DAYS 6, 7, AND 8: GREAT SCOT

INVERNESS — Edinburgh proved to be the perfect follow-on to London: a low-key city with cobbled alleys for lazy wandering and wide grassy expanses for ever-important energy release. We stayed right on Old Town's Royal Mile in a breezy top-floor apartment whose only downside was the 92-step climb to the front door (credit to Owen for his painstaking stair-counts).

Thanks to sunshiny weather, we spent most of the three days outside. Monday was filled with walking/climbing/picnicking on Arthur’s Seat, a huge hill with towering cliffs and dozens of choose-your-own-adventure-style paths. We all hiked together for a good while, and then Owen and I broke off to tackle some of the higher trails; like any good 4-year-old boy, he has an insatiable appetite for climbing and was thwarted only by his mother’s own uneasiness about heights and cliff edges. It was a day to remember. Every evening over dinner, we each name our favorite part of the day and I write them down in our travel journal; that night, there were four identical answers — “climbing the mountain.”

After the kids went to sleep, Aaron and I reluctantly acknowledged that it was time to figure out our next where-to, seeing as we’d become homeless at Wednesday’s 11:00AM checkout. We’ve got a love-hate relationship with the itinerary-building part of this adventure. On the one hand, it’s a special kind of awesome to look at a map of Europe and start picking destinations willy-nilly; that aspect does not go unrecognized. It's surreal and I have to pinch myself regularly.

But on the other hand, we’re traveling with 2 small children, which means there are a ton of factors we have to plan around: optimizing price and weather and location desirability, but also finding family-friendly accommodations, minimizing flight layovers and train switches and drive times, keeping total stay-in-your-seat travel time to under 4 or 5 hours at a time, trying to stay in a place long enough to make it feel temporarily like home. We're learning a few things as we go (e.g., the very first order of business at every new place is to send one parent to the grocery store so that "Mom, I'm hungry" doesn't evolve into an epic food-hunting meltdown), but much of this is still straight wingin' it. 

After we sat far too long in front of Google Flights, we’ve got (most) of the itinerary set for the next week or so. This morning, we took a four-hour train ride up to Inverness in the Scottish Highlands (where the Loch Ness Monster ”is”) and we're staying in a rented apartment right on the lake. (Owen is threatening to keep round-the-clock vigil for a Monster Sighting.) On Friday we’ll take the same train back down to Edinburgh and immediately catch a flight to Copenhagen for the long-weekend, which will hopefully involve bike rides and possibly Lego Land (we're saving that as bribery bait). On Monday night we’ll fly from Copenhagen to Berlin, where we’ll burn through some Starwood Points at a comfy Westin until Thursday. We’re thinking we’ll probably plop down in one place for a week or so after that — maybe in a more rural and quiet countryside somewhere — but not entirely sure. Suggestions always welcome.

Arthur's Seat

Frolicking children are my favorite.

Owen's Portrait of Mommy

When we made it to the top of our hike, Owen wanted to take a picture. Of me. Posing as a surfer. And apparently headless.

Owen and the Cliffs

Plotting to make an escape and climb the cliffs despite me.

Ice Cream

Every good hike deserves dessert.

Counting Stairs

There were a. lot. of. stairs counted in those three days. 

Eliza Plays Hide and Seek

This picture kills me. We played hide-and-seek in a park. I was the seeker (and incidentally, also the photographer) and this is where Eliza chose to hide. She still hasn't quite figured out that whole object permanence thing. 

Family Shot

Thanks, Auto-Timer!