7 great places to celebrate Christmas

With the Christmas season approaching, I'm thinking quite a bit about the holidays right now. This year, we're not going away for Christmas, instead, my parents are coming to stay with us. Can't say I mind not having to travel by plane right around Christmas and New Years!

I'm a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to where I'd like to spend Christmas: at home, with family us my preferred spot. But in recent years I have occasionally considered other options, and here are some places I wouldn't mind celebrating Christmas.

About to go dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh.

Northern Sweden
This is a bit of a cheat, because we have already celebrated Christmas here several times. I was born and grew up in Sweden, and when we do travel for the Christmas holidays, this is where we go: to my parents' place in northern Sweden. It is a great place for traditional Christmas celebrations though: snow is usually in place, it's cold, and there are a lot of nice Swedish traditions to experience. Last year on our Swedish Christmas-trip we went for a sleigh-ride in the snow, we went tobogganing, the kids tried out cross-country skiing, and we had lots of delicious gingerbread cookies, peppermint candy, glögg (Swedish mulled wine), and the kids got their presents on the evening of December 24th, since that's the tradition over there.

Maui
I love, love, love Maui. I would go back there every week if I only could afford it. In the past I haven't been too crazy about the idea of celebrating Christmas somewhere warm and sunny and without any chance of snow, but I would actually love to try this in Maui. At least once!


Santa Claus village in Finland
For a traditionally snowy and cold Christmas, Finland is a pretty sure bet. And going to the Santa Claus village constructed in Rovaniemi at the Arctic Circle, would definitely be a lot of fun with the kids.

Australia
Celebrating Christmas in Australia would of course mean celebrating it in the middle of summer in the southern hemisphere. And that's kind of the charm of it, right? To see the world from the other side, see the starry Christmas skies with all different stars than at home, and go to the beach instead of for a sleigh-ride.

Banff, in the Canadian Rockies
The Canadian Rockies is a spectacular destination any time of the year, but I do think that it would be really special to celebrate Christmas up there. The slopes certainly add to the attraction: there are worse ways to spend Christmas morning than going for some skiing down a mountain.

Gran Canaria: there are worse places to spend Christmas, I'm sure!

The Canary Islands
My family visited Gran Canaria last year in the spring, staying in the town of Arguinegin, and it was a fantastic trip. For many Europeans, going to the Canary Islands is nothing all that special: it's like Canadians and Americans going to Mexico for some beaches and sunshine. But if you're coming all the way from North America, it certainly felt very special. Parts of the islands are too touristified to really appeal to me, but the place we stayed was fantastic. I definitely would not mind going back there for some Christmas cheer.

New York City
I have never been to New York City, but of course I have seen the city in so many movies and TV-shows that I feel strangely familiar with the place anyway. Not sure if Christmas-time is necessarily the best time to visit, but in my head I have this vision of gentle snowfall, sightseeing with the kids, and just a good time had by all as we explore the city. Christmas-fantasy? Probably, but I wouldn't mind giving it a try in real life.

18 of my kids' favorite places around the world

The world is full of wonderful places. My family has gone to some of those wonderful places, and I hope we will go to many more. Here, in no particular order, are 18 of the places my kids have loved, and still love to go.

1. Burvik, Sweden
This is where my parents have a summer place, and this is where we've spent almost every summer for the last 5 years. There's water, there's a small beach, there's frogs and fish and flowers, and sometimes a hare outside the window in the morning. Doesn't get much better than that.

2. Leos Lekland, Skellefteå, Sweden
The only indoor jungle-gym in my Swedish home-town Skellefteå. When we visit in the winter, this is a great place for the kids to burn off some energy without freezing their noses off. Bouncy-castles, ball-rooms, giant inflatable slides, corkscrew slides, tiger slides... It's a zoo, but it's a fun one.

3. The Vancouver Aquarium, Vancouver
Otters, belugas, bats, spiders, jellyfish, sharks, tortoises, parrots, baby wolf-eels... and that's not even the half of it. This place is so kid-friendly and my children just love getting up close and personal with all the critters. The Aquarium is definitely a place they love to go, anytime of the year, whatever the weather.

4. Science World, Vancouver
Interactive and educational fun, where the exhibits are made to be touched, climbed, squeezed and generally handled by kids. We always have a blast here, and I think the recent renovations improved a lot on an already fantastic place to take the kids.

5. Stanley Park, Vancouver
Going for a walk, playing on the playgrounds, looking at the squirrels... there's always something to do and see in this park.

6. On board the Skytrain, all around Vancouver
My kids love to ride this public transportation anywhere and everywhere. Not a bad way to spend a day. 

7. On the ferries of the Sunshine Coast, British Columbia
Traveling, as in actually being in the process of going somewhere, can be an adventure in itself. Going on the ferries up the British Columbia coast is definitely fun in itself: the views are spectacular, and it's just a great ride.

8. Steveston, BC, Canada
Whether we end up walking around Garry Point, or hike the waterfront through the village of Steveston, this is always a great place with the kids.

9. Lynn Canyon, North Vancouver
My family's favorite weekend-hiking spot right now. The suspension bridge adds some drama, and the trails are great for kids: not too easy, and not too challenging either. 

10. Centennial Beach, Tsawwassen
A fantastic playground next to an amazing beach. It doesn't get much better than that.

11. Third Beach, Vancouver
One of my favorite beaches. Stunning views, nice water, and often some wild-life to watch, whether it's barnacles on the rocks, eagles high above, stranded jellyfish and crabs, or a seal poking its head out of the water. 

12. Playa Ingles, Gran Canaria
This very popular beach in Gran Canaria became our favorite spot when we were there in the spring of 2011. Great sand, great waves, brilliant sunshine. Our kind of beach. Sure, it's crowded, but that's because it's a nice beach! 

13. Baby Beach, Maui
When we visited Maui in 2009 this was the perfect beach for us. The kids could go in the water without getting knocked over by the waves, which meant that the grownups could relax and enjoy the sunshine and the ocean. Next time we go to Maui, they might be too big for this beach, but it was perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.

14. DT Fleming Beach Park, Maui
Another fantastic Maui-beach. Great sand, rocks with all sorts of aquatic life clinging to them, waves (too big in spots, but the kids still enjoyed the water's edge), and turtles swimming further out.

15. Blue Lagoon, Iceland
Mineral-rich, Geo-thermally heated hot springs to bathe in, right in the middle of Iceland's amazing landscape: that was really something special for the kids to experience. My daughter can still mention how she thought the steam rising off the water might have been dragon's breath.

16. Point Roberts, WA, USA
Fantastic beaches for beach-combing and gathering beautiful rocks. Also a perfect place to fly a kite.

17. The pool
Meaning any pool, anywhere. There's a reason my family always travels with swim-suits: you just never know when they'll come in handy!

18. Our backyard
As I'm writing this, it's mid-April and the kids are discovering the joys of the backyard again after the winter. Trampoline, the garden, the grass, the earth-worms, the plants... it's a great place, and no airplane tickets needed to get to it either.

Traveling with my kids: 10 memories of 2011

There are not a lot of days left of 2011, and even though I still have some more traveling to do with my kids before the year is all done, I am feeling kind of reflective. Here are some of my most memorable travel moments from the past year.

1. Spring break in the Canary Islands
Our trip with extended family to the island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands was a definite highlight of the year. So many great memories of good food, good beaches, good company, and family time together.

2. Sun & sand
Gran Canaria was a great place for our beach-loving family. Two favorite spots were the dunes near Maspalomas and Playa del Ingles. 

3. Drive on the wild side

One of the best day trips we did while on Gran Canaria was to drive around the island. We saw the wild, steep western coastline, had lunch by the ocean, visited the caves at Cuatro Puertas and had a wonderful time. The winding mountain roads did induce some car sickness, but the scenery was worth it!

4. Pyromaniac roaches
One of my weirdest travel experiences occurred on our last morning in Gran Canaria when I woke up very early and smelled smoke. I got up and found that one of the elements on the stove had somehow turned on by itself and had burned a corner of a lunch bag that had been left on top. Everyone was asleep, but two seconds later I saw a cockroach run over the stove top, very close to the touch-activated controls... Yeah, that was one of the things I learned this year: cockroaches can be a fire hazard!

5. Picking strawberries with the kids
This was not a long trip: it only took about 30 minutes to drive to our place to Westham Island and the U-Pick strawberry farm. But it was definitely a trip worth making. Six months later I am just using up the last of the freezer jam we made from all those berries (and we go through a lot of strawberry jam in this house!).

6. Sheep fun
This even at North Vancouver's Maple Wood Farm was another wonderful close-to-home trip this past year. We got to see all the farm animals, sheep being expertly clipped, and we got to see what happens to the wool once it comes off the sheep: I'll definitely be returning for this event in the future!

After the meltdown. Zzzzz.

7. Traveling with my kids to Sweden
Taking the kids all the way to Sweden by myself was not a relaxing endeavour, but I was so impressed with how travel savvy they were, and how well they handled themselves for the majority of the trip. Yes, there was that major meltdown (both kids at the same time) at Arlanda Airport, but hey, 20 hours of travel time can do that to you... and other than that they were good as gold.

8. Spending time with family in Sweden
The last few years we have spent the first part of summer with my parents in their summer house, and the kids always have a great time. Fishing, boat rides, sleeping in, beach time, picking blueberries, swimming, splashing... It's pretty much unbeatable.

9. Harrison Lake beach & boat fun
We did a few day trips to Harrison Hot Springs this year, but the one when we rented a boat and drove around the lake was the best one. It's such a nice spot: gorgeous scenery, child friendly beach, and a lot of fun on the water as well. Can't wait for summer to arrive again so we can go back for more!

10. Heading up the Sunshine Coast
Taking the ferry from Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver, heading across to Langdale and then on to Earl's Cover for the ferry to Saltery Bay made for a great weekend trip and a great time with family. It's a real treat to see British Columbia's coastline from the deck of a ferry on a sunny day. And when you get a home-cooked turkey dinner once you arrive, it makes the trip even better!

Photographic memory: the dogs of the Canaries

Location: Plaza de Santa Ana, Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain.

What we were doing there: We were sitting in a cafe in the Plaza de Santa Ana, just outside the Cathedral of Santa Ana, while the kids ran around the wide open square.

The cathedral is kind of dark and dour in my opinion, but there were lots of beautiful buildings surrounding the plaza: I love those brightly painted houses that seem to be popular all over Gran Canaria.

There were also some bronze statues of dogs that caught my daughter's eye. Since she's dog-deprived at home (the cat would have a heart attack if one was introduced) she has to get her dog-fix where she can.

The dogs of the Canaries: The stories about the Canary Island dogs seem to change depending on what website or guidebook you read. Whatever the story, the dogs are part of the coat of arms for the islands, and there is a breed of dog called Presa Canario, which originated in the Canary Islands.

You can read more about the Canary Islands in my other blog posts about our trip there.

Traveling with kids: Las Palmas airport, Gran Canaria, Spain

On our trip to the island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands this year, we traveled through Las Palmas airport (airport code: LPA).

Layout of the airport
LPA is a fairly small airport, and all departures and arrivals come into the same terminal. Instead of different terminal buildings there are three different zones:

• Zone A is for flights within the European Union
• Zone B is for international flights, meaning flights outside the European Union
• Zone C is for flights to other destinations within the Canary Islands

It's fairly straight-forward to navigate the airport and between the zones, since everything is contained in one building. Just follow the signs and whatever your boarding pass tells you.

The staff at the check-in counters (at least Spanair's counter) were also extremely helpful and friendly, so ask for help if you need it!

Sunset in Arguineguin, Gran Canaria.

 Facilities and services
There are several banking machines in the airport. There's also a bank on ground floor.The airport pharmacy is located in Zone A, in the public area, so if you're in need of anything, make sure you go there before you head through security.

The washrooms are plentiful, roomy and very clean: always a plus when you're traveling with kids. There were also diaper change facilities located near the washrooms.

There are lots of restaurants, bars, and cafes in this airport. There's also a Burger King. Which is where we ended up with the kids, not so much because they especially wanted to eat there, but because there was a small play area with slides and climbing equipment right outside. Not a bad spot to sit down and relax if you're traveling with kids.

Odd fact for a Canadian: the Burger King did not serve apple juice, but did serve beer. Got to love those cultural differences.

Getting to your hotel or other island destinations
Las Palmas Airport is actually located about 18 km from Las Palmas. Just outside the airport you can taxi cabs, and also regular buses headed for Las Palmas, Maspalomas, and other destinations. Many of the hotels also have their own bus service, ferrying tourists to and from the airport.

When we arrived, we were not on the "list" for our hotel, so we had to pay cash (no credit cards accepted) for the trip. Since we had no Euros on us, that meant a mad dash to the cash machine inside the airport. So, getting some cash before you head out from the airport is not a bad idea.

If you want to rent a car, there are several rental car companies right at the airport, including Avis and Hertz.

The beach at Maspalomas, Gran Canaria. And yes, I do miss this place!

Shops
Long wait times at airports are made for souvenir shopping, and there are a lot of interesting boutiques and shops at LPA. However, with two restless kids it's not always easy to take your time and look around.

I especially regret not heading into the Productos de Gran Canaria store to buy some local food. Apparently they sell a spice mix you can use to make the lovely, spicy mojo rojo that is very popular in the Canary Islands.

The kids did like the store that featured a gigantic fake shark-head busting through one of the displays. (Not sure what the name of it was.) They had a good selection of somewhat unusual stuffed animals and we ended up with a couple of souvenirs there, both marine creatures: one sea horse and one octopus.

Hotels
There are no hotels at the Las Palmas airport, but several are located close by. JustGranCanaria.com lists some of them on its web page.

10 tips when you're traveling with kids to Gran Canaria, Canary Islands

I loved our recent family holiday on the island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands, but really, anytime you go somewhere for the first time, it's like a trial run. You make some mistakes, you learn a lot about places you liked and didn't like, what worked better and what didn't, and then the next time you go, you have a better idea of what to do and where to go.

Here are 10 tips based on what I learned on our trip to Gran Canaria.

1. Try the local seafood if you're eating out: fish, squid, prawns, octopus... The meat is good too in lots of places, but really, on an island in the Atlantic, fresh seafood is the way to go.

2. If you're shopping for souvenir t-shirts, including for your kids, try the "T-Shirt Palace" in Playa del Ingles. Great selection, nicely presented, and easy to find the sizes you want.

3. Do try the local coffee, at least if you like your coffee strong and smooth and just plain awesome. 

4. If you or your kids like juice when eating out, order orange juice. The OJ was often fresh-squeezed and extremely delicious.

5. Don't bring inflatable toys/rings/balls to the beach: they're very likely to end up blowing away or getting washed away in the waves and currents. Especially if you're going to Playa del Ingles or another beach with nice, biggish waves. Save the inflatables for the pool.

6. Don't assume that going to the public washroom near the beach will be free. It is in some places, but 0.50 euros seemed to be the going rate at Playa del Ingles.

7. Bring sunscreen with you, because even though a lot of things are cheap in the Canary Islands, sunscreen is not one of them.

8. Study maps carefully if you're driving somewhere: road signs don't always show up where you'd like them to, and it's definitely good to know where you're going without relying on signage.

Puerto de las Nieves near Agaete on the west coast.

9. Take the time to head up into the mountains, even if it's just for a half-day drive. It's a very different atmosphere than the busy-busy south coast where most of the tourists stay, and makes for a nice change of pace.

Sunset in Arguineguín.

10. If you're heading out at night or in the early morning, bring a sweater, at least if you're not visiting in the middle of summer. We visited the island in March, and I found that the whole family appreciated having a sweater to put on once the sun started to go down.

Traveling with kids to Gran Canaria: where to eat & what to do

Our recent family vacation in the Canary Islands was a great trip, and included a lot of good food and some fun excursions too.

Catch-of-the-day dinner at Sagitario in Puertolavaca: papas arrugadas with mojo rojo & grilled fish.

The restaurants
We ate some great food in Gran Canaria. The seafood was especially nice, including the fresh fish, squid, and octopus.

My son loved the local grilled prawns, and the local dish "papas arrugadas" or "Canary Island potatoes", which are small potatoes baked with lots of salt. My daughter is in a very picky eater stage right now, but she liked the local steak, and, occasionally, the fish. For one of our restaurant lunches, to my complete amazement, she ate a whole plateful (literally) of grilled fish!

My own favorite dish was the grilled chipirones (squid). I also loved the spicy mojo rojo sauce that was served with a lot of dishes, and the local goat cheese, which was kind of like a softer and less salty feta cheese. 

A note on kid-friendliness:
All the restaurants we visited were very welcoming to families with kids, and all had high chairs available. However, not all of them had kids' menus. The restaurants in the most touristy spots did (and those menus usually included fare like pizza, pasta, burgers, and chicken nuggets), but in other places we had to choose from the regular menu. One tip: look at the tapas/appetizer menu too for kid-choices. The dessert menus usually really tickled my kids' fancy: lots of big, elaborate ice cream dishes!

Here are some of the restaurants we ate at that I definitely want to recommend: 

1. Apolo XI in Arguineguín
This is an excellent place to go for local cuisine. Friendly staff (that took a particular shine to my son, calling him Don Pedro for some reason), nice tapas, and particularly good seafood dishes. Their octopus cooked Galician style was awesome.

We sat outside right across the street from the beach and harbor and got to see the sun set during our first visit. There was no real kids' menu, but my son loved the king prawns, and my daughter did OK with a weird little dish that consisted of rice, french fries, sausages and a fried egg (!). 

2. Canarias I in Arguineguín
This place is located in a residential area, and unfortunately does not offer outdoor seating. Nothing wrong with the food though. The local and Spanish dishes are really nice, and I particularly liked their swordfish with garlic and parsley.

This restaurant serves big portions, and the food is very good. There is a small kids' menu with choices like steak and fries, spaghetti bolognese, fish and chips and more. The service was alright, though the staff did feel a bit inexperienced at times. 

3. Sagitario in Patalavaca
This restaurant sits right on the beach-walk next to the hotels along the beach in Patalavaca. They specialize in fresh fish, and local cuisine with some Danish/German/British stuff thrown in for good measure. The fish was excellent, and so was the wine list: ask for the local, white wine produced in Gran Canaria (it was amazing). I regret not buying a couple of bottles to bring home!

Sagitario does have a kids' menu, and my daughter ate the chicken nuggets and fries (I know, not exactly local cuisine...) while my son had the spaghetti (he loves pasta and will usually go for that option if it's available). It was also a nice place for the kids because they could go for little walks and look at the ocean during dinner, instead of going nuts just sitting still at the table.  

4. Cueva Pirata in Patalavaca
This restaurant is right next to the road between Patalavaca and Arguineguín. It sits up high on a cliff, and has a pirate theme throughout with gangway "bridges", and pirate-y tunnels leading to the bathrooms. (My daughter was so fascinated by the tunnels that she asked to the bathroom about 5 times...)

The food was very good. My husband loved the onion soup and the swordfish was excellent. There is a kids' menu, but no outdoor seating, though there is a nice view view of the ocean from the big windows.

Things to do
Most of our time was spent by the pool at the hotel or on various beaches, but we did go on some great excursions too.

The kids' pool at Aqualand.

Aqualand
I was ready for the usual water park mayhem when we went to this place, but it wasn't busy at all when we arrived. Definitely the most laidback visit I've ever made to a water park! There were lots of available sun-chairs, virtually no lineups for the many (and some very crazy-scary-freaky) water slides, and lots of space for kids in the kids' slide and play area.

There are about 30 different water slides (from kiddie-style to screamingly terrifying), pools, a "river", play areas, and a sea-lion show thrown in for good measure.

The only problem? My kids thought the water was too cold and most of the slides were too scary. They did enjoy playing in the kids' pool, and my daughter liked watching some of the sea lion show, so we did have a good time anyway. And for more adventurous kids and older kids this place would have been heaven.

One caution: Getting to this water park was hard work. We got lost and drove around Maspalomas for a long time before we found our way out of all the roundabouts and one-way streets. If you go, either take a tour bus there (easiest), or have a really good map and study it beforehand AND have someone at your hotel fill in the route on that map. Be aware that there are not a lot of signage in the town of Maspalomas that will guide you towards this attraction.

One of Puerto de Mogan's lazy, well-fed fat cats.

Walking around Puerto de Mogan
This is a popular fishing village on the south coast with beautiful buildings, a marina, lots and lots of restaurants, shops, and a beach.

It is heavily infused with tourists but still managed to feel "real". A nice place to go for a stroll and a meal. The kids enjoyed looking for fish in the (surprisingly) clear water in the harbor, and watching all the stray cats: the fattest strays I think I've seen anywhere.

The church in Mogan.

Mogan
This mountain village, located some kilometers inland from Puerto de Mogan, makes a great destination if you want an easy taste of the mountains of Gran Canaria. You drive up the narrow road heading up the valley, past a multitude of tiny villages and many beautifully, brightly painted houses.

The town of Mogan itself has a beautiful little church and a lot of gorgeous mountain scenery surrounding it. Not a lot for the kids to do in this town, but my daughter was fascinated by the paintings in the small church, especially the one showing the eternally damned. Her comment: "Those people don't look very happy."

View from the cliffs along the west coast of Gran Canaria. We were about 400 m above the ocean!

A drive around the island
On our last week in Gran Canaria we went for an adventurous drive around the island. It is a pretty small island, so this is totally do-able as a day trip.

We headed inland from Puerto de Mogan, past Mogan, and into the real mountains where the roads were so winding (and windy!) that anyone with a propensity for car sickness (me) felt like throwing up for most of it.

Even with the car sickness, it was an amazing tour. The view from the cliffs hundreds of meters above the ocean on the west side of Gran Canaria was breathtaking. For the kids, the highlights were the stops we made along the way to gawk at the scenery and almost get blown off the mountain tops.

We ate lunch in Puerto de las Nieves, the harbor of Agaete, and then kept driving all around the island and back to our hotel in Arguineguín. 

A note on driving: Be advised that while driving on Gran Canaria's well-maintained main roads is easy-peasy, the mountain roads are narrow, and often have dramatic cliffs towering on one side and a sheer drop-off on the other side of the roadside fence. Bring a good map, some motion sickness medication if you're so inclined, and a camera!

The cave site at Cuatro Puertas.

Caves!
There are several cave sites in Gran Canaria, and on our round-the-island drive I had promised the kids we'd go look at some caves. However, we missed the turn-off for the famous "Painted Cave", and instead decided to try to locate the more obscure Cuatro Puertas site.

It took some detailed map-studying, but we did find the site. It's located off an inland road between Telde and Ingenio on the south coast. You make a turnoff from that road, heading up a hill, and then the road just ends. After that, there is no signage, just a rough gravel road up the hillside until you reach the site itself. Once there, there is some signage explaining the history of the caves and the religious rites that may have been performed on the hilltop.

View from the cave site.

The site is called Four Doors, Cuatro Puertas, because the main cave has four big openings. To me, the site was curiously undeveloped for tourists: no entrance fee (good), no signage until you're almost at the caves already (bad), and no real visitor center that might help explain more about the significance of this ancient, archeological site.

it was an extremely windy spot (poor cave men!), but there's an awesome view of the coast, and the kids did like clambering around on the rocks and looking inside the caves.

Kissing the official Canarian dogs outside the cathedral.

Las Palmas
This is the capital of the Canary Islands and it's a big city. We kind of got lost driving around it, and my advice is: have a map, study it before you drive into the city and know exactly where you want to go.

The main event for us was walking by Christopher Columbus' house and visiting the big cathedral in the old part of the city. We took an elevator up to the top of the cathedral and got a great view of the city. However, I think the biggest thrill for the kids though was running around the big square outside the cathedral chasing pigeons, and hugging the statues of the original Canarian dogs.

You can read more about our trip, including tips on places to stay and beaches to go to here.

All photos taken by me, my husband, and my parents. Map thanks to cicar.com.