We lived in San Francisco for five years. One thing that I realized as a result is that it is easy to take for granted where you live. San Francisco is an amazing world class city that many people would love to visit, and many do! That being said, I did not take a lot… Continue reading San Francisco Fortune Cookie Factory

One of my usual “must dos” on any trip is doing some vintage shopping. Research on vintage shopping in Oslo leads you to Gurnerlokka. Originally a working class neighborhood, it has become a trendy hipster area appealing to a younger crowd. In addition to vintage shopping, there are small boutiques, artsy shops, independent cafes and… Continue reading Oslo’s Grunerlokka: Vintage Shopping in a Hipster Neighborhood

Ok, we did not go to Lillehammer from Oslo just for the pancakes, but we did happen to find a good pancake place there. Lillehammer is an easy two hour train ride from the Central Oslo Train Station.The station is very modern and easy to purchase tickets at and navigate. We made sure to stock… Continue reading A Trip to Lillehammer for Pancakes

It got cold in Oslo. I know that may seem obvious, it is October in Norway, but the first two days we were there, it was barely cooler than it was here in Scotland. The second two days were a different story as temperatures went down to a daily high of 41 degrees. Oh, and… Continue reading A Perfect Saturday in Oslo…..Flea Market and Sculpture Park

I am glad we decided to make today our day to check out some museums in Oslo since there was a light drizzle most of the day. I always find deciding what museums to visit a painstaking exercise. There a lot in Oslo and many other destinations have the same situation, many museums, too little… Continue reading Oslo: Some Museum Top Picks, Mostly Kid Friendly, Too!

It was a rough start to our Oslo trip for Sam and I. The train from the airport was not running so we had to take the bus, which takes an hour. That bus ride turned into over two hours due to a horrible traffic jam on the highway. The automatic key for our room… Continue reading Oslo, Norway: Design, Reindeer Meat, and Oh Yeah, the Nobel Peace Prize

It’s Sam’s fall term break and tomorrow he and I leave for a four day trip to Oslo, Norway. We are flying to Oslo on a budget airline and we are not checking a bag so I need to pack light. It can be challenging to pack light during cold weather, but it’s possible with… Continue reading Travel Tips: Packing Light for Your Budget Airline Flight

We took one last trip in Europe during the spring of 2013 before we left Italy to move on to our next Navy duty station. We went to several favorite cities, but also explored some new ones. One of those new locations was Dubrovnik, Croatia. From Dubrovnik, we took a day trip to Mostar, Bosnia,… Continue reading A Day in Mostar, Bosnia

For Sam’s first day of half term break we booked ourselves on a day trip to Loch Ness, a 167 mile journey one way. This is a long trip to do in one day. We embarked on our tour on Timberbush tours out of Edinburgh with our driver Pat, who proudly wore his clan tartan.… Continue reading Loch Ness Day Trip

When Sam was almost a year old and we were living in Naples, Italy, we spent our 4th of July at Montecassino Abbey. Located 66 miles north of Naples and 88 miles south of Rome, it’s an easy trip from either location. St. Benedict established a monastery, the source of the Benedictine order, on a… Continue reading Soaking Up the History and Beauty of Montecassino Abbey, Italy