In Search of Clooney: Lake Como, Italy

Lake Como, Italy...Shall I admit from the beginning that I am familiar with Lake Como primarily because US Weekly talks about George Clooney and his bi monthly visit to his villa there? Embarrassingly, that sparked my interest in visiting the region for our last official big trip. We invited our friends, the Melody's, to join us. They are so fun and always ready for an adventure. Fortunately, they have an nine month old; so like us, are also obsessed with nap and sleep schedules.

Upon researching the area and places to stay, we were a little overwhelmed. There are sixteen villages on the western shore, six on the southern shore and eight on the eastern shore. George is going to be harder to find than first imagined.

We decided on a villa in the town of Menaggio. It is a five and a half hour car ride from Stuttgart, still manageable with a three and a half year old and a six month old, and also has a ferry that runs frequently to and from Bellagio. Although we didn't anticipate the Cinque Terre like roads that we encountered after we crossed the border from Switzerland. They were narrow, windy (with crazy motorcycles buzzing up both sides of the car) and just plain scary to drive. But once we arrived safely, we knew that the white knuckle drive was going to be so worth it.


We spent our first day hanging out and exploring the quaint town of Menaggio. The second day, we took the ferry over to Bellagio, walked the town and had lunch there. That afternoon, we rented a boat and explored the lake. Such amazing villas! (We spotted Richard Branson's villa which can only be accessed by boat and rents for 150,000 euro a week).

The next day was dark and rainy. We decided to head to the town of Tremezzo. CM read about a wine bar that was a little difficult to find but had a great wine tasting. After another fantastic lunch we headed up a narrow staircase and down an alley and there it was:"Cantina Folly."

This place is not to be missed! Bevin and I (after a while the husbands took one for the team and headed home with the "older" kids) spent five hours learning about Italian wines. The perfect "rainy day, I'm in Lake Como" activity.

We spent the next day recuperating from said rainy day activity, but also exploring other small towns along the lake like the town of  Lenno. We never found George, but we did find great gelato. And for one three year old I know, that ranks a whole lot higher.

Greece: Athens and the Islands

BEST TRIP EVER. That is how I think I will always refer to these twelve days in Greece. It easily exceeded all of my expectations.

We flew from Stuttgart to Athens, where we met up with my parents, and then we all took a high speed ferry to the island of Paros, where we had rented a villa for the week. We usually rent apartments or homes when we travel and we have learned to expect that the photos of the properties are often much nicer than the properties themselves. Imagine my happiness and surprise when we arrived and the villa was just as nice, if not nicer, than depicted. Even better, it was in walking distance to the beach and a short car ride to the center of town.

We spent the mornings swimming and the afternoons exploring. We feasted daily on fresh fish, calamari, octopus, Greek salads and yogurt, and my favorite, spanikopita.

One day, my parents kept the boys and CM and I took a ferry over to Mykonos. What an extraordinary island. Paros is much more family friendly, while Mykonos is perfect for a couple or a group of friends looking to rage all day and all night. Definitely the party island. The landscape of Mykonos is unbelievably picturesque: the famous windmills, white stucco homes, crystal blue water. We spent the day pretending we were kid less, eating and drinking and soaking up the culture.

After spending a week on Paros, we checked out of the villa and headed back to Athens.
I have learned that having children means you stay at hotels that have pools. The Athens Marriott has a rooftop pool that overlooks the Acropolis. Quite a view.

Athens was hotter, dirtier, and not as beautiful as Paros but we had just as much fun. We walked to the top of the Acropolis and saw the Parthenon, and also toured the city, stopping to eat, shop and people watch.

I know that our travels will take us to many other places, all with wonderfully rich cultures. However, our nearly two weeks in Greece will be hard to top.  And until proven otherwise, this remains the BEST TRIP EVER.

Legoland Deutchland

When you have little boys, Lego's are introduced pretty early. You progress from the really large blocks to smaller and smaller ones. At three and a half, Griffin is only part of the way there. I don't think he really understood the types of things that Lego's can be built into. He was in for a surprise and in the end, we all were.

We were very excited to learn that we were living only about an hour away from Legoland Deutchland. This was Griff's first official amusement park visit and his excitement was contagious. He didn't stop talking the entire hour plus drive to get there.

Once inside the park, we narrowed down the rides and games that he was big enough for.  It was actually kind of limiting, but he was none the wiser. He drove a boat, a canoe, an airplane, a small car. He even drove his own jeep through a Lego Safari. Very cool.  He also rode on a topsy-turvy pirate ship. We attempted to get onto the tea-cups but he was pulled off because he didn't make the height requirement. Initially it was a bummer but the nice young girl who was working the ride gave Griff a little Legoman and that was even more valuable to him than the ride itself.

Poor Brogan spent most of the day in the stroller, with the exception of the Lego Train that we all took around the park.

At the center of the park is a large area that has Lego models of European cities, like Venice, Hamburg, Berlin, Paris, etc and famous German monuments and structures, like the Munich soccer stadium and the Frankfurt airport. It was incredible!

We lucked out with extraordinary weather. All in all, it was a wonderful day, like so many of our days have been while living here.

Sensopolis

One weekend in May our dear friends from the UK came for another visit.  I thought this would be a great time for our first trip to Sensopolis in Boblingen.

Sensopolis is a huge indoor playground/ interactive science museum.  It has a multi-level ball and netted climbing area, a big castle with interactive rooms, a pirate ship, a large water table, fun slides and a humongous spaceship that the kids run throughout. There is also a climbing wall and a ropes-like course for big kids.

Sensopolis is perfect for those many cold and/or rainy Stuttgart days.

 By days ends, the kids were worn out. And when you are headed home for dinner and bed, that's a very good thing.

BCM arrives!

I'll keep the details to the unique German birthing practices offline, but suffice it to say that Brogan Charles entered the world on Feb 25th. What a tremendous blessing. We are filled with love and happiness.

Israel: Tel Aviv and Jerusalem

Israel has been on my wish list for some time and the only way to fit it in before the arrival of baby #2 was to plan a trip around the 35th week of pregnancy. Not ideal, but with a doctor's note and some wrangling with airport personnel we were able to make it to Tel Aviv.

The view of the Mediterranean from our hotel room and the temperatures in the high 60's and low 70's made me feel that we were very far from home. What a wonderful break from the frigid German winter!

The second day after we arrived we arranged for a private guide of Jerusalem. I would recommend this to anyone who travels to this historic city. Our guide was fantastic.  For eight hours we toured and she gave us the Christian, Hebrew and Muslim history and perspective of the capital. What an education!

It was amazing and overwhelming to see the places where Christ once shared his teachings, was condemned, picked up the cross, was crucified and was buried.

We also visited the Wailing Wall, which is one of the most sacred sites in Judaism. We also had the privilege of touring the Western Wall Tunnels which runs the length of the Western Wall and runs beneath the Old City of Jerusalem.

Our day was complete when we toured, shopped and ate in the Jewish Quarter, Christian Quarter and Arab Quarter.

The rest of the trip was spent reading on the beach, indulging in Israeli cuisine and a few spa treatments. Not bad! I have to say that this trip was the highlight of all of our travels. I feel so privileged to have been able to see and experience such a different culture and history than my own. It was a week that I will not soon forget.