Tegernsee -- one last time!

With very weekends left before our move we jumped upon the (somewhat) acceptable weather forecast and our friends' open weekend to hit the autobahn for where else but Tegernsee!!

We hiked our usual trail, but continued on up to the chapel on the mountain top before returning for our beer.

Conny, Tim, Alex and the Zabel 3 overlooking Tegernsee

What?
Dampfknödl for lunch? Yes, please!

Jeff and I have slowly realized the Germans love to eat dessert for lunch. So whenever the situation presents itself, we smile at each other and dive in.
Light fluffy white cake smothered in warm vanilla sauce? Yes, please!

On our descent back down the mountain we encountered a few other hikers . . .

Just to be safe, Conny and I let the boys go first!

Farewell, Tegernsee.
We'll miss your hiking beverages and beautiful view.

It's a guy thing

With all of our special friends we've made the two years we've been in Munich, it's fun to watch our little man really nestle in to a few personal faves of his own. Now, I completely understand William and his friends' tendency to parallel play whenever they are around each other. And trust me, they do seem to interact very little sometimes. However, the energy and giggles when a certain few young gentlemen friends of William's come over can't be denied.


Train fun with Vedant and Ishan

Stirring up some fun with Tim

Belly laughs with Gus

Father's Day

Tradition!
Another Father's Day means another peach pie for our favorite Dada.


My crust fell apart this year because I wasn't paying as close attention to its consistency with an extremely helpful toddler sous chef.
And honestly, I can't remember why I didn't take William's photo with it this year either. Perhaps I was still reeling from all the help I had received.

Poor Jeff's Father's Day festivities this year focused mainly on getting our apartment ready for the move. We were busy taking down lights and selling them on Munich's equivalent of Craig's List. William LOVED helping us with this too!
Maybe you'll golf next year, dear!

Lucerne

On our way in to town, we stopped for lunch once we hit the lake.


We tried to do a photo session before eating. Our mistake.

This is one of my favorite things about traveling with a toddler:
play happens anywhere.
In an old McDonald's or in the most gorgeous of lakeside gardens.

We spent the night in the town of Vitznau, but before we turned in for the night, we had fun wandering the lakefront.

Spontaneous fun is the best kind of fun.

Thank goodness for sleeping toddlers and balconies to continue enjoying the night.
Sleep tight, Switzerland!

Restful

Continuing north, we drove through the Alps and into Switzerland. Jeff loved driving the Alps, and I tried not to freak out every time he swerved the car while staring at the striking landscape.

All these gorgeous photos were taken during our rest stop on the way to Lucerne. We just kept laughing to each other at how picturesque our run-of-the-mill, side-of-the-road rest stop was. Jeff spent close to 30 minutes snapping pictures.

Our road trips up and down I-5 in California will not doubt feel even longer without scenery such as this to take in.
I've never seen anyone do a photo session in Coalinga, nor do we plan on doing one anytime soon.

Autos on a bench, courtesy of the Swiss Alps.

Lake Como

In an effort to extend our final Italian vacation, we stopped for an overnight at Lake Como on our drive home. Had we known how much we would fall in love this area of Italy, we would have planned to stay two nights!


We stayed in Cernobbio and, despite many closed shops on this quiet holiday weekend, had a wonderful time exploring our tiny, lakeside town.

Along the lake front promenade

A park with a beautiful lake view . . .

and a merry-go-round with fire engines and hats?!?!
Italian bambinos live the good life.

(And when Jeff and I had the best cappuccino of our lives here, Italian parents received our vote for living the good life as well!)

A beautiful river rushing down the mountainside.

Rustic paint color, fading walls, shutters, olive tree, and a Fiat.
This is forever Italy to me.

Bless you, Italy! Thank you for hosting us five times in our two years in Europe.
You will be with us forever!

Chianti am Greve

It was our last day in Tuscany (sniff, sniff). The Lees and Auntie Barb decided to venture off for a BIG day trip to the town of Lucca. Riding bikes atop the town's Medieval walls? Fun!
Alas, with an impending two-day drive home in front of us, Jeff and I decided to stay local in an effort to allow Will as much wiggle time as possible.


We thought we'd see if our brave toddler would want to swim some wiggles out. However, he is too smart for us and upon dipping a toe in the unheated pool, refused to go near it. The photo above is as close to my dream vision of splashing poolside as we got!

After nap time, Oma and Papa joined us in a short jaunt to Chianti am Greve.

We had fun shopping for souvenirs and tasting a bit of wine.

On the way home, needing a place to snack, we stopped at a restaurant with a beautiful veranda where Will could play trucks on the wall and we could sample a bit more wine.
I've always been pretty sure I was Italian in another life, but this afternoon solidified this belief.

Oh dear. I'm sensing a bit of jealousy, loyal blog reader.
Yes, two wine tastings in an afternoon. But what did you expect? We were in Chianti, right?
Does it help if we share that we didn't eat any gelato. Oh. Wait. I didn't eat any gelato. Can't say the same for the rest of the crew, sorry!

Probably the most scenic diaper change in this kiddo's life.

Ahhhh . . . .

This was the scene we passed daily to and from our villa. Power lines aside, we couldn't believe how picturesque our commute was.
On our last day, Jeff stopped the car to snap some pictures.

Farewell, dear Tuscany!

San Gimigiano

While we had lapsed into the leisurely mornings of breakfasting on our villa's patio and not venturing out before Will's nap, we definitely wanted to hit San Gimigiano before leaving dear Tuscany. So off we sprinted one afternoon to this quaint Medieval town.


San Gimigiano was a bustling Medieval town used as a stopping point for pilgrims on their way to Rome and the Vatican. Today it's known for its remaining 14 towers. It is one of the few towns in all of Italy to have so many towers not felled by war, modern progress, or catastrophe.

More gorgeous countryside!

Alas, the Tuscan countryside was not tantrum-free.



Yet again, we encountered a (much smaller) town square which served as a perfect meeting place for our Tuscan clan. The squares were so fun for our family socialization, no wonder it was great for city socialization!

There are those three cute George girls, again!

Our little, pretzel-eating man in front of a looming, Medieval tower.

Gelato: bringing families together for years.
We'd read about a renown gelato shop on the town's square, so naturally this was our first mission upon arrival in the city!
This gelato place was unassuming on the outside, small and tucked into a corner of the town square. However, it was so well-known for its unique flavors that they they had their menus rotating thru pages displayed on flat screen TVs! Just when you'd thought you made up your mind, another page would appear with numerous flavors trumping the previous page's offerings.

* A fun side note: As you can see in the picture above, my dad is the only one who still has gelato in hand . . . because it was his second . . . in ten minutes.
As he exited the gelato place the first time, savoring his chosen flavors I commented, "Wow! I thought for sure you'd choose Egg Nog!" (A notable Bill Milam favorite ice cream flavor)
"They have Egg Nog?????"
And back in he went for a second cup. :)

The Zabel 3 departed the town early for we'd chosen to be in charge of dinner that night.
We'd purchased pancetta in a local butcher in San Gimigiano, so we were excited for our virgin voyage in making one of our Italian faves: pasta carbonara. We were experts in ordering it in restaurants and had learned there's good carbonara and not-so-good carbonara. We HAD to learn how to make it ourselves before departing Europe. With great wine, we knew any result would be eaten, so why not try??
Plus, if we start the evening off with Campari and soda or Aperol spritzes, maybe everyone wouldn't remember if it turned out bad?

The chef working his magic.

Jeff's pasta carbonara was wonderful. Manga!