Rome.... A city out of time

We decided to visit Rome in one of our weekends here in Stuttgart, we booked the tickets about 2 months earlier as the flight tickets go very high.....
We arrived there on FridayAugust 7th evening. Our journey began with a taxi driver who wanted to charge us about 30 euros more (you agree on the fare before you start your journey luckily) but after we arrived at the hotel, they told us that taxi fares generally increase after 10 pm (still we ended up paying about 5 to 10 euros more than what we should have paid), so better to take the taxi outside the arrival terminal.


As the taxi entered the city and approaching the hotel, we passed by some amazing buildings and churches, it felt like we travelled back in time to land in the early 60's.

We were staying at the St. Regis hotel, an amazing luxurious hotel. It was conveniently located on a 10 to 15 minutes walk from some of the major attractions there.

As we arrived around mid night and had planned the next day to start very early, we went directly to bed. We woke up next day, had our breakfast and hit the road around 9 am.

We had planned to visit the Colosseum first, it was about 15 minutes walk from the hotel. The walk was really interesting as you get to see some nice buildings and plazas, also you get to do some window shopping ;)

Just as we approached the colosseum, the view was overwhelming...

It felt like we are heading straight back in history to attend one of those gladiators battles and see the emperor of Rome and all the senates cheering in their thirst for blood.

As we got closer, it became more and more overwhelming, till we actually arrived at the location.

N.B. purchase the tickets online before you go as the line to buy the tickets is extremely long.
Even though we had our tickets in hand, we still had to stay in a long line to enter but still it was way shorter and faster than the other line to purchase the tickets.

Two things to be aware of when you start your day; Rome is not a baby stroller friendly at all, so you will do a  lot of lifting specially going down the stairs to the colosseum. The other thing is how hot the city can get in the summer, we were there in August and it was extremely hot,take as much cold water with you as you can and be sure to have all the protection measures needed for your baby (sun block, hat, water...)

N.B. wear comfy shoes (better sneakers) as you will do A LOT of walking

The sight consists of three attractions; The Colosseum which is the main attraction and it would take about 3 hours (with the entrance line time included) that's in case you go as early as 9 a.m, the latter you go more time it would take.

There is also another attraction which is the Roman Forum and the Palatine, they are two ancient sights connected together, you access them through the same gate and with the same ticket

Looking at this ancient sight brings back the picture of all the ancient roman senates and you could even imagine them in one of their parliament sessions with the roman emperor debating and taking decisions.

Once you are done you can grab some italian pizza at the pizza snack bar across the colosseum and have some rest too ;)

After we finished our tour we decided to walk around for a better sense of the city, the city is amazing, every fountain or plaza is worth a photo (if only you can survive the heat). The hot weather forced us to head back to hotel around 5 pm for some rest.

We decided to go to the Piazza Navona for an afternoon coffee and gelato, this place is a must see specially if you have kids, they will enjoy the opportunity to run around freely in this pedestrian area.

The obelisk at Piazza Navona

We spent about 2 hours there and then we headed to the famous Trevi fountain; even though it is being renovated and most of it is hidden now; you can still feel how amazing this work of art is, it is SO BEAUTIFUL in every way.

N.B. the area around Trevi fountain is very good for souvenirs in terms of variety and prices.

We finished our day with a dinner in the same area as the Trevi fountain and what would be better than having Italian pasta in the heart of Rome :)

Next day we only had about 4 hours as we were supposed to take the train to Venice about 2 pm, we had the chance to visit one of the beautiful churches here.

While there, no matter how little time you have in the city, make some time to visit at least one church, the city is full of beautiful churches worth visiting.

Berlin with kids

We have stayed in Berlin for about 4 weeks, we were staying at the Westin Grand Berlin in downtown, to be exact in Friedrichstraße street.

This is considered to be a very busy area and mainly touristic as it is almost 10 to 15 minutes walk away from all the touristic attractions in Berlin including museums and sights. It is also a shopping mecca as it has almost all the eurpean brands around the streets as well as several major shopping malls and centers.


As a traveling mom, the first thing I try to locate as soon as I get to a new place is a major supermarket where I can get all the baby essentials from diapers and wipes to food and snacks. Luckily, only 7 minutes walk from the hotel there was a major supermarket (my favorite in Germany) Rossmann, there you can find different baby food brands, my favorite was Hipp; they had it in all forms so you can easily pick what suits you; I used to get the jars so it would be easy to feed my baby directly from it when we are out, and there was also the ones you can heat in the microwave and those ones I used when we were staying in the hotel. There is also all sorts of juices, smoothies, yoghurt or the fruit porridge. They have a wide range to select from unlike the other markets.

They also have this brand "baby dream" which I tried in shampoo and body wash for babies, I loved it. They have all their products as well; wipes, diapers and food.

You can also find all the essentials for your baby there, if you need anything whatsoever for your baby; it will be there.

So after settling down and unpacking, we started our day trips in the city to discover it. One thing I really loved there was the ability to walk easily to almost everywhere I wanted to, thanks to our location of course and the planning of the city.

For kids over 3 years old (which wasn't our case unfortunately)I'd recommend going to the Lego land, it was only 10 minutes away from our hotel, next to the Sony center, it looked pretty nice but Elly is too young to enjoy it unfortunately.

There is also for kids above 3, the children museum. These are places where kids can have fun with their families, as mentioned earlier I couldn't try them as my baby won't be able to enjoy them still.

Berlin is full of huge parks, we had a big one only 10 minutes walk from the hotel, we have been there a couple of times where she had the chance to let some energy out :)

One thing that turned out to be interesting for our little baby was unexpectedly the "Memorial for the murder of the european jews" she went around exploring as if it was a big maze ....

One thing I didn't come across or try though heard a lot about was the family cafes where you as a parent can enjoy some coffee or tea while your little ones have fun at the same time, didn't see any of those though they are supposed to be everywhere.

At the Gallery lafayette on the third floor for kids there is a small play area where you can take your kids after some shopping ;)

My favorite place was the museum island, where there are five museums, you can also find the Berlin major cathedral known as Berlin Dome at the beginning of the island, there is a park and a fountain where you can enjoy some sun or a breezy weather and let your kids have some fun running and playing around.

For toys there are some small stores and other major ones, the major 2 stores that we really loved were:-
"Toys R us" at the mall of Berlin, though the collection wasn't overwhelming
"Play mobil" at the mall of Berlin

For high end clothes:-
Gallery Lafayette
KaDeWe
For stylish and good quality clothes:
Zara
For every day use clothes:
H&M
C&A

One thing you have to consider is the law for taking kids in a taxi or car, kids have to be seated in their own car seat, if your child is above 3 years old you won't have a problem as all the taxis have car seats for them but if you kid is as mine less than 3 years old, you will have to use your own car seat, sometimes they will let you use the bigger seat, but usually they will give you a hard time.


Hope the above info could help make a smooth start for first timers in Berlin with kids, traveling with kids doesn't have to be complicated :)






  

A journey around Europe

So we just moved  to Berlin and we are supposed to be staying here till the end of July then we will be moving to Stuttgart for another month, we are planning to do a lot of traveling during our stay here, so stay tuned ;)

We started our journey by visiting Amsterdam  before actually arriving here. Amsterdam actually exceeded our expectations in so many ways, we thought we would be bored and won't have much to do with our little angel there but surprisingly we spent 4 days there and felt like we needed another 2 days at least, the city though small but it has a lot to offer for those who want to see....

We arrived at Amsterdam around noon on Saturday June 27th, just as we stepped out of the airport we were so happy to enjoy some sun light, it was so bright in every way. We took a taxi to the hotel which was at the city center, close to everything.

And, as we travel with our little angel, we care a lot about how the city is in terms of kids friendliness. Here, in Amsterdam, as soon as we stepped out of the plane it was so obvious how much people here love kids, at the airport there was a fast lane at the passport control for families with babies (not so much common as you might think). As we went to get our luggage, we needed to ask one of the KLM crew about something and she (after answering) asked us to wait for a minute, she actually went to her office to bring a small teddy to our baby....

As soon as we arrived at the hotel, there was another teddy and a note waiting for our little baby, and whenever we wanted to ask the concierge about anything, he would give her some candies :)

This spirit affected us as much as our baby, she was so happy in Amsterdam knowing that actually people will play with her and give her some nice stuff, and this actually continued through out our stay here.

So excited, we left the hotel in one hour and went around discovering the city and the areas around us, it is so amazing how you can walk around the city and never get tired, this is one of the most walkable cities I have visited.

The first thing that overwhelmed us was the old beautiful buildings, built wall to wall and very well maintained, you can spend your morning doing nothing but walking around and watching those amazing buildings overlooking the different scattered canals of Amsterdam.

Walking along we came across the Dam square (it's where the Dam in Amsterdam comes from), this is the royal palace in Amsterdam, it is an old palace that looks fairly nice, it isn't overwhelming though compared to other palaces through out Europe, but it is worth checking out while you are there.

One thing is worth checking while you are there is the small cafes scattered around the square, you can have some coffee and watch the world pass by, or better get yourself inside one of those cheese stores in the area and try some of the world's most delicious cheese ever.

We continued walking passing the amazing Madame Tussaud museum and the long line of people waiting to enter, we decided not to go in as we have been to other Madam Tussaud in different places around the world. We Kept on going till we came across hotel D'Europe, this is a major landmark in Amsterdam, the owner of this hotel is the owner of Heineken Beer, the biggest and most famous beer company in Amsterdam and around the world. If you are not staying at the hotel, you can enjoy a fantastic dinner at their restaurant overlooking the canal and enjoying an amazing view.

Right before getting to the hotel, you will pass across the place where you can get into a boat for a ride around Amsterdam, it was fairly nice and cheap, a fast way to take a look around the city, the boats leave every 30 minutes so you can easily catch one.

On our second day there we decided to go to Nemo museum with two of our friends and their little girl, it is a kids' museum and by all means a must do if you are there with kids.

The museum has 3 floors, first floor is for basic scientific activities like soap bubbles and how sound travels, mechanical experiments and more.
The second level is for a more scientific experiments, they actually have a factory operating system model where kids can imagine themselves operating a factory.....
There is also this part about space and how to draw 3D and architectural drawings.
The third floor is designed for teen agers, music and the sexual education...

Give it about 3 to 4 hours of your day, you can then have lunch at Vapiano's just across the bridge from the museum.

We then went to rent a private boat and went strolling across the canals for 3 hours. It was so relaxing and our little angel was asleep so we had some quite time as adults lol.

We finished our day around 10 pm, but since Amsterdam is a city that never sleeps; as per the hotel concierge: as long as you are out in the streets till 3 am then you are ok but not later !!!! anyways, we went for a quick dinner, we picked an Argentinian restaurant overlooking one of the closest canals to us: The grasshopper. It turned out to be the best dinner we had in Amsterdam, then we took a walk down through the red light district.

At the red light district, no photos are allowed so I won't be posting any. It was a new experience I'd say, worth seeing ....

We really felt the city was so safe, even though drugs are permitted legally there and you will see young people smoking hash in the streets in day light but still, may be it's because they are permitted in very small portions I don't know.

There are two main museums there, Van Gough museum and the Reichstag museum, both are art museums and you should at least plan to visit one of them. Unfortunately, we planned to go to the Reichstag  at the first day but we got lost and skipped it. We still regret it till now but may be that would an enough reason to go back one day :)

On the third day we decided to rent a car and drive to Brussels, it was about 2:30 hours drive, pretty much straight forward. We arrived there around 5 pm so we spent the whole afternoon and evening and got back to Amsterdam around 10 pm, time for dinner again :)

On our last day here, we decided to walk around and have tons of photos, went souvenir shopping. P.S. don't miss buying the small handmade houses, they are replicates of real houses, if you compare them to the streets you will find that you bought a replica of an existing house. They look amazing.

Note:-

If you are a fan of the Delft art, or if you have time, you should go visit the Royal Delft experience.
You will get to experience this beautiful art.They have some amazing antiques and souvenirs in their street level shop, but for an extended experience you can go to the showroom and you might even get to paint one piece yourself.

Overall, Amsterdam was above our expectations and we really enjoyed every bit of it.

Costa Rica from the Caribbean to the Pacific coast

Costa Rica is a very beautiful (small) country, here it is all about the amazing nature of central america. There is something for everyone, whether you are into surfing or relaxing over the sands, whether you are into the adventure or gazing in the skies. You will always have something to enjoy.

The people here are kind and always smiling, may be it has to do with the relaxing atmosphere of the country "Pura Vida".
The main language of course is the spanish and all "ticos" speak it but you can find that the younger generation are learning and practicing english now better than before.

The country has two coasts, one on the Caribbean sea and the other is on the Pacific ocean, we have been to the Pacific side twice and enjoyed every bit of it.

Pacific Coast

Our first time there we stayed at a small hotel which was just OK it was on Flamingo beach, the view was amazing, and of course if you are lucky and the weather is sunny, you can bet you will have a very nice tan :)

The sunset on the ocean is just AMAZING, no word can describe it, you can just spend a lot of time watching without looking anywhere else till the sun dives down the ocean.

The next time we visited this place, we came back after 2 years with our little angel and we decided to go to the Westin resort at playa Conchal; it is a great place with a huge pool. The beach is a bit different and the color of the water is so beautiful (again you will be lucky to enjoy it without clouds).
I totally recommend this resort for families, kids will enjoy the pool and the beach, they also offer a lot of activities inside and outside the hotel; you can go surfing, cycling, jet skiing or you can join them in their indoor activities like the water aerobics, volleyball, yoga classes, coffee tasting, cooking classes ...... etc.
It is an all inclusive resort with amazing restaurants, whatever restaurant you choose be sure it will be perfect.

Arenal Volcano

No trip to Costa Rica will be complete without a trip to the Arenal volcano, this was the country's most active volcano for the last 43 years, now (thankfully) in a resting phase.

View of the Volcano from our room

P.S. the drive to the volcano could get a bit rough as you go up the mountain, and it could get very foggy so better be careful and start your trip early in the day light.

My favorite hotel in Costa Rica is the one we stayed at when we went to see the volcano; Nayara hotel
It is a luxury hotel, it is very big; has a beautiful lake full of fish, the rooms have the best Arenal volcano views, the service is amazing and last but not least; you can treat yourself to a relaxing massage or "volcanic mud" body wrap at the spa ;)

Fish pond in the resort garden

Activities:

You can plan your activities ahead or you can ask the hotel to arrange them for you; there are a lot of things to do and see over there, among which are:

1- La Fortuna waterfall

2- The Volcano hike

3-The longest Zip-line
4- Horse riding
5- Enjoy the afternoon in a hot spring

Manuel Antonio National Park

The most beautiful national park, it is located on the pacific coast of Costa Rica. Try to visit early in the morning as it always starts raining around 11 am.

It is better to hire a guide to take you through the park as they come with their telescopes to show you all sorts of birds and animals even if they are hiding up in the trees.

When you are on the beach, try to be cautious as the monkeys there would jump around you and try to grab whatever you have in your bags, they specially go for the food :)

View from our hotel main restaurant

Manual Antonio beach

Monkey running after steeling crackers

San Jose

If you are going to stay in San Jose for a while, you can spend some time sightseeing here as well, don't expect too much though :)

Poas Volcano

This is an active stratovolcano, if you have some time in San Jose, you can drive for about an hour and a half to see this volcano and to enjoy the national park, the only thing is; you have to go early in the morning (about 9:30-10 am) to be able to see anything as it gets very cloudy there and chances are you won't be able to see anything....

That's actually one thing I hate about Costa Rica, the weather is so unpredictable that no matter how you plan and plan you can still be surprised how the weather would change and dramatically affects your visit or tour. It all depends on luck I guess :)

Downtown and around San Jose

There are few things worth seeing here in downtown, I will list some of which here:

1. La Sabana Park
2. The National Museum
3. Avenida Escazu (perfect for dinner or lunch)
4. Children museum

Shopping Areas:

There are 2 major shopping malls here in San Jose:-

• Multiplaza mall
• Paseo de las flores

If you want to go grocery shopping:-

• Walmart
• Auto Mercado
• Price Smart

Manuel Antonio week end

Last weekend we decided to go to Manuel Antonio national park so we booked our hotel, packed our bag and hit the road.
It was about 3 hours drive from San Jose during rush hour so you can easily take about 2:30 hours to get there. the road was simple and more of a straight road unlike the one you take to Arenal volcano for example. Our little angel was asleep most of the way which helped a lot :)

Arriving at Quepos city we just fell in love with the place. It was an alive city that stays awake at least till 10 pm, great change from San Jose.

We got at the hotel at about 8 pm, they all spoke English to our surprise, the hotel is located 5 minutes drive from the national park. It is more like apartments hotel instead of rooms, we had an apartment (huge one) with 3 bedrooms but they only opened one for us to keep the others well maintained if not to be used (good thinking actually).


They welcomed us with the most refreshing orange and mint juice (AMAZING). They had everything already arranged for us, we took the elevator that opened directly into our apartment, just as we went to the window we found a perfect view of the ocean which in the morning was breathtaking.

View from the main restaurant

The pool area before sunset

We loved the hotel pool, it was a big infinity pool overlooking the ocean and it had attached to it a shallow small pool for the little ones as well.

Going to the spa we walked through the greenery just to have some amazing views of the ocean.

View of the Pacific ocean 

In the morning and after breakfast we hit the road going to Manuel Antonio national park; what a place, for me and after staying in Costa Rica so far for 4 months this is my best and favorite place of them all.

After getting our tickets and entering the park, we started walking in the middle of a huge rain forest, we had monkeys jumping around us up on the trees, we saw different species of them too.
TIP: Hire a guide to explain all about the birds, animals and plants there, they come with a telescope as well to show you the hidden ones ;)

We walked for about 30 minutes before we arrived at the best beach in Costa Rica, the most beautiful one by all means. It is kind of hidden in the forest from the big waves of the ocean, the water is clear and the waves are minimum, be careful though as being in the middle of the wild life you will find monkeys and raccoons running around the beach trying to find something to eat in those tourists bags.

Manuel Antonio beach

Someone is missing their crackers

Sitting for a photo shoot with the crackers

I would recommend going early though as it usually gets cloudy and rainy around noon so the perfect thing would be to go around 8 am, yes you will do a lot of early waking up in Costa Rica if you want to enjoy it. Also, being a national park the beach here has no services at all except the showers and toilets so be prepared with anything you might need (Towels, snacks, water...etc.).

We managed to go there twice, first day it actually rained on us on the middle of the trail to the beach and we decided to leave but as soon as reached the car it stopped raining and the sun came out so we went back again. The next day we were much better prepared, we went around 9 am and left around noon, it was really worth going.


In the evening and after a long day walking and swimming, we had dinner at the Marina Pez Vela and enjoy the sunset there. They have several dining options you can choose from, we tried the Runaway restaurant; the portions were really big and the food tasted really good. We tried the Crab dip for starters (amazing) and both of us had the coconut shrimp, everything in this place was so good that we regret having only one dinner there.

We are hoping to go again to Manuel Antonio may be next weekend or so :)

San Diego for a week end

We were staying in LA for 2 weeks and we decided to drive to San Diego for a weekend before we get back to Atlanta, the drive was really smooth and our little angel just slept all the way ;)

This place was like a whole city built for families, we loved spending time there and the weather was really perfect as well (we went in early April).

We were staying at Sheraton hotel - very close to the airport- and we enjoyed everything about the hotel:-

 The Amazing View

view from the club lounge

The Club lounge:  It was convenient for breakfast, we were not around to try the afternoon snacks though.

The Pool:  It was so big and overlooking the sea with the view of all those Yachts... it was perfect

The hotel pool

And it was only 10 minutes drive from the main attractions.

We have been to two of the main attractions there, we chose them based on ratings and what could be a first time to experience.

Sea World

An amazing place to see, one day is not enough but it was all that we had unfortunately.
P.S. rides are for kids who can walk, if your baby still can't walk then you should take that into consideration.

From the entrance when you get to interact with different kinds of fish and your kids can touch them and put their hands in the water so the fish would touch them, through the rides in different theme areas to the shows and the different exhibitions of the penguins and the Beluga whale....etc.

The most amazing thing we loved there was the whale show.

Also the flamingos were such a treat to the eye..

We all loved this place and we had lots of fun.

San Diego Zoo

To be honest we had expected more from the San Diego zoo but may be because we have been to a lot of open zoos in Africa so we were not so impressed, but one thing to say is it has very distinctive collection of animals.

The one thing I really wanted to see was the Panda, it was my number one on the list but unfortunately and after a wait time of 20 minutes we only saw the panda sleeping :s

A must see  while you are here is the Kuala section, who would imagine you can find Kuala in this part of the world...

Also, the Bears (you can see them swimming when it gets hot)

And you finally have to pass by the Hippo, if you are lucky you can get to see the baby hippo (we were not).

San Diego in general is amazing, you can take a walk or go jogging by the ocean at sunset and enjoy a beautiful view.

I can rate this city as a number 2 in family cities in the united states. If you are on the west coast plan visiting this place.

Shanghai with kids

We arrived here in November 2014, we were so worried about the weather and the pollution and if Eleanora is going to be ok with it, we made our search and saved the contacts of the international hospital there (just in case we needed it, thank God we didn't ). Surprisingly we found that it wasn't that bad, may be we were lucky, the pollution percentage changes often and it could go very high for several days so you better check before traveling.

Shanghai was a great experience for us, I am so happy we were able to go and see this part of the world. If you are planning to go with a baby or a toddler you should take this into consideration:-

Best place to buy anything for babies (Food, diapers,lotion,cream,shampoo.....):-

• City Super

you can find it in IFC mall or Shanghai times square

P.S.  Although you can find everything here (American,European and Japanese brands) it will be more than double its price back home....

This place was our favorite as you can find all the international products here.

•  Children Market

10am-7pm

English address: 10 Puan Lu, near Jinling Lu, Xuhui district

Chinese address: 徐汇区普安路10号, 近金陵路

This place is a hidden gem, it is very suitable if you want to buy clothes, toys, accessories ... name it and you will find it.

This is like a wholesale market, no price tags and don't expect people there to speak any english, you will have to find your way there (and it is tough but worth it)

I loved this place and was able to come out with some good deals, specially children underwear and PJs.

Try to go for local products, if you want knock offs, you will have to look very hard for good quality but once you find them; they are really a good catch.

Sellers there are not so friendly and like in so many markets in China if you tell them a price they don't like they will turn away and leave you, they don't mind losing the deal, some of them even hang a sign saying "no bargaining" on their doors, just try and if you find they are so stubborn you can leave and return at the end of your tour there.

• Science and Technology museum 

This is the best place for fake products, there are a lot of stores selling kids products but you have to look for good quality.
TIP: go for kids shoes, gloves, icecaps and scarves, here they are of good quality and very cheap.
Also if you have a baby girl or child, you can get her some nice accessories here, they are cheap as well.
Here, whatever price they tell you go for as low as 20% of it and start going up bit by bit, you will end up paying maximum 30% of the original price they told you.
If you have a nice sunny day out, you can take your kids there to get some steam out, it has a nice outdoor area they can play in.

• TIP: Practice cautious and don't buy kids milk (or formula) at any local place, you either order it online or buy it at city super, they will also take away any milk powder they find with you at the airport.

You can also go to different places for sightseeing and some family fun, here I will list some that we really enjoyed together..

The Bund

Pudong seen from the Bund

My favorite view of Shanghai, you can get to see modern Pudong from one side and the other side you will see amazing old classic architecture. Also, you can take your kids for a walk and some time in the sun and open air when the weather is good.

East Nanjing Road

A pedestrian street, this is the main shopping street in Shanghai and the busiest street. You have to visit this street at least once and you should know that it is completely different at night than at day; my recommendation is to see it first at night, you will enjoy the view of the signs and lights. But if you want to go for shopping I would recommend you to go by day. This is a must visit place for sure.Also there is this  tram that you can take to see the area (very touristic but nice).

My favorite stop there was M&M's store, it is a big store and they have this "Great wall of chocolates" that you can't resist :)

M&M's store in Nanjing road

Nanjing road at night

I hope you find this brief information about Shanghai with Kids helpful, and I hope you will enjoy your stay there, it is really a city worth visiting.
You can message me for any specific inquiries about Shanghai with kids and I will respond as soon as I can.