Blogs from Mestre, Veneto, Italy, Europe

Geo: 45.4958, 12.2441What a long day today! It was a bit overwhelming! It is currently after 10:30pm as I start to type this and Kamie is snoring next to me. I'm trying really hard to not fall asleep because I keep going to sleep "early" (around 9:30/10:00) and then waking-up at 3 or 4 in the morning. I have huge bags under my eyes and frankly, I could probably sleep at any moment if given the chance. I've been going-going-going on about 4 or 5 hours of sleep per 24 hours for a couple of days now, if that. To back up.... I was awake at 3/4 am last night and could not go back to sleep. I finally got in the shower and started getting ready. Kamie was awake by 6 am. We had breakfast ... read more

We are here sitting at Portland PDX just hanging out waiting to board the plan and of course having a few drinks. This morning we woke up and went down stairs where they had a full free breakfast. Mother was pretty impressed with the breakfast and even with the hotel. Afterwards we went back up stairs to get ready to head off to the airport. She is one funny gal where she took everything out of her suitcase where I only pulled a few items out of my travel bag. Watching her get ready this morning made to think that this is going to be a very very long trip. We left for the airport but first we needed to fill the car up with gas before we returned. Mother was starting feel sick because she ... read more

Well despite a weekend full of transportation issues I still love Venice! We left for Venice on Friday and unfortunately we were forced to delay our train ticket because of a work phone call that we had to take. Then we missed the train because of some confusion with the time. Lucky the train lady took pity on us and let us change our ticket again despite a rule against that and on top of that we had to go into Mestre instead of Venice which was perfect since that is where Lena and I were staying anyway. That night we ventured into Venice for dinner and the city was truly breath-taking. Right when you leave the train station you are next to the Grand Canal which was beautiful. I have heard some stories about how ... read more

Hola!!!!...Bueno aqui vamos....Breve racconto...legamos a Milan tras un muy buen vuelo por Luthansa.....digo bueno por la impecable atencion (sorry..no encuentro los acentos) de la gente de a bordo...el espacio.mmm... el del vuelo Frankfurt Milan fue mas comodo... En Milan nos comenzo a recibir Avis.. bueno el auto......y genial el GPS!!!! ...pese a todo lo que hicimos por confundirlo, se la banco bie ....y jamas nos insulto!!!!!! aunque lo mereciamos largamente....gracias a el pudimos llegar al hotel... Luego tras una breve recorrida de Mlan por la noche (divino.. mucho movmiento) fuimos a Venecia, pasando por Bergamo y Verona. Bergamo es espectacular..una ciudad antigua encantadora...mucha plata ..muchos lindos autos: muchos Mercedes, BMW, Audi...e incontables modelos de peugeot (107,208) citroen (c1,c2) renault, VW etc. Pasamos tambien por Verona...La Arena (un mini Coliseo) mu... read more

In homage to The Tour, which is taking place as we speak, we completed the first stage of our own tour by taking ownership of our bikes last night. As one of the tougher stages so far it has to be said it was a was a bit of a trial to complete - having as we did to endure the sniggers of the shop staff who were clearly mystified by our plan to ride home through France in the August heat despite clearly having no clue about how to attach a pannier, nor which brake lever controlled which wheel. Clearly thinking we must be in the midst of our very own doping scandal, they did however provide exemplary service, albeit in an Italian 'when I am ready' type of fashion. So, once the cash was ... read more