Halloween and Thanksgiving 2008

Okay, with Italy and everything I'm a little behind, but this should catch everyone up. The plan which formed a week or so before the 31st was to meet at a pub/bar that was having a Halloween party hosted by an expat organization not far from Central Station. Plenty of costumes would be on display and even prizes were to be awarded. Radhika and I, Jamie and Elena, Brad and Natalia, Szolt, and other friends were in on the plan. Radhika and I were going to pull out our punk rocker garb and getup from several Halloween's back. But I really wanted to do something different, but wasn't sure what. Besides, my hair didn't have 3 years of growth which was "the 12 inch spiked cherry on top" of my look back then! Luckily, there is a costume shop not far from the apartment where most of us ending up going to get what we needed. As I walked around the small, multi-leveled store squeezing past the mostly female 20-somethings, I wasn't getting a strong reaction on my "idea factory" from any of the costumes of props. I was leaning in one direction and then saw a pair of pointy ears. From then it was downhill. As a kid I went as Capt. Kirk 1 or even maybe 2 times trick or treating. But lets face it, I'm more Spock looking than I am Kirk. So, with a little work with the material I had on hand back at the apartment, I was set. R was "punking out" again, so all that was left was the night we "geared up" and went out.

I got way more compliments on my outfit then I expected (which was zero). The Dutch really like Star Trek here, with the original series and Next Generation on their Sci Fi channel. Radhika and Natalia really covered the details in the costumes, as did as Elena. They looked really great. Brad was "demonic", as was Szolt, and Jamie was Aussie Elvis. We enjoyed ourselves at the expat function, but were a little suspicious of the "winners" of the contest. We kept asking how we would enter, hearing you fill out a form (which we never saw even one of), people vote, and you go up onstage (basically a small platform where the guitarist/singer was stationed) and people applaud for their champion. Well, all of a sudden, while the entertainment was on break, they arbitrarily announced 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners! How they were determined we'll never know!! But the costumes that won were not better then some in our group. We left soon after, heading to another bar towards the Jordaan. That one was much smaller, and was populated by several GE employees. We stayed there for quite a long time before calling it a night, with me (walking back), Radhika, and Natalia (weaving back). When we were somewhat close to Natalia's place, one guy hanging on the street asked that I share one of the ladies I had in my company. It was a tough decision, but I had to say they were both mine for that evening. He looked quite sad. He tried the request again, being the persistent little Dutchy that he was, but I just could not share the "funky punky" or the pirate who was going to "shiver me timbers"!! ;) We got home, my guess, around 3am, which ended a fun evening.

Thanksgiving was a much more subdued event. A little strange when you first hear of it - - Thanksgiving dinner at a Greek restaurant. However, this is somewhat of an Amsterdam GE tradition. Someone who worked at GE who has since taken a position in London arranged this some years back, and it continues on. The originator even came in from London to attend, as he has become close friends of the restaurant owners and staff. About 30 or so people were there, including Natalia (Polish Pirate), a mutual friend Szolt (but NOT to be confused with the Halloween Szolt who is a GE employee but didn't come to the dinner), Dave Conover, Jamie Harrison (Aussie Elvis) Denis, so the food and company was very good. People from the US, Argentina, Hungary, Spain, Netherlands, and more, were enjoying turkey (first time eating turkey in Europe!!!), stuffing, white and sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, rice with gravy, salad, beer, wine, and I started a trend at our table (go figure, me of all non-alcohol-consuming people!!) by ordering a glass of Bailey's. We have NOT seen turkey in any grocery store or restaurant - - not just here in Amsterdam, but in our travels here since arriving. The 4 turkeys served last night were possibly flown in, as turkey seems to be fowl only found in the US. Dessert was an apple/raisin and some other ingredients I didn't identify - pie with a scoop if ice cream. STUFFED!!! I couldn't even finish all of my pie (and many of you know of my deep affection for pie!). Once everyone was finished eating and some had left the restaurant (about 11:20pm), so Greek dancing behind the bar started and soon dishes were being tossed to the floor. I wondered how the Greek Pilgrims managed to break their wooden bowls or steel plates at the first Thanksgiving. Come midnight after about 5 hours of Thanksgiving festivities, when the numbers had dwindled down to about 10 GE folks left, I was ready to head back to the teepee to see what football teams were playing (unfortunately it was Dallas and Seattle). Radhika, as usual, still had 2 more hours of socializing in her, so she stayed on with Natalia while Szolt rode his bike and I walked home. After several minutes of boredom watching the Seahawks do their best impression of a high school team, I called Thanksgiving 2008 over a little before 2am! Hope everyone had as good a Thanksgiving who celebrated one!! Pictures to follow shortly, so check back.

Lecco, Italy and Luzern, Switzerland

Hooray! We got an early afternoon departure from Vernazza for our drive to Lecco, which is just north of Milan. It's only several hours drive, so we guaranteed ourselves a daylight arrival barring a breakdown or massive traffic jam. Luckily, neither occurred. And, there were no surprises, as the TomTom took us right to our hotel. We were really unenthusiastic to leave Vernazza - - A. Because we loved it so and B. Because Lecco was our last stay in Italy. Before we left Vernazza, we were told that George Clooney has a place in Lecco, so Radhika had a momentary heart flutter. His image was in more then a few shops and stores there. When we arrived in Lecco it was again easy to find our hotel. It's located on a river that cuts through and around the city, so the location is very nice. The temperature was warm enough, but there was a thick fog everywhere, and it wasn't a fog that enhanced the atmosphere. We walked the very short distance to the center of it all in Lecco, grabbing a couple of slices and gelato. Now, it has been mentioned to me that my posts mention us eating a lot of pizza but nothing else. Believe me, we ate much more then pizza. The food in northern Italy was delicious! But during the day when we were out and about, it was easy to grab a slice or 2 of pizza and keep going until dinner time. I am happy and satisfied with some great slices and a couple of scoops of gelato (coconut and tropical fruit became my favorite!). The "serious" meals were all good that I can think of with the exception of one dinner in Vernazza that was a little disappointing. Our dinner at Monica's restaurant was VERY delicious and I was dreaming about it on my taste buds the rest of that night! Anyway, we had a nice dinner out in a square that night in Lecco before going to sleep in our very nice, comfortable room at the NH on the river. We woke up the next morning, had breakfast in the hotel, and went walking around a little so I could take some pictures as the fog was gone (but coming back as the morning progressed). We left in the early afternoon so we could make Luzern before nightfall. Right before we left Italy, I was jonesing for one more tasty, sweet, gelato experience. As luck would have it at a stop light, there was a gelato shop on the left hand side. We pulled to the right and parked in front of a closed store, walking over to the store and I gazed into the freezer case to check the flavors. I had my coconut/tropical fruit double cone and Radhika had a chocolate/cappuccino. Man I made that last as long as I could. We sat outside on a bench on the sidewalk in front of the shop next to a bus stop. It was the perfect ending to our Italy adventure (maybe a cone to go would've been REALLY perfect!), and we were back on our way after the last sweet, chilly morsel was savored.

And we did. The drive from Lecco was several hours. The terrain in Switzerland was gorgeous and as we neared and then drove around Lake Luzern, I knew we were going to have a nice time there for our 2 night stay. We arrived without a hitch at our chalet (la-dee-da) and was shown to our room. We were actually staying outside of Luzern in a sleepy town several train stops north. It was a great location! The views of the lake were beautiful, the town sleepy, clean, and tidy, and the people friendly. We had an indoor heated pool at our disposal as well as a sauna, which we used both nights (Radhika's first time in a sauna! She actually asked if people really "sit in these things on purpose and sweat like this?". I said "Hell yeah".) I was loving the intense heat after months of Amsterdam weather! And we had everything to ourselves as the chalet wasn't very full. There were quite a few people in the restaurant for breakfast and dinner, however. The breakfast buffet was okay, but nothing really special. However, the meals we had at dinner were very good!! And this place had some unique rooms for guests. The best one had a completely restored and modified Rolls Royce that the guest slept in. Next to it was a hot tub. Others had different themes and layouts. There was even a large gondola over the indoor swimming pool that was outfitted with a bed that could accommodate 2 guests! I believe you can see them on their web page. Let me know if you are curious and I'll find it. We walked around the small town one day, and went into Luzern the next. It's a nice city to visit, with plenty to see and do. We even did some shopping there which I usually don't like to bother with. But there were some surprisingly good deals so we came back to the hotel with a few shopping bags! We looked for a place to eat in Luzern before we left, but nothing grabbed us enough to try. We wanted to eat somewhere different then the chalet, but the food was so good we didn't really mind eating there again. Dinner and another trip to the pool and our second night came to a close. The next morning we would head back to Amsterdam which would take us about 8 hours according to Yahoo and TomTom. We expected another hour or two on top of that because of the horrible experience of our drive south from Amsterdam to Munich almost 3 weeks earlier. But all of the construction and delays must be on the southbound roads, because we zipped home with very few traffic hiccups. I even got some 170kph time on the autobahn, which is about 100mph. Of course the Mercedes, BMW's, and Porche's were still flying by our Ford. But it felt good and the car handled safely at that speed. We pulled in and unloaded in front of the apartment, and I found our usual parking spot on P.C. Hoofstraat around the corner. We were back, but still part of us was back in one of our vacation destinations.

The Cinque Terre

We were slowed a little by rain around La Spezia and also some navigation confusion with the TomTom. Then, I remembered in an email from the place we would be staying at that they requested I call 24 hours before arrival to make plans to get the keys. You see, there are very few hotels in the area. An offhanded guess of how accommodation is divided in Cinque Terre would be 95% private rooms and 5% hotel. I contacted a woman from Rick Steves book. She was booked, but had a friend with a nice room. I went with it, based on the Steves recommendation. Anyway, I forgot to call the number the day before, so I called from La Spezia as we were driving. Monica told me that the room was gone, that the 24 hour call was to "confirm" we would be there, not just to arrange to pick up the key. But, she said to call back in 10 minutes as she apparently has an entire network and would find a good place for us. We were less then an hour away by this time. Radhika placed a call 15 minutes later, and all was settled and we were told where to go in Vernazza to meet our new hostess (Erica). So that was settled and it was on to finishing the drive. The roads into the Cinque Terre and to Vernazza where we would be staying are full of hairpin turns, or switchbacks. The rain was behind us, but now it was dark and the road frequently narrow. We were basically alone on it, no one coming from behind or from our destination. The roads did not suit Radhika well, who asked me on several occasions to reduce speed. We followed the TomTom and road signs with no problem to the parking area that's about 1km above town. We parked, but could find no place to make payment. So, we each grabbed a bag and headed down the dark road that we assumed led into town. It was a perfect night for Halloween - - unfamiliar place, windy with trees and bushes weaving back and forth, very dark. We eventually walked past some houses, along a small river, and eventually more and more houses that turned into the town of Vernazza. We were to meet Erica at the only pharmacy in the town, which was on the main street. As we approached, a woman who was talking with a group called out my name. We met and walked together to our room for the night. It was in the center of town, right off the main street. It was newly done, small and clean. We were good for that night. But we were told that we would move to another, larger room with a window on the street tomorrow. It seemed we would be moving a lot while we would be there! Anyway, I went back up to the car and brought down other bags we may need. There were not a lot of people out, perhaps because it was Monday. But we walked around a little, grabbed some pizza, and called it a night. It looked like this was a very small town. I would go as far to call it a village, with a couple hundred residents. As we would see, the other 4 towns that make up Cinque Terre were equally small with 1 exception.

The next morning, after moving our stuff to the other room, I went up to the car to pay for parking. One guy was very nice, but the other guy barked basically everything he said. I had to move the car, as it was in a "short-term" area, so the barking dude had me follow him in this shuttle bus to another area farther up the mountain. Not too far, I parked the car and rode the shuttle back into town with Mr. Sunshine after paying for 5 days of parking. We decided to hike over to Monterosso, the westernmost town of the 5. That was the longest and most strenuous of hikes between all of the towns! Guess it's good we did it on the first day! It was s nice, sunny, hot day, and even before we were out of sight of Vernazza, people coming into Vernazza from the Monterosso were huffing and puffing. I made one girl panic by telling her she only had about an hour more to go when knowing she had less then 5 minutes. Man... the look on her face!! But I let her off the hook and told her how close they were. The views along the path were gorgeous, with sheer cliffs below and the green-blue waters of the Mediterranean. You could see towns in the distance and occasional lemon groves. Monterosso is larger then Vernazza, has a much larger and nicer beach, and it seemed there was more to do there. It's not as quaint or picturesque as Vernazza. We stayed there a while, grabbing lunch near the beach and enjoying gelato. It was getting late, so we decided to take the train that runs between the towns back to Vernazza. It's only a couple of Euros and took less then 5 minutes!! The hike over was about 2 hours!! That night, we had a slice of pizza and chilled out around Vernazza. During our 5 night stay, we spent an entire day on the beach in Monterosso, took an early morning train from Vernazza to Riomaggiore, the easternmost town, and spent the entire day hiking back to Vernazza, visiting each town (Riomaggiore, Manarola, Cornigia) along the way, and overall just relaxed. The only "downer" was changing our rooms every night except one because of the 24 hour "non-call". But even that was okay as we got to sample different places, had different views, met different people, everyone involved felt sympathetic, and we received reduce rates. We really enjoyed our time there. The locals were very friendly, as well as visitors we met. The Cinque Terre is simply a "can't miss" stop for any visit to Italy.

Siena

We again arrived into a new location after sunset, and with new road construction it made finding our way to our hotel a little tricky. So new and redesigned, in fact, that the TomTom showed our cars position t be in grass and trees on several occasions! But with road signs and common sense, we lost little time and regained our way. Our place in Siena was right outside one of the city gates, and it was really nice especially when compared to our "Rick Steves Nightmare" in Florence. We unloaded our stuff and I squeezed the car into a tiny spot in their underground "garage" that accommodated perhaps 6 cars. After Jasmine, the international lawyer-in-training who moonlights as a front desk clerk gave us suggestions on places to eat, we headed out on the 5-10 minutes walk that would place us in the center of Siena. If you've seen "Quantum Of Solace", it's where the horse race is held. By night, Siena seemed smaller, less crowded, and cleaner then Florence. The next morning would confirm this.

It was a nice, bright morning, and the light of day enabled us to see that our hotel was in a very scenic location. We walked through the city gate and into the heart of Siena. We were told that no cars were allowed in the center, that it was a walking district. However, just like most of Italy, you have to be wary of scooters and motorcycles. Also, I guess according to the Italians, taxi's aren't cars, so you have to avoid them too! And then there are the occasional delivery trucks to dodge. Don't forget the police car too that rolls by from time to time! Yeah...not so much a traffic free zone if you ask us!!! Then there are those dangerous mothers pushing their baby strollers into you! I must've shifted my position 3 times to avoid a woman who was window shopping as she pushed her stroller. When she eventually ran into my leg, she whipped her head around, glaring at me with the iciest stare like I had bumped carelessly into her. I couldn't believe her reaction and uttered words to her that conveyed my thoughts. She continued to drill into my head with her expression, so, wanting to "fit in" and do as the locals, I gave it back to her. We visited several highlights, purchasing a card that gave us a discount at about 5 of them. We also went to a wine tasting where Radhika enjoyed herself and made a purchase to bring home. All that said, we enjoyed Siena more then we did Florence for the reasons stated earlier. It was more of a pleasure for us to walk around Siena. It was more charming, seemed friendlier, and relaxing. There's no substitute for the art in Florence, but the same can be said for everything else in Siena. We spent 2 nights there and really enjoyed ourselves. We would like a return visit here. And as usual, we got a late departure out of Siena as we were enjoying the day so much, and Cinque Terre was only 3 hours away we figured to arrive after dark again but not too late. Nice plan, but...

Florence

We rolled into Florence later then we wanted, but Venice was so great! TomTom was good until we got near our hotel (as usual!). When it indicated we had reached our destination, there was no hotel in sight, just apartment buildings and a car repair garage. I pulled the car up onto the sidewalk a bit so I could get out and check address numbers to try to figure out where we were. The number of the hotel was found on the garage, so I was thrown off by that. I looked down to the street we had turned off of and across to the other side and saw what looked like a hotel sign. It was our place! The street name was the same on both sides. I would come to find out later that in Italy, they separate residence and business numbers that confuses a western guy like me (and apparently navigation devices)! I drove to and parked out front of the Hotel Enza, which was listed in Rick Steves travel book. I went inside, checked in, saw our room (wincing a little), and came back outside to gather Radhika and our baggage. The place was a disappointment, especially after such a nice stay at the Delfino near Venice! It was very dark, old (old can be charming, but this wasn't THAT kind of old) and worn out. It wasn't bad enough to find another place, so we just accepted it as it was and focused on everything outside the hotel. I asked the guy at the front desk about parking, but it seemed a major hassle to park on the street, paying, and moving it for the street cleaners, so I inquired about a parking garage. Not being too clear on where he was directing even though he used a map, we decided to use a garage we drove past as we neared the hotel. It's one of the problems of driving in Italy. The hotel was in a convenient location to the major attractions and art, but parking can be a big issue, which has expensive daily charges. It's one of the several reasons why I prefer to stay outside places like Rome or Paris if driving. It's less expensive accommodation, the car is not a problem, it's quieter, cleaner, and generally a more relaxed atmosphere. But, we were here, the car was taken care of, so we just crashed (with me chasing a few mosquitoes around in the room) and thought about tomorrow.

You want art? - - Go to Florence!! Man, after 3 days I had it oozing out of my pores! It was very cool to read and learn about the history of the city through the frescoes we viewed. And an impressive sight to behold with your own eyes in person is Michelangelo's "David". Fourteen feet tall and every bit perfect! The Galleria degli Uffizi is loaded with paintings and sculptures of Florentine masters. But speaking for me, my head was spinning after the 100th "Madonna And Child" or other constantly repeated religious themed pieces contained in this building (and city). I enjoyed the earlier work especially, seeing them grasp distance and perspective over the years, using light in new and dramatic ways. The buildings, churches, architecture are all fantastic. We went up to the top of the bell tower for a view of the city near sunset. It's quite lovely, even with the little drizzle of rain/mist towards the end. We were the last visitors of the day so that was nice. We walked around the city visiting some pretty sights over the next 2 days, and came away feeling pretty satisfied of the time we spent in Florence. Our next stop was Siena, just minutes south of Florence, but again we got a late start as we were getting our last glimpses of Florence from the park above the city on our drive out. Next stop - - Siena!

Venice PT.2

The next morning was foggy but it quickly burned off by the time we finished the breakfast buffet at the hotel. What a great place to people watch! The international mix of our location, the situation of what is perceived as "free" food, people being time conscious. People have the most interesting expressions and behaviors at a breakfast buffet! The look on a person's face when there are no more croissants in the bin!! The searching eyes - - where's "this", where's "that"? You can see the wheels turning. "Do I want this?" "What is this?" "Where are the coffee cups?" "How do I get cappuccino out of this machine?" "Where do I sit?" "Where are my people?" And the kids running around pushing the levers of the juice dispenser, yelling what they want and don't want. The older people trying to fill their plates while keeping their fragile hips from breaking dodging the kids. But we didn't want to linger long there, so we were soon off to Venice. Such a unique place! Amsterdam has it's canals, but Venice is really one-of-a-kind. We used the vaporetto which are basically buses on water (let's just call them boats!) to get around. The transportation system is not too hard to figure out. With a map and the information at the stops, you know which one to take so you go in the right direction. We went to St. Marks Square, which is the suggested place to start you visit. It's one of the settings you see towards the end of Casino Royale. Over the course of our 2 1/2 days there, we visited many of the sights and several of the smaller islands, but one of our nicer more unique experiences was attending a concert in a church one evening. Five violinists, a cellist, contra base, and clavichord. It was fantastic! The talent was first rate and the presentation and atmosphere couldn't be beat! The group will actually tour the US in 2009, I believe. We completely enjoyed our visit and have definite plans to return again as our time there was very short. Wednesday morning we checked out before heading to Venice for our last 1/2 day, as in the afternoon we had to drive to Florence. Because we enjoyed our current location so much and found it hard to leave, we began a habit of getting to our next destination after dark, which sometimes made arrival a little more difficult. More on that later. On to Florence!

Venice!!

A deep nights sleep from the previous days festivities had us feeling good. On to a little breakfast and then deciding whether to wander around Munich some more or hit the road for Italy. The weather being cloudy and cool, we decided to head south so we could make Venice before nightfall. The drive took about an hour longer then it should've due to road construction again in Germany. There was a little in Italy too, but not enough to consider beyond the realm of what's expected. The drive was really quite beautiful, with the mountainous terrain of southern Germany and northern Italy slowly transforming into the rolling, Italian countryside.

Using a TomTom, or any navigation device is a great tool for driving in foreign places! It does a really great job, but like almost anything else it is not perfect. We have already learned this on several occasions. I realized, with the help of my co-pilot, that I relied on it almost exclusively, forgetting common sense and sometimes even road signs! Not as bad as Michael and Dwight on "The Office", driving into a pond because the device told them to go straight, but getting "brain-lazy" and over-reliant on this technology. So, after driving past the hotel outside of Venice, and going around the block not once but twice, we parked and unloaded. Check in didn't take too long, and it being Sunday we were able to leave the car out front until tomorrow morning. So, we made sure we were happy with the room and then caught the bus in front of the hotel for the 10 minute ride to Venice. That ride reminded me so much of the area right outside the Taj Mahal in India. You basically pass through the "not-so-nice" section of town before you get to the beauty in both places. Between our hotel in Mestre and the drop off point in Venice you've got industrial buildings, railroad tracks, side roads, weeds and scrub brush. It's quite an eyesore. But arrival into the bus lot at Venice changes everything. It's twilight, so I setup the tripod quickly and get off some good shots with the best light of the day. We begin to walk, not getting far before we park ourselves at a canal side eatery for a couple of pizza slices, washing them down with a cold beer for me and a glass of red wine for Radhika. We then take our time exploring the streets and alleys, eventually hearing and following the sound of a piano. It must've been close to 9pm or so when we came upon a small square where 2 or 3 restaurants had setup places for outdoor seating. In one of them is a man dressed in a nice suit, with a black upright piano and glass for tips on top. There were several large trees along with benches underneath them. We got our first gelato at a small vendor who was just about to close, sitting on one of the benches under the Venice stars in the dimly lit square with Girl From Ipanema filling the air. I was thinking the perfect song for him to play next would be one of my Mom's and mine favorites from when I was a boy, "Moon River"...and he did! It was one of those lightning strike moments in life. I called my sister in Tallahassee, but instead spoke with my nephew as Helen was not at home. We sat there listening for a while, tipped the pianist, and began to walk back. Venice was practically empty now, being around 9:30. It was cool having the place practically to ourselves! Making some pictures along the way, we arrived at the pickup area where we caught the bus back to our stop in front of the hotel and we were in the room by 11pm. It was a nice first evening and we looked forward to our first full day in Venice tomorrow.