The first post about Rhodes spoke more to our arrival, and the small apartment we rented. I didn't dive into our actual adventures on the Island. Note that two of our major adventures were off the Island - to Symi and to Marmaris, Turkey which I wrote about separately. The old town of Rhodes, a labyrinth of narrow streets that flow into plazas, is both a walled medieval city and a UNESCO world heritage site. The centre piece of interest is the Palace of the Grand Master bu

This weekend my youngest kiddo and I went on road trip to Perth, Ontario about an hour from home. The town of Perth, which is split by the Tay River, was founded in 1816, and has a population of about 7000 people. Like much of tiny Ontario it has a bustling Main Street, an impressive Town Hall, and a thoughtfully planned out park. Walking up the main street we noticed the entrance to Stewart Park, which happened to be hosting the Stewart Park Festival, and wandered in. The p

On our recent trip to Greece, we transited through Athens. I always knew we would fly home from Athens, and would spend the final night there, but after miscalculating which day there was a flight from Malta to Greece, we also ended up with a pit stop at the start of the Greek portion of the holiday. With the flights booked, we were supposed to land in Athens at midnight and had a mid-afternoon flight the next day to Rhodes. After briefly contemplating sleeping on the airpo

We recently returned from a visit with my youngest kiddo in Malta. This year, we added a side trip to Greece, another destination, like Sicily, that had been percolating in the back of my mind for decades. Had I visited Greece in my early 20s, no doubt I would have ended up in Mykonos and/or Santorini. As a family trip neither seemed like the right choice - the first is notably a party Island and the second a place for romance. So, where to go? I wanted more than just a b

I recently visited Costa Rica for the first time. I've always heard how much people love Costa Rica, while quickly citing the catch phrase 'pura vida'. And whenever I look up best places to travel or retire, Costa Rica is often highlighted on the short list. With that said, I have to admit that when I have researched taking a holiday in Costa Rica over the years, it wasn't obvious what the nitty gritty of that holiday would look like. Normally, one of my superpowers is t

In another lifetime, when my children were little, we had the opportunity to travel to Finland over Christmas to visit family. Truth be told, I don't like to travel at Christmastime. It's expensive, crowded and people tend to be a in bad mood. My stance is that, for the most part, little kids want to wake up in their own beds on Christmas Day. But this was travelling to the mothership of Christmas. I was in. We would be staying in downtown Helsinki for the majority of the

I had the privilege to live in Argentina for eight years when my children were little. A country that adores small children; it was a wonderful place to be a young mother. I hadn't returned in over 10 years and would daydream about it. Being so intimately connected with a place, and then not returning for a long time is surreal. The mind can play funny tricks. What does the memory embellish? How much is reality and how much is rose coloured glasses? About six months ago,

A couple of years ago my youngest kiddo was in the twelfth grade and applying for university. While out running errands in the late winter/early spring he casually slid into the conversation that he might want to study in Malta . My ears pricked. He had come across it while researching places to study on exchange. By the time he brought it to me, he had worked out the details, to show me he could do it. The next thing I knew we were flying across the ocean for university