Gregula's Domain: July 2004

Tuesday, July 27, 2004

2004
Sunday, July 25 - Roma
Lodging: Hostel Rosen (phone = +39 348 339 3199; email = mcmaxi@hotmail.com).

Roma
We spoke too soon. We had another chaotic evening of stupid attempts at travel. Again, we do not want to talk much of it, but the bus we were supposed to link up with never arrived and did not exist. We spent between three and four hours just trying to get back to the hostel from the Terminal/Laundromat. We finally caught a taxi sometime aroung 3:00 AM who knows were. We walked over 14 miles on Saturday, mostly just in trying to get back to the hostel. Oh - and then when we got back, Erica realized she had lost the keys to the lock on her suitcase. She was just too tired to figure it out - we needed sleep! Save it for Sunday!

Today we tried to sleep in, but Erica had no luck. We finally started moving around at about 11:00 AM... we woke to a rainy day and our spirits were not much better. Erica took her bag down to the front desk - they assured her they could pick the lock no problem - and they did. That just added to her feelings of safety in this place... Gregg keeps saying they should make thievery an Olympic Event - if you are going to do something, you might as well be the best.

Erica started to repack for home when Gregg came in to explain that if we wanted to go on the Vatican Tour we had to leave in 5 minutes. So much for that leisurely project. Erica hussled and ran downstairs to get on the shuttle. Then they canceled the tour. Gregg decided we should go to the Vatican City anyway, no time like the present.

It was raining and Gregg had no raincoat. We were getting wet and Erica was still grumpy. We stood in line to get into the San Pietro in Vaticano (Saint Peters). We went in and stood in awe. What an amazing place! So much marble and statuary. It eludes words.

We then moved off to try and find the Sistine Chapel - to no avail. We did climb a ton of steps in the Cupola - We would not suggest this for anyone bigger than ourselves or anyone afraid of heights! The stairs and everything were SO NARROW and TIGHT! We stood at the top in the rain and looked out over Rome. Then worked more diligently to try and find the exit.

We made it out and down and then went to get some lunch. We were so hungry! We did find a spot - nothing worth mentioning, went to the ATM and then hopped back on the Metro. Erica wanted to get ready to go home.

We plan on entering this blog entry somehow, going to grab some dinner - probably McDonalds or Burger King - we desire good old fast food and, besides, the McDonalds here has free wireless Internet access!

Our roommates appeared and we had some good conversations of common traveling experiences (ours had not been so great the last few days). It was good talking to them as we finished our packing. They prepared for a nap and we decided to leave to grab some food.

After McDonalds and updating entries on the Internet, we made our way back to the hostel. Once back at the hostel, we used the time to work on the DVD. Erica went back to the room before Gregg and stayed up late talking to our roommates some more. After Gregg ran into disk space problems with the DVD project and realized the blank DVD was not really blank, he headed back to the room for sleep. We should have left for the airport instead of sleeping...

Monday, July 26, 2004

2004
Monday, July 26
Lodging: USA!

Gregg's flight (Swiss 1735) departs at 7am and arrives in Zurich at 9am. Next, flight 52 (Swiss) departs Zurich at 10:20am and arrives in Boston at 12:40pm (if only it was really less than 3 hours). Finally (like 6.5 hours later), Gregg departs Boston at 7:09pm on American flight 1987 (nice flight #!) and arrives in St. Louis at 9:07pm.

Erica's flight (Continental 0041) departs at 9:45am and arrives in Newark at 1:25pm. Then, she departs Newark at 2:50pm (Continental flight 0353) and arrives in Columbus at 4:32pm (sometimes it pays to pay...)

This was the plan... It was a decent plan, but the last few days of our trip should have told us it was not going to work out according to plan.

In order for Gregg to make the early flight, we set the alarm for 4:21am. This allowed time to get up, leave the hotel, take a taxi to the train station, take a train to the airport, go through customs, check-in for the flight, etc.

Unfortunately, the alarm went off and Gregg shut it off without ever knowing he had done so... Erica remembered hearing the alarm and seeing Gregg shut it off, but fell back asleep. She awoke in a panic at 6:44am (21 minutes before my flight left Rome). Needless to say, I missed my flight. I have no recollection of hearing, seeing and shutting off the alarm.

We scrambled to get to the airport as fast as possible. We got there by 8:30am (almost 2 hours after we woke up). Erica was able to make her flight just fine, but mine was a big question mark. I went to check-in for Swiss Air (first flight) and they directed me to ticketing. Ticketing directed me to American Airlines to work out the problem. Once I got past security guards with serious uzis, I waited in line for an hour at American Airlines. Once I was able to talk to them, they started ignoring me and only said that they need to take care of passengers first (I was a passenger, but missing my flight made me a non-passenger evidently). They gave me a hand-written phone number before totally ignoring me.

Unfortunately, no phones existed on this side of security, so I had to go back through lines I had already gotten through (people everywhere). The payphone was in a loud, busy portion of the airport and I had trouble hearing). I also had to recharge my calling card in order to make any calls. The number they gave me was supposedly for American Airlines customer service in Italy. I called, but no answer... I also tried the US 800 number but kept getting disconnected in the middle of the call (some compatibility issue between the pay phone, calling card and Italian phone system I suppose). I had to go back through security again to go talk to American Airlines again. I had figured out that the quickest way there was to actually go outside and re-enter a different door.

Once I got back to American Airlines, I tried to ask about the number but they kept ignoring me. I would not be ignored and just wanted to know if I was reading the number properly. It turns out last digit was a 9, not a 4 as it looked on the hand-written note. This means I got to go back through security and try again on the phones. I did...

This time, I actually got American Airlines customer service in Italy on the phone! I had great difficulty hearing her and she had trouble understanding me. Eventually, I was able to communciate the confirmation number and she then transferred me to AAdvantage. Soon thereafter I started speaking to Bob who was extremely helpful. He had to go back to the drawing board (as he said a couple of times) to figure out how they could get me out of Rome and back to St. Louis. American Airlines only had two flights departing Rome that day and both were overbooked. He was able to get me a flight at 12:55pm on Swiss headed for Zurich, Switzerland to connect with a flight to New York. Then, the best he could do was connect me to St. Louis on Tuesday morning at 7am (12 hours after I arrive in New York). He did mention, however, that I should be able to fly stand by on a flight to Chicago tonight and then to St. Louis. He said we would put a note in the system that I intended to try and make these connections. He also stated I would have to go back to the American Airlines counter to get the re-issued tickets and pay a $100 charge fee (he could do nothing about the fee). Although I am never pleased about such a high fee, I was just happy to be heading in the right direction sometime today. I thanked him several times and he gave his extension in case I had any problems. I wish the customer service was this good with each employee at American Airlines (especially the ones that were just ignoring me)!

I went back through security again, went to American Airlines again (their line was now gone), paid the fee, got the tickets and now had two hours before the flight (10:30am, so all this took about 2 hours to resolve). I went to the bathroom and used the time to change clothes, shave and eat.

So now my flight plan was to go from Rome to Zurich, Zurich to New York, New York to Chicago (if possible via standby), Chicago to St. Louis (if possible via standby) or New York to St. Louis the next morning. I am happy to say I made the standby flights and got to St. Louis by 11:20pm (about 2 hours after I was originally scheduled to arrive, which was not too bad considering I missed the first flight in Rome and was told I would most likely have to spend another night in Rome and try again). Zurich was an interesting airport. It looked very new (but most likely was not, just well kept with lots of money) and had moving walkways that went up and down with 40 degreee inclines (never seen this before). The gates were essentially on two different levels and the walkways were used to move people up or down accordingly.

When I finally made it home, Eric Skelton was able to pick me up and give me a ride home. After traveling for 24 hours, I crashed.

Sunday, July 25, 2004

Saturday, July 24, 2004

2004
Saturday, July 24 - Roma
Lodging: Hostel Rosen (phone = +39 348 339 3199; email = mcmaxi@hotmail.com).

Roma

We awoke by 8:30 and dressed for the day. We headed down for our free breakfast (orange juice, some kind of danish and coffee with lots of milk and sugar). We then headed up to the common room near the reception area to recharge the various batteries and work on our journal entries. We talked to the front desk again about possible tours for today. She was unfamiliar with the Ancient Footsteps Tour going on today, but called to check it out and reserve us two spots. We got in - Yeah! We went upstairs to our room (have we mentioned that it is WAY UP?) and finished getting ready for our new adventures.

We walked to the Metro station instead of waiting for the hotel shuttle. We boarded the metro at Due Ponti again and were certain of stamping our ALL DAY passes! We got to Flaminia Station, crossed the busy intersection to the meeting place (Piazza del Popolo) and hung out waiting for our guide. (We were to meet at noon.) Gregg took several pictures of the cool statuary and fountains all over the square until our guide directed us to gather round. (He did not exactly fit the description the front desk person had given us, but oh well...)

There were MANY of us on the tour, somewhere between 30 & 60 people (we are not really sure but it seemed a lot for the guide to keep track of). The first part of the tour included a bus ride down Via del Corso (Corso Street) to Piazza Venezia. The bus ride was EXTREMELY cramped, all of us got onto a tiny bus (half the usual size - is everything small here aside from the architecture & art?) that normally holds eight seated passengers. Thirty to sixty people on that tiny thing? The guide just kept repeating SQUEEZE!

Piazza Venezia includes a palace built by a cardinal who was working toward being Pope later taken by Moussilini (sp?) for his offices, a building built on order by Napoleone Bonaparte for his beloved mother, Mon. a Vittoria which is huge and supposedly Romans hate because it reminds them of fascist times, and another building built explicitly to help the square look balanced.

We then moved on by foot to Capitol Hill (this is where D.C. derived the name of our own Capitol Hill). Gregg got some great postcards on our trek. This piazza was designed by Michelangelo, but put together by his students. We moved on by foot to the Forum and spent a great deal of time there. Lots of amazing stories were told by the guide, too many to repeat in our journal. Sometime at the beginning of the Forum experience, Greggs camera went on the fritz, so that may be the end of our pictorial journal keeping... We then moved on to purchase tickets for the Coloseum, Gregg and Erica passed since we were running very low on Euro. We walked to the Colosso (coloseum) and heard all about it from our guide before he called the tour to an end. On the walk to the coloseum we broke down and purchased a large bottle of ice water - it was HOT and we were thirsty and did not think we could make it much further. Wise choice!

After departing from the group, we headed to the Metro station, hopped on the train and got off at the Barberia stop. We went straight back to the Internet Cafe Gregg had found yesterday. We bought another hour of Internet time and took advantage of the air conditioning - How nice!

After regrouping we decided to go to some of the MUST SEE sights, traveling by foot. We headed out to explore and find Trevi Fountain first. (It is supposed to be phenomenal.) Along the way, Erica found the belt she had been searching out and she and Gregg bartered an appropriate price by walking away from two vendors before getting what we wanted for the right price. :) We found Trevi Fountain while Gregg tried to determine if it was worth it to spend 10 euro on a disposable camera. Erica voted no but Gregg was diligent and kept checking prices throughout the rest of our afternoon adventure. We never did buy a camera, but really everything is available in postcards and books. The only thing missing is us standing in the pictures and a few birds that always seem to appear when you want to take the picture. (How do they get rid of the birds to take pictures for the postcards?)

We then decided to try and find the Pantheon. We first stumbled onto a PSEUDO-Pantheon, something called the Trevi-Pantheon - nice try folks - we are not buying! There was no way that empty Piazza with the ancient columns attached to some other building could possibly be the Pantheon. So we kept looking. We stopped in a few stores along the way and Gregg finally bought a SMART Car model; this one was a Polizia Car - Cool! Erica bought a cool pink bag and a few other little items at another store. We did eventually stumble upon the Pantheon. Now THAT was the Pantheon! Amazing marble all over the place - too many amazing things!!!

Somewhere in this adventure we stumbled onto a wondrous jewelry store with all kinds of different stones in beautiful designs. We both looked through all the wondrous items before Gregg started playing twenty-questions with Erica about her favorite piece. She finally picked an item and Gregg surprised her by purchasing it as an early birthday present. ! She is so spoiled!

We then decided we were HUNGRY. We had seen a great deal on a Large Slice of Pizza & Drink for 3.5 euro and we had also seen a Burger King! Those were our objectives when deciding where to eat. We retraced our footsteps to track down our two spots. En route, we stumbled across an amazing mall somewhat like the City Centre Mall in Columbus, Ohio. We went into a store something like a Barnes & Noble, with at least three floors that we saw. We rested for a moment on a leather couch before deciding we were too hungry to hang out any longer. We trooped out of the mall to find our desired eating place.

We did find the pizza place and had a decent dinner for not many euro - Wahoo! We enjoyed our slices and Erica moved all of the purchases into her new pink bag - so much easier to carry than the shopping bags! We discussed Greggs camera problems and Erica took her belated vitamins (Gregg opted to wait until getting something to drink).

We then decided to try and find the Spanish Steps - people talk about these darn steps all the time! We found them and stood back and asked - What is the Big Deal? We went, we saw, we moved on. Actually, we moved back - to a cool McDonalds we had seen en route to the steps - not an average looking McDonalds mind you! We walked in the main door and purchased gelato, then we went up marble stairs to the main food area and saw that they had a salad bar/pasta bar area in addition to the normal food items. Gregg saw that they had wireless web access and he eventually worked out that it was only on the main food floor, so we hooked up briefly. Perhaps we will come to McDonalds tomorrow instead of the Internet Cafe - free is better than 5 to 8 euro per hour... :)

We then hopped back on the metro to get back to the hostel. We still need to do laundry and it is getting very late (about 9:00 PM) for laundry. We made it back to the hostel to pick up our clothes and asked about hours of the laundromat and hours of the transportation. We would not be done with our laundry in time to come back via the Metro, so we had to find out the other transportation methods. I guess we need to catch Tram 2 from the Flaminio station to the Mancino stop and then take bus 200 to the hostel. (That is only if we try to come back before midnight - there is a whole different mode of transportation after midnight...)

We took the Metro to the Termini Station to try and find the laundromat. We did find it - are you proud? We will finish up our laundry here then head back to the hostel (hopefully without incident) to catch some ZZZZZzzzzzzz.

Our plan for tomorrow is to take another guided tour (the one today was so good - we think we will try The Best of Rome tomorrow) and also try to get in to see Vatican City and some of its wonders and also Castel Sant Angelo (Hadrians Castle). I am sure it will be another busy day! I hope it is as pleasant as today was and as far from the unpleasantness of our first day in Rome as possible. :)

Friday, July 23, 2004

2004
Friday, July 23
Lodging: Hostel Rosen (phone = +39 348 339 3199; email = mcmaxi@hotmail.com); plan to stay until July 26th.

1:10am Headed back to Roma. Train scheduled to arrive at 10 til 7am.

We finally boarded the train sometime around 1:10 AM. We had a bit of difficulty finding which coach we were to be on for our sleeping accomodations. We asked more than three train conductors, they just kept pointing to the back of the train and saying KEEP GOING. We finally got to the sleeping coach and were a bit surprised by the lack of accomodations. We were in the third bunk up (the top bunks) and everyone else was already in their bunks asleep. The conductor turned the lights on so we could climb up and get settled. After much arranging, we decided we were as settled as we could be given the space. We tried to turn off the lights, then a woman from the second set of bunks tried to turn off the lights, then she finally got the conductor who had to touch the switch just so to finally get the lights off. There were funny belts to try and help prevent us from falling out of our bunks. Gregg was pretty much hanging on to one of these as he drifted off...

Here we come Roma! ZZzzz....

We woke to a knock on the door (if we were really asleep) sometime after 6:00 AM. We fumbled around and eventually got down to use the facilities. We got off the train and worked to follow the directions we had gotten for taking the Metro to the Hostel Rosen. We bought a 75 minute pass and took Line A to the Flaminio stop, then worked to find the Prima Porte metro. Once we found that, we took that line to Due Ponti and got off. We could see the hostel across the street - one very busy street! We followed one woman off of the train who seemed to be trying to cross the same street. We walked along side this very busy street (no sidewalks) and worked to not get hit. We finally made it across and had to trek back along the other side to get to the hostel. Whoopee. We got there and they had us wait to check in. We were able to check in some time after 8:00 AM. We asked about tours and the lady at the desk (Gregg said she is from Utah) recommended a Stop and Go bus tour. We said Sign Us Up! (Goodbye 36 euro.) She told us we would have to take the Metro back to the Flaminio station and meet the bus near there. (Pretty vague instructions...)

We grabbed a free breakfast downstairs, locked our bags in the locked store room, and went to get on the hostel shuttle to the metro station. (So that is how you cross the street - in the van!) We took the metro back toward Roma and were a bit concerned there was no way to purchase Metro tickets at the station. Sure enough, next stop, we were apprehended by an official and later penalized at the Flaminio station. It was a terrible experience and I think we both agree we would rather not rehash it in this journal. We will remember it too well without a written reminder.

So now we are hot and tired and I know it is safe to say Gregg is pissed off. We finally located our tour bus - with Air Conditioning! We talked briefly, and we both decided we would ride the bus and not get off for a while. Gregg was upset and Erica was homesick and so close to calling Italy quits. Two weeks may have been a bit too much. We stayed put, enjoyed the air conditioning and Gregg dozed off while listening to audio of the sights that were passing us by.

Gregg saw an Internet Cafe (Easy Internet Cafe) and decided we would get off at our second passing of stop #2. We crossed the Piazza (a piazza with a Tritan fountain in the middle of the roundabout) and headed into the Internet cafe. This place is so cool! It is three levels jam-packed with PCs. There is a laptop connection area and a small refreshment stand. Gregg worked on getting connected to the system after Erica paid 5 euro (what a bargain) for an hour of access. Then Erica headed to the refreshment stand to purchase much needed nourishment for both of us.

Gregg did get connected after the usual setup questions. We munched on Pizza Bianca (basically good bread), stale potato chips and expensive bottled Cokes. Yum! Gregg decided he would like a Snickers candy bar for dessert, so Erica went and purchased one for each of us. Yummy! We seemed to be in better moods after seeing the cool cafe, hearing from friends back at home, and eating.

We headed back out into the heat of Roma to do a little shopping before the bus was scheduled to return to our stop. We stopped at a souvenir store and then moved on. Erica found a few good deals before stationing ourselves near the stop to sweat in the afternoon heat. We rejoined the bus sometime after 3:10 PM. We decided to ride the bus back to our stop (#11) and then head back to the hostel.

We made it to our stop over 40 minutes late because of the traffic. Gregg really did not want to get back on the Metro and tried to find a taxi to inquire on the cost to get back to our hostel. Erica browsed the stores. Gregg did not have any success in talking with any taxi, so we headed back to the Metro station to see what we had to do about tickets for the rest of our time in Roma.

We worked that out and hopped on the next Prima Porta Metro. We got off at the Due Ponti stop (with no sight of any conductors) and opted to walk the other way to the hostel. That walk was a bit less eventful, but we remain ever cautious.

We got to the hostel and got into our room. Pretty much like camping out. There were four beds in the room, two already set up by our new roommates, and the beds were side by side by side, no space in between and little space to speak of at all. But - blessing! There was a bathroom with shower for our room alone (No dorm showers and toilets - Erica never thought that would seem like such a wondrous blessing).

Erica and Gregg took showers in turn. Gregg made up the beds like an expert and we plummetted into sleep. Zzzzz....

Tomorrow will be a new day!

Thursday, July 22, 2004

2004
Thursday, July 22 - Santa Margherita
Lodging: Sleeper train at night headed back to Roma.

Santa Margherita, late tonight (1:10am) headed back to Roma.

We woke up before 8:00 AM. Erica took a shower before breakfast, and we both headed up to the terrace of the other building for the usual breakfast. When Italians talk about breakfast, we guess they really mean a bunch of bread with various spreads and strong coffee. I am not so crazy about breakfast away from the states. Even the places that advertise American Breakfast do not come close truly. Nothing like Bob Evans for a true American Breakfast.

We settled the bill with Roberto after breakfast and he let us know we could keep our luggage in our buildings living area or salon until we departed for the station. He said he would arrange a taxi for us if we wanted to leave for the station after the last bus (about 8:00 PM). Considering the station is basically a bare buidling next to three sets of tracks, we opted for the taxi. We did not get a chance to let Roberto know before he headed to town and no one else in residence could understand enough English to let him know.

Erica voted for staying in Santa Margherita for the day instead of getting to and hiking around Cinque Terre (even though we here it is the best part of Italy). We headed back to the room, Gregg took a shower and we both packed up. We put our luggage down in the living room, probably close to 11:00 AM. We then started down the trail of many steps into Santa Margherita.

What to say about our day in Santa Margherita.... Well... we tried to get on to the Internet to upload more journal entries with no success. The one place we tried would not let us plug the laptop into their connection; they said the laptop was not compatible with their connection. ???

Erica had seen an inexpensive place to eat while Gregg was trying the Internet place. Gregg was hungry so we went ahead to the restaurant. We enjoyed Margherita pizzas (magnifico!), water and cappuccinos. The bill was somewhere around 17 euro. Not bad.

We then walked and walked, and walked some more. We went all around Santa Margherita, Gregg says three times. Erica wanted to do some shopping and a little town sightseeing. Unfortunately, we really started our attempt at shopping when most businesses were closed for their siesta (afternoon break).

After a very long day of walking around and around and around, we decided we had time for dinner before trying to catch the bus to San Lorenzo, up the hill from Villa Gnocchi. We went to Ristorante de Michele (or something like that) and had a lovely dinner. Gregg wanted the insalata, potatoes, and he had ravioli in bolognese. Erica helped Gregg with the insalata and potatoes and had linguini with shrimp in a curry sauce. Erica had some beer and we both had water. Yummy!

We then went to find a big bottle of water before grabbing the bus. Erica saw the bus before we finally found a big bottle of water to take with us. (We paid more for the water than we wanted to, but it still was better then what we have paid in the past, 2 euro.) We then crossed the street to the bus stop. It was about 7:25 PM and we soon deduced that we had missed the last #73 bus from that stop. We had two options, take a taxi or hike up the trail - super stairmaster. We knew we were taking a taxi to the station and we knew that would cost about 20 euro. Gregg did not want to waste any more money so he voted to walk up the super stairmaster again. Erica was agreeable either way. And so we went...

What a climb! When we arrived at Villa Gnocchi we planned on hanging out in the salon until the taxi arrived and play around on the laptop, check out our pictures, perhaps watch a movie... We saw a family of guests arrive as we were walking on the drive and Roberto was coming out to greet them. We helped with the luggage and talked a little with Roberto about arranging the taxi for late that night. He offered, if we wanted to save some money, he would be going into town to visit his children around 10 or 10:30 PM and he would be willing to take us to the station. How nice! We jumped on his offer and offered him some money, but he said he was going anyway, no bother. How nice!

So...we hung out in the salon and worked on a picture DVD of our Italian Adventure thus far. It is going to be pretty cool and will help us remember all that we have seen. After a while it really starts to blend all together!

Roberto came to the salon sometime after 10:00 PM to take us to the station. We packed up and went with Roberto. Italian drivers are so much more aggressive than even Gregg! Erica kept thinking - if only Heather could see this!

Then we got to hang out at the station for about three hours until our train came. We played with the laptop some more, worked on the DVD more, took some pictures, downloaded the pictures from that day, etc.

Wednesday, July 21, 2004

2004
Wednesday, July 21- Santa Margherita
Lodging: Villa Gnocchi B&B (phone = +39 0185 283431; email = roberto.gnocchi@tin.it).

This is a bed & breakfast. Breakfast is served between 8:30 and 9:30am. This meant we had to get up earlier than we really wanted to... Gregg got up on the wrong side of his narrow bed and for some odd reason had it in his mind that we had to be there by 8:30am (Gregg is writing this entry by the way, not Erica). After fully stressing Erica out as she was getting out of the shower (at 10 till 8:30am), Gregg bothered to read the kind note left in each room which strangely contained the word BETWEEN between 8:30 and 9:30. Gregg was wrong {take note}. Erica was relieved.

Gregg opted not to take a shower, especially since we are overdue for doing laundry. We decided to ask Roberto about the laundry needs.

We headed to breakfast shortly after 8:30am and enjoyed a nice continental breakfast on the terrace. The cats were out in force. I imagine the word got out how nice Erica was to them the night before. There were cats that other guests had never seen make an appearance. Anywho, after we enjoyed the breakfast, we waited to sit down with Roberto and discuss our plans today.

As he mentioned the night before, he described a possible boat trip to Portofino and S. Fruituosso. He explained how we could take a walking trail down to Santa Margherita in 15 minutes and make it to the boat. With breakfast over, this gave us about 30 minutes to get there. I also asked about laundry facilities and he said wait until we are in Roma. They do not have a dryer and the clothes probably would not dry in time. He also wanted more information on our train from Santa Margherita to Roma. I went to the room and brought the tickets back. He mentioned we should consider going to Cinque Terra tomorrow and catching our train in La Spezia instead. This would give us a chance to see that area.

We decided to do what Roberto suggested and got ready to leave Villa Gnocchi for the day. We left a bit late, but enjoyed the walking trail (lots of fast lizards, geckos, or whatever) and getting more familiar with Santa Margherita. We also found an ATM machine. We needed more euros, since credit cards have not been accepted as much as we had anticipated. I used my card to do a withdrawal. Erica went shopping and found some great deals on some cool clothes. The boat leaves every hour, so we simply waited for the next boat to arrive.

NOTE: We mention euros a lot on these entries. For your information, 1 euro = 1.295 US dollars (roughly). This means that something that costs 23 euros, for example, actually equates to $30.

The cost of the boat to Portofino and S. Fruituosso was extremely reasonable. It was 23 euros for the both of us for a roundtrip. This also allowed us to stop in Portofino each way, if desired, and stay in S. Fruituosso as long as we wanted (up until 5:30pm). We took the boat to Portofino, decided to stay on to head to S. Fruituosso, and then headed for the beach. This beach was pretty busy and the chair and umbrella rentals cost 15 euros. The sun was hot and we the water was refreshingly cool. We spent several peak hours there. Eventually, we got up and decided to find some food (2:30pm) and headed up to a cliff restaurant aptly named Ristorante Bar Giorgio. They gave us the best seats and gave us a new tablecloth, napkins and silverware. When we looked over the menu, we decided we could wait based on the high prices. Erica decided to have a beer anywho and we had already ordered the water. The waiter got very upset when he found out we were not ordering any food. They actually came to the table and removed the tablecloth! In my own evil ways, it was quite entertaining. Erica had her beer and we finished up quickly. We expected the bill to be 10-15 euros for 1 beer and water (also includes a 2.60 euro charge for table service). We were pleasantly surprised when the bill was only 5.5 euros.

We headed back down and decided to check out the abbey. We have both seen so many amazing things all at once, that we are taking much of these things for granted now. We looked around the abbey briefly, but did not go in (looked similar to what we have already seen) and proceeded to walk around the upper trails a bit. After taking a few pictures, we headed back down to our rented beach chairs and umbrella (we intentionally left our towels there to try and keep our spots) and enjoyed another hour on the beach.

We then packed up and headed for the boat. We sat in the back of the boat on the way back and soaked in the breeze and sunshine. The weather for our vacation could not be better. It seems like everytime we say that, it almost gets better. I have a real love for Italy now. The food... the people... the atmosphere... the language... the boats... the vibrant cities... Villa Gnocchi... wow!

On the way back, we stopped at Portofino. By this time, I was past hungry and looking for anything. Many places were closed (inbetween normal lunch and dinner hours), but we did find a pizza place. We ordered the usual acqua and then Erica talked me into a mashed-black olive pizza (the actual name sounds much better, believe me). It was the best pizza Erica has ever had (I am quoting her). Not being a huge black olive fan, I must admit it was a great pizza and filled my hunger pains perfectly. Afterward, we checked out an art gallery, bought some more postcards and then headed back to the boat for our trip back to Santa Margherita.

Once back in Santa Margherita, we walked towards our walking trail. Erica surprised me by not wanting to take the bus back, but rather wanted to take the trail back. Now, keep in mind this is a 15-minute 1.7 kilometer walking trail that goes straight down the mountain into Santa Margherita. Going the other way... it is a bit of a different story. It is the ultimate stairmaster! To add some variety to our walk, we went back through S. Margherita through different streets and managed to have some difficulty finding the trail. Once we found the ATM machine, we knew we were close. Erica decided we needed more euros, so we went to do a withdrawal. Her card was rejected on the first attempt as not being an international ATM card. On her second attempt, it gave her cash without complaining. Does that make any sense? Once on the walking trail, it was a workout (felt good). We made it back to Villa Gnocchi about two hours before dinner. We enjoyed hot showers and getting ready for dinner. We also took the time to upload new photos and update the journal entries (not online yet, will have to wait until our next Internet encounter).

Dinner was once again magnifico! It was pasta with capers & olives in a tomato sauce, contry-style chicken with tomatoes and vegetables, salad made up of mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and green olives, fruit salad for dessert and capuccinos. A couple from Canada, along with their daughter, made quite an appearance. They seemed well off and we found out later that they had made last minute reservations that day for Villa Gnocchi. They had lucked out and had sat down to a wonderful dinner after driving about 4 hours. Their daughter (estimated age 17) , however, decided to throw a fit. She did not like the meal at all. She was whining a lot. I jokingly said IS THAT WHINING I HEAR? and the mom leaned over and said yes, it is (I believe she was relieved for someone else to notice). The dad held up a glass of wine and said, yes and it is not this wine. The daughter left about five minutes later. She then came back and told her parents she absolutely would not stay here tonight. Evidently, the parents got into an argument as well and (we believe) they departed this evening. So much drama... What a lot of wasted money! They missed so much of the experience...

Afterward, a guest we had briefly met at last nights dinner came and sat with us. She talked about the family I just mentioned above and all the negativity she heard. She ended up leaving for a smoke and came back when they were gone. We had a great conversation. She is a publicist in New York City (lives in NJ) and had some great traveling stories. She, like us, was completely enjoying the Villa Gnocchi experience. She recommended a book to Erica and we headed back to the room for the night.

We are still undecided on our full game plan for tomorrow. The key will be where we can store the luggage for the day. Regardless, we are scheduled for a 1:10am train to Roma in less than 26 hours.

ZZzzzzz....

Tuesday, July 20, 2004

2004
Tuesday, July 20 - Trip to Santa Margherita Ligure-Portofino
Lodging: Villa Gnocchi B&B (phone = +39 0185 283431; email = roberto.gnocchi@tin.it); plan to stay until July 22nd.

We slept in later than Gregg had anticipated, past 8:30 AM. We needed to check out by 10:00 AM. So we repacked and Erica took a shower while Gregg finished getting ready. We walked down the MANY stairs at Palazzo Zenobio to check out at 10:00, or perhaps a few minutes after.

After checking out we proceeded to walk toward the station. Gregg wanted to take another ferry to see any other part of Venice aside from the Grand Canal. So, after much confusion about which ferry station to wait at, we finally opted for the 52. The people working on the ferry were a bit less friendly and asked us where we were going and told us where to stand (the other side of the boat from where we would depart). I guess we looked out of place. I know Erica was sweating enough to fill a sink!

Our idea was to take the ferry to another area, grab some breakfast or lunch and head back. We took the ferry we had time for, asked a couple of restaurants when they would open, with no success. No one was serving breakfast or lunch on that strip. It was about 11:00 AM and no McDonalds in sight (ha ha). So we walked a bit further to the next ferry stop for 41 or 51 (either would do). We took the ferry for one long stop - back to the train station.

We stopped at the station to use the phone. We still needed to confirm our reservation for tonight at Santa Margherita. We also wanted to reserve a seat for dinner. Gregg only got voicemail - Let us hope they get our message and understand!

We still wanted to grab something to eat before taking our six-hour train ride to eventually bring us to Santa Margherita. Gregg wanted to go to this place we saw our first night, near the train station. It is kind of setup like a cafeteria: pick out what you want to eat and pay before heading to a seat. It was most likely the best deal we have had since being in Italy (aside from McDonalds). We spent less than 15 euro and had big bowls of pasta, three small carafs of water, fresh kiwi, watermelon & grapes, and Gregg had a big Coke. That was more like it!

We then headed to the train station. We had about 9 minutes until a train was supposed to depart. We did have a little difficulty though. We did not know that we were taking one train to Milan and transferring to another train to take us to Santa Margherita. We went to the train information center and got some useful information from the gentleman working there, although I do not think he understood much English. He printed off what time our train would leave Milan and that should help us out a great deal. Keep your fingers crossed for us! This is probably the one chance we have of really messing up and missing a connection. Gregg is going to take a nap and Erica is probably going to read before dozing off on the train to Milan. Gregg did set his phone to wake us up 20-30 minutes before our transfer in Milan....

...
We made it! Our transfer at the station in Milan did prove interesting. We were cutting it pretty close on the departure times and were not certain which train we should be taking. Erica had studied the train map posted near the exit before exiting the train at Milan (just by coincidence). Luckily, we did make it on to the right train.

We wanted to go to an ATM, mail some postcards, call the Villa again to let them know we had made it safely, and then grab a taxi to the villa. There was no mailbox or ATM, but we did manage to call the Villa. This time Gregg was able to speak with Roberto, and Roberto said he would see us in 10 minutes.

There was a taxi right there waiting to take us. We told him Villa Gnocchi and he indicated he knew where it was without saying a word. (We do not think he understood much English at all.) Boy - We were SO GLAD we took a cab instead of trying to find this place on our own! And you should see the roads to get there! I have never seen such curves! The taxi was also a Mercedes station wagon - a big car! Even Roberto was impressed when we arrived that the cab driver had made it all that way; he said the drivers usually stop at the end of the drive instead of driving guests all the way to the door. Unfortunately, our taxi driver pricked himself on a cactus when he was taking a bag to the walkway. (Ouch!)

Roberto came to the car to greet us - a very amiable fellow. He showed us the walkway and the terrace where we would be taking our meals, then he showed us to our room. What a place! What a view! The port is absolutely amazing! Perfecto! Bravo! Our room is quaint, with a lovely terrace and a nice regular bathroom - Hallelujah! The room is very comfortable, although Erica swears she has never seen a bed so narrow. It looks like someone took a full-size and cut in half down the middle. At least she is not kicking Gregg!

We cleaned up (Erica was SO happy) and then headed to the terrace for dinner. We met a few of the folks staying that were from Denver and New Jersey and had the normal American chit-chat. Where have you been? What are your plans? What are you doing tomorrow?...

Dinner is a surprise each night here, and Roberto is known for splendid cooking. Erica started with some chianti from Tuscana and we had water and bread. The first course (this is usually a pasta dish in Italy) was creamy pesto on gnocchi pasta. Gnocchi! We are at Villa Gnocchi - get it? Anywya, the next course was some kind of strong fish on potatoes with a stuffing on top. Dessert was Tiramisu. It was interesting and good.

After dinner, we went up to the room and took some night pictures. We decided to review all the pictures we had taken so far (over 850!) and delete unnecessary, repetitive, blurry shots. We made a first pass attempt and eliminated quite a few. We definitely were conservative to keep as many photos as possible. With a 40 gig hard drive and a few CDs to burn, we have to stop somewhere... This took well over 2 hours! During this time, fireworks were going off in downtown Santa Margherita. We had a great view, but the start and stop times were quite unpredictable. What we did see was magnifico!

Time for sleep... zzzzzz...

Monday, July 19, 2004

2004
Monday, July 19 - Venezia
Lodging: Palazzo Zenobio (phone = +39 41 5228770; email = mooratr@tin.it)

1:40am I stayed up late updating the journal entries. I was wired from the trip in Verona and was not ready to sleep.

Once I go to sleep, I plan to sleep in pretty late. We know of a breakfast place that goes until noon, so...

Our plan is to take water bus route #1 (long route) as a good tour, as recommended by Giorgio, and check out some other sites as time allows.

We are at a halfway point in our vacation. We imagine Santa Margherita and Roma will be even more highlights to our Italian adventure. I am hoping the accomodations at Santa Margherita are the best we have seen. I plan to relax by the water there. In Roma, we have a tight schedule to get as much siteseeing in as possible before going back to the states.

We got up and got outside a bit after 11am. It felt good to finally sleep in a bit. We had seen a place that serves breakfast until noon, so we stopped there and ate. We then purchased 24 hour boat passes (10.5 euros per person) and took line #1 as Giorgio recommended. It was a great way to see the city. We probably set some sort of record on the length of time we were in Venice before actually boarding a boat!

As usual, I preceded to take a lot of pictures. We will have plenty to choose from when we get back home. We made our way to the Basilica di San Marco. The whole Piazza San Marco was full of people. We waited in lines to enter the basilica and had to make sure we were properly clothed (no sleeveless tops, etc.). Erica had purchased a scarf earlier in the trip for this very purpose. She whipped off her scarf-belt and made it into scarf-sleeves. No pictures were allowed inside and it was the usual amazing cathedral scene. The mosaics inside were incredibly detailed.

We then went to the Palazzo Ducale (Dogi Palace) and checked out a bit of the museum and prisons. It was a maze, as well as amazing. We were pretty wiped out and hungry by the time we got out of there (around 4pm) and hunted for a good lunch spot. While in the museum, we had noticed a cool restaturant on a roof, but it was impossible to locate from the ground.

We ended up at a nice waterside cafe with no menus, no receipts and euros only accepted. We had a great mushroom pizza, 3 bottles of water, banana split and a strawberry sundae for 31 euros (yum)!

The water here is pricey and you ca not drink it from the tap. We have spent quite a few euro on drinking water and have been getting by with less drinking water than usual. Erica can not wait to get back to the states so she may drink at least eight glasses a day.

We then strolled along the waterway and then boarded a boat to get to the Ponte di Rialto bridge. This bridge is similar to the Ponte Vecchio bridge we visited in Firenze (lots of shops and a walking only bridge). The boat was ridiculously crowded and no breeze, so we were dying to make it to our destination. At the bridge, Erica found a cool purse and decided to get it (only 18 euro and Italian leather - woohoo!). We shopped around a bit more and then found another boat connection headed back to the hostel.

Once we got back to the hostel, I uploaded all the new photos, recharged the camera battery (totally dead) and we relaxed a bit. Our next endeavor tonight will be to confirm dinner reservations in Santa Margherita tomorrow night, update these journal entries online, check email and find a great place for dinner.
...
Okay, so we did update the blog entries, checked email and found a little place to eat by the canal, but we did not confirm our Santa Margherita reservation for tomorrow. The restaurant was okay - Gregg really liked his lasagna, this time it had a hint of apple flavor. Who would have thought they can make lasagna so different every time? Okay...I guess it is the birthplace and all... Erica had fresh pasta bolognese. It tasted kind of like swedish meatballs without the meatballs. :) We skipped dessert when we saw the prices and opted for finding gelato on our route back to the hostel. Erica had cream and mint chocolate chip, Gregg had coffee and mint chocolate chip. We had them in the dish - Gregg is not as impressed with their cones here in Italy.

We journeyed back to our room to watch Twilight Zone and eat olives we had purchased at a little market earlier. There were many guests on our floor this day. I am unsure if they were a rowdy bunch or the commotion is simply due to the fact that the walls of our hostel are as thin as paper...cheap paper. You can hear every sound.

Gregg opened the olives and enjoyed several. Erica tried one and decided that she had to stick to black olives going forward if they are not fresh - too salty. It was then up to Gregg to finish the entire container of olives by himself. He made it through like a trooper. In the middle of the first episode of Twilight Zone, Erica had dozed off again. Gregg stayed up to watch more and take a shower.

Zzzzz...

Send us an email and let us know your impressions while reading these entries!

Sunday, July 18, 2004

2004
Sunday, July 18
Lodging: Palazzo Zenobio (phone = +39 41 5228770; email = mooratr@tin.it)

Trip to Verona - Meeting Giorgio Bettali (gbettali@demandsolutions.com).

We expect to be back in Venezia the same night. We will have to catch a 7:51 a.m. train to meet Georgio by 9:18 a.m. It is a bit of a walk from the hostel to the station, so we will be up early yet again!

We were up today at a little after 6am to prepare for our trip to Verona. We made it to the train station early enough to catch a quick breakfast (cappucino, green apple, strawberry yogurt, etc.). We boarded the train and rested on the way.

Once we arrived, we were a bit concerned about finding Giorgio. We moved about the train station looking in various places. Erica finally went to use the rest room (first time she had to pay - we hear it is a common practice not to let you enter the bathroom without paying a fee) and I headed to the most central spot to see her and look for Giorgio. He came in and introduced himself (I had sent a picture the day before). I then went back to get Erica and we strolled with Giorgio to his car.

Giorgio, with his family, went out of their way to be very kind and genrous to us. Giorgio showed us Verona like an expert and showed how much he loves the city. We started out with a bit of history on the city gates and why they were located in various places, followed by the effect bombings had on the city (such as rebuilding every bridge). The city was beautiful and had a very large piazza (plaza or town square). We were able to walk around, have a snack (including another capuccino), enter the arena (very cool) and then head to meet his family. One of his daughters, Firensa, is expecting a son, Marco, to arrive any day (due yesterday, in fact) and looked wonderful (despite a rough morning from what we heard). We met her daughter (Eleanora), mother (wife of Giorgio, Maria) and husband (Mossimo) as well. After a beverage, we headed with Giorgio and Maria (wife of Giorgio) for lunch up at the top of the town. Lunch was wonderful and a great experience. We were thoroughly stuffed.

The next action step by Giorgio was to head to his house for a bit of rest. His plan was much needed, as I was dozing off in the car. When we arrived, they showed us their great home and I was introduced to Demand Solutions Italia (office of Bettali). We checked the computer and reviewed maps of Santa Margherita (our destination after Venice). Maria served us American coffee and Erica laid down for a nap.

Giorgio and I soon thereafter headed to the family room and took a nap as well (after some good discussions).

Once we awoke (about 4:30pm), we woke up Maria and Erica and then had some great watermelon and honey. Giorgio also showed me his use of Skype (great phone alternative/instant messenger on the computer). I was able to talk briefly with Thierry Lamarque.

Soon after the watermelon, we headed off for more touring. We had about 3 hours left before our train departed back for Venezia. Giorgio showed us many things and I took a lot of pictures (over 200 today, I believe). His wife, Maria, even has calligraphy work in the biblioteca (2nd most historic in the country). We saw an ancient theatre, the cathedral, original mosaic floors, statues of Dante and Garibaldi, plus much more, ending the tour perfectly with the balcony setting for Romeo and Juliet. He made me pose with the Juliet picture grabbing her breast (I really had no choice folks...).

After this, he took us for Gelato (Italian version of ice cream that is very good) and then hunted down a taxi for us to take back to the train station. We made it to the station with just about 10 minutes to spare.

The only thing Giorgio allowed us to pay for in Verona was his ticket into the arena (to, as he said, clear my conscience... {grin}). I owe him big time when he visits St. Louis.

I wish I could spend just one day with every DS sales representative (worldwide). They are fascinating people with deep beliefs, good hearts and a great sense of customer service. Giorgio Bettali, and his family, is a perfect example of this and I thank him for unbelievable hospitality.

We started to watch a couple of Twilight Zone episiodes on the train. The laptop battery ran out just about 3 minutes before we arrived in Venice (good timing). We made our way back to the hostel, stopping at an Italian bookstore on the way. We wanted to grab some groceries, but the store was closed so we settled for smaller merchants to obtain water, chips and a Coke (chips tasted like Mike-Sells from Ohio).

Once back at the hostel, we setup the laptop in the room to watch the rest of the unfinished Twilight Zone episode and Erica soon fell asleep. I watched another one and decided to transfer the new photos and update these journal entries.

We are going to try to sleep in tomorrow morning. ZZzzzzz....

Saturday, July 17, 2004

2004
Saturday, July 17
Lodging: Palazzo Zenobio (phone = +39 41 5228770; email = mooratr@tin.it); plan to stay until July 20th

As we were almost ready to leave the laundromat, this big guy showed up totally drunk and half beat up. Erica and I were there by ourself and this guy looked very unpredicatble and was ready to fall at any moment. I told Erica not to worry, but it did make me nervous. He put some money down on a bench between Erica and I. In my rush to pack everything up and get out of there, I accidentally (honest) moved a 5 euro bill of his. Erica quickly caught the error and I was able to give it back without a problem. Shortly thereafter, he said Ciao! and stumbled out the door.

On the way back from the laundromat, we used a coupon at McDonalds for buy 1, get 1 free on Big Macs (not bad for 2.9 Euros). We stayed up long enough to get our stuff together and planned to get up early (6am) to check out the Duomo. Erica took a shower and I planned to take one in the morning.

6am came pretty quick (about 5 hours after we went to bed). After hitting the snooze a couple times, I got up at 6:20am to get a shower. I briefly explained to Erica how to work the phone as an alarm clock and she mumbled. I got back into the room almost ready to go at 6:46am (still dark in the room). Erica was moving slow... She made a valiant effort and we got out early enough to make it to the 7:30 service at the Duomo (brisk 15 minute walk).

The 7:30 service inside the Duomo was your typical Catholic mass, only in Italian and in an incredible cathedral. Neither one of us are morning people (ask our fellow co-workers about this), but both agreed it was worth the effort. I also took several pictures of the outside of the Duomo.

We then headed back to the B&B for our last B (i.e. included breakfast). It was good, especially after I was able to obtain silverware (cutlery, etc.) and another half cup of coffee. We then rested and packed for our 10:30am exit.

To the train station for Venezia! We made it to the train station with plenty of time and found an Internet place. Like most we have found in Firenze, they would not allow a laptop connection. This explains why these entries are not updated daily. We decided to use their computers for an hour to send out some needed emails and obtain some extra information.

Afterward, I made a phone call to Georgio to confirm our meeting tomorrow and also left a message at home. We then headed for the train and noticed they had not yet decided on a bin (or track number). We then used another buy 1, get 1 free McDonalds coupon. We had macedonia (fruit bowl), big mac, maxi coke, maxi fry and an athletico (double cheeseburger with funky bacon) for lunch (all at McDonalds). Their biggest Cokes are not so big. Who would have known that beverages are such a hot commodity in Italia?

Once finished, we had about 7 minutes before the 12:39pm departure time. Still no track number... Eventually it showed up on bin #8 and we made our way there. We boarded the train and were on our way via train for almost 3 hours (very pleasant, if not a bit too warm).

When the train attendant came by to check our tickets, he almost walked right by without even checking. They do not seem to pay close attention on who has paid for what. This reminds me of the bus in Firenze we rode without paying.

We made it to Venezia at about 3:40pm. We decided to immediately track down the hostel we are staying at, Palazzo Zenobio. The sun was very hot and the luggage was getting heavy. Erica was an expert navigator and got us to within a few steps of the hostel. It did not say Palazzo Zenobio anywhere, so I looked up the specific address number. Once we found the number, it still did not say Palazzo Zenobio. I did, however, notice a bell for last name Moorat which happened to match the email address for Palazzo Zenobio. That was it and we rang the buzzer to gain access (amazing how difficult they make this stuff).

The Palazzo Zenobio is an old building with great architecture. The hostel itself, however, is definitely dorm-room style and not the best accomodations. We are managing, but have to use bug spray at night to keep the mosquitos away. We got used to the surroundings, took a nap and then ventured out to find some dinner. Places are a bit pricier here for dinner - not that Firenze was cheap... We ended up at a pizza place called Ginos Pizzeria. It was good pizza, but the penne pasta for Erica was just so-so.

Afterwards, we found an Internet spot and stayed there for about 1.5 hours (10 euros). We were able to catch up these journal entries at http://blog.gregula.com, check email and also upload more pictures of the trip to the secure area at http://gregula.com. For some reason, the software we are using (and/or maybe blogger.com) is having difficulties with quotes, which means we must find and eliminate any quotes we may have accidentally used (which may explain why you are not seeing too many double-quotes or contractions).

Speaking of the emails, send us emails at the personal address for Gregg (will not post the actual address here since it invites automatic SPAM) and let us know how you like the journal entries thus far.

We then headed back to the hostel for much needed sleep. The last two days were quite long with only about 5 hours of sleep per night. Around 11:30pm, a massive fireworks display started and went on for 1.5 hours! It was quite incredible and we have been unable to determine why it was so large (except that it was a Saturday night in Venice). It does help explain why so many people were hanging out on the steps of the train station...

ZZZzzzzz...

Friday, July 16, 2004

2004
Friday, July 16 - Firenze (last full day)
Lodging: Il Palagio B&B (phone = +39 055 5520642; email address = info@il-palagio.it; Internet = www.il-palagio.it) ; plan to stay until July 17th

Last night...
We started heading back to the B&B for much needed sleep. We came across a phone and tried repeatedly to call home to let everyone know how great we were doing - to no avail. Oh well... guess we can try again tomorrow.

We are planning on going to the Ufizzi Gallery tomorrow - we have reservations for 8:30 a.m. (Should be another early morning with no free breakfast - bah humbug.)

Gregg played around on the Internet and the phone at the hotel before calling it a night at around 2:15 a.m.

Friday - Where to begin?! We dragged our tired bodies out of bed sometime after the alarm went off at 7:15 a.m. We quickly got ready and prepared for a full day away from the B&B. Gregg kindly carried everything for both of us since Erica had no pockets in her clothing (good thinking Erica!). Gregg joked that he had to make sure nothing happened to his belt because his shorts were not staying up with all that weight without the belt.

We stopped along the way to the Ufizzi for postage (they sell this at tobacco stores - weird) and hot beverages (capuccino for Gregg and hot chocolate for Erica), 7.60 more Euros. We made it to the reservation line at the Ufizzi right on schedule - okay maybe two minutes late but that is good for us, right? Amazing thing with the Ufizzi and maybe all of the really great museums here, the lines to get in are astronomical! But, you can make reservations for a specific arrival time to stand in a much shorter line.

So - we made it to the Ufizzi. Said to be the foremost Renaissance museum and the one thing Erica said we had to do while in Florence. Do not believe the hype. They did have a marvellous Boticelli exhibit and Erica saw other Renaissance pieces she had only seen in books before. There was an abundance of statuary and busts. It was overall a pretty cool museum, but it absolutely drained our energy. We made it out of there sometime before 11 a.m. and decided we had time to grab a real breakfast before heading to our noon appointment to head to Pisa.

After a little debate, we headed back to the place we had been the night before, supposedly renowned for its American Breakfasts. Yeah, whatever. They want to charge 12.50 euro for that? So - we opted for the restaurant next door (we were still feeling the burn of those crazy prices the night before) and purchased the Italian Breakfast instead; sweet croissant, capuccino, and the best orange juice we ever had. It was still pretty expensive, but at least they charged us what they said they would...

We still had a few minutes to kill before our Pisa trip, so Gregg headed to the pay phones to take another shot at calling home. This time he had success! We were able to talk to mom even though it was before 6:00 a.m. there. Then Gregg called Gabe... probably something about not calling him while it would cost him $1 per minute...

We made it to our Pisa trip starting point in adequate time, the tour guide gave us our sandwiches and water to eat when we chose. We took a walk to the train station, hopped on an older train for Pisa, then tried to catch a bus. That was not much fun. The train was delayed, we missed our original bus which threw the tour guide off, we waited for a while for the bus... etc. When we did finally make it to the cathedral and tower our new tour guide had to ask the other employee - Why are you so late? We were frustrated, but we made the best of it by eating our sandwiches while waiting for the bus. Then we did walk in the gateway - WOW!

Pisa - the baptistry, the cathedral and the tower were all so very amazing! They were each worth the hassle of getting there. The baptistry has this perfectly circular shape which lends itself to amazing accoustics. Gregg got a great 30-second video of the guard exemplifying the cool accoustics - the echo is so amazing - it makes it sound as though there were many people singing chords instead of one person singing one note of a chord at a time. So very cool. The guide also gave us a great deal of history on the architecture. All very fascinating stuff.

Did you know that the cathedral and the other structures there were manufactured from salvaged/recycled stone from all over Italy and Greece? It was interesting to note that there were details that did not balance, stones laid out starting with one color and then moving to another color midway, wording upside down and other novelties in the construction. It is still all so beautiful. They say that the stone was scalvaged from many sources because Pisa was such a pour town at the time.

Of course we checked out the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The guide gave us many interesting facts. She said the original architect did two things wrong - 1) he built the structure on land that has much water underneath, and 2) he built it using extraordinarily heavy materials (carrera marble). He built the base and three of the levels, then went off to war. The guide suggested that he ran off to war because everyone in the city of Pisa was so irate that their bell tower was already leaning. (Ha! She was amusing.) Anyway, they tried to adjust the following construction to make it appear a bit straighter. Funny - it does kind of look like a banana when you are trying to see a banana shape...

It was an amazing trip that we are both glad we took and Gregg got some really amazing pictures. You will have to see them!

Our guide exited company at the train station once we arrived back in Florence. Erica tried to find a blouse that had caught her eye on the way to the station. Gregg helped her find it - thank heavens. It was not what she really wanted once she had a chance to try it on. We stopped at a restaurant where Gregg liked the blonde hostess - no surprise there. Unfortunately the blonde never paid us any attention. Gregg was still seeking lasagna - he had it here but was disappointed; the cheese tasted a bit strange. Erica had a spicey penne - Perfecto! We headed back to the hostel to regroup and figure out the game plan for our last morning in Florence Saturday. Time is running out on our time in this wonderful city!

We trekked out after regrouping at the hostel to find a laundromat. We finally found one open late enough (it was about 10:00 p.m.) and we are sitting doing laundry now as we type. This laptop is so cool!

Thursday, July 15, 2004

2004
Thursday, July 15 - Firenze
Lodging: Il Palagio B&B (phone = +39 055 5520642; email address = info@il-palagio.it; Internet = www.il-palagio.it) ; plan to stay until July 17th

At about 12:30am, we left the Gusto restaurant and said goodbye to the couples from Ireland and Norway. We traded email addresses and were invited to Ireland anytime.

We took showers, got ready for bed, read and eventually went to sleep. Erica was wired from her naps and stayed up pretty late reading. We planned to get up and head out no later than 7am.

The alarm clock went off at 6:30am and I hit the 9-minute snooze. Erica got up and headed for the bathroom. At about 12 minutes til, I finally got up. We made it out at about 7:10am headed to check out the walking tours (see http://www.artviva.com).

It was kinda neat to see Firenze before 8am. Except for some people driving (mopeds and the like) to work, the place was empty and closed. At 8am, things changed suddenly. The walking tours did not open until 8am, so we found a quick cappuccino and donut. I also found a banana. Once the walking tours place opened, we decided on the Taste of Tuscany walking tour. This starts at 11:15am today. We had to spend a minimum of 150 euros to use a credit card, so we also booked the Leaning Tower of Pisa tour for tomorrow at 12:15pm! Total price for the both of us for both tours is 220 euros (roughly $284 US dollars). The Pisa tour includes the train ride to Pisa and a light lunch (sandwiches).

We then headed back to the Il Palagio for our included breakfast and to obtain reservations to the Ufizzi museum. We scheduled the Ufizzi museum for 8:30am tomorrow.

At 10:30am, we left for our 11:15am Tuscany tour. The tour took Taxis to the Tuscany area and spent some time at a great villa. We took some great pictures of Firenze and the surrounding countryside and took a tour of the villa. We also had an excellent patio luncheon with many different local cuisine, including olives, cheeses, ham, salami, pasta, wines (not me) and water. The olives were outstanding! We then hiked down along the countryside and then to a local town to take a bus back to Firenze.

We were dropped off at the Duomo and walked back to the Il Palagio B&B. It is now 3:45pm and nap time.

Entry by Erica:
We decided we had time for dinner after our nap, before heading to a historic theatre for a movie in English. We went to dinner near the Duomo at some place advertising great American breakfasts. Too bad we were there for dinner - tee hee... Gregg wanted lasagna and Erica thought the lasagna sounded good too. Gregg went to the mens room and Erica ordered. The waiter in broken English confirmed Ericas thoughts that their version of lasagna was Florentine, meaning cream and spinach, not the tomato and meat sauce Gregg is accustomed. So... to be safe Erica ordered one order of lasagna and a pizze vegetariana. Gregg was glad of it - he was not in the mood for white sauce and spinach. We ordered dessert after a wonderful meal and then got the bill so we could make it to the 10:45 p.m. showing of Stepford Wives. Man! What a bill! 5.83 euros for water! 44 euros total... geez...

We walked into the theatre just as the movie was starting - what timing! The movie was hilarious - nothing like the original. They even gave us an intermission about 45 minutes into the movie. All the Americans were looking around in bewilderment. What do you do with an Intermission during a movie? Anyway...when the movie ended we stuck around and Gregg got some great shots of the theatre. It was beautiful with an amazing glass dome, detailed columns and intricate lighting. Very cool...

Gabe called Greggs cell phone as we were headed out of the movie. As Gregg reached in his pocket to shut it up ($1 per minute), he accidentally hit the answer button. Doh! After 2 seconds, he hung up... but there went that dollar!

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

2004
Wednesday, July 14 - Firenze

After 30 hours of traveling, Erica and I slept over 14 hours (7pm last night until 9:30am today). I did wake up for the first time at 5:30am. At that point, I was thirsty, hungry, had a headache, had to pee and had a nose bleed. I got up long enough to take care of the nose bleed and pee, but the rest waited until more rest.

We got up and had breakfast served out in the atrium of the Il Pallagio B&B. Breakfast consisted of rolls, croissants, jams, butter, chocolate spread (Nutella), orange juice, coffee and hot chocolate [warm milk with oompo (little) chocolate].

We then got ready and left for an official walking tour which we never found. We got to the duomo and tried to take pictures. We found out I had left the memory card back at the room. We went back to the room, got the memory card and put some suntan lotion on (good move). We then headed back out the door for the walking tour. It was noon before we had walked to the starting location. We never quite found the actual location and plan to get better details tonight.

We then decided to head to the Ponte Vecchio. This is a bridge loaded with shops (the last bridge still standing after WWII). We browsed through the stores as we headed to the other side. We found some good Gelato (ice cream) on the way over and stopped for some (flavors were lemon for Erica and chocolate for me). We made the mistake of sitting down and were quickly told seating was an extra charge. We decided to keep moving.

Once across the bridge, we checked the map and headed to the Piazzi Dei Pitti and bought tickets for the Boboli Gardens (Giardino di Boboli). This is quite a big garden area and is known as the only place in Firenze (Florence) to get fresh air. We spent a lot of time here taking pictures, soaking up the sun and walking around to see what should be seen.

In the Piazza Dei Pitti, we found a sit-down cafeteria and shared a litre of water (very good after all that walking). We sat down next to a couple that was complaining about the prices (they were told the prices on their bill were for a newer menu (they got an old menu which matched ours). We did not have any problems with our bill.

Funny - The waitress asked us if we wanted gas with our water. ??? Erica thought she was asking if we wanted a glass for our water. The waitress laughed... she wanted to know if we wanted carbonated or flat water (acqua). Neither of us are big fans of gas in our water (or anywhere else for that matter - tee hee), so we opted for the non-gas water.

On the way out, we found some good post cards. We still need to figure out the postal system.

Before crossing the bridge, we discovered a pizza place. We had a Margherita pizza and drink for 7.5 euros each. I asked for half pepperoni on my pizza, which translated to half peppers (tee hee). It was perfecto! The couple we had seen at the earlier cafe strolled up and sat next to us. I asked where we were all headed next.

We crossed the bridge and started back to the Il Pallagio. We visited a couple of street markets. Erica wanted to head back, read and take a nap (sounds good to me).
Once back, I loaded the 120 new photos on the computer and watched them with Erica. As I was typing this, I got another nose bleed. I am not used to ever getting nose bleeds and am guessing it has to do with the climate change.

Once I finished typing this, I decided to locate an Internet connection nearby to post these entries (as my sister sleeps). I finally found a location at 8:45pm and am submitting this now.

Not sure what we may do this evening, but we will likely find a quick dinner and get some rest...

We ended up eating dinner at a quaint place called Gusto at 10:30pm. It was right next to a fancier place that ended up closing its doors when they thought we may enter. Gusto ended up being perfecto! Erica had penne w/ black olives & mushrooms in a tomato sauce and a birra (beer). I had a Calzone and coca (Coke). All for 17.5 euros! The best part, however, was the conversation with the two couples next to us. One couple was from Ireland and the other was from Norway. The couple from Ireland asked about the Calzone when it came out. It was huge and very good and they had never seen such a thing. That sparked a conversation that went well past midnight. They had just gotten married and had traveled on the same day as us from Roma. They, along with 3 others out of 10, were robbed in Roma on a train. Catherine had her camera taken from a bag under her blouse. The camera was taken out of a zipped bag without her ever knowing. I always say if you are going to do something, do it well...

The couple from Norway was a younger couple (in their 20s). They hated Napoli (Naples) and had already been to Venice and Roma. They loved Venice. They were traveling for 4 weeks (Ireland couple for 3 weeks). We talked about politics and I asked about why my ex-girlfriends kept telling me to go find a woman in Norway {grin}.

Off that subject... Did you know they call Diet Coke Coca-Cola Light here?

Tuesday, July 13, 2004

2004
Tuesday, July 13 - Roma - Firenze
Lodging: Il Palagio B&B (phone = +39 055 5520642; email address = info@il-palagio.it; Internet = www.il-palagio.it) ; plan to stay until July 17th

I made decent time and arrived in Brussels (from JFK NY) at 8am. I then walked through the airport/mall and took several pictures during my hour layover. My next flight, Brussels to Roma, was a smaller plane owned by SN Brussels and was a very pleasant flight. We were slightly delayed due to traffic problems in Roma.

Once landing in Roma, I quickly met up with my sister who had correctly guessed where I came out. I did not have to go through customs. Evidently, going through customs in Brussels was sufficient. We headed for the train station and spent some confusing times on trying to figure out how to get to our train to Florence. We ended up taking a train to central station (9.5 euros each) and then ate lunch at McDonalds and waited for the next train to Florence. We finally got on the train to Florence at 2:47pm.

The Eurail train to Florence was very comfortable, quiet and relaxing (see http://www.raileurope.com for more information). We had seen a lot of people in the last many hours, so this was a nice change. Erica and I both slept. I believe we got off the train (after trying too early a couple of times) at central station in Firenze (Florence). We were both very wiped out by this time.

We spent the next several minutes trying to figure out where to eat. We finally decided upon a McDonalds, found a seat (very crowded) and I went to get the food. We noticed that personal space is less recognized in Europe. People were on top of each other and no one has a problem bumping into you to go where they want to go. I got the food and we ate much needed food.

We then found a tourism office where we got rough directions to the Il Pallaio B&B (take bus #17 and get off at a certain street that shall remain unnamed). We found the bus area, got on bus 17 rather quickly. We couldn't figure out how to pay for the bus and no one seemed concerned about it. We managed to get off at the right street but nothing told us where our B&B was. I made several guesses and eventually ended up right next to it. We quickly made it to our room and arrived at 6:10pm. Erica and I were both ready to crash. We had been traveling for a long time (24 hours for Erica, 30 for me). We took turns on showers and got ready for bed. I had hoped for some dinner, but sleep won. When I went to sleep, I didn't move at all for about 10.5 hours...

Our lodging in Florence is the Il Palagio B&B (phone = +39 055 5520642; email address = info@il-palagio.it) and we plan to stay until July 17th.

Monday, July 12, 2004

2004
Monday, July 12

Crazy day of traveling!

I didn't get much sleep at all during the night. I really slept from 2:30am until 4:30am. I stayed up packing, making sure the house was in "OK" shape and also ordered birthday gifts that were due before I would be back.

A friend of mine, Gabe Lusa Sr., picked me up at 5am to drop me off at the airport. We discussed problems with his computer on the way there. Once at the airport, I stood in line to check in (overseas flights not allowed on eTicket machines). Once checked in, I headed to C gate. Before there, security routed everyone to gate B (didn't know you could get to C from B... have to remember that since the line is generally smaller).

It turns out every one of my flights was delayed. The first one from St. Louis to La Guardia, NY was delayed by an hour. I had a scheduled layover of 8.5 hours at JFK. It turned out to be 9.5 hours. Once in La Guardia, I found an $11 shuttle to JFK. I met a couple of backpackers headed to Europe and we discussed our plans. When I landed, I had 4 voicemails which indicated Erica's flight had been cancelled. It turned out her flight from Columbus to Newark, NJ was cancelled. She had luckily gotten to the airport early enough to take an earlier flight for the same route, so she was fine (except a dumb and repetitive lecture from a Continental employee about not having her phone number on the reservation).

Once at JFK, I found a McDonald's and had some lunch (2 cheeseburgers large value meal for $6). Since my layover was so long, I had considered going to Times Square, etc. but decided I would be better off waiting at the airport. I didn't want to miss my flight and have Erica waiting even longer for me (she already had a 4 hour scheduled wait). I spent the time going through all my Junk emails (900+) and listening to music. During the wait, I also had a coffee, Coke and pizza.

Once on the plane, I sat right behind First class next to a guy from Africa. We had to wait for people on another delayed flight. Ironically, the weather in Newark, NJ (where my sister was headed from Columbus to Rome) was causing flight delays throughout the area.

Speaking of Rome, why is it Rome instead of Roma? Shouldn't it be called what people from Roma like to call it? Why is everything renamed? Florence is Firenze. Venice is Venezia (or something like that). Why don't we call cities what the people living there call it? The english word for Roma should be Roma!

My flight headed from JFK (NY) to Brussels and was scheduled to land 10 minutes after Erica landed in Roma.

Gregula's Domain