Today in Siena

Today in Siena we knew we were either very safe or very vulnerable. As we walked to the Duomo (yes, there IS a Duomo in every town) we saw lots of police and police dogs and police cars. Streets were blocked off and police cars kept coming through. It turns out the heads of state of Italy and Germany were meeting at the building across from the Duomo. The odd thing is that I was looking around on the rooftops for police but there did not seem to be any. Anyway, they had their party and around lunch time the motorcade whisked everyone through the narrow streets and life went on. Yesterday's drive through the Tuscan countryside was beautiful. I will post photos when we get to a faster, cheaper computer in a cafe that isn't 95°. All these internet places are run by young guys who weigh about 85 lbs. and have never had a hot flash in their lives. Anyway, I digress, we stopped in Greve, a little town in Chianti and they have a wine museum so we spent quite a bit of time there and they also have a debit card system for getting wine tastings. Also, in the town square, there was a book market. Lots of people selling old books AND musical performances throughout the square that day. It was lovely. We got into Siena with no problem and have enjoyed the incredible architecture and the Il Campo, the huge bricked "floored" town square. it slants like an amphitheatre so people just sit around it or lie down and watch the activities. Yesterday there were a bunch of young men waving a huge flag and banners that said "Napoli". They went on with their cheering for hours - which is about the same amount of time that it took to get served a drink at one of the cafes surrounding the square. The town still keeps its medieval traditions and twice a year they have horse races and crowds gathered right in the square. It is a time for the different regions to compete for the Numero Uno bragging rights. Gotta run - Bob and K are probably on their 3rd gelati by now.

Firenze

Today was a crowded day in Florence. Luckily Mr. Organized had already secured reservations for us to see the Uffizi Gallery and the Accademia where we saw that great big hunk of man in all his glory: David. After our first tour and a huge lunch of delicious pizzas (we each ordered our own because you never know what size they will be) These pizzas turned out to be huge. Nevertheless, Bob and kelly went to get gelati (we have a minimum daily requirement of at least 2 gelatis a day a piece. While they were getting the dessert I headed into the street market that I had read had the best haggling for prices. After spending some time there I wandered into a big building that is a marketplace. On the first floor were stalls with fresh meat, cheese, wine and fish. There were whole geese with their heads with feathers still on, huge sides of meat, monstrous pieces of tripe. On the second floor was all fresh fruit and vegies. I've never seen so many different kinds of mushrooms - you could smell them as you walked by. It was a mass of humanity and a lot of fun. I guess the locals all come there on Saturdays to get their fresh foods. And of course there were many stalls where people were just standing around drinking coffee. In the evening we headed to McDonald's for dinner because Bob could not face prosciutto one more time. As we walked around town we noticed more and more of the street vendors who , at the sight of a policecar, scatter like cockroaches. They wrap up their "designer" purses and fold up cardboard displays of "designer" sunglasses and flee from the police. Then, as soon as the police are down the street, they emerge from who knows where. it is a constant game of cat and mouse all evening. We also were treated to a street parade through town. The Guiseppe Verde Filomonica de Ligne was made up of men and boys of all ages, and their daughters were majorettes who twirled batons. The band started playing and marched through town and their family members and spectators marched along. It was a real treat. Tomorrow we leave for Sienna. Apparently mapquest says that even though it is just an hour away - it involves about 60 steps.

Dissed at the Duomo

This morning we set out from Venice and we actually arrived in Florence without too much heartache. We only got lost once after we got off the autostrada (big road) and it was on a real road, not even a goat trail. Florence is terribly crowded but our Hotel Casci is in a great location. It is right in the oldest part of town about 2 blocks from the Duomo - a famous church. In Italy church visitors are not allowed to dress provocatively - that USUALLY means no shorts or sleeveless shirts. We decided to take a walk and had on shorts and sleeveless shirts. When we saw there was just a short line at the Duomo we decided to try to go in. You must pass by two male guards who do security and decide if you are proviocatively dressed and need to be covered with these big paper ponchos. The two young women in front of us in line were given the big paper ponches - they had on tank tops. When it was our turn, I stepped up to the guards and apologized for the sleeveless shirts - expecting to be given cover-ups for me and kelly. Well, he had the nerve to say "No Problem" and waved us through! Apparently we were not provocative enough to warrant coverups! How insulting! Ergo, Dissed at the Duomo. Luckily I was able to make myself feel a little happier by buying a Louis Vuitton purse from a street vendor for $60 Euros. He told me it was real and even showed me the label! :) Can you believe my luck? I also tell the vendors that my husband is really mean and mad. And sure enough when he finally finds me in a store or at a vendor, he shows up looking mean and mad and I think he scares them. Anyway, it seems to work for everyone. Luckily the wine continues to be really good and really cheap. We had a bottle at dinner and then went to an outdoor cafe that had music and we had a bottle of local dessert wine - so Bob was pretty easy to convince to ante up the money for the purse. Also, we saw a young woman from Russia singing on the street. she had the most beautiful voice and quite a crowd had gathered around her. We bought her CD. No doubt she doesn't have a visa to work because she had such a beautiful voice that I would have expected her to be singing someplace really special. The streets are full of young people hanging around the Duomo and there are also losts of tourists around.
Our last night in Venice (last night) was incredible. It was the opening night for a major art exhibition (the Venice Bienniale Exhibit) that occurs only every two years. Artists and critics from all over the world come to Venice and it happened that last night was the opening night. So there were parties all over the city. Apparently, anyone who was anyone was going to a gala. We took vaporettos up and down the Grand Canal and we were surrounded by really well dressed people who were on their way to parties. The women were in fantastic designer dresses - none were long gowns but they were made of silk and the most beautiful fabrics. You could just tell they were designer dresses. Along the canal you could look inside the buildings because they were lit up inside and outside after dark. Huge chandeliers hung inside some of the parties. Some rooms were lit by tall candles. Some of the palacios had door men dressed like old Venetian gentlemen or dressed like gondoliers to greet the party goers as they arrived from the canal. Candles or lanterns were along the water and the parties spilled out of the buildings on the entrances from the canal. Other party goers were zipping along the canals in water taxis (very expensive) and some were even in private boats. It was just an incredible evening - even for those of us who were just aimlessly riding on the canals. Venice has been the most fashionable place that we have ever been - even without the big art event. You can imagine how we fit right in with the artsy, well heeled crowd. But, now that I have my own real Louis Vuitton bag I can fit right in!

Venezia

A rainy day in Venice but we took a vaporetto ride to Murano (glass making) island and Burano (lace making) island. We went to a third island to see a really old church (1100s) with beautiful mosaics but it started to pour. So K and I stayed on the boat and met our fellow passengers who also didn't want to drown on a tiny island. Bob went on ahead and came back soaked but that was OK because the the boat was leaking anyway. We had a delicious lunch in Venice and the waiter used great flare to cut up and debone my grilled sole. We drank another bottle of great and cheap wine. Bob then went to the local laundramat to do the laundry while K and I took a little nap. When we went to find him an hour later - HE WAS IN CHARGE AT THE LAUNDRAMAT! We walked in to find him running the machines, directing everyone in what to do. Making change, watching over people's laundry so that they could go grab a cafe latte. He was the GO TO MAN. We were very proud and are hopeful that he will have a future job at home. Yesterday we toured St. Mark's Square and were overwhelmed by the beauty of the mosaics. The Catholic church certainly had a major hand in the development of so much art. Last evening we sat in St. Mark's Sq outside the Hotel florian and listened to a 4 person orchestra and enjoyed the evening. We also got some great pictures of cops kicking an artist out of the square and it was fun watching the people. I have seen some incredible fashions - but not a skort in the whole bunch. Can it be that skorts will be in season NEXT season and we ladies are just ahead of the crowd? I like to think so. Our room in Venice is the 3rd floor but that means you must walk up 4 double flights of steps! We try to consolidate trips. This morning, before the rain, it was laundry day in Venice. Laundry lines were strung across the narrow canals on the back streets and laundry was hanging. The streets are so narrow that sometimes you can only walk in single file. I will post Venice pictures after we get to Florence tomorrow and have a chance to download the files. Until then I will post some more photos from the Lake Como area and the places we saw in Bellagio and Varenna (before we had that run in with the goats). Stop me before I eat again!

A Lost Day

Yesterday, tuesday, we were hopelessly lost - no matter where we tried to go. the GPS system kept going out in the tunnels and we were so confused we didn't know which way we were headed. We left Ravenna early in the morning so that we could arrive in Venice at mid-day. Somehow we got turned around the headed into the hills outside of Ravenna (surrounding the Lake Como) this photo was snapped at a low point in Bob's drive. here is the scene: We are lost on a windy very narrow road that is hairpin turning up the mountain. A truck is riding on our bumper, i have just asked Kelly for a car sickness bag because i was feeling horrible from the twists and turns. We look up ahead on the road and in addition to seeing little shrines (no doubt for the people who have been killed while on this road) we see a family of goats in the middle of the road!

The truck driver laid on his horn when we slowed up to be sure we didn't hit the goats. Also, we saw a man carry a big twig basket on his shoulders. We had temporarily left the 21st century. We did arrive in Venice. but it was about 3 or 4 hours later than we had hoped. We took a v apporetto into town and then we had to pull our luggage all over until we found the hotel. we once again became hopelessly lost - Venice is like a maze of tiny streets and canals. I'm posting photos from Varenna, Bellagio on Lake Como and some from Venice.

Bellagio

We took the passenger ferry from Varenna to Bellagio this morning. We climbed up to the part of town that is on the hill and found an internet cafe/wine bar/restaurant. It has something for everyone in the family. Bob and Kelly are downstairs eating and drinking while I use the internet on the balcony. Yesterday I incorrectly said we had stopped in Turino. I was wrong - it was Lugano. Yesterday we went to the Lion's Club festival that was in the town of Varenna. It is called a Passeggiata Gastronomica. For 15 Euros you get a book of tickets that will give you food at food tents throughout the town. Since it was for charity we bought 3 tickets. At the first stop you had a plate of appetizers and a fruit punch. At stop number 2 (about 10 steps away) you got a plate of antipasti, hard rolls and a glass of wine. At stop number 3 (a climb down steep steps and down to the harbor) you got a huge portion of polenta and salami and a glass of wine. The polenta was being made in what looked like small cement mixers. At Station 4 across the square you got a plate of local cheeses on bread and crackers and guess what! You got another glass of wine! Station 5 was Dolci - a plate of assorted cookies and fruit tarts for everyone - but NO WINE! Station 6 was Glace - ice cream (Kelly was able to eat the glace but by that point Bob and I had had enough.) Station 7 was cafe (coffee) with either grappo or cognac. Since Bob doesn't drink coffee, I had his ticket. So I got a cafe with grappo and one with cognac. Finally station 7 was espresso which I vaguely remember drinking. The walk up the hill and up the inclines to the hotel was harder than it was in the morning. We had a light dinner that night. Today is a beautiful sunny day in Bellagio - we're just enjoying the scenery and the weather.

Italia -the motherland

We left rainy, cloudy Lucerne and drove through the shrouded Alps. We drove through many long tunnels through the mountains and then we went through a 10 mile tunnel (warning to tunnel-phobes : it went on forever) and we emerged into the SUNLIGHT! We could actually see the little houses in the mountains and the water just running down the mountain sides. We stopped in Turnino Switzerland which is on a lake. The water was reflecting the mountain forests so it was the most beautiful forest green. All the lakes are so clean that you can see to the bottom and you can see the fish swimming around. Turino is in Switzerland but the culture is italian. Many well dressed older ladies looked fabulous just to walk into town or walk their dogs. Then we headed to Lake Como and got lost - just couldn't find the ferry to get us across the lake from Menaggio to Revenna where we had booked a room at the Eremo Guadi. Well, from the ferry we saw the hotel perched high up on the steep mountainside. The Wolfs had stayed at the hotel but they forgot that they are very physically fit, they bike, swim, hike. We DeRoy's drink wine and use the computer so the trip up the mountainside to the building with our room was quite a challenge. Bob manuevered the car through the narrow old streets and up the hill to the hotel reception building. From the reception building we took a finicular/incline STRAIGHT UP THE MOUNTAIN! Then we got off the incline and had to take ANOTHER ONE even higher up the mountain to get to our building. We dragged our luggage off the funicular and into the building that used to be a monastery. The manager met us in the building and then led us out the building, down a garden path of rock and down stone stairs to the entrance to our room. We dragged our luggage along in stages and when we arrived at our room we had the most beautiful view of the lake and the towns of Varenna below us, Menaggio across the lake in one direction and Bellagio across the lake in the other direction. This morning, Sunday, we could hear a cuckoo in the trees. We walked into Varenna town square where there is a Lion's Club festival taking place. The club has set up tents all over the little town with antipasti, glace, apertifs and who knows what else for sale (but I plan to find out). There is a band playing and it is a beautiful Sunday morning. We stopped to tour a garden and use the internet at a villa and we'll head back into town to the festival and then go see a falconry exhibit at the castle that is even higher than our hotel on the mountain.
Tomorrow we take the ferry to Bellagio as everything in Varenna is closed on Mondays.

Success on a rainy day

Fueled by Swiss wine, raclette (cheese that is put under a heater on your table and when it melts you scrape it off and put it on bread, cooked vegies, boiled potatoes, pickled onions and gherkins) and chocolate fondue for dessert, we successfully downloaded photos to share. Since it is so rainy we are heading back to the hotel to hunker down for the night. Tomorrow we head to Italy - bright and early!

Swiss Misses

Today is a rainy, gray day in Lucerne. We had a wonderful time in Alsace but couldnät find any place to upload pictures. We will try again here today. Alsace was full of tiny medival towns. Our hotel was outside the walls of the sity of Riquewihr. Our room looked out the back to a hillside of vineyards. there were wineries and vineyrds everywhere. Also strawberry fields and fields of corn starting to grow. we would see castles in the Vosges Mountains. A favorite stop was at Ribeauville where re returned to a couple times. There are storks that live in giant nests perched on the top of the houses. We went to a stork rehabilitation center outside of the town. Apparently in the 70's the storks were becoming endangered. they were being killed in their migrations to Africa. so the center was established to keep the storks from migrating. if they were keep in one place for 3 years they would lose their migratory instinct and stay in place and have babies. when the baby storks hatched they would be born with the migratory instinct. it was quite a fascinating place and just lovely to see giant storks gracefully soaring overhead and landing onto trees that were full of nests. It was in Alsace that Bob could have his beloved Tarte Flambe, a regional favorite of cheese, onion, bacon on a very very thin crust. wash that down with some alsacian wine and your have a lovely meal. cinnamon is unexpectedlz ( to us) used to flavor a lot of food. We bought a bottle of liquer that has the flavor of anise and cinnamon. Kelly ordered a hawaaian pizza at a little rerstaurant in Ribeauville and it had cinnamon sprinked on it.
We have decided that the French must have a screening process to limit the waiters and waitresses to only very voilatile personalities. (similar to the way you check a puppy to see if it is passive or aggressive.) We had stopped at the Autopark for a snack on the way to Lucerne. I walked up to the coffee bar and asked for a cup of tea. When the waitress poured the hot water into a big china cup, I said "no, take away, sil vous plait." You would have thought I had called her mother a horrible name! Her eyes widened - she expelled a lot of air, grabbed a regular coca cola paper cup and dumped the hot water into the paper cup and shoved it at me with great flouish. Luckily the cup didn^'t melt in my hand. Tres interesting. Just when we were starting to minimally function in French, they are speaking German here in Switzerland and we just stare blankly when people start talking.
We were not even stopped at the Swiss border, we were just waved on through. We drove between rolling green hillsides and through long tunnels. the tunnels here have exits or escapes which surprised us. the Alps loomed ahead as we drove into Lucerne. Our lives( and marriage) have been saved by the GPS system that we brought with us. We heard it is 90° in DC It's about 50° and rainy here. We are off to have fondue and raclette for lunch today. K and I will try to uplad pictures - but we canät promise anything.

Monday in Paris

Bob and Kelly left this AM to find the metro to take them to Disneyland Paris. I stayed behind and hiked down to the Louvre to the L'Orangerie to see the Impressionists exhibit. It was incredible to be sitting in a gallery surrounded by Monet's Waterlillies. I've got some great pictures to load when we get to a computer that has more than two USB drives. It is unseasonably cold here but that doesn't keep people off the streets. And people are always approaching and asking for money - and you all know that DeRoy's do not give the appearance of money - actually; maybe WE should start approaching people and asking them for alms. I walked about 10 blocks down the Seine to get to the Louvre and the sidewalks were lined with plants and potted flowers of all types. in one courtyard there is a wonderful garden exhibit that will be here all month: Along this side of the Seine, It appears that the stores are limited to pet shops and garden shops and cafes, of course. Food is super expensive; even in little simple shops. My pot of tea cost about 7 u.s. dollars and the girls at the next table were charged about 8 dollars for a glass of coke. the wine is much cheaper. We pack up tonight to head to Beaune. It will be nice to get out of the city. This area is reminding me more and more of Bourbon Street in New Orleans - even to the point of workers hosing down the street every morning and people always in the street.

Gay Paree

Bon soir! We have arrived safely in Paris and are having a wonderful visit. Typing on a French computer is a challenge because the letters on the keyboard are in different locations. It truly is gay Paree here the the part of town where we are staying. Apparently this weekend there is a gay and lesbian convention and we are in the heart of the festivities! Yesterday we arrived quite jetlagged but Bob had us hit the road and we walked to Notre Dame and toured on a double decker bus around town. Wine is tres cheap so we try to have a bottle with every meal. Here are some impressions of Paris: we are the fattest people here; deodorant is not real popular, dogs are in restaurants, no one wears prints; even when you speak French no one understands you; the graffitti here rivals Los Angeles; and, it's really easy to get lost. This morning we got up really early (quelle suprise!) In fact the only place open around 8 was McDonald's. We walked to the Arc de Triumph, theLouvre; the Tuillerie Gardens and saw a movie being made near the US embassy about the Nazi occupation of Paris. So there were actors and extras all around: We took a bus to Sacre Cour and Monmartre. It took a while for the bus to arrive but luckily we were treated to the co,pany of a lovely couple who argued incessantly. They first came to our attention when the woman began shieking at someone across the street: it turned out that she was yelling at her escort: and then they seemed to follow us and as luck would have it ; they were looking for the same tourbus we wanted. She was British; he seemed to be American: it was the Miracle of Sacre Couer that we lost them. it , I went to a Dali exhibition and B&K went for more ice cream; Then it started to rain and got very chilly. So we jumped on the subway . We had just congratulated our selves on our knowledge of the city when we became hopelessly lost; We walked for hours in the rain in what seemed to be a labirynth of streets. Our 7 dollar umbrella that said "Paris" in gold print lasted about an hour before it blew apart: We tried to catch a cab but the driver wouldn't take us because he said we were too close to the hotel (easy for him to say) FINALLY we spotted the retauant where we had eaten dinner: it is called Le pticinelle - the pinwheel: it has mosaic pinwheels in the floor. I will upload so,e pictures when we find a computer with a handy USB drive: ( I crawled around on the floor with my trusty flashlight - but couldn't find the drive and i do not want the staff to think Americans are any stranger than the already do. Also; i couldn't open the door to the room or find my way out of the restaurant to the W.C. that was located outside the restauant) - so much for Franco American relations. Tomorrow B&K are off to Disneyland. i am going to the Pompideau Center to see modern art. e-mail me if this blgging experiment is working. Gotta run - i'm hogging the lobby computer: Happy Memorial Day from Paris!