Tag: travel europe

Travel

Paris Itinerary With Kids

by Kara VallariLeave a Comment on Paris Itinerary With Kids
Paris Itinerary With Kids

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.

Travel

24 Hours in Rome, Italy

by Kara VallariLeave a Comment on 24 Hours in Rome, Italy
24 Hours in Rome, Italy

This post really highlights how much you can pack into just one day! I'm excited to FINALLY be getting our Rome itinerary down on paper and to be able to share it with you all. To be completely transparent, it's been a few years since we visited Rome and obviously a lot has changed since then but we visited some of the main attractions which are staples in any Rome Itinerary. While visiting them may look a little different these days, they've lasted the test of time and will come through this pandemic, like they have so many others in the past. Continue reading to see our full itinerary!

Travel

24 Hours in Helsinki, Finland

by Kara VallariLeave a Comment on 24 Hours in Helsinki, Finland
24 Hours in Helsinki, Finland

I apologize in advance as this post is super old! I'm preparing to delete my old blog and wanted to migrate all my old travel posts over to ensure I didn't lose any content. For what it's worth, all of the landmarks and restaurants that we visited on our trip are still in operation today. If you ever find yourself in Helsinki or with an extended layover there like us, I standby our itinerary from 2016. Cheers!

Travel

Florence, Italy

by Kara VallariLeave a Comment on Florence, Italy
Florence, Italy

Finally getting around to writing up our most recent [recent = three years ago] trip to Florence. I guess that's what happens when you come away from the trip engaged and moving to California - LOL! I believe this was my third trip to Florence but also my favorite because we had the chance to explore some of Tuscany which is absolutely beautiful. I always "joke" with Kevin about wanting to retire there on an old vineyard one day. I'd say he's still warming up to the idea.

Travel

Cinque Terre, Italy

by Kara Vallari1 Comment on Cinque Terre, Italy
Cinque Terre, Italy

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!

Travel

Naples & Amalfi Coast, Italy

by Kara Vallari1 Comment on Naples & Amalfi Coast, Italy
Naples & Amalfi Coast, Italy

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!

Travel

Athens, Greece

by Kara VallariLeave a Comment on Athens, Greece
Athens, Greece

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.

Travel

Santorini, Greece

by Kara Vallari2 Comments on Santorini, Greece
Santorini, Greece

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.