Ignis the sharing dragon

Posted on March 1, 2013 by admin

We went back to participate in Benjamin and Liam’s favorite Venetian activity today — splashing in puddles and chasing pigeons at St. Mark’s square. (This even outranks gelato consumption, so that’s pretty significant.) We’ve often found, in our travels, that the key to the kids enjoying a city correlates with the amount of time they get to spend running freely, so it’s a priority (especially because we didn’t get enough of that time in Rome.)

After a bit of running wild and tormenting pigeons, Liam requested a drink of water, which, of course, I’d forgotten at the hotel. He was insistent on his very own sippy cup, so he and I ventured back to pick it up.

We had a nice walk (a stroll hand in hand with a two year old can be pretty great) and upon our return, we found Benjamin, Dan, Jo and Mina, still playing in the square. With a dragon.

While we were away, Benjamin had apparently charmed some folks out of a darling stuffed dragon named Ignis. (He’s the mascot for their company.) He is super cute, and they assured Dan that, if we’d like to give Ignis a good home and take him on our international travels, that it was fine for us to adopt him. B was in love. So he got Ignis.

Liam fell instantly in love with Ignis, too, and there was just one Ignis. So we quickly started calling him “Ignis the sharing dragon.” He was shared by his owners with us, and now the boys had to continue to share him.

Ignis the sharing dragon has been a major hit. The boys traded him back and forth all day, a few minutes at a time. He joined us for gelato, pizza for dinner and even our gondola ride (he’s now sporting his very own gondolier hat).

He’ll return to Vienna with us and join us on our future adventures. (Does a dragon need a passport?) What a lovely and special souvenir from our trip to Venice, and what a kind thing for Ignis’ people to have done, to share him with us.

In the city known as Venice

Posted on February 28, 2013 by admin

We left Rome yesterday for Venice. We were very sad to say goodbye to Rome, but we’re very happy to be visiting Venice.

Venice is so cool. It’s romantic and beautiful and I love it. When we first arrived in Venice, we stepped out of Santa Lucia train station, looking to catch the bus. We *knew* we were looking for a water bus, but it was still a bit of a shock to realize the bus stop was a dock and the bus is a boat.

403 We are just loving Venice. The Grand Canal is bustling with boat traffic. The locals seem genuinely interested in communicating and connecting — there aren’t the rolled eyes or exasperated sighs at our terrible attempts at the local language that we’ve had some places (although that was true in Rome, too, so maybe that’s Italy in general).

The sound of spoken Italian seems to have two settings — seductive or angry (we saw more angry in Rome and see more seductive in Venice) although I don’t think the sound has a correlation to the actual demeanor of the speaker. Everyone speaks with their hands, even when driving or on the phone.

438 We’ve been to San Marco to chase pigeons and splash in puddles. We’ve strolled to the Rialto bridge, gazed down at the boats on the water and done some great shopping. We’ve discovered delicious pasta and amazing sandwiches (found by popping into the lunch bar that was most crammed with Italian speakers). We’ve discovered the best gelato we’ve had since we’ve been in Italy (Gelato Fantasy near San Marco). We’ve enjoyed walking along the winding alleys and climbing the bridges over the canals. Venice is busy during the day and stunningly romantic at night. (Benjamin declared, “It’s spooky!”, but in a completely complimentary way.) It is so lovely. 452

We loved Rome, but we are in love with Venice.

The best art in Italy

Posted on February 27, 2013 by admin

Yesterday, we went to visit the Vatican City. I was surprised at how excited I was to be there and about how it affected me. I was raised Catholic, but I haven’t been even a remotely practicing member of any religion for about 20 years.

But from even before we arrived, I felt a connection to that part of my life, and even more strongly to the people in my life for whom Catholicism has been important. I couldn’t help but think a lot about how excited my grandmother, who passed away over 10 years ago, would be about us visiting Vatican City.

My feeling of connection and nostalgia was so strong that I actually bought myself a Rosary at the museum gift shop. (I’m as surprised as anyone about that, but it seemed like the thing to do.) In some ways, that connection to my personal history was one of my favorite things about my visit to Vatican City.

Another of my favorite things was my kids’ reactions. They loved it. Within the first few minutes of exploring the museum, both of the boys were running around on an outdoor patio shouting, “I love Varican City!” I’m not sure exactly what they loved so much, but they were really enthusiastic about it.

And then, we started in on the museum, and got to see so much amazing art. I loved the detail of the map room, from the ornate ceiling to the beautiful, incredibly detailed maps of Italy from the 16th century. I was captivated by Rapheal’s “School of Athens” and the signifance of its placement in the Vatican. And then we got to the Sistine Chapel, which was the part I was most looking forward to. The scope and the detail were awesome, and it was incredibly special to be in such a magnificent space. (As a note, although we loved the Vatican Museum, we wish we hadn’t brought the stroller, because there were so many stairs, and the elevators were only for wheelchairs.)

But of all the art we saw, my favorite was yet to come. At dinner, Benjamin and Liam decorated their placemats with drawings of fire trucks and happy stick figures. Benjamin is at the point where his drawings are starting to really look like what he imagines — I’m not sure when he got so good, maybe he was inspired by Michelangelo and Raphael — and it is wonderful to see his placemat collection of smiling family members and friends. Of all the art we’ve seen, it’s definitely my favorite.

A funny thing happened on the way to the Vatican

Posted on February 26, 2013 by admin

One of the places I was most excited to go in Rome actually isn’t in Rome at all. I was really looking forward to visiting Vatican City, seeing the Sistine Chapel and walking in St. Peter’s square. I think part of my fascination has to do with the historical significance, part has to do with my own family history of Catholicism, and it’s all heightened by being there during the final days of Pope Benedict’s papacy — something we couldn’t have planned for or anticipated when we were organizing our trip.

I’m a planner, and since I’d heard that the lines for entry into the Vatican Museum (which culminates in the Sistine Chapel) can be long and frustrating, I decided to splurge for the extra €4/adult to reserve an entry time. Our appointment was at 9:00. I knew it might be tough to make that, with 6 people to get up, fed and ready, but I wanted to get through the museum (and all the way to the Sistine Chapel) before the kids couldn’t take any more.

This morning, we were on our way, but we were running a bit late. I had planned a bit of extra time in to our schedule, but we had pretty much eaten all of that up with breakfast and getting out the door. I was a little stressed. We had to catch a cab, get to the museum, and find where we needed to be, with just over 20 minutes to go. I didn’t know if the ticket times were strict, so I wanted to be on time, or even a little early. Luckily, we hailed a cab quickly, and got to the gate of the Vatican museum in 10 minutes. We pulled up, got out, and got the stroller set up while Amanda was paying the cab driver, and I glanced at the time — about 10 minutes to go. Perfect! Whew!

And then Amanda realized that she didn’t have her phone, and the cab had already pulled away.

Minor panic ensued. She wasn’t entirely sure that she’d had it when we left the hotel. We started by flagging down the next cab from the same company that came by. We were hoping that maybe they had some way to call each other between cabs. No luck.

We called our hotel. We asked them to call the cab company. Then we called back and asked them to check our room. (It wasn’t there.) Then we called back and tried to get their help finding the U.S. customer service number for AT&T Wireless. We were having a really hard time making any progress. Amanda was pretty despondent and getting progressively more worried. (She didn’t want someone to find the phone and make expensive calls.)

She was pretty sure she wouldn’t get her phone back. I was thinking that if we had found it, we would have worked hard to return it, so I didn’t want to give up hope.

We waited right at the same spot where the cab dropped us off, just in case. Our hotel hadn’t had any luck — since we’d hailed our cab, instead of calling, the company didn’t have a record of the trip. And, the hotel couldn’t find the right number for the phone company. So, we went to try and find some Wi-Fi so we could try to shut the phone off ourselves.

We found some, looked up the number of the phone company, and started through the automatic phone universe of AT&T. As we stood there, pressing 1, or 2, or 7, as appropriate, we thought we saw the cab drive by — the one that dropped us off.

We hopped out the cafe door and started running (up hill, of course). We didn’t know if he was stopping, if he was picking someone up or dropping them off, or if he just happened to be driving up the street.

Yay!!! He was there! He had come back, just to bring the phone. The hotel had called the cab company back, and they had tracked down the right cab. The driver, of his own accord, on the chance that we’d still be there, even though 40 minutes had passed, drove back to the Vatican. And there we were. And we had the phone back.

We were so excited and so happy. Amanda was crying. I gave the cab driver €20 (he tried to say no, but I insisted). A newspaper seller on the corner saw the whole exchange happen, and said, “This is Italia! You don’t need to cry — everything is good here!”

And even though we were almost 45 minutes late for our appointment, we had no problem getting in to the museum. All was well.

Viva Italia! Viva Rome! We love it here.

Friends, Romans, countrymen

Posted on February 25, 2013 by admin

The Roman Forum is awesome. I’ve heard so much more enthusiasm and excitement about the Colosseum, and although that was impressive and absolutely important, the Forum made a much bigger impression on me.

We went to the Forum today. We had to wander around a bit to find the main entrance (which was surprisingly not well marked) and then followed Rick Steves’ self-guided tour (from the Rick Steves’ Italy book). It was chilly and sprinkled on and off, but we were treated to some amazing history. We marveled at the astounding scope of Roman architecture and walked the ground where Caesar stood . . . and where he was killed. We saw the way that space once set aside for Roman gods was taken over by Christianity. We learned how grateful we all are to not be Vestal Virgins (yikes).

But of the whole experience, I had two favorite moments. The first was when I learned that nearly the entirety of the ground we were walking on had been excavated in only the 19th century. I had been shocked to find that many of the massive stones that made up the roads were from ancient times (they don’t make for an easy stroller journey), but when I realized they had all been underground — covered and protected by centuries of sediment — it made a lot more sense. It also drove home to me to feeling of being small and finite and very young in the face of these pieces of stone that have been preserved for so long.

And then, when I saw the massive cuts made in the marble columns of a temple, by would-be thieves who gave up because the stone was too tough to destroy, I felt so much admiration for the pride, effort and craftsmanship of all of the work that went in to building these massive and persistent structures.

It was an amazing experience. We stood in the Senate building, we walked the streets of ancient Rome, we chased Benjamin around the ruins. We had a day steeped in history, made tangible by being near the massive monuments left behind. It was fantastic.

Sleeper train to Rome

Posted on February 23, 2013 by admin

So we’re here, on the first part of our Italian adventure. To get here, we took the overnight “sleeper” train yesterday from Vienna to Rome. It was quite an adventure in itself.

We had a terrible time getting ourselves and all of our stuff onto the train. (The train was a bit late, it was very cold and windy, and we created a major roadblock getting the stroller on board.) Once we got ourselves all loaded into the compartment, it wasn’t much better. At first, we couldn’t figure out where to put any of our things or how anything was supposed to be set up. But eventually, Jo climbed up to the top of the highest bunk bed and we got most of our things stowed away up top. It was a bit crowded, slightly uncomfortable and a little claustrophobic, but cozy and fun — kind of like camping.

After a few hours of socializing in our tightly packed quarters (through most of which Jo hung out in the top bunk and the boys mostly watched videos and played iPad games), we decided to set up for bed.

It took forever. Getting everything arranged, figuring out how to set up all of the beds (and then realizing that there were no options at that point other than laying down or standing up) and getting the boys and ourselves ready for bed all were more complicated and took longer than we expected. By the time we all got in to bed (around 11) we were completely exhausted.

The kids were AMAZING. Through the initial stress of getting situated, plus the hours of confinement, and on through the endless-seeming evening of “getting ready for bed”, they were pleasant, happy and enthusiastic. Then they snuggled down in theirs bunks like experts.

Sleeping was tough. The beds were kind of cozy (if not very big) but the fear of falling out of bed, exacerbated by the sometimes abrupt braking of the train, kept the adults up for a while. B slept soundly, but Liam (who shared a bed with Dan) was restless. We all eventually got some rest though, and I ended up being more comfortable than I expected to be.

We truly had no idea what it was going to be like before we set off. It was kind of weird, but it worked out pretty well, really. Of course, it was made a bit more challenging by the fact that we ended up nearly 2 hours behind schedule (and then ended up getting to Rome earlier than we’d been told we would, which created an intense scramble at the end).

Our 16 hour train saga seems to have been well worth it though. We’re here now, in Rome, listening to the rain and the birds and the bells ringing at the Vatican. We had an amazing lunch (the food really is as good as we’d heard) and we’re looking forward to the rest of our visit to Rome. The train journey was just the beginning of this piece of our adventure.

Dreaming of England and Ireland

Posted on January 27, 2013 by admin

Of all the places I’ve been, there’s nowhere I’ve loved more than England and Ireland. Everywhere we’ve travelled has had its own appeal, and I have yet to go anywhere I didn’t enjoy a great deal. But England and Ireland have a special hold on me. I started thinking about when we’d return before our plane had even landed in Vienna.

Most specifically, it is the Lake District (most particularly, the Newlands Valley) and County Antrim in Northern Ireland that I feel so drawn to. It’s possible that my infatuation with these places could be attributed to simply spending a wonderful few days there last year, but I don’t think so. I feel a real connection with both of these places. I want to go back, to explore and experience them again. I want to see what they’re like in different weather and different seasons. I want to know what they’re like at their best and at their worst. I want to discover the hidden, off-the-track places you don’t find during one brief visit. I feel attracted to these places. I want to know them better. I’m invested.

I know we’ll go back. We will most likely go back this year. I’m itching to start planning our trip, because I know exactly what I have in mind. For financial and logistical reasons (I can only manage to have so many trips in various states of planning before my brain and my bank account start to explode) I haven’t actually started the planning yet, but I can’t wait.

Last year, we saw a little bit of many things in England, only a tiny bit of Scotland (which, I suspect, may be nearly as captivating once I spend some time there) and a little of Ireland and Northern Ireland. We’d never been before, and there was so much that was “not to be missed”, so we drove ourselves all over the British Isles (and we drove ourselves a little crazy) trying to see it all. Now that I”m hooked, though, the pressure is off. I know I’ll go back, so I don’t feel the need to “see it all” on this next visit. We’ll certainly spend a few days in the Newlands Valley and in County Antrim, but we’ll add in a few new things, too (including some more of Scotland, for certain).

The details remain to be worked out, but I’m dreaming of this trip already. I can’t wait to go back and visit with the sheep that wander the roads in the Newlands Valley, to drive on the steep, narrow roads and set the kids loose to run around another valley lake. I miss the coastline of Northern Ireland — the green steadfastness of the land and the immense, wild sea. I cannot wait to go back. Just the thought of going back brings me joy. I think I’m in love.

Reflections on Alpbach

Posted on January 20, 2013 by admin

I’ll post a more thorough review of our trip soon — where we stayed, what we did, what we would have done differently — but for now, I’m a little weary after two days of (exhausting, semi-torturous) skiing and a 4+ hour train journey today, so I’m just going to share some thoughts about our latest adventure.

First, train travel is awesome with kids. I really think it’s the way to go. Our trip was 4 1/2 hours each way (it actually ended up being a bit longer on the way there, due to delays because of the snow). The kids did great. It was easy to keep them contained, keep them entertained, feed all of us, get some rest and just generally arrive relatively happy. This was our first trip with a compartment (as opposed to just seats). It was fantastic. It is easy, fun, and relatively low stress. When you consider how far ahead of a flight you typically have to arrive at the airport, plus the fact that in Vienna, the airport is further outside of town than the train station, I think it actually took us less time to take the train than it would to fly. It was win/win.

Second, skiing with kids is hard. After just collecting our skis, boots and poles, getting onto the right bus and getting TO the ski area, we were about ready to quit. But, we really did have fun, and I’m glad we stuck it out. I think it’s like anything — there are so many little tricks and compromises that make the whole thing a lot easier, and you just have to watch the people who know what they’re doing, and ask questions, and you’ll get better. The skiing itself is really fun, it’s just that getting everyone suited up, to the lift, and ready to ski is a lot of work. Also, we had to accept that Liam didn’t want to ski. If we’d tried to force him, we all would have been miserable. Maybe he’ll try it next time, maybe not. Either is ok. But to really enjoy ourselves, we really had to let go of any expectations — it was going to “work”, or not; the kids were going to have fun, or not; we were going to get to ski, or not. We showed up, we gave it a good try, we had a good time. But so much of us enjoying this weekend came from measuring it by the experience we were having in the moment, rather than by measuring it against what we thought was going to happen.

Finally, no matter how much preparation, thought and consideration go into planning a trip, it’ll be the unexpected little moments that really make it wonderful. Watching B discover and enjoy skiing was amazing, without a doubt, but I think our collective favorite part of the trip was yesterday evening when we went out for an impromptu walk after dinner and ended up sledding with B in the dark and then walking up a dark hiking trail (at Liam’s urging) into a clearing overlooking the village and the valley. That moment, of all standing together on the hillside in the moonlight, marvelling at the beauty of our surroundings, was something that I will never forget.

Time to travel . . . again

Posted on January 8, 2013 by admin

In the past 12 months we’ve done a lot of travelling. We’ve gone sledding in the Alps, spent a long weekend in Paris and a short one in Normandy, took two separate trips to the US (one including a week at the beach), visited England, Scotland and Ireland, and saw Salzburg, Tirol and a little bit of Bavaria. It’s been quite a year.

However, the last trip we took (Bavaria, Salzburg and Tirol) was almost 3 months ago. It’s the longest break we’ve taken since we started this whirlwind of travel across Europe last year . . . and, I’m ready to go again. As much as it can be a ton of work and sometimes a fair bit of stress and inconvenience to undertake a major trip as a family, I can’t wait to do it again. I think I may have gotten myself addicted to the adventure of discovering new places.

Which is good, because we’ve got a lot more to come. Next week, we have our first ski trip planned, next month we’re going to Italy, and I have a few short weekend trips in mind (which, of course, I haven’t planned yet, because I always plan travel at the absolute last minute — in fact, having our Italy trip almost entirely planned over a month in advance feels unusually organized to me).

So much of this feels out of character to me. I’ve always been such a homebody — I’ve always liked snuggling up on the couch and watching a favorite movie, not venturing out somewhere new. But now that I’ve done it, I get so much satisfaction from these adventures that it completely overwhelms the inertia of being home, and almost silences my worries about the challenges. Our two upcoming trips, for example, have lots to be concerned about — we’re heading to the Alps, to ski, with a 2 year old and a 4 year old, even though none of us really ski. And then we’ll be heading to Rome, with all the stress and headache of worries about pickpocketing and scams, and Venice, where the entire time I’ll be obsessed about not losing one of the kids in a canal.

But even though I do think (obsess) about all of those things, I can’t wait to travel again. I love seeing new places and having new experiences. But I also LOVE having that dedicated time together as a family. I love sharing a too-small room, all together, listening to the boys sleep while Dan and I whisper and silently laugh as we recall our day’s adventure. I love seeing the boys throw themselves whole-heartedly into completely new surroundings. I even love the memories of holding a sick Liam in the middle of the night or laying on a couch in a strange hotel room with Benjamin as he rested. We have made SO MANY memories on our adventures so far. We have shared so many experiences and bonded as we laughed or growled about some unexpected challenge. Travel with my kids is like family-time-concentrate and each part, even the parts that drive us crazy when we are going through them (like being lost in Paris at midnight in the rain or horribly miscalculating the driving time on our first day in Ireland) — EVERY SINGLE PART — has been precious to me.

I can’t wait to go again.

. . . 2013!

Posted on January 5, 2013 by admin

For the first time in recent memory, I’m entering into a year without having a set plan in mind for how it’s going to go. The timeline for our year is very much up in the air right now, so I can’t confidently predict what we’ll experience in the next 12 months, but that doesn’t diminish my enthusiasm for it.

I know we’ll travel. We have a ski trip (our first!) planned for later this month, and I’m working out the details of a trip to Italy in February (nothing like planning at the last minute — I’m an expert). Benjamin has requested a return to Paris and Liam asks (daily) when we’re going to “rent a car and go to Germany” again. There are places near here that we have yet to see: Slovakia, Croatia, Prague, Graz and Linz. And I am pretty confident that regardless of what our year has in store, we will find ourselves back in the British Isles again in 2013. And, of course, in the US.

Liam will turn 3 in September, so he’ll start preschool this year (most likely) and Benjamin will be 5 (!) so he’ll start actual kindergarten. I think that will be really exciting for both of them, and it will also mean that I’ll have a little time each day on my own. I have no idea what that will be like (but I’m guessing I’ll enjoy it).

For myself, I want to make a point of getting involved in some kind of activity — riding, dancing . . . something. Stuff like that has been missing from my days for too long.

I guess what I need to take from all of the uncertainty about our immediate future is to be open, flexible, and make the most of what I have in front of me. I don’t know what 2013 has in store for me, but I’m quite certain it will be an adventure.

A Mommy Abroad

Our big adventure, as a family of three.

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