Lake Garda and Verona

We stayed at a cute little camper/trailer about 200 meters from the beaches of Lake Garda.  The campsite had its own grocery store, pools, playgrounds, and restaurant.  A perfect recovery place for Bryan as he recovered from surgery.  The first two days were warm and sunny.  The next two days were rainy and cold.  European weather for you!

 

Here is our cute little camper!

I wish the haze would have cleared.  It would have been such a gorgeous view! Definitely a trip we need to take again. 

 Hanging out at the swimming pool.  The water was a little chilly, but all the girls got in!

 A light drizzle didn't keep us from having a fun time in Verona.  We saw the arena, Romeo & Juliet's balcony, and the Roman amphitheater.  Beautiful, clean Italian city. 

 Kate and I did not rub Juliet's breast (It's supposed to bring you a new lover). 

 Beautiful!  This is close to our campsite, Peschiera del Garda. 

 An awesome gelateria we found in Verona.  As many flavors shaped into a flower.  Kate LOVED it. 

On our drive back home, we were finally able to see some of the mountains.  Such a beautiful area and wanting to go back soon!

Wunseidel Rock Labyrinth

Also known as the largest rock labyrinth in Europe.  This was the perfect hike for Kate because she could explore in the rocks, up the stairs carved in the rocks, and jump around.  Finally, we got her to hike on her own without constantly asking daddy to carry her. 

 

Afterwards, Kate and Jane shared a popsicle. 

Jane 10 months

Can you believe she is 10 months old? Jane is such a sweet baby.  These last few days she has been a little on the cranky side- not sure if she is teething, sick, tired or just really hungry!  She prefers to stand or upright crawl.  She has taken a few steps on her own, but isn't too balanced at it.  She is climbing up the stairs and chairs and people and the cozy coupe.  Her favorite food is yogurt.  She can hear you open one up from a room away!  She is adventuring more in the food department- macaroni and cheese, broccoli, cheese, peanut butter & jelly sandwich.  I am still breastfeeding but not as often.  This month Jane went to Italy for the first time.  So far, she has been to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, USA, France, Slovakia, and Italy.  We love our little Jane-jane! 

Jane's crawl

This is how Jane crawls these days- upright.  So silly!

(9 months)

Rome and the Almafi coast, Part 1

We left for Italy on a Tuesday.  We played at the airport playground until boarding time.  I love the airports in Germany, very kid friendly.  I am not sure if other airports in the EU have playgrounds at the airport.  

 We flew into Rome.  The pilot gave us a great view of Rome and the ocean.  We were super excited to start our adventure! After we landed, we had to catch the train to Naples.  We took the ICE train and it was about an hour and fifteen minutes.  It was such a beautiful ride.  Bryan and I were super careful about pit pocketing.  We heard it was especially bad on the Almafi coast area.  After a whole day in traveling, we finally made it to our apartment were we met up with Rachel and the kids.  The apartment wasn't quite like we expected.  Four beds in one room and no crib! We made the best of it and Jane might have slept in the closet...

The next day, we headed to Sorrento and Capri.  Kate is standing at the train tracks with Mount Vesuvius in the background.

The city of Sorrento has beautiful coastal views.  We are headed down to catch the ferry to the island of Capri.

Jane's first beach experience on the island of Capri.  This island is known for capri pants and capri sandals.  

Kate is not a huge fan of cold water.  But I think this will be her first memorable beach experience.  Rachel's boys really enjoyed the cold water, jumping off the rocks, and finding sea glass. 

 We took the funicular up to the town and walked through the small streets.  It was funny to see all these small cars driving through the narrow streets.  The views were amazing and the lemon gelado was even better!  While we were walking through the town, both girls feel asleep.  It's too bad we didn't have a stroller for poor Bryan.  Kate can get heavy after a while.

The ferry ride back to Sorrento wasn't nearly as bad as the ride to Capri.  It seemed to be faster as well.  Here is the whole gang overlooking the coast!

 Look at the size of these lemons!

 On Thursday we headed to Pompeii and Herculeum.  We paid to have a kid friendly tour guide in Pompeii.  I would highly recommend some type of tour.  She used all sorts of learning activities to keep the kids (and adults) interested.  They played searching games and trivia games, and won treats and prizes.  I think not having a guide would be difficult to really understand the significance of this area.

 Pompeii with Mount Vesuvius in the background.

Jane and mommy in Pompeii.

 Our next stop was Herculaneum.  This is another city that was frozen in time from the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius.  Supposedly it is better preserved because it received the heat blast, not the ashes and lava.  To the bottom left of this picture is were 200+ skeletons were found of people running to the docks to get out of town.  And of course, Mount Vesuvius is in the background.

Rome and the Almafi coast, Part 2

Thursday evening, we took the ICE train back to Rome.  I am so glad we did trains instead of renting a vehicle.  Parking and driving in Italy would have stressed me out!  Plus, the kids got to move around, eat, and use the restroom on the trains.  And bathrooms seemed to be difficult to find in Rome...we did and almost had many accidents...

The Colosseum was packed and the lines were awful.  Do not buy your tickets beforehand. You will still have to wait in a line to collect your ticket and then wait in a line to go into the Colosseum.  Glad we did this first and got it out of the way!  The trick is to have a small child needing to go to the bathroom- then you can just get in for free and skip all the lines!

 Jane at the Colosseum and happy to be out of the carrier.

 Bryan at Palatine Hill.

 Trojan's Column

 Jane happy to be out of the carrier and crawling around the apartment.

Oh no! Another line.  Getting into St. Peters Basilica was not nearly as bad as the Colosseum.  It is unfortunate that security scanners are needed at every major attraction.

 Pieta

 This might be forbidden in the basilica, so I had to document.  I felt like Jane was starving the whole trip!

Climbing up to the top of St. Peters dome.  The stairs just got smaller and smaller.  Kate said we were climbing up Rapunzel's tower.  Everything is related to a princess in her mind these days.

 Views from on top were amazing!

 There might have been limited bathrooms, but the water was plenty in Rome.  My mom warned us not to drink the water.  We did, and nobody got sick.

The Vatican and Sistine Chapel.  The little ones feel asleep before we entered the museum, but woke up by the time we reached the Sistine Chapel.  Lots of people, lots of art.  Bryan is getting good at this modeling stuff.

 Ponte Sant'Angelo- the bridge of Angels.  Also, the movie setting for Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn.  So beautiful.

 Love this picture of Bryan at Trevi Fountain.

She will be back!

 Piazza Navona with the cousins.

 The Pantheon.  Sad we were not able to go inside because a church service was being held.  

 The Spanish steps were under construction, but that didn't stop us from having a good time.

Our favorite place.  I think we went 4 times.  For two euros you get white or dark chocolate drizzled from a fountain inside of the cone, two flavors of gelado, and whip cream on top! It also happened to be 50 meters from our apartment and the most famous in Rome...

 Piazza Bernini

Villa Borghese

We finally found a park in the area (last day).  However, parks in Italy and way different than parks in Germany.  Rome is definitely not geared for little children.  Jane got tired of being carried all day.  We had fun, but we are glad to be home.