Family, Friends, and Memories

I once read an article about a couple in their 60s that were traveling the world. The man had made a comment about his life: he spent his 30s focused on making money; his 40s focused on "making"/acquiring things; his 50s focused on making friendships; and his 60s had been focused on making memories. I think Eric and I have put our 30s and 40s well behind us in this context (we have actually been trying actively to get rid of things!), and have definitely been cherishing our family and friends, while packing in a lot of memories!

August and September had been planned to be quiet - my mother was going to come to visit, but after trips to the US, Sweden and Norway (and a packed spring schedule) Eric and I left the rest of the summer empty. We knew we would be "traveled-out", and I would have a work trip to California in there as well. Just hanging out in Basel with the kids seemed like just the right prescription. But alas, as much as we love planning, one must always be ready to change plans to take advantage of great opportunities...

So it started with Eric. He has joined a group of "Housemen" here in Basel - due to the large ex-pat community, with many women sent here on assignments, there is a large group of men who stay at home to take care of the kids and to keep the households running. Ironically, being in "conservative" Switzerland, Eric finds it is much more acceptable to be a stay-at-home dad here. As work visas provide extra complications, no one asks him here when he is going to find a job - these housemen can have stay-at-home roles without a lot of expectation / judgement that something else has to come to validate their choice. It will be curious to see how this goes when Eric comes home...

Anyway, the Housemen were the first to break into our September calm - in late spring a trip was put on the calendar for the guys to take a weekend visit to Amsterdam. I was excited that Eric had a "boys" weekend planned, so seemed like a good reason to change our plans.

Next came Eric's visit to Ohio in July for the wedding of his ex in-law niece. Eric had been married before, and was very close to his ex-wife's family (with 12 brothers and sisters, there was lots of family to be close to!) At the wedding, Eric got invited to a final family hurrah at his ex brother-in-law's house in France before he sold it - everyone was going to come, and it could not be missed - put that one on the calendar for early September!

So now our quiet September included a trip back to California, a trip to Amsterdam, and a trip to France - what had happened? Ah, if it had only stopped there...

Jumping to August: my mother arrived to all of our delight. She had been having problems with her knees, and with all of our steps in our house we were really worried that she would cancel. Luckily the knee got better to get her here; unfortunately, it acted up when she got here. It did not stop us from getting a chance to show her Basel, but the best times were just visiting, cooking (she made 5 cakes in less than a week!), doing puzzles - hanging out with Oma was a real special treat for all of us.

We also tucked in a few visits with nearby relatives, the first being an excursion up into the Black Forest to visit my cousin/my mom's nephew and his family - meeting in Rottweil (home of the beloved dog) for a great traditional german meal. My mom was figuratively (and maybe literally...) drooling into her spaetzle with fresh pfifferlinge sauce (homemade pasta with chanterelles). It was awesome to have our third visit since being here with Michael and his family - it is always great to get together and connect.

It is interesting to note that I grew up with my family in California, but every living relative we had was in Germany. Back in my childhood, travel was beyond my family's means, so I grew up without seeing my relatives except for rare visits when they came to see the golden state. At the time I thought this was great - no boring visits to grandma and grandpa or distant aunts and uncles(remember, this was an era of kids being seen and not heard). Now I can imagine what was missed, but a nice outcome is that we all really cherish our visits together, and there is no historical baggage to weigh down the experience.

Next up in August was a last-minute planned weekend trip to my aunt, uncle, and cousins north of Frankfurt. An easy car ride with my mom brought us to a weekend of great food, demonstrations of police dog training from my cousin Antja (always a big hit with the boys - all three of them!), and a great visit with my other aunt and uncle who came down for Saturday lunch. It was great to see everyone - especially as my Onkel Klaus is having a difficult time recovering from heart surgery 9 months ago; my Tante Gerda is the inspiring vision at 85 going strong, despite her role rehabilitating her husband, and overcoming the loss of her daughter to cancer just a few years ago. I am so proud of the women in my family, and I hope I have inherited even a fraction of their energy, drive, and positive outlook in life so I too can stay fit and active well into my later years.

So then here comes another blow to our September calendar: my Tante Gabi and Onkel Gunter are going to Croatia for the month of September - can't we possibly come down and visit them on their sailboat? How could we say no? So now with the month positively overflowing...

Trip #1: Loubressac, France. We carved out a long weekend to join Eric's ex-relatives (20+ strong) in a visit of eating, hiking, catching up and card tricks...Loubressac lies on the edge of the Dordogne Valley - neither Eric or I had been here previously, but I have to say it is one of the prettiest places I have ever been to in France. Tiny medieval villages strung across rolling hills; this area is know as the "stomach" of France: one of our many hikes had the kids eating grapes on long forgotten vines, apples, blackberries, walnuts, pears; every morning our hosts, Ronnie and Ed had bags of fresh croissants and pan au chocolat waiting at each house. Ronnie is a professional chef, and so the event would not be complete without a special made dinner of duck breast and potatoes cooked in duck fat (they were so good that I said I was taking them to bed with me to sleep with...) - diet be gone!


The weekend was also special for the boys - a family friend also along on the trip took the time out to teach the boys their first card tricks - but in true magician spirit he showed them a few tricks where he refused to show them how it was done. This drove them crazy, but still left them with enough tricks to practice to keep them busy for a while to come... It was great to catch up with the Ferrato family, and we felt very honored to be invited to this family event.

Trip # 2: Punat, Croatia. We practiced our great "amazing race" skills on this one: I was returning from California, and met Eric and the boys in Zurich to catch our flight to Zagreb. We have had a bad set of luck lately with missing flights, mechanical difficulty, but we decided the risk was worth it, and Eric had instructions if I didn't make it to go without me...

But all worked out with Swiss precision. We made the flights, spent the night in Zagreb, and then got down to Punat the next day. We got two almost too-hot days that meant the only releif was to go in the water - which was amazingly warm (29C/85F)and amazingly clean. Going out on my aunt and uncle's sailboat was an amazing treat, getting to enjoy the Croatian coast line and swimming in a hidden cove. This was the way to live life...

On day 3 we had forecasts for rain, so said goodbye to the coast and my aunt and uncle and headed inland to Plitvice National Park - and our pictures can not do it justice. Eric thought it might be the most beautiful park he has been to in the world - turquoise water and endless waterfalls - it was unreal, and truly unexpected in this part of the world (not that I would not expect beautiful things in Croatia, but it seemed like we were in Hawaii...). The only downer was the rain - we had started the day avoiding the downpours in caves or shelters - by afternoon, coupled with the fact that we lost our way, we just had to keep moving despite the now constant downfall. Karl lost it - he broke down crying that his new shoes were ruined, with me and Eric ready to rip his head off as we needed to keep going. Promises of new shoes - multiple pairs! - finally got him through his low point and kept the family progressing to the car - we ended up driving with a tight timeline to get to the airport, all soaked to the bone. We drove in various states of undress to catch our flight and gain back our body heat - funniest of all is that we had to repack so all of our carry on was just soaking wet clothes and shoes. If security had looked, I don't know what we would have said...

Trip #3: Amsterdam. Now I am not stupid - I know what goes on in Amsterdam - but was glad that Eric could get a break from the kids (and me!) and have a relaxing weekend with the guys. They had a great time renting scooters and touring a great city. I am sure they also had a little more fun, but what happens in Amsterdam stays in Amsterdam, no? Eric now has a set of friends that span the globe...

So where does that leave us? Great times with family and friends. LOTS of new memories - amazing places, amazing experiences. We truly are blessed. But can we slow down in October? Afraid not, as here comes our long planned trip to Egypt...

Norway: Land of Oil and Money...

Norway surprised us, but for a reason that isn't so great: I think, as ignorant Americans, we often don't think beyond our country. Remember I told you many blogs ago that smart, educated American friends of ours were confusing Sweden and Switzerland when we first told them we were coming here. Well, put us on the list of not having thought much beyond our country in terms of history, commerce, and culture. This stay in Europe has definitely opened our eyes, and hopefully the eyes of our children as well to all the interesting (and perhaps world important) histories and economies outside our own borders.

"Norway?", you are asking? Why did Norway trigger this guilt of Americo-centrism? Switzerland, sure, they have all the money. Germany, as it is really the anchor that is keeping the Euro from sailing into the sunset...

Well interestingly, I think Norway struck us because - who thinks of Norway? What do they have to do with anything? The only thing we knew coming to Norway was that it was expensive, and we thought, as long as we are used to Swiss prices, Norway could not be that bad (ha - never assume anything...). Upon arriving, we saw immediately how expensive everything was, and that got us asking a whole lot of questions...

So first, how expensive is expensive? Let's see:

A standard beer in a standard restaurant costs $13 - no joke, and not special places

A large pizza cost $50

Standard dinner entrees seem to range from $40-$60 - at places we would take our kids, mind you...

So all the expensive stuff got us thinking, why? And then, through a bit of Rick Steves mixed with the total truth of the Internet started shedding new light and education on this wonderful Northern country:

Norway is sitting on a gold mine of natural resources: oil, natural gas, fish, lumber, etc.. Norway is in a two way tie with Venezula as the 7th largest exporter of oil, and if measured by capita then they are the largest outside of some countries in the Middle East.

They have the highest human development index in the world ( I guess if we call ourselves the 1st world, compared to the 3rd world, then Norway might be 0.5th world)

The country was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II (I love the line from Wikipedia: "King Haakon and the Norwegian government escaped to Rotherhithe, London, England, and they supported the fight through inspirational radio speeches from London..." - would you be motivated by "inspirational" speeches from your leader sitting in the comfort of a foreign country?...)

They only have a population of about 5 million people - less than the whole Bay Area. Imagine, for a moment, if the Bay Area was the 7th largest exporter of oil in the WORLD - we would be mighty rich folk, no? So...

Norway ranks as the second wealthiest country in the world in monetary value (I think behind Luxemborg), with the largest capital reserve per capita of any nation

And getting a bit lazy here, to cut and past from Wikipedia: The Norwegian economy is an example of a mixed economy, a prosperous capitalist welfare state featuring a combination of free market activity and large state ownership in certain key sectors. The Norwegian welfare state makes public health care free, and parents have 46 weeks paid parental leave. The income that the state receives from natural resources includes a significant contribution from petroleum production and the substantial and carefully managed income related to this sector.

Norway has a very low unemployment rate, currently 3.1%; 30% of the labour force are employed by the government; 22% are on welfare and 13% are too disabled to work, the highest proportions in the world. The hourly productivity levels, as well as average hourly wages in Norway are among the highest in the world. The egalitarian values of the Norwegian society ensure that the wage difference between the lowest paid worker and the CEO of most companies is much smaller than in comparable western economies.

So the moral of this story is: live somewhere that has a ton of exports, and then share the wealth with everyone. Works for me...

So the country fascinated us - is it a picture of what can work well in the world? Yes, but it comes with sacrifice. No one is SUPER rich (oh, I am sure someone is somewhere, but if they are they don't flaunt it), and even they had to stop free immigration in the 70s - don't think those fit with the American dream - but again, it was fascinating to observe how it can work...

So what did we do while we were there? There is a standard "Norway in a Nutshell" tour that we did- though we strung it out over a few days: Start in Bergen, where we got lost in a Norwegian Wood (how could you not hum the song...), took the ferry down the fjord to Balestrand, squeezed in a side trip to hike on the Nigardsbreen glacier (and even go into an ice cave they said had only formed that week and we were the first day to walk through it...);
another boat ride to Flam to take the train to Mydral (where you can rent a mountain bike for next to nothing from the cafe and ride it 20 km all downhill to Flam where they will return it on the train - what a missed opportunity!); and then on the train to end up in Oslo. On the way we stayed in the sleepy town of Geilo - a ski resort in winter, but accommodating in summer with bikes to take out from the hotel and lakes to swim in. I am tired just thinking about it all...

It really was all beautiful. Every minute.

So we ended in Oslo, just five days after their massacare shooting. It was incredibly tragic, and having learned how small the country was, and how great it was working, it was really a blow. They had been accepting of immigrants, they did take care of their people... but for some people (or shall I say a person) that wasn't good enough. What was most impressive, and hopefully powerful for the people of Norway, was that the event brought even more resolve to the people's beliefs and unity - you could feel it everywhere in Oslo, and was most visible in the enormous placement of flowers - everywhere. It brought back images of 9/11, and though you don't ever want to revist the pain and misery, the unity and conviction of what is right is an amazing sight to see.

OK, I have rambled on too long. What else to mention? We went to the art museum and got to see The Scream (or at least one of them - there are more than one!) - by Munch, a Norwegian painter(the kids loved it - interestingly, the painting was an expression of a man in the late 1800s who was full of anxiety over how the world was changing too fast - parallel to the shooting?);

we then partook in grilling in the park which is a local pastime, as eating out is so expensive (they actually have disposal stations for the hot coals, and burn marks in the grass from past grills). And then there was all the sculpture of Gustav Vigeland: the story goes that he convinced the city of Oslo to pay his room and board, and then he would create sculpture for them for the rest of his life - I don't have any pictures here, but look on-line - they are truly amazing, and Frogner Park, where they reside (all 212 of them) is really worth a visit...

So there you have it - an amazing journey through nature, history, economics, and the world, all in one summer vacation. It was time to get back to our own beds, rest, and prepare for the start of school in a few weeks.

Sweden: not just meatballs and herring!

To say we had a good time in Sweden would be an understatement - dare I say it was the best vacation in the last 10 years???

After three truly amazing weeks in the love blanket of our friends in California, Eric, the boys, and I flew from San Francisco straight to vacation in Sweden - connecting through Frankfurt to Stockholm, and then renting a car to really get truly lost in the middle of Southern Sweden. Eric had researched for months, and booked us a room in a hostel in Vartorp - you won't even see it on Google Maps - is that even possible in this day and age?

Now, because of our late arrival, we had decided to only drive 2 of the 5 hours on day one; spend the night and then keep on the next day to our week-long stay - so it is only fitting that our flight from SF was delayed, so we had to be booked on a later flight that would get us to Stockholm at 10:00 pm, only to find out that the suitcase with Eric's and my clothes did not make the switch (which took another half hour to register the missing bag)and end up checking in to the hotel near 1 am - which with the late sundown combined with jetlag was really strange - I even took a work phone call when I got there (only 4 pm in California).

The real bummer was that we were off to the middle of nowhere, and weren't sure how Eric and I were going to get our bag - the airline promised they would get it to us, but somehow we had a bad feeling...maybe we weren't giving Sweden the credit it deserved - what we thought was out in the middle of nowhere (again, you won't find it on Google Maps) is actually really easy for them to find - stop putting our "U.S." minded attitude on everything, no?

The next day on the second half of the trip to Vartrop we stopped at a H&M and Eric and I bought a shirt, shorts, socks and underwear each - assuming that the bag would appear the next day (Sunday) - or Monday at the worst.We arrived shortly after lunch (and after a few phone calls with the owner due to lack of ability to use our Google Map instructions) to all our dreams had imagined: a rustic granary converted to a hostel, 200 yards from a lake, beautiful forests, fields, and rivers surrounding us. It turns out most of the hostel residents the week we were there were from Denmark - and even they were asking us what the heck we were doing there in the middle of nowhere!

We spent a week doing: a whole lot of NOTHING! Now nothing means something different to each of us, and I think we all had such a fabulous time: Eric and Karl really got into fishing; Bennett and I had a few afternoon naps (which, combined with jet-lag and sunshine until 11 at night is just lethal to getting any semblance of a normal body rhythm...); picking rasberries in the forest; practicing tightrope walking on the straps set up for the hostel (would NEVER be allowed in California...); soccer on the huge field; reading endless books; going jogging, and in Eric's case getting lost along the way;afternoon coffee and cake set up by the hostel owner's daughters; a visit to a Swedish "Pancake House" outside on the lawn with live music and American style pancakes for dinner with all the Danes; I could just go on and on... it was a blissful combination of things to do, but really nothing on the schedule and no hurry - who needs to hurry when it stays light until 11 pm?

The funny thing about the long days was that I was afraid my kids would never go to sleep - they go to bed late already, but to have it stay light just seemed like it would be impossible to ever get them down. But the real curse ended up being the "other" side: the fact that it was bright daylight at 4 am actually got them up EARLY - wasn't expecting that! Perhaps a bit slow to figure it out, it happened twice before I made sure they slept with their airplane sleeping masks - took care of it quite nicely...

Now back to that missing suitcase - I took over talking to the airline (as Eric would have ripped their head off, and having heard Swedes are conflict-adverse, it didn't seem like that would get us far). On Monday she said they tried to get it on the flight to Kalmar on Sunday night, to then drive it the final two hours - but the plane was small and at their weight limit; they would try again on Monday night. What made her think it would be any different, I asked - not sure, she said. I told her I wore the same shirt now three days running (I really didn't care, as I wasn't doing anything, but it was getting a bit sad to think if we were doing lots of stuff this would not be ok). She said she was sorry - and clarified to me that we should go out and buy more clothes - with a limit of $100 per person, we could spend up to $400 (even though the kids were afloat in clothes: I actually, despite his protests, wore a shirt of Karl's as a night shirt). Not that it goes far in Sweden, but Eric went to the store and bought us striped shirts that really made us look Scandanavian; running shoes and bathing suits for both of us - combined with the previous purchases put us right up to the $400 limit. When did the suitcase arrive? Wednesday - when they finally drove it down (which they could have done on Saturday - oh well...).

But the real treat to our week of isolation was learning the card game Agurk - or in English, Cucumber. It is a Danish card game, but we didn't learn it from the Danes - we had taught Karl and Bennett Solitare, and Clock Solitare (a favorite from my childhood), and Bennett wanted to learn something new. So, with my sometimes-on sometimes-off cell reception I searched on my iphone for card games, and came across an alphabetical list that showed Agurk, and the rest is history. It is a really strategic game, and to our shock both kids learned it immediately - I don't think Eric has won a game yet. We would watch Bennett, and he would do something that appeared really stupid, and then he would end up winning the hand. The rules seem complicated, but truthfully are easy and it is so addicting - learn how to play because next time we see you we are going to ask you to... This might be the first game we played with them that playing our best we still can't win - ah, yet another milestone in our kids growing up...

So our week of nothing came to a quick end. We then made our way back up to Stockholm, where we finally sampled the local cuisine: herring 5 ways, licorice ropes, the standard cinnamon rolls with coffee. We actually had Swedish Meatballs as well - but confused the waitress who spoke little English, as we tried to show her what we wanted on the Swedish menu by matching up its position on the English menu - but, hysterically, they don't offer the meatballs on the Swedish menu - only tourists would be dumb enough to order them!

We got to tour the city which was quite pleasant, and spent one day out in the maze of islands outside of Stockholm hiking and swimming in the Baltic Sea. We visited Skansen, this set of old Swedish houses complete with people in costume who would explain (quite nicely) what it was like to be a farm worker at the turn of the century, or a soldier in the middle of the 19th century - suffice it to say, it was yet another reminder that we are SPOILED today with lots of room and indoor plumbing and lives that don't require hard labor from dawn until dusk just to survive... but we did get Karl in an apron to grind his own flour (discovered that wheat does not grow well that far north, but rye does - explains the difference in regional breads...) and make his own flat bread, the old fashioned way over an open fire.

We then had to say goodbye to Sweden, and moved on to Norway with mixed emotions - the tragic bombing and shooting had happened three days before we were to arrive - how could such a small and peaceful country be submitted to such tragedy? Suffice it to say that it was an amazing country, both in its history and its landscape. Story to come...

No Whining on the Yacht!

So after 14 months of not being back, Eric and the boys came back to California on vacation. I started out with the only the boys for a week while Eric took a three day bike ride through the Swiss Alps. He had a great time (albeit a few extra climbs due to getting lost) on his self made journey, getting to see small towns and beautiful natural scenery, riding from Geneva to Interlaken. Eric has officially got the biking bug again (maybe the kids being older makes it easier to excuse himself for hours on end) - anyone intersted in coming to bike in Europe has a willing partner (and he is willing to organize as well)! As for his route, it was one beautiful village after another - I don't think Eric or I will ever tire of the Swiss countryside and mountains - it is as pretty as it gets!
So no reason to feel sorry for me with the kids and work in California- I got greeted at the airport from friends who wisked my kids away as I went to get our rental car - the agent was a bit confused when she asked me how many people the car was for, and I said 4 of us - then she asked, "where are they?" When I got to their house (our neighbors across the street from our house) other neighbors stopped in despite the 9 pm hour to say a quick hi - a true flavor of the next two weeks...

Every night was a pool party, dinner with friends, an impromptu get together with the neighbor walking down the street with a bottle of wine...We were so overwhelmed with all the love and affection - we can't wait to get home and back into the community again - it is nice to know we are not forgotten!

It was great to see the kids in action as well - it was as if they never even had left. Everyone got along great, and the whole two weeks was a duct tape festival of sorts - Karl and Bennett taught everyone the nuances of making wallets, purses, and roses, and between hawking their wares and lemonade, they both left California with fat little wallets of their own!

One evening included an event that really had an effect on me: one dear friend was complaining a bit about the effort it takes to clean their vacation home. And another friend said:

No Whining on the Yacht!

Now, the person really didn't complain that much - but it really struck me there really is nothing for me and Eric to complain about - and yet, we find so much to complain about: I don't like this about my job, it's too cold, why does my spouse work so late, why is it so windy, why is dollar doing so bad, why can't I lose the weight, etc...

This is not about comparing ourselves to starving people in India - it was just so clear to me the power of ATTITUDE, at when things are good or things are bad, it is all about the attitude you carry with the situation to be satisifed - dare I say happy! - with things just the way they are. Life is good - and we should not forget it.

So we left California with our pockets and hearts full of love and appreication and good attitude - we can not thank everyone enough for all the great meals, hospitality, and efforts that made our trip so memorable. And then we made our way to vacation (for me at least) in Sweden...

When in Rome...

Ah, Italy... What can you say. Italy to me and Eric is one of those perfect places - great history, great landscapes, and really great food. As part of the Spring 2011 Somerville Amazing Race that Eric had booked last Fall, we did our final leg consisting of a visit to Rome for the long weekend holiday here in Europe for Ascension. Karl had studied the Romans at school last year (California students study the Missons; the Swiss do the Romans as they had settled here) so we thought Rome would be a great place to tour a little history as well as soak up some great relaxing Italian life. It started with a 6 am Wednesday flight departure out of Basel, and ended with delayed flights that got us back to Basel at midnight on Sunday, but we packed a lot of fun travel in between...

I have to say this might have been my favorite trip to date. I think the combination of things to do partnered well with making the right decisions as we went (and great weather did not hurt). It started out at the Colosseum: young people were pitching tours of the place, which ususally we steer clear of. However, the line to get in was 2+ hours long, and for a reasonable fee not only did you get a tour of the Colosseum and then a later tour of the Roman Forum, you got into both immediately. It turns out both tours were awesome - kind of funny, continuously engaging, and fast paced enough that you didn't get bored. Jason, our tour guide of the Forum, noted at the end that he was doing a street tour that night if anyone wanted to join (only 30 Euros for all four of us for two hours), as well as a tour of the Vatican Museum the next day (same deal - you get in immediately rather than wait in line). We chose to do both, and were fully entertained. Eric and I pride ourselves on our back-packing ways but we had to laugh at how much we liked the tours - we are probably two steps closer to the big geriatric tour bus vacation: watch out old age, here we come!

Now an interesting thing to note, is that Rome was a zoo. The crowds were truly unbelievable, and most places seemed like a constant ocean of people. It almost had that claustrophobic effect that you can get in sporting events (I think of leaving Giants games) when you are packed in, and if we had any issues (pick pockets, aggresive people) we would have had a really bad time. However, for some strange reason, it was all ok - no hurry to get anywhere, no reason to get the perfect picture with no one else in it - we were going with the flow which made everything enjoyable. Actually, watching the crowds became part of the show. I tried to pick two of the best pictures to show the crowds: the Vatican Museum was truly a circus - the Sistine Chapel was literally standing room-touching elbows only, with guards constantly yelling (no kidding, they were yelling)for people not to take pictures. As I am a rule-follower you won't see pictures there, but instead I got a picture from one of the halls we walked through. To note, that huge bath/bowl on the left side is made from a purple marble from Egypt that the Romans mined until it was all gone - it is so rare that it is worth ounce for ounce more than gold...pricey little bath, I must say... The other photo is of Trevi Fountain - again, circus is the only word that can describe it. In no way is it even remotely relaxing to sit and enjoy the water - it is just a chaotic crowd of coin throwers and snapshots. Maybe if you tried to come out at 3 am you might get a private moment, but even there I am doubtful...

And life in Rome would not be complete without gelato. I think we stopped for the cold snack at least twice a day - pictured here we came across a grand opening of a new store that was offering free cups to everyone - how can you pass that up! Karl stuck with crema and mint - sometimes a caramel if it was offered; Bennett with stracciatella and chocolate, with coconut once in a while. Eric sampled pistachio, while I was always a sucker for hazelnut. In one place I found chestnut gelato - heaven!!
We ended our short trip with a two day jaunt down the coast: we stopped to tour Pompeii (surprisingly not so crowded, and though hot, not as hot as it could have been); from there we continued on and spent a night in Praiano on the Almafi coast. It turned out to be quite crowded, but with the views and the atmosphere you really didn't care. The people at the hotel were so nice and accommodating - life really doesn't get much better than that...

I also have to comment here that my boys are truly the best travelers in the world. They are remarkably well behaved on airplanes (even at 6 am!),and even though they get wild from time to time I feel they are respectful of other people and museums and churches. We actually had a couple next to us at dinner comment on how they were impressed with our conversation - how engaging their questions were, and what interesting comments they had. This is actually the second time this has happened - a guy in Venice stopped by our table as well to comment on Bennett's insatiable curiosity and how he was certain he would grow up to do amazing things. At moments like this it makes all the endless discipline worth it...

But now we stay put. Well, for three weeks at least until the boys and I return to California for a visit, while Eric takes a detour to Ohio...

The European Whirlwind

So everything is a bit of a blur. The kids had two weeks off for Easter, and Eric, as previously mentioned, had spent the fall booking trips for us to take advantage of our proximity. So hold on to your beret:

We took off on the TGV to Paris and spent 4 days enjoying the City of Lights! Eric and I have a love / hate relationship with France - though I must say if you throw money at a problem, it really can make it go away. A great apartment in a great neighborhood, not looking at prices at sidewalk cafes, and lots of gelato to keep the children's whining to a minimum...

We had no real agenda except to see the Mona Lisa - I love how Karl got a picture that makes it look like he was in the museum by himself...
The Louvre was actually fun despite the masses by buying a book with these cards that was at first a hunt through the museum to find the specified artifact, and then a hunt at the item to find out more about it. It really kept the kids engaged, and kept us from that slow death crawl where you go from piece to piece and get more tired with each step. If anyone is going, be sure to borrow it from us!

We had dream weather so ended up walking a lot and then eating a lot. We had a great time, and now know why everyone loves this city! I am ready to go back, be it a girl's weekend or with the family again. We still have lots more at the Louvre to see!!




I then had to say goodbye, and TGV-ed back to Basel while Eric and the boys spent two days at Disneyland Paris (no longer called EuroDisney, for those who care). I spent three days at work with peace and quiet, but then...

In a complicated maneuver I would only recommend to advanced travel arrangers, Eric and the boys flew from Paris to Venice, where I flew five hours later from Basel and met them there. We spent the weekend enjoying getting lost, hanging on the beach at the Lido, and, no surprise, eating!

The kids got addicted to "fireflies": these little helicopter-like contraptions that you slingshot into the air, that with a LED light attached makes it a fun sight at night. They reached into their own piggy banks to buy 3 each and we talked of the business idea of our kids selling them on the street corner when they get back to California. Lemonade stands are so yesterday...

I will say, though, that we were surprised how "beat up" Venice was looking. Maybe the glamour from our backpacking days had worn off, but it really seems that Venice is full of absent landlords that are sucking their investments dry. Sad, really, that it won't be long until all the charm is really gone...

So the week was crazy - whose life are we living? This can't be the Somervilles...

On the flight home, Eric and I admitted to each other that we were traveled out. It is actually nice that we have stayed put in Basel and surrounding Switzerland since then, but watch out Rome, we are coming in June...