Did you know that Sweden has its own version of Stonehenge? Neither did I until shortly before I visited this mysterious Megalithic monument called Ales Stenar (which translates to Ale’s Stones) in Kåseberga, Sweden. For our second day of sightseeing in Skane, Elisabeth told us we were going to Ales Stenar, a historic site that’s like Stonehenge. I was instantly intrigued. I’ve never been to Stonehenge, but I’ve always wanted to go. A Swedish Stonehenge sounded pretty good to me. After an amazing lunch at Olof Viktors in Glemminge and then we were off an uphill trek to Ales Stenar.

With all of the surfing, hiking and general beach-ing you’re bound to be doing in Aljezur and the surrounding area, you’re bound to work up an appetite. For the self-catering types, you can check out Aljezur’s Mercado Municipal, which is located in the square just near the bridge in town. It offers for purchase fresh fish, fruit and vegetables every day.
If you prefer to let someone else do the cooking for you, there are numerous restaurants in the area serving excellent Portuguese cuisine…

A few months after I had started in my blog in 2009, Elizabeth Montalbano contacted me because she wanted to write a guest post about a life-changing trip she took to Aljezur, Portugal, to learn how to surf. Little did she (or I) realize just how life-changing that vacation would be. Fast-forward four years later, she contacts me to let me know that she moved to the charming little town of Aljezur and would I be kind enough to let my readers know about her guesthouse, Casa Boa Vista, which she rents out. Here, she describes why Aljezur is such a special place that you should at least visit it — and possibly even move there!

Glimmingehus looks rather imposing; a big stone box just sitting on the vast fields of Skane, Sweden.Whether this well-preserved Medieval structure should be called a castle or a fortress is up for debate: it was was meant as a fortress rather than a residence, although it’s not believed that there was ever a battle there. Another source of debate is whether we should be calling the castle/fortress Swedish or Danish because this region was part of Denmark when it was built from 1499-1506. But what’s not up for debate is that how family-friendly this attraction is. In a small outer building across from the castle/fortess is a playroom full of blocks!

There are beautiful roses in Kivik, a charming fishing village located in Skane, the southernmost county in Sweden. So beautiful that they don’t even look real! That’s because Sweden can be a bit rainy and then sunny and then rainy again. You know that phrase, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait a little while”? I had had always heard that for Ithaca, NY, and Scotland, and it’s certainly true for Sweden in the summer as well. Southern Sweden is covered in lush, green rolling hills and accented with bright flowers, and I guess you just can’t get those colors without a little rain, which we experienced last July.

San Francisco is one of the most fun cities to visit in the US. From the iconic Golden Gate Bridge and  seals at pier 39 to Lombard Street and Haight-Ashbury, there is so much to see and do… And eat and drink! San Francisco is one of the top foodie cities in the world, and […]

If you want proof that I wasn’t expecting much from our impromptu day trip to Kent, Connecticut, here you go: I didn’t bring my camera. Yep, all of these photos are taken by my iPhone 4 because I didn’t think that that our Memorial Day trip to Kent was going to be anything to blog about. Northwest Connecticut, the foothills of the Berkshires, is a beautiful area, but I’ve been there so many times throughout the years that I wasn’t expecting to see anything truly different. But the impressive waterfall at Kent Falls State Park blew me away — I was glad to be wrong!

We have lugged our BabyBjorn Travel Crib Light everywhere: Sintra, Lisbon, Seville, Stockholm and Copenhagen. We do this despite being reassured that many of the hotels and rental apartments where we’ve stayed could supply a crib for my son — usually even for free. But could I trust those cribs to be comfortable and 100% germ-free? No, of course not! Well, I just learned about a place where I (and probably any mom suffering from First Time Mom Syndrome) would let my son use the crib: The Suite Dreams Nursery at Grosvenor House, A JW Marriott Hotel, in London.

Wondering when is the best time to go to Croatia? Malta? Italy? Check out this helpful Luxury Summer Holiday Planner brought to you by Sovereign.com. Taking into account crowds, cultural events and weather (note to my American readers: the degrees are in Celsius), this guide tells you the best month to visit the best places and […]

I haven’t figured out exactly where we’re going yet, but I’m planning a big family trip this summer. This will be my two-and-half year old son’s third trip to Europe. He went to Spain and Portugal at 11 months and to Sweden and Denmark at 20 months. Both trips went off without a hitch and all three of us had a great time. But can we pull it off again without a hitch — with a two-and-a-half year old who’s cheerfully entrenched in Terrible Twos? Well, we’re going to find out! The trip probably won’t be easy, but it will be wonderful. In a woe-is-me moment, I asked some of the top family bloggers how they think we’ll fare with a two-and-a-half year old and which age is the toughest, in terms of travel?