For fun, I packed a portable camera and set it to black and white. This turned out to be a perfect way to see Poland—timeless streets, heavy history, and everyday life all seemed to belong together.
An August getaway to Poland to (try to) escape the heat turned into a wonderful patchwork of family history, sightseeing, card games, and at least one questionable negotiation strategy.
In Żywiec, we found the church where my great-grandfather was (we think) baptized, and managed to make the priest laugh with our clumsy Google Translate retelling. We also visited the brewery founded there by Archduke Albrecht Friedrich Habsburg—because family roots and beer pair surprisingly well.
Kraków was as beautiful as I remembered it from backpacking there years ago, actually, even better, now that I wasn’t staying in very sketchy hostels. The salt mines—something my mom loved—were a highlight: vast caverns carved into underground cathedrals.
Wrocław felt mythical, a city of bridges, spires, and gnomes. The kids negotiated a deal: one euro for every photo with a gnome. They disappeared until 3 a.m. and came back with 137 selfies.
In Gdańsk and Poznań we stumbled into festivals, played cards in shady squares to escape the heat, and went boating. We sought coffee everywhere and found it consistently excellent. Lilly and I were always on kielbasa patrol, though honestly, all four of us did our part.
Poland wears its history on every street, with lots of WWII scars that we tried to absorb. It’s a country both heavy with memory and light with celebration. For us, it was a bit of both: family roots, salt mines, sausages, history, gnomes, tours, and a very exclusive after-hours party in Room 505 when we all ended up with our own rooms.
A little Baltic getaway for Kate and me while Cameron was off visiting Lilly in LA. Stops in Riga, Tallinn, and Pärnu—some great meals and cocktails, some medieval streets, some sandy hikes, and more than one topiary elephant. Both Latvia and Estonia were beautiful and deserve a visit.
Christmas road trip to Annecy and Chamonix. A snowy, gorgeous time skiing and snowboarding, and spending coveted family time on excursions to glaciers, Mont Blanc vistas, and a really memorable Christmas Day.
What a great time with family in Barcelona! First-time visitors, repeat visitors, and long-term visitors! Absolutely amazing. We were so excited to have Anna and her family become locals along with us for a while, and hopefully, just the start of their time here. Thanksgiving and Christmas lights in BCN, and a quick trip to see friends in Porto. Just the best.
They got engaged in Barcelona and married in Tuscany… that’s how you do it! A quick road trip to Florence to see family and celebrate Dan & Ashley. And a little side trip to see some really fast cars.
We got to meet our dear friends and celebrate multiple 50s in Porto and the Douro Valley. The Douro was spectacularly beautiful, and Porto and Gaia is a new destination favorite.
Austuras was unexpectedly spectacular, a spring-break getaway to some chillin’ in France, and visit to Uni in London, Spring had a lot of really special moments.
Christmas in Barcelona before heading off to Bad Gastein, Austria for some snowboarding, skiing and very Wes Anderson views.
A proposal! Some time in the city before a quick trip to the Costwalds & Wales before dropping Lilly off at school in London. Then back to Barcelona for an exciting proposal!
