Last Thursday we flew out of Tulsa to St. Louis, and then flew from St. Louis to Atlanta and then on to Venice on Friday. Those few days were extremely exhausting, but the girls were troopers and stayed in pretty high spirits the whole time. We had put together some surprise "treat" bags for the duration of the trip so they could have something to look forward to and a new toy or snack to have to keep their minds moving. It was a hit...and in Madelynn's words when opening makeup, "it's just what I wanted! (gasp)". Thanks mom/Nanny!!! :)
We are so thankful for our friend Mark for meeting us at the Venice airport at 7:30 on Saturday morning and agreeing to transport us, our 9 bags, and a car seat to our hotel on Caserma Ederle, the local army post in Vicenza. We explored the base a little on Saturday and Sunday, and tried to catch up on rest (the girls are still trying to figure out the time change). Today, Mark and Susan took us on an awesome tour around the Vicenza province. We are so thankful for them and their knowledge of the culture and the checklist of things we need to do to in-process. Since today was an American holiday (Happy Labor Day by the way), we start our big to-do list tomorrow: sign up at the housing office, new Italian SS cards, classes to get a new Italian drivers license, register our vehicle in Italy, register the girls in the childcare program.....the list goes on. Oh Boy!!! :)
There are lots of fun things to do and see, but here are just a few of our firsts from the trip and today.
Madelynn is just getting ready to open her first trip surprise at the airport in Tulsa.
An Innotab! Here's to hours of entertainment...fingers crossed!
Saturday at the hotel, after a 9 hour flight and still smiling, the girls are opening their final treat bag. So proud of these girls.
What do you do when you aren't quite used to the time change yet? You sit up at 2:00 am and watch the Oklahoma State football game via Skype. Go Pokes!
Our first authentic Italian wine was given to us upon arrival. Pretty cool.
Madelynn at the Italian zoo today. Don't ask me what the signs say. The zoo was really neat, was just off the road, and definitely had some animals we hadn't seen before.
This beauty is a castle in the ancient town of Marostica. While driving closer to the town you notice that the castle and hill was crowned by a wall from top to bottom dating back to 1372. The wall connects the upper and lower part of the castle, and you can drive all the way up to the top.
The bottom part of the castle and wall.
Within the center of the walls is a little courtyard area that has several
Italian eateries. It was our first experience ordering and eating authentic Italian food. Lets just say we have some practicing to do in order to get the ordering part right.
--Anastynn was really taking it all in. Poor girl.
We all ordered something different and shared. Yum!!!! I loved it, and I am proud of Kendall for trying new things. He he!!!
Madelynn trying gelato, Italian ice-cream, for the first time. Yummo!
Gelato
From the top of the castle.
View up to the top
And a restaurant at the top of the castle.
Merostica: You'll notice in the background they are starting to put up bleachers in the square there in the middle of the walls. Back int he 1450's two gentleman were at odds to who was going to marry the kings daughter at the time, so the king came up with the idea to do a human chess game and whomevers team wins, wins the hand of his daughter. To this day they still do the human chess game every other year with real mean and horses. The festival is next weekend so we are hoping to go. Watch videos and find more info here:
http://www.italylogue.com/things-to-do/living-chess-festival-in-marostica.html
Soooo.......Nove, Italy is a little town that produces incredible Italian pottery. We went inside this shop called La Ceramica V.B.C. The bottom level is where they make the pottery (see the huge oven in the back?), but when you walk up the stairs the room is filled with floor to ceiling hand made, beautiful pottery in such an array of shapes and styles you are sure to find something you love. Lenox, William Sonoma, Tiffany's & Co, and Arte Italica are just a few of the pieces they make here. You will see shipments down stairs that say "shipping to Tiffany's", of coarse in the shop though they are just a fraction of the price. You can GUARANTEE I am coming back here!!!! :)
Just a couple websites to see what they cost in America:
http://www.arteitalica.com/dinnerware
http://www.tiffany.com/Shopping/CategoryBrowse.aspx?cid=316225&mcat=148208
It was incredible first day of exploring, and I hope to bring you more pictures soon.
