Vacanza d'Italia, Ultima Parte

So, I am back in the States and already a week has gone bye since I
left Bella Italia. But, let me start, where I left off the last time.
For the second week of vacation, we moved into a
suburb of Venice, a town called Mogliano Veneto.
The apartment was good, but a totally different feeling
than Lake Idro, since it was nestled in a regular neighborhood of
the city. I was also missing the cooling effect of the lake, since the
temperatures were creeping up on us in the mid to high 30s.


Nevertheless, we had new places to explore and the first trip took
us to the very north-east side of Itlay to visit the Grotta Gigante.
And Gigante it was. You enter the cave through stairs and after the
first couple of steps, you can see
the whole cave below you. The
cave as the dimension of roughly
100m high and 130 wide. You
go down 500 steps, walk across
the bottom and climb 500 back
up. Amazing!
It feels like walking the Mines of
Moria, you can see other people
moving in the distant like little glowing dots moving around. Cool.


After spending Monday at the beach, we made
or way to Venice on Tuesday. We took the local
train and when we arrived it felt like stepping
into the biggest tourist trap on earth.
TONS of people squeezing themselves through
small streets, clogged by street vendors trying
to sell all kind of junk. Luckily, we were able
to side step the main street ways to meander
through the small side streets of the town.
Amazingly, as soon as you leave the beaten
path, the streets are almost empty and you can find little
piazzas and places where hardly anybody
is around. After lunch, we made our way
back into the frenzy by going to Piazza
San Marco, the bridge of sighs and
of course the Rialto bridge.
By the time we went back to the
train station, we were totally exhausted.
There was just to much heat.
Overall, Venice was interesting, but I
would like to come back when it is
less hot and less crowded.

We also took a trip to Bologna, which was
another great town to visit. Covered
walkways are present throughout the city,
which make it easy to avoid the
blistering sun. The city has a more relaxed
feel to it, than Venice and you can tell it is
known as a student town. We had lunch
in a small restaurant and although the waiter
was, lets say, less motivated, the food was
good. And walking through the city there
was ample opportunity to get coffe and
ice-cream, which was outstanding.
Overall, I'd say Bologna was one of my favorite places to visit.

The last night we spent in Treviso and after
a long search for a place to eat, we settled
in this hidden place, which seem to be
specialized in fish.
And wow, what a meal we had.
Everything on the table tasted amazing,
from the Gnocci to the Cuttlefish.
Certainly a fitting end to a great vacation.




On Saturday it was time to say good-bye. Nina, Birgit and Jan dropped me
of at Venice airport and I made my way back to Detroit. Besides the typical
adventures of air-travel, late flights, annoying passengers, everything went
smoothly.

Overall, this was a real great vacation. I spent a lot of time with my family
and saw a lot of different places in a country I haven't been before.
What more can you ask for.

Now its back to work, but the next adventure is lurking around the
corner. Another week or so I will be owning a house and move to
Royal Oak.