Carole joined Theressa and Terry in Winnipeg for the long part of the trip.
Besides the packed planes, the only complaint was the turbulence we experienced once we got to Europe. Actually, it was the landing into Brussels that was awful. The plane bounced around quite a bit and all three of us made comments such as “I thought my lunch was coming up.” The takeoff wasn’t a piece of cake either.
Once in Venice we were thrilled to see all our luggage, including our carving tools, made it on the same flight as we did. Thank you Air Canada and Brussels Air for that. The weather was exceptionally warm in Venice, but we did see the mountains and they had snow on them.
After what seemed like forever (3-4 plane rides and a couple of short train rides through the Italian countryside), we were in Pontebba, Italy. The trains were great as we were able to spread out and also stand up whenever we wanted to stretch our legs. Also, the scenery was great … vineyards as far as the eye can see. We heard they make wine here. Hahaha!
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- North of Venice
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- Maestre Train Station
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- Maestre Train Station
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- On the Train
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- Vineyards everywhere
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- Some luggage?
What a great feeling to get off the train and hear somebody calling your name. The organizer Walter Bonati was there to greet us and take us to the hotel. This was completely unexpected as we hadn’t told him our exact travel plans.
After checking into the hotel (Albergo Caffè Vecchio) we went down to the bar and had a drink with Walter and his wife, Monica. After that, we stretched our legs and explored the village a bit and found the snow blocks.
Finally, we went for an awesome supper at the hotel … and then we crashed. The longest day of the year was over.
