Exploring the Abundance of the Old Country A Family-Friendly European Vacation

by T.J. Voboril

When your home life is a constant outdoor-focused vacation, when your kids have been born into a community fueled by tourism, it makes leaving the Valley to gain perspective that much more of an imperative. This winter or spring break, you have many options, but for the balance of accessibility, depth and fun with kids, it is hard to beat the triumvirate of France, Belgium and the Netherlands and, specifically, their respective capital cities.

Linked together by the high-speed Thalys rail, Paris (Gare du Nord), Brussels

(Bruxelles Midi) and Amsterdam (Schipol or Centraal) are easy to approach no matter your preferred airport/airline of entry. With only three hours between Paris and Amsterdam, with Brussels halfway in between, you can adventure in this region in any order. For our purposes though, let’s begin in Amsterdam and work our way south to Paris.

1.

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS

Amsterdam, crisscrossed by canals, awash in flowers and possessing incredible bicycle infrastructure, is often described as a large village, not quite a city. To Valley residents, it is still big, but navigating the city is very manageable. The Dutch will ride bikes no matter the weather, as the coastal climate begets not a small amount of rain, but the excellent tram network is also a good choice when the skies have opened.

In terms of attractions, the city center is the common draw, with the big art museums (Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum will both blow young minds, but make sure to book in advance), Anne Frank House (generally suitable for children 10 and above, reservations required), canal tours (an interesting way to see the city) and heaps of boutiques, restaurants and cafés. To get a little more of a local flavor, consider staying in the Vondelpark area. This large park, still a short distance from the bustle of Museumplein, is a great place to have a picnic, soak in the rare sun or visit the multiple playgrounds with attached dining establishments like Melkhaus. The kids can run out their museum-fueled energy while parents enjoy a restoring coffee drink, refreshing mint tea or a craft beer.

Amsterdam’s dining scene is a fun mashup of European, Caribbean and Asian influences. Foodhallen is a flexible option for the whole family to try both Dutch classics (bitterballen) and world cuisines in a lively environment, with choices for appetites fickle and daring. For a more upscale choice that is still welcoming to children, try Ron Gastrobar or any of their affiliated restaurants, including an Indonesian spot located on one of the city’s outer canals. A stop at Winkel 43 for decadent apple pie is sure to delight visitors of all ages, with the same result at Van Wonderen Stroopwaffels or the poffertjes stand at the Saturday Noordemarkt.

2. BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

Hold off on the fritjes in Amsterdam to save room for frites in Brussels. Also, prepare yourselves for a cavalcade of chocolate (Laurent Gerbaud is a master) and gaufres (ideally of the Liegeois variety). And, for the merely young at heart, the Brussels beer culture will warm on a cold day or satiate on a warm one. From the classic Trappist ales that pack a big punch to more modern beer styles, imbibing is a good way to take the edge off the stress of traveling with kids. Moeder Lambic is a choice spot to sample the beer spectrum, À la Bécasse for a more intimate, local vibe.

The Grand Place is the most famous attraction of the city, proximate to that oddly captivating statue of Mannek- en Pis . It is a worthy visit just to take in the scene and let the age of the buildings soak into the kids’ consciousness. Sometimes subtle exposure to history is more effective. Museums are great, but if you think that your kids’ eyes glaze over now, wait until you have dragged them through hours of (to them) interminable and inscrutable exhibits. That said, Mini-Europe is surprisingly enjoyable and the Atomium holds a nostalgic place in my heart.

The Sablon is an ideal place to stay. Not only do these blocks house every purveyor of fine chocolates and speculoos to jumpstart the kids’ sugar high (Leonidas, Pierre Marcolini, Mary’s, Maison Dandoy, just to begin) but this area has a central location with a slight remove from the mayhem of the main drag. There is a beautiful old church anchoring the space, and the walk to Parc Bruxelles, or almost anywhere, is super pleasant, assuming that it is not raining.

3. PARIS, FRANCE

Paris is singular, complex, a dream even as it confounds. It is a city of lore and for extremely good reason; it has a story to tell every visitor, a message that will remain far after one departs. All of the arrondissements have their charms, but the safest bet for a quick hop is the 5th or 6th. These two adjacent neighborhoods have the right mix of charm, proximity to main sites and excellent shopping, dining, drinking and café vibes.

Despite being cliché, you should visit at least one art museum. Centre Pompidou usually takes second fiddle to the Louvre, but I prefer the former, and maybe Musee d’Orsay and Musee de l’Orangerie as well, particularly with children. They are more compact, more logical, less crowded and still house works of art that will stop you straight in your tracks. Le Petit Palais is free and also impressive.

This is not a time to watch your kids’ diets or your own. Eat many croissants and a comical amount of other pastries, breads, cheeses, cornichons, forcemeats and those other delicacies over which the French obsess and in which you should delight. Try Mamiche for baked goods if you make it to the right side of the river; go to Hectar if you can leave the kids on their own or with a babysitter.

Paris is as much about being still as it is about moving. Sit at a café with your family, and play cards while you watch humanity in all its glory and ignominy. Go to the Tuileries or Parc Buttes Chaumont and sit and talk, just like you will see the Parisians doing. It is a culture based on collectivity, on communion over wine, on passionate discussion. Getting away from normal hierarchies (let your kids do a lot of planning with you, their decisions are important!), stepping outside of a routine, enjoying the presence of each other, these are the reasons that one travels, and Paris is an ideal place to capture this ethos.

There is an understandable impulse, given how much there is to see in just these three cities, to be constantly on the move. I have suggested a loose itinerary in that vein. Packing a lot in is one form of appreciating abundance, but there is a countervailing impetus to perhaps pick one city and give it more attention. To begin to feel the rhythm of a place is to impart some special wisdom, knowledge useful to both you and your children. +

LLast winter, my husband tried to get me to do a cold plunge. I lasted 30 seconds, and there’s a video of me climbing out of the tub at Gravity Haus Vail saying, “This is terrible. Why would anyone do this?”

Many months later, I understand a bit more why people do it — thanks to my favorite podcast The Deep Dive with Jessica St. Clair and June Diane Raphael for challenging listeners to do a single cold plunge. Since then, I’ve been cold plunging three to four times a week for three to four minutes at a time. “Really,” a friend asked me, “you?” Yes. Even me.

CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE OF ICE BATHS + COLD PLUNGING

Winter swimming and ice bathing have a long, cross-cultural history. Although Scandinavian community ice baths became popular in the 1800s, it’s believed that the tradition began centuries before, and even as far back as the Finnish stone age. Ancient Greeks and Romans were known to use cold baths, as were ancient Japanese Samurai warriors. Cold plunging has roots in traditional healing practices across the world, and it is often viewed as part of a larger, sacred practice.

Where one could see cold plunging as a social media trend (TikTok’s Jordan Ferrone has over 1.6 million followers watching his daily ice bath, and the platform’s #coldplunge tag has over 500 million views) or a fleeting movement in the wellness space, cold water immersion has a long history with devoted followers to the practice. From winter swimming being touted as a way to combat the winter blues to cold plunging being a method for invigorating the senses to achieve a natural high, there’s definitely something in the (cold) water.

Health Benefits To Cold Water Immersion

Athletes have long used cold water immersion, or ice baths, as a way to recover following strenuous activity or helping to return to sport after an injury. Ice baths are believed to aid in muscle soreness and reduce inflammation. Targeted icing, like ice packs and ice machines, are a proven tool to aid in recovery from injury or surgery.

Because there have not been many studies related to the impacts of cold-water immersion and cold therapy, some of the presumed benefits — increasing metabolism, relieving stress — are theoretical. But these are based in science, nonetheless.

WHAT IS BROWN FAT?

While you’d expect something called brown fat to have a bad reputation in health and wellness discourse, it’s actually the opposite. According to Cleveland Clinic, brown fat — also referred to as brown adipose tissue — is “a type of body fat that regulates your body temperature in cold conditions.” This type of adipose tissue stores energy, and it activates in cold temperatures. Brown fat burns calories by creating heat right before the body begins to shiver.

Because cold water immersion triggers one’s brown fat to activate, it is believed that regular cold-water immersion can increase metabolism. Moreover, researchers hypothesize that the practice of cold plunging can increase one’s brown fat, which allows for more tissue to help regulate glucose and fat metabolism.

Cooling Stress Away

Cold plunging has a reputation for helping relieve stress and improve mood. Just look at Scandinavians who hype winter swimming as a way to cure the blues of long, dark winters by shocking the body into a happier state. But, how does that work?

Cold exposure triggers the body into fight-or-flight mode. And, when the body is in that state, it releases stress hormones, elevating levels of dopamine and norepinephrine. That’s why many people describe the effects of cold plunge as a natural high.

A scientific article from the International Journal of Circumpolar Health entitled “Winter Swimming Improves General Well-Being” demonstrated that, after a four-month period, swimmers who participated in the study had a decrease in tension, negative moods and fatigue.

The swimmers felt more energetic and active than control participants when the study was completed. Swimmers who had diagnoses of painful conditions like rheumatism reported that winter swimming had reduced their pain.

Because winter swimming and cold therapy reduce inflammation, it makes sense that individuals would experience pain reduction from regular cold therapy. But, inflammation isn’t explicitly tied to physical health; it also promotes brain health. The combination of the fight-orflight response and inflammation reduction helps participants in the practice feel a reduction in stress.

HOW-TO COLD PLUNGE

The idea of cold plunging can be daunting — just watching videos of people plunging in icy water can send second-hand shivers through you. In my first attempt, the 30 seconds I lasted were painful. What I didn’t know at the time was that that first part of a plunge — the shock — is temporary. Once I attempted a three-minute plunge and got through those first painful seconds, it was really meditative. My timer went off, and that was it.

The recommended temperature for a cold plunge is 10-15 degrees Celsius (50-59 degrees Fahrenheit) to achieve the presumed health benefits. While it’s up to the plunger on what temperature to soak in — many prefer icier water closer to freezing — there isn’t evidence of more health benefits from being in colder water. (This was great news for me.) My bathtub tap runs at 54 degrees, making my cold plunging something I can do right in my bathtub, without the need for extra equipment or ice.

To achieve prolonged benefits from cold plunging, it’s recommended to accumulate 11 to 12 minutes during the course of a week. Four days of three-minute plunges each week hits a sweet spot for reaching cumulative benefits.

Other Tips

Remember brown fat and how it activates just before the body starts to shiver? Shivering is a great marker for one’s longevity in a plunge; once the

Achieve Prolonged Benefits

It’s recommended to accumulate 11 to 12 minutes during the course of a week. Four days of three-minute plunges each week hits a sweet spot for reaching cumulative benefits.

body begins to shiver (typically two to three minutes), the health benefits are reached. Staying in the plunge longer is not necessary, and experts don’t recommend staying in very cold water longer than 10 to 15 minutes.

Plunge up to the chin. Submerging the neck in cold water stimulates the vagus nerve, which activates the parasympathetic nervous system.

Air dry and get active! Although it may feel comforting reaching for a fluffy towel post-plunge, letting the body come back to its normal temperature on its own prolongs the effect of the plunge. Doing something active right away, like squats or jumping jacks, increases blood flow and furthers the benefits of the cold soak.

It’s recommended to plunge early in the day because of its energizing benefits.

Safety Tips

Because cold water immersion shocks the system, it can have dangerous effects on individuals with heart conditions. It is recommended that people with heart conditions or diabetes do not attempt cold therapy.

The closer to freezing temperatures, the riskier a plunge can be. Wearing protective hand and feet coverings is recommended in very, very cold water. Prolonged exposure in the extremities can lead to extreme sensitivity to cold, so it’s important to take precautions.

WHAT IS CRYOTHERAPY?

Cold plunging isn’t the only cold therapy game in town. Cryotherapy is the medical term for using cold temperatures for a health benefit. It can include everything from freezing away warts to removing diseased tissue inside the body. Where cold plunging involves full-body immersion, cryotherapy is often used for more localized treatments.

A Cold You Want To Catch

If you told me a year ago that I would be writing this article from the perspective of a person who has embraced cold plunging, I wouldn’t have believed you. But, I’ve found that regular cold plunging has given me energy and clarity. Whether you’re looking for a (literally) immersive experience or something more targeted, it might be time for you to catch the cold. +

Local Cryotherapy At Recovery Lab Vail

Recovery Lab Vail, located in the Ritz Carlton in Lionshead, offers a variety of recovery treatments, including cryotherapy. Kordi Brown shared that where cold plunging is often linked to longterm lifestyle changes, visitors to the lab are looking for something more immediate.

“Most people who do cryotherapy are looking for quick recovery,” she shares. “We work with a lot of people who have experienced an acute trauma on the mountain or are recovering from surgery and looking to accelerate their healing process.”

Cryotherapy is used locally to reduce inflammation. It’s similar to icing or ice machines, but it’s more targeted and quicker. Kordi gave me a treatment, applying the cryo device to my wrist for about eight minutes. It was very cold — reaching -8 degrees — but not unbearable. A soothing ultrasound liquid provided a nice buffer to the skin while she moved the device around the wrist and forearm. The treatment was cold but soothing.

Depending on the injury, visitors to Recovery Lab Vail may do several treatments or one or two. People often include the lab’s hyperbaric chamber as part of their treatment plan, accelerating the healing timeline. Recovery Lab also has IV therapy, an oxygen bar, compression treatments and more; it offers patrons an expansive line of services with the goal of quick, accelerated recoveries.

By Julia Clarke

MMost people visit Vail as a tourist then move here; I did things the other way around. It’s April 2022, and my boyfriend and I are walking through Vail Village while fat, fluffy flakes drift down around us. Still recovering from lockdown and a lackluster snow season, town feels deserted, and we seem to be the only ones heading up despite five inches of overnight snow.

The gondola whisks us through low clouds and out the other side where the Gore Range suddenly bursts into view, resplendent in the morning sunlight. For two days, it’s been obscured from view by the storm, and this is our first glimpse.

I squeal and Jim’s jaw drops in amazement. It’s his first time in Colorado, so it’s natural for him to be impressed, but why am I acting like I’ve never seen it before? I did, after all, call this place home for over a decade.

Because, after years of being a local, I’m finally experiencing the place as a tourist, and it’s a whole new adventure. As a “local,” I lived where most locals do — in that far flung outpost on the distant edge of civilization known as Edwards. Skiing Vail on a powder day meant a white-knuckle encounter with I-70, endlessly circling the chaotic parking structure, battling my way past throngs of tourists and getting clocked in the head by someone’s skis on the way to the gondola. I’d squeeze as many laps in as I could in two hours before the costly parking shutter slammed down.

For me, the Village was a place to avoid if possible, brace against when work required it and extricate myself from quickly. Today, it's a wonderland of fun and adventure, and I covet the short, dreamy stroll from our temporary home, the Hotel Gasthof Gramshammer.

Then there’s the skiing; I’ll be honest, though I lived here until 2020, I haven’t held a ski pass for years. Long ago, I traded the crowds and expense of resort skiing for skinning, powering myself uphill in exchange for a single, quiet run down. I loved the peace of backcountry skiing, but somewhere along the way, I formed the impression that resort skiing really isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

After a full day of skiing — another thing I haven’t entertained in years — we shuffle back to the hotel, grinning widely.

Shopkeepers call out as we pass, wanting to know how our day was, and the hotel concierge insists on lighting the fire for us. We’re easily the poorest tourists ever to have come to Vail, but we feel like royalty.

Now, I’m seriously starting to wonder if those chemtrails I always heard about in Vail were real and if they were dusting us with some kind of delusion drug. From the top of Avanti, we start cruising along Eagle’s Nest Ridge, a little rusty from two years of lockdown. It’s just a catwalk, but with wide open Rocky Mountain vistas and sweeping runs in all directions, it’s crystal clear to me why people drop a small mortgage to come here. After a few runs to get our legs back, we start ex- ploring the back bowls, and without any sense of urgency, it’s utterly magical.

After a full day of skiing — another thing I haven’t entertained in years — we shuffle back to the hotel, grinning widely. Shopkeepers call out as we pass, wanting to know how our day was, and the hotel concierge insists on lighting the fire for us. We’re easily the poorest tourists ever to have come to Vail, but we feel like royalty.

A ski holiday in Vail isn’t something I ever thought I’d do, and even on a tight budget, it’s seriously stretching us, but by the end of the week, we’re excitedly planning our next visit, talking about bringing the kids and indulging in fantasies about coming out for a season.

Fortunately, for the kids and our wallets, there are enough ludicrous elements to keep us tethered to reality, the exis- tence of fur coats for starters. The ungodly price of a meal means our evenings consist of sharing a sandwich from Joe’s Deli and walking around town playing a game we call “Spot the Most Absurdly-Priced Menu Item” (the Red Lion wins, with $12 chips and salsa — bold).

Then, there's the mystery of finding any fresh fruit anywhere, even at breakfast. One rogue staff member does smuggle some orange slices from the bar on our first morning, but the following day he’s disappeared from service, and we’re informed this loophole was an unfortunate oversight and has now been secured. Nearing the end of the week, as the scurvy is setting in, we discover bananas in a café. Snatching up four, I hand over nearly $15. I’m pretty sure that included two hot chocolates, but to this day, Jim still tells people that bananas cost $3 each in Vail, Colorado. The place will never live it down.

As the days wear on, it’s difficult to ignore another inescapable truth: most of the guests aren’t having much fun. At breakfast, a young couple sits solemnly across from each other with their earbuds firmly embedded, resisting all eye contact, while a nearby family spends the entire meal bickering. We quietly balk at a grown woman throwing a world-class tantrum on Lower Lion’s Way over her husband skiing black diamonds while her bemused toddler looks on quizzically.

The truth, it seems, is that no vacation can hold up to the staggering weight of expectation that a Vail vacation costs. At these prices, the food should make you immortal, the lift ticket should give you wings, the airport shuttle should take seconds.

Us though? We suspend disbelief and have the time of our lives. Vail might not exactly be like no place on earth — when you’re jet lagged, it’s confusingly like a lot of alpine ski resorts — but the skiing is sublime, the Village positively enchanting in the alpenglow and the (mostly) friendly local workers make us feel like we belong.

One day, too tired to ski anymore, we visit the Colorado Snowsports Museum, something I’ve embarrassingly managed to overlook until now. Discovering the 10th Mountain Division and the brilliant masterminds behind the resort is fascinating, so much so that we stay and watch the film a second time, marinating in their enthusiasm. Meanwhile, the resort, much reviled for its “corporate greed mentality,” is happy to refund our tickets for the day.

I moved here from New York in 2009, seeking the mountains and their reputed good tidings. I thought I was doing it right living like a local, but instead, by the time I left, I was so burned out I could barely see what makes the place special. Seeing it through new eyes, I finally get it.

Growing up, my family and I would vacation in a seaside resort in Spain. Every summer, a group of school kids were brought down from Madrid as part of a government initiative to see the sea for the first time. It occurs to me now that Vail might want to try something similar but for locals. Ferry us in from our distant outposts in Avon, Edwards and Eagle to spend a night or two in the Village. We could tax tourists to pay for the program, and locals could finally see what it’s really like to sleep at the base of the gondola, saunter over to the chair and ski as long as you want.

I know it’s a pipe dream, but I bet it would make for an even happier valley. +