Magical Lapland | Bucket List Family Trip

Imagine it.  Brooklyn, sometime in the 1980s.  I was just a kid and happened to catch some tv segment about families visiting Finnish Lapland to meet the big guy in red in the "real" North Pole.  It looked magical then but our family did not go on vacations no less fancy international ones to play in the snow so I filed it away in the back reaches of my brain.  It wasn't until years later that I was bit by the travel bug that I realized this was a real thing that lots of people did.  (Mostly Europeans.  Lapland is not on the travel map of most Americans - likely due to the distance and general lack of marketing to Americans).  I have been waiting for my kids to be old enough to enjoy the experience and it was finally time.  Off we headed to Finnish Lapland.





There are many ways to visit Lapland but we opted for the easy way out - an organized tour.  Normally that isn't really our thing but this made the most sense because we wanted to get the most out of the short time we had there (we didn't want to the kids to miss more school than necessary).  We ended up going with a company called Canterbury Travel.

Our charter flight left from Gatwick outside of London and off we went flying North to the

Rovaniemi airport.  We then drove about 90 minutes to the town of Lusto. We arrived in the evening to a landscape of twinkling snow and settled into our one room log cabin which could not be more charming.



It had a blazing fireplace, a drying room and a sauna and we used all three as much as we could in the time we had.  The tour company arranges snow suits for everyone involved and they kept us very toasty warm. The only problem was getting them on and off 2 wriggly children 10x a day.  

There is very little daylight in Lapland which makes photography a challenge but it was beautiful day and night. In our 3 days there we rode in reindeer pulled sleighs, got pulled by husky dogs, played with Santa's elves, met St. Nick and Mrs. Claus, drank lots of hot berry juice, roasted smores, pulled the kids on sleds, made snow men and snow angels and just generally walked around in a winter wonderland.  It was a magical trip and I highly recommend it!




While I fully expected to enjoy it, I was surprised just how much I personally enjoyed the outdoor activities.  The reindeer farm was a highlight - learning about how the animals are raised and how the farmers care for them was fascinating.  Even without Santa's magic, I would gladly return there in a heartbeat to see and do more at a more relaxing pace.

Sadly we never got a view of the Northern Lights.  A good reason as any to return!

Lisbon With Kids

Earlier this year we took a short trip to Lisbon, Portugal and totally fell in love with the city. It's small yet full of life, charming in the most authentic way, has amazing food and drink and is just lovely all around.

We had been avoiding Lisbon because of the steep hills and narrow sidewalks - both which are not especially stroller friendly - until our youngest was old enough to take at least short walks without one. So that time had come and off we went.

Let me start by saying this city is such a visual feast.  There is something beautiful to look at everywhere you turn.  It's also highly walkable which is a nice bonus on a short trip when you don't really want to have to learn the local public transit system.

One of the best decisions we made on this trip was staying at an apartment hotel that had a kid's club.  We weren't sure just how it was going to go but it was so wonderful to be able to drop the kids off for a few hours and have a nice dinner date or even just a walk around.  I found this hotel, the Martinhal Chiado Suites via booking.com and it totally made our trip one of the most relaxing we've ever done since having kids.  Aside from a spacious apartment in the heart of the city, the hotel leaves a few basics for you when you arrive (milk, juice, biscuits, etc) and was super flexible and accommodating to our changing schedule. Highly recommend this place!



Moving on from where we stayed, we spent a lot of time walking the city and exploring all of the different neighborhoods both with our feet and our mouthes! Lisbon is a city for eating. The seafood alone! We ate at several great restaurants but the food tour we took (booked a bit randomly at the last minute via tripadvisor) was completely fabulous. If you are going to Lisbon book with Treasures of Lisboa and you can thank me later. The guide is the owner and we really enjoyed the food and the company. We didn't take the kids (thank you again kids' club) but we totally could have as it was family friendly. Some of the other food related highlights were the Time Out Market (about 5 minutes away from our hotel), Taberna da Rua das Flores (a block from the hotel) and A Cevicheria. Although I think I would be hard pressed to have a bad meal in Lisbon.






While we generally avoid the big tourist sites because I'm just not that kind of traveler, we took a short tram ride over to see the Belem Tower.  It is beautiful but the lines were insane so we admired from outside which is totally fine with me. Instead I tried my first e-scooter ride and let's just say I'm lucky to make it out alive.  I'll stick with my feet for the near future.



Not quite as popular with tourists but closer to the city center and fascinating just the same was the Carmo Convent - an interesting architectural site with some interesting artifacts inside.  I took Aggie with me while Oscar napped and it was the perfect bite sized attraction for a 6 year old.





I'm sure it's pretty obvious by now we enjoyed our trip.  I don't have much more I could say that photos don't do a better job of conveying so here are some favorite snaps from our few days in Lisbon.














Much too soon it was time to pack up and go back home. But Lisbon stole a place in my heart and I can't wait to return.  Hope you find this recap helpful in your own planning.  If you have any questions or comments please add them to the post - I'd love to hear from you!

Hong Kong with 2 Kids

Well we made it!  Half way around the world and back wasn't so bad.  The kids slept through most of the flight.  The worst was the jet lag.  Recovering from that is NO JOKE.  But we are back on a schedule now and life has returned to normal so time for a trip recap.



We planned for the jetlag so didn't overload our schedules.  We have been to Hong Kong (pre-kids) before so we knew we would just take it easy and enjoy the city as it came. We stayed at the Grand Hyatt in Wan Chai which had a full sized playground in the building.  We have traveled quite a bit but I can't recall ever having that particular amenity and we really loved it.  Our hotel was also quite close to the Star Ferry terminal.  What kid doesn't love a boat ride?



If you know how I travel, you know I'm a sucker for a good market.  Hong Kong is loaded with them so we visited lots.  The kids' favorite was the Goldfish Market.  Shop after shop selling fish and all other kinds of pets totally engaged them.  We had to pull them out of one shop to see the exact same offering in another.  It's all quite small and crowded but it was a highlight all the same.




We did visit some of the great wet markets around the city as well.  Oscar was a little bit too young to really appreciate those but Aggie really got into it whether it was watching the live fish flop around or sampling some of the fruit, she took it all in.




We were fortunate to find a great recommended baby-sitter for a few evenings as well so the Mr. and I got to have a few hours to ourselves to experience the city while the kids slept. We had some great grown up dinners at Mott32 and Vea but my personal favorite was visiting the Tai Pan Reflexology Parlor where we got foot massages in a beautifully decorated opium den themed shop. It was a little slice of restful heaven after long flights and tired feet.



Of course no trip to Asia is complete for us without a stop at the Din Tai Fung chain which just happen to serve the most delish xiao long bao.  We introduced our kids to the yummy soup dumplings on this trip. Sadly they didn't love them as much as we do but I did get a resounding "not so bad" out of Aggie which is about as good as it gets these days. Six going on sixteen sometimes.



After several days of exploring the jam packed streets of the city it was time to take the kids for a bit of fun at Ocean Park.  It's a mash up of an amusement park and aquarium and zoo in one.  The place is huge and a bit random but the kids loved it.



On our final full day in Hong Kong we made our way to Disneyworld. Despite the castle being under construction and Mystic Manor (which some say is the best ride in all the parks) being closed, we had a perfect day. The park is small enough that you don't feel overwhelmed yet there is more than enough to keep you busy HK Disney had virtually no crowds, no advance planning was required and the entire place was very well managed. (A stark contrast to how I felt about Disney Paris). One our favorite rides was the Jungle Cruise but I really can't recommend this park highly enough with small children.



All in all a great trip. We were so lucky to experience this city as a family together. It truly has something for everyone.


Hope you find these trip recaps useful!  If you have any questions, feel free to ask - I'm always happy to talk vacation.