Rome where you want to...
Howdy. We've arrived back in Rome. Back to Hotel Aberdeen and FREE email use - which means the only trouble I will have is fighting everyone else for the one computer.
Let me try to catch up on whats been going on..
We spend a week in Cavaso visiting all kinds of family. That was a lot of fun and, as expected, a lot of food and wine and grappa and coffee with Sambuco (I think I like coffee as long as it doesn't taste like coffee). While in Cavaso we saw many family and friends and friends of family and friends with family and family with friends and... and they all fed us. We drove to Bassano, Marostica, Nove, up some mountain to a place called Cuckoo or Cucocoroa or Cocaowithcreme or Krakatoa or...
Venice was probably one of the best legs of the trip beyond the family. We had great weather the first day and then it pissed down like you wouldn't believe, but Venice is an amazing and unique place. Very serene and relaxing - which was nice after almost 2 straight weeks of being on the go.
Lucca was, for the most part, somewhat a disappointment. While pretty and interesting with its medieval walls still intact, the town more or less shut down for the Easter holiday and Easter monday - so it was a chore even to find food. I think it was interesting that the folks at our B&B were disappointed every day to find out that we wanted to venture out rather than stay in Lucca, yet everything was closed in Lucca. The guy who rented us a car admitted that the gov't requested that businesses in tourist areas stay open on the holidays to stimulate the economy and bring in the much needed tourist dollar or yen or pound sterling or whatever... yet Lucca was one of the few cities that said no. Hmmm.
Firenze was amazing and yet crowded for Easter. We saw the tremendous ritual in front of the duomo and then went to church to make the folks and Jesus happy. I was somewhat disappointed by the interior of the duomo. Rather plain in comparison to many other lesser known churches that we have gone into. But the outside of the Duomo has no rival. So gorgeous and I never realized the green marble intertwined into the design. Breathtaking! Giotto's tower was equally impressive.
Yesterday we hopped in a cramped car and I drove the clan to Siena.
With the Hotel Suckmyasso in Milan being the SINGLE worst moment of the trip, the day in Siena had to be the most disappointing. Let me clarify - the drive was gorgeous.. it took us straight through the Chianti region and the views were spectacular.
The traffic sucked, as it was a travel day. Then we arrived in Siena. Again, while the town is amazingly beautiful, the people can stick it. They were about as rude as a mean Sicilian boar. We bought some nice ceramic dishes at one shop ONLY after being assured by the lady that she would ship it for us - and then once we paid, she said that we had to ship it ourselves. Fine, but EVERYTHING is closed on Easter Monday. Then we made the mistake of asking another person where the toilets were and she nearly bit our head off. The final dagger was stopping for gas - the stations were closed, so you have to use these self service pay stalls where you DON'T get change. So we lost 10 Euro since the pump ran out of fuel. Yep, it actually ran out of fuel.
Oh well, it was a nice drive. But I dont think I will go back to Siena (unless it was in the Reno version) but wouldn't mind taking the 'wine road' near there again.
Oh yeah, it rained all day too. Ugh.
So we took the EuroStar express from Lucca via Florence to Rome this morning. That was a nice train ride with a lot of scenery when we were not in one of five hundred tunnels. Its now raining in Rome, but should be nice tomorrow.
I think we are off to see the Colosseum and maybe the ruins on Palatine hill. Will try to post again soon.
We are aware that other than thrashing the Lakers, the Kings suck now. They need me back.
ciao
Howdy. We've arrived back in Rome. Back to Hotel Aberdeen and FREE email use - which means the only trouble I will have is fighting everyone else for the one computer.
Let me try to catch up on whats been going on..
We spend a week in Cavaso visiting all kinds of family. That was a lot of fun and, as expected, a lot of food and wine and grappa and coffee with Sambuco (I think I like coffee as long as it doesn't taste like coffee). While in Cavaso we saw many family and friends and friends of family and friends with family and family with friends and... and they all fed us. We drove to Bassano, Marostica, Nove, up some mountain to a place called Cuckoo or Cucocoroa or Cocaowithcreme or Krakatoa or...
Venice was probably one of the best legs of the trip beyond the family. We had great weather the first day and then it pissed down like you wouldn't believe, but Venice is an amazing and unique place. Very serene and relaxing - which was nice after almost 2 straight weeks of being on the go.
Lucca was, for the most part, somewhat a disappointment. While pretty and interesting with its medieval walls still intact, the town more or less shut down for the Easter holiday and Easter monday - so it was a chore even to find food. I think it was interesting that the folks at our B&B were disappointed every day to find out that we wanted to venture out rather than stay in Lucca, yet everything was closed in Lucca. The guy who rented us a car admitted that the gov't requested that businesses in tourist areas stay open on the holidays to stimulate the economy and bring in the much needed tourist dollar or yen or pound sterling or whatever... yet Lucca was one of the few cities that said no. Hmmm.
Firenze was amazing and yet crowded for Easter. We saw the tremendous ritual in front of the duomo and then went to church to make the folks and Jesus happy. I was somewhat disappointed by the interior of the duomo. Rather plain in comparison to many other lesser known churches that we have gone into. But the outside of the Duomo has no rival. So gorgeous and I never realized the green marble intertwined into the design. Breathtaking! Giotto's tower was equally impressive.
Yesterday we hopped in a cramped car and I drove the clan to Siena.
With the Hotel Suckmyasso in Milan being the SINGLE worst moment of the trip, the day in Siena had to be the most disappointing. Let me clarify - the drive was gorgeous.. it took us straight through the Chianti region and the views were spectacular.
The traffic sucked, as it was a travel day. Then we arrived in Siena. Again, while the town is amazingly beautiful, the people can stick it. They were about as rude as a mean Sicilian boar. We bought some nice ceramic dishes at one shop ONLY after being assured by the lady that she would ship it for us - and then once we paid, she said that we had to ship it ourselves. Fine, but EVERYTHING is closed on Easter Monday. Then we made the mistake of asking another person where the toilets were and she nearly bit our head off. The final dagger was stopping for gas - the stations were closed, so you have to use these self service pay stalls where you DON'T get change. So we lost 10 Euro since the pump ran out of fuel. Yep, it actually ran out of fuel.
Oh well, it was a nice drive. But I dont think I will go back to Siena (unless it was in the Reno version) but wouldn't mind taking the 'wine road' near there again.
Oh yeah, it rained all day too. Ugh.
So we took the EuroStar express from Lucca via Florence to Rome this morning. That was a nice train ride with a lot of scenery when we were not in one of five hundred tunnels. Its now raining in Rome, but should be nice tomorrow.
I think we are off to see the Colosseum and maybe the ruins on Palatine hill. Will try to post again soon.
We are aware that other than thrashing the Lakers, the Kings suck now. They need me back.
ciao
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