tolman travels Archives - Tolman Travels https://tolmantravels.com/tag/tolman-travels/ Sat, 30 May 2020 14:43:20 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://i0.wp.com/tolmantravels.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/cropped-T-1.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 tolman travels Archives - Tolman Travels https://tolmantravels.com/tag/tolman-travels/ 32 32 162833905 Dublin, Ireland! Ladies only weekend ;) https://tolmantravels.com/2019/11/16/dublin-ireland-ladies-only-weekend/ Sat, 16 Nov 2019 11:37:00 +0000 https://tolmantravels.com/?p=7060 I love Europe! A girlfriend and I decided to get some $50 tickets to Dublin and head up for the weekend! Tamara was about 35 weeks pregnant and I just couldn’t let her go alone 🙂 Poor me! The first day we got there we took a bus from the airport straight into the city to explore. We just had backpacks and with no kids, we could do whatever we wanted! First stop, Trinity College Dublin The Book of Kells at the University Library Ok, this library is awesome! I don’t think it’s functional, but it is breathtaking. The famous Book of Kells! After exploring the beautiful university, we went and walked around town. We found so many cool things, I love the vibe of this city! Quick hot chocolate break 🙂 That evening, we headed over to the main street in Dublin and looked for a fun Pub to eat dinner! The pub had live music and a fun vibe. The bathroom was a disgusting nightmare, but it was so much fun. The city was beautiful night and everyone was so friendly. People would stop to ask directions or say hello, for some reason I felt very safe there. Irish people are the best! We stayed the night in a private room at someones home via AirBNB. It was my first time in a private room, not a whole apartment, but was actually fine! We were out most of the days anyway and without kids, we were very quiet and nice guests. I’m not sure if I’d choose that again with the whole family, we didn’t use the kitchen or anything but if I was going solo or with a friend, I’d totally consider that again as it was way cheaper! Day-2 in Ireland On our second day in Ireland, we hoped on a bus for a long day over to the other side of Ireland to the Cliffs of Moher. We stopped at a gas station named after President Obama and I snapped a quick photo with their cardboard cut outs! Haha just for fun 🙂 The cliffs were incredible!!!!! Wow. And also VERY windy. We went for a small hike up the side of the cliffs and enjoyed the fresh air and the view. I wish the pictures did them justice… On our way back to Dublin, we stopped in Gallaway for dinner! We had about 2 hours at the stop here, but it was really just enough time to walk down the main road, find some (delicious) food, and then walk back to the bus. Beautiful little town though and getting ready for a Christmas market soon. We took a taxi and caught an early flight the next morning back to our families. What a fun 2 days! I love little trips with a friend, it’s such a nice little break from traveling with kids and I always feel like a better mom and wife when I return. Dublin, Ireland get’s 2 thumbs up from me!!

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I love Europe! A girlfriend and I decided to get some $50 tickets to Dublin and head up for the weekend! Tamara was about 35 weeks pregnant and I just couldn’t let her go alone 🙂 Poor me!

The first day we got there we took a bus from the airport straight into the city to explore. We just had backpacks and with no kids, we could do whatever we wanted!

First stop, Trinity College Dublin

Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland

The Book of Kells at the University Library

Ok, this library is awesome! I don’t think it’s functional, but it is breathtaking.

Dublin Ireland Book of Kells
Dublin Ireland Book of Kells
Dublin Ireland Book of Kells
Dublin Ireland Book of Kells
Dublin Ireland Book of Kells
Dublin Ireland Book of Kells
Dublin Ireland Book of Kells
Dublin Ireland Book of Kells

The famous Book of Kells!

Dublin Ireland Book of Kells
Dublin Ireland Book of Kells
Dublin Ireland Book of Kells
Dublin Ireland Book of Kells
Dublin Ireland Book of Kells
Dublin Ireland Book of Kells

After exploring the beautiful university, we went and walked around town. We found so many cool things, I love the vibe of this city!

Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland

Quick hot chocolate break 🙂

Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland
Dublin Ireland

That evening, we headed over to the main street in Dublin and looked for a fun Pub to eat dinner! The pub had live music and a fun vibe. The bathroom was a disgusting nightmare, but it was so much fun.

The city was beautiful night and everyone was so friendly. People would stop to ask directions or say hello, for some reason I felt very safe there. Irish people are the best!

We stayed the night in a private room at someones home via AirBNB. It was my first time in a private room, not a whole apartment, but was actually fine! We were out most of the days anyway and without kids, we were very quiet and nice guests. I’m not sure if I’d choose that again with the whole family, we didn’t use the kitchen or anything but if I was going solo or with a friend, I’d totally consider that again as it was way cheaper!

Day-2 in Ireland

On our second day in Ireland, we hoped on a bus for a long day over to the other side of Ireland to the Cliffs of Moher.

We stopped at a gas station named after President Obama and I snapped a quick photo with their cardboard cut outs! Haha just for fun 🙂

The cliffs were incredible!!!!! Wow. And also VERY windy. We went for a small hike up the side of the cliffs and enjoyed the fresh air and the view. I wish the pictures did them justice…

Cliff of Moher, Dublin Ireland
Cliff of Moher, Dublin Ireland
Cliff of Moher, Dublin Ireland
Cliff of Moher, Dublin Ireland
Cliff of Moher, Dublin Ireland
Cliff of Moher, Dublin Ireland
Cliff of Moher, Dublin Ireland
A titch windy 🙂
Cliff of Moher, Dublin Ireland
Cliff of Moher, Dublin Ireland
Cliff of Moher, Dublin Ireland
Cliff of Moher, Dublin Ireland

On our way back to Dublin, we stopped in Gallaway for dinner! We had about 2 hours at the stop here, but it was really just enough time to walk down the main road, find some (delicious) food, and then walk back to the bus. Beautiful little town though and getting ready for a Christmas market soon.

Sign to the bathroom 🙂
I always snap a picture of little baby feeding rooms when I see them!

We took a taxi and caught an early flight the next morning back to our families. What a fun 2 days! I love little trips with a friend, it’s such a nice little break from traveling with kids and I always feel like a better mom and wife when I return.

Dublin, Ireland get’s 2 thumbs up from me!!

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Freiburg, Germany Temple, and PRAGUE! https://tolmantravels.com/2019/11/01/freiburg-germany-temple-and-prague/ Fri, 01 Nov 2019 14:50:00 +0000 https://tolmantravels.com/?p=5355 On a 4 day weekend, we decided to take a last-minute trip over to Germany to knock off another temple on our goal to see all 14 temples in Europe for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and stop over to see Prague! Since it was a last-minute trip, we decided to drive. It was about 7.5 hours (without stops) to Freiburg, Germany where we stayed the night at a cute little AirBNB while Nick and I split up to do temple sessions. He usually does an evening session and I go first thing in the morning. They have headsets to listen to in English, but I know ZERO German and I really missed being in a French-speaking country! After my session in the morning, we brought the kids over to see the temple and walk through the very small visitors center next door. The boys always love to walk around the temple grounds. It’s a unique and special memory they have in many different locations as a family. That afternoon we took off to Prague! Just an easy 2-hour drive wasn’t bad at all. Checked into our AirBNB there and found a train station to head into town. We enjoy braving public transit, and the metro was easy to navigate and quite cheap. We wandered around the city for the evening and found a fun place to eat! There were a lot of people bunched up around the astronomical clock around 4 pm so I decided to wade through the sea of people and check it out. I just chimed a few times on the hour and was quite underwhelming… oh well! We wandered the city for the evening, it was just beautiful. We love walking slow, letting the kiddos play and set the pace, and looking for cool sites off the beaten path. Some people research things a bit more, but we enjoy just wandering. Haha this next picture is a Beer-Bike, where you sit and drink with your friends while you pedal and explore the city. Ha! A little cathedral we stopped in. After it was dark, the city light up! We wandered across the Charles Bridge and listened to many street performers. The boys love to give Euro change to the ones they enjoy. It was really impossible to capture the beauty of the city lighted on the hill, but it was breathtaking. We found a unique ice cream shop after the Charles bridge that was essentially a churro cooked over an open flame, wrapped into a come, lined with caramel, and filled with ice cream. Yum! The boys especially loved this because the cone didn’t have a bottom to the ice cream “pooped” all over my hand as it melted. A fun, and messy, experience! Did you know you can do “Experiences” on AirBNB as well? The next morning, we decided to try one out! We booked a photography walking tour with a local from Prague, wanting to explore the city more and knock out our family photos for the year. It was a win-win! If you haven’t signed up for an AirBNB account yet or have a different favorite site for hotel booking, sign up HERE and receive a discount on your first experience! If you’re going to Prague, you have to check Kemal out! Here’s his link. https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/774020 There were SO MANY amazing pictures that we got back from our AirBNB Experience, I put them in a separate blog post here. Here are a few favorites 🙂 Here are a few photos I snapped while we wandered the city with Kemal. On Sunday afternoon after our photo tour, we were supposed to drive halfway home and stop to see our friends the Hancocks! We ended up in TERRIBLE bad traffic somewhere in Germany, in the dark, with hungry kids. After 6 hours in the car, we decided to stop and find a place to sleep. It was pouring rain, of course, and we had no clue where we were. We navigated to 3 different hotel-type places, all of which were closed unexpectedly or unable to accommodate a family of 4. Finally, we were sent to a small place 15km away that was able to help us. No one in the heart of Germany spoke English and I was especially grateful for Nick’s German skills he learned in high school! He also ordered and picked a pizza (another adventure in itself) all in German. He really saved our bacon! We did stop the next day to see our friends for a quick visit then traveled the rest of the way home. We LOVED the Freiburg, Germany Temple and Prague. And although it didn’t turn out perfectly as planned, it was a great little family weekend.

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On a 4 day weekend, we decided to take a last-minute trip over to Germany to knock off another temple on our goal to see all 14 temples in Europe for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and stop over to see Prague!

Since it was a last-minute trip, we decided to drive. It was about 7.5 hours (without stops) to Freiburg, Germany where we stayed the night at a cute little AirBNB while Nick and I split up to do temple sessions. He usually does an evening session and I go first thing in the morning. They have headsets to listen to in English, but I know ZERO German and I really missed being in a French-speaking country!

After my session in the morning, we brought the kids over to see the temple and walk through the very small visitors center next door. The boys always love to walk around the temple grounds. It’s a unique and special memory they have in many different locations as a family.

That afternoon we took off to Prague! Just an easy 2-hour drive wasn’t bad at all. Checked into our AirBNB there and found a train station to head into town. We enjoy braving public transit, and the metro was easy to navigate and quite cheap. We wandered around the city for the evening and found a fun place to eat!

There were a lot of people bunched up around the astronomical clock around 4 pm so I decided to wade through the sea of people and check it out. I just chimed a few times on the hour and was quite underwhelming… oh well!

We wandered the city for the evening, it was just beautiful. We love walking slow, letting the kiddos play and set the pace, and looking for cool sites off the beaten path. Some people research things a bit more, but we enjoy just wandering.

Haha this next picture is a Beer-Bike, where you sit and drink with your friends while you pedal and explore the city. Ha!

A little cathedral we stopped in.

After it was dark, the city light up! We wandered across the Charles Bridge and listened to many street performers. The boys love to give Euro change to the ones they enjoy. It was really impossible to capture the beauty of the city lighted on the hill, but it was breathtaking.

We found a unique ice cream shop after the Charles bridge that was essentially a churro cooked over an open flame, wrapped into a come, lined with caramel, and filled with ice cream. Yum! The boys especially loved this because the cone didn’t have a bottom to the ice cream “pooped” all over my hand as it melted. A fun, and messy, experience!

Did you know you can do “Experiences” on AirBNB as well? The next morning, we decided to try one out! We booked a photography walking tour with a local from Prague, wanting to explore the city more and knock out our family photos for the year. It was a win-win!

If you haven’t signed up for an AirBNB account yet or have a different favorite site for hotel booking, sign up HERE and receive a discount on your first experience!

If you’re going to Prague, you have to check Kemal out! Here’s his link.

https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/774020

There were SO MANY amazing pictures that we got back from our AirBNB Experience, I put them in a separate blog post here. Here are a few favorites 🙂

Here are a few photos I snapped while we wandered the city with Kemal.

On Sunday afternoon after our photo tour, we were supposed to drive halfway home and stop to see our friends the Hancocks! We ended up in TERRIBLE bad traffic somewhere in Germany, in the dark, with hungry kids. After 6 hours in the car, we decided to stop and find a place to sleep. It was pouring rain, of course, and we had no clue where we were. We navigated to 3 different hotel-type places, all of which were closed unexpectedly or unable to accommodate a family of 4. Finally, we were sent to a small place 15km away that was able to help us. No one in the heart of Germany spoke English and I was especially grateful for Nick’s German skills he learned in high school! He also ordered and picked a pizza (another adventure in itself) all in German. He really saved our bacon!

For our ride, we reserved a bicycle with a child seat on the back but since it was a high chance of more rain, they gave us a pull-behind carrier instead. It was fine though and we used it to carry Hyrum and our backpack of water and snacks. Simon rode on a cute little tag-a-long bike attached to the back of Nicks. I’m pretty sure he only pedaled on the uphills but he really enjoyed it.

We re-enacted Maria’s walk up to the Vontrap house!

You’ll recognize more of this famous song from these fun photos 🙂

The mountains surrounding Austria were breathtaking. I loved riding down this little path and singing along with the music. If you’re wondering why the music is so loud, I volunteer to be the DJ and ride with the music in my basket playing loud for all to hear. Many people chuckled or rolled their eyes as we passed by, but I didn’t care one bit! Best Day Ever.

They even had a little flip chart of the movie locations and song lyrics in case you wanted to sing along! I loved how thorough this company was with the tour.

The Gabezo was locked due to someone (an American) hurting themselves dancing around and filing a lawsuit. Lame! So no dancing and singing for us but it was still a fun little stop.

Driving through Salzburg

I wish I could have captured more to remember and share! Even for the Sound of Music Non-Fans (if there ever was such a thing) it was a great way to see Salzburg and explore the country you wouldn’t see otherwise. The first half of the tour was out in the country seeing movie sights out there, and the second half we rode through the city.

We just about fell in the lake on this stop!

Here’s our fun little group!

The Abbey

Only one wedding has ever been performed at the famous abbey from the movie and it was Maria’s. It was a beautiful church and you could hear the nuns in the back singing. What a cool feeling.

After the Abbey we road into town and drove through Salzburg. We stopped outside the arena where the Vontrap family sang their final goodbye song before fleeing Austria. Our small tour group stood outside and sang Edleweise for the passersby. We got a few funny looks, but it’s my favorite song from the movie and I loved the peacefully feeling of remembrance and respect it brought for the difficulties of many people through that time period.

Next up was the little cemetery that was the inspiration for the scene where they hide near the Abbey from the Nazis. The movie wasn’t shot on location here due respect for the grounds, but they modeled a scene built in Hollywood to shoot the film.

DO, a deer, a female deer, RE, a drop of golden sun!

Another re-enactment from the movie. Most of the group was less than impressed with our eager tour guide, but I loved it! Our only instruction here was just to jump up and down the steps at random and run up on the last note. Chaotic success I think!

And just like that, it was over. The 4-hour tour was about 1 hour too long for the kiddos, but they did very well. Simon got a sticker and was super proud of himself.

I am not an experienced bicyclist and even so, this tour was very doable even pulling a heavy trailer behind. It cost €100 which was well worth it in my book! We learned so much and had too much fun. What a great morning!

We were also grateful for sweet Simon’s prayer the night before where he asked Heavenly Father let the rain take a break while we went on our bike ride. It did, in fact, stop for only 4 hours that day allowing us to complete our tour and get into our car before the downpour started again. What faith this little boy must have!

Next EPIC SUMMER ROAD TRIP stop –> Bavaria, Germany!

~Tolman Travels~

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]]> 4024 Salzburg, Austria https://tolmantravels.com/2019/08/02/salzburg-austria/ Fri, 02 Aug 2019 14:22:25 +0000 https://tolmantravels.com/?p=3961 Before we get into the Salzburg fun, on our drive from Slovenia we spotted a castle nearby. We, of course, had to check it out! It was a really cool castle and I’m glad we stopped. Hohenwerfen Castle We arrived in Salzburg early afternoon and had the evening to explore the city. Salzburg is the birthplace of Mozart and they are quite proud of this historical fact! Mozart is EVERYWHERE! Even on the carpet of our hotel… Actually, it was quite fun and we got to tour the home where Mozart was born. You aren’t allowed to take pictures inside, but I took a couple anyway. Don’t tell! And EXCELLENT dinner (one of the best so far) and we walked slowly back across town to the bus stop. What a wonderful evening and we were thankful the pouring rain took a break for us to explore. The Mozart chocolates were quite unique (and expensive), but I bought a few and enjoyed every bit. Delicious! They had a large bridge across the water full of lovers locks. We wanted to buy one to put on but I guess you’d have to bring your own. Next time we go to Salzburg, I’ll be better prepared to leave my mark on the city. Now for my FAVORITE part! Farline Marie’s Bicycle Tour! If you’ve never seen The Sound of Music, you may be underwhelmed but the next post. But you if you have, I’d highly recommend going to Austria just for this! It was soooo much fun! I’m going to put it in the next post so I can add all the pictures and videos of our tour! Next EPIC SUMMER ROAD TRIP stop –> Farline Marie’s Bicycle Tour!

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Before we get into the Salzburg fun, on our drive from Slovenia we spotted a castle nearby. We, of course, had to check it out! It was a really cool castle and I’m glad we stopped.

Hohenwerfen Castle

We arrived in Salzburg early afternoon and had the evening to explore the city. Salzburg is the birthplace of Mozart and they are quite proud of this historical fact! Mozart is EVERYWHERE! Even on the carpet of our hotel…

Actually, it was quite fun and we got to tour the home where Mozart was born. You aren’t allowed to take pictures inside, but I took a couple anyway. Don’t tell!

And EXCELLENT dinner (one of the best so far) and we walked slowly back across town to the bus stop. What a wonderful evening and we were thankful the pouring rain took a break for us to explore.

The Mozart chocolates were quite unique (and expensive), but I bought a few and enjoyed every bit. Delicious!

They had a large bridge across the water full of lovers locks. We wanted to buy one to put on but I guess you’d have to bring your own. Next time we go to Salzburg, I’ll be better prepared to leave my mark on the city.

Now for my FAVORITE part!

Farline Marie’s Bicycle Tour!

If you’ve never seen The Sound of Music, you may be underwhelmed but the next post. But you if you have, I’d highly recommend going to Austria just for this! It was soooo much fun! I’m going to put it in the next post so I can add all the pictures and videos of our tour!

Next EPIC SUMMER ROAD TRIP stop –> Farline Marie’s Bicycle Tour!

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Vicenza & Venice Italy https://tolmantravels.com/2019/07/31/vicenza-venice-italy/ Wed, 31 Jul 2019 20:01:02 +0000 https://tolmantravels.com/?p=3822 We were so happy to get to visit the Weirlo family in Vicenza, Italy! They were friends from Fort Sill that we didn’t get enough time with so it was great to reconnect. Sweet Presley and the boys play so well together and this was one of Simons favorite parts of the trip. Our first evening there, we went for a walk around Vicenza. We found a cute little dinner spot and enjoyed the Italian vibe there. You can’t go to Italy and NOT stop for gelato! Venice, Italy The next day we all (except Chad who had to work, sorry!) got on a train and rode 45 minutes to Venice. Hyrum, of course, loved the train and the other kiddos played with slime. Venice was much hotter than I had planned for I think! Whew! But it was quite a different city than we’ve been to before. There are no cars, busses, or motorcycles, only boats! Water goes right up to business back doors! It was crazy. Obviously, many people were walking and there were lots of shops, houses, and things but if you wanted to really get around, you didn’t call a cab, you called a boat. We decided to hop on the CitySightSeeing Boat tour. I’ve done other city tours using the Hop-On Hop-Off bus style of sightseeing, so we thought it would be fun to do that Venice style. We took the boat all the way around to the other side of Venice to the main square. Again, it really wasn’t like any other city I’ve experienced yet. Very, very cool! It was SO hot, and the kids found a dirty puddle to splash their feet in. At first I wasn’t so fond of the idea, but it really was that hot out. Hyrum ended up full-on laying down in the puddle and drinking the water like a fish while some Asian women filmed it in horror. He was soaking wet and we joked he’d gotten the bird flu. I don’t think he had the bird flu but he did have diarrhea for the next 3 days, so it’s safe to say he paid the price for his poor choice. If you know our sweet Hyrum, I’m sure this story comes at little shock to you. Regardless, GROSS! The highlight of Venice for the kids was feeding the birds. Presley is quite the bird whisperer, and it helped that she had packed snacks for them! They would come eat out of your hand and land right on you! The kids spent over an hour doing this in the hot, hot sun. Even Nick joined in the fun! It was, however, on accident and he seemed less than impressed. Ha! We’d been told a stroller would be difficult in Venice and decided not to bring it. I do wish we had though, and our tiny little umbrella stroller would have been only a slight inconvenience but would have earned its keep. Now we know! We’d heard about an amazing little book store in Venice so we ventured across town to see it. It has 2 full-size gondolas in the store full of books! Out back of the store, they have damaged books to climb on that are used to divert water from good books when the store floods, which is apparently not uncommon. What a fun little chaotic bookstore! Presley is quite the little photographer! She stole the camera, took Simon up on the pile of books, and posed him as a true photographer would! Those two are just the cutest together. Here’s one of the photos she took. Great job Presley! This cute girl has her own YouTube channel too. It’s adorable! A few other pictures from our wanderings around Venice. Thanks so much to Presley and the Weirdos for letting us crash their place for a couple of nights, even on the eve of their own vacation. We look forward to having them over to Belgium soon! Next EPIC SUMMER ROAD TRIP stop –> Lake Bled, Slovenia! ~Tolman Travels~

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We were so happy to get to visit the Weirlo family in Vicenza, Italy! They were friends from Fort Sill that we didn’t get enough time with so it was great to reconnect. Sweet Presley and the boys play so well together and this was one of Simons favorite parts of the trip.

Our first evening there, we went for a walk around Vicenza. We found a cute little dinner spot and enjoyed the Italian vibe there.

You can’t go to Italy and NOT stop for gelato!

Venice, Italy

The next day we all (except Chad who had to work, sorry!) got on a train and rode 45 minutes to Venice. Hyrum, of course, loved the train and the other kiddos played with slime.

Venice was much hotter than I had planned for I think! Whew! But it was quite a different city than we’ve been to before. There are no cars, busses, or motorcycles, only boats! Water goes right up to business back doors! It was crazy. Obviously, many people were walking and there were lots of shops, houses, and things but if you wanted to really get around, you didn’t call a cab, you called a boat.

We decided to hop on the CitySightSeeing Boat tour. I’ve done other city tours using the Hop-On Hop-Off bus style of sightseeing, so we thought it would be fun to do that Venice style.

We took the boat all the way around to the other side of Venice to the main square. Again, it really wasn’t like any other city I’ve experienced yet. Very, very cool!

It was SO hot, and the kids found a dirty puddle to splash their feet in. At first I wasn’t so fond of the idea, but it really was that hot out.

Hyrum ended up full-on laying down in the puddle and drinking the water like a fish while some Asian women filmed it in horror. He was soaking wet and we joked he’d gotten the bird flu. I don’t think he had the bird flu but he did have diarrhea for the next 3 days, so it’s safe to say he paid the price for his poor choice. If you know our sweet Hyrum, I’m sure this story comes at little shock to you. Regardless, GROSS!

The highlight of Venice for the kids was feeding the birds. Presley is quite the bird whisperer, and it helped that she had packed snacks for them! They would come eat out of your hand and land right on you! The kids spent over an hour doing this in the hot, hot sun.

Even Nick joined in the fun! It was, however, on accident and he seemed less than impressed. Ha!

We’d been told a stroller would be difficult in Venice and decided not to bring it. I do wish we had though, and our tiny little umbrella stroller would have been only a slight inconvenience but would have earned its keep. Now we know!

Teeny tiny Venice streets!

We’d heard about an amazing little book store in Venice so we ventured across town to see it. It has 2 full-size gondolas in the store full of books! Out back of the store, they have damaged books to climb on that are used to divert water from good books when the store floods, which is apparently not uncommon. What a fun little chaotic bookstore!

Presley is quite the little photographer! She stole the camera, took Simon up on the pile of books, and posed him as a true photographer would! Those two are just the cutest together.

Here’s one of the photos she took. Great job Presley! This cute girl has her own YouTube channel too. It’s adorable!

A few other pictures from our wanderings around Venice.

Thanks so much to Presley and the Weirdos for letting us crash their place for a couple of nights, even on the eve of their own vacation. We look forward to having them over to Belgium soon!

Next EPIC SUMMER ROAD TRIP stop –> Lake Bled, Slovenia!

~Tolman Travels~

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Switzerland https://tolmantravels.com/2019/07/29/switzerland/ Mon, 29 Jul 2019 14:14:07 +0000 https://tolmantravels.com/?p=3508 After our afternoon in Riquewihr, France, we moved on to Switzerland. Crossing the border into Switzerland wasn’t as nerve-racking as I was expecting. They coral you into a line and instruct you to give them €40 for a sticker to put in your car. Then you move along! Adventures in Switzerland were extra special because our phone service does not extend into Switzerland and they also don’t use Euros. We switched our money to Swiss Franks and relied on the old fashioned maps and road signs! It was quite exciting. On my quest to see all the temples for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Europe, we HAD to stop and see the Bern Switzerland temple! We didn’t go inside, but the grounds were beautiful. Next, we navigated to our AirBNB, which was tricky but so worth it. This place was RIGHT at the bottom of the Swiss Alps! You look right out the front door, and BOOM… Alps! After settling in, we went to find dinner. Just in town we stopped at the only diner open on a Sunday evening. It was an expensive, but delicious dinner after a long, eventful day! After a nights sleep, we were off to explore Switzerland. Here’s the view we woke up to the next morning. Absolutely breathtaking. Turns out, it was much colder than we had planned for, so first thing in the morning we stopped by a thrift store to buy some long sleeve shirts and jackets for all of us! We did pretty well for only 20 Swiss Franks ($20)! The day was quite cloudy and gray, which made it difficult to see the tops of the tall mountains. What an incredible view though. We decided to head to Griswald and take the tram up the mountain! The view from the top, I have no words for. I can’t believe this is our real life. We took a short hike on the mountain and enjoyed every second. We miss the mountains and it always reminds us of home in Idaho. On top of the mountain, they have a Toboggan ride! You sit on a sled and ride down in a metal shoot. Simon loved it although he drove too fast, and talked us into going twice, once with Dad and again with Mom. Hyrum was ticked he wasn’t old enough to go, but he enjoyed a scooter and zipline while the others rode. We rode the tram back down the hill and went to find lunch in Interlaken. I have ONE picture of our lunch and wanderings in Interlaken, but we enjoyed the town and had the most expensive McDonalds we’ve ever had! Switzerland is expensive but well worth it. We’d already done quite a bit that day and without phone service, it was difficult to explore other options via the web. So we decided to drive around a lake we found on the map and came across a sign for a waterfall and caves. We decided to go check it out! Up at the top, there was a cave to explore. We only had 30 minutes until it closed but decided to venture in any way. I’m glad we had our new jackets! It was quite cold and there was so much roaring water inside. We didn’t make it all the way to the end before the boys wanted to turn back but it was quite an extensive cave. Very cool. We had a picnic dinner of PB&J sandwiches, fresh strawberries, and cheese by the lake and then headed back to the AirBNB. The next morning, we had to say goodbye to Switzerland and our wonderful host AnneMarie. She was great company and we loved her little place. Next up we have a travel day through Switzerland and Italy on our way to see friends in Vicenza. It was quite an eventful day though! Next EPIC SUMMER ROAD TRIP stop –> Switzerland to Arona, Italy! ~Tolman Travels~

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After our afternoon in Riquewihr, France, we moved on to Switzerland.

Crossing the border into Switzerland wasn’t as nerve-racking as I was expecting. They coral you into a line and instruct you to give them €40 for a sticker to put in your car. Then you move along! Adventures in Switzerland were extra special because our phone service does not extend into Switzerland and they also don’t use Euros. We switched our money to Swiss Franks and relied on the old fashioned maps and road signs! It was quite exciting.

On my quest to see all the temples for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Europe, we HAD to stop and see the Bern Switzerland temple! We didn’t go inside, but the grounds were beautiful.

Next, we navigated to our AirBNB, which was tricky but so worth it. This place was RIGHT at the bottom of the Swiss Alps! You look right out the front door, and BOOM… Alps!

After settling in, we went to find dinner. Just in town we stopped at the only diner open on a Sunday evening. It was an expensive, but delicious dinner after a long, eventful day!

After a nights sleep, we were off to explore Switzerland. Here’s the view we woke up to the next morning. Absolutely breathtaking.

Turns out, it was much colder than we had planned for, so first thing in the morning we stopped by a thrift store to buy some long sleeve shirts and jackets for all of us! We did pretty well for only 20 Swiss Franks ($20)!

The day was quite cloudy and gray, which made it difficult to see the tops of the tall mountains. What an incredible view though.

We decided to head to Griswald and take the tram up the mountain!

The view from the top, I have no words for. I can’t believe this is our real life. We took a short hike on the mountain and enjoyed every second. We miss the mountains and it always reminds us of home in Idaho.

On top of the mountain, they have a Toboggan ride! You sit on a sled and ride down in a metal shoot. Simon loved it although he drove too fast, and talked us into going twice, once with Dad and again with Mom. Hyrum was ticked he wasn’t old enough to go, but he enjoyed a scooter and zipline while the others rode.

We rode the tram back down the hill and went to find lunch in Interlaken.

I have ONE picture of our lunch and wanderings in Interlaken, but we enjoyed the town and had the most expensive McDonalds we’ve ever had! Switzerland is expensive but well worth it.

We’d already done quite a bit that day and without phone service, it was difficult to explore other options via the web. So we decided to drive around a lake we found on the map and came across a sign for a waterfall and caves. We decided to go check it out!

Up at the top, there was a cave to explore. We only had 30 minutes until it closed but decided to venture in any way. I’m glad we had our new jackets! It was quite cold and there was so much roaring water inside. We didn’t make it all the way to the end before the boys wanted to turn back but it was quite an extensive cave. Very cool.

We had a picnic dinner of PB&J sandwiches, fresh strawberries, and cheese by the lake and then headed back to the AirBNB.

The next morning, we had to say goodbye to Switzerland and our wonderful host AnneMarie. She was great company and we loved her little place.

Next up we have a travel day through Switzerland and Italy on our way to see friends in Vicenza. It was quite an eventful day though!

Next EPIC SUMMER ROAD TRIP stop –> Switzerland to Arona, Italy!

~Tolman Travels~

The post Switzerland appeared first on Tolman Travels.

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Antwerpen – Our last major Belgian City https://tolmantravels.com/2019/07/20/antwerpen/ Sat, 20 Jul 2019 09:05:24 +0000 https://tolmantravels.com/?p=3560 On our most recent trip up to the LDS temple in the Hague, Netherlands, we decided to stop by the last major city in Belgium we hadn’t visited yet. Antwerpen was a fun city and we just wandered around a bit. This post will be mostly photos, but it was a fun day of beautiful memories. What on earth did we stumble upon?? I have no clue why this little boy was sleeping on a dog under the street blanket… but it made for some good climbing! A little walk to the river. Lots of boats and a beautiful view. We stumbled upon a little festival and helped our self to some street food! Europe is so cool. The main square in Antwerpen is unique! Thanks for a fun little stop Antwerpen! ~Tolman Travels~

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On our most recent trip up to the LDS temple in the Hague, Netherlands, we decided to stop by the last major city in Belgium we hadn’t visited yet. Antwerpen was a fun city and we just wandered around a bit. This post will be mostly photos, but it was a fun day of beautiful memories.

antwerpen

What on earth did we stumble upon?? I have no clue why this little boy was sleeping on a dog under the street blanket… but it made for some good climbing!

A little walk to the river. Lots of boats and a beautiful view.

We stumbled upon a little festival and helped our self to some street food! Europe is so cool.

The main square in Antwerpen is unique!

Thanks for a fun little stop Antwerpen!

~Tolman Travels~

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