March is still winter in Salzburg

Posted on March 23, 2013 by admin

I packed completely wrong for this trip. I could blame our recent trip to Italy, where we were romanced by a week of spring, but I actually blame the calendar and the weather forecast. First of all, it really IS spring now, so expecting rain instead of snow isn’t completely unreasonable. And second, the weather report didn’t prepare me for this at all. There was a little snow forecast for our first evening, then it was supposed to warm up the next morning to the mid-forties and stay dry. So that’s what I planned for.

But that’s not what we’ve gotten. The snow from our first day was enough to sled in. I didn’t bring sledding stuff. No snow pants, no insulated gloves. I only opted for snow boots over rain boots at the last minute. I didn’t even pack a real winter coat for myself — just a fleece and a rain jacket.

Since then, some (but not all) of the snow has melted, and it has stayed pretty chilly except for yesterday afternoon. Today, when we ventured into Salzburg, it was surprisingly cold. And snowing. Again. We don’t have the bunting on the stroller (we actually took it off, the morning we left, because we thought we wouldn’t need it), long underwear or lined jeans. We have our spring clothes, so we were cold.

We were here in October, and got snow then, which really should have prepared me. But I thought there would be more springtime starting in the mountains. At least a little. I haven’t seen a single crocus blooming, or even a hint of spring plants poking out of the ground. I had visions of sitting on the balcony, like we did last fall, and enjoying the stars. Not this time. Maybe if I had brought warm slippers and a big coat, but I don’t, so it’s too cold.

It is still really winter here. And winter is beautiful, but I wish we were dressed for it.

An impromptu lunch in Germany

Posted on March 22, 2013 by admin

Today was our “drive around and explore” day for this trip. After yesterday’s snow, we weren’t sure we’d be able to make it work, but by breakfast time this morning, the roads were clear, and by the time we were ready to go, all of the snow on the south-facing slopes was pretty well melted. The skies were forecasted to be clear and the temperatures in the low forties, so we decided to go for it.

After an excellent (if cloudy) adventure investigating a nearby mountain (Trattberg) on our trip last fall, Dan voted to start there again today. We had to go *up* to get there, but that didn’t turn out to be nearly as much of an issue as it was that we had to ascend on the north-facing side of the mountain. We literally turned a corner and went from clear, dry pavement to snow-covered road bordered by snow-encrusted trees standing in knee-deep snow. We were surrounded by lots and lots of snow. Snow. Everywhere. We didn’t continue with that plan. (Especially once we realized the summit was another 800 meters above us on an unsheltered peak. I have no doubt that the road to the top was not open, and I guarantee our rental minivan, even with manual transmission and snow tires, could not have made it much further than where we turned around.)

So, we went to our backup plan, which was taking a quick trip across the border into Germany. It was only about a 20 minute trip, even from our mountainous detour. We were nearly there when it occurred to me that none of us (except Jo, who I guess is still a responsible American) had our passports with us. Not just “not with us in the car”, but “not with us on the trip at all”. My mental response was simply, “Oops! Well, whatever.” (Now THAT is certainly something I never could have imagined I would think when about to cross an international border with my family.)

Driving into Germany, we were thrilled by the beauty of our surroundings. The water in the river was so clear we could see every rock at the bottom. The mountain peaks were hugely impressive and beautifully snow-covered (and, thankfully, we weren’t driving up them). Each corner we turned was lovelier than the last. We drove happily along until we found the very cute (and infamous, for being the location of Hitler’s “Eagle’s Nest”) town of Berchtesgaden.

We wanted to look around, so we found a spot to park (outside of the Brot u. Speck, or “Bread & Bacon” shop, which totally won me over) and wandered around a bit. We found some lunch and a nice picnic spot, had an apple strudel, bought some postcards and admired the view. It was a lovely afternoon in a little German town.

And that was it. Our adventure for the day was a lovely excursion to Germany for lunch. Just a routine part of our vacation in the Alps.

Night sledding

Posted on March 21, 2013 by admin

After our train ride to Salzburg (more about that later), we picked up our rental car and drove south, into the mountains. This area, which is south of Salzburg, at the northern edge of the Alps, and full of mountains and valleys, is as beautiful as we remembered. As we drove through the valley, we had some rain, mixed with a little snow, but we could see, further up the mountainsides, that the trees were still flocked with snow, and the clearings were completely white.

As we climbed up the hill to our destination, the rain/snow mix turned to all snow. The trees were covered, and all of the grassy areas had several inches of accumulation. Suddenly, it was winter again. The last time we were here, we got to experience the first snow of the season, and we came back to more.

We arrived and got settled into our awesome place. Everything is warm and cozy. We placed our order for farm-fresh (as in, from the backyard) eggs and milk for morning and our hosts brought us got coffee and cake. Bolstered by warm beverages, we headed back out, into the snow for some sledding in the dark.

We didn’t go far — just to the top of the hill in the play area beside the inn. Despite the (sometimes heavy) snow, it wasn’t too cold . . . which was fortunate, as I hadn’t expected to go sledding and I didn’t bring snow pants or insulated gloves for anyone. It was just a short hill, barely steep enough to work, but fun and easy for the boys. They loved it.

We played, pulling the sleds up and sliding down, giggling boys and happy parents. We took breaks to slide down the slide, make snow angels, throw snowballs, ride on the seesaw and play on the swings. The snow would pause, for just a few moments, and the moonlight would break through the clouds. It was peaceful and fun. It was one of those crazy, rare moments where we’re all happy and relaxed and truly enjoying each other. It was an excellent way to start our long weekend here. And, whatever else we do over the next few days, the trip was already entirely worth it.

To Salzburg!

Posted on March 20, 2013 by admin

Ever since our trip last fall to the greater Salzburg area, we knew we’d go back. Just by luck, we happened to have found an excellent hotel, in the mountains south of Salzburg. It’s a working organic farm, high up on a hillside, overlooking a picturesque Alpine Valley. They have cats, bunnies, chickens, cows (you can stop by at milking time and see where the next day’s breakfast’s beverage comes from) and even a goat. It’s just a 20 minute drive from Salzburg, and about the same from the German border. We were lucky enough to enjoy the first snow of the season when we visited in October. This weekend, we’re going back.

Jo’s tenure here will be over soon, and we wanted to share one of our favorite parts of Austria with her before she leaves. But really, that’s just kind of an excuse — we couldn’t wait to go back. Of all the places we’ve visited so far in Austria, it’s my favorite.

We’re looking forward to a weekend of playing, relaxing, exploring and seeing some sights in Salzburg. So excited!

Thoughts on Italy

Posted on March 11, 2013 by admin

After every trip we go on, I come back and talk all about how much I loved it. And I worry, a bit, that I’m writing too much about something that’s now in the past, but, at the same time, I recognize that the only way I’m ever going to capture what I really felt about a place is while it’s still fresh in my mind.

In other words, bear with me, because I’m going to write some more about our recent trip to Italy, and try to summarize some of what we learned about travelling there (specifically with small kids).

First of all, we loved Italy. Although I don’t think it would get the award for “most favorite destination so far” (which would go to Northern Ireland), it would definitely be in a heated three-way battle for second place (with the Newlands Valley in England and Normandy). We really, truly, loved Italy.

Why was it so great? Lots of reasons. The food was amazing. (Our favorite restaurant in Rome was “Da Francesco” near Piazza Navona and we “discovered” a great gelato place in Venice.) We got to experience some astounding and ancient monuments that pictures can’t capture and stories don’t describe in enough detail. And the people were wonderful. More than anywhere else we’ve travelled, the Italian people really wanted to communicate and connect. They weren’t bothered by our complete lack of Italian (outside of “per favore”, “grazie”, “prego” and “il conto”) and were enthusiastic about, rather than frustrated by, our attempts to communicate in a melange of Spanish, German, French and English. They really do talk with their hands, and spoken Italian always sounds either seductive (most of the time) or very angry. And then, we had a Roman cab driver come back to look for us when he discovered my sister’s phone in his cab, even though it was out of his way and it had been almost an hour since he’d dropped us off. I don’t think we were unsuccessful at communicating a single time in Italy, even when we didn’t have a common language, and I don’t think there was a single person we talked to for more than a moment who didn’t end up feeling like a new friend. It was fantastic to feel that kind of warmth from so many people, especially as a clueless tourist.

But, aside from falling in love with Italy (which is a cliché I was happy to have come true), we did learn a lot on our trip. From the perspective of travelling with little ones, Rome was more kid friendly and stroller friendly than I expected. I anticipated issues with getting the stroller around the ancient sites, but it honestly wasn’t (too) much of a problem. There were some stairs, and lots of hills, and trying to get the stroller through/across the massive paving stones at the Forum was frustrating at times. But, in general, getting around in Rome was pretty easy with the stroller, and the kids were warmly welcomed everywhere. (Because of our hotel location, we didn’t use public transportation — we got around by walking and in cabs — so I can’t speak to the ease of using a stroller on Rome’s Metro or bus system.)

By contrast, Vatican City was NOT particularly stroller friendly. Although I was glad that we had the stroller for the tour of the Vatican museum, because B slept through a lot of it, it was really difficult to manage the MANY stairs along the route. There are elevators, but the security guards will stop some stroller-pushers from using them while allowing others through. Early in the museum, we got access to all of the elevators, and later on, we were denied. It really seemed to depend on who was standing there (they are all guarded) when we arrived. If I had it to do over again, I’d skip the stroller and just hit the high notes of the museum (my favorite part was the Raphael rooms, just before the Sistine Chapel).

Rome has a reputation (much like Paris) for being “crimey” — being infested with pickpockets and purse snatchers. And maybe it is, but we didn’t see it. We felt comfortable walking through the touristy areas of Rome during the day and at night, and never got into a situation that made us uncomfortable. (We were much more aware of the criminal element in Paris than in Rome.) However, there are some very persistent trinket vendors at the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps who were annoying (and, as they worked in large groups, may have had ulterior motives). We were very firm in our dismissal, and they kept their distance. (They were actually much more of a nuisance at San Marco in Venice.) The only place I saw anything that made me uncomfortable from a crime sense was at the Roma Termini station while we were waiting for our train to Venice. There was a group of young women standing around watching the passers-by a little too intently. They would meet up, talk amongst themselves and then split up to wander around among the passengers and reconvene elsewhere a few minutes later. They had no luggage, and didn’t seem to be waiting for anyone. There was a group of young men around who seemed to be operating in a similar fashion. I didn’t see anything untoward happening, but the combination of the looks they were giving the crowd, plus their actions, ensured that I kept an eye on them the whole time. But really, we didn’t have any trouble. (Actually, on our entire trip, the place I got the worst vibe in terms of crime was San Marco square at night. During the warmer months, I know this area is popular with dancers and diners, but in early March, the cafes close up early and the only people left seem to be a few wandering tourists and quite a few others watching them from the shadows of the columns. We didn’t stay long.)

We really loved Rome. But I’m glad we went there first, because I truly fell in love with Venice. Venice was just amazing. I wasn’t able to truly appreciate the way it would feel to be in a city without cars whose streets are canals and winding alleyways. Venice is beautiful and romantic. While Rome feels like visiting the world’s largest open-air museum, Venice is like actually stepping back in time. And . . . I know that’s what EVERYONE says about Venice and you still probably won’t really get it until you go. It’s just something that has to be experienced.

In Venice, the public transportation was excellent. We used the water bus, but didn’t use any taxi service in Venice. The water bus is quite expensive per trip, but very functional, and you get a lovely (unguided) tour, too. It was a little confusing, in terms of where to put the stroller, but we figured it out and had a couple of very nice trips.

Other than the water buses, though, Venice is NOT very stroller friendly. At all. The streets are really very narrow, and all deliveries done to shops and restaurants are done by guys pushing big hand trucks. They know where they’re going and how to get there and you have to get out of their way — and the stroller causes a traffic jam which makes everything harder for everyone. On top of that, each canal crossing is a bridge, and nearly all of the bridges have stone steps up one side and down the other. Not impossible with the stroller, but it makes it more like a litter than a stroller, much of the time. I was a little disappointed about not being able to use the stroller more, because I’d been having nightmares about the kids falling into the canals, and I was hoping to strap them into the stroller for security. I didn’t really need to be overly worried. Although it certainly would have been possible for the kids to jump in a canal if they’d wanted to, unbarriered openings to the water were less common than I’d expected, and enforcing a “you have to hold hands” rule worked just fine. Although we barely used the stroller, we really didn’t miss it much.

In Venice, we stayed right in the heart of the city (about 3 minutes walk, at Liam speed, from St. Mark’s square). Venice is so much just about BEING there, rather than about doing anything in particular, that if I had it to do over again, I would stay in the same place. Venice changes throughout the day — bustling in the morning, relaxed in the afternoon, and seemingly deserted at night — that it’s nice to be able to experience it all. Besides, all of our favorite Venetian food stops (including Gelato Fantasy and the tasty chain pasta place we found) were centrally located, too. One of the things that made the trip work really well was letting the boys run for a while, each morning, at San Marco. It was a great, big, open area, with puddles to jump in and pigeons to chase, and having some time to run and be free put them in a much better state to put up with our wanderings for the rest of the day. Being at San Marco and walking to the top of the Rialto Bridge to enjoy the amazing view were my favorite activities in Venice, and I’m also really glad we did the gondola ride. It was classic and romantic, and was also a beautiful way to see the city.

In fact, just about the only thing I didn’t like about our trip was the overnight train ride home from Venice to Vienna. It was just too much for Liam, at the end of a long day and the end of a busy week, and we all suffered for it.

It was an amazing trip, and another great chapter in our adventure. We fell in love with Italy. And, as with all of our favorite destinations, I’m already fantasizing about our next visit.

Playing catch up

Posted on March 8, 2013 by admin

We left for our vacation in Italy on Friday, February 22 around 6 in the evening. We took the overnight train, arrived in Rome on Saturday morning, left for Venice on Wednesday afternoon, left Venice late in the evening on Saturday the 2nd of March and arrived back in Vienna the following morning. We were on vacation for about 8 1/2 days, which was time well spent. We’ve been back for about 5 days, and I’m just now starting to catch up.

I’m just *starting* to catch up. Meaning that I’ve opened the mail we accrued when we left, washed a few loads of laundry (although the pile is still large enough that it tipped over and covered half the bathroom floor this morning), almost caught up posting blogs and emailing and backing up pictures, and, today, for the first time since we’ve been back, I was fairly certain I knew what day it was, all day long. By Monday, we’ll probably be pretty much back on a normal schedule, and life will get back to business as usual.

Considering that I also started doing laundry and packing 2 entire weeks before we left on our trip, at this point I’ve devoted much more time to executing the details of the trip and organizing everything afterwards than we actually spent on vacation. (And that doesn’t include the time it took to actually plan the trip, find the hotels, buy the train tickets, etc.)

I’m sharing this, not to complain, but to acknowledge that travelling (and even more so with kids) is a ton of work. I think it’s easy to get caught up in the fun, and forget to mention how much work goes into making a family vacation happen. I think it’s one of those things that we (all, collectively) think should be easier than it is. And it just isn’t. It’s a lot of work. And there isn’t a way around that (at least, not that I’ve found). And I just want to put that out there, along with the highlight reel of idyllic pictures of cruising the Grand Canal in a gondola, and the stories of how great the food was and how well the kids behaved. Even though we travel (a lot) and I think we’ve gotten pretty good at making the whole thing work, from reservations to packing to scheduling to actually enjoying the trip, there is just so much effort that goes into doing it. And I don’t want to paint an overly rosy picture and give the impression that, when it’s hard, something is wrong.

As a parent (especially one that stays home with the kids), vacation is just doing your normal job, off of your schedule and without all of your stuff. Dan usually says that after a vacation, he goes back to work to recuperate from the intensity of our trip. It’s a completely different concept of “vacation” than we once had. Now that I’m used to it, and that’s what I expect, it’s really wonderful, but it isn’t the same as sitting on the beach sipping margaritas (which, now that I think about it, I’m not sure I’ve ever did while I had the chance).

It is hard. I’m exhausted. I need a vacation to recover from our vacation. It was totally, completely, 100% worth it, but it’ll still be a few days before we really get back to normal around here.

The food in Italy

Posted on March 5, 2013 by admin

Italy is like France, in that its reputation for food seems unrealistically good. But, like so many other things I’ve encountered (especially when traveling) I wondered, in both cases, whether it would be possible for the locales to live up to the hype.

They do. The food in Italy was fantastic. It was fresh, simple and amazing. I was left wondering, on several occasions, how it is possible to make a meal out of a handful of basic ingredients and elevate it to something decadent. I mean, how many times have I eaten spaghetti and tomato sauce?!? Apparently only once that really counts.

The pasta was beyond any I’d ever had before. The cappuccino has nearly ruined me for all other coffee. The gelato was the best I’ve ever had. I think I might have a certified tiramisu addiction at this point. (And then we found the place with the tiramisu gelato . . . )

We had a marvelous time in Italy, and the food made it even better. We had some remarkable meals. As we found when we went to Normandy, more money doesn’t always equal better food, and some of the things we’ll remember best were some of the simplest. It lived up to the hype. It actually managed to exceed my expectations. The only problem is that my culinary bar may now be set entirely too high. I’m not sure dried pasta and sauce from a jar will ever be satisfying again. If that’s the price I pay, though, it was totally worth it.

Winter to spring to winter

Posted on March 4, 2013 by admin

When we left Vienna for our trip to Italy last week, it was definitely winter. We’d gotten a little snow earlier in the week, and then we were surprised with some more the morning of our departure. There was even more, fairly significant, snow forecast here in Vienna for our first few days in Italy. We were really cold the night we got on the train and headed for Rome. Our train was delayed by about 20 minutes, but they didn’t announce that until we were already arranged on the platform, in sub-freezing temperatures with snow and wind. We weren’t quite dressed warmly enough, because we didn’t want to over pack for Italy, so we stood, waiting for the train and shivering.

We woke up on the train to a northern Italian landscape covered in snow (it was so snowy we shared a moment of worry that we were in the wrong place). And then we arrived in Rome, and although it wasn’t as warm as we’d expected, it didn’t feel like winter. The plants were green, the rain was rain, not snow, and none of the puddles were icy in the mornings. I think I probably enjoy winter more than the average person, but even I was won over by our visit to spring.

And then, completely contrary to our expectations, Venice was warm (and even dry). It was so lovely. We were sometimes a little chilly in the shade, but a few moments in the sun warmed us right up. The boys ventured out a few times in fleeces instead of parkas, and I didn’t put my hat or gloves on once (not even on our evening gondola ride). Liam did get a little cold once when we stopped for gelato, but otherwise, Venice was truly a taste of spring.

And then we arrived home in Vienna to 38 degrees and a strong breeze. Brr. But, even here, spring snuck in while we were away. The days are suddenly and noticeably longer. There are flowers peeking out from window boxes and beneath bushes in the park. We still need to bundle up, but the thaw has definitely begun. It’s a good thing, because as much as I love winter, Italy spoiled me with spring, and I’m ready for it now.

Don’t take the night train with a 2 year old

Posted on March 3, 2013 by admin

If you know me personally, or have read more than a few of my blog posts, you probably know that I’m an advocate of traveling with kids, even little ones (mine are currently 2 and 4, and we’ve been a lot of places). I generally scoff at the idea that “my kid can’t handle a long flight”, I roll my eyes at people who think children should be left at Grandma’s for vacation time (especially if the reason is something like “they won’t remember it anyway“), and I kindly cajole my friends, family and readers to push aside their notions of what life (and travel) with little ones can be and to shift expectations, soften schedules and get out there and see the world, with kids in tow.

That said, many years will pass before I attempt another overnight train ride with my kids.

Benjamin (4) did great. In fact, I think he was the most comfortable and got the most sleep of any of us, adults included. The cramped conditions had significantly less effect on him (think cozy, rather than claustrophobic) than they did on us larger folks.

Liam (2) did not fare so well, and we all suffered as a consequence. The first trip, on the overnight train from Vienna to Rome, actually went ok. We had a tough time getting in and organized, and then, once we were settled, it was a bit of a lengthy and challenging process to get us all snuggled into bed. But, once we were all tucked in, we each got a reasonable night’s sleep.

We weren’t so lucky on the return trip (Venice to Vienna). Since we’d already done one overnight trip, we kind of knew what we were doing, and it was a shorter trip, we thought we’d be fine and we’d probably handle it like pros. And, we pretty much did, at first. We got ourselves on and sorted out quickly and comfortably (relatively), and since we didn’t board until almost 9:00, we didn’t waste any time getting the kids (and ourselves) ready for bed. An hour after departure, we were all in bed, ready for sleep. It actually was one of our earlier bedtimes on our entire trip.

The problems began a few hours later, during a very long, post-midnight stop. All trains stop, of course, but an overnight train stop can be particularly frustrating and uncomfortable. When the train stops, sometimes for an inexplicably long time, you lose the comforting movement of the train as well as the sound barrier (for yourselves and others) that the train’s movement provides.

In our case, during this particular stop, Liam woke up. And cried. And screamed. And couldn’t be consoled. And it was 1:00 in the morning and there was nothing we could do. The sound travelled throughout the car (during other periods when the train was stopped, we could hear someone coughing several compartments away). We were all awake, we were all unhappy, we were probably being cursed at (in various languages) from the other compartments, but we couldn’t make him happy and we couldn’t make him be quiet. We couldn’t walk up and down the aisle with him like we might have on a plane trip, or rely on any kind of ambient engine noise to limit the damage to those sitting closest to us. We had no options.

All we could do was try. We offered water, a snack, more covers, less covers, a back rub, a snuggle, different toys, a new diaper, the iPad . . . nothing worked. He was miserable, he was crying and we were stuck. He’s too little to be reasoned out of it and too little to just “tough it out” if he’s uncomfortable. 2 year olds just react to their environment (if they can’t adjust it to make themselves comfortable) and he did not like his situation.

He finally asked for me (he’d been sharing a berth with Dan) and I snuggled with him. That helped. But as an incredibly light sleeper with a bad back, I’d been hoping to get to sleep on my own. I intended to cuddle with him until he fell asleep and then switch with Dan. No luck — he was on to me and woke up crying as soon as I tried to move. So, I took one for the team and curled up with Liam. I didn’t sleep, but everyone else did (and we weren’t pelted with fruit when we disembarked, so I guess our fellow travelers were at least a little grateful).

B did great. Even in Liam’s most upset moments, he only woke for a bit. He was comfy and happy and enjoyed the experience. And if he had been unable to sleep, he probably would have enjoyed an all-night party of Angry Birds on the iPad and been quite happy. That’s the difference between 2 and 4. I think Liam is just too little. Until he’s 4 or so, I think we’ll be sticking to flights and daytime trains.

Gondola ride

Posted on March 2, 2013 by admin

We were on the fence about taking a gondola ride in Venice. It sounds lovely, and romantic, but it also sounded pretty expensive (€80 for 40 minutes) and my paranoid mommy mind kept imagining the boys (who don’t swim) trying to jump overboard.

But, I thought, did I really want to come home from Venice without having taken such an iconic ride? Would it haunt me the way that Dan was bothered (for decades) about not visiting the Eiffel Tower the first time he visited Paris?

So, we went for it. We wanted the experience of an evening ride (with well rested boys) without the added expense of going out too late (after 7:00 adds another €20 to the price), so we sought out a gondolier just after nap time. (We also got an unintentional and unexpected moment on the Bridge of Sighs when we got turned around on the way.) We were lucky in our timing — I guess gondola rides aren’t popular on winter evenings, so we barely caught one of the last opportunities of the night.

Once we were settled in our gondola (without incident) our journey began. It was as beautiful, romantic and captivating as I could have hoped. The sky was a gorgeous dark blue that deepened as our cruise went on (which Liam commented on several times). The stars twinkled in the sky and we were so fortunate to have perfectly pleasant and relatively warm weather for an early March ride on the canals.

We cruised past the places where Casanova, Marco Polo and Mozart once lived, and we had an excellent historical tour from our charming gondolier.

The streets and canals of Venice are so narrow and winding that within moments of passing another boat, or gliding past pedestrians waving down from a bridge overhead, you’re alone once again. It creates a feeling of romance and solitude, even in such a busy and well-populated place. At each junction between paths in the water, our gondolier called ahead, alerting oncoming boats (which were very few) to our presence.

Although I knew it was coming, I gasped, out loud and involuntarily, at the sight of the Rialto Bridge when we turned onto the Grand Canal. It was stunning to glide up to and then past it, and then to float down the Grand Canal, past the docks full of moored gondolas and the water buses and taxis making their way, more quickly, to their destinations.

The boys spent the ride snuggled up with Dan & I, and Mina and Jo sat toward the front and took plenty of great pictures. It was money and time well spent. (Even better since no one jumped in.) We thoroughly loved the experience, and we’re all so glad we went. I just don’t think it would have been a complete trip to Venice without it.

A Mommy Abroad

Our big adventure, as a family of three.

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