Adventure is Out There: Last Day in Germany....Italy at Last!!

We spent our last day in Germany relaxing and catching up on homework. Sadly, we did not finish our homework or research paper before we left so it had to get done before we left Ricky's since we're unsure of when we'll have wifi again. As it is, I'm typing this without wifi and hoping to have it in the morning.

Pedro had volunteered to take us to the airport since Ricky worked a 12 hour night shift and would be exhausted for work tonight if he had to drive us. Let me take a minute to tell you how proud I am of my cousin. I can honestly say I haven't seen him in a long time. We grew up together and are only a few years apart. Our mothers are sisters so we spent numerous summers playing together as kids. But as adults we really haven't hung out. When I decided to come to Europe I asked his brother Andrew if I'd be able to stay with Ricky when I go but he wasn't sure. In fact no one knew if that was allowed or what it was that Ricky did. All I knew was that he was in the Air Force and he did the weather. When I contacted him about coming to visit he immediately responded and said of course we could stay with him and told us what airport to fly into and made plans for us to hang out. He even arranged for Pedro the fantastic tour guide.

I learned a lot about my cousin on this trip. A lot to be proud of. I learned that Ricky does more then predict the weather. He's responsible for all the weather of Southern Europe. It's not an easy job and there's lots of politics involved, but he's good at it. I also learned that he has received the volunteer of the quarter award. He does more volunteer work than anyone on his squadron. He volunteers for one project that provides Airforce members with a ride when they are too intoxicated to drive. Ricky has voluntarily picked up over 200 men/women this year when they were unsafe to drive. That is huge! I don't know about you-but after I've worked a 12 hour shift and I'm ready for sleep, the last thing I want to do is go pick up some drunk person and give them a ride. Yet Ricky does it because he cares. He's also smart about using the Airforce to his advantage. After his shift this morning he came home, changed, and went to German class. He's taking a class to learn German on his own. It looks great on his portfolio and the military looks at it as trying to better yourself and you can get a raise. Plus you learn a new language!!

Pedro is also a weather Airforce member. He hopes to start weather combat training soon. It means he'll travel and do missions with special forces and seals. He'll be responsible for predicting the weather the team might face while performing these missions. You might thing "why is the weather important?" At least I thought that. But guess what? It is important! The weather determines if the team will go in on foot, by plane, use tanks and so much more. Pedro was excited to hear that we're nurses since he at first wanted to become a special forces medic. Even though that's not what he's doing now, he's always prepared for an emergency. He showed us his emergency kit to get our opinion. His kit is small, compact but can save lives! He even has a hemo/pneumothorax kit. Talk about a Boy Scout! Another fun fact about him-he loves to drink water. When I told him one of my life mottos is to "Hydrate or Die!" I could tell we each found a friend in each other.

After we arrived at the airport Super Nel spent the next two hours repacking our bags to meet the Ryan Air carryon requirements. You can only have one bag and it can't weigh more than 22lbs. There are also very specific dimensions of each bag and they check them. Luckily our bag made the cut (we did have to wear some layers and stuff our pockets with small ziplocks of things).

While at the airport we talked about our time in Germany. We both loved the Country. We both want to come back. And we were both a little surprised at how much fun we had. Also, we agreed that it was nice to be on base because it gave us a sense of security and we had laundry. That part of our trip is over-now it's time for Part II.

Before I move onto Italy I just want to share some fun Germany facts we learned:

-At night in the towns they turn off the street lights to save energy. Most people walk and bike so it makes sense not to use street lights after work hours.

-The bratwurst was originally intended to be eaten solo. The bun was added by (none other than) Americans. We love our carbs.

-The legal drinking age is 16. However it's not uncommon to see 14 year olds in a bar with a drink.

Part II: This is where our survival skills and patience (and love for one another) will be tested. We arrived in Venice, Italy at 10pm about 20 miles away from downtown Venice. We hopped on a bus that drove us to the main city for about $10 each. Then from there we had to find a "vaperetto" it's basically a small ferry or boat that takes you to your hotel/hostel. It's like a bus but on water. For those of you who don't know-Venice is built on water and there are a ton of canals.

Finding the Vaperetto wasn't easy. It was not right next to the bus station like we thought it would be. I had to ask for directions using my practiced Italian (Mr. Richard-you'd be so proud of my pronunciation!). As it turned out, the Italians could understand me-I just couldn't understand them. Luckily I minored in charades (read: 5 years working at Junior Theatre) so we found it with some major gesturing.

After our boat ride we arrive at our hostel. It's RIGHT on the water. So if I walk out the door and take 5 steps forward ill be in the canal. There is a great pizza/itialian shop next door (owned by a Japanese family that only speaks Italian or Japanese). We check into our hostel-that looks like a super swanky hotel. Seriously-I've stayed at Marriotts that didn't look this nice. However, there's an issue with our reservation (naturally). Super Nel starts sweating profusely since he's worried. Turns out they booked the both of us in a female dormitory but we had chosen a mixed dorm. The guy goes on to explain that he can either separate us or put us both in a female dorm. He says the only downside is that if a female complains Super Nel will have to leave and go into a male dorm. We agreed to a female dorm and go next door to get food. While at dinner I can tell Arnel is anxious. He says he's worried a female will feel uncomfortable with him in the room plus he snores so now he's worried it will give him away. I remind him that this is all part of the adventure and that it could be worse. We could both be at home, getting ready to go to work tomorrow. Instead we're in Venice on the water enjoying the night. Super Nel agrees and says "Now I kinda wish I'd washed my underwear since I'll be in a dorm full lf women!" When we get back to the hostel the night clerk informs us that someone canceled their mixed dorm reservation and he's given it to us-alls well that ends well.

This hostel is like nothing else I've ever seen. The lobby is huge with fun funky chairs and a huge full bar. Elias was the bartender tonight and he made us some Italian specialty cocktail. The rooms are air conditioned and look brand new. The bathrooms look like a spa bathroom and they play the radio with Italian novellas on. It's fun to listen too.

Now I'm going to bed because when I wake up we're going to cram three days worth of sight seeing into one.