Our Year of Travel

The first part of our Europe adventure was a month in Italy in June. We spent the first half in Southern Italy in Naples, the Amalfi Coast and Sicily with Alex's parents, and his sister, brother-in-law and their kids. We celebrated Alex's parents 50th wedding anniversary. The second part of Italy was in the North in Milan, Lake Como, Parma, and Cinque Terre. Here we celebrated Maria-Paz's dad's 70th birthday. And her brother and his family joined us. ​

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We came back to Arizona for a few weeks then headed to Spain in July where we rented an apartment in a town called Alicante, on the Costa Blanca. We spent the majority of our 90 days in Europe living in Alicante. We shopped at the local baker, butcher, and market. And became members of the local tennis club, where we learned how to play padel. Lia and Mateo took some beach volleyball lessons, they got PADI open water diver certifications. We visited nearby towns of Altea, Denia, Javea, Villajoyosa, and bigger Spanish cities like Valencia and Madrid. Last year, as a family, we had visited Cordoba, Toledo, Sevilla, Cadiz, Malaga and Granada. 

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We also used Alicante as a 'home base' and took trips to Paris during the Olympics and learned how to make croissants, to Vienna where we learned how to make schnitzel and all about the Habsburg Dynasty, and Berlin to learn about the Cold War and World War II. Toward the end of our stay we took a trip to Morocco (Marrakech is a short 1hr 45 minute flight from Alicante) and traveled to Marrakech, Casablanca, Fes, Merzourga, and Skoura - and we rode camels and stayed in tents in the Sahara desert.

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We took a 16-day road trip throughout the UK and Ireland visiting London, Edinburgh, the Scottish Highlands Inverness and Isle of Skye), Dublin, and Ireland (visiting the Ring of Kerry and Dingle Peninsula). 

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