On Vacation - Lake Como, Italy

the "road" to our apartment

After spending the day in Venice we did not feel the need to go back into town in the morning so we packed up and headed to Lake Como.  The drive was mostly highway and we didn't have any traffic so it was uneventful.  It took us about four hours which now seems simple after our 12 hour trip to Slovakia last year and our 8 hour drive to Slovenia on this trip.  The girls do well in the car and keep themselves busy with their leapsters, coloring, watching movies or talking to each other.  After leaving the highway at the southern end of the lake we followed the road along the lake until we came to Menaggio and then we started heading up the hill.  We wanted to see Lake Como and have a balcony to enjoy the view so in order to get that in a rental that was in our budget it meant we had to head up hill.  I'm glad we did becuase the apartment we rented was in a tiny village where we may have been the only English speakers.  It was a very cute village complete with farmers and roosters.  It seemed every night there was a soccer game on the the town field which we enjoyed seeing from a distance.  Around seven every night our neighbors were out on the street talking and laughing which was fun to hear even if we couldn't understand what they were saying.  My only problem with the apartment is that there was something there that I was very allergic too.  It also bothered the kids allergies but not to the extent that my allergies were irritated.  In the end it was fine though since we spent most of our day outside.

We usually started the day with breakfast on the terrace.  It was such a beautiful view of the lake but you definitely needed your sunglasses!  In the picture to the left, Ali and Sofia forgot to bring their sunglasses up to the terrace so the picture of them isn't the best but you can see our wonderful view.  In the mornings we would wake up hearing the village rooster and then shortly thereafter we were here the tractor fire up.  The buildings are so close together though that you couldn't actually see anybody from our terrace except for the people in the house above ours on the hill or on the roof terrace on the house below ours.  It was a very quite village so while on the terrace and walking through the village we had to institute "village voice" with the girls so that we were disrupting everyone actually living there.

After we settled into our apartment we headed back down the hill into Menaggio.  We walked along the boardwalk and stopped for some go-kart riding.  I have such fun memories of riding go-karts on vacation that I was excited for the girls to give it a try.  Sofia has ridden them before but it was Ali's first time.  Sofia rode laps around Ali but Ali did well for her first time.  After getting her going in the right direction she slowly got going faster as she went around the track.  We kept trying to get her to smile but she was concentrating so much that she looked very serious.  She did say though that it was a lot of fun. 

After exploring Menaggio for a bit and having dinner we had to stop for a gelato. You can't be in Italy in the summer and not partake in a gelato!  There were so many flavors to choose from but through the trip we seemed to choose a lot of the same flavors..lemon, melon and mint with an occassional variation from these three. After choosing our flavors we went for a walk along the boardwalk to enjoy the setting sun over the lake and mountains.

After breakfast everyday we went out to explore.  We started by taking the ferry to Bellagio.  Bellagio is really very small but by the time we took the ferry there we needed to stop for a snack to power up for our sight seeing.  This was how we went for the remainder of the trip...breakfast, get dressed, head out to destination, stop for coffee/snack, sightsee, then lunch and one (or sometimes two) cones of gelato.  After our snack we decided to follow a walking tour itinerary we had for Bellagio.  Our first stop was to go by a pillar that had the marks of previous floods which we couldn't find so we continued on to walk by the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni and out to the tip of the promotory called "Punta Spartivento".  It gave us amazing views of the lake looking towards the northern mountains as well as Menaggio and Varenna.  There were steps down to the water which the girls wanted to go down and touch the water.  When I could no longer resist myself we allowed them to take there shoes off and step into the water.  There is just something fun about putting feet into a new body of water. 

After playing in the water for a bit it was time for lunch.  Fortunately one of the restaurants that we had read was good was right on the point so we were able to eat lunch by the water.  It was an excellent lunch.  Once we were finished we headed into the town and walked around the few streets that make up Bellagio.  The town is very small so this didn't take long.  After exploring a bit we headed back to the ferry and enjoyed our trip back across the lake to Menaggio.  After a cool morning the afternoon had warmed up.  It didn't make sense to drive back to our apartment for bathingsuits so we let the kids go in the lake in the underwear.  Along the boardwalk in Menaggio and most towns we visiting there are steps down to the water.  For the most part people were not swimming in these locations but there was one in Menaggio that had a couple swimmers so we figured it must have been acceptable for kids to jump in the water there.  The girls were very happy to be in the water.  I wanted to join them as well since it was hot but I didn't think that would be appropriate. :)

We visited the village of Tremezzo and Villa Carlotta and Varenna all in one day.  It was a full day since we spent about two hours on the ferry.  It was nice to be on the ferry as there was a good breeze to keep us cool.  We started with Villa Carlotta which Ali claimed was her house.  We explored the beautiful gardens and then Ali gave us a tour of "her house".  It was cute to see her going from room to room and decided what happened in each room.  She claimed her bedroom but then changed her mind when she saw the next bedroom.  It would be nice if we could give her this house upon her marriage like Carlotta received but for now we will just pretend she already owns it.  After visiting the villa we walked into the village of Tremezzo for lunch and then back on the ferry to cross back across the lake to Varenna.  After having our after lunch gelato and walking around the village a bit, which was a really cute village, we hiked up the hill to Vezio Castle for a bird show with hawks and owls.  It was a 15 minute hike uphill but worth the trip.  There were some amazing views over the lake and it was fun to see the hawks and owl flying around and landing on the trainers arm.  After watching the show for about a half an hour we decided to head back down the hill for a short play at the playground while we waited for our ferry back to Menaggio.

The next day we headed to the village of Lenno.  I think this was my favorite village on Lake Como that we visited.  It was small and not busy with a lot of tourists.  There was not a major road between the restaurants and the boardwalk so it was very peaceful.  We parked the car in a lot across the main road and headed to an olive oil producer we had read about.  As we walked into the parking area there were three giant dogs laying around which I was a little unsure of but we moved slowly until we got to the office and found someone who worked there.  He assured me the dogs were very friendly and the girls were off to pet them while Jason and i decided on how much olive oil to buy.  We had read good things about this oil and this producer has been making olive oil since 1850.  It is also fun to try olive oiles from different regions becuase they all taste slightly different.  After buying our oil we headed down the hill across the main road into the village.  We walked along the boardwalk towards Villa Balbianello (where part of Casino Royale was filmed) but the day we were there you could only see the villa by boat since the garden entrance was closed.  We didn't feel like committing the money and time to see the villa for an hour so we decided to check out the Lido.  After looking at the quite lido we decided we would skip the lido in Lenno since it was more couples and small.  We didn't want to have to worry about the kids making a lot of noise and disrupting people. So we walked back along the boardwalk and found a cafe on the water for our morning coffee/snack.  After walking around the town a little more it was time for lunch.  We went to a restaurant that we had read about and had a nice meal.  Jason had fish, the girls had ravioli and I had a pasta with a gorgonzola sauce with pieces of melon.  It sounds odd but it was delicious. 

After a good morning we decided it was hot enough that we needed to hit the beach.  We went to the Lido in Menaggio.  The Lido had two pools, a couple restaurants, cabanas and a few other sport activities.  You needed a swim cap to go in the pool which we didn't have so we stayed by the lakeside which was fine with me.  there was a small rocky area to enter the water where the kids spent all their time finding interesting rocks and smoothed glass. 

Becuase the lake drops off so quickly the cement wall that meets the lake can be jumped off without touching the bottom.  This is where I spent all my time in the lake since unlike the kids I found walking on the rocks very painful.  Sofia wanted to make the jump from the corner of the cement pictured right but in front of the cement there is another walkway of cement just under the water and we didn't think she would be able to clear it so she swam off the lido in front of where Jason is standing in this picture. It was very interesting to me that there was no big beach area to enter the water.  It just never ocurred to me that the lake would get so deep so quickly.  It is so different from any swimming we did as kids and so different from any swimming we have done in Spain.  The girls didn't seem to think anything of it and were just happy to be in the water finding treasures.  I love giving them these opportunities to see how different things are in different parts of the world.

On our last full day staying on Lake Como the weather was not as nice so we skipped the beach and decided to drive over the border into Switzerland to Lake Lugano.  The lake had a very pretty green/aqua color to it but once in Lugano it is not a cute village but a large city so it did not have the same appeal as Lake Como.  They did, however, have paddle boats that we thought would be fun so we tried to find parking to give it a go.  Unfortunately, we could not find parking.  We kept following signs for parking but never seemed to actually find any so we gave up on the idea of going on the paddle boats and headed to the Migros grocery store.  I was excited by this trip since ever since last summer when my friend Tim brought back Frey chocolate from a Migros store in Switzerland I have tried to figure out a way to get more.  It is that good!  We went into the shop and bought a large quantity of chocolate.  Now that we are home I recognize I may have over done it!  The shop also had 7Up light so I bought some of that as well.  The parking lot for the grocery store require us to pay 1 swiss franc to get out of the lot but we didn't have any so I had to go take money out of the bank.  I went back into the Migros to ask where I would find a bank.  To my surprise everyone that I asked did not speak English.  After being sent to a few different places someone finally pointed me in the direction of the bank which was apparently right next to the Migros!  The smallest bill the bank machine would dispense was a 50 which is approximately $50.  So I went back into the grocery store to spend the money since we were not planning on coming back to Switzerland.  I spent it well and came out with 1.50 francs remaining...enough to pay to get out of the parking lot.  We headed back to our apartment and beganpacking up for our next destination...Piedmont, Italy

On Vacation - Venice

In Piazzale Roma - The beginning of our
trip down the Grand Canal

After relaxing in beautiful quiet Slovenia we headed southwest to Venice, Italy.  It is just over a two hour drive from our friend's house in Slovenia to Venice so it was an easy trip.  We found our hotel which is on the continent side of Venice and not on the islands themselves.  It was cheaper to stay off the islands and just a lot less complicated given that we had our car.  After checking in and dropping our stuff off in our room we headed out to catch the bus over to the Piazzale Roma.  This is the lauching point for taking any boat into venice so it was quite busy.  We eventually figured out where to buy a ticket for the water bus.  This was the cheapest way to take a trip down the Grand Canal.  By cheapest I do not mean cheap.  It cost us 36 Euro (and that is with lieing about the kids ages...they were 3 and 4 during our time in Venice!)  which gave us some insight as to the expenses of visiting Venice.  We took the boat all the way to Piazza San Marco.  It was fun to be on the boat and see the Grand Canal and the girls loved being on the ocean.  They kept commenting that it smelled like the beach and also wanted to know if they could go swimming.  We had to tell them that swimming was not an option and after a while they finally stopped asking.  As we arrived at Piazza San Marco we could not believe how many people where there.  Since we were all hungry because it was lunch time and neither Jason or I are big fans of crowds we snapped a couple pictures and tried to get out of the crowds.  This was a little difficult given the number of people in Venice but we did manage to slip into an uncrowded restaurant for lunch.

Sofia and Ali taking a minute to emjoy

one of the many canals.

 

After lunch we had the energy for more sight seeing and found some less crowded streets.  It was quite pleasant and very pretty when we could walk at a leisurely pace and look at the buildings and canals.  It was fun to wind our way through the streets always unsure if it was going to lead to a dead end with a canal or to a bridge over the water.  We let the girls choose our directions for a while since they like to be the leaders.  It allows us time to enjoy our surroundings and not feel like we are dragging the kids around.  After the quiet of the side streets we braved the crowds again to see the Rialto bridge.  We had to take a walk over to it since on the boat ride on the Grand Canal the kids were very excited to see it because it is in one of the episodes on Little Einsteins that they like to watch. 

I thought this was going to be the shop
but they decided on white and it wasn't
available in this shop.

We made our way through the crowds and stopped in a bunch of shops along the way since the girls wanted to get a carnival mask.  As the masks were so fanciful I didn't blame them for wanting one.  They had a tough time choosing but in the end they both ended up with pretty white masks.  We finished our day in Venice with dinner.  Our friend had recommended a restuarant so we went in search of the restaurant but unfortunately it was closed for the weekend.  Fortunately there was a restaurant next to it that was open with outdoor seating.  The restaurant was in a big open piazza so while we waited for our food and once the kids were done eating they were able to chase the pidgeons all around the square.  It was a busy full day.  I'm glad we stopped and saw Venice for the day.  It is an amazing city.  I would recommend going to Venice if given the chance but I would recommend it only if you could go in a time other than August as August is too hot and way too crowded.

On Vacation - Slovenia

I have not blogged for over two weeks and that is because we have been on vacation.  The past three summers we have vacationed in Spain but this year we decided to do something different.  This year we traveled to Slovenia and then onto Italy and Austria.  We started our trip off by heading to our friends house in Slovenia.  We packed the kids in the car and headed out at 4am.  We wanted to avoid as much traffic as possible and we also wanted to catch the car train.  We did get off on time but we hit some rain and then traffic around Munich but we made it just in time for the car train. 

We did not want to miss the car train because it would mean driving over the mountain on some narrow winding roads which would make the eight hour trip even longer.  We also did not want to miss it becuase we had really talked it up with the kids.  Fortunately we made it with a few minutes to spare and there were only two cars behind us on the train.  We were breathing a sigh of relief that we were not the car that was turned away because the train was full.  If you are waondering what a car train is, it is a train that you drive your car onto, turn the car off and pull the emergency break.  You then sit in your car as the train travels along the tracks.  This car train brought us through the mountain rather than over the mountain so the majority of our time was spent in a pitch black tunnel.  It was really fun and the kids enjoyed it.  The train that we caught only brought us part way through the mountain pass though so instead of having a five minute drive to our friends house we had a forty-five minute drive down the mountain.  I didn't mind this part of the drive though and just enjoyed the scenery as much as possible while driving down a windy mountain road.  The eight hour drive was well worth it.  My friends house is absoultely beautiful even in the rain.  The kids were excited to see their friends and quickly separated from us and off they went for a fun filled weekend.  I was also happy to see my friend Beanie since I hadn't had a good chat with her since school let out.  Another set of our friends, Colin and Kim, were staying for the weekend as well with their son, Bryn, so we had a lot of fun just hanging out.  We chatted, had great lunches and dinners and shared a lot of laughs. 

On Saturday morning we all went out to the pool since the sun was shining.  Our friends have a natural swimming pool which is now on my wish list of things to have in my yard.  A natural swimming pool doesn't require any chemicals and makes you feel like you are in a beautiful pond.  There is no fiddling with chlorine and Ph and there is no concern of the kids eyes stinging or their skin getting irritated.  It was great!  After time playing in the pool we headed in for lunch.  During lunch the clouds rolled in and the rain started.  That didn't stop the fun though. 

We all headed into a nearby town for the boys to do a bit of bridge jumping.  I did not take part in the bridge jumping since my bikini would not have stood up for the jump (9 meters or 29 feet) into the water and even if I had a one piece I'm not sure I would have the nerve to actually make the jump.  I'm usually nervous about jumps into unknown water but our friend Guy had made this jump before so I knew it was deep enough but also the town had a platform installed on the bridge for this specific purpose.  The Soca river is a beautiful river that is torquise in color and even in the height of August it is still very cold.  Jason guesses it was probably about 60 degrees (15 C).  I did my part and took pictures of Guy, Jason and Colin making the jump.

We all had a great time visiting with friends and seeing Slovenia.  Slovenia definitely tops my list of one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Final Good-Bye

We said our final good-bye to the Noordhuis Family yesterday.  We met them at the playground in our village and let the kids play while Inge and I chatted.  When it was time to go the kids all gave hugs and were silly with each other which was nice to see.  I gave Inge a hug and squeeked out good-bye past the lump in my throat.  It is hard to say bye to friends here since it means that you are usually saying good-bye forever.  I hope though that Inge's next move or the move after that will bring her back to the States where we can reconnect.  Sofia seems okay with Lars leaving since she definitely sees it as temporary and when they are adults they can find each other again.  It is a great way to view it.  In the meantime she plans on writing lars regularly to keep in touch.  Here is the picture of all the kids playing at the playground.  They must have felt sympathetic to me becuase there was no complaint over the photo taking.

Stolen

I'm sad to say that Jason's bike was stolen from our house yesterday when I took Watson to the vet.  I don't know who comes down a dead end dirt road to steal a bike but they did.  I'm happy that nothing else was taken but still upset at the loss of an expensive bike.  I'm sad that our family bike rides will be put on hold until next summer and I'm a little creeped out that some stranger was here.

Family visit

Last week we had our family here for a visit.  We were so busy sight seeing and hanging out together having fun that I had no time to blog.  The girls had such a fun time with their cousins.  To spend every day with their cousins and then to have them sleeping in their room was just pure bliss.  Bed times were blown away and the kids didn't get in bed until nine almost every night and then they would stay up talking for a while until we finally pulled the plug.  We revisited the Prague castle, Wallenstein gardens, old town square, Wenceslas Square, the Powder Tower, Mala Strana and Charles Bridge.  We also took a trip to the Torture museum which we had never been to before.  It was quite fascinating to see all the old torture instruments.  I'm happy I didn't live in a time when they were used!  I was a little concerned that the girls would be scared in the museum but they seemed equally fascinated and would just say things like, "ouch, I wouldn't want that." or, "they would be dead right mommy?" or, "of course that would hurt.". 

We did have one warm sunny day so after some sightseeing we headed back home so the kids could hit the pool.  They didn't seem to find the cold temperature and jumped right in.  After they had gotten cooled off and had come out of the pool I couldn't take it anymore and had to jump in myself.  It was refreshing after a warm day in the city.  The boys followed my lead and had some good brotherly time in the pool.  Jodi and I couldn't resist capturing it in a picture.  Such a touching brotherly moment when you realize they are really very similar!

One of the great things about having family with us was that we also got to celebrate Jodi's birthday (her 27th I think??).  I made the cake and Jason and Matt prepared orange chicken.  Orange chicken is one of our all time favorite dishes that we make and is often the request for special occassions so we offered this to Jodi for her birthday dinner.  It is time consuming but well worth it.  This time around Jason had Matt's help in the kitchen.  Another moment of brotherly bonding.

On their last day with us we took a trip out to Krivoklat Castle which is about 45 minutes outside Prague.  The kids loved seeing another castle.  We took the tour that was in Czech but they gave us reading material in English.  Keely and Sofia were the most interested in the reading material so I read a lot to them.  One room in the castle was about the lady Philipa, the merchant's daughter,  who married the Arch duke Ferdinand.  Given their differences in status they married in secret and kept their marriage a secret for 19 years while having four children.  The girls all really liked this love story and I had all their attention. 

After finishing the tour we went for a walk around the castle.  There are marked walking routes in the area of the castle so we took the one that was the shortest at about 4km.  It was a pleasant walk through the woods that brought us to a zipline and playground area near the half way point in the walk. We let the kids have fun on the zipline but then even the adults had to have a turn.















We finished their last day by walking to our local pizzeria.  The kids had a blast playing around the pond at the pizzeria and seeing the baby ducks.  We decided to take the path up to our house rather than the road since Matt, Jodi, Keely and Alaina wanted to see what it was like.  We decided to give it a try and see if it was just too overgrown to walk through.  To our surprise it was well (relatively) maintained this year.  The kids got to see a lot of slugs and a snake during the walk.  As Keely said, it was the best day of the trip!  I'm glad we ended on a high note!  They left yesterday morning and we were all sad to see them go.  It was really a lot of fun to have them here and I'm sure we will be hearing about how much fun Sofia and Ali had with their cousins for the foreseeable future!

Cousins Cousins!!!

Today marks the arrival of Keely and Alaina.  They are the girls' cousins.  Of course, Matt and Jodi are also coming but for Sofia and Ali the important event is the arrival of their cousins.  They have talked about it for the last two months at least.  I have repeatedly answered questions like, "when are they coming? How many days? How many sleeps, When they get here can we do (insert any possibility)?  Can we save this strawberry for when they get here?".  The questions have been endless.  I love that they are so excited for their cousins to arrive but I will be happy to stop answering the unending questions.  Jason and I are also excited to have everyone here.  It is fun to share Prague with our friends and family.  I'll post all the adventures we have over the next week.  I'm sure we will get some priceless moments with the kids.