travel Archives | Page 3 of 11

a day trip from london to windsor castle

August 13, 2018

// up close with the guards – William didn’t want Gigi to get too close! //

London is one of our favorite places to visit for so many reasons! We love to visit our family there, there are one million things to do in the city and so many wonderful places to go and things to see just a short train ride outside of the city.

Windsor Castle

One of our favorite day trips from London is Windsor. It’s just a short train ride which, if you have children, is an adventure in itself for them! The train is such an easy and relaxing way to travel and before anyone realizes it, you’ve arrived at the station in Windsor and Eton Riverside. Our first stop is usually Windsor Castle which is at the top of a charming street through the village of Windsor. Touring the castle is fairly short; William was interested in everything we saw and all of the stories behind the different rooms. Seeing Queen Mary’s Dollhouse is usually a highlight, but this time it was closed for repairs. Just means we’ll need to go back on our next London trip. The other neat thing about visiting Windsor Castle is seeing the guards up close! They do the official changing of the guards every so often and you can get close enough to take a picture.

St. George’s Chapel

Within Windsor Castle is St. George’s Chapel, which is the place where Prince Harry married Meghan Markle… so of course we had to go see it. The Chapel is fairly small and intimate, holding only 800 people, and it’s absolutely beautiful! Sunday services are held in the Chapel and they are open to the public. We would love to go to a service the next time we’re in London.

Eton

Eton is a quick walk from Windsor Castle, just across the River Thames. It’s a special place with lots of memories for us – we used to always head down to see/feed the swans since we were babies! During our visit this time, William and Henry had their first experience with the swans and they loved it. After seeing the swans, it’s a nice stroll across the river into the town of Eton. The George is a favorite pub there and it’s kind of a tradition for us to stop in for a drink. It was such a beautiful day, so we sat out in the garden for bubbles and beer before hopping on the train back to a London! The perfect ending for a day to trip to Windsor.

on stia: embroidered top/skirt // white jeans // crossbody bag // slide sandals // sunglasses (similar for less)

on jean: denim jumpsuit (more sizes here) // crossbody bag // bow sandals // sunglasses

|the village of windsor|

// walking up to the castle //

|walking up to the castle|

|the viallge of windsor|

|view of the castle from the village|

// in front of St. George’s Chapel //

// celebrating the Royal Air Force 100 year anniversary while we were at Windsor //

// visiting the swans on the river on the way to Eton //

// carrying on the tradtion with the boys //

// he is the happiest little guy //

// a perfect stop after a visit to windsor castle //

// pub stop at The George //

on stia: embroidered top/skirt // white jeans // crossbody bag // slide sandals // sunglasses (similar for less)

on jean: denim jumpsuit (more sizes here) // crossbody bag // bow sandals // sunglasses

Cheers,

Stia, Jean and Katherine

visiting the algarve

August 6, 2018

champagne toast with a view of the sea tivoli hotel algarve

| spectacular views from Sky Bar at the hotel |

// eyelet maxi //paisley maxi

Last week we shared our side trip from London to Lisbon with you guys and we mentioned that we also visited the Algarve area in Portugal as part of that trip. We were so excited to see another part of Europe and being able to incorporate a stay in a new city along with a beach vacation seemed like a win/win to us- and it was! When we read about the Algarve in this Vogue magazine article we were really intrigued (the beaches looked simply amazing!) and decided that’s where we would spend our beach vacation. It’s even more beautiful than the pictures, the food and wine are top notch and the people are so warm and welcoming. It’s also fairly unspoiled and there is even a bit of a language gap between English and Portuguese, which in our opinion only adds to the unique experience. After our time in the Algarve, all we can say is… You guys need to go now!

view of pool and sea tivoli hotel algarve

| views from the hotel lobby and mare bistro |

| first beach day |

Where to Stay

Tivoli Carvoeiro

We chose Tivoli Carvoeiro solely based on this article in Vogue and we are so happy with our choice. The sea views from everywhere in the hotel are fantastic! Now that we’ve been there, we can assure you the views are even more breathtaking in person than what we’ve seen in pictures (if that is even possible!).

Rooms: Tivoli Carvoeiro has a great set-up for families. They have a “family room” which is essentially a one-bedroom, two-bathroom suite with a pull out bed in the living room. We booked a family room with terrace, which gave us a huge outdoor patio and views of the amazing coastline and sea. Jean & Bill were in a one bedroom room, with the same terrace size and view. The rooms are spacious and so light and bright- perfect for a beach getaway.
Breakfast: Breakfast was included in the hotel room rate, so we ate there every morning before heading to the beach. It was a buffet breakfast with so many food items to choose from – plus, a champagne and mimosa bar!
Pool: We spent time by the pool each day after returning from our beach adventure. The views from the pool are spectacular too! There is a full bar and food service at the pool as well.
Sky Bar: The hotel has a rooftop bar with more amazing views. It is such a perfect place to start the evening with a cocktail before heading to dinner- we went here every night.

| beach on day two |

blue & white gingham two piece // coral coverup // eyelet coverup // blue & white one piece // blue & white sun hat // wide brim sun hat // round sunglasses (similar) // tortoise sunglasses

cocktails on the rooftop tivoli hotel algarve

| pre-dinner cocktails at Sky Bar |

// rainbow striped maxi // tortoise sunglasses

babies with view at breakfast tivoli hotel algarve

| views from breakfast at mare bistro |

// sailboat pjs //

| cliffside beach adventures|

Where to Eat

We had such great food and wine in the Algarve. Fortunately we all like fish, including William and Henry, because seafood is abundant and we ate it every day- except our husbands had steak on our last night. Also, the local wine selections are just so good. We tried wines that we’ve never heard of and loved them all. The level of service and cuisine was a pleasant surprise to us and again, everywhere we went William and Henry were warmly welcomed.

O Pescadar Benagil: This restaurant is a very short distance from the hotel in a small village overlooking the sea. The atmosphere was wonderful and the seafood freshly caught and so delicious. Chef brought us the catch of the day to select from and we chose the 4-pound snapper to share. This was our favorite restaurant in the Algarve- authentic, local, charming and it was unbelievably delicious!
Restaurante Rei das Praias: This charming beachfront restaurant is a must for lunch or dinner. The views out to sea are fabulous! The service was wonderful and the food was delicious.
Onze: This restaurant is located in the village of Carvoeiro and has a great view from the open air terrace. We had dinner here on our last night and our husbands had had enough fish, so they ordered the rib eye. They said it was one of the best they’re ever had! And that’s coming from two big Texas steak lovers.
Mare Bistro and The Med at the Tivoli Carveiro: On our first night we had a lovely dinner in Mare Bistro in a private room with a sea view to die for! The seafood was excellent and we had the opportunity to try some “new to us” wines. We enjoyed late afternoon snacks and drinks poolside at The Med. The cocktail selection was great!

|a walk down to the beach|

|pre-dinner drinks at the sky bar|

// floral maxi // tortoise sunglasses //

|gigi and the babies|

// eyelet coverup // blue & white sun hat // tortoise sunglasses

|picture perfect|

Beaches to Visit

There are so. many. beaches. in the Algarve! We were so happy to find the local area of Lagoa published a small handbook guide to the beaches near Carvoiero. It would have been hard to find many of them without the guidebook! And even with the guide, finding some of them was a little challenging, but so worth the effort once we arrived!

Praia da Marinha: This was the first beach we visited and it was beautiful. There are places to buy an umbrella/sunscreen and some food options, too. It was named one of the top beaches in the world – so it was also very busy.
Praia da Carvalho: You enter a tunnel through the rocks and once you make it down the steps, you are greeted with a breathtaking beach! There were people cliff jumping and great areas for the boys to play.
Praia De Vale Centeanes: We stopped by this beach after lunch one day and William loved exploring the caves!
Praia de Albandeira: This was the beach we visited on our last day and it was our favorite beach. It was quiet, and a huge rock separates the beach into two.

|kisses from henry|

// coral coverup // white ruffle two piece // wide brim sun hat // round sunglasses (similar)

baby boys with sea view algarve portugal

|the best little travelers|

|took these stairs and tunnel down to the beach|

|soaking up that algarve sun|

//eyelet coverup // lemon print one piece // blue & white sun hat // tortoise sunglasses

// blue & white one piece // blue & white sun hat // tortoise sunglasses

What to Wear

The Algarve is a beach area, so the dress code is basically casual, but definitely resort casual for dinner. During the day swimsuits and coverups were our uniform. At night we would freshen up and change in to a casual maxi dress or sundress. It is definitely a more relaxed vibe than Lisbon.

// coral coverup // white ruffle two piece // wide brim sun hat

|dinner at our favorite spot|

|sunset from the hotel|

|aperol spritz – cheers!|

Things to Know

Our hotel provided towels for the beach which was very convenient.
Bring plenty of sunscreen – we went through 1.5 bottles while we were there!
Buy a beach umbrella in town or from one of the local vendors near the beach.
We also bought a bucket and shovels for William and Henry to play in the sand.
Bring snacks and water. Many of the beaches don’t have any food services or food nearby. The guidebook to the beaches indicate which beaches have services and which don’t, so there aren’t any surprises when arriving at the beach.
Some of the beaches are challenging to reach. Some have a lot of stairs to reach the beach, some have no stairs but a climb. We had more fun walking through caves and tunnels to reach some of the beaches, but we also were worn out from some the hikes back up from the beach! And, be aware if you are traveling with kids – there are beaches that aren’t stroller accessible.

|the cliffs were breathtaking|

// eyelet coverup // wide brim sun hat // round sunglasses (similar)

|sky bar before dinner|

mom and baby boy at the beach in the algarve

|beach baby|

// blue & white gingham two piece // wide brim sun hat // round sunglasses (similar) //

Cheers,

Stia, Jean and Katherine

ten tips for flying internationally with babies

July 31, 2018

While we were in London, and Lisbon and the Algarve in Portugal, we received so many DMs for sharing tips on traveling with babies! It’s so exciting that many of you are traveling abroad with babies soon, too! While we are not experts by any stretch of the imagination, these are ten tips that worked best for us while flying internationally with babies. A lot of these tips will work well for domestic trips, too. We hope that this is helpful for all you soon to be traveling mommas, and if you have any tips of your own, please share with us!

Ten Tips for Flying Internationally with Babies

No. 1: Buy a children’s book about the place(s) you’re visiting

This was a huge help in getting William excited for the trip. We have two London books (this one and this one) at home and while we’ve always enjoyed reading them, they took on a new meaning now that William is old enough to realize we were actually going to see everything in person. We took the books on the trip with us and we made sure to check off everything that we saw that was also in the book. While we were out and about William spotted a few things before we did and he still is talking about everything we saw!

You can also find similar books for: New York, Paris, San Fransisco, California, Pacific Northwest and National Parks. We have them all!

No. 2: Talk about what’s expected on the flight.

The flight to London is long. William hadn’t been overseas since he was 9 months old and this was Henry’s first time. They’ve traveled a lot, but this was by far the longest flight with the two of them. We talked about it a lot prior to the the actual trip. We talked about how the flight would go – that we were flying at night and that we got to sleep on the airplane. The boys wore pajamas and I also carried on Henry’s sleep suit and both boys’ lovies. We let William watch his first movie ever and then after they served dinner it was time for bed. It was much later than his normal bed time, so he had no trouble falling asleep! Henry slept in the bassinet around the same time.

No. 3: Bring a travel stroller

We have talked about our travel strollers that we brought with us and they were absolutely the best thing to take! Because of the size, you don’t have to break the stroller down when going through security, they are lightweight and you can open/close with one hand. Seriously a game changer for traveling.

No. 4: Eat before the flight

Airplane food is not the best, so we decided to get to the airport early, eat dinner at a restaurant where we knew the boys would get a good, full meal and then sleep well. We didn’t want to depend on the airline’s timing of the dinner meal or what the options might be for the boys.

No. 5: Snacks, snacks, snacks

If all else fails, snacks are usually distracting and take up time! I always get a few things we wouldn’t typically eat all the time at home. Things that I know William likes (annie’s fruit snacks and mini m&m’s, for example), so that way he is excited to have them. They can also be used for bribing power! We are not above bribing 😉

No. 6: Buy a seat in the bulkhead

This is worth paying more money for when choosing seats for the flight. The bulkhead gives you lots of extra floor space! You can stand up and walk around or stretch without disturbing other people and… for the best part about the bulkhead… keep reading!

No. 7: Reserve a Bassinet

Airlines have baby bassinets available on long-haul flights, but they are only available for use in the bulkhead. So, if you are traveling with kids, be sure to book seats in the bulkhead so that you can request a bassinet when you get to the gate. Most planes only have 1-2 per flight and it’s first come/first served – at least on American Airlines!

No. 8: Make it special- anything goes

You want to make the flight enjoyable for you and those around you. We typically don’t do much screen time, so it was a special treat that William was able to watch a movie. Henry is at an age where you do everything you can to keep him entertained! It wasn’t hard on the flight to London because he slept the whole way there. It was a different story on the way home – just due to his age and him being very busy. It actually made the time pass quickly since we were so busy keeping him occupied!

No. 9: Don’t do more than one major time zone at a time

I would suggest flying into an initial location and staying a few days before moving on to the next location – especially if it’s going through another time zone. Two years ago we flew into London, had a 2 hour layover and then flew from London to Helsinki, which was another 2 hour time difference. I was up every night with William for a few hours because he had a hard time adjusting. I think it would have been different if we had been able to stay in London for a day or two to adjust.

No. 10: Stay busy to beat jet lag

This was probably the thing I was most anxious about going into our trip, especially with two babies now. As soon as we got to London, we had lunch and then went for a six mile walk. Getting the boys outside was key and they slept in the strollers if they needed too. We went to a park and they got a lot of fresh air and William ran and played hard. We got back home around 6:00 pm after our walk and time at the park and then we started to get dinner ready. They ate as usual, took a bath and were in bed around 8:30 pm. They both woke up around 10:30 pm and then around midnight they fell back asleep. They slept the rest of the night and woke up around 10:00 am the next morning. That was our hardest night. After that they fell into the rhythm of London like a dream!

What are your tips for flying internationally with babies? We are always looking for new ideas!