Italy Trip - First Day Complete

I’ve been texting and emailing with several of you individually, and wanted to do a general update for everyone. Plus, since the blog serves as the collective family memory, I know in years to come we’ll ask each other: How long did it take us to get to Italy?

Our day yesterday began between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m., depending on which family member you are. Our friend Paige picked us up at 4:30 to head to the airport for our 6 a.m. flight.

Both our flights yesterday were on time and about 1 1/2 hours each. All the folks we interacted with were very kind. Several times we had people offer to switch seats to try to get all of us even closer together.

As impressed as people are about this entire adventure, they are exponentially more impressed to learn we are taking one backpack each with our necessary supplies for the entire 7 weeks. We added two food bags for the journey, but still pretty light travelers.

Some poor soul was trapped by the window next to Buds in the picture above. Luckily it was a short flight.

Our hotel that was paid for with airline miles was, consequently, 30 minutes north of the airport. This gave us the chance to try out a new Sienna minivan. (Hello, Kel and Paula!) Buds has been itching for a new van with more room, and though I’ll admit the many seats, ample legroom, and backup camera are cool, I still prefer our zippy little mini-minivan.

We enjoyed a delicious lunch in the sun at Potbellies, then headed to the hotel where the littles got in an hour of swimming.

Buds had the superb idea that we eat dinner at Whole Foods, which was just down the road from the hotel. Everyone got to pick something delicious, and they could see the food before they chose it, which is often one of the downfalls for the Buster. Something sounds good on the menu, but when it arrives it’s been sprinkled with something or doesn’t look appetizing. Problem solved.

Whole Foods also had some fun mirrors:

Then we played for awhile in the “green space” in the shopping village.

Since I’m writing this at 6 a.m. on Thursday morning, I can report we all slept well, and we’re excited to spend the afternoon in Boston, then head to the airport for our overnight flight to Istanbul airport.

More updates when we can.