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 misguided. Well, sure enough, we got hit with disaster #3, food poisoning, most likely from a salad eaten at the airport, so be aware. One of us isn’t feeling at the top of their game, ... read more

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 our love for Spain, however, we might not have been inspired to come. Good to know for the future. We love the idea of one day living in Europe, perhaps France or Spain, and the ... read more

As I mentioned, we had a goal of seeing at least one of the big museums in Madrid, and unfortunately Audrey and Nicholas were going to have to bear with us, because I really don't know if they truly appreciate art at this point. Besides, 16th century art can be scary since it pretty much boils down to one theme-the church, and all the fire and brimstone propaganda. The Prado is located near the Retiro in the center of the city, and there was a Rembrandt exhibit going on at the time. Ruth, being the art historian in the family would have loved to have checked it all out, but we were tired after a long day, and even I liked the idea of dinner and a bed. There was an impressive crowd outside, and we ... read more

I just had a few thoughts on things I've found helpful in traveling overseas, and again, all the credit goes to Ruth as far as planning goes. Bear in mind it's all a balancing act between saving money and making the trip as enjoyable as enjoyable as possible. First off, whenever possible, limit connections to the US. When you fly on a budget, it's pretty much impossible to get a non-stop flight across the Atlantic, and sometimes you can end up with multiple connections on both sides of the drink. We've found that connecting in the US is much easier, because once you've done an all-night flight, all you want to do is get to your hotel and settle in, and even that is a trial in and of itself. The last thing you want is ... read more

I realize it's only been two days, but we miss our cats. Heck, we've only had them for a couple of months, so we're entitled to pine a little. This highlights one of the best learning aspects of travel, which is the need to operate outside of your routines and be more engaged in your life. We've also found this to be the hardest part of traveling, because life sure is easier when you've streamlined things and no longer have to think. Especially for adults, however, travel really forces you to operate outside of your comfort zone and think about all the things that you take so much for granted. Take, for instance, your toilet. The European toilet is a completely different beast, and though it works just fine, it does take some getting used to. ... read more