Friday morning, July 13th, under cloudy skies and very cool! Absolutely delightful.
Driving in Europe, particularly in Italy, Germany and Switzerland.
Since a lot of you have never driven in Europe but have heard stories, rumors, half truths and other falsehoods I thought I would try to clear up some misconceptions and set the story straight, at least from my perspective. Yes, driving over here is certainly different from driving in the good old USA. In no particular order here are some observations from my experiences. Europeans drive on the same side of the road as we do in the USA. The English, Irish and Scots have it all wrong over in the United Kingdom. Many don't even call the United Kingdom "Europe". In any event they drive on the left side of the road and thus make it extremely difficult for the Yanks and Europeans to negotiate their roads. With the rental cars right hand drive? Well forget about sight seeing. It's all about avoiding a horrific accident!
Fuel in Italy is extremely expensive! Super Unleaded , which we must use, is 1.81 Euros per liter. Converting that into dollars per gallon results in $8.39 per gallon. (3.8 liters equal a gallon and it costs approximately $1.22 per Euro). A little higher than the $3.50 a gallon we bitterly complain about in the US. Consequently most automobiles in Europe are very small and get extremely good mileage. All the major manufacturers compete for this "small car" business and thus you see on a daily basis vehicles never seen in the US. Yes, we now have the Smart car and the Fiat 500 at home but these are just the tip of the iceberg over here. Even BMW and Mercedes produce small cars with low horse power. 40 MPH is attained very easily in these vehicles. The question is, "do you want to ride around in a car this size for the rest of your life"? Absolutely no way. Argue all you want for the 40MPG but trading what we have in the US just doesn't cut it. Before you jump on the economic bandwagon I suggest you drive in Europe in one of these little make believe cars before you ban the SUV, s ect. Even Ralph Nader would hate it! Be very careful what you ask for.
Speeds on the Autobahn (Germany and Switzerland) and Autostrade (Italy).
Fancy words for freeways, but most of these roads are not free. In Italy you stop for tolls quite frequently. In Switzerland you are supposed to buy a sticker for your car for 30Euro. In France the roads are called Autopeage, also with lots of tolls. The usual misconception is that there are no speed limits on these roads. Wrong, but not totally wrong. In Germany there are portions of the Autobahn that traverse nowhere near a city or town, where there is limited ingress and egress and where you can just go for it but you had better have a car that is up to it. These areas are usually few and far between but they do exist. Very occasionally you will be cruising along and spot in your rear view mirror a high powered BMW, Mercedes, Ferrari, Porsche or other exotic bearing down on you. It's quite the phenomenon and quite the sight to see someone pass you at 150MPH. Your move is to get out of the "fast" lane and let them fly by. I would term this "rare" but at the same time it does happen. But as it is in most countries, it is illegal to race on the Autobahn and a severe penalty to get caught. Normally these drivers had the wherewith all to purchase these cars and are using them to the capacity to which they were built. I have never see an accident involving these speeds but when they do occur it's lights out. So yes, unlimited speeds do exist in Germany but just occasionally. In Italy where we do most of our driving the Autosrades are in very very good shape, have posted limits of about 120 Kilometers per hour (75MPH). This seems to be a suggestion rather than a hard rule because the far left lane moves along at about 150K, maybe more without any "Carbinieri ' running you down ready to slap you with a big old expensive ticket. The unwritten rule is to be very careful, stay out of the fast lane if possible, and mind your own business. If someone comes up behind you just get out of the way, don't get upset and never give anyone the finger! It's rude, impolite and completely unnecessary. There is nothing personal associated with it. The guy driving is in your life for about 10 seconds and then he is down the road. Let him by and be done with it. The police seem to be there to help breakdowns and to clear accidents. The silly notion that the Highway Patrol must ticket you for speeding, collect a heavy fine for the city or state, and force your insurance rates up just doesn't exist over here. We certainly could learn a lesson in the US off of the European method. No, the death and accident rates are NOT higher over here. It just might have something to do with the very strict and very expensive process in handing out driver licenses in Europe. I know that it costs more than $1500 dollars for the driving license process in Germany. Oh, and yeah, you need to be eighteen and a responsible person. They don't hand out licenses like candy to sixteen year olds as we do in the US.
There is a massive amount of truck traffic as we have in the states but these trucks MUST stay out of the far left lane except for occasional passing and they are barred from running on weekends. Most routes have three lanes running in both directions so the left lane rule is in effect all the time. The drivers are professional and polite. This is not a knock on US truck drives but since most rural freeways in the US have only two lanes running in each direction it is difficult to keep an even speed while faster trucks over come slower trucks. utilization of the left lane is a must. This problem will go away as the Interstate system is updated to the twenty first century but it's going to take a lot time and lot of money, but it is coming.
Rest stops on the Autostrade are frequent and are quite fun to stop at. You can't exit the Autosrade completely but the stop always includes a very large gas station and at least two retail stores. A small store right next to the pumps like a Seven Eleven and then a massive complex including a restaurant and a store carrying the biggest array of junk food you have ever seen, from cookies, candy, soft drinks, beer, wine, cheeses, health food, magazines, toys, model cars, hats, shirts, stuff to fix your car, etc. If they don't have it you don't need it! It is a lot of fun to just browse. And the displays are massive. There a literally hundreds of cars at each one of these stops but you can get in and out as fast as you want. We just don't have these kinds of places in the US, even at the biggest truck stops. Seeing is believing!!
Yes, driving is driving but it is definitely a different experience over here! Be calm, be alert, be polite and be courteous!!
Friday, July 13, 2012
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Lake Iseo and the Stone Fairies
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| Town of Marone on Lake Iseo |
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| Standing on the fence |
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| View from the road |
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Lake Iseo
Today is July 11 and, as usual, a very nice morning overlooking Lake Como. It is always a small joy to throw open the shudders and see the pristine lake framed by its majestic mountains. Mezzegra is about 25K up the lake from the city of Como and on a narrow part of the lake. On a clear day you feel like you can reach out and touch the other side of the lake (if you had really, really, long arms).
This last Monday Joan and I decided to drive to Lake Iseo located to the east of us about 75 miles. The drive, however, is more like 125 miles taking the fastest route, not the scenic route. We chose this route because of the slowness of the scenic route. We have been on so many back roads on this visit that we decided blowing down the Italian Autostrade was the best. Our destination was a very, very small town just above the lake. Cislano is famous for one thing only. Nestled just below the town are geological formations called the "Pyramids" or "stone fairies" (See pictures) These were formed thousands of years ago by remnants left behind by retreating ice . The surrounding area was easily worn away by the wind and the rain but small areas where very large rocks sat distributed massive pressure prohibiting the rocks and soil from eroding. The results are these very curious, impressive pyramids. Each is a good 100 feet tall with a rock balancing on top. The last time I saw this phenomenon was in Northern Arizona at Lees Ferry, the spot where rafters put in on the Colorado River to float the Grand Canyon. A beautiful sight in Arizona, a magnificent sight in Italy. A few comments about the "walk" to the pyramids. There were signs in many languages describing the site but no mention of distance. One would naturally draw the conclusion that it was therefore irrelevant. Wrong! We started along the grassy path and thought "hey, this isn't too bad" but after about a half a mile we came to a rocky path going straight down hill. We surmised we didn't have too much further to go so we carried on further and further down hill. "Hey, we need to come back up this path!!" We didn't have the right shoes on (Joan especially) but we kept on going expecting to see the pyramids just around the next corner. Finally there in front of us were the pyramids with the rocks perched precariously on the top. But wait a minute. Why is this prominent site so difficult to see? Because good old Tony hasn't been down here in a couple of years to trim the surrounding trees and brush to give us tourists the view. Insanity! I carefully climbed up onto a rickety fence and took pictures trying not to fall into the abyss. Mission accomplished but Joan said she would just check out the pictures for her view. Oh yes, now for the walk back up to the parking lot. Poor Joan with her very fashionable, but non-walking shoes. She needed to stop every ten feet to adjust the straps on her shoes as her feet kept sliding out the back. It was funny for a while and then not so funny and then....well you get the picture. It didn't help that we didn't bring water along for this short trip. After a tortuous half hour we finally made it back and cursed the Italians. But all in all it was worth it, a beautiful scene and a few good laughs at the expense of the Italians. We did pass two very old ladies hanging onto each other trying to make their way down. I wanted to warn them of the difficulty lying ahead but not speaking Italian we had to leave them alone on their death march. Oh well, they lived a lived a long life and we all have to go sometime.
We also visited the very small town of Zone just above Cislano and found it charming with streets that are incredibly narrow. The large car almost met it match but I yelled at Joan to jump out and guide me through. We made it with inches to spare. Two inches on both sides. No damage, no foul!! I should have known better when I saw the "one way" sign, a bit of a hint when driving a car. They are rare to see but they are a major warning. We have been on many back roads without these signs and have met cars coming the other way necessitating one of us to back up to a widening so we could pass each other. One way signs actually mean that buildings are going to get in the way and there is no moving them. Thanks, Joan, for helping maneuver around them with inches to spare. No more one way roads for us. It was nice seeing Zone one inch of mortar at a time. I couldn't wait to get back on the Autostrade for the drive back, cruising at 180K per hour! Oh yes, one more piece of irony. Just a kilometer down the road from Cislano we came to one of the hair pin turns and there before us was an uninhibited view of the pyramids. We didn't even need to get out of the car. I did anyway and took some more pictures. Totally missed this view on the drive up the road because I was concentrating on the turns and checking out oncoming traffic. Oh, yes, just another exciting day in our travels!!
This last Monday Joan and I decided to drive to Lake Iseo located to the east of us about 75 miles. The drive, however, is more like 125 miles taking the fastest route, not the scenic route. We chose this route because of the slowness of the scenic route. We have been on so many back roads on this visit that we decided blowing down the Italian Autostrade was the best. Our destination was a very, very small town just above the lake. Cislano is famous for one thing only. Nestled just below the town are geological formations called the "Pyramids" or "stone fairies" (See pictures) These were formed thousands of years ago by remnants left behind by retreating ice . The surrounding area was easily worn away by the wind and the rain but small areas where very large rocks sat distributed massive pressure prohibiting the rocks and soil from eroding. The results are these very curious, impressive pyramids. Each is a good 100 feet tall with a rock balancing on top. The last time I saw this phenomenon was in Northern Arizona at Lees Ferry, the spot where rafters put in on the Colorado River to float the Grand Canyon. A beautiful sight in Arizona, a magnificent sight in Italy. A few comments about the "walk" to the pyramids. There were signs in many languages describing the site but no mention of distance. One would naturally draw the conclusion that it was therefore irrelevant. Wrong! We started along the grassy path and thought "hey, this isn't too bad" but after about a half a mile we came to a rocky path going straight down hill. We surmised we didn't have too much further to go so we carried on further and further down hill. "Hey, we need to come back up this path!!" We didn't have the right shoes on (Joan especially) but we kept on going expecting to see the pyramids just around the next corner. Finally there in front of us were the pyramids with the rocks perched precariously on the top. But wait a minute. Why is this prominent site so difficult to see? Because good old Tony hasn't been down here in a couple of years to trim the surrounding trees and brush to give us tourists the view. Insanity! I carefully climbed up onto a rickety fence and took pictures trying not to fall into the abyss. Mission accomplished but Joan said she would just check out the pictures for her view. Oh yes, now for the walk back up to the parking lot. Poor Joan with her very fashionable, but non-walking shoes. She needed to stop every ten feet to adjust the straps on her shoes as her feet kept sliding out the back. It was funny for a while and then not so funny and then....well you get the picture. It didn't help that we didn't bring water along for this short trip. After a tortuous half hour we finally made it back and cursed the Italians. But all in all it was worth it, a beautiful scene and a few good laughs at the expense of the Italians. We did pass two very old ladies hanging onto each other trying to make their way down. I wanted to warn them of the difficulty lying ahead but not speaking Italian we had to leave them alone on their death march. Oh well, they lived a lived a long life and we all have to go sometime.
We also visited the very small town of Zone just above Cislano and found it charming with streets that are incredibly narrow. The large car almost met it match but I yelled at Joan to jump out and guide me through. We made it with inches to spare. Two inches on both sides. No damage, no foul!! I should have known better when I saw the "one way" sign, a bit of a hint when driving a car. They are rare to see but they are a major warning. We have been on many back roads without these signs and have met cars coming the other way necessitating one of us to back up to a widening so we could pass each other. One way signs actually mean that buildings are going to get in the way and there is no moving them. Thanks, Joan, for helping maneuver around them with inches to spare. No more one way roads for us. It was nice seeing Zone one inch of mortar at a time. I couldn't wait to get back on the Autostrade for the drive back, cruising at 180K per hour! Oh yes, one more piece of irony. Just a kilometer down the road from Cislano we came to one of the hair pin turns and there before us was an uninhibited view of the pyramids. We didn't even need to get out of the car. I did anyway and took some more pictures. Totally missed this view on the drive up the road because I was concentrating on the turns and checking out oncoming traffic. Oh, yes, just another exciting day in our travels!!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Around and about
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| Approaching Balbianello in the boat |
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| Guarding Balbianello |
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| Balbianello |
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| Early morning moon |
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| New salt and pepper mills from Alessi store |
We had some rain on Thursday and it rained the whole day on Friday. It really cooled off and the high humidity is gone for a while. We have had some very noisy neighbors who started yelling and playing very loud music from noon until after midnight. We are really hoping they leave today. In the next few days we plan to take the ferry to Bellagio. Yes we have been there countless times but it is always fun to visit. We also plan to drive to Torino where we have not been. We are very tired of driving the 25K to Como on the narrow roads but don't have a choice if we are going in a certain direction such as going to the Bennet, Omegna, Milano, Torino and Switzerland. We plan to visit Anna in Milano in the next week or two. We will drive to Como and then take the train to her house. We also plan to go to Lugano with her. She will show us around Franklin College where she teaches. Looking forward to it.
One more thing to tell. My drying clothes ended up in the pool again. I had to wake Gene from his nap to help me get the rack out of the pool. Neither of us was very happy!
Ciao, Joan
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Visitors
Pat and Leanne arrived on Friday June 30 for a four day visit. It was good to have them stop by for a few days before they headed for France for a four week excursion of some beautiful and scenic wine country. After a day of rest and some very good food we checked out a few close by towns and then decided to spend a few dollars and have lunch at the prestigious Villa d' Este hotel. This hotel is certainly in the top five properties in the entire country of Italy, with its impeccable gardens, historic buildings, wonderful food, and most gracious service. After a delicious lunch, a fight over whose paying (Pat won which means he paid), a stroll through the gardens, a short but informative conversation with a helpful employee we headed back to the house for a well deserved rest. By the way we found out that a tree on the property of the Villa d'Este is over 600 years old and is dying. It would be a real shame to see it disappear so all of you out there get off your butt, buy a ticket and get over here before it disappears. Of course you can stay with us as long as you take us to dinner! We stopped at the Bennet to show Pat and Leanne the real Italy and do some shopping before heading home.
Pat and I headed off to play golf Monday morning at the Menaggio-Cadenabbia Golf Course. After renting clubs, paying our green fees and hitting a few balls at the range we were standing at the first tee. This golf course is the tightest (meaning narrow) we have ever been on. Each hole either slants to the left or right depending which direction the hole runs, is uphill or downhill and looks like a bowling alley from each tee. I brought a supply of balls from Phoenix so we were in good shape. A summary of the round: Pat played well for a course he had never seen before finishing in the low eighties. He thought if we played again he could shave off an easy five strokes just knowing the course. Lots of blind shots. Let's just say I finished. Some good shots and some bad shots. Pat felt that I have improved quite a bit since the last time we played together, a testament to the rounds I have been playing in Arizona with my good friends Martin, Kris and Harry. I will take Pat at his word on this. The rental clubs left a lot to be desired, I was pretty disappointed with them. The one other time I played here the clubs were very good. Everything can't be perfect! Anyway we had a very good time and I look forward to playing again with Pat when we meet up in September at his club in Pebble Beach. At least I will have my own clubs then. Thanks, Pat, for your tips!!
Pat and Leanne left Tuesday afternoon but not before we walked to Lenno for the weekly market and took a quick five minute boat ride to the beautiful Villa del Balbianello. You can go back in this blog and find our description of this extraordinary Villa. If anything it has only gotten more lush and exquisite. Strolling the grounds never gets old! From there we walked backed to the car, around two miles, and headed to the house for yet another meal. Pat and Leanne hit the road around two and I headed for another afternoon nap. Ah, the good life!
Gene
Pat and I headed off to play golf Monday morning at the Menaggio-Cadenabbia Golf Course. After renting clubs, paying our green fees and hitting a few balls at the range we were standing at the first tee. This golf course is the tightest (meaning narrow) we have ever been on. Each hole either slants to the left or right depending which direction the hole runs, is uphill or downhill and looks like a bowling alley from each tee. I brought a supply of balls from Phoenix so we were in good shape. A summary of the round: Pat played well for a course he had never seen before finishing in the low eighties. He thought if we played again he could shave off an easy five strokes just knowing the course. Lots of blind shots. Let's just say I finished. Some good shots and some bad shots. Pat felt that I have improved quite a bit since the last time we played together, a testament to the rounds I have been playing in Arizona with my good friends Martin, Kris and Harry. I will take Pat at his word on this. The rental clubs left a lot to be desired, I was pretty disappointed with them. The one other time I played here the clubs were very good. Everything can't be perfect! Anyway we had a very good time and I look forward to playing again with Pat when we meet up in September at his club in Pebble Beach. At least I will have my own clubs then. Thanks, Pat, for your tips!!
Pat and Leanne left Tuesday afternoon but not before we walked to Lenno for the weekly market and took a quick five minute boat ride to the beautiful Villa del Balbianello. You can go back in this blog and find our description of this extraordinary Villa. If anything it has only gotten more lush and exquisite. Strolling the grounds never gets old! From there we walked backed to the car, around two miles, and headed to the house for yet another meal. Pat and Leanne hit the road around two and I headed for another afternoon nap. Ah, the good life!
Gene
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Auto-lavaggio
Today is June 28, 2012 and it is another glorious morning here in Mezzegra, Italy. I continue to wake up quite early and today is no exception. Not really a problem however because I have a quick cup of coffee, throw open all the doors and windows and let the beautiful sunshine filter in and at the same time enjoy the early morning breeze. We have been experiencing very warm afternoons and quite a bit of humidity so the mornings are extra special. After parusing the internet for the overnight news, sports, and stock market closing I usually lie down on the very comfortable couch and do some reading on my Kindle. A Kindle is great device here since Joan and I no longer need to lug over a heavy stack of books. I have found some great bargins on Amazon for the Kindle (some completely free and some in the $2 range). Not famous authors but still books which are entertaining and enjoyable. Murder mysteries, WW2 stories, and such. Joan will spot topics I might enjoy and surprises me with new titles also. I’m easily entertained.
My brother Pat and his wife Leanne have landed in Frankfurt this morning and will be leasurely driving down to see us arriving sometime tomorrow afternoon. We are looking forward to seeing them. This will be the first leg of a four week tour for them with the current plan of spending most of their time in southern France. Pat and I are heading out Monday morning to play golf at the Cadenabbia-Menaggio Golf Club just seven miles from the house. It is a very hilly but a magnificent layout with outstanding views. I really don’t care what I shoot but since I have been playing twice a week in Phoenix for sometime now I expect a decent round. The results will be posted in a later blog.
Joan had mentioned in an earlier entry that we finally washed the new car in Lenno, a small town next to Mezzegra. After 1500K it was a total mess. I found an automatic car wash that was very slick indeed! A simple process, really. You position the car in front of the machine, get out and select the process you wish (I paid for the 9 Euro deluxe wash) put your money in and stand back and watch. I pushed the button and……nothing!! Of course all the instructions are in Italian so I was a bit perplexed. Next thing I know there is an old man yelling at me, “Rosso, Rosso, Rosso!!” I’m thinking, “the car is sliver why is he yelling Red, Red, Red? I sort of wave to him and he continues to repeat himself. I look at the machine and there is a green light on but there is an unlit red light. I look back at him and he motions that I must pull the car up closer to the device. In I get and creep forward and, bingo, the red light goes on. A big smile from my Italian friend but I know he thought I was just another foreign idiot! With the red light on I pushed the start button again and the machine did its job. Facinating to watch and what a beautiful job when completed! I was proud of my accomplishment, moved the car for the next customer, dried off a few wet spots and went back to the house.
The next day (yesterday morning) we decided to drive to a major indoor outlet mall in Switzerland for a little shopping and lunch. Mendrisio is only 40K from the house, a nice drive and an easy crossing of the border. At least it is normally easy. We crossed the short “no man’s land” fifty feet between the boarder check points and the Swiss said “Halt!”. Yuh oh, this isn’t good. Our front license plate was non existent! One must understand we are crossing at a remote spot, not the big Autostrada (Douane) boarder. Not a lot of English spoken here. Anyway there is a big concern about the missing license plate but after showing our papers (passport please!) they let us through. But what happened to the plate? My immediate reaction was that some Italian decided to remove it for a souvenir and that was the end of that. It’s a special plate that clearly indicates it’s only good for two months but is recognizable by boarder agents as very valid and belongs to a foreigner who took a European delivery. This was going to be a continual hassle because not only do the local police pull you over indiscriminately but the “financial police “ pull the Italian citizens over to find out how they can afford an expensive car like ours. They match up poor Tony’s tax records with the price of the car. If it appears Tony can’t afford such a car on the basis of his tax return he has very big problems. With no front license plate we were looking at an annoying four weeks in front of us. At this point Joan questioned whether the plate fell off during the washing process. Possible, but very doubtful!
After our outing at the mall we headed back to the house knowing we needed to pass the border back into Italy. I’m anticipating another problem and I wasn’t disappointed. The Italian agents were none too pleased about a plate missing. I gently say, “do you speak English and he says, not so gently, “no and pull out of line and park your car over there!!” His non English was very clear. We waited a minute and another guy comes over and I hand the paperwork over to him while getting out of the car to try explain the problem. I simulate with my hands the plate falling off the car while driving. He looks at me with a suspicious eye, looks at the paperwork, looks at the rear license plate and finally says what I interpret to be, “get the hell out of here and don’t come back”. We were back in Italy at last. We decided to drive to the car wash on the off chance that it did come off there. I mean, what were the chances if it did fall off there that it would still be there 30 hours later? There was an attendant present (not there the day before) and I approached him with our issue. He looks at me with a smile and in very broken English says that, of course, he found the plate and gave it to the local “policia”. I’m thinking, are you kidding me??? He directs me to the police station and we go in. Very quiet but we do find a gentleman who speaks English (somewhat). He understands what we are looking for and telephones a cop in a police car and informs us that he’ll be here in a couple of minutes. After some confusion (I think he thought we were there to surrender for some horrific crime) he understood the issue. No English but a big smile. He comes out of a room with the missing plate and then proceeds to take a photo copy of all our documents (why, I have no clue) has me sign the copies and hands over the plate. It had been adhered to the car with heavy two way tape and had come loose when the deluxe washing had scraped it off with the “brushless” brushes. Today we look for some more tape, the extra strengh variety. Never a dull moment.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Lately
Tiarra and Shalei left Sunday morning. Anna came to Lenno on Saturday and stayed at Albergo San Giorgio for 2 nights. We all had dinner Saturday night in Lenno at Hotel Plino, a favorite spot of ours. It is right on the lake and the food is excellent. On Sunday after Gene had made the drive to and from the airport in Milan we visited Marisa, a friend of Anna's, at her villa just north of Menaggio. A beautiful place right on the lake, the kind of place we would like to rent if we could find it and afford it. Gene took a few photos with his phone which I hope to post later.
We went to Orta San Giulio on Friday and then on to the Alessi factory and store for a lot of shopping. The weather has been quite pleasant although the humidity is always high. We have been doing a lot of driving, 2000K already with the trip down from Munich and long day trips to Cinque Terre and Lake Orta. This week we are staying close to home. It is stressful with the large car on narrow roads and small parking spaces. Gene has been coping pretty well making adjustments when he needs to, also freaking out a lot.
Yesterday he took the car to the Auto-lavagge and had the car washed. Quite an accomplishment. He will tell his story in his next blog post. Last night I made Grilled Italian Bread Salad with Feta and Basil for our dinner. It was very good and a much needed lighter option after all the pasta we have been having. Time to cut down on all the bad carbs.
Grilled Italian Bread Salad
View towards Lenno
The other direction towards Tremezzo
Tiarra's pizza
We went to Orta San Giulio on Friday and then on to the Alessi factory and store for a lot of shopping. The weather has been quite pleasant although the humidity is always high. We have been doing a lot of driving, 2000K already with the trip down from Munich and long day trips to Cinque Terre and Lake Orta. This week we are staying close to home. It is stressful with the large car on narrow roads and small parking spaces. Gene has been coping pretty well making adjustments when he needs to, also freaking out a lot.
Yesterday he took the car to the Auto-lavagge and had the car washed. Quite an accomplishment. He will tell his story in his next blog post. Last night I made Grilled Italian Bread Salad with Feta and Basil for our dinner. It was very good and a much needed lighter option after all the pasta we have been having. Time to cut down on all the bad carbs.
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| Interesting gelato flavor, PUFFO O VIAGRA. I wonder if it works. |
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| Lenno towards Villa del Balbianello |
Friday, June 22, 2012
Cinque Terre
Five small towns on the Mediterranean Sea
Written by guest blogger, Tiarra.
Yesterday we drove three hours to Cinque Terre. It is a rugged portion of the coast on the Italian Riviera in the Liguria region of Italy. We took an intercity train from La Spezia to the first town of Riomaggiore. Our plan was to walk to all five of the towns, but because of torrential rains and mudslides that happened in October of 2011 this was not possible. We visited three of the towns each with their own breathtaking views. We walked up 382 stairs to get to the third town of Corniglia, had lunch, and decided to take the train back to La Spezia because our parking was about to expire.
We stopped at the Bennet grocery store on the way home to stock up on more carbs and then drove home to get started on our insulin induced coma (dinner).
The last few days have been very pleasant and uneventful. Gene is on a roll. He has not done any damage to the new car for four days. Although now he is very nervous and drives like an 80 year old man.
Today we are going into Mezzegra for dinner, and tomorrow we are headed to the Alessi factory store and to Orta San Giulio.
Town of Manarola
Looking back at Manarola
Gene and Joan on walking path
A lonely boat
Terraced hill side of Corniglia
382 steps up to Corniglia
Written by guest blogger, Tiarra.
Yesterday we drove three hours to Cinque Terre. It is a rugged portion of the coast on the Italian Riviera in the Liguria region of Italy. We took an intercity train from La Spezia to the first town of Riomaggiore. Our plan was to walk to all five of the towns, but because of torrential rains and mudslides that happened in October of 2011 this was not possible. We visited three of the towns each with their own breathtaking views. We walked up 382 stairs to get to the third town of Corniglia, had lunch, and decided to take the train back to La Spezia because our parking was about to expire.
We stopped at the Bennet grocery store on the way home to stock up on more carbs and then drove home to get started on our insulin induced coma (dinner).
The last few days have been very pleasant and uneventful. Gene is on a roll. He has not done any damage to the new car for four days. Although now he is very nervous and drives like an 80 year old man.
Today we are going into Mezzegra for dinner, and tomorrow we are headed to the Alessi factory store and to Orta San Giulio.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
No deductible!!!
It's 6AM Monday morning Lake Como time. Joan and I left Phoenix Wednesday morning . The time is flying by but the last five days have been exhilarating, exciting, frustrating and a little bit irritating! Let me explain. Normally we would fly to Milan, pick up our rental car and then head for the rental house in Mezzegra on the shore of Lake Como. This is our fifth year out of six that we have done this. This year, however, we chose to replace Joan's seven year old car with a new BMW and took advantage of the European delivery program. This is offered by BMW through one's local dealership. It couples a significant discount with the ability to do away with the rental fee of a vehicle during our stay.
Instead of flying into Milan we went straight to Munich for the factory pick up. All went according to plan and we met Tiarra, our daughter in law and BMW enthusiast (she drives an M3) in Atlanta and left a few hours later. After a free day in Munich and a great meal at a recommended restaurant we got a good night's sleep and arrived at the factory, museum and delivery center at 8AM. Friday morning. Folks who take a factory delivery are treated like royalty and everything is absolutely first class! (See pictures) After the tour and a stroll through the museum we were on our way for the 300 mile drive to Lake Como.
This is the point where my concerns and fears were soon to be realized! In one of my not so brilliant moments I decided that we would avoid the autobahn as much as possible and take the scenic route. Although magnificent views were seen at every turn the roads themselves were tight, tight, tight!
I should preface this by telling you as part of the purchase price an insurance policy with zero deductible is included in the price. Very, very important, especially the part with zero deductible.
Coming into a small town with very narrow streets a low curb made from solid granite reached out to our car and gouged out a chunk of our aluminum front right wheel. The crunching noise was unmistakable and I instantly knew I had done some damage. I kept my cool but pulled over to check it out. Yes, just as I suspected. I "broke" the car in before we had driven 100 miles! Oh well, we just continued on our way. We ended up overnighting in a beautiful Austrian ski town, St. Anton. We got up on Saturday morning for the continuation of our journey to the lake. We had already been to Germany, Austria and were soon to pass through Liechtenstein, and Switzerland and finally into Italy.
Decision time: do we stay on the autobahn or take the incredible scenic route over the Splugenpass, saving about 35 miles. The fateful decision: Splugenpass. I had driven this route twice before but Joan and Tiarra had never been on it and I thought they would enjoy the experience. Not a good idea! Our car is the 750 li model meaning it is very long. All was well for a while but the turns were being negotiated as slow as 3MPH to accommodate the car, the traffic and comfort. This road is one of the engineering marvels of the word. You wonder why they even bothered but it was built before the Swiss and Italians decided to bore 10 mile long tunnels bypassing the treacherous Alps. We were negotiating the turns quite well until we had to come to a complete stop and wait for an oncoming car on the mother of all hairpins! We were going down hill and as I turned hard right the right rear tire and wheel dropped off the pavement and the rear bumper bottomed out on the very rough and rocky ground. A good hard scrape!! We checked it out a little later and found that I had scraped off about one square foot of the underside of the bumper. We needed to get on our hands and knees to see it (not viable from any other position) but still plenty irritating. Because of the insurance policy the car will be checked over very carefully and fully repaired at no cost to us. It still looks beautiful and no damage can be seen, except for the wheel if you look very carefully. Joan and Tiarra continually reminded me that we could have been cruising comfortably along the autobahn, but no, Mr. Macho man needed to attack the Spugenpass. It is safe to assume I have seen this road for the last time.
Our "villa" overlooking the lake is in fine shape and we are really looking forward to our six week stay. On Sunday morningTiarra and I drove out to the Milan airport and picked up her friend, Shalei Webb and she will also be spending this week with us. We look forward to a good time and a lot of trouble free driving.
Instead of flying into Milan we went straight to Munich for the factory pick up. All went according to plan and we met Tiarra, our daughter in law and BMW enthusiast (she drives an M3) in Atlanta and left a few hours later. After a free day in Munich and a great meal at a recommended restaurant we got a good night's sleep and arrived at the factory, museum and delivery center at 8AM. Friday morning. Folks who take a factory delivery are treated like royalty and everything is absolutely first class! (See pictures) After the tour and a stroll through the museum we were on our way for the 300 mile drive to Lake Como.
This is the point where my concerns and fears were soon to be realized! In one of my not so brilliant moments I decided that we would avoid the autobahn as much as possible and take the scenic route. Although magnificent views were seen at every turn the roads themselves were tight, tight, tight!
I should preface this by telling you as part of the purchase price an insurance policy with zero deductible is included in the price. Very, very important, especially the part with zero deductible.
Coming into a small town with very narrow streets a low curb made from solid granite reached out to our car and gouged out a chunk of our aluminum front right wheel. The crunching noise was unmistakable and I instantly knew I had done some damage. I kept my cool but pulled over to check it out. Yes, just as I suspected. I "broke" the car in before we had driven 100 miles! Oh well, we just continued on our way. We ended up overnighting in a beautiful Austrian ski town, St. Anton. We got up on Saturday morning for the continuation of our journey to the lake. We had already been to Germany, Austria and were soon to pass through Liechtenstein, and Switzerland and finally into Italy.
Decision time: do we stay on the autobahn or take the incredible scenic route over the Splugenpass, saving about 35 miles. The fateful decision: Splugenpass. I had driven this route twice before but Joan and Tiarra had never been on it and I thought they would enjoy the experience. Not a good idea! Our car is the 750 li model meaning it is very long. All was well for a while but the turns were being negotiated as slow as 3MPH to accommodate the car, the traffic and comfort. This road is one of the engineering marvels of the word. You wonder why they even bothered but it was built before the Swiss and Italians decided to bore 10 mile long tunnels bypassing the treacherous Alps. We were negotiating the turns quite well until we had to come to a complete stop and wait for an oncoming car on the mother of all hairpins! We were going down hill and as I turned hard right the right rear tire and wheel dropped off the pavement and the rear bumper bottomed out on the very rough and rocky ground. A good hard scrape!! We checked it out a little later and found that I had scraped off about one square foot of the underside of the bumper. We needed to get on our hands and knees to see it (not viable from any other position) but still plenty irritating. Because of the insurance policy the car will be checked over very carefully and fully repaired at no cost to us. It still looks beautiful and no damage can be seen, except for the wheel if you look very carefully. Joan and Tiarra continually reminded me that we could have been cruising comfortably along the autobahn, but no, Mr. Macho man needed to attack the Spugenpass. It is safe to assume I have seen this road for the last time.
Our "villa" overlooking the lake is in fine shape and we are really looking forward to our six week stay. On Sunday morningTiarra and I drove out to the Milan airport and picked up her friend, Shalei Webb and she will also be spending this week with us. We look forward to a good time and a lot of trouble free driving.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
We're back
We are returning to Villa degli Angeli this summer. We are flying into Munich on June 13 with Tiarra and picking up a new BMW. We will have it for the 6 weeks we are in Italy and then have it shipped home to Arizona. It should arrive around October 1. There have been some changes at the villa since we were there 2 years ago and we can't wait to see Lake Como again.
We didn't go to Italy last year because Dan and Annie's second child was born on July 19 and we did not want to miss the big event. Malcolm will turn 1 this July and we will miss his birthday but will be staying in Mountain View, CA for the months of August and September. We will be there to celebrate Phoebe's 3rd birthday in September.
Sadly our friend Dennis Bava passed away in January of 2011. We will certainly miss him this year but will definitely see Anna while we are here.
We didn't go to Italy last year because Dan and Annie's second child was born on July 19 and we did not want to miss the big event. Malcolm will turn 1 this July and we will miss his birthday but will be staying in Mountain View, CA for the months of August and September. We will be there to celebrate Phoebe's 3rd birthday in September.
Sadly our friend Dennis Bava passed away in January of 2011. We will certainly miss him this year but will definitely see Anna while we are here.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Just around
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| Lawn mowers next door |
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| Sven, Nicolas and Charlotte swimming in the lake |
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| Balbianello |
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| Balbianello |
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| Balbianello |
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| After the rain |
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Winding down
Today is August 24, 2010 and Joan and I are just four days from returning to Arizona. We have been here in Mezzegra for more than nine weeks and can’t believe it has gone by so fast. However after nine weeks we feel it will be good to get back home. I’m sure we have a massive pile of mail waiting for us, lots of junk, magazines, and, of course, bills. We are able to pay our bills on line so we should be up to date. I tease Joan about there being no Scottsdale Fashion Mall and no Nordstrom here so there should be no surprises when we get home.
As the weeks go by we have been doing less sightseeing and a little more lying around reading. We both enjoy this and don’t have too much guilt doing nothing. However we have had a few adventures to report. We recently took a walk from the rental down to the shore in Lenno (right beneath us) and continued to walk along the promenade to the hillside road leading to the beautiful Villa del Balbianello. This Villa is built on a beautiful point on the lake that can not be seen except from the lake itself even though it’s only about two kilometers from the our house. We had been out there a couple of years ago but had only walked in the gardens as the house tour was full. The villa grounds are immaculately cared for and the lawns look like they have been manicured with scissors. Great pride is taken by the permanent crew to have EVERYTHING perfect and it shows. As we approached the ticket kiosk the gentleman asked us if we were there for a tour. We said yes and he responded that an English tour was starting in two minutes. We paid our money and off we went. I don’t have the skill to describe the entire tour so I urge you to check out the website: www.faibalbianello@
Denis Ducey left after his stay with us and headed for Lucca, Pisa and the Italian Riviera and we were greeted by a massive amount of rain! Up until then the weather had changed from oppressively hot to very nice , in the low 80’s. While not unusual it was a little tiresome. One event we look forward to is the Lenno fireworks weekend where they are shot off right below us. The entire event was rained out and re-scheduled for Sepember 4th when we are safely back in Phoenix. I guess we can’t have everything so our way.
Last Saturday we welcomed Dr. Sven Becker and his two children to our home for the weekend. Sven is an oncologist gynecologist from Tubengen , Germany. And how did we meet him? He was our exchange student in Arizona back in 1984-1985! We have stayed in touch with him and his family all these years and have really enjoyed this relationship. He has delivered over 1500 babies in his career, but now specializes in surgery for women with cancer. One of his biggest accomplishments is authoring the definitive medical book in Germany on all types of female cancers. I asked him to bring a copy so I could see it. Unbelievable tome!!!! About seven hundred pages, complex text (all in German) and more than 400 sketches of the female anatomy. This book is considered the bible!!! He was going to give me the copy but I told him I just wanted to see it with his name on the cover and besides it had to weigh 20 lbs., is in German and would have been impossible to carry home. I think I’ll wait for the English version. By the way, the cost of the book? Over four hundred Euros, about $550 dollars. Needless to say we are very, very proud of Sven!! His wife, Graziella, stayed home so that she could study for finals as she pursues a degree on her own. The kids were fun and loved swimming in the pool. We went on walks, Joan fixed a great meal, and we had a great pizza meal down in Menaggio topped off by delicious gelato. It was fun reminicing about old times.
So as I said, we are wrapping up here, Dennis and Anna will stop by Friday night to pick up our unused food and we’ll be on a plane on Saturday morning heading for home. Dennis continues to fight cancer with chemo and will be getting some results in this fight this week. He looks great and is positive about the ultimate outcome. We leave from Milano, go to JFK, connect through Nashville and arrive in Phoenix 20 hours later. Thank God Joan was able to get us an upgrade into business class so it won’t be as painful as it could have been. I only hope I can find some pants that still fit me and not cut off circulation at the waist line. That’s it for now but I intend to have one more posting after we get home.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
During the week
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| Risotto with saffron and zucchini flowers |
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| Cooking class at Ristorante Il Caminetto. Denis and Joan making tortelloni. |
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| Monte Generoso |
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| At the park watching the boats |
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| Start of the regatta |
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| A rainy day in Mezzegra |
Today is Wednesday August 11, 2010. We woke up this morning to thunderstorms and rain but now at noon it is cloudy and probably around 80 degrees. We have had some cloudiness recently as finally the “monsoon” has arrived. This is similar to Phoenix but, of course, not nearly as hot. Quite livable and a nice change from the oppressive heat and humidity we had right after we arrived in middle June. Our friend, Denis Ducey is visiting us now and will be here until this coming Sunday when he ventures out on his own for about five days. He plans to visit Lucca, Pisa, the Cinque Terra and the Portofino area. Should be a lot of fun for him. We have had a few excursions to talk about for the last few days. I had noticed a sign in town about the annual regatta taking place this last Saturday. The sign was fairly large and looked like it was expensive to produce so I naturally thought this must be a very big deal and that we should check it out. I told Joan it was a race but she thought it might just be a showing of boats. Anyway we decided that we would walk down to the “starting line” and check it out. As most of you know we’re up on a high hill overlooking the lake so what goes down must come up!! “Hey, it’s going to be worth it to see a boat race” The weather was nice, a little warm but the walk down was pleasant. We don’t “power walk” so by the time we got to the lake we were just a little sweaty. But wait a minute. Where is everybody and where are the boats? The large sign was right behind us so we knew we had the right day. After one false start because of bad directions from an Italian woman we started walking up the lake road which consists of some sidewalks but mostly just the main road, with cars flying by. We finally got up to a beautiful park setting and spotted the boats lined up for the start. (See picture) As you will notice they are all identical and are powered by a standing two man crew. They headed off and the best we figured is that the finish line was somewhere in the far distance. Boring!!!! I believe we were the only ones in the park that had the least amount of interest in the event. Pretty much a big joke on us, the Americans. Of course now it was later, hotter and stickier than earlier and we had the trek back up in front of us. The good news is that we did make it back and no one died, literally, although all three of us died figuratively.
On Monday we took Denis to one of our favorite destinations, Monte Generoso, a mountain in Switzerland about 40 miles from our home. Even though we have been to the top at least four times in the past the ride over is beautiful on a one lane road through a forest. We drive about half way up, catch a cog wheel train to the top, eat lunch, enjoy the spectacular views and then walk back down to the car. This walk is about an hour and a half and, of course, is all down hill. Really not difficult at all as long as you really watch your step because of extremely uneven terrain and many large roots running along the ground. It can be difficult on your calves but I found out the hard way that because of the steepness of the trail my toes kept mashing into the front of my shoes. My feet were barking big time when we arrived at the car. I suffered a toe nail injury that most people would be hospitalized for but I just ignored it. I can still feel a little pain today but I think I will live. Joan thinks I’m a big baby! She could be right!!
Yesterday we headed over to Perledo, a small town on the far east side of the lake. A ten minute ferry ride from Menaggio to the lake side town of Varenna and then up the mountainside about eight kilometers. Our destination was a small restaurant that offers a cooking class a couple of times a week. Our host, Moreno, who owns the restaurant with his family showed us how to prepare two delicious pasta dishes and a rice dish called risotto. There were 11 of us in attendance and he did a masterful job in explaining the procedure, the ingredients, the measurements and the cooking times. We were asked to assist him at various times and almost everyone (not me) did some of the work. After everything was prepared we took a little break while he cooked it all and then, of course, we all sat down to a delicious lunch. The family made it very pleasant for us with plenty of wine, bread, bottled water, coffee, cappuccinos, etc. The price for this experience was 35 Euro each. We all thought this was a good value. We finally left around 3PM, caught the ferry back, stopped for a gelato at our favorite spot in Menaggio and came home and skipped dinner! Another great day in Italy!!
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