Monday, December 8th
Susan and Chester arrived from New York! Their flight took them to Frankfurt, Germany and then onto Milan, Italy. They hopped on a train from Milan and arrived in our sleepy little town by mid-day. I was so impressed that they figured out the train system after traveling from the States. They are expert travelers. I couldn't wait to see what the next 6 days would bring!
Tuesday, December 9th
We decided to take stay local after their long day of traveling on Monday. We drove to base and watched Nick take off and land before grabbing some Greek food on base. (My fav!)
The lighting couldn't have been more perfect for a photo op! Too bad Chester decided to wear his sunglasses. ;) (Susan's *fav*)
We thought this was Nick. We found out later that it was a different pilot. They all look the same!
After lunch, I drove Susan and Chester up to one of my favorite mountain towns. It was about a 20 minute drive from base. Along the way, Chester fell asleep. (This would be one of many times Chester would take a quick cat nap.) Chester blurted out, "there's too many street lamps." I wasn't looking at him because I was driving, but I assumed he might have been talking in his sleep. I responded, "Oh really?" There was a brief pause in the conversation then Chester said, "I was definitely sleeping." I just about fell out of my seat I was laughing so hard. I've never known someone to speak so clearly in their sleep.
We jumped out of the car for two seconds so I could catch my breath from laughing so hard, and snap a few photos. We hopped back in and drove up the snow-covered road to Piancavallo.
We didn't do much, since most things were closed. They did get to see the first snow of the season in Piancavallo!
I can't wait to hit those slopes soon!
Wednesday, December 10th
Nick was able to take a few days off work to visit and travel with the fam. We hit up Venice first!
The ride down on the train was really warm. Italians LOVE to be warm/hot. They will leave the windows up on the trains even if it is swelteringly hot. We got a few dirty looks when we tried to open a window.
We bought tickets for the vaperetto as soon as we stepped off the train. Our boat arrived shortly after.
The ride through the Grand Canal is about 20 minutes at a nice, relaxed pace.
We saw a few kayakers riding through the canals. What a great way to see Venice! Why didn't I think of that before!
...Almost to St. Mark's Square!
We made it!
This was Chester's first time to Venice. Susan kept telling him to take off his glasses for photos. :) This is one of my favorite shots of them with their glasses on in front of the Bridge of Sighs. :)
We debated what we wanted to do next. We decided to sneak in St. Mark's Basilica because there were no lines.
I spotted an entrance to see the view from the top of the Basilica. It was 5 Euro. I don't normally insist on seeing sites, but this one I HAD to see. It was totally worth it!
Not only did we get a view from the front of the Basilica, we also got to see the inside from the second story.
Why oh why did I wait two and a half years to see this view!?
I could have stayed up there all day!
The last view before going back down the steep steps. The views, artwork and history were totally worth paying the 5 Euro.
We were a bit famished, so we followed Nick as he led us to a popular pizzaria called Rosso Pomodoro. They were ranked #300 on tripAdvisor. I had a super cheesy pizza. It was very filling!
We tried to get lost a bit after lunch. We walked by the Danieli Hotel. We stopped in to check out the interior. It was decked out with holiday decor. Random: The only thing I really remember from stepping inside was the waiter that greeted me as I walked into the foyer, and how bad his breath smelled.
We continued on our "lost" tour.
I loved seeing this cute old man sitting on the steps eating his lunch.
I asked Chester to stand up against the wall. This was his response. :)
Haha!
We found our way back to the Rialto Bridge. Perfect timing with the lighting.
We stopped to grab another coffee before we hopped back on a train for Sacile. Coffee is always a good idea. :)
It was so warm on the train that we actually did roll the window down. A woman got on the train and asked us to put the window back up. Chester told her it was too hot, and that was the end of that. I love how people respond to Chester. He can get his way with pretty much anything. Must be a NY thing. :)
Thursday, December 11th
On Thursday's there's a market in our town. I love getting to show off our market to friends and family that visit. I don't have a single photo from the market day. Darn! We grabbed coffee, wandered through the vendors and little shops dotting the street before packing for our trip up to Berlin, Germany!
Friday, December 12th
We were all headed to Berlin where all the excitement would begin! Nick and I had never visited Berlin before!
We had a somewhat rough start. We hadn't realized that there was a strike at the airport. Almost every flight was cancelled....except ours! Thank you, dear lord baby Jesus! Our flight was delayed a few hours, but that was it. I felt bad for the others who's flights were cancelled. There were women crying because they had missed important job interviews and family gatherings. It's really pretty awful that people go on strike. Chester kept saying, "That is so selfish!"
After getting lost a few times, we finally found our apartment. The owner was running late, so we entertained ourselves by grabbing a coffee at the Italian restaurant under our cafe. I never thought I would use my Italian in Germany!
We dropped our bags in our cute, little apartment, and were off to find some delicious German food. Our first pick, Zur Rippe, was completely booked. They recommended a place around the corner. The second restaurant hardly gave us the time of day. We opted for restaurant #3, Hopper Mitte, right next door to the second restaurant. They only had outdoor seating, but by that point we were hungry and tired. I was not in the least bit impressed with the hospitality or customer service of the Germans in Berlin. They could have cared less if they had business or not. I thought that only happened in Italy.
Despite, the poor customer service, we did get to enjoy each other's company outside under warm blankets.
On our walk back, we took a detour to one of the many Christmas markets in Berlin. It was so magical. Christmas music was playing, and the air smelled like Gluwein! We had just eaten a huge meal at dinner, but everything tempted us! We must have tried just about every dessert in the market.
First, Nick spotted chocolate-covered kiwi. Yum!
I saw a girl holding a stick with red blobs. She explained that it was candied- grapes that she'd eaten since she was a little girl. I had to try it!
I wouldn't say it was my favorite dessert, but now I can say I've had candied- grapes. :)
Next, we all bought waffles. Mine came on a stick. Susan and Nick bought waffles with either cherries or chocolate on top. I loved my plain waffle!
The Christmas market wouldn't be complete without a ferris wheel and ice rink!
This is one of my favorite photos of Chester. He was so happy eating a little donut with powdered sugar. :)
This vendor had raclette. (Nick's fav) It smelled like melted cheese. Nom nom nom!
I could have stuffed my face with a second meal, everything looked so tempting.
On our walk back to our apartment I spotted my pizza place, Joey's Pizza! Who knew?!
Saturday, December 13th
These little icons are all over Berlin. They're call "ampelmannchen." They used to be in East Berlin. Now people recognize them as a symbol of Berlin. There was once talk of getting rid of them, but that suggestion was quickly put to rest. They are pretty cute despite their communist history.
We ate a yummy breakfast at a cafe nearby, and then walked to find a hop-on hop-off tour. We paid a little extra to have the TV tower included.
We were fortunate to have seats on the top row of the double decker bus, and at the front! Susan took about 30 minutes deciding which seat she really wanted. The other passengers were glaring at her as she took up four seats to finally decide she wanted the front window seat. Haha!
She also wasn't too happy because all of the major sites were on the right side of the bus. She was sitting on the left. Haha!
Here is the Reichstag. We'd be visiting the dome the next morning at 8am.
A victory column that Hitler once thought would celebrate his accomplishments. Boy, was he wrong!
This is a department store with 8 floors. I was so hoping that we'd come back to visit...
We were nearing the end of our tour. This portion of the Berlin wall was just outside the Topography of Terror museum.
We made it to Checkpoint Charlie! We debated getting off the bus here, but it was too hard giving up our awesome seats!
After two hours, we made it back to the starting point. I don't know if I learned anything except that I realized just how spread out Berlin was.
It was colder outside than it had been earlier that morning! We quickly walked over to the outdoor Christmas market to warm up on some hearty German food. I had one of the best brats of my life.
We scurried over to the TV Tower entrance. There was a huge line! We promptly walked to the front. There was a woman guarding the door. We tried to analyze the situation; she wasn't letting ANYONE in. Chester took control of the situation. He walked right up to the guard and said, "We paid good money for these tickets." The guard asked how many people we had in our group. He pointed at us, and we were let in! Haha! We couldn't stop laughing! "We paid good money for these tickets." We actually got a discount on our tickets, and those poor fools standing in the line in the cold had to pay full price! It was one of the most poorly run operations I've ever seen in Germany. But we made it to the top to enjoy the grand views!
Next on our list was Checkpoint Charlie.
We found the tourists! I couldn't believe how many people were there on a cold, winter day.
Can you see Checkpoint Charlie in the background?
This is where part of the Berlin Wall once stood. Parts of the wall literally divided people's houses. Hard to believe!
We were all getting cold, so we headed toward Fastbender and Rausch; it's a famous chocolate store in Berlin. First, we stopped in a Lionedes chocolate store because it's Chester's favorite chocolate. The woman working there didn't speak much English. We would point to a chocolate we wanted and she would ask, "Just one?" We would say, "yes," and then she would put 2 pieces of chocolate in our bag. Haha! After this happened several times we were rolling on the floor. I just wish I'd gotten a picture of that fun store and that sweet woman.
We made our way to the second chocolate store on our list. I ordered a chocolate and orange cake. It was divine!
Look at that spread!
Just as I was putting my first taste in my mouth, I caught Susan putting a quarter of the cake from her fork to her mouth. I lost it! I was laughing so hard. I've never seen someone take such a big bight of cake before! Haha!
Afterward we checked out the awesome displays in the store below the cafe.
A chocolate Reischtag?!
We walked outside to find yet another Christmas market! We had to pay a few Euro to get in.
We walked around trying to find a furry hat for me with no success.
We were all getting pretty hungry at this point. (Some of us "hangry.") A curry wurst place had decent reviews near us. After debating on a restaurant vs. curry wurst, we ate delicious curry wurst at Curry 61. It was so good!
This was about the moment that Susan asked if she could try some of the sauce by dipping her finger. I agreed thinking she would take a little from the side. She stuck her finger straight in the middle of my meal touching sauce, hot dog and everything in between. Haha!
Susan, Nick and I ventured back into the Christmas market one last time, while Chester rested. It was a full day, but there's always room for chocolate-covered fruit! :)
Sunday, December 14th
The next morning, we got up early to pack our things and check out of our apartment to head over to the Reichstag. To see the Reichstag, you have to schedule a viewing time. They only time available when I checked was 8am on a Sunday morning. Fine by us! That means fewer tourists out and about!
We walked our belongings over to the train station to place them in lockers. Nick and I grabbed some Dunkin' Donuts on our way over to buy tickets for the metro. We kept a quick pace as we walked to find our train...realized we were taking a longer route than necessary, and walked ALL the way across the major station to get on a shorter route. We MAY have panicked a little, and almost pushed an old man down the stairs, but we made it on time!!
After going through security, we were led to two different rooms, and then onto an elevator. No one said a word. It was very odd. When we reached the top floor we were all able to get headsets to listen to a recorded guide.
I discovered at the end of the tour that I didn't hear all the information given because my headset was in my pocket and not receiving all the data transmitted. Oops!
We reached the top! The roof was actually completely open! That explained why it was so cold!
The large grey object is a sun shade that moves with the sun
We finished our tour about an hour later. Just around the corner was the Brandenburg gate.
This gate is also a symbol for freedom in Berlin and all of Germany. It used to be in a no-man's land after WWII in East Berlin.
I was a little in disbelief that we got a photo with the gate by ourselves!
We walked over to a Jewish Memorial funded by the German government. It was really quite beautiful.
Chester was happy as a clam sitting in Dunkin Donuts waiting for the 3 of us to take photos. He even got in another cat nap. :)
Next, we tried to get lunch at the Ka De We department store. They were CLOSED on a SUNDAY two weeks before Christmas! In the words of "Pretty Woman, "Big mistake. HUGE mistake."
We MAYBE stopped at a McDonald's before we decided what to do next. It was a delicious break. :)
We decided to keep heading in the direction we'd been walking to see the old ___ church.
There was yet another Christmas market beneath it with a yummy mushroom dish that we all tried.
We walked past a commercial being filmed before we found the next metro stop in front of the zoo. We had a little more time, so we opted to visit an antique market in the park.
It was full of all kinds of treasures and strange people. There were two men in particular wearing bright, red plaid pants and fur coats. I could hardly take my eyes off of them.
After the market we all walked back to the train station to bid farewell. It was a QUICK trip, and boy, was it fun!
Nick and I waited in the Radisson Blue to kill some time before our flight back to Italy.
What a day! What a trip!! So glad we get to make these fun memories in such a special place!
