Pisa, the Italian Riviera, Switzerland, and Home to Prague: a photojournal

The opportunity to drive to Italy for a family vacation was truly a dream. Not only did we experience the grand mountains of the Alps, but also saw things we did not expect to see: countless castles, gravity-defying vineyard terraces and hillside towns, and sailboats dotting the azure Italian Riviera. It was surely a trip to remember for a lifetime.

Out of all the places to see in Italy, our boys were most excited about our first stop on our drive home to Prague from our beach villa in Maremma-- Pisa. The Leaning Tower of Pisa!

 View of the square in Pisa

A statue on the square in Pisa

the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa

Who knew that the mountains surrounded Pisa, as it sits also near the sea?

A view of the Italian Alps as they sweep into the Northwest coast of Italy by the Mediterranean Sea.

The view that took our breath away, driving on the Northwest coast, the Italian Riviera.

Looking out over olive groves, to the Sea dotted with sailboats beside Lavagna, and across to the snow-capped Alps beyond.

The amazing villages built onto the sides of mountains.

We turned north at Genova, Italy, and crossed into Switzerland near Lake Como. Below, the beautiful Lake Como.

In the lower part of Switzerland wedged beside Italy, castles appear on every mountain ledge.

The magnificent waterfalls and views while climbing through the Swiss highlands.

Switzerland

Before our trip, we had hardly heard of Liechtenstein ... we ate dinner in Liechtenstein, a country of 62 square miles and 35,000 residents. Beautiful!

 The royal family in Liechtenstein lives in a castle (not sure if it's this one, though).

We love, love, loved Italy, and cannot wait to go back. There are so many regions to explore, so many new foods and wines to taste, and so many beautiful sites and works of art to experience. I have a feeling this trip is only the first in a long love affair with Italy, one of the most beautiful countries imaginable.

Back to the rolling hills and mysterious mists of the Czech Republic ... the place we now all feel is home. A wonderful feeling for new expats, indeed!

Thanks for coming along for the ride ... -JK

Eight Days under the Tuscan Sun

When I saw the movie Under the Tuscan Sun years ago, Tuscany became a place I yearned to visit. The cinematography in the movie was beautiful, and the lure of a slower pace of life combined with the elements of great Italian foods and wines only accented the gentle beauty of the Tuscan land.

We’ve always been a driving family—we enjoy absorbing the roll and beauty of a country as we pass through it. Since we now live in Prague, Czech Republic, we thought we would enjoy the journey to Italy for our kids’ October break from school. And so began our family vacation to Italy. Every hour of the drive was breathtaking (I’ll have to blog about it for another post).

A region in middle Italy known for its abundant and fine olives and wines, Tuscany is rural, just north of Rome, and is sweetly seasoned with generous people, prolific sunshine, and fascinating history. Italy, and Tuscany, was a wonderful place to visit, especially in the low tourist time of October.

We stayed the week in a beautiful tiny villa on the Mediterranean Sea in the Maremma region of Tuscany in Italy. (http://www.trustandtravel.com/) Since the villa sits on an estate of olive groves and sheep pastures, we found the beach to be completely deserted, with no other villas or residences for miles around. Wow! It was just gorgeous, passing the days playing in the sand, collecting colorful shells, taking long walks, cooking and eating delicious food, and spending quiet time together to absorb the vast recent changes in our lives. The serenity was deeply fulfilling. And for our three boys, ages seven, eight, and ten, they relished the sand and sun, discoveries of washed-up coins, lizards and snakeskins, and encounters with the local fox (including when she stole a shoe left out for the night).

We saw and experienced so many other things while away—Firenze (Florence), Siena, ancient hill towns, Rome, Pisa, the NW Italian coast, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, and Austria—it seems I have endless stories to share and thousands of photographs to sift through.

Our family vacation in Italy was quite a dream come true, far exceeding all hopes. The velvet blue sky and lush rolling landscape will linger in our minds for quite some time, I think.

Tuscany and Italy have captured my heart …

Planning to share a photo journal of our trip in the next post—Ciao! -JK

Staycation

Before two weeks ago, I’d never heard the word Staycation. But I saw an article on 2008’s newest words being added to sites and dictionaries, and Staycation was on that list.

Clever, I thought. And so true. This year happens to be one of those years where we debated for quite some time about what we wanted to do with the remainder of our vacation time. Traditionally, we drive south, stop to get over-stimulated at Disney World for a day or two, and then continue down Florida as far south as we can go. Once we’ve parked our minivan in a condominium parking lot, the car doesn’t move for the rest of the week as we soak in sun rays, stroll endlessly on the beach, dig bottomless craters in the sand, and just overall live as five beach bums subsisting on Fruit Loops and hard-boiled eggs. But the mindset changed a bit last Christmas-time as we weathered five of the seven days on the beach in winter coats. Though the cold snap brought bucket-loads of sand dollars and starfish, we decided that this year might be time to consider a break. A break from the break, that is. So, we’re on our first intentional Staycation.

CNN.com says a Staycation is an “alternative to pricey, stressful travel,” and defines it as “taking time off from work to enjoy life at home.” Wikipedia says that though Staycations may cost less money than a traditional vacation, they may make keeping up with email and catching up on work more tempting.

This two weeks of our Staycation, we have done much more of the little things around the area—family activities like snow tubing at a local ski resort, visiting Santa (not sure if the line was fun, but the experience was perfect for our youngest at least), and touring the nearby Museum of Natural History. Adding in other fun things like dipping the night away with friends at a fondue restaurant, watching movies, and sporting away many afternoons at our Lifetime with racquetball, rock climbing, basketball, and swimming, we’ve had a memorable time with plenty of fun for all. Sure, having an iPhone makes keeping up with email easy (and convenient), and since I’m a writer, I still write at least a couple of hours each day. So, I guess I could say that Staycation has provided a relaxing atmosphere to do what needed to be done as well. A win-win in my mind.

I will surely remember this Christmas 2008 as being one of the best, and Staycation certainly has something to do with it. Though my toes are looking forward to sand and surf, this time staying at home for vacation has been enjoyable and relaxing—a great Staycation for all.