Sunday, May 27, 2007

Ah Assisi....



Ciao! And Happy Memorial Day, if you’re reading this in the U.S. – and are you sure you have enough food to get through the day, as we know what happens with a holiday in France, don’t we??

Well let’s see now, when last I wrote, I believe we were attempting to recover from the COOP adventure on Saturday night?! Whew! Not sure we have, as of yet! At any rate, a quiet evening (thankfully!) after we got back with all of our groceries and settled in to our apartment. Sunday morning dawned, and we were able to meet our hostess, Rebecca – an ex-pat from Chicago who fell in love and married Stephano, an Italian farmer. They now have two little boys, and he farms and she runs the Agriturismo – when she’s not making soap, wine, olive oil, etc. She was able to provide us with a special connector for the phone, though, that enables us to hook up the computer – YEA! It’s really S-L-O-W – slower even that the last place, but at least it’s a lifeline to the rest of the world! The other thing that they have here is SAT+ TV – which is truly ODD. (I’m just upset because I was able to get Eurosport 1 and 2 yesterday, and then last night, poof! - gone! Now I can’t get them at all! Very upsetting!) But this TV has something like access to 500 channels – from ALL over the world! And, while we can only get some of them, I have now seen TV from Iran, Sudan, Lebanon, Greece, Romania and Bulgaria – and those are only some of the countries! The Romanian channel looked like it was Lawrence Welk – with a hat ... truly a hoot, but as I say, if I can’t get Eurosport, we will entirely miss the French Open, which I am indeed going to miss!!

At any rate, moving back to yesterday. I wanted 1) 10,000 steps, and 2) not too much car time to rest my back (sounds odd, but walking has never bothered it!) So, we decided to drive the 5 km or so back into Assisi and stroll there. We had been to Assisi two or three times before, seeing the churches, so really had no need to do that (and supposedly here, if you’re in shorts, it’s No-Go into the churches, although our shorts are longer than some of these young people’s skirts! – and as it was definitely warm, (in the 80's) we were definitely in shorts!) So, decided to forego the churches in favor of strolling. Parked the car in the Piazza Mattiotti parking garage, which is at the top of the town (good for walking in, NOT for walking out...Much of central Italy has built over their Roman origins, (which is our favorite part) so we went looking for the remains of the Roman amphitheatre. Only thing left is the wall – but it is a lovely wall, and now part of a restaurant and hotel. Then strolled into town. As I say, we’ve seen Assisi before, but always coming up from the churches. As R says, the eastern end, where we were, was incredibly beautiful! Lovely ancient stone buildings, incredibly well-kept, with lots and lots of colorful flowers everywhere! (See pictures...if we can get them to upload!) R wanted to go into the museum, which wasn’t much, but is actually part of the old Roman town, excavated, way below street level. Very damp and musty smelling, but again, fascinating to walk on the street that Romans walked on! From there we decided to get lunch, and found a little place on a side street (by this time, the tourists had arrived en masse – or is it “en busse” and things were getting crowded!) R had a very odd Insalate Cesar (Cesar salad) with cucumber and eggs and something that looked like a cross between our bacon and Italian pancetta, but he enjoyed it. I had the bresaola (is there a rut here?) but this time it was served rolled up and stuffed with what had been described as gorgonzola cheese (but wasn’t) on toasted croutons. The cheese was very mild, so unless it was a very young gorgonzola, that wasn’t the cheese – but it was terrific, and made for a perfect size lunch ... that and the gelato I had afterward – and why is it that I always manage to get chocolate somewhere about my person when eating gelato? Is this enough, we ask ourselves, to change flavors to something a little easier to get out of clothes?? Hmmmm....Back to the apartment about 4 so that R could make pasta sauce! As he said, making pasta sauce in Italy is a bit like carrying coals to Newcastle...but it was GREAT, and the apartment had such wonderful smells! Spaghetti bolognaise (sp?) (which, since our adventure in Bologna I’m not allowed to use anymore) has always been my favorite comfort food – and while I didn’t really need any comfort food at the moment, it was a GREAT change from our standard cooking menu (without a microwave or an oven, things really are limited to what you can do on top of the stove – and as this particular stove has burners that don’t really regulate the flow of gas, it’s difficult to do things like simmer...) At any rate, really enjoyed our plates of pasta, and have enough (of course) for left overs ... for the next several weeks!! A storm moved in late afternoon, and we had a lovely gentle rain – as well as some thunder and lightning; just beautiful! Quiet night, and now we’re up and getting ready to face the week! Today we’re going to do a drive to Bevagna (where we stayed with Mom several years ago) and Spello, which apparently has the best Roman ruins in the area! So – more later!!!

Much love, and happy holiday to everyone who is having one!!
m

We're BACK! ... or just MY back...

Ciao!

It is now Saturday evening, and we are settling into our new Agriturismo, on Monte Surbiso, immediately behind Assisi. It is a lovely place – once we were able to find it! (Absolutely the worst directions we have ever seen; all written, not a map, with places like “T-intersection” not identified clearly, and my personal favorite, this gal actually labels round-abouts as “stop lights)...But the agriturismo itself is great. Spotlessly clean and modern; lovely big bedroom and huge bathroom with BOTH a shower and a jacuzzi tub! Nice living room/kitchen area. No stove, but a 4-burner cooktop; small fridge; nice new washing machine! It does, however, SMELL like a farm, which is what it is ... but hopefully we’ll get used to that “horsey” smell soon! Present of homemade wine, fresh eggs, lettuce and honey awaiting us! Very nice! But, to go back a day or two...

Last Friday, as we were getting ready to leave Ravenna, I bent over to get something out of the suitcase, and suddenly was grabbed in the lower back area and couldn’t move! Have never had any lower back problems whatsoever (other than the odd bout of sciatica, which this definitely was not!), so wasn’t sure what was going on! But it REALLY hurt! I was amazed! Took lots of ibuprofin, but didn’t seem to get much better. So, on Wednesday, decided that enough was enough, and I wanted some medical advice. (Actually what I wanted were some hard-core drugs to stop the pain...by this point, while I could walk with no problems at all, sitting or lying down was excruciating!) We have an international travel policy with HTH Worldwide, which we have never used before. (It’s really for traumatic injuries/emergencies, and if we needed to be medivac-ed back to the states.) Was able to contact them on Thursday, and through their website, found an English-speaking doctor – but the closest one was in Florence (within 100 miles included Bologna, which R refused to consider...that “bologna factor” strikes again...Florence, and CROATIA! So...called the guy in Florence, and he actually answered the phone! What a concept! Made an appointment for the following day; 12:40 p.m. So, off to Florence we were going. Figured we needed to leave about 8 a.m. to allow plenty of time, but we were ready by 7, so decided to go then ... which is a good thing we did, as otherwise, don’t think we’d have made it! While the distance on the map as the crow flies isn’t that far – no crows in this crowd, for sure! It took us 4 ½ hours over the mountains (absolutely beautiful roads and mountain passes; national park; all curves; but boy was that bad for my back!) The doctor’s office is RIGHT downtown; easy to find, albeit tiny, situated (fortunately enough) above a 24-hour farmacia. Drove into Florence, parked the car near Santa Croce, and headed in. Were early for the appointment, but he was seeing patients on a first-come first-served basis, and we were the second ones there, so not bad at all! Other than the fact that it was probably in the 90's in Florence, and every English-speaking person in Europe seemed to be there that day! What a ZOO! Dr. Stephen Kerr is a Brit, with a very busy Italian practice! Lots of referrals from all the colleges who send their students to Florence. Nice guy; young. Examined me and determined that it was most likely muscular, and prescribed high-dosage ibuprofin, muscle relaxers and tylenol with codeine for the pain (Yea!) and also got me in to see an Australian chiropractor – right away! So, left his office, walked downstairs to the farmacia, handed them the notes from the doctor, walked out with the above drugs for 18 Euros for ALL three ... (That’s even less than our usual deductible per prescription!) As I needed to take the ibuprofin with food, and we hadn’t had much to speak of, we went to our favorite pizza place in Florence; Pizza Piccadilly. Just a hole-in-the-wall, but good pizza, by the slice. Then we headed to the other side of the Arno to see the chiropractor. As it was Friday, the chiropractor wasn’t working from her office, but was at home, but nicely enough, had agreed to see me there! What a hoot! She’s Australian and suffered a mid-life crisis, sold her chiropractic practice in Adelaide and moved to Florence to study singing! Really a neat gal ... and what a great chiropractor! Discovered that I had really pulled the large muscle that holds the ribs in place, and was all out of whack! Adjusted lots of things, and what a great improvement! I still have a considerable amount of real discomfort, but for the first time in a week, I can sit down – and lie down! What a concept! Which was good that she did that, as it actually took us 5 (yes, FIVE) hours to drive back to Monteguiduccio! Actually made it out of Florence across the Ponte Vecchio without really stopping to look at jewelry! (I know – I must be hurting!) Did insist on a gelato stop, though, before heading back to the car. And, with the drive, we got back by about 7 – 12 hours, round-trip! Whew! Can only say that we will be thinking twice about spending any time at all in Florence (other than Fedex, of course, and the chiropractor, who I want to see at least once more...) – just WAY too many people, and much too hot! We did catch a wonderful rainstorm as we were driving back through the mountains, but it didn’t get as far as our Agriturismo; too bad! We were totally exhausted by the time we got back, but fortunately had some leftovers so we didn’t have to cook too much; also cleaned out the fridge! I went to bed in bed last night, but sometime in the middle of the night ended up in the living room, pushing two chairs together around the large ottoman, and sleeping there, as the bed MUCH too soft.

Up fairly early to get packed and ready to go. Didn’t have all that much to do, and were done by about 9; had to be out by 10. Headed down to the clubhouse to settle up the bill and also check email and post last blog about 9:30; ended up on the computer until about 10:30; sure those folks will be glad to see the end of us!! From there, headed toward the coast, as we had 5 ½ hours to kill before we could check in at Agriturismo #2, Brigolante.

Joined the coast at Fano, and headed down the beach route, paralleling the main highway, looking for a nice place for lunch. Found a great place, right across from the beach (and the beach here, by the way, is none of that lovely soft sand that we had in Rimini – this was ALL stones; looked VERY uncomfortable to sit, lie or walk on!) Lovely day; felt like in the 80's; not many people in the water, but more than a few folks on the beach ... pebbles, I should say! For lunch, I had “the usual” ... bresaola with arugula and parmesan; R had a plate of spinach! He thought he was getting a spinach salad – instead, he got just that – a plate of cooked spinach! He loved it, though it was WAY too much green stuff for me! (I prefer mine either fresh or with a bit of cream cheese, some breadcrumbs, etc...) For mains, R had gnocchi – light as a feather (and I usually don’t like “dough lumps”) with a cream sauce; I had the raviolinni (little ravioli) filled with ricotta and pesto; a fresh tomato sauce with bits of ham covering...but the portions were HUGE! Wish we could have taken them home with us!! But everything was GREAT! Decided then that we’d better cover ground, as while it looked like we didn’t have too far to go, our prior day’s visit to Florence taught us that it takes a long time to get anywhere on the back roads! So, onto the autostrada south, then west, as we headed toward Foglio and Assisi.
Again, beautiful countryside and roads; lovely rainstorm, washing everything clean! But finding this place?? Whew – didn’t think we were ever going to find it. R absolutely foaming at the mouth over the instructions. Finally – and I mean finally – we found the place. Fortunately for Rebecca, the lady who runs it, she wasn’t there, as R was in fine fettle and breathing flames! Shown to our apartment by the cleaning lady; lovely lady, who speaks no English! Only enough to say Rebecca would be home later. So...we unpacked our things (it was by now after 5:30 p.m.) and we still hadn’t hit the grocery store. Managed (again, thanks to Rebecca’s directions) to miss the first grocery store, so headed on for the second – the “mega” store in a suburb of Perugia, about 10 km away ... which we eventually found...and wow, what a ZOO! The store is a big COOP (pronounced as in chicken...) which corners a large shopping mall...and we can now tell you, absolutely truthfully, exactly what every Italian in central Italy does on Saturday night! They go to the COOP mall and (try to) buy groceries! It was incredible! My ears are still ringing from the DIN! First of all the COOP has EVERYTHING from groceries to undies to television sets and DVDs; there is NOTHING that store doesn’t contain! So now, imagine Saturday night, entire families there, meeting and greeting friends, blocking all aisles – and trying to find food! It was completely and utterly overwhelming! Close your eyes, if you will, and imagine Circuit City meets Costco on Christmas Eve! The lines for checkout were incredible! And they had LOTS of checkers on duty! Did see a new favorite trick – twice! Man goes through with groceries; checks out and pays. Wife of man realizes she needs more groceries and goes back...man with groceries has finished his transaction, and someone else is now ready to check out – but woman with groceries barges in front of new person, and gets waited on! Saw it happen twice in just the line ahead of us! UNREAL! A new (or could be old, for all we know!) Italian pasttime! At any rate, it was such a din, and SO overwhelming, that we bought what we thought we needed – enough for breakfasts, and for R to make pasta sauce, and another dinner or two, and then when we have time to think about it, we’ll put together a second list and head to the smaller market (which I now know where it is...) and get the rest of the things we need ... not sure if I could handle the COOP again!

So ... made our way back to the Brigolante (MUCH easier once you’ve done it!) only to find that we have no telephone access (have telephone, but no plug for computer...) yet again, and will have to work that out with Rebecca to use the office phone ... what a PAIN! And, as she’s not back yet, that will, of course, have to wait until tomorrow. Have decided that tomorrow will be a fairly easy day, as I want to get a little extra recovery time for my back (and I can’t take the muscle relaxers or the codeine and drive). So, will drive the 5 or 6 km back into Assisi (have now seen it from EVERY possible angle!) and put on our 10,000 steps there! Looking forward to it, as we haven’t been to Assisi in four or five years!

So take care, dear friends, and we promise more pictures tomorrow!
Love,
m
We

Saturday, May 26, 2007

The visit continues...

Ciao!

We are combining two days together – Wednesday and Thursday, as Wednesday was a fairly light day, and today, a day off! So! Yesterday! Headed out after breakfast for the Frasassi caves. Had planned on touring them, until it occurred to us that we had forgotten jackets or sweaters – and at a constant of 60 degrees or less, figured that wouldn’t be a good thing! So, instead, we wandered some beautiful small roads, and ended up having lunch at a wonderful town called Mondavoli (figured anything with “Mondavi” in it had to be good...) and it was Great! Lovely little town center, with great walls (and great view) all around; just my kind of place! Had a great lunch of salads – caprese (mozzarella and tomatoes) for R, and (what else!) bresaola with parmesan and argula for me, and various crostini (little toasts with interesting things on top, such as mushrooms, zucchini, pancetta...) to share; gelato for me for dessert! Then headed back to the flat for a quick nap. Decided, in view of the large lunch, to just munch for dinner – a great picnic! Cheeses, salami, prosciutto with wine! Who needs anything else? Besides, we had to be ready for the UEFA Champions League game from Athens; AC Milan vs. Liverpool; VERY important! Problem was, I am SURE that I saw that the game was advertised to be on at 7 p.m. – but when we turned on the TV, it wasn’t there! Turns out, it didn’t start until 9:15 p.m.!! [Note from Robert: Margaret spent the entire time between 7:00 and 9:15 surfing up and down the channels. And I mean surfing – not stopping on any channel for more than a minute.] I had all but given up hope of seeing anything by that time! And of course, it didn’t end until almost 11, and AC Milan WON, 2-1! R didn’t think it was a very exciting game, but I didn’t care what kind of game it was, just as long as AC won! And they did!!

This morning, we decided we deserved a day off, and that being lazy on a warm, sunny Italian day in the countryside wouldn’t be a bad thing! So, that’s what we’ve done! Lots of reading and very little else! (How boring! Nothing to blog about!) But I’m sure there will be more tomorrow, so I’ll sign off until then!!

Much love,
m

Editor's Note: I threw my lower back out last Saturday, and have been gimping around ever since ... finally got medical attention in Florence yesterday (4 1/2 hours there, 5 hours back...) so a great story to tell -- but also saw a chiropractor in Florence, and am ON THE MEND!! So, will catch you up in the next edition!! Ciao from La Marche, and onward to Umbria!!
Love,
m

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Italian commentaries continued...




Ciao!

Could these Marche roads get any smaller, we ask ourselves? YES, is definitely the answer! Try San Leo!! After another great Italian-style breakfast of scrambled eggs, tomatoes, salami & cheese (may do this at home...) we headed to the club house to post our blog ... took awhile, as we wanted to include pictures, and I also had to make an extra trip back and forth, as R forgot the list of Earthlink numbers that he uses for local connections...at any rate, FINALLY found the tennis scores from Sunday – and YES, Roger beat Rafa on clay at long last! (Found out that he won yesterday, but didn’t want to take the time to get a score, so it bothered me all day...) To make a comment on Italian TV – which is all we can get here at the Agriturismo – some of the commercials are hilarious, even without understanding Italian, but the programming primarily consists of 1) talking heads (in Italian, of course); 2) cartoons (and “Tom and Jerry” ARE funny...) and 3) game shows, which we do not understand! The Italian sports report yesterday morning gave the following: Calcio (soccer; seria A & B); YEA JUVE!; motocross (because an Italian was competing); America’s cup (again, because Luna Rossa is competing); and formula 1 racing – that’s all Ferrari...and that was IT! So...tomorrow night, however, I think we may be getting the soccer UEFA Champions League game from Athens on TWO stations – could it be because Liverpool is playing AC Milan?? Okay, enough of Italian culture for the moment; back to the road to San Leo.

San Leo is reputedly the “best” castle fortification in Italy. By that, I’m assuming Alcatraz on a mountain top – and there it was!! Truly unreal; very amazing. And there is a VERY narrow road looking like it was built right out of the hillside, to get to the town; about a lane and a half wide, very winding. Lovely little town – drove through it (took pictures of the vista, which includes the Republic of San Marino) and then parked the car to start the walk straight UP to the castle – but R spotted a small road that looked like UP it went – so we took it, and YEA – talk about saving steps! R measured the altitude gain on GPS, and it was 2,000 feet from town to top ... or rather front door; greater, if you went to the top of the castle. (I know we want lots of steps, but this was WAY over the top, even for me!) Got up there just as they were re-opening after lunch ... and the two employees who worked there must have fussed for 10 minutes of more as a small group gathered with the HUGE key to the castle! Key itself must have weighed 3-4 pounds, and was about 10 inches long – but they could not open the door! Finally, another employee came up who got it open – to a round of applause, of course! To be honest, I found San Leo incredibly depressing. The stone is lovely, but what went on there ... I don’t do torture at all well, you see, and certainly don’t need any visual aids, thank you very much...On top of that, I REALLY cracked the top of my head on a low doorway ... as R says, I spend so much time looking DOWN to make sure I won’t break or sprain an ankle, it really took me by surprise! Sat on the ground for a few minutes trying to collect myself; decided I’d rather not collect myself there, thank you very much, and we headed back down the hill. I would have liked to stop for gelato, but figured getting home would be the best thing all around...so today is a non-Gelato day! (What do they say ... a day without gelato is like a day without sunshine? Or something like that?!)...obviously one of the basic food groups!

Got home around 4:30 and found that even with it being really HOT outside, our incredibly thick house walls kept the inside nice and cool! Sat outside in the yard for a bit before preparing salads of tomatoes and cheese for starters. Then R made chicken in a white wine/cream and mushroom sauce; green beans for veg. It was GREAT! (Figure that the fruits, veggies and meats probably don’t have nearly the chemicals that they do in the U.S., which may account for the taste differences!) There is something SO wonderful about sitting outside on a chair with a good book, and having your husband call out “dinner’s ready!” Now am I spoiled, or what? It was my turn to do dishes, however...[Note from Robert: And it seems I use a LOT of dishes when I cook!]

So that’s about it for today, friends! Tomorrow we were thinking of the cave at Frassatti, but may just take a day off to enjoy our Le Marche house and the beautiful sunshine!

Love to all!
m

Tuesday, May 22, 2007




Ah, Belle Italia ...

Got up this morning (Tuesday) to write the blog, and guess what? No hot water! Now, if this hadn’t been a shower/bath kind of day, it probably wouldn’t have mattered ... but, it is! So, R went down to the club house (we say down, because it is not only down hill on a very windy gravel road, but then you have to walk down flights of steps to get to the house!) to find help. Brought back a nice older lady who speaks no English (which matches my Italian) and she and R looked around and apparently a switch had been thrown (rather like the fuse box) so now we just need to be patient, and hot water will appear! Oh well! Will give me more time to blog! Just found out that R has met a neighbor! He went down to the club house (it was about 7:45 a.m.) and no response – so he drove back, and met the lady with the black dog picking flowers – and brought her along! At any rate, just hope for hot water!!

Okay, so, yesterday...I made scrambled eggs using our farm-fresh eggs, and we had those with a plate of salami, cheese and tomatoes for breakfast – Yum! Who could ask for more? Then we headed down to the club house to check email and post the blog ... takes SO long on dial-up, especially with the pictures! (Just took a quick break to get a quick shower/bath, while we had hot water! Turns out it’s hot water on demand...and I needed some!) By that time, it was 10 a.m. and we wanted to spend the day in the Repubblica di San Marino (RSM); an incredible place! When we drove through there and had lunch on Saturday, we bought a book about it and have since learned that they are, indeed, independent, and have been since the 12th century! They were founded by a monk escaping the clutches of the Catholic church, who holed up on a mountain top. Over the years, others of like mind followed him, and the premise of the Republic is that they are FREE – beholding to no one, and here they remain, all 23 square miles of it! My question was, how did they not manage to get swept up in the ensuing years, especially when Italy was first being put together (a loose confederation of city-states and districts). Well, apparently Napoleon came through there, and was granted hospitality – and was so taken by the people and their spirit, that he left them alone! And then, when Garibaldi was threatening to take San Marino, Napoleon III sent word that if the Italians attacked San Marino, the French would come to their aid! And so, they remain, one of the world’s smallest countries! They have their own stamps, and ostensibly their own currency, but in reality, they use the Euro. They make their own laws, and their own wine, and they hold an observer seat in the U.N. They also have three really great towers that beckon we tower-baggers from a distance – and you can see the Republicca from MILES away! Took some truly winding roads to reach RSM, but made it at last, around noon. As we’d had such a big breakfast, though, we decided to tour and not eat. Now remember, these towers are on HILLS – 3 of them – talk about a hike! We went first to #2 (as it was closest); climbed ALL the way to the top – the views were spectacular – rather like being in an airplane! Also a bit scary, as there were some interesting holes in the floor ... going straight DOWN! From #2, walked to #3 – but turns out, this is a trick! NO DOOR into #3; it’s just a tower! Who knew?? (I know who knew...those other people who went down and then WAY back up to a tower with no door – but couldn’t be bothered to let us know, to save a few steps...) But, regarding steps – R is still not happy about 10,000 of them per day, BUT, he did say it was doing him good, so that while he still hated to exercise, at least he was doing it and it was paying off!! So...from #3 we headed all the way past #2 to #1 – stopping along the way to buy two new dish towels, as the Agriturismo only has one, and who can cook with only one dish towel?? #1 was lovely, as were the views – this time having to literally go up rungs of an iron ladder to get to the top – now that was exciting! After that, we decided we’d had enough touring (over 9,000 steps by then, just in San Marino!) so we headed back to the car, stopping first for a brief pick-me-up of gelato! (Great lunch!)

Now, R has had the idea that as everything is so lovely in San Marino, that they would have a good supermarket, so now we went looking for one. Found one advertised on a bus-stop, and actually ran into it on our way down the hill towards Rimini; inside of a shopping mall! Strangest mall – the parking garage was closed, and there weren’t too many cars around; found parking on the street. Walked in, and wow, had the mall almost to ourselves! Everything open, it was about 3, but very few people there! Did our grocery shopping, which will probably take us through the rest of the week. Then headed home along the coast route and then heading inland; seemed the fastest, considering we had food in the car. Got back around 4, and settled in for the night. R made dinner – he had planned on cooking chicken, but wanted to do a primi plati (first course) of the artichoke ravioli we had on hand, along with pesto. By the time we had finished that (TRULY delicious; the fresh pasta cooks up in literally minutes!) we’d decided that was dinner! So saving the chicken for tonight...

So ended our lovely day in Le Marche (and RSM)! It is so amazing at night to turn out all the lights and just lean out the window and watch the lightning bugs (fire flies?) – R offered to try and catch one for me, but I declined – they’re much happier being free! Just like the people of San Marino!! Here’s to them!!

Take care, lots of love and more later!
Ciao!
m

Monday, May 21, 2007

Clean laundry at last ... and almost dry!




Ciao!
Well, the GREAT news is that we have all clean (and almost all) dry clothes! And never have four loads of laundry taken SUCH a long time! First of all, it takes almost an hour to wash one load – and as the machine is so tiny, it doesn’t hold all that much – and then we have the problem of where to dry things, as there is no clothes rack or line ... hmmm...We have a nice table and six chairs right outside our place, and this morning I washed off the bird doo so that we would be able to spread out clothes. Worked well, as it was lovely and sunny. What do other people do, do you suppose? If we were in Switzerland, spreading out clothes like that outside where it could soil the landscape, I’d probably be arrested! Left the clothes for a time to head down to the “club house” (their word, not ours). It looks like there are three or four separate hotel-type rooms there, in addition to the apartments, but right now they’re officially closed for the season. There is also a lovely pool there, but so far, not warm enough to tempt me into the water! We were able to use the phone line, though, to log in, check email and post yesterday’s blog. Had a nice breakfast of orange juice and the pie that we’d been given yesterday; made for a great breakfast! Still have all those fresh eggs, though...maybe scrambled in the morning. Once we’d finally gotten the laundry and computer settled, we decided to head to Urbino, which is about 20 km away.

Made it there in time for lunch. Urbino is a lovely renaissance city, totally rebuilt in the 1500's by the Count of Montefeltro. The Duke’s palace is reportedly one of the best in Italy. It is, however, on top of a hill – and the parking, like many hill towns in Italy, is all outside the walls ... so, quite a schlep up that hill! (Robert thinks that uphill steps should count for more in our 10,000 steps a day ...) First we ate, at a little café right in front of the Duomo. We both had salads of greens, tomatoes, corn, olives (all of mine to R yet again!) and prosciutto; served with several different kinds of bread, as well as olive oil and Prosecco vinegar! Great! From there it was right across the plaza to the Duomo, which is really stunning. It’s relatively new – rebuilt in the 1700's after being destroyed by an earthquake; large, bright and airy, with lots of white plaster and several domes. Right next door is Urbino’s biggest attraction, the palace...and, as this was the last day of family week in Italy, we got in free! What a deal! And, while the palace itself is really lovely – huge, high ceilings, some decorated, and an immense inner courtyard, it was completely filled with flat artwork, one of my least favorite things ... Oh well! They were also having a special exhibit called Ori e Argente (Gold and Silver), with religious pieces from reliquaries, chalices and even flatware on display, borrowed from churches and museums all over the area; really something to see! After this, we decided we’d seen the highlights of Urbino, and that we would head back to the apartment. Fortunately, this walk was downhill! The odd thing about today in Urbino, though, was the lack of people! Anywhere! We walked street after street with NO body on them! Even odder is the fact that this is a university town – so where are all the kids?? There were a few people in the Duomo and Palace, but that was about it! Not that we’re complaining – just found it rather odd.

Got back around 4, and settled down to our books and glasses of wine – not a bad way to spend the afternoon! Dinner was beef tips over rice (Italian rice is bigger than Japanese or American rice – surprise!) and little peas. R did a great job figuring out how to work the stove – it’s a 4-burner gas stove, but VERY touchy in trying to adjust! And now, we’ve just been out to watch a fireworks display from one of the local towns! Neat! Don’t know what it’s for, but sure that there is a feast-day around here somewhere! Tomorrow I think we’re going to head back to San Marino to explore a bit more and see more of the sights! So, more then!!
Much love,
m

Note: The fireworks went on for almost an hour, and were spectacular! And this from a Disney-kind of girl! Also, there are LIGHTNING bugs EVERYWHERE -- haven't seen those since I was a really small child!!!
m

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Wow, what a place!

Ciao!

Well, here we are in Le Marche! And WOW, what a place! I am writing this off-line, as we don’t have a telephone in our apartment – but there is one in the so-called “Club House” near the pool that they will let us use, so I have hopes that while I may not be able to get to much email this week, that I will be able to post as we go along! So...let me take up from yesterday, when I last wrote, which was I think with a long walk along the beach in front of our Rimini **** hotel. Walked for miles along the beach (paralleling numerous hotels, I might add...) Most of the beach near Rimini is private – that is, the hotels have things staked out with cabanas and umbrellas; our hotel was Beach #8. Lovely beach; nice and sandy, lots of shells, with the next stop Croatia! Lots of crabs too, as we found one and I was worried it would be interfered with as it was washing up so high. So, asked R to move him back into the water – and when Robert picked him up, it bit him! So much for good deeds! At any rate, a lovely walk. Returned to the hotel for dinner in the dining room; R wearing his last clean shirt (that’s another story...) It was a set menu, starting with a nice table full of various antipasti. I had tomatoes, mozzarella, grilled eggplant, a wonderful zucchini and cheese dish and I don’t know what all. For starters, we both had baked canelloni, which was wonderful! Then for mains, R had what was called “Angler fish”; he said it was great, and I had the beef (coward that I am...) The beef was excellent; thinly sliced with lemon and olive oil. Dessert for Robert was fragola (strawberries; really red all the way through!) and I had (what else!) chocolato gelato! Yum! Only problem was the entertainment at night! Across the street from the hotel was a disco...hmmm...went on until well after midnight, and even with double-glazed windows and ear-plugs, you could hear the noise–oops, excuse me! music... Up early this morning, and went for another long walk along the shore. Beautiful and bright and warm; just wonderful! Left the hotel around 10 and headed for the Republic of San Marino – and it’s WONDERFUL! Who knew?? Lovely country (about 23 sq. miles); even Robert was very impressed! Lots of towers and fortifications – hopefully we’ll be able to include a picture, but not sure at the moment. At any rate, we parked and walked into town; just lovely! Had lunch – pizzas for both. Didn’t want to stay too long, as we had all our stuff in the car, but will definitely return there this week for a good look around! We then headed toward our Agriturismo near Urbino; check-in time was 2 p.m. R guided us through some of the most beautiful countryside we’ve ever seen! Just magnificent – nice small roads, lots of poppies (yes, they’re here in Italy, too!) and incredible views of the countryside; very wooded, lots of birds and trees. (Just heard on the TV news that Juventus won their game today, which means that they are back in Seria A (the ONLY place to be), after their one-year suspension for match fixing ...) YEA! So, wound through the countryside, following the signs to the Valle dell’Olmo Scuro in Monteguiduccio. Found the check-in place (no one there, but there was a phone number, and fortunately, our phone had a signal!) and a nice man guided us to our apartment. It’s wonderful! He showed us the important things (all in Italian, of course) and then left us to our own devices. There are several apartments all built around a VERY small church (which I understand will be in use tomorrow morning!). Some of them are rentals, like ours, but there are also several that look to be occupied by entire families! And YEA!!! A WASHING MACHINE!! It’s VERY odd ... and a Whirlpool on top of it! (It has a vertical tub; you put the clothes in and then latch it, then go from there...So far, I’ve done two loads and am on the third – each load taking about an hour each! (I’m trying a new button this time, which hopefully will shorten the time ... ) And there is no real clothes rack to hang things on, so clothes are ALL over the apartment! (Bob and Kate, reminds me of your room in Siracusa!) So, left clothes washing to head to the local grocery store – which IS OPEN ON SATURDAY AND ON SUNDAY! What a concept! The French should learn something from this – but probably won’t! There is a large supermarket near Urbino, so picked up wine, water and groceries for dinners the next couple of nights. The apartment is really ill-equipped as far as cooking equipment (pots/pans/dishes) goes (SO glad we have some of our own things, regardless of how much it weighs to schlep), but we’ll manage; may have to buy a pyrex dish; don’t know yet. One good thing, though, is that whatever we buy we’ll be able to take to the next two places and use! And, when we got back from the grocery store, surprise, there was a basket full of freshly picked cherries on the step! R is in HEAVEN! He has been sighing because he couldn’t get cherries in Paris – but now he’s happy! Put the undies outside on the garden table and chairs in the sunshine to get a head-start on drying, and sat alongside them with glasses of wine and good books. What a way to spend the afternoon! As the daylight faded, we moved inside, and I made us a very light dinner – bresaola salads on argula with parmesan cheese; YUM! R then did dishes while I dealt (yes, again) with laundry. And, just a few minutes ago, while I was writing this, our nice little man came back with another basket, this time with fresh eggs in it! Let’s hear it for scrambled eggs for breakfast tomorrow! So, will close now, with the hope that this will be able to get out to you in the morning. Not sure what we’re up to tomorrow, as it’s Sunday, and we may just hang-out (and dry laundry...)!

So that’s it for now; more later!
Much love,
m

NOTE: No pictures today, as we are struggling with on-line...maybe later today or tomorrow!
Stay tuned!
m

Friday, May 18, 2007

Yes, we have no Bologna, We have No Bologna Today!






Ciao!

Well...where were we when last I wrote? Sorry for missing a day, but to be honest, after yesterday, was NOT in the writing mood! Up early yesterday, and checked out of the Hotel Duomo in lovely Orvieto. Started down the hill, and decided to take some back roads heading toward Florence (when you almost have to get on the motorway, as there is a fairly big mountain range to traverse). Headed toward Todi, skirted Perugia and headed past Lake Trasimento; all lovely; lots of flowers, and it was a cool and cloudy kind of day. Got on the autostrada below Florence and put pedal-to-the-metal up to Bologna. Not the most pleasant driving, as speeds are high and trucks are MANY. If you hesitate at all, you may find yourself stuck behind a slow-moving vehicle, unable to pull out and pass, as traffic rushing by at quite a clip (only two lanes). So...off at Bologna exit and headed into town. Quite an ordeal! It is one of those cities that tries (in vain) to limit traffic in the central section – except for people going to hotels, taxis, buses, miscellaneous merchants and everybody else who feels like it ... Oh yes, bicycles and motor bikes as well! Robert did an incredible job of guiding us through the maze (and do not even ask me how many traffic laws I broke along the way ... oh well!) and to the street (?) with our hotel. Really wasn’t a street, more like an alley – grafitti everywhere; truly unattractive. Additionally, we hadn’t passed anything really attractive the entire way into town! The manager of the hotel was out in front, and when we asked him about parking (by the way, I had checked the hotel’s website the night before to bone up on parking. I quote: “Large parking area for hotel guests.” ) – turns out, there is no parking! The only parking available is in the blue zones around the hotel, and you can only hope to find one, otherwise, you’re out of luck! There was an underground garage some distance away. R dropped off two of the cases while I stayed with the car, and then I went in. Hotel looked OK, but to be honest, 1) it was in a grafitti-filled alley (albeit next to a sex shop, so that couldn’t be so bad, right?) 2) no parking, and 3) the entire area around the hotel was incredibly unattractive! So, we bailed ... yep, that’s right! Got the suitcases, said Sorry, this won’t work! and headed out of town. As far as we were concerned, the further away from Bologna we got, the better we liked it! Weren’t exactly sure where to go next, so looked at the map and headed to Ravenna. I had always wanted to visit Ravenna and see all the mosaics. So, there we went! Took lots of lovely back roads, and arrived in town about 5:30 p.m. Found a very nice hotel – Hotel Bisanio, near the center of town, and found that yes, they had a room at the inn! First room we saw was dark and VERY smokey-smelling; second room was right at the top of the hotel, lit by two big windows. BIG bathroom – jacuzzi tub AND a shower stall! How impressive! Dumped our things and headed out for a look around town ... and it is lovely! Think there must be some sort of restriction against motorbikes in the central area, as we were overwhelmed by the SILENCE ... NO engine noise! How un-Italian! However, there are bicycles galore! Never saw so many people – old, young and everywhere in between, pedaling through the streets! They also have public bicycles available for tourists through the information office! How neat is that?? Most of the sites had closed by this time (going on 7) but the local museum was still open, and we were escorted in! Had the place to ourselves – us and the security guards; very interesting place! I think this is one of those places where everything of any value at all has been deposited. We saw things ranging from Roman and Etruscan relics to 18th Century porcelain and tapestries! Rather eclectic, but fun! Then started looking for food ... not all that much to chose from, and there was some sort of Diadora rally (turns out a car race started from Ravenna this morning) with LOTS of loud rock music – which always sends us in the other direction! (We are SO old!) So, tried another direction and found a lovely restaurant – mostly serving seafood, as Ravenna on the coast. For starters, R had a small pasta with fresh tomatoes and anchovies; I had a terrine of vegetables with mozzarella and tomatoes – and folks, JAY, this was GREEN JELLO! That’s right, that old aspic which I have been avoiding since Switzerland, has now turned green and caught up with me!! Ugh!! We both had their beef main course, cooked perfectly and served with a potato gratin; just great. R had the prize dessert – Moscato semifredo with passion fruit; I had home-made gelato, crema, chocolato & nut; all terrific and served with an excellent bottle of local Emilia-Romana red wine. Then back to the hotel where I was asleep before I could even do the blog for the evening...but to be really honest, I wasn’t in the best blogging mood after our adventure in Bologna! I’m sure that there may be wonderful things there, but for us, no grazie!

Up in the morning, and were at the central ticket office at St. Vitele when they opened. (There is SO much to be said for being earlybirds!) Saw first the Basilico di St. Vitele, which we had to ourselves;; superb mosaics from the 5th century; really spectacular. Then headed over to the Mausoleo di Galla Placidia (which normally requires reservations “in season” but we were lucky!!); also had to ourselves, and also stunning. There is a mosaic school and restoration facility in town, and we were able to watch a young artist working on a mosaic; really interesting! (I keep thinking that I’d love to do our backsplash in Tucson in mosaic...not sure where to begin!) Wandered through the various other mosaic sites and churches in town; really, truly wonderful. I thought about t he mosaics we’ve seen in Monreale (Palermo) and Cefalu (Sicily), and it’s so hard to remember, but they are all breathtaking!
Wandered back to the hotel, as it was now heading toward noon, and our checkout time!

So...into the car, and out along the coast road to Rimini, our destination for tonight. (Thought as we were by the sea, we should splurge, and I got a GREAT rate on a terrific 4-star hotel last night on the web!) Arrived about 1:30 and had a couple of glasses of Prosecco on the veranda (near the outdoor pool, not to be confused with the indoor pool...) while waiting for our room. We are on the 4th floor, and our view of the Adriatic is absolutely spectacular! R napping at the moment, I’ve got the Giro d’Italia on TV and Wi-Fi on the computer! Wow!! Am planning on walking up Sleeping Beauty in a few minutes to take a walk along the Adriatic. Don’t see many people in the water, but a couple of surfers are out in wet-suits ... are there sharks in the Adriatic?? So! We will be lazy and non-culturally inclined this afternoon, before we head out to our first Agriturismo tomorrow, via the independent country of San Marino! Fun!

So, more later!
Ciao!!
m

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Those Etruscans were really something!




Allo!

Wow, found a GREAT place for dinner last night – small place on the main street, Corso Cavour. Lovely stone vaulted interior, divided into three different rooms. We both ordered bresaola salads with arugula and Parmesan (I really do need to learn how to spell that...) as starters, then R had cheese-filled ravioli with a creamy tomato sauce, and I had tagliatelle with a bolognaise sauce; both delicious. Interesting to eat real Italian pasta – it is just al dente, that is chewy, if done properly; think we tend to overcook pasta most of the time. Also had more Orvieto Classico (white); lovely meal; enjoyed every bite! Have decided to return there for dinner tonight, as the menu has some really interesting things that we’d like to try. They use truffles on several things, which I am definitely in the mood for; also, something called “chicken bites” with artichoke; sounds good! So, on to today!

Our breakfast spread wasn’t nearly as elaborate as we had in Rome; got really spoiled over all the choices there! Basically juice, drinks, cereal, croissant (the Italian version, with sugar on them) and other breads, as well as several cakes as well as ham. I had some ham and pound cake; sounds strange, I know, but it was a great combination! Then we headed out to the local tourist office to purchase the Orvieto Unica tickets – one ticket good for admission at about 10 or 12 different sites; a terrific deal if you plan to see lots! From there, we headed to the archeological museum – and it was GREAT! Very small place, but very modern displays and lighting. Everything there was found either in Orvieto or the immediate surrounding area, most particularly in the Necropoli Crocifisso del Tufo, the local Etruscan necropolis; amazing collection! As this museum was right next to the Duomo, we revisited this, with a particular visit to the Cappella di San Brizio, a small side chapel that is incredibly ornamented with frescoes begun in 1447 by Fra Angelico; definitely worth a visit! And all this time, setting up in the main square right in front of the Duomo, were the police! They were EVERYWHERE! We asked several people, including those at the tourist information office, what was happening, and nobody seemed to know! Just that it was some sort of celebration for the police. (Not that we’re paranoid or anything, but...) They had set up 6 or 7 big tents with chairs (with names, and I didn’t look for ours) as well as what looked to us to be police recruiting booths; then came the police band; very formal. These poor folks were all left standing out in the sun for at least an hour before things even got rolling! We didn’t stay around to see exactly what was happening, though, as too much to see...We did, however, see the police Lamborghini...and no, I’m not joking! Here was this amazing car, painted in the police blue and white with all the appropriate markings! Makes one wonder 1) where the budget came from if it was purchased, and 2) what the guy did if it was donated! At any rate, it did cause quite a stir, as everyone wanted to take pictures of it! So...after the Duomo, we booked our places for the 11:15 a.m. Orvieto Underground, and still had time to squeeze in one more museum, Museo C. Faina (fortunately, everything so far was in the main square). This was a private museum housing the collection of one man and his nephew, and was donated to the state in the early 1900's. It was housed in the original family home – incredibly painted walls and ceilings – and encompassed lots of Etruscan works, including a huge coin collection, from all over the area. (The display of the coin collection was ingenious, as you would see rows and rows of coins and then you could push a button and the rows would slowly revolve so you could see the other sides! Neat!) Toured the house and the collection, and then headed back to the tourist office to meet our guide for the English tour of Orvieto Underground. Federica was really great. She is a native of Orvieto who took a degree in languages at the University in Perugia. Turns out that thousands of years ago, the Etruscans started digging caves under their original hill-top settlement. These caves, dug out of tufa and pyroclastic ash, are everywhere in Orvieto – mostly under people’s houses nowadays! While originally used for cold storage (constant 60 degree temperatures), workrooms (we toured an old olive mill) and dovecots (allowing pigeons to enter and leave, before serving them for dinner...), they are mostly used today for wine and other storage. She insists that people don’t live in them. She also said that under her own house, they have three levels of cave, and that her mother blocked off one tunnel, as it led into a neighbor’s tunnel! Really neat! (Just mind your head...)

After this, we decided to rest a bit, but Federica had explained to us how to get to the Necropolis, and we wanted to go there. Turned out, it was, of course, at the bottom of the Orvieto hill-top ... which meant not only a down-hill walk, but quite a walk back up! Decided to try it (putting those 10,000 steps to good use...); and it was lovely! We wound around the walk-way heading down; lovely not too steep descent, and right at the bottom was a funky little restaurant! As we had somehow managed to skip lunch, we stopped for drinks and sandwiches – R had mozzarella and tomato on baguette; I had a panino (don’t know the difference between that and panini, but that’s what it was called!) of ham and cheese; both were great! We then toured the necropolis. Interesting, although like a lot of Egyptian tombs, everything that could be moved out into museums has been moved – but the tombs themselves are still standing, and you can wander freely as you want! Just wish we would have brought a flashlight, as these places are DARK inside! Decided then to walk back up, hopefully to avoid what looked to be a lot like rain heading our way – and we did – and it wasn’t bad at all! (Although we both figured that a month ago we’d never have been able to make it – all that walking is really great!) Wandered back into town (stopping along the way for my daily gelato fix...) and back to the hotel, where we settled down for a well deserved nap!

Up now, and planning 1) how to get to Bologna tomorrow (note: Have NO idea what to see or do once we get there, but perhaps inspiration will strike once we get there...) and 2) what to see in Le Marche when we get there on Saturday! I’m just looking forward to the washer, but then you all know that by now, yes?! So, here’s to another incredibly beautiful day in Italy! More later!

Ciao!
m

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Bella Orvieto!




Ciao!

Well, we made it out of Rome! Up fairly early this morning, as we needed to get (re)organized and (re)packed for the next phase of our trip – Rome to Orvieto to Bologna, then the agriturismos. Have to admit that getting organized for a car trip is MUCH easier than getting on a plane; somehow all those liquids and gels do tend to get about! However, still WAY too much to schlep, even if it was just around the corner! Checked out of La Residenza; will definitely want to return there! and around the corner to a very tiny Europcar office. Got the paperwork done, and our car was brought around (probably from the exact same garage we were to have picked it up from originally!) and talk about SMALL! Whew! Our baggage doesn’t totally fit in the trunk, even though it is a 4-door hatch-back!! So, one small black bag on the floor of the backseat. It is a cute, new Fiat with only 6,000 km on it. Drives really well, but wow, are we spoiled from our days with the Ford S-Max in France! And, while the windows are automatic, there is no cruise control, no automatic mirror folding, and only 5 speeds instead of 6! Reverse is, however, at the opposite end of the spectrum from 1st, so imagine we’ll be just fine! We didn’t have the greatest map to get us out of Rome, but R did a great job getting us out. The nice thing about Rome (and several other big Italian and French cities) is that they have ring-roads so no matter which way you go, you’ll somehow finally manage to get to the countryside, and eventually going in the right direction! So, out of Rome and zooming north! Actually have run into some interesting weather! It was getting darker and darker, and finally started to rain! Was lovely! We actually skirted the bulk of the storm, but the few drops we had were welcome, and at least things are now a bit cooler than yesterday!

Orvieto is a wonderful hill-top city about 2 hours north of Rome. We had passed by it multiple times on other trips, but never stopped, and I’d been wanting to, principally because I had read and heard so much about their Duomo (in many large cities, the main church is referred to as the Duomo rather than by a specific name, like St. Peters)...so, booked us into Hotel Duomo for two nights. The city is lovely; even has wide streets (comparatively speaking...) for a hill-top location! Found the hotel easily (just followed signs to the Duomo), and voila (and how do you say that in Italian???) there it was! As it was only 12:30 p.m. our room wasn’t yet ready, so we left the luggage and the car (SO nice to have the hotel deal with the parking issues...) and headed out for lunch and a look at the town. As we were right next door to the Duomo, headed there first thing. It is stupendous; a truly superb church, beautifully decorated and in wonderful shape. On the outside, it is alternating white and black stone, which I believe is also done in Siena – but this has incredible stained glass, and two marvelous chapels, and alabaster is used in some of the windows to let in light. Overall feeling of space, light and peace. WELL worth a visit (Merit un detour) according to Michelin! Then looked through some of the shops (Robert was grumbling...or maybe that was his stomach...) and finally found a little Enoteca on the main square for lunch. R had a small pizza margarita and a plate of sun-dried tomatoes; I had a plate of fresh tomatoes, tuna and olives, and we both indulged in several glasses of – what else? – Orvieto Classico, the local wine of choice! Very light, very fresh; very enjoyable! After that, I of course needed my gelato fix (believe we got through all of yesterday without any gelato! How could that be??) so we found a small place for my normal stracciatella (vanilla with chocolate bits) and chocolato cone; yum! Then back to the hotel – and we LOVE our room! We’re on the second floor (think third, as the ground floor counts as 0) in a junior suite. Lots of room, and a lovely view of the Duomo spires! No wi-fi, though, and no Eurosport; oh well! It was great while it lasted! Rested for a bit, and then headed out into town again. I’m beginning to get the “I-Need-To-Do-Wash” syndrome, but am trying to control it until we get to Bologna (university down; certainly the students have dirty clothes!) Toured the Teatro here – just spectacular! Like a miniature version of La Scala in Milan! (Will include at least one photo.) The thing that we really like best about Orvieto is that it is a beautifully preserved living city! There are cities in Italy – I’m thinking primarily of Voltera – that feel really dead; no life to them at all, not many people walking around (although in Voltera’s case, the incredible amount of alabaster, which I really don’t like, could have something to do with that feeling!) But in Orvieto, the houses are uniformly well-cared for; there are flowers and cars and people everywhere, and lots of little alleys and narrow streets that are incredibly charming! We really like it here! Have covered most of the town, and are putting together our program for tomorrow, which will include Orvieto Underground, where we will be touring the underside of Orvieto’s hill, where the Etruscans first dug their burial places and have been in use ever since!

So, until tomorrow!!
Ciao!
m

Monday, May 14, 2007

Along the Appian Way!




Hello!! It’s our 25th Anniversary today!! And what a great day – in Rome!! But first, dinner last night. We decided to get on a bus and follow it wherever it led – and, fortunately, it led us to the Teatro de Marcellus, near the Tivere and across from Trastevere. Had a nice leisurely stroll and found a small restaurant that looked good. R had steamed artichokes and I had bresaola for starters; I had their great lasagna as a main, and R had spigola (non-Chilean sea bass). We passed on dessert, as it takes many, many steps to take off each gelato! Back home via bus, around 10:30; lovely day!

So, today. We wanted to be at St. Peter’s at 7 a.m. as it’s the only time you can really have the place to yourself. Got our daily metro passes and headed across the river; nice walk to St. Peter’s; SO different from our first journey here, years ago – now there are metal detectors, and screening and barriers like at Disneyland to control crowds! Fortunately, no crowds at 7. Toured the church; again, so incredibly beautiful! I love the domes; it is such a moving place. (OK - R just found “Pretty Woman” in German on the TV, and they have been going on with commercials now for almost 15 minutes! What’s the deal here??) Back to the hotel around 9 for their incredible breakfast buffet – really love this hotel! We wanted to locate the rental car location where we will be picking up the car tomorrow, so after breakfast, we headed out to the commercial gallery at Villa Borghese; nice walk, found the place, got some hair gel for my new haircut at the grocery store (I’m going to try the slightly-spiky look), and headed back to the hotel – passing, by the way, another Europcar rental agency, right at the corner of the block our hotel is on! Decided to check and see if by chance we could pick up our car there tomorrow, instead of the Borghese, and they said yes! Will have to see; will know in the morning! Then we headed up Via Gregoriana, to look at our old favorite Rome hotel, the Gregoriana. It has been totally done to EU standards; was closed for YEARS. Looked nice, but to be honest, now that we know about La Residenza, we’ll be staying here! From the Gregoriana, we were almost at the top of the Spanish steps; lovely view, and no kids sitting there! Where did they all go? Walked down, and ambled down to the Via Del Corso and back to Tritone. Lovely, HOT morning! (10,000 steps done by 10:12 a.m.) Caught the subway out to the Circus Maximus as we were heading out to do something we’ve wanted to do for a long time – walk the Via Appia Antica! (We had walked a portion of it several years ago, but wanted to cover a different section.) The bus took us right out of Rome, and down the Appian Way past the Quo Vadis church. It was quite a walk, but once we got away from traffic, there we were, walking on the original Roman road! There are incredible ruts made over the years by chariots; makes walking difficult! The road is lined on both sides by all sorts of ancient monuments; everything from fragments to entire family tombs, as well as incredibly expensive houses! We walked for miles, and while it was truly beautiful – all sorts of flowers, very quiet (a real change from Rome) it was REALLY HOT as well! Finally got to a main road with bus line ... and it’s amazing how buses work! We waited for over half an hour – and when the bus finally came, there were TWO, one right behind the other!! Got on and headed back to the nearest metro line, and back into the city. Headed right back to the hotel (without even a stop for gelato!!) for our second showers of the day; whew, were they needed! It being by now well advanced in the afternoon, we decided we needed rest – and ambled into the bar (with the most beautiful ceiling in the world!) – where we were presented with a cold bottle of Prosecco, in honor of our anniversary! How NEAT! Needless to say, that bottle never left the room ... By now, it was time for dinner. We headed out yet again, but not far, as R says – the ol’ legs were feeling it! (Stopped counting steps, as the counter went crazy on the bus.) Went to the Café Alex, in front of the Hotel Alexandra. It’s one of the large glassed-in restaurants right on the Via Veneto; pricey but fun! We both had bresaola with rocket lettuce and parmesian cheese for starters, and both had chicken for dinner! R’s was grilled, mine with an almond sauce; both delicious! No room, actually, left for dessert, so instead we headed home, calling it a day – and what a great way to spend our 25th anniversary!!

So, up in the morning and packing and moving on ... fortunately, no airline weight limits to meet! And we’ll see how well our car pick-up works...hoping for the best!!

Take care, and love to all!
m

Sunday, May 13, 2007

From Hola to Ciao!



Hola!
Well, this is definitely a first! Working off-line from my lap while waiting at the Gerona Airport, which is actually quite a nice (and new) smaller airport! We’ve checked in (40 Euros for 5 km of overweight luggage...) They asked us if we wanted to take something out, but what would we do with it then? Add it to our already too heavy carry-ons? I don’t think so! So, paid the money, got our boarding passes (and wondered yet again if this may be out next-to-the-last-time on Ryan Air...) and headed through security and passport control. Interesting side note: I had my little right-size baggie of liquids and gels, and showed it to one of the security guys. He held it up, and then asked one of his colleagues, is this OK? He was assured by his colleague that it was, but it does make one wonder how tightly or how loosely some of these restrictions on carry-ons really are! At any rate, we’re through security and are now waiting at the gate only to wait again once the line forms to get on the plane...oh well! To start the day...got up and out fairly early. There was a very interesting buffet breakfast available at the hotel – included some of the oddest things, like red and white wine, a myriad of pastries (the Catalans must really like their sweets, as the buffet was VERY heavy on them) and what looked like cut-up hot dogs ... didn’t try them, though – still a bit leery from last year’s TDF hotdog in Wintersheim ... thanks, but no thanks! Then headed out to explore the city. The hotel is within walking distance of the city, if you REALLY like to walk. We decided on a 5 Euro cab ride into the Plaza Indepienda ... Now, let me say this – I do not speak Spanish; took a semester in college, but started mixing it up with my French, so quit while I was ahead ... however, Catalan, which is what is spoken in Girona (notice the two spellings: One is Catalan; Girona, the other is Spanish, Gerona...SO confusing!) And the folks here all speak Catalan – it’s like everyone is talking with a lisp! Bar-tha-lona; really! So, instead of saying Buenos Dias, it’s something like “buenoth diath...” Can’t say or understand much; even R is having a problem! Fortunately, everyone is very nice and helpful, even though not English speaking, so we can manage. So, took the cab into the city center, and headed out across the river Onyar to the Cathedral, by far the highest point in town, and always a good place to start. Brilliant morning; not too many people ... then. Got to the Cathedral, and it is lovely; typically Spanish, though, ie. LOTS and LOTS of gold – everywhere! I asked R if it was gilt or paint, and he said that paint doesn’t glitter like that; it was the real thing!

Hi! Back now on Sunday, as the line started up, and you know how airport lines are! Once one person lines up, everybody else follows! So, catching up from la Bella Roma! Ok...the cathedral. Really lovely, and they had HUGE side altars that would actually illuminate upon the push of a button – for free! Quelle concept! From the cathedral, we headed out to the walls. Girona is a walled city, and a huge section of the walls have been preserved and reconstructed; incredibly good job! Beautiful views; lovely gardens and lots of publicly displayed flower-oriented art-work; great fun! (Note to Kathy and John Spiller, whose nephew is a Ryan Air pilot who lives in Girona: You’re going to LOVE it when you come this fall!!) And that’s when we found out that we had hit Girona on the first day of their annual two-week festival of flowers! They were everywhere, and all were open – public and private gardens alike, including some huge signs like “LLIBERTAT” in flowers (Catalan, we think, for Liberty) along the river bank. And with that, were the people! Buses were coming in from everywhere, and it looked like the city was being invaded by tourist hordes! So, walked the walls the entire way from the cathedral, and came down in town, and walked back to the Independencia square. By this time it was approaching 11, and we needed to get back to check out. Fortunately were able to find a cab and get back, check out and head to the airport. Lovely new airport on the outskirts of town. Had about half an hour before our check-in time, but decided to start a line of our own. Checked in, had some lunch – good baguette with jambon & fromage and made our way to the gate. No problems getting on the plane; good flight, and voila! Here were are in Roma! R decided that rather than spring for a cab (my option of choice...) we would take a REALLY hot bus into Termini, the central train station in Rome. Once we got rolling it wasn’t too bad, and the traffic also not bad. Off at Termini, and right into a cab to our hotel, La Residenza on Via Emilia near the Via Veneto and the Villa Borghese. Lovely place! Incredible public rooms; the ceilings are amazing; lots of angels! Our room (#1) is HUGE; the bathroom is larger than some hotel rooms we’ve stayed in! Were also invited to a cocktail party hosted by the management, which started about an hour after we settled in! So, first headed there before going out for dinner. Lovely prosecco, and lots of munchies – pizza, panini, nuts, sweets – and this went on for an hour and a half! They even had a harpist playing, which was amazing! Met some nice folks from Naples FL and chatted about their trip to Tuscany. Then out for dinner – our favorite place, Orso’80! For those of you who are not familiar with this restaurant, we first found it as a “Big Splurge” in the Cheap Eats book by Sandra Gufstafson. Over the years, the title has been changed from Cheap Eats and Cheap Sleeps to something slightly more up-tick – but I noticed in the latest edition that she still raves about Orso’80. It was about a 20 minute walk; we got there about 8:15 p.m. And OH, it’s SO nice that people can’t smoke in restaurants anymore!! YEA! Seated immediately, and ordered the usual – their antipasti of the casa. Counted this time, and they had at one time or another, 14 different places of food on the table...no room at all left over for anything else, including dessert! They had: fried cheese, fresh mozzarella, roasted peppers, meatballs in sauce, beans with tomatoes, cheese with celery, incredibly good melon, prosciutto, marinated mushrooms, fresh-from-the-oven flatbread, and the list goes on; as I say, you really need two tables (which they provide); more food than you can ever eat, and we enjoyed it immensely! Rolled out of there, and started back home ... unfortunately, more up-hill than down, but got home about 10:30 and rolled right into bed ... there could have been an earthquake last night for all I would have been aware of it! Wow, lovely albeit long, day!

Up about 6:30, and headed to breakfast about 7:15 – and WOW, another incredible buffet! HUGE table spread with cold cereals, breads, pastries, juices, cheeses, salami, ham, hard boiled eggs; side table with scrambled eggs (which were GREAT), good bacon, sausages and mushrooms and they were in the process of sauteing peppers, onions and zucchini! Not sure what more they could have added, but boy, what a display! Ate our fill (will there be any need for lunch, one wonders??) Put on my pedometer when we left, and as we’re now back – and it’s 3:15 in the afternoon – I’ve recorded 19,254 steps ... hit 10,050 by 11:15 a.m. Whew!!!

First, we went to the Barberini Metro station and got all-day transit tickets, as we greatly prefer to take the buses whenever we want. Got the Metro there, changing at Termini, and got out at Coloseo two stops later, at, voila, the Coloseum. Wonderful sight, but we were actually heading next door to the Forum. Apparently all this week, because this is Family Week, everything is free! Wow! Who knew?! Walked the Forum from one end to the other, enjoying the ruins and reading in our books. By the time we reached the end, again, the tourists were POURING in! Mental note to self: Next-time, do Rome ANY other time than spring, summer or early Fall! Way too many tourists, and most of them speaking English!! From the Forum proper, we crossed the street to Trajan’s market & forum, which is still under excavation. His column is magnificent! There was some sort of rally going on in front of Emanuel II’s monument, so they had the street blocked off – made for a very peaceful crossing at any rate! From there we headed to the Pantheon, my all-time favorite building and Rome sight. Unfortunately, they were having a mass inside, so we had to wait – took time for some Cokes and a good sit-spot. Then headed to Piazza Navona to see the fountains, but they are working on the central fountain, so it wasn’t operating! It is shrouded in scaffolding! The other two fountains at either end of the piazza are fine, and there were lots of artists displaying art work. (Note: This country is SO civilized! There are actually stores and shops OPEN!! And it’s a SUNDAY!) From there, it was just about time for the re-opening of the Pantheon, so we headed back for a good look around. Really a great building. I always think back to the rainy winter afternoon when we had the place almost to ourselves, with the rain hitting the marble under the oculus! Quite a sight! (This was about the 10,000th step of the day...) Then headed to the Trevi fountain, which was SMOTHERED with tourists, but what could we expect? We were there too! (May get up REALLY early tomorrow morning and out before breakfast to see some of these things...) From the Trevi, we started to walk back UP hill to our hotel. Stopped off at a lovely galleria and bought the latest Andrea Bocelli album that we first heard at our hotel in Orange; lots of neat shops open!! Caught two different buses, one to take us to Barberini from Via Tritone, and the second to get us half-way up Via Veneto. Definitely needed some refreshment by this time, so stopped along the street at a little café. R had a Greek salad, and I had a plate of mozzarella, fried eggplant and tomatoes – YUM! R had two BIG glasses of beer, and I splurged on a glass of prosecco. Then headed back to the hotel, where we are now in the “resting” stage...with all those thousands of steps behind us! (Robert says we don’t have to walk at all tomorrow, as we’re SO far ahead on our steps!) So, now all caught up and get this posted, hopefully with some pictures! Blogs are SO much more fun when they can be illustrated!!

Take care; more later!
Love,
m

Friday, May 11, 2007

From French into Catalan!

Hola! (Not sure if that’s even how it’s spelled!!)

We are now in Gerona, Spain, settled in to our hotel, fed and watered and ready for tomorrow! Wasn’t sure, though, if we would ever make it here...so will begin the story of the day...Got up early, had breakfast at the hotel, and were ready to go by 9. Really hated to leave Hotel Arene; it was lovely, and the people were some of the nicest and most accommodating we have ever experienced! They couldn’t do enough for us, and I’m sure we pushed the envelope, especially with asking about hairdressers and laundries! Had the car delivered, and made our way (slowly; didn’t want to leave any paint on those narrow Orange streets!) out to the motorway. It was only about an hour and a half to Marseille – until we got into town, that is. The motorway lets out, actually, not too far from the Marseille train station – but boy, once you get there, wow, are they doing construction! The entire block next to the train station (which used to hold most of the rental car locations) is now closed down and under construction, as is the train station itself. Found ourselves really lost trying to get to Europcar (thanks, Ryan Air, for cancelling our flight from the airport 20 miles out of town, where we were to spend tonight at a hotel right across the street...) – turns out that a temporary building holding all of the rental car agencies has been set up (and strangely, not on the Marseille map or on GPS!) – and a big building for all the rental cars; just park wherever, and they’ll somehow find it! We were lucky to find some very nice folks to help us get to where we needed to go. At one point, I dropped R off with the luggage and then went to park the car – he thought he’d never see me again! Will really miss our Ford S-Max! A bit too big for comfort in small towns and on small streets, but incredibly comfortable! And I want you to know that right to the end, I still was having problems confusing Reverse and 1st! Then the train station ... you know, catching trains is NOT like catching planes. No need to get there ahead of time, but sure enough, we were there 4 hours early...and the facilities – well, suffice to say it’s not where I’d chose to spend a day! Had some lunch first – pizza, and then sat down to read books and wait ... and wait ... and wait...Finally our train was given a platform, and we (and our incredibly heavy luggage) were on our way! Fairly good train (not TGV) to Montpelier, and fortunately, our connection to Spain was just across the platform; YEA! Really enjoyed the entire train ride. It follows the coast most of the way around and into Spain, and the Med was lovely; lots of flowers (including my poppies!) Very interesting crossing the border. First the French police came on board to check passports – and actually hauled off someone who apparently didn’t have one – or one they liked! R very upset, as this is supposed to be the EU ... however, as soon as the train passed into Spain, on came the Spanish police, again checking passports; looked like they also found someone they didn’t like, as we saw them headed off the train with someone else! Fortunately, they seemed to like ours ... French police barely glanced at them! Oh well! Then we were in Spain, and not long after, to Gerona. Got a cab at the train station to our hotel; clear on the other side of town, but very, very nice ... one out of two ... they have Wi-Fi, which I’m on now, but NO EUROSPORT! What is WITH these people!!! As it was already 9:15 p.m. we decided to eat here at the hotel. They had a lovely buffet set up – stewed beef, paella, potatoes, vegetables, salad makings, cheeses, Serrano ham, melons; YUM! Only difficulty – this is Catalonia, you know, so Spanish doesn’t work here, and neither, it seems, does English! At any rate, R tried Vino Roja hoping for red wine ... turns out that here, it’s Vino Tinto; Vino Roja (rose) got us some very interesting rose; tasted almost like Sangria, although we saw it poured from the bottle...Are now up in our room drinking a bottle of the wine that we got with Alain and Graciela. As it is, we’ve had to give away several bottles – not because we wanted to, but because there was no WAY we could drink everything we bought, and it’s NEVER going to fit in our luggage!!! R is going to repack for us in the morning; he’s the champion packer, and I know he will get everything just right ... we are dragging quite a bit of laundry detergent in the form of tablets, which I refuse to give up!! So, that’s about it for now! Sorry there aren’t any pictures, but I don’t think you would think much of the Marseille train station! Take care, and hopefully, more from Italia!!
Much love,
m

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Even the Tour de France gets a day off...





Allo!
Well, the Brucato’s are having a day off ... in response to the Gentle Readers who were having a difficult time keeping up with all of our activities! Well, possibly not a day off ... To pick up last night for dinner ... we went out around 8 p.m., having had rather a late lunch, and found a nice little place, Chez Daniel, on a side street near the hotel. R was the hungrier of the two of us, and he ordered a set menu with a starter of moules gratinee (mussels with a cheese sauce) followed by rouget and rice, both of which were terrific! (See pictures.) I had a salade verte and a pizza marguerita (tomato sauce, fromage and jambon); just right for me! As we were eating, another couple came into the restaurant, and we ended up having a lovely evening together! They (David and Pat) are a newly retired couple from Sheffield, England, and are touring the south of France on a motorcycle while contemplating a retirement location! Such fun! He is a professor emeritus of Economics at University of Sheffield; Pat is a nurse; both great fun to talk to! Did get me thinking, however, as we get ready to schlep luggage to Italy, how much exactly would fit into a BMW motorcycle...

So...up by 6:40 a.m. this morning, as we (for some unknown reason; just my obsession...) wanted to be at the laundromat by 7, when it opened. R had been collecting change (which was good, as the change dispenser wasn’t working...) and we got everything going. At the same time, we’d schlepped over our mail-ables; all the stuff we wanted to send home via French post. Left the laundry drying (which took a LONG time...) to be at the post office when it opened at 8:30 ... problem was, there were already about 25 people in line before us! Whew! Waited while the line processed through, and surprised a French postal worker with our request for a large boite for les Etats-Unis! (The French post office has boxes in several sizes, and you pay by the box; good deal!) Unloaded the rest of our French books and maps, as well as the incredible accumulation of “stuff” that we always manage to pick up. Got it (hopefully) safely on its way, collected the by-now dry laundry, and voila, two jobs accomplished! It was also market day in town, and wow, what a market! All kinds of stuff, from foods – produce, cheeses, fish – to soaps and makeup and wonderful French fabrics and clothes! I so wished Anne would have been here, so she could help me figure out how much fabric I’d need for tablecloths and napkins – would also like to recover some furniture; most of the prints are so colorful; very cheerful! However, Brucato rule that NOTHING was going to be purchased today that couldn’t be consumed by tonight ... so we both did without...if only for the sake of the luggage! Got back to the hotel and asked the wonderful receptionist (everyone here has been incredibly nice!) if she could recommend a hair dresser, as my hair just WAY too long...and I’d asked R if he’d like to shorten it up, and for some reason, he declined!! The receptionist walked me around the corner to the shop that also cuts the hotel owner’s wife’s hair and another employee. They were very kind, and (all this in French, mind you, as neither of the gals in the shop seemed to speak English...) told me to wait and they would be happy to help! So...there is something truly nerve-wracking about sitting there waiting ... for something to happen to your head...I kept telling myself that it was “only” hair, and that it would/could always grow back, but that isn’t really confidence-building, is it? At any rate, this was 1) the fastest haircut I’ve ever had, (that gal’s hands and scissors were flying!) and 2) the quietest haircut I’ve ever had! Except to ask (via meaningful hand gestures) if I wanted it cut over my ears, that was about it! And I love it! So again, thanks to Joan Mould, who gets her hair cut all over the world and never worries about it! You gave me the courage to do what you do – SO relieved! By this time it was late-lunch time, and we went to the little restaurant next to the hotel. Lovely patio; lots of shade and good wine! (Chateauneuf-du-Pape in Red for R and White for me! Thought as we were in the area, might as well...) We both had breasola salads with parmesian cheese for starters. I had the fusilli with tomato/basil sauce, and R had the seiche (cuttlefish) with petit pois (little peas) and rice. He said it was great; I was leaving it up to him! Have now retired back to our room for some well-earned R&R. Don’t have to leave too early tomorrow, but do have to organize and pack, and then head to the train station in Marseille to turn the car in ... train to Gerona, Spain, and stay overnight before our Saturday flight to Roma! So, signing off for the moment! More later!!
Much love,
m