Bronzans On The Loose!

In an effort for us to remember all we did, we compiled a list of all the places we visited. I'm sure we missed a few, but here's a chronological list... (To those of you still getting these e-mails, don't worry...there won't be too many more.) The British Museum The British Library Westminster Abbey Buckingham Palace London Natural History Museum Victoria & Albert Museum Liverpool Library Anfield Stadium The Beatles Experience Windsor Castle The Tower of London Chinatown Estadio Anoeta Monte Urgull San Sebastian Aquarium La Rambla Camp Nou Picasso Museum La Sagrada Familia Catedral de Barcelona Park Güell Barcelona Maritime Museum Franciscan Monastery, Pridvorje Sokol Tower Konavoski Dvori Walls of Ston Lokrum Island Kotor Old Town St. John’s Fortress Kotor Cat Meowseum Walls of Dubrovnik Rector’s Palace Assumption Cathedral, Dubrovnik Ljubljana Castle St. Nicholas Cathedral, Ljubljana National Library Slovenia Postojna Cave...

Author:  Brandon (Dad) Here you thought you were all done with #BronzansOnTheLoose.  Not so fast my friends. We never got a chance to fill you in on our final days in England.  Yes, we've been home a couple of days, but I'm just now sitting down and able to type a bit.  So let's do this.  The thrilling conclusion to Bronzan Family European Adventure 2018 awaits... When we last left you, we were headed to England on an early morning flight out of Lisbon.  Well, that plane did land and we arrived at Gatwick late in the morning.  After filing through customs, we made our way to a Holiday Inn right next to the airport.  We opted for simplicity in accommodations during our last stop.  We dropped our bags and jumped on a train just a few minutes later set for the seaside resort town of Brighton.  Following a nice lunch we wandered down to the Brighton Palace Pier and had a look around.  The kids spent a few pounds at the arcade be...

Author: Brandon (Dad) In less than a week we will be back in California. This thought has left us trying to squeeze every moment out of this summer that we can, and in a way we’ve neglected the writing of the blog. My apologies to the one or two of you that are following along! I assure you that the story of this trip will continue to be told after we return. We’re on a flight to London as we speak, leaving Portugal in our chemtrails. We hadn’t planned a trip to Portugal. In fact, the original plan (and by original, I mean the plan I concocted a few weeks ago) had us winding down our final days in Ireland. However, plane tickets from Budapest to Dublin spiked and so I looked at a map and thought of new destinations. By the way, if you ever have the opportunity to look at a map, point, and go somewhere, it’s incredibly fun. Portugal had always been of interest to me. We were in Spain back in June and we really liked it. My brother, Aaron, and his wife Marian, visited the coun...

Author:  Tiffany (Mom) We are getting ready to leave Budapest, Hungary and go to our last destination before heading back to London to fly home.  I feel like Brandon and I have the sense of the end hanging over our heads.  We both enjoyed our experience and are not quite ready to come back to reality, even though I know both kids are ready for California again.  Our flight is late this afternoon, so we have some time to kill before we leave for the airport.  Luke and Brandon decided to go and see if they can get their haircut before we take off (Update:  they were unsuccessful). Olivia is reading in the other room, for what I think is the 3rd time through the Rick Riordan series.  She told me she just opens the book to a random part and reads from there.  Yesterday we decided to take a walk to the Vajdahunyad Castle.  It was really pretty with an amazing church, but we discovered that you cannot go inside the castle.  We enjoyed wa...

Author:  Brandon (Dad) Time for a blog!  It's Saturday (as if days of the week matter to me...) and we're about halfway through our stay in Budapest, Hungary.  We elected to take a little down time back at the apartment this afternoon, so let's get you up to date. By the way, the title of this blog doesn't refer to anything other than the name of a movie by my favorite director, Wes Anderson.  The movie isn't even set in Budapest. OK, after arriving at the central station in Budapest in the early afternoon, we were met by a local driver who dropped us off at our apartment.  Quick geography lesson:  Budapest is divided into two areas, Buda on the west of the Danube and Pest on the East.  We are in Pest, maybe a quarter mile or so from the river bank. The apartment is very nice and updated.  It has some of those floating stairs that lead to a loft area where the kids are sleeping.  Luke is up there right now listen to the Croatian socce...

Livi made a movie trailer and she hopes you all like it!

Author: Brandon (Dad) Well, our time in Vienna has come to an end. After a frantic search for seats, we’re all resting comfortably on board our two and a half hour train ride to Budapest, Hungary. This allows me the opportunity to report on our final two days in Austria. On Tuesday we found our way to the subway and headed out to Schönbrunn Palace, the summer home of the Habsburgs. It’s the kind of summer home we’ll probably get in the future. We explored acres upon acres of the garden, hiking up to Gloriette, which afforded us a sweeping view of the palace and the city. Nice, but their landscaping bill must be enormous. A nice lunch in the garden café was enjoyed after our hike. We’ve found that cafes or restaurants attached to tourist destinations, national parks, etc., are far better here than in the U.S. Plus, everywhere offers beer which can’t be a bad thing. In the afternoon we took the “Grand Tour” of the palace and, along with the audio guide, it was fant...

Author:  Tiffany (Mom) Brandon planned out the next couple of destinations after Slovenia.  When he suggested Vienna, I thought, hey, why not.... I know nothing about it, but people seem to love it.  (Several Croatians told us, skip Slovenia, but go to Austria).  I immediately (because sometimes words get mixed up in my head) called Austria "Australia", which got a laugh out of Brandon and the kids.  Brandon said that is why he is in charge of booking the plane and train tickets. The first afternoon we were here Luke wasn't feeling so good.  He fell asleep immediately when we got to the apartment, with his shoes on and everything.  I decided to stay home with Luke while Olivia and Brandon went out to dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe.  Afterwards we watched "The Sound of Music" as a family.  I loved that movie when I was a kid, but hadn't seen it in a long time.  Olivia loved it and is now signing the songs.  I really hope I did not ...

Author:  Brandon (Dad) Our stay in Slovenia was short, but very sweet.  Following our adventure to Ljubljana Castle (Friday), we decided to head out of the city and enjoy  the "#1 tourist attraction in Slovenia".  Of course I'm talking of Postojna Cave.  The bus trip out was fairly uneventful, but it was great to get outside the city and see some of the beautiful nature that Slovenia is known for. Upon arrival at the cave, we grabbed a quick lunch (a burger with a black bun, colored by cuttlefish ink), then jumped on our tour of the cave.  There were many people visiting, but you wouldn't really notice it as everything was well-planned and efficient.  We were warned that temperatures are very low inside the cave and advised to dress warmly, so we grabbed our sweatshirts (that we haven't needed...well, this entire trip, really...).  Turns out, it was about 50 °.   In San Francisco they call that summer.  I loved it. The cave wa...