Good-bye Assisi!

August 13, 2010 –Thursday -Assisi, Italy

Looking at Assisi from the walk up to the St. Francis Retreat area

Today was spent entirely in Assisi. Mary Kay and got up early to walk up the hill to the retreat area and sanctuary that St. Francis and his followers had used. We knew it was a 3 mile walk, but didn’t realize it was uphill all the way.

When we reached the top it was a very peaceful place. You could easily see how the solitude and simplicity of the area would be a good place to contemplate. Many of the prayer rooms inside could only be reached by very small hallways and stairs. One person had to bend over just to go through them. Even the meeting area was austere. A long table and wooden benches with frescoes painted on the wall. At one point I remarked as I grabbed a handrail going up a stairs that St. Francis would have grabbed that handrail in the same spot. Outside there was a walk through the woods with a stone altar. We were so happy that we had taken the time to walk up. It was very meaningful and gave us another opportunity to say a few special prayers in a very sacred place.

As we walked back down we passed many more people making the walk up. We have noticed several “scouting” type groups. All of them seem to be made of upper teens and perhaps kids in their early twenties. I understand that they are actually groups that travel as educational experiences. I believe that one other time I mentioned that it would be near impossible to get our young kids to wear these uniforms. We also passed a group of high school students from Sweden. They were definitely not dressed in uniforms (some were barely dressed) and most seemed very out of shape.

When we got back to the apartment I finished Thursday’s blog and posted it. Then we went out to do a little more shopping. We went to the church where the cross that spoke to St. Francis was displayed. During St. Francis’s time the church and Europe was in a time of religious need. When St. Francis was praying he heard a voice come from the cross that basically said that he was to go out and heal the church. St. Francis became a very well respected and powerful spokesperson of the Catholic Church. As we were leaving the church we decided to go to the basement where St. Claire’s tomb was. We were so glad that we did. The church had many relics of both St. Clair and St. Francis on display. There were tunics that St. Francis wore, his book of writings, a stocking and shoe he wore after receiving the stigmata (wounds on the hands, feet, and side like those that Christ suffered). Again all this made the place we were in (Assisi) even more meaningful and made it even more real.

After a rest we all went out for our last meal together. Greg had walked all over Assisi that morning to take in as many of the sites as he could before we left. He had found a nice restaurant and made reservations for supper. It turned out to be the perfect place. We ate on the patio overlooking the hillside. There were century old buildings, the Cathedral of St. Francis, and a great sunset over the mountains. The meal was once again delicious!! Our two week vacation together was a wonderful time. Traveling with six people in a van, on unfamiliar roads could be a formula for disaster. It wasn’t! We all really care about each other. We often say that Sharon and Greg are part of our family. Even though we only see Ian and Ruth every 3, 5, or even 15 years – they are family too. When we are together it is like we have all been with each other just last week! We will miss each other but we have many memories, pictures, and souvenirs to bring back this time. We will see each other again!

Mary Kay would love to stay in Assisi!

August 14, 2010 - Saturday - Assisi to Rome

We all had breakfast together then Ian and Ruth dropped us off at the train station. They were off to Germany to meet up with Sarah before flying back to Australia. It was time to say “Good-bye” – and also “See you.” We will!

On the train ride to Rome we met a young man from California.  It was good to be able to talk to someone else who spoke English and compare notes about our trip.  He had been in Italy with his mother, brothers and sisters and some of his mother's friends celebrating her birthday.  It sounded like they had a great time, also.  One thing they were able to experience that Mary Kay had hoped for was a cooking lesson.  That is something we will have to plan for next time.  He has a small vineyard in California and is hoping to begin bottling his own wine within the next year or so.  He had planned to do it this year, but a couple of deer got into his vineyard and ate the vines.  He will produce Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay.  We gave him our information and perhaps we will be able to take a trip out there in the near future.  Maybe a bike ride through the vineyards.  It was nice to talk with him and we all wish him well. After arriving in Rome we had a few drinks and supper together while talking about our fantastic vacation. We made our plans for meeting again in Chicago and went to bed for our last night in Italy. We are returning on different flights, once again. Hopefully, we will have an easier time finding each other when we get back to Chicago.

I am writing this as we are flying home. It is so difficult to share our feelings through this blog. As much as anything it is a journal for us of our trip, but I hope that you were able to get a sense of what we were feeling and doing. Leaving Europe or any other vacation behind is always bitter-sweet, but knowing that we have the memories and that we shared it all together, means so much.

It will be great to get back to family and the birth of our new grandchild tomorrow! Please take care of your family – share experiences – and love for each other!

Our last look at Assisi from the train station

Do Something for Others Today!!

PEACE and Arriverdeci!!!

PS - Mary Kay and I got back to the US pretty much on schedule.  When I turned on my phone I had a phone message from Greg.  Their connecting flight in New York was canceled and they have to spend another night in New York.  They plan to take a bus shuttle to South Bend on Monday and I will pick them up that evening.

A visit to the Mediterranean and Florence

August 12, 2010, Wednesday - Mortaldo di Castro - on the Mediterranean

We chose Wednesday to visit the Mediterranean Sea.  It was a day of driving, but with some beautiful sights.  Of course we had to do some cross country driving, so the roads were once again a little challenge.  The back of the van has a much different ride than the front.  I keep hearing sighs, people breathing a little deeper, and every now and then a comment - "How fast are you going?" or "Maybe you should slow down a little."  I still think it is a smoother ride when the "Yank" is driving than when the "Aussie" is driving, but of course he is usually driving on the wrong side of the road. We made our first stop in a small village and found their piazza for a cup of cappuccino and tea.  All the towns have at least one piazza, sometimes many.  Each usually has a church and a fountain with some shops surrounding it. It was a nice mid morning stop and then on to the Med. 

We had talked about having a nice seafood lunch when we go there.  When we arrived it was a typical seaside commercial town, maybe a little like Daytona.  We ended up finding a string of take away stands that offered decent food, if not real friendly service. After lunch we walked down the beach of black sand to the water.  I couldn't resist jumping in - shorts and all!  The water was nice, but it was a quick swim.  I thought my shorts would dry quickly, but even when we got back to Assisi that evening only the bottoms were dry.  It is hard to figure out what the people of Assisi thought of this guy a couple hundred kilometers from the sea walking down the street with wet pants!  I guess they don't know me, so it doesn't make too much difference.

We stopped on the way home at a roadside stand to get fruits and vegetables for a nice evening meal on fresh bread, with cheese.  We took a different route back which was even more hilly and winding roads than on the way.  We came around one curve at the top of the hill and came upon a beautiful village carved into the side top of the mountain - Pigliatono - It was beautiful!!!  Although most of the towns and villages have been beautiful this site was far beyond the ordinary.  If anyone comes to Italy and they are in the area it would be worth the drive to see it.

 The end of our two weeks is approaching quickly.  It has been very nice to spend it with our great friends form Australia and Plymouth!!

As we settled down in our apartment for the evening the church bells began to toll around 9:00 PM.  About an hour later we suddenly heard a brass (oompah type) band playing.  Once again we looked out our bedroom window into the piazza and found the village band playing as hundreds of people filed out of the church.  We soon realized that this was a procession of some type.  We think it was feast day for St. Rufino.  The procession was led by many monks, priests, and sisters followed by a gleaming bust of St. Rufino being carried by four men, then the bishop, and then all the people in the church.  The band continued playing as the procession made its way down the hill to the next church.  It was very unexpected and another treat from our stay in Assisi, across the street from the church of St. Rufino.  As we went to bed around 11:00, much to our surprise the procession returned to the church.  The band played several more songs (one was a version of 'When the Saints Come Marching In") before the crowd dispersed around 11:45 and we went to sleep.

August 13, 2010 - Thursday - Florence

I believe everyone is a little tired of riding after yesterday, but we stuck with our plan to go to Florence today.  We all really want our last day together on Friday to be an easy day in Assisi.  Please note that the Aussie is driving today and Greg was doing his good job of navigating.  The ride up to Florence was about two and a half hours.  We planned to stop outside of Florence to take a train in.  We had heard that the traffic was terrible in Florence.  Good plan, right?  Well we missed the turn off and ended up close to downtown.  Ian did ask for advice and I said, "We are this close now we might as well go on in."  Well, the traffic was a mess, but we found a parking garage and pulled in, only to find it was full and someone had just parked their car in the entry and left it.  We backed out with a little bit of problem, but got back into the stream of traffic.  We soon found that all the parking garages were "Completo" (full).  We drove around the block and took off in another direction to search, before too long we found ourselves in the midst of the shopping and sightseeing area.  The streets were very narrow, but became even narrower with people walking four or five abreast down each side of the street.  We slowly made our way through the crowds without hitting anyone.  As we turned here and there looking for a way out we realize we were going the wrong way on a one way street, but there was no way to get off.  After a few more turns and only one person letting us know we were going the wrong way, we made it out of the area.  Finding a parking place about a mile down the road, we decided to make our way back on foot.  Lunch and then we went off on our own to see the sites.  Mary Kay and I had been to Florence once before, so we only had a couple of things to do.  One negative to Florence is that it is the only place we have visited where vendors are allowed to set up their booths across the street from the churches and other places.  It made it very crowded (a place that cars/vans shouldn't be) and took away some of the feeling of beauty.  However, when you entered the Piazza San Giovani and saw the Cathedral of Santi Maria del Fiore you could not help but to be awestruck.  The outside of the cathedral is white, green, and red marble with very large brass clad doors. 

 

We walked on from there to the Porta Vecchio Bridge and and past the replica of David at the Vecchio museum.  After a bit more shopping and a drink we met the others to start our trip home.  I crawled into the back of the van with Mary Kay and took a little nap.  About an hour and fifteen or twenty minutes later I looked out and noticed that we were still on the autostrad.  We should have gotten off of it after about 40 minutes.  For those who followed our bike ride, this is the time when we could have used Kyle's text - "Dad, do you know you are going south?"  It seems our navigator and driver both missed and exit and we were now south of where we needed to be - in fact we traveled many of the same roads we had traveled yesterday when we went to the Mediterranean.  The only problem is that was Southwest and Florence is mainly North of Assisi.  It was okay, we just traveled a little further (maybe and hour or so) than we would have and as I told them I needed a little humor for the blog.

We arrived home at last and once again ate a light supper.  I picked up a cheeseburger from the "deli" next to the apartment (it was probably a pork burger).  We all went to bed after an evening of chatting.  Once again we were in for a surprise.  We noticed that there were many cars parked in the piazza.  About 11:15 the piazza was filled with people and a fireworks display started.  Can you imagine a fireworks show starting at that hour in the US?  We couldn't see them from our room, but the noise was something to experience in the walled city and all the tall buildings that just bounced the sound waves off of them.  Another neat end to a nice day!!

Do Something For Others Today!!

Peace and Arrivederci!!

Jack and Mary Kay

Our Anniversary in Rome!!

August 10, 2010

I started the day out by giving Mary Kay a card and small gift. Shopping for the card was difficult. I can’t read much Italian and I really couldn’t find any stores in Assisi or Spoleto. So I picked up the only card I could find in a grocery store we had stopped in, on our way home from Spoleto on Monday. I figured it was the thought that counted. I did write a personal note inside the card. I also found the perfect gift, a charm for her charm bracelet. St. Francis signed all of his letters and other writings with the Hebrew letter “Tau.” It has been taken as a symbol of the Franciscan Order. Many of the teachings of St. Francis can be found in Mary Kay and the way she lives her life. Doing a little translation of the card with our Italian/English dictionary I soon figured out I had bought a baptismal card. It was the thought the counted, right?

We took a high speed train from near Assisi to Rome, arriving around 10:30. We knew that we weren’t going to be able to see all that we wanted to in our 9 hours there, so we bought an on/off bus tour ticket right away. This gave us the opportunity to make 12 stops throughout the city and spend as much time as we wanted. We all went to the Coliseum first. Arriving we found long, long lines to get in. There were many college/20 something age Americans there acting as agents for tour guides. We quickly found out that with a tour you got to bypass the long lines and go right in. We decided it was worth the expense to pass up the lines and have someone tell us about the Coliseum. We had a great tour guide. You could tell he was passionate about the Coliseum. It is quite an architectural structure, especially when you consider the times. The Coliseum took eight years to build. Most of the workers were paid workers, not slaves. However, I am sure they were not paid much. Many of the movies depict the “festivals” held in the Coliseum pretty accurately. The festivals were free to the public, paid for my “candidates” who used it to gain support from the residents. There are four tiers of seating and the lower your status in the community the higher you were seated (much like our stadiums today which places most people according to their ticket prices). It could hold around 75,000 people. There was a stage, but under it is a great labyrinth of tunnels that contained the entertainers, prisoners, gladiators, and animals. They were all separated and brought to the stage through a lift process. The morning entertainment consisted of a variety of things. Various “acts” would be presented. This may consist of animals being released into the arena (most transported from Africa) and shot by archers to the pleasure of the crowd. All of this would lead up to the lunchtime activity of executing the day’s prisoners. Various means may be used, many were crucified on a cross, their bodies pierced so that the birds could come down and eat or other animals would be allowed to eat them. Prisoners received this punishment for nearly any crime. Later in the afternoon the Gladiators would be brought in to either fight each other or animals. Depending upon the mood of the crowd the fight was to death. Just like in the movies the crowd and/or the “candidate” were asked to give thumbs up or thumbs down to determine the life or death of the defeated gladiator. Most gladiators were prisoners who had “signed” a contract with an agent. If they lived a certain number of years they would gain release and be able to go home to their family. The agents made money off of the crowd betting on the survival of the gladiators. The prisoners were often people with little education and skills and usually not in the greatest shape, due to their imprisonment. So to last for five years was not very likely. Those that were released often came back to their “agents” to sign on as gladiators again; because that was the only way they could make money for their family. Many Christians died in that arena. Pope Benedict erected a large cross in the arena in memory of those Christians who lost their life there. During the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday, the pope comes to the arena as the last station. So many emotions – awe, sadness, disgust, and reverence!!

We went on to St. Peter’s from the Coliseum. Quite a turnaround of emotions! We had gotten separated from Sharon and Greg at the Coliseum, but knowing that would be a possibility had all planned to meet at the train station in the evening. The lines of people going into the Vatican were enormous. I can’t even estimate the crowds, again tens of thousands of people. It even looked like it could be a light day, as only about 1/3 of the “corrals” leading into the security area were filled. If planning a visit take some water, be sure you wear the proper dress (females must have shoulders covered and skirts near the knee or pants, and males must not have on shorts), take an umbrella or hat for the sun, wear something as light as possible, and be prepared to stand in a crowd for a long period of time. The security checkpoint is the only real bottle neck. I mentioned that we had lost Greg and Sharon at the Coliseum. After working our way through the lines for at least 30 minutes we finally got close to the entrance of St. Peter’s. We turned around and Greg and Sharon were walking right next to us. That is unbelievable, but very fitting that we met up with two of our best friends before going into St. Peter’s.

 There is just so much to see. We probably should have taken a tour here, also. We knew we only had a few hours, so we went off on our own tour. I believe one note I read said that 125 previous popes and 3 queens are entombed there. One of the side altars was closed except for people who wanted to go in a pray. Of course, we went in. It was the end of Eucharistic Adoration. It was so meaningful to be part of this at St. Peter’s. As we finished going through the Basilica I mentioned that I would like to go up into the cupola at the top of the church. Mary Kay and Sharon wanted to get some cards to mail with the Vatican postmark, so they headed off to do that while Greg and I went to see about going up. It is free to go through the church, but to go up to the cupola it cost 5 Euros to walk or 7 to take and elevator and walk. Now Greg and I are no dummies, so we paid the 7 Euros. We didn’t ask how many steps this still meant. Not a great idea! We came to the elevator and took a ride up four stories, which is probably more like eight in our buildings at home. We came out on top of the church just above the balcony where the Pope greets people and gives his homilies. The steps began from there. Over 350 stair steps plus two thirty foot ramps later we were at the top. This was a major feat. We did have to stop a couple of times to catch our breath. Then viewing Rome and Vatican City from the top was even more breathtaking. However, before going outside we walked literally through the top of St. Peter’s high above the floor. As we walked in we heard an organ playing and then singing started. It was the beginning of mass far below us at the main altar in St. Peter’s. I was able to video tape it with my camera, but I cannot get videos linked to my blog. I am sorry, because the sight with the sound is something I will always remember. The experience was well worth the walk.

We finished just in time to take the bus back to the train station, have a quick anniversary meal at a nearby restaurant, and head back to Assisi. As we were walking to the train, Mary Kay asked how I was going to top this next year? I will really have to think on that one.

Do Something for Others Today!!!

Catching up after three days in Assisi!

August 7 – August 9, 2010 – Assisi, Italy

We arrived in Assisi Saturday afternoon without any problems. Assisi is a small town of approximately 3,000 people sitting on a hillside. (Side note: I realized that the population of the island of Venice is only about 30,000). There are many cathedrals and churches in the Assisi. Our apartment is right across the street from the Cathedral of San Rufino. In fact, our bedroom window overlooks the Piazza outside of the church. The other window overlooks more of the town and the rolling hillside. San Rufino is the site of the church where St. Francis was baptized and also St. Claire. It seems incredible that two people from the same church and living during the same time could be canonized.

Only cars belonging to residents are allowed in the town, so we parked in a parking lot on the edge of town and walked to our apartment. It was a nice stroll downhill, but we soon found that when going anywhere in town you quickly encountered many uphill climbs. During the afternoon we were entertained by a wedding going on at the church. A Porsche convertible was driven into the piazza right outside of church for the couple to leave in. It drew many spectators, even a couple of Franciscan Monks who had their picture taken sitting in the car.

Our bedroom with a window looking out over the Cathedral and the other looking over Assisi and the countryside.

As the wedding was drawing to a close many high school age kids began to walk down the hill towards the church. The girls were all dressed in black dresses and the boys in white shirts and black pants. They were all carrying musical instruments. We soon found that they were going to perform an outdoor concert in the piazza. We talked to a few of the kids and found out they were high school students on tour from Belarus. We had a perfect view from our window. What a neat thing to have happen on our first night in Assisi. Hopefully, I am getting a picture from Ian to include in this blog as I did not get a great picture from my camera (maybe I will have it by the next time I blog - we are having speed problems). Hopefully, you can get a little sense of it from what I have posted. Mary Kay and I went to sleep listening to several concertos performed by the symphony orchestra. What a night!!!

The Belarus Student Symphony Orchestra in the Piazza of San Rufino, from the window of our bedroom in Assisi.

St. Francis Basilica and Statue

This morning Mary Kay and I took a walk through some of the town. We got our exercise, that is for sure. After eating a lunch with the others we walked to the Basilica of St. Francis. This is actually two churches, one built on top of the other. The Lower church has the tomb of St. Francis and was built two years after his death in 1226. The Upper Church was built on top of it approximately 500 years later. The churches are serene places and have beautiful fresco paintings of St. Francis’s life. Tomorrow Mary Kay and I plan to take a walk about 3 miles outside of town to a monastery in a small wooded area where St. Francis and his followers went to “imprison themselves in prayer.” It is supposed to be unchanged since St. Francis’s times. We are really looking forward to that time and will include many of you in our prayers there, especially those with special needs. (Note: we didn’t get to take the walk yet, but we will sometime before the week is over). In our reading about the area we came upon a quote from a nun who has spent over a decade in Assisi. One of the questions she was asked was, “Do you think Assisi is changing?” She laughed and said, “When they wanted to make all the changes in the year 2,000, the Jubilee Year, our Lord said, ‘I must stop everything.’ They had lots of projects to build new accommodations to house the people coming for the Jubilee Year, but the Lord said, ‘No!’” That was around the time an earthquake hit Assisi. Although there are a good number of tourists here, the town is rather quiet and serene. It is nothing like Venice. It has a good feeling to it.

Another small trip we will take before the week is over is a three block walk to the Basilica of Santa Chiara. This church is dedicated to St. Claire a fervent follower of St. Francis. The church contains her tomb and the Cappella del Crocifisso, the cross that spoke to St. Francis. A heavily veiled nun of the Poor Clares order is usually stationed before the cross in adoration of the image. St. Francis has always been one of my favorite saints and this has already been a special few days.
Continued – Monday and on to Spoleto

During the Sunday afternoon we did a discussion of our hopes for travel over the next week. We have decided that Monday is a trip to Spoleto a town not far from here. I will tell you more about it below. Tuesday will be Rome, Wednesday – Ancona, which is an East coast town, Thursday will be Florence, Friday is open, and Saturday we will return to Rome to spend the afternoon and evening before we fly out.

Above is a view looking down from the aqueduct

Spoleto is a region known for its cheeses and wine, as well as a Roman era aqueduct that is the foundation for a bridge built in the 14th century. It was an awesome site knowing that much of it was built in the 1300’s, along with the original aqueduct that would be over 2,000 years old. We once again walked up, and up, and up to reach the aqueduct. Or course, all the way to the top there were many stores selling their wares. Shoes, clothing, jewelry, cheeses, wine, were a constant attraction to Mary Kay, Ruth, and Sharon. We came home with some very large containers of olive (I hope they don’t leak in our suitcase), truffles, cheese with truffles, olives, sausage made from boar’s meet. All of this made a really nice light evening meal. We also had some great beer – a 660 ml bottle. The biggest I have ever had. I am nursing it as I finish this blog.

Tomorrow Mary Kay and I will celebrate our 42nd Anniversary! We are so fortunate to have had the life we have had. As in everyone’s life there have been some sad times, but those are far outnumbered by the joy we have from our family and all they mean to us. Mary Kay found a saying a few years ago that we have on our wall with pictures of all our grandchildren (number 17 is due any day) – it simply says

All Because Two People Fell In Love –

Since I am writing this, I get to say this – Mary Kay I Love You!!! More than you could ever know!!

Do Something for Others Today – Peace – Arrividerci

Jack and Mary Kay

Today was Friday and Venice - Watch out for debit card daily withdrawl limits!

August 6th, 2010 - Venice, Italy

I was a little confused yesterday.  I was actually a day behind on the calendar. Well, it was Wednesday in the US, but Thursday here.  Maybe I was half right.

No problems with Gertrude today.  The van was in the parking lot all day.  We took the train from our hotel to Venice.  What a surprise after you leave the train station and begin the journey through Venice.  It is an exciting and beautiful place.  I anticipated dirty water and a bit of a smell.  It was really nothing like that, which is remarkable when you consider all that goes on there on a daily basis.  The canals are filled with gondolas, water taxis, other tour boats, supply boats, and the walkways with tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of people each day.  As we began our walk through the city around 9:15 there were not many people around, by noon the place was packed.  We really have no idea how many, but we wouldn't be surprised to find out that four or five hundred thousand people were visiting today, basically doubling its resident population of around 400,000 people. 

As I said, the town is full of overwhelming beauty.  The apartments, homes, buildings, and churches all seem to fit together with what should be unnatural combination of these buildings surrounded by water.

The famous Rialto Bridge and a view from the top at the crowds and shops

There were the always present tourist shops with their cheap trinkets, but far more very nice clothing and upper end shops offering a variety of art mediums.  Venice is known for its glass products and these were very evident in the stores.  We soon realized that with the age of the buildings hardware stores were a high necessity.  There seemed to be one every few blocks.  It helped you to remember that you were walking not only through history, but through the neighborhoods of people living in the apartments with their clothes hanging to dry from second and third story windows.  It would have to be something to get used to having people walking within inches of your doorways and windows.  As we rounded one corner we were met with the smell of fresh fish.  There were many vendors selling fresh octopus, clams, squid, mussels, and every variety of fish you could imagine.  All were being unloaded and cleaned right in front of you.  A little further was a huge vegetable and fruit market.  I learned that this market had been the central business district of those living on the island since 1,000 AD.  We didn't see a grocery store, but none were needed with the daily supply of fresh food through this market.

After lunch we decided to split up for awhile and each couple went off on their own for a few hours. Mary Kay and I happened to be walking by one of the main gondola docking areas.  We had not planned to take a gondola ride since our at home research had told us that it was pretty expensive - 150 euros for a ride.  Of course, we were approached by a gondolier who went directly to Mary Kay and said, "Lady, lady - I make you special ride for only 100 euro - I promise it will be worth it, lady - I make the ride especially for you."  After some more convincing by the gondolier, I said we should go ahead and do it - after all we probably will never be back and how can you come to Venice and not take a gondola ride?  How could we pass up a 1/3 off sale?  It was a really nice experience, but as usual there were a few problems thrown in to make the experience even more unforgettable.  I asked the gondolier if he took a credit card, he said no, but that we could stop by the ATM to get cash. I thought the ATM would be on the way to the gondola, but soon found that we would start the trip and then stop at an ATM on the way.  I knew I had a little over 95 euros on me and that one debit card had nearly reached its maximum daily withdrawal that morning.  I had another card that I haven't used much, but thought it should be okay.  We soon docked and the gondolier told me the ATM machine was just down the walk.  Well ---, I was right the one card was too near its daily max to get the minimum withdrawal of 50 euros and I after several attempts I couldn't get the other card to accept the pin number that I had.  Do I leave Mary Kay with the gondolier or face him with the truth?  My palms were sweating as I approached the gondola with weak knees.

I meekly told him that I only had about 97 euros and that I couldn't get anymore from the ATM.  He gave me a little look and said he would finish the ride for the 97 euros.  I remembered I had some US money so I asked if he would take it and of course he did.  In the end we got a nice ride, seeing many of the interesting sights along the canal (Mozart's and Casanova's apartments among them) and he got his money. However, I felt a little awkward throughout the ride knowing that he most likely gets a tip.  We picked up a few interesting facts during the ride.  The lower level (water level) apartments have been vacated in recent years.  He said that in the winter the water level can raise up to two meters higher than in the summer (a little over 6 feet).  This makes the water level apartments which are already nearly water level uninhabitable.  The gondolas are really interesting boats.  They are made with a little twist to them so that the gondolier can paddle from just one side of the boat and deftly make it go wherever he wants it to go.  Occasionally, you will see a gondolier push off the side of a building with his foot, but most of the time they use their one paddle.  They are really adept at rowing them through very crowded waters and never once did I see one hit another boat or side of the canal.  It became very evident that all of the gondoliers and other boat operators must depend on the good will of each other.  There communications techniques were unbelievable as you would round a corner and realize that they already knew how each person was going to guide their boat to avoid a collision.  The gondoliers go through two years of training before they can have their own gondola.  Our gondolier was the fourth generation from his family to be a gondolier. The gondolas cost 55,000 euros.  I didn't get a chance to ask him what he hoped for, but it was probably just to get my trip done and get on to a new customer who might be able to give him a tip!  During our ride we also so a boat/ambulance go by.  All boats pulled over and let it through.  This made us even more aware that this is a community wholly dependent on the water for its needs.  It would be very difficult to get a person needing medical attention out of the city center without the use of the canals. 

After our ride we had a nice drink and listened to music in the plaza across from St. Mark's church, while waiting to meet up with the others.  Mary Kay and I had decided to stay until after supper to experience Venice at night.  Ian and Ruth joined us and Greg and Sharon decided to go back to the hotel.  By the way, if it stays you won't know Greg when he returns he is sporting a beard that makes him look like one of those rugged movie stars. Actually, he started it because he didn't have a razor the first few days and didn't feel good enough to care about buying one.  Now he is in good shape but I think he likes the look.  We'll see how long it lasts.  I will try to get a picture for tomorrow's post.

We left the plaza and went across the canal on a water taxi to go through Santa Maria del Salute church.  While we were there we lit a candle and said a prayer for Michelle. 

A little more walking and window shopping and it was time for Mary Kay to use the Water Closet, as the restrooms are called in Italy.  Of course they cost money and having no cash we had to get a couple of euros from Ian before the need became an emergency.  After she had finished, she found that she couldn't get out of the WC because the turn style was locked.  The only way to get out was to crawl under it.  What a sight!! 

It was beginning to cloud up so we decided to find a restaurant for supper and get inside before the rain started.  We were lucky we did!  Shortly after we made that decision we could see all the gondolas and water taxis hurrying to get themselves and passengers to shore.  The rains came in torrents.  Fortunately we were having another tremendous meal and drinks inside.  When we were finished the rain had slowed down considerably and we decided it was best to head back to the hotel and plan tomorrow's drive to Assisi.  We will try to use Gertrude the GPS lady again, but just in case we wanted a plan. 

At the hotel we got our maps and ordered a round of drink before going to bed.  Ruth took the orders and I asked for a Jack and coke.  She looked at me a little funny but went ahead and went to the bar.  As we were having our usual lively discussion about which route to take, I was about half way through my drink and noticed that it was very weak on the Jack.  I said something about it and Ruth said, "Did you want Jack Daniels with your coke? I thought you just said 'Jack wants coke' and that you were just being funny."  I guess that was another cultural difference between Australia and the US.  Jack didn't want just coke - Jack wanted Jack and coke.  Oh well, I was probably better off without it.  After 11 hours in Venice it was time to do this blog and get to bed.  By the way, I think the Italian, German, and Swiss food has somehow found the pounds I lost on the bike ride.  I'll have some work to do when I get home!!

Tomorrow - Saturday on to Assisi and our apartment for the next week.  We are really looking forward to a little slower pace, but still have several good side trips planned.  It has really been a great trip with our best friends from the US and Australia.  As usual we also miss our family.  Kyle and I have done a little skype talking the last few days and that has been nice.  It sounds like things are going well at home.  We haven't heard from Nate and Rachell about any changes in the expected due date for our seventeenth grandchild, but hope things are going well and that Rachell and "?" are healthy.  Who knows we may be stopping at the hospital on our way home from O'Hare on the 15th.

Arrivederci!!!

Do Something for Others Today!!

It's Wednesday, So It Must Be Venice!!!

Wednesday - August 4, 2010

We found a market in Zurich!

Two more days into our trip.  We didn't have Internet yesterday so I have to pick up a couple of days in one blog.  Thanks for the messages we have received from family and friends it is good to know that some of you have found us back on our blog. 

Yesterday we had a nice drive through Germany today we touched France for a little while, stopped in Zurich, Switzerland for about 5 hours and drove on to a little town call Weesen, Switzerland for the evening.  The drive to Zurich was pretty uneventful, except that we drove in Germany, France, and Switzerland all in the same morning.  As we went into Switzerland we had to pay a toll.  I got out my euros and expected to pay maybe 3 euros, which is about $4 US.  The lady immediately said, NO COINS - NO COINS.  I asked how much and she said 40 Francs, which is about $38 US.  Wow that made us take notice, but with the two security personnel behind her with guns, we didn't argue.  We got to Zurich just before lunch and found our way into the city center easily.  Gertrude the GPS lady gave us pretty good directions with only a few hiccups where there was construction going on.  We decided to take a bus/boat tour on the Gray Line to give us a better idea of Zurich, since we didn't have a great deal of time to spend.  It was a pretty good tour, of course we saw the financial district and banks where Greg has all of his hidden money. A few facts that I found very interesting are: 
only 6% of the Swiss own the home they live in.  Nearly everyone rents from either the city, an insurance company, or a bank. 
children start school at 7 and then in the seventh grade take exams to determine whether they will go on to trade school or secondary and post secondary education.

Enough of the civics lesson - The boat ride on Lake Zurich was beautiful, although Ian, Greg, and I spent much of the time pouring over our maps to try to determine how far we should go before stopping for the evening.  Of course the three of us were thinking that we needed to get away from Zurich and the lake to find a reasonably priced hotel or bed and breakfast. We finally decided to go back to the tourist information center to get their suggestions.  We walked about 20 minutes through a very ritzy shopping area - Prada and all the rest of the expensive stores.  It was pretty interesting seeing the people and the shops.  We didn't quite fit in with our backpacks, shorts, and sandals. 

How do you like my parking job of our little Mercedes van?  Pretty small parking spaces!

We got our advice from the tourist center and began our drive south towards Milan.  Shortly after leaving the tourist center Gertrude the GPS lady got confused with construction.  She ended up taking me into a dead end construction site.  By the time we got out she was so confused and between the four or five maps we were using and the different ideas of where we should go from my friends in the van that I finally took off in the direction I thought was most likely the one we should take.  Well there are two major routes to take from Zurich to Milan - one is more scenic and one is more direct (this is the one the tourist center recommended).  You guessed it, I/we picked the scenic route.  Well scenic may not be the best description for all of it.  As evening began to fall we were anxiously looking for a place to stay for the evening.  The towns along the expressway were getting smaller and smaller (some would say quainter) as dusk began to fall.  It was about this time that we needed another bathroom break and some tourist advice.  We pulled of at a small gas station with tourist info near by.  I forgot to tell you that up to this point every "toilette" we have used has cost money - .50 to 1.5 euros.  No kidding - I don't want our US gas stations to get a hold of this idea.  Anyway I went in to ask about the toilette and the attendant indicated that there was a charge, but I couldn't understand what she was saying.  I ended up holding out my hand and she eagerly took the largest coin I had - 5 francs and gave me the keys.  On the door there was a sign indicating the cost was .50 franc, which means I paid for 10 people.  I guess that was my -Do Something for Others, Today thing.  We did get some advice about possible places to stay fairly close and took off to search for one.  We ended up in Weesen a beautiful (and yes quaint) town along a large lake in the lower part of the Alps.  Remember, earlier I said we thought we could get away from Zurich and perhaps save some money on our room.  We found two places that had rooms - the first one said he had rooms for $150 US each.  Greg and Ian thought they would check out the other hotel across the street.  he said, "I own that hotel too and the price is the same."  So much for saving money.  The rooms were very nice, the view was great, and we had an excellent supper and drinks. I do need to tell you about one of our drink experiences.  Everyone who knows Mary Kay has a pretty good idea of what she ordered to drink at supper - Chardonnay.  Sharon ordered the same.  When they came we didn't notice, but Sharon's looked different than Mary Kay's.  Mary Kay took some sips and said this really has a different taste, maybe a little lime. Ruth tasted it and said it smells like apples.  After sometime, I thought well I should ask the waitress about it since the two drinks we had were very different.  We found out that there is another drink called Shardala (sp) made from apple juice and seltzer water.  It was good for a laugh and the end of a very nice day!

Today we headed on to Venice.  Remember we had taken the "scenic" route out of Zurich.  Well, it got allot more scenic as we went up and up and up from four lanes to two into the Alps.  We didn't make great time, but the day was full of beautiful sites and very winding roads.  It was raining throughout the day so as we got to the top of the mountain we were on it began to snow!  Pretty neat site for August 4th.  Finally we got down from the mountains and into Italy.  We all said that although the route wasn't the quickest we were glad we took it.  The trip was much more interesting than the expressway would have been. 

One more problem with Gertrude and our hotel address and we ended up in the right place the Hotel Bologna just outside of Venice around 6:00 PM this evening.  We got a recommendation for a restaurant and enjoyed ourselves once again over pasta, drinks, and a lime sherbet/vodka/Italian Champagne drink.

Greg is feeling much better - food is starting to taste good, but he is still staying away from beer.

Arrividerci!

DO SOMETHING FOR OTHERS TODAY! (something besides paying for them to go to the bathroom)

Two DAYS IN AND SO MUCH TO TELL!!

I hope the first two day are not a signal as to what is ahead!  As you can see in the upper picture we were in good spirits at O'Hare Airport waiting for our 6:00 PM flight.  The unfortunate thing was that Greg and Sharon who flew on an different airline were not in the same terminal as us, so we didn't get to wait with them.  The people around us are on tour.  We hope to never be on a tour like that, wearing our nametags, etc.  We like being a little more incognito.  That may not be a good thing all the time, as you will see.  Anyway we were talking to some of the tour group since a few of them were from Missouri.  We told them about our bike ride and the many nice people we saw.  Shortly after this picture we began boarding for our flight.  About 12 people got on and then they sent them all back and said that due to mechanical issues they would have to replace this plane with another one.  They estimated that we would now leave at 8:00 PM.  This was going to put a little crimp in our plans as we were supposed to meet Greg and Sharon in Frankfurt at the airport.  Originally we were to arrive about an hour before them.  Now it looked like we might be an hour later than them.  We finally left O'Hare about 8:40.  We got some good tailwinds and landed around 11:30.  As we were in baggage claim I heard a page for Jack Davis.  I figured it was Greg.  However, I couldn't answer the page until we got out of baggage claim.

By the time we cleared the baggage area, of course Greg was gone.  I walked back and forth through the terminal several times while we had Greg paged.  Mary Kay waited near the information booth for him to come.  We didn't connect until about an hour later when Greg found Mary Kay.  We hadn't realized it but they were in another terminal a good distance from our terminal.  Alas, we were back together again and picked up our beautiful Mercedes rental car and headed for Cologne to meet Ian and Ruth.

Now the first Do Something for Others Today comes into play.  We made it to Cologne pretty easily.  However, we got off the autobahn an exit too early and really had no idea where we were.  We found a gas station/convenience store and thought we would try to get directions to our hotel.  Greg went in and was trying to get across to the attendant what we needed.  A man in a uniform came up and said he spoke English and could help.  Great!!  He began to tell Greg that we needed to go a couple blocks in one direction, then make a quick turn here and shortly another curving road make a turn.  I believe he could see that Greg was getting a little lost with the directions, so he said just follow me and I will take you there.  That was great, but to even add more to the story he was a policeman.  So we pulled up to our hotel with a police escort!  It was really nice of him, because it had to be three miles or so through downtown Cologne.

After a shower we decided to walk to meet Ian and Ruth.  They were staying with their daughter Sarah who is in Cologne working on a Doctoral program.  As usual we were late getting to them. They had expected us early in the day and it was about 4:30 in the afternoon by now.  We did find the apartment and met Sarah's fiance, David.  They had a nice everning meal planned for us at a pretty authentic German place.  The food was great and there was plenty of it, as you can see from Ian's Pork Knuckle -

The whole group had a great time together -

By the time the meal was over, Greg was beginning to feel some effects from his resent gall bladder surgery, so we went back to our hotel for the evening to get some sleep.  We all needed it.

We were going to meet Ian and Ruth "around" 9:30 the next morning to start the rest of our journey.  Well, by the time we got up, had a bite to eat and got on the road to meet them at the Hertz rental center (we had to pick up a van now that we had 6 of us) it was already 9:30 by the time we left our hotel - late again.  To make matters worse there was a little detour due to some road construction on the way and when we were going around it we got behind a garbage truck picking up garbage at every house and apartment building along a very narrow street.  We had nowhere to go so we looked with awe at the efficiency and art that the two guys doing the pickup used to finish their job.  By the time we got to Hertz we were maybe 45 minutes late.  Ian would tell you we were an hour and a half late, but he always exagerates.  We transferred luggage and I got my name on the contract so I could help drive and headed to the Europcar rental agency to return our Mercedes.  As we were leaving Hertz I mentioned that I wasn't sure where my passport was.  We made a quick search through our bags and decided we would look further when we got to the rental car place.  On the way I started having a bad feeling, as I couldn't remember having my passport after picking up our rental car at the Frankfurt airport.  oooohhh! 

When we got to the rental car office we began a search of all the luggage and I asked the desk clerk to call the Europcar office at the airport to see if they had found my passport.  Greg looked in the Mercedes and everyone else looked through all the bags we had.  I was glad Mary Kay didn't have any thong underwear with her.  Not that she has any!  We looked through everything several times.  The Europcar desk clerk said she couldn't get through to their office, but gave me the telephone number.  I eventually got in touch with Lost and Found at the airport, but they didn't have anything.  It is now about 11:30 (so much for our 9:30 start).  We called the hotel and they had a maid check the room - nada.  We were just pulling out of the Europcar parking lot and I said I want to check the Mercedes one more time.  Greg took the passenger side and I took the driver's side.  Hooray - hooray, Greg found it on the passenger sice between the seat and the center counsole.  Hallelujah, let's get going.

We put Koblenz in the GPS of our new Mecedes van (great rental cars in Europe!!) and took off.  I had joked the night before that we didn't need a GPS, we just needed to head South.  Even if we got on the wrong road it wouldn't make any difference as long as we kept going South.  The GPS was great though it told us every turn and twist we were to make.  Mary Kay and I took the back two seats, Sharon and Greg in the middle, Ian - driving and Ruth - navigating? in the front.  I picked up my book and started to read.  About an hour into the ride Ruth asked me is I wanted to look at the map.  I said no that things seemed to be going well.  About a half hour after that Ian pulled into a rest stop.  Ruth had a little fear that we might be going North, instead of South.  Well, she was right!  We don't know what was going on with the GPS, because the little lady inside it didn't tell us she was recalculating once!  Greg asked an elderly gentelman for help.  He spoke NO English, and we speak American English and Aussie English so there was quite a communication barrier.  I have to give him credit though, because he gave us excellent directions - over and over and over - we just couldn't understand a word he was saying.  After about five minutes we convinced him that he had helped us and we knew where we were going.  We didn't have the foggiest, but we left anyway.  Luckily the little idea that we had turned out to be correct and we started our journey to Koblenz again.  Of course we had to go back through Cologne again, but at this point who is keeping track of our mishaps?

We had a great day of driving and driving and driving - we only took one more detour.  About 4:00 pm Ian thought we should take a little side trip into a small town along the Rhine River.  He thought we might find a winery and perhaps a nice little B & B to stay in.  Fifteen minutes later we were in the heart of a fairly large industrial city.  I think we did cross the Rhine (maybe two or three times) before we found our way back to the direction we hoped to go.  It was time to get serious though about finding a place to stay for the evening and to eat.  Ian felt that it might be a good idea to turn the mapquest over to Ruth to find this spot, since he had been so helpful in the last search.  Ruth picked a nice little town called Kehl right on the border of Germany and France on the west side of the Rhine (yes, once again we were searching for a plac on the Rhine).  This place did turn out to be great!  We thought about going across the river to Strasbourg, France - but found a great little Apartment Hotel with a French restaraunt right across the street.  We had a wonderful supper, but once again Greg couldn't quite make it.  Once he saw the food, he just couldn't make it and had to go back to the room.  We are hoping that he feels a little better each day - we thought it might be some of the rather heavy food and beer he had the night before, but tonight he didn't even get that far.

Tomorrow on the agenda we hope to leave early.  I wonder what time that will be?  I will let you know tomorrow.  If things go well we will be in Zurich, Switzerland for lunch and do some sightseeing there and then continue our journey towards Venice.  We have rooms booked there for Thursday and Friday nights.  Hopefully, all will go well.  I will let you know!

What do you hope for?  I did find one young man in the airport to ask this of - he was traveling to Ethiopia to meet his girlfriend.  They both work for a Christian agency that helps Ethiopian ophans sufferring from AIDS find homes.  It was interesting to talk to him about what they do.  His hope was - "That the Lord will return."

With that I leave you - and I am sure when the Lord does return - Doing Something for Others Today - will have been a good way of living your life.

I JUST TRIED MY SPELL CHECK AND WHEN IT CAME UP, NEARLY EVERYTHING I WROTE WAS IN YELLOW, WHICH MEANS IT IS SPELLED INCORRECTLY.  NUMERALS WERE OKAY.  AFTER SOME THINKING, I REALIZED THAT THE SPELL CHECK IS USING GERMAN SPELLINGS HERE INSTEAD OF ENGLISH.  OF COURSE, I DON'T KNOW ENOUGH TO MAKE A CHANGE IN THE DICTIONARY, SO YOU WILL JUST HAVE TO GET THROUGH MY MISSPELLINGS.  I HAVE TO GET TO BED SO I CAN GET UP EARLY.