#001: Nobody asked!
But I'm gonna tell you anyway.
I’m doing it!
Nobody Asked is a completely off-schedule report full of stuff that nobody asked about, including my recommendations and observations about parenting two small children, some note on traveling with and without them, and then some general materialistic stuff like fun interior finds, cool podcasts, good recipes, and other unnecessary (although sometimes also necessary!) things I’ve found and bought on the internet, like this perfect summer dress.
Like I said, nobody asked!
Travel // Summer ‘Vacation’
Every summer since our kids were born, we’ve taken a three-ish week trip back to North America, splitting our time between southern Ontario, Canada, where my family lives, and Denver, Colorado, where Adam grew up. We endure multiple grueling 10+ hour flights with unrestrained children, and I ‘joke’ about having PTSD from years of this travel. I have PTSD from this travel.
This year, we stayed in Europe and it was, as the young people no longer say, so awesome. Our children are so much more manageable in the car, probably because of the legally-required seatbelts, and they are happy to listen to audio books for a truly surprising amount of time. Plus, we can pack whatever we want! Bring bricks if our hearts desire! Save the climate by thinking about renting an electric car, getting priced out, but still not flying so it’s net better overall?
We were away for two and a half weeks, and stayed at two family-geared hotels.
Post Alpina is in Südtirol, a place in the world where the borders of northern Italy, Austria and Germany meet in some of the most beautiful mountains, creating a unique cultural mix. The skiing in Tirol is world-class (Innsbruck hosted the 1964 Winter Olympics), and the summers are some sort of fantastical child-geared insanity.
We bought a 5-day family gondola pass for around €150 which included bracelets for the kids that they had to get ‘punched’ at the top of four different mountains. The punches were pretty challenging to find, requiring us to actually do some hiking and exploring - great motivation for little legs, especially because the completed bracelet could be cashed in for a giant stuffed animal. The stuff we found on top of these mountains - huge wooden ball-runs, a giant-themed hike, a 2km barefoot path with a view of the Drei Zinnen. Impressive and made for children in a very special way.
We have previously stayed at Feuerstein, which is a next-level family hotel, but the summer rates were way out of our league. We did the half-board at Post Alpina (breakfast + dinner), and our room also had a kitchenette we probably could have made more use out of, but didn’t need to.
The family hotel concept is well-executed in this area of the world - everyone is extremely tolerant of young children (as your dinners slowly deteriorate, your waiter offers plenty of sympathy), and almost everyone else at the hotel has kids under the age of 12. So you’re among….friends.
There was mediocre childcare here - it didn’t seem like many families were using it, but there were lots of other kid-friendly details we have come to expect from staying at places like these before: a playground with a trampoline, a heated indoor-outdoor pool with toys and water wings to borrow, child meal options and rugged strollers and kid-carrying backpacks you can borrow for mountain hikes*.
After a week in the mountains, we drove our non-electric car down some extremely wiggly roads (resulting in only one road-side barf!) to Tuscany where we parked at Villa Lena.
This place felt like a real find. Home to the Villa Lena Foundation, the grounds are full of residency artists who you kind of get to know over your stay and the rooms are gorgeously simple (no TVs!) and decorated with art from the artists who stay here. For anyone into design, it’s truly a feast. While you could totally come here as a couple for a romantic weekend, to the detriment of these people, they also market themselves as family friendly, which we felt.
Life is slow at Villa Lena, as is sometimes the service and you kind of just have to go with the flow, which Tuscany makes easy. It was boiling hot the week we stayed - averaging around 37C degrees most days, but we had a great 2 bed, 2 bath apartment we could retreat to during the hottest hours, and there are three pools on the property. We also did the half board here (breakfast + dinner), and the food came mostly from the garden on the estate. Think thick-sliced, sun-warmed tomatoes with olive oil and salt on fresh bread. Whaddalife!
I felt more self-conscious here with small children. While there were still plenty of families, there was also a notable presence of people without sans kids and I spent more energy policing my children’s obnoxious behavior on behalf of these people than I probably should have. More thoughts on that in the future.
For Kids // Roadtrip Edition
1. POGS Headphones
We’ve had these for a few years and I love them so much. Their charge lasts forever (think a 30 hour travel day), they have a max 85dB volume, they’re wireless, but you can also plug them in and they are made of recycled, super flexi (truly!) plastic that has survived my two children.
2. Anorak
This is a British children’s mag I’ve had my eye on for a while and I bought a few issues for this roadtrip. Quirky, informative, beautifully designed and age appropriate (I’d say age 4-7 is perfect), we read them over and over. It’s produced by Cathy Olmedillas and I love when creative people use their powers for stuff like this.
3. Backseat Book Box
I filled this old lego bin with sticker and puzzle books, magazines, and good old (updated editions so not AS sexist) Richard Scarry and slid it between the kid’s carseats. They self-served themselves during the ride.
For grownups //
1. A new veg cookbook!
Bless Meera Sodha for making me feel like I can cook Asian-inspired food with accessibility and a sprinkle of authenticity. On a wet, grey, November day in Berlin, I just want a cheerful, life-giving curry - something bright and exciting and she always delivers. We eat mostly vegetarian at home, and her new book is all veg - a gift! These days, I offer the kids what I cook, but I cook for myself, not for my kids. I’m half way through and have flagged every other page. I’ll report back.
2. Goodrs
In my 40 years, I have been both a $300 sunglass person, and a $10 sunglass person, and I’m currently on my 3rd pair of $25 sunglasses. These are so good! Replaceable after your four-year-old tramples them, and high enough quality that you don’t feel like a teenager.
3. The perfect summer dress
Instagram sold me this perfect dress (aside from the Brexit tax now slapped on any package from the UK). Boxy with a dropped shoulder and such cute fabric choices. It’s from the super small London shop Cub + Pudding and Sarah, the founder, responds to your email questions herself. I bought the black and white one as soon as I got the pink one.
Final thoughts //
This is the first year my kids have really watched any sort of sport - first with the Euro Cup a couple weeks ago, and then a few Olympic highlights (all they could really handle). I love watching them register it all…I mean, it is kind of weird that every two years, planet Earth organizes a huge global sportsgasm and calls it the Olympics (go Canada!) and there are sports like 3-on-3 basketball (what?!), the 3000m steeplechase (wet!), canoe slalom (complicated?) and breakdancing (…!). Anyway, maybe it’s out of desperation for apolitical good news, but count me in.
So I’ll leave you with this comic by Trevor Spaulding via Cup of Jo that speaks to everyone, everywhere.
Thanks for reading!
xx Alana