June 5 2013 - recap of Monday's adventure

Okay, so let me share Monday's adventure. As we started the day, Mom (Sylvia) the shopper let go of my arm and headed for a shop window to see something that had caught her eye. She missed a step and down she went. Cut up her arm a bit. We carried on. After a day filled with activities, it was time to get to the dock to catch the boat for the airport to pick up the rental car. It is quite a walk through hoards of people with seven pieces of luggage up and down the bridge steps to cross the canals. That said, all went well. So far....


We got to the airport and left Mom, Aunt Rene, and Kenzi and the dock while we went to get the car ... And the adventure gets better.

The had our reservation, we got the paperwork and headed for the lot. We had to go back because we couldn't find the lot. We ended up in a parking garage, found an English speaking man who offered us a ride to the lot. We took him up on it and all was good again. We got to the van and found it severely damaged on one side. We tried to drive, but it is manual transmission and i couldn't figure out how to put it in reverse. So we went to the rental booth, but no one was there. So we hiked back to the airport and waited in line to speak to the agent. She made a couple calls and said, go back to the lot and by the time you get there, a different van will be there for you. When we got back to the lot, the worker was there, but no van. So we waited. It arrived and off we went. But now we needed to find the boat dock by car. We failed with one attempt. Stopped and asked for further directions from someone who didn't speak much English. We tried again, but still couldn't find the road. So we got close and I ran the rest of the way, then we walked back to the van with the luggage. We loaded up and headed for Belluno. It was a beautiful drive. Upon arrival, we go on the lookout for a hotel. Not so easy to find. It's now dark. About 10 pm. We finally see a hotel. I go in. No vacancy. They recommend an alternate. We drive and finally find the second hotel. No vacancy. The desk clerk calls around. No vacancy anywhere in Belluno. So we need to drive to Feltre, about 35 km away. We get a bit lost. So I stop in a bar to ask directions. On course no one speaks English. I keep saying the name of the town and they draw me a map. We find Feltre. Find a hotel and go inside. They have rooms!  We check in, it now everyone is hungry. They reopen the restaurant and make us this huge spread to eat. We eat and up to our rooms. So our trip of roughly 115 miles takes seven hours total! Quite the adventure!