Venezia and other stories

Gondola love
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We Zolati’s know how to destroy technology. The laptop is now a very expensive paperweight, the camera died in England and we are now waiting patiently for number three. But that is a very small thing and not insurmountable.

You will have to put up with my off the head ramblings now instead of what has been pre-prepared by Ade and me on the road. Ade would type some of what I said while I drove. Then when we found a spot that we had time we would cut and paste to the web.

GET ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD!

Gondola kids
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As a family we are doing very well. It is extremely unusual for us to spend 24/7 with each other, relying on each other for our conversation, direction and entertainment. Sometimes it has been difficult when one of us is in a mood, we notice a distinct change in the dynamics of the group. Ade and I swap around good cop / bad cop roles like we have always done at home. The kids also do this and it is great to hear one of them saying something positive to calm or redirect the group.

I have found driving in Europe OK and am managing fine. I don’t know why I was so panicked . . . and have slipped very easily into the middle lane of at least 130km/h. I have named the 3 lanes of the autostrada sane / insane / lunatic. I will be driving along in the insane lane (because only trucks drive in the sane lane) when some lunatic will scream past me and suck my doors off. I still get into the car and do what comes naturally when driving in a right handed car like reaching for my seatbelt over my right shoulder or looking right for oncoming traffic (Dad, I do make sure the road is clear before crossing). When I get flustered I indicate with my windscreen wipers and change gears with the door handle but this is rarer now. If I happen to drive on the left hand side, team Z give me a gentle reminder to GET ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD!

St Marks Square
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Our kids are forming great friendships with Michele and Marina’s girls. Caterina (12), Margarita (10) and Irene (7) are beautiful in both looks and nature. Hide and seek is the ice-breaker and the girls like to play Barbies and Polly Pockets. The role playing has words that both languages cover and both sets of girls understand. Everyone young and old loves Leon who is known as “il leone” (the lion) or “Lionel” (pronounced Li on el). Owen is the odd boy out. We did try to fix this a little by sending Owen and Elena to a youth group themed on American Indians. They had an OK time but again the language barrier was a bit high to get over. Owen’s best time there was when he was playing soccer. Elena was Ok but I think lonely, as the other girls didn’t really make much effort.

8 / 8 / 08 to 11/8/08 (Happy Birthday Nicole)

Ade and I fell in love with Venice all over again. It was fantastic there. We wandered aimlessly through the back alleys behind St Mark’s square. The alleys looked to the kids like the alleys in Harry Potter. On our arrival a huge thunder and lightening storm rolled in. Team Z must have been a strange sight. Excited about seeing rain and then when it hailed the kids were in the alley trying to catch the hail in their mouths. That night we jumped on a ferry and took a loop around the city watching the lightening flash and streak across the sky behind the beautiful old buildings, adding an even more dramatic effect to the already amazing skyline. We overshot our stop by two and it took us an hour to get back to our hostel!!

The next day we jumped on a ferry and got a “ferry map” and now Owen and I are masters of getting around on the water.

Ade and I managed to bore the kids senseless with glass shops…. Go figure!! then showed the kids “the beach” and the Adriatic sea. All the umbrellas in neat rows and sun-beds…nothing like our disorganised kaos ….. lord forbid.

We all took our first gondola ride (well Ade had one years ago) which was interesting and fun. Giovanni was the gondolier …calling out and chatting to everyone on the water in Venetian dialectic. At one stage we were enjoying the tranquillity and serenity of these ancient waterways when we heard this familiar DOOF DOOF sound which takes the mind back to seeing Toranas and Monaros doing blockies down any Australian Main Drag. Then we saw them – the first was the speedboat equivalent of a Celica closely followed by a greasy souped up Torana.

We finished the night with another ride around the Grand Canal (this time there was no chance of getting lost with the ‘masters’ on board).

I love how the kids have found ways to entertain themselves or to pull each other out of a mood. Like Elena has invented a holding her breath game to get Leon to be good. She will hold her breath and when Leon touches his nose she blows out and pulls a weird face. They both laugh like mad. On the tube in London the three younger ones would face one way and draw a finger picture on one another’s backs and guess what was being drawn, then they would turn and start again.

The game cards for the car (thank you Auntie Nic) are great, they play them heaps and adapt them for outside, for instance, in a square when we are taking a few minutes to enjoy the sights or cool down in the shade etc…

The girls made up a hand and fan puppet show with the fans we bought in Venice. Elena’s arm and hand was the head and body of the peacock and Kaye held the fan. Both girls made up a song and dance puppet show for Leon (mainly).

Oh, by the way . . .the laptop is working now with some gentle persuasion from Gabrielle.