Sleeping With The Gambinos, But Not With The Fishes

Friday. We are up and packed and ready. We sit out on the lovely terrazzo, play a few hands of scopa and then Jim loads us up and heads us out..."it's a long uphill walk to the train station." We arrive...35 minutes early. But then that's the tradition....the first time over an hour, the second time about 50 minutes, last time about 45 so....the schedule is improving. The trip is fairly uneventful, except when the ticket inspector looked our ticket over for a long time, punched it and gave it back, but then had second thoughts and asked for it again. I was getting worried...I didn't think a €50 per person fine was going to sit well with the budget. Turns out the train line that serves this run had changed since we had purchased our tickets in August...not really a problem after all. There are no Asian tourists with travel questions for Jim so the rest of the ride is calm. We navigate the train station and the two metro transfers and arrive at our hotel. The family that runs it is very nice...the Gambino family...you can't make this stuff up. We arrive and Mama Gambino is yelling at the tiny TV over the bar....she has some disagreement about something that is happening on her telanovella....papa Gambino just shrugs. Our room is small...and the bathroom is tiny....ok there isn't a word that is tiny enough for the bathroom. Seriously, while seated on the toilet you can turn the water on in the sink, bidet and shower (that is while still seated!). And if you are going to construct a bathroom in a closet...could you maybe leave out the bidet...evidently not! We (I) unpack and we walk down to make a reservation at Da Bruno's restaurant...we always go there when in Milan...they are closed...some type of plumbing problem in the kitchen...Al, we could have used you!

Saturday. Breakfast doesn't come with the room this time so the first order of business is to find a good bar with coffee and a cornetto. We find a lovely one...sadly they will be closed tomorrow so there will have to be another search. We do some wandering and some window shopping...this is Milan, fashion capital...Jim is busy steering me away from anything that resembles a shoe store! We have lunch at a really fun vegetarian restaurant...I just want to point out Jim is in charge of food procurement here...and this was his pick....and it was vegetarian! We asked Papa Gambino about the scopa cards used locally....there was some miscommunication (ok...so my Italian is not perfect) and he thought we were wanting to take HIS scopa cards. We straightened that misconception out in a hurry ( they are Gambinos after all!) We explained that we were learning and wanted to buy our own scopa cards. Turns out he was a champion scopa player! We were wandering around killing time before our dinner reservation when we happened upon a 24 hour hat and sock vending machine....only in Milan Italy! Dinner was in a small family run restaurant....all locals.....it was really fun...and tasty.

Sunday. It's our last day in country. We search out a bar for coffee and cornetto, pick up our last deck of Scopa cards and come back to try and check in for our flight, online. In the afternoon we walk to Eataly Milano. A little background...Jim's uncle kept texting us to go to Eataly while we were in Rome. We were picturing a large store of Italian food products, we're not too excited but decide we should go since it was obvious he really wanted us to go. Well it is literally located in an old aircraft hanger. Four floors with every kind of food imaginable. Restaurants each serving a specialty ( there was a cheese restaurant, a beef restaurant, pizza, pasta, fried fish, vegetables, pannini... 2 kinds...you get the idea) It was huge. So now back to the story...we learn there is an Eataly in Milan...woohoo...lets go! We walk about a mile and a half and we are looking... and looking...and looking...where is there a hanger size building? Where are the amazing food smells? Finally I ask the guy at the magazine stand..he says it's in the basement of the Coin department store....ok, not quite the same thing. Although we had a wonderful lunch with entertainment provided by the cooks behind the bar. Not the same but very fun. We walk back to our hotel and Papa Gambino is in the lobby. We tell him we got our cards from his "scopa card guy" and he is pleased. He administers an exam on the finer points of scopa playing and we pass with flying colors. He tells us to practice and we will all play the next time we come to Milan. All that's left is to pack and ....well....we don't want to talk about that now!!

Scopa, Scopa Cabana

Tuesday. We are up bright and early...ok early for us...because the plan for the day is a ferry to Bellagio. We are down stairs for breakfast (after Starzky and Hutch of course) when we learn that today there is a ferry strike. No trip to Bellagio on our horizon unless we want to rent a private taxi boat. Instead we just wander around town and enjoy the relaxation of doing nothing in particular. Then it happens.,
.,,Jim discovers Luigi. Now, Luigi makes "pizze d'asporto" ( take out). At first we were uncertain, but Jim learns he is from the amalfi area and cooks true Neapolitan style pizza. We decide to get some to go and have a picnic lunch on the harbor. We order two pizzas and when we tell him they look good he tells us in Italian that how do we know, we have not eaten them yet. We also get beer and prosecco to go with the pizzas (when was the last time you got prosecco with your Dominoes order?). We go down to the harbor and eat pizza with our feet dangling over the lake, watching the ducks and toasting the day. After we finished our lunch we stopped back by Luigi's so that I could tell him that now we had eaten the pizza and again we say " bravo!" We spend the afternoon playing scopa (an italIan card game) and enjoying the view from our balcony.

Wednesday. The boats are running, so we finish our morning routine and head to the ferry. On the ride over to Bellagio we heard a woman talking...we know that accent...is mom here somewhere....we meet Dorothy, a feisty 70ish woman from Brooklyn. She was married to a Jim ("God rest his soul" ) and is traveling by herself on her way to an Italian language class in Rome...she was a kick. We ate lunch in a trattoria named San Giacomo's. "The Mama" is there bring food to the table and all the while scowling at everyone...that is until she see Jim's first course plate when he is finished...she breaks into a grin and from that point forward we were golden. She adored him and his clean plates. When we left Jim got a kiss. We have eaten all we can in Bellagio and head back to Varenna for a relaxing end of the day and a little scopa. We are still full from lunch when dinner time rolls around and Jim decides we should visit Luigi again. Since he is only a take out establishment we sit at plastic tables outside his restaurant. But the pizza is good and the beer and prosecco are good....what more do we need. A young couple ( from New York...hmmm, is this some kind of sign?) joins us at the plastic table and the conversation only adds to the joy of the evening. Luigi tells us he is touched that Jim likes his pizza so much...Jim, his tummy and his clean plate philosophy are making friends all across Italy.

Thursday. We have to go to the post office to check on the package we sent from Volterra. We think it should have arrived in the US already and the online tracking site is not working. The woman is very helpful and we ultimately determined that the boat from Poste Italia is just a slow one. Jim takes our recyclables down to the local deposit site...Jim likes some good recycling! We have a quiet lunch at one of the harbor bars (can anyone say another Aperol spritz please?). And then for dinner we head back up the hill to chef Moreno's. They have been house hunting for us and have two prospects lined up... I'll be shooting off some emails on those! The meal is amazing (of course!) and we are full and "happy" ( what is the alcohol content of that Fragolino?) as they drive us back to our hotel. Tomorrow is a travel day so it's off to bed for us...ok maybe one hand of scopa.

Basta Pasta, When Eight Courses Are Truly Enough

Sunday. It's a travel day again. Jim says good bye to his friend at breakfast, we load up our bags and our cookies and head for one final Venice boat ride. We are planning on taking the infamous 5.2 but the 4.2 arrived first and was headed in our direction and we passed by Giudecca, which we hadn't seen before as a bonus. We had assigned seats on this train and they were great...Jim had leg room and the person sitting next to me was quiet and nice. We were able to board before all the people with the giant suitcases tried to board and drag their luggage through the aisles....don't even get me started on the over-sized suitcases! I read and we enjoy a cheese, cracker and Nutella lunch. While I am reading I become aware that Jim is holding an extended conversation with a young Asian girl in the seat in front of him....she is asking about her train ticket, how far to Lake Garda (which it turns out is where she is heading), what they should do when they get to Lake Garda and where would he suggest she go after Lake Garda...I'm looking around for the "Giacomo's Travel Consultation" sign....Jim is getting out maps and books and helping her to plan her whole trip....from his seat on the train! We arrive in Milano...I use the pay toilet...Jim won't (see "I don't Pay To Pee) and we are actually able to board early and get another good seat. When we arrive in Varenna we head into town from the train station, bags in hand, on foot. We pass a group of people (any of you that have ever walked anywhere with Jim will not be surprised by that fact) with luggage who had gotten off of the train ahead of us. As we are completing our check in process they arrive..they are staying at the same hotel...the one woman comments " you guys went flying past us...you were hauling ass!" Couldn't really argue with that!

Monday. Jim once again has access to Starzky and Hutch, and I have a bath tub (woohoo!!!) that has a window that looks out over the lake....that being said....we were not the first people at breakfast that morning. We take a wander around town and pick up salami, cheese and prosciutto for a beautiful lunch on our balcony. I do some wash (there is always wash), talk to the hotel cats and enjoy the view. It is very calm here and relaxing. For dinner we went to Il Caminetto. The restaurant is in the hamlet (population 90) of Gittana. The Chef Moreno and his wife Rossella are acquaintances from our precious trips. When we arrive there is a group of 12 already seated. The chef greets us and we talk a bit and then we each order the pasta and a meat second course and I ordered the missoltino with polenta appetizer. The missoltino comes and I eat it all. Rossella tells us in Italian...bravo and comments I even ate the heads...I ask if that is correct and she says yes in Gittana they eat the heads...but not her she does like the eyes looking in her stomach. The pasta comes and it's just right for two...perfect we are in great shape for eating our second course without any problem. The chef returns to the table with a bowl of gnocchi with Gorgonzola and says "the risotto with be right up" ....gnocchi! Risotto! This is not good! And we still have meat on it's way! We push on and manage to finish all three pasta dishes but we're not looking good....I am really regretting the missoltino appetizer! The chef comes back to the table to ask if we would like to shorten our second course order and we both exclaim "yes!" It turns out that the group was a Rick Steves Tour and they have a special tasting menu. The chef thought we should sample everything they were getting as well. Once the meal was finished and the limoncello (tonight it really was the we ate like pigs limoncello) we had a chance to visit, hear about the family and catch up and I practiced a lot of Italian. It was a lovely evening.

Son of a Beach, Where The Hell Is it?

Friday. Jim's friend is back and they harass each other through breakfast. It's DHL day. After estimating the size of box we need we head to the DHL office. They are very nice there but speak almost no English. We procure a box and tape and head back to pack it up. Giuliano the hotel owner loaned us a pair of scissors and nodded saying " if you come back down with out your wife I won't say anything!".... he had Jim covered! Everything fit so we taped it up and headed back...another successful shipping adventure. As a reward we head to the Nono Risorto for a celebratory pizza...our only frame of reference for the location is the Venice fish market....exactly what it sounds like...an open air market with each vendor's fish displayed on tables and buckets (to hold the live ones) and at the end of the day the seagulls fight over the scrapes. After the well deserved, and very tasty, pizza we went to find La Fenice, the opera house about which The City of Falling Angels was written. It was fun to see it after having read the book. For dinner we walk to the Mascaron, another cichetti bar...a swear it was Jim's idea! This time, with Gigi's help ( I point and he say ..e buono..it is good) I pick out our cichetti ...that is not to say that it was any more identifiable than last time....except for the potatoes. It is a loud, lively place and the food is good. In addition to, cicchetti we share spaghetti and clams....again I stress this is Jim's idea!! It's late when we finish eating....loud and lively but not necessarily quick! We miss having our evening ride on the Grand Canal so we hop on a vaporetto out to Lido..we have it perfectly timed...we'll arrive on the line 1 at 11:59 and jump on the 5.2 at 12:02.... Couple of issues with this plan...aren't there always issues?....the line 1 docks at one end of the building and of course the 5.2 departs from the other end of the building....we run, we can make it, wait you need the tickets to open the gate...dig those out of Jim's wallet as we run ...ok we got this ..wait our ticket won't open the gate! But then it isn't opening for the nice Italian girl and her boy friend who are in front of us either, she is yelling....finally she gets one to open and all of us enter on her ticket....whew...we can actually get back to our hotel and we won't have to sleep on the dock of Lido until the boats run again in the morning...disaster adverted. Bed looks good about now.

Saturday. Jim is searching for a particular calendar for his mom. We head back to Cannaregio. We are distracted by a used book store and venture in. It is packed with used books...in all kinds of water resistant containers...bath tubs, gondolas, various other small boats and buckets and plastic containers. Out towards the garden there are stairs built from stacks of books; if you climb up, you get a beautiful view of the canal. Through the back ( towards the "fire escape" the water laps right up to the door opening. Jim begins to panic...how does he know what he has here? Does he audit the inventory each year? These stacks are all helter skelter....I buy a used book and Jim finds a calendar and as we prepare to leave Jim asks how he knows what he has and the owner shrugs and says he doesn't! We had planned on a picnic today but it's raining so we duck into a little bar and have a sandwich. It's really crowded and Jim offers some of his bench to a girl that is part of a group of 6 young people (with a dog...here they can come practically everywhere...including restaurants). It turns out they are from Lake Como and just visiting Venice, they take bets on where Jim is from, ask the English word for the sound you make when you sleep (snoring!) and we making friends with the dog (who had his own sandwich by the way). The rain has stopped so we take a walk down to the park (Pam, you were right very pretty and quiet). There is a beautiful statue/fountain to Garibaldi...(there are lots of statues in honor of Garibaldi...if in doubt it's probably for Garibaldi)... It raises up out of a fish pond and has moss and plants growing amongst the figures. We decide to take the boat to Lido..Jim thought perhaps it deserved a longer visit than 2 minutes at night! We boat over and head into town, after a couple of blocks we decide we would rather see the beach ( while all of Venice is surrounded by water, Lido is the only part that has a beach) so we head back they way we came and walked for about 15 minutes...no beach in sight...guess we should check the map...there's the beach at the end of the road we had been on in the first place! We finally arrive at the beach and wander for a bit (sadly there was no Venetian sea glass to be found). We decide to head back and jump on the 5,2...ok the 5.2 line runs in a circle starts at Lido goes around the island until it"s back at Lido. Jim, the son of the son of a bowler decides we should not get off at our stop (3rd stop) but instead ride it full circle ("that should take about 45 minutes by my calculation") and then just stay on until it passes our stop again. Brilliant plan! It is a beautiful ride; we get a great seat outside, in the back of the boat and an hour and 35 minutes later when we are told to get off the boat at Lido, we find the line 1 and go back to our hotel. We have our last meal in Venice back at La Madonna. When we return to the hotel there is a package of cookies from the owners with a thank you note for staying with them...this room was so wonderful and they have been so sweet we should be sending them cookies!

Dope Of Domane

Wednesday. Trying to dispel the rumor that he was first to breakfast in Lucca, Jim skidded into the breakfast room 10 minutes before it closed. He then politely asks the serving woman if he is too late...in Italian. She smilingly corrects his choice of words and gestured him to a table and then shushes him for whistling. The give and take teasing continues and he asks if she will be bothering him everyday. She responds "non domaine, dopo domane".... Not tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, but for the rest of the day Jim was The Dope of Domane (is that like a Doge?) After Jim finished harassing the staff we set out to find the store where we have bought masks in the past...we were commissioned to procure one for Jim's sister and I wanted one to match the Christmas mask I had made two years ago. The tiny woman who, along with her daughter, makes all the amazing masks in her shop, was there painting away. We looked around and then began to talk with her I tried to tell her we have bought masks from her before and she tells me, she remembers and begins to describe the masks we have purchased in the past. She asks about my parents and how they are doing...I am amazed since I can barely remember what masks we have or what we did two years ago! We make our selections and as she kisses us farewell she says she remembers us because we smile...she always remembers the ones that smile. We walk through to the Cannaregio sestiere and do some window shopping. In one campo we stop to watch the Venetian version of Mayflower Moving Company, moving furniture and belongs first by boat, then by hand truck and finally up three floors by an automatic ladder system. Suddenly there is a lot of barking and growling and we are witness to a dog, running lose, attacking another dog on a leash who is walking with its owner. The owners finally separate the dogs and then they begin yelling at each other, then a woman runs out of a restaurant and begins yelling at both of them....they are really frightened of her....finally they are all just standing around obviously waiting for something....and then the police arrive ( just like home, yeah right) to take a report ( woman is still yelling at everyone) and then leave with dogs and owners in tow. Then the fruit vendor asks the woman what business of hers was the dog disagree, and more yelling begins....we decide now is a good time to move on. We have dinner at a tiny restaurant that we ate at last time we were here. The meal is delicious and afterwards she also treats us to a limoncello. Jim thinks we are getting the limoncello because we eat everything .....and proclaims them "the we eat like pigs limoncello"! Another nighttime tour through the Grand Canal.

Thursday. We have a quiet breakfast ...Jim's friend is off today. After covering ourselves with zanzare (mosquito) repellent, we just wander the twisting alleyways...map in hand. Looking in shops, checking out menus and people watching. We stop at a small cicchetti bar (a Venetian version of a tapas restaurant) to check out the menu and the owner runs out telling Jim to come in and look at his food ...maybe our "we eat like pigs" reputation precedes us! They are so kind and friendly that we decide to return for dinner. Now any of you that know Jim prepare yourselves. The cicchetti are a mixture of seafood and vegetables...some identifiable and some not....Jim just dove right in veggie or not...it was fun and wonderful. We followed the cicchetti with spaghetti and clams and of course...the we ate like pigs limoncello. We walked around, enjoyed the Venice night and then purchased some Grom gelato. Its kind of like an Italian baskin-robins. The couple behind us was reading the menu...he had been told she only wanted a bite of his and so he could pick what ever he wanted...well except vanilla, that's boring......or pistachios and you know I don't like chocolate.....and what's that pesca ....who would eat fish ice cream?! Jim explained that pesce was fish, pesca was peach, and delicious. The gentleman ended up with vanilla and blueberry. Jim ordered the "guisto del mese" (the flavor of the month), menta e coiccolato (mint chocolate chip) but when she hands him his cone it's white with pieces of chocolate...he's muttering, it's stracciatella (italian version of chocolate chip) only Pam eats that crap...I wanted mint...but then he tastes it, and it is delicious mint! It's home again down the Grand Canal, under the Rialto Bridge and off to bed...well after more zanzare repellant!

Everything's Huge But The Shower

Monday. We did some last minute wandering. We visited the Church of San Frediano. Jim was interested in seeing the inside of the church because the pope who had it built included 40 Roman columns inside to remind the pilgrims that this was just a quick stop on the way to Rome. Inside we found the beautiful columns and also we found the body ( yes! The actual body...) of Saint Zita...the saint of lost keys! We procure some meat and cheese and spent 5 minutes describing crackers in Italian to learn they are called ...crackers! We thought about climbing the Guinigi tower to see the trees that grow on top, but then thought better of the 227 steps needed to reach the top. We opted instead to rent the tandem bici...double the fun, double the terror and less than a euro more! Lucky for me the wall is way less congested on Monday afternoon and the tandem bici did not offer Jim the same maneuverability of his own. Since I was in the back all I could do was pedal, like the roman rowers of old, with no idea where we were heading or what was ahead of us. I could only see the frightened faces of the people as they flashed by on the side. This bici came with a working bell, and Jim worked it! In the end, we made two and a half laps around the wall. It's a good thing we are leaving tomorrow Jim had started recruiting for a three seat bici! We returned to Leo's for dinner. I took a picture of Leo but forgot to also take one with my phone so sadly there isn't one to post!

Tuesday. We are packed and ready to head out of Lucca. During our wandering, Jim has discovered an underground exit from the city center and we use it to head to the train station. We have our salami, cheese and crackers salata in hand along with water from the Lucca fountains. We are ready for the train ride. We ate our lunch on the second train and arrived in Venice without much fan fair. When we got to our hotel the young man at the desk begins with..." I know you requested the room 30 but there is the problem with the room"...I'm thinking, oh no, here we go, we'll be in the closet under the stairs, if there even is a room for us..."so we have you the 24, our most beautiful room, you must be the good friends of Giuliano (the owner)...we smile and nod our heads and go up the stairs and he opens what appears to be a hall way (like I said the closet). In actuality it's the entrance hall to our three room suite! On the desk there is a bottle of prosecco with two glasses and a Venetian hankie to decorate them. We feel like royalty, although after a day traveling we look more like vagabonds. We unpack and begin to settle into our suite ( did I mention it has three rooms?). Jim, ever the organizer, takes our toothbrushes to the proper toothbrushing area and comes back to report....this huge room and still the shower is small! We put our feet up, pour some prosecco and contemplate how Jim will fit in the shower...Dinner is wonderful, the waiter jokes with us in Italian and English, we drink way too much wine and then he treated us to limoncello. We finish our first night in Venice with a ride down the Grand Canal and drift off to sleep the comfort of our (3 room!) suite.

Mr. Jim's Wild Ride or You Need Me On That Wall!

Sunday. Today we are the last to arrive at breakfast...now that's the Jim we all know and love! We head off to see Viareggio an upscale seaside resort. It's really hot and humid today but we do a bit of wandering and then head back to Lucca. There is a band performing in the streets. It looks medieval, with flag throwers, LOTS of drums, really loud drums, and really long horns. It was fun to watch. We check out the house where Puccini was born. We have walked right by this whole piazza totally dedicated to Puccini many times and not recognized it ...we really need to concentrate less on food and more on what we are passing.

After our afternoon rest we join the massive Lucca passeggiata (see picture) and make our way to the bici rental shop. According to the books a person can make two leisurely laps along the 2 .5 mile wall that surrounds the city during the one hour, €3 rental. Jim mounts his white bici, muttering that the goal of this ride is just to not get run over; just to stay alive. After the first timid 3 meters, Jim begins to take on a whole new persona. He is swerving and weaving, dodging and bobbing like a true Lucchesi. The top of the wall is about as wide as a normal residential street, but in the evenings it is packed with literally hundreds of Lucca citizens. They are walking and riding bikes; pushing strollers and chasing children; there are groups of grey-haired women and bands of teenagers; they are young and old; there are runners and tourists pulling suit-cases; there are couples holding hands and there are people walking dogs....and there this Jim. Jim is possessed; he is swerving around small children and shooting the gap between a stroller and a group of elderly men. He deftly avoided a small dog and maneuvered around the inadvertently dropped water bottle. He rode down the middle, on each side, off the road, across the grass, over the curb what ever was necessary not to stop the forward motion of his bici, there is no braking allowed.....this wall was his and there was nothing in heaven or on earth to stop him...well except the one hour time limit on his bici rental. A man and his bici ; veni vidi, bici! (for those of you whose mothers did not teach Latin: I came, I saw, I bicycled!) Jim made two laps with time to spare for pictures...I'm not certain how leisurely they were.