In 2006, Vance received an NSF grant to study in Germany with a rose geneticist in Hanover. Isaac (who was only 4 months old at the time) and I tagged along for the summer, and made the 1-person funding stretch to accommodate our family of 3. Vance and I have many sweet memories from that … More Bremen (and friends!)
Italy was one of those places I had wanted to go back to, but Switzerland was a place I had never been. A few years ago, we were visiting my grandmother in her retirement home. She lives in a very nice community of elderly military officers and their spouses–as a result it’s a well traveled … More Switzerland
Between a day trip and and a quick overnight before our long train to Switzerland, we were able to get a day and a half in Florence. I wish it could have been longer! You would think that, with 6 months abroad, we would make it to everything we wanted to see. Not a chance–this … More Florence
We found a steal of a deal for an agritourism stay about an hour outside Florence. It was time for us to get the kids out of the city, so we took the train to Florence, then rented a car and drove out to Castelfiorontino.I typically deal with a certain amount of pessimism on travel … More Tuscany
We had learned the hard way (in Granada), that big sites in Europe now book well in advance. Vance had 3 things he really wanted to see, and the Vatican Museum was one of them, so we forked over a little extra cash to book a reservation ahead.We had a 9am entry time, and I … More Rome, Part Two
I still remember my first day in Rome. Joy and I were getting the hang of this whole college-girls-backpacking thing, but it felt a little touch and go sometimes. We were standing in the Termini train station, map in hand, trying to figure out where we were going, and a couple of guys started bothering … More Rome, Part One
Although we were sad to leave Spain, we were all looking forward to the next leg of the the trip. Italy–it’s full of so much allure for every palate. History? Gobs of it. Scenery? Gorgeous. Food? Incredible. Architecture? All sorts. Shopping? Go for it. We flew to Naples as our last strawberry trial stop, a … More Around Naples
Our travel is really divided up into three main chunks– six weeks based on Spain, working with strawberry field trials and evaluations, three and a half months in Bordeaux for genetics work, and a month-ish of travel in between. The first leg is over, and it’s amazing how quickly the time is flying. I’m taking … More Life Lessons from Spain
From the comfort of my living room back home, I envisioned us taking many day trips while we were in Spain. We would galavant all throughout southern Spain! We would see everything! We would all smile!Real life is more, well, real. I love adventuring, but I also love a slow morning at home and a … More Portugal and other Day Trips
Strawberry season here in Spain naturally coincides with Easter. This was great for us, because we are in Andalucía, where the traditions are most lavish and widely-celebrated. Semana Santa (Holy Week) is observed differently in each city in Spain. We were luck to be in Granada for the first part of the week. The celebrations … More Semana Santa in Spain
Wonder and Wander 