My. So much to write. Back in wifi range and want to update on our adventures. Last I posted, it was four countries ago. Tonight, we are in Tuscany, in a little village just south of Florence, in a town on a big blank spot on the map. After leaving the Swiss alps, we head east into Lichtenstein (we renamed it lichten-stickum because they wanted so much for lunch and wouldn't change our u.s. Dollars for euros. "we don't really get along with your country" we were told. "well, your boy king is a tax-obsessed oppressive cur" we politely responded...

Off to Austria where the mountains were smaller but the people smiling and happy. From there, into the corner of Bavaria and the castles of mad King Ludwig. Neuchwenstein was his fantasy palace that Walt Disney modeled his DisneyWorld castle after. We did the tour thing and then headed off to Italy. Lindsay forgot her bathing suit so we stopped outside Innsbruck at a mall to buy her one. It was hysterical trying to navigate a non-tourist village shopping center with our lame handle on the German tongue. Then we were off to Trento and the hill country of the Dolomites. We spent a night alongside the vineyard of one of Italy's famous grappa makers. Our room was 650 years old and the food on the balcony overlooking their grape vineyards was incredible. After dinner the owner joined us and opened bottle after bottle of grappa for us to sample. (yes, manny, we got some to bring home...) We hated to leave but in the morning we climbed back in the car for the drive to Venice. We parked outside the city and took a water taxi into the grand canal and the heart of the city. Our hotel was tucked into a tiny alleyway along a canal full of ancient doorways, brightly colored flower pots, and a little cafe where the smell of fresh basil and garlic wafted throu our open windows. The city has always seemed like such a cliche of gondoliers, canals and piazzas full of pigeons, but that is exactly the way life happens every day there. Work boats haul fresh produce and construction equipment, people go to work, stop in bistros for espresso and the old women enjoy gelato in grand cobbled courtyards in the afternoons. We wandered through endless mazes of alleys exploring the mask shops, the hand blown venetian glass and soccer jerseys, and stopped at nearly every gelato cafe we happened upon. Dinner of razor thin pizza on the bank of the grand canal and then yet another gelato at sunset with accordion music in the background and the serenade of tenor gondoliers as they navigated tourists through the endless waterways. In the morning, we toured San Marco's cathedral, which was incredible. So much history and architecture. Then we took a final taxi ride down the grand canal, under the famous Rialto bridge, and to our car, where we headed south to Tuscany. While the kids enjoyed the pool, and Hannah raced a 17 year old french boy in various swim events of her choosing, I readied our bikes for the days head. Tomorrow morning we head off for a town about 25 miles from here on mountain bikes for a night in an agrotourismo villa in Palaia. Saturday we return to our car in Montaione, drop off the bikes, and head to Cinque Terra, with a quick stop in Pisa to see that tower thing before it tips over...
I'll update from CT when we hit the coast and the calamari! Love to all. See you soon.

P.s. When I get home, I am buying a 6-speed turbo Citroen station wagon. Whoo boy. Glad Kel can't convert kph to mph...

Off to Austria where the mountains were smaller but the people smiling and happy. From there, into the corner of Bavaria and the castles of mad King Ludwig. Neuchwenstein was his fantasy palace that Walt Disney modeled his DisneyWorld castle after. We did the tour thing and the headed off to Italy. Lindsay forgot here bathing suit so we stopped outside Innsbruck at a mall to buy her one. It was hysterical trying to navigate a non-tourist village shopping center with our lame handle on the German tongue. Then we were off to Trento and the hill country of the Dolomites. We spent a night the vineyard of one of Italy's famous grappa makers. Our room was 650 years old and the food on the balcony overlooking their grape vineyards was incredible. After dinner the owner joined us and opened bottle after bottle of grappa for us to sample. (yes, manny, we got some to bring home...) We hated to leave but in the morning we got back in the car for the drive to Venice. We parked outside the city and took a water taxi into the grand canal and he heart of the city. Our hotel was tucked into a tiny alleyway along a canal full of gondolas. The city has always seemed like such a cliche of gondoliers, canals and piazzas full of pigeons, but that is exactly the way life happens every day there. Work boats haul fresh produce and construction equipment, people go to work, stop in bistros for espresso and the old women enjoy gelato in grand cobbled courtyards in the afternoons. We wandered through maze fate maze of alleys exploring the mask shops, the hand blown venetian glass and soccer jerseys, and stopped t nearly every gelato cafe we happened upon. Dinner of razor thin pizza on the bank of the grand canal and then yet another gelato at sunset with accordion music in the background and the serenade of tenor gondoliers as they navigated tourists through the endless waterways. In the morning, we toured San Marco's cathedral, which was incredible. So much history and architecture. Then we took a final taxi ride down the grand canal, under the famous Rialto bridge, and to our car, where we headed south to Tuscany. While the kids enjoyed the pool, and Hannah raced a 17 year old french boy in various swim events of her choosing, I readied our bikes for the days head. Tomorrow morning we head off for a town about 25 miles from here on mountain bikes for a night in an agrotourismo villa in Palaia. Saturday we return to our car in Montaione, drop off the bikes, and head to Cinque Terra, with a quick stop in Pisa to see that tower thing before it tips over...
I'll update from CT when we hit the coast and the calamari! Love to all. See you soon.

P.s. When I get home, I am buying a 6-speed turbo Citroen station wagon. Whoo boy. Glad Kel can't convert kph to mph...

Back in civilization

Well, it's Sunday, and Swiss National Day. Sorry for the lack of updates but WiFi is not very common here. We are in Grindelwald for the night, having completed our hit trip to the summit of the Faulhorn. Our night there was fantastic. We really enjoyed our days in the sleepy town of Murren, where we hiked, visited a small mountain daily to drink fresh mild shakes, and eat cheese and sausage that the kids were convinced was dried donkey. and enjoyed the authentic little village. From thief, we took the cable car back down to the valley and took a cog rail up another mountain to the trailhead of The Faulhorn. The hike up was about like doing a Colorado 14er (except there are little huts on the way up at sell beer and more of that donkey sausage.). The climb up took about 4 hours and ended in fresh snow and incredible views. The hut is the oldest mountain "hotel" in Europe. (that's a term we use lightly). The unheated stone hut had a tiny pair of rooms with matching twin beds, no heat or running water, and a 2 minute walk to the bathroom down a hallway lit by candles. It got down into the 20s which made for a chilly night. But the views of the surrounding peaks was like nothing we have ever seen. The Eiger, the Monch, and the Jungfrau, as well as a dozen other snow capped peaks we right there in all their glory. We enjoyed a dinner of fresh pasta and pork stroganoff, and even bought a 1 liter bottle of water for $16. But it's a long walk to the nearest store...
In the morning we hiked down past a pair of gorgeous lakes into Bort, a littler hamlet above Grindelwald. There we rented trottibikes (sort of like the kids scooters only with 18 inch wheels. We flew down the mountain to our hotel, checked in an enjoyed our first shower in two sweaty days. We're here right in the heart of wildflower season and Kel is in heaven. Went off to the market and bight food for dinner and to ned early (despite the fireworks) as we are up early tomorrow and off to Lichtenstein and Germany to see some castles and leave the beauty oof the Swiss Alps behind us.
Everyone is well, having a great time, and sorry to be leaving chocolate country in the read view mirror. But gelato lies before us along with lots more great country. Miss you all.

Greetings from Murren!

Hello from Murren!
What a gorgeous part of the world. We arrived late yesterday after connections through philly, Frankfurt, and Zurich. Delay out of Philly had us miss our connection in Germany but we grabbed a later flight and had a lovely late afternoon drive through Luzern and into Interlaken and to Lauterbrunnen. We took the aerial tram up to Murren which sits on the edge of a huge cliff overlooking the Eiger and surrounding peaks. Waterfalls cascade from everywhere. We saw our first herd of chamois (Swiss deer) on the walk to dinner. We managed to stay up until 10 and then had a LONG night's sleep in thick Swiss down comforters.
Woke to rain and heavy clouds. Everywhere around us we could hear waterfalls crashing into the valley. After breakfast we took a funicular up the mountain and then hiked off into the rain and fog toward a distant farm rumored to make fresh cheese and milkshakes. An hour later in pouring rain we ducked into a little farmhouse for hot chocolate. The rain continued. So we changed course and made our way back down the mountain toward Murren. On the way we stubbled across a zip line in the forest and all had a go at it. 30 minutes later, completely soaked, we arrived back at our apartment. Bought cheese, fresh bread and hot soup at the market and went off in search of a clothes dryer. As Hannah and i type this, we sit in a corner booth overlooking the valley and surrounding peaks capped in fresh snow. The sun breaks through every few minutes to show the waterfalls and hanging glaciers of this magnificent valley. The smell of fondue is pretty strong. We may be here for a while. More in the morning. Aufsvederstain...!

Here is a link to some photos from today.

http://photobucket.com/albums/ae243/scottbybike

The final countdown

Welcome to our family blog!
This is our first entry as we make our final preparations for our European adventure. We're almost all packed. (I say "we" but I really mean "mom and kids". My stuff is still scattered about the house. We're so excited to escape together to such a beautiful part of the world and play as a family. This will be the longest trip we have ever taken and we can't wait. Our plan is to update this with journal entries and photos whenever possible. Thanks for joining us on our adventure!