4th Annual Summer Trip to Ukraine

As with the previous 3 years (2017, 2016, 2015), we took a trip to Ukraine during the summer. This time, as last year, we spent 2 weeks there (with Nate and I working one of the weeks remotely). We spent most of the time at the summer house, but did go to Kiev for a few days where we went on nice city walks, visited good restaurants and coffee shops, and Chase went back to the awesome kids play area at the mall near my grandparents' apartment. Once again, it was quite hot, but we were able to spend most of the time at the summer house avoiding the intense heat of the city. 

Chase with my dad (top) and grandfather (bottom). 

Some posing out in the garden. 

Some more posing with my grandmother, and Chase collecting fruit. 

Our usual collective but with my father, and BOTH Nate and Sonia. 

At the play area in Kiev; this picture doesn't do it justice but it is pretty awesome. 

Amsterdam

While my mom was watching Chase this summer, Nate and I took the opportunity to do our first weekend getaway since Chase was born. We went to Amsterdam and had a great time checking out all of the museums and sights. We walked around a lot, stumbled upon a Pride parade and all its associated parties, explored many museums (Anne Frank House, Rijksmuseum, and Van Gogh Museum), ate good food, drank a lot of Dutch beer (including the Heineken Experience and the Ice Bar), and even watched a movie. A very full and enjoyable weekend!

Posing by the main train station. 

One of the Pride associated concerts we stumbled upon. 

Outside the Rijksmusuem with the Pride signs. 

The library in the Rijksmuseum which I found just fascinating. 

One of the parks by the museum district. 

One of the many picturesque canals we walked by. 

Inside the Ice Bar (kind of a tourist trap but a fun one). 

Lake Como

This summer between the end of daycare and the start of school, Chase had a whole 5 weeks off. We were lucky that my mom could come for two and half of them to hang out and take care of Chase while we worked. One of the weekends (while Nate was in Munich) my mom, Chase and I rented a car and drove to Lake Como. 

The driving in Italy was crazy, especially near Lake Como where the roads were super narrow and two way. Overall, it was a beautiful place but we felt that there were WAY too many people and that distracted from the experience.

We stayed on the Griante side and visited Bellagio and Varenna by boat. The ferries were a bit confusing (to me) and we ended up traveling 6 times back and forth accidentally. In Bellagio, we walked around the downtown (top), saw some cute churches and then took the tourist train to the Villa Melzi botanical gardens (bottom).  

In Varenna, we went through the Villa Monastero botanical gardens which were beautiful but we were already exhausted and it was quite hot at that time of the day. Then, we took a cab up to the Castillo di Vezio (circled below), where Chase took a nap on my lap. Our way down was much more intense than anticipated and was not helped by the earlier rain on slippery rocks. But, we made it down in one piece! Overall, we liked Varenna more than Bellagio.

On our way home, we decided to stop by the top of Stresa. It is a small town on Lago Maggiore and had way fewer tourists compared to Lake Como. We really enjoyed briefly walking around there and it would have probably been a better destination with similar views as Lake Como.