Travel Day to Italy

March 05, 2025

Travel Day to Italy

Our travel plans got off to a bit of a frantic start! Our original plan was to leave at 11am on Wednesday to drive to Toronto so the boys could do their first 2 classes. As we got closer to the date, the weather wasn’t looking the best. But Tuesday after work when I checked the weather, it was looking worse.

At about 5:15pm we decided to switch plans and head to Barrie that night. Unfortunately Joel was at work until 9:15pm both Trev and I had planned to work a little bit Thursday morning so instead we worked for a few hours Tuesday night. Then at about 7:30pm we ran frantically through the house grabbing the last minute items and packing an overnight bag for the hotel so we didn’t have to start separating liquids that had been packed strategically etc. Joel was already at work so I had to try to find his things. Then we did the last minute things before leaving for a few weeks like making sure the dishwasher was on, cleaning out the fridge, and emptying the garbages. And at 8:45pm we threw our bags in the car and headed to get Joel at the YMCA. Thankfully his coworkers offered to close the pool so Joel could leave right at 9pm when the pool closed.

We got to the hotel in Barrie at midnight. It was actually a great hotel room with 3 queen beds and the price was very reasonable.

Unfortunately I had a meeting this morning from 8am to 9am so I quietly got up and went down tot he business centre to do the call while the rest of the family slept. Then we met at 9am at the breakfast room for breakfast.

Now we had 13 hours to waste until our flight left! 😂. I asked for a late checkout until noon. The kids stayed in the hotel room. Joel had an assignment to do for school. Trev and I went to Mountain Equipment Co-op (it’s amazing having teenagers sometimes!)

We lounged around the room a bit and listened to Justin Trudeau’s speech 🇨🇦 and then had to leave at noon.

We headed to Vaughan Mills Mall and had lunch and wasted a few hours there.

Then we got bored and we went to IKEA and wasted time there. And got a drink at the restaurant.

Anna and Owen were hysterical over these chunky no-neck bears. 😂

After that we just sat in the car for a bit and eventually figured we’d just head to the airport early.

We dropped Chungy (our Suburban 😂) off at the Park and Fly and got the shuttle for the airport.

I’m so happy with how we packed for this trip! We are taking trains and so wanted to pack light. We have just carry on and our bags are 1/3 empty! Very easy for the kids to carry their own bags. Rolling luggage isn’t the best for the cobbled streets of Europe so we went with backpacks. The kids do have wheels so they can pull them on flat floors.

Jon and Kate told us that Stella is interested in airplanes right now and asked us to send some pictures of airplanes if we could. So we have had fun documenting the airport experience and sending pictures to Stella!

Our 5 carry on bags

With our day bags

Plane ride was smooth and easy! And we all got a bit of uncomfortable sleep!

Anna and I took this for proof we were in London!

I had found 15 pounds in a drawer at home that must have been from our last time in England in 2006! So Anna and I spent it in candy you can’t get in Canada!

Then the plane ride to Venice. They made an announcement that they’d be spraying everyone with some sort of disinfectant to prevent diseases and then this lady walked by spraying some stuff? Very weird!