Louvre in the morning Then walked to Eiffel Got pizza near there Mom/dad had Mexican, Noah had Took metro to see Eiffel light show at night
Saturday, March 30
Walked straight toward Notre dame Drizzly, got petit dejune Sat night headed back to Latin quarter before shops closed Noah had McDonald’s
Friday, March 29
Our last day in Germany happened to be Good Friday, a national holiday and a festive time in Germany. Our breakfast at the Hilton Heidelberg was decorated with Easter chocolates and was a fabulous breakfast. We then took the bus and walked up the steep hill in damp conditions to the Heidelberg Schloss, where we... Continue Reading →
Thursday, March 28
We all slept amazing well in our Bacharach inn, had a very complete breakfast there, packed and caught the train to Mainz, then Darmstadt – Dan’s home for two years. We just missed our connecting train toward Dan’s old research lab (GSI) and took an Uber instead after putting our luggage in lockers at Darmstadt’s... Continue Reading →
Wednesday March 27
We woke up in our tiny hotel room with crappy dorm-style bedding, and Tammy solo-tripped to the city center via tram while Dan and Noah went deep on the nice free hotel breakfast. Then it was pack up and head to the Luxembourg train station for our first destination: Trier, the namesake of our township... Continue Reading →
Tuesday, March 26
Today was the day we departed London for the bulk of our trip through continental Europe. We checked out of our London hotel without breakfast and took the bus to St. Pancreas, where we arrived with plenty of time and no queues. We first took Eurostar to Brussels, where we spent 3 nights during our... Continue Reading →
Monday, March 25
After our late night, we slept in and didn’t get ready to leave until close to 10am (following a lack of hot water and an okay breakfast at our hotel). I noticed a line queueing in front of our ground floor windows, and it turned out to be the line for the British Museum around... Continue Reading →
Sunday, March 24
Our trip started comfortably for two reasons: we decided to use only carry-one, allowing us to leave later for the airport; and our flight schedule was shifted an hour thanks to the U.S. springing forward to daylight savings time a few weeks ahead of Europe! This allowed for our Uber to not get until 8am.... Continue Reading →
April 4-5
We planned our last day in Rome, and last full day in Italy, to be a day trip to Naples and Pompeii. Coincidentally the Museum of Science & Industry just opened an exhibit on Pompeii, so we were excited to see the site in person. We took an early train from Rome to Naples, where... Continue Reading →
April 2-3
We packed up Sunday morning, walked one last time to Rialto Bridge, and took one last boat to the train station for our train to Bologna, with a long-researched plan for Dan and Noah to visit the Lamborghini museum 20 miles from Bologna. Being a Sunday and a holiday (Palm Sunday), we knew buses weren’t... Continue Reading →
March 31 – April 1
Dan woke up and headed to the train station for breakfast and Starbucks coffee for Tammy, and after we got ready we checked out, dropped our backpacks, and went to Milan a final time. Dan and Noah visited the Lego Store which had an incredible model of the Duomo. We then retrieved our bags and... Continue Reading →
March 29-30
Dan woke up and explored Florence at sunrise before the family enjoyed a nice breakfast at the hotel. After walking around Florence a couple more times, we packed up and took trains to La Spezia and Corniglia in Cinque Terre. Corniglia is the middle of the 5 villages, and in grey weather we hiked up... Continue Reading →
March 27-28
Our fourth family trip to Europe got a very relaxing start, as we booked our flight to Italy on a Monday, which gave us a full weekend (and Monday morning) to ease into our travel. Besides the busy itinerary itself, the most unique characteristic of our trip was the decision to use hiking backpacks instead... Continue Reading →
End & Trip Summary
Thanks to all the effort on Tuesday, Wednesday morning just required me carrying my plastic-wrapped, homebuilt bike box from the airport to the terminal, checking it in without issue or judgment, and relaxing at Charles de Gaulle for a few hours. My calf-achilles issue subsided during the morning, and check-in went quite smoothly. In Chicago,... Continue Reading →
Mon-Tues, Sept 19-20
The route I planned fit neatly into three two-day parts: England, Netherlands+Belgium, and France. Having toured in France years ago, I knew that “department roads” were lower traffic volumes and speeds, but I was nervous about biking thru a less touristy area this time. But the French apparently have invested a ton in bike lanes... Continue Reading →
Dan – Tammy – Noah 