So great to hear you enjoyed many of the places we enjoyed in Venice - Locanda Orseolo, the little sandwich shop just left of the courtyard, Fantasy Gelato and Acqua Pazza!! I also loved watching the working boats in the morning on the canal.

I've really enjoyed reading this report - you kept my attention throughout. Thank you for taking the time to write and post it.

Here are some of the pictures:

http://tinyurl.com/r9nbj

Your pictures are awesome! Thanks for posting them.

Thanks to all who took the time to read the report.

vickio - Thanks...I try to be a mostly positive person and it works much of the time, but not always :D

kswl - :-)

noe847 - I agree about the downtime. It is so nice for all of us now that the boys are old enough to be alone occassionally.

I'm not sure where our next trip will be :-? . I usually have the next trip in mind by the time I return from one, but with crazy schedules this year and lots of ideas running around my mind, I don't know. Ideas and suggestions are welcome. And it doesn't have to be Europe.

jgg- >:D< You are the greatest!

saraho - thanks. How is the shoulder? Are you coming to VA anytime soon?

julia_t - I'm really amazed by any of you who read the whole report, but I'm so glad you enjoyed it. It is a great way to relive the trip and solidify it in my mind. I also hope I can help others on this forum half as much as you all help me.

Thanks for posting your pictures. They are stunning, and I'd say you did end up with a few really great family photos - good for holiday cards and a great reminder of a wonderful trip. It's always tough to arrange for someone to take the family pix, and I never want to ask strangers to take several so it's sort of pot luck. Luckily with digital cameras you can tell if it's a total dud!

Future trips you might enjoy - New Mexico was a surprise favorite of ours. My girls have loved Central Europe, especially Prague. Croatia seems to be pretty wonderful - friends of ours have just returned. Other trips highly recommended by friends with teens are a dude ranch in the (American) West, and an Alaskan cruise.

Good report and awesome pictures. We are heading to Switzerland on 9-13, took some notes from your report. Agree with Noe847 about Alaska, but also take a land tour or rent a car for at least a week. Thanks

Great reading and i love your attitude to when problems happen - have to take it as it is and an adventure - the Golden Pass snafu and the Milan-Lake Garda train problems. I too thoroughly enjoyed Lake Garda and its many gems. Seems like you have great family synergy!

Enjoyed your report and your pictures. Wonderful opportunity for your boys as well! Thanks.

>>>><<<<<I’m not sure, but we’d guess we hiked at least 10-12 miles with most of it level or downhill….certainly not an advanced or challenging hike, but more than just a short stroll. Still, it was perfect for us<<<>>>>>>

Those are the best kind of walks. I mean people go there to have fun and see the great sights mostly, not to kill themselves doing difficult hikes. I mostly do about 2 of what I call challenging hikes and spend the rest of the time doing fun walks and leisurely activities.

When I was young, I was Mr Super hiker or a wannabe anyway.

The walk back down to Wengen is a good one, but that downhil trek was a little hard on my knees as I recall. Good hiking sticks help!

" It's too strong, something's wrong I guess I've lost the feeling"..... The Bomber, Joe Walsh and the James Gang

Great report. When I was planning our Italy trip, it was originally to be only Rome and Florence, reserving Venice to be combined with a future Switzerland trip. However, the train connections from the Interlaken area to Venice seemed complicated, so I just took a few more days off, and added Venice!

Wow, that pic of the walk down from Kleine Scheidegg made me want to get over there now. What a tremendously excellent pic.

Also the Kl. Scheidegg pics really caught my attention.

Great job with the pics. Makes us all want to get there now!

Great comments.

noe847 - thanks for the great suggestions. Alaska is penciled in for Summer 2008 (not 2007 because of 15yo scheduled to spend 5 weeks in Israel and friends we plan to go with want to wait till 2008).

Prague along with Krakow is definitely on the short "list." What did your girls love about it? Do you think it would suit boys? Are there outdoorsy options to combine with the cities?

DH and I were just thinking of NM as a possible trip for just the two of us - but, perhaps we will consider it for the family. We loved our trip to the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell and Sedona as a family.

Somehow, whenever I have suggested a dude ranch all 3 of my guys have balked. Hmmm.

Everyone seems to love Croatia so I guess it is on most of our lists.

Other thoughts are American West (Glacier, Yellowstone, Tetons, or Oregon?). Maybe Amsterdam/Brugges?

sidepockets- Have a great time in Switzerland. And, for sure, Alaska cruise would combine with land time.

PalQ - Thanks! :-)

LLindaC- I appreciate all your help in our planning. You really helped with the info and in building our excitement for our trip. It was the best.

missypie - Yeah, Interlaken to Venice is not easy. That is one of the main reasons we stayed over in Milan although I was happy to have the chance to view the Duomo and the Last Supper. And, of course, we also planned to include a Lake and stay in the Northern part of Italy. Can't do everything even though we want to! ;-)

sunstar- Yikes, you are right. It is a lot of downhill back to Wengen and I was wishing for some hiking poles! Even though I run and work out regularly, my knees were unhappy by the end of that hike - I was a bit sore in the morning. I know what you mean about the pictures making you want to go there - I want to go back looking at them and we just left! :D

Dear fun4all4:

I really enjoyed your photos and trip report. Your photos of Wengen are spectacular, and have added some confusion about where to stay in the BO. I was thinking Murren, but now I'll reconsider. Perhaps I'll start a new thread on the topic. Looks like you had a lovely family vacation!

I absolutely loved your report - and your pictures are gorgeous. I'm trying so hard to pick out our vacation for 2007 and well I think we might copy yours!

Thanks for sharing it!!
Sally

Bookmarking...thanks for all the great experiences!
Rosie :)

I will try to answer your question about why my girls like Prague, fun4all4. For starters, they really like visiting cities. I don't think they've met a European city they didn't like. But I'd say Prague won their hearts because of its incredible beauty and its vibe.

When we visited the first time, we took the train from Germany. As soon as we crossed the border into the Czech Republic the view out the window changed. Gone were the manicured farmhouses. The buildings were all an ochre color and crumbling a bit around the edges. We were reading the guide books for Prague to see what we'd specifically like to do (we play it pretty flexible, beyond lodgings). Anyway, there were all these warnings about pickpockets and rip off taxi drivers and my younger daughter (14 at the time) started to get apprehensive. I tried to reassure her that the same could probably be said about the city we live in, or about New York City, which we have visited many times (well, not the taxi driver part), and you have to keep a certain degree of care anywhere you visit. When we pulled into the station, she truly didn't want to get off the train!

As it turned out, the taxi driver did quote us a rate that was too high (you really do want to get your hotel to arrange transfer, or to give you an idea of a reasonable price that you can fix with the driver). We negotiated him down a bit, and he grudginly agreed, grumbling about our luggage, etc. On the way to the hotel, my husband and I decided quietly to pay him the full amount he had asked, since it was Christmas Day. I honestly don't think I've ever seen anyone so happy as when we handed him the money. He broke into a huge smile and wished us "Merry Christmas" in English (he spoke very little), which was the first time we'd heard it all day.

By the time we left the city 3 days later, we were all fans of Prague. The city is filled with visitors, and it somehow manages to feel like the crossroads of everywhere. Lots of languages and nationalities. Everyone is having fun; the energy of the city is very positive.

The absolute best spot in the city is the Charles Bridge, which is pedestrian only. It is just a street party all day and evening. There are musicians and art vendors lining the bridge and just throngs of people (except for very early in the morning) milling around.

We have stayed on both sides of the river, but my girls preferred the castle side (Mala Strana). We had to cross the bridge every time we went to the old town, or the English language bookstore. This year we were right in the old town, but had to walk onto the bridge every day (even if we weren't going to the other side) just to check out the scene.

They are getting ready to do some bridge reconstruction, which will narrow the pedestrian area significantly, so that would be something to check if you plan to go.

The city is stunning architecturally. It retains its medieval layout, but many of the old buildings were refaced in the Baroque style (sort of like Salzburg). There are these really distinctive spires all over the place. There is a significan Jewish quarter, where Art Nouveau buildings replaced the original residences, but the magnificent synagogues can still be toured. The Jewish Cemetary is fascinating. Rabbi Loew, who created the golem, is buried here.

The castle complex is extensive and beautiful. There are towers on both sides of the river that you can climb for amazing views. Actually, nearly every view of the city is breathtaking. There are tons of churches, including the one containing the legendary "Infant of Prague" wax statue. I think that all the things we enjoyed (except maybe the obigitory shopping that we did with the girls) would be equally attractive for boys.

I can't address the outdoorsy aspect of the Czech Republic, as both times we went in December and pretty much did city things.

I am sitting at our friends' house near Zurich sadly awaiting our departure stateside... we left Wengen yesterday, and I hope our pictures turn out as great as yours. We also loved the Alpenrose. I thank you for your description of the hike down from Kleine Scheidegg, because it inspired me to add on to my originally planned hike. I combined your route with an idea from another posting, and we took the train down to Wegneralp, and started the hike from there, since my kids would not have lasted the whole way down. Instead of a straight downhill, we wound our way to Allmenden, where we stopped for ice cream(also another suggestion from that post....) and then, i have to confess that we hopped on the train for the short trip down to Wengen. that is the beauty of hiking in this area, that you have restaurants and train stops to help break up the trip for those who need to shorten their exertion! i also found that any hike one takes in this area is bound to be beautiful. just pick one based on length and difficulty, and you can not go wrong. it was great that there were so many relatively flat trails in the area, so that even if one is not an experienced or strong hiker there are fabulous journeys to take! I am glad I read these postings before our trip, because I knew to avoid the straight downhill route to Wengen. Thanks everyone.

skatedancer,
so glad you loved the Alpenrose and found the hiking info useful. I look forward to hearing more about your trip when you return. It sounds like it was great. :-)

noe - thanks for taking the time to give such detailed insight into Prague. I hope we get to go there in the next few years as it sounds awesome.

fun4all4 -

Reading about your adventures transported me to the meadows above Wengen, a place near and dear to my heart.

Thanks for a well written report.