The true story of Army Wives...and a little about our trip to Venice

I've watched the show. More just to see how accurate "we" Army wives were portrayed. I became "hooked," not because I related so well to the characters on the show, but more because I could only WISH my life was that exciting. Wait...change that...I do not want my life to be any more exciting than it currently is. Those of you who know me would affirm that my life is far from boring. However, my life is exciting in more of a sewage-water flooding, lyme's diseased, motorcycle wrecked sort of way.

The show depicts us as this group of women who give birth on pool tables, get blown up in bars, and if we happen to be the wives of enlisted soldiers, were pulled out of a hopeless situation by our man in uniform. My Army wife friends are educated, have all given birth in hospitals, and rarely have the time to frequent bars let alone have one get blown up while we're in it.

One thing the show gets right is the commraderie we share. At a gathering for new Army Wives to Vicenza, I met a great group of women. Part of our week's activities included taking a train to Venice for the day. In just the short train ride, I knew more about the three ladies I shared seats with than I ever learned about my college roommate. (Don't worry, Vicki...I won't tell them what YOU said!)

Our day in Venice was fantastic. It was my first day getting to tour around without kids. We purse shopped, enjoyed a great lunch (ok..not great lunch, but great wine and even better conversation), and saw some of the sights not mentioned in the tour books. I learned that there was a separate area in Venice where the Jewish people were sent to during WWII. Because the area was so small, and so many Jews were forced to live there, they had nowhere to go but up, so the buildings there are some of the tallest in Venice.

While walking around, we also saw a funeral. With no cars in Venice, the casket was wheeled through the piazza on a cart, and taken to a boat where it was carried to the cemetery.

We finished our tour of Venice with a water taxi ride back to the train station. Like kids after a day at the amusement park, we were all exhausted and slept the ride back. The next day we would be touring Vicenza, and there were street markets to shop.

Ciao' for now!