After 5 years on the road with 2 kids, my husband Brian and I had a little European get-away together for an entire week without our kids. (For those new to the phil&teds blog, we are a traveling opera family and have written some travel related posts over the last year. We could not make it without out phil&teds gear!) I was seven+ months pregnant and physically was not up to traveling (and jet lag) with 2 kids. We made arrangements for the kids to stay home and missed them terribly. But, we had an amazing week in one of our favorite cities- Warsaw, Poland. Brian had a return engagement with the Polish National Opera. We spent two months in Warsaw in 2009 and were surprised and delighted by this amazing city. We are continually impressed by all that the Polish people have accomplished with such a tragic history. Their strong spirit is evident in how they rebuilt under Communism after the Nazis destroyed 85% of the city. World War II is much more real to us now and we are so grateful for all the sacrifices of past generations. Warsaw is a very great place to travel with kids, but oh so easy without them too!
Since I was very used to walking around Poland with a phil&teds, I could not help but grab a Vibe and someone else's child! I love the air-filled tires for the cobblestones of Europe!
As easy as phil&teds has made our travel with children, my husband and I were amazed at how simple travel was with just a baby in-utero. We could decide to go somewhere and leave our apartment in mere minutes! No diaper bags to restock, no sippy cups to fill, no recalcitrant toddlers avoiding having their shoes put on. Since we had spent time in the city before, I continually would go to walk the long, stroller friendly routes I was used to but Brian would point out we could just take the stairs. We made it to a few museums that we did not brave with kids, sat at outdoor cafes and generally enjoyed the great Polish food culture and outdoor Warsaw! On our last night there was took a beautiful long walk starting in Old Town and down the pedestrian streets. We do enjoy Europe, our home country of America is just a little baby.
(To see more of beautiful Warsaw, our family blog has lots of photos from this June, http://stuckihouse.blogspot.com/)
Now we just wait the last few weeks until our new adventure begins, parenting three children! Wish us luck!
