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Spring trip- getting there

Trying to plan a trip while in Europe is daunting. The possibilities are endless. How does one choose? Well, we started by looking at all the destinations where Ryan Air has cheap flights. After all, we have to buy 7 tickets, so we don't want to blow the entire budget on getting there. Next, I consulted my bucket list of places we want to visit while we are here. There were a few matches. Finally, I wanted sunny and warm. Germany was beginning to get very depressing with its never ending grayness and cold.

Italy seemed to be the place with the most possibilities. We narrowed it down to Rome or Sardinia. However, Rome is big and huge and busy and I had been extremely stressed and anxious. Just the thought of trying to keep everyone together and safe in such a big place made me panic. Sardinia, with its beautiful water and more laid back environment seemed perfect. Until. Tony was told he might have to go on a gig. We couldn't book the tickets until we knew what day we could leave. By the time we had that information, the tickets were no longer cheap.

Plan B was to find somewhere warm and sunny that could be reached by car. We ended up choosing the Italian Riviera town of Santa Margherita Ligure. OK, I had never heard of it, but it looked beautiful, and it was a good central location to take day trips to Pisa, Turin, and the Cinque Terra. But with 7 people in a 7 passenger car, we knew we should break up the driving into 2 days. A good halfway point was Lucerne, Switzerland. So that is where we stopped.

It was still cold and rainy in Lucerne when we arrived. We could not check into our room for several hours, so we strolled down the rainy streets and covered bridges, taking in the sights we had looked up before we left. I used an app called Tripomatic, which was suggested to us by a friend. The hotel just happened to be located one block away from most of the tourist attractions listed on the app.

After checking in, we ate a very expensive dinner with some really, really good wine. In the morning, we ate a small breakfast and headed on to Italy.

outside our hotel

rainy sidewalk

"Who cares if it is raining?"

one of two covered bridges we walked through


the other one


This bridge is prettiest of all.


"Can I get one?" Umm, no.

Court Church of St. Leodegar

rain covered tabletop

lit a candle and prayed

my kids are so weird

Lion monument to commemorate the deaths of the Swiss mercenaries during the French Revolution

the view while driving from Switzerland into Italy

more driving scenery
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