The Staples' Crew

Thursday, June 13, 2013

June 13 2013- last post of the trip

I thought I'd write one last summary post from our trip. We're on the plane headed for NYC then onto Salt Lake City. This was truly a memorable trip for several reasons. Going to the small towns where my relatives lived and walked and got married was very special. To stand in front of the house that my great grandmother was born in - a person I knew well - wow. I've always felt very close to my roots and being this close physically was an amazing experience. We found and documented information on 141 of our ancestors! I carried a picture of Luigi DeZanet, my great grandfather who immigrated with his small family. He was my inspiration.

To help my Mom and Aunt Rene get to go back to Italy again after 35 years was great. I think they both really enjoyed themselves. While Mom was a bit slower, but she did great. As we wrapped up the trip, she wanted to buy me a watch to say thanks for taking her on the trip. We all had so much fun with Rene and couldn't have done the trip without her.

To be there with Kenzi, our last single child, was wonderful, given how fast life has changed with our other four children after they got married and began to have children. She is so fun. I'm very grateful that we were able to afford to have her study in Europe this summer.

And vacationing with Robyn is my absolute favorite thing to do! I love spending time and sharing experiences with her! She is fun and wants to learn about everything. Even with our mistakes of wrong turns, wrong trains, and little mishaps, she just smiles and rides right through the bumps, just enjoying the experience. Thanks for being so good to me.

I took several hundred pictures. I'll get some of the good ones posted soon. Now it's back to reality, but very, very grateful for the opportunity to make the trip. I love you family.

P.S. We walked through the door at home about 1 a.m. All safe :-)

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

June 11 2013

All good things have to come to an end, right? I think we all wish we still had 2-3 more days.

This morning Kenzi and I climbed up and down all 462 steps of the duomo in Florence. The morning was clear so we had great views and got some awesome pictures. We then shopped in the market. Mom (Sylvia) didn't think she bought much, but when we made her a list, she said, "I bought all that?"

We then had lunch and took taxis to the train station for our ride to Venice. We almost ended up in Torino. We boarded the wrong train, got our luggage put away and were looking for our seats when we asked and found out we had boarded the wrong train. We got off and quickly got to the right place. Two hours later we arrived in Venice. After a long walk, a lot of stairs, and an argument with the taxi driver, we were on our way to our hotel. We are staying near the airport since we fly out tomorrow. This hotel is nice - like a U.S. hotel. That said, I really like the old boutique hotels.

So we head home tomorrow, hoping the French air traffice controller strike doesn't affect us. I love you family!

Monday, June 10, 2013

June 10 2013

We had a good day. We started with a bus tour of Florence. They picked us up so mom didn't have to walk. They went to parts of the city we had never seen. The downside is it rained, so pics weren't that great.

Mom is pretty worn out, so we let her rest for several hours. Robyn, Kenzi, and Rene went to the Medici museum and chapel. We went in the duomo, had lunch, did our laundry, and went to the food open market. We went to a great restaurant near ponte veccio. Mom and Rene came back by taxi and the three of us had a great walk back. We finished off the night with gelato at Grom. Yum!

Kenzi and I are climbing the duomo in the morning, then we take the train back to Venice to get ready to fly home on Wednesday. The trip has gone by waaaaaaay too fast. I love you family.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

June 9 2013

Well we made it to church today! It was great. There were enough Americans there that they had a missionary translate each talk over the pulpit. We then did a lot of walking with Grandma trying to buy everything she could find. Tomorrow we have a driving tour in the morning, then we'll drop off Grandma and do a walking tour in the afternoon. Florence is beautiful.

Yesterday we were at the cool places of Cinque Terra. We visited two of the five cities - Rio Maggiori and Manarollo. They are so unique looking. We hiked up quite high and got a great view of the town. Kenzi and I kayaked between two of the towns (just like Lyss and I had done). After our day there we took our train ride to Florence. Our hotel is 600 years old (yes really). The hotel owner is so nice.

At the train station we met an 18 year old girl who is backpacking around Europe for eight months. Very adventurous, but don't every let any of our grand daughters do that! :-)

I think that should catch you up. I love you family.

Friday, June 7, 2013

June 7, 2013 our fiat

Our rental (manual transmission) that got us all over northern Italy! See those dents in the back? We didn't do them, but can see why they are so common!

June 7 2013 - travel day

We were out the door this morning at 7 pm, driving from Belluno to the train station in Venice to return the car and catch our train. Once in Venice we got a bit lost from our printed directions, had to back down a street with Italians staring at us, and dodging the crazy Italian drivers. We returned the car and walked to the train station. We quickly learned that our train left from the main station, so 6 euros later we had tickets to the right station. We ate breakfast and waited for our train. We boarded and then made a stop at the first station to pick up more passengers. If we had only known!

The train ride including our quick change of trains in Florence took about 4 1/2 hours. We are now in La Spezia, checked into our hotel - a nice old boutique hotel. Tomorrow we go to Cinque Terra for the day. Gypsies and foreigners who want to help with luggage drive me crazy!

Mom and Aunt Rene are both doing great and having a good time. I love you family!