Chopsticks Times 6: We Have a CAR!

We have finally gotten a car! We have been using public transportation since we arrived here in Italy (over a year ago) It has been great, but the more involved we try to get the harder it is to do certain things without having a car. This will allow us to do more things and be able to reach places that do not have metro access. We have been looking for a car since right after getting our apartment because we knew this would be necessary, but it has been DIFFICULT to find one that seats 7 people and meets all of the new city laws AND is within our budget. We are so very thankful we found this used car that met all of those things!

Driving back, we stopped at the rest stop for some food. It literally crosses over the interstate.

I had Jonathan take this picture as we were driving home. It made me laugh because it said I needed to stop for coffee! :) Maybe this is not a new feature, but for me it was.

First time to have a date over the interstate ;) It was actually quite good. You grabbed a bag of bread, chose your meat, chose your side, and we split a bottle of water.

My very first parking job. I laugh at it now because I feel like I had soooo much room to park in! (I have gotten quite good at fitting that big car into tiny spaces) Also, I like the picture for size comparison. By US standards, our car is still considered small or medium sized at the most, but here in Italy, it is considered LARGE!

Our first trip in the car...we can fit 3 in the middle and 2 in the back

These loaded out of order...this is inside the restaurant that was over the interstate. It's set up like a buffet...but different.

Parking at 1:30am....I was so happy to find a parking spot so that I could go to bed.

The first thing he wanted to do when he got up on Saturday was to go see the car.

Look at those happy faces! I realized that this is literally the first car we have had in their lifetime. The last one we owned was 13 years ago. They have only ridden in rental vans for short periods of time in the States.

It won't be long! (but not until she's in America)

They are exploring every single part and are dying to go anywhere in it! I'm sure the newness will wear off, but it's fun to have the freedom to go where we need to when we need to.

Uh oh! First week and we already had an issue. The battery died. Thankfully, we have free roadside assistance for a year. We aren't sure what happened, either a light got bumped accidentally or something else, but all has been fine since.

We now have a parking space in the garage by our house. I literally have 3 inches on either side of the car to be able to fit in. And don't forget to close the mirrors!!!!