The Cubicle is empty!!!

Where: Vienna, Austria
When: Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2005

Mozart! Mozart! Mozart! Today was Mozart.

We didn’t get going until 11am today. A little tired from last night and recuperating from the beer and wine from yesterday. Drank a whole liter of water at once to keep hydrated. Tap water here is ok. But I limit it as to not get sick. I wen’t to the store yesterday to pick up some bottled water for everyone (ohne kohlensauer, without gas) carbonation that is. The gassy water does make me blow wind often. So I avoid it as not to piss off any Austrians on the subway.

First order of business was the Tour of Hofburg Treasury. This museum, located on the city Palace, holds the Hapsburgs’ collection of jewels, crowns, capes, scepters, religious ornaments, etc. There sure was alot of Bling-Blling!!! The collection has an emerald that is decorated with gold and is the second largest in the world. The largest is in a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. The crowns were opulent as all was decorated with precious stones. Only some of the religious ornaments contained diamonds. Coranation vests and regalia adorned some of the hallways. Some of these were encrusted in gold and mostly had religious symbols on them. Remember, back then people believed that the kings and queens were as close to god as you can get in this world. The collection is nice to see if you haven’t seen anything like this, but I wouldn’ pay 8€ for the tour again. Save it and have a beir at a local joint.

We then headed for another tour of the Musikverein Wien. For those of you not familiar with this place. This is where the Vienna Philharmonic play their New Years Day concert at. But before the tour we stopped at a cafe to have a …….. coca-cola. Too early for beir. Yeah I know I’m a wuss. Anyway. The thing I got out of the 1 hr tour is that the golden hall is all made out of wood for acoustical reasons. The cieling is not attached to the roof for acoustical purposes. If you had marble in there, there would be the echo effect and that would not be good for music (as far as I know) but in modern music that would be ok and considered another form of something. But in the days of Mozart that is not good. Anyway, The gold all around the hall is real gold (albeit gold leafed, I think that’s the term) but the marble looking wall is not marble at all. It is wood paneling painted to look like marble. The hall does have great acoustics as I’ll note a bit later. There are 2000 seats in the hall. Anyone can become a member. To get tickets for the New Years concert, I believe goes this way. It is by lottery. Members do not get special treatment. You have to register by phone or by internet for the tickets between Jan 3 and Jan 31 of each yr. for the following NYrs. concert. So go ahead and sign up and you may get to go to a concert in Vienna in New Years day! Hundreds of thousands apply from all over the world.

In the evening we attended a Mozart concert at the Musikverein Building and it was the best ever. If you had your eyes closed and just listened to the music, you could not tell whether it is live or if it’s memorex (hope you’Re old enough to remember the commercial). You can here avery not played by each instrument. No echoing effect whatsoever as far as this bad hearing can tell. The performance was great with Mozarts the Marriage of Figaro (which you may rmember from the movie Amadeus). I remembered a few others from commercials, but the names escapes me at this moment.

But this was Don’S and Mary’s night. They were all dressed up and were eager to go to the concert that they left earlier than the rest of us. We met them at the last subway stop ’cause they took a wrong turn and had to get off the train and get on the right one. They were so anxious that they missed the right connection. They had a wonderfull time and I don’t thing nothing can top this, unless they win the lottery of lotteries and get 4 tickets to a New Years Day concert with the Vienna Philharmonic at the Musikverein Building.

Tomorrow we leave for Salzburg.

Vienna has been great! The people here are very friendly and fun. They don’t play this game of we’re holier than art thou like the French. Sorry, If you have French ancestry. But that is my honest opinion. Although Vienna is smaller than Paris, I think that it is just as hip and cultural as Paris. I don’t mean Paris Hilton either. Also, Vienna doesn’t stink like Paris and that’s because the Viennese aren’t enamored with dogs as Parisians are. Overall, I would visit this city again.

Tony, I’ve never seen so many 23-yr old blond, blue-eyed and curvy like I’ve seen them in Vienna. You may only last a day or two before you snap your neck. j-k!

I’ve been lucky with internet connections. Here at K&T Boardinghouse, it’s free! Hope my luck stays true at our next stop.

Auf Weidersehen!

Where: Vienna, Austria
When: Sept. 13, 2005

After all the hubub last night, we all took it easy this morning. The garbage trucks actually woke me up this morning around 6am and couln’t go back to sleep. So I washed up and dressed and took a morning walk while everyone was still asleep. Or so I thought.

On the way down. There were two guys lined up to go in the sex/erotic shop on the second floor. The boardinghouse (4th floor), residence (3rd & 5th floor) and the Birds Nest erotic shop share a common entrance from Mariahilferstrasse. Evertime we go out, we pass by the door to the erotic shop. There are no displays to see. Just a buzzer to get in and credit card stickers that they accept. But these guys were lined up early and I just bid them Guten Morgen and gross gott this as I past them by. Gross gott is the more common greeting that Viennese use to greet each other. It’s only used in Vienna.

Anyway, I just took a walk in the neighborhood. Headed downtown to the old city and took a different street back. Things don’t really pick up until around 9am. Just like in our country, the blue collar workers are out early and the white collar workers don’t really start until 9am. Interesting.

I counted 3 starbucks and 2 McDonalds on my walk. Viennese love their coffee. I think starbucks figured if they can capture a good share of the market in Vienna, then they can confidently capture the coffee market in Europe. Most of the clientele I noticed though are the young variety. The old folks probably are still loyal to their coffeeshop. But I’m sure that Starbucks are just biding their time until when ´most of the coffee drinkers in Vienna had their first coffee at Starbucks. The local shop have also started to have coffee on the go. Something that they did not offer until Starbucks came to town. So, Starbucks had made an impact on the coffee drinkers of Vienna.

We didn’t get going until after brunch on a place around the corner. Good breakfast of ham and cheese on a hard roll with soft boiled egg. Yummy!!!

We met Tina, the owner of the place we’re staying at, at Starbucks. It’ on the first side street to the left heading towards the old city. Deanna had a nice chat with her until she had to get going to meet her friend for coffee. She did give us directions to the post office. We’re planning on mailing some souvinier(sp) and not needed material home. So we don’t have to lug all those extra weight. Hoping to keep the cost below 100€. Yikes! But I think it’s worth it not lugging the extra pounds around when travelling. I not only carry my backpack and daypack, but I also have to lug Mary’s LUGGAGE. That thing weighs at least a ton. I think all she forgot was the kichen sink. Since the parental unit can’t move as fast, we have to pitch in to make it safer to hop in and out of trains, steps and escalators.

We saw the Hapsburg city residence today but just the outside grounds. The museums in the compound were closed today (Tue). Today is when they do all the cleaning at the museum. Nice grounds with beautiful parks and gardens. The Statues of various Hapsburg royalty and composers sorround the City palace. We only took a picture of the statue of Mozart the boy genuis.

After touring the grounds of the Hapsburg City Palace. We took the Vienna Opera House tour. All the tours for the different languages started at 2pm. So needless to say, there were a crowd at the doorway and when they openned the doors there was a mild rush to the ticket window. I purchase 5 tickets with 2 tickets at senior citizen discount. Unluckily, I could not qualify for the ticket discount.

The place was impressive! Operas and Ballet performances are played every night except certain holidays. The stage is huge with 4 different elevators. It also has a fire protection screen that can last for 60 min to hold off any fire to protect the stage. Most of the balcony area are made of stones. The opera house was damaged in WWII and you can see all the remodeling they did after the war. It took them 11 yrs to complete the remodeling. The place sits around 1000 people and they are sold out for the yr. You can only purchase standing only tickets 1hr prior to any performance at 4€ or less. The bad news is that there are only about 100 or so of those tickets available and there are several more hundreds people that line up each night hoping to be in the front to get those tickets. Risky proposition unless you’re willing to stand in line for 2 to 3 hrs and stand another 4 hrs during a performance. Lots of standing around to me. So no deal on that tonight. The place was nice to see but the tour was relatively short. About 35 min. They didn’t even show what it was like inside one of the balcony booth or whatever you call them. They showed the art that sorrounds the 3 main intermission halls. Whoop-de-doo. Then the coup-de-gras was that they exit you through the souvenier shop. Wouldn’t you know it. After that lame of a tour, I tried very hard not to buy anything and I didn’t. It’s a nice place to see, but it only gets a one star in my book. Skip this tour if your crunched for time.

We then headed to the place (I can’t remember at the moment) where the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra plays. They are not in town as they are in Switzerland doing performances. But we scheduled for a tour at 1:30 tomorrow and bought tickets for a performance of Mozart pieces for tomorrow night.

Don and Mary as I mentioned before are diehard classical music afficionados. They have watched the Vienna Philharmonic at New Years for ages and they are big fans and theý have some performances on cd’s I’m sure. So, needless to say this is one of their must see places. Don was beaming ear to ear when he found out about the performance tomorrow night. I don’t think anything can top tomorrow night on the rest of the trip.

Called it the day for tours at this pt. and Deanna and I looked for the post office near our boardinghouse. I asked to two elementary aged girls where the post office was and they were gracious enough to lead us there. We then purchased two boxes for stuff to send home.

Had dinner at Biem Novak. Typical Austrian fare. Had some beef with wine sauce and onions. Lots of it. That also come with potatoes. Now we’re really in the meat and potato part of the world. With two big glasses of beer. Ausgeseighnicht!!! Alles gut!!! Wunderwa!!!

Until next time…………….

Auf weidersehen!!!!

Wow Day 9 already. It seems like we just left La-X.

Checked the web this morning and the Packers lost 17-3 to the Lions. What gives? The’ve always have had tough time there and I’m sure they’ll right the ship to take the conference championship.

Deanna and I got the tickets to Salzburg. Leaving Thursday at 9:30 am. Should arrive in Salzburg in the earlz afternoon.

Maria and Deanna surprised their parents with a present that is once in a lifetime. A package that includes a tour of the palace. A dinner at the palace grounds and an orchestra performance to cap the evening.

The Schonbrunn Palace that was built by the Hapsburg royalty is very impressive and only second to Versailles in Paris, France. The only difference that I thought that stood out to me was that the ceilings were higher in Versailles. Otherwise, they are great monuments to the time of royalty. The most famous of the Hapsburg is Franz Josef. Who ruled all of Austria (much bigger then. Included most of eastern Europe) for 68 yrs. He ruled so long because he became king at 18. Then married a 16 yr old named Elisabeth who went with a name Sissy. The emperor did love his wife dearly, but his wife did not reciprocate that love back. She was always gone on trips and very tempremental. Maybe this is where we get the saying, “Don’t be a sissy!” I don’t know if it’s true but I’m sticking to it. Another famous Hapsburg is Marie Antoinette. Of course you know her as the one who got guillatined in Paris during the revolution. She was forced into marriage with King Louis the XVI to finally keep the peace between Austria and France.

We took the 40 room tour and it took us about 1-1/2 hr. We had an audioguide which helped explain the rooms. There were not to many people there as it was late in the afternoon. But several late tour groups did arrive and they slowed the tour down or we could have done it in an hour. But we enjoyed it.

The sorrounding grounds were much better to enjoy. The fountains and the groomed lawns and pretty flowers were nice to see. We very much enjoyed a nice stroll. The city of La Crosse could probably fit in the palace grounds. We only saw the immediate area behind the palace, but the grounds includes hunting lodges, a zoo, and many other cotages and fountains that we did not see.

At 6:30 we had the dinner portion. The menu was:

Smoked and gravid salmon pate on dill-pesto (very good, even if you don’t like pate)
Turkez-hen fillet with herb crust on safran – white winesause with potatoes and castle vegetables
for dessert: Chocolate Mousse

Of course all this accompanied with a bottle of red and white wine.

Most excellent dinner fit for royalty.

We did have a little excitement after dinner. When the waiter took the bottles away, he turned to quickly and dropped the bottles and they caused quite a stir in the dining room as a few patrons screamed. At least they were empty and nothing was lost.

We then headed for the Orangerie wing of the Palace. The orchestra had more members tonight that last night which made it sound more fuller. But the program was the same but not the same pieces by Mozart and Strauss. They were notheless belissimo! They had parts with ballet and other parts with opera singers. They were better than the ones last night. Don and Mary, who are afficianados when it comes to classiscal music, knew all the pieces and said that they were performed beautifully! I could’nt agree more. I guess music appreciation class does come in handy once in a while. Although I recognize most of the music from commercials!

Clasical music is mostly used in commercial since they don’t have to pay royalty to the composers. I’m sure Mozart, Beethovan, Strauss, Stravinskz, Debussy and others are just fuming in their graves. Especially Mozart who died broke.

It took us about 15 minutes to get back to our hotel by the use of the subway. The subway here is very easy and convenient.

The concert was a great ending for Mary and Don for their 46th wedding anniversary! They thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Gutte nacht. Alles gut heir!

Auf wiedersehen.

Where: Vienna, Austria
When: Sept. 11, 2005

God Bless to those Americans affected by the events of 9/11. Our generations Day of Imfamy. May those that perished rest in peace.

Today we started by going to the high mass service at St. Stephens Cathedral. Not as big as St. Peters but big none the less. The Bishop presided over the mass and an orchestra with singers were at hand to sing the hyms that were all written by Mozart. Needless to say the music for the mass was devine! The mass was in German of course, but I could follow it at times. The sermon was done in German, Italian and English. We sat in the first row of the second section of pews. But there were people standing in front of us, since the service was crowded. But they settled in once the “tourist” left after taking their pictures. VEry rude since they were instructed not to snap photos during service. And no I did not take any during service.

After the service we went to Zinone und Zinone for a bite to eat. Just some sandwitches.

After the lunch braek, Deanna and I climbed the south tower all 361 steps of it and Maria and her parents went to the north tower, which has an elevator. They had a decent view of the city and this is the tower with the bell on it. The south tower stands at 137 meters and the lookout point in this tower is at 63 meters. We climbed the spiral staircase and I had to stop twice to catch my breath. Very out of shape. The view of Vienna was spectacular from this vantage point. You can see the outlying mountain ranges that sorrounds this flat valley. Too bad two of the windows had obstructed views due to refurbishing. Nonetheless it was awesome! The walk down was easier to manage and did not take us long to do. We then went window shopping around the Cathedral before we had to meet with Maria and her parents for the english tour of the Cathedral.

The tour lasted about an hour and the guide just gave us the basic information regarding the construction of the Cathedral, which took several centuries. It incorporates several styles of Architecture including Baroque, Gothic and I can’t remember the others. The north tower was originally suppose to be as tall as the south tower, but the labor and material were diverted to build a wall around the city from defending invaders many hundred yrs. ago. Most recently the Cathedral was 50 % destroyed during WWII. Some by bombs but mostly bz fire since some of the construction were made by wood. Since money were scarce after the war, the Austrian’s decited to build the Cathedral back in three sections. The Tirol (west) of Austria donated their money to rebuild the floor. Another section of Austria donated money to rebuild the walls and the stained glass. The area around Vienna donated money to rebuild the roof and the towers. The symbol of each regions or states are emblazoned on the marbled floors and stained glass. That is all I can remember about the tour. Oh, he did go over the meanings and symbolism of the pulpit and the altar. And some important guy is buried in the south wing of the church. The name escapes me.

After the tour, we stopped at Z&Z for some gellato. Ate, not as good as the gellato in the Veneto region.

Then, hoping on the subway it was off to the Palais Auersperg. Where Mozart first performed for the royalty when he came to Vienna. The place was beautiful. The concert with orchestra, ballet, and opera was very exciting. The first half consisted of Mozart and the second was Johann Strauss. I guess the ambiance of Vienna and Austria made this orchestra event exciting to listen. We (the audience) even participated in a little singing. I was a great evening to end the night.

After a little dinner near the boardinghouse, we called it the night. Wonderfull day in wonderfull Vienna. The weather is perfect high 70’s. Hope our luck will hold regarding the rain. It seem like when we take our umbrellas, it does not rain. If we don’t, like last night, it would rain. We’re definitely taking our umbrellas everywhere.

Tommorow we have a surprise lined up for Don and Mary for their 46yr anniversary.

Veilen Dank, auf wiedersehen.

ps – pack is losing 7-0 in the first. will have to check the final tomorrow morning.

Another wonderfull travel day.

Word of caution. If I mispell any words it because I’m having a hard time at this moment figuring the Austrian keyboard. But I’ll try my darndest.

We left Conegliano a little before six. Vito got up earlz to help pack the car. Maria drove us to the station and we arrived at around 6 am. The train leaves at 6:15. Driving thru Conegliano that earlz in the morning is alot better and peacefull than driving in the daytime. Alot less traffic.

We took off on time and It was sad to say goodbye to my sister as I don’t see her often. She really provided us with a wonderfull stay at her house.

We got off the train at Treviso and caught the 7:25 train to Vienna.

Don and Mary waiting for the train to Vienna. (in Treviso, Italy)
.

Maria and Deanna waiting for the train to Vienna. (in Treviso, Italy)

The trip was verz scenic and fast. We made several stops that lasted about two or three minutes. Éxcept at the border as the crews changed. The Italian crew got off and the Austrian crew came on.

Scenic view
euroVac005.jpg

The mountains thru Austrian alps were verz scenic and one could feel the tug of belting out the “The hills are alive” tune from the sound of music. But I’ll save that for another time.

We got to Vienna around 1:50 pm. Then did the first rule in the rule of thumbs for travelling. Take out some cash. Then did the second rule on the rule of thumbs of travelling, get to your accomodation.

We went to the TI and asked what the best waz to get to B&K Boardinghouse. “Take the 13A bus to Neubaunstrasse and the boardinghouse is half a block away.” The guy at the TI said in perfect english. So we took the 13A bus after much fanfare and got to our boardinghouse.

The boardinghouse is nice and clean and verz spacious. The ladz that runs the place is verz friendly. There is no AC but Austrians reallz don’t believe in wasting energz and are verz protective of the environment. That is whz they’ll onlz change the towels everzother day.

Deanna and I scouted Mariahilferstrasse. We found where starbucks is, which she loves their coffee. We went to a supermarket to get some water with gas. I don’t get this whz some europeans like water with gas. Can someone please explain that! We also saw some hari-krishnas, about a doyen drumming and singing along the busz avenue. People were just encouraging them to get louder and louder much to the krishnas annozance. We also ran into a Harvest fest celebration and got a brat. I tell zou what, that was the best brat I have ever eaten. Bar none, I kid zou not. The brat came with some honez mustard and a slice of breat and it was delicious.

After a break and some cleaning up, Deanna, Maria and I went to get something to eat. Plan 1 failed as the restaurant we wanted to trz was closed. But we found a Middle eastern restaurant and tried some of their fares along with some Austrian beer. Actuallz 2 big glasses of Austrian beer. Sehr gut!

We walk back in the rain and after a shower, hit the hay.

Tired from travelling today. Will turn in early as we are planning to go to mass at 10:15 at St. Stephens cathedral in the city center.

Gutte nacht. Auf weidersehen

Where: Coenglliano, Italy
When: Sept. 9, 2005

It was thundering and lightning and really raining throughout the morning and into midafternoon. We all slept in since we had a grandiose time at Leo and Elda’s last night. When the first question is Red or White wine, you know you’re in for the long haul. They were very hospitable and gracious host! They really showed the essense of Italy. Family, Food and Fun.

After getting up around 9am. We had a little breakfast since we were still full from last night. Since it was raining all morning we decided to do laundry. Maria Sue and I were dropped off to the laundrymat in town. While my sister, Deanna and Mary went shopping for groceries and pasta to bring home. Don stayed home to rest and read the book on the Vatican. I think he got thru the first chapter and probably slept since the rhythym of the rain and thunder were conducive to making you fall asleep fast.

At the laundrymat, we were trying to figure out how to run the wasther when an Italian lady said something in an Italian way and all I can say is “Si, grazi mille.” Luckily, I noticed that the start button was taped and apparantly the machine was broken. I just assumed that that was the message she was trying to convey in Italian. So, also luckily she just finished using to washers and just asked her is she was finito with those, pointing at the washer, Si she said. Now were in business of doing laundry. Also on the wall there were instructions on the payments system written on the wall in Italian and English. By the way, the machines were Speed Queen. If I’m not mistaken this company is HQ in Ripon, WI. Small world after all.

The way the laundrymat worked is that you place your laundry in the washer and load up the soap and faric softener. Then you go to the payment wall and place the coins in the slot. Once the correct value is placed, press the corresponding number on the lighted board to the machine. Once that machine number is lighted, press the start button on the machine and in 30 min. you’ll have washed clothes. The dryers worked the same way. I guess this is to save the machines by not having someone tamper with the coin slots, jamming them and temporarily disable the machine. The owner will collect the coins in one location instead of running from one machine to the other to collect all the coins. Which way is better, I don’t know. I’m not in the laundrymat business. Ask John Ott.

It took us 2 and a half hours to do the laundry. We waited awhile for some of the dryers to free up. We were back at the house around 3:30 and we had lunch. Pasta lunch. My sister made some beautifull tasty pasta dish.

After lunch, Vito’s dad arrived to accompany us to the winery for a wine tour. He is friends with the owner of the winery. At this time, the clouds cleared up and the sun shone. Perfect timing.

At the winery, the wife of the owner gave us the tour. Her daughter was suppose to give the tour, but had to take the dog to the vet and was not able to make it. But we met her at the end of the tour and also her dog.

We saw from where they place the grapes after the harvest, to the presess, to the vats for fermentation and also the cask for fermentation. Saw the process and the machines that bottles and labels the bottles and the packaging. Of course at the end, we had a sample. We had some prosecco. The Italian champagne that ever better than the real champagne. It has less carbonation, therefore less gassy and more taste. It was very good and I had three servings and we finished the bottle.

Leo was gracious enough to give us six bottles of red and white wines to take back with us. We were very appreciative of the gestures. And while he was there, he took home two cases of wine himself. There were also another group of american tourists getting the tour and I’m sure they had a great time touring the winery.

The view from the winery is spectacular. From where we sampled the prosecco, out the window you can see the valley and the acres of grape vines and also the Dolomites! Spectacular views. I guess this is a great segway for our Austrian and German alps in the next couple of weeks.

At night we got to packing as we waited for Vito to arrived for dinner. We had dinner around 9:30.

Ate tin-tin prepared the meal and It was worthy of a 10-satr restaurant:

Antipasti: Bruschetta
Primi patti: Risotto
Secondi patti: Veal with very great combo of herb and spices along with eggplants, string beans and cubed oven baked potatoes with some herbs that I can’t remember. The vegetables came from Elda’s garden. And of course a bottle of vino from the winery.

Awesome meal to end our stay in Conegliano.

Vito, Maria, Ale and Gianlucca have been very gracious with accommodation and hopitality.

Can’t wait to come back here again. Hopefully we can make it every yr.

Tommorrow we leave for Viemma. Catch the train in Coneglian at 6:15 and switch at Treviso to catch the Eurostar nonstop first class to Vienna. Should arrive at 1:45 pm.

The views to Vienna should be magnificent!

Love you all!!

Ciao und Auf Wiedersehen!

PS- Thanks to all that have e-mailed us and posted comments on the blog. And great thanks to all well wishers for the rest of the trip. We are truly enjoying this once in a lifetime trip. Please keep us informed on goings on back home. Go Pack Go!

If you want to leave a comment, you don’t have to go back to the first blog. Just click on the “No comment” on ” (no.) comments” at the end of each individual blog. That way I’ll know if new ones are placed. Thanks.

Where: Conegliano
When: Thursday, Sept. 8, 2005

Today we all got up around 8 or so. Actually closer to 9. Maria had prepared a wonderfull breakfast with lots of fruits. I played the eggman. I guess somethings don’t change, even when you’re halfway around the world. Joe L and Steve F would know what I’m talking about.

After breakfast we went to Venice.

At Venice we did alot of window shopping. Bought some scarfs and laces. No not shoe laces. But those that you place on tables.

The city is less crowded today that the other times that I’ve been here. Deanne and her parents went to see St Marks church and went up the tower to get a great view of the city. It only took them probably and hour and a half to do both. The lines were short at each venue. We all then took a gondola ride which lasted for an hour. Got back on the train and went to Vito’s parents for dinner.

Leo and Zelda (Vito’s parents) were very gracious hosts. We had several red wines, blueberry dessert wine and proseco (Italian Champagne, although better). Almost all of the food we had tonight were from their gardens. The eggplants were very delicious. The polenta with cheese was great. The soup was excellent. The meal was excellent. We even tried some figs from their trees. They’re in season. The dinner lasted for 2hrs. Very typical here. We also had great convesation about soap and tv. My sister acted as the interpreter which worked out well.

We home called it the night after a very long day.

Got our tickets to Vienna. We leave early Sat. morning to Treviso. Change train and cathch a Eurostar train to Vienna. Should be in Vianna around 2pm. Awesome!!!

Ciao!!!

Where: In transt from Rome to Conegliano
When: Wednesday, Sept. 7

Today was travel day. We’re going to visit my sister Maria in Conegliano.

We left the Hotel Alimandi early, like 7:45 am. Early enough so Don and Mary didn?t even have breakfast. Although Maria Sue packed two slices of cake to give to them while we were waiting for the taxi. We had the hotel call for a taxi that can fit 5 people and luggages. You would think that they would have some minivan. But they had a small minivan the size of a midsize minivan in the U.S. We did fit all 6 people including the driver in that small “minivan” which took us to the Centrale Statzione.

I picked up the reserved tickets. My sister Maria reserved the tickets for us. I just went to self-serve window to pick up the tickets. The teller had a little problem understanding my english even though I asked him if he spoke english and he anwered alittle. They have these people that roam around certain area to assist anyone that needed help. Most of them speak english really well since a great majority of the travellers are english speaking people. Although Germans do alot of travelling too.

We got on the train, the Eurostar, so yeah it was fast, and it was even better since we were in first class. The guy that was across from me, some business man, fell asleep immediately and by no time was snoring away. It was pretty much like that with intermittent stops. He finally got off in Padova. But our first stop was in Firenza (Florence). Half of the original riders got off and was replaced by American tourists. So english was a predominant language on our car all the way to Vinezia (Venice). The ride to Vinezia (Maestre) was uneventfull until we got off the train. An american from another cart lugging two HUGE luggage asked me if this was Venice. I said no and that the next stop (Venezia (Santa Lucia)) was his stop. He got back on and the door literally closed on his ass. He just made it and probably saved him a minor headache. That was my good samaritan deed for the day.

At the platform, I checked to see what regional train we needed to catch. By the time I knew for certaind what train to take (3 min) I turned around to see the train leaving. Back to the board to see when the next one is coming, 20 min on track 2. Showed Deanna how to read the train schedule board for when she travels next time.

At Treviso, Maria, Deanna and her parents got off the train and I luckily peered out to see if they were ok. And they were not on their spot. So I looked out side and saw them on the platform and yelled at them to get back aboard, which they did. Headache averted. We do have a plan for missing the train and that is, if you’re separated. The people on the train always get off at the destination and wait. The person left behind get on board on the next train and get off at the intended destination to meet up with the party. Hope this scenario does not happen.

Vito and Maria picked us up. We then headed to the castle on top of Coneglian to have some drinks and gelatto. Just to relax with the view of the small towns in the valley and the Dolomites on the distance. It’s always a breathtaking view. One of many to come I hope.

We got to my sister’s house and got settled in. Vito had to go to work for a spell and when he came back we had some prosecco to get the festivities started.

For dinner we went to Castel Brando. This castle was an old monastarty and a millionairre bought it from the monks and renovated it to have a pizzaria, hotel, spa center, convention center, etc. everything that business people would need. Had some great food as usal here in Italy. We took a stroll at the castle afterwards and called it the night.

Overall a long day of fun! which is a good thing.

Ciao!!

Where: Rome
When: Sept. 6

We got a late start today. We wanted to get going by 7:30 am but never even came close. Somehow, I screwed up setting up the alarm. Instead of am I set it for 6 pm. Maria luckily got up at quarter to seven and immediately woke us up and called her parents to get-up. So by the time we showered and ready for breakfast, it was around quarter to 9. The breakfast is provided for free from the hotel. We have it at a terrace in the 4th floor with the view of the back of the Vatican. The food has been delisioso!!!

Todays agenda was the Vatican Museum and the Colloseum!

We started at the museum at around 10:30 or so and got an english speaking tour. This place is huge. I fugured that we should do the tour and learn as much as we can and try on our own next time and prepare more about what we wanted to see. The sistine chappel, the pope’s personal private chapel, is basically next to St. Peters basilica. Over time other popes have added to the compound with two humongous building that are connected and make up the two courtyards. One courtyard, canàt remembered the name, is kept up beautifully with gardens and statues. The other is a parking lot.

The tour took about 2:30 hrs and the lady that lead the group was very informative and funny! She must have done these tours alot and she did her tour very well. We went thru the Raphael rooms with shows the fresco paintings by Raphael and his underlings. Also saw the map room. There was a map there that was done in 1528 and it showed magellans ship in the Phillipines which was discovered by Magellan in 1521. Pretty cool stuff! Of course the Sistine Chapel was just magnificent! It’s hard to describe it unless you have an interest in it and have done alittle of research. The fresco’s by Michelangelo (sp?) was cleaned up after all the soot from candles over the years. And they look as fresh from the first day he painted the chapel. There was alot of information thrown at you and that’s why I boutght a book about the vatican. I’ll probably learn more there than I will from the tour. But the tour was great nonetheless for the first go. Hope to make it back some day and spend a day really understand the history and meaning of the most famous works. This Museum is priceless but replicas are available for several euros at the end of the tours. Your not done unless you passed the souvenier shop. And the museum has a quite a few large shops. I guess they’re tired of doing the church picnic’s too.

We took a bit of a rest (2 hrs) and decided to take a tour bus around Rome. This tour bus has a designated route and they can drop you off at certain locations in the city. You can then hop off and see a sight and jump back on when you’re done with sightseeing.

We picked up the tickets and loaded in the bus at St. Peter square. The bus went across the Tiber River and to various castles and churches and building and piazzas and landmarks around town. By the way, they give you earphones to hear about the various landmarks. So anytime you’re at a stop sign, the locals just stare at you funny. But I’m sure they’re used to it.

There are alot of tourists in this city. Yesterday the line for the museum extended for more than a half mile. Today when we got at the museum the line was about 50 ft. Monday is very busy at the museum because aton of people come to see the basilica on sunday ’cause it free and they head to the museum on Monday. The only other time it’s busy is when it’s raining outside. Everybody heads to the indoor sightsee.

We got of the bus at the Colloseum and got an english tour ticket for the Colloseum. Our guide is a Architecture teacher at a local university and he does this once in awhile ’cause he’s researching or part of the restoration process that’s going on at the Colloseum. Already forgot his name though. Anyway, couple of the things he mentioned were interesting. The Colleseum itself had a cover at the top that extended inward so that it shaded the spectators. The floor of the arena was made of wood and covered with dirt (just like in the movie Gladiator) There were several elevator to bring the contestants up. The bottom of the arena floor was mosly cages for the animals. The animals were brought from all over the Roman Empire. At its height, there were 5,000 animals being slaugtered at the games. The animals were actually killed below away from the spectators and butchered and fed to other animals or to indegenous people. Those Romans actually had some good in them. The spectators were seated base on the social status. The lowest were actually seated at the very front rows. But their tickets came with a disclaimer that said, that the Roman heads were not responsible for anybody that got bitten, maimed or killed by the animals. The seats were only about 5′ from the floor and animals sometimes tend to go after the spectators rather than the combatant. Unlike popular beliefs, the christians were not fed to the lions at the arena. They were actually done on a city by the sea outside of Rome. There is a cross at the entrance to the arena to commemorate those killed. The cross was place by the order of one of the Popes.

The place must have looked magnificent when all the marble material were still shiny. Actually, some of the marble from the colloseum were used for St. Peter Basilica. What comes around goes around! When in Rome, kill Julius Ceasar? j-k!

Anyway, the Colloseum was impressive, bigger than I ever imagined. Althugh it ranks second to Lambeau Field as gladiator landmarks. Reminds me, I have to put my lineup in.

Ate dinner at Ristorante Piacere Molise for the third night. Had Bruschetta, Prusciutto, for antipasti, had spaghetti for prima and Saltin boca de (Veal) don’t know what veal is in Italian for secondi with a bottle of Chianti!

Mauro our server speaks little english but explains well with hand gestures that sometimes borders mimicking the animal. He’s a great trouper.

I’ve been using the internet at the hotel. It’s kindof a internet jukebox. Put money in slot, click on browser, type in web addres and away you go. 1euro for 30 min. cool stuff!

Saw St.Peter sq. at night tonight. awesome! Polizia kicked me out of the square at 11pm.

Tomorrow is a travel day to Conegliano.

Ciao!!!!!

Where: Rome
When: Sept. 5

Just to touch back about yesterdays adventure. When we got to Rome’s airport, we did get 2 of our 5 luggage from the carousel. So we waited for about 45 min before asking if they were done unloading the bags. Our fligh number was still in the monitor and the carousel did not stop, so we assumed that they were still loading. Anyway, after 45 min or so, actually 1 hr, we asked the bag attendant at the Alitalia booth and she confirmed that the 3 bags arrived at an earlier flight from A-dam! That begs the question. If the bags could make it from A-dam with the close transfer time, could we have not made the transfer ourselves and made it to Rome about late afternoon instead or midnight? I guess that the price you pay for being nice and not being insistant. My sister Maria said I should have insisted on a KLM flight as there is a KLM flight to Rome on the hour. Oh! maybe next time.

Anyway, we got to our hotel, Hotel Alimandi, and they checked us in fairly efficiently. The rooms are standard European size ( small for this fat American), but they are clean and we have bathroom in our room not down the hallway. After settling down for a bit, Maria, Deanna and I went to look for something to eat. The concierge recommended a restaurant down the block. We said ok taking his word for it. We got to the restaurant, and there was a person cleaning up the cafe tables by the roadway. We said if they were still open and he said no. But we saw a few tables with customers inside. I thought that was odd, but they might close early on Sunday nights. We started heading down the block and he came running after us and started yelling something in Italtian, i guess that is what language they use here, j-k! he motioned about eating. So in we went to the restaurant. Had 3 individual size pizzzas, 1 bottle or rosso vino, due aqua minerale – no gas. (non-carbonated mineral water, ok) Had a great meal, returned with one of the pizzas for Don and Mary and they finished it around 1:30 in the morning. We all called it the night. What a day and we are only starting the Trip.

Monday morning, today, we all got up late even though I set the alarm for 7am, we did not got going until 9. We had breakfast brunch in the terrace with the view of the Vatican walls and trees. They had plenty of stuff for the buffett. They had American staples of cereal and coffee cakes and coffee, of course. I had eggplant in olive oil with bacon strips, potato balls with hard boiled egg. OJ to drink. Cappucino’s were included but did not partake. Not much of a coffe drinker. After one and a half hour for breakfast we got ready to go and visit the Vatican.

We got rolling around noon. Climbed the steps across the street from the hotel and there was the Vatican. We saw the entrance to the Museum stretch for at least half a mile (no exageration here!) there was plenty of people. Decided to see St. Peter’s Basilica instead. Walked about a mile and there it was the Piazza de San Pedro. What an awesome sight. The history, the ambiance was hard to comprehend and much less describe! The whole thing about the Piazza and Basilica is huge. We went to tour the Basilica, went to the top of the dome! We took an elevator to the bottom of the dome. Saw the cathedral from above. Then climded 361 steps to the top of the dome. What a view of Rome!!! We had a 360 degree view from the top of St. Peter’s cathedral and you can’t get any better than that and no building can be built higher than the catherdral. Hence, Rome doesn’t really have any skyrscrappers to speak of. I have to give Don and Mary alot of credit as they also climbed to the top of the dome. We then saw the tomb of Pope John Paul II. There were alot of people still paying their respects to him. I only saw the tomb for about a minute as they usher you along because of the crowd. From the “basement” of the basilica, you can see the urn containing the ashes of St. Peter. The urn is located under the big altar of the basilica. After the tour of the tombs, we called it the day as Don and Mary were tired from the big climb.

While they rested, Maria, Deanna and I drank some wine at the lobby. They came down after two hrs and we head out to dinner to the same restaurant as last night. Had the seafood platter with rosso vino!

Deanna and I stopped for some gellato after dinner! What’s your favorite gellato?

That’s it for tonight as it’s getting near midnight. The trip is going well despite losing my room key card on the first night.

Ciao!!!

ps – happy labor day everyone!!!