Today we went to the Louvre, but first we had to collect the tickets that we bought over the internet. We had to wait 20 minutes to get them, because there were only two staff members at the tourist information on a day where Paris is flooded with tourists. Well in the end we got there and had to queue again for the security check. Still it was rather quick to get in. Without Ticket you wait ages.. just as a recommendation… buy them before and … even better, get them sent to you by post. It really saves time.
Like probably ninety percent of the people we directly went to see the Mona Lisa and I was shocked how crowded it was. You basically have to fight your way through to see the painting properly. Look at a copy in a book and you will have more time
and quiet to enjoy it. The masses of people are really stressful and nothing for old or disabled people, as the crowd is really pushing forward.
There are so many fantastic pieces of art, and most people rush through the rooms and do not take the time to really appreciate the exhibits. I really liked the angle like victory statue in the staircase to the Greek execution.
After the louvre we went shopping in the area around the Hôtel de Ville. It rained a lot and therefore it was the best alternative if you did not have the time to go to another museum.
We went to a small gallery “59rivoli” though that had new artists in there. It was their workplace and you could either just look at the pieces or even buy them directly from them. Most of the time there were two artists per floor and the whole house had five floors. It was all modern art, and some nice and interesting pieces. I especially liked an artist who did pictures with rust.
In the evening our legs were hurting, also because of our trip yesterday and we had diner in a small Turkish grill. The second full day really made us tired. So, if you do the trip… take it at a slower pace unless you are really fit…
Buying a house in Germany and especially in the greater areas of big cities is a rather tiresome task. We searched nearly 2 years until we found a house that was almost the one we wanted.
We felt like going into the mountains a bit. As we thought it was too much for the kids and we were not well equipped enough we decided to go for a cable car ride to the top of Monte Baldo. With only 40 minute car ride it was not too far away from Costermano and we were early enough to get into the first car park.
for our older daughter (5 years). So all in all not a cheap trip, but…well we’re on holidays… We got the tickets quite fast, but then the rather small queue to the cable car turned out to be a slow one. After several turns of “I spy with my little eye” and already annoyed kids we finally got onto the cable car. Even though I do not know why there needs to be middle station, there is one. There are some houses but no one really leaves the way uphill. The second part of the cable car ride was really nice as we could look over a huge part of the Lago di Garda. The small one of our two girls did not like it as she thought it was much too high. The car turns 360 degrees on it’s way up the hill, so even she did not have to bear the deep view all the way of the ride.
On the mountaintop you have nice view into the Dolomite Alps and over the Lake. We only walked a short round to the chairlift, which comes up from the other side of the mountain.
backpack for carrying children, we headed back down the mountain with the cable car.
Venice is about two hours away from Costermano, so it is a nice opportunity to go there at least for a day. Obviously it can be just a first impression, but never the less we tried a trip with the kids. It is a dream for a lot of people to once have visited Venice in their lifetime. A dream city it is, if you can block out the tourists who are everywhere. If you want to save some money you should park your car in the Via dei petroli. The parking costs 4.50 € per day which is a good price. You pay 26 € for a day at the Piazza le roma. Form the main road you take a bus for 1.50 € the bus to the piazza le roma. From there you can start exploring Venice.
The Rialto Bridge is a bottleneck in the tourist flow through the city. It was so crouded that nearly nothing was moving anymore. An annoyed Venitian shouted “keep walking, keep walking” and the sluggish mass of tourists started to move and nagged about being advised to move.
We had a very good ice cream and you have at least tree ice cream spots around you when you walk the first few hundred meters. A lot of tourists try to make a challenge out of getting the biggest ice cream. Two guys we saw had ice cream cones that were over 30 cm high. I’d think that was more than half a litre ice cream. One of the two was at least seventy and I had the strong feeling that he just fulfilled his childhood dream of the biggest ice cream ever.
Take my advice and try to be there until ten o’clock. Then you should be save in getting a reasonable parking spot and also the temperatures are still o.k.! Then use the afternoon for swimming.