When In Rome #14

In October 2023 the Snader Family visited Europe. Since Shane had just gotten married, they took Matt and Marlene’s niece, Zoey Weaver, along. A day or two before leaving, Logan fell and broke his arm. This resulted in a metal arm brace that set off every metal detector in Europe. With eleven people in the group (nine children plus Matt and Marlene), nothing in Europe was easy. The taxis were too small, the clothes dryers couldn’t ever keep up, and the attracted stares everywhere they went (even families with three children are rare in Europe).

They first flew to Ireland, visited several places there, including a Mennonite bakery. The fast paced urban train systems proved baffling to the rural Alaskans. Next they flew to France, where they visit Paris and the Eiffel tower. After Paris they went to Normandy Beach, and then on to Switzerland. In the Swiss Alps some of the girls tried their hand at bungee jumping out of a tram car. After Switzerland, they visited Italy, touring Rome and several of the landmarks there. They also stopped at the Leaning Tower of Pisa (it definitely has a lean to it). Somewhere along the way Matt rented a Ferrari and hit 140 mph with it (legally). The trip concluded in Venice, where Matt took Marlene on a gondola ride that didn’t turn out as romantic as advertised. Matt proclaimed he was never taking a group of eleven people to Europe again (and Marlene agreed), but everyone who went along agreed it was a very memorable experience.