city. A cool city it was but what I didn't know was how child friendly the city truly was. We didn't specifically seek out child friendly restaurants but every restaurant we went to offered child size portions of items on their menu. Every crosswalk was assessable making it very stroller friendly. In fact, there are so many strollers roaming around Stockholm that I bet they have the highest ratio of strollers per capita! Wherever you are in Stockholm, search playground in googlemaps and there'll be a handful within 10-15 mins of where you are. Speaking of playgrounds, many of the playgrounds we discovered wasn't on any "best playgrounds" list in guides and so definitely venture off of guides so find some gems. Below is how we spent our days!

Day 1- We arrived in Stockholm and hopped in what was probably an overpriced taxi ride into the city but when you have 3 tired toddlers, the cost of convenience is worth it! After a 30 or so minute ride, we arrived at our hotel, Hobo Hotel where we had booked the executive suite for our family of 5. The hotel could not have been more conveniently located. After getting settled in, we walked across the street for pizza and then off to an early bedtime. Stockholm in the Summer at least hardly gets dark but my kids are used to not sleeping in total darkness and so that was not a problem for us. 

Day 2- Our exploration day begins! We wandered down to Gamla Stan witnessing the changing of the guards band along the way and then made an impromptu decision to hop on the ferry to Skansen, an open air outdoor amusement playground.

Day 3- With the recommendation from our hotel, we walked to Ralis Parklek playground. Bring a change of clothes if you're coming here for the summer as they have a pond. This playground covers all as they have a bit of everything for everyone (ie:soccer field, wading pond, zip line, climbing wall, etc). After hours of play, we did the enjoyable walk back along the water and ended up at the main commercial shopping street, Vasagatan. For convenience, we had dinner nearby and this is where I discovered a way to ruin a fish taco. The restaurant we went to sadly used smoked salmon for their fish tacos vs fried or pan fried fish which actually brings me to another point. When the menu describes something as deep fried, it actually means sautéed.

Day 4-  Weather looked amazing today and so onto a boat and a cruise on the archipelago (in the Baltic Sea) we went with Vaxholm as the destination. There, we found another great playground, Lekplats and the kiddos spent hours there. To end the evening, we had a delicious meal at Tradition in Gamla Stan. A recommendation from our hotel and one we would recommend as well for a traditional Swedish meal. Kids size portions available here!

Day 5- We ventured to the Sodermalm area and there was another great little playground called Bryggartappen. We lunched at Meatballs For the People but it should really be called Meatballs For All Types of People as there were meatballs that I wouldn't venture with (ie: Bear).

Day 6- Rain was in the forecast today and so headed to the Vasa Museum. How often do you get to see a real ship from the 1600s?! What a tragic story as it's life ended in just seconds after setting for the first sail. The museum is captivating in that it was able to attain so many artifacts from the sailors that were on the boat. The lightlight of the day for me was finding a hidden Fika spot that isn't in any yelp review. The day wouldn't be complete with a playground! This time, we went to Krubbans Lekplats in the Ostermalm area. We later explored the entire Ostermalm area including a walk through of  Saluhaull. We picked up some very expensive fruit here but again with 3 toddlers, you might be ok with paying $15 for 3 apples, 1 cup of raspberries and 1 cup of strawberries.

Day 7-  Today we explored Ivar Lo Park. It's not known to many but one not to miss with the view points from this park! On our way back, we explored the side streets of Gamla Stan which we hadn't yet had a chance to do. Dinner was where we had lunch the previous day, Bar & Bistro in Gamla Stan next to Tradition. It's a more casual and much smaller version of Tradition and equally delicious.

Day 8- Our final day here was a bit rainy but we were able to up to another playground in the Ostermalm area, Humlegardens. 

We couldn't have been happier with Stockholm as our first international destination for our now family of 5. The hotel we choose, Hobo Hotel is where we would choose to stay again if we ever returned. Their morning breakfast which was included in our rate offered the most complete spread of American breakfast items with a Japanese influence. For example, they offered varied juices including green juice, donburi, miso soup among many other items. 

One of the things that we contemplated on the most was our stroller situation. We were going to bring the Zoe Twin and then decided to just bring the Babyzen Yoyo and the ride along board instead but ended up with a last minute decision to bring our Babyzen Yoyo, the ride along board and our Cybex Libelle. We found it to be essential to have a stroller solution for every kiddo, even our 5 yo as we were covering 8+ miles of walking a day. Besides, one thing that we hadn't considered was how much our young kiddos relied on the stroller as a safe space whenever they felt overwhelmed. Car seats wise, we brought two Safe Rider Vests, 1 Wayb and 1 Hiccopop inflatable booster. While we had it just in case, many times in cabs and Ubers, the kids were fine just sitting in the car for the short ride.

From SFO to ARN, KLM was our airline and they couldn't have been more friendly with our family! We had 8 days in Stockholm and felt like we could have lingered longer. It's such a cool and stunning city. We liked that fact that it didn't feel overly touristy, evern for Summer. Everyone just blends in and cost wise, it was on par with where we live in the Bay Area, CA. If anything, I would say plan for some rainy days as we did have 1.5 days of rain which isn't bad considering we were there for 8. And with that, onto Bruges!

London Is Calling

Would you believe that I've been all over Europe but had never set foot in London proper?! I've transited through the Heathrow airport many times but had never spent anytime in the grand city just outside of it. This year, for what seems to be my annual winter birthday trip, I had decided that it's time to check London off the list and my friend Noreen from NYC was up for meeting me there. 

  

I landed on an early Monday morning and fortunately, the Clermont Victoria Hotel was nice enough to allow me to check in early where promptly after, I hopped on the on/off London bus tour for about 3 hours while I waited for Noreen's arrival. I will say that the big streets that the bus tour takes you through is a very different experience than the quaint streets and lanes of the various neighborhoods. Once Noreen arrived, we set out on our first of many neighborhood self walking tours. First up would be Chelsea. The sun would start to set around 4pm and so our experience of Chelsea was seen during the settling in of dusk.

The next day, we ventured off to the neighborhoods of Kensington, Notting Hill, Primrose Hill and Camden. Kensington is what I would consider the old money neighborhood of London. The architecture and private gardens that surrounds the neighborhood makes this very apparent. While it lacked some of the charm of the other neighborhoods, I did speak regal. 

For the sake of time, once we were done with out 2 hour self walking tour of Kensington, we hopped in a taxi and headed to the infamous Portobello Road in Notting Hill. In my mind, I had these idyllic imagery of the neighborhood being quaint and cute after all, the movie is one of my all time favorites. Real life Notting Hill was a big grungier than I had imagined. Tragically, the corner book shop that was the main feature point of the movie has turned into a cheesy movie tourist shop. I wondered why the city or the neighborhood didn't enforce that the property stay a book shop? Meanwhile, someone must have thought the same and capitalize on the idea by opening The Notting Hill Book Shop down the street. While strolling down Portobello road, you'll also see shops featuring the Notting Hill jacket which is inspired by the jacket that Julia Roberts is wearing in the movie where she goes to William's sister's house for a birthday dinner. 

In the interest of time, after our time in Notting Hill, we hopped another friendly London taxi to Primrose Hill where we got a glimpse of the where seemingly many young families choose to reside with it's large park on the hill and quaint street of shops. Real estate was noticeably a bit lower priced in this neighborhood than the rest. Shortly after, we made our way to Camden and walked through the many stalls of the Camden market. What a night and day feel between Primrose which is literally down a canal to Camden. If I had to compare Camden to a neighborhood in San Francisco, it'd be a cleaner Haight Street or Pacific Beach in San Diego. It's definitely the grungiest part of London we had visited during our time there.

The next morning, we started off in Soho before venturing into Covent Gardens. How does this Soho compare to the Soho in New York? It's cleaner for a start and that is what I would say about all the neighborhoods in London. While it felt like New York in some aspects, it was definitely cleaner and classier. The picture above is of Neal's Yard which is probably London's current most instagrammed lane but in person, it's much smaller. 

I don't know how London operated before but current London is cashless everywhere. I paid about 95% of my transactions via Apple Pay and only took my credit card out twice. The tube was clean and people were respectable. While I am sure pick pocketing happens, you wouldn't really know it on the London tube. 

On our last full day in London, we decided to hit up the tourist spots. We started off at Kensington Palace where we visited the Princess Diana statue in the sunken gardens of the palace then made out way to Buckingham Palace. Noreen had seeing 10 Downing St on her list but the reality was a disappointment as access to anything outside of the iron security gates was blocked. We paid for two tours during our visit: The Churchill War Room which was quite an interesting tour. It'd be the first tour I had ever taken where I listened to almost the entirety of the audio tour. It's amazing how preserved the city has kept it. The other paid entry would be to Westminister Abbey where we were both dumbfounded at how small the steps actually were. You know, the main steps were the Royal Family is often seen standing on waving to the crowd (William + Kate's wedding). 

While our visit added some great memories, we've agreed that London is too expensive to do for a more prolonged period of time especially when it comes to eating out. Sitting at a restaurant is an automatic 20% tax and a 12.5% gratuity tip added on to the bill. We had our best meals at a place called Dishoom (definitely go there for breakfast) and Palomar but I can't tell you when I will be back. Maybe I'll transit for a day through London and stopped by Dishoom for one of their breakfast naan sandwiches! Maybe next time, I will look the right way of the street for traffic as somehow, I managed to look the opposite way even with a the direction painted in front of me!

On the flight back, I watched every movie that United featured London in: Notting Hill, Love Actually and Last Christmas. It was a delight being able to recognize the streets and locations now while watching some of my all time favorite films. Until next time...!

Oh, bonjour Paris. It's been a minute!

Back in late 2022, I started searching on google flights to see what airlines were offering a direct flight from SFO to CDG. There was only 1 flight and 1 airline which was Air France. The cost was $2200 or 70k miles for the roundtrip. I have 70k miles! Texted my friend Noreen (who I met while traveling in Vietnam) and asked her if she'd be up for it? It'd be a short trip as I wanted to be around for the weekend with the kiddos. Days later, we were booked for January!

It's the first time I've used my passport since the pandemic and it was a little weird. I had been scoping out seats for a few months trying to gauge how full or not the flight was going to. I showed up to the gate a bit early and asked one of the gate agents if there was an empty row that he might be able to switch me to. He said that there would be a charge and no guarantee that the row would remain empty. I asked him how much? To my delight, his colleague than came over, switched me, waived the fee AND blocked the two seats next to me. Amazing! Tired mama appreciated the entire row.. thank you very much! The flight was short but not uneventful. The rows next to me and in front of me was empty was well and so two other passengers decided to make it their new rows. The one next to me was had a phlegmy cough the entire flight with nyquil in her bag. How I wished that she had the courtesy to put a mask on since they gave every passenger one! Her friend took the row in front of me and throughout the entire flight, his feet would be the nuisance of the flight crew. His feet would stick out across the aisle as he slept or propped up on the seat where my entertainment screen was located. I guess after the 100th time a crew member had asked his feet to not block the aisle, he got annoyed and decided to move himself to business class. Hours later, he got moved back with a lengthy talking to from the lead crew. I wonder if he got any further consequences for that?

I landed at CDG an hour before Noreen and waited for her at her flight's baggage claim. She arrived with cookies from Levain Bakery which sadly neither of us ate. We arrived at the hotel, dropped out stuff off, took a quick 20 min nap and then off we went to lunch. It's been a minute since I've been on the Paris metro .. long enough for their to be a price increase on the tickets. Thank you to the gentleman who voluntarily directed us to the terminal where we could buy tickets when he sensed that we were a bit confused. Who says all French people are rude? Day 0.5 in Paris was lunch at Chez Janou and then a walk through Le Marais as we make out way back to the hotel. 

Day 1.5 in Paris was a check list day! First stop was to the newly open Bernachon Chocolate shop. Previously, you can only get their chocolates at their factory in Lyon or from this shop in Pigalle called A I'Etoile d'Or with the most charming and friendly shop owner, Madame Acabo. The guy at the Bernachon Shop had told me that Madame Acabo's shop is sadly no more. I wonder if that had meant she sold it or she closed it. She had closed and reopened it previously after a gas leak fire. I was sad to hear that and glad that the new shop exists. Next on the list was Emily In Paris...the netflix series in case you didn't know. We made our way to the location of the Boulangerie Moderne (which had subpar croissants to my slight disappointment per Parisian standards) and had breakfast there while losing count of gals taking cheesy selfies of themselves taking a bite out of a pain au chocolate like Emily. We watched enough people stick their heads inside Gabriel's restaurant (which in real life is called Terra Nova) that they closed the door and lastly, wandered outside Emily's apartment area. This entire square while large onscreen was much smaller in person. Next on the check list, the Goyard boutique on St Honore. One of the highlights of that was the manager telling all the patrons that was waiting in line that they service 7 people an hour and so he pointed to the person at the back of the line.. that's 2 hours for you. Dinner destination for the evening was Frenchie. I had been to Frenchie Au Vin on a prior visit and had one of our best meals there and this would be the first time at the restaurant. While the meal had a wow factor, the atmosphere was ruined by my developing headache that was made worse by the sharp and overpowering of the guest next to me. Noreen and I couldn't quite believe the conversation they were having and couldn't figure out whether they were colleagues or married? We weren't sure why she thought the topic of laundry and sweaty balls from running was appropriate conversation for any dinner?! Right?? 

Day 2.5 was strolling Paris as we were checklist light. We started at a recommended bakery called Mamiche and then took the metro to one of my Paris favorites, I'le Saint Louis. it was nostalgic to see that the same flower shop (one of my fav photos I took from 2012) was still there, as well as the Cafe St Regis where I spent awhile journaling. We passed by Berthillon where if you watch Emiy In Paris, Emily and Luc are often congregating. We saw the work in progress of restoring the Notre Dame Church, bought a few books at the Shakespeare and Company book shop, had lunch at my favorite square in Paris, Place Dauphine. We spent the rest of the day strolling along the Seine and taking in the magical air of Paris before ending up at Cafe Jacques which Noreen really wanted to show me because it had a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower without being at the Tower. Dinner that evening was at an Indian restaurant called Baranaan. Noreen couldn't stop talking about how cool the vibe was and so we went and she was right. Our waiter was hilarious.. when Noreen asked him chicken or beef, he said that it was like asking him who his favorite son was. 

Day 3.5 was spent solo. Somehow, Noreen and I had a miscommunication. As we were walking the previous day, she mentioned something about having to pack already since we were flying out the next day (today) and I said no we weren't and she said yes we are. I said .. 4 nights? She said yes 4 nights.. but wait? I asked if she counted Sunday as a night (she would be on the airplane) and she said that she didn't think so. Back at the hotel.. she pulls out the text receipts.. she showed me a text that I somewhere gave her the date ending 2/2. We were cracking up.. I also said 4 nights.. you have to double check my mom brain I tell her! So, Day 3.5, she was off to Copenhagen and I continued my time in Paris. To my delight, there would be no metro disruptions today as it’s been common with the locals protesting the government wanting to raise the retirement age.

I started my morning at the one matcha cafe that I was able to find in Paris. While boba shops and poke shops are popping up all over Paris.. it seems that they're just starting with matcha. They serve it up like they di their espressos, no vanilla sweetner. No complaints.. just an observation. I then made my way to the Paris version of the NYC Highline called Promenade Plantee. I couldn't believe that a piece of Paris was still a hidden gem as I saw only 2 other travelers aside from myself. After the Paris highline, I was going to make my way back to Chez Janou but then I saw the metro stop E'cole Militaire and decided to make a stop to Rue Cler where I stayed at in 2012. Rue Cler is a little market street free of traffic and full of little shops and restaurants. The boulangerie that used to be across the street from the metro station was no longer there and poke shops, boba places and Laduree took the places of a handful of former store fronts. I suppose all things evolve but I couldn’t help but feel all the nostalgia of what it was like before. Speaking of before, take away options were everywhere. I remember a time when anything take away, even coffees were side eye’d at. After a late lunch at Chez Janou, I checked off one last thing on my list, the Wall of Love in Montmartre... "I love you" written in 250 languages. It was a fitting place to facetime my family back home. Before calling it a night, I meandered to Plaq on Rue du Nil for something that I had wanted the other night when we dined at Frenchie, a hot chocolate aka chocolat chaud. I ordered a small not knowing that a small was the size of an espresso cup but it was so decadent that it was enough. 

January in Paris in this instance was ideal! We didn't see any lines for the museums, a long coat and scarf was enough for the weather. I had debated whether to bring my Uggs but I read that Parisians don't wear Uggs outdoors (witnessed many Parisians walking in them). On one of my last metro rides, I witnessed an older senior guide a younger blind gentleman to a seat. It’s been maybe 7 or so years since Noreen and I traveled together. We used to walk miles and miles with our backpacks without issue. This trip, we noticed our eye sight isn’t as clear and our knees starting to click. So, with that, merci beaucoup Paris. A quiet Paris was just the version I needed to feed the soul. 

**Air France was very strict about weight parameters of carry-on luggage. I had to check my Away carry on which had me waiting longer than I wanted to at baggage claim after fast tracking with global entry through customs. Relieved to see my carry on appear on the conveyer belt, grabbed it, sped walked through the airport and made the Marin Airporter shuttle by 20 seconds! Going through customs at CDG, as well at SFO was a bit of a surprise. None of the finger printing, it was all biometrics via photo. Evolving indeed.

Is It Copenhagen or Kobenhvan?

I read that Oslo wasn't all that interesting of a city unless if you're a viking history enthusiast which we were not so instead of staying in Norway after our fjords exploration, we hopped a flight to a new country: Denmark! 

We had 2.5 days and 3 nights in this very livable city. We chose a hotel that was walking distance to the infamous Nyhavn which we would do again should we come back. We spent our days walking the town and the weather mostly cooperated but we did get dark overcast mist for a day or so which wasn't terrible. The thing about traveling with an infant is that wherever you go, you try to create a routine of sorts because you can't really be 100% off the cuff with a little one in tow. To that point, we had a little bakery we frequented in the mornings which served delicious drinks and muffins before starting out day. Although we were walking distance to Nyhavn, we never had a meal there because majority of them were burger joints Yes, you read that right, burger joints. An overabundance of burger joints. If Copenhagen can improve, this would be one area to improve upon.

True to form, like any town we traveled to abroad, my hubs is always on a lookout for a cycling shop to visit. In Copenhagen, it was Rapha which we have back home but of course it's a little difference abroad. When we walked into Rapha, there was a gentleman who gave me a stink eye for a quick second because Isla was hungry and crying but he hid it well soon after. Shortly after we got comfortable, he started conversation with us by asking about Isla as he also had little ones. He told us about how parents in Copenhagen often leave their sleepy infants in the stroller outside of the shop and that's just part of the culture there. I was shocked as that could never happen in the US. He also made some solid suggestions for restaurants and areas to visit which we did obliged in. 

And now to the serendipity part of our trip. We took a taxi to a more residential part of Copenhagen to a restaurant for lunch. Neighborhood street shown (right) above. We were seated and shortly after, this gal came to our table and said, "no way!" It was my former colleague and friend Alyson who I hadn't seen in over 15 years but lives in the Bay Area! 

We spent the rest of our time walking all the streets we could with a stroller and an afternoon at Tivoli which if you have a kid, this is the place to go! It's a clean theme park of sorts that has something for everyone! Carnival games, entertainment shows, restaurants and my favorite: shops. Where else would I spent $45 on a music toy for Isla without really thinking twice?! All in all, Isla was a dream to travel with. She didn't fuss much and seem to go with the flow, much like her parents! Our next destination on this leg now is to Northern England where she'll meet Steve's family. Until next time!