SHAW'S IN ITALIA!

Tuesday, April 1st

Nick and I couldn't have been more excited to see our college friends, Anne and Matt Shaw, in Italy! Neither Anne or Matt had been to Europe before. We couldn't wait to show them a little slice of Italia!

We started our tour with a stop in Verona from the Milan airport; although, our real reason for stopping was for their first taste of gelato in Italy.

It was a beautiful day in Italia with friends! Behind us is the Roman Arena.

Anne and Matt didn't know, but I took them on a Rick Steves walking tour of Verona. I've done it a few times before. Unfortunately, I didn't remember much of the history. (doh!) One of our stops was  Romeo and Juliet's balcony. There's graffiti, gum, and love locks covering the walls in the court yard near the famous balcony. Somehow, chewed up gum doesn't make me think of star-crossed lovers. Maybe that's just me. :)

We meandered through the streets and over to the river and back. It was a quick and fun break.

When we arrived back in Sacile we gave them a short tour of the town, before having some homemade chili. Yes, you read that right. Anne and Matt's first dinner in Italy was chili! Maybe I should have planned that a little better, but I'm sure they got their fair share of Italian food in the following days.

Wednesday, April 2nd

The first full day in Italy we showed them around our area. We started with a coffee on the river in our town, and then headed to Gorgazzo springs. It's ranked number 1 of 4 for Polcenigo on Trip advisor! Haha!

In the military, if someone makes an outrageous statement, another person can yell, "Manchester." It means that if you don't follow through with your outrageous statement that day the person that said "manchester" can slap you. Doesn't that sound like a silly thing pilots would do? 

While we were in Gorgazzo, Matt was looking at the beautiful spring water and said he would swim in the water. I called, "Manchester." Matt didn't know about the game, so I gave him until the end of the week to follow through. HE DID! Nick and Matt went back that Saturday and took a dip in the morning! Crazy! Anne and I didn't actually witness them swimming, but I imagined they squealed like little girls. :)

Matt started posing for pics and decided to test his balancing skills...

SO of course, Nick had to try it too. :) Boys will be boys! :)

We jumped back into the car and drove around the corner to Polcenigo to do some exploring. We found these old ruins. 

Pretty Anne with picturesque Polcenigo below.

Anne pointed out that Italians brick windows up instead of boarding them up. I think we both prefer the brick. It definitely fits in Italy.

We went searching for the boys and discovered they were climbing! (of course!) Nick said he actually scared himself at one point. Ha! Guess he needed a little thrill on his day off. 

I love this photo with the sunlight spilling down onto him. (Photo cred: Matt)

Anne and I were trying to figure out what type of bloom these were. A few bloggers called them cherry trees. These trees looked different than any cherry blossom I had seen. If these look familiar to you, let me know whatcha think!

Next we took a quick tour of the base. Matt and Anne got to see more than any other guest we've had. They witnessed a two-ship and four-ship take off with F-16s. I was most impressed by the fact that none of them plugged their ears while we were practically standing next to the jets taking off. I was the only weeny that couldn't stand it! They must have ears of steel! Haha!

Next we drove them up to the little mountain town of Barcis. This is one of my all time favorite places in Italy. I wouldn't mind living on this lake. :) The water is sooo blue and it's surrounded by mountains. 

We saw this swan without a mate. As he came closer to shore, Nick starting trying to poke it with a stick. (oy!) The swan lunged toward him and Nick tripped backwards. It was pretty hilarious. 

We walked a little farther to find this! Mama swan had just laid several eggs. She looked pretty exhausted. We were just feet away from her, and she didn't hardly budge. 

Farther down the lake Nick and Matt started battling it out with skipping stones. I joined in, but wasn't much competition. I can't remember exactly, but I think Matt won? :)

We had to take them across the only one-lane bridge I've ever seen in the world! At one point Matt got out and started jumping up and down on the bridge. We could all see and feel it moving! Ahhh!

That night we took them to a Cellini's for pizza right across from our restaurant. Somehow they had been in Italy for over 24 hours without having pizza or pasta! 

Thursday, April 3rd

On Thursday morning, Matt and Nick went to base to play on the flight simulators for an hour. Anne and I slept in! Haha! We got ready and walked around the market just outside our front door. The market is every Thursday morning. Vendors mostly sell cheese, flowers, fruit and vegetables. The boys came back and joined us for a coffee at my favorite little cafe.

That afternoon we headed to Trieste for a little adventure. Trieste is located in the very north-western corner of Italy. It was about an hour and a half drive from us. Our first stop was at the Miramare Castle. We toured the castle in about 25 minutes, then walked through the garden and grabbed another coffee. (In true Italian style) I think the average Italian has 5 cups of coffee a day! Haha! We walked back toward the castle to take a few pics...

Haha! Where'd Nick go?

We then drove over to the central square for some gelato. This is a sweet pic of Anne and Matt. 

A little history note: Mussolini gave a speech from the balcony the background in 1938. 

Friday, April 4th

Matt reaaallllly wanted to go snowboarding while he was here in Italy. Who could pass up the opportunity to ski in the Italian Dolomites? Most of the resorts closed on April 6th, so we were able to sneak in one last day of snowboarding.

We started our morning with a 3.5 hour drive up into the mountains to Val Gardenna. (Yes, 3.5 hours.) Nick and Matt were in the front seat, while Anne, Kristen (a friend from the squadron), and I were in the backseat of a mini. Anne and I weren't thrilled with the idea of traveling for 7 hours in the back of a car on a windy, and twisting roads. (And for good reason!) 

But the view was totally worth it! This was one of my favorite places I've ever snowboarded. They had a lot of options for all levels of expertise. And there was hardly anyone there!

Kristen Hubbard -  aka "Mother"

Anne taking a quick break for some photos. This was one of the *few* breaks we took while we were on the mountain. :) Teehee:)

One of the main reasons I would want to go back to this resort is for the bathrooms. Look at how thoughtful they were! They have hanging racks in every stall!

I just realized after going through these photos that I never got a picture of Matt after he was the one that really wanted to do this trip up to the mountains! Sorry, Matt! I'll be sure to get one next time! :)

We had a successful day on the slopes! I really can't wait to go back here!

                 

Saturday, April 5th

The last day Anne and Matt were with us we traveled down to Venice. Matt was super excited because we got to ride the train! It was his very first time riding a train!!!

So happy!

Once we arrived in Venice, we dropped their things at their hotel and then ventured out...

I had to take a picture of this really random Burger King! They say location is key for sales. I've been to Venice over a dozen times, and this was the first time I've noticed it. 

We wandered through the canals in search of San Marco's square. 

After grabbing gelato and then lunch, we rode an elevator up to the top of the Campanile in San Marco's square for a bird's eye view.

The Doge's Palace (behind us while we were standing in line)

After Nick promised us it wouldn't rain while we were down in Venice... it continued to rain sporadically throughout the day.  :) So he bought 3 umbrellas for us! How thoughtful! But my purse was not very large, so Anne put them in her bag while we were walking around Venice! DOH! Anne's a thinker though, and she spotted a nifty little hook on Matt's jacket that was perfect for holding purses! Haha! I would definitely buy a jacket for Nick with that feature, so that I could hang my purse from his jacket. :) Here's Matt modeling his spiffy purse-jacket. Haha!

The view from the top of the Campanile was amazing! I loved seeing so many red-tile roofs. 

You can see the Doge's Palace on the left and the island of Lido across the water. 

San Marco's square.

On our way back down, we all started to get into the elevator when the operator stopped Nick and told him to wait for the next one. Haha! The look on his face was priceless. 

Hahahaha! He was so grumpy that he was the only one that had to wait at the top, but we all laughed about it. This is his, "I was grumpy, but the whole situation was funny" face. :) Haha!

After a quick coffee, we tried to sneak into the Doge's Palace to see a fountain that is the replica of one that's at Principia. (or maybe vice-versa) It took about 10 minutes of Nick explaining his whole life story for the gaurds to let us snap a quick picture. This is as close as they would let us get to them. :) Haha!

Campanile

Doge's Palace

Marble on the side of St. Marks Basilica

We walked a bit farther through the canals to find a unique bookstore. 

They have a staircase made of books. (Does that make it a bookcase?)

Anne in Alta Acqua Libreria

Nick was feeding the birds and then trying to catch them when they got close to him. 

We wandered around for a while afterward trying to find a good place to eat for dinner and just enjoying the last couple hours with friends. 

We were wondering if this was really water that we could drink. Nick decided to test it. :)

That's really a normal sized door. I don't know what happened to Matt when he was in Italy!

Then Nick decided to walk on water!

We found our way back to St Marks square. We noticed a few kids trying to photobomb tourist's photos. So we plotted a photo to get them to try and photobomb us! It worked!! Haha! 

Matt and Anne got to see a rare sight! A huge cruise ship was being towed through the canal. It's hard to see but there were thousands of people standing on the boat looking at us...or maybe St. Marks square. Haha!

One of our favorite experiences in Venice was riding on our own boat through the Grand Canal.

We're on a boat!

After we got off the boat, we starting searching for our dinner joint.

Nick and Matt herding pigeons.

These "building staples" were all over the walls in Venice to help keep the building together. Yikes.

These sweet men were playing some of the most upbeat music I'd ever heard. They were so cute! They yelled, "dance," in Italian as we walked by.

For dinner we sat at a restaurant in a square filled with locals off the beaten path. There were kids and dogs playing, men sitting on benches, and couples eating at nearby restaurants watching all of the activity.

It was a great way to end a fun trip with friends! 

Ciao, friends! So glad we got to show you around for a few days on your first trip to Italy!