A City Sinking

     Venice is fabulous in the same way an aluminum can is fabulous in that you know that no matter how much fun it is, it's only temporary. Our trip to Venice yesterday reminded me to that even if tourists flood the streets and you can buy a postcard on every corner, a city can still keep it's charm 1,000 years later. The main streets of Venice may be filled with tourists, but the 55,000 residents prove that Venice is still very much a city where people live and thrive. I know this because we spent the whole day walking around the whole of the city, seeing what feels like every corner, nook and cranny there is to see of the place. I don't think it's quite possible to describe or even capture the feeling of the city with photos or words, so I won't even attempt it. But, I can say that it was quite refreshing to not see a single car in such a crowded and exciting place. As with the city being temporary, I got the chance to see the sinking city before it sinks and I am very aware that not everyone has that opportunity; however, anyone with the opportunity should without a doubt take it up and see the place before the Adriatic swallows it up, because who knows if my kids will even be able to see it.

     After hitting 30,000 steps, we boarded the train and rode for an hour back to Bassano del Grappa to find some dinner. The question was whether to go to the same restaurant or to find a new one. I, of course, was against all pleads to go to the same restaurant because I think doing the same thing twice is completely grausam when you can do something different and explore. It seemed as though it was me and Mutti against the rest of the family and no one was going to be happy. After looking around for a little bit, we hadn't found anywhere good to eat so the general consensus was to head back to the pizzeria from the day before. I didn't feel like putting up a fight because 1) Lars wanted me to, 2) I was really hungry, and 3) I kind of liked the place. The name of the place escapes me at the moment, but it was totally Italian in that the whole family was working there at the same time and I'm pretty sure that we were the only people eating there that weren't Italian. The reason Joern's mom and I wanted to find a different place was so that we could sit outside, but maybe it was good we didn't get our way so that we could experience something completely authentic all over again. It was funny because the same couple that was eating there the day before was eating there again as well, just another reminder that we had made a good choice. Also, the family dog remembered us and let us go straight to petting. The dog was cool because there was a wall mural that had a dog in it that looked suspiciously familiar to our friend. We can only guess, but we were all pretty sure that the dog from the mural was the same dog that watched us eat. Anyhow, I got pizza rather than a calzone this time with "spicy salami". It turns out that pepperoni has nothing to with Italy and is 100% American. Furthermore, my spicy salami was far better and impossible to compare to the fake-meat pepperoni that I have known my whole life. For dessert I had a slice of homemade gelato meringue cake that I can only describe as being a taste of The Good Place. After dinner we didn't mess around and headed straight back to the car to rescue it from the parking lot as we were paying 1€/hr to keep it there for the whole day. After getting back to the B&B, we got ready for bed and called it Feierabend.

     This morning we woke up to 3 different varieties of homemade cakes, steaming hot coffee and fluffy scrambled eggs. After having breakfast outside, we packed our things and hit the road for the mountains. The drive was quite sucky because of the twisty turny curvy passes, but eventually we   came upon the village that is near where we are currently staying. The village is in the Northern Italian Alps close to the border of Austria. I'm told that before WWII this was part of Germany but, after the war, has since been annexed into Italy due to the post-war agreements. Today, it is quite confusing which language (Italian or German) is superior due to the people being German but also Italian citizens. After our trip downtown to the supermarket, my current assessment is that it's about 50/50, but I really have no idea.

     After stocking up, we headed up the north side of the valley to find the farm where are currently staying. Again, the twisty turny curves of the switchback were stomach-wretching and furthermore, the narrow road left us in constant fear that we would get caught in an unsolvable stand-off with a other car (which we did). Nonetheless, we made it to Kerschbaumhof without a scratch on the car, unlike Rome (where the car got more than a few scratches). I'm not sure what makes this place a farm, as it is quite sideways and I don't see how growing  anything is possible, but I guess there are chickens which is farm enough for me. But despite all the downsides of being on a mountain, there is one thing that makes driving all the way up to our little chateau worth it, the view. we have a view of die Dreizinnen (the three peaks) right from our rooms. It's also really awesome because we have a balcony where we can sit out on and watch the sun rise over the mountains tomorrow morning. I have no idea how Joerns's parents found this place, but it is yet another dream straight out of a movie.

     We'll spend the next few days hiking around the Nationalpark Sextener Dolomiten and cleansing ourselves of all of the city we have seen in the past week and a half. I'm super pumped to get my relaxation on the next couple of days and see me some moubtains.

Today is Wednesday the fourteenth of June in the year MMXFII

Nat