(Another) Solo Trip to the US

[Previous solo trips to the US: 2019 #1, 2018, 2017 #2, 2017 #1, and solo-ish 2015]

As happened in 2017, I had another banner year in 2019 with two solo trips to the US. I didn't particularly plan it this way, but as there was another wedding coming up (this time Genny and Ryan's, who had visited us here in Switzerland earlier this summer!), it made sense for me to go. I had booked the tickets way before we found Nate would be in Boston for the semester, but he planned to come back to Switzerland at that time anyway to see Chase, so I ended up going on the trip. I spent a good chunk in LA hanging out with Sakina (and Sophie), in San Diego seeing my parents and other friends (while doing quite a bit of work because I was taking an online class at the time!), and in the LA area for the actual wedding. It was such a great time to see my parents (and Sonia, who happened to be in LA at the same time!) and reconnect with high school, college, and grad school friends!

In San Diego, my parents and I went to Julian (where I haven't been in many years), and spent some time at the beach. 

With Sakina, we went to the La Brea Tar Pits, the Getty, the Skirball, and did these super fun virtual reality adventures. We also made lots of jewelry, watched movies, and had super yummy food. 

All dressed up at the wedding! I hadn't seen some of these people in over 5 years!

Paris, Nantes, and Kiev

[Previous trips to France: Paris, Lyon]
[Previous trips to Ukraine with Chase: Summer 2019, Spring 2019, Winter 2019, Summer 2018, Spring 2018, Summer 2017, Spring 2017, Summer 2016, Spring 2016, Summer 2015]

In October, I had a conference in Nantes. Since Nate was not around and it happened to have been during Chase's school and daycare vacation, I decided to bring Chase with me. Before the Mon-Tue conference, I decided we could do a weekend in Paris. We had a great time exploring Paris, seeing the Eiffel tower, walking through the Jardin de Tuileries, going to the Orangerie (which was mostly under construction), seeing the rebuilding of Notre Dame, and generally walking around.

In Nantes, we had an afternoon to explore the city, going to the Machines de l'Ile (which is a workshop and demo of huge, working animals and machines!) and checking out the Nantes castle (which had a moat!). 

Finally, we flew out of Nantes and landed in Kiev, where we spent a long weekend with family. We finally went to the coffee shop (Big City Cup) below my grandparents' apartment which opened probably a year to a year and a half ago. Chase got to go to his cool play place and ride a robot thing, play with his cousin uncle on a playground (!!), and have a great meal with all of the family. We might have been to Kiev a lot this year but it's always so nice to go and see family!