Lake Como/Bellagio

Last weekend we flew up to Milan and drove an hour north to Lake Como. Margaret found a great apartment in Bellagio, which we used as our base to explore the scenic lake towns nestled into mountains. It was the perfect time of year to be in Lake Como since the gardens were full of plants in full bloom and the weather was awesome (80 degrees and clear skies!). Given that the towns had plenty of palm trees, we were surprised to see snow capped mountains along the lake.

The gardens in Varenna offered spectacular views of large villas overlooking the pristine, turquoise, and clear waters of Lake Como.

Departing Varenna, heading back to Bellagio for dinner. So colorful!

A & E devouring homemade gelato after lunch. This gelateria (Gelateria la Giazzera) served cinnamon gelato that was unreal!

The ole' family taking a ferry from Bellagio to Varenna. This was a passenger-only ferry, however you could also take your car on larger ferry boats. It appeared by "car", the locals mean your Ferrari or Maserati.

Allison was in heaven with all of the flowers lining the lake.

The final boat of the evening arrives in Bellagio.

Allison in the gardens just outside of town.

Allison looks like she got a little color today. She also looks like she's about ready for a nap.

Ethan patiently waiting for mom to bring him breakfast on Sunday morning.

Dublin

Allison taking a break while playing in St. Stephen's Green.

St. Stephen's Green was jammed packed this weekend.

It seemed like every park had hundreds of gorgeous tulips.

Allison and Ethan burning off some extra energy (from the sips of Guinness their dad gave them) at Trinity College.

The main square of Trinity College.

Aran Islands

A thirty minute ferry ride takes you from Doolin to the Aran Islands. Despite being relatively close to the Irish mainland, they feel very remote. As soon as we get off the ferry, a horse and buggy took us to the island's main sites.

A single lane road through winded through the island. A few lone horses graze in the background. Even though I couldn't stop clicking pictures as we proceeded down the road, the kids were completely absorbed by their snack packs.

Allison and Ethan sealing off a wall.

Us walking up to the old fort.

About fifty years ago this ship wound up here, it's final resting place. The crew was safely rescued. Now it's just an interesting part of the scenery here in Inisheer (the name of the Aran Island we were on). Ethan got a kick out of and enjoyed running along side the ship to check out the massive hole its side.

Doolin

Next up: Doolin. The small town is known for three traditional Irish Pubs where musicians jam away every night. Of course you also have the Cliffs of Moher a few minutes up the road too.

Random abandoned church near our B & B.

Dinner. Actually, we had to stop for a herd of cows to cross the street on our way back from exploring Lahinch, a small resort town about 30 minutes south of Doolin.

Us at the Cliffs of Moher. These cliff rise nearly 400 feet above the ocean. Pretty amazing sight. Even though the weather was cloudy here, Dan went back the next day to take pictures when the clouds went away.

The Cliff of Moher at sunset.

Downtown Doolin. This is honestly the largest concentration of buildings for about 30 minutes in any direction. Luckily, one of the buildings here is a chocolate shop. Needless to say we left some euro behind there!

Dingle!

The amazing view from our patio at the bed and breakfast we stayed at. The channel where the boat is entering is known for Fungie, a super friendly dolphin who lives in the harbor. Our room even came with binoculars to watch for dolphins! The Dingle Peninsula has a 44 km scenic drive that we did, in addition to checking out the beaches and exploring some old forts such as Dunbeg Fort (built in the Bronze Age!!).

Allison playing at a beach near the B&B.

Dingle harbor.

This is what breakfast is like in Dingle!

Allison taking a break from playing on a deserted beach. We had a great time here: beautiful beach and absolutely no one else there except for the four of us.

Ethan hanging out with his new buddy, "Rio"- assistant groundskeeper at the B&B.

Great looking couple.

Pretty awesome.

Kids running to what remains of Dunbeg Fort. The sheep seem unfazed by the screaming kids.

Day 1

On the first morning we headed out to Kinsale in County Cork. The kids made Charles Fort their playground while we strolled around.

A view of the fort.

Next up was the Muckross House located just outside of Killarney. The house itself is a large mansion overlooking lush gardens near a lake - very picturesque. However, the main attraction seemed to be the working farm with animals, old fashioned workshops, and farmers making fresh soda bread over open fires.


After packing all of that in, off we went to Dingle on its namesake peninsula. The drive took us along soaring cliffs overlooking long beaches.

Ireland

Last week we took an incredible trip to the west coast of Ireland. After flying into Cork we spent a couple of nights in Dingle, two nights in Doolin, and finally, two nights in Dublin. As you'll see from our pictures we had a blast.

Happy Birthday Allison!

Allison was so excited to celebrate her 5th birthday yesterday! To celebrate she had a dress-up party with some friends from school. Everyone had a blast and Allison loved being the birthday princess. We can't believe how big our girl has gotten- time flies so quickly! It seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital and now she's getting ready for kindergarten!

Making crowns.

Pizza and apples!

Allison's princess cake.

Happy birthday sweet girl!

Guy's Ski Vacation in the Alps!!

For the long holiday weekend, Dan and a few good buds went to Kitzbuhel, Austria - the best ski resort in the Austrian Alps and considered to be one of the world's great ski areas.

Kitzbuhel proved to be a pretty town with incredible food and ritzy shops. The surrounding mountains contained some amazing scenery and over 150 km of ski trails (not to mention many more kilometers of ungroomed terrain). Unlike many ski areas in the U.S., the tops of the mountains contained a wide selection of trails - from easy to very difficult. It was amazing skiing while looking out at snow capped peaks with thick clouds surrounding the mountains so that you couldn't see the towns below.

We had to be careful towards the end of the day since you could easily find yourself stuck several towns away from Kitzbuhel. The mountain complex was so large that you could ski to several other towns - up to 12 miles away from Kitzbuhel - and even take a large gondola across a valley to another set of mountains. The cross mountain gondola, called the 3S, travels over 1300 feet above the ground.

Overall it was a once in a lifetime trip with awesome skiing, amazing food, and great friends.