Talk about a brutal trip home. Much in the spirit of Homer, we began our Odyssey with no idea of what lay ahead for us, and in the end, it was a long journey home, and the truth is, we weren't sure when we'd get back to Hartland. The trip really began on Friday, when we left Rome. We bid adieu to SuiteDreams hotel, and give it a big thumbs up for comfort, quiet, hospitality, and especially warmth. We really enjoyed staying there, the rooms were clean and hip/modern, the internet was free, the movies were available to anyone to watch, [View Full Entry]

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Going home, by the waterside I will lay my bones... We are in Philly, it's almost 5:00, and we've still got a long way to go. We've been traveling for about fourteen hours and still have about five more hours to go. That is if things work out smoothly and we make our bus and our car starts in the parking lot. All big "ifs," so we'll see how this goes. I'll finish this blog when we get home, whenever that happens. Until then, thanks for reading. [View Full Entry]

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We had to scramble this morning to make a train to the airport, so I woke up early, took my place in the bathroom, and wrote up an entire entry, only to have the server crash. I lost it all, so here I am, trying once again. Just wanted to slip in a plug for my LL Bean backpack. The thing is amazing. I've stuffed so much stuff in there; water, jackets, cameras, snacks, even forks and knives. Where would I be without it? Yesterday was our final full day in Rome, and we felt we couldn't leave without having seen [View Full Entry]

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Somehow we all ended up with head colds, and to compound the matter, it's been raining steadily, but that hasn't put a damper on our adventurous spirits. And once again, in the spirit of New York City, once the rains start falling, the umbrella vendors come out in full force. Kind of funny. We had our first breakfast in our new hotel and I must confess to really looking forward to my croissant and cafe solo each morning. Such a great way to begin the day, and I go to bed at night thinking about them. Maybe it's because I'm always [View Full Entry]

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I learned about that mysterious castle, and it's actually a museum called the Castel Sant-Angelo, which was originally a tomb-turned-fortress, which is now museum that kids can run around in secret passages and rooms. We didn't spend much time there, but it might be worthwhile in the future, though we are running out of time. We had walked a great deal and found ourselves across the river, which I'm embarrassed to say I didn't know the name of. For the record, it's the Tiber River, which was critical to Roman history. Anyway, we found ourselves near the Vatican, and were curious [View Full Entry]

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Okay, so the hotel that we're staying at is called the Albergo del Senato, and it sit literally right next to the Pantheon, which is why Ruth chose it. The location is great, and the square that it is adjacent to is alive with activity, though it is tourist hell. Because of this, however, there are an amazing number of nationalities roaming around, including many Americans, which can sometimes be refreshing when you're a stranger in a strange land and haven't heard spoken English for days. Just a quick side note, we ate breakfast next to a couple from New Hampshire [View Full Entry]

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In thinking that we're the sophisticated world travelers now, we got a little too cocky and subsequently paid the price. We'd decided to take the Metro to the airport since it seemed like the thing the locals did and it was going to be about ten times cheaper than taking a cab. Besides, it seemed like a neat adventure, and very doable since the train stops right at the terminal. Well, all went smoothly until we got the airport. We figured that in America, if you get the airport about an hour before a flight, you're in good shape, and though [View Full Entry]

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For those you not familiar with Bourdain, he’s a travel/food writer and former head chef of Les Halles in NYC, which is where Ruth and I actually had dinner after we got married on Valentine’s Day in NYC. He’s written a few books about food and has a show on the Discover Channel where he travels the globe in search of the perfect meal. Anyway, he wrote a book called Kitchen Confidential (great book, BTW) where he informs us that the single biggest source of food poisoning is raw vegetables, the point being that our anxieties over pork and fish are [View Full Entry]

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Sorry, I made a huge blunder, though I wonder how many of you out there picked up on it. The truth is, the structure that we are staying near and have visited is the Pantheon, not the Parthenon. Gosh, how embarrassing. Can you tell I went through school with my head in the clouds? [View Full Entry]

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We're off for Rome today, and I had some final thoughts on Madrid. In the end, perhaps the city is not the ideal tourist destination, especially with young children. Indeed, even the locals will tell you that as far as sights and attractions, cities like Barcelona and Seville have more to offer. Madrid is a large, busy functional city with lots of restaurants and shopping and plenty of attractive, hip people, and we've enjoyed our time here doing everyday things like eating and exploring the city and simply going for walks. If not for the business/work aspect of our trip and [View Full Entry]

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