Author: Caroline

Lady Liberty

Posted on by Caroline
Yesterday we started our day at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Although the mechanics of waiting in line and going through security were frustrating and long, taking the ferry across the harbor gave us a chance to shed the frustration and turn our attention to the beauty and optimism of this incredible monument to central ideals of America. It was a beautiful, sunny, cold morning with porcelain blue skies. Last week the kids had read a few books about the Statue of Liberty with my dad, so they were the recent experts and pointed out various details to us. They seemed particularly interested her broken chains and the way she is striding forward. We were all interested in...Read More

Times Square

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New York brought it today. After an obscenely early start, we arrived in the city around 1:30 and checked into our hotel. Tim selected the Knickerbocker Hotel for us this week - a storied hotel right off Times Square (which we learned was previously Long Acre Square). In the day, the history includes a long, contentious rivalry with the Waldorf Astoria, an uneasy ownership by someone widely known as John Jacob “Jack Ass” Astor, a speak-easy, and the fabled invention of the martini. For us today, we’ve appreciated the great location, kind staff and comparatively spacious rooms (although our bar for room size seems to be set by Tokyo, and by that measure nearly every US hotel room is huge....Read More

New York, New York

Posted on by Caroline
When we’re already in the states, Tim has a random week off in the middle of training and the kids say they want to go to New York City… You hop on a plane and go to New York City. I think they got the idea from Home Alone 2, which has been a favorite Christmas movie for a few years now. Usually on some night that I’m out at a holiday get-together, Tim and the kids make some popcorn and watch Home Alone. I’m not sure what part of the sequel made them want to see the city - it doesn’t seem like a particularly flattering portrait of the city - it’s heavy on the scary elements and light...Read More

So you wanna… go to the Lantern Festival!

Posted on by Caroline
As we’ve had the chance to explore our part of the world and go on some absolutely amazing trips, we have consistently turned to friends and neighbors for their advice and recommendations. That advice has often made a huge difference in our trips - what can’t be missed, mistakes to avoid, local delicacies. A few times it’s been our turn to share our experiences of a place for the next family setting on their adventures, and I’ve always pulled together scraps of information, assembled from Google photos and Facebook posts. I’d like to make that process a little easier to share, so I’m going to start a series that I’m thinking of as the ‘So you wanna…’ series. I always...Read More

Chiang Mai – the fun continues

Posted on by Caroline
It's getting to that time in the trip, when I realize my time to write thoughtful, well-considered blog posts is dwindling far faster than the time I need to write thoughtful, well-considered blog posts… So hopefully you can bear with me through a fast, helter-skelter post. The morning after the lantern festival we got up early to go to a Thai cooking class. It started with a tour through a market to talk about all the typical ingredients of Thai cuisine. Then on to an organic farm where we picked up freshly laid eggs from the cleanest chicken coop I’ve ever seen. Then a tour of the gardens with kefir limes, galangal ginger, garlic basil, Thai basil, and lemon basil,...Read More

Yi Peng Festival (Part 2)

Posted on by Caroline
I keep trying to describe the experience of the Lantern Festival. And I keep feeling like words fail. So I’m going to start with a little bit of context first. Maybe that will help. The Yi Peng Festival is held on the full moon in the second month of the Lanna lunar calendar, usually November. That’s literally what Yi Peng means - ‘Full Moon of the Second Month’. The Lanna region began as a kingdom in the northwest of modern-day Thailand. The region shares cultural and historical roots with both Siam and Burma, and you can see the intertwined influences ithroughout the area. Chiang Mai was established as the capital of the Lanna Kingdom in 1296 and is the most...Read More

A bit of quiet

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Today has been a delightfully quiet day, just enjoying the beauty of our hotel on the outskirts of Chiang Mai. Our flight from Seoul was delayed into Chiang Mai, and by the time we got there, Hertz had given away the rental car we reserved. Those are the risks of travel, but that’s a few too many times we’ve had issues with Hertz. We found a Grab Car (the Thai equivalent of Uber), checked in to our room, used Grab again to order in some Thai KFC (the only food available at 1 in the morning) and poured ourselves into bed around 2 AM, nearly 24 hours after we had rousted the kids out of bed to start our travel...Read More

Yi Peng Lantern Festival

Posted on by Caroline
Today brings us to another airport at another gate - on our way to the Yi Peng Lantern Festival in Chiang Mai. After the hurdy-gurdy frenetic pace of our trip to Tokyo at the beginning of the month, we’re looking forward to a slightly slower pace in for a week in Thailand. Which brings us here, to the Nagoya airport. Tim typically flies here multiple time a month and has been itching to share it with us. And now we know why. It’s a charming airport - everyone seems to have the time to say hello, and the terminal is set up as a village recreation, complete with village stores, restaurants and even an onsen. And the landscape we saw...Read More

Wrapping Up in Tokyo

Posted on by Caroline
It always seems to happen… I start off a trip with frequent posts and lots of commentary… and then we get busy traveling and I get tired. And I fall behind. The past few days have been filled with the Ueno Zoo, meeting up with family, the Pokémon Center, the TeamLabs immersive art museum and the Cup o Noodle museum. Last night we had an extended adventure trying to find a restaurant that could accommodate us, and ended up eating a picnic dinner at a playground at 9 PM. Travel always brings adventures. This time the adventures came with a side of new friendships. At the end of the month we’ll be heading to Chang Mai for the Lantern Festival...Read More

Senso-Ji and Kappabashi

Posted on by Caroline
After a slow morning yesterday, we found ourselves dashing to get to our meet-up with the other families. We were a little overwhelmed by the Senso-Ji Temple. It was astonishingly beautiful, but it was also very crowded. We enjoyed visiting with the other families while we looked at the various food and souvenir stalls at the entrance and watched all the people go by. Tim eventually found the counter to get our goshuin - it was a long line but a beautiful seal. I love seeking the goshuin out, it helps us see the temples from a new perspective and record our memories of the day. Later we got a chance to explore the Kappabashi area. It’s known as kitchen...Read More