After a delicious breakfast of instant oatmeal in the hotel room, we headed off to the Emerald Pools trailhead. Despite being sick coughing all night, June Bug did remarkably well on the hike. We made it to the lower and middle pools without any whining, although on the way back to the grotto, she was a bit tired. We caught the shuttle back to the lodge, had lunch, and took naps. For dinner, we headed back to the grotto picnic area via the shuttle where Pam worked her magic and prepared us another nice supper. We also had s'mores. but instead [View Full Entry]

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Today we got up at 3:45 a.m. and headed to the airport, kids in tow, at 4:30 a.m. We had two flights and a five-hour drive ahead of us. First we flew to Denver, then on to Salt Lake City, where Aunt Pam met us with a mini-van rental. We got to Zion Lodge about 6 p.m. (It felt like 7 p.m. to those of us from Memphis.) We checked in, unloaded the stuffed-to-overflowing mini-van, and headed to the picnic area to cookout. David and I didn't know anything about cooking on a campfire, but Pam took care of us. Afterwards [View Full Entry]

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As luck would have it, our last full weekend in Germany was also the weekend that our village was hosting Rheinland Pfalz Tag, a three-day county fair and entertainment spectacular. We started walking downtown at about 3 p.m. The weather was on the cold side, and there was a light, off-and-on rain. We walked past the big SWR TV stage that was filming and broadcasting the live entertainment. We headed for the “Sport and Games” festival which seemed like it would be the funnest area for a 4-year-old. Katherine was just thrilled because we were traveling towards the giant ferris [View Full Entry]

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We started our second full day in Venice with another continental breakfast on the terrace, and then we headed of to Venice determined to find the Rialto Bridge. Since we had gotten lost the day before when trying to find it on foot, we thought that we would take a waterbus directly there, but after the trip from Murano to Venice, we decided we wanted to walk for a while rather than transfer directly to another waterbus. We also realized that June Bug hadn't used the potty before we left the hotel room, so we first stopped at the train [View Full Entry]

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Our Hotel- Locanda Conterie Europe » Italy » Venice By globetrekkingmama March 17th 2007 Sally Michaels We stayed at the Locanda Conterie in Murano which is the island just north of Venice. I think the island of Murano is just a picturesque as Venice, but a lot quieter. It was only 65 euros a night for a room that sleeps three. We had [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Treviso Airport at about 5:30 in the evening. We caught a bus to Venice that left at 6:00, and although Treviso is only 19 km away from Venice, the traffic made the ride last an hour, so it was about 7pm when we arrived in Venice. All buses (and cars and other vehicles) stop in Piazzale Roma, the end of the road. Here we found a nice Co-op (grocery store) where we stocked up on cheap bottled water and snacks before heading out to find our hotel. We took water bus #42 (or was it #41?) to [View Full Entry]

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Riding a water shuttle in Venice is a memorable experience. In fact, I still feel like I'm on one right now! (Is it just me or is the entire room swaying?) If you're headed to Venice, here are a couple of things you might like to know… Small kids ride for free. Three day passes last for 72 hours (not 3 calendar days, so we used ours from Friday evening to Monday afternoon). Water shuttle passes include transportation to outlying islands like Murano and Lido. [View Full Entry]

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We spent the weekend at Ferienpark Holiday Resort in Hambachtal. We had a nice 3 room bungalow which included a full kitchen with dishes. The décor was a little dated, but the whole point of the resort is to spend your time outside, not indoors. There are lots of Nordic walking trails. We did a little walking, but not too much, because walking is okay, but carrying a preschooler back when she's exhausted is no fun. Our favorite attraction was the water park which included many different fun pools and a massive waterslide. [View Full Entry]

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Today we got up at 4:30 a.m. for final packing and routine grooming before we checked out of our hotel and headed to the airport at 5:30 a.m. Then we took a nine hour flight to the States. After shuffling through immigration, customs, and security, we had a couple of hours before our afternoon flight to Memphis. The last time we were in the States, June Bug was still in diapers, so she had never used an American toilet. I thought it was funny when she walked into the stall, looked at the toilet, and nervously yelled, “Why’s there so much [View Full Entry]

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This morning we had a delicious, leisurely breakfast at the hotel (it was a marvelous buffet including my favorite, smoked salmon), then we headed out to the banking district to look at Frankfurt from the top of Main Tower. The weather cooperated, and we had fun showing June Bug the train station, river, and Romerburg. Afterwards, we decided to walk back to the Christmas Market, which was slightly less crowded than the night before, and we did some fabulous gift shopping and ridiculous Santa hat purchasing. We went back to the hotel for nap time followed by dinner and a swim [View Full Entry]

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