Tagged: travel tuesday

travel tuesday: silly things in basel

hannah and claire at the dreilaendereck in basel

Basel: A quick girls’ trip to Switzerland. A breezy round trip for me, and a first time in Europe for Claire and Hannah. It was wonderful to see Europe through their fresh eyes, and, as it always is with friends, the smallest things were the best things.

claire with a giant pair of jeans in basel

Or, sometimes, it’s the largest things… like this enormous pair of pants that I forced a hesitant Claire to pose with.

an oddly grumpy wooden church pew man, basel

The church pews in the Basel Münster were adorned with extremely grumpy wooden men!

red face carvings at the basel rathaus

And the windows of the Rathaus were bedecked in small, individually distinct faces.

tavern lantern featuring a urinating dwarf in basel

We spotted a tavern lantern that featured a urinating dwarf…

giant birkenstock in basel

… and a window-sized Birkenstock. Maybe it belongs with the giant pants!

wooden door in basel with exposed glutes

And of course, how could I resist sharing the wooden door with artfully carved men showing off their glutes? Resistance is futile. The glutes must be displayed.

the best schokocroissants of my life

On a much more serious note: these were the best schokocroissants I have ever had. I will never forget them, and I will never fail to wish I could continue to eat them daily. Three days, one croissant per day, was nowhere near enough.

Travel Tuesday is a semi-weekly feature that allows me to recap the many trips I’ve failed to formally document. I’ll be sharing photos and fuzzy (but fond) memories from recent and not-so-recent adventures.

travel tuesday: the land of st. patrick

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! As a proud member of the ghastly pale genetically Irish, I’ll be sporting my green for sure. And, since it’s Travel Tuesday, I’m sharing the obvious: a few photos of our family trip to Ireland in 2011. I posted an Ireland photo recap of days 1, 2, and 3 of the trip… but the blog never made it past day 3. This is what Travel Tuesday is all about, friends. It is with great pleasure that I bring you Day 6, July 19, 2011: Dingle Bay.

sheep at the coast in dingle, ireland

Dingle was the archetype of Irish landscape: lush, green cliffs dropping off into a brilliant blue sea. And the cliffs were consistently dotted with sheep.

sheep at the coast in dingle, ireland

So many sheep!

papa and andy on a cliff at dingle bay

We spent time climbing the craggy cliffs, some of us ascending higher than others (and making Mama very nervous). The colors and textures throughout the landscape were just phenomenal. The clouds rolled in and out throughout the day, lending my pictures depth and a perfect contrast to all the green.

dingle bay

andy skipping rocks at dingle bay, ireland

Eventually we descended to the small, beachy bay. We skipped rocks, and even waded in until the chilly water grazed our kneecaps. No matter what the season, if I’m at a beach, I force my feet to touch the water. It marks me: it means I was really there.

handmade raspberry sweatshirt

I wore a raglan-sleeved raspberry sweatshirt I had made specially for the trip. Pullovers are the perfect layer for traveling, because they don’t lead to competing hoods. We were the luckiest, though, for our Ireland trip had only one rainy day – not many hoods to worry about.

craggy cliffs at dingle, ireland

sheep climbing the rocks in dingle

shamrock on the sidewalk - dingle, ireland

First thing that morning, I saw a shamrock on the sidewalk – one of only a few that I witnessed on the trip. May your day today be filled with Irish blessings, and don’t forget your green!

Travel Tuesday is a semi-weekly feature that allows me to recap the many trips I’ve failed to formally document. I’ll be sharing photos and fuzzy (but fond) memories from recent and not-so-recent adventures.

travel tuesday: the doors of bruges

doors of bruges: wood

In 2014, I did all sorts of traveling. I love to look back at a calendar year, especially one as full as the year past, and tally my adventures. I visited one new country and two new states – 1.5 countries if we count Wales as a half. England, Wales, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium. Minnesota, Arizona, Florida, Ohio. A lot of planes, my favorite, and a lot of packing, my least favorite. But the new and exciting makes all the packing worthwhile, from the best schokocroissant ever in Basel, to the incredible apple fritters at the Donut Wheel in Tucson.

Okay, maybe I do travel mostly for the pastries.

doors of bruges: green

As a blogger, I’ve been terribly remiss in sharing my adventures. Much of this is due to my somewhat new belief that, when I’m traveling, I want to do more than capture the place: I want to soak it in. I can’t see, breathe, or explore a new place while observing solely through my camera lens. I’ve started to capture the photos that will recall a memory, rather than the photos of the sights we all know. Snowdon, the highest peak in Wales? Yeah, it’s a gorgeous mountain. But a picture of a brussels sprout leaf on the edge of the path? A reminder of the man who, on the day I climbed the mountain, was on his fourth and final day of pushing a brussels sprout up the mountain with his nose as a charity stunt (true story). Talk about dedication… and misery!

doors of bruges: wooden twins

In the end, regardless of the photos I have and haven’t taken, I want to share bits of my trips. Moments, ideas, thoughts, foods, whether they’re from last month’s trip or last summer’s trip. So, due to my love for alliterative post themes – which owes itself more to the fact that it makes an easy habit, rather than that I think it’s “cool” – I’m starting Travel Tuesday.

doors of bruges: blue castle door

This week, I was sifting through photos and noticed that, as ever, I am consistently drawn to doors. Whether it’s the doors of deutschland or Cleveland meets Boston, doors are my favorite because they have so much character. A quick trip to Bruges revealed a stunning assortment of wonderful doors, and I love this small, and entirely accidental, collection.

doors of bruges: green weathered door

Bruges is a darling, tiny city. Rivers and cobblestones and church towers; chocolate and mussels and, of course, frites.

the famous pommes frites of bruges

Who can say no to a mini bucket of frites?

doors of bruges: tiny blue door

I spent three days in Bruges with friends and we found good food and great beer. I don’t think the town lends itself well to a longer visit, but it is a magical place to see for a few days.

doors of bruges: wood and scooter

The wooden doors may be my favorite. Throughout Europe, I have seen so many gorgeous wooden doors, and they’re all so different. Wouldn’t it be fun to be a door designer? You don’t have to agree… but I think it sounds great.

doors of bruges: orange window

And here’s a window for good measure.

doors of bruges: orange and green

Last but not least, some green and orange for Brad and Sam. I will always stop for a good green and orange picture.