A bit of a break from the norm on this one, something totally off the grid relative to previous trips that have been talked about on this here blog. You would think that living in Europe summer vacations would stay European focused and for the most part they have, save for a few special occasion trips back home. And I guess this too would classify as a special occasion, in this case my Dad's upcoming 70th birthday!
Yankee Stadium
I had the idea maybe a year or so ago to take my dad on a trip for his 70th birthday, something he would never do on his own and something that surrounded a shared interest. Given we are both big baseball fans and San Francisco Giants fans, why not try and do something around the game of baseball. My Dad's actual birthday isn't until October, but with the SF Giants and baseball theme in mind, we planned the June trip to the Northeast to see the Giants play in New York. Since we are in the neighborhood this also allowed the opportunity to take in a Yankees game, see the Baseball Hall of Fame in upstate NY, and trek to Boston for a game at Fenway Park. All in 1 short week.
With a week in June that lined up all the dates for the games just perfectly, off we go!
Top of the Rock!
With me coming from Europe and my Dad coming from Oregon, NYC was really a good meet in the middle spot too. My Dad had never been to New York either so along with the baseball games, we would also have the chance to see some of the main attractions in the big city.
After arriving in NY around noon and my Dad coming in later that night it also meant I could sneak in happy hour with our Parisian friends Jaclyn and Rio, who have re-transplanted back to New York, enjoy their amazing roof top deck and check in on their own little bun in the oven!
Citi Field, Go Giants!
With two sightseeing days in NYC we hit up quite a bit, seeing Times Square, Rockefeller Center, the "Top of the Rock" observation deck, 9/11 memorial, Wall Street, Statue of Liberty, and on and on and on. NY is really endless and always an amazing place to visit. Perhaps for me after living in Europe for the past 4 years, my highlight is really the food including good old fashioned deli sandwiches and a stop at the famous Katz's Deli for their hot pastrami.
You may know this place from this iconic scene from When Harry Met Sally.
Pretty much looks the same inside with the exception of the 80₵ soda, more like $3 - but worth every penny!
Giants team representation at HOF
With two days of sightseeing and two baseball games under our belt, including a Giants win against the Mets, off we went via train to upstate NY to the small town of Cooperstown, New York where the Baseball Hall of Fame and museum is located. After a really pretty ride right along the Hudson River we made it to the very quaint - straight out of a Norman Rockwell "slice of Americana" type painting - Cooperstown, NY. There can't be more than about 1,000 people and the town sits at the base of a lake in a very idyllic setting. We spent the night along the lake, resting up for a full day at the museum in the morning.
Being avid baseball fans since we were both kids, the museum was absolutely fantastic. A real highlight not just of this trip, but a place I'll remember for a long time. It obviously helps when you have deep interest in the subject matter, but they did such a good job with the exhibits, memorabilia, design, and all the stuff to look at and read about, it was a really fantastic museum. Then of course the room with all the plaques of all the guys who have been enshrined in the Hall of Fame was a really cool thing to see. If you ever find yourself in upstate New York, I highly recommend a visit.
Hall of Fame Plaques
From there we then made our way to our last stop of Boston for a pilgrimage to Fenway Park and a Red Sox game. We landed a perfect sunny Saturday afternoon in Boston to check out the area around the stadium complete with bars and restaurants and lots of people out before heading in to our seats. Taking some very good advice from a colleague of mine, we had seats on the shady side of the field which meant we comfortably enjoyed the 103 year old park.
With one last day in town I did a bit of sightseeing myself as I think I had just about worn out my old man by this point, before calling it another successful trip in the bag. Happy Birthday Dad!
Is a tradition defined by an event 3 years in a row? Let's go with yes cause that means our annual trip to Leiden is now officially a tradition! May in France means lots of 3 day weekends and a trip to Leiden, Netherlands for a weekend away and a half marathon. Two small changes this year. First with the way the holidays fell this year, we actually extended this to a 4 day trip instead of 3. The other was that I did not actually run the race this year. No real excuse other than just couldn't get motivated after the March Paris half marathon I ran. Just couldn't find the time and desire to train and decided not to force it, and the trip may even have been more fun and relaxing without having to worry about the race on Sunday. Next year!
Enjoying Keukenhof gardens
Let's see some tulips, lots and lots of tulips...
With 4 days and no race to run, we had more free time to explore outside of Leiden and we discovered that about 20 minutes away via a direct bus that runs all day long is the Keukenhof gardens. Open only for about two months each year in the spring, the gardens have literally millions of the famous Holland tulips. We didn't really know what to expect, but found this to be a perfect outing for us. The gardens are huge, they have lots of little activities for kids, places to eat, all set up really well. Similar to an amusement park of sorts with lots of tulips everywhere. We walked around, took tons of pictures, had lunch and even had a random family from India take a picture with Cleaver and Josephine. Presumably because you know, in India they do not have lots of babies with blue eyes. This actually happens a fair amount with tourists from Asia as well. It's bizarre, but has happened a few times now.
Market provisions
Saturday in Leiden of course means market day. With one of the main canals lined with fruits, vegetables, cheese, and snack stands we loaded up from the market with plenty of everything including of course our favorite stand with the dips and olives that are all amazing. As it was a fairly rainy day, we braved the market and then made our way back to our apartment for a relaxing lazy afternoon, complete of course with happy hour to enjoy our procured bounty from the morning.
In Amsterdam along a canal
With much nicer weather on Sunday and no race to run, we made the 30 minute train ride north to Amsterdam. We found a great little place for lunch away from the touristy areas and then walked along the canals, stumbling upon Vondelpark along the way. A large park full of people on a sunny day, picnics and even live music. The kind of place where you would go on a warm day if you lived here. From there we continued on foot to the center of Amsterdam, making stops along the way for pictures and a quick libation near a canal. Amsterdam if I haven't said before is one of my favorite cities in Europe.
Quick train ride back to Leiden and one more happy hour and a relaxing evening in town before heading back to reality on Monday. Bit of an added adventure was on the train ride home Cleaver would be departing in Brussels, which is about half way, as she had work meetings there on Tuesday. So Josephine and I would have to complete the rest of the trip to Paris alone which of course we managed just fine. Leiden once again did not disappoint and continues to get better each time we go. Can't wait for next year!
