Leaving the Alps for the warmth of Rome

Breakfast in Switzerland, lunch in Germany, snacks in France and dinner in Italy....life could be worse. 

We departed Switzerland with a lovely farewell to my Dad and Werner and Lydia and headed north-west towards the Basel airport. Thought the airport has a Swiss name, it's technically of the border in France and just beside Germany. As such, we decided it would be nice to pop over the Rhine River for lunch. 

As you can tell by Molly's expression, there was nothing so impressively different on the other side of the river. Other than taking the Euro instead of the Franc at the restaurant, there was little to highlight we were in a different country. We had the chat that borders were a human design and some what arbitrary; the lines on the maps do not necessarily define people or culture. We experienced the opposite effect when we drove over the Gotthard pass in Switzerland and left the Mediterranean climate and Italian culture and entered the Germanic part of Switzerland that had a very different culture and even a different language. Borders, whether made-made or geographical, are funny things.

I love this view from the airplane heading over the Alps. 

We've settled into our apartment in Italy. It has lots of space and good internet...everyone is happy. The kids want to FaceTime friends, but the time change is making it tricky.

We strolled through St. Peter's square in Vatican City, but didn't go in because the weather was too nice. Later.

We opted for an after-dinner walk to show the kids the magic of Rome in the evening, but it was hard to convince them of it when both the Spanish Steps and the Trevi fountain were blocked for renovations! Bummer.