Road Trip!

Day three was a scorcher and we had a lazy morning by the pool before embarking on our one big adventure of the week. As mentioned, Pete and Gia love some craft beer and both had researched breweries on the island. We drove a little over an hour south through some mountainous scenery while the kids slept. We found the brewery, but just did a drive by to try to keep the kids sleeping. We continued on and without a destination in mind, ended up at the Spiagglia (beach) di Su Barone. There were some nice pine trees, providing much needed shade. We had a treat at the beach front cafe and Jude and Pete played a bit in the water before retreating to the air conditioned car. Then we stopped by the brewery in earnest. The brewer appeared quite busy when we subtly tried to ask about a tasting and instead directed us to the grocer around the corner, which sold their beer. We had fun buying a lot of local products and of course the beer and Sardinia wine. We drove back and went back to the first restaurant we found as we couldn't find any others in the area that were open at 6pm. It was pasta night and was delicious. Jude did so well eating his pasta civilized, twirling it around his fork. Maeve on the other hand was an adorable hot mess with her pasta! Boy was she happy about it, too! She is such a smiley baby!

Lunchtime by the pool

Road trip! We were probably jamming to Despacito, our theme song for the week. 

Jude teaching Maeve animal names

So ready for dinner. Clean, for now. 

 

If you frequent the same restaurant twice, I guess they like you and give you local Mirto (myrtle liquor). Saluti!

 Back at the resort, I got the pool to myself with an evening dip. This is the life!

Allllllora!

Any other Master of None fans out there? Then you'll get the reference to this blog post. Like Aziz Ansari, we too became obsessed with this Italian word, which is used to mean "well," "so," or "then." You hear it all the time and caused Pete, Gia and I to repeat back "Alllllllora!"

By day two we were ready to visit some of the famed beaches. We drove 20 minutes south to La Cinta beach and settled in to some rented ocean front chairs. The water was so clear, warm and calm. Perfect for Jude in his floaties. Maeve had fun with the beach toys I haggled for and we were entertained with people watching. One person in particular. A man dressed in a Diadora soccer uniform was walking the beach and blowing his whistle flashing a red card at people we presume he found offensive. We tried so hard to subtly take his picture, but were terrified we would be issued the doomed red card! He even did an outfit change after some time into a second soccer uniform. We were situated next to a life guard station and he was going back and forth to the station so we really thought he was legit for a while! Hysterical! 

Take me back to days spent floating in this water with joyful, giggling Jude!

Yum, sandy banana! 

After a long, fun morning on the beach, we headed home for nap time. In the afternoon we joined up with the kids club again at the kiddie pool. Jude floated endlessly. Maeve was not a fan!

That evening, Gia and I had a night out and went to San Teodoro, the closest big town near the resort. Our restaurant pick was a miss, but a dinner out with a friend sans kiddos is always a win!

Sardinia: Eat Your Heart Out!

I'll take your summer beach vacay and raise you Italian pizza, Italian pasta and Italian wine. Oh, yeah, we are just back from the Italian island of Sardinia, the second largest island in the Mediterranean after Sicily. I don't remember when this island first peaked my interest, but after Paul and Andrea vacationed there last June and raved about not only the island, but also the fact that Easy Jet flies directly there for cheap, we knew we had to go. In addition to providing the inspiration for the trip, Andrea also found a resort that fit the bill for our party of 5 seeking a self catering apartment with resort amenities. I had done exhaustive research on where to stay and was agonizing over the decision. The main problem was that the island is so big, it was really hard to know which part to visit. And in the end, we only saw a tiny part of the island, prioritizing nap time and relaxation over exploration. With a month long trip ahead of us, we knew we just needed some down time to recharge. Our only concerning thoughts each day were deciding which of the gorgeous beaches to visit, where we could get the best pizza and pasta (that was open early for the kids) and who got to lounge by the pool while the kiddos napped. Having Gia with us made the trip extra special and fun for all. 

I love the Google Map stars showing places we've been and places we hope to go to. 

Our flight was delayed (I totally jinxed us with that last post) and we couldn't spend the time playing on the slide in the lobby because we had already pushed off from the gate, but at least they allowed the kids at visit the cockpit. Really cool for Jude to see all of the controls and meet the pilot. 

With the delay, the wait at the renal car counter, Maeve getting sick on the drive to the resort and a night without proper AC (fixed the next morning thank goodness), it was a very long journey. And you must know by know how our kids respond to late nights. Early mornings, obviously. So Pete took the pre 6am shift and captured the beautiful sunrise view from our porch. The views out over the islands near the resort were spectacular. 

The resort had a supervised kids club with daily morning and afternoon activities. We thought Jude would be really into it as he's always eager to join activities with other kids. He was really shy and didn't want us to leave him there though. Probably in part because he was so tired after the long night. So we spent the morning getting our bearings at the resort and Gia and I lounged poolside during nap time before an afternoon swim for all in the perfect pool.

Thankfully we found a few restaurants that opened at 6 or 6:30 so we could eat out with the kids most nights. On the night that I went out to dinner with Gia after the kids were asleep, we saw how the Italians do: kids at restaurants until well after 10pm. We tried so hard this trip to push the kids bedtimes back in preparation of the time change to the US, but their internal clocks are ridiculous and they would be up by 6 or 6:30am every morning no matter how late they went to bed. So that idea failed and we are dealing with the consequences of the jet lag now (hello 2am wake up call :/ )

We frequented this restaurant twice. It was cheap, yummy and they had abundant high chairs. This night we went with pizzas and on the second visit, it was a special pasta night.

 

Maeve was a charmer at all of our meals. Smiling to the wait staff and making such a mess (especially with the pasta). Check out that pizza belly!

Watching the evening skies from our roof was a highlight every night.

The Durneys on Tour: USA Summer 2017

I am blogging from the living room sofa at Pete's parents house in Massachusetts. America, we are back! We'll spend the whole month of July criss crossing the East Coast with visits to Williamstown, Connecticut, NYC/Jersey, Virginia/Maryland and Boston. We are so excited to see family and friends who we haven't seen in two years! It is going to be a crazy, exhausting month, but we are so excited!

Tot ziens!

Heading to the beach in Sardinia. Posts to follow!

Auntie G in Amsterdam: Second Edition

Auntie G came to town again two weeks ago! What a treat to have a friend visit us twice since we've lived in Amsterdam! On her first visit, we had only lived in Amsterdam a few short months and Jude was just a little 8 month old munchkin with chicken pox! We've gotten to see each other twice since then, but not with Jude. It was really special for her to get to spend so much time with both the kiddos and see what our life is like now that 2 1/2 years have passed. 

This time around, in addition to visiting us and vacationing in Sardinia together, Gia arranged to do some volunteering with Gebrouwen door vrouwen, an all female brew company based in Amsterdam. She had met one of the "vrouwen" at a hostel in Mexico and overheard her speaking Dutch and talking about "bier." Gia's a beer lover and home brewer like Pete and chatted up the Dutchie, learning that she owned a beer company. Gia was invited to visit their offices if she ever planned a trip back to Amsterdam. We live in such a small world, no?! So after we departed from Sardinia, Gia returned to Amsterdam where she'll house sit while working with the vrouwen! 

The week was business as usual with me finishing work before a long hiatus, Pete and Jude's last week of school and Gia meeting and brewing with the vrouwen. 

We rode bikes with Maeve and had lunch at the local mall. 

I met Gia out after her first day with the vrouwen. It was the summer solstice and we biked home at 10:30pm with plenty of summer light!

Jude's last day of school picture. A lot changes in 9 months!  On to the Rabbit class in the fall! 

Gia babysat while I went to the dentist and sent me this gem :) 

Jude's last few days, he attended the school creche (free childcare for faculty kids while the teachers have end of year meetings). He loved it, but they don't nap there so this was how those days ended when he biked home. 

Friday afternoon Gia and I did some shopping and prosecco drinking canal side. It's a rough life. 

And finally, on our last night in Amsterdam for over 5 weeks, we cycled in for an end of school year roof top party. Pete is looking to replace the bassist for a band formed by some faculty.

On Saturday it was off for our great adventures!

 Packing as light as possible for all of the travel we'll do these next weeks.