The Learning Tower of Pizza

Ahhh…back in the van….back on the road. Always mixed emotions about that!

On our way out of Italy we stopped at this famous site.  Zoe once called it the ‘Learning Tower of Pizza’ and the name has kind of stuck.  It was a freezing day when we went there, and to be honest we were feeling a bit of tourism fatigue after pounding the pavements of Rome for 11 days.  So we arrived, took some photos, walked around the tower and got straight back into our van.  Actually we would have gone up it, but the kids need to be 8 years old, so we penciled it onto the list of places to come to again.

We then drove up and stayed a night at Como, just under the Swiss border, ready for our assault on Zurich.  Just one hour into our journey the next day and we had crossed the border, consumed several Toblerone bars and stopped and played in the snow. Low and behold Switzerland was there and then unanimously declared (by both children) ‘the best country in Europe’ – pushing both England (where they speak English) and Germany (where they drive fast) off the top spot.

Here are the kids (all three of them) mid snowball fight:

We stayed 3 nights in Zurich and the beauty of the place was quite simply gob smacking.  Of course it helped that during our second night the city was covered in 3 inches of snow (and quite frankly even the rubbish trucks look beautiful in the snow), but I bet this city looks stunning any time of year.

Now we are back in Germany and we are on the count down – just four more sleeps until we drop the van back at the hire depot.  Hamish told me he would give it a good hug and say goodbye when we leave it – which is quite amazing considering the kid has lived in the tiny little thing for the better part of the last 4 months.  Mind you that was before he jammed his fingers in the door   Ouch – the poor little man.  He’s ok now though, and I think he’s forgiven the van too.