europe – KARA VALLARI

Paris Itinerary With Kids

October 7, 2022by Kara VallariLeave a Comment

We arrived in Paris mid-afternoon via train from Amsterdam Centraal to Paris Gare du Nord [almost 3 hours]. By some miracle, the girls had their best train ride of the entire trip. They played quietly with their toys and then Isla fell asleep without fuss for the entire second half. We also had an almost private car literally next to the baby changing station - win win. The rest of our travels were not nearly this smooth. From the train station, we caught a taxi right out front to take us to our hotel in the 7th Arrondissement of Paris. There we quickly dropped our bags, freshened up and set out to explore Paris.

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Cinque Terre, Italy

July 1, 2020July 1, 2020by Kara Vallari1 Comment

Pronounced (CHINK-weh TAY-reh). I hate to say it but I had pretty low expectations for Cinque Terre. Of course all the colorful, cliff dwelling towns are picturesque but everything I had read talked about how uncomfortably packed the five small fishing towns are with tourists, the unwelcome cruise ship ports and the threat of imposing tourism limits. I was pleasantly surprised when Cinque Terre turned out to be one of my favorite stops in Italy!

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Naples & Amalfi Coast, Italy

September 1, 2019by Kara Vallari1 Comment

Our trip to Italy in 2017 started in Naples which is a great starting point for the Amalfi coast. It's hard to believe that it's already been two years since we visited Italy but life has been an absolute whirlwind since our trip. Perhaps it's because because Kevin and I got engaged in Positano and we've been on a roller coaster ever since!

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Athens, Greece

January 10, 2019by Kara VallariLeave a Comment

When we planned our trip, we purposely deprioritized Athens based on feedback and recommendations we received from others. When we arrived, I fully expected there to be anarchy in the streets, especially given Greece's recent economic situation. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Athens is just a normal city with a huge history. Though my perspective is limited to the short time we spent there, I really enjoyed Athens and would recommend it to others visiting Greece.

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Mykonos, Greece

January 8, 2019by Kara VallariLeave a Comment

We had no idea that Mykonos was known as 'The Island of the Winds' until our tiny propeller plane basically crash landed onto the airport runway. Lets just say, if I ever go back, I'd strongly prefer to go by boat.

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Santorini, Greece

January 6, 2019by Kara Vallari2 Comments

We paired our trip to Greece with Croatia and while it appears to make sense geographically, there were not a ton of great flight options between the two countries. But that didn't temper our excitement to visit to Santorini! We had only ever heard raving reviews of the island and had purposely invested more in our stay here than in any of our other destinations during this trip.

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Hvar, Croatia

November 25, 2018November 25, 2018by Kara Vallari1 Comment

All in all, Hvar was one of our most favorite stops. From the blue waters to the lush hillsides and everything in between, it's difficult to find something not to love about this island!

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Dubrovnik, Croatia

November 25, 2018November 25, 2018by Kara Vallari2 Comments

We had no idea what to expect when we arrived in Croatia. We had countless people tell us how "beautiful" or "amazing" it is but we couldn't really visualize what that meant. Turns out, they were all right but going into it with no expectations only emphasized the beauty of the country with its lush hillsides, medieval stone towns and and clear blue waters.