Gone with the Family

Starbucks Around the World

My 9 year old daughter, Emma, and I love Starbucks! Now the fact that I love my lattes won't come as a surprise to most but Emma's attachment might. I think it started when she was just a wee baby and I carted her along to coffee dates with a friend at our local Starbucks. Before she was able to talk she would take my empty coffee cup and inhale the aroma of coffee. To this day she will walk into Starbucks, take a deep breath and announce "it smells so good in here". So yes, I may have created a coffee addict long before she's old enough to actually drink it.

Mouthwatering Mickey Ice Cream Bars

The theme for Disney (Almost) Wordless Wednesday this week is Food and Drink.  Now I love to eat but I rarely think to photograph anything before it's consumed and my memory is rather short so it's not likely that I would be able to describe a meal with any degree of accuracy after the fact.  I can say with a fair amount of certainty that I have had a number of delicious meals at lovely restaurants while visiting Disney World - there just won't be many details forthcoming.

Cows - Yummy Ice Cream And So Much More

Our first visit to Prince Edward Island on Canada's east coast was the summer before Katie turned 2 years old and we fell so hard for the island that we returned again and again.  Our island vacations resulted in many wonderful family memories but if you asked either of the girls they would tell you that one of the best things about PEI is Cows ice cream.  Cows began making ice cream in 1983 using all natural ingredients, and a recipe dating back to the days of Anne of Green Gables, and continues to use the same old-fashioned ingredients today to make the more than 32 flavours available at its retail outlets.

Piccolo Grande - Gelato in Ottawa

The recent long weekend that we spent in Ottawa was hot and humid - more like a midsummer day than the middle of May - which made it perfect weather for ice cream or gelato.  Fortunately, we had a recommendation from one of the third grade teachers at Emma's school for the best gelato in Ottawa so we headed for Piccolo Grande in Byward Market after our visit to the National Gallery of Canada on Sunday morning.

Making Pizza in Sorrento

On a recent Mediterranean cruise our family had the opportunity to make our own pizza at Tasso Ristorante E Pizzeria located at Via Correale in Sorrento, Italy.  Our ship was docked in Salerno for the day and we had arranged for a driver from Rome in Limo to pick us up and drive us to Pompeii, however, I wasn't sure what else we should do that day as it was the last day of a port-intensive cruise and I knew that the kids would be quite tired by then.  My contact at Rome in Limo suggested that the driver take us to Sorrento and that we could attend a pizza making class there and explore a bit before returning to our ship via The Amalfi Coast.  I wasn't sure what to expect but it turned out to be one of the most fun things we did on the trip and probably one of the things that the kids will remember the most.

Eating Spaghetti in Roma

 

There is no better place than Italy to indulge a love for pasta and Emma took full advantage on a recent stay in Rome.  Italy is actually quite an easy place for parents to feed their kids as even the pickiest of eaters will generally eat a plate of pasta.  There may not be a children's menu per se, however, most restaurants are happy to prepare a smaller portion of pasta for their pint-sized guests.  Buon Appetito! 

Sampling Simit in Istanbul

It would be difficult to stroll the streets of Istanbul without noticing the bright red carts with the word Simitçi printed on the side.  I'm not a big consumer of street food, however, so I hadn't given them much thought until our guide, Cennk, paused during our walk from Hagia Sophia to the Blue Mosque to order a simit for our family to share. 

 

 
 A Simitçi in Istanbul

To Market, To Market...

If you will be traveling in Europe with your family then definitely plan to take your kids to an outdoor  market.  It may not sound like it would appeal to kids but most village markets are a highly entertaining way to spend an hour or two even for kids who balk at going shopping at home.  There's just something about shopping outside with the crowds, wandering from stall to stall, that makes it seem more like a carnival than a shopping trip.

Sweet Anticipation

Isn't it funny how often some of our best travel memories revolve around food?  This was particularly so on a trip to France last summer when everyone in our family indulged in the famous French cuisine.