November 15, 2008
Dorothea’s idea for a cruise in the middle of our trip was a stroke of genius. It was great to be on an American ship with American attitudes and American food.
Also, I was assigned to be monitor for two areas on the ship, the main salon on the first floor and the “Viking Crown Lounge” on the top deck. When not on a shore excursion, it was my duty to alternately sit in both of these areas and chat with the wait staff when no one else was around.
Below is an outline of the cruise to help give locations of photos.
1. Cruise from Venice to Greece (Royal Caribbean’s “Splendour of the Seas”)
a. Day 1 – 11/15/2008 Depart Venice 16:30
i. Upgraded room with balcony on Deck 7 (Top Qtrs deck 8) – great start
ii. Life boat drill with 750 Taiwanese AmWay Reps who won the trip for sales
iii. Sailed down Venice Canal – air was cool but pretty sights of Venice; met Steve and Stephanie from Taiwan; nice couple; also meet British singer Will Bailey and wife who joined him on cruise, never made it to see him in Schooner Bar.
iv. Cocktails in the Viking Crown Lounge
v. Dinner – Late seating w/4 women – 2 from England, 2 from N.Y; wanted early seating, but Taiwan won out.
vi. Entertainment – Juggler – Luis Dalton put on good show
b. Day 2 – 11/16/2008 At Sea
i. Great news! The Cruise goes on (not like Carnival); no problems!
ii. Cool but pleasant weather (H58F,L42F). Calm seas, smooth sailing
iii. Napkin folding and Scrapbooking Classes
iv. Origami class
v. First Line Dancing Class
vi. Welcome Aboard Reception with Captain Tommy; proficient staff
vii. Formal night
viii. Dinning time changed to early – table for 2 in sea of AmWay Reps; nice waiter and assistant
c. Day 3 – 11/17/2008 Arrive Athens at Noon
i. Cool, overcast (H67F,L52F). Calm seas, smooth sailing
ii. Tour to Acropolis with interesting guide, Marietta (like in Georgia)
iii. Back to ship in time for downpour – bus parked 150’ from gangway and bus driver lets us off and we ran 150 ft. in rain!
iv. Early dinner in sea of Amyway Reps – waiter wants to fatten us up, mention indecision of two entrees and he brings both and then something extra for appetizer and dessert
v. Evening entertainment - Los Pampas Gauchos, drum group from Brazil – good show!
d. Day 4 – 11/18/2008 Arrive in Mykonos at 7:00
i. Cool but pleasant (H60/L55). Calm seas, smooth sailing
ii. Took bus into Mykonos and walked around village to windmills.
iii. Had lunch at local Gyro place
iv. No bargains here for jewelry other anything else
v. Showtime – “Dancing thru the Decades” – very good; cruise staff are performers.
e. Day 5 – 11/19/2008 Arrive in Katakolon at noon
i. Cool but pleasant (H63F/L45F). Calm seas, smooth sailing
ii. Walked around small town
iii. No bargains here
iv. Second line dancing class on ship; instructor does salsa in pairs instead of line dancing.
v. Showtime – “Your Three Tenors”; very good; perform separately at various venues and together for other engagements
f. Day 6 – 11/20/2008 Arrive in Corfu at 7:00
i. Cloudy buy pleasant (H62F/L46F)
ii. Took bus to old fort, walked back thru town, long walk
iii. Shacks along waterfront
iv. No bargains here
v. Cocktails in Champagne Bar – Great view; Dorothea is collecting Signature glasses with drinks of course.
vi. Formal night
vii. Head waiter at another station goes postal, stands on grand piano, says he’s going to America in 6 months and quits.
viii. Showtime – “Ballroom Fever”; again very good; cruise staff performers.
g. Day 7 – 11/21/2008 Arrive in Split at 8:00
i. Took tour to Trogir; stop at local “palace” now B &B for wine and snacks of Croatian prosciutto (different from Italian) and music.
ii. Got passports stamped and walked around the town of Split
iii. Cocktails in Champagne Bar
iv. Showtime – Acrobatic group – good
v. Go to Casino and DZ ahead by $100; Ed ahead by $20; yea!
h. Day 8 – 11/22/2008 Arrive in Venice at 7:00
i. Really hated for cruise to be over. It was absolutely fantastic!!!
ii. Spent most of the day in Murono and evening in Venice
iii. Cold, glad to get home
Dorothea and Ed
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
11012008 BLOG
November 1, 2008
The Italian countryside, a short distant outside of Trieste, changes from mountainous to flat coastal plain where the road beds are typically 4’ to 10’ above the land. It is like that all around the general area of Venice, Padova, and Verona. It’s great agricultural land and home to many vineyards and estate farms.
Our stay in Padova at the Villa Salvatico was at one of those estate farms that date back to the late 1700s. Our congenial host Antonio, who inherited Salvatico, was a true Italian country gentleman. Our rented 3 bedroom, 3 bath apartment was larger than we expected and would serve as a very comfortable home base for us and two others who would be joining us before our cruise to Greece. We quickly learned our way around the area and found patisseries, a laundry, and a huge French grocery store, Auchan. Auchan was quite a surprise because of the size and selection – fresh meats, fresh fish and seafood, bakery items, produce… even a rotisserie chicken! Even though we didn’t get to have dinner there, a Roadhouse Grill was right next door. Most shops shut down at 1 or 1:30 and then reopen at 3:00 or 3:30. Restaurants close at 3:00 and reopen at 7:00. If you miss lunch, you have to make do with a snack at a café or wait for the restaurants to open. Planning your day is important if you want to eat! And on Sunday and Holidays everything is closed except the bars!
After taking care of domestics the first couple of days, Dorothea and I took the train for a short trip from the nearby Dolo train station to Venice. When we arrived in Venice and stepped out onto the piazza on the Grand Canal, we were spellbound by the city being as quaint and picturesque as all of the photos show! On our first day we spent a lot of time walking around looking for our travel books’ highlights, shops and restaurants as well as taking short cuts that wound up being long cuts. The guide book Dorothea’s sister had given us was one of the best for its restaurant recommendations. When we returned the next day, we bought a 3-day Venice pass, gave up the long walks in exchange for rides on the convenient water taxis (vaporettos). We had planned to attend one of the many operas being presented but found none of the venues were real theaters. All of them were open halls with rows of folding chairs and unassigned, first come/first served seating. For the price, fighting a crowd for a decent seat wasn’t worth it. Instead, we ventured all over Venice enjoying this unique city and its history. Sad to say, Venice is crumbling. Many, many of the buildings are badly leaning, probably due to unstable ground, and cannot remain out of plumb indefinitely. Our 3rd day was spent on the unique island of Murano. We went to one of the furnaces for a glass-blowing demonstration, and afterward were ushered to private viewing rooms when the host found out we were Americans. He personally escorted us around for almost an hour showing off all of the gorgeous pieces and doing his best to sell, sell, sell. We told him we loved all of them and would return tomorrow with our suitcases full of cash and pick up the pieces we like the best, NOT! Later that evening around 8:00, we headed to the Casino but missed our stop. Continuing on to one of the main transfer stations to catch the vaporetto back to the Casino, we learned the transportation workers were going on strike at 9:00 that night! We rushed to catch a train back but they had already stopped. Panicking, we headed for the last bus to leave from Venice to Dolo. When we got to Dolo at 10:00, we stopped and asked a couple of exiting bar patrons for directions to the train station (to get our car) and were told it was 2 miles from the bus stop. Even though it was densely foggy, cold and a long walk back, we got to see parts of Dolo we would normally have missed with a quick drive-by, like the “Cantina la Botte.”
Since all the local transportation had shut down, the next day we decided to go into Padova to visit the Basilica of St. Anthony, my Baptismal Saint. The Jesuit cloister and Church were amazing and the museum had an excellent presentation of St. Anthony’s life.
Dorothea’s business partner, Tanya and her friend Kathleen who were going to join us on our cruise arrived at Venice’s Marco Polo airport. After picking them up, we stopped at the “Cantina la Botte” that we found the night before in Dolo where various varieties of local wine were available for 7 Euros per gallon. Since there were now four of us, we bought one red and one white!
Before taking off on our cruise, our two visitors wanted to do a wine tour (the reason for buying two gallons of wine should be obvious). We decided to drive to Trent, where there is a wine route, spend the night and come back by way of Verona. Both areas produce excellent wines, and we were fortunate to find two outstanding vineyards.
Off we went to the hills of Trent stopping in Bassano del Grappa, on the river Brenta, for lunch and an introduction for our visitors to Italy’s “hole-in-the-floor-potty.” In Germany and Austria, the public restrooms had normal facilities and almost everywhere were spotless. When we got to Italy, the “hole-in-the-floor” was prevalent. This is not literally a hole cut into the floor, it is a fixture plumbed in placed but without a raised bowl, just a porcelain or stainless “platform.” Go figure! Do they use these things because they like them? There’s no cost savings! If you’re going to spend money on plumbing a finished fixture in place why not make it one where you don’t have to be an acrobat to use it? I prayed to St. Anthony and to a lot others the whole time I was in Italy that I would not have a need to fully utilize one of those contraptions while we were out and about. Lunch itself was a challenge as the server didn’t understand a bit of English or customer service. This was the first time that we felt a little annoyed, especially since a friend of the owner caught us on the street and recommended the place!
The prospects of an unplanned early departure from Europe weighed heavily on our minds and much to the chagrin of our guests was the subject of many a spirited conversation between Dorothea and me. We decided to call and talk with the American Embassy in Milan thinking we could make a trip to Milan, apply for a visa and pick it up when we returned from the cruise. No can do. The gentleman at the Embassy said you can’t apply for a visa while you’re in the foreign country. He did suggest leaving the Schwengen countries for awhile and insinuated the rules were not interpreted with a great deal of uniformity or clarity. A side trip to a non-Schwengen Country (at the time only Switzerland was an option) before our Dec. 9th deadline, then returning after a “reasonable” time could be looked upon as being in compliance. And so it was. We would abandon our trip into southern Italy. In exchange, we would make a trip to Switzerland and then return to Italy in time to get to Rome for Christmas. For the moment, our predicament was put in abeyance and Ed would further be exonerated when the trip to Switzerland turned out to be an extraordinary visit we would not have otherwise experienced.
Another day trip into Venice with our visitors, and then we’re off on our cruise to Greece aboard Royal Caribbean’s “Splendour of the Seas.” Ed is really looking forward to all the American food and intends to eat his way across the Adriatic Sea. (DZ)!
Ed and Dorothea
The Italian countryside, a short distant outside of Trieste, changes from mountainous to flat coastal plain where the road beds are typically 4’ to 10’ above the land. It is like that all around the general area of Venice, Padova, and Verona. It’s great agricultural land and home to many vineyards and estate farms.
Our stay in Padova at the Villa Salvatico was at one of those estate farms that date back to the late 1700s. Our congenial host Antonio, who inherited Salvatico, was a true Italian country gentleman. Our rented 3 bedroom, 3 bath apartment was larger than we expected and would serve as a very comfortable home base for us and two others who would be joining us before our cruise to Greece. We quickly learned our way around the area and found patisseries, a laundry, and a huge French grocery store, Auchan. Auchan was quite a surprise because of the size and selection – fresh meats, fresh fish and seafood, bakery items, produce… even a rotisserie chicken! Even though we didn’t get to have dinner there, a Roadhouse Grill was right next door. Most shops shut down at 1 or 1:30 and then reopen at 3:00 or 3:30. Restaurants close at 3:00 and reopen at 7:00. If you miss lunch, you have to make do with a snack at a café or wait for the restaurants to open. Planning your day is important if you want to eat! And on Sunday and Holidays everything is closed except the bars!
After taking care of domestics the first couple of days, Dorothea and I took the train for a short trip from the nearby Dolo train station to Venice. When we arrived in Venice and stepped out onto the piazza on the Grand Canal, we were spellbound by the city being as quaint and picturesque as all of the photos show! On our first day we spent a lot of time walking around looking for our travel books’ highlights, shops and restaurants as well as taking short cuts that wound up being long cuts. The guide book Dorothea’s sister had given us was one of the best for its restaurant recommendations. When we returned the next day, we bought a 3-day Venice pass, gave up the long walks in exchange for rides on the convenient water taxis (vaporettos). We had planned to attend one of the many operas being presented but found none of the venues were real theaters. All of them were open halls with rows of folding chairs and unassigned, first come/first served seating. For the price, fighting a crowd for a decent seat wasn’t worth it. Instead, we ventured all over Venice enjoying this unique city and its history. Sad to say, Venice is crumbling. Many, many of the buildings are badly leaning, probably due to unstable ground, and cannot remain out of plumb indefinitely. Our 3rd day was spent on the unique island of Murano. We went to one of the furnaces for a glass-blowing demonstration, and afterward were ushered to private viewing rooms when the host found out we were Americans. He personally escorted us around for almost an hour showing off all of the gorgeous pieces and doing his best to sell, sell, sell. We told him we loved all of them and would return tomorrow with our suitcases full of cash and pick up the pieces we like the best, NOT! Later that evening around 8:00, we headed to the Casino but missed our stop. Continuing on to one of the main transfer stations to catch the vaporetto back to the Casino, we learned the transportation workers were going on strike at 9:00 that night! We rushed to catch a train back but they had already stopped. Panicking, we headed for the last bus to leave from Venice to Dolo. When we got to Dolo at 10:00, we stopped and asked a couple of exiting bar patrons for directions to the train station (to get our car) and were told it was 2 miles from the bus stop. Even though it was densely foggy, cold and a long walk back, we got to see parts of Dolo we would normally have missed with a quick drive-by, like the “Cantina la Botte.”
Since all the local transportation had shut down, the next day we decided to go into Padova to visit the Basilica of St. Anthony, my Baptismal Saint. The Jesuit cloister and Church were amazing and the museum had an excellent presentation of St. Anthony’s life.
Dorothea’s business partner, Tanya and her friend Kathleen who were going to join us on our cruise arrived at Venice’s Marco Polo airport. After picking them up, we stopped at the “Cantina la Botte” that we found the night before in Dolo where various varieties of local wine were available for 7 Euros per gallon. Since there were now four of us, we bought one red and one white!
Before taking off on our cruise, our two visitors wanted to do a wine tour (the reason for buying two gallons of wine should be obvious). We decided to drive to Trent, where there is a wine route, spend the night and come back by way of Verona. Both areas produce excellent wines, and we were fortunate to find two outstanding vineyards.
Off we went to the hills of Trent stopping in Bassano del Grappa, on the river Brenta, for lunch and an introduction for our visitors to Italy’s “hole-in-the-floor-potty.” In Germany and Austria, the public restrooms had normal facilities and almost everywhere were spotless. When we got to Italy, the “hole-in-the-floor” was prevalent. This is not literally a hole cut into the floor, it is a fixture plumbed in placed but without a raised bowl, just a porcelain or stainless “platform.” Go figure! Do they use these things because they like them? There’s no cost savings! If you’re going to spend money on plumbing a finished fixture in place why not make it one where you don’t have to be an acrobat to use it? I prayed to St. Anthony and to a lot others the whole time I was in Italy that I would not have a need to fully utilize one of those contraptions while we were out and about. Lunch itself was a challenge as the server didn’t understand a bit of English or customer service. This was the first time that we felt a little annoyed, especially since a friend of the owner caught us on the street and recommended the place!
The prospects of an unplanned early departure from Europe weighed heavily on our minds and much to the chagrin of our guests was the subject of many a spirited conversation between Dorothea and me. We decided to call and talk with the American Embassy in Milan thinking we could make a trip to Milan, apply for a visa and pick it up when we returned from the cruise. No can do. The gentleman at the Embassy said you can’t apply for a visa while you’re in the foreign country. He did suggest leaving the Schwengen countries for awhile and insinuated the rules were not interpreted with a great deal of uniformity or clarity. A side trip to a non-Schwengen Country (at the time only Switzerland was an option) before our Dec. 9th deadline, then returning after a “reasonable” time could be looked upon as being in compliance. And so it was. We would abandon our trip into southern Italy. In exchange, we would make a trip to Switzerland and then return to Italy in time to get to Rome for Christmas. For the moment, our predicament was put in abeyance and Ed would further be exonerated when the trip to Switzerland turned out to be an extraordinary visit we would not have otherwise experienced.
Another day trip into Venice with our visitors, and then we’re off on our cruise to Greece aboard Royal Caribbean’s “Splendour of the Seas.” Ed is really looking forward to all the American food and intends to eat his way across the Adriatic Sea. (DZ)!
Ed and Dorothea
Friday, January 16, 2009
10242008 BLOG
October 24, 2008
Vienna was our eastern most reach into Europe. From there we would begin heading southwest with a planned stop in Graz, Austria, cross over into Italy with a stop in Trieste before going on to our scheduled arrival at Villa Selvatico in Padova, Italy just outside of Venice.
Our tour through the wine country south of Vienna put us a little behind schedule and we didn’t quite make it to Graz. The delay resulted in an unplanned surprise side trip because we found a fantastic resort, Schreiners Berghof, just outside of Hartberg at an elevation of 660 meters (almost 2,000 ft.) nestled in a forest with a fantastic view of the valley below. You have to take the time to see the photos we took while we were there, including some of our climb to the St. Anna pilgrimage church at the summit!
After leaving Hartberg, we visited the famous caves in Lugrotte, Austria’s largest caves. The Lurbach River runs through the caves. In 1894 this cave became world famous when 7 cavers were trapped underground for a week by a flash flood. The stalactites and stalagmites were huge in these underground caverns. One of the features of the tour was an entertaining light and music show in one of the larger rooms. We got to see five small bats and an interesting creature in a dark nook! Before visiting the caves, we had lunch at Gasthof Hofler Bauernwirt. Since it was “wild game” season, the restaurant’s menu was almost exclusively game dishes.
After a night’s stay at a hotel in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s home town of Graz, complete with a row boat Arnold used to row Maria around the lake (now memorialized). The next day, a short day trip to the attractive city of Graz provided one of the best lunches we’ve had anywhere. The Coco Café & Creperie. How would one ever expect to find scrumptious and beautifully presented lunch and dessert crepes in Graz?? But alas, our camera batteries were dead and so no pictures. After lunch we headed for the Armory, filled with real battle gear some originating from the 12th century. We learned Graz was a major armory for the Austrian Hapsburgs up until the end of the 1800s.
Leaving Graz for Italy, we found we needed to stop along the way. By chance, we found the delightful Barry Memle Resort outside of Klagenfurt on the shore of Am Worthersee. Mr. Memle personally escorted Dorothea around his new Fitness Area with heated pool, spa, tanning salon, etc. This area is very popular in the summer with many spa resorts. Also, the lake was home to numerous sailing squadrons and marinas.
After crossing into Italy, we drove by the beautiful Fusine Laghi in the Dolomite Mountains area near Travisio with its crystal clear emerald green waters. The lake is at 500 meters and is part of a National Forest.
We had planned to stay in Unide, Italy but found the town to be too uninviting. In driving around on one of the hill tops, we unexpectedly came across Agritourisimo Scaccia Pensieri owned by Marina Danieli in the small town of Buttrio just outside of Unide. The Danieli family apparently has many vineyards in the area, but more significantly the family owns an extremely large steel plant in Buttrio. Danieli is Italy’s biggest maker of equipment for the steel industry. And to think we stayed in “Sister Marina’s Villa”! The food was great!
From there, we headed for Trieste since we had a few days before our scheduled arrival date in Padova. Being concerned about being legal, I wanted to get our passports stamped in Italy to show we were spending time in different countries. Unfortunately, that was a mistake that would alter the rest of our European stay. We stopped at the local Polizia Municipale station in Gorizia, and I should have known there was going to be trouble when the officer asked us to step into his office. After much discussion and many phone calls by the officer and his associates, we were told since we didn’t have a visa we could only spend a total of 3 months in all of the Schwengen Countries. We didn’t have a visa because before we left, the American Consultate’s Office of France, Germany and Italy as well as a Visa expediter said we didn’t need one. Bottom line . . . we would have to leave by De. 9th, which meant we couldn’t spend Christmas in Rome. If we stayed longer, we would be “Clandestine” and risk being evicted if challenged. Talk about frost on the pumpkin, that bit of unwanted news really put a damper on our spirits. This was one time I wished I had not tried to do the right thing.
Our arrival in Trieste was less than exciting. The city is a major port and while it had a bit of history, a big marina and some interesting architecture, it wasn’t California’s “Marina del Ray” as I had expected. Looking for a room for the night we found a hotel high above the Mediterranean with a fantastic view of the Mediterranean and the beach far below. Because the winds were strong and out of the west, the beach was closed. The next day we left the car in the hotel parking lot and took the bus into town to explore “Old Trieste.” We had planned to go to the aquarium but found it was closed and so it offset our disappointment we stopped at one of the many “Gelaterias” (Italian ice cream shop) and had a scoop.
The day we arrived in Trieste, we had a bite to eat at a local “Gelateria” - a Panini (small toasted sandwich) and beer - and found the prices exorbitant. That evening, driving to a marina at the base of our hill, we had a Halloween dinner of a salad and pizza. It was here I began to realize when you go into an Italian restaurant, it doesn’t matter what you wanted when you went in, before you leave you are going to get what they want you to have. Generally, they hard sell you into ordering more to increase the tab’s total. They have: antipasto, primo piatti, secondi piatti with contorno and dolce and caffe, all of which brings the tab to a total equal to a small down payment on the restaurant. The service was excellent but the price for a pizza, salad and caffe here also was exorbitant.
We found this also to be true in Treviso at the Titian Hotel just outside of Padua. It was raining when we arrived, tired and not wanting to go on a search for dinner. Under the circumstances we opted for the hotel restaurant. We ordered one appetizer, 2 entrees of grilled Ahi tuna, medium rare with grilled vegetables and settled back with a delicious white Italian wine aperitif. The first hint of things going awry was the server brought two appetizers. When I told him I only wanted one, he said for two people one was not enough so he brought two. O.k., we’re in Italy, I wouldn’t create a scene. When the entre came, it turned out the tuna was a mackerel (looks like a baby tuna), it was fillet and sautéed with some indescribable tasting things from the garden, all cold. Oh, server, please! This isn’t going to work, we don’t want this! Not the right thing to do. The server really looked put out, stomped to the kitchen and out came the chef and dining room manager wanting to know what was wrong with the food. We tried to explain, they got indignant and we left hoping there would not be a dead horses head in our bed when we got back to the room!
Ed and Dorothea
Vienna was our eastern most reach into Europe. From there we would begin heading southwest with a planned stop in Graz, Austria, cross over into Italy with a stop in Trieste before going on to our scheduled arrival at Villa Selvatico in Padova, Italy just outside of Venice.
Our tour through the wine country south of Vienna put us a little behind schedule and we didn’t quite make it to Graz. The delay resulted in an unplanned surprise side trip because we found a fantastic resort, Schreiners Berghof, just outside of Hartberg at an elevation of 660 meters (almost 2,000 ft.) nestled in a forest with a fantastic view of the valley below. You have to take the time to see the photos we took while we were there, including some of our climb to the St. Anna pilgrimage church at the summit!
After leaving Hartberg, we visited the famous caves in Lugrotte, Austria’s largest caves. The Lurbach River runs through the caves. In 1894 this cave became world famous when 7 cavers were trapped underground for a week by a flash flood. The stalactites and stalagmites were huge in these underground caverns. One of the features of the tour was an entertaining light and music show in one of the larger rooms. We got to see five small bats and an interesting creature in a dark nook! Before visiting the caves, we had lunch at Gasthof Hofler Bauernwirt. Since it was “wild game” season, the restaurant’s menu was almost exclusively game dishes.
After a night’s stay at a hotel in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s home town of Graz, complete with a row boat Arnold used to row Maria around the lake (now memorialized). The next day, a short day trip to the attractive city of Graz provided one of the best lunches we’ve had anywhere. The Coco Café & Creperie. How would one ever expect to find scrumptious and beautifully presented lunch and dessert crepes in Graz?? But alas, our camera batteries were dead and so no pictures. After lunch we headed for the Armory, filled with real battle gear some originating from the 12th century. We learned Graz was a major armory for the Austrian Hapsburgs up until the end of the 1800s.
Leaving Graz for Italy, we found we needed to stop along the way. By chance, we found the delightful Barry Memle Resort outside of Klagenfurt on the shore of Am Worthersee. Mr. Memle personally escorted Dorothea around his new Fitness Area with heated pool, spa, tanning salon, etc. This area is very popular in the summer with many spa resorts. Also, the lake was home to numerous sailing squadrons and marinas.
After crossing into Italy, we drove by the beautiful Fusine Laghi in the Dolomite Mountains area near Travisio with its crystal clear emerald green waters. The lake is at 500 meters and is part of a National Forest.
We had planned to stay in Unide, Italy but found the town to be too uninviting. In driving around on one of the hill tops, we unexpectedly came across Agritourisimo Scaccia Pensieri owned by Marina Danieli in the small town of Buttrio just outside of Unide. The Danieli family apparently has many vineyards in the area, but more significantly the family owns an extremely large steel plant in Buttrio. Danieli is Italy’s biggest maker of equipment for the steel industry. And to think we stayed in “Sister Marina’s Villa”! The food was great!
From there, we headed for Trieste since we had a few days before our scheduled arrival date in Padova. Being concerned about being legal, I wanted to get our passports stamped in Italy to show we were spending time in different countries. Unfortunately, that was a mistake that would alter the rest of our European stay. We stopped at the local Polizia Municipale station in Gorizia, and I should have known there was going to be trouble when the officer asked us to step into his office. After much discussion and many phone calls by the officer and his associates, we were told since we didn’t have a visa we could only spend a total of 3 months in all of the Schwengen Countries. We didn’t have a visa because before we left, the American Consultate’s Office of France, Germany and Italy as well as a Visa expediter said we didn’t need one. Bottom line . . . we would have to leave by De. 9th, which meant we couldn’t spend Christmas in Rome. If we stayed longer, we would be “Clandestine” and risk being evicted if challenged. Talk about frost on the pumpkin, that bit of unwanted news really put a damper on our spirits. This was one time I wished I had not tried to do the right thing.
Our arrival in Trieste was less than exciting. The city is a major port and while it had a bit of history, a big marina and some interesting architecture, it wasn’t California’s “Marina del Ray” as I had expected. Looking for a room for the night we found a hotel high above the Mediterranean with a fantastic view of the Mediterranean and the beach far below. Because the winds were strong and out of the west, the beach was closed. The next day we left the car in the hotel parking lot and took the bus into town to explore “Old Trieste.” We had planned to go to the aquarium but found it was closed and so it offset our disappointment we stopped at one of the many “Gelaterias” (Italian ice cream shop) and had a scoop.
The day we arrived in Trieste, we had a bite to eat at a local “Gelateria” - a Panini (small toasted sandwich) and beer - and found the prices exorbitant. That evening, driving to a marina at the base of our hill, we had a Halloween dinner of a salad and pizza. It was here I began to realize when you go into an Italian restaurant, it doesn’t matter what you wanted when you went in, before you leave you are going to get what they want you to have. Generally, they hard sell you into ordering more to increase the tab’s total. They have: antipasto, primo piatti, secondi piatti with contorno and dolce and caffe, all of which brings the tab to a total equal to a small down payment on the restaurant. The service was excellent but the price for a pizza, salad and caffe here also was exorbitant.
We found this also to be true in Treviso at the Titian Hotel just outside of Padua. It was raining when we arrived, tired and not wanting to go on a search for dinner. Under the circumstances we opted for the hotel restaurant. We ordered one appetizer, 2 entrees of grilled Ahi tuna, medium rare with grilled vegetables and settled back with a delicious white Italian wine aperitif. The first hint of things going awry was the server brought two appetizers. When I told him I only wanted one, he said for two people one was not enough so he brought two. O.k., we’re in Italy, I wouldn’t create a scene. When the entre came, it turned out the tuna was a mackerel (looks like a baby tuna), it was fillet and sautéed with some indescribable tasting things from the garden, all cold. Oh, server, please! This isn’t going to work, we don’t want this! Not the right thing to do. The server really looked put out, stomped to the kitchen and out came the chef and dining room manager wanting to know what was wrong with the food. We tried to explain, they got indignant and we left hoping there would not be a dead horses head in our bed when we got back to the room!
Ed and Dorothea
Saturday, January 10, 2009
October 14, 2008 BLOG
October 14, 2008
And then there was Wien. I’ve been waiting to visit Vienna since I was a junior taking college German. It lived up to 95% of what I expected, everything except the graffiti. It is truly a grand city rich in architecture, culture and history.
On our way to Vienna, we stopped in Lentz to see the Danube River. It was a great river and ideal for skipping flat river rocks, but as it is today, I’m not sure it would have been much of an inspiration to Strauss. Our B & B was comfortable and I’m glad we had a server who knew Americans well enough to suggest we might want to select another entrée instead of black (blood) sausage.
Along the way we passed through many small villages. We did a double take when on the side of the road we saw a herd of deer. Thinking they seemed to be too close to the road, we turned around for a look – wild deer, right. Personally, I don’t want to think of their future . . . The countryside is mainly agricultural and since it was close to Halloween, we weren’t surprised to see fields of pumpkins, lots of them! At some roadside stands you could buy gourds, pumpkins, etc. “on your honor” since no-one is there to man the stands. Just put the money in a box provided! That would work in the States, wouldn’t it? An unusual sight was a large shopping mall, “Plus City”, with a McDonalds, one of the few we saw in Austria.
Before heading to Vienna, we did a little pre-planning and decided to stay in the little town of Klosterneuburg just 30 minutes NW of Vienna. We were lucky to find a nice apartment, “Hotel Andrea”, with a congenial hostess and only a few blocks from the train station. As we did in Salzburg, we bought a 72-hour Vienna card that covered all of the train and bus transportation with some discounts for restaurants and attractions. It paid for itself but wasn’t as good a deal as it was in Salzburg.
Our first day in Vienna we had to stop by the performing arts center to pick up our pre-ordered tickets for the season’s last performance of the “Vienna Boys Choir”. While we were at the ticket office, we noticed there was a performance by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra the next evening. We didn’t want to miss their performance so we bought tickets and in looking over the program notice the featured violinist was Midori! What a surprise and a treat.
I learned a “Path Finding” lesson in Vienna that I should have learned in Munich. “To get to Point B, you have to know exactly where it is relative to Point A.” In going to Vienna to pick up our tickets, we took the train and then without coming above ground took the metro to the area of the performing arts center. When we came up from the metro, it was raining, the sun was obscured – nothing to use for directional orientation, and there were roads everywhere. We were at a major piazza with roads converging from 8 different directions and no street signs. Over here, road and street names are engraved in the side of buildings about 12’ above the ground. You have to be within 25’ of the building to read the name. O.k., based on what I think are similar landmarks, we head to the nearest building about 400’ away. When we get there, we find the street name is the one we want so we head down the block to get the next name and fix our position. In the big cities, the blocks are big and in this case it was about 1,200’ (almost ¼ mile). When we reached the end, we found the street that should have been there was in the opposite direction. Finally, getting to the arts center after an hour of traipsing around in the rain, we found it was a short 10 minute walk from the metro, mostly underground and sheltered from the rain. On the plus side, we did find a “T.G.I. Friday’s” and celebrated with an American hamburger. What a great break from bratwurst and weinerschnitzel! Later we found “Sparky’s” a fun restaurant all decorated for Halloween, one of the few places that seemed to celebrate this day. Very large beers were on tap!
The next day, the “Vienna Boys Choir“performance was scheduled for 3:00 p.m so we had time in the morning to explore the area around the Austrian Palace. Here to our surprise, we found an advertisement for the “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” If it can be done in Vienna then it certainly is ok for it to be done in Punta Gorda at the “Isles Yacht Club.” (For those non-IYC readers, Ed and I hosted our own showing of Rocky Horror a while back at the IYC. Though we were somewhat apprehensive, to our amazement and that of many members, it was a ball!) Also while we were in the area, we stopped by the Spanish Riding School and picked up tickets to see the Sunday performance of the Lipizzaner Stallions and to tour the Hofburg Imperial Palace.
The Boy’s Choir performance was terrific. A young, 10 or 11 year old, oriental boy was the lead singer and his soprano singing was flawless. Sopranos have amazing voices and all of the little guys were talented and produced sounds that were crystal clear and sharp.
Another amazing oriental performer we had the pleasure of seeing was Midori. No longer a child prodigy, she has matured into an unbelievable violinist. Performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, Midori was absolutely terrific and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra was fabulous.
On Sunday morning, it was off to see the Lippizaner’s being put through their paces. The riders were absolute professional horsemen and the stallions were magnificent. Some of the moves they make those animals do have to be seen in persons. There were guards all over the arena stopping people from taking photos during the performance so I all I got was the part of the horse that goes over the fence last and a shot of the unsung hero who takes care of the parts that doesn’t make it over the fence.
That afternoon, we toured the Hofburg Imperial Palace and picked out the new flatware, place settings and center pieces for the Isles Yacht Club – mostly gold. If the common folks who paid all of those taxes saw the collection, they would have revolted. What a treasure trove! The tour through the “Sissi Museum” told the story of a beautiful, young, free-spirited Austrian Queen Elizabeth who married Franz Joseph at 18 and lived a life regretting being a spectacle. She hated the royal court protocol and traveled extensively to get away from being put on exhibition. While visiting Geneva, Switzerland, she was assassinated. It was a moving story, made into a movie, about someone who had it all but yet was as unhappy as anyone could get.
The Hapsburg’s had a long standing monarchy and many palaces. In addition to the Hofburg palace, we toured their summer residence, the Schönbrunn Palace. Here the story of Franz Joseph and Sissi continued.
The stop in Vienna was wonderful and provided many memories. We’re sad to leave, but the wine country south of Vienna eases the sorrow and the call of Italy is strong.
Ed and Dorothea
And then there was Wien. I’ve been waiting to visit Vienna since I was a junior taking college German. It lived up to 95% of what I expected, everything except the graffiti. It is truly a grand city rich in architecture, culture and history.
On our way to Vienna, we stopped in Lentz to see the Danube River. It was a great river and ideal for skipping flat river rocks, but as it is today, I’m not sure it would have been much of an inspiration to Strauss. Our B & B was comfortable and I’m glad we had a server who knew Americans well enough to suggest we might want to select another entrée instead of black (blood) sausage.
Along the way we passed through many small villages. We did a double take when on the side of the road we saw a herd of deer. Thinking they seemed to be too close to the road, we turned around for a look – wild deer, right. Personally, I don’t want to think of their future . . . The countryside is mainly agricultural and since it was close to Halloween, we weren’t surprised to see fields of pumpkins, lots of them! At some roadside stands you could buy gourds, pumpkins, etc. “on your honor” since no-one is there to man the stands. Just put the money in a box provided! That would work in the States, wouldn’t it? An unusual sight was a large shopping mall, “Plus City”, with a McDonalds, one of the few we saw in Austria.
Before heading to Vienna, we did a little pre-planning and decided to stay in the little town of Klosterneuburg just 30 minutes NW of Vienna. We were lucky to find a nice apartment, “Hotel Andrea”, with a congenial hostess and only a few blocks from the train station. As we did in Salzburg, we bought a 72-hour Vienna card that covered all of the train and bus transportation with some discounts for restaurants and attractions. It paid for itself but wasn’t as good a deal as it was in Salzburg.
Our first day in Vienna we had to stop by the performing arts center to pick up our pre-ordered tickets for the season’s last performance of the “Vienna Boys Choir”. While we were at the ticket office, we noticed there was a performance by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra the next evening. We didn’t want to miss their performance so we bought tickets and in looking over the program notice the featured violinist was Midori! What a surprise and a treat.
I learned a “Path Finding” lesson in Vienna that I should have learned in Munich. “To get to Point B, you have to know exactly where it is relative to Point A.” In going to Vienna to pick up our tickets, we took the train and then without coming above ground took the metro to the area of the performing arts center. When we came up from the metro, it was raining, the sun was obscured – nothing to use for directional orientation, and there were roads everywhere. We were at a major piazza with roads converging from 8 different directions and no street signs. Over here, road and street names are engraved in the side of buildings about 12’ above the ground. You have to be within 25’ of the building to read the name. O.k., based on what I think are similar landmarks, we head to the nearest building about 400’ away. When we get there, we find the street name is the one we want so we head down the block to get the next name and fix our position. In the big cities, the blocks are big and in this case it was about 1,200’ (almost ¼ mile). When we reached the end, we found the street that should have been there was in the opposite direction. Finally, getting to the arts center after an hour of traipsing around in the rain, we found it was a short 10 minute walk from the metro, mostly underground and sheltered from the rain. On the plus side, we did find a “T.G.I. Friday’s” and celebrated with an American hamburger. What a great break from bratwurst and weinerschnitzel! Later we found “Sparky’s” a fun restaurant all decorated for Halloween, one of the few places that seemed to celebrate this day. Very large beers were on tap!
The next day, the “Vienna Boys Choir“performance was scheduled for 3:00 p.m so we had time in the morning to explore the area around the Austrian Palace. Here to our surprise, we found an advertisement for the “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” If it can be done in Vienna then it certainly is ok for it to be done in Punta Gorda at the “Isles Yacht Club.” (For those non-IYC readers, Ed and I hosted our own showing of Rocky Horror a while back at the IYC. Though we were somewhat apprehensive, to our amazement and that of many members, it was a ball!) Also while we were in the area, we stopped by the Spanish Riding School and picked up tickets to see the Sunday performance of the Lipizzaner Stallions and to tour the Hofburg Imperial Palace.
The Boy’s Choir performance was terrific. A young, 10 or 11 year old, oriental boy was the lead singer and his soprano singing was flawless. Sopranos have amazing voices and all of the little guys were talented and produced sounds that were crystal clear and sharp.
Another amazing oriental performer we had the pleasure of seeing was Midori. No longer a child prodigy, she has matured into an unbelievable violinist. Performing Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, Midori was absolutely terrific and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra was fabulous.
On Sunday morning, it was off to see the Lippizaner’s being put through their paces. The riders were absolute professional horsemen and the stallions were magnificent. Some of the moves they make those animals do have to be seen in persons. There were guards all over the arena stopping people from taking photos during the performance so I all I got was the part of the horse that goes over the fence last and a shot of the unsung hero who takes care of the parts that doesn’t make it over the fence.
That afternoon, we toured the Hofburg Imperial Palace and picked out the new flatware, place settings and center pieces for the Isles Yacht Club – mostly gold. If the common folks who paid all of those taxes saw the collection, they would have revolted. What a treasure trove! The tour through the “Sissi Museum” told the story of a beautiful, young, free-spirited Austrian Queen Elizabeth who married Franz Joseph at 18 and lived a life regretting being a spectacle. She hated the royal court protocol and traveled extensively to get away from being put on exhibition. While visiting Geneva, Switzerland, she was assassinated. It was a moving story, made into a movie, about someone who had it all but yet was as unhappy as anyone could get.
The Hapsburg’s had a long standing monarchy and many palaces. In addition to the Hofburg palace, we toured their summer residence, the Schönbrunn Palace. Here the story of Franz Joseph and Sissi continued.
The stop in Vienna was wonderful and provided many memories. We’re sad to leave, but the wine country south of Vienna eases the sorrow and the call of Italy is strong.
Ed and Dorothea
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
October 10, 2008
With much anticipation, we arrived in Salzburg on the morning of the 10th. For once it seemed like we had a good start on the day and we might locate a place to stay well before dark. We found the Tourist Information (TI) center easily, picked up information on things to do and places to stay and headed for a local park to have a snack and do a little planning. So much for the head start! A wrong turn downtown led us down a one way, single lane street with parked cars on one side. The street kept getting narrower and narrower and at one point I had to drive on the side walk to get around a parked car. As we rounded the last little curve, the road abruptly ended in a 6’ wide pedestrian-only walkway. Oh crud! This is not good! Making one attempt at making a “U-Turn” assured us there was no way to get the car turned around. The only option was to BACK-UP the two blocks the way we had come in, parked cars, sidewalk and all. Once we cleared that street, we exited the city maze and headed straight out of town and did not collect $200, or pass “GO!”
Once we compiled our list of potential B&Bs, all of which were conveniently located on the same street, we drove by them to pick out the best of the lot. Narrowing the list down to 3 and finding a couple of others not advertised, we stopped at each one to check availability and rates. For one reason or another-- house-a-tosis, no shower, bath literally in the bedroom, cramped rooms or proprietor’s personal hygiene (don’t even ask) -- these available choices were not going to serve as accommodations for our stay. Instead of possibly insulting the owner with our objections, we found that asking for Internet access (which no B & B has) allowed us to decline gracefully.
Without large chain hotels with established and consistent standards, finding an acceptable place to stay in European cities, regardless of how we do it (internet or personal inspection), has taken us an enormous amount of time. This has been consistent throughout our trip thus far. We spend between 2 to 6 hours looking for accommodations and another couple of hours looking for places to eat. Whoever comes up with an objective, comprehensive guide to assist travelers with this universal problem will know what it’s like to be financially secure! We’ll be the first to buy the guide!
Just by driving around, we finally found a nice, small hotel, “Hptel Zur Post”, close to downtown with a bus stop across the street allowing us to park the car and leave the driving to some else. And breakfast was included too, even if it was sliced meats, croissants and coffee!
We purchased a 72-hour Salzburg card (a discount card which proved to be a very good deal) that provided for all local transportation and gave free or discounted entries to numerous museums and events.
Catching the bus into town, we spent our first day browsing through the lovely old town with its attractive shops and decorative wrought iron doorway marquees on our way to the Museum of History. With our card, the entry to the museum was free and we spent most of the morning delving into Salzburg’s art treasures and its past.
Along with the Salzburg card, we purchased tickets for dinner and a Mozart concert in the Hohensalzburg Fortress sitting high above Salzburg. Using the Salzburg card, we got a free ride on a tram to the top and arrived early enough to take a leisurely tour through the Fortress and an imaginary trip back to the 1100 and 1200’s. The museum there also was helpful in our trip back through history. Dinner was very good with a friendly server and a fantastic view 800 feet above the surrounding area with the Alps in the background. After dinner, we headed for one of the halls in the Fortress to listen to a string quintet playing chamber music by Mozart. For a Mozart fan, it was unbelievable to be sitting in a 12th Century Fortress listening to excellent musicians playing Mozart’s music. It was a most enjoyable evening!
On the 12th, we headed to the “new” old part of Salzburg to go through the Mozart museum in the building that was the family’s apartment when Mozart was young. Later in the day, we would visit the apartment where he was born in “old”, old town. As everyone knows, Mozart was a musical genius. But, not unlike today’s musicians, fame and fortune was a dangling carrot. His father was a violin instructor for the City and recognizing his son’s talent set out on an attempt to make him rich and famous. He booked “gigs” in royal courts and in front of other important people traveling extensively achieving reasonable success but taking ill. Mozart’s mother tried to continue her husband’s effort but wasn’t quite as successful. She later took ill and died and Mozart was left to try on his own but was even less successful. He was a performer not a promoter. While In new “old” town looking for a place for lunch, we saw two police officers milling around a parked car. Being good rubber-necking Americans we sauntered over to make sure their investigation was proceeding properly. It seemed a single lady who was staying at a pretty nice downtown hotel had the rear window of her car smashed in by either vandals or thieves. It was a sobering sight and exactly why we have been trying to stay on the outskirts of town in fairly decent neighborhoods. Europeans native to the area are generally friendly and civil. However, there is a very high percentage of immigrants from some of the poorer surrounding countries that don’t seem to have the same standards.
Later that day, we kept our appointment for the free ride our card got us on a River Boat cruise on the Salzach River with comedian for a captain. After the cruise, when we got back to the docking area, he locked the wheel and throttle controls, turned up the volume on the stereo playing the “Blue Danube” and walked away from the wheel while the boat on its own did 4 or 5 360 degree turns in the middle of the river. It was fun and reminded us that being boaters anywhere there is water makes for a good time. While we were waiting to board the boat, we noticed a rack full of bikes with a coin controlled locking mechanism. You insert the appropriate amount, unlock the bike and away you go.
On our last day in Salzburg, we visited Bishop Hellbrunn palace and water gardens which he used as a hunting lodge and incorporated the latest advancements in mechanical engineering to amuse himself and his guests. Apparently, the Bishop was a bit of a prankster since all throughout the grounds there were clever, animated, water driven devices designed to entertain and play practical jokes on the unsuspecting.
Tomorrow, we’re off to Wein (Vienna) with a short stop on the way in Linz to see the Danube.
Dorothea & Ed
With much anticipation, we arrived in Salzburg on the morning of the 10th. For once it seemed like we had a good start on the day and we might locate a place to stay well before dark. We found the Tourist Information (TI) center easily, picked up information on things to do and places to stay and headed for a local park to have a snack and do a little planning. So much for the head start! A wrong turn downtown led us down a one way, single lane street with parked cars on one side. The street kept getting narrower and narrower and at one point I had to drive on the side walk to get around a parked car. As we rounded the last little curve, the road abruptly ended in a 6’ wide pedestrian-only walkway. Oh crud! This is not good! Making one attempt at making a “U-Turn” assured us there was no way to get the car turned around. The only option was to BACK-UP the two blocks the way we had come in, parked cars, sidewalk and all. Once we cleared that street, we exited the city maze and headed straight out of town and did not collect $200, or pass “GO!”
Once we compiled our list of potential B&Bs, all of which were conveniently located on the same street, we drove by them to pick out the best of the lot. Narrowing the list down to 3 and finding a couple of others not advertised, we stopped at each one to check availability and rates. For one reason or another-- house-a-tosis, no shower, bath literally in the bedroom, cramped rooms or proprietor’s personal hygiene (don’t even ask) -- these available choices were not going to serve as accommodations for our stay. Instead of possibly insulting the owner with our objections, we found that asking for Internet access (which no B & B has) allowed us to decline gracefully.
Without large chain hotels with established and consistent standards, finding an acceptable place to stay in European cities, regardless of how we do it (internet or personal inspection), has taken us an enormous amount of time. This has been consistent throughout our trip thus far. We spend between 2 to 6 hours looking for accommodations and another couple of hours looking for places to eat. Whoever comes up with an objective, comprehensive guide to assist travelers with this universal problem will know what it’s like to be financially secure! We’ll be the first to buy the guide!
Just by driving around, we finally found a nice, small hotel, “Hptel Zur Post”, close to downtown with a bus stop across the street allowing us to park the car and leave the driving to some else. And breakfast was included too, even if it was sliced meats, croissants and coffee!
We purchased a 72-hour Salzburg card (a discount card which proved to be a very good deal) that provided for all local transportation and gave free or discounted entries to numerous museums and events.
Catching the bus into town, we spent our first day browsing through the lovely old town with its attractive shops and decorative wrought iron doorway marquees on our way to the Museum of History. With our card, the entry to the museum was free and we spent most of the morning delving into Salzburg’s art treasures and its past.
Along with the Salzburg card, we purchased tickets for dinner and a Mozart concert in the Hohensalzburg Fortress sitting high above Salzburg. Using the Salzburg card, we got a free ride on a tram to the top and arrived early enough to take a leisurely tour through the Fortress and an imaginary trip back to the 1100 and 1200’s. The museum there also was helpful in our trip back through history. Dinner was very good with a friendly server and a fantastic view 800 feet above the surrounding area with the Alps in the background. After dinner, we headed for one of the halls in the Fortress to listen to a string quintet playing chamber music by Mozart. For a Mozart fan, it was unbelievable to be sitting in a 12th Century Fortress listening to excellent musicians playing Mozart’s music. It was a most enjoyable evening!
On the 12th, we headed to the “new” old part of Salzburg to go through the Mozart museum in the building that was the family’s apartment when Mozart was young. Later in the day, we would visit the apartment where he was born in “old”, old town. As everyone knows, Mozart was a musical genius. But, not unlike today’s musicians, fame and fortune was a dangling carrot. His father was a violin instructor for the City and recognizing his son’s talent set out on an attempt to make him rich and famous. He booked “gigs” in royal courts and in front of other important people traveling extensively achieving reasonable success but taking ill. Mozart’s mother tried to continue her husband’s effort but wasn’t quite as successful. She later took ill and died and Mozart was left to try on his own but was even less successful. He was a performer not a promoter. While In new “old” town looking for a place for lunch, we saw two police officers milling around a parked car. Being good rubber-necking Americans we sauntered over to make sure their investigation was proceeding properly. It seemed a single lady who was staying at a pretty nice downtown hotel had the rear window of her car smashed in by either vandals or thieves. It was a sobering sight and exactly why we have been trying to stay on the outskirts of town in fairly decent neighborhoods. Europeans native to the area are generally friendly and civil. However, there is a very high percentage of immigrants from some of the poorer surrounding countries that don’t seem to have the same standards.
Later that day, we kept our appointment for the free ride our card got us on a River Boat cruise on the Salzach River with comedian for a captain. After the cruise, when we got back to the docking area, he locked the wheel and throttle controls, turned up the volume on the stereo playing the “Blue Danube” and walked away from the wheel while the boat on its own did 4 or 5 360 degree turns in the middle of the river. It was fun and reminded us that being boaters anywhere there is water makes for a good time. While we were waiting to board the boat, we noticed a rack full of bikes with a coin controlled locking mechanism. You insert the appropriate amount, unlock the bike and away you go.
On our last day in Salzburg, we visited Bishop Hellbrunn palace and water gardens which he used as a hunting lodge and incorporated the latest advancements in mechanical engineering to amuse himself and his guests. Apparently, the Bishop was a bit of a prankster since all throughout the grounds there were clever, animated, water driven devices designed to entertain and play practical jokes on the unsuspecting.
Tomorrow, we’re off to Wein (Vienna) with a short stop on the way in Linz to see the Danube.
Dorothea & Ed
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
October 6, 2008 Blog
October 6, 2008
Our new PC was supposed to be delivered on Friday, the 3rd, but it wasn’t. We managed to get on line and checked UPS tracking information to find it was hung up in Cologne awaiting customs clearance. When I called UPS, the first challenge was communicating in EngliGer. The UPS agent, Hans, could barely understand me and I could barely understand him. What I was able to make out was customs considered the PC an import item and a 350. Euro Value Added Tax (VAT) needed to be collected. I finally got Hans to understand I was an American; the PC was not being imported since it was going back to America and I wasn’t required to pay the VAT. He conceded and said the PC would be delivered before Thursday, the 9th. Since we had a couple of days before it came, we ventured forth into the countryside.
On Monday, the 6th we visited a couple of lake resort areas where we originally thought of staying NE of Murnau and SW of Munich. Taking the back roads as we usually try to do, the traffic was light and the countryside had very pleasant scenery of trees with leaves showing off their fall colors.
Lake Starnberg, a large, popular resort lake was our first stop. Although we didn’t see any fish in the lake, we did see a couple of sail boats and a beautiful swan from an unusual angle! The swan was eating something on the bottom which was just out of reach and it was “bottoms all the way up” trying to get to it. See photo for the angle!
Another nearby lake, Ammersee is the smaller of the two lakes. Both are about as wide as Charlotte Harbor’s widest point. Ammersee comes with a legend about King Ludwig II who took the Bavarian throne when he was 18. He was the one who in Fussen built the Royal Castles and was considered to be rather eccentric. They say a conspiracy might have taken place to replace the young king. His cousin had the young king (when he was 35) declared insane. He was arrested and brought to Heilingen Berg as a prisoner. Shortly thereafter he was found drowned in Lake Ammersee. King Ludwig was known to be an excellent swimmer and no one knows for sure if it was an accident, suicide or something more sinister. His cousin then took power. Hmmmm.
The lake has a delightful lakefront promenade and what looked like an active sailing fleet. The Promenade Café on the lake also had delightful ice cream! When you’re in Bavaria, do as the Bavarian’s do – have coffee and sweets in the afternoon. Who are we to buck local customs?
The next day, the 7th, was a totally different experience. We headed for Innnsbruck and the Swarovski factory with its crystal museum, Kristalkindl. Just before getting to Innsbruck you have to travel along a narrow, mountain road with many switchbacks. The road going down to Innsbruck has 26+/-% slopes. Ed said “No problem.” Dorothea said “Yikes!” So off we went! The drive to the top of the pass from Mittenweld along Roadway B177 was over a long distance and the grade up was gradual. Once we got to the top and headed down toward Innsbruck, the decent occurred in a short distance and the grade was steep with five run outs along the way for vehicles with hot, ineffective brakes. We descended in 1st gear and had to keep braking in order to keep our speed manageable while negotiating the sharp curves. At the bottom, the road turned into a four lane “Super Highway” for the rest of the ride into Innsbruck. Being able to breathe again, we turned on the radio just in time to catch “My Love for You Will Never Die” (we have a video of the road with sound but it won’t play in the Kodak Gallery”). What a contrast! A hair-raising decent from high in the beautiful Bavarian Alps, heading to a 14th century medieval city, speeding along on a 21st Century Super highway with no speed limit, listening to American Country Music. Life doesn’t get much better.
The Swarovski Kristalkindl wasn’t exactly what we were expecting. It was more of a display of artists’ works that used Swarovski crystals in their art. BUT, the end of the museum was a treat – a huge showroom with every Swarovski crystal you can imagine – jewelry, phone covers, belts, art pieces - fantastic! We were hoping to see crystals made at the factory but we were told it was a secret process.
The drive to Innsbruck, along with the customary hunt for the “Red October” tourist information (TI) office in downtown Innsbruck and the tour through the Swarovski museum didn’t leave much time to explore “Olde” Innsbruck, which by the way is named for the bridge (Brucke) over the River Inns. But, as we always do, we pushed the opportunity envelope and got to see most of “Olde Town.” One thing we have noticed on all of our visits to these fantastic German Cities is a tour group of Asians who seem to follow us around. We know they are the same group because they like to take movies of each other. We can’t image all Asians have the same preoccupation with cameras!
We left Innsbruck late (after dark), which made the trip back home interesting; considering the steep mountain climb, the winding roads to Mittenweld and the arrival of an early evening fog. Even though it was late when we got home, a glass of fine French made a nice nightcap.
First thing next morning, the 8th, we get a call from our land-lady letting us know our UPS delivery was there. Glory, glory halleluiah! It’s finally here and once again we are whole. I wasn’t fully dressed so Dorothea went to get the package. The next thing I hear is a knock on the door and the land-lady’s daughter is there telling me in broken English that Dorothea needs me. Not an encouraging invitation. When I get to the UPS truck, I see the driver with a death grip on our new PC shielding it from Dorothea who has the appearance of a fine lioness ready to pounce on its prey. It seems there was a matter of a 350. Euros VAT that had to be paid. It didn’t matter what I said about previous arrangements, the driver wasn’t going to let us have the PC without the VAT. “O.K., here’s my credit card, I’ll deal with the VAT later, just give me my PC. “Sorry!”, says Mr. Brown. “Kasse, neine Master Kard!” I tell him I don’t have 350 Euros on me. Can you wait 30 minutes until I can get to the banko and geta kasse? “Neine! Kum bak 14:30! Sie haf kasse!” Covering my options while heading to the ATM, I called Hans at UPS central to find out what’s happening. He says he’ll call the driver’s boss and take care of the problem. At 14:30, Mr. Brown returns, and tells me, no VAT required, and we finally get our PC.
On the 9th, having our new PC in hand, we leave our home base in Murnau and head for Salzburg. Along the way, we make a short side trip to Lake Tegernsee for lunch and then head to Rosenheim for the night. We find a comfortable, new inn just outside of town and have what else, Wienerschnitzel, for dinner at the hotel restaurant. Everyone in the restaurant is once again very friendly and helpful in getting us fed.
Ed and Dorothea
Friday, November 28, 2008
October 2, 2008
Needless to say, the Wednesday following Tuesday’s Oktoberfest visit had a slow start and a long finish. Instead of using guns in WWII, Hitler should have held a beer drinking contest. The country with the most soldiers standing at the end of the contest would take home all of the goodies!
By Thursday, things were back to normal, and we continued our exploration of the area around our new home in Murnau. We headed to the little picturesque town of Garmish-Partenkirchen at the base of the Alps which was a short 20 minute drive from home base. The skies were grey but the vibrant colors of the leaves against the backdrop of the Alps created their own sunshine. This apparently is a very popular ski area though too early this time of year for skiing.
We stopped in a little restaurant for lunch and were promptly served. We have found, when the gratuity is included in the bill, food is served instantly but getting a check or “Rechnung” takes forever. The servers, normally only one or two regardless of the size of the restaurant, must get paid based on the orders processed not by the money collected. Even though this restaurant accepted credit cards, when we tried to pay, the server said she didn’t have time to run a credit card and wanted cash only. That wasn’t going to fly! So, we escalated it to management and had our way and paid by credit card. Before the trip, when we opened our new bank account to use in Europe, we received a credit card that for 12 months had no interest on the outstanding balance and only required a minimum monthly payment. When we charge, we pay the current US dollar exchange rate but no premium and no transaction fee. On the other hand, when we withdraw cash from an ATM using our debit card, we pay not only the exchange rate difference but a non-member bank exchange premium and an ATM fee of between 4 and 8 Euros. Needless to say, we want to charge!
When we got back to Murnau, we had dinner and walked to main street to celebrate the unification of East and West Germany with the locals. The highlights of the evening were three hair stylists with very elaborate hair-dos, mini hot-air balloons made of paper, a terrific drum group and a local group singing Jimmy Buffett’s songs, including Margaritaville, in English but with a German accent. In German, “w’s” are pronounced like our v. So “wasting away …” becomes “vasting avay …” and “…woman to blame’’ becomes “…voman to blame." In spite of the accent, they were good and it really made us think of being home.
The little hot air balloons were really cool. When we first noticed the little orange lights in the black night sky, I thought they were a group of paratroopers like we have at our air show. Then I thought they were helicopters and finally, I thought Marnau was being attacked for celebrating the holiday and we were all going to die. When we asked, we were told they were small, paper balloons with a burning tea lite to create the hot air. They really lasted quite a while even with a light rain. We also found out since they had a live flame and were a fire hazard; they were going to be outlawed from use in Germany. But, no fear, they are planning to create a safe one to use. We are going to keep our eye out for them!
America heavily influences Europe. There are a couple of 24 hour TV news channels, “BBC” and “CNN Europe”, with heavy coverage on US topics. At the time, they were very closely following the Presidential Race and even televised the last Obama-McCain debate in its entirety. The analysis following the debate went on for two days. The TV in our apartment received 140 channels. There were only a few entertainment type channels, a lot of news channels (mostly German but a lot from France, Russia, and Iran) and a whole lot more channels advertising ‘900’ telephone numbers (I really did save Ed from those naughty ads – I held the remote at all times! DZ)
On Sunday the 3rd, we took a trip to “Bad Tolz” about an hour away. The city is a SPA Resort town situated on the Isar River. Bad is pronounced Bat and means “bath.” These curative spas are very popular here. We hiked up to Calvary Church to get a view of the river, town and Alps from its high vantage point. The still active Catholic Church dates back to the 1800s and has Stations of the Cross along the path to the Church. The views were breathtaking.
On Monday the 4th, we took off to the SE for a drive through the Lake District to the high mountain lakes and a mountain peak called “Herzogstand.” (It was 3 degrees C and it snowed for a few minutes! Ed was outside the car taking a picture of a marina with sailboats on a lake 2,400 ft. above sea level and had snow on his jacket! What a treat for me since I can count the times I have seen snow on one hand! (DZ). We had lunch at a restaurant on one of the lower lakes that was 54’ deep in the center. En route to the restaurant, we noticed a handbill advertising a mountain race for old cars, from what we saw they had MGs, Porches, Vettes, Bentleys and VW Beetles. The race course was on the mountain we were on with a very narrow, very winding road with slopes of 15-18% between two small towns. The road was closed to traffic for the race, thankfully, while we were having lunch! And our helpful GPS notified us of the road closing! While we drove through the mountainous area during the afternoon, we saw some of the racers returning from the race. Our day trip ended in the quaint Alpine Village of Mittenwald famous for its painted buildings and incredible view of the Alps. We stopped at a little Café on the Village Square and, as is the afternoon custom in the area, had our Cappuccino and Pastry. (Somehow, I am not sure why, we have not gained any weight yet! DZ)
Having a place in Murnau to stop and collect our wits, we did a spot check on how we were doing. Our car, a Renault III Estate Wagon Turbo Diesel, 150 HP, 6-forward speed manual transmission work horse was serving us well. We were averaging 35 miles per gallon and the most we paid for diesel was 1.41 Euro in France and averaging 1.31 Euros per liter (about $5.36 per gallon). The price of oil was dropping and the future looked promising for lower diesel prices. The car is comfortable, easy to drive and incorporates some of the latest technology (proximity warning, tire pressure read out, keyless entry, shift prompts and break control to name a few). (I have to say that Ed has driven the entire time and is doing such a marvelous job, even though when we’re on the mountain roads my knuckles got a little white and I brake often with my imaginary brake! DZ) Budget wise, we are pretty much on track and think we will be able to stay the course and not have to write home to ask you all for money!
Ed and Dorothea
Needless to say, the Wednesday following Tuesday’s Oktoberfest visit had a slow start and a long finish. Instead of using guns in WWII, Hitler should have held a beer drinking contest. The country with the most soldiers standing at the end of the contest would take home all of the goodies!
By Thursday, things were back to normal, and we continued our exploration of the area around our new home in Murnau. We headed to the little picturesque town of Garmish-Partenkirchen at the base of the Alps which was a short 20 minute drive from home base. The skies were grey but the vibrant colors of the leaves against the backdrop of the Alps created their own sunshine. This apparently is a very popular ski area though too early this time of year for skiing.
We stopped in a little restaurant for lunch and were promptly served. We have found, when the gratuity is included in the bill, food is served instantly but getting a check or “Rechnung” takes forever. The servers, normally only one or two regardless of the size of the restaurant, must get paid based on the orders processed not by the money collected. Even though this restaurant accepted credit cards, when we tried to pay, the server said she didn’t have time to run a credit card and wanted cash only. That wasn’t going to fly! So, we escalated it to management and had our way and paid by credit card. Before the trip, when we opened our new bank account to use in Europe, we received a credit card that for 12 months had no interest on the outstanding balance and only required a minimum monthly payment. When we charge, we pay the current US dollar exchange rate but no premium and no transaction fee. On the other hand, when we withdraw cash from an ATM using our debit card, we pay not only the exchange rate difference but a non-member bank exchange premium and an ATM fee of between 4 and 8 Euros. Needless to say, we want to charge!
When we got back to Murnau, we had dinner and walked to main street to celebrate the unification of East and West Germany with the locals. The highlights of the evening were three hair stylists with very elaborate hair-dos, mini hot-air balloons made of paper, a terrific drum group and a local group singing Jimmy Buffett’s songs, including Margaritaville, in English but with a German accent. In German, “w’s” are pronounced like our v. So “wasting away …” becomes “vasting avay …” and “…woman to blame’’ becomes “…voman to blame." In spite of the accent, they were good and it really made us think of being home.
The little hot air balloons were really cool. When we first noticed the little orange lights in the black night sky, I thought they were a group of paratroopers like we have at our air show. Then I thought they were helicopters and finally, I thought Marnau was being attacked for celebrating the holiday and we were all going to die. When we asked, we were told they were small, paper balloons with a burning tea lite to create the hot air. They really lasted quite a while even with a light rain. We also found out since they had a live flame and were a fire hazard; they were going to be outlawed from use in Germany. But, no fear, they are planning to create a safe one to use. We are going to keep our eye out for them!
America heavily influences Europe. There are a couple of 24 hour TV news channels, “BBC” and “CNN Europe”, with heavy coverage on US topics. At the time, they were very closely following the Presidential Race and even televised the last Obama-McCain debate in its entirety. The analysis following the debate went on for two days. The TV in our apartment received 140 channels. There were only a few entertainment type channels, a lot of news channels (mostly German but a lot from France, Russia, and Iran) and a whole lot more channels advertising ‘900’ telephone numbers (I really did save Ed from those naughty ads – I held the remote at all times! DZ)
On Sunday the 3rd, we took a trip to “Bad Tolz” about an hour away. The city is a SPA Resort town situated on the Isar River. Bad is pronounced Bat and means “bath.” These curative spas are very popular here. We hiked up to Calvary Church to get a view of the river, town and Alps from its high vantage point. The still active Catholic Church dates back to the 1800s and has Stations of the Cross along the path to the Church. The views were breathtaking.
On Monday the 4th, we took off to the SE for a drive through the Lake District to the high mountain lakes and a mountain peak called “Herzogstand.” (It was 3 degrees C and it snowed for a few minutes! Ed was outside the car taking a picture of a marina with sailboats on a lake 2,400 ft. above sea level and had snow on his jacket! What a treat for me since I can count the times I have seen snow on one hand! (DZ). We had lunch at a restaurant on one of the lower lakes that was 54’ deep in the center. En route to the restaurant, we noticed a handbill advertising a mountain race for old cars, from what we saw they had MGs, Porches, Vettes, Bentleys and VW Beetles. The race course was on the mountain we were on with a very narrow, very winding road with slopes of 15-18% between two small towns. The road was closed to traffic for the race, thankfully, while we were having lunch! And our helpful GPS notified us of the road closing! While we drove through the mountainous area during the afternoon, we saw some of the racers returning from the race. Our day trip ended in the quaint Alpine Village of Mittenwald famous for its painted buildings and incredible view of the Alps. We stopped at a little Café on the Village Square and, as is the afternoon custom in the area, had our Cappuccino and Pastry. (Somehow, I am not sure why, we have not gained any weight yet! DZ)
Having a place in Murnau to stop and collect our wits, we did a spot check on how we were doing. Our car, a Renault III Estate Wagon Turbo Diesel, 150 HP, 6-forward speed manual transmission work horse was serving us well. We were averaging 35 miles per gallon and the most we paid for diesel was 1.41 Euro in France and averaging 1.31 Euros per liter (about $5.36 per gallon). The price of oil was dropping and the future looked promising for lower diesel prices. The car is comfortable, easy to drive and incorporates some of the latest technology (proximity warning, tire pressure read out, keyless entry, shift prompts and break control to name a few). (I have to say that Ed has driven the entire time and is doing such a marvelous job, even though when we’re on the mountain roads my knuckles got a little white and I brake often with my imaginary brake! DZ) Budget wise, we are pretty much on track and think we will be able to stay the course and not have to write home to ask you all for money!
Ed and Dorothea
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