Still more pictures...

Just had a few more pictures we wanted to add that wouldn't fit on the last post!

Take care!
Love,
m

At Home At Last!

Hi from Sunny (and VERY warm) Arizona!

As I’m sure everybody knows by now, we opted to come home early because of (my) illness. (Medical update: Sore throat is fine, and I have my voice (mostly); back continues as a major problem, with my second appointment since Sunday with my new chiropractor...) But, I have heard from folks that I need to “finish” our blog and bring everyone up to date, so here goes! However, as blogs post last to first, this means I would have to work backwards ... which is a bit more than I am up to at the moment, so I’ve made the executive decision to begin from where we left off on Sunday, May 27, which ultimately means that Sunday, June 6 will hit Sunday, May 27 ... so let’s all be confused, shall we?? (And before anyone suggests cutting and pasting...NO, thank you!)

Note: As I was writing up Monday, it felt so VERY familiar, so I went back to check – and found that I had written up Monday, May 28, but had never posted it! (Which explains why when people told me I hadn’t written since the 27th, I was confused...chalk it up to the Ibuprofin!) So, if you’re following us, please read the posting headed “Wrote this but hadn’t posted it; Duh!” FIRST!

Tuesday, May 29 ... on to Florence...and in Italy, always remember, you can NEVER leave early enough!! While we were on the road by 7, and on the autostrada by 7:30 or so, we were actually late for our 10:30 chiro appointment!! Here’s how! There are basically two exits into Florence, Florence Sud (South) and Florence Certosa (North) ... I would like it to be on record that I wanted to get off at Florence Sud ... however, my navigator preferred Florence Certosa, so that’s where we exited. Well, let me tell you a little bit about Florence traffic – especially in the morning. We came in from the north, and had to go over the Arno river. Traffic was incredible; completely stopped. At one point, it took us something like 35 minutes to go something like 1 ½ km...between the traffic, buses, motorbikes and pedestrians, all trying to get through a major traffic circle and over the bridge ... very frustrating, as we watched time tick by! Finally, we decided to forgo finding the chiropractor’s office ourselves, and as soon as we crossed over the bridge, we parked in the first available car park. Paid and then started looking for a cab; which of course there weren’t any...However, the folks at the Jolly Hotel, which was right on the corner, were wonderful – they called a cab for us, which actually arrived. And took us WAY out beyond the train station to the doctor’s office ... we would NEVER have found it on our own! We were only about 5 minutes late – but happy to be there! Had a good adjustment and then got another cab back into the main part of town; quite a walk, to be sure! Fortunately, the rainstorm had brought cooler weather, so walking in Florence was decidedly better than the prior week. Decided to have lunch before heading out of town, and found a nice little restaurant for salads and pizza. To be honest, while I really wanted to look at earrings on the Ponte Vecchio, figured that we would have other opportunities...from which I have now learned that when in Florence, go for the gold NOW rather than later! Found the car and were back on the autostrada about 2. Stopped in Santa Maria degli Angeli (at the foot of Assisi; lovely town) to see the Cathedral; very much worth a visit! They have built the church around some of the sites associated with St. Francis (like the monastary cell in which he died); lovely church! Back to the Agriturismo about 4:30. Dinner was tomato salad with parmesan cheese followed by fresh ravioli filled with spinach, ricotta and herbs and R’s sauce! Yum! Problem, though, as I was beginning to feel like I could be getting a sore throat ... yuk!!

Wednesday, May 30 - Today was the day for Spello and Spoleto – a very hill-top-y kind of day! My throat was feeling pretty raw, and my back was fair to partly ache-y, but figured that a good walk (uphill, of course!) would be beneficial. Found Spello first; quite lovely and small. Parked outside of the walls and then walked up to town through one of the old towers. Just beautiful; sparkling and clean (amazing how rain washes everything!) and filled with flowers. Saw some of the churches, and stopped at a wonderful look-out area for coffee (½" of sludge) for R and hot chocolate for me. Have to say a word here about Italian hot chocolate – it’s unlike anywhere else in the world! If it’s done properly, it comes out in a cup looking like slightly thinned down chocolate pudding – crust on top and all! And you eat it with a spoon (at least I did!) rather than drink it! Felt good on my throat! We then walked down through the main Spello walls, which encompass some Roman remains, including the original sewer system for the city, and three gates; lovely! Then on to Spoleto, which is a VERY large city (for hill-top towns, that is; certainly nothing like Florence!). Found parking along the Roman walls within the city center, and headed up (of course) on foot. Actually marked the place on our Michelin map where we’d parked so we would be able to find the car on the return trip! Went first to the Casa Romana, an old Roman house that is still being excavated. Beautiful mosaics. From there we went to the Roman amphitheatre and museum. Excellent! The amphitheatre had been restored to its original plan some years ago, and while you can see what is modern and what is ancient, they had done a really good job. (A HUGE cherry tree right next to the amphitheatre, FULL of cherries – unfortunately, all those within reaching distance had already been harvested – but boy, if we’d had a ladder...) The museum highlighted Roman and Etruscan pieces that had been excavated in Spoleto and the surrounding area. Gave us some good ideas of additional places to explore. Found a small place for a quick slice of pizza on the plaza, and then headed back to the car. Enough exploring for the day, so home for dinner. By this time, my throat was having major difficulties, and dinner was difficult. I was having such a hard time swallowing, and almost everything we had – anything like tomatoes or sauce; anything with acid in it – really was burning...

Thursday, May 31 - Woke up to a very bad throat and decided to seek medical attention. Our landlady said that her doctor did not speak English, so she suggested going to the Emergency Room of the local Assisi hospital ... joy! However, as I had no idea what was wrong, and if/when it would get better, we decided to take our chances (and NOT another drive in to Florence, thank you very much!). Cute little hospital on the outskirts of Assisi. We found the emergency room and fortunately there was only one other person there. Pushed the buzzer and a few moments later a man dressed in EMT clothing (screaming day-glo orange pants with silver glow-in-the-dark stips around the legs...) appeared and took us in. We were able, through hand gestures and a word or two, to describe what was wrong. Fortunately, I had remembered to bring my passport, and he checked me in. Didn’t have long to wait until an Italian doctor appeared. She apologized for not speaking English, and we apologized for not speaking Italian – but it’s amazing what you can do with hand gestures! She took my temperature (done under the arm; a first!), looked at my throat, ears, felt my neck; all the usual things. Her diagnosis was a virus with severe sore throat and laryngitis, and she prescribed breathing treatments. To get started, I was taken into a hospital room and set up on oxygen, with a mask that contained some sort of chemicals – never did find out what! This took about half-an-hour. My own personal favorite moment came when one of the nurses looked in on me and decided that the EMT (another one; female this time, who R suggested could give him CPR any day...) hadn’t fixed me up properly, and she readjusted the mask and upped the pressure going into the mask – she walked out, and the pressure was so high that it blew the cable off the hose! R came to the rescue and lowered the pressure – only to have the mask blow out this time ... such fun! After this, back to the emergency room for my instructions and release. The doctor prescribed more breathing treatments – about 4 per day, for the next 3 days – and indicated that we were to go to the farmacia in town and rent one of the oxygen cylinders ... and then we had to pay! They were very perplexed by my medical card, and we said it would be fine for us to pay (figuring they took credit cards). Found the payment office (take a number, please!) and the gal checking us out did all these calculations and presented us with the bill – 25 Euros – for everything, including the mask! Whew! Was thinking that you can’t even get into a US emergency room for at least a $50 co-pay, and then you have to pay for service! Unreal! Headed back to the agriturismo, and had the conversation about going home. Very difficult to make a decision, but between my back and now my throat, we decided that going home, if at all possible, would be the best possible thing to do. So, R got on the phone and worked his usual magic. Had to call the U.S. to get United reservations (we didn’t have a local number), and after considerable time, they were able to re-route us from London/LAX to Rome/DC/LAX on Saturday, June 5, for a very reasonable price; very much of a relief, but then we had to get moving. Drove down to Santa Maria degli Angeli where R had found an internet café (because the response time via telephone modem – if we could get out at all, and if the telephone lines were working...was so slow!). I’d never been in an internet café before, so quite an experience for me – especially considering the young American sitting in the next cubicle who was incredibly profane! We managed to cancel what reservations we could, as well as book a hotel near the Fiumicino airport in Rome for the following night. Back to the apartment and I spent the rest of the day in bed...If I don’t mention meals, it’s because 1) I couldn’t swallow, and 2) I can’t remember, so whatever we had wasn’t too memorable! Sorry!

Friday, June 1 – Packed up and were on the road by about 8. I had noticed that I felt better when we were out of the agriturismo, so wondered if possibly I was having an allergic reaction to olive trees, of which I am severely allergic; wondering if it was catching up with me after these weeks in the countryside. Took the non-autostrada route but good motorway route down to Rome; beautiful drive and lovely countryside; just wish I would have felt better! We did run into an amazing traffic jam as we were navigating the ring route outside of Rome! Major reconstruction project; at one point, they were narrowing 5 lanes down into 1, and then merging another 3 lanes into it after that! UNREAL! Am sure there are probably still people from that afternoon caught in that mess! Followed the signs to Fiumicino, the town as opposed to the airport. Found it – it’s on the estuary between Rome and the Med. Not a picturesque sort of town, and R had to go into a farmacia to get directions to our place. And what a place it was! Hotel and apartments – and we got an apartment! Just lovely! Large living room with fully-equipped kitchen (and wi-fi AND a TV with Eurosport in ENGLISH!!!!), nice sized bedroom with patio off the back; nice bathroom! All for 137 Euros per night! We drove over to Ostia Antica (the original port of Rome) and had lunch – again, pizza, with the thinnest crust – it cooked in 4 minutes in the wood-fired oven! Delicious, even with my throat! Had planned on going through Ostia again, but figured I was too tired and cranky and really needing rest, so returned to the hotel instead for a nap...with stop at the farmacia for a throat spray – foul tasting, but very effective! Hotel had a nice restaurant for dinner...but they put a glass of complimentary Prosecco in front of me, and one sip, and it went to Robert – burned SO badly; couldn’t drink it! Had to chew my meat to the point of liquidity in order to get it down ... and R keeps telling me that I can’t talk about my throat to anybody (couldn’t talk much anyway, as no voice...) as look what happened to that guy who traveled with highly contagious TB, and now he’s under armed guard!!

Saturday, June 2 - Well, another airport! Signs were so bad from our hotel, that we actually circumnavigated the entire Rome airport before we found a way in! Checked the car in, and headed to the United desk for check-in. As we were early (7:30 a.m. for an 11:15 a.m. flight), no lines anywhere to speak of; thankfully! VERY (and I mean EXTREMELY) fortunate to get an aisle seat near the front of the plane, so plenty of room to move around in. 10 hours from Rome to Dulles; not a very good movie selection, but my throat seemed to be improving (thanks to the throat spray), and thanks to the two paracetamol-with-codeine pills I had taken before boarding, my back did pretty well! Landed at Dulles where we cleared customs and immigration, and re-checked our bags for LA. Didn’t have too much time to loiter before our next plane – smaller, 3 seats across; one aisle. We were fortunate again not to have anyone sitting in the middle seat between us, but seats were smaller with less room in front, and it was a very painful 5 hours getting into LAX. Picked up car and luggage and headed to Art and Anne Vaughan’s – SO glad to see them!! Anne had made dinner for us, which was filled with all sorts of good things like roast chicken and artichoke soup (for my throat!). It was late, though, and before going to bed, we decided that rather than get on another airplane on Sunday, we’d drive back in the rental car!! MUCH BETTER! Had a leisurely drive home on Sunday; less than 8 hours, and arrived home about 4 p.m. in a much more relaxed frame of mind! (Airplane travel is really jarring!) So, back home – SO sorry to miss our friend Phil’s 50th birthday party in Tuscany, but we’ll celebrate when he returns home, instead! Otherwise, throat clearing up nicely, thanks, (finally) and heading to my new chiropractor this morning for the second time in three days; back still not doing well; seems to be a problem where my hip meets my spine ...

So, on that note, I’d like to thank everybody for joining us on our latest adventure! We really appreciated hearing from you – via email or comments, and hope that we can continue our blog adventures in the near future!!

Signing off now for this trip, with love,
m & r

Wrote this but hadn't posted it! Duh...

Ciao, and greetings from a very cold and wet Umbria! Such a surprise! Thought last week when we were melting on the sidewalk in Florence, that cool weather was a thing of the very distant past! But we were wrong! Weather started moving in on Sunday night; big dark clouds and rumbles of thunder in the distance, but we weren’t too surprised, as we are on the borders of the Mount Subasio national park. In fact, when we got up yesterday morning, all looked fine – blue skies, sunshine and warm! So, did we close the windows of our flat when we left for our drive? Noooooo.....We followed a drive from one of our guidebooks, which took us first to Bettona and then on to Bevagna. Stopped at the SIDIS grocery store in Assisi, and to be honest, it wasn’t much! We just needed things like veggies and matches, but the selection was poor! Bettona, however, was lovely. Small, hill-top town, great wall and gates, and undergoing lots of (re)construction. (We’re thinking that places are still being repaired from the last earthquake, in the late 90's.) Parked on the outside of the walls and headed through town; lovely views all around. Then on to Bevagna, where we’d stayed with Mom several (6 or 7 or more, possibly? Where does the time go??) years ago. I remember being disappointed initially when we got to Bevagna, as I’d thought we were booking into a hill-top town – and it wasn’t! Still, a small walled town; former Roman settlement; quite lovely! Parked in our old parking area, and headed through the gate into town. Ran into a lovely greengrocer with cherries out front, and ended up buying more than we’d bargained for! (Buy Robert cherries, and he’ll follow you anywhere!) The cherries were locally grown, as were the great green beans; can’t remember all we bought, but when we’d finished, the ladies in the little store asked if we’d of course want some celery and carrots, which they included in the bundle for free! How cute! (Although what we’re to do with a large stalk of celery and one carrot, heaven knows!) Then a nice walk through Bevagna, past our old hotel – very historic place; still a family home, built partly around the old Roman amphitheatre. Had lunch there – slices of terrific pizza margarita, then off to Montefalco. Definitely a hill-top town, with parking WAY down at the bottom of the hill! Quite a schlep up, but remember those 10,000 steps! We were almost there! Montefalco is known as the “balcony of Umbria” because of the views, and have to admit, they were spectacular ... as we watch really black clouds roll in, and wondered if we would be able to get back to the car before it started to rain! (Were actually carrying the umbrellas, as opposed to leaving them nice and warm and dry in our flat!) I did insist on my daily gelato, but even with that, we were back in the car after a nice stroll through town ... heading to the Fonti del Clitunno and Roman temple. This is a wonderful natural spring that has been going since Roman times; beautiful area, incredibly clear water coming out of the rocks and up from several locations ... so, that water arrived at the same time that the storm moved in! Talk about water, water everywhere! We wandered through the Fonti as best we could, with the thunder and lightning happening directly overhead, and then decided we’d seen enough sights for the day, were wet enough, and would head home. Good thing we did, because, as mentioned above, we’d left the windows open – and boy, had it rained ... water and puddles beneath the three windows (good lesson learned). Fortunately we have a lovely sealed tile floor, so easy to clean up; thankfully! As it was now past 3 p.m. and no let-up in sight, we decided to take the afternoon off; fortunately, more than enough groceries to make us happy! R made a terrific dinner!!! He did his boneless chicken with a mushroom/cream/wine sauce with potatoes and green beans – YUM! Just terrific and exactly what we needed on a cold rainy spring night!

Need to add that we’d tried several times to call the chiropractor in Florence, but got her Italian message machine instead. However, mid-afternoon, she called back to our flat! Don’t know how she got the number, as we didn’t leave it – we don’t even know it ourselves! Possibly from the second time we’d left a message, there is a way to recover the number? At any rate, we’re scheduled to see her this morning at 10:30, so will be heading out in a few minutes to be on the road by 7. I know it won’t take 4 ½ hours this time to get there, as there is a superstrada right below Assisi, but as the weather is still rainy, we want to take our time and be able to find her office. She improved my back so much last Friday! The pain is moving, but the beds are so soft here that I’m afraid I may have put it back! So, on to Florence!!

Lots of love!
m