Recap II

Generator

Hotel Riviera

Gondola Ride

Cooking School

Brunelleschi's Dome

Part Two in chronological order:

We flew in to Venice via Zurich. The Venice airport is located on an island off the coast. We took a water taxi from there to the island of Lido where we spent two nights. As I was to discover, bicycles were everywhere. A lot of them looked like they had spent there whole life chained up outside. This one was cool because it had the generator set on the front wheel. Bikes ranged from old three speeds to modern city bikes equipped with full chainguards and skirt guards on the back wheel. Any fancy road bike must have been taken into the house to prevent theft. Just the commuters were outside.

We stayed in the Hotel Riviera while on the island. Nice place. I really like this picture - captures the essence of the place I think. Bikes, scooter and stylish hotel. If I was looking for a place for a nice, quiet extended vacation, Lido might be a good choice. Lots of people out in the evenings for a stroll or conversation.

We took an optional gondola ride while in Venice. A ride goes by the hour rather than per person. It's usually about 100 euros but Elizabeth negotiated a little better deal - everything seems to be negotiable in Italy - and with 5 or 6 people in each gondola, it worked out to 18 euros. Money well spent. The gondolas are beautiful. Each one reflects the owner's style and taste. They're dolled up with brass trim and fancy furniture inside. The one-sided propulsion is pretty cool. The boats are built asymmetrically to take into account the driver's position on the back. That way when he pulls on the oar the boat goes straight rather than to one side. I think the man said they have 425 gondola license's there.

We went to Florence next. We went to a cooking school and made our own dinner. Meatloaf and pasta, salad and bread. The meatloaf had boiled eggs down the center. Tasty stuff. The photo shows the lovely young lady who was in charge of our group snatching the bottle of olive oil away from Kevin before he drowned the meatloaf. Kevin is the man responsible for the trip. He did a helluva job getting things all arranged and making the trip possible. We've done a lot together over the last few years most notably the Detroit half-marathon. He's all aces, that boy. Thanks, Buddy.

The last photo is the dome designed by Brunelleschi. It's quite famous and the church upon which it rests is stunningly beautiful. One of the most notable buildings of the Renaissance, I was glad I had a chance to see it and now I need to read up on a lot of this stuff to get a better understanding of the building techniques and to put all of this in perspective. Amazing stuff in Florence.

They also have a football game they play annually in the Piazza. They truck in a bunch of sand and then have at it. It's kind of combination of rugby, soccer and mixed martial arts. There's a You Tube video here that explains the whole deal.

Beautiful city and the home of Michelangelo, by the way. We heard quite a bit about him as you would expect. More to come.

Italy Recap

Superintendent Of Schools

Statue With Fig Leaf Added

No Explanation Needed

Iron Gate at The Vatican

Roman Forum

Tour Guide (on left)

I'm back at work and suffering from a little jet lag or old age. I slept pretty good last night and actually was asleep when the alarm went off this morning. I'm taking that as a sign that the sleep pattern is approaching normal again. That's a real good thing since I'm heading to Indy Thursday night for the Golden Gloves and won't get home 'til late. I don't think I was cut out to be a jet setter. Besides the sleep thing, that air travel really screws with my ears. I'm still not 100% good there yet. However, it was well worth the aggravation.

Looking at the photos starting from the top:

I just can't look at a horse's ass without thinking about the superintendent. And since this one looks pretty well used up, even more so.

It looks like all the statues in the Vatican have been either surgically altered in the naughty bits region or they've had a fig leaf strategically placed to cover things up. I should have asked our local tour guide, Marcus. I'm sure he would have had the answer.

Pretty lady on a bicycle, just one of a million. Lots of good looking men and women over there. Lots of them ride bicycles and scooters. Italy must have a helmet law for motorcycles because everyone was wearing one. I'm a staunch proponent of wearing a helmet but the image stuck in my mind is the pretty girl on the scooter with her hair blowing in the wind. Take another look at the photo - just wouldn't be the same with one of those dorky bicycle helmets on either.

Lots of ironwork in Italy, some old and some new. This is a classic example of the old but the new stuff looks pretty cool too. Interesting blend of the architectural styles in the cities. Everything seems to mix well, from the ancient to the ultra-modern. I didn't see any houses from the Seventies with fake Mansard roofs or Spanish arches like some of those architectural turds I installed railings in before I started teaching. Almost everything is made of block or stone and stuccoed. Even the barns that I saw when we were moving about. Lots of nice looking little farms out in the country there.

We made it to the Coliseum and the Roman Forum in Rome. I did a little "Friends, Romans and Countrymen" thing here. It's really hard to imagine the historical significance of the places we visited. Most of the time when somebody around here mentions Caesar, they're talking Little not Julius. I even stood on the Appian Way. How cool is that?

The last photo shows our tour guide, Elizabeth talking to the headphone lady. A couple of times we had headphones to listen to our local guide. Elizabeth was not allowed to talk about the monuments and important things. You have to hire a local guide for that. If she got caught, she could be fined and lose her license. The local guide's union must be pretty influential. All of the local guides knew their stuff. We had a total of four. I noticed one of them had a bag with an internet address on it. If your interested in the guide deal and can read Italian, check it out here.

Elizabeth was fantastic. She's a little bit of a thing that's got more energy than anyone I've ever seen. She speaks like six languages plus sign language. She's got a couple of degrees and has lived all over the world. She's always laughing and had everything planned to a "T". The kids got together and bought her a little present and gave her a little donation for the charity work she does. She definitely earned our respect and love. I need to post another shot of her. She's a peach.

Arrivederci a Roma

Made it back to the good old US of A last night about 7:30. Great to be back - always good to go, always better to come home. I hit the sack about 11:00 pm, which put me to exactly 24 hours since I woke up in Italy to come home. I didn't want to sleep much on the plane so I could get back to my regular schedule easier. I'm afraid it worked a little too well. I woke up at 5:30 this morning which is pretty close to my regular 6:00 alarm time. I figured as long as it was still dark out and I was awake, I'd load a couple of rolls of film into the developer tank and then go back to bed. Well that was about an hour ago and I'm wide awake still. A nap might be in order later today, however.

Random thoughts on the trip:

Our tour guide, Elizabeth, was great. Very knowledgeable, organized and fun to be with. Told one of the funniest stories I've ever heard about one of the previous trips she guided.

Italian food: Great, as expected. I had pizza a couple of times, pasta with every dinner. Dinner always came with a dessert, which I'm always in favor of. We had cernia one night, which is a type of grouper. Probably the best fish I've ever had. Mild flavor, baked in olive oil, herbs and Parmesan cheese, I'm guessing. My only knock was they don't normally serve coffee with dinner or dessert. I'm real good with the wine for dinner but I like my coffee with my sweets. I also miss just grabbing a cup of Joe when I'm on the move. Espresso is the big thing there and you can get an Americano, which is good, but I missed my regular get a cup to go or after dinner cup. That obviously is just my bias and if I was there for long I'd get over that, I'm sure. Went to a McDonald's at the airport yesterday morning for a cup and got my Americano and saw liquor bottles behind the counter. They apparently serve mixed drinks there. There weren't any breakfast sandwiches like an Egg McMuffin, either. Croissants and brioches it looked like. When in Rome, do as the Romans.

Driving in the cities: We were in several old cities (Florence, Sorrento, Rome) and because they are several hundred years old, or older, the streets are very narrow. Many of them are barely wide enough for one car. I didn't see any parking meters any where and if there was a spot to park a car or scooter, there was one there. They park inches apart and if there was a parallel parking competition, I'd bet on the Romans. Little cars rule the road and I saw lots of Fiats, Alfa Romeos and quite a few of the Smart Cars. Lots of bicycles, as well. Gasoline about $8.00/gal. With the narrow streets, limited parking, mild climate, and expensive fuel, bicycles and scooters are a perfect mix.

Graffiti: The cities are covered with graffiti. The style looks like the same kind of crap you see in American cities. While I'll admit many of the graffiti painters are indeed artists, I'd just as soon see them doing something else with their talents. I'm not a big fan of defacing public or private property. That building your painting is someone else's art. Respect it.

Style: The Italians have it. Whether it's clothing, automobile, motorcycles or architecture, they have that flair. Even in this day and age, they still look good smoking a cigarette.

I shot about 750 photos on the trip. I need to cull quite a few and get them downloaded to the computer. Once I've got that accomplished, I'll try to get a few of the good ones posted.

Ciao Bella

Greetings from Sorrento. Hiked up to the top of Mt. Vesuvius today and heading to Pompeii tomorrow. My Italian isn't getting better but my broken English has improved ten fold. Seems most everyone in a shop where we've been has someone who can speak English. Our tour guide has been most helpful for anything we can't figure out on our own. My two years of Latin in high school 45 years ago is actually helping a little, hard as that is for me to believe.

The road leading up to Vesuvius is extremely narrow and has a million switchbacks but our bus driver, Reno, is one talented dude. I wish I could speak some more Italian. He's a few years younger than I am but has a bright yellow Ducati. He gave me the heads-up when we passed the factory in Bologna. The people on scooters are absolutely crazy. They split lanes, pass on the right, pass on the left and some times do all of the above within three or four car lengths.

Saw the Leaning Tower yesterday. Went for a gondola ride the other night and have seen some incredible art and architecture. I've been shooting lots of photos and will post a few with a more complete recap when I get home. Writing this on my buddies computer, so I need to sign off.

Love you, Baby. Be home soon.

Ciao, Babe

Today's the day - off to Italy. Got my debit card, passport and a handful of Euro's. The suitcase is chock full of underwear, socks and tee shirts. My carry-on bag has both digital and film, some reading material and my MP3 player loaded up with jazz and cowboy tunes. I got the Missus all tightened up with "Homeland Security". Didn't get the concertina wire strung but everything else is in place - dog, firearms, and a phone call to a friend who works for the local sheriff. Everything should be Jake.

Plane lands in Switzerland and then we change planes after a two hour layover. Should give me a chance to "mark my territory". That will give me another country I can honestly say I've been to. I've got most of the states under my belt but Canada's the only other country I've been to. Seem's kind of ironic that I'm leaving for Italy on St. Patrick's Day. I would like to go to Ireland someday. Paris and the Eiffel Tower someday as well. Actually, there's a whole big wide world out there I'd like to see someday. Too bad I wasn't born rich instead of good looking.

I'm not sure what the computer and time arrangements will allow for posting but I'll check in if I can. Arrivederci.

Packing It Up Here, Boss

I've got all my clothes packed and ready for the trip to Italy. I'm still trying to decide on which film camera to take. I'm leaning more towards my little Canon rangefinder. It's light and quiet and I'm real comfortable using it. It's not as versatile as the Nikon with the zoom lens but it takes really nice pictures and it comes in a small package. I shot a roll with it when I was in Virginia that I'm going to develop this evening after I get done with my nightly web crawling. That will probably be the deciding factor. If the negs look good, and there's no reason they shouldn't, I'll probably just say screw it and throw a roll of film in it. There's been millions of great photos taken with small rangefinder cameras, most notably, the Leica M Series. I should be able to get at least a few good ones.

If you check out the DeMotte Boxing Club blog, there's a link to a radio broadcast of the last two rounds of Jimmy's fight. The blow by blow stuff actually blows but the commentary about how they have the fight scored is pretty interesting. I'm not bitching about the scoring here, I'm just crowing a little for Jimmy. The boy deserves all the publicity he can get after the performance he put on.

The top photos are, of course, keeping with the upcoming trip. As a side note, I had the pleasure to hear one of the 350 Benelli's at full song at Daytona a few years back. Sweet, sweet mechanical music there, by golly. Never had the chance to hear that Ferrari but I did get to see and hear their Can-Am car back in the early 1970's. They were competing against the big block Chevy powered McClaren's. The Chevy's thundered around Elkhart Lake but the 12 cylinder Ferrari's just screamed.

Fight Results

I posted some info about my partner at the gym, Jimmy Holmes, on the Demotte Boxing Club page. Check it out here for a brief description of the event and a few photos.

This was the first time Jimmy took his show on the road and of course, my first time as well. Some quick observations:

The promoters were very professional and treated all of us extremely well. They picked us up from the airport, put us up in a nice motel, fed us and put on a real good fight card.

I think Jimmy was selected as an opponent that had a decent record but could be easily dispatched to help pad the other guy's record. Part of the selection was based on a fluke event in Jimmy's career and they expected him to go out early. I don't think they want to have a rematch after Jimmy's performance Saturday night.

I spent a couple of days laying around for the biggest part of the day. The motel had The Wall Street Journal and I picked up a Washington Post a couple of days. I was probably the most well read guy that was dealing with a spit bucket and a stool Saturday night.

Boxing on the professional level is a brutal sport. Two guys slugging each other for a total of thirty minutes can and will, if continued on for a length of time, cause irreparable brain damage. I haven't been around too many pros but I don't want Jimmy to end up like a couple of them I've seen. I'm extremely proud of him and what he's accomplished but I'm hoping he finishes up his contract and gets out.

After laying around for a couple of days resting up, I managed only about four hours sleep last night. Still kicked my ass. I got into bed right at 2:00 AM which means it was 3:00 AM. I left a 9:00 AM wakeup call and figured I'd be plenty good on that. Tossed and turned a little before getting to sleep and then the bus load of softball girls and the boy's soccer teams started slamming doors in the motel about 7:00 AM. When they finally quieted down I just dozed back off and the wakeup call came through. Might be getting too old to have my sleep patterns messed with.

So that's that. Back to work in the morning for a few more days and then I'm off again. Quite the jet setter, I am. Unfortunately, I think I might have the start of a Virginia cold virus working on me. If that's the case, it should be in full bloom about the time I leave. Regardless, it'll be a great trip.