We wanted to see as much of Europe as we could possibly do in 2 weeks with 1 car, 4 adults and 2 kids. So, we made the 5 hour drive from Zurich, Switzerland to Genoa, Italy. And interested thing to point out is that we paid 40 Swiss franc to enter that country, but never had to pay tolls on the highways. Once we entered Italy and drove through France and Spain we had to pay tolls again…and boy did we pay a lot in tolls since we drove everywhere!
Italy was a bit different for us since none of us speak Italian. We had French and Spanish covered, but couldn’t communicate with the Italians in their own language. Luckily between speaking French, Spanish, English or our own form of charades we were able to survive for the 24 hours we were in Italy.
We stayed at a pretty cool hotel in the heart of the city of Genoa. My favorite part of the hotel was that they had a kids room set up so Mason and Kalani could act like kids and play with toys. I wish more hotels would have something like that.
Kids being kids at the hotel
Famous elevator in Italy because it goes both horizontal and vertical ... think Willy Wonka
Castello d'Albertis
City of Genoa, Italy
1 pizza fed 1 person. Can't go to Italy without having PIZZA and it was yummy!
Gelato for dessert...YUM
Another fun adventure in Italy was attending church on Easter Sunday. The LDS ward in Genoa has rented out a floor of an office building. We met wonderful people who spoke English, Spanish and French. With my Spanish background I could understand about 50-60% of the things being said. It is so nice to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because no matter where you go in the world, the other members of the church have the same beliefs and standards and the gospel is the same.
More photos of Italy
Last summer we watched a movie where someone from the UK swaps homes with someone from the states. So, Matt looked at different sites on the internet where people swap homes for a vacation. He found that people who have amazing homes in Europe want to swap with people in the states. Well, that started him thinking that we need to go to Europe before Mason turns 2 so we don’t have to pay airfare for him…or at lease not a full fare. And thus began our 2 week vacation/road trip in Europe. We didn’t actually swap homes with people, but chose to stay at hotels, Bed & Breakfast and a friend’s apartment.
Matt took care of all the planning and booking and just EVERYTHING which was so nice. We also had my single brother and Matt’s single sister join us. 4 adults and 2 kids together for 2 weeks…good thing we love each other!
Our schedule for Europe
These cities are in Spain, France, Switzerland & Italy. Roughly about 2,000 miles of driving that Matt had to do since none of us wanted to drive a manual car in Europe where the roads are more narrow and there are roundabouts that are tricky to get the hang of.
Our driving route for 2 weeks
My job was to pack our suitcase. The cars in Europe are smaller and they don’t really understand trunk space. So, we knew that we had to fit everything for 4 people in 1 suitcase. I faced the challenge and passed with flying colors!
Everything for 4 people for 2 weeks
There was lots of driving and lots of walking. We didn’t bring a stroller because we knew there would be space issues in the car. Plus we had 4 adults to carry the not quite 2 year old Mason. I think that I could beat most people in an arm wrestling contest after holding that 30 pound boy most of the trip. By the end of the trip Mason was asking to ride on our “head” and of course Kalani wanted a ride too.
How we walked around the cities
It was a fun vacation and I saw things that I never dreamed that I would be able to see. Now to blog about all the cities/countries that we visited!
The 6 Super Cool Party People
