Category: Sights

Things to see

Club Med for 3 year olds?!?!?

Avinash has to say..., Reflections, Sights

So, our trip to Sardenia from Florence was literally planned in a day. Nam luckily found us a place to stay at what we thought would be a sleepy seaside resort in San Teodoro where we would waste the day away swimming and building sand castles. Little did we know that Nam had discovered the Club Med for kids. We checked in and walked by the pool where there was samba music blaring from the speakers and the lawn had kids with their moms and grandmas dancing. Avinash for his 3rd birthday party asked for an Opa Gangnam style theme[…]

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Cruisin’ to Sardenia- Who Fartin?!?

Reflections, Sights

Italy has been amazing. Full of beautiful architecture, art and expressive people. But, the Vu’s are ultimately island folk. It’s the peak of summer and for days all we can think about is cooling down. Our first thought was drive north into Switzerland and find the highest peak with a glacier that hasn’t melted yet and lay on it till we get frostbite. The thought of such a long road trip from Florence seemed a little daunting, though. So, we pulled out a map and saw these huge islands to the west. Instantly drawn, we went to work figuring out[…]

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Rome, I am overwhelmed.

Architecture, Reflections, Rome, Sights

Rome, Rome, Rome. Rome is by far the most beautiful city I have ever been to.  Not that it is sparkling clean, or smells like roses everywhere.  It’s old, it’s weathered, it aged very well. It is so easy to become numb and overwhelmed by the beauty of this city.  If you were to take any of hundreds of buildings found in Rome and put it in any other city, it would become an architectural attraction in that city.  In Rome, it is just another beautiful building.  I started off by taking a lot of pictures, but that got old very quickly.  If[…]

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Avinash the Dome Climber

Architecture, Reflections, Religion, Rome, Sights

Avinash for the most part has been fantastic about all of the walking we have been doing in Rome. I haven’t had this much exercise since we trained for the triathlon and marathon. While Avinash can be very unpredictable with when he wants or does not want to walk, when he does put his mind to it, he shows surprising stamina. For instance, in London, we found a race track and Avinash suddenly wanted to run around the track. Of course, I wasn’t going to hold him back, so we started to run. He would get tired, but then he[…]

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Gladiators- The cold hard facts

Rome, Sights

Before coming to Rome I debated whether we should spend time going to the ancient ruins. Not that Nam and I are not interested, but I just did not know how to keep Avinash entertained while looking at deteriorating buildings in the sweltering sun. Today, we decided to visit the Colosseum and Roman Forum. Amazing part of not only Roman History but insight into what people and culture was like to be entertained by gladiator games of animal hunts, executions and battles to the death. I was excited as soon as we stepped into the arena, but I could see[…]

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Rome- Mi Amore, you are wooing me with your Cappucinos

Food, People, Rome, Sights

I have a new cappuccino addiction. At the corner of the Pantheon is a coffee shop, with only stand up counter service, called Tazza d’Oro. The place is filled with locals and tourists trying to edge their way in for the tiniest sliver of space at the counter. The first time we walked in I was completely lost. People were seemingly just walking up to the counter and automatically getting served beautiful cappuccinos and decadent iced granitas. They barely exchanged words but the barista knew exactly what they wanted. I must have gawked for at least 5 minutes before I[…]

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Museums- Can we go again mom???

Avinash has to say..., London, Sights

Avinash had never really been to a museum and I was curious to see how he would process them, especially at 3 years old.  When I was about 11, I remember going to the wonderful museums while visiting Chicago and spending days wandering and getting lost in them.  I figured visiting the museums would be more for us and it would be a good first exposure for Avinash. We decided to visit the Natural History museum first.  I never knew dinosaur bones could make Avinash hyperventilate with excitement for hours straight.  He loved it.  The next day Avinash and I visited the[…]

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Indian visas and Hamley’s

Sights, Technology, Travel Tips

It was a mixed day. Most of our stay in London is intended to be used for getting stuff done like getting visas for India, Kenya, Tanzania, and Vietnam. Also more important stuff like the Apple store and Hamleys. Well, after much effort and lots of money spent on passport pictures, we found out today that we’re probably not going to get our visas for India in London. The Indian Embassy has outsourced all of the visa processing to a contracted company. Not to be trite, but the outsourced service is extremely inept, cumbersome, and lengthy. Much more difficult than[…]

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