2nd day in Lisbon, we did a day trip to Sintra to see the colorful Pena Palace. Like many popular attractions nowadays, to better manage the crowds, the palace implemented timed entry. I booked the entrance at 10:30 AM instead of right when it opens just in case of delay of the train or bus.… Read More Summer 2025 Family Trip – Sintra: Pena Palace and Quinta da Regaleira
With two little kids, picking vacation destinations became trickier and less flexible. As much as we love to explore less touristy towns and villages, we also try to avoid having to carry the car seats. We chose Lisbon and Madrid based on their low airfare (via TAP Portugal’s stopover), easy access to public transportation, and… Read More Summer 2025 Family Trip – Lisbon: Ajuda National Palace, a hidden gem
Japan’s most famous castle – Himeji Castle; it took me the 3rd trip to finally visit it. We took the train from Osaka Station to Himeji Station which took around 1 hour (included with our Kansai Area Pass). From Himeji Station to the castle was a long 20-minute walk but super easy; flat road along… Read More Japan’s Most Famous Castle – Himeji Castle
First vacation of 2024 (sorry, I have been super busy and forgot to post this trip), the kids’ first long-distance trip to Japan and China! We flew Japan Airlines’s 12-hour nonstop flight from Boston to Tokyo and then a connecting flight to Osaka. My daughter did very well on the flight; the cartoons kept her… Read More Uji – Its Famous Green tea!
Our third Polish city and final stop was Krakow. The direct train from Warsaw to Krakow took just 3 hours and cost $43. We arrived at 12:10 PM at Krakow’s main train station. The station reminded me of train stations in Japan, where above it is a shopping mall! We followed the signs to the… Read More Poland Christmas Markets – Krakow
After the amazing Christmas market at Wroclaw, we were looking forward to exploring more Polish Christmas markets. We took the direct train from Wroclaw to Warsaw which took 4.5 hours and cost $49.27 per person. The train was clean and comfortable but my only complaint was the seat map when booking online, the direction of… Read More Poland Christmas Markets – Warsaw
Ever since we visited the Christmas markets in Tallinn, Estonia, I have been waiting for our kids to be old enough to take them to European Christmas markets to experience the magic. My daughter cried to me after we returned from Norway and asked why we didn’t bring her; she wants to travel with us!… Read More Poland Christmas Markets – Wrocław
After a whole night of Northern Lights hunting, we only had 4.5 hours of sleep and needed to head to the airport for our flight to Bodo to Bergen to Alesund. The morning was beautiful and clear sky! We had one last view of the picturesque Hamnøy, the icon of Lofotens! Getting to Leknes only… Read More Norway – Lofoten to Alesund
After staying 3 nights in the southern part of Lofoten, I planned to stay in the northern part at Svolvaer for the next 2 nights. However, I was checking the aurora forecast at NOAA and it was expecting a solar storm in 2 days with KP index of 7+! I told Jason about the news… Read More Norway – Svolvaer, Lofoten Islands
The weather finally cooperated, at least for the morning, so I switched the itinerary to do the Reinebringen hike. The view from the deck of Eliassen Rorbuer was unbelievably photogenic. I realized a red cabin was right underneath the mountain across from the lake! The mountain ranges on the back were snowcapped overnight. Snowcapped mountains… Read More Norway – Lofoten Islands 2000 Steps Up Reinebringen!
