Wrapping up...

And finally, some general travel thoughts...

• Given the length of our long travel days (10 hour flight across the Atlantic followed by a shorter flight from London to Rome), we wore our glasses so our contacts didn't dry out and/or so we didn't need to mess with taking them out on a plane.

• If at all possible, don’t check bags. It was so much more convenient to not waste time collecting luggage (or risk having it misplaced!) or paying bag fees. Each of us brought one backpack carry-on and one personal bag. That was it. 
• Note, I said “backpack carry-on” not wheeled carry-on. Streets and sidewalks in Europe are generally cobblestone of some sort…not ideal for wheels. Since we were walking from train stations to AirBNBs, being able to carry all our luggage easily and for extended periods was important. 

• In case you're curious, we also used compression packing bags for our clothes. We used a variety of these. They worked great and helped keep things separated and organized.
• If you’re flying within Europe, be sure to check the baggage rules for that airline. We flew from Venice to Paris (the overnight train ended up not being a good option due to maintenance and labor strike closures), and the airline we flew on only allowed ONE carry-on…not one carry-on plus a personal item. Most of the people ahead of us in line were being forced to stuff their personal items into their carry-ons. By some wondrous fluke, they didn’t stop us from carrying on both our carry-on backpacks and personal items…which was miraculous and fortunate. Because there was simply no way we could have fit our personal items into our carry-ons. And they weren’t doing gate checks…so we’d have needed to check the extra bag…and checking bags took place in a completely different part of the airport. We’d have missed our flight for sure. Whew.
• It’s probably not an issue for most people. But. When you have a seventeen year old and you’re trying to prove he’s not yet eighteen (for admission/ticket price purposes), remember that in the US we list dates in month/day/year order but in Europe it’s day/month/year. So, we constantly had to remind people of that…as his birthday is November 2 (so not yet 18), not February 11 (already 18). 
• A one quart sized bag of liquids in the US is highly variable. A one quart sized bag of liquids in London is one quart. Period. 
• If you have to dispose of some of your toiletries at the airport, definitely go for things like shampoo and soap. Those things were pretty easy to replace. Other items were definitely trickier to find. (For example, in France, I had the darndest time trying to find conditioner and lotion at grocery stores. I just kept buying hand soap that I thought was lotion, lol. I gave up on the conditioner.) 
• We found it interesting that places often didn't realize we were altogether...usually not realizing that Nathan was with the boys and me. (In one instance, someone asked a random Asian guy whether he'd forgotten Micah...who was with Nathan at the time, lol.) I honestly can't recall a time it's been an issue before this trip, but it happened often enough that it wasn't just a fluke. Don't we look like we all belong together? :) 

• I don’t know about you, but I rarely carry change these days. So I hardly ever have somewhere to carry coins; I generally add them to a tip jar or a change drawer in my car. In Europe, though, coins are worth something. So bring a coin purse or plan to buy one there. :) 
• The Citymapper app was invaluable. Seriously. We used it practically every day to figure out how to get from here to there and how long it would take using the different methods of transport available.
• We used the TrainlineEU app to get our train tickets for travel between cities and day trips. It worked great, but we should have purchased our first leg a bit sooner so that we could have gotten five seats altogether. (We were more on the ball after that.) If you’re traveling solo or as a couple, this probably isn’t an issue.
• We came to appreciate trains and planes, as they had reserved seats. All of the other public transport we used (bus, tram, metro/tube, vaporetto) definitely took the approach of cramming as many bodies in as possible, regardless of seats. :) (Given that, having less/smaller luggage proved quite helpful.) 

• Given that we were staying at AirBNBs, we deliberately chose locations within walking distance of train stations. For the most part, we were quite happy with our choices and the access to public transport. (If you’d like specifics, email me…I’d be happy to chat.) Also, very glad the boys are the ages they are...soooo much easier when they can all carry their own stuff and spend all day walking.

• Specifically, in Rome, we used our RomaPasses for public transportation. In Florence, we walked everywhere in town and bought individual train tickets to Pisa (via the TrainlineEU app). In Venice, we walked everywhere and purchased individual vaporetto tickets when we used the water buses. In Paris, we bought books (carnets) of tickets (a carnet of tickets is 10 tickets at a discount from individual tickets) for the metro and used Uber to and from Versailles. And, in London, we purchased Visitor Oyster cards in advance (had them mailed to us at home) for the Tube. (Note, with the Visitor Oyster cards, you buy them with preset amounts loaded (and can easily add more later). I got three with 30 pounds and two with 15 pounds. When we arrived in London, I went to one of the Visitor Centers (which I found easily upon exiting the Eurostar area) and had the Youth Discount added to the two cards with the lesser amounts. With the discount active, Asher and Micah’s fees were about half what adult fees were. So, we all ran out at about the same time and just added a bit more to get us through the last day.)
• We have a new appreciation for US roads and parking. Wow. Being passengers in those other countries was seriously scary, lol. Don’t get us wrong. It seemed to work…strangely so. But the proximity of other cars was crazy close. 
• Each of us carried a day pack every day, and it worked great. We each had a water bottle, wipes, a jacket and sometimes a snack. Usually, one of us also carried the guide book for that city (we loved the Rick Steves guides and had one for each city). 
• I had also put tissues in each person's bag, just in case...as I was prepared for at least some poor public toilet conditions. They weren't actually too bad, thank goodness. But, I was thankful I had the tissues at the Louvre. Neither of the toilets I used there had any toilet paper. (Also, note, if you ask for a restroom or bathroom in Europe, you'll get a confused look. You need to ask for a toilet or WC (water closet).) 
• Notably, the security for admission to attractions was different in Italy than in France and England. In Italy, we generally had to go through metal detectors and have our bags x-rayed. In France and England, security guards simply looked through people's bags as we entered...which was usually pretty lax or at least inconsistent. (Often, I just had to unzip my bag and the guard glanced in and waved me on. Asher got stopped a number of times, though, because he was carrying my rain jacket for me and it was packed up in a compression cube--so not very identifiable. At the British Museum, they just asked us if we had anything sharp and took our word for it. Simultaneously, another lady in line was stopped and detained so that they could remove a nail file from her bag and tag and log it.)

Okay. I think that's plenty from me, though I'm sure there's heaps that I've missed/forgotten. :) If you have questions, I'd be delighted to chat with you. In the meantime, I'm going to switch gears now and start getting ready for the coming school year...stay tuned...