Italy PDA - Part 6

PDA stands for President's Day Adventures, in this case. ;)

Click here to read Part 1!
Click here to read Part 2!
Click here to read Part 3!
Click here to read Part 4!
Click here to read Part 5!

Welcome back! If you're just joining us, please use the links above to read parts one through five.

When last we left our intrepid travelers, we were enjoying our final breakfast in Italy! Since we were enjoying said breakfast right next door to the car rental office, we were inside as soon as the doors were open. The kind gentleman who ran the place, and thankfully spoke great English, welcomed us inside and asked us to wait a moment while he got everything up and running for the day. When he was ready, he called Austin over to the counter and asked for his name. He punched a few buttons on the computer and then looked up at Austin and said, "I have no reservation for you."

. . .

Nikki and I were sitting a few feet away doing our very best not to hyperventilate.

. . .

The rental car manager checked his fax machine a second time, and, praise the Lord, found our rental agreement! He had Austin sign a couple of papers, and showed us to our rental chariot! A tiny Nissan Micra. We strategically shoehorned all of our belongings into the car, and we were (once again) on our way home!

Our little rental!

The drive home was blessedly uneventful, except for a short stop to buy a second Austrian vignette (see part one for an explanation of the vignette process).

Shane was able to get in touch with his commanding officer so that he would not be in hot water over not reporting at the start of the day, and we made it back to Hohenfels early in the afternoon. Much to the delight of the PWOC events team for whom the four of us were scheduled to babysit that night!

That's right, a few short hours later, the four of us, who had travelled for 36+ hours, welcomed a couple dozen of our favorite kiddos to the Club Beyond building so their parents could enjoy the PWOC Valentine's Day Date Night!

Though it was a long and involved ordeal to get from point A to point B, we ended up with some great memories and one heck of a story! (And I learned to drive a stick shift in the rental car, which was a nice added bonus!) Thanks for journeying with us! Stay tuned for more fun adventure stories, and let me know what you're liking, what you're not, and what you'd like more of!

His,

To see a list of ALL of our travel stories, in chronological order, click here!

Italy PDA - Part 5

PDA stands for President's Day Adventures, in this case. ;)

Click here to read Part 1!
Click here to read Part 2!
Click here to read Part 3!
Click here to read Part 4!

Welcome back! If you're just joining us, please use the links above to read parts one through four.

When last we left our intrepid travelers, we were standing on the sidewalk outside the Toyota dealership in Genoa, preparing to walk to the train station. (You could check out this video for a succinct wrap up of the situation.) Armed with our trusty iPhones, complete with the Navigon GPS app, we programmed in the nearest train station, and struck out, intent on getting to Genoa in time to catch the train that would take us all the way to Parsberg, the nearest train station to home!

Now, we have used the Navigon app for the iPhone in MANY different countries. Probably all of Western Europe. The app has helped us find restaurants, hotels, airports, and train stations literally all over the world. We had every confidence that we would easily find the train station with ease.

The trek started out fairly uneventfully. Although it was dark, and we were in a large, Italian city with which we were not tremendously familiar, we were together, and we were moving forward! Soon we would be on the train heading home!

Pretty soon, however, the GPS started leading us away from the city center and up in elevation. Not up some gently rolling hills, but up hundreds -- if not THOUSANDS -- of stairs. At this point in the journey, I started to lose my cool. My mood was not improved by the breaking of my purse strap on step 783 (approximately). Eventually, we made it to the top of the stairs and found ourselves in the middle of an Italian neighborhood, complete with barking dogs and people driving home from work. We were beginning to be a little dubious about finding a train station, but we continued following the GPS's directions, and even asked a woman we passed about the train station, and we convinced ourselves that what she said in Italian was, "Yes, of course you're going the right way!"

Before long, we came upon a train car (success!), sitting on train tracks (yahtzee!), next to a small building! And the GPS said the words we had longed to hear: "You have arrived at your destination!" Unfortunately, although the building we had found was in fact a train station of sorts (it serviced the train that took you up and down the mountain that we had just climbed via thousands of stairs), it was not a main train station, nor would a train be coming to that station that could get us to a main train station. At this point, knowing that our window of time to possibly make it home in time for work on Tuesday morning was growing ever more narrow, we decided to cut our losses and take a taxi to the main train station. Thankfully the gentleman at the mini-train station was able and willing to make the call for us, and the taxi arrived shortly thereafter.

At the end of our brief taxi ride, you can imagine our surprise at the beautiful memorial statue to Christopher Columbus that greeted us across the street from the train station! That's right. Less than 36 hours earlier, we had stood in that exact spot, taken pictures of the memorial, and used the restrooms inside the train station! (Major face-palm moment!)

(Quick Travel Tip: If, after hearing your plans to walk to "x" destination, a native Italian offers to call you a cab, LET HIM! Italians walk. A lot. If they think you're crazy to choose to walk and try to insist on a cab, it's a really long way away, and you will need a cab! ;D)

The beautiful Stazione Principe Genoa, as taken on our day of sightseeing in Genoa

At this point, Austin again got on the phone with the roadside assistance personnel to attempt to secure their promise of financial assistance with our trip home, and the three of us hustled into the station to get our tickets for what was sure to be the last leg of our journey. Hopefully.

It seemed that we had finally caught a break, because we had made it to the train station with barely enough time to catch the last train of the night all the way back to Germany! Unfortunately, we were too late to buy tickets at the kiosk, so we had to high tale it to the train and pay for our tickets once we were underway! (Something that is generally frowned upon and that can result in a hefty fine, but thankfully the conductor we spoke to was kind to us and allowed us to purchase all four tickets without a fee!) The standard train route back to Germany was from Genoa to Milano to Zurich to Munich and then into Parsberg.

In order to make it to the end of the line, the first hurdle we had to jump was to make it to Milano in time for our connecting train! Should have been no problem, but, the European train system being what it is, our trip hit a couple of delays which got is into Milano exactly two minutes after our connecting train was scheduled to leave! Ever hopeful, we were waiting at the doors when we arrived in the station and we ran to the designated track. Along the way we were encouraged to see that the connection we were running for had, in fact, also been delayed! We made it to the track, but unfortunately the train hadn't been delayed enough. We had missed it, thanks to Italian trains and Murphy's law!

At this point, discouraged and hungry, but not defeated, we headed across the street to McDonald's in the hopes of some late night food and wi-fi to figure out our next steps and whether or not we had any hope of getting home before 8am on Tuesday!

The wi-fi system was a little...unusual...in Milano; however, and it required that you buy tickets from a tobacco stand to be able to log on. Nikki and I stayed with the stuff in the McDonald's and Shane and Austin took off for the closest stand, aided by directions from the local policeman. They fortuitously made it to the stand before the attendant closed the gate for the night, but with standard Italian logic, the cards that they could purchase there could not be activated until the following morning. ("Domani, domani!" Lol!) Needless to say, they did not purchase said cards, and we moved on from the McDonald's (which was good because the staff were getting ready to close and they were giving us the stink eye because we had yet to purchase any "food.")

On their walk back, the guys had discovered a sweet little doner place that boasted its own wi-fi, and we were way more excited about eating doners than McDonald's! We hauled all of our possessions into the doner place, ordered food, and hooked up to their Internet to try and find a solution to our ever-worsening situation.

Doner!
image credit

Since we had missed our connection and the traditional route was closed to us (since all of the trains had departed for the night), we decided that moving in the right direction was better (and cheaper) than waiting out the night in Milano until the bright and early morning train would get us back to Germany. We caught the next northbound train in the wee hours of the morning, and made the short trip to Verona.

Side note: I'm probably a major theater nerd, but whenever I hear, or think, or say, Verona, the very next thing that comes to mind is this little ditty from Kiss me Kate!:

We arrived in Verona at oh-so-very-dark-thirty, and once we were able to get out of the train station (a sometimes difficult proposition when in an all but closed, smallish train station), we knew we needed to find more Internet and a bathroom! According to all of the schedules we had seen, we had a couple of hours until we could catch another train heading in the right direction. We followed the directions in a large advertising sign to the closest hotel, and banged on the door until the overnight front-desk guy got up from his nap on the lobby couch. He came to the door, and let us in only to tell us that they were absolutely full, and no, we couldn't stay in the lobby and use the Internet because the Internet was for guests only. Oh, and no we couldn't use their restroom because that was also for guests only. After that rather unfulfilling conversation, we found ourselves back on the street looking for another hotel.

Thankfully one was not far away, and the front desk gentleman there was much more accommodating. For a small fee we were able to avail ourselves of their restroom and their Internet as long as we would be gone before the hotel owner got back!

The next train going North would get us as far as Bolzano, but unfortunately we couldn't get from Bolzano to Germany in any kind of a reasonable amount of time. And as we had found earlier, the cost of a one-way rental car was absolutely exorbitant! Then, my brilliant husband hit upon a solution! We would get a round-trip rental in Bolzano (we needed a car once we got home until our Prius was fixed anyway), and then we could return the car when we had a more flexible time frame! We arranged for the rental car via the Internet and a phone call (adding to the ever-mounting roaming bill), and made our way back to the train station for our early train ride to Bolzano.

We arrived in Bolzano around six in the morning. Since the rental car place didn't open until eight, we had to wait. Since we were back in the higher elevations, and it was COLD, we took a taxi to the rental car agency. By the great grace of God there was a great little bar (remember, that's often Italian for "coffee shop") right next door! It was open, and we trundled ourselves inside to enjoy what, blessedly, would be our final Italian breakfast on this trip! (The cappuccino and brioche in Bolzano did not disappoint!)

Cappuccino & Brioche
image credit

Though we're on the downward stretch, we're not home yet, and there remains more to this story! Will Shane get arrested for being AWOL? Will the Prius ever run again? There's only one way to find out! Come back for part 6! ;)

Have a great weekend!

His,

Click here to read Part 6!

To see a list of ALL of our travel stories, in chronological order, click here!

Italy PDA - Part 4

PDA stands for President's Day Adventures, in this case. ;)

Click here to read Part 1!
Click here to read Part 2!
Click here to read Part 3!

Welcome back! If you're just joining us, please use the links above to read parts one, two, and three.

Monday morning, Presidents' Day, we got up, checked out of the hotel, and enjoyed a final, delightful breakfast at the Caffe Della Poste. Before we left on Sunday, we had communicated to our favorite barista (with our limited Italian and her limited English), that we would be returning on Monday and would prefer to eat our weight in Brioche Nutella before heading home! She did not disappoint and we were all well-sated before we drove away from beautiful Chiavari.

The plan was to make the simple, easy drive back to Hohenfels by early evening, and get a good night's rest before returning to real life on Tuesday. (Real life meaning work for Austin and Shane, and PWOC's Valentine's Day Date Night babysitting duty for the four of us on Tuesday evening.)

On the way home we engaged in typical road trip behavior, including singing along to the radio! As we entered a tunnel, I started video taping the guys' rendition of "Girl on Fire" and got way more than I bargained for! Check it out:

(Disclaimer: Austin does not swear at (00:43). He is saying "What the fudge." Just for clarification.)

As soon as we got out of the tunnel, Austin took the next available exit and parked us at a gas station/truck stop. He proceeded to call our roadside assistance company (Praise the Lord for the insurance that included roadside assistance!), and the person at the other end of the line promised to send a tow truck. The time was around 9:00am.

While we waited for our tow, we had another cappuccino. We were still in Italy, after all! ;)

At around 11:00am, a tow truck made its way into the lot where we were parked. The driver parked, hopped out of his truck, and sauntered over to us. He was tall and thick, with dark, slicked-back hair, and aviators. He seemed to already be in a foul mood, and encountering a group of Americans who spoke very little Italian didn't do anything to improve his disposition. He started rattling off a lot of Italian, and we were able to decipher that he intended to take us back into Chiavari, from whence we had just come. We tried to communicate to him that the roadside assistance company had promised us a tow to Genoa, where the nearest Toyota dealership was located. While I tried to make him understand, in my sorely-lacking Italian, Austin got back on the phone with the roadside assistance company, hoping that someone there could speak to the driver in his own language and placate him to the point of cooperation. He would have none of it; however, and the conversation disintegrated into him waving his arms around, shouting, "Domani, domani, domani!" (Italian for "tomorrow"!), and angrily getting back into his truck, slamming it into gear, and roaring away, back down the autostrada, leaving us stranded and utterly bereft.

At this point, Austin got back on the phone with the roadside assistance company. After a series of phone calls, they informed us that they would not be sending another tow truck since we had, "Sent the first driver away." Another flurry of phone calls ensued (very expensive phone calls, I might add, since we were on a German cell phone plan and calling German numbers from Italy, but more on that later). Austin was finally able to convince the roadside assistance people that it was absolutely imperative for them to send another tow truck and get us to Genoa TODAY, not tomorrow (since we all had important things to do tomorrow, not the least of which was Shane, for whom missing work would mean being AWOL. Not an insignificant problem in the Army.)! A couple of hours, and several cappuccinos, later a second tow truck carrying a much more genial driver arrived and loaded us up! The time was now around 3:54pm :P

Knowing we were in the middle of a great adventure, we made sure to chronicle the saga via video log:

The second tow truck driver (who was the first one to actually tow us anywhere), switched us to a third tow truck in Levante, and we made our way to the Toyota dealership in Genoa, and what we hoped would be a quick fix to get us back on the road in time for work on Tuesday!

We survived the trip, which was a little harrowing for us girls in our perch, and arrived at the Toyota dealership in Genoa around 5pm. The dealership thankfully didn't close until 7pm, and the technicians were able to get the Prius hooked up to the diagnostic computer right away.

That was the end of the good news; however, as the problem was much larger than we could have fathomed, and there was no way it could be fixed that evening. Poor Austin got back on the phone with our auto insurance company to determine whether or not they wanted to fix the car in Genoa, or have it towed, long-distance back to Germany for repairs to occur there. Alternately he got in touch with the roadside assistance company to work on another way home. They were hesitant to commit to paying for train tickets, but we knew that would be the quickest way home and much cheaper than a one-way rental car. After a lot more time on the phone (racking up the long-distance, international roaming charges), and some quick conversations with the Italian mechanics, and an even quicker huddle with our traveling buddies, we decided to head to the train station (hoping that the roadside assistance company would end up paying for our travel), and the insurance company determined that it would be best to have the car shipped back to Germany for repairs.

We gathered all of our belongings out of the Prius, and prepared to leave the dealership as the employees were calling it a night. One of the mechanics, who spoke really good English, offered -- several times -- to call a taxi to take us to the train station, but we were convinced (thanks to our trusty GPS apps) that we could easily walk and save the expense of a taxi. (Insert ironic smile)

Austin took a moment to sum up the situation as we stood outside the dealership:

Join us again next time for Part 5 - the saga of getting home has only just begun!

His,

Click here to read Part 5!

To see a list of ALL of our travel stories, in chronological order, click here!

Italy PDA - Part 3

PDA stands for President's Day Adventures, in this case. ;)

Click here to read Part 1!
Click here to read Part 2!

Welcome back! If you're just joining us, please use the links above to read part one and two.

Sunday morning, we got up and walked to Cafe Della Poste (quite possibly our favorite Chiavari find) for the sweet nectar that is Italian cappuccino and amazing brioche! (Crema e Nutella - To. Die. For.) The place was super cute on the inside, on the corner of one of the many piazzas, and the barista was a sweet woman who knew all of the locals' orders without having to ask! We sat at a corner table, and enjoyed the culture.

After breakfast, we headed for our next tourist destination: Genoa! This as a city none of us had ever visited, so we had no previous experience getting around, but I think we did OK!

Genoa was the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, so as Americans, seeing sites relevant to him was high on our list of things to do.

The birthplace of Christopher Columbus.

The Porta Soprana is just around the corner from CC's birthplace (rumor has it that Chris's daddy was the gatekeeper), so we got some pics there, too. I think you can climb up into the towers for a few euro, but we opted out and moved onto some other monuments.

Ancient gates of Genoa.

We saw the monument to Christopher Columbus on the Piazza Acquaverde. Right next to the main Genoa train station. (This detail is critical for a later part of the story.) Genoa Piazza Principe is one of the most beautiful train stations I've ever seen! And it was a convenient place to use the bathroom, which we needed at this point of our day!

The Christopher Columbus Memorial.

Our last stop in Genoa was La Lanterna. Shane had done the research on this site and was excited to see it, so we made our way to the coast to view this iconic landmark.

La Lanterna di Genoa

The tower itself was under construction, so we weren't able to go in, but the view of the city from this vantage point is pretty spectacular!

And we got to watch an Italian truck driver make lunch on his truck. So that was a bonus!

A fun look at everyday life!

From Genoa, we made our way to the luxury destination of Portofino!

Portofino!

Portofino reminds me a lot of Cinque Terre, but I think because it's more well-known, and more easily accessible to the yachting crowd, it caters to a higher-budget set of tourists. It cost 8€ to park for an hour (compared to the free parking we used in Genoa), and the restaurants were all more expensive than we were willing to go for lunch.

Beautiful Portofino!

But it really is gorgeous, and definitely worth the drive for the beautiful views and the drool-worthy cars and sail boats! In my mind Portofino is like a cross between Cinque Terre and Venice. The architecture is similar to Cinque Terre, and the restaurants and shops are a lot like Venice.

Gorgeous rainbow for our drive back!

We didn't stay in Portofino very long. Mostly because we were hungry for lunch, and it started to rain. We grabbed lunch at a foolproof traveler's option, the local grocery store! This is especially awesome in Italy where you can get fresh pesto and bread, amazing cheese and deli meats, enough to satisfy several hungry tourists, for just a few euro!

Since we got back to Chiavari pretty early in the afternoon, we borrowed the hotel bikes again and rode around for a few hours. We crossed the bridge into the neighboring town of Lavagna, then came back and spent some daylight time down by the water in Chiavari

Chiavari waterfront.

We "parked" our bikes on the beach and enjoyed the pleasant weather!

The boys :)

Shane 'n Nikki! Our awesome traveling buddies!

That evening we walked around to find a great place for our last dinner in Chiavari. We chatted with a sweet French couple on our walk and ended up at the same restaurant that they were heading to: Vecchio Borgo. The starter they brought us were kind of like hush puppies with shrimp or fish incorporated into the batter, which were fantastic. Austin, Nikki, and I thoroughly enjoyed the gnocchi al pesto for our main course, and Shane ate a ginormous platter of meat, which he said was delicious!

Thoroughly content with our weekend's adventures, we went back to the hotel, packed, and got a good night's sleep to prepare for the simple [ahem] trip home on Monday

Hope you're enjoying this little travel-log! Though it may seem like we had a pretty tame time, and we're now wrapping it up, the major curve-ball comes on Monday (both that Monday, February 18th, 2013, and this Monday, March 3rd, 2014), so be sure to check back in for the next installment!

Have a GREAT weekend!

His,

Soooooooo, I didn't get part four up as quickly as I thought I would.
Click here to read Part 4!

To see a list of ALL of our travel stories, in chronological order, click here!

Italy PDA - Part 2

PDA stands for President's Day Adventures, in this case. ;)

Click here to read Part 1!

Welcome back! If you're just joining us, please use the link above to read part one.

First thing Saturday morning (this was Saturday, February 16, 2013), we got up and struck out to find the perfect Italian breakfast: cappuccino and brioche! We found a cute little coffee shop a few steps from our hotel, ordered our coffee (that seems too crass and simple a description for the amazingness that is Italian cappuccino) and pastries and found a little table in the back of the narrow shop to do some people watching.

The "around the corner" view from our hallway.

The great thing about Chiavari is that it's not touristy! Which is super-rare in these great little Italian towns on the coast. Very few people spoke English, so we had to get by in our very rough Italian, but everything was perfectly authentic - from the food, to the cute old men who came into the cafe for their morning paper and to shoot the breeze with the owner.

(Quick travel tip: in Italy, a good place to get a great cappuccino in the morning will often be called a "bar" on their sign, don't let this throw you off - they're not serving shots for breakfast, just really, really good coffee and pastries!)

The daily market in the piazza in front of the Palazzo di Giustizia.

After breakfast, we explored Chiavari in the daylight, and were delighted with its Medieval cuteness (yes, that's a real thing)!

Albergo Monte Rosa and Via Monsignor Luigi Marinetti.

When we had worked off our breakfast calories, we stopped at another little coffee shop for cappuccino number two (when in Italy . . . seriously). The second cafe, Bar San Marco was a bit bigger, and it was the kind that converts to outdoor seating in the summer, but since it was still pretty cold, they had the plastic walls zipped down; however, the view of the downtown was still pretty good.

Piazza Nostra Signora dell'Orto e il monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II.

Thoroughly caffeinated, we decided to start our touring in earnest. We got the Prius out of the garage and made our way to Cinque Terre.

Cinque Terre is actually the romantic name that refers to five little towns (from North to South: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore) nestled into the cliffs on the western side of Italy. They used to be fairly unknown, but thanks to Rick Steves and other travel writers they have become thoroughly touristy. This doesn't detract from their charm too much; however, and they are always a worthwhile stop! Cinque Terre is one of our favorite little places to visit, and we've been blessed to visit there several times.

The first glimpse of Vernazza.

We parked just outside of Vernazza and walked into town.

Vernazza's water front.

We had intended to buy passes and hike portions of the Sentiero Azzurro (a great hiking trail that links the five cities and provides some incredible views of the Mediterranean), but the portion that linked Vernazza and Corniglia was closed for the season, so we had to take the train instead. Either way is pretty cost effective (I think the last time we were there, the trail pass was 5€ for adults, and each train ticket from town to town is a little more than 1€)

Cinque Terre is the birthplace of pesto, and one of the best ways to enjoy pesto is on top of pizza or focaccia from hole-in-the-wall joints like this.

(Quick travel tip: no matter where in the world you are, the best places to eat -- and the most cost effective -- are the ones where the guys in painted up cover-alls and work boots are grabbing their lunch!)

Our day's sightseeing ended with a quick stop in Pisa at sunset to get the obligatory Leaning Tower pictures.

The crazy thing about Pisa is the most beautiful buildings are the ones you never see pictures of!

Everyone who has been there has a picture of them "holding up the tower" (or "kicking over the tower" in this instance) . . .

. . . but if you turn around 90 degrees, there is this huge, gorgeous Cathedral and Baptistry that you rarely ever see or hear about.

When we got back to Chiavari, we borrowed the bicycles that the hotel keeps for their guests and pedaled our way down to the waterfront. We had dinner at Zia Piera - pizzas and dessert pizza (it's Italy!). Zia Piera is a swanky little place with a great vibe, and it's apparently very popular with the locals as well! A huge family birthday party was going on while we were there, and that made the whole atmosphere very festive.

I love personalized sugar packets!

Pedaling around the waterfront, picking up rocks on the beach, and taking funny "hashtag" pictures brought us to the end of another great day!

#saidnooneever

We have another full day of sightseeing ahead of us ;), so come back tomorrow for the next installment!

His,

Click here to read part 3!

To see a list of ALL of our travel stories, in chronological order, click here!

Italy PDA - Part 1

PDA stands for President's Day Adventures, in this case. ;)

(Disclaimer: These stories will be coming to you in no particular order. I'm telling this one now because it happened just over a year ago, and my Timehop reminded me about it, so I decided to start here!)

So, I promised adventure stories, and this one's a doozie!!!

Last February, we were living in Lupburg, Germany. Austin was the Community Director for Club Beyond at USAG Hohenfels. We loved working with the military for many reasons, but one of the big perks was four-day weekends! President's Day fell right after Valentine's Day last year, so we decided to hop in the Prius (yes, we owned a Prius while we lived in Germany, too) with our good friends Shane and Nikki, and spend our four-day in romantic Italia!

A few days before the trip, we were at Shane and Nikki's apartment talking about fun things to do for the four day. They hadn't been to Italy before, and there were some fun things that they wanted to do that we had some experience with (Pisa, Cinque Terre, etc.), so we hopped on booking.com and found a cute little hotel in Chiavari. We had never stayed in Chiavari before, but the hotel was a great deal, and Chiavari is right in between Cinque Terre and Genoa - where none of us had ever been, but we all thought it would be fun to explore.

While we lived in Germany, we took several short (and some not-so-short) road trips, and the Prius always did a great job. Austin is a maintenance nut. He always makes sure to do oil changes right on schedule, the tires are never out of tread, and he rotates them as often as is suggested by the manufacturers. We had separate snow tires for Bavarian winters. He always does a fantastic job of keeping track of and staying on top of those things. So road trips are never nerve-wracking, just tons of fun!

On Friday, we took off from home in the morning to begin the eight hour drive from the Hohenfels area to Chiavari. We took the eastern route, through Austria instead of Switzerland, which meant stopping just before the Austrian border to pay for a vignette. (A vignette is a sticker that you put on your windshield. You pay a flat fee for it depending on how many days you will be using the roads instead of having to pay tolls for every section of road.)

The trip south went very smoothly. There was a little bit of snow on the side of the road in the higher elevations, but the roads were all clear, and we didn't hit any ridiculous "staus" (German for traffic jams).

We made it to Chiavari early in the evening and checked into our charming little hotel. Albergo Monterosa is a charming little place on a narrow, oh-so-Italian street. They have a great little underground parking garage, and our rooms were upstairs next door to one another. Not super fancy, but comfortable and clean.

A stroll down our little Italian via

We unpacked a little bit and got settled, then set out to do a little bit of exploring in the quaint little town of Chiavari. Dinner at the quaint Trattoria E' Taggejne Di Mohamed Samir was a great end to the first day of our epic trip!

More to come! Hope you're having a great week!

His,

Click here to read part 2!

To see a list of ALL of our travel stories, in chronological order, click here!

June 2011 Newsletter

June Newsletter

To see this newsletter on the Scribd website, click the link at the top of the post :)

If you would like to become a part of our support team, please visit www.yfc.org/give. There are several different ways to give which you can select by clicking on the appropriate link. When you get to the "Donation Information" section, please be sure that you select "VanWyk, Austin & Katy" from the "Designation" drop-down menu.

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His,

~ My Husband Rocks! ~ Friday - Adventurous

Click here to read about why I started MHR Fridays!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One of the things I love the most about Austin is how adventurous he is, and how willing he is to try new things! In our new life, that's something that has, and will continue to, serve him very well!


Here's a couple of examples from the past couple of weeks. Last weekend, on our way between Pisa and Aviano, we stopped overnight in the Cinque Terre (which is absolutely incredible, btw). We got dinner at this adorable little restaurant, and Austin ordered the pesto lasagna, because we had been told that we had to try the pesto in Vernazza, and he had been dying to have lasagna in Italy. He thought that what he ordered was a piece of meaty, red-sauced lasagna with a side of pasta au pesto. Much to his surprise, the waiter brought him green lasagna.


He kind of laughed at the situation, then dug right in. As we were leaving the restaurant, I asked him if he enjoyed his Italian eating experience and he said, "It was pretty good, but I think I prefer the penne with the pesto." We both looked at each other and then burst out laughing because that was a sentence I never thought I'd hear my husband say, lol!

The other instance occurred earlier this week. Working with military contractors on bases definitely has its perks. One of which is the use of the on base gym and fitness center. Monday after work we joined one of the MCYM staff members at the gym for a "Turn & Burn" class. Forty five minutes of spinning followed by 45 minutes of power yoga. It's quite the workout, and the trainer was really fun, but I was most impressed with my adorable hubby who participated in both spinning and yoga and gave every position a try! He even did his breathing right!!! :) There was another spinning class on Wednesday evening, so we took our gym clothes with us to work that day. As we were leaving the house, Austin said, "I'm glad it's just spinning tonight, not spinning followed by yoga." Another one of those sentences I never expected to come out of his mouth!

He would tell you that he's not a very adventurous eater and that he's pretty picky, but as you can tell, he'll try just about anything once! I LOVE that about him! My husband so totally rocks! :)

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I am the only person who has the ability to add blogs to the MHR blogroll. If you are a MHR blogger, and have not been added to the blogroll, plase comment or e-mail me at katylinvw{at}yahoo{dot}com and I will gladly add you to our little group!!!

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If you're not a blogger, but still want the world to know about your amazing husband (or wife, or husband to be, or wife to be, etc.) leave a shout-out in the form of a comment! If you're unable to comment, e-mail me at katylinvw [at] yahoo [dot] com and I'll add your shout out to this post!

As always, on Fridays Union 28 will refund your shipping on any order of two or more items if you mention the great adventure and ~my husband rocks! Fridays~ in the "how did you hear about us?" section of your order form, so run on over there and check them out, too! Thank you Union 28!

Hope you have a fantastic Friday, and a wonderful week!