Venedig und das Meer - Feld 34

Ahhh, Italy. We drove through the mountains, the Dolomites, and made our way across the plains and down to the coast near Jesolo.  I had found a campground online and as it was now off-season it was easy to get a spot.   It was so lovely and warm when we arrived.  It was almost 8pm so we just looked at the beach and set up camp.  The first day in Italy was cloudy and warm but not hot.  Because of this we had the beach to ourselves for the first few hours.  It was perfect weather to build sand-castles and to play a little bit in the water, without worrying about sunburn!  Part-way through the morning 5 military fighter jets flew quite low over us, in formation.  Shortly thereafter were two more.  Out at sea we could see ships in the distance and a tourist Pirate Ship sailing back and forth.  As the weather improved the number of people on the beach increased, but it was never crowded.

Wie schon im vorherigen Blog gesagt fuhren wir Richtung Venedig. Wir blieben in einem Campingplatz in Jesolo. Am ersten Tag blieben wir am Strand. Es war nicht zu heiß und wolkig. Deswegen waren wir fast die einzigen dort. Doch am Nachmittag wurde es heiß und sonnig wodurch sehr viele Leute angelockt wurden.

Tuesday was our big outing.  To go to Venice. We took the local bus to the ferry and headed over to St. Mark's Square on the water.  It was sunny and beautiful and we enjoyed being out on the water.  A friendly older Italian couple were smiling at us over the number of children that we have.  "Bravo! Bravo!", I was told.  They were very sweet. :-)

We arrived in Venice, having seen some great yachts moored along the way, around 11am.  We toured around St. Mark's Square, the main cathedral square of Venice, and took our DKT photos there.  Yup- Venice itself is also on the board!  We wandered around the smaller alleyways, watching the gondolas in the canals, waving at the tourists in them as they went under the little bridges.  We enjoyed taking the smaller streets as they were shaded and were less crowded than the main thoroughfares between St. Mark's and the Rialto Bridge.  We did make our way to the Bridge, after a pizza and spaghetti lunch (what else! ;-)), and posed for a photo on it.  Dominik noticed people on a roof-top nearby, taking photos as well.  We waited there as he checked it out.  We discovered a fancy set of shops in this building- complete with doormen to open the door as we arrived.  We made our way to the top of the building where we queued with other tourists to go out on the rooftop.  It was so worth-while!  To have almost a bird's-eye view of the city!

The afternoon proved to be hot and more crowded and so, after a quick look around the cathedral (the wait there was much shorter than in the morning) and the purchase of a couple of things for the girls, we thankfully headed back onto the cool, breezy ferry and headed back to Jesolo.

Am nächsten Tag fuhren wir mit Bus und Fähre nach Venedig. Was manche vielleicht nicht wissen ist das in Venedig keine Autos fahren sonder nur Fußgänger und Gondeln sind. Wir hielten uns nicht auf den Hauptstraßen weil es dort zu heiß war und zu viele Touristen waren. Wir irrten uns durch die Gassen und suchten ein paar Denkmale. Wir suchten den Markusplatz und machten ein paar Bilder. Auf dem Markusplatz gibt es einen Turm. Den San Marco Capaline. Da fragte uns mein Vater (Dominik) eine mathematische Frage. Wieviele Ziegeln sind außen am San Marco Capaline? Nach Grübeln und Rechenaufgaben (wo wir geholfen wurden) kamen wir zu einer Zahl. Ca. 134 000 Steine. Zum Mittagessen aßen wir die unzähligste Pizza. Was sonst? ;-) Am Nachmittag sahen wir uns die Rialto Brücke an. Nachher konnten wir von einer öffentliche Dachterrasse daneben Venedig (ein bisschen) überblicken. Bevor wir mit der Fähre zurück fuhren konnten wir sogar die Markuskirche anschauen. Um rein zu dürfen müssen die Schultern und die Knie bedeckt sein.

Our last day was a total beach day.  It was hot and sunny.  The water was warm.  We were relaxed and had a fantastic time as a family.

Den letzten vollen Tag verbrachten wir am Strand.

Before we hopped in the car then to head home, because rain was forecast all over Northern Italy and Austria, we indulged in two more beach hours after packing up.  Finally we went for the last time to the campground's own Pizzaria.  The pizza man was so friendly and cooked DELICIOUS pizza.  We enjoyed it every day but one!  Oh, and the only down-side to the campground was the mosquitoes.  I hadn't found silent mosquitoes before, but here they were.  So, without warning, we were bitten up a bit.  In Canada the sound of the mosquitoes is almost torturous, but at least you know that they are there!

So, here we are, resting up in Austria while it rains and rains outside.  On Monday we will start again. With the Großglocknerstraße!  See you there!

Bevor wir dann weg fuhren hüpften wir für zwei Stunden ins Meer. Zum Mittagessen aßen wir die keine Ahnung wie vielte Pizza von der Pizzaria bevor wir nach Österreich nach Hause fuhren. Nur für eine kurze Pause. Weil es in Jesolo und in ganz Österreich stürmen soll. Am Montag fahren wir aber zum Großglockner um das Feld 24 zu machen. Also die Reise ist noch nicht vorbei.

Felder 5, 6, und 7 und Felder 29, 30 und 32 und Feld 10 - Graz und Klagenfurt und die Gesetzesverletzung

Hello again!  Due to technical difficulties (the battery on our tablet completely died and refused to charge up), we haven't been able to post.  Now we can get back to it! :-)

We had one last night in Vienna before we headed out for Graz.  I (Cathy) was really looking forward to seeing Graz because in all the years that I've been living here, I'd not once visited it!  The way to Graz is supposed to be by train, but as we couldn't all do that and leave the car behind, Dominik took Jonathan, Rebecca and Elena and rode the train from Vienna to a station on the Graz line just a bit outside of Vienna.  This meant that I got to drive, with a half-functioning navi, with the younger boys, in the car.  We did make it without incident and arrived, after one little detour, just after they had stepped off of the train.

Wir übernachteten ein letztes mal in Wien bevor wir nach Graz fuhren. Wir machten schnell die "Eisenbahnlinie Wien-Graz". Nicht den ganzen Weg, nur ein paar Stationen. Den Zug den wir nehmen wollten verpassten wir als erst und dann verschauten wir uns auf dem Zugplan um eine Stunde. Den nächsten Zug erwischten wir gerade noch.



The remaining drive was easy and we made our way into the small streets of the downtown and managed to find parking. BUT- that was only after completing square ('field') number 11, "Breaking the Law"!  What did we do???  We inadvertently drove through a pedestrian area!  How did we manage that, you might ask?  Well, the signs weren't clear as we headed along the road, with streetcars coming and going around us. We were following a car from Vienna as well!  We made it to the middle of the road where there WAS a sign indicating that we couldn't go any further, although the streetcars were, and we were forced into a right turn which took us through a short pedestrian area to the next road.  There were people sitting outside at cafes as we headed by.  No one seemed too put out.  So, around again and we parked! Conveniently, the Kebap König (King) was right over the road.  After fueling ourselves up we headed out to explore the city a bit and to find Annenstraße 6.  Well, this was a short exploration as it was right across from the restaurant!

Das erste was wir in Graz machten war Feld 11. "Die Gesetzesverletzung". Wir fuhren auf der Fußgänger Zone Auto. Es steht nirgends ein Schild "Fußgängerzone" bis man zu einem Punkt kommt wo man nicht mehr umdrehen kann. Nachdem wir geparkt hatten aßen wir gegenüber von Annenstraße 6.

Next we headed to square number 5, 'Murplatz'.  We discovered that there was a Murplatz and we found sketches of it online, but now there was only a Murgasse.  So, a street instead of a square.

Das Feld Nummer 5 kam als nächstes. Der Murplatz. In Graz gibt es aber keinen Murplatz sondern nur eine Murgasse.

Shortly after that we went to the main square to take a photo from the same persepective as the drawing on the DKT board.  The main square was, I think, the lovliest part of Graz.  It is large and is surrounded by old and finely decorated buildings.  The drawing on the board is from years ago, but the details of the plaster-work and roof tiles of the buildings is very accurate!

Kurz darauf gingen wir zum Hauptplatz um das Bild auf dem DKT-Brett zu finden.

Our next stop was the Joaneumring. Getting there was a bit of a walk but it gave us a chance to see more of the city as well as window-shop along the way!
Dann gingen wir zum Joaneumring.

After finding and photographing the Joaneumring we returned to the car and drove in Feld am See, in Carinthia (Kärnten).  A friend of ours from Bible School at the Schloss lives there and was brave enough to have us to stay in her apartment.  Carinthia has beautiful, large mountains and ruins scattered on the hills here and there. It was a great scenic drive.

Nach dem Joaneumring gingen wir zurück zum Auto um weiter nach Feld am See, einem Ort nicht zu weit von Klagenfurt entfernt, zu fahren.

The next day, after a late night of chatting and catching-up, we headed out to Klagenfurt.  Another city which I hadn't yet visited.  Our first stop was Alter Platz number 32.

Gleich am nächsten Tag fuhren wir nach Klagenfurt. Unsere erste Nummer war Alter Platz Nummer 32.

Next we went to find the spot to take a photo based on the drawing on the playing board.  It wasn't hard to find and a beautiful and quiet square in front of the Landhaus- the seat of the Carinthian regional parliament.

Das Bild von Klagenfurt war auch nicht schwer zu finden. Eine Säule vor dem Landhaus zwischen zwei Bäumen.

On our way to try to find the next two streets, we walked through the Neue Platz where a grand fountain statue of a winged dragon, the Lindwurm, stands.  The dragon, the story goes, used to wreak havoc around the area, eating cattle and frightening people.  The brave knights of the area then took a huge bull, put it on a hook and waited for the dragon to take the bait.  It did, the dragon was killed and the area made safe.  The city of Klagenfurt was then built, the story says.  The dragon is the symbol now of the city.

Auf den Fotos seht ihr eine Statue von dem Lindwurm. Der Sage nach befand sich dieser Drache in der Nähe von einem Dorf. Eines Tages töteten die Bewohner eine Kuh und sie steckten einen Haken in die Kuh. Als der Lindwurm die Kuh essen wollte verfing sie sich im Haken und die Dorfbewohner liefen aus den Büschen und erschlugen den Lindwurm. Später bauten sie eine Stadt die heute als Klagenfurt bekannt ist.


Then, with the next two fields we ran into trouble.  The roads, Villacherstraße and Burggasse, were there but the house numbers of 29 and 30 didn't exist! At least we discovered that before we walked too far down the Burggasse!


Auf den nächsten Beiden Straßen hatten wir ein problem. Die Straßen existieren, Handy und Tablet hatten genug Akku, nicht zu viele Leute dort, sondern auf der Villacherstraße und auf der Burggasse existieren die Hausnummern 29 und 30 nicht.

Our next day was to be a day off from out DKT tour.  Instead we headed to a lake near to where we  were staying and spent the day swimming and relaxing under the trees.


In der Früh am nächsten Tag ruhten wir uns bei einem See in der Nähe aus.

This brings us to a very interesting and nature-oriented day.  Our next stop would be Venice and so, on the way, we organised to visit an old friend of Dominik's from college.  He keeps and trains a Steinadler- a Golden Eagle- for hunting.  He also has a Eurasian Eagle Owl, also for hunting.  We were able to hold the owl, with leather gauntlet on.  Most of the kids didn't want to but it was a great experience!  It had such BIG yellow eyes.  When it's on your arm with it's face that close to yours it feels surreal.  It flapped off of my arm, flapping around under it, but I didn't let go and we righted it.  Wow.  Dominik was able to hold the Golden Eagle, which kept its hood on so that it wouldn't try to kill the owl or the miniature pigs or anything else, and we did a family photo with both birds.  No one wanted to stand too close  to the Eagle.  Both birds were huge, but we'd gotten a bit used to the owl by then. We are really grateful to Thomas and his family, that we were able to have this experience there! Thank you!

Das nächste auf unserer Reise war zu einem bekannten von meinem Vater (Dominik Vamos). Er hat einen Uhu und einen Steinadler als ``Haustiere´´. Wir durften sie sogar halten.

Later in the afternoon we said our good-byes and drove south, over the tri-border area of Slovenia, Italy and Austria, and headed for our campground in Jesolo, near Venice.  To read about our southern adventures, you'll have to check out the next blog! :-)

Später am Nachmittag fuhren wir Richtung Venedig. Was dort passieren wird könnt ihr im nächsten Blog lesen.