Florence

We arrived in Florence with enough time to check into our hotel, meet our friends Dave & Liz, and get to L'Accademia in time for our reservation ... our date with David! David in the flesh (stone), the REAL David, is worth the visit. After, we walked around, bought scarves (of course) and saw the 'other' David in the Piazza della Signoria, outside the Uffizi. We did not go into the Uffizi this time since we'd been in during our previous visit to Florence (2006).

In the Piazza della Signoria with Dave & Liz, Neptune and David. A view of the Arno flowing under the Ponte Vecchio.

Don & I overlooking the Arno. The four of us at ZaZas!  ZAZA!
The Market is in the background.

The next day we met Dave & Liz again and attacked the leather market. Mmm, does it ever smell nice! We bought a couple of handbags, more scarves, and belts. It was so interesting. Then we gathering our bags from our hotels and took a cab to the car rental agency. We got there about an hour earlier than planned, thinking we'd save time with paperwork before the others arrived to rent the second car. Fortunately we did because the attendant was about to close ... close a car rental agency at noon on a Saturday!!! We were just in the nick of time. Otherwise we would have had quite a different and unpleasant afternoon.

So we rented two cars and waited for Nancy, Mac & Sue who were arriving by train from Vernazza. We passed the time outside the car rental place, sitting on a park bench enjoying goodies from Liz - assorted Italian meats, cheeses and chianti. As soon as the others joined us we set off for a week at our Tuscan villa!

Portofino

After a full day in Monterosso, we hopped on the train to Portofino. We had a train change along the way that no one mentioned to us. Fortunately Nancy finally noticed we were the only ones still waiting for the train to move on! We leapt up, ran to another track, and were heading north to Santa Margherita about 10 minutes later. From Santa Margherita we ran to catch the ferry, which set off the second we all ran aboard.

As the ferry headed out to Portofino, the view of cruise ships anchored new the shore was so beautiful, then entering
Portofino's harbor was breathtaking. Sailboats, yachts and dinghies are jammed in to this small area.
Don, Nancy & Mac - all of us in our hiking gear still.

Per Rick Steves, we walked around the harbor then chose a sunny cafe for cocktail hour.
Above is Don & I at the cafe looking over the harbor (pre-wine spill!).
The bottom photo shows our view. 

Sue met us back in Santa Margherita where after much searching we found the perfect place for dinner - 
we call it "the restaurant that did not throw us out." Great waiter, free appetizers and delicious dinner! On the train back to Vernazza, we met an interesting guy who accompanied us into a local "sports" bar near the station where we had to again change trains. His English was excellent and he was very helpful.

The first photo above shows the men in this bar all turned to the one TV screen at the end of the room. In the circle
is Vincenzo, our new friend, talking with Nancy and Sue. The second photo shows us happily waiting for
our train for the final stretch back to our hotel ... a long day.

I said I'd drop Vincenzo a note from America, which I will do when I get a good ole USA postcard of NYC or Lady Liberty. We ended this long, eventful day with a nightcap in the piazza outside of our hotel in Vernazza. We didn't want the day to end, especially since Don and I were leaving Cinque Terra the next morning.

Monterosso

The next day we set out for Monterossa, the northernmost town of the five in Cinque Terre. The hike was about an hour and a half and this time we were with three of our friends who had arrived late the day before. We'd had a fun evening with them, enjoying happy hour on the shore watching the sunset (again) and later getting kicked out of a restaurant (shocking and embarrassing, we're chocking it up to a language barrier).

Start of the trail from Vernazza, looking south at Vernazza, coming around the bend for first glimpse of
Monterosso (2 towns: 'old first, then 'new'), coming into Monterosso - old town.

It was market day in Monterosso, which was why we planned to go this day. After a round of waters and coffees, Sue, Nancy and I strolled the streets looking at the shops and street vendors. After, we went down to the beach - this is the only town with an actual beach - and put our feet in the Mediterranean Sea. The rock in the area is streaked with white, which is beautiful, so we gathered a few rock souvenirs. Then we met the guys, Don and Mac, for lunch at a restaurant overlooking the beach.

So nice to kick our hiking shoes off and cool our feet in the Sea.
Lunch at a great little cafe. (Sue, Nancy, Mac, Don, me)

Time to hike around the mountain to Monterosso, new town. What a difference! Lots more tourists, private & public beaches, a younger feel, and also home to the train station. We sampled the gelato and then caught a train for Portofino.

Hiking around and down to the other half of Monterosso. Mac & Nancy, Don & I, with Rick Steves, en route.

Hiking Cinque Terre

There are three ways to visit each of the five towns that make up Cinque Terre: on foot, by train or by boat. The area is well served by all three and we took advantage of all three. Notice I didn't mention by car. There is absolutely no room for cars! The Cinque Terre National Park maintains the trails and charges a nominal fee. Our plan was to hike between the five towns but a mudslide between two of them closed one stretch so we had to take the train. 

This map shows the five towns. We stayed in Vernazza. The blue coastal trails are the
ones we took, except between Corniglia & Manarola due to mudslides.

The trails are breathtakingly beautiful and at some points simply breathtaking - a bit of huffing and puffing - but nothing an amateur hiker can't do. One of the stretches, the Via dell'Amore (the Way of Love) is so popular with tourists that its practically like a stroll along tiled floors! But the other trails were much more rugged and therefore, less traveled.

Top left: Don above Vernazza's main street that runs under the train station. Starting the trail from Vernazza to Corniglia. Looking back at the Castelle and town of Vernazza. Vernazza disappeared behind mountain.

Approaching Corniglia in the distance and much closer. Corniglia is the only town in Cinque Terre
that does not have water access. Stairs leading from Corniglia down to its train station.

Manarolla. Don about to walk La Via Dell'Amore to Riomaggiore. The walk is decorated with graffiti professing
love forever. I added our little heart - shown in this very blurry photo. Had to take it quick to stay ahead of a bus group!
"Cathy & Don 2012" This almost coincides with our 27th wedding anniversary, which was last weekend.

And finally, Riomaggiore! End of the beautiful line.

From Riomaggiore we took the boat north to Vernazza and enjoyed seeing each of the towns again from the water. We had one more trail to hike and one more town to see, which we did the next day.

Vernazza

Cinque Terre is made up of five beautiful towns wedged into rugged bays along the Mediterranean Sea, just south of Portofino. Vernazza is the second most northern town and Rick Steves favorite so, of course, that's where we stayed!

On the train from Milan to Vernazza, we met some people who showed us a recent magazine article about mudslides that occurred in this area last October. Vernazza was deluged with mud when a rainstorm caused catastrophic mudslides. The magazine showed before and after shots. Somehow they have cleaned it up and there were back in business - there is only one steep road that runs through this town. There were signs of the mudslide all over, with construction and repair crews working in areas, gouged out sections along the river sides, and a large board of photos. Still, it was absolutely breathtaking.

Walking along the pier and looking back at Vernazza. Our hotel was on the
third floor of the red building in the center of photo.

Watching the sun set over the Mediterranean from a seaside cafe.

Photo taken by couple we met at the cafe.

I just googled images of the Vernazza mudslide. Click here if you're interested.

Milano

Now that Bryan's back, its our turn! We left for Italy on Sep 16. After a smooth flight via Heathrow we landed in Milano late Monday afternoon. We had received an email just before leaving that our hotel moved us to another hotel. Turns out it was in the area that we had hoped to explore - the Navigli - recommended to us by a friend whose sister used to live in Milan. Perfect! It was an easy walk to the Navigli for dinner. It was beautiful. Lots of people out walking and enjoying the outside osterias.

The Navigli in Milan - part of a long canal system lined with restaurants

The next day we walked all around the main downtown area of Milan. A workday for most, we watched business men and women buzzing around the roads on their vespas dressed in suits and dresses. They just pull up to the front door of their office tower, find a spot of sidewalk and flip down the kickstand. Nice and easy.

We toured the new Museo del Novecento on the square, walked around the magnificent Duomo di Milano (cathedral), window shopped in the Galleria and Via Monte Napoleone, waved to Leonardo DaVinci facing La Scala, and had lunch on the main square surrounded by guys in town for a football match!

Don in front of the Duomo, view from the museum of square & Duomo, entrance to the Galleria

That afternoon we hopped on a train to Vernazza in Cinque Terre. Post to follow.

Up for the count @ PSU game

Carolyn texted this photo from the PSU game yesterday.

"I got thrown up today at the game for one of the touchdowns!"

PSU Touchdown celebrating

I found out she got "thrown up" once for every point - 14 times! Then later, as the score got higher and another touchdown occurred, she got "thrown up" 34 times. Crazy.

A Day in the Hamptons

Last Saturday Don and I took off for the Hamptons - about a 2-1/2 hour drive from here IF traffic is good. Fortunately, traffic was good and the rainy weather we left in disappeared as we headed east. First stop was Southampton where we had a nice lunch and strolled around town.

There was a Long Island fire fighters field day going on in the park where local depts were competing in all kinds of events, like tug-of-war, shooting water out of the hoses, rowing in the little bay, etc. It was oppressively humid so not sure how they managed. We also toured a local museum (god, we're getting old - now touring the sleepy museums!). It was actually interesting!

Despite the humidity the beaches were mostly deserted. Such beautiful white sand!

After leaving Southampton we headed east to check out a winery but it was closed for an event. There are few wineries on the south fork; most are on the north fork. We then drove north to Sag Harbor, which is such a cute little marina town. 

Don at the Sag Harbor marina - very nice yachts!

Looking along the beach & Little Peconic Bay at North Sea

Along the drive home we drove through the town of North Sea and took a little detour north to the bay between the two Long Island forks. Wish we had the kayaks with us.

Bryan @ work

A new chapter in Bryan's life begins today as he heads into NYC for his first day on the job. He will spend the morning at the office, then flies to Orlando for two weeks of training. Then he'll be assigned to work at a client's site, which will likely be in the NYC/NJ area but could be anywhere. We're excited for him!

NYC and Orlando - first day on the job

Kayaking here & there

Shared activities ...

Colleen & Alan kayaking on the Sunshine Coast, BC

Cathy & Don kayaking on Split Rock Reservoir, northern NJ

August

August was a busy month for us. Starting with a visit from Don's sister, Kathy, for the weekend ...

Kathy, Bryan, Carolyn, Cathy in NYC near Little Italy

At McSorley's Pub - oldest pub in NYC

Followed by a trip to Florida the following week. Bryan and I drove stopping for a quick coffee and visit with our Maryland friends, Anne & Oliver - so great to see them ...

Some things never change, like meeting over coffee!

Arriving in Singer Island to perfect weather and in time to pick Carolyn & Don up from the airport. Carolyn was celebrating the end of her 10-week internship at Verizon ...

Lazin' on the beach in FL

Dinin' on the balcony in FL

And finishing up the month with late afternoon and evening visits to the SR beach here at home ...

With friends late into the evening

Not to mention taking Carolyn back to PSU on Friday to start her Jr. year tomorrow. That's our August, with a few days still to go. August 30 is the last day of my current work contract so I will soon be a free woman on the lookout for a new opportunity! 

The Gadabout Map

Bryan arrived home on Friday, July 20 at JFK Airport, having been gone since June 4th. We had a long drive through traffic and drizzle but we were there in plenty of time to grab a coffee and wait. It was great to see him - he looked good! Healthy, happy, clean, nice haircut. He looked after himself quite well.

Then we had a long drive home, which was nice because we got to hear all about his trip. He enjoyed his bonus day in Zurich. Said his fav city was probably Krakow, but enjoyed so many of the cities, including Munich and Amsterdam.

Bryan's route

He's been back over a week already and is settling into life at home. He's looking forward to starting work in  Sep and saving for his next long trip! He's got the travel bug even more now.

And speaking of bugs ... he did not encounter any bed bugs. Phew.

Lucky me

Celebrating my birthday at Grato Restaurant last night

Birthday cards

That time of the year again! It's so fun to open cards, and read through facebook posts and emails from friends nearby and far away.

Here's an eCard that I enjoyed! It is so true! I think my Dad gave out cigars - the thing to do then, which of course, is a no-no these days.

We're heading out to dinner soon.

A final day in Zurich

Bryan's journey home is like his journey to Europe - interrupted by circumstances beyond his control.

Don woke up during the night and put Bryan's flight into his flight tracker app (honestly Don has become a smart phone app addict) and expected to see Bryan's flight path making its way to the west. Instead he saw that Bryan's flight was cancelled. He was to go from Paris to Zurich, which he did, then Zurich to Newark. In Zurich weather was bad so all flights cancelled.

He was in some massive line to re-book when Don called him. It was easier for Don to re-book him by phone, but its not until tomorrow and he lands at JFK, rather than our convenient Newark airport. Don told Bryan he could book a hotel on us - live it up his last night - but he has found a hostel near the train station. He didn't make it to Zurich on his travels so it could be viewed as a bonus to spend a day getting to know another city.
Still, no birthday arrival for me.

Its okay, I'm just happy to hear he's okay. That is always a gift.

France

What's with France and their gypsies?!  We have gypsy stories too - all in France. They are everywhere like pesky gnats. Here's Bryan's encounter today: 

Just about to leave for the train station here in Lyon. I couldn't find a hostel for a second night unfortunately because it's pretty nice here. I'm going to Clermont-Ferrand for 2 nights. They have some buildings there and a dormant volcano overlooking the town so it sounds like there will be enough to do. 

I had a pretty interesting first experience of Lyon yesterday just before dad called. There were these gypsy kids hanging out by the ticket gates in the metro by the train station. When they hear the ticket machine give you change they run over and ask for it. One boy runs over to me, he's probably about 8-10 years, and tries to grab the change before I can. I reacted fast enough and grabbed both his hands with one of mine then grabbed my change with the other. When I let go he follows me to the gates pretending to punch and kick my legs, I was giving him looks. Then I put my ticket through the machine to open the gate and he tries to grab it as it comes out the other end, but I managed to beat him to it (it was a 24-hour pass ticket so I needed it still). Then I'm through the gate and I turn around to give him a cocky smile and he spit in my face. It wasn't anything nasty just a few drops but a really weird experience, he didn't say a word the whole time.  

Then as soon as I got on the metro 2 ladies got into a huge shouting match over one bumping the other with a stroller. It lasted a good 10 mins. It was awesome.

Clermont-Ferrand  from google images

 Bryan is just 4 hours south of Paris where he needs to be on Thursday morning to catch his plane home.

Munich & Lyon

Rec'd from Bryan on Friday, July 14 - 

Got in at six this morning its been good so far maybe going to one of the big beer gardens tonight, lots to do here. Google the tent in Munich, that's where im staying its awesome. 

Also I'm grilling up some mean sausage right now. Bought it straight from the butcher today. 

Going to Lyon Sunday.

Don spoke to Bryan today so we know he arrived in Lyon. Only a few days left in the gadabout.

Ljubljana, Slovenia bound

Today:  

On a train to the Slovenian capital. Only spending tonight and tomorrow there then night train to Munich.

Photo from Belgrade to Ljubljana train 

I asked Bryan about the hostels a few days ago:

Hostels have been decent so far on average. Some are really good for making friends. Others are more difficult but I think it depends more on the people staying there than the actual facilities. I've noticed that the cheaper the hostel, the better the people are, usually more solo travelers or just interesting people traveling on tight budgets. So I've been booking the cheapest hostels I can find for the past few weeks and it's been great. The biggest room I've stayed in so far was in Sarajevo, there were 21 beds in my room all were occupied. Also most have a checkout time of 10 or 11 and a check in time of 2 or 3. But the enforcing of those rules varies, I've been in hostels were they slam on doors to wake people up to checkout and others where you can sleep until the next person checks in. 

Our ball hockey nephew

Our nephews, Eric & Michael, are ball hockey players and just finished up their spring season. Michael was chosen to play in a ball hockey tournament that took place in my old neighborhood in Mississauga this weekend. He was kind enough to share this photo with me.

Thanks Mike! We hope you are having fun at the tournament! Very cool uniforms.

Michael (right) and one of his ball hockey teammates. 

Two decades old!

Happy 20th Birthday to our beautiful daughter.

The three of us went out for a birthday celebration dinner in Ridgewood tonight for Carolyn who is no longer a teenager. The BIG 2 - 0 !

She enjoyed opening all her cards from family, and reading texts and fb posts from friends. Thanks all.

We love you, Carolyn!!!

(We look like the family with ET laser eyes here.)

Sleeping in Belgrade

Guess which bed is mine? It's about 9 feet off the ground if you compare it to the doorway. Should be fun, first time on a triple-decker bed.


No sleepwalking tonight.

Sarajevo to Belgrade

This just texted:

Sarajevo was a lot of fun and a bit more recovered than Mostar. On train to Belgrade now for 3 nights, then starting to go back west.

Moon over Singer Island

Looking out from 3rd floor over the pool to the ocean. 

We had a perfect week in Florida. It was hot but the constant breeze along the beach kept it pleasant. We expected it to be quiet down there but it was as busy as in season, partly we suspect, because it was the July 4th holiday week.

We did most of our usual things and ate at our fav restaurants, although we always discover a few new things to do and spots to eat. Don and Carolyn went jet skiing in the inter-coastal on the day I had to work, and found a fun, rustic, marina restaurant that we tried later - great food. We also checked out an area called Northwood St., which was lined with eclectic shops and ethnic restaurants.

Don and Carolyn spent much of the time following Parise's next hockey career move and the rest of the free trade negotiations. Maybe thoughts of ice rinks kept them cool.

It was another good visit where everyone is friendly and happy to be on the beach.

"If you're lucky enough to be on the beach, you're lucky enough."

Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Here's the latest installment:

Here's one of the bridge in Mostar, the main sight here.
The river is so blue and so cold, there is a group of local divers that dive off the bridge for money.



This is on the top floor of a huge abandoned building ruined by the war in the center of town.
This was a popular place for snipers to sit because of the vantage point.
These are the windows they would look out from.



View from the hole on the left in the previous picture.



Roof of that building. Guy in the yellow is from Walnut Creek, CA.



This is what about a fourth of the buildings look like here. Covered in bullet holes and half abandoned,
you can see that people have moved back into the top floors. Despite how rough the city looks
the people are some of the nicest I've met on the trip.



Bosnia and Herzegovina

Latest note sent early this a.m.:

"Good morning, almost just two weeks left for my trip it's gone so fast. Just thought I'd let you guys know I changed my mind about Dubrovnik. I'm taking a bus to Mostar today if I can get on cheaply enough then after a couple days there I'll go to Sarajevo. I've heard it's very interesting and very safe to visit these places right now as long as you avoid the mine fields and abandoned buildings. That should bring my to next weekend then I'll start heading back to Paris hitting a few places along the way."

I asked about going to Budapest since it is nearby ...

"I actually went to Budapest for a few days before I went to Split. It was awesome I wish could have had more time there but I was meeting those friends on Hvar. I stayed in a really small hostel there and met a lot of cool people. They have some really cool bars there that are built into the ruins of communist era buildings.  I also went to one of the many bath houses there just to try it out since the weather was bad. Jumped from hot water to cold water an stuff like that."

And back to USA where we are still in Florida. I worked today, while Carolyn & Don tried out jet-skiing in the intercoastal. Said it was amazing.

Split & Hvar, Croatia

Bryan has survived a visit to Croatia, barely, as you'll read below. Really, its amazing anyone makes it to old age, especially boys/young men. Here's the latest (all written from iPhone):

"These beaches are nice but I think the sandy beaches of Florida are better. The rocks just make it fairly uncomfortable and there are sea urchins everywhere. But the water is extremely blue and the views aren't bad, plus you can go nude. (Huh?)

After an entertaining day on the party island, I had with two friends from Krakow I'm back in Split at a hostel for 4 days. Yesterday I got into Hvar around 2pm and was picked up in the harbor by my friends who rented a boat. Not before they did donuts in the middle of the crowded harbor banging on a tambourine. But the interesting thing that happened was later on in the day. I was on a different boat at the time and they were following us in theirs. One of the guys decided to do donuts when the other wasn't hanging on. He flys out of be boat and his foot got all cut up on the propeller. It was the most blood I've ever seen, 2 deep cuts along the outside of his foot. After a trip to the hospital filled with tourists who have drunkenly injured themselves, he had six stitches, he got pretty lucky I guess.


They flew back home this morning, as was their plan not because of injury. This hostel in Split is fairly quiet so far which is nice it's been an exhausting couple weeks."

... to say the least. Glad to hear the guy is going to be okay. Egads. Good times.

Meanwhile, Don and I are in Florida where it is absolutely perfect. Hurricane Debbie is gone, surf's up, and weather is beautiful. We both worked today so didn't get to the beach till late afternoon, but the long days make it possible to still enjoy it into the early evening. Carolyn joins us tomorrow night - Yay!

Vienna

Had a nice, long talk with Bryan tonight. He is in Vienna after recently leaving Krakow. Said you could spend a week in Vienna, there's so much to see and do. On Wednesday, he went to Auschwitz, which he said was difficult to describe. He explained what he saw and how  he walked the route of others from the train depot to the gas chambers - a direct route. Horrifying and stunning. And hard to believe it all occurred so recently, when so much of what you see in Europe is hundreds if not thousands of years old, and this was just two generations before him.

He is not finished with eastern Europe but may take a western jaunt to Luxembourg to meet up with his college roommate, Nick, for a few days. Then he plans to rail back across the continent to see parts of Hungary, and the former Yugoslavia countries. But no set plan.

Bryan sent Carolyn a text today: 

"At a bar in Vienna I thought this was your name at first look."

Kind of freaky because is does look like Carolyn's handwriting!

It was so good to hear Bryan's voice. He sounds content. He is enjoying his gadabout. Two & a half weeks into it he has figured out the best way to do things - from meeting people to doing laundry.

Team England in Krakow

"The England team is staying in Krakow in a hotel just across the square from my hostel. I saw them going on the bus yesterday to fly to their game today. Here's a pic of Gerrard."

Steven Gerrard - Captain

Krakow

"I'm enjoying my first night in Poland. Hanging out with a couple of English guys at the fan park tomorrow."

Hey, we're happy for every little tidbit we get but I won't be combining his notes into a novel.

Prague - "Still kickin"

"One more night in Prague then the next night I'm  taking the night train to Krakow. Here's a picture of the big screen in the main square with the England-Sweden game on."

Prague

Bryan is loving Prague. He said he booked 4 nights at a hostel for less than the cost of 1 night in Amsterdam. Damn!

Others might send a photo of the castle, but we get the trash can with Toilet fees. 

"Found this outside of the castle in Prague" 

Looks like it costs about 67 cents to go to the bathroom outside the castle. Let's assume we're not looking at the toilet. If so, I'd hold it.

Hamburg

More from Bryan. He said wifi service was poor so couldn't send photos. I'm just happy to hear from him! 

"Got into hamburg yesterday afternoon not much for wifi access here but I found a tiny bit of service. I think I'm only staying for one more night then I'm taking a train to Prague to meet a friend from school who emailed me yesterday saying he was there."

Amsterdam

Heard from Bryan today re Amsterdam:

"It's really fun however my roommates aren't as fun as in Brussels and Paris so I've kinda been doing stuff more on my own. I still think its my favorite place despite that though. I love the bike riding aspect of it. You'll see families going out to dinner but instead of in a car they're on bikes. I spent yesterday walking through the main tourist traps' Today I'm resting and watching soccer at a bar since Holland is playing in ten mins. Tomorrow I'm renting a bike and going to the further away sights, then on Monday I plan to do the museums since it will be considerably less busy.

My main observation of this place is everyone seems to be extremely happy and friendly as long as you give bike riders the right of way as a pedestrian. And it's like the exact opposite of Brussels as far as diversity goes. The game is about to start it should be on espn if you are at home today."

In an earlier email he said he's waiting for better weather before taking and sending photos.

Mulch delivery

"Wow, this sure beats my indoor litter box."