Viva Italia!

We have just returned from our long awaited spring break trip to Italy.  There were a few tense days the last week or two wondering if Mike would be able to get the time off from his intense work schedule compliments of a certain Libyan madman.  But not to worry, we made it out the door last Sunday morning without a hitch.  The hitches will come later on in my story...just wait and see!

Day One:  Loaded up the car with suitcases and ski gear with plans to visit Venice, Rome and Zermatt, Switzerland.  Hit the road about ten a.m. (only an hour behind schedule and don't look at me!)  It took awhile to get the final reservations confirmed and the ski gear loaded in the car top carrier.  I wasn't in charge of either of those tasks. 

First stop...five minutes down the road at Burger King...the teenager is hungry.  This will be a recurring theme throughout my travelogue.

We traveled down through Stuttgart, Munich, Salzburg and skirted the border of Slovenia before making it into northern Italy.  It took longer than expected due to the usual construction delays in Germany during this time of year.  When we were off boondockin' (that is to say...trying to avoid the jam), we came across a very unique lawn ornament.  Mike and I just had to do a turn around so we could go back and get a picture.  I think he wants one in our yard.

We finally were getting so close to our destination for the night.  The GPS had us get off of the auto strada (autobahn in Italian) and go for about 90 kilometers through the countryside on a two lane road to get to the city of Portadone, where Mike had made reservations at some unkown hotel.

 We weren't too far away, when we took a wrong turn and heard those endearing words we all love so much..."re-calculating"  Well soon enough we were out in the boonies (that is to say "the middle of nowhere") and on a deserted dirt road near an old rock quarry or something and I'm having visions of the mafia and bodies in trunks and cement shoes etc...

When the GPS tried to put us back on the correct road, we realized that although we could see the road we needed to be on, there was a guardrail and no way to enter the road. 

 At this point, Mike decides to take a little path along the ditch bank hoping it would somehow become a paved on ramp with lights, signs and directional arrows pointing us to the promised land.  Instead, it became narrower and more overgrown with bushes and trees and l could see  that no car or even human had ventured down this "trail" since possibly Marco Polo. 

 I  admit it, I was scared to the point of tears and fervent prayer.  Mike soon turned the car around. I don't know how he did it...I couldn't begin to uncover my eyes to see, but soon we were headed back and eventually found our way out to the main road.  

Soon we would be at our hotel and kick back and laugh at this ridiculous episode..right?  Wrong!

We made it to Portadone, but the GPS took us to the hotel that never existed.  We asked directions, no luck.  We drove in circles for a half hour, no luck.  We put the address into the GPS again, no luck.  We finally saw a Best Western and lucky us...they had a room!  It was wonderful.  We still don't know where that other hotel is.   Well good for us...we got all the drama out of the way on our first day.  From here on in it was smooth sailing and lots of fun!

Day Two:  We got up early and drove about an hour down the road to a suburb of Venice, checked into our hotel and then took a city bus to Venice.  What a magical place!  It was like stepping back in time.  I took a hundred photos because there was a picture waiting to be taken around every corner!!

First stop...Pizza at a literally "Hole in the wall Pizza joint"

Mike trying to decide which kind to get.

So our game plan for the day was to walk to the Piazzo San Marco and then take a water bus back to the bus station but we ended up just walking all day.  It was so fun to wander, eat, get lost, eat, figure out where we are on the map, wander, eat....you get the picture.  Half the fun of Venice is really in the being totally confused about where you are.  It doesn't really matter because eventually you'll find your way out of the maze of alley ways and canals to the Grand Canal.  

I think we are "here!"

Which way should we go??

The Grand Canal from the Rialto Bridge

It was a beautifully sunny day but the temperature was just perfect for exploring all the nooks and crannies.   We did make it to the Piazza San Marco.  It was quite crowded and the sun was in the wrong place to take very good photos but here are a couple.

On our way back to the bus station, we came across Marco Polo's house and there was a gondola traffic jam out front of it.  It was fun to see the gondoliers work there way out of the jam, one even did the splits from his gondola to the the walls along the canal.  He was such a pro and besides you DON"T want to fall in that disgusting water.  We saw that a lot of the houses had water pipes that emptied right in the canal.  I don't even want to think about where those water pipes originated!

Traffic jam

Time for gelato!!

We finally ended up back at the bus plaza and were pretty worn out from walking all day, so we hopped on the city bus and headed back to the hotel. It was about a 30 minute ride and then a five minute walk.  We had planned on having a late dinner at the hotel restaurant, but after looking at then menu, we changed our mind and Mike and Travis went out to find some food.  They found a cafeteria type place and said the food wasn't that great.  Oh well, we got spoiled in Venice!  


I am going to put this blog to bed for now.  This will have to be installment number one with more to come tomorrow.  Rome, here we come!!!!


love and miss you all,
-corri