A Day in Cambridge: Photo Essay

A highlight of my sister's visit back in January was a day trip to Cambridge. We're so fortunate to live just an hour from this remarkable place. I wrote about a kid-free day in Cambridge here and here, back when I visited while we were in the early stages of planning our move to England. It was fun to return, and this time bring the boys.

Our day started with a double decker bus ride on the Cambridge Park n' Ride system (it's easier to park on the outside of the city centre and just take the bus in). These moments are always a good reminder of why it's so fun to travel with little ones. We could have just taken a spin on the bus and they would have been happy with that.

The Highs and Lows of Expat Life

Whenever I undertake a major organizational project (like cleaning out a closet), it always looks messier at first, but by the time I finish, the results are usually pretty great. I think moving abroad is like that, too, at least for us. The first few months were a little ugly, but the more we get adjusted, the better it looks.

As I shared a few months ago in my post about our 6 month anniversary as expats, we are really settling into life here in England. I can't decide whether it is normal to take several months for a place to feel like home, or if that's actually a pretty impressive length of time given the amount of changes our family made when we moved here.

Regardless, I can already tell that the whirlwind of emotions I've had over the past year has stabilized. I was recently asked to submit a tip for current or future expats for the HiFX Expat Tip Page, which got me thinking about some of the highs and lows of this experience. Before I forget what this first year has really felt like (hindsight is always 20/20, right?), I wanted to share a bit about the emotional realities, at least for our family.

A day at Parques das Nacoes in Lisbon

I think I've been putting off writing about our day at Parques das Nacoes in Lisbon for a few weeks simply because it's probably my last post about our Portugal trip and I just don't want the fun to end. But alas, there are more trips on the horizon this spring that promise to be just as wonderful. So out with the old, in with the new... We had a lovely few hours at this redeveloped part of the city, so I'll mostly let the photos tell you all about it.

OCEANARIO DE LISBOA

We spent our morning at the Oceanario de Lisboa, which claims to be the second largest aquarium in the world. Naturally, the boys loved it. What's not to like about giant tanks of sea life?

What Can Kids Do at Windsor Castle?

A few days ago I shared some of my favorite photos from our visit to Windsor Castle (and I wrote a more comprehensive post about visiting Windsor at Anglotopia). But what did my 4- and 2-year-old sons do while we were there?

Here are a few ideas to keep young kids entertained at Windsor Castle:

• Pick up the children's audio guide.

(Funky glasses optional.)

A Day in Windsor with the Queen

I'm currently participating in Mom vs. Winter Germs (Round IV for us this year... and the germs definitely have me beat.) So for my next few posts, I'm going to rely more on my photos to tell the story, and less on my words. (Perhaps that's a good thing?)

Our day in Windsor Castle last weekend was perfectly lovely. Beautiful building. Exquisite, ornate interior. Charming town. Pretty much exactly what I expected. I wrote all about our day at Windsor and neighboring Eton for Anglotopia, but I left out one big detail. We met the Queen.

Day Trip to Sintra with Kids

"You better write a blog post that will make this easier for the next family," grunted my husband as he folded up our double stroller for the fourth time in one day, lifting it onto yet another mode of public transport during our day trip to Sintra from Lisbon.

He's right. While normally I have no shortage of information to work with when planning trips and outings (I usually read several first-hand accounts of how families experience a certain location), I couldn't find much in the way of tips for visiting Sintra, a popular day trip location from Lisbon. In fact, I almost gave up on the idea of going altogether. The concierge at our hotel discouraged us, thinking it would be too difficult with kids so young.

But fortunately, we persevered. Because it was truly one of the most spectacular places I've ever been.

Lisbon's Belem with Kids

As I was researching our trip to Portugal, I was reminded of the country's key role (along with Spain) in the Age of Discovery, the time period in the 15th and 16th century when Europe became aware that not only did other continents exist, but that they could get there by sea. You'll likely recall bits and pieces from your own world history courses back in high school. (Names like Magellan, da Gama, and Christopher Columbus probably ring a bell.)

Portugal pays tribute to this era most notably in the Belem parish of Lisbon, located along the Tagus River, where many of the ships departed on their worldly voyages.

Besides being aware of the landmarks that are located there, I knew little about Belem, so it was a toss-up as to how much the boys would enjoy it. After all, they don't have a sense of the enormity of this history yet. Fortunately, each of the major monuments found there was surrounded by wide open spaces, statues, gardens, and plenty of people to make it interesting enough for them. In fact, it was the perfect starting point for our time in Lisbon.