Venice

 I had been dreaming of going to Venice since I was a kid.  A city set on water?  No roads or cars?  Full of history and charm?!  It was everything I expected.

Venice is a pretty amazing city.  We were a little tired after traveling for a couple weeks, but we tried not to let it get to us too much!

 We took our own private gondola ride.  It was expensive, but a lot of fun.  It was one of our splurges of the Venice trip.

  We are definitely food people.  One of our favorite things about traveling is eating awesome food.  We had several great meals on this trip.  This one was definitely one of the best.  With a great atmosphere.

 So many beautiful buildings.

 Sweet little Lucas was such a sweetheart.  He really wasn't feeling well.  He had a really bad fever, but despite it kept a pretty happy pleasant face.  By the time we got on the plane he had a terrible rash.  I'm pretty sure the poor guy had roseola.  He was such a sweetie.  It made the trip a little stressful though carrying around a feverish boy wondering what the right thing to do was.  He really is such a sweet tough baby.  I will forever miss the way he looked at me at this age.  He definitely loved his mama.

Masks are a huge deal in Venice.  They've been used for hundreds of years, from Plague masks to try to keep disease from spreading, to party masks that allowed people freedom to behave without others knowing their identity.  

We found a place where the kids could make their own masks.  It was such a fun cool experience.  The girls loved it and it was definitely a once in a lifetime thing.

We ate a lot of pizza, and walked around and enjoyed the sites of this beautiful city.

 Our other big splurge of the trip was that we bought a painting from the man in this picture.  We had really been wanting a painting of Europe, and never found one in our price range in Madrid.  We love the painting we got of the Venice canals from this guy.

 We eat a ton of gelato in Italy.

Hailey at one point said, "Mom do you think dad would ever get a job offer in Venice?  Because, I think I could really live here."  Hailey LOVED Venice.  She loved the car less streets, and the water.  I think Avery enjoyed it to.  I on the other hand was super stressed out about almost missing our flight because a couple of the water ferries that were going to the airport were full and wouldn't let us on.  Once we made it and got on the plane we were super surprised to find that we were booked in the business seats on the plane.  It made the flight back to the US so much better.  Not only did Lucas have his own seat, but we all had plenty of space and extra attention from the flight attendants it was awesome!

And just like that we were whisked back to the U.S.  Our time in Europe was over.  It was so weird.  On one hand it was nice to be back to familiar things...like Costco, Target, traveling in cars, and speaking English.  On the other hand it almost felt like our time in Spain never really happened.  We were just there, and Spain was just such a big part of our lives, and just like that it was over.  I will always be grateful for our experience in Spain.  It was truly some of the best days of my life.  I will always have fond memories and I'm so grateful we were able to go and spend two years as a family there.  We grew so much and really enjoyed the people and their lifestyle.  I keep telling Marcus I think I'm actually Spanish.  They love family, chocolate, ham, nightlife, and naps.  What could be better?!  It has been such a great experience.  It's changed the way I look at the world, and changed me forever.  But, it could never last forever, and we knew we'd eventually be moving on.  I'm sure I'll learn and grow in our new home as well, so I guess now onto our new life in California.  We will love you forever España!

Switzerland

After Porto we came back to Madrid and Slept in our empty apartment for a night.  When we woke up the next morning we said goodbye to Brad and Steph who were also heading to the airport later that day, we turned our key into our landlord, and dropped off some last minute things like converters, and sleeping bags that they'd lent us, to our friends the Claytons.  Then we were off to the airport and headed to Geneva.  It felt like such a rushed  departure.  I felt sick to my stomach as we drove out of the city.  I knew I was going to miss Madrid, and it was hard to leave knowing we had no idea if and when we'd be back.  Fortunately going on vacation makes saying goodbye a little easier, but I will never forget that feeling I had.  

We stayed in a place just on the France Switzerland border on Lake Geneva called Bernex.  It was such a beautiful little town.  It was incredibly beautiful.  Everything was so green and gorgeous.  We enjoyed raclette a couple times on our trip.  Once at the hotel.  Avery especially loved it.  She said it was her favorite yummy cheese she'd ever had.  Can't say I blame her!

We were able to go for a hike from our hotel that went up to an area that looked over Lake Geneva.  Marcus and I were in shock by how blue the water was.  It was turquoise, and so stunning surrounded by all the green.

 After our hike we drove around the lake to a castle located on the Swiss side of Lake Geneva.  It was actually a super cool castle.  There was some really interesting information.  Including that the Lord of this castle was the first to change the law so that Land and titles were passed down through Male lineage.  From what I remember the king here in about the 1200's changed the law so that his only living child, a daughter, would not inherit his kingdom and it would go to his brother instead.  I think it was possibly going to be divided, or he didn't think she'd be able to keep it united, something like that.  Poor girl.  So interesting that one person could have such a big impact on so many generations of people.

One of the other interesting things was the prison in the castle.  There were some really interesting stories.  Also the castle is right off the water, so the toilets were literally just holes that went down into the lake.  Cold and gross!

 We made the mistake of eating a McDonalds while in Switzerland.  Everything there is really expensive, but a combo at McDonalds cost 17 dollars there!  The same meal in the US would have been about 7.  Crazy!

The next day we were able to take a car out and visit some family history sites.  This chapel below is the Chapel my great great great grandparents were married in.  It's in Saanen Switzerland.  It was such a cool experience to see it and imagine what their lives might have been like.

 After the chapel we also drove to the area, roughly that their cheese farm was located.  We also went to the towns they were from and saw the churches they were christened in.  It was really neat.

 The picture above is the church in Boltigen that my great great great grandfather was christened in, and the picture below is the house that now stands in the area their home was located.

 The church below is the church located in Diemtigen where my great great great grandmother was christened.  This area in particular was very beautiful.  I've been told that almost the entire town is related.  I noticed many names in the cemetery that were names in our family history books.  So cool to be able to have this experience.

We also rode a Gondola up these huge beautiful cliff like mountains to one of the towns located on top. The views were beautiful.  I'd love to come back to this area and hike when the kids are older.  So beautiful.

 A view of the lake in Interlocken.

The next day we drove to Gruyere.  We had to have raclette one last time and try their raspberries with ice cream and their specialty cream on the top.  So yummy!

We really enjoyed our time in Switzerland.  It is such a beautiful place.  I would love to come back again one day!