2018 Europe: the next part

The next part

We had our last dinner together in the evening at a restaurant on the pier. We are now scattering to the wind. I am off to Sete, France to catch up with Vicki, but there are barriers to departure. Again they are celebrating in Barcelona and the boulevard in front of the hotel is closed as they set up a grand stage for one of the many concerts around the city. I am up, packed a showered by 6:30 for a 9:25 train departure. The easy plan is to catch a taxi but with the street closure they a few and far between so just out the door is the metro. I go out and recon the metro and buy a ticket. There are lots of revelers still on the street and there seem to be a lot more females than males or maybe that is all I see. Back at the hotel I have a quick breakfast and tell the early birds goodbye. I grab my bags and look for a taxi with no avail and head for the metro. The problem with public transport is there is a lot of stairs and as I grew old they become a challenge with the heavy bags, though the bag is ten pounds lighter than the past. It will even be lighter when I get to Italy and give Daniel the five pounds of coffee I am caring for him as a gift. Back in the metro it is interesting how, in just a short time the streets have cleared as the sun has come up. I should have had the second cup of coffee as I get on the right metro, L3, but going the wrong way. I quickly realize the error and am off at the next station. No need to panic as I have plenty of time however, I do have to lug the bags up and down the stairs again. Now headed in the right direction it is a quick four stops and I am at Barcelona-Sants, the main train station. I am required to have my bags scanned, a first for me, but it is very quick. I kill time people watching and at nine they open the entrance to track 5 and the TGV to Paris, the high speed, very, very smooth train, and also Montpellier, where I connect to my next train. Boarding is prompt and the train rolls at 9:25. Barcelona is a major cruise port and there are lots of suitcases as big as small houses being lugged aboard by people of all ages. My suitcase is tiny in comparison and I quickly find a spot for it and my single window seat on the upper deck. Very interesting as the train is full, but very quiet. People talk in hush tones, even the Americans, and there is not a peep out of a cellphone and a few people walk to the closed luggage area to make calls. A very civilized way to travel.

It is a beautiful clear day and we are in Montpellier arriving in a quick three hours after departure.

It is strangely eerie. when we crossed into France last week and today on the train a strange feeling of comfort comes over me. A physical feeling that is pretty strong, thus once again re-enforcing my belief that in my last life I was a French plantation owner in Vietnam.

metro ticket

station light up as you pass them. the train station was already light let me know i was going the wrong direction.

if I had looked at this I would have know I was going the wrong direction. The port is on the water and the train is on the land.

the walks were really not that long between stations

I am on the 9:25 train.

this display is at each end of the car. The next stop is Narbonne and mine is after that at Montpellier

now what?

signs can be confusing. E is the track and V is the position

the picture at the bottom explains it all

I have arrived

Now the walk home.

The local train to Sete goes back the way I just came. In fact the TVG stops in Sete during the summer but not today. Off the train with my luggage and I have pleasant walk to the apartment. There is confusion on my part as to the address and Vicki’s “women directions” did not help, so we met on the street and she took my hand and led me home.

We have history with Sete. In the mid-80’s, when Vicki was still fun, she and her friend Deb quit their jobs and went wandering. They wandered back from Morocco via ferry that landed in Sete. In those days a visa was required to enter France and they had none. This did not set well with the French authorities. Memory has faded and the exact details are hazy, but there are memories of a delay, dogs, strip searching someone else and a kind official letting them in with the promise be out of the country in 24 hours and they were.

a rare find in europe....a bag of ice!

sunrise

we are in the skinny pumpkin colored building behind the gray door

african ferry

It always amazes me of what you can find behind a regular looking door or garage door. Since the street in Barcelona was closed the bus driver that was driving us to our dinner spot met us and led us down a very narrow street with cars parked on both sides. He opened a large door to an unassuming building and behind the door were 7 large 55 passenger shiny buses. The others were awed as he backed it out with just centimeters to spare front, back and side. He was an artist. In Sete, as we were walking another unassuming large door opened and inside where fishermen working on their nets. They were kind enough to let me in to take pictures. In the other direction an older gentleman cracked a garage door and rolled out a old Honda 50 scooter. Behind him inside I got a quick glimpse of probably a dozen old sports cars and scooters. Amazing.

mending nets

It was nice to spend few days not having an agenda or people to lead around all day. We walked, talked, read and eat. We had just two meals out though. First night, I got my mussels fix and checked that off. Then we had lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant as it was time for something different and from my old country of the past life. Vicki said the food was good but the owner was a bit of snot. You just never know how a day will go. The food was great and the owner was too. He remembered Vicki and though he spoke no English, he joked and kidded with Vicki and little with me. They were like old friends. When I went for usual kitchen inspection and photo’s, he demanded we do a selfie and we both got a big laugh out of that.

This is a french chocolate baguette. Light and fluffy and not over flowing with chocolate.

This officially makes it a oyster tour.

Me and uncle Ho

I had researched methods of transportation to our new spot. We have found that as we get older dragging bags is not as easy or fun as it used to be. I had hoped to go by train but a price and time study made much more since to rent a car than three train changes and twice the cost. I forgot to figure in tolls, as they are steep, and in the end it might have been a wash. Anyway, by rental car we go. I walked to the rental care agency dragging my bag so as to cut down on the time we would have to shut down the traffic in Sete while we loaded the car on the narrow one-way old street that was the through fare of the town. That bag thing again. Walking to the rental agency was not a problem. The problem was when they told me the car was parked in the country to the east! I exaggerate, but a just a little. They handed me a map. It first glance it looked as though they were using the small parking lot at the train station, but after searching it which took about ten minutes, I pulled out the map for another look. Well, uponist further investigation, you go to the train station and turn right and walk and walk and walk. Then you come to a parking lot of three lanes of cars and you search those. Then you look and way, way down at the other end the lot, setting all by themselves were some more cars. I drag the bag all the way down there and whala there are the rental cars. I find my Toyota Yara, not as small as I expected, throw the bags in and head off to get Vicki, her bags and head east.

my car us so far away you can not see it from here

lunch on the road

a few of the many, many mega yachts

We are doing the border car shuffle. You stop and turn in your car at one border, if you not coming back to that country, and catch a train across the border to the next rental car agency. I chose to stay in Menton, France this time as last time we stayed in San Remo, Italy where we will get the next car. I had anxiety about where we were staying in Menton as all the hotels were full and I got an apartment that I did not know much about, but fortunately, it was a very nice place at a very nice price just a few blocks from the water.

At dinner on the water we met a man at the table beside us that solved the mystery of why all the hotels were full. It is the mega-yacht show in Monte Carlo, where the super-rich or their staff come to shop a new toy. He and most of the people at the restaurant are sales people who cannot avoid the $1,000 and up rooms in Monte Carlo. A ticket to get in is over $400! For the price of the lovely dinner right on the water with a full moon coming up I could got a small part of that ticket.

Today we travel sans bags to get the car. We had a conversation in the car yesterday and I made a proclamation as there has been too much talk about bag weights starting in Barcelona with Hellen and Walt, that we would no longer talk about heavy bags nor would we let them interfere with our planned itinerary. Too much negative talk leads to negative actions. So that is that.

The train to San Remo was a piece of cake and fun. Avis San Remo always gives me a good car. Last time a BMW this time a Mercedes. And no, I don’t pay extra for it. In fact this car is only about $240 a week. They kept in their garage as we walked around and had lunch. We like this town a lot and last time extended our stay here.

the train , one of two

of course there were stairs....

french train window....

Italian train window. Put both trains were clean and comfortable

Travel tip. On public transport be it bus or train or metro the doors do not open automatically. You have to push a bottom, like the green one here, or flip a lever to on or off ,

Travel tip. In Italy, at the train station, at the rest stop and other places, you stand in line to pay for what you want, of course there is always the communication problem if you want something other than coffee and you can not point as the item you want is in another location, then take your receipt to where the item is to get it.

the coffee bar

those, my friends, are not cruise ships

Menton to Lucca Sept 28

We made our way out of Menton to the Autostrada and headed east in Italy. Last time we drove this way we tried to take a picture of every tunnel and gave up. This time we were going to count them as there are so many. But, once again, when we got in the mid-twenties we quit. We said "just google it" and find out how many there are. We never did find the number of tunnels but we did learn that the road starts in Portugal and ends in Turkey. That would make a heck of road trip.

As many know the bridge on the Autostrada collapsed in Genoa. Garmin knew that, it just did not know what to do about. It got confused with the detour or I got confused trying to follow garmin, but once we asked Mr. Google Map he promptly and clearly got us out of the mess. Garmin has some advantages but I am close to firing him and hiring google full time as a navigator.

Garmin however did lead us right to our apartment in the old town part of Lucca. We hit a home run with this apartment. It is very large, very old with the high ceilings and beams and perfectly located. The added benefit is Roberto the manger. I called him and in two minutes Italian, five minutes in real time, but who's counting he was there to let us in. There is a very high fine in many towns if you drive into the old part without a permit. We avoided that by paying 25 eur a day for parking. That is stiff but for two days it was worth it to me as Roberto took the car and returned. We walked the town, had coffee, had prosecco with a cheese and vegetable plate and spent the night in with a wine and a charcuterie platter. http://www.palazzorocchi.it/it/

The next day we walked a lot and fought the masses though they were thinner than yesterday. A light snack for lunch and then we went in search for dinner. We had found a narrow street, well, they are all narrow, but smaller than the others that had several interesting restaurants but we could not find it again. So, we went to two restaurants recommend by Roberto but they were fully booked. We came upon a very nice looking restaurant but the could only seat us in the garden which is a plus for us. The food was excellent particularly the vegetable soap I had. There were mostly Americans in the restaurant but by the time we left at 9:30 it was converting to Italians.

the do everything swiss knife

there is a art exhibit in Lucca and everything is made of cardboard

our first gellato

nice little place. it has been open four months but they are struggling. hard to make a living off of four tables. really nice guys.

this is the sign that means do not enter with out pass or pay a very big fine

we stumbled into this concert in one of what seems hundreds of churches in this little town

our chefs for the evening

Lucca to Montepulciano Sept 30

Well, out in the country near Montepulciano, to Pamela and Johnny Johns B&B and cooking school. The ride was over the hill and through the dale which made Vicki a little quezzy. Odd, that this route got her today, but we have done really curvy roads and it has not. We stop at a restaurant in the country for lunch, we hoped, but it too was full. So we just stopped at Chez Vicki for lunch and as always it was great, even if no wine was served.

We arrived early afternoon to a deserted property. Pamela and Johnny were off doing business and the other guests were touring. http://www.poggio-etrusco.com/ Guests and owners arrived about the same time. Vicki is here for a week long cooking class. A couple had canceled and so Pamela was kind of enough to put Vicki in one of the apartments, that I also get to share for one night. Pamela made reservations, we are learning for dinner, at Restorante La Casina. A reservation was definitely not needed as there were only three tables occupied the whole time we were there. The food was excellent I am glad to report. https://www.lacasinaristorante.it/

chez vicki for lunch

a mear $77 for 3/4 tank of gas for the mini-benz

pamela and johnny

Montepulciano to Villa Ceppoto 1-7 Oct

I put Vicki on the school bus with Johnny to go to the train station and pick up the other students and I went shopping for a few items for Vicki. When I returned there was another group of ten people preparing a lunch for their cooking project. These people, all Americans, where having a great time with a lot of laughter. Kind of wish I could have joined the party.

So off I go to Villa Ceppeto in my trusty Benz. I start with a right turn out of the drive way down the poorly maintained dirt road. I was doing my usual meandering and the map said I could go this way. It was wrong. But past adventures have taught me when to cut my loses and turn around and I did. There had been some rain showers in the area and when I drove down the side of one hill I got a glimpse of what makes Tuscany so great. The rain had cleared the air and there was a gorgeous view of the vineyards and olive orchards crisp and clear.

I stopped in Monte San Savino, down the hill from Villa Ceppeto, do a little shopping. First stop

was Aldo's for pork roast. Unfortunately he was closed so I went around the corner to another butcher shop that is usually to busy for me to bother with but not today. Got a couple of meats and some cheese. The daughter came in we talked as I remembered she got married eight years ago. From there I went to my old standby a very small store that sells everything but mainly for bread. The owner remembered me and we chatted a bit not understanding a word either said but enjoying it.

From there I drove up the hill to my little bit of heaven. http://www.bestoftuscany.com/ No one was home so I set out my picnic. But shortly Manuela came home and immidiatley upgraded the picnic. She went into the apartment and brought out a table cloth and dishes and went to her house and brought back her olive oil.

i started here.....

....manuela came.....

...and put some class into my lunch!

the view from my apartment

some times you just need your own ethnic food for breakfast

Setting in my apartment this afternoon reading a novel, Manuela came walking up with Spotty in her arms and tears in her eyes. Spotty has been their dog for sixteen years and my friend for over ten. He and I have taken many a walk through the olives and down the hill. His first visit in the morning when he is let out is to my front door. If it is cold and I have a fire in the wood stove he will lay on the floor next to it all day, except when we go for walks. He only leaves when Daniel or Manuela comes to get him in the evening. He has been a major part of the joy at Villa Ceppeto and he will be missed greatly.

So, I have been doing a lot of nothing on this trip. Usually we walk a lot and eat a little but this time it has been backwards. So, I decided I will walk everyday while at Villa Ceppeto. Yesterday I used the occasional rain and laundry to avoid the walk, but today I had not excuse. Crisp blue skies and cool temperatures, so off I went. My goal is to walk to town and back but I started light. I headed up the hill, every step my body telling me I should not ignore it any more. It was a rewarding trip. I hope to try again this afternoon.

pictures do not convey how steep the road is

I decided to make the monastery the destination

I have been here a time or two but have never seen anyone

the gates were open and I went in and walked around the grounds.

the eye of god....

as soon as I walked out the gates closed. guess they did not enjoy my company. i guess they saw me through the camera.

I Have Been Laid OFF

It is still a few weeks away from harvesting olives, but Manuela has informed me that my olive picking days are over. Maintaining and harvesting hundreds of olive trees is expensive and lots of time consuming work. So, they have leased out the olives and my services are no longer needed. I must say the olive orchard looks better than I have ever seen it and the trees are loaded with olives. The gentleman leases several orchards around Monte San Savino. He has a crew of about ten men and they come in trim, cut, clean up and harvest and can do in a day what in the past has taken Manuela, as Daniel only works in the orchard if she demands it, weeks and weeks. It works well for everyone. The trees are cared for and Manuela gets her 250 pounds of olive oil she needs to survive the year with.

I did make the second walk yesterday and have got one in today!

I want a Kabob!

So, I have been in Europe a month and I have only had one Kabob. The Kabob is my go to fast food in Europe. The fine eastern Mediterranean meal of shaved meat off a big tower of meat. Usually chicken or lamb. So, to get one, I have to go on a road trip. The nearest one is in the town of Arrezzo some twenty miles away. My choice is to drive, down the express road, fight your way into town and then, the hardest part, find a parking place. Or....catch the train. So, I boarded the 11:45 local headed to Kabob town. This thirty minute train ride that deposits me right at the Avis office and across the street a Kabob. This was a no brainer. First stop was the Avis office before they close at 1 to change the drop point for the Benz in Milan. That done, I walked across the street to the Kabob shop. I almost walked away do to the line of students that was there, but I turned around and came back. I had already encountered students getting of the train when they thought I was going to step aside and let them on the train before I got off. They were wrong. The students were shortly gone and I sat on the street enjoying a excellent Kabob at a leisurely pace. Next is a walk around the city. That lured me into the Galleto shop. Then you can not have lunch with out coffee so I found a nice spot in the old town for that. A few quiet moments in the park and I was back the station on the 2:40 for Monte San Savino. All in all a successful day.

put the right amount in the red box and it spits out a ticket. or wait until the clerk comes back and buy from hime. I did both..got the going ticket from the red box and the return from the clerk.

here it comes

it was clean and comfortable

of course there are stairs but there is the option of the elevator

this is right in front of the train station. Avis on the left and the Kabob on the right

one of the oldest churches in Italy. OS

back to the station

stairs

note the tracks to the right are covered but track 6, the local is not

Dinner for One

For dinner I created a fine salad of lettuce, tomatoes, that by the way have tomato taste, small bits of Aldo's pork warmed on the stove and some fine cheese and small glass of wine. It was equal to the Kabob in satisfaction.

In Europe usually your choices of lighting are dark, the computer is on for light and music and the cellphone is for reading The Man From Moscow

or you get lightening strong enough for a interrogation.

Spotty

Spotty was laid to rest under a olive tree in the front yard of Daniel and Manuela's house. The guest next door to me, Robin and Kelly from California, bought a beautiful flower to put on the grave. They are very kind people.

Graduation dinner

Vicki has been in cooking and touring school all week. They have invited me to join them for the "surprise" tour and final dinner and overnight at Pamela's B&B. There are not a lot of pictures as I was just a guest and they did not cook. Some Scottish guy at the restaurant did all the great cooking. Over night at Pamela's and then drove home in the rain which it did all day.

Vicki, Pamela, and fellow student Ricki

I did sneak a picture of desert at the graduation dinner

The Last Days At Villa Ceppeto

Saturday we set around in the rain all day reading and doing laundry. We did not even go out to eat as Vicki had eaten out enough she said. We had salad's, cheese and, of course, wine.

Sunday we set out for a walk to town. This can be a adventure depending how your legs and knee's are feeling as you do a lot of walking up and down steep hills. Fortunately, just as we got underway, Daniel pulled up and asked if we wanted to go survey a villa near Cortona that he had to look out. I was in the car and buckled up before Vicki could say no. So we waved goodbye to her and set off. Villa was only half-way impressive. It had been lived in by the owners father until he passed away in the 90's. Since then it had paid it's way by being rented out for the Cortona Film Festival with the likes of Redford, Hopkins and others in residence. When the film festival was cancelled the money to maintain it dried up along with the fortunes of the family. Not good timing. The grounds were very impressive. They are surrounded by a tall stone wall and inside that wall are several acres of olive trees, fruit trees and ornamental plants with a very large swimming pool. All where in need of a little care, but not yet abandoned. There were several out buildings and then the villa it self. Looking at the outside it fantastic, but the inside was less impressive from a living outlook. It was dark and dreary like most old places are. It did have some wonderful rooms with fantastic paintings and those rooms in fact have been declared historic by Italy because of the paintings. Sadly, if you are trying to sell, it is more of a hindrance than a help. Cristy's values the property at $8 million, they are asking 6 and I say 3.5.

That night we went to dinner with our upstairs neighbors, Jack and Pat Debartolo of Phoenix. Yes, his cousin is Ed Debartolo of the big construction company fame. Jack in fact is a architect with a large firm in the southwest, now mainly run by his son. They have rented for three weeks as a big change from their past traveling in the hotel circuit. They are very nice people, we wonderful dinner, and we hope to visit with them some place in the future.

Dinner at home in the fog.

Views of Monte San Savino

Views of Tuscany almost look like paintings

Ara is replacing Spotty for Vicki's affections

Moving On.

I had hoped to stay a few more days but sadly paying customers are coming. We said goodbye to Daniel, who we will see again in Milano in a few weeks, loaded into the Benz and headed off for a new adventure. We had not been to a new country so we headed for San Marino. San Marino is a independent country surrounded by Italy. It's sole purpose is duty free shopping for the Italians. It was a lovely ride slowly over the mountains as there was no traffic so we could drive as slow as we liked. Overall, San Marino was unimpressive as it was just a big shopping center stuck in the hills.

tobacco

We ran down the backside of the mountain to the Adriatic and the town of Rimini. This is a very busy beach town with hotel after hotel. The problem is they are mostly closed now as the season ended in September. We came to the beach in a area that was partly alive and drove north to less and less open. Then the we drove back to the alive part and started to look for a hotel. We really like the Grand Hotel, open since 1908, but at $288 it was not open to me. I did not do as I should have. Stop, find a coffee/beer/wine and recon the situation. So, we found a great hotel with seafront room for $70 including a free breakfast, and not one of those cheesy Holiday Inn Express deals. A real proper breakfast with lots and lots of fresh stuff from eggs to fruit to pastries. The downside is the room is only available for one night. So, my mission for today is find a room for one more night. ,

The buffet with real honey

The Grand since 1908

This boat pulled up and was selling direct. The guys in the back where pulling through the nets and hitting them with a hammer. When we investigated we found they were smashing small crabs caught in the nets.

My A++ rating from guides of the world has fallen steeply in the last 48 hours. First, I was heading to Modena a day earlier than we had a place to stay. Secondly, the hotel we are now in, the Picaddilly with a nice one room apartment, across the street from the Holiday Club, where we stayed our first night, declared that they were full tonight. However, in the character of A++ travel agent and a wonderful style, I talked nicely to the manager and she moved someone else and put us in for one more night. And as she says "Only one more night". We have discovered that we wandered into town during the three day tour operators convention and that is why there are no rooms in the few hotels open with a water view this time of year.

Vicki said I looked shaggy so I went to get a haircut and a shave. The shave went well but the haircut lost something in the interpretation including all my hair. I got a hand written receipt, and only old people will get this, he stamped the date with one of those old stamps that you roll the number each day

On our first night in Rimini we found Amico's. A very popular place with great food and great staff. The next day we stopped in for a light lunch and talked to the staff some more. Yesterday, since there is a large travel agent convention in town, we passed by and asked Victor if we could reserve a table for our last meal in town and he said "let me see what I can do. Come back at 8". When we walked up at 8 he met us on the sidewalk and said "Ken I have be watching out for you" and ushered us to the table we told him we would like with the only reserved sign the place. For the next three hours we sat and watched the show. The place was slammed with travel agents and the waiters running to and fro. The line to get in had as many as 20 people in it at times. Victor came and offered to take a picture and I said no I wanted him in the picture. We thanked him and hugged all around. As I walked up to pay the waitress came by and gave Vicki a big hug. When I got to pay Sylvia, the owner who took over from her father, she said "Ken I will have your table ready tomorrow at 8". I told her that sadly we were leaving town and she demanded to know when we would be back. She would not talk no for a answer to I finally said February. Then she gave a sad face and yelled at the waitress to bring a bottle of red wine that Sylvia then presented it to us.

Remini to Modena Oct 11

We left Remini and drove to Revanna home of great mosiacs and Dante's dead body. The ride was uneventful as it was foggy and this part of Italy has a lot of industry scattered about. With great luck we found a parking place on a side street right down town. I bought a three hour ticket thinking that would be long enough, but in the end we could have used more time. Within a few blocks we were in the old walled city and searched out the tourist agency. She said we should scurry on over to the church on the same plaza as the men in black slam the door shut at 12:30 and it was close to that now. More OS and when you get inside you go to the alter area, drop a euro in the slot and the lights come on in crept that has water and gold fish. Nobody buried there that I could figure as old Dante's crept was outside. He had been stuck in the walls here at one time. He was from Florence but when he died he lived here and he and Florence had parted ways. Like many artists, long after he was dead and now famous, well old Florence decided they wanted old Dante's bones and the Pope agreed. But the monks of Ravenna sent a empty box and hid old Dante and he was not found for many years. In modern history they found him, built him a home and Florence now furnishes all the olive oil used in the crept as a gesture of peace, I guess.

Ok, so besides old Dante.'s bones this place is famous for mosaics in their churches. For 9.50 eur you get into all 9 of them. A heck of deal if you like OS and mosaics. These things are old, like 500 BC old. Interesting that BC thing. At old Dante's bone house there was a boy from Georgia knocking back a BC powder. I thought that was quite apropos.

We knocked out the first two mosaics and then I demanded a Kebab to continue this adventure and she acquiesced. A great Kebab it was and we where back on the tour. We got a double deal at the Mausoleo de Galla Placidia and Basicica de San Vitale. Let me say the mosaics were awe inspiring. But you can do great things with slave labor. I watched two tour guides while we where there. One read off her phone all the information and the other was a true guide who knew what she was talking about. The Mausolie de Galla Placidia historians had been declarative of what had happened there and why it was built. When, in fact, nobody knows.

OK, checked those two off and now we rush across town to see that last one we have interest in, before our parking expires. These too were awe inspiring, but how many little piece of broken clay does a man have to look at. Maybe I should start remembering all the bible stories that these things are based on.

start here...

go to the front.....

deposit your money....

the lights come on and you get to the fish

Mr. Dante with a early version of Apple ear pods.

Shhhhhhhhhhhh....next to Danti's house

Done with mosaics we are back in the car headed for Modena. I had a none highway route planned but that added hours to the trip, so we jumped on the Autostrada and headed northeast.
Easy trip, some heavy traffic and the Garmin took us right to the apartment. It is located in a mixed use area, housing and light business's like a motorcycle shop, a beauty school (I am looking to be a dummy for student training) and a couple of repair shops. Our apartment is on a little street off the main street. It was confusing at first to find it as the main street is named Murazzo and each little of shot is the same name. The address given to us was 96 Via del Murazzo. 96 is not to be found on the main road. You have to go down the side street to find it. It is a nice little apartment. We went to the Spar, a twenty minute walk do to traffic lights and restocked our larder.

this guy drafted that truck for a long ways. most of the time he was closer

our apartment is through the garage door,but it is actually the first floor of the house

We have a great Italian restaurant just around the corner

Modena seems to be famous for Enzo Ferrari, Luciano Pavarotti, the invention of Tortellini, Osteria Francescana, De Tomaso, Lamborghini, Pagani and Maserati. Other than the fast cars it is not a real tourist town. It claims to be ancient but seems more modern, like from the 1800's maybe. There is no wall and the whole place looks like it was built at the same time. All the buildings are consistent and three floors. We heard no english except from the shop keepers and everyone seemed to be local.

We went to the post office to mail some letters. You go to the kiosk, pick your language and get a number. It took about three tries for us to get it right. Our number was eight. So we went to the 260 at what we thought was 8. Wrong after three tries and lots of snickering and help from the clerks we finally got it right. Pretty simple once you know the system.

Tigelle is a Modena bread

Vicki found a perfectly good scarf on the road. Saved me money from the clothing budget

Osteria Francescana is the top restaurant in the world. Reservations required months to years in advance. It will cost you over $500 bucks for little tiny portions.

At Chez Vicky, the tortellini meal with wine was less then $5 for everyone!!!

Notes from the road to self

Don't rent a car for full time. Rent in increments and renew rental. Car stays parked a lot. You forget that on this trip.
TripIt. Walt introduced me to this app that stores all your trip details. I was leary about sharing data at first, but what the hell, they have it all anyway. Really useful tool with complete time line and details of hotels, apartments, train, airplane etc. It tells me that today I am day 39 of a 56 day trip and more.

Yesterday we headed to town. It is about a 30 to 40 minute walk as mentioned before. Today, at the edge of the old city we stepped in to a former large Villa now a museum. We did not tour the museum as they had more than enough to look at in the court yard and walk ways. When we left there was a very uninspiring church attached to the Villa. Vicki stepped in and then came back out and said "you should come in". I sighed and followed her back in to what I was expecting just to be another church. I was surprised. It is one of the most impressive I have been in on this trip and maybe ever. They talk about the Sistine Chapel and it's paintings but they are about the person painting. There is just as good art in other churches and this is one of them. The telephone pictures do not do it justice.

From there we walked around town, visited the food truck festival, had a spritz on the sidewalk cafe, caught the leftovers of the graduation ceremony of some nature from the Military Academy, had a coffee on the square and then walked back home for a pleasant evening reading and watching Netflix's.

Yes, he is real and taking your confessions. Note the suitecase in the corner. Don't know if that was take your sins away in or he was heading out of town.

The outside of the church

Good photos the truck cooks, but that big wurst on the counter is under represented in this picture.

GI Joe's. All had jump wings with a large contingent of women

Not sure what this was all about. Each person had a different sign and was blindfolded and people would go up and hug them

Today was a big day. At Ferrari you can buy a discover pass that takes you on a bus to the two Ferrari museums, Pavarotti's house, a winery with a great museum and to balsamic vinegar producers farm. It started at 8:30 with a 45 minute walk from the apartment to the first Ferrari museum and we were dropped off at 6 after the last one. We walked into town and had dinner. At this time of day the town was packed with the locals out on there evening stroll with double the number because it is Sunday. By 8 most were gone. Then we walked 40 minutes back to the apartment.

The factory museum. The other is in Modena

Me and the very lovely wine pourer.

A Brazilian, Pavarotti, and himself

The original party bus. This thing is cool. On the arm on the top coming from the round black part, you put your glasses in and when you turn the ....awe heck, I will have to come back to explain this.

We learned all about balsamic vinegar. It was quite interesting. Google it to get the whole story. These barrels are from the 1800's and the balsamic is stored either 12 or 25 years in them. Well,they call it "black gold" and it cost $150 for 4 ounces. We tried it, but did not buy it.

It was easy to find a window seat with only five people on the bus.

Pavarotti for about ten years did concerts in Modena that featured everyone from James Brown to Modona to Zucchero to Eric. I saw the video a Italian restaurant in Ecuador and loved them. When we bought the house and had room for stuff, the first thing I bought was the box set of all these concerts. From time to time I drop one in the dvd, get a good bottle of wine or grappa, and fire that thing up with the volume shaking the window. That is how I recommend you watch it.

Today was a challenge. Today's plan was to get to the train station and catch the train to Bologna. A slim chance of rain was all I needed to skip the walk and take the car. It has not moved in four days. Then came the challenge of parking which we found right away. We knew something was wrong since there were many places available. We parked the car and walked to the machine to get the little ticket to put in the window. I feed in about $20 but it would come to a screen that I did not understand, I would stare and it would kick the money back. Must be a problem with the time we want to stay we think and so we move a little ways and try another machine. The good news is it is cheaper but we get the same result. We move one more time around the corner. This is a good deal as it is cheaper. I slowly but in the money. I push the button for the ticket and finally I read the screen. It wants your license number! What the......
I pull out the key and punch in the license plate number and it gratefully gives me a ticket. Success!!! We get the train station and there is one agent and about 20 people in line. No problem we will go to the automatic machine. No we won't as all three are broke. When things are not going your way in Europe you go have an espresso and that is what we did. Caffeinated up, we head back to the train station with the anticipation of a shorter line. Nope, ain't happening. So, there is a group meeting. Drive to Bologna or cancel the whole thing. Group decision..... got to see it. So we pile back in the car, kiss the $10 parking goodbye and head down the highway. It is only 24 km but a 1 hour drive. Without to much heartburn we are in Bologna and find a parking lot. The town is much bigger, much busier, and a lot dirtier than Modena. We strolled around for a few hours, checked out a few churches, had lunch were I almost turned around to the LOUD American at the table to behind us and told her "Rick Steves says to use your inside voice in a restaurant", but I did not. Strange as she speaks Italian and has just moved to Italy. You think she would know better. We know all about her husbands sleeping habits, her storage in the USA, her daughter handicap, etc, etc, etc. An the good side, she had two well behaved dogs. Oh yea, and the lunch and service were superior.

Back to the car and headed home with the assistance of Mr. Google. When we got back into Modena and knew where we were, Vicki asked if she should turn it off. I said no as you never can tell and I was right. I missed a turn and Mr. Google got us back on track quickly.

We spent our last night in town watching Netflix's, eating cheese and crackers, and enjoying a good bottle of wine.

the evil parking ticket machine

The beginning of #meto

Vicki was in the picture for scale. These things are huge

Franchises available

If the sign is in English, I skip it.

Modena to Lucca 16 October

Modena was as far as we had planned in advance. Now it was time to figure out were to go next. We have to be in Milano on the 24th. So, we kicked around several places like Verona or Vicenza. But we decided it was time to take a break and since we really liked the apartment and the city of Lucca lets just go back there and take a few days off from touring. I called Reborto and booked the apartment for four days and we struck off across the mountains.

Of course I picked a back road and this one was great. Though it was foggy wintry type day it was a enjoyable ride. The route through the mountains followed a river on a narrow road and with little traffic. The most traffic was a autoclub of some nature that had about a dozen old Porsche's, a Ferrari or two, a Aston Martin and a great old Jaguar. Probably two dozen in all.

We have pretty much decided that Tuscany has it hands down over the rest of Italy and the world seems to agree as that is where the most people visit. And, as soon as we crossed into Tuscany, the roads, the weather and the scenery improved.

I snaked my way into old Lucca's small pedestrian streets to 17 Santa Giustina and the apartment. Reborto was waiting and he grabbed Vicki, gave her the two check kisses and planted a big one right on the lips. I just got a hug. He helped unload and then noticed that there were lights out over the table and in the chandler. Despite our instance that it was no big deal he left and was back in a flash with new light bulbs. He then quickly disappeared with the car. Once you enter the old town of Lucca you have to put your car in a garage, who notifies the city thus getting permission to be there, or pay a big buck fine. Last time it was 25 euro a day to park. You can park out of the city and taxi or walk in with your stuff. Reborto said he would "take care of us" this time with the car. No idea what this will cost us, but we have adopted Bill and Walt's mantra, "we ain't here to save". We used to live a more austere life on these travels, but now that we are getting in the short rows, convenience is more important that saving money.

Vicki's phone has lost service so we walked around the old town to a few shops with no luck in getting it jump started. There had just been a mega-festival of comedy or at least that is what it was called and every plaza and the outer wall had large tents. In the big plaza where we stopped for the happy hour drink the waitress said the big tent in their square was from NetFlix's and it was all about Narco's. I have watched Narco's and did not see the comedy connection.

We stopped in a small town of Pontepetre at the restaurant on the right. Everything was done with sign language as not a lick of english was spoken by the staff and my Italian got nowhere in this non-tourist town

The menu of the day. Still not sure what Carre de Maiale is. We know it is pork but the Carre translate to "cart". Guess I need to google the whole thing not just the word.

The chef in his office.

As we drove through the outskirts of Bologna we passed a few McDonalds and kept saying "bet they have a KFC". They did not, but the food gods knew I was ready for chicken and had it as a special on the meal of the day just for me.

Our apartment is through the door on the right just past the black mailboxes

Dinner

Lucca 20 Oct.

This is our last full day of R&R from vacation in Lucca. It has been a fantastic time. We had a few "walks", mostly strolls, food out, food in, a little culture, lots of reading and great weather.

Lucca, I think I can say, is our favorite city in Italy. Yes, it is a little touristy, but it is a good balance. The tourist bring lots of opportunity for shopping, culture and eating. This time of year it is not overrun and they are all gone, at least the cruise people, by three in the afternoon. We could easily spend a month or more here. But tomorrow we move on.

Talking to the angle

I love a good protest. Many more are coming later

The kitchen was missing a few items and a call to Roberto and they were quickly delivered

On my morning stroll I discovered this bakery. It is amazing how much hand work goes into making some of the products that they shared with me

My birthday hat

Scooter wine

My kind of museum. Open four times a day and you only get one hour in it.

Lots of OS.

The original KKK meeting

"What? You mean she is charge!?"

"Honest, I did not touch the kid"

Ever wondered what a "hamburger caprice" looks like?

We had shared this dish the night before and Vicki liked it so much we came back for lunch so she could have one all her own.

The culture part....Puccini's oprea's. Fortunately it was not the whole opera

Home made dinner

Get off my street!

Why does this lady looked stunned. It was on 3 eur to fix her favorite shoe.

Nothing like a good protest to leave town on

When all the police were in getting coffee you are pretty sure this will be a peaceful protest

Lucca to Lake Como 16 Oct

We loaded the Benz, hugged Roberto goodbye, and headed north. We really loved Lucca and I am sure we will be back for a longer stay in the future.

The drive north was all Autostrada. On the strada it is just under a four hour drive. Off the strada it is just under a eight hour drive. But, you pay for what you get, about $33 for the pleasure of the autostrada. On the east side of the mountain range the skies again turned gray. You could see blue sky a little looking straight up but everything else was gray. I believe some of this is pollution. Entering Como we were not impressed. We had to pull off and wait about thirty minutes as the apartment manager was on the other side of town checking in someone and we were early.

We got the Whatsapp notice, this is the app that many people use in Europe. It acts like a text/sms but uses the data link. Text messages are at an additional cost in Europe, but data and calling on your phone, with a local sim card, is dirt cheap. So we headed into the no fly/drive zone of the old city again. This one had a street that was so tight I had to fold in the mirrors to get through. Fortunately, the Benz's comes with a little button to do that. The apartment was right in the center of the town and about two blocks from the lake. It is not quite as airy and big as the photos led us to believe, but it will do nicely. And now that we are in the old town we really like it.

We spent three nights and two and a half full days. The day we arrived was a Sunday and the place was pretty packed with people but by six they were mostly gone and the next few days there were not really a lot of people. We had a great stroll and a good dinner and called it a day. The next day we caught the "rapid service" ferry up to Bellagio. It is a nice small town about half way up the lake. We strolled around the town with the other tourist, though not many, had lunch and caught the ferry home. Lunch was at a small restaurant up a steep alley. There was a young university student from Greece setting next to us that we visited with and she highly recommended the lasagna, so that is what I ordered and was good but I could not finish it. We passed George Clooney's house on the lake while on the boat. The town got so fed up with tourist and paparazzi the mayor passed a law that is a $500 fine to go within three hundred feet of George's house. That night we went to have a drink at a wine bar that served a extensive platter of nibbles. The waiter ended up giving us three and that was pretty much dinner with leftovers on the tray. Mind you, normally it is one per table, but either he was hitting on Vicki or thought the fat guy needed more substance.

The next day we rode the funicular tram up to the top of the mountain that overlooks Lake Como. It was good and bad. You got a great look at the lake, but you could see all the way to next country and the view was polluted with towns, and industry. So, I just kept with my short sided look on life and things were great. A nice walk around town and out for happy hour. We had actually planned on a romantic dinner for two, that included me, but the restaurant we liked was closed. So back to the wine bar for dinner. When we went to set down, we noticed at the next table the same Swiss mother and daughter that we set next to on the top of the mountain earlier in the day. We again visited shortly and went back to our own conversations. Again we got the platter of niblets, but only one. We went strolling around and found a jazz club/restaurant and Vicki wanted to try for dinner. It had great atmosphere, unlike most restaurants it had low lighting and soft jazz music. We ordered drinks and they brought out a huge hors d'oeuvre tray. So much for dinner.

Today we are off to Milano.

on the boat

the restaurant was almost at the top and that is our Greek friend leaving

I have not seen one of these in years. It was the standard in europe of old.

When I first saw this boat I could not figure out why it had the big steel structure off the side of the boat. This view explains it. They are bumpers to protect the hydrofoils.

The wine bar and dinner

more OS

Fortunately selfie sticks have faded but you still encounter them. Mostly Asians.

time for a change

a very large burrito for two

Yes, I confess.

Those window and round balconies are not real. They are painted on a square building.

This guy was repairing plaster. He would put some on, kick himself off and while swinging, put more plaster on the trial and come back in and apply it.

they still use these things around here

We have turned in the car and will be traveling by train so we offloaded a lot of items. The grappa was one of them. At a price of five dollars, I think I got my moneys worth.

Como to Milano 24 Oct

We walked to the train station, bought our tickets, had an expresso and walked out to track 3. There was only one problem with that plan. The train from Milan was arriving on track 3. The train to Milan was leaving on track 1. This was brought to my attention when the arriving train came in from the wrong directin and threw me into confusion. A very kind young lady came over and rescued us. She told us the outbound train will be on track one and we had lots of time change tracks. She even went down the stairs with me to check on the monitor. She was really, really kind to a seasoned traveler who made a rookie mistake.

All good we arrived to the large fantastic old train station in Milan and walked the twenty five minutes to our hotel. We were early and the room was not ready so we left the luggage and went for a walk around the hood and had a great ramon noodle lunch.

Nice picture. To bad track 1 is under that Como sign and my bag is parked on track 3

The trains are great here. Some times there are assigned seats, mainly on the long routes, and that little sign over the seats tells you whether the seat is assigned or not.

The Milan train station is one of those old huge stations. The pictures do not do it justice.

lunch

Fried chicken wings!!!!

Making noodles

The end result. Excellent. I am going back for more.

After lunch we had to wait a few more minutes for the room, so we sat in the hotel lobby and picked up the inaugural issue of Esquire in Italian and there on the front cover was our old house guest.

We went for a long evening walk.......

French fry anyone?

Not our hotel

That drink is kind of pricey, but with it came great real estate and free dinner. All that you see and some more.

Day 2 A lot of walking.....

Do you see it.......

....the attack pigeon almost took the runners head off!!

Who knew he had done so much? In fact, who even knew him at all?

These kids and more of their friends were headed here......

The natural history museum. Great Moorish architecture.

Fancy food. Vicki will to tell you what they are called.

God, advertising his newest cellphone

God, advertising her newest sweater.

Those street singers have been following us around Italy. If I see them in Paris I am really going to be worried.

A beautiful edifice. Sorry we were not willing to stand in the loooooooooong line to see it.

even the scaffolding is artistic

Tonight Milan places Seville in football. These are the Seville Spain fans and when they showed up.......

....... lots of these guys showed up

I call this "women waiting at the light".

These people and little tiny windows

See Vicki looking for me while I am hiding in the grass.

You will see another one of these later in this trip.

Our friends Daniel and Antonella invited us out to their area dinner. Easy. Just get on the metro and ride until it won't go any more.

Easy. Get on the metro just around the corner and ride it till it won't go any further.

Put your money in this machine and get four tickets. Both of these machines look identical and I chose the one of the left. Followed the touch screen directions, in English, and it wanted 6 Euro. I put in a 5 note, but it would not take the coin. Ok, move to the next machine. Now the problem is the screen will not go back to the home page. Enter another guardian angle. We discuss the dilemma. She says the machine on the left, though showing a coin insert slot, does not take coins. "How do you know?" I ask. She says it tells you on the screen. There is a little coin icon on the screen that is not there if for some reason it is not accepting coins. Within two seconds she has our tickets out of the box and we are on our way.

DO NOT EVER GIVING ME THAT BULLSHIT "THEY HATE US"

MAYBE THEY HATE YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE AN ASS!!

THE REST OF THE WORLD IS HERE TO HELP YOU.

The metro is clean and efficient. On board they have a screen showing you the next two stations and makes announcements in English that, if not to crowded on the train, you can understand.

Dinner was fantastic. The food was excellent. The only problem is Antonella is a true Italian. And though she only ate a order of risotto, she insisted we have every course. We compromised and split dishes. And though one dish would have feed the whole talbe she got two dishes for the three of us to share. We all had our own main course, except Antonella, who stuck with her one dish of risotto.

The place was in the outer reaches of Milan on some back street all by itself. When we got out of the car, Vicki stated that if they left her she would never figure out how to get out of there and that was a true statement, as we had gone down many narrow one way streets, twisting and turning. There were three very cramped tables down stairs and maybe a half a dozen upstairs where we ate. There was a small birthday group and they had a guitar player come in to sing happy birthday and then carried on singing sort of folk songs that the people loved. Not a clue what the words were but it was fun watching the audience singing along and laughing a lot at the story that went with the music.

This was an Italian dinner. They had picked us up at the metro at 8 and we left the restaurant after 11 and people were still coming in. They dropped us back at the metro and we were home a bit after midnight.

Another wonderful evening with friends!!!

Last Day in Italy

It was a very slow one. Light rain and lack of desire put much kept us in for a large part of the day planning Paris and packing.

I can say I have not met a friendlier hotel staff from front desk, to trainees, to room staff. Each treated you like they had known you for life.

The large lobby.
This is a Best Western branded property. BW has done a great job of listing independent hotels around the world. The independents like it as if gives them the internet exposure that you must have today.