Mark Thomas McGrath

  • Reflections on our trip to Paris & Copenhagen

    It’s been nearly two weeks since we returned home from our 25-day trip to Paris and Copenhagen. I wanted to share some quick observations and reflections from our time there now that I’m back to reality.

    • I couldn’t help myself with that AI Featured Image.
    • Somehow, in Paris it felt like we were out and “did more” than Copenhagen and spent more time in the apartment.
    • We really nailed it with both the specific Airbnbs we chose and their neighbourhoods. Batignolles (in the 17th) in Paris and Vesterbro in Copenhagen. Perfect mix of nearby stuff for Poppy and us, and both were easy as a starting base for the rest of the city.
    • I put on five pounds during the trip. Pastries every day + free flowing wine/beer = no joke. We walked more than our usual, but honestly not a crazy amount compared to other vacations.
    • Poppy’s favourite treat: macarons!
    • Playgrounds in Paris felt like Lord of the Flies and playgrounds in Copenhagen felt more like The Magic School Bus. Not saying one is better than the other, just markedly different vibes with the kids.
    • I overpacked by like 3 pairs of shorts (I don’t know what I was thinking, I hardly even wear shorts at home in much warmer weather).
    • Smartest thing I did started about a year ago when we decided we were going to take a big trip during my sabbatical. Right away I started putting some money from each paycheque into a separate account at my bank, Wealthsimple. Then, during the trip I used my Mastercard debit card, tied to that account, for all purchases. It was a fluke, but we ended the trip pretty close to the amount that I had saved (we had some leftover money!). I didn’t have to worry about our spending much on the trip, both cities are very expensive after all, and came home with no credit card debt to think about.
    • At times in Paris, it felt like Poppy was really leaning on her iPad a lot and we didn’t like the precedent we were setting. So we made a deal with her that she could watch while we were in transit somewhere (the metro/bus was usually exciting enough, or too busy, so that rule really just applied during the odd taxi), during dinner, or when we said it was fine while we were chilling at home. That rule really helped tone down her usage. Some dinners were engaging enough where she didn’t ask for it too, which was great.
    • Our general plan most days was: identify the thing Jill and I wanted to do, then find a nearby restaurant we want to eat at (sometimes that was the thing we wanted to) and a nearby playground for Poppy, and then enjoy everything in close proximity. It worked really well.
    • We had hundreds of restaurants, playgrounds, activities, cafés, etc. saved in Google Maps based on research before we got there. This was super helpful for our planning. Highly recommend.
      • We brought along the Eater Guide to Paris with us too. A bit focused on places that aren’t necessarily kid-friendly, but not entirely so.
    • It’s really hard to look around Hamilton and not miss A LOT about both Paris and Copenhagen. What we do have here is a lovely community of folks, so it’s been nice to see friends and family we missed to remind us of the important things we do have here.

  • Day 25: Copenhagen and Hamilton

    We made it home safe and sound. Similar to the flight out, everything went about as smoothly as we could’ve hoped. The worst part was the traffic coming home from Pearson to Hamilton. Nothing says welcome home like crawling along the QEW.

    Poppy fell asleep around 8pm, and we really stretched her to get her that late. It will be interesting to see how the night and the next few days go as we all adjust back to ET.

    I intend to write a wrap up post outlining my takeaways from the trip in the next few days. For now, it feels good to be home and settling back into normal routines.

  • Day 24: Copenhagen

    Our last day of vacation and of course it’s the most beautiful day we’ve had here in Copenhagen. Sunny, no wind or rain, just perfect.

    This morning we tried to take advantage of the weather by walking over to the closest harbour swimming spot, but when we got there the kids pool was pretty grimy, full of algae, and it was a bit deeper than the one yesterday and without a gradual slope in (you had to ladder down into the pool). So we changed our mind and walked back towards our apartment to visit the splash pad at the castle park. It was bumping and Poppy had a great time.

    We stopped at a sushi spot on the way home for lunch. They had children’s chopsticks here as well – Poppy is picking it up (ha!) pretty quickly. More tempura shrimp for her.

    After nap we went back up to Reffen. We were there a couple days ago and the vibe was so nice we decided to go back and enjoy it while the weather was so lovely.

    Poppy ran around a bunch, we had some Filipino, Kurdish, and Thai food (Poppy just ate a sausage and ketchup), we had some drinks, and topped it off with more ice cream.

    Before we went back to the apartment for the evening, we stopped in at the ship park for one last play before we leave tomorrow morning.

    It took Poppy a long time to fall asleep tonight. Hard to know why exactly but I bet she was thinking about going home tomorrow. When we talk about it she’s said she’ll be sad the vacation is over and knowing her, she’s been thinking about it and that made it tough to fall asleep.

    Eight hour midday flight tomorrow. Wish us luck!

  • Day 23: Copenhagen

    We cooked breakfast at home this morning and then rode our bikes up to Ørstedsparken. It’s a beautiful park and the playground was another big hit. They had hockey sticks and balls so Poppy and I played a bit of that. She was mostly into the freely available little car toys to ride in though.

    A bunch of these parks in Copenhagen are actually some kind of public daycare facility. They have indoor buildings with crafts, activities and more to explore. At this particular park this morning, one of the staff set out wood logs, hammers, and nails for the kids to practice hammering on! So neat. Every park has different staff who share different activities and skills with the kids. Poppy had some fun watching 😀.

    From there it was a quick ride to the Torvehallerne market. Jill had taco redemption and I ate at a Danish spot – 2 fish salads and 1 side. My fish were an octopus salad and a Nordic shrimp salad. Both were super good.

    It’s a really beautiful market. Lots of restaurants but also fresh produce, flowers, and other gifts. From there we walked a bit to pick up some souvenirs for ourselves and folks back home.

    After nap we decided to take advantage of the decent weather and go to a swimming spot in the harbour. Since swimming in the Seine, we had been talking up another swim with Poppy so it kind of felt like we had to go even though it wasn’t particularly warm. Islands Brygge was just a 10 minute bike ride so we set off.

    The water quality was poor when we got there (maybe from all the rain lately?) so none of us were going to fully go in, but that was probably for the best anyway since it was rather chilly. There were a handful of other (mostly) kids swimming and jumping off the platforms anyway.

    Poppy wasn’t too phased by the cold so we each waded into the children’s pool with her. She had a blast just splashing through the water up to her thighs. I’m glad we got to do that.

    A quick stop at the nearby playground on our way back to the bike shop to return our bikes.

    Jill took Poppy around the corner to a wine bar for a quick drink while I walked back to our place to pick up the stroller. We were going back to the meatpacking district for dinner and figured we’d want the stroller since Poppy has been reluctant to walk too much.

    We ate outside at Gaza Grill and really enjoyed the food. I had a Palestinian beer (pretty fine!) and Jill had a Palestinian wine (nope!) before heading next door for some ice cream.

    Tomorrow is our last full day of this vacation – just wild. It’s flown by and been such an incredible experience but at the same time I think we’re all about ready to get back home.

    We’ll pack as much as we can tomorrow morning and then perhaps a return trip to Reffen for the evening.

  • Day 22: Copenhagen

    We woke up and got ourselves out the door pretty quickly to be at the bike shop for opening so we could have our pick of the litter for rental bikes.

    Our plan was to get a family bike with a box in front where both Jill and Poppy could sit. They only had two at the shop though and they were a bit smaller than we expected. We also learned it’s law that the occupants of the box have to be buckled in, and that seemed like a challenge for us. So we pivoted and got two bikes, one with a children’s seat in back for Poppy. Neither of the bikes with kids’ seats on them fit Jill (and one was a bit janky anyway) so the guy at the store swapped out the kids seat to another bike. He was friendly and patient with us while we went back and forth on our bike options a bunch.

    We couldn’t convince Poppy to ride on a bike with me, she insisted on Jill, so that’s also why we had to do the bike swap. Poppy was also very nervous about getting on the bike in general, but after much convincing she hopped on behind Jill and we had our first, very short, ride up to a café for some breakfast.

    We were a lot longer at the bike shop than we thought we’d be so we were all starving by the time we got to the café. That likely also contributed to Poppy’s mood at the bike shop.

    We finished up breakfast and decided on a quick-ish 15 minute ride over to a new playground to get us all acquainted with the bikes. Poppy got over her fears really fast and has no issue with the bike now.

    We finished up at the playground and rode home. A bit of play at home before nap time.

    It was relatively sunny today but really windy. Windy to the point where if we were biking into it, it was a lot of extra effort.

    After nap we decided just to keep it pretty chill. We did a little shopping in the neighbourhood, went back to castle park for a little bit (play was interrupted by a couple of brief, heavy showers), and then went back home to cook dinner.

    Tomorrow looks like it should be a nicer weather day and we’re planning to take full advantage of our bikes.

    Didn’t get any good photos today.