Appendix - Bonus weekend in NYC

After sitting on the Tarmac for 2 hours the inevitable announcement came. "Well folks, we are going to have to head back to the gate..."

Hurricane Arthur managed to block our flight path out of NYC.  For that matter, almost every flight heading south or west was cancelled.  Choices:

1. Head East (Go back to Europe) - tempting..
2. Hang out the airport and hope to get a flight with the thousands of other tired and angry refugees (uhh... not so much)
3. Hang out in NYC !!!

We'll take Door number 3, Bob !

Big bummer factor - The soonest flight we could book for home was for Saturday.  We would miss 4th of July in our hood. Thanks to Brandy, John and Melissa for sending us non-stop updates from the parade, party and pool fun.  Wish we could have been there.

So - time for a whirlwind tour of NYC:

Walking tour through SOHO - with breakfast in Nolita at our fav, Grey Dog (Also best play list ever - from Carpenters to Bob Dylan)

Walking Tours of Little Italy (with an actual visit this time to the Christmas Store - on 4th of July) and China Town (no foot rub this time)

Took the 6 up to Grand Central
Over to Time Square to see the Disney on Acid madness (Jordyn to Minnie Mouse - "DONT TOUCH ME !")

Rockefeller Center

Window shopping on 5th Avenue (starting getting some rain from fringe of Arthur)
Plaza hotel

Central Park Stroll

Bevies at Tavern on the green to wait out the rain

Over to the MET

Back to Grand Central to see Sierra and Lauren and Zoe off on their way out for a camping weekend - had to help them confirm they packed correctly - Check !

Lunch at 12 Chairs in Soho (Israeli food on the 4th of July)
Back to the Hotel for a quick rest
Take the 1 down to 911 Memorial

Over to Wall street

Down to Battery Park to see the Statue of Liberty

Over to the Seaport to find a place to watch the fireworks
Talked our way past the NYC police to get into a party that I'm not sure we were supposed to be in...

Deb scouted a great place to watch the fireworks (Awesome !)

30+ minute walk back through New York with 3 million other New Yorkers

Watched the fireworks again on the News and crashed hard...

Today its off for a few more sight seeing moments and shopping then back home tonight !!!

Last Night in Cinque Terre

Going for the bulleted list style blog - with input from all...


Murano - lots of glass.  Warning - don't get off the main drag, or its closed down factories with drunk and/or old ladies directing you back to the main drag (known as the yellow paths on the map).  We deleted all pictures of this place...
Burano - picture fest !  Colorful house, colorful house, colorful house, leaning tower, colorful house, lace shop,colorful house, flower boxes, colorful house...  you get the idea
Oh yea - and Oprah endorsed it (notes Cyndi)

Little Red Dots all over our skin.  Hope they let us the board the plane tomorrow.  It doesn't itch, so we have that going for us. No pictures...
Awesome hiking Ex's - Feet not ripped up, Lungs working well
Cyndi is amazingly injury free and mostly healthy despite walking along a 2 foot wide trail with a 1000 foot drop off into the Mediterranean.

 

Jordyn got her day at the beach - Jordyn posed and tanned, Josh and I body surfed, Deb walked the beach looking for sea glass, Cyndi coughed but got better, Josh sat/walked and thought, and we got to experience the Italian time table train experience on the hot platform...

90 year old lady hauling groceries beat us up the long climb to the top of town, and then kept going even higher...  later we heard an ambulance going up the hill. hoping she is ok.  no sighting today - eyes peeled.  Deb thought she just saw her... nope.  Old people here are amazing

We all tried fried anchovies tonight - even Joshua.  Consensus - there still anchovies.  Maybe if the wrapped them in bacon....  Grams - no Anchovies !
Bell pattern confusion laying in bed.  5 chimes at 5 am, 6 chimes at 6 am, 13 chimes at - what ????  anyway, we got up - it was about 8:33 am.  Ken - any thoughts on this one ?  Ok... sitting here during dinner blogging - at 8:00 pm they rang the bell for 40 times and still going. I think the bell guy has had too many fried anchovies.

We are all addicted to the internet (accept Deb - she insists).  We cant have a conversation without some kind of who has the access point password ?  I just dropped my connection.  As the weird bell ringing fades out Cyndi and Jordyn and still trying to get Deb's phone connected.  Deb counted 81 chimes - with a fade out.
Jordyn is in text heaven right now.  California is awake and so is she.  Her phone is on fire !!!! Not actually on fire.  Just buzzing a lot.
Deb has cooked breakfast every day she had a kitchen.  BTW - breakfast in Rome, Tuscany and Venice is - eggs, Pancetta, Roasted potatoes (with rosemary), toast, and fruit.  Accompanied by Cornetti from a local bakery/café and caffe a porter via.
Today we had more Madonna and baby Jesus sightings.  Very common for folks to have these over their doors and Deb has been collecting trading cards as well.  The common theme is that the baby Jesus is quite different and usually not very baby looking - in the Gerber baby sense of the word.  Debs theory that babies were not in public so artists drew on whatever they had. So far we have: Comb-over Baby Jesus, Grump Old Man Baby Jesus, over tweezed eyebrow baby Jesus, Weeble baby Jesus, widows peak baby Jesus, bad perm baby Jesus.  But our favorite is Baby Jesus... Ole'

Wrapping up our last night here on the terrace in Cinque terre with the little old hotel man occasionally checking in on us.  What a lovely trip.  Cyndi just plucked a 1.5 inch hair (mostly brown, so there) from my eyebrow - has that mountain been there the whole time ?  Cool ! What a weird group of people I have as a family.  LOVE !!!!

P.S.  The bell just rang once at 8:25 pm.  huh ????9

Last day in Cinque Terre

Sitting on the bed surrounded by snoozing family in our tiny room in Riomaggiore with a hit and miss wifi connection.   So - some quick observations and a cut and paste blog from Deb then its off to hike the towns of Cinque Terre.  The formatting of Deb's blogs is getting even more random... yet also more punctuation is appearing.  not sure what that means...

 Finished Venice with a fun night time Gondola ride (glad Jordyn made us do that !) and a visit to the surrounding islands of Murano and Burano.   Will cath up on that later - but here's some quickly chosen pics..

 Now on to Deb..... ***

ok, here we are,  sitting on the train (a nice one), on our way to cinque terre. we left venice and on the way back to Florence to catch the “regional train (not as nice) to the coastal area.  since I last talked with you, we have moved on from the Tuscany area, the place that was liberated and seems to be still occupied by americans and on to venice, also full of americans, but of the teenage variety.  and that's another thing on my mind.  since we have been here (starting in rome) there have been bus loads and bus loads (in venice, vaporettos) full of American teens!  i guess this is where teens go when the parents need their “time out”.  why wasn’t i aware of this?  here i am trying to enjoy a lovely Italian trip and my teenager across the way is giving me a “grunt” when i ask how he is doing! i bet the parents of all these teens i see here are enjoying an awesome vacation of their own (probably right here in Italy). they were probably sitting at the next table at the restaurant we were at the other night, toasting their well laid plan of sending their teen off to Italy, watching me as i sighed in disbelief when my son commented:  “so when did you start caring about how much a steak costs here?” when he wanted to order a steak. after a deep calming breathe,  I explained that i was concerned b/c sometimes the steak is for 2 or more and that the cost lets you know this (i know this thanks to rick steve’s Italian guide book). this seemed to satisfy his need to irritate his mother.  but, as much as i do envy those parents over at the table, enjoying their wine w/o so much as a ‘grunt’,  i did see the movie, Taken, so there you go. 

some words about venice:  magical, stunning, mysterious, crazy (my words). moist and full of l’arte gato  (jim’s words); haunting and mystical (josh’s words), romantic and breathtaking (Cyndi's words); floral and lively (jordyn’s words). she also said it was stinky of urine depending on which narrow passage we found ourselves walking through.

 

So our first morning in venice, jim and I have ordered at our local café, la palanca, when we had a drive by, by doris, the ex bone marrow nurse turned biomed consultant from san jose, California.  recognizing our American accents as we ordered our “do-a cap-a-cheeno’s”, doris informed us that she was here visiting her friend (a nurse she worked with 20 yrs ago) who moved here a year ago and now has to return to the states in September b/c of the visa stuff.  we say that's too bad.  she then continues to tell us that it is more complicated b/c she has fallen in love with a “native”.  we say “she should just marry him so she can stay”.  doris then says, “it’s complicated (dramatic pause), he’s married.  at this point we felt we knew too much for just having known doris for just 30 seconds.  but wait, it gets weirder! so with a few uncomfortable “ok, well, goodbye, have a good rest of your trip”, jim and I retreat outside to enjoy our caps overlooking the canal and venice.  a few sips in and BOOM, doris has joined us at our table and this time with a map!  so she gives us some more history about her and her friend, Janine, who she points out,  just so happens to be sitting at the next table with the Italian married guy (Gianni, pronounced johnny) and. . .wait for it. . . his wife!! yes, that’s right, all three of them (actually 4, counting doris) were sitting together enjoying their cup of café. so doris then informs us that in Italy it is very difficult to get a divorce (3 yrs living separate and then a judge decides who gets what when the 3 yrs are up and it is very expensive), so they just add one more to the pot. and according to doris, everybody is honky dory with this (esp. mr. johnny, who by the way, is ex special police for the Italian king or something like that, anyway he looked the part).  now for the map!  doris tells us that johnny (with a ‘g’) has a small boat and has taken her/them to all the small islands around venice and that he could do that for us if we would like. we say that sounds good but we would be 5 in all.  so doris goes back to the table with Janine, mr. Gianni, and his wife, talks w/them and returns with Janine.  she says all the places he could take us to and that she would go to interpret b/c mr. Gianni doesn’t speak English.  we tell her there would be 5 of us.  she says his boat could squeeze in all 7 (us 5, plus her and mr. Gianni) but that is all. so poor doris is left out and needs to find something to do tomorrow (sunday) b/c Janine, the friend that doris flew thousands of miles to see and spend time with (doris leaves Wednesday) will be busy boating around with her Italian married lover and 5 American strangers! and here’s the bargain:  we would only have to pay for the gas and (wait for it) any extra euro we would like to tip.   at this point, Janine leans in close and informs us that this is all “kind of on the quiet” since he doesn’t have a license to be doing this.  she then beckons mr. Gianni and wife to come over to meet us, which they do.   Janine gives us her phone number.  we say goodbye and the next day visited the small islands around venice. . . via the official vaporetto.  True story!

our italian trip thus far, according to deb

so anyway. . . this week is the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Italy by us (and I do mean US) during WWII (the big one) and as far as I can see here in Tuscany, we are still here!  this place is crawling with americans --- esp. Texans.  you cant swing a dead cat without hitting a Texan  (and all those who know me as "the crazy cat lady" know that I would NEVER swing a cat -- dead or alive!) ANYWAY, in the week we have been here, we have met many americans, even one who lives in Austin and has a place here.  he grew up on delwood drive over off of berkman. he went to Reagan high school and is now a photographer here/there/everywhere.  once we met him (jay), we were dropping his name everywhere and it seems that all the locals know him (not sure if that's good or bad b/c we didn't get free things or deals for knowing him). another American (new York) who guided our wine tasting at one place, moved here to montepulciano about 4 yrs ago. she wrote a book about her first years living here and the 'scandals' going on in the town.  she had a torrid, scandalous love affair with the fruit guy at the weekly market. the book was published in English, so the people of the town didn't know they were being talked about (b/c not only didn't they speak English, they didn't  read English either). but word of the book and their personal stories got to them anyway and a certain fruit vendor no longer visits this weekly market.  Ok, so back to the liberation.  I think the Italians were so grateful that we came and kicked out the bad guys, that they passed this appreciation/we owe you one mentality  on to the next generation (like in their DNA) b/c they are so lovely when we butcher their language, not like the French who tell you very uppity (start using your French accent here -- "i only speak French" ). these wonderful italians go out of their way to make sure that we are enjoying our stay here (ok, I wont mention the other country, france, could care less if we are having a good time or not). actually, I think the Italians love americans b/c we tip -- even when we don't have to -- it's in our nature; we feel bad if we don't throw a few extra euros at the server. I think americans get thrown off b/c of the euro coins.  our highest regular coin is a quarter, the highest euro coin is a 2 euro so when we throw down a 1 or 2 euro coin, psychologically its like a quarter! so then we think "oh, that's not enough, we should give him/her more coins, so by the time you leave the table, you've given them about a $10 tip for just "due cappuccinos"!  but, I do love the Italians -- they are loud, talk with their hands, enjoy good food and drink a lot of wine -- just like me and my family! Lungo liberazione dal vivo! (Long live the liberation --- or that's what google says it is).  its late, 12 bottles down since our arrival.  tomorrow we train to venice.  time for some shut eye.  deb

Galleries, Graves, Cats and Tuscan Hilltowns

Pretty nice place to Blog...

 The smell of Jasmine is thick and the view is really unbelievable from the terrace of the Casini in Montepulciano.  Its a cool morning, Deb is out running, everyone else is snoozing - and I'm in heaven.

We've spent every morning and evening on the terrace - planning the day, one lovely dinner, watching movies (yes, including titanic - Cyndi is here with us), and just hanging out.  Its really been special.  We've been in Montepulciano 2.5 days now.
 

 

 

 We spent our last day in Rome with a visit to the Borghese gallery, some more window shopping and people watching, a visit to the "Cat Cemetery" where John Keats is buried, and a nice walk in Trastevere - south of the Tiber. 

We hiked across the entire Borghese gardens along with some other American couple, each of us with our Rick Steve's books clutched firmly in hand.  What started as a stroll soon became what felt almost like a race, as we picked up the pace so as to not miss our reservation. The art is in the relatively small rooms of  a 17th century Villa, and it is not crowded due to the reservation system which gives you a 2 hour timeslot.  The Paintings of Statues around the ceiling which were so convincingly 3D I had to keep looking off angle to convince myself they were paintings...

I will await Deb's blog on the "cat cemetery" - but will provide a concise summary;  There's a cemetery in southern Rome.  John Keats is buried there.  Lots of cats run around the place.  We got there 10 minutes late and they had closed.  Much sadness. There are, however, tiny little portals cut in the walls around the cemetery where Deb managed to spot a tabby, and I managed to spot Keats grave - marked only with "here lies one whos name was writ in water".   Fame is fleeting, so was the tabby.

That evening, Italy lost to Costa Rica in the world cup - so getting a seat in a restaurant was easy.  Italy's loss, our gain !  The whole town seemed to be locked inside licking their wounds.  One last glass of wine on the terrace of our Prati flat, a good nights sleep and off to Tuscany.

                   

Café after the Borghese                    Street Musicians in Trastevere

On the way to Montelpuciano, we stopped in Orvieto (prized for its white wine) on the recommendation of Cyndi's vinofile buddy. Sitting up high on volcanic cliffs and with an amazing cathedral that would still have room left in it if you put everyone in the whole town in there. 

OK - pause to appreciate the scenery. The sun getting higher and Deb just got back from her run. They are spraying something on the grapes in the vineyard across the hill - must be the yummy flavor smoke.  Deb just joined me, saw a kitty on the lower terrace, and left me for it instantly...

So far we have spent a lovely day in Montepulciano finishing with a quick side trip to Castiglione Del Lago - where I bought some Cojoni di Mulo - look it up, its not what you think, and some delicious salami and Pecorino cheese with truffles.  The cheese is stinking up the fridge - hope Thierry doesn't get mad.  Yesterday we went to Sienna and Montalcino where I got to sample several Brunellos in an Enoteca.  Today we are off to Florence. 

Some highlights:

- Enoteca in Montalcino had 100 different wines to sample - from Rosso's to Brunello's to Reservas.  They give you a little card, you shove it in the auto-vino machine, push a button and - sample ! There was a young couple who were several samples in when I got there (and kept going while we ate dinner at the café next door).  The woman was very chatty, and quite self proclaimed knowledgeable...
- Josh has improved as co-pilot.  His job - keep the IPhone with the GPS App from falling off the dash on the curvy roads of Tuscany.  The Umbrella behind Jordyn's purse method seems to be a winner. Also, now that we figured out how to turn on the little GPS dudes voice, today should be even better !
- Variations on Bill Paxton quotes seem to a recurring theme on this trip.  "Sure was a good City".
- Comb-over Baby Jesus sighting !  Cyndi lost it in the Museum in Seina right in front of the student tour group at the Madonna and Bambino painting with the little Jesus that looked like a grumpy old man with a comb over- and he was pinching Mary's ear.  Deb's theory - these painters had no references for babies...





 

Café Poliziano - Montepulciano                         Montepulciano

 

 

 

Josh chosing a car in Montepulciano and piazza posing in Siena

 100 bottles of Brunello on the wall !           Wall of Jasmine in Montalcino

Two Days in Rome - only minor injuries

Third day in Rome - quickly posting some highlights (no particular order)

 

Look at these guys !!!   All dressed up for our first night out in Rome.  But, I get ahead of myself...

 

We got to the place just in time to meet the previous folks checking out.  Cleaners were already there, and the dude who had the place prior was really nice - giving us some advice and the low down on the place.  This apt is really cool, walking distance from the Vatican, Piazza Popolo and the Spanish Steps - and a great size for the 5 of us.  The picture above is on the Terrace, which has great views and is really nice just to hang out on and drink a bottle of wine...or two.

After getting our stuff in the apt, we headed out to see the Coliseum and the Forum.  It started raining and thundering so we skipped the forum and headed back to the apt where....


Jet Lag got us.


After a nice nap,  we headed out to dinner and for a night walk. The Enoteca Del Frate was a great little wine bar and restaurant that our hosts recommended.  Just around the corner with a giant wine selection and some tasty classic Italian food. 

After a nice bottle of Vino Rosso, we headed out for a night walk down the very touristy and fun central streets of Rome.  Lots of road side bars, and guys selling junk, and then we hit our first stop - the Trevi Fountain !  but...

It was closed for renovation. How could they do this to Cyndi ?  After much sadness, she still attempted to toss the coin into the empty fountain over the temporary fencing they put up, which resulted in her hitting her hand on the fence and injuring it...
 Earlier in the day Cyn had also hurt her foot (cant recall now what everyday incident led to that injury), but it was at this point that Debra decided to scratch any thoughts of renting Vespas. I mean, she hurt herself tossing a coin, right ?

We continued to the Piazza Novona, where we had some gelato and red wine.  Out on the Piazza some guy offered to light up my pants !  That doesn't happen every day. 

We walked back to the apt and crashed hard at around midnight. The apt has great windows to open up, and the night air has been very cool for sleeping.  We immediately drifted off to sleep, when around 4:30 am I was awoken by some baby elephants having a fight, or some large throated mutant baby children crying, or ... what IS that ???  It's Seagulls !  Oh yea, I guess this place is pretty close to the ocean. 

These guys are noisy and some of the sounds are just weird.  Here's one of the little buggers hanging out on the skylight...




Day two, we took our time getting going and then headed out for the Vatican.  Only a ten minute walk from the apt.  We spent all day from noon until 5:00 pm there - Museum, Sistine Chappelle, St Peters Basilica where Jordyn talked us into climbing to the top of the dome (400 steps).    The Museum is long and winding, and by the time you are approaching the Sistine Chappelle, you find yourself sprinting past Chagall paintings in a completely culture saturated state...

Deb next to an Egyptian Animal-man thing.

They should have stopped the bust above the, uh... bust.

Views from the top of the dome looking out over Piazza St Pietro.

Artistic shot from Joshua inside St Peters Basilica.

Family Selfie out on the Piazza.  We headed back home, picked up some fresh food at the Market, and had a home made delicious dinner in the Apt.

 

 

 

Josh, inspired by Rome, decided to stay in the apt and write - while the rest of us headed out for a night walk - it was wonderfully cool, and we walked over to Piazza Popola, down Via Del Corso and over to the Spanish Steps.  Cyndi and Jordyn accepted a "free" rose from a guy.... oops, that was a mistake.  The guy was then stuck to them like glue asking for money until they finally gave him back the rose. 


We headed down one of the small streets and had some wine and gelato at the table where the random dude is sitting behind the lovely Deb and Jordyn in this photo.  Watching the Romans go by and listening to the animated waiters across the street cracking each-other up telling stories about what I am sure was some silly American tourists while sipping some Nobile de Montelpuciano.  nice.

Satisfied, we walked back to the apt to catch some sleep before the baby elephants came out....