Army Wife's Adventures in Italy: Summertime trips

Recently, an acquaintance of ours asked our girls how their summer has been. When most kids would reply that they attended summer camp, went to the pool and hung out with friends, my youngest replied, "Great. We've been to Venice, Switzerland, Germany, and Croatia." I mean, how do you reply to THAT? I really hope my kids, when they are older, appreciate the advantages they've had living overseas. I know I certainly do. And I really hope that when they return to school in a month that they are asked to write about their summer adventures because for once, we really have something to write about about other than the normal summer PCS schedule.

Venice: Yes we traveled to Venice. We took the train over to Venice for the day, it's a great 1 hour ride over. Once we got there, we knew we would have to put on our walking shoes and drink plenty of water because on the day we went, there was a transportation strike. Yes, we have lots of strikes here. Transportation and gas strikes are two of the main strikes. It's usually for a day and you are notified ahead of time. From there, you just learn to plan around the strike. Venice being Venice, you pretty much have to walk anyhow, the only problem was getting back to the train station. In the few times I've been to Venice without the family, i have always walked the path to St Marks square via the Rialto bridge. Once there, I embarked upon the Valparetto (water taxis) and rode back to the train station. (It really is a lot of walking). So the tricky part this time was finding our way back. It's simple enough if you know the signs to look for and yes, we eventually found our way back, but with two kids in tow on a warm summer day, the walk was not without complaints from the peanut gallery. However, we did have lunch at the very expensive Hard Rock cafe in Venice (because sometimes you just want a good ol' American hamburger) and we took a ride in a gondola! Now that, I admit, was very cool. It's 80 euro for a ride in the gondola but they take you through the streets of Italy and tell you about the rich history of the city. My oldest daughter's favorite thing was finding Mozart's house along the waterway! (now what kid can say that?) After the gondola ride, we embarked on our long journey back to the train station, all the while stumbling upon the many shops and touristy areas of Venice. The town truly has a wonderful history and terrific culture.

Switzerland: If you ever have the chance, I highly recommend taking a ride on the Bernina Express to Switzerland. It's a beautiful train ride through the countryside and through the mountains and glaciers of Switzerland. We did see the Bernina glacier, or rather what was left of it, and saw some absolutely breathtaking waterfalls and villages. Once in St Moritz, the chilly drizzly rain started and without an umbrella in our arsenal, we trekked through the small town with our hooded jackets. We had a nice, albeit expensive, lunch, and then walked the town. Throughout the town were signs for an antique car show and out driving the streets were some of the most wonderful older vehicles I have ever seen. We also found that St Moritz was the location for many designer shops, including Hermes, Dolce & Gabana, Rolex, and others. Of course we just had to purchase some delicious Swiss chocolates and indulged in some tasty pastry treats.

Garmisch: Edelweiss Resort - This is one of our favorite spots in the heart of the Bavaria area of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. We stayed at the hotel over the 4th of July holiday and took a few of the tours offered by the hotel. My wonderful husband tried his best to keep us moving constantly, but was met with complaints from all three of his lovely ladies. Sorry, but sometimes you just want to RELAX on vacation instead of go-go-go. We did have the chance to go to the top of the Zugspitze, the highest point in Germany. We took a cable car up to the top and the cogwheel train down. My only problem with this trip was that being afraid of heights makes it difficult to truly enjoy the experience. I did conquer my fear though and made it to the top. Once up there, you can see for miles! And at one point, you even cross over into Tirol, Austria. At top of the Zugspitze, we enjoyed some Bavarian pretzels and beer with coke (interesting flavor I might add). Even the girls, decked out in light jackets and capris, enjoyed some sledding.

The next day, we went to the Partnach Gorge. It was another trip set up by the great staff at Edelweiss. We biked to the gorge and on the way stopped at the Olympic stadium from 1930. It was the location of the winter Olympics. It still has a ski jump that was used by the skiers from that time and is still used by the German skiing team. After that little trek, we completed the ride to the gorge. Now, again my wonderful husband posted a picture of me looking rather pissed at the camera and in fact, I was. I was tired from the bike ride which was a few miles from the resort, and a hilly ride at that. (But seriously, but ass hurt from those small seats!) Once we made it to the Partnach, we went on foot to the gorge.Not only am I afraid of heights but am also claustrophobic, and add in a mother's overwhelming fear of losing her child over a large cliff, I was a bit stressed during this trip. The caverns and pathway through the gorge was breathtaking. I have never seen anything like it. Waterfalls fell from above, the water below rushed through the gorge. It's hard to believe that several years ago, this was the place for this logging community and several loggers lost their lives when they were lowered to the water to dislodge the logs. There are even people today who insist on rafting or kayaking through these rapids, which I am sure are a class 5 or 6 rapid. To each his own though, I just made sure I held on to the children for dear life walking through this area. When we returned from the gorge we stopped at a little biergarten at the bottom. They really had the greatest food desserts!

The next day we went to the Neuschwanstein castle. This gorgeous castle, built by Ludwig II, was supposed to have 60 rooms, but only a small handful were completed prior to his death. The castle was seated closely to his parents' castle, which is impressive itself. The Neuschwanstein castle was the inspiration for Walt Disney's Cinderella castle and is the site for several visitors year round.

Porec, Croatia: Our most recent day trip was to the beaches of Croatia, where topless sunbathing was very prevalent (oh how I love explaining new experiences to my daughters). The town itself was nestled right along the Adriatic sea and the water was a crystal blue color, allowing for visibility to the bottom with out a problem. Croatia just became a part of the EU this MONTH and many of the shops and restaurants still use the monetary Kuna unit used in the country, We had lunch at a little hole in the wall, but the food was delicious and the seafood very fresh. We then headed over to the resort area beaches. Unlike any beach I've been to, these beaches had no sand and the platforms you could sit or lay down on were made of stone. The beach walls were literally right at the water and there were ladders you could use to get into the water. I can say that water shoes are a must as the floor of the sea also had several small rocks. You could also lie down in the grassy knoll areas. In all, the area itself was breathtaking. Although the trip itself on a bus, made for a long day, I am really glad we had the chance to go to Croatia.

The summer isn't over yet and we've got a few more trips planned that I really hope the kids enjoy and can learn from.I only wish my summers were this exciting when i was a kid. I suppose I can always make up for lost time and live vicariously through them!