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Sunday, May 7, 2017

Eurotrip 2017- Part 2 (Germany)

This is Part 2 out of a 4-part series I am writing about our recent trip to Europe. Even though it has taken me a while, I am really interested in documenting our adventures for posterity and keepsake purposes so thank you if you're reading all this! ;)
One of the things that we did slightly different during this trip is that instead of flying or riding trains within Europe, we just rented a car and drove. It was technically our first time driving around Europe (although we did rent a car in Portugal a couple of years ago, but we never drove to another country from there) so I will admit I was little nervous about it.  I was stressed about what kind of insurance was required to rent a car, the cost of gas and most importantly the risks involved with driving in a different continent. 
The drive from Zurich to Frankfurt was AWFUL... a 4 hour distance took us almost 8; there was traffic, accidents, construction work and lots of kiddie stops along the way.  By the time we arrived in Frankfurt, Germany we were seriously exhausted, especially Iggy who was driving our stick shift car in all that mess...(thanks, babe for not complaining even once!...you're such a good sport)

One of the cities we visited in Germany was Konstanz, we actually went there while we were still staying in Switzerland since it's a city that is on the coast of both countries. History says that Konstanz was one of the few German cities that wasn't destroyed during the war since it is awfully closed to Switzerland and it was often mistaken for a Swiss city.  It was so beautiful and the weather that day was particularly nice.  We visited some of the city's icons and we did some pedal boating in the lake and even some shopping...we loved it there!


One of our main stops in Germany was Frankfurt, which is the country's business center and one of the most important cities there.  Although Frankfurt didn't "impress" me, it was a nice place to visit. The good: amazing architecture and views, awesome food and a great beacon of German culture; the bad: I found the city to be a bit "trashy" and saw lots of shady people and bad areas.  At one point we ended up in a really bad neighborhood plagued with cabarets and XXX stores, definitely not suitable for children..LOL... for these and a few other reasons, I found Frankfurt to be the least child friendly city out of the ones we visited and one that I probably won't go back to... Still... we were happy to spend a few days in Frankfurt and the souvenir shops there were pretty good and reasonably priced!


In Germany, we also visited Cologne, featuring one of THE most impressive cathedrals I've ever seen (pictured below) and also where we spent Easter Sunday.  We attended mass in German, which was definitely quite the experience; even though we barely understood anything, the vibe during mass was incredibly powerful and I came out it feeling refreshed and blessed. 


Easter Mass (NOT in the Cathedral, just a random church)

In passing (while we were on our way to the Netherlands) we also visited Dusseldorf.  It was a short visit and the weather was cold, rainy and gloomy while we were there, but Dusseldorf really impressed me with its modern architecture and warm vibe. We visited some of Frank Ghery's buildings and also had lunch at a cute Mexican place (go figure!).  The girls even got EU balloons after crashing a street protest supporting Germany's stay in the European Union...definitely a tale for the ages...


Some things about Germany:
* German people are NOT friendly!  I realize this is such a generalization but the dryness of German people was evident everywhere we went.  They are cold and distant and their "rough" sounding language doesn't help much!
* Highways are FAST! You've probably heard stories about German highways not having speed limits and such but OMG.. some of these people drove way faster than I could cope and it was scary at some points, especially considering that we had a car loaded with kids and all...
* Food prices are decent...now after coming from Switzerland everything seemed to be cheap, but realistically speaking things weren't expensive in Germany so that was nice. 
* Germans are fond of Americans.. I know I said German people are not friendly but they definitely are fond of American culture and many things there made me feel like I was visiting a US city, similar vibe, similar foods, similar way of life..

All in all, we really LOVED Germany and it's a country worth visiting again.  I still favor Berlin over Frankfurt but we loved our time there and we are looking forward to visiting Germany again in the future and exploring other cities such as Munich and Hamburg so the country remains on our "bucket list". 
Thank you Germany, for a wonderful time!


Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Eurotrip 2017- Part 1 (Switzerland)

It has been a little bit over a week since we came back from yet another dream trip to Europe but I've been so busy with other stuff that I haven't had the chance to sit down and blog about it. But in blogging (at least in my blog), it's always better late than never so I'll start with tales from Switzerland, which is one of the first countries we visited this time around. 
We flew in through Paris (mostly because it was the cheapest route @ $500 each) and we rented a car at CDG airport to start our journey. On the day we arrived, we drove 6 hours to Wadenswill (about 25 min outside of Zurich) and settled into my cousin Renato's house; looking at it in retrospect, I think we should have spent the first night in Paris resting because by the time we got to Switzerland we had flown for 9 hours and driven for 6 running on ZERO sleep so that was a little nuts!

Being in Switzerland is basically spending time inside a postcard, everything is just beautiful and perfect; everywhere you look there's a picturesque scene straight out of a dream and no matter how hard you try, the beauty cannot be captured in a picture because there won't ever be a camera that captures such perfection. There are mountains, lakes, flowers, beautiful trees, animals, historic buildings, pretty stores and everything you can imagine in pretty much every street and every corner; I couldn't get over how amazingly beautiful everything was. 
We visited several cities including Rapperswil, Lucerne, Zurich, Zug and whatever little town we came across and we soaked it all in as much as we could.  Simply amazing...
Of course the most amazing part of our time in Switzerland was spending time with our family; my cousin Renato, his wife Anastasia and their son Adrian (just 8 weeks younger than Oliver) were the most amazing hosts anyone could ask for.  We got home cooked meals every night, a comfortable room and the best quality family time ever; the kids spent a lot of time playing together and just enjoying each other's company.  We are forever grateful for their hospitality and the warmth we felt during our stay...thank you, guys!

Some things about Switzerland:
- Things are EXPENSIVE!: by American standards (and probably any standard), Switzerland is among the priciest countries in the world. Of course, people's salaries are in accordance with cost of living, but I was really surprised to see how much things cost.  What do I mean?  Well... a McDonald's combo is $20, a Starbucks coffee (the smallest) is $8 and a pasta dish at an average restaurant is about $30, a large pizza is about $50 and so on.. you get the picture!
- Everything is so CLEAN!: I've been to a lot of places, many of them incredibly clean but Switzerland takes the cake.. wow! They are famous for being the country with the best waste management in the world and it definitely shows.  Trash can only be disposed in special bags that cost 2 CHF (about $2) and the pick up follows a very strict schedule with certain wastes that can only be thrown out on specific dates and specific times.  Also, recycling is a HUGE deal and more than 60% of their waste is recycled with very efficient techniques. 
- Nature is a BIG deal!: The incredible natural landscapes and flowers that surround each city are taken very seriously; Swiss people take pride in having natural beauty as a highlight of their country and it definitely shows... I could even tell their air is much cleaner and the breeze felt fresher. 
- Swiss Chocolate is to DIE for!: no, really! what an amazing chocolate they make in Switzerland.  I was impressed by all the specialty stores and chocolatiers in every city we visited.  The Swiss take pride in their chocolate and together with Belgium, they are among the most famous chocolate makers in the world! All the hype is REAL!
- Swiss people are VERY quite! Since we were staying in Wadenswil and not Zurich, things were very quite around us; there is basically no life after 8pm and everything looks and feels like a ghost town.  Everything and everyone is quite and you almost feel bad for even making a sound after a certain time. That's probably one of the things that I "disliked" the most, especially since this was the first place we visited and we were super jet lagged so the kids were full of energy and it was hard for them to settle so "early". 

I could probably go on and on about the wonders of Switzerland but I'll just post some pictures instead.  Here are some that show the beautiful scenery and ones that reflect the happiness we felt for being with our family in such an amazing place...

Next post I'll write about Germany and the wonderful time we had there too....


Sunday, April 30, 2017

Gaby's First Holy Communion

Yesterday we celebrated Gaby's First Holy Communion, such a wonderful and special day for our family, especially for the CCD teacher in me. Seeing my little girl receiving the Body of Christ for the first time was among the most emotional moments of my life; she's such a pure and happy soul and we are so blessed to be able to share this moment with her. 

I'm not sure Gaby really understands what her first communion really means; for some reason I feel Olivia was a little bit more mature when she received hers even though she did at the exact same age.  Gaby is a little bit more scattered and she tends to send the wrong signals about a lot of things but I am completely confident that even if she didn't completely "get it", her heart was exploding with joy.  She's a very simple child; she wasn't worried about her dress, or her shoes or anything related to her celebration, all she was focusing on was the song they were going to sing and whether or not her voice sounded good or if she knew the sign language that accompanied said song; it was actually cute to see how many times she rehearsed that song when she thought no one was watching and she did so well!

Gaby was also worried about where she'd be standing for the group picture and whether or not her smile would look natural at the time of the picture. When it came time for the picture, she looked so happy and her smile was the most genuine of all, it was truly adorable. 


We had a small celebration with close friends and family and Gaby was the most beautiful girl ever!


Here's a picture a friend sent me of the moment Gaby received her first communion; I wish it was a little lighter but this will do until we get the one from the photographer....


So Gaby, please know that on this day you made us incredibly happy and proud.  You are one of the sweetest girls I know and I can only hope you continue to show the great personality that characterizes you.  We love you so much!!!

Saturday, March 25, 2017

1.5

If somebody had asked me a year and a half ago if I could be a "boy mom" I probably would have said "no way", I still remember the moment I found out I was pregnant and how terrified I was...then a few months later when we found out it was boy, that fear just grew..I was so used to pink and bows and there I was getting ready to raise a little boy that showed up unexpectedly! I figure it sounds silly sometimes, but I was genuinely shocked and scared...

Fast forward to today and our little boy is turning 18 months! These 18 months have been undoubtedly among the most exciting of our lives and this little person, this God sent, gives us so much joy that I can't possibly put it into words...I knew God was good but He really outdid himself with Oliver...
He is the most energetic little guy but such a calm presence at the same time; somehow he relays such peace and manages to give out the most positive energy. He loves music and can bust the funniest moves...it's really funny to see him "shake his booty" whenever he hears any kind of music. 
He eats like a maniac and loves snacking throughout the day. Surprisingly enough he's still breastfeeding, which I never thought was possible but here he is, a boob-a-holic and proud of it; he usually goes around yelling "teta, teta" and pulling on my shirt demanding to be fed. I always thought I'd never be THAT mom who would "allow" that, but life happens and I just roll with it...

Oliver loves Mickey Mouse and he's already turning into a Disney fan like the rest of his family.  We have taken him to Disney a few times and by now he's a pro at the rides and thoroughly enjoys the action. 
He loves iPad, cell phones, remote controls, computers, keyboards and whatever is a NON toy; it's almost comical to see him walk past his gazillion toys and grab my cell phone instead; I've been tempted to give away all of his toys instead of piling them up in a corner but I still hold out hope that he'll get "into them" at some point!... a mother can only hope, right? He does like bouncing balls and an old tool box toy that we have...
He has recently gotten into a stage where he loves wearing hats, sunglasses and lanyards around his neck, he also gives this serious look that makes everyone laugh...the best "poker face" out there belongs to him!
As far as talking goes, he say a lot of words but still doesn't talk major sentences nor does he formulate clear ideas. I think he has some vocab down but still has a hard time making language associations or figuring out how to get his point across. 
I haven't started potty training yet, but it's next on my list. I have plans to start watching for signs of readiness and I already bought a little potty and a toilet seat...we'll see how that goes...
Oliver weighs around 30lbs and is about 33in tall, no exact measurements yet since his 18-month appointment isn't until next week but I'm sure my approximations are pretty accurate. 
Oliver loves his mom, dad and sisters and we all love him back.  We are so lucky to have been chosen to be his family and I can't wait to see what else is in store for us. 
I could write so much more about Oliver, but I'll just leave it at this..he is the MOST AMAZING little guy and I can't thank God enough for sending him to us at just the "right" time, when we didn't "want it" but we most "needed it". 

Happy 1.5 Oliver! We LOVE YOU!!!!



3 years without you..

They say time heals all wounds, but does it really?  It has been 3 years since I lost my Grandma and it's still difficult to see that light; I see her in everything I do and I miss her more and more every day.
I think of how much she'd love Oliver and how happy she'd be to see him grow into a charming little man; she loved her grandchildren and great grandchildren so much and she felt so proud of our growing family.
My Grandma always had something nice to say, a smile to give, a hug to share, a story with a great lesson...she had such a big heart and I feel so lucky to have been able to enjoy her as much as I did.
When a loved one dies, we try to hold on to their memory, we cherish the good and try to forget the bad, we start honoring them in everything we do and we hope with all our hearts that the pain of their absence will slowly lessen so we can move on without them...but it takes so much time and it is so hard!  Three whole years have passed since I last saw my Grandma and my wounds just aren't healing, the pain is not lessening and my love for her just grows...there isn't a day that I don't think of her and I spend every waking hour making sure my children know how important she was to me, I never want them to forget her and I want them to love her as much as I do.
I wish we could have just one last Scrabble match, one more afternoon of telling stories, one more phone call, take one more picture together but in the meantime, I can only carry on her legacy and keep her in my heart..
Grandma, I miss you SO MUCH.. these have been the longest 3 years of my life, without you nothing is the same and I hope we can meet again...thank you for leaving your footprints on my heart...

Friday, March 17, 2017

Movie review: "Beauty and The Beast"

Ever since "Cinderella" came out 2 years ago, my girls and I (along with many many people) have been waiting for "Beauty and The Beast" to hit theaters, so of course we were there on opening night...
But because this movie is a classic and everyone knows the story, I will focus my review on answering some of the questions I had prior to watching the movie...feel free to ask whatever I don't answer with my own questions....

1. Did they stick to the original cartoon version?
Yes and no! As ambiguous as this answer sounds, it's the truth. While this version does tell the same story and relays the same message, there were several scenes (and songs) that were added to the storyline.  Additionally, there were some minor changes that even though didn't affect the plot, they are noticeable to a true fan. In the end, it's still the same Belle and the same Beast who fall in love but the story isn't "identical"

2. How is Emma Watson as Belle?
I will admit to the fact that I wasn't totally sold on Emma Watson playing Belle.  First off, for some reason I couldn't picture her playing anything other than Hermione and second, I seriously doubted her singing skills. But...everyone is allowed to be wrong in their perception and in this case I was.. because not only is Emma Watson the perfect embodiment of Belle but her singing voice is actually quite impressive! (and yes.. she really sings the songs)

3. What about Beast?
Well...I think Beast as a character is completely adorable; the whole audience gets to fall in love with him and I really like the fact that the movie shows us a few glimpses of his life before he was an arrogant prince who cursed himself and all of his castle. The whole message of "don't judge a person by his looks" is clearly delivered by Beast but I still hate the oversized horns and I think they took away from the physical appearance of Beast.. and I realize this is a totally biased opinion since this isn't the Beast I had pictured in my mind.. but oh well...

4. How is the music?
There's A LOT of music and singing in this movie...much more than there is in the cartoon version. Like I stated above, the movie features some of the original/favorite songs, but it also includes new songs that may or may not "fit" right. I would say this movie definitely falls into the "musical feature" category and I really enjoyed Watson's rendition of "Belle" and "Something There"; both brought back really fond memories of my childhood.

5. And how is the rest of the cast?
Well.. casting was on point for most characters especially LeFou, interpreted by Josh Gad (hello Olaf!)..he did an amazing job copying the mannerisms of the cartoon version of his character and I really loved seeing him in such dynamic role.  I wasn't too big a fan of Gaston because in my mind he is much more  muscular and self conceited, but I appreciate Luke Evan's efforts to be despised by everyone...he's really handsome so I'll take it!
Even though the rest of the cast doesn't do much (since they're  enchanted and all), once the objects turn human I really loved the actors they chose, such huge personalities and iconic people.. definite great choices...

6. How's the animation?
Undoubtedly, one of my favorite scenes from Beauty and The Beast is the "Be Our Guest" song so naturally I wondered how on earth would that scene be brought to life without ruining the animation "magic"... Well.. let me say... that scene could not have been any more perfect if they tried.. I was in awe of the animation and creativity that was put into play to bring "Be Our Guest" to life. The objects were perfectly created and the whole thing was just fascinating.. I want to re-watch the movie just for that scene.. wow!

7. How about the talking objects?
The talking objects were to die for! They carried half the movie on their shoulders and I was really enamored by how much life they portrayed and even though their looks weren't as "warm and fuzzy" as the ones in the animated version, it was really fun to see how our lovely Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts and Chip were made into a live action film.  Props to all the animators and creative staff, they really did amazing.

8. And the scenery?
Belle's village was simply perfect, it looked like a replica of the animated version; I particularly enjoyed the opening scene as well as the part where she sings on the prairie.. I felt like I was inside the movie...
Beast's castle seemed a little big bigger and more ornate than the one in the cartoon but it was still fitting for the grandiose nature of the live action version. The gargoyles were different and so was the shape of the main garden but nothing that would ruin the experience.. I'm just being really picky now..

9. Are there "inappropriate" scenes?
This is a question that was brought up by recent internet rumors that sparked some outrage within some groups.  Rumor has it that some "inappropriate" scenes were included in the film; it was said that an "exclusively gay moment" would be featured and some groups were even calling for the boycott of the film. While I understand that these are very sensitive subjects, my personal opinion is that there is NOTHING inappropriate about this movie or any of its scenes.  The movie doesn't glorify homosexuality nor does it intend to carry out an "agenda" like some have called it. There are a couple of scenes in which two men look at each other intensely but in no way does this film focus on "inappropriate" material.  It is a film that is tastefully done and I would strongly recommend it to anyone with younger children, both girls and boys.  It is an amazing reprise of a classic fairytale that will go down in history as one of the greatest of all times.

10. Bottom line?
My bottom line is that "Beauty and The Beast" live action film is a dream come true for any Disney fan. The idea of sharing part of my childhood with my children is simply incredible and the fact that this movie is just as popular (or even more) than when it came out 26 years ago is an amazing thing that is worthy of praise. The live action film was carried out to perfection and I encourage everyone to see it without reservations.  It gets 4 out of 4 stars in my book and I can't wait to buy it on DVD when it comes out.

Thank you, Disney for yet another perfect movie!