Fungo Matto
Fungo Matto means ‘crazy mushroom’ and such a funny name is perfect for one of my favourite clothing shops in Milan. It is a tiny one-window shop in the Navigli area that has been carefully decorated with red mushrooms with white dots, vintage wooden toys, antique but simple furniture and a sweet collection of antique children’s chairs.
Anna Barbavara realised there was a gap in what Milan had to offer in terms of children clothing: shops were either selling very expensive traditional outfits which made children look like miniature versions of very stuffy parents, or offered scruffy-looking clothes full of big loud prints and stitched teddy bears.
She set the style of her shop when she discovered the Imps & Elfs collection. But she didn’t stop there; she continued to look for cool, good quality brands, designed with children in mind. (more…)
Elias and Grace
I know I’ve already written about Elias and Grace — the kid’s clothing shop in Primrose Hill, but it’s definitely one of my favorite kids’ shops in London, and certainly worth mentioning again.
Elias and Grace stocks a variety of great brands, including Belgian designers like Maan, Quincy, Max & Lola, and Simple Kids, and French brands like Petite Bateau and Bonton. There’s also a good selection of Italian and Dutch brands, which is what makes this shop so great — it really represents the best of European children’s clothes.
They don’t have an enormous selection of shoes, but the ones they sell are always beautiful. And, being in rainy London, they are naturally well stocked with a wide range of Aigle wellies in a variety of colors! (more…)
Lilli Bulle
Several of our Babyccino readers have already requested I write a post about this shop and I was waiting for the right moment to give it the attention it deserves. Lilli Bulle is worthy of being the kids’ clothes shop featured in our theme week!
It is actually one of these places I have to stop myself from going, as I always come out having spent a fortune. Not because my kids needed anything but because I am the one who really, really can’t resist!
Lilli Bulle stocks a great mixture of beautiful basics, funky one-offs and wonderful accessorizes. The shop is tiny and crammed full of lovely stuff, from Petit Demons rattles, Miniseri’s satchels, beautiful Pepe kids’ shoes, hair clips, hats, little toys, and the list goes on and on.
For everyone who does not make it down to its shop off the rue du Faubourg St Antoine, there is also an online shop and a great blog, which keeps fans up to date with new arrivals!
- Emilie
Hampstead Heath
We lived in London for nearly two years before we discovered the Hampstead Heath, which is a huge shame as it is one of London’s finest gems, and is, in my opinion, the most liberating outdoor activity in London. The fact that you can feel so far removed from the ‘hustle and bustle’ of London and yet be smack in the middle of it is a treat which is unusual for such a big city.
Hampstead Heath is London’s largest historic parkland, and arguably the most beautiful. Unlike the more manicured and planned Royal Parks of London, the Heath is wild in nature, offering 3.2 sq km of roaming meadows, fishing and swimming ponds, dark and lush woodlands, hiking and biking trails, and some of London’s best playgrounds. (more…)
Luxembourg Gardens
It might be the best-known park in Paris, but it is one of our favourite places to go. You cannot get a more Parisian park than the Luxembourg Gardens.
It is so much fun, even as an adult, to rent one of the little sailboats in the main fountain of the garden and push it around with a stick. Most of the time it capsizes or collides with another boat, but that is part of the fun! (You can rent the sailboats on Wednesdays and on weekends.)
I reckon the playground is the best in Paris and is actually relatively empty as it is the only playground I know of in the centre of the city that charges an entrance fee. There are also pony rides (Wednesdays and on weekends) and swings. The ubiquitous Manege is a beautiful older style wooden affair, run by a lovely lady who does not mind kids taking their time to decide on which wooden animal to ride.
Last but not least, and though I hate being so practical, the Luxembourg Gardens is one of the only places in Paris I have found in which the toilets have a changing table and cute, clean, kid-sized toilets with little hand-washing basins.
- Emilie
(Image found here)
Macrobiotic goat farm Ridammerhoeve
On the southern outskirts of Amsterdam is a huge park/woodland called the ‘Amsterdamse Bos’ (Amsterdam Forest). It offers great activities for kids, like swimming pools, playgrounds, a theater, a pancakes restaurant, and one of our family’s absolute favourite outdoor activities in Amsterdam: the macrobiotic goat farm ’Ridammerhoeve‘.
The beauty of this goat farm is that it is really, in all reality, a goat farm! So besides it being a city farm, with the mere purpose of giving city kids the opportunity to get closer to animals and to teach them ‘where the milk is coming from’, the main purpose of this farm is to produce (organic) goat’s milk and make it into cheeses, yogurt, ice cream etc., all for sale at the little café, where you can also get a nice goats’ cappuccino! (more…)
Park and aperitivo
Milan is not a city full of spaces for great outdoor activities; people just make the best of what is available! The biggest park in the center of town is Parco Sempione, bordered by the Sforzesco Castle, the Triennale, the Arco della Pace and the Aquarium. It’s no wonder it has been central to Milanese leisure time activities since its creation in 1888.
So even if it’s not comparable to the beautiful (and unique) London parks, it constitutes a very good and effective outlet for kid’s energy. They can run, ride bicycles and play football, and on the side nearer Arco della Pace there is a nice playground with big climbing structures that will appeal even to the most experienced kid. Nearby there are kids’ electrical motorbikes and cars — the dream of every preschooler, and a cute (and old) electrical train that will be the joy of the younger ones. (more…)
Keet in Huis
KNSM island used to be quite a rough and industrial part of the Amsterdam harbor before it was transformed into a very cool residential island, and nowadays, this is where you can find one of the finest kid’s lifestyle shops of Amsterdam: Keet in Huis.
Keet in Huis (‘Mess in the House’), sells everything from furniture, bed linen, interior accessories, baby buggies, toys and books, which, you might think, by itself is not so extra-ordinary at all, but if you consider the amazing taste levels of the owners, you would be sold like every other mother who has ever set foot in this shop. Wonderful!
I can spend hours in ‘Keet in Huis’, and have an especially hard time pulling myself away of the downstairs bedding area. My kids don’t mind, because there is a lovely little play area where they can meet little friends whose mums are in a similar situation (stuck with the choice: which duvet cover to pick?).
Courtney, who has been a few times (it’s always on her list of things to do in Amsterdam), finds the bedding to be extremely Dutch. This means, according to her, that there are loads of very bright colours, and tons of gingham. This is probably true, as there are loads of bright colours in my kids’ bedroom – and loads of gingham! (more…)
Città del Sole
This chain of toy shops is really a ray of light in a town where (nice) toy shops are difficult to find! The Città del Sole was founded over 30 years ago by Carlo Basso who still today carefully chooses the selections of toys that will be part of the catalogue.
Since my childhood Città del Sole has been a synonym of good quality educational toys. They sell funny, imaginative toys from big and small brands with a particular predilection for traditional toys. For example, you can find Schleich animals, Sigikid stuffed animals, Plan Toys pull-alongs, Galt toys and a big selection of arts and crafts material. (more…)
Traditional Toys
Tucked in a corner of the historic Chelsea Green off the King’s Road, and on a charming street amidst other lovely shops, is a small but perfectly stocked toy shop called Traditional Toys. Here you can find the very best brands of wooden toys, designer dolls, stuffed bears, dress-up clothes, and other specialty European toys.
Traditional Toys is my favorite toy shop in London. This is where I go whenever I need a birthday gift because I know it will be unique, special and well-made — something that will last forever. It is here where I buy all the Schleich animals (even the big ones like whales and dinosaurs), Fagus vehicles, wooden trains, and Plan Toys pieces, etc. I even bought a bug catcher kit there which was a huge hit this past summer! (more…)
Niou
I love, love, love the Villlage St. Paul, which is a great place to know about if you are in Paris for the weekend, as it is one of the few areas open on a Sunday. Sandwiched between the rue St Antoine and the Seine in the 4th, The Village consists of several little courtyards which are all interlinked and filled with little shops. Most of them are antique dealers, but you can also find Niou there, a lovely little toy shop.
It is the best place for me to go if I am looking for a present and want to find something unique and fun.
Niou stocks the Wheely Bugs , PlaySam, Automoblox and lots of other toys we have reviewed here on Babyccino.
The other day I was having a browse around the shop and I was listening to the owner show a friend of his the new stock he had received. He was excited like a kid to have all these great new things in his shop. For me that was the best advertisement for Niou; it is the kind of place in which you feel that the shopkeeper has hand-picked every single item and loves what he does.
-Emilie
De Bakkerswinkel
These days we just love meeting friends for breakfast or brunch on a weekend morning. Breakfast is probably my favourite meal of the day to start with, but besides that, early in the day my kids are still well rested and thus more enjoyable (as opposed to overall crankiness at dinner time)! Also, like every other parent with little children, we’re awake early anyways, so we might as well start our social schedule before noon! (Of course the friends we are meeting have kids too – the friends without kids would be crazy to leave their beds before noon on a weekend morning! In fact, it should be forbidden – what a waste!)
My favourite breakfast place is ‘De Bakkerswinkel’ (The Bakers’ Shop). Not only can you buy yummy breads, cakes and scones at the counter of ‘The Bakkerswinkel’, they also serve a wonderful (Dutch style) breakfast, lunch or tea in the restaurant area, which always has a very cozy and homey feel to it! Think jars of honey and home-made jams on the table, big cups of cappuccinos (small cups of babyccinos for the little ones of course), baskets filled with delicious breads, scones, etc. The menu is big enough to have something yummy for everyone’s taste! (more…)
Carluccio’s
With more than 10 different locations across central London, Carluccio’s is a good ‘go-to’ restaurant for decent Italian food, friendly service and great accommodations for kids!
While Carluccio’s is not the most original choice of restaurant, it is kid-friendly without being obnoxious, and comfortable without losing its charm. It’s a great family dinner spot where you can share a bottle of wine with your husband, while your kids stay entertained! (The happier the kids, the happier the adults!)
The kid’s menu, which includes breadsticks, entreé, a drink, and ice cream for dessert, comes as an activity set with cute wooden coloring pencils, a color-your-own puzzle kit, and other fun games. It’s super cute, and my kids LOVE it! (more…)
El Resentin
This restaurant has a story with a happy ending!
El Resentin* used to be a wine-bar, or better a “grappa” bar open ’til late every night, where actors from the nearby theatre could find a quiet place to have a drink after the show. It opened 25 years ago on the ashes of a bistro that had been there since the 1920s. But in the spring of 2007 it closed down.
Then Rome-born Eros Ramazzotti, the famous singer, who lives nearby in the Brera neighbourhood and used to have breakfast in a café on the other side of the street, noticed the closed windows and thought it could be nice to open a restaurant to build even stronger roots in Milan and in the neighbourhood that had always made him feel welcome.
He bought the place and last September the “new” Resentin opened for business. The idea was to have a nice and welcoming place where one could eat like at home, and where families could feel welcome.
The menu is simple with a few starters, about five “primi piatti” of pasta and rice, about five mains (meat and fish), a few nice salads and very good desserts. Complemented by a serious wine list. The selection is modern and traditional at the same time, quite a good mix! (more…)
L’Apriori tea room
In Paris there are very few obvious kid-friendly restaurants. However, when you start scratching the surface a little bit, there a lots of little places tucked away that are first and foremost friendly; and so, by default, good for kids.
One of such places is the L’Apriori lunch and tea room in the Galerie Vivienne — a beautiful, glass covered Gallery off rue Vivienne in the 1st arrondissement (thanks to Marie from LFG for introducing me to this gem). It is super close to the Musee en Herbe, and is a little oasis of calm in the middle of frenetic Paris.
It is run by a lovely American lady and the food is amazing. Scones, crumbles and tarts are all presented in a old-world style. Another wonderful thing, and very unusual for here in Paris, is that they offer half potions of all their divine cakes, crumbles and scones… perfect for small and yet hungry stomachs! I have also heard that the brunch is divine, though I myself have not tried it. (more…)
Our Great Cities!
We were all in the mood for another theme week, so we thought it would be fun to devote an entire week just to our cities! This week we will fill you in on some of our favorite places to go and things to do in each of our five cities (including New York)!
Each day of the week will have its own specific theme. Today, we’ll be writing about kid-friendly (but still chic!) restaurants. Tomorrow we’ll write about great toy/deco shops, Wednesday we’ll each write about a fun outdoor activity, Thursday we’ll write about a favorite kid’s clothing/shoe shop, Friday we’ll list indoor activities, and Saturday and Sunday we’ll write about ‘Things to Buy or Try’ (meaning products specific to our cities that you can’t find elsewhere).
We’re really excited to represent our cities, and we hope it will inspire you to pack your bags, grab your kids and come visit! After all… traveling with kids doesn’t mean you have to give up style, culture, shopping or good food!
We hope you enjoy, and we would love to receive comments with your own suggestions and ideas.
-Courtney
Double Dipping
I’m quite sure that in Europe we are a tad bit barbaric, because before living in the USA I wasn’t familiar at all with the term ‘double dipping’. In fact, in the Netherlands nobody really thinks much of it when you put your carrot in the dipping sauce a second time, or if you dip your nacho in the sauce after having already bitten in it. I don’t say this would be the standard for an official dinner party, but on an evening with friends nobody would really care. Or, better said, nobody would really notice!
In the US I did learn about double dipping, and obviously adjusted my whole dipping technique. I mean, even though in Europe we sometimes say the Americans have germ phobia, it’s probably true that if, at a party, everybody would freely dip their crisps over and over in the same sauce, you might as well be French kissing the whole party!
And this is probably exactly what my American friend thought last week when I served her a dumpling out of the steaming basket with my own chopsticks!! She told me so too, which I must say I appreciated – here in the Netherlands we prefer each other to just say things as they are. (more…)
Linguine with prawns, courgettes and cherry tomatoes
My husband and I love shrimp, really in any form, so it’s a bit frustrating that my son refuses to eat them! I still remember when I tried to feed him a prawn at Esther’s flat in London… he told me I was giving him a snake!
However, this does not stop me from using prawns to cook one of my favourite pasta dishes at every chance I get. It’s really fast and easy, yet it’s quite colourful and it makes a very good impression on guests.
Here is the recipe for four people: (more…)
Quotes jar
My 3½-year-old is starting to say the most hilarious things. (Isn’t it funny, the things they say??) So recently I started to write down some of my favorite conversations with him.
Last month while browsing some of my favorite blogs, I happened across a post from Inchmark blog about her jar of quotes. She jots down the funny things her kids say onto a scrap of paper and then plops it into a jar she has on her desk. When she’s having a bad day, she reaches in and pulls out a quote, and suddenly she’s laughing.
I just LOVE this idea. What a cute way to keep and remember all the funny things your kids say. I’m off to find myself a big glass jar!
-Courtney
via Ohdeedoh
Berry’s Berry
When the girls were in Paris, Esther and I were chatting about the different perceptions we had about Japanese design. Esther, coming from a background in architecture views Japanese style as clean, minimalist, muted colours and general zen-ess, whilst, with my background in animation, I think of Japanese style as bright, funky and crazy. Japan seems to be one of these countries where both of these extremes can exist in perfect harmony.
In the elegant St. Germain I found a little Japanese kids’ clothing shop called Berry’s Berry which definitely reflects more my idea of Japanese style than Esther’s. It could never be described as understated and minimalist! Flanked on the one side by elegant Serendipity, a kids furniture shop and Talc an understated wonderful French kids’ clothes shop, Berry’s Berry is cheap, bright and very cheerful with an twist! (more…)
