We’ve been a lot of places in the last 2 months! We had a 3 hour drive, so decided to survey the family with a bunch questions about our experience so far. Here’s what we learned:
Top 3 countries:
Emma: 1) England / London, 2) Italy 3) Greece
Lincoln: 1) Italy, 2) England / UK, 3) Greece
Jen: 1) England, 2) Greece, 3) Spain (“I like speaking Spanish a lot”)
Ryan: 1) England / London, Greece, Spain (Sevilla, Barcelona, Girona) or Italy/Rome
Least favorite country:
France, France, France, France
Top 3 cities excluding London:
Emma: 1) Rome, 2) Sevilla, 3) Elounda
Lincoln: 1) Rome, 2) Barcelona, 3) Athens
Jen: 1) Sevilla, 2) Rome, 3) Elounda
Ryan: 1) Sevilla, 2) Rome, 3) Agios Nikolaus (home of our favorite Cretan lunch place on the beach)
Most disappointing places:
Emma: 1) Lisbon, 2) Nice, 3) Cinque Terre
Lincoln: 1) Marseille, 2) Lisbon, 3) Nerja
Jen: 1) Lisbon, 2) Cinque Terre, 3) Rhonda
Ryan: 1) Lisbon, 2) Cinque Terre, 3) Provence, France
Best food:
Emma: 1) Spinach Ravioli in Rome at Mimi & Coco, 2) Greek sausage (all good), 3) Greek salad, 4) Sausage and baked feta in Athens
Lincoln: 1) A’matriciana pasta in Rome at Mimi & Coco, 2) Greek Sausage, 3) Ribeye from Argentine steakhouse in Madrid (not memorable for the rest of us…), 4) Sausage and baked feta in Athens
Jen: 1) A’matriciana pasta in Rome at Mimi & Coco, 2) Greek Salad, 3) Grilled pork tapa with black garlic near bull ring in Sevilla, 4) Sausage and baked feta in Athens, 5) Cacio e Pepe at Mimi & Coco
Ryan: 1) A’matriciana pasta in Rome at Mimi & Coco, 2) Grilled pork tapa with black garlic near bull ring in Sevilla,3) Sausage and baked feta in Athens, 4) Fresh Carbonara in Rome, 5) Pork gyros in Greece, 6) Greek salad
Top 3 cities for food
Emma: 1) Athens, 2) London, 3) Rome
Lincoln: 1) Rome, 2) Athens, 3) London
Jen: 1) Rome, 2) Athens, 3) London
Ryan: 1) London (just for variety), 2) Rome, 3) Athens
Best places to get Gelato
Emma: 1) Bologna, 2) Rome, 3) London
Lincoln: 1) Rome, 2) Bologna, 3) London
Jen: 1) Rome, 2) Bologna, 3) London
Ryan: why is there so much Gelato?
Favorite experience
Emma: 1) Cooking class, 2) Horse riding, 3) Horse drawn carriage in Sevilla, 4) Street performers in London
Lincoln: 1) 4 Seasons (4 pools!), 2) Cooking class, 3) Street performers in London
Jen: 1) Lunch in Agios Nikolaus, 2) Cocktails on our last night in Lisbon, 3) Walking around Sevilla
Ryan: 1) Lunch in Agios Nikolaus, 2) Arriving in Girona (escaping France), 3) Wandering around Sevilla, 4) Haircut in Barcelona, 5) Cooking school in Rome
Best travel advice:
Emma: 1) Trains are better than planes or cars, 2) Clowns are not your friends, 3) Get a pool
Lincoln: 1) Eat your face off, 2) Run from clowns
Jen: 1) Travel with people you really like, 2) Take different modes of transportation, 3) Say yes to dessert, 4) There are rotisserie chicken places everywhere, mix in a chicken night from time to time, 5) Only bring what you can carry or roll yourself for at least 20 minutes in the rain, 6) Avoid chain hotels
Ryan: 1) Get away from wherever the big tour groups go and avoid cruise ships at all costs, 2) Sort by lowest reviews before choosing a restaurant or place to stay, 3) Price and experience are not well correlated with restaurants or lodgings… often the more expensive places are much worse because they are aiming specifically for foreigners who don’t know better, 4) Rick Steves is helpful, but cannot always be trusted. 5) Weather matters a lot, if you can plan your destinations around it, you should. 6) Some tickets really do need to be bought well in advance (Looking at you Alhambra and Vatican) 7) Rental cars get way, way more expensive with the insurance… it’s still not clear to us whether or not the insurance is worth getting or if you can rely on insurance from your US credit card. 8) Sometimes it’s good to embrace being a tourist.
Best wine:
Spanish Riojas (Tempranillos), Greek white wine for lunch outside on a nice day, Italian Sangiovese. French went poorly, non-Rioja Spanish reds went poorly, Greek reds are not great.
Lessons from being a hobo:
Jen and Ryan: You don’t really need all that much stuff
Pillows and mattresses matter a lot (Ikea foam mattresses are surprisingly good)
It takes a lot of work to find a new place to stay every few days.
People that take time to write thorough reviews are incredibly helpful
It’s important to take a breather every once and a while
Being on the move constantly is fun and exciting, but it will be nice to have a home again at some point
What you miss from the US:
Emma: 1) A bath tub with hot water, 2) Interacting with other people, 3) having a big house, 4) Xbox, 5) Daphne, 6) Family, 7) Big TV, 8) Knowing the neighborhood, 9) Hockey
Lincoln: 1) A bed that is not constantly changing, 2) Xbox, 3) Family, 4) Reliable wifi
Jen: 1) Asian food, 2) workout place, 3) Dryers, 4) Celebrations with family, 5) Clothes and shoes not in my suitcase, 6) Pounds, feet and miles, 7) Comfortable down time, 8) Monitors and mice
Ryan: 1) Having a gym readily available, 2) Dryers, 3) Lazy weekend mornings, 4) friends, family 5) Bridle trails
Most looking forward to next:
Emma: Seeing Wicked again in London; Going to Knightsbridge School; Knowing the neighborhood; Hamleys
Lincoln: Going to Hamleys; Going to Knightsbridge School
Jen: More travelling; Finding an apartment and knowing where we will live + exploring the new neighborhood; Experiencing more of Greece
Ryan: Finding an apartment and knowing where we will live + exploring the new neighborhood
Other places your excited to travel:
Emma: Ireland, Iceland
Lincoln:
Jen: Morocco, Turkey, Croatia, Albania (all non Schengen!)
Ryan: Scandinavia, Scotland, Turkey
Current guess as to how long we will stay in London before returning to US:
Emma and Lincoln: At least 2-3 years
Ryan and Jen: ??
Will be interesting to see how all of this evolves!