Tuesday, May 4—From Venice to Florence

The rain was coming down steadily when we set out after breakfast today to visit the Doges Palace in San Marco Square. When we got to the palace, there was a very long line of tourists, with umbrellas, waiting in pouring rain to get into this, the most popular tourist attraction in Venice. Fortunately, thanks to the advice of Rick Steves in his book, we had bought a “Museum Plus” ticket yesterday that not only provided us admission to the Doge's Palace, but also allowed us to avoid this long line in the driving rain. We really felt like we were “Somebody” as we walked past all those soggy people right up to the front of the line and waltzed right in! The Doges, while they had no real power, were the figure-heads of the Venenitan government for about 400years while Venice was the seat of power in Europe. Each room in the Doge's Palace was more magnificent than the one before, until we got to the dungeons. We didn't even want to think about what had taken place there centuries ago. We were hoping the rain would be done by the time we finished touring the palace, but it was still coming down in torrents, so we finally gave up and headed back toward our hotel, Al Piava, where the owner was kind enough to loan us a second umbrella, since ours is too small for two people. A stop for lunch at a quaint little ristorante next to our hotel for pizza bought us a little more “dry” time, but eventually, we had to just head out into the rain for the walk to the vaporetti (water bus) station where we caught a boat to the train station.

The train trip to Copenhagen 2 ½ weeks ago had made us paranoid about not having reservations, so since that time we had made sure we had reservations, but as it turned out we didn't need them. When we came from Munich to Italy this past Saturday, we had not made reservations and we didn't need them as the train was almost empty. So for today's trip from Venice to Florence, we didn't bother with reservations either, hoping that especially mid-week, the train would not be busy. So we boarded the beautiful Eurostar train and we were right—the train was not especially full. We sat down and made ourselves comfortable, with about 20 minutes to spare before the train left the station. Two men came along, and we were sitting in their seats, so we just moved across the aisle and settled in. We went through several stops on the train before the conductor came along and asked for our tickets. Bev showed him our Eurorail pass and he asked to see our reservations. She told him we didn't have any, and in a less-than-friendly tone, he told us we needed reservations for this train, and hadn't we read the instructions that came with our Eurorail pass. (Can't say that we had thoroughly read the booklet that came with our tickets! And since this was a modern Eurostar high-speed train, reservations for the train are REQUIRED!) So he proceeded to charge us for reservations, AND made us give up our seats if anyone claimed them between where we were and Florence, which included one stop in Bologna. So instead of paying 10 Euro for each ticket's reservation at the station for the required reservations, we had to pay 18 Euro each on board for the tickets, which was effectively a 16 Euro penalty—about $20. When the train stopped in Bologna, people got on and a man came to claim Bev's seat. When she got up to move, he waved her off and sat in a seat across the aisle. But Bev's better looking than I am, as the guy that came to claim my seat actually wanted to sit in his assigned seat, so I got up, and we went to find seats in a car a couple cars from ours for the rest of the trip. We got to the coffee bar car, and looked ahead. The next car was very crowded and we didn't want to try to get through it with our backpacks and bags, and with only about 30 minutes left of our trip to Florence, we just put our bags on the floor out of the way of pass-through traffic and stood the rest of the trip. After standing 5 ½ hours on the train to Copenhagen, with people elbow-to-elbow, this was a walk in the park!

We arrived in Florence, got off the train and started to walk to the end of the track, and there stood our most gracious Italian host, Alessandro Martire, known to us and our Lynn, Jackson friends as Alex, waiting to meet us. I had met Alex and his wife, Anna, one time a couple of years ago at a dinner party at Haven and Terri Stuck's in Rapid City. Also, Alex, who is an attorney, had helped me a few years ago get some information on a case I had involving an Italian company. Alex took us to their home, where we met Anna and their houseful of cats and their dog, Keera. Alex gave us a tour of their home, full of amazing Native American artifacts and keepsakes. We presented him with a couple of small gifts as a token of our appreciation for their hospitality. We then sat down to a traditional Italian 4-course meal, including tortellini, pork, spinach and fruit tort. Delicioso!!

Alex's 86-year-old father, it turns out, was scheduled for very risky heart surgery the next morning in a city three hours from Florence, and Alex understandably had to be there for the surgery. So he explained that he was not going to be able to show us around Florence the next couple of days as he'd planned, but instead had to leave about 5:00 a.m. to go be with his father. He had arranged for two women who spoke English to come to the home and pick us up and take us into Florence (about 30 minutes from their home) to take us to some of the sites. Then, he explained, when Anna was finished teaching her high school classes, she will meet us and bring us back home. Bev and I felt so bad that we were “in the way” while such a family emergency was going on, and apologized for that to Alex. But ever the gracious host, he dismissed our concern and apologized that he wasn't able to be our tour guide himself! We are beside ourselves with concern for Alex's father, and guilt for the unwittingly poor timing of our visit.

Monday, May 3—Getting Around Venice

Because yesterday had not been very productive in terms of touring Venice, we were determined to see some of the sites today. But the first order of business was to change hotels. We packed up everything and headed out for the Hotel Al Piava. After a couple of predictable miscues, we found the hotel we had booked yesterday and even though our room wasn't ready yet, the owner was happy to let us leave our luggage, and they promised to deliver it to our room when it was available! How nice was that?

The forecast was for showers and it was overcast as we headed for and got on vaporetti, using our 72-hour passes, and toured up and down the Grand Canal. The vaporetti is like a subway or bus system, and you can get on and off as you wish. It was a good way of getting a sense of the main attractions of Venice and where they are in relation to one another. By late morning, the sun broke out and the rest of the day was gorgeous—sunny, but the air was fairly cool, with the highs reaching about 72 degrees F. (Don't ask me how that converts to Celsius!)

We got off at the stop at the train station and walked a little ways and had lunch. Then we boarded the vaporetti again and took the Rick Steves-guided tour of the Grand Canal by reading his book along the way. When we finished that, we got off at San Marco Square and bought “Museum-Plus” passes to get us into the Correr Museum, to give us an overview of the history of Italian life and art, as well as the Dolges Palace, where the dukes of Venice had lived and where the government of Venetia, this whole region of Italy, carried out its functions.

The Correr Museum was interesting, even though we're not huge museum fans. But after about two hours of reading all the plaques, and walking and standing on terrazzo floors, we were beat. It was about six o'clock when we got back to the neighborhood of our new hotel, and we found a place to sit and relax and share a half carafe of red wine. That was a welcome break! My dogs were barking! Then it was off to dinner, which again got us lost for about a half hour, trying to find a restaurant that our hotel owner, Mariella, had recommended. But dinner was great and we actually found our way back to our hotel pretty seemlessly. Tomorrow we'll have to wrap up our sight-seeing in Venice by early afternoon, as we leave for Florence on a 4:27 train tomorrow afternoon.

Saturday, May 1—On to Italia!

Well, May is finally here, so it's time to head to Italy, where we will live out our fantasy of spending one month in the country that everyone we've ever talked to has loved! Ever since we saw the movie “Under the Tuscan Sun” years ago, we've wanted to see Italy, and spend most of the time in Tuscany. So this sabbatical is our chance to do it up right!

Bev and I got up a little before 7 a.m., showered, finished packing our things, and said goodbye to Patti (Nadege was still away at her meeting with her law firm). We left Nadege and Seth's apartment about six minutes before the bus was scheduled to arrive at the nearby bus stop. Seth walked with us to the bus stop and gave us instructions on how to buy a ticket on board. Even the littlest things are hard to figure out. We made it to the bus stop on time, with about 30 seconds to spare. The ticket machine on the bus was a good way for Bev to get rid of the heavy Euro coins, and she bought two tickets for a total of 5 Euro for the 10-minute ride to the train station. Seth had told us where to find the Starbucks and we bought some coffee and sweet rolls there and had time to enjoy them before stopping to buy some fresh fruit for the almost 8-hour train trip to Venice. We then found our train with plenty of time to spare, got on and situated and left Munich precisely at the appointed departure time of 9:31 a.m.

The trip took us through Southern Germany—Bavaria—and within minutes we were in the Alps! If you have to be on a train for almost 8 hours, you may as well go through the Alps of Bavaria, Austria and Italy! The Austrian Alps slowly transcend to the omnipresent vineyards of Italy as our EC train takes us to our final destination for today—Venice! As in the Black Forest, everywhere you look is a postcard, and photos are merely a hint of the beauty that surrounds the traveler. You find yourself just trying to absorb the beauty.

After one train change, we got on a regional train that took us the final two hours of a five-hour trip to Venice, getting in shortly before 6:00 p.m. Now the fun of adjusting to yet another new language begins! All of a sudden the reality set it: We were not going to learn Italian on a 7-hour train ride! At the train station, where we are wary of pick-pockets, we found a place to buy tickets for the boat to take us on the canal to our hotel, as there are, of course, no cars in Venice. We decided that for the three days we will be in Venice, it might make sense to buy the 72-hour pass that we can use as much as we want for any boat travel while we're here. Then we got directions to the boat and boarded with our packs and bags in tow. We got off at the famous Rialto Bridge stop and wound our way through the maze--no, really, it is a maze!--to try to find our hotel that we'd reserved for two nights. It wasn't pretty, especially getting lost with all the heavy gear, but we did make it to the hotel! We checked in, bought tickets to see a Chamber Orchestra perform a tribute to Vivaldi tonight near San Marco Square, and changed clothes for the concert. After grabbing a quick pizza and glass of vinio at a small hotel near the location of the concert, we went to the hall and there we were--listening to our favorite classical music, Vivaldi, with the orchestra performing "The Four Seasons." It was too good to be true!

We then found a place for some snacks and vino and relaxed for a little before calling it yet another adventurous and memorable day!

Friday, April 30—Munich Re-visited

Nadege had to leave early this morning for a two-day retreat with her law firm. Patti went to the market this morning and bought some bread and muesli, and after breakfast and coffee, and caring for Henri, we put him in the stroller and the four of us set out to walk around Munich. Bev and I had been here for a day or two in 1993, but don't remember much about it other than Marienplatz and the Glockenspiel. Seth was the consummate tour guide, as we walked along the walking trails of the Isar River that runs through the city. He explained to us that the city had done a lot of landscaping of the river, designed to not only slow the river down, but to enhance the beauty and provide a place for leisure, including sun bathing and reading. Some of the sunbathing is topless, some even naked, so at least for Americans, this area is also good for people-watching!

We walked for about 45 minutes, and arrived at a biergarten owned by the Hofbrauhaus and had lunch and, of course, a beer in the beautifully shaded area out doors. Sitting there looking around at the locals enjoying the biergarten was like watching a Rick Steves show on Bavaria! We then walked on to the English Gardens and came upon people surfing in the river. The surfers took turns as they one-by-one jumped into the water from the paved edge of the river and surfed for maybe 15-20 seconds, then dove into the water, or fell, and floated downstream about 50 meters where they got out, retrieved their surfboards, and went back upstream to start all over again. The video captures this entertainment.

We walked through the center of Munich, including through the Marienplatz, on to the open market and eventually back to the apartment. When we got back, Seth estimated we had walked about 10 kilometers, which would be about 6 ½ miles! Our “dogs were barking” and it felt good to put our feet up and rest for an hour or so. Seth had made dinner reservations at a neighborhood restaurant for the four of us. Henri was perfect, sleeping through the entire dinner in his stroller next to our table. As he had done at lunch, Seth interpreted the German menu, as English menus were not available, and Bev and I both ordered weiner schnitzel with potato salad and cranberry sauce. I also ordered a bowl of white asparagus crème soup that was to die for! By the time we got home, we were bushed! Seth and I had stayed up late last night, catching up on mutual friends from Madison and discussing German and American politics. But tonight, there would be none of that. He and I were as tired as Patti and Bev, and Seth was playing the role of single-parent with Henri while Nadege was out of town. Tomorrow Bev and I would catch a bus shortly after 8:30 at the bus stop across the street from the apartment, so we gathered our things and made our way to bed on this, our last night in Germany.

Thursday, April 29—A Day in the Mountains

We had a full breakfast included with our room charge, so we met for breakfast. Baby Henri is a really good baby and is fun to have along. We checked out of our hotel, and got permission to leave our bags and stroller there, out of the way of other guests, then set out with a hiking trail map. We had numerous options to choose from as we set out on our hike. The hike we chose was quite steep in parts and fairly sunny on this cloudless day, with only occasional stretches of shade to cool us. By the time we arrived at a “hut” which was a restaurant in the mountains, we were all pretty warm and sweating. We found a place to sit in the shade. Because of the arid mountain air, we cooled down in just a few minutes. Bev and Patti decided to stay there with Henri while Seth, Nadege and I decided to hike the rest of the way to the chapel at the top of a mountain near by. Looking up at the chapel on the rock mountain was a pretty intimidating sight, as it looked from our vantage point that we'd have to use mountain climbing tools to reach the chapel. In fact, the hike to the chapel was pretty easy, with wooden and dirt steps basically the entire way, and the whole hike in the shade. Along the way there are the 14 Stations of the Cross in this very, very Roman Catholic part of Germany (contrary to the very, very Protestant part of northern Germany from where we'd come). I was able to tell what each of the stations was, even though they were labeled in German, and Seth confirmed my naming of them because he speaks fluent German. We reached the chapel, and were awed by the view of the valleys below. The green, green valleys with the red-roofed homes, set against mountains, forests and even a lake, were something to behold on this sun-drenched day. There was a slight breeze at the top, which was welcome as we cooled down from the climb to the top.

After about 30 minutes at the top, the three of us walked back down the stairs of the trail to meet up with Patti, Bev and Henri. The women had enjoyed their time with Henri, even taking some photos of him (no, really!). We showed them pictures on our camera of the views from the top of the mountain. We were all short of cash for lunch and beer, so we decided to pool our cash and share a couple of entrees and a dessert. We each had our own beverage, however! It turned out to be just the right amount of food for us and we were all happy and rested as we found a different trail down the mountain back to the village of Tergensee. Back to our hotel we went, picked up our bags, got cash from an ATM machine at a bank, and then we were off to the train station to catch the train back to Munich. When we got to Munich, we jumped on a bus at the train station for the 10-minute ride to Nadege and Seth's apartment, located in downtown Munich. We took turns showering and changing into fresh clothes, as both Nadege and Seth collaborated on preparing a wonderful pasta and salad meal, which was perfect for the mood we were in. As much as we love German food, we've been in Germany about 10 days and have had more than our share of it. So the pasta and salad really hit the spot!

Wednesday, April 28—Munich and Tergensee

Bev and I decided that since we'd be riding on the train for about 4 hours to Munich today, we would walk from our hotel to the train station in Karlsruhe, carrying our backpacks and “second bags” that we each had. The walk was roughly 500 meters, which would be about five city blocks. It was yet another gorgeous sunny morning, so the walk was very pleasant and we got to the station in plenty of time to get a roll and coffee, and to buy some bread to go with the cheese we bought at the market in Freiburg yesterday. This would be our lunch on the train, as we were due to arrive in Munich at 1:00 p.m. Seth and I had communicated through Facebook and here was the plan: Seth, Nadege, Patti and baby Henri would meet us at the station at the end of our track. We then would have one hour to catch a train with them to Tergensee, a mountain resort town about one hour away, where Seth and Nadege had been before on holiday several times before. They had made hotel reservations for three rooms.

The train from Karlsruhe left right on time, but when we got to Stuttgart, the train to Munich was delayed about 20 minutes. Eventually it was announced on the train that we'd be getting into Munich about 1:10—about 10 minutes late. But we knew that would not be an issue, since we had full hour before we had to catch the train to Tergensee. The leg to Munich was uneventful, and we relaxed, did some reading and caught up on our blogging, which is hard to do every day, especially when you're staying with people, touring by day and chatting by night. Not a bad problem to have, mind you!

The train pulled into the Munich central station about 5 minutes after one on Track 16. We strapped on our backpacks and grabbed our second bags and stepped off the train, heading to the end of the track where we were to meet up with Seth and crew. As we started to walk, we saw Seth running toward us with a backpack on his back, his eyes big and friendly, but he was obviously excited. He ran up to Bev and offered to take one of her bags, and said, “We've got two minutes to catch an earlier train and we have to get to Track 37. Can we hurry and try to catch it?” Bev's German kicked in, and she responded, “Oh shit!” Then we both said, “Let's go!” and off the three of us went, running as best we could with heavy backpacks and carrying our second bags Seth, of course, kept getting out ahead of us, but kept looking back to make sure that we were still alive, as well as still on our way! As we got to Track 37, we saw the train still on the track, with Nadege, a baby stroller, and Patti, waiting by the open train door, and watching to see if we would make it. And we DID make it! Without chest pains, even! Whew! We were all laughing as we unloaded our bags on the train and Seth announced, “I've got beer!”He proceeded to pull one litre bottles of a Munich local favorite out of his backpack. Seth then explained that by catching this train, we avoided waiting an hour in the train station in Munich before the next train to Tergensee. We were more than happy to oblige, despite the workout!

We got into Tergensee about 2:15 p.m. and walked to our hotel, got checked in and found that our room had a drop-dead gorgeous view of Lake Tergensee, with the Alps in the background. We all met in the lobby and went for a walk around the resort town, along the lake, and eventually found a little outdoor biergarten where we stopped for a beer and relaxed. Since we hadn't seen Patti for so long, other than briefly at breakfast on Sunday, we had a lot of catching up to do. We then returned to our hotel, freshened up and then went to dinner at a nearby restaurant. Seth talked us into Schwein knuckel, which is pork that has a fried fat crust. We'd never had this before, but had seen it on menus throughout Germany. We found this entree to be very meaty, very good and very different from anything we'd had in Germany up to now. Then back to our hotel to bed, to rest up for the hiking we'll do tomorrow into the mountains above the lake. Is this all really happening?

Tuesday, April 27—Freiburg & the Black Forest

After a full breakfast at our hotel in Freiburg, the four of us put our luggage in the car and went to the Tourist Information center, got a map of Freiburg and did the walking tour of the city centre, looking at the old buildings, the water canals along the streets and walking through the open air market. We bought some cheese for our train trip tomorrow to Munich, and some red wine from a man selling from his vineyard in the Rhine to take to Nadege and Seth. Freiburg came highly acclaimed to us from Nadege's family, and we loved every inch of its beauty and charm. We're told that Freiburg has most days of sunshine in all of Germany, and today was one of those. The city is on the western edge of the Black Forest and is a university town, with the university and its students intertwined with the old city. The old Catholic cathedral took three years to build and was finished in 1200. The streets have miniature canals along them, with clear running water to provide cooling and tranquility to pedestrians. Bikes and pedestrians are everywhere. Oh, and the weather was a perfect 10—a “Chamber of Commerce day” as I like to say. As I also like to say about places I like, "we'll have to come back here to Freiburg!"

After some scrumptious Guido-recommended bratwurst from a trailer at the open market, we got our car from the parking lot and left Freiburg, heading north to the Black Forest. We've been looking forward to seeing the Black Forest since we were in Baden Baden in 1993, when we simply ran out of time. Because of its name, I had always imagined that the area would be very dense, and very dark. Instead, it was open and sunny, with rolling emerald green hills and valleys, interspersed with forests and villages with red tile roofs on seemingly every structure.

We saw a thousand postcards as we drove through part of the forest, stopping here and there for photos. Guido and Annabelle were making their first trip to the Black Forest too, and enjoyed its awesome vistas as much as Bev and I did. Again, the weather was perfect and trees all had their leaves, so it's hard to imagine a more beautiful spring day to see the Black Forest! About mid-afternoon we stopped at a little town where there was a brewery that was founded by monks centuries ago. It was time for a break, so we stopped at a small cafe and had drinks outside on the patio. Bev and I had to try the local beer and our drivers, Annabelle and Guido, had non-alcoholic beverages. Annabelle is 19 and Guido is 20, and both are old enough to drink alcohol in Germany, where the legal drinking age is 18. Yet they are both very responsible in their alcohol consumption and abstain altogether if they are going to be driving.

Annabelle wanted to find a place to walk in the forest, so we got in the car and continued on our way north. In the Schwartzwald Region, behind the Hotel Langenwaldsee, we found a national park with walking trails, so we parked our car and went hiking in the beautiful forest, occasionally coming upon “huts” designed for cross country skiers, bicyclists and hikers to rest. One of them had mountain water coming out of an ornate spigot, so we drank from it. It was, of course, as pure-tasting as you'd imagine, so it was presumably safe to drink. Our hike probably lasted about an hour or so, then it was back in the car to continue our travel north to Karlsruhe. We eventually caught the autobahn, and Guido was definitely in his element as he traveled at speeds of up to 180 kilometers per hour, which is roughly 100 mph. Our plan was that Bev and I would get a room near the train station in Karlsruhe, then the four of us would have dinner, and then Guido and Annabelle were going on another two hours north to stay at Guido's godfather's home (Guido has four godfathers, by the way!). Guido has a soccer game tomorrow, so they wanted to be closer to home in the morning. So when we got to Karlsruhe, our first order of business was to find lodging. The first hotel we looked at was full, so we went to the train station to make reservations for tomorrow's train trip to Munich, and at the station we talked to the customer service woman. She offered to call a hotel for us. The first call she made, the hotel was also full. We asked why there seemed to be so many people in Karlsruhe on a Tuesday night, and she said there was a convention going on. We were getting a little nervous about finding a room, but her next call found a room for the two of us for 90 Euro, not including breakfast, and we took it. Annabelle, Bev and I walked about 500 meters or so, straight up the street from the train station, while Guido got the car and brought our backpacks and bags. We checked into the hotel, and it was very nice, complete with a four-poster bed and WI-fi for a modest charge. We got a recommendation from the man at the desk for a place to eat, requesting traditional German cuisine, and drove about 10 minutes. After a wonderful dinner, and the trading of electronic pictures between Annabelle and us, they drove us back to our hotel to drop us off. It was about 9:30, and because Guido and Annabelle had almost a two-hour drive ahead of them, Bev and I were anxious to have them get on the road. Yet the moment had arrived that we were dreading—saying goodbye to Annabelle, not knowing how long it will be before we see her again. And it was even hard saying goodbye to our new friend, Guido, who we like very much and who impressed us so much with his maturity. He's 20, going on 35. So after a few tears, they were off, and we were off to bed, to rest up for another travel day tomorrow to Munich.