Life's a beach.

June 19, 2009

We had a feeling Maryland wanted our front row seats, so we packed early and made it to the bus first, again.  Amanda, already returning from her water bottle run, met us with “I just got asked out!”  Apparently 36 yr old Enzo had a little crush on Amanda.  She politely refused his offer for drinks and dancing.  This little tour was off to a great start!

The breath-taking landscape could not be captured on film, though that did not stop us from trying.  We dove in and out of tunnels all along the lakefront.  The fog and clouds coated the mountains and made for surreal scenery.  The water is a bright turquoise contrasting the green walls and sheer rock cliffs.   We passed through the longest tunnel (10 miles or 17km).  steph took a picture in the tunnel and momentarily blinded the driver.

Today is steph’s first day of mad-libbing.  She walked around and asked for verbs, nouns, and body parts from random bus members.  Vera happily relinquished the microphone to her to read the finished stories to the bus.  “BONJOUR BUS!”, the birth of the daily greeting.  The mad-lib, about penguins, ended, “They dress for all occasions, especially sit-down screws.” Oh dear!  Laughter erupted and steph blushed before laughing (Maryland probably didn’t laugh).  Luckily Ali had come home to her luggage last night as is now back to her old crazy self.  Welcome back Ali, we missed you.  She busied herself making friends with everyone, of course.

Welcome to Italy!  George Clooney has a villa in the town we passed through and we all looked for him as we ate lunch at our first rest stop break.  No George.  L Tanya panicked as her turn came to order her, what we now call the “Tanya Sandwich”.  She practiced the pronunciation, but we stayed by just in case.  The cashier, flirting with flustered Tanya, pretended he didn’t understand her and asked her to repeat it, then asked her to spell it.  I thought she just might faint right there, but he laughed and rung her up, speaking in English.  Those Italians are so funny.

Enzo yelled incoherently, as we approached the bus.  steph repeatedly asked him “What?!” until she realized he was on his blue-tooth.  Just then he, with arms in the air, called out, “it’s jean-franco, my colleague”  Why that was so funny to us, I’m not sure, but we still laugh about it.  He then proceeded to make steph talk to jean-franco.  “I don’t speak Italian Enzo...oh oh um, hello, hello...hi jean-franco... good yeah....oh...bye”  That was the beginning of the true Enzo-Utah relationship on the bus. 

First Italian stop, Verona.  Verona’s focal point, an arena (meaning sand) used in 30 A.D.  It is one of four still standing today and is used for concerts to this day.  We took an EF group photo infront of the arena, joined by a roman guard from this roman colony.  He later chastised steph for 20 years of bad manners because she didn’t ask nicely to take his photo with Amanda and Sandra.  She apologized to the toothless man and left without a photo.

Onto Juliet’s balcony, from Romeo and Juliet, for more luck and another photoshoot.  We learned that Shakespeare stole his play from a hundred year old Italian legend.  The Capulets and Montigues were real families in Verona, though it is unclear if the facts are truly how their lives unfolded.  “I thought he was a total genius, but now I know he’s just a thief” was steph’s reaction to the news.  Juliet’s right breast is shinier than the rest or her body because it is rumored that rubbing it brings luck, thus we rubbed.  The walkway to her balcony is dedicated to LOVE.  Everyone is invited to leave notes or tagging dedicated to love.  We wrote our individual love notes, “I love lamp” or “I love you, I love you, I love you, where the H are you?!” 

We were enthralled with the embroidery machine at the shop on the Juliet courtyard corner.  The cute Italian boy offered steph a free bookmark, he embroidered her name with a flower in 15 seconds, she sported the Traveling Pants today so things were automatically going to go well for her (he later gave her a 10% discount, just ‘cause).  After that demonstration each of us purchased at least one item embroidered because we felt they earned it.  Aprons, bags, hats, slippers, you name it!  Sandra’s apron says queen of the kitchen in Italian, so Ali got her sous-chef apron to match.  The Szymanskis got an apron for their mom and “Master Z” put on a satchel bag.  Tanya put Escobar on a work apron for school.  steph chose a risqué apron for her missionary mom (in Geneva).  Love in the kitchen, but in the bedroom, compassion.  Luckily it’s in Italian and no one will understand it.

Amanda already missed Switzerland, though she and Sandra enjoyed a moment soaking their feet in the fountain.  Today the sun unrelentingly beat down on our worn-out bodies, sucking our energy like a vacuum.  The gelati called to us and saved our lives again.  We needed cash, so we found a bank/ATM near the fountain.  Amanda went inside, through a 2 small doors that only opens one at a time, leaving you between them for a claustrophobic moment before the second one opens.  We thought we’d lost her forever. 

The time passed and the sun smothered us until time to meet the group in front of the arena.  Sandra and  Amanda bolted straight for the WCs, with all that water drinking it’s no wonder.  It cost $.50 and had a row of regular toilets, urinals and a row of holes in the ground...hmmm... tough decision.  As Amanda posed infront of a urinal, it sprayed her.  She screamed and the bathroom attendant came to the rescue.  Too bad they were overcome with laughter.

Hotel 2 is located in Lido di Lusolo.  We don’t believe it is a real hotel, it used to be but we think we’re actually just squatting here because it’s pretty...mmm..stinky.  Everyone’s balcony looks out over the beach vista, the hotel’s one redeeming quality.  The shower is just a shower head on a hose in the corner of the bathroom.  We refused to shower without shoes on.  You really had to focus on not soaking the toilet paper or your towel, but having access to the sink and mirror was kind of nice.  None of us have been brave enough to use any of the bidets yet.  Amanda stayed with Jo Ann here, the Szymanskis were reunited and everyone else stayed the same.  Tanya and Ali did not appreciate the disgusting smell and mold in their room.  Two tragedy rooms in a row, oops. 

The beach.  The water is warm and beautiful.  The sand is downy soft (no exaggeration) and cool to the touch.  Too bad we won’t be here during daylight hours to appreciate all it has to offer.  We dressed for dinner and waited with Texas in the lobby.  They are our tour soul mates. 

Italian food is to die for, but their bread is iffy.  They begin with pasta then the meal.  We started with a lasagna and bread, which we oohed and aaahhed over, then chicken and beans.  Yum.  It melts in your mouth.  Our table out louded the other tables, but we had some funny things to say and good stories to share, as we did every night.  Dinner ended with a delicious tiramisu ice cream, which steph claims kept her awake for 30 straight hours.  That made for crazy funny steph.

Yoga on the beach over looking the Adriatic Sea - picture perfect.  Amanda led us in some yoga on the beach.  The crashing waves and the soft sand lulled us into breathing and stretching, centering us with the universe.  The Chelan WA boys (Brogan, Will, Ian, Schyler) joined us in yoga as Enzo watched while smoking... creepy!   The boys entertained us with their efforts to do anything Amanda would give them, while the WA girls stood by wishing they were as cool as Utah.  Ha ha.

We met in steph and Sandra’s room for quotes and by fars.  These nightly meetings were some of the highlights of this trip, as it also highlighted the trip.  We each collapsed in our rooms, exhausted.  A few minutes after by fars, steph and Sandra hear some noise coming down the hall, Tanya crashes into the room.  She falls to the floor in hysterics and uncontrollable laughter.  She waves her hand in the air, “I have a by far!! I have a by far!!” then collapses again.  Soon after her comes Ali gasping for air.  She crumbles into a chair and convulses with laughter, neither of them able to talk.  steph and Sandra wait in amazement for the news.  The Szymanskis heard a little commotion and came down the hall to see what was up.  By this time they had relaxed a bit and were able to talk.  Apparently Enzo’s balcony is connected with theirs.  Tanya went out to the balcony looking for something with she came face to face with Enzo in his undies smoking not 2 feet away!  She smiled politely, though completely unraveling inside, taken by surprise that way, and exited the balcony quickly.  We still laugh. steph, unable to sleep, stayed up all night playing tetris at the end of the bed, reading in the bathroom, and watching the waves crash from the balcony. 

 

Quotes:  “hoooo-Ray for nicknames”  - Z

“Pick a number between 10 and 20”  - Pat  “7” - ali

“Where were you?” - Sandra (“the fox”)

“Keep your horns to yourself, lets have tea” - steph

“Lille means bitch?  What?!”  - steph

“Tomato, tomatoe, crepe, crap...whatever”  - Amanda

“I love you, I love you, I love you, where the H are you?!” - Sandra

“I thought he was a total genius, now I know he’s just a thief” - steph

 By Fars:  Embroidery men.  Bank doors and Amanda.  20 years of bad manners.  Thrown journal down stairs at Enzo.  Ali being friends with everyone.  Full bathroom shower.  Yoga on the beach.  Boys joining yoga.  Creepy Enzo.  Lasagna!  Gelato.  Feet in the fountain.  Touching juliet’s boob.  Nice boy from Dallas.  Wading in the Adriatic Sea.  Italian singing “Living in America” = Rocky.  Tanya on the floor - “I have a by far, I have a by far!”  Enzo smoking on the balcony in his undies.  Amanda’s hair getting stuck to the Velcro on the bus seats.