This is the concluding post on our trip to Europe in May with our sons. There was some anxiety about traveling with kids so young (3 and 1). How would they stay still? How would we manage? Does it even make sense. Read the first half of our post here where I wrote about the air trips themselves and managing the boys in the airports.
From the moment we decided we were traveling, I drew up an itinerary. This is what it looked liked.
- Day 1: Depart Nigeria
- Day 2: Arrive Madrid, catch breath. (I literally wrote this. Catch Breath. Because air travel with kids is enough to catch breath after.)
- Day 3: Theme park for kids
- Day 4: Beatification ceremony
- Day 5: Museum / City Tour
- Day 6: Arrive Rome. Check into AirBnb. Catch breath. (again. Because air travel)
- Day 7: Shopping. Relaxation.
- Day 8: Papal Audience a.k.a. see the pope in person.
- Day 9: Vatican museums / City Tour
- Day 10: Return to Nigeria.
Accommodation: Airbnb vs Hotel
On one hand, I love the luxury and convenience of hotels. There’s room service, housekeeping service, laundry service and an endless supply of clean, white, fluffy towels. On the other hand, last year when we visited Accra, we stayed in a hotel. I found it inconvenient having to wash baby bottles and toddler sippy cups in the sink. Alvaro, the perennial picky eater, wouldn’t eat anything on the hotel menu. Thankfully, I’d brought some of his food from home. Microwaving it became a chore. (Imagine going to the hotel kitchen and begging for someone to microwave a tiny jar of baby food).
This time around, we decided to rent an AirBnB. For one, we were going to be with my sister and our friends who also have kids the same age as ours. A proper kitchen was definitely useful for making meals for the kids, and adults on occasion. The washing machine meant we could keep up with all the dirty laundry the kids generated. And it was just generally more cozy to be together under the same roof.
Strollers or nah?
So I think strollers are very much required, especially if you plan to do a fair bit of sight-seeing and can’t carry your kids. Europe is pretty much set up for walking everywhere so our strollers definitely got a lot of use.
Carseats?
We struggled with this one, to be honest. Some cabs in Madrid had car-seats in them, some didn’t. A number refused to carry us when it turned out we had kids under the age of 2. But in the end, it wasn’t so much of an inconvenience that we wished we’d carried our carseats along. In Rome, many of the taxis had carseats in their trunks so it was less of a bother.
Help abroad?
I have friends who travel with their nannies, which can be an excellent idea depending on your family situation. We were 5 adults (and sometimes six when my second sister or my sister’s friend joined us) watching 4 kids, so it wasn’t too hard for us. That said, one night in Madrid, we got two Spanish nannies to watch the kids at home, while we adults went out for dinner. We came home to find Daniel, my first son, with a swollen, burst lip. He’d been racing around the living room and the poor nannies had tried to stop him but…language barrier. He kept running, he slipped, fell hard and split his lip. No permanent harm done but note to self: get English-speaking nannies, when required.
Meals
We ate out for most of this trip. Madrid and Rome have great restaurants so those bills added up fairly quickly! This time around, the kids weren’t as picky with meals so we managed to get some proper food into them. I could tell they missed their Amala sha.
Entertainment
We tried to maintain the balance between adult fun and kid fun. The goal was to explore experiences they wouldn’t typically get in Nigeria. So we went to a theme park in Madrid and even though it wasn’t on our agenda originally, we went to a zoo in Rome. We didn’t get to go to any museums sadly but we did do a city tour of Rome. In between, there was a lot of walking. Great for step counts!
All in all, it was a fun experience travelling with kids. It does require a lot of energy, especially for the flights themselves. I’m thankful for the fact that we travelled as a group of two families (three if you include my sisters and their friend). Being able to support each other made the experience that much easier, and much more fun. I don’t know if we’d have had as much fun if it was just us two and our kids. Of everything, that’s the one thing I’d recommend the most. Travel with others.
