Aloha Italia

We have arrived in Vicenza! After a lovely (but too short visit) with Nate, Dara, and the boys, we loaded our 8 bags/200 lbs of luggage into the minivan and headed for the airport. Our KLM flight to Amsterdam took off on time at 9:10 PM. I spent the entire 8.5 hour redeye flight watching movies and Cynthia spent the entire time squirming into a variety of torture positions trying to get comfortable enough to sleep. First covering up with a blanket, then foregoing the blanket and even taking her socks off. The endless tossing and turning managed to break the wire on her BOSE headset, so that only exacerbated the unhappiness. But the real treat occurred at the end of the flight when Cynthia realized that she couldn't find her socks. While the aisle of the plane filled with passengers eagerly waiting for the crew to open the cabin doors and let them out, Cynthia climbed about on her seat trying to find her socks. Her antics soon attracted the attention of a kindly German gentleman sitting in the row behind us, who inquired what we were looking for. After we explained the situation, he eagerly joined the hunt. And it was lucky for us, because he soon found the errant footwear under the seat, and intrepidly fished them out and handed them to the confounded and embarresed redhead. Yeah it was that kind of flight.
We then spent the next couple of hours in the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport which is huge, and yet the bathrooms are ironically small. I mean seriously small. I've never seen an airport bathroom with only 2 stalls/urinals. Cynthia said she had to jockey for position just to get in there. The flight to Venice was much quicker, and much less eventful. There is a shuttle that runs from the Venice airport to the base. The 40 mile ride took almost an hour due to the rush hour traffic, but I spent the time soaking in the italian landscape. The city was very urban with crowded roadways, rusting train tracks, and unsightly graffitti. But the rural areas between the cities was full of small family farms, orchards, and vineyards. Cynthia wouldn't know this because she managed to sleep most of the way there.
We arrived at the Ederle Inn at about 7:30 PM local time, exhausted from our long journey. We had enough time to get some flame broiled Whopper sandwiches from the local Burger King. It was strangely incongruous to be at a fast food restaurant staffed by Italian workers proceeding at their leisurely pace. They kicked us out at 8 pm, because that's when they close. And since everything closes around here early, we headed back to the hotel for an early night.
Saturday in Vicenza was absolutely sparkling. Cool (about 70's) with a crystal blue sky artistically dotted by gentle puffs of clouds. We spent the better portion of the morning exploring the base and shopping for supplies, and spent the better part of the afternoon watching TV and napping. At 6pm we watched Iron Man at the base theatre. How cool is that!!
We are very excited and happy to be here. We miss you all and hope to hear from you soon.