I have had the privilege of traveling with my family growing up and have lived in the UK and the US. Currently I am living in Germany, yes back in Europe! I have backpacked a little of South East Asia and have traveled around a little bit of each continent. I think we can easily say we live out of a suitcase many times a year.
A personal intro to my life and a bloggy mission statement for the future.
I want to share my travels with you and hope it does encourage any of you to travel the world and see that it isn’t so scary after all. You just have to take the first big step.
We have two girls – a 7 month old and a 3 year old and I will be posting about traveling with our kids. I will also share some tips traveling with young kids.
I would love to connect with not only people who love traveling, but also those who wants to travel and am feeling a little anxious especially those with children.
I would just like to share my life’s travels and experience with anyone reading my blog, and rake it more countries with our little travellers.
Here I go, as I keep the wonderful journeys of our travels here in my blog.
Cruise: 7 Nights Western Mediterranean Cruise Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean Date: 12-19 June 2022 Ship: Wonder of The Seas Embarkation Port: Barcelona, Spain Disembarkation Port: Barcelona, Spain Ports of Call: Barcelona, Palma De Mallorca, Provence (Marseille), La Spezia, Rome (Civitavecchia), Naples
Final itinerary for our cruise on Wonder of The Seas
Here’s a short review on our second Royal Caribbean cruise with our 8 month old and 3 year old. Those who are adamant about bringing the kids, it’s absolutely doable and there are so many things for kids to do on board the ship. We were on Odessey of The Seas before and for this we were on the newest ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet – WONDER OF THE SEAS!
Food: We did a 3 Nights Specialty Dining package that we pay on top of our cruise cost. But included in the price of the cruise, there are breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets around the ship. The main buffets are in Windjammer. I would say they have some pretty good Indian food. The specialty restaurants I think are worth it. The food and service is amazing. I celebrated my 30th on the ship at Chops Grille and loved it! We did Izumi Sushi, Hooked Seafood, Mason Jar (did not use the package for this restaurant), and Chops Grille. Some restaurants do not have a kids menu but I absolutely love their kids menu. It’s not just chicken nuggets and mac and cheese but proper dishes. They had coconut shrimp on the Kids Menu in Hooked Seafood and not for the adults menu. If you ask, they can bring some out for you 😉 .
Drinks: There is a also drink packages that you can buy for each person that includes a coca cola cup that you can refill endlessly at stations around your ship with soda, and also alcohol beverages. They have a few different drink packages that to me was NOT worth it unless you want to get drunk everyday on the ship. If you don’t take any packages, they will be accumulated on your rooom charges individually. We did not do the drink package. There are many decent bars on the ship and apparently they had Screwball at Mason Jar bar ONLY (IYKYK) .
For Kids: They have a small Arcade, a Caroussel, a climbing feature, family parade, playground, mini golf, water slides and playground . Most importantly, they also have Adventure Ocean for Babies (called AO Babies for 6-36 months), Juniors (called AO Juniors for 3-5 years old), and also a Play Place for little ones and families. This is where you can drop your kids off at certain times during the day and evening while you attend a show or just go around the ship bar hopping (which is what we did!). They require reservations for the babies drop off and their hourly rate is $6/hour (WAAAAAY CHEAPER THAN IN GERMANY ). We dropped our little 8 month old with diapers, wipes and milk, and they have everything else there, even a small room with cribs, a play area, changing station, nursing chairs. Our 3 year old loves it at AO Juniors, since they do activities, painting, drawing, singing songs, story time, play dress up as well. On Port Days, you can leave them there from 9AM to 7PM, they will provide lunch and dinner at WindJammer. Yes you can go off the ship when you leave them at Adventure Ocean. On cruising days, they go by 3 hour slots, 9AM-12PM, 2PM-5PM, and 7PM-10PM.
Adventure Ocean rooms
Entertainment: They have shows, theater performances, a movie theater, casino, an outdoor water ampitheater for night shows. Sometimes stand up comedies are in line too. It depends on what is available, you can see all the activities through the Royal app. You can also do the Flowrider, the Abyss slide (our favourite), the water slides were cool!, rock-climbing, arcade, play pool at PlayMakers. They also have laser tag as well, watch the time because this one is first come first serve. They have other activities/competitions too like Finish the Lyrics, Trivia Time, Bingo, Karaoke and a lot of other fun activities for adults.
PORT DAYS: Port Days were much better on the 9 Night Greek Isle itinerary. This itinerary is a little tough especially with younger kids. It’s not impossible but if you want to leave them at Adventure Ocean, they’d probably have a better time there. In Palma, there is a coach by Royal Caribbean. This is the same in Marseille, France. In La Spezia, the destinations you want to go to are quite a distance away, so this is a lot of traveling from the ship’s port. Rome is the same way as La Spezia. With Naples, you can walk to the city center easy or train to Pompeii. I will do a transportation guide on another post in the blog following this one.
Let me know if you guys have any questions in the comments.
I would like to do a short review on our cruise with our 7 month old and 3 year old. Those who are adamant about bringing the kids, it’s very very doable and there are things for kids to do on board the ship. It was such an amazing cruise trip and you get to see A LOT in 9 nights. This ship specifically (Odessey of the Seas) is the newest ship for Royal Caribbean fleet.
Food: It’s got specialty restaurants that you pay for additionally with a package which gives you one specialty dining every 3 nights. But included in the price of the cruise, there are breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets around the ship. The specialty restaurants I think are worth it. The food is pretty good. We did Teppanyaki, Izumi Sushi and Wonderland (Alice in Wonderland theme dishes so quirky you gotta try this).
Drinks: There is a also drink packages that you can buy for each person that includes a coca cola cup that you can refill endlessly at stations around your ship with soda, and also alcohol beverages. If not, they will be accumulated on your rooom charges individually. We did not do the drink package. There are decent bars on the ship. They have activities too like Finish the Lyrics, Trivia Time, Karaoke and a lot of other fun activities for the adults.
For Kids: They have a small Arcade, bumper cars, kids trampoline pad, skydive simulation (min 3 years old). They also have Adventure Ocean for babies (6-36 months) and Juniors (3-5 years old). This is where you can drop your kids off at certain times during the day and evening while you attend to a show or just be. They require reservations for the babies drop off and their hourly rate is $6/hour (WAAAAAY CHEAPER THAN IN GERMANY ). We dropped our little 7 month old with diapers, wipes and milk, and they have everything else there, even a small room with cribs, a play area, changing station, nursing chairs. Our 3 year old loves it, since they do activities, painting, drawing, singing songs, story time, play dress up as well. All this while we go have a drink at one of the bars.
Entertainment: They have shows, theater performances, a movie theater, an open movie theater with the backdrop of the ocean while cuising. Sometimes stand up comedies. It depends on what is available, you can see all the activities through the app. You can do the complimentary skydive simulation on the deck and also flowrider as well, a surfing simulation. Some activities you have to pay but it will say complimentary on the title if it’s included in the price. They also have laser tag as well. All these require reservation through the app. They are usually fully booked on cruising days so book in advance.
DOCK DAYS: Dock days are mostly easy with the kids. Naples, you can walk to the city center. In Santorini, there are tender boats that bring you to the island and back. They do go by tickets, but our ship wasn’t full, so they stopped the tender tickets and just filled up the tender boats as people came. In Kusadasi, you can walk around the city center from the boat, but we managed to get a private tour to go see Ephesus which is 20 mins drive. Our tour included lunch and of course carpets! In Mykonos, the ship managed to get the dock so no tender boats were needed. You just need to take the seabus into town. In Rhodes, many people walk to the city center, but we took the public bus to Elli Beach and had food in the city center before going back to ship. In Chania, there will be buses that takes you to the city center directly from the port. The buses are run by Royal Caribbean only.
**Highly loved the service on the ship. It is an American ship, so all things on board are in USD.** ***FOR AMERICANS, YOU DO NOT NEED TO APPLY FOR A TOURIST VISA TO ENTER TURKEY*** (On normal overnight travel yes, but through this cruise, there is not need. This is because you won’t be staying overnight in Turkey).
Let me know if you guys have any questions in the comments.
We have done so much research on the ports and what to do to save a little bit of money. I want to share with you on this blog post solely about transportation. We did this cruise with our 7 month old daughter and our 3 year old daughter. This blog post will be about what we did at the ports and how you can save some money by not doing an Onshore Excursion with Royal Caribbean to get to and from city centers.
Our cruise started and ended in CIVITAVECCHIA, ROME. Here is our itinerary below.
HOW TO GET TO ROME CIVITAVECCHIA PORT FROM ROMA TERMINI TRAIN STATION
Buy a ticket on trenitalia.com from Roma Termini station to Civitavecchia on the day of your cruise. Our check-in time slot is from 1430-1500. We picked the 1212 hr train ride that reaches Civitavecchia at 1313. It is a direct train ride. Our ticket costs 9.20 EUROS for 2 adults (we bought this on Junior Weekend promotion). Children under 4 travel for free. You can download the trenitalia app and show the ticket’s QR code to the conductor from there.
On the train from Roma Termini to Civitavecchia
Civitavecchia Train Station (circled in red is the shop where you can buy your shuttle bus ticket) Picture taken from Google Maps
At Civitavecchia train station (pictured above), there are 3 options – WALK, TAXI or BUS. The taxi quoted us 5 EUROS per person and they will tell you that the bus drivers are probably sleeping/napping/taking a siesta to make you take the cab. But we waitied until the bus came.
Bus Stop for the Shuttle Bus to the Port Terminal on the left (circled in red) Picture taken from Google Maps
The bus stop would just be across from the station. We took the bus and it cost only 2 EUROS per person (adults). You can buy the bus tickets from the shop at the corner of the train station (in the first station picture). BUT I would suggest buying it directly from the bus driver JUST IN CASE you change your mind and want to get the taxi instead or walk. The bus takes you straight to the port terminal. **Ask the bus driver before you board if that bus is for the ship you’re taking. There were two buses that came but one was for Royal Caribbean and the other was for Princess Cruises.
On the bus from Civitavecchia Train Station to Civitavecchia Terminal Port for Royal Caribbean cruise
There you are at the port Terminal – ENJOY YOUR CRUISE!!!
DOCK #1: NAPOLI/NAPLES, ITALY
Port of Naples. Royal Caribbean Picture taken from Google MapsThe walk from the Napoli Port to Via dei Tribunali Taken from Google Maps
The above picture is where our ship docked in Naples, at the Galleria del Mare (which is the light brown building you see in the middle with the two clocks. From there, it was a 27 minutes walk to the famous Via dei Tribunali where all the souvenirs and restaurants and pizza are. Bear in mind, we walked with a 7 month old baby and a 3 year old whiney toddler. You can do it!
DOCK #2: SANTORINI, GREECE
Red dot and cross is where the ship is anchored. Taken from Google Maps
Here, the ship did not dock but was anchored a distance away from the Santorini Old Harbor. Royal Caribbean issues tender boat tickets mainly for crowd control to get on the tender boats. These tickets are first come first serve, but really NO RUSH! By the time we were ready to get off, which was at 10:30am, they informed us that we no longer needed tender boat tickets and just make our way to the gangway where the tender boat will be. *Note: If you are on the ship’s onshore tour, you DO NOT need a tender ticket. I think this really depends on how filled your cruise ship is.
On the Tender Boat from the ship to the Old Harbor in Santorini
The tender boat only takes 10 minutes to the Old Harbor. At the harbor, there are 3 ways to get to Fira. By Donkey, steps or cable car. There is a guy selling donkey rides to the top of the stairs to Fira. If you’re adventurous too, you could try the steps. We took the cable car. So follow the signs to the Santorini Cable Car. It is a very quick ride up to the town of Fira. It is 6 EUROS per person one way. We didn’t have to pay for our two kids who are 7 months and 3 years old. You can pay by card!
Price List for the Santorini Cable Car
HOW TO GET FROM FIRA TO OIA. You can take a taxi, which would cost more, OR you can take the shuttle bus (which is what we did). The picture below, shows you the sign of the Main Bus Station in Fira. You go down the stairs under that sign to get to the bus stop. I have added the map walk guide as well to get to the bus station from the cable car station.
Fira Main Bus Station Taken from Google Maps
8 minutes walk to the Main Bus Station to get to Oia Taken grom Google Maps
Bus Ticket from Fira to Oia
The cost of the ticket per adult is 1,60 EUROS. You buy the tickets when the bus arrives from the person that will stand by the bus door. It is not a local bus, but a coach-like bus that you will be on. They will pack the bus to full capacity before leaving. From Fira to Oia, it takes only 20 minutes. The bus sometimes stops at certain locations before the final stop at Oia. The pipcture below shows you the stop at Oia you get off at. Don’t worry, all the shops are open and the restaurants too. Google Maps probably had the car there during the winter time. There will be a line to wait for the bus. It comes every 10 minutes, so don’t worry if you missed one. You also pay for the ticket to the person before boarding the bus.
Oia Bus Station
DOCK #3: KUSADASI, TURKEY
Where the ship docked in Kusadasi, Turkey Taken from Google Maps
You can easily walk into the city center from the port and walk around. There is an information counter right when you exit the port building to your right and also a money exchange counter as well next to it. I would not change that much money to Lira (Turkish currency) since many places accepts card. There were people who were left with Lira in cash and didn’t know what to do with them. All preference, we paid everything in card. Some stores accept euros, just ask.
Our tour guide Taner (right most) and the owner of the company (left most). Our first daughter was playing at the playground (not in picture).
We did a private tour (NOT through the ship) we booked through Viator.com for Ephesus. It is way cheaper to book your own tour (if you want one for Ephesus). So we had transportation (picked up from the port), lunch, and a trip to a local wholesaler for Turkish carpets, all included in the price. Here is the link for the tour (https://www.viator.com/tours/Kusadasi/Private-Ephesus-Tours-from-Port-Kusadasi/d582-14354P5). Highly recommend Taner (our tour guide). He is an archaelogist who is very knowledgeable and passionate about his work. He knows Epehesus and its history so well!
DOCK #4: MYKONOS, GREECE
SeaBus Terminal and Cruise Port Terminal Taken from Google Maps
The ship docked at the Cruise Port Terminal and the Seabus is only a few minutes walk to that crazy looking red dot on the map above with the arrow pointing to it. It is only 2 EUROS per person one way. You can buy a return ticket from the ticket stand. Don’t forget to have cash on you for the tickets. Withdraw cash on the ship or there is a building you’d have to walk to further down for an ATM. The guy might or might not take card but I wouldn’t chance it for convenience sake. The SeaBus only takes 10 minutes to the center of it all. The drop off point would be the red down with the arrow in the map below.
SeaBus Drop off in Mykonos Town Taken from Google Maps
On your return, MAKE SURE TO ASK the boat people if the boat is going to the NEW PORT, or whichever port your ship is docked at (more likely New Port). There are different seabuses that goes to New Port and Old Port. You can see in the map directly above where Old Port is. You don’t want to get on the wrong seabus when you’re running for time to get back on the ship before sail time.
DOCK #5: RHODES, GREECE
Bus Route to Elli Beach
The shop docks at the port where it is circled red on the map picture above. Our destination was Elli Beach since David, my husband, wanted to at least swim and our daughter can play in the sand. We can either walk for 27 minutes or wait for the bus that only takes 6 minutes. We had two young kids and we did a ton of walking on the other ports, so we decided the local bus would be a great option. The bus stop is directly outside the port. In the picture above is also the route of the bus from the “Port” bus stop right below the red circle. The bus stop looks like this below (in picture).
Port Bus Stop for the bus into the city center
Look out for buses number 3 or 6. They both go to Elli Beach or if you want to take the bus to the city center, go right ahead. I believe it was only 3 EUROS for both of us one way. We did bring the stroller with us and all the public buses are stroller friendly. Use the exit door to alight the bus with the stroller/wheelchair.
**One thing to note is that this bus service goes only one direction, like a loop around Rhodes. So you would have to take the bus around Rhodes before getting back to the “Port” bus stop. You wouldn’t want that, so you can either take a taxi back to the port or walk back. It was a decent walk back along the waters, if you’d like to pick up a souvenir or see some shops.
DOCK #6: CHANIA, CRETE, GREECE
The ship docks at Souda Bay Port where it is circled in red in the picture above. From here, the only way into the city center is by shuttle bus from the port. The ticket for the shuttle bus is $6 return per person (adult). We did not have to pay for our kids who are 3 and 7 months. The ticket is bought directly from Royal Caribbean. You can purchase it through the app or if that doesn’t work, when you get off the ship and go into the building for the shuttle bus, there will be counters with people for you to purchase the shuttle bus ticket. Since it is purchased through Royal Caribbean, you just need your SeaPass to tap and the charges will be added to your room.
Drop off Point for Cruise Shuttle BusDrop off and Pick Up Point for Cruise Shuttle Bus
Shuttle Bus from Souda Bay Port to Chania Town Center
There are two types of buses, the white coach buses and the blue and white one above in the picture. The coach buses are for the ship’s Onshore Tours. If you’re not on the tours, you take the white and blue bus above. The ride takes about 10-15 minutes depending on traffic. The bus drops you off at the red dot location shown on the map above. Once you are done with your sightseeing around Chania, go back to the same spot you were dropped off at and wait for the shuttle bus to bring you back to Souda Bay Port. The shuttle runs pretty often so you wouldn’t have to wait for long. We had to be back on the ship by 14:30, so we only had time for souvenir shopping and brunch. That is unless you’re on the first bus out.
DISEMBARKING DAY IN CIVITAVECCHIA, ROME
The ship reaches Rome at 0500 in the morning. The day before, there will be luggage tags on your door with a slot number. This number is tied to a time slot of when you are expected to leave the ship. Our time slot was for 0730. If you would like them to take care of your luggage, you have to tag them with the tags given and set them outside your stateroom by 10pm the night before. If not, you can also bring the luggage bags with you when you disembark. The luggages were handled so well and so organized by the team that when you get off the ship, look for the luggage lot with your tag number and find your luggage.
ROME CRUISE TERMINAL TO ROMA TERMINI TRAIN STATION
There are a few options at the Cruise Terminal to get to the train station. You can wait for the shuttle bus, which is to the left most of the terminal when you exit. Mind you, there WILL be a long queue. If you booked a taxi, look out for your name. There would not be taxis available for anyone to take if you decide on one (this was during the time we exited). From what I hear from people, there is also a coach that goes to the Information Center of the Port.
We waited to take the shuttle bus that takes us to Civitavecchia Train Station. It was the same shuttle bus we took from the train station to the port terminal. Again, this costs 4 EUROS total for me and my husband (2 EUROS each). We bought our train tickets on trenitalia.com the day before to Trastevere (where we stayed for a night before our flight back to Frankfurt). We got to the train station and get on the platform we needed to be on. The platforms all come with elevators/lifts, so don’t worry about pulling luggage up and down the stairs. Also, if you have not gotten your train tickets, you can get your tickets either on the trenitalia app or at the train station. There were many trains leaving for Roma Termini, so don’t worry about having to wait too long for one, if Roma Termini is where you’re going.
………I hope this transportation guide will help you save some money on the ports and how to get around the ports of call by yourself without paying $100/person on a tour from the ship. I hope you will enjoy your cruise!!! …………………
Travelling with a child is so very challenging, especially on a 13 hour plane ride solo without your partner. When we flew to Southeast Asia, Arya was only 8.5 months. We travelled to Singapore together but on the way back, I was by myself. So here are just some tips that I found very useful;
Bring a new toy: We use this as a last resort when she could not sit in one spot.
Diapers: Always bring more than enough. We brought 1 diaper for every two hours of our journey for when we leave the hotel to the time we arrive back home.
Snacks. Biscuits and teething crackers were a life saver when it came to keeping her busy even if she were to play with them, which is most of the time. Hand her a snack too when you’re eating your/her meal.
Water sippy cup. We brought her the munchkin Miracle 360 Sippy Cup and it did well in keeping her hydrated throughout the flight.
Bathroom visits: Go to the toilet whenever your baby wakes up and when she gets cranky. This gives you a chance to relief yourself and stretch and change your baby’s diaper. I changed her diaper as often as possible. You would NOT want to get stuck with a heavy diaper when the plane is in turbulence for an hour or two.
Hydration: I know you’re supposed to hydrate on board, but I personally only drank 3 cups of water. Arya did not like the bassinet, so most of the time she was sleeping on me. You would not want to be needing the toilet 10 minutes after she falls asleep on you. HUGE mistake!
Play time!: Have your child play with other babies or children (if there are) because, trust me, the parents on board were also trying their best to “survive”.
Bruges was only a few hour car ride from home. I have to say it was challenging trying to entertain Arya, our 6.5 month old who hates being restrained in her car seat. She slept for less than an hour and when she was crying for 30 minutes, it seemed like 5 hours have passed.
It was still quite chilly at the time of the year, so jackets and long sleeve t-shirts we had to pack.
As we reached, we checked into our hotel, and I highly recommend staying here – Hotel Academie. Check in was quick and fast, and our room was lovely and spacious. We needed some space for our baby stroller and our travel cot. We were welcomed with a piece of chocolate on the bed which was a nice touch to the check in process. The hotel smells wonderful! It is a walking distance to the city center and a lot of restaurants, gift shops and chocolatiers.
First thing’s first, food! We did get some take out on our first night because it was getting too late for Arya and it was her bed time.
We had Arya in a baby carrier most of the time as it was the easiest along the narrow streets filled with people and the cobblestone was not going to be comfy ride for her at all.
Breakfast in Belgium, Kottee Kaffee April 2019
Walking to breakfast, we can’t help but look into all the different chocolatiers, and they all look amazing! We stopped by The Chocolate Line to pick out a few for our sweet cravings (although I am a savoury person).
Pralines from The Chocolate Line, Bruges Belgium
I looked up a few things to try while we were in Belgium. I like to delve into each country’s cuisine. There were the Mussel, French Fries, Meatball, Stoemp, Stew, Grey Shrimp Croquette and of course the famous Belgian Waffle. We did not get to try a a few but we did the Mussel, Stew, Potato Croquette and the Belgian Waffle. I highly recommend the Flemish stew, it is the BOMB! We did not try any fries, since it’s only just fries. Also the Mussels was nothing great, but I haven’t had mussels in a while so I decided why not.
Mussels from Poules Moules
One of the days’ dinner, we went to Cambrinus, another amazing well rated restaurant. Most of the restaurants are family friendly and they had baby chairs in almost all of them we visited or dined in at. Here, I had the Fish Stew with Salmon, Sole Filets, and North Sea Shrimps. It was just absolutely delicious.
Fish Stew with Salmon, Sole Filets and North Sea Shrimp from Cambrinus
We did some sightseeing as well as we needed to digest our eating spree here in Belgium. We decided to go to something more interesting than museums… the Torture Museum. Before you read on or think about going to it, DON’T! It is a waste of your time and money, but if you are full of both, why not. It is very tiny and not worth the €8 per adult we paid for. It took us about 15 minutes (plus toilet break) to walk through the whole museum and reading briefly a few boards. I have been to a few torture museums in the world, so there are so many devices that I have seen. The museum did not really impress me.
Boat rides alone the
One thing that we did not get on was the Boat Trip along the canals. It would cost us €10 per adult, however the boats were small and there were a lot of people on one boat. We did not know how Arya was going to react or if she would feel restless throughout the whole 30 minutes. So we decided we would come back another time (IF we do). If you guys would like to, here is the website to the prices and they even offer private boat tours. Click here!
The Old Chocolate House, Bruges Belgium
And of course, we had to make a stop at The Old Chocolate House. For those of you who absolutely adores and love chocolate and everything sweet, this place is for you! But to add a little to my taste, they do have savoury hot chocolates you can choose from. I supposed it is still a lot too sweet for me. Felt like I was drinking sugar, but to a sweet loving person, it is amazing!
Hot Chocolate Drink 1
The store is downstairs, but once you enter the store, walk a little bit further and you would find a steep wooden staircase to the second floor where the cafe is. Have a seat and they will serve you well and sweet. Definitely an experience.
Hot Chocolate Drink 2
We did end our journey by heading out one last time to the city center to grab a few souvenirs for friends back in Germany.
It has been too long of a time since I wrote in here but I wouldn’t say over a year.
Back south in Florida, where it is in the low 70s on Christmas Eve. I personally dislike the cold weather – nothing of my body would function well. It is a pretty sunny day today, not seeing any clouds in the distance although the forecaster mentioned there will be 20–30% chance of rain.
So enough of the weather, I am hoping to restart my blogging of my travels as I have been so lagging ever since… I guess I was just going to give you another excuse. But, Happy Christmas Eve!
Every year, Ohio has a Maple Syrup Festival where many maple farms will be open to the public for tours. Some of them you would have to pay for and others are free of charge. There are a few who does breakfasts with their very own maple syrup but you would have to be there early in the day to experience that.
Since I am staying in the northeast of Ohio, I decided to check out the ones closer to me. It was a pretty cold day out but sunny. There was one particular one that caught my eye, Ma’s and Pa’s Maple Farm as on the website, it says they do have free rides on horse-pulled platforms around the farm. I have never been to a maple farm so I was pretty excited to try some out and see how maple is gathered.
If you’re wondering which website I went on, you can find all the farms that are participating in the event; http://northeastohiofamilyfun.com/maple-syrup-festivals-in-northeast-ohio/ (this website is only for Northeast Ohio though I am very sure there are websites for other parts of Ohio).
The farm was off the main road and quite easy to follow the directions to. There were a large group of people already there listening to the farmer giving an introduction to how maple is gathered and the different types of maple. It was definitely a whole lot of information to gather. There are different grades of maple syrup and you can tell the sweetness of the syrup just by looking at the colour of the syrup. The weather/season/climate also contributes to the sweetness/colour of the maple syrup. And of course in between all the talk they had their dog running around the farm and barking at Quart Bikes going round the neighbouring farm.
There were two large horses pulling a wooden platform on wheels with small blocks of hay on them for visitors to sit on touring round the farm. We had to register at the gift shop and since we were one of the last few people to arrive, we were the fourth batch to ride with the horses. We went around the 3 story high wooden gift shop whilst waiting for our turn.
After the tour, we were given a small cup/sample of their best maple syrup that they gathered and it was too delicious and just the right amount of thickness and sweetness to it, It is a Grade A Amber maple. I bought a medium sized (quart) bottle of it and we get $4 off from the price of the bottle since we got on with the tour.
We checked into Sheraton Pittsburgh Hotel at Station Square – downtown Pittsburgh. We took an Uber ride to Market Square as we were finding a place to eat. The restaurants that we searched on Tripadvisor on our phones were high ended ones and expensive. They were also crowded and filled for New Years that they weren’t taking anymore walk-ins. We got into a restaurant, Six Penn that we saw on Tripadvisor to be rated really good. Of course it was fully booked, however there was a rooftop bar-like area of the restaurant that we decided to check out. They had the flame heater thingies out as it was in the 20-30s cold. We got some drinks and ordered a burger to share as the dishes were pricey. We planned on going to an area where all the pubs and bars were, which we found out was along Carson Street judging by the map we pulled up on my phone. We finished our awesome burger, checked out and headed downstairs to the other bar in the warmth this time and had a couple.
We left around 10.30pm as The Wailers were playing at 10.45pm on one of the small stages put out on the streets. I was enormously excited for them to play. We met pretty cool people in the crowd. We didn’t get close enough to see his facial features but close enough to see that he does look like Bob Marley with the dreads. They sang most of Bob Marley’s songs mainly because they recorded a lot together. It was usually Bob Marley & The Wailers. Not sure if they were the original members of The Wailers, some of them might have been replaced. Nonetheless, they made the night, and having Dave with me for New Years before he left was something I can’t ask for better – my ever and forever swolemate!
The countdown came on towards the end of the mini concert. Although we didn’t have a view of the fireworks along the river, there were still fireworks and flares coming out of the sides of the buildings where the stage was, along with the audience that stood there with us. I had such an amazing time dancing and singing and cuddling in the cold, and mainly spending time with Dave whom I won’t see for the next 6 months. Writing this… I miss him already…that pain in the ass! hehe
CARSON ST was chaos! We Ubered there too as it was quite a drive and quite a walk which we didn’t want to do in the cold. We hit up some good places and met some awesome people. We bought some pizza with us too before heading back to our hotel. We got into the Uber car right before a fight broke out among these 4 guys.
1 JANUARY 2016
We had leftover pizza from the night before that we found out was still….OKAY….to eat not that any of us want to. I was hungry, that’s for sure… Got a good hot shower and we checked out of our hotel and headed to our car. It was a flat rate of $21 for parking of more than 24 hours. We actually thought the hotel had its own special ticket as it says on the machine as we went into the parking garage.
We decided to check out the Christmas market if it’s open and find some food but it was closed except for a sports bar and grill. Many of the stores were closed and if there were open it is incredibly hard to find parking. We ditched the idea of food in the city.
We decided to head to the Duquesne Incline and check it out as we saw it the night before with lights leading the track up to the top of the observation area. We were freezing out hands and feet off. The fees to go up and down was $2.50 and best yet was we had to pay it in exact change in cash. They don’t accept card at all, which I thought was really dumb. It’s 2016 and people should be able to accept cards for anything like this. I mean a bank could have also put a little ATM in that thing. So we decided to ditch that idea too and just head back to Ohio…. We would probably come back one day maybe when it gets warmer.
These pictures below are what I got from the top of that red bridge from the picture above. It was alright, but I believe the view wouldn’t be THAT special as there was a huge gap from there to the city because of the river. I rather have a city view from the middle of the city like that Swissotel at Raffles City in Singapore. The view from that top of the hotel was for free and it was a view from the middle of the city. It was amazing! So far I have not seen anything better than that. Maybe because we haven’t been visiting cities around here much. I guess we will get there, exploring more of the world.
Pittsburgh Steelers stadium
We ended up getting McDonald’s for breakfast and drove home to warmth…
Goodbye Florida home, we would not see you again when we come back but we will be close!
Our last meal in Florida…
On December the 31st, we reached Ohio after about 18 hours drive from Florida. It was a tedious and tiring drive passing through Alabama and then Tennessee, Kentucky, Cincinnati, Warren and finally Cortland! We stopped by many times as we had Diesel in the car with us too. It was quite a travel that went pretty smoothly and safe too.
We left Fort Walton Beach at 5/6 pm ish and reached here in Ohio around 12.30pm the next day. It was certainly getting colder up north and there was a moment in time whilst on our journey that very light snow started to fall. I was ready to drive back down to the warmth. Checking it right now, the temperature there is in the 50s and looks like its climbing a little.
I have never been around here before and I love exploring new places and experiencing new things that I have never done before in my life.
Yesterday the fam drove towards Cleveland. We live close to an Amish township – in Mesopotamia Township. There were buggies and horses going through the rightmost side of the single-laned two way road. The buggies had reflectors on their back and lights shining from the front of them. They are black and the horses are hard to see at night with not much lighting on the roads. However, even so, I hear that there are also accidents that happen due to people being inconsiderate with their speed. The horses are easily agitated with the cars and motorcycles that pass by, might not know when exactly they would flare up.
The Amish also have their own little shop that is open to public or anyone living around the area even though they are not Amish. They bring in wholesale foods and sell them in their little store. I have yet to visit, but I will be sure to write or record about my experience.
We got past Burton and Middlefield and finally Chagrin Falls where Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s are. There would be Whole Foods in Destin when we move back down South. The goods are really expensive and possibly only shop there once in a while with things that we cannot get from a Wal-Mart. Trader Joe’s was interesting too but really small. I hear they are going to move to a bigger place because that branch was packed and it was hard to move about the isles.
It got colder as we were walking through the mall as night falls and headed back. On the roads home, there were many buggies and horses with reflectors as the Amish are on their way home…
). We dropped our little 8 month old with diapers, wipes and milk, and they have everything else there, even a small room with cribs, a play area, changing station, nursing chairs. Our 3 year old loves it at AO Juniors, since they do activities, painting, drawing, singing songs, story time, play dress up as well. On Port Days, you can leave them there from 9AM to 7PM, they will provide lunch and dinner at WindJammer. Yes you can go off the ship when you leave them at Adventure Ocean. On cruising days, they go by 3 hour slots, 9AM-12PM, 2PM-5PM, and 7PM-10PM.
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