68th Annual Venice Film Festival Sept 2011

We went to the 68th Venice International Film Festival this weekend! The festival hosts movies from all over the world and stars like George Clooney, Madonna, Ryan Gosslin, Al Pacino, and Ben Afleck come to the festival to see their movies premier! I didn't find out about the festival dates until the day it started so I immediately started making plans to go there. Since I didn't have advance tickets and it looked like from online that the movie premier prices would be too expensive, I didn't plan to see a film. I mostly wanted to go just to get a feel for it and know what to expect next year when I can plan for it better.
I got a group of Girl's together and Friday about 1:30pm we headed from Vicenza to Venice. Amber and I took the Bus (1.20 euro, Amber was free) from our house to the train station where we met our friends. We then go tour tickets ( 5.05 euro for me and just over 2 euro for Amber) and boarded the train. About an hour fifteen minutes later we were in Venice! The Film festival is on Lido Island so we paid 6.50 Euro (Amber was free) for a water taxi ticket and boarded the water taxi to head to Lido Island. The water taxi station is right outside the train station on the Grand Canal so we didn't have to walk far. 

The trip to Lido Island took us up the beautiful Grand Canal, past St. Mark's Square, and took about 55 minutes. The canal was busy with boat traffic but all the drivers were very cautious and everyone cruised in their own path. 

As we reached the open part of the water towards the top of the canal there was a sail boat heading in which I though looked neat. I might have to try sailing on the Grand Canal one day.





Finally after two and a half hours of traveling, we arrived at Lido Island! There were signs for the Festival everywhere, even on the Water taxi exit ramp. One thing I noticed which was different than in Venice was that there were Cars on this Island! Unlike Venice where the water ways are the road, here, the roads are actually for cars not pedestrians. Luckily I realized it before I strolled into the street like a moron!




We all stopped to pose for pictures by the signs and the iconic Italian Lion statues which we later discovered would lead us about 30 minutes down the street to the festival. There was art everywhere too. It looked like maybe the art was being displayed temporarily and was changed out every few weeks or something. There was not really a theme to it, just random stuff including a very beautiful pear shaped pink flower (can't think of the name of it), a tall vibrantly colored sculpture made of hard but flexible rubber tubes, and a metal giant mask with tube lights that I guess lit up at night because there were solar panels on the sculpture.

As we followed the lions towards the festival we stopped for Gelato and the guy spoke very good English which was great but I like to practice ordering stuff in Italian.


It was a very casual and relaxing walk through the town. There were drug stores, restaurants with outside patio seating, shopping stores, and so forth just like we had seen in every other Italian town. When we reached the other side of the island we could see a beach down a hill behind the stores. There were a lot of umbrellas and little enclosed huts (sorry I didn't get a picture) on a 4-5 ft wide wooden boardwalk. The houses were on the houses, which were on the opposite side of the street, were taller and over all bigger and nicer that we had seen in other parts of Venice. There were noticeably less cars but many more bicycles. The beach goers parked their bikes right on the shaded areas between the road and the sidewalk or on the fence beside the entrance to the beach. I'm not sure if anyone can go to that beach or if it's reserved because there were only a few places to access the beach but I didn't notice if they were guarded or not. (I'll try it next time I'm there) There was a lot of sand before I could even see the water and lots of people laying out.

We came across a red carpet and started getting really excited that this might be the "ONE". I was kind of let down because this was nothing fancy. There was an official looking guy standing at the entrance and he didn't look friendly but as other people walked in he went in with them I ran across the street to have my picture taken on the carpet.



{For some reason my pictures decided not to cooperate and go where I want them in this blog so they will be all at the bottom, or on my facebook, sorry}


We looked around the area a little more and started realizing this probably was not the place so we started walking again. Not soon after that we saw fences with material over them so we could see in and more police and official personnel. The road we were on was barricaded so we had to turn right down a smaller street. After a small walk down this street we saw the entrance to the Movie Village guarded by police men. YAY, We had made it! We stopped for some more pictures and wondered if we needed tickets or some type of credentials to get in. Some Asian dude gave me a dirty look and other people just walked right in so we decided too as well.

There was a large what looked like a vendor tent or VIP type lounge to the right as soon as we entered and straight ahead of us was the casino. I've decided that Italians like to gamble. There are casinos in about every large or socially popular Italian town I've been too so far. It too was guarded and since we had no intentions of gambling, we stayed out.

The road turned us right and we saw another sign that said Movie Village and there was a ticket box office to the left. We stopped there to see what the prices were and what was showing. They had free programs for the show times and each ticket was about 13 to 19 Euro. A pass to all the movies was about 100 Euro. I'd say if I was staying in Venice for this entire event then I would be sure to get this deal. We didn't plan to see a film so we didn't buy tickets and headed towards the other Movie Village area that we had seen.

The road was right beside a small river with boats in it. On the left of the road there was a large building and a long hall way into the building that was also barricaded and guarded. There was no red carpet though :(

We stopped beside the entrance of the building and had a guard take a group photo beside the lion statue. He understood my English fine but I'm sure he was Italian. I wanted to ask him what this building was but somehow got distracted and forgot.

After that, we once again were on our journey in search of the red carpet and a movie star. We found a free news paper that had details and pictures of stars who had recent been there. Some pictures were of Ben Afleck sitting at a poker table and I'm assuming it was taken at the casino we passed as we entered the village. I may have to bring a little gambling money next time!

The path got a little more open and we didn't know exactly which direction to follow so I made the executive decision to turn left after a girl in our group said she saw tents up that way. The left turn was obviously the right choice because not 100 yards ahead was the red carpet! We came up from behind it and first saw that there was a fence around part of it but could still see through the holes just fine. There was paparazzi lined up all over the side of the carpet and we assumed something was going to happen soon. There were not a lot of people though so we were not sure. We walked around to the front of the carpet and took some pictures. The area was barricaded off so we didn't get on the carpet but we were in front of it with a great view of the entire thing.

While planning out next move a guy came out of the building and people started clapping! I thought it maybe was a famous movie star but no. It was however a director named Marco Bellocchio. He had just received the Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award and was walking the carpet on his way out. He had apparently done this before because he was just working the carpet. Everyone was shouting his name and he was just casually walking back and forth showing off his trophy like a champ.

The paparazzi was going crazy and there was a guy carrying a huge video camera and equipment that was gliding around taking video like it was nothing. That equipment looked so heavy but he was moving smoothly and natural. I was impressed more by that that by Marco!

When Marco left the paparazzi started packing up too so we followed suite and headed towards some other tents we saw set up to the right of the carpet. As we walked by a Large tv, it was playing scenes from when other actors and actresses had walked the carpet earlier in the festival. We saw Madonna and George Clooney on the screen. I am for SURE going to some when their movies are opening here next year. It looked like a fabulous opportunity.

We were all hungry from our day of traveling so on the way back to the boat we stopped for dinner. Lido Island prices are about the same as Venice. Not too bad but for sure tourist traps. The sun was setting as we finished dinner and waited for our water taxi. I took a few random pictures but besides that we just relaxed on the boat for the hour ride back to the train station. At the station we had just missed the 9pm train to Vicenza so we had to wait an hour for the next one. It was beautiful just sitting on the Grand Canal watching the people and the boats go by. The town was busier at this time than it was earlier in the day where we were here. We arrived back in Vicenza about 11:30 and I was so glad to be home but sad that we didn't see any movie stars. The experience of just being at the Film Festival was amazing and I will absolutely go again but this time to see a film and for a longer period of time.

Asiago Cheese Festival

This weekend we went to the Asiago Cheese Festival in. . . Guess where?! Asiago, Italy!  Asiago is about 38 miles from Vicenza. The map to get there looks like a bunch of Z's because the roads zigzag up a mountain to an elevation of about 3300ft.
When we got close to the festival, traffic got heavy but we managed to find parking about a mile from the festival.  The walk wasn't that bad because this part of Italy is beautiful.  We walked through a little town and past a huge WWI monument up on a hill that was the burial place of a couple hundred thousand Austrian and Italian soldiers.  There are still thousands of these soldiers who are unidentified.  We were going to stop by the monument on the way back to the car but we passed it and were too tired & hot to turn back & hike up the hill so we missed it.  Our friend did visit the monument though and I'll try to get pics from her.  The town had lots of stores and even a 99 cent store (in Euro of course). We didn't go in there either but it looked crowded and popular.

From the little town it was hard to see where the festival actually was.  We passed an open air market and we finally stopped to ask a local where the plaza was.  I spoke to him in Italian and besides mispronouncing the name of the plaza, I think he understood me.  I understood most of what he was saying too but one of our friends had to show him the flyer for the cheese festival for him to understand the plaza name.  After his directions we were on our way again & not 5 minutes later we were there!  The area smelled like fresh cut wood because there were carved statues of goddesses and hunters placed in various areas outside the market.  Jonathan had the camera but didn't get any pictures of them unfortunately.

The market was smaller than I expected, taking up only about half an acre & with only about 5 cheese vendors set up under yellow tents.  For a cheese festival I thought it would be a HUGE area with at least 10 cheese vendors.  The vendors that were there sold quite a few different types of cheeses but nothing like in America.  I'm dying for some Sharp Cheddar but none of the cheeses here are yellow.  We got a dill cheese and another type of cheese that was medium in flavor and kind of tasted like parmigiana.  Each booth allowed samples and we tried about 3 flavors.

Inside the festival tent there was a pretty cool waterfall and river flowing around a display of cheese that we all stopped to take pictures in front of.  Outside the festival area there was the typical plaza fountain and a tall clock tower.




There were other vendors too which sold Wine, Honey, and Vegetables.  The wine tasting was .80 euro per glass (about a dollar US money) but I don't like wine so I didn't partake.  I told Jonathan to try some but being a Wisconsin boy in cheese country, I don't think he was interested in wine.  I was looking for cucumbers since the painters killed my cucumber plants last week but the vegetable vendor didn't sell them and they were pretty busy so I didn't try to buy any thing else.  


Jonathan bought some Grappa. Grappa is an alcohol made in Italy that looks like apple juice & is derived from the distillation of pomace after racking or from virgin pomace after separation from the fermented grape. Grappa has an alcohol content between 37.5% and 60%. It that goes down hard and will give you a beyond death hangover if you get drunk off it. I wouldn't know since I've never tried it but this is the word we are hearing on the streets. Jonathan is saving it for when my dad visits in October!

We left the festival after about 2 hours and headed down the mountain home.  I will be visiting Asiago again soon to go to the WWI Monument and hit the 99 CENT STORE!

Don't ya hate when you think you're driving through Germany but realize you're in France?!

Yay for 4 day weekends!! The best part about the post here in Vicenza is that we have a 4 day weekend every month!  This month for the 4 day, we decided to drive just under 600 miles one way to Spangdahlem Germany to visit Jonathan's friends that are stationed there with the Air Force.  Since the drive was going to be so long we decided to leave Thursday evening, stop at Edelweiss for the night, and continue the last 350 miles of our trip on Friday.

We knew the trip was going to be a learning experience since we had never DRIVEN to Germany before (We'd only taken the shuttle bus).  There was really only one thing we had to worry about which was finding a gas station before we entered Austria in order to buy an Austria Autobahn Vignette.  The vignette was a pass you had to buy and stick on your front windshield before entering Austria. I think it is for the road tax or something.  The pass I got was good for 10 days and cost 7.90 Euro.  I've heard they have other options of passes to buy but that was the only one I was offered so that's the one I bought.

During our FIND A GAS STATION THAT SELLS THE VIGNETTE adventure, we got off the autostrada and went to about 3 gas stations in these little towns asking if they sold the vignettes.  We got a little flashback of the USA when we passed a BP with gas prices about .03 cents more than the one right across the street. Lol.



Finally after 3 straight 'NO' answers from the service stations we stopped at looking for the Austria pass, we got the hint that you could only buy them on the Autostrada. So we got BACK on the Autostrada and finally found an AGIP that sold them. For those of you driving through Austria, the Agip is just over 225 miles from Vicenza. There is a sign for a Sirogrill and I think the area is called Isarco Est. They don't sell the vignette at the gas stations on the autostrada before that one, we know because we stopped at those too. Note to self: In Europe, a Kilometer is often referred to as a click so if you are told something is 5 clicks away, it means Kilometers.

Finally after getting the vignette, we continued in to Austria. It's so funny to me when we go from one country to another because it's no different than going from one state to another in America. The way we knew we were even in Austria is because we had to get off the Autostrada (11.50 euro) and then there was a little sign saying (in German) that we had entered Österreich which is the German word for Austria. The other way we realized it was when we had to go through the toll and pay 8 Euro. I'm not sure if this is for the vehicle size or if it is the standard fee to drive through Austria. Considering how small Austria is, it's a pretty expensive country to drive through since there is a 8 euro toll fee and 7.90 euro vignette!

Before we knew it, we had entered Germany. I'm pretty sure there was no sign saying we had entered another country but we could almost immediately tell because Germany's country side is so much cleaner and greener than Italy. There are corn fields and farm land in Germany instead of the grape vines and vineyards like in Italy. I think Germans use actual fireplaces versus a furnace to heat their homes because each house had a large stack of firewood stacked neatly beside the door. There were also logs ready to be cut sitting in fields everywhere you looked. 

The trip to Edelweiss was just a bit longer than we expected since we had to stop so much to find the Vignette and the traffic as we entered Germany. It too us from about 4pm until just after 8pm to get there so just over 4 hours and we had expected 3.

Once at Edelwiess we had no problem checking in and ran down to Pullman's Place to eat dinner since they stopped seating at 8:30. Dinner was priced fine (about $43 for 2 dinners, an appetizer, 2 beers, and a mudslide) and it helped that they give E1-E5 a 20% discount on dinner! I did have my heart set on Ziggy's where we had eat the time before but they are not open on Thursdays for dinner.

We got up about 8am the next day and were on the way to Spangdahlem just after 9am. The beginning of the drive was fine and we got to drive on the Autobahn! It surprisingly was not as I had expected. My picture of the Autobahn is about 5-6 lanes on each side with Ferraris and Porsches and Lamborghinis everywhere going about a buck twenty! It's no where near that way. The road is mostly 2 lanes each way and looks pretty much like the interstate in the United States. There is usually no speed limit but when there is it was 81MPH (130khm). The little Kia did good and I drove it between 80 and 90 MPH a lot of the way. Jonathan drove too but only hit about 83MPH.






Another thing we noticed in Germany were the giant windmills! They were mostly along the highway and look small in the pictures but up close they are massive!






After stopping just a few times for a bathroom break for Amber, we arrived at the Spangdahlam Air Force Base about 4:30pm. Our friends met us at the shoppette and we followed them to their town home. Let me just say Germany Air Force base housing is way nicer than Italian Army base housing!


Saturday morning we slept in a little bit & headed to a castle watch tower near the base. It was about a 25 minute drive on pretty curvy back roads. It was nothing worse than the side roads up to Blue Ridge parkway though. Once we arrived we had to hike up a little hill on a path that was designated as a hiking trail. There were a few black berries growing on the way so I stopped to pick some. They were yummy, I just wish there were more of them! As we got to the watch tower we could see the main castle down in the valley. It was huge! Lesli & I took the kids up in the tower and could see the tower even better from there.



Is was, I'd say 7 stories high and all stairs and no electricity so parts of it was pretty dark. We took some pictures with the auto timer (funny stuff trying to get 3 kids and 4 adults into position in 10 seconds) & headed back down the hill. Since Jonathan & Eddie had spent the night before drinking lots of German and Belgian beer, Jonathan was about to puke on the ride home. He was coughing and gagging & I almost pulled over but he said he could hold it in until we got to Eddie's house. Luckily he did and after a quick bathroom break, we headed back out to the Pig festival in Wittlich!

Legend says Wittlich was once a walled fortress constantly under attack by invaders & one evening, a guard charged with locking the town's gate could not find the peg to secure the fortified door. Instead, he wedged a large carrot into the door. Later, a pig ate the carrot, the gate opened and the enemy came in. After the enemy ransacked the town, the angry townspeople herded every pig in Wittlich into the town's market square and roasted them. Since then, Wittlich has been known as the town of the pig burners. To remember the event, the residents hold a pig festival every August. The dead pigs arrive in the market place via a horse-drawn wagon with a spit stuck right from their neck out their booty.

The first pigs are roasted on the spits and the first Schweinebraten, or barbecued pork, was ready to be enjoyed by 3:30. The strange thing was, people can't just go up and buy the BBQ, they had to go first to the Info booth and buy a ticket then trade the ticket in at the pork booth to get their BBQ. We didn't have any BBQ, instead we had brats which are nothing like the Johnsonville brats you can buy in the stores of America. They are about a foot long, skinnier than the Johnsonville ones and gray and I didn't really like the taste but I can't exactly describe it. The breading was a little roll about the size of a balled up fist so the brat was hanging off the sides about 3 inches on each side. Jonathan was pretty funny trying to eat his. I had mine cut up on a plate with mustard.



After eating our brats, we headed back towards the car but had to stop for a pretzel. They were good but not too soft and not salty like I thought they would be. I'm still a fan of those Auntie Anne pretzels from the malls in the USA.
                           



On Sunday after lunch at PIZZA HUT on base, we headed home. We were going to stay at Edelweiss in Garmisch that night too but there was a marriage retreat there & no rooms available when we called ahead. Since we didn't need to stop in Garmisch, the GPS told us the trip was going to take only 9 hours to get home. We started driving, not looking at the route and a few hours into the trip I started seeing signs for PARIS!



Ok, I know I'm geographically challenged but I do know for sure that Paris is NOT IN GERMANY! After looking around at other signs and checking the GPS, it turned out that we were in France! Another one of those countries you enter without knowing because the 'Welcome to France' sign is either 1) in another language (maybe French, LOL) or 2) There was no sign or it was so small we didn't see it (Like they usually are around here). I was driving and wanted Jonathan to take some pictures of France but there wasn't much to see where we were besides fields and weedy countrysides with a backdrop of mountains.


It was pretty cool to know were we in France but it sucked that the highway didn't let us see anything cool. I wanted to go to Paris but the sign for Paris said it was about 360KM away in the opposite direction. I'm sure Paris will be something we will go back to see before we leave Italy though. We were only in France for a short time before we started noticing Switzerland signs. There was even a big Swiss flag hanging from the mountain side.



For the rest of the trip through Switzerland, we saw a para glider and spent about half our time in tunnels that were, no joke, 10 miles long! It was about 8pm and at one point we entered a tunnel with it light outside and by the time we got through it, the sun had set and it was dark out. The tunnels had car pull off areas for emergencies and signs to various doors were about every half mile or so saying SOS (meaning emergency exit I guess). I'm pretty sure I even saw a sign for a restroom in the tunnel. The tunnels looked like how it will look when countries start building towns underground. Our way was not full of traffic but the other direction got clogged up a little bit and looked slow moving.

As we got into Italy I traded places with Jonathan & let him drive because my eyes were crossing from going through those tunnels and my back hurt from driving so long I guess.  He was cussing because the entire way we hit NO construction until the times he was driving.  It was pretty funny actually.  We arrived home about 11pm and were ready for bed.  It was a great but short trip and we for sure want to visit Germany and our friends in Spangdahlam again! 

Edelweiss in Garmisch, Germany July 2011

This weekend we went on a Marriage Retreat In Germany.  We rode a tourist bus up to the Edelweiss Resort in Garmisch, Germany. It took about 7 hours to get there and only about 5 to get back.  The view and scenery was amazing!  We passed probably a thousand or more fields of grape vines, thirty or more castles, waterfalls, beautiful mountains & lots of other amazing sights. 

As we drove through Italy the mountainous country side was filled with vineyard after vineyard of grape vines.  They would start in the valley and just go up the mountain for miles!  I would NOT want to be the grape picker having to hike up those trails to pick the grapes!  

Most of the castles we saw where in Italy too.  They were positioned on the side or tops of the mountains and were just beautiful.  It was hard to imagine the life back in the day when people actually lived in those castles and wore the fancy clothes and there were Kings and Queens of the lands with servants and knights in shining armor.  Every now and again we could see a tall thin water fall flowing straight down the mountain or a thicker waterfall bouncing down rocks into the river that flowed through the valley. 

The trip took us through Austria.  The country side was greener and the mountains began to get higher and rockier than those in Italy.  The nice thing is, when you travel to a different country within Europe you don’t have to go through boarder control or customs or anything.  We went from Italy to Austria to Germany and it was no different than traveling from Virginia to NC and into SC.  I’m not sure if it was because we were in a large tour bus or if that is just how it is for everyone.

While in Austria, we stopped at a rest area with a McDonalds.  It was CROWDED! Seriously, there were 5 registers open and at least 6 people or families in each line.  As I was waiting in line I noticed the view from the McD was beautiful.  The rest area was on the side of a mountain overlooking a valley and then more mountains on the other side.   Even though the entire seating area on one side was windows facing the valley, I didn’t get any pictures bc there were too many people sitting and standing for me to even get close to the windows with the camera. 

It took, I’m guessing about 30 minutes in the line and then another 5 waiting on the sandwich! I think the problem was the language barrier.  The main language in Austria is German (I think).  I was listening to other people order who spoke things like Chinese or Korean or french (or trying to anyways, it was loud in there) and they were mostly just pointing to the menu.  Unfortunately, since I only speak English and enough Italian to get me by, I was concerned that the cashier wouldn’t understand me.  They had a much smaller menu than the US McD has.  When I got to the counter I asked in English if they guy spoke English and he said YES!  I communicated our order slow and as clearly as possible and only had one hang up trying to order Jonathan a Pistachio Milkshake.  I said Pistachio and they guy didn’t understand so I looked at the German menu and pronounced it how it looked ‘pistaciara’ or something like that and he understood! (funny bc the words are only like 3 letters different and didn’t sound at all like the other milkshakes (choc, strawberry, vanilla) so you would have thought he would have gotten what I was saying in the beginning.  Anyways- I got Jonathan a Bigmac, Amber nuggets, and I ordered a regular cheeseburger.  Unfortunately, my cheeseburger was not ready and after 5 minutes of waiting for them to make a CHEESEBURGER. I said “Fine- Just Give me something ELSE!”.  The guy grabbed a sandwich and called it a number 3.  Well the number 3 was a cheeseburger with no Onions and no Pickles or mustard and WITH mayo, ketchup, tomato, and lettuce.  Really? McD cook could make a DELUX cheese burger but he couldn’t make a regular cheeseburger in 5 minutes!  Damn Austrians!  The burger patties seemed to taste better than the ones in the US and my patty was hanging off the bun but Jonathan said his bigmac had smaller patties than in US.

The bathrooms was strange too. . well just the toilet. It was self seat cleaning. When you flushed the seat began to turn and this little blue box at the back of the seat started spraying water on the seat then it started drying the seat with warm air.  I still didn't sit on the seat but it was kind of comforting knowing it had been cleaned. Besides that stop, we were only in that country for a little bit so I didn’t see much else.

As we got into Germany, we could tell right away where we were.  The houses, businesses, and country side were just as you would see them in a post card or in a movie.  It was almost surreal to see this in person.  Germany was even greener and cleaner than Austria.  Even the fields that looked abandoned were well groomed.  There were no Trailer parks or Ghetto areas (that we saw anyways) and each house was adorned with flowers in its yard and on the window and patio areas.  

I consider myself a geographically challenged individual because I don’t know squat about geography and I just recently learned where Austria and Croatia and Greece and all those other places are so I wasn’t surprised to find out that apparently, lower Germany is nothing but mountains!  BIG POINTY GRAY and mostly treeless mountains.  They are Gigantic and gorgeous and snow covered on the top.  The weather was on one day, a high of about 72 but the normal temp there is about high 60’s this time of year.  While we were there, it dipped to a low of maybe 30’s or lower at night.  The weather was rainy in the evening but not really dreary until the last day.  The morning we woke up on the last day, we looked outside and the mountains in the distance had a fresh dusting of snow on them! Just to remind you, this weekend was the dead middle of SUMMER, July 17!!  

As we approached the resort, about 25 miles out, the roads started to get curvy and the bus had trouble getting up them.  The roads in Germany and Austria are wider than in Italy so that helped but the steepness didn’t.  Finally as we arrived at Edelweiss, we had to show our Military IDs to get onto the resort property.  The resort was very in theme with the surrounding look of the community and of Germany.  We could see a Cable car track going up the mountain and later enquired to see how much the ride would be.  For 9 minutes up, stay at the lookout as long as you want (don’t miss the last ride down for the night) then 9 minutes down it was $36 per person.  (They took dollars at the Edelweiss even though Germany is on Euro money system).  You got $3 back when you reached the bottom for returning your electric key card.  We decided that we wouldn’t do it, even though it looked fun and the views would be crazy.  A couple in our group did it and gave us mixed reviews. She didn’t think it was worth the money but he did think it was so IDK, I guess we will judge for ourselves next time if we try it.

Our hotel room liked like a typical American hotel except for missing a few American amenities.  There were no American Outlets, No microwave, and no air conditioner.  The room was centrally temperature controlled by floor so we had no thermostat but they did provide a portable fan which we used when we got warm.  I guess since the temperature is so cool there most of the time they don’t need air conditioners. We didn’t have a microwave but there was a mini fridge which was nice but not very cold.  

There were 3 restaurants at the lodge.  2 were by reservation and 1 was buffet style.  We only ate at 2 of them.  The Buffet was called Market Station.  Breakfast, lunch and dinner was included in our retreat but the prices otherwise would have been $8.95 for breakfast + $2.95 for kids, 11.95 for Lunch, and 15.95 for Dinner. I think it was worth the price. The breakfast was hot with bacon, eggs, potatoes, biscuit, gravy, toast bagels, grits, oatmeal, English muffins then a cold area with yogurt, fruit, and some other stuff and also a guy making omelets by request.  For lunch the buffet had a different main entrée each day like turkey with gravy, stroganoff, pasta, etc.  They always offered a ham/cheeseburger and chicken sandwich station and salad bar, 2 soups, and desert bar.  Dinner was really good too.  One night we ate at the buffet and the other night at the reservation restaurant.  The buffet for dinner had a different theme each night too.  The night we were there they had a guy slicing prime rib on a carving table (Delish), and baked chicken, pasta, potatoes, green beans, etc & the salad & dessert bar of course.  The next night (I walked by there to see what they had) it was the same type vegetables but a fish themed dinner.  Some of it was broiled and some was fried but it all looked and smelled great.  The reservation restaurant we went to was called Ziggys.  It was the casual American style restaurant downstairs.  The other place was called Pullman’s and it was a steak house type place.  If you know me, you know I’m a steak girl but Jonathan wanted chicken wings and fried food which sounded good to me too so we chose Ziggys.  They had a special that night for 3 liters of beer in a tall (3 feet tall) draft type dispenser that they brought to the table for $15.  Since I don’t drink beer and Jonathan can’t drink 3 liters of beer in 2 hours, we decided not to get that. . . The prices for mixed drinks and beer in the bottle were reasonable though. $6.75 for a Mai Tai and I think $3.50 for a bud light.  To eat, we ordered Jalapeno poppers, a dozen chicken wings, ½ lb fried shrimp, and onion rings.  Our food was paid for by the retreat but it was only $26 (excluding the drinks) which I thought was reasonable especially for a resort restaurant.  

 The lodge offered internet for $4 for 30 minutes or something like $10.95 a day or $54 a week! I thought that was ridiculous!  I found a little area outside the Market Station restaurant that said free Wi-Fi but we didn’t try it so IDK how it was for speed or anything.  The retreat paid for our childcare as well so Amber got to go play with other kids while we went to the seminar which was nice.  The Child Development Center (CDC) is off the Edelweiss property and across the street at the Military post.  There was a shuttle (thank goodness bc it rained the last 2 days) but we could also walk there.  It was maybe a 10 minute walk right out the back gate behind the resort.  It’s actually quicker than riding the shuttle.  The shuttle has to go out the front gate then into the front gate of the post & get inspected by the MP then the guy gets on the bus and checks everyone’s ID then drive to the CDC to get the kids then leave post & stop at the gate for Edelweiss to get an ID check and bus inspection. .  .so it’s kind of a pain in the butt to ride the shuttle but it was nice in the rain to have it.

Edelweiss had a pool and hot tub area downstairs but we only saw it from a distance when we went to the lower level for snacks at the coffee shop (they serve StarBucks).  Downstairs there is also a Gambling room for adults to play slot machines and a gaming room for the kids to play games.  There is a walking path all the way around the campus of Edelweiss. It’s not long but it’s nice and gives a good view of the mountains of Germany.  There is a small jungle gym playground on the side of the resort for the younger kids too.

I suggest if you want snacks, go across the street to the actual Military post and go to their PX, Commissary, or Shoppette. We went to the shoppette and got snacks which were reasonably priced and had a larger selection than the shop on Edelweiss.  

During our free time outside the seminar time, we walked about 25 minutes into the town near Edelweiss.  It was a beautiful walk. The weather was high 60’s or 70 maybe and the breeze was cool.  There was NO humidity and it was relatively flat so the walk was easy.  It was like walking in a post card or on a movie set because it looks exactly like it is portrayed.  The houses were usually two-story and primarily beige or white.  Most of them had brown or green shutters and dark brown roofs.  The houses and businesses sometimes had huge murals painted on the sides of them.  The mural was usually something that looked biblical like Jesus preaching to a group or the Virgin Mary or Jesus on the cross sometimes.  Some murals were just of random things too but the people in the murals were usually dressed as they would have been in BC, early AD times.  The windows and doorways also had painting of a decorative flower or vine design or random designs above them.  Of course we didn’t travel off the beaten path but just the scenery from the bus ride and the walking around in the town, it seemed like Germany’s people took very good care of their Country.  It seemed safe there too and the people came across as friendlier than in Italy or America.  

When we arrived in the center of town, there was a festival going on.  There was a stage with brass instruments and a tent set up for the people to eat and view the band.  The band, which seemed to be made up of locals, was eating lunch with the crowd of people when we arrived.  Most of the people, especially the men, had on their traditional German clothing.  It was a very strange get up, let me try to describe it. . . They wore knitted calf covers, tight cloth shorts about to the top of the knee, large belt with what looked like a hand warmer hanging from it. The top was a button up, long sleeve, white shirt, tucked in. Over the shirt were the suspenders and there was a strange decorative piece connecting the suspenders in the front about the middle of the chest. Some were wearing a vest over the shirt and suspenders.  The head wear was a full brim hat with a feather or crazy feathers sticking out of it on the top.  Some of the younger guys didn’t have the feather so maybe it was some type of adult or sign of maturity thing but IDK. I didn’t get a good look at the shoes but I think they were just basic black or brown below the ankle boots.  

Even though everyone eating I still wanted a picture of the crazy get up so I walked right up to a random guy and asked to take his picture.  He laughed and agreed, then grabbed me and pulled me to his side and gestured to another guy to take OUR picture.  His sweaty & hairy arm pit was on my shoulder which was pretty gross and I may be traumatized but I really wanted to show you all the crazy outfits so I just endured the repulsiveness of it.  The guys didn’t speak much English but were a little drunk and got a little loud which drew a crowd around us of other sweaty funny dressed guys. I had to show the volunteered photographer how to operate our camera but a LONG 2 minutes later, the picture was taken and I was free of the sweaty pit!  Where is my husband during all this you ask? . . . oh he was standing about 50 yards away watching my shoulder get pit molested by the sweaty German guy and getting a good kick out of it.  I tried to wipe my sweaty shoulder on Jonathan’s arm when I got back to where he was standing but he had already read my mind a shielded himself from the attack. . . 

After calling my therapist, we made our way to a little park just off the main road.  It too was very well maintained and consisted of mostly statues, a water wheel in the creek, flowers, trees, benches, and other park stuff.  At the front, we saw a strange blue statue called the mystical demon of something or another.  He was a skinny, naked and about 6 foot tall completely blue ‘man’ but he was leaning over to the side with one leg in the air so he seemed a little shorter.  I was impressed that his ‘JUNK’ was just dangling out there for the world to see so I figured he deserved a kiss for being so bold! I tried to get Jonathan to do it but he thought that him kissing a naked, ‘junk’ exposed, demon ‘man’ is not seen as COOL in today’s society so he passed.  

We walked back towards Edelweiss and stopped in a little gift shop to buy souvenirs.  They were priced reasonable, as most souvenir shops are, but they were cheaper than the gift shop at Edelweiss.  It was a Sunday so most of the other shops like clothing stores were closed.  Restaurants & cafes were open and I don’t think they close for reposo (the 3 hr Lunch/nap time when everything closes) like here in Italy.  There is a decent sized and beautiful creek running between Edelweiss and the Military post so we stopped there and took pictures of it.  The water was a light greenish blue (aqua) color and clear as could be.  Looking from the bridge at the river was breath taking with the water color, perfectly green trees, and rocky, snow sprinkled mountainous backdrop.  Even though it was next to the main street it was still peaceful.

On one occasion we were outside the front of the Lodge and watched the clouds move in over the mountains from the right and could see the gentle rain moving in over one wing of the hotel very slowly.  It was moving so slow that at one point for a few minutes actually, it was raining on one side of the walkway and NOT raining on the other side.  I walked out from under the awning and stood in the rain. I put my hands out in front of me and moved a little to the left and seriously it was raining in one hand and not in the other.  Finally the rain started moving through faster and it was raining everywhere for just a few minutes then it stopped.  Jonathan got a great picture of a double rainbow that formed to the left of us as the rain stopped.  Even though this trip was only a small taste of Germany, it was enough to convince me that I’d like to come back and see more.

Rome: For the 1st time

Hey Stranger!! So I was kindly reminded by a friend that I have been neglecting my blog.  Unfortunately with my new school schedule this "stay at home mom" gig has become more of a "full time student without time to stay at home & do anything except homework" gig.  This means that my blogging will still be done, just not very often. Maybe monthly. HOPEFULLY MORE OFTEN THOUGH! I'll try I promise!


Hmm, Where did I leave off. . .oh yeah Venice! More recently we took a trip to Rome and it was Amazing!  Short but Amazing! We went with the Army's Outdoor Recreation department (ODR) & it was Jonathan's birthday gift to me too.  The time we spent in Rome was only 24 hours long but it was enough to get a good idea of the history and importance of this most beautiful city.
We got on the Bus in Vicenza at 6:30am and after a few stops for pee and snacks at the Autogrills (rest stops) along the Autostrada (interstate), we made it into Rome at about 2:30pm.  We checked into our hotel just outside of Rome and then boarded the bus again to enjoy a guided tour through Rome.
  There were other tour buses EVERYWHERE and traffic was pretty crazy.  As we rounded the corner and approached the heart of Rome we were able to see the top dome of St. Peter's Church!

The guide told us that in Rome, there are no buildings allowed to be built taller than St. Peter’s Church out of respect for its importance and Beauty.

Just down the street from St. Peter's Church was Castel Sant' Angelo (Saint Angelo Castle).  When I saw the castle just from the bus I was like "WOW!" It was something you would never see in the USA.  It is surrounded by thick walls of concrete and kind of looks like it would have a moat around it or maybe did at one time.

 

After we finished the little bus tour we had free time and headed with another couple to The Hard Rock Cafe.  Apparently you need reservations like 2 days in advance and they didn't have an availability when we called but we took a buzzer when we arrived with an expected 30 minute wait.  Jonathan ran in the gift shop and bought a shirt, I think it was 30 euro.  The sizes are different too. Jonathan bought an XL which is larger than he usually wears but the shirt was shorter than his L American shirts and tighter on the arms.  The wait estimate was about right because we only waited maybe 35 minutes for a seat.  The staff new English pretty well, enough to order our food anyways.  Jonathan and I both ordered burgers and I got Amber a side dish of Mac and Cheese and gave her part of my burger and fries.  The mac and cheese side was cheaper than the kids meal and we had brought water with us to drink so we saved money by not having to order her a drink.  The guy brought her a Hard Rock kids cup anyways though.  The food was great and worth the wait and price which is no worse than USA Hard Rock Cafes.  


It was getting dark by the time we left Hard Rock and it seemed that Rome had transformed just in those few hours that we were eating!  Each popular building, fountain, and statue was lit up and the night life was much calmer than the busy daytime.  Everything looked different and even more beautiful in the night time than at daytime.  We walked around and took pictures for about 2 more hours then had to take a taxi to the hotel because the metro shuts down at 8pm.  
Let me explain the taxi procedure... When you see a group of taxis there is a certain code of taxi honor that must be upheld and the drivers take it VERY seriously.  Each taxi driver has his turn and in a certain order.  They line up on a street and you must go to the taxi in the front of the line because it is his turn.  We asked about 3 drivers before we finally realized what they were explaining to us.  The line is LONG too! I bet we walked 3 blocks before we found the front of the taxi line.
Finally when we got a taxi, we asked the estimate price to get to our hotel and he said 15 euro.  We accepted the price and loaded up.  As we started moving we realized that the taxi driver was CRAZY!! He was driving like a maniac and swerving and laughing and talking to us and looking back at us while he was driving! It was scary but we got there safe and quick and it only cost 13 euro so I can't complain. 


The next day we had complimentary breakfast at the hotel and headed back on the bus to downtown Rome.  We didn’t know this at the time but there is a market held on the weekends in front of the Castle so we walked through it and walked right up beside the Castle!  

The Market was like all the other ones; clothes, jewelry, sunglasses, souvenirs, paintings, human statues and the occasional African man trying to sell you a knock off Frada, Lewie  or Coochie  bag/glasses out of a sheet laying on the street.  (Prada, Louise Vuitton, Gucci)  Obviously this is illegal so when the Po-po come rollin’ through the guys grab up their illegal items and run off into the crowd.  I was approached by a guy selling some fake LV and Prada bags.  I found a few that I liked but they were obviously fake (visible dried hot glue and all scratched up on the bottom from being set on the street).   The guy said 25 Euro for the Prada bag I liked (the one that was not completely fake looking). He said “LOOK! It’s a da Prada!” with his strange African accent while pointing at the Prada emblem on the side of the purse.  I laughed and said “Ok well all know it’s not REALLY Prada!” so he laughed and pointed again at it saying, “LOOK, It says a da Prada!” Lol. Yes it did say prada. I heckled with him for a while and finally got the bag for 13 Euro. I looked the bag up at home and the Prada store is selling the same one (last season) for over $500 so besides it being FAKE I’m ok with ppl thinking I have a Prada bag, lol. 

 The other interesting thing at the market were the Human Statues.  People dress up in some fancy or creative garb and sit or stand really still like a statue and tourists give them tips in their tip jar. Some of them are dumb but others are pretty cool.  Jonathan tipped the Egyptian guy bc we passed him like 3 times and he never even moved! Not to mention it was like 80 Degree that day so you know he was HOT! 

After admiring the Human statues we took some pictures beside the Castle.

It wasn’t as big as I thought it would be right up close but maybe we were on the smaller side?  We didn’t have much time so we headed over to St. Peter’s by foot so we could possibly go in and catch the Catholic mass being performed by the pope. . .

Unfortunately- The Pope was in Croatia for the weekend that we were in Rome so we watched a little bit of the mass being broadcasted live on these huge TVs in St. Peter's Square.  Since there was no mass the Church was open to the public  so we decided to stand in this LONG line to walk through it.  As we got in line we noticed what we had been warned about. . . People trying to cut the line!  This Indian looking older guy was standing behind me with another Indian guy and they slowly were working there way beside me, then started moving in FRONT OF ME and bumping elbows with me almost pushing me aside in slow motion. I was pushing Amber in her umbrella stroller so as he got just a tad bit ahead of me I turned the stroller a little bit and put the front tire just in front of his foot.  A couple seconds later the line started moving again and when he tried to step he tripped over my stroller!! Haha! That's what you get Biatch!! IDK if they knew English but i was pretty much cussing them out the entire time.  Can you cuss in St. Peter's Square?? Oh well. . . 

After about 5 minutes in a line that was barely moving, we decided this was ridiculous and left for lunch before making it even 20 feet closer to the Church than we had started.  From the picture below you can't even see the beginning of the line! 

We didn't know where we wanted to eat lunch at so we walked down an ally on the right side of St. Peter's Square.  The restaurants were glamorous and the seating was mostly outside at tables on the street under umbrellas and guys walk by playing the accordion (but they expect a tip for if you just want to take their pic).  Speaking of outside seating. Have you ever seen a sign in the USA saying you can dine 'Al Fresco'? To us in the USA this means outside seating right? Well in Italy, Al Fresco means In Prison! lol. Don't know how THAT got adopted into the United States but I thought it was pretty Funny.  We finally chose this restaurant right near St. Peter's square.  It was pretty expensive and I don't recommend eating neat St. Peter's square bc all the prices are inflated bc of tourists! It was pretty good food but not worth the cost.  I had spaghetti for 12 euro that I shared with Amber.  Jonathan had the usual- Gnocchi.  My drink was a sprite in a can that cost 4 euro and Jonathan's 44oz beer was 14 Euro! . . .  

After finishing lunch we went for dessert at a gelato (Ice cream) place on the left side of St. Peter's square.  It was delish as usual and not too expensive! Italy really does know how to make Ice cream.  We had a few minutes before the bus was coming to pick us up at the pick up point in front of St. Peter's Square so we went souvenir shopping next.  Each few meters there is a shop or kiosk selling souvenirs.  The prices in the shops are obviously a little more expensive and I doubt they will work with you on the price.  The Kiosks are usually ran by African American men and they will usually give you a better price if you buy more.  The magnets were about 2-3 Euro, Shot glasses 4-5 euro, Rosary beads in the case were about 7-15 euro depending on the style and material.  They sold other things like postcards, small replicas of the basilica or dome, pope stuff, shirts, and usual souvenirs too.  The bus showed up right after and tour buses can only park in these loading areas for a few minutes so we all hurried onto the bus.  Unfortunately, this meant our trip to Rome was over and we were heading home.  The trip home took FOREVER! I think we left Rome about 2:15-30 and didn't get back to Vicenza until about 11pm!  

We will be going back to Rome in October when my family visits and we actually have tickets to see the Pope at his usual Wednesday crowd blessing (I don't know the actual name of it).  I will blog about that too & hopefully we will get to see more!