In anticipation of our upcoming trip to Paris I selected The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz for the March Book of the Month. This book chronicles the author's adventures as an American expat living in Paris over the last number of years. David is a pastry chef and a cookbook author who had been living and working in San Francisco until he decided to start life anew in Paris. With all of his belongings crammed into three suitcases, he arrived in Paris full of hope, only to discover that it was a very different world from the one he had left behind. The book is comprised of humourous anecdotes about various aspects of life in Paris from the difficulty of getting a good cup of coffee to the inability of Parisians to wait patiently in a queue to the apparent indifference of shopkeepers toward selling their wares.
As an undergraduate student, I studied International Relations and, accordingly, became a firm believer in the role of the United Nations in international governance. I had always wanted to tour the United Nations Headquarters in New York City to see where the work of the UN takes place, and to be quite honest, my absolute dream career would have been at the United Nations working on international environmental law issues.
The Toronto Zoo is a great place for families with kids of any age to spend a few hours or an entire day. The zoo, which is considered one of the world's finest, is open year-round although hours vary depending on the time of the year. Some animals are also not on display during the winter and some of the snack bars and other attractions are closed as well. We prefer to visit in the spring or fall when the weather is pleasant - not too hot and not too cold for walking around.
Crescent-shaped Santorini in the Cyclades chain of Greek islands is generally considered to be one of the most beautiful islands in the Aegean Sea. The village of Oia which sits on an impressive cliff on the northern tip of the island affords visitors spectacular views of the Aegean and is renowned for its beautiful sunsets over the caldera.
Katie, Emma and I attended a performance of Potted Potter at the Panasonic Theatre in Toronto last evening that was one of the funniest things that I have seen in the theatre in a long time. Arriving in Toronto direct from London's West End, Potted Potter is an unauthorized parody of the Harry Potter series written and performed by British actors Dan Clarkson & Jeff Turner.
If you are heading to Scandinavia with kids then you are likely to come across trolls in the course of your travels. Trolls are the magical creatures of Scandinavian folklore that, along with elves and giants, co-existed with the Norse gods. The trolls dwelt in dark caves in the mountains or in the dark forests and were reputedly terrified of the sunlight.
Once again, technology has got the better of me. On Sunday afternoon my computer's hard drive died. The computer was only three months old so it's demise was a bit premature and caught me off-guard. All my data seems to be fine on my external backup drive so, thankfully, I haven't lost any of my photos which is always my biggest worry when something goes wrong with the computer. The computer is still under warranty which is a relief, however, it also means that it has to be returned to Hewlett Packard for repair or replacement of the hard drive. Estimated date of return of computer - three weeks. Aaargh!!!
We recently visited Disney's EPCOT park after not having been there for almost 8 years. EPCOT (the "Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow") is not known for being the most kid-friendly park at Disney given its emphasis on technological innovation and international culture, however, we had quite enjoyed our visit with Katie in 2004 when we spent a fair bit of time circling the World Showcase and collecting passport stamps from each of the featured countries. I knew that Emma would enjoy this as well as she loves geography and learning about countries of the world. Upon arrival we discovered that the World Showcase has become a more kid-friendly spot in the last few years.
Sometimes when you are traveling with kids it just takes one mistake to get the ball rolling and, before you know it, you have a full-fledged mutiny on your hands. This happened to us in Rome on the day that we were planning to see the Colosseum and the Forum. The heat couldn't be helped but some key planning mistakes on my part turned what we had intended to be 3 hours of sightseeing into a full day endurance test.
Our family's obsession with Harry Potter goes back a lot of years. I think Katie was about 6 years old when I first read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to her, carefully editing as I read to take out any bits that I thought might be too scary. As each new book was released we would buy it straightaway and I would read it aloud to her even though she was, by then, quite capable of reading it herself. After reading the book together she would then immediately re-read it herself multiple times. The theatre release of each movie was eagerly anticipated and then watched countless times on DVD. Rarely a day would go by in our home without some discussion about Harry Potter and his friends.
Welcome to Gone with the Family! I'm Lisa and I'm on a mission to show my kids the world - one trip at a time! This site is about the adventures that we have had along the way - 16 years and counting. We hope to inspire you to
travel with your kids by sharing our tips, stories and photos. Have fun exploring the site! Learn More...
