What Should I Be Doing?

In a perfect world, I should be drinking a beer and eating pizza.  But, it just so happens, that I don't have any pizza and it's too late to make any and the beer that we have in our fridge expired in December (that just shows you how often we drink).

What I actually should be doing is planning Alessia's first birthday party, doing her one year scrapbook, cleaning something, unloading the dishwasher, or starting our taxes.  And that's just the beginning. I am exhausted though.  Kevin's been in Russia for a week now so it's been just Alessia and myself. Luckily, she has been an AMAZING sleeper lately (but I probably just jinxed myself).  We've gone down to one nap, but she's been sleeping 11-12 hours straight every night.  Most nights, I'm not too far behind her either.  I can barely keep my eyes open past nine-o'clock

Tonight, instead of doing what I should be doing, I'm going to just sit on the couch with my cup of tea, watch DVRed episodes of Chopped, and then go to bed early. The other stuff can wait.

A Beautiful Sight

This year marked our fourth year spent overseas at Christmas.  While it is hard to be away from our families at the holidays, we know that we have to take advantage of the opportunity to spend Christmas in Europe.  This year, we were lucky enough to have friends, Marina and her mom, Vija, come and visit and all four of us headed to Munich for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. 

The weather was gorgeous and it turns out, it actually set a record for the warmest Christmas Eve EVER!  We left the morning of Christmas Eve and spent the day strolling around Munich checking out the Christmas Markets.  That night we had dinner at Hofbräuhaus and I got to partake on the drinking festivities with a non-alcoholic beer.  We decided earlier in the day that we would try to get to mass that night and we made it in time to the Frauenkirche, but there were no seats.  After about an hour of standing, my ankles (which were swollen and felt like they were going to blow up) couldn't take it any longer so we all headed back to the hotel. 

Christmas morning we woke up to another bright, sunny day.  We had breakfast at a nice, little cafe down the street from our hotel and then headed to Dachau.  Most everything was closed (obviously) so we didn't have a lot of options, but our friends had never been so it was a perfect opportunity to go.  We spent a few hours there before heading back to Vipiteno (we did make a quick pit stop in Innsbruck for pictures), where the weather was 30 degrees colder than it had been in Munich.  So, in a sense, we really did have a white Christmas!

Glühwein and Punch break for Marina and me.

To set the record straight, Marina and Vija were really drinking wine...they just borrowed our beers for the picture. 

Bagel sandwiches for Christmas breakfast.

Yesterday, Marina and Vija flew home.  Kevin had to work so I took advantage of my day alone by napping and catching up on my DVR.  It also gave me a chance to elevate my legs and I woke up this morning to a beautiful sight...my normal ankles. 

Update

I know I’ve been MIA for about two weeks, but we had one of Kevin’s friends in town and we were out and about.  We did a lot of traveling and saw some new places, but it’s nice to be home now. 

Brian got here on April 10.  He flew into Venice and we went there to meet him.  It just so happened that we also had family friends in Venice at that time so we all got together for a day of sightseeing.  We did a tour of the Jewish Ghetto (something we’ve never done), checked out St. Mark’s Basilica, walked around the markets, had pizza, and drank Spritz.  We thought about trying Bellinis at Harry’s Bar, the home of the first Bellini, until we saw the price.  £16.50 (about $22) for a 6-ounce Bellini!  That price made us all get out of our seats quickly and hit the streets for the next best thing…gelato.  

Pizza break with Emma, John, Cathy, Brian, and Kevin

That night we made our way to Verona where Brian, Kevin, and I were staying over.  It was already late so we checked into our hotel and then went straight to dinner.  After a bottle of wine and a few beers, we were exhausted so we called it a night.  We woke up the next morning to rain.  I’m not talking about a light sprinkle either.  This was a downpour.  After a few hours of walking around in the rain, checking out the Roman Theater, and rubbing Juliet’s boob, we decided it was time to head back to Vipiteno.

 Kevin got a quick boob rub in for good luck.

After a day spent in Innsbruck and a day in Vipiteno, we made our way to Florence.  We decided to drive since we were only staying two nights and it made more sense money wise.  We don’t have a GPS so we figured Google Map directions would work just as well, but we ended up getting lost a few times.  It took about an hour longer than it should have to get to our hotel.  We were actually parked illegal in a place we weren’t even supposed to be driving and started running around asking people if they knew where our hotel was.  Turns out, it was about 40 meters from where we were parked and the parking garage was just around the corner. 

Our first afternoon and night in Florence was rainy.  We had drinks, then dinner, then more drinks, and then called it a night.  The next day, we had scheduled a ½ day trip to Pisa and were bummed when we woke up to rain.  But as we started driving away from Florence, everything cleared up.  We got a guided tour of the main square in Pisa and then had a few hours to ourselves.  We spent most of this time holding up the Leaning Tower and snapping stupid pictures.

Piazza del Duomo, Pisa

 I'm just holding up the Leaning Tower for a bit.

That afternoon we had a few more hours of no rain in Florence and took advantage of it.  We checked out the Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo, and walked around until dinnertime.  For dinner, we checked out a cute little place that had a pasta sampler.  It was served family style so you could just take what you want.  Everything was delicious, including the three bottles of Chianti that we took down.

The Piazza del Duomo in Florence

 The Ponte Vecchio

We finally woke up to a clear sky on our last day in Florence.  We walked the 460 steps (give or take a few) to the top of the Duomo, where the view was breathtaking.  Then, we headed over to the pizzeria where the cast of the Jersey Shore worked (please don’t judge).  In started to rain a little so we decided we should probably just head home.  Luckily, since I was in charge of the directions, we made it out of Florence and home without getting lost once.  It should be noted that I was with two directionally challenged men.  

The Last Judgement (on the left) is painted on the ceiling of the Duomo.  

 

Kevin and I at the top of the Duomo.

  Yep, we ate where the Jersey Shore cast worked.

After two days to recuperate in Vipiteno, we made our way to Munich.  Our first stop was Dachau Memorial Site, which I would highly recommend to everyone.  It was depressing, yet educational and some of the stuff that happened there is unbelievable. 

 The gate prisoners passed through when entering Dachau.  The inscription means "Work Brings Freedom."

Once we made it to Munich, we walked around the Marienplatz area and then heading to the Hofbräuhaus for dinner and a big beer.  One turned to two and then two turned to three.  And by the time we left there, we had each consumed three liters of beer.  Well, maybe not me…I was having trouble drinking the third one so I kept pouring it in the boys’ beers when they weren’t paying attention.  On our way home, we got so lost because somehow the map had gotten torn and the important part was nowhere to be found.

 The Marienplatz

 Round one of beers at the Hofbräuhaus.

That next morning was rough for everyone, but we wanted to get an early start because Kevin and I were heading out that afternoon to come back to Vipiteno.  We checked out the Viktualienmarkt, where I had a big pickle and a coffee and Kevin had a foot long sausage on a 6-inch bun for breakfast.  After doing some shopping and checking everything out, we headed to lunch where we all had a Wiener Schnitzels that were bigger than our heads.  Needless to say, none of us finished it.  Kevin and I said our goodbyes to Brian (since he was staying to fly out the next day) and we headed back to Vipiteno.

 I might have found the cure to hangovers.

 You can't visit Germany without getting a Wiener Schnitzel. 

Yesterday morning Kevin left for Asiago.  He will be there for the next 8 days working as the goalie coach for the Italian National Team.  It is a huge honor especially for a first year coach and I’m so excited for him.  I’m here in Vipiteno and have decided to spend my time alone getting back on a schedule.  I need to hit the gym hard and get back to eating like a normal human being.  Once Kevin gets back we’ll have a little less than 3 weeks here and we’re hoping to get to a few more places before returning back to the States.