Udine, Part I

Udine (for us 'Mericans it is pronounced ooh-dih-nay) is located about 25 miles from the Slovenian border. The majority of its historical structures were built in the 1500s but was first mentioned in Latin records in 983. Udine is about an hour, hour and a half drive away for us and we've been planning to take this trip for weeks. Unfortunately it was cancelled twice due to a nasty cold that lingered in our house for almost three weeks. Fortunately, the delay afforded plenty of extra time to research our destination.

I was super excited to finally be on the road except that finally was about two hours later than we planned to leave. HB has been transitioning from two naps a day to one so we were unsure, but hoping, he would sleep on the car ride there. He did not. Well, technically he did fall asleep, right as we began to descend on the city center.

Due to our great success with iPhone GPS in Venice, we arrived with a sheet of paper filled with addresses and the intention to enter them in said GPS at the appropriate times. Our research revealed a nice pizza joint we were both excited to go to. Once we got close I put in the address and we hit the jackpot, the directions took us right to a giant parking lot in the shadow of this:

I assumed it was one of the castles we planned to see, but starving we headed directly in search of our pizzeria. The day was overcast and pretty darn cold but not windy so we were thankful for that. HB was nestled in what I can only describe as a camping bag for a stroller. Being from the south I'd never seen one of these ingenious contraptions before but it seems too keep him very warm and content and by some miracle he laid down and dozed while we made our way into the city.

To our complete chagrin, the phone GPS failed us. We ended up wandering up and down the streets doing what couples do when they're lost and hungry. Not fun. We found a restaurant that had a pirate outside and thought it was ridiculous but we'd give it a try. The place was empty and the bartender and, I presume, owner or manager by the way he was talking, made it clear he was unable to serve us because he couldn't translate the menu. Frustrated further, we left and at long last (which in reality was probably 20-30 minutes) I made the suggestion we return to a place I noticed that had a picture menu outside. We acknowledged this would not be the authentic Italian experience we were looking for but clearly based on the most recent interaction we were not equipped for said experience. We really just wanted to eat.

The restaurant was called Mille e Una Notte translated means "A Thousand and One Nights," an Arabian restaurant. I was so relieved they had pictures because not only am I unable to read Italian, I also have no knowledge of Persian food. The waitress spoke English and actually looked sorry for us. I never imagined eating out here would be such a challenge. I've taken for granted the "on demand" American way of life. Show up when you want and get what you want, how you want it. Here we are lucky to understand what's on the menu, much less order anything to our liking. Strike that, we are lucky to find a place open that serves real food!

When we sat down there was only one other person in the place. Zack had falafil panino and I had a toshka. The food was cheap but decent and, once sated, our spirits were lifted and we decided to get on with the outing. By this time HB was awake, fed (I brought yogurt and avocado), and unbelievably, happy. Our first destination was to be Casa Cavallini, a house made art museum. On our way, we stopped to enjoy the piazza we had been angrily traipsing through on our earlier quest for sustenance.

Belatedly, I realized that this was one of the places on our list we had planned to see, Piazza della Libertà. Since we moved to Italy, I've often thought it wondrous how people get to grow up and be surrounded by such history (we have some in America but it starts to become silly thinking about how a 200 year old house in Charleston is glorified while many forgotten structures here are more than twice that age). I wonder, "Do they appreciate it? Do they even notice it anymore? What does it mean to them, if anything?" At the precise moment this confrontation of realization and memory occurred, it dawned on me that I had been ignoring it. It had meant nothing to me and this sites was part of my reason for being here!

This made me sad and also ashamed of myself. It got me thinking, though, how much of life we miss because we are too angry, preoccupied, hungry, tired, stressed, overworked, lonely, or fill in the blank. Even under the most deliberate of circumstances we still miss the beauty and sanctity of the life we are living, we miss our reason for being here!

The piazza was beautiful and after we were able to pull ourselves together, Zack spotted these steps

which led to this

and upwards to this

And we found ourselves at the Castello di Udine. Now, there is only one castle in Udine, but stupid Trip Advisor has it listed twice with two different names. The legend behind the hill is in the 400s Atilla the Hun had his men build it by bringing dirt in their helmets, one helmet full at a time, so he could watch something Roman burn, Aquileia I think it's called. On top of the hill you can see the entire surrounding city. It was a gloomy day but still pretty amazing. The castle was built in the 16the century and from the outside, doesn't look like much, or what you'd recognize as a castle. I have no idea what that castle-y looking thing is but I intend to find out next time.

Since we made the climb to the top and knew our time was running short with HB not having a proper nap yet, we decided to stay and see the castle, rather than try to hoof it somewhere else, which boasts an art and history museum inside. Probably the best thing about going sightseeing on a Wednesday afternoon the week before Christmas is, you're not going to have a lot of company. This was great considering HB was starting to get pretty honey badgery. We were able to let him run around a bit... man he's getting fast! (And yes, he's tall but that's also a very short door, about 5').

The castle being large and HB being himself, we were only able to see the ground and first floors- artifacts and art. The art was mostly from the 1600's and while neat to see, I must say there were some ugly, inbred looking royals back then! The parliament room was AMAZING with its frescoes and flags. I wish I could have gotten a picture but there were museum employees loitering around us, I guess to make sure HB didn't go cobra hunting in the art. He went from running up and down corridors to screeching and flailing in about 30 minutes.

Leaving early was a bummer, but at €5 a person, the price is right to return at least once more to view the remainder. We learned one of many hard lessons on this trip, HB is definitely a one nap a day-er from 12:30-2:30ish. I'm unsure how this will play out in future outings but I imagine we will have to make some big adjustments or stay over night.

Here's a view of the stairway down that we couldn't take because we had a stroller.

Speaking of strollers, this trip Zack said what I'd been thinking to myself but afraid to say: we need a new stroller, one that's easier to handle on rough terrain. Our umbrella stroller from Inglesina has been great but it's not enough for cobblestone, brick, or gravel roads. Sigh, one more thing to add to our list of stuff to buy!

On the way down yet another path to the bottom of the hill I did take a moment to look up and enjoy our surroundings. Udine has a ton to see, it'd definitely be worth spending the night so we could let HB nap and see more in a day. One reviewer on Trip Advisor said Udine is like Venice but without all the people (and water, duh)- at this point I would agree with that sentiment.

Honestly, I was pretty bummed on the way home; I felt like this trip was a total failure. "We hardly saw or did anything!" I said to myself. Not until I began writing this post did I discover how really amazing it was, but not for the reasons I had intended. I love how we ended up right where we wanted to be, accidentally on purpose. I never expected a random day trip to Udine to make me see how life puts what you're looking for right under your nose, but it's up to you if you want to smell the roses.

Palmanova

A decision to take the scenic route on our second trip to Ikea led to the discovery of a cute little fortress town of Palmanova. Built in 1598 by the Venetians to protect the empire from Turkish invasions, it boasts a moat, original fortifications, and an old church. The fortress was once ruled by Napoleon and then the Austrians.

We decided to go back a week later to check it out despite Trip Advisor having nothing to say about it. As we quickly realized, that's because there is nothing really there. Admittedly, we didn't go there with much of a plan; I think we both expected for interesting attractions and shops to just pop up when we got there. Unfortunately, they did not.

Palmanova was about an hour car ride from our house to HB was happy to sleep on the drive. Once, there, we took a brief looksie around the church. It was beautiful... if you're into those kinds of things.

Me, not so much. It was during this time I realized, for personal as well as political reasons, that Catholic Churches make me angry on the inside and I don't like being in them. And the longer I am in them the more I want to spit and break things. I especially don't enjoy the opulent, gold-gilded, ornate and ostentatious ones (no, the irony of this is not lost on me). Thus, after about five minutes, we left. I will note the side atrium does have an exceptionally beautiful mosaic and if you're there, do go see it.

The center of town is all gravel and they have a little park for wee ones so we let HB play a bit and he was happy. We walked down a few side streets (maybe they were the wrong ones?) and didn't see anything else too interesting besides this door.

We had cappuccino at one of the cafes in the city center and that was nice. The weather was beautiful and HB enjoyed hanging out in the comfy lounge chairs. For me, the most notable part of our trip was when I went to the bathroom at the cafe. I admit, I was nervous to walk inside through the cluster of elderly Italian men at the counter who were standing up drinking their coffees and engaged in a lively discussion. I did, though, and tried not to notice as they stared at me like I resembled the girl with the dragon tattoo. All of these fears instantly vanished as I pushed through the door and was transported from Italy to a standoff at the O.K. Corral. Me, eyes wide at first, then narrowed at the hole, the blank, dark hole staring formidably back at me. For what felt like an hour, I stood paralyzed. I really had to pee but what was I supposed to do with THAT?! Belatedly I realized the hole was ensconced by gleaming white porcelain with two raised, foot-shaped platforms. "Ok, so I stand there and that's how it works," I said to myself out loud. Looking back,  I'm unsure if it was instructions or a pep talk. Whatever it was made my bladder relax enough that I didn't have time left for pondering. Surprisingly (but I suppose it's not too surprising), it felt quite natural and my pant legs escaped unscathed. Fortunately, it was only a #1 visit. Unfortunately I didn't bring my phone (and there was no way I was going to wade through the shark pool again) but I will next time. A picture would have been most appropriate at this point. In case you had any question at all, yes, this is that kind of blog and I intend to make European toilets a focal point until they stop shocking me.

Overall, this trip was pretty anticlimactic. Palmanova is not a stand alone trip. We still had a nice day, though, and HB seemed to have fun so it wasn't a total bust. We thought about amending our trip and heading up to Udine but decided it would be best to devote an entire day to that venture.Unfortunately, we've all been ill and had to cancel two trips since our Palmanova excursion but we should be visiting Udine soon.

Venice, Part I

We will undoubtedly make multiple trips to Venice, it being the closest destination to us, so this will be one in a long series of posts about the island city. This is a recollection of our first trip, taken about three weeks ago.

Upon some good advice from the maintenance man in billeting, we decided to scrap our train plans and drive to Venice. The advice was good because HB was able to sleep on the way to and from our destination. In his carseat, of course, because he refuses to sleep in strange places like strollers or in front of people he doesn't know. On the way there, we took the Autostrada. If you've never driven the Autostrada, you should. It's not scary, ok, if you're not going to pay attention to your driving and the rules of the road, it could be, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. The Autostrada is hands down, the cleanest and most well-kept road I've ever been on. I wouldn't be surprised if there were road gnomes that came out a night to patch pin sized holes in the asphalt with their concrete based spittle.The major downside to taking this road is the tolls- for us €10 each way. (In case you're wondering, the current bank exchange rate from dollars to euros is $.71)

We parked in one of the first parking garages you come to when you cross the bridge. The cost- a flat rate of €26 regardless of how long you stay in the garage. You also have to pay a walk-up teller on the ground floor near the elevator, so remember to bring your stub! We didn't so we had to go ALL THE WAY back up to the tippy top floor to retrieve ours. The garage was packed but I didn't get a creepy vibe from the place during the day so I would probably use it again.

We chose a Monday and still counted SIX cruise ships in the harbor. That being said, there were plenty of people around but it wasn't unbearable. Enough people to make you feel safe but not too many where it begins to feel unsafe. Being that we were so new in country we did not have our baby ruck sack yet and decided to bring HB in the stroller. Yes, we brought a stroller to Venice. We have an Inglesina umbrella stroller which is awesome. It's lightweight and pretty easy to maneuver so it was very easy for us to carry it over the bridges together but eventually Zack just started carrying it himself since I was too slow for him. It worked for us but I think next time we'll try the ruck sack.

We decided for this trip we would aim to see the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and eat lunch, with the possibility of maybe seeing Piazza San Marco. Using our iPhone GPS, we plotted our destination and followed the directions. I must say, the iPhone has some damn good navigational skills and I am not a GPS person.

About halfway from the car we stopped in a random square to have lunch. One of the best things about being in a touristy spot is that they will serve you food when most Italian restaurants are closed (!!!) so we got to sit down at 11:45am and order food. And wine. Wine before noon in Italy is pretty much standard practice so we enjoyed our vino guilt free. 

It was a random place in a line of random places and the experience was less than memorable. As rookie tourists we made all the classic mistakes: we chose a place with a man outside encouraging us to eat, we ordered from the written English menu, of which had a photo book companion, at a place with no Italian patrons.

We also didn't understand you had to order in courses so when I ordered salmon, I literally got a piece of salmon and that was it. Zack ordered a pasta dish so he got a full meal, at least. HB enjoyed our time in the square. Since there weren't many people around, we were able to let him run free and chase pigeons. He squealed like a pig and loved exploring the old stones on the buildings. He ate some bread and salmon as well as the fresh veggies I brought for him.

To answer the obvious questions, yes, Venice is beautiful, and no, it does not stink, at least not in October. Maybe at low tide during the summer, but we found the weather extremely pleasant and accommodating.

The remainder of the walk to the museum was pretty easy and the line to get it was relatively short. There was a nice courtyard HB could run around in while Zack got our tickets. For whatever reason this kid loves foliage of all kinds so he wandered around pointing and "ahhh-ing" at all of the trees and vines and was happy to climb the steps to the entrance himself, we me close behind, of course.

Once inside there are two more courtyards boasting some pretty neat sculptures with plenty of room to move around. I'm not going to critique the art for you, but if you're into early 20th century avant garde art, this is the place for you. I did enjoy seeing some famous works but I must say, I really don't get a lot of Picasso. But I digress...


With the aide of one of his favorite snacks, he was quite content to hang out in the stroller while we viewed the collection.

The pros for bringing HB along are pretty much the same as the cons:

Pro- It's small and you can see everything in a short period of time. The courtyards provide plenty of space to stretch your legs and let little ones do the same.
Con- It's small. The exhibition is in her former home and as such, it boasts small rooms and passageways with art crammed everywhere. With a full house of companions, maneuvering a stroller, even a narrow one, is difficult. There is a small veranda on the water. It's not so safe for little HBs to run around but we held him and did enjoy the relaxing views (so I guess it's not really a con). 

HB made it all the way back to the car in good spirits, even when we stopped to admire this strange and (I'm sure unintendedly) kinky mosaic over the entrance to a chapel...

and to get a couple of cones of gelato for Zack and me. This is where we made our second rookie mistake- we got gelato from a place with a really pretty looking  display. I got tiramisu and Zack got pistachio. Mine was basically whipped cream and it was disgusting. Upon returning home I learned you should chose flat and dull colored gelato. And if they don't have a display, even better. That means it's made fresh and not from a box. So pretty= fake, dull= yummy.

Total time spent in Venice this trip: 4 hours. HB was starting to show signs he was ready to nap and there was no need to press our luck to see anything else in the city. Zack and I weren't done exploring yet so we decided to take the back roads on the drive home. It took almost twice as long since we hit the after work traffic but both felt like it was totally worth it to see the Italian countryside and a few small towns we will go back to visit. For our first trip I felt like this was a perfect length of time for us and HB (since he's still on two naps a day). We got lucky and chose a quality attraction on a day with nice weather. Some important lessons were learned but we didn't get mugged or ripped off. I'm counting this one a win!

Hello... and Welcome!

A friend suggested I start blogging our adventures when my husband, Zack, was stationed in Italy. At first, I scoffed at the idea. Me, have time for a blog?! Pfffft. I've got a rambunctious one year old we lovingly call the honey badger (more on that later) and tons of traveling to do. Who has time for a blog? Then today it hit me, I should do it, if not for others but for myself, to remember. After all, typing is faster than pen and paper and pictures, although a picture is worth 1000 words, they tend to only focus on what's been captured within the frame. So here we are. Hello... and welcome!!

Naming the blog was the easy part. Obviously, this blog will be about our adventures living in Italy and traveling around Europe (and hopefully Africa and Asia), hence "Adventures." "With the Honey Badger" came about as we started to plan our first big vacation to Sicily. Perusing trip advisor I found what seemed like a great hotel and many people had marked it good for "families with children." Upon further investigation in the written reviews, these same people noted the bustling nightlife on the street below with partying until 4am. Um, that's not so great for families.

It was at this belated moment it became all to real that we are touring with a toddler, our toddler, the honey badger.  We won't be skiing down mountains together, dancing till dawn, or attending masquerade balls and for a moment, the realization really bummed me out. HB, as he will be referred to from now on, has from day one been a terrible sleeper, and now, as a toddler, is a very curious and mischievous little daredevil and explorer. He has no fear, is rarely fazed by discipline, and very basically, does whatever he wants. His nickname derived from this you tube gem. Watch and enjoy!

When the moment passed I was able to remember HB is quite literally the best thing that's ever happened to us. Becoming parents was our first dream, traveling, our second. Some might say traveling with a toddler is less than ideal, maybe even a drag, but I just.don't.care. After all, honey badger babies don't materialize out of thin air, often times they have honey badger parents descended down from a long line of honey badgers (RIP Gram).

Our goal is to visit as many different countries as possible while taking is as much culture and history as we can. We want "family vacations" that don't necessarily involve petting zoos or theme parks. Some may find this ludicrous, as did two little old ladies we encountered on our first trip (account to follow in a later post). One of them came up to HB and with a smart ass tone in her voice and saccharin smile said, "I hope you remember all of this!" Yes, a toddler in a museum is not everyone's idea of fun, but it's ours!

Adventures With the Honey Badger. Traveling the world with our biggest and most exciting adventure. We probably won't see much nightlife, unless it's from the window of our hotel room (or not, since we don't plan on staying in that hotel) but we hope to make it exciting and fun for everyone, with but not centered around our honey badger.