OK, so we won't quite make it to Venice today, but still....
We woke up bright and much too early to start off our grand adventure. The plan was for Katy and I to fly to the Venice airport, be picked up by our dear friend Diane (for those that don't recall or know, Diane was in the operating room when Katy was born), spend a few days, head into Venice, meet Ryan in Venice (he drove down after we did), do the tourist thing, let Ryan run the Venice marathon, then all drive home together. The plan worked but was an interesting proposition on some fronts. For example, you can't drive INTO Venice (obviously), which means that you need to be able to carry everything in yourself. Fine, except that I needed to carry everything Katy and I needed AND be free to carry Katy in case she got tired or refused to walk.
So, on Wednesday morning we loaded up my backpacking pack, a regular backpack clipped to it, a tiny backpack on Katy's back (her toys, of course!) and headed to the bus station. We opted to take the shuttle bus up to the airport as we weren't making the return flight; it made more sense that way. It was raining and dark as it was ridiculously early. Ryan drove us to where we thought we needed to be and we sat and waited. After what seemed like an eternity the bus finally shows up, pulls around and starts to leave. I wasn't STANDING at the bus stop, so he assumed no one was riding. I chased him down and he was furious (although, I think he felt a little bad once he realized I had a small child - no one should have to stand in the rain with a 2 year old if they can help it). Through the honking (from the impatient driver), Ryan and I managed to get two bags, Katy, Katy's bag, myself and our passports onto the bus (the passports had managed to untie from my bag and fall into the mud by the tailgate of the car - that was fun to find in the dark). From there on, our trip was actually smooth sailing.
Katy loved the bus ride. I think it was just really exciting for her to not be in a car seat for once. For an hour we ate snacks and played. Then came the hard part of our test run. I needed to get all the bags and Katy and I from the bus stop into the airport. Katy was a perfect doll and actually managed to walk the entire way for me (it helps that a German woman on the bus took a shining to Katy and walked with us, allowing Katy to help her "pull" her wheeled bag). We checked in, checked the heaviest of the bags on my back and headed toward security. Even security wasn't so bad. I let Katy walk through by herself. Unfortunately, the change I forgot in my pocket set off the detector, so I was fully frisked (and, boy, they FULLY frisk you at German security) which alarmed Katy slightly but she did well. It was then time for more snacks and more waiting.
Ryanair is a lot like Southwest airlines in how it boards (ie, no assigned seating) so I was slightly nervous about making sure we found two seats together. We did well in that regard and there were other children around us, so Katy fit right in. She was, again, VERY good on the flight. It was obvious that she was getting tired of traveling by this point, but I have no complaints about her behavior.
We unloaded from the flight, grabbed our bags and met Diane who was right there waiting for us. We were in Italy! We loaded into their van and Katy fell asleep almost instantly. The excitement of the day had already exhausted her! She took a great nap while Diane and I got a chance to catch up and I checked out Italy for the first time.
When we got to the Z's house, Katy was instantly smitten. They had a barbie house! She immediately proceeded to put all the barbie's to bed. Even after we went back upstairs (this was in the room we were staying in) she insisted that she needed to go back down to play with them. She was only satisfied when I agreed to bring them upstairs so she could keep an eye on them.
Of course, they had tons of other toys she had never seen before and found just as entrancing. Remote control cars? Perfect!
Later in the afternoon we went to pick up Diane's kids from their respective schools. All her kids attend Italian schools, which is really amazing to me, and are all fluent in Italian. We dropped off Alex and dance and headed for Perdenone, their closest decent-sized city for our first Italian pizza dinner! First stop, checking out the water.
Perdenone was stunning.
Katy LOVED having big kids to run with. I'm not sure I've ever seen her run so much or for so long; and she had a smile on her face for every minute of it.
We continued onward and ended up in an exquisite chocolate shop along the way. Chocolate soccer cleats, chocolate shirt, chocolate watch.... A few widows down was a chocolate dress
Katy took an instant shining to Dan.
It probably helps that he was getting samples of chocolate. Look at that anticipation....
It was good - MORE!
The kids held hands, ran, played hide and seek and hugged on Katy. It really warmed my heart to see her so happy and excited.
We were a little early for dinner (Italians typically don't eat until around 8 - so the restaurants don't open until at least 6) so we wandered down to a nearby carousel. unfortunately it was only being set up for the next day, so we didn't get a chance to ride.
Back to dinner, at last. Katy was so excited to sit with the "big kids" and have her own menu.
They all just chatted up a storm. It really didn't understand how intelligible Katy was at any given moment since everyone was talking over each other all the time.
Of course, the natives (or not so natives as the case may be) became restless, but that's the wonderful thing about temperate climates and outdoor restaurants; it gave Katy a chance to run around some more and make friends with the locals....
It was wonderful to FINALLY be in Italy and catching up with friends (we've missed you guys - and miss you again now that we're gone!), but there were more adventures to come!
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One year ago today:
http://kathrynwhite.blogspot.com/2007/10/happy-halloween-it-started-off-very-sad.html
http://kathrynwhite.blogspot.com/2007/10/in-order-for-party-to-end-this-way-you.html
