Sicily and Catanzaro

Sicily

Palermo

We have thought about visiting Sicily for a while but it hadn't worked out until this spring break. Due to limited flights from Dublin, we first went to Palermo for 1.5 days. We landed (very) late on Saturday night and after finding some take away pizza and a couple groceries, we got to bed pretty late. But, the streets were still very active in our area! Everyone was out walking around and restaurants were still serving food, drinks, and desserts. We believe it had something to do with the night before Easter. On Sunday we weren't quite sure how much would be open. But, many restaurants and cafes were open. No retail or big markets were open, but most mini marts were open. I started off with a walk out to the water, walking by the yacht club. It wasn't that great a view due to the docks and breakwater. On my way back I stopped (ie was convinced) to stop for some street food. The Vucciria market was inviting and lively and had tables out for eating the street food. I had an aperol spritz and arancini. I got back to the apartment and people were about ready to head out for a walk, using Rick Steves walking tour. We started at the San Domenico church and piazza. Scaffolding was blocking any view of the church. We headed next to Vucciria market where I had just been. We did some street shopping and tried a strawberry spritz (not as good). We made it to Via Vittorio Emanuele, a big pedestrian street. We ventured off tour and started walking toward the water. We came across Cagliostro bakery and gelato. We stopped in for dessert first and a Illy espresso. They had "Illy decaf" cups that were cool and offered to buy one but they said no. We continued toward the water and there was a small market at Garibaldi gardens. I decided I would walk out to the water to see if there was a view. There was a small childrens park that was closed but next to it was a little restaurant with a walkway to the water. There was a bit of a view so everyone joined me there. We sat for a bit and skipped some stones. We went back on Vittorio Emanuele street to find some lunch. We ended up at Cagliostro restaurant. We had good food and service here. I liked the mortadella and pistachio with cheese pizza.

After lunch we picked our tour back up and walked by Basilica di San Francesco d'Assisi. Not much to see but the piazza was used by a focaccia restaurant. Next we walked by the modern art gallery which had a courtyard we could go in and see. Next door was the Church of Sant'Anna la Misericordia. It was closed but we sat at the piazza for a couple minutes. Then we walked to Bellini piazza, which has a theatre and 3 churches. The church of Monastero di Santa Caterina d'Alessandria, Church of Saint Cataldo, and Church of Saint Mary 'dell'Ammiraglio'. We just walked around the outside of these. We then walked up to the four corners intersection. Each facade here is unique with statues and there is usually some music being played, drink carts, and lots of people. We did some window shopping and strolling around the area. We also found some just mediocre gelato from a place that has probably purchased their google ratings. After a bit of a rest at the apartment we started a search for dinner. Kacey found Maccio Restaurant Osteria Alcolica. This place was hard to get a seat but ended up with tasty lasagna and really good carbonara. After dinner we grabbed a couple cannoli from Pastari foods. We walked by the lit-up Massimo theatre on the way back after dinner. Via Maqueda was again busy with lots of people and vendors.

The next morning we got packed up and checked out and dropped our bags for storage while we walked around. We first stopped at Cappadonia Gelati, where they make a Sicilian traditional brioche con gelato. It was a pleasant change and I liked it. We continued walking toward the cathedral. We walked around the outside gardens and took in the views. There was several different tour and walk options available for purchase, and we saw people walking around on top of the cathedral. We walked a bit further toward the observatory and art museum but didn't go in. For lunch Kacey and I got focaccia sandwiches from Focacceria dei Mercanti. Other people ate some food from the Ancient Saint Francis Focaccia Shop, in the piazza of the church we had seen the previous day. I also got my first Amaro Averna, something called a Sicilian Mule. It was now time to head to the train station to catch our 3 hour train ride to Catania.

Catania

We arrived in Catania around 6:30 and we had a 15 minute walk to our apartment. We had a nice view of Mt Etna on the train ride in. We found La Locandolina right around the corner from our apartment. It was cozy and inviting and the food was good. There wasn't a lot open at this time but Don Peppinu gelato was open and busy. It was pretty good with interesting flavors.

The next morning we set out on a simple walking tour of Catania we found, with no big rush to the day, allowing for some easy-going enjoyment. We started at Piazza Vincenzo Bellini. Then on our walk west to Via Etna we stopped in Rematto Artigiano, a leather and wood-worker shop. Once at Via Etna we headed north toward Roman amphitheater ruins. We were starting to get views of Mt Etna along this street, which was nice. We then walked through a market hoping for some food vendors, but it was all clothing and stuff, and then a little bit of vegetables and fish. So we went back toward Via Etna looking for a place for lunch. After a bit of searching we found Trattoria Il Mare. This was really good with great stuff all around, especially my carbonara. After lunch we walked down to the cathedral and enjoyed the sunny day. We got some more gelato from Don Peppinu and also checked out the Fontana dell’Amenano (fountain). We then walked through the small Pacini garden while heading toward the caste. The Ursino Castle is closed but I walked around it. It has a massive moat that is now a pathway. After a little more shopping and buying of sweets we checked out the Greek - Roman theatre. We paid the entrance here and walked around inside a while. After a brief rest at the apartment, we went back to the restaurant from the night before. I got cavallo and it was really good.

The next day was our tour of Mt Etna. While the details of the trip were not super smooth on the day, we had great views and great weather. We rode a Unimog up part of the way (as the chair lifts were not yet operational for the year) and a snowcat up the rest of the way to a high peak. There was still a considerable amount of snow on top, but the peaks were all melted from the heat of the volcano. We even sat in the rocks a bit as it warms you up! The lunch they provided after was sit down at a restaurant, but it was nothing great. After many delays along the way, we got back to the apartment by 6 or so. Due to late lunch we weren't super hungry so we got some take-away pasta for kids that wanted food and we did some snacks and gelato too.

The next morning we caught our 9am train to LaMezia with great views of Mt Etna once more from the train. From Messina, the train is shunted on to a ferry and we traveled the straight on the boat! It was a neat experience. Once put back together, we had to wait a while at the station before completing our journey to LaMezia. We arrived by 1:30pm and grabbed our taxi straight away to head the 25 minutes to Catanzaro (the train connection would have been a mess, taxi was much quicker).

Catanzaro

We wanted to visit Catanzaro as Kacey's great grandfather was born there and migrated around 1903 to America. We wanted to just be in the town and maybe find some information at the state archives.

We arrived at our apartment near Catanzaro Old Town by 2:30. Even though we ate a little on the ferry, people wanted lunch. So I got some groceries while everyone else ate some late lunch. After that we walked the old town just a bit and got some soft serve gelato. It was different, but we were craving real gelato after that. We also tried a brasilena, which is an Italian coffee soda. Soon after we ended up by the southern viewpoint. It was a great view! We made our way back to the apartment to start thinking about dinner. I saw Vecchia Catanzaro early during our walk and between the look and the reviews I thought it would be a good choice. I got the Catanzaro dish morzello, which is a spicy soup mix of a lot of things. I finished the meal off with Vecchio Amaro del Capo, a Calabrian liqour sipped cold after a meal (and we got a shot glass too).

The next day we started walking toward the state archives but took a detour on the way to visit the US Catanzaro FC merchandise shop to get some gear for papaw! We ended up with something for everyone, it was a good visit. We then headed to the state archive building, not really knowing what to expect (other than that they were supposed to be open). We eventually found someone and asked about family records (translating in Italian, they spoke no english). They told us to follow then down to another building next door and they explained in Italian, to a room of 4 or so people, that we were looking for records. We gave them a name and a date and they proceeded to bring out a massive book. It had military records, which we didn't know he was in the military. This document had a lot of physical details. We also were able to have them get a book with details on his parents and grandparents! We took loads of notes and pictures of translations. It was an incredible experience. For fun after, they got out some 500 year old parchment for the kids to see, and we also saw the display cases with old city embossing stamps.

After the excitement of the morning, we started looking for lunch. We found L' Intervallo Pizzeria Rosticceria. We got a started of fried gnocchi which was tasty. Colin got a Italian looking burger that was good. The pizza was pretty good too. After lunch we wanted good gelato so we went to Gelateria Amedeo Centro. They were very inviting and the flavors were interesting. They also had frozen mini cones that were dipped in different toppings. Liana got the pistachio and liked it. We went to the apartment for a rest after. Kacey and her parents then taxied down to another region of town to explore a couple churches. Before dinner we walked to the Il Cavatore fountain and did some window shopping. We also stopped in Church of Saint John Baptist for a few minutes as it was open. On our way to look for dinner we also stopped by a church that may have been the baptismal church of Kacey's great-great grandpa Fransecso, Chiesa di Santa Maria de Plateis in Sant'Anna. For dinner we found Ristorante Trattoria Ceravolo and we enjoyed our time and food here. The next morning we had to check out before our taxi, but we were allowed to store our bags at the apartment. We went out for some lunch but struggled to find something open at 11:30 to eat. We ended up at Harri's Bar Di Chiricò Simona, which was a cafe where they warm up items made that morning, and they had enough seating to make it work. It was actually good and we were able to order a few different things.

Athens

For half term break, I took Liana and Colin to Athens for three days. I found a last minute deal at Athens Tower Hotel with an Acropolis view and breakfast with a view. Located at Monastiraki Square, it is convenient to many sites and transit. We got to our hotel around 8 and went immediately for dinner nearby. Bairaktaris is in a bit of a touristy area, but the staff are nice and the food is good. I remember eating take-away gyros here in 2019! I introduced the kids to tirokafteri (spicy whipped feta dip) and Liana was an immediate fan. We also got some kebabs and croquettes. During dinner, the kids spotted friends from school walking by! After dinner we spotted Venetis on the square and looked in. It was good and we ended up here every night for ice cream and pastries.

The next morning we slept in a bit as our first activity was cooking class at 11. I planned it for the first day as it was the only time with a chance of rain (and it apparently poured during class) and it would introduce some foods to the kids. There were 4 other people in the class and that was a good size. We made phyllo from scratch and formed our own pastries with our own fillings. While those were baking we each made our own main. The kids had a lot of fun and learned a lot. Dionysia at Eat With Your Greek Cousin did a great job. We stopped by the hotel for a small rest and then headed to the Panathenaic Stadium, the site of the original modern Olympic games. We did a small race, visited the museum, and sat and took in the scenery for a while. When leaving, we walked by the Temple of Olympian Zeus (mostly ruins, grounds were closed) and Hadrian's Arch. We stopped by Kayak for ice cream and a rest. We took the subway back to the hotel area and decided to walk the shops of Monastiraki.

The next day we started off by visiting the Acropolis. We walked up the north slope via Areopagus Hill and took in the sites from the hill, as I was planning on coming down the south slope when done. There was a line that would have been ok to wait but I just went online and bought an instant ticket. We started off viewing the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, which is still used for some concerts and performances. We then headed up and did a anti clockwise loop around the Parthenon. We went out for the views at the famous eastern viewpoint. We walked by a few ruined sites on the way down the south slope. After stopping to pet some cats, we went to the Acropolis Museum to use the restrooms, and decided to not visit the museum. We started walking back toward the hotel. Liana spotted a sweatshirt she liked. We found some random lunch spot and had an enjoyable lunch. After a rest at the hotel we took the subway half way to Mount Lycabettus. We walked up the steep hill to the funicular and rode that up (which has gotten pretty expensive, €13 round trip). We took in the views and peeked in the little church. We went back to the hotel for a bit of a rest before meeting our friends for dinner at MS Rooftop, across the street from our hotel. The kids had fun sharing a meal in Athens and talking about the different things they had done.

Our final day we slept in a bit as we would be doing a decent amount of walking and had time to take things slow and enjoy the day. After some breakfast we first went to the Ancient Agora around 11. The main entrance was closed for remodel so we walked around the park and finally found the ticket booth. The line was starting to get long and I was able to buy instant tickets online (and the line was huge by time we left!) We first saw the Temple of Hephaestus with nice views of the acropolis and the entire agora from there. We saw our first tortoise on our walk down the hill toward the Stoa of Attalos. This building was reconstructed around 1950 and now houses a museum and offices. The entire day we were stopping and counting and naming cats, the kids had fun with it. We walked around the loop of the agora and read a little about what each area was used for 2500 years ago. We headed to Adrianou (street with several restaurants facing the ancient agora). We ordered several starters to try a few things we still had not been able to enjoy. After lunch the kids wanted to do the Illusion museum, not far from lunch. We spent a little over an hour checking out all the exhibits. After some ice cream we were going to check out the roman forum but it had closed at 3 for off-season hours. Most of it can be seen from the street, I was hoping to take them in the octagonal tower that was a weather station and clock (although it is just empty now). So we decided to take a walk and check out the national gardens more. We saw a few animals and birds and then found the playground. After playing for a while, our school friends showed up there! So the kids had lots more fun running around and playing. Around 5pm we all started heading back toward Monastiraki for dinner and rest. We were up early the next morning to get to the airport by 7am.

Dingle Peninsula

 We visited Dingle peninsula in June of 2013 and really enjoyed the area. We have been wanting to return and finally made it happen over St Brigid's weekend. We arrived first in to Inch Beach around 12:45. We had the sun peaking out and went out toward the water for a bit. On our short drive in to Dingle from there, we drove through a rainbow that seemed to start on the road just in front of us! We parked and found Paul Geaney's pub open and serving food. Quite a few places were not yet open for the year. After this we checked in to our apartment (and met the local cat Cocoa). We headed back in to town for a Murphy's ice cream and to charge the car. Next we drove out to Holden Leathergoods, just 10 minutes from town (with a view of town across the water). We went back to the apartment for a rest and walked in to town for dinner at Lord Bakers. 

The next day was our day to drive the Dingle Loop. We followed Rick Steve's guide once again. We started at Ventry Beach around 10:45. We had lovely sun on us all day. I don't think it tried to rain on us at all! We stopped at Fairy Ringfort but the gate was closed. And, there is really only earth mounds left, so it wasn't a big deal as we could see most of it from the road. Next was the Dunbeg Fort. This has a small cafe that was closed, but the ticket booth was manned so we walked down to the fort. It was a really beautiful view and remnants of the fort and the beehive are there to see. We then drove a few minutes to the first beehives. We walked through and explored them a bit. These few had no remaining tops, but were still impressive. Further down the road we stopped at Cashel Murphy. This is a collection of five beehives (without roofs) with an outer wall. Another couple minutes down the road was two more beehives, complete with roofs. At each stop we also take in a view of the sea, which is constantly changing.

Next we came to Slea Head, the westernmost point of Ireland. There is a cross along this road, and the road narrows to single lane (but is still 2-way traffic). We parked at the trail head for the Dunmore Head walk. While it looks quite high and steep, you can make it up in 15 minutes to the westernmost point of Ireland! There is an old WW2 lookout bunker at the top and a great view of the Blasket Islands. Next we needed to stop for lunch. Krugers Bar in Dun Chaoin is the most westerly pub in Europe! We got some food and even sat outside for a few minutes in the sunny weather. After lunch we drove down the road toward the Blasket Heritage Museum. We continued on another minute to the sea. Kacey and I sat and enjoyed the waves crashing on the rocks for a while. Next we drove on to Clogher Head. We didn't walk up to the head but we stayed down for views of the strand below. We also had a nice view here of the Three Sisters, mountains filmed as part of Star Wars.

Next we headed to Reask Monastic site. There isn't much to see here but it shows a larger area and how it would have been arranged, including grave stones. We moved on to Gallarus Oratory next. We still had beautiful sunny skies, but it was getting late in the day and we were starting to lose the sun. We recreated a picture of Kacey and Liana from 13 years ago. We moved on to Kilmalkedar Church next. The site dates to 600AD but the church was built around the 12th century. We decided to add a couple stops to our loop and drove up to Dooneen Pier on a whim. We had an awesome view of the setting sun and waves crashing on a small pier that we sat and enjoyed for a while. Finally we drove by Brandon Creek, next to Brandon Mountain. This was also just a small pier and the waves were crashing in to a small cave, causing explosive spray every 10-15 seconds. It was pretty cool! We drove back in to Dingle town for some Murphys ice cream (before dinner). I ended up taking the kids to Adams pub for dinner. Nothing special, but we had fun.

The next morning we checked out and walked around town for just a few more minutes. We found the creek that runs under buildings, which is a neat site to see. On our way back home, we took the road through Connors Pass. This provided amazing views of both sides of the peninsula, as well as Brandon Mountain.

Brussels

For our 2025 fall break, I took Colin and Liana (Nolan did not have a break) to Brussels. We stayed only 4 minutes walk from the Grand Place. The plan was to eat chocolate, waffles, and fries for two days (and beer for me). We got to the Craves Hotel around 7pm and walked to see the Grand Place lit up at night in purple. I found The Brothers Brasserie for dinner next to Grand Place. It was good, with fish chips, meatballs, Flemish stew, and the Karmeliet beer was good. We stopped at the Carrefour next to the hotel to grab a few things for breakfast.

The next morning we just walked around the city a bit and saw some sites. We got some frites (fries) with andalouse. Then we bought some chocolate to snack on. Then we spotted "The Goose" at the Grand Place. Then we visited Rose de Damas, a place we had visited years ago with delicious treats. We walked to Le Pre Sale for lunch on a recommendation. It felt very authentic. We ordered mussels, frog legs, and a salad. The frog legs were really good. After lunch we stopped at the hotel for a little relaxation. Then we headed out to stop in more sweet shops on our way to the Illusion Museum. The kids picked this place out and we had fun during our visit with a lot of silly pictures. After our visit we went for waffles at Gaufre de Bruxelles. After some more walking we got more frites at Frituur Tabora, which had over 50 sauces. We did some more shopping before dinner to buy some things for mom and get some souvenirs. For dinner we found some Belgian food at Le Coin de l'Ecailer; rabbit and snails. It was tasty. After dinner we walked around some more, found some mulled wine, and got more waffles.

The next morning we decided to visit Atomium. We enjoyed our visit walking around and doing a bit of reading. We booked an afternoon chocolate making class so we traveled nearby to find some lunch. We found Tonton Garby from reading reviews online. We were very lucky that the line was not very long (waited maybe 20 minutes). All the reviews online are correct, they even have signs up on the street that say if you are in a hurry, you should go elsewhere. The guy here hand makes each sandwich with either fruit or meat. He handcuts and slices everything for you. Goes through your options, makes suggestions, and has a nice chat with you the whole time. At the end, you end up with a delicious masterpiece. We even bought some of his amazing farmers cheese for a takeaway snack. The gentleman is Turkish and speaks eight or so languages. We had fun talking with him and eating our food. After lunch was chocolate making class! The kids enjoyed tasting and learning methods for molding. And eating some too! After the class we decided to walk and visit the Lego store. It wasn't that special, reminded me of Dublin (sorry). While walking back toward Grand Place we walked by a 2 story Flying Tiger, so of course Liana had to go in. Dinner we ended up at the Blue Restaurant. While Greek, it had many Belgian specialties. After dinner we had one last go of frites, and then some waffles, and then some hot chocolate.

The Burren, Aran Islands, and County Clare

Before school started back up, we visited an area we had seen once before, but got to see a few new sites. We headed to Doolin Cave first on Saturday morning. During our drive we set a booking for noon. Doolin Cave has the northern hemisphere's largest stalactite, weighing in at 10 tonnes and is 23 feet long. After a trek down and back up we drove in to Doolin for some lunch at Stonewall Pizzeria at Hotel Doolin. After lunch we left our car there and headed out on the cliff walk. It is partially closed near Cliffs of Moher but we went pretty far and after about 45 minutes stopped to wander around the tide pool area. After that, Kacey continued on toward Cliffs of Moher and I took the kids back to town. We stopped at Doolin Ice Cream for a bit of a treat. We went and checked in our apartment above Riverside Bistro. It was a nice big 4 bedroom apartment with kitchen and living room. We booked entry at Cliffs of Moher parking for 5pm and met Kacey there. The sun came out again for some really nice pictures. Colin and I went to go in O'Brien's Tower and the others went to walk the cliffs a bit. We got back to the apartment and the kids made some pasta while the parents went to Gus O'Connor's Pub for food and music.

The next day we had tickets for the ferry from Doolin to Inishmore, Aran Islands.  The ride is around 45 minutes and we had a nice day for it. We had views of the Plassey Shipwreck on Inish Oirr, which is the shipwreck viewed on the opening credits of Father Ted. Our plan was to rent e-bikes to explore the island. But unfortunately, Colin was not old enough for one. So he and I had to get a tag-along. So while everyone else e-biked around, he and I struggled climbing hills (these bikes are a bit awkward!). We worked hard and did it together. The first road we took was not a maintained road, but we explored the country side by ourselves while traveling to the Wormhole. This is a naturally occurring, perfectly rectangular, blowhole. It is also much larger in person than any picture shows. Kacey was able to get in for a few minutes. We had packed in lunches so we ate a bit on the rocks here. Next we biked to Dun Aonghasa Fort. You leave the bikes near the shops and facilities and walk the trail up. We had a beautiful day for walking and exploring. There are some sheer cliff edges with very little signage or railings. Next we biked west to the Seven Churches. This site is really only two churches and is famous due to its inclusion on pilgrimage in the Catholic church. We headed back to the port town and stopped for a couple views at Kilmurvey Beach. We took the northern (longer but easier) road back. We also stopped at the Seal Colony Viewpoint for some ice cream (and there was at least one seal in the water spotted). Colin and I pedaled hard to get back to town and ended up making good time. He and I hit Inishmore's Tigh Joe Mac's pub for drinks while the others came in later and did some shopping. We got back to Doolin around 5:15. We ordered some food from the bistro downstairs for the kids and then went to McDermott's for dinner and a bit of music.

The next day we packed up and were going to drive the long way out of Clare on our way home. We had a little rain this day, but not a lot. We stopped by the Burren Visitor Centre in Kilfenora. I got a little info about which roads to take to see some sites we wanted to see. We first went to a pilgrimage for me, Father Ted's house! It is privately owned but you can take pictures from the road. We tried to take a road across to Cahercommaun but it dead-ended, so we headed south around and got there easily. This was a nice hike to a ring fort ruins. This one is built on the side of a cliff. We then drove some nice winding roads to Cathair Chonaill ring fort ruins, but this is owned by someone and their visitor centre lost water pressure, so they closed the whole thing. Oh well. We drove a few minutes north to Poulnabrone Dolmen. This is a early neolithic portal tomb whose opening stones have remained in tact for over 5000 years.

Paris

We headed to Paris for a few days for the half term break in February. We visited when Nolan was 5 and Liana was almost 1, so we figured we would show Liana and Colin a few sites.

We flew in Saturday around lunch and took a taxi to our apartment. We stayed next to the Strasbourg - Saint Denis metro stop. This stop has 3 big metro lines so it made getting around very easy. We only pre-planned a couple things and had some other things to book in last minute. We walked around our apartment first and ate some crepes and pizza. I also bought a couple pastries for the morning. Then we headed to Champs Elysees and hit a few shops, including Laudree for a few macarons. We ate some Italian food and walked to Arc de Triomphe to view it at night.

The next day we had a 1:30 entry to the Orsay Museum (which we entered about 25 minutes early). We took the metro to Concord plaza and walked to the museum from there. We spent a good amount of time on the 5th floor looking at some art from Van Gogh and Monet. I then took the kids for a snack at the basement level cafe. We then spent some time wandering around the open air area of rooms, art, and sculptures. We left around 4:30 and took a taxi toward the Eiffel Tower to just walk around the park and base. We had tickets to go up our last day. There are only 2 places to enter through security now. We bought a couple snacks and walked around a while. We decided to find dinner in the area and afterward catch the 8pm light show. We struck out at a couple places but ended up back at Italian food. We walked toward Trocadero along the Seine and realized our view from the river walk was pretty good. So we stayed there and enjoyed the 8pm light show. We then tried to take the metro back to the apartment but our line was down for repair so we took an uber.

The next morning I once again tried for tickets to Notre Dame (it is hard now) and got some! So instead of waiting in a huge queue we showed up at 10:15 and walked right in. It was great to see how much work was done the past 5 years since the fire. We slowly walked the clockwise loop. We next walked north toward some food and shops. Liana found a beret and Nolan found a baguette to eat. Kacey hit a leather shop while I took the kids to the Lego Store. We enjoyed gazing at the custom Parisian structures that had been created. We then met Kacey for lunch at le Paris Halles. While this felt like a touristy area, we had good food. Next up was the Louvre. We walked 20 minutes and were also seeking some ice cream on the way. We only found Haagen Dazs which worked for the kids. I ate a crepe along the way.

We started by recreating a photo of Nolan from 2013 on the pillars in front of the pyramid. We also took photos of each kid. We had a 2:30 entry time and there was a very long queue for the 2:30 entry crowd, but it moved fairly fast. We were in and on our way (after checking coats and a bag) by 3pm. We walked toward Mona Lisa first to show the kids. Next we went toward the French crown jewels. We then started walking toward and through the Egyptian area. While the kids took a break and slowly walked through more Egyptian stuff, I ran over to view Napolean's apartment. We met back up (after figuring out how to get through due to closed hallways) and walked toward Venus de Milo. It was almost 5:30 at this point and the announcements started as the museum was closing for the day. We debated between uber and metro and since the queue to buy metro tickets was quite long, we just called an uber back to the apartment.

Tuesday was our day to visit Versailles Palace. We had never visited before. We arrived in the village a little early and bought some lunch sandwiches and snacks at a grocery store and ate them outside.  We had 12:30 entry time. The queue was quite long but once it started moving it didn't take too long. While the palace is huge, not all of it is open to the public. We walked through the open areas, many of which have no furniture, just art. By 2:30 we headed out for the gardens. The kids ran around a lot and we walked toward the canal by the shop for snacks and a restroom. By 3:45 we started making our way out back to the train station. We were back in the city by 5:30 and found a place to eat (Au Metro) where Colin tried escargot with me. It was good!

Wednesday morning we checked out and dropped our bags near the Eiffel Tower so we could all make our way up. Kacey and Liana only went to the restaurant level, but I took the boys to the top. We bought a couple snacks and Liana and Nolan did a special exhibit, walking across the expanse at the restaurant level called "Le Vertige de la Tour". There was a 40m long net bridge across the expanse, 60 meters high.

We found some food nearby for late lunch before taking our uber to the airport. Some simple pizza, hotdog, and sandwiches (and crepes) suited just fine. 

Orly airport is nice looking, but their people management and line process is terrible.

Iceland

Iceland has been on our list of places to visit for a very long time. I even found notes from ten years ago when we tried to visit. We felt like spending one week would be a great taste of Iceland, doing the south and west areas of the island, and that two weeks may be needed to do the entire loop (and summer weather). We had a week off school to use in October and figured this could work. This is probably about as late as you would want to go for general tourism (although there are plenty of winter excursions if that is your preferred vacation). We did need to protect sunlight activities and drive in the dark some at this time of year.

Saturday

We flew direct from Dublin and landed around 1pm. We were able to get the rental car and be on the road to Vik by 2. We quickly stopped at a grocery and grabbed some water and a couple light snacks knowing that we could shop that night in Vik. We wanted to be out there by 5 or so to take in a couple sites around town before it was dark. Our drive was quite rainy and overcast, but generally pretty easy. We got to Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach around 5:30pm and we were just starting to get some colors of sunset. It was a really nice area with waves crashing on the basalt columns, but calmer waves on the beach. There were a lot of people out viewing the sunset, including a wedding party.

After a couple people got wet, we headed over to town to eat at Black Crust Pizzeria. It was pretty busy but it worked out. We dropped two people off to wait in line to order while the rest of dropped our bags off at Vik Apartments. When we got back, they had ordered and found a table to sit. After dinner we hit the Kronan grocery store for breakfast stuff, lunch food, and more snacks for the car, as our next couple days would not be near any services.

Sunday

We got on the road around 8:30am. The sun was just coming up as we left and it was nice over the mountains. We first stopped at Dyrhólaey cliffs, just west of Vik. It was quite nice and we enjoyed watching the waves crashing. We also noticed snow atop the mountains in the distance to the north.

Our next stop was Solheimajokull glacier. We walked 10 minutes to the viewing platform. Then a few of us walked out to the glacier. There isn't really a good place to safely get on without a guide, but we were able to get on a bit of ice just barely. There were lots of little chunks of ice that had washed up next to the lake. The next stop was Skógafoss waterfall. This is pretty tall with a large carpark. Kacey and Nolan hiked up, while we just stayed down for the views. I went ahead and made a couple sandwiches to eat so we could start driving once everyone was back. The final stop on the south part was Seljalandsfoss waterfall. These are pretty cool and you walk behind them. Nolan walked the loop with us. We stopped in the nearby town of Hvolsvollur to get fuel and buy a couple things at the Kronan grocery store.

We headed an hour north to Gullfoss falls. There is a large carpark here and a big cafe and visitor center. There is a walk to an upper view and stairs down to the lower view. We felt the upper view was better and easier. The sun was great and we even saw a rainbow in the falls. Next was Geysir Park. There are several little smoke holes here and one large geyser. Strokkur Geyser goes off every 8-10 min and is pretty tall. We all got a real good look at a big release and some smaller ones as well.

We them drove to Brúarfoss falls. These are small but pretty and blue. Being off the beaten track made them less busy too. We enjoyed the view a bit and then headed to Efstidalur farm for some fresh made ice cream. The cows were in the barn attached to us, so we were seated next to them while eating ice cream. Also, their spoons are edible cookies! We then started the long drive out to our apartment in the west peninsula. We ended up on not the greatest road for about 11 km, which in the dark was a bit stressful, but we made it to Borgarnes for dinner around 7:30. We ate at Bara and enjoyed our meal. We made it to Eiðhús Apartments by 9 or so.

Monday

We got up and ate some breakfast in the room. We headed out for Snæfellsnes peninsula around 9am and started couter-clockwise at 54-56 intersection on the south side. There were morning clouds but we had good visibility. We started going north over the mountain. Our first stop was Selvallafoss waterfalls. It was hidden from the road but glad we ventured out to have a look. Very pretty and poured out into a lake. A couple minutes north the road ended and we headed west on 54. We stopped at the road to the shark museum (closed for the season) and parked to look at and quickly walk in the lava rock fields, Berserkjahraun. Next we stopped for views at Kolgrafarfjördur Viewpoint. This was really pretty and had a story about an Icelandic Saga.

We next drove through the little town of Grundarfjörður and took a picture of a little church with the mountains in the background. We continued out of town to Kirkjufell falls and mountain. This is a famous picture spot, and is the front cover to Rick Steve's Iceland book. It was beautiful and can't imagine a full sunny day there. We spent almost 30 minutes taking in the view. We went back in to town to use the public wc, after we were able to find it.

We drove about 30 minutes along the coast to Svöðufoss falls. This was an easy walk back to the falls. Kacey took the boys up the side of the hill to the top of the falls. Next we stopped in the town of Hellissandur where the Snæfellsjökull National Park visitors center in located. We thought we may eat a real lunch here, but didn't see much. So a few people ate some cake and soup and lunch sandwiches in the car.

We got back on the road around 1:30 and headed toward Skarðsvík Beach and Svörtuloft Lighthouse. The road was in pretty bad shape and had to drive quite slow. But the beach was worth it. Also, the lighthouse had a view of a neat cliff. We headed toward the Saxhóll Crater. We walked up 385 steps and the view with the mountain from the crater top was better than seeing inside the crater. Next was Djúpalónssandur beach and shipwreck. This is a big open beach with old shipwreck pieces strewn about. The area is protected so the pieces are left alone. There is also a nice overview for those that don't want to walk down to the beach area. We spent about 30 minutes exploring.

Next we stopped at Lóndrangar. It was raining a bit here so Kacey ran out by herself to the viewpoint. This is a picturesque spot in the sun. We continued on to Rauðfeldsgjá Gorge. The rain ended again so we walked up to the gorge. With the layout of the land, it doesn't look steep from the car park, but it is more intense than it looks! We were able to go in the gorge some (you enter the base opening) but most of us were limited due to shoes. Kacey, having proper wellies, went in pretty far. The boys ran up the side of the mountain to a patch of snow and brought some back. We then stopped for dinner in the town of Arnarstapi. There were actually a couple food options. We didn't really time for viewing the stone arch at the sea. We picked Stapinn for dinner and it was pretty good. We got back for bed for early rise to drive for the next morning's tour.

Tuesday

We left at 7:45 for 9:45 arrival at "Into the Glacier" Ice Cave Tour in Húsafell. Snow had fallen but we got there with buffer time we factored in. Our tour started at 10, we actually left around 10:15. They loaned us some water proof over-boots to start. We climbed in to a beast of a machine that is an old NATO missile truck. It took about 30 minutes to ascend to their base camp, and our guide told stories along the way, including Eric's Glacier. We stopped for toilets and just a bit of pictures and snow playing. Then we drove another 25-30 minutes up to the tunnel near the top of Langjökull Glacier. We really lucked out as the view was perfectly clear. We could even see the Snæfellsjökull glacier, about 125 miles away. We had heard the day before they couldn't see 20 feet due to fog. Once we got in the cave, we walked on rubber mats to a room with benches where we put on crampon chains. We walked in quite a ways and heard stories along the way. After 30 minutes we reached the cathedral room. We learned about a wedding that has taken place there and our guide sang a Icelandic lullaby. Learned about the self-healing fissure, summer (dirt) rings, and blue ice where more water was prevalent. It took about 15 minutes to walk back out, we were inside about an hour. On the way down we heard more stories, and learned about the largest forest, which is near Husafell.

We left around 2pm and headed to two nearby waterfalls, favorites of our guide. Hraunfossar and Barnafoss Waterfalls (mother and daughter saga). The first was unique in how the water looks like it is running out of rocks for a hundred yards or so. The second looks like a deep cut torrent of glacier water. Next was Deildartunguhver, a district heating source. It was pretty neat to be up close walking around the steam vents and bubbling boiling water.

We decided to drive about an hour back north, backtrackking, to see the Gerðuberg Basalt Cliffs, as the main roads had gotten better. Maybe it wasn't worth the drive out of the way, but the two times we drove by it was dark. We made it in to our apartment around 6:30 in Reykjavik. We ate dinner next door at a food hall. We had pizza, Mexican, Icelandic, and Italian gelato.

Wednesday

We finally slowed down a bit today. We walked toward Hallgrimskirkja and stopped in a bakery on the way. Once at the church we went up the tower lift and it happened to be in time for the bells at 11. Then we listened to some organ music once back down in the sanctuary. We walked down toward Rainbow St and checked a few shops. The one public toilet was closed so we had to buy drinks at a restaurant and use their toilet. Colin and I then went for hotdogs at Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur, a famous hotdog place.  We decided to walk back to hotel and to go to Sky Lagoon in the afternoon.

We obtained reservations for 2:30 and acutally got in the water around 2:45. We did the seven traditional steps, including a cold plunge. We bought a couple drinks along the way as well. We left around 5:15 and enjoyed our time there.

For dinner we bought the kids pizza and the adults went to Brass Kitchen. The lamb was good.

Thursday

Today was more driving to go back to the Golden Circle to see a few things we had missed previously. We started by going to the Geothermal Exhibition at Hellisheidi Power Station. For some engineers, this was a pretty fun way to spend an hour. There was stuff for kids and views of the turbines and generators. We headed east more and stopped in Hveragerði for the Reykjafoss Waterfall. Not that grand but we were across the street from a public (heated) outdoor pool. People were out doing laps.

We then drove to Hespa in Selfoss. Hespa is a yarn and wool company and we visited on of their studios where they do dying and have a little showroom of equipment and processes. Kacey loved it. Next we had a reservation at the Bobby Fischer museum. Iceland gave him residence status and he lived here until he died. We also visited his grave site just outside of town. Mike had a great time visiting and reading while the boys played a quick game of chess.

After eating a little food we headed north to Thingvellir (Þingvellir) National Park. We hadn't researched this too much but when we got there we realized it is mostly a commemorative grounds for the first Icelandic government. It also has nice views and the Silfra Fissure, a place people snorkel between two continental plates. It was very windy and chilly but the sun came out later and got quite nice. We watched snorkelers, and walked the creeks between plates. We also walked by the old church and Prime Minister's summer residence. We then drove around to the visitor's center, located above the cliffs. The views were nice and we bought some hot chocolate.

Finally we drove by Þórufoss falls on our way back to Reykjavik. It was a quick hike down to get close to the large, powerful waterfalls. Back in Reykjavik we had a quick dinner at chipper and bought some chocolates to share.

Friday

This day we slept in, and our only plans were to walk around Reykjavik. The adults headed toward Rainbow Street, following a walking tour. We stopped at BakaBaka bakery for a few random things. I then had another hotdog. Then we walked along the harbor to the Harpa Concert Hall. We walked around inside a bit. We continued Rick Steve's walking tour doing a small loop. After dodging some rain we saw a big double rainbow. I had been spotting something called happy marriage cake in a few shops and I finally had one at Brauð & Co. It was very good! And yes, I shared. Later in the afternoon I took a scooter ride along the north shore to the west shore. I met Colin for another hotdog and walked back with them.

Kacey and I finally had dinner at Old Iceland, after trying a couple other nights. It was very good and we bought all the food.

Saturday

We packed up and headed south to the Reykjanes peninsula. That night we would stay near the airport for a very early departure. We reached Kleifarvatn Lake around 10:00. It was a little frosty but the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds and it was pretty. We headed south a few minutes to Seltún Geothermal Area. This was pretty neat with a lot of bubbling pools and a boardwalk around. Next we drove by Green Lake, but the clouds didn't really let the lake show off its essence, which we were able to see from the car.

Just further south down the road was Krýsuvíkurkirkja church. This was a scenic black church out in the countryside. We then headed down to the coastline to see the Krísuvíkurberg Cliffs. The sun was bursting out of the clouds while we were here. There isn't much to keep you away from the cliff edge, just a little chain link up to your waist. Further west down the coast we came to Hópsnes Lighthouse and shipwreck. The lighthouse wasn't much to look at but the couple shipwrecks in the area all have plaques and tell the stories of what happened.

Then we were in to Grindavik for lunch. Many places were closed but we found Papa's. It was good! The fish and chips were fantastic, the pizza was good, and we even tried an old local dish, hakari, or fermented shark. Many places were closed as this area is experiencing volcanic eruptions.

After lunch we drove to Brimketill lava rock pool. This was really cool with big waves splashing all around. If you wait long enough for a big one, you get wet. There was another great rainbow on our way out. Next we drove to Gunnuhver hot springs. This stop is not as interesting but it is really hot. We then drove out to Reykjanes Lighthouse and Valahnúkamöl cliffs. The sun was great in the sky and the area was quite nice. There was also a neat museum piece in the lighthouse.

Next was the Bridge Between Continents. It was busy when we got there, but it emptied out and was interesting to comprehend. I can imagine in the summer it probably gets super crowded. We drove back to Stampar and Kacey and I walked to the fissure. It was an interesting landscape. We drove to the airport area for hotel rooms at Konvin. After unloading, we drove back out to Hafnir for sunset views. Dinner at the hotel was decent enough.

Thoughts

We got lucky with no real travel delays for late October and the one day we thought we might have one, we just got up earlier to get more time on the road. We planned around shorter days. We saw a large amount of Iceland in eight days. We were busy most days while the sun was up. When driving in remote areas, you need to have food and water with you. Everything is cashless, we never even obtained any kronas. Things are very expensive, just expect that in your planning. We picked Sky Lagoon over Blue Lagoon as it is in Reykjavik. They are similar experiences and we enjoyed Sky.

Croatia and Montenegro

We have wanted to visit Croatia for many years and we finally got there right before school started in August. I also wanted to see Montenegro while there and we were able to see Kotor Bay as well.

Zagreb

We landed in Zagreb at 12:30 and took a taxi in to town to drop our bags at the apartment and eat some lunch. The 3 bedroom apartment at City Wellness was huge and comfortable. We walked toward the main square in Lower Town looking for food. We ended up at Pivnica Mali Medo (on restaurant row) and it was not bad. A good variety of pasta, meat, and beer. After lunch we walked down by the cathedral, which is still under construction from the earthquake of 2020. We walked through the main square to get some ice cream. We walked south through the city park a bit and then headed back to the apartment for a little rest. We stopped in an Asian market Liana spotted and bought a couple drinks. Around 7pm I headed out to eat some meat at a traditional Croatian restaurant and everyone else went to an Asian noodle place. I went to Gostionica Ficlek and they went to Torikaya Ramen Bar. I got Faširanci, spiced meat fritters, and Gemišt to drink, which is wine white mixed with sparkling water. It is a common drink for the area. I also got some cherry strudel, and strudel is widely consumed in Croatia. We met up after eating and walked to Sisters Ice Cream for some blueberry lemon mint goodness.

The next day we had no exact plans except to sleep in and walk some more areas. We headed west to the city park and walked north through it all. There are fountains, dancing guides, gazebos, and flowers. We made it up to the Dolac Market and walked that for a while. We bought some cheese and fruits to snack on. We then started a small walking loop from Rick Steves. We walked through the Oktogon building and then found the beginning of the Grounded Solar System art installation. First is the sun, which is fenced off for construction and possibly to have it cleaned due to graffiti. We ended up next to an Italian restaurant that looked good and people were hungry, so we stopped there for lunch. Al Dente was also ok, and they cut my pizza with scissors! After lunch, we found Mercury and and Earth on the art installation. We then walked toward the funicular and took it up to the Upper Town. We walked by St Marks church which is blocked off by fencing. But, you can still enjoy it's beautiful roof. We then walked down through the Stone Gate, which houses inside a Mother Mary Shrine. We then stopped for ice cream and a drink on the restaurant strip. We also found the Mars part of the art installation. Kacey and the kids were tired so they went to the apartment while I went to the Zagreb City Museum.  It was interesting to learn more about how the city came to be, and the Yugoslav wars. For dinner the kids had pizza and I went to Rougemarin for a steak. The next morning we walked to pick up our rental car and loaded up to leave by 10am for our drive.

Rovinj

The drive had a considerable amount of traffic until about the Karlovac area, where the road split to heard south. We continued straight toward Rijeka and then through the mountains and tunnels to Rovinj. This area used to belong to Italy (among other dynasties in the past) and feels like you are transported back to Italy. It is a dual language town and the food is still heavy Italian. We arrived at our apartment around 3pm and it was a great place. We were a 5-10 minute walk to the old town. We headed in and Liana and I walked around a bit while the others ate some food. There was a wedding going on at the cathedral so no entry. The view seemed like it would have been great from the bell tower. We walked around the north harbor and the little market that is there. We met up and bought some food for breakfast and went to the apartment to relax a bit. We walked in for dinner and ended up at La Fondiaria. We got gnocchi and local fuzi pasta with black truffles. We found really good ice cream after at Ombra lab. After dinner the sunset was really nice to watch at the north harbor. We hung out taking pictures at night at the south harbor.

Istria: Motovun, Završje, Grožnjan, and Buje

Today we planned to drive around the hill towns of Istria. We started first in Motovun. We had great views of the town on the drive in. We really liked this town, and it is the bigger of the towns we visited for the day. There was a great ramparts walk with a lot of great views. Also, some really good food with a view. There was also a little free outdoor museum that talks about the importance of the forests in the area. I also tried a limoncello spritz walking around. We ate a good lunch at Montana Gallery. We got the traditional pljukanci rolled pasta with black truffles.

On our drive to Zavrsje, we drove through Oprtalj. We drove in from the south, but on the north side of town is a really nice view of the town, so while we didn't stop in this tiny town, we did stop for a view on the way out. We then arrived in Zavrsje, which is a mostly abandoned, little town. We saw cats and a donkey, but no people. There were castle ruins and a church that is boarded up with a bell tower that is leaning. There are no services in town.

We next drove toward Grožnjan, which is a town that was nearly abandoned at one time, but now has been taken over by artists. We heard music being played, lots of paintings out for sale, and Kacey found a shop where the guy makes these little stone house things (hard to describe). We also got a little ice cream and a coke on the hot day. There were also some metal art of ships in a plaza.

We headed to Buje next, not sure if we would get out of the car. We did see a EuroSpar, so we stopped for some water and sunscreen. We parked in Buje and walked in to the old town. We found a scenic lookout and then considered going in the old fortress tower, but the owner was a little off-putting. We headed toward Brtonigla to potentially eat some dinner, as it is known for being a town with good restaurants. We drove for a few minutes and didn't really find what we were looking for, so we drove back to Rovinj to eat dinner at Pizzeria Stari Grad Rovinj, as their pizzas smelled very good the previous night. They were pretty good and we were well positioned for more ice cream after dinner again. Kacey tried Gelateria I Nonni for ice cream and it was also very good (and busy).

The next morning we woke up and made a couple trips in to town to photograph the old town with the rising sun at the north harbor. It was very pretty. We got on the road to Plitvice National Park via Pula.

Pula

We wanted to quick stop in Pula to see the Arena and eat some lunch before the long drive back inland. The arena is a surviving Roman amphitheatre that still has all 4 sides. It is still used for some music concerts! We walked the old town toward the market area for lunch. The market area didn't have as many lunch options as we were hoping, but we made it work. After some ice cream (again, quite hot), we got back on the road for the coastal route toward the park.

We drove toward Novi Vinodolski to make a stop at Cave Beach. Parts of the coastal drive are nice, but some are average driving. Kacey enjoyed sitting at the "beach", eating some snacks, and getting in the water for just a couple minutes. The water was crystal clear, but she was consumed in just enjoying it and didn't take any pictures. We got in for a couple more hours of driving toward Korenica, where our apartment was for the night. We ate at Restaurant TIME next door. I enjoyed my meat platter with mead liqour. I got some baklava for dessert while Kacey took the kids to the grocery for some ice cream.

Plitvice Lakes National Park

This NP is rated as one of Europe's most beautiful parks. It also gets extremely busy. It helps to buy your entry ahead of time online, and it also helps to review their website to see what walking path you may want to take.  We had decided on route H, which was a long mix of both paths and a boat trip across the lower lake. You are free to make your own path as some guide books point out. We did end up in a couple queues along the way, but it was manageable. You need plenty of water and snacks for the day, and use the toilet before starting. At the top of upper lakes (after the tram ride), there are not really big views for a while. The side path up to a lookout is worth it (about 10 minutes in). The walk is full of little waterfalls, big waterfalls, crystal clear water, and great views. You can clearly see fish swimming around, and fallen trees 10 feet down. We took the boat north across the lake to the area with some food. We got in line straight away to buy some sandwiches and drinks. The boat line to head back south was unreal in length, but we were walking another small loop and taking the shuttle back. For dinner we went to Šapina. I got some suckling pig and Liana got another pizza. We also got some nutella crepes for dessert.

In the morning I drank coffee on the balcony and enjoyed the sunrise over the mountains. We got packed up for our drive to Dubrovnik via Split.

Split

We were hoping to sit on a beach for a little while and eat some lunch. Parking was insane and after some driving around we snagged a spot on a dead end street that wasn't too far from the old town, but not the beach. We got some lunch in a food court area near the water and train station. Nothing was very good and it took forever. We walked over to the old town and got some ice cream while Nolan and I went up the bell tower. The views were nice. The old town has a lot of Roman ruins, but doesn't take too long to walk around. We got in the car by 2:15 or so for the 3 hours to Dubrovnik.

Dubrovnik

We got in our apartment by 5:30 or so. We had quite the apartment debacle, but we had a place to stay. I dropped everyone off near Buza gate, dropped the car at the airport, and taxied back to the old town to join them for dinner. They had found Nico's and it was good enough. We ate a little ice cream and got back for bed for our early rise the next morning.

Montenegro

We booked a tour of Montenegro and the Bay of Kotor. We got picked up at 7am and started the drive. Within an hour we had crossed the border to leave the EU, which involves an exit out of Croatia, and then a separate entry in Montenegro. By 8:40 we had stopped and were taking our first look at Our Lady of the Rocks Church in the Bay of Kotor. Traffic around the bay backs up, as there is mostly 1 main road that winds all the way around the bay. By 9am we were getting ready to board a little boat for our trip to the church island. This island started off hundreds of years ago as a top of an underwater mountain that rose above the water just a couple meters. Over centuries, people took more and more rocks out to build the island. Now a church stands on the island and the top of the rock is reachable from a small hole behind the altar. By 9:20 we had landed on the island and we explored the tiny island and church for 30 minutes. On our way back we drove around the second island which is where the priest lives. In hindsight we should have walked around Perast more, but we got on the road toward Kotor.

We arrived in Kotor around 10:40 and were dropped off near the south side of town at the fortress. We had a few hours to walk around and eat some lunch. We walked the ramparts north to the wall. The wall makes its way up the mountain, but we didn't go up there (and it may not be open to the public). We went back down in to town off the wall and found lots of cats! They seemed to have a little cat village area. We walked the streets for a while and looked in a couple shops. We were waiting for some places to open for lunch, and we wanted a place with indoor seating to get away from the smoke and to cool off. We found a place that opened at 12, but it was 11:40. We walked around a bit more and went back and he invited us to come sit inside and wait on the kitchen to open. Kacey walked around a bit more while we cooled off just a bit. This lunch was pretty good, we all had good food at Scala Santa. After lunch we grabbed some ice cream and went to meet our driver. Ivan took us up the mountain to crossover to Tivat next. On the way up, he stopped at a fantastic viewpoint of Kotor.

Our next and final stop was Tivat. This area is known as the russian playground, as they don't need a visa to enter here and the area caters to the rich. Lots of large boats and yachts and fancy stores. We walked around town for 20 or 30 minutes, and it was pretty dead in the middle of the day. We bought some cold drinks and walked along the water, trying to stay out of the sun. We loaded up to catch a ferry across the bay to significantly shorten our drive home. The ferries run constantly so we didn't even really wait, they were loading when we pulled up. The crossing only takes 10 minutes or so, and we talked about muscle cars while waiting. There are no services on the boat since it is so short, so we just sat in the van AC.

The ride back was similar. Traffic exiting the boat, and a longer line to go through both security checkpoints this time. But by 5 we had crossed back in to the EU.

Dubrovnik

We got to our apartment around 6 and Kacey, Liana, and I decided to walk to Uvala Lapad Beach to get in for a bit. It was a great sunset spot and while the beach is pebbles, wearing flip-flops made it just fine. It was a great cool-off. We decided to eat dinner in Lapad, even though we were restricted with things being open due to the holiday of the Assumption of Mother Mary. It was already late and we would have to deal with more taxis instead of a 7 minute walk. We passed our apartment owner on the way out and he reiterated Pizzeria Scala, so we went there. Soon after we were seated it started to fill up. The pizzas were good.

The next day we had to pack everything up to store in the owners space upstairs, as we were moving close to the airport that night. We headed out around 9:30 to taxi to the old town. Our plan was to do the ramparts first before the heat got out of control. We started around 10am from Ploce Gate going counter clockwise (the direction they make everyone go). This is probably the better views of the town from here as you are higher up looking down. By 10:30 we were near Pile Gate. This stretch did offer one drink spot, but we didn't stop. The next part heads toward the water and is downhill a bit and offers a nice view of the Stradun, the largest street that runs through town. It is then back uphill just a bit to walk along the water. By about 10:50 we reached a drink bar with nice views of the ocean, so we stopped for some drinks and their bathroom. After an almost 30 minute break we started walking the last bit of the wall. This part had more water views, and views of the harbor. By 11:45 we were headed down to Stradun and started looking for some lunch. We found Dundo Maroje and it was close, had appealing food, and had indoor seating (again, it was quite hot).

For the rest of afternoon we were just going to stroll around with no real agenda. We followed Rick Steves guide a bit, but Nolan wasn't feeling well so we slowed down. We walked through St. Blaise’s Church and The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. We peeked in the Rector's Palace but didn't go in for a tour. We read about the bell tower and Orlando's Column. History in the town is interesting through earthquakes and wars, including the 1990s. We went to Peppino’s for some ice cream to cool off. We got some water from Onofrio's fountain, it was nice and cold! We initially were thinking to stay in town until early dinner, but people were getting hot and tired from a long week. So we headed to grab our bags and then taxi out to the airport for our apartment there (for a 6am flight the next morning). We got to our apartment by around 5. It was a new apartment and the owner showed us the small pool that was complete enough to start using. We walked next door to Domestico to eat some dinner, and grabbed a couple pastries from the grocery next door.

Summary

We tried to see a lot in a week, which required a lot of driving. It was absolutely doable, though. And there are plenty of apartments available for families. We knew this going in, but August is quite hot there. We kept a lot of water around and made sure our apartments had AC. The tour of Montenegro was nice because we had already driven a lot, when leaving the EU our driver used a different road, cell data doesn't work outside the EU, he knew all the spots to go, we didn't have to park, he knew the history, and rental cars works different outside the EU. These are all things you could tackle with time to plan, but we planned this trip last minute. Plitvice Lakes Park requires entry time tickets booked online in advance; an early start here is essential. And with better planning, you can create your own route that goes against the crowds. But, with our ~9:30 start on the 'H' route, there were crowds and a couple queues, but they were manageable.

Krakow and Berlin

For spring break 2024, we traveled to Krakow and Berlin with Kacey's parents. We have wanted them to visit Poland for a long time as he is one quarter Polish and grew up on some polish specialties. 

Krakow

We landed in Krakow around 1pm and got to our hotel around 2:30. We stayed in a 3 bedroom apartment right off Maly Rynek (little market) square, which is 1 block from the main square. The Easter Market had just started on the main square with loads of food and vendors. We got a few pierogi at Przypiecek and ice cream while walking around. Also ate some food at the market. In-laws arrived around 6 and we went for dinner at U Babci Maliny.

The next morning we got some pastries from Lajkonik for breakfast. Everyone but Nolan and Chris went to the St Mary's Basilica church. We all got more food at the market. This day we visited the Pinball museum, which also had lots of old arcade games. We did all you can play for 1 hour and had fun. For dinner, we had more market food.

We visited the Illusion Museum the next morning. Then once again hit the market for lunch food and booked Oskar Schindler's Factory museum tour at 2:15.

The next morning we visited Wawel Castle. We battled rain just a bit at the beginning. Several exhibits are closed on Monday but remaining were free. First we saw the Cathedral (not free) and went up bell tower. Then ate a snack. Then persian tents and then the armory. Last was Lost Wawel (still excavating areas). When leaving we walked down to view the Dragon.

Then more market food for snack. Dinner back at U Babci Maliny. The next morning we caught our direct flight to Berlin.

Berlin

Landed around 1:30 and took a taxi to Alexanderplatz. By 4pm we got to Hofbrau Munchen for german food and beer. Found Cuore di Vetro gelato that night, very good.

Woke up and taxiied to Berlin Wall Remains at Zimmerstrasse. Then walked to Checkpoint Charlie. After a snack walked to Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe. Walked past US Embassy to Brandenburg Gate. Just took in the view of Reichstag without visiting. We walked down to Potsdamerplatz for the Easter market, but it didn't start until the following day. So we ate some lunch at Lindenbrau. Then walked to gelato at Caffe e Gelato. Stopped by Spy Museum to buy tickets for the following day. Stopped in Mall of Berlin for the Lego shop. Walked to Neuhaus chocolate. Walked north then east toward Dom Cathedral. In laws and small kids took taxi back to hotel. We walked around the buildings of museum island and checked the TV tower entrance but saw it took 2 hours to wait. Found dinner at Bar Internazionale, good pizza. Then walked back to gelato.

Woke up and went to the cathedral (prebooked tickets night before). Organ was playing and nice views on the outside of the dome. Then went to German Historic Museum for the "Roads Not Taken" exhibit. Then taxi to Potsdamerplatz for lunch at the market. This Easter market much smaller than Krakow, but had a meat swing, dessert pizza stand, and a pesto pasta stand. Also some gluwein. Then we had 2:15 entry to Spy Museum. Nolan and I had dinner at Hofbrau and others went to asian food. Then back to gelato!

I took the boys up the TV tower the next morning (got 9am entry tickets). They enjoyed the views. Then we taxiied to Mauerpark. Looking for cherry trees in bloom but kids just played for a bit. Walked north looking for trees and found a few.  Taxiied to Berlin Wall Memorial. Nice exhibit. Walked to Restaurant Nuovo Firenze and spoke Italian for lunch. In-laws and Liana taxiied to the Olympic stadium. We walked by the Samuri museum (but expensive) and then walked past Sofia church and Jewish cemetery. Walked down to museum island and walked around a bit, played at the fountain. Then Nolan and I went to DDR museum, it was very busy. Everyone went to Hofbrau for dinner.

Italy Summer 2023

Italy holds a special place for us. Kacey is one quarter Italian. We love the food. We visited in 2006 and really fell in love with the country and way of living. And then, we were lucky enough to live in Siena in 2010 during Kacey's internship. While we could have revisited the county while living in Dublin, we were still holding tight to the memories and wanted to visit many other places. So, while we have wanted to return to Italy for a couple years now, this summer was finally our chance to spend 2 weeks there with the kids.

We decided to fly in to Rome, then drive down to Pompeii and Amalfi, then up to Tuscany (with a stop over in Orvieto), visiting Pisa, Florence, Siena, and a couple others in Tuscany, and end in Venice for a return flight home. We figured having a car would enable us to be more flexible with small towns and setting our own timetable since we have 3 kids with us. We are also pretty comfortable with driving in Italy. I decided to not take the big zoom camera, as I have those types of pictures from other trips around Italy, and it would be one less thing to carry. Plus, phones take great close up pictures now! We took 7 days worth of clothes, knowing doing laundry in Florence wouldn't be too hard. We only booked our flights about 6 weeks in advance, making it a little more difficult. I was just barely able to find hotels that far in advance that allowed free cancellation and could fit 5 people.

Roma

We landed in Rome around 8:30am Sunday morning. Between passport control, and lines for taxis, it took about 3 hours to get to our hotel. We took a fixed price taxi instead of the train to termini, as it was actually cheaper and faster. Our plan for the first day was to not have anything in particular planned. Maybe a bus ride, some mild walking, and some rest. We arrived at Residenza Flaminio Gaio around noon to drop our bags. Finding a room that definitely holds 5 people was not easy only 5 weeks in advance. I also wanted a room pretty close to the metro. We asked the hotel manager which way to walk for food and he said walk south on Via di Ripetta from Piazza del Popolo and rattled off a couple restaurants. We stopped at PizzaRé and liked the look, so sat for lunch. The kids got orange Fanta and Lemon soda and some pasta. Colin got a hamburger (that didn't have a bun). Kacey and I got a (heart shaped) pizza.

After lunch we walked down toward Pantheon and stopped for gelato at Della Palma, home of 150 flavors. Pantheon requires reservations on Sunday, so we headed toward Trevi Fountain instead. We took it in for a while and headed back to the hotel via the metro for some rest. After a couple hours, we headed toward the Spanish Steps via the metro. We used that as our starting point for finding dinner. After walking a few back streets reading menus, we found Le Grotte and were pretty pleased. We tried fried courgette flowers and anchovies for an appetizer. I got pork cheek bucatini and Kacey got Cacio e Pepe. After dinner we walked back to Trevi for more gelato and to enjoy the fountain lit up at night. Since it was a Sunday night, the metro had stopped so we just took the bus to our stop.

Monday morning we had a cut-the-line entry to the Vatican at 11am. So that gave us time to eat some breakfast at the hotel and metro to the Vatican without much hurry. We didn't plan on spending too much time looking at art, as Kacey and I had been there twice before. We first went out to the Pinecone Courtyard and then walked the forced pathway through to the Sistine Chapel. There were an insane amount of people. It was hard to get around! At one point we tried to get out of the queue for bathroom and had to start over. We spent some time sitting in the Sistine Chapel showing the different areas of the ceiling to the kids (with the help of Rick Steves). We started to exit and was hoping to quickly grab a bite at the Vatican cafe, but soon realized we would not be able to shortcut back to St. Peter's. Kacey was able to get back and then I was able to follow when I said my wife and child were still in the Sistine Chapel.

We made our way down the long hallway to exit the Vatican. In the past, there used to be a group shortcut straight in to St. Peter's. Now, you do exit, but are let out right at the point of the St. Peter's line where you go through security. Our wandered about St. Peter's for a short while, and Kacey went down in the crypt for a quick walk. We then bought tickets to go up the cupola. We bought the elevator pass and didn't have to wait too long in line. We were pleased to find a small cafe where the elevator lets out! So we bought a few things and had a drink. After eating and toilet on top of the church, we started the stair part of the walk. First up is the mosaics inside the cupola. Then, the tilted, narrow stairs up the side of the cupola. It took us maybe 10 minutes to do that part. Next is the 360 degree views of Rome! At our visit in 2006, it was mostly open. Now, there is fencing up and over the whole walkway. We spent maybe 15 minutes walking around looking at the city before heading back down. We started walking toward the Vatican metro stop, looking for some fast food. We found pizza slices that I knew the kids would like at Pizzeria Casali. We sat on the curb for a bit eating some pizza. Then walked up to Pompi for gelato and Illy creamy iced coffee. We don't remember this delicious treat from our last visit to Italy, but it is delicious! Think coffee smoothie/milkshake that is made in a continuous machine like a slushie. We went back to the hotel for some more rest before dinner and walked close to the hotel down Ripetta again. We found Il Melarancio and picked it because it had pesto. After dinner we walked north up Via del Corso toward Popolo and found gelato and shopping. We sat in Piazza Popolo while eating our gelato.

Tuesday was our tour of the Colosseum. In the past you could use a cut the line pass, but, like several sites around Italy, you need reservations through tours to cut any lines. And the lines are all crazy long. I had originally booked it in the afternoon but got a notice it had been moved to a 9:35 meet up time. Luckily we still had time to eat breakfast at the hotel before getting on the metro. The huge group of people at termini switching to the blue line had me worried but we wedged ourselves on the metro and made our meet up time for the tour. Our tour guide, Paulo, was Brazilian, and guided us through headsets around the Colosseum. We got to walk around the bottom of the arena, not open to all tours and guests, which was pretty cool! (Not the part below the arena floor, those tours must include an archaeologist and only do about 1 a day, and cost a lot of money, and book up really far in advance). We spent about 90 minutes walking around, learning a few extra, interesting facts about the Colosseum. Paulo then guided us past the Arch of Constantine to the Roman Forum. He took us up Palatine Hill for a great view and some nice cold water. We slowly walked out toward the entrance, learning tidbits along the way.

After our tour we started walking toward Pantheon to find some food. It took a while to find an area that would work, but finally found Il Vicolo Nel Corso. It looked a touch touristy, but it was actually not too bad. A musician stopped by during our meal and played while the staff danced a bit. Liana liked the outdoor decor and luckily it was shaded to help keep us cool. We continued walking around a nearby government building and ended up at Della Palma again, while Kacey stopped at Giolitti for gelato. We then headed over to the Pantheon around 3:15 to walk around and study it for 20 minutes or so. The light was shining in strong and you could study how it came in and hit the wall really well. The boys walked back to the hotel while the girls shopped a bit. We walked to Al Vantaggio for dinner, again near our hotel.

Wednesday was our morning to wake up a little early, eat breakfast a little early at 7:45 so we could get to termini by 9 to pick up our rental car. Finding the rental car office was a bit tricky, and then we had to hike to the car park to get the car. We were able to get on the road by 10 to start the 2.5 hour drive to Pompeii.

Pompeii

We parked at the Zeus lot and walked over to Sgambati to eat lunch. We spent about 3 hours walking around Pompeii. We followed the Rick Steves guide so it was easy to read things to the kids about what we were seeing. They of course thought it was interested to see things preserved, as well as the bodies. We had about a 45 minute drive to our parking lot in Salerno to meet the owner of the B&B.

Salerno

We parked and walked to our B&B, Maison Lumière. We met the owner at 5:45 and he was pretty nice. The apartment had 2 bedrooms, kitchen, and nice outside seating area. We also told us when our breakfast delivery would come. We walked down toward the water looking for dinner. Most places were not opening until 7 but we ended up finding Pizzeria Giagiu’. The pizzas and appetizers were quite unique, and before your pizza comes out they bring a little plate appetizer with the ingredients of your pizza. After dinner we walked out to the water and then found gelato on the way back to the B&B.

Thursday was our day to drive the Amalfi Coast. We were on the road a little after 9 and Kacey had picked a route to drive toward Ravello, then Amalfi, Positano, and finally Sorrento, based on information from Rick Steves. The drive started out narrow as expected, but not too much traffic. The road is very windy and narrow; if you haven't much experience driving roads like this, I don't advise that this is your first. We made the turn for Ravello and waited for 15 minutes or so for the light to change on the one-way part of the road. We found parking near the Oscar Niemeyer Auditorium. The walk up the hill is steep but we made it ok. We hung out around the duomo for a bit taking in the sites, then entered the museum and church. Kacey took a couple kids to find another site while Colin and I hung back as he wasn't feeling well. The views were nice up on the hill town.

After an hour we decided to move on to Amalfi for lunch. Traffic got pretty bad real fast and we were barely moving for a while. Amalfi town is quite small and the only road north was marked ZTL (can't drive there) and the only parking lot is a small area by the water, which was blocked off by police and marked as full. Police were moving you right out of town! We slowly crept out of town in the traffic realizing we would not be able to stop. Apparently, only a taxi or the boat system can get you in to Amalfi town reliably.

We made it to Positano around 1:45. This town is a bit bigger and we were allowed to drive in toward the parking lots. There are a few, and they are expensive. But we took the first one we found and walked down the hill in to town. There is a single one-way road that runs down and back up. So missing a spot meant starting all over again on the drive. We found Caffè Positano for lunch and it had awesome views! We also obtained a really nice pasta bowl with their name on it. We walked further down the hill toward the water. There was also some shopping along the way. We found La Gelateria della Buca di Bacco for gelato and cold lemon treats. It was really refreshing on a hot day. While Kacey stayed by the water with the kids, I went up to get the car and drive down to pick them up.

We headed toward Sorrento and arrived at the carpark around 6:30. No one was hungry due to late lunch. We walked around a little, Kacey did some shopping, and drove back to Salerno after an hour. Between some snack and a pizza we grabbed next to the hotel, and that was our dinner. The next morning our goal was to be on the road by 10 to head to Orvieto.

Orvieto

We fell in love with Orvieto back in 2010. We used to drive by this magnificent town on a hill while driving to Rome and wanted to visit. We really enjoyed the town and the food when we finally visited, so we wanted to stop in again on our way north during this trip. We arrived around 2:30 after a lunch stop at the AutoGrill. We parked and took the escalator system up and walked to our B&B. I found Nel cuore di Orvieto and it was quite nice. Two bed 2 bath was nice and spacious. We walked toward the west edge of town for views of the countryside, then back toward the duomo. We paid our entrance ticket fee and walked around inside. Liana liked the rose window. Afterward we stopped by Il Gelato and it was pretty good. The pink grapefruit was delicious.

We walked toward the east side of town to visit St. Patrick's Well. The kids did enjoy the trek down and back up, counting steps and peeking over the side. Once back up we wandered in to Porta Rocca park next door for views of the country side. While walking back toward the center we stopped in a grocery store for some breakfast items; fruit and snacks. We also stopped at the nearby Pam grocery. Nolan and I decided to walk up the tower for views while the others shopped. The views were great and it was quite windy. Nolan really liked the view. While shopping Kacey found a restaurant we had eaten at and loved back in 2010. We didn't remember the name or the exact location, but we remembered what the alley looked like and what was on the menu. Kacey found Antico Bucchero and as soon as I saw it I too said "Thats it"! We went back at opening which was 7:15 and ordered a lot of good food. Umbrichelle homemade for Nolan, Gnocchi pomodoro for kids, Affettato di petto d'oca con insalatina di sedano - Cold sliced smoked goose celery salad appetizer for me, Ravioli ripieni di caciocavallo con cime di rapa burro e salvia - Ravioli with inside caciocavallo and turnip tops butter and sage for me, and Gnocchi di Patate ai 4 Formaggi - potatoes dumplings with 4 different cheeses for Kacey. Then, Tirimisu and Semifreddo al Torrone con Cioccolato for dessert. We still stopped at Il Gelato again for the kids, as Kacey and I ate most of the dinner desserts. Kacey and Liana went out for more shopping and night pictures while the boys went back for bed. In the morning we got on the road to Florence by 10.

Florence

We got to our hotel around noon, after a little detour (because we were supposed to enter a ZTL). We dropped our bags and headed to the center for some lunch. We found Cacio e Pepe and the menu seemed decent for us. The place was quite small, but we were seated in 5 minutes. While no one got the dish of their name sake, it was all decent. We walked around looking at a few shops, including the Lego Store. We got some gelato after that and then headed to the hotel to check-in and get ready for our museum entry. The room had an AC, but it was not working. In fact, the condensor was on our balcony and it was not turning on. So about 5 minutes before leaving for our entry, they gave us a new room. A touch smaller, but it was cool and had enough beds.

We hurried up to Accademia Gallery for our 4:30 entry time (overheard it was a 3 hour wait without reservations). We first went toward the Instrument museum area, but it is small. We walked around the paintings for a few more minutes before walking to David. Pictures are now allowed, but most of the tours pass through quickly. We sat on the benches for 10 minutes or so after we studied the front for a while, we spent about 30 minutes with David. We headed back to the hotel so I could prep and do laundry at Dexter. I lucked out and the big machine was available. It all didn't take too long, but was way too hot to wait there! Liana and I had pizza in the room for dinner (late lunch made me not too hungry) and I grabbed a prosecco from the Pam. Kacey took the boys out for a more substantial meal.

The next morning we had no rush. We ate some breakfast and headed toward the basilica. The cupola was sold out and basilica closed on Sunday, but we bought bell tower entry at 1:15 and could visit the small baptistry too. Our ticket would let us see the duomo Monday morning before leaving. We headed toward Palazzo Vecchio and saw the David replica outside. We showed the kids the Uffizi (and the line), but we had decided to not take the kids there. We learned about All’Antico Vinaio for lunch and decided to check it out. It looked good and had a line but didn't seem too bad. We got a Tri Color (Beef carpaccio, pistachio cream, stracciatella and chopped hazelnuts), Veg 3 (Gorgonzola, courgettes, dried tomatoes and rocket), and a caprese. Also, a glass of prosecco! It was very good and unique! We headed back to the Bell tower for our entry reservation. The views were nice. After about 20 minutes we headed down the tower. We walked toward Ponte Vecchio. We bought a piece of pizza for Nolan, another creamy coffee, and some cold water. Kacey looked at some shops in the area, mostly leather. We found a blood orange slushy, they are so good! I took the kids back to the hotel while Kacey did a bit more shopping, and we got more gelato along the way. We ate some dinner after walking around for a while, but Nolan really wanted some Indian food we walked by. He got some take-out and ate it in the room.

The next morning we got ready and checked-out by 9:30 to line up for the basilica. There was already a long line! We entered at 10:45 and were able to go in the catacombs as well. We got to the car and headed to Piazzale Michelangelo for awesome views of Florence. We also grabbed some cold drinks while taking in the view. Next was our not too long drive to Siena!

Siena

We were pretty excited to finally revisit Siena. We lived there in 2010 during Kacey's internship. It was amazing, and we detailed those adventures on this blog. We started off driving straight to Villa Il Pino, our apartment we lived in. We thought we may first enter the car gate and look around, but couldn't get in the gate. So, we drove to the Coop (grocery store) as there is a parking lot there, and a walking path to Villa Il Pino. We went in the Coop and reminisced our trips there for food. We bought some snacks as well as new grocery bags. We headed down our walking path (Passeggio Piero Calamandrei) toward Villa Il Pino. The playground along the way, of coarse, has changed and looked different. We walked up the stairs and to the back gate. Luckily a manager was outside and we told her why we were there. She let us in to walk around, that was really nice. Our old unit was rented (I had tried in advance to rent it) but we got plenty of outside pictures. We walked around the gardens and walked through the main building. We just wandered around and soaked it in for a while. We decided to walk toward the other playground Nolan and I visited. I couldn't remember exactly how to get there, but after a few minutes, it started to come back to me and we found it! It was also quite different, but the kids played for a few minutes before walking back to the car.

We headed in to town to park the car and walk to our B&B and meet the owner. I found B&B Palazzo Bulgarini as it is only 4 minutes walk to Il Campo, could fit us all, and had some breakfast. We rested for an hour at the hotel before walking in to Il Campo. The gates were still up from the Palio. We kept wandering the streets past the duomo, just remembering things as we went. We headed to our favorite restaurant, Nonno Mede for dinner at 6:30. We had a great meal with wonderful views, and also enjoyed some desserts there. We stopped for gelato and sat at Il Campo for a while

Tuscany

 The next day we woke up to do a driving loop through Tuscany. We started by driving an hour to Montepulciano. We parked at the lot on the north side of town, right before the ZTL. We started walking up the hill toward the center of town around 11am. Kacey looked in a few shops along the way. We ended up all the way at the top at Piazza Grande. The kids played in the piazza for a while. The duomo was closed, but I had been there before. We picked a restaurant from our travel guide and walked down to La Pentolaccia. Kacey got the seabass, the kids all got pomodoro pasta, and I got Pici alla norcina. I normally don't like a lot of truffle, but the dish sounded intriguing and it was good. Kacey did a bit more shopping on our walk down out of town. We loaded up around 2 to head towards Pienza.

The drives in this area are all beautiful. We decided to drive the southern route through Monticchiello toward Pienza. There was some gravel road but the hilly drive was pretty and remote. The drive in to Pienza was quite nice. We found hour parking for free and took that spot. Pienza is small and doesn't take much time to walk around, and we have visited the museum before. We went in the duomo, got some gelato, and did some shopping. This included going in the same cheese shop we took pictures in 13 years ago. We got some pecorino and panforte. We next headed toward Montalcino.

We arrived in Montalcino around 4:15. Kacey wanted to do some wine tasting. We went to the fortezza first, as it is next to parking, and they now have a winery there. So I took the kids on top of the fort for views and then running around the courtyard while Kacey sampled some wines. We walked around town for a little while just wandering. We decided to get back to Siena for dinner and left around 6pm. We had another great dinner at Nonno Mede and more gelato, including a gelato slushie thing.

Siena, day 2

On Wednesday we slept in a little and went to Il Campo to get tower tickets. We got tickets for 1pm, so we headed to the duomo to buy those tickets as well. We got in the duomo around 10:30, but Nolan's and mine cupola tickets were for 3pm. The floors were uncovered in the basilica, which does not happen very often. Usually the mosaics are covered to preserve them. We spent about 30 minutes walking around the duomo and enjoying the floors. Afterward we grabbed some quick lunch of sandwich and pasta at Bibo and got to Torre Mangia at 12:50 for our entry. The entry wasn't really organized, you had to start walking up to then find the entry point.  It only took about 5 minutes to walk up, and the views were amazing. I had come up 13 years prior but Kacey never got the chance. We spent almost 20 minutes walking around taking in the views. Next we visited the duomo crypt and then the baptistry. Nolan and I had an entry time for the cupola tour at 3pm. This was a pretty neat tour. You are guided along the top, going in and out of the church along the way. It was a lot of views you don't normally get to enjoy. When we finished up we met the others in the Facciatone. This is the panoramic overview of the city from the unfinished expansion of the cathedral. When we finished there (they limit your time), I walked out of town toward the Horse Monument with Nolan and Liana; this was the old route we would walk in and out of town when we lived there. We met Kacey and Colin at St. Catharine's church, where her relics are located. We went back to the hotel for some rest before back to Nonno Mede for our last meal there. That night we ended up talking to a young man from Mozambique we had seen at dinner each night who was in Siena studying. We finished the night at Il Campo eating gelato and playing with a family from Cordoba and their daughter Sophia. The next morning we got on the road pretty early for a big day of driving and our detour through Pisa.

Pisa

We got to the duomo around 10:45 and we booked a tower entry for 11:15. The area was pretty crowded, but that was completly expected. We got separated after leaving the tower and Nolan, Liana and I stopped in the baptistry on the way to the car. We heard one of the workers sing at noon, a famous activity they perform there due to the incredible acoustics. We decided to stop at an AutoGrill for lunch rather than finding food in Pisa. We started the drive to Venice and found some food a little after 1pm.

Venice

On our drive to Venice we had our first traffic reroute. We got to our hotel around 4:30. I picked a hotel by the airport as a bus line services the area from the bus station on the island, and it would help us make our very early flight Saturday morning. VCE House is a nice little spot where you rent out the first floor and the owners live upstairs. It is a 2 bed 2 bath with kitchen, and a couple chairs to sit outside if you like. Once checked in we drove the car to the island to drop off by 6pm. Once we figured out where to go and got to the office, it was 5:55. We started walking toward the Rialto bridge. We wanted to explore just a little instead of taking the water taxi in to town. We found some pastries to have for breakfast. We weren't expecting much for dinner, so we found a recommendation from our travel guide and went to Madonna for dinner. It was just ok. After dinner we did some shopping, gelato, and listened to a street musician for a bit. We ended up at San Marco and took the water taxi back to the bus station. Some boats were not running and it took forever to get wedged in to a boat. We got to the hotel by 11 and got to bed by midnight.

On our last day in Italy, we slept in and ate some snacks and pastries in the apartment. We also packed our bags to be ready for the very early departure the next day. We got to San Marco by 12:30 and ate at Pomodoro Rosso at 1pm; it was actually pretty good! We walked toward Rialto bridge and said if we found a gondola ride on the back streets we would take it. We found an interested area and Liana really wanted to do it, so we got on. It was about a 25 minute ride through the narrow alleys, and we went out to the Grand Canal to pass under the Rialto bridge. It was a good ride! We decided to then eat our last gelato of the trip by returning to Fantasy Gelato, which had amazing dark chocolate. I also had a coke slushi as it was hot. We walked around just a bit more before heading to the water taxi to get back. Our plan was to grab some food to eat at the apartment and go to bed early. The bus was detoured on the way back due to a concert, and it took forever. We grabbed a quick pizza to eat and got to bed, as the next morning we had to be at the airport around 4:15. Venice airport is not great and takes forever!

Summary

Colin's favorite things were gelato and the leaning tower of Pisa. 

Liana's favorite things were gelato, our gondola ride, and Orvieto.

We picked our itinerary based on things we loved seeing in the past and things we thought the kids would enjoy. We decided to drive as we are comfortable with driving in Italy, it lets us stay more flexible with our schedule, and lets us explore areas not easily serviced by trains.