After the museum we stopped at a supermarket for some provisions. We were heading to another apartment and decided we would need some food for breakfast and maybe another meal during our stay. We then stopped on the motorway and ate at McDonalds. After some lunch we traveled on to Trevino. We checked into our apartment and were created by the owners who showed us around the place. They even presented us with a homemade bottle of Prosecco. It was a lovely touch.
It even has Stuart’s name on it.
We ended up walking toward the town to have dinner at a pizza/spaghetti house. I had pork chops. They were tasty, but salty.
The team was at the end of this long table.
We were up and it was raining. We walked to the hotel and waited for the bus to go to Venice. The England rugby team is training in Trevino this summer and just happened to be staying in the same hotel as my brother’s team. Stuart was like a kid in a candy store. He had a conversation with Eddie Jones, the head coach, who is Australian.
After Stuart’s brush with fame, we got on the coach and headed to Venice. There seemed to be a bit of confusion. It seems that the tour guide with the team called the organization that handles their trip and stated that if we were going to be on the tour then we would have to pay the tour price. All we were doing was riding the bus. We hadn’t gone on any of the organized tours so she was talking a bunch of garbage. At any rate, we decided we would not ask her anymore if we could ride the bus. The bus has nothing to do with her. I felt badly as it put my brother in a weird position. Oops!
We got to the water taxi spot and got on. We ended up having to pay an arm and a leg for our trip to the island and back, but it didn’t matter.
On the taxi
We were able to transfer with the family and it was really no big deal. Once we were in St Mark’s Square, the tour began. Stuart, myself and the kids went to a cafe so Jack could use the toilet, while the rest of the family went into the Basilica.
Bridge of Sighs- this was the last opportunity for prisoners to see the beautiful Adriatic Sea before being condemned to death or to life in prison.
The bell tower in St Mark’s Square.
Bought a coffee so Jack could have a poo.
Rialto Bridge
Morgan, Russ, Grammie and Pop ended up meeting us after the church tour, while Julie stayed for the first hour of the tour. We got lunch and then went shopping. My mom and I found the place where we got our leather purses two years ago. We were so excited! I also bought some trousers that are like MC Hammer pants. Can’t touch this.
We sat at two different tables for a bite to eat. Pizza and pizza were on order. Oh, wait, Jack ate a hot dog. That’s not terribly Italian of him, I realize.
After shopping with my mom a bit, we met up with everyone else down by the Rialto Bridge, where we purchased some more treasures.
The gondolas were docked for lunch, we think.
St Mark’s Basilica
By the Grand Canal the street vendors are abundant.
It was then time to get back with the group in order to catch the vaparetto back to the bus. Once back at the hotel, my dad went up to his room to put his feet up.
This was a selfie of Russ, myself and my mom walking to our apartment. We went back there for a cold beverage and some crisps. Julie ate her pizza that she had left over from the previous night. Around 4:30 pm everyone left so the kids watched Netflix and Stuart and I played rummy.
We went to the hotel at 6 to board the bus to the game. Jack and Millie were rebounders at this game. I remember being a kid at games and wanting to do things like that. I’m hoping these memories make them smile one day.
The team won by a large margin. The gym was hot and the seats were terribly uncomfortable. They served the team pizza after the game. We went back to the hotel for a much needed sleep. I hope the kids don’t fall apart before the end of this holiday.
Tuesday we left Trevino for Cernobbio, near Como and right on Lake Como. We stopped in Verona where it is written that Romeo and Juliet’s love affair took place. We waited in the square for the team to show up. Once everyone was there, we walked through the streets and shopped. We also visited the famous balcony. Shakespeare did this city a favor when he wrote that play. We ate lunch at one of the outdoor restaurants in the main square and then headed on to Cernobbio.
The entrance to Verona
The arena where operas are performed.
The outdoor restaurants in the square.
Juliet’s balcony.
Gorgeous architecture all around
Grammie made the car journey with us on Tuesday.
We arrived at our apartment just before 5 pm. I led Stuart through the narrow streets with our rental car. It made him totally nervous, but I wasn’t going to carry our bags from my mom’s hotel. The team had already checked in to their hotel. Stuart dropped Grammie off at the hotel and left our car there because there wasn’t a place to park outside our apartment.
This was our quaint little apartment. Once we were settled in, we took a stroll down to the lake. Jack insisted he put his hand in to check the temperature. He said it wasn’t too bad.
We then walked to the hotel and met up with the team.
This was the back of their hotel. Just behind me is the lake.
We ended up driving to the game as the bus was going to be packed. We also stopped to get water for the team. We came in very handy in the end.
They played better competition for this game. They ended up winning, but they fought for their victory the entire game.
When we returned to the hotel it was nearly 11 pm. Although the players had eaten pizza, we didn’t. So we searched for a place to eat and ended up going to Como Burgers. It was a really good choice I thought. We got back to the apartment around midnight and showered the kids we put them to bed in our room and quickly discovered that was a bad idea. We wanted to play cards, but the kids were so wound up that we ended up having to put them in their bunch beds and just play quietly until they went to sleep. Stuart and I stayed up until after 2 am playing cards.
Wednesday we were awaken by the bells of the church by our apartment. Itwasnt just one chime, or even the number of chimes per
We finally got around and out of the apartment at 10 am. The team was supposed to take a boat on Lake Como over to Bellagio. The cost was too much so we opted out. We walked around Cernobbio for a bit and ended up getting pastries and coffee at a little cafe.
We then went to check out the market that was taking place down by the lake. I bought a shirt and we bought cherries to share and a peach for Jack. By the time we had walked through the market we decided it was time for lunch. We waited to hear from Russ and company about when they returned to Como. Our plan was to get the ferry to Como once we knew they were there.
Lunch was amazing and about 20 steps from our apartment.
We completed lunch and headed to the ferry. We got to Comi just after 2 pm. The rest of the family was walking around trying to find a place to eat. We caught up with them and walked through the streets of Como. When they sat to eat, we got gelato then sat at the same restaurant as them and had a beer. Pop went back to the hotel at 3 pm on the bus, while the rest of us decided to go and get on the funicular.
We were told the line was about an hour and a half wait to get on the funicular.
These 7 foot and nearly 7 foot men gave us the information about the funicular. They also happened to be kind enough to take a picture with Jack. These were Jack’s three favorite players from Uncle Russ’s team.
It turns out that the wait for us was only about 45 minutes. It was toasty, but well worth the wait. The views from the top were spectacular.
The ride up and down was quite stuffy but necessary.
The kids posed for this beautiful photo.
This church was a short walk from the top of the funicular. Inside we sat and listened to some beautiful music. We didn’t walk anywhere else while we were at the top of the mountain as we were all exhausted.
The inside of the church.
Another view from the top.
Once we came down the mountain, we walked along the lake where we caught the ferry back to Cernobbio. We got gelato and the family came to our apartment.
The lake
The ferry with another view.
Russ, Julie and Morgan left to go to dinner with the team. The rest of us played a couple of games of Uno before heading out to dinner. From the lack of restaurants, we gathered that Cernobbio was really more of a retirement community rather than a touristy area.
Again, we walked down by the lake and decided on a lovely place with indoor/outdoor seating. It was a traditional Italian restaurant and the food was amazing. It was the last meal we would have together on this trip.
Millie had pasta.....again.
When we returned to our apartment, Russ, Julie and Morgan met us there. We had Coke Zero, wine, coffee and conversation. As always we cried when we had to say goodbye, but that proves we do really care a great deal about each other. This trip was not the trip we had two years ago with Grammie and Pop, but memories were still made and Jack and Millie will talk about this trip for a long while. It was a success.
Thursday morning we were up before the crazy bells rang from the church. We hustled around and got our bags packed in order to leave by 8 am. We ended up leaving a bit earlier, which was fine by me. We arrived at the airport just before 8:30 am. We checked into the flights and headed to the gates. We ran into the team and the family. Russ, Jack, Morgan and myself ended up walking to a different area of the airport to go to Starbucks. Italy has done their best to avoid Starbucks, but they caved a year or so ago and now how 2 stores. One just happens to be in Milan Malpensa airport. We found it and I bought a mug, of course. Jack got his first cappuccino and swears he loved it. He had passed that little boy stage in some ways and wants to be seen as a young man. With him going into the senior school next year he feels more grown up. It’s hard to handle sometimes.
He had to have two sugars so it tasted better.
He was very pleased with himself.
The kids and Stuart took off about 5 minutes before I did. I think I’ve mentioned it, but since my school booked my ticket, I have been on a separate booking this summer. I gave the flights I wanted to the booking agent and he agreed to book those flights. So as soon as I got the email to say that was fine, Stuart booked his flights with the kids. It turns out that I actually was booked on a different flight from Milan to London. So, I got a little over two hours to myself on the flight. I slept almost the entire time.
When I arrived in London I grabbed some food as the flight I was on didn’t feed us anything for free and I couldn’t use cash to buy anything, only a credit card. I then met up with Stuart and the kids. Stuart was going to get the hire car and the kids and I were getting a taxi down to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Stuart was driving to Birmingham to pick up Hope to bring her to Hastings for a few days before she went away on her summer holidays to Boston.
Our taxi was a Mercedes van, which had plenty of room for the kids to spread out. The ride down was uneventful. Once we returned to Grandma and Grandpa’s we didn’t see the kids until dinner. Not having their iPads for the time we were in Italy obviously left them with withdrawals. We had dinner, the kids showered and then we waited for Hope to arrive. They came in just before 10. We had a bit of a catch up and then all headed to bed.
Our taxi was a Mercedes van, which had plenty of room for the kids to spread out. The ride down was uneventful. Once we returned to Grandma and Grandpa’s we didn’t see the kids until dinner. Not having their iPads for the time we were in Italy obviously left them with withdrawals. We had dinner, the kids showered and then we waited for Hope to arrive. They came in just before 10. We had a bit of a catch up and then all headed to bed.
Friday morning we got up and headed to Norman’s Bay to meet up with Clare and her kids and our friend Geraldine and her daughter. We had breakfast with them and went down and sat on the beach while the kids played in the very cold sea.
Jack was back with his buddy Henry.
All the kids got ready for a dip in the sea.
The adults sat far away from the sea.
Once we finished at Norman’s Bay, we headed to Bexhill to meet Barnes, Anna and the cousins for a picnic lunch. Grandma and Grandpa joined us as well.
The children were waiting for the food to be served.
And the food was delightful, made entirely by Grandma.
It did get a bit chilly on the beach.
After the beach we headed to a park for a run around. The kids had fun, but there were two injuries, Eliza and Millie both fell and hurt themselves.
The walk back to the car required buying a bottle of water on the seafront. The rest of the evening was spent conversing over a Chinese meal. The food was plentiful and delicious. We then all went to bed at a reasonable time.
We woke up Saturday morning and headed to the Windmill for breakfast. We all ate our fill. Then Stuart, myself and the kids went down to Hastings seafront to play miniature golf. Jack got frustrated, as he does with all games. It makes it quite unpleasant to play games with him sometimes. I’m hoping he grows out of it. After golf we went to the arcade for a bit, then came home just after stopping at Sainsbury’s for some provisions.
We spent the afternoon playing Oh Heck with Hope and Jack. Again, Jack got frustrated because he couldn’t win. It’s such a card game of luck and just a touch of skill. I ended up telling him that if he didn’t stop behaving this way no one would want to play games with him. Eventually Grandpa took the kids for a walk in the woods. They were gone for quite a while. When they returned we sat down for dinner. Even Millie ate the lasagna.
Stuart and Hope left for the airport around 8 pm. Her flight was on Sunday morning but Stuart didn’t want to take any chances of her being late for her check-in, thus the stay the night before was in order. Millie went to bed and the rest of us played Oh Heck. Jack behaved himself a bit better, fortunately, and we had a good time.
Barry, Karen and I played another round of Oh Heck and then headed to bed. We were all in bed by about 10:30 pm. Another successful week of holiday, but it’s going way too fast.
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