Who Says You Can't Go Home?

We just returned from our "HomeVisit," our first trip back to our homeland after being in Switzerland for 6 months. Since the day I arrived in January I had been thinking of our return trip to the US - who would we see, where would we stay, would we make it to IL or just NY & MD, what are the top things we are going to want to do, what will we buy?

The weeks before the trip were quite busy. There were 2 long weekends prior to our leaving for the US, and we traveled on both of them (Munich & Salzburg for the first weekend of June and Locarno for the second weekend). The end of school year celebrations and concerts, and exhibitions were in full force and occupied both days and nights. Some Ex-pat acquaintances were returning to the US so I had lunches, a spa day!, and after school badi festivities to attend. When I wasn't at the aforementioned events, I spent all of my daytimes in the month of June planning and packing and unpacking from our long weekend trips, organizing my daughter's birthday celebration, planning our 3 week trip to the US which involved a lot of communication with friends in 3 states, planning individual sleepovers, and parties, shopping lists, and travel arrangements, as well as quickly digital scrapbooking our first 6 months in Switz and ordering the photobooks to be shipped to my MILs house for pickup during our visit. I was also fairly consumed with online shopping for clothes since my children have grown quite a bit since we've been here. Further, I had a costly trial membership for a gym and was trying to use it as much and enjoyed it immensely! On a side note, I had another minor car issue which I will blog about separately.

So, once all of the plans were finalized, roughly the night before we left, we flew to the US!!! I planned a 3 week trip thru our old stomping grounds IL, MD, and NY. My husband didn't want to take off 3 weeks, so he planned to meet up with us half way thru our trip, in MD. This meant I had to travel to the US with the kids by myself.

As you know, my husband and I employ a distinct separation of duties doctrine. When it comes to traveling, I manage the kids and do all the planning and organizing. He handles all of the documents and navigational logistics. This trip would mean I would have to handle all of my normal duties as well as his. I was a bit skeptical whether I could manage to get the kids to the airport via train, and manage all the documents (passports, permits, boarding passes, car rental info) as well as the abundance of luggage.

Since I brought up the luggage.... I was very proud of my luggage logistics. Heading to the US, expats bring empty suitcases, so you can shop and fill them up in the US and return with them full of bargains. I not only brought empty suitcases, but nested them inside each other so that we had less to manage. We brought 8 suitcases: 3 were large & empty, 1 small to return to a friend who visited and left with us filled with DD coffee, 1 filled with chocolate gifts, and 1 filled with Tshirts for family gifts. Only 2 contained our clothes for the 3 weeks. Makes perfect sense, right?

The kids were champs lugging the suitcases on the bus to the train to the airport, thru the train station to the airport terminal, up and down steps, up and down into the bus and trains, on escalators. No problem - these kids are experienced and good travelers.

I had some mixed emotions about going to the US. On one hand I could not wait to reconnect with everyone and see, hug them, hold them and share life with them again. On the other hand, however, I anticipated the pain of saying goodbye again, knowing that only six months had passed and my next trip would not be for at least another year, and this next stint would be longer. In some ways I wished the trip wasn't here already. I loved having it to look forward to ....when I would get frustrated or lonely, I always could cheer myself up by knowing that open arms were awaiting us, just ahead. Without having the trip to look forward to, I wondered what will comfort and bouy me for the next 12 months?

My fears were quickly allayed. From the minute we landed, we had a great time....great, great, great. How do I describe the joy we all shared seeing our dear ones? It was just so comforting, fun-filled, and joyous. Every day was a celebration, a celebration of friendship, a confirmation of the strong bond we share with others. Every day we felt like celebrities, with everyone flocking to see us and catching up on our lives.

We flew to Chicago, rented a car and drove to our former town for a 4 day friendship frenzy. We stayed with dear friends and loved every minute of it. We visited with our beloved pet lizard who is being cared for by dear friends. Our older son stayed with his bff for 3 of the 4 day visit and he had an absolutely amazing time. It was so good to see him play with his best friend - it just seemed so regular. Our days and nights were filled with visiting our various groups of friends, with friends hosting large pool parties so that we could visit with as many friends as possible. It was SO refreshing to see the kids pick up where they left off - as if no time or distance separated them. A few noteable things - people had noticed a change in my daughter, substantially more confident, but also a bit more tween-ish. (I have noticed some of the teen-ish attitude has crept in in the form of some sassiness : ( ) My elder son seemed to be more chatty with his best buddies. My younger son, who was/is fluent in Spanish and attended a Spanish immersion program met up with his Spanish speaking buddies and later told me that their Spanish is way better than his now....he's losing his skills since it is no longer being fostered. : (

It was bittersweet to hear about all of the wonderful things that took place without us. I got to hear about the 5th grade Fear Factor Day, the field day, yearbook, scout meetings, and see my daughter's 5th grade "moving up" ceremony pictures, and the commemorative 5th grade signed T-Shirt which bore no mention of her although she had been part of the class for 5 1/2 yrs.....I must admit that the exclusion stung....but hey - we are the ones who left. Hopefully, it bothers me more than it does her. It was wonderful and hard to see my younger son's classmates perform their Celebration Night dance with him standing with me, on the sidelines, rather than being in the midst of the performance. The toughest was taking my oldest son from his bff again. They just laugh and have such a great time together - doing anything - just playing videogames or making wierd faces at each other - they just laugh the whole time. I wish I could have kept him with his buddy for the summer or taken the bff with us as they are just 2 peas in a pod and bring out the best in each other.

It was a slice of heaven, reconnecting with the school friends, my girlfriends, my book club friends, our playgroup friends.....simply joyous! I managed to pop into my former health club and squeeze in a 6am Spin workout with my former early morning workout crew - love them!!

Then, it was time to fly to MD to see our dear friends from when we lived there 9 yrs earlier and my hubby's family. We had a great time reconnecting with these dear friends whom we normally see once or twice a year. It was joyous to be with them and catch up on the past 6 months, marvel at how the kids have physically changed, and swapping mom stories over the emotional, academic, and physical challenges and accomplishments we all bear.

It was wonderful to see the grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles! We swam in the pool, barbecued, celebrated all the recent birthday and holidays we missed, posed for pix in the Swiss T-shirts we brought for everyone. The kids just picked up where they left off, swapping info on the latest video game accomplishments and discoveries. I love to see them play with their baby cousins and the torturous teasing exchanges with a special uncle. We were amazed to see the growth in their baby cousins - who thanks to skype still seem to recognize us. It must be bewildering for her to see us in human form as she is likely thinking we are just these little people who live in the computer screen.

We spent a very fun American evening at a local carnival. The kids enjoyed hanging out with their cousins. The got to ride the rides together, eat cotton candy, ice cream and root beer. The kids enjoyed playing the games with their uncle and dad and winning stuffed animal prizes. It was a fun normal American summer evening. We also managed to squeeze in a couple movies with the cousins - a real treat for us as movie tickets are $20 each for us here in Zurich!

I was giddy that I could SHOP!! Since the day we arrived in Switz, I had been compiling a US shopping list of things that I could not find here in Switz, or that are too inconvenient to buy, or that are outrageously expensive that I can't stomach buying them here. In the US, shopping was easy and fun again. Everything was written in English, it was one-stop shopping, it was easily affordable, items were abundant, and the store layouts were familiar. The shopping carts didn't require a deposit, and I didn't need to go to a parking garage, keep my ticket and pay for my parking space. Shopping in America is SOOOOO EASY!! What did I buy? Brownie mix, makeup, lipstick, a couple favorite candies (bottlecaps, skittles, firey hot cinnamon jolly ranchers, and gum, glorious American gum), tons of clothes, Ugg boots for my tween as a belated bday gift, several pairs of shoes, nerf guns and bullets (I'm not exactly sure WHY, but I did), hair products ("It's a 10" and a conditioning masque), rubbing alcohol, adhesive velcro, fabric adhesive (for scout badges), a new Itouch (as A lost his on the trip in transit- bummer), dvds, books, taco seasoning, Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix, turkey gravy mix (yes - a mix. I never would have used a mix in the US, but here in Switz, we can only really buy small lean turkey breast meat and it is not conducive for making gravy), peanut butter and frosting. These latter 2 were subsequently confiscated by TSA in my carry-ons as they are considered to be a liquid or gel....bummer! There were a zillion other items I would have loved to pick up, but I knew I was approaching max capacity in my luggage.

We drove to NY to meet up with my brothers for our 5th Annual Cousinfest at a family golf resort in the Catskills. We just love this relaxing family vacation. The resort is very safe and offers lots of outdoorsy natural amusements, like a lake with lots of different boats/kayaks, fishing, playgrounds, a swimming pool, some organized activities (kickball, shuffleboard, tennis, soccer games), nature trails, hiking, and nightly entertainment. Our kids have 5 cousins to hang out with as well as a group of friends (12?)whom they have gotten to know from the previous years. This resort is significant to our kids as it allows them to have a vacation where they are happily quite independent of the parents....its sort of like they are at a sleepaway camp, but their parents are there ....somewhere.

We were happy to have some special visitors at the resort this year. One of my college friends stopped in with her 3 children to spend the day with us. Then, the next day, my cousins and kiddies came and stayed for 2 nights. It made the annual trip even more special!!

On the third night, I felt very content and at peace. Everything was going great. The kids were immensely happy running around the resort with their friends and cousins, hubby and I had managed to have lots of time together to walk & talk, my bros and I had lots of chats and managed to catch up on the past 6 months, and we all had time to play in the pool with our kids, and lounge by the pool and refresh ourselves. We were very relaxed, everything seemed so familiar, normal and easy....and then it hit me. In 5 days, this would be ending, as we would be returning and I felt a twinge of that bummed feeling again.

When the last spectacular night came, my big family (19 of us) were playing bingo. By 10pm, the kids were exhausted and wanted to head to bed. It was time to say goodbye. I was dreading this moment....I was laughing one minute and battling tears the next. I hugged and kissed my bros, my SILs, niece, nephews, cousins.....I had to squeeze them hard, but brief....lest I breakdown. Its hard to say goodbye to my family. We love each other so much, have been thru so much together in life, as we endured the long illnesses and deaths of our parents together, my bros and I have a special bond and don't take our time together for granted. We love being together and hate that we have to settle for such a small amount of time together. We will all look forward to the time when we live in driving distance again.

I was surprised by how well I took the return to Switzerland. I didn't cry much leaving the friends which really surprised me. It was always very hard to say goodbye again, but there was always something fun just waiting for us at our next stop. When the final goodbyes came with each friend and family, I actually didn't feel overwhelmed as I had anticipated. I felt very at peace. I felt alright....I can do this...I can go away and come back and know we haven't lost our connection. I do miss sharing my life with each of them, but know that we have interwoven our lives in such a way that it will not unravel readily.

Thinking of these special friends and family causes a BonJovi song to resonate in my head, "Who Says You Can't Go Home" "I went as far as I could ... I've traveled a million miles of memories on that road, With every step I take, I know I'm not alone, You can take the home from the boy but not the boy from his home...It's alright, it's alright.... who says you can't go home?"

Apples and Oranges....and Lemons

I have so many travels to catch up on, but first I must share an interesting incident that occurred this weekend.

We just returned from our fantastic US visit last Monday. On Friday, my younger son who will be turning 9 soon, was invited to a friend's house for a sleepover. This is a very good school friend of his, who is German and has been living here in Switz for 4 years, and will be returning to Germany soon with his family. We adore his family; they are so warm, immensely friendly, loving, chatty, and jovial. T has slept over there before and was eager to do so again, especially with his friend leaving for good imminently.

I dropped him off, and returned home to get ready to go out to dinner with my hubby's good friend & family who also live here in Switz. I hadn't mentioned to T that we would be heading out to dinner....in the same town he was sleeping over at....because I didn't want him to be conflicted. I wanted to ensure he spent time with his friend before he moves away and there will be plenty of opportunities to spend with my hubby's friends in Switz.

Allow me to provide a bit more of the background: I had just returned from the US where in the same week- Casey Anthony had just been acquitted of murdering her child, a unimaginable tragedy occurred in Brooklyn when someone abducted and killed an 8 y/o boy in a most horrific way, and my People magazine arrived with Jaycee Dugard on the cover. Needless to say, I had been keeping my babies extra close to me with a heightened awareness of danger ....

Three hours after dropping off T, my older 2 kids and I drove to meet the friends and hubby at the restaurant for dinner. As I was driving thru this bustling town, I spot T and his friend standing at the curb in the shopping area, preparing to cross this fairly busy street. My mind was momentarily confused...bewildered really, as I slowed down to a stop in front of them. I could hardly believe my eyes....2 8 year olds shopping alone?! I rolled to a stop in this 2 lane street, with many cars making their way around me as there was no shoulder and my car literally fills half the road. I was a jumble of emotions - confused, disoriented, bewildered that I would come upon him at this very moment he was about to cross this street, somewhat proud/excited to see my boy being so independent, grateful that I see that they are ok, but predominently - absolutely- terrified that my boy is out in the middle of the European market area without a protective adult. I was confused...was this really happening? I was scanning the passerbys for anyone looking familiar who might be escorting them, and for anyone appearing dangerous...single men...old men.... I had a dozen questions reeling thru my mind, "do the parents know that they are out and about alone?" " how far is it back to the boy's house?" "had anyone tried to call me to check and see if this was alright?" "should I stop them" "what would ensue if I brought them back to the mother?" "is this ok? "is it not ok" "why? what should I be thinking about this?" "what would those American mothers do who I just mentioned?" Then, I was wonderedwhether T was going to ask where we were going and I felt bad not bringing him to dinner with us.

I managed to swallow my fears, as tears welled in my eyes, and I rolled down the window, continuing to scan the few passersby. "Hey! Hi guys! What are you doing out here?" They were SO cute standing there at the curb and smiled big grins and proudly held up a produce bag full of lemons. "We bought lemons at the store and are going to make lemonade!" "Oh, Wow! that's great!!" I said with exclamations, although my heart felt like this ????????????? : ( I hated being in this predicament! Although, I was probably the only one in the world feeling these pangs.

I quickly assessed the situation: I calculated that the boy's house was just a couple blocks away, this is Switzerland with an amazing low crime rate, with very few personal crimes and child abductions are virtually unheard of here. They were so proud, and I must admit, I could have burst into tears, but really wanted him to have this experience, of feeling proud, safe and confident, and having independence. I was so conflicted, and I was really trying not to freak out.... my mind was quickly assessing the danger. Is it me? Is he safe? Is Switzerland really as safe as they say? They got here alright, they've already bought the lemons, and walked a few blocks from the store, and were quite close to the boy's house. Then T said, "Can you drive us back to his house?" I don't exactly know why but I said," I think you can walk it..." because I wanted it to be true so much. Did I really say that ? Then with a million "I love yous" and "have fun!!," he and his friend continued on their way and we on ours.

I must say that I felt horrible, and guilty and wondered if I would regret this, yet also thankful and excited as I drove away. My emotions were quickly distracted by the traffic and finding parking for this restaurant. I immediately shared this bizarre incident with our friends at the restaurant, who are Americans and have lived in Switz for many years and they fully reassured me that this situation is fine. They reminded me that Switzerland is safe and the kids navigate the towns unsupervised all day long, every day. I know....just not my baby.

So, herein lies the cultural conflict. In the US, we have to protect our children....and oftentimes that can not be enough. Danger seems to lurk everywhere. Here in Switz, like most of Europe, the children are groomed to be physically independent at a much younger age. It is common for children to walk themselves to school alone starting at age 4. It is very uncommon for parents to accompany their children around town, and never to school. Children are routinely out and about without adults once they are at school age. Still, I never expected my child to be thrust into this situation. He's had some Stranger Danger training, but I hadn't reviewed it with him in awhile because, being an American, he's never out and about without me or another adult or his teenage bro.

Later that eve, as I was still bewildered by this event, I related this situation to my SIL via Skype. She is the mom of 2 babies, but is a MS teacher. She was as astonished as me, and asked whether I will bring it up with the mom. When I asked my hubby he said that we really shouldn't bring it up .....this is Europe. This is truly their culture....the kids are free and independent here. We can not impart our American worries in a place where it hardly exists. I thought about it and perhaps it would be like a Cuban asking if we should hide from Castro while in Chicago. It would sound bizarre and out of context, as it is such a remote connection that it seems to be non-existent. It is an apples and oranges scenario....we are dealing with two entirely different incongruent environments that we can not compare them evenly.

I don't like living fearfully and will admit that is something I never liked about raising kids in the US in the 2000s. We have always lived in very nice, immensely safe areas, but somehow I never felt completely safe letting my kids roam out of sight.....sadly.

I love how I grew up, like many of you, in the pre1980s, when kids played with neighborhood kids unsupervised, would play impromptu games of ring-o-levio until the streetlights came on, and baseball in the schoolyard all summer long without having it organized by adults who sign legal waivers to play, everyone just knew what was a strike and what was a ball without the benefit of an umpire or instant replay. I remember walking 5 blocks frequently, at a young age....8?... to the grocery store, for my mom, to buy bread and milk, walking to the public library, and biking to the public pool with just my friends without parental supervision. I guess I can think of Switzerland as being like the US in the 1970s, (albeit without the neighborhood friends since we are ex-pats surrounded by Swiss).

So, the next day I picked up T. I told the parents how surprising it was to run into the boys in the marketplace. They expressed surprise themselves, saying,"Oh, they didn't tell us." Apparently, it wasn't as big a deal to my sheltered American boy as it was to me. Then they proudly showed me their handmade Lemonade sign "Lemonade klein 1 chf gross 1.50 chf" (Lemonade small 1 franc, large 1.50 franc) Then they proceeded to tell me how the little produce bad broke on the way home, and they laughed as they told me how the lemons rolled down the sidestreet and they chased and caught them and had to put them in their pockets for the rest of the walk....they were laughing and I was grateful.

I think this was one of those situations that my precious boy and I will remember forever, but for entirely two different reasons.

Warts and All...

Our cruise was fantastic. The best part of it, truly, was having the relaxing time together. It had been the most time I had spent with my husband in ages. It was also a relief to see him relaxed and happy since he works sooo much. When he's not working....he's thinking about work. It was nice to have him captive and without easy access to the internet.

On the last few nights of our cruise, I found myself waking in the middle of the night thinking about returning home. The first time, I awoke with a feeling that I was looking forward to going home, but I quickly realized I was envisioning returning to IL, and when a second later, the image of Switzerland popped into my head, I felt a bit bummed.

I am greatly appreciative and enjoying our ex-pat experience, but must confess, that it is hard. I try not to dwell on this fact; I don't complain about it, I don't write about it, I don't post my hardships to FB, and it doesn't mean that I don't like it, nor does it mean I want to quit, or that I am deeply sad, or regretting anything. It simply means that daily activities are hard.

When things are perpetually constantly hard, it is hard to stay motivated and stay in the game.

I could make an endless list about everything that is hard, but unless you are having an ex-pat experience, you honestly couldn't understand. I know each of my friends would console me, and suggest an alternate, or look for a solution. What you can not understand, unless you are living it, is the CONSTANT challenges.....just relentless.... becomes emotionally and mentally exhausting.

Loneliness in another big factor for me. I have made lots of friends, but really, noone who knows anything beyond the superficialities. Noone knows my background, my family, nor my friends back home. Ex-pats generally tend to live in the moment, I am seeing. All that matters, at this point, is "are we compatible enough to share this experience together?" Nothing too deep at this point. Maybe as I get to know people more deeply. I miss those long talk with friends. Friends who know me so well, that they can call me on my BS, or laugh with me on my shortcomings, or finish my sentence. I miss those friendships.

I feel bad even sharing these thoughts and know that I keep it all in perspective. I know this is an amazing experience and we are so privileged to have it. I know its a one-in-a million opportunity and I intend to make the most of it. I think that is why I focus so much on scheduling travels - it is something that is soooo cohesive for my husband & me and our kids. When we are away, we can focus on each other, and having fun, rather than chipping away at all of the endless work & responsibilites.

Perhaps it is pride and impatience that bar me from sharing my sad thoughts. I am very independent and do not like to rely on anyone for support. I am so accustomed to doing and handling everything on my own, that, to lean on someone else does not come naturally to me, and in fact, seems like more trouble than its worth.

So, my sad feelings crept into my sleep for 2 or 3 nights. I was a bit crabby about coming back to Switzerland, and returning to our hectic daily life, running 4 lives (me + kids) and the life of not seeing my hubby until the weekends. My brain also started wondering about the logistics - where did I leave my purse? my keys? What was my ATM card password? Do I have a credit card? Did we leave anything gross in the refrigerator? Do I remember all the departure times and routes for the kids schools?

I must say that the first few days of re-entry were a bit tough. I didn't have my car (next blog), Tommy was sick, I had laundry up to my eyeballs which I estimated at 14 loads for my microwave-sized washer - it would take me all week.

However, a few days later, I was back to normal...my normal optimist state. Life was good. I spoke with 2 other ex-pat Americans about this very issue- the emotional difficulty of returning to Switzerland. They also feel the same way, that it is hard to return to Switzerland from vacation and even harder to return from the US and leave friends and family again. It was good to know that these feelings are common. They assured me it gets better with time. I also think that it helps that we have our trip back to the US coming up in June, as well as some smaller side trips in the meantime.

So, those are the ramblings of an ex-pat. Despite the relentless challenges, I am very glad to have this experience...warts and all.

Homecoming

So....with the adventure behind us, we headed home by train - a series of trains that would take us 8 hours. What was on my mind was finding my keys, grocery shopping, laundry, emails, beating Sue at WWF, praying my ATM card would work, etc.

What I should have been thinking about was, 'Why was T sitting on the floor of the train car, with his head on the seat?" I was certain he was exhausted. After all, we had just completed his 2 week non-stop fun and action dream vacation.

Just as we were coming upon hour 7 of our journey, and were standing in the doorway preparing to jump off the train and make our last connection, T said that he thought he was going to vomit. "No, this couldn't be happening...I don't have a bag or anything." Well, he quickly turned green, and J opened the train's little built-in trash bin, and T emptied his stomach there. It was a great catch, but unfortunate for the cleaning crew. We rapidly departed the train before the odor wafted thru the car. T perked up a bit on the last train, and I was certain that it was merely motion sickness.

Upon our arrival at home....we immediately noticed something was missing from the driveway. Ahhh yes, our car. Prior to our departure, we had dropped off the car at Rolf's garage for some minor repairs and the 80,000mile check up. Let me back up and explain how this process went.
I am the driver of the car. My hubby does not drive here in Switzerland - he doesn't need to. He takes a train to& fro and if he needs a ride, I drive him or he gets a taxi or bus.
So, I took my car to the garage in town which is owned and run by Rolf who utilizes 2 young mechanics. I stopped by on Friday, explained the 5 items I wanted to have repaired/checked. Rolf is a very senior member of our community, and I would guess him to be 80 yrs old. He is old-school Switzerland.

So, I explain the needed repairs, that we are leaving for 2 weeks, I would like the work done while we are away, and when could I drop it off? He shakes his head and shoes me away with his hands and says," I talk to your husband about it next week." This is a significant cultural thing about Europe that had to be explained to me. When there is a big expense (orthodontia, auto repair), the business owner discusses it with the husband. It is a guy-thing. They expect the husband to call the shots and are not comfortable discussing monetary issues with women.
Well, unfortunately, my family doesnt operate that way. My hubby truly knows less about cars than I do. It is my car and I handle everything about it. Rolf won't budge. He insists he will talk to my husband next week. Fast forward one week - I am sitting in a piazzele sipping spritzers with my Canadian/UK friends when I receive the text from my hubby," What do I tell Rolf? " So I text him back the script and he works it out with Rolf. Oy!

Fast forward another week, and here we are returning home to no car. : ( I need the car. We have no groceries, and I need to get the kids to school the next morning. The kids were already missing the day of school and I needed them to get back to school so I could get started on the all-consuming laundry.

I picked up the phone and called Rolf. Here about to begin was the match of the century - one for the Deadliest Warriors- the irate, exhausted, bummed to be back from vacation, fiercely independent New Yorker vs. Rolf, the old school Swiss with almost a century of experience avoiding business transactions with women, AND who was in possession of my car!
I think the conversation went like this:
C: Rolf? It's C, the owner of the RR. Ummm, it's not in my driveway, should I come get it?
R: ahh yes, its not ready yet. I call your husband when its ready.
C: Rolf, I need the car tomorrow morning by 7:30 am to drive the children to school.
R: Oh noo....its not ready. its not driveable.
C: NOT DRIVEABLE?! Rolf, you've had it for 2 weeks. Why is it not ready? What am I going to do? I have to drive the children to school! You know the Swiss Law - they are not allowed to miss a day of school.
R: Where do the children go to school ? ( I realize he was thinking they attend the local neighborhood swiss school).
C: I have to bring them to Wadenswil in the morning. How am I supposed to get them there?
R: Oh - you drive my car.
C: Your car? You want me to drive your car?
Then my hubby interrupts to remind me to ask if its an automatic
R: yes - you take my car and you come back at your car is ready after 2 hours.

Take his car? I hardly know him and he's going to trust me with his car? This is bizarre.
I put some laundry in the washer, and walk to his shop at 6:30 am and he hands me his keys to an old Subaru wagon. I drive it home, grateful noone else is on the road at this time as I get used to driving it, thinking how bizarre this place is. The car is quite old, but runs well. I was surprised he had this old subaru. No sooner do I get to the house when I realize that the car is on E....as in EMPTY. Did I mention that Rolf's garage is also the gas station? Why didn't he put some fuel in the car? You've GOT TO BE KIDDING ME was all I could think of. Am I being punk'd ?

Well, I get home as T is waking. He looks very pale, lethargic, he has a headache, and his throat hurts. You know it - classic Strep Throat symptoms. Poor thing! No school for him. He is really sick....lays in my bed and falls back asleep. I call a friend and ask her to drive K & A to school as I dread the thought of T puking in Rolf's car.

With K&T gone to school, I turn my attention to T who is still sleeping. I switch the laundry, and I go to call the dr, and suddenly remember that our dr is on vacation this week. I call his phone and sure enough the answering machine message confirms this when I hear the works "geschlossen woche mai 1-6."

UGH! I make some calls, get the phone number of another English speaking doctor and call them. Fortunately, they squeezed him in. I used Rolf's car to drive him to the appt where the dr confirmed that he had strep throat. The dr dispensed the Zpac right there in his office - how convenient! No 20 minute wait at CVS!

On the way home, I passed Rolf's station and saw that my car was out of the garage and ready for pick up. Hooray! T & I drove up the hill home and I worked on laundry and unpacking while he worked on recovering all day. By late afternoon, he was perking up and back to his old self the next day. I finally finished laundry by Thursday.

It wasn't the homecoming I was expecting, but it all worked out....fortunately. Also, whenever I drive by Rolf's garage I see that he actually drives a Jaguar - the Subaru must be a spare car. Interesting that he didn't offer me the keys to the Jaguar....

Greece!

Again, I'm still having difficulty with embedding pix, so without further adieu, I will describe our Greek Islands cruise without the visuals for now.

Picking up where I left off....

We boarded our Cruise, the Royal Caribbean Splendour of the Seas in Venice. It was a nice ship, a bit older, holding 2000 passengers. We checked in, and checked out our 2 adjoining staterooms, mustered for our lifeboat drill, and set sail. We went to the pool area and watched Venice disappear as the band played some Latin music. At dinner we met our tablemates, a couple of very nice women from Canada (more Canadians!) who were very nice and fun.

Our first port was the very next day: Split, Croatia. We visited the Diocletian's Palace - an ancient walled papce which now houses a contemporary marketplace. We took a tour and learned about the history of the Palace and area. The Palace walls have not held up well and it was quite challenging to envision what it was like in its glory days. We also climbed up to the top of the Bell Tower and enjoyed the amazing view of Split. The water was sooo blue and peaceful and the Tower's arches framed the view beautifully. We ate lunch at a lovely seaside restaurant, and then J took the kids to the beach while I looked around the shops. J described "the beach" as a concrete area with a field of woodchips with a 5 inch strip of sand. He said that the kids had a great time nonetheless. Back on board, the kids swam in the pool until dinner. J&T entered a family Scavenger Hunt in the kids club and won first prize! We had a lovely formal dinner, and then the kids went to their kids/teen clubs and had fun while J& I indulged in champagne.

Bell Tower

Easter Sunday: Corfu

We had a great day in Corfu.... however, it was so wierd that it was Easter, the Greeks were all dressed up, gathered in large groups, presumably with their families, observing their sacred traditions. ...we, on the other hand, were milling about in shorts and sandals snapping pix of their lovely churches, but off exploring ruins and looking forward to some beach time. We started out the day visiting an old Roman Fortress. It was cool. Then, we took a cab to the beach. The beach was fairly deserted as peak season had yet to begin. The kids had a great time digging in the sand, making forts of their own and playing in the cold sea. They had a blast. We managed to find a little beachfront day resort/restaurant and planted ourselves there for the day, sipping wine and Ouzo in the afternoon. The kids loved jumping in the cold surf, building forts with moats, and soaking in the sunshine. It was so relaxing with the warm sun and slight breeze. It was good to see my hubby kickin back for a change. : )

Monday, no ports, just a day sailing the sea. J played shuffleboard, and golf with T. K & I treated ourselves to mani/pedis at the spa. It was incredibly windy, so much so that the top deck was closed. We had a lovely formal dinner and I managed to upload one pic of us all heading to dinner. The kids spent most of the evening at their kids club and loved it. J and T won the kids club scavenger hunt and received medals. The kids swam in the pool and we had a relaxing day.

Tuesday, April 26: ATHENS! Wow - how do I describe this amazing city? We hired a cab from the port area, I believe it was 150Euros to have this driver spend 5 hours driving us around to & from the various sites. His english was poor, but we managed to communicate enough to see the major sites, and arrange times for pick up from the sites. With T as our tour guide, we were all set. T was in his glory. He loves Greek Mythology and is very knowledgeable. He seemed a bit quieter than I would have expected, given how this trip was his dream come true. He later told me that he hadn't expected all of the big buildings and that he sort of expected to see people walking around in togas. So cute! Actually, I was surprised what a cosmopolitan city Athens was. Car and trucks, and people were scurrying around the monuments which were just spread out amidst the office buildings. I would have imagined these historic monuments would have been more sheltered from the city's rat race.

Athens was built to honor the goddes, Athena, which is, of course, T's favorite god as he feels he "is like her - the goddess of wisdom and strategy." Upon arriving at the Acropolis, T knelt down and hugged and kissed the sacred ground.

Our sightseeing started at the Acropolis, the big hill that houses the Parthenon, and ancient temple. The hill was crowded with tourists all wanting to see these amazing structures. It was awesome to see something so old, that had endured so much, and still stood, a bit crumbly, but impressive. I still can not wrap my head around how they actually built these ginormous ornate structures with such primitive tools. It is also incredible that the designers and builders built them to honor their gods, where thousands of years later, we pay respect and honor the designers and builders instead.

We walked around, marveling at the structures, the views, with T explaining the history of the buildings, the gods, and even the olive trees. Surprisingly, he became impatient with my taking a zillion pictures... I reminded him that he will thank me one day.

We climbed the Aeropogous (sp?) Hill for a breathtaking view of the Agora and Athens. It was just amazing to be there.

Next, we went to the Archeolagical Museum. It was spectacular from start to finish. A gorgeous museum filled with ancient artifacts. Some statues were missing heads, others missing limbs, or portions of the torso. We joked that we could just mix & match and assemble some complete statues and save quite a bit of space. T loved the statues of owls - the symbol of Athena. The floor of the museum were all glass so you could look down and see the floor below. On the bottom floor of the entrance, there was an excavation site below and we could peer down to it....super cool.

The Parliament Building was our next stop where we saw the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. We watched the very odd, high stepping, pom pom footed Changing of the Guards. It was a sight to see !

Our next location was the remains of the Temple of Zeus and Hadrian's Arch, all situated on a large grassy field in the midst of the bustling city. We also saw the ruins of the Roman baths.

We stopped by the Olympic Stadium of 1896, the site of the first modern Olympic games.

Our driver was really pushing for us to go to a favorite restaurant of his for a "beeeg Friiiish Feeesh Deeennner" We didn't really feel up to stopping for a big meal, especially since the ship was overloaded with food, so after much verbal wrestling with the driver, we finally got him to stop for a small lunch at a local cafe. We were glad to stop there as it was so cute and served some delicious ordinary Greek food. A had a Ham & Cheese pie and loved it and asked if we could make these back at home. We shared some chicken gyros, greek salad, and the kids topped off their meal with ice cream.

Next, we went to the Roman and Greek Agoras. These would be the center of ancient life housing some honorary temples, and the seat of government. It is just amazing how many ancient artifacts and structures and sculptures remain. I will try to upload pix!!

Shortly thereafter, we headed back to the ship with great memories.

Wednesday, April 27 Mykonos: What an unfortunate day. It was FREEZING AND POURING RAIN. Completely miserable. I had booked us on a trip to the Island of Delos - a short boat ride away from the port. We all decided to bundle up as best as we could and take the tour. Delos is amazing. It is a very small island that was once the Head of the Delian League - the association of all of the independent city-states of what we now know as Greece. The amazing aspect of this Island is that it is a very well preserved ancient city whose structures are still somewhat in place. It gives you a true picture of what an Ancient community was like. We saw the remaining walls of the city agora structure, the marketplace, 2 mansions with their mosaic floors, bathrooms, kitchens, etc. It was freezing, but fascinating. We returned to the ship on this miserable day around 1pm for lunch and warm up

Hubby braved the weather and returned to Mykonos to spend the afternoon exploring a bit. He scaled some rock walls or cliffs to get to a beach, drank ouzo by the water, and texted me, trying to lure me out to join him, but I couldn't shake my chills. I headed for the hot tub, where serendipitously, I met a Canadian/American family who is living near Geneva Switzerland. We had a good time swapping adjustment stories as only those who endure it could. We later met up with them a few times over the next week for drinks and laughs & tears of frustration!

We went to bed that night hoping for better weather.

Thursday April 28, Santorini: Possibly my favorite island due to its well developed and GORGEOUS. The Weather was better, but not great. ..At least it was dry and warmer. We left the ship and immediately took the funnicular (cable car) to the top of Santorini, and had a gorgeous view of the harbor. It was still quite cloudy and gray, but a magnificent view anyway. Then we walked thru the touristy shopping area over to the public bus & taxi stand ( the only one for the whole island), and took a bus to the greatly anticipated black sand beach. The " black sand" is actually volcanic rock so it is quite rough and not as easy to play with. It was very fun to explore and see this beach flanked by tall cliffs and a rocky jedi in the midst. The kids enjoyed playing in the surf and it always makes me think how lucky they are to have each other to grow up with. They had such fun....

Around lunchtime, we spent quite a bit of effort trying to get a bus or taxi back to civilization. We managed to take a taxi to another beach - also a black sand beach, Perissa I believe. We were famished and set ourselves up at a lovely beachside restaurant. Hubby ordered his Ouzo and my white wine. I was thrilled with the menu - they had hummus and pita - oh how I have missed hummus (there is one store in Zurich that sells it, but it requires me going out of my way to get it and doesnt really feel like its worth the effort). Then we had stuffed mushrooms - ok -I exaggerate...there was no "we" eating them...it was all me. There was a darling cat that lounged around the restaurant that was sooo cute. K had a great time in the waves - she went far out and had a ball jumping in the waves and diving in the surf. When she came in for lunch, she was COVERED in sea grass - just covered in it. Her hair looked like Medusa with these shiny brown grasses hanging off of her head. She was a mess. We did our best to clean her up in the bathroom sink which was the size of a cereal bowl. It was challenging. She didn't care - she wanted to eat and get back to the beach.....We had a great afternoon.

We then took another taxi to Oia. There was a long windy road to this mountainous village. The skies had cleared up and it turned into a gorgeous spectacular afternoon. We explored the village (really just artsy touristy shops & restaurants as far as I could see) and went to the edge of the cliff to see the amazing view. This is the view that you are most familiar with of Santorini/Greece- the white stucco buildings with sky blue domed roofs, arched windows, and churches with big bells. It is postcard perfect. I could have stared at it all day long. As similar as every building looks, they are all actually so different.

As if that was not perfect enough, we decided to try a donkey ride from the top of Santorini down to the port where the cruise ship was docked. We all saddled up. The crazy greek donkey guides put K&T on a donkey together and they were very scared. They could barely hold on and began to cry. They decided to walk down the path to the port instead :( The mean man would not put them on the donkeys with J & me, despite my requests. They were happier walking anyway. I must admit, it was a bit scary going down a mountain riding a donkey - make mental note, it would likely be best to ride UP the hill on the donkey, rather than down. There was a concern about these donkeys slipping on the path, sometimes they would scrape up against the walls, walk into the brush. Also scary was the fact that all of us were tethered together....except my 13 y/o A - he was not tied to anyone - he was a free-range donkey rider. I was very concerned. The ride took about 20 minutes or so, with gorgeous views during the whole ride. Once we got comfortable and confident, it was a very beautiful, cool experience.

On board, we showered, went to dinner, went to show, met up with the Geneva couple for drinks, picked up K&T from kids club around 10, and returned to the cabins. Our big guy, A, had a great time - he'd usually eat an appetizer with us for dinner (sometimes he'd stay for the whole meal as K&T did), then go to the big buffet and meet up with his friends around 7pm and return to the cabin around 11pm. He had a blast and it is always fun to see him running around, hanging out, or eating dinner with his posse.

In the cabin, I would catch up with the major world happenings on CNN and BBC. The next day was the Royal Wedding. I confessed to my hubby that I was conflicted in my desire to hang out with the family, and to stay onboard and watch the wedding. I HAD to see what Kate was wearing. I am sure he couldn't understand, but he empathized.

Friday April 29 Chania, Crete: This was another spectacular day, besides being the Wedding Day. We arrived in Crete, and took a bus to the beach area. We found a lovely resort called Caldera, which offered beautiful pools, a nice beach with beach chairs, topless sunbathers, a restaurant and a beachside bar. Besides all of these ammenities, more important was the fact that the beachside bar had 2 tvs showing BBC & CNN coverage of the Wedding. It was perfect. J& kids spent the morning on the beach and I manned the TV. I would call my daughter over at critical times so that she could see the best moments. I was having a marvelous time watching the wedding, chatting a bit with the bored bartender. I must have established a quick rapport with him as he started talking incessantly with me about his life story - he just arrived in Crete a week ago from Bulgaria and continued to tell me how dreary and depressing life is there, he was lucky to get out, his father's a jerk, he's got a girlfriend who also came with him who is 10 yrs his senior, he treats her so well, other guys are such losers, yada yada. I don't think he realized how serious I was about watching this Wedding - I was foregoing beach time with my family to watch it. I had to discontinue eye contact, and resort to just a few disinterested occasional nods to let him know I was really there for the Wedding, not for the company. Finally, he found something else to do, and freed me to watch the wedding. I watched the wedding until Kate's arrival. Once I saw her arrival, saw the crowds, saw the dress, I knew the rest of the story....so I rejoined my family in time for our beachfront lunch.

K&T's meal arrived quickly and they gobbled it down quickly, anxious to return to the beach. J, A & I took our time, enjoying the lovely weather and surroundings. During the meal, I saw a surprising sight. I grabbed my camera, made eye contact to try to share the sight with hubby. He looked shocked "put that away!" he hissed. "No, I've GOT to get a pic of this," I retorted. "You can't take pictures of that!" I didn't know what he was talking about. I quickly snapped a pic and he said"what did you take a picture of?!" The surprising shot was of A using a fork to eat french fries! My son would normally have no problem handling dirty animals and eating with his fingers. I was so surprised to see him eating FF with a fork. I quickly explained it to hubby who was equally surprised, and asked "what did you think I was going to take a pic of ?" He said," Oh, I thought you were taking pictures of the topless sunbathers!" Men.....

Now that I was out and about in Crete, I could assess my surroundings. The water was a wierd brown....not the normal tourquoise. The bartender explained that the huge storm of Wednesday had stirred up the surf so it was not simple blue. The weather was still a bit chilly, breezy, but nice enough. We spent the rest of our time lounging in the sun watching the kids play.

In the evening, we attended the British Pub Trivia contest that was held nightly - very fun. I must say I did fairly well with the Royal Wedding trivia....likely better than some of the Brits.

Saturday April 30 Katakalon, Olimpia. This port is on the mainland Greece and houses the site of the original Olympics. Most people were heading to the ruins. My family refused to do any more ruins and sightseeing. I was outnumbered and surrendered readily. A taxi driver took us to a beautiful oceanfront resort....which unfortunately was closed. We spent the morning on the beach playing in the sand. I should mention that my kids (and hubby!) NEVER tire of the beach and sand and swimming. We hung out there for the morning, was picked up by the driver and returned to civilization. We returned to the ship in the afternoon and hung out by the pool.

Sunday - our sea day & our last day. We spent most of the day with K&T swimming in the pool. We packed, the kids spent a lot of time with their friends and kids club. We got haircuts on board since it is easier than making appointments here in Switzerland! We were pleasantly surprised by the reasonable pricing. J's cut was $25, the boys were $17. We were shocked when K's stylist charged $90!! She has long hair, and had 3 inches cut off, but no bangs/fringe, nor layering. Her haircut took less time than the boys! I complained, and the manager reduced it to $60. I tried to not let it bother me all day, but it did. That evening I filed a complaint with the Purser's office - who immediately reduced it to a $17 cut. That's what I like to hear..... but not how I wanted to end my fabulous vacation.

Venice!

Greetings!

So sorry to have neglected you....I've been out galavanting : )

I will apologize - I have not yet mastered the art of embedding pictures...bear with me.

We took our Spring Break vacation to Venice, Italy, followed by a cruise through the Greek Islands. My little guy is fascinated with Greek Mythology and culture. Upon moving to Switzerland he insisted he "would not travel to another country until we went to Greece." I assured him that Greece would be on the short list, but couldn't promise it would be first. I was actually planning to go to Egypt first, but with overthrow of the government in January, and subsequent unrest, we decided to backburner that trip. Tonight, I will dazzle you with our trip to Venice, and my next post will describe the Greek Island Cruise.

After much research we decided to take a 10 nt cruise thru the Greek Islands and chose Royal Caribbean Splendour of the Seas that left from Venice, Italy. My kids had 2 weeks+ off for their break but hubby didn't want to take quite so much time off, so we decided that I would take the kids to Venice SOLO for a few days and he would meet us in time for the cruise departure. My research revealed that Venice would be an "easy city" - it is a beautiful city, interesting, but limited, and without cars, there was an easy public transportation system - boats! Sounded fun!

The kids and I left early Tuesday morning April 19. I must confess that I had butterflies in my stomach that morning, fear was creeping in....wondering what I was doing .... how can I possibly do this on my own? After some Tai Chi breaths and a little Vince Lombardi pep talk, I knew I could do it. So we took the train from Zurich south to Milan (3 1/2 hrs) and changed for the train east to Venice (2 more hours). The train ride was largely smooth - we enjoyed looking at the scenery, the kids played their Itouches, and read. A minor glitch arose when we arrived 20 minutes late in Milan, causing us to scramble with our suitcases thru the Milan train station, rushing us to our connection to Venice. We didnt have time to grab lunch as planned but the kids were THRILLED to eat the junk food I brought ....we called it "candy lunch," and they thought I was cool.

When we arrived in Venice, we stepped out of the dark echo-ing train station in to glorious sunshine. My eyes and mind had to adjust to all of the sights. People were sitting on the steps of the station, there were kiosks selling souvenirs, ticket booths, street vendors selling knock-off purses, people walking about...but my eyes immediately focussed on the vision ahead. As much as I had read and researched, my brain needed a minute to comprehend what I was seeing. What would be a main thoroughfare in any other city, filled with garbage trucks, taxis, busses, beer trucks, ambulances and traffic lights.....here, in Venice, was filled with boats. It was the bustling Grand Canal - the main artery of this fish shaped island, Venice. It was amazing to see all these boats gliding past us - police boats, armored boats, Gondolas, Vaporattos- public boats, water taxis, beverage boats, gelatto boats, ambulance boats - it was sooo neat. My first impression of Venice was that it was magical; we were all so very excited!

We went to our hotel which was very closeby. We dropped off our luggage and explored our surroundings. We were amazed by all of the ancient buildings, the gorgeous detailed sculpture-laden buildings. It was so neat to see that there really were no true streets, only winding alleyways, and many canals. Boats were everywhere! We loved meandering and looking at all of the uncommon, common sights - such as exquisite door knobs, colorful laundry strung across alleys, marble sculptures, stucco worn off of buildings and revealing the bricks beneath. One thing that surprised and saddened me was the extent of graffiti. Even as worn down as many buildings were, they were incredibly breathtaking to us.

We ate pizza our first evening....come to think of it - the kids ate pizza for lunch virtually every day, and every night...except for the once or twice they ordered spaghetti and meatballs. The pizza was de-lish! It was thin crust so each slice was not as filling as US pizza, however, the kids were eating entire mini-pies all by themselves! In between meals, we would indulge in gelatto. Italy certainly is a high carb place so I tried to satisfy myself primarily with salads...sigh : (

On Wednesday, April 20, we ate breakfast in the hotel. The kids thought it was great that they offered little packets of nutella with their croissants- super cool. We caught a Vaporatto (sort of like a public bus....but a boat) to San Marco and got on line to see the Basilica. On line, we heard American-speak from the family behind us. I couldn't resist inquiring if they were American. They explained that they are Canadians living in England. I explained we are Americans living in Switzerland. They had 2 kids similar in ages to my older 2 - the kids hit it off immediately while the mom and I chatted easily. The Basilica is gorgeous- indescribable - a masterpiece. It is breathtaking, ginormous, gilded with amazing craftsmanship, exquisite mosaics, spectacular sculptures... the attention to detail is humbling, especially considering was built some 800+ years old. An interesting wing of the Basilica is Saint Mark's Treasures - which is a room housing some exquisite, opulent jeweled objects such as chalices, knives, etc. These items were, admitedly, stolen from Constantinople during the Crusades and are dated 800, 1200, etc. It did lead me to wonder why this Church has never returned the stolen property? Another interesting relic is a display of old bones, 500 yrs old, that are the remains of a man who was a Venitian leader.

Next we chatted some more while the kids played with the pigeons in the Plaza. Of course, T got pooped on : ( yuck!. We walked to the Bridge of Sighs, which is where the prisoners were taken to prison or execution. It is so named as it offered their last glimpses of beautiful Venice. Currently, it is under renovation and shrouded in an enormous TOYOTA sponsored tarp, which led to several jokes about the Toyota ad being the prisoners' last sight...why would you advertise car sales to people who are never going to see the light of day again, yada yada.

Having bonded with our new Canadian friends over these amazing sights, we wound up going to lunch together. It was so fun for the kids to have friends with, it was nice for me to have someone to bounce ideas off of, and to explore Venice together. The 8 of us meandered thru alleyways and made our way to a lovely piazza for lunch. The kids ate fast, chased pigeons, ate gelatto while parents G&T and I savored our meal and Spritzers! We chatted about our backgrounds, our moves, our travels, swapped travel ideas, and watched the kids frolic. It was a lovely afternoon By the end of the meal, we were like old friends.

We decided to take the kids to an elusive Gondola factory. With dad T navigating with the map, and me with my iphone Map App, we hunted thru the alleys, over bridges, past interesting buildings, and finally stumbled upon the little workshop. We watched the men build oar-locks and furniture for gondolas and appreciated this craft. Then we decided to go to the Guggenheim Art Museum with the Canadian family. We traipsed thru Venice - I never tired of looking at the sights. We loved seeing the cool art and sculptures. The kids were quite amused by the nude sculptures with exagerated features. Everything seemed so much more interesting when you were seeing it with friends!

The friends also showed us Traghettos. These are large public goldola-like boats that traverse the Grand Canal - just a quick 3 minute trip, but it was fun to be in a gondola. These seemed to be operated by guys who were younger than the Gondoliers which lead us to wonder if the Traghettos were a training ground for Gondoliers.

We made plans to get together the next afternoon, and went our separate ways for the evening. The kids and I took the Vaporatto to the Rialto Bridge. This is a beautiful historic bridge - the first bridge to cross the Grand Canal and some 400 years old. It is considered the most romantic spot in Venice as well. So, we left the Vaporatto to traipse over the historic bridge. It was very crowded and K&T& I held hands. We quickly lost sight of A, but I knew we'd find him on the other side of the bridge. Suddenly, there was a huge commotion, a crash, a scream...OMG! where's Andrew I panicked for a moment when suddenly I saw he was at my side, peering over the side of the bridge and laughing. Amidst the crowds, I asked what was going on and he pointed to the sidewalk cafe - and explained that a pigeon had swooped onto someone's table, apparently to swipe some food, and had knocked over some glasses, and the patron screamed and jumped up, knocking over the table. Even as the waiter was scrambling to clean up the mess, the pigeons continued their assault. It was a sight!

Then we ate a lovely dinner at a little restaurant alongside a canal. We witnessed quite a humorous sight when we saw a man scaling a building across the canal. He was balancing on a narrow pipe and holding on to the building for dear life, and slowly made his way onto the alley. We assumed he just didn't have a boat nor felt like walking all the way around to get to his desired destination. Also, humorous was sitting at dinner and running into our Canadian friends that we had just left an hour earlier. They had taken a circuitous route to their rental apt and serendipitously crossed our path. It was mindboggling to run into them unexpectedly!

Thursday morning we went to the Doges' Palace. This is an opulent palace that housed the seat of the Venitian government and its leaders. It is also where the accused would be tried and, if convicted, sentenced to prison or death. We toured the amazing 700+ yr old building. It is just amazing and opulent. The rooms are magestic and huge and ornate. We were amused to run across out of place items such as a tv monitor in one room and an Ikea chair in another, which prompted us to make jokes such as "I guess the Doge's shopped at Ikea too!" and " Wow - they spared no expense on their digs, but I'm surprised they didn't spring for the flat screen.

We loved the amazing palace. When we went to the prisons, K became very frightened and teary and didn't want to go. I insisted we stick together and reassured her it would be uneventful, but she was scared because it was such a sad place. T LOVED the weaponry and armory and told me all about the benefits and detriments of each. It was as if I had my personal tour guide and his knowledge and understanding of these items is amazing.

Next, we met up with our friends for lunch at a specialty pizza place with an extensive menu. Then we had a little tour of the apartment they were renting in Venice for the week. It was cool and good to learn how an apt is rented for travel. Then, onto another piazza for a relaxing afternoon of spritzers and watching the kids chase pigeons. It was just lovely. Then, we meandered back to our hotel with plans to see our friends the next day - and introduce them to J who was arriving later this night.

We spent the rest of the evening eating gelato, and meandering back to our hotel. We stopped for some souvenirs - Murano Glass items, a cool Venice Mask, a hat for T, and a gold Gondola for A. It occurred to me that something else was magical about this trip - I had been transformed into the Fun Mom. At home, I bear all the responsibilities of running the household, driving and maintaining the car, cleaning the house, the shopping, laundry, homework supervision, test preparation, report listening/advising, school volunteer, playdate coordinator, Girl Friday, chef, sous-chef, lunch maker, travel planner, paper pusher, recycler, garbageman, etc. It's exhausting to do all of this single-handedly with 3 spunky kids and I tend to be a more efficient task master than fun most of the time. In Venice, I was carefree - the city was easy, the kids were happy, I wasn't cooking, driving, cleaning, nagging about homework and studies...I was carefree and fun. I was letting the kids go days without vegetables, eating pizza 2x per day, gelatto 2x (single scoop!) per day, and buying chotskies that I normally would say,"we don't need that junk." I was fun : )

I went to the train station to meet J. During this whole trip apart, we had been emailing, calling and texting periodically. I tried to downplay the enjoyment of spritzers in the afternoon and gelatos every evening, knowing he was hard at work. I couldn't wait for him to arrive and join in the fun! It was like a scene from a movie, the train pulls in, people flood out and I start sorting thru them - some carrying sleeping babies, others luggage, briefcases, elderly people shuffling with canes....finally there he was and I went running and hugged him. It was sooo good to see him.

In the morning, the kids were soooo excited as well. Our plan had been to give him a quick tour of Venice and take him to all of our favorite places. We got up and out early, hopped on a Vaporetto like the Pros we were. We were fortunate to get front row seats and enjoyed watching the city of Venice awaken. J was amazed - he said that all of the interesting boats were like something from a Richard Scarry book that A used to love. It contains a bunch of amusing and creative vehicles sich as the Carrot Car, the Pickle Car, the Crane Truck, the Mouse Van, etc. The use of boats is equally creative - laundry delivery boats, crane boats, etc.

The kids directed us to San Marco where he saw the Basilica, Square, Doge's Palace, Bridge of Sighs from the outside. Then, onto the Rialto Bridge, meandering thru the alleys, the markets, and a traghetto ride. Then we met up with our friends and were so excited to introduce them to J. We gave the kids the option of a 30 min Gondola Ride on the Grand Canal or an hourlong Water Taxi private tour with the Canadian friends.....obviously they chose the Water Taxi with friends, thus we didn't take the traditional Gondola tour. We had a great time seeing all the smaller canals, and seeing the various outer islands from Venice. It was awesome.

Afterwards, we ate lunch with our friends, hated to say goodbye, but had to get to the cruise for our departure was quickly approaching. Venice was an amazing experience for us - it was a beautiful & interesting city, it was quite an accomplishment for me personally, and such fun for all of us. Venice will always have a special place in my heart.