Western Europe - August 2015
Day 1 - Aug 3rd
Landed Heathrow @ 10am. Easy, customs & immig. Taxi (£80.00) to Muswell Hill (Fortis Green Rd. apt of Sara Brier – friend of a friend R 339). Sabre the cat. Enzo & I picked up essentials. Found playground w/ zip line great fun. Visit to Embankment, Big Ben area, Westminster Abby. Back to Muswell around 7:30p. Dinner @ FASTA. Super-friendly Tube agent. Hungry kids – bring more snacks and H2O. Jet lag “okay.” Crowded for a Monday, so thankful for our own apt. Sneaker checks by sabre @ night! Slept well, woke at 2am but managed to sleep again until 10am.
Day 2 - Aug 4
Breakfast @ home, 10am get-up “jet lag.” Stopped @ Highgate Wood park playground again en route to tube for Tower/London Bridge. “Everyone laughs the same” – book idea by Finn to collaborate w/ Karen. Wandered around Tower Bridge for a bit. Crossed the bridge and spent 3 hours @ Tower of London. Got a great tour from Yeoman “Clive” and saw the Crown Jewels & White Chapel armory. Took tube to Piccadilly Circus, walked around and saw all the West End show marquees. Ate dinner @ British PUB – mediocre but good enough. Tube -> Bus -> Muswell Hill, gelato @ Gelato Mio and home by 8ish.
Day 3 - Aug 5
Up @ 8am, slowly normalizing to local time. Tube strike seems imminent & rain this afternoon so plans to get out earlier and back to Muswell Hill before the trains stop. Out by 10am – rain in the forecast but hopefully it will hold off until the 2nd half of the day. Trying for London Eye & Globe. Overcast & gray has been the ongoing motif of our trip so far. Finn & I read beginner book on the Tube. London Eye – long line but worth the wait. Great view. Made our way down south bank to Hayward Gallery. Finn was too short for the slide exhibit, so we bailed. Ended up @ water fountain, playing for a looong time. Enzo went in fully clothed – unusually carefree for him. Soggy but happy, worked our way down the S. Bank some more. Came across some odd performance art in the form of a wallet left on the side walk meant to see what people who found it would do. Made it to Shakespeare’s Globe to find tours only in morning. Decided to beat Tube strike back to Muswell Hill. Amici2 pizza for dinner. Rain, then family game of GUBS, then a walk.
Day 4 - Aug 6
Tube strike in effect. Slow morning, kids watched cartoons then did some home study. Got out late for a 2 DAMN HOUR bus ride to Embankment area. Everyone grumpy. Stopped for picnic @ Whitehall Gardens (?). Westminster Abby & audio tour was a hit, then walk to St. James Pond for play/reading time. Around sunset made way to Buckingham Palace. Enzo read history to all. Walked to Embankment Tube station to find that a strike that “ends @ 6:30p” doesn’t mean open Tube stations @ 6:30p. Decided to wait it out. Fratelli Buffalo over beer/pizza. Great fried zucchini. Tube strike stretched into the evening (finding the right bus became an odyssey – a real challenge for the kids). Home @ 10:30p.
Day 5 - Aug 7
Made an on-the-fly decision to stay in London for a “down day” before moving on. Playground @ Highgate Wood and a trip to Islington for 5 Guys burgers our only outings. Stopped @ St. Pancras to buy tickets for train to Dover. Car rentals jumped in price in the last 2 days. £61 to take the train was pulkry & cheaper. Apt in London has been amazing – Sara Brier (friend of a friend in Bklyn) gave us her place. A great stay!
Day 6 - Aug 8
Up early and packing, cleaning and leaving our digs as neet as possible. Sabre makes an appearance to say goodbye. @ 9:45a we load out (laden w/ panic, refil our Oyster cards @ qkli, and grab bus 43 to Highgate Station, then the tube to Pancras. Refund Oyster cards & have Starbucks. Easy 75 min train to Dover then a longer than ideal log to DoverExchange for left luggage. Cab to Dover Castle – just in time for AA battery firing. Then 1 hour tour w/ a fantastic multimedia show. Climbed great tower. Amazing castle from 1100s built by Henry II. As we left a kid crossbow thing tournament. Great site overall. P&O Ferry from Dover to Calais a big hit w/ kids – an arcade, loads of snacks & excellent hotel-like feel. 1.5 hrs we are in France! Yanni’s beer getting 2 rooms w/ shared bath. Dinner (burger & chicken nuggets) @ beach hotel rest. Room is a bit noisy & warm but all good.
Day 7 - Aug 9
Minor crisis as we are in Calais on Sunday. No car rentals open, no bus to Caen, no options for Normandy. Instead of wasting a day we catch TVG @ 12:37 to Paris-Norde. Hostess desk lady wildly unhelpful – have to evict passengers from our seats on the train. Welcome to France! Arrive Paris. Kids very hungry (an ongoing challenge). Stop @ Café by Gare du Nord for pizza. Taxi to Hotel Residence Europe – great pool, bad WiFi – €119.00. Enzo was a pro navigator as we decided on an outing via the metro to Trocadero. Great views of Eiffel Tower @ sunset. Mediocre fried food at a pop-up stand – pommes frites & beer & spritz make all okay. Trouble finding Invalides stop on Metro but made it home for another 11pm bedtime.
Day 8 - Aug 10
Good night’s sleep. Finn made a bed on the floor of our trip. The baby will sleep with us. Yet another meh breakfast @ the hotel. We divide & conquer – Karen takes the kids for outdoor swim, I go to Aliza Edelman’s office to new flat. Aliza Edelman (Passa Mom) has introduced us to Florian Savin. Florian has loaned us his mother’s spare apartment – 24 Rue du Fabert in the Invalides area of Paris. Easy 2/3 mile walk to Eiffel Tower, nice park outside, beautiful Hotel d’Invalides w/ gold dome. Getting from our hotel to new apartment is an odyssey. Taxi tries to overcharge us. Karen refuses to pay. Much drama & kids, good learning experience. Walked a long way back to Metro and got to apartment @ 2pm. Settled in happily. Found a grocery store – enjoying yummies. The only downside of our amazing apartment is WiFi trouble – no access. Went out for a pre-dinner walk, hung out in the park throwing the football w/ Enzo. Met a family from Australia, by way of Indonesia. James + wife + 4 kids. Nella, Cadiz, etc. Played chase/ball/tag for a long while. Then a long walk by the Sienne @ sunset and a pizza dinner by the water. Saw the Bridge full of locks. Walked home – beer, laundry, books. 1 week in Europe is done. :)
Day 9, Aug 11
Late morning & 9am get up. Slept warm. apt is great but no AC. Played musical beds. Got out around 11am to Army Museum – mostly for 2 who loved the military history – mostly WWII. On going issues w/ Enzo’s attitude, mostly (we think) related to his unease w/ new environments. Army Museum was sort of “meh” for the girls. Went home to 24 Rue Robert for lunch. Grocery deli meat & rice cakes (French version). Walked to Jardin des Tuileries, large park w/ playground and summer carnival. From Tuileries we walk to the Pyramide @ Louvre and sit w/ the gazillion tourist outside to cool down. Enzo reads to us @ the great museum. Then we make the long walk to Notre Dame. Long but fast lines into the sanctuary. Kids like it, take a lot of photos w/ their iPods. Mass in progress, whole place smells of Catholic insence. Tower is closed (5pm) so we resolve to come back tomorrow to make the big climb. Our brilliant plan to metro home is thwarted by train line closure – we walk the 1.5 miles home. Totally exhausted we go to Le Recrutement for dinner. Waiter is an actor or something. Speaks 3 languages w/ ease. Karen goes for groceries and we get to bed late again.
Day 10, Aug 12
Terrorized by mosquito(s) overnight. The apartment is awesome but no AC means open windows on a hot August night. We get a slightly earlier start, head to Eiffel Tower. 1 hour line isn’t so bad. Went to “2nd floor” – amazing views of city. Enzo and Finn have photo-legs but their devices don’t have great cameras. Enzo uses Poppop’s Nikon gleefully. Top of tower line is massive so we skip it. Metro to Charles du Galle for Arc du Triumph. We climb to the top, Enzo reads to us @ it. Very good views, lots of steps. Finn bought kitschy Eiffel Tower key chains @ Tower St. Enzo buys a book @ the Arcs. Metro to Parc Andre Citroen. Awesome water play (and sprinkling band in space ships). The kids cool off and enjoy some non-site-seeing time. Soccer balls held aloft by water geysers are cool. Metro home, give in on Dominos pizza and movies on devices. Kids have earned some comforts of home. Another hot night, musical beds but OFF spray means no new bites.
Day 11, Aug 13
Long slow morning w/ big day plans. Breakfast and packing. Laundry still hanging all over, drying. Totally sprawled and made the apartment our own. We get out to the Louve– Paris Museum Pass skips lines. Hard to get the kids excited @ a giant museum, 2 lines play photographer. Make a bee-line for the Mona Lisa. Huge crowds. Raft of the Medusa, that iconic French Revolution painting, Venus di Milo, and a load of Rembrandt and Rubens. Kids actually do okay and liked it. Went on “lock down” in Sully gallery for a brief moment. Splurge on a small lunch at the Café w/ a great view of the Pyramide.
Continued our Metro mastery over to Notre Dame. Looooong line to get to the top. 2 hours or so of waiting. Ate packed lunch and did okay w/ the patience. Great views from the top. We find a super secret passage and go into the belfry. Then climb down. Everyone is too tired for the Catacombs. Head home to unwind. Karen & I make some travel plans. (Renting a car to head to Normandy.) Rain hits and cools things off. Karen cooks a lovely pasta w/ basil & cherry tomatoes. Later, after the rain, we venture out for ice cream and will only to find ice cream. The kids wrestle and play – it’s a little loud but so good to hear them laughing and enjoying each other that we let it go. Another 11pm bed time.
Day 12, Aug 14
A very cool morning after some overnight rain. Z and I are up early as always. The girls sleep in. We’ve done so much we opt for a long morning @ the apartment. Kids watch videos (been very little of that) and we do research on our next steps after Normandy (which we leave for tomorrow). We asked Francon to leave bags until Monday so we will come back through Paris, sleep, do laundry and move on. Midday we’ve settled on an overnight to Venice so we go to Gare de Lyon and buy tickets in person. The Gare has a cute kids play area and someone handing out “France Vachon” bags w/ treats. We book our couchettes (4 beds) and train to Catacombs. HUGE line 2 hours. Karen and Finn but in line (thanks ladies) while Enzo and I sit on a bench and read. The Catacombs are good but not amazing. Z is a little freaked but does well. Lots of tombs and skulls. After the Catacombs we head home, regroup and packed a bit. We went down to a small pedestrian strip near our place for dinner. Enzo shared our steak and burger. Finn continues to get better w/ pasta & sauce. Another late night but slower paced. We are packed for Normandy as we go to bed.
Day 13, Aug 15
Up early – Enzo and I head out to get the rental car from Avis. We upgrade for the GPS, go pack up the girls and head out for Normandy. Lots of toll stops on the road and then a loooong traffic jam uphill for no apparent reason. We skip Caen and head to Bayeux. Bayeux is AMAZING – well preserved medieval town. We splurge on @ the Villa Lara Hotel ($180 ☺) and go walking around town. Pizza & Quivoe Steak for dinner – Finn tries & likes bolognese sauce. Chilly even in August @ nite (50 degrees). At the awesome central Cathedral we stay up late playing tag and wrestling in the grass! (nice couple from rural Illinois in France for a cancelled wedding.) Later, a pretty great light & sound show projected against a giant “tree” (Liberty Tree from the era of William the Conqueror). Late to bed at our insanely nice hotel. SOFT sheets and ENZO on a rollaway. French cartoons LOL. ☺
Day 14, Aug 16
The hotel beds are too comfy – we sleep until 8:30am. We get out late for breakfast. We walk the town and finally settle on a breakfast place which is a bust. Coffee, the kids get STEAMED milk instead of cold milk, we depart without food and buy butter cookies and baguette for a garbo family breakfast! We drive to the water, make our first stop @ American Cemetery. Very awesome place (literally sands and setting). We’ve been a little over saturated w/ WW2 stuff but the cemetery brings the human cost to life. From there we drive down the length of Omaha Beach to the Omaha Beach Museum. Lots of interesting memorabilia – loads of letters & comments left by Vets who visited on the 50th anniversary including a Nazi flag, taken by 2 friends on D-Day (both survived) and donated the flag to the museum 50 years on. From there we go to the beach – aside from the lovely and large monument it’s just a long pretty beach. Enzo and I throw the football and run around for a while. It’s weird to think about the incongruity of it all. We drive back to Paris on the A13 – traffic & tolls. We get to Paris around 6pm, regroup and go for a mediocre dinner @ Le Recrutement. Lots of travel planning to do. Home for books and bed around 10pm – our new family bed time.
Day 15, Aug 17
Last day in Paris. We spent far longer in France than expected – flexible schedules and lovely free apartments will do that. Lots of reorganizing to do. Karen takes on laundry, I return the rental car (Avis), stop to vacuum and gas it up 1st. The kids did some school work, more reads. We played more QUBS and had a make-do breakfast. Midday we head to Parc de Flores which has several really great playgrounds. After so much grown-up site seeing the kids are really happy to just run around and play in the park. They are playing together really well and it’s nice to see brother and sister being so good w/ each other. We stay a good long while @ Parc de Flores, then make the long metro ride back to Rue Fabert. Karen has laundry done and we are almost packed. We head out now, laden w/ all our gear and walk one last time to Invalides. Enzo and I leave Finn & Karen @ the Concorde stop and zip off to return keys. Then we reconnect & head to Gare de Lyon. A mediocre dinner bite sized, unpopular cheeseburgers, and it’s time to board. Kids are giddy on the train in our sleeper car. We set up home, Enzo plays guitar for a while, a perfect travel moment. We doze but struggle w/ sleep. A great bit of travel but not a great night’s rest.
Day 17, Aug 18
We wake on the train and re-pack. Despite the bad night of sleep (bed bugs for Karen? ☹) we are excited to be in Italy. Finally at Venezia Santa Lucia (not Venice btw). We lug our packs to the Vaporetto and call Luciano – proprietor of our B&B Rialto. Make our way to the hotel (crowded boat – right in line w/ all the crowded mass transit, thus far). Walk through fish & fruit market to the B&B. Our top floor room is perfect but not yet ready. We drop bags and walk a little, finding a dim a dozen late breakfast (God really lunch) then back to the hotel. The kids are in love w/ Wifi, A/C, nice beds and even cartoons in Italian. We linger a bit and then decide to make use of the good weather (rain forecast for tomorrow) and go to Lido Beach. A 55+ min vaporetto ride to the beach — boat it across Venice to the Piazza San Marco stop. Also gives us a chance to see the city and absurd just how packed w/ tourists it is (high season). Enzo is getting a chance to learn to navigate large crowds. Finn to musings from window shopping. The vaporetto take a 15 mins and then across the spit of land through a gauntlet of shops & food stands (we surrender to gelato x 3 + hat for me). And then land on the (crowded) beach. Lots of people but small waves, decent sand and warmish water. Kids in heaven splashing + playing. We sun read, swim, play for a couple of hours. A good balance to the site seeing of Paris and London. After a few hours we wrap up and do dinner along the gauntlet back toward the boat. Roast chicken OMG!! Back to San Marco w/ another gelato stop and we make our way toward Rialto. Just before home we stop along a popular Grand Canal dock and watch boats buzz by as the sun sets. We drink a Bir Moretti and enjoy the wind down of end-of-day. Back home everyone showers and we all end up on the terrace off the breakfast room, watching Venice @ night (gondolas again) and realizing how lucky we are. Another 11pm bed time. A storm rolls in and the heavy rain begins.
Day 18, Aug 19
It rains all night and into the AM. I am up first (writing this!) and there’s a brief break in the downpour. Enzo shows up in the breakfast room w/ a book, in PJs, and we have some lovely quiet time together. The rain moves in for real – a real proper storm. In a brief respite ENZO and I grab a vaporetto to the Ferrovia and buy our sleeper train tickets to Munich – 1st class is our only option vs. a 6 person sleeper w/ strangers. So we opt for a TRIPLE. The day is a rough weather day – the B&B lets us stay in the common breakfast room for much of the first half of the day. Around 3pm (gross, travel planning, kid play) we go out and brave the rain, desperate for a scenery change. Very crowded vaporetto and rain, but we make it an adventure. We make use of left luggage and stow bags. Off to dinner @ some overpriced crap by the train station. Rain comes back hard. After it lets up we venture out and grab butter cookies & beer (food groups!). Then back to the station to wait. There’s a piano in the entry hall – a Korean/Chinese he/she? plays for hours, nice background music. When she/he leaves, Enzo and Finn each take a turn. We collect our bags and board our train. 1st class is tight but super upscale. We settle into our comfy TRIPLE (Karen and Finn share) and in short order are off to Munich. Kids get some rare coveted device free time and we get Birra Moretti. Tomorrow will be an early morning ☺.
Day 19, Aug 20
Wake up on train, running late to Munich due to “police activity.” German cops are hot (Karen noticed, agreed). Coffee and bread brought to our compartment while we creep into the ‘Bahn. Off the train and quickly sort out hotel. U-bahn station attendant gets us to Hotel by 7:45am. The travel gods a kind desk attendant not only off the bleary group access to the (quite good) buffet breakfast – kids are happy – but they also confirm a room ready. So great not to be homeless until 3pm after a long night on the train. We shower & do some tub laundry. Then off to the English language bookstore. Enzo gets a new (big) book and we are off to Marienplatz in plenty of time to see the GLOCKENSPIEL at noon. Not amazing but surely worth seeing. Then – because we are super tourists on a slower schedule here – it’s off to BIG BEER and OOMPAH PAH bands at the Hofbrauhaus. Sausage, beer, bread and music. ☺ We wander our way back to the U-bahn. and make a stop @ the Hauptbahnhof for train tickets to Rome – the 23rd is sold out so we reluctantly settle for a 2nd class couchette. The kids find a great candy shop & get a break. Munich Hauptbahf has gone really upscale since I first saw it 24 years ago. We head back to Das Hotel in München, try to get the kids to do some school work but 3/4 of us end up falling asleep for nearly 2 hours of napping. By the time we wake it’s rainy and cloudy outside. Hard to motivate but we want the kids to see the city. We are also battling buyers remorse on the 2nd class/day early tickets and decide to try to refund them and fly instead. After registering and crossing the kids (always a challenge) we go back to the train station and (mostly) get a refund, then back to the Alstadt @ Karlsplatz and explore a bit of old town – kids stay mostly positive. Even in the rain borrowed umbrellas help. After struggling to find a laid w/ food for all we end up @ an Italian place not far from the Hofbrauhaus. Enzo has steak & Finn bolognese – we are a three entrée family here (plus a salad sometimes). We find a great trio of girls busking on an old town corner – lovely classical music on cello & violin x 2. We take the U-Bahn home and fall into bed. We buy plane tix to Rome to replace the cancelled train tickets, but all fall asleep before we can do much.
Day 20, Aug 21
Up and at ‘em at “das here” and down to our really good breakfast spread @ the hotel. Ballet girls at breakfast, in town for a master class @ the University. Dance Mom & girls from Vienna who want into an NYC agents. I head for Hertz at the train station while Karen packs the room. Hertz is an odyssey. GPS in Deutsche but by 12 noon we are on the road. It’s a long meandering drive up various roads (none very “romantic”) but we make it to Dinkelsbühl for a quick lunch (making penis jokes @ the town name to great effect in the toy box on the road). We eventually find the Romantic Road (B23?) We reach ROTHENBURG OB DER TAUBER and find the journey entirely worth it. The perfect medieval town. We find a hotel w/ ease (8/12, good beds, breakfast) and park and get out to explore. We spend @ 4 hours walking the town – up hill to the big church and then over to the garden/wall/vista area. Chinese tour groups are everywhere this trip and Roth is no exception. We eventually find stairs up to one of the castle wall towers (Donkey volunteer guard) and the view is amazing. Then down for an hour long walk along the battlements. Down into the town center looking for acceptable dinner (nightly quest) and find an excellent Italian place (classy but sweet waitress w/ thing for touching the kids’ faces). Bolognese & Arrabiata good and pizza closes the food gap. We stroll home (via beer store) and call it a night w/ plans to get out early in the morning.
Day 21, Aug 22
We do, indeed, get up early. Breakfast is @ the hotel and we get out and see the city of Rothenburg in the morning light. It’s a great time of day. We shop for Xmas ornaments and play at the Sword & Armor store. Shortly after the tour buses arrive and the character of the town changes entirely. You can see how important it is to experience the place w/o the roving hordes. Side note – the trip has been punctuated by BEES and Chinese tour groups. We walk Roth a little more then pack our oversized Ford and head out south on the A7. Our destination is Füssen and the obligatory view of Neuschwanstein Castle. It’s meant to be a 2 hr drive but traffic is bad. Not sure if this is b/c it’s Saturday or normal but 3 1/2 hours and many confounding GPS detours later we arrive. The tourist office closed 4 minutes before we roll into town. Füssen is cute + different. Vibe more like a beach town though set in the alps. TONS OF CYCLISTS. We do lunch @ a pizza place (meh) the drive to the Festspielhaus on the alpine lake for a castle view. The view is a bit far off but the kids cannot see water and not want to get in. They swim a bit in their clothes (cold) and change in the car. We head up the road and get a better view of both the Neuschwanstein & Hohenschwangau castles. Something goes wrong w/ Nikon and all PHOTOS ARE GONE?!?! Hoping we can save when we get home. After a bit of driving and searching we decide to be ambitious and head into the Alps for a (very) quick over night in Innsbruck, Austria. We point the car south and – more traffic – roll in around 7pm. End up @ (crap) Hilton Casino in Altstadt. Good view. Walk down into the pedestrian area for dinner (great steak & ribs @ Orangerie). The steep after cooking our butts off for some place to stay in Rome. Rough, unimpressive start to Innsbruck salvaged a bit by the cool old town and good dinner.
Day 22, Aug 23 (Breakfast Club)
It’s a so-so night @ (smoky) Hilton in (almost) old town. The kids sleep well and we do a major de-grease in the morning. Back into old town for a really good breakfast, @ BREAKFAST CLUB. Cold morning (gloves anyone?) but we eat quickly and truly enjoy it. Repack and load out of hotel (big bags still in car but in parking garage). Then we walk around the Altstadt of Innsbruck for a bit. We scale the City Tower and get an awesome view of the city and the mountains that make an amazing back drop. Around 3 we get back on the road toward Munich airport. The traffic cooperates and we arrive in short order. We are winging it on accommodation in Rome – back & forth between Hrs.com, booking.com & Air BnB. Settled on a place that promises comfort and wifi near the Pantheon. We arrive around 9pm in Rome and a driver is meant to be waiting. We’ll see.
Well, it could not have gone better. No driver, but that’s b/c we didn’t tell them our arrival time. Still got our bags and a cab easily. Valentina – our hostess – was waiting w/ maps, wine & a smile @ PANTHEON HOLIDAY – a terrific little 2 bedroom + loft space in “the center of the center.” The city, as Enzo described it. The place is perfect. We are already from the long day of travel but so happy to find such good accommodations.
Day 23, Aug 24
We sleep in a little due to our late arrival & perhaps the bottle of wine mentioned above. Still it’s great to be in Rome and we love our place here. We head to the Pantheon (kids are actually impressed) and breakfast on the square (crappy, rip off). Then we make the slightly long walk to Vatican City. It’s tourist mayhem, but the vast facility and world of St. Peters is hard to ignore no matter the crowds. Finn likes playing near by the fountain. We sit by the obelisk and Enzo reads to us the history of the Church & Dome. We decide against going in (lines are long) and trek home to 39 Via de la Maddelena. We kick around and cool off (yay for A/C). Then head out to the TREVI FOUNTAIN (empty, scaffolded, boo) and SPANISH STEPS. We sit at the steps for a while and “watch the world go by” then head home. Dinner is @ corner of Via Paste & Villa Pastini, so Karen has pasta ☺. Walking home we enjoy the night in Rome, Pantheon Square is full, Finn tips a clown performer who has drawn a crowd. Guys are selling “flying” LED things. We’re bemused. Also forgot to mention we hit a supermarket to give us a self-catering option. Then home via the 150 flavor gelato place (w/ bulk candy) and a little TV on Nook. Then bed for all.
Day 24, Aug 25
My last day of this trip (going back 48 hours early for work). We are up early and make our own breakfast. Then we make the walk to the Colosseum. It’s really hot and somehow we’ve managed to leave the apartment w/o water (WTF?). We get there (1 mile walk) and get tickets (lines not too bad). We pay for a tour but bail on it (hard to hear and understand) and self guide for about an hour and a half. The heat is taking its toll on all, especially the kids who are worn out by 11:30am and cranky. We stop down for Ritz crackers and a Lemon slushie (brava Karen) and everyone seems to improve. We buy water and happily discover our Colosseum tickets are also good for the Forum. We walk up the Palentine Hill for the awesome view of the Forum, then climb down and walk the Forum itself (walk spin in the Temple of Romulus). Then we make the long walk home. Finn wipes out pretty hard on the way home but recovers well. We land back at 39 Maddelena for self-catered lunch and a rest around 2pm. We finally motivate and head out for St. Peters Basilica. We arrive around 4:15p and the lines are short (yay!). We walk around and Karen reads to us. 5pm mass, the occasional Chinese tour group. We barely make the last elevator up to the top of the Dome. It’s awesome! Have done it before but the view is spectacular. Kids do well too. We walk home and stop @ Piazza Navona (great street performers, Finn dances a bit). Dinner is “fine.” We walk home as it gets dark and grab some dark chocolate (Lindt store) and gelato from the 150 flavor store. Then it’s home to pack one more time (for me) and wind the kids down (many Dinkel-schmidt jokes later). Exhausted and happy – I hand over the journal responsibilities in the morning. xxoo JD
Addendum: Karen with the power now!
Our night has deteriorated into a naked interpretive dance by Finn, and then Enzo reading aloud from the journal. And lastly a coffee house song, sung by naked Finn, on the guitar with the help of Enzo, titled “Dinkel-schmidt.”
Day 25, Aug 26
JD left early this morning, woke us up to give kisses (kids were a little sad/pensive after he left). I offered to help him with bags but he muscled both of our full backpacks plus his day pack + guitar to the Pantheon, 3 blocks away, to get a taxi!! Let the kids crawl in bed w/ me and all was well. Had a light breakfast, showered, packing up and paid Valentina – no charge for wine and laundry!!! (love that place!) Easily got a taxi at the hotel behind the Pantheon and arrived at the train station. Bought tickets and got on train w/in 20 minutes. We were off to Naples and Enzo visibly relaxed ☺. Arrived in Naples, taxi to Hotel Royal Continental, easy check in for a double room “despite there being 3 of us.” :) Up to room w/ seaview, not castle side but good enough. Then up to swim. Play QUBS. Have a sprite and a mediocre pizza margherita. The kids are thrilled. And I am sitting on the balcony writing + enjoying a lowenbrau beer I’ve carried since Germany! We are all happy!
After a rest in the room, we ventured out just after dark. Lots of local flavor, harmless but a bit frightening to the skittish kids (loud motorbike from behind on a sidewalk). Found the grocery store for beverages (beer, water, milk, sprite) and a gelato for dinner. Since we ate late, home and a shower and nice chat w/ JD who arrived home safely! We’ll see what I can convince the kids to do tomorrow!
Day 26: August 27
Woke up and down to breakfast (included) – same same though Finn enjoyed her Cocoa Krispies and Enzo had some toast. Back to room, I do some research on whether our plane will serve meals – it does, but whether the kids will like/eat is another thing. We then went out to explore how far the port was to possibly catch a bus in the AM (for the airport) – but it was too far. We will just take a cab from the corner. We checked out the castle dell’ovo which was meh, but at least was “something” we saw in Naples lol – besides the pool!! Came back to swim, have lunch of french fries and ham rolls on the castle view balcony, then back to swim and now a beer on the terrace for me, a show for Finn and games for Enzo. Had them write a bit in their journals yesterday and will again later tonight (cool for now).
Back up to the pool one last time – a good fun swim. Then down to shower. Went to dinner along the sea road – mediocre to bad Caesar salad (literally mayonnaise for dressing – ick) and a decent pizza but we are all sick of pizza at this point! One last gelato for Finn, square up hotel bill, pack + set 4 alarms on 3 devices. I’m not messing around! Off to sleep and happy kids all around to be heading home tomorrow.
Day 27: August 28
Up w/ first alarm at 5:15am – couldn’t sleep anyway. I watch the moon cross the sky last night out our sliding glass doors. Fireworks? went off around midnight – loud! Kids stirred but rolled over + fell back to sleep. Kids got up pretty easily – they are ready! Grab a cab out in front of hotel, notice too late that the meter isn’t running ☹ I was too busy buckling everyone in. We get to the airport in short order – 20 minutes – and he tries to charge me 36 euros – double what the metered rate should be. Luckily I had read up and knew that even the fixed rate should only be at most 23 euros. I tell him so + that the “hotel” confirmed it – we haggle back and forth but I don’t give in. Hand him 20, then a 10 and have to wait for change. He keeps one extra euro – grrr – but not worth getting all heated over in front of the kids.
Check in is easy and then the looong wait to board. Flight is late and overbooked. No extra seat in our row after all. I watch 4 movies, Finn naps 2x, and Enzo of course plays games. We have 1 hour left – so close! So excited to get home ☺.