Oslo, Norway

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Oslo is the capital of Norway, so my expectations for this city was pretty high.  We got off the boat in some rainy & cold weather, but we were not going to let that get in the way of a fun day.  The biggest attraction we wanted to see in Oslo was the Vigeland Sculpture Park.  This park has over 200 sculptures which essentially showcases Gustav Vigeland‘s life’s work.  There are so many sweet baby and children sculptures, some are a little creepy,  some show really raw human emotion, but at the heart of the park is the most well known- The Monolith – which was made from a single piece of granite and took three mason’s 14 years to make.  It’s a little strange looking at it up close, all the bodies intertwined together… add to that all the extremely provocative sculptures surrounding it… anyway… look it up, or click the links highlighted in this paragraph to fully grasp what I’m talking about.

The park itself was very picturesque and even on a rainy day the landscape design was stunning.  The flowers we blooming so bright!  I can only imagine how packed that place must be on a beautiful day, it was perfect for a picnic and a game of hide and seek.

The other spot we really wanted to enjoy was a quaint little fishing village named, Drøbak, which is a very traditional Norwegian fjord town.  Very cute, lots of art, and of course a Christmas store open year round!  The boys enjoyed exploring the marina, deciding what kind of boat we were going to get, and devoured some delicious ice cream in the sweetest little shop- no pun intended ;).

All-in-all… It was a really great day in Oslo!

 

Switzerland on the Bernina!

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This post is LONG overdue, but, you know… life.

Y’all, Switzerland is stunning.  One day on the Bernina Express is not enough, although it was perfect for the boys.  We trekked out of Lake Como, through & up the mountains, where poor Bennett got car sick for the first time ever, crossed into Switzerland, and caught the train.  The views from the Bernina were everything I expected and more!  Looking down from close to the top of the Swiss Alps is like something out of a painting.  It almost looks fake.  Passing through the quaint towns and even enjoying lunch in one of them was wonderful. I swear when we stepped off of the train, it was like we were transported into The Sound of Music, although I know that was filmed in Austria.  The setting was glorious! The boys loved being on the train all day, the adults indulged in all the views from every direction, and it was a wonderful!

I kept telling Husband that we will have to make a trip to explore Switzerland more.  Or maybe even a ski trip?!?  One day was good, but a week would be incredible!

Lake Como, Italy

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We’re back!!  After a magical week at STUNNING Lake Como, we have so much to share!

Can we just start by admiring that incredible view from the villa we found with Luxury Retreats?!?  The first picture really captures the beauty of Bellagio, which is the town we stayed in, and it’s where the lake splits and goes to each side of this peninsula.  The mountains surrounding all of Lake Como really are the icing on the cake for the views, in the distance you can even see the Swiss Alps!

Two days of our trip were spent on the cutest wooden boat with a captain to show us all the sights.  You name it, we probably saw it.  Richard Branson’s house, Orrido di Nesso (aka the secret waterfall), the gardens at Villa Balbianello, and of course The Clooney’s home… we saw it all!  And it was fabulous!  We enjoyed gelato on the steps of Varenna, had lunch at the cutest and quaintest spot that for some reason I don’t remember the name of (whomp whomp) but when I do I will update!

On Sunday, Husband & I took a cooking class (with wine pairings ;)) from a place I found on TripAdvisor that ended up being really fun and full of Americans!  We made pasta, gnocchi, and creme brûlée’s, all of which were delightful.  Highly recommend!  Did I mention or did you notice in the pictures that grandparents of the boys were on this vacation with us?!?  Husband & I were able to go out on dates and do fun things like the cooking class because we had so much help with the boys.  We are so thankful for them!

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When we first landed in Milan it was pretty early in the morning so we had some time to kill before heading to the lake.  We decided to go into the city and admire the Duomo… omg… the most stunning architecture that literally takes your breath away as you turn the corner and it comes into view.  WOW!  On another note, there were tons of pigeons who love the tourists.  There are gentlemen who make a a living off giving tourists handfuls of corn and the pigeons literally flock to you like bombs out of the sky almost nailing you in the head in the hopes for one small kernel.

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There were yummy street carts set up with fresh made donuts and churros that would be split and stuffed with Nutella. My mouth was watering from the moment I smelled the dough frying!

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We also went into Milan one night to see the opera at one of the most beautiful and world renowned opera houses, Teatro alla Scala.  We got all dressed up, had a nice dinner, and enjoyed the ensemble in the historic building.  There was no AC, nor were they selling water… it must have been about 85 degrees in that building, but it was worth it just to say we have been.

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We did a day trip to Switzerland which I will write about in my next post, but I wanted to dedicate this entire entry to beautiful Lake Como, Italy!  I feel like we did it right by going and exploring all of the little towns for the entire week.  We ate so much pizza and drank too much wine ha ha ha… but dang we lived it to the fullest!

Ciao!