Italy

What a trip we just had. It was truly an unforgettable and once in a life time experience, thank you to everyone who voted for us and helped make it a possibility!

We flew out Wednesday morning after dropping Jackson off with some friends (yes I did cry...). We made it to Charlotte okay, but for some reason our travel agent only gave us 40 minutes to get through customs and back through security in Frankfurt, so despite our sprinting through the airport we missed our connection to Venice. Luckily they had more flights to Venice that day, but we had to wait 5 hours to catch one. The nice lady at the US Airway counter gave us 30 Euro (about $38) in meal vouchers so we had a very nice breakfast and even picked up something for lunch with that amount. It ended up that the quickest way to get to Venice was to make another connection in Munich with a 1 hour layover. Originally we were supposed to get to Venice at 8:30am, but ended up arriving closer to 5:00pm making for a very long day for us, over 27 hours of travel time with very little sleep.

Our gracious hosts picked us up from the airport where we immediately left Venice and traveled by car to Treviso, Itay. Our hotel was on a hill overlooking several small towns, it was very picturesque. We stayed in what is called an agriturismo, its like bed-n-breakfast on a farm. They have their own vineyard and grow some of their own food. We had about 1.5 hours to nap and shower before we went to dinner with our hosts and some of their friends from the area. I must admit that the food we ate was some of the best I've ever had in my life. The people from the area frequent this restaurant so they ordered for everyone. They ordered about 10 antipastas (like appetizers), 2 main courses, dessert and then drinks (Italian coffee) after dessert. It was fantastic! Dinner began around 8:30pm and we got back to our hotel about midnight. I loved how slow paced everything was, definitely something I could get used to. When we got back to the hotel we did a quick Skype with Jackson, just to check in, but he seemed to be having such a good time he didn't even care to talk to us so we said our goodbyes and very quickly fell asleep.

Can you see how close the cars are? 

In the morning we had breakfast in a beautiful glass building over looking the countryside and then left for the race. We were running a little late so we spent about 10 minutes in the Giro Club, the VIP area, and then went with our driver to the car. We had to leave before the race actually started because we had to stay in front of the riders for the most part. Our driver was Gabriele Colombo, who was a very successful pro cyclist, now retired. I must admit that the driving was seriously intense. We were going very fast and although the road was closed so it was only professional drivers on the course, I was a bit nervous. We were weaving in and out of cars and even got within 1/2 foot of some of the other cars to talk to the drivers through the windows. At one point we were 3 cars across, all driving right next to each other...yikes! Our driver did an excellent job of letting us see the break away group, the guys in the lead, as well as the peloton. 

Alps from the helicopter

After lunch we sped away so that we could make it to the HELICOPTER!! This was not something we had known we were going to get to do prior to that morning, but it was very exciting and a little scary. Neither of us had ever ridden in a helicopter before so it was quite the treat to be able to take one through the Alps. I was fortunate enough to get the seat with the largest viewing area, since I was the smallest, even if it was right next to the door and open window. I wasn't as nervous as I thought I would be and it was more like riding a roller coaster then anything else. It really was incredible. We had an amazing view of the mountains as well as the riders. The pilot dropped us off right at the end of the race and I felt like a celebrity getting out of the helicopter in plain view of 100's of onlookers. The Director of the races was even in the helicopter with us and offered to take our photograph in front of the helicopter for us. It was quite a surreal experience. 

Peloton from the helicopter

We again were taken to the VIP area where we were able to watch the riders cross the finish line. It was crazy to think about how far they had ridden and it was easy to see how exhausted they were. After the race was over we were driven back down the mountain, switched cars, and then headed to our next hotel. It was another Agriturismo, and they had dinner prepared for us when we arrived. Again dinner was an all night affair, beginning around 8:30pm and ending around midnight. Totally exhausted we limped off to bed.