Author: linfordfisher

July 3, 2017. Monday. Zurich, Switzerland. I’m currently sitting in the lobby of the first hotel we’ve used on this trip: a Hotel Ibis, a cheap European hotel chain. We were in four different countries today: Austria, Germany, Lichtenstein, and Switzerland — many beautiful miles logged in the Alps. I love water and the ocean, but these mountains move me in different ways, for sure.

It’s been a fun past few days, but I decided to take a break from blogging while we were with our friends in Austria. Friday morning we spent the morning and early afternoon seeing more of Venice. We all decided we just really like that city, even if it is somewhat of a pain to get around quickly! The food and sights were amazing.

Around 2 pm on Friday we headed towards Innsbruck, Austria, which took us past Verona (of Romeo and Juliette fame) and up through the northern Italian Alps into Austria. Our good friends Andreas and Michaela Eyl and their four kids were kind enough to host us for three nights in their flat. We got to know them before our families were complete in the early 2000s, so it was really nice to have everyone meet each other. Despite their busy schedules, we got to hang out quite a bit. On Saturday morning we walked from their flat (5 minutes) to the trailhead that would have (if we had the time and stamina) taken us straight up the towering mountains right at their doorstep. Innsbruck is nicely nestled in between huge Alp ranges to the north and south, in a long valley with the Inn river running through it. Almost everywhere you look you see the Alps.

We hiked up part way and then took the gondola up the entire way, which was both expensive but breathtaking. The clouds hid most of the view of the city, but the north-facing view was astonishing, with just rows of granite peaks in the distance. In the afternoon we explored the old part of the city, which is also really lovely.

Sunday after attending their church (he is a pastor), we had a proper Austrian meal and climbed up to see the Olympic long jump stadium. We were lucky enough to see a skier make several jumps. That evening we saw the musical version of Everyman / Jedermann, which is very popular in Austria (and the Eyl’s son was a child extra in it).

On Monday morning (today) we said our goodbyes and drove up through the northern Austrian Alps into Germany to see the Schloss Neuschwanstein — the huge castle that inspired the Disney castle you see in Florida and at the beginning of every Disney movie. The weather was not so great to start but got much better as the day went on. We were lucky to meet up with Jo’s dad and his wife for a few hours at Neuschwanstein, which included a nice luncheon.

By mid-afternoon we were on the road again, destination Zurich, Switzerland. We intentionally chose the slower route through the Arlberg Pass, which meant some pretty sketchy secondary roads perched high above the valley floor with no railings and busses coming head-on! But there were also wide, flat, and gorgeous valleys lined with towering peaks that we all enjoyed, too.

We also took a little detour into Lichtenstein, which was very picturesque.

Once in Switzerland, the route south of the two large lakes was really impressive in the late evening sun. The initial approach was driving straight towards a wall of jagged peaks — with no clear route through them! At one point we stopped to take in the views along the Walensee and had some lovely views across the water.

We arrived in Zurich at 9:30 pm — having taken longer than was necessary, but having really enjoyed the scenery all day. Below is just a sampling of the sites from the past few days.

Peace to all.

June 30, 2017. Thursday. Venice. We’ve noticed an absence of something from the highways of Europe: billboards. In the US, they are so ubiquitous that you really don’t get a sense of just how obnoxious they are until you drive through endless miles without a single one. It’s not that Europeans don’t do the advertising thing. After all, metro stations are plastered with product and pop culture ads. But the highway landscape seems protected somehow, and it is glorious.

We said arrivederci to Rome this morning after two visits to places that were right around the corner from our Air BnB. The first was the Pantheon, built in 27 BCE as a Roman Temple. Sometime after the conversion of Constantine in the 4th century, it was turned into Christian church, which it remains to this day. So many of Rome’s buildings and spaces seem to be a fascinating combination of Roman religious/civic use and later Christian re-use and reconfiguration. We also joined to masses to see the large Trevi Fountain, which someone described to us as the Times Square of Rome (kitschy/touristy, but kind of need to do it).

After some last minute shopping (and a reverse navigation of the very tight parking garage quarters!), we hit the highways for Venice. The day was stunning — deep blue skies and puffy white clouds all around. Central Italy is really lovely — somewhat hilly with mountains in the distance. From Florence, when you turn northeast, you cross through some of those mountains and emerge on the other side in a totally flat, gorgeous agricultural flatlands from there to Venice. We hit our first major traffic jam heading through the mountains northeast of Florence, but it was only a 30 minute slow down or so.

We arrived in Venice and found parking in one of the main parking garages (which accommodated our van perfectly). After purchasing tickets, we were soon off on the water taxi to our Air BnB. The route took us through some of the more central canals and then out into the sea along the north side of Venice. We were immediately smitten. The canals are really the streets, so there are very few sidewalks as such. Most of the buildings are right up against the canals. Many buildings are brightly colored and super cute, even if not impeccably cared for at times. The breezes, the water, the waves, the colors, the boats, the gondolas — it was all magical. Even Elliot–who has been missing home mightily–said that he really likes Venice, which I consider to be a victory of sorts.

After dropping our bags at our newly remodeled flat (we were the first customers, we were told), we lazily walked to Piazza San Marco, site of the largest church and plaza on the island, stopping at almost every alley and canal, it seemed, to take pictures. San Marco is beautiful and the plaza was bustling with people and lined with restaurants. We hung out there for a while so the kids could feed the pigeons (they would sit on them and eat out of their hands) before walking to the waterfront and grabbing a water taxi up the main canal to a stop close to a recommended restaurant. The main canal was really beautiful in the soft sunset glow, with water taxis, private boats, and gondolas criss-crossing back and forth the surprisingly wide and long main canal.

The recommended restaurant was totally booked, so we opted for a little out of the way one that turned out to be simply excellent. Everything except the steak was delicious and filling — the mussels and clams, risotto, pasta, wine, salad, and tiramisu. (BTW, I [Lin] cannot believe how affordable and delicious a glass of wine is: 4 – 5 Euros is the norm, and the quality is excellent.[

A short walk back through some cute narrow streets, over little canals, and through softly lit plazas, and we were “home” — at 11 pm, of course! Our late eating continues in these lovely southern European climes.

We’ve been having an ongoing conversation about which city we’ve liked the most. We all loved the main cities so far — Paris, Barcelona, and Rome, but Venice ranks pretty high so far. As does Monaco, although we didn’t really get a chance to experience it fully. I think Venice combines the two things I love: old European cities and water. We will be back.

June 28, 2017. Rome. [Eden] CIAO from Rome!!!

When in Rome, speak as the Romans do?! Except we barely know any Italian. It’s not really necessary though because most people speak at least some English. I’m still hoping for an experience where we have to resort to charades, but that hasn’t happened yet.

This is Eden, by the way 🙂 I guess my time to blog is long overdue.

At seven this morning, us kids woke up to a Moana song blasting from our portable speaker. Thanks, Dad. It seemed extra early, especially considering none of us were asleep by midnight last night, but that’s the price you pay for early tickets to the Vatican!! We were out the door soon after 7:45 and walked forty minutes, through adorable Roman streets, to the Vatican City. It’s the smallest country in the world and enclosed almost entirely by a super tall brick wall. We were sort of laughing at the state of both the wall and the surrounding land: it’s all pretty dirty! Public garbage bins are barely a thing so people pile their trash at various locations.

We expected it to be less crowded because it was so early in the morning, but there were still tons of tourists lined up. Our special tickets allows us to essentially cut the line and we made it through security, etc, within half an hour. After looking at a really cool wooden model of the entire country (ha), we wandered outside and then wandered back inside after realizing we went the wrong way. Thus began a long walk through the Vatican Museum, which is packed full of sculptures and other really old stuff. I didn’t know where to look: the crazy realistic paintings that looked like carvings on the ceiling, the gold that lined the paintings, the stone sculptures and busts and their inscriptions, the ridiculously elaborate mosaic floor. Thinking about the amount of time that went into each minuscule detail made me depressed because I’m not sure what I’m doing with my life. In other words, it was absolutely spectacular. Two of the rooms that stood out were the Gallery of Maps, which reminded me very much of Versailles with a horribly extravagant amount of gold, and of course, the Sistine Chapel. The Chapel had almost too many paintings to focus on a single one!! It was super amazing to be in that place because I’ve heard about it so many times and then we were right there, right under the Creation of Adam. Also, Elliot was playing a game on his phone and one of the security guards TOTALLY chewed him out for it: “no. no video games. you look up!!!!” Awesome.

Unfortunately, the jostling flow of the crowds pushed us through it all faster than I wanted but perhaps that was okay because there was no air conditioning!!

Our next plan was to walk a mile around the walls to the St. Peter’s basilica, but that took way longer than expected because all of a sudden it began to POUR. Apparently that’s a rare thing in Rome but the street vendors totally took advantage of it, shoving umbrellas in our faces. The heaviest of it only lasted like ten minutes so we waited it out under a gelato cart’s overhang and then walked to the basilica. Along the way we passed maybe a dozen brides and it was really weird until we found out that the Pope had had an address in the morning. While that was cool to hear that we’d been less than a mile from the Pope, it sucked because that meant the basilica was closed for the day. We asked like eight different people to confirm and all of them gave different answers so we gave up and left. But I was really looking forward to climbing the dome!!! 😦

We went back mostly the way we came, walking both on main streets and mainly pedestrian alleys. Everything is cobblestone and the pedestrian alleys are super narrow with restaurants and shops and tourist shops lining either side, and apartments on top. The building are really colorful compared to the uniform creaminess of Paris buildings! Also, on literally every corner, you can find a gelateria. We took advantage of that and stopped for some on the way back. I highly recommend the pure chocolate at Gelateria del Teatro. It’s like bittersweet dark chocolate. YUM.

My siblings were tired from our short night and the “boring” Vatican so we chilled at the flat for maybe half an hour. Harrison is obsessed with Peppa Pig right now so he and Helena and Elliot watched that while my mom and I slept (and Dad booked a new place in Venice since the old one canceled on us last minute). That was okay until we left the flat and when to get some food and Harrison fell asleep!!

From the cafe we walked to the Colosseum!! That was another crazy moment of omg-we’re-actually-here, because that like the iconic Rome landmark™ and we were THERE. The sky had cleared up nicely and so Dad got his nice pictures. We went inside and took more pictures and just were in awe, or at least I was, of the things that have happened at that very spot. I wondered aloud how many people had died there and that was freaky to think of.

Then it was a long walk back, up a main boulevard full of people trying to make money however they could: a beatboxer, a spraypainter, a guitarist, a couple invisible men, a floating genie, some singers, and lots more. People get creative!!

We met some of our friends from RI at a main plaza place and walked to the banks of the Tiber, where a long line of tents was set up with lots of good food. We got our good Italian spaghetti meal in, and then walked to yet another gelato place and got some of that too. I got chocolate again, this time with coconut, and the bittersweet/sweet taste was amazing.

And then, back to the flat!! Somehow walking through Rome at 11 at night seems a lot less sketchy than walking through Providence at night would be. Hm. The city is still quite active.

Also, today we walked the most we have this entire trip: over 25,000 steps, or 18.5 km!

Ciao for now! 🙂

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June 27, 2017. Rome, Italy. (Harrison: blog content; Eden: stenographer.) Today was our first morning in Italy. We had a very nice house for our Air BNB [in Savona]. There was a balcony and on the balcony, Elliot found a cat on the railing. He told me and Helena to come outside so we did. The cat was black with gray stripes and looked like it was stuck. We decided to help it but we didn’t exactly know how but we decided to bring it down to the floor. But then it looked like it wanted to go inside. Mom said it couldn’t go inside. So then we brought it to the front door and down the stairs. When we left, it was really hard to get out of the driveway because it was really tight. Dad wanted to get some coffee so we stopped and when he came back out he was laughing, because the coffee shop guy forced him to take a tiny little metal spoon about the size of two and half inches. We also had to get diesel and so we stopped at a place and me and Helena wanted to clean the windows with a cleany-thingamabober.

Then there was a long drive through tunnels and bridges until we found a place close to where we were gonna go next (La Spezia). We parked there and then we got to the place where we were, which was a train station. We had to get tickets but the one machine didn’t work so we had to use the other machine, which did work. [From La Spezia we took the train to Riomaggiori, the southern most of the famous Cinque Terre — the Five Cities, which are beautiful coast mountainous towns that perch at the edge of the sea.]

When the train came, it wasn’t a double decker train but it was still a nice train. And it was a train ride about seven minutes long and when it was over, we were a little confuzzlized so Mom asked someone where to get to the place where we were going and the person said it was under a bridge and so we went under the bridge and came up to the place. It was like a town/road thing, I don’t know how to explain it but it was really small with lots of things to do like eat and shop and eat and shop and eat and shop more. [It is a bit unique: Riomaggiori sits right up against the sea on the side of a mountain, so the streets are windy and small and curve up the side of the mountain.] So then we walked up a TON of stairs for like FOREVER.

When we got to the top of the mountain thingy, it was a super nice view of the sea. The Mediterranean Sea. There were a couple of restaurants and I also did a cartwheel. We saw a little castle but it wasn’t much of a castle at all. We walked all the way back down tons of steps through the town and put our feet in the Mediterranean Sea. (Mom: which is the third country that you’ve put your feet in!) True fact. And then when we were done we went back up to the place with lots of places to do [the main town street, which curves steeply uphill] where you could shop and eat and shop and eat and shops some more and eat some more. We shopped to eat at a place called Mama Mia and I don’t know why they named it that, it is SUCH a weird name, but they had good food so I don’t really care. I got hot dog pizza, Helena got Hawaiian pizza, Dad got a ham sandwich thingymajigger, Eden got pesto pizza, Elliot got French fries and fish, fish and chips, and mom didn’t get anything, she had a little bit of everything sort of.

Then we went back to the train station where we got all confuzzlized and mom had to ask another person where to go. Me and Helena decided to save our weird pizza stuff until the train. But it took a long time for the train to come so I sorta regretted not eating until the train arrived and I don’t know if Helena regretted it too. When we got on the train, once again it was like seven minutes, and me and Helena STILL didn’t finish our weird pizzas when we arrived at the train stations. When we went to the parking place me and Helena ate our pizzas in the car-car. Then once again it was a looooong ride to the next place [1.25 hours!] and the next place was the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Before it was a leaning at a degree of 5.5 but when we saw it was leaning at a degree of 3.7. I learned that from the book. (Helena: No, I told you!!) No, I learned it from the book, not Helena.

We stayed there for like half an hour and did perspective shots with the leaning tower of Pisa. When we got back to the car-car, we got some ice cream on the way and dad dropped some of the ice cream. We got the colors of the Italian flag: pistachio as green, lemon as white, and strawberry as red. It wasn’t a very long walk to the van and when we did get to the van we had a three hour drive to Rome and we did two stops for the bathroom on the way.

The entrance to the parking garage in Rome wasn’t very big and we almost scraped the side with the van. [We are lucky to be in the very center of Rome, in the old city!] We had about one inch, maybe less than, on either side. But thankfully, Dad was a good driver and got us safely through. Even though the parking garage wasn’t very big, there was still a couple of spots where cars could park. We only took out two suitcases, three bags, and four backpacks. It wasn’t much so we quickly arrived at our new house. It was sorta strange because the door was a little overlapping with a restaurant right next to us. [Because it is on a pedestrian street that is lined with restaurants and shops!] It was also weird because the door was glass with black bars across and we could see in the house. It was an apartment so there were lots of stairs that we had to climb to get up to the house.

The house [flat] was not very big but all of us could fit in and there were enough beds. There were two beds where two people could fit, and two beds where one person could fit. Eden and I are going to sleep in the ones where only one person could fit, Mom and Dad are going to fit in a bed where two people can sleep, and so are Elliot and Helena. We didn’t have much time to set up because we were going to meet some of our friends from Rhode Island [The Denzy-Lewis family!]. We were going to meet up at a water fountain place thingy and go a pizzeria and eat pizza and eat ice cream [ahem: gelato!] for dessert. By the time we were completely done eating it was like 11:40pm but I wasn’t really tired.

Now my parents are making me go to bed because it’s midnight. Goodnight.

June 26, 2017. Monday. Italy. Today was some of the most unique and beautiful scenic driving we’ve had on this trip, and easily in the top 5 for me personally. The route from Nice to Monaco to Savona, Italy, is breathtaking, and a little nerve-wracking at times. Hairpin turns, sweeping vistas from hundreds of feet of the Mediterranean, and tons of tunnels – we went through at least 50 in the first hour of crossing into Italy.

The day started in Aix-en-Provence. Our flat was on one of many picturesque open plazas in the old part of the town, and we happened to have a huge fruit and veggie market right outside our front door, along with several options for bread, coffee, and treats. We took a little hour walking tour of Aix and were on the road by 11 (a bit later than anticipated).

An hour or so along beautiful highways through the hills with mountains in the distance brought us to Cannes, on the coast of the Mediterranean and home of the famous annual film festival. It is definitely an upscale city, with beautiful beaches, palm-tree lined streets, and scenic views. We drove along the waterfront and then followed the coast up to Antibes, a cute little coastal town.

Somewhere in between Antibes and Nice we stopped along a long stretch of beach just to get out to stretch our legs. But when we realized the water was so warm, everyone but Jo changed and jumped in. The surf was rough, which the kids liked. The beaches in Nice are unique in that they are mostly pebble beaches, not sandy ones. There are some benefits, but mostly your feet hurt after a while.

After a solid 1-1.5 hours of swimming, we were on the road again, this time to Nice and the Promenade des Anglais – a long boardwalk of sorts along the waterfront. Nice is actually a fairly large city, at just over a million people. We all really enjoyed the drive through town along the water, especially as we drove up out of Nice en route to Monaco.

The drive between Nice and Monaco was stunning. We chose the coastal route, which is slower but simply amazing, with large mountainous coasts and towns on the bays and inlets. To me, it is what the Big Sur on the California coast would look like if it was developed with towns, etc. The southern coast of France is much hillier/rockier/mountainous than I realized – but it adds to the beauty and charm

Monaco itself was really gorgeous. The main bay with buildings and lower high rises lining the steep mountain in a semi-circle around the water is just so unique and visually stunning. It’s almost visual overload – but in a good way. We found a parking garage that mostly fit our van and walked up the steep paths to the prince’s castle, which gave us sweeping views of the entire main bay. A delicious dinner in a cute little alley on top of the mountain (which is also residential), and we were ready to head to Savona, Italy, where we have an Air BnB booked for tonight.

But: getting out of Monaco is not easy! Our trust GPS took us winding up steep streets with hairpin curves to climb the towering mountain walls that are heavily built up and populated the whole way to the top. It was some of the most interesting and visually engaging driving I’ve ever done, I think. And a little nuts at time in a stick-shift van with a very sensitive clutch!

After cresting the top of the mountain wall, we settled in for the 1 ¼ hour drive. But we were totally blown away by the beauty of the drive between Monaco and Savona. After you cross into Italy, you are either on a bridge or in a tunnel for easily an hour. We passed through at least 50 tunnels (of varying length, but some a mile or more) within the first hour. And the bridges (especially at first) are super high. On the left there are what I think are the beginnings of the Italian Alps. And on the right are these amazing steep valleys filled with terraced towns and cities that lead down to the water. There were so few places to stop along the highway that we really don’t have many pictures. But it was super cool.

Our stopping point in Savona is for convenience (not pilgrimaging to where Christopher Columbus was from, I can assure you). Our flat for tonight is the largest and nicest one we’ve had yet – and one of the cheapest, oddly. Savona is not much of a destination, I’m guessing. Getting the van to the flat was another adventure in tight van driving: folded in mirrors down a steep narrow alley with 2-3 inches to spare on either side. Yikes.

Still, I think we will all sleep well tonight. Today we logged the least amount of steps, however – well below 10,000, which is unusual (we’ve been averaging 16,000 – 20,000 per day).

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June 26, 2017. Monday. France (again!). Can I just say how impossible it is to get where you want to go with a van in cute little downtowns of European cities? Pedestrian zones, one way streets, corners that require a 50 point turn, etc. Tonight in Aix-en-Provence we finally gave up and parked outside of the centre-ville and just lugged our suitcases 6 minutes through winding cobble stone streets to our flat.

The day started with heavy downpours in Barcelona, however. We slept in a bit, packed up our stuff, and loaded up in the rain (fortunately we could pull the van in the narrow side street right to the door). The sky was mostly overcast as we headed through the eastern edge of the Pyrenees in northeastern Spain. By the time we reached France, however, the skies turned and remained bright blue, and the temps increased once again.

We had two planned stops en route to Aix-en-Provence: Nimes and Avignon. In Nimes we stopped to see the largest standing Roman coliseum outside of Rome — and it did not disappoint. As we were explaining to the kids what coliseums were used for (“sporting” type events, although far grislier), it prompted considerations of whether Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts (go Pats!) will be standing in 2,000 years. (Hardly!) We also were able to quickly view an old first century CE Roman temple, with its decaying Corinthian columns. Nimes seemed so lovely and totally lazy / laid back.

From Nimes, it was on the road again to Avignon, site of the famous bridge from the children’s song (“On the bridge of Avignon, they’re all dancing, they’re all dancing…”) and, perhaps more importantly, the home of the Popes’ palace for over 100 years in the late medieval period. But the highlight of Avignon for the younger three were the pedal go-carts in the high gardens above the river. We drove all this way and…a 2.50 Euro go-cart gave them the most joy they had since the toy sailboats in Paris. Too funny. Avignon is lovely, however, and the view from the gardens of the river, valley, and mountains in the distance is amazing.

Aix-en-Provence was our final destination for the day, just over an hour from Avignon. Driving around southern France has been a treat. There are almost always mountains in the distance, and large sprawling valleys with vineyards, orchards, and other kinds of farm fields in every direction. We arrived in Aix just fine, but had quite the time finding how to get close to our flat. When we finally decided to park in an indoor parking garage just outside of the old part of town, we almost got stuck because our van is right on the edge of the 1.90 m height. It fits in most garages that advertise that height (with 1-2 inches to spare), but not in the first one we chose. The second one was fine, however, thankfully! Street parking is not abundant here, especially for larger vehicles.

Our flat is located on a cute square within the old city. After dumping our stuff, we headed to Cours Mirabeau, the wide main street in Aix that is lined with shops and streets. It is far less commercialized that La Rambla in Barcelona, and not nearly as glitzy as the Champs Elysees in Paris. Still, cute and fun, in a southern France laid back kind of way.

We’ve eating much later on this trip — in part because it gets dark so very late! We started our meal on the Cours Mirabeau around 9:20 and ended at 11 pm. It was dark by then, but it had only really gotten dark a bit before then. Such great French food tonight — and good Aix wine. Délicieux!

June 24, 2017. Saturday. Barcelona. There is so much to do in Barcelona, but the heat and kid fatigue make it hard to really even scratch the surface. We slept in a bit and hopped on the metro to the northern part of the city to Park Güell. It sits perched up on a hill and overlooks the city (although there are much higher points around it, both within and out of the city proper). The park is beautiful in its own right, but it is most famous for a section with features and structures designed by Antoni Gaudi, the famous late-19th / early 20th c. Spanish architect known for Catalonian Modernism. His work usually features mosaics and bold colors, along with somewhat tripped out architectural elements. Sadly, we hadn’t ordered tickets ahead of time, so we had to content ourselves with seeing things mostly from the outside and enjoying other parts of the park.

From there we walked a long lazy mile to La Sagrada Familia, the towering cathedral just north of the Gothic Quarter. It is one of the longest-running construction projects in the modern era. Started in 1882 and designed by none other than Antoni Gaudi, it is a stunning modern Catholic cathedral that defies description in some ways. As with Gaudi’s other works, there are some fantastical and architecturally unorthodox elements of the design (for cathedrals, at least). Yet in other ways, it conforms to the cathedral genre, even as it stretches it. The inside is soaring, and yet the stained glass is not traditional. Most of it is a range of rainbow colors, although almost always grouped together in warm or cold clusters. The stones have a much more modern feel to them, and there are elements and features of the building that feel very modern, even as the very architectural genre makes it feel ancient. It is slate to be finished within the next 10 years or so. Gaudi died in 1926, so it could well be finished over 100 years after his death, and 140 years after construction began. We were struck today by the difference between the west facade, which is much newer, vs. the east facade, which seems dirty and very old in comparison.

From La Sagrada Familia, we returned to the flat to freshen up, change, and–yep–head to the beach. It was hot and we all had so much fun there the night before. It was fuller than last night, but we easily found space to spread out and swim for a spell in the clear, refreshing water. There aren’t many waves, but it is fun to remind ourselves that we are swimming in the Mediterranean. There are many beach vendors trying to sell massages, blankets, and mojitos, and the massage people are especially aggressive.

For some reason, last night and tonight, Helena and Harrison made a great game out of picking up as much trash as possible from the beach. Last night someone gave them 5 Euros for their work, but they are doing it more for fun than anything. We almost lost them at some point since they had followed the trash trail so far away from us. We had to ask them not to do it on the way home, too! Funny kids.

Our dinner experience in the Gothic Quarter was a bit disappointing again. We feel like we keep eating at touristy places. The tapas were okay, but small (even smaller than they are supposed to be!). The paella was delicious, however.

It’s been interesting to compare the public transportation systems of the various big cities we’ve been in so far. Barcelona wins overall — clean stations and trains, and strong AC in the metro and on buses alike. I think the Paris and London systems run more frequently, perhaps. Paris is the least user-friendly in so many ways. Few visible employees, and you often need a ticket to exit the station as well (just takes time, and means you really need to hold on to your ticket). Paris metro trains were rarely air conditioned (ditto for London). London does a better job with telling you when the next train will arrive. Paris stations are poorly marked internally — very few metro maps, etc. But the tube system in London could learn something really helpful from Paris and Barcelona: most trains in the latter two cities have a map of that line with LED lights that show you which station you are at or approaching. It is 100 times easier and more helpful, but it is not something I’ve seen yet anywhere in London.

Tomorrow we head back to France, to the south coast.

Peace.

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June 23, 2017. Friday. Spain. For the first time in our entire time away from Rhode Island, we are sleeping with AC. Well, most of us, at least! I’m sitting in the hallway just outside the living room of our Air BnB flat in Barcelona in hopes of catching a few wafts of cool air. The four kids are all crammed into the living room (sofa bed + two mattresses on the floor), which has the AC. Jo and I are way down the hall with no AC, but that’s mostly fine. We’d open the windows instead, but it just happens to be the St. Joan Festival here in Barcelona, which is also known as the night of fire — meaning that super loud fireworks and M-80 type explosions are the norm. All. Night. Long. Music festival in Saint-Lo until 1 am; fireworks all night long in Barcelona. Because: why not?

Today was another fun day. We slept in just a bit in Toulouse. Our flat was in a totally residential but busy neighborhood, and with all the windows open, we got a lot of street noise all night long. Still, it cooled down nicely, so I think we all slept well. I got up early in search of my cafe au lait and baguettes and fruit for breakfast for us all. We somehow were in a bit of a food desert on the north side of Toulouse, however, so I only managed two baguettes and some other bakery treats. After eating and loading up, we headed to the center of town to see the Place du Capitole – the capitol building – and Point Neuf (which was, sadly, underwhelming). We made a quick grocery stop and were on the road: destination Barcelona, Spain, over the Pyrenees.

The Pyrenees were beautiful. We only saw snow on some very distant peaks, but we drove through several gorgeous valleys and next to towering mountains that had us all in awe. Some of the roads were so winding that we had to stop to give Helena and Harrison (in the back seat) some fresh air and stillness. There were moments that felt like our cross country trip last summer: towering granite walls that reminded us just a bit of Yosemite, and huge beautiful wide open valleys with mountains in the distance that reminded us of Yellowstone. At one point our usually-trust GPS system (a terrific app called Sygic that I have on my phone that doesn’t use any data) inexplicable took us off of the main road and down teeny tiny streets through a little mountain town that our van barely fit through! Still — all the more adventure.

We decided to not drive through Andorra, much to Eden’s dismay, I think. It seemed from the GPS app that there was a backup at the border, and since it is not part of the EU, the online reviews said it can be a pain and take a while. We didn’t really have any need to be there anyway, so we bypassed it. We were surprised, however, that there was no border crossing from France into Spain. Nothing. Not even a sign that said “Bienvenido a España.” But the architecture and feel of the villages changed right away into what seemed to be more typically Spanish. As we descended out of the mountains, it became more dry, and much hotter — in the 90s. With the orange tile roofs and dry mountainous landscape, it almost looked like southern California (or, vice versa, really!).

We arrived in Barcelona in late afternoon. After parking and settling into our downtown flat, we set out to explore the city a bit. We are staying really close to the Gothic Quarter and La Rambla, one of the main streets in the city that is a wide boulevard with a large pedestrian section in the middle with restaurants and shops. It was hot — in the 90s — so the kids wanted to head down to the long city beaches that only date back to the 1980s or so. So we packed or wore our swimming suits and took a leisurely 40 minute walk to the beach through the heart of the city, down La Ramba, past the towering statue of Columbus on the waterfront, through the lovely but semi-commercialized pedestrian zones by the marina, and finally emerged onto a wide but fairly thin beach packed with sunbathers (some more clothed than others, which the kids got a chuckle out of). The water was a bit chilly — 68 or 69 F, perhaps — but it felt refreshing to most of us.

Evenings at the beach in RI are one of our favorite summer activities at home, so it felt special to be able to recreate it here. Around 8 pm we packed up, even thought there was still plenty of light, and walked through the Gothic Quarter with its narrow streets and grabbed a yummy tapas dinner on La Rambla — the first for the kids (tapas, that is). My local beer came in a farcically huge wine glass. Hilarious but delicious. It was 9:30 or so before we really started eating, in true European fashion, I suppose.

The fireworks that began in early evening continue now, close to 1 am. But we are all so tired and grateful for AC that I think sleep has come quickly for everyone.

Peace.

June 22, 2017. Thursday. France. Hi. This is Helena and Harrison. Last night we heard music in our flat until really late at night! Today we got up and went with Dad to the local supermarket right outside our front door [in Saint-Lo] where we got some fruit for breakfast and for later today. Then we went to a bakery to get fresh baguettes. They were huge! And we also got two other yummy chocolate bread treats. We went back to our flat, had some breakfast, packed our bags, and headed out. I (Helena) went with Dad to get some coffee at a coffee shop. He can order coffee with milk in French, but not much else, because he is not fluent like mom is. We then went to the van and started driving. Mom and Dad warned us today would be a long driving day! For the first time since we got to France, the sky was cloudy. It was actually foggy and even a bit chilly! Well, at first.

Our first stop was Mont Saint Michel. As we got close, we could see Mont Saint Michel across the fields, sort of in the fog. For those of you who don’t know, Mont Saint Michel is basically a little island that is a castle type thing with a little town on it as well. It is an island but there is a long walkway that you can either walk on out to it or else take a shuttle out. There were also horse-drawn carriages you could take, too, but they cost money and were slower. We decided to walk out since it wasn’t too far [2 km]. The walk out was long but really nice. We did lots of cartwheels and took fun perspective pictures. The tide was out, so people were out walking on the long flat sandy areas.

Inside, it didn’t really feel like what it looked like from the outside. It had really skinny and narrow streets, lots of shops, no cars, and no bikes. There were lots of people everywhere. We had an early lunch at a little cafe along the tiny street – baguette sandwiches, of course! And a waffle with Nutella on it.

The main street winds up very steeply. At the top, there are not any shops, just a huge church [Abbey]. We also went inside the huge Abbey at the very top of the island. There were a ton of rooms and a main cathedral area—it just went on and on! There were several places where you could look out over the water, well, actually, where the water would be since the tide was out! There were so many people walking out to another island in the distance. Mom said they have to be aware of when the tide comes in and out so they don’t get trapped or swept out to sea. Dad wants to come back and do that next time! [Walk out, not get trapped!]

The sun started to come out as we were getting ready to return to our van. Eden and I (Harrison) decided to run back, but everyone else beat us in the shuttle bus. Dad had to get in some last nice pictures with the sun and clouds, and then we left.

And then we drove and drove from Mont Saint Michel to Toulouse – about seven hours, with a few stops in addition. It was a lot of time in the car, but we slept, got super goofy, listened to music, and played on our screens. It was just getting dark when we got to Toulouse, in the southern part of France. Our flat is small, and a bit hot. No one seems to have AC here.

Well, thanks for reading! I’m sure my dad will try to give you an update again soon. Don’t forget to check out the pictures!

DCIM103GOPRO

June 21, 2017. Saint Lo, France. It’s 11:49 pm on the longest day of the year, and live music is blasting outside my window. We’re in the cute little city of Saint-Lo, France, tonight, in a really nice 3rd floor flat overlooking the main town square — all of which would be great if it weren’t for the fact that there is a once-per-year music festival taking place right outside our windows until 1 am. Coincidentally, we will also be going to bed at 1 am tonight. They have blocked off the entire downtown to cars, which made getting to our flat a bit of a challenge. Still, a fun and unique experience.

The day started early with Harrison and I picking up our ridiculous van in the Louvre parking lot. He brought his little Syrian refugee care package along, but it was too early for them to be out in the metro stations. We had a few complications getting to the van (it was too early for the Louvre or the mall to be open), but soon we were very carefully driving through the streets of Paris.

After picking up Jo, the other kids, and our luggage, we headed to Versailles. Traffic circles are confusing enough in Paris, but our route took us through the mother of them all: the roundabout circling the Arc de Triomphe, which is only the world’s largest roundabout and reportedly Europe’s craziest. And we hit it at peak morning rush hour, in a new van with an uber-sensitive clutch. Entering the circle was like drifting into a driving no-person’s land, with no painted lines, seemingly no rules, and mopeds, motorcycles, trucks, cars, and vans, all vying for space and trying to enter and turn off the twelve roads that come together. It was truly something to experience. We soon realized, having entered, that it was actually hard to know where to get off, even with a GPS. Somehow we avoided approximately half a dozen near hits and side-swipes and were soon on our way. Eden recorded it–in part just to record Jo and I talking to each other, navigating it. Too funny.

And then: that ginormous chateau of Louis XXIV — Versailles. It was as over the top and as gaudy as I had remembered it. The kids have been to the Newport Mansions in RI, which are of course also nuts. But they pale in comparison to the sheer size of Versailles. We followed the masses through the various rooms and halls, including the famous Hall of Mirrors, and then headed out back for a quick viewing of the humungous gardens.

After a long stop a Monoprix for groceries (customer service and adequate staffing are not strengths of the French…), we hit the road headed to Normandy in northern France. The highways here are nice and well maintained, although toll booths seem to come up far too quickly. At least they take credit cards!

The first stop in Normandy was the American Cemetery (officially US soil, I believe), which never fails to inspire. 9,000 American soldiers are buried there, many of whom died during the D-Day invasion of June 6, 1944. The cemetery is located at the wide and stunning Omaha Beach on the English Channel. I think the kids especially had a hard time wrapping their heads around it all. If you’ve seen Saving Private Ryan, you have a sense of the horror of that day on that very spot.

A short drive later, and we were at Point du Hoc, where several hundred American Rangers scaled the impressive 100 foot cliffs to control a key German gun station. The grounds are impressive and moving, in part because the large holes from the Allied shells are still there (although now kids run up and down them, as ours did). Still, a beautiful, moving place.

The drive to Saint-Lo was not bad — a combination of cute little back roads and highways. The music festival in Saint-Lo created an extra hour or so of difficulty — trying to find parking and our Air BnB flat. But in the end, all was well, and we headed out for a yummy crepe dinner at 9 pm.

For the record, it is now 12:50, and the music hasn’t abated around the city (although the stage outside our flat is closing down). Kids seem to be out in their quieter but stuffy rooms.

Peace to all.