#restlessspirit

[laneybug926]

[oloverhats]

A #harbor triggers the dream of partial circumnavigation #Dutch #sailboats #restlessspirit #adventure #nofilter (at Leiden, Netherlands)

[restlessspirits]

Valparaiso, Chile

It was a bit strange being at sea during the holiday season.  I love the lead up to Christmas – decorating the house, wrapping presents etc.  I was so appreciative that the entertainers on boat put together a holiday show.  They took all the talent from all of the shows and put together a kind of Christmas spectacular on the final night of the cruise.  The kids from Fun Factory wore antlers, painted their noses red and joined in singing Feliz Navidad for the finale. The Officers of the ship also held an event during which they gathered in the grand hall of the ship and sang Christmas carols.  We grabbed a table at the ice covered martini bar overlooking the hall and enjoyed some holiday spirits.  The pastry chefs also created an entire gingerbread town that the kids couldn’t get enough of.   

We disembarked in Valparaiso, Chile early on the morning of the 22nd of December.   We bade farewell to Lowell’s parents and the remaining 8 of us took a tour of the area working our way to Santiago.  Valparaiso is a World Heritage site due to its improvised urban design and architecture.  There are dozens of funicular elevators scattered around the city to help the residents deal with the steep cliffs that the city is situated upon.   Spanish explorers arrived in Valparaiso in 1536 and it has been an important port ever since.  It is still known for being a bit rough with plenty of bars, drugs and prostitution.  It was packed with personality I loved touring the city streets.

Next stop was Vino Del Mar the main beach destination for residents of the capital city of Santiago.  It was lovely but after visiting Valparaiso it seemed a bit dull lacking identity.

I have always loved Chilean wines so I was very happy that we were able to visit a vineyard on the way to Santiago to try some carmenere.  We stocked up on a few too many bottles, kind of challenge to see how much wine we could drink in one week.   The driver than took us to a typical Chilean roadhouse restaurant where I enjoyed probably the BEST steak I’ve ever eaten.  The restaurant was humble with dirt floors and a thatched roof but man what they did to that carne asada!  That and a pisco sour and we were on our way.

There is a bit of a rivalry between Peru and Chile regarding where the Pisco Sour originated and which country makes the best.  In addition to the pisco liquor, Perurvians add key lime juice, syrup, egg whites and biters.  Chileans make a cleaner version omitting the bitters and egg whites.  I read that it was a point of contention between the two countries but had no idea to what degree until after the wine tasting and piscos at lunch April decided to ask our driver which country actually makes the best version.  The driver literally pulled over, stopped the car and removed April from the front seat.  After much back pedaling and apologizing she was readmitted and we were on our way to Santiago.  

We stay at Marriott hotels quite frequently so when we checked into the hotel in Santiago we were given upgraded rooms with spectacular city and mountain views.  Our room was a suite, but rather than an extra bedroom; our extra room was a full on conference room.  It seemed bit ridiculous and not too practical upon first glance, but it worked out so well when we put the kids toys in there and they could hang out/mess it up/watch TV all on their own. This along with access to the executive lounge, it was good living for all of us. 

[restlessspirits]

The Big Island, Hawaii

Our first few weeks on Maui Brad and I spent as much time on the water as possible.  We are loving the conditions.  There are plenty of kites on the water, but it is not overly crowded.  There are big waves, however the reef is far enough off shore that there is a nice area of flat water on the inside.  The new moves I’m working on perfecting in Hawaii are my ‘chicken jibes’.  If I’m heading out to jump a wave but as I get closer I realize it is a bit too big for me, I quickly turn my kite in the other direction and head back for shore – chicken jibe.  Even though I’m still working up my confidence the waves here are great so far.  They are big, but don’t seem to have a lot of clout, they roll and fade, but don’t really crash down so even if I got caught under one, I don’t think I’d get into a lot of trouble as long as I keep my kite high.  The period between the waves is close to 20 seconds, so there is plenty of time to recompose between waves. 

Kimmy managed to squeeze in a last minute trip over her birthday so we covered all the tourist destinations when she was around.  We watched the sunrise on Haleakela, drove to Hana and back, hiked in Lao valley, SUP’ed in the cove, snorkeled off of McKena landing, attended a lau and poached pools in K’aanapali.  This island is incredible and there is so much to see and even more to do.  I heard someone on the beach say ‘this is a terrible island to live on if you have a fear of missing out.  You would drive yourself crazy trying to fit everything in each day’.  In my eyes a perfect day here on Maui would be a sunrise SUP, breakfast with a strong coffee, afternoon kite session and a sunset on the beach.  The crazy thing is that you can do that here almost 365 days per year.  The weather is consistent, the water is warm and the views don’t stop.

I really expected the island to be more developed than it is.  There are a few main resort pockets as well as the residential corridors but considering the size of the island, the population of 130,000 fits in well.  There is a Costco a Kmart and a Sephora in addition to the dozens of surf shops.  We can get our hands on anything we need, but don’t really feel tempted to buy much more than that.  You can’t spend money on the water so we have easily been staying on budget here.

We are definitely sports enthusiasts both to watch and participate in.  One sport that Brad and I are very intrigued by is the Ironman triathlon.  The amount of dedication and commitment it takes to train for the 140.6 mile race to even partake in one of those races is mind boggling.  After each race the very top few competitors are offered a place in the World Ironman Triathlon in Kona, Hawaii.  Since we love the ‘vacation within a vacation’ we decided to take a quick island hop over to the Big Island to watch the World championships in Kona in the middle of October. 

Our first impression on landing on the Big Island was how completely different the landscape was from Maui.  There is so much lava rock everywhere, and the contrast between the black lava rocks and green grass and infrastructure is almost unsettling it is so dramatic.    We enjoyed five nights at a beautiful Marriott hotel thanks to my stockpile of points.  We took in the race at different points along the course throughout the day.  It was everything I expected it to be.  The sport oozes of determination, drive and success.  It has become a huge platform, Ironman has also become a place where athletes can raise awareness for charitable organizations.  From Team Hoyt (http://www.teamhoyt.com/) to the first para athlete completing Kona there were many inspirational moments.  My personal favorite was witnessing the Blazeman roll to remember Jon Blais a powerful athlete who completed Ironman Kona after being diagnosed with ALS. 

As if we weren’t invigorated enough after watching the race, we decided to take a helicopter ride over Kilauea, the world’s most active volcano.  It has been erupting daily since 1983 and has added over 500 acres to the island.  The eruptions ebb and flow changing daily as new lava cones form and old ones are blocked.  The new acreage added to the island flows right to the sea and has blocked some beach access on the Big Island, an island that already has limited access to the ocean.  Lava flows have run across the state highway which has been rebuilt 3 times since the 1983 eruption and is presently in a state of disrepair.  There are neighborhoods that were taken out that have now been rebuilt.  In general the lava flows quite slowly so many of the residents have their homes on wheels so that they can move them out if the lava gets too close again.  The land is scorched with no vegetation however I guess these people have decided to live in the shadow of the volcano for life.

A little gem we hit in Hilo was a diner called Ken’s House of Pancakes.  It has a local flavor and a great menu.  We decided to go with the Loco Moco which is a traditional Hawaiian meal.  There are many variations, but the basic meal consists of rice; a hamburger patty; a fried egg and gravy.  Meats can be changed out for spam (if you call that meat), pork, chicken or fish and gravy can be substituted with chili or cheese.  It’s not exactly good for the waistline or the cholesterol, but we decided if we were going to try it, Ken’s was the place to get the full experience.  Many dishes can be ordered sumo sized.  These exit the kitchen with great fanfare with chanting from the staff and the smashing of the gong – the boys couldn’t get enough of this and each time we saw a sumo meal come out they would sit on the orange pleather stools that lined the diner counter to get a front row view. 

[restlessspirits]

Treasure Cay, Bahamas

With our schedule Brad and I had a bit of a gap in our plans that we were trying to fill.  He decided to head to Canada to catch up with his brother so that the boys could spend a bit of time with their cousins.  He suggested that I go to Colorado so that I could have a few uninterrupted days of work and catch up on a few errands.  I was able to convince a few partners in crime to meet me in Vegas on the way home, so I stopped there for the weekend for some long overdue girl time before heading to Colorado. 

One of our employees is renting our house, and she was nice enough to let me stay there while I was in town, so I was able to spend some time in my own home.  It was a bit surreal walking in the door after 14 months away.  We have left our furniture in our house, so it really felt like I could have only been away on a short holiday, not a trip that has lasted for 60% of Charlie’s life. 

It was wonderful to be back in Colorado, to catch up with friends and to enjoy the beauty of the Rockies but I have to say the visit made me feel that I don’t need to rush back to Colorado anytime soon.  The house looked wonderful and is in great hands with Kym and Rob.  I went to the office each day, but with the majority of our staff working from home, I really didn’t see too many people so although I knew it, the trip really exemplified that it doesn’t matter where I work from.  Things seem to be very under control at work, we are busy, we are dealing with similar struggles we have always dealt with concerning time lines and keeping customers happy, but even if Brad and I were in Boulder at all times, we would continue to deal with these issues.  Overall it felt great to be home, but I realize that home will always be there, and once these kids start school we’ll have plenty of time at home to enjoy all that Colorado has to offer. 

The boys had a whirlwind trip to Canada, Brad threw them out in the snow and put their poor little tropically tanned bodies into shock, but having Canadian blood they quickly acclimated and loved their time up there.  They ended the trip with a visit to Great Wolf Lodge with their cousins Taylor and Austin and from there made their way to Bahamas.  I have to mention that on this leg of the trip Brad travelled on 6 different airplanes through five countries, 12 time zones travelling over 2,000 miles.  He did great with the boys while I was able to enjoy a similar length of time on my flights reading, watching movies and sleeping.  This definitely makes up for my voyage to Australia with Charlie on my own.

A few days after their arrival I made my way to Treasure Cay, Abaco, Bahamas.  Brad’s parents spend their winters down here and I have introduced it to my parents so we were all able to meet up.  In addition a few other family members joined us – aunts, uncle, cousin, brother, SIL, niece.  The weather wasn’t great for the vacationer’s, it was a bit cold and windy.  I was of course happy to see the wind, but would have been happier if they got some heat to thaw out from the cold Canadian winter they were fleeing from.  The boys were thrilled to see some familiar faces and were spoiled rotten by their grandparents and everyone else.  Our niece Clara was here and it was so cute to see her interest in the boys and the way that they interacted with her.

Treasure Cay is a sleepy little retirement community, but there are a handful of weekly events – bonfire, pizza night etc so we made the rounds and ate our fair share of cinnamon buns and the days flew by.  My family has all gone home, we are spending a few more days with Brad’s parents before carrying on.  It’s quite amazing how a short time with family seems hit reset button so between visiting home and spending time with family I’m definitely ready to face the world and have some new adventures.

[restlessspirits]

Boracay, Philippines

The last two weeks on Boracay were very similar to the first two weeks, kiting daily for as many hours as we could possibly squeeze in.  The sport is so addictive, even after a month at it I just want more and more.  It’s just so FUN.  It’s wonderful to look on the bay and see everyone cruising along the water, it was like a giant playground out there.  Our hangout was a school/shop called Ocean Republic.  For a nominal fee we were able to store our gear there, use their compressor and enjoy the services of some very competent kite caddies.  On top of that, it was a hangout for many travelers so we met some great people with common interests from all over the world.  There are many facilities like this along Bulabog, but some of them seem to focus more on projecting the cool image, but don’t seem to have the same quality of service to back it up.  I loved Ocean Republic because it was a cool fun vibe, but they took safety very seriously so I felt that we were in good hands.  We were spoiled by the caddies, they would blow up our kites, walk our lines and launch and land us.  The beach is very slim at high tide, and with an onshore wind it can be tricky to land a kite safely.  They were very attentive and always ready for me when I came screaming into shore at high tide, keen to get my kite out of sky safely.

As with most places we visited, the longer we stayed in Boracay, the more we enjoyed it.  We got into our routines and found our hangouts.  We were forced to switch accommodations a few more times that I would prefer, but it allowed us to see the island from different viewpoints. 

As in many of the countries that we visited, poverty is a way of life for most residents of Boracay.  From the outside it looked like many people had electricity, but running water was not so common.  In the few places I visited in the Caribbean it seems that poverty is hidden behind huge cinder block walls surrounding five star resorts and kept out by armed guards to pretend it doesn’t exist.  In the places we visited, Boracay included, the shame and stigma of poverty didn’t seem to exist, and the local lifestyle was out in the open.  I felt much more comfortable in this situation, and even though I was staying in hotels or homes that were similar in standard to those in North America, we were neighbors with the local population.  We spoke to them on the street, our kids played with their kids, and we frequented their shops and restaurants.  Of course I would prefer to see no one living in poverty, but living so close by to it made it appear very livable and quite normal rather than hit me with the feelings of intense guilt I’ve experienced in other parts of the world.  These people don’t have much, but they live their lives happily with what they do have.  They seem to be very content and have a great culture.  I think our travels there put money directly in their pockets rather than in those of huge corporations with a nominal trickle down to the residents.

After packing up all of our gear, we flew to Hong Kong for two nights after which we parted ways.  My husband, the hero took two children from Hong Kong – Tokyo; Tokyo – Chicago; Chicago – Toronto.  I on the other hand went to Vegas to reconnect with friends.  The kids are spending some time with their cousins, while I spend a few days in Colorado catching on a few things and we will meet later on this week in Bahamas to continue the adventures

[restlessspirits]

Singapore & South East Asia

Brad told me he was not going to Singapore unless he could stay in the Marina Bay Sands hotel.  We had admired that hotel from afar during its construction, totally amazed by the Skypark, the huge ‘cruise ship’ that sits at the top of the three towers and is home to the highest vanishing edge pool in the world.  We had a good stash of American express points, so I was able to grab the necessary two rooms.  I was checking in and the clerk noticed that I had two rooms and asked if we were all travelling together.  She offered us one of the largest rooms in the hotel, and thought it would be nice for us to all have one suite.  It was incredible – on either end were two very luxurious bedrooms, and in between was a huge dining room/living room with panoramic views of the harbor in Singapore.  We had our own kitchen and our own leather padded media room complete with surround sound.  We were so excited to get to that hotel for the standard rooms, and just like a bunch of kids when we got the upgrade. 

We immediately shed our outer layers and headed for the Skypark.  It was so amazing to be suspended over the city of Singapore enjoying views from every direction and all of the luxuries that the Marina Bay Sands had to offer.  We savored every minute of our stay there.  We really didn’t see anything else in Singapore as we wanted to enjoy the hotel for as long as possible. 

On Monday the 7th of January we hopped on the Holland America ship the Volendam for a two week tour of South East Asia.  The ship was lovely, the cabins were very comfortable and the food was fantastic.  The only complaint we had is that we do not at all fit the majority demographic of the ship so we didn’t really fit in.  At least 70% of passengers were 65+ years old, and they were not at all interested in having children around.  As Christine said, she got the feeling that our mere presence irritates many people on the ship.  It’s frustrating to me because this is a ‘kid friendly’ cruise line, that offers a kids club and other ameneties to children so I feel that the kids have as much a right to be here as anyone else, but many other passengers did not feel the same way.  We made the most of it but the comments and attitudes took away from the experience somewhat.   I spoke to the cruise director about it, and he insisted that on the shorter cruises, the atmosphere is more welcoming for families, but I’m not sure I’m going to take his word for it.  The entertainment and activities are clearly for another generation and I’m not sure how much they change the shows on shorter cruises.

In any case, we set sail through the busiest shipping lane in the world in Singapore and headed on a Northerly course through the Gulf of Thailand.  Our first stop was Ko Samui.  It is not far from the island that we visited with Kim and Jason just a few days prior.  We didn’t have a great day there, just weren’t really able to communicate with our driver and didn’t get to all of the spots we wanted to see.  From there we steamed toward Bangkok where the cruise did an overnight stop.  Since we had just battled Bangkok traffic we had no desire to go back there.  Kim, Brad and I did do a quick afternoon trip to Pattaya, a town just 45 minutes from the terminal in the opposite direction from Bangkok.  It is a kite surfing destination so I was interested to see the beach.  Pattaya met all of the negative stereotypes that Thailand has earned in the West.  It was crowded and hot with terrible traffic.  There were drunk people getting tattoos on the beach.  The beach was lined with shady looking bars filled with fat old white men hitting on Thai ladies that were all dolled up for them.  It was not a place that I’m keen to ever see again.  We grabbed some great food, and a mango sticky rice so I left Thailand with a sweet taste in my mouth regardless of that experience. 

Somehow when we were gone, Charlie’s bottle got misplaced.  He is only drinking water out of it these days, but he is still hooked on it for comfort.  Somehow Christine got him to sleep without it, but when we got home and he woke up, there was no putting him back to sleep.   He screamed bloody murder for about five hours.   I think we woke up the entire boat.  They pulled his stroller out of storage to see if it was in there by chance, the crew helped search the ship for us with no success.  Somehow he finally tired himself out, and slept for a few hours, but he was just as frantic when he woke up.  If we ever consider having another child, the night Charlie lost his bottle will be a major factor in my decision -  not sure if I can ever handle another night like that.  Thankfully we were still in port so Brad took a quick cab ride to a local shop to grab a bottle and a few other goodies for Ben’s birthday party.

The crew of the ship did everything possible to make up for the negative attention we got from other passengers.  In particular the casual restaurant ‘Lido’ staff were amazing.  They were so warm and friendly toward the kids.  They would take the kids to the ice cream bar while we were eating, keep them entertained etc.  The formal dining room has a much nicer setting, but the staff made the Lido more appealing.  When they found out it was Ben’s birthday they asked if we would please have his birthday dinner in their restaurant so they could sing to him.  They made him a great little cake covered with sprinkles and gave him a big birthday song.  We had a great time celebrating his special day before he headed up to kids club to continue the party with his friends. 

After pulling out of Bangkok we made our next stop in Sihanoukville, Cambodia.   There are many cultural sights to see in Cambodia, but there are very few in Sihanoukville.  Everything I read implied that it is mainly a port town that was established in 1960 so there are no sites of true cultural or historical significance.  What I came to learn is that the best thing to see in Sihanoukville are the beaches so we rented a tuk tuk and headed to the coast line.  The beaches were stunning, clear water and very clean.  We hung out at a beach front bar for the day where we got massages, swam, and had some wonderful food.  It wasn’t particularly enlightening, but it was a great day for all of us. 

From Cambodia we continued onward to our first stop in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon.  Kim had just spent three weeks in Vietnam so we have our own personal tour guide.  It was a two hour taxi ride from the pier to the city center to Christine stayed with the kids and went on our own.  We took a ferry across the fast moving Saigon river to get to the city center.  We walked around the main area of the city, seeing the palace where the gates were stormed during the war, the war museum and the market.  We also just strolled some little alleyways to see how people live in the city.  We had some pho – Vietnemese soup with beef, rice noodles and vegetables as well as some amazing iced coffee and other treats.  It was a relatively short day as we had to be back on the boat at 5, but I think we got a good feel for the city.

The second stop was Nha Trang, Vietnam.  Kim had been here as well and wasn’t particularly excited about is, but she did suggest an amusement park that was across the bay.  There is a huge cable car set up from the main town over to another island that houses a five star resort complete with an amusement park, an aquarium and a water park.  We easily killed the day here and the kids had a blast.  The boat was docked in Nha Trang until 11 PM so Christine took the kids back on the boat for dinner while Kimmy, Brad and I hopped on some scooter taxis to take in a bit of the night life in Nha Trang.  The beach was stunning and the city did a very nice job of keeping it open with a beautiful esplanade that allows everyone to enjoy it.  We went on the hunt for some of the food that Kim had enjoyed on her tour of Vietnam and we did not go home hungry.  We started with some beef barbeque.  The charcoal grill was placed on our table, and the thinly sliced beef was grilled right in front of us.  We were given small dipping bowls filled with a mixture of salt and pepper as well as bit of sugar.  We added enough lime juice to make a paste and a few chilies for punch and this served as something to dip our beef in.  It was so delicious!   The next course was a seafood hot pot.  The waitress brought a bubbling pot of broth to our table.  To it she added some large fish steaks, prawns, clams, calamari, fresh dill as well as some thinly sliced onion.  This cooked right in front of us, and when it was done we portioned it out in our bowls, added some rice noodles, various green vegetables and lime and ate it with chopsticks and a spoon.  As you can imagine with a combination like that, it was light, fresh and delicious.  Vietnam is even cheaper than Thailand and had we not had various cocktails to quench our thirst that meal would have cost somewhere around $15 for the three of us. 

We arranged for our scooter taxis to pick us up at 9 PM to give us lots of time to get back to the port.  The drivers were so happy to see us you would swear they were giving us a ride to the moon, not just a three dollar fare back to the pier.  When they dropped us off they were shaking our hands and giving us various keepsakes – they were so very appreciative to have the work.  On the pier there was a small shop that had a few coolers of beer out front along with about a dozen guys.  We soon found out that they all worked on the boat, and were enjoying the fresh air and cheap beer before they had to get back on.  Since the boat wouldn’t leave without them, we sat down and had a great time with them for an hour or so before we had to board.  They were all from the Phillippines, and most of them worked on the engines on the boat.  Their English was very good, and they were friendly and happy.  It was clear that they took great pride in their jobs, some people wait three to five years to get a job on a cruise and it seems to be status symbol for their families back home. 

Our third stop in Vietnam was in Da Nang.  Da Nang is where 3,500 Marines showed up in 1965 with full combat gear only to be greeted by sightseers, women presenting them with flowers, and signs that read ‘Welcome Gallant Marines’.  Da Nang is also home to the famous China Beach, an area where American soldiers went during the Vietnam conflict for some R&R.  The beach is beautiful – all sand, clear water, clean; worthy of the fame, but no longer known as China Beach.  As we drove through town there were other reminders of the war – the huge US base that was adjacent to China Beach was grown over by tropical plants.  The Vietnamese were at war for 22 years.  The atrocities that these people experienced are extremely difficult for me to imagine.  There were   in excess of 3,000,000 casualties.  The Agent Orange that the US used throughout the country is still affecting their population.  There are people living with deformities who are second generation, and it is still somewhat unknown as to how long this will affect them.  There are amputees everywhere who have conjured up creative ways to get around and make a living.  Every time I see an older person all I can think about is ‘who did you lose in the war’  ‘what atrocities have you seen’ and ‘how have you come through this to live what looks like such a happy life from my view’?  The people are always smiling and so friendly.   They seem to have a genuine interest in westerners rather than the complete disdain I was afraid of.  They are open to having their pictures taken and having conversations.  I am totally intrigued and want to see more. 

Hoi An was one of Kim’s favorite destinations in Vietnam and she was very excited to take us there.  The harbor in Da Nang was silted which lead to Hoi An being inaccessible from the ocean.  Its isolation led to economic stagnation, but also to total preservation of architecture, culture and lifestyle that was virtually untouched by the conflict.  Hoi An is a UNESCO world heritage site. t has been named a UNESCO site because of its exceptionally well preserved South East Asian trading port, and it’s outstanding material manifestation of the fusion of cultures over time in an International trading port. 

Each month during the full moon, they turn off all of the electricity in the city, and relive earlier times when the city was lit only by lanterns.  There are lanterns all over the city hanging from trees, buildings and bridges and they all come to life once a month.  During the full moon, cars are not allowed in the downtown area and everyone enjoys the romantic evenings gazing at the lanterns and playing traditional games by lantern light.  We weren’t lucky enough to be there for the full moon, I still need to keep a few things on my bucket list. 

[restlessspirits]

Mont Tremblant, New York City

We decided to spend the summer at home in Canada to catch up with family and friends. It was great to have some extra time in Nova Scotia as our visits there are always quite rushed. Brad made a few trips throughout the US for work and a few more to Ontario to participate in a race, and to visit his family. The weather in Nova Scotia was perfect and the boys had such a fantastic time with all of their cousins who they still talk about constantly.

We own a few rental properties in Antigonish, one of them, although lovely, had a terrible layout as a rental so we took the opportunity to update it and get it ready for the September renters. Like most renovations, it got much bigger than we anticipated and really ate up a lot of our time, we finished it a bit late, but the renters were patient, and appreciated the final results.

We wrapped up in Nova Scotia in the first week of September and headed toward Ontario for Brad’s brother’s wedding and the festivities leading up to it. On the way we stopped in Quebec City for one night which we really enjoyed, and then went to Ottawa for a long overdue weekend with friends which was wonderful.

Brad and I had our first date skiing at Mount Tremblant and we haven’t been back since so we spent a few days up there with the boys taking in the fall colors. It was a picture perfect as I remembered. We went to the restaurant where we had our first lunch together and although the mood was not the same with the two kids in tow, it was special in its own way.

The next few weeks in Ontario involved a lot of driving, but also a lot of fun catching up with family and friends we hadn’t spent time with in years. Fall is a beautiful time of year in Ontario, the weather was a bit crisp by the time we left, but leaves were a sight to behold. The wedding went off without a hitch, the bride looked stunning, and the groom was almost as handsome as his brother.

On Saturday the 13th of October we caught a quick flight from Toronto to New York. We spent a few days with my aunt Lynn and her husband Bob. They have a fantastic apartment overlooking the 59th street bridge on the Upper East Side. I had two great aunts who lived in New York City their whole lives, and from Lynn’s apartment you can actually see Lilly & Eunie’s apartment. It’s hard not to think about how many times Lilly and Eunie walked right past Lynn’s building.

Of course I knew I would take the boys to New York, but I never thought I would take them at such a young age. We put on many miles; we saw the Puerto Rican Day National parade that was full of color, music and dancing. We saw the mayor and Charlie even got a high five from Police Comissionor Ray Kelly. The boys now both have scooters so they rode those in a city park with a bunch of other kids and they had a great morning tour on them through Central Park. While in Central Park we saw an episode of Gossip Girl being taped, the cast that I could see were wearing amazing gowns and Chuck Bass was in a powder blue suit – not many guys could pull that off! Ben scoped out Dylan’s Candy bar on our ride in from the airport so we went there for Halloween goodies, and Lynn took Ben on the tram car ride to Roosevelt Island and we visited the Central Park Zoo.

We only had one day with Lynn before she left for Nova Scotia, Bob was there for the duration and was happy to show off his coffee shop hangout the Gotham café. I had read a National Geographic article about an amazing urban development called the Highline Park which is in the meat packing district so we made the trip down there. It is a reclaimed raised railway bed that has been made into a park/walking path that is elevated above the city streets. It meanders between the high rises, and has some native plants growing. It is such a nice retreat right in the middle of the city.

Ben’s favorite thing to do in a city is to go to the dinosaur museum, so we hit the Museum of Natural History which got the boys pretty excited. On our last day we took the boys to FAO Schwartz so they could pick out a small toy for the plane ride. I thought my first trip as a child to FAO Schwartz was the best ever, but after our time in New York, I realized that it was even more fun taking my kids there. Ben picked out a Spiderman toy, which of course means Charlie picked out a Spiderman toy too, which he hasn’t played with since.

We enjoyed a few lovely dinners with Bob back at the apartment (take out of course, who cooks in New York?) and after a few short days, we were on our way to JFK to catch a flight to Rome.