Father's Day was on Sunday this year and Paige, Millie Mae, and I went to Moon Dog for lunch to meet Grandpa and Grandma. We gave them some of the souvenirs we brought back from Europe for them, and treated them to a yummy lunch as well.
Andrea picked up some new Free Fly sun shirts for me, and all my girls were sweet to me. Connor texted me, without Andrea even having to remind him, and it was a great day.
This year’s family vacation was planned around Connor’s summer school schedule, and his upcoming study abroad session in Valencia Spain. We started the adventure with a flight to Toronto, a long layover, and then a flight into Amsterdam.
On our first day in Europe, we walked around the city in the afternoon on our own, did some shopping, and took a brief stroll through the red light district. Amsterdam is incredibly walkable. The canals and streets are beautiful and unlike anywhere else we’ve been. We had a great time just wandering around the city until the rain started. Thankfully we borrowed umbrellas from the hotel, but our legs and feet got wet and we ended our walk a little earlier than planned. In the evening we got back out and ate dinner at a restaurant that had a covered area near the street, so we could do some people-watching while we enjoyed our meal.
In the morning on Friday we had a Dutch style breakfast at the hotel and then did a guided walking tour around downtown.
We stopped back at the hotel and had a snack before our bike tour, which was one of our favorite bike adventures ever. We all had electric bikes, which made the biking nice and easy, but even with the e-bikes it was a complex and difficult ride. We rode through some busy streets to start, and then took a ferry across to the Northern side of town which was much more rural.
The paths opened out to the beautiful green countryside and we rode past many canals, boats, house boats, cows, sheep, and farm animals.
Our guide stopped off at a few places for pictures and to show us a windmill, dykes, and other uniquely Dutch things. We had a slightly longer stop at “Cheese & Clogs Irene Hoeve” where the owners showed us how they made cheese and their wooden shoes. It was a good spot for us to get Paige some souvenirs, and for us to try a variety of cheeses.
It was an absolutely perfect day for bike riding, with cool temperatures and no rain, and it was probably my favorite bike tour we’ve done on vacation. The views were amazing, the paths were busy but with few cars and seemed safe. It was relaxing most of the time, but it was quite the long ride. The bike ride ended after three hours, and our booties were all tired and sore. It was over 23 miles in total, and we were exhausted. We stopped off at a restaurant on the way back to our room and Connor couldn’t keep his eyes open. He drifted off to sleep while we waited for his food, woke up to eat his burger, then fell asleep again. We got back to our room in the early evening and Connor went straight to bed, with the rest of us following suit after we cleaned up.
Saturday, June 6th, we woke up early so we could go to our scheduled food tour at 10:30, but while we were getting dressed, Andrea realized it would be a 40+ minute walk to our meeting spot. We hurried the kids to get ready and I ordered an “Uber” from the local ridesharing system Bolt. The driver picked us up and got us over to meet with our group with a few minutes to spare. It was not as hectic of a drive as some foreign countries, but it was a tricky route with all the narrow streets, bikes, pedestrians, trams, and traffic.
The food tour started off at the HEMA store, where our guide purchased a fresh tompouce cake. It was kind of like a creamy frosting pressed between graham crackers. A short walk down the street took us to the FEBO restaurant where they served many different varieties of Kroketten. We stopped at another store to try some little spiced meats wrapped in grape leaves with doughy bread.
The food got a bit more exotic as we explored some of the Dutch colonial imported cuisine. At Toko Kamee, we sampled some Indonesian pastries which were kind of like Empanadas, and also some sticky rice rolls. The Indonesian food was Connor’s favorite of the tour.
We arrived at a bustling outdoor market for our last stop of the day. It was a huge area lined with shops and restaurants. We went to a landmark spot where they serve up fresh herring. The owner of the shop showed us how he prepares the little fishies daily and then we all tried some strong shots of a dutch liquor before tasting the herring. We wandered through the market and tried some fresh cheeses, mini pancakes, and finally the stroopwafels. Andrea and Paige liked the mini pancakes the best, they were warm and covered in powdered sugar. When we finished with our waffles, we split up from the group and wandered around the market a little longer before heading back towards the hotel.
We stopped briefly at the Brandy Meville store for Paige, where she picked up some Amsterdam shorts and a shirt. We would have liked to walk around a bit more, but there was a storm heading towards us, so we decided to take the rail car back to our hotel. The railcar was a little stressful as our Apple pay didn’t work with American Express, the driver slammed the doors on us while we were halfway on, and she scolded everyone for standing near the door. We survived the adventure and made it back to the room before it rained, so it was worth the trouble.
Sunday, June 7th, we started the day with a cruise in the canals. Andrea found a cute company that offered rides along with drinks and apple pie. The ride was comfortable and peaceful and it was nice that the boats were almost all required to be electric, so it was a smooth quiet ride. It was neat to be down in the canals and we had a different perspective of the city while we learned a little bit of the history and local lore.
Monday, June 8th, was our travel day to Brussels Belgium. We had breakfast at our hotel and then got a ride to the train station. It wasn’t really that far, but we are terrible packers and with four huge bags, three smaller carry-on size bags, and our backpacks, it was too stressful to drag it all through the streets. The train station was a little overwhelming at first because there were a lot of different stations and we struggled to find the lounge at first. Eventually we figured out where to go to catch our train and got to the right platform. Getting on the train was more difficult than it should have been because of our ridiculous luggage, but we found our seats and managed to cram our huge bags in to the spaces above our seats
The ride on the train was smooth and relaxing. We were served some drinks and a meal, and in a couple of hours it was time to disembark. We used the Bolt app to get a ride to the hotel, and then we did a bit of exploring around Brussels. We did a little shopping at a vintage clothing store for Connor and went to a toy store for Paige to pick up some more Jelly Cat stuffed animals. We had pizza and pasta for dinner and then worked out in the gym before bed.
Tuesday, June 9th, we got up fairly early for our waffle making class. It was a small group, with another family of four from Ohio. We got a brief history of waffles and an explanation of how to mix the ingredients, and then we got started. We had lots of options for what to put on our waffles, including fruit, jellies, and syrups. We had planned to absolutely pig out, but we each had two waffles and then were stuffed.
We relaxed for a bit and then in the afternoon decided to try out a scavenger hunt game we’d purchased through Tripadvisor. The game had 10 locations that we had to walk to, and at each location we’d receive history and information about the spot, along with a clue. We had to use things we observed at the location to solve the puzzles and although we crashed and burned on the first question, we figured out what was required and solved the rest. Some were much harder than others, and everyone contributed at different spots to our success. It was difficult at times for everyone to get along, but we all survived without too much drama or too many arguments.
Wednesday, June 10th, we slept in way later than I would have thought possible, and then we boarded a train to take us to Ghent. It was a new and unique process to download the appropriate app, book the tickets, find the train, and find the correct section, but we did it. I held my breath when a worker came through and scanned tickets. He sent many people off to other sections of the train, but scanned our tickets with no problem.
The main station in Ghent was quite a walk from the castle we planned to visit, and we walked about 45 minutes to get there. We stopped off at a little restaurant on the way, where we were scolded for drinking water that we’d brought with us, which ended up putting us in a bad mood. We toured the “Castle of the Counts” in downtown Ghent and afterwards we took a little boat ride through the canals and around the castle.
The town was cute, picturesque, and we enjoyed our visit. Eventually it started raining, and we decided we were ready to get back to Brussels. We rode a tram to the train, and then the train to the Brussels Central station. We were in the mood for Mexican food and found a little restaurant with good reviews that hit the spot for dinner.
Thursday, June 11th, it was time to head to Spain. One of the most stressful moments was in the morning when I had to try and balance the weight between all our luggage to get the big suitcases under the 23kg limit and our carry-on bags under 8kg. The flight from Brussels to Barcelona was the strictest of our trip, and it was quite the delicate juggling act to get everything to work out. We had to put some coasters and random things in Paige’s backpack, but we got it to work.
Landing in Barcelona, we got a Bolt ride to the hotel and then walked around town a little. I got some middle eastern food with the kids and Andrea had some nachos. We did a little shopping and went to bed.
Friday morning, June 12th, we had to get up a little early to be ready for our Barcelona tour. Andrea booked us a ride around town on motorcycles with sidecars. The sidecar rides were super fun and relaxing, and sitting on the backs of the motorcycles gave a great view, but it was a little exhausting on the backseat after a while. There weren’t the best hand holds, and we were all relieved when it was our turn for the sidecar.
The tour was educational, and the guides were able to talk to us through the microphones during the ride. We went all around town, up into the hills on the outskirts, and stopped a few times for pics. We ended the ride downtown and had lunch before heading back to the hotel. Paige and I went to the pool for a bit, and we had a relaxing evening.
Saturday, June 13th, we took a ride to Park Güell to meet our tour group. The tour through the park was beautiful and we stopped at a few spots for pics. The weather was hotter than ever, and we tried to stick to shady spots where possible.
After the park, we rode a bus to the Basilica of the Sagrada FamÃlia. Our guide took us through security and gave us quite a lengthy overview of the church, its construction, and history. The church, and construction in general, was amazing. We were blown away with the size, scale, and the use of light in the cathedral. We snapped a few pics, but it’s fairly impossible to capture it in photos.
It was a long walk back to the hotel from the cathedral, but we broke it up with a stop at an Italian restaurant where we had some buffalo mozzarella, margherita pizza, focaccia bread, and gnocchi. We relaxed most of the rest of the day after cleaning up and cooling off.
Sunday, June 14th, was our travel day to Valencia. We packed up our things and the Bolt app failed us when our assigned driver was going in circles but never getting closer. We hailed a taxi that was driving by and made it to the train station with plenty of time to spare. We relaxed for a little while in the lounge and stashed away some drinks for later. Boarding the train was a bit stressful as the train car was mislabeled at first on the electronic signage, and everyone was crowding on and using the luggage storage by the door. I had to lift all four of our enormous suitcases up to the racks above the seats, near the ceiling.
We’ve enjoyed our train rides so far, but our ride between the Spanish cities started off rough. The people behind us put their yapping dog directly underneath my seat and their baby was fussy. The snacks were a little odd with a Tuna Hotdog, but it came with a pastry, and Paige managed to snag the last fruit bowl, so we survived. Arriving in Valencia was a bit rough as we hauled all our luggage out of the station and tried to figure out the best taxi and Bolt ride situation. We had a bit of a meltdown and argument during our decision making, canceled the Bolt, got a taxi, and made it to our room.
The place that Andrea found us in Valencia was super nice. It was in a historic building and the unit we had was renovated and very nice. We had been looking forward to the washer+dryer for all the clothes we’d been dirtying up during our adventures, and were a little surprised that the washer/dryer combo machine was odd and extremely slow with drying. We ended up with clothes hung everywhere throughout the unit, along with piles of clothes waiting to be washed.
For dinner, we looked around and decided to go to the TKO Taco place nearby, which was the same chain as the one we ate at in Barcelona. The setup was quite different, and smaller, and poorly run. Half the staff went on break right after we put in our order and things got super slow. We watched as a couple of young ladies put in their order, then a guy that ordered one of every taco on the menu.
When it was our turn, Connor put in our order for a bunch of tacos and guacamole, and we were surprised that within a few minutes of sitting down, someone came out with a small plate of tacos, shouting Connor’s name. We waved them down and confirmed that they had said Connor’s name, then we tried to figure out which of our tacos had come out. There had been no explanation, and the numbers didn’t quite line up with our order, but we were hungry and just decided to eat them while we waited on the rest of the tacos and guacamole.
Very slowly, other orders came out, and we noticed the guy’s large order with every taco came out after our initial small plate of tacos, but before the young ladies received anything. As other orders came out for other people ahead of us, we started wondering whether the small plate of tacos they gave us were not supposed to have come to our table. We noticed the young ladies outside asking about their order as other people were receiving theirs ahead of them, and we had the dawning realization that we had most likely eaten their dinner. Everything we had ordered, except the guacamole, came out eventually and then we were certain about what happened. The young ladies demanded a refund, and received it, and we felt awful. We hadn’t meant to be taco stealing jerks, and we rationalized that we were actually the co-victims of TKO’s terrible business design.
Once we finished dinner, we stopped by Valencia’s Brandy Mellvile store to buy Paige a few clothing items, and a corner store to pick up some apples, coconut water, and some drinks for Connor. In the evening, we continued laundry, and Connor worked on planning some adventures for later in the summer when his Florida friends planned to fly in to visit him.
Monday, June 15th, we slept in and relaxed in the morning. Once we got out and about, we wandered towards the FSU Valencia Study Center.
We found the building right next to the Torres de Serranos, which was part of the old city walls. Connor stood outside the building and we snapped a few pictures and then we pondered what to do next. There was a doorbell on the door and we were wondering whether we should ring it.
Finally, I did it and the door was buzzed open immediately. We went in and introduced ourselves and Connor to the man working at the reception desk. We explained that Connor was going to be attending the summer session and he was super helpful and welcoming. He introduced us to the director of the program who showed us around briefly and introduced us around. We went with the librarian on a really nice tour through the classrooms and the rest of the building. It was awesome how they integrated parts of the old city wall and some of the ancient ruins directly into the classrooms. We were so glad that we worked up the courage to ring the doorbell, and the staff couldn’t have been more welcoming or friendly.
We explored around Valencia the rest of the day and relaxed in our room and watched Spain play their first game of the World Cup.
Tuesday, June 16th, we didn’t have any plans for the day and decided to purchase another Scavenger Hunt from the same company that created the one we did in Belgium. The Valencia one was equally good and took us out to many interesting places that we otherwise would have missed.
During our adventure, we got hungry and decided to stop in at a McDonald’s for lunch. We don’t eat there often, but it’s something we’re often curious about in other countries and it was fun to see how different the menu was and it was somewhat familiar food to eat.
We did some shopping when we finished our scavenger hunt and then went back to our rooms to relax. In the evening we took a taxi to the beach where we had paella and pizza for dinner, before walking down the long boardwalk area.
Wednesday, June 17th, was our last full day in Valencia with Connor and the day that he checked in officially for his summer study abroad session. There were a few options available and we chose to go to the 11am dropoff time. Connor went back to get his ID, keys, and orientation and we were encouraged to leave him at that point. Thankfully we had visited a few days before and the staff remembered us and gave us permission to go up and see his room. I think they were worried that if all the families stuck around, the building would get packed and crowded, so they said that we should only stick around for a few minutes.
Once we got to his suite, we saw that nobody else was currently in the suite and it really didn’t matter how long we spent. Connor’s roommate Grey had already arrived at one of the earlier slots and had unpacked his things. He wasn’t around, but he’d left a sticky note for Connor, which was thoughtful of him. We helped Connor to unpack his things and we were thankful that his DJ board that he’d been dragging around Europe made it in one piece.
In Connor’s suite, there were two rooms downstairs and three upstairs. We didn’t know it until later, but there were four boys in the downstairs rooms and six girls upstairs. Connor shared his room with one student, and there was a living area with a sofa, table, chairs, and a small kitchen.
Once we got Connor unpacked we did some shopping at a nearby store and then came back to his room to drop off the food and things for his new place.
When we arrived, his roommate Grey was in the living room area and we chatted with him for a little while and snapped a pic of him with Connor before we left.
Connor had an orientation meeting later in the evening so before we walked back to our apartment, we gave him big hugs and kisses and told him farewell.
The rest of us walked back to our apartment, had gelato on the way, and started doing some packing for our journey home.
Thursday, June 18th, was our 22nd wedding anniversary, and we celebrated it by waking up super early at 3:30am so we could get washed up and ready for our flight. We wrestled our luggage down the stairs, took a taxi to the airport, and flew to Zurich Switzerland. Our stop in Switzerland was fairly long, and we relaxed in the lounge there and then caught our next flight to Toronto, then home.
It was quite the European experience this summer, and Andrea did an awesome job organizing the flights, places to stay, tours, activities, and transportation on trains. It’s awesome that Connor made it to Valencia safely, and he’s already been going out with friends and familiarizing himself with the city. We hope he has the most amazing summer ever, and experiences all the good things that Europe has to offer.
