Blog 1 — Our Loco Gap Year

Friday, June 14th SLC > Seattle > Keflavik > Selfoss

First day in Iceland. Landed in Keflavik (KEF) at 9:30AM. Pretty easy through Passport/Customs and to the rental counter for Budget. If you go to this rental counter, don’t forget to grab a ticket from the kiosk! This is your place in line. We got what we paid for: a rather crappy, small, gutless Suzuki something or other “midsize” SUV. It will work great. Besides that, it’s actually a little hybrid, so it should do great on fuel economy. By the way, the cost of fuel in Iceland is around $3 per liter. Do the math, pretty pricey. Must not be many oil reserves on the island.

Overall the drive into Reykjavik isn’t all that spectacular. Skies were gray, there isn’t a tree in sight, and the land is rather blah for the first 20 kilometers (everything in metric from here til London I suppose!). There is some greenery on the ground, and trees start to pop up as we approach Reyjavik. There are some volcanoes (?) or dormant volcanoes in the distance. And some water to the north. The town of Reykavik itself is very colorful, full of people and eateries and stores. The downtown is all walkable and part of it is even closed to cars. The temperature on June 14th is a somewhat chilly 57 degrees with a little breeze. Overcast skies for the most part. Probably somewhat like the Pacific Northwest, just cooler. We found a nice little restaurant called Sandholt right on the main thoroughfare. Fin had pancakes and bacon, Nans had an Icelandic version of yogurt called “Skyr” – which was quite good, Cheetah had a waffle with some skyr and berries, Erica had the Soup de Jour (some type of squash?) and I had some Sourdough toast with jelly. Overall, solid food, good first meal.

From, Reykjavik, we headed southeast to our first lodging stop in Selfoss. It’s a small town, but has some restaurants, grocery stores, bars, and all the other regular things. We found the public pool – which was actually 3 pools and 3 hot tubs and 1 cold tub – and spent the early afternoon there. Great for kids. Pools were downright warm and the hot tubs were, well, hot. Good times. We checked into the Bella Apartments Penthouse Suite – room for 6 sleepers – after a slight challenge with the check-in codes. Nice place, plenty of room, dark shades, windows, everything is in order.

Went for a run along the River Olfusa.. First impression, windy! Especially as I headed south / southwest along the river toward the open sea. Other than that, nice paved path out of town along the river. Not a lot of changing scenery, but also no cars and few people. After a couple miles of wind battling, decided to turn around and try the other side of the river. Crossed the main bridge in town and found a nice dirt road which eventually turned into a trail. Quite a few gnats out there, more annoying than anything else. I only went out another 1.5 miles due to time. Will try more tomorrow. Run Rating: 5.5/10 (maybe higher if I ran more trail…)

First impression: Iceland seems very much like most American states – nothing really odd or different for us tourists. Everyone speaks English and many signs and prices are in both Icelandic and English. Going to try a hike to a natural hot spring river tomorrow.

And as of right now, it’s 8:40PM and the sun is still rather high in the sky. My weather app says the sunset is 11:50PM and sunrise is 2:58AM. Hope those curtains keep some light out.

Saturday June 15 Selfoss > Laugarvatn

Well, you know what they say about best laid plans… Instead of waking up in the AM to do some running or hiking, we all were apparently quite tired. We slept in until 10:35AM or so, which gave us almost enough time to pack our things prior to the 11:00 check out time. 13.5 hours of sleep for all of us, and Fin was definitely still zonked out.

We hit the bakery next to Bella Apartments for some delicious donuts, a ham and cheese croissant (I guess this is breakfast) and some skyr.

Successful breakfast completed, we headed off to hike the Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River. Weather was pleasant – 58 degrees to start up (around 12:00 noon) to maybe 70 or so by the end (3:30 or so). It was a fairly strenuous hike, nearly all uphill on the way to the warm springs. Kids did great, climbed about 800 feet on the 3k journey to the springs. Took us 65 minutes with a few snack stops along the way. Thermal river was great. We stayed in the lower (cooler) pools for the duration of time. These were plenty hot for us. More like hot tub temperatures than a bath for sure. Nice little cafe at the bottom – we enjoyed some grilled cheese sandwiches and a muffin and some Sprites and more water.

Back in the car, we headed to Laugarvatn and our next place – the Heradsskolinn Historic Guesthouse,, which apparently is more hostel and less hotel. All good though. We have beds for each of us and the room, though small, is plenty for us. Community bathrooms will get the kids ready for college anyway.

Erica and I went for a run around the town, down to the lake, and up on the trails across the road. Trails seemed like XC ski trails, very wide and grassy and not too hilly. Saw the Fontana Springs (we’ll go there tomorrow) and the school grounds, which have a very new, nice 400M track that is open to the public. I did a couple track laps for fun and added on some more trails across the road. Erica and I decided we should rate these runs, so here goes. Rating based on: weather/conditions, surface, scenery, difficulty, and quality. I give this run a 7/10.

That’s it for now.

Monday, June 17th

Woke up not early again. Don’t know if we’re still jet lagged or just tired from our busy days. 9:30 wake-up for me, followed by a nice 10 mile run west of town. Found a dirt road that went up and up for a few miles then into a valley. It was desolate with no trees and no animals. Stark, but still somehow quite picturesque with mountains to my right and a huge plain to my left. The road kept going, but you’ve got to turn around at some point. So I headed back to town, hit a couple grass paths on the way and ended up back at the guesthouse just before 11:00. By that time everyone was awake, fed, and we were on to our next adventure.

Thingvillar National Park is the most prominent and largest park in Iceland. It is a lesson in geography, science, and history all in one place. On top of that, just by pure coincidence we visited the park on the 80 year anniversary of Iceland’s Independence — June 17, 1944. And the place where that Independence was formalized — Thingvillar National Park. We saw the actual spot where the parliament met to declare independence, make laws, and punish criminals. The most prominent location in the park is the “Law Rock” where for decades all the laws in Iceland were enacted — both before and after independence. We also saw the location where the male criminals were beheaded and the clear pool at the bottom of a waterfall where female criminals were drowned. Morbid, I know.

Geographically, Iceland (and the park specifically) sits at the division between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. These plates are slowly pulling apart (at a rate of about 2cm per year) causing huge fissures and crevices throughout the park. Once in the park, we walked literally in the fissure between the two plates — right in between the North American and Eurasian plates. It’s incredible to see and experience as it is one of (or maybe the only) places in the world where the division of the plates can be viewed at ground level. With the plates slowly sliding apart, new fissures and cracks and waterways open up each year. Iceland actually had to move the location of the Parliament meetings due to flooding that occurred after fissures changed the structure of the river and lake.

The park also had quite a large exhibit on the history of Iceland from before Independence all the way up to present day.

After our trek to the park, we came back to the guesthouse to find that the party was on for independence. Kids got cotton candy (which is called “candy floss” here) and there was a bounce house and bubble show of sorts. Following a little party-going, we took a little downtime in the guesthouse. Fin and I played a couple games of pool and chess, the girls read their books and journaled. Erica went for a run around town.

For dinner, we chose a place out of town — Estildafur II, which is a working farm that now has a restaurant attached. We ate dinner just a few feet from the cows in the barn. Thinking about it now, I suppose it’s a little strange to be watching some cows while you’re eating their cousins or sisters or whatever… That said, the burgers Cheetah and I had were delicious. Fin and Nans had meatballs. Erica had the soup buffet. All the while watching the cows through a window. Of course, we had to finish up with some homemade ice cream and then the kids found a jump trampoline to really mix up that dinner and ice cream combination.

Overall, this was our most educational day in Iceland.

Fin Journal:

We ate toast for breakfast at our hotel.

I learned that Vikings were here before any one else! 😱

When we went to the national park, I saw two tectonic plates.

The national park was fun because there was a museum.

My favorite thing about the day was playing pool.

We had dinner at a farm.

I ate meatballs for dinner

Friday, June 21st Oslo > Trondheim

Happy Solstice Day! We happen to be in a part of the world where the solstice means that we have daylight for about 22 hours. After two dreary and cold days in Iceland, followed by two weary days of travel, we have finally arrived at a destination where we will spend the next four weeks: Trondheim, Norway. If you’re not looking at a map, or a Google Maps, Trondheim is roughly the same latitude as Fairbanks Alaska. However, the temperature is a rather mild 57 degrees. Today it is overcast and a little rainy, but there are sunny skies and temperatures up to 80 degrees forecasted for next week. Beach time in Norway, coming right up.

Our rental house is a big step up from our digs in Iceland. It’s a 4 bedroom apartment (so kids actually get their own space), complete with full kitchen, soaking bath for Erica, legos (!) for the kiddos, and also a portable arcade style hockey game. Our apartment was built during WWII when the Germans were planning to use Trondheim as a naval port. It was never lived in by any Germans, but the construction has some historical significance to it.

Trondheim is extremely peaceful. The grocery store is about 600 meters away and the beach is less than that. There’s a nice path along the fjord that goes past the university and into the town. There are walking paths all about. Little cafes along the waterfront, and a school nearby with a soccer field and play equipment. First impressions, this place is great, and I’m glad that we’re here for many days. We also have some visitors coming – Nagie tomorrow for a few days and then Erica’s parents on July 5th or so.

Todays Run: Cheetah hopped on the bike and I ran the path along the fjord toward Trondheim proper. The path was hillier and tougher than expected. It followed the water, but constantly went up and down, through the trees, back to water, and so on. That didn’t make it any less enjoyable, just a little more difficult for the runner and the biker. We stopped at a few places (little cafe on the path, place to go down the water, another place to take pictures of the fjord) and covered about 5 miles total. I went back to the path after dropping Cheetah off and ran the other other direction for a couple more miles. I found the “hidden beach” which is complete with a dock, a floating raft, and walkway up from the water. When it’s warmer, this will be a cool spot. The weather was a cool 56 with a very light rain and no wind. Great for running, but Chee got a little wet and her hands a little cold on the bike. The views were terrific, seeing some boats on the fjord and stopping to see some snails, a huge slug, and some quartz rock next to water.

Overall Run Rating 8/10 (highest so far!)

Yesterday, we stayed in a little town called Nannestad right near the Oslo airport. It was also peaceful, but definitely more full of people walking and running and biking all around. The weather there was quite warm - near 70 degrees, and it was nice to see the sun for the first time in a few days.

Sunday June 23rd

Our third day in Trondheim – and in the same house. It’s been really nice to have just one place for an extended period of time. We don’t have to pack (or unpack), we each have our spaces, and it just feels much more relaxed than our first week. Mr. Nagie has come to visit us after his travels throughout other places in Europe, so we have our first visitor of the trip so far! Life in the house has been great. We cook our own meals, walk to the grocery store, and have plenty of things to do right here for the kids - water, trampoline, and playground.

Yesterday, we went to the beach for the first time. It was a short, 5 minute walk to the “secret beach” (which is nothing of a secret, though less crowded than the other nearby beach with the parking lot). There is a long, 50’ or so dock, and a raft another 100’ or so from the dock. Nans, Erica, and I all made the jump from the dock and swam to the raft. The water was cold, though not as cold as some lakes in Michigan or Utah, and the sun was warm. It was “refreshing” I suppose I’d say, but also nice to get back onto dry land to warm up. Fin and Nans also swam in the shallow pools by the shore. Definitely rocky, but not so much that you couldn’t walk around. We spent a couple hours at the beach area before heading back to the house.

Today, we trekked the crew into town. Erica ran the 6k to Trondheim while the rest of us drove the car. Parked right downtown. Lots of people, mostly tourists. Easily walkable and lots to see. THe waterway goes right through the middle of town. Plenty of smaller boats, plenty of yachts and larger boats, and one massive cruise ship docked in the harbor. We found a nice ice cream shop and then just wandered around the town for a couple hours checking out the sites. Many shops were actually closed due to it being Sunday, but it didn’t stop us or many hundreds more people from wandering around.

Nagie and I completed a 11.5 mile run through the town of Trondheim and back along the waterfront. It was supposed to be 10 miles, but we did get a little turned around at some point. Running paths and dedicated sidewalks for pedestrians were everywhere. We never had to run on the road, and mostly just followed the paths to, through, and around Trondheim. It was lightly raining the whole time, but the temps were pleasant (60 degrees or so) with little to no wind. Great views of town and along the fjord. Overall run rating: 8.5/10

All for tonight. It’s 9:49PM and the sun is going to set in another hour or so.

Friday, June 28

It’s been a lovely, peaceful few days in Trondheim. It is truly a city by the sea, and we have been enjoying all parts of that. On Tuesday and Thursday, we spent several hours at the local beach. It is the only sandy beach in the area, and it looks like the sand has been transplanted from elsewhere. Beach was packed. When it’s sunny and warm here, everyone comes out to enjoy it. Interesting to note was how much the tide came in (and out). For both of our days at there, the tide was rising. 2.5 meters of rise may not sound like that much, but it really does come up a great deal and take up nearly half the beach area. The kids loved building sand castles and sand forts and digging “rivers” to the sea. All of these were eventually swallowed by the rising tide despite Fin’s best efforts to hold them back.

Wednesday was a rainy-ish day, but we decided to try out the local ropes/zipline course anyway. The girls jumped right in and started climbing and zipping all over the park. Fin, on the other hand, started with tears before we eventually got him on the practice zip lines. After a couple fear-defying runs on those, he went for the rope courses. And, turns out, he loved it. We arrived around 11:00am, had a real American lunch of Burger King (complete with nacho cheese and jalapeno fries – which, to be honest, weren’t all that delicious), and then back to the courses. We ended up staying til 5:00, the end of the day. Cheetah completed every course in the place, including the most difficult “Tarzan Swing” near the end of the day. Erica and I ran out of gas at some point, but the kids had energy for days.

Today, we visited the local indoor water park, the “Pirabet”. I was told it was a large park (large by Norway standards). Not knowing what to make of this, we checked it out online. Large is an understatement. It was full of water slides, a climbing wall, a huge “Wibit” with a slide down one side, plenty of hot tubs, and even a cafe with burgers, nuggets, and fries. Another near full day excursion as we lasted about 4 hours at the water park. We finished up with some ice cream near the port, and came home for some of Erica’s spaghetti and meatballs.

Running has been superb. Cool weather and pedestrian trails in every direction. I’ve run west to town (where I can never seem to find the best way back) and east out of town along the fjord. Not a bad run to be had. Some with hills, some flat. Some in urban areas, some rural. I’m trying to enjoy this running weather and terrain as I know most places won’t be this kind of quality.

Run east of town on the pedestrian path 9/10. I’m not sure what could make it better, but I’m saving a 10/10 for an all-time great run.

From Fin 6/28:

On Wednesday I went on ropes courses.

My favorite thing about the courses was the ziplines!

On Thursday, I went to the beach.

My favorite thing about the beach was building a sand castle.

On Friday, I went to the water park.

My favorite thing about the water park was the slide, and it had lights in it! 😱

Saturday, July 1

A new month is upon us. We are still enjoying our time in Norway. The weather has shifted back and forth between rainy and sunny most days. So far, it seems we have lucked out with more sun than rain – and we’ve tried to take advantage.

Yesterday, we trekked to neighboring Sweden for the first time. We visited a small town called Storlien. It is a ski town for sure, but not near the scale of a Park City. In fact, I noted that maybe it was what Park City was like 40 or 50 years ago. At hte time of our visit, there was next to nothing happening. Maybe because it was Sunday, or maybe this is just the summer here, but most places were closed – restaurants and hotels seemed mostly shut for the season. We did find a tiny, one room cafe that was open – the Cafe Republikan (no connection to the GOP that I saw). They had two choices of hot food - pies (which are the sweet kind, but rather bacon, taco, or cheese) and lasagna. The boys went for the lasagna and the girls for the pies. Food was good, atmosphere was neat, and the owners (husband and wife) were very kind. We enjoyed our food and then found another place open – the Super Candy Store. Candy from wall to wall in the size of a small grocery store. Kids were excited and filled up their bags.

From there, we found a hike onto the ski resort. The resort had exactly 6 lifts, and not one of them would be considered “high speed”. Instead, it was some contraption with a pole and a bar that looked like it was straight out of the 1970s. No matter. The hike was nice, several benches and waterfalls and scenery. Sun even came out for a little while and we had to take off our jackets. We made it about 60 minutes total by the time we made it back to the car. Then a 90 minute drive back to Trondheim and dinner to follow.

Today was rainy and dreary. We mostly stayed in, but we did get the girls out for a run and Fin on the bike. He’s working on his balance and today was his first day in a while trying again to learn the bicycle. He’ll have it by the time we leave Norway I’d guess.

Erica made some homemade Norwegian stew for dinner – perfect for a rainy day. We finished up watching Cool Runnings and Erica finished the day with a run to the marina.

July 8, 2024 — Trondheim

Another week down in Trondheim. No beach time this week, as most days were rather rainy and on the cool side. However, that hasn’t stopped us from seeing exploring more of Norway.

What kind of things to do on a rainy day in Norway? Plenty! We went to the local IKEA to do walkaround and have some snacks.

Or pick some berries from the bushes in the front yard.

On July 4th, we decided to have a little American style celebration for our independence. The neighbor did ask what we were celebrating and so we explained that July 4th is Independence Day in the U.S. She told us that Norway’s Independence Day was in May and they also celebrated with parades and parties and all kinds of things. We made some hot dogs (which are huge in Norway actually) along with burgers, potato salad, and coleslaw — just like at home! The weather even stayed nice and we had dinner out on the deck.

The rain also didn’t stop us from walking to the local park for some soccer as well as befriending some local cats.

Yesterday, July 7th, Dad convinced the whole family to participate in a local track meet. It was definitely on the smaller side — maybe 40 competitors total, but all the Cuttitas were a part of it. Savannah and Finley ran the 60 meters, Erica ran the 100 and 800, Cheetah ran the 60 and the 600 (where she won first place!) and I ran the 1500. It rained the entire time. Never a break. Just constant light rain. But we rallied and ran our races and had a great time. Everyone won a price — some free lunches at a local restaurant, and some gift cards to a local athletics store. We also met some very nice Norwegian runners and some other social folk at the race. It was wet, but we had fun anyway.

We finished the week off with a soccer (football) game on Saturday at the home of the Rosenborg Ball Klub on Trondheim. It was quite the stadium. At one point, they were part of the Premier League, which allowed them to have money to build a very large stadium. This night, it was only about half full of people, but still a good atmosphere. We had seats right near the field (first rows) and the weather hold off for us. Rosenborg won the game 2-1 and all three goals were scored in the goal closest to our seats. Enjoyed some stadium hot dogs and popcorn and some weird thing called “Bacon crisps” that apparently had no bacon in them.

July 14, 2024 — Trondheim

Another week has flown by already! We’ve been busy each day with new activities and adventures. On Monday, we had another rainy day, but we decided to go explore some of the south side of town on foot. We had a family run/walk and came across some nice play areas.

We followed that up with a nice trip to local bakery. I must say, Norway does bakeries well. There seems to be one on every street and corner, and the food is always warm and delicious. Though bagels aren’t part of their diet, we’ve been able to find several other great options.

With more rain in the afternoon, we finished the day off with a trip to an indoor mini golf course. It was called “Trondheim Camping”, though it had nothing to do with camping. Just an indoor course with a bar and some random tables. The course was good though, even had a hole where the ball ended up coming down a “Plinko” game to determine your final score. Also, only 15 holes.

Tuesday took us to the Egon Tower restaurant in downtown Trondheim. We won some free lunch tickets at the track meet on Sunday, and low and behold they took us to this amazing restaurant. It is hundreds up meters up in the sky (think Space Needle in Seattle or spinning restaurant in Toronto). Take an elevator up, and then rotate around while enjoying your lunch. Food was great, views were incredible, and it was memorable for all of us.

Grandpa Tom and Grandma Beth joined us on on journey on Thursday! We gave them a nice tour of downtown before heading back to the house and getting ready for some beach time. They had a long journey, but rallied their way.

Nothing beats the beach! Sand, sun, and snacks.

We rented a paddleboard today and paddled around the marina, to the beach, and a little into the fjord. We traded off and on and we each were able to see fish, starfish, and the occasional crab in the water. It was a great day to paddle around, as the sun shone through water and you could see clear to the bottom.

Running has still been great. I don’t get lost anymore in Trondheim, and I’ve exhausted all directions from the house - excepting North, as I can’t yet run on water. The trails and the access is phenomenal and the weather is perfect for running at nearly any time of day. There’s occasional rainy runs, and warm runs, but I know there’s not many better places in the world in July for a runner. Lucky to be here for sure. One more week in Norway — we’ll shift our base to Vikersund for the last couple days, and then off to London and Hogwarts next week!

July 18, 2024 — Last Week in Trondheim

We have made it to the 4th and final week in Trondheim. On Friday, we head down toward Oslo and Vikersund in the southern part of the country. Our time here has been amazing, and the house has been perfect for our family — even enough room to have guests visit. All in all, this has been a great first long stop of our adventure. I would definitely return.

On Sunday, we found a trail just out of town and hiked up the trail to a restaurant that is only accessible on foot. The restaurant was called Estenstadhytta and it was a 1.2 kilometer walk from the parking lot — uphill all the way.

Stopping at a rock part way up the trail.

Cinnamon Rolls and hot tea at the top (Trondheim Fjord and Egon Tower Restuarant can be seen in the background). The hike was well worth the reward at the top. Warm food, good drinks, and great views all around.

On the way down the mountain, we came across come woodland goats. They appear to be domesticated, as they were all tagged, but they were wandering wildly around the woods. They were not afraid of humans and were just hanging out looking for the good grass right off the trail.

Found a water wheel on the way down. It doesn’t appear to power anything, but the concept is there. This was just a stream along the side of the trail.

Monday was one of our “educational” days of the trip. We traveled about 90 minutes to the Norwegian fishing town of Hitra (west and North of Trondheim) to a Norwegian fish farm tour. We weren’t sure of what we were getting into, but it turned out to be much better and thorough than any of us expected. Turns out that the seafood industry is the 2nd biggest industry and export for Norway (by quite a long way to oil and gas if you’re wondering). However, almost all of the salmon that are exported are farm grown salmon. The farm we visited had 10 fish cages with approximately 150,000-200,000 fish in each. The total number of wild Alaskan Salmon off the coast of Norway is only about 500,000 — which would only fill about 2.5 of the 10 cages at the farm.

Our trip started with a boat ride. Goggles and all. And this was no ordinary boat. Powered be a couple 250HP outboard engines, we covered the 10 kilometers out to the farm in about 15 minutes. We were cruising!

Out at the farm, we learned all about the aquamarine culture of Norway and especially of salmon. They eat about 2 tons of fish food per day (which also means that they poop out tons of salmon poo per day as well). And they constantly get lice. And removing the lice mechanically is actually the #1 killer of these fish. They also can’t be released into the waters with the wild salmon because they will mix with and contaminate and possibly give diseases to them. So, they live their entire lives in the fish cages until they are large enough (about 5kg) to be sent to the slaughterhouse. From there, they are exported around the world.

We even got to trek out to the actual fish cages!

While walking around the cage (yes, you get to walk all the way around it!), we were lucky enough to spot some jellyfish in the water outside the cages.

July 21, 2024 Oslo-London

This week we wrapped up our time in Norway. All in all, it was a great month, and Erica and I agreed that we would likely visit Norway again sometime. Norway is so green, and beautiful, and full of water with fjords and lakes and streams and waterfalls. The people are, shall we say, not the most friendly. No one is going out of their way to make conversation. Except one runner named Hakon. He was super talkative. He even invited me to run a workout with his group ,which I did. Otherwise, the people mostly keep to themselves and their business.

One of our last evenings in Trondheim was capped off with a rousing game of soccer — adults v. kids. We had a couple grandparents to help out, but we still lost 11-3. Tough crowd out there on the playground.

It was so fun the first time, we decided to go to Pirbadet again, this time with grandparents. Here’s a picture of Fin in the pool with the fjord in the background.

Erica took her parents out to a soccer game, so Dad was left cooking pizzas. Round 1 didn’t go so well…

Bye-bye Trondheim. Note: try not to schedule flights that depart at 6:30AM; they can really ruin the sleep schedule.

Our Norway concludes with a trip to Vikersund — and the tallest ski jump in the world. This ski jump is nearly twice the height of Utah’s UOP ski jump at 236 meters in height. It also holds the record for longest jumps by men and women in the history of the world. For reference, the Olympic height of a ski jump is 120 meters!

Of course, we needed to climb the 1,074 steps to the top of the jump. This is the first section, Only about 800 to go!

At the top! Quite a climb, but well worth the views. Cheetah and Erica decided to take the zip line down. That means 1,074 steps to the bottom for the rest of us (Cheetah says she counted and it was actually 1,078 steps. We’ll never know!)

I convinced Erica to try an electric car for this rental. We ended up with a BMW iX1, just a $91,000 fully electric BMW for a little family excursion. Pros — 0-60 in about 3.2 seconds, which is enough to make all the kids in the back seat squeal. Had all the bells and whistles: adaptive cruise, auto driving, seat massage(!), moon roof, front camera, and everything else one could think of. Charging was a bit of a process… needed to download an app, find a fast charging station, etc. All in all, took 56 minutes to charge from 28% to 100% battery and cost about $30. Range was about 450 kilometers with a mix of city and highway driving. I’d drive one if it was affordable. And if charging stations were readily available.

The running around Vikersund was as good or better than Trondheim. It was sunny, so it was borderline hot temps, but we found some great, pine needle-covered trails. There were a lot of Robert Frost moments. Miles and miles (or kilometers and kilometers) of trails. Just great running. 9/10 for sure.

July 26, 2024 — London — Borehamwood, UK

On Sunday, we left the calm, serene fjords and forests of the Norway for the chaos and excitement of London. We were fortunate to just miss the computer crash/crisis issue that plagued so many flights. We made it to London Stanstead without a hitch and took an Uber to our home in Borehamwood outside of London. The home is fine, with 3 bedrooms, and enough beds for the grandparents who arrive in a day. It is a fair bit outside of proper London — about a mile walk to the train station, and then a 30-35 minute train ride into the city. If I were to do it again, I’d stay closer to downtown London (though finding lodging for 7 might truly be impossible). Our kids have gotten used to the public transit system, and even more used to walking a mile each way to the train station.

On day one in London, we managed to hit almost all the major attractions — Big Ben, The Shakespeare Theatre, Trafalgar Square, Parliament, Ministry of Defence, West End, and the British Museum. In fact, we over did it. By the time we made it to the British Museum, we were all pretty tired, so our time there was maybe more limited than we would have hoped. The museum was, however, impressive. Exhibits on people from every continent throughout history with artifacts to match. After a while, you begin to wonder if it’s right for Britain to have all of these things — the Rosetta Stone and the mummies from Egypt for example… There is actually very little “British” history. The museum is more of a lot of rooms of artifacts and things from places that Britain has conquered and colonized and plundered over the years. I suppose there is an argument that they are “preserving” the artifacts, but some part of it still doesn’t feel quite right.

Overall I am impressed by London. So many iconic places that you’ve read about or seen on television or just heard referenced. And here they are, real as day. And they are all pretty walkable. And you get the sense that everything is so much older here, it has so much more history to it than nearly everything in the United States. I was glad to see it. We spent 3 days total jsut exploring the city. On day 2, we visited the National Gallery and Piccadilly Circus and Chinatown (where we had some delicious Chinese food at Mr. Wu’s). on Day 3, we hit the London Eye and Westminster Abbey. Some places we simply walked past; others we entered with tickets and did the walk through. Places we actually visited inside: British Museum, National Gallery, Westminster Abbey (including the gallery), The London Eye.

It’s a lot, and you better have your walking shoes. But, for a first timer, I was impressed at how much we could see (with 3 kids in tow) just by walking around the city and using some Google Maps.

We have arrived! The London Eye in the background.

Weird road signs in the UK. And the cars drive on the wrong side.

Egyptian Artifacts from the British Museum

An Old Man in a Chair, Rembrandt (The National Gallery)

Classic London - and we met up with some friends - the DeWinters from Park City in London too!

Fin and Daddy get the traditional Turkish barbershop treatment

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Westminster Abbey)

The Magna Carta, 1215. Not sure why but this is in Westminster Abbey too.

I was able to find a local track meet in Watford. First 1500M race I have run on the track since….oh 2003 or so. Erica and the kids came to support me, which was awesome. The race was really hard, and a reminder that coaching is easy and actually running is much harder. Despite that, I was able to compete well and finish in 2nd place against a bunch of 18 year olds. So I was definitely the first old guy!

Fin wondered why everyone else was taller than me!

August 1 — Lyon, France

Whew, it’s been a whirlwind few days from London to Lyon. First, we started off with a lovely 7:05AM flight out of London Luton Airport with the reputable EasyJet Airlines. It was pretty much a disaster from the time we arrived at the airport (around 5:15AM) right up until we finished out run through the airport to our gate. EasyJet had lines that were hundreds of people long, and then an issue with baggage. By the time we made it to the security line — the start of the security line — we had about 10 minutes until the boarding ended for our flight. Somehow — and with Erica doing some quick talking to the security agent to move us up — we made it through. Then we ran for what seemed like a couple miles, eventually making it to our gate.. in time for the flight even.

From there, an uneventful flight to Lyon, followed by a light rail ride to the city, a metro to our neighborhood in the city, and then an 800 meter walk to the flat that included a 268 stair climb (luggage in tow)! To say the least, we were happy to finally reach our destination in Lyon. It was a nice flat on the 3rd floor, with 2 bedrooms and a kitchen and living room. Location was perfect, right in old town. It was a great little spot. Only hiccup, Lyon just happened to be experiencing record heat for the week — highs in the high 90s and lows in the 70s. And, you know it, the flat didn’t have A/C. So, we cooked for a few days and nights. Typing and even remembering never does justice for things like heat — let’s just say it was borderline miserable.

That didn’t stop up from some quality experiences though. We made it to the Olympic soccer stadium as intended — Columbia over New Zealand and France (the host country!) over New Zealand. We found a pretty awesome local pool right on the river, and we sampled some traditional, fancy French cuisine at a local bouchon. We also watched the new Minions Movie in French (still good) and visited a local aquarium (fish look pretty much the same in France). They even had an exhibit on the Mississippi River Delta.

All in all, the French are very nice people, and Lyon is a wonderful town. The heat really put a damper on things for us, as we had to find as many indoor activities as possible.

Olympic Soccer (Football) at Stadion d’ Lyon! New Zealand v. Columbia.

Rooftop View of Lyon at Dusk. 3rd floor apartment. I think you could run from roof to roof — Mary Poppins style!

What to do on a hot day? Buy a mandatory speedo and head to the pool.

Bridge with Notre Dame Cathedral Lyon in the background.

Not everything was too hot. This was a chilled chocolate mousse dessert at a famous Bouchon Lyonnais Restaurant in old town.

August 8, 2024 — Tallin, Estonia (and the rest of Estonia too!)

We’ve made it to August and that has brought us to Tallin, Estonia for a few days. Why Estonia? Why indeed! We have some Park City friends that are from Estonia — Liis Rametta and her kids - -and they invited us to come visit them. And it was a great visit all the way around. We escaped the heat of souther France to find the cooler temps and humidity of the northern Baltic area. We are roughly at the same latitude as the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. However, to me it is very reminiscent of northern Michigan in the summer. There are lakes, humidity, trees and forest, fields, and constant changes in the weather. Unfortunately, there are mosquitos too — I didn’t need to remember that as well. But there are also nice restaurants, great running trails, parks everywhere, and plenty of fun things to do for kids. We spent the first few days at a family home in Tallin (that must have been at least 100 years old!), then we traversed south to the Rametta family farm (where we slept, wait for it, in a barn!), then to a beach house on Lake Peipus. Lake Peipus is the fourth largest lake in Europe, and the border with Russia is halfway across. Suffice to say, this is closest any of us have ever been to Russia.

Ancient stone walls of the City of Tallin — circa 1300s.

Formerly a Russian Orthodox Church in old town Tallin.

Fresh flowers are definitely a thing in Tallin!

Visited an open-air museum showing old homes and structures from Estonia.

Even found some ski jumps nearby the house.

The natural hill was clearly not big enough for the 120!

At the Rametta farmhouse in rural Estonia. This wheat is ready to be harvested.

Finished up our trip to southern Estonia with some rope courses.

August 12, 2024 Athens, Greece

After our time in Estonia, we decided to book the earliest flight possible to Athens. (OK, the cheapest). So, we caught a taxi ride at 4:00AM and off to the airport we went. Swiss Airlines from Tallin to Zurich, and then Zurich to Athens. Thankfully, the flights were rather uneventful. We did, however, get to ride on a huge Boeing 777 from Zurich to Athens. It had 10 total seats across — rows of 3, 4, and 3. Certainly the biggest plane we have taken so far on the trip. And they provided us with the famous Swiss Airlines chocolate as well.

We landed in Greece around 1:00PM to general chaos and a crowded airport. But we found our way to the bus stop, hopped on the X96 Airport Shuttle, and off we went to the beaches of Athens — Paleo Faliro to be exact. It was definitely hot, over 90 degrees, but our apartment was equipped with several A/C units and only a few hundred meters from the beach. We spent the afternoon at the beach, and then to a local Greek Restaurant for some authentic Greek food. Lots of pitas, tzaziki sauce, gyro meat, and overall deliciousness.

Our historical part of the trip obviously included a trek into the middle of Athens to the Acropolis and Parthenon. This was totally worth it. All that could be expected of a visit to an ancient cathedral and ruins. We learned about the history of the Parthenon (lots of wars and destruction, but also some rebuilding and plenty of conversation). Amazing that this structure was built in 600-500 BCE, 2500+ years ago. And much of it still standing. We followed up the walk around the Acropolis with a trip to the nearby Acropolis Museum. This was an amazing museum — maybe one the best I have ever visited. It was full of artifacts from Athens (and other part of Greece), history, and literal excavation that could be seen under the glass floors of the museum. The museum itself was built on top of old ruins which are partially excavated and preserved for people to see. All in all, this was a great trip to learn and see some history.

Most of the rest of our free time was spend in the water and at the beach. It was too hot for much else. The water of the Mediterranean was warm but still refreshing. It was salty, had occasional big waves (loved by every kid on the beach), and was FULL of fish. A simple dive under water (if you had goggles) and you could see fish every time — sometimes entire schools of dozens of fish. They were everywhere, and all different colors — translucent, blue, yellow, gold, etc. Cheetah spent most of her time swimming below the surface noting all the different fish — and even a few sea urchins hanging out on the sea floor.

The running in Greece, was, to put it simply, a little challenging. The only time to run was before the sun came up, so 6:00AM start or so. The temperature then wasn’t cool, but it was a manageable 70-75 degrees for the most part with no sun. Not many places to run, but there was a nice promenade along the coast that went for several miles passing beaches, marinas, and a providing great views of the sea. It also avoided any road crossings and car traffic, so that was a plus. It was less humid than I expected — more like desert than wet and humid. So, it was hot, but bearable for the most part. Nans even managed to wake up at 6:45AM for a little rum through the park and along the promenade.

Authentic Greek food (and a game of golf, interrupted).

Nans out for a sunrise run. Found a few little boats in the marina.

Other parts of the Acropolis still intact.

Restoration of west side of the Parthenon.

August 15 — Venice, Italy

Well, we made it out of Athens just as a large wildfire started up in the foothills around the city. There were evacuations and smoke all around. We were sorry for the Athenians but happy that we got out before the smoke and fire moved any closer.

It was an easy arrival in Venice — one EasyJet flight with no long lines followed up with a bus trip from the airport to the city. After getting a little lost trying to find our apartment (mine and Google maps fault), we did finally make it to our place. It was warm when we got there, but we definitely ran that A/C unit every minute we rented the place. Venice was on the warm side, and with no grass or trees, the city seemed even warmer. In a different sense though, it was very cool. Boats everywhere — literal “boat jams” where boats had to wait for another. Boats for mail. Boats for taxis. Boats for garbage. A city that uses canals and rivers instead of roads is certainly a unique city indeed. It is also chock full of restaurants, bars, bakeries, and shops of all kinds. In fact, every square inch of the place seems to be either housing or food or shopping stores. It was enjoyable in that respect. You could find anything rather quickly.

One day 2, we took a short trek to Lido (an island just a few hundred meters from Venice). We took the water taxi across the main channel — about a 30 minute ride total — and then walked the final 600 meters or so to the beach. The beach was sandy, had a restaurant/bar, and the water was warm but still refreshing enough to cool us from the heat. We stayed a solid 4 hours, enjoying the water and the sand. No fish that we could see. But plenty of soft sand and sunshine.

We finished up Venice with a trek to the famous San Marco’s (St. Mark’s) Cathedral. It was, shall we say, not that impressive. We waited in line for a good 30 minutes just to walk through and snap a few pictures in about 5 minutes time. Whoops. Nothing compared to the 2+ hours we spent in Westminster Abbey, that’s for sure. The rest of the time, we made some pasta and wandered the city for gelato.

The running was not ideal in Venice. The city streets are okay early in the morning, but they are full of tight turns, bridges with stairs, and unlevel cobblestones. I opted for the bridge to/from the city — a roughly 3 mile long straight shot back to the mainland. It was fine, and certainly provided opportunity for some nice pictures, but in the end it was just 6 miles of the same bridge, back and forth.

In short, I’m glad we visited Venice, but I don’t know as a see a need to return. It’s neat in that it’s unique. But unless you’re really into the canals or the food culture, 3 days is plenty to explore.

Authentic Italian — fish, pasta, and pizza (and french fries?)

Big ship in the channel — on the way to Lido Beach.

Open air seats in the back of the water taxi.

Running path on bridge from Venice to mainland.

August 21, 2024 – La Spezia, Italy

After our 3 days in the city of Venice, we embarked on our first train excursion of the trip so far. We took the Trenitalia from Venice to Florence, then Florence to Pisa, and finally Pisa to La Spezia. What did we learn on this trip? On trains, coaches are not at all equal. Our first leg of the journey - 2 hours from Venice to Florence, was on a glorious high speed rail with Business Class tickets. That meant our own seats, tables, wifi, and even a visit from the attendant to bring us some drinks and snacks. I decided right then and there, “Trains are for me.” Fast forward to train #2 from Florence to Pisa. On this train, we booked 2nd class tickets. Apparently on a train, 2nd class simply means “free for all” in there. Nobody had seats, we were crammed in like sardines (mind you, with all of our luggage) and we sweated and stood all the way to Pisa Centrale. Apparently the earlier train had been cancelled, so everyone hopped on board this train instead, making it double crowded. Needless to say, after this experience, I swore off trains forever. Unfortunately (or fortunately as it turned out), we booked a 1st class ticket for the last leg of the journey from Pisa to La Spezia. This was a pleasant, air-conditioned ride with our own seats (minus wifi and drinks this time). So, I guess I’ll book more train tickets, but only in 1st class!

La Spezia was a break from the heat of Venice. Still hot in August, but more like mid-80s and we had a couple days of rain to cool things off too. We did spend an entire day at the beach in Lerici – one town down the coast from La Spezia. This might have been the finest beach we have visited yet. Sandy, cool water, comfortable. We swam below the surface and saw many, many fish. And then, suddenly, we spotted a small octopus on the sea floor. It was amazing. It changed colors and swam around and generally stuck to the bottom. It was in water about 10 feet day, so it took a little diving down to see. All the kids got to see it – Cheetah made many trips to the bottom to check it out. Certainly the highlight of our swimming so far!

The next day it rained for most of the morning. Refreshing, cooling rain that I think most everyone appreciated. After the rain cleared, Finley looked for things to do and found a Naval Museum within walking distance. The museum was impressive – full of submarines, torpedos, warships, and all kinds of maritime items. It was mostly a military museum, and Italy’s military played a big role in WWI and WWII. The port of La Spezia was actually bombed mercilessly by the Allies in WWII and basically completely destroyed by April of 1945. The Italians certainly have a different view of this than say, the Americans.

Our last major jaunt from La Spezia was a trip to Cinque Terre – a little strip of rocky outcroppings on the sea that are the home to 5 very small Italian towns. We took the bus to Riomaggiore (the southermost of the towns), ate some delicious breakfast (here, you have to get a coffee or drink in order to get food, weird), and then explored the city a bit. We walked up the steep roads to a viewpoint and snapped some great pictures of the town as the sun was rising. From there, we walked the “Lover’s Lane” – an 800 meter stretch of concrete path built right up on the mountainside overlooking the sea – to the next town of Manarola. After slight confusion with tickets (you need 2 separate tickets for this hike), we made our way along the path to the next town. It is picturesque for sure. Towns built on rocky outcroppings with nearly no flat land around. Farming taking place with terraces on steep, high slopes all around. Interesting to see and very popular – Erica and I decided maybe a little too popular. They have made the access easy – 7 minute train ride to the first town, and then constant trains running through tunnels to all of the other towns. No longer to people need to walk to access these places, which has made them very popular and busy tourist locations. That’s fine, we enjoyed it. But it’s not the quaint setting that it probably once was. We ended up taking the train to the northernmost city – Monterrosso – and stopping there for lunch and a nice swim in the sea to cool us off. The waves here were bigger than Lerici, as it is not in a protected area but open to the wide sea.

All in all, the walkability and access of La Spezia was very nice. Grocery store, bakery, stores, shopping mall, everything within just a few minutes walk of our place. Even the walk along the promenade was within just a few hundred meters. And much of La Spezia is also very pedestrian friendly — some of it even completely car free.

The running was nice, as long as the run was before the heat of the day. Plenty of paths and roads and places to run and avoid traffic. Great views of the sea all along the coastline and up the hills surrounding the town. There were also a couple parks and other places for pedestrians only.

Walkway dedicated to those that escaped concentration camps through the port at La Spezia.

Interesting resolution on this view of La Spezia Bay.

View of La Spezia Harbor from San Michael Castle

Riomagiorre (picture courtesy Kennedy Cuttitta)

August 21-23 Marina di Pisa, Italy

After La Spezia and Cinque Terre, we headed down the coast a few kilometers to Marina d’ Pisa where we found some much needed beach time. The heat was certainly present, but we were in for a nice surprise. Our apartment was only steps from the waterfront, and there was a nice breeze coming from the sea to cool us down. The biggest difference I can note is that we were just closer to the sea (and not a bay like La Spezia, but huge, open water) and that seemed to make a huge difference in the temperature. The beach was unique to say the least — nothing but white, roundish rocks all the way down to the water. In fact, in order to set up an umbrella, we had to make a small pile of rocks around the base as there was no sand to bury it into. But the beach was a welcome relief from the heat, and its proximity to the apartment was awesome. There was also a very wide, open, nice promenade for pedestrians that went for several kilometers right along the beach. Facing west, we were able to enjoy multiple perfect sunsets from the shoreline. Marina d’ Pisa also boasted an excellent little coffee and breakfast shop — complete with pancakes for the kids, and self described “best iced coffee I’ve ever had” for me. And that too, was very much within walking distance of the apartment.

We made one trek out of town, a quick trip into the main town to Pisa to see, of course, the leaning tower. It is so much more stark than I imagined. The lean is incredible - a full 12 feet off center at the top. And compared to all the building around, you can really see how off-center it actually is. We didn’t tour the building, but we took the compulsory pictures (holding up the tower, etc) and got the general feel. It’s located in a public square complete with sellers of all sorts of goods as well as plenty of food and drink. We found our lunch and some snacks there before taking the bus back to the marina. We were definitely glad we stayed out of town. Pisa was very busy, very hot, and very crowded. The marina was calm, serene, and had the beach to cool off.

The running was great, with the promenade along the water and an even longer, shaded, old rail tail just inland a few hundred meters. At some point the train ran there, but it is since been converted into a nice paved/gravel path through the trees, completely in the shade for the AM hours and good for running as it was pedestrian/bike only.

Rome, Italy August 23-27

Our final and busiest stop in Italy — the capital of Rome. Busy, busy, busy and so dense with people, shops, restaurants, and everything else. It’s a BIG city, with miles and miles of city streets and different communities and areas, all that feel like they might be the real “downtown” of most cities. Our area was next to Vatican City, and the Pope. We could see St. Peter’s Basilica from the window of our apartment, and it was a short, 4 minute walk, to the square. Perfect for our visit to the Vatican.

More importantly, my parents, Joel and Sharon, were able to make the trek to Rome. It was their first time across the Atlantic, so everything was a first for them as well. They did great — taking a flight from Detroit to Rome, then the train to the city, and then walking 800 meters to the apartment. We were so happy to see them as we might not see them for the next several months. And I think it was good for them to experience travel to Europe. They didn’t stop at just Rome either. They followed us to Spain, and then to London, and finally to Paris before heading back to Michigan.

Rome was great for the food and the people and the culture. We attended a mass at the Pantheon — an ancient temple that has been used for services for many different religions over the centuries. It was built in the 100s, so is nearly 2000 years old and is the largest concrete dome in the world not reinforced by steel. Still standing strong. And it’s roof is open air — who knew! The mass was nice, Joel even volunteered and read the 2nd Reading of the mass. We found a diner with American food — yep pancakes, waffles, omelettes, you name it to finish off a great morning. For most of the meals, we had the more traditional pasta, meat, and pizza dishes — excellent on all accounts.

The next day we took the marathon tour of the Vatican. The kids did great. It was long, and covered a lot of things, but ended with the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s — I feel these are both must-dos on the list of Rome sights to see. It was long, and rather hot, and a whole lot of information, but we’re all glad we went and learned about the church and Rome and Vatican City.

The next day brought us a 5:45AM flight (who booked this anyway??) and we were out of Rome and on our way to the beaches of Southern Spain. Thanks Rome, glad to have met you.

Running was general city running — lots of streets, quite a few people out and about, and challenging to find routes that didn’t involve busy street crossings and cars in general. That said, I was able to meet up with an old friend, Travan Thomas, and he showed me a nice run to a high point in the city with great views of the area. All in all, just city running, but manageable.

Joel and Sharon at St. Peter's Square (newly arrived from across the Atlantic)

August 27- September 17 — Espana (Tavernas de Valldega, Valencia, Oliva, Madrid)

The end of August brought us to our final destination in Europe, and our southernmost. Joel and Sharon joined us for the first 7 days. After touring much of Northern Europe and then some Italy, we are finishing our European part of the excursion in Spain. This is an important stop for the kids’ education. They are all studying Spanish in school, so 3 weeks in a Spanish speaking country was a must for us. We flew from Rome to Valencia (at a God-awful early time), and then picked up rental cars and headed for the coast south of Valencia. Our first AirBnB in Tavernas de Valldega had some issues — outlets didn’t work, no A/C (though Joel and I improvised by visiting a Spanish Home Depot — A Buahaus — and getting a couple portable units, a not-so-great kitchen, and most importantly, no working wifi. Fortunately, AirBnB was able to cancel our reservation due to these issues and we booked another place a little further south in Oliva, Spain. This place ended up being perfect. Not only A/C and working wifi, but a great patio overlooking the ocean, comfy beds, and a nice kitchen and living room area for everyone. Oh, and a pool as well! Yeah, that was a key play!

The little town was great, just one grocery store, a couple small restaurants, and one of the best beaches we have ever visited. In fact, I would rank this beach above even Jaco, Costa Rica, and Cancun, Mexico. The water was pleasant — the perfect temp to get refreshed but also warm enough to be inviting. The air was humid, but never unbearably hot. In fact, the nights on the latter half of the trip were in the mid 60s, so the evenings and morning were quite cool.

We visited Valencia a couple times. Savannah celebrated her 12th birthday with ear piercings in Valencia and Finley celebrated his 9th birthday by going to an Arcade and a movie in Spanish (whatever number Minions movie is out now). Valencia was an amazing city, but a challenging one for driving. Massive roundabouts with no rules, tiny streets, an so many one-way streets that were confusing. Joel and Sharon and Fin got a little lost driving down some (probably) pedestrian only streets following Google Maps, but we all made it out unscathed.

We learned a lot about Spanish culture on this trip. They eat a big meal during the middle of the day, and then they close everything down for siesta time (even the pool, which we learned the hard way by being shushed out at 3:30PM). Literally, stores close, restaurants close, every goes home and has a meal (and a nap?). And don’t try to eat dinner before 8:00. Even if the restaurant is open, they are only serving drinks until about 8:00. Many times, we head the people in the apartment above us eating dinner at 9:00 or later. Just the way they roll.

The kids were amazing. Anytime we needed Spanish language, they hopped right in and conversed with locals, asked questions of waitresses, and generally helped us adults make our way through Spain. It was fun and interesting to watch a be a part of.

The Spanish people are exteremely nice and helpful — especially to us touristas, who obviously have no idea what we’re doing or what we should be doing. Everyone treated us with kindness and helpfulness, everywhere we went. We were lucky in that we missed the busiest time of the year. We arrived in Spain at the very end of their “summer” Spanish students stared school in the first week of September, and so there were no crowds at the beaches or anywhere else.

We found the beach to be a great playground. It was the place we went during the day for swimming and beachy things, but also at night to play ball games or volleyball or just stroll along the shore. More than half of our days in Oliva ended up with us walking a mile or two of beach along with hundreds of locals who clearly make this a daily routine. Though the sun set behind the land (we were facing East), it was always a pleasant, cool, walk at the twilight of the day.

These are all over Spain near the highways.

If you're going to beach all day, you have to start in the morning.

Euchre on the patio with the ocean in the background.

Had to come to Spain to bowl an all time high score.

An Iberian Wheel to celebrate 17 years of marriage.

September 18-October 1 Nairobi, Kenya

From the continent of Europe to the continent of Africa. All of a sudden, things go from fairly recognizable and relatively similar to completely different and foreign. I won’t spend much time on it, but we had a pretty awful experience on Egyptian Airlines with an unruly passenger and some abusive flight attendants. I’ll save the details, but it was the second leg of 11 hours of flying, and we did not sleep a wink — well, maybe Fin did. But Erica and I definitely pulled the all-nighter.

So be it. We arrived in Kenya at 5:00AM, still dark at the airport. We ordered the Uber, and then made our way through about 15 others offering us rides into Nairobi. We found our Uber, hopped in, and we headed into the city of Nairobi just as the sun was rising. First impression — holy crap! There were no rules to the roads…cars everywhere, motorcycles everywhere, bikes everywhere, pedestrians everywhere. For an American, it was chaos. Pure chaos. It seemed there were a dozen times where we were almost hit, or almost did the hitting. Honking the entire time. The only rules of the road seemed to be which car or bike or motorcycle could get to the spot first. Yikes. What an intro. Oh, and the roads. The infrastructure in Nairobi is mostly broken. The roads are in terrible shape. There are holes, and bigger holes, and then roads that are just completely beat to hell. We later asked some locals, and they claimed that the government was corrupt and that any money that should have went toward infrastructure was used elsewhere or just straight up stolen by the politicians.

We eventually made the 8km trek in about 35 minutes, and found our host at our apartment. The apartment was nice, big rooms, plenty of bathrooms, big kitchen, working wifi, even a PS 5. Striking though was the amount of security everywhere. At the gate, security guards. At the mall next door, security guards with guns. Every entry, metal detectors for everyone. Erica and I explained that the security somehow made us feel less safe, not more safe. As if men with guns meant that they were expecting bad things to happen. Perhaps that’s just the American in us. We’re just not used to seeing armed guards at supermarkets and malls and apartment complexes and parks.

From a cultural and racial standpoint, we all of a sudden became not only the tourists, but the clear minority. My own experience affords me too few times in my life where this has been the case. Of course, this feeling is a little fear, a little bit surprise, and I guess maybe the best word: uncomfortable. Honestly, I don’t know of the kids felt the same way. They didn’t seem to change the way the talked, or acted, or much of anything. Or maybe they did. I haven’t asked them because I want them to feel normal in these situations, To be more comfortable than I was. Maybe that’s what this trip is for. In any case, this is the first of many of these experiences to come…. Here are some Kenya pictures to help tell our story of the journey.

Incoming. Nairobi at night (well 4:30AM).

Our pad in Nairobi — complete with PS-5.

Lake Naivasha, about 85km outside Nairobi.

An ostrich fishing. Yep, that’s right. Just for aquatic plants though.

According to our guide, this baby zebra was 1 day old, born the evening before.

Walking safari around the lake —came right up to this guy (or maybe gal?)

South Africa (Blog)

Capetown - Oct 1-13

We arrived in Cape Town late at night from Nairobi. Flight landed at 10:55pm, so we stayed at an airport hotel just a kilometer or so away. Our biggest fears of Cape Town came from what we read on the internet and blogs. Things like being the 3rd most deadly country in the world for murder rate, and stories of people smashing car windows to grab cell phones were shared to us from the shuttle driver to the hotel and the car rental agency. Fortunately, they also showed us the areas to avoid and told us the roads not to drive on our way. We were also assured that the location where we were staying — Sea Pointe — was very safe and tourist friendly. As in Nairobi, I was informed that most of the violent crime is not directed at tourists; it is between natives of the community. This didn’t make us feel a whole lot better, and Erica and I were basically on high alert from the time we arrived.

We had a nice stay at the Verde Hotel next to the airport. Breakfast was terrific; we even came back for seconds. I ran about 50 loops of their “running path” behind the hotel, and then headed off to get the rental car.

After a few small mishaps of nearly driving on the wrong side of the road (they drive on the left in South Africa), I kinda/sorta figured it out and we made our way to Sea Pointe.

It didn’t take long for us to feel much more comfortable and settle in. Our house was just 2 blocks from the main promenade along the ocean (Atlantic Ocean on the west side of the Cape), and the promenade was always full of people walking, running, biking, and just hanging out. Despite our fears, it felt very safe and we gradually got more and more comfortable with our surroundings.

To follow, we had some great experiences in Cape Town. We went swimming in the ocean — SO COLD! But still worth the trip just to check it out. We took a tour in a boat out to Robben Island to learn about Nelson Mandela and the other prisoners on the island. We even had a tour from a former prisoner. We took a different boat another day on a wildlife tour, and were fortunate enough to see 2 whales at a distance of about 15 meters or so. Another day, we took a trip to the east side of the cape to a place called Boulder Beach. Boulder Beach is the home to a penguin colony in South Africa. We again were fortunate as we saw 100s of penguins just a few feet away. Here, we also went for a quick swim, and the water wasn’t quite as cold.

The running was great in Cape Town. The promenade, the streets behind the house, and the nearby park all provided excellent running. The weather was also terrific — 50s and 60s most days, a couple days in the 70s. But with only a little rain, and mostly sunny and clear. We also had a couple great hikes — up to the Lion’s Head was a memorable one for sure.

All in all, I really enjoyed the time in Cape Town. Food was easy, lodging was great. Activities along the promenade were excellent, and eventually, yes, we felt safe. I know there are dangerous areas around, but along the sea and where we stayed, that was not the case. I’d recommend Cape Town for anyone that wants a little vacation by the ocean.

India November 2024 — Delhi, Shimla, Bengaluru

India (for Blog)

We had a couple marathon flights to get from Cape Town to Delhi. This travel between Cape Town and Delhi represented the longest duration between places on our entire trip. The two places are so very far away in both latitude and longitude. And we are going from the Southern Hemisphere to the Northern and also from the Western Hemisphere to the Eastern.

Just as our location changed, so did many other things. To say India is a complete different place is just too much of an understatement. I have so many things to say about India as a country and the Indian people as well. There are just so many good things, and at the same time so many troubling and problematic things. I will try to incorporate them here.

Indian people are overly kind. Perhaps it is because we are guests, tourists. They treat us almost as royalty at hotels, restaurants, shops, and our AirBnB houses. Everything is catered to us. As an American, it almost feels overdone. Like too much kindness if that is possible. And yet, it’s great to feel welcomed and wanted and treated this way too.

The culture in Northern India — we stayed for 10 days in Chandigarh and 8 days in Shimla (more on that later) is extremely conservative. No one wears shorts (especially no women), no bare shoulders, no bare knees, lots of long sleeved collared shirts and dresses and formal wear. On the outside, everyone and everything is very proper and orderly and people tend to generally follow the rules — except in the case of the roads where there truly are no rules.

However, we also found Indian people quick to laugh, quick to make a joke, and happy to share stories about their families, their towns, and their country. After a few days eating the hotel near our house in Shimla, the bartender and waiters asked for selfies with us. They wanted to take pictures. I don’t know if we are just a novelty — the only Americans in Shimla — or something else. It was …. Different. One time, we were walking around a rock garden in Chandigarh, and a group of school students stopped and talked to Erica and Cheetah. They said hello, shared a quick greeting, and then went on to all take selfies with them as well. Dozens of school-aged Indian girls wanting to take a selfie with Cheetah. She seemed intrigued by the whole experience, not scared or taken aback, just interested. All of a sudden (and this was true in Kenya too), we are the people that look different, the people that are out of place, the people that get stared at in the street and in the park. It’s more than fine. It’s good for us. To be in the minority for once in our lives.

The landscape in Chandigarh was a city of tree-lined streets and shops and homes. It was a completely planned city, from a European architect and engineer, so it’s a grid system with parks and schools and shops intertwined with the housing. And still each Sector (as they call them) is a little different than the next. Some are nicer, some are poorer, some have more food shops, some have bigger schools and smaller parks. So each is unique even in this very planned, orderly setup of a city. There is also a man-made lake at one end of town, next to a very interesting rock garden, and there is a rose garden, a Japanese garden, and about a dozen other graders spread around the city.

We enjoyed walking to local shops, meeting local people, and in general just being in a place where we could walk or take a Tuk Tuk ( yah that’s right) just a few minutes to the sights in the city. The bike paths were good for running, and the tree-lined streets provided nice views and shade all along the way.

From Chandigarh, we took the Shimla-Kalka “Toy Train” up to Shimla, a town in the Himalayas at 7000+ feet elevation — a little like Park City to be honest. The train is slow, and the ride takes about 5 hours. But it’s totally worth it. Great views all the way up. Over 800 bridges and over 100 tunnels on a track that was completed in 1903. It’s quite the experience. The prettiest countryside and mountainside anyone has seen. And Shimla is a town built on a mountain. I think of a North American Rocky Mountain Ski Resort. Now, instead of the ski runs, picture houses and buildings of all different colors going down the mountains. Roads of steepness you can’t find in the US. Buildings hanging on and over cliff edges. Just a city built on the steepest slopes you can imagine. And thousands of these buildings. Everywhere the eye can see, another group of buildings. Our view from our rental looked over the valley of Shimla — we were nearly at the top of the ridge. So we could see everything - including the fireworks for Diwali on the last few nights there.

And with all of this beauty comes another side of India. The one that gives me the most mixed feelings. There is clearly beauty and wealth and a culture that values things that are beautiful. And yet there are so many poor people. People living in shacks with no electricity, or worse. People sleeping on the streets and sidewalks, just begging for change. People with little to nothing just trying to get by. I met a local runner and asked if things are getting better for the average and the poor Indians. He said, “Only marginally. The rich are getting richer but the rest are basically staying the same as they have been for the last couple decades.” It seems the money flows to and through the richer population, but never makes it down to the rest. It’s hard to see. We certainly have many destitute in our own country, but the level and the sheer population of destitute in India is pretty staggering.

The other thing that really gets to me is the amount of trash. Everywhere you look, on the train, on the roads, the trails out of town, everywhere. Piles of garbage, plastic bottles, paper, you name it. I’ll share a quick anecdote that seems to encompass the view of most Indians. One night, our AirBnb host in Shimla bought some fireworks to share with us. We all went out in the street and played with the sparklers, and the poppers, and the other small fireworks that he had purchased. It was fun. Kids loved it. Adults had fun. Good times. After the last fireworks, I started picking up the remnants — burnt paper, cardboard, sparkler sticks, etc. As I was picking them up, one of the Indian kids said to me, “Oh you don’t have to do that. Someone will be along in the morning to sweep it up.” This is the attitude of the country. Never mind that the “sweeping up” the next morning constituted nothing more than sweeping the remnants into the gutter on the other side of the street. The attitude is just not conducive to cleanliness. And it’s rampant. Every place we went just seemed rather dirty — with waste and garbage and everything else. It doesn’t seem like it would be a huge effort to clean up — or to just stop polluting. But it would have to change on a cultural level. And that doesn’t seem to be a priority.

We finished up in Bengaluru, a large city in the South of the country. It was much more westernized — there was a McDonalds, and Dominos Pizza, and a very nice shopping mall. We found some familiar things to do — arcade, bowling, shopping, getting Starbucks. There was a nice park about 1/2 mile from our house, so that’s where Erica and I did most of our running, and where we took the kids for a walk. Overall, the streets were very crowded and unsafe for walking (especially with kiddos), so we spent our time at/near the house or taking Ubers and Tuk-Tuks to local sites. We had a great dinner with some of Erica’s friends from Pluralsight — they ordered us some more traditional Indian dishes — not too spicy! It was on a cool, rooftop bar/restaurant. They also had karaoke. Nans and Cheetah sang several songs with the 13 year old daughter of the friends. A good time was had by all. Definitely a highlight of the trip. By the time of departure — or, to be honest, a few days before — Erica and I were ready to go, hopefully to greener and cleaner(!) pastures.

Maldives November 9-14, 2024

We arrived in The Maldives after a rather short, 2 hour flight from Bengaluru. It was, at least so far, the coolest and most picturesque landing of any flight I’ve ever taken. The islands, the ships, the blue and turquoise water, and everything about it was just incredible. As far as flight landings go, coming into Maldives on a sunny afternoon in itself is an awesome experience. Fortunately, Cheetah was forward-thinking enough to take a time-lapse video of the landing, so we have some actual footage as well.

Customs and immigration were easy here, just a few minutes wait, a quick passport check, and we were off to our apartment. Taxi ride from the line outside the airport was easy too. It took about 15 minutes to get to our place from the airport. After being in India, the roads seemed to neat and orderly and calm. The cars seemed to follow the rules of the road, and there were lines on the street, and traffic signals as well. We also immediately noted how much cleaner the city was compared to India. There wasn’t trash on street corners and sidewalks, and the area just felt more fresh and clean — being an island in the middle of the ocean helped with the air quality of course.

Our apartment wasn’t big, just two bedrooms and a kitchen/living room area, but the location was second to none. We were literally steps (I’d say about 20 steps) from the beach sand. We could see the green/blue water from our window. And shops and restaurants and stores all along the street and the adjoining streets. In the 5 days that we spent here, we never once rode in a car to get anywhere. It was all walkable, and it was pleasant walking with actual sidewalks and paths. Definitely pedestrian-friendly.

Our island was called Hulhumale. Turns out, the island has only been in existence since 1997, when the Maldivian government decided they needed more land. The island was created by dredging up sand from the ocean floor, and then stacking that sand on an existing reef. They then used pylons into the sand to help it stay in place, and they build rather prominent breakwaters around the island to keep the big waves out. It took them about 7 years to complete the “building” of the island before it started to become inhabited in 2004. So, all the structures and buildings and everything is roughly 20 years or younger — this means a lot of modern buildings, apartments, etc. Unlike India and other similar places, pretty much everywhere had working A/C, and the places were all well-suited to the humid climate of Maldives. It was an island well set up for tourism, living, businesses, and general getting around. For us, and for our 5 day excursion, it was the right size. After a week or two, one might get tired of the island due to its small size. At that point, you could venture out to another island, or one of the resort islands nearby.

Activities on the island were plentiful. Obviously swimming and snorkeling right off shore were easy and accessible. The water is the temperature of a warm bath, and aside from some rather sharp coral near the shore, it was pretty easy to walk around in the water and waves. One of the days, we rented a jet ski for a half an hour — we did some tubing on a couch-like tube, a ride on the banana, and a little driving the jet ski ourselves. Our kids had been on boats, but never a jet ski, so this was a fun little activity. It was also just a few hundred yards walk from the apartment.

The bigger adventure of the trip was the boat trip around Maldives that included snorkeling. Though Fin and I didn’t go on this one (he was worried about the boat, and the deep water, and the snorkeling), the pictures and videos brought back by the girls were incredible. Snorkeling with hundreds of different fish, massive manta rays, and the most pristine water I’ve ever seen. It looked like something from a National Geographic documentary. Next time, I won’t miss the snorkeling (neither will Fin).

All in all, Maldives was a nice vacation-like break after India. It felt like a tropical vacation for the most part. I’d rank it up there with the top beaches of Costa Rica and Spain at this point . The weather was a little hot and humid for my liking, but hey, it’s the tropics. It’s either hot and humid or monsoon. Seems like we ended up with the better of those options.

Today, we are off to Bangkok, Thailand. A near 4 hour flight Northeast across the Indian Ocean.

Steve’s Running Commentary

Running Commentary