Category Archives: Travels

Wanderlust: Europe

My blogger friend Casey asked me to be part of her
Wanderlust: A Travel Series link up and how could I say no?

Wanderlust
A F a m i l y A f f a i r

Wanderlust has been instilled in me since I was born to two nomadic parents in a military family who were on their second three year tour in England. They went on to spend about seventeen years living abroad through out Europe and made sure my sister and I had the full experience.

4 Generations of my family have spent a significant part of their life living in Europe. I was not just ‘luckily born in England’ and moving here because of my dual citizenship. Europe has impacted my family through the generations and has imparted a wanderlust down the line. My paternal grandfather was in Italy, not to far from where we lived, during WWII. My parents chose overseas assignments one after another during my father’s 30+ years of service as an officer in the USAF. For the last two years my husband and I have been living here with our kids and have no intent to move back stateside. For my children, who are Third Culture Kids, that is 1/3 and 1/4 respectfully of their life spent so far in Europe.

Wanderlust
I n E u r o p e

Already Been. There are about 15 places in Europe that I have been so far (I separated the UK as I have yet to travel to Ireland) and looking at the list of European countries that does not seam like so many places. Easily my father will have me beat when it comes to the countries he was able to visit thanks to his TDYs with the US military forces. Still even though so many are crossed off my list, it does not mean I do not want to return. Even more to the places that my husband and kids have yet to step foot in and to experience the culture again for myself. Three trips I already have on my Wanderlust bucket list are: Italy, so my kids can see where I grew up; Sweden/Norway/Denmark; and Austria/Germany/Switzerland, to experience the memories I cherished with my dad growing up.

Yet To Visit. I separated this list into two columns because there are really a lot of places in Europe that I have not yet been. So the first list are countries I foresee being able to go to first, especially with young kids and the send list are the remaining countries my Wanderlust part of me would love to see while alive. I wish I had my own private plane so that I could jet to each destination every two weeks and photograph and share on my blog. That would be the perfect life, yes?

In today’s world it is not that unusual for a family to be split up by distances. But at least at the holidays families come together back home. For my family we do not really have ‘home’ to return too. My mum, a PHD student, now resides in Arizona the last place my dad was stationed before he retired. She is embarking on a new career of massage therapy and holistic health. My dad is in his final resting place at the USAF Academy in Colorado Springs. My sister works as a sommelier in Washington, DC. Now that we live in England, it is too costly with four people to travel back anywhere for every big family holiday.

So Wanderlust has affected how we keep in touch. Need to get together? Okay where well in the world do we want to meet up? I’m not joking. While my parents and my sister were backpacking through numerous countries in South East Asia, I flew over and met them in Cambodia. My mum wanted to catch up with my sister so she invited her to Belize. Last summer we planned a last minute trip to the Jersey Shore (a place we frequented when visiting my Grandfather in the US), and in the next several days I will have them both here for our Vow Renewal in Wales.

We are already talking about where we will meet up for our vacation next year. We have talked about finally getting my sons to see Italy and renting a place in Naples, taking a family tree trip to the town in Germany where my mum’s side of the family comes from, and even staying at a place in France where my sister can take us to wineries and impart her sommelier wisdom.

I say this to say that Wanderlust is a huge part of my families life and it is something we have already passed down to my sons. They all the time talk about countries in Europe they want to visit and what they have learned about in school or from reading in books.

Q. Do you have Wanderlust for Europe?

Please tell me all about it in a comment below!

Pompeii: The Lighter Side [Travel Tuesdays]

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If you caught last week’s Pompeii post, The Darker Side, today is the continuation post of Pompeii, the Lighter Side. If you have not heard my personal connection with Pompeii and the area around Naples, make sure to check out last week’s post for Travel Tuesdays. I really enjoyed Pompeii and took hundreds of photographs. So it has been hard to pick out the favourites to share with you on the blog. I just cannot wait to return again with my sons so that they can experience the history left behind.

Q: Have you ever been to Pompeii?

TRAVEL TUESDAY!

Together with my cohost Belinda from Found Love. Now What?

a Weekly Travel Linkup. Share your Travel stories and wanderlust addictions.

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So happy to introduce you to my Cohost for Travel Tuesday who is also my sponsor this month! Belinda of Found Love. Now What? is an expat blogger living in Wales. If you have not checked out her video logs yet, I highly recommend it when you visit her blog. Her first VLOG: A little Advice on Long Distance Relationships is great as she refers to herself as LDR Veteran.

Her blog: http://www.foundlovenowwhat.com/

Additional Links:

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Pompeii, the Darker Side [Travel Tuesdays]

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I spent a total of six years growing up with Mount Vesuvius, a dormant stratovolcano, in the distance of where we lived near the bay of Napoli. The infamous rolling humps loomed in the background like a familiar shadow, sometimes hidden by a haze. This sleeping giant has an eruption cycle of about twenty years, though it has been sleeping ever since it’s last appearance during WWII in 1944. Mount Vesuvio, as it is known in Italian, is still considered one of the most dangerous in the world as millions of people today live so close to the crater.

While some people may take school trips to the local fire station or zoo, growing up I took field trips to climb the top of this volcano or visit the haunting remains of the ancient towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. When you factor in the times we frequented these sites with visiting family and friends you could imagine the many times I would have been to the historical sights in my past. However it was on my husband’s first trip to my hometown of Napoli, that it became my favourite to date. I played tour guide, photographer, and even model during the hours we visited Pompeii around this time last year.

Usually when I see traveler’s photographs of Pompeii it is of the remaining structures outside in the daylight and bright sun. While I have those more picturesque holiday photos too, I would like to show you a different side of Pompeii. The kind that makes you think of the destruction caused by Mount Vesuvius. I invite you to view the darker side of Pompeii with me as you travel back through time.

This will be a part one of a two part series,

to be followed by the Lighter Side of Pompeii in the near future.

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Caveau des Oubliettes in Paris

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While we were in Paris my husband took us to a jazz club on the night of our 9th wedding anniversary. It became the best club experience I have to memory and today still holds that that title. Caveau des Oubliettes is a 12th century prison located in the Latin Quarter across the river from Notre-Dame. Beneath the subterranean vaults it was linked many centuries ago with the fortress prison of Petit Chatelet. The description of its history includes ‘complete with dungeons, spine-tingling passages, and scattered skulls, where prisoners were tortured and sometimes pushed through portholes to drown in the Seine’. As an Audrey Hepburn fan it made me feel like I was in her film, Funny Face.

When we arrived I was not exactly sure what to expect and followed my husband through the ground floor entrance to a windy stone stair case to the basement level. The passages were narrow and people were not confined to just the tables and chairs set before the stage. Some where at the bar and others standing or sitting on the stairway, listening and watching from around the wall. The cost of the drinks were a little pricey but not having to pay a cover charge for that experience leveled it out in my mind. If you love music I highly recommend checking out this scene.

While our 8th Wedding Anniversary that we spent at Pelham House in Lewes had topped all the rest, this night topped them all. Caveau des Oubliettes will most definitely be on our list of places to visit when we next return to Paris.

52 Rue Galande 75005 Paris France‎