Philadelphia!

Les Verts - I just read over everything I suggested below, and of all the things I have said,

I think VERY Linsey would be a meal at PARC and art museum BARNES Foundation.

Website for Philly Food Tour we like, we did the Asian one, and it was good b/c we 

got to see South (ethnic) Philly and try foods from Thailand, India etc.

 BUT that's b/c we were super curious to learn where to go for Asian food b/c

 there is a Chinatown and a great Vietnamese community in Philly.

https://www.phillysfoodtour.com

Maybe Decadent Tour or Flavors of Philly Tour is a good idea for you guys.

If you go, please keep all notes and write down all the food stops for me,

so I can go and walk it. Both tours cover a place I really don't want you

to miss:

https://readingterminalmarket.org

It's just a super fun food court that is SO Philadelphia.  I love the cheese shop

there. Reading Terminal Market gets super crowded but it is really

near the Courtyard Marriott if that is where you end up staying.

ONE thing I think Linsey you would super love is the BARNES Foundation,

such a COOL art museum, I love it b/c it is SMALL and the treasures of

impressionist art really really cool.

https://www.barnesfoundation.org

So a restaurant we love  for Modern Asian with a really nice/cool setting

is BUDAKKAN, they have dim sum there. Definitely can fit into the

'special occasion' category.

https://buddakan.com

You will want to walk around Chinatown, it is SMALL but still has a lot

of flavour.  If you love peking duck as much as our family, go to 

LeeHowFook, this is super casual, and affordable peking duck they

serve in these hot pockets that are so good!

Actually I think Dad will ask you to go and check it out, tell them

that your dad has a reservation for a private party on Friday 5 Oct

and you wanna see the private room (you have to exit the resto

and go on the side door to get there). It would be helpful to take a

photo of the room from a few angles. 

So for A SPECIAL DINNER, we have heard amazing things about

this one restaurant that we want to go but have not yet. I mean great

things from SO many friends, it is French and I just looked at the 

breakfast/brunch menu and it looks so good.

https://parc-restaurant.com/#menus

Also don't forget to get the App and rent bikes, it is the BEST

way to see historical Philly and all the streets.

Most important stop that is unique to Philly is LITTLE ITALY.

I love this area.  I don't know if you end up choosing a food tour

that takes you to this area, but on a Saturday or Sunday morning

it is really lively.  It's basically all of 9th street and we went

from one end to the other, checked out lots of food shops,

just people watching, eating gelato, have a slice of pizza,

look at cool street art painted on walls. There was a kitchen shop

I loved.

https://italianmarketphilly.org

Just have a look at the map and see what order you want to do

things in.  

GUATEMALA

We hired a van and driver from Evelyn at this company.

evelyn@rainbowtravelcenter.com

The Courtyard Marriott in Guatemala City is a great city hotel!

We loved staying in Antigua.

Eating at Frida's was really cool, a mexican restaurant with Frida Kahlo as the theme.

Going semana Santa was magical!

Lake Atitlan was FABULOUS.

We loved our airbnb on the lake.

It's so cool to just jump on the boats to get around.

Each village on the shores has a different vibe.

Panejachal is the main town and from there you can take boats anywhere.

Lapland Winterwonderland

Information from Natalie Backman

I'm really bad at keeping track of things but luckily a friend asked me about Finland just after we got back so everything was fresh in my mind. Below is the message I sent her. The place we stayed would be too small for your family. We just looked on airbnb. We loved or vacation there! The kids still say it's one of their favorite trips.  It was very cold,  especially the dog sledding. My favorite were the reindeer rides (it is the tour in conjunction with the ice fishing and snow shoeing). Our reindeer were crazy and took off booking it through the single track forest. Apparently we were lucky though,  I had a friend at the same time in Norway who said their reindeer ride was slow and boring. We also went to Santa's village. It was fun but not as cool as I was expecting. I did still like it though.  We spent a night in an ice hotel. Jonny and the kids were fine,  I was freaking freezing! Ice go carting in Rovaniemi was fun.

Anyhoo, below is all the info I sent my friend a couple of years ago, hope it helps and have fun! It is such a unique place!

I wrote down all the information while it was fresh in my head:  kerttu@wildnordic.fi (dog sledding)

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p1020476?uni_id=1298307 (homeaway we rented in the town of Äkäslompolo)

www.laplandextra.com

www.laplandsafaris.com (recommended tour company from our homeaway owner)

kael@levi.fi    http://www.reindeerandfishing.fi/index.php?stranka=contacts  (Reindeer ride, ice fishing and snowshoeing)

Snowmobiling with http://www.snowfunsafaris.com/Contact%3A197?l=3 

Flew in to Rovaniemi airport where santa’s village is. We  rented a car and drove 2 ½ hours north to Äkäslompolo.   The airport near Levi would have been more convenient but was more expensive.  Yllas ski resort was great, just one gondola – the rest T-bars.  Levi not as good of a resort but has more amenities.  You can rent cross countries with lots of places to go.  Hope that helps!