Day 4

Delays with uploading pictures on the ship internet means I will only be posting the verbage I have written not the pictures




Day 4 Borolo. Sunday

After a delicious breakfast, we have our day to Borolo mapped out. The first stop was the town of Alba. It is a walled historical town that Gloria says is a must-see. We arrived and found it to be unusually busy. Surprise!! There is another local festival being celebrated in this town. Again, we are delighted to participate in the local events. The streets are lined with food and wine vendors and skill games from the past. I am thinking there are some great fund raising ideas that will come from this visit. Fishing for wine will be one of them. It is harder than it looks and only I was successful at capturing a free bottle of the local Alba vintage.



From Alba to Borolo we encountered some driving directional problems that confounded Jessica and me. I am an awful backseat driver, and since Jessica had GPS on her I-phone, I should have let her do all of the driver directing. It was just that she was looking at the phone waiting for a GPS location update, and I was looking at road signs we were passing. We got to Borolo so all was well. Borolo is another small town with many wineries and shops. Even a museum dedicated to wine bottle openers. We did what we have done in Italy, which is eat, and we drink some local wine (Barolo, of course). The trip back to Antica Casa Fiore (B and B) offers some great picture stops. Gloria has taken care of our dinner reservations. The original restaurant in Castagnole Lanze decided they were busy enough at lunch, so they will not be open for dinner business. Fortunately for us, Gloria booked us into another of their favorites. Steve has rabbit for dinner and loved it. I had a salami platter and Jessica had some kind of “little fish”. It was good food and interesting service. We were the only English speaking people in the restaurant. Jessica has a captivating smile and enough Italian to make most of the Italians think she understands everything they say. It was fun.

italy day 3

Day 3 The Piedmont Region. Saturday




We picked up the rental car Saturday morning, and we were then off to Asti in the Piedmont region of Italy. We had arranged a bed and breakfast in Castagnole Lanze, which is half way between Asti and Alba. The drive is on the Autostrade, so there was not much to see except the Mercedes and BMWs flying by our little Ford Focus. We exited the Autostrade and had lunch in a little town called Alessandria. Again, the local charm is amazing as well as the food. The foothills of the Alps (Piedmont) begin here and the scenery is beautiful. Thank you Steve, for being such a good driver. We arrived at the bed and breakfast with only minor detours and were greeted by the nicest Italian couple imaginable. Gloria and Vittorio showed us our rooms and asked what we would like to do for our 2-day stay. Of course, we were here is to visit the local wineries and wine producers of the region. Gloria said, freshen up and we will take you to visit our friend Guiseppi, who is a local winemaker. A half hour later, we were with Vittorio and Gloria tasting wine and grapes of the local vintage.



Gloria then offered to allow us to join them for a local wine and food festival later that night in a neighboring town. The festival is in the medieval setting of the town of Colossa. There are thousands of local people, and it seemed that Steve, Jessica, and I were the only tourists. We bought coupons for food and wine tastings and spent the night enjoying a very local festival. Truly a unique experience.

Day 2

Day two in Italy began with a stop at the local coffee shop. Starbucks was built on the Italian concept of a coffee shop on almost every corner. There was a cappuccino for Steve, macchiato (an Italian expresso coffee) for Jessica, and of course a café Americano for Linda. There were also wonderful croissants. We sat at a little table on the street and watched the Italians bustling about their Friday morning business. The morning was cooler than it had been. Jessica says it is the first morning that felt like fall.




We bought a daily pass to the tram and headed off to the Duomo for a full tour. It took almost as long to get there on the tram, with all of the stops, but there will be plenty of exercise today. The interior of the church is open to the public free of charge, but of course there is a charge for visiting the dome. There is an elevator but that’s no fun. We opted for the stairs and save 2 Euros in the process. Jessica gave us her counting lesson on the way up and down. Uno, due, tre, quattro, cinque, sei, sette, otto, nove, dieci. ( 1-10). Steve was very good and by the way down the steps was counting into the teens. There are lots of steps to the top.

It is one of the most famous and complex Gothic constructions of the world. It is the second tallest church in the world (after the cathedral of Beauvais in France) and third greatest cathedral (after St.Peter in Vatican City and the cathedral of Seville).

Fifty two pillars divide the five aisles supporting the main archway.



Walking back to Jessica’s last night, we each guesstimated the number of statues decorating the outside of the church. Jessica said 900; Steve said 2500; and I guessed 1500. Today we found out there are 2422 on the exterior and another 500 inside.





From the Duomo, we walked through town watching a local demonstration that had the police helicopters flying over us all morning. We believe the demonstration was about the financial crisis in Europe. The castle of Milan is on our route to the tram, which we will take to see Bocconi University. The castle is an elaborate structure that now also houses a museum. It is surely a major Milan site, but we merely walk around the exterior and through the center courtyard. It is bounded on the north by a lovely park which probably once served as the castle gardens. As we exit the park, Jessica explains that we are now in the yuppie area of Milan. We saw mostly young professionals with children, nice apartments and some green areas. We caught the tram to Bocconi – now we will see what Jessica has been doing in Milano. The tram left us with about a half mile walk to Bocconi, so we decided lunch was in order before the school visits. We headed to a local favorite of the SDA students and had pizza and wine. An interesting Italian tradition is that everyone orders their own pizza. When I see the size of what I ordered, I am amazed but as I look around I see it is what everyone else in the restaurant has done. Of course, the pizza is amazing, and I eat all of it. Truthfully, it is much lighter than a pizza of the same size in the USA. As we walked to the Bocconi campus, Jessica explained that there are two separate campuses. At the first campus, she has been taking the Advanced SDA courses; at the other she has attended the regular Masters Degree classes. This is where most of the undergraduate courses are also taught. The entire university complex is much smaller than even the University of Toledo. After our tour, we hop back on the tram to Jessica’s apartment -- for a time change adjustment. (i.e. nap before dinner). There is a restaurant in the same block Jessica lives in, and that is where we walk for dinner. Of course, we get there at about 8 PM, and we are only the second table of the evening. We all ordered different items and shared. There was ravioli with gorgonzola, porcini risotto, and a combination seafood platter that Steve ordered with a little of everything. Of course, vino complimented all of the dishes. Dessert … of course, with three of us to share, we tried the tiramisu.

Italy Day One

The internet has been great but the time to report has not. To keep things in order I will start now and finish as time gets plentiful on the cruise. For those of you that have been following on facebook some of this will be a repeat but with more pictures and narratives.

The trip begins with sunrise 20,000 feet over Paris. A stop on our way to Milan where we quickly realize the loss of 6 hours having left North America at 7PM and arrived in Europe at 8AM. Fortunately the sun can quickly fool the body and it seems like the right time. It will be a long day but excitement helps fight fatigue too.

 

We arrive in Milan and Jessica is there to greet us at the airport. We get onto the local tram for a 30 minute ride to her apartment. We drop the suitcases, freshen up and off for a little walking tour of Milano.

It feels great to be active after the long flights. We visit the Duomo but will return tomorrow for a tour.

Across the plaza from the Duomo is the shopping galleria. A very fancy "mall". Lots of brand name stores like Gucchi, Prada, etc. For tourists there is the elaborate tile floor where you are suppose to put  your heel in the bulls balls and circle three times for good luck. You know me I never turn down the opportunity for good luck.

Like many big cities lately there is a city statue contest currently in Milano. There are colorful elephants on corners and in parks everywhere. Here are just a couple.

Aperitivo is the Italian term for happy hour. The local bars and restaurants have expensive prices for a drink but it includes a fairly elaborate buffet. Jessica was anxious to share this experience with us so we ended day one sitting outside enjoying wine and pasta and other italian treats at a Milano aperitivo bar.

Batty Weekend before vacation

Imagine my surprise Saturday morning when I went outside to open the patio table umbrella. A little brown bat had spent the night and was not happy to see me exposing his sleeping spot to sunshine and then adding insult by taking his picture. Of course I called my friend Kathy and she is the reason there is a picture. We had to  identify him and remember he is a good thing for nature. A little shocking for me and being that it is October and Halloween is just around the corner. Well who knows what other thrills will come my way. 
Getting a little frantic on packing for vacation. Me the one who is usually calm and precise about what to bring and what not to. Something about the combination of 10 days in Italy and then 11 days on a cruise ship has my usual calm in a disarray. Add to that the temperature changes we are likely to encounter and you begin to see the problem. Yes, layering is the answer but then there is still the time on the cruise. We will be at sea for 7 of the 11 days. The temperatures in the North Atlantic may range from the 40's to the 70's. And there are still "formal" nights on the ship although I am told country club casual will probably cover even that. Of course the packing problem is why we are seeing an update on the blog. I am procrastinating!!

Back to it now. Have a great week. Next update more on Italy.