Houseguests - Munich and Lisbon

We have been so fortunate on this trip to have 2 opportunities to stay with friends who live abroad, as the kids (and adults) have been so anxious to have other people to talk to, those days are always easier on the budget, and we learn all the best insider secrets of the towns.

One of our "definite" stops as we planned this trip was Lisbon, where our friends the D'Andrades live.  Meaghan is an American who met her future husband, Vasco, while studying at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Fast forward many years - they have 4 kids ranging in age from 1-15 who have all been raised in Vasco's hometown of Monte Estoril, which is a fabulous beach town down the road from Lisbon. Luckily for us, they live in a huge house with lots of room for the kids to play - and since with us there were 11 people living there - we managed to keep the house loud even when her kids were at school!

Our five days there were filled with both tourist and local fun. Meaghan set the kids up with the local soccer club, so they were able to attend practice there, my kids would walk with her kids to school in the morning to see a Portugese school, but we were also able to visit the castle in Lisbon, and a day trip up to Sintra, where we saw more castles straight out of a storybook.  We loved Lisbon - reminded us so much of San Francisco - and not just because there is a bridge that looks just like the Golden Gate! We can see why the D'Andrades love their lives there - family friendly, gorgeous and varied scenery, and so much to do!

Lisbon

Kids and Vasco at the Castle in Lisbon

Sintra

Sintra

The kids have all been friends since they were born, so it was a very easy transition slipping into the D'Andrades' lives. Huge thanks to Meaghan, Vasco, Tomas, Caroline, Freddy and Sebby for welcoming us and keeping us happy and well-fed. And did I mention that Caroline is 11 which meant that Maggie had a GIRL to play with (although, in all fairness, Maggie spent most of her time trying to play with 1-year old Sebby).

Our second houseguest experience was in Munich, where a college friend, Tara, is spending a few years as an expat with her husband Jamus, and four boys (apparently we only like to stay with large families!), who ranged in age from 11-5!  We hadn't planned a trip there, but Tara sent me a message inviting us to take over the third floor of their house a month or two earlier, and since Munich had been on our kids' list of places to go (I think mostly because they like the local soccer club, Bayern Munich), we decided to take them up on their very gracious offer.  What a great choice that turned out to be!!!

Now, I can't speak for the Driscolls, but I think it was a great match! Their boys are terrific - and all seven kids got along perfectly - which made for a great 4 days there.  Some highlights of our time in Munich - spending the afternoon at Wawi, the local biergarten where the four adults ate (a lot of) sausage and drank a lot of beer while the kids ran off into the woods to play; hiking up Blomberg where the kids (and dads) had snowball fights all the way up the mountain and taking the toboggan ride down, and just being able to sit and have a conversation with the adults while the kids were off in the street playing games. 

 We also got to sneak into Munich while the Driscoll boys were at school, where we saw the Glockenspiel (cute, but a bit overrated for the kids), saw the Olympic Stadium and BMW Welt, and visited Allianz Arena (home of Bayern Munich).

Our days spent with the D'Andrades and the Driscolls were some of our favorites - and we are grateful to both families for welcoming us to their homes and cities.

Lake Bled - Closed!

On our way from Italy to Germany (via Croatia to pick up our rental car that we will have for a month), we decided to make a couple night stop in Lake Bled, Slovenia.  Our knowledge of Slovenia was next to nothing, so we figured we could learn a little, enjoy some incredibly beautiful cities and towns, and take part in some of the adventures that the northern Slovenian area has to offer.  We got 2 for 3.

On the drive, we made a quick stop in the capital, Ljubljana where we went to a restored castle on the hilltop that had a great museum and a quick funicular down the mountain. The museum was a good choice for us, since it taught us about the more recent history of Slovenia - which isn't much, but a good example of post-Communism and the breaking up of countries to become independent from the Eastern Bloc.  Even the Slovenian Tourism's website says "we don't have a majestic history like other European nations" so they rely more on pre-historic exhibits that focused on Slovenia's diverse landscapes.

view of Ljubljana from the castle

taking the funicular from the castle

streets of Ljubljana

Funny enough, we clearly aren't the only ones who don't know much about Slovenia (in all honesty, I'm not sure I knew it was a country pre-planning), as our currency converter that comes on our iPhones  gave us the conversion rate of $1=172 Slovenia Tolar. When we went to the museum, we asked if it was ok to pay in Euro, since we hadn't found an ATM that doled out Tolar.  The (young) guide somewhat patiently explained that they have been on the Euro since 2007, and he doesn't even remember the Tolar! Oops - probably should let Apple know about that.

As we pulled into Lake Bled, we were excited for the days ahead - the town of Bled sits on top of a beautiful lake that has a tiny island (Slovenia's only island) in the middle of it, with snow-covered mountains in the distance from almost any angle, and a perfect castle  on the hill looking over the lake.

Our first morning, we were up early, and walked up to the castle, which happened to be on the hill over our apartment.  The kids liked the printing press exhibit, where they saw what the very first printing presses were like (one of the first printing presses translated the Bible into Slovenian, hence the exhibit), and then we moved on to the museum part of the castle, where we learned a little about the history of the region and the castle itself, but again - lots of focus on pre-human history.

After that, we struggled to find pretty much anything to do in Lake Bled - there were a couple of (overpriced) restaurants that had opened already, but everything else was closed - until April 1 (we were there the last week of March!).  Boating across the river to the castle in the lake? Closed for "weather" (um, it wasn't raining….). Adventure course/trampoline/activity center - closed until three days later. Renting a bike to go around the lake? Nope, not open either. We couldn't even go hiking in the nearby parks, as the ice storms this past winter had caused so much damage that all the trails were blocked off!  It was also cold, and our place was *really* small (and we've stayed in some tight spaces), so we packed it in, and took off for Munich a day early.

We all agreed, however - Lake Bled would be a perfect family destination in the summer, and we highly encourage people to visit AFTER April 1.  Stunning, perfect-looking European town - but totally a bust in the off-season!!

First morning - before we realized it was all closed!!