July 4- Arrivederci Italia

If anyone ever asks us if they have a Fourth of July in Italy or Austria, we can say for sure that they do. It comes between the 3rd and the 5th. There’s no fireworks, though.

Like yesterday, the girls liked watching the birds as we ate breakfast. We sat out on the terrace of and little birds would come and look for food that had been dropped. A few actually flew inside to the where the buffet was served, but the staff seemed used to them. They had heads that looked like chickadees but they were bigger. Finches maybe?

Garda is in a resort area where there are numerous amusement parks, including “Gardaland” and “Movieland.” The advertisements along the road (along with the sunshine, palm trees, greenery and mountains) gave this stretch of the road a very California feel. Anna was the first to notice that. The last two days have been pretty grueling without too many rewards for the kids, so we thought we would do something just for them. We decided to go to a waterpark called “Cavour,” which was only a short drive.

After checking out from the hotel, we made our way through the Italian countryside to the waterpark, and it truly was a trip through rural Italy. We drove through little towns where old men in Capri pants were talking on the street corners. At one point the road was so winding and narrow between old buildings, there was a traffic signal that controlled which direction the one-way traffic could go. We drove by many vineyards, and could see the fat green grapes on some of the closest vines. There were many other fields, of various things we couldn’t identify, and the waterpark itself was right in the middle of these farms. In fact, the parking lot was actually in a field of strange little fruit trees that were being irrigated by a dripping hose. We think the fruits were kiwis. They were so close that the car bumped a few on the branches when we left.

Of course, Anna and Emma had a great time in the waterpark itself. They started out in a large wading pool. They had a good time there, though it was oddly lined with small stones instead of sand, which made it a little rough on their feet. They then went to the waterslide areas. There was a very large waterslide that Anna immediately went down, and continued to go down several times. There were smaller slides that Emma tried too, especially when her big sister helped at the top and Mom was ready at the bottom. Emma said she almost drowned, but really, she just didn’t like the big splash at the end. Both girls enjoyed looking for the little lizards that were running on some of the stones and sidewalks.

Julie was in her swimsuit and was in with the girls. Dad took videos and watched the Italian women go by. Julie noted that ALL of the women were wearing bikinis, even though many of them shouldn’t be. Scott said at least some of them should.

We knew that we had a long drive ahead of us, because we were leaving Italy today and going to Salzburg, Austria. We weren’t sure how long it would take, but we knew it was going to be at least 4-5 hours. We let the girls play at the waterpark for about three hours, so that they could enjoy themselves (and get good and tired).

Driving away from the park, we went over what appeared to be the ruins of a fortified bridge. We had come that way, but on the way in, we hadn’t noticed the picturesque ruins of a castle that sat just above the bridge. This was near Váleggio. It was so beautiful that there was a wedding party getting pictures taken there.

We stopped at McDonalds for lunch. It may seem like cheating to eat at an American place like that, but since we’re traveling with children, we’re starting to appreciate the predictability and reliability of the chain. Even so, there are differences, so it’s still a cultural experience, right?

Europeans love traffic circles and seem to have them at every single intersection here. The one we had to use after lunch was the worst one that we have yet encountered. Like a flat cloverleaf, there seemed to be loops upon loops upon loops, and it’s impossible to see how anyone would think this was a logical traffic flow. We got turned around and headed the wrong way on the expressway, but realized it in time.

Once headed north, the Alps came back into view. We watched the architecture change back to the Alpine style, and saw the German language creep back into the signs. We even saw several castles on the mountainsides. We crossed into Austria at the Brenner Pass (Passo del Brennero in Italian), drove through Innsbruck, and ate a cafeteria called Rosenberger in Vomp (We think it’s pronounced “Whomp.”) It seems to be a regional chain specializing in Tirolean food (and gifts).

We passed through the corner of Germany to get to Salzburg, so if you’re keeping score, that’s four countries in four days so far. The plan is to slow down over the next two weeks, and while we’ll still be doing a lot of site seeing, our drives will be much shorter for a while. Our hotel outside of Salzburg is a gorgeous Alpine style building with an Austrian restaurant on the ground floor. We’ll be here for a couple of nights.