In Our Own World

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Trip - August 17-22, 2024

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Sat, 24 Aug 2024 21:17:00 +0000

Quick post to share a few pictures from my recent trip to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The flight out was ~12.5 hours from Dulles to Doha, Qatar followed by a 1.5 hour flight to Riyadh. As we approached Riyadh, I spent a little time looking out the window and a saw a whole lot of dirt and sand...not much else. Riyadh is surrounded by the an-Nafud desert, which is the second largest desert on the Arabian peninsula.

The flight intentionally flew around Israel, Gaza and Lebanon and I'm guessing it's due to the ongoing war in Gaza and potential war with Lebanon.

Driving in from the airport, the driver pointed out a bunch craness off to our right and said Riyadh is hosting the 2034 World Cup (soccer) tournament. Construction had already begun on the new stadium for the main event.

Similar to how a bible can be found in most American hotels, a Qur'an and prayer rug can be found in most Middle Eastern hotel rooms.

In addition, there's always an arrow on the ceiling that points to Mecca, the most holy site in the Mulsim religion, which is also located in Saudi Arabia. Qibla means "direction" in Arabic.

It was HOT! In the mid-to-upper 110s every day. As silly as it sounds, at least it was a dry heat so there was no humidity. I went for a walk around the hotel one night at 9pm to call the family and it was still 101 degrees. The Saudis said it was hotter than normal and should only last for another week or two.

Waterfall in the courtyard of the embassy. We couldn't take many pictures at the embassy, which is standard security protocol.

Me and the technical team from the White House Communications Agency (WHCA).

A few pictures from around Riyadh's old town.

This is Deera Square, also known as Justice Square or Chop-Chop Square as this is where many public executions take place. Saudi Arabia is the only country with legal capital punishment through decapitation. The last public executions were in 2022 and 196 people were executed that year.

Ministry of Interior building.

Tabbouleh is a Lebanese salad that I'm sure you've tried with me at some point, it was my favorite side dish while in Lebanon. I found a Lebanese take out eatery in the mall and had a nice big bowl of tabbouleh. I was just as delicious as I remember.

This is Kingdom Tower and they have a Sky Bridge at the top of the building. The team and I headed over on our free day (Wednesday) and were planning to walk across the sky bridge. To our dismay, we found it was closed for 2 months due to renovation. Boooo.

Pics from the mall at the base of Kingdom Tower. Palm trees are fake.

With Kingdom Tower closed, we headed to Al Faisaliah Tower for a similar view of the city. Al Faisaliah (named after a previous King (Faisal)), was the tallest building in Saudi Arabia from 2000-2002 when it was first built before another taller building was constructed. It's the pyramid looking Tower in the below picture, it's further off in the distance but looks smaller in this picture.

A scale model of the building located in shops at the base of the building.

The viewing platform is known as The Globe.

A portion of the Saudi team supporting our visit. I am standing next to Faisal, who overseas IT for all of the Saudi "Royal Court". Royal Court is basically the core of their central government. What a wecloming and kind host, happy to talk about his culture and teach us about Saudi traditions and practices. We shared several cups of tea and coffee (a must in the Arab culture) a long with delicious Saudi dates and other tasty snacks. The Saudi in the middle is Salman, a nice younger guy who travels to Orlando every year for vacation. He's a bit of a bachelor so he rents a convertible Corvette every time he goes and was proud to show us pictures with him and many beautiful women in America. Nice guy and very welcoming as well.

The inside of the traditional Saudi restaurant we ate at called Aseeb, which means 'palm frond' in Arabic (hence the palm fronds on the wall art). Notice the large wooden door, it was massive. You can see the portion that opens, which is the bottom third of the door.

My favorite picture of the trip. This is one of the traditional entertaining rooms where everyone sits along the walls so your back is not to anyone (a no-no in Saudi culture). He told us all about the room and various aspects of it, it was interesting learning about the traditions and history.

This is 'laban', a yogurt-y buttermilk drink that is traditionally served. It was thick, cold and tasty.

Saudi team with milk and fatayer, which is basically a type of samosa. I didn't get any other pictures of dinner but we had various platters to share that included camel stew, lamb, sheep, goat and beef. It was all delicious! Too bad it was out last meal in country as we were literally heading out the airport about 2 hours after we finished the meal.

Bathroom at the airport. Luckily, I realized there was a separate side of the bathrooms with traditional toilets. Whew. I was close to havint to use this.

On the plane heading home sweet home. It's always exciting to travel and see new places and meet new people, but it's also always nice to come back home! So long Saudi, thanks for the memories.

Winter Break, February 2023 - Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 20:50:00 +0000

Warning...long post :)

For the kids' winter break this year, we took them on a 6-day trip through Italy to experience one of our favorite countries. Michelle and I first visited Italy 20 years ago and we wanted the kids to experience the sane food, sites, and overall experience. There are lots of pictures so it may take a while.

At the Warsaw airport, I spotted a kid's playset and jokingly asked Kaitlyn if she wanted to play in it. Her response was something to the effect of "Dad, that's not even funny, no I don't want to play in it". I turn to Jonathan and ask the same question and he happily responded "really, can I?". They are such polar opposites!

We landed at the Venice airport, which is not located on the island of Venice, and took a bus to the island. There are no vehicles on the island of Venice, all travel and deliveries are done via boat or foot. All tourists navigate by cell phone as the city is a maze of tall buildings and narrow walkways. Even with a cell phone, it takes a while to properly navigate the streets to your destination (expect to get lost). We made it to our hotel and dropped off our bags before heading out to find a good Italian meal.

We walked to the Grand Canal for a quick peak but were too hungry to take in the views.

One challenge of raising a child with anxiety is you never know when, why, or where they may have an attack. As we approached the Grand Canal, Jonathan had an anxiety attack and needed a break. While this pic is too blurry to see well, Michelle and Jonathan shared a long, tight hug as he worked to calm himself down before continuing on. I decided to include this pic to show the family reality and challenges we face that are often behind the scenes. It wasn't his only anxiety attack during the trip but it's the only one documented.

We eventually found a restaurant and enjoyed a lovely dinner together. When Michelle and I were in Italy 20 years ago, the wine was literally cheaper than water at some restaurants...we didn't find that to be the case this trip. Many places sold smaller bottles of wine (almost half-size) that were perfect for dinner. In the background, you can see steps to one of the many bridges you cross to navigate the water-maze of a city. Under the bridge, boats and gondolas spend the day conducting business or commuting...just another day in Venice.

Jonathan had a pizza, which was larger than we expected but he put a good dent in it.

And Kaitlyn had a calzone, which is basically the same pizza but folded up. She just about finished the whole thing! Michelle had lasagna and I enjoyed a very tasty boar meat pasta dish.

The following morning we hit the streets (or sidewalks, more accurately) to get out and about for a half-day of sightseeing. With waterways throughout the city, it wasn't long before we crossed our first of what was likely ~100 bridges for the day.

We grabbed croissants for breakfast and Michelle enjoyed Italian coffee as well.

I think this is my favorite picture of the whole trip. As we passed a shop to our left, we saw an old craftsman carefully working with a wood frame he appeared to be mending. I could have stayed for a while to watch but we had a lot of ground to cover.

Venice is well known for its Mardi Gras masks and they are sold throughout the city all year round. We were coincidentally in Venice for Mardi Gras so we saw plenty of masks and costumes througout the city.

Jonathan really liked this mask but it was close to $50 so told him a picture would have to do :)

The girls each bought a mask but I'm not sure Kaitlyn wore hers again after this picture was taken.

The Grand Canal and gondolas.

The Rialto Bridge is one of the most famous bridges in Venice and a common sighting for any movie filmed in Venice. The next several pics are on or from this bridge.

Kaitlyn is in her Spider-Man web-slinging pose since a scene from one of the Spider-Man movies was filmed on this bridge.

Some of the more serious Mardi Gras costumes were on top of the bridge for tourists to enjoy.

San Marco's Square

Campanile di San Marco - St. Mark's Bell Tower

Plenty of delicious cannoli, donuts, and gelato readily available.

Calle Varisco is listed as the narrowest "calle" in Venice at 53cm wide (20.8"). That's Jonathan halfway in.

We passed on the personal gondola ride (~$80-$100) and opted for a public water taxi gondola to cross the Grand Canal ($2/person). Kaitlyn wasn't sure about the stability (or lack thereof) of the boat along with the waves while crossing the busy river. :)

Caprese salad

Shrimp pesto pasta

Eggplant parmigiana

Around 2pm we headed to the train station for our 3pm train to Rome. While the temps were in the low 60s, which was 25-30 degrees warmer than Warsaw, I soaked up the sun and warmth while we waited.

By the end of the trip, the kids were pretty good at navigating Italian public transit systems and inter-city trains.

Our seats with a window shade, wifi connectivity, and a table extension that flaps down.

Enjoying our 4-hour train to Rome.

We made it to Rome, took a bus to near our hotel, dropped our bags and hit the streets to find dinner. The kids split a pizza, Michelle had pasta alfredo and none of us remember what I had (obviously didn't make a big impression). The following morning, we had a long list of sites to visit starting with the Spanish Steps. Only 5 minutes from our hotel, and right next to Mcdonald's where we grabbed fresh croissants, we climbed the 138 steps to the top and enjoyed the views.

Next stop was a 20-minute walk to the Trevi Fountain.

We all tossed a coin in the fountain which is supposed to ensure a future trip back to Rome.

This massive monument is known as the Altar of the Fatherland and is a neoclassical temple honoring Italy's first king and soldiers from the first world war. It's a beautiful display of Italian architecture and style.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

The next several pictures are from the main floor of the monument looking around downtown Rome. Notice all the ruins in the surrounding areas.

We grabbed lunch at a cute little restaurant just down the street from the Colosseum.

Off to the Colosseum after lunch.

Jonathan's artistic photography

View of inside the Colosseum

A reconstruction of what the completed Colosseum looked like around 1700 years ago.

The Arch of Constantine was dedicated in 315 AD by the Senate to commemorate the victory of Constantine over Maxentius to secure solo control of the Roman empire in the West.

Palatine Hill

We started back towards the hotel and made our last touristy stop for the day at the Pantheon. The Pantheon was built as a temple to the Gods and was first constructed in 25 BC with a renovation in 120 AD. It is considered to be the oldest temple in the world and praised for the excellent condition it's still in.

The hole at the top of the dome is known as an oculus and is open to the elements. The floor is angled slightly downward in all directions so when the rain comes in it runs down and out through one of 22 small drains inside.

After the Pantheon, we dropped the kids off at the hotel and Michelle and I ran to St. Peter's Square in Vatican City to pick up our tickets for the Pope's General Audiencet the following day. It was right at dusk and a pretty time to be there.

We also had a nice view of the Spanish Steps on our walk home.

After checking on the kids, we opted for a glass of wine at a cute wine shop down the road.

Wanted to include a similar picture from 20 years ago when we first visited in March 2003. Same cute couple, same Old Navy sweater :)

The following morning we were up and out early on our way to Vatican City. It was a pretty morning but Kaitlyn had a stomach ache and started feeling slightly lightheaded as we approached Vatican City. As we made our way towards the end of the LONG line for the Papal audience, Kaitlyn needed to stop and vomit so we walked a ways off for partial privacy. When she was done, it was decided Michelle would take her back to the hotel while Jonathan and I continued on. After about an hour in line, Jonathan and I made it into Paul VI Audience Hall for an enjoyable experience with Pope Francis.

Afterward, Jonathan and I walked around a bit to kill time before Michelle rejoined us.

We walked around Castle Saint Angelo which was a cool sight to see.

After we met up with Michelle, we were on the hunt for lunch. We passed a nice Lamborghini parked on the side of the road so Jonathan and I slowed down to check it out. A guy came out and explained it was a rental and for $100 we can drive it for an hour with him in the car with us (and a separate ollow car). We chatted for a bit and Jonathan was begging to do it...I was seriously considering it, but in the end, we did not.

Next stop was the Vatican Museum for a tour that ended at the Sistine Chapel. Unfortunately, Jonathan was starting to get a stomach ache as well so we moved through the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel quicker than we planned to.

This picture depicts the Roman Empire's victory over the Turks in the Battle of Vienna (Austria). We were familiar with the painting as the battle of Vienna was ultimately won when the famed Polish Winged Hussars arrived on horseback and defeated the Turks. Vienna was very close to falling and shifting the power in Central Europe to the Turkish Empire.

We came across a random Ferrari store in town but Jonathan was back at the hotel resting by this time.

Our favorite meal in Rome was at a small restaurant a few streets away from the touristy area. I ordered pasta alfredo with zucchini and buffalo cheese and it was phenomenal. Michelle ordered a pizza with potatoes and mushrooms (strange but tasty) and we split both...along with a bottle of wine.

With both kids at the hotel with stomach aches, we grabbed gelato in their honor.

The following morning we packed our bags and hit the road again back to the train station for our next leg to Florence (Firenze). The kids were both feeling much better by morning but still not 100%.

After dropping our bags at the hotel, we hit the streets to see the sights and look for lunch. While Kaitlyn seemed to enjoy some of the sights, she marches to the beat of her own drum and has her own style. After I took a pic of the beautiful Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (also known as il Duomo), I turned around to see her taking a picture of the wall. When I asked what she was doing, she said in an excited voice "Look at this butterfly, it's beautiful and it looks just like Harry Styles' butterfly tattoo". Haha, that girl knows what she likes.

Santa Maria del Fiore (Saint Mary of the Flowers) is the masterpiece of Florence. Construction started in 1296 and was ultimately completed in 1436 when the famous dome was finished (designed by Filippo Brunelleschi). It was the biggest church in the world until Saint Peter's Basilica was built in 1615 in Rome. The il Duomo dome inspired a famous artist from Florence by the name of Michaelangelo to design the dome on St. Peter's Basilica. He said it would be a sister dome that was larger but not more beautiful. We didn't take the below pic but it shows the size and scale of the church and dome.

I climbed the bell tower later in the day when the kids wanted to go to the hotel for some downtime.

Kaitlyn was super excited to see vinyl records of two of her favorite artists (Louis Tomlinson and Taylor Swift) out front of a record store in the main square. We took a break and spent about 20 minutes walking around inside.

The dome from inside

The "wild boar of Florence" is a life-sized bronze statue of a mythological Greek boar that is said to bring luck if you rub its snout and drop a coin in the drain (a homeless woman came up to check for any coins that didn't make it down the drain...). The original boar was cast in 1640.

We stopped at Ponte Vecchio ("old bridge") which is another landmark in Florence and the only bridge that crossed the Arno River before 1218. It's also the only bridge intentionally spared by the Nazis during their retreat in World War II.

Palazzo Vecchio is the town hall of Florence and the political center of the city. Out front, it displays several famous sculptures including a replica of Michaelangelo's famed David statue (from David and Goliath), the Fountain of Neptune, and Perseus with the head of Medusa, among many others.

The David (replica)

The last few pictures are from my trip up the 278-foot bell tower at il Duomo (estimated 460 steps). Michelle walked the kids back to the hotel since their stomachs were bothering them so I used that time to climb the tower. It was a challenging but enjoyable walk up and the views were beautiful. I must have spent 30 mins taking in the views and thinking of the many famous Florentines who walked the same streets (Michaelangelo, Galileo, Gucci, Leonardo da Vinci).

Fall Break, 1 of 2 - Dublin, Ireland - Oct 21-24, 2022

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 21:15:00 +0000

The kids are on Fall Break which means it's time to pack the bags and hit the road! One of the families we're close with planned a trip to Ireland for the week so we decided to join them for the Dublin portion. We'd never been to Ireland and we were excited for a new adventure. The highlight of the trip? The people. The Irish are such welcoming, polite and friendly people. Plus, you can't help but love the accent. The hotel we stayed at was terrible (only mentioning so when we look back years down the road we don't forget the experience) but our time in and around town was excellent. Enjoy the pics and stories.

Jonathan was able to pop into the cockpit to chat with the pilots for 2 minutes as we boarded.

Just outside of our hotel was the Skyview Tower (aka Smithfield Chimney) which stands 170 feet tall and was built in 1895. It was originally constructed as part of the Jameson Whisky distillery, which is located just behind the smaller building in the picture, but is now used for sightseeing. Pics from the tower further below.

We were thankful for the "Look Left" and "Look Right" markings on the street since they drive on the opposite side of the road in Ireland. We joked that they got tired of Americans and other foreigners getting hit by cars so they had to label all the streets :)

We went for a walk Saturday morning to check out the sights before the streets were busy. Below is the River Liffey, which is dyed green every year for St. Patrick's Day.

St. Audoen's Church, which we initially thought was a castle.

Can you spot the hidden leprechan?

This is Dublinia, a historical 'living museum' that focuses on the Viking and Medieval history of the city.

Dublinia is linked to the Christ Church Cathedral (right) and connected by this cool bridge.

Jonathan likes making the below NPC (non-player character) face, which is supposed to make him look like a random character in a video game. He'll randomly strike a pose, make the face, and causually look around while not really looking at anything specific. And he's foolish enough to do it front of random people to see how they react. It's kinda funny and makes us giggle.

Below is John's Lane Church, which has a large bell tower and is beautiful inside.

Heading into Dublinia with our friends.

One of the random figures at the museum, Kaitlyn made a friend :)

Heading up to the viewing tower of the church.

This is the inside of the cool bridge that connects Dulinia to Christ Church.

Christ Church Cathedral

The crypt in the basement held several antique pieces, some of which were several hundred years old.

The kids earning their spot in the dungeon.

The two pics below are from the Cobblestone, which was a well-known Irish Pub 3 minutes from our hotel. What's special about this pub is it's the only place where Irish musicians can come and play traditional Irish music anytime for free. They don't get paid, they're there for the love the music and the pub...what a fun and authentic experience (video below). We had our first Guinness here, which is Ireland's most famous and exported beer.

We chatted with a local named Denise for a while and she insisted on taking a family picture of us to remeber the moment (the Irish are very sentimental). She was a sweet, older, spunky woman with her two dogs: Albert and Lily. When she first entered the bar she said 'excuse me' as she entered the narrow pathway. I started making way before she spoke and as she passed by she wispered "not you, dear, it's all these f#ckin foreigners'. Little did she know :) The kids enjoying fries while the parents enjoyed a tasty adult beverage.

That evening we toured the Guinness factory at St. James Gate. It was a great tour and we learned much about the history and tradition of the company, which started brewing beer at this location in 1759. Fun fact #1: Guinness uses nitrogen in its beer which is why a pint of Guinness looks like a science project when poured from the tap (video below). #2: The original lease signed by Arthur Guinness for the 4-acre property at St. James Gate was signed for 9,000 years. Not sure how/why they decided on 9,000 years but Guinness isn't leaving the area any time soon. #3: Ever pint of Guinness has approximately 30 million bubbles.

Complimentary drinks at the Guinness Sky Bar after the tour.

Jonathan being silly in the morning and dropping down like a bat from the upper bunk.

The following morning I went for a jog in the cool, misty weather. Below is a memorial to the Great Famine of Dublin from 1845 - 1849 where thousands of countrymen died from starvation during hard times.

J-bird wearing the new cap I bought while in Ireland.

A few more pics of Dublinia on a brighter day.

The Jameson whisky distillery in Smithfield. Ed and I toured the distillery while the moms and kids visisted the National Leprecaun museum (we definitely got the better end of the deal).

The tasting room at the end of the tour.

The kids at the leprechaun museum.

Guinness beef stew, a common dish in Ireland.

Party of 10. Lots of kids squeezed into a not-quite-big-enough table.

Kaitlyn carrying a little leprechaun to prove she's still stronger than her brother.

Jonathan and I at the top of the Skyview tower (more in the video below).

One last drink with friends at the Cobblestone before we head our separate ways.

Musician's corner in the Cobblestone, this was a Sunday evening.

Below video contains the following clips (so you know what you're looking at):

1. the kids spinning at a park near the hotel.

2. Inside John's Lane church.

3. The "moss for toilet paper" exhibit at Dublinia. We all chuckled.

4. Live music at the Cobblestone.

5. A pint of Guinness at St. James Gate.

6. St. Patrick's cathedral, where we attended Sunday mass (interesting fact: it's Anglican, not Catholic...who knew?).

7. J and I going up and down the Skyview tower outside our hotel.

8. Second clip of music at the Cobblestone.

Krakow Trip for Jonathan's Futbol Tournament - October 2022

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Fri, 28 Oct 2022 19:22:00 +0000

While this is Jonathan's 3rd year at ASW, it's only his 2nd year on the futbol team. Sports were cancelled the first year due to covid and none of the teams traveled last year for the same reason. The team was divided into two and Jonathan was excited to make the A team, which was scheduled to travel to Krakow, Poland for it's first tournament. The A team was further split into two teams and Jonathan was on team 2 (team 1 being the boys who've been playing futbol since they could walk). Jonathan traveled down with the team on Friday via bus and had games Friday and Saturday. The rest of the family drove down Friday evening and got to watch a few games Saturday morning. There were 5 teams in the tournament: ASW 1, ASW 2, British school, Wroclaw, and Krakow. The British team finished 1st, ASW 1 team finished 2nd, and Jonathan's team finished 4th. We didn't get many pics from the tournament so we'll start with our favorite and only pic worth sharing :)

Here's the entry to the AibBnB we stayed at, it was a nice little place.

We headed out Friday evening to walk around the town and grab dinner.

The next morning I went for an early jog and snapped a few pics along the way.

Wawel Castle

On Sunday I went to the historic Wieliczka Salt Mine, where salt has been mined since the 13th century. Mining was terminated in 1996 due to falling salt prices and mine flooding. The mines go as deep as 1,073 feet and extend via horizontal passages and chambers for over 178 miles. Truly impressive and glad I made the trip (the others were not up for being that far down). All carvings you see are from the rocks or salt formations.

The tour started by walking down 53 flights of steps. This is a pic looking down the stairwell where you can't even see the bottom.

The guide explained that the pine wood beams were painted white to help light the passage ways since candles or torches were the only way to provide light for many years.

One of several chapels in the mine. As excavation moved further and further into the mines, new chapels were built to ensure works had a place to pray. Workers would frequently remain underground for months at a time due to the level of effort to get them in and out.

Two carvings below are from wood, not salt/rocks.

Below you can see where the head of the statue deteriorated due to the moisture and humidity. For this reason, they have to pump air conditioning through the mines. Fresh air was always circulated in but air conditioning is required to prevent the salt figures from deteriorating.

The Kinga Chapel is the largest and most impressive the chapels. Incredible what they were able to do here.

The guide pointed out the artist's flaw with the below carving. It's impossible for the donkey to have both legs on the right side up at the same time, he would simply fall over.

A salt water lake similar to the dead sea. You cannot drink it and nothing can live in it.

This pic was taken with my flash on and shows how long and dark the tunnels were without light.

This chamber was closed for many years since they thought the ceiling (which houses another room above it) was going to collapse. After many years of building support structures and reinforcing the ceiling, the room was reopened in 2010.

You can see where the salt crystals when you hold a flashlight up to walls, ceiling, or floor as the light disperses throughout the crystal. Some were much larger then the pic below.

Here's a banquet hall on the way out of the mine. It was a great tour and the only concern I had was about an hour in when I started wondering if there was a bathroom that far down :)

Amsterdam, Netherlands - Spring Break April 2022 - 2 of 2

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Wed, 19 Oct 2022 18:41:00 +0000

We took a second day trip to visit a few of the traditional sites around Holland to include active windmills and a cheese factory before taking a cruise to visit a clog factory. It was an enjoyable experience and we learned a lot about the Dutch way of life.

A string of active windmills used for cutting lumber, processing cocoa or peanuts.

Our next stop was at a cheese factory in a town named Volendam on the Markemeer Lake. We toured the facility and learned how they process traditional Dutch cheese before sampling a variety of their local products. They were tasty!

After the cheese factory we had time to walk around the town and get a taste of the local bites.

Fresh fried kibbling (fish) was very popular here...and very tasty!

Kaitlyn made sure she didn't miss an opportunity for dessert :)

Next, we prepared for a 45 minute cruise from Volendam to Marken Island to visit a traditional clog factory. Jonathan found a cool pirate-looking ship in port but it's not what we took for a spin.

Arriving at Marken Island.

Stoom Klompenmakerij...a traditional clog factory on Marken Island.

Clogs used as planters.

This traditional factory used old steam powered equipment to show how the industry operated many years ago.

Our guide was very entertaining and reminded us of Kristof from Frozen. He made the tour enjoyable with his silly jokes and Dutch personality. You can see all clogs hanging from the ceiling to dry out.

Here's the clog he made during our tour. It started as a block of wood and 7 minutes later it resembled a clog.

The tour dumps you out into their gift shop where they have clogs in all sizes to try on. They're definitely not comfortable and we didn't see any locals wearing them around town but they still sell quite a bunch.

As we wrapped up our trip and prepared to fly home, Jonathan was allowed to pop his head into the cockpit. The Captain was nice enough to get out of his seat and allow Jonathan to sit down for a front-row view. I couldn't believe they allowed him to sit in the cockpit but thank you KLM for the wonderful memory.

That's Voldendam to the left and Marken Island to the right.

Once back in Warsaw, Jonathan spotted the American School of Warsaw (ASW) campus down below.

Amsterdam, Netherlands - Spring Break April 2022 - 1 of 2

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Wed, 19 Oct 2022 17:30:00 +0000

With covid levels and restrictions waning, the family geared up for a Spring Break trip to Amersterdam, Netherdlands for a well-deserved break. Michelle has always loved tulips (her favorite flower) and it's always been a dream of hers to see the tulips in Holland; it was time to make that dream come true. North and South Holland are two of the wealthiest and most well know of the 12 districts of the Netherlands, hence many people referring to the Netherlands as Holland. We celebrated Easter mass in Warsaw in the morning before flying to Amsterdam in the afternoon. Jonathan was able to check out the cockpit before takeoff and pilots even let him sit in the Captain's chair. Excellent experience and all I did was ask if my son could take a quick look in the cockpit.

Upon arrival in Amsterdam, it took a while to figure out the local public transit system and took just about as long to get from the airport to the hotel as it did to fly to Amsterdam. By the end of the day we learned several lessons about navigating various transit options that we applied throughout the rest of the trip. On our first full day, we took a trip to Keukenhof Gardens and it was the most beautiful botanical garden we'd ever seen. The pictures speak for themselves but the sheer size of the garden and number of flowers were amazing. There are a bunch of pics below with additional comments, enjoy the sights and stories.

Easter morning in Warsaw

Walking to the bus stop to head to the airport, a true European experience.

Waiting for a train after eventually figuring out the local train/metro system. Kaitlyn was not pleased with the experience.

Interesting building architecture.

Burger King receipt for 2 waters. Talk about wasting paper!

J-bird chillin at the train station waiting for our ride.

We lucked out and were one of the first ones on the bus, which meant front row seats on the second level of the bus.

Keukenhof Gardens!

Kaitlyn's yummy french fries

Notice the kids behind the trees?

This was a nice treat since we don't have it in Warsaw.

Amsterdam is known for many things, to include being a city with more bicycles than people. We got in on the action and rented bikes for a day and had a great time exploring on 2 wheels.

Van Gogh museum (we didn't go inside)

Anne Frank statue located just around the corner from her house.

River cruise

That's it for post 1. More pics to follow from our other adventures in Amsterdam.

Christmas Market in Wrocław, Poland - 26-28 Nov 2021

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Tue, 07 Dec 2021 21:45:00 +0000

A quick post to share our awesome adventure to our first European Christmas market in Poland. We visited the town of Wrocław (pronouced Vro-suave) to check out one of the best markets in Poland. It was our first real Christmas market experience since all markets were closed in 2020 due to covid. We drove a little under 4 hours before reaching our destination for the weekend. It was an excellent experience that included mulled wine, hot chocoloate, traditional Christmas mugs, gnomes, street food, desserts, tram rides and much more.

One of Wrocław’s most beloved attractions is gnome hunting. Tourists search for the (appoximately) 600 gnomes placed throughout the city (the actual number of gnomes changes since business can add or remove gnomes as they'd like). Each statue is a tribute to "Orange Alternative", an anti-Soviet resistance movement born in Wrocław that used dwarves as its symbol and helped topple Poland’s oppressive communist regime in the 1980s. We found about 25 of these little guys and would have found more if we weren't checking out the market a majority of the time. Enjoy the pics and hopefully it helps to put you in the Christmas mood!

Interesting monument known as The Train to Heaven. It's a real steam locomotive measuring 98 feet long and weighing 80 tons. It's the largest urban monument in Poland.

Making our way to Old Town and the Christmas market when Jonathan spotted our first gnome.

And second...

Mmmm....a tasty treat known as oscypek (pronounced Os-tzipeck). It's a smoked cheese made of salted sheep milk exclusively in the Tatra Mountains region of Poland. Oscypek is made by an expert named "baca", a term also denoting a sheep shepherd in the mountains. The cheese is a traditional holiday cheese and is often pan fried and served with cranberry jam on the side. We first had oscypek on our trip to Zakopane earlier this year (for our skiing trip) and Michelle and I have loved it ever since.

A variety of candy coated nuts served warm.

"Fairytale Forest"

One of the food huts and our Christmas boot with mulled wine.

One of the many "wine huts" that serve a variety of mulled wine and hot chocolate.

Two buddies toasting to a pint...

Ok....three buddies.

Jonathan's waffle with nutella spread dessert as we head out for the night.

Chillin in the hotel lobby.

Kobe and his gnom-ies.... :)

Kobe having his portrait painted by one of the gnomes.

The main square in the background.

One of the many candy booths.

Many of the streets are lined with food and vendor booths as seen here.

One of my favorite pics of the trip.

One of my other favorite pics of the trip.

Jonathan said this gnome reminded him of dad talking to papa while watching tv (the gnome is holding a phone to his ear).

Jonathan was cold since we were in the shade for a while so he was soaking in the sun when we had a chance.

Churros....they were yummy!

We saw one of Jonathan's buddies from the neighborhood down there.

This is the Statue of Liberty gnome but it came out blurry.

Jonathan wanted to find the gnome on a motorcycle...so we hunted around until we found it (ok....the gnome map may have helped us).

Finishing off the evening at the hotel.

The gnome at our hotel waiting to see us off. Thanks Wrocław, we had a wonderful time!

Fall Break 2021 - Part 3 - Vienna, Austria

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 14 Nov 2021 19:35:00 +0000

Our third and final stop on the trip was through Vienna, Austria. So much history and culture in this part of the world; rival factions have been fighting wars in/around Vienna a thousand years before the pilgrims even landed at Plymouth Rock. We were all a little tired from the first several days of travel so we started our time in Vienna with a horse-drawn carriage to quickly take in many of the sites we didn't want to have to walk to.

City Hall in the background with Christmas decorations going up in front.

St. Stephen's Cathedral was a 5 minute walk down the street.

There was a Ferrari and Rolls Royce in the parking garage we parked at...Jonathan couldn't help but get a picture with it.

The following day we visited the Schonbrunn Palace, which was built in the 1740s and has a long and rich history. We enjoyed the audio tour while walking through the palace as well as the beautiful grounds in the back.

I'm guessing K thought she was out of frame?

They had a labyrinth and maze made of bushes that was pretty cool. We enjoyed the beautiful weather and spending time walking around outdoors.

It looks like they don't keep the shrubs as nicely trimmed in the winter months, I was a bit surprised about that.

I like Kiki's "I'm trouble" smirk...

Note the large eagle at the top, there's a picture below where we're sitting on the rooftop behind it.

You were able to walk up the steps to get a view from the rooftop. That's the eagle behind us that I pointed a few pictures prior. We took a break to soak in the sun and enjoy the cool breeze. The kids said it reminded them of them being on top of one of the mountains we've hiked...that made Ron's day. All that was missing was the hammock :)

St. Stephen's Cathedral at night.

J-bird wanting to hold Kobe out front of the church. Not sure why.

Ron was able to talk both kids into riding the tiny elevator, not sure how but they were both glad they tried it. It's likely the smallest elevator they will ever ride in.

Fall Break 2021 - Part 2 - Budapest, Hungary

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Sun, 07 Nov 2021 18:49:00 +0000

After departing Bratislava on Monday morning, we hit the road for a 2+ hour drive to Budapest, Hungary. One interesting observation made by all was the number of windmill fields in use by the various countries we traveled through. While we didn't get any good pics of the windmills, we probably passed at least 200 of them. As we entered Budapest proper, we immediately noticed it was a much bigger and busier city with noticeably more traffic. We arrived prior to rush hour but we still sat in a bit of traffic as we navigated our way to the AirBnB. Budapest is a city split in two by the Danube River. Buda is on the West side of the river and Pest (pronounced Pesht) is on the East side. We stayed in Pest but visited attractions on both sides of the river. There was an underground parking lot just down the street from us which proved to be a challenge. All signs were in Hungarian and we'd never parked in a garage like this before so there was a learning curve. Below is a short video the underground garage (preceeded by our ice cream video). We stayed in Budapest for 3 days, 2 nights and enjoyed out time but it was a bit much after our time in sleepy little Bratislava.

The below sign shows the way to Budapest as well as several other countries: UA = Ukraine, RO = Romania, SRB = Serbia, HR = Croatia, and SLO = Slovakia.

This is one of the streets we drove down to get to our room. The room was very nice (the nicest of all AirBnB we stayed at on this trip) but the courtyard of the building reminded me of the rundown place from Karate Kid.

At the end of our street was a park where they managed to squeeze in a huge ferris wheel. We walked past it daily and while Ron was willing to go for a spin, no one else was interested. Ron didn't end up going since it's not as fun alone.

For some reason, Budapest is known for people connecting locks to different attractions to symbolize their commitment or love for one another. This is one such piece...not sure what the relevance is. They also have the more well known Szechenyi Chain Bridge that we saw but it was closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic as it was under renovation (additional structural support required due to the added weight of all the locks).

A view of the Buda Castle from the Pest side of the river.

We saw a pretty sweet old Mustang so Jonathan wanted a picture with it.

A 3-minute walk from our place was St. Stephen's Basilica, another common tourist attraction. There are several more pictures below of the basilica. For dinner our first night, we ate a restaurant just out of picture to the right.

Ron had a local dish, Hungarian beef in hunter's sauce with crispy onions on top. It was tasty!

And of course we had dessert after dinner. First time we'd ever had "rose" shaped ice cream but we all enjoyed it.

Tuesday morning Ron took Kobe for an early morning walk and realized there's a dog park at the end of our street (our room was a minute walk down the road towards the left of the pic. Directly behind me is the ferris wheel).

Random Michael Jackson tree and memorial...no clue what the story is behind this.

The river is behind the statue and you can see the Buda castle as well.

Kobe was the subject of this artist's masterpiece.

Buda Castle in the morning sun.

When Ron returned from his walk, we got dressed and walked about 10 minutes to McDonalds. Dogs were not allowed, which was not the case in Bratislava, so Ron and Kobe enjoyed breakfast outside.

Our first big stop of the day was the House of Houdini. Harry Houdini was born in Hungary as Erik Weisz in 1874, however, his roots were not traced back to Hungary until well after his death. His parents immigrated to the US when he was 4 years old. After confirming his Hungarian roots, many movie props and other memorabilia were sent to Hungary for display at the House of Houdini.

Jonathan was happy to lock his sister in the large safe. Payback for so many things!

Jonathan was genuinely nervous that Kaitlyn was going to lock him in. :)

Ron was acting silly as always.

There are additional pics of some of the displays from the museum if you're interested in learning more about Houdini. They are at the bottom of the blog.

Just around the corner from Houdini's was the Labyrinth. Count Dracula (Vlad Tepes), who was born in nearby Transylvania (Romania), was supposedly held prisoner in the Labyrinth for a period of time. There are several stories/myths about his presence in the Labyrinth and there's no way to tell the difference. He was not associated with vampires until well after his death but he was known to be a brutal leader. He earned the nickname "Vlad the Impaler" for impaling most of his victims. Anyhow, the Labyrinth is a series of natural underground caves/caverns that were formed by water hundreds of years ago. The caves were used for storage during times of peace and as prisons or bunkers during times of war. Today they are merely a tourist attraction that run under the busy hill known as Buda Hill. I didn't take any pics inside so the below pics were pulled from the internet. It took about 30 minutes to walk through.

Entrance from the street to head down.

One section was completely dark and you had the option to bypass it if you wanted. Since we had a cell phone, we made our way through and had to turn the flashlight on a few times. You literally couldn't see your hand in front of your face so we lost all sense of orientation. In addition, they had a plaque with several spooky stories of encounters over the years (seeing a white mist, feeling a cold breeze, rapid temperature drop, etc.). It was perfect since Kaitlyn likes spooky things and I will say she was a bit creeped out at times.

Next up on Buda Hill was Matthias church, another common tourist attraction near the river. We didn't go inside as you had to pay for a tour and we had plenty of ground to cover that day. Another beautiful masterpiece.

Just behind the church was Fisherman's Bastion, another popular tourist destination known for its unique architecture.

Hungarian Parliament building across the river.

Fisherman's Bastion with the Matthias Church in the background.

A tasty lunch while Jonathan and Kaitlyn practiced their Houdini magic trick (we got suckered in...).

Ron tasted the Hungarian goulash...it was good!!

The shores of the Danube River and the Parliament building are one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites.

One of the local foods Ron was encouraged to taste was "langos" (pronounced lan-gosh). It's a common Hungarian street food made from deep fried flat bread that typically includes sour cream, shredded cheese, and any variety of toppings. It's basically Hungary's version of a pizza and was darn tasty.

Our last morning in town we walked past the US Embassy to the Parliament building. Just past the embassy there's a statue of Ronald Regean, which we snapped a few pictures of.

Jonathan was excited for his first handshake with a President.

The Parliament building is the crowned jewel of Budapest and well known around the world for it's beauty and intricacies. What a treat it was to visit the grounds and tour the interior.

The Golden Stairwell...painted with real gold.

The main entrance to the Parliament building.

Ceiling of the main entry.

In the below picture, you may notice a display in the middle of the room. This is where the Holy Crown of Hungary is stored and photos are prohibited. The Holy Crown was first established around the year 1000 and no king of Hungary was regarded as having been truly legitimate without being crowned with it. In the history of Hungary, more than 50 kings were crowned with it up until the last in 1916. Further below is a picture of the crown as displayed today (pulled from the internet).

The main chamber of Parliament.

My favorite family picture of the trip!

After many miles walked in Budapest, Kaitlyn and Kobe needed a nap on the drive to Vienna.

Below is additional information from the House of Houdini.

Fall Break 2021 - Part 1 - Bratislava, Slovakia

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Sat, 06 Nov 2021 11:37:00 +0000

For the kids' fall break (25 - 29 October), we planned a 3-country road trip to finally start seeing a bit of Europe. This was our first family trip out of Poland due to Ron's work schedule and covid restrictions in place over the past year. Our travels took us through Bratislava (Slovakia), Budapest (Hungary), and Vienna (Austria). It was an excellent trip that we were excited to finally take. Below are a ton of pics and several comments scattered throughout. Such a cute and fun little town that was charming and relaxing; we LOVED our time in Bratislava. Enjoy the post.

We hit the road around 6am for the 6+ hour drive to Bratislava. The kids went straight from their beds to the car for our early morning departure.

Kobe was a trooper, eating and drinking during the drive and going to the bathroom when we made our pitstops.

Upon arrival in Bratislava, our first stop was for lunch with friends from Warsaw. Both families visited Bratislava for 3 days before they headed on to other countries.

We stayed just off of the main square in Bratislava's small old town so here are a few pics as we walked to our AirBnB.

Kobe had company as Bella traveled with our friends from Warsaw.

The kids and Ron went up to the viewing level on the clock tower of the old Town Hall building. It provided the best view of Old Town and one of the best views of Bratislava.

Bratislava castle on the hill in the background.

One item that was hard to capture is all the stores and restaurants on the various streets that snake through old town. Every street has it's own personality with shops, bakeries, restaurants, and other attractions to enjoy.

Bratislava castle from a distance.

Halloween decorations down one of the side streets. Ron stopped into the Chimney Cake shop on the right for a sweet treat...no regrets.

Ron went for an early morning jog around the perimeter of old town (~1.8 miles) and snapped these morning photos.

Remnants of the original old town wall with guard tower fortification originally constructed in the 13th century.

The UFO tower, which is 95m tall (311 feet), houses a fancy restaurant with an observation deck on the rooftop. There's an elevator that runs up the angled steel columns for those visiting.

Not sure of the significance of this statue in the old town square but it's popular for pictures.

Breakfast at a tasty pancake shop with friends.

Kids entrapped in their own dungeon at one of the apartments.

The following day we visited Devin castle, which is about 20 minutes from old town and was an awesome experience. The castle was first built in the 800s and referenced in written format in 864. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

Fresh water well used for the old castle, it was built in the 15th century and is 55m deep (180 feet). There was a water source just out of picture where you could fill up cups to dump water into the well. It takes 6-7 seconds for the water to splash down at the bottom of the well.

The beautiful Tambo ladies with the Danube River behind them.

One of Ron's favorite pictures of the trip. You can see the "Maiden Tower" below near the water, it's one of the most photographed items at the castle. Legend has it that a bride jumped to her death from the tower on her wedding day when her family killed her husband who they did not approve of. On the cliff to the right you can see a cave entrance that runs through the rocks under the castle. The caves were used for shelter during times of war or attack.

A smaller castle (royal residence) on the compound but separate from the larger upper castle.

Jonathan and Eddie; buddies.

Jonathan was hoping to have us crop out the grass so it looked like he was rock climbing high above the background :)

Kaitlyn wanted to get in on the fun as well.

Inside the royal residence...or what's left of it.

Pictures back in old town Bratislava.

A popular statue (?) in old town that is frequently used for photo ops. The sign next to it (out of picture) says "Man at work".

Next we traveled to the Bratislava castle and viewed grounds and views from there.

The gardens were beautiful, I wish the sun was shining more on the garden for better photos.

The "Blue Church". Inside was all blue as well (altar, pews, etc.)...there was a lot of blue!

On our last morning in Bratislava, we traveled to the UFO tower to check out the observation deck (of course we had to check it out). Michelle and Kaitlyn kept their feet on the ground with Kobe while Ron and Jonathan went exploring.

After a 45 second elevator ride and several short flights of stairs, we made it to the observation deck. Spectacular views!

Final photo is a panoramic picture that looks much better enlarged. We all loved Bratislava and agreed it was our favorite stop on the trip. Small enough to not feel overwhelmed by the hecticness of a large city and large enough to entertain us for several days.

All Saints' Day in Poland

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 20:47:00 +0000

Hello all,

a quick blog to capture the Polish holiday and tradition of All Saints' Day on 1 November. The below info was pulled from a website that explains the national holiday; the awesome photos are coutesy of Michelle. Enjoy!

In the sparking candlelight on the First of November, at cemeteries across the country of Poland, you will experience the reverent holiday of All Saints’ Day. All Saints’ Day in Poland is the day where people gather together in what many around the world may consider the most unusual sort of way – with trips to cemeteries. Lighting candles, telling family stories, sharing in laughter, love and prayers at the gravesides of their loved ones that have passed on ahead of those gathered are the most common ways the people in Poland spend their November 1. Polish families travel across the entire country of Poland to reconnect on this day with their relatives in order to be closest to the familial graves of grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Preparing for All Saints’ Day in Poland, much like Thanksgiving as well, begins days before November 1. Cleaning the tombstones of loved ones, raking the leaves surrounding it, polishing the names on the graves and sometimes lying fresh flowers ahead of time are just a few ways that Polish people prepare for All Saints’ Day. Other ways Polish people prepare for the day is buying candles to light and leave at the graves, as well as cleaning their homes and preparing traditional meals to share with their entire families after the evening graveside visits.

Note: We did notice that all of the leaves were raked up, and there are a ton of leaves on the ground this time of year, and the gravesites were in nice order. Clearly loved ones or local workers spent a good amount of time cleaning this large cemetary.

Night Out with the Kids & Our 14th Anniversary

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 21:44:00 +0000

Michelle had a game night with a few girls in the neighborhood on Saturday night so the kids were stuck with me :) We threw the bicycles on the new bike rack and went to check out the night life along the Vistula River and in Old Town. It was mostly enjoyable although Kaitlyn was ready to head home shortly after we started.

Further below, Michelle and I celebrated our 14th anniversary on Wednesday so I took the day off and we spent it together. Similar to above, Michelle and I took the bicycles for a ride along the river and enjoyed a nice lunch at a trendy mall. We biked a bit more before heading home for naps on the couch and recliner before the kids came home :)

Zamek Królewski w Warszawie - the Royal Castle in Warsaw

Jonathan chowing down on McDonalds in Old Town

Kaitlyn chilling on her phone while J and I eat...she wasn't hungry.

Royal Castle in Warsaw at night.

Stadium for the Polish national soccer team.

The legend of the Warsaw mermaid, or “syrenka” in Polish, is a relatively simple one. She originated from the Baltic Sea, where (according to some versions of the story) she had a twin sister, the famous Little Mermaid of Copenhagen. The syrenka swam up the Vistula River until she was at what is now Warsaw’s old town. She became the city's guardian and defender in times of need. This one of several mermaid statues in Warsaw and is known as the mermaid by the river.

It's no Bellagio but Warsaw has a light and fountain show during the summer months that attrack many visitors. We planned to check it out last year but it was cancelled early due to covid...we have it one our list in the near future.

The below photo was taken in 1948 and shows the same area as the above picutres. At the end of WWII in 1945, the Germans destroyed anything and everything they could on their way out. It looks like snow but is actually ash and rubble. So much of Warsaw and various cities around Poland were devastated and destroyed by the end of the war. The caption below says "work on clearning the area - the Royal Castle".

Say Hello to Kobi

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Sun, 05 Sep 2021 17:35:00 +0000

Kaitlyn's New Gymnastics Medal Holder - June/July 2021

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Fri, 09 Jul 2021 19:22:00 +0000

For a while now Kaitlyn and I have been talking about a medal holder for most of her gymnastics medals. I finally came across a good piece of wood from work so we got started in June and finished the project in July (8th). She did most of the work and it turned out awesome! Enjoy the pics.

I did most of the drawing and Kaitlyn helped out a bit. We had a smaller image and used a 7 to 1 scale to maximize the size of the gymnast on the wood (gotta work math into the project).

I borrowed a jigsaw from someone at the embassy and Kaitlyn did 95% of the cutting.

The worst part of the cutting process was the fact that the jigsaw was battery powered so we had to stop 4 times to let it charge for about an hour. That got old quick.

K sanding the "beam", which we bought from the local Home Depot equivalent.

I believe we did 4 layers of lacquer and it looked great.

Gluing on additional supports to the back of the beam.

We determined how many medals K wanted to hang and figured out how many hooks we needed. We measured them out and K drilled pilot holes then screwed them in.

Beam complete.

Mounted on the concrete wall with 3 screws/anchors...easier than it sounds to get it straight.

Nailed it!!

After 2 coats of primer and about 4 light coats of spray paint, it was done.

Mounted and finished.....awesome!

Kaitlyn wants to tape pictures of her team and pics from her competition to the wall...we support.

Her State Championship medal is on one of the two center hooks, she made sure to put her most important medals in the middle :)

Scavenger Hunt to Reveal Summer trip to the States

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Sat, 29 May 2021 14:43:00 +0000

We wanted to find a fun way to tell the kids about their trip to the States for the summer so I came up with another scavenger hunt to reveal the big surprise. It's a 15-minute video so if you don't have time for the whole thing, you have to at least check out their reaction starting around 13:30. We told the kids several times that we couldn't take any big trips over the summer since I had to work so to say they were super excited and emotional is an understatement.

I told the kids they had to get dressed and brush their hair for a Memorial Day picture, which was just an excuse to have them dressed for the scavenger hunt on a Saturday morning. That's how the video starts with them posing for a picture on the couch. I turned the fan on to reveal the first clue (piece of paper on top of the fan blade), you can see their reaction when it falls...they know a new hunt is on! Enjoy.

Glamping and the Town of Toruń: 21-23 May 2021

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Sun, 23 May 2021 17:57:00 +0000

A quick post to share the weekend experience "Glamping" in the town of Chelmza followed by a quick stop in the town of Toruń. One of our friends found the "Glamping" site online and asked if others were interested in joining. We jumped at the chance to see and do something new. Each family had their own golf ball style dome tent, which included all the amenities of a small apartment. The weather wasn't great, it was cold, windy and rainy half the time but we did manage to get a few hours of weather to play.

On Sunday, we drove through the town or Toruń on our way back to Warsaw and spent some time checking it out. It's a cute small town and is renowned for the Museum of Gingerbread, whose baking traditions date back nearly a thousand years. We were unable to make the 2pm English tour of the museum but that didn't stop us from buying several gingerbread treats. Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland with the first settlement dating back to the 8th century. The medieval part of the city was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. Enjoy the pics!

The water was freezing (my ankles started feeling numb it was so cold) but the kids splashed around a bit. No one went swimming but Jonathan did take a full dip...he quickly came running out in search of a towel and ran in for a warm shower afterwards.

We had the "family" tent since it had the most beds (6). Our friends were each families of 3 so they took the tents that slept 4.

a view inside...the couch pulls out to a bed so this is where Michelle and I slept.

there were 4 pads upstairs and this is where the kids slept.

Jonathan and dad in the kayak.

Kaitlyn and dad in the kayak.

Jonathan helping the kids make paper boats.

No luck fishing but the kids all enjoyed taking turns reeling the line in. I don't think any of them had been fishing. One kid asked why we didn't have a fish on the line every time we reeled it in.

Kaitlyn had fun paddling around on her own.

I got out for some fishing Saturday afternoon and even though I didn't catch anything, it was still enjoyable. It was my first time fishing in Poland.

Kaitlyn snapped a great picture of the sunset. It's kind of hard to tell but there's a church steeple off in the distance and the sun is setting right behind it.

TORUN

Statue of Nicolaus Copernicus, who was born in Torun and a key figure in society in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Jonathan pecking around like one of the pigeons.

Real bells ring every hour and it never gets old.

The gingerbread shop we bought a few snacks at :)

Jonathan's "Policja" gingerbread cookie.

The medieval castle remains, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I honestly don't know too much about it.

Dirt Biking in Warsaw - 27 March 2021

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Sat, 03 Apr 2021 15:16:00 +0000

A quick post to share our recent trip to Drive Position in Warsaw for some dirt biking fun. This was our second time at the track and Jonathan loved it. There was some type of advanced riding or racing class going on so Jonathan would take a break while the advanced riders were on track. At the end of the day when the race class appeared to be finished and the guys exited the track, Jonathan hopped back on for a few more laps. Some of the advanced riders jumped back on for a few more laps as well and Jonathan enjoyed riding with them. I let him stay on for a few laps before having him come off, he was more of a liability out there since he was so much slower. Anyhow, a few pics and videos to share. Enjoy.

Zakopane, Poland - Winter Break, Feb 2021

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Sun, 28 Feb 2021 19:04:00 +0000

After 6 months in Poland, covid numbers were on the decline and different parts of the country were beginning to open. This included the popular ski town of Zakopane in the southern part of the country near the Slovakian border. The slopes opened a week or two before and they actually hosted the World Cup Ski Jump Qualifications at one of the slopes the weekend prior. We had a great time and were happy to break up the monotony of being restricted to Warsaw.

Michelle was quite restricted due to her knee so she didn't participate in skiing but we did get her on a short sled ride. In addition to sledding and skiing, the kids got to spend time with a pack of Huskies before going on a 2.5 kilometre dog sled ride (led by the former 2-time Polish dog sledding champion). Kaitlyn and Jonathan both did some skiing and Jonathan tried snowboarding and hit one of the bigger slopes with me. We had an excellent trip and will be sure to return next winter.

Enjoy the pics and video.

Videos of sledding, skiing, and dogs.

Jonathan's dog sledding trip. The video is a bit long (11 minutes) so you can skip to the following parts if you want: the beginning is cool, at 4:13 the dogs go off course a bit so you hear the guy yelling at them, at 9:50 they're moving pretty quick (you can see J blocking his eyes from the snow and ice the dogs are kicking up), and the ending is cool as well.

Jonathan going down the big slope at Polana Szymoszkowa ski resort:

This is "Arrow" and it was one of Jonathan's favorites.

Visit to Łazienki Park - 1/31/2021

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Sun, 07 Feb 2021 10:40:00 +0000

On Sunday, 31 January, we took a trip to check out one of the local parks we see and pass frequently in downtown Warsaw. The park's name is Łazienki Park and is pronounced Waz-yen-ki. It was cold and snowy out but it was SUNNY, which meant we were going to find something to do outdoors. This large and sprawling park has a variety of walking paths, museums, monuments and beautiful vistas. It will be nice to return to this park when it's warmer out to see the gardens, lakes, and tree-covered paths. We spent about 2 hours walking around and had a fun time exploring.

Mama and her sweet little cuddler

Ujazdów Castle and now an art museum.

A view of the frozen pond behind the castle.

View of the castle from the pond.

"Palace on the Isle". There's a pond that leads to the palace but it's frozen over and covered in snow.

Closer view of Palace on the Isle with Keeks.

There were a few "wild" peacocks roaming around the palace that the kids loved seeing.

Palace of the Isle from the opposite side.

Amphitheatre at Palace of the Isle with Michelle in attendance :)

The kids found a hiding spot they liked.

J-bird being goofy walking around with snow on his head.

Mountain bike attempt on Bday - 2/6/2021

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Sun, 07 Feb 2021 08:29:00 +0000

A few quick pics of our attempt to go mountain biking on my Ron's birthday. While we knew it was freezing out, we didn't realize how much ice there would be. Not much bike riding but a whole lot of playing on the ice so we all had a fun time. We weren't prepared to be playing in ice or water so we all left a little wetter than we arrived :) Michelle didn't want to venture out on the ice with her bum knee so she remained near or in the car most of the time. Everyone else slipped and fell at least once but it was good fun. We may go back with hockey sticks and pucks and let the kids play. Enjoy.

Jonathan was army-crawling across the ice

K wanted a pic of her atop of the big jumps

Warsaw Old Town Christmas Lights - 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 08:33:00 +0000

A quick blog to document our first trip to see Christmas lights in Warsaw's Old Town. We were told this is a fraction of the lights they normally have as a result of covid. Enjoy the pics!

The arch say Merry Christmas in Polish

(Wesołych Świąt pronounced - Vesowich fe-aunt)

Kiki being silly while taking a pic of mom and dad.

Halloween Scavenger Hunt 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Sat, 31 Oct 2020 22:02:00 +0000

Mountain Biking in Warsaw - 25 Oct 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Michelle) — Sun, 25 Oct 2020 21:18:00 +0000

A quick blog to document our first trip to a local bicycle park, Bike Park Kazoora, that Michelle found online (good find, honey!). It's about a 7-9 minute drive from our house so it's super convenient. The kids loved it (as did Michelle and I) so we'll definitely be going back. Enjoy the pics and videos.

Friday, 30 October 2020

Happy 13th Anniversary! 15 September 2020

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 17:51:00 +0000

Due to staffing rotations at work as a result of COVID-19, I happened to be off on Tuesday, 15 September. Michelle and I took advantage and spent the day out to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary. We walked around several new places to see what they had to offer and found a few places we'll be going back to with the kids. Enjoy the pics.

First stop was a large park near the embassy that I pass every day going to and from work. Had no clue if the park was worth visiting but we were going to be passing it anyhow and it was a beautiful day out. Name of the part is Ujazdowski (pronouced Ooh-yaz-dov-ski).

We didn't realize there was a huge playground in the middle of the park. We'll definitely stop back with the kids as it seems like a place they would enjoy. The playground has 5 different areas that all meet up in the middle.

This place looked good, I assume we'll check it out at some point. It's called Whiskey in the Jar and the branding said "steakhouse and rock-n-roll"

We eventually made it to our destination for lunch, La Sirena. Michelle was interested in sampling one of the popular Mexican restaurants in Warsaw and I was happy to oblige. We didn't feel bad about the margaritas, it was after noon :)

We started with freshly made guacamole and Michelle had the shrimp burrito and I had the shredded beef tacos. It was all excellent!

The corner building with the interesting architecture looked cooler in person.

We took an Uber to one of the popular portions of the Vistula River and walked around for a bit checking out the sites. That's the soccer stadium across the river and you can also see one of the "beaches" on the other side as well. I read an article that said Warsaw's urban beaches along the Vistula River were some of the nicest in Europe. After I saw it, I felt pretty bad for the rest of the urban beaches in Europe :) And, we recently received a notice from the embassy recommending you stay out of the river for a while due to sanitation concerns. Lovely.

This was the Sappers Monument. It commemorates the lives lost by soldiers who died defusing mines and booby traps after WWII. We stumbled upon it as we were getting ready to hop on a bus to head home.

Everything looks better in person so you'll get to see as much of this as you want when you visit. :)

The Kids Visit Old Town Warsaw

noreply@blogger.com (Ronnie T) — Thu, 17 Sep 2020 19:21:00 +0000

A quick blog to document the kids' first trip to Old Town Warsaw on Saturday, 12 September 2020.

We gave the kids a choice between a bus and an Uber, the were interested in checking out the bus. Tickets were about $1.17 each and they were good for any bus for up to 75 minues.

Looking at the huge soccer (futbol) stadium in Warsaw. You can't tell from this pic but it's just across the Vistula River, which splits Warsaw in two.

This view never gets old.

Panoramic view of one side of the old town square.

We had Polish food for lunch and everyone ordered something different. We stopped at the same restaurant Michelle and I went to a week earlier since we loved the food and were already familiar with it. All of the meals were excellent and we were stuffed by the end! Kaitlyn ordered potato dumplings, which came with a whipped sour cream sauce for dipping, and a lemonade.

Jonathan ordered a kids meal of potato and onion pierogies. It came with drawn butter and a huge side of shredded carrots and apples(?).

Michelle had the pan fried pierogies with spinach and mushrooms.

I had the potato pancake (kinda like hashbrowns) with pork goulash. It was a more filling meal than I was expecting.

We added a cold local brew to the order to ensure we remained hydrated the rest of the day.

After lunch we walked around a bit and passed one of the many churches in the area.

Taking a break to check bus routes for our next stop. Jonathan was telling a story and was apparently happy to be doing so. The girls look thrilled to be listening :)

I told the kids I'd lock them up here if they got out of line.

Kids wanted another bus for our next stop....the Blue City Mall.

Pretty nice mall! The top two floors appeared to be businesses but the lower 4 levels were filled with stores. We walked around for about an hour and a half.

That's it.