Family vacation to Italy and Germany, April 2009

The trip started at Lake Maggiore in Italy. I took a shuttle from the airport to Stresa and met the family. We did some shopping and began sampling the Italian cuisine. I was afraid I would gain back all the weight I had lost. The food was delicious!

We stayed at Il Monterosso. It is on top of a hill that required Andrew to navigate the minivan through about 48 switchbacks. The view was amazing and Martha and Cy started each morning with a pony ride.

We shopped and ate a lot of Gelato in Stresa and Verbania. There was also an early birthday party for Martha. Andrew mistakenly bought the gag candles and Martha got to blow them out twice!

We then took a train down to Cinque Terre. We stayed at a hotel with an amazing view, Hotel Villa Steno in Monterosso al Mare. We took a boat trip in the rain and visited two of the other towns, Vernazza and Manarola. The rain cut the trip short, but it was still pretty fun.

Andrew and the kids spent a day on the beach soaking up sun and braving the freezing cold water.

Andrew, Martha, Cy and I left dad and Edie in Monterosso al Mare and headed back to Milan for a flight to Berlin. We got drenched finding the bus to the airport, but it made for quite the adventure.

Back in Berlin, I worked during the day and hung out with the Berlin Bulkeley's during the evening. I also took a tour of Sabine and Janet's new store, Pomeranza Design Ranch. It is fun to watch them talk about the store. They both have big smiles when they do. The store is bright and open with a lot of different design stuff. The pictures describe it better then I can.

Friday was May Day in Berlin so we headed out to Kreuzberg for the celebration. I have not seen so many people in one place since the Pope came to visit Colorado. The police were expecting a bigger than normal riot and had a huge presence. We left just as the protesters started arriving and a riot did eventually happen. We missed it, thank goodness. It turned out to be a "normal" riot. Maybe the police presence paid off.

We also celebrated Martha's sixth birthday again and hosted a party for the kids from the Kita and their parents.

All and all it was an amazing trip. Edie did a fantastic job planning this trip. The hotels and locations were awesome!

Take a look at the pics. No captions yet, but I will get some posted and maybe some others as well!

Now for summer softball! Stay tuned.