Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to All!

Think you know where all our pictures were taken? Take the quiz!

Click here for the quiz (or click the tab on the top of the screen)

Paris 2010 - Day 5 - 28 November 2010

We were dragging our feet a bit today b/c neither of us really wanted to leave this beautiful city or our families behind.  Made our connections on the train and got to the airport in plenty of time with just a few annoyances.  Aer Lingus outsources their check-in here to another company.  We checked in online, but had no place to print our boarding passes.  As a result, we had to go to the counter, where they were weighing everyone’s carry-ons and making people check bags over 10kg.  Mine just made it under at 9.something, but Joe’s was around 12.  Despite my attempts to tell the woman that we carried on these exact same bags coming here, Joe had to check his anyway. 

Paris 2010 - Day 4 - 27 November 2010

Everyone slept in late today to catch up on sleep.  This time MK and TK beat us up and brought breakfast over to "the kids’ place."  We feasted on the usual croissants, pan au chocolat, quiche, some other chocolate chip pastry, and fresh fruit before setting out for our long awaited trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower!

Paris 2010 - Day 3 - 26 November 2010

 Today was our earliest morning.  We were all out the door by 7:30 just in time to grab pan au chocolat and other pastries at the bakery on our way to Versailles. Trains were delayed going out in that direction so we didn’t get there as early as we wanted.  We did, however, beat several bus loads of tourists into the palace.  The town of Versailles is about a 30 minute train ride outside Paris.  Here Louis XIV, the Sun King, lived in this enormous palace whose entrance is marked by golden gates and many other gold accents on the outside façade. 

Paris 2010 - Day 2- 25 November 2010

Definitely didn’t feel like Thanksgiving when we woke up in our flat in Paris!  Thought we would get an early start to the day so we were up and ready to go by 7:30.  MK and TK were still fast asleep at their hotel down the street and didn’t get up ‘til we woke them!  Took a quick trip to the grocery store and bakery down the street to round up some items for a Thanksgiving breakfast, Parisian-style.  The apartment quickly came in handy as we prepared breakfast in our own place.  We had quite the spread of croissants, pan au chocolat, ham/cheese quiche, coffee and OJ when MK and TK arrived.  It was all delicious!  I even made up for last night by splitting a chocolate cream éclair with Dad this morning!  What a great way to start the day!

Paris 2010 - Day 1 - 24 November 2010

Aer Lingus did the trick again.  So far we’ve had good luck flying with them.  The first hour of our transatlantic flight from Boston was a bit bumpy, but the rest was mostly smooth.  Had the same A330 with the individual TVs like last time.  Got to Dublin on time despite taking off a bit late in Boston.  Forgot we had to go through security again in Dublin so Joe was forced to put down 2 entire Nalgenes.  Second flight to Paris was smooth as well, and we were on the ground by 11am in the huge Charles deGaulle airport.

Paris 2010

...too busy pondering this painting to post travel logs

complete post entries coming VERY soon....

Paris 2010 - Logan Airport

And we're off again!  This time for a Parisian Thanksgiving!  Since two of the three Kelly kids are abroad this fall, we decided to join them for the holiday.  Somehow in all of our summer travels, we never made it to Paris, so it was pretty much a no-brainer when we decided where to meet up for Thanksgiving.  Guess we picked a good place because even MK and TK are coming!


Apparently this is the trick to Thanksgiving Holiday Traveling...skip out of work on Wednesday.  Terminal E was surprisingly quiet this afternoon.


Getting to the airport today was quite the story, made only for the movies.  Really it should be no surprise (not even to us) that we were on a made dash to get to the airport.  Even our best attempts to get out the door early never work!  After some delays with dilly-dallying bank tellers and mistaken black cases for forgotten computers, we got to the airport at 4:00 PM right on time courtesy of the Marisa & Luke Shuttle Service (THANK YOU!) 


When we arrived at the airport at 4:00PM, the place was practically deserted. After getting scanned and searched in security, we made it through within 20 minutes of arrival at the airport. Might be a record for us...and we survived the new Body Scanner X-Ray Machines. 


Traffic in the terminal has picked up a bit since we have been there but nice to be waiting for the plane rather than they other way around. Boarding time is just ahead!


Next Stop: PARIS (via Dublin)


Au Revoir!

Paris 2010 - Almost There

Our bags are packed...we're ready to go....unfortunately, the weather does not seem to be co-operating for our trip to the City of Lights...

Have no fear...we will make the most of this exciting city....we just might be a little damp!

Check back tommorrow for the official start of our trip!

j

Puerto Rico - Day 3 - October 11, 2010

Woke up to another sunny day in Puerto Rico.  Hit up the breakfast buffet before checking out, and then we were on our way to Old San Juan by 7:45.  Lucked out and found parking near El Morro and spent some time wandering around the extensive grounds of this Spanish-built fort in the blazing heat. The original fort was built in the 1530s to protect the island from attack.  Additions were made through the mid 1700s.  The fort is operated by the U.S. National Parks Service today.  Through a quick video we learned that the island was attacked several times as various countries fought for ownership of Puerto Rico.  Eventually the U.S. won possession of the island in the Spanish-American War of 1898.  Wished there was a guided tour of the fort as the self-guided one was only slightly informative.  Thought we might visit the fort of San Cristobol down the street, but we ran out of time.  Instead we walked through the streets of San Juan in search of a few last minute souvenirs and a cooler bag in an attempt to salvage our arroz con pollo.

Puerto Rico - Day 2 - October 10, 2010

Woke up bright and early to squeeze in as much as possible.  Since out flight was delayed yesterday, we lost time and had more to tackle today.  Grabbed a quick breakfast downstairs…delicious, but so unhealthy biscuits were the special today along with the usual eggs, cereal, fruit, pastries, and waffles.  We were very surprised at how many other people were up eating breakfast by 7:30, including an American Airlines crew.  One people-watching observation so far: nearly everyone here, both residents and tourists, are bilingual except us.

Following in Columbus' Footsteps...

What a great JetBlue Banner for today. 


Off discovering one of Columbus' "discoveries"...all is good in the Carribean and on Puerto Rico. 


More updates later....

Puerto Rico - Day 1 - October 9, 2010

Anyone who knows us had to know that after two months at home, we would surely not sit around for long.  Well, you can add our long weekend trip to Puerto Rico among the most random things we’ve done this year!  What better way to spend Columbus Day weekend than to visit the island that Columbus called San Juan Batista on his second voyage in 1493?!  History aside, we’re really cashing in our Jet Blue True Blue Passes and rewarding ourselves for being loyal customers.  We signed up for the rewards program two years ago with the full intention of using our passes to travel to the furthest destination possible.  Puerto Rico wasn’t at the top of our list like Costa Rica, St. Martin, and Seattle…and Jet Blue wouldn’t fly us to Barcelona or London to gallivant with the other Kelly children, so San Juan it was.  Not a bad alternative, though…right?  

Puerto Rico: The Weekend Begins...October 9, 2010

Anyone who knows us had to know that after two months at home, we would surely not sit around for long.  Well, you can add our long weekend trip to Puerto Rico among the most random things we’ve done this year!  What better way to spend Columbus Day weekend than to visit the island that Columbus called San Juan Batista on his second voyage in 1493?!  History aside, we’re really cashing in our Jet Blue True Blue Passes and rewarding ourselves for being loyal customers.  We signed up for the rewards program two years ago with the full intention of using our passes to travel to the furthest destination possible.  Puerto Rico wasn’t at the top of our list like Costa Rica, St. Martin, and Seattle…and Jet Blue wouldn’t fly us to Barcelona or London to gallivant with the other Kelly children, so San Juan it was.  Not a bad alternative, though…right? 

Canada Day 8: August 7, 2010

\

Packed up our campsite by 8:30am today and drove out of the park to the cute town of Alma.  Picked up some sticky buns, bread, and donuts at Kelly’s, the only bakery in town and took the scenic route 915 towards Hopewell Rocks.  Stopped to eat breakfast at a scenic spot on the Bay and drove past farms and a doe before arriving at Hopewell Rocks around 11am.  Our pass from yesterday was still good today so we could see the change in tides at the Bay.  We were about an hour past high tide, but the water was still many feet deep at the Flowerpot Rocks where we walked yesterday.  In fact, if we didn’t know any better, we would never have been able to tell that you could walk where we were.   It was neat!

Canada Day 7: August 6, 2010

                      

                              

                              

It was still misty and foggy when we got up today.  We decided that we were not leaving until we rode the bikes on the trails in the marshes.  Fantastic decision!  We followed part of the Atlantic View Trail to Lawrencetown Beach, then took the Salt Marsh Trail through Cole’s Harbor.  Both trails are part of the Trans-Canada path that runs throughout the entire country.  The trails were awesome!  We rode about 20km roundtrip on well-maintained gravel paths over salt marshes and bridges through Cole’s Harbor on what use to be the railroad bed.  There were lots of wildflowers and different birds in the marshes along the way, and a huge rabbit crossed out path.  The weather was even sunny for bit the further we got from the beach.  It was a beautiful ride…something Joe and I both wished we had at home.  Reminded us of Plum Island a bit and it even had a slight resemblance to the Dike in Quincy, but it was much bigger, beautiful, and we were actually able to ride out on the marsh.  Canada certainly seems to be making some progress in regard to developing bike paths for its residents to enjoy.  Wish the U.S. would do the same!