Family vacation in Italy (Stresa) - Day 2

We were going to spend Day 2 going up the cable car, but later found out from the concierge of the hotel that it is no longer operational.  Unfortunately, the cable car line needed servicing and no one has yet to sponsor the repairs.  What a shame!  The view would have been so lovely from the top of that mountain!

So instead, we opted to visit the 2 (out of three) islands located not far from town.  Despite the view, Bobby is still on his phone! At least he's got one hand on Charlie:

Graham did really well on the little speed boat.  Perhaps he was more excited about his new toy:

Here's the first island called Isola dei Pescatori or Fisherman's island. Quaint little island!

Somewhat stroller friendly:

Ok, one last hydrangea bloom - I promise!

The boys enjoyed browsing through ALL the souvenir shops:

Hmm.... interesting architecture:

A quick little stop for chips and lemon soda:

Graham and Charlie LOVED throwing rocks into the lake while waiting for the boat:

Onward to the next island - Isola Bella:

There's a botanical garden on one side, but we decided to skip that. Next time! We are really hoping there will be a next time :-)

Here's our little speedboat, by the way:

Again, on his phone with this spectacular backdrop!

Time for some bubbles!  Charlie probably spilled more than half of it during our walk:

Probably better off with the binoculars:

Bobby contemplating about my next move:

Yes, unfortunately - Bella is NOT a very stroller friendly island!

Wait... what was that look again??!?

But wait, gelato fixes everything! :-)

Alrighty, enough for one morning! For whatever reason, Charlie was afraid in the boat going back inland.  Daddy was soaking it all in:

Successful day!

After the quick nap, back into town.  Mommy bought a fan on Fisherman's Island earlier in the day and it came in really handy throughout the entire trip!

All three boys just can't get enough of throwing rocks in the water.  What is up with that??!

A lovely sunset to end the day:

Pridgen family vacation - To be continued...

Family vacation in Italy

Bounjourno!!!  After 9 days in Italy, this is what I kept wanting to say when greeting someone back in Abu Dhabi.  So strange!  Well,.... where should I start?  From the beginning I suppose :-)

It was "old school" so to speak when we had to take a bus to our airplane and the boys had to get right next to the plane and up the stairs.  There was quite a change in temperature so my camera fogged up!

Six hours on the plane and less than an hour after that, we were already digging into some Italian cookies and biscotti.  YUM!!!

And somehow or other, Graham managed to get his hands on a motorcycle helmet!

Onwards to our hotel in a little town called Stresa (in a car, of course).  The hydrangeas were in full bloom.  So lovely!

Some friends recommended this little town, so here we are!

Of course, the boys decided to take their naps now:

The view of Lago Maggiore here is spectacular!

I can't get over how big these hydrangea blooms are!

Bobby posing.  I'm sure this won't be the last one!

Here's their form of beach - it's actually rocks/pebbles and not sand.

The boys loved it because they got to collect rocks and throw them into the water!

Ahhh... our first taste of gelato in Italy!

It was rather warm and humid so the gelato was melting fast!  Thankfully Charlie lets Mommy help :-)

And YUM!!! Love Caprese salads!  Love how they put the whole blob of mozzarella cheese on the top!  I told Bobby that this plate would satisfy my craving for a whole week.  That was such a lie.  I was onto my next Caprese salad less than 24 hours later!

And we ordered orange juice since we are so spoiled getting them fresh here in Abu Dhabi.  Weirdly enough, they served it with a packet of sugar:

There was a little playground across the street from our hotel.  Perfect for the boys!  Graham loved the merry-go-round:

And I later discovered you can actually drink out of these public water taps.  We didn't try though, just in case.  I really didn't want to ruin our vacation too soon, if you know what I mean.

Okay, okay, enough with the hydrangeas but I just can't get over how pretty they are and how huge the bushes are!

And traveling all these miles out and I see some Arabic writing on a plaque - mentioning how the city of Stresa had named this part of the lakeside "Fazza" - which identifies a person always willing to help others and passing time with them.  It is the pseudonym of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammel Al Maktoum, Crown prince of Dubai.  What a small world!

And here's Graham with a mime.  It was the boys' first time seeing one.  Charlie was a bit afraid so only Graham took a photo with him.

Onward into the city for new discoveries:

Love the little streets of these little towns, although the cobblestone is not so good for Charlie - falling not once but twice today! Neither were the mosquitoes.  We were familiar with the local pharmacy pretty quickly after day 1!

The discovery of lemon soda was a good one especially after a hot day:

And we also tried Limoncello as well for the first time - on the house from the restaurant.  I think it was particularly yummy because it was served in a frozen shot glass :-)

And also a first with a shower like this one.  Small but efficient:

We were averaging 2 gelatos a day!  So glad Graham can eat his gelato without getting it all over his shirt.

I bet you can tell which one was Charlie's shirt:

It's too bad Charlie always goes for chocolate as it seems to be the most difficult to scrub off!  This one particular store did make it look pretty though:

And ahhh... pasta galore along the streets!

I miss the biscotti so much there and funny enough, I did actually find some today at a fancy grocery store here.  But for AED 23 a bag, I convinced myself that I would just make some.  Will keep you posted on that!

Okay, family vacation - to be continued...

One year later in Abu Dhabi

This past July 2nd marked our 1 year anniversary here in Abu Dhabi.  It's amazing how quickly time has flown! It's crazy to think that Charlie was still sleeping in a crib and in diapers when we arrived here and Graham had to jump to reach the light switches here in the apartment.

I think we are definitely getting used to the lifestyle here though.  We obviously now have a whole apartment filled with furniture and the toys just keep accumulating as well.  Graham still mentions Tulsa occasionally.  We definitely still miss our large yard and the greenery.  The summer heat here does not help either but I'm going to start on little projects for the boys very soon here to keep them occupied during the day.  That or just take naps... or learn to balance books on our heads all day and night!

The supermarket by our apartment complex is finally going to open soon and we are still waiting for the playground to open up as well.  That would be really convenient once school starts up again in September.  Hmm... I wonder at what age can I send the boys to go pick up groceries on their own?  Is 5 and 3 years old too soon??? Perhaps we could attach a camera on their caps and send them off under camera surveillance.  Now that's an idea! :-)

My golf has taken quite a turn as well since arriving here in Abu Dhabi.  The gym workouts have really improved my stamina and helped me understand my swing more.  It's funny how I'm only discovering these things with my golf swing after ALL these years of playing professionally!  So despite all the cultural differences that we've had to deal with here in a new country, I would have to say that somehow we were meant to come along this path.

"God works in mysterious ways. Don't question why things happen because the majority of the time, it is a blessing in disguise." ~ Unknown