It seemed like a great idea to take advantage of living in Europe and visit one of Germany’s famed Christmas markets. Our Whole Village’s Patricia Monahan had been to the Christmas market in Cologne and loved it. We settled on Dusseldorf’s Christmas market because we could get inexpensive, direct flights; a good price on a nice, […]

My husband’s mother is Peruvian, making my children 1/4 Peruvian. It’s a big country and despite having visited numerous times, we still have a lot more to see and show our kids. But, we’ve been there twice with our daughter and so, in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, which kicks off today, I thought it […]

Kids are picky eaters; even the most voracious tend to have their limits. I know very few kids who will try absolutely anything put in front of them. Quite the opposite, the majority turn up their noses, cross their arms, wrinkle their faces in disgust and say something along the lines of, “I don’t like […]

Madrid is a great city to visit with kids. Little ones are welcome everywhere — museums, restaurants, cafes, shops — and there are playgrounds around nearly every corner. Food, Glorious Food There is some great food to be had in Madrid (and the wine is on par). The biggest issue for many visitors with kids […]

Our Lisbon stop was short but with sufficient time to sample some great fare and a couple of ice cream shops as well.  Traveling through central Portugal, the Portugese Coast and parts of Spain with a 5-year-old and 11-month-old, we decided that it was easier on this trip to eat lunches out and cook dinners back […]

Welcome to San Francisco. You can call it the City or San Francisco or occasionally SF but please, please, whatever you do, don’t call it San Fran or Frisco or any other nickname that comes to mind. You’ll peg yourselves as tourists immediately (if you haven’t already done so by showing up in the city […]