We are finally in Vicenza!! The trip started on a small plane in Raleigh that flew us to JFK. In JFK our tickets had us seated in 3 completely seperate parts of the plane so I had to explain to the Delta Agent that my 4 year old was NOT going to sit by herself on the 9 hour flight but he quickly reassigned our seats so that was great! When we boarded the 767 we realized our reassigned seats were the front row of Economy Class which gave us about 5 feet of feet/leg space! Amber ussed the space to jump around for the entire 45 minutes that it took to load all 240 something passengers onto the plane & we took off about 8:10pm EST.
A movie was started that we could listen to in English or Italian on our headsets and dinner was served when we reached 35,000 ft. We were offered a hot meal of chicken with rice & veggies or pasta with creamy spinach alfredo sauce. Each entree also had a small side salad, roll, cheese stick, & a brownie. Drinks were the usual, sodas, juice, coffee, and tea. Since Jonathan and I vowed to go on a soda detox the next few weeks we drank juice and water.
After dinner we were offered more drinks & the flight attendants cleaned up while we went potty. The bathroom on the plane was actually pretty nice. And NO, the water is not crazy blue like in the movies but it does flush loud and is tiny! After than experience we tried to sleep. . . Amber figited a little bit but finally went to sleep. Jonathan seemed to sleep ok too but even thought I took 2 nighttime sleep aids I only slept about 3 of the 9 hour flight. The airline provided a pillow and blanket to each guest but we still couldn't get comfortable in those upright seats so everytime I would drift off my neck or back would cramp up. I've decided I need a stronger sleep aid next time or just plan to be awake the entire flight.
About 2 hours before we landed in Venice we were served a light breakfast of egg & butter on a hot english muffin and a banana on the side. The sandwich was pretty good kind of like the Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches you heat up in the microwave. The banana on the other hand was probably the best one I've had and I don't even like bananas so that was exciting!
As we approached Venice we could see what we are assuming were the Italian Alps (Huge snow capped mountains) and then part of the Mediteranian Sea. We finally landed at about 4:40am EST (10:40am Italian time which means we are 6 hours ahead of EST in case you didn't feel like doing the math). After we got off the plane we went through Customs & a person with Jonathan's new post met us & a group of other new comers to direct us to the baggage claim area and let us call home for a few minutes. The signs at the airport were in English and Italian so we found our way around with no problem. I made my first Italian purchase there too! I grabbed a Gatoraide (labeled in Italian but I recognized the word 'arancia' which means orange so I knew what I was getting) & took it to the check out. I asked the cashier if they took 'dolloro' (American dollars) and he said 'Si' and then said hold on a minute in english. The total on the register changed from Euro to Dollars. I gave the man $4 & he gave me back .60 in Euros and I was on my way :) The exchange rate today for the Euro is $1 = .67 Euro but it changes daily from what I understand. (I've pretty much determined America's dollar is worthless to most other countries & the way prices are rising in the US IDK why we even have one dollar bills any more or pennies)
The bus that took us to Vicenza finally arrived at about 12:15pm (from now on I'm using Italian time in my blogs). The bus was a large tour bus type with foot rests and adjustable arm rests and seat. The seats were more comfortable than the airplane seats and we all kind of napped on the one hour drive. We didn't take any pictures because we noticed on the plane the battery was dying in our camera and the charger is packed with our household good somewhere on a cargo ship on it's way here. The land was mostly flat with a lot of farming land and water ways (streams, rivers, ponds). The houses were different but not too much in looks to American homes. I'll take some pics and post later of those. The road/hwy we were on was VERY small with little or NO shoulder just metal or concrete barricades! I'm glad we decided to bring the KIA RIO instead of my Explorer or Jonathan's Jeep. The large bus we were in took up every bit of the lane and when we passed 18-wheeler trucks I swore we would hit mirrors but never did. Traffic here seems to be the same as America. People cut us off, changed lanes without signaling, drive too slow or too fast & they drive on the same side as us too so that's good news! The road signs were in Italian but same shape as in America so I'm sure we will figure it out.
When we got to the Inn on Camp Ederle everyone was nice and the suite we have is large with a living room/pull out couch for Amber and a seperate bedroom for us. We also have a stove top, medium sized fridge, freezer, & microwave. The only bad thing we've noticed is the heat is out! The room was 15C (below 60F) when we arrived and even after turning the heat up only cold air comes out. Luckily it's in the high 70F here so we opened the windows and heated the place up a bit until they fix it tomorrow.
We took a 2 hour nap then walked to the PX (Post Exchange, basically a mini mall on post just for Military Members) & Commissary (Grocery Store). They both were pretty crowded since the Government will probably shut down tomorrow & everyone thought those services would shut down too. (We received info they would be open til Sunday even if the shut down happens so that was good). The Commissary was much cheaper than regular grocery stores and had coupons on the shelves for most items! I was in saving heaven! lol. . . .
Ok that's all I can manage right now I'm wore out but I'll write more tomorrow. It's 9:20pm here so Good Night!
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