Sarah Gerdes's Blog, page 12

The Beauty of Bruges

All the while we were in Belgium, my mother was sending me texts.

“Did you see Bruges yet? When are you going?”

“Soon!” I’d reply, having no clue when we were actually going to make it. When we finally went, Mom rapped philosophic about the beauty of the town. “The movie was to die for. Did you see the movie?”

New meets old walking down a main street

The movie she was referring to was In Bruges, a chase ‘em, shoot-em up flick that many of the locals blessed and cursed when we raised the subject. They loved it for the notoriety it created amongst people like my mother while simultaneously hating the crowds it created (at this point, they’d pause, stair at me and my family, and change the subject).

The stormy day was right out of In Bruges (without the hot actors).

If you haven’t seen the movie or ventured in to this part of the country, boy, go see it. We did it on a lark, as is our usual traveling selves and had wonderful food in the rain (it was pouring so hard when we went to eat the water was flowing off the umbrellas like a waterfall), and when the water stopped, took great pictures before heading to Lille, France.

What to know

If you are driving, don’t be afraid to get in close and park. We found plenty of free parking just as we entered the town. Hurray!

Parking Karma was amazing in Bruges (of course the rain might have helped)

The waterways are similar to Amsterdam, without the muck of the Red Light District and accompanying distractions. The food, shopping and atmosphere is quaint (e.g. safe) and welcoming. Every time I post a picture or two on Instagram of Bruges (see boat on water pic) some smarty-pants will say I have it wrong, it’s Amsterdam. Nope. Take a look at the actual sign, which says “Bruges by boat.” Apparently, Mr. Smarty Pants has the wrong country, let alone town.

Walking through the town, I got a shot off without being photo bombed

When you read up on the town, one of the most often quotes is that the entire town resembles a one, big, medieval castle. That’s spot on. It’s pretty much impossible to find a street that isn’t unique and picture-taking perfect. We traipsed around randomly, stopping about every fifty feet so I could take a picture of a red doorway, a red, brick arched doorway with vines hanging about or a boat floating on the water.

One just can’t get this in the States

Bruges by boat

No, we didn’t take a boat tour, because between our feet then the car when the rain came down too hard, we drove around and stopped on the mostly-empty streets whenever we wanted, completely illegally I might. The rain kept the tourists (and apparently police officers) at bay. Although in my (lame) defense, I’d yell “stop!” order the kids to jump out, smile and pile back in before the honking behind us began. Truth be told, no one honked. They probably rolled their eyes and waited, willing us American crazies to leave.

Smarty-pants take note: the sign on the left reads: Bruges, not Amsterdam. Gah

That said, we
thought the prices were seriously reasonable, and had the weather been better,
perhaps we would have gotten in the boat and toured the canals. As it was, two
hours of driving and eating was enough for my little crew.

Bruges
by Foot

I’ll admit with kids, when you’ve seen one colorful building and waterway between the streets, they start the blend. Ours were more interested in the food, but for adults, you see a lot of the top sites in a day or two.

The Procession of the Holy Blood 2019 is coming up on May 30, 2019, and commemorates the arrival of the Relic of the Holy Blood in Bruges. The biblical and historic evocation is well known as the religious procession which originated as a purely religious expression at the end of the thirteenth century. Lots of people will be dressed up in costume (kids and adults) with the procession taking place on land and water. It’s free if you want to stand along the route, but 12 pounds will get you a seated bench where you can enjoy the Procession in comfort.

Yet another walkway over a canal. Can you imagine living here?

If you are looking for a single day itinerary, without kids or even a partner/spouse whatever, Miss Adventure knocked it out with her insane schedule (see previous link). She does a much better job summarizing what you can see if you want. We didn’t even go to half of the places recommended, and we were just fine with that. (recall that with kids, one can only subject them to so many cathedrals and museums before this cry of parental abuse begins.

Like I said, I have a thing for colored doors

Where’d we go from Bruges? Jumped on the ramp and went to Lille, France for the singular purpose of purchasing clothes and Napoleans, but not in that order. My girls (and myself) care a LOT more about a great pastry than we do a pair of shoes.

Financial freedom: say it, do it, live it

Sometimes we can’t make the right decisions for ourselves, so it’s made for us

When I’ve seen people traipsing all over, in a trailer, boat or plane, I’ve sometimes thought: how do they afford that? Is it a one-time thing, a trip of a lifetime, or is a normal occurrence, like going to the grocery store? Have they gone in to debt to take the trip, or are their parent’s paying for it? More often then not, Rog and I have shaken our heads in wonder, unable to make sense of the contradiction we’d see about how people live their lives and the vacations they take. Perhaps you are wondering wow do we approach travel, and savings for that matter? Do we put it on a credit card, take lots of pics with smiling faces then spend the next five years paying off the credit card?

Well, our philosophy on discretionary spending and savings in general is probably one of the reasons Rog and I are still together, 21 years later. I’m going to share our philosophy with you for one purpose: help keep you worry free as we approach what will sure be another bust in the economy, because I wouldn’t wish our experience on anyone.

The backstory

In my twenties, I had a solid corporate career before starting my own business. I bought clothes, watches, took trips and when I met Roger, faced the look of shock and horror when I revealed my savings account had basically nothing in it after a decades’ worth of effort.

“No home?” he asked in disbelief. Nope. “Cars paid for?” Nah.
I lease, because it’s a tax write-off. “Stock?” Sure, I proudly replied. Lots
of that. “Not much good when the market crashes,” he grumbled.

His own background was the polar opposite. A poor upbringing. First person in his family to attend college, paying for it as he went along. Purchased his first home by working two jobs while doing his graduate work. No vacations, no new cars, because “why lose all that value the moment you drive off the lot?” he asked rhetorically.

When our two, type A selves merged in our own formal union, we did the wise thing: we invested in a fixer-upper, which is where we put our money and time. We constantly traveled domestic and international for work, and the last thing we wanted to do was get on a plane at the end of the week.

After a couple of years, I had worked on Rog to relax the stringent financial guidelines he’d always adhered to. We leased the cars and took four-day vacations every six weeks to Mexico. When it came time to remodel, instead of selling stock, we took out a substantial second mortgage.

“Use the banks money, not yours,” advised our accountant. Sure! That sounded like a great idea. We left our stock our where it was, treating it as both savings and retirement plan. And diversifying? Nope, not for us.

“Why would we invest in (low-risk) bonds when we will make a
much higher return in the stock market?” Rog asked me. I agreed. This was logical
and consistent with those around us. We all worked all the high technology sector,
our profile or risk taking perfect for the volatility of the stock market.

Times were good. We might as well, right? Wanting to get the highest return, we maintained only a couple thousand in our checking account, enough to pay household bills. Charge it, was our motto. At least we paid the bills off every month, and each week, cashed out enough stock to pay the weekly bills from the contractor on our home remodel.

Financial hardship is the great equalizer

We were on vacation in Mexico, when I suggested to Rog we should diversify, cash out a chunk of stock and just put it in the bank. I had a feeling that was causing me unease, and I just couldn’t shake it. It will gife us peace of mind, I argued.

“What do we need that for?” he asked in response, shaking his head. We were a part of the 80’s generation who had benefited from the economic good times, and then the secondary uplift from the technology super nova of the 90s. My conviction wavered and I let it drop. That next weekend, the stock market burst.

At first, he didn’t believe it was more than a hiccup, so he
didn’t sell. At the very end, realizing that we truly would be left with nothing,
did he execute some lightening fast trades. It was just enough to cover half of
the remaining work on our home.

We sat, stunned in disbelief. Our collective efforts of the last decade was gone, and it had happened in 48 hours.

A change of attitude and of life

We had no savings. We had no stock, ergo, no retirement. We had not one, but two mortgages on our home. We had three cars, all leased. We were screwed. Fighting against our regret, we were thankful that we were both still employed, but even that didn’t last long. Two months later, Rog left the very company he started. He retained his stock options, but what good was they worth at the time? Less than toilet paper, because at least those had a use and we could get our hands on them. And those credit cards we’d used to charge the latest set of travel? Sky high, because it was mid-month. We had yet to pay the recent bill.

So, there we were, starting over again. We lost some hair, quite a bit of our sex life and our relationship was in trouble as we faced self-hateration and recrimination for each not being the wise one as we faced complete financial devastation for the first time in our eight-year marriage.

Our debt strategy for crawling out of the pit of financial despair

After we stopped fighting and decided that yes, we still wanted to be together and yes, it would be worse to split up and face the mountain of debt individual than together, pragmatism and a little love united. We vowed that we would never, EVER, be in that financial situation again. On a scratch piece of paper at the kitchen counter, here’s what we decided.

Rule 1: pay cash

Hearkening back to his previous existence, we agreed that if we needed anything, even a dishwasher, we wouldn’t purchase it on credit, in-house or card, but cash. The first test came when our (old) dryer failed. My pleading turned into tears but he was unbending. We had made a deal, so I sucked it up and went without a dryer for a few weeks until we had the money for a new one.

The second and harder test was six months later when the lease on my car expired. We had six grand by that time. The best car we could afford was a 10 year-old black, diesel long-bed pick up truck. Do you have any idea how hard it is to park a long bed pick up in the middle of town? Furthermore, in a progressive town outside Seattle, I would literally get yelled at for driving a “dirty diesel” when I should have spent the $80K on an electronic car. I bit my lip and ignored whoever was yelling at me.

Rule 2: No travel and no exceptions

For almost four years, we missed every holiday, birthday, wedding and party for every and all family members. We declined any invitation that was outside a fifty-mile radius of our home. That meant visiting the coast of Seattle was out. So was skiing; our first passion.

As you can imagine, we didn’t win any friends during this time, and mostly lost the ones we had. We were too prideful to tell anyone what had happened to us, even our family members, some of who thought the worst of us. Only much later did we realize that perhaps they were going through the same thing.

Rule 3: Set pride aside and take extra jobs

Since our first priority was our children, and child care was expensive, I’d immediately gotten on the phone with former clients who wouldn’t mind me moonlighting for a discount. With a toddler and baby at my breast (e.g. still nursing) I ended up taking black-box projects I could complete in between my feeding schedule. All hours, all days, whatever it took, I did it. Little by little, our empty account started to fill up.

Rule 4: No clothes, no eating out, no discretionary items

As you can imagine, I felt I’d been confined to the hell of wealthy poverty. It was the only phrase I could come up with to describe our situation. We had the image of wealth (cars, home, clothes) but were so laden with debt we were in complete and utter poverty, barely able to pay the bil.

Writer’s pause. I recognize that at this point, you’re saying: awesome! She clearly needed that, and you know what? I totally agree. We had gone against every principle of provident living: have savings (6-12 months), a week or more of food storage “just in case of a job loss situation,” as Mom always counseled. Pay cash for home and other essentials (time immemorial). Every last good piece of wisdom cast aside. As Thomas S. Monson once said, “When the time to prepare comes, it is already too late.”

We got to learn that first hand.

When you least expect it, or no longer need it….

Like the rest of the country, the first four or five years after the crash were the hardest. Rog bounced back after a couple of years, and my consulting took off. We obsessed on being debt free. By 2013, we had paid off everything including one of the two mortgages. Still, we maintained our policy: no new cars, new vacations and no discretionary items. In fact, we had become somewhat tiresome to everyone around us because their image of us was really boring. The singular time I suggested to Roger we “reward ourselves” for saving and being so prudent, he gave me a rather disappointed look.

“We don’t reward our stupidity,” he told me.

Going on year seven, we continued paying down the mortgage, and had been militant about saving. Each week, each month, a little more. The long-bed truck got traded up for a…wait for it…3 year old used diesel short bed truck. When people asked why we didn’t purchase an new car, I’d repeat a line born of my own experiences. “I spent my twenties getting in in debt, my thirties getting out of debt and my forties paying cash.”

The vacations did start, and they were done first in a trailer we had purchased on a good deal from Costco. After being stuck in our debt-laden prison for years, the trailer felt like a luxury. We were also able to finish the addition that had been halted years before, adding on the deck that had been little more than protruding nails and a pit where the dining room was supposed to be. Not that I was complaining. At least during this time we didn’t miss a funeral, so it could have been a lot worse.

Then all of sudden, the company Rog had formed years before sold. Suddenly, all our financial worries were gone for good. So what did we do? Absolutely nothing. So traumatized were we from the years-prior experience, and so worried we might fall again into the trappings of our previous life, we were scared to do a buy a car or go on a vacation. Well, we did do one thing: we paid off our remaining mortgage. Financial freedom had happened, after a decade of putting our noses down and keeping them there.

It’s not downsizing, it’s rightsizing

Instead, we went the opposite direction. We decided we could do more with less–even though we had more than we’d ever had. We began making plans to move from the city to somewhere more rural, like Idaho. We decided to get rid of certain assets we had held on to because the overhead of keeping them up no longer fit our personal financial strategy. We told ourselves if we forced ourselves to have smaller closets and storage, we’d not be inclined to fill up the extra room with more “stuff.” (And just think, this was years before Maria Kondo).

So it was, and is, that we chose Idaho, because the home we found, the nearest town and all that surrounds it embodies what we now knew we had to teach our girls. You can’t talk about living small-scale unless you do it. It’s hard to justify being prudent with three Christmas trees in your garage, sitting beside thirteen pumpkins and boxes of lights. Without storage space, “the stuff,” goes to Goodwill, and for us, the noise, the clutter and the overhead went with it.

Finally….yes, finally, we felt comfortable traveling again, and in 2014, that’s what we started to do. We made a family decision that instead of things, we were going to invest in experiences, so we have taken votes on where to go and let our map be our guide. We had long since set out our financial plan, comprised of:

a) necessities (food budget)
b) required items (heat),
c) gas for the cars,
d) required clothing budget,
e) taxes and the like. We put in a “discretionary” line item which included travel, and if that got eaten up by an unexpected cost like a broken pipe or car issue, the travel was wiped out. We never increased the budget. No. Matter. What. Thus, the years we have traveled overseas, it was within our budget. Other years, we made different decisions for the family, but the budget amount never changed. This has allowed to sleep more and worry less.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, we still have the white diesel truck. As I told Rog, “why would we want to buy a new one and lose half the value the minute we drive off the lot?”

I guess I have learned something after all.

A daughter, a mystery illness and baldness

Hair loss affects everyone

When my daughter Porsche was six, she became accustomed to strangers walking up and rubbing her head, muttering in a language she couldn’t understand. Two years later, parents and children would see her and cross the street in order to avoid coming in contact with her. Back then, I would have given anything for information, solutions and ultimately hope—which is what I intend to give to you.

In this, the first of a three-part series relating to the last seven years, I’ll go through the causes, what we tried and what finally worked. The last posting will be about a few of the pitfalls we encountered along the way.

Part 1: the beginning

When we visited Hawaii in December, four months after the Fukashima nuclear reactor melt-down, we thought nothing of being in the water. For two weeks, Porsche lived in the bay, at least four to six hours a day, every day. I was in the water the second most, but was tending my two year-old quite a bit, so my time was limited.

The year before it all started, showing our hair.

Three months later, bald spots started appearing on Porsche’s head, first a dime, here and there, then a quarter size. By June her head looked like it was diseased. What started as a “simple case of hair loss, or alopecia,” as is commonly referred to in dermatology circles, gradually evolved in a medical mystery.  much more than that.

The hair started to go. Comb-overs, bangs and massive swaths.



The journey begins

Mom has always told me she can see the sadness in my eyes.

“Don’t deny it,” she’d say to me. “It can’t be disguised.”

When Porsche’s hair loss began, I started removing myself
from pictures of my travels. That’s why you are seeing many of my posts over
the last number years—up until this year, that I’m simply not in the pictures.
(and here you thought I was being modest or shy all this time).

About nine months after the hair loss began, we began doubting the initial diagnosis by the (3) dermatologists. They’d promised rapid replenishment of hair, prescribed topic steroids and regular injections of steroids into the scalp. Our little six year-old had received her first set of injections in one bald spot, then another, the count growing from ten, then twenty, to a total of 59 shots in the first appointment. As the bald spots increased, do did the number of needles in her head. After two months, she was receiving over three hundred shots in her head, without numbing cream (it didn’t work) or numbing injections.

All the hair had gone underneath–the top layer was all that is covering the rest of her scalp.



Judgement and rejection

During this time, the suffering was as emotional and mental
as it was physical. Mothers of Porsche’s friends requested we not attend
playdates or activities where our children would interact. In truth, Porsche
looked like a victim suffering from a transferable disease, and the
kinder-hearted would assume leukemia. To the fearful and uniformed, even in a
city like Seattle, she was treated as though she had Ebola. We would literally
have parents see us, and walk across the other side of the road.

For those who did have the courage to ask, we responded honestly. “We don’t know what’s wrong, nor do the doctors,” I’d admit. That led to more ostracization by the parents concerned enough ask our child be placed in a separate classroom.

In the end, we could not longer hide and cover up the hair loss.

Over time, the questions changed, but they still felt like
punches on an open wound.

“Your daughter used to be the tallest in the class. Has she stopped growing?” What I wanted to say was that the steroids we were using to keep my daughter’s hair follicles open were killing her hormones, and she was likely going to become sterile as a consequence, but thanks for asking. Instead, I’d used the well-honed technique of redirecting the topic of conversation to how much the accomplishments of their own child.

Hair follicles and injections

The months passed and the injections increased, now reaching 500 every six weeks, about the time it took the bruising the small scabs to heal then come off. Side note: injections in children, done by needle, are done without numbing cream or numbing injections. It’s not legal in some states, and in others, we learned the hard way that to numb the head requires injections themselves, then waiting, then another round of needles. We learned the hard way that the numbing agent didn’t always work, because the amount allowed to young children is so small. In effect, this caused Porsche more pain, because the number of shots effectively doubled. It took only several sessions for Porsche to announce that she would take all the shots straight, no numbing at all. Tough girl.

Why the injections?

We were referred to Dr. Robert Nebalski, one of the premier
hair-loss specialists in the northwest, who had been working with peers in
Italy and around the world on the causes and solutions to hair loss. He told us
that no, he had no idea why Porsche was losing her hair, but until we found the
cause, and identified a cure, we had to do one thing: keep the follicles open.
However, of two things, he was convinced. The first, was that this was not
“normal hair loss, or alopecia.” Second, the injections were a must.

“You need to keep the injections to keep the hair follicles
open so when we do find a solution, the hair can grow through.”

Jump forward two years. Porsche was eight, and the last of
her hair was falling out. Over the months, I’d been cutting her thick hair to
make it appear thicker, and has become creative with comb-overs, braids and
using headbands to cover the spots. But on Christmas Day, as I brushed her
hair, an enormous swath just stuck to the brush. I lost it, holding back my
tears until she’d left to sob. The day after Christmas, it was my husband who
took Porsche to visit a wig store specializing in children stricken by cancer.
We purchased two wigs, one real and one handmade using real hair. The latter he
purchased that day, and the second, we had made (more on that in a separate
post).

As we prepared her for the coming New Year, and returning to
school with a wig, we encountered the questions of “Why is this happening to
me?” or “Why am I going through this?” Of course, these are questions we all
ask when hard times befall us, and we don’t always have answers. The one
grounding messaging I stood upon was this: we all go through things that make
us stronger, turn us towards seek answers and then help others if we can. I
told her that her experiences would make her capable of handling whatever life
would throw at her, and someday, she’d be able to help others.

Still, we had to deal with reality, and confront prejudices
immediately. We encouraged her to be forthright about her hair, acknowledging
it’s a wig, she has no hair, and that we are working on figuring out what’s
wrong with her body.

That was what she did, and you know what? It worked wonders.
Porsche told her friends and teachers, wasn’t ashamed that she had no hair, and
after her wig came off in a game of tag on the playground, she suggested to the
teachers (and boys) that they be careful not to pull on her wig.

For the time being, we were still searching for answers, had ordered a hair made from real hair, and waited.

Wigs 101

Synthetic wigs are a fraction of the cost of real hair, as
in, $500 vs $4,000. The primary difference includes the ability to wash, curl
and style a wig made from natural hair, versus one from synthetic. That said,
the synthetic wigs are so well made, one had to get really close to tell it
wasn’t natural hair, and it kept its shape perfectly. The hairstylist at the
wig shop demonstrated how to use the under cap (made of nylon) and place the
wig on from properly. In order to keep the form of the wig, purchasing and
using a styrophome head is necessary. Every so often, it’s required to trim a
few of the hairs that would stick up or out from the synthetic wig, and it
couldn’t get wet or dirty.

In contrast, a natural wig is treated like regular hair, because that’s what it is. We had the hair custom dyed to match Porsche’s previous color, so it matched her skin tones. When it arrived, we also had it cut in a shape ideal for her face, while long enough to style.

Can you tell which one is the real hair or the synthetic one?

A note-Porsche’s head continued to grow, and we knew that
the wig had a lifecycle of about three years. When they no longer fit, it was
my intention to donate the wigs to cancer victims. Imagine my disappointment
when I contacted the local Children’s Hospital and was told they couldn’t
accept the donations! Apparently, it would be a big, political mess to
determine which children received the wigs, and they couldn’t possibly select
two out of many. Not to be deterred, I found a seven year old girl who had
experienced two different bouts of cancer and had had been profiled in the
newspaper. The article mentioned her father, I googled him and tracked him down
at a local car dealership. He took my cold call, (thinking I wanted a used car)
and started crying when I told him I had two wigs for him. It was two weeks
before Christmas, and he’d told me all his daughter had been praying for was a
wig for her hair.

We both cried together.

Later that week, our families met. They’d lost everything as
they mortgaged away their life to pay for their daughters’ treatment. In the
living room of a friend’s home, we showed his daughter how to wear and take
care of the wigs. Her smile was so bright and joy so full, we were without
words. While we were no closer to discovering the source of our daughter’s
situation, we gave thanks we had her in our lives, and that she was otherwise
healthy and happy. It was a great start to what we were sure was going to be a
better year.





o

Perfectly Prague

For solo-travelers, couples in a blissful state of romance or families looking for affordable fun, Prague is truly perfect

Do you like castles and paddling in your own boat on the river? What about cheap food and luxury clothes for 10% of regular cost? Are you a fan of the Triple XXX movie with Vin Diesel? What about seeing the remains of Lucy, the 4M yr old artifact, or an Andy Warhol painting in person? I answered yes to all of the above after I’d been there, but I’ll be the first to admit that when we book Prague as one of our home bases for a month-long trip, I picked it mostly out of convenience. Throw stones if you will, but my glass house is now bullet proof, because we keep going back, and in a mere six weeks, will be there once again.

This is the first of a multi-part series on the city and the surrounding areas, because it’s perfect for solo-travelers, couples in a blissful state of romance or families looking for affordable good times.

Book your stay and get ready to walk

Prague is one of the most popular destinations in Europe;
and for good reason. Old town is walking distance to some of the most famed
sites in the country; The Prague Castle, the Astronomical
Clock, the old
town main square and museums. The town attracts the visitors by the
thousands because compared to so many other countries because it’s so unique
and blissfully inexpensive. In a single day, you can hit the major hot spots in
town, take your selfie and go. Here’s what you can do:

Park in Old Town, (or take the metro), and walk to St. Charles Bridge. The best times or morning or early afternoon, because during the summer, when the sun goes down, it’s a wall-to-wall visitor’s and pretty tough to take a picture. That said, in June, the crowds are quite sparse, so if you have the chance, go between now and mid-July and it’s not so bad.

This is a backward view when you are on the famed St. Charles Bridge. Old Town is in the distance, the tightly stacked buildings narrowing the crowds walking to the bridge.

Walk up one side of the river (river name) cross anyone of the many bridges and walk down the other side. Doing so gives you lots of pictures of both sides of the waterfront.

Paddle boats afford great photo opps that are impossible unless you have a long lense

Stop and rent a paddle boat on the Vltava River. This sounds cheesy, but it’s great fun. You paddle and pause to take a photo of the waterfront or colorful buildings, then stop at any of the sidewalk eateries for a long sausage and drink. Do you need to reserve in advance? Absolutely NOT. The site I referenced shows a great picture of the main rental area on Zofin Island, right across from the National Theatre. You can’t miss it. During our time, we rented a boat three times, and two out of the three, we just walked up, chose the type of boat we wanted and hopped right in. The single instance we needed to wait, it was sunset on a very hot day, and stood for 30 minutes until a boat became available. The time is limited (you can choose 30 min, an hour or more), but it’s long enough to go all the way up and one side of the river and down the other. FYI- barriers prevent you from going too far in either way.

If you’re going to be eccentric, let your choice of paddle boats say it all for you.

Don’t be shy—jump in the gerbil balls, releasing your inner child. I wasn’t going to get into a rubber ball, floating on the river while it was tethered to the side until after I saw my own kids. I didn’t notice or care about the heat wave of 100+ temperatures because I was racing along the bottom, trying to bump into my kids!

Put the pride aside and zip yourself into a gerbil ball. It’s hilariously terrifying.

Walk up to the Prague Castle. It’s going to take about 20-25 minutes from the opposite side of the river, but it’s not difficult; flat, then the rise at the end as you walk up the incline. To our slight disgust, the first thing you see at the top is a portable Starbuck’s, which we thought was the tragic commercialization of a castle, but alas. What can you do? There’s a McDonald’s in plain view of the Duomo Cathedral in Milan, so we just ignored it and moved on.

A view from the Prague Castle

During two visits, filmmakers were making major motion pictures (no, Vin wasn’t in site) but the handsome polize were. They laughed at the blond American asking in terrible Czech if they’d mind posing, but were more than happy to do so.

Cajoling the security squad from the movie to take a snap

After you tour the outside and surrounding areas, you’ll probably be in it about 5-6 hours. Now’s the time to let the sun go down, pick a spot within the main square of Old Town and eat a casual meal The reason? Because the best pictures of the clock are taken during the evening. Of course, you’re not the only person who knows this, so be prepared for a lots of people. Tours are interesting, and we did one, but I don’t think it’s required. Just standing in the square, watching the performers and planning where you’re going to eat your next meal.

When you take a cab, these are the images you miss…looking over the edge of a bridge to the water as you walk up (or down) to Prague Castle.

Alternatively, if you’re not tired, and ready to do a bit more walking, then head in the opposite direction, away from the Castle. Across the bridge, through the shopping areas of Old Town, and up the long boulevard that leads to what is known as Wenceslas Square. Believe it or not, we found parking spots right on the main street-so it’s possible! Treat it just like Los Angeles parking and you’ll be completely fine!

Mini-Europe Park in Belgium

Absolute cool for the whole family>> kids-grandparents

In my piece on the Antomium, I referenced the Mini-Europe Park and promised to delve into magical, miniature wonderland. The creators must have concluded that most humans can’t possibly visit every major landmark in the European countries, so they decided to build it for all to see. The path isn’t restrictive, which means you can go up and around to the country of your choice, as opposed to being required to go in one direction. Even as an adult, I seriously enjoyed this, because let’s face it, even with as much as I travel, there are places that I haven’t been—or may not ever get to see in person.

350 buildings from 80 countries are represented, so keep your phone handy, because you my look at a replica and wonder “Huh, why is this here?” After you realize the importance of the replica, take a pic and see how many friends you can fool back home. I got away with a three on Instagram before some of my Euro friends busted me!

Not just replicas

The park also has live action models, like trains, working mills, cable cars and an erupting Mount Vesuvius. When I think of a family friendly place to visit, this is it. As an adult, I loved learning the history of the building, listening to my girls tell what they knew (or didn’t) and sparing with Roger over the details (as us type-A’s are apt to do).

Best time to visit, prices and more

I’d definitely recommend the morning or a cloudy day. There’s little/no shade as you are walking around. If you’re a lightweight (like me) you may seriously wait for the afternoon/evening, or bring a water-spray bottle as we had. Fortunately, on the day we visited, it became overcast by the time we’d finished up at the Antomium, and at the Mini-Euro Park it sprinkled, which was a nice break from the heat of July.

Prices: you have lots of ticket options. The Park only, the Park+Antomium or Park+Planetarium or all three combined.

Don’t scrimp on buying the catalog. We still have ours from the trip and its dog-tagged on the corners where me made notes. It’s been a constant reference.

Lots of exhibits are active–such as the windmills. They turn, water moves, lights go on.

Best parks for Trailering

Today the topic was to be Bruges, Belgium, but I can’t do it. I have camping on my mind, and specifically, trailering. In America, “trailering” has been converted into a verb, and now is the time to book before all the good spots are gone. This is a short compilation of our top stops we go to time and again, and you need to book now because they are worth it. PS- if the spots below are booked on your dates, make sure you check around midnight because cancellations take effect when the clock turns over. We have skated in several days before thx to cancellations. In no particular order, our favorites are:

Cape Disappointment State Park, (south of Oceanside, Longview, Seaside) Washington

The reason it’s so named is because of all the shipwrecks
that occurred off the coast. This unique location offers Yurts
that can be rented (rounded, tent like structures but are permanent),
beachside slots for all sizes of RV’s and the inner “suburbs” for more trailers
which are walking distance to the coast. Like most state parks, it offers
showers among the amenities, and lots and lots of biking trails. We go annually
for clamming—a task so easy even our then-four-year-old could do it. Beware,
the top temperature is high sixties unless you go in August, and the clamming
isn’t so great at that time, but the weather is better. Less rain, more sun.

This is the site to make reservations for ALL Washington State public parks.

This is rush hour at Cape Disappointment. Strangely, some of the warmest days are in June



RimRock Lake Resort, Naches, Washington

Located on the opposite side of Washington (locally known as the Eastern side of Washington), this lake is large, rather remote while at the same time easily accessible. We have been going nine years in a row now, booking our spot at the RimRock Lake Resort a full year in advance. At this particular resort, the property has a pinnacle setting, wherein it’s located on two jutties. One has a 280-degree view of the lake, wherein trailers can be positioned all around the point. The resort also features a peninsula that only allows for a handful of trailers. You walk out of your trailer, and can jump off the rocks into the clear, cold lake below. We have rented three spots, one at the very end, and either one beside us for friends (or just for the privacy). The Resort has a small shop and tackle, and a restaurant but the hours are limited. We just usually drive down to Yakama, which is about 45 min east of the lake. Trails with soft dirt circumference the resort, leading down to a swimming area that’s naturally protected from the rest of the lake. The dock is a short swim, and thankfully, the bottom of the lake in this area is both rock and hard sand, not soft and gooey, which is a plus. The facilities include an indoor showering area which is known for the incredible water pressure and length of hot water (most showers are on a timer and go cold after a few minutes to force one out. Lastly, the Resort also has its own boat launch, and requirement for lakeside!

My friends served as models for these shots:) I chose both of these because they show how close the trailer is parked to the edge of the peninsula at RimRock Lake Resort. Walk out a few feet and jump off into the cold water. It’s glorious.

If RimRock isn’t available, a number of small, lake side resorts exist, some with cabins and other with the option for trailers, but I can’t recommend one in particular, as we’ve always stayed at RimRock Resort.

Lincoln Rock State Park, Wenatchee, Washington

If lakes or the ocean isn’t your thing, try a river. Our local favorite is the Columbia River, staying at the State Park. It’s always hot (think 90-100 degrees July-September), the river very cold and the park itself is laid out really well. For the premier spots, try for “the bluff.” This is limited to trailers and the massive diesel pushers. If you score a sport on the ride of the plateau the spots offer unobstructed views of the dam, river and valley below. You can take your dog for walks down the short hill, to the other areas of the park, which are segregated into tent-only areas, RV trailer areas and the like. For non-trailering folks, the loudest areas area always the tent-only locations. The reason should be obvious—they aren’t inside being boisterous, it’s right out there! The park has a boat launch and shore line where you can ride your jet ski up and park beachside.  

When your pitbull thinks she’s a lapdog, but conveniently keeps you warm as the campfire gets going.

If this Park is sold out, Wenatchee Confluence State Park is our second favorite. The downside is that the layout, which makes it seem far more crowded, and it’s not as easily accessible. This also has a marina and a rocky beach area but easy enough for jetskiiers to ride up to the short.

While many lakes have banned stand-ups, most of the State Parks have not, nor have the rivers. Hurray!



Mt. Rushmore KOA at Palmer Gulch Resort in South Dakota

This is the mother-of-all trailering parks, and the reason is
fascinating—it’s the second oldest KOA in the country, and it’s located on the
spot of a former golf course that went bust. From the glorious entrance and
center (which is well-managed by through-lanes when you arrive), to the portioned
areas.

As my husband says, “This is a camping Disneyland.” From the miniature golf course, outdoor theatre, three pools (at last count) horses back riding, rental bikes and an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast every morning for $4.00. One can even rent a guest house, which were a part of the golf course and were included in the sale. Some of the bigger homes are 5-6 bedrooms overlooking the entire valley. Quite lovely!

It’s right around the corner from Mt. Rushmore, no more than 15 minutes. We went mid-June, when the reservations were open (and we booked about this time, early May), and were pleasantly surprised to find the lines at Mt. Rushmore were non-existent. We went on a Friday morning, found front-row underground parking and had a great two hours. More on Mt. Rushmore in another blog, but for a visitor wanting the premier location to stay, this is it.

Medicine Lake, California

This region is prominently featured in Chambers: The Spirit Warrior, which is book two in the series. As I mention in the back of the book, it’s because I grew up spending every summer here as a child with my family. The lake is a long-dormant volcano, and the places visited by the characters are real: Glass Mountain, the undergound catacomb tunnels, which can be explored for miles, as well as Captain Jack National Monument.

Dozens of other wonderful destinations exist within the
State Parks, to say nothing of private resorts, but time is short and I had to
pick my favorites.

Tip: for booking
on-line, each state has its own state park website. This is the one for the State of Washington. The reservations for
booking is here.

Book away, and we might see you there!

Feature image: this was taken at Cape Disappointment. The ecology is so amazing- from the coastal waters to this almost rainforest-like area. the Yurts are located within these spooky woods–beautiful and sheltered from the blowing wind.

From renters to homeowners: transferring your bees

Once you have your new set of bees (either purchased on line, or better yet, from a local beekeeper), it’s time to transfer the renters from their temporary home to the permanent one. To see the entire 3.5 min video (condensing 30 min) click here.

Getting your money back: one reason to transfer

Why not leave them in the one provided by the bee keeper you ask? It might surprise you to know that most bee keepers put about $50 into their “temp bee homes,” and this is included in purchase price. So, if you don’t car about the money, it’s a non-issue, but most bee keepers want the hive back. So once transferred, you go back for your $50. Second to this is a consistent look and function. Specifically, Roger reduced the size of the front. This means the guardian bees have a smaller opening to protect from the wasps, who want to raid the hive for honey (a common issue).

Step one- don the right underclothing

I’m not into getting stung, so I wear a bee suit, and no, I don’t go commando. I wear my lightweight, Athleta gear, which is breathable, wicks, and above all, it’s made from 85% recyclable material. I could go on about doing my part for the environment, but I’d lose you at “the,” so I’ll leave it at this: I’m not going to work hard to live sustainably if I then turn around and don’t try my best to do the same with my clothes. The long sleeve, zip up top I’m wearing in high teal is this one. The pants aren’t sold on-line but you can go to your local Athleta store- the closest to me is Spokane, and your items can be ordered by phone, same price.

Step two-Zip the suit

You’d not believe how many friends (fellow bee-hivers) don’t zip all the way, missing that last, little spot on the back of your neck! Can you imagine how awful it would be to have a really pissed off bee inside your suit? It’s like that old Star Trek film where Sulu gets the worm put in his ear by Kahn. Gerrr—rose.

Step three- smoke the bees

The first year, I went smokeless. I rationalized that it would be akin to giving my bees drugs. (I was told that the bees go slightly dizzy and that just felt wrong). When the bees swarmed me, it was like a bad, B-movie, a thousand hunter bees all attacking my head. It was a good thing I’m not claustrophobic and had faith in my outfit because I was a little on the edge when this swarm attacked my face. Fortunately, I made it through 100% unscathed, but learned a lesson. There’s a reason bee keepers use smoke. This time around, I purchased a smoker, and inside, stuffed a bunch of needles and lit it up.

As you can see in the video, I had less than a dozen bees even approach me. They were preoccupied.In the year since, I learned that the bees actually think the hive is on fire, they “swarm” inside the hive, flapping their wings like mad, trying to put out the fire. This, scientists hypothesize, makes them slightly dizzy. Whatever the case, the bees were perhaps twenty-percent as crazy as last year. I only had a few land on me then buzz away. Contrast this with last year, when I literally had a probably a hundred landing on my face mask. It was downright spooky.

Step four-transferring the bees

Already in the permanent hive (set on two level, cement blocks) was a 2-gallon container full of equal parts water and sugar which I had made. This gives the bees the boost they need if the area doesn’t have enough sources of pollen. (most pre-assembled hives come with the plastic, 2-gallon container. All you need to do is make the mixture). When transferring the trays, the trick is to gently separate the trays and locate the queen. Ours came with a green dot on her back, placed by the originating bee keeper. Once you can see she’s alive and healthy, down the tray goes into the middle of the stack.

Step five- adding the pollen pack

This is another way to boost production. In our area, spring was a little late in coming this year, and our area doesn’t have a ton of sources of pollen. That’s one reason to get the bees in the first place! This pack goes on the top of the trays, then the two upper lids are replaced.

Bee back in 30 days to check the honey

Last year, we had a good amount of honey after a month. Because we started so late in the summer, we didn’t harvest it. Instead, we left it for the winter. When we checked it at the end of fall, we had approximately forty pounds. That was only from a single hive. This year, we are doubling down, so I’ll be back in thirty with a report on the yield.

If you never thought you could own bees, take heart. Neither did I, thereby once again justifying my motto: if I can do you, you can do it too!

Feature image: a top picture of 20K bees happily hovering in their new abode.

Luxury for less: finding the best accomodations

Call me crazy, but I love a good deal, and for those who know me, a good deal doesn’t equate to going on the cheap. When I say I got a good deal, that’s code for “I got the luxury I want without paying triple.” In other words, I want the Four Seasons experience without the overhead, both financial and mental. (Can you hear the glee in my voice as I type this?)

This article is the first of what will be an on-going, detailed account of our accommodations. I do realize that by exposing our secrets, they will be secrets no more, but that’s my gift to you, the reader, traveler and explorer. If more people know travel can be both luxurious and economical, they’d do it more!

Our criteria: location, cost and convenience

When we travel for two weeks, we find a “home base” from which we can drive to lots of destinations. This allows us to get a major cost break for staying more than five days. We have found one pays a lot more when the stays are minimum, such as 2-3 days. Anything over five days can usually be negotiated down quite dramatically. 7-10 days is optimum.

For instance, during a four-week vacation, we picked
Belgium, and specifically, Tervuren, for eight days. From this location, we
visited many destinations in Brussels, the Netherlands and France. Using VRBO,
we found a 5-bedroom, four bath, two story home with an in-ground pool. It was
road off Park Tervuren, also known as the Empress’s Park. That meant it was
also a ten-minute walk from the quaint downtown. It had garage parking for two
spaces, and all the facilities one expects in a lovely home.

Luxury on Lake Cuomo: 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, private elevator and rooftop terrace. Every door opening to a private terrace

The price? $1,200 US. That’s right. All that for $150/night. A comparable location in Brussels central (twenty minutes away) first off, wasn’t even available. Homes don’t have pools, and aren’t for rent unless you are paying diplomat fees, which are about $10K/month, or $2,500 a week. Hotel rooms are about $400/night, and a family needs two. (Our family does anyway. Don’t know about you, but we believe in intimacy while on vaca).

To provide another example, in Vienna, we found a 2-story, 3-bedroom downtown apartment near the Palace. It was $1,400 for a week. In Prague, it was a 2-story, 3-bedroom modern apartment about three blocks from old town for $800. Both places were penthouses, with decks, by the way. Where did we find such deals? VRBO. Don’t worry, I’ll be posting more in-depth reviews with more pics on each in that country section.

Two-story penthouse in Prague, modern, private decks and triple security (inner/outer doors)



VRBO and Airbnb

Generally speaking, hate mail doesn’t resonate with my soul,
but on this topic, I’m going there, no matter what comes. In our experience
(underline, bold and with emphasis), VRBO is the only way to go for travel, for
the following reasons, each one vital to the safety and security of our family.

Vetting. VRBO seems to have a process for background checks/screening, credit/reputation, management of the property and overall, quality listings. Compare this to Airbnb, where anyone looking to sublet out a room, couch or whatever can just throw it up and list it. It’s sort of like buyer-be-ware. Quality. Along the lines of the above, you can rent chalets, mansions, apartments, flats and just about everything in between. The next time I want to entertain 40 of my best friends, I’ll snap up that lakeside mansion on Lake Cuomo for $10K for 2 weeks, but until then, I’m super happy I got the two-story, 3-bedroom penthouse with it’s private elevator on the waterfront of Bellagio (which sits on a peninsula Lake Cuomo) for $1,100 for eight days. The accommodations, whatever they may be, must be true to representation, or risk getting a bad review, which results in the owner (and associated location) being banned from VRBO. This accountability really is fantastic for us travelers.Management and payment. On VRBO, most of the locations have an on-line calendar for direct booking. Depending on the location, direct communication is required with the owner and/or manager of the site. A small deposit is usually required, but we have learned over the years that negotiation is always possible—e.g. small deposit, part cash when we arrive if all is in order, and then the remainder of the cash when we check out. This makes it a 1/3, 1/3, 1/3, reducing the risk of the site being awful and us getting stiffed.

On that note, we have read horror stories about travelers paying half and showing up to find that the place doesn’t exist, the reviews were fake and someone took their money and ran. These were 100% Airbnb, never VRBO. Still, one can never take chances. If the owner/manager doesn’t get back promptly, the dates show up then disappear on the calendar, or other anomalies, they are red flags. Nothing is worth the risk of standing on foreign land without a place to stay







View off the deck of the 5th story penthouse on Lake Zurich. Most buildings are modern with natural treatment for roofs. Down the cobblestone lane (beside this building) is the waterfront. The apartment, waterfront and surrounding yoga studio and eateries are all featured in the Danielle Grant trilogy.



More on Parking

It’s not always possible to get a place with its own parking spot, so in those cases, we use a local garage. In Vienna and Prague both, the $10 daily fee (for a week rate) was nominal. Day rates can be higher, but we never paid more than $20/day. If your location doesn’t offer parking, ask your contact about local parking availability so you come prepared.

Final notes on rentals

When locating a home base for our travels, we look for laundry facilities and air conditioning. For Americans, many are shocked to learn that the majority of non-hotel accommodations (and even quite a few hotels) around Europe lack air conditioning. One must look, double and triple check these things or else you will be in for a nasty surprise. It’s usually in the ‘details’ section of the listing, along with things not allowed—think dogs, and quite a few places don’t allow children. On that note, we’ve found that if we identify the ages of our children, and that they are girls, we’ve had pretty good luck. Sorry to say that discrimination against young boys does exist, and there’s not a darn thing you can do about it but look elsewhere.

Feature image: taken from the balcony of the penthouse villa in Lake Cuomo

Antomium: inside the world’s largest cell

A silver ball, shaped like an atom, so large that it takes several escalators to reach the center, in the middle of Brussels. Sounds like the mother-of-all tourists traps, doesn’t it? That’s what we thought, but our inner science-geeks fell for it anyway, and we are so glad we did. It was a one-of-a-kind hands-on experience for our girls who literally learned from the inside out.

Walking up to the Antomium



What’s the fuss about?

The Antomium is a single iron cell magnified 165 billion times. That alone will get your kids to pause a split second. Enjoy the silence, because then the questions are going to come so rapidly, you might as well leave the office Brussels info site up and running. Nine individual pods (or spheres) are connected through escalators and lifts. For the claustrophobe in you, each pod is the size of a large apartment. In fact, the Antomium has pods for sleepovers available to schools and private parties. That’s almost enough to make me want to move to Brussels. Can you imagine getting the invite for a kid’s 6th birthday party, up five stories looking over the entire valley?

What you will experience and see

In addition to the amazing views of the area from the pods, inside are fascinatingly detailed exhibitions on permanent display about the World Fair of 1958 wherein it was created, and then rotating exhibitions on other feats of man. Four of the pods are open to the public full-time, but only accessible via escalators, so those with limited mobility or in wheelchairs will be disappointed. Other than the pods reserved for students or sleepover areas, the rest of open and accessible.

View of Brussels from one of the pods, and the inside of a pod–which hovers above the ground–available for sleepovers! You just have to get there.



Best times to go

We lucked out, going in the dinner hour, between 4-6. It was still crowded, but the line wait was only about 20 minutes, and it was quite open inside, not jammed packed. Even on the website, which we looked at briefly before going, it identified the best times are between 12-2 p.m. and 4-6 p.m.

Location

The Antomium is located in the Heysel district of Brussels.
It’s the last stop on the metro, line 6 (and you wonder why I incorporate the metro
in my contemporary romance series set in Europe. The metro is the way to get
around within a city. The tram line 7 is the other way to reach the Antomium,
or of course, you can drive or take a cab. It’s a short walk, and you simply
can’t miss it.

Since you are there, you must stop at the Mini-Europe Theme Park, which allows you to see all the major sites from around Europe in miniature. I’ll like the blog when it’s up.

We’ll get to the Mini-Europe Theme Park next



Prices

Reasonable. Kids under 6 are free, and from there it’s 8-12 Euros with discounts for seniors. A note to Americans, the Antomium includes a price for the “teen” category, as is the norm with most Euro parks. Travelers from Europe who come to the States are always in for a shock, unaccustomed to either kid or adult.

Pictures and trinkets

We never, ever purchase souvenirs because it goes against
our basic philosophy of living in the present. If and when we do buy an item,
it tends to be “useful,” which I put in quotes because that definition, in our
family, is constantly up for debate (what’s useful for one person is a
ridiculous spend to another). Still, when we were at the Antomium, we couldn’t threw
rules out the proverbial window and purchased three sets of pictures—teeny tiny
ones- 1×1 inches, and then a larger one with a silly mascot. We are quite
thankful we did, because it’s one of the only pictures we have the girls
together at that age. Additionally, we bit the bullet and purchased, not one or
two, but three Antomium replicas. Two, 2×2 inch size for the girls and then a
larger one for us which sits on our glass stand at home. It’s side beside a
handful of other items representing our best times together. That pretty much
says it all: this was an incredibly fun experience and family day (again, we combined
that day with the Euro Park). Eve if you are by yourself or with a friend, make
the time to drop by. It’s so unique and off the radar of major sites, you’ll be
glad you did.

Can you spot the Antomium? Just in front of other items that will explained in another blog

Antomium: inside the world’s largest cell

A silver ball, shaped like an atom, so large that it takes several escalators to reach the center, in the middle of Brussels. Sounds like the mother-of-all tourists traps, doesn’t it? That’s what we thought, but our inner science-geeks fell for it anyway, and we are so glad we did. It was a one-of-a-kind hands-on experience for our girls who literally learned from the inside out.

Walking up to the Antomium



What’s the fuss about?

The Antomium is a single iron cell magnified 165 billion times. That alone will get your kids to pause a split second. Enjoy the silence, because then the questions are going to come so rapidly, you might as well leave the office Brussels info site up and running. Nine individual pods (or spheres) are connected through escalators and lifts. For the claustrophobe in you, each pod is the size of a large apartment. In fact, the Antomium has pods for sleepovers available to schools and private parties. That’s almost enough to make me want to move to Brussels. Can you imagine getting the invite for a kid’s 6th birthday party, up five stories looking over the entire valley?

What you will experience and see

In addition to the amazing views of the area from the pods, inside are fascinatingly detailed exhibitions on permanent display about the World Fair of 1958 wherein it was created, and then rotating exhibitions on other feats of man. Four of the pods are open to the public full-time, but only accessible via escalators, so those with limited mobility or in wheelchairs will be disappointed. Other than the pods reserved for students or sleepover areas, the rest of open and accessible.

View of Brussels from one of the pods, and the inside of a pod–which hovers above the ground–available for sleepovers! You just have to get there.



Best times to go

We lucked out, going in the dinner hour, between 4-6. It was still crowded, but the line wait was only about 20 minutes, and it was quite open inside, not jammed packed. Even on the website, which we looked at briefly before going, it identified the best times are between 12-2 p.m. and 4-6 p.m.

Location

The Antomium is located in the Heysel district of Brussels.
It’s the last stop on the metro, line 6 (and you wonder why I incorporate the metro
in my contemporary romance series set in Europe. The metro is the way to get
around within a city. The tram line 7 is the other way to reach the Antomium,
or of course, you can drive or take a cab. It’s a short walk, and you simply
can’t miss it.

Since you are there, you must stop at the Mini-Europe Theme Park, which allows you to see all the major sites from around Europe in miniature. I’ll like the blog when it’s up.

We’ll get to the Mini-Europe Theme Park next



Prices

Reasonable. Kids under 6 are free, and from there it’s 8-12 Euros with discounts for seniors. A note to Americans, the Antomium includes a price for the “teen” category, as is the norm with most Euro parks. Travelers from Europe who come to the States are always in for a shock, unaccustomed to either kid or adult.

Pictures and trinkets

We never, ever purchase souvenirs because it goes against
our basic philosophy of living in the present. If and when we do buy an item,
it tends to be “useful,” which I put in quotes because that definition, in our
family, is constantly up for debate (what’s useful for one person is a
ridiculous spend to another). Still, when we were at the Antomium, we couldn’t threw
rules out the proverbial window and purchased three sets of pictures—teeny tiny
ones- 1×1 inches, and then a larger one with a silly mascot. We are quite
thankful we did, because it’s one of the only pictures we have the girls
together at that age. Additionally, we bit the bullet and purchased, not one or
two, but three Antomium replicas. Two, 2×2 inch size for the girls and then a
larger one for us which sits on our glass stand at home. It’s side beside a
handful of other items representing our best times together. That pretty much
says it all: this was an incredibly fun experience and family day (again, we combined
that day with the Euro Park). Eve if you are by yourself or with a friend, make
the time to drop by. It’s so unique and off the radar of major sites, you’ll be
glad you did.

Can you spot the Antomium? Just in front of other items that will explained in another blog