Swiss Missives

It was with some trepidation that we planned our fall break road trip through Northwest Italy for a few reasons: We can hardly get in the car to drive to the grocery store without being asked three times “how long until we get there??????” (Always said in a plaintive and whiney tone – usually by Jim, but we ply him with snacks and he normally calms down.)   This trip was set to span 8 days, with three stops, anywhere from 3 to six hours of driving between each leg.   Unlike in the US, we do not have a car equipped with a DVD player so it is basically our kids’ version of cruel and unusual punishment.   I mean, we are driving through the Alps, but what does that have on the “Monster Truck Movie.”   (If you haven’t seen it, consider yourself lucky.) We were warned, numerous times, by our colleagues that driving in Italy is crazy.   Although, we took that with a grain of salt because Switzerland is one of the most orderly and controlled driving cities in the world, so by comparis

Hello from Geneva! For our closest friends and family we (I) had promised to start a newsletter to occasionally keep those who are interested up to speed on how the transition is going.   And, if no one is interested then at the very least it is somewhat cathartic to write it down J I pride myself in being a light traveler so it goes without saying that traveling with three kids, two car seats, 5 extra large suitcases, five carry-on bags, blankets, “Bubba the bear”, and so on and so forth, was an exercise in and of itself.   The logistics of trying to get all those bags, plus the kids, into a car to shuttle them to our hotel for the evening felt like planning for a military invasion of a small country. Luckily for us, the relocation company decided to book a Swiss school bus for us as our rental vehicle (I’m not joking, it is the same van bus our kids ride into school) so that we could fit everything.   Unluckily for us, said vehicle (which, I might add, was a manual) was