Peace Out!

If you would like proof that kids mimic what they see in life, just look at the pictures below. I promise you that I have NEVER (never!) posed for a picture while making a peace sign. Not once in my 30 years of life. I'm also pretty sure that Andrew hasn't either. And yet, it seems to be Sam's new signature photo pose. I'm blaming a certain group of tourists (who I shall not name) for this debacle. We see them traveling all over Europe, and without fail they are always making a peace sign while posing for pictures. Based off of these pictures, it would appear that my eldest thinks it looks cool too.

And of course since Sam is a bit of a novice when it comes to the peace-sign-photo-pose he sometimes gets it wrong. He may look like he is about to flip a double bird in the last pic, but I think his intentions are harmless.

Via Ferrata

Andrew really should be the one writing this post, but given that he's never written on this blog before, I don't see that happening. Thus is falls to me to chronicle what seems to be the highlight of Andrew's life Swiss adventures.

Last month Andrew and his two friends Jan (pronounced Yon) and Jason did an overnighter and hiked a via ferrata. Rather than try to explain something I really don't understand, I'll let wikipedia do it:

Via ferrata (Italian for "iron road") or klettersteig (German for "climbing path") is a mountain route which is equipped with fixed cables, stemples, ladders, and bridges.

Clear? Cool.

The boys, excuse me, men, had the time of their lives, and talked about their manliness for days afterwards. (This is the same group of guys who make a point of seeing movies such as "Thor" and "The Avengers" together, and I'd bet money that they quoted those movies the entire time up.) At any rate, it seemed like an amazing experience and I'm glad that they were able to do it. And if you are wondering what the wives got out of this deal- it was a kid free day in France a week later.

Tour De France

Last summer we thought about camping along some obscure part of the Tour de France and cheering on the bikers. In reality though, it seemed like a bit of a hassle and "thinking" about it was as far we got in our planning. We also had a fear that one of our kids would likely be the cause of a bike crash. Can't you just imagine it? This year however, Andrew discovered that the tour went through a portion of Switzerland and that it was only an hour away in lovely St. Ursanne. Andrew and Sammy were able to hop on a train around 1 pm, watch the tour, and be back before bedtime. Completely effortless! They had a great time and were even accompanied by a couple of Andrew's coworkers with children around Sam's age. I think Sam loved the pre-tour parade best where he was able to score lots of loot.

Go for Spain!

Andrew and the boys faithfully watched the Euro cup this past month. I'm not much of a sports fan, but it was fun watching the boys pick a team during each game and root for it. During each game they would shout "Go for Germany!" or whatever team they were rooting for. We were in Barcelona when Spain played Italy during the finals, and although I went to bed during the game, I was woken up by fireworks, honking and cheers. I didn't need to ask Andrew who won.

As I mentioned in my last post, we went straight from Nice to Barcelona, which was wonderful. We found the art and architecture in this city inspiring and the general vibe exciting. Plus, after living in Switzerland for 2 years, I can't even tell you how giddy I was seeing stores open past 6 pm. Really, it was thrilling. Each of our kids were sick in Barcelona, but it really wasn't a big deal since we had an apartment at a great location. Andrew and I just took turns going out and in some ways it was more relaxing since it forced us to slow down.

Barcelona Old Town and Las Ramblas

Parc Guell
Luke and I took a little date to this large park which overlooks the city. Lots of movie scenes are shot here, so you may recognize the terrace area which was designed by architect Anotoni Gaudi. Luke and I loved the mosaics!


The Harbor Front and Columbus Monument
The shot of my kids cracks me up because it is impossible to get a shot of them all together.


The Block of Discord
I studied Gaudi's work in college, and seeing it in person was even better than I expected! I left Barcelona a true fan of his work.



Sagrada Familia
We stayed a couple of blocks away from this church, so we were able to see a lot of it. It was of course designed by Gaudi and was started in 1882. It still isn't completed and is expected to be finished in 2028. The inside was a little too much for me, but Art Vandelay, I mean Andrew, L-O-V-E-D that place.



This was the last of our "big" trips during our time here in Europe, and I'm happy that we finished on a high note!

Nice and the French Riviera

It's possible that France could be my favorite European country... if it weren't filled with French people. Don't get me wrong, we have met some wonderful Frenchmen, but as a whole, I've never met such crabby people! My favorite incident from this past trip was when we were at a bakery ordering pastries. The shop worker rang us up, and when Andrew asked if we could add one more pastry to our order she threw a mini hissy fit. Holy cow, you would have thought he was telling her we didn't want anything at all. The huffing and puffing and shoving of the extra pastry into the bag was comical. What do you say to that? I'm sorry?!

But, my opinions of the French can be saved for another day. I do love their country, and that is that.

We spent 3 full days in the French Riviera last week, and thanks to the wonder that is Easy Jet, travel hardly cost of anything at all. In fact, our plane tickets were so cheap (30 chf per flight) that we decided to fly to Barcelona from Nice. The best part is that the flights were only 1 hour each. The downside to our trip was that is was planned for the end of June. It was HOT and our hotel did not have air conditioning. Somehow we survived.

We split up our time between Nice and Villefranche-sur-Mer. Afton was sick one day, so Andrew and the boys also went to Monaco.

Villefranche-sur-Mer

Nice

On day 3 we went back to Villefranche and rented a boat. I'm not gonna lie, as we boated along the coast I felt a little like Brad Pit and Angelina Jolie. Maybe a more ghetto version...but still.

Monaco

And lastly, the Marc Chagall Museum. Be still my heart, I love me some Chagall.