Pfingsferien- südtirol

In Bavaria they celebrate Pfingsferien, the desention of the holy spirit from the heavens to guide us humans, with 2 weeks of vacation. We decided to use these 2 weeks to discover northern Italy, since it is so close. As it turned out, most of Bavaria did the same in search of warm weather.

After we loaded our car with the proper stickers and emergency vests according to Italian regulations, we stopped in Brixen, on the edge of the Dolomites. There we visited with our good friends Nana and Michael Gomolka and their lovely sons Moritz and Marco. It was fun to watch all the boys play soccer while we adults indulged in beverages.

Next we stopped in another südtirol city: Bozen. There we saw Ötzi, the oldest intact person found, a finding as important as that of Lucy. In 1991, a couple reported seeing a dead body while hiking in the Dolomites. This finding turned out to be Ötzi, who was killed around 3000 BC. The museum leads its spectators through the process that all the scientists used to piece together his story. Since Ötzi was found with a perfectly shaped copper ax, the copper age had to be redated back to 3000 BC. His whole outfit was also found as well as his tattoos, which are thought to be from acupuncture. It was incredible to see how people of that era did so much with so little and how much we learned from Ötzi. All the kids loved the museum!

Tobi: I thought It was interesting that they found a dead person from 5000 years ago.
Hansi: I thought it was sad that we dont know why he was killed.
Gia: I think it was amazing that hey could identify who he was and his story by all the things found around him, DNA blood tests, xray, CT scans and logic.
Annika: I think it was amazing how Ötzi was naturally preserved in he cold humid environment of a glacier. The museum mi ics that environment to keep him preserved today.

Pfingsferien: Venice

The first thing we learned in Venice is that Italian cities are generally older than German and they were located in places that could easily be protected. Venice smartly was located on the water because it could protect itself and hence still stands today. We love what you did with the space!

We enjoyed our gondola ride, where we got a chance to see the city from the boat perspective. We saw Marco Polos house, prisons (Venetians were first to coin the term prison), and countless gorgeous bridges. We later watched "The Italian Job" and appreciated how crazy it was to drive those speed boats through the canals as fast as they did.

In Venice, we got our first dose of the incredible Italian architecture of the Renaissance. The typical interlacing of white and green marble with delicately carved symbols throughout is beautiful. Despite so many tourists, it was a fantastic experience. It was nice to find the local hang outs.

Tobi: Venice is an interesting place to go to school because if you are not careful, you can fall in the gross water.
Hansi: Venice was cool because there were no cars, only boat and foot traffic.
Gia: Venice smelled badly, but the food was good.
Annika: I wonder how old you have to be to drive a boat?

Pfingsferien-Liguria- Rapallo, Italy

As with many Italian cities, the churches and castles around Rapallo and Portofino were built in places where they would be safe from attack. In this northwestern Italian coast, the safest place is high up in the rocky cliffs and hills. In Portofino, the rocky mountain jets right into the beautiful, clear, dark teal waters. Many stores are very tiny because they can't dig anymore rock out, however, the tiny 3 m x3m stores, make great use of what little space they have. It was quite cold, but I couldn't resist diving in the clear Mediterranean. Of coarse, as good Germans would, we take note of the Ferraris.

Dragons Abroad- boys sports

Our Spiderdragons, Tobi and Hansi, play for TSV Murnau Dragons. We got lucky and coach Wolfgang let Tobi and Hansi play, even though he had full squad. Wolfgang plays our boys on 2 of his teams, a U10 and U11 team. TSV Murnau is a developmental team, with hopes of sending many of its kids to the Bayern Munich academy. In turn, Bayern Munich scouts TSV for talent. Early on Wolfgang told me the practice schedule and said they don't practice in bad weather. I'm still not sure what constitutes "bad weather". I thought when I dropped the boys off for practice in a raging thunder storm, that may have been "bad weather". I offered my cell phone number in the event they would want us to pick kids up early. The coach told me that the only thing that lightening bothers is uptight mothers. So far no training or games have been canceled on account of weather; they play through snow storms, lightening storms, downpours or below zero temps. The kids seems to have a blast playing in downpours.

The training is a bit different here. One thing the kids do after every game is have a penalty kick shoot out, all for fun. They also had a soccer camp which included target shooting and a slack line.

I find soccer particularly friendly. From a parents perspective, everybody greets everybody, wether you are on the same team or not. Coaches act mellow as well. When the ref makes a bad call, people do not react. In fact, parents don't go ballistic on the side line at all; even I pipe down.

All the uniforms belong to the club and they have been using the current uniforms for the past 6 years. Only the mother who washes the uniforms, worries about them. Every field has nice bathrooms, a changing room for the home and guest team. Someone brings the suitcase with all the fresh, clean uniforms, the boys change and then file onto the field. Meanwhile there is usually a lovely little cafe offering beer, cake and coffee. At the end of the game, another mother gets the uniforms to wash. Unlike a gasoline (about $8/ gal), soccer is very affordable here; we did a weekend soccer camp for €10/kid.

Sports have been a great way for the boys to make friends. In Germany, if a kid doesn't play soccer, then they usually play handball (a cross between soccer and basketball). Kids play both at school. The boys participated in a wonderful, large handball tournament. Additionally, Tobi skied at Garmisch with a local ski club and Hansi joined a tennis team.