Zeke’s birthday in Genova

Zeke here this is a post about my birthday, May 7th 

I woke up at 6:00am and I just waited to go out with mom and dad to get this really good chocolate filled croissant, the croissant had actual hazelnut chocolate in it not just the weird waxy one but really good chocolate paste 

Then we went to another store which I had a very tasty caramel coffee it was really sticky though

Me dad, and mom went shopping dad had this place in mind called freak! It was my kind of store I got the shirt you see with the obey on it. The store was really fun and the guy who worked there was really nice dad got a shirt as well that says “any god any machine” with a cool horse then we went to H&M where I got a leather belt and we dropped off mom there,  and me and dad went to a really cool underground store which had the pants that I’m wearing in the photo as we put the pants on the counter to pay I saw in the corner of my eye a cooler camo belt so we bought it and went up to pick mom up from H&M and I returned the leather belt I got from there after that we went home 

Before shopping we went to the 2nd biggest aquarium in Europe!! It was so cool there was sharks, stingrays, triggerfish, pufferfish, sea turtles, jelly fish, a tiny alligator 

There was a tank that was really cool cause it had a lot of the fish we saw snorkeling like puffer fish, a lion fish, butterfly fish, anglefish, triggerfish, titan triggerfish. And much more 

There was at least 10different species of jellyfish in this one room it was so cool

We saw a carpet shark and a sea turtle that kept passing us 

The shark tank was probably one of my favourites it had 5 different species of sharks, and one grooper which was really cool 

The stingray feeling tank was definitely my favourite. They feel so weird not like I expected the middle of them felt like sandpaper but the Wings felt more like a normal fish 

This was at the freak! Store I went to definitely one of my favourite stores I’ve been to. The guy gave me his own belt to try on these shorts

Walking between stores we were in an old mall. Maybe 300 years old an lots of people 

Walking to dinner was so fun there was a alpine military club party the next day which had so much beer 

Grandma was here as well and it was really fun to have her there 

And at dinner every guy that was Part of the alpine club was really drunk all singing really weird songs and drinking out of a girls high heel shoe. They all wore green hats with awards and pins and one feather sticking out the side

My margarita pizza was so good, Italians eat pizza with a fork and knife which is weird in my opinion so dad cut my pizza into slices so I could pick it up.

After dinner we got gelato and went to a fountain which had beautiful lights  and rainbow lights behind it 

Grandma was really fun to have there for my birthday in Genova. I went out with her and she bought me a pistachio croissant and a raspberry cream coffee. The raspberry sauce was the best.

Mmmm gelato. I got pistachio and hazelnut. Two nuts.

Walking home after dinner was loud and fun. The alpine guys were yodelling and singing and drinking a lot everywhere you looked.

We had to sneak past a trumpet and saxophone player to get into our place. I got my own room and a huge bed bc it was my birthday.

What a perfect day. Hard to top this.

Milan aka Ciao Baby aka sleeping in parks

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After a 13 hr flight, lightning fast customs (the agent didn’t ask a single question just stamped our documents) a taxi ride and a helpful neighbour pointing out the lockbox for our rental spot, we woke to this lovely sunrise from our deck on the outskirts of Milan.

Jet lag from Asia to Europe hit us pretty hard. The kids realized they left their Nintendo switch on the plane so Kylie Ty and Zeke hopped in a cab back to the airport. Levi Micky and me went on an all important mission for cappuccino and croissants.

We were extremely successful!! Incredible baking for $2 a piece (or E1.5)

The attentive reader will note I’ve moved on from cappuccino to espresso (cafe here). Still jet lagged but it helped.

Our A team unfortunately was not successful in their mission, but after some initial sadness our kids have taken the loss in stride.

When our teams reunited we hit the ground running. I forgot how much I appreciated walking in pedestrian zones. Especially with kids it’s a huge reduction in mental load.

The kids really enjoyed their first European castle experience. It was definitely a party zone.

We stopped for pizza just after a marathon had wrapped up. A bunch of the runners were sitting on the patios drinking beer and smoking. Classic.

I felt very at home that it was fully normal to lie down on the grass and nap in a park. I probably partook of this particular pastime three times on day one alone. 

Many groups were also passing around a bottle of wine but I don’t think our brains would have done well with wine and jet lag and foreign navigation AND parenting…

So instead we just walked and napped and took in the sights.

And ate gelato…

There was a beautiful church right outside our place that was built in the 1600s. However the bell ringer seemed pretty new to the job.

The kids got their first glimpse of a huge cathedral but this one cost serious $$ for a tour so it was outside viewing only. Again quite a party atmosphere. A theme is emerging…

Our last day in Milan our train got changed to a bus and we missed the memo and thus our connection. We quickly hailed an uber and zipped Amazing Race style to the next station to make our final train to Genoa. We made it with minutes to spare! Satisfying but not my favourite way to travel.

Ciao ciao Milano! We didn’t buy any Versace but we did get some great food and wondrous naps.

Incheon South Korea

​The cheapest flight I could find from Okinawa to Milan had an overnight layover in South Korea. I was dreading 2 days of travel but it was actually quite lovely. We all wished we had booked more time there.

We arrived in Incheon in the evening and took a taxi straight to our guesthouse. 

Life was made quite a bit easier by Asiana Airlines. They checked our luggage right through to Milan despite the layover which was lovely. Apparently they had quite a few connecting passengers so we got an email to come in a bit early and they opened just for us so we didn’t have to wait in stressful lines. Also their planes were bang on time and the food was amazing.

Travelling light! Only 4 carry on bags for the 6 of us. 

After dropping our bags we went for an evening walk to find some dinner and settled on a Korean bbq restaurant. We didn’t have a clue what the menu was and we were all pretty tired so we just picked 4 things to share and they were delicious! Only thing we recognized were dumplings. 2 dishes were quite spicy and they were huge. I didn’t think we would even put a dent in the food when it came but we demolished it. I fell into a burning ring of fire. Down down down and the flames went higher. And it burns burns burns. The ring of fire. The ring of fire.

In the morning we all had nice showers and a relaxed breakfast courtesy of Mr Kim. We stayed in a guesthouse with a shared kitchen and living room, but we had 2 of the 3 rooms and we never saw the other guests so we had the run of the place.  

After checkout we had plenty of time to get back to the airport considering we already had our boarding passes so travelling light we walked around downtown Incheon sampling smoothies and coffee drinks and generally cavorting.

Checking out the bbq during the day. 

Asia decorates their buildings much more intensely than Canada. No home owner’s association in this neighborhood.

We happened upon a tasty bakery that felt just like the suburban Tokyo ones and stocked up extra food for the airport and plane.

The trains in Korea were the cleanest and slickest we have seen yet. The airport at Incheon was absolutely huge! Felt like a giant mall with 50 foot ceilings and massive LED displays.

Our flight was right on time and the food was once again delicious.

We flew over Tajikistan and the Caspian Sea, just north of Iran. Good thing there weren’t any airspace closures. It was amazing to watch the mountains and the desert go by, but me and the kid in front of me kept getting in trouble for having the window open. I think the cabin crew wanted their wards to sleep and we were letting in brilliant sunlight and wrecking the vibe. Mikaya became their enforcer even if I cracked the window so they didn’t have to monitor me. A long flight but a good one. Doubly so bc it took us to Milan Italy!!