This One's For the Kids

So far on this big trip, Annie and Owen have been very good about pretending to be interested in museums, traditional villages, churches, temples and hikes. Although we're several months away from International Children's Day, we thought it was time to reward the kids with a fun day of excitement and adventure. 

So we're off to Gardaland, Italy's largest theme park, and named for the town in which it is situated - kinda like naming something Surreyland (neither original nor enticing).

Now the only caveat of today's excursion is that everyone must rise and shine by 6:30 am - something unanimously agreed upon at bedtime, but not surprisingly this was easier said than done....at first. A quick reminder of today's destination and they were up in a flash - never seen them get ready so fast.

There's definitely some pent up energy waiting to be released. The kids were disappointed that they missed out on theme parks in Abu Dhabi - Ferrari World is notoriously lame and overpriced, and it was simply too hot to go to Yas Waterworld.

Not even out the door and already planning theme park strategy and time management! 

But there was still a good walk across town to the station to catch the early morning bus.

"Hey kids, the square is nearly empty and there's no tourists in front of the arena - time for a photo"

"No way Daddy-o, let's move it along. That thing's been there 2,000 years - it'll still be there again tomorrow. Eeewwww - that's just gross!!"

"Daddy - the bus is supposed to leave at 8:40 and it's 8:45. Are things usually late in Italy?"

"Yes, son, famously so. Reminds me of the joke about the difference between heaven and hell - in heaven the British are the police, the Germans are the mechanics, the French are the cooks, the Italians are the lovers and everything is run by the Swiss. In hell the Germans are the police, the French are the mechanics, the British are the cooks, the Swiss are the lovers and everything is run by the Italians".

"I don't get it."

8:55 am - right on time. His time.

9:59 - it's nearly go time - they were almost shaking with anticipation. Now I tried to warn them that this was not like Disneyland or Universal studios, but I actually had no idea how Gardaland would stack up.

Turns out rather well, actually. The park is huge, well-kept, and has plenty of attractions - many of which were adrenalin rides. These are usually the exclusive domain of Annie, but today we were going to find out if Owen could make the leap and start enjoying the big coasters. 

And you can't beat the location - right near the shores of Lake Garda, and surrounded by rolling hills dotted with cute little towns.

Man down! First casualty of the day. 

After eagerly waiting for a certain section of the park to open at 11:00 am, Owen made a mad dash to one of the rides as the rope barrier went down (against the explicit advice of Mama) and collided with another kid (who had six inches and 50 pounds on him). Other guy didn't even stop. And Owen refused any medical attention - after all, that would eat into valuable ride time.

This isn't one of those rides that you get wet on, is it?

Thought so.

Big shout-out to Shirley "Terra Firma" Chien. These parks are not her cup-of-tea, and she inevitably becomes the bag, sweater, and lunch mule, dutifully carrying all of our stuff as the rest of us go helter skelter through the park. I think this observation tower was one of her only rides of the day. She also doubles as the official Boltwood team photographer.

When my kids ask me if we ever went to Cambodia, I will have the evidence. 

Angkor Wat - check.

This turned out to be the ride of the day - the Blue Tornado. Awesome. Did it three times. But for the last ride the big test would be whether we could convince Owen to muster up the courage to join us. It was touch-and-go, but Annie's promise of a double scoop gelato out of her own allowance clinched the deal.

And there's the proof (good shot, Shirley!). May have had his eyes shut the whole time, but it doesn't matter. He's all grown up now.

"Hey, stinky face"

"Wha?"

Another of the kids' favourite rides - the Mammut (Mammoth, in Italian). At over three minutes, it's one of the longest roller coasters we've ever been on. Here's a cool view from the nearby observation tower.

On a sunny Monday in the offseason of May, we may not have had the whole park to ourselves, but we certainly never had to wait in line more than 5 minutes. The rides were fantastic, the weather was awesome and, apart from Owen's injury - I mean battle scar, we enjoyed every minute. Tomorrow we'll be back to churches and town squares when we hit Venice, but today belonged to the kids.

If you're in this part of Italy, and it's outside of the summer vacation months, do your kids (and therefore yourself) a favour and bring them to Gardaland.