This summer we were delighted to have Catherine and Elsa come visit us (their third Ireland trip!) in August. The girls had plotted to go camping (a la their US National Park trips together pre-COVID), but given that I’d never camped yet in Ireland I was a little unsure of how to realize their dreams. However, with a little finagling on my part and trust on Catherine’s part, a plan came together and we had a fantastic week together. They arrived right as the Dublin horseshow

On a Sunday in late July we took the ferry from Dublin (just 15 minutes from our house!) to Wales, where we met up with Ed, Julia, Jack, and Doc near Eryri National Park (formerly Snowdownia). To start with, the ferry was amazing…I love anything water-related, and then getting to see Dublin Port and the bay from the ferry - priceless! Plus, Riley and Bob were able to come along. I was worried they would be somewhat scarred by the kennels aboard the ship (Bob, with his puppy i

[Almost] every year when Susanne visits we go on a trip together to mainland Europe. This year we chose Valencia, Spain. Primarily because Spain is awesome, and partially because there is a direct flight back to LA from Madrid for Susanne. On our flight out of Dublin we went right over the wildfire in the Wicklow mountains, which was crazy to see from above. We arrived late the first night and spent the night at the airport hotel. In the morning we took the high-speed train

This summer our big trip was to Norway with my brother and [most of] his family. I was last in Norway in 1992 at the age of 14, when we went for some sort of high school reunion of my dad's. Needless to say, I don't remember a lot except that it was very beautiful and very bright. I think Teg was last there around the same time, but as part of a Brown University Choir summer trip. We had been several times when we were younger, of course, and Teg remembers a little of those t

There are trips you plan months in advance — and then there are the impulsive ones that you get drunkenly convinced sound amazing that end up meaning more than you expected. Last weekend, I flew into Amman for a whirlwind Friday-to-Sunday visit to see one of my closest friends, Ed, who was finishing his posting at the U.S. Embassy. It was his final weekend in Jordan, and since I had once promised him I would visit, we made it happen. Turkish Airlines also gives you the cutest

The last week of September I did a completely new kind of trip—an “inn to inn” walking trip in England with 3 dear friends (Catherine, Sara, and Sarah [Ducky, so-named by toddler Sally]). Catherine had proposed the brilliant idea about a year and a half earlier and did all the research to set it up. The trip was perfection from start to finish—well-organized and -communicated, beautiful locales, excellent food, splendid hiking weather, and delightful company. We did the tour

At the start of August, we headed off to Sovicille, a small town outside of Siena in Tuscany, to celebrate our dear friend Chad Norman’s...

Susanne’s annual visit was yet again a huge success, to the best of my knowledge. We were busy but also had a decent amount of time to...

Late June/early July was a crazy fortnight of music for our family. Last summer might have featured numerous BIG summer concerts (The...

Sally and I went to the US in May for not one, but two of my school reunions while David was cycling through Italy (There were actually...

Sally has been asking to go to Venice for several years. David hasn’t been super keen on it, so we’ve been waiting for the right...

This last week was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had on a bicycle. Two years ago, I joined Volta Pro Tours to cycle...

We met up with the Norman-Banerjee clan Japan this year for spring break. David and Sally had been wanting to return, basically since...

This year we left Ireland for the 4-day Saint Patrick’s Day weekend. The first year we lived here, we went to the parade. The second...

This year for the annual Hansell-Grenager ski week we went to les Trois Vallées , the largest combined ski resort in the world. It’s...

Early on the first day of the year we headed to Florence. Neither David nor I had been here in well over 20 years, and Sally had never...

The last weekend of December 2024, we did a short weekend trip up to County Leitrim for a change of scenery after all the holiday...

This October both David and I coincidentally (and bizarrely) had work trips in Germany the exact same week. At first we tried to finagle...

The very last weekend of summer we took the ferry from Belfast to Scotland. It was a whirlwind 48-hour adventure but we managed to take...

In July Sally and I went to London for a few days to visit friends. Initially it was supposed to be a trip for all three of us, but David...