Bring on the Pasta and Gelato!

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It's been over a week but I can never get used to these early wake up calls. This morning we all boarded the coach to leave the cool, clean, and efficient Alpine countries and descend into warm and chaotic Italy. First stop in the morning though was for a little white water rafting excursion for a few hours. It was supposed to be Patrice, Suzanne, Clay, and I doing this but apparently Suzanne and Clay starting feeling a bit under the weather and decided to forego this optional excursion. Only about 15 of us ended up going. Once we were dropped off, we all signed our waivers and picked out our wet-suits, helmets, and booties. We all got changed and were given a few instructions on how to properly paddle as well as what to do if you fall out. Patrice and I were in the same boat along with Claire, Chris, Wendy, Andrea, and little Sara. I was hoping that I wouldn't be in the front of the boat but when the guide said that he wanted strong guys in the front, I lost all hope for that (there were only 2 guys in our boat). As we all carried our raft to the river I thought, Damn, this thing was heavy. Even with 7 people carrying it! I realized just how cold that river water was when we all walked into the river knee high. With this freezing water and the cool chilly air, I practically guaranteed myself a bout with a cold! We all paddled in unison through relatively calm waters. After about 10 minutes, I started feeling quite winded and exhausted. I guess yesterday's activities drained every last bit of energy from me. Being in the front of the boat, I had no one to follow and basically had to lead my side of the boat in the paddling. At one point, our guide stopped our raft and wanted all of us to jump out and immerse ourselves in the water to reduce the shock. Once I jumped out and hit that water, my body seriously went numb for like 2-3 seconds and I could not move. That was without a doubt the coldest water I had ever felt. Back on the raft, we finally started to paddle through some faster moving waters. If I had to guess, the rapids were probably no more than a Category 3, nothing scary but you can feel a bit of adrenaline running through the body every time the raft went up and over a big wave. I just made sure my foot was securely in that strap. The last thing I needed was to look like a fool and fly out of the raft. The ride probably lasted a good hour and a half and alternated between strong rapids and calm waters. There were many moments during the calm portions of the river where everyone was just silent while admiring the steep mountains on both sides of the river. I can see how some people might describe it as being a spiritual moment, if one is into that sort of thing. We started playing racing games with the other raft and everytime the 2 rafts got close, we all took our paddles and tried to spray the other raft with water. We also played another game where we all stood up on the sides of the raft and put our arms around each other. Then everyone started moving to their right. This was to see who would slip and fall out of the raft first. I think Claire fell into the water, then Andrea or Chris slipped into the raft and knocked me out into the water. I stared to have enough and just wanted this to finish so I can get back into some warm clothes. Once I saw the others who didn't participate on a bridge above us waving and taking photos, I knew we were close to the finishing point. Thankfully back on dry land, we were all greeted with a nice warm cup of apple cider. Back into some warm clothes, I decided to order lunch. I had a really delicious sausage pizza. I figured I might as well prep myself now for some good old Italian food. Apparently those who didn't do the white water were dropped off at this lodge where they could relax, walk around, and have a snack. I'm glad I went, otherwise I would have been bored as hell sitting around at this tiny lodge.

We drive south into Italy while passing beautiful mountain scenery with many vineyards along both sides. Our first stop in Italy was the city of Verona. We were only here for about 2 hours with the highlight being Juliette's balcony. The courtyard beneath the balcony was crowded with tourists. It seems everyone was trying to get a picture with the statue of Juliette while grabbing her right breast. Apparently, if you rub her right breast, you will get good luck when it comes to love. I did it but I have yet to see the benefits. We took our obligatory photos but it wasn't so easy. We tried to keep it orderly and form a line but a group of older European tourists decided to forgo the line and go straight to the statue. Once that was done, we were looking for Patrice who we figured just got lost again. Then we hear her calling our names from above. I guess she had decided to pay a few Euros and climb up to the balcony above. After this tourist trap, we had about an hour to just wander and get something to eat. Verona also had their own ancient colliseum which we walked by. It was under renovation and didn't seem as impressive as the one in Rome. We decided to skip this and wait until we see the more famous one in Rome. We had lunch at a sidewalk cafe where Matt said they had really good pizza. I tried the lasagna which was quite good. After lunch a few of us decided to have our first taste of gelato!.

Our hotel for the night was way outside of Venice, on the mainland. It was a chinese run hotel and it appeared that besides us, most of the guests were Chinese tourists. This by far was the worst hotel of the entire trip. Our room was okay but still below my standards. However, others weren't so lucky. Some people had rooms that smelled as if the toilets were backing up. Mar and Amy had the tiniest room I had ever seen and most everyone had bathrooms where there was no divider between the shower and the rest of the bathroom. So that when someone took a shower, the entire bathroom flooded. Having a few hours to kill before dinner, most people decided to use the laundry facilities nearby. For dinner, the 6 of us sat with Jason and Andria. Dinner was very bland and boring. Our first night in Italy and what do we get served? Some weird meat dish and fries. After dinner we were joined by Kevin and we just sat around the table picking at our desserts and discussing politics back home in the states. We decided to keep it a quiet night and meet up at the bar and play some cards. The bar/lounge area of the hotel was quite small and this is where most of us wound up tonight. Matt had given me some small change so that we could play some poker. A few people caught a taxi with Matt and Fridge and went to a club/bar in a nearby town. I played cards with Mar, Amy, Patrice, and Amanda for a bit. After this got a bit boring, I went outside to smoke and catch up on gossip with the Aussie 5 gossip crew. It was here that I was informed of a new hook-up that was forming. Apparently Claire and big Dave decided to end it and now she was hooking up with Michael. We didn't realize it but Claire and Michael were also outside with us. They weren't within hearing range so they didn't hear what we were saying but by the looks of things, there was a lot of flirtyness going on. So the Aussie 5 gossip crew and myself thought it would be funny to go up to their room and try to spy on them. Their room was on the 3rd floor directly above Claire and Michael. All 6 of us got on the bed and stuck our heads out the window trying to hear. All of a sudden, the bed collapsed under all the weight and the girls let out a combination of shrieks and laughter. We were all lying on the floor laughing hysterically at what just happened. I wonder if Claire and Michael had any clue as to what was going on 3 stories above them. Poor Jess started freaking out as she realized that her bed was broken and that she might have to pay for it the next day. We all tried to fix it or at least cover up the damage. However, our attempts were in vain. I went back down to the bar to have one last drink and to see who was left hanging out. It was a relatively early night tonight after such a long day.

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