Category Archives: Travel Tips

Experiment Science Centre in Gdynia (Poland)

If you’re traveling with kids or if you’re a grown up who likes to push, pull, touch, and spin things set some time aside to visit the Experiment Science Centre (Centrum Nauki Experyment) when you’re visiting Gdynia, Sopot, or Gdańsk in Poland.

Main entrance to Experiment Science Centre (Centrum Nauki Experyment) in Gdynia, Poland
Main entrance to Experiment Science Centre (Centrum Nauki Experyment) in Gdynia, Poland

Sadly, the Center is closed right now, but let me show you what you can see inside once they reopen.

We visited the Centre in June 2019 when we were vacationing in Gdańsk, and Gdynia is just a short train ride away.

The center covers one very large room and has 5 major exhibition areas:

General view onto the floor of the Experiment Science Centre (Centrum Nauki Experyment) in Gdynia, Poland
General view onto the floor of the Experiment Science Centre (Centrum Nauki Experyment) in Gdynia, Poland
Continue reading Experiment Science Centre in Gdynia (Poland)

7 universities in 2 countries in 12 days

Can you visit 7 universities in 2 countries in 12 days? Sure, you can. We did just that in May 2019.

We visited 2 countries:

  • The Netherlands
  • Sweden

5 universities in the Netherlands:

We visited 5 universities in the Netherlands
Continue reading 7 universities in 2 countries in 12 days

Stockholm from the Ferry – Route 80 – Nybroplan – Frihamnen

NOTE: Post updated in March 2021.

If you’d like to see Stockholm from a boat, take one (or all) of Stockholm’s ferries that are part of the SL system. SL stands for Storstockholms Lokaltrafik = public transportation in Stockholm, Sweden.

All you need is a regular ticket – preferably a timed visitor SL Access smart card, but a single ticket will work as well (for an excellent guide about public transportation in Stockholm, see sweetsweden’s post “Your Guide to Public Transport in Stockholm“).

SL operates four “shuttle” ferry routes. Follow this link for the timetables for all ferries, and this link for the maps of the ferry routes (also shown below).

1) Route 80 – which, when we took it in May 2019, used to run between Stockholm Nybroplan in the Stockholm center and Frihamnen, which is close to where several large cruise ships dock when they visit the town,  and took about 50 minutes one way.

It looks like since May 2019 this route was expanded to go beyond Frihammen and includes 9 more stops now, going all the way to Frösvik! (Which means if we’re ever back in Stockholm, we’ll have to take the trip again and update the post with more photos!)

Continue reading Stockholm from the Ferry – Route 80 – Nybroplan – Frihamnen

Safe Travels: 7 Tips for Staying Safe while Traveling

“Safe Travels.”

You probably heard or said that phrase dozens of times. Usually the meaning behind it is simple – we hope your car won’t break, your flight will be uneventful, and nothing bad happens while you’re on your way. However, the phrase could also mean – I hope won’t encounter any natural or man-made disasters while you travel, be it a tsunami, an earthquake, or, recently, a terrorist attack.

Wherever and however you travel, you can make your travels safer with a few precautions.

I assume that you have already researched the destination where you’re going, whether on U.S. Department of State’s Country Information pages, or an equivalent site.

Here are a few other tips from me and my fellow travel bloggers on how to stay safe while traveling:

#1. Register Your Itinerary with a Government Agency

Susan from Gen X Traveler says: “I register my travels with the U.S. Department of State Smart Traveller Enrollment Program (STEP) program. That way our government know where to look for me if they need to evacuate Americans.”

Sally from Our 3 Kids v The World adds: “Australia has the same, it’s called Smarttraveller website. You fill in your itinerary & if anything thing happens our government will know where we are. The onus is on yourself to register your movements on the site.”

Canadian traveler Alouise from Take Me To The World, registers with Registration of Canadians Abroad.

Do a bit of research to see if your country offers such registration service. Continue reading Safe Travels: 7 Tips for Staying Safe while Traveling

Looking back at 2015 and forward to 2016

I’d been thinking that 2015 was not the greatest year for me, travel and otherwise.

I didn’t get to do a long weekend trip to Montreal in 2015, as I was hoping to.

My husband and kids went on vacation to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina without me, because I was crazy busy at work during the April school break.

Peter and the kids having a great time in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, while I worked
Peter and the kids having a great time in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, while I worked

Continue reading Looking back at 2015 and forward to 2016

Clam Chowder from Scratch: An Ode to Vacation Rentals

Digging for clams is hard.

First you look for the “clam shows” – the air holes in the sand that show where a clam might be. Once you find a nice, big hole, you dig the wet, heavy sand around it, pushing your shovel as deep as you can. Then you bend, squat, or kneel to look through the pile of sand you just turned over, or plunge your hand in the hole feeling for clam shells. And then you stand up again, and move to dig in another place.

Dig. Squat. Stand up. Repeat.

my sister-in-law and I, digging for clams in St. Mary's Bay on Prince Edward Island, photo courtesy of my brother-in-law, Brian Sutton
my sister-in-law and I, digging for clams in St. Mary’s Bay on Prince Edward Island, photo courtesy of my brother-in-law, Brian Sutton

Continue reading Clam Chowder from Scratch: An Ode to Vacation Rentals