8, October
We do some last minute shopping, park walking and gelato eating before heading up to pack. Can sea/lake glass be carried on?
Friday, October 8, 2010
Roommates
6, October
We got an early start to the train station and except for the blow out on the rear wheel of Pam's suitcase the trek went smoothly. Does anyone know if transporting copious amounts if lake glass invalidates the warrantee on suitcases? Jim and several volunteers hoist the glass laden bag onto the train and we are off for our final stop...Milan. It is a quiet trip, no school children and a minimal amount of train issues. Even the route to the underground metro is easily navigate. We are all beginning to worry now...this is a little too easy. We come up from the metro, prepared for the Italian version of the Baton death march, after all we were told a five minute walk from the metro and we all know what that means and yet...it IS a five minute walk. WE all receive our keys and Pam and Sheila head up to their room. Only one small problem...someone is already staying it their room! Two twin beds and four people, not to mention strangers, is probably a bit cozy. The situation is rectified and we are off to sight see Milan. Bill, Jan, Pam and Sheila head to the top of the Duomo and Debi and Jim go off to find a restaurant . We end the day with dinner a Da Bruno, a walk through the Galleria and of course gelato.
7, October
Jim has everyone up and out early we are off to see the Last Supper. Its about a 15 minute walk and there is no window shopping...we have a mission. The tour is interesting and of course the painting and it's history amazing. After the tour we walk to Sforza castle, walk the beautiful park and check out the museums. One whole section is devoted to musical instruments....Pam had band flash backs.
We got an early start to the train station and except for the blow out on the rear wheel of Pam's suitcase the trek went smoothly. Does anyone know if transporting copious amounts if lake glass invalidates the warrantee on suitcases? Jim and several volunteers hoist the glass laden bag onto the train and we are off for our final stop...Milan. It is a quiet trip, no school children and a minimal amount of train issues. Even the route to the underground metro is easily navigate. We are all beginning to worry now...this is a little too easy. We come up from the metro, prepared for the Italian version of the Baton death march, after all we were told a five minute walk from the metro and we all know what that means and yet...it IS a five minute walk. WE all receive our keys and Pam and Sheila head up to their room. Only one small problem...someone is already staying it their room! Two twin beds and four people, not to mention strangers, is probably a bit cozy. The situation is rectified and we are off to sight see Milan. Bill, Jan, Pam and Sheila head to the top of the Duomo and Debi and Jim go off to find a restaurant . We end the day with dinner a Da Bruno, a walk through the Galleria and of course gelato.
7, October
Jim has everyone up and out early we are off to see the Last Supper. Its about a 15 minute walk and there is no window shopping...we have a mission. The tour is interesting and of course the painting and it's history amazing. After the tour we walk to Sforza castle, walk the beautiful park and check out the museums. One whole section is devoted to musical instruments....Pam had band flash backs.
Rainy Days and Menaggio
4, October
Today we braved the rain and took the ferry to Menaggio. Quiet and peaceful and totally untouched in the lake-glass sense. A little shopping, a little eating and a lot of wandering.
5, October
Pam and Sheila took to the trails and investigated the castle and the Fiuma Latte. They had a wonderful time learning about the castle and the falcons that reside there as well as seeing Italy's shortest river in all it's glory. Bill, Jan, Jim and Debi hit an easier trail to the local wine bar for drinks, sun and a tasty treat.
Today we braved the rain and took the ferry to Menaggio. Quiet and peaceful and totally untouched in the lake-glass sense. A little shopping, a little eating and a lot of wandering.
5, October
Pam and Sheila took to the trails and investigated the castle and the Fiuma Latte. They had a wonderful time learning about the castle and the falcons that reside there as well as seeing Italy's shortest river in all it's glory. Bill, Jan, Jim and Debi hit an easier trail to the local wine bar for drinks, sun and a tasty treat.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Ferry Tales
3, October
We have breakfast with the resident cat and then catch the ferry to Bellagio. We go right to work on supplementing Jim's t-shirt collection and finishing off some last-minute gifts.
Pam and Sheila take a second ferry across the lake to Villa Carlotta. The weather is nice and we enjoy wandering through the beautiful gardens. It reminds us of Disneyland. It's quiet and peaceful and there are benches to sit and enjoy the beauty. We wander along the paths and hike up and down staircases to see all of the different types of plants. At one point, we hear a bell ringing and look up to see a mule with a big cow-bell feeding in a meadow. Once we've seen everything, and Sheila has taken pictures of all of the flowers, we head in to see the villa. It's a three-story building that was given by a princess to her daughter, Carlotta, as a wedding gift. OK, Bethany, no villas on the horizon for you! Carlotta's husband was really interested in botany and is the one responsible for the beautiful gardens. Pam and Sheila split a pizza and then catch a ferry back across the lake to meet the others in Bellagio.
Jim does some shopping at a small store run by two hilarious sisters. By the time the purchase is done, we know all about her drinking habits and she said she could come home with Jim since "he knew what she liked". It is a good purchase but even if it hadn't been, the price was worth the floor show! We arrive back at our hotel in time for a drink at a bar over-looking the lights on the lake and a late night pizza.
We have breakfast with the resident cat and then catch the ferry to Bellagio. We go right to work on supplementing Jim's t-shirt collection and finishing off some last-minute gifts.
Pam and Sheila take a second ferry across the lake to Villa Carlotta. The weather is nice and we enjoy wandering through the beautiful gardens. It reminds us of Disneyland. It's quiet and peaceful and there are benches to sit and enjoy the beauty. We wander along the paths and hike up and down staircases to see all of the different types of plants. At one point, we hear a bell ringing and look up to see a mule with a big cow-bell feeding in a meadow. Once we've seen everything, and Sheila has taken pictures of all of the flowers, we head in to see the villa. It's a three-story building that was given by a princess to her daughter, Carlotta, as a wedding gift. OK, Bethany, no villas on the horizon for you! Carlotta's husband was really interested in botany and is the one responsible for the beautiful gardens. Pam and Sheila split a pizza and then catch a ferry back across the lake to meet the others in Bellagio.
Jim does some shopping at a small store run by two hilarious sisters. By the time the purchase is done, we know all about her drinking habits and she said she could come home with Jim since "he knew what she liked". It is a good purchase but even if it hadn't been, the price was worth the floor show! We arrive back at our hotel in time for a drink at a bar over-looking the lights on the lake and a late night pizza.
Two Weddings and a Funicular
2, October
While the morning was overcast, the day was beautiful. We walked around town, collected what was left of the lake glass and had a wonderful pizza lunch. While we were eating, the bells began to ring at the church and a bride arrived. Sheila had seen her arrive by boat, climb out in full attire and walk up to the middle of town. Later in the afternoon the whole scene replayed for a second bride. Beautiful and deafening. After lunch, Debi, Jim, Sheila and Pam head out to explore more of the town. We walk to Eremo Guadio, a hotel/restaurant which sports its own funicular to ascent the steep hill to the upper hotel. Unfortunately, the funicular is only for guests staying at the upper hotel - maybe next time!
While the morning was overcast, the day was beautiful. We walked around town, collected what was left of the lake glass and had a wonderful pizza lunch. While we were eating, the bells began to ring at the church and a bride arrived. Sheila had seen her arrive by boat, climb out in full attire and walk up to the middle of town. Later in the afternoon the whole scene replayed for a second bride. Beautiful and deafening. After lunch, Debi, Jim, Sheila and Pam head out to explore more of the town. We walk to Eremo Guadio, a hotel/restaurant which sports its own funicular to ascent the steep hill to the upper hotel. Unfortunately, the funicular is only for guests staying at the upper hotel - maybe next time!
Taxi Drivers - or - Shall We Dance?
1, October
We have frustrated the coffee woman for the last morning. As we all leave the breakfast room, clothed in our matching travel day shirts, complete with the blingy "La gioia e' nel viaggio" , another patron is over heard commenting " I believe they are a dance troupe". Ok, you all know us. What aspect of this group would lead one to believe we dance??? It's time to put Venice in the rearview and our suitcases are packed. Bill and Jan decide to hire a water taxi for the journey to the train station and Pam will accompany them. The hotel owner assures us the taxi will arrive and gives us the boat number but then accompanies us to the canal. There is a boat waiting, but he points out that the number does not match. Soon after, another boat arrives, banging into the side of the canal. Pam checks the number and is really grateful that poorly-trained driver is not ours! A few minutes pass and the driver asks - train station? The hotel owner speaks to him in Italian, the gist of which we understand is the discrepancy in boat numbers. Finally, they decide this is our taxi and launch our luggage over the open water into the boat. We settle in for a quiet ride to the train station. By now the rain has started and while we're under cover, the driver is in the open but we see that now he's flipping up a small canopy to keep dry. Evidently, the small canopy severely restricts his vision as he spends the remainder of the trip flipping it up and down and popping out of his seat in an attempt to avoid various obstacles, like boats and gondolas and bridges. To complicate the trip, it is garbage collection day on this canal and the water is full of little floating garbage trucks. Generally, this would have been a really interesting thing to watch but at this point we're just concerned that we're going to hit one of them! All of the little bridges we crossed during our stay are even smaller on the underside - especially when being shared with other boats or gondolas! Finally, the train station is in sight and it's time to disembark. Our luggage takes one last flight across the open waters and we've arrived.
In the meantime, Debi, Jim and Sheila head out to catch a vaparetto. At first glance it appears this will be an easy trip. Then the crowd of travelers begins to show, suitcases and rolling bags in hand. It still appears that we can make it and then the smallest boat in all of Venice arrives to pick us up. We manage to arrive in one piece and dry. Once at the station Jim and Debi go to verify the track number for our departing train. Generally it's on track 6...but wait track 6 is under construction. No problem, let's just pop into the train information and ask, after all it's obvious that track 6 is under construction and there should be some kind of semi-permanent assignment for those trains. The man at the desk looks at us like we are crazy when we ask for the track assignment and he say the Milano train always comes in on track 6, oh wait track 6 is impossible...well even we had figured that out!
We arrive in Milan and the train is there early, so we're able to board and get seats together and stow the luggage easily. This trip has gone surprisingly well! Our train is getting close to Varenna, so we get the luggage together and are standing next to the door as the train stops as these stops are really short - and nothing happens. The doors don't open. We're pressing buttons and trying knobs and finally succeed in getting one small door open, so we're tossing luggage and trying to squeeze six people through that one opening before the train pulls out again. We walk to the hotel, uphill, until we reach a sharp descent right before the hotel; imagine our roller suitcases on a downhill slope, on slick cobblestones. It nearly becomes Bowling for Tourists, but we make it through.
Sheila and Pam take advantage of the nice weather to do some exploring around town. Sheila asks the hotel owner where we should walk and he points to his round stomach and asks - does it look like I do much walking?! Where is the map I gave you?! Finally, he parts with another map and we take off in search of the lake walk. We walk until we reach the Fuimelatte, the next town over. OK, must have missed the turn for the lake walk. A quick trip down to the small beach yields lake glass though. We head back towards town and pass beautiful gardens and finally find the lake walk turnoff. We find more lake glass before heading back to clean up for dinner. Debi and Jan are sure that Sheila and Pam have cleaned out all available lake glass!
We have reservations for dinner with Chef Moreno tonight and we walk down to the main square to meet him for a ride 10 minutes further up the mountain. A small van arrives that will seat five, driven by his non-English speaking wife. Another couple is also in the square eyeing the same van when the wife assures us that another car is coming. Sheila and Pam hop in the van with the other couple and head up the mountain. We wind and twist for several miles in the dark when all of a sudden, BANG - a car heading the opposite direction has side-swiped the driver's side mirror! Sheila and Pam are a bit shaken but the chef's wife is merely irritated and just continues the drive to the restaurant! In the meantime, Bill, Jan, Debi and Jim have met up with Chef Moreno in the square and are now experiencing a ride similar to our ride into Rome with regular gas in the diesel tank. Finally, we're all at the restaurant and have a wonderful meal served by Chef Moreno and his wife and daughter before climbing back in the cars for a much less eventful drive down the mountain!
We have frustrated the coffee woman for the last morning. As we all leave the breakfast room, clothed in our matching travel day shirts, complete with the blingy "La gioia e' nel viaggio" , another patron is over heard commenting " I believe they are a dance troupe". Ok, you all know us. What aspect of this group would lead one to believe we dance??? It's time to put Venice in the rearview and our suitcases are packed. Bill and Jan decide to hire a water taxi for the journey to the train station and Pam will accompany them. The hotel owner assures us the taxi will arrive and gives us the boat number but then accompanies us to the canal. There is a boat waiting, but he points out that the number does not match. Soon after, another boat arrives, banging into the side of the canal. Pam checks the number and is really grateful that poorly-trained driver is not ours! A few minutes pass and the driver asks - train station? The hotel owner speaks to him in Italian, the gist of which we understand is the discrepancy in boat numbers. Finally, they decide this is our taxi and launch our luggage over the open water into the boat. We settle in for a quiet ride to the train station. By now the rain has started and while we're under cover, the driver is in the open but we see that now he's flipping up a small canopy to keep dry. Evidently, the small canopy severely restricts his vision as he spends the remainder of the trip flipping it up and down and popping out of his seat in an attempt to avoid various obstacles, like boats and gondolas and bridges. To complicate the trip, it is garbage collection day on this canal and the water is full of little floating garbage trucks. Generally, this would have been a really interesting thing to watch but at this point we're just concerned that we're going to hit one of them! All of the little bridges we crossed during our stay are even smaller on the underside - especially when being shared with other boats or gondolas! Finally, the train station is in sight and it's time to disembark. Our luggage takes one last flight across the open waters and we've arrived.
In the meantime, Debi, Jim and Sheila head out to catch a vaparetto. At first glance it appears this will be an easy trip. Then the crowd of travelers begins to show, suitcases and rolling bags in hand. It still appears that we can make it and then the smallest boat in all of Venice arrives to pick us up. We manage to arrive in one piece and dry. Once at the station Jim and Debi go to verify the track number for our departing train. Generally it's on track 6...but wait track 6 is under construction. No problem, let's just pop into the train information and ask, after all it's obvious that track 6 is under construction and there should be some kind of semi-permanent assignment for those trains. The man at the desk looks at us like we are crazy when we ask for the track assignment and he say the Milano train always comes in on track 6, oh wait track 6 is impossible...well even we had figured that out!
We arrive in Milan and the train is there early, so we're able to board and get seats together and stow the luggage easily. This trip has gone surprisingly well! Our train is getting close to Varenna, so we get the luggage together and are standing next to the door as the train stops as these stops are really short - and nothing happens. The doors don't open. We're pressing buttons and trying knobs and finally succeed in getting one small door open, so we're tossing luggage and trying to squeeze six people through that one opening before the train pulls out again. We walk to the hotel, uphill, until we reach a sharp descent right before the hotel; imagine our roller suitcases on a downhill slope, on slick cobblestones. It nearly becomes Bowling for Tourists, but we make it through.
Sheila and Pam take advantage of the nice weather to do some exploring around town. Sheila asks the hotel owner where we should walk and he points to his round stomach and asks - does it look like I do much walking?! Where is the map I gave you?! Finally, he parts with another map and we take off in search of the lake walk. We walk until we reach the Fuimelatte, the next town over. OK, must have missed the turn for the lake walk. A quick trip down to the small beach yields lake glass though. We head back towards town and pass beautiful gardens and finally find the lake walk turnoff. We find more lake glass before heading back to clean up for dinner. Debi and Jan are sure that Sheila and Pam have cleaned out all available lake glass!
We have reservations for dinner with Chef Moreno tonight and we walk down to the main square to meet him for a ride 10 minutes further up the mountain. A small van arrives that will seat five, driven by his non-English speaking wife. Another couple is also in the square eyeing the same van when the wife assures us that another car is coming. Sheila and Pam hop in the van with the other couple and head up the mountain. We wind and twist for several miles in the dark when all of a sudden, BANG - a car heading the opposite direction has side-swiped the driver's side mirror! Sheila and Pam are a bit shaken but the chef's wife is merely irritated and just continues the drive to the restaurant! In the meantime, Bill, Jan, Debi and Jim have met up with Chef Moreno in the square and are now experiencing a ride similar to our ride into Rome with regular gas in the diesel tank. Finally, we're all at the restaurant and have a wonderful meal served by Chef Moreno and his wife and daughter before climbing back in the cars for a much less eventful drive down the mountain!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Frenzy
30, September
Today is for frantic shopping. But first let's throw in a possible train strike tomorrow on our day to travel. That could cause a small problem since we need to catch two (possibly now on strike) trains to reach our next stop...Lake Como. The wonderful hotel owner suggests we go to the travel agent (you just go over the bridge) and he will be able to tell us everything we need to know and make any necessary changes. Jim and Debi arrive at 9:50 (they open at 9:30). There is a sign on the door "be back in 10 minutes"....at 11:15 when they finally arrive they bring with them the good news...no train strike after all! There are masks to buy and glasses to search for, there are t-shirts to exchange and more to buy, a glass fish and bowl also join the cast. That looks like a lot of stuff to pack...no problem we are going right from here to the post office to ship it...what! Closed! It can't be closed! Oh, there is another one on the Rialto, let's just run over there and...what? You don't have any boxes bigger than an orange??? Before we panic we head back to the hotel and he directs us ...yes...over the bridge to the DHL shop. There we meet Roberto, the shipping savior in purple pants, who not only stays open an hour late to take our package, he treats us to an aperitif while we fill out the paperwork!! Only in Venice! Meanwhile, Sheila and Pam, unaware of the postal crisis in progress, go exploring. We find quiet neighborhoods, a quaint little park with a pond and statues of Garibaldi, complete with a mysterious message about turtles (don't abandon your pet here; give it to the Turtle Club!) the Public Gardens and the Lady in the Sea statue. It is wonderful to experience the quiet, slow-paced side of Venice before we leave!
Today is for frantic shopping. But first let's throw in a possible train strike tomorrow on our day to travel. That could cause a small problem since we need to catch two (possibly now on strike) trains to reach our next stop...Lake Como. The wonderful hotel owner suggests we go to the travel agent (you just go over the bridge) and he will be able to tell us everything we need to know and make any necessary changes. Jim and Debi arrive at 9:50 (they open at 9:30). There is a sign on the door "be back in 10 minutes"....at 11:15 when they finally arrive they bring with them the good news...no train strike after all! There are masks to buy and glasses to search for, there are t-shirts to exchange and more to buy, a glass fish and bowl also join the cast. That looks like a lot of stuff to pack...no problem we are going right from here to the post office to ship it...what! Closed! It can't be closed! Oh, there is another one on the Rialto, let's just run over there and...what? You don't have any boxes bigger than an orange??? Before we panic we head back to the hotel and he directs us ...yes...over the bridge to the DHL shop. There we meet Roberto, the shipping savior in purple pants, who not only stays open an hour late to take our package, he treats us to an aperitif while we fill out the paperwork!! Only in Venice! Meanwhile, Sheila and Pam, unaware of the postal crisis in progress, go exploring. We find quiet neighborhoods, a quaint little park with a pond and statues of Garibaldi, complete with a mysterious message about turtles (don't abandon your pet here; give it to the Turtle Club!) the Public Gardens and the Lady in the Sea statue. It is wonderful to experience the quiet, slow-paced side of Venice before we leave!
Day at the Museum
29, September
Today the group gets a little culture. At Bill's urging, we all visit the Peggy Guggenheim museum of modern art ( yes, you read that right, Bill wanted to go to Peggy's!). It is very interesting and really an enjoyable experience. Jim writes a note to hang on Yoko Ono's tree and Jan and Debi buy Picassos (ok, only post cards). Dinner is at a tiny restaurant, 4 Feri. We sit down and there is only one menu on the table and when we ask if we could have some more menus, we're told they only have three (!) and the other two are in use! The meal is fun and the staff very entertaining! The waitress appreciates the way Jim cleaned his first plate and the asks if he needs more bread to finish up when he doesn't do as good a job on the second plate! There are people dancing in the square and we finish the evening with Grom gelato and more moonlit canals.
Today the group gets a little culture. At Bill's urging, we all visit the Peggy Guggenheim museum of modern art ( yes, you read that right, Bill wanted to go to Peggy's!). It is very interesting and really an enjoyable experience. Jim writes a note to hang on Yoko Ono's tree and Jan and Debi buy Picassos (ok, only post cards). Dinner is at a tiny restaurant, 4 Feri. We sit down and there is only one menu on the table and when we ask if we could have some more menus, we're told they only have three (!) and the other two are in use! The meal is fun and the staff very entertaining! The waitress appreciates the way Jim cleaned his first plate and the asks if he needs more bread to finish up when he doesn't do as good a job on the second plate! There are people dancing in the square and we finish the evening with Grom gelato and more moonlit canals.
The Islaqnd of Dr. Murano
28, September
The sun is out and so we take the opportunity to grab a boat out to the islands for glass and lace shopping. The venture is very successful as we manage to replace the glass horse from the 2008 visit, which was broken under mysterious circumstances. It's procurement does not even require sitting through the obligatory glass-making demonstration. Lace hankies for brides current and future are also purchased. After the island hop we boarded the vaporetto to Rialto for dinner at La Madonna, a restaurant suggested by the hotel owner. We should have know there would be trouble when the directions start out.."you just go over the bridge..." The restaurant is " on the third street after you go over the bridge" - how hard can that be? We go over the bridge and the first thing we see is not really a street but kind of a tiny cul-de-sac...that can't count, so off we go, 1, 2, and 3...hmmm that's not the name he gave us, but we counted. We travel down what is really no more than an alley and while we can hear eating and dishes no restaurants in sight. Finally we get directions from the gelato man (Pam makes a mental note where he is for after dinner) and there is on what by our counting is street number two...the cul-de-sac must count in Venice!! Wonderful dinner and a delightful moonlight ride back to the hotel.
The sun is out and so we take the opportunity to grab a boat out to the islands for glass and lace shopping. The venture is very successful as we manage to replace the glass horse from the 2008 visit, which was broken under mysterious circumstances. It's procurement does not even require sitting through the obligatory glass-making demonstration. Lace hankies for brides current and future are also purchased. After the island hop we boarded the vaporetto to Rialto for dinner at La Madonna, a restaurant suggested by the hotel owner. We should have know there would be trouble when the directions start out.."you just go over the bridge..." The restaurant is " on the third street after you go over the bridge" - how hard can that be? We go over the bridge and the first thing we see is not really a street but kind of a tiny cul-de-sac...that can't count, so off we go, 1, 2, and 3...hmmm that's not the name he gave us, but we counted. We travel down what is really no more than an alley and while we can hear eating and dishes no restaurants in sight. Finally we get directions from the gelato man (Pam makes a mental note where he is for after dinner) and there is on what by our counting is street number two...the cul-de-sac must count in Venice!! Wonderful dinner and a delightful moonlight ride back to the hotel.
How Much is That Doge in The Window? - or - A Bridge Too Short
27, September
Even though the clouds are threatening, we venture into the hotel breakfast room and begin to learn the intricacies of the "Breakfast Fascist - La Duca". Her breakfast room, while orderly, do not move the table top garbage can or take the bowl reserved for spoon to put cereal in....things must be done the way things must be done. And then, Sheila asks for chocolate in her coffee....both in the same cup? How can that be done?! *sigh* I will just make them separate and you will do what you must do. After our breakfast training we are off to the Doges Palace for a "secret tour". We are swept in ahead of the rest of the queue and enjoy a delightful tour behind the scenes of the Doges Palace, including a walk across the Bridge of Sighs....one can only guess that they must have asked for chocolate in the same cup with their coffee. When we re-emerge from the tour, the rains have begun and St. Marks has begun to flood. That's ok because those crafty Venetians have put out the famous walkways and after passing two men in rubber boots, we hop on the one right outside the palace. But wait, this walk way just ends. Apparently, the two men we saw in rubber boots were professional walkway installers...on a caffe break. We retrace our steps, now moving against the tide of people who will soon discover this bridge leads to nowhere. Our mistake, we‘ll do better next time. We weave our way around the back side of the piazza and finally reach the point where we must once again hop on the walkway and trudge towards our intended destination. We pass many smiling Venetians and are feeling confident that we have really mastered Aqua Alta , when, yes, the walk way ends...not the water, just the walkway. Eventually we do make it out of the square and are able to enjoy the rest of our day.
Even though the clouds are threatening, we venture into the hotel breakfast room and begin to learn the intricacies of the "Breakfast Fascist - La Duca". Her breakfast room, while orderly, do not move the table top garbage can or take the bowl reserved for spoon to put cereal in....things must be done the way things must be done. And then, Sheila asks for chocolate in her coffee....both in the same cup? How can that be done?! *sigh* I will just make them separate and you will do what you must do. After our breakfast training we are off to the Doges Palace for a "secret tour". We are swept in ahead of the rest of the queue and enjoy a delightful tour behind the scenes of the Doges Palace, including a walk across the Bridge of Sighs....one can only guess that they must have asked for chocolate in the same cup with their coffee. When we re-emerge from the tour, the rains have begun and St. Marks has begun to flood. That's ok because those crafty Venetians have put out the famous walkways and after passing two men in rubber boots, we hop on the one right outside the palace. But wait, this walk way just ends. Apparently, the two men we saw in rubber boots were professional walkway installers...on a caffe break. We retrace our steps, now moving against the tide of people who will soon discover this bridge leads to nowhere. Our mistake, we‘ll do better next time. We weave our way around the back side of the piazza and finally reach the point where we must once again hop on the walkway and trudge towards our intended destination. We pass many smiling Venetians and are feeling confident that we have really mastered Aqua Alta , when, yes, the walk way ends...not the water, just the walkway. Eventually we do make it out of the square and are able to enjoy the rest of our day.
Happy Birthday to Me!
26, September
Sheila pops out of bed in the morning and rushes into the bathroom to decorate the mirror with a birthday message. Pam and Sheila then enjoy a leisurely morning getting ready - unaware the rest of the group has surprises planned for breakfast. Finally, Debi hurries them along and Pam arrives to find the breakfast table decorated with a t-shirt emblazoned "Birthday Girl", cards, blue candies, and an apple with a sparkler stuck in it. Jim eyes the apple as the sparkler looks suspiciously like HIS sparkler from Nemi!
We enjoy our breakfast, finish packing our suitcases, and bid Giacomo good-bye, and head out to the train station. The rain has held off, we're out of the hotel on time, and we retrace our steps to the train station, where our smooth journey hits a bump - our train is in "retardo". Since we have reserved seats for the connecting train in Parma, this is a problem. Jim finds another train heading to Parma which is leaving soon, so we rush to the track and get really good seats on a really nice train, so all turns out well after all. Our train to Venice arrives on time and other than having a hard time finding room for our luggage, the ride goes well and we arrive to nice weather in Venice. We decide to walk to the hotel as we're not sure about all of the luggage on the vaporetto. We walk and walk and walk, winding through Venice, over bridges, and through crowds. An hour later we arrive at our hotel and are so glad to check in and have someone else haul our luggage up the very steep stairs to our rooms. Our rooms are beautiful and Sheila and Pam even have a small balcony. Cell phone reception is great and Pam's phone is buzzing with birthday texts from family and friends! Bill and Jan settle in to rest up from the hike and the rest of us head out to look for a restaurant that Bill/Jan/Pam remember from last time. We finally find it, just to discover that Debi and Jim ate there on their previous visits but they always entered from the front and ate inside and Bill/Jan/Pam always entered from the back and ate outside! We make reservations for dinner and head back to find the Hard Rock - Venice store that we'd seen earlier. Later that evening we take a vaporetto ride along the Grand Canal and finish the evening off with a birthday Skype session with Al and the kids.
Fast and Furious in Maranello
25, September
We are up early and out the door to the Ferrari museum. Giacomo assures us the bus to Maranello leaves every 15 minutes. The young intern from yesterday rolls her eyes and Giacomo says..."she disagrees, perhaps every hour instead". We take a leisurely walk to the station , stopping at a couple of shops and wandering through an antique flea market. We finally arrive at the bus station and there is a bus leaving in 5 minutes, and then again in an hour and a half...not quite every 15 minutes!! The tour of the museum is amazing. Enzo Ferrari was interesting as a man and it was amazing to see the cars close up. Unfortunately the simulator was broken and we couldn't convince Bill to take a test drive in the real thing...maybe next time. One last aperitif and sorpresse with Gianni at Roberta's bar, one last dinner at the trattoria and course a final gelato and pictures with "the guys" at Gelatoria Ducale.
We are up early and out the door to the Ferrari museum. Giacomo assures us the bus to Maranello leaves every 15 minutes. The young intern from yesterday rolls her eyes and Giacomo says..."she disagrees, perhaps every hour instead". We take a leisurely walk to the station , stopping at a couple of shops and wandering through an antique flea market. We finally arrive at the bus station and there is a bus leaving in 5 minutes, and then again in an hour and a half...not quite every 15 minutes!! The tour of the museum is amazing. Enzo Ferrari was interesting as a man and it was amazing to see the cars close up. Unfortunately the simulator was broken and we couldn't convince Bill to take a test drive in the real thing...maybe next time. One last aperitif and sorpresse with Gianni at Roberta's bar, one last dinner at the trattoria and course a final gelato and pictures with "the guys" at Gelatoria Ducale.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Cheers
24, September
Sheila is having difficulty connecting to the internet and Giacomo, one of the wonderful concierge at the hotel works on her computer and finally ends up just letting her use his computer. She has a way of getting to know the staff!! Did our own guided tour of Modena. Saw the giant indoor market, the bar where Lucciano hung out and the theater where he often sang. There are several churches here, a huge military academy and a lot of bicycles...it appears Italian cyclists are as safety-minded as the Italian drivers. Against Alessandro's sage advice (always go left when leaving he hotel) but with well-delivered directions from one of the hotel's young interns, we turn right when leaving the hotel and head off to find the Coop...a supermarket. There is success and after an adventurous shopping spree we return to the hotel proudly bearing our Coop bags, toothpaste, hair conditioner, Kleenex and dried figs! We end our day with a visit to Roberta's bar, the same restaurant and, of course, gelato. Gerardo introduces us to all of his friends. They are all hanging out in front of the shop and as each arrives it's like a scene from Cheers with everyone shouting the newcomer's name.
On The Road Again
23, September
Sadly, it’s time to leave Vernazza behind. Sheila and Pam pay one last visit to the Pirates and say good-bye to the Canoli Brothers, a hug for Bernie and we are off. We’re sad to leave The Cinque Terre but we head to the train station to catch the first of three trains to Modena. We make all of our train connections without incident and only get a little lost finding the hotel…turned left a little too soon. Alessandro gives us directions to a trattoria, a pizzieria and of course a gelatoria. Before dinner we stop at a tiny bar to have a quick aperitif. The sweet barman, Giaani brings our drinks and wait…a little sorpressa, tiny little sandwiches. Dinner is tasty and at the gelatoria, Jim and its wonderful owner, Gerardo, have an animated discussion on the failure of FIAT.
Sadly, it’s time to leave Vernazza behind. Sheila and Pam pay one last visit to the Pirates and say good-bye to the Canoli Brothers, a hug for Bernie and we are off. We’re sad to leave The Cinque Terre but we head to the train station to catch the first of three trains to Modena. We make all of our train connections without incident and only get a little lost finding the hotel…turned left a little too soon. Alessandro gives us directions to a trattoria, a pizzieria and of course a gelatoria. Before dinner we stop at a tiny bar to have a quick aperitif. The sweet barman, Giaani brings our drinks and wait…a little sorpressa, tiny little sandwiches. Dinner is tasty and at the gelatoria, Jim and its wonderful owner, Gerardo, have an animated discussion on the failure of FIAT.
The Last Samuri
22, September
Our gelato search has yielded three shops in Vernazza. Sorry, Rick Steves, your top choice came in dead last - nowhere near this group‘s standards! Jim’s “guy” on the harbor has great gelato but very erratic hours - open every day except when he’s not. We’ve come to rely on the shop owned by the Samurai of Vernazza - so named for his Samurai-esque hairstyle. He has delicious gelato and stays open late enough each night for us to get that one last gelato and/or granita before heading to our rooms. And he so nice, well, except for when Jim is walking across his freshly mopped floor! Today, the group decides to divide and conquer. Sheila and Pam stop by the Pirates for pastry and then hit the trail to Corniglia. It’s a beautiful hike along the coast which they cover in about an hour and a half. For the faint of heart, there is a bar located in the middle of nowhere, about halfway through the hike. Bill, Jan, Debi and Jim head out to Bernie’s hometown of Levanto. It has a lovely beach where they collect sea glass. The town is not on any must-see list, so it’s refreshingly free of tourists. The train, unfortunately, is in “retardo” and we have visions on sleeping on park benches here. Finally, the train arrives and the group reconvenes in Vernazza to compare notes on the day.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Beaches
21, September
The Ligurian Sea is beautiful from Vernazza. In the afternoons, Sheila and Pam head down to the beach to hunt for sea glass. When the tiny beach is full or when the local boys have taken it over for an impromptu game of soccer, they head to the harbor to people watch or pull up a convenient rock along the path on the far side to watch the gulls and take in the beautiful sunsets. Today, we catch the train to Corniglia, just a quick ride one town over. We find the shuttle bus for Bill and Jan to ride up to the village from the train station and then Debi, Jim, Sheila and Pam hit the steps - all 370 of them. We explore the tiny town, enjoy the wonderful view and of course, find some gelato, before Bill and Jan catch the shuttle and the rest of us go back down the 370 steps. The view is much nicer on the way down! We see some German tourists who have stopped in the shade halfway - they have pulled wine and cheese out of their packs! We train back to Vernazza and separate to gather picnic supplies and meet again on Debi and Jim’s balcony - fortunately, sans cat. We enjoy the lovely view and food under the “Great Curtain”!
Cats
20, September
The nice weather has arrived and along with it, the cats of Vernazza. The cats are everywhere - lounging in the sun, sleeping on their own rugs, climbing in the boats, and posing for the tourists. But, mostly, one in particular is stalking the one anti-cat member of our group. Debi and Jim’s room comes with a lovely balcony overlooking the harbor, complete with their own orange tabby who welcomes herself into their room whenever the window is open and pressing her little nose up to the glass when it is not. She particularly likes Jim who does not return her affection! Today, once Jim shakes his tailed tail, we catch the boat to Portvenere. We climb up to a lovely view of the sea and look in a quaint old church. Later we see a couple having wedding pictures taken and think of Bethany and her wedding planning.
Pirates of the Cinque Terre
19, September
By accident, Sheila and Pam have discovered Il Pirata delle Cinque Terre - OK, we just call it The Pirates. It’s run by twins, known as the Canoli Brothers. Having breakfast with the Pirates is watching mass chaos in progress, but they serve the best home-made pastries and hot chocolate that is best described as drinking still-warm chocolate pudding. After fortifying ourselves, we catch the train to Riomaggiore. We shop and enjoy the cute little town before walking the Via dell’Amore.
There are locks along the trail as the custom is for couples to secure their lock along the railing of the trail and then toss the key into the ocean. It’s a picturesque trail that leads us to Manarola where we find some lunch, enjoy watching the kids jump off the rocks into the sea, and of course, find some gelato before catching the train back to Vernazza.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Prison Break - or - It's a Small World!
Prison Break - or - It’s a Small World!
16, September
Annie has made reservations for us at Da Bado, per Francesco the best tripe in all of Italy. We walk about 10 minutes outside the walls of the city and enjoy a perfect lunch. Tripe, radicchio rissoto, and Volterran vegetable soup. Amazing service provided by Paolo, our former mafia hitman now waiter…more on that later. After lunch we toured the Palazzo Vitti. We discovered a painting by G. Martinelli, which Mom is sure must be a relative. It was interesting that since the family still lives in the palace there would be pictures from the late 1800 right along side the wedding pictures from the 80s (1980s that is!!). After Vitti’s place we caught up with Annie for a one-hour tour of Volterra. Only one other tourist showed up so the tour was informal and fun. We learn that the state prison here is an experimental prison where life-term prisoners are trained as actors for a touring stage production, chefs for the monthly “Eat at the Prison” events (these quickly sell out not only for the quality of food, the guest celebrity chefs which instruct the prisoners and the fact that this is the only opportunity available to view the Fortress which is a historical wonder. Jim whispers to me that he thinks the other guest might be American…turns out that Bobby, is from California and his fiancée lives in Stockton! Go figure. We end the tour at the wine bar…where all tours should end…talking and laughing and visiting with Annie and Francesco.
17, September
We have done our research and determined that we should leave earlier so that we can have a better chance at actually making all the transfers for the four separate trains we need to catch today. We see Bobby at the bus, he is heading to Siena. We catch the first bus without a problem and arrive at Volterra-Saline, gather all of our luggage and join 200 elementary children to wait for the train to Cecina. Jim had helped an older lady get her luggage off the bus earlier and in return she now informs him…no train, bus. We quickly verify that indeed the train isn’t coming and we pile on the bus, along with the 200 children. We were all happy to see Cecina! And even happier to learn the children were not catching the train to Pisa! We navigate the various lifts and track changes and train connections and arrive in Vernazza…along with the rain. Certainly don’t remember all these boats being in the piazza last time we were here…did someone say storm! We buzz Martina and each retire to our rooms to dry ourselves and our luggage. After the rain let up and we headed out to dinner, we found Valeria’s shop (Bernie). Mom says that a young woman was knitting in there earlier…Debi spots her and yell “Bernie?” She gives her a very odd look…must not be Bernie!
18, September
It’s drier this morning. We mill around the main street and Debi returns to the knit shop and this time connects with Valeria. There are introductions all around and her friend arrives and exclaims in Italian “that is the woman that yelled at me yesterday…she was with a very tall angry man” (Jim..angry??). Much laughing and hugging. We are off to Monterrossa to check out the town and see if the anchovy festival is today. We do a little shopping, a little sea glass collection and then try to find something to eat, and of course some gelato. Here comes the rain again! Sometime during the night, the storm knocks out the power and emergency lights flash on in everyone’s rooms. Quite a surprise in the dead of night!
16, September
Annie has made reservations for us at Da Bado, per Francesco the best tripe in all of Italy. We walk about 10 minutes outside the walls of the city and enjoy a perfect lunch. Tripe, radicchio rissoto, and Volterran vegetable soup. Amazing service provided by Paolo, our former mafia hitman now waiter…more on that later. After lunch we toured the Palazzo Vitti. We discovered a painting by G. Martinelli, which Mom is sure must be a relative. It was interesting that since the family still lives in the palace there would be pictures from the late 1800 right along side the wedding pictures from the 80s (1980s that is!!). After Vitti’s place we caught up with Annie for a one-hour tour of Volterra. Only one other tourist showed up so the tour was informal and fun. We learn that the state prison here is an experimental prison where life-term prisoners are trained as actors for a touring stage production, chefs for the monthly “Eat at the Prison” events (these quickly sell out not only for the quality of food, the guest celebrity chefs which instruct the prisoners and the fact that this is the only opportunity available to view the Fortress which is a historical wonder. Jim whispers to me that he thinks the other guest might be American…turns out that Bobby, is from California and his fiancée lives in Stockton! Go figure. We end the tour at the wine bar…where all tours should end…talking and laughing and visiting with Annie and Francesco.
17, September
We have done our research and determined that we should leave earlier so that we can have a better chance at actually making all the transfers for the four separate trains we need to catch today. We see Bobby at the bus, he is heading to Siena. We catch the first bus without a problem and arrive at Volterra-Saline, gather all of our luggage and join 200 elementary children to wait for the train to Cecina. Jim had helped an older lady get her luggage off the bus earlier and in return she now informs him…no train, bus. We quickly verify that indeed the train isn’t coming and we pile on the bus, along with the 200 children. We were all happy to see Cecina! And even happier to learn the children were not catching the train to Pisa! We navigate the various lifts and track changes and train connections and arrive in Vernazza…along with the rain. Certainly don’t remember all these boats being in the piazza last time we were here…did someone say storm! We buzz Martina and each retire to our rooms to dry ourselves and our luggage. After the rain let up and we headed out to dinner, we found Valeria’s shop (Bernie). Mom says that a young woman was knitting in there earlier…Debi spots her and yell “Bernie?” She gives her a very odd look…must not be Bernie!
18, September
It’s drier this morning. We mill around the main street and Debi returns to the knit shop and this time connects with Valeria. There are introductions all around and her friend arrives and exclaims in Italian “that is the woman that yelled at me yesterday…she was with a very tall angry man” (Jim..angry??). Much laughing and hugging. We are off to Monterrossa to check out the town and see if the anchovy festival is today. We do a little shopping, a little sea glass collection and then try to find something to eat, and of course some gelato. Here comes the rain again! Sometime during the night, the storm knocks out the power and emergency lights flash on in everyone’s rooms. Quite a surprise in the dead of night!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Rainy Days and Mondays
13, September
In true wedding/anniversary form, it poured today. Not rain, actual downpour, with lightening and wall shaking thunder. The storm was fierce just like two years ago, but at least this time Jim will not need to concern himself as to whether Debi’s poncho matches her wedding dress. Francesco is ill so we visit with Annie and little Sophia for a while and then, with Lisa and Guiseppina in tow, we head to the restaurant. While nowhere near as huge as the wedding dinner, the anniversary fare was large enough to cause flashbacks for the previous attendees.
14, September
After our morning breakfast (no fighting with the Polish tour groups here) we are off to the bus stop to meet Francesca our taxi-van driver who will take us to San Gimigiano to meet up with Cristina for a guided tour of the town. The drive is hilly and beautiful and just before we reach San Gimigiano, Francesca pulls the van over for a photo op and a chance to steal some grapes…both are wonderful. We load back up, bring a rather large bee with us and finish the drive. We had a wonderful lunch that included the local boar lasagna, marinated ox tongue and wonderful vegetable soup (I‘ll leave it to you to decide who had what!). The town is beautiful and Christina gave an amazing tour. Francesca is at the designated meeting point and it is just as pretty driving back to Volterra.
15, September
Today we gave ourselves a guided tour of Volterra‘s Roman theater. We saw Annie giving an official tour but decided to keep a low profile and not interrupt her. Did some major alabaster shopping and faced the dreaded post office for some shipping. This time the shipping went off with out a hitch…ok, maybe a couple of small hitches but not bad for Italy!!
In true wedding/anniversary form, it poured today. Not rain, actual downpour, with lightening and wall shaking thunder. The storm was fierce just like two years ago, but at least this time Jim will not need to concern himself as to whether Debi’s poncho matches her wedding dress. Francesco is ill so we visit with Annie and little Sophia for a while and then, with Lisa and Guiseppina in tow, we head to the restaurant. While nowhere near as huge as the wedding dinner, the anniversary fare was large enough to cause flashbacks for the previous attendees.
14, September
After our morning breakfast (no fighting with the Polish tour groups here) we are off to the bus stop to meet Francesca our taxi-van driver who will take us to San Gimigiano to meet up with Cristina for a guided tour of the town. The drive is hilly and beautiful and just before we reach San Gimigiano, Francesca pulls the van over for a photo op and a chance to steal some grapes…both are wonderful. We load back up, bring a rather large bee with us and finish the drive. We had a wonderful lunch that included the local boar lasagna, marinated ox tongue and wonderful vegetable soup (I‘ll leave it to you to decide who had what!). The town is beautiful and Christina gave an amazing tour. Francesca is at the designated meeting point and it is just as pretty driving back to Volterra.
15, September
Today we gave ourselves a guided tour of Volterra‘s Roman theater. We saw Annie giving an official tour but decided to keep a low profile and not interrupt her. Did some major alabaster shopping and faced the dreaded post office for some shipping. This time the shipping went off with out a hitch…ok, maybe a couple of small hitches but not bad for Italy!!
Bare Feet and the Park
12, September
We rested a bit today, walked around Volterra and toured the Commune where Jim and Debi got married. They took pictures of their sock-less feet in the piazza. After enjoying the giardino of the hotel we sneaked through the back gate and into the archeological park. Very quiet day…after our frantic arrival.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Death on the Appian Way
11, September
One last breakfast at the Hotel Scacciapensieri, bill paying and group pictures and we load up the van one final time. We hit the freeway towards Rome to turn in the rental car and catch a series of trains to Volterra. Better stop for gas on the way in, don’t want to pay those ridiculous rental car rates for gas! How about this one…no they always rip you off…how about that one…nah….ok, this one will work. Deisel? No, nothing on the tank, nothing on the keys…must be regular gasoline, wait, you must wear gloves to pump your own gas here…. you know once on “Amazing Race” a couple put gasoline in a car that only took diesel and the car died right there….good thing we checked it out. Back in the van and we are ready to head into the heart of Rome, traffic and all. Hmmm, that’s odd, don’t remember the van idling so rough before. We are finally at Termini, about 4 blocks from the car rental drop off spot, Uncle Jim pulls into a “taxi only” parking space and sends us to the car rental counter…”you must not park it in the taxi spot, bring it here”. Back to the van, no problem, Uncle Jim plans to just back the van back up the one way street the four blocks to the car droop off zone. Envision backing up against traffic on say…. I-5, but add pedestrians and Uncle Jim saying “I really can’t see out of the back of this thing”, all the while the van is shuddering in what will soon be death throes. We make it only 2 ½ blocks before Uncle Jim gives up, pulls into another taxi only spot, turns the van off and goes to the counter giving them the keys proclaiming “I’m not driving it any more you move it” in Italian. The van of course will not start now….what did you do fill it with gasoline….ummmm…yes??!! Does anyone remember the couple on “Amazing Race”…well, I guess we’ll have something to blog about now!
We bid Uncle Jim good bye and head for binario 25...about a mile and a half from our current location, certainly hope there isn’t any last minute changes to the track location. The ride is relaxed, we enjoy the lunches we prepared, read and knitted until we reached Cecina for our first train change. Where is the binario for the next train…hmmm…what does that little bus picture mean? Oh, no train, bus to Volterra-Saline. No train, no problem we hop on the bus and head off. From there we catch a smaller second bus and we are almost there. When we arrive in Volterra we are greeted with hugs from our friend Lisa at the hotel and relax until dinner. There is some sort of medieval festival with costumes and flags…very festive welcoming for the anniversary couple!! Jim calls home to let everyone know we have made it safely to our next stop, but Uncle Jim has beat him to it and already spun the van story so he is totally blameless for the van death. Jim: “But I didn’t pump the gas Ma, Uncle Jim pumped the gas”, “where the hell Bill? He never even got out of the van!” We have a delicious dinner and the join all of Volterra in the main square. Every window in the square has a candle in it and the medieval festival presentation is full of fire and singing and fireworks and costumes. It was breath-taking.
One last breakfast at the Hotel Scacciapensieri, bill paying and group pictures and we load up the van one final time. We hit the freeway towards Rome to turn in the rental car and catch a series of trains to Volterra. Better stop for gas on the way in, don’t want to pay those ridiculous rental car rates for gas! How about this one…no they always rip you off…how about that one…nah….ok, this one will work. Deisel? No, nothing on the tank, nothing on the keys…must be regular gasoline, wait, you must wear gloves to pump your own gas here…. you know once on “Amazing Race” a couple put gasoline in a car that only took diesel and the car died right there….good thing we checked it out. Back in the van and we are ready to head into the heart of Rome, traffic and all. Hmmm, that’s odd, don’t remember the van idling so rough before. We are finally at Termini, about 4 blocks from the car rental drop off spot, Uncle Jim pulls into a “taxi only” parking space and sends us to the car rental counter…”you must not park it in the taxi spot, bring it here”. Back to the van, no problem, Uncle Jim plans to just back the van back up the one way street the four blocks to the car droop off zone. Envision backing up against traffic on say…. I-5, but add pedestrians and Uncle Jim saying “I really can’t see out of the back of this thing”, all the while the van is shuddering in what will soon be death throes. We make it only 2 ½ blocks before Uncle Jim gives up, pulls into another taxi only spot, turns the van off and goes to the counter giving them the keys proclaiming “I’m not driving it any more you move it” in Italian. The van of course will not start now….what did you do fill it with gasoline….ummmm…yes??!! Does anyone remember the couple on “Amazing Race”…well, I guess we’ll have something to blog about now!
We bid Uncle Jim good bye and head for binario 25...about a mile and a half from our current location, certainly hope there isn’t any last minute changes to the track location. The ride is relaxed, we enjoy the lunches we prepared, read and knitted until we reached Cecina for our first train change. Where is the binario for the next train…hmmm…what does that little bus picture mean? Oh, no train, bus to Volterra-Saline. No train, no problem we hop on the bus and head off. From there we catch a smaller second bus and we are almost there. When we arrive in Volterra we are greeted with hugs from our friend Lisa at the hotel and relax until dinner. There is some sort of medieval festival with costumes and flags…very festive welcoming for the anniversary couple!! Jim calls home to let everyone know we have made it safely to our next stop, but Uncle Jim has beat him to it and already spun the van story so he is totally blameless for the van death. Jim: “But I didn’t pump the gas Ma, Uncle Jim pumped the gas”, “where the hell Bill? He never even got out of the van!” We have a delicious dinner and the join all of Volterra in the main square. Every window in the square has a candle in it and the medieval festival presentation is full of fire and singing and fireworks and costumes. It was breath-taking.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
The Night the Lights Went Out in Nettuno
9, September
We quickly ate this morning. It’s market day in Nettuno and we are off in search of bargains. Debi needs new shirts since the two she brought have grown with each wash and now will serve to cloth the entire group…at once. The main street is closed off for market day and the market stretches for a mile on both sides of the street. We are directed to only shop on one side on the way down and the other on the way up. We bought bread and olives and fruit for the train ride on Saturday. We ate a wonderful lunch in the Borgo- medieval Nettuno. We still managed to eat at La Lanterna (they are counting on us for their retirement fund) about half way through the meal the lights went out we all reached for our handy flashlights and the waiter brought a candle and by then of course the lights came back on. A typical night in Nettuno…let’s get gelato.
10, September
No problem with the breakfast now…we really have it all figured out. Sheila even procured some faux nutella for the train ride tomorrow. We head off optimistically for the grocery store to purchase lunch supplies for our train ride. Should be no problem since we now understand the produce ticketing system, Sheila can identify still water and we know exactly what we want for our sandwiches….ok, not really. We do manage to buy 5 different kinds of cookies, way too many rolls and Daddy’s first ever juice boxes. We haul our bags of food up to Uncle Jim’s apartment and construct sandwiches. Uncle Jim’s friend Enrico has driven in from Rome to see us and join us for lunch. He has brought us a giant box of cookies…thank you these perfect for the train! We went back to the Borgo for lunch and ate at the restaurant directly across from yesterday’s spot. Uncle Jim’s friend Sayida also joined us for lunch. Good friends, good food and good wine. Debi tried to save the wine bottle so she could remove the label and with 9 people watching the wait staff still managed to scoop it off the table….after some puzzled looks as to why anyone would want an empty wine bottle they got it out of the trash for her. ***insert here story of pam’s fall*** We meet back at Uncle Jim’s after organizing our luggage for tomorrow’s departure, and enjoy one last Nettuno gelato.
We quickly ate this morning. It’s market day in Nettuno and we are off in search of bargains. Debi needs new shirts since the two she brought have grown with each wash and now will serve to cloth the entire group…at once. The main street is closed off for market day and the market stretches for a mile on both sides of the street. We are directed to only shop on one side on the way down and the other on the way up. We bought bread and olives and fruit for the train ride on Saturday. We ate a wonderful lunch in the Borgo- medieval Nettuno. We still managed to eat at La Lanterna (they are counting on us for their retirement fund) about half way through the meal the lights went out we all reached for our handy flashlights and the waiter brought a candle and by then of course the lights came back on. A typical night in Nettuno…let’s get gelato.
10, September
No problem with the breakfast now…we really have it all figured out. Sheila even procured some faux nutella for the train ride tomorrow. We head off optimistically for the grocery store to purchase lunch supplies for our train ride. Should be no problem since we now understand the produce ticketing system, Sheila can identify still water and we know exactly what we want for our sandwiches….ok, not really. We do manage to buy 5 different kinds of cookies, way too many rolls and Daddy’s first ever juice boxes. We haul our bags of food up to Uncle Jim’s apartment and construct sandwiches. Uncle Jim’s friend Enrico has driven in from Rome to see us and join us for lunch. He has brought us a giant box of cookies…thank you these perfect for the train! We went back to the Borgo for lunch and ate at the restaurant directly across from yesterday’s spot. Uncle Jim’s friend Sayida also joined us for lunch. Good friends, good food and good wine. Debi tried to save the wine bottle so she could remove the label and with 9 people watching the wait staff still managed to scoop it off the table….after some puzzled looks as to why anyone would want an empty wine bottle they got it out of the trash for her. ***insert here story of pam’s fall*** We meet back at Uncle Jim’s after organizing our luggage for tomorrow’s departure, and enjoy one last Nettuno gelato.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Rain Man (Oh, Man!)
8, September
We woke up to black clouds and a forecast of rain over the entire country of Italy, and still no cheese with breakfast. Confident that we could purchase our own train tickets into Rome, Uncle Jim just dumped us off at the train station and heads back home for a day off from tour-guide duty. Everything was perfect…well accept the ticket office is closed! Now what? Have no fear the magazine store is open! Tickets and rain gear in hand we are on our way. The first stop is the coliseum, which we learned from Vito (seriously Vito) is really the Flavian Amphitheater. The tour was interesting although Vito’s English dialect was difficult to follow. From the coliseum we walked through the historic section of Rome, stopping at the Vittoriano for a view of the city. We then headed to Largo Argentina, where we saw the cat sanctuary and the sight of Julius Caeser’s assassination. We met Alice, Debi’s friend from Ravelry, for lunch at Rossopomodoro. The company and the lunch were wonderful. Still no sign of rain. After lunch Alice showed us a LYS (sadly it was closed) we took in the Campo di Fiori and then headed off to the Castelo St. Angelo. The Castello, featured in the recent movie, Angels and Demons, was interesting and the view from the roof rivaled the view from the cupola without the horrible climb. We exited the Castello and set off for the Vatican for our last sight seeing stop. As we approached the square the rains came, but have no fear we had our rain gear and covered up. Not sure if the rain was seasonal or if it was caused by Bill Lightening and Jim Thunder being so near Saint Peter’s church at the same time. We boarded the metro back to the Spanish Steps for dinner, but we were still full from lunch. Not so full that we couldn’t sample the viagra gelato (tastes like brownie mix…not that any of us eat uncooked brownies!!). The young, attractive Italian girl at the gelatoria gave us all samples. Jim got a huge sample, we were not sure if she thought he was cute or just needed it the most…Jim is choosing the former. We decide to say good bye to Rome and head back to Nettuno on the REALLY early, 7:27 train (no flop houses in our future). Unfortunately the train got stuck in Padiglione and we don’t arrive home until two hours later - 48 minutes late..nothing in Italian time! We are all sad since we think that La Lanterna will be closed and we won’t be able to eat there (for the third time), but they are open and we eat there, again . A gelato and we call it a day.
We woke up to black clouds and a forecast of rain over the entire country of Italy, and still no cheese with breakfast. Confident that we could purchase our own train tickets into Rome, Uncle Jim just dumped us off at the train station and heads back home for a day off from tour-guide duty. Everything was perfect…well accept the ticket office is closed! Now what? Have no fear the magazine store is open! Tickets and rain gear in hand we are on our way. The first stop is the coliseum, which we learned from Vito (seriously Vito) is really the Flavian Amphitheater. The tour was interesting although Vito’s English dialect was difficult to follow. From the coliseum we walked through the historic section of Rome, stopping at the Vittoriano for a view of the city. We then headed to Largo Argentina, where we saw the cat sanctuary and the sight of Julius Caeser’s assassination. We met Alice, Debi’s friend from Ravelry, for lunch at Rossopomodoro. The company and the lunch were wonderful. Still no sign of rain. After lunch Alice showed us a LYS (sadly it was closed) we took in the Campo di Fiori and then headed off to the Castelo St. Angelo. The Castello, featured in the recent movie, Angels and Demons, was interesting and the view from the roof rivaled the view from the cupola without the horrible climb. We exited the Castello and set off for the Vatican for our last sight seeing stop. As we approached the square the rains came, but have no fear we had our rain gear and covered up. Not sure if the rain was seasonal or if it was caused by Bill Lightening and Jim Thunder being so near Saint Peter’s church at the same time. We boarded the metro back to the Spanish Steps for dinner, but we were still full from lunch. Not so full that we couldn’t sample the viagra gelato (tastes like brownie mix…not that any of us eat uncooked brownies!!). The young, attractive Italian girl at the gelatoria gave us all samples. Jim got a huge sample, we were not sure if she thought he was cute or just needed it the most…Jim is choosing the former. We decide to say good bye to Rome and head back to Nettuno on the REALLY early, 7:27 train (no flop houses in our future). Unfortunately the train got stuck in Padiglione and we don’t arrive home until two hours later - 48 minutes late..nothing in Italian time! We are all sad since we think that La Lanterna will be closed and we won’t be able to eat there (for the third time), but they are open and we eat there, again . A gelato and we call it a day.
Friday, September 10, 2010
There Will Be Blood
6, September
We got up really early, tried to get some of the tour groups’ breakfast and then Uncle Jim drove us to the train station to catch the Nettuno-Rome train. He warned us several times not to miss the last train home for Nettuno, which leaves Rome at 9:44, or we would have to just spend the night in a flop house near the station…. Jim had mapped out the tour for the day and we headed off. We started at the Trevi fountain, threw our coins in (without incident this time…all Roman‘s were unharmed by errant coins!!) and did a little shopping. We were not in Rome for even an hour when Pam, Sheila, Jan and Bill turned up missing … Jan had started a rumor that they had ½ hour to kill while we attended to some train ticket purchasing business, when in fact we were just buying a shirt…5 minutes!. They were finally located and the tour resumed (no train ticket were purchased yet…) On to the Pantheon. We missed Uncle Jim’s careful explanation of the sights, but still enjoyed the view. Where to now Jim…to the Piazza Navona (you might remember it from the movie “Return to Me”) and the view of the newly refurbished Four Rivers fountain. It was really worth the walk. After lunch we now head back to the Spanish Steps, to actually buy the rumored train tickets. We left the rest of the group to check out the first Italian McDonalds and to climb the steps….Jan was really looking forward to that! We then took the underground passage to the Villa Bourgese and the Via Veneto. There we did some shopping at the Hard Rock, Rome, viewed the Cappucin monks and finished the tour with a beer and an aperol spritz before heading back to the Spanish Steps for dinner. We decided to have dinner at Il Gabriello, a restaurant we had eaten in when we came to Rome in 2008. We were barely even seated when a young waiter dropped an arm load of plates on the floor near our table. Pam was hit by flying plate shrapnel and blood flowed. The waiter felt terrible and offered to cut his own arm in a show of penance. Pam didn’t think that was necessary, a bandage would do. After dinner we caught an early (remember, we are with Jim…no flop houses allowed) train home, and ended the day with, yes, a gelato.
7, September
We are still trying to figure out why we don’t get the bread and cheese with our breakfast and the Polish tour does…
Today Uncle Jim took us on a tour of Anzio’s port, the beach (can you say sea glass!!) and the ruins of Nerone’s (Nero to you Americans) villa. We ate a wonderful lunch at a tiny restaurant in Anzio. Jim ate calamarette fritto, whole baby calamari…that includes the tentacles….remember, we’re talking about Jim here!! We finished the afternoon with a visit to the American cemetery in Nettuno and dinner at La Lanterna again. We went to Uncle Jim’s apartment for desert watermelon and to bed early, because tomorrow is Rome-part two!
We got up really early, tried to get some of the tour groups’ breakfast and then Uncle Jim drove us to the train station to catch the Nettuno-Rome train. He warned us several times not to miss the last train home for Nettuno, which leaves Rome at 9:44, or we would have to just spend the night in a flop house near the station…. Jim had mapped out the tour for the day and we headed off. We started at the Trevi fountain, threw our coins in (without incident this time…all Roman‘s were unharmed by errant coins!!) and did a little shopping. We were not in Rome for even an hour when Pam, Sheila, Jan and Bill turned up missing … Jan had started a rumor that they had ½ hour to kill while we attended to some train ticket purchasing business, when in fact we were just buying a shirt…5 minutes!. They were finally located and the tour resumed (no train ticket were purchased yet…) On to the Pantheon. We missed Uncle Jim’s careful explanation of the sights, but still enjoyed the view. Where to now Jim…to the Piazza Navona (you might remember it from the movie “Return to Me”) and the view of the newly refurbished Four Rivers fountain. It was really worth the walk. After lunch we now head back to the Spanish Steps, to actually buy the rumored train tickets. We left the rest of the group to check out the first Italian McDonalds and to climb the steps….Jan was really looking forward to that! We then took the underground passage to the Villa Bourgese and the Via Veneto. There we did some shopping at the Hard Rock, Rome, viewed the Cappucin monks and finished the tour with a beer and an aperol spritz before heading back to the Spanish Steps for dinner. We decided to have dinner at Il Gabriello, a restaurant we had eaten in when we came to Rome in 2008. We were barely even seated when a young waiter dropped an arm load of plates on the floor near our table. Pam was hit by flying plate shrapnel and blood flowed. The waiter felt terrible and offered to cut his own arm in a show of penance. Pam didn’t think that was necessary, a bandage would do. After dinner we caught an early (remember, we are with Jim…no flop houses allowed) train home, and ended the day with, yes, a gelato.
7, September
We are still trying to figure out why we don’t get the bread and cheese with our breakfast and the Polish tour does…
Today Uncle Jim took us on a tour of Anzio’s port, the beach (can you say sea glass!!) and the ruins of Nerone’s (Nero to you Americans) villa. We ate a wonderful lunch at a tiny restaurant in Anzio. Jim ate calamarette fritto, whole baby calamari…that includes the tentacles….remember, we’re talking about Jim here!! We finished the afternoon with a visit to the American cemetery in Nettuno and dinner at La Lanterna again. We went to Uncle Jim’s apartment for desert watermelon and to bed early, because tomorrow is Rome-part two!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Finding Nemi
4, September
This morning after accidentally eating the breakfast of some poor Polish tour group, we headed to San Felice Circeo…is it a punta or an isole? From Nettuno, Circeo appears to be an island, but it’s not! We piled into the van and checked it out. We saw beautiful views and had a beer in the bar at the top of the hill.
A stranger offered Debi a drink of his Aperol spritz…and she tried it! (if you know anything about Debi and drinking after anyone, you would know what a huge thing that was!!) We finished the afternoon looking at the beautiful villas and the amazing scenery. We ate dinner at La Lanterna, a restaurant within walking distance of Uncle Jim’s apartment and of course gelato afterwards.
5, September
Tried to eat the tour group’s breakfast again but they directed us to a different table…not sure why!! We are heading to Frascati and Nemi. First we stopped at Lago al Bano. From the “bel vedere” we can see the Pope’s summer villa…and the carbinieri head quarters. Uncle Jim pulled the van into the lot and was asked politely (with an uzzi) to not park there. Sheila thought a picture might be nice but they were not up for that either…really very little sense of humor if you are a carbiniero.
Then began the hunt for Frascati. The road signs in Italy point at the road you should take, not the direction you should go. Well, all signs to Frascati pointed every direction. Uncle Jim assured us not to worry, he had been to Frascati at least 25 times (of course we didn’t know that he had gotten lost 24 times…). One sign sent us up the hill..good Uncle Jim comments… up the hill is the way we need to go, oh wait we’re going back down the hill. We ask directions, and the gentleman sends us still another direction. The road is getting narrower and narrower; the van on the other hand is not! Hey Jim, how much clearance on your side? None? Well we got, maybe ½ inch on this side…did we get the rental car insurance? Can’t back the van back up the hill, so we’ll just go for…that’s what Al would do…where is he when we really need him. Quit hiding your eyes Pam, you should be used to this! One fender and a rear view mirror later, we made it down the alley (good thing that poor woman couldn’t open her door with our van lodged in the alley). Once in town, we parked so close to the car next to us, we all had to get out Uncle Jim’s door. Enjoyed a entertaining street market and an amazing lunch….hmmm developing a recurring theme here! Load up, we are off to Nemi.
They are famous for their wild strawberries…and the difficulty of finding the town. There are no signs pointing at any roads OR directions to drive!! Uncle Jim, the first man ever to stop and ask for directions, stopped at a small bar and went in. After getting guidance he climbed into the wrong black van and sent several small children screaming from their own vehicle. After locating the correct van, he exclaimed “I just scared the sh*t out of those kids!!” With perseverance that can only be developed with living in Italy, Uncle Jim managed to find Nemi. Nemi has a beautiful view of a huge lake, tasty graniti fragoline (strawberry slushies) and a quaint underwear saleman…since Jan’s underwear were still in Pismo. Back to Uncle Jim’s apartment for a cold watermelon dinner. Early to bed, tomorrow is Rome!
Sunday, September 5, 2010
(Almost) Arrested Development
Who could have know when we all piled into the “Silver Bullet” commercial transport vehicle what adventures awaited us. After tossing our bags in the back we headed to our first stop - Starbucks, granted only a block away, but still, our first official stop. Al plugged in “the guy” (AKA Garmin GPS) and we were off, well until we hit Tracy and there we hit the infamous commuter traffic and slowed to …well let’s just say we could walk faster! Despite the traffic, we managed to arrive at SFO before our flight, actually about 6 hours before our flight! We unloaded the van, thanked our wonderful driver and said our goodbyes…wait why is the airport police officer pulling up behind the van and signaling for Al to move away from the van? For some reason, he seems to believe that Al is running some type of illegal shuttle service. Why else would a Lebanese man drive a 15-passenger van with commercial plates! Can we prove we are related, meanwhile, sir (Dave), please get out of the van and step to the curb. Once Pam convinced the officer that Al was indeed related to 5/6 of the present company, that we had not in any way provided him with compensation for driving us (does sushi count?) and that they had a big van because they had a lot of kids, he reluctantly agreed not to pursue the possibility of a huge underground, Lebanese shuttle cartel.
Free from possible prosecution for illegal shuttle solicitation, we positioned ourselves to be the first in line- not a difficult feat since even the cleaning staff had not yet arrived. We were able to secure Jim a seat on the flight which would allow him the ability to walk upright once we reached Italy. We ate a quick lunch and then headed for the security check line. Jim placed his carefully packed bag of liquids (and when I say carefully packed think “Jim packed”) in the bin. All of us passed through without issue…wait, where is Jim? He is having his liquids “tested”. Tested? For what? He evidentially passed the liquid “pop quiz” because he was finally allowed to proceed. Well, only until the next check point where he was pulled out of line and quizzed about the purpose of his trip, how many Euros he was carrying and what he planned on doing with them. Did something about him hint at mafia, bagel smuggling or perhaps they had heard of the illegal transportation accusations? Eventually he was allowed to board the flight and we were off.
In Frankfurt, the top notch security team nearly confiscated Jan and Debi’s knitting needles (it’s ok, fellow knitters, the Addis are safe). But we’re on our way…wait, where’s Jim? He’s been pulled out of line for a “Wanding”… why is everyone picking on Jimmy! We all finally board the last leg of our flight, land in Rome, gather our luggage, and head off to find the Leonardo Express…no easy feat. Just go straight and then up, well really down and the straight and then up and…well you get the picture. We did get six seats together…where’s Pam? Oh, there she is under the suitcases! When were arrive a Termini, Uncle Jim is there to meet us, help us secure the rental car and we are finally heading for Nettuno. The trip has begun!!
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Bon Voyage in Lodi
Bon Voyage! The "girls" at Public Works threw me a surprise party to send me on my way! My work family is the BEST!Thank you everyone!!
The card Denise gave me...
An
d the beautiful placemat Patsy designed...
d the beautiful placemat Patsy designed...The Ciao Comment Contest
As everyone knows (well, as at least 130 of you know), we are off to Italy bright and early tomorrow morning. For those of you who are following along, we really hope you enjoy the posts. But, as posters, we like to read too! So, we are proposing a little contest to bring out the competitive spirit in our followers. Each comment made on the blog will be read, analyzed and cataloged and the funniest comment or the longest comment or the most unique comment or person who comments most often will win (ok, the actual rules are in the formative stages!!). In the end, what will be the reward(s)? Well, the winner(s) will get bragging rights and a gift from Italy (I proposed a tiara but was out-voted again). So stretch out those fingers and get to tapping on those keyboards…see you in Italy!
Giacomo preparing for the trip...
Giacomo preparing for the trip...
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Trains, Planes and Automobiles
Last Friday we made our final journey to L & L Travel and Robert and his “babies” helped us with all the final details of the trip. There were train tickets and plane information, itineraries and car vouchers. Now all that stands between us and Italy are a few days, and lots of packing, unpacking, rethinking and repacking. Our cameras are charging, our books are downloaded and all of our toiletries have been shifted into 3oz containers. Let’s grab our Italian-English dictionaries and head to the airport! "Hey! Those aren’t pillows!!"
Thursday, August 12, 2010
The Countdown...22, 21, 20....
The Joy is in the Journey. It is the motto for this group of veteran travelers.
Our journey started over 300 days ago. Ok that’s a long journey, but there was a lot of packing and planning, emails and Euros, reservations and routes, suitcases and shirts. We took to our treadmills and walked into town to prepare our bodies, read to prepare our minds and dreamed to prepare our hearts. Now our suitcases have been packed and repacked and in 3 short weeks the adventure begins. We will visit Peggy’s, eat gelato, see the Roman ruins, eat gelato, visit old friends, eat gelato, view the Last Supper, eat gelato….
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