... CONTINUED FROM COVER I was hoping Madison might pick up on that. I questioned her about job prospects in the paleontology world, but she gave me the usual adolescent idealism. “I don’t want to be rich. I want to do something I love.” Canal and were transported back in time. Venice is still the most unusual city in the world.
The first Venetians escaped barbarian hordes on the mainland in the 11th century. They moved to the swampy islands of the lagoon to build what became a pearl of the Mediterranean and one of the lights of democracy. Bev coordinated incredible tours through San Marco Cathedral and the Doge’s Palace. We sailed on the bay and visited the islands where they have made
I assured her there was absolutely no hope of becoming rich on that track, and being broke was definitely a more highly probable and uncomfortable future reality for her. I could feel the heat from Nana Bev’s maternal stare.
We began the tour on our first day at the Vatican Museum before it opened to the public around 7 a.m. I hadn’t been to the museum for 30 years, so I was impressed at how much improved it was. Madison was forced to look at some of the greatest works of art in human history without the distraction of an ice cream. From there, we moved to the Colosseum. We climbed the Palatine Hill to Roman ruins, the Circus Maximus, a collection of parks with incredible vistas of Rome. We got an afternoon break for a couple of
handblown glass for 800 years. After four days, we crawled out of bed at 3 a.m. to meet our water taxi for the airport.
The way we traversed Europe was using GPS and Google Maps. Technology is amazing! The problem, however, is that the satellites had a hard time connecting with our phones because of the narrow alleys and tall buildings. Venice was the worst.
At 3 a.m. in the dark, I’m holding my phone to the sky, praying I would catch a signal. We wandered in circles in the dark. Venice’s streets were utterly deserted at 3 a.m. No one was there to ask for directions,
hours. Then we were back at it until 8 p.m. In total, Bev tracked on her watch 30,000 steps, which is about 15 miles. I was exhausted and dehydrated. Italian espresso and wine were not great ways to rehydrate, I discovered.
and the boat was going to leave without us.
The taxi driver called and told us he would leave for his next fare if we didn’t arrive in five minutes. Dragging too many overloaded bags through the streets of Venice, we sent Madison running ahead of us to hold the boat until we arrived sweating, stinking, and exhausted. A truly Italian vacation came to an end. I slipped the driver an extra $40, and we tore off across the lagoon for our 45-minute boat ride to the airport. Uber doesn’t do water taxis yet. During our time with Madison, we asked her about the times she spent with us as a child. She couldn’t remember many of the moments, which was incredibly sad because I’ll never forget those precious times. I hope 20 or 30 years from now, when I’m gone, at least the memory of the summer of 2023 in Europe will stick with her and how she stood before the glory of Michelangelo’s Pietà in St. Peter’s Basilica with Nana, Gramps, and the hideous shower shoes. –Christopher J. Grimmond
Fortunately, Rome is full of very fashionably coiffed young ladies. The good effect was Madison shed her adolescent grunge and started dressing in the smart summer dresses the Italian girls were donning. But she kept wearing the hideous shower shoes that now plague the teenage world. How can you walk the streets of the Caesars and martyrs in dopey, rubber shower shoes?! After four exhausting days in Rome, we boarded the Norwegian cruise ship Epic and sailed to Naples and the ruins of Pompeii in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius. Then, around the Mediterranean and back to Rome. During the cruise, I was tempted many times to throw Madison’s shower shoes overboard, but I knew her Nana would buy even more hideous replacements. I shoved them under her bed as far as possible, but she dug them out. I had never been to Venice, so we hopped the bullet train across Italy to Venice. Venice is undoubtedly the most unique place I’ve been. We exited the train station onto the famous Grand
2 • OmahaInsuranceSolutions.com
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator