One of the weekends I was looking forward to most on my trip to Europe was the weekend my Dad and Michelle were planning to come visit. Not only would it be good to see them and share all the experiences I’ve had so far but it was also nice to get some time away from the group and reflect on my Eurotrip to date.

Dad and Michelle arrived in Lugano on Wednesday night after already being in Zurich and Interlaken for a few nights. I filled them in on my last trip and took them around to the different parts of Lugano that have become a part of my everyday life. Unfortunately, we didn’t get dinner at the Montarina and I was reminded by everyone how much I missed out because it was Lasagna night. The next day I met up with Dad and Michelle at lunch and we went to the Doner Kebab place for obvious reasons. After I rushed through a midterm exam I met up with Dad and Michelle and we headed into the Alps to start our weekend.

Our first stop was the Schloss Hotel in a little Swiss town right outside the Austrian border. The place was maybe the smallest village I’ve ever seen but the hotel and dinner were incredible. Probably the nicest dinner I’ve ever been to. It was a nice change of pace from the Doner Kebab hostel living I have been taking part in since I arrived in Europe.

After waking up and walking around the village for a little we headed into Liechtenstein, a country the size of Manhattan and about as exciting as a Lane Stadium-less Blacksburg. The first stop in Liechtenstein was the Leichtensteiner Brewery, the only brewery in Liechtenstein. This was my favorite place we visited because we had a private tour of the brewery and I got to learn about all the little intricacies that go into each step of the brewing process. Even though the worker said he knew very little English, he gave us a great tour and was able to tell us a lot of interesting facts along the way.

From there we toured Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein. We saw the Parliament building, a castle, and a church. They were all within about 1500 square feet of each other. Like I said, Liechtenstein is not that big. From there we had dinner and headed to Austria to check into our hotel for the night. Of course we had an impromptu beer tasting (family tradition) and Dad and I went down to the lobby to stalk people on facebook and order a new camera. Michelle had about enough of us at that point in the day.

The next day we had round two of touring Liechtenstein and I am pretty convinced we toured just about every square inch of the country. We saw some old Roman Ruins, a few more castles, and a bunch of churches.

Despite Liechtenstein being pretty small and not the most exciting place in the world, I had a great time traveling there with my family for the weekend. It was great to see them and talk about my experience so far as well as hear about what was going on at home. Spending time with them surprisingly didn’t make me miss home more but actually made me appreciate my time over here even more just because I realized how this trip is not real life at all. It helped me get a fresh perspective on this whole experience and I think it has definitely helped me in the weeks since. With that being said, I know I’ll also love being home and going to Sticky Lips and having a beer tasting with family and friends.

After touring Liechtenstein we hopped back in the car and went to Zurich for the night. We went to a German beer hall but it wasn’t quite the same as the Hofbrauhaus. After watching a riveting interview by Donald Trump about his quest to become president we called it a night and said our goodbyes. The next morning I hopped on the train and headed back to Lugano looking forward to the rest of the trip.

Thanks for visiting Michelle and Dad, it was great having you guys here and I hope you are looking up where to get Kebabs in Rochester. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone else when I get back in the states although I’m trying not to count the days and enjoy the rest of my time over here. Look out for some more blog updates, I’ll try not to get this far behind again.