Tags: Europe with kids, family travel in Europe, Kate Boehm Jerome, Arcadia Publishing, Maine lodges, lake lodges in Maine
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Europe with Kids Under 10? You Bet!
By Karen Berman Greenblatt
You know you have exposed your children to world culture when your five year old sees colorful mosaic tiles and comments that it reminds her of Gaudi.
We travel to Europe with our two young children every year. Friends and family members are always amazed by this and wonder why we either don’t  wait until they are older (our girls are both under 10) or just go by ourselves.
My feeling is that traveling to Europe is not only very doable with kids, but it actually adds a whole new level of fun for adults who are exploring these countries. You do things that you would never have done otherwise and see parts of cities and places that you may never have experienced. Kids get a lot out of European travel at any age and lucky you…you get to see them experience it. Here are 10 tried-and-true tips for making trips to Europe with kids go smoothly.
- Take the latest flight. Look for flights that leave the US at 9:00 or 10:00PM so that you can all actually get some sleep. It isn’t realistic to think that you are going to get a full night’s sleep if the flight leaves much earlier and lands 7 or 8 hours later. At least if you take the late flight and fall asleep within an hour or so, you will get a decent amount of rest.
- Choose your hotel carefully. While you might be tempted to save money by squeezing into a hotel room, don’t do it. You’re much better off staying in an apartment or hotel suite or adjoining rooms (with a kitchenette). Be sure to pick some place very centrally located. That way, you can just get up and walk and not have to worry about schlepping the kids on and off of buses, subways or in taxis all the time.
- Don’t fight the time change. Once in Europe, let your kids stay up until midnight (or even one), and then sleep in the next morning. It’s vacation and while you’ll be eager to get out early and see everything, there’s no harm in starting the day a bit later. Everyone will be rested and the day will just end later. Have a late dinner and when you get back to the hotel, have some fun as a family planning where you want to go the next day or wind down with a movie on a portable DVD player. Staying closer to your own time zone will also make it easier to get back on schedule when you get home.
- Pack single-serve peanut butter. Assuming you don’t have allergies, this is great for picky eaters. Peanut Butter isn’t widely available so it’s smart to have it on hand if your child won’t try the local food or only likes mom’s chicken. It goes well on croissants, rolls and bread and can serve as a decent breakfast, lunch or dinner in a pinch. But if you want to convert your child to the European’s idea of peanut butter, you’ll find Nutella everywhere. This also works wonders!
- Take strollers. Even when our kids were a bit old to be pushed, we brought two umbrella strollers. My husband and I walked all over London, Paris and Barcelona with them. We were thrilled to go at our pace and saved a lot of money by not taking taxis.
- Pack electronics. While you don’t want your kids to zone out, especially when you’re paying so much for them to see another culture, consider taking along iPods, DS, Gameboys or Leapsters. These can save the day for th
 ose moments you have no control over (like standing in line at the Eiffel Tower). Use them sparingly.
- Locate playgrounds. Kids have a blast playing on equipment that they never see at home and they can have fun meeting other children from around the world. They’re also likely to enjoy a museum or other sightseeing activity after they’ve had some all-out freedom.
- Check out local movie theatres. Before you go, find out where the movies theatres are located and what family friendly movies are playing in English. The English-language is identified as VO (version originale). It is a good thing to do if it is raining or a nice evening activity to get you to the late bedtime. We saw Chicken Little in Leicester Square in London and Nims Island on a rainy evening on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. The kids still talk about it years later.
- Take in a theme park. We like to mix in one exciting children’s activity like Aqueboulevard (an indoor water park in Paris) or PortAventura (a large theme park in Spain). It is nice to have something special for the children to look forward in addition to the basic sights.
- Be realistic. You aren’t going to be able to dine at 5-star restaurants for three hours or spend endless time at museums, but you can have a family adventure none of you will ever forget. Your kids will learn just how small the world is and by seeing the places they’ve read about (or seen in movies or on TV), they’re likely to want to learn as much as they can.
Cool Travel Ed for Kids
By Sloane Williams
Did you know that some states have their own muffins listed right up there alongside the state flag, bird, and tree? New York does. It’s the Apple Muffin. And did you know that  Gatorade was developed to help the University of Florida football team—the Gators—stay hydrated? What about this one…while on New Year’s Eve, people around the world watch the ball drop in Times Square to mark the new year, in Georgia, the Peach State, thousands watch a huge fiberglass peach drop from an Atlanta tower.
This is just a sampling of what you and your kids can chat about with the new series of books, “Cool Stuff Every Kid Should Know” by Kate Boehm Jerome. They’re handy to have at home if you live in one of the cities featured (so far there’s Houston, Orlando, Dallas, Cincinnati, Tampa, Buffalo, Atlanta and Charleston) or you’re driving to or through them.
The thin softcovers are easy to read, full of great visuals and are educational as well as FUN. And while they’re geared to kids ages 7-11, chances are anyone older stands to learn quite a bit as well. You can find them ($9.99 each) at bookstores, Amazon.com or get them directly through the publisher, Arcadia Publishing.
Maine's Lake Lodges
By Susan Farewell
Some people go to Maine for the craggy coastline, the salt air. Others seek the serenity of the woods. I go for two reasons at least once a summer. To have a lobster roll and to plunge into an icy cold freshwater lake. Otherwise, my summer’s not complete.
While there are many places to get great lobster rolls (and every local and summer visitor has his or her own favorite), there are just a few lake lodges that stand out from the crowd. Here are my top choices.
Migis Lodge
One of the state’s oldest resorts, Migis is anything but worn looking. It is made up of a classic main lodge and thirty-five cottages, and set on 125 lakefront acres. All of the cottages—which have been fully renovated over the last couple of years--are exquisitely decorated and range from all-in-one studios to 4-bedroom/4-bathroom homes-away-from-home. They each feature a living room, a fireplace and at least one porch overlooking the water. Some have cathedral ceilings and all have pine-paneled walls and gleaming floors.
Migis (which is pronounced “MY-giss” with a hard G) in the Abenaki Indian language means “place to steal away to rest.” Let's just say, the order is more than filled when visiting.
Three meals a day are served and there’s unlimited use of all the lodge’s boats, beaches, tennis courts, you name it.
Details: On Sebago Lake, South Casco. Open June 14 to Columbus Day.
Attean Lake Lodge
Very remotely located, in northwestern Maine is the magnificently situated Attean Lake Lodge. There are fifteen log cottages set amid towering pines, spruce and birch trees. Each one has a private porch and a wood-burning stove and can’t-t ake-your-eyes-off-it view of the lake and White Mountains that loom all around.
Activities include fishing, kayaking, canoeing, sailing and hiking as well as swimming at sandy beaches. Three home-style meals a day are served here including box lunches for mid-day adventures and a couple of sunset cookouts as well.
Details: Birch Island on Attean Lake, Jackman. Open Memorial Day until end of September..
Kawanhee Inn
One of the most beautiful Maine lodges you’ll ever see, the Kawanhee Inn is set on a hill overlooking Lake Webb. It has all the details you’d expect in a Maine lodge: exposed timber beams, an immense stone fireplace, woodsy rooms. You can stay in one of 11 rooms with basic furnishings in the main lodge or settle into a cabin for a week. All 8 cabins have their own fireplaces and screened-in porches along with one to three bedrooms.
Guests can use the small beach and boats and explore the many hiking trails of the spectacularly scenic Mt. Blue State Park right across the lake. The food is really special here as well with all three meals served in the dining room. Though it seems worlds away, the inn is actually just two hours from Portland.
Details: Located in Weld. Open Memorial Day until end of September.
Quisisana
Set on the shores of Lake Kezar opposite New Hampshire’s Presidential Mountain Range, Quisisana is an amazing find. It was founded in1917 as a retreat for music students and music lovers to relax in the cool Maine woods and continues on today, attracting musicians from around the country.
Guest rooms range from lodge rooms to cabins and are spread out over forty-seven acres. Every evening, after a great meal, there’s a musical performance in the lakeside hall (from chamber music concerts to opera). This season’s opera is Don Giovanni; the musical is Damn Yankees. Performances are made up of staff members who are recruited from top music schools such as Juilliard, Oberlin and the New England School of Music. By day they may carry your luggage, by night, perform an aria.
Details: Lake Kezar, Center Lovell. Open mid-June through August.
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