Bonded - Unbonded - Rebonded

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Venice - Verona - Lake Garda - VeniceJune 16 & 17, 2007

This morning the 3 Amerigos got up much earlier than the 2 younger Amerigos would have liked but Mom said sleep could be done in God Bless the USA. This began the driving through Italy experience—in our Renault Clio.

In preparation for the trip, web reading, podcast listening, and traffic sign memorizing was done to learn how to drive with the Italians…nothing can prepare one for that. Emersion is the best way to become just as crazy of a driver as they are! “Survival of the fittest” originated with the Romanian and Italian drivers.

So we jump on the Autostrada (toll freeway where there are people who drive normally and people who fly—we just stayed out of their way) and head to Verona, about 1 hour from Venice. Initially, the scenery wasn’t much different than driving on a US Interstate. That quickly changed when we arrived in Verona.

The Son and Mom Bonding Excursion Team fell in love—with Verona. It was absolutely amazingly beautiful and all we expected to see in our trip to Italy. Our primary reason for visiting Verona was to visit the Arena di Verona, built in 30 AD. During the gladiator days, it could seat 30,000 people; today major productions are held, mainly known for its operas but The Who had just been there. The Son has vowed he would return for a concert—of The Who type, not the opera type. Check out our the Verona pictures—difficult decision for Mom on which one to frame out of the hundreds The Photographer took in this city. They are breathtaking.

The 3 Amerigos team ended with the Arena tour then visited the famed location what is believed to be Juliet’s balcony in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The house belongs to one of the families on whose story Shakespeare is believed to have based his romantic tragedy.

Next, we dropped Deidra off at the train station, gave her our hugs, and wished her well on the remainder of her backpack trip. (We did get a frantic phone call later that evening but that’s a whole other blog topic—Mom, she worked it out!) The Son & Mom Team headed for the Garda Lake region where we planned to slowly travel the roads around the lake and capture the beauty through The Photographer’s lenses. It was more than we both could handle…and maybe more than the camera could handle. The Son has found where he would like to live for a year! Mom would join him if she could convince Other Son and Daughter-in-Law to allow Grandbaby to join The Son & Mom Bonding Excursion Team.

Check back in Year 2017 for the adventures of The Grandson & Grammy Already Bonded Excursion Team.

We checked into our modest hotel in Costermano and this time we immediately knew why we had no electricity. We also stuck our room key into every hole in the room but couldn’t activate the A/C. The desk clerk said the hotel no longer had A/C! Hmmmmm. Expedia will hear about that—not what was listed. A/C was the FIRST amenity Hot Flash Mom looked for in booking hotels! The cool mountain/lake air took care of us though.

Words can’t explain our Lake experience. We tried to capture it through the lens, but again will always have it in our hearts and minds. Our experiences included having a nice lunch at a unique restaurant and being treated as Americans by the owners (very sweet), water shuttling across the Lake to Limone (more than breathtaking)—home of Doug’s famous lemon liquer--, and sitting on benches just taking in the scenery and sounds. Bonding.

Then The Team UNBONDED.

After a fairly good night’s sleep, we began our tour back towards Venice where we were to spend the night before our flight back to Bucharest.

We chose a route through the mountains to return to Venice—an unbonding experience. Have we mentioned our Renault Clio HAD A STANDARD TRANSMISSION??? It's been 35 years since Mom has driven one! Put that together with hairpen mountain curves—with crazy Italian motorcycle drivers and car drivers still driving at incredibly high speeds—and you get an UNBONDING experience. For a little while though. A car of 3 Italian men stayed on The Team’s bumper and honked for Mom to speed up (of which she refused). The Team pulled over in a hairpen turn, waved the Italian driver around her, and they stopped, rolled their windows down, and commenced yelling at The American Team. After the Three Italians pulled away, The Team stopped and built an altar, commemorating the spot where the first American Team called 3 Italian jerks Assholes—at an altitude of 5,000 feet. The Team got back in the Clio and continued on the journey. The Son & Mom Team were rebonded. All we had at that point was each other.

Rebonded
We made it back to the Venice Resort, piled in our beds, and laughed a lot. The Son & Mom Bonding Excursion Team is making great memories. Do it, moms.

The Son & Mom Rebonded Greatly Missing a King-Size Bed and a Whirlpool Tub God Bless the USA Bonding Excursion Team

Look for pictures to be posted tomorrow--ran out of time

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