A River Runs Through It: Germany Week 2: Mom's Visit

July 19-27

Technically, most of this week was spent in Italy. But since it began and ended in Germany, I think I'm allowed to keep my title. And as for writing 'Mom' instead of 'my mom,' everyone who's reading this A) also calls her 'Mom,' B) has spent enough time around me that it shouldn't bother you anymore, or C) is my mom. So no complaining. :)

Venice - the Basilica de San Giorgio Maggiore

Monday, July 19

Alps near Innsbruck

As I mentioned before, after we picked Mom up from the train station we headed back to the Abrams. We finished getting ready to leave for Italy, and introduced her to some of Ryan and Emily's friends. On our way out of town we stopped at their favorite Doner Kebap restaurant in town - it was very good but so big! I ate three of those things while on this trip and I don't know why I never got smart enough to not eat the whole thing. Then we got on the road, traveling southeast through Innsbruck, Bolzano, Trento, Verona, and after five hours in a hot car, Venice. I never expected the Italian Alps to be so beautiful! With all my knowledge of maps and geography, I still found myself saying, "I didn't expect Italy to look like this." (Later, driving through Tuscany, I commented that that was more along my expectations.)

Two views of Ryan's favorite Italian castle on the drive

We parked and got on the train somewhere around 11:00pm. My first experience with people who act helpful and then want money for their "service" happened here, as we tried to figure out where to buy the 1 euro ticket we needed for the train into the city. I think Emily gave him the equivalent of 50 cents.
As soon as we left the train station, the sensation of being on a floating city hit me. It was SO gorgeous! Venice at night is spectacular - glowing and dancing on the water with such radiance. We took a vaparetto (water bus) all the way down the Grand Canal, past the Rialto Bridge and the Plaza San Marco to our stop, then wandered through tiny streets to our hostel. We had somehow ended up with an apartment (at the top of 74 stairs, I counted), with 4 twin cots set up in the same room, a small kitchen, and an upstairs balcony to which the door was locked. Ah well - would have been cool. :) It was nice to have so much space, and a great view over the city.

Tuesday, July 20

In front of a canal & St. Mark's Basilica

We were all fairly exhausted but still got up at a decent time to go exploring. We started out at Piazza San Marco, wandering through the throngs of tourists lined up to get inside the Basilica and dodging illegal street vendors and their stacks of purses. Then we headed off in no specific direction, with a vague idea of a mid-morning snack and the somewhat indefinite ultimate destination of the Rialto Bridge our goal. We window shopped, ate at a snack bar, wandered, crossed a bridge over the Grande Canal (along with many bridges over small canals), shared a fruit cup and a slushy, and generally had a great time. It was hot, very hot, but we kept ourselves to the shade. Around noon we hitched a ride on a vaporetto going around the city back to the Rialto Bridge, and set out on a much more determined goal: finding me gelato.

We had passed gelaterias earlier, but they weren't open yet - now was the time. Ever since reading Sisterchicks in Gondolas several years ago, I have known that what I wanted most out of Venice was gelato. (That's only slightly an exaggeration.) We passed a few, but they didn't look quite authentic enough - one of them even had the gall to call themselves "ice cream" in the hopes that those American tourists who either have never heard of gelato, or who can't tell that the brightly colored rows of deliciousness in the cooler are an Italian cousin to their favorite treat, would choose this stand over the many lining Venice's tiny alleys. Once we found one to my satisfaction, I went all out: three scoops(!), of chocolate, strawberry, and lemon. Oh, so good - and well worth the wait.

It was definitely lunch time by then, and so our next stop was at a cafe on the waterfront. We had passed it earlier while I was on my hunt, and the waiter had walked by carrying a pizza topped with freshly sliced pineapple. It looked so good! We all knew that was exactly what we were in the mood for. Getting back there was difficult, though - with barely any space between the cafes, and with hosts trying to seat you as you just walked by (very similar to the manner of the street vendors), we couldn't tell which one we were going for. But one of those hosts caught our attention by breaking out in song: "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine!" He sang this to Emily, which prompted a strong response in Ryan: "No, she's MY sunshine." We were pretty sure this was the place, so we asked if they had the pineapple pizza and they did. It turned out to be the best pizza I had ever had, and we were stoked to enjoy it in such a beautiful setting along the Grande Canal.

Rialto Bridge behind us

Looking from the Rialto Bridge back to our cafe - the last with a burgundy canopy

After lunch, we walked back in the direction of our apartment. We ended up retracing our steps from the Piazza earlier, in search of a couple of things we had seen, and decided to buy - a small cappuccino/teacup for me, and a beautiful sailboat of Murano glass for Mom. The sailboat is now sitting proudly on the mantel in our living room, and the teacup is displayed with the rest of my collection. Happy campers are we!
Our next goal was to escape the afternoon heat of Venice by heading for the beach. The island of Lido, a short boat ride away, was calling our names. It turned out to be a great idea - more gelato, bouncing around in the Adriatic, and napping on the beach. It was perfect.

The beach at Lido

Walking from one side of the island to the other

Lido from the boat - I wish the pictures could show the stunning colors of the buildings, especially when the sun hit them

We decided to dress up a little for dinner, so after showering and donning my new Tollwood dress, we headed out in search of a place recommended to Ryan and Emily the last time they were there. It was good - not great but good. We shared a bottle of wine and each had an appetizer. I had grilled eggplant and a whole bream - mom didn't want to look at it but helped me out by de-boning it for me - she's so awesome!
We slept so well that night - we were all so tired! I think I fell asleep before the lights were even off.

Wednesday, July 21

Murano glass decorating the patio

Venice in the morning

Our second day in Venice began with me waking up long before the rest of my family. With the sun shining through the window and my stomach growling, there was no way I could go back to sleep. I was able to spend some time reading the Bible, and then decided to go for a morning walk and return with breakfast. Mom was up by then so I told her my plan and took off. It was a gorgeous morning - the sun glancing off the canals and streaming between the buildings, people going about their morning chores and jobs, very few tourists out yet - it was a great way to experience Venice. I found my way through the maze of alley-sized streets to a cafe and filled up on a variety of pastries for us. Everyone else I saw were enjoying their morning cappuccinos from tiny teacups at the counters, and gave me interesting looks when I walked out with a ton of buttery and sugary goodies.
When I returned to the apartment, everyone was up and getting ready. We split every one of those pastries into fourths and has more than our fare share for one morning. Oh so good!! Ryan and Emily have become experts at bakery goods since moving to Bavaria, and kept rebuffing my attempts to get them to save some for later. So with full bellies and all of our gear, we set out for the train station. We decided to walk part of the way, so we got off the vaparretto at the Rialto Bridge and walked along a wider boulevard and shopping area.
The best thing we found that morning was a juice bar complete with fruit cups, pre-made smoothies, fresh lemonade, and a bowl of sangria. They let us taste everything - soo good! - then we bought one of all but the sangria and found some shade to enjoy them in. We eventually made it through the heatwaves and throngs of other tourists to the train station, after getting cheap pizza to go from a nearby stand.
On to Florence! It took us over an hour to actually leave Venice because of several train and parking lot setbacks, and then about three hours of driving. It was really hot without air conditioning, but Ryan did a great job of getting us there quickly and safely.
Finding parking in Florence was an issue (more so since I was stressed about missing our reservation time), but we did end up making it to the Accademia in time for our appointment with David. :) He was excited to see us! And he is HUGE. When we walked into the room, we just kind of stared - every detail is so intricate and impressive. The museum as a whole wasn’t that amazing, although they had a few individual items that were special, like Botticelli paintings of scenes from the book of Esther, and several Byzantine paintings from the 14th and 15th centuries. It was also quite eye-opening to see the unfinished Michaelangelo’s as we walked into the hall housing David: you can see unfinished men emerging from massive blocks of marble, and the chisel marks still present where he last worked on them. Seeing the process that Michaelangelo used to create David was very cool, and made me even more impressed with his incredible abilities.
After the Accademia, we headed towards the Duomo. Mom wanted us to see the Baptismal’s gold doors - which were pretty impressive. The pictures on them are 3D. On our way there we stopped for gelato, a slushy for Ryan, and dress shopping for Colleen and Amy. Then we followed Rick Steve’s advice for a restaurant next to the Duomo, which had awesome food but wouldn’t give us tap water. What the heck! We were so thirsty that we ended up getting a couple of Italian beers to share instead.
We got lost on our way to our hostel/campground that night - but eventually made it thanks to the GPS system. We had two rooms, side by side, one for Emily and I and one for Mom and Ryan, but the woman at the front desk tried to charge us for our car. By that time we were done dealing with people, and headed to bed. After a day of both excellent experiences and extreme frustrations, sleep sounded good.