Northern Italy 2024

12 August 2024 - We found a week amid the craziness of summer baseball and softball to take a family trip before school started. We decided to take our first family trip to Europe, and zeroed in on Italy. I suggested Verona and Venice, because I had been to both and through they would be good for the kids. We booked our flights and Airbnbs in February, then sat back to wait and learn Italian. 

Today was a Monday. We slept in, had breakfast and finished packing. After we were ready, we headed toward Chicago around lunchtime. Felix, with his temps, drove us from home to the Interstate (he didn't feel comfortable driving on it himself yet). We had an uneventful ride to Madison, where we stopped at Target and got lunch at Hy-Vee while we charged. Then we got to our parking garage near O'Hare at 4:45 pm. Once at the airport, we got through security without waiting too long. We found our gate and got some food. They moved our gate a few times. We passed time playing sheepshead in the food court. Just when we were about to begin boarding, they moved the gate and pushed back the flight time from 8:50 pm to 9:30 pm. Then they pushed it again to 10:00 pm. It was at this point I decided to start this journal entry. The kids are annoyed (and bottomless pits, eating just about all of our "airport snacks"), but they're handling it overall. (Mostly. Iris was getting increasingly worked up about getting to sleep late. I gave her the mantra "we will get in, we will take off!" to repeat to herself.) We finally got on the plane and finally got in the air around 10:34 pm.

At the airport

13 August - The flight was direct to Venice and fairly uneventful. There was more juddering turbulence than I would have liked... But no matter. Iris and I didn't get much sleep. She would poke me to get my attention just about every time I was about to fall asleep. They served us dinner at 11:30 pm and breakfast at 5:30 am (home time), though it was 1:30 pm when we landed. We were near the front of the plan, and had no checked bags, so we got to customs soonish. An expectedly long wait followed. (Why do people go on break just as we get into line?) We just missed the next available shuttle to the train station and had to wait 15 minutes in the ~99°F heat outside. The kids got a little cranky (Felix also skipped taking his ADHD medicine because of the time change). Anyway, we got on the shuttle, got to the station, and bought tickets for the next train to Verona. We didn't have to wait very long. The train ride took about 2½ hours. There was no WiFi, but there was air conditioning and nice views, and I was okay with that. Iris wilted and rebounded. We got to Verona @ 5:45 pm, caught the bus to Voscova by the skin of our ignorant-to-pickup-location teeth, and completed our slog to the Airbnb at Via XX Settembre 3 around 6:30 pm. We got in to the apartment, got our keys, and all took much-needed showers. After we were ready, we walked to Pizzikotto for dinner. Perfect for us - pizzas and wine. We ate all three pizzas of varying crust thicknesses, got dessert, then headed back to play four hands of sheepshead before bed.

Pizza in Italy? Check!

14 August - After a nice night of sleep, I woke around 7 am and got up at 7:30. After getting ready, I made coffee and sat on the kitchen balcony listening to the church bells. Iris joined me, but she made her tea undrinkable by using salt instead of sugar. 

Once everyone was up and ready, we headed out to find breakfast. There was a little cafe just down the street (Caffé Columbia) where we tried out our Italian ordering cappuccinos and cornettos. We ate inside the tiny cafe as it was already warm and there was a market in the adjacent square. After finishing, we walked along Via Venti Settembre (a bit gritty...) to the Ponte delle Navi across the Adige River. We stuck to the shady sides of the streets as we made our way to the Arena. The kids were impressed, but already overheating. We got our first gelato of the trip, which we ate sitting in the shade in Piazza Bra. From there, we meant to go to Castelvecchio, but ended up at Porta Nuova. We walked along the city walls to Porta Palio, then along Stradone Porta Palio. Everyone was hot and thirsty, so we stopped at Buon Gusto for lunch. Nick and Felix got calzones, Iris got a giant kids pizza, and I got a ham, mushroom and cheese piadina. We walked past Castevecchio, stopping for a few souvenirs (fans for Iris and me, a magnet, and Italian leather sandals for me). We then walked to Piazza delle Erbe. We walked past the market stalls, and stopped for beverages at Osteria Sottocosta at the base of the Torre dei Lamberti. 

Piazza delle Erbe

Once refreshed, we walked to nearby Piazza dei Signori. We then walked back to the Airbnb via Ponte Nuovo. Everyone was pretty hot and cranky (it was 95°F) by the time we stopped at iN's Mercato for snacks and beverages (and cheap wine). We had a family talk because I think the rest of this trip is going to be not worthwhile if everyone can't handle the heat. We took a breather for a bit, during which Nick and I made train reservations for tomorrow and Friday. At about 5:30, we set out to take in the view of Verona from Castel San Pietro. It took about a half hour to walk towards and up for the vista. Meanwhile, storm clouds loomed and thunder rumbled (and it was blessedly cooler). We stayed up there a little while, taking in the various aspects. Just as we were done, it started to rain. And then hail (penny-sized, but not a lot). We scurried to a restaurant that caught Nick's eye called Alma. We enjoyed (mostly...) some beverages and sandwiches. I say "mostly" because Iris didn't appreciate her myrtle-leaved-orange-flavored soda (chinotto). Nick and I thought it tasted like red vermouth with a hint of Campari. The rain let up while we were eating, only to renew with a vengeance as we headed out. We promised more gelato, and dashed (Felix being chased down by a restaurant employee because he left his backpack behind) to Gelateria Ballini. We each got a scoop which we ate heading back to the Airbnb. We arrived, soaking wet, around 8 pm. We warmed up and showered. I watched the lightning before setting down to write with wine. :) After this evening, I have higher hopes for the rest of this trip.

Above the city

15 August - We managed to get up, caffeinated, and out by 8:45 am. We figured out the bus routes and caught one to the train station. We had enough time to get a few sandwiches at a cafe for breakfast. We found our train to Bolzano/Bozen and got four seats together. The train left at 9:53 am and took us north along the Adige River valley. Very pretty scenery as we rode toward the high hills and low mountains. We arrived in Bolzano around 11:30 am. We immediately joined the queue for the cable car to Soprabolzano/Oberbozen. I bought tickets as we waited in line, a half hour before we were four of the approximately 20 people to fit in the gondola. The ride was longer than expected and very lovely. We decided to have lunch at Bar Cafe Fink near the cable car station. The kids tried interesting drinks (banana shake, "sportwasser") while Nick and I had our first house wine in Italy. We each tried a different lunch item (Bauerntoast for me, pizzette for Nick, piadina for Iris, lasagna for Felix). After we shared an ice cream sundae, we set off to find a place to take family pictures with some of the Dolomites in the background. We found the perfect spot for our pictures, then walked back. 

We noticed a lot of people in traditional German dress, then realized there was a parade assembling. We tried to get ahead of it and found ourselves battling paradegoers for space. We walked past the parade route onto a hiking path. I was met with resistance at walking farther because it was yet again hot (even over a half mile above sea level) in the Ritten/Renon area. We stopped for a drink at Tutti Patschenggle. (Nick and I tried the Bolzen-brewed Dunkel, Iris got lemonade with herbs, and Felix got sparkling apple juice.) While there, we found out the parade was because of the Assumption of Mary festival. We headed down the cable car shortly after, which a much shorter wait. We had some time to kill before our 4:31 train back to Verona. We walked to Piazza Walther/Waltherplatz, saw the church adjacent to the square, and got another drink (spritzes for Nick and me). We got on the train and found seats together (Iris and I let Nick and Felix face forward this time). Uneventful ride back. Felix didn't take his ADHD meds today, so he was scattered at times and his typical argumentative self at other times. We got off the train and found the bus we wanted. Nick found an Asian dumpling restaurant the kids wanted to try on the the Airbnb side of the river. Unfortunately, like many other places, it was closed "the holidays." We walked back to Pizzikotto instead. There, we had another nice meal (sharing a couple of pizzas and an order of carbonara). It was 8 pm when we left (and not pouring), so we decided to walk near our apartment. We found some stray cats, which the kids liked. We headed back shortly after that and settled in to start packing up and wind down.

Like being in Germany but still in Italy

16 August - We took it easy this morning, getting ready, packing up, and having one last cup of coffee on the kitchen balcony. We took a bus to the Porta Nuova station at 10 am. We ate some breakfast at the 12 oz near the bus stops. We caught our 11:40 am train to Venice, which was crowded. Uneventful journey - I mostly listened to an audiobook. We arrived to similarly sweltering Venice Mestre at 2. Hungry, we walked to the Antica Focacceria Fiorentina for enormous sandwiches (I split one with Iris). Fortified, we trudged 15 minutes with our backpacks to our next Airbnb. On the 14th floor. With no air conditioning. We immediately turned on all available fans and opened all the windows for airflow. My belly wasn't feeling great, so I took a cold shower after starting laundry. That helped. We all took time to rest and chill (as much as we could, anyway). We decided to make our own dinner tonight. We tried the Pam Local across the street, but decided to walk a few blocks to the big Pam for dinner and snack supplies. We also bought bus tickets on the way (awkward... the tobacco shop worker spoke much better English than my hesitant Italian). We bought fagotti (also awkward), sauce, Felix's choice of Fontanel cheese, some fruit, gelato, and several bottles of beverages and water. We went back and made our dinner, at it at ~ 8 pm, then (while Iris was talking to friends back home) watched a couple Archer episodes with Felix on Netflix. It's nearly 11 pm and still quite warm in this apartment. 

Sunset from the 14th floor

17 August - It was a hot night. I woke around 5:30 am and got a picture of the sunrise. Got out of bed around 7:30 am and made myself an Americano. Once we were all up and ready to go (around 9:00 am), we went out to find breakfast. We walked to Wine Not for our repast (Iris and Felix got cream puffs, Nick and I shared a panini). We caught the next bus to Venezia. Unfortunately, we just missed the hop-on/hop-off boat. We walked past the train station and bought fans from a souvenir kiosk, and popped into a few other shops to get an idea of what souvenirs were being sold. We got on the 11:30  am departure and made our hot, sticky, and in Iris's case, nauseated way to Murano. We got off around 12:30 pm and immediately were shepherded to a glass blowing demonstration at Ellegi. (I've been watching a glass art competition show on Netflix so I had some idea of what was going on and the capabilities.) Nick and the kids were suitably appreciative, especially when the artist sculpted a horse in 90 seconds. We left at the conclusion of the demonstration. 

Glass making demonstration

We stayed on Murano and had a fancy lunch at Trattoria Busa alle Torre. We ate (each getting different types of pasta - Felix got ravioli, Nick - pasta with squid ink, Iris - spaghetti Bolognese, me - tagliatelle), drank (prosecco for us, cokes for the kids), relaxed. When finished, we walked over the bridge and looked for glass souvenirs (not difficult to find - every store had them in varying levels of quality). We stopped in a few stores before getting gelato at Bar/Gelateria Fornace Murano (again, it was very hot!). After finishing our gelato (and Nick and I finished our prosecco), we walked along the Fondamenta da Mula looking in various shops. Iris found necklaced she liked. I was looking for something special, so we walked across the next bridge, intending to catch the 3:10 pm boat back to the station. Instead, we went into B59, which caught our eye as selling more than just touristy stuff. I initially picked out a small bird (€29) and a small hourglass (€42). Then I impulsively added a vase that kind of looked like an owl or a fish for €180. At that point, Stefano, the shop keeper, said we could get into the Ellegi gallery if we presented his card. That sounded interesting and we weren't in a rush, so we headed back to the glassblowing store by the boat stop. A man (Fabrizio, we would learn) was looking for a man in a red shirt from "Wisconsis". We figured that was Nick and identified ourselves. Fabrizio took us upstairs of the factory shop behind the rope, offered beverages (more prosecco and cokes) and allowed to look at one-of-a-kind art pieces and chandeliers. It was an "everything is beautiful/oh, $#!%, they want us to buy it" moment. We sipped and looked around. I found a couple pieces I adored (solo bird - €2,500, iridescent bird bath - €4,000). Fabrizio recommended the one-of-a-kind solo bird, made by the maestro who gave the demonstration we saw earlier (Fabio). We decided to buy that and a set of six stemless Venetian wine glasses for a total of €2,700. After we paid, Fabrizio (company executive manager) allowed the kids to pick out souvenirs for "free." Iris got a small glass cat and an anklet with a several glass beads. Felix got a set of three small blown glasses about the size of a shot glass). 

Our treasures

All the money spent, we walked to the south end of Murano, where we found a glass harmonica player, and a place to get a few beverages and a pizza to share. We then walked and got the boat back to the station at 5:20 pm. I made friends with Maria and Marcus from Cypress at the front of the boat. :D Nice folks. Once we disembarked, we caught the next bus to Mestre. At our stop, we got off and went to Pam Local for drinks and dinner, which we made (gnoccetti) in the still-hot apartment. After dinner, we played Labirinto (Labyrinth) and then watched a couple episodes of Archer. 

Murano

18 August - I got a picture of sunrise shortly after 6, then got up at 7:30 am. We had breakfast and Americanos in the apartment before leaving shortly after 8:30 am to make our way back to Venice. The bus was less crowded, likely because it was earlier and Sunday. We caught the 9:30 am Venetiana boat and took it to the San Marco stop. We bought tacky magnets for us and Cassie at at kiosk along the water. The day started cooler than yesterday, but it was already warming up. Nick spent some time looking at the details on the outside of the cathedral. So did many, many other tourists. Iris said she was hungry, so we headed away from the square through the clock tower. We ducked into a shop with similar glass pieces as we saw yesterday. We decided to eat at Bar Al Campanile because they had cicchetti Venezi. We each got our won sample of 3-4 with a beverage in the 1920s-esque bar. Once sated, we walked on. I told the kids to pick paths that looked interesting. We found some very busy ones and some deserted alleys. The kids lost interest in doing this quicker than I hoped (though they got treats at Captain Candy). I directed us to the Rialto Bridge, which was very busy. 

In Piazza San Marco

On the Rialto Bridge

Then we found a public toilet for Iris. Next, we went looking for a place to have a drink in the shade. We ended up making a loop back to Piazza San Marco and went to Ristorante Marciana, just down the way from the Bar Al Campanile on Calle Larga S. Marco. There, which it was noon, we ordered two pizzas to share and a bottle of Lugana wine. We took a nice break then. The kids were not enthusiastic about doing more wandering, so we started to make our way back to the buses. We stopped at a few places to help Iris find a quill and ink, and to let Felix get gelato. Iris complained about sore feet, so we headed straight back. I hadn't been feeling great today, so I didn't mind. Everyone felt they had done enough Venice now. We caught the next crowded bus back to Mestre and got to the apartment around 3:00 pm. We took showers, cleaned some clothes, and relaxed. There was some rain that went west of us, which was interesting to see from this height. We walked to the Mestre old town area around 6:30 pm to get some dinner. We got an assortment of dumplings and bao at Bini Express, which were all tasty. We looked around the piazza with its 12th Century clock tower in the fading daylight, then walked back to the apartment. We played family foosball and four hands of sheepshead before calling the kitties. We also had some gelato and cannoli we picked up today for dessert. Only one more sleep in Italy...

Mestre

19 August - We slept in, got ready and made our way through the rain on a couple buses to the airport, arriving at 11:10 am. It didn't take long to go through security. We had some food in the crowded food court, then went quickly through passport control. We sat and waited for our 2:50 pm flight. The flight was full and left on time. Nothing unexpected during the flight and we even landed 45 minutes earlier. We cleared customs fairly quickly, got the shuttle to our car, and headed home. We got there around 9:30 pm to two very happy kitties. 

Trip cost (excluding below): $8,231.47
Art: $3,068.27

Porto 2022

12-13 October 2022 - COVID-19 really threw us a curveball when it limited our ability to travel. Nearly 3 years after our last trip abroad, we felt comfortable enough to take another trip to Europe. The kids (now 13 and 10) are still too immature to take on a trip like this, so we found a window in Nick's schedule and made Porto, Portugal, our destination.

Nick and I both dropped off Felix at school on the morning of Wednesday, October 12. We came home and finished all our to-do items. We said bye to Iris before she got on the bus, then headed to Chicago. Cloudy, dreary day. We stopped in Madison to charge and get a snack. We got to the O'Hare airport area around 12:45, dodging rain most of the way. We learned the hard way that we should have brought our own charging cable after entering tour reserved lot. Charging and returning took about 45 minutes, but finally, we were in the shuttle on the way to the airport. More rain. We got to O'Hare Terminal 5 about 2 hours before take-off. Interminable security line... (honestly, why do people travel??) Once through, we walked a lot only to get two bar seats at a concourse restaurant where we could each get a beer and loaded nachos for "lunch." We headed back to the gate after that much-needed respite to wait to board. Did Duolingo (827 straight days, now on Portuguese). The plane wasn't full. Nick and I sat across from each other on the aisle. Took off on our KLM flight for Amsterdam on time (4 pm). They served dinner (Nick got chicken parmesan, I got eggplant pasta), then I tried to sleep. 6 hours and 50 minutes and turbulence resulted in very little sleep. (Oh, and the man behind me crumpled plastic for.ev.er.) Melatonin didn't help. I just rested after a while.

13 Oct - We arrived in Amsterdam and made our way to our connecting flight. It was rainy and cloudy and dark, so our first experience in the Netherlands was anticlimactic. There were two mince running around near our gate, so that was a thing. We got euros and beverages. Our Porto flight ended up 15 minutes behind after boarding. We both thought it was a shorter flight (ended up being 2.5 hours) and tried to sleep, but had "light" turbulence again. We landed safely, got our bag and made our way to the metro in Porto. I love metro systems. In due course, with the fog burning off, we were on our way. We got off at Bolhão. Our first experience in Porto was the bustle of Rua de Santa Catarina and the smell of roasted chestnuts. I bought a bag. We walked to our Airbnb at Rua da Firmeza 105. Our host met us and showed us inside. (It was so nice that they were able to let us in at noon instead of 3 pm!) After she left, we took a much-needed nap after a shower. It was a beautiful day, so I didn't want to waste it. We were out exploring the city by 3:30. We made our way towards the river, stopping for some gelato. Eventually, we got to Ponte Luís I and made a hair-raising journey across the top deck. We took a few pictures, then walked our way down the medieval twisty alleys to the Ribeira. We scouted out a place for a late lunch/early dinner. We each tried a local specialty (bacalhau for me, francesinha for Nick) and got a bottle of "green wine" that was red. We enjoyed our dinner, the weather, and the people-watching. It was truly lovely. Once we finished, we thought about taking the funicular to save our tired feet/calves, but the long line and reduced capacity put us off. We climbed the stairs and headed back towards our apartment, in search of beer. We found just such a place and over a while, tried 12 of the unique beers they had on tap over two flights. Had a nice time in the courtyard just enjoying being here. Got back to the apartment, I caught up on this account, and we waited for the kids to get home. Had a nice, brief call with Felix, Iris and Mom before we said goodbye and went to bed.

13 October sights

14 Oct - We let ourselves sleep in until 9. Surprisingly, neither of us ached as much as we thought we would. We got ready, then headed to the café on the corner for breakfast. We had teensy coffees, split a "sandwich" and a pastel de nata. From there, we took a leisurely walk to Torre dos Clérigos for our 11 am tickets. (We stopped at the Hard Rock Cafe for a pin for Mom). It took us a while to climb the 225-stair tower (being allowed up in waves), but we were rewarded with only partly hazy views. My legs were jelly on the (much quicker) way down. We stopped at a little wine shop down the street called Linha22 for a rest. Got a glass of green wine each and shared a smoked ham and cheese plate. Lovely, since it was about noon. From there, we made our way to the metro and took it across the river via the Ponte Luís I bridge to Vila Nova de Gaia. There was hardly any line, so we took the cable car down (we had one all to ourselves :o). We rested on the riverfront, sharing a couple of beers and watching the fish and pigeons. After a while, we walked all the way over and up to the Graham's port lodge. There, we took a tour that went in depth about the history and production of port by the family. Nick and I got to try six ports - 3 rubies and 3 tawnies. All pretty different, all very good, especially the 10- and 20-year tawnies. We needed some real food at this point, so we walked back down to the main waterfront area. We found a good place (Tempêro d'Maria) after a false start and each enjoyed our dinner. Nick also got a "porto tonico" while I went for a non-alcoholic beer. Dinner took the perfect amount of time for our next stop, a Cálem tour and show. The tour here was more visual and contemporary, and much shorter. We were treated (though it was included in the price) to a white port, a 10-year tawny port and a fado show. I hadn't heard this style of music before, so it was interesting. I also enjoyed it more when the loud table of women behind us left halfway through the show. It was dark when it ended, but we walked back to the apartment, finally finding a little bodega at which to buy some snacks. Got back in for the night around 9. We called the kids again around 10.

14 October sights

15 Oct - We got up at 7 and got ready for the day. The café adjacent to us was still closed, so we found another place to grab a bite (including pasteis de nata, of course). We ate and walked to where our excursion was meeting, at the Praça da Liberdade. We got there early and got on the coach bus. Our bus was full and we headed out to the Douro Valley. It was very foggy on the way, so not much scenery until we got further into the mountains. We listened to Ivo, our tour guide, provide us with information about the region and port wine. We were on the bus for about an hour before we stopped for 20 minutes in Regua. There, we viewed the variety of bridges and got a snack. It was about a half hour after that when we arrived in Pinhão. It was pretty cloudy and everyone was pretty quiet with each other was we took a boat cruise around a couple of bends of the Douro River, with terraced hills rising on each side. The sun came out and warmed us, too, which was nice. We loaded back on the bus and headed to the Quinta da Roeda, one of Croft's farms. We got a brief winery tour, then tried rosé ("pink"), ruby and 10-year tawny ports. We enjoyed ours outdoors on a picnic table overlooking the vineyard. Lovely! We bought a 10-year tawny, an olive oil produced on the farm, and some canned porto tonicos for the road. After a bit of alcohol the bus was much chattier. The folks behind us were from Atlanta and visiting their daughter who was studying in Madrid. We drove on through the valley (gorgeous, now that the fog burned off), and stopped for a late lunch at Magellan's birthplace in Sabrosa. Once we were finally served, we had a nice lunch and got to know our French and Israeli tablemates. The wine certainly loosened our tongues. It was quite a nice experience, capped off by trying some 20-year tawny port. Mmm. Once back on the bus, we headed straight back to Porto. We made a quick bathroom stop on the way, but got back around 6. Nick and I walked back to the apartment. We stopped to eat near it at Elee's, but they didn't have a table yet. We called the kids for a bit before heading back to eat at 7:30. Table ready, we got burgers and enjoyed the company of the older couple next to us from Ontario. We headed back in the light rain once we finished and called the kids again. Iris is very sad to be without us and we tried to make her feel better.

15 October (Douro Valley)

16 Oct - We slept in and took it easy today, not really having a plan. We did a load of laundry in the apartment, and headed out after 10. We walked to São Bento station to view the azulejos and stop at a recommended café. We picked up a loaded lanche and two pasteis de natas to share. We ate the sandwich walked to the Infante tram stop. We rode the tram along the river to Foz do Douro. It was cloudy and windy (though not enough to tempt us to buy a fur coat at the Sunday market in the Jardim do Passaio Alegre). We watched the waves crash as we walked to the Farolim de Felgueiras (lighthouse). We took a few pictures, watched the angry waves and were walking back toward land as the police came to shut down the jetties. (Lucky us). We ate our pastries on the pebbly beach and attempted to clean off our hands in the sea foam. I found a couple interesting pebbles/sea glass I took with me. We wandered around Foz for a bit, but it was Sunday and not much was going on or open. We did see a few kitties, however. I spotted a beachside restaurant, which made for a great lunch stop (and WiFi connection). Nick got a sardine sandwich, I got a mushroom omelet, and we shared a pitcher of sangria. (Glad we could sit inside - the people on the deck looked cold.) After touching base with the kids, we headed back and caught the next tram to Porto. Once we got back to the stop, we walked back to the apartment, making a few stops (got some Porto socks, some dried fruit and a pair of leggings for me for Tuesday). It's not just before 5 and we've relaxed for a bit with espressos and this account of the day. We let our clothes dry a bit longer before we did some ironing and headed out for dinner. The restaurant Nick suggested (Restaurate Palmeira) had open doors but no lights on, so we left quickly. We went to nearby Clube 21 for a similar meal. Nick had chicken wrapped in bacon with whole prawns and grilled pineapple. I got fried hake filets and "clam rice". Both were very good with a bottle of green wine. (This restaurant definitely was more for locals than tourists. Score.) Sated, we walked back up Rua da Santa Catarina and got a little gelato for the walk back. Talked to Iris and Felix briefly as we settled in for the night.

16 October sights

17 Oct - The weather forecast said it was going to be a rainy day, so we planned accordingly, bringing umbrellas/coats and wearing warmer clothes. It was not. We woke a little after 8, got ready leisurely, and were out the door around 10. We toured the Bolhão market for a while, buying natas, coffee and some candy for the kids. From there, we made our way to Gaia. It was too early for drinking and for food. We looked in a few shops, wandered away from the waterfront (all the time not raining). We found a shop where we bought a 33€ (about the same in dollars) bottle of 2018 vintage port we can age for our anniversary. :o) We walked down to the mercado and sampled a flight of beers while sharing a pizza. We were warned the port tasting shop would be closed from 1-2 pm, so we killed time tasting, frankly, cheap port. Eh. We listened to a street musician singing questionable covers of well-known American songs, then we went back to Sogevinus for a port tasting. After we explained what we had tried thus far, Fernando hooked us up with an amazing 9 ports (white through a 1974 colheita (OMG)). The 20-year Cálem was our favorite (exactly in the middle, age-wise). We spent 175€ on "souvenirs" for ourselves at the shop plus the tastings. Unfortunately, the heat of the non-raining sun and the weight of our treasures made the walk back a bit of a slog. I left Nick in the apartment to see about getting a piercing or something, but the shop was closed. I rued that I couldn't easily take home an antique crystal decanter, either. Alas. We rested before deciding what to do with ourselves for the evening. I woke Nick around 6:30 and we headed out for dinner. We tried a new area and ate sandwiches at Casa Guedes. Nothing fancy, but a very popular place. We sat in one of the tables on the terrace near a heater, and it was lovely. We walked back to the apartment and spent a while blowing up the bottle protectors I brought for our souvenirs. Did a test run (under the weight limit - whew!) and tried the wine we bought for the rest of our stay. Waited up to talk to the kids when they got home from school.

17 October sights

18 Oct - We woke up at 7 for our second excursion, this one to the Peneda-Gerês National Park. We were picked up at our building around 8:20 by Miguel and Catarina in an 9-passenger Land Rover 4x4. Next, we picked up a mother and son (Anke and Jerome from Germany) and three women (Emily, Grace and Beatrice, mostly from the UK). We spent the next hour and a half driving before stopping in a little town for a coffee break. From there, on to Gerês (pronounced "jeresh"). The day was mostly cloudy that far, but not foggy. A bit hazy. The 4x4 was used to great advantage as Miguel constantly flirted with danger on a narrow, rutted, hair-raising track near Fafião. (I had to remind myself that he had two young sons to whom he probably wanted to get home...) At a barely recognizable parking spot, we got out and hiked down to the bottom of a gorgeous waterfall (Cascata de Fecha de Barjas). Miguel stripped down to his bathing suit and went in. I said what the heck and became the first on our tour to brave the crystal-clear, COLD water. Once I got used to it and stopped nearly hyperventilating, it was fun. I jumped off the rocks and Miguel took photos of me and the others who braved it. Nick did not. After a while in the water, I got out and attempted to dry off. The sun was out and there was a warm breeze, which helped. Nick and I wandered a bit, exploring the rocks and the other small waterfalls. Soon, it was time to move on. We hiked back up the hill (going slowly because Anke was struggling). Finally, we reached the 4x4. We took another terrifying ride back past Fafião to the restaurant at which we were to eat lunch. It had a great view over the Cávado River valley. We all had a table together inside, and we got to know each other while having a meal of pork, potatoes and salad. There was also vinho verde. It was a nice time that ended with espresso, dessert, and a taste of the local moonshine (which tasted like raisins, wood and fire). It started raining while we were inside, unfortunately. We drove back up to Fafião, where we got out to take a tour of the village on foot. We saw the "wolf trap" (fojo do lobo), the grain storage bins, visited a little farm where we each plated a tree seed (to help with conservation), and ate raw chestnuts. We saw the church, very old houses/barns, and the communal laundry tub. After that, we got back in the 4x4 to do another hike. This one was shorter. We saw the mill that the town still uses to press olive oil. We crossed a stream by making our way across boulders. A short trek later, we were at another swimming lagoon. It was pouring, so I stripped back down to my swimsuit because why not? Nick also braved the water this time. We spent less time in the, again, very cold water before getting out. We just threw our clothes on before heading back to the 4x4. I picked up a rock that was half granite, half quartz. We made a pit stop in Fafião, changing at a café, and splitting an espresso and a small beer. The ride back was quiet and rain clouds filled the valleys, so there wasn't much for me to see. It because a little exciting when Miguel was pulled over for making an illegal turn in a roundabout. Traffic took a while to get through once we reached Porto. Nick and I decided to hop out and walk the rest of the way (less than 5 minutes to our apartment). We walked instead to a nearby pizza restaurant, waited a few minutes for them to open just after 7, and had a no-frills dinner. After that comforting meal, we walked the few blocks back to our apartment in the rain. We spent the rest of the evening packing and tidying, calling it an early day.

18 October (Gerês)

19 Oct - I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night. :o( I hadn't been asleep long when the alarm went off at 5:20. We got ready, finished packing, and headed out of the apartment shortly after 6. We endured a deluge as we walked 10 minutes to the Trinidade station to catch the first metro train to the airport. We arrived at the airport at 7 and had to wait for the counters to open up, then had to wait in line about 45 minutes so we could check our bags. Ugh. No mice to entertain us here. Security was pretty quick. We got mistas and americanos for breakfast, then walked to our gate. I left Nick to spend down our euros. Our communication before the flight could have been improved, but eventually, we were on the plane. Our departure was delayed because there was someone being loaded by stretcher. I attempted to write this account on the way to Paris, but the turbulence was disruptive. We finally landed, a bit behind schedule. We made as much of a mad dash as possible on a crowded plan, going through passport control, waiting and catching a bus to the other terminal, and dashing up to our gate... just to wait in the boarding line. We were very relieved to make it. And once on, the flight was delayed because of baggage loading issues (hopefully, that meant our luggage would be coming with us...). Wonderful French lunch (pasta, salad, camembert wedge, roll, tarte, champagne, wine, pear brandy and coffee. *insert pleased sigh here*). I read a bit, watched Downton Abbey: A New Era and The Lady of the Manor (pass). After that, I put on Pitch Perfect. Still 1 hour 46 minutes to go. There's a kid or two in who is not happy to be cooped up for so long. I'm feeling dehydrated. Overall, it was a smooth flight and we landed safely at O'Hare. Passport control was a frustrating wait (where did the much-quicker scanners go?). Our clothes bag was waiting for us at the baggage claim. Our souvenir bag took many minutes to make its appearance, but finally it did. And without any bottles breaking. Hooray! A shuttle to the parking garage was waiting for us and we got back to our car. It's much colder here than we're used to. The nearby supercharger wasn't super-charging, so we decided to head for Rockford after a quick beverage stop. Traffic was flowing and the drive was uneventful. We charged for about 40 minutes there (putting us on the cusp of a comfortable amount of charge), then hit the road. Nick took it easy and drafted behind a car transporter for a while, eliminating the need to charge more in Madison. We arrive home very thankful at 9:20 pm. We were immediately greeted with big hugs from the kids. Mom and Dad were very glad  we returned, so they could relinquish the kid-tending duties. We gave them some trip highlights, then they hit the road. And we hit the hay shortly thereafter.

Azulejos

Meals

Street Art

Ports tasted: 19 to 23 (we didn't see the bottles at our Douro Valley lunch, so we don't know if they were different or repeats)

Total trip cost: $3,154.15
{Transcribed 10/24/2022}

Barcelona 2019

11-12 Oct 2019 - Nick and I started our trip to Spain by leaving the house on Friday morning, then returning a few minutes later because we forgot the I-pass. Oops. I had packed and double-checked, packed for the kids, gotten a haircut, dropped off the kids' stuff at Mom & Dad's, and given them details. Nick got the kids fed and on the bus for school, and got the house cleaned up. A brief delay to return, but we were back on the road before 11. Chilly, gray, windy, drizzly day. We drove to Rockford, where we stopped for lunch at an okay Indian lunch buffet. There was a Tesla supercharger nearby and we both rested while charging. After that, we headed towards Chicago. It was ~3:30 when we got to Ikea, where we killed an hour but, amazingly, didn't buy anything. We next went to the "Entertainment District" in Rosemont. There, we found a cute Irish pub, each had a beer and a light dinner. It got really busy before we left. There was another supercharger nearby, and we finished charging up to full. The, to the airport! It was ~7:15. Got a great spot in the economy parking lot, waited a while for the shuttle bus to the terminal, and finally got off at Terminal 3. Endured the security line, found our gate. Waited. When we checked it, we got assigned seats that we're together. They were able to get some together for us. Woo! Then we waited some more. A mechanical issue in the cargo hold delayed our departure from 10:05 to 10:45 pm. Oh well, no rush. On the plane, once at altitude, we were served dinner and I watched the movie Booksmart. Nick & I both tried to sleep. I mostly just rested. We got a bit of breakfast as we went over Portugal. I watched an episode of Fleabag, then wrote all of the above during the descent. Since we were sitting in the last row of the plane, it took a while to deplane. Then we joined the interminable line for customs & passport checks. Joined the line at 2:25. Got our passports stamped at 4:22. Apparently, interminable equals 2 hours or me. {landing late + landing at lunchtime + several international flights landing at once + only 2 passport checkers when we finally got to the point where we could see what was causing the delay... there were 8 passport checkers by the time that we got through.} After that frustration and endless walking, it was a relief to make our way to the bus to take us into town. Less than 5 minutes and we were on our way. Basked in the sun and pleasure of no longer being in that line. Took in our first views of Barcelona on a nice, low 70s, partly sunny day. We walked from Plaça Espanya to our Airbnb at Carrer de Margarit 53. We were shown in by the host's friend and we were pleased with the accommodations. We enjoyed our first bit of privacy in a while and a warm shower each. Our dinner reservations weren't until 7:30, so we relaxed and killed some time trying to see how we can watch the Badger football game when we return after dinner. We left and walked the 10-15 minutes through the intriguing Poble Sec neighborhood on our way to Bodega 1900. We were seated at a small table adjacent to the cold tapas prep counter. We started with the tasty house vermouth. We took the waitstaff's option of a surprise menu - they'd keep bringing us different plates until we cried uncle. So many tasty things! My favorite was the grilled squid with onions cooked in ink. So good. Pricey night (~€150 + €15 tip), but worth it. Left ~9:15. Walked back to our apartment, stopping for some beer (Estrella) and snacks. Gave up trying to watch the game, but found we could stream the radio feed, ~10:30 pm local time. Trying to acclimate ourselves to the time zone. Time to wind down. Listened to the game until midnight.

Many of our courses at Bodega 1900 (and a few others)

13 Oct - We slept in past 8 this morning, then took our time getting ready. We made our way to Plaça Reial on foot, stopping for tiny coffees and a chocolate croissant. We got to the Plaça early for our tour and walked around. We signed up for a Runner Bean Walking Tour of the Gothic Quarter with our tour leader Jessie (from Australia) and ~20 other English-speaking people. The tour look ~2.5 hours and we learned a lot about the Gothic Quarter and its history. The tour finished ~1:30. We popped into Santa Maria del Mar, then went looking for Jessie's recommended places for lunch. Meandered Born a bit, but found La Borna Sort. Food was good, but the service was bad. Took for.ev.er. to pay after we ate. Shook off our irritation and walked through the Parc de la Ciutadella. Another lovely, mid-70s day. We walked southeast along the waterfront. It was time for gelato and found some. I had hazelnut and Nick had tiramisu. We walked along the Passeig de Colom, then headed back to our apartment. We had a video chat with the kids, and heard about their day. We grabbed beers after and headed up to our terrace to relax. We decided to head up to Montjuïc. It was a pretty steep, off-route climb... Got up to the castle ~ 7:15, but it was too cloudy for a sunset. We went down quickly, trying to reach the streets below before it got dark. We ate dinner at a place along Carrer de Blai we saw earlier (Agusto). Had 20 pinxos and cava sangria between the two of us. We bought a few provisions, then headed back to the apartment. Did a load of laundry and watched some BoJack Horseman. The apartment's power went out at one point but, miraculously, I figured out how to reset the switch. Got to bed ~11.

13 October sights

14 Oct - Woke up at 8:15 and got ready. We ate some granola with thick milk and coffee before leaving ~9:25. We had our first Metro adventure, taking it to Sagrada Familia. Our ticket time was 10 am, and we arrived just before. No issues going through security or getting our audio guides. The tour started outside and were so many people, either on audio guides like us or part of a tour group. Way too crowded for me, and I got impatient with Nick staring at details while I waited. But I recognized this was likely the only time we are here, so I tried to temper my impatience with marginal success. It was better when we got inside and I could marvel at the light coming through the myriad stained glass windows. Don't get me wrong - the intricate details of the Nativity facade were amazing, but glass gets me every time. We spent about an hour inside. I got lots of pictures. I've been inside many cathedrals in Europe, but this one stands out in its complete uniqueness and the contradiction of fluidity and angularity. We finished up our tour on the Passion facade, then made a circuit of the building as we decided what to do next {mocking the people taking ridiculous selfies}. We decided just to walk and headed down Carrer Arago. It was about noon and we were hungry, so we stopped at a small restaurant for small ham sandwiches and tiny coffees. Feeling refreshed, we kept walking until we got to Passeig de Cracia. Police had closed several streets around Plaça Catalunya. Lot of Catalunyans and bystanders like up were making their way toward the Square. The atmosphere seemed tense, but not dangerous. [Nick was very uncomfortable, so we stuck to the edges and watched. I didn't see much that would flag this as a bad situation - few police among the protestors, no people throwing this, just a lot of whistles, clapping, bullhorns, and signs.} They were gathering because the leaders of the Catalan independence movement were being sentenced today. While we watched, thousands of people starting making their way to the airport and elsewhere. We decided it was time to leave, too. We walked down Ronda de Universitat and popped into "Alt Heidelburg" for refreshments. Nick found three German/Belgian beers to try. I got the hefeweissen. We walked about languages and dialects. Once sated, we pressed on and got to Mercat Sant Antoni. About half the shops were closed, but among the open ones, I found my souvenir for this trip - a necklace with a pendant shaped like so many paving stones in the city for €12. We also got a loaf of bread, some thinly-sliced ham, and some goat's cheese to eat for dinner at our apartment. We finished our walk back . It was ~3:30 and we were very hungry. I had a craving for ramen, so we walked back to Paral-lel and a nearby ramen restaurant. That really hit the spot. We got gelato nearby for dessert, then walked back up Carrer de Margarit. And, with that, we relaxed after another long day of walking. It's currently 5:30 pm and rain is moving in. We stayed in tonight, having our mega ham pinxos and drinking vermouth on the rocks with an orange slice. Classy. To bed ~ 11.

Sagrada Familia (14 Oct)

Passeig de Grassia (14 Oct)

15 Oct - There were thunderstorms overnight. I didn't sleep very well. We got up and got ready to go around 10. We wandered our way through El Ravel to Mercat le Boqueria. Such a cool, busy market. We took the Metro up to Lesseps and began our uphill walk to Park Guëll. Up, up, up. We got there ~ 1, which was our scheduled time slot. It was a beautiful, mid-70s clear day. We spent a couple of hours wandering all around the park. Some things were being refurbished, so not all was open. The views were great and so clear! Saw enough and walked a ton. Super hungry when we left the Park. Wandered around until we found just the right place called Stuzzicini, where we got beers and a flatbread. We walked back down Passeig de Gracia, then made our way to the Arc de Triomf, getting gelato on the way. Mmm. We walked back to the Gothic Quarter, stopping for pints of Stongbow at an Irish pub (Dunne's). We walked and walked to our dinner spot - L'Amfora. Had delicious seafood paella and a bottle of Catalunyan white wine and Creme Catalan. So good and so full! We walked back home in the dark past the Magic Fountain, which, sadly, wasn't running. We got home and I checked in with Mom & Dad. We watched a couple episodes of BoJack Horseman before bed. Also today - we saw a gigantic cat sculpture, ate breakfast (split a sandwich) with americanos at a 365 cafe, walked past more Gaudi stuff (I'm good now - no more, thanks), the Arc de Triomf has sculptures of bats on it!, and we've smelled a good amount of weed here.

15 October sights

16 Oct - Today was our first day walking up with the sunrise - 7:45 am. It rises "late" and sets "late," compared to where we are in our time zone in WI. We got ready and ate our now-typical breakfast of granola with creamy milk and Nespresso coffees, americano-style (with lots of water to dilute it). We left the apartment and headed to the Metro ~8:45. I was a little testy, not knowing where we had to go. It was also chillier (mid-50s), so I'm glad I had a light jacket along. We made our way to our tour meeting spot at Plaça Catalunya with plenty of time to spare. We had booked a "Castlexperience Wine Tour" for ~$75/each. We familiarized ourselves with our tour guide Agnes (who called us "my family") and our other 12 tour-mates from all over (US, Canada, Australia, Denmark). Another group was doing the same tour with a different guide (Pol). As we left the city via coach bus, Pol gave us the history of Barcelona and Catalunya until now. Interesting stuff. We relaxed as we headed to our first stop, Montserrat. It was ~11 am when we got there, already getting crowded with tourists. Agnes stopped at several places to give us history and facts about the monastery. Then we got ~ 1.5 hr of free time. We first peeked in the church to see the Black Madonna (too far away to see clearly and too long a line to touch it (ew)), some art and glass. Then we went to the snack shop where we bought a set of mini-bottles of the spirits they make on-site. We also picked up a pair of souvenir tins for the kids. Since it was a nice, sunny day and we had time, we hiked our way up and along the mountain to the Cross of St. Michael across from the monastery. Along the way, we shared the little bottle of "Aromes," of which we got two in our bag. Tasty, warming stuff. We had to meet our group at 1:20, so after taking in the gorgeous, albeit hazy, view, we walked back and made use of the bathrooms. Once all of us were back together, we got on a different bus and headed to the winery. It because clear that we weren't going to the winery listed in the tour description, but it did say they work with other local wineries. We ended up at the winery Can Bonastre around 2:30. Agnes took us straight to the cellar for our tapas (2 pieces of bread with tomato sauce, charcuterie and cheese) and 3 small glasses of wine. They were tasty and conversation flowed more as people drank and ate. We learned from Liv and Henrik from Denmark that an unmarried person who turns 25 can be tied up by friends and doused in cinnamon (it was Henrik's 25th birthday today). We talked/joked about the drinking culture in Wisconsin. After finishing our meal and our wine, we got a tour of the facilities and courtyard/wine garden. We also tried a glass of the winery's cava, while talking about giant spiders with one of the Aussie women. Too soon, it was time to go. Back to Barcelona, where we were dropped off at Plaça Catalunya ~5:30. We decided to walk back. Along La Rambla, we popped into La Boqueria for European drunk food, fried tiny fish and fried baby squid. We munched these until full as we walked back to our apartment. It wasn't long after 6 pm. We relaxed, had a cup of nespresso, did laundry, just generally relaxed... until I received an email from our airline saying there's going to be a strike on Friday {and they wanted to preemptively reschedule our flight out of Barcelona. We had tickets initially going from Barcelona to Madrid to Chicago}. We called the airline and the earliest they could give to depart was Sunday {with a direct flight from Barcelona to Chicago}. Too late... Argh! We searched and found we could take an overnight bus {to Madrid}, so we wouldn't have to worry about finding a hotel in Madrid. I'm holding our breath that the strike won't affect the bus. We're going to be so tired. To decompress, we ate our cheese/Iberico ham/bread tapas and watched BoJack Horseman.

Montserrat (16 Oct)

Can Bonastre (16 Oct)

17 Oct - I woke around 8 and felt to restless to sleep in. I got ready and Nick got ready shortly after. Once we were ready and had eaten, we set off on foot to the Barcelona Cathedral. We went in and wandered around for a while. It seemed pretty dark and stagnant inside. It was almost a relief to exit. We walked from there to Mercat de Santa Catarina, where we bought a magnet for our fridge. From there, we walked back toward La Rambla. We found a bar with many beers on tap. We each tried a local beer (black currant hefeweissen for me - good!) and had some bread w/tomatoes and fried almonds as a snack. Nick had a second beer (an Abbey) before we walked back to our apartment. It's another beautiful mid-70s day. Once we got back, we contacted the airline to make sure everything is okay with our flight plans for tomorrow. Unfortunately for our peace of mind, we aren't able to check-in online yet. Argh! We rested a bit, then headed up to explore more of Montjuïc. We walked past gardens, fountains, museums. We walked up to the Olympic Stadium and walked a little inside. Outside, we found an interesting walk of fame showing the show/foot imprint of 1990s famous athletes. We walked back to our apartment ~4:30. There had been more demonstrations and protests. I can hear a helicopter overhead and don't know what its doing near Poble Sec. It's rather unnerving and I'm crossing my fingers we'll be able to leave Barcelona tonight as planned. I rested for a bit, then we packed, and watched more BoJack. Shortly after 6, we walked down the Carrer de Blai. Had tapas (pinxos) and vermouth. After dinner, there was a lovely sunset starting, so we went up on the terrace/roof and got some nice views between buildings. We both finished packing and took showers. Watched more BoJack, and shared a little bottle of the liquor we bought at Montserrat. Killed time until it was time to go. We bid our apartment adieu, and walked down to the Parel-lel Metro station. We were expecting some potential trouble due to the protests, but didn't encounter any slowdowns on our way to the Arc de Triomf station. We got to the bus station around 10:15 and joined the throng of travelers bound for Madrid. There were two coaches leaving at 11 pm and, with some waiting, we got on and into our assigned seats. Chatted briefly with Mom about our progress so far. Relieved to be on a bus and headed to Madrid.

Cathedral & Montjuïc

17 Oct headlines

18 Oct - We both managed to sleep a bit on the bus. It brought us to the Madrid bus station at 6 am. Once off, we refreshed ourselves and caught the airport-bound city bus right before it departed. We got to our terminal ~6:30. It was still pitch black, so we didn't see anything on the way. We checked into our flight and made it through various checks to arrive at our gate. The terminal out of which we're flying is nearly deserted. Kinda surreal. I changed and bought us "XXL americanos" from a vending machine (turned out to be ~6 oz). Ni ( both rested on the uncomfortable seats until the sky brightened enough to show us it's a gray day. I don't mind. We're out of Catalunya without today's general strike causing us too many headaches. Only a few. It's now 8:45 am, and the gates around us are still deserted. We waited and were the first through the gate passport check. As such, we got to go through a "random security check." Yay! We were taken in a group of 10 and called individually to open our bags. No problems for us {grumbling from Nick, though}, so back to the gate waiting area. They are boarding around 10:55, in ~15 min. We got on and had to wait for others to get through their security checks [seriously, I think about a third of the plan was "randomly selected."] Our 11:35 am flight was only a few minutes late pushing off from the gate. We were in row 52 of 54. There was some major BO on the plane near us. Ugh. It was a long flight. I watched Toy Story 4, rested, watched Bohemian Rhapsody, rested, watched Lego Movie 2, and rested or stared out the window the remaining 2 hours. Landed and got to our gate ~2:30 pm. Off the plane and through all the check points, waited for a bus and got to the car only an hour later (impressive!). We paid for parking ($119) and headed for some coffee. Fought, then talked civilly about miscommunication and other things. Stopped in Madison to charge and ate some pizza at HyVee. We called Nick's parents to let them know we were back. We then called mine to talk to them and the kids, letting them know when we'll be home. Drove out of Madison to a lovely sunset, that, unfortunately, my eyes are too blurry to see well (allergies? cold? infection? don't know, just started today). We got home safe and sound to Roary, Amy and Robin, and Mom & Dad brought Felix & Iris to us shortly thereafter.

On the way home, I read that protesters blocked the entrance to the Sagrada Familia basilica today, our flight from Barcelona to Madrid had been cancelled, and there were ~500,000 protesters wrecking havoc across Catalonya today. We were lucky that our trip was only minorly inconvenienced, unlike others trying to come in to the city today.

random sights

Beverages

Market offerings

Textures

Painted shop doors

Total trip cost: $2,782.45
{transcribed 2/3/2020}

Europe 2018

16 Aug 2018 - Things fell into place to allow Nick & I to travel to Europe: enough in savings, grandparent availability, buying tickets back in January and waiting/planning. We were all up, packed and out of the house by 9 am this Thursday morning. We drove to Green Bay, where the kids will be staying with Steve and Vicky until Tuesday. We visited with Steve, ate lunch, said good-bye to the kids, then drove down to Chicago. Had a brief panic when it seemed like all the economy lots were full and we were only 2.5 hours before takeoff. Found a lot open and a spot! Then many lines & much waiting - check bags, check IDs, check bodies & carry-ons. Once we were through all that and in the terminal, we celebrated the start of vacation with a beer at the Berghoff Cafe. After that, we went back to the gate to wait. Our plane was a bit late to the gate, but we weren't in any rush. Felix would be interested to know it's a 777 with 3-3-3 seating. Got our seats in the central section right in front of the bathrooms. No problems taking off ~ 7 pm. They served dinner (I got veggie manicotti; Nick got Indian butter chicken).

Cheers to 10 years!

17 Aug - Both of us tried to sleep on the flight, but without much success. Yay for coffee with the croissant and yogurt breakfast. I did watch Pitch Perfect 3, just because I could (and I thought I might fall asleep in the middle of it). I've written all of the above on the plane as we descend over Germany toward Munich. It didn't take very long to go through customs and get our bags. It was a beautiful, sunny, mid-80s day. We took the S-Bahn to our closest stop {to our apartment}. We walked from there, checking out the quiet neighborhood on Prinzregentenstraße. We were too early to check in by the time we reached 93, so we back-tracked to a small restaurant nearby. It was 11:30, so we got Augustiner beers and schnitzel for lunch. I got to use my very rusty German... A mistake when she brought us each a schnitzel when I thought we'd share. Oh well. My belly won't love it... We checked in, cleaned up and rested. Then we went via U-Bahn to the old town area. Nick's first real German experience. I wanted to see about getting a Dirndl, which I've wanted for years. I got a silver silk one that looks lice. €65 with blouse and apron. Next, we (increasingly annoyed) wandered until we found a place where we could get a drink and use the bathroom. I got mineral water and Nick got a beer. He was bugged by a bee which took a liking to him. We left there ~4:15. Since it was close, we walked down to the Asamkirche. So much gold leaf! Once we had our fill of Baroque splendor, we headed back up to the Marienplatz, making a quick stop for a postcard on the way. We killed 10 minutes waiting for 5 pm and the Gockenspiel show at the Neues Rathaus. Many other tourists from all over had the same idea. Over 6 minutes of listening to the bells and watching the figures, we'd had enough. On our way to find a bite, we found a store where we bought Felix's requested souvenir - a Germany soccer jersey (€30). We decided to go to the Hofbrauhaus for dinner. The place was packed, but we found a table inside. Nick got a liter of Dunkel. I got a half liter of their alcohol-free wheat and shared a cold meat sampler. We tried two varieties of of headcheese for the 1st time and agreed the red was better than the white. We were joined at our table by two German couples who got massive joints for dinner. Oh, we also got a giant Brezn from one of the Dirndl-clad girls. After eating and drinking our fill, we made a quick stop across the street to get Mom a Hard Rock Cafe pin, then headed back to Odeonsplatz in the gold hour. Took the U-Bahn back to our station. Picked up a few provisions at a nearby Edeke, then headed back to the apartment. It's been a long continuous day. It's 8:20 pm & Nick's asleep next to me. One thing that Nick & I both noticed is how little confidence I have in speaking German. It's only been 17 years since I was last here and had any use for it other than to amuse myself or teach a few phrases... Having some wine, then I'll read before falling asleep, too. Steve & Vicky got Skype set up, so even despite a poor connection, we were able to talk to them a bit. Asleep ~9:30.

First been in Germany!

Asamkirche

At the Marienplatz

Hofbrauhaus

Polka band!

18 Aug - I slept until 7, Nick until 8. We got up, dressed and made breakfast. Nick realized müsli doesn't taste as good as it may look. We took the U-Bahn up to the Olympic Park. I had to use the restroom, so we went into BMW Welt. Nick & I looked around there for a bit. We then walked a bit to get a better view of the Olympic Stadium, but since Nick had other interests today, we didn't walk t it. We took the U-bahn to the Museum Quarter. Nick wanted to see the Glyptothek, because he'd never seen marble statues in person. Now he's seen many! We caught a bite to eat at a cafe on the way to the Alte Pinakothek. We spent a while looking at the paintings there - many variations on the same religious themes and a few others thrown in for good measure. From there, we took a tram to Karlsplatz and got on the U-bahn to Odeonsplatz. We went to the Residenz next. We enjoyed looking at all the amazing jewels/crowns. So much intricate work from long ago! So cool. Next, we wandered through the labyrinthine Residenz rooms. So much walking - I'm sure people get lost in there all the time. It was about 4 pm when we got done there, so we walked over to the Spatenhaus restaurant for refreshments. It was pretty busy (lovely Saturday afternoon) and our waitress was slow to serve us. That didn't make thirsty/hungry me too happy, so I insisted we order some dinner right away, not knowing when she'd get back. Nick got "meatloaf" (more like a slice of a gigantic hot dog) and I got spatzle. It was pricey, but we felt invigorated afterward. We took a tram toward the English Garden. I showed Nick where people surf (yes, really) and we went up to the biergarten at the Chinesches Turm. We were running low on cash and there was a €20 minimum credit card order, so I ended up with a liter of beer, too. So much beer... We enjoyed ourselves playing Pandemic on my phone and drinking while listening  to the band play. So many people here! We decided to take out some cash from the ATM and that's where the evening (hopefully not trip...) went off the rails. We realized we don't have the PIN for our credit cards and Nick didn't want to risk losing our debit cards. I, idiot that I can be, forgot that a debit card is HOW YOU GET CASH. It was a split-second packing decision. I wanted to get back to where we had WiFi so we could figure out what to do. Nick wanted to drink more. Cue argument. We talked through it and walked back to the apartment (with a little bit more arguing). All ok now. Unfortunately, we have no PIN at home (Mom & Dad checked) and we have to wait until Monday before trying to get cash from a bank using our credit card. I'm not sure that's going to work - we'll see. I'm actually nervous/anxious/self-loathing about the whole deal. Ugh.

At BMW Welt

Near the Olympic Stadium

Found a doppelgaenger

Nefarious-looking painting

At the Residenz

At the Biergarten within the English Garden

Sunset over Munich by the Friedensengel

19 Aug - My mind was whirling and felt anxious and so I couldn't fall asleep until at least 1 am. 7:30 came too early! I was dragging, but we still got out the door on time to take the U-Bahn to the Marienplatz. Both of us are stiff and sore from all the walking and standing yesterday. We arrived at the meeting point [for our Mike's Bikes tour] under the Toy Museum arch with plenty of time. We are part of a group of 13: a middle-aged couple from New Zealand, a young couple from Louisiana, a father/son pair from Toronto and a family of 5 from DC. Our tour guide, Kevin, was from Ireland. We walked to get our Mike's Bikes and started our tour heading through the "most expensive shopping street on the continent" (Maximilianstraße). Our first stop was Max-Joseph-Platz, where Kevin told us about previous incarnations of the Nation Theater, destruction by WWII bombing of much of downtown Munich. Next, we biked into a courtyard of the Reidenz, where you can see that most of the facade was painted, not cut stone. From there, we biked to the Hofgarten. A few words about the Bayerisches Staatskanzlei. They (the citizens of Munich) decided to make it a government building with glass walls (transparency) instead of a beer garden. There is one monument to WWI soldiers but none for WWII in Munich. Charlie Brown and the Chocolate Factory was filmed in Munich (some nearby). We got our picture taken in the Hofgarten, then we biked to Odeonsplatz. Here, Kevin told us about the statue in the Feldherrnhalle (apparently, you don't have to do much to warrant a statue); Leopold expanding the city north; a "gentlemen's agreement" not to bomb churches. We went inside the Theatinerkirche to see the white Baroque interior, found the monument to Nazi resistors (gold-painted bricks on Viscordigasse) and rubbed a lion's nose for luck. From there, we biked west on Brienner Straße past the obelisk to the Nazi documentation center. Kevin spent 45 minutes talking about Hitler's rise, the Nazi party & actions, and what the buildings around us were to them. I didn't know that BMW used forced labor in WWII and the Quandt family has never apologized for it. From there, we biked all the way to the English Garden. Kevin explained how the beer garden is the 2nd largest in the world, but serves more people annually. We got lunch (potatoes/meat for Nick, a salad for me and beers, of course). Had a nice lunch eating and chatting. A giant wasp (murder hornet!) came by - 1.5" long! After we ate, we biked down to see the surfers. Lots of people there since it's a beautiful Sunday. Next stop by the Friedensengel, where we saw the sunset last night. Fun fact - government buildings in Munich may have gold mosaics on the est side. Helpful for orientation! One last stop along the very-low Isar, then back to the Mike's Bikes shop. I was feeling pretty beat, so we headed back to the apartment to rest. Roused ourselves ~6, got ready and headed out to find dinner. Not many places open which take credit cards. Ended up at a Vietnamese restaurant called Thao. Good food & mojitos. I wish I had more of an appetite (still nervous about the money situation. And my reaction is bothering Nick, I can tell). Finished dinner ~9, headed back to the apartment and collapsed. So many aches! It's now 9:30 and I'm feeling sleepy.

At the Hofgarten

Viewing the Isar River

20 Aug - I slept much better last night. We were up, fed (scrambled eggs in our kitchen) and out ~7:40. We got to the Hauptbahnhof around 8. We went to the bank there... and were shot down in our attempt to get cash. We got on our train to Mittenwald, which left promptly at 8:32 am. Pleasant journey south. Nick enjoyed the changes of scenery. We played Pandemic to pass the time, then stared out the window as the foothills became mountains. We arrive around 10:30 am in Mittenwald. We were shot down twice asking for credit card cash advances. Oh well... We walked rather quickly through their quaint, painted pedestrian zone, and out of town. I wanted to see the Ghost gorge (Leutasch Klamm). We hiked on a flat trail for ~15 minutes, then up a very steep trail for about 20 min. Good thing it was cooler - 70s. Once we reached the crest of the hiking path, we descended a bit down toward the gorge on catwalk-type structures with clear views of the sheer drops below us. We made it to the panoramic bridge suspended high over the chasm. I probably would have crossed it, but there was a big group doing pictures about halfway across. My palms were so sweaty, I was terrified I'd drop my phone over the rail. Managed to hang on! We scurried back to the path and back to civilization. Thankfully, neither of us fell on all the loose gravel on the path. It was 12:30, so after checking that credit cards were accepted, we had lunch and refreshments at the Brauerei Mittenwald. I had the unfiltered "cellar" beer. Nick had their Oktoberfest and Dunkel. He had pretzel soup and weisswurst. I had a mushroom omelet. Next, we walked to the cable car station. €59 for both of us to go up and come back down - so worth it! We were the only tourists in the car on the way up to 2244 m. What a view! For a while, we could see in all hazy directions. We hiked on the path around and crossed the border into Austria at one location. It got cloudier as we hiked and Nick got a bloody nose 2/3 of the way around, unfortunately. The climb/hike wasn't easy, but we made it. There were also sheep with bells up there - constant bell ringing made for an interested atmosphere. It was also much cooler - glad I had a jacket along. We were packed into the gondola down like sardines; more of an adventure with more people. We got down to the start a little after 3, so we walked to the train station. We hoped they'd let us take the 3:30 return instead of our reserved 4:30 time. It didn't see to be an issue (our tickets were checked twice) and the one change we made in Garmisch was easy. We got back to Munich ~5:30. I went on a quest to buy stamps and postcards. Once both were acquired, we took the U-Bahn back to our apartment. We picked up provisions at Edeke, then Nick cooked us pasta in the apartment. My appetite is returning. Quiet evening packing up, cleaning up, catching up. My mom saved our trip by sending money via Western Union which we will pick up tomorrow in Prague. Hooray! We also Skyped with the Kids & Steve and that made us very happy. :)

Mittenwald

The Leutasch Klamm bridge

View down from the bridge

Getting lunch

Warm welcome to 2,244 meters!

Looking toward Austria at the border

21 Aug - Another good night. Nick & I were up, dressed, fed and packed. I put the travel locks on the suitcases to keep our belongings safe. Right before we left the apartment building, Nick wanted to get his sunglasses out of the clothing suitcase... and the lock wouldn't open. I swear I set both locks to the same combination! He wasn't happy, I wasn't happy, but we caught the next train to the Hauptbahnhof anyway. When we arrive, we used up the rest of our Euros on coffee, sandwiches for the trip and candy for the ids. We had scoped out where the train should be when we were there yesterday. Went to the track 30 minutes early - and the wrong train was on the track. Information informed me that there was no 8:43 train, despite what the timetable said. She directed me to the Travel Center. There, the man told me we couldn't catch a train today, but there was an express bus at 10:15, and, as it was our only option, we reserved seats. Cue cranky Nick. Lugged our suitcases 10 minutes to the bus terminal and proceeded to wait. At least we had a problem to solve. Fortunately, I managed to get the combination right and open the suitcase! (The 1st number was 1 off where it should have been - fixed that!) The bus came at 10 and we got on. I think we scored the last two available seats. Whew! It was a direct bus to Prague that only made 1 stop to change drivers. Beautiful countryside. Passed the 4.5 hours reading, playing Pandemic, doing word searches. Got a quick into to Prague as our bus approached the train station. We got our suitcases and headed straight for the nearest Western Union. We were surprised by the beautiful cobblestone patterns of the sidewalks. I stopped to take pictures of tome of the patterns. A few noisy blocks later, we got our cash! Hallelujah! We caught a tram shortly thereafter to our Airbnb apartment at Sokolovska 43/53. Easily got inside! Unloaded! Hooray! After getting settled and starting to wash some clothes, we headed out to get my Prague souvenir. We walked toward the edge of the old town which started off sketch, but was vibrant when we turned the final corner. The shop was busy, so I made an appointment for 6 pm. We headed out in search of beer to pass the time (it was 4:30). We went into a very small, very local pub which served craft beer (Pivovar Hostomice at Pivnicev Sourenike Hosto on Souvenika). They had 3 progressively darker beers on tap, and we tried them all while playing Pandemic as old guys watched a soccer commentary show. We headed back to Tribo at 5:40, where, shortly thereafter, I got my nose pierced. I've wanted to do it for a while, and I'll remember it more having done it here. It stung for a second, but didn't hurt much. Only 650 czk (~$30). We went in search of dinner. After a few false starts, found an Italian restaurant. We each got pizzas & drinks. Really hit the spot! My appetite is returning! :D We walked back toward the apartment, stopping at the market set up in Namesti Republiky. We bought Iris a wooden musical carousel, a print of the Charles Bridge & a magnet for us. It was such a pleasant evening. So many people out for a Tuesday evening. We walked back, stopping at the Billa grocery store for provisions. This apartment is on the 2nd floor facing the street, so it's warm (but there's a good fan) and there's a fair amount of city noise, but it's not too bad right now.

First beers in Czechia

Nose pierced!

Namesti Republiky

22 Aug - Tossed and turned most of the night with the heat, noise and light. Bed was comfy, through. We got up at 7, both showered and had a breakfast  of ham & cheese on rolls with instant coffee. We walked down to the Florenc station to buy 3-day transportation cards. We rode the tram up toward the Prague Castle and, once near the grounds, overwhelmed by the number of tour groups there. Yikes! We quickly (amazingly) bought our tickets for 250 czk each (~$10) and headed straight for St Vitus Cathedral, with every other tour group in existence, too. We made our way in and marveled at the stained glass within. We took a loop of the nave, each ogling our own interests (me, stained glass; Nick, any reference to Bohemia). My left pinky toe has developed into a giant blister, so we didn't move too fast. After seeing all that interested us inside, we headed out into the courtyard. We passed on the old palace (too similar to what we saw at the Residenz), but went into the basilica for a short time. We left the castle via the golden lane, took in the sweeping view of Prague, then headed down the slick cobblestone steps toward the tram lines. We caught the #22 and rode it through the new town and across the river. If was 10:30, so we found a nice little cafe at which to rest (SmetanaQ on Smetanovo nabr). We started out with coffees, then we had fresh crumpets with sour cream & fresh fruit. Nick had a beer as well. Once we were completely rested, we walked up to the Charles Bridge. It was crowded and hot, but we walked all the way across and back. We didn't have a plan for today other than the Castle, so the rest of the day we're winging it. We decided to walk in the Jewish Quarter. The line to buy tickets was pretty long, so we passed. We walked through the area a little bit, then headed toward the old town square. It was slightly disappointing to find the astronomical clock being repaired. Oh well. We walked on to a recommended restaurant for lunch - Havelska Koruna. I had a traditional Bohemian potato soup with Gembrinus beer. Nick had beef goulash with bread dumplings with Kozel dark beer. It was a cafeteria-style restaurant that was pretty inexpensive. Once again, we set out. I bought some fresh berries for ~$10 (yikes! oops...) at the market nearby. At least they're tasty. We walked back up to Namesti Republiky and caught the next tram to our apartment. We stopped in the Lokal next door and made reservations for dinner tonight, then headed up. Turned on the fan and relaxed. We had a nice video chat with the kids. After that, we rested, read, played cribbage. Right before we left to go to dinner, I whacked my knee hard on the footboard. Ow. We went to the Local Hamburk across the street for dinner. Nick had chicken schnitzel and 3 Kozel darks. I stepped out of my comfort zone by ordering the beef neck in horseradish sauce with bread dumplings. Actually pretty tasty. The place was very busy. People were taking beers to go (?!) or drinking them on the sidewalk. Interesting. Since we're going to be walking a lot tomorrow, we headed back to the apartment (or in my case, limped...). Spent the rest of the evening relaxing and checking on the Brewers score.

Stained glass in St Vitus

Old town Prague behind us

On the Charles Bridge

23 Aug - We didn't set an alarm for this morning. I woke up ~6:30 anyway. I guess I'm acclimated! This morning, after getting ready and eating pizza leftovers for breakfast, we took the underground train to Wenceslas Square (Vaclavske Namesti). We walked away from it first and saw the relatively new kinetic Franz Kafka's Head. Pretty cool how the the shiny silver "slices" of the head move separately. We could have watched that move and changed for a long while, but we didn't. We headed back to the Square. Again, so crowded. I picked up some postcards and a souvenir pen at a bookshop, then Nick & I wandered the streets looking for a reasonable place to have a morning beverage so I could write my postcards. We found the perfect tiny cafe (Veget on Stepanska). Our server spoke in very good English about how hot the summer has been here. We finished our beverages, then continued on to the Square. We walked up to the statue of Wenceslas. It was about 11. am and already hot. We walked back northwest along the Square and onto Jindrisska to the main post office. It took a few minutes for my number to be shown, but we got our postcards started on their journey to the kids. From there, we walked around the block to the Mucha Museum. Nick & I enjoyed looking at the small collection of prints and paintings, photos and sketches on display. We picked up postcards of prints as souvenirs. Next, we walked back toward Namesti Republiky. with a quick stop into the Municipal House. Nick was interested in an overpriced drink at the Americky Bar, but I needed food first. We walked up to Sisters, where we ended up getting five different types of chelbicky (Czech-style open-faced sandwiches) which were highly recommended and quite tasty (Dlouha 727/29). Nick was a bit frustrated afterward that I turned down the Americky Bar and picked where we ate. He said he just wanted to try more beers. So, I led him to the Pivovarsky Klub on Krizikova, where he could choose from 250+ beers (literally). He had four of the six on tap. I tried one of the other two. That satisfied both of us. We walked back to the apartment with a quick side-trek for pistachio gelato for me. Headed up to our warm apartment and relaxed with our phones. Nick didn't want to wait to eat as late as we did yesterday, so we picked one of our host's recommendations and set off towards the heart of Karlin (so many young professionals around here!) to Restaurace Salandy on Saldova. We tried a new type of brewery (Krusovice) with our entrees (beef goulash for Nick, calamari risotto with peas for me). That was tasty. We headed back towards Sokolovska and popped in the Billa for a few items. We took the tram back to the apartment. It's early (~7), but it's so hot & busy out. We just had a quiet night on our phone, calling it a night ~10:30.

Kafka Head

At Wenceslas Square

So many beers

24 Aug - I woke ~ 6 am, then red/dozed for a while. We ate ham & cheese sandwiches again for breakfast. Big difference in the weather today - cooler and rainy. We left the apartment ~8:45, then took trams & the Metro to the main train station. Today, we are taking a day trip to Plzen (Pilsen). About 9:15, we learned where our train was and headed to the track/platform. I bought the tickets with seat reservations. On our way there, we had a Hogwarts Express-like compartment all to ourselves. So nice, quiet and easy! The countryside was beautiful Lots of rolling hills. The trees, however, look very stressed from the lack of rain here.) We got to Pilsen at ~11. We found a place to eat lunch (Bistrouska on Koterovska). Nick got the chicken schnitzel and I got cod with mushrooms. interesting combination, but good. We ate in the garden behind and made friends with a little cat. :) It was noon when we finished eating, so we walked back to the train station to go on the other side. Granted it was overcast and cool, not the bright sunniness we've had in Prague, but, frankly, Pilsen looks pretty rough around the edges. Much more industrial and run-down where we were (though downtown may look very different). We were too early for our 1 pm tour, so we scoped out the gift shop, then had a beer in the bar area. It started to rain, so it was good to be indoors. We finished our beers in time for our tour to begin in the Visitor's Center. We learned the history of brewing in Pilsen and at Pilsner Urquell (forgot to mention this as the brewery of which we were getting a tour). We saw the bottling plant, the old and new brewhouses, and were treated to beer straight from the barrel (made only for tour groups...) in the underground tunnels. We ended up in the gift shop, where we got a few souvenirs. Apparently, we were the first tourists to take the beer sign off the way to buy it. Hey, if you don't want that to happen, put the stock out where people can find it! We left ~2:55. We had reservations for the 4 pm train, so we found a cafe to kill time. Got a reminder that Turkish coffee isn't great when I ordered something "different." Our trip back to Prague was far less pleasant: the train was packed, there was a very lout and unhappy 1-year-old that yelled nearly the entire 1.5 hour trip, it was rainy and we both faced backwards. It was a relief to get back to our apartment ~5:45. One of our first orders of business was to make reservations for Saturday night. Once that was done, we set off without a plan, looking to find a place for dinner. Ended up deeper in Karlin at Restaurace Globus at the corner of Krizikova and Brezinova. Nick had a burger and fries (fancy, though) and I got a cheese sandwich (also fancy). On our way to/from, I picked up a pair of superfluous cobblestones for souvenirs. :D Once back in our apartment, relaxed. Bed ~10:30.

Made a friend in Pilsen

Trying beer at Pilsner Urquell

Czech provisions

25 Aug - It was loud outside for a long time, so neither of us slept well. Friday night, eh? A cold front must have come through, putting an end to the heat wave and ushering in 60s and winds. Nick liked the temp. After breakfast, we made our way via Metro to Vysehrad. Since it was early for a Saturday morning, there weren't a lot of people around. We walked around the high-walled fortification, taking in the views of the city. We spent some time in the amazing cemetery next to the church. Many beautiful mosaic-encrusted shrines and tombs. Many famous Prague elite were buried there. After finishing our walk, we headed back to the Metro station. We decided to get some brunch (it was 11 am), and got off at I.P. Pavlova. We didn't find much to interest us in that area, so we walked down to the river by the Dancing House and walked until we came to the cafe at which we ate on Wednesday. Got our brunch & coffee and a break for our feet. After that, we headed toward the Charles Bridge and the Prague Beer Museum. We each tried two different kids of beers at this pub which had 30 on tap. From there, we meandered through the old town until we came to Namesti Republiky. Caught a tram back to the apartment ~2 pm. We relaxed and video chatted with the kids a little bit, then took a side trip to exchange some of our Koruna back to dollars. We picked up some food for breakfast tomorrow at Billa, then headed back to the apartment again. We got ready and headed down the street to Gate for dinner. [While we ate, Nick reminded me about something that happened earlier today. While we were at the Vysehrad cemetery, we suddenly heard orchestral music coming from the cell phone of an older Asian man. It took us a second to realize that he was jamming to a Dvorak song in front of Antonin Dvorak's grave. A funny, fitting tribute.] We had a nice dinner, though pretty heavy in my case (potato dumplings filled with smoked meat with a side of cooked cabbage and caramelized onions. Nick had a giant burger.) We decided earlier today that our original plans of going to the Cloud 9 bar and having exorbitantly expensive cocktails for the hell of it wasn't "us." Instead, we walked down Sokolovska/Karlin to the Krizek wine bar and had a liter of burcak between us. This yummy, cloudy, pale yellow wine is half-fermented with Czech or Moravian grapes and is only available mid-August until November. The bar at which we got it just got it in on the 21st, so nearly everyone there was drinking this year's offering. Sweet, slightly fizzy, definitely dangerous. On my already full stomach, I dared not have anymore. The sky threatened rain as we made our way back to the apartment ~7:30. I packed up a few more things. Since it's going to be an early morning tomorrow, we're taking it easy tonight.

Dvorak's tomb

On Vysehrad

SO MANY TOURISTS

Trying burcak

26 Aug - We woke around 5:30, finished packing, ate a bit and got ourselves on the public transportation. By tram, metro and bus, we got to the airport ~7:30. It was pretty quiet, so we breezed through check-in and security. We had some leftover Czech Koruna, so we bought some plum brandy to take with us, two coffees and two macarons to share. Left with 7 czk. : ) We leisurely sipped our coffee, then made our way to the gate for our 10:25 am flight from Prague to Zurich. The weather was good in Prague. We sat at the back of the small connector flight. Pretty quick and uneventful. When we got to Zurich an hour later, we were dropped off on the tarmac and loaded on to a bus. We were concerned with how far we were from our next departure terminal. We hurried through the terminal, only to find we had to go through passport control. Waited..., finally through. Took the underground metro to the E terminal. After using the facilities, went through yet another passport check before joining the line to board our flight to Chicago. Didn't get a moment to sit from landing until boarding. Oh well - no time to be bored. Nick and I got a row of 3 to ourselves. Unfortunately, there is a loud toddler across the aisle. Our 12:55 flight left ~1:20. After a while, we were served lunch. I got gnocchi; Nick got chicken and pasta. I watched the movie Lady Bird, then tried to nap. The little one could use one, too. Spent the remainder of the flight reading, resting, watching The Good Place, watching our plane's progress. No delay when we got to O'Hare! Huzzah! Went through all the customs/security checks, claimed our baggage (double huzzah!) and headed to our car. Picked the lane without an attendant (unbeknownst to us...) and we needed one to leave the lot. $174 to park in the economy lot of r 10 days. Yikes. Anyway, drove homeward. Missed by the storms in the area. Made good time, even with a quick stop. Talked quiet a bit about our personality styles and parenting. Got home ~8. Mom, Dad, Felix & Iris got here just after us. We were so happy to see them! Good to be home. The kitties are happy we're back, too. And now, since I've been awake since 5:30 am Prague time/10:30 pm here time and now it's 9 pm, it's bed time!

All of our pictures are here. If you're interested in where exactly (and I do mean exactly - trains, trams and all) we went, I made this Google map. Videos I took on the trip are here.

The beers were big, but I persevered. 

Total trip cost: $4,201.05
{transcribed 1/30/2020}