SUN SETS ON ITALY

Well, the sun is setting on our Slovenia/Italian holiday. We are in Fiumicino at the Le Ville B&B awaiting our flight tomorrow back to FLA.

The American political process has once again provided us with a wonderful adventure.  It is disheartening to see what that process has lowered it self too, but it is not the first time and it will not be the last.  $4 billion t buy votes.  And people say that the election process is fair and politicians are not bought.

That $4 billion for us bought lots of new friends and adventures.  Paul and Rachael, the Bevk family, our whole new gang of New Best Friends that make their own wine and might I say is some of the best I have ever tasted, John and Sandy, Raphael, and the people of Praiano.  And, as always, the joy of Tuscany and visiting our good friends Daniel, Manuela, and mostly Spotty

THANK YOU ALL

TO AMALFI

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OCT 30 TO NOV 3 

We left Porto Santo Stefano and headed for Praiano on the Amalfi coast. Things were roaring along nicely until we hit the outer perimeter of Rome and then it came to a screeching halt. It took more than an hour and a half to get around Rome and on the way to Naples.  This should have been a 20 minute ride. The good part was you could pull in to a service area, get gas, have lunch and still  only lose about 20 positions in line.  We had been wondering if Monday was a holiday and now we had our answer. It was the last 3 day weekend of the year.  After a while the traffic broke loose and we were roaring down the road a 83 mph in our Panda.  Scary as it sounds. After Naples we headed for Sorrento  on a small 2 lane road and were again in stop and go traffic.  The Panda is not a comfortable car to drive and all the clutch action was beginning to make my leg hurt. We discovered the main problem on this road was the tunnel around Vico Equense was closed, so all the traffic had to wind it's way through the narrow streeted village. Once we cleared the city we were moving again. We crossed over the peninsula at Meta and once on the other, side traffic was light.  We stopped at a couple of scenic overlooks and I got more discouraged with this area.  This is the trashiest place I have seen in Italy.  That and the traffic were putting me off on this area.

took these buses 5 minutes to manuveur past each other

There are beautiful pictures of apartments and hotels on the internet on the Amalfi coast.  But, you have to be very careful.  Two important things are, how many steps and parking.  It may say "only 500 meters" from the road. Well that is a quarter mile and the steps can be straight up.  "Parking available near by" could mean it is in the next town. I was glad to see my research had paid off and our apartment was right on the road (but quiet) and only 3 floors up. We stopped in the road to unload, shutting down one lane. So after the luggage was out of the car, I had to move it.  The parking "was just down the road past the large green tree". Fortunately that was only 500 meters. By the time I got back the owner, her husband and Vicki had carried all the luggage up to the apartment. I am liking this arrangement.

Our attitude to Amalfi changed somewhat once we were in the apartment.  It was very large and comfortable and had a large balcony with a great view. The little village is perfect.  On the sort of level main street is everything we need; grocery store and "barberro" down below and several restaurants that are still open.  Most hotels and restaurants are closed and many will close after this weekend.

  

Views from the Balcony

One of the advantages of staying in small villages are you are pretty quickly accepted into the small community and people talk to you every day.  Especially if you do what they do.  Go every morning for a coffee and buy your groceries everyday in the local grocery.

our neighbors and grocers

Over the 5 days we ventured up and down the coast.  Sorrento is a very famous city so I felt we ought to got there to see it.  It was a bust.  Just another big city.  In all the "tourist" cities the prices are very high.  In Praiano I get a coffee and a croissant for 1'60 euros.  In the town of Amalfi, that was flooded with Americans and others, a coffee alone was 2 euros.

There are quite a few large Mercedes Vans carrying tourists back and forth on the coast.  I learned if you get behind them they stop at all the good scenic spots.  They just stop in the road and I would stop right behind them and get out and take pictures.

when he stops, you stop.  we got out to take pictures, his passengers stayed in the van

I know a little about weather forecasting, but I have never quite figured out the weather patterns here.  I do not feel bad as neither have the paid forecasters.  Here is the forecast and actual weather:

• Monday- rain steady in the morning turning to heavy downpours and thunder in the afternoon
• Monday actual- Sunny all day
• Tuesday- rain steady AM and PM with heavy down pours at times
• Tuesday actual- Partly cloudy to sunny
• Wednesday- rain in AM ending in PM
• Wednesday actual- Sunny, Sunny, Sunny

We did have a heavy rain late Monday night for 3 hours.

Our last day of total touring the weather however, was excellent.  So off we walked from Praiano to the famous of town of Positano.  The only bad part of the walk was our scheduled time as it seems all the tour buses from the cruise ships came at the same time.

We got to Positano in about 1.5 hours.  As we meandered down the narrow streets to the water, we decided that Italian must be the second language here, because everyone was speaking english.  At about 11:30 they must have blown a whistle that only cruise ship people can hear, because the town literally emptied.  We decided to have a coffee on the waterfront, but at the 3'50 eur price we could just not get ripped off that bad.  We walked a few hundred yards back into town and had a lovely coffee for 0'80 eur.  The owner is the only one to stay open all year round and caters to the locals.  He said a place is rated by it's coffee and bathrooms.  He got a 10 all the way around.

After a light lunch on the climb back out of town we decided to skip the bus and walk back home.   Again it was a perfect walk. The sights are fantastic.

 cruise ship bus. 3 abreast

 the beach in positano

 taking a break

 the international herald (top row) in the old days before direct dial international phone calls and long before cellphones and internet. the tribune was the main source of info in english in europe.  but, most interesting, was the classifieds. it was full of secret messages for spies and lovers.  made great reading and sparked the imagination.

vicki got tired of walking and decided i should buy her one of these to ride home.  Ferrari 612, retail $312,000...before options and dealer costs. i here you can get it red.

back home

We thank Britta Luttjohann for her kind assistance while we stayed in her apartment.

http://www.homelidays.co.uk/praiano/apartment-flat-108849en1.htm 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

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OCT 29

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO KENNY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

So, now I can get that SS that everyone has been talking about.  I am not worried, 'cause if them Republicans get back in, they will give amnesty to all the illegal immigrants just like they did when their idle Ronald Raygun ran the place.  And most of them illegals pay SS that they will never collect but I will. Rich people are not going to be without some one to cut their grass or feed their inhertants, no matter what they say.

Ok, back to me now.

Off we go saying goodbye to Criele and headed south.  This is were I am supposed to say we went to the airport and caught a flight to Pairs.  But, since my French buddies were telling the government what we thought of them, it was causing me problems as a free riding airline passenger, so we changed our destination to the Almafie coast.  As much as I prefer the non-autostrada route, this was when they are really handy.  Autostrada route is less than 8 hours drive. Non-autostrada route 17 hours. So we made it a little of both traveling through the many, many tunnels and over many, many bridges.

the high bridge is one of the many on the autostrada

you have to pay to ride. cash or card

We stopped in the little town of Porto Santo Stefono for my birthday celebration.  Vicki got us the best room in town. Well second best. Best was just outside of town and 350 eur; second best was Pension Week End at 60 eur with breakfast. We went down to the docks to make sure my dinner was going to be fresh and walked around this very small port town.  First part of the celebration was at a waterside bar. For some dumb reason I ordered a margarita and Vicki a presco.  We set there watching the sun light disappear lamenting that ordering the margarita was probably a mistake. When it arrived with a cherry and a slice of orange I knew it was a mistake.  Ah, how easily we let imagines set our minds.  In this case the imagine was wrong.  It was with out a doubt as good a marguerita that I have ever had! And they did not skimp on the tequila.

 pension week end

 luigi, you think we can catch it

 i like these signs

 my birthday buds

 a damn good marg'

my fresh catch

We did another walking loop around town waiting for the restaurant to open at 7:30. We went into the Trattirua Lo Sfizice about 7:45 and as usually, no one was there and they really were not ready to serve yet. So, Raphael served us a bottle of their best chanti, it is my birthday you know, for $15.  We sipped wine and looked at the menu.  Vicki went to bathroom and Rahpael said it was time to order. So, I ordered one fried calamari and one pasta mixto marina to share. He asked if I wanted a salad, french fries, or , and I did not hear this one, spinach. It is my birthday so I ordered french fries.  If I paid attention and listened I would have ordered the spinach as it is great in Italy.  Vicki passed Raphael coming from the bathroom and he said "he ordered chips instead of salad, but I am going to bring you half and half."

After desert,  we ordered coffee and grappa. They bring you the whole bottle and you pour Things had slowed down and we now had time to talk to Raphael.  He crewed on a 50 foot Magnum speed boat for many years for the Analisi family, owners of Fait.  He had gone to Miami for final inspection and delivery in the early 80's.  He said he had never been so scared in a city.  We told him we lived there about the same time and felt the same way. After good conversation, a great meal and one to many shots of grappa courtisy of Raphael, we wondered back to the Pension Week End and fell into bed.

 the mixed seafood thingy

 oh no, don't let her pour!!

raphael, me and "chef"

NW ITALIAN COAST

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OCT 23-29

Today we sadly said goodbye to Spotty, Manuela and Daniel.  Our stay was wonderful but way too short.  These are some of the nicest people I have met and Tuscany is as beautiful as it looks in the movies and pictures.  I felt guilty as Manuela was preparing to go pick olives by herself and I had really enjoyed working with her.  If you ever want a vacation of a lifetime come rent one of their apartments in Villa Cappeto or for isolation, Il Poggiolino.  You will not regret it.  We have already started working on our next trip back. 

http://www.bestoftuscany.com/

We had to go to Florence airport to exchange the car. Long story short  - rental car A wanted lots of money to extend the contract so we turned it in and got another one from rental company B.  The first car from B was the smallest red Toyota I have ever seen. Vicki said I looked I was in one of those clown cars. I trekked back across the lot to discuss another car.  This time we got a Fiat Panda, a little smaller than the car from A and off we went on the autostrada. It cost about $30 on the autostrada from Florence to just west of Genoa.  That includes about 20 tunnels and an equal number of high bridges.

Pulled into Ceriale on the coast between Genoa and the French border. As usual we did not know what to expect of the apartment we rented and as usual we were not disappointed.  It is a brand new one bedroom on the 2^nd floor looking right at the Mediterranean across the street ,with no traffic as it is a dead end.  The owners are wonderful and doing everything they can  to make the stay a success.

Sunday night, winter came in with a vengeance.  From midnight to about 2:30 it rained, it blew and there was so much lightening that I thought someone had put a strobe light in the room.  The thunder would echo off the hills behind the town.  When we woke up it was still blowing with sun and then rain and then sun again.  Neither lasting more than a few minutes.  But mainly the temperature had dropped and the high might have reached 50 but I doubt it.

We spent the next 5 days roaming up and down the old Rome highway from Savona to San Remo.  They claimed there were some of the prettiest towns in Italy along here but we did not see them.  We found one small, less than a village, place hanging on the side of the mountain that qualified, but it was about 20 old buildings and no one was home. There were some more “interesting” towns, but not the prettiest by far.  The coast as you get closer to France is much more interesting.  Not a French thing, just geological thing.

Our plan was to have a small lunch in San Remo and have a big fish dinner at a restaurant suggested by our landlords that night.  We stopped into the Mini Bar Antonio.  Basically a tent, with a kitchen the size of most American's closets, on the waterfront.  The waitress explained the specials and some other items on the menu.  After some Italian, French, and English we wound up with 2 “spaghetti and fish”.  We wanted to split, but the waiter said no, that we would want two.  We were expecting a plate of  spaghetti and a few pieces of fish. Well, so much for dinner because this is what we got.  It was  fanstictico!!!!  And inexpensive!! On the way out the owner took us to the little tiny bar, maybe 3 feet long, and gave us a limoncello.  This is a lemon flavored, strong, alcoholic drink.  Nice people, great food. Hope the Carbeniere do not pull me over.

it was so good it made my hair stand up

When we are on the coast of the Med I always have to go look at the boats.  Here you see more mega-yachts than almost any place else in the world.  And unlike America, here in Italy and France you have the right to walk on any dock you want.  No gates, no “keep out” signs.  I think everyone that reads this is in the 95% that President Obama gave tax cuts to.  However, many of you are very concerned about that other 5% that are stinking rich not getting a tax cut.  Don’t worry, they are doing fine and their yachts that are parked here are evidence of that.  The mega-yacht market is still booming with the help your money that they fleeced you out of.  The thing that I find ironic is, that though all their wealth mainly is from the U.S. and that they are the first to fund God Bless America groups, they are not proud enough to register their boats in the U.S.A.  Does it cost more?  You bet, but if you are so damn proud to be an American pay the price to fly the Stars and Stripes on your mega-toy.  Many of the boats we saw today, Linda Lou, Alaska, Predator and others are American owned, yet only one flew the Stars and Stripes.  Jim Moran of Florida had over 40 yachts in his lifetime. He had 2 175’ yachts at one time and they ALL flew the Stars and Stripes.  He was a proud American and said he was glad to pay for the privilege to show his pride.

this little one, Nero, belongs to a poor british guy

http://neroyacht.com/



We went for a little ride up into the mountains.  Despite looking like a prefectly clear day, if you looked towards the sun it was very hazy especially in the camera. After topping the mountain and heading back around through a valley, we stopped in Alassio, a nice little town on the coast for an afternoon coffee.

 one thing about traveling this time of year...no parking problems

We went to Menton, France one day.  The French do a much better design of their coastal cities or actually cities in general with broad avenues and parks on the water front.  I really enjoyed being "with my people" as we roamed around the town.  They have a very nice old town to climb up to also.

Though there was a great lunch special at the seaside reaturant, I had to order mussells and french fries.  It is just a thing I have to do since I would not be spending any more time in France this year.  The fun part was watching the waiters dodge traffic to bring you your food.  Must be a real challenge in August.

Menton

 nice roof parking

 broad avenues and wide side walks are the norm in France on the coast

 dodging traffic to feed the tourist