Tag Archives: Travel

Our Cottage Christmas Getaway

I know it’s not totally unlike me to not write regularly, but just in case you were wondering why I went so silent after my last post, it’s because I’ve been away for the last three weeks! I’ve been blissfully knitting, designing, reading and generally being a big ol’ lazy butt while traveling through France and Belgium! You see, it …

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Med Cruise Day 6: Our 15th Anniversary in Istanbul, Turkey!

On our sixth day of the cruise we found ourselves celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary in Istanbul, Turkey! Istanbul was hands down one of our favorite places that we visited during our cruise.  This was one of the cities that I was able to plan for us to walk off the ship and visit without an excursion, so it was …

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Mediterranean Cruise Day 5: Kusadasi, Turkey

The 5th day of our cruise brought us to Kusadasi, Turkey. Apparently, it’s actually said Koosha-dasa (according to our guide) but I seem determined to say it like Kewsa-Dawsee. Whatevs. It was a short day in port, arriving at 7am and leaving at 2pm so we signed ourselves up for an excursion to the ancient city of Ephesus.  We had …

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Mediterranean Cruise Day 4: Athens, Greece

The fourth day of our cruise was our first proper excursion day and would prove to be one of the best.  Between the group we were with and the amazing guide, that day set the bar really high for the rest of our trip. I had joined us up on an all day Athens tour with PKTravel.com which was organized by …

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Mediterranean Cruise Days 2 & 3: My 40th Birthday at Sea

After a very long day in Venice on our first day, we got a good night’s sleep and got up early the next day to watch the sun come up on my 40th birthday. Yup, that’s right… I spent my 40th birthday at sea on a Mediterranean cruise.  I know, rough life, right? We got up, watched the sun rise, …

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Revisited: The Art of Andre Debru

Do you remember last year when we were in the south of France and I happened upon the work of an artist named Andre Debru?   He had the coolest art made of different bits of scrap metal and I was so taken by his installment in the roundabout in Roquefort that I just had to track him down and visit …

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Mediterranean Cruise Day 1: Venice, Italy

We have been home from our cruise for two weeks and I can’t speak for Xander, but I want nothing more than to click my heels, go back in time and do it all over again!  It was wonderful and far surpassed even my wildest expectations.  I was so worried going into this holiday that we were going to regret …

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ALL ABOARD! We’re going on a Cruise y’all!

Big news!  We’re going across the water!! Wait, no… not that water.  Before you get excited and think our visas finally came through and we are finally off to Pittsburgh, that isn’t happening yet. We’re going on a cruise!! What better way to make use of our time still in Europe than to explore it, right? Initially we had planned …

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Pittsburgh Day 2: Robots, Burgers and Hockey!

On our second day in Pittsburgh we were picked up early in the morning by Xander’s colleague, Tim, who took us out for breakfast.  Before we went to the states, Xander said that he wanted to have proper pancakes, so I went online and looked up “Best pancakes in Pittsburgh” and the results were unanimous – Pamela’s!  It just so …

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Pittsburgh: The First Day

RIGHT, so back to the story of our visit to Pittsburgh.  It all seems like such a whirlwind now, I can’t believe it has been almost four months already.  Why is it that the time you spend waiting for something drags on, yet the time that passes after something flies like the wind.  Life can be so bizarre that way, …

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Omg! We’re Moving … Eventually!

I’ve been meaning to write this post since we got back from holiday, so here it is – We’re moving to Pittsburgh! Wow, I don’t even know where to start!  It’s such a huge thing over here in Casa Soldaat, this impending move.  It’s been in the making for quite some time and while it still doesn’t feel quite real …

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