The 10 Best Budapest Surprises

We did the requisite sightseeing of Budapest’s main attractions and came away with a few surprises.

1.  A city still trending.  Walking around Budapest which was recently named “Most Welcoming European City”, it is hard to believe that it was occupied by Soviets when Brett and I were in college.  With the Danube River at the heart of this sprawling yet walkable city, though it has been modernized since destruction in the two world wars and Soviet occupation it is still a city very much in transition. It only takes seeing your first retro60s bus or tram to realize the renewal is not yet done.  (Given the central location of where we stayed, we were able to do everything on foot.)  Against the backdrop of some beautiful architecture and a vibrant music and nightlife scene, trendy shops and organic cafes are popping up next to abandoned buildings on streets like Király Street, also known as Budapest's Design Street.  (One section of Kiraly Street might also be known as the Sex Street and home to the unfortunate Starbucks/KFC combo franchise … so be warned that it’s a mixed use street.)  There is also massive construction going on to pedestrianize the area around the historic Parliament building, all signals that Budapest is rallying to keep their moniker of “Most Welcoming European City.” 

2.  English, ok.   Unlike other large European cities we’ve visited, only 4% of the population in Budapest is foreigners.  With that, we had heard that there wasn’t a lot of English but we found there was actually plenty to get by.  Most of the places we visited and restaurants we ate in were more than ready to cater, and generally quite friendly, to English speakers.   This was a plus since our Hungarian was not good, and the boys French not at all useful.  Brett never even needed to work in his German.

3.  Seriously, it really is cheap!  We expected that Budapest would be cheaper than other places we’ve visited in Europe, but it was even more of a bargain than we expected.  We noticed the rock-bottom prices most with food.  As a data point, a full breakfast for the five of us with freshly squeezed juices and cappuccinos was 35 euros.   Getting there was also ridiculously cheap. Flying Ryan Air, we got round trip airfare for 20 euros (or US$28!) per person.   To compare, that is 20 bucks less than the average price you’d pay for a single game NBA ticket.  (Always adding a basketball reference where I can to win some street cred in dah house.)   There are apparently some very nice hotels in Budapest, but if you are considering the apartment route we found an EXCELLENT modern, super affordable apartment with all the creature comforts you need right in the center of town in between Parliament and the Danube River.  The owner is a young, friendly Hungarian woman who used to work in a 5 star hotel in the US, so she knows service (ie she arranged our transport to and from the airport, had breakfast fixings in the frig for us, etc.)  Her reviews on Airbnb are perfect and for good reason.  Check it out.  

4.  Budaspaaaahhhhh.  This is how little I knew about Budapest before going:  I did not know about their thermal spas.  You should know about them.  Once you do, you’ll be booking a flight.  Geologically perched on some thermal springs, Budapest has over 30 spa-water pools and thermal baths.   We choose to go to Szechenyi Baths, which is the most impressive of the bunch given that it’s both the largest bathing complex in Europe and the one with the deepest and hottest baths.  With three outdoor and fifteen indoor pools all at varying temperatures plus more steam rooms and saunas than you can count, it takes a good couple of hours just to bath hop.  You can see the Turkish influence in the old world architecture which has been safeguarded against commercialism.  With a robust over 60 crowd, some of whom play chess in the corners of one of the outdoor pools, these baths are more about relaxation than water frolicking.  One of the outdoor pools was dubbed the “adventure pool” because it had a whirlpool and several jets.  Naturally, this is where our romping boys spent the majority of their time.

5.  Deep-roasted coffee culture.  Coffee was introduced by the Turks in the 16th century, cultivated during the Habsburg era and evangelized during the 1960s as many cafes converted into eszpresszo bars catering to Western-leaning teens.  At its high point, there were more than 600 cafes.   You’d think with those numbers our odds of finding them would be easy.  We did not.  That’s because rather than walking into one of the many we saw, Brett worked hard combing through local blogs to find the *perfect* coffee spots.  We hiked to several of these spots eagerly only to be disappointed.   By the third letdown, our oldest made this astute observation:  “Dad, there’s a difference between good coffee shops and interesting coffee shops.”  By the last day, we hit on two good ones (found through research of course) worth nothing.  

• Ecocafe (on Andrassy near the Museum of Terror) serves quality 100% bio/organic coffee and pastries.  With a dozen or so tables, it’s not only good coffee but also a comfortable spot to hang out. 
• Ozsem (right near our apartment) is an excellent pastry/coffee shop with more than twenty different homemade sweet and savory pastries in various caloric sizes.  More grab & go than sit & linger, but definitely worth a stop if you are near St. Stephen’s Basilica.

6.  Goulash is only the beginning.  Hungarian food is good!  Unlike German food which can be heavy and narrow, Hungarian food is lighter and has a wider range of options (meat, veal, pork, chicken, duck, trout, pike) and flavor profiles (some French and Turkish influences.)   We never had a bad meal, but the following three restaurants are worth going out of your way for.  The first was our favorite and one that Brett found through a food blog.   The second two were recommendations from people who had lived in Budapest. 

• Café Bouchon – off Andrassy, near Octagon in the 6th (1066 Bp. Zichy Jenő u. 33.)  Café Bouchon is a small neighborhood restaurant with exceptional food and excellent service.  Every dish was carefully explained, they were flexible on portion sizes and they seemed genuinely unfazed by a shrieking baby at the next table.  We ordered roasted pork tenderloin stuffed with green spices, grilled pike perch fillet, veal cutlet, roasted salmon, and grilled beef tenderloin goulash with four different kinds of potation preparations.  All of us ordered full size plates for which we were glad as we all ended our meals in the “clean plate club.”  Make reservations.
• Ket Szerecsen – also off Andrassy in the 6th (Nagymezo u. 14).   This restaurant has an old world feel with a modern take on food.  Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we had one dinner there and decided to come back for a breakfast.  A sit down eggs-wht-options breakfast is hard to find in Europe, and this one delivered.; The Hungarian Omelet was particularly outstanding.  Note:  They stop serving breakfast at 11am on weekdays and 11:30 on weekends.
• Menza – also off Andrassy in the 6th (2 Liszt Ferenc ter).  A popular, large very busy restaurants that has a late 80s/early 90s feel with “happening” atmosphere.  Good food and portions sizes though service was a bit slow.  The energetic atmosphere and good value however make up for slower service.

It’s generally recommended to eat on the Pest side rather than the Buda side as there are fewer and more expensive restaurants on the Buda side (Castle District.)  Our most expensive meal was a lunch at the above average Var: a Speiz in the Castle District, and we also heard good things about 21. 

7.  Hungary has hamburgers.  I don’t know if it’s a carryover from the first McDonalds behind the Iron Curtain being in Budapest, but Budapest has hamburgers!  Hamburgers, more than brats, were available on most dinner menus we saw.  They are even served with a delectable brioche bun.  Coming from the US, they won’t necessarily impress or disappoint, but coming from Luxembourg – it’s a hamburger that doesn’t taste weird!  We especially enjoyed a burger spot in the Gozsdu courtyard off Kiraly uta (a covered passageway hotspot) that’s called Spiler. Though Hungary is not known for their craft beers, Spiler also has a decent selection of bottled beers.  (Burger Confession: we went twice.) 

8.  Hipster Hungarians.  Because we were traveling with our kids, we didn’t get the chance to check out the Ruin Pubs that put Budapest on the map as a party city several years ago.  These late hour pubs are typically in the basements of ruined buildings where they serve drinks and snacks and play live music.  You can spot them all over town. Next time.  In terms of shopping, you’ll be happy to know that shopping isn’t limited to Hungarian peasant blouses. Note:  the guidebooks and everyone will tell you that Vaci Utca is the big pedestrian shopping street, but only go if you enjoy vultures trying to lure you into their overpriced restaurants or if you need something at Foot Locker.   Andrassy Utca, their “Champs Elysses”, is however worth a stroll especially at night when the embassies are lit up and Heroes Square is in the distance. Though we just skimmed the hem of shopping in Budapest, a couple of places we read about turned out to be fun stops.

• Tisza Cipo – Karoly Korut 1.  Unisex leather sports shoes made and only available in Hungary.  Really interesting, iconic looking shoes that have a passionate following.  Unfortunately they didn’t make shoe sizes big enough for Brett (size 13) and Quinn (size 14).     
• Printa Budapest - Rumbach Sebestyén u. 10. A graphic design concept gallery that is described liked this: “The gallery is dedicated to presenting contemporary serigraphs, drawings, graphics and urban art from upcoming Hungarian and international artists.”  We bought a couple of really cool posters there.
• Orange Optika – Kiraly Utca 38.  Glasses shop that makes glass frames from vinyl records.  Apparently Elton John ordered some.  They also have a Seattle connection that I wasn't totally able to figure out.  They graciously let the little boys have fun trying on frames for 40 minutes (I know because our teenager was outside clocking us).  Wanting to find something unique from Hungary to bring back, I opted for a vinyl record pair of sunglasses.

9.  Decent red wine.  The French and Italian get all the attention for their red wines, but Hungary makes a number of red wines.  We especially liked some of the dry Pinots as a nice change of pace to the full-bodied stuff we’ve been drinking from our Italy adventures.

10.  House of Terror.  One of the most highly recommended museum stops we got was to visit the Terror Museum – a tribute to WWII/Soviet Occupation.  Given the subject matter and a seven year old with a particularly sensitive soul, Lawton and I hung out at a coffee shop (the nearly Ecocafe mentioned above) while Brett took the older boys.  They all said it was incredibly powerful and moving, and a must do for anyone coming to Budapest.  Next time…

Ordinary Days

A blog on Budapest is in development, but then there was this headache...

This pile of papers reminds me that every mountain top moment is preceded by an arduous climb and followed by a descent into the mundane, where foundational character is built and dirty floors are swept. 

This excessive collection of travel books, along with the opportunity to use them, signals that I am gradually shifting focus to spending more on experiences and less on things while a peek in my closet gently tells me there is still more work to do.

This unrelenting headache, though I wish it away, my real-time cue to remember that I get to choose my thought patterns, every moment of every day.

This unhurried cup of coffee reminds me that I have moved beyond the busy zone to a place where relationships have room to breathe and ideas to percolate, where journals are friends and clocks not masters.

This padded belly, which no longer responds to my crash demands, jests at the number of rice cakes I’ve been spared and softly urges me to drop and do a few crunches because ten minutes of exercise is better than none.

This unpredictable flicker of self-doubt in the steady stream of other people’s  greater intelligence/beauty/achievement/fill in the blank, where a quick scan of my rank only caves me in, is not a call to action to compare but a cause to celebrate for a world where gifts and talents are widely scattered. 

The magnitude of disquieting news around the world now piped into all our homes, an urgent invitation to move from the couch to our knees and to call the “me train” into the station for a moment. 

This modest ring on my finger compels me to count the years that I have been well cherished, and think of those who are in between seasons of being someone’s most prized gift.

This wrinkle, no these wrinkles, which carry the stories of my many sunny days lived.  The contrasting smoothness of my child’s skin a summons to drink up the beauty of being able to pass on those stories.

This reach for my phone to connect a flag that I have flesh and blood in the other room if not waiting at least open to a story-time interruption, eager to lavish on more than just a “like” for well-placed humor and drama.  

The recall of only yesterday, in all its unremarkable and yet unforeseen twists and halts, which shouts at me once again to stop fantasizing that future-proofing is possible.  It is not. 

It is today, and it’s an ordinary day.  Most of them are.  However, I’ve temporarily sidelined worry and spent time on the floor with crumbs, crunches and petitions.  With that, I’ve gotten some clearance to see that today’s harrumphs deserve a round of applause – headache and all.

The grown up version of a kid in a candy store window

…is pretty much any window in Paris.

(Photo cred: Jannine Suplee)

My January day trip to Paris was with four dear friends all from Seattle and living in Luxembourg as expat wives: Holly C, Holly Z, Shannon and Jannine.  On the recommendation of some well seasoned travelers, we did a walking food tour of Taste of Saint-Germain with Paris by Mouth.  They have a number of different neighborhood food tours as well as ones focused on wine. The Taste of Saint-Germain tour completely exceeded all our expectations, which is noteworthy since all of us have been living abroad and devouring European food for six months or more.  Here was my online review:

We had a fantastic food tour of Saint Germain with Sara. It is not a "factory type" tour at all. No one is carrying a sign for you to follow. It's small, intimate and personalized to the tastes of the 7-8 people in the tour. Not only do you get to taste wonderful food and a lot of it (we ended up skipping our lunch reservation), but you get to hear wonderful stories about each stop. Sara is clearly a friend of all the shop owners we visited. The first part of the tour is hunting and gathering and the second part is sitting and savoring, and you'll be learning things all along the way. This was my seventh day trip to Paris, and one of the most fun experiences I've had yet. Great for people new and old to Paris. Yes you've come to Paris for the Louvre, but you've also come for the food -- so why not let someone take you round to discover some the best bread, pastries, cheese, wine and chocolate the city has to offer.

I HIGHLY recommend this tour to anyone coming for a trip to Paris.  It’s totally worth the 95 euros per person in terms of the experience, amount of food and back stories behind the success of many of Paris's finest pastry chefs, bakers, and cheese mongers.  The larger-than-life butcher we met in the Marché Couvert is Ina Garten's (the Barefoot Contessa) butcher and apparently Brad Pitt was just in visiting him the week prior.  It's the only covered market I've been in that doesn't smell like fish or aged cheese.  It smells like heaven.  Make sure to book well in advance, particularly in the summer, as tour groups are small and as their reputation is growing.   I’ve also since used the Paris by Mouth website as a resource for restaurant recommendations in Paris.  Their website is still a bit clunky, but content is good.  The wine tour they offer and which I’ve heard most praised is: Beyond Bordeaux: A Tour of Unconventional Wines & Wine Bars.   

Places visited during our Taste of Saint-Germain food tour, in case you want to venture out on your own:

• Poilâne bakery at 8 rue du Cherche Midi, 75006
• Marché Couvert (covered market) de Saint-Germain at 4/6 rue Lobineau, 75006
• La Dernière Goutte wine shop at 6 rue Bourbon le Château, 75006
• Pierre Hermé pastry shop at 72 rue Bonaparte, 75006
• Patrick Roger chocolate at 108 boulevard Saint-Germain

My February trip to Paris (just yesterday) was with a new transplant to Lux from Atlanta and a fast friend, Jeannie.  Piggybacking on the success of the Paris by Mouth tour, we decided to try another walking tour.  This time we did a scholar-led group walk of the Marais Mansions with Context Travel.   Given the time of year, our three hour walking small tour was even smaller – it was just the two of us!-- led by an art historian docent.  This outfit is larger than Paris by Mouth as they offer tours, or rather walking seminars, in architecture, art history and even food and wine in most all of Paris’s neighborhoods. (Though I'd stick to Paris by Mouth for food related tours.) They are in 23 other cities around the world. It's one thing to read about the places you visit, but it's something much richer when you are walking the streets with an expert who is willing to answer all your random questions.

The Marais Mansions tour was an incredibly informative walk through one of Paris’s most lively neighborhoods and one that bears all the scars of a city through many transitions.  The walk was a chronological story of the change taking place in Paris between 1550 and 1720 before the French Revolution and the modern era.  The docent was a lovely Parisian 30 year old with perfect English who brought history alive with just the right amount of facts, storytelling, and gossip.  We learned a ton, and by the time the three hours were over – we were ready to eat and shop.

Our eating and shopping options in the Marais were plentiful and were informed by two great websites that you should know about when traveling to a new city: Unlike City Guides and Spotted by Locals City Guides.  I use these sites a lot.  They have recommendations across the arts, bars, music, restaurants, shopping, snacks, etc in most of the big cities in Europe.   Both of the websites are curated by locals and pick up where many of the travel guides leave off.  I particularly find them useful for restaurants and shopping, and each recommendation has a full blog entry so you have more useful context to decide if it's something that will float your boat or not.  They both have mobile apps, which I don't pay extra for -- I typically just scan it in advance of a trip and jot down a few notes. 

THE EATING

Lunch: Chez Marianne, 2 rue des Hospitalières St-Gervais, a sit down cafe with Middle Eastern and Jewish specialties and a house wine called "Marianne."  You will need Google translate to guide you in picking four or five of the options for your mix and match lunch plate else you may be swimming in toomuchummus.

Late afternoon refreshment: Café des Musées, 49, rue de Turenne, a sit down cafe on a busy corner of the Marais.

Dinner snack: Candelaria, 52, rue de Saintonge, because I'm always on a salsa fix quest.

THE SHOPPING

You could spend all day in the quaint Marais between the museums, shopping, bars and restaurants.  Rue des Francs Bourgeois is the major shopping street, and you don't really need a list of places to hit.  Rue de Turenne is lined with men's clothing shops and  Rue des Rosiers (the Jewish area of the Marais) also has a lot of good shopping including a particularly fun and unique dress store I had read about: Heroines.  Jeannie got a gorgeous cape there.  She also got some red boats at another store on Rue des Rosiers in honor of Valentines Day (or actually because they were 60% off and from Paris.)

Be the Be-Loved for Someone

I was on a bit of a rampage yesterday.  It was not a cleaning frenzy.  Instead, I was leaving notes around the house reminding a certain family member that he is loved.  Some Moms do this consistently with daily lunch notes or other methods.  I decided on the full court press.  I was feeling it and wanted him to know.

I left notes in his room, in his basketball shoes, in the pantry.  I co-opted every screen in the house with a selection of “You are Loved” wallpapers.  There was the note on the bathroom mirror near his Axe hair cream: “Did you know that God loves you so much that he knows the number of hairs on your head?  Axe Him!”   (I’m not too proud to say that I did a selfie LOL.)  The note near a window that he sometimes likes to escape out of when mad: “FYI.  Neither height nor depth, nor anything in all creation -- including this window – can separate you from the love of God.”  The note under his pillow with my string of pearls, “Guess what.  YOU are the pearl of greatest treasure.”

Oh my goodness, he is.  A pearl.  How does he not know that?  Some of us get that we are loveable without much convincing.  I’m like that.  Others of us are naturally more suspicious that we can be loveable without doing something to deserve it.  Some need to hear it over and over again until it penetrates.  I think I used to think he wasn’t listening.  Now I think some people just have a thin understanding of this and when they get bumped or bruised by life, it’s like starting over again. We all learn at different paces and have different thresholds for the reps we require.  Some of us need to hear the same message in several different ways.  Cheap flattery won’t get it done – the suspicious among us have radar for that – but it’s always appropriate to BE that someone who reminds the people we love that they are Beloved.

I’m not suggesting my full note assault is parenting to model.  It was a little over the top for one 24 hour period.  In fact I knew it was by the time we got to the written out mealtime prayer, which was opened belatedly.  By mid meal we were all in happy laughter, and the time for blessing our meal was passed.  One of the boys tried to humor me by reading though the noise, until the boy it was intended for asked if he could read it instead.  It was kind of too long for the moment, but we all tuned in for the punch line: “Love never fails.”

Someone you love needs to hear that today.  Remind them.   Then remind them again.  Get a singing telegram if you have to.  Every rep counts.

Let’s Talk About the Flu. My Flu.

This American Life aired a story in November 2013 called “The Seven Things You’re Not Supposed to Talk About.”  The show was about the things you’re not supposed to talk about not because they are controversial like politics and religion, but because no one cares.   The seven off-limit conversation topics according to this one French lady’s list include:  how you slept, your period, your health, your dreams, money, diet, and route talk (ie which road and how long it took.)  I might also add to this list:  your busyness.

It’s a solid list, but one that I have every intention of transgressing right now.  I’ve been sick this week.  In bed kind of sick.  I’m calling it the flu though this has not been confirmed by a swab test.  I’ve wanted to sound Facebook alarms to let the world know my miserable status, but instead I’ve been saving up all the depressing details over the last 72 hours for this post.

I really don’t want to make this post all about me though.   You have had the flu before too.  (Although I’m sure mine is worse of course.)  I want to stay people focused and offer some general tips on what we all want when we have the flu:

Bulleted speech.   We need those around us to speak in short sentences allowing space in the conversation for us to whimper and you to say, “You sound awful.  Anything I can do?”

Why yes, read on.

• First things first, please don’t ask us if we got the flu shot.   No is a complicated answer.

• A thermometer that runs hot.  A temperature of 100.8 does not tell you how we really feel.  If anyone asks, I’m adding one degree.  That’s what our rectums would have said anyway.

• With a well-supplied water heater and a shower stool, we’d really like to make the shower our primary place of rest.

• A proxy to drink all this water that is being asked of us.  Please, please help us hydrate.

• Your spouse to vacate the bed on first symptom onset, and then go clean the bathroom.   This will all go down easier if you have the bed to yourself and the toilet bowl rings gone in case you need to heave.  We don’t know when and if we will throw up (and YES we know that vomiting is not common with typical flu), but when your nose is discharging phlegm to your stomach signaling nausea– we need this contingency plan in place.

• All the blankets in the house.  Every last one of them.

• You know how when your body aches and you just wish someone could be there massaging exactly where it hurts without any direction –not too hard and not too soft and for very, very long.  We want that more than anything.

• Honey Nut Cheerios in a snack bowl.

• Advil.  Every 4 hours ON THE DOT.

• Your forgiveness for only being able to like pictures, funny stuff, or things that don’t require an extra click on Facebook.

• The VANITY bullet: Hair that lays down flat and naturally dark eye lashes. 

• We understand the pounding headache, sore throat and dry cough but we need someone to explain why even our gums ache.  And then make it stop. Advil doesn’t seem to know about the gum situation.

• Sick clothes – warm fleeces, elastic-waisted pants, house shoes and maybe a kitty to borrow.

• A house delivery of chicken rice soup … which has just arrived thanks to Holly!

Turns out my community of friends are total rule breakers.  Feeling the love from friends near and far.  So ... Tell me your dreams!  Tell me your exercise plans! I’m all ears – they just happen to be a little stuffed up right now, but then again – you knew that.

Dear Dads of boys

I know this is a little unusual to share, but I share it in the hopes that it might be an encouragement to you Dads.  Guys: your sons need for you to be tender with them.  They need to know not just that you love them and are proud of them, but that you have their back when things aren't going so well.  They want your compassion just as much as they want your help problem solving.  Our 10 year old has had a rough week, and Brett is traveling.  Brett isn't a Perfect Dad.  He makes a lot of parenting mistakes like we all do, but he got this one right. 

Brett wrote this email to Colin during his busy work day today.  He asked me to print it out and give it to him when I shuttled him between basketball practices this afternoon.  I made banana nut muffins for the occasion. 

Colin,

I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you this morning.  I’m proud you found the strength to go to school.  Mom told me you were very sad.  I was very sad to hear that when I landed in London.  It made me wish I could be with you.  But, I’m so glad to hear you persisted.

I want to make sure you know a couple of important things.  You are not in trouble and no one is mad at you.  You know the whole – “he has bad form on his jump shot….” –“does that mean you don’t like him, Dad?” exchange we have on various topics?  We know you are having some challenges at school, but that does not make you a bad person or that we (or other people) like you any less.  I think it’s really important that you know you have a lot of pulling people for you.  Mom and I are trying very hard to help you with the confusing and frustrating things. That’s our job and we couldn’t be more committed to that job.  It doesn’t mean that we, or other adults, are always going to do or say exactly what you want.  But, we really are trying to do what’s best.  We are praying and working to find ways to help.

Remember when we talked about the sermon  where God doesn’t make mistakes and he always puts us exactly where he wants us to be.  Well, it’s probably not very fun working thru some of the things you are right now – but God made Colin Ballbach in a certain way and he has a plan for who you are going to become and right now – in 5th grade, in Luxembourg, in Mr. Fosters class, at ISL, playing basketball, playing Xbox, with 2 brothers, a Mom and Dad that love him, a passion for sports and stats, a warmth and kindness that he shows his family, a dislike for bad food, a brave boy, a courageous boy – that’s where God wants you to be.  I don’t expect you to understand now, but one of the things Mom and I have learned now that we are old (and, boy, are we old) is that the times we really grow and get better are when difficult things happen NOT good things.  We don’t really get better when things are easy.  So, you are learning a lot and we are here with you.  And, believe it or not you are growing.  We can see that.  I saw it in how you calmed down after the disappointment of going to Gabe’s and how you reacted at times on the Venice trip.

Here is all that we ask of you:

1) Do your best – do the very best that you can in every situation. 

2) Be Kind and Respectful

3) Trust – trust us, trust God.  Know that all of us want whats best for Colin.  It won’t always make sense or seem like that.  But we do.  Please trust us.

We love you very much Colin.  I hope you have a good Sparta practice, good evening and a GREAT day at school tomorrow and trip to Dusseldorf.  I can’t wait to hear about it and see you on Saturday.

Love,

Dad

And for the response?  Silent reading, hard fought sniffles, lots of muffins consumed, a call to Brett's mobile with a quiet greeting: "Is this a convenient time, Dad?" and then the watershed.  A big one. 

Dads, it doesn't matter your physical geography.  You can move the earth under your son's feet from a neighboring country when you let them in on the geography of your heart.   Not just your heartbeat, but the contours of your specific, totally unique love for them.  Don't wait for a celebratory moment.  If today was any indication, the valleys are good opportunities.  And Moms: banana nut muffins can only help.

It's a Winter Waterland - Venice

You might be surprised to hear that among The Lonely Planet’s Top 25 Experiences in Europe, #5 on their list is “Venice in Winter.”  Having now been in Venice over New Years, I understand why it rates so high. There is something magical about Venice on a sunny winter’s day.  The light bounces off the water creating unbelievable photo ops, the tall buildings with narrow streets provide cocoon-like wind protection, and there’s the bustling of enough tourists to make it feel lively but not overrun. And when you’re not competing with 60,000 daily visitors in the summer, you are more likely to snap a photo without Susie from Tulsa photo bombing it.

Venice’s photographic overexposure might lead you to believe it’s a city you already know.  But can you really imagine a city without any cars, where all deliveries are done by boat, and where the smell of the sea – not GPS - is your guiding light?  It is not normal Italy.  Not everyone pinches your blonde haired/blue eyed seven year old.  English is the default language more quickly.   And, MOST service is not with a smile.  Venetians are notoriously grouchy, and with the exception of a few people, we found the locals to be some of the most unfriendly of all our European travel.  Then again, you wouldn’t like it either if your streets were clogged with untrained Paparazzi in trainers hoisting a map in your face with a directional question that can’t be answered.   Venice can’t be an easy city to live in.  We saw more pet stores than grocery stores, and while seeing food delivered by boat was picturesque imagine trying to get your IKEA wardrobe home.  Even with the lack of Venetian warmth, the magnanimousness of the city draws you in a way that catches you by surprise.

Venice is a city that is only truly understood through walking and getting lost.  Conventional wisdom tells you to toss the map and welcome the experience of getting lost, which works most of the time except when you are trying to get across the Grand Canal.  More useful advice is to keep the map, study the street names of those that cut through to get to the next neighborhood and don’t sweat the names of the other ones – 75% of which will dead end anyway.  Following the pack is also good advice as there are only a few routes that go through.  This funnel like experience means that you will be forced to crisscross the highly touristy areas to get from point A to B.  Once out of the fray however, the payoffs for going off-piste in the neighborhoods of Dusodoro, lower Castello, and Cannaregio are quiet back streets, charming cafes and unique stores.  In these parts of the city, you won’t find Venetian Universidad tee-shirts or masks made in China.  Instead you’ll be wowed by artists painting hand-made masks (some places which offer workshops) and shops with eye-popping Venetian glass and glass jewelry made on the neighboring island of Murano.

We (Brett) made some games out of walking by having each family member take turns in deciding which way to go at every crossroad.  My game idea (which I read online) was to go “Lion Hunting” in teams with our iPhones, only to realize that there weren’t near as many lions (the symbol of Venice) as we thought there would be.  I tried to audible by making  it a team game of snapping photos of bridges instead, but clearly I didn’t  “sell it” because no one was feeling my flow.  Instead I was told it was my turn to pick “which way” and “that, by the way Mom, you can’t pick straight again.”  Game or not, with 400+ bridges the visual rewards that come with every turn was more than enough to keep the troops moving.

We took the Vaporetto (water bus) when we arrived in Venice and again when we left with our luggage, but otherwise we did everything on foot.  We had no intention of breaking the bank by taking a taxi or gondola ride, and although the gondolier’s would consistently offer “Gondola, Gondola” every time you passed, it was never a hard sell.  The gondolier’s got plenty of business without having to beg for it, and our enjoyment was standing on a bridge watching them navigate the tiny canals and each other.  It all made parallel parking look so very JV.  

We stayed centrally located in a small six room bed and breakfast called La Villeggiatura near the Rialto Bridge and market.  We read about the place from a NYTimes “36 hours in Venice” article written in 2006. It was a great location and very comfortably and tastefully decorated, and a place we’d recommend staying for couples or families with older kids.  With any small place, voices carry and you’ll want to make sure that your children’s voices don’t disturb what could be honeymooners in the room above you.  Breakfast was included, but if you don’t already know this, Italian breakfast is really just tasteless white bread, marmalade croissants, and yogurt.  AM protein is not the Italian way. 

The best thing about our location was the proximity to some of the most well-known bacaros (Italian bars) serving cichetti (Venetian tapas) and wine.  Every early evening, we would return to the hotel to let the boys rest by watching a movie filmed in Venice (“The Italian Job” and “Casino Royale”) while Brett and I grabbed some cichetti and a drink to wash it down before dinner.   Cantina Do Mori (the oldest bacaro in Venice), All’ Arco (express-made cichetti with no tables or menu), and Osteria All Ciurma (a neighborhood bacaro) are all within three minutes of each other in San Polo neighborhood.  The bacaro experience is not to be missed.  Once you have your first glass of Prosecco, you won’t even sweat what’s happening with those voices back at the hotel.

Any sought after place, especially a floating theme park that absorbs tourists year round, requires a degree of vigilance.  You must mind your step at all times.  Slippery stone footbridges are aplenty.  Not all canal banks have railings.  With 100% of the population on foot, cutting a corner too tight comes at a cost.  Piles of domesticated litter rival the streets of Paris.  Similarly, there is good food to be had in Venice, but you have to work to dodge the abundance of spurious places pushing Tourist Menus and Free Wifi.  In Venice’s few thoroughfares, very bad (and often overpriced) restaurants are so successful in enticing undiscerning tourists that they don’t even bother to take down the computer printed “We have Air Conditioning!” window signs during the winter.   More than in other places in Italy, dining out on recommendations in Venice is highly advised. 

Venice has both Italian restaurants and Venetian restaurants.  In our experience, the familiar traditional Italian restaurants with pizza, lasagna, and red sauce tops out at good.  The better and more interesting options are the smaller-menued Venetian restaurants where fresh seafood and briny pastas take center stage.  Here then are some of our dining recommendations.   None of them have a Tourist Menu.   Many of them had seasonal radicchio braised into their seafood pasta dishes which caused me to swoon.

• Oniga: nice, cozy Venetian restaurant in Dorsoduro.  Located on a main square, so easy to find.  18 euros for lunch special that included pasta with mussels and a whole piece of grilled sea bass with polenta.  They stop serving lunch at 2:30.  Around the corner are two other restaurants that were highly recommended for dinner that we didn’t have time for: La Bitta (one of the few restaurants with a non-fish menu) and Osteria ai 4 Feri (a small place that was written up in Time.)
• Grom: gelato in Dorsoduro.   Unlike in Southern Italy, there is not gelato or cappuccino on every corner so you have to map out your gelato stops more strategically.  If you can stand the squeaky door and cranky service, stop in one of three Grom locations – including the one adjacent to Oniga in Dorsoduro – for a dark chocolate or pistachio scoop of gelato goodness.
• Rosso Pomodoro: a large, modern pizza and pasta restaurant in San Marco.   Because sometimes you need a go-to restaurant RIGHT now.  Located a stone’s throw from the commotion of San Marco square, Rosso Pomodoro has authentic Neapolitan-style pizzas made in wood burning ovens, above average pastas, a nice atmosphere and a kitchen that stays open all afternoon.   As a couple, you can skip it.  As a family, you may find yourself there more than once.  I had read somewhere that wood-burning pizza ovens weren’t legal in Venice (just like the glass blowing that was moved out to the island of Murano), but  something was lost in translation when I tried to get to the bottom of this conundrum with our harried server.
• Imagina: a casual café for an inexpensive lunch in Dorsoduro.  Great paninis and a hearty salad with tuna.  Off the main square where Oniga was located, along a canal – a good spot for either lunch or a drink.
• Birraria La Corte:  a large, modern Italian restaurant in San Polo.  Another solid family place (and one of the few that was open on New Year’s Day) with a bigger menu that worked for everyone.  Better than expected gnocchi.  Get the front room where the ambiance and lighting is better if you can.
• Antico Giardinetto:  a 7-8 table Venetian restaurant run by a nice couple in San Polo.  Each seafood pasta was fresh and special, and worth the more expensive price tag.  Though the fish options were the most memorable, there were also some lovely non-fish choices on the menu Two dinner seatings – one at 7:30 and one at 9:30.  Exactly as a cozy neighborhood restaurant is meant to be.  140 euros for a family of 5 with a bottle of wine.
• Caffe del Doge: a sit down coffee shop worth seeking out for a great cappuccino, interesting coffee drinks and decadent hot chocolate that will keep you kids motored for hours.  In San Polo.  A routine morning stop for us.
• All Frasca: an even smaller Venetian restaurant in Carnnaregio specializing in simple seafood dishes.  Hard to find, but worth the trip for a taste of simple mixed fish grill, pasta with anchovies and onions, fusilli with swordfish, olives and tomatoes and penne with shrimps and radicchio.  Front of house run by very friendly guy named Bruno.  Would be even more special in summer when restaurant spills out to many more tables onto quiet courtyard.  Only minor complaint was ordinary tiramisu and crème brule desserts.  Like Antico Giardinetto, also has two seatings and similar price point.  More talked about and expensive restaurant Boccadoro (which we didn’t have time for) is a few streets away. 

Of course I don’t need to tell you about the big sights like the Basilica di San Marco, the Palazzo Ducale and the Secret Passages Tour (book before you come!), and the Gallerie dell Accademia.  You will read all about then and no doubt visit them.   What I should mention however were some of the smaller sites and museums we visited that are worth a look, and perhaps depending on the attention span of your traveling company – a better alternative. 

• Ca’Rezzonico : an 18th century Venetian palace on the Grand Canal in Dorsoduro.  It is three floors of palace rooms with paintings, frescoes and decorative arts and a fourth gallery floor.  It’s small, manageable and interesting for all ages. The seven year old starting crying and heading for the exit with some of the disturbing art on the fourth floor, but don’t let this detour you. The first three floors are well worth the price of admission.
• Naval History Museum & Arsenale: A maritime museum in the Castello neighborhood that spans some 40+ rooms featuring scale models of Venetian built vessels and gondolas.  At less than 2 euros a person to get in, it’s dirt cheap and a welcome change of pace when you’re churched out.  It’s also worth the great views looking back at San Marcos and out to Lido.
• Da Vinci Museum:  Though not specifically Venetian, a permanent exhibit of over 120 different of his machine inventions is a fun hands on museum experience.  Exhibit housed in an old church in Dorsoduro.  Also includes dramatized video of DaVinci’s unsettled life in a sordid time with English subtitles (not for the squeamish.)

I apologize in advance for the obscene number of photos.  This was the short list.  My camera and I were having a mini love affair during our four days together in Venice.  Do not forget yours, and remember to pack your extra long lens.  And now for the rest of the Canalbum.