Alexander Nevsky Cathedral
Sunday, July 16, 2017
Summer Vacation - Week 6 - Picking up Chris in Sofia
After a 5.5 hour drive across Bulgaria we were able to pick up Chris is the capital city of Sofia. It is our first rainy day in a long time, but we still made it downtown to the city center to check out the cultural landmarks in Sofia. To be honest with you, Sofia had pretty poor reviews and in the end is probably our least favorite city as well. But still fun to finally spend some time with Chris.
Summer Vacation - Week 6 - Date Night
After an amazing day hanging out at the pool, we were invited to have dinner with the two families from Denmark we met. What a fun evening we had. The kids played great, the food was good and the conversation even more interesting.
Pretty girl ready for date night
Marco, Anthone, Davo & Lily
Anthone, Marco & Lily
Summer Vacation - Week 6 - Golden Sands Water Park Part 1
While Lily has big plans to take her dad to a huge water park later in the week after he arrives, we thought we would hit a mini water park on the beach as a test run. And what a great day we have. We met two separate families from Denmark and Lily had a great time making new friends.
Lily and her new friend Anthone (pronounced Anton)
Summer Vacation - Week 5 - First Day in Golden Sands
Golden Sands is a beautiful resort styled community near Varna, Bulgaria on the Black Sea. It reminds me a lot of Cabo San Lucas, but a bit more culturally diverse. Think Russians, English, Serbians, Germans, Spanish, etc.
Our apartment hotel has great views of the sea, very nice pools and is relatively quiet as it is off the main party zone.
Our apartment hotel has great views of the sea, very nice pools and is relatively quiet as it is off the main party zone.
Pool time
Views from our apartment
Beautiful Black Sea beaches
Summer Vacation - Week 5 - Travel Day Bucharest to Varna and back again
Travelling can sometimes be adventurous, even more so than one wants... this trip and this particular day were definitely not an exception. What started off as a nice car upgrade to a brand spanking new very sporty model wagon turned into a bit of a nightmare to be honest with you. We started off the morning driving out of town in some pretty crazy Bucharest rush hour traffic. Maybe an hour later we made it to a highway and were zooming along in our nice new car. Only to get detoured through the countryside. Think old men and women in horse and buggies. Not the Amish styled ones either. These were little horses and some serious old school buggies. And if we looked over on the side of the road we often saw men and women out at their wells bringing up pails of water. It really brings a person back some years.
Regardless, about an hour into the country side the road ended. Yep, just ended. So we had to take a an extremely old school ferry over to the Bulgarian border. And boy was it hot. As we got off the ferry it took us a few roundabouts to finally figure out where border control even was. Then once we went to cross the very stern customs agent informed us that we were happy to go across the border but there was no way our car was going over. Why I asked? No good explanation. Can you help I asked? "No" the border agent advises.... "This is not America, it is not easy here." Are there any car rental companies here? "No, there are no companies, only individual people that will rent you their car." IN the end, this didn't seem like a good idea, so we headed back to the airport to sort out plan B. Several different options popped up, a flight directly to Varna that would have set us back 2 days and $2,000. Skipping Varna all together, but then who would pick up Chris.
As we got back to the car rental place we were a little down on our luck. Luckily the car rental company informed us they have plenty of cars that can go into Bulgaria. Only ours could not because it was brand new and apparently had just a temporary tag on it. They also advised maybe they should have told us that when we got the car. Oh well, we just felt lucky to have a ride and a way to stay with our original plans. We headed back out to Varna around 4pm and made it there just before 9pm. Wow. What a day!
Here is a picture from the ferry ride.
Regardless, about an hour into the country side the road ended. Yep, just ended. So we had to take a an extremely old school ferry over to the Bulgarian border. And boy was it hot. As we got off the ferry it took us a few roundabouts to finally figure out where border control even was. Then once we went to cross the very stern customs agent informed us that we were happy to go across the border but there was no way our car was going over. Why I asked? No good explanation. Can you help I asked? "No" the border agent advises.... "This is not America, it is not easy here." Are there any car rental companies here? "No, there are no companies, only individual people that will rent you their car." IN the end, this didn't seem like a good idea, so we headed back to the airport to sort out plan B. Several different options popped up, a flight directly to Varna that would have set us back 2 days and $2,000. Skipping Varna all together, but then who would pick up Chris.
As we got back to the car rental place we were a little down on our luck. Luckily the car rental company informed us they have plenty of cars that can go into Bulgaria. Only ours could not because it was brand new and apparently had just a temporary tag on it. They also advised maybe they should have told us that when we got the car. Oh well, we just felt lucky to have a ride and a way to stay with our original plans. We headed back out to Varna around 4pm and made it there just before 9pm. Wow. What a day!
Here is a picture from the ferry ride.
Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Summer Vacation - Week 5 - Bucharest Arrival
The next three weeks are going to be a combination of Romania, Bulgaria and back to Romania again. We will be picking up a car and driving all over the place. I would like to assure you the roads are in excellent shape and its easy driving, but we've been told to expect just the opposite. However, Raquel seems to be a great co-pilot and Lily's sense of direction is actually pretty awesome so we will be in great shape.
Our first day in Bucharest started off excellent. We had an amazing breakfast at the boutique hotel we are staying out with a full spread of all breakfast foods imaginable. Plus the juice was fresh squeezed and incredibly sweet. Wse followed that up with showers and Lily and Raquel wrapping themselves in the nicely provided robes and slippers. Then we were off for a self walking tour of Bucharest and the old town. What an interesting place. The architecture itself is so varied. The mix of old, new and communist influence in the middle makes this place truly original. The weather was hot (low 90s) so it was a bit much with the miles of walking but luckily we got to come back to a nicely air conditioned hotel room. What an adventure.
Tomorrow we are off to the Black Sea resorts near Varna. And that is were we will call home base for about 9 days. I'm looking forward to a little pool time.
Our first day in Bucharest started off excellent. We had an amazing breakfast at the boutique hotel we are staying out with a full spread of all breakfast foods imaginable. Plus the juice was fresh squeezed and incredibly sweet. Wse followed that up with showers and Lily and Raquel wrapping themselves in the nicely provided robes and slippers. Then we were off for a self walking tour of Bucharest and the old town. What an interesting place. The architecture itself is so varied. The mix of old, new and communist influence in the middle makes this place truly original. The weather was hot (low 90s) so it was a bit much with the miles of walking but luckily we got to come back to a nicely air conditioned hotel room. What an adventure.
Tomorrow we are off to the Black Sea resorts near Varna. And that is were we will call home base for about 9 days. I'm looking forward to a little pool time.
Lily enjoying the hotel supplied robes and slippers (maybe a couple sizes too big for her, but what the heck)
A sampling of architecture around Bucharest
Summer Vacation - Week 5 - Last Full Day in Paris
Our last full day in Paris was spent hitting all the spots we hadn't had a chance to visit. We started at the Arc de Triomphe for one last look and walked the Champs d'elysee once again. Which lead us ultimately to the Musee d'la Orangerie which has the installation of Monet's watercolors in two elliptical rooms just the way he imagined them to be shown. Then downstairs we let Lily go crazy with the audio tour. It is a much smaller museum than the other famous Paris museums but likely our favorite and the one we spent the most time in. I was really impressed with Lily for listening for two hours to explanation of all the art and artists.
We headed back through the Jardin de Tulleries to hang out the park just one last time before finally heading home to close the windows before the rain started. And boy did it rain and rain and rain even harder. It was a sultry evening in Paris with all the windows closed and the humidity sitting all around. But we made it to the Boulangerie the following morning for our last pastries and to the train station between all the rain. The power was even out in the train station. Quite an eventful evening. Then of course we were off to Bucharest with a late night arrival.
We headed back through the Jardin de Tulleries to hang out the park just one last time before finally heading home to close the windows before the rain started. And boy did it rain and rain and rain even harder. It was a sultry evening in Paris with all the windows closed and the humidity sitting all around. But we made it to the Boulangerie the following morning for our last pastries and to the train station between all the rain. The power was even out in the train station. Quite an eventful evening. Then of course we were off to Bucharest with a late night arrival.
Lily in front of the Arc de Triomphe
Great views from all the Paris bridges
Musee d'la Orangerie (Lily in front of Monet's waterlillies)
And some other random art
Summer Vacation - Week 5 - A few of our favorite Paris Food
Below you will find pictures of just a few of Lily's favorite Paris foods. Not pictured would be the baguette's (most favorite when they are right out of the oven). The boulangerie right down from our apartment was awarded best baguette in previous years so we were in good hands.
Of course the macaroons must be mentioned. Lily's favorites were from Laduree. She tried many flavors and many other macaroon stores, but always came back to Laduree as her staple stop.
Lily also developed a taste for croissants during her visit. It's about time in my opinion. Of course the pain au lait was a favorite as well. In summary, it was all about the pastries and sweets! Oh and maybe the cheese too.
Largest babybel ever!
That is two oversized macaroons with raspberries and crème between. Rough life!
Saturday, July 8, 2017
Summer Vacation - Week 5 - Day 8 in Paris
Today was a bit of a slow start having gotten back so late the previous night. However, we were still up and out before 10am. We hit Luxemborg Gardens and the Sacre Couer but were not able to get any pictures of the Sacre Couer because none are allowed. However, I really don't get the enchantment with the Sacre Couer. The views of the city are great and even better at night, but the church has nothing on Notre Dame. Just my personal opinion. That being said, Luxemborg Gardens was completely awesome. Some of the most interest garden design I have ever seen and a huge family playground right in the middle of the city. You could definitely tell the locals love it too.
Pont de Neuf (the oldest bridge in Paris)
Luxemborg Gardens
Palace at Luxemborg
Lily and Raquel in front of Luxemborg Gardens
Lily & Mom (yes we are twins today - Lily changed so she could dress like me)
King of the playground
Some very awesome kids version zip lines
Summer Vacation - Week 4 - Day 7 in Paris
By all accounts looking back at the pictures, Day 7 may have been our busiest day in Paris. We were out all day long and into the late evening but man did we have a good time. Our day included a tour of the Opera (Palais Garnier), shopping at Galeries Lafayette, an evening at Musée du Louvre, followed by some hanging out and playing in the parks in Jardin des Tuileries.
Lily and Raquel have discovered a true love for baguettes by have realized the Boulangerie patisserie's are only open in the mornings on most days. So now they just buy there baguette for walking around town. It really is funny to see. Lily is also on a once every two day x two macaroon habit. Her favorites continue to be the macaroons from the famous Laduree, which by the way are the MOST expensive in town, but man are there shops cute. We have tried many other shops by the way, but she continues going back to Laduree.
It is probably a good time to also mention how cheap some things are compared to the U.S. (while others remain very expensive like a soda). The cheeses may be the winners here. You can get a big round of brie at the supermarket for 1 euro. Maybe not the best, but the good stuff is only 2 euros. So cheese, baguettes, rose and an occasional crepe make the world a really happy place for all of us.
Here are some pictures from our very busy day. Also important to note, we walked everywhere. No metro for us!
Next up was some quality time at Galleries Lafayette which is the famous and very large department store in central Paris (very near the Opera). We decided to go in and have a look, especially since they were having one of their city wide two times per year annual sales. They actually had some good deals. The name brands were off the charts. They had all of them for women, kids, and men. They also had an entire floor devoted to women's shoes. It was a little overwhelming but fun none the less. They also have an amazing food court on the sixth floor where you can get food from all over the world and sit and watch the views of the Eiffel Tower. Not a bad gig at all. Below are some photos of the inside of the Galleries Lafayette. It was worth it just to see the beauty inside.
After a brief break back at our apartment to recharge our feet, we hit the Louvre finally. We were waiting until Raquel could get in for free and Friday evenings are the perfec time. The other bonus was that the crowds had died down and we could even get up close and personal to the Mona Lisa. Although she is behind bullet proof glass so the pictures were a bit challenging.
Lily and Raquel have discovered a true love for baguettes by have realized the Boulangerie patisserie's are only open in the mornings on most days. So now they just buy there baguette for walking around town. It really is funny to see. Lily is also on a once every two day x two macaroon habit. Her favorites continue to be the macaroons from the famous Laduree, which by the way are the MOST expensive in town, but man are there shops cute. We have tried many other shops by the way, but she continues going back to Laduree.
It is probably a good time to also mention how cheap some things are compared to the U.S. (while others remain very expensive like a soda). The cheeses may be the winners here. You can get a big round of brie at the supermarket for 1 euro. Maybe not the best, but the good stuff is only 2 euros. So cheese, baguettes, rose and an occasional crepe make the world a really happy place for all of us.
Here are some pictures from our very busy day. Also important to note, we walked everywhere. No metro for us!
Outside the Paris Opera (Palais Garnier) - built in an Italian style in the early 1900s which is quite new by all standards, but amazingly beautiful. They show operas and ballets on a regular basis still here today.
Ceiling inside the main stairway
Costumes from previous Operas
Inside one of the amazing halls in the Opera
Amazing ceilings
The cool thing about the ceilings was that they were themed something different in each room
This ceiling might have been my favorite
Lily and Raquel in the balcony seats
Next up was some quality time at Galleries Lafayette which is the famous and very large department store in central Paris (very near the Opera). We decided to go in and have a look, especially since they were having one of their city wide two times per year annual sales. They actually had some good deals. The name brands were off the charts. They had all of them for women, kids, and men. They also had an entire floor devoted to women's shoes. It was a little overwhelming but fun none the less. They also have an amazing food court on the sixth floor where you can get food from all over the world and sit and watch the views of the Eiffel Tower. Not a bad gig at all. Below are some photos of the inside of the Galleries Lafayette. It was worth it just to see the beauty inside.
After a brief break back at our apartment to recharge our feet, we hit the Louvre finally. We were waiting until Raquel could get in for free and Friday evenings are the perfec time. The other bonus was that the crowds had died down and we could even get up close and personal to the Mona Lisa. Although she is behind bullet proof glass so the pictures were a bit challenging.
We wrapped up our evening with some play time in the Jardin des Tuileries (beautiful gardens just outside of the Louvre). Lily met some nice French children at the playground and played until well after 9pm at which point we finally headed back to our Paris apartment.
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