People have asked, “What was your favorite part of the trip?” It’s not something that can be easily answered. It would also vary depending who asked and what they appreciate. It felt like each leg of the trip was better than the last but that also came with experience. In total, we visited 5 countries with different languages. This came into play the first day or two of the transition. Each leg had its own landscapes, architecture, culture and people. It’s worth noting we watched and experienced both the World Cup and Tour de France during our travels. We watched games in 3 different countries, including France when they won!
Regardless of the country or location, you get away with a lot with kids. Everybody warms up to young kids and will try to work with them in English when they can. I can’t say which areas were the best, but will provide a brief highlight reel of each country based on our experience.

Greece: June 2 – June 16
Greece was split between time on Santorini, an island in the Aegean Sea, and Athens. It was our first time in the Mediterranean so the views and warm temperatures were the most immediate and obvious change. It was also the first leg of our trip so the 10 hour time difference had an impact. The highlight of Santorini was a sailing trip across the Caldera where we were accompanied by a historian and chef. We learned about the surrounding islands and made a few swimming stops as we worked up to an amazing lunch. Easily, the best food of our island visit.
From Santorini we flew to Athens, where we stayed in Monastiraki square. Monastiraki square is a major tourist spot in the city of Athens, directly next to the Parthenon. So the views changed from the sea to archaeological sites. The Parthenon was clearly visible from our apartment. I was amazed to be visiting the birthplace of democracy, surrounded by buildings and ruins where human civilization thrived. It was also a surprising mix between the beautiful history and modern influence (traffic, graffiti, etc.). While I enjoyed everything Greece offered - the water, views, mythology, and food - the Greek people are the best. Our tour guides, restaurant waiters, hotel staff, taxi driver, and the friends we made along the way, were all kind and welcoming. They loved Penelope’s name and would gravitate to Reilly to ruffle his hair or give him a small jab to demonstrate his macho.

Italy: June 16 - June 27
In Italy, we spend most of our time in Florence, but visited Pisa for a day and spent two days in Venice. The cathedrals and influence of the church was more noticeable given where we stayed in Italy. Food also became a huge part of our trip. We immediately began exploring for the best pizza and even had a cooking class on Gelato and Pizza. The restaurants and food markets in Florence were incredible. We were at the market twice during our visit. One day I was able to explore it myself (nobody wanted to join me) and was able to shop for dinner. It was a pleasure sorting through the different options for meats, cheese, seafood, and pasta. It was also the biggest challenge during my stay since my Italian is very limited. My mom was also able to join us for a few days in Florence, which was nice. We cooked a meal with foods from the market and figured out how to enjoy it in our small apartment. We had plenty of cheap wine to help.
We did the most tours and visited more museums in Italy. Mostly the child friendly interactive museums – Galileo, DaVinci. Both of those museums were outstanding. Fairly brief but interactive to hold a child’s attention long enough they might learn something. Italians really love kids. Penelope and Reilly received plenty of attention….especially given Reilly’s selection of soccer shirts. Again, it helped us get away with a lot, but it came at the expense of cheek pinches and hair ruffling.
Kids really love gelato and deserts. And deserts aren’t uncommon for breakfast. To fully embrace the culture, we ate a lot. It was all good and typically ended with gelato. The highlight of Italy was our cooking class. We visited an estate in the Tuscany hills where we learned to make Italy’s precious pizza dough and gelato. Our instructors were top notch and enjoyed teaching our family, despite being named the ‘disaster family’. The estate was beautiful, the food was great, and the wine was plentiful.

France: June 27 – August 1
The original intent of the trip was to chill out in a small town in the Alps that offers mountain biking access. Sadly, I tore my rotator cuff 3 weeks before our trip. Mountain biking (for me) was not an option. Chatel is exactly that – a small town surrounded by mountains. It’s in Haute-Savoie, France. A 2 hour drive from Geneva, 90 minutes from Chamonix. This was our homebase for 5 weeks. Chatel served us well. We got to know the local bakery through daily orders of croissants and baguettes, enjoyed the local hikes, and became familiar with the local restaurants and grocery stores. We also realized we needed a car to truly appreciate the area.
While in Chatel, we planned a trip to Annecy. My mom and I briefly explored it and decide Christy and I should return. It was also hosting a stop during the Tour de France. We incorrectly booked the hotel for the Tour and missed it by 1 day. We did, however, catch the World Cup in a town much larger than Chatel. It was insane but safe enough to join in the local festivities with the kids. At least for the first hour or so. We also took a day to visit Chamonix to view Mont Blanc from Aiguille du Midi. While in Chatel, we did a lot of hiking and took the occasional day to swim, do a rope course, or just chill and watch an episode of White Rabbit Project. That was the highlight of France – a lot of quality family down time.
We also had two opportunities from France. The first was to book a better flight home and save money by leaving 1 day later and staying in Geneva, Switzerland. The second was a spontaneous trip fund we established by saving money along the way. After a few days of research, the agreed to visit Barcelona, Spain.

Barcelona: July 24 – July 29
Since Spain wasn’t planned, it didn’t come with the same expectations. I actually didn’t spend much time researching Barcelona. Christy booked the trip. We stayed at a beach, Castelldefels. While in Barcelona, it was 30 minutes outside the city center. Our hotel had a pool and was across from the beach. It was a wonderful break from the lower temps in the alps. During our stay, we planned two trips into the city. We booked a motorcycle tour and purchased tickets online for the Sagrada Família. The travel to and from the city became a challenge due to a Taxi strike that impacted mass transit. Our trips to the city became 1+ hour bus rides. In retrospect, it was a good way to travel through the city but on hot days, it would have been nice to catch a cold cab ride home. On one day we experienced jellyfish sting and muffler burn from the bike tour. That was a rough bus ride home. On our city trips, we really didn’t nail the food either.
But despite the issues, the whole family loved Barcelona. We embraced the laid back lifestyle and soaked in the sites. The Segrada Familia might be the standout monument of our entire trip. We enjoyed Barcelona so much that we extended our stay by 2 days to enjoy more pool and beach time. That was the highlight of this trip - pool and beach time.

Switzerland and Home: August 1 – August 2
The last two days of our trip were spent in living the high-life. We couldn’t extend our stay in Chatel so we stayed 1 day in Geneva. Geneva is small city lined in designer shops, hotels, and lake front views. Our hotel staff was super accommodating and there were plenty of local restaurants and chocolatiers. The one night we stayed in Switzerland ended up being their national holiday. Many places were closed, but we found a variety of restaurants by walking around town. I refused any place with pizza for our last night. We landed on a Lebanese and Chinese grill and somehow convinced the kids to order something they we’re determined not to eat. To our surprise they enjoyed the couscous, tandoori chicken (w/ dark meat), and some of the grilled meats. After arguably the best and latest dinners of our trips, we walked back to the hotel. I reflected on how much our kids and family had grown over the trip. It was only fitting that fireworks began to appear around the lake as we returned. As the fireworks began to increase in size and frequency, our family opted out of the show in favor of our air conditioned luxury apartment.
The following day we prepared for our trip and took a Mercedes van to the airport. I knew I had upgraded our flight, but only once we boarded did I realize we were in 1st class for the return trip. Something we’ve never done before. The staff were super accommodating to our kids, providing them with VIP travel kits and noise cancelling headphones before offering a list of custom children’s meals. They settled on the margarita pizza and chocolate mousse.

So what place ruled them all?? None. None were the lamest or ones I would pass on next time. The whole experience was balanced and wonderful.