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We’re Going to the Arctic Circle

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I learned several years ago from a friend that Santa Claus lives in Finland. What!?! Santa Claus lives in Finland!?!? I did some research and found that it is true. An official Santa Claus lives just north of the town of Rovaniemi at the Arctic Circle in Finland. There is an underground park called Santa Park, Santa’s Village, and a wintery wonderland to explore. I decided that when my children were still young enough and old enough to enjoy such a trip, we would travel to the arctic circle to see Santa Claus.

When our oldest child was nine and our youngest three, I decided it was the best time to go. Our oldest is still young enough to enjoy the magic of Santa Claus. And I wasn’t terrified about our youngest wandering off into the wintry wood and freezing in the arctic. We decided to take the plunge and travel to Finland.

I’ve discovered that the more you know about a place you are going to visit, the more excited you become about the trip. I love reading history and travel stories about places I am going to visit. My children, however, need a different kind of encouragement. When I told them we were going to Finland, I was greeted by baffled looks and unenthusiastic responses. So, in order to help them become excited, I found a video with some music that I love (I can’t understand a word of it, but it is a catchy tune) that I hoped would arouse some excitement about our trip. It worked.

The Video That Helped My Children Become Excited About Going to Finland

I hope you like it. Maybe it will inspire you to take your children to Finland!

When Your Kids Love Travel Enough to Make Their Own Travel Games

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As a parent, I never know exactly how my children will respond to our travels. My oldest daughter just turned 10, and I am seeing signs of the positive effects of our world travels in her life. The other day she came home from school and told me all about a geography test that was so easy! She couldn’t understand why her classmates couldn’t find Australia on a map. We haven’t even been to Australia yet (and I stress yet, because I would really like to go there someday soon), but she is so interested in travel that she has a giant map of the world in her bedroom.

She has recently become interested in coding, creating her own games and stories through the website, Tynker. Below is a link to one of her games about world geography. She drew the map herself, so the dimensions are a little off, but she created a pretty realistic map of the world. So, follow the link below to give it a try. Maybe your children will decide to code some travel games, too.

World Map, by Alyssa Chamberlain

//www.tynker.com/ide/embedded?p=5a72016a76f293651e8b46c0&controls=false&autostart=false

Casco Viejo of Bilbao: Something Old and Something New

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Bilbao is a city I would return to again and again. My husband had lived there many years ago as a missionary for our church. Twenty years ago, as he describes it, it was a dirty, industrial city. Now the industries are gone, it has been cleaned up, and features beautiful modern buildings like the Guggenheim. I would return just to see the Guggenheim again. The new and modern architecture of Bilbao is what probably comes to mind when you hear Bilbao mentioned, but a hidden jewel tucked away from the downtown area is Casco Viejo, the old city.

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Casco Viejo, Bilbao

The old city is filled with a unique character, and interesting shops. I wish we had more time and more money while we were there. Spanish fashion, both for children and women, is vibrant and interesting. Casco Viejo is filled with current trends and also traditional clothing for children. I really wish we had bought our son a traditional Basque outfit, complete with boina. We called him hombrecito while in Spain. With a boina, he would really have fit the part. In addition to clothing, there are many artisanal stores, with modern high end stores mixed in.

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Bilbao Athletic Club

In Toledo, the streets were draped with canvas to keep out the harsh sun. In Bilbao, the streets were draped with flags and banners celebrating the Athletic Club of Bilbao, their professional football club. It is an interesting mix of medieval and modern, much like all of Bilbao. It has a different feel from central Spain. The northern coast is more rainy and green than the rest of Spain. In fact, a couple we met from Ireland says it is just like the Irish coast. There are remnants of Celtic culture in northern Spain. The bagpipes are played. Many churches display celtic symbols. Bilbao is part of the Basque country. The Basque country has its own language, called either Basque or euskara. Bilbao displays its signs in both Spanish and euskara. This language is spoken only in the Basque country. It has no known linguistic relatives. This adds an exotic air to this northern Spanish brigadoon.

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Camino de Santiago Scallop Symbol

Wandering in Casco Viejo, we came upon this plaque in the street. My husband and I have talked about doing the Camino de Santiago with our children someday. The Camino de Santiago was one of the major Christian pilgrimages from medieval times. Legend says that the remains of St. James were buried in the town of Santiago de Compostela. The scallop shell is a symbol of this pilgrimage. Like the lines on the scallop shell, all lines lead to a single point. In this case, that single point is the remains of St. James in Santiago de Compostela. This plaque is modern day interpretation of the scallop shell symbol. We encountered other versions of the symbol, a scallop shell carved in stone, in other parts of northern Spain. We were thrilled to cross paths with the Camino de Santiago in Casco Viejo. Whether on the Camino de Santiago or other less formal trips to Bilbao, we hope to cross paths with Casco Viejo again.

Other posts about Bilbao:

The Longest Birthday

/ Marie / 2 Comments

As a rule we try not to travel over major holidays and birthdays. With six people in our family, we always seem to be carrying a lot of stuff with us, even though we have rules to keep our luggage light. Everyone gets one carry-on bag. Each child has their own, unique, rolling bag from the Disney Store. They are bright and colorful so there is less chance of mistaken luggage. Each adult has one travel backpack. We designed these family travel rules to maximize our mobility, and to teach our children responsibility for their own belongings while traveling.

It is in part because of our desire to travel light that we don’t want to travel over Christmas Day or one of the children’s birthdays. We don’t want to have to bring extra things with us for the holiday/birthday, only to take them back home again.

Last year, we decided to travel to France during the winter break. We left the day after Christmas, and returned on January 6th. Schedules both with school and my husband’s job dictated in part our travel dates. The only problem? January 6th is our oldest daughter’s birthday.

We came up with a plan that would uniquely celebrate her birthday and minimize how long we would have to carry a birthday present around. Flying to Europe, we take a long flight to Heathrow, and then a shorter flight to our final destination. Our flight flies into Terminal 5 in Heathrow, where there is a delightful toy store. Our children are always begging us to buy them toys from there. As we passed through Heathrow on our way to Paris, we told our daughter that since we would be flying home through Heathrow, on her birthday she could pick out a toy from this toy store. We tried to create extra enthusiasm for this plan by telling her how special this birthday was. Because we were traveling west, her birthday would be the longest birthday ever! We thought we were brilliant. And bonus, we combined a lesson about planetary motion with our birthday plan! All during our trip, we tried to build excitement for her. She would have the longest birthday ever!

She was excited to have the longest birthday ever. She still thinks it is cool and special that her birthday lasted for about 36 hours instead of the traditional 24. The rest of our plan, however, did not go so smoothly.

It is true that on the way to Paris we traveled through Terminal 5. Unlike previous trips, however, we did not return through Terminal 5. We returned through Terminal 3. Now, Terminal 3 is a very nice terminal. We ate a delicious brunch. We perused a branch of Harrod’s. There was a kids’ area for them to play and get their squiggles out. The problem? There was no toy store. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Our plan was ruined! What could we do?

As luck would have it, there was a book store with a decent children’s section. While in France, none of our hotels offered the Disney Channel with shows our children are used to watching while we travel. Instead, our children discovered Ninjago. The book store had a book about the characters of Ninjago. So our daughter chose this book to be her birthday present. And she loved it. She still loves Ninjago. In fact, we made a special trip to Legoland when Ninjago World opened.

These are the lessons I take away from this experience:

  • It is a good idea to avoid travel on birthdays
  • If you must travel on a birthday, bring a small, suitable present with you
  • Do NOT rely on airport shops to buy a present
  • Having a longer birthday because of time changes is really cool for children (and adults)
  • You can never prepare for every situation, so be adaptable
  • Teach your children to be adaptable

What are your experiences traveling on a birthday or holiday?

 

 

Through the Memory of a Child

/ Marie / 1 Comment

I was sitting in church next to my oldest daughter, now 8, when she leans over to me and says,”Mama, I want to go back to that one museum.” As a family, we visit a lot of museums. I had no idea which one she wanted to visit. So I asked her, “Where did we visit the museum you want to see again?” She said, “I think it was in Spain.” Great. That narrowed it down to about 10 different museums in about 5 different cities. I needed more information. “What was in that museum that you want to see again?”

She then went on to describe the experience of walking through something shaped kind of like a ship, where the walls moved in and out, and it made you feel a little dizzy and a little sick. I thought about it, racking my brain for some kind of connection to her description. And then suddenly it clicked.

On our trip to Spain about a year and a half ago, we went to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. This museum is worth the trip just for the building itself, but installed on the main floor as a permanent exhibition is Richard Serra’s “The Matter of Time”. Several giant metal structures with wavy walls, some based in elliptical shapes, dominate the massive space of the gallery. It was designed as an experiential exhibit, allowing patrons to walk through each of the sculptures. I had never heard of this exhibit before, and I was a little intrigued. There was a sign warning people that walking through the structures could cause nausea and disorientation. That made me skeptical. Really? I didn’t believe that part. But I like to try new things, and so we walked through each of the structures in the gallery.

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The Guggenheim of Bilbao

Guess what? The experience of walking through curving structures where the walls lie at angles, sometimes seeming to close in on you above, sometimes narrowing beneath, sometimes seeming to lie parallel along an angular plain, really does affect how we experience space and time. Even while trying to maintain a regular pace, at times it felt like I was walking faster and at times slower. Our babysitter started feeling nauseous (poor girl) and had to sit down for a while. My skepticism melted away, and I felt in awe of how this sculpture affected my experience of space and time.

But I didn’t realize that it had profoundly affected my child as well. Almost two years later and without any inquiry on my part, she begged to go back and experience this art again. Sometimes traveling with children there are days that are tiring and difficult. Sometimes I wonder what they are taking away from all of these museums and architectural wonders, food and historical places, that we drag them to. These moments when I realize that our travels shape the way our children and experience and understand the world around them, makes all of it worth it. Someday, my darling, we’ll go back and visit the Guggenheim again.

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Richard Serra’s “The Matter of Time” courtesy of http://www.guggenheim.org 

When the Weather Doesn’t Cooperate

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Our third and final beach day in Santander, the temperature dropped by at least 20 degrees. It was dismal and rainy, and much too cold to spend at the beach. We were all disappointed to miss out on a day playing in the surf and sand. We decided to take a taxi out to see one of the lighthouses.

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We asked our taxi drivers to drop us off, but it was so cold and rainy they insisted on waiting for us. They told us to go take a few pictures, and then they would take us somewhere else. The taxi drivers in Spain that we encountered are the nicest collective group of taxi drivers that I have ever encountered. They were friendly and helpful, which was a huge bonus when traveling around with so many little ones. I wish I spoke more Spanish. It would have been pleasant to speak with them a little more.

We got out of the taxi and took some pictures of the lighthouse and the coastline.

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The northern provinces of Spain are green and rainy. We met an Irish couple in the previous town who told us it looks just like Ireland. Celtic culture is a part of the history of northern Spain as well. We saw Celtic symbols in some of the old churches we saw. The people also play bagpipes.

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Even though I was cold, I was so glad we had a chance to see this cliffs overlooking the ocean. I love the ocean in stormy weather!

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After we were finished enjoying the view and taking some pictures, our taxi drivers kindly suggested that we go to El Corte Ingles. El Corte Ingles is a large department store in Spain, similar to Macy’s, but also like a mini mall. It was a great place to spend a rainy day. The children had a great time checking out the toys, and playing in the play area. We ate at Burger King, which had Lalaloopsy Toys as part of the kids meals. My girls learned to love Lalaloopsy on this trip. It’s a children’s show that has dolls with button eyes as the main characters. I found the Lalaloopsy characters to be somewhat creepy, and my kids thought that was hilarious. There was a grocery store where we picked up some needed snack items and toiletries. My husband was even able to go to the doctor while there. He had developed strep throat on our trip. Thank you, taxi drivers, for the excellent rainy day recommendation!

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We were sad that our last beach day was rained out, but it was nice to have a low key day to rest and recharge before heading to Bilbao the next day.

How do you handle wrinkles in your travel plans? What’s the best impromptu experience you’ve had with your family traveling?

Santander, A Coastal City

/ Marie / 1 Comment

For those of you who have read my blog before, I must admit that this past year I have not been writing about our travels. We’ve been on several family trips, so it isn’t a lack of traveling that has kept me from writing. In returning to this blog, I thought about skipping the rest of our trip to Spain and starting with a more recent family trip. But in looking back through our pictures of Spain, I remembered just how wonderful a time we had there. So here I am, picking up where I left off.

When we decided to go to Spain, we knew we wanted to spend some time at the beach. The glorious, glorious beach!

Santander is located around the center of the northern coast of Spain. A long ferry travels to Santander from England, so you hear a mixture of British English and Spanish everywhere around town. We were there in May, so it wasn’t quite peak beach season. The weather, on average, was warm enough to spend a day at the beach as long as you didn’t spend too much time in the water. Playa del Sardinero is the largest and most popular beach in Santander. That is where we spent our beach time. The sand was soft and golden. The waves were large enough that you felt you were swimming in the ocean, but small enough that I felt safe enough to let my children play without being an arm distance away. Not like the California riptides where I feel that I have to hold onto each child at all times to keep them from being swept out to.

The curve of the beach is bordered on both sides by a rocky outcrop. When the tide goes out, there are tide pools to search for aquatic treasures. We stayed at Gran Hotel Sardinero, which is just across the street from the beach, a gorgeous white hotel with an architectural style similar to the casino, which it is adjacent to.

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Our hotel room wasn’t quite ready when we reached Santander. We arrived in midmorning. Our children couldn’t wait to get to the beach, so we left our luggage at the hotel, ran across the street and splashed right in.

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The central white building in this picture is the casino. The white building on the right is our hotel. In addition to playing at the beach, we took a boat tour around the harbor. There are two lighthouses in Santander, one towards each end of Playa del Sardinero. We got a good view of both on the tour, plus a view of the former royal palace.

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We didn’t do much else in Santander besides playing at the beach. It was a welcome respite for our children from the medieval cities and museums we took them to. Sometimes, you just need a day (or two or three) at the beach.

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Santillana del Mar: a Spanish Brigadoon

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Every once in a while in my travels, I come upon a place that seems arrested in time. If I look closely, I might find anachronistic details that verify I am still living in the 21st century. If I allow myself to be fully immersed in the charming beauty of a place, my mind filters out those pesky modern details, and I can imagine that I have stepped into the past. Or that a gem of a village has been hidden for centuries, and only the luckiest of travelers arrive in the right place in the right time to enjoy its beauty. Santillana del Mar is one of those cherished places.

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Hidden on the north coast of Spain, about a 20 minute bus ride from the ocean, Santillana del Mar has the combined charm of a small Spanish medieval village with the green landscape of an Irish coastline. One can easily imagine fairies and leprechauns hiding in the fields around the town, with an occasional curious creature exploring the village itself. Every picture you take, every corner you turn in Santillana yields beautiful and breathtaking sites. It is also an extremely restful and peaceful place. It is the kind of place where sitting and lingering over a two hour lunch, and blissfully strolling down the medieval streets, or watching your children play in the plaza, playing tag while weaving through archways and columns, is the best kind of day.

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It is the kind of place where magical things happen. We stayed in a hotel on this “main” street running through Santillana. Once upon a time, it was the house of the Marquis of Santillana del Mar, and it retains much of the charm of a 15th century manor. Our second night there, the restaurant across the street had a magnificent singer performing in the outdoor courtyard. The music tugged at our hearts. There was no resisting the pull of good music and good food to enjoy with those we love best in the world. We got our children dressed and went across the street to the restaurant for churros con chocolate, to be enjoyed as a light night treat. We ate together as a family, enjoying the music, but the magic of the evening could not just end there. We danced in the street with our children. It is a memory that they still recount, a magical moment that I hope they never forget. If only we could always find those magical moments in each day of our lives!

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A Day for the Children: The Madrid Zoo

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Part of the art of traveling with children is to balance more grown-up centered outings with those that cater directly to children. Our sixth day in Spain our children were showing signs of restlessness, so we took a day to visit the Madrid Zoo.

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The zoo was an longer, but manageable metro ride from where we were staying near the Prado. From the metro stop, a pedestrian pathway meandered through outlying areas of the beautiful Casa de Campo, to finally arrive at the gates of the zoo.

The Madrid zoo has very successful breeding programs. I saw more baby animals with their mothers on our trip to this zoo than I’ve seen anywhere else. It also seemed to be designed with human children in mind as well. There was a giant playground near the entrance, and the exhibits were structured in such a way that even our smallest children had an easy time seeing the animals.

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Several animals created with flowers on a metal frame decorated a field by the main entrance. It was a fun and fanciful introduction to a beautiful, relaxing day.

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The Madrid zoo contains a small aquarium within it. This dolphin show was a highlight of our day at the zoo. In addition to the dolphin show, they also have a sea lion show that is a bit more informative and bit less exciting. An indoor aquarium area showcases different species of ocean dwelling fish species. A large center tank has sharks, sea turtles, and sting rays.

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Before our trip to Spain, my husband told us about all the storks that build nests throughout Spain. Visiting a zoo in another country, one sees many familiar sights, but this one was new to me. The picture does not really capture the immense size of these birds and their nests.

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No matter where we are in the world, my children are always overjoyed to see playgrounds.  They would probably have been happy relaxing at any playground, at the zoo or in the neighborhood near our hotel. In our future travels, we should make a point to spend a few minutes a day at a playground. Everyone is happier after playing outside. The children sleep better and are happier to spend time with their parents exploring.

What ways do you balance children and travel?