Italia

Lignano, Italy

Balcony view of our pool at Fra i Pini Hotel.

It’s easy to lie and say I haven’t had time to update my blog, but the truth is I have had nothing but time the last week. I have been in Lignano, Italy, a small touristy beach area with never-ending swimming pools, skimpy bikinis, and gelato. I have adapted to the beach bum lifestyle as easily as anyone vacationing in this area, and have taken full advantage of all the cafe shops and “pizzeria’s” this place had to offer. 

Don’t get me wrong, I have gotten in my work outs at the local track down the street, which just so happens to be the track that I ran a personal best at last summer of 1:59.83.  Lignano, Italy will always be a special place to me because it was the first time I came to realize my life was going to change. It has given me an opportunity that very few people can imagine having in their lifetime.  

The girls and I got out of the sun for a day and took the hour train ride to Venice, Italy. Venice was a place I had only heard about in the movies and was sure the way I perceived it in my mind was nothing like it actually was.

 It turned out to be everything I had imagined...like living in a fairy-tale. I felt like I was on the set of a movie...the streets separated by not roads, but water. J-walking was not an option here unless you wanted to get stuck in the dirty, very narrow canal. CHANEL and BURBERRY were connected by a beautiful white bridge across the canal. Although I can’t afford a pair of socks at either stores, it felt surreal to be standing there.

The bridges separating the stores were gorgeous, and had awesome views!

The garages that you and I would put our cars in every night were replaced with a garage-boat dock to park your boat.

My trip to Venice only further confirmed that my favorite place in Europe is Italy, no questions asked.  And I still haven’t been to Rome to see the Vatican and Sisteen Chapel! 

One of the many beautiful Chapel's in Venice.

The narrow canal separating two streets. The famous Gondola's gave private taxi rides to people willing to pay 70 Euro. (NOT I!)

I raced last night about an hour from Lignano in Padova, Italy and placed third. I ran a season's best by .01 and ran 2:00.07.  It was bit of a choppy race but I closed well at the end. I am now back in Lignano and will race here tomorrow night. Because these meets are very small, the internet access to the meets are poor, so I do not have any websites to give or live news feeds to follow. :(  After Italy, I have no concrete plans. I guess I will go wherever the wind takes me (AKA whichever track meets I can get into). I am scheduled to return to the US August 6th. Until then, Chao belle!!