The The The Loooooonnnnngggg fllight home. When it seemed overwhelming long, we had 5 more hours to go. Watched two movies, played hearts, saw everybody on the plane as they came back for the facilities, some several times. When we get off in Chi’d town, I’m going to verbally give out the largest bladder award and the TB award to. . Then there’s going to be an award for the men who didn’t have enough sense to no drink several beers on an eleven hour flight. They made several trips and progressively got more unsteady as the hours went by. Everyone had to have a snack or a drink, guess where they were served? In the back, where our seats were.

But…the good news is that we’re on the ground in Chicago. The remaining news is that we don’t leave until 8 PM and arrive at 10. We want to be good and tired anyway, because we plan to sleep well tonight wherever we sleep. The last posted pics were taken in Rome, a bad one of the Pantheon and the last two taken from our apt window looking down on the street morning and night

Fall of Rome

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Wrapping it up. Taxi coming in 34 minutes. We spent our last day being devoured by St Peter's Basilica. Pretty fascinating, but it too will someday have no stone upon another.
The streets were full of outrageous young folk, but, I decided that I'd just let them slide on that. Not ready to leave but it'll be fine to be back on the soil of the USA.

This morning we struck out again to experience Roma… and it is an experience! Rome is a wild place, bustling everywhere you look, and talk about some pretty old stuff!! Brings back a few of the memories I have from being half awake in my art history classes. There have been a few “ oh yeahs…” along the way. We visited the Colesseum and the Roman Forum/ Palatin Hill area. Very interesting ! We walked there and back because though we did but a Roma Pass we couldn’t figure out the bus situation, we plan to study on that this afternoon. Walking does take you past people and places you wouldn’t otherwise happen upon, so it’s all good as they say.

Next up is Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and everywhere in between. To my brothers… you would appreciate the extreme “muff” around here!

Also saw the Pantheon, pretty awesome, Romes only continuous in use building since it was built. Outsides a little rough but the inside is 5 star hotel quality.

Drove into Rome on Salaria, all the way to Corso Italia, then into the walled city to Via Ludovisa. Turned in the rental car (car pic is for Rodney) and began to guess how to walk to our apartment on Campo di Fioria. Googles direction for walking assume you have your boyscout compass with you and that you count paces and minutes from point to point. We were quickly disoriented but asked, “ Dove’ il Campo di Fiori”, a couple of times and off we went. I had a general sense of direction and got us well past the Pantheon, but still were unsure of how far away still we had to go. The streets were jammed with people who walk looking at their feet so they won’t have to make eye contact or give any room on the side walk. So with our red suitcases we plowed into them like it was bumper cars at the county fair…..two can play the game of looking at your feet and walking.

About 35 minutes of walking and sweating and neither of us sure of what next, we hailed a cab and rode the next 50 feet ( who knew!) to Via Del Gubanari where our contact, (Marco) was waiting at the door. Whoa what a crib it is too. Just around the corner a lovely bakery and grocery store, so we did a little stock up for the next coupla days and off we went exploring, staying out till 10 pm… are you shocked!? Yes, Ariel we are going wild, .

About 11 pm it seemed to have gotten quiet on the street 4 stories below and I thought, “well this is going to be a pleasant place to sleep“………….About midnight the street filled up with excited young Italians walking to and from the Campo and who knows where else, laughing and talking loudly and most of the time I thought they were right outside on our 4th story window sill. This went on until about 4 or 5 AM. Tonight I’m going down on the street in my house robe and give those young folk a tongue lashing about getting proper rest on school nights.

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Last day in Tuscany/ Today we meandered over to Montalcino passing through some areas we had covered before, but enjoying every minute of it. There was something very charming about its size and though geared towards hosting tourist with their wine industry of their famed Brunella wine, what interested us was what a hometown place it seemed to be. Being here on Sunday, we saw local people talking on the streets, small boys playing soccer like they were in command of the game with their Dad’s on the sidelines (sitting on the stoop of ancient community building) probably thinking about when they were boys.


Then on to Castelnuova dell’ Abate with an entrance too steep and streets to narrow, challenging us to turn away but in a field a quarter of a mile away in a valley was the The Abbey of Sant'Antimo (Abbazia di Sant'Antimo) a beautiful Romanesque church, in a picture-perfect setting .
built in 8oo but remodeled in 1200 where monks continued the tradition of Gregorian chants on a regular schedule, even today. The abbey church was very austere and caused Liane and I to launch into an imaginary description of a Sharp County family that would be proud to boast that their only son had gone to Italy and become an austere monk chanting every week on a regular basis and they would be pleased that he would return on Spring break.

Then back into the car driving up an incredibly steep mountian with switchbacks and hundred mile views (except it was a little overcast and limited the 100 mile view to about 20) , destination: Castiglione d’Orcia .This was another very small walled town with a very large crumbling castle right at the top of the town. We walked all the streets in about 20 minutes. Within a quarter of a mile was an impressive, intact tower on a hill far above the town with a command of the valley. This is Roque de Orcia and can be seen for many miles in any direction since its at about 5000 feet above sea level. The whole place was pretty intriguing and made us wonder what ever in history made this place so valuable that needed that much masonry in a place only accessible by car in the 21 century.

Then back in the car, down the mountain on the other incredible switchback view to a place where hot springs boil out of the ground and people come to take the cure as they have since the Romans ruled. Bagno Vignoni was a very small, small isolated town with tour buses visiting and small hotels catering to people needing baths. Not sure we had seen enough of steaming water coming from the ground we drove on 16 kilometres to another place (Bagno San Philpi) We had read that this place was some kind of miracle of nature, we’ll let you decide based on the photographs whether it deserved the miracle description. For us the five gallon bucked with a large pvc pipe as the source of the miracle seemed strange in a place that uses so much stone for every structure possible. To quote Liane, “ they use marble here like it was plywood” Tomorrow: Rome.

: Mar 19, After a hearty home breakfast we left for Montipulciano, a hill town east of Pienza. Being cheap we looked for a free parking which never occurred and finally settled for a garage parking situation . We walked into the steep narrow streets and almost magically came to a bella la boutique which by destiny had shoes that Liane felt must come home with us. It really was a cute shop with a variety of gift items and made me think it was just the kind of shop Liane would create if she had a shop in Montepulciano. The shop’s name was “Fatamorgana “ Well the shoes are coming home with us, if we can get two pair at a time on her feet or mash them into a suitcase. Being over confident of our sense of direction (mostly my overconfidence), after have a delicious lunch of lasagna beyond imagination, we got lost in realation to where the car was parked. Did I mention this was a very steep town of twisted streets? Finally relying on the shoe destiny discovery, we found our way back to where we to get out of this hotel California town.

From there we drove down a very narrow switch back road in and out of hills with Tuscan views out of postcards and came to a tiny hill town, Monticchiello. There were only 4 other tourist in this town, about he size of Hardy. It had castle type walls, winding streets, and of course a church built in the twelve hundreds, simple on the outside, even crude, but sparingly spectacular on the inside with Byzantine triptychs, marble columns and some dead guy in a box under the altar at front. Then out the other side to another winding narrow road back to Pienza to spend more time in this hill town than we had before. Evening came, made a fresh salad and spinach and ricotta stuffed ravioli, built a fire and will turn in early for an adventure perhaps in Florence or Siena, or some other place

Trip today was to Sienna, Monterigigioni and back to Pienza or a supper traditional soups, spelt and bean for Liane and bread and cabbage. Both were outstanding and filling. Monteriggioni was a very small complete walled city with towers and a spontaneous lunch place.

While in Sienna, we toured the Duomo and probably did inappropriate things inside such as laughing about some of the historic frescoes and taking weird pictures. While awe-inspiring as a architectural structure, we couldn’t help thinking it was more a tribute to man’s skill and cult-like presentation of the gospel gone south. Siena was much like a medieval shopping mall instead of a terrific walled city. Cars were everywhere and high school age kids behaving badly were jammed everywhere. Still Il Campo was quite a sight/site to see.

So… though we have a little bit of a challenge posting on our blog, we are having a great time! The internet connection is not very strong here, we thought they would have it where we are staying but they don’t at this time. We have to go to our hosts’ house and park in her backyard to pick up a connection… small thing.

This next group of pictures are from our little road trip around the Pienza area, what is know as Crete Sensei. Lots of beautiful “Hill Towns” loaded with character. The thing that sticks out most is the beauty of the landscape, rolling hills all covered in what looks like rich green velvet interspersed with tall thin cypress trees and then and there some lovely terra cotta roofed houses along with their farms. Add to that quaint old walled towns, rather villages that you imagine were defended by passionate men and their odd looking weaponry. Another thing that impressed me are the people, they seem so contented as if what goes on in the rest of the world has little to do with them. Children, old people, dogs and cats seem to be held in the highest esteem here, I think they have got that right; especially since we are quickly joining the ranks of one of these groups. It’s good to know we have a place!

We had a wonderful Tuscan meal in a very tiny place in Pienza tonight. We were told the owner was kinda crazy and that it was best to let him choose what we would eat. He chose well!

Now at the little fireplace at our place we are pondering God’s blessings. Thank you my loves’ first for making this possible, Lemoniers’ you shoulda dropped everything and came back with us, Hans and Marge, pack your bags and thank you everyone else for caring about us enough to read this. We love you!

Liane

Addendum to the first eating night eating out at the family tratitoria.

The place was completely empty except for staff which were watching “who wants to a gazillionaire in Lyre“. It was quite like being in someone’s kitchen with lots of extra tables (about 10). In a while, someone came to take our order, poked fun at the little Italiano I could muster (he spoke English as well as my Italian) and we had the most indescribably, delicious, spinach and ricotta cheese stuffed ravioli and “fetticini like” spaggheti , spicy with hot peppers and red sauce and half a carafe of local wine. (the whole area has hundreds of vineyards). We had been told they make their pasta everyday, so we anticipated this delight. Tired as we were, it was a wonderful meal and of course by the time we finished, the place was filling up with delightful locals bantering back and forth, affectionately hugging everybody, children, waiter, cook……..but only giving nervous looks at the obviously bedraggled Americans.

Taking the advice of a traveler’s post on Slowtrav.net for avoiding the lingering effects of jet lag, we kept going as long as we could and finally went to bed about 9:30. We both slept deeply and awakened to an unbelievable Toscana scene outside, sun shining and crisp air. I built a fire and we made coffee you could spread with a knife and eased into the day by the fire. Our next step is to park in Isabella and Carlos’ driveway and post this info and drive off into the hills for scenes from “Under the Tuscan Sun” (Which by the way was filmed very close by and also filmed here was “The English Patient”

A couple of food pics here from our morning breakfast. Liane has declared that yogurt nirvana has been achieved with the local coop’s yogurt and oranges concoction. Of course Liane smuggled in her own flax to liberally sprinkle over this. Doesn’t everyone pack flax for their travels? I will say, the eggs I had were the freshest I have had since gathering from the hen house when I was a small boy

these are the pics that were supposed to go with the first day and a little more commentary on eatng out. btw to all our chilren, the excitement is not describable.

This comment is from me,( Mama) He did cry at least once, it is so beautiful and the people are too! We are having the time of our life!

We tried to post pics and a blog on the evening of our first day, while sitting in our car at the driveway of our host (scabbing off their internet). We were so fatigued that we could barely think or see straight and apparently the computer was too, because as we were ready to post, it gave a message like, “ooohhh, so sorry……I’ll be out of juice in about three milliseconds, you should switch to non-battery power to continue”. Since we didn’t have that option, we left and went to a family restaurant in Pienza and made reservations that had been recommended by our host, Isabella. Of course we made the earliest reservation possible, 7:00 PM and arrived in jet lag stupor. We knew the Italians don’t even show to eat until 7:30 or 8:00, but we would’ve fallen asleep by then.
Arrived in Roma as many of the masses have for centuries, tired, smelly, and a bit confused. After renting a beast of a car... a peugeot the size of a flat bed farm truck, we struck out on the autostrada blasting everything off the road, because we could. I want to mention that our bodies thought it was 12:45 Sharp county time in the am.

After some unsettling driving we came to Orvieto and spent a good amount of dazed time walking about. We loved it and surely did not spend enough time there but we felt we needed to get to our rental location Creatoile while we still had out eyes open. Our host Isabella is beyond delightful ! Truly one of those people who delight in seeing others delighted.

Yes, we are tired, but we're staying out for some genuine Tuscan food at Pienza, recommended by Isabella.

We had our first gelato from the Nana pictured in the photo. She said it was. "prima gelato!"

Liane wants to ask those who would know, is this the original St Hedwigs?

Ciao

Pictures will have to come tomorrow....

Little Rock to Newark

How continental (the first airline we flew in on) and to greet us was the New York Port Authority bagpipe band. Travel does bring lots of experiences.

Packed and Ready

After days of talking about it and planning it, its all decided on what gets to go and what ridiculous thing to take that we won't. In the end, the king bed just wasn't going to work out in the economy section we're traveling in. Here it waits....all excited about its journey

What a gift !

For years I've had maps of Italy on the wall of the shop and have often wasted time (or was it wasted?) looking at the places my friends have reported being at or brought us souvenirs from.
A little over a year ago we renewed our passports due to our daughter Ariel's urging. She said that maybe we could go to Barbados in the winter. Well we never got invited, but....

On Dec 23, 2009, all of our children were at home for Christmas. This was also our first daughter Gretchen's B' day (her 29th !) This was 6 days before our 30th wedding anniversary and because of the differing work schedules, was the last day we would all be together for Christmas. In the evening, the kids (as we affectionately call them, sometimes, they are a bit goat like, climbing on the furniture, etc) asked us to sit down on the couch.

Handing us a cd case of an Italian language course that I have been listening to, they told us they had a 30th anniversary gift for us. We opened the case and inside was a handwritten itinerary of reservations in Italy, complete with airfare to Rome! We really were stunned by their generosity and due to welling up emotions complete with tears, we couldn't speak. Scheduled for March 16 through 25 , 2010, we have been forced by our family to take a vacation!

I to post some while on the trip, but we plan to fill every minute with fun, so we'll see.
By the way, the family pic is old, but this group doesn't age anyway, except for the grandson...he's four now !


Take a look at the pics of where we'll be !

http://www.cretaiole.it/oliviera.en.php Our Tuscany retreat for five days and then on to ROMA !

http://www.thekeytoitaly.com/Apartment-Balestrari.html In Rome, just off the Campo Fiori, about 3/4 of a mile from the Colosseum.

The long road east

After lots of effort spent on car rental, accomadation rental, special tour reservation, and along trek east, we will be in Roma, Mar 17.