Europe 2017!

GERMANY

Chris and I had a phenomenal time in Europe last month!  We spent our 8th anniversary with family and friends that we don't get to see often, so it was truly an adventure and a blessing.  Our first stop was Heidelberg, Germany to meet up with my brother and his crew.  They live in a gorgeous city with an "old town" that was perfect for walking and exploring.  A castle overlooks the city where you can explore the ruins and we even hit up a great brewery and had the traditional German food.  It was fun to see where the kids go to school and intriguing to see where Sam buys groceries, shops and does all the day-to-day stuff.

Nate made Hudson and Adley city coins in the pic below.  Apparently my kids fell apart when Lolly showed them a picture of their cousin Nate hanging with mom and dad.  That was the one and only time the kids saw pictures till we got home.  But according to Lolly, our kiddos "were perfect" the entire time we were gone.  I think Lolly must have had PTSD after watching them for so long and blocked out all memories.  As any parent can attest, children and their behavior changes by the second on whether they are a perfect...or perfect terrors!  But I was glad to hear a good report back from the states.

We did a walking tour and Nate was the star of the show; the tour guide loved him!  Hannah was on a school trip during the week, so we had to pack in tons of hugs and kisses with her on our last day.

VENICE

Next stop was Venice, which was a quick one hour flight from Germany.  We landed in the evening and went straight to the Doge's Palace at 9 pm.  Italy is Chris' heaven-on-earth and we were nonstop (aka 30K steps per day) trying to hit up all the museums, cathedrals and history spots.  Chris even made me skips meals in order to see some sites.  I am still debating if I should be bitter about that or if I should be grateful to have a personal tour guide.  We stayed near the Rialto Bridge, had photo competitions of who could take the best scenic pic and (b/c Venice has the most confusing streets in the world!)  even had races through the streets/canals to see who could get lost the least.  Chris will argue otherwise, but let's just say that I rarely lose :)

No gondola ride for this girl, as it was a "rip off and a tourist trap" according to my penny-pincher husband.  So in place of that, Chris took me on numerous vaporetto rides (also known as the public water taxis), a walking tour (that was free, mind you) and then fed pigeons in St. Mark's Square while attempting to walk briskly away from the guy distributing the bird feed so he wouldn't have to give him money.  NOTE - this is why I limit my time going out in public with this guy!  Geez.

(View from the vaporetto!  It was pretty awesome, but I will never admit that to Chris)

(Chris and the pigeons.  He thought the guy was just "being nice" and giving him food to feed the birds...)

 We also visited the nearby islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello, all of which were stunning and unique in their own special way.

CROATIA

Then we headed east to Croatia to meet up with our Chicago friends Lisa and Dries (Lisa and I have been besties since middle school).  First stop was Split, which was breathtaking.  Warm weather, sail boats, amazing seafood and even some history.  Chris was mesmerized by Diocletian's Palace, and though it was captivating, the rest of us were focused on wine, good food and relaxing.

  

(Diocletian's Palace early in the morning - by 10am it was PACKED)

We took a 4 hour hike up a mountain that overlooked the city.  Exhausting adventure, but we ended with a gorgeous view which made it worth while.  This is also where we feared Chris' life was in danger due to his antics of reenacting an episode on Brave Wilderness (a YouTube show...no need for normal people to watch it).  Out of nowhere, he jumped off the main drag and started eating what looked like purple growths off cacti.  Turns out they were prickly pears - a flat, rounded fruit with microscopic spines that will easily penetrate the skin when disturbed.  I'm sure you can guess how this ended.  Even other tourists were watching the turmoil of a strange American eating random parts of cacti while yelping in agony that it was hurting his mouth (it's OK if you are shaking your head while reading this.  That is EXACTLY what I am doing while writing it!)

DUBROVNIK

Two days later, we jumped on this baby and headed four hours south to Dubrovnik, Croatia.  

 Dubrovnik is probably the most touristy city in Croatia.  Besides the crystal clear waters, decadent seafood and walled-city center (where you can actually walk around the entire city atop this wall), it is a main filming location site for Game of Thrones.  And since we were all fans of this wonderful HBO show, we were geeked to see this place!

We went to Kings Landing (for all those Game of Thrones fans....it's Blackwater Bay!!!!) and took kayaks out into the Adriatic Sea.

Below is Dries "undressing" Chris as he is about to start the Walk of Atonement...aka, Season 5 and Cersei!  Please tell me someone else is as nerdy and stoked about this as we were?!?

And below are two pictures with another humorous story regarding Chris and his literal inability to spend money (in a calmly fashion).  The pic with the window is the B&B where we stayed, and it was directly attached to part of the wall on this walled-city.  Now to get on this wall, which is locked and gated at many ends, you have to pay a small fee ($25 per person) to experience the priceless views of the city and sea.  Neither I nor Lisa nor Dries thought that was unreasonable, but Chris on the other hand, was appalled and dubbed it another "tourist trap."  So what did he make his lovely wife do!?!

1. Jump out of that window at 8am in the morning.

2. Attempt to run and duck past guards who were blocking the entrances to the wall.

3. Pretend not to understand English when we were actually caught and questioned!

(NOTE - I did try to convince our friends to do it with me, but since they are normal human beings, they politely declined. Thus, I was stuck with Chris.)

Needless to say, we didn't go to jail and we saved a whooping $50, which I'm sure will change our lives forever.  I knew that if I didn't follow Chris' plan, he would complain for eternity and tell me I needed to man-up and take more risks.  And I can rarely back down from a challenge, so it was only inevitable that we would do something like this.  But once it was all said and done, I played the role of supportive wifey and gave him a high-five and pat on the back.  Just don't go and tell our children that their parents are trespassers and conniving world travelers! 

Below were my most favorite spots in all of Croatia, Buza 1 and Buza 2!  They were seaside bars, intricately placed on the narrow walled city, overlooking the Adriatic Sea.  You grab a beverage, walk down a steep cliff with limited actual stairs, plop down on a rock with a semi flat surface and pray that you don't lean too far over and plummet into the water or rocks.  AKA = AMAZING!

Europe was an extraordinary, unforgettable adventure!  And to have the luxury of including friends and family made it even more magical and special.  We must also give a special shout-out to the Kemp/Bockelman crew for watching over Hudson, Adley, and Mr Jack while we were gone.  We could not have done it without their help.  And please let us know how we can bribe you so we can travel overseas again...and preferably sooner than later :)