Water family in a water city...day 1

Our time in Verona ended as we rolled out of town on a train towards Venice. The girls had been super excited about Venice for days and when we arrived and they saw the Grand Canal for the first time I can only imagine what was running through their young brains. Could they comprehend the impressiveness and grandeur of what they were seeing? We took a vaporetto up the Grand Canal where our host met us, walked us to our apartment and checked us in. Then we were off for adventure-first stop was lunch. Our waiter was very keen and knew what we wanted before we ordered-cheese pizza for the girls, pizza and salad for us, still water-chilled. I think he had seen an American family or two before.

We double backed to our room for Reese’s wallet because both girls had already seen dozens of must-have items in the handful of shops we passed on our walk to lunch. We encouraged the girls not to spend all their money in the first few hours we were in Venice as we had a lot to see and experience. Our choice to get on a vaporetto and cross the water to Giudecca and then to San Giorgio Maggiore helped us separate from all the street vendor shops and enjoy magnificent views back towards Venice. The best views came from atop the tower at the Church of San Giorgio Maggiore. We had 360 degree views and could truly take in a lot of the splendor of this amazing city. All four of us braved our way to the top and took in the views from this high (over 200 ft) vantage point!

We spent the rest of the evening walking and exploring Venice. Reese’s main struggle for the day was being on top of water that she couldn’t even touch and Kendall’s was the lack of true toys stores amongst all the vendors. Robert worked hard to get the girls to stop and look around a little bit and one of Kelsy’s highlights was a trip to the Paolo Venini art exhibit displaying his glass art work. With beautiful weather, small crowds and mostly energized kids, the day was great. Praying day two is just as good.

Lago di Garda

Today we learned that no matter what side of the world, what continent, country or city... the girls love the water and the beach! Aunt Penny took us on a scenic drive west of Verona to Lago di Garda. This long, deep lake starts up in the mountains where it is primarily fed by a waterfall and extends to the end of the mountains where the beach cities are developed around beautiful scenic mountains as a hot spot for tourists from Italy and neighboring countries. Sound familiar?

The girls instantly took to collecting shells on the beach and were content for as long as we would let them roam and investigate. We broke for lunch and then roamed the shops before getting back to the beach to top off the bag with shells. Both girls made it as far as their belly-buttons in the lake and enjoyed cooling off as the day was warm. The water was warmer than Chelan, but not as clear or clean. And when we said toes in the sand earlier, we really should have put rocks or pebbles—we didn’t see any sand.

We all rested on the drive home and then the girls got some homework done and updated their personal journals. We are really proud of the work and effort they are putting into their journals. So far we have been able to keep up. In fact Reese said, “I want to journal but I don’t have anything else to write about.” With our time in Verona almost done and plenty of adventure on the way, we know she won’t feel that way for long!

 Kendall was the first to test the water.

 Reese and her pile of shells.

 Fun family day at a pace we all could enjoy.

 Tour guide Aunt Penny and the happy beach bums.

 After an hour at a beach searching and digging for shells, the girls found this spot where you had to search and dig for rocks amongst the shells!

 It was a gorgeous place and we caught it on a hazy day.

 Cooling off with their toes in the lake.

It has been a great stop with Aunt Penny. Thanks for your hospitality, help and favorable exchange rate! 

Verona with Professor Aunt Penny

After getting a good full night sleep, we were ready to take on our first day of site seeing. Sticking with our laid back, casual tourist attitude we spent most of the morning at Aunt Penny’s apartment and finally ventured out to the city around noon. With Professor Aunt Penny as our tour guide we spent our morning session around Piazza Arsenale and Piazza delle Erbe. We did our best to impress upon the girls the history, age and grandeur of everything we saw. Their attention was best held as we walked over the fortified bridge and around the 14^th century castle. Seeing the thickness of the wall, the moat, the draw bridge and the tall towers helped us all understand how impressive this fortress was for the Lords of Verona.

In the afternoon, we made it to an even older bridge that was built before Jesus was born! The Ponte Pietra was built by the Romans in 100 B.C. To get the girls to realize how old that was we told them to think of the oldest person they knew and imagine them living 30 times that long. We won’t be sharing their answers here and that process still didn’t translate with them as to just how long ago everything was built. After a pick me up at a gelato shop and a little hide and seek in the park, we walked back to the car and on the way saw a Roman road, the Palazzo della Ragione and plenty of gorgeous buildings that many people still get to call home.

Again the girls did a great job with only a few minor melt downs. Reese enjoyed taking pictures with her camera and Kendall was most excited about the market, the toys and trinkets for sale.

Overall it was a great day and will end up being our most history focused day of the trip. Officially Professor Aunt Penny was free, but after mistakenly exchanging dollars to Euros with a local exchange company we realized we paid more fees and commission than you do when buying a house and our free tour around Verona now had a price tag. We would have been better served to find a mafia member and do business with him.

 

Frankfurt Layover

Despite the fact that none of us got more than 2 hours of sleep on our flight, Team Bordner energy levels were pretty good. The zoo was great because it kept us on our feet and map master (self-declared) Reese kept us moving at a steady pace. For the most part, the Germany zoo was not much different from an American zoo, but we did see some great animal exhibits and some lively animals. One difference we did notice was the number of each animal they had per exhibit. The monkeys in particular seemed to be running in large numbers and we quickly learned why—they were very affectionate with one another and we stayed just long enough to take in all the different groups but not long enough that we had to worry about having a birds and the bees talk at the Frankfurt Zoo.

Now masters of the Frankfurt subway, we quickly made it back to the airport and were through security with time for a bite to eat before our flight to Verona. The girls were having none of it and used the 2 hours to get a nap in. At times we tried to wake them up to eat or walk from one spot to another but that went over like the suggestion to clean a room or eat a vegetable. They had hit their wall and took great naps. All four of us managed to shut our eyes for a few minutes here and there and eventually we were on our way to Aunt Penny in Verona. The girls did great on the flight and last leg of the trip to our final destination and the official start of our big trip.

Aunt Penny picked us up at the Verona airport and drove us to her home where we ate, showered and got a great night's sleep. The blackout blinds enabled good and long sleep and we now feel ready for the trip!

 The Frankfurt Zoo was a great layover stop as the girls loved seeing animals, especially the stuffed ones in the gift shop!

 We bought our first apple in Europe hoping to see that it had come from Washington. But instead, it was a pink lady from New Zealand. It was pretty good, but obviously they are missing out by not having NCW apples.

 The playground at the zoo kept the girls active and happy. But when we sat down to watch we were reminded of how tired we really were. Keep moving if you want to stay awake!

 The underwater viewing of the seals was the girls favorite stop at the zoo.

We didn't get to see much of Frankfurt, but we did see this quaint little fountain and old city block.

 As soon as we stopped moving the girls were out for the count.

Kendall is a solid sleeper and she was virtually unresponsive during this 90 minute nap. Reese also got a great nap, but at one point she was deliriously giddy and silly while seemingly still asleep.

 

International Travel

After two days of vacation prep with the cousins in Woodinville, we headed to the airport for the girls first international travel. GP & BB’s Uber service dropped us curb side at Sea-Tac and we began the process of getting airborne on our 747. The girls were quickly annoyed with the hurry up and wait process of getting on the plane, and being tired and hungry didn’t help. But we managed to get through baggage check, security, one last American fast food meal, the train ride to the gate, chaos at the Hudson News stand and the boarding process without much pain. The girls were instantly on cloud 9 when they found their personal seat back entertainment systems. We settled in for the 9-hour flight to Frankfurt in the middle row of 4 seats. The flight essentially broke down into thirds. The first third was great, the girls loved the screens and getting their journals started. The middle third consisted of hours of attempted sleep and hours of failure—it wasn’t pretty. And then we survived the final third and in our row of mess and chaos.

Upon arrival the girl’s patience was again tested as we tried to figure navigating the airport, customs, subways and currency exchange. Reese’s idea was to just ride every escalator she saw and Kendall was fascinated with the birds in the train stations. Both girls loved the subway rides and eventually we got off a train at the zoo to kill the majority of our layover time.

 These four love playing together.

 We are very proud of the packing we did--only two luggage bags for all four of us! Two very dense luggage bags.

 It didn't take long for our row to look like our home, stuff every where.

 

Both girls enjoyed using dads neck pillow. Attempted sleep is the toughest part of the long flight and Kendall won the award for most versatile sleeper. At one point she had both feet half way up the back of her own seat and her head almost hanging off the chair.

 Reese might have gotten the least amount of sleep. She is able to show you how much sleep she got with her fingers. She will hold up a little pinch sign when she shares her story.

Overall the flight went great and the girls were awesome!