40th Post

This will be the 40th and final post for our Italy blog. If you want to read everything in order you will need to scroll to the bottom and work your way up. I have posted a few stories and a bunch of pictures so please enjoy. You may also feel free to comment if you would like to.

Italy was certainly an adventure for us. We enjoyed our trip but we also missed home a lot. As we experienced a different culture we grew to appreciate home more. I have been asked many times if I would go back. My answer is yes, however I would stay out of the big cities and enjoy the countryside.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog.

Learning to Spell "Kayak"

Ok, I know how to spell it now. K-A-Y-A-K. I spelled it in wrong in my previous post about it. Click here to read that post. Now that I know how to spell it I will tell you more about my experience in one.

The Wednesday before we left started off nice and uneventful. It seemed like it would just be a day to hang out and relax with Joe before going home. We had talked briefly about what to do with the day but never made a decision. Joe really wanted to go kayaking. Julie and I were not so sure. We were both worn out from the trip and Julie is not comfortable around water. Joe had called and made reservations with the local kayak club. We made him cancel. However after more discussion on the issue we finally gave in and decided to go.

The kayak club in Sachile Italy will give free lessons and free use of its kayaks to anyone interested in learning about kayaking. They are very nice people and go out of there way to help you learn and have fun. The man that runs the club was Italy's Olympic Coach in 1996. Our instructor for our trip is currently on the Italian Womens National Team. They were both very nice and helpful during our trip down the Livenza River.

I did not take my camera on this adventure for fear it would get wet. It was a good thing I left it behind or else it would be in the bottom of that river right now.

When we arrived at the club they immediately began getting us outfitted for our trip. They choose a kayak for each of us. Then we got paddles, life vests, jackets and a spray skirt. The spray skirt looked the funniest. It fits tightly around you and tightly on a lip around the opening of the boat. It's purpose is the keep water out of your boat. After getting everything ready we loaded up in a van to be dropped off up stream and paddle our way back to the club.

We arrived at the home of the head of the club. His house sits right on the river. We unloaded and dragged our boats to a small clearing near the water. There our guide/instructor gave us about a ten minute lesson. She taught us the proper way to hold a paddle, paddling technique, how to turn, how to reverse and how to stop. She then enlisted the help of a neighbor to help us get into the river. We took our kayaks to the dock where we got in and got set up. We were then pushed into the water. Our guide then made sure we remembered what she taught us and set us free to practice while she got in her boat. Then we were off on our new adventure.

Joe had been kayaking before so he was getting around pretty good. I was doing ok but was having a little difficulty with turning. It seemed once I was going straight I was ok but everytime I turned, the boat would just keep turning when I didn't want it too. It took a while but I eventually got a few things figured out and was able to get myself going like I wanted to. Kayaking is certainly not as easy as it may look. Julie was having a little difficulty like I was so our instructor spent most of her time with Julie.

Everything was going good and we were all having fun despite some frustrations in learning to steer the kayaks. I had gained some confidence in controlling my boat. I paddled up stream intending to turn around and catch back up with everyone else. When I started my U turn I leaned into it like steering a bicycle or motorcycle. Apparently this was a bad idea. I didn't do it on purpose, I did it out of old cycling habit. The boat did turn quickly but also turned upside down at the same time.

There are two things that really stick in my head from this day. First was seeing the front of the boat from upside down in the water. Second was the look on my wife's face when I came up out of the water. Back to the first thing. There I am just realizing that maybe I goofed and I am trying like hell for exactly two seconds to upright the boat without getting out. It was quickly obvious that wasn't going to happen. It was get out now time. I dropped the paddle, or at least that is when I think I did. I am still not 100% sure about that one little detail. I pushed myself out of the boat and swam up to the surface of the water. Most of the time my first reaction would be to get some fresh air. Not this time, this time I exhaled most of the water that I am sure had made it into my lungs. Then I took my first very painful and short breath followed by exhaling more water. It took several breaths just to get a good breath of air in. Now that second memory gets stuck forever in my head. That was the look on my wife's face. It is a look I will never forget.

Now it was time to get back in he boat. I was still having trouble breathing and my heart was beating like a Hummingbird. I started to swim to my boat now finding my paddle in my hand and not sure how it got there. Our guide arrived and told me not to worry about my boat and to grab the back of hers so she could drag me to shore. I stood there in the water standing on the shallow bottom leaning on some wood posts that lined this part of the river trying to catch my breath and calm down. Our guide retrieved my boat as I tried to tell Julie I was going to be ok. I am not sure she believed me. I got up on land only to find a bunch of tall weeds and holes making standing and doing anything difficult. With help from our guide I eventually drug my boat from the water so we could dump the water in it, out. I was already tired from my little swim, doing this just exhausted me. Again with help from our guide I was helped into the boat and was set to try again.

We still had a ways to go before we got back to the club. I was exhausted and very nervous. I was sure I was going to tip again. I did my best to stay calm and relax. Every breath I took at this point hurt. Being so tense made it hard to control the boat so I did my best to force myself to relax. The rest of the way back I mostly just floated along, paddling only to steer when I needed to.

I was actually first back to where we would be pulled from the water by waiting club members. I stopped a little short and hung on to a small storm drain coming out of a building. There I waited for them to pull a group of kids that were learning to kayak from the water. They then pulled Julie and Joe out. I used the time to just relax and try to breath correctly. Then it was my turn and strangely I was sad that our adventure was over.

After getting out of the water we picked up our boats and walked the final 200 yards back to the club. We stripped off our gear and collected the personal items we had left at the club. We had to get going. I was starting to get very cold. I was soaked in cold water and the light wind was making me feel colder. I needed to get clean warm clothes on soon before I got sick.

Our last full day in Italy was an adventure. It was strange to feel like I had fun despite the scary experience in the middle. I would go kayaking again I just hope next time I don't fall out of the boat.

Miscellaneous Pictures Part 2

Castel St. Angelo & Ponte St. Angelo

7 Ton bronze doors of the Pantheon

Inside the dome of the Pantheon

Water Ambulance in Venice

Harley Davidson Dealership in Sachile

Buying pastries on our first day in Italy

McDonalds

Just in case you were wondering. Yes, there are fast food restaurants in Italy. Every major city we visited in Italy had at least one McDonalds. The menu is basically the same except the names of some items have been changed. For example a 1/4 Pounder is called a Royal. They also sell beer at McDonalds in Italy. We did eat at McDonalds a few times. Most of them were decorated like a dance club but were not cleaned very well.

Miscellaneous Pictures Part 1

Lion in a Fountain at the Piazza Del Popolo

The Spanish Steps
(Popular place to just hang out at night)

Vineyard

Livenza River near where it starts

View of the canals and Gondola from a restaurant we ate at in Venice.

Go Climb A Rock

The number of days we had left in Italy were starting to run out. We had not yet had the chance to go rock climbing. The Tuesday before we left we finally got our chance. It turned out to be the most fun we would have on our trip. We got a late start on the day but did manage to get a couple of short climbs in. Joe drove us into the mountains to the location. In the mountains as we were going through a tunnel Joe suddenly stops and proclaims "there it is". My first though was "What, we are climbing in a tunnel?" Joe then turns into a service tunnel I had not yet noticed. The other side opened up into a beautiful and steep valley. Joe drove a short distance down a service road and parked. I asked how far we would have to walk. His reply was 25 feet. We were parked right where we were going to climb.

The type of climbing we would be doing is called Sport Climbing. Sport climbing is where climbers use pre placed bolts as protection from falls while climbing. The first climber up called the Lead Climber, clips the rope into each bolt has they climb. If they fall the highest piece of protection clipped into catches them. When they reach the top they then clip the rope into the last piece of protection called the anchor. The anchor usually has more than one connected piece to make it redundant and safer. The Lead Climber is then lowered to the ground. They then can remove the other pieces of protection that is no longer needed or, the next person to climb can remove it as they climb. This is called cleaning the route. We choose to let me clean each route so I could practice handling equipment while hanging onto the rock at the same time.

It did not take Joe long to set up for the first route. Joe would Lead Climb each route and I would belay him. Belaying is the act of controlling the other end of the rope that is not attached to the climber. It is the belayers responsibility to catch the climber if they were to fall. Each climber and belayer wears a harness. One end of the rope is connected to the climbers harness. The rope runs through protection then down to the belayers harness where it runs through a belaying device. The belayer controls this device and the rope giving the climber any slack or tension they need. If the climber falls the belayer locks the belay device stopping the rope from moving and catching the falling climber on the other end of the rope. It takes careful and constant attention but is easy to learn.

Joe made easy work of the first climb. He made it look easy. I then lowered him and we switched ends on the rope. I climbed and cleaned the route on my way up. The climb had one hard part near the top. A hard section on a climb is called the crux. After a couple minutes of thinking I climbed past the crux and then on to the top. The hardest part on this first climb seemed to be the lowering. This first route had several large ledges that made keeping proper tension on the rope tricky to coordinate between me and my belayer. Joe stayed on as the belayer and Julie tied in to climb so I could take pictures and stare aimlessly into the beautiful valley we were in. Julie went up the climb smooth and steady until reaching the crux. The crux required a little extra reach that Julie didn't have. She was going to have get creative to find a way up. Joe urged her on and wouldn't let her give up. She was frustrated but I don't think she would have given up. Finally she just started clawing her way up using an anger induced adrenalin rush to find the power to hold onto nonexistent holds in the rock. I was and still am very proud of her. She then lowered down and we removed the rope from our first and successful climb on real rock.

Now it was time for climb number two. Joe again made it look easy and after lowering we switched off again as before. This climb was just a tiny bit harder. I had to find a little different way up than Joe but made it up without too many problems. However I did use a ledge for my foot that had a tree growing out of it that I probably shouldn't have to climb my way past one section. After getting to the top, lowering on this one was a little easier. Julie then tied in and was ready to go again with Joe belaying. She followed my way up using the same questionable ledge. She again got stuck on the crux near the top. Joe offered to lower her down but she wouldn't give up. I am so proud of her. She finally found a way using a few tricky moves instead of the angry clawing way. Joe lowered her, we removed the rope and moved on to the next one.

On the third climb Joe cleaned the route on the way down in case I didn't make it up. This climb had the crux at the bottom. If you got past that the rest was smooth sailing. This one was even a little tricky for Joe. I gave it a try but just couldn't get my foot up on to a little ledge that I needed to be able to get past the crux. In the process I tweaked my elbow a little. I dedcided againt trying again. Mostly I think it was my ego that was hurting more than my elbow. Well there is always next time. After I didn't make it up Julie decided not to try and it was getting late. Mostly I think Julie skipped it because she didn't want to embarrass me by making it up. Joe pulled down the rope packed up and we were off. We returned to Joe's house for some much deserved home cooking. This was our favorite day in Italy.

Drive Through The Mountains

All of these photos were from our drive in the mountains. Our drive was an extension of our short picnic trip described in my previous post. Click here to read that post. The drive started off with the rain that canceled our picnic. Shortly into the drive the weather let up a little providing some sun, rainbows and beautiful views. The drive took us through some of the ski resorts in the mountains. It also took us past a beautiful lake that I can't remember the name of. The drive was beautiful and relaxing. It was a nice change in pace after all the crowds and traffic of the big cities. We ended the day with some Gelato in Aviano. It turned out to be one of our favorite parts of the trip.

Seemed Like A Good Idea

Aviano Air Force Base

(View from the mountains)

Julie, Me and Aileen

Storm moving in

The Monday after we got back from Rome, Joe and I went to the base to do some grocery shopping. While there I saw what I thought might be sheep high up on the mountains near the base. I pointed it out to Joe and he decided to go find out for sure. The view was great. We never got close to the sheep but got close enough to tell that it was a heard of sheep. While we were up there we found what we thought would be a good place for a picnic. The weather was not great but it seemed to be getting better. We then rushed home to pick up Julie and Aileen. Joe stormed in the house barking orders. Get ready to leave, make sandwiches, pack blankets, we are going on a picnic! After a few minutes of confusion and explanation we packed up and headed back to the mountains. We got to the place Joe and I had picked out but it was starting to get cold. We found a good place to sit and eat but it became clear that the weather was turning bad. A storm was moving in and it was starting to rain. So after our 10 minute picnic we quickly headed for the car. We made it just in time for it to start raining pretty good. We then decided it would be a good time for a drive in the mountains. I will give the details on that in the next post.

Street Performers

While we were in Italy we saw a lot of street performers. There are a lot of them in Rome. Most of them don't do much but will do a little something when you drop a couple coins in their bucket. This guy was Aileen's (Julie's Sister-in-law) favorite. He stands there motionless, looking like a business man rushing off to a meeting. Aileen dropped some money in a small box he had set out and all he did was blow her a kiss. There were others and they didn't do much either. One man was dressed like Uncle Fester from the Adams Family. He was the strangest. When you dropped money in his bucket he would screech loudly for a few seconds. That was it. Most of them were really kind of disappointing.

Graffiti

In my previous post is a picture of a graffiti covered subway car. Everywhere we went in Italy graffiti seemed to be a problem. It didn't matter if it was a big city or a small town, graffiti was everywhere. It seemed that almost everything that someone could reach with a can of spray paint or even a marker had graffiti on it. Public buildings and public transportation were the worse. We even saw it on very old historic churches. While in Florence, when we climbed the 463 steps to the top of the dome, there was writing all over the walls. It is literally everywhere. The only things that didn't have it were heavily guarded government buildings and the nice Euro Star trains. Everything else seemed to free game for graffiti.

Rome Pictures Part 3

A gallery at the Vatican Museum

Piazza Del Popolo

Graffiti covered Sub Way car

The Coliseum at night

Trevi Fountain at night

Rome Pictures Part 2

The Coliseum

Bike Rally at the Coliseum

Ancient Ruins

In the courtyard at the Vatican Museum

Cats on the streets of Rome
(Took this while waiting for a bus)

The Line

In my previous post (Rome Pictures Part 1) there is a picture of the line at the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. There is a little I want to say about this experience. If you can live without seeing the art in the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel then skip it. The line outside is not too bad. Sure it is long and takes about an hour and a half but for as long as it is, it moves along fairly well. It's once you get inside that things can get ugly. It starts off easy though. First you make your way through security. On the other side of the security check is some booths that sell books and other gifts from the Vatican Museum. These Gift Booths are scattered all through the Museum. After that you have to make your way up some stairs to the ticket booths. These lines move quickly so it is no big deal. It costs 12 Euro per person to get in. Then you just follow the signs to get to the Galley you want to see. We wanted to see the Sistine Chapel so we followed those signs. However no matter what Gallery you wanted to see it soon became apparent that the line inside was going to take you through all of them. After paying it starts off nice as you enter a nice large courtyard. There we heard a tour guide tell her group that if you stopped and looked at each piece of art for 45 seconds you would be there for 12 years nonstop. I figured that is about 139776 pieces of art in the Vatican Museum. That is a lot of art. Now here is where my problem with the Vatican Museum begins. Keep in mind that Julie and I are not very fond of crowds. After leaving the courtyard to make our way to the Sistine Chapel it became apparent where the crowd that had seemed to disappear when we first came in went. Each and every gallery was jam packed with people pushing and shoving there way through to see whatever it was they came to see. I believe that most people had the same goal we did because the crowd in the Sistine Chapel was the worst. Sure the art there is beautiful and the Sistine Chapel is beautiful but with hundreds of people pushing and shoving their way though, it just seems to ruin the experience. We were so tense and stressed out that we didn't really take time to enjoy the Sistine Chapel. It wouldn't have mattered though. Security was trying their hardest to rush people through. After leaving the Sistine Chapel there are several more galleries to wind your way through before exiting the building. I did notice that by the time we got out the line going in was gone and it was still a couple of hours until closing. It occurred to me that it might actually be better to wait until later in the day to go. It might provide an opportunity to avoid the crowds and actually enjoy the museum. It wasn't all bad though. We can now say we have seen the Sistine Chapel and we found 20 Euro after we came out. If you are ever in Rome and think about seeing the Vatican Museum take a moment to consider how much you really want to do it. I doubt I would do it again unless the place was almost vacant.

Rome Pictures Part 1

Venezia Palace

The line for the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel

(Only 1/3 of the line can be seen in this picture)

Julie (My Wife) and Joe (Julie's Brother) at Saint Peters Square

The Pantheon

Trevi Fountain

Florence Pictures

Pictures from Florence:
Top: Horse and Carriage - It was common to see these in Florence and Rome. We never went on a ride or bothered to see how much it was either.

Second: Rower on the Fiume Arno. Fiume Arno or Arno River runs through Florence but it didn't seem to be used for much.

Third: Ponte Vecchio Bridge. The buildings on the bridge are shops. Mostly very expensive jewelry shops.

Fourth: Just a photo of the crowd. Julie and Aileen are at the bottom of the photo.

Last: A replica of David in Signoria Plaza. We went to see the original and the no camera rule was strictly enforced.


Click here to see our earlier post about Florence.

Murano Glass

One of my favorite things we saw on our trip was on Murano Island in Venice Italy. Murano Island is famous for the glass that they make. They make all kinds of things, like figurines, vases, bowls, clocks, chandeliers, you name it they probably make it out of glass. They also have places where you can sit and watch them work. Click here to see a video. It was amazing to see them take raw molten glass and turn it in to something in just a couple minutes. Murano Island is easy to get to. Just take one of the Water Busses that stops there. It will be about a 30 minute ride.

Shopping

Everywhere we went in Italy there seemed to be plenty of places to go shopping. Venice almost seemed to be one large outdoor shopping mall. Every street in Venice had shops on it or at least some street vendors selling something. Most of the street vendors seemed fairly honest but there were those that it was obvious that what they sold was either stolen or fake. These vendors disappeared every time a Police Office was seen coming down the street. It was fun to look at all of the stuff available and we did buy stuff for some of our family but didn't get much for ourselves. The picture here is of a street in Venice full of shops and shoppers.

No Poop On Us

The Photos:
Top is Aileen (Julie's Sister-in-law) being swarmed by Pigeons.
Next is me with a Pigeon on my head and a stupid look on my face.
Third is Joe (Julie's Brother) with a Pigeon on his head.
Fourth is Julie (My Wife), she really liked the Pigeons.
Last is Joe again, I thought the bird in flight was really cool in this shot.

This was from San Marco Square in Venice. They have vendors that sell feed for the birds. When they see that you have some they will swarm to you to get it. They will land anywhere on you that they can hang on and will even fight to get to the feed. This was one of our favorite things from the trip. We actually went back a couple days later to do it again. There is a link for a video of our second visit on the right side of the screen near the top and below my profile.

It amazed me that the whole time we were in San Marco Square none of us ever got pooped on. It wasn't until later that it happened. I won't say who but one of us got hit right on top of the head. Weird thing was that we couldn't be further from San Marco Square when it happened and there was only one Pigeon around.

If you are ever in Venice, San Marco Square is easy to get to. From the train station: Either take a Water Bus (the stop will say San Marco Square) that will take you very close and follow the signs or walk. If you walk, there are plenty of signs to lead you there. It will take about 30 minutes to walk there from the train station.

More pictures to come. Keep checking back!

Getting Around

Getting from place to place anywhere in the world is basically the same no matter where you go. However there are some differences. Here in America we love our cars. Everywhere we go some part of our trip will involve our car if not be the sole form of travel. In Italy it's a little different. They do love their cars however they are much more open to other forms of transportation. In Venice there are very few cars. You can drive there but must park when you get there and use other forms of transportation. You can drive in most other cities in Italy but the traffic is crazy and the streets can be very narrow.

Getting around in Venice was the most unique. You basically have two choices; walk or water. Most of the time we walked. It's a popular city but not that big, you can walk from one end to the other in about an hour. The other choice is water and there a few different choices there. There are Gondolas (top picture) but they are expensive. A Gondola ride can cost between 60 to 100 Euro depending on how long of a ride you want to go on. There are water taxis but they are also expensive (also top picture). The cheap way is by water bus (second picture). It only costs 5 Euro for a 24 hour pass. You can get on and off as much as you want and they take you to within short walking distance of everything.

In all of the other cities small cars and mopeds are common (third and fourth pictures). You also see normal cars, taxis, buses and trucks. The biggest difference is the way people drive. Everyone seems to be in a hurry or in a race. Cars, trucks, mopeds and buses are all speeding down the road cutting each other off to get the best position in traffic. It is crazy to watch and crazier to ride in. We got in a cab that took us four blocks the wrong way down a one way street. Seeing mopeds turn right in front of a speeding bus was common. It surprised me that we never saw an accident. At traffic lights mopeds would often go between cars to rush to the front. It was funny to see, it looked like little moped gangs at every traffic light.

Another popular form of transportation in Italy is trains (last picture). Every major city and almost all small towns in Italy have a train station or have one close by. The trains get you from city to city fairly quickly. However the local trains that go between smaller cities are old, smell bad, are hot and loud to ride on. There are some nice trains. The EuroStar trains that are express trains between major cities and are very nice. They have AC, go very fast and there is plenty of leg room. They even serve food in a restaurant on one of the train cars.

Then there is the Auto Strada. The Auto Strada is the freeways and highways in Europe. There are speed limits but they are rarely enforced and never followed. Everytime we rode with Joe and Aileen on one they would drive at least 90 to 100 miles per hour. Not kilometers per hour, miles per hour. The crazy thing is that is about the speed of the other traffic around you. There were people that would pass them like they were standing still. It would usually be an Audi Stationwagon that I am sure had some parent in a hurry to pick there kid up from Football (Soccer) practice.

Well as crazy as getting around in Italy can be we survived it without and major problems. Even though we did get on one train without Aileen but I will save that story for later. I am going to keep posting photos everyday until I am done. Keep checking back for more.

Monday Blues & Where We Stayed

The boss didn't expect me back today. I guess that was because it was Memorial Day last week and I was on Vacation. I could have taken today off! I said "Fine, I will go home". Boss didn't like that idea, he said I had too much to do, time to get back to work. Oh well, nothing like that to remind you that your vacation is over.

Well enough about that. I am going to start posting the pictures from our trip.

This photo is where we stayed in Italy. This is Joe and Aileen's house in Sacile, Italy. It is built like most of the homes we saw. Square and out of concrete or cinder blocks. I don't remember seeing any wood frame homes like we have in America. It was a nice little home but it looked like it was decorated in the 1970s. The electrical was a bit weird too. There are several types of plugs in the house and it takes a few minutes to figure out what adapter you need just to plug something in. It was also like most homes in Northern Italy, no Air Conditioner! I guess I am a bit spoiled. At least we got to stay there for free and didn't have to pay for a hotel room the whole time we were there. Thank you to Joe and Aileen for letting us stay with you!

My lunch break is over now so I must get back to work. Keep checking back for more updates, I will post at least one photo every day.

The Trip to Home Sweet Home

Well we are home and have been since Friday morning. I have been busy and not had the chance to post until now. The trip home turned into an adventure too. It started in Venice. The security for international flights is very tight. It took three security checks to get us to the gate. The flight from Philadelphia was fine but that changed once we got to Philly. It started easy, a few quick lines through customs then a long walk to our next flight on the other end of the airport. We had to go trough security twice to get there. We waited for our flight and as we did the weather turned bad. We got on the plane and made it to the runway in time to find out that they were not going to let us take off. After waiting 30 minutes we went back to the gate. They then had us get off the plane to wait for the weather to clear. That took four hours. We had to borrow someone's cell phone so we could call home to tell them to wait before going to pick us up. We finally got going and got back to Kansas City at 1:00 AM Friday morning. There was no one there to pick us up. It turned out ok though because 5 minutes after getting our luggage Julie's mom showed up to take us home. From the time we left Joe's house in Italy to the time we got home took us more than 24 hours. It was one very long day. We are glad to be home now and have been busy getting unpacked and settled back in to our own home. I have 302 pictures and two short videos from Italy and in the comming days I will post some of the better ones. Keep checking back for updates we still have plenty to share about this trip. The picture shown here is of the Alps. We flew over them on our flight from Venice to Kansas City.

Rock Climbing & Things That Go Splash

Tuesday we went rock climbing. We didn't do much because we got a real late start on the day. Joe took us to a place only about 30 from his base. It was kind of cool to get to. We had to drive into a tunnel then turn halfway through into a maintenance tunnel to come out near the cliffs. I have pictures but those will have to wait until we get home tomarrow. We climbed two routes each and Joe climbed a third. I will talk more about that when I can post some pictures.

Today we went kyacking (not sure I spelled that right, my spelling skills are crap). There is a club in Sachile that will let you use their boats and give you lessons for free if your new to the sport. The owner of the place has coached Olypic teams and his daughter is on the Italian National Womens Team. She was our instructor. Joe and I were doing ok so she helped Julie with her paddeling skills. I had actually moved behind everyone up stream and was turning quickly to turn to catch up. That is when I managed to flip my boat upside down. It took a few seconds but I managed to get myself out of the boat and get my head above water. Then came the task of getting back in my boat. Our Instructor had to help me and handeled it like a pro. I was fine but got very cold after getting out of the water. We then rushed home to get me dry and into some dry clothes.

This trip sure has been an adventure. Each day something seems to happen. I will post more of these stories when we get back and I can post a few pictures to go with them. Sorry no pictures of me falling in the water. We left our cameras at home today. I am glad we did or my camera would be at the bottom of a river right now.

Thursday we will be returning home. I will post more about our trip when we get home. See you all soon. Keep checking back for more updates.

Long Time No Post

Sorry no picture. I took a bunch but I am having issues getting them uploaded. I will try to post a bunch when we get back home. It has been quite the adventure. Rome was crazy. Everyday turned into an adventure. Between huge crowds, crazy Taxi drivers, busses, smelly subways and long long lines you could not say that any day was boring. I will post some stories later when I have pictures to go with them. It might be when we get back to the states though. If I post every story and picture we have I will be posting to this blog for weeks. So... Keep checking back.

Today we actually got a little rest. We also went for a nice drive in the mountains and had a picnic. However it got cold and rainy on us so we just did more driving in the mountains. The mountains were great. We saw some cool rock formations and the view was wonderful. We also saw a cool looking and huge dam that was on this beautiful and very blue lake. Wish I could post pictures of it. I promise I will when I get home. Hopefully I will remember the name of all of these places.

Tomarrow we are planning on doing some rock climbing. It should be fun and we will be in the mountains again so I should get some more pictures. Hopefully I will get the camera thing figured out before I post next time. Keep checking back. I will post again as soon as possible.

463 Steps

Yesterday was a long one. We were up early to make an early train and then didn't get back from Florence until after midnight. The highlight of the day was climbing the 463 steps up to the top of the Duomo dome. It was very steep and seemed to go on forever. This picture is of Julie at the top, she was very happy to make it all the way up. We then did a bunch of shopping but didn't really see anything we wanted. We were looking for a jacket for Julie. We found one place that was going to custom make one for her for only 150 Euro. However we wouldn't get to see the finished product until after it was shipped to us in the US. We both decided that we were not sure we could trust them and decided not to get it. Next we went to see Michelangiolo's David. It was much larger than I thought it would be. Sorry they didn't allow pictures. After that it was more shopping then waiting for the train after our feet gave out. Today we are just going to rest and do some laundry. We are also going to go back to Joe and Aileen's base to get a few things at the commisary. Tomarrow we will be heading to Rome. We will not be getting back until late Sunday. I might not be able to post again until then unless I find an Internet Cafe in Rome. I did see some in Florence so it might be a possibility. Check back for more, I will post again as soon as I can.

Venice Part 2

Today we went back to Venice but not without some drama. We were late getting to the train station. Aileen told us to wait as she parked her car. We went in and took care of validating our ticket. Then I thought I saw her run in and get on the train. We ran to the train and got on but Aileen could not be found. We got off at the next stop and called her. We found out that the train had left before she got into the station. So we had to wait almost an hour for her to catch the next train. We finaly got to Venice and had a good time. We returned to San Marco Square to visit the pigeons again. We also did a lot of shopping and got a lot of gifts for our family. We then visited Morono Island (not sure on spelling). There we visited some of the glass shops and saw then make some of the glass. It was amazing to see them turn raw molten glass into something beautiful. Now we are back at Joe and Aileen's for dinner and plan to be in bed early so we can get up and go to Florence very early tomorrow. That's all for now, check back later for updates. It might be a while, tomorrow is going to be a long day and we won't be getting back until late.

Gelato

Today was mostly a rest day, sort of. We ran around with Aileen while she took care of some personal business. We did get Julie (and the rest of us) some Gelato (not sure if I spelled that correctly). That was something she was really wanting to do but we had been putting off. We also bought a bunch of train tickets. We bought tickets for Venice tomarrow, Florence on Wednesday and Rome on Friday. It's going to be a busy week! We did run into one small problem today. We found out our ATM card will not work in Italian ATMs. Our bank said they would but they didn't. We did find out however that they do work on Joe and Aileen's base. So it's not going to much of a problem. Other than that it was a good day. Check back often for more updates.

Slovenia

Sunday we went to Slovenia to see a movie. However first we went to see Aviano Air Force Base with Joe and went to the commisary. A commisary is what the military calls it's grocery stores. It was very nice and we bought tons of food for Joe to cook. We even found Moon Pies! Julie and I love Moon Pies and can't find them in the US but we found them in Italy. We bought a large box and plan to go get more before going home. We then went back to Joe's house and dropped off the groceries. We then went to Slovenia to see a movie. The plan was to go see The DaVinci Code. When we got there it was sold out until late. Joe decided we should see Mission Impossible Three while we wait. It was weird to see these movies in Slovenia. All of the adds were in their language but the movies were in english with subtitles. I think most of the people there spoke english though, because we never had any problems communicating with people. It was very weird but fun. Sorry but I didn't take many pictures. We didn't get home until late and today will mostly be a rest day. We are planning to get out today and see a few of the sites around Sacile though. That is all for now. Check back later for more updates.

Pigeon On My Head

I got the camera thing fixed already!!!!

This was in San Marco Square in Venice.

Good News/Bad News

I will get the bad news over with first.

My camera doesn't want to work with Joe and Aileen's computer. I am going to try to fix that but I might not be able to post a photo until we get home. Sorry!

Now the good news.

We went to Venice today. We took the train from Sacile to Venice. It is about an hour train ride. We walked to San Marco Square which is one of the places we wanted to make sure we visited. There we fed the pigeons. They will flock to you when they see that you have food. It was very cool and weird. We also got to go on our gondola ride. We had a good time in Venice but didn't stay long today. We are planning on going back on Monday to spend more time. However it will be just Julie and I.

We might go see a movie in Slovenia tonight but we are not sure about that yet. That is all for now. Be sure to keep checking back. I will try to get the camera thing figured out.

In Italy

We made it to Italy this morning. Our plane was about an hour late though. Everything went smooth until we got on the flight to Italy. It was delayed waiting for another flight that had connecting passengers. We finnaly got going and the flight was good but long. Nine hours on a plane is a long time. One cool thing about the flight was that we got to see both the sunset and sunrise from the air. Aileen picked us up from the airport. We thought she was driving fast at 90 miles per hour until people started passing us like we were standing still. The Italians drive a little crazy. Were are not going to do much else today other than rest and relax and get used to the new time zone. I will try to post some pictures later but I am not sure how that will work out. I might not be able too. If not, I will at least post a little something about what we are up to.

Next Stop Italy

We are all ready to go. Bags are packed and pets are taken care of. Now we are going to Julie's Dad's house to stay the night. He lives closer to the airport and is taking us there so we can leave our cars in the garage. I don't know if I will be able to post tomorrow as we travel so, the next post you will see will most likely be from Italy.

Check back often for updates.

One Day!!! (Oops we missed our Two Days post)

We missed our Two Days post. We were just too busy. However now we are all ready to go. Yesterday we went to our bank and converted a little money to Euro and we packed our stuff. We had to get me a new suitcase because the one I had was just too small. Basically we are ready to go and we are counting down the hours now. All that is left to do is take Josie (our dog) to my parents house.

Currency Converter

Delays?

This is just a link to a cool FAA website that shows Airpot Delays in the US. We are taking off from MCI and will have a stop at PHL (far right side of the map).

Three Days

Today we called and confirmed our flights with the airline. It is exciting to think that three days from now we will be on our plane heading for Italy. It is getting so close that we might start counting down hours instead of days.

Four Days

Not much is left to do before we go. Today we made sure the pets would have all the things they would need while we are gone. Julie called her credit card and made sure they knew we were going to Italy just in case we need it. All that is left is to pack, take Josie to my parents and convert a little money to Euro. The trip is getting so close now that it almost doesn't feel real. We are getting real excited. Make sure that you check back regularly while we are gone. We will try to post updates as often as possible.

Five Days

One of the other things we are planning on doing in Italy is Rock Climbing. Julie's brother Joe loves Rock Climbing. We have been to an Indoor Rock Gym called IBEX with Joe but in Italy we are going to climb on real rock. When we went to IBEX we started getting an interest in the sport and we have bought some of our own gear just for this trip (pictured). Joe will have any other gear we will need. It should make our trip to Italy even more fun and interesting.

Six Days

Less than a week to go!

This is where we will be staying (I think). When I put the address Joe and Aileen gave us in Google Maps this is what it came up with. Click here to see the map.

Three Things I Want To Do

#1 Visit Vatican City in Rome.

#2 Visit San Marco Square in Venice.

#3 Ride a Gondola in Venice with my wife Julie.

Anything else we do is just a bonus. Mostly we just want to have fun casually exploring Italy and visiting my wife's brother.

Seven Days

One week from today we will be on a plane heading for Venice, Italy. Actually it will be two planes. We have a short stop in Philadelphia first. We take off from KCI in Kansas City, stop for a few hours in Philadelphia, then on to Marco Polo Airport in Venice. We land in Venice at about 8:30 AM Friday Venice time which will be about 1:30 AM Kansas City Time.

We had a lot of things on a list of stuff todo before we leave. That list is getting much shorter as we get closer to the trip. Josie (our dog) will be going to stay with my parents. Julie's parents will be watching our apartment and taking care of Pippy, Tulip, Ramone and Oreo (our 4 cats). The only other things we need to do are pack, convert a little money to Euro and call our Credit Card companies to make sure we could use then in Italy just in case we need them.

The trip is getting closer and we are both getting excited. Keep checking back for updates as we get closer to our trip and while we are there. I will try to post a little something and a picture each day.

One Week, One Day

The idea for this trip began when Julie's brother (Joe) was stationed at an Air Force base in Italy. Joe and his wife Aileen encouraged us to visit them. We were not sure if we would be able to or be able to even afford it. However in December of last year we inherited some money from my grandmother. It was enough to pay off our credit cards and pay for our trip.

In January we bought our tickets and applied for our Passports. We will be flying into Venice which is close to where they live. We have been looking foward to the trip for a long time. We have been counting down the days every since we got our Passports. There is only one week and one day left until we leave. 8 days from now we will be on our way to Italy!

I plan to post photos of our trip here. I am planning on trying to post at least one picture a day each day we are there. However that will depend on whether or not I have access to the internet or not. I will also post a little daily trip report to let you know what is going on.

Check back often for updates.