I’m in Venice, so Exciting!

Venice Waterway

Today was a gloomy day - cloudy, no sun, and rainy.  At around 8 P.M. we arrived in Venice, Italy. It took only an hour from Zurich by plane. On the plane I could already see the famous island, although the waterways aren’t so noticeable. The weather here is great, about 69 to 70 degrees, much warmer than Switzerland.

This city is pretty damn weird. The tour guide drove us to this huge parking garage where the road ended. From here on you can only get anywhere by boat or by walking. There are several options here, too. There were water taxis, waterbuses, or swimming… Well, just kidding about the swimming part! So we “rode” a water taxi to the hotel, and called it a night because everyone was so tired.

Taking a Walk Through Flagstaff

I think I have adjusted to this altitude, because I feel fine now. I still have a persistent cough, but it isn’t accompanied by a sore throat anymore.

After I woke up, I took a walk through Milton Rd. (the main street here), as well as Northern Arizona University, and…

I love Flagstaff! I’m in love with this place. No kidding.

Light breeze and mild weather all day. It doesn’t feel like summer at all, it feels like April or May! I don’t know why, maybe it’s because I was born in May, but I really only like mild weather, or about 65 to 75 degrees (70 is perfect). Oh, and the town is surrounded by mountains on all four sides. How cool is that?

Phoenix to Flagstaff

After arriving in Phoenix, we rented a car and drove to Flagstaff, AZ. It was only about 150 miles away, but we drove for nearly 4 hours on the treacherous and congested mountain roads before we got there.

The funny thing is the altitude here, 7,000 feet. Compare that to Phoenix, where the altitude was only 1,000. I guess we must have been going uphill the entire way. The only reason I knew it was so high was because I started having a terrible headache about halfway through the road trip.

When we got to Flagstaff, it was… yes, get this. It wasn’t even 6 P.M. locally, but it was dark as night, freezing cold, and literally pouring. Am I still in Arizona or some other country? I wasn’t sure. I was originally going with my mom to shop for my cousin and also pick her up from the airport. I don’t know what happened, but as I rested on my bed and watched Little League on TV (I distinctly remember wondering to myself ‘wow, a 12 year old who’s 6’2? Crazy!), I must have fallen asleep. I didn’t wake up until 11 A.M. central (9 locally) this morning.

Bird’s Nest

Bird's Nest Stadium

Security at the Olympics was even tighter than airports, if that’s possible. Almost nothing more than a purse or handbag is allowed. It took about an hour and a half to get to the Bird’s Nest from the subway entrance, so leaving two hours ahead was about right. By the time we got there and took some pictures, it was almost 7. Our seats were in the second row, which sounds good but actually cameras blocked our view, so we sat on the 7th row since whoever had those seats didn’t arrive yet.

I saw women’s javelin throw, women’s 200m, women’s 1500m, men’s decathlon, and the award ceremony for men’s 200m. I thought it would be boring, but the atmosphere alone was worth the trip. There’s something about being there live and hearing the crowds, listening to the Jamaican national anthem that captivates me. Jamaica won both the 200m races.

The Start of my Trip

I woke up pretty refreshed, after a great night of sleep. At 9 my mom and I went to the airport, and got on a plane to Yulin, China. We arrived at my aunt’s (my mom’s oldest sister) house around noon. I saw my two oldest cousins, caught up a bit with them, and took some photos. Then, we had to leave to my grandma’s house, which is about 80 miles away. It’s a shame that I didn’t get to see my cousin’s son, who’s now 11. He was only about 5 when I last saw him.

So far, so good. This is where the day starts going sour. Very, very sour.

The driver we had was still a newbie, I think. He was very scared, too scared to pass up extremely slow vehicles. And I am not exaggerating one bit. At least 50% of the vehicles on the road were trucks hauling oversized loads, going at maximum 20 miles per hour.