Before we arrived in Europe, Chris suggested that we might take a quick train ride to Vienna from Bratislava to enjoy the Christmas markets there. We really loved them when we visited Vienna in November 2014 — they were likely some of the most spectacular and festive Christmas markets we’d ever been to, with the stunning decorations, the gorgeous backdrop of the fully lit up Rathaus, the bright twinkling lights, and all the artisan crafts and varied foods being sold by different vendors. Plus, it would be different this time with Pookster in tow, as she could enjoy them. So late afternoon on Friday, we took a 1-hour train ride to Vienna and spent six glorious hours in Vienna. We visited the Manner wafer shop, which I don’t recall from nine years ago, but who knows, maybe it didn’t exist then! We admired all the Christmas lights and decor lining all the streets around Stephansplatz. We hopped from one Christmas market to another, all within walking distance from each other, and enjoyed local bites and gluhwein. This time around, I also noticed there were a lot more American voices than nine years ago. It could’ve just been me.

This time, I really admired all the little touches to the market to make them welcoming to young children. We took Pookster around the pathways to step up on the stools to see the little nativity and Christmas scenes lining the walking paths. She also saw the singing animals in the children’s area and enjoyed the Christmas music (and… threw a tantrum when we took her away….). She got excited when she saw the big Pepa Pig balloons with some of the vendors and repeatedly ran around the balloon area.

We picked up some Manner chocolate and wafers, a little train for Pookster, and a new handmade ceramic Christmas house to add to our growing collection (and discovered that they are no longer handmade in Germany, but now in Lithuania, likely due to cost of labor – what a surprise!). It was a quick and tiring trip, but a fun and beautiful one. It would be hard to imagine anyone visiting the stunning Vienna Christmas markets and not getting into the festive Christmas spirit. Visiting this Christmas market makes you fall in love with Christmas and everything happy it represents. It’s like you want everyone to experience the magic that is here; it just cannot be replicated back home.

On our last full day in Prague yesterday, we visited the Jerusalem Synagogue on Jerusalem Street. I originally put it on our list of places to potentially visit because it’s supposed to be quite a beautiful building both inside and out. This synagogue, built in 1906, is designed in the Moorish Revival form with Art Nouveau details. And it also suddenly dawned on me that despite being on this planet for almost 38 years now, I do not believe I’ve stepped into any synagogue even once. I’ve been in endless churches, cathedrals, and mosques around the world, yet no synagogues.

If you come as a visitor and not as a worshipper, you pay an entrance fee to enter. But when you enter, you immediately realize that the entry fee is completely worth it, as the inside is absolutely spectacular – so many colors and sparkles and detail every which way you turn. Plus, on the second floor, they have set up what looks like a museum exhibition detailing the history of Jews in Central Europe and what was once Czechoslovakia. They touch upon the Nazi German occupation of the synagogue as a place to store confiscated Jewish property. They give many personal accounts of famous Jews who have lived in what is now Prague, and also share horror stories of Jews constantly being shunned, excluded, or pushed out of cities and towns all over Central Europe since as early as the 1200s.

Living in New York, I am surrounded by Jewish people everywhere I go. You see synagogues in many neighborhoods, Jewish delis and restaurants every few blocks. A lot of major theaters and companies are run by those with a Jewish background. In New York, it can seem like Jews are the majority, and when you aren’t Jewish, you aren’t as accepted. But when you see exhibits like the one here at the Jerusalem Synagogue, you quickly remember that Jews, are, in fact, a real minority, and have had a long, painful history of being ostracized, excluded, and killed. Given the attacks in Israel and the turmoil in Gaza since early October, every time I’ve passed any synagogue in New York, I always see armed police officers wearing bullet-proof vests standing outside their doors. It’s always made me feel uneasy and a bit concerned for how Jewish worshippers feel coming in and out of their synagogues. But seeing this exhibit and this synagogue illuminated that Jews everywhere live in a certain degree of fear and distrust given their sad history of not having a place to belong, as well as having many generations of their families exterminated during World War II.

While this is our second year spending Thanksgiving week in Europe with a tiny human in tow, it’s quite a different travel experience this time around with Pookster vs. last year. For one, she’s no longer drinking breast milk/formula, which also means we’re no longer rushing back to the hotel at specific times of the day for me to pump. She’s fully mobile and running around everywhere, so she doesn’t need to either be in our arms or pushed in the stroller. She wants all the delicious food we’re eating, especially the carbs, sweets, and pastries (we’re still trying our best to withhold most sweets from her). She’s also talking and singing up a storm, constantly taking in the sounds and sights and pointing out all her keen observations (she happily identifies colors, shapes, and animals, as well as objects she likes, such as trees, lights, etc.). When we went to a kitschy tap room called U Kunstatu, she not only wanted to run all over the place and push the chairs around, but she also took it upon herself to create her own entertainment by singing, chanting, and using the cardboard coasters as “instruments” of sorts. When we walked through a fun neighborhood in Prague of interesting shops and restaurants, she insisted we stop so that she could indulge in running through and throwing the large, goldenrod-hued autumn leaves that had fallen. Pookster was also eager to run around a large playground we came across and play on the different bouncy structures. She’s a lot more engaged with her surroundings now and taking it all in, whereas last year, she probably had no freaking idea where we were or what we were doing there.

There’s no sugar coating it: it can be very difficult to travel with a toddler. I don’t think anyone is debating that point. But what is so rewarding about it, once you have gotten through the tantrums and the kicking and the “acting out” at inopportune moments, is being able to watch toddlers their new, different surroundings and really embrace it all. I’ve loved watching her giggle in glee at something new she sees, or getting excited by all the Christmas lights. It’s also been fun to watch her try different foods that she hasn’t yet been exposed to. But the simplest things I’ve enjoyed are just watching her walk down a cobbled street holding hands with her Daddy, looking at all the things happening around her in wonderment. Those little sweet moments make all the tantrums and getting slowed down by diaper changes and blowouts worth it. These are the moments when she discovers the little things that make up life — and in the process, we are watching her grow.

The time I spend on airplanes is really the only time I am seated in front of a TV for long periods of time and am actually willing to watch something. I rarely sit on the couch to watch TV, and when I do, it’s a specific series that I watch with Chris at most a few nights a week, never more than an hour. So when I went through the TV and movie options on the British Airways flight tonight, connecting in London and ending in Prague, I took a look at some Christmas specific shows and movies given we’re entering the festive season. I bookmarked The Polar Express and The Nightmare Before Christmas, both Christmas movies I’ve always wanted to watch but never saw. And then a quick 45-minute TV special called Cadbury at Christmas caught my eye. I decided to watch that first.

It looks like this show is a very new release and details the behinds the scenes look at one of the world’s most celebrated chocolate factories located in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Chris grew up eating Cadbury chocolates and is very loyal to them (while also, in the same breath, harshly critiquing the “average” American chocolate like Hershey’s, which has very little actual chocolate in it and is mostly sugar and artificial flavoring). He loves how milky the chocolate is, and the quality of the milk used in Cadbury chocolates is quite high. When I was growing up, I never associated any specific chocolate type with Christmas. When I did see or hear of Cadbury, it was mostly the Cadbury cream eggs, which I always found a bit underwhelming and too sweet. The vast variety of Cadbury chocolates that Chris was used to eating were foreign to me. I never saw them until I went back to Australia for Christmas with him.

I learned a number of interesting things from this show: one, that Cadbury World actually exists as a place to visit with over a dozen different areas to explore, though there’s no actual viewing of the chocolate being made anymore. I also didn’t realize that a Quaker family originally founded Cadbury, but eventually sold it to a large confectionary company. As Quakers, they themselves did not actually celebrate Christmas, but they did believe in making money. So they decided to increase their production and also create special festive season/Christmas chocolates at this time of year. Their Milk Tray was one of the ways they made chocolate more affordable and appealing to the masses instead of the super wealthy. And their festive season chocolates became one of the most gifted items in the UK as a result of all their Christmas chocolate promotions.

As someone who has spent most Christmases since 2012 in Australia, I do appreciate Cadbury a lot more now. I love that they are affordable, high quality chocolates with little fuss. And after watching this TV special, I am even more intrigued by them and want to visit Cadbury World. Yes, I’m an adult, so maybe I can make the excuse that I want to take Pookster there. But you know what? There’s no shame in being an adult and loving chocolate.

i think it goes without saying that if you know me, you will know that I care little to nothing about sports. Do I think sports can be fun? Yes. Do I understand the value they bring to people and communities? Of course. But I don’t really get much joy out of watching games. The closest I’ve ever really enjoyed sports as a spectator has been at a couple hockey and basketball games. I suppose the World Cup football in Brazil was fun, but I think that was more about the atmosphere as opposed to simply watching the sport itself. I also do not have an athletic bone in my body (though, I have a feeling that as a young child, if I had really put my mind to being good at something, whether that something was volleyball or basketball, with some grit and coaching, I probably could have played decently). But I do appreciate learning the history of sports, and they do a pretty good job of detailing this specifically for basketball at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield.

I didn’t know that basketball was created by a Canadian American physical education teacher who was charged with the task of creating a sport that could be played indoors between (American) football and baseball season. I did not know it was created in 1891 in Springfield. I also had no idea that the first “basket” they used for the hoop was actually that of a peach basket. On the ground floor of the Hall of Fame, they have a big open court where you can freely shoot hoops, so we indulged in this while Pookster napped in her stroller. You had the option of shooting into a regular hoop, as well as two peach baskets. Getting the ball into the peach basket was especially interesting because of how the ball enters the basket and then proceeds to spiral slowly down. That would definitely slow down the high speed of basketball!