On August 8th, we left Boston for Oviedo, Spain via London and Madrid. Oviedo is a beautiful old town about 5 hours north of Madrid with a gorgeous cathedral and lush kid-friendly park. We managed to see quite a bit of the town despite inevitable jet lag.The next day we went to the tiny mountain town called Peruyes to celebrate Jen's great aunt "Tante Kaethy"'s 90th birthday.
Finn met several family members for the first time, including cousins Kassia and Annika finally! Roger went on a few hikes with Tio Juan Krause and Tante Kaethy's son and son in law, Ricky and Roman. Finn did not go hiking but he loved seeing his Mima again whom he clearly recognized, along with Tia Kirsten and Tio Niels. He met for the first time Tia Letty and Tio Hugo and his Oma too. It was a such a wonderful time and place; the kids were running around looking at the horses and collecting grasshoppers, a fabulous birthday lunch organised by Ita and Roman whose country house could not be more idyllic, and at the center of it all Tante Kaethy, who could pass for a woman decades younger in health and spirit. The day drifted along and Finn even tried his hand at the bongos later on in the evening. (see photo)
Reluctantly, we left the day after the party, rented a car from Aviles and drove to Madrid to catch a flight to Geneva, where Roger's uncle Roger...(Oncle Roge) picked us up to take us back to his apartment. In Geneva, we saw a bit of the town, took a day long boat trip on Lac Geneve that stopped at all the little towns heading east along the way including 2 french towns (lake geneva is partially in France) and we went this way all the way to Montreaux where we took a train back. This was the same day that Finn said "dada" and had a lot to say on the subject, because his opinion changed from "dadadadadooo" to "dadidadaaaadiii".
We also made an overnight trip to Jen's favourite city, Zurich, and must have walked for miles because there is always something intriguing to look at... just further ahead...back in Geneva, Oncle Roge took us into France to a mountain top where we had a view of Mont Blanc, and then we strolled around Geneva some more before having dinner with Rogers cousin Jacques, his wife Carole
and kids Benedict, Francois and Cynthia.
Finn was a bit jet lagged at the beginning of the trip as were we, and he complained around dinner time sometimes when he was hungry and tired but other than that, he was so much fun, taking in the beautiful sights and languages (Spanish, French and Swiss German), and on the way there and back on British Airways he slept and played in his "Sky Cot" (highly recommended). Enjoy the photos.
PS- Sometime after we arrived in Geneva, inspired by the french being spoken around us, we started referring to Finn as "Monsieur Le Baby". It suits him somehow, especially considering how his name in utero was "Petit Roge".
