Lake Garda

On our ride home from Venice we decided to take the scenic route.
We drove to Lake Garda which is the largest lake in Italy at 30 miles long and up to 8 miles across. There are mountains up the sides on the lake and small towns with resort hotels dot the rim.


We visited after our Italian friends said Lake Como was popularized by George Clooney but that Lake Garda is actually more beautiful. The lake is a popular destination for Germans and Italians who like to sail, windsurf, or kite sail.

It was fantastic.

There was a castle on the peninsula and the kids wandered the small cobblestone streets.


End of the perfect day, found a miniature golf course.

Authorities

Of course you would understand that in Venice you would have an ambulance boat. Not such a shock. But we were a bit entertained with the police "speed trap" set up along the grand canal.
They are using a radar gun on boats going by and then stopping them for tickets. Daph liked the white leather gun holsters - so Italian.

Burano

Another stop in our tour of Venice was to visit the island of Burano. The guide books said little but our hotel guide suggested we would like it. 6 km from Venice, the island is known for lace making and its brightly colored homes. Mom and Julia liked it.

Dave suggested it was just like Venice with more colors.
When I made Brian stand for this picture, you would think I just took his puppy away. He's becoming a teenager in front of my eyes.

Murano

We visited the Island of Murano which is a one kilometer boat ride from Venice. In the 13th century the city became the glass making center for Venice because the risk of fire that comes with making glass. Today the city is 5000 people and glass making and tourism are the center of life.

The city has the same canals as Venice and is less crowded and very friendly.
We visited the glass museum and learned about the different kinds of glass and glass making techniques. We also stopped in some tiny shops where glass was being blown into jewelry.

We also visited a larger factory where the craftsmen were making vases and statues. The kids memories will be of the man blowing a huge glass bubble, letting it cool for 10 seconds and then knocking it to the ground to shatter for effect. I think all boys like breaking glass.

Venice

Daph and I have many places we would like to visit while we live here in Germany. To our surprise, our children also have some places they have heard about or learned about, that they have showed an interest in visiting. Julia said the one place she wanted to visit was Venice. We drove the 5 hours south through Innsbruck, down the Dolomites, past Balzano and Verona into Venice. We had great weather and were able to walk the city and see the major sites.

The city was just as advertised - it was beautiful with the gondolas, grand houses on the canals, and historic cathedrals. It also had the crowds of tourists from around the world. My impression was there was three types of people in Venice: 1. young couples in love, 2. Older couples enjoying their lifelong dream to visit, and 3. us.

The good news is Julia loved it. The boys said we walked too much. My favorite part was stopping for a $15 soda and being charged a service charge of $16 to hear the music being played in St. Mark's Square. To be fair, it was nice music. I would have guessed it would come with a CD however.

Here we are on the south (less touristy) side of the island. Coke is global.

Auto Museum

I know I haven't posted for almost two months but this is not an indication of our activities.
On June 3rd, the boys, our friend Joachim, and I visited the museum of German Automobiles in Amerang.

The museum was started by a private collector and pays homage to the inventors and business men of the industry like Benz, Maybach, Daimler, Diesel, and Horsch (Audi). Unlike the Porsche or MB museums in Stuttgart or the BMW museum in Munich, this was not a commercial for one brand.
There were about 200 cars from the last 100 years. The cars were in terrific condition and you could feel the evolution and see the expanding wealth of the continent after WWII. They also had some of the cars from the 1980s and 1990s that I remember as the most beautiful.
The cars on display were museum pieces but they did have one car for the boys to get behind the wheel. It was huge. It must have been 20 feet long.
Here you can see the coupes and convertibles. At the very end you can see Brian sitting on a bench, bored. I should have known that the boys - who could leave the Louvre after a couple of hours - would be able to walk through this museum in an hour.

They also had a huge collection of model trains in all sizes. This was also appreciated very briefly.