lake como

Lake Como!  Forever ago - this past summer - we visited the amazing northern Italian destination with our friends John, Jenevieve, and their two boys.

We rented an apartment in the town of Sala Comacina.  Our flat was right on the lake, with a massive terrace.  Never knowing when children will cut a day short, we wanted a home base with amazing views.   (First two photos below were taken from our terrace.)

Mornings we watched the sun come up - lighting up the mountains, and  in the evenings once kids were in bed we dined on the terrace and watched the sun set while we sipped bottles of Italian red.

We spent the first day exploring towns across the lake - Bellagio and Varena.  We traveled via water taxi, cheers-ing our juice box wines and pointing out hillside villas, each one more ridiculous and over the top than the last.  We meandered the cobblestone towns stopping for lunch, playgrounds, gelato, drinks, and more gelato.

Jenevieve had the great idea of swapping turns babysitting for each other so one night Marco and I got to enjoy a fancy dinner at the base of our village right on the lake.

We visited Villa de Balbianello, famously featured in the James Bond film Casino Royale. We wandered their gardens but then had to cut the villa tour short (read: children).

We stopped at lake side restaurants for pizza and gelato.  We pulled over in George Clonney's village to get a close peek at his famous villa.

On our last full day there, we took a day trip to Lake Lugano, Switzerland.  I was sweaty-palmed and grew more and more light headed as the car climbed the tiny roads to the town of Monte Bre, high up a mountain. Marco and Jenevieve giggled at my sad state as Marco continued his thrilling drive.  We did a challenging walk and ended with a picnic high above the lake.

Travelling with children can be at points frustrating and even exhausting but if you slow your pace, plan a bit ahead, and try not to cram too much into a day (I like a loose itinerary) it really can be quite special to travel as a family.  

Having Simone with us on our journey I have learned to slow my roll and take it all in.  I can put down the camera and iPhone and sit back and sip my cocktail (for the five minutes that she lets me). If it weren't for baby wake-ups at 5:30 am we wouldn't have caught those killer sunrises, or taken a pre-breakfast walk along The Greenway trail.

Cliché alert: One of my favorite trips to date.  Seriously, what a breathtaking holiday spot.  I hope my photos do it a bit of justice.

san sebastián

Ahhh, San Sebastián.  Foodies and surfers Mecca.  My first trip to the northeast coastal city in Spain was a girls trip a few years ago - here.  It is one of our very favorite cities.

My sister Juliana and her boyfriend José were visiting us from the states.  It was nice to have two fluent Spanish speakers with us so Marco and I didn't have to get by with our so-so skills.

It wasn't warm enough to spend the days lounging on the beach - but that just meant more time in the pintxos bars.

We checked into our Airbnb, hung out over a bottle of wine, and then headed to one of my very favorite restaurants, La Cuchara de San Telmo.  Affordable, upscale small plates in a causal atmosphere.  A teeny tiny place where you're elbowing the stranger next to you while cutting into your grilled foie gras, saying "Oh my god." after each bite.  One of those eating experiences we'll never forget.  We ordered plated after plate and we sipped Txakoli - a slightly bubbly very dry white wine produced in the Basque Country province.

We spent the trip wandering the city, ducking into the posh children's clothing shops (well, I did), and took breaks at bars for tapas, pintxos, and a quick drink.

We spent the afternoons strolling the beach watching the surfers, then lounging back at the apartment researching our pintxos bars plan of attack for that night.

On our last full day of the trip, we had a break in the weather - a warmer day with sun on our faces. We hiked up to Monte Urgull to the 12m high statue of Jesus Christ to see the vista views of the city and beaches below.

Juliana and José continued on to Madrid and Marco, Simone, and I headed home to England.  Jewels and José - guys, thank you so much for coming for a visit and tolerating a 4 month old baby slowing our roll ... but we still ate and drank like Kings for a small price.