Agueda and the Umbrella Sky Project

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Before we moved to Portugal I was looking for some pictures for my blog and I found the picture of all the umbrellas. I finally figured out that the picture was taken in Agueda. It has been on my list of places to visit but we decided to wait until July when they have the art festival AguitAgueda and the Umbrella Sky Project. I’m not sure if the umbrellas are up all the time, but they are definitely up every July.

It’s a cute town and somewhere that I would have explored anyway, but it’s even more charming with all of the umbrellas and colorful things around. We have been lucky because the weather has been on the cooler side this year, so we’re able to enjoy more of the summer festivals and activities this year.

We don’t have a ton of plans for the rest of the year. I have just been working to fund our move to northern Portugal next year. I know I have always talked about Braga and it has always been the place for us, but things have been changing a bit since we got a car. When we moved to Portugal I didn’t want a car, so I wanted a walkable city with lots of things to do and a train station so that we could leave easily. I wanted to be really close to a city center. Braga has all of that.

With a car it’s okay if we’re a little further from city center. I want to be somewhere walkable, ideally within walking distance of a market, a playground, a restaurant, and the kid’s school. In some ways a smaller town might work because things will be closer and ideally easier to walk to. I definitely still love Braga, but I want to look at a few more places. I can’t remember where I first heard of Viana do Castelo, but it looks really cute there and I could see us living there. We also like Ponte de Lima and want to check it out. If we’re in a smaller city we might be able to get a little house with a yard. Living in an apartment has been fine, but a house has its draws too.

All of this to say that we just booked a trip up to Northern Portugal in the fall. We will be staying in a house in Barcelos for just under 2 weeks. We’re definitely going to Viana do Castelo and Ponte de Lima. I want to go back to Guimaraes and I’m sure we’ll add a few more places to look at. Braga is still very much on our list, but with the car we would probably choose somewhere a little further from city center since apartments in the city center are getting more expensive.

Tomar and Festa dos Tabuleiros

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Festa dos Tabuleiros is a festival in Tomar that takes place every 4 years. I first read about it a few months ago and when I saw that it’s happening this year I knew we had to go. We have been looking for a reason to go back to Tomar and this seemed like the perfect one. The festival takes place over 10 days in July. Since Leiria Kids is next weekend, we decided that today was the perfect day for Tomar.

We really love Tomar and were wondering why we didn’t move there. Then we started looking at temperatures and figured it out pretty quickly. About an hour ago we were walking in Tomar and my watch said it was 90 degrees, or 32 celcius. We just got back to Leiria and it’s 75 or 23 here, so quite a big difference. And it must be even hotter in Tomar now. Tomar is a beautiful city, but it’s hot and there isn’t a ton of shade outside of the park there.

Anyway, we made it to Tomar in time for the parade at 10 this morning. Today was the kids parade and they were all so adorable. I’m glad we were able to see the parade. When I look at pictures on Google I see lots of pictures of beautifully decorated streets, but we didn’t see any of those today. Then again, we didn’t walk around town all that much either. We walked to the parade and then we went across the street to the park. They had some bouncy houses for the kids and they had tons of fun and got some energy out. We were going to get lunch, but everywhere was so crowded so we came home instead.

Sometimes I plan all kinds of things and want to see and do so much, but then the reality when we get there is that it’s just too hot or we’re just too tired. I’m really glad we got to see the parade, and one of these days we will see one the amazing decorated streets. Right now is AguitAgueda up by Aveiro. That’s where they have the street full of umbrellas. We are definitely going to see that before it ends!

If you’re thinking about checking out the Festa dos Tabuleiros I would definitely say to go. We only got to see a tiny part of it. Maybe in 4 years we can come back and see more! Tomar is a beautiful city and always worth a visit.

Valencia

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After years and years of researching Valencia we finally made it here and get to see if I was right. When I was looking at Spain I knew right away that Valencia would be our spot. I didn’t even really look into anywhere else because I knew we would love Valencia. I was right! This city is amazing. It’s beautiful and lively but not as overwhelming as Barcelona and other big cities feel. It seems really bike friendly- I love all of the bike lanes around the city.

We are on an almost 2 week trip. It started with a night in Porto, then a night in Barcelona, and then 7 nights on the cruise. We were supposed to spend 4 nights in Valencia, but our original fight got cancelled so instead we will spend 3 nights here and then 1 in Lisbon.

We took a few cruises before kids so we wanted to see what it would be like now. We didn’t love it, but the kids had fun. We both agree that 7 nights is too long and we will skip MSC next time. I want to try 3-5 nights on Disney or Celebrity. We did go to a few ports we love like La Spezia, Italy and Palma de Mallorca, Spain. I’m really hoping to make it back to Palma one of these days.

On Saturday we docked in Barcelona and took the 3 hour train ride to Valencia. We already know we want to come back to Valencia for at least a week. But maybe when it’s a bit cooler. It’s already getting warm here and it feels much more humid than central Portugal.

It’s interesting to see the city that could have been- the life that could have been. We had decided on Valencia for years before choosing Portugal instead. I love Valencia, but Portugal feels like home. I could see living in Spain one day, or maybe Italy. Who knows? But I do want to raise my kids in Portugal. We just need to find a spot there that we love and see ourselves staying in for years to come.

There is so much in Valencia that we didn’t do this trip. We’re all pretty exhausted. We did go to the Science Museum. We only made it to one exhibit, which was the one for young kids. The kids loved it. We didn’t even see any of the other exhibits because they wanted to spend all their time there. We didn’t go to the Aquarium or zoo, so hopefully we can see those next time. We did make it to Gulliver Parc, which is really unique. Sofia loved it but Leo was a little nervous.

This is one of the first times I’m really excited to go home. A week before our trip our vet called and said she had rescued a few cats and wanted to know if we wanted one of them. We got a girl kitten who is about 2 months old. We named her Lua. Her mom was feral, so Lua hasn’t been around people a lot. I had been working hard to gain her trust and she was really starting to come out of her shell right when we left. We had just introduced her to Rufino. I have never had two cats at the same time! Lua is at home with a pet sitter and probably loves not having toddlers around right now.

We miss all of the pets a lot this trip. This trip has been fun, but we’re all ready to get back. No more big trips this year. I need to work and save some money. We will be taking some trips around Portugal though. Somehow we are all traveled out for the moment. I’m sure after spending a month or two at home I’ll start thinking about another trip 😉

Lua

Road-trip to Nazare in our car!!

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Our car is here! We were approved for the loan and one night the dealer let us know the car was ready for pick up. They had given us an insurance quote and we decided to go with the company they used since it would be easier. They gave us 3 quotes. I don’t remember the exact amounts but the most expensive was 750+ per year and the cheapest was around 300. We decided to go with the expensive one for our first year because it’s similar to full coverage insurance.

Our car!

Buying a car in Portugal wasn’t any better or worse than in the US- both places require hours of waiting and lots of paperwork. I am really grateful that the dealership did a lot of the hard stuff for us. They got us the loan, registered the car, and got us insurance. We also have warranties and roadside assistance that works anywhere in the EU.

Unfortunately I had to work a ton the first few days we had the car and I didn’t get to use it much. Finally I have a day off today and we decided to head to Nazare. We went there once last year and have been meaning to go back. We let Sofia ditch a day of preschool so that she could come with us. It feels nice driving again! It was nerve wracking at first, but I’m adjusting. The roads here are great.

For now we’re having to avoid the toll roads since we don’t have our transponder yet. There is a company called Via Verde and they have an awesome app. You can create an account there and use it to pay for all kinds of car related things including parking and tolls. Once we get the transponder it will make driving easier since we can use the toll roads. We can probably use the roads anyway and pay either a person or get a bill in the mail, but I’m not entirely sure.

We were only in Nazare for a few hours. Finding parking was a bit harder than we thought given that it’s Wednesday and not summer. There were still plenty of people out and tons of cars looking for parking spots. We finally found a spot and headed to the beach. Last time was super foggy and we couldn’t see anything. The skies were clear today.

Nazare was fine for playing in the sand, but definitely not a beach to let the kids wade in the water or swim. The waves were pretty big and the tide looked strong. Luckily the kids were happy just playing in the sand.

We didn’t walk around town much today. It was more of a let the kids play kind of a day. Next time I want to go while the kids are in school so that we can look at some of the shops and go to the lighthouse. Given how tough it was to find parking I don’t think we will go again until late this year. I have been really wanting to see the big waves, so hopefully we can make it in November or December to see them.

Tomorrow the kids are back in school and Kyle and I are going to Tomar! I’m excited. I have been wanting to see Tomar for a long time.

I think we bought a car sight unseen

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We moved to Portugal sight unseen. Moved to Leiria sight unseen. Signed a 3 year lease for the apartment sight unseen. So we might as well buy a car sight unseen too, right?

We have been talking about buying a car for the past few weeks now. I have been pretty sick the past 2.5 weeks. Bad cough, lots of congestion, a fever on and off. I lost a lot of sleep because laying down would make me cough too much. During that time Kyle had to do pretty much everything because I had to save the little bit of strength I had for work. We had already wanted a car, but me being out of commission sealed the deal. We looked at leasing options, but just like in the states I have never been able to see the benefit of leasing over buying.

In the US when I buy a car I do tons of research. I like SUVs and I like Honda and Nissan, so I tend to start there. I look at gas mileage, safety, features. We wanted to get a hybrid here, but it’s out of our price range so we looked into diesel. We decided that we prefer diesel over gasoline because it seems like it will be more efficient and better on the car over time. So for us buying a car in Portugal meant walking into a dealership and asking if they have any automatic diesel vehicles. They had one. We bought it, lol. Maybe…

Unfortunately this is not the car we bought

The process is both similar and different than in the US. There is no test drive. They plug some numbers into a computer and show a list of monthly payment options. I forget all of the options, but they had some really long term ones, like 8+ years. We added a few warranties, which were cheap. We paid half of the down payment right up front. Then they wanted all of our info to see if we would get approved for a loan. It’s a little nerve wracking paying so much without even knowing if we will be approved. We didn’t bring any paperwork with us today, so we made do using our phone apps and screen shots. When we got home I spent over an hour getting some things together to email. I emailed bank statements and payments stubs. It would be easier if you have Portuguese income or have paid taxes in Portugal, but I am paid in USD and we haven’t paid taxes here yet, so we had to do it the harder way.

We spent just over 3 hours at the dealership and then I spent another hour or two getting everything together at home. When we left the dealership we still had no idea if we had been approved. I still don’t know right now. I figure it will probably take a few days at least. So fingers crossed that we get approved for financing! Since they don’t do credit scores over here I’m not really sure how they decide who to lend to or what the risk factors may be.

The car we (hopefully) bought is in the shop getting fixed up. They are painting it and replacing two of the tires. It’s a 2014 with 84000 kilometers. I don’t even know the make and model and I don’t even care. A car is going to give us so much freedom. We have made it work for an entire year and a half and we did it and it was fine. But we are both so excited at the thought of having a car again. It definitely brings a lot more cost, but hopefully it will be worth the trade off.

Playground inside the dealership

They did have a car in stock that’s just like ours (but not automatic or diesel) but a few years newer so they showed it to us. They said that all of the features will be the same. I really love the one they showed us. I was very adament about not getting a car when we moved here, but we’ve been here for a whole year and a half now and I think we’re ready. Having an automatic will make it easier. I can kind of drive stick, but only do it every decade or two, so my skills are pretty rusty. We keep talking about all the places we will go when we get a car. High on the list is Tomar because the bus schedule from Leiria doesn’t work, so we haven’t been able to go.

The newer model of our (hopefully) future car

I’m not too sure of the next steps. Hopefully we get a happy call or email soon. We still owe half the down payment. We transferred the first half to them, so we will probably do the same if we get approved. They said that they will drop the car off at our house, which would be awesome. Next up is shopping for car seats, and then some road trips! I guess I’m getting ahead of myself. We still have to wait to see if we even get approved. Oh, and we need to figure out how to buy car insurance. And figure out the tolls. Well, plenty to keep us busy while we wait.

Disneyland Paris and Leo’s birthday, part 2

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On Monday we headed to the main Disneyland park. We rented strollers, which I knew would be expensive but I definitely still had some sticker shock at €25 per stroller per day. In total we spent €100 on stroller rentals. I’m trying not to think about that 😂

We started in Fantasy Land, where a lot of the little kid rides are. Leo threw an epic fit right away and kept telling us to hold him. We figured out pretty quickly that he just really hates the cold. He is much whinier in below freezing temps and just wants to be held all the time. I think Leo wants some warm vacations. We were hoping to go on a few kid friendly dark rides to build them up to go on Pirates of the Caribbean, but they did great on Peter Pan so we thought they were probably ready. Peter Pan was a cute ride. Leo fell asleep when we put him in the stroller, so then we walked around a bit.

Disneyland has 5 different lands/areas. We didn’t have a plan the first day and it all felt a little scattered. We went to each area of the park, but didn’t really get to see a ton of it. I definitely couldn’t tell you where anything is. We did go on the main rides I really wanted to do like Pirates of the Caribbean and the Toy Story one. The kids thought Pirates was a bit scary but they did good. They loved the Toy Story ride.

Agrabah Cafe

We had lunch at Agrabah Cafe because I had heard that it’s pretty good. To get a birthday cake you have to reserve one at a buffet or sit down restaurant. I knew Disney would be expensive, but the prices for the buffet were pretty crazy. €40 per adult, €23 per kid, and €35 for the cake. The food was fine, the service was awful, and the decorations were great. Seeing them sing Happy Birthday to Leo was awesome.

Our original plan was to go to Disneyland on Monday, stay at the hotel on Tuesday, and go back to the same park on Wednesday. We changed our minds and decided to try the second park on Wednesday. I’m glad we did because we had more fun that day and really got to know the park.

The other park is Walt Disney Studios Park. There were a ton of rides there that we could all do together. One of our favorite areas was the Ratatouille section. The ride was cute and well done and the area around it was nice. They have food stands down the main area. The food there was also amazing and seemed better priced than anywhere else in the parks. And everyone ate there. With two picky toddlers it’s hard to find a place everyone will eat.

We also saw the Stitch show, which was really cute. Sofia especially loved it and keeps talking about it. I think it was a lot easier because the park was smaller. We spent the same amount of time there as we had in the main park. Both parks had a lot of dead ends. I knew to expect it at the Studios Park since it’s likely not finished yet, but I was surprised by all of the dead ends at the main park. Also, there was a decent amount closed or being refurbished. The biggest disappointment was It’s a Small World. It was my favorite ride as a kid and I know Sofia would love it. It was closed the entire time we were there.

Overall we had a lot of fun and I definitely plan on repeating this trip in a few years. But probably not in February. I think we will try for Spring. The nice thing about February is that the crowds and wait times are low, but it’s also cold and it seems like too much is closed. Our last two amusement park trips have taught us that we want a smaller park with more toddler rides. There is one in the Netherlands that I think fits the bill if I can figure out how to make that trip work…

Disneyland Paris & Leo’s Birthday, Part 1

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We kicked off our vacation on Saturday with a 1 night stay in Lisbon. We stayed at a hotel literally across the street from the airport. On Sunday our fight left around 8 something, so it was really nice to get up and just walk across the street to the airport. On Saturday afternoon we used the metro at the airport to head to the aquarium. We got to ride the cable car that had been closed last year. I’m terrified of heights, but I have really loved the cable cars rides we have gone on since moving to Portugal. The views are always stunning. As always, it was fun getting to be in Lisbon.

On Sunday we flew into Paris. It’s the first time in a long time that our fight left on time. Normally we take a bus or train to where we need to go, but there’s no direct train. We would have to take 3 trains and make 2 transfers. We had extra bags because we couldn’t do laundry this trip. Since it was already an expensive trip we decided to splurge and we hired a chauffeur. It was amazing. The driver met us at baggage claim, took all our bags and loaded them all into the car. And then we got a direct ride to our hotel.

We stayed at Explorer’s Hotel, which is about 10 minutes from Disney and 45 minutes from Orly airport. I picked this hotel because of the awesome indoor activities for kids. They have a great pool and a 3 story indoor play area. There’s also an outdoor playground which we did end up using for about 10 minutes one day. It was between 28 and 38 degrees during our stay. It wasn’t too bad in the sun, but the playground was in the shade so it gets cold pretty quickly.

On Sunday we got to the hotel early afternoon, so the kids got to play a lot and we went swimming. They warmed to the pool pretty quickly. We really wanted to go back, but we were just too exhausted. The hotel has a pizza place and snack bar type place. All of the food there was super overpriced and terrible. Luckily we figured that out the first day and we were able to order food through Uber Eats. It was still super expensive, but at least it tasted great.

The hotel also has a shuttle to Disneyland Paris. Both parks and Disney Village are all connected, as is the train station. It was pretty easy to get to and from the hotel and Disney. Kyle even took the shuttle to Disney Village to pick up dinner a few times.

Well, that’s part 1 of our trip. We just got home a few minutes ago. It was a super long day of a 1.5 hour car ride to the airport, 2 hour flight, 20 minute car ride, 2 hour bus ride, and 10 minute car ride. But everything left on time! So even though it was a super long day it went pretty smoothly. I have a ton of work tomorrow and Saturday, so I will post part 2 in a few days to talk about the parks.

We will definitely do this trip again in a few years. We will stay at the same hotel in Lisbon and if it’s winter or spring we will stay in the Explorer’s hotel again. If it’s warm or hot out we would try a Disney Hotel to see what it’s like, but it would be hard for a hotel to beat Explorer’s if you have small kids.

2023 Travel Plans

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Brrrr, it has been really cold in Portugal. It’s been an extra rainy year and we finally have a break from the rain, but it has been freezing. Literally! In the mornings when we walk the kids to school it has been 30 degrees (farenheight because I still don’t quite know celcius yet). It heats up to about 50 or so during the day, but the mornings are so cold!

Rufino

Leo started preschool. He is just going 2 days a week so far. It has been really nice to have that break and be able to get some things done or just relax without being needed constantly. And we end up really missing them, so we really appreciate picking them up and seeing them again. Leo is in the baby room since he is 2. Once he turns 3 next week he will move to Sofia’s room. I think they will both like it more when they’re in the same room together.

In 6 days we leave for Paris! Well, more like passing through Paris. We’re going to Disneyland Paris, which is about 45 minutes outside of Paris. We want this trip to be easy, so we won’t really be venturing into Paris. It’s definitely on our list to visit one day. I’m really excited for Disneyland. Sofia is 4 and Leo will be turning 3. I know they probably won’t remember this trip, but I do think that they’re at the age where they will really love and appreciate it. Leo doesn’t cry anymore when he see’s people dressed up. He will be so excited to see Mickey.

We have a few confirmed trips this year and a few I’m still figuring out. There’s probably one or two that I don’t even know about yet. Before we had kids Kyle and I went on a few cruises. It was a good compromise because Kyle likes to relax on vacation and I like to sightsee. Sightseeing is a bit too stressful with the kids, so I have been trying to figure out how to travel easier and smarter. We decided to try a cruise with the kids. They’ll both be old enough for the cruise daycare program and they will be in the same room because their ages are so close.

We have been talking about a cruise for years, but we wanted to wait until the kids qualify for onboard daycare and until we felt a little safer. I know they will both be cautious around the railings, although we will obviously still watch them really closely. The cruise will be with MSC and it goes to France, Spain, and Italy. I picked it more for the ship than the itinerary. The ship has a water park for the kids that looks like fun. The cruise is a week long and leaves from Barcelona, so we will be in Barcelona for a night again. One of these days we’ll actually stay and see the city. I couldn’t find any flights home that worked, so we decided to take the train to Valencia and stay there for a few nights after the cruise. It will be a huge trip and we will be gone for almost 2 weeks. That trip is already booked and we’re definitely going.

Rufino cuddling with Bailey to stay warm

At some point before the cruise we will head up north to visit Viana do Castelo, Portugal. We also want to go to Viseu at some point because we know some people there and want to check out the city. We’re hoping to move to northern Portugal this year- ideally around the summer. We’ve been keeping an eye on apartments in Braga and Guimaraes but haven’t seen any that work for us yet.

In December we’re planning on going to Vienna, Austria. Kyle’s sister will be living there, so that’s the original reason we started planning the trip. I saw that Vienna has a great Christmas Market, so now I’m even more excited to go. At least we learned from our Belgium trip. I bought long underwear and scarves for everyone. We will really get to test it out next week because it’s going to be cold in France. I’m excited! Ever since we got back from Belgium I have been really antsy and wanting to travel somewhere again.

Brussels

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Whatever Kyle and Sofia had definitely caught up with me. Leo got sick before me, but luckily he got over it in less than 12 hours. I’m not as sick as I was in Bruges, but I’m still pretty sore and exhausted. Even so, we still got to see some of the Brussels Christmas Market. It’s huge!

Carousel

The market has at least 1 Ferris wheel and two carousels that we saw. I think there is one more Ferris wheel somewhere. The carousels are really unique and awesome. We saw some of the light show at Grand Place. The first night we ventured a little too far from the hotel and the kids got upset because they were so cold. They’re definitely not a fan of the cold weather. Neither am I.

Ferris Wheel and the view

Today is our last day of vacation. Normally I feel sad at the thought of returning home. I love living in Portugal though, and I’m excited to get back. This is our first time leaving our cat, so I’m ready to get back and see him and our dog. It also doesn’t hurt that we have a trip planned to Disneyland Paris is less than 2 months. I think that will be easier. Trying to do this trip without a stroller for Leo was too ambitious. And I’m definitely ready for above freezing temperatures.

Today we’re planning on staying close to the hotel. Luckily that’s easy because our hotel is in the center of everything. We just went out for less than an hour and now we’re back at the room to rest and thaw out. I’m sure we’ll venture out at least one or two more times. We have been seeing horse drawn carriage rides that we would love to take if we can figure out where they are.

The go to language in Bruges seemed to be Dutch. The go to language in Brussels is definitely French. Everywhere I go people greet me with “Bonjour.” I should have looked up a few phrases in French before we came here! I wish I could learn French too, but I really need to become more proficient with Portuguese first.

We took the train from Brussels to Bruges, and then from Bruges back to Brussels. We’ll take the train again tomorrow when we head to the airport. The trains in Belgium are extremely easy to use. They’re comfortable, really easy to navigate, and seem to be on time. That’s good because we will have a long travel day tomorrow. I’m excited to come back to Belgium again. There is so much that we still want to see. But next time we will definitely try for Spring or Summer 😂

Bruges

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Our flight out of Lisbon ended up being delayed for 1.5 hours. So far any time we try to leave Portugal is not very good, lol. We missed our original train from Brussels to Bruges, but luckily they come every hour so we were able to make the next one. We were tired but wanted to see the city so we ran out for a few minutes.

It was 28 degrees and I haven’t been in below freezing temps in over a decade. The kids have never been in weather this cold. Turns out Bruges is not like Portugal. Things mostly close here once the sun goes down. Probably because it’s so cold. 🥶 We got a chocolate covered waffle on a stick for the kids and then headed back to our apartment.

The next morning Kyle was feeling pretty sick, and the kids didn’t want to go back out in the cold, so I went out for a bit by myself. Bruges is a very cute town. I see why people like it. The architecture is beautiful. I booked 4 nights here and that was way too much. We could have done a single night, or even just a day trip from Brussels. I guess it worked out though because our second night here Kyle got worse and Sofia got sick too. They were up all night throwing up. The next day they felt better but were exhausted. That brings us to today. The minute Leo woke up he threw up, and my stomach is feeling pretty bad too. Looks like today is our day. Hopefully it will pass by tonight because tomorrow we are back on the train to Brussels.

The only things I cared about doing in Bruges were The Christmas Market, having hot chocolate at The Old Chocolate House, trying waffles, and trying French fries. I’m not sure about the Christmas Market this year. It’s definitely not bad, but nothing like the videos and pictures I have seen of past years. It was nothing special. We didn’t get to try the hot chocolate or fries. Our first morning here we had some waffles at House of Waffles. I got a waffle BLT with egg and it was delicious. It was kind of pricey, but I’m glad we got to try it.

I’m still trying to figure out the language situation. Obviously the official language is Dutch, but I’ve had a couple of languages spoken to me. I opened the door open for someone and they said “merci.” Another time was “danka.” When someone had to reach in front of me they said “excuse me.” How does anyone know what language to speak to other people? I’m not sure what language to even use to ask if someone speaks English. When I go into stores about half the time they just start out speaking to me in English. The other half of the time they say “hallo” and I try to say it back but I must butcher it because they immediately switch to English.

Unfortunately Bruges has been kind of a wash. We were all pretty sick at some point. Kyle and I each got a few hours to explore on our own. It’s a very charming and beautiful town. A lot of the food here reminds me of comfort food in the US. I could definitely see coming back to Bruges, but I would rather stay in Brussels and take a day trips to some of the places around. When Kyle was sick but Sofia wasn’t I had planned on taking a day trip with her to Ghent, so maybe we will do that one day.

I think we will have to come back in a few years. We missed out on a lot from being sick and this is our first trip without strollers. It’s nice not to have to lug them around, but also makes us really limited in what we can do. The kids are not fans of waking around in the cold, which is understandable. Tomorrow we are on to Brussels. We only have two days there so we will have to make the most of them!