Budapest

Thanksgiving weekend we headed off to Budapest, Hungary. Odd place to go, but the plane tickets were cheap and we had never been there. Budapest is actually two former cities, Buda and Pest, now united but still divided by the Danube River.

We were lucky to get a hotel within the walls of the Buda Castle. The views from this side of the river were spectacular, offering sweeping panoramas of Pest and the eye-catching parliament building.

Looking east over the Danube and the Chain Bridge. We must have walked over that darn bridge more than half a dozen times in the four days we were there.


The view looking west over the Danube at the enormous Buda palace. Most of the palace is post-WW2, but some buildings remain from that period and are spotted with bullet holes.


Our charming hotel entrance.


Ethan devouring some dessert cake/bread/pastry that we found in the Christmas Market downtown. This is one of the rare dietary finds of the trip, as the Bleichers often went hungry in Hungary. Goulash and other bizarre foods didn't quite do it for us.


One of the monuments to the Soviets. This monument is so unpopular that it is barricaded and has a guard in front of it 24/7. Note the hammer and sickle midway up the obelisk.


The inside of the Great Synogogue. This synogogue somehow survived the Nazi occupation and is now the largest in Europe and the second largest in the world behind a synogogue in NYC.


The Matthias Church in Buda.


Allison and Ethan loving life in the funicular going up to Buda Castle.

Trick or Treat...

The kids had a great time on Halloween this year. Allison decided to be Cinderella for a second year in a row, and Ethan was a fireman. The base here does an excellent job of getting all the housing units to participate in Halloween, and since the time change in Europe happened before Halloween, it was a perfect fall night- dark and cool. We met up with some friends to go from building to building collecting candy. The kids made out like bandits and a good time was had by all!

Allison trick-or-treating.

group shot!

"look at all my candy mama! I will be asking for it morning, noon, and night for the next month!"

Vandy reunion, Italian-style

“Friendships that have stood the test

of time and chance are surely best.

Brows may wrinkle, hair grow gray,

Friendship never knows decay.”

-unknown

This weekend I met up with 4 of my roomates from Vanderbilt for a mini-reunion. We had a truly wonderful time. We stayed in the heart of Florence at the Hotel Calzaiuoli and spent the day on Saturday with our guide, Guido, touring the Chianti area of Tuscany. We visited the market at Greve in Chianti, had a wine tasting and amazing 4-course lunch at the Castello di Tornano, and shopped the streets of San Gimignano. On Sunday, we slept in and climbed Giotto's tower adjacent to the Duomo for an awesome view of the entire historic city. It was a great weekend of food, fun, and friendship!

wine tasting.

Duomo and city view from Giotto's Tower.

Tara and I in Positano.

Michelangelo's Pieta.

London Mate!

For Columbus Day weekend, we hopped on a plane and flew to London. Having been there 10 years ago, we skipped a lot of the major museums this time around and focused on having a fun time with the kids, eating good (non-Italian) food, and just enjoying time together. Nevertheless, we still managed to cover quite a bit of ground every day. Of course, skipping naptime tired out the kids– on Sunday Ethan fell into such a deep sleep that an ambulance with its siren blasting passed 10 feet from him and he didn’t move, let alone wake up!

The kids had a great time…then again, how could they not, playing at the amazing (yes, I’m describing a playground as “amazing”) Princess Diana Memorial playground in Hyde Park, testing out toys in Harrods, catching a show at The Little Angel Theater, and learning seamanship at the English Maritime Museum!

We definitely can’t complain about the food in southern Italy. It’s fresh, simple, and delicious. However, the only type of food you can find is Italian. London allowed us to indulge our desires for everything not-Italian. Allison had cupcakes, Dan slurped an Oreo shake (and perhaps an ale or two…or three), Margaret found fish & chips, and Ethan ate some lollipops, candy, and all things sweet.

On Sunday, we headed to Greenwich. For those non-aviators, that is where the Royal Observatory is and where GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) or “Zulu time” is set. The town, home to the former Royal Naval College, is especially charming (yet still no Annapolis). We checked out the National Maritime Museum and Royal Observatory Museum where we saw incredible pieces on display such as a ticket for the Titanic, logbooks and diaries from Captain Thomas Cook’s voyages, and monoculars dating back to the 1600’s.

Although the sky was often overcast, the colorful autumn colors helped liven up the otherwise gray backdrops. All in all, we definitely put London on our list of potential places to live in the future. Cheers!

Ethan playing on a pirate ship in at playground at Hyde Park.

Dan with the kids in Hyde Park.

Annecy: Life in an Impressionist Painting

Capping off our trip was a day spent in Annecy, France. This has got to be one of the most picture-perfect towns in France. The town is reminiscent of Bruges, Belgium with canals lining medieval buildings, but unlike Bruges, Annecy opens to a large lake set against the Alps.

The town and surrounding parks were packed with families spending their Sunday having picnics near the crystal clear water of the lake. It reminded me of this Georges Seurat painting (of course, some folks were on iPhones and no one had umbrellas!).



A street market filled the pedestrian roads - bakers sold an enormous assortment of fresh breads, butchers presented their cured meats, and soap merchants sold various scented soaps.

How amazingly clear is that water?!

An ectastic Ethan patiently waits for the start of the bike ride.

Fondue for lunch. Unfortunately, we let Allison taste a piece at the onset of lunch, which led to begging for more and more as we ate.

Afternoon Adventures in Chamonix

After the glacier excursion, Dan and Allison caught a gondola up to Le Brevent, a mountain overlooking Chamonix. Allison loved playing with the snow at the top and didn't want to leave.

Later that afternoon we hit Parc de Merlet which is an animal preserve just outside of Chamonix. We found easy hiking paths through the woods opening up to a large field with deer and llamas grazing. Ethan had a full conversation with a llama and had to be held back when he saw a deer that he wanted to hug. Allison seemed to think being 15 feet away from deer was a standard thing.

Interesting sign.

Dan and Allison on their way up Le Brevent.

Ethan's new buddy.

Despite walking what must have been 2 miles at the animal preserve, the kids still had energy. Before returning to the hotel we found a path just past Chamonix to let the kids work off that excess energy before dinner.

Chamonix Mont-Blanc, France

After 2 nights in Beaune, we headed into the Alps to Chamonix Mont-Blanc. The town is charming with flowers galore, but the real draw is the surrounding scenery of lush pastures leading to thick evergreen forests, ending at enormous glaciers spewing from towering, snow capped mountains. The town also lays claim to the Aiguille du Midi and its 12 mile ski run. Luckily, Chamonix offers much for a family with toddlers too.

On Saturday morning we headed out early to catch a ride on the Montenvers Railway up to a vantage point overlooking the 4.5 mile long Mer de Glace (the longest glacier in France). The train ride was hilarious in that we were surrounded by semi-professional mountain climbers in full climbing gear, preparing for a day of climbing being contrasted against Ethan and Allison, both excited to take a train ride and needing constant candy, raisins, and water on the oh-so-long 20 minute trip. Although the price was steep, the overlook was absolutely gorgeous. The pictures below really don't do it justice. After taking a quick hike, we headed down to the glacier where we were able to actually go inside and walk around.

Here are some of our pictures from the trip to the glacier:

Ethan in time out. Yes, little boys can find themselves in timeout in gorgeous scenery too. Luckily it wasn't too crowded so we didn't mind the screaming and crying as he sat there; although if he was a bit louder, the sound probably would have started echoing in the valley.

The bridge leading into the glacier. Every so often (many, many years) as the glacier moves down the mountain, they have to drill new holes into it since moving the bridge would be too big of a hassle.

A and E feeling out their first glacier. When the netting ended, Ethan literally kissed the ice - I guess he likes glaciers.

The rustic, yet luxurious lobby of our hotel.

France: Burgundy Wine Country

After landing in Geneva, we drove a few hours to Beaune, the capital of France's Burgundy wine region. Margaret booked us a pair of adjoining rooms in an old, ivy covered mansion just outside of town. Every morning we scouted for a local bakery to get our fill of croissants, tarts, and warm cookies - all in the name of research, of course- we had to see what the locals ate! Beaune is known for its wine and the Hospices de Beaune, a hospital built in the mid-1400's. The interior courtyard of the hospice is stunning, however the outside is as plain as can be. The buiders did this intentionally so as not to draw attention from roaming maurauders.

As soon as you leave Beaune, you find yourself surrounded by Burgudy's renowned vineyards. Some of the grapes were recently harvested, but other sections still carried huge clusters of sweet grapes. Chateaus and small villages would break up the vineyards and 4-foot tall stone walls seperated the fields from the winding roads.

On a sad note, Dan's two prized bottles of wine from Burgundy were taken from him at the security checkpoint on the way home. We hope that some Swiss security guard will enjoy the wine tonight!

Our hotel, Le Home, in the evening.

The main sitting room in the hotel.

Dan and the kids inside Le Chateau de La Rochepot.

Quaint downtown Beaune.

One of the surrounding hamlets near Beane.

Us driving around the vineyards.

Margaret and Allison inside the Hospices' ornate courtyard.