Italy: Day 9 (Venice!)

August 29, 2005

Jul. 28, 2005

Thursday morning was another up early day. I don’t think I went swimming in the morning, but we got off to Venice as early as we could (7am?) There were only 8 of us going. Weavers, Amy & Kathie, O’Neals, judiang & me. That seaside drive killed the desire to drive around & go on long day trips. I think it’s good that the other couples didn’t go – you need more than 5 hours in Venice for the Romance.

The drive, calculated to be 3.5 hours, wound up being 5 hours, nearly. Only one turn astray when we tried one garage, only to decide to park closer. We found a garage that was €19 for the day (Gah!) and where you left your keys in the car (Gah!) Very bizarre.

We bought €10.50 24 hour ferry/bus tickets since we didn’t know what the day was going to unfold into. Then we took the #3 ferry to the Island of San Marco to see the cathedral & Doge’s palace.

The ferry took 45 minutes & was very warm. (The weather was getting warmer each day, as were the nights). We got to San Marco & looked around. Lots of cool Mardi Gras masks for sale, but I didn’t buy any.

When we got to the cathedral, I was amazed by the mix of marble! Very pretty & colorful exterior. So unique! Took photos, of course. Going inside wasn’t to be – the line was major long.

So, we wandered a bit in the square, then got lunch at a cafe at the square. €4 ham, cheese, lettuce sammich on floury white roll. €2 for water, too. WE sat on the steps of the square & munched (after being chased away by the cafe ladies cuz we were originally blocking their path to the outside customers). Not a great sammich, but today was not a food day.

Gelato from another place at the square (€2 for vanilla & hazelnut – the vanilla slightly lemony). And then some folks wanted to go to the Doge’s palace. When I thought the fee was €5.50, I thought I might, but no, it was €11. Not interest. Judi had already bought a ticket, however, and ended up going with Tammy, Amy, Kathy & Dave. Mary, John & I decided to walk through the streets & I’m glad I did.

Venice is like no other city on the planet. And best of all, it didn’t stink! I wasn’t looking forward to being in a hot place that smelled, but it was quite fine.

We stuck to shady alleys and enjoyed the city sights. We saw a long train of gondolas ride by – watched for a bit, then walked on. 6 people was the max for any gondola. And they go slow – without trying, we outpaced them.

We consulted John’s compass and found a way that seemed to get back to the Grand Canal and in the process, walked by an Internet Cafe. We still had 30 minutes before meeting the others, so I got to go in, read an e-mail from mom, reply, and do a very quick update to my LJ.

John popped in to see if I was done and I was. So I paid €3.90 for the time and moved off with the others.

John & I checked out some of the gondoliers, testing out the prices. First guy said €80 per ride and only 6 could fit. Next one had a tour for €315. The next, €120. This last group was the persistent one. As we walked back to the Doge’s palace, one of the gondoliers came by with a deal – we said we couldn’t go cuz the other 5 were not with us. He took that as a barter, but we finally fobbed him off.

Soon, a second gondolier came with a very special offer if just the 3 of us went right now. We tried to explain there were still 5 not with us. Including a husband & a wife. Finally, a third gondolier came to us saying we three could ride for only €25 a piece. He even said he was the owner & couldn’t go lower due to company policy, but we had to go right then. Once again, we tried to explain ourselves, then made our escape.

So John & I were ready to gondola ride. Meanwhile Tammy & the girls wanted to shop. Guess what happened? Shopping. It wasn’t easy to get out of Calle de Rossi with everyone because of all the little shops, but we finally did and got back to the Grand Canal. We saw a gondola company we’d not seen before & they were €80 a boat. So €20 a person.

The ride was the highlight of the trip. Our gondolier was funny & bragging about having 3 bottles of white wine already. He explained that gondolas (gondole in all the signs) were asymmetrical – left side is longer than the right. So it always lists to one side, until the gondolier gets to his position. I asked about right handed gondolas, but he said there were none.

Judi & I were in one with the O’Neals, the others were in the lead gondola. Our guy showed us Casanova’s house & Marco Polo’s island. They took a slightly longer route, he said, because they weren’t tired. There weren’t a whole lot of folks doing gondolas that day for some reason. Probably the heat.

When the ride was over, we headed back to the ferry. Of course, shopping happened. And getting everyone to the ferry was a real chore – we kept losing people. Finally, John, Judi, Dave, and I got onto a ferry & called out that we were leaving. Mary & the girls soon joined and we had the hottest 45 minutes of the trip. Gah!

We returned to the garage and thankfully our car was still there. We then headed for the autostrade & got separated when John took a wrong turning & we didn’t follow. Still, we got back together & headed home

A stop @ an Autogrill was our supper. I got pesto on that wriggly short pasta & could easily have gotten pesto that bad in the States. Still, the fruit tart was good. A glass of Sprite finished off the meal. It was €11.50 or somesuch.

It ended up taking us 4.5 hours to get back & poor Dave was a bundle of nerves after the trip. Italian drivers are mad. We saw so many swevers & had some close calls too. But we got home safely & I could go swimming finally.

I, of course, took LOADS of photos. I shall include some here.

The Grand Canal. Difficult to steer gondolas on the Grand Canal, but this guy is doing a decent job of it.

San Marco's
The Cathedral at San Marco. This photo doesn’t do it justice. Each column is made using different types of marble. The colors in person were phenomenal.

Doge's Square
The Doge’s Palace & square. Pigeon heaven.

The infamous Bridge of Sighs. It connects the Doge’s Palace (left) with the prison (right).

Venice!
John Astin visits Venice… OK, so not really. I just now realized that guy sort of looks like Gomez from the Addams Family TV show. Note the canal behind him?

Gondola!
Judi and I enjoy a gondola ride! Yes, the gondolier is on his cell phone.

Geez, it’s been a month since we were in Italy! *sniff* Still, it’s fun to be back at work, even though I’m snowed under with tech requests. But I’m making progress & I’m having fun with my students. (Physics is still in flux – lost another girl today. Alas!)

Italy: Day 8 (The Cooking Class)

August 25, 2005

Jul. 27, 2005

Wednesday was a goof off day for everyone after that long drive to the seaside. Some folks went off to Cortona and other places around. Others stayed in town. I walked into town with the Fishers and shopped a bit in town. Got breakfast at the patisserie that made our “Welcome to the villa” sweets. 2 croissant thingies filled with fruit preserves. That was only €1.40. Got a bottle of mineral water (fizzy, alas!) for €0.37 – wow! At a small clothing store I bought a beach towel for €3.90. And I got a toy at one of the tobacconists for €1.50 if I recall. I walked around some more and sat at a park where I could write some before lunch.

I walked to Al Viale to meet up with judiang, the Fishers, Jacki & Jo. Gary & Judi ordered the ravioli that I had the night before (still fabbo). I ordered pici with tomato & garlic sauce. It tasted like Gramma’s goulash! (That, btw, was not REAL goulash.) Not as good as the ravioli, but very fine.

Oh! Forgot to mention my gelato for the day. Before getting to the restaurant, I ordered some vanilla gelato from the only place open that was selling. It wasn’t homemade, but was still good. And only €2.50 or so.

Anyhoo, after lunch we walked back to the villa. Man, that last hill up the drive is a killer! But we made it and I got into the pool to cool off before our cooking class.

We left an hour before the cooking class, but it didn’t take too long to get to the house where we were to have our class. At first we stopped at the hotel next door, but then moved on to the right place.

The place was once home to a saint (with her own church in Cortona). The lady hosting the class, Antonella, welcomed us in and set us out back where we drank wine and water (mostly water). She introduced us to her chef, Viviana, and to Pia, the pici master. They brought out oodles of antipasto.

Wheat (some Tuscan style) with carrots & celery, wheat with tomatoes & olives, eggplant, zucchini, cabbage – all with balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, and salt. Plus bruschetta (pronounced with a hard “c” not a “ch”) with tomato & basil, pecorino cheese (don’t eat the rind – sometimes made using the residue from olive oil pressing), and some other stuff that I don’t remember. [Fava beans with the same balsamico/olive oil treatment as the others.] It was all good, especially the first one and the eggplant. Secret to eggplant & zucchini is the deep fry before doing the coating. Oh, and before the deep fry, salt & let the moisture come out. The wheat was a real surprise – rice like texture, but different taste. All was yummy.

Next, Viviana showed us how to make bruschetta while Antonella translated. Garlic is the key – rub the bread with a piece first. I volunteered to try to make one and of course, forgot the garlic! The others in the class (Fishers, judiang, Tammy, Ruth, O’Neals, and Jacki) reminded me before I put the oil on. Don’t think I’ll ever forget that step when I try it at home!

The bruschetta a success (Mary volunteered after me) we came inside to learn how to make & roll pici (thick spaghetti – pasta fresca, not secca (dry)).

First, Viviana went through the steps and Antonella once again translated. Then it was our turn. I’d never made pasta before & Pia had to come and repair mine, but all it took was a little more olive oil.

We let the pasta set for a bit (resting) and Antonella took us over to the area next to our “classroom” & Viviana showed us how to make a simple tomato & garlic sauce. When that was done, it was back to our dough.

We rolled our dough & put olive oil on it, then sliced, as Pia showed us. While we attempted to roll our own, Pia made a really long pici – 10ft? Just for grins, really.

Pia was this little old lady, almost bent double. She still makes fresh pici for her family every week. Viviana was an older lady too, but I don’t think as old. Antonella has high school aged children – and even grandchildren, but through her husband’s children from a previous marriage. He is an amazing artist with wood carving!

Anyhoo, back to the class. They took some sample pici from each of us to boil later. However, the pici we were going to have for supper was made by Pia earlier in the day.

We returned to the other room where Viviana made crostata with wild plum preserves (from Montepulciano). She and Pia put the lattice on (which wasn’t easy because it was so warm, the dough didn’t stick to itself well) and I was pleased to see they weren’t putting lettuce on (that’s how it sounded when Antonella described it).

After the crostata lesson, Antonella took us on a tour of the house. Their chapel is actually a holy place because inside their canvas & stone altar is a relic sealed by a Pope from the 16th century or somesuch. The chapel/tower was from the 13th century.

We went out back & saw her mother and two kittens (one with a bent tail). Oh yeah, there were baby kittens in a box in the chapel – so cute!

Antonella took us up to the tower next and we sat around enjoying the view, the breeze, and the drinks (wine & water) though not necessarily in that order.

We talked with Antonella while the meal was being cooked. We decided that, at that point, we’d already gotten our money’s worth, but we went downstairs when it was time for pici. Pici doesn’t wait for you – you wait for pici!

They had a table set for 9 when we got down – in the same room where we’d made pici (mess since cleared by Pia). We had salad first – tasty greens, salt, balsamic vinegar & olive oil, I think. Then came the pici with a Tuscan meat sauce that was out of this world!

She brought out our pici with the tomato sauce that Viviana had made, and it was pretty good. We did well for first timers!

Dessert was crostata with little cookies. I didn’t care much for plums, but the crostata was very tasty. Will need to try with unsweetened peach preserves or similar.

The final part of the meal was lemoncello – an alcoholic drink that tasted like lemon meringue pie – with a kick!

As we were eating our meal, Antonella had a CD of oldies (US) playing. Once done with the meal, the Fishers danced for us to “Stand by Me.” Then Gary & Jacki danced. And finally, Gary pulled Antonella onto the impromptu dance floor and they danced too. It was a wonderful celebration of food, culture, learning, and life. Probably the best night of the trip.

Back to the ranch (after a slight detour where folks didn’t listen to me and went to the wrong exit – silly people!) I got into my suit & swam lots. Yeah!

As with my other Italy posts, I have photos to go along with this one. I took some photos of Foiana della Chiana this day, but I’ll save them for Friday’s post. (The Friday of the trip, that is. No idea if I’ll post tomorrow or not.)

The tower at Antonella’s place.

Antipasto! From left to right, fava beans, cabbage, wheat with tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, and wheat with carrots.

Viviana makes a vulcano.
Antonella translates as Viviana makes a volcano with her flour. Judi watches earnestly.

Pia rolls!
Pia rolls pici while Antonella translates.

Relaxing on the tower.
Judi and I and Marcia enjoy the view from the tower. (That’s Gary’s wine I’m holding – honest!)

Our pici! Doesn’t it look simply scrumptious?

BTW, if you examine the door behind Antonella and either of the chefs – that was hand carved by her husband. It had stained glass in it. And it’s their front door. The furniture in the house was almost all carved by him, and it was all amazing stuff.

Italy: Day 7 (Cha-cha-cha-cheena!)

August 22, 2005

Before I get to writing about our Seaside Trip, I’d like to wish a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to elsaf! She is a very patient woman (or at least, I hope she is) because she’s not getting my present until Labor Day Weekend…

Jul. 26, 2005

Tuesday, our day at the seaside. We got an early start and headed West towards Volterra. The goal was Cecina (CHAY-cheena), a seaside area, but Volterra was on the way. We ended up getting off of the freeway and onto the country roads and that was our undoing. What should have been a two hour trip took over three hours and was on the mountainous roads. We drove through Volterra (but didn’t stop – boo! That was my only suggestion for this trip) and got trapped in Sienna (another day trip that got scrapped) for awhile. (Note, following the signs for San Francesco will take you around a circle – S.F. is most likely a church!)

We finally made it to Cecina and found parking after awhile. The beach was awfully rocky, but many of us stuck our feet in the water. It wasn’t the Mediterranean, but it was close!

We ate at a cafe – I got a sandwich, but a few people (like judiang), ordered pasta. Guess what? Same pasta as at the Big Apple! They just put it on plates. So Judi got to have lasagna bolognese again. Ha! Important lesson – if you eat at a sandwich shop, order a sandwich. If you’re at a pizzeria, order pizza. But don’t order pasta – it’s probably prefab food. 🙂

After lunch, we returned to our cars in a leisurely fashion. Since we were already so far east, it was decided to find Pisa.

Finding the city of Pisa was not too hard, however our parties became separated. The Saunders & Fishers got to the city and then our task was to find the leaning tower. This was rather difficult as the signs kept changing & disappearing on us. Finally, Judi remembered her Rough Guide of Tuscany & Umbria – it had a map!

With the use of the map, we got close enough and parked. Then Weavers found us and a bit later, Treons arrived – woohoo! There was argument on how long we were going to stay and thus how long to park for, but many of us set off towards the tower.

The tower is pretty cool to see, as is the church and baptistery. I took lots of pictures (but not the “holding up the tower” shot that so many folks were doing). After perusing the shops (most selling the same tat) Judi and I sat at a cafe & I wrote in my journal while drinking €2 lemonade (fizzy pop).

When our gathering time came around, it took some effort to get all of the ladies (not including me and Judi) out of the jewelry shop, but then it was back to the cars.

We took the A1 back and that ride went much smoother than the ride there. We stopped in town and ate at Al Viale, the place that served Judi the night before. Everyone had fabulous meals and, unless you got steak, had a cheap meal too. Turns out the steaks were €4/hg (hectogram)! Whoops! With the whopping steaks those folks got, it was €35 just for the meat!

I ordered ravioli with butter & sage and had the best meal I’ve had in Italy. It was fabulous. With water, bread charge, and tip, it was under €10! We liked it so much, some of us vowed to return the next day for lunch.

The way home had Judi & I getting gelato from our usual again. I got chocolate & coconut (not as good as vanilla & coconut I decided). Then we returned to swim our troubles away.

I took lots of photos at Pisa (and one or two at the seaside) and have those under the cut. We had such gorgeous weather for taking scenic shots.

Looks like Elsa has her own little street in Cecina. Nicely done, birthday girl!

CDC?
I always get “By the Sea” from Sweeney Todd stuck in my head when I look at this picture.

Corner of Picaso & Fermi.
Elsa’s not the only famous person to have a street named after her in Italy. Enrico Fermi (and, less visible, Picaso) has one too! This is in Pisa.

Watch out, Judi!
Watch out Judi! That tower behind you is leaning a bit!

Baptistry, church, and tower.
The tower’s not the only thing leaning – the baptistery & church were built on the same sandy ground. The tower, as you can see, is the most obvious.

Tomorrow is the first day of school with the kids. I managed to get my first day stuff all done and make the room somewhat livable. The lab still has a way to go, but it’s not near as bad as it was. And I only stayed until 4:50pm. Not too shabby! 🙂 Mother’s resigned to the fact that she must go to Frische’s with me and dad tomorrow night. It’s tradition! (So, Amy, glad you moved away?) Here’s hoping the day goes smoothly and the kids are nice to me! 🙂

Italy: Day 6 (Wine Hunting)

August 15, 2005

Jul. 25, 2005

Today was winery day. The original plan was to go early in the morning, see a vineyard/winery, then have a long lunch, then see another and come back. After the Fierenze trip, however, folks were willing to visit only one. I suggested leaving at noon and getting to a winery by 3pm. Gary was against the idea – wanted to go early and then drink wine all afternoon and evening. They awoke late the next morning, however, so were part of the afternoon group.

judiang‘s swollen feet and ankles said that she had to take a day off, so she stayed at the vill while we all headed into town for lunch. There was a cafe open, so we ordered sandwiches (I got focaccia w/ ham & cheese), sides (I got pistaccios), and drinks (Sprite for me). Good and cheap – €4.50 total.

We drove on to wine country and made our way to Castello di Broglio – the birthplace of Chianti. We had to park near the bottom of a steep hill, then walk up to the castle. It was a long arduous climb, but if I can climb 320 steps, I can do anything!

The castle was medieval and looked like a fairy tale castle. I took lots of pictures. The wine store was back down the hill. I walked and others drove. I tasted every wine and bought two. Granello, a sweet white that I actually liked. Also, I got a chianti for mom & dad. I later got a granello to have at the villa. My wines were €17 and the chianti was €13. We left the enoteca having bought many bottles of wine and headed back with a goal of stopping at an olive oilery/winery that we’d spotted on the way to di Broglio.

We followed the signs and came to a winery and parked. The lady who owned the place said they were closed, but she’d let us come in anyway. She let us taste her wine and (unlike the castle) see her HUGE wine barrels. She had two lovely doggies, too, who were very friendly.

This vineyard/winery was much more like the way I pictured wineries. Beautiful house on a hill, lots of vines and olive trees, doggies, a swimming pool, and a gorgous view. She even rents out part of her property and some of the residents were enjoying the pool.

We headed back towards the villa and went to Castellonuovo (or Newcastle as I dubbed it). The vintner had said all of the restaurants in that town were good. The first one we saw had good prices and some recommendations. It wasn’t open until 7pm, however, so we had half an hour to kill. So what do people do when they have half an hour to kill in Newcastle, Italy? Buy toilet paper, of course!

We, of course, went to the local fromagerie and checked out the cheeses and found the toilet paper. So I bought a roll and also two more of those candy toy things – all for under €5.

When the restaurant opened, I sat with the O’Neals and ordered Tuscan stew and lamb with rosemary. The food was fab and the price reasonable (€15 including charges and tip).

We returned to the villa late, where we encountered a hungry Judi. Earlier, I had been concerned about her getting food (cuz Tammy was vague about supper before we left) and it turns out she hadn’t gone out to the town for food. Dave volunteered to take us out so he could get gelato, so Dave, Mary, Judi and I rode into town and parked near our favorite microwave joint. Those two got gelato while Judi and I headed for the first restaurant we came to – Al Viale.

Two folks (later discovered to be mother and son) were eating when we arrived. The young man served us and the mother cooked Judi’s steaks. I say steaks because we had a language problem. Judi wanted steaks between al sangue (rare) and medio (medium). So he got her two steaks, one of each!

Still, the meal was only €20 and included free biscotti. Judi had leftovers. We then walked back to the Big Apple for gelato and I had the superb combo of vagnilia and cocco (vanilla and coconut). Paid €4.40 for BOTH of our gelatos.

Back at the ranch, folks were swimming, but since we were going to the seaside the next day, I decided to just watch and chat. We got to sleep late and got up early. So what would the seaside be like? Just wait and see…

Speaking of seeing, I’ve got a few photos of our fine time with wine.

Castello di Broglio – the old bit.

Castello di Broglio - new bit.
Castello di Broglio – the new bit.

The gardens of the castle.

John's a little thirsty...
John’s a little thirsty…

Tuesday morning.

Italy: Day 5 [Florence, Y’All!]

August 11, 2005

Jul. 24, 2005

Sunday morning, we awoke early. I put on my swimming suit and swam a bit, then showered and was ready for Fierenze (Florence).

We managed to get to Flornce in good time, but then finding a place to park was a real bear. [Marcia says it was an hour to Florence, and an hour and fifteen minutes to find a parking place!] We did find a small garage and to our delight, discovered that parking was free on Sundays. We headed to the Duomo to meet up with Lisa (formerly Katie) Saunders.

Lisa was there in her P. Hill shirt and judiang was amazed we managed to meet up with not only a P. Hilligan, but also John’s niece! Had to tell her that the meeting was preplanned. 🙂

Several of us moved on to the Uffizi art museum to see the works there. Due to restroom concerns, we actually went through the museum backwards. The piece I most wanted to see was The Birth of Venus by Botticelli. We also saw some da Vinci stuff and Caravaggio works. I bought a photo of Venus and a magnet of Caravaggio’s Medusa. (Interestingly, it’s painted on a shield-shaped object.)

We caught up with folks after Ufizzi and we headed to a cafe for lunch. I ate with Dave and Mary and had spinach pizza (very American pizza, I thought) and fruit juice. Not too bad, and IIRC, around €10.

After lunch, we milled around til we were near the Accademia dell’ Arte del Disegno where David is held captive. We said farewell to Lisa and some of us went to the Accademia. Both the Ufizzi and Accademia cost money (cash). €10 for Ufizzi and €11 for the Accademia (or less, if we wanted to wait in line forever). Most of the Accademia was just “eh” but man, getting to see Michelangelo’s David – wow! The Botticelli was bigger than I expected – and so was David! Truly impressive art.

When we left the Accademia, I saw someone selling the Rainbow Pace flags. I’d wanted one since I saw it in Rome. I decided if it was around €10, I’d get it. I asked and it was €25. I was shocked and walked away quickly. But he found me and asked what I wanted to pay. I said “no more than €10.” He changed to €15, but that was still too high. I suggested 12, he countered with 13. Just then, Jo walked by. “What do you think?” I asked her. “No more than €10” she said. “You offered €12,” he said. I looked in my wallet to see slim pickin’s (€20) but bought the flag. [Wow, my first ever time haggling. I made sure to never look for those flags again for fear of discovering I’d paid twice as much as I should have.]

We roamed back to our meeting place and spied a gelateria nearby. One that Judi was at. She said she got an Internet Point card and pointed me into the cafe. I bought a mint gelato and went to write on my LJ.

We met up again at the steps of the Duomo and headed back to our cars. We decided to hit Arezzo for supper and with a bit of effort, found a place to park. Marcia’s book had some suggested restaurants to eat at, and we made our way there.

There was no one eating on the nonsmoking side, so that worried us a little. However, once we ordered the food and had our meals, we agreed it was a fine dinner. I had wild boar and polenta for supper and it was very good. And it was around €13 or so. I let Judi buy it for me and I paid the tip. We toasted to Ruth and Mike who were celebrating their 40th anniversary. We applauded the owner after supper.

That night, we sat at the kitchen table and crowed about the fab meal. Well, those of us who got there, that is. Ooops! Forgot to mention dessert, which was Fedora Rustica al Ciocolatto. Rustic hat with chocolate, I guess. Twas very yummy! 🙂

So, what did I mean about “those of us who got there”? The Fishers were following Mike and the other two cars were ahead. Mike realized they’d not taken the left turn when they should have, so he got us safely back to the villa. So we waited half an hour for the Saunders to arrive and probably another half an hour for the Weavers.

Humourous aside: I entitled this LJ entry “Florence Y’all” for a reason. Florence, KY had a water tower that used to advertise the Florence Mall, but they got in trouble with the other businesses in town (or somesuch) and had to change it. So they turned the M into a Y’. Heh. It always made me chuckle when I’d see it. (And I seem to recall the Florence Mall had a nice record store.)

So, onto photos. Most are of the Duomo, which is a really impressive dome on a really impressive cathedral. Pink and green – more churches should be pink and green. There’s also a shot of the very narrow streets in Florence. Just picture 4 cars driven by American tourists trying to find parking, when you look at the narrow street shot. 🙂

Here’s Lisa in her P. Hill shirt! Small world, eh?

Couldn’t take a photo of the real David, so I made do with the Fake David.

Tower at the Duomo.
The tower at the Cathedral known for its Duomo.

The Duomo.
The Duomo itself, currently under rennovation.

The narrow streets.
Florence sure has narrow streets! So medieval! So claustrophobic!

In other news, Amy & Rachel come to town tonight! Woot! They’re off to a wedding in Archbald on Saturday, so they’re staying at the Lake while they’re in Ohio. Shame I have to work tomorrow, but I’ll get to spend Friday evening and, I think, Sunday day with them.

Italy Day 4: Villa Francesco

August 9, 2005

Jul 23, 2005

2:13pm We are currently in a Hertz rental car on the way to the villa. Gary’s driving and Marcia’s his second pair of eyes. judiang‘s propped her swollen feet up on my lap and is reading one of my Tuscany books.

The scenery is beautiful. We’re in the 5th car in the convoy. Weave’s ahead of us, then Mike, then Dave, and John S (with Sheila excellently navigating) in the lead.

Despite a wrong turning at one point, Sheila got us on the A1 and we’ve been going now for about an hour. We stopped at a rest stop and I bought a cheapo watch (€12.90), some chocolate cookies, and a chocolate candy with toy – hoping for an Asterix toy. Got a cute little knight on a horse instead. Total was €18.

It’s neat to see the mountains around us. And vineyards. And just now, a huge field of sunflowers.

We’re about to get off the A1 and onto our next road. We’re making progress!

9:40pm “Travel with Tammy! Nothing but the best!” Lordy, lordy, guess what we had for dinner? Well, I’ll tell you about it later. La Grande Mela will remain one of the most memorable experiences of this trip.

[The next day, I wrote more about our day traveling to the Villa. I shall nab some of that for the next bit.]

Our original plan was to take the bus to the Hertz rental place, but they don’t like big luggage on the bus. So then it was taxi hailing time. While we stood across the street waiting for taxis, a groups of children came over and started crowing over Judi and touching her face. She felt one of the girls as she was unzipping her (mine, actually) fanny pack. She pulled back, said “No!” in a loud voice, and reluctantly, the children moved on to find a new mark. Sure enough, the fanny pack was open, but they hadn’t taken anything yet.

A cab was going by the other way and we hailed it, so it U-turned and took me, Judi, and Weave to a street just a couple blocks from the car rental. (To be fair, he was following another cab with some of our folks.) €13 for the ride and tip [which we later discovered to be a ripoff compared to what the others paid for the same journey], and we headed offf with our bags to Hertz.

Next to the car rental was an underwear store with some boxes of Calvin Klein undies. The photos of some of the young men in shorts were quite, um, bold. One guy looked like he had a apir of socks stuffed in his shorts. The store owner kept getting pissy at us if we covered his window, so we stood to the side while folks got the paperwork going.

The garage for Hertz was another block, so we had to roll our luggage around again. It took awhile to get all the paperwork sorted and slowly, one by one, we got our cars. Judi and I ride with Gary and Marcia.

We had walkie talkies set to channel 9 and Sheila kept us appraised of our progress. We missed a major turning, but with a single pullover, they figured out how to get back on track. We were soon on the highway and heading for the Autostrada.

We made it to Foiana della Chiana in good time, but missed the villa. We stopped at a restaurant and John & Gary talked with a local who insisted we turned wrong and had to go back.

The old gentleman was right. Once we got back onto the road, we drove past the place. By the time we did (we were no longer last), others behind us drove onto the lane. A quick turn aound and we, too, had gone up the lane.

Now, we’ve already had a great vacation so far. So what does the place look like? Is it a dump? Or is it as pretty as the photos online? Well, it was neither – it was prettier! Bootiful!

Judi and I have a room on the 3rd floor and we share a bathroom with Jo & Jacki. There are many antiques in the building, including a suit of armor I have named Guido.

They had some pastries out for us and three bottles of wine and showed us where everything was. The pool is lovely. The guest house is awfully nice too. A lovely place to stay.

We sat around eating and drinking (and killing ants) after unloading the cars. Then Mike, Ruth, Beth & I headed to the nearby Penny Market for supplies for the weekend cuz they’re closed on Sundays.

Shopping in a grocery in a country where you don’t know the language is certainly interesting. We found most of what we needed and my little translation book did a nice job helping. The place reminded us of Aldi’s and we even boxed our stuff up, even though they had bags. Whoops!

The total bill for 18 people’s worth of breakfasts, wines and so on? €44! The wine was €1,50-4,00! Other items were similarly priced. And the food and wine has been decent, too. (There was even wine for less, but we were afraid to try it. We might get some now!)

My goal, when we were done, was to go swimming! Mother Nature, OTOH, had other ideas. For the first time on our trip, it rained lots! Folks were out of the pool and under the tent. And poor Trina sat with them, all dressed up and no place to swim!

Thankfully, the rain finally cleared and I got to swim in the lovely pool. And realized that it had been so long since I last swam that my confidence was lower and swimming in the deep end was a little panic inducing. So I stuck to the shallow end and swam back and forth a few times.

After the swim, I got ready for supper and we drove into town. We stopped at the first eatery – La Grande Mela (The Big Apple).

The waitress spoke English very well – turned out she was from Finland. She actually didn’t know much Italian and had some trouble getting our orders.

Now, before we entered, the place was deserted. Getting 18 seats outside was easy. When she passed out our forks and napkins, they were plastic blue forks and paper blue napkins in plastic bags. These were simple clues noticed only in retrospect.

A couple of folks ordered pizza, but most of us ordered pasta. I ordered spaghetti alla carbonara. We chatted and laughed while we waited for food. Judi and I were sitting by Amy, Kathie, Dave, and Mary.

When the waitress brought out the first meals, I did a double-take. Surely not! Must be a joke!

But no, she had 3 microwave lasagnas on her tray and was passing them out. The entire table erupted with laughter. And the laughter continued as more meals were brought out. Judi sent hers back to be reheated (and it wasn’t what she ordered, but they didn’t have a TV dinner for spaghetti bolognese).

The TV dinner wasn’t too bad, and the laughter was precious. For desert, we had gelato – that was actually homemade and very good. (I had chocolate.)

[Tammy ordered an Americano when we were ordering drinks – before the TV dinners ever arrived – and it was apparently the foulest mixed drink she’d ever tried. We decided (Judi and I) that it was the post-George W Bush Americano. Heh. Oh, and Judi and I ordered Bacardi Breezers – peach flavored. Pretty good for alcohol.]

OK, enough from the journal, now onto photos!

If only Judi had been pointing to this sign in the first place, we wouldn’t have missed the villa!

This is the lane leading to the villa. It’s at the top of a steep hill, so not only is it beautiful to look at, but you’re just so pleased to be on nearly level land when you get to this point.

Overhead view of the villa and pool.
They had a huge photograph of the aerial view of the house, so I took a photo of the photo.

De pool! De pool!
Ah, the most wonderful pool in all of Italy! The one I got to swim in!

Grigio gatto.
Grigio Gatto – gray cat. S/he was very friendly and loved to hang out with us at the villa.

PS: Happy Birthday rustyverse!

Italy Trip: Getting There

August 4, 2005

Jul 19, 2005

11:00am I’m sitting at the S’barro seating area at the Dayton International Airport. I’ve got a peach smoothiethat I’m sipping on ($3.80 from Boston Stoker). It’s very tasty. The object of today’s flying? Get to Rome!

[Present day Trina cutting in here. This is the first entry in my paper journal that I kept during the trip. I’m making corrections as I go, but so far, am terribly faithful to it. You can tell by the sheer tedium I’m writing about. I’ll start cutting out the tedious comments as I go as well, or you’ll all be sleeping on your keyboards.]

Unfortunately my last journal was left in a Big Boy in Michigan back in April, so I’ve no idea what I last wrote about in my print journal. My electronic journal is a bit more up to date. [That’s what she thinks!] I decided against bringing my laptop on this trip because of the carrying issue, electrical issue, and lack of ‘net issue. I’ve got lots of electronics with me, however. So boredom won’t ever be an issue. [It wasn’t]

So, what’s up with this trip? Well, back in October ’03 our BW3’s group first talked about renting a villa in Tuscany. We’ve done a lot of plotting and planning since then and 18 of us are going to Roma for 3 days and the villa for 7 days.

I’m the only one taking US Air to Rome – most of the rest are taking Northwest. Even judiang (who is my roomie) is taking the Detroit->Rome leg of it. I’ll be on the same flight as everyone for the way back, however.

[The next several paragraphs are a summary of what we intended to do on the trip. Since I’ll be reporting on what we actually did, it seems a bit silly to include that here too, so I skipped ’em.]

2:20pm Now sitting near my gate (I think) at Philly’s airport. The place is practically deserted at the moment since most international flights leave at night. Mine’s at 6:10pm, so I’ve got a bit of a layover.

5:10pm Still at gate and so is our plane (has been for some time). Judi, meanwhile, got her times confused and left for the airport late. I’m hoping the lack of contact since her call means she’s in the air now to Detroit. Please let it be so!

5:53pm Good news! Judi’s luggage made the flight! Bad news – Judi’s body did not! Crap! So, she’s going to try and get on standby to Amsterdam and then from there on to Italy. If things work out, she can be in Rome by 3pm. Wow! Poor Judi! I’m hoping she can get there OK.

In the Good News camp again, we’re on the Airbus A330 rather than the Boeing 767. That means we get the ability to pick our own inflight entertainment! Sweet. There’s even a remote control! And the adapter for my headphones fits the jacks. Still dunno how well they work. [Got Magnavox noise cancellation headphones for the plane – only $35 at Walmart.]

Movie choices include Hitch and Robots, so I think I’ll pick them. Who knows what Northwest will offer for the ride back.

Oh, interesting sign of the times: The old No Smoking lighted signs have been replaced with “Please turn off electronic devices” signs.

Captain’s just welcomed us. We should be pushing off shortly.

6:25pm Departing a little late – a connecting flight arrived late, but we’re all here now! And we’re off to Rome!

7:00pm Ha! Spoke too soon. Yup, we’re still on the ground, trying to get to the front of the queue.

Now, although this journal entry hasn’t actually talked about the arrival to Rome, I’m going to include a couple of photos from Rome. There will be more in the next post when I write about the arrival.

Judi and Trina in Vatican City. If you look closely, elsaf, you’ll see the Pope in the background, left. He’s spying on us, but we just ignored him.

The Heffalump Monument.
I liked this particular monument. I like heffalumps. And woozles. No woozles on this one, however. And what’s with all the Egyptian needles? The Romans were obsessed, I think.

In other news, work was a bitch today (and yesterday), but my new video card (for my new computer) arrived today and installed nicely. I can now play City of Heroes on my new PC. Also, Semagic is able to detect music from QCD – woot! Oh, and while listening to Information Society, I discovered they did a cover of Abba’s “Lay All Your Love on Me.” Heh, never noticed before.

trinalin thinks things through

Tag: italy