Fall Vacation 2010

 The kids had Thursday, Friday and Monday off and we thought we should take the opportunity to see some stuff here in Europe. We planned a trip down to Venice and Milan in Italy with a stop at Neuschwanstein Castle on the way down and a stop at Bodensee on the way back. It was a lot of driving but we had lots of fun and loved all the stuff we got to see. This picture is not that great but I wanted to put it on to show how foggy it was. It was so gorgeous even with the fog. In the fields below the mountains there were a bunch of cows with huge bells around their necks. I'm sad I didn't get a picture of them. But it was really cool to hear - it was so quiet except for the bells.

 This is before we took the bus up to Neuschwanstein castle. And that is Hohenschwangau castle in the background.

 We decided to take the bus since is was a 45 minute walk up to the castle and we wanted to get to Italy before it got too late. We went up to a bridge that overlooks the castle first and on the way up through the forest is was so pretty with all the fall colors.

 On the bridge overlooking the castle and a little waterfall on the other side.

 Afterwards we started walking towards the castle. This was when we first noticed that Nyah is a celebrity. Everybody kept looking at her and smiling and pointing and such. It was pretty funny. On the way there are multiple gorgeous views of the valley below and the lake Alpsee.

 On the way to the castle.

 In the front courtyard. We didn't go in. We didn't want to stay too long since we still had a couple of hours more to drive. But it sure is gorgeous.

 Family picture at a little lookout point.

 Ben ran down to see a waterfall. The kids and I were going to start walking back to the bus but Ty wanted to wait for Daddy so we had a little rest before we started huffing and puffing it back up the hill. :D

 We kept driving and wishing we could take pictures of all the beautiful scenery. Actually we did but as you can imagine lots of them didn't turn out very well. We stopped to take this picture of Zugspitze - the highest point in Germany.

 Ben was so happy to be on vacation and driving on the autobahn but a little nervous to be driving in other countries and small roads.

 We stayed on the military base in Vicenza for the first 2 nights. It was cheaper and we could stay in a big family room. Here's Nyah in the crib they put up for us. We were pretty tired by the time we got there and most of us went straight to bed...

 Ben spent a little bit time reading over again where we wanted to go the next day in Venice. Good thing too. He basically had the map of Venice memorized so we didn't get lost in all the little streets.

 Next day we sleep in a bit and then took the shuttle bus to the Marco Polo airport and then a bus from the airport to Venice. Basically the bus drives over a long bridge that goes out to Venice. Then it drops you off (or you park your car) and you can either walk around or take one of the boats that sail around - like a bus. It has several stops on the way. Or of course there are water taxis and lots of people you can pay to give you a ride.

 Lots of canals and bridges, and tons of beautiful old buildings.

 Tons of gondolas.

 San Marco's square. So beautiful with the Basillica di San Marco.

 Ty striking his signature pose on the square.

 We of course had to eat real Italian pizza while in Italy. So yummy!

 More bridges, more water. Everything so pretty.

 A boat garage.

 And of course some gelato.....mmmmm

 Beautiful Ponto di Realto. So while I was standing here taking pictures of the bridge and resting for a spell, this little Indian guy comes up to us and asks if he can take a picture of Nyah. I was carrying her in a snugli. We were like, 'uhm okay.' So he tried and tried to take a good picture of her but she kept looking down. Finally he walked away. After a couple of minutes we kept on chugging and as we started walking I saw him standing to the side, trying to get his little daughter to take a picture of Nyah. It was too funny and I expect it to be all over the internet soon. hahahaha But in Venice too people kept looking and oooh-ing and aaaah-ing at Nyah. We didn't know we had a famous daughter!! :D

 Laney and Ty on the bridge.

 Around the bridge there were also a group of people from India shooting a movie. It was pretty crazy.

 The next day we checked out of the hotel and started driving west towards Milan. It was so beautiful driving across Italy and again we wished we could take pictures of EVERYTHING!!! About halfway between Vicenza and Milan we went to a city called Sirmione. It's on a peninsula in Lago di Garda. GORGEOUS city with and old castle in the middle of town.

 We walked around for a couple of hours and just soaked in all the beauty. By the water there were a bunch of ducks walking around as well as 2 swans. The kids were a little nervous, especially Ty.....and me. Hey if they are anything like geese, they are not going to like me and probably hiss at me and start chasing me. Needless to say I kept my distance and took pictures instead.

 The kids' favorite pastime.....throwing rocks in the water.

 Nyah took a little nap from all the prettiness....but who wouldn't when you are carried around everywhere or snug as a bug in the stroller. 

 While Nyah was being carried the kids would take turns riding in the stroller, pushing each other. It was a little nerve racking at times....especially when Ty was pushing Laney and let go down a hill. But we did find out that Ben is a pretty fast runner.

 We continue on and checked into a hotel in Monza, after driving around for an hour or so trying to find it. Monza is a suburb to Milan and so the next morning we got up and took the train to Milan. We had a little trouble finding the right trains and such but we eventually made it and walked right up from the metro to this site. We were awestruck.

 The kids in front of the Duomo di Milano. Took 430 years to build....the kids were impressed. I was trying to take a picture of the Duomo when this guy was trying to get me to buy some pigeon food to give to the pigeons. I kept telling him 'no thanks' and as I put my camera up to my eye to take a picture we must have done something 'cause suddenly a pigeon landed on my head. Sick! I freaked out a little and after that he left me alone. hahaha guess he figured I wasn't a fan of the pigeons and probably wouldn't buy any food for them either.

 Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.

 The Duomo.

 Ben took the kids inside the Duomo while Nyah and I stayed outside since you couldn't bring strollers in there. Afterwards we took the elevator to the top of the roof and walked around. It was beautiful up there and an amazing view.

 Laney and Ty had gathered to seashells the day before in Sirmione and Laney had hers in her pocket. She dropped almost all of them on the roof and unfortunately there was a little boy who saw them and picked them up. Laney was so sad since she was going to bring the to show and tell at school. But the cutest thing was when Ty heard about it he said, "Laney you can have my seashells. I got mine so that if you lost yours you could have mine." So sweet!! Warmed my heart right up.

 Next we went to the Castello Sforzesco

 There was a big beautiful park between the Castello Sforzesco and Arco della Pace (arch of peace) were we hung out for a while.

 We finally went back to the hotel, slept and got up the next day to drive home. We drove home through Switzerland and a little bit of Austria. We drive through lots of mountainous terrain and Ben had to concentrate to stay on the road 'cause he just wanted to look out the window at the scenery the whole time. We took some pictures but it doesn't even do it justice. Right before we crossed the border into Switzerland we drove up over this hill and on the other side were the mountains, Lago di Como and....oh man it was so pretty!!! I wasn't fast enough to take a picture and there was nowhere to pull over but I thought I had died and gone to heaven, it was GORGEOUS!!!!

 Halfway home we stopped in Lindau which is right by Bodensee. We walked around for a while to stretch our leggies and enjoy beautiful Bodensee. This is the harbor in Lindau.

Ty desperately wanted to feed a bird (why he didn't tell us this when we were in Milan, I know not...) and Ben helped him make a little trail of crumbs over to his hands. The pigeons came so close but never actually ate from his hand. He wanted to feel what the beak felt like. Funny kid!
We had so much fun on our little adventure and can't wait to exploring some more another time. I was so impressed with the kids and how far they walked. In Venice they walked around 8 miles, Sirmione - 6 miles and in Milan - another 8. They did so good in the car and we loved listening to Roahl Dahl books the whole time driving. Fun times!!!

Now who wants to come visit us???!!! Book your flights on www.orbitz.com  hahahaha