From Venice back to Frankfurt

Back at Marco Polo Airport, we were just one group of many who were enjoying a last serving of gelato. After I took this picture, I said thoughtfully to my dear children, echoing the words of that American couple, "Do you guys realize how lucky you are? You have visited some of the most amazing places: Venice, Rome,...." And before I could remind them of the other incredible trips we had taken, James piped up with, "Well, we haven't been to Greece." Took the wind right out of my sails. I just plopped down in my seat, sighed, and took another bite of my coffee gelato.

We lucked out again and were immediately assigned seats on the next flight to Frankfurt. As we waited, I turned to David and said with a pout, "You know, no one made any comments to us on our family." Italians love children, but have one of the lowest birthrates in Europe. In Rome, we had gotten several comments on our four children. And then, boarding began. David handed our tickets to the Italian Lufthansa employee, a middle-aged man, who took one look at us and said, "Are these all your children? Bellisimo! What a beautiful family!" I met David's eye and smiled.

One interesting fact about our trip: from the time we left our house in Germany to when we arrived back on our doorstep the following day, the only time we had to show our passports to someone was when we checked into our hotel in Venice. When we exited the plane back in Frankfurt, two men were checking people's passports, but when they saw our big, beautiful family, they just waved us on. Too many passports to check, I guess.

But something I have found myself saying quite a bit lately is that as our kids get older, our family seem "less big." When I tell people we have four kids, their eyes widen and they say in disbelief, "Four? You have four kids?" I have to bite my lip now to keep from saying, "Four isn't really that many. Six or seven? That's a big family. But four? Not so much."

Flying over the Venetian Lagoon

The city of Venice

Back over the Alps

Arriving in Frankfurt. You can see how Germans live close together in towns separated by farmland, as opposed to in spread-out suburbs.

Wind turbines