From Venice with Love

Well we went up the alps, and came back down.  Spent two nights in Padova, Italy, and are finishing it off with a night in Venice.

Believe you me, we did not know the meaning of "hiking around Europe" until we started our ascent to Rebekka's families alpine cottage.  The steep incline was all the more emphasized by the higher elevation and lack of oxygen.  I could feel the blood throbbing in my temples the whole 40 minutes we hiked up.  Bethany, still ill, said she was fearful of passing out, or throwing up, or both at any moment.  But we made it up there, and the view from the top made it worth the trip... I think.  At least we spent most of the evening enjoying that view for which we had struggled so hard to get.  But our alpine getaway did not last long.  The next morning we packed back up and climbed back down, at a much accelerated pace.  We spent the rest of the morning sight seeing with our guide, Beat, Rebekka's father.  It looked like he barely broke a sweat the whole time, up or down the mountain, and he was carrying a much larger pack than I, which was certainly heavier.

That afternoon we trained it to Padova where we took a taxi to our hotel and crashed.  The next day we toured the town and had a authentic multi-course Italian meal.  Everything was great, but I don't think Bethany was too fond of the horse meat...

Today we made it Venice, on our one month anniversary!  We walked around the shops a bit and then came back to the hotel for the free ice tea. Tomorrow, we will see the famous churches here, and the rest of the town, and then fly to London at 10:30 pm.  We get to spend the night in the London airport thanks to our 12 hour layover (boo)  and then its on to Georgia for the grand grandparent anniversary.

Hopefully we will get to check the blog a bit during our layover so wish us a safe return, and we will see you soon!