Pools, parks, playmates, and.... goats!

So we really tried to dive in and enjoy every part of summer that Zurich had to offer us this year. We had countless days of absolutely gorgeous weather (hot by Swiss standards, 80's and some 90's), so it meant that Emma and I had countless opportunities to get out and take full advantage of all the sunshine! It was a great time to see and experience all the places Zurich has to offer to children and families.

By far our favorite place to go was to a seebad on Lake Zurich. You really can't ask for a better place to go with kids on a nice summer day. A seebad (or badi as its sometimes referred to) usually consists of a pool or multiple pools right next to the lake, a beach area, and often has a playground or other green space to enjoy as well as other various activities for adults. We had so much fun trying out several different ones near us with many of Emma's buddies (and of course mom's friends too). Emma had so much fun and had so much time in the water that now we can't keep her away from it anywhere we go!

Cheers to a day at the badi!

Of course Emma, we already changed you out of your swimsuit and then you run back towards the water fully dressed...

My shovel will tell you who's boss water fountain!

In addition to going to the seebad Emma became the normal park addict of a kid this summer and she now can't help not to get a huge grin on her face when you mention the word park. There were so many great parks that were so close to us in Zurich. And many of them had fountains as well so for awhile it seemed like every day we went somewhere that meant Emma was in the water.

All smiles!

Still working on mastering the slide!

Once again going for the water fully dressed...

Emma LOVES petting zoos!

Basically when it comes down to it, we lived outside this year and absolutely loved it. We had the best of playmates and friends in Zurich to spend time playing with outside that we were so sad to leave behind. At least we don't have to worry about Emma making new goat friends as she already found a good petting zoo in St. Louis!

We do feel pretty spoiled and thankful to know that we will have a backyard at our new house in St. Louis that Emma will be able to run around anytime she wants. But we are definitely still going to miss all the great kid friendly places we got to go this past summer in Zurich. Here's to hoping we find many more equally great places and new playmates here next summer!

 

Quite possibly my favorite series of photos ever.... Emma and her buddy Liam. No this was not staged.

You caught us having a moment!

But we'll smile and hug for the camera anyways!

The movies at the lake!

Pre-movie...

Zurich is a great city to live year around, but during the summer it really cannot be beat. From perfect summer temperatures, views of the mountains, beautiful walking paths, countless places to go for a swim, and many special events to name a few. We felt bad that we missed out on some of these things last summer as we were consumed with someone new to our family, so we made sure that as much as possible we would try and take advantage of all the wonderful things Zurich has to offer this summer!

Certainly one of the most popular things to do for the last few weeks of July and early August is to go to the movies on the Zurichsee (lake Zurich)! And this isn't just a few people bringing blankets and lawn chairs out to watch a small projection screen. We are talking a huge production involving rows and rows of stadium style seats, restaurants, bars, and a movie theater size screen set up literally feet from the shore of the lake.

Orange Cinema as it's called shows one different movie each night and some of them sell out within minutes of going on sale online earlier in the summer. So as our night out to celebrate our anniversary Steve secured some tickets and a sitter for Emma and we headed down to the lake to enjoy the evening! While we didn't get tickets to any new American releases, we still got to see a pretty good British comedy. Yet, regardless of the show it was about the experience and it was a ton of fun to enjoy a perfect summer evening down at the lake with a cocktail in hand and to see the waves of the lake crashing up on the rocks at the bottom of the movie screen!

A packed house just before the movie started. We were nearly in the front row (evidently we were supposed to get there several hours early to secure a prime seat)... still a good view for the show.

Thanks to my husband for planning and making sure we got to go this summer. It's just another reason why I am going to miss living in Zurich so much!

 

Happy #6!

A taste of French Wine Country: Alsace

Come the middle of July we realized that not only was it our sixth wedding anniversary, but we also had a completely free weekend! So what did we do? Booked a last minute trip somewhere of course! I know, shocking you say. It didn't take long for us to agree on the Alsace region of France, which is one of the country's many wine growing regions. It is located in eastern France, not far from the German border, which made it only a two hour drive for us and the perfect weekend getaway. There is unique blend of French and German cultures in this region that is famous for its white wines, especially its dry Rieslings and sweet Gewurztraminers.

Despite the fact that this region experienced severe destruction from centuries of war in the area, many of the villages maintain a picturesque look with beautiful old buildings (and some new built to look old). We rented a car from Zurich and made the easy drive to the south end of the valley on Saturday morning so that we could spend the day exploring the town of Colmar. It was a quaint town with a lot of shopping and restaurants to be visited as well as many winstubs, which are the region's version of a pub. These laid back restaurants or "wine lounges" are popular to be able to taste many of the area's best wines in one stop.

Beautiful streets of Colmar

Another view around Colmar

We spent the better part of the afternoon just meandering and enjoying the town's food and wine. With no real agenda or plan we eventually made our way to our hotel later in the afternoon. It was a unique guesthouse on the edge of a small village. We had a nice little apartment to enjoy that opened out to a beautiful garden area with a pool. It seemed we had found the perfect weekend getaway for both parents and child as Emma loved all of the outdoor space to run around, we enjoyed the complimentary bottle of wine, and of course the pool was popular with all of us in the 90 degree heat!

First thing Emma saw once we parked the car in Colmar was a carousel and seeing how she had now been walking for a few weeks there was no slowing her down to get to it!

So cute to look back on this video as she was just starting to walk and compare it to how good she is now! This was just the start of her quickly growing independence!



Emma's first real carousel ride!

Love this girl!

So after enjoying a relaxing Saturday evening we were fortunate to be able to enjoy a lazy Sunday morning as well. First on our agenda was to hit the pool again before we set out to see visit more wine villages. We headed out to drive through some of the most scenic areas of the Route du Vin and stop at some of the most picturesque villages - Riquewihr, Ribeauville, Turckheim and Kaysersberg. Although they all seemed nice and had beautiful architecture, Riquewihr, definitely won the award from us (and it seemed like a lot of other people) for being the best Alsatian wine village. The medieval walled village was certainly a tourist haven but we still enjoyed it and had a great lunch outside on a quiet little back street. There was also a wine and food festival going on in Ribeauville, but unfortunately we arrived too late in the day and missed out on most of the festivities. Lucky for us we had already sampled several different types of wine throughout the day!

These cranes seem to be the Alsatian mascot and were very common!

Just touring the streets of Riquewihr



Stroller rides were short lived with all the cobblestone

You might call that a bad hair day!

Steve had Monday off so we were able to extend the weekend a bit and take our time getting back to Zurich. We took full advantage to go back and spend some more time in our favorite spot, Riquewihr, and enjoy a relaxing lunch. We also drove up the valley a little ways for some better views of the region. As we did we stumbled upon an American flag flying at a quiet spot in the countryside where we found a monument dedicated to American troops of World War II.

More views around our favorite village of Riquewihr

Loved all the fresh flowers on every window!

Telling us how old she is!

Unfortunately our time in this now very peaceful and relaxing area of France quickly came to an end. However, it was definitely a great last minute weekend away and a fun time celebrating our anniversary as a family!

Beautiful sunflower fields!

Driving on the wrong side of the road...

Just a typical Irish landscape...

I can't believe it has been almost three months since our trip to Ireland, time has slipped away from us to say the least... Anyways, back to the second week of our driving on the wrong side of the road trip: Ireland!

After a late flight in on Friday evening from England we gave ourselves a chance to have a bit of a lazy Saturday morning before heading out to explore Dublin. Our first stop of course involved beer - we went for a tour of the Guinness Factory. While it cannot boast of being free like the Anheuser Busch tours are in St. Louis, it was nonetheless an interesting tour that included some free samples, and even offered the chance to learn the special technique to pouring a glass of Guinness. We also took some time to enjoy their cool 360 degree bar at the top of the factory that allows views over all of Dublin. From there we made our way to the first of many stops at an Irish pub where we quickly discovered that the Irish know how to make some good chowder and stew for all their chilly days, and we found ourselves ordering it many times throughout the week after that first taste. And to Steve's satisfaction I found out that I actually do like to drink one type of beer, Irish cider, and I quickly made it my go to for the rest of the week as well.



Steve and his little helper with freshly poured Guinness and Certificate of Achievement!

Then it was off to explore the other highlighted spots in Dublin. First stop was Trinity College to see the Book of Kells, (known for being a beautiful illuminated manuscript of the four Gospels and some say Ireland's most important national treasure), which is housed in the college's gorgeous Old Library.


Gorgeous old library at Trinity College

We also enjoyed meandering the streets around the center of Dublin and getting a better vibe of the city on the famous Grafton street before spending some time enjoying the beautiful St. Stephen's Green as well.

One of many fun shopping streets

However, as we were all tired from the late travel the night before and the city was quickly been taken over with parades and celebrations as part of a two week Gay Pride Festival, we decided to get a quick and easy dinner before heading back a bit early to the hotel.

Glendalough Valley

Sunday morning it was time to get a little outside of the city so we made an hour drive to Glendalough Valley in the Wicklow Mountains National Park. Just a short ways outside of the city we found ourselves in quintessential Ireland. The road was extremely narrow, it was windy, overcast, and misting with tall prairie grasses lining closely to the road. Steve navigated his way carefully as there were many cyclists out for a morning ride and a few sheep on the side of the road to watch out for! Once we arrived at the National Park we breathed a sigh of relief that we had safely made it there. Then we set out for a few hours of hiking around the two lakes in the valley before making our way up the side of the valley for views over the entire region. The views were stunning and we enjoyed hiking the ridge at the top of the valley along the lakeside. It was certainly a taste of the Ireland we had been hoping to find and made for a nice break from all the time we had been spending in English and Irish cities for the past week. But it was back to Dublin from there for one last night. Yet somehow we managed to enjoy it by stumbling upon supposedly the oldest pub in Dublin (maybe Ireland?) just around the corner from our hotel. It had a nice outdoor area and we (Emma included) enjoyed the live Irish music!

Scenery in the national park reminded us of scenes from The Hunger Games

Beautiful views from the bottom of the valley

And beautiful views from the top!

Beautiful hike along the ridge

Pretty cute hikers

We got an early start on Monday so we could tour the beautiful St. Patrick's Cathedral (the national cathedral) in Dublin before heading south to start our tour around the country. We had about three or four hours of driving to get done before our stop for the night on the south coast just outside the small fishing village of Kinsale. We were able to split the drive up nicely by stopping at the Rock of Cashel, which was an old fortress that was transformed into a church. It sits perched on a small hill above the village and can be seen for miles away. From there we made it the rest of the way to Kinsale and had a great seafood dinner and enjoyed a nice walk around the calm harbor that the town sits on. We stayed at a nice bed & breakfast just outside of town that had views of the ocean. The waves were quite large that evening and we even saw people headed out trying to do some very cold surfing! It was a great place to stay as the B&B owners also built a small pub attached to the house so we were able to enjoy a few drinks after Emma's bedtime!

Rock of Cashel

Views of the countryside from the Rock of Cashel

Inside the remains of the Rock of Cashel

Colorful streets of Kinsale

Having fun exploring Kinsale

More fun in Kinsale, Emma's first carousel ride!

Tuesday's agenda involved exploring a little more of the south of Ireland with stops in the city of Cork and nearby Blarney before driving 1.5 hours towards the southwest coast for our next stop. Before heading out on our day's explorations we enjoyed our first "full Irish breakfast" which included black and white pudding. I figured I might as well try these puddings, while Steve politely declined (probably the smarter move). The puddings are similar as they both consist of meat, fat, and some sort of bread or oatmeal and are formed into a hardened sausage. However, black pudding has the color it does because blood is added too (usually pork blood is used in Ireland). Let's just say the one try was enough for me...

Puddings tasted, we headed to Cork and spent some time walking around the center of town with shops, but not as many restaurants and pubs as we found typical in most other Irish cities we visited. We did enjoy a quick look around the English Market, which was full of fresh meats and cheeses. And although the city was nice, neither of us found it of particular interest, so we made our way onto Blarney fairly quickly for a tour of the famous Blarney Castle and an opportunity to kiss the stone! As we suspected going into it the castle and the stone are completely overrated, but seeing how we were so close Steve had to take the opportunity to kiss it and receive the gift of gab (not sure if he got it or not)!

Steve kissing the Blarney stone!

Having crossed that off our to do list we headed further west to the Killarney National Park, where our hotel for the next two nights was located. The hotel was a bit of a splurge (but well worth it) and situated beautifully on one of many large lakes in the park. We enjoyed dinner in the hotel with gorgeous views and watching several deer feed in the tall water grasses in the lake. And while it is quite common for Emma to quickly make friends everywhere we travel, she made a friendly old man her target that evening and was quick to show us how she's going to wrap her grandpas around her little finger once she gets to see them more often!

Beautiful views from our hotel of Killarney National Park

Come Wednesday morning we enjoyed a huge buffet breakfast and with the help of the hotel manager we put together some ideas for driving and doing a little hiking around the Ring of Kerry that day. The Ring of Kerry is one of three scenic and rugged peninsulas on the southwest coast of Ireland and we were excited for the scenery that awaited us. Unfortunately not too far into the drive the weather quickly went downhill with thick fog, rain and wind. To say the least our thoughts of hiking were thrown out the window and we just hoped to be able to take in a few views along the drive. Although we missed what we know were a lot of great views, we still got glimpses of several beautiful areas. Yet, lucky for us after our stop in the small coastal town of Waterville for lunch the rest of our day and what we saw (or didn't see) didn't matter much because Emma decided to start walking right there on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean! And she didn't just take one or two first steps she decided to bust out 12 steps right there so confidently in the wind and light mist! Without a doubt she couldn't have looked any cuter and you can refer back to a blog from several months ago to see the video of her doing just that.

So with the less than stellar weather and without seeing the views we hoped for, but instead being extremely proud parents, we finished the drive back towards the hotel after stopping for dinner at a pub in the town of Killarney to celebrate our little girl's achievement!

Emma taking a spoon to dad's head at our lunchtime stop in Waterville, pre taking her first steps...

Post "first steps" family photo to remember the moment!

Rugged beauty along the Ring of Kerry

Thursday arrived and we were excited to see a better forecast for the region as we were headed out to drive part of another scenic area called the Dingle Peninsula. Although there are many similarities between Dingle and the Ring of Kerry they are each known for their own unique aspects and Dingle was supposed to be a bit more rugged and we were looking forward to a chance to explore it.

This is a windy beach!

Our first stop along the drive was a huge beach with large whitecaps filled with surfers. It was extremely windy and even some of the sand was blowing sideways. We didn't need much time outside to understand why some of the terrain looked the way it did! From there we made a quick stop in the town of Dingle for another lunch of seafood chowder and the region's famous brown bread. But lucky for us the scenery that afternoon was what we had been waiting for as the coast quickly unfolded as we moved west from Dingle. The winding roads and cliffs with bright blue water and "emerald green" grass were truly spectacular. Emma was a great sport as we found ourselves constantly wanting to stop and jump out for a quick photo. We were thankful she was such a good sports as making it out to the furthest point called Slea Head Drive was more than worth it. The views of the Blasket Islands were stunning as they rose up out of the water in dramatic fashion. There were certainly many a lucky sheep and cow in this part of the country as some of their pastures had amazing views. We even had to walk through part of one to take in the some of the best views! It was a bonus for all of us as I'm pretty confident Emma enjoyed seeing the sheep close up better than the ocean views.

Pasture after pasture... many either used bushes or rocks to separate them, not fences.

One of my favorites along the Dingle Peninsula

Just walking through the sheep pasture to get to more stunning views...

Views of the Blasket Islands

Every time I thought the views couldn't get better, I would find a better view...

We certainly could have stayed out there for hours but with a couple hours of driving still remaining that day we headed back inland to make our way to the tiny village of Adare, which would be our stopping point for the night. Although there was no overwhelming reason for us to stay in Adare it served as a good way to break up our drive further north to the Cliffs of Moher. We also found several beautiful old manor houses and castles in the area to stay at and we were able to enjoy a fantastic dinner of lamb and duck at a nice restaurant where Emma showed off her best behavior that even earned her some ice cream from the staff! We were very thankful that she did so well as seeing that many of these nicer restaurants didn't allow children or they were only allowed to dine prior to 7 pm!

Thatched roofs in Adare!

Gorgeous castle hotel... we thought about staying there before we saw the price!

Before heading out from Adare on Friday morning we were again treated to another great buffet breakfast at the manor house we chose to stay at before taking off for the 1.5 hour drive to the Cliffs of Moher further up the west coast. The Cliffs of Moher were without a doubt the single most impressive thing we saw during our week in Ireland. The sheer 700 foot plus cliffs were daunting and powerful. It was easy to get lost in time just soaking in the views and every little different angle. Not only did we have the chance to walk along the top of the cliffs (several times with the path closer to the cliff edge than I would have preferred), but we also got to take a boat ride for close up views from the water. I would have to say they were more impressive from below, but I also could have done without the large waves and the small boat! And to think they said it was only a moderately rough day out on the sea, there is no way I would have gone out there with waves any larger as we watched several people get sea sick! It was also hard to believe that these cliffs were supposedly 500 feet shorter than some of the smallest cliffs we saw just 6 weeks earlier in Santorini, Greece. Despite the difference in height the Cliffs of Moher were certainly more menacing with the ocean waves crashing below, whereas the relatively calm caldera waters that surround the Santorini cliffs.

Cliffs of Moher

We couldn't get enough of every different angle...

The view from the sea

After the choppy boat ride we were happy to get onto dry land. We found a pub famous for having some of the best live music in all of Ireland in the tiny town of Doolin, which is just north of the Cliffs of Moher and even has some views of the cliffs. The town was also our stopping point for the night.

Saturday morning came and we hit the road for another 1.5 hours north to the city of Galway. Although neither of us could claim it was one of our favorite stops on our trip, it was still another nice Irish city with plenty of shopping, pubs, and restaurants. It was nice to enjoy a low key day and when the rain came we just made ourselves cozy at a pub before relaxing at our last Irish bed & breakfast. And the day was certainly not complete without enjoying what is known to be one of the best places for fish and chips in Ireland, McDonaghs, it certainly did not disappoint!

Sadly when Sunday arrived it meant it was time for us to head home. We first had to make the 3 hour trek back to Dublin in order to fly out, but we had a little extra time so we were able to make a stop outside of Dublin at the Powerscourt Waterfall. It is Ireland's highest waterfall at roughly 400 feet. It was a nice stop, but nothing spectacular, and had we visited Norway and Iceland prior to this trip we might have called this waterfall laughable in comparison with what we saw in these other countries.

Nonetheless it was an opportunity to see one more natural gift this country was blessed with, and there sure were a lot of them. We were without a doubt incredibly fortunate to be able to spend a week in Ireland and experience the friendly people, beautiful scenery, good beer, the list could go on and on. But even more so the two weeks we spent in both England and Ireland are sure to be a highlight from our time in Europe. We even learned many things while we were there:

• Just because you are renting a flat with a washer/dryer don't really ever expect it to work.
• For the first and only time so far while flying with Emma I was asked to taste her food to prove it wasn't something else, so be sure to make carry on food choices wisely.
• Discount European airlines have the most inefficient procedures ever, as do discount rental car companies.
• Always be sure to check to see if a map is to scale before you rely on it to walk somewhere (I always thought better of Rick Steve's maps before this trip).
• Although this is not the first place we've encountered it, baby food is very regional. The English & Irish start their kids young eating only meat and potatoes with pureed jars of it!
• The English call speed bumps "humps" and like to be very accurate in telling you how long you will have to drive over these humps... one such example we saw, "Humps for the next 437 meters"
• When the road sign indicates a narrow road, they mean it!

Wish we could say this was a one way road. Nope, this was two way...

By the end of our two weeks I think this is how we all felt!