Sweet Home Alabama

We are home!  It certainly seemed longer coming back than it did going, I guess because even though we were ready to come home, our big adventure was coming to an end.
 I have no pictures to post, Paige wouldn't let me take any.  She said she wanted to remember all the fun things we did, not the end of the trip. 
Our flight was uneventful (a good thing) but the one thing I would caution any travelers to do (which I was just darn lucky I did because I had not seen it posted in any of my research before our trip) is to keep all of your receipts.  All of them.
Maybe it was my packing skills and our ability to get all our things in two carry on sized bags even though we were there two weeks or maybe it was because we were not part of a tour group of any kind, or maybe, just maybe, I look suspicious, but we (no really just me) were grilled and put to the fire by security at check-in upon leaving Zurich. 
They wanted to know where we had been, what we had done and what was the purpose of our traveling.  They wanted to see receipts for hotels and train travel to the various locations mentioned.  I had the documentation to provide them but it took the okay of the security supervisor to get us through to check in and obtain our boarding pass. 
It was a bit scary but I am certainly glad for the precautions set in place by both the airlines and our own country and the security personnel of others to keep us all safe while we travel.  Poor Paige was terrified.  I kept having to explain that it is their job to intimidate you and make you flustered so that if you are trying to do something to harm anyone on the flight, it will show during the interview.  All was good and we got our boarding pass and proceeded to the gate.
As luck would have it (or technology would) I then got "randomly" selected for an "at gate" security check of my belongings and my person (i.e. Airport pat down by security).  Again, I was happy to comply and hope the security officer that had to go through my bag was not too offended by the dirty laundry I was bringing home with me but I was again reminded that I would much rather go through any inconvenience such as this than even think about putting my daughter on a flight where they were more worried about inconveniencing the passengers than ensuring their safety. 
The flight itself was great and passed by pretty quickly with some great movies (kudos Delta Airlines).  We watched The Blind Side, Dear John, and The Young Victoria.  Paige got to sleep and we happily landed in Atlanta ahead of schedule. 
Tim was there to meet us at the gate and Paige didn't stop talking the entire drive home telling him all the things I think she had already told him when we spoke each night.  I guess she really enjoyed the trip. I hope so, that's why we went and I wouldn't have changed a thing.  Thanks to all for enjoying it with us!  Happy travels!

Last day of our European Adventure

Well, today was our last day in Europe.  We head out tomorrow at 9:50 AM so that doesn't really count as a day here.  It was a wonderful end to a great and very very memorable trip for us both.

We started the day early with a walk from our hotel to the Milano train station.  Paige had her final brioche (apricot marmalade filled) in Italy and we found our platform with lots of time to spare.
Our train started for Zurich at 7:10 AM and it was a gorgeous ride, even with the light rain and fog.  That only made the trip through the Alps more amazing to see them among the clouds.
We passed Lake Como and Lake Lugano and finally arrived in Zurich at 11:00AM.  We stashed our bags at the train station and changed our remaining Euros back into Swiss Francs and hit the town.  Paige had a few specific things in mind.  One was a lunch consisting of authentic Schneitzel.  She got it and loved it.  We passed through the Thai festival there in town and it was hard to resist some of the lunch items they had but we were on a mission!

On the way to that mission, Paige somehow found two more pairs of shoes she decided she probably shouldn't leave Europe without so we added them to our treasures and continued on. 

We stopped back through some of the stores we had been to when our adventure first began two weeks ago and picked up the items we wanted to take home and strolled the "Old Town" one last time to find a really neat open air market.  More treasures and we finally decided we had better catch the train to the airport to check into our hotel near there before we really did need extra baggage to get it all home.

Checked in at the Holiday Inn Express Zurich and were pleasantly surprised to find a totally American hotel experience to finish out our trip.  It was a nice treat and the shuttle bus to the airport in the morning will certainly make our lives easier.  You know, sometimes it's just the little things.

Paige is utterly amazed that we were able to fit everything into our two original bags to head home.  Hopefully with her's expanded, we will not be required to check it and can still keep it as a carry on. Either way, it will be well worth the wait on the other end to get all the wonderful things she found on our trip home so she can remember our trip when she uses them. 

I guess they know most people book here because of the proximity to the airport as their breakfast starts at 4:30AM and the shuttle service at 5:00AM.  We will be on the 6:00 shuttle to get checked in and through security well before our boarding time.  The next time we post, it will be from the good ol' USA. Wish us safe travels and no delays!  The volcano has behaved so far, I am still keeping my fingers crossed though. 

Thanks for traveling with us! 

Paige and Mic up bright and early to catch their train from Milan, Italy to Zurich, Switzerland for the final leg of their trip home

Milan Central Train Station is gorgeous even if it still is just a train station.  It makes you feel like the simplest trip is special leaving from or arriving at it.

Lakes Como in Italy and Lugano in Switzerland

Watching the Alps emerge from the clouds as we go further north

And out of the clouds and there is that magnificent view

Another gorgeous mountain view coming up to Zurich

Paige with her final requested lunch (Schneitzel and pomme frittes, yeah, just french fries) and fresh squeezed orange juice (uh...we will eventually learn our lesson, that little glass cost about $8!)

Our final goodbye overlooking Limmat Quai on the mouth of Lake Zurich, it was a great trip!

Last Day in Italy

Our final day in Italy was very nice. We finished up everything we wanted to do so we can hit the rails early (7:10 AM) to Zurich to fly home on Sunday. We packed a lot into a short amount of time though.

We slept in (what’s vacation without a little relaxation?) and then hit the Metro again to head out for Paige’s shopping day. Let’s just say she got as much as she can fit in her bag to bring home. I think the final tally is two bathing suits, four pairs of shoes, two dresses, a jumper, a pair of jeans, shorts, three shirts, two sweaters, a jacket, and a new Italian backpack to start her Senior year with. Mic says she never thought anyone would hear it out of her mouth, but she is shopped out!

Paige had an authentic Italian pizza for lunch (which she loved, it was fresh mozzarella, sliced Roma tomatoes, and proschiuto ham). We ended up back near the castle so we walked through Parco Sempione and went to the civic aquarium while we were there. She had her last gelato (lemon and strawberry) and got a fresh strawberry tart from the bakery before we hit the hotel since we may be leaving too early for her to get one tomorrow (it has become a daily event each time we leave in the morning on our adventures). We realized tonight we have been hitting the grocery store near the hotel a bit too often when not only the deli man (with his very authentic white jacket and hat) but also the cashier recognized us and asked us how our day was. Mic made the mistake later of having Paige step out on our hotel room balcony to see the city night life and as a result of her smelling the Chinese restaurant down the street, we visited them for some late night spring rolls. This vacation has officially been renamed Paige’s Chinese food European vacation. Go figure…

Tomorrow should be another gorgeous train ride up through the alps and past Lake Lugano in Switzerland on our way to Zurich. We get to town at 11:00 AM so we will still have lots of time to pick up the things we want to bring home but didn’t want to cart all over Europe with us. It will certainly be nice to repack our bags for the last time tomorrow night and wake up knowing that we will be home Sunday before the day is out. We have completely enjoyed this wonderful trip and wouldn’t have changed a thing but home is home. Not too many pictures to post today as we spent all our time shopping! Hopefully we’ll have some gorgeous ones of the train trip to Switzerland tomorrow. See you then!

Just some city street shots of Milan before we go

Antoher neat building

Paige loves all the scooters here

See everyone from Zurich tomorrow!

Milano: Day 3

Day Three Milano was ….rain. Well, that’s not entirely true; it started out as rain but ended up very nice but much cooler, a relief actually!

Paige wanted to try the Metro today so it was a good day for rain since it started right when we got to the station. We stayed nice and dry on our trip underground and got to the La Scala Opera House museum without a glitch. We even did some shopping in the Metro shops located underground. The museum was very nice, no pictures were allowed but Paige loved seeing the opera boxes from the inside of one looking out over the entire theater from about the 4th level up.

We then headed to another part of town, again courtesy of the Metro, and had lunch before our next adventure. We did Chinese again (Paige’s request) and it was wonderful! Somehow, ordering Chinese food in Italian is just hysterical to me and we had lots of fun with it. The waiter did too! From there we headed over to Castello Sforzesco and it began to rain again so it was perfect timing to spend the afternoon roaming around the castle museum and art museum housed there as well. Lots to see and got some gorgeous pictures as well! Paige especially enjoyed the room directed by Leonardo DaVinci at the request of the Duke of Milan in 1498. Interestingly enough, it was re-discovered during the late 1800’s when a heavy layer of whitewash was being removed from the ceiling and walls. Can you imagine deciding to cover an entire castle room the size of a basketball court that had been directed and partially painted by DaVinci to be whitewashed! The museum also has a partially finished Michelangelo sculpture “The Rondanini Pieta” and she loved that as well. The story behind it is fascinating and the fact that it was still in the stages of being completed when he died made it even more interesting to see the work in progress.

The rain stopped and we got to tour the castle outside a little before deciding the head back to the area of town our hotel is in. We did just a bit of shopping today. We are saving our day long shopping trip for tomorrow just before we head to Zurich on the train Saturday morning. I’m sure she’ll end up getting all those things she has been dying over since we got here and we’ll need an extra bag to bring it all home in!

I’m sure even with no official sightseeing, we’ll have lots of adventures to relate tomorrow so until then, Ciao!

Paige and Mic getting on the metro to head out for the day

Castello Sforzesco

Michelangelo's unfinished "The Rondanini Pieta"

The watchtower at the castle

They really just will not stop following Paige around (honestly, it has nothing to do with the perpetual roll in her bag either!)

Decoration on a table leg inside the castle, just too cool not to post

A view of the courtyard from the upper floors of the castle

See you tomorrow!

Milan: Day 2

Well Day two of Milano (i.e., wear-us-out-town!) and we got out early to enjoy the cool air before it got really warm. We walked through the Giardini Pubblici (main public gardens) and enjoyed our walk to the city center. Very nice and a quiet change from the morning rush happening on the sidewalks.

We cut down Via della Spiga and Via Monte Napoleone so Paige could see these high dollar stores before town got busy. She of course found some items that she could certainly live with, too bad they would have cost her the equivalent to her first year at college!

We visited the Duomo and the Gallaria Vittorio Emanuele II. The Duomo is incredible! It is just amazing the amount of work that was put into this unbelievable structure. The Gallaria is also gorgeous and incredible to think that it has been in operation as a shopping center since the mid 1800’s! Paige actually stood awestruck when we turned the corner and it came into view. Of course there were pigeons in Piazza Duomo and Paige the pigeon tamer had to feed them so we snapped some pictures of that as well. We could go all over the world and all that child would be concerned with was whether she had some bread in her bag to feed the birds. I worry about her.

Once we had given ourselves stiff necks from looking up so much at the cathedral, we headed back to the shopping district for a stroll and then to lunch before hitting The Bagatti Valsecchi house museum.

We got lucky and slipped into a café that was just getting their hot dishes ready and right after we ordered from the bar (cold risotto salad, baked chicken and artichokes, sautéed broccoli and roasted potatoes) every construction and road worker in the city it seemed stormed the place (which I am thinking means we had the good fortune to pick an awesome place for lunch!). The food was absolutely wonderful and the price was great so we got lucky on that one, no Panini or Foccacia for once for lunch!

Paige’s first experience with the frozen espresso in Padova must have left an impression as our lunch came with coffee and as I am a die-hard tea drinker, she decided to get one of those. She certainly must have enjoyed it because she even passed on the gelato on the way back to the museum!

The Bagatti Valsecchi house was incredible! It is the home of Milanese royalty (Baron brothers) which they completely renovated during the 1800’s in the Renaissance style. The home was lived in up until 1975 by the family and the audio tour they provide is narrated , in part, by the grandson of one of the brothers. All the furniture, artwork and particulars to the home were left for the museum and it was such a nice break from the tourists of Duomo. We were the only visitors except for one other couple a few rooms behind us while we were there. No pictures were allowed but it was definitely something that will stay with both of us regardless. We just wish we could show it to you! We spent about an hour wondering through just one of the floors (the only one open to the public) of the home and learning about the renovation and articles there.

We then headed back towards the hotel but instead of walking through the shopping district we made our way through the park again and decided it was too early to go straight to the hotel so we toured The Natural History Museum there which was really fun even though most of it was in Italian. I think we actually learned a few things!

We stopped at the grocery store before heading in for the night and Paige had to get some more of that “wonderful” whole fresh Italian milk and Mic just couldn’t resist some potato chips (can anyone say homesick!) along with some fresh peach juice and Granny Smith apples (again, uh….is it time to head home?).

Tomorrow we are planning on heading out to the Royal Palace and the La Scala Opera house and museum. We’ll let you know how they were! See you then!

Paige and Mic starting Day two in Milano

Paige just loves the strangest stuff. 

On our shopping wanderings

Paige outside Duomo in Milano

Piazza Duomo

Paige and her friends again

The entrance to the Gallaria Vittorio Emanuele II

Up close details of Duomo

The inside of the Gallaria

Paige enjoying her frozen espresso at lunch

See you again tomorrow!  Royal Palace and maybe DaVinci's "Last Supper" if we can get in!

Milano: Day 1

We started the day with a nice stroll to the train station in Verona (Paige says strolled, Mic says we ran especially since we were rolling our luggage behind us). We made it with plenty of time to spare and caught the train to Milan right at 10:00. Finally got to the big city and Paige is all eyes. All this culture and she still lives for city life. Well, she’ll get it the next few days.

We dropped out bags at the hotel and headed out to experience one of the largest shopping streets here (Corso Buenos Aires). Okay, we all know Mic’s birthday was yesterday and officially she is a year older but boy did she feel it today! Paige ran us halfway to Germany and back it felt like and wanted to go in every third store, all the ones that had multiple floors and convenient stairs to get you from one level to the next. Let’s just say that by the time we made it back to the hotel (of course with purchases in hand) we were both so beat we didn’t even want to do anything else!

Paige zonked out at about 4:30 pm and hasn’t woken up since. She did buy some “Italian” style milk when we hit the grocery story down the street from our hotel and is in love! It is whole “fresh” milk that she swears is so good she had to drink the whole liter! Well that and some fresh mozzarella we bought should finish out her daily dairy intake for the day!

It’s a good thing she is getting her rest today, tomorrow we are off to the Duomo (HUGE cathedral), Gallaria Vittorio Emanuele II, La Scala (Opera house and museum), and shopping (okay, more browsing like in Zurich but tons of fun anyway) on Via della Spiga and Via Monte Napoleone. We’ll certainly be posting pictures from tomorrow’s adventures so we’ll see you back then!

Paige and Mic enjoying our iPods on the train to Milan

Paige at the Milano Stazione Centrale

City street of Milano

A very strange old door in Milano, Paige loves these

A beautiful old church on our travels through the city

See you tomorrow from the city center!

Verona was just wonderful!

Wow, I can’t believe we lived only half an hour from here when Tim was stationed here and only came one time! I never knew half the things Paige and I saw the past two days were even here! I am so glad that my wonderful friend Laura Grant was in town visiting her parents and offered to not only be our tour guide but invite us to her parent’s house for a wonderful visit!


Paige and I left Padova Sunday morning (late, which was sooooo nice, check out at the hotel was not until Noon so we slept in for I think the first time since getting to Europe!). Took an Italian taxi to the train station (what an experience!) and settled onto the train to Verona. We got to town, called our friend Laura and linked up with her at her parent’s house. It was a nice visit with the Grant family and Berto and Lisa (Laura’s parents who we have met numerous times when they visit the Grant’s at their home in Columbus, Georgia). Laura and her sister drove us to our hotel (very near by) and Paige and I checked in and turned right around and hit the pavement!

We headed to the city center, and here they really mean city center as the old city is still ringed by a Roman (mostly intact) wall! We went to Castlevecchio which was amazing. It was incredible to tour the castle and see how the inside was set up and still see the actual paint and relief work on the walls and archways. Paige filled the memory card on the camera with this outing!

Once we were done, on the way out, we ended up behind an Italian wedding party that was taking pictures there, very cool to witness. The entire street congratulated them and people began singing to the couple! Needless to say, Paige LOVED the bride’s dress.

We headed down the main shopping street and ended up in the middle of a regional food festival that had about 100 vendors from around Italy with everything from meats, cheeses, pastries, gelatos, candies, snacks, and specialty dishes. Each one of them wanted to give samples and it was wonderful! We succumbed to the Sicilian olive vendors (the green olives seemed like they had just been picked!), fresh strawberries (again, Paige swore they are the best she’s ever eaten) and some kind of Sicilian fried rice ball with meat and cheese inside.

Monday morning stared with an awesome breakfast at the hotel (boy they know how to treat foreigners here!) and then walked to the Arena to meet up with Laura and the kids. We toured the Arena (amazing, the cages they kept the lions in are still intact) and then went to the famous home of Juliet (tucked in between two shops in the old city center and complete with balcony) and then on to the Capulet’s home also (not much to see there but with our awesome “local” tour guide, it was easy to find in Piazza Dante.

We saw some gorgeous famous churches and were most impressed by the lovely small, very old church that the Grant’s were married in. We then headed back to Laura’s parents for lunch and needless to say Paige and I will be skipping dinner tonight. We ate so much I am amazed we made it home! Lunch was penne with homemade sauce courtesy of Laura’s dad, cold meats, cheeses, fruit, salad, bread and lots of wonderful socializing. It was probably the best part of Verona!

We finally headed back to the hotel via the shopping district, the Arena and the castle to get one last look before we head out tomorrow morning for Milan. See you from the big city!

Castlevecchio in Verona

Paige on the ramparts of the castle, we walked the whole way around

Paige and I at the garden at the top of the castle

The view of Verona from the castle keep

Juliet's balcony

An awesome day!

Vicenza may have been worth this whole trip!

I know Paige wasn't sure what to expect when we went to Vicenza and it was a hassle trying to get there since we couldn't get a room in town due to the International Gold Festival (for dealers) and had to stay in Padova instead but this morning when we got up early and hit the train tracks headed to Paige's birthplace, she was excited with anticipation!

She started her day with a frozen espesso at the train station and if there could have been one time I had the camera out this whole trip, that would have been the time.  NOT what she was expecting.  A bit strong to say the least so actually, all that excitement and anticipation may have been just caffeine. 

We got to Vicenza and immediately took a bus out to the military base where Tim was stationed to see if we could sign in and I could show her where we lived while we were there.  No deal.  Since we didn't have a "sponsor" (basically someone to vouch for us), we couldn't get on base but Paige was at least able to see that it does exist.  We got to see the apartment building we lived in while there and she saw the side walk I must have walked a million times with her in her stroller between the base gate and that apartment.  It was still good even without the visit on base.

Next we got back on the bus and headed downtown.  We saw the famous Messina Burger where Tim made us promise Paige would have lunch.  Found out from the fresh fruit vendor next door (where Paige said she had the best strawberries she has ever tasted) that they opened at 1pm so hit the pavement to get to the Olympic Theater so we could tour that while we waited.  Paige loved this!  It is really the first "museum" type attraction we have gone in and her jaw just dropped.  She got lots of great pictures while there.

We started up the main street and hit a bunch of shops and finally made it to the town square with it's belltower and gorgeous balconied buildings.  More pictures and Paige enjoying every minute.  We started wandering the streets again and finally made it back down to Messina Burger for lunch and Paige LOVED it.  Tim will be happy.  She thoroughly enjoyed her first and maybe last for a while anyway, Messina Burger. We jumped on the bus to head to Mount Berico so Paige could again fulfill one of Tim's requests and hike the Mount Berico stairs to the Basilica at the top.  Let me tell you, this is no easy task.  There are over 800 steps (some sloped and some actual stairs), there are probably more but we lost count.  I went much slower than Paige!  We did make it to the top and got a gorgeous view of all of Vicenza and the surrounding area.  We made it down safely and jumped on the train back to Padova.  We were so beat we didn't even stop for dinner and headed straight to the hotel.  It was certainly well worth the trouble to get here and let her experience where Tim and I started our life together and where she can always call her birthplace in Italy. 

Paige and I heading out from our hotel in Padova

Paige at the Train Station in Vicenza

The statues at the Teatro Olimpico

The stage and amazing back stages of the theater

Another view of the incredible marble work and architecture of the theater

On our shopping adventures

Paige taking a break with her treasures

Her favorite purchase of the day

At Vicenza's town square

Paige fulfilling Tim's first request for her while in Vicenza

Paige thinking that after Panini and Gyro's, helping out with that request can't be all bad! Famous Messina burger = genuine "American" burger, fried egg, lettuce, tomato, mayonaise, provolone cheese, and awesome fresh made bun.  Not too hard of a request to comply with!

Heading out of the city center and up to Mount Berico

Looking down Mount Berico's steps when Paige made it to the half way point (yes, I said HALF way)

Paige documenting just how far behind her I was on those 800+ steps

The basilica at the top of all those steps

Paige enjoying the view at the top overlooking Vicenza (those are the Italian Alps in the background)

Another shot of the amazing view from the top of Mount Berico.  Imagine this in 180 degrees.  Paige took pictures to try to do a panorama when we print them.

Paige and I giving up for the day after the walk up and looking forward to the walk back down all those steps! 

Tomorrow we are on to Verona to see Romeo and Juliet's castle, see you there!