Oh, internets, how I have missed you so!
Posted on January 6, 2009
I am sitting on the floor (a heated floor to be exact) at Becky and Robert’s house in Bad Wimpfen, Germany, remembering the ease and beauty of the all powerful internets. Without you, I have not been able to tell my story. And oh, what a glorious story I have to tell! Travel’s to a far off land, where we met new and strange peoples who speak not our language, and do not understand the dietary needs of a two year old. (Okay okay, so what she perceives as her dietary needs, which I am pretty sure does NOT mean eating popcorn every day for lunch and dinner!)
We start our glorious adventure on Christmas Day, in the Newark airport. From there we travel to Penna in Teverina, Italy…Where a beautiful villa in a tiny town awaits. In this fabulous villa (aka: big fancy house in the country) we finally rest our heads (for 8 hours during the middle of the day, damn you JET LAG.) The night is spent trying to convince the two year old that 2am is NOT a good time to play. It takes until 7am for her to believe me. Then the Clan of the Erickson’s slept until 11, while the rest of our illustrious party explored the surrounding villages.
Becky, the remaining traveler from the far off land of Germany, stayed behind to help us forage for food the the strange and confusing market. (IE: We went grocery shopping for something ANYTHING Chloe might eat.) After returning the spoils to the villa, we also explored the nearby town of Orte. Pictures shall be posted when time allows.
Then there was the attempt at sleep.
The following day, we went into Rome, Italy. And it was COLD and RAINY and yet, still AWESOME. Because I said it before and I will say it again, ‘WE’RE IN FREAKIN’ ROME PEOPLE!”
And there will be pictures. Oh, will there be pictures!
After several more days of enjoying the villa, and taking advantage of the 45 minutes train ride into Rome, we lost some of our travelers to the responsibility of the daily grind. They will be missed, but the show must go on.
Then there was an uneventful road trip to Florence, Italy. Where much art was appreciated, much gelato, pizza, wine, and pasta was consumed. And towers, and Duomos were conquered. (yeah, John can tell you all kinds of stories of carrying a two year old up 456 stairs!)
After one and a half days, and two nights, of serious touring, the youngest member of our party started to protest. (aka: She threw a fit in the Uffizi museum after we waited in line for two hours to get in. Mommy and Daddy were none to pleased.) We decided that life was easier at a homestead, where everything, induding the child, was easier to control.
So, we made a tiny detour over to Pisa, to see an infamous tower that refuses to fall over. Then drove to a seedy and scary town called Genoa, Italy. Sleep recovered our energies, and we traveled on through the mountainous and snowy terrain of Switzerland (Becky kept telling us there were mountains. All we could see were miles and miles of snow) to Bad Wimpfen, Germany.
And this is where we pause our tale, for now. I promise, there will be more. It will include many stories of whoa and triumph, checklists of how to do international travel with a toddler, and many many pictures. And probably some photo slide shows.
We have four days left to tour Germany, and then one day of travel.
Let us all hope that we don’t freeze our little toochies off.
Cause, let’s face: IT’S FREAKIN’ COLD HERE PEOPLE!
