Madeira!

Madeira, Island of Wonder and Beauty

So for our second big trip of the term we headed to an island off the coast of Portugal and Morocco. We left in the wee hours of the morning (5:30am) with some sleepy and cranky children but luckily that did not last long after a 3 hour flight we got off the plane to 70 degree temps, blue skies and beautiful coastline every where we looked. We caught a cab with a lovely driver named Roberto and headed off to our hotel. We have never stayed in such a fancy hotel before so it was a real treat to have an ocean view,

beautiful gardens,

and infinity pools to swim in. It didn't take the kids long to dive in.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing, swimming, and having some gelato while we waited for Marjorie, Petra, and Penelope to arrive. For those of you who don't know Marjorie and I have been friends since high school and have managed to maintain a great friendship over the last 20+ years despite being on different continents for much of that time.

Marjorie and gang arrive around dinner time, but were obviously wiped out from the trip. We made plans for the next few days. We went to the botanical gardens, which were stunningly set in the side of the mountain.

From the top of the gardens we took a cable car (skyway). This was the highest skyway we have ever been on; it is about 1500 feet in the air across a valley between to mountains. The views from up there were amazing (we say a few waterfalls below and the vegetation was lush).

We arrived in the little town of Monte, known for their street tobogganing. After lunch, Quinn and Aaron, and Ava and Elisa took 2 toboggans about 1.5 miles down paved streets from Monte toward Funchal. You should have heard the screaming from Ava and Elisa's toboggan.

The next day we decided to hit a swimming pool and relax a bit. The water they use from swimming pools is pumped in from the ocean and was not heated. It was crystal clear, but really too cold to swim in. We had dinner at a pizza place and the kids and Aaron played pool (with balls not water) in the evening.

After our breakfast the next day (which was fantastic -- the passion fruit juice and the pineapple juice were divine), we headed to the market. On the way, we passed one of those live statues. Petra had never seen one before, so take a look at her expression:

The market had a lot of flowers (Ava got a bird of paradise, which grow all over the island -- for .5 Euro) and we picked up some fruit we had never had before, one of which is only available on the island (the little yellow ones in the bag next to the oranges).

Marjorie and kids left the next day and we went looking for something to do. We took a bus tour around the island. We rode on the top of an open-top double-decker. The kids were amazed at the number of banana trees growing on the island.

Alas, it had to end.

Saint David's Day

St. David's Day is celebrated on the 1st of March. St. David of course being the patron saint of Wales. If you wish to know more about St. David you can either google him or do as I did and ask Quinn. To celebrate the children are allowed to forgo their uniforms for the day and Dress in some kind of costume that has something to do with Wales.

In the weeks building up to this, Ava was convinced that she wanted to go to school dressed as a dragon; however, after much persuasion and a lack of mask (my fault), she settled on dressing as a daffodil. Quinn broke out his new Wales Rugby shirt and went as a rugby player -- as did half the boys in his class (the other half went as Wales' football team).

The school was split into 4 different "houses," reminiscent of Harry Potter. Red, yellow, blue and our kids house, green. Wisely, they made sure that siblings were in the same houses (thank you!). On the day itself, the kids entered into various competitions to gain points for their house. Categories included: costume, baking, writing, art, models, and talent. Ava jumped in with both feet, per usual. She tried out for the talent (but was not chosen), made a model, wrote a written piece, dressed in the aforementioned daffodil costume, and decided to bake.

Quinn, who is of course older and a little more subtle in his enthusiasm, contributed a fine drawing of a dragon head and went in costume.

When I asked Ava what she wanted to bake her immediate response was "Welsh Cakes!" Welsh cakes are a bit like a scones except sweeter and grilled instead of baked (and they're also not French). They are delicious! I tried to think of other things to offer but Ava's mind was made up. I could just imagine causing another international incident (we don't talk of the first one) after I ruined a national treasure. I found a recipe online and it actually did not look too difficult, but I was still wary.

The night before St. David's Day I gathered ingredients and a very excited Ava, who insisted that these be made by her. And I have to say she did 95% of the work, I did the cooking just for my own sanity.

The next twist was that she wanted to make the Welsh cakes "American" by splitting them and putting peanut butter inside. Unlike in the U.S., peanut butter is not a staple here. In fact, it is not really enjoyed by many all! Considering that Quinn was eating them as fast as we could make them I was surprised we had any to send in at all. In the end we did make them "American" and, to Ava's delight, her teacher had 2.

I have to say that the kids really got into it and enjoyed their St. David's Day. Oh, and green house won!

A day out with the Kinmans

Ava has become good friends with a girl in her class named Lauren whom she has invited over after school for "tea" and to play. Lauren is a nice, polite, friendly girl and they get along quite well. Coincidently, Lauren's dad, Mike has been to the US once, twenty years ago to of all places Midland, Michigan (where Aaron grew up). We got to chatting one day at pick-up and Mike was telling us that there were many nice places nearby to have a picnic and explore. Helen (the mom) soon called to take Ava out for the day on a picnic and like a good American I casually invited our entire family.

They came to our place at 10am and we headed out for a great day out doors; however, the Welsh weather had something else in store. With impending rain we decided to modify our plans a bit and take a detour to "Coconuts," an indoor play area, for a coffee and to wait out the rain. The kids had a ball running, jumping, and climbing. And the grown-ups had a nice visit.

We soon headed for a lovely little park where we walked around the lake and had lunch. The kids played and we dodged yet another temporary downpour by hiding inside of one of the play structures!

Next, we headed to Barry Island, which is no longer an island. We walked on the beach ...

watched the kids tear about ...

and followed the path out to the end of the bluff:

It was quite windy and a bit chilly, but that did not seem to bother our children in the least.

All in all, it was a lovely day and we have found great new friends in the Kinmans.

Paris: Part deux

Day 2 started with a simple breakfast again and a short subway ride to the Louvre.

Unfortunately, it was raining but we didn't let that dampen our spirits. We timed our visit just right because we only waited in line about 10 minutes before entering. We made our way through the museum more quickly than others would but we managed to see quite a lot. Quinn really enjoyed the section of Egyptian antiquities and Ava desperately wanted to see and take pix of the Mona Lisa. We also strolled through many of the other galleries taking in sculpture and other wondrous works of art. We had a snack at the Louvre cafe, which was surprisingly good and then headed to the gift shop where we looked in vain for a Mona Lisa umbrella. We decided to take our souvenir shopping outside where it was cooler and a bit cheaper. Ava found a lovely umbrella with a impressionist-like picture of the Eiffel tower on it. she was thrilled.

Off to the subway again to an area of the city called Montmartre, that was suggested to us by some ladies whom we had breakfast with that morning. While on the subway, an unfortunate incident occurred. Our subway car stopped for one reason or another and then lurched back into action tossing all of us a bit. Quinn was standing holding onto the pole when a 300 lb. Frenchman (with a large suitcase), standing near him lost his balance and unexpectedly smacked him in the face. Aaron caught/tackled the man so he didn't crack his head on anything, but needless to say Quinn was pretty shocked, scared, and a bit injured. His head also fell off, as you can see in the next picture.

Montmartre is located just north of Paris proper and is what I imagined Paris to look like. Small, twisty, alley-like reads with little cafes and artists with easels out in the streets. It is also build on a VERY large hill with many, many steps. Those of you in Hamilton think the Colgate hill is steep! We decided that today was going to be easy going souvenir day so we did a lot of window and regular shopping. We found lots of fun things. We also decided that we had to find a crepe stand and get some. We found a lovely cafe where they made your crepe out front so we could watch (a requirement of Ava) and had a few (2) tables in the back. Quinn decided on Nutella crepes, Aaron and I chose the same but with the addition of bananas, and Ava got caramel. Paired with an outstanding cappuccino, we were in heaven.

We took the Finnucular (a cable car-like elevator) up to the top of the hill and scouted our way around to find the Salvador Dali museum. It was actually a lot of fun walking around this area in the rain with the cobble stone streets and the views were beautiful. Had the weather been nice we may have had our portrait done by one of the street artists but none of us were in quite the right frame of mind for that. We found the Dali museum and very much enjoyed all of the artworks on display there. The kids and I had pictures taken of ourselves in a Dali painting and Ava enquired about purchasing some of the lesser works in the "for sale gallery". The salesman was very nice and quoted her some prices and we told her she could buy something or go to college. Smart girl chose education. But she did end up using some of her birthday money to buy a wood mounted print of what she calls "the floating rose" (it's real name is meditative rose):

We travelled back to the center of Paris via subway and scouted around for dinner. We tried to remember the name of the first restaurant we went to or even how to get there, but with no avail. So we settled on a bistro that served mainly sandwiches that was close to the hostel.

After dinner headed back to our room to unwind and let the kids play. Apparently, Karate was the game of choice. After some very exhausting kicks and punches we settled down for reading and rest.

The next morning consisted of trying to cram all our purchases into our carry-ons and getting ready to go. Eating breakfast, grabbing the subway with 2 tired kids and getting to the airport on time. Bye Paris, it was lovely!

Paris in the (not quite) Spring-Part I

As promised to Ava we planned our first trip to the the continent around her birthday and it was to Paris. So on Feb 17 we took off on a grand adventure to a place neither Aaron or I had ever been. Aaron at least took French in school and had been to France before, though never to Paris. I, on the other hand, do not speak a word of the language and therefore spent quite a bit of time trying to figure things out. More on that later.

The first part of our journey was the trip to the Bristol airport since flights from Cardiff were more expensive and not direct. It is not what you would call a large airport, nor is it easy to find. Luckily, Aaron was smart enough to download the European maps onto our GPS before we left the states (it has saved my life in many a roundabout) and we did get there. As an added bonus we got to see some lovely country side and some back roads that we may not have had the opportunity to see.

We got settled on the plane and had a nice short flight.

At CDG airport we grabbed a taxi and headed to our hostel. We decided early on that we did not need fancy accommodations and that we would rather spend our money on good food, souveniers and gifts. Well, wewere not disappointed our room was very basic with tow sets of bunk beds, a separate toilet/shower combo and a sink. As mentioned before, VERY basic. We were glad that we splurged and got a private room.

After dropping all our things we head out to find some dinner. We soon discovered that most French do not eat dinner/supper until about 8 pm (that seemed to be the earliest that most restaurants opened). We did find a place that served good food; however, it was expensive -- we soon realized that Paris itself is just expensive. I tried very hard to use as much French as I could, thanks to a very kind waitress and a lot of tutoring from Aaron. We finished our meal with Creme Brulee for the kids and cheese for the parents. Ava's dessert came with candles for her birthday and a few rounds of happy birthday in both English and French.

On Friday we stayed in bed until the kids couldn't stand it any longer (7:30 am) and went to have our meager breakfast of rolls butter jam and coffee. Then off to the Eiffel Tower. We took the Subway to Militare Ecoliere, (serious props to Aaron here for his subway navigation during the ENTIRE trip) and found our way to the Park/Mall area between the Militare and the Tower. Though I am sure it is even more beautiful in the spring, it was still an awesome sight. We bought our first souveniers and headed to the tower being greeted all the way by vendors and the deaf/mutes asking for money. By the way, Paris seems to have an exceedingly high population of the hearing impaired.

Ava was unsure if she wanted to go all the way to the top but Quinn was definitely headed all the way up.

We finally convinced Ava to give it a try so we bought our tickets and walked right in , absolutely no line or wait. We took the elevator to the first level and were surprised to find and ice skating rink there. Who Knew? And proceeded up, up, up. Level 2 was gorgeous and we took lots of pix.

We then boarded the elevator to go to the top. Which took a very loooooong time to reach the end of its journey. I was a bit nervous, Ava was fine, and Quinn was psyched! We exited the lift and walked around the entire enclosed area of the top level discovering that you could indeed go up a flight of stairs to an outside viewing area. Amazing! It was Paris for as far as the eye could see. Truly lovely. At this point after taking pictures and taking in the sight Ava and I, like women every where needed a rest room, we were in luck, they have one at the top of the Eiffel tower. Now we have "gone" everywhere.

We then headed to the the river to catch the Batobus for our net stop. The Batobus is like a river taxi that has 8 tops along the Seine at many of the tourist attractions. The kids ver much enjoyed the ride along the river and we took some very nice photos of bridges and buildings. Our next stop was at the Musee d'Orsay where we got to see and really enjoy works of art by many of the great artists of the world. The kids really seemed to enjoy seeing the "actual" painting instead of a picture of it. We were so lucky to enjoy works by Van Gogh, Renoir, Monet, Latrec and Degas. I was in heaven.

After a quick and delicious lunch where Ava was kissed by a waiter we headed to Notre Dame Cathedral. The sheer beauty and awesomeness of this place was a little overwhelming to me. The outside with all of the intricate scroll work, flying buttresses, and carvings was only outdone by the beautiful woodwork, statues, and stained glass on the inside.

Since we were all pretty tired and worn out after our long day of walking we headed back to the Hostel and to get dinner. We decided to get Pizza since there was a shop just around the corner. The miniscule shop owner was SO nice, chatting with us and apologizing that he had shut down the ovens for the day, explaining that we could only buy the pizza slices that were already made. They looked a bit unusual (french fries as a topping?) but we figure we give them a shot. We ended up with 2 slices of Potato, different from the French Fry pizza of which we got 2 as well, 2 artichoke and olive and one "plain" which had the sauce on top of the cheese. Interestingly we found these to be delicious, unlike in the states where all pizzas are basically the same crust, sauce, cheese , and then we add different toppings, each of these pizzzas were made differently, sauces unique to the topping and possible different cheese combos too. Tasty, indeed. At this point we called it a day, went to our room, the kids played cards, read, and went off to sleep.