Transportation in Europe

It's not just about airplanes and trains when taking a big trip to Europe. We traveled by many different forms of transportation.

 

 There was the bus in Venice (as well as the bus in Rome).

The gondola in Venice was one of my favorite memories. Not exactly romantic with the kids along, but it was one of those things you just have to do while you are there.

The trolley in Poland (various cities) was a big hit with the kids.

 Sweet Son loved that the doors opened automatically while Sweet Daughter loved talking to everyone (even if they didn't speak English).

I loved that everyone let me sit down with the kids when it was crowded. It certainly helped when the kids were over tired.

This is another of my favorite memories from the trip. We rented a car in Poland because we were going to so many cities, many without public transportation. In Krakow we went to visit the castle and dragon's lair. There were signs around the area that were white squares with a big blue P on them and an arrow pointing to these spaces. Turns out that means private parking, not open to the public. When we got back to the car we discovered the boot. That's also when wonderful husband realized he had forgotten his wallet (with his drivers license) at the home we were staying in. We were able to track down a police officer who said he would send over the parking officers in a few minutes.

While we waited in the car wonderful husband tried explaining the situation to the officer. That's when we discovered a couple of other issues. Wonderful husband doesn't have an international drivers license, which is required in Poland. Luckily the officer was impressed that my husband is still fluent in Polish (now with an American accent) and decided to overlook that fact. However, he couldn't overlook the lack of any license at all. So, since I had my license on me, the ticket was written in my name and had me listed as the driver. This was an issue because the car is a standard and I don't know how to drive a standard at all, much less in a crowded, foreign, tourist area. I'm happy to say the exceptionally nice officer looked away as my husband drove us away. There were also multiple fines. The first one had to be paid on the spot in order to remove the boot. The second had to be paid by cash or money order after the fact.

For future reference - get an international drivers license, don't forget your wallet, and always be polite and speak in the local language if possible.