Your reporter is distracted!
Image via Wikipedia
There may be news this week but it is getting hard to focus. With just two weeks to go before the big trip, much as this Coot tries to take care of business, my mind keeps wandering. Going out of country for the first time in 40 years just keeps me off kilter. Not that there is much more I can do. The reservations are made. Most of the details have been at least considered but there still remain those doubts that always come along when you do something for the first time. Sure it’s going to be fine. Everybody involved will be happy to see that we get where we are going and make it easy to do what tourists do best- spend money. Still, human nature being what it is, those questions keep forming.
Of course if we knew it all then there wouldn’t be any sense of adventure. The trip to Venice would be just as boring as the morning commute. It is the unknowns as we anticipate this adventure that keep the mind engaged. Flying to Venice is probably just as mundane as flying to Des Moines, cramped seating, lousy food and two transfers. What’s not to like?
But what about the news?
So with my current state of distraction the search for news stories has become even harder. There just isn’t much uplifting news this week and more to the point, Europe is freezing to death. Even worse, the epicenter of this unprecedented cold snap is centered on Venice where we will be vacationing. Somehow the cosmos seems to be confusing the Carlson’s with Al Gore. This whole cold spell started with the big meeting in Davos earlier this month where the honchos gather to decide what to do about us peons. Anyway, those Davos folk are fixated on Global Warming and it seems that mother nature always tries to straighten them when they gather. Al’s ability to cause cold weather when he speaks about global warming is legendary but this is his most monumental impact so far. The problem is, it threatens to hamper our vacation. Frost bite in Venice? How romantic.
Ice clogs the canals of Venice, Italy
We knew that Venice wouldn’t be balmy in March when we rented the apartment but the average temperatures didn’t look bad. Winter in Venice is how you avoid the tourists and see how Venetians live. After all we would arrive just after Carnivale, one of Venice’s big events. Surely he place wouldn’t be shut down. And we rationalized that it couldn’t really get cold in the Mediterranean. We were wrong. It’s cold.
European freeze may last to end of February
Current forecasts predict warming at the end of February, just in time for our arrival in Venice so we have our fingers crossed. Spring has to come sometime. It might as well be March.
Don’t worry Ralph. I’d never confuse you with AlGore.
At least I don’t think I would.
Just so long as Mother Nature can tell us apart.
Wow…You’re going to Venice Italy, how fun. Do you plan to travel around a bit while there?
If by traveling around, you mean getting lost in every one of the five sesstiere of Venice and discovering the real Venice where the Venetians live, then we will be traveling around a bit. There are some interesting towns within an hour by train but right now we thing that there will be more in Venice than we can manage in two weeks. That’s what we will be finding our.
Uh…if you are forgetting details…you might make sure a passport isn’t one of those details…LOL
Bob,
We’ve got the passports. Now just have to remember to take them.
Let’s just hope that the canals of Venice won’t be ice skating rinks by the time you get there.
I guess if they do, it will just make the trip more special. Still I’d just as soon not. Thanks for stopping by.
Ralph, I’ll really look forward to your reports of life in Venice. We were there in ’95. . . as tourists, of course–three nights maybe. For me, it was so fun to fantasize about Marco Polo actually walked the same streets (or canals)! You will love it! As you can imagine, it smells rather mildewy! Journal so that you can share while you’re there. . . excited for the Carlsons!
What’s that green thing on my post?!
Paula,
I do recall the smell from my last visit. With the cold, I doubt we will notice. My wife will be taking pictures. I’ll probably take a few myself and maybe do some sketches. That green thing is meant to represent you since you don’t have a gravitar. It’s not very flattering is it.
Ralph, you are doing something most of your fellow countrymen never do – holidaying out of the USA.