Kicking off a family roadtrip from Oklahoma to North Dakota – re-engaging in our plan to visit all 50 states together. The boys may or may not have dubbed this “the Boring States” trip, but from our initial stop, we aren’t experiencing it that way. We arrived mid-day into Oklahoma City and headed straight to the American Banjo Museum. Quite the collection of Banjos from the earliest used through jazz age and current. After visiting, Steve Martin donated the banjo that was built for him in connection with his Mark Twain award.
Afterwards we visited the Bricktown Brewery to refresh and have a snack. We then walked around the Bricktown canal for a bit. Fun area and imagine wld be great to visit in the evening.
We checked into our hotel, the National afterwards- a beautiful bank restored to a boutique hotel. Our room was spacious and lovely. We enjoyed a drink in the lobby, a gorgeous space with vaulted ceilings and a bank vault represented as the center bar area.
We had our special treat meal of the trip at Stock and Bond, recently appointed the top steakhouse in OKC. Shepherd opted for the filet with au poivre sauce, William the ribeye with whiskey butter, Rawls the pork duroc and me, short rib ravioli. Great setting, incredible service and delicious desserts to end the meal. Angelica our waitress was so much fun.
In the morning, we visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial remembering those who died in the 1995 domestic terrorism attack of the Federal building. The memorial was incredibly moving – it flanks the location of the prior building with 9:01 and 9:03 captured on each side – illustrating the impact of the damage that happened at 9:02 on the day of the attack. There are 170 seats facing the space, sized for adults vs children recognizing these seats are missing from the respective family dinner tables. The boys appreciated the survivor tree, the elm that withstood the attack and is recognized as a symbol of the good that can withstand such a terrible act.
Before getting on the road, we had brunch at Kitchen No 324- such a great spot! The boys loved their stuffed French toast, I had a great salad and William the lox and salmon roe plate. Our server was also genuinely friendly. The Midwest friendliness was fully our experience of the visit. Felt like authentic interest and kindness in all of our interactions. On the road to Kansas now with great memories of our stop in OKC!
In between our two extended family trips, we had a stopover in Romania. The intent was to recharge, connect into work for the week and have some space to explore leisurely. We rented a home in Fundatica, built by two brothers, “The Chalet Deux Freres.” We cooked at home every night until our last evening – recharging from weeks we’d spent eating out in Greece (incredible but hard to continue at the same pace). We fully enjoyed the vibe of the country and its people. International Tourism has not taken off – mostly geared towards domestic tourism – such that often menus aren’t available in English. We enjoyed the cordial but indifference to visitors perspective here. We’d definitely return.
On Tuesday, we visited Bran castle, the fictional home of Dracula. All loved visiting – nice blend of history, fiction and experience of a royal residence that was inhabited until fairly recently. We enjoyed a nice lunch after our visit at the cafe on the castle grounds.
Wednesday // we hiked out from our cabin
Thursday we visited the medieval town of Braşov. Braşov is charming – the 6th largest city in Romania and extremely walkable and easy to explore. Non-domestic tourism seems very limited here. We explored the city center and had an excellent lunch at an Italian favorite, Dei Frati. We only wished we’d had a bit more time here.
On Friday, we returned to Braşov bc we love this town and wanted to take the funicular to the best lookout point. Here we are riding up, walking along the ridge behind the Braşov sign and looking over the city:
And then walked back into town to another (awesome) Italian spot, Prato. We loved all and especially this Shrimp starter. Who knew Italian would be the food highlight of this stay.
We walked to the Black church and all around downtown
We went home and visited “Skully” Shepherd cow skull
And Wm made a traditional Romanian dinner
On Saturday, our last full day, we took the opportunity to hike in the national park and summit to Cabana Curmatura. The hike was over 7mi and 2k of elevation – the boys hardly complained and seemed to have a blast. Maybe we’ve turned the corner on hikes as a form of family torture.
Long and awesome day. We can back and rested/packed and headed to our last dinner here at DOR
We had a brief stop in Vienna before heading home. To see as much as possible, we scheduled a walking tour in the morning to explore the city center of Vienna. It’s a very beautiful area and just as walkable as the other Central European spots but with what feels like grumpier drivers.
We started at Stephansdom, the main catholic cathedral in Vienna. A bit over half the population is Catholic with a very small portion Protestant.
In front of Mozart’s first residence in Vienna //
Quick break in a stretch shopping //
Gingerbread reproduction of Stephansdom //
The winter palace //
Beautiful Lipizzaner horses //
Grounds of the Hofburg palace //
More Mozart //
Rawls top Vienna request, an “amazing” sausage. Found! At Bitzingers
For the afternoon we visited Schonbrunn Palace, the royal summer palace. No photos allowed on the interiors
And then the highlight of our day, Shepherd’s request upon seeing this was to go to the Strudel show at the Schonbrunn palace. Turned out to be very well done and a special guest joined the show around 2:22. Best day of the trip per S
For our Prague visit, we stayed in an apartment that was walking distance from the Christmas Markets and center of town. It was nice to have a bit space and love the walkability.
Day 1 // Breakfast today was a traditional Kolache – particularly traditional for William (plum and poppy seed), fruity for the boys (strawberry and blue berry) and savory for me (Brie and pear).
We walked around Wenceslas square and the old town square — the Christmas market setup is magical here. Much more involved than those we came across in Budapest and expect we will keep revisiting them for snacks and treats during the stay here. The boys loved seeing the Astronomical clock.
We met Paul for lunch at an interesting spot, Kantyna. It is a “nose to tail” butcher shop and dining spot — setup like a communist cafeteria in terms of how the food is served. We got our trays of food and the boys lovvvved their meals. Rawls esp loved the brisket. S didn’t want what we’d initially gotten so he picked up a tray and worked with the surly server to come back smiling with a plate of mashed potatoes and sliced rare beef. I loved the pickled cucumber salad
We left lunch and visited the Grand Museum of Natural science. The mineral section was very well done as well as the evolution area
Rawls took many pics of the animals presented throughout // he composed this and wanted us to share
Last stop- the cupola at the top of the museum. We loved visiting the roof for great views of the city.
We rested for a moment and then met Paul for a tasting menu at a very traditional spot u Modre – great menu for the boys and v fun time. Back at the apartment to ring in the new year momentarily!
Day 2 // Visiting Prague Castle and seeking out Music
We had a slow start this morning which everyone enjoyed. We started our day with delicious greens and smoothies after all the meat yesterday! But the boys very much wanted to try the mini pancakes at the markets so we did make our way there
We walked from the old town square over the Manes bridge to Prague castle – with a bit of a trek up to the castle and surrounding area. We visited golden lane, starting with the armor area. Rawlings enjoyed visiting the home of the fortune teller at 14 golden.
We had tea at a beautiful art deco lounge at Hotel Paris and the boys, intending to split an apple strudel benefitted from a happy accident of two arriving (S was thrilled even if doesn’t look it here)
We followed with a chamber concert of the Prague music orchestra at Obecni dum one of the most significant art deco building in Prague
And wrapped back at the markets to see everything lit at night – beautiful!
Day 3 // Prague Clock Tour
We started the day at a great bakery and breakfast spot, Eska in the Karlin neighborhood of Prague. Really interesting and delicious onion eggs and the boys enjoyed their pastries.
We visited the Astronomical clock from here which involves walking to the top of the clock and along the way visiting a number of official spaces that are part of the tower.
At the top. S didn’t love the heights
Afterwards we met Paul for a late lunch at the best vegetarian spot in town, Maitrea. Great to catch-up with Paul and we (I? 🙂 enjoyed a break from the meat.
We came back to the apartment for a bit and William and I ducked out for a brief date around the corner from where we’re staying. We came back and met the boys to go to a Vietnamese spot for dinner “Ngo” – continuing mixing up the food options today. Great spot. Vietnamese food is quite prevalent in Prague as many Vietnamese came to the country during the communist occupancy.
After dinner, Rawls still needed a snack so we found him one.
Day 4 // For our last day in Prague, we joined one of Paul’s official tours. We didn’t go to the one yesterday as we’d visited Prague castle the day before to avoid yesterday’s weather. Today looks great and this is the official old town tour of Prague. We weren’t expecting to get some of our favorite pics from the trip today but one of our favorite days. Rawlings proclaimed this the “best trip yet.”
The tram setup here is great with apps to purchase tickets for specific routes and identify exactly when the tram will arrive.
Our meeting spot was at the Rufolfinium, directly across from the mass shooting that took place shortly before our trip. The candle offerings stretched around the block and many stopped to pay respects.
Here Paul is gathering the group. He was so informing and entertaining- we were all very impressed. We met a couple from San Diego who said, as they were starting, they were wondering why an American was leading the tour – but as it went on they realized he’s very much legit and appreciated the history major background.
We went to the metro where a portion of an old bridge was uncovered as the metro was under construction.
Boys trying the best melted chocolate beverage.
Can you spot the coronavirus pastry?
William and Paul in front of a bar they visited in ‘99
Visiting the Jewish quarter synagogues a cemetery where rows of people were buried on top of one another (over 100k burried and only 12k tombstones)
The most “unique” sculpture in Prague. The artist depicted this as the Czech Republic considered the prospect of the European Union and felt the county was treated this way by its European neighbors.
Walking into Paul’s pub where he has officially become a regular. He essentially came here for 18 months straight before being given a seat for lunches. He gave Rawls a pin indicating the “regular” status at Lokal. Rawlings loved the Pork chop specialty, shepherd tried the beef with spinach (delish!) and potato dumplings and William and I split a beet and goat cheese salad, mushroom soup and a sausage.
Our trip to Central Europe is primarily centered around spending New Years in Prague with Rawlings’ godfather, Paul Evans, but we decided to extend on either side of this visit, starting in Budapest.
Day 1 // We started walking towards the city center – initially towards a bakery, Artizan, that turned out to be closed for holiday and ending up at a bakery, Bite. We took a cab from here to the Szechnyi baths to soak our weary 😉 travel bones. The baths were fun although Rawls thought a bit “odd”. We enjoyed the outdoor baths – a touch chilly to walk between. The boys enjoyed the very aggressive whirlpool circle in the center of the outdoor baths.
We meandered back to the Mystery Hotel from the baths, walking / exploring on the way back to the hotel. We stopped at City Park for a Wiener schnitzel sandwich “snack” for all to share. Shepherd checked out the local specialty, Langos and we walked over to Heroe’s Square by the Fine Art Museum.
In the afternoon we planned to go to the Light Art Museum (Rawlings choice) but it was at full capacity, so we ended up walking through the city center. Ended up being a perfect point in the day as the sun was setting. We went by the Danube and hoped to see the “Shoes on the Danube bank”— tribute to the Jewish people killed by the Hungarian fascist militia. While there were still candle offerings on the rail, the tribute is under water as the Danube is in a flood state.
Day 2 // Our second day was fun and full on. We started the day touring the Central Market hall and beyond with a Hungarian food tour (thank you Grammy + Poppy for the Christmas gift!). We toured the 3 levels of stalls and tried delicious, garlicky langos. The lunch spot (which was apparently on Bourdain’s Parts Unknown show) featured all the sausages. We wrapped the tour with all the desserts including the first ever gluten free cake on record (Eszterhazy cake made with almond flour) and the winner of the 150th anniversary of Budapest (the Natalis)
Later in the afternoon Rawlings choice came through and we visited the Light art museum. Very interesting set of pieces blending science and technology research, art and cause awareness.
From here we walked across town to the Szimpla Kert, a ruins bar and food tavern area where the boys had more Langos, sampled a chimney cake and discussed that there’s too much second hand smoke exposure in Budapest
Day 3 // We spent nearly the entire day in and around Buda Castle including the History Museum, the castle museum, walking the castle walls and enjoying the Christmas markets there. The boys had fun all day and never asked to move on.
We walked to the top of Buda Castle – the funicular was out of service and no grumbles when they had to walk up.
The Christmas markets – enjoying a cake ball and a very sweet woman who shared allll the available flavors with the boys
As part of the History Museum, we visited Stephen’s hall – a beautiful space with much of the detail executed in ceramic.
Visiting the Castle museum, this was a gothic chapel from 1342. The sign on exterior suggested you should pay attention to the written and unwritten rules. Rawls very much thought that taking this photo was against the unwritten rules.
Walking the castle walls
Then back across the Danube to the “Pest” side
We walked back downtown at sunset. This is Shepherd’s favorite statue which he dubbed “Ancient Florida man” as it appears alligator wrestling is happening
Then our favorite meal at Turkiz to wrap the night. Ask Shepherd if they “got the right animal” for his dinner
Day 4 // We wandered a bunch more today – heading towards the Jewish quarter in Budapest.
Along the way we visited the opera house and its beautiful ceilings and very pretty Christmas decor.
The Jewish quarter feels somewhat like the Riverside of Budapest- quirky character. We visited the last remaining aspects of the Jewish ghetto from WWII and the last standing part of the enclosing wall. We also visited the Dohany Street Jewish synagogue, the largest in Europe.
Lunch today was back at the caravan food tavern for new options – loved the salad we shared for lunch!
We meandered and shopped a bit afterwards. Rawls found a store entirely dedicated to Rubrics cubes.
Our last stop was the actual Szimpla Kert ruins bar which is next door to the spot we were on Wednesday night. Super interesting space that we cld have spent a lot of time exploring.
We packed up at Finch Bay hotel late morning after a great breakfast — and made our way back to the Baltra airport (small boat > taxi > ferry > bus). All straightforward in that there is only one option in terms of where to go for these things but there’s such limited development here that the idea of a bridge between islands would never happen.
We met the rest of our passengers at the airport — a family of 4 with older children from the Seattle area, a father and his two sons from Chicago, a mother/daughter from Boston and a couple from Antwerp, Belgium. We took a very short trip to the dock at Baltra to board the Seaman – definitely a nicer Catamaran and a very friendly staff. Our plan for the first day was – a late lunch, a visit to North Seymour island and back on the boat for dinner and navigating to our next spot. On N. Seymour we saw a colony of frigate birds who were mating along with other sea birds/iguanas and ended on the shore on the opposite side of the island to see some Sea lions playing. The rough part here is that Rawlings was possible a combination of sea sick and perhaps having eaten something bad and as we were walking around N. Seymour he was feeling bad.
We came back onto the boat at Rawls fell asleep immediately— we went to sit on top as the boat began to navigate away and the frigate birds were flying in sync with the boat!
We went down to dinner and let Rawls sleep through in hopes a lot of rest would help him few better. The crew had decorated the dining room in festive holiday mode when we had been out visiting the other island.
After dinner we were briefed on the plan for the next day and went straight to be. Rawls unfortunately got seasick over night and we stayed awake from very early in the morning. The next morning though he started to perk up (phew!). We’d made our way to the island Genovesa – a bird island predominantly and the only one where you can see all 3 types of Booby (blue footed, Nazca and red footed). After breakfast on the boat, we took the dinghy to “prince Phillips steps” to walk up to the island. Upon reaching the top, the island was far different from anything we’d seen – the colony of Nazca booby was everywhere – so many babies and mamas to be seen.
On the opposite side of the island we tried to find owls (they stayed hidden) and instead found a very nice couple we’d met on the Bartolome trip – Felix and Manon, honeymooning from Spain.
After this visit, we came back to the boat to get snorkeling gear and went out to snorkel in Darwin bay. Admittedly snorkeling conditions weren’t the best – bit of a current and while we had wet suits, it was still quite cold. Proud of Rawls for trying but William took him in a bit early. We saw some beautiful fish (angel, parrot) and headed back to the boat for lunch. Each time we got off the boat, there was a fresh juice, water and a yummy snack waiting for us. After cleaning up and having a nice lunch on the upper deck outside, we headed back to the beach area on Bartolome. We traded kayaking over to the beach area and then pulled up to shore, running into / yet again / Felix and Manon – ha! The beach area was very pretty with a dozen sea lions playing around. Rawls was anti-snorkeling at this point and we had some fun burying him in the sand while William and Shepherd saw a cluster of white tipped reef sharks while snorkeling off the beach.
After hanging on the beach for awhile, we went on a walk into the island and saw so many birds – tons of red footed and nazca booby, swallowtail seagulls, frigates and tropical birds.
We came back to the boat to shower, chill and to end the night, have a group dinner and briefing on the next day. Rawlings had a good day for most of the day and Shepherd seemed to be totally fine — but the transit to our island the next day was quite bumpy and he succumbed to some sea sickness right before bedtime – fortunately waking up the next day feeling totally fine. On Sunday morning, we woke up anchored at South plazas island (next to North Plazas – which doesn’t allow visitors as it is entirely a research center). South Plazas is known for its land and sea iguanas (and the opportunity to see a hybrid of the two) as well as a large sea lion colony, large cactus trees and tons of “Galapagos carpet,” a red growth all over the island.
After this visit, we came back to the island and the boat navigated to Santa Fe Island (two hours). We had a nice lunch and then Rawls – feeling some travelers bug – decided snorkeling wasn’t for him (and honest a bit rough for him not being super comfortable). William and Shepherd swam up close and personal with tons of sea lions – really crazy videos. There was a sea lion who jumped over shepherd…! Just after we all went on a walk around Santa Fe – with a very large sea lion colony, mega cactus trees and we had a couple rare sightings – a cactus finch and a Galapagos mouse both up in a very large tree that made William look small.
We had our last dinner on the boat with a send off cocktail from the crew. Our last morning wake up was going to be an early one – 6:30am breakfast as we arrived at our final destination island, San Cristobal – the political capital of the Galapagos. We visited first thing a Galapagos tortoises rescue and breeding center – great last chance for some up close and personal time with these guys.
We had our first lazier morning where everyone was up by 7am(!), but it was nice not have to rush anywhere. After a really nice breakfast at our place, we swam a bit at the place.
Finch Bay Hotel
A highlight on Santa Cruz is called Las Grietas and it’s a few minute walk from the hotel to its entrance. Once inside, there’s a 30 minute walk to see the “cracks”.
After seeing them, you can then go down and snorkel in water at the base — which we did and saw a bunch of large rainbow parrot fish.
We walked back to the hotel to “practice” snorkeling and had lunch / chilled for a bit.
Then late afternoon headed into Porto Ayora to explore the downtown a bit. The downtown area is quite relaxed and we enjoyed visiting many of the shops, having a bite at a great, outdoor sushi spot (Midori) and dinner at a little spot called the Rock.
Wow….! Pretty incredible day here – can’t recall a day feeling quite so magical. We met a small group ~10 to take a great boat trip out to Bartolome Island, leaving the downtown area around 7am and arriving to Bartolome around 10am. On the way we saw so many sea turtles, sharks, sea lions, birds – always something to spot.
We arrived to Bartolome island and first hiked to its peak.
Then made our way back down to take a boat ride along the coast where we saw a blue footed booth and.. the penguins!
We went and got gear to snorkel from there – Rawls was freezing (we’re getting wet suits for the cruise) and was struggling with the snorkel so we turned around to hang with the sea lions while William and Shepherd snorkeled with the penguins, sharks, sea urchins and such!
Today, we arrived in the Galapagos and we’re all a bit in awe of the arrival today – we arrived around 1pm today to the airport on Baltra Island – where we found our guide for the afternoon (Isabel). We took a couple minute shuttle to a Ferry to cross to Santa Cruz island. On the brief departure from the airport, we saw a land iguana walking into the airport, a seal jumped up right next to Rawlings on the ferry and we’d been there for minutes.
From the ferry, we drove to the Highlands of Santa Cruz to a tortoise reserve – we sampled a few empanadas as we hadn’t eaten since an early breakfast and walked around a maze of walking paths with tortoises all over the place. We respected the 10ft distance requested unless the tortoises were right next to the path, but we did see a girl leaning over the back of one of the larger tortoises and he didn’t seem to mind (most of the tortoises were male as the females were at lower elevations nesting).
We visited a lava tunnel as part of the reserve – apparently from two separate eruptions on the island. Rawlings had been looking most forward to this!
We saw so many other interesting plants and animals, Darwin finches, mockingbirds.
Afterwards we headed into the Port city and visited the Charles Darwin research center where turtle eggs are nurtured and baby turtles protected until they can be reintroduced into their native habitats.
It had been a long day and just as the boys were starting to drag, we made our way to the beautiful hotel where we’ll be for the next three nights!
Today we toured with a local guide, Ivan, who met us at our hotel and we drove north of the city towards Otavalo. After clearing the busy city area, we drove through a beautiful, mountainous area and saw many local farms – roses are a significant part of local export businesses and there are many beautiful flower stands right off the road.
Along the way we stopped in a small town area called Cayambe and visited a Bizcochos bakery – the best in the area according to Ivan (including his parents bakery where they don’t quite make the sweet biscuit treat as well). After watching the really impressive group of bakers, we sample their bizcochos, queso de oja (cheese wrapped in a large leaf) all with a dulce de leche they make to go with both. The eucalyptus in furnace smelled v. nice!
We drove into Otavalo, stopping at a lake lookout shortly before entering.
We drove through the town with a beautiful, bustling town square and from there made our way into a farming community to meet Claudia who would host us at her home for a prep and cooking experience. She brought out drinks as A welcoming tradition – A slightly fermented (so as to not create alcohol), corn beverage called, chicha.
After introductions – we got straight to work! Shepherd grinding the corn (chuchuca) and Rawlings cleaning the quinoa.
After quite a bit of prep – we visited the pigs to deliver scraps as well as the herb garden to collect what was needed to finish our meal.
And to make our dessert, we needed to make some more corn flour and in doing so, we visited the mill, which happened to also be where the pets (and future dinner) – the guinea pigs “cuy” were hanging out.
We ended up making a very yummy meal: – Watercress, pea and potato soup to start (made more yummy with a homemade hot sauce) – Main meal of Quinoa pancakes, chicken, broccoli and sautéed carrots, lupine bean (soaked for 7 days!), radish, avocado and cilantro salad. – Sweet toasted bread with a syrup flavored with mint and lemon verbena
After saying our goodbyes, we headed to the Otavalo markets, mostly containing many woven goods that are distributed all over the country.
We ended our day at Zazu back in Quito – a very memorable meal!
Colledge Adventures 