The Broughtby's European Adventures

  (Feb 14 - 17)  The plan for the February school break was to ski in northern Italy for a few days.  With Sam's collarbone injury (see separate blog entry ) we had to pivot.  We had already booked flights to Milan so decided to spend a weekend there.  Ryan and I had been before but not Sam.  More Milan photos here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/J6rzoDWXCcatyKvg8 We did our typical food tour on our first day in Milan which included Roman-style pizza. Compared to Neapolitan pizza (Napoli), which we usually have in Italy, it is thinner and crispier and has a wider variety of toppings. We had it topped with potatoes.  We discovered Rosso frizzante wine which is a lightly sparkling Barbera wine.  There was also a delicious traditional risotto for Milan.   Barbera + bubbles + thin, crispy pizza + risotto resulted in a very good tour.  Roman-style pizza with potatoes Risotto Milanese On Sunday we toured the  Duomo di Milano  inclu...

  It seems inevitable that we would have a medical emergency while living here resulting in a test of the Dutch healthcare system. The image above accurately reflects the perception and often reality of the healthcare here. We have been lucky so far with getting the care we need by 1) being prepared with medical records from the US to prove our case, 2) researching and advocating for ourselves and 3) annoying the huisart (primary care doctor) enough that she gives us what we want so we stop asking. 😝 During recess at school, Sam fell while playing a game with his friends and another friend fell on top of him. I was told that he initially wanted to keep playing but the teachers had him go to the nurse, who then sent him back to class. His teacher reached out to me since it seemed like he was in pain and I picked him up.  I spoke to the nurse when I picked him up who said he seemed fine and to monitor him. Fast forward to us realizing he was not fine. We called the huisart (a r...

  (Dec 25, 2024 - Jan 5, 2025)  For the holiday break we headed to Portugal again. We visited Lisbon and Algarve and included Sam this time.  Portugal was a huge improvement over Amsterdam this time of year for sun and warmth. 🌞 More Lisbon and Algarve photos here:    https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZY7MkqnYN8KMzUrb9 Lisbon As usual we did a food tour in Lisbon.  Here is a photo of a "competition" the tour guide did on who could fill the glasses the fullest without spilling. Ryan will claim he won but gave the victory to his opponent.  Castelo de Sao Jorge (St. George's Castle) is a good place to visit for views. Sintra is a popular town to visit outside of Lisbon. I will say up front that I have not figured out the best way to do a day trip and this was no exception. I opted not to do a big group tour due to prior challenges (see Madrid blog entry). We took the train which was the easy part. Then we took a local bus to see some of the sights including...

(Oct 26 - Nov 1)  I had intended something more elaborate for Sam's fall break such as Greece or Cyprus but that was not to be.  Limited vacation time and late planning required us to keep it simple.  Sam and I headed to Madrid. More Madrid photos here:   https://photos.app.goo.gl/gxZGVJaVyrE48uCz7 Our activities included a food and wine tour, a tour of the Royal Palace of Madrid, a day trip to Avila and Segovia,  Temple of Debod,   a Flamenco show and the Prado Art Museum. Food tour: Royal Palace of Madrid: Avila (this medieval town has almost 100% of it's original city wall still intact): Castle in Segovia: We did a big bus excursion for the Avila and Segovia day trip (note to self to not do this again).  It was a long day of travel and guided tours so I rewarded Sam with Minecraft time on the bus from Avila to Segovia. I have since realized that Minecraft is a very chaotic game so a car-sick prone kid + Minecraft = vomit on the bus.  That ...

(Oct 18 - 21)  Cologne, Germany was added to the travel list since I wanted to see a band that was playing there.  This will be our first trip outside of the Netherlands for just a weekend.   More Cologne photos here:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/d1ucCkH3R7MMx2cHA First, I will say that I have now vowed never to take a train in Germany again. This will be our 2nd time taking a train from Amsterdam to Germany (first time to Dusseldorf before we moved here). Both times were fraught with issues. I went by myself ahead of Ryan and Sam and almost seconds within entering Germany when there was an announcement stating that the train would not be going further (same thing happened coming back from Dusseldorf). You might be wondering how I know this given the German trains only make announcements in German. Luckily I encountered some friendly Germans that translated for me. Once I got on to a new train (using my evolving train navigating skills!), there was another announc...