Category Archives: Travel

Kaffetur 31 / Coffee Tour #31: Faro, Rome (Italy)

My tastes have changed quite a bit over the past four or five years, and particularly when it comes to coffee. I think living in Scandinavia will do that to you. The light roasted goodness from a small batch Nordic roaster is unique and, in a word, amazing. Continue reading Kaffetur 31 / Coffee Tour #31: Faro, Rome (Italy)

Kaffetur 30 / Coffee Tour #30: Drukarnia, Gdansk (Poland)

p1100878When traveling, you can’t let the weather slow you down.

It’s one thing to say that, but we found ourselves having to  put this theory into practice on our recent trip to Gdansk. Continue reading Kaffetur 30 / Coffee Tour #30: Drukarnia, Gdansk (Poland)

Kaffetur 29 / Coffee Tour #29: Crooked Nose & Coffee Stories, Vilnius (Lithuania)

P1090733It has one of the longest and most unusual names of any shop we have visited so far. But Crooked Nose & Coffee Stories (hereinafter CNACS) turned out to be a lot more than a funny name in a quaint little Lithuanian neighborhood. Continue reading Kaffetur 29 / Coffee Tour #29: Crooked Nose & Coffee Stories, Vilnius (Lithuania)

Kaffetur 28 / Coffee Tour #28: Coffee Inn Roasters, Vilnius (Lithuania)

A discount airline with a big sale to a country we’d never visited, taking with us nothing but a backpack and very few expectations.

P1090664Sometimes that’s the best way to approach travel, and maybe other things in life as well. Minimal plans and minimal expectations often result in maximum surprise.

And last week’s quick visit to Vilnius (Lithuania) definitely surprised us, in a very, very good way. Continue reading Kaffetur 28 / Coffee Tour #28: Coffee Inn Roasters, Vilnius (Lithuania)

Coffee Art

Last summer, we had an afternoon layover in Amsterdam, so we took the train into the city for a few hours. And we popped into Urban Outfitters. Not for the reason that most might visit it, but because we happened to see something about coffee. Continue reading Coffee Art

Yes, we are still here!

Our two months in America flew by, and this past Saturday we returned home to Norway. I’d hoped to blog more while in the states, but we were extremely busy and it just simply did not happen.We do, however, have several things we’ll share in the coming weeks.

The Coffee Tour will kick off again this Monday, with a visit to a coffee roasting company in Duluth, Georgia.

And we’ll share a bit about what we did and what it was like being back after a few years away.

Hope you all had a great Christmas, and here’s to a fantastic 2016!

 

More November Highlights

November is already gone – hard to believe! We are almost three weeks into our nine week visit – and we have been BUSY! In addition to multiple Thanksgiving meals (and WAY too much food) we…

  • Helped decorate for Christmas
  • Had amazing pizza in Atlanta
  • Visit the Atlanta Botanical Garden Christmas light display
  • Enjoyed two open house events
  • Had a visit from Sasha
  • Found several cool walking trails
  • Celebrated Jenn’s 40th
  • Celebrated Zack’s dad’s birthday
  • Checked out a coffee shop in Atlanta
  • Went on a boat ride (yes, in November!)
  • Went fishing
  • Ate Mexican food… several times
  • Spent the night several times with grandparents, great-grandparents, and lots of aunts, uncles and cousins

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Whole New World

We arrived in Atlanta Friday afternoon. Just in time for midtown traffic. Yeah, welcome ‘home’!

We have done quite a lot in our first few days, in addition to fighting jet lag. Here are a few highlights, plus some observations.

Saturday we had an open house with about 60 people in attendance. Yeah, less than 24 hours after arriving here. Call us crazy. It was totally overwhelming, but also a lot of fun.

We visited our church on Sunday. After three years. Some familiar faces, but so many we’d never seen before. It was big. And slightly familiar. We are grateful to those who welcomed us so warmly.

We had Mexican food after church. At the restaurant we went to often when we lived here. And for the most part, it felt like old times. With friends. The kind of friends where you just pick up where you left off. That was nice.

We began homeschool on Monday. I am quickly reaching a new level of respect for all the homeschool parents out there. Wow.

We went to Target. Overload! The cereal aisle alone had our heads spinning.

There is nature trail just across the street from Zack’s brother’s house. We love that we can walk about 3 minutes and be in the woods!

Yesterday was my birthday, and I joined Zack in the 40 club. So far, 40 feels good. I’m in better shape than I was at 30 or even 20.

Zack and the boys took me for a manicure/pedicure. What a treat! I felt so pampered and spoiled.

We went to the mall. It was big. The music was loud. The people were friendly.

 

 

 

We had Indian food for dinner. It was spicy. And it was awesome.

Plus, a cake from American Cookie Company. So many calories. So yummy. I have zero willpower around those cakes.

More to come!

This week’s roller coaster ride

What should have been a week of ever-increasing excitement instead became one of mounting tension and uncertainty.

For months, we’ve been planning that we would travel to the states on November 13. We had tickets, and were excited. The boys started a countdown around day 100.
One problem: our tickets were with Lufthansa. And in case you didn’t know, their cabin crew union decided to strike beginning last Friday.
That was the beginning of the problems. The airline would then only cancel flights one day at a time, and only one day prior. They would not give full refunds unless the flight was cancelled.
All that to say, we had to wait until today to officially get notice that our flights were in fact cancelled. We got that email around 9:45 this morning.
We then had to wait until around 3:00 our time for the travel agent in Pennsylvania to open so he could rebook us on a different flight.
And as long as this week was, today seemed like an eternity. We watched as rates went up and flights filled. And we wondered if our hopes of traveling as planned might be dwindling away.
But just before 3:00 I left to get the boys from school. And as we walked in the door around 3:25, I heard Zack in the phone.
But more importantly, I saw the smile on his face.
So despite the craziness and uncertainty of the week, we are in fact headed to Georgia tomorrow.
Back soon with more on our American Adventure!
The empty fridge – surely that means it’s time to travel!