The Events of Wednesday, March 9, 2011

                Our whirlwind of interesting experiences began this morning when we awoke in our lovely hotel room. After quick showers and packing, we enjoyed our breakfast of Winco bagels and cream cheese. Soon we were ferrying all of our 15 bags (nine luggage and six backpacks) down the five flights of stairs to the car. It was absolutely exhausting.

                With Dad in the driver’s seat, the long trip to Venice began. Heading out of Annecy was a bit of a problem; we went back and forth four times between rotaries (very few stoplights here in France; they like to keep the traffic moving) before finding where we were supposed to turn. After a little more work, we were on the freeway and speeding toward Italy.

                Our route took us south and east to the freeway; it was a nice, smooth ride with fantastic scenery in every direction—including upwards. Our minivan’s huge sunroof gave us a fantastic view of the mountain country. After a bit of driving, we saw signs for the tunnel through Mont Blanc, France’s highest peak. Then Dad saw it: the glint of the sun reflecting off the snowy peak. The white of the snow blanketing the mountain had blended in with the thick layer of haze, hiding it from our view. The road now changed into a twisty mountain road with steep inclines and hairpin turns. At one point, a tall bridge took us across the valley, only for us to do a slow turn and come back in the opposite direction!

                As we neared the tunnel, we joined a long line of cars and trucks waiting for our turn in the tunnel. About fifteen minutes later, we headed through the toll booth, paid our outrageous 42 Euros and some cents, and headed under the mountain. After what seemed like hours, we emerged and headed into Italy. All our passports were ready for customs or border patrols, but we didn’t need them! There was just a normal road sign with an arrow pointing to Italia. Weird.

                As we sped right by quaint mountain villages, the scenery was fantastic. All those cute little towns with their old stone buildings fit in nicely with the mountainous environment. We noticed in these villages a bit of a pattern left from the middle ages. Outside the town, usually up on a hill, was a large stone structure, which we assumed to be a castle, fort, or monastery. In the center of the village was a large brick or stone church tower.

                As lunchtime drew near, we looked for a place to stop and shop. The next exit advertised shopping, so we pulled off. It was a large shopping center with stores selling just about everything. After a visit to the restrooms, we headed to the large grocery store, Carrefour. This was just like a Walmart or other supermarket—except everything was in Italian. After a bit of searching, we found the milk, bread, pasta, sauces, and fresh fruits and veggies to get us through the next couple of days. Upon exiting, we returned to the freeway and continued toward Venice.

                After a quick lunch in the car, we headed through Milano to Verona, where Mom had found another shopping center. Since we have no cell phone, we hoped that a mall would have some stores that could help us. We found a parking spot in the very crowded lot and headed inside. Our first stop was Vodafone, but it didn’t have what we wanted, so we headed down to Media World—kinda like Best Buy or Fry’s. Once we found an English-speaking employee, Dad asked if they had what we wanted. Sadly, he answered with a no. But then, as we went to exit, I spotted some SIM cards near the cell phone desk. Maybe they’d have what we want! Luckily, the employee manning the desk spoke pretty good English and was able to help us find a cheap phone that would work for us.

                We had to go to the cashier up front to pay for the phone, return with the receipt, pick up the phone, and then go to customer service to purchase a SIM card. Customer Service had a bit of a line, but we eventually got to the front. Here, we waited for an employee who spoke English (it turned out to be the first one we talked to) and explained our situation. They found us a SIM card, Dad paid for it, and then they told us that it would take two to three hours to activate it. Since we needed to make a call right then, Dad returned the card and asked about accessing the pay phones. He found out that he needed to purchase a special card. While he had his adventure, Mom and we kids headed out to the car for a snack.

                Dad found the place that sold the cards, bought one, and then headed all the way across the complex to the nearest phone.  He had the number for the landlord of the rental home for tonight, but couldn’t get the phone or phone card to work for him. So he tried to flag down help. Luckily, a nice gentleman responded to his hand signs. He could tell that Dad wasn’t Italian (I wonder how!), but he didn’t speak English. He asked if Dad knew any Spanish, which he does, so he was able to receive help and eventually make the call. Phew!

                With that errand taken care of, we were back on the road to Venice. Eventually, we found our way to the terminal for the car ferry to Lido, the island near Venice where we are staying. We waited about 20 minutes before the ferry arrived. We drove on and parked just as a huge semi pulled in and parked right next to us. We squeezed out of our car, made our way to the upper cabin, and had our first glimpse of Venice at night—an island of old houses, dimly lit by streetlights along the coast, rising from ominously dark water.

                Arriving on Lido, we drove to the spot the GPS said was our house—but there was no one there. Dad hopped out and disappeared. About half an hour later, he returned. He found the address, but there was no one there. He met a person who was sent by the landlord to greet him, since the landlord had to accompany someone to the ER. Dad used the house’s phone to call the landlord, which took a while but he eventually got all the information he needed. He then came back out to the car. We unloaded all our bags, hauled them up a flight of stairs, and entered our Italian villa/apartment for the first time. The entrance led to the dining/living room. On either side is a bedroom—one for parents, one for kids. Around the corner to the right are the kitchen and the bathroom.

                Since it was 10 o’clock and we hadn’t had dinner yet, we headed across the street to the Trattoria Africa. It was a nice Italian café – but we could have cared less about quality. It had FOOD‼ We each ordered a delicious pasta entrée, which we shared around the table. I think the vote was unanimous that Lindsey’s gnocchi with meat sauce was the best. Surprisingly, genuine Italian food is very rich. The girls had to send their plates around to be finished by the hungry men, and we still ended up with two boxes of leftovers.

                After a long, Italian-style dinner, where everyone eats rreeaallyy sslloowwllyy, we headed home and to bed. It was 11 o’clock. We had woken up 15 ½ hours earlier. It was a long and rough day. But we were in a bed. In Venice.