Italy: Days One and Two

Off we went to Italy on the night of my birthday. We flew Easyjet with low expectations, but it was fine. It took 1.5 hours for them to bring our stroller and car seat in Italy, but that was normal for what we quickly dubbed "Italian Time." Italian time is lovely when you are on a couples getaway. It's not so lovely when you arrive at midnight with many exhausted children. 

We stayed the first night at the Milan airport Sheraton. It was the worst service of any hotel I've ever stayed in, but it didn't taint our holiday having spent only 8 hours there.

Freddy had a camera with him and took a picture of the first car to pull up in the morning. Of course it was a Ferrari, and sadly not ours. 

The ten of us squished into our two rental cars- that took over an hour of paper work to get- and then drove an hour to the castle. I don't know why I was surprised to find that northern Italy looks like a completely different country than Southern Italy. They are both spectacular. Signs of Spring were everywhere, but the mountains were still covered in snow.

The castle was so easy to find. We got off the freeway, and there it was at the end of this little road.

 A big medieval looking door slowly creaked open at the entrance after the kids rang the bell. 

They had a dapper looking porter show us to our rooms that were beyond expectation. We climbed four flights of worn stone steps to get to our room that could easily be a 2 bedroom NYC apartment.
In the above picture, you can see the tower where our room was. And below showcases the view.

I immediately regretted that we hadn't booked this hotel for our entire trip. I had visions that we would be semi roughing it in a freezing middle-of-nowhere castle. That was definitely not the case.

Before we could set our bags down, the kids were off exploring as much of the castle and its grounds as they could. I couldn't believe the setting! In the hundreds of conversations we have had about this castle, Pai never once mentioned the spectacular setting. I only knew it was "near Turin."

Having a walled-in place for Sebby to explore was the best part; I knew he couldn't escape and so I let him tag along with the big kids as they played hide-and-seek. Pai has strong memories of playing hide and seek in the same spots. I'd love to dig up pictures of Pai here as a child.

 My mom and Freddy's room was just through the big brown door below. 

Mooj and Zita had their own room and space to get a break from the little kids, which brought much happiness for everyone.

I stayed in with Sebby in the late afternoon while everyone else went exploring the little village. On their way back to the castle, they caught Seb and me peering out the window, waiting for them to come back.

The replica paintings are a little harsh on the eyes, but if one can look past those, the interior is well maintained and just as it was generations ago.

Whenever Seb would climb on the rocks, he would say "I'm climbing on these rocky mountains! I can do it!" 

A fun surprise....

It. was a big relief to be in a separate dining room for dinner. One of my biggest worries about this trip was how Sebby would do with so many restaurant meals. There are also not very many small children in Italy, but that worked in our favor. Everyone was so friendly and helpful.

That's it for days one and two.