Home Again

Finally, we are back in Stockholm.  I think I have officially had my longest trip ever.  David got back in line at 4am to try to get us rebooked for the trip from Frankfurt to Stockholm.  At 5:50, he had us flying through security to try to make it to the gate because we were flying standby on the 7:15 flight.   We were all starving but wanted on a plane more than we wanted food.  At the gate we ran into Daniel, David’s coworker that we flew out with on Friday.  They were also standby passengers.  When we checked the list, Ellie was 23rd, Dava 24^th and David was 25^th.   David and I joked that if they made it to 23 we were going to send Ellie and have a very pleasant 9:15 flight. 

Everything was in complete chaos at the gate.  The staff told us that they really had no clue how many people were booked for the flight and if they were in the airport or not.  After the initial boarding, they started paging booked passengers.  Many must not have made it back from their hotels.  The airline was putting passengers in hotels as far as two hours away.  Amazingly, all three of us made that first flight.   We had to be bussed out to our plane since there were planes parked all over the place. David was across the aisle and Ellie and I were one seat apart.  The person we were sitting beside gladly switched with Ellie so we could sit together.  

While we were still waiting for clearance to take off, Ellie wanted to color.  I got her set up but she got frustrated that I wouldn’t color with her.  Having a (quiet) drama moment she flopped back in her seat.  It must have felt really good to lay back because she stuck her thumb in her mouth and two sucks later she was fast asleep.   She woke up after we had landed and her first question was, “Are we ever going to take off?”  Sadly our luggage did not make the plane.  The airport staff said that 6000 pieces of Stockholm luggage were currently in Germany. 

Heading home we took the Flybus.  It picks up right at the airport and has a stop two blocks from our house.  It was so much easier that dragging luggage through T-Centralan and cheaper too.  It was so great to get home and just crash.  What a trip!

Venice - Day 3

It is our last day in Venice.  We headed out of the hotel with the goal of doing a little shopping and exploring.  Passing by a gondola station, we decided to take a ride.  I think we would have regretted not going for a gondola ride.  It was a great experience.  The gondola went through the smaller canals that we had only seen from bridges.  We passed our hotel from the canal side and could pick out our room since we had left the shutters open.  The skill the gondoliers have is incredible.  They got under bridges I would have said were impossible.  Venice is slowly sinking so the bridges keep getting lower and lower.  It is also the season of high water.  During December and January the water level is so high that the gondoliers are unable to work.  The high water also hinders the firefighters, police officers and ambulance crews, all who use boats to move around the city. 

We then did a little shopping and walked through St. Marks Church again.  It is just amazing the craftsmanship that has gone into the building.  The museum was open so we went through it.  It had amazing tapestries, mosaic fragments and sculptures. 

On the boat ride back to the airport, we discovered our flight had been cancelled.  At first they were unable to book us on another flight and we were waiting for hotel information.  Then, they discovered a plane was still on the ground headed for Frankfort and we were booked to that flight.  Arriving in Frankfort, there was no plane parking.  After waiting on the runway for about 30 minutes we were transferred to a paved lot and rode a bus into the terminal.  We ran for our Stockholm flight which they had announced as “on time” only to find out it was cancelled.  After David waited in line for 5 hours, they closed the ticket counters before he got there.  They had long since run out of hotel rooms within a two hour drive of the airport.  They did give us a juice, water, and snack mix called “happy mix”.  I wonder if it was supposed to improve our mood. It was a little frustrating to spend the night in the airport not knowing a plan for the next day.  Thankfully while David waited, I have found a cart they used to move people around the airport.  Ellie was able to lie down on the seat with her blanket and music box and sleep for about 4 hours.  David and I were able to catch a couple of catnaps but it was a long night. 

Ellie and Daddy are happy to be on the water!

Our gondolier

Ellie is one happy traveler!

Sorry about your flight - have some happy mix!

I have my blankie, music box and a flat surface - night night.

Venice - Day 2

We woke up to rain.  At least we came prepared.  After a quick breakfast downstairs, we headed out to explore.  We returned to St. Mark’s Squares to look around.  We did a little shopping.  We had lunch at a cafeteria.  It was great because it was really easy to get everyone something they liked.  Ellie had grilled vegies and fruit salad.  David had roasted chicken and potatoes.  I had tortellini soup and salad.

After lunch we made our way to the boat docks to start our boat tour of three islands.  The first island was Murano, the glass making island.  We watched a glass maker make an ornament and a horse.  Ellie was fascinated with the process.  They had a gallery filled with all sorts of beautiful glassware.  We managed to look at everything and escape without breaking anything. 

The second island was Torcello.  It had a beautiful old church.  There were also so shops and restaurants but most were closed due to the weather and it being the end of season.   The third island was Burano.  The island is famous for its handmade lace.  This was Ellie’s and my favorite island.  She loved watching the lady make the lace and exploring the shop.  She like the pure lace items better than the ones that also had embroidery or crochet on them. 

Since we were part of a group tour, we only had about 30-40 minutes on each island.  I wish we would have had more time to explore but there is never enough time.  Back at the dock, we were all starving.  We found a little café for dinner.  David had wonderful spaghetti with meat sauce.  I had tortellini in cream sauce and Ellie had pizza.  We were all exhausted from the last two days, so it was back to the hotel.  We were all in bed by 7pm.  Ellie and I slept straight through to 8am.  Sleep is wonderful!

Fun in the rain!

St Marks from the back.

Making of a glass horse

Ellie with the finished horse.

Beautiful church on the island of Torcello.

Making lace

A sample of a few of the beautiful products.

Venice - Day 1

We are here!  After our late night, we decided we would sleep until 9am.  Our first tour started at 11:30, so we didn’t have to push ourselves.  We woke up to a surprise.  We could hear boats.  The room we had was canal side.  What an amazing view to wake up too. The weather was perfect - bright blue sky, warm sunshine and not a drop of rain to be seen. We had a good breakfast downstairs at the hotel and then set off to try to find the start of our tour.  Thankfully, David sense of direction had kicked in overnight and we found our destination with very little difficulty.  Venice is such a beautiful city but all the little alley ways and bridges make it a challenge to navigate.  We had a wonderful tour guide.  She was a native Venician and her love for her city was evident. 

The tour covered the major highlights of the city St Mark’s Square and basilica.  The basilica was simply amazing.  The pictures do not capture the beauty of the basilica.  We were not allowed to take pictures inside but they would not have shown what we saw.  Ellie’s favorite part of the church was the floor.  It was all marble mosaics.  She loved looking at the pretty colors and patterns.  The ceiling was also amazing.  The mosaics were all down on a back ground of gold.  They turn the lights on for one hour each day and thankfully we were able to be there during that time frame.  The glitter and shine was amazing. 

After St. Mark’s Square, we headed off the beaten path to see other parts of the city.  Some of the alley ways were so narrow; two people couldn’t stand across them.  We were able to see the city hospital and a school.  Maro Polo’s family home was also on the tour.  At the end of the tour, we had just enough time to grab a quick lunch before heading to our next tour.  We stopped at a café.  David and Ellie had pizza (a recurring theme of the trip for Ellie).  I had the best cannelloni I have ever had.  Yummy.

Our boat tour covered the Grande Canal that divides Venice into two sections.  It is just amazing to see all the entrances to building from the water.  Many building in Venice have two entrances: one from an alley and one from the canal.  Ellie can’t quite get her mind around a town without any cars.  It has been a source of many questions.  But she loves seeing and riding on all the boats.  Most of the buildings along the Grande Canal were built when Venice was a huge merchant center.  The buildings are large and impressive with lots of decoration.  Today, many function as government building or museums.  There are still a few that are private and can be rented out for weddings and events.  The fee for one of the buildings is 20,000 euros for one evening.  We got to go under the Rialto Bridge.  It is quite an impressive bridge that also holds 24 shops.  After the tour we made a quick stop for Ellie's favorite part of Italy - gelato.

After the tour, we headed back to our room for a quick nap.   The events of last night were catching up with us.  After a short nap we were back up and off in search of dinner so that we could make the ghost tour.  The ghost tour met on top of the Rialto Bridge.  It was so neat to wander around Venice at night.  The ghost stories were fun to hear and mixed in with the stories were lots of actual facts about Venice. 

Water near St. Mark's Square

St Mark's Church with flooding in the square

Some of the detail on the outside of the church

Ellie with one of the many wells.

The Realto Bridge

David and Ellie enjoy a gelato!

View from our hotel window

Wow this alley's are narrow!

Out on the Grande Canal.

Off to Italy!

We are so excited and ready for our Italian adventure today.  David went into work for half a day.  We left the house at 1:30pm to head for the airport which is Ellie’s usual nap time.  About noon, she asked if she could go lay down and sleep.  She must have known what was coming.  After an hour of sleep, I got her up and we headed to T-Centralan to meet David.  We took the Arlanda express to the airport.  It is the only train that goes to the airport but is not part of the SL system.  It is a little pricy but we had gotten two free vouchers from David’s trip in January.  Ellie rides free.  Santa had a house at T-Centralan but Ellie did not want to go talk to Santa.  She has decided just to send a letter in hopes Santa will read it. 

At the airport, checking went smoothly and we headed on to security.  While David and I were getting everything up on the belt, Ellie was anxious to get going.  As soon as she saw her Dora backpack hit the belt, she went on through the metal detector.  As soon as we realized Ellie wasn’t right beside us, we had a moment of panic.  As we started looking for her, I heard a voice from the other side asking, “Could someone please hand me my backpack?”  I hurried on through and we I got to Ellie asked why she had left without us.  Her reply was that she didn’t want to lose her backpack.  She may be getting a little too comfortable flying.   After making it through security, I found Starbucks on my way to the gate.  I paid way too much but that was the most delicious, Chai Tea Latte I have ever had.  As the time for our flight rolled around, they announced the first delay.  An hour later the second delay was announced, both due to snow in Frankfurt. 

After making it to Frankfurt, we had another delay but lots of flights had been grounded so we were just glad to make it out of the airport.  We arrived at the Veince Airport well after 1 am.  After collecting our luggage we made the short walk to the water taxis.  Unfortunately, the public water taxi had stopped running at 2 am.  The private company was still running but took cash only.  Thankfully we had a wonderful taxi driver who was will to give us a ride over and then find us a bank so we could pay him.  He dropped us close to our hotel and gave us directions to the hotel.  However, we were unable to find the hotel with so many winding passageways.  Ellie and I finally stopped with the luggage in one of the squares while David wandered off down various pathways.  Two calls to the hotel later, the clerk came out to find us and led us back.  I am loving the Venician people – they have been so kind and helpful.  It was 3 am when we finally were able to crash in bed.  For all the crazy things that happened today and all the changes in plans, Ellie did an awesome job.  She is such a great traveller. 

Waiting for a water taxi at 2:30 AM!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our first Thanksgiving in Sweden!  It was a little strange to have David head to work as ususal and not start the morning without at least a glimpse of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  However, it is my first white Thanksgiving so I will take the trade off.   Angie came over early to help us get all the food prepared.  Our menu consisted of crockpot glazed ham, dressing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and carrots.  John made some yummy stuffed mushrooms that are a tradition at his house.  It was great to have company to celebrate the holiday and make it feel more special.  We were also able to do a web cam with both Grandma and Papa Bowers and Grandma and Papa House.  Betty and Woody were visiting them for the day and so we got to see lots of family also.

Our Thanksgiving Crew - to hungry to smile for the camera!

I love winter clothes!

It is still snowing.  This morning I told Ellie to go look out of the window since we had a little accumulation overnight.  The roads and sidewalks were covered.  After looking, she said in a bored voice, “oh more snow” and wandered off.  Guess the excitement is gone.  We haven’t had enough stick to really be able to go and play in it so maybe when we get a really good accumulation she will enjoy it more.  The plan for the day was to walk to Prius Xtra(about 5 blocks away down the hill) and do our Thanksgiving shopping.  Neither of us was really excited about getting out into the weather.  But we bundled up and I put my shoes spikes on and we were off.  It was not nearly as bad as I thought.    Since I am not use to walking in the snow and ice and my center of balance is changing, I am a little nervous about the bad weather. I love my shoe spikes.  They go on the bottom of whatever shoes I am wearing to help give me traction. Hopefully I will avoid a tumble.  Having the right clothing and shoes really makes winter an enjoyable season.