Nice Memories

Going through the summer photos and reminiscing about our week in the south of France and Italy.

Our favourite beach in Nice, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, a 20 minute-drive east of the city

Overnight trip to Italy - here in Camogli

A playground in Santa Margherita where we spent the night - this one had swings but in France we weren't able to find a single playground with swings, what is that about?!

Our accommodation in Santa Margherita, an old castle called La Vela

Play area at Nice airport

Nice in Nice

We've arrived in Nice for a well-needed break (though don't know why we opted for the 6am flight..?) and today is just about settling in and chilling (except for over an hour of shopping at Carrefour, which Isolde wasn't happy about). Before the shopping trip we had lunch in Garibaldi square, followed by nap/rest in the flat, and now we're soaking afternoon sun on the balcony. It's like a really nice Swedish summer day.


 Leisure eating style



Place Garibaldi

Evening hung-out

Layover

Now we're on our way home after a great vacation (more about it and travelling with a baby later). When we arrived to Washington D.C. (Dulles) around 1pm after a short delay, we picked up our luggage and planned to check in on our 9pm flight to Stockholm and then leave the airport and meet fellow Swedish blogger Annika (Life in the Suburb). Great plan! If only Iceland Air had an open check-in or ticket desk... No lockers to be found either, and I doubt they would fit two suitcases, a pushchair transport bag and three carry-ons anyway. So instead we had to haul our stuff around until check-in opened at 5pm, which meant we mostly sat around waiting, had lunch, had some Starbucks...

Now we're finally checked in and inside the terminal and Isolde can let off some steam. Luckily it's a pretty new terminal or at least the carpets look quite clean, or clean enough (but why no play area for kids anywhere?!).

Miami & South Beach

Our second full day in Miami was spent here in South Beach where we're staying (at Congress Hotel on Ocean Drive). We headed to the beach at 11 to try to combine nap time with beach time (she slept 12-13:30ish) and stayed until 3pm. It was very cloudy and at one point there was even rain drops but I still managed to get red even though I was using sunscreen and it was only sunny for 30-45 minutes out of the four hours. So no sun for me tomorrow!

This evening we checked out the shops in Lincoln Road, South Beach's "pedestrian mall" or "gågata" in Swedish, and ended up buying a few items at Banana Republic as well as Toms (shoes where for every pair you buy another pair gets donated) for Isolde and me and a pair of dressier sneakers for Peter at a shoe shop called Mixx. The street was well-designed but we thought it was going to have fancier stores as it's located near the posh hotels such as Delano. Where do the rich and famous shop in Miami?! Post-shopping we stopped by Jerry's Famous Deli for some dinner. It was approaching 8pm and Isolde was tired so we thought take-out was in order.

Yesterday, our first full day here, we drove out of Miami to the posh sticks; Coral Gables and Coconut Grove (though there are other much posher areas in Miami too!). We only drove through the latter but in Coral Gables we stopped at Biltmore Hotel where we had a really nice lunch by their super-sized pool, and toured (en voiture) the famous neighbourhoods planned and built by George Merrick in the 1920s, the first planned communities in the US, and had a quick peak at the neighbourhood's famous Venetian pool (which was overrated). Back in South Beach we stopped at Whole Foods supermarket for some baby food (and diapers, which didn't keep Isolde dry through the night so we'll try to return them - that has never happened before so it must be the diapers) and dinner from their deli and salad bar (our hotel room has a kitchenette so it's easy to heat up food or do easy cooking).

When we arrived from Key West on Wednesday it was 4pm already so our first evening here we just took a walk down to Joe's Stone Crab Restaurant where we discovered the waiting for a table was 1 1/2 hours but also that they have a deli/cafe next door where we could eat almost the same food in a more baby-friendly (but still designed and atmospheric) environment. Recommended!

Here are some pictures from the beach today (don't know how to insert pictures in the text where I'd really want them with the Blogger app?!):

Maeght

Another two days have passed in Nice (and elsewhere of course :) Yesterday we took another car-free day. The plan was to go shopping, which we did but we didn't find anything. Nice doesn't really have any fun shops in my opinion, unless you can afford the Louis Vuitton streak or want to stock up on Provencian fabric (which I don't find that pretty) or herbs. But I don't mind just strolling the streets, looking at architecture or people. In the evening I took a bath with Isolde for the first time (we don't have a tub at home but in our new flat we will!), which we both enjoyed. After that the whole family chilled on the sofa where Isolde has occupied one corner.

Today we made a short journey to another pretty mountain village, St-Paul-de-Vence, where we also visited the modern art museum Fondation Maeght. It's considered one of the world's finest art museums but since I'm not too fond of modern art and it's a small museum, I thought it wasn't worth 14 euros. On the other hand it's a cool building and it's amazing that two art dealers collected so much to open a museum (or gallery). And it's famous artists of course; Chagall, Miró, Giacometti et al. It's a cool building as well. So it's nice to have seen it. To tick it on the check list.

For Isolde it was her first visit to an art museum. She found the milk bottle display of course (her parents did not stage the photo at all, no...).

Via Anna's iPhone

Gorges du Verdon

I was manouvred out of bed this morning (at 9:30 so a completely decent hour though) as you can see. Isolde's is supposed to sleep in the so-called snuggle nest in the middle... She did sleep in her other bed (the pram for this week) from 9pm to almost 5am so I'm not complaining though!
After all the morning chores we got on the road around 11:30 to go to Gorges du Verdon, France's Grand Canyon. On our way we saw many villages on hillsides and hilltops and looked out over the astonishing gorges (no pictures with the iPhone though) and the gorgeously blue Lac de Ste-Croix.

We had lunch at the entrance to the gorge, Castellane, and afternoon coffee at the other end, in Moustiers-Ste-Marie.
I highly recommend a visit to Gorges du Verdon if you're in the area! Such amazing landscape and views and beautiful villages built in/into the mountains. Not for the faint-hearted or those suffering from vertigo though! Via Anna's iPhone

Summer Days

We have taken advantage of the last two days of sunny and warm weather (it's not supposed to be as nice over the next few days) and spent yesterday in St Tropez and today in Nice. We slept in and took our time in the morning though, and so didn't venture out until lunch time. We took the scenic - and longer - route to St-Trop, but Isolde was either sleeping or happily looking at her toy.
She wasn't as happy at nine in the evening last night when we had to go to the supermarket (as we only bought the basics on Sunday - we had forgotten that hardly anything is open on Sundays) but after a good night's sleep she was her happy self again this morning. Today we walked along Promenade des Anglais and took the lift up to the Chateau.

Afterwards we relaxed at the rooftop café of Le Meridien (hotel) with coffee, cake and a magazine, and got a bit sunburnt, while Isolde was sleeping safely in the shade.
Via Anna's iPhone

Breakfast with a View

Via Anna's iPhone

Sunny Side Up

Chillin' in Nice.




Via Anna's iPhone

Holiday!

Tomorrow is my last working day before going on four weeks' leave - yay! I'm really looking forward to it, not because I'm sick of work as I actually like my job a lot and don't mind working at all, but I love travelling and visiting places and that's what holiday time is really for. That said, so far we only have one trip organised and are planning to spend the remainder at Peter's family summer house, unless the weather turns miserable and we're "forced" to book a last-minute trip to the sun. But going to the summer house is also a holiday of sorts - at least we're not at home doing chores.

Earlier in the week I read that according to scientific research, being on holiday/leave does not have any beneficial consequences. You may think that vacation makes you calm and relaxed and that you come back to work a better person. Nope. Studies show that Swedes' long leave periods (usually four or five weeks of consecutive leave in the summer) have very little, if any, effect. You are not happier afterwards and after a few days back at work your holiday calm will be gone.

The only measurable effect of vacation is that you are happier before you go than those not going on holiday. You enjoy the planning and having expectations on what is ahead. But when you're back at work you are equally happy as those who have been working throughout.

But I agree with the journalist; I'm not sure these research results are credible. Maybe planning and expectations and hopes are what gives us joy, more than the actual holiday. That must have some long-lasting effect on us. I certainly enjoy the planning part as much as the holiday, well, almost.

As the journalist point out, afterwards there are new knowledge, experiences and memories that can be cherished for a long time (and nowadays thousand of photos making it almost possible to forget!).

Or, maybe the Americans are right; two weeks' holiday and a few long weekends per year is plenty (a topic that has featured on a lot of blogs of Swedish expats in the US lately). But I doubt it.

US Road Trip 2009: Flowers & Vegetation

Time for some more photos, this time under the heading flowers, plants and vegetation.

This interesting looking rock plant grows in someone's garden in the Venice Canals in Venice Beach outside Los Angeles. I don't have a CLUE what this one is called! Anyone?

These water lillies - I really like water lillies - grow at Hearst Castle (which is a really interesting place but I will get back to that in a separate post)

Unnamed berry/fruit that grows in California

Of course palmtrees are plentiful out in California, including in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. The water here looks lovely, doesn't it, but it's way to cold to go swimming in. And when Pfeiffer Burns donated her land to the State of California it was under the condition that the route down to the beach would be closed off. She wanted people to enjoy unspoilt views. There is a little waterfall here, one of few waterfalls that drops right into the Pacific Ocean.



Cute flowers on the edge of a Californian cliff, still in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park



Typical rock plant we saw along the way. I have always found rock plants pretty cool. They grow with so little soil and nutrition it seems. Probably why I like orchids too.



Colourful flowers beds in front of the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco



The very green Japanese Tea Garden in the same park. We didn't go in though because it cost money and we've been to Japanese tea gardens before (though this one is the oldest Japanese garden in the US). But I peeked through the gates and sneaked a few shots.



A flower of sorts! The well-known garlic-only Italian restaurant in San Francisco. They only have four non-garlic item on the menu, marked with "v" for vampire-safe!



View of and from High Line Park that I wrote about in my last post and also Petchie has written about



High Line Park again



Madison Square Park in New York. We had dinner at the Bread Bar (part of Tabla Restaurant) one of the evenings in one of the corners of the square (though not in the park itself but outside one of the buildings).



And a flower from somewhere in New York

US Road Trip 2009: Animals

So, some photos from this year's American road trip. "Finally!" you're probably saying, "you guys have been back for like 7 weeks now!".

I thought I'd take a thematic approach. First out is animals.

On the California leg of the trip we hired a convertible and ended up getting what we had wished for - a red Ford Mustang. A brand new one, but if I could have chosen I would have opted for the original 1960s model.

This cute bunch of canines were patiently waiting while their owner got burgers from Jack in the Box (which is much better than most other hamburger joints since they seem to actually use real meat). "Dad" made sure they posed for the photo, which wasn't that hard since these were some of the most well-behaved dogs I've ever met. The owner laughed and told us "he should start charging for this". He put his burger on the front seat of the truck while going back inside for a drink refill. One of the dogs who was in the front seat sniffed the food but left it alone and when daddy came back s/he jumped quickly to the back seat. Don't miss the little black dog. "Dad" has to whistle twice before his/her head popped up :)

In Malibu we opted for a less exploited and less accessible beach than the big, touristy Zuma Beach. We were one out of only three couples on La Piedra State Beach (well, later a old man came down from one of the villas above for a skinny dip - apparently nudity is not illegal all over the US, especially not in free-minded California). The pelicans outnumbered us by a hundred or so but they were busy gliding or diving straight down to catch fish.

Another La Piedra occupant: a beach hopper!

Like their cousins in Central Park on the other side of the country, the Californian squirrel is also curious and almost domesticated, especially if it suspect you have something edible to share.

I thought this shot of two seagulls turned out playful and lively!

A calmer, people watching seagull in Carmel. Or he or she may have been watching all the fancy cars on display in the town since there was a car show in the vicinity that weekend. Our Ford Mustang fitted right in, although was by far the cheapest car of them all.

Another sea gull photo. But there is something special about flying birds!

Isn't this one of the most adorable beings you've ever seen! A sleeping baby seal at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco.

A dog and a duck somewhere on Manhattan - we were on a boat that took us on a three-hour cruise 360 degrees around the island. But wait, there is something wrong with this picture??

A little fowl on the old railroad tracks in New York's meat packing district that is now High Line Park. I will show more photos from the park in future posts but if you want to find out more about it and cannot wait, check out Petchie's blog!

A beautiful butterfly - aren't all butterflies beautiful?! - in the High Line.

And as the grand finale of this post, an edible animal. Well, I guess almost all animals are edible, but these get the green light also from vegetarians and probably even vegans. We didn't buy any though, just sneaked a photo. Petchie has also written about our visit to Chelsea Market (Petchie, her sister, Peter and I visited the High Line Park and Chelsea Market together and also had breakfast at a great French bistro - all in her post).