TO AMSTERDAM
By Eileen Ogintz Tribune Media Services I’ve found vacation nirvana for teenagers and it’s a place parents will like just as much as teens do….
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HITTING THE AIRPORT VIP LOUNGES
Pancake, the much loved blue bear, seemed right at home among the oh-so-serious laptop-toting business people. So did his 4-year-old owner, Colin Blodgett. Colin, Pancake and Colin’s parents were awaiting their flight from London to New York in British Airway’s expansive $60 million Executive Lounges in Heathrow’s new Terminal 5
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A new-style adventure by Disney — no mouse ears
We sniff the strong perfume that even kids used, since they bathed so infrequently (servants just once a year) and learn that even though royal children had servants to do everything for them (even brush their teeth), they didn’t have a lot of time to play because they were expected at court (sitting quietly for hours). Still, our gang decided they’d rather be royals instead of servants.
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OPTING FOR DIFFERENT KINDS OF LODGING
Searching out those markets and meeting the locals who shop there is all part of the charm of renting a flat in a strange city or a villa in the countryside. We sleep with cherubs over our bed and hear the noises of a city neighborhood — a baby crying, a couple jabbering in Italian and music playing.
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Heading home from Europe — is duty free a bargain?
A word about duty-free shopping. It’s tempting but I’ve never found any real bargains, except maybe on liquor or cigars. I buy something we can’t find at home for my husband and son just before we board our flight home and resist the temptation to stock up on cosmetics and perfume that I don’t need and that likely cost the same or more than at home.
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Funky, fun, historical and sobering — Amsterdam!
We head to a nearby street where we can’t believe our food choices — Italian, Japanese, Thai, Indonesian, French… After a week of heavy Austrian and Czech food, we opt for Indonesian at Sahid Jaya
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A trip to Costa Rica designed for teens and tweens (and one little sister)
After a morning of white-water rafting (and plenty of water fights) on Costa Rica’s Sarapiqui River, and a first-rate burrito lunch made by our raft guides at the river’s edge, we stop in the small town of Horquetas, about 10 minutes from where we are staying to visit an elementary school. Some 270 kids attend the ill-equipped school, which is so overcrowded that children must attend split sessions. The students mug for our cameras and giggle.
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In Prague — the Paris of the East
Another day, another church. We’re all excited to explore Prague, which many now call The Paris of the East. It’s crowded with tourists on this brilliant summer day. Prague, of course, is the capital of the Czech Republic and has been an intersection of continental merchant routes for centuries.
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Destinations | Disney | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Lodging | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries
The Disney guides make all the difference
No matter how interesting the places, how scenic the terrain, touring is exhausting — especially with kids. That’s why the parents in our group so appreciate our Adventures by Disney guides who are always there to offer a bottle of water, a snack, even an activity or movie on the bus to keep the kids amused.
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Destinations | Disney | Families & Groups | Food and Dining | Parks & Outdoors | Travel Diaries | Volunteer & Service
The trip is alive with the sound of music as we approach Salzburg
Lunch will be on a cruise down the Danube that will take us about 35 miles, from Durnstein to Melk. The villages are postcard-pretty, especially on a sunny day. The parents are pleased that the guides invite them to enjoy the views on the top deck while they entertain the kids elsewhere.
