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. 

Vienna

In July, we visited Vienna with Paul, Glenna, and Dillon (friends from grad school). We stayed in a central Air B&B, and therefore had a nice home base to be able to easily go places but also hang out together (and allow Chase to nap in the afternoons because he was quite tired from all of the sightseeing). 

While generally walking around the city, we specifically visited the Maria Theresa Statue and Square (top) and the Hofburg Imperial Palace and Apartments (bottom). The Apartments had the Sissy Museum which was very interesting to all of us. We also visited the Albertina Museum where there was a Monet to Picasso exhibit. 

In order to get some nice views, we (including Chase) walked up the 343 steps of St. Stephen's Cathedral:

Finally, we went a bit outside the city to see the Schonbrunn Palace and Gardens. Some of the displays were similar to what we learned at the Hofburg Apartments but it was still nice to see the gardens and to climb up to the top end of the gardens and see a nice view of the palace and the city.

On the last day before leaving, Chase and I had a good time grabbing some boba: 

We overall had a wonderful time in Vienna: seeing the sights, hanging out with good friends, and drinking nice Austrian beer. 

Lisbon & Porto

Every few years, our lab does a team building trip/retreat to a nearby destination. Three years ago, we had gone to Sardinia (which I didn't document on this blog but did briefly mention here). This year, we went to Portugal, specifically Lisbon, but then a few of us decided to tack on a weekend trip to Porto afterwards. Portugal is a country I have had never been to and always wanted to go so it was particularly awesome to get the chance to go. 

Overall, I was very impressed, especially with Porto. There were many things to see and visit and the sights were so beautiful. I am also a sucker for anything near an ocean, so that also was a plus. If we get the chance, I will try to get Nate over to Porto before we leave Europe. 

In Lisbon, other than eating everything in sight, we visited Sintra, walked around the downtown area, and saw the Belem Tower. 

In Porto, we also walked around a lot, tried the Port (obviously), and watched a few football games from the World Cup including the Portugal game (they lost). Finally, we paid a visit to the Atlantic Ocean, which was unfortunately still quite cold even in early July. 

Zhorik's 80th Birthday Party

In April, my grandfather, Zhorik, turned 80 years old. We had a huge party for him on a boat with the whole family and all his friends. It was a wonderful time!

Our exhausted family picture at the end of the party after Chase danced up a storm the whole night. From left top: my father, mother, me (holding Chase), grandmother, aunt's mother, cousin, brother, aunt; and on bottom: grandfather, uncle, and Nate. 

As the whole family was in Kiev for this party, we took this opportunity to do some formal family photos, all in Ukrainian traditional dress. They came out awesome and it's a great to have something with all of us together. 

 Just our little family. 

The whole big family!

Chase Turns 4!

Chase is finally into birthdays, so he had a great time celebrating his fourth birthday. Chase is growing into a curious and silly child that loves games (board games, cards, puzzles, even iPad games) and anything he can put together (legos, magnets, beads, etc.). His favorite color is now blue. He has also really gotten into imaginative play and makes up extravagant stories for his stuffed animals. 

With some legos he was putting together. 

On his trotinette near the lake.

Because of the way Easter fell this year (way early), he was able to have a birthday party mere days after his actual birthday. We had a smaller party just at home this year, which suited him and everyone fine.  

Blowing out the candles the morning of his birthday. 

At his birthday party with his friends. 

Easter in Stockholm

For Easter this year, we decided to take a trip to Stockholm. Nate's grandfather is Swedish so it's a place we've been wanting to visit for a while. We have had some friends who have moved their recently so it seemed like good timing. Other than the cold, it was overall a wonderful weekend. Not pictured below is the large amount of Swedish food we tried and ate. Chase was particularly into these cinnamon bun-like pastries.

Our views around Stockholm included ice sheets and some beautiful sunsets:

We visited many museums including the Vasa, Nobel, Skansen, and ABBA museums. They were really cool and had quite a bit for Chase to do and explore. 

This castle flies the Swedish flag as long as the capital has not fallen to intruders. Of course, Nate and Chase schemed a way to take down the flag...

One of the cool experiences we had was riding the ferries as they broke the ice sheets. Chase, of course, super enjoyed that, too! While on the ferries, not only were we able to ride from island to island, we got some beautiful views of the city from the water.

As our first foray into Scandinavia, Stockholm did not disappoint. We hope to do more trips up north sometime soon!