Free A Whirlwind Vacation by Nancy Krulik Page A

Vincenzo asked.
    Katie smiled. “We won’t know until we ask him!”

    The very next morning, Katie happily took a seat on Vincenzo’s very first official Kids’ Cruise. She was so excited ... especially when Vincenzo handed each kid on the cruise a yummy gelato.
    There were five kids on the gondola. With a hard push of his pole, Vincenzo steered the gondola down the canal. As they traveled past the colorful houses, Annabelle shouted out, “Vincenzo, will you sing ‘On Top of Spaghetti’ again?”
    Vincenzo looked at her. “I do not know that song,” he said.
    â€œSure, you do,” Annabelle told him. “We sang it yesterday, remember?”
    Uh-oh. Katie knew Vincenzo wasn’t going to remember that. But she sure did. “I’ll sing it with you, Annabelle,” Katie said, quickly. “On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese ...”

    â€œI lost my poor meatball when somebody sneezed,” Annabelle added. Before long, all the kids had joined in.
    Katie smiled as they cruised down the canal. This time the trip was going really well. Vincenzo was going to be a gondolier!
    The magic wind hadn’t ruined his career after all. So there!

Chapter 23
    The next evening, Katie and Annabelle sat beside each other in the back room of a restaurant near Venice’s Grand Canal. Katie giggled as Annabelle placed three strands of spaghetti in her mouth and quickly slurped them up.
    â€œGood one.” Katie laughed. She was having a great time. Too bad it was all about to end. This was her last night in Europe. The people in her tour group were having one final meal together.
    The Garcias and the McIntyres were passing around some pictures they’d taken during the trip.
    â€œOh, look,” Mrs. Garcia said. “That’s me being a gargoyle at Notre Dame!”
    â€œAnd here we are at Buckingham Palace,” Mrs. McIntyre said. “We were pretending to be guards, remember?”
    Katie frowned. She’d been a guard there, too. Only she hadn’t been pretending.
    â€œHere’s Katie and Annabelle acting like penguins at Faunia,” Mr. McIntyre said as he pulled another photo from the pile.
    â€œThat was a fun day,” Annabelle exclaimed. “Wasn’t it, Katie?”
    Katie nodded. They had all been fun days. She looked around the table. The grown-ups were exchanging addresses and phone numbers so they could stay in touch. Even the adults didn’t want to say good-bye.
    But they had to. It was time to go home.
    â€œGood-bye, Europe,” Katie whispered quietly to herself. “ Au revoir, adiós, arrivederci.”