Ciao Italy.

 Flight:
I will say my first overseas flight was not half bad. I slept about 5-6 hours and the food they served I actually found edible. Now, the French airport annoyed me. It was so crowded!! I waited in a line that seemed 10 miles long just to get my passport checked. Plus I had to go through security which consisted of a line about 20 miles long. I left security with only 5 minutes till my plane was supposed to leave. I ran and ran till I finally got there. The kiosk sign said, "Boarding closed." But, they let me and two others on. I was literally the last person on the plane. I finally arrived at Italy with all of my sanity and all of my luggage.

Day 1:
Flying into Venezia was unreal. It looked like roadways made out of water. Of  course, Thomas just reminded me as I write this that that's exactly what they are. I just told him, "oh, whatever." ;) My first meal was authentic Italian pizza. Yummy!!! It was delicious and very light tasting compared to American pizza. It even had fresh tomatoes on it. We ate our lunch out on our porch. While on the porch enjoying our food we have the pleasure of hearing church bells ringing in the background. The apartments around us have flower boxes which I will have on my porch next week. ;) We walked down the street to have a gelato. It was so yummy and refreshing. Later that night we went to Walter's to eat (remember, the guy who owns the restaurant and absolutely loves 'Tomas.'). We had bread with olive oil, vinegar, and some red stuff that we have no idea what is in it but it is soooo good. We also had gnocchi with four cheeses, chicken with some kind of tomato sauce, and bruchetta. Of course, there was also wine with the meal. I actually tried some of Thomas's red wine and I will say it really wasn't bad. I actually liked it! Walter's wife Gabby gave us the bruchetta for FREE and even gave us some kind of drink for FREE which she called a "pre-wine drink." They are both so incredibly sweet. Walter's mother tries to talk to Thomas, but she only speaks Italian so Thomas only understands half of what she says. At the end of the night, Thomas and I met new friends Gretchen and her husband Johnny for some more..yes..gelato. Hahaha! This time Thomas abandoned me and I was forced to order it. I said, "I need one limone in a cone and one limone in a cup." The guy looks at me like I am crazy. The only word he understood was limone. Then Gretchen saved the day by throwing out some Italian. I can't imagine ever being able to do that, but then again she has been here for more than two days, haha! :) 


Day 2:
After buying bus tickets to get to the train station we went by Walter's to just say hey. He and his wife gave us a cappuciano for FREE! And actually I loved it. He's also told us he wants to take us to some different lakes to go swimming. He said now that its getting warm he will start taking his daughter Rebecca on bike rides through town and that we should join them. They have invited us to come over any evening we would like to have coffee. He actually told us to come tomorrow night and he even offered to close down early, but we told him we'd have to do it another night because tomorrow we are going out to eat with Gretchen and Johnny. He just said, "oh well I just wanted you to know that any time you come to our house." They live right down the street. You can practically see their house from ours. That family is so unbelievably nice. It makes me feel good to know that some foreigners actually like Americans. And then we to the train station where the ticket we bought was messed up and after getting an Italian who spoke English to fix it we had to talk to an Italian who didn't speak english to exhange our ticket. It was pretty frustrating. He couldn't understand us and we couldn't understand him. But, eventually, we got the right ticket in the end. Finally we made it to Venezia.  It was so pretty with all the water everywhere. I will eventually take a gondola ride. Im not in a big hurry though because it's like 80 Euro. I bought a necklace made of morona glass and I bought something in Venezia for someone else but I won't say who yet. ;) I want to buy other people presents and then maybe send them in one big package. Okay, hint #1...it's a family member. Hahaha! Im just trying to pick up little things as I see them. The views were amazing. Some of the squares were so open and the buildings so big. I know it's touristy, but I really did enjoy it. 


Although, this is so far a wonderful experience, I will say part of me is overwhelmed. I feel like a martian. I have told Thomas this several times. I laugh about it at least. I can't imagine really fitting in here. I mean I can't even order gelato by myself. I hear how Thomas can speak to the Italians and I can barely remember to say gratia instead of thank you. It is a culture shock. I know that with time it will get easier and I will pick up on the language and everything. It's also hard to imagine that this is my home. Right now, I feel I'm on vacation. Our stuff still isn't here yet so we don't have much and I am having to live out of suitcases. I want to start getting this place together badly. OH and I keep walking into the bathroom thinking it's the KITCHEN!! BAHAHAAHA! When Thomas showed me the house on skype I thought the kitchen had two doorways...one leading into the living room and one towards the door. Well, the bathroom is near the living room..and yeah, like I said, I keep walking into the bathroom looking for food and drink.

Well, I hope I remembered everything. It has been an exciting and eventful two first days. Tomorrow we will go to Verona for the day and have dinner with friends that evening. On Sunday we will probably go get me some flowers and window boxes. :) 

Until next time, Ciao!