Three fifths of the Traveling Anderzoo packed up much smaller carry-on bags bound for America’s Finest City, San Diego, and the Cal State Games, a junior Olympics of sorts, to play a weekend of softball! Tessa has been playing all summer and her and her team’s hard work and NorCal dominance qualified them for this end of season tournament featuring the best of the best from the rest of not just California, but the country. Our hotel is nestled in Little Italy and the kids have enjoyed some local gelato, to which Wyatt has turned his nose down at, I’ve … Continue reading The California State Games in America’s Finest City

It goes without saying that time spent with family, the making of new shared memories, deepening connection, silly stories shared, exposure to languages and cultures, are the huge benefits of world travel. But, let’s be honest, when you’re in Italy and Spain, the food becomes the real star of the show! We ate and drank at some of the very best restaurants in Italy & Spain, thanks Condé Nast and Travel + Leisure, and they did not disappoint. I’ve got to say that eating traditional Roman comfort food was a bit rough in 100 degree/80% humidity weather, but you do … Continue reading Pizza, Pasta, Gelato, Spritz . . . and McDonalds?

Five years ago the Cinque Terre exceeded decades of expectations and anticipation. This time around, it was still stunning, but being visited after the breathtaking landscape of Lake Como, and the cliffside towns of the Amalfi Coast (both firsts for the Anderzoo), she fell just a bit short. If I can just quickly take up a format employed by Joe; his “Ramblings” of a few years back, for just a moment to compare our visits. Also, you can flip back in time here and read what I wrote about our first impression in 2019. I left envisioning the kids returning … Continue reading The Five Villages, Five Years Later

Hola Majorca (aka Mallorca) we were so happy to see you! After a marathon day in Barcelona we knew we would all be ready for a relaxing beach day. None of us knew much about Mallorca and all of the tour operators were pushing catamaran booze cruises and sunset dinner cruises. We agreed to wing it since so much of our trip was planned to a T. But that all went out the door when I met Debbie & Hugh, cruisers from Miami by way of London at the pool after my water aerobics class. The two of them shared … Continue reading Theo y Matias – The Dynamic Duo of Majorca

The first stop on our Western Mediterranean cruise (thanks Nomna & Papa) was none other than Napoli! We were all excited to not only get to eat the best pizza in the world in the place where pizza was invented, but we were also thrilled to tour the Amalfi Coast and visit the ancient ruins of Pompeii. The day started early with our guide, Andrea, who had Julius Caesar curls of perfection, and Pietro, our driver, scooping us all up from the port. Our first stop after climbing 1.5 hours through windy, windy hills was at a small village called … Continue reading The best pizza in the world

Lake Como is the place that occupies your dreams. It’s the absolute definition of beauty, and feels as though it was created from a color palette, droplets of paint from the sky brushing variants of green across the pre-Alps, and smatterings of citrus splashed upon luxurious villas, all surrounding a vast sea composed of the richest hues of blue. It is breathtaking, and if I was a professional photographer, it would be my paradise. For a day we lived in this dream, in this place of beauty that repeatedly had us ooooooohing and aaaaaaahing. After taking a one/hour train ride … Continue reading Lake Como, your beauty knows no bounds

Naysayers be damned, Venice is absolutely beautiful. Where else do you take a boat from the airport to your hotel, ride a gondola down narrow canals? We kicked off our day at The Brunch Cafe – an amazing little breakfast spot down a back alley owned and operated by Filipinos!! It was European meets Asian cuisine, who knew? We dined on fluffy Japanese style pancakes and Bao Buns. It was delicious, the kids also devoured their mango smoothies. So fresh and delicious! We cruised down many a narrow alley, filled with Murano glass, leather bags, pastries, and marzipan figures. I … Continue reading Ahhhh Venice

Hey everybody, Gus here. I’ve had some thoughts about how these past two weeks have been and I wanted to share them with you. Coronavirus | March 13, 2020 I feel devastated about the coronavirus. It has impacted so many things and so many people. The worst part is that California has the third most cases in the U.S.A. Now my school is closed, which means I have to be homeschooled and I don’t get to see my friends. This also means that the Commissioners had to suspend the leagues, the NBA and the MLB seasons have been pushed back … Continue reading Gus’s Thoughts on Life Amidst COVID-19

. . . Week One of schooling from home! I feel like I’m giving Lauren Tarshis, author of the I Survived Series of children’s books based upon historical events in the world, the title of her next book. Ha! No but in all seriousness, when I posted earlier in the week as our new adventure began, Friday and the end of the week seemed like a lifetime away. I’m happy to say that we made it, we survived. I hosted a virtual happy hour for my Mama Crew last night and I asked each of the ladies three questions to … Continue reading We Survived . . .