A Whole New Life: Part III of Our Italy Trip--Going Our Separate Ways

During a lot of our trip to Italy, our group stayed together, but there were two days that we went our

Pirate Cruise

separate ways. One day, Bryan, Marc and Kira went on a pirate cruise, while I wandered around Vicenza. The other day, Bryan went on his own to Florence, Marc and Lisa went on a tour to the Dolomites, the mountains around Vicenza, while I went to Church, and then to lunch with friends.

The pirate cruise (according to those who attended) was loads of fun. The cruise was catered so there was unlimited food and drinks. It was a family-friendly party atmosphere on the ship, with music and costumes.Fortunately, Kira had a friend, a girl her age who was the daughter of the tour guide’s sister, so she had a buddy to have fun with. Bryan was not into the alcohol, so he felt a little apart. Marc, though had a wonderful time.

The cruise went to several of the Venice islands, including

Asiago

Murano where they got to see a demonstration of glass-blowing, and to Saint Marc’s square by water where they enjoyed the Carnivale in the square.
Marc & Kira’s tour went up to Asiago, where they make Asiago Cheese (and they learned how this is done). But Asiago is also a quaint town where the kids used to go skiing each Saturday from Vicenza. It is also the site of decisive battle during World War I, wherein over half a million-people died, before the Austrio-Hungary army was sent back from Italy’s Alps.

Marc enjoyed revisiting his old skiing sites, and at one restaurant they were served a complete seven-course meal, which was a treat. Then they were off to Marostica, Italy, a medieval walled city where every other year they have a life-size chess match in their square.

Then they stopped by a teacher’s house where

they were served a wonderful full-blown tea, with numerous pastries, treats and other stuff.

Marc’s adventure in Florence was quite eventful! He had saved $200.00 of his birthday money with one aim in mind. He was going to buy a leather jacket in Florence, the leather capital of the world. He negotiated down a dealer with a brown goat-skinned leather jacket and was so proud when he got it for a third of its original price. He excitedly told Diana that he finally had a leather jacket like the ones Ed had gotten in Italy when we lived here. Diana then informed him that Ed had purchased all the leather jackets we had in Turkey when he went there on business.

Florence

Bryan did see the David statue and other of the historical sites

in Florence and finally he was ready to come home. He’d taken the high-speed train from Vicenza and he’d made sure to save enough money to come home with—except he’d taken a cheaper fare there and when he went to the train station, only the executive suites were available—at a much-elevated cost. He didn’t have enough money to catch a train back to Vicenza.

Bryan's leather jacket

I’d given him a credit card with him, “just in case,” but I’d accidentally given him a debit card, instead and I couldn’t remember the pin. He texted me and then called me in a panic—What was he to do? Luckily, while he was talking to me, an opening in a cheaper train came up and he grabbed it and came back to Vicenza.

My Sunday on the other hand was wonderful. I walked Bryan to the train station, then took a taxi to the LDS chapel, which was a little way out of Vicenza. I got there early and just sat in the beautiful chapel and thought of all the places we’d had church when we lived there 30 years ago. We’d once held church above a car dealership, and in other diverse places. Now they had a wonderful suite of rooms above some offices in an industrial area. There was a beautiful chapel, and all the other rooms that a chapel has.

Vicenza Chapel

I was so glad to see friends from when we lived there, Maria Grazia (who talked in church that day) and others that I hadn’t seen for 30 years. When I went to Relief Society, the president introduced me as “Sorella Beth” and Rosetta cried from the back, “Sorella Beth Dayley?” and ran up and hugged me. It reminded me of reunion Alma and the sons of Mosiah had after years doing missionary work. Alma 17:2 says: “Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.”

Restaurant

The lady I wanted to see most wasn’t there, she was at a ward conference in Padua as president of the Stake Young Women’s Organization. She came by later that afternoon and visited me. Silvia Marini had been my counselor when they made a ward out of the two branches—the American military branch and the Italian branch. Silvia had been my Italian counselor and went with me to visit the homes of the Italian sisters, while an American sister was my American counselor. Silvia was very fluent in English and a great asset to me in my calling.

Today Silvia’s three children were all grown (and her daughter was in the ward there with her children. Silvia had continued to dance and she currently teaches dancing and Pilates on the

View from Rotunda

American base where her English is a wonderful asset, and also teaches Pilates in downtown Vicenza. She certainly doesn’t look 30 years older, and it was so fun to talk to her.

After church, one of Marc’s high-school friends who we’d had dinner with, Danielle, picked me up at the church and took me to lunch with her Mom at beautiful restaurant in the hills above Vicenza. Afterwards we explored the Rotunda, one of Palladio’s masterpieces, which Thomas Jefferson modeled his home, Monticello after.

Map of Vicenza--see how close the Teatro is to our hotel

Later that afternoon, Danielle dropped me off at the “Teatro Olimpico” which was just around the corner from our apartment. She didn’t drop me off at our apartment because it is in the walking-only area of Vicenza and has only one small one-way street going through it which is hard to navigate. I wasn’t concerned even though I’d had such a difficult time navigating the streets the day before. I pulled out my Google Maps—and got lost again. I didn’t get as lost as the day before, but I kept coming back to the Basilica (on the other end of Corso Palladio) and I’d try again to find my way home. An hour and a half later, I stumbled home, and swore I’d never try to find my way around Vicenza every again!!!!

That night I developed a terrible cough and fever, and was really sick.