Success in Prague

It finally happened!  We finally had a trip that we consider a success!  We had a lovely holiday in Prague.  That's not to say there was no fighting or hitting, pinching or crying.  There was.  There was a normal amount of those things and it didn't deter us or keep us from doing the things we had hoped to do.  Hooray!

We had an early morning flight.  Thankfully, it was out of the local airport so a 4:00am wake up time was in order.  The kids weren't thrilled about being woken up,  but they were in awe of all the stars that were still out.  Cait was just excited to be going on holiday and on a plane.  I think we have a born traveler.  ;-)  Every day leading up to our departure she asked me about our holiday and the plane.  Maybe she just likes the lollipops I dole out upon descent.  Our flight was uneventful, the way we like it and we landed in Prague around 10am on a Friday morning.

The owner of the flat we rented was there to greet us and drive us to our home away from home.
It was a spacious, clean apartment, close to everything we wanted to see.  The owner was fantastic.  He gave us tips on what to do and where to go and was super friendly and talkative.  He didn't have any bookings directly before or after us and allowed us to arrive early and depart late.

We spent the first day exploring the area.  Cait and I took a little nap while the boys checked out the Lego museum and Old Town Square.  We hit up the tesco for some basic foods and snacks and ate dinner in the Town Square.  Sausage, kabobs and crepes from local venders.  Yum.  We called it a night fairly early since we had been up since 4am.

We spent the rest of the weekend exploring Old Town, seeing a chamber music concert in the mirror chapel at the Klementinum, visiting the castle and petrin hill and shopping for bohemian crystal.  We also saw the Spanish Synagogue and took a horse and carriage ride through the Jewish Quarter.  One of our favorite activities was running around at a playground, on an island in the center of the river, with great views of the Charles Bridge.

Overall, it was a lovely time.  Prague is an amazing and beautiful place.  I am so glad we made it a priority to see.

Adventures in Vienna

Laying in bed, not sleeping, for the 3^rd night in a row, I realised I never posted about our trip to Vienna.

It is kind of a blurr, but I should write something down to look back on one day.

After 4 nights in Budapest, we boarded a train to Vienna. We did not realise that we sat in reserved seats. Thankfully, the 2 travellers (who were not together), took pity on our family of 5, shoved in to 4 seats with a table (so the kids could color and be occupied) and found different seats. The air conditioning was minimal and the temperature was rising. Cait started having a melt-down early on, but we managed to curb it with snacks and crayons. We all made it to Vienna in one piece, though hot and tired.

I'm not 100% sure what we did that day, other than check in to our flat and get some groceries. It was 95+ degrees the 3 days we were there. If there was hell on Earth, it would have been Vienna those 3 days. Our flat was ground floor (which means below ground in Europe). There was no air conditioning and it was dank. It just felt musty. I also realised immediately, that there was no washer, drying rack or laundry facility at.all. I'm not sure how I missed that.when booking. 7 nights away with only carry-on luggage, requites laundry to be done. We washed laundry in the sink and hung it around the damp apartment. Guess what? It took 2 days to dry. One of the first things I noticed was a bottle of ant spray.  Oh yes, they started to appear on day 2 and by the morning of our departure it was gross.

I think we took a quick walk in to town to get our bearings before settling in for the night. When we returned to the dungeon we were staying in, Cait started having some respiratory issues. It was hard to tell if it was just congestion or an asthma flare up. Jason ended up taking her to the ER. Thank the Lord, her lungs were clear, but they gave us an inhaler to be safe (I, stupidly, left the inhaler on the kitchen counter at home while packing).

On Sunday, we walked to the Old Town Centre to see St.Stephen's Cathedral and scope out places for dinner. It was already hot and the kids were already complaining. My favourite part of the morning was finding a Starbucks that served iced coffee and not a coffee slushy. We didn't go in to the cathedral. It was just too much stress to get the kids on board with that. We took a nice horse and carriage ride through the town, instead. After that we walked to Haus der Musik. It turned out to be a highlight of the trip. It was air conditioned and the kids got to put head phones on in every room and listen to music. I think we all enjoyed it, until the fighting in the gift shop. Alas, I will spare you the gory details. Let's just say the bad attitudes lasted the rest of the day. Dinner, outside, in the 90 degree heat did not help. We did get to see the statue of Mozart. Yay! I saw something on my list. ;-)

Horse and carriage ride with St. Stephen's Cathedral in the back

St. Stephen's cathedral

Conductin at the music museum

Monday, we took the tram out to Schonbrunn Palace. We learned from our visit to Versailles, that the gardens are really the only part worth seeing with our kids. Trying to walk through a crowded palace was not going to happen. The gardens were beautiful. There was a playground area with garden mazes and really interesting playground equipment. Everyone enjoyed that part of the day. We were pretty spent at this point. We decided the best thing we could do is take in a movie. We found an English showing of Despicable Me 2 and headed out to see it. We all enjoyed it and Cait even kept her 3-D glasses on the whole time. I am very thankful for that less than cultural experience that allowed us some down time.

Finally, it was Tuesday and we headed home. The plane ride was a success with the aid of hand held devices and lollipops. It was so nice to be back on UK soil. At least for a few days. I jetted off to Dublin a few days later, but that's a story for another time. Cheers!

Summer Travels: Budapest

Back in late winter we had planned a trip to Prague and Budapest for mid-June.  We found really cheap airfare and nice places to stay.  Unfortunately, our trip was scheduled about the same time as the flooding in that region of Europe and we had to reschedule the trip.  Lesson #1: Travel Insurance.  We will now purchase travel insurance for most of upcoming plans.  It cost a lot of money to rearrange flights and re-book apartments.  In the end, we decided to split the trip in 2 and add an additional city (country). We recently spent time in Budapest and Vienna and will visit Prague later this fall.

Budapest:
At the end of July we left Liverpool, England and headed for Bratislava, Slovakia.  We then hopped a train for Budapest, Hungary.  Our time in Budapest was a mixed bag.  It was hotter than we are used to now and walking around a city in 90+ heat was a bit uncomfortable.  We lost an entire day to complaining, whining and down right refusal to get shoes on and leave the apartment. The boys were running ahead and I think Brady nearly got hit by a car twice.  It was very stressful.  Sigh.  It's a real shame.  What I saw of Buda and Pest was beautiful.  It was unique compared to other places we have been.  There were brass statues all over the city.  It became a game in my head to spot them.  Had I not been on the verge of melting down myself, I may have shared the game with the kids. :) My favourite was Ronald Reagan.  Visit a former communist country and see a statue of a former American president in a park. Very cool.   Budapest also has a ton of water features throughout the city. Some for drinking, some for watching, some for washing, all a pleasant surprise. Liberty Square had an interactive water feature. As you walked closer the spouts dropped down.  In theory, you could enter the centre of the fountain without getting wet.  Of course, in the heat there were several children, running around having a blast with it.

Hello, Mr. President

Water show

We spent a day walking around the Castle District and Buda.  We walked across the Chain Bridge and rode the funicular to the top.  Another first for us.   The Gallery, Fisherman's Bastion and St. Matthias Church were all amazing.  Unfortunately, it was another scorching day and the kids weren't really having it. We did an underground labyrinth that started off as fun and ended up freaking Collin out. We had planned to spend our final day in Budapest on Margaret Island and it was the best decision we made all week. The island itself is just beautiful.  I mean, seriously, an island in the middle of the Danube that serves as a park.  Very little traffic, since there is limited access for vehicles.  I think, but am not certain, that only public transport is allowed on the island.  Personally, I was disappointed that it was so hot and I chose not to run.  There is track that runs the entire perimeter of the island.  A runner's dream.  I teared up a little when I saw it.  We did however, make it to the baths on the island.  The kids loved it.  Pools of all shapes, sizes and temperatures.  It was the best part of the trip.  I sat in a thermal bath in the 90 degree heat and soaked it all in.  As a bonus, we caught the musical fountain on our way off the island and the kids thought it was the best thing ever. I admit, it was Awesome.

In the castle District.  That pink speck is me.

View of Pest from the funicular.

The food in Hungary is delicious, but heavy.  Not exactly the kind of food you want to be eating in the heat, but yummy, none the less.  Of course, the chicken paprikas and langos are to die for.  We also had a lot of really fantastic gelato.  ;-)

 I think I'll save Vienna for another day.

Travel with My Kids: What I've learned

I need to write a post about our actual time in Budapest and Vienna, but today I just wanted to share a list of things that seem to be inevitable when I travel with my kids.

Ugh.

1. Very few things are fun in 95 degree heat.
2. There will be complaining.  A LOT of complaining.  "It's too hot."  "Are we there?."  "How far, long, hot is    it?"
3.  There will be more sibling fighting than at home.
4.  No one eats or sleeps enough.
5.  We may not see a vegetable for days.
6.  I will, at some point, become a very unsuccessful dictator.
7.  Complaints will arise about the food, lack of English speaking TV and missing video games.
8.  Someone will have or nearly have a toilet accident.  It is most likely NOT the 3 year old.
9.  One or more child will decide he/she doesn't want to do something, drag their feet and cause us to miss our scheduled activity.
10. It is very likely someone will fall asleep at an inconvenient time and melt down later.

 Yay.

1. Coloring books, activity books and crayons are great for planes and trains.
2.  Mad Libs work. (Waiting at restaurants, airports, for a movie)
3.  Bribing with gelato also works.
4.  Handing out lollipops during descent and landing is genius.
5.  When flying a budget airline with a family, Priority boarding is worth the extra expense.
6.  Someone will surprise you with good behaviour and/or appreciation of something historical or cultural.
7.  A horse and carriage tour will generally make my kids smile.
8.  Water parks and public baths ARE fun in 95 degree heat.
9.  We will take longer to get around, but might see things we would have missed otherwise.
10. Even if they complain the whole trip, when we get home they will continually discuss the cool things they did and share this information with strangers they meet.

I guess they are getting something out of it.  However, I'm looking forward to some kid free trips.  :)  Dublin or Bust!

Sun, Sun, Mr. Golden Sun!

Once again, I have been a horrible blog poster.  I just can not seem to focus long enough to write coherently.  I'm sure a ton has happened (though none of it very exciting) since my last post, so I'll do a brief recap for you.  :)

Lake District:
We decided last minute to spend a night near the Lake District in the north west part of England.  It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and we plan to return more than once.  The mountains, the lakes, the hiking, the views.  It was simply breath-taking.   We arrived in Keswick in the early afternoon and grabbed a quick lunch from a vendor in the parking lot.  Burgers and chips (fries).  Hiking fuel, of course.  Then we headed along the path to Derwent Water, one of the large lakes in the region.  Our goal was to hike catbells, one of the many walks in the area.  The catch was that Jason was wearing Caitlin on his back and there were a few steep climbs.  We did not quite make it to the top.  It became steep and craggy and just not worth the risk with Cait in a back carrier.  Anyone want to come stay with us and baby sit so Jason and I can go back and finish the hike?  ;-)  The boys loved it.  They kept saying, "I can't believe we are on a mountain".   Of course, Brady in true form, was running and leaping and being his usual dare devil self.  He was not pleased when I made him hold my hand on the walk down.  It really could have been a bad situation.

Sittin' on the dock of the bay.  Waiting for a ride to the other side.

Derwent Water from the path

All the way to the left is one of the peaks from catbells

After our hike we had a nice dinner at a small italian restaurant and set out for icecream.  Sadly, most of the shops had closed, but we did find ice cream before heading to our hotel.  Our hotel was actually in Penrith.  It was great.  One of the few places that fit all 5 of us in one room.  There were bunkbeds and a pull out couch in addition to a Queen sized bed.  There were cookies and milk waiting in the room for the kids.  They had even spelled out their names with chocolate sauce on the plate.  Nice touch.  Of course, the down side of staying in one room is that one person, let's not name any names, Caitlin, woke up screaming in the middle of the night, we were all up.

The next morning, we headed to Windermere.  Another beautiful lake and adorable town.  Though we preferred the "outdoorsy" feel of Keswick over Windermere,'s "boutique" feel.  We took a short 3 mile walk along the edge of the lake and through the town.  We were ready to head home, so we picked up a few things for lunch at the grocery store and headed out.  We had perfect weather and a lovely time.

The Weather
The weather has been AMAZING!!!  It has been sunny and dry for weeks.  It started with some nice days in the 60's with very little rain and continued to escalate to days on end of sunshine and temps reaching the upper 70's/low 80's.  I even have a bit of color.  A farmer's tan, but still, that 's color.  I hope that is not an offensive phrase, "farmer's tan," is it?  Anyhow, after the long, cold, dark, damp, did I say cold? winter, it is a very welcome weather pattern.  I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, but in the meantime, I'll take it!

It afforded us the opportunity to check out a beach.  We headed to Filey beach on the North Sea a week or two ago.  It was not like being in Rehoboth Beach, DE, but it was nice.  The beach was way too rocky for my taste, but the kids had a blast playing in the water and digging in the sand.

We are heading off on our next adventure soon, so I plan to share that experience with you when we return.  Right now, I need to go enjoy the sun.  :)

The Exploration of France

It's been too long since my last post.  This dreaded winter has had me feeling less than stellar.  It has honestly felt like spring would never come.  If I posted earlier, you would have just heard my cries and complaints and probably a bunch of nasty expletives.  It's April, people.  April.  I know, I know, it's affecting all of us.  Even my friends and family in the USA.  However, when I look at the forecast there and see 50's and 60's I could burst in to tears.  We reached a high of 46 today, I think?  Today was the first day I felt like spring is nearly here.  There was sunshine and blue skies galore and the sun didn't set until nearly 8pm.  Enough of my ranting on the weather.  Moving on to better and more interesting things. Let's talk about France.

We just spend an amazing and exhausting 4 days in France.  It was not enough.  I'm leary about long travel with the kids, but truly, we needed at least 2 more days to have seen all we hoped to see.  Never fear, we saw a ton.  I mean a ridiculous amount of touring in 4 short days.  We spent 2.5 days in Paris and the equivalent of one day in the Liore Valley.

In Paris, in 2.5 days, we saw:  The Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower (even got to see it twinkle from the top of the Arc), Notre Dame, Palace of Versailles, Champs Elysees and the Louvre.  Did we see these sites extensively? Not a chance.  The kids get antsy and they can't spend much more than 1.5 hours in one location.  We were on the move from sun up until sun down.  We ate delicious baguettes and croissants.  Oh, the chocolate croissants!  Decadent and lovely.  Let's not forget the chocolate mousse, creme brulee, crepes and other tasty pastries we tried. The food was fantastic.  Even the food we bought from carts on the side of the street.  I loved seeing people walking around with baguettes.  I wanted to be one of those people.  I was the one holding kids hands and looking like a deer in the headlights.  As always, traveling in the city with my kids makes me so stressed out.  I have to try really hard not to let my anxiety get the best of me so that I can absorb and take in as much as possible. Considering the lack of sleep we all had, we did well.  I slept with Cait and got zero sleep.  Cait didn't nap and we stayed up until after 10 every night.

Traveling with kids changes the experience.  Pre-kids, I could have spent hours walking around the Louvre, sitting in front of paintings and contemplating what the artist's intentions were. Kids in tow, march directly to the Mona Lisa and follow straightest path to 4 other paintings/sculptures on the "must see" list.  Get the heck out of dodge before someone starts screaming.  Pre-kids, I could have walked up and down Champs Elysees shopping and sipping coffee. Kids in tow, walk quickly down the street, window shopping and wishing you could go in for just 5 minutes, but keep walking because inevitably, someone has to use the toilet, is hungry or is tired of stupid walking.  Pre-kids, a stroll along the Seine could be romantic and peaceful.  Kids in tow, walk quickly to keep up with running children who are kicking up dirt at strangers. Both experiences are equally valid, just different.

Are you still with me?
We spent half of Thursday and half of Friday in the Liore Valley.  This was more my speed and I genuinely wish we had spent more time here.  The country side itself, not so impressive.  The small villages and incredible chateaus, so worth it.  We stayed in a "rustic" hotel.  It was more like a B&B, in the village of Chenonceaux.  It took 10 minutes to walk through the tiny village to the Chateau de Chenonceau, also known as "Castle of the Ladies."  The history is quite interesting and if you have a chance, google it.  ;-)  Of course, it rained this day, but we had fun anyway.  We live in England. We've become accustomed to the rain.  The boys enjoyed the garden maze.  It was not too crowded and we were able to let the boys run freely through the maze.  Fun for the whole family, really.  The Chateau spanned the Cher river.  This part of our trip was inspired by the Amazing Race season 21.  Jason saw it and decided we needed to go.  It was a good call, indeed.

After walking through the castle, we headed back to our hotel and rested a bit before heading out to dinner.  We ended up in Amboise.  I'm terribly disappointed that we didn't head there sooner.  We were able to do a little shopping in this adorable town and have dinner, but we arrived too late to go in to the Chateau located there.  We never even saw the front side of the Chateau since we kind of stumbled upon it accidentally.  Of course, we saw it on the Amazing Race when we watched it today and it's huge!  Total Bummer, but once again, we had a delicious dinner and visited a new town.

One final sleepless night and we carried on to Chateau de Chambord. Massive.  That is the most appropriate description of this place.  Huge, sweeping staircases, ornate details inside and out, it was incredible.  The grounds are a part of a park and go on for acres.  If we'd had better weather and more time, we could have biked or walked around the property for hours.  It was impressive.  As a parting gift, Jason bought me a bottle of Chambord.  Yum.  Can't wait to make some fancy drinks with it.

Off to the airport, with a suitcase containing more glass bottles than when we arrived.  Kids happily playing with plastic knights and a princess crown and 2 hours of highway ahead of us.  I will spare you the gory details of the airport melt downs.  They were plentiful.  We made it back to Yorkshire safely.  Oddly enough, it felt like home.

Random Book Post

I have set a reading goal for myself in recent years.  I like to read.  I'm not going to lie, I like to read a lot of mindless stuff.  I like romance, young adult, general fiction and lately even sci-fi and fantasy.  I'm open to suggestion. I also like the books that are $3.99 or less on Amazon. I've been reading more and more classics and am trying to take on more British authors since I do live in the UK. 

Pride and Prejudice is one of my favourite novels of all time.  I had never even read it until 2010.  If you have not read it, I suggest you give it a go.  I decided I would try another Jane Austen novel since I enjoyed P&P so much.  I chose Mansfield Park.  The style of writing takes longer to get in to, but in the end, I enjoyed it, too.  The thing I found most interesting is that 90% of the "easy" reads I've been reading could easily be modern day, watered down, less modest versions of Jane Austen works.   Let's compare.

Mansfield Park:  Girl from wrong side of society taken in by wealthy relatives, meets boy of prominence.  Feels unworthy.  Through trials and mishaps there is ultimately a happily ever after for our heroine.

VS

Broken (recent .99cent kindle book):  Girl from sketchy background who has self-proclaimed baggage, attracts a well to do man.  Of course, there is some drama, but in the end, boy sweeps girl off her feet and though the series has not been completely written, it looks as if there will be a happily ever after.

Very Cinderella, no?  I read this stuff and find pleasure in it.  A little escape from the day to day, but quite honestly, I mostly laugh at myself in the end.  The formula is basically the same, the characters fluctuate.  The classics have more elaborate plots, sub-plots and style than the modern day twists, but I like them equally.
It probably wouldn't be as exciting to read a story about a 29 year old, slightly out of shape, man who lives at home with his parents trying to find his soul mate.  ;-)

Anyhow, I've rambled on enough.  If you are looking for something to read and you own a kindle, I highly recommend the under $3.99 section.  You may be surprised by some of the really great writing there.  Whatever your taste, happy reading friends.

London Conquered

It's been a while since I've posted.  A lot has happened, we've been busy, we've been mostly well, but for some reason I have not taken the time to organise my thoughts and put them in to writing.

In early January, we took our first trip to London.  It went a lot better than I expected it to.  Travelling with the kids is always unpredictable.  I think they are getting used to it and we are getting better at it.  We rented a flat in the Westminster area.  We made sure to divide our time between the historic things we wanted to see and do and the things we felt the kids would really enjoy.  It was a busy weekend to say the least. Here is what our schedule looked like:
Day One
Arrive at Victoria Station mid-afternoon
Walk to flat and check in
Catch the tube and head to the British Museum
Walk down Oxford street to Hamley's toy store (5 floors people!)
Catch the tube back to Victoria and walk to flat

Day Two
Breakfast in flat
Walk to West Minster and  Big Ben
Walk through St. James Park to Buckingham Palace
Walk home for lunch/nap
Take the tube to the Science Museum (very cool place)
Back to Victoria and stop on the way to flat for dinner

Please stop making me look like a tourist.

Day3
Breakfast at flat
Tube to Tower of London/Tower Bridge
Back to flat for lunch/nap
Off to Hyde Park for the Winter Wonderland/Christmas Market (Massive!)
Taxi back to flat from there.

Yes, THAT bridge is kind of cool.

Day 4
Breakfast at Starbuck's on the way back to King's Cross and our return home  Are you exhausted?  I was!

I'm really pleased with how well the kids did on the train and how well we did using the tube.  We didn't bring a stroller so I'm sure that made the tube much easier.  I would not recommend a stroller in the tube. Too many stairs.   Mind the gap.  ;-)

I'm sure we will return to London during our time here, but if for some reason that doesn't happen, I feel satisfied with what we did and saw.  It was a great trip.  Next up.... France.  Paris and the Liore Valley in the spring.