My First Scappatella Veneziana!

The Navigon is very polite. It says "please" a lot... like "please turn soon" when you miss your turn. So, I guess it's just polite to me because I seem to really enjoy driving in circles.

On Tuesday evening, I prepared well so that Felix and I could be up bright and early around 0545. I figured since it takes about 45 minutes to get to Venice from here if you know the way, then I should probably leave around 0620 if I plan to be there by about 0730, which is roughly when we expected the train with CJ, Kamryn and Mariah to arrive. I think I've mentioned before that if something is supposed to arrive at a certain time in Italy to give it some room to be late, because it will. This was no exception! I woke up to my phone alarm and when I silenced it (because I was READY to be awake!!) I noticed that I had two texts. Both were from CJ... the first one said their train was running about 30 minutes late, so I shouldn't rush to get to them and the second one said their train was actually running about 90 minutes late, so I should definitely not rush to get to them. Their train wound up running a full two hours late, which was good for me because when I saw the texts, I set my alarm for one more hour... I should never do that because I always wake up poorly from it. I got Felix ready, got myself ready, got on facebook to announce my departure (how do people live without facebook?!) made a promise to take tons of pictures and headed out. First stop: gas station... I had half a tank, but it never hurts to start a trip with a full tank. Venti litri later, we're on the road back to our apartment because how am I gonna take pictures without a camera??? Good thing the autostrada entrance is close by! So we finally get going and I'm grateful that I made a trial run on the autostrada yesterday (I'd never been on it before) because I had been a little worried about how the ticketing worked and didn't want to be completely confused by more than one thing at a time. The ticket machines are very polite when asking for your money and telling you goodbye. I think that's a good thing because it makes me less fearful of driving on their roads in the future! As we enjoyed the scenery, the Navigon got lost. Naturally. We were on the A4 and Navigon told me to stay on the A4, so I did... suddenly, according to this wonderfully polite little box, we were no longer on a road of any kind. Fortunately, I pay attention to road signs as well and realized that what Navigon meant to tell me was that I should follow the part of the A4 that combined with the A57 towards Venice, rather than following the A4 all by its lonesome. No big, I pay a toll, get off the A4, get back on the A4 in the opposite direction and follow it in the right direction this time. Navigon thanks me. This is right about the point - only maybe 10 minutes from our destination - that we hit a dead standstill. I think it had to have been related to the construction because I never saw a disabled vehicle or any kind of accident. Felix learned how to text at that point, letting CJ know we were actually on our way, but stuck in traffic. Finally, we arrived and CJ told me there was a parking garage across from the bus station where they were waiting for me, so that's where I went. The first picture I took in Venice was from the 10th floor of the parking garage, which is where I parked.

After getting a little vertigo looking down the stairwell, Felix and I met up with the girls at street level and brought them back to the car to stow their luggage. Then we were off to tour the city. All of the streets are either cobbled or water, so there are a ton of adorable shops just over this bridge or just under that bridge or lining that cute little avenue... some of the "roads" were so skinny that foot traffic in both directions was questionable. The whole place was beautiful, of course, and I know I'm lucky to have made my first visit on a sunny day because that helps the atmosphere tremendously. Also, we were touring with the pros! First purchase of the day was a city map... in Italian, English, French and German. This is particularly fun for me because the little labels in my house are in all of those languages, plus Spanish. Fun fact, strictly. Oddly enough, there's not much to see in Venice... just EVERYTHING!! I followed my tour guides dutifully, snapping pictures of everything that caught my eye: the Santa Lucia train station, every adorable little bridge, the cute shops (and their bizarre mannequins), the ancient-looking walls and roads, the gondolas, the guy playing the accordion, the signs, the balconies, the soccer ball on the roof... yeah, everything. We stopped for food and espresso about 45 minutes in... naturally, it was delish! Felix enjoyed his hot dog immensely.

After lunch, we walked on to see more of what should be seen when visiting Venice: the Grand Canal, which is kinda hard to miss... Ponte de Rialto is where I bought my souvenir, which amusingly is a shot glass that says Ponte dei Sospiri... Piazza San Marco of course! who goes to Venice without taking pics of seaweed and lions and seagulls on the heads of naked statues?! NO ONE! The city is small, but since it's all foot traffic - ok, and boats - it takes time to traverse. I enjoyed a lot about it except that it was so crowded. Again, blame the weather: it was a gorgeous day! I think I'd like to go back when it's rainy and a little cooler and maybe either see more, or see it slower. It was fun, for sure... especially falling on the steps two seconds after CJ warned me they were slippery. Finding hidden treasures, like the eyes on another set of steps... spending time with family who I will see more of now that I live an ocean away from them than I did when I lived two states away. Felix had a little gelato and I had a mint and lemon slushy... both were yummy. The fish market was definitely an amusing experience: everything super fresh... some so fresh they were still moving.

My all-time favorite place there was the place that sold whole animals... I find that very attractive: waste not, want not!!

After traversing the city as much as we could in one day with a 9 year old boy, we headed back to the parking garage to get back to Vicenza. Another lovely experience: we didn't realize we had to pay for the parking at an office inside the garage before exiting, so we drove up to the exit and got rejected... then CJ went to pay the parking and holy crap! remind me not to park there again - it's 24 euros a day, whether you're there for 15 minutes or 24 hours. Lesson learned the hard way... back on the A4 (no trouble finding our way back at least!) and headed into Vicenza. The boy is not good at traveling yet, but I will fix that for sure while we're here! The girls were good sports about it though - thanks Kam and Mariah!!! We get back to the apartment and immediately start laundry... today, I'm especially glad I have the laundry room rather than a washer and dryer in my apartment. We took up all three washers getting their travels washed out of their clothes and it was quick, rather than tedious. While waiting for washers to finish, we looked over the menu from the pizza place around the corner and picked out what we wanted. Once the laundry was in the dryers, Felix got on his bike and CJ and I walked to the pizza place to pick up fresh pizzas and a bottle of vino... there was only one option, but it was good! It was especially nice to watch them make our pizzas fresh in the brick oven in front of us while Felix tooled around on the bike in the parking lot. It's about three blocks from my place to the pizza place, which is perfect for dripping deliciousness down my shirt... I didn't make a mess of the pizzas though! Happily, we all ate pizza and salad, had a little wine and diet Dr. Pepper and then it was off to bed because Verona is on the agenda for tomorrow (and train tickets to Florence). A great day I look forward to repeating in a different city each visit!!

A small adventure and a (FINALLY!) first Italian meal...

Today (Friday, June 19th) Mary is going to show me the garden shop I've been trying to find. I'm excited because I've been looking for a place that has a trellis for me to grow glicine on (I have no idea what it translates to in English, just know that it's a beautiful climbing flower and it smells like a little bit of heaven) and so far I've been unsuccessful. The name of this lovely establishment is Viridea and I believe that the name is just as beautiful as the place... As you're driving up to it, you're kinda forced to look at it because it's surrounded by nothing and crappy road, but right in front of it the road is nice so you can tell they paid for that portion of the pavement! The parking lot amuses me because you park on the grass... kinda. The aisles are paved and the parking spaces are marked with brick lines in the ground, but the spaces themselves are a brick pattern with grass growing through it. It's not something I'm used to (yet) and I think it's beautiful and pretty smart too.

After our garden shopping, we head over to Prenatal to look for baby stuff and we find a hidden jewel of a store right next to the brand new Burger King they're putting in... complete with drive-thru! Weird, trust me. This lovely little store has super cute (and functional!) stuff for every room in the house and it's very reasonably priced. SCORE! Yes, I expect I'll be back here a few more times in the next few years. I found some wall art there and I'm stoked to have it in my house now!

At the end of our little shopping excursion, it is decided that we're hungry and no one feels like cooking so off we go to Camisano so Mary can take me to her favorite little pizza place. This is an excellent little detour for me (in spite of the 3 year old and the 9 year old not quite working well together!!) and I enjoy the scenery yet again. Man, I love this place! When we get to Camisano, Mary shows me where the market will be on Sunday... they have adorable little shops that I totally can't afford, but they'll make great pics when I come back. Then we head to her little pizza place... only to find that it's not there anymore! Sadness. On the bright side, there's no shortage of places to find food here, so we go to the one around the corner. It's a little nicer than the pizzeria she was going to take me to... more like a Chili's than a Taco Bell. They certainly know how to set a table...

Our food was definitely delicious... Felix had the always safe prosciutto pizza whereas I decided to actually try something new and had a pizza with pears and four kinds of cheese. I wish I could remember what it was called... guess I'll have to go back. Dessert was excellent as well and I've already decided what I'll have on my next trip because that strawberry and lemon thing looked spectacular. Felix and I shared some kind of pudding that neither one of us complained about!

We left full and happy and looking forward to the next trip out. We'll be back in Camisano in a couple days and maybe we can throw Nove in there for good measure... Mary really needs to see it!

First trip to Nove...

So on a lovely Wednesday morning (June 8th), we decided to go to Nove to check out the pottery and ceramics that people pay ridiculous prices for in the States... yea, I won't be buying anything from Pottery Barn - I'll just get it here before I leave (IF I leave!). Before leaving, we lost one member of our caravan to a mishap with a kitten... she bumped it with her car and had to take it to the emergency vet. We hit the road in one vehicle since there were only three adults and two kids, there seemed to be no point in taking two cars. It only took about half an hour to get there and when we did, the first place we wanted to visit was still closed despite us starting late... so we went to La Ceramica VBC first (http://www.laceramicavbc.com/).

This is a small showing of what they have available... it's all beautiful. They make the pieces downstairs and stock them upstairs. When we walked in there were several people elbow-deep in white clay making more masterpieces as if it were no big thing. And it's not... not here at least! I know I'll be back here because I found several pieces I love and plan to have for around 1/4 or less of the price that I'd get them for in the States. I expect that this little town will be one of my frequented stops with guests as they come through! While here, I picked up a salt shaker and a pepper shaker that match the one piece of kitchen decor I actually care about: my $3 Walmart picture of Tuscany. We spent almost an hour walking through the one long room upstairs ooohing and aaaahing over everything, then finally making our purchases and moving on to the next place.

I can't remember the name, so I'll have to go back just to find out what it was, but they had the most beautiful pieces: mirrors, clocks, tables, masks and of course all kinds of dishes. At this place I bought a spaghetti measure and enjoyed immensely the fact that there is a river running underneath the store. The man who helped us took us into the back work space and showed us pictures of his relatives pulling clay from the river in the 1950s, which is when they began making their own pottery. The store itself was officially established in 1964.

At this point, the kids were becoming a bit restless... time for lunch and naps, so we ended our trip a little earlier than anticipated. This was kinda good because I needed to be back for Rob and Felix (I'm still the only driver!) and the kitten was in need of a temporary home, which I decided to provide. On the next trip out, I plan to stop and take pics of the scenery as well because it is breathtaking. Everything you imagine when you think of Italian countryside can be found on this little trip: tree lined roads, massive fields of flowers and vegetables, ancient-looking homes with beautiful landscaping and climbing ivy. I know I'm new to the country and it's always exciting when something's new, but I'm just in LOVE with this place! I truly hope I never lose this feeling...

My purchases for the day... total cost: 12 euro or about $17.

WE HAVE A CAR!!! Now, how do we get it?

The process required to snag your POV back from the government once it arrives is quite simple, three little steps as a matter of fact. The soldiers arriving here are taken through the "welcome to a different way of life" course and shown the ropes and in-processed. During this in-processing, it is explained to them that they must obtain a new driver license over here because the rules are different and it IS part of the steps allowed for during in-processing. Guess who didn't take that step? So I arrived here fully three weeks after Rob, got myself and Felix in-processed in roughly a week (minus the part that Rob was required for, of course!) and then discovered that our vehicle had arrived ahead of schedule. I asked Rob (in a ridiculously excited way, no less) to find out what was required for us to get the car so that we could get on the ball about it. Five days passed, no info from Rob. On Tuesday morning, I happen to be on post in the transportation office trying to find my household goods (now that's an adventure for you!) and while I was there, I asked where the driving info could be found. Turns out that information was right down the hall, so I went and asked my questions: how do I get the license and how do I get my car? The answer: take the class (given Wednesdays and Fridays at 1400) then take the test (administered daily at 0900 - don't forget to PASS) and you'll have your license. Take your license and insurance with 20 American dollars and 5 euros to get your car registered and you're done. Simple, right? oh.my.freaking.geez. Not so much.

The first problem was that I made an error: I switched the days in my head and believed that the class was on Tuesdays and Thursdays at which point I figured it would be perfect, I could take the class Thursday afternoon and the test Friday morning, then go register the car Friday afternoon and all would be well in our world. Whoops. On Wednesday I happened to be up there again and since I couldn't find my sticky note with the dates and times, I went to the office to verify and they set me straight. Crap. I already needed to ask a neighbor to watch Felix after school for this, the last thing I needed was to tell her the wrong day!

The second issue was, of course, finding someone to take care of Felix because the class would prevent me from picking him up from the bus stop. That problem was relatively easily fixed by a chat with my neighbor, plus two bus rides and a longish walk. A major plus? The longish walk didn't take anywhere near as long as waiting for that silly transport bus does! The school requires that anyone authorized to pick up students from the bus be listed on a card attached to the backpack and IDs are checked prior to releasing students to caregivers. This means I have to go up to the school and get the card made and make sure my neighbor knows to bring her ID with her and what time to be there.

Third hitch: proof of insurance. I know this doesn't seem like something spectacularly difficult to get, but it kinda is when you're on bus/bike/foot and have very limited time to accomplish greatness in a day. The first step is to get temporary proof of insurance because the actual insurance cards cannot be issued without the tag numbers but the tags are not yours without insurance. Catch 22 right? So, I get the temporary insurance statement emailed to me, but I refuse to jinx myself by printing it out until after I've passed the test - I'm superstitious that way and I'm fine with it!

Friday comes and I take the class, then come home determined to study like crazy to make sure I don't fail. Rob's supposed to help me study because he needs to learn this stuff too so he can get a license. No studying Saturday. Light studying Sunday right before he leaves. Then Felix quizzes me until I know it all backwards and forwards. Love that kid!!

Monday morning I get Felix on his bus and run up to my bus stop arriving five minutes early, which means I have about a 15 minute wait. I study some more. I get on post at about 0820 and I have time to kill, so I check the mailbox on the way... I sign in for the test at 0835 then sit down to wait and continue studying. Those signs are absolutely spectacular. The entire testing group is signed in by 0855 and the test is finally handed out at 0935. Really? Seriously... they were making noise about computer issues, but the test was taken and graded manually, so I don't know what the computers had to do with us starting the test 35 minutes late. Anyhow, we had an hour but were told that most of us would be done well ahead of that and not to over think it. They were right, I finished in about 40 minutes and turned it in terrified that it was gonna come back with a bunch of red marks all over it. I probably only waited ten minutes (a few others finished before me) but it pretty much felt like forever. I went back into the testing room to occupy the baby who had decided to start fussing so her mom could finish taking the test. When I walked back in, two people had failed, one was being handed a license and my test was being graded. I only saw her mark one wrong, but I don't know if that was the only one I missed... what I do know is that she looked across the room at the lady who was making the licenses and said "Bueno, pass" and I said "oh thank God!". Glad I could give the room a giggle! So I was handed my license and I went downstairs to print the temporary proof of insurance. Since the test had started late, I knew I was going to have time issues getting to the car thing, so I rushed out to the bus stop and then texted Rob to tell him I passed. Pretty much everything here closes for two hours around lunch time, generally from 1100 - 1300 give or take an hour on either side, so I went home and put away the mail, started a load of laundry and finally walked up the road to the registration office.

Here comes the fourth major issue: I don't have a POA for my own car. You know, the one I own jointly with my husband and therefore should not need his permission to register here? Yeah, that one. Well, I didn't take into consideration that the sponsor is in control of 100% of everything and the spouse/dependents are non-entities (silly me, what was I thinking?!) so I was informed that while I could obtain the license plate numbers required to get the actual insurance card, I would not be able to register the car without him present or a POA in hand. Great, because it's just soooo easy for me to convince him that finishing the in-processing of myself and Felix will prevent him from having to take time off from work frequently.... (yes, extreme sarcasm should be noted here). So I get the license plate numbers and the phone number for USAA's London office, then I start walking back fast because it's almost time for Felix's bus to arrive. While I'm walking, I call USAA and set up for the insurance card to be overnighted to the car dealership immediately off post where every soldier has to have the insurance card sent. I am told it will arrive by 1030 on Tuesday morning. Now all I have to do is convince Rob to get time off to come with me to do the car stuff.

Tuesday morning arrives and once again I'm rushing from Felix's bus stop to my own. This time Felix's bus is late and mine is early, so I have to sit and wait for the next one. No big deal, we can't get the car stuff for a couple hours anyway. I get to post and link up with Rob, who needs a bus pass. We head out to the store where he can get the pass and stumble upon a bar along the way... we stop in so he can have a beer and I can take pics.

"Fosters, Australian for Beer"

Whore house price sign from the 1930s

When he finishes his beer, we head on to the bus stop and make our way out to the registration office. At this point, I need to remind everyone that Rob hates walking places with me because I'm short and have a hard time keeping up with him. The walk from the bus stop is approximately 3/4 of a mile, so no big deal, but poor Rob's gotta walk slow for me (and I don't walk slowly... I'm just not 6 feet tall!!) and randomly my purse gets snagged on my the button of my back pocket so he has to rescue me from that as well. I swear, these things NEVER happen when he's not around, but as soon as he is a bunch of stupid stuff happens just to create irritation, I'm sure of it!! We finally arrive at the registration office and get started on the paperwork (sign this, dot that, cross the other... triplicate please) and after awhile, most of which is spent with me filling out forms and him texting people at work, our mission is accomplished: we have tags! At this point, we are informed that we will not be able to get our fuel vouchers until the car has passed inspection... on post. Before we can go on post, however we have to go do the cursory inspection and install the plates and the insurance card so we're legal to drive it to post to get it inspected. Slightly more time consumed. Finally, the car is legally driveable and we head up to post. As we're getting to the all-important bridge, I realize that I don't know how to get to the drive-in gate because I've always taken the pedestrian gate. Good thing I've got Rob and he's actually been through the other gates!! As soon as we get on post, he ditches me to go back to work even though he's got the whole day off to take care of the car situation. I get in line to have the car inspected and pray that this won't require a POA also. Thankfully, it doesn't and 45 minutes later (I was 4th in line) I was ready to go back to the registration office with the passed inspection notice so we could get permission to go back on post and buy fuel vouchers at the PX... and that's exactly how it happened, except that we had to stop in between getting permission to buy vouchers and actually buying them to pick Felix up from the bus. All of this driving was done on fumes essentially, since we're not allowed to ship a vehicle with more than 1/4 tank of gas in it. It's a very good thing that we only had to drive about 15 miles total. Yes, I just opened Google Earth and used the ruler tool to trace the exact route we took in the car that day... I find it quite amusing!

We parted ways after purchasing the fuel vouchers and I was just tired enough that I decided not to try to figure out how to use them until the morning. Wednesdays everything's open normal hours, so I wouldn't be having issues with times, just figuring out the vouchers.

All is well now... we have a car, which means that Rob can finally move in with us and I can finally go massive grocery shopping. Appropriate that Rob and food are linked like that...