I mistakenly thought that meant a Friday evening departure....well....I know this will SHOCK many of you, but David had a basketball game on Friday night at 6:30, so that could only mean a Saturday morning departure.
For all you "moms" out there, you know the drill....we do all of the organizing, planning and packing and everyone else just wakes up and gets in the car. Well, I did all 3 of those things and we left early Saturday morning. (David did LOAD the car)
It's very fascinating to me that we started our journey in France, about 10 minutes later were in Germany and then in another 50 minutes we were in Switzerland. It's really no different than living in the Cincinnati area....you know, a trip around I-275 will take you into Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana in the same amount of time. The only difference is that you don't have armed policeman looking at you as you cross each state line.
David is a "follow the speed limit" kind of guy. I hate that. I love the thrill of beating the GPS's estimated time of arrival when we travel. Yes, that means I drive over the speed limit. David hates THAT.
Our drive was relatively uneventful. We ran into a little traffic and our GPS decided to take us on a 6 km detour from H-E-double hockey sticks. It took us 30 minutes to travel 6 km (which to those of you who are like me and immediately FORGOT the metric system as soon as you passed the test in grade school) is a little more than 3 miles.
The other interesting thing that happened during our drive between Switzerland and Italy involved the Alps. I am a big kid. When we would travel to North Carolina for vacation with our kids, we ALWAYS would wake them up so that they could "hold their breath" going through the tunnels. Well, I still do that as an adult. Be careful when you are doing that in Europe. I made it through some fairly long ones...holding my breath for over a minute (traveling at 60-80mph) but then we came to my Mother-in-law's worst nightmare. I began holding my breath, no problem. It passed the minute mark and was closing in on two....I couldn't hold it any longer. The tunnel kept going. No daylight in sight. I started getting a little freaked out....I can be claustrophobic. Well, we didn't keep EXACT track of time, but we were in that tunnel for over 10 minutes! I was so happy to see light again.
Travel in this tunnel is monitored. They stop traffic to prevent too many cars from being inside the tunnel at one time. This regulates the amount of exhaust fumes/gasses and prevents bad things from happening.
As we neared Venice I happened to think about parking our car. I couldn't remember if the hotel had parking on-site. DUH. We were in Venice, unless you are driving Chitty-chitty-bang-bang you don't have parking AT your hotel. In my defense, I thought there might've been a car ferry. I couldn't check my email because my mobile company's data package is non-existent, so David was sweet enough to call the hotel and check out the logistics. (I usually am very good about those kind of details, but this one escaped me)
Happy to report that we parked the car and caught a ferry to our hotel. Back to packing for a minute. Are you the kind of packer who packs small quantities in several small bags or do you mash everything (including the kitchen sink) into one grand piece of luggage? I am a one bag girl. It seems like it would be easier for my husband to handle, I feel like I'm doing him a favor. David does NOT see it that way.
Our bag is huge and probably weighed 60 pounds. Getting that thing in/out of the car trunk and then on/off of a ferry and then over two bridges (complete with steps) about killed him. He was also toting a mid-sized cooler, so I will cut him some slack.
Into the hotel and off to explore. The Hilton had a ferry that would take us back and forth to the main island...that was nice. A one-way ferry ticket costs 7 Euro (about $9.40). Well, Venice is an interesting and beautiful place to visit. I recommend it. We did the touristy things, having a beverage in St Mark's Square amongst all the pigeons, Rialto Bridge, the Grand Canal and even the boat ride.
The weather turned nasty on us during our last day, so no Murano glass blowing factory this trip. Probably the best "find" we encountered was while we had an hour to kill before our boat tour. It was raining and I was cold, wet and tired. We stopped into a little restaurant so that I could get off my feet and get a hot chocolate. (We had been out since 9AM and it was 4:30....I'm really not a weenie) I was served the most beautiful orange hot chocolate concoction ever.
As we were enjoying our drinks the waiter kept bringing delicious looking appetizers to the bar. Bruschetta, cut up salamis, pizza, olives, etc. David made the comment to the bartender that we might come back for dinner. LUCKY US!! That was the "happy hour" food and it started in 10 minutes. JACKPOT. Yes, I am a Kentucky girl enjoying Venice. Free food? Sign me up. (This is the plate that we were given....we did not HOG all the free food)
So....we ordered another drink and enjoyed our "meal". Back to the "iced-tea" girl for a minute. No iced tea in Europe, so this is what a Kentucky girl does to make-do....
Ask for a "pot of tea" with a glass of ice. WARNING: asking for an entire glass of ice in Europe can cause adverse reactions from wait staff. Will share THAT story later!!
The ferry ride BACK to our car on Monday morning was a treat. it was raining. David had to maneuver the luggage back over the two bridges and back onto the ferry. I was wearing a rain jacket. He was wearing shorts and a long sleeved pull over. Let's just say that being on the outside deck of a ferry while traversing a lagoon in the rain made for a scene in one of the "Gordon fisherman" commercials.
I am typing this from our Florence hotel....which I will talk about in another post. Let's just say "it" and "I" did not get off on the right foot :) Blessings to you all. Prayers for you as you "travel" throughout your day.
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