Places to Go (Vacation) - VENICE (Day 5) - Dragging Our Kids Through Europe, Part IV

As I mentioned on Friday, we rode an overnight train from Paris to Venice. Up until this point, we'd had incredible luck in terms of weather, Paris remained in the mid-80s for our entire visit - not too hot, not too cold. So Venice's heat hit us pretty hard (high 90s); by 10 in the morning we were caked in sweat.

Luckily, the city's small streets provided plenty of shade, thus while we visited some of the larger tourist attractions (i.e. St. Mark's square), we spent most of the day (purposefully) losing ourselves in twisted back lanes full of empty squares with gorgeous old water fountains. Despite our overall exhaustion, the magic of Venice really carried the day, as nobody can stay cranky for long in a city that looks as if it is floating in front of your eyes.



Our first pizza in Italy. Italian restaurants rarely let customers order tap water for the table, rather you have to pay for bottled, which drove Dan crazy. T fell asleep at the restaurant right after I snapped this photo. Traveling is exhausting.




P spent hours (literally hours) trying to decide which mask magnet to buy her best friend. I thought they all looked the same (cheap and made in China), but she disagreed. So we stopped in souvenir shop after souvenir shop.







In the afternoon, we checked into our apartment (another wonderful airbnb rental, click here to see the listing), which had children's toys and air conditioning, as well as a much-needed washing machine. Unfortunately, we still had to walk back to the train station to retrieve our bags and even though Venice looks small, there aren't many bridges, so this took longer than anticipated. For the return trip, we rode the vaporetto/public bus system and then wondered why we hadn't utilized it earlier.



Clean laundry = awesomeness.






Due to the heat, we promised the kids a gondola ride in the evening, figuring we'd enjoy it more then. But after seeing the boats glide through canals all day, we were over them by the time night began to fall, so we opted instead for dinner outside and a sunset walk next to the water.

HAPPY MONDAY EVERYONE!! If you have a chance, don't forget to check out our new post on This Untamed Life!

Things to Do - Grateful List (July 2015) & Cherish This Day

The photos above are from our arrival in Venice on the overnight train from Paris. The kids COULD NOT WAIT to get out and explore. I'll post more Venice pics on Monday.

Regarding July's grateful list, not to sound cheesy, but really, what an amazing month.

On a macro level, I no longer have friends that are gay married. We're all just married or not married. No adjectives necessary. And this is pretty amazing. Further, our friends had a party for the last game of the Women's World Cup and watching how seriously everyone took our win made me feel like women's sports are no longer a sideline attraction. The Arlington Cinema Drafthouse played the game and seating sold out minutes after they opened the doors.

On a micro level, I spent three days in Lake Indian NY at the Foster photography retreat. And we took our kids on their first (but hopefully not their last) trip abroad.

Just feeling so blessed for everything lately. I hope you all had a great month as well!

In the meantime, have a fantastic weekend and don't forget to click on over to Cherish This Day, lots of amazing photos this week.

ARTS

* Arlington Art Center's Play exhibit (REALLY, GO SEE THIS! ESPECIALLY WITH THE KIDS, IT IS SO. MUCH. FUN!!!)
* Shirin Neshat's "Facing History" at the Hirshhorn (Washington DC)
* Attending Peter Pan 360 in Tysons
* Watching the US Women's team win the World Cup at Hector's party
* Watching 10 Things I Hate About You with the girls
* Watching Inside Amy Schumer, Season 3
* Reading Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World
* Reading Outline: A Novel
* Listening to Outliers: The Story of Success on CD during the drive to NY

FOOD

* Peach sangria at Kelly's house
* Chipotle with the kids (they finally like it).

STUFF

* ThinkFun's Composer Yourself cards (so. much. fun.)
* Our new block rocker (thanks Hector!)
* My new moscow mule mug (thank you Colleen!)

PLACES

* The kids still liking the National Mall's carousel (they're not grown up yet!)
* The Building Museum's beach
* Ben Sasso's Foster Workshop in Big Indian, NY (I learned a TON!!)

ETC.

* Walking past F's closed bedroom door to find a sign on the floor saying "don't come in. meditating."
* The girls constantly playing chess together
* Dan, Hector, Lee, Doug having "fun" with the new crossbow
* A 4th of July weekend full of barbeques with friends
* T constantly singing "Shut Up and Dance with Me"
* "We're not gay married anymore, there's no such thing. We're just married. Like everyone else." - Julia (thus making me tear up)
* Maggie's postcards from Greece

VACATIONS (for our Europe trip I decided to make a daily list, because it was a once in a lifetime sort of experience. Wow, that just sounded totally overdramatic).

Day 1 (Paris - arrive)

* T drinking water out of shot glasses, "look mom, this apartment is so great, they have these cute little glasses everywhere."
* Real french bread
* Travel chess and backgammon
* Kindles, kindle fires, and the ipad (because nobody would nap on the same schedule)
* Walking to the Eiffel Tower

Day 2 (Paris - Louvre and Sacre Coeur)

* The great hat fight between P and F (P bought a new hat, F wanted a similar hat, P told F she copies everything, etc. etc. This went on ALL DAY LONG. Eventually we all started laughing because what else can you do?)
* Our private Louvre tour through Context (esp. the Botticelli fresco and the medieval castle)
* Crepes sucre
* 6 mini-Eiffel towers and counting (love that allowance money)
* Cheap, wonderful french wine

Day 3 (Paris - Champs Elysee, Arc De Triumph and the Carnival)

* The kids' excitement over the Jarin de Tuileries' summer carnival
* The haunted house
* The perfect Pimm's Cup

Day 4 (Paris - Pompidou Center and Notre Dame, overnight train to Venice)

* The Pompidou Center (I love this museum)
* Jardin des Plantes' sculpture garden (and a walk on the Seine)
* Notre Dame and the (newer) lock bridge, which fascinated T
* T losing his second tooth ever in the Paris train station
* T vs. the pigeons
* Our train "roommate" Sophie, who ended up being super nice and T saying, "I feel bad for Sophie and her boyfriend, they're trying to have a moment and everyone keeps interrupting them."

Day 5 (Venice)

* Exploring the uncrowded (and shady) backstreets
* Dan's amazing navigation skills (never tell your husband that it's impossible to find your way in Venice, because he'll prove you wrong)
* Dinner on a square at sunset
* A rental house with toys and air-conditioning

Day 6 (Venice to Milan)

* We figured out how to reserve train seats!
* A relaxing and easy travel day after a stressful morning in the over-crowded Venice station
* Teaching F backgammon and a lazy night in our new apartment

Day 7 (Milan)

* The Last Supper (the DaVinci code was right, Peter is a girl!)
* Shopping with the girls (huge sales at Zara)
* Gladiator pillow fights between P and T because the internet is super slow and they have no friends here
* More backgammon

Day 8 (Milan to Sala C. [Lake Como])

* The view of the lake from our rental house; P - "wow, this is the nicest house we've ever stayed in."
* Dan reading his Kindle on the balcony while P swims in the lake
* Cooler weather (85 degrees)
* Trying new foods with F - the salted fish (a local specialty) tasted gross to me, but F ate it all, even the heads (whereas T continues to live on pizza margarita)

Day 9 (Ferry to Varenna)

* Hiking to the castle and T's thrill over the weapons
* Dinner at the pizzeria in Sala, we shared everything family style - grilled fish, risotto with fried perch, tomato salad, pizza, "chips", and SO. MANY. DESSERTS.
* Another night at the beach while P "teaches" T to swim

Day 10 (lazy day in Sala C.)

* Lazy mornings
* The Pocket Yoga ipad app
* Swimming with the kids in the lake
* Dan making a "fancy" dinner of roast chicken
* T and P playing on the beach at dusk

Day 11 (Lake Como to Rome)

* P's happiness over a facebook message (through my account) from her best friend
* A relatively easy travel day (the ferry, to the train, to another train, then taxi to our new apartment)
* Piazza Navona at night - street performers, graffiti artists, an amazing toy store. The kids loved it here.

Day 12 (Rome - Gladiator Training and a Kid-Oriented Tour of Ancient Rome)

* Family gladiator training
* Making it to the Colosseum right before the rain storm began
* The Swizzlers picking T out of the crowd to dance with them (best dance crew ever)
* "What I love about mimes is they're really nice." - T, while we drank cocktails and the kids ate gelato in Campdo de Fiorni square (our new favorite place)
* Planning the imaginary underground world with T

Day 13 (the Vatican)

* Castle D' Angelo
* A random organic smoothie store with swings
* P and her new Pinnochio puppet
* Our Friday night Vatican tickets and the kids' love of the children's audio tour
* Roma Beer Company's margaritas and Obica's salads (both on Campo de Fiorni's square)

THE KIDS' LISTS:

F - dogs, Peter Pan, drawing, Europe, the english language, my friends, a nice house to live in and food to eat, backgammon, chess, Venice, breezes, clean laundry, nice apartments to stay in, our house [in Sala C.], the view [in Sala C.], swimming at the beach [Lake Como]

P - that Hector is okay [he hurt his knee], sleepovers, Janeese's desserts, having friends for dinner, the Eiffel Tower, the view from Sacre Coeur, Paris, that you took us to Europe, going shopping with mommy, seeing Venice, gelato, Teen Beach Movie II, facebook messages from my best friend, the squares in Rome, the awesome toy store in Rome, my Kindle, the audio tour [at the Vatican]

T - going to the [National] mall, guns, the Eiffel Tower, the cool light in our apartment [Paris], the little water glasses [shot glasses], the Louvre, my new light up Eiffel Tower, going to the carnival, going in the Haunted House, my new knife, the castle [in Varenna], the armor at the castle, swimming in the lake with P [Lake Como], Coco and Happy

Things to Watch - Five Kids' Movies Featuring Paris (Netflix Streaming)

Netflix streaming has some fantastic movies featuring foreign lands. Here are a few that take place in Paris. Because sometimes the best travel is arm chair travel (especially with kids)!

1. Hugo - If you ask me, this is one of the best children's movies to watch as a family. Hugo received more Academy Award nods in 201l than any other film that year. The cinematography is fantastic as it the coolio automoton/robot thing they put together. Hugo also celebrates the history of cinema, including the early classic - A Trip to the Moon (also available on Netflix streaming). And the 1930s train station that serves as the movie's main location seems so romantic and foreign.

2. The Hunchback of Notre Dame - So this movie isn't exactly Disney at its best, but still there are some fun songs. And a gypsy (who doesn't love a gypsy?). Plus talking gargoyles. We watched it right before our trip to Paris and the kids were a little awestruck when they saw the "real" Notre Dame.

3. The Aristocats - I haven't seen this in years, but I remember loving it as a child. Kittens. An evil butler. The beautiful city skyline. What's not to like?

4. A Monster in Paris - T loves this movie. The monster is actually nice and nobody realizes but the beautiful singer.

5. A Cat in Paris - We haven't watched this one yet, but it sounds pretty good, "when Zoe discovers that her cat is also a thief's companion, she's thrown into a thriller filled with gangsters, jewels and the rooftops of Paris."

Places to Go (Vacation) - PARIS (Days 3 & 4) - Dragging Our Kids Through Europe, Part III

By our second morning in Paris, we had perfected a breakfast routine that would stay with us for the rest of the vacation. Dan woke up early to go to the bakery across the street, then came home and made eggs and cut up some fruit; while T poured beverages in shot glasses (he was quite enamored with the apartment's "cute, little, glasses."). After consuming more carbs then I usually eat in an entire week, we ventured out. . .






We promised the kids that we'd spend the morning at Jardin des Tuileries' summer carnival, which proved even more expensive than an American carnival. T "won" a dart gun, which he proceeded to shoot us with for the next three days until finally all darts were lost (yay!! to lost darts). After we literally ran out of money, we walked down the Champs Elysee to the Arc De Triumph. I wish I had something nice to say about this world-famous boulevard, but the afternoon was hot and people were everywhere. And most of the stores are the same stores that we have in the US; it just felt like a really crowded, over-priced shopping mall.






We hoped that T would overcome his fear of heights and join us at the top of the Arc De Triumph, but he freaked out on the spiral staircase up, so Dan needed to leave and bring him back to the base, where he proceeded to shoot strangers with his dart gun. Everyone looked at us like, "Americans and their weapons" and I wanted to scream, "but he won it here!"

After this we all were hot, tired, and somewhat cranky, so we decided to take a cab back to the apartment. And, this is when we learned that it's virtually impossible to find a cab that will take five people in Europe, so we eventually became experts at public transportation (okay, so "expert" is a bit of a misnomer, but we tried).



A much needed afternoon nap.










The kids asked to return to the carnival in the evening, so we said yes, as long as we could walk there.



How can you differentiate between a Parisian carnival and an American carnival? In Paris, illustrations of topless women decorate the rides. But on the upside, the Parisian carnival resided next to some of the most beautiful gardens I've ever seen.



Nobody could agree on where to eat dinner, finally we found an Irish pub that served hamburgers and made a perfect Pimm's Cup. Yay!!




We spent the morning of our fourth day at the Pompidou Center, one of my absolute favorite museums ever. T continued to war against the pigeons. I'm still not sure who won.









I love modern art.



After the museum, we needed to check out of the apartment and store our bags at the train station. Since we were traveling so frequently, the kids had to carry all their things (just five outfits each) in a backpack. I was scared that this would be too heavy/burdensome for them, but by the end of the trip they could walk almost three miles with their packs on (though in the beginning they complained a lot).





Meandering through the Jardin Des Plantes' sculpture garden on the Seine.








Eventually we made our way to Notre Dame, which was pretty exciting as the kids watched the Disney movie right before we left Virginia. Paris had to cut down the love locks from its most famous "lock" bridge due to safety concerns, but apparently other bridges have also taken on this tradition. T was fascinated and kept saying that Dan REALLY needed to buy me one.



After we returned to the train station, T managed to lose his second tooth ever while waiting to board. Unfortunately, the tooth fairy cannot deliver to cross-country overnight trains, so we explained that he'd need to wait for the next night, in Venice, to check under his pillow (plus, the overnight train didn't even have pillows).





Our train compartment contained beds for six, thus the kids worried about sharing our "room" with a stranger. Luckily, the stranger ended up being this super-nice German au pair named Sophie, who seemed a little overwhelmed by all of us. Especially since T kept shooting darts at the window.



It took forever, but after much procrastination and screen time, we managed to put the compartment's beds down and convince everyone to close their eyes for awhile (though, honestly, sleeping on the train proved harder than expected).

NEXT STOP - VENICE, ITALY!! I'll post some photos on Friday and next week. I hope you're all having a good end of summer!