Grade 2009 - Tag 1

This year, the Italian holiday is once again something special because the travel group has grown. Bettina and Christian are on a beach holiday with their daughter Ella in beautiful Italy, in Grado to be precise, and I will also be taking part with my/our daughter Lisa.

Thursday, 25.6.2009

So today the time has come. Father and child are leaving the mother.

For a whole 3 days and 2 nights. That's all that's left of the planned week's holiday in Grado. Saying goodbye is tearful and almost impossible. But Mum has to drive to school after all.

Shortly before 7:30 the time has finally come. Lisa is strapped into the child seat, a quick photo is sent to her mum and off we go.

Entry in the logbook: mileage 59,216 km

The journey on the motorway is very relaxed. Except for the shouts from the right behind: "Are we there yet?" They vary a little - "When will we get there?" or "How long are we going to drive?" - but I didn't imagine it would be that bad. We take a break every 100 km and thus make the long drive easier. After the second stop - we are already in Italy in the Val Canale - the shouts stop and Lisa finally falls asleep.

The route to Grado is an easy one. Take the motorway south, past Udine and at Palmanova (untypically) turn off towards Trieste and then take the next exit right. Turn right at the traffic lights and then just go straight on until you get to the lagoon and drive over the dam into Grado . There are a lot of construction cranes there, but it has a special atmosphere, being by the sea.

We take the last bend into Via del Sole and Lisa wakes up: "Are we there yet?" Yes. We are there.

Entry in the logbook: mileage 59,560 km.

At the K's apartment, it's like always when you arrive in Italy. The welcome is warm, and a beer and Prosecco are served straight away - and within the first half hour, you're already half drunk. In keeping with the lunchtime trend, there's also a snack: Prosciutto di Sauris, cheese from Montasio, salami, olives, beans, peppers,...

And then follows the 1st program. This time, however, we're not going to the pool but to the sea! Sandy beach, seaweed wall, salt water. Lisa storms into the sea without restraint, but that was obvious anyway. The water is warm and after wading 200 m it's still not knee-deep.

Afterwards, on the sandy beach, a hole is dug all the way to Australia, a cheeky Italian brat is chased away, ball is played and a lot of building is done with sand.

Encrusted with salt and covered in breadcrumbs, we head back to our quarters at 5. Then we go to Interspar (at home) to buy some groceries for Gregorowitsch (Dietorelle fruit - Gommose Frutti di Bosco) and to buy the ingredients for the evening feast. Christian makes spaghetti con sugo. For the children, or cats, it's pasta with Whiskas.

The evening is very short for me: Lisa is put to bed - and falls asleep. Both of them. Ella falls asleep immediately too and so Christian and Bettina (alone) watch a meager 1:0 Brazil against South Africa in the Confederations Cup semi-final.

Lisa has a cough half the night and that keeps me wide awake half the night.