Vacations Blog

This is a destination you probably have not thought of – yet. Well its time to change that.

If you are visiting Europe, or live there, it is a short flight to this island in the Mediterranean. Kayt Sukel, based in Germany, explains that the island has a remarkable history. Its temples pre-date the Egyptian pyramids. The island has great hotel options – but you could consider B&Bs or even renting a villa. The food is rich in choices – after all, the island has a great location in terms of regional influences. Getting around is easy by bus and there are great beaches and diving. Take a look at the island’s tourism information here.

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Paris, France, March 2008

From guest blogger, Andrea Widburg, of Andi’s Answers

When we traveled in Europe last winter, we had to deal with two immutable factors: the long distances we had to cover and the high cost of lodging. We hated to spend our days stuck on trains, rather than walking around and sight-seeing, and we hated to spend our nights paying $300 for a small room with a half bathroom. A sleeper train seemed like the logical solution. There are lots of websites that give information about this way of traveling (see here and here, for example) and they all make it seem very civilized and easy. They’re almost correct.

We took our first sleeper train from Paris to Venice. Although we had very carefully and specifically booked a cabin just for the four of us, we were promptly led to a cabin that already boasted two other people. Fortunately, the conductor was a sympathetic type, and the train wasn’t too full, so we finally got a cabin all our own.

Our cabin had two lower berths that functioned as seats during the daytime, and two upper berths that folded up against the side of the car when not in use. I didn’t have a tape measure, but the berths felt as if they were about two and a half feet wide. The train company provided a thin nylon sleeping bag that served as both a top and bottom sheet (much like the sleep-sheet used in hostels), a small pillow, and a thin blanket. Our luggage was stuffed under the bottom berths and placed on shelves above the top berths.

The good part of the sleeper train was that we did sort of sleep. We took our shoes off and got to lie down. The train had that nice, relaxing chugga-chugga-chugga rhythm, and there were mercifully few horns and whistles. The kids were initially too excited to go to sleep but exhaustion finally overtook them and they blinked out.

The bad part was the fact that the berths were extremely uncomfortable and, for my tall husband, way too short. Also, getting to the bathroom was no fun. You had to crawl down from the berth (since my husband and I slept on top), put on your clunky winter shoes, unlock the door (which inevitably woke the spouse), and then stagger down the rocking aisle to a very cold and, usually, somewhat dirty bathroom. If there was no toilet paper, you staggered back to your cabin, got the toilet paper and started all over again. Multiply this not just by your own bathroom stops, but by the children’s, and you’ve got a pretty lousy night of sleep.

Of course, after all this discomfort and inconvenience, we woke up to find ourselves in beautiful Venice. Once there, although we were tired, we spent quite a nice day sightseeing. In other words, the plan worked perfectly, with us doubling up on travel and lodging and not wasting any daytime hours sitting on a train. So even though I really did not enjoy the experience, I ended up doing it all over again when we traveled from Venice to Rome, and I’ll do it again the next time I’m in Europe.

From guest blogger, Andrea Widburg, of Andi’s Answers

Paris in the spring is the stuff of poetry, Paris in the summer is the most popular tourist time, and Paris in the winter is a great time to go, especially when you’re traveling with two active elementary school aged children. We went to Paris last winter right after Christmas and, while the crowds were still overwhelming, it felt almost empty compared to the usual summer traffic. Here are some of the things we discovered:

The Louvre Museum is a great way to stay out of the rain. Our kids are very active, and they need room to roam. The Louvre museum, at almost 200,000 square feet, is so huge that they got more than enough activity. The collection is also awe inspiring.

Though the children would really rather have their nails pulled out than spend time in the average museum, even they were thrilled to get an up-close view of the Mona Lisa. They were also completely charmed by Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s imaginative paintings, which use fruits, vegetables, flowers and plants to create portraits. As for me, as a Medieval Flemish painting junkie, the Louvre was art heaven.

Another exciting place to visit was the Conciergerie, the former palace and prison in which Marie Antoinette spent her final days before meeting Madame la Guillotine. It’s a grim place, and the small, but excellent exhibit (which includes a guillotine blade that was still used in the 19^th Century) gives you a hint of the horrors it held for its unfortunate residents. The children, needless to say, were thrilled.

Right around the corner from the Conciergerie is one of the most uplifting places in all of Paris: the Sainte-Chapelle, a small Church from the mid-13^th Century that has the finest stained glass windows in Europe. Even on an overcast winter’s day, the interior is radiant. Between the windows and the painted surfaces, one has almost no sense of the stone bones underlying the chapel’s construction. Although the children were pushed to their limits for the half hour we spent inside, I don’t think they regretted it, because even they recognized its extraordinary beauty.

Lastly, if you have active children and find yourself in Paris in mid-Winter, go to Versailles. We started with a tour of the Palace’s interior, which stunned the children with its gaudy magnificence. By tour’s end, however, they simply collapsed and couldn’t get out of there soon enough. Fortunately, “getting out” took us onto Versailles’ grounds, and we spent several hours wandering around there. We visited Marie Antoinette’s exquisite Petite Trianon, made especially poignant by the fact that we’d earlier soon the grim cell in which she lived during her last days. There was also room just to run. Because of the cold, most people weren’t lingering in the garden, so my kids could really stretch their wings, with pauses to look at the swans, sheep and ponies that still live in Marie Antoinette’s silly little model farm. Because of the combination of eye candy and space that Versailles offered on a winter’s day, I have to say it was probably the best day we spent in Paris.