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UPDATE ON LAST NIGHT'S DINNER: We were served with a creamy garlic soup (delicious), and then we helped ourselves to the salad bar. As we were finishing our salads, Jim-the-beer-aficionado got up and put on a faux German accent and acted as if he was welcoming us to the hotel. Then he said he had had to hire more help while we were staying there, and with a flourish he introduced Fraulein Helga. And in burst Valarie wearing an apron that made it look like she was wearing lederhosen with no blouse (the lederhosen straps were covering the naughty bits) and a Viking-style helmet with long red braids trailing out (she had bought these in
Schwangau), and she was carrying a tray with a bottle of beer on it. I suppose you actually had to be there, but it was hilarious and everyone cracked up for a solid two minutes.
Then we were served with our entrees: the fish was a whitefish and baked in a cornmeal crust; very, very tasty. After we were done with our ice cream desserts, Reid made announcements and then said that he and Rene had picked up a special treat for us. He disappeared for
a minute and came back with a three-liter bottle of beer. It was huge! I don't know what kind it was, but it had a picture of Neuschwanstein on it. He had plastic cups so that everyone could have a taste, and he told us he would step outside to uncork it; it was still a bit warm, he said, so it might explode with some force. So he left the room and about thirty seconds later came bounding back in wearing Valarie's get-up from before, and screeching, “Have you all got your glasses?” Well, we all spent another three solid minutes laughing our heads off, and then he poured beer for everyone. It wasn't bad. After such an active day, all that laughing pretty much finished everyone off. I really must start bringing my camera to meals.
TODAY: We left the hotel at 8:00 and drove through the Tirol, headed toward Italy. The region is
absolutely beautiful: steep mountains capped with snow, footed by rolling green valleys and cute little towns, all with the obligatory church in the center. And every so often a castle would appear, perched above everything. I wish my eyes could take photos. My camera doesn't do
justice to the depth and color, the light and shadows. I hope that John and I get to come back here someday.
We drove past Innsbruck and could see the ski jump from the 19?? Olympics.
We stopped at a rest stop, where I bought some Kaiser cough drops. And because there was a McDonald's with a McCafe, I went in hoping that the might have a mocha on the menu. The closest thing was a Choco Latte, which was okay, but definitely not a mocha.
We are now in Italy, where they still speak a lot of German. All the signs are in both German and Italian. We will be stopping soon for lunch together.
AFTER LUNCH: I'm warm! We stopped in Egna-Neumarkt for lunch at a small trattoria. We were seated outside on the patio, and you know how I feel about eating outdoors. But it was so nice and warm that I couldn't possibly complain. We were given salad and three grilled sandwiches each. The first one had cheese and tomato (yum); the second one had cheese, tomato and smoked turkey (yum-yum); and the third one had cheese, tomato and something that looked like beef but most definitely wasn't (I
had two bites and decided that it wasn't yummy at all). A glass of red wine was only a euro, and we were given gelato for dessert (I had cioccolato and
limone). And now we are on the bus again driving south, and I am warm and happy. I might take a nap.
LATER: We arrived in Venice, which is horribly ugly on the land side. You basically have to go down to the docks in order to catch a vaporetto (water bus), and it's not a very pleasant area. The vaporetto took us four stops to the Rialto stop (we went under the Rialto bridge), and we got off and walked less than five minutes to the Hotel Serenissima. The Republic of Venezia
used to refer to itself as the Most Serene, or Serenissima. We are not right on a canal – which is probably a good thing – but we are about a block away from one. Actually, we're probably about a block away from several. My room is on the fourth floor; there's no elevator. However, it's a nice little room, in spite of the wriggly nasty thing I found on the chair. I had to get Reid to come
and kill it for me. I honestly tried, but it kept wriggling and I couldn't handle it anymore. Fortunately, Reid was just going into his room down the hall, and I heard him turn his lock. I will have to give him extra marks on the tour survey!
We had a short orientation walk to ensure that we could find Piazza San Marco. We are maybe a three-minute walk from it. Unfortunately, quite a bit of the cathedral and the Campanile is covered in scaffolding, but that's certainly not unusual I Italy. I could probably return three years
from now and it would still be covered in scaffolding. Some of us paid the eight euros (!) to go up the Campanile (elevator!) to see the view, which is spectacular. And then the bells started to ring for the half-hour. No wonder Quasimodo was a bit mad. The bells were so loud that we all stood around with our fingers jammed in our ears and grimaces on our faces. They seemed to go on forever, but it was probably only three or four minutes. I'm glad we weren't up there on
the hour.
I went with Sandy, Sheree and Reid to a cafe on the
piazza to have a glass of wine before dinner. We stood at the bar, and we were given a whole array of snacks along with the
wine. Marinated onions are quite tasty. Then we all met back in the piazza to walk to dinner. The restaurant was across so many canals and down so many little alleyways that I know I'd never be able to find it again. It was so cute, with light fixtures that looked like grapes hanging above the tables. I had pasta with olive oil and garlic, and most of the rest of the group had seafood pasta. Afterwards, Reid took us for gelato. I had cioccolato and nocciola. Happy again!
Earlier, Reid had arranged for all but two of us to go on a gondola ride on the Grand Canal. We took up five boats, the middle one of which also had some musicians and a singer. I suppose it was a bit cheesy, but it was also a lot of fun. My boat's gondolier, though ... I wonder if he was a trainee. The other gondoliers seemed to be harassing him a bit (like they were telling him to keep up), and he just didn't seem
View from the Campanile
That's the top of San Marcoas into it. Also, he was smoking, which I found out later he's not supposed to do. Still, he didn't get us wet and he got us back to the landing in one piece, so
I guess he wasn't so bad.
We went back to Piazza San Marco, where Reid produced four bottles of prosecco, so we toasted being in Venice, as well as Kevin and Patty's 25th wedding anniversary tomorrow. Then some of us hung around the piazza for a little bit to listen to the duelling orchestras. One was at
Florian's, and they seemed to play more raucous music, and the other was at Quadri across the piazza, and they seemed to be a bit more refined. And the thing is, they were both good. It started to rain, so I walked back to the hotel. I've gotten all the way up to the fourth floor (huff puff, huff puff) and realized that I didn't ask the man at reception about wi-fi. Sigh ...
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