A Day Trip to Galveston

When we settled in Texas, we settled in a suburb equal distance to Houston as it is to Galveston. So this weekend when it was 65 degrees and sunny and we were left with ''What should we do today?" we opted to see Galveston. Now we had been a couple times before but for the beach. This time I first went to the Galveston tourism website and searched ''budget friendly''...since we really were just wanting to sight-see. We found two things that sounded like good, cheap, family fun: The {free} ferry from Galveston to Port Bolivar which dolphins can often be seen from and a candy shop called LaKings located on the Strand. Off we went.

We chose the Ferry first.

The kids loved it! They couldn't wait to depart the landing and get out of the van.  It's a 20 minute Ferry ride across the channel so it's just enough that they have fun without getting restless.   

 Logan is "Star Student of the Week" this week and with that honor comes the responsibility of taking care of the class mascot :Brown Bear. Now he can say that Brown Bear saw a ferry this weekend :)

After the ferry we spent about twenty minutes at Port Bolivar before the kids were itching for that taffy we had talked about. Most of the homes were built up on the stilts, which the kids thought was neat.

 Ron was amazed and actually pulled the car over...those ''rocks'' on the ground are all oysters!

A quick ferry ride later and we were on our way to The Strand.

If you've ever been to Lawrence, KS ''Mass Street" well "The Strand" is a lot like that but bigger, right by the Gulf and from the Strand you can see Cruise ships dock in the port. We (in the fashion that we do) just hopped in the car and went and were pleasantly surprised to discover that the day we went was a Chili and Beer Fest. Lots of yummy 'fair' food and microbrewery beers. I enjoyed sipping on a Strawberry Daiquiri while we explored. At last we found La King's Confectionery...also known as "the taffy place". Walking into La King's was like walking back in time. Soda bar, candy cases, adorable little tables and chairs everywhere and the sweet smell of sugar!

I got so wrapped up in it all that I didn't think to take photos until we were at the back of the shop, watching him pull the taffy. D'oh!

 He puts forty pounds of taffy on this belt and it stretches it out. The end of the belt will cut and wrap each piece of taffy. 40 pounds of taffy will be cut into about 3000 pieces and it takes about 30 minutes. This flavor was ''Mardi Gras'' and was yellow with ribbons of purple and green. It tasted like ''tutti frutti".

 As the machine started wrapping, the sampling begun! After tasting a warm piece, it wasn't as exciting to pick pieces out of bins. We bought peanut butter, pina colada, strawberry, orange, watermelon, root beer and cherry. I didn't taste all of them but there were no complaints. All in all, a fun afternoon followed up with dinner at Rainforest Cafe. The kids LOVE Rainforest Cafe.

A realization, Father's Day and Desenzano

One thing we learned after our spring break in Paris, is that while we can all agree sightseeing is fun, it is difficult for us without a car. Europe has great transportation, don't get me wrong! Between the buses and the trains and the cheap(er) airfare, travel can be enjoyed fairly easily. What Paris taught us is that with the ages of our kids (or maybe the sizes of our kids) public transportation isn't easy. The underground metro was impossible to navigate with a stroller and it was a lot of steps for little legs. The day we went sight seeing without a stroller, Ron and I were exhausted from carrying Maggie (and even Connor) as they got tired. My kids are big sleepers. Even Logan who is six, will nap for a little bit in the afternoon. So by mid afternoon, we needed that stroller. When it started raining, we realized walking everywhere isn't much fun (especially when it rains the day you didn't take the stroller). When the kids were utterly exhausted and we wasted 2 hours trying to get to the police station, I wished we had had a car. My kids are young but more so my kids are small. Ryan is in the "less than 3rd percentile" for his height. Short means short legs. And while he didn't whine while we were out and about, his legs were sore the next morning, which made it hard to get up and go.

Once back home from our trip to Paris, Ron and I decided that we ALL did much better with short weekend car trips, than we did with long trips relying on public transit. While driving in Italy isn't always easy, the benefits outweigh the negative aspect.

So we've been thinking about where we might want to go this summer. The plus side of being a furloughed government employee is the short work week. We talked about Slovenia/Croatia coast line, Milan, Lake Como, Bolzano for 3 day weekends and decided that we will try to squeeze in a few local trips too. 

Last Sunday was Father's Day and it was the day before Ron's birthday and he decided that we should go to Lake Garda, but not Sirmione (which we absolutely love). After looking online, he chose Desenzano del Garda. So we set out...

It was an hour and 15 minutes away and a very easy drive. It's a beach town and we learned that hard way, a very very crowded beach town at 11am on a Sunday. But it was gorgeous, the temperature was cooler and watching the boats made up for the crowd. We went off the beaten path, decided not to swim but to explore and had fun!

I didn't take very many photos, I was too busy holding hands and eating gelato.

Chioggia, Italy...Fun in the SUN!

Last weekend was Father's Day and B'S 30th Birthday. While I would have loved to have a barbecue and invite everyone over, make a big fuss over it....that's not his style. He wanted a relaxing day at the beach. I tried reasoning with him. I asked if he wanted to go alone. I tried reminding him that with the four kiddos "relaxing'' wouldn't be the word I'd pair with a sand filled beach but he insisted.  So after we made a quick trip to the PX for some boogie boards and a quick lunch, we drove the hour to the beach. The two we had heard about were Jesolo Beach and Chiogga. We had heard that Jesolo is the nicer, bigger one but that traffic would be horrible on a weekend so we went with Chioggia.

Obviously we hadn't been to the beach yet since moving to Italy so we weren't exactly sure what to expect but overall it went really well. We learned that we must leave earlier in the day; noon was too late and we were stuck in traffic for awhile. Probably nothing as bad as it would have been to Jesolo though.

Pooks was ready to go! We had to walk about a block from the parking place.

We found a spot in the sand, got all settled, looked up and the first thing I saw was two men in speedos. Just another reminder that we're in Europe. Last summer was spent on North Padre Island...note, this isn't a Texas beach, lol!

Being Americans, and Americans with four kids, we brought sand toys, snacks, a wagon to carry it all, towels, etc. I told the kids they could each bring one bucket and one truck, so we didn't go overboard (to our standards) but apparently Italian children don't really bring toys down to the water at all. There loss though, because my kids had a blast!

 

 Sissy took a long time to warm up to the idea of playing in the sand and water, so we laid out and got some sun for awhile. (As much sun as a 20month old who is wearing SPF 75 can get, lol)

 

  

 Bubba was super excited to "surf" and he spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out that Boogie board. B showed him what he was suppose to do over and over but in the end, sitting on it and balancing won out.

 Sissy finally went out in the water with B, but only if she was sitting on the boogie board...

Overall it was fun, but to me the beach is always more fun in theory then how it actually plays out. For one, it was extremely crowded:

 and for two, the sand + the kids = me going crazy. They had sand everywhere. All over our towel, all over the Gatorade bottle, in the pretzel bag, in their hair, sissy had it in her eyelashes. And it's one thing  that's it's stuck everywhere but they they COMPLAIN that the beach is too sandy. Um....okay?! All in all, it was worth it. And on the way home we stopped off at a 'bar' where B was able to get a platter of mixed seafood so the Birthday boy was happy :)

Chiamata di Marzo

"Call of March": a great, original and festive event that parade through the streets of the spa town, Recoaro Terme, hundreds and hundreds of people in costume , or in groups, on foot or on carts prepared with all kinds of scenes, showcasing an extraordinary range of objects, tools and evidence of the civilization and tradition "Cimbrian ". (via this link)

On Saturday night I was googling and reading up on Soave, so I could better answer some of the questions that that kids had about the castle and walled city. Well on one link from a local B&B, I found a list of day trips from Vicenza. One click led to another and I discovered the town of Recoaro Terme. It's actually known for it's famous mineral water springs and it's resorts/spas but as I was reading about Recoaro I read a byline about a special festival and parade that happens every two years (even years only) on the last Sunday in February.

The feast fell on the last Sunday of February. Then it was the spontaneous expression of joy that permeated the minds of the mountain people, forced to remain closed in the houses and stables for four or five months, when the first warm spring melted the ice and winter every relation and the normal communications between the districts is that the center of the country. Towards dusk, after having gathered in crowds in their districts, hundreds of shepherds, herdsmen, farmers, and their families down in the village, dressed in outlandish costumes and fashions, in procession compact between a devilish hubbub.

(don't mind the rough translation...google did that for me).

 When I realized that it was the next day I said we had to go. I mean the kids loved a castle but a parade? Italian or not, it's a parade. We knew there would be yummy foods, we knew we'd be closer to the mountains and we also knew that if we didn't go, our next chance wouldn't be until 2014. So we woke up Sunday and we went!

I will be the first to admit that while I knew it was 45 minutes away and obviously because it has springs, it's near the mountains, I did not put two and two together and realize that it was IN the mountains. From our house we can see the Dolomite mountains and then the Alps behind them. We actually took a 3 mile long tunnel through the Dolomites and Recoaro is nestled between the two mountain ranges.

It is absolutely gorgeous. I mean, words cannot even describe...even the kids were going on and on about how pretty it was!

Recoaro is nestled down in the valley but we had to park much higher up and walk down. These two photos are from our parking lot...note the parking lot below and then below that, the festival itself.

 

 But the air was so crisp and clean, the walk down was so quiet and the views were breathtaking...

While Recoaro may be known for their mineral springs, resorts and spas we recognized it for their bottled water! We buy it at the commissary all the time...it's a whopping .19 cents a bottle and it's delicious!

Once down in the action, the boys announced they were starving! Luckily all the bars and caffes were open and many had their windows open and we selling right out on the street. (sidenote: in Italy bars and places to grab an espresso and a pastry, pubs are like american bars). In my best Italian I said ''Voglio ordinare quattro panini al formaggio e panini al salame". I'm not sure if that was grammatically correct but we got 4 cheese sandwiches and one salami sandwich so I did something right! (cost for all these sandwiches 7 euro or $8.75USD).

 

 We arrived around 11:30am and the parade didn't start until 2pm so we had plenty of time to walk and explore.

Of course after all this walking and sight seeing, the kids were hungry again so we stopped for some gelato.

 

 Peanut and Pooks both chose fragola, Bubba picked caramel, B went with stracciatella and I chose fior de latte, all in un cono. (Strawberry, Caramel, Chocolate Chip and Sweet Cream all in a cone). Sissy just tastes everyone's then eats B's cone.

 

We ate our gelato in the sun, in Piazza Dolomiti (the town square) and let the kids burn off some energy.

 

By this time the crowd was getting pretty thick. People were claiming spots along the parade route so B got the kids some water, us some bianca vino and we found a seat.

In true Italian fashion we sat around and waited for awhile. Although the parade was suppose to start at 2:00, it was almost 3pm before things got going!

 

 This was pretty cool and Dad, I thought of you because before they rounded the corner it sounded like a drumline...in actuality it was these guys who were rhythmically hitting a wooden bowl against the side of a cheese barrel.

I caught a quick video but it's not the same as being there, obviously...

After the drumline there were more floats. Each float was pulled by a tractor or a small truck. Several just barely fit through the buildings! A volunteer policeman was helping direct.

 

Each float depicted a scene from the time period. Washing linens, woodcarving, eating, drinking, making wine...a lot of the floats had lit fires on them (something you would never see in the states, lol). Several were giving out bread, biscottis, grappa, wine but Ron's favorite was this guy who gave wurstel e polenta.

The kids favored the floats that were giving out cookies, bread and candy. Usually these treats were handed out by kids who were in the parade themselves.

There was so much going on and surprisingly, though we don't speak or understand much Italian, it was very easy to understand the little skits just based on what they were doing, their expressions and their mannerisms.

 

 

 

 

 There were several animals in the parade as well. The boys' favorites were the chickens and the sheep!

 

  

 Now I'm sure watching the parade as an American, that I enjoyed different aspects of the parade that maybe the Italians overlook. (Seriously, fire on a float? Petting chickens in wheel-barrels? Handing out shots of grappa to a crowd? All amazing things that probably happen all the time). But this part of the parade was truly amazing. Part of what amped it up was that you could hear it, before you could see it. And when you saw it, you didn't understand it until they started moving again. We were waiting and waiting and waiting to see what was gonna come around the corner when suddenly we could hear all these ''huh, huh, huh" and whooping, hollering...finally these guys come RUNNING down the hill with their arms interlocked around these two thick ropes.

  Then almost as quickly as they got there, someone yelled and they all stopped. They were obviously intoxicated, lol and resumed drinking as soon as they stopped. 

So they sat on that ledge (which made me nervous!) and drank and laughed until....

(hopefully the video works)...

It was amazing! Suddenly that HUGE log came out of nowhere and coming down a hill, we immediately realized why they had to keep stopping and waiting. (the drinking was just fun I guess!)

Shortly after this, we made our way back to the car. We had watched over 40 floats and they were still going strong, but my kids weren't. After walking and standing for almost 5 hours, they were tired. So we trudged back up to the parking lot. Once there we snapped a few more pics...

 before being told by a policeman, that we couldn't leave said parking lot until 6:30pm. It was 4:15. We were leaving that parking lot, we just couldn't go back down the same way we came because the roads were blocked. No big deal, there has to be another way out, right???

Wrong.

Okay, kinda right. It started out okay. We were on a nice two lane road up the mountains...we even pulled over and let the kids play in the snow for a bit (which turned out to be their favorite part of the day)

 

  

Then it got scary. Our two lane road turned into a one lane (but still two way) gravel road, up the side of a moutain with no guardrail...nothing. Luckily we were following someone else who was obviously familiar with the roads being this way. It was scary and dangerous and I have no pics because I felt like if I leaned toward the window to take a pic that the entire van would tumble down the side of the mountain. I give B huge, huge praises for literally getting us off that mountain alive. And in case you think ''oh Shannon, she's so dramatic' just know that when we finally got down again...we had to pull over and shut the van off. The brakes were so hot that they were smelling up the entire car with that burnt rubber smell. Only once safely down again did B admit that at one point (when we made a sharp stop then needed to go again) did he think we might actually go over (as the brakes weren't really gripping the ground as well as he would have liked to keep us from rolling back and when accelerating the car didn't want to go forward). But in the grand scheme of things our near death experience only last about 45 minutes. The kids were asleep and none the wiser and I never had a full blown panic attack. All in all, the day was still great! (just fyi if you ever go to Chiamata di Marzo...don't try to leave early, just wait til 6:30).

(sorry this post was so long but I wanted to make sure to save everything. If we're friends on facebook, I realize much of my blog is repetition...I share on Facebook the condensed version but I still want to have the real trip, excitement, photos and story documented for the kids'...which is the purpose of this blog.)