Monthly Archives: September 2017

Beautiful view from the pebbly beach of Bellano our first day exploring the area.

Charlie’s favorite activity is throwing rocks into any body of water

Hiking up the hill a bit in Bellano to get a view of the town

Day 2 was a 4-minute train ride to Varenna then onto the ferry across the lake to Bellagio.

Found this little guy on our stroll back from a park. Guess we missed taking a park photo, but of course we found one along our stroll of the lakefront near Bellagio.

Ferry ride back to Varenna

The Clooney’s didn’t return our calls to meet up in Bellagio, but hope to hear from them soon.

On our next visit, I may have to speak with someone about captaining this vessel

A regular commuter on the Trenord trains

Day 3 was a return back to Varenna for a hike up to castle. Yoga poses anyone?

Spectacular views from the castle, which was a strenuous 20 minute hike from town

Falconry demonstration about to get started and the birds were getting excited.

Front row seat for the demonstration.

Some video we’ll share later shows how close this bird came to Charlie when landing back on the wall.

Let’s climb some more, to the top of the castle tower!

A game of I Spy from the tower. Interesting difference in vegetation on the north and south side of the castle. Palm and olive trees on the south and pine trees on the north.

Cool fossils on display in the tower staircase.

This owl appeared to weigh more than Charlie

Another ferry ride on Day 4 across the lake to Mennagio.

Our timing wasn’t great for visiting Mennagio with most things shut down for mid-afternoon siesta.

Peaceful sunset for our ferry ride back home.

Back to Varenna again on day 5 for a lunch stop

Delicious burrata and tomato appetizer

Decided to hike back to Bellano after lunch in Varenna. Turned out to be a fantastic 3-hour stroll with a nice combination of nature and small villages.

Gotta keep moving or we’d be here the rest of the day throwing rocks into the river.

Pit stop along our journey for an adult refreshment.

Non-stop scenery on this trail

A great day hiking along the lake

Our last day was a trip north to Colico to rent some bikes and check out a new area of the lake.

Great lakefront park on a Sunday afternoon

Perfect timing for a playground at about 16km from where we started along the trail heading east from Colico along the river.

Looking north into the mountains on our way back to Colico.

First-class lounger enroute from Milan to Trieste.

Enjoying some complimentary prosecco while cruising along at 300km/h.

A view from above the roman theater in Trieste. We split up our travel from Bellano to Ljubljana with a one-night stopover in Trieste with some time to explore before our afternoon bus departure.

Pizza at a locals-only joint in the outskirts of Trieste.

Crammed and stuffy Flixbus ride from Trieste to Ljbuljana, but luckily only a 90-minute ride. We had heard of problematic trains on this route, so opted for a bus instead.

Arrival in a great apartment in Ljubljana and looking forward to some rest after a couple days of travel.
Don’t think we’ll make it to Prague, but let’s try the beer!

Hit up the Hofer supermarket when we arrived and decide to jump right into the local cuisine.

A full day of rail travel took us from Chamonix to Martigny to Montreux to Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen and finally our home base in Wengen. Behind us is Lake Geneva during a layover in Montreux.

Mountains, lakes, flowers and sunshine; sounds good!

Too much train picnic wine?

Everyone’s house is neatly decorated with flowers and most have a selection of vegetables in a garden as well.

Plenty of animals to practice counting in German.

We’re gonna need a hat for this weather and luckily scored on the clearance rack. Bonus for the play area while mom and dad perused the store.

Layers and layers of clothes for a mix of sunshine, cold breezes and rain.

Took a short hike at the end of day 1 towards a scenic viewpoint near Wengen.

Enjoyable just to stroll along the paths in the neighborhood.

Came upon this farm with all sorts of animals to meet.

View across the valley towards some waterfalls and Murren.

We try not taking many of these scenery-only shots, but thought the last one didn’t do it justice.

A friendly kitten joined us from the farm out to the viewpoint. Charlie enjoyed romping around with it.

Day 2 was a rack railway and cable car excursion across the valley to Murren and a search for an advertised playground in Winteregg. The cows were very intrigued by Charlie.  Mom’s cross-fit workout is a strenuous downhill hike with stroller recline for an hour while Charlie naps.

The Winteregg playground was discovered and as cool as advertised.

Everyone gets to ride the mechanical cow.

Look, no hands!

Loving these swings that seem to be in most European playgrounds.

Not sure were else you can find a playground with this type of scenery.

Here comes the sun…

It hasn’t been raining enough today, so let’s go walk under a waterfall for one final soaking of the day.

The view from our apartment balcony. I believe this was the one evening where it was balmy enough to sit out back with a beverage to fully enjoy it.

Indoor activities for day 3 due a constant rain and the Floridians needing a break from the cold. Let’s learn how to play solitaire.

Poker face

Day 4 was a cable car up to Mannlichen for a kid’s trail challenge to collect 13 stamps on a map for a prize.

First stop is the playground at the top with a huge cow slide (bummer, it was inoperable)

Freezer bowling

The latest in high-tech trail strollers. Let’s start the trail and collect some stamps!

Keep an eye out for these hiding cows!

Another stamp station with beautiful scenery.

Time to practice on the Alphorns!

Earned a chocolate treat from a local passerby for such good musicality.

I believe this smile summarizes Charlie’s European adventure so far. He could’ve stayed on the zip line the rest of the day at this station.

The final station on the trail and obtained our last stamp! Grindelwald is in the valley background.

Day 5 was a trip down to Lake Brienz for a ferry boat ride.

Interesting channel marker

I’m on a boat!

Impressive piece of machinery propelling this ferry.

A kids area in the forward hull was a hit and used by many parents to get some quiet time on deck.

Picnic lunch in the Brienz ferry shelter while waiting on the rain to pass.

Half and half goats on our short hike up to explore a free animal park.

A definite hierarchy of these ibex with the size of the horns seeming to indicating their rank.

This bird’s head feathers definitely resembles someone..

Firewood stacking summarizes the personality of Switzerland with nature, structured order and efficiency being important.

Lake view in a shelter pit stop awaiting the rain to pass again.

Our last day was a cable car trip over to Grindelwald to locate an advertised playground in Bort.

Let’s head over by the sunny side

Cable car over the kid’s trail we hiked earlier in the week. (Note to anyone on a budget in Switzerland, avoid this cable car from Mannlichen to Grindelwald)

Out best smiles for a strenuous hike from Grindelwald up to Bort. Everyone else was walking down..

Lots of scenic rest stops for us on this steep hike. Definite challenge in pushing a stroller compared to the hiking backpack we had previously.

Mountain donkeys which appeared to be expecting a food donation after we took this picture.

Success! Another awesome playground, but a lack of kids with it being 5pm and 50 degrees in mid-September.

Learned on day 1 that no shoes are allowed on the seats in Switzerland. Easiest thing was to just take them off and have at it!

My hamstrings hurt just watching him do this move. Spending his time in the womb in this position seems to have given him some serious flexibility.

Traveling from Switzerland to Italy, we had a stopover in Spiez. Original itinerary had us going to Germany/Austria, but we need some warmer weather so we are headed south!

Let’s burn some energy before the next train

Soaking up some rays near the playground on the bank of Lake Thun.

Another great view from the Spiez train station. Auf Wiedersehen Switzerland!

Spectacular view from the back porch of our first-floor apartment

Day 1 of 6 on our Mont Blanc multi-pass. Altitude warnings for kids under 5 gave us a bit of pause for the Aiguille du Midi cable car, so went up halfway to start.

Charlie had no issues half-way and asked that the cable car go faster, so let’s charge to the top! This was an incredibly clear day as we learned the rest of the week.  While we’ve been to peaks as high in Colorado, the elevation change here from 3,000 in the valley to 12,000 at the top is unbelievable.  Places like Breckenridge is just as high at the top, but the base is at 9,000.

No fear in this 3-year old!

Happy hour back at the apartment after a successful trip to 12,000 feet

Day 2 we headed on the railway Montenvers to the Mer de Glace. The number of stairs to decline keeps growing as the glacier recedes. Interesting markers along the descent back to the mid-80s showing the glacier ice levels.

Inside an ice cave inside the glacier, brrr!

The ice bar wasn’t open at noon

A bit slippery trying to jump off the ice fireplace

Beautiful sunny afternoon on the trip back down to the valley

Rack railway which goes up to the glacier

Awesome amusement park we saw on the way back on the train. (More clips to come in the next video montage)

One of the original steam locomotives on this rack railway

That dog is huge! St Bernard’s are a big thing in this area.

A daily happy hour menu at the apartment

Day 3 on a cable car up to Le Brevent on the opposite side of the valley, hoping for some views of Mont Blanc

Riding cable cars all day would be an option

Some friendly folks must have noticed we were under-dressed for the chilly and cloudy conditions. They gave us some delicious snacks and arabic coffee.

The cables on the next gondola disappear into the clouds and it didn’t clear up at the top either, so we came back down.

First day trying out the backpack, let’s hike!

Some great scenery along the 2-hour hike to the Flegere lift

Quite a sight to see someone run off the ledge of a mountain.

A break from the backpack carrier!

A happy hiking family with a nice workout carrying 35 extra pounds on our backs.

Did we mention this guy likes to jump off Everything?

Walking around the valley at the end of the day and came upon this nice golf course.

Trying out some slacklining at Le Paradis Des Praz, a fun playground in the woods near a stream.

Day 4, taking the hiking difficulty up to the next level with a steep climb from Flegere cable car to Lac Blanc.

We split up carrying Charlie, so Cindy got tons of looks and compliments for carrying a kid that size. Don’t think we saw any other ladies carrying their kids.

Daily nap in the backpack from the soothing motion of mom’s hiking style.

Beautiful view after an afternoon hike to Lac Blanc

Day 5 is a rain-out, so let’s grab lunch and check out the library. This is a picture of a lamb sausage with blue cheese, fried onions, apples and greens from Cool Cats, delicious!

Day 6 – back to hiking after a day of rest. Rode the bus further east in the valley to Argentière to check out the Les Grands Montets cable car. Another spectacular view!

Hiked back down from the mid-station, which was a real thigh burner but offered some nice views of the valley.

A number of waterfalls along the trail and Charlie’s daily hiking nap.

Found a park on the walk back to the train station, but no kids to be found. Dad doesn’t quite fit in this canoe.

Charlie’s morning routine with his binky and iPad on the back porch.

Hasta luego Chamonix, onto Switzerland with a full-day of riding trains ahead. Let’s hope for the best with 5 connections to make.

Picnic on the train, but Cindy considered the jar of “Rillettes de Canard” to be low-grade cat food.

Riding the Mont Blanc Express on the first leg which crosses over the border from France to Switzerland.

Gorge du Verdon, which I believe is the deepest canyon in Europe

Hold on tight, it’s a long way down!

Yep, drinking beer at McDonalds in France. Indoor playground comes in handy for a toddler after a day of driving in the car.

Local park and chilly lake/pool on our way out of town after lunch at McD’s

Continuing the healthy eating regimen

Like father, like son

A number of gliders cruising around on a sunny day near Volonne

Found a great community pool near Volonne, but we all struggled with the chill water temp. Learned that France doesn’t allow “shorts” at the pool, so speedos for everyone.

Lunchtime pit stop at altitude in a brisk 60 degrees

Awesome bath tub at the La Mure farmhouse!

Feeding the fish outside the next morning

Went to the Sunday market in Pierre-Châtel, but the park was a hit with Charlie

Afternoon hike from Pierre-Châtel

Almost to the top and finally warming up!

Cool arch at the top of the hill

Enjoying the view, before our hike back down to the car (quite a workout carrying a toddler for a good share of the 2.5km)

Second hike of the day down to see a suspension bridge name Passerelle Du Drac

No fear from Charlie, but dad was a bit nervous with the moving bridge

Another great view

Let’s hike back to the top!

Really enjoyed our spacious farm house

Back on the train after dropping off the rental car, but learned that French trains don’t run on time.

Missed our connection in Annecy, but found this great park to spend an hour till the next one.

Now these are mountains!

Third train of the day on the way up to Chamonix

Hooray, we made it to the train station in Chamonix!

Ready for a cold one and a comfy Airbnb apartment after a long day of travel. Quite the scenery at sunset walking out of the train station.