Yes...that is me with the camera hanging from my neck - sure wish I had it hanging around my neck in the Pisa airport. In the red is my friend Valerie in our Carnivale masks. Venice was absolutely incredible. Everyone needs to experience Venice at Carnivale time at least once. We were there for the opening of Carnivale and I can't even begin to imagine what "Fat Tuesday" was like.
Being directionally dyslexic in a city like Venice is not a good thing. Even with maps we found ourselves turned around more than once. All the canals and waterways make things that much more complicated. While in Venice we hopped a water taxi and headed to the island of Murano which is known for it's incredible glassworks. We sat in on a glassblowing demonstration which was interrupted by a wandering cat at one point. We ran into a U of M alumni who stopped us on the sidewalk in Murano. He surprised his wife with a birthday trip to Venice. I guess retired doctors can afford that, huh??? Another example of Minnesota Nice...
I wish I had a picture of the crowds from our last day in Venice (I have some pics of Venice because I downloaded them before Craig left, but everything after the first download in Venice were stolen with my camera). It was insane! Not for the claustrophobic! There was a parade extraordinaire! At points you could not even move. We were a bit nervous about making it through the crowds in time to catch our train to Switzerland - it seems like we were like salmon swimming up stream at times.
As I mentioned in an earlier post Switzerland was absolutely gorgeous! We stayed with a couple in the little town of Briere. They were such gracious hosts. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate so we weren't able to wander through the Swiss Alps because of the likelihood most of the passes would be closed due to snow. Phillipe shared some pictures he took so I at least believe the Alps really do exist!!! Craig and I are hopeful of returning to Switzerland before we return home. Perhaps during the Montreaux Jazz Festival. Phillipe and Michelle have extended an invitation allowing us to stay in a small Swiss chalet...hmmmm...pretty hard to turn down!
Next stop...Annency France. Once again we stayed with friends we met through the international group in Wrocław. Their home is situated in the foothills of the French Alps and offered some incredible views! I found out cheese making is kind of stinky! We stopped at a little house where they made goat cheese. Great cheese...bad smell! What more can I say??? Sometimes you have to pretend the food you eat doesn't come from animals, huh?
The Swiss and French legs of our trip are totally without pictures. Hopefully our hosts took some pictures and will ship them my way. I feel horrible. As the designated photographer I feel I let down my friend when those scumbags made off with my stuff...arghhhhhhh
Florence, Italy: Stop four on the Valerie and Cindy Holiday Tour. Lots of naked statutes...lots of incredible architecture...lots of olive trees...lots of chianti; and, thankfully lots of pictures because Craig had to come to Florence to save me from the thieves of Pisa! Seeing the statute "David" was amazing. I know everyone has seen pictures of "David" but to actually stand there and look up at the details is breathtaking!
Did I tell you there is chianti in Italy? After spending eight days eating Italian food and drinking Italian chianti I hope to not see either for at least a month! Can I have a pierogi, please?
Odds and ends:
After one too many bad hair days on my trip I decided to get my hair cut - really cut! I scoured through my six-month old magazines for just the right haircut and bravely brought a picture to my Polish hairdresser. I had to tell her several times I wanted only the hairstyle and NOT the black hair the person in the picture had. She figured it out - thankfully! I haven't had hair this short in awhile but no bad hair days so I guess I'm happy.
It took about 30 minutes but the bank finally figured out I needed a replacement debit card and I wasn't opening a new account!! I still haven't been able to get a Polish credit card (because I don't work and my master has to grant his approval or the bank won't send me one)! Males still reign supreme here I guess.
Got to fly...especially if I'm going to post some pictures before heading to the grocery store to see what they don't have today!!!
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