I feel the need! The need for...
Why all of a sudden do I have the image of Tom Cruise and Anthony Edwards in my head?
So. Just another glorious morning in Paradise.
Yeah yeah, rub it in
Massive breakfast.
Eat too much.
Cart my bloated self back to the room.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
I thought Ruby and Elle rolled you back to the room last time? Obviously you are eating less each morning if you can now cart yourself back.
What? No cheese?
We were leaving our wonderful hosts in Wallgau today and making our way down to Venice.
So sad
Sorry, Kay. No sleeping in today.
Ah
Now I see where the whine came in
and the wine.
When we went down for breakfast, we thanked our hostess and presented her with a bottle of wine.
My, arent we a winey bunch today?!
She was quite surprised... and pleased.
She really was amazingly friendly and courteous.
The perfect hostess.
Reminder, when the Ponzi clan visits, be friendly and courteous and you will get wine!
Be unfriendly and rude, and someone will whine.
Got it!
As we left the dining room for the last time... I cried a little.
Oh, how I'll miss that breakfast spread!
If there was ever a reason for a man to cry, that would be it
Nice wheels!
Parking in that spot was always fun.
The car's onboard radar would trill and turn red as it got closer and closer to the bushes at the front of the parking spot.
I think it turned red 'cause it was embarrassed to be seen in a country setting and not in some expensive, big-city, hi-rise parking garage.
I can hear the internal debate the car was going through now:
Oh man
I hope no one notices me. I cant believe Ive stooped so low as to be willing to be seen in public in such a green and lush area. I should be reveling in the smog and surrounded by buildings made out of glass, but noooooo
I had to spread my fender and see what else this great big world had to offer
now look at me
Oh the horror!
It would go something like this.
"Okay, you're parking now? Fine. All clear."
"Uh, no big deal, but there's something up ahead over there."
"Heh. Heh. You're getting a little close, aren't you? Not to worry, still plenty of room."
"Getting a little tight around here, big fella."
"Umm... You do know that there's something there, right?"
"Better back off now."
"You're too close! Pull up! Pull up!"
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!"
A leaf gently kisses the front bumper.
Are you sure that was the car and not Ruby or perhaps me, screaming from all the way in the states?
Did I mention that the area is fairly scenic?
Ruby snapped a few more shots as we made our way to the autobahn.
Breathtaking. Really gorgeous pics. Great job Ruby!
There is one slight difference between an Autobahn and most other freeways in the world.
There's no speed limit.
Hmmm
Man, in fancy sports car, with no speed limit
This cant be good.
Oh, when there's construction, or poor weather, etc. the speed is reduced... but otherwise?
So instead of As fast as you dare, its, As fast as your car can handle in the rain?
There is an advisory speed limit of 130 kmh (81 mph), but it's not a mandated limit.
HAHA! I like that. We would recommend you only go this speed, but totally up to you!
There are reasonably affordable cars that have the power to travel at high rates of speed,
but the large automakers (especially German ones) electronically limit the cars to 250 kmh (155 mph).
Only? What fun is that?!
You might think that this would translate into a higher amount of serious accidents...
But Germany has one of the lowest rates of fatalities in the World (on Highways at least, I don't know about other roads).
You know
when people are allowed to do things, like go fast in this instance, it seems the compelling need to see what you can get away with goes away, and people tend to be more cautious.
Why? I have a theory about that.
Well, Why dont you tell us about it Ponzi?
The first thing I noticed is that cars on the autobahn are being driven with much more skill than I've seen anywhere else.
Well, when you are going over 150 mph that tends to be something you should be skilled at.
You don't see cars traveling at slow speeds in the left hand lane.
Now that is just unheard of
It seems that everybody uses signals
You mean those flashy lights that indicate you are going to be pulling into another lane or turning? Is that what those whatumacalits are?
and are aware of what's going on around them.
They have to. When things move that much faster, you have to be aware of what's going on and what you're doing.
Get outta here
Now youre just making stuff up.
When I was a kid, too young to drive, I always used to say that some day, I would buy a Porsche and drive a hundred miles an hour on the German autobahn.
As I got older, the little kid in me never quite went away.
The dream morphed with the times and one hundred miles an hour became two hundred kilometers an hour (125 mph).
Im going to go out on a limb and say that this may be every young boys fantasy
although, Im pretty sure in said fantasy there would be a Barbie-esque looking girl in the passenger seat along with him as he goes 125 mph.
Still wanted the Porsche, though.
Still do.
Most guys do. My cousin is one of those. Just a few years ago he was able to purchase that dream
Personally, I wouldn't let that thing out of the garage if I had one. Too afraid it would get scratched or dinged or worse
The last time I drove on the autobahn was in 1994.
My mom was in the back seat.
I got it up to about 150 kmh (95 mph) before she got too nervous and I had to slow down.
That and I was doing it in a station wagon.
I can picture almost any car in my head except for a mini van or a station wagon going 95 mph on the autobahn. That just doesnt seem right to me, or plausible for that matter. Wonder if Mythbusters can do something on that.
Im sure you had nothing to do to assist the car picking up speed
The car approaches 150 kmh (95mph), no biggie. Been here before.
This car has a mind of its own
Kinda creepy.
I edge it up to 160... then 170. (105 mph! The toddler in me rejoices.)
Ah
Now we get to the truth. Past 95 mph, after its done all the hard work, you come in for the kill.
The suspense is killing me!
This is around the time I would be holding onto anything in the car trying desperately not to say, Eeek!
A car is in front of me going a snail like 120 kmh (75 mph).
Whats he thinking? This is the autobahn
75 is for the states!
Good call.
He sees me coming, finishes passing an even slower vehicle and merges back to the right.
Now you definitely know your not in Kansas anymore. Most people stay in the left lane just to piss you off.
Persistence usually pays off.
I ask Ruby to take a picture for me:
Better than you taking the pic. I mean, going at that rate of speed and then having to work a camera too. I know you're good but thats overdoing it. Good call on asking Ruby.
Um
Congratulations?! Oh Mylanta! Thats just nuts.
I do not do a fist pump or spin the wheel in celebration.
Im proud of you. Again. Good thinking. Taking your hand off the wheel or jerking it in any shape or form now could have been detrimental.
See, now what we needed was the whole picture of you and the speedometer together with that huge ear to ear Cheshire grin Im sure you had.
That bucket feels just a little lighter, now.
Im afraid to know what else is on that list
But Im sure if we stick around the Dis long enough, there will be a TR regarding each one as they are ticked off.
A few things to note on the above picture.
There's a little red light on the speedometer at 170.
I have no idea what it means. Possibly it's a "What on earth are you doing???" light.
Im going to go out on a limb and say its a DANGER WILL ROBINSON! light
but I could be wrong. I dont know much about cars. However, if it was followed by this
Then I may have been right.
Also, just to the right of the speedometer are two red lines.
I believe they're symbolic of the car reaching (imaginary) arms to heaven while simultaneously chanting hosannas... or... "Oh Gawd! Oh Gawd! Oh Gawd! We're all gonna die!!!!"
Maybe this is where the above pictured reference came in
although your story sounds plausible too.
One more thing, before we get to Munich and have to <sigh> slow down.
Shortly after that picture was taken?
I got it up to 220kmh. (137 freaking miles per hour! On a highway!)
I have no desire to top that...
at least not on a highway.
Thats what the speedways are for.
<pkondz's mother breathes a sigh of relief>
Along with his wife and daughters.
Arriving in Munich, I drop off the kids and the old bag
and Ruby and the new bags (what?
)
Nice save
I am tempted to get back on the autobahn, but only slightly.
That bucket has not grown heavier in the past hour.
An hour later, Ruby and the girls are still waiting at the train station wondering where on earth Ponzi disappeared to.
The GPS is telling me that in order to go two blocks east...
I first have to drive six blocks south,
one block east,
seven blocks north,
one block east
and one block south.
Sounds logical to me.
Stupid car. What does it know?
Oddly enough, the fact that I'd trusted it implicitly for the last four days does not cross my mind.
Of course not. You just beat your old record on the autobahn, and now have been reverted into a steaming mug of testosterone. "I will not stop and ask for directions, I know where Im going."
I can't make a U-turn on this busy street, so I'll go up to the corner, turn right and be on my way.
six blocks later
you are now probably going the exact same way the car was telling you to go.
Except there's a train station on the right and I can only turn left.
No problem, a couple of lefts is as good as a couple of rights, right?
Havent you hear the old saying, two wrongs do not make a right?
I turn left at the corner, uh... the next street is a one way.
No problem, I'll turn left at the next one.
I do.
And run straight into a gated building with armed guards patrolling out front.
Bet you wish you listened to the car now. Youd have been there already.
You know. I have a really hard time hearing you say this. Of course I have a really hard time hearing any grown man say this.
Left turn.
Left turn onto the one way.
Left turn again...
Pass the boys with guns. (Resist the urge to wave.)
Pass another one way.
Pass a street with no turns allowed.
Pass another one way.
Turn left.
You put your left foot in, you put your left foot out
You put your left foot in, and you shake it all about.
See? Easy!
Six blocks south, just like the GPS said.
I knew I could count on it!
Eventually, I get close to the car rental return... and I'm not too sure where I should turn.
I turn down an alley... and it turns out to be the wrong one for the garage, but the right one for the gas station.
Hmm
Sounds oddly like our own situation when we returned our car. Youll read about that later in our TR.
Around noon, Kay mentioned that she was getting hungry
(she's not a big breakfast eater).
Really? I would have never guessed. Of course that could have been because she sleeps through breakfast
Ah
I remember when I used to be able to do that.
I wasn't quite sure if we were supposed to wait, or go up and order.
After half an hour, I decided that I'd better go and ask.
I was told, "I can come to you."
At this point I would have said
Well Im here, and you're here. Why dont I just give you my order here.
'When' turned out to be 2:45pm.
Wow. I would have been livid.
At least we had a window to look out of as we waited.
If I thought the scenery was beautiful in Germany, it was spectacular in Austria.
At least you had something to take your mind off the non-present food.
I did take a few pictures while we waited, but mostly I just looked.
(In my defence, I kept thinking, "She's gotta be coming by any second now, right?")
I wont hold it against you this time, I mean, food is a big deal and I can see the distraction.
Thats gotta be a painting right? That is way too green to be real.
Fifteen minutes after we'd placed our order, the waitress came by to tell us that we were approaching a station
and while we were stopped, the kitchen would have no power...
so they couldn't make my soup for twenty minutes.
"We're going to be stopped for twenty minutes?"
Most of the stops had been five to ten minutes in duration.
"No." She replied. "The train is stopped for ten minutes, then the soup takes ten minutes to make."
Does that mean that the sandwich and salad cannot be made either?
At 3:45pm (well after having left the last stop) our waitress walks by our table with what looked like my salad.
She neither looked at us nor paused as she walked by.
Just because it looks like your salad, and acts like your salad, and probably is screaming out, Im Ponzis Salad! does not make it your salad.
I couldn't catch her eye as she hurried by so I watched my salad disappear.
This would have been a good time to say, Excuse me?! Over here
The incredibly hungry people in front of you...how about handing that salad over here.
Five minutes later, she brought the soup and salad and we were able to eat.
You have a lot more patience than I do!
There were only about a dozen tables in the dining car.
And they were all numbered.
How hard exactly would it be to write down the table number after you've taken an order?
Apparently. Very hard.
It seems its even harder to ask the other half dozen guests sitting in the dining area if the salad or sandwiches are theirs instead of assuming that if it isnt for the ones way in the back, then a ghost must have ordered them.
From the time we first set out to eat until the time we finally did... almost four hours had gone by.
Although to be fair, it only took two and a half hours from the time we found a table and sat down...
For a soup, salad and sandwich.
Nothing is fair in food and war
I'm still not sure how it's possible for dining on a train to take longer than the actual train ride.
Now heres the real question
How was the food?
After crossing the Alps and entering northern Italy, the countryside began to look very different.
Rolling hills and everywhere you looked were rows and rows of vines with grapes growing, waiting to be turned into wine.
In the next shot, while the buildings in the foreground are ugly, I loved the houses nestled into the hillside.
Beautiful shots. Honestly they are breathtaking.
Is it just me or does the houses nestled into the hillside picture remind you of The Hobbit a little?
There are several ways to get around in Venice.
The cheapest, and one of the most fun, is to simply walk.
Venice is actually a group of islands connected by waterways, narrow streets and bridges.
While we technically could have walked to our hotel, in reality it would've been difficult.
Weve done the walk/haul suitcases bit with you before. I am sort of hoping you get a little reprieve this time around.
You can take a water taxi to the dock nearest your hotel, but it's expensive.
Well of course it is. Anything worth doing, is worth doing expensively.
Gondola?
Very romantic.
Very unpractical.
Possibly impossible, with all our suitcases.
It would take a long time for our gondolier to pole us to our destination.
I have a mental image of the gondolier making it a point to whack you with that pole on every opportunity if you made them haul you and your luggage.
I parked the girls in some shade and got in line at the kiosk.
I realize that you probably drive your girls crazy from time to time
but parking them too?!
On the train, I had tried to memorize a few phrases in Italian,
but the one that I made sure to learn was, "parla inglese?".
(Speak english?)
Good one to know. I believe there are 3 key phrases you should always know when visiting a foreign country.
1) Do you speak English?
2) Where are the bathrooms?
3) Another beer please?!
I march confidently up to the ticket booth and ask, "parla inglese"?
"No."
Oh.... Prac.
I need a seventy two hour pass.
I had learned some numbers, but my mind goes absolutely blank.
So I start to fumble and mumble and try to figure out how I'm going to ask for a seventy two hour pass.
Seven is... is... uh...
I show him seven fingers.
Two, that's, umm... duo? due?
I need four, okay. Four. Quattro. I remembered that one.
You sound like me trying to talk to someone in Spanish around here.
The clerk says, "Just say it."
I was waiting for that. If he can understand English, Im pretty sure he could speak it as well. Especially in a place like that, with as many tourists that go through.
It does not disappoint.
Gorgeous!
This vaporetto terminates at the biggest tourist draw in Venice; Piazza San Marco (St. Mark's Square).
We won't be going that far tonight, but we will be getting off at another major tourist draw; the Rialto Bridge.
You know, I just finished listening to the audio version of Inferno by Dan Brown and seeing all these particular places in your TR just draws me in.
Im with T-Man, this does look extremely familiar to me.
The bridge was originally built out of wood in 1255.
It was the first bridge to cross the Grand Canal (there are still only four bridges).
The bridge collapsed in 1444 and again in 1524.
The current stone bridge was completed in 1591.
The bridge is lined on both sides of the central walkway with shops.
I think I have a picture of the inside of it. If I do, I'll post it in a later chapter.
I have to say, while its a beautiful bridge and definitely a huge attraction, knowing full well that it has collapsed not once but twice
would definitely have me a little standoffish about walking on it, especially with as many people around it.
Does it count if I say that I have been to the Venitian Hotel in Vegas and it looks similar to this?
No
Worth a shot. The closest I will ever get.
[/B]At Rialto stop ask for the street Salizzada San Lio , and we are half way on the right hand-side,
you will see a tunnel with written above an indication for Hotel Canaletto.
I love directions that tell you the first thing you have to do is ask for directions. 
Its like them telling you, We have no clue where you are coming from, and no we really dont care. Just stop and ask how to get to this street and from there we can direct you.
Using some very detailed maps that I downloaded in conjunction with the directions from the hotel and Google maps,
I managed to figure out how to get there on my own.
Again, total man, The directions tell you to stop and ask for directions and you dont read or heed the directions. 
From the vaporetto stop, head towards the Rialto Bridge and turn right.
Head east on Salita Pio X until you reach Campo San Bartolomeo.
Turn left and take the third tunnel on the right.
Follow the alley until you cross the Rio de la Fava canal and reach Salisada San Lio.
From there, follow the hotel's directions.
You put your right foot in, you put your right foot out, you put your right foot in, and you shake it all about
We did have one spot that was a bit of a pain.
The bridge crossing the canal was steps, not ramps,
so we had to carry all the suitcases up and over the bridge.
And by "we", I mean "I".
Its inevitable, and as much as we would love to see that for one time on this trip, you didnt have to lug the luggage around stairs, we are actually stirring with anticipation, knowing full well that its going to happen and waiting until it comes up.
I was SO looking forward to never having to lift the suitcase from hell ever again.
Just think of it this way, once you get home, you can look forward to that possibility.
That is a great view.
Here's our room.
(Note evil suitcase of death in bottom left of both photos. How does it do that?
Notice in second picture how it's sporting a Disney tag in an attempt to look innocent.
But we know better, don't we?)
You have really lucked out with the rooms you got this trip. They definitely have been really nice. Even with sharing a room, it doesnt seem too cramped.
If you're looking for modern accomodations with ultra high end furnishings...
You're probably in the wrong city.
When people ask me what I thought of Venice,
I usually use the phrase, "Elegant decay".
Hopefully, in the next chapter, I'll be able to explain what I mean by that.
I like that phrase. I cant wait to hear the explanation, however, I think I have a good description in my head.
I was too tired to take note of what everyone ate, but I recall that everything was quite good.
What?! You didnt take pictures of everyones plate after they had already eaten half of it? Dont they teach you that in TR 101 class?
We were too tired to do any shopping, so we decided we'd had enough for one day and headed back to the hotel.
No food pics, no shopping
I think you are failing class for today
Next up. Getting our feet wet in Venice!
(that one was just for you, LisaV.)
Sounds exciting!!!! Cant wait.
The crying is because I'm so insanely jealous. Just beautiful. Just BEAUTIFUL. (
:
If it is, I totally have a moment of synchronicity to share with you all. 
