We're Packed!

Just finished packing for Europe.  Our flight to Venice, our first stop, leaves tomorrow night from JFK in New York.  For the three week trip through Venice, Sorrento, Rome, Orvieto, Munich, Paris, and Disneyland Paris each of us will be carrying one backpack.  Lori and I have airline carry-on size Rick Steves convertible backpacks.  Abby, our 9 year old daughter is carrying my internal frame hiking pack. Michael, our 6 year old son will be carrying a Pacsafe backpack which will serve as a daypack on longer day trips.

Our Travel Bags

While I didn't keep track of exactly everything that Lori packed, or the kids' clothes, here's my packing list:

• 4 wrinkle-free, lightweight, fast drying travel shirts
• 2 moisture wicking t-shirts
• 2 cotton t-shirts and 1 pair of athletic shorts (for sleeping - I don't wear PJs)
• 1 pair of Adidas super lightweight, wrinkle free Climalite golf pants 
• 3 pairs of shorts
• 6 pairs of Exofficio underwear 
• 3 pairs of socks
• 1 bathing suit
• Eddie Bauer Rain Jacket
• two money belts 
• leather sandals
• a pair of sneakers
• a few packs of Woolite and a rubber sink stopper
• a travel clothesline
• my Nikon D90 w/ 18-55mm VR lens, battery charger, and 16 GB memory card
• a backup 4 GB memory card
• iPad, earbuds, and charger
• cheap sunglasses (sure to be dropped in some body of water by the end of the trip)
• 1 extra large super-absorbant travel towel
• Seabands for motion sickness
• 2 extra brown buttons
• travel sewing kit
• 2 European outlet adapters
• German, French, and Italian to English Phrasebook
• Photocopies of relevant travel guide sections
• Pacsafe Metrosafe 200 cross-shoulder bag
• Passports 
• Photocopies of passports, credit cards and insurance card
• 50 Euros in cash
• Combination travel lock
• Printed out point-to-point train tickets and Eiffel Tower tickets
• Ziploc bag of toiletries, medications, brush, and razor

Mike's Stuff

I know that I can probably get away without bringing both cotton shirts and the sneakers, but I want to be able to get a few runs in if I have the time since I'm running the Philadelphia half-marathon in November.  I'm not going to stress about it, though.  I've been training well and even with a 3 week break I'll have plenty of time to be prepared for it.  

On the plane, I'll be wearing a second pair of Adidas pants, a Eddie Bauer moisture wicking polo, and a pair of Keen Newports.

I wish that I had room for a zoom lens, but they are too heavy and large.  I don't think I would have used it as much as the 18-55mm lens, but I'm sure there will be times that I wish I had it.  

If there's anything else we find that we need, we'll pick it up over there.

Keeping Track of Travel Links

It's hard to believe that at this time next week we'll be in Venice.

As we planned our trip, I found that I came across many links of which I wanted to keep track. Professionally, I use Delicious and Diigo to organize my education resources and links, but I decided to try a site called Symbaloo to organize our travel sites.  I've embedded the page below, which includes links to all the places we are going: Venice, Sorrento, Rome, Orvieto, Munich, Paris, and Disneyland Paris.  It may be a bit hard to work with the embedded widget since I had to reduce the size.  To see the full Symbaloo page, follow this link: http://goo.gl/GEIf2.

 

Best Brazilian Food I've Ever Had

During our one night in Manhattan before our weekend getaway Disney cruise, Lori and I wanted to have a nice dinner in the city.  Our requirements were that it wasn't crazy expensive, it was close enough to our hotel in Hell's Kitchen that we could walk there and back, it participated in the Delta Skymiles Dining program, and that it was a type of food that we couldn't easily get at home.


After narrowing our choices down to a South African restaurant and a Brazilian restaurant, we settled on Brazil Brazil Restaurant on 46th St. between 8th and 9th Avenues.  We very much enjoyed our experience, and while the food was good, the title of the post is a bit misleading.  This was the first time that either Lori or I had tried real Brazilian food.


When we arrived around 7:00 we were greeted by a very friendly host.  We informed him that we had reservations, but that we'd like to have an adult beverage at the bar before dinner.

Blue Sangria

The bartender was awesome.  After making us each a really tasty blue sangria, she explained to us the history of Cachaca, a Brazilian alcohol made from sugar cane.  We then tried a Caipirinha, which is made from Cachaca, fresh muddled limes, and sugar.  After sipping Lori's, it was a bit too limey for me, and I'm glad I didn't order my own.

Caipirinha

Even though the dinning room looked really nice, we decided to eat out on the front porch so that we could do a bit of people watching as we ate.  It was a great choice since a few minutes into our meal some live music started up in the bar which added some nice ambiance.  


There was a Prix Fixe menu for $25 per person available, but we decided to order from the regular menu to try a few things that looked really good.  We started with the Tapas appetizer which consisted of Frango a Passarinho (fried chicken), Camarao Alho e Oleo (sauteed shrimp), and a chicken pastry.  The shrimp was very good, and the chicken pastry was both excellent and different than anything I had had before.  We really enjoyed both of those.  The chicken was a bit dry and overcooked.    

Outside Seating Area

For a main course, I ordered the Paelha - shrimp, scallops, calamari, mussels, clams, and white fish over saffron rice.  Lori went with the Bobo de Camarao - Sauteed shrimp with palm oil, mixed peppers, onions, tomatoes, coconut milk, and yucca puree finished with fresh cilantro.  We also decided to share an order of fried yucca.

Our Dinner

Lori's dish was fantastic.  The sauce was delicious and flavorful, the seafood was cooked perfectly, and it went well with the black beans and rice that came with it.  I even stole some of the sauce to eat with my Paelha because it was so good.

Bobo de Camarao

The fried yucca was good and came with a great aioli for dipping.  We really liked the aioli.

Fried Yucca

My Paelha was good, but not great.  There was LOTS of seafood, and all of it was cooked well.  The seafood and rice had a nice flavor, but I found myself wanting more of it (the flavor, not the food - the portion was huge).  As I mentioned earlier, I stole some of the sauce from Lori's dish to kick the flavor up a bit.

Paelha

Since we were so full after dinner, we decided to walk off our meals before getting coffee and dessert somewhere else.

Overall, we were very happy with our dinner at Brazil Brazil.  If I had to grade it, I'd give it a solid "B".  We enjoyed the atmosphere and the service was very good.  I can't compare the food to other Brazilian food, but we generally liked our choices.  On our next trip to the city, we'll likely try a different restaurant simply due to the multitude of great choices, but I'm glad that we ended here during this trip.

Mount Vesuvius

As I mentioned in previous posts, we've really tried to get the kids involved in the planning of our upcoming European trip.  Our 6 year old son Michael is really into volcanoes, and is very excited that we are planning to go to the top of Mount Vesuvius and walk along the crater rim.  This morning after looking at a few pictures of the volcano on-line he drew this picture of Mount Vesuvius from across the Bay of Naples.

It's hard to believe that after months of reading guide books, watching shows, and researching on the internet that we'll be in Italy in less than 2 weeks.  

Abby's 5 Must-Sees at the Vatican Museum

During the planning for our upcoming European vacation, it was important to us that everyone had input into the activities we planned and the places to which we will be going.  Our 9 year old daughter recently wrote and posted this piece explaining some of the things she'd like to see in the Vatican Museum on her blog, From Abby's Point of View.  I'm cross posting it here.

The Vatican Museum

This summer I am going to Europe.  In Rome, my family is going to the Vatican Museum.  Here are 5 things I want to see in the museum and why I want to see them.

1.  While we are at the Vatican museum I want to look at  The Sistine Chapel Ceiling.  It took Michelangelo 4 long years to paint.  He did it on scaffolding.  Instead of just painting it, he put up plaster and painted on the plaster.  It is from the part of  the Bible called the Old Testament. I would like to look at it because it’s one of the most famous and oldest works of art. 

2.  I would like to see the Laocoon. It is a sculpture of priest Laocoon and his sons being eaten by snakes. I want to see it because it is a very famous sculpture and I like the look of it all. 

3. I would love to get a peek at the Last Judgement.  It’s an entire painted wall of human souls rising and falling.  I’d love to see it because it’s so big and amazing.

4. I want to search for the statue of Perseus.  It is a sculpture of a man on a horse holding Gorgon Medusa’s head.  I want to  search for it because it is like good winning a battle against evil.

5.  Last, in the Vatican museum I’d like to look at Antinous. It is a Greek Statue of an entourage of the Roman Emperor Hadrian.  I want to find  it because I want to go to Greece someday.

Image Credit:  Flickr/nathangibbs

Things to Do for Adults on a Disney Cruise

If you've never been on a Disney Cruise, chances are that you have the perception that they are geared towards kids and families.

It's true that kids and families will love the activities that Disney provides, and I saw many smiles on the faces of both parents and kids that we encountered on our cruise.

Walt Disney is famous for saying, "You're dead if you aim only for kids.  Adults are only kids grown up, anyway."  As a couple traveling without our kids on this cruise, we found that Disney kept this in mind as they designed their ships.  There were plenty of adult-only areas, activities geared toward adults, and quiet places to relax on the ship.  We also appreciated that soda was free, you could bring your own adult beverages onto the ship, and that the cost of specialty drinks on the ship was very reasonable.

Instead of explaining each activity, I'm going to post scans below of the "Personal Navigators" from both days of our weekend cruise.  These are placed in your stateroom each day to explain activities and events going on aboard the ship.

Day 1, Page 1

Day 1, Page 2

Day 1, Page 3

Day 1, Page 4

Day 2, Page 1

Day 2, Page 2

Day 2, Page 3

Day 2, Page 4

Pictures from Disney NYC Weekend Getaway Cruise

I'll be writing and sharing more about this cruise and the day Lori and I spent in New York City before embarking, but I figured I'd share some of our pictures since I have them uploaded.

Disney sure knows how to do things right.  The cruise was fantastic.