Law, Partially

To start November and get to Spain, we flew a godforsaken European airline, Air Europa, that got us safely to Madrid, but disgusted us and annoyed us in the process. (The timings weren't good for Milan-Madrid flights, and this airline offered the most convenient time.) I missed the first night in Madrid with food poisoning courtesy of a Milanese airport ham sandwich -- not recommended. We had several hopes and goals for the Spanish leg of the Great Adventure to the South -- not all of them culinary -- Goya, Alhambra, and Mezquita. In Madrid, we wanted to soak up the Spanish cosmopolitanism of the imperial capital and see the Museo del Prado, hoping to recreate our Louvre success with our nascent art fan. In Andalucia, we wanted to explore the tapas heartland and the multicultural history (again, with the multicultural family's interest in multiculturalism...). I was worried how Bobby would react to his constricted pasta supply in Spain. Back in London, Bobby would almost a...

Ambitions to write entries in every city have crashed. Entries by region? Failed. As we wind down the first half of the trip and leave Italy for points west, maybe I can succeed in documenting our adventure by country. If India travelled to France, Italy would result. Just like India, Italy is even jammed onto the southside of a continent. And just like in India, we enjoyed our adventure, though some days we were dirty and tired of it, and just like in France, we ate very well and went to museums. In Florence I felt like I was in India, often walking in streets (few practical sidewalks), along with cars driven by the unsympathetic, breathing in exhaust fumes, amidst crumbling old buildings and throngs of people. India is of course more crowded, dirtier, and poorer, but sewer smells often linger in those medieval Italian city centers as they do in India's more crowded neighborhoods. Like in India, sometimes I'm amazed that Italy works at all. But it works, and it is a great ...

Maybe one year is too long to take to plan a vacation. With so many weeks available to envision the trip, you get ideas like: I will document the entire trip in real-time on our blog. Also, let's make non-refundable hotel bookings because they're cheaper -- when we've planned so far ahead, what could get in the way of the trip? Almost two weeks into the London Linges' Great Adventure South, and I am writing the introductory entry that probably should have been written before leaving London. This fall, Christine, Bobby, and I all find ourselves in natural transition points. Christine just graduated from LSE; she's pregnant and unemployed. I agreed to move my consulting practice from London to Minneapolis and am (temporarily) unemployed in the meantime. Bobby, not yet tied down with a mortgage or state-mandated schooling obligations, goes where the trains and planes (and his parents) take him. His employment consists of going on adventures. We're already in Eu...

In the year before Christine started school, we passed several long and (usually) enjoyable weekends in various European cities. The list of desired destinations was, and still is, long. Moscow didn't make the first cut. But a Russian made us an offer we couldn't refuse. I was excited to return to Moscow, having visited once before, in January 2004. While the president is the same, I'd heard that a lot else has changed. Namely, the Russian state became a lot wealthier after 2004 with the price of exported Russian oil reaching a long-sustained higher average price. We found that the Moscow mayor has invested a lot to enhance the city's livability. When I visited before, I stayed in a gigantic hotel next to the Kremlin designed to house thousands of partisans for the erstwhile party conferences of the 20th century. That brutal concrete hulk met the wrecking ball since then and is now a park with paths through planted native fauna up a hill that offers views of St. Basil...

We expected this trip to the Netherlands to be special, and it was. Our first family trip to the Netherlands, almost two years ago, opened our eyes to the joys and practicalities of family travel with small children. On this trip, I learned yet even more about the joys and practicalities of travelling with children -- this time, doing it without Mummy's help, while she stayed in London to study. I had no expectations for this trip except to have fun. Like diners at an authentic sushi restaurant putting their experience in the chef's hands ( omekase ), so we were all putting ourselves into Gugu's hands, she being the veteran Dutch traveler. Along for the trip with Bob, Gugu, and me were Uncle Kevin, Lincoln (on his first European trip), and Nainai. The itinerary would include Delft, Rotterdam, flowers, and Amsterdam. At the table in our Delft apartment, a little Dutch boy waits for his family to wake up. The street and canal out the window is Hippolytusbuurt, one of ...