Well, it turns out that living in Europe means a lot more short weekend trips, which also means it’s harder to keep up with detailed blog posts of our travels. To round-out the year after our two pre-summer trips I did write about, here are the other places we went in 2024.
Morocco
Last June, we had a three-day weekend available and I found that the cheapest flight was to Marrakesh, so we booked it immediately! It was the first visit to Africa for me and the kids, and the first time to Morocco for all of us. We stayed in a “riad” which is an old style of housing with beautiful open courtyards, typically with a small decorative pool. We booked a walking tour through the hotel, which was amazing, except for the pit stop to a pharmacy where we were persuaded to overpay for a lot of natural medicinal products. We had another tour to Ourika, a nearby town where there are restaurants alongside and WITHIN a river. It was quite the experience! We also hiked to some waterfalls which was an unexpected treat. We drove through and visited some ancient Berber communities, some devastated by a recent earthquake. The rest of the time was spent in Marrakesh — walking around, visiting bazaars, and wandering around the huge central plaza full of hawkers. We loved it and can’t wait to go back!
Japan
This was our big Fall trip, and the biggest of the four in this post by far. We told Lydia she could go anywhere she wanted for her 13th birthday and she chose Japan. We usually try to loosely target parts of a city and casually stroll between attractions and see what’s interesting enough to stop and enjoy more or less. This trip was a bit different though — we had to pre-book so many activities to secure a spot, and even hired a couple of locals to snag reservations on the most popular ones (ex. Pokemon Cafe).
- Tokyo – such a massive and awesome city made up of unique neighborhoods, each with their own attractions. Some highlights: Shibuya Sky, Iyoshi Cola, mipig cafe, Samurai Ninja Museum, famous ramen at Ichiran, Not Suspicious bar, Capy Neko Cafe Kichijoji (cats and capybara!), Pokémon Café, teamLab Planets, Golden Gai, and a mochi making class.
- Kyoto – a much smaller and less futuristic-feeling city. Highlights: Arashiyama Monkey Park Iwatayama, Fushimi Inari Shrine, Nishiki Market, and (THISIS)SHIZEN (ice cream).
- Day trip to Hiroshima – we had horrible storms that delayed our train a couple hours but still got to visit for most of the day. It’s quite a somber experience to see it in person. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum is very well done and informative and the nearby Atomic Bomb Dome is a must-see.
- Osaka – mostly a “big city” vibe. We came primarily to visit Universal Studios Japan, where we stayed on-property (a must!). The theme park was incredible. Each section is kind of its own theme park. The best ones were Super Nintendo World and Harry Potter World. Around town, I’d also recommend “art smoothies” from JTRRD and soup dumplings from Shanghai Rontan.
Oktoberfest (Munich, Germany)
The (in)famous Oktoberfest, that of course mostly occurs in September. We’ve always wanted to go but it’s quite a trip from the US for a couple days, so we figured now was the time. We thought it would be a one-and-done visit but we ended up enjoying it so much that we’re going back this year! Jaime and the girls got festive outfits at the last minute. This year Emily and I will get ours. The key that people prepared us for was to get reservations when possible. We had a morning one and an evening one, which worked out perfectly. You get a dedicated table and vouchers for pre-purchased beer and food (which was WAY too much for us and we ended up giving away a few). In between our reserved tables, we wandered around, shopped, went on a lot of rides, mingled some more, etc. It got a little weird at the end of the night when the drinks were flowing and people were rowdier, so we’re hoping to skip that part next time.
Innsbruck, Austria
We plan to visit a different Christmas market every year — last year was Cologne, Germany, and this year we decided on Innsbruck, Austria. It was a new country for the kids and a new city for the rest of us. The city is pretty compact so we were able to visit all 6 or 7 of the markets pretty easily in a weekend. They didn’t each have unique collectible mugs like Cologne but there were a few variations of single mug type across all the markets (so of course we got a few!). The highlight of the trip was a protip from the hotel — we happened to be in town for one of the few days that a famous Krampus Run occurred! We didn’t know what to expect but we traipsed up a mountain and waited patiently for the show. It was over-the-top excitement! There were roughly 30 people dressed up in grotesque demonic Krampus costumes, running around and fighting each other, with torches and chariots, etc. Highly recommended.