Italy trip 2003: part 7

3 July 2003
Today was the most uneventful of them all. Well, uneventful for me because my parents drove to Milan to get her passport replaced. I guess there was a lonely or crazy guy waiting there and was talking to the room and whoever in it. While they were in Milan and I was at the house reading Romeo and Juliet, my brother took his friend up to Mt. Baldo. I guess they hiked down to the midway station. It sounds like they forged their own trails down, and they have the stains and scratches to prove it. It was another windy and rainy day, and we saw some lightning (it ended up lightninging all night and into the morning). I was worried they would get stuck up at the top, but the gondolas stayed running. They apparently made it to the midway station just in time to get inside when it started to rain hard. My brother said he saw a too-lovey-dovey mother-son set, and thought it might be the ones we saw on our trip up. It wasn’t the same couple, so that means there is more than one incestuous family in Italy. We drove up to the bus station to get them for dinner, and we ended up eating at a place that was very German-themed. After dinner we drove up to Riva del Garda at the top of the lake. It wasn’t that impressive (just another town on the lake with hotels and shops), but it was good to see that they have spread out where all the tourists hang out.

4 July 2003
My Birthday! Yay! My parents got me a mosaic mirror made from mirrored tiles and some pretty cobalt blue strips. And they also got me a purple leather purse. They bought these in San Gimignano when me and my brother were off on our own. So today my brother and his friend stayed at the house and took the ferry to the other town across the lake. The rest of us took the drive up to the Alto Adige region, and stopped at Alpe di Siusi in the Dolomites. It was planned to just make a loop and come back down to the town of Vecenza, but it took too long to get up there, eat, and come back. We got off the Autoroute at Chiusa and had lunch there. It was a very Austrian town, and our waitress seemed to only speak German. That was the first place I saw that had a Hawaiian pizza. It was kind of weird having it with the thin slices of prosciuto instead of thicker slices of ham. I guess it’s all the same thing in the end (pork and therefore tasty).

So once we got up the top, it was pretty clear haze-wise, but there were quite a few clouds blocking the very tops of the crags. I think I got some all right pictures of them peeking out of the mist, but mostly I wanted a good unobscured picture. This Alpe di Siusi is a very large alpine meadow, and there are gondolas from the towns at the bottom (Castleruth and St. Ulrich) up to sort of the top. Otherwise it would be a pretty scary road in the winter. The ski area at the top looked like it would have been a lot of fun because it was all wide open and nice views of the mountains. My parents found the place they stayed on their trip last year. My mother says she didn’t like this leg of the tour because of all the German food and tourists, and also because there wasn’t anything to do. I’m sure the other people loved hiking the trails and taking lifts up and seeing all the prettiness. There were a lot of cows in this meadow as well, but there were not the flies and bugs like on Mt. Baldo. All these cows looked very alpine, and of course they had bells on. At one point it sounded like wind chimes because of all the different tones in their tinkling.

As we drove up there was a little fog puff following us up the hill. When we were done with the photos we headed back to the other side of the meadow and the fog puff had turned into a rain cloud. I was very happy we got there when we did, because every view of the mountains had been destroyed by the rain and fog. So, even with the not totally perfect pictures, they were way better than nothing. And it rained the whole way back to the house with lots and lots of pretty lightning (nice fireworks for my birthday).

5 July 2003
Today was another travel day. I am glad we finally got rid of the crappy car. It was funny how I was pretty much in the middle of the road when it came to if the car was good or bad, but each day I got more and more towards the “the car sucks” side of the argument. I think I am most happy about not listening to the crap on the radio anymore; now I get to hear it in any bar or restaurant we go in.

So anyway, we’re in Venice now. On the way here, after dropping my brother's friend off at the airport, we stopped in Vecenza. It really did have the nice architecture the guide book promised. It was pretty touristy, though. One thing we can’t figure out is how these store owners still take a three hour break when the hours of 1200-1500 are when all the tourists are out. Don’t they care about selling anything or making any money?? It was still a nice little detour, and a nice lunch break. THANK GOD WE ARE RID OF THE CAR!!!!!!!!!!!

So we dropped the car off at the Venice airport, and took a water taxi to our apartment. I guess I was expecting to get dropped off at some generic location and hoof it to the apartments, but it actually took us all the way. It was about a 30 minute ride, and a nice canal tour of the city. I don’t know how you get a taxi from here, like if you have to call in advance, or if you just find them. We don’t even know if we’ll be able to get out of here for our 6 am flight.
Anyway, we got to the place, the nice owner showed us around, etc. We strolled around town, then got ready for dinner, and then strolled around some more. I don’t remember if I’ve been here once or twice before, but all of those times the cathedral in San Marco square was being remodeled. As my brother and I walked into the square, I was thinking “What building is that?” I guess I’ll have to make sure I get a picture of it, because it will be rare. [Of course there has to be some construction project going on, but at least the scaffolds are covered up in pretty coverings. They don’t stand out so much now. I guess every night there are dueling orchestras in the square, and they were there when we entered. They were just small, like 4 people. One group played Andrea Bocelli stuff, and the other played a Queen medley. It was pretty neat, because they were good. They were good musically and also at vying for the attention of the audience. So after that we went to the Internet Café we found, checked email, chatted, etc. This café, along with many restaurants, are very close to our apartment. Also close is a small bakery, so we get to have lots of yummies for breakfast! Tomorrow is Sunday, I think we are going to try to get to Murano Island. Yay! Spending lots of money!

I took a shower tonight, and it was the most wonderful experience ever. The shower is actually big enough to move around with out the shower curtain all over me! Simple pleasures, I guess. Oh, and it’s in my room. That’s cool, except now everyone wants to use it.

to be continued...