I have to say, there are few sweeter things than in the world than visiting Italy. Unless, of course, you get to go to Italy FOR FREE, which is what I got to experience last Monday through Thursday. DoDEA decided that, for next year, they are going to switch the system they use for entering and maintaining registration and health records. All Registrars, Secretaries, and School Nurses were required to attend this "mandatory" training on the new system in Vicenza, Italy from Tuesday-Wednesday. Well, being the Health Tech at a small school is apparently just as good as being a school nurse, so DoDEA begged, pleaded, and twisted my arm, but I finally agreed to be dragged to a training an hour from Venice, Italy. It was going to be difficult, but I had to do my nursely duties.... (**You probably have now conjured up the mental image of me "SQUEEEEEEEE!!!!!!" 'ing and doing a little shuffle dance to myself after being asked to go**)
After switching planes in Madrid, I made it into Venice at 4:30pm. The group of nurses who were attending the conference had arranged for everyone to go to a local restaurant in Vicenza for dinner at 7:30, so I was good to go on time. I had made a rental car reservation with Europcar via the representative on Vicenza's base, so I strolled up to the reservation window, confirmation number in hand, and encountered a classically Italian looking man-you know, that tall, dark, and handsome type. I was expecting some Italian charm and ease to getting my car, but the guy was a total JERK. He kept saying that my reservation had been cancelled, and that they didn't have "any automatic cars available". I at first thought it was no biggie, that I would just get a car from another company. I soon discovered that EVERY car rental place in the airport "didn't have any available rentals" (which I suspect was BS). I went back up to the same guy at Europcar, expressing annoyance and confusion about why, if I had a confirmation number that CONFIRMS I HAVE A CAR, wasn't giving me a car. The guy continued to be a butt-head and said he couldn't help me in any way. Now the airport is a little over an hour from the base, so a cab would have cost a fortune, and I didn't know at the time that the base ran a free shuttle to and from the airport. Hindsight is 20/20. Since I was in another country, the data and calling features on my phone were all sorts of jacked up and probably costing a fortune, so I started to have a mini-Courtney panic moment. I ended up calling Elliot with what I call "shaky-voice" and asked him to contact the Europcar with which I had made a reservation. He got me in touch with the representative on base who called a contact at the airport Europcar and got me a car for the day. I gave the douchey Italian looking guy (who was becoming uglier by the minute as I had dealt with him) a snarky look for lying to me about having an automatic car, got the keys to my Mercedes (BALLER), and sauntered out into the pouring rain like I owned the place.
After some confusion over finding the car and how to exit the parking lot (stuff was confusing, let me tell you), not to mention the Europcar valet guy serenading "That's Amore" to me, I was on the road to Vicenza. Driving in Italy is very similar to driving in Spain: a lot of people cutting you off and a lot of round-abouts. The difference this time, however, was that I was driving a Mercedes with white-knuckled hands at 10 and 2 o'clock, terrified that I would damage the car and lose my 1100 DOLLAR deposit. Elliot and I almost choked when we heard the deposit amount....thank God we got it all back.
Despite the rain, I settled into my government-paid-for-SUITE at the hotel on base and met the rest of the nurses there for the training for dinner. The woman running the training, Sandy, was stationed at Aviano and was our graciously-offered driver for the next few days. We went to a local mom and pop restaurant in Vicenza where the Mama was wearing a hair-net, and the Papa looked like Gepetto. So far in my trip, every Italian stereotype was coming true. The most important stereotype, the food, didn't even give justice to the deliciousness of what I ate that night. Despite the lack of fresh veggies for salads on account of the E-Coli outbreak, I drank Prosecco (a sparkling white wine that tasted like champange without the after taste) and had this amazing Italian bread with an orichette pasta with Pugliese sauce (an olive oil and herb sauce with different sauteed veggies). It was DELICIOUS and amazing and wonderful. There honestly aren't enough adjectives to describe how absolutely fantastic the dinner was. I ate myself into a food coma while chatting up with the other nurses who had come in from Sicily, Bahrain, Naples, and Turkey for the conference. I was by far the youngest, but everyone was very nice and sweet. There was one who was a little quirky and kept saying, "I'm so glad you're here" to me every few minutes. At first, it was really nice, but after the 5th time or so, I started to run out of responses: "Yep, me too" and "Ohh, thanks!" were thrown around a few times. I think she had a little bit too much Prosecco.....
The next two days were basically spent indoors (fortunately, because of the rain) learning the ins and outs of this new registration system that DoDEA is using next year. Everything was pretty straight forward, and we got laptops to explore the program on, so it didn't take long to figure stuff out. Plus, they gave us binders and cd's with video tutorials of how to enter in data and generate different reports. Although I loved being in Italy for two full days, the training itself probably could have been cut down to one full day, or even a few hours each day. I know that people learn at their own pace though, so it unfortunately was stretched out a big longer than necessary. It was an odd feeling to be a student again, and not the teacher.
Vicenza base is a small enough base (not as small as Moron) with everything pretty centralized: commissary, PX, shoppette, movie theater, little restaurants, etc. all within walking distance of where our training was (by the high school), so I ended up not even needing a rental car for my stay. It's interesting, because you hear all these "Don't tell people you work for the Department of Defense; it'll make you a target!", but as you're driving to Vicenza, you see American flags and signs that say "American base next turn!". It helped me reach my hotel in one piece, but I was surprised to see so many "Sitting ducks, right here!" type signs. Damn anti-terrorism training for ingraining this into my brain....
Despite the rain, Sandy took me, Jessica (from Turkey), and Louise (from Sicily) into downtown Vicenza to do some sight-seeing. Everyone else at the training had been to Vicenza a few times, but we were the newbs and wanted to make the most of our government-sponsored time there. After walking around the different squares of the city and passing all sorts of boutiques and grassy parks that reminded me of Spain, ,we stopped to have a few Proseccos when the rain started to get heavier. Sandy has been in the DoDDS system for about 12 years or so and has been a nurse in Hawaii, Sicily, and Italy. Louise is retired Navy and has a husband who is active Navy in Florida. She is the nurse in Sicily with her two sons, and this is her first DoDDS (Department of Defense Dependents' Schools) assignment. Jessica is the closest to my age, early 30's, and is a DoDDS child. Her mom actually teaches at another base in Turkey, where Jessica is stationed with her 7 year old son and husband. I really enjoyed the company, as everyone has such a unique story to share. Although everyone at the conference was very nice (or a little too nice, as evidenced by "I'm so happy you're here" lady), I enjoyed my time with those three the most because our personalities just meshed so well. There was never a lull in conversation, and the night wasn't short of laughs.
After checking out the local church (Sevilla's is still my fave), we had dinner at a pizzeria that was built into a house. We ate on the second floor overlooking the plaza and sitting at a cozy table by the fireplace. More Prosecco was ordered (this stuff is like crack), and I got a margherita-style pizza with this garlic and herb seasoned cheese. It was the brick-oven fired kind with the blistered crust, and it was fantastic. I probably could have eaten the whole massive thing in one sitting, but I decided to save half for lunch the next day. They also brought out mini-bruschetta appetizers for the table, so we mowed down those as well. If I had to choose one thing to eat every day for the rest of my life, it would either have to be pizza or bruschetta, different variations of them. The combo of bread, tomatoes, basil and cheese are just so irresistible for me. My waistline agrees with that statement, so it's probably good that I have some variety in my diet....
The next night, after the training, Jessica and I hopped on a bus to the train station and took the hour long train into Venice. We were damned if we were an hour away from this beautiful city and not take advantage of exploring it! The train ride was made to feel even longer though, as someone near us had some pretty rank B.O. Oh, Europeans!
When we stepped out of the train station, it was like we were walking onto a movie set. Venice is just one of those cities that isn't done justice by descriptions or photos; it's something that you have to see to actually believe. There are absolutely no cars, and the ambulances, taxis, Fed/Ex vehicles are all boats. Every turn you make, you end up crossing over a little canal that is lined with these houses, restaurants, and little shops. You see Italian flags everywhere, and the city is like a labyrinth within a maze within a labyrinth, it is so difficult to get around. We decided to turn left out of the train station and just wander around the city for awhile. We went into this church right by the water and were just blown away by the detail and architecture inside. I actually ended up taking a video of the church, because the pictures I was taking weren't doing it justice. After getting some postcards and buying a map, we wandered through the streets a bit more before deciding to try to find the Plaza de San Marco, which was the center of things to see in Venice. Well, the map was absolutely no help as the streets on them didn't correspond to the markings that we saw on the buildings. We decided that since the map was no good, we should follow signs that said "Per San Marco" with arrows. When the signs started to become less and less frequent, we ended up trying to desperately search the map for landmarks or street names we would recognize. After about 3 hours of these types of tactics, we finally recognized a Plaza name and were on the right track to the Plaza de San Marco. Unfortunately, the Basilica was closed due to flooding (there was just water surrounding the entrances), so we weren't able to go inside, but the architecture was beautiful and very impressive. I was jazzed to see a statue that was on the cornerstone of the Basilica, completely unnoticeable, that I recognized from studying in college. It's called the Tetrarchs, and is an ancient statue of four Roman emperors clutching each other. I remember seeing it for my Art History classes, but I had no idea that it was located in Venice. I was so excited, and Jessica later bought me some post cards that had the Tetrarch statue on them. Ancient Civilizations degree put to good use!
After lots of picture-taking and offers for gondola rides for a mere 100 euro (ouch), we decided to check out a restaurant that was recommended by Lonely Planet. Fortunately, we got some directions via phone from the restaurant owner, so we didn't have to follow random signs with arrows on them. When we got there, it turns out that it wasn't a full-service restaurant, so we went down the alley to another place that had tables a fresco. Jessica and I split a bottle of Chianti (the wine of the region), and I had gnocchi pasta with a tomato basil sauce. It was pretty tasty, and the wine somehow helped us make it back to the train station without getting lost. It was like in Beerfest, where they can't find the secret place until they're drunk. Chianti is a fantastic tour guide. We made it to the train we wanted to catch and got back to the base in one piece.
The next day, Jessica and I caught the free bus to the airport and were on our way back to our respective homes... Glorious work vacay, let me tell ya.
RANDOM ITALIAN OBSERVATIONS
-Italian accents are the greatest thing since the Italians invented pasta
-The pizza guy at the airport's name was Fabio. No joke.
-Verona is known for their glass jewelry
-The Carnavale (sp?) masks are ridiculously elaborate, and some look like they weigh a ton
-You don't get olive oil to dip your bread in. You have to ask for it, and often receive a confused look in response
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