Tag: holiday

A week in Provence, France

We have just returned from a wonderful week in Provence to celebrate Katarina’s 60th birthday.  There were 8 of us on the trip and Katarina rented a beautiful house for us all to stay by the small hillside village of Claviers.

We had a wonderful time visiting villages in the area, as well as swimming in the local lake.  We even visited the city of Saint-Tropez, which was nice but a bit crowded.  After the city, we decided to visit the beach, which turned out to be “clothing-optional.”  The ultimate French Riviera experince, I suppose.  But since we had already paid for parking, we decided to stay.  At least it wasn’t a problem finding a changing room!  (We wore bathing suits.)  Sorry, no pictures from that part of the journey.  Had a feeling that cameras would not be welcome.  Don’t worry, you really didn’t miss anything.

Here are some pictures from the week:

Italy – Puglia – May 2012

We have just returned from a week in the Puglia region of Italy.  It was very beautiful and quite different from the other Italian regions we have visited.  Most of the buildings were white and we were close to the sea.  We stayed on a large property about 15 minutes away from San Vito dei Normanni.  The property used to belong to a shepherd before it was converted into small houses.  We even saw someone herding sheep one day.  They also had many olive trees and even a few lemon trees.  There were donkeys to wake us up in the morning.
We mostly ate orecchiette (local pasta), burrata (heart attack inducing cheese), mozarella and tomatoes.  Most of our meals were outdoors because the weather was so nice.  The boys spent most of their time in the kids’ pool, eating caprese, searching for lizards, and playing on the swing.
One of the best parts of the trip was celebrating Måns’ birthday!  We woke him up with presents and an ice cream cake (that lasted 5 minutes before melting).  Then we spent the afternoon in Lecce and Otranto.  A nice way to ring in a birthday!

Italy October 2011

We have spent the last week on vacation in Italy.  The weather was wonderful and it only rained one day!  We stayed in our own house high up on a mountain.  We met wild boars, goats, donkeys and mysterious monster goat creatures along with a scorpion who came to say hello in our bathroom.

We were by the Mediterranean Sea and took a day to visit Monaco and France which were both just an hour away.  Monaco was very pretty – a small city in the mountain facing the sea.  Lots of yachts, casinos and fountains.  Very pretty, even though our pizza and sodas cost 60 Euros.

Nice was much bigger than I thought.  There was a beautiful beach with smooth rocks and the most tropical blue color we’ve ever seen.  The boys had a great time splashing around there.

It was a great trip and we got in lots of relaxing at the house and by the pool.  Already planning the next trip!

Dublin 2011

We had a great time in Dublin!  The city was very nice. Small, cute and clean!  We were surprised by how good all the restaurants were and we really enjoyed the pubs and the Guinness museum. Could not understand a word people were saying though. They talk a bit fast.