TRAVELING THE AMALFI COAST

Thursday, August 12^th, 2004 Sorrento & Positano

Long night; the American girls next door came home about midnight and their chatter until nearly 2 am was exhausting. Not loud just that everyone had their windows open and the sound carries so well at night. We had fireworks again for the second night at 9 pm. Then about midnight they set some more off but not as many as they had earlier. More noise from very loud firecrackers rather than the pretty burst of fire that we’re used to seeing. Some were so loud that they sounded like cannons being fired. At 9 pm we could also hear the church bells across the valley ringing for about five minutes. I don’t know about any special feast days so they must do it every night for fun! Reminds us of Disneyland in the summer back in California.

About 9:15 am we found the bus stop for the Positano bus; only waited about fifteen minutes before it arrived. Got aboard and found it already packed; we were lucky to find standing room near the front of the bus. At the next stop more people crammed in and everyone moved back as far as possible. From that point on the driver ignored everyone at bus stops, as we could not get another person on the bus. Jim said it felt like a three-hour ride but in reality it was probably about half an hour. But, if you’ve ever been on the Amalfi road you remember the hairpin turns around cliffs that are very steep. We swung from side to side as we careened up and down the mountain road. I watched a young woman in the seat to my right; (that’s on the steep side of the road) she was looking straight ahead and her knuckles were white as she gripped the handhold in front of her. We actually had a pretty good view from our standing position in the center of the bus; but no photos taken as we were all using both of our hands to hang on to the rack above our heads to keep from falling on each other and strangers!

We’d been told that the shortest route to the beach is from the second bus stop on the Amalfi side but when the bus stopped at the first stop we decided to get out and head down to the beach. We knew this trip was all down hill; we found the steps instead of the road that made hairpin curves all the way down to the beach. The steps wound in and out of residential areas and commercial areas crossing the road about every fifty or so steps. Probably took us about twenty minutes to get down to the beach. Lots of people had the same idea that we did today. In fact, on the bus Jim said to the young Italian man standing in front of him (after we realized he spoke English also) that we wondered why we were doing this…his answer was that, “it’s part of the Italian cultural experience, and we wouldn’t want to miss that, would we”.

It was about 11 am when we arrived at the beach. Found a nice space to spread out our bamboo mats and stripped to our bathing suits to enjoy the experience. Well, after about half an hour we were toasted and felt we’d had enough of this experience! Gave our mats to the Italian kids near us and decided to head for the bus as this would be our last beach trip before we leave for home. Another smart decision was to pay two euros and catch the Positano Intercity bus to the top of the hill where the bus stops were located. Once there we had about another half hour wait before we boarded the bus we thought was headed for Sorrento. Our plan was to get off at the bus stop near our hotel. Opps…we were going to Sorrento; but by a different route.

Arrived at the Sorrento bus terminal, fortunately they all end and begin at the train station/bus terminal. Purchased another ticket and boarded another bus that we knew was headed in the direction of our hotel. While we were there we also purchased our train ticket from Sorrento to Naples for tomorrow morning.

This afternoon we tried to fix Jim’s suitcase, he bent the pull out handle on the last set of stairs in Naples and although we got it down we are unable to pull it back out. He will have to pull it without the extension; so glad we are near the end of the trip. Don’t know why but when you’re a week from leaving for home no matter how long or short your trip has been; the days suddenly seem to be dragging and all thoughts are of home. Hasn’t helped that we’ve not been able to get online here and we miss the emails from home. Maybe in Ravenna tomorrow we’ll be able to sign on. Our trip starts early as we are catching the 6 am bus to the train station, then the “chugger train” to Naples. In Naples we are scheduled for the Eurostar that leaves at 9:30 am for the north. We may be going into rain per the weatherman. By the way, the weatherman on television is a general in full uniform, very distinguished looking with a white mustache and goatee. He has lots of medals and ribbons on his dress uniform.

I’m going to end this for now and set it up to sent in Ravenna; always the positive thinker! In fact, I think I’ll give it one more try here tonight in Sorrento.

THE ISLE OF CAPRI

Tuesday, August 10^th, 2004 Travel Day to Sorrento plus Capri

Leisurely morning as our train didn’t leave until 10:45 am for Naples. We took a taxicab over to the train station about 9 am; much cheaper and faster than the one we used when we arrived in Rome. He’d given us the scenic route and ran the meter up much higher than necessary. It makes a big difference when the hotel calls the cab for you.

Arrived at the train station and Jim went to check on his travel book that we’d left yesterday at the reservation desk. They were very nice and did look around; but the book was long gone. Hopefully, someone is putting it to good use for his or her time in Rome; one less thing to carry home. Found carts for our luggage, they’re free and located at several places in the station. Helped when we finally got our track number and being in second class, our car was about as far down the track as you could go. Got aboard and of course our seats were at the opposite end of the car. Everyone was trying to find places to store luggage; get their seats and settle in for the trip. We only had about fifteen minutes from the time the train pulled in until we left the station. People were getting off as we were getting on. Spotted space at the end of the car next to a single seat and I pointed to our suitcases and using hand signs and a grandmotherly look pleaded for his tolerances in allowing us to block him into his seat with our cases. He frowned and shrugged his shoulder as if to say, “I don’t like it but okay.” So I tucked them in and put the cable lock on to secure them together for the trip. This was an ES train, Italy’s Eurostar fast train; the trip from Rome to Naples was non-stop and only two hours. Instead of the usual clickty-clack of the regular train; we swooshed along very smoothly. The people surrounding us were all Italians. I thought the conversations were very easy to ignore and read my book most of the way. Jim had trouble concentrating because of all the talking around us, so he was in and out of his book and catnapping. It’s interesting that when you don’t know the language there’s very little reason to listen to conversations and for me at least it increases my powers of concentration to do other things.

The day is sunny and we were along the coast most of the day heading south. Arrived in Naples and then the fun began. We had to find the Orari Circumvesuviana; the little train that could between Naples and Sorrento by way of Pompeii and about twenty other towns between Naples and Sorrento. We had to do the bit with dragging the suitcases down the stairs into the bowels of the earth to get to the local train. Then the man said that our Eurorail Pass was not enough; “private…must buy ticket”; so we paid 3.50 euros each to get on this little chugger! It took a little over an hour to get to Sorrento; we stood for the first half and then finally got seats. We chained the two large cases in the vestibule and kept an eye on them from our seats. The perspiration was dripping off of us…the only air conditioning was the wind blowing in from the open windows. Oh, forgot to mention; I now have two mosquito bites on my arm to go with the two on my leg. I think we’ll put the Fabric Softener sheets out tonight and plug in the electric repellant.

Arrived in Sorrento, found the wheelchair elevator to go up to the street level and put everything into a cab. Had no idea where our hotel was located, I accidentally mailed the information sheets for the last third of our trip home when we boxed things up in France. All we have it my book that has just about everything we need except for maps to the hotels. So, we handed the driver a paper with the hotel name, Hotel Fiorita, the address and asked how much to take us there. He said twenty-five euros; Jim blanched; but it’s an even day and I said, “yes”. Thank goodness…it was up and up and up a hill. We’re at least three miles from the train station “as the crow flies”; the view is wonderful.

We’re sitting on our balcony overlooking the swimming pool. We can see the city of Sorrento, the city of Naples, Mount Vesuvius Volcano and the Bay of Naples plus surrounding mountains. We’re on the road to the Amalfi Coast. The bus stop is only a few meters down the road. So tomorrow we will take the bus, for only one euro each, into Sorrento to catch the boat to the Isle of Capri. Then on Thursday, we will catch the bus going the other way and be in Positano Beach before we know it!

This afternoon after catching our breath and changing from our travel clothes we ventured into the nearby town. The manager gave us very explicit directions for the footpath. First we had to walk up the hill about 300 meters on the highway (very narrow shoulder) to a covered bus stop. Then we turned down hill on another smaller side road. When we came to a “Y” we were directed to go right and start uphill. This was not a road; more of a very rough sidewalk. The only reason we kept going was that there were streetlights every once in a while. It was mostly high walls, weeds, trash, irregular stones and a house here and there. Finally decided we couldn’t be on the right path so we turned around. We’d gone about a block when an English couple came walking up towards us. They explained that yes, we had been going in the right direction. Turned around and sure enough we’d only gone about half way to the village. Once there we found a nice sized little town with stores, churches and everything. The mountain is laced with paths for people to walk between the villages; much safer than walking along the twisting two lane highway with people speeding by in their cars and the ever present tour buses.

Found the grocery store, purchased our water, checked out the local church and headed back towards the footpath. This time we encountered scooters and an Apia (sp) or the Italian word for “bee” so named because they are very busy buzzing around town I suspect; the bee is a three wheeled enclosed truck that is used for these small path/roads that Italy loves. We first saw them in villages on Lake Como years ago. Took turns carrying the bags and finally arrived back at the hotel where we decided to get pizza for dinner by way of room service. We enjoyed our dinner on our private balcony. Jim is rapidly getting bored with the television. It’s a small unit hung from the ceiling with just a few Italian channels plus it has rabbit ears! Will miss the air conditioning tonight…but we’ll go Italian and leave the windows open. Lights are coming on and I’m ready to shut this down. Tried to sign on to the Internet without any luck. Manager says it should work…will try one more time this evening. The cell phone does work well.

Wednesday, August 11^th: Other than the Cicada’s in the trees….we’ve had them all over Europe this summer; it was a quiet evening. Some of the tourist stalls sell ceramic Cicada’s that have a battery operated sound system that sounds just like the real ones; the perfect souvenir for the tourist who has everything and wants something different.

After breakfast we walked to the bus stop for the bus to Sorrento. Missed the closest sign and walked twice as far as we really needed to; but chalked it up to good exercise. About twenty minutes to Sorrento…all down hill so it goes faster that direction as it’s only a two-lane road with no passing lanes. The bus took us all the way to the train station. Jim wants to use the bus on Friday morning to go to the train station instead of a taxicab; it’s an “odd day” so we probably will. We will have to catch the 6 am bus.

By asking directions several times we managed to walk all the way from the station to the port area. Found the ticket seller for the hydrofoil boat to Capri; and boarded the boat within minutes. Sat outside on the top for the ride over; we managed to find a shady spot with a good view of the harbor.

In Capri we went straight for the Blue Grotto boat that circles the entire island before stopping at the Blue Grotto. The ride around the island was well worth the price of the trip. We thought we were going to the Grotto and back; so everything else was a plus for the money. Even went through the rock with the hole in the center.

At the blue grotto we were all off loaded into small wooden rowboats that looked at least one hundred years old. We teamed with a young American couple and the four of us had a rowboat to ourselves instead of the usual six. Our oarsman took us over to the money boat where we paid our fees and then we got into line to go through the hole. All of our boats were white; there was a gray haired man in a blue rowboat that directed the traffic in and out. I told Jim that he was the “Big Kahuna”. We all had to lie down in the boat while going under, very exciting. Inside all the oarsmen were singing (great echo effect). The water was extremely blue and it was all very beautiful. We lay back down in the boat to get back under the opening. By the way, there are no seats in these rowboats; you sit directly on the bottom of the boat!

Back to the harbor in Capri; purchased a postcard and we each got a double dip of Lemon Gelato before heading back to the hydrofoil boat and Sorrento. We enjoyed the air-conditioned interior of the ship on the way back to Sorrento. Walked all the way back to the train station (it’s a hike and a half all up hill on steps); recommend taking the bus to the main square if you ever do this. It would be well worth a euro each. We had to wait about fifteen minutes for our bus back to the hotel but we were back in our rooms by 3 pm. A good trip that was worth the time and expense; now it’s rest time for the travelers; they call it siesta time. We’re taking the rest of the day off to relax and recuperate for tomorrow.

EXPLORING ROME

August 8^th, 2004 Rome, Italy

During the night I got to thinking about the train trip coming up on the thirteenth and decided that the connections were just too close time wise. So today we are going to go back to the train station and change the reservations so that we come back through Rome from Sorrento and from here go on to Ravenna. More trains are available and we’ll be more comfortable with the schedule (I hope) and also we will be familiar with the stations. Can’t go until late this afternoon as I have jammed the lock on the room safe and I have to wait for the manager to arrive; he is the only one with a key to open a jammed lock. All of our passports and tickets are in the safe.

We left the hotel about 10 am for our walk to church. Arrived timely but found out at 11 am that the English Mass had been discontinued for August. But, we had an Italian Mass at the church next door, St. Ignazio, at 11:30. Jim used the time to go over to the see the Gesu Church; the headquarters of the Jesuits in Rome. St. Ignazio, founder of the Jesuit Order is buried in this church and he worked and lived next door during his lifetime. After Mass we walked back to the hotel and found that at 1 pm it was already hot so we tried to walk in the shade whenever possible. There is a reason the Italians head for the beaches in August!

I’m resting and doing my computer work and Jim is off to the Villa Borghese again to see their Etruscan Museum. He’s promised we can stop at the Cappuccin Crypt sometime before we leave Rome on Tuesday. It’s decorated with the bones of Monks; sounds depressing but interesting.

Jim returned about 4:30 pm and said he’d really enjoyed the Etruscan Museum. Glad he went without me, as that is really not my cup of tea. I received several emails this afternoon with information on some good restaurants so we went out to walk the area looking for them. Didn’t find any so we decided to enjoy a Roma Pizza and beer at an outdoor restaurant located at the foot of the stairs on the crook of the Via Veneto. So good and since we split one pizza we were comfortable but not stuffed. From there we walked across the street to the Cappuccin Crypt and found that it has been closed for restoration since December 2003. So…no monk’s bones on this trip. Continued to walk towards the Plaza Republican and found St. Susanna Church just before we arrived. We’ve been told that they have Mass in English at that church also, but it was closed for the evening. Walked back towards the hotel and finally found one of the restaurants that was recommended in our afternoon emails, Marcello’s; it was also closed. We will check tomorrow to see if it’s closed only for Sunday or for all of August; and also look for the other two tomorrow. We’re considering taking the “all day” double decked tour bus tomorrow. My feet are getting very sore from walking on the cobblestone streets. The Manager never arrived today so we are still unable to get new train reservations.

August 9^th: Manager was to arrive by 9 am so after breakfast we checked at the front desk; now he is due to arrive by 2 pm. Seems as though he is on holiday outside of Rome and is driving in to the city just to open the safe for me.

Left to go to the #110 Open Bus Tour; the stop is just around the corner but it was running late and opposed to only fifteen minutes we waited about forty-five minutes. Then we went to the next stop at the Termni Train Station. Had to get off that bus and get in line to wait about fifteen minutes in the sun for the next bus to leave. The train station is the beginning and end of the line. We decided to go the entire route as we had upstairs seats and could see everything really well. The entire tour is about forty-five minutes; it goes past the major sites and we had English in our earplugs giving an explanation of each site as we passed. Since we purchased the On/Off Pass for thirteen euros we will take it again this afternoon to the train station (after the hotel manager arrives to open the safe) to take care of our tickets and then get back on to go to the Colosseum. From there we will walk to St. Giovanni In Laterano; the Pope’s main place as the Bishop of Rome. There we will also take a look at the 28 holy marble steps; but only through a window. The tour book states that the relics are now in the Vatican and the chapel is locked but there is a special place for tourist to look in the windows? The stairs were the steps leading up to Pilate’s residence and were climbed by Jesus on the day he was sentenced to death. In AD 326 the steps were brought to Rome by the mother of Constantine and put in a special chapel built for them. (not true…see below…)

By noon we were beginning to toast and decided to take a siesta at the hotel. This afternoon I think we’ll be happy to sit downstairs in the cooler interior of the bus for our adventure. Also; on Jim’s morning walk after breakfast he walked over to the Restaurant Marcello and found the doors open; alas they are using August to paint the interior as it is closed for the month. Stock Market is not doing well we hear on CNN. But the ticket sales are going well in Athens.

Back in our little room for the night; busy packing, charging batteries and getting ready for our move tomorrow to Sorrento. The hotel manager arrived right at 2 pm and managed to get the safe open for us. I had caught the cord of my neckpak in the door as it closed. Got back on the 110 Tour Bus and went as far as the train station. We had to wait about forty-five minutes for our turn with the reservations clerk who not only spoke English but was very good to work with. He suggested we go from Naples to Bologna on a ESI train; no changes and its much faster. From there we will take a local train south to the coast and our hotel there in Ravenna. And best of all we will arrive much earlier. He exchanged our previous reservations so there were no additional costs involved; just time.

Took the 110 Tour Bus again and headed for another round of the same sights as we had this morning. Realized we’d left the Rick Steves’ Rome Book in the train station about half an hour later. We have decided that if we’re meant to carry it home it will still be there tomorrow morning.

We got off at the Colosseum stop and walked to San Giovanni in Laterano Church; about three-quarters of a mile each way. It’s a very impressive inside and out; the Pope uses this church for audiences and announcements; it’s his parish church. It was the Papal Palace before St. Peter’s. Very classic, goes back to Constantine in fourth century. Next door we found the Holy Steps from the residence of Pontius Pilate. They are actually still there, covered with Wooden steps with cutouts so that you can see the actual marble steps and the drops of blood from Christ when he crawled up these same 28 steps on the day he was sentenced. We decided to join the group and actually climbed up the steps. You must do so on your knees; no one is allowed to walk up these steps. Fortunately I had a scarf in my purse as the first thing the priest at the door told me was to cover my shoulders (I had on a sleeveless top). We’d been smart enough to wear long pants (no shorts were allowed in the building). It was the chapel at the top of the stairs that has been closed and must be viewed through a window.

Wow! That was tough. Many of the people going up were going very slowly and saying prayers on each step. There are separate stairways on each side that go up to the chapel for those who wanted to just walk up. At the top you could only peer through a grill at the chapel and the relics inside of the original chapel; there is a newer chapel that you may enter off to the side. A very moving experience; we had no idea that we’d actually be able to go up the steps.

Back to the 110 Tour Bus and completed the tour of the sights returning to our hotel area about 7 pm. Decided to have pizza and “water with gas” at another outside eating area on Via Veneto. Stopped to look at the little tractor that has a crane on it before returning to the hotel. Jim is fascinated with this machine. It’s relatively small with rubber tracks on the wheels and then there were four arms that helped to balance the machine; literally lifting the tractor off of the base when it was in use. It had the ability to go up about forty feet; you could call it a “cherry picker”. The operator was there this morning and spent some time with Jim explaining how it worked. It was radio controlled by him from the ground. The top had a platform that held two men who were working on the edge of a building. He approached Jim while he was taking photos and asked him if he liked his machine. I didn’t think we’d ever continue on our way!

Ciao…

AN AUGUST DAY IN ROME!

August 7^th, 2004 Walking for the day in Rome Italy

We enjoyed the best breakfast spread for many weeks; a wonderful buffet chocked full of everything you could want; eggs, meats, cheeses, fruits, and of course a broad selection of breads. Everything was self-serve and the only thing we had to request was tea for Jim. Had a very good sleep; beds are three-quarter twins and the window has a pull down metal shade (very common in Europe) so it was VERY DARK AND QUIET for as late as we wanted to sleep. The only sounds we hear are those that we make from within the room.

After breakfast we talked with the manager and he called the Galleria Borghese and made reservations (required for entry) for us at 3 pm to tour the recently reopened Museum. A former cardinal’s mansion set in the exquisite pine trees of Villa Borghese Park, it has been closed for approximately thirteen years for restoration. It opened just last year and the visits are very controlled; you must have an appointment and you are only allowed to stay for two hours. Rick Steves calls it “one of Europe’s most sumptuous art experiences….you’ll enjoy a collection of world-class Baroque sculpture, including Bernini’s David and his excited statue of Apollo chasing Daphne, as well as paintings by Caravaggio, Raphale, Titian, and Rubens.” Jim, our resident art expert on this trip, says it’s the best he’s seen. One of the extraordinary things is that this “home” was built to exhibit the art that had already been amassed by the Cardinal and thus blends art and décor throughout the building. The environment was sculpted for the art.

Heading out to the Via Veneto about 10 am, we walked to the Barberni Metro Stop; purchased tickets and squeezed into the next car for our standing room only ride to the Vatican. Off at Ottaviano Station, we had about a ten-block walk south to the Vatican past the line of people waiting to enter the Vatican Museum. It stretched from the entry all around the Vatican walls stopping just before the Colonnades surrounding St. Peter’s Square. That convinced us not to think about seeing the Museum again on this trip.

Then, when we arrived at the Colonnades, the line to enter St. Peter’s stretched from the church doors down and through the Colonnades all the way to the front of the Square. This was much longer than the lines we stood in to enter the church through the “Holy Door” in 2000. And, August is the month that everyone leaves Rome and heads for the beaches for vacations. Many of the restaurants and tourist services are closed; but apparently the hordes of tourists just keep coming anyway….so who are we to talk!

Having been here many times before it was not difficult to decide to enjoy the front of St. Peter’s without the ever-present stage for the weekly blessings and spend our time elsewhere in Rome. An email from our daughter Mary (who works for the Archdiocese in San Francisco) confirmed that the Pope is traveling right now from Assisi to France and there will be no audiences in Rome or his summer residence while we’re here.

From the Vatican we started our walking tour of about two miles back to the hotel; we walked along the route to Castel San Angelo, the fort built to protect the Pope during of wars, and arrived at the Tiber River. We had not noticed before that they have a very similar broad walkway along both sides of the Tiber River; very similar to the one in Paris along the Seine River. But, unlike Paris, we didn’t see any special beach creations for those who were unable to get out of town in August.

Our first destination was the fountains in Piazza Navona where they are still working on the restoration process. Now they are also working on the church; when we first visited this Piazza back in the 1990’s they were only doing the fountains. Restoration work on these archeological treasures is never-ending. Our second stop was at the Pantheon, one of the most complete Roman Temples that has survived from AD 118 to the present because the Christians converted it from a Temple to a church. This is the one with the circular opening at the very top of the dome that is the only source of light in the building. The floor has a series of drains so that when it rains; it drains! From the Pantheon it is only a short walk over to the Trevi Fountain, a must see and do for every Tourist in Rome. Saw a sign in a nearby bar that said: “skip the Trevi and have a bevi”.

We took turns tossing a coin in the fountain to ensure our return to Rome, seems to have been working well in the past as we keep coming back! In 1999 we witness the Monday cleaning crew for the fountain. They drain the water and scoop up all the coins from the previous week. We were told that the money is given to charitable organizations. Well, today someone was creating her own charity; she had a long pole with what appeared to be a magnet on the end and was picking up coins one at a time from the water and dropping them into her pocket. Several people tapped her on the shoulder and wiggled their finger at her but she continued to work at her job, one coin at a time, while the majority of people just ignored her.

Just prior to arriving at the Trevi we passed the Jesuit Cathedral and it advertised an English Mass at 11 am on Sunday; we decided to come back on Sunday for Mass. We also took time in the Trevi area to locate a restaurant that had been recommended to us as a great place to eat. Found the building but it was already closed down for the month of August. Met the owner who was supervising a cleaning crew and he suggested that we try his other restaurant around the corner. Tonight was their last night and then it would also be closed for the rest of the month. The owner is leaving for a vacation in Mexico. He made reservations for us at 7:30 this evening.

After the Trevi we walked on to the Spanish Steps at Piazza di Spagna. Crowded as always, most of the people were sitting on the right side in the shade all the way up to the top of the steps. There was a bride and groom standing for photos in front of the fountain at the base of the steps. After a few photos we started up the steps. There are well over one hundred steps to the top, all in the sun as the shade was filled with people. By now it was about 1 pm and hot. By the time we reached the top we were delighted to pay seven euro for two sodas!

From the top of the Spanish Steps it was an easy walk to the Via Veneto and then over to Via Emilia and our hotel. We were dripping as we arrived; being in Rome we had worn long pants and shirts with sleeves as we thought that we might be entering several different churches. Very few people wear shorts on the streets in the cities; but sleeveless tops are ok except for in the churches; they prefer to have the shoulder’s covered and they will sometimes stop people who have shorts on from entering the church. Dresses can be as short as they want however!

We showered, changed into cooler shirts and headed for our appointment at the Borghese Museum after a short siesta. The Villa Borghese is only several blocks from our hotel. Once in the park we had a long stroll under the pine trees by way of a broad street that is now reserved for pedestrians. You can see the Museum, a large white edifice, for the last half of the journey across the park. Beautifully restored to its original splendor, it is reminiscent of southern colonial homes in the United States. We both enjoyed the tour very much; they’ve done an excellent job of selecting statues and paintings for the narratives on the headphones that we wisely paid to have during our tour. You wander through at your own pace but the headset keeps one on course; we’ve been told that if you linger too long they will remind you of the time limits of your visit.

Strolled back to the main street and took the escalators down under the streets to the local grocery store for some drinks and water. It is so odd to find this open on Saturday afternoon. In years past, everything closed about noon on Saturday until Monday morning…but it’s been four years since we’ve stayed over in Rome and things are changing! Not everything is now open, but many more are open than in the past.

We are still looking for an open Tabac Shop to purchase some time for the cell phone. We’ve got it working finally, but the Italian voice on the phone says we need to put more time on it to get it to work for international calls. Didn’t find any open on Saturday afternoon. Rested for a while at the hotel and then headed by foot back towards the Trevi Fountain area and our restaurant about 6:30 pm. Arrived early and while walking around found a mini-department store that was open and had an electronics department. She had four of the TIM cards that I needed that had four minutes on each card. I purchased all four and she loaded the first one in for me before we had to leave for our dinner reservations.

Dinner was a good experience. Shared a spinach pasta roll filled with goat cheese and then Jim has spaghetti with fish sauce (mostly clams still in the shell) and I had an Italian specialty dish of lamb chops with braised vegetables. We asked her for a Kir before dinner and she didn’t know what that was so we settled for our “water with gas”. We both talked about gelato (Italian ice cream) for dessert on the walk home but decided to forgo the sweets and stick to our plans to shed a few pounds before arriving home. Did I mention that this hotel had bathroom scales in the room….it is a metric system but by multiplying by 2.2 we were able to weigh ourselves. Rude awakening after two months of no scales; not too bad, but we’ve gained more than we wanted on the trip.

Back at the hotel the night manager helped me load the additional minutes into the cell phone. Even though I don’t need it tonight it gives me a good feeling knowing that I do finally have it working.

TRAVELING BY TRAIN TO ROME

August 6^th, 2004 Rome, Italy

Awake early we were dressed before the 7 am bells rang. Watched TV until 7:45 and then walked over for breakfast. Sky is clear. A quick breakfast and then we pulled our luggage down the hill (thank you God for small blessings) to the train station in Manarola. Had to do a down and then up the stairs to get to the train platform. By 9 am we were on our way to La Spezia; arrived timely and pulled our luggage down the steps to go from the tracks to the station. As we started across to the stairs leading up, Jim saw a glass elevator! It had a wheelchair sign on it; Jim said, “we qualify, I’m using it!” He started limping! Bottom line….we used it to go up to the station level. Found the ticket counters and got the reservations for the final two train days that we were not able to get in France. Took quite awhile and she was doing a lot of talking in Italian. Finally, I realized that she couldn’t get us seats together. I said that was ok. I had pre-printed what I wanted on a sheet of paper that I gave to her at the beginning; that helped immensely as my Italian is pretty much non-existent.

Once we had the reservations, we then had to figure out the track number the train to Rome would leave from in two hours. You know me….I got him there early because I didn’t know what we’d face getting the reservations; and the next train from Manarola would have been at 11 am. That would have been cutting it a bit close for the 12:06 train to Rome especially since the trains along the Cinque Terre are known to be late. Jim likes to arrive just in time so he was not a happy camper. When we found our track number we had to cross back over to the center island and that meant another trip down and back up through the pedestrian tunnel. Jim went right to the wheelchair elevator and down we went; walked over to the other side and used another one for the trip back up! People just ignored us so I guess the gray hair qualified; oh yeah…Jim was continuing his “limp”! After we settled down I noticed that there was an asphalt paved crossing at one end of the platform between the three islands. I’m sure it was designed and designated for train personal use only; but people were using it also. I darted across once to use the restrooms while we waited.

Restrooms in train stations are the same all over Europe. The toilets are flat on the floor. This one had a community roll of toilet paper; you took what you needed on the way into your stall. Jim reminds me daily that we shouldn’t travel if we can’t adjust to things that are different.

We had a place to sit down and Jim even walked over to the market near the train station and purchased a soda and a bag of toasted bread for our trip. By 12:15 we were sure that the train was running late. It finally arrived about forty-five minutes late. Got aboard and discovered this train was compartments. Struggled to get to our seats and found American girls in them. They jumped up immediately and moved to the hallway that is about twenty-four inches wide. There are “jump seats” all along the corridor for people who don’t have reservations. We told the girls if they’d watch our big luggage in the corridor we would leave their backpacks up in the rack over our seats. Nice kids.

Enjoyed listening to them talk about their travel experiences with the young American couple also sitting in the corridor with them. They were all four getting off in Pisa for a quick look around before heading into Florence for the night. Our large suitcases really blocked the aisle but no one said anything so we left them there even after the girls removed their backpacks in Pisa. Four hours passed quickly as we read our books and nibbled on some of the extra cheeses that we’d saved from breakfast. At each station the passengers changed and people were moving from seat to seat when someone with a reservation arrived and requested their seat. I would say that at least half of the people on the train didn’t have seat reservations. As we clicky-clicked down the track we saw the Carrara Marble Mountains, a few villages and town as well as vast expanses of the Ligurian Sea and then the Tyrrhenian Sea as we neared Ostia before heading through the tunnels and in to the Rome Termini Station.

Wow…we were able to walk directly from the train platform into the station and out to the taxicabs without going up or down any stairs! The sun was still shining and the line for the cabs was not too long. Loaded the cab and as usual I think he took us the long way to the hotel; but at this point we didn’t really care. By 5:30 pm we were snug in our beautiful room at the La Residenza Hotel just off Via Veneto and south of Villa Borghese.

We’re going to enjoy the next four nights while we become reacquainted with Rome. We have several recommendations for restaurants and places to go from friends that we’re looking forward to enjoying; as well as our own favorite haunts from previous trips. Within half an hour after our arrival the sky opened and we had a full-blown storm with lots of thunder and heavy rain. I think we’ll stay in for the evening and enjoy the nice bowl of fruit that the hotel has provided for us.

Arrivederci from Rome

CINQUE TERRA....ITALIAN FISHING VILLAGES

August 3^rd, 2004 Cinque Terra

Out the door before 9 am, we walked to the bus stop in Nice, about a block from the hotel, pulling our luggage and wearing backpacks. The bus dropped us off right in front of the train station, just a little over a mile away. We located the track number for our train. We already had our tickets and reservations. We had to go down and back up a set of stairs to get to the track; Jim wanted me to wait for him to come back and help me with my luggage. But I started down on my own letting the suitcase bump down each step and sure enough a strong, young man took over before I was half way. Then he walked over with me and helped me up the other set of stairs. When we changed trains in Genoa and also when we arrived in Cinque Terre we had sets of stairs and sure enough each time when I started on my own someone helped me almost immediately. Must be the gray hair!

Immediately discovered one of the differences between first and second class trains…on first class they have a luggage rack for your large pieces…second class you’re on your own. As we were one of the first ones on the train, we were lucky enough to be seated near the end of the car and locked our two big suitcases together near the door. A little bit in the way, but no one complained and they stayed there for the longest part of our trip. Seventy five percent of the people on the train were under the age of thirty. They all had backpacks; sleeping bags and were very well behaved. A group of five Italian boys, all under the age of eighteen, had the seats next to us and across the aisle. Their pants were dropped as low as possible and we held our breath; but they were very well behaved for the entire trip. They ate and ate and ate…bottomless pits at that age. As the trip progressed they played cards and listened to their CD players.

The train left Nice at 10 am. We crossed the border into Italy after about an hour and the Italian police were very much in evidence; they even walked a dog through the cars sniffing for explosives per Jim. We each had to identify our bags for them. The train runs like a ribbon along the coast at the base of mountains. Lots of tunnels and in between there were homes with hues of red and yellow dotting the hillsides. One of the negative sides of traveling by train is the backyard vistas that you see beside the train. One needs to train the eye to look beyond that and to the vistas in the distance for a wonderful experience and an easy way to enjoy Europe.

We arrived in Genoa right on time at 1:00 pm; pulled our luggage over to the track for the train to La Spezia that was scheduled to leave at 1:36 pm. Suddenly, we realized that we were standing with lots of Americans. They were discussing the walking trails between the five towns of Cinque Terre and I could tell they needed some help…some thought that you could only take a boat to each town. We had two college girls from Michigan; a mother and daughter from New York, an Australian couple, a couple from L.A., a college girl from UC Davis and a college girl from Canada. We were the only ones that had been to Cinque Terre before and also had a book and details of the train trip. Some thought that they had to go all the way to La Spezia and then go back to the towns on a different train. I explained to them about the slow milk run that we were waiting for would stop at each town. We had lots of time to chat; the train was forty-five minutes late! Someone had a newspaper and we discussed the threat to Italy and also New York. We all agreed that one needs to be aware but no one talked about cutting their trip short because of the threats. By 2:30 pm we were all loaded aboard and headed south. It was another two-hour trip so we didn’t arrive at Manarola until about 4:30 in the afternoon.

Then we had a half-mile walk to the hotel…not far but all up a very steep hill. We were both panting hard and stopping every few feet but we did make it to the hotel under our own power! The weather was very hot and also humid; sweat from pouring off of both of us. Once we arrived we took showers and rested. Walked down to town…it’s either up or down any way you go in this town; level doesn’t exist…about seven for a delicious dinner of fresh swordfish steaks and grilled vegetables. Did I mention that these are fishing villages; the town is loaded with dory fishing boats all along the street. This particular town doesn’t have a beach so the boats are put in and taken out of the water with a huge winch. It definitely has lots of character and we will enjoy our three nights by mostly doing nothing; this is our third time here so we’ve done the hiking and touristy things already.

We’ve always stayed at Da Baranin when we come to Manarola; it’s a small B&B at the top end of the village. Very clean and friendly; they helped me replace my digital camera when it broke in 2002 by setting us up with a photo shop in La Spezia. We went with the “view” room this time. Much larger room with a queen sized bed, red tile floors and a balcony. The view is of the entire village and the Ligurian Sea. No air conditioning but we are going to leave the windows open all night and put our Downey Softener Sheets out around our bed just incase there are mosquitoes. (An Internet tip that works well we hope.) We also dug out the Mosquito tabs that plug into an outlet; we’d purchased them in 2002 when the Mosquitoes were really bad in the north of France. It works like the air freshener things that you plug in. We’re expecting some rain tomorrow according to the weather report on television….we do have CNN tonight. We’ve really been fortunate on the weather issues; even when it’s been hot and humid there is usually a breeze. And, best of all we seem to have missed most of the rainstorms this summer.

August 4^th: Our first Italian breakfast was on the patio overlooking our village in Manarola. We were hearing some thunder but never had any raindrops. Met a very nice young couple from Houston, Texas at the next table; any problems that we “thought” we had vanished when we heard their tale of woe. They missed their flight to Rome on Air Italia and ended up flying to Milan and then taking a train to their first scheduled reservation in Pisa. First, their luggage did not arrive with them. No problem, they figured it had gone to Rome and they requested that it be sent on to their hotel in Pisa. Then they got on a second-class train without reservations and had to stand for the two-hour trip, as it was jammed with young kids with backpacks. Try that on top of jet lag! Only one piece of luggage was delivered to Pisa. That was four days ago; they are still trying to find the missing piece. They’ve wasted hours on the telephone with Air Italia and also time trying to shop economically for some clothes for the wife as all her clothes were in the still missing suitcase. The airline has promised to reimburse them for expenses but has not told them how much. The saving grace in this story is that had the husband’s clothes been missing; he’d had more problems than she has right now if he had to wear her clothes! And unlike us, they only have two weeks to enjoy their first trip to Italy.

Spent the early afternoon reading and working on the computer. About 1 pm we put on our swimsuits and headed towards the beach by way of the vineyard paths high on the hill across from our hotel. Provided some great photo opportunities and was somewhat level most of the way. But, what goes up must come down and we found a series of very steep, uneven stone never-ending steps down to the main path. We survived and found the launch ramps for boats on the bay side of the village. It was very crowded with people but we found space to roll out our bamboo mats and gather about an hour and a half of sunrays on the concrete ramps; just enough to add to our tan but not burn our skin. I even used my rubber shoes that I brought with me from home and carefully worked my way down the ramp for a nice swim in the water; didn’t stay in long but did go back in for a second time during our stay on the concrete beach. There is no actual beach, neither sand nor rock, in this village; only ramps and boulders. Even so nearly everyone is in a bathing suit most of the day.

Ended our day by going back down into the village for a light dinner at one of the restaurants, Jim had scampi and linguini; and I enjoyed roasted chicken. Back up the hill for a nightcap of Pastis on the balcony of our room as we watched the lights come on in the village below. The Nativity Scene on the hillside across from us in the vineyards just lit up so it’s about time to go inside for the evening. Did I mention the church bells? The bells have a pleasant tone and are practically next door to us; fortunately, they stop after 9:30 pm and don’t ring again until 7 am. At 7 am they ring seven times; pause, and then they give the wake-up you sleepy heads ring and ring and ring and ring and ring….

August 5^th: Rained during the night. It was interesting after we went to bed about 10:30 pm we could hear the movie down in the village until nearly 11 pm. There is a restaurant across from the entrance to the train tunnel that has a large screen above the tunnel entry. During the summer they show old movies every night for free. Usually American made movies that have been dubbed into Italian. The echo caused by the steep incline seems to increase in volume as it nears our hotel at the top. They finally finished just before I went to sleep; Jim uses earplugs and had no problem. During the night I woke to the much-needed rain. We also had rain again this morning followed by a rainbow. Breakfast was outside but under the foldout awnings as it was still dripping slightly.

Spent the morning reading, working on my computer; A “do nothing” day for us; we both have books that we want to finish and tomorrow is a busy day with the train trip to Rome. About 2 pm we put on swimsuits and headed down the hill to our boat ramp concrete “beach” for some time in the sun; stayed for an hour before walking back up the hill to our home. We picked up cash at the ATM machine on the way home, as this is definitely an “all cash” town including the hotel. None of the restaurants will accept credit cards. Probably some of the shops might if you spent enough money on their merchandise. We are filled to the brim luggage-wise so that is not a concern of ours at this point in the trip.

About 5 pm the sky became almost black and the thunder with lightening filled the air; wind whipped up through the canyons and we could see whitecaps on the water below. Lost power at one point for a few minutes and then the rain arrived. Really heavy rain for a short time and then it has continued to drizzle for the rest of the evening. We used our umbrellas about 7 pm and walked down to the village center for dinner. Jim ordered fish soup; he was thrilled, it was chocked full of all types of fish; many still in their shells. It took him at least half an hour to work his way to the bottom of the bowl where he found the “soup” ready to be soaked up with bread. A quick walk back up the hill with umbrellas and we were tucked in for the evening!

RESTING ON THE FRENCH RIVIERA

Sunday, August 1^st, 2004 Nice…the French Riviera

Slept in and then walked to the train station in Nice to validate our Italian Train Pass and check on making the rest of our reservations in Italy. It was extremely easy as everyone spoke English with ease. They validated our pass and informed us that the particular reservations we still needed could only be obtained after we were in Italy. Now we understand what they were trying to tell us at the first train station last week.

From the train station Jim walked to the Marc Chagall Museum. Museums in France are free on the first Sunday of each month; he couldn’t resist taking advantage of this plus he really wanted to visit this particular museum as many of Marc Chagall’s works are based on the Old Testament. The Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, where Jim is a docent, will be opening a new exhibit this fall on “The Treasurers of Sheba”. The only written references of Sheba are found in the Old Testament. Today in the exhibit at the Chagall Museum; Jim found a picture of David and Sheba and also a large ceramic plate with their two faces entwined into one.

I walked back to the hotel, changed clothes and headed for the beach with my CD player. A very hot day and the beach was filled. Enjoyed the sun and was nearly ready to leave when a deep French sounding voice said in French: “madame” …it was Jim. He’d finished at the Museum and came to join me on the beach. Stayed another half an hour and then decided we were toasted enough as it was 1:00 pm.

We decided to go to the 2 pm show of “I’ Robot”. Since it is a very new movie we “assumed” it was a “V.O.” and would be in English. Opps…the ticket man asked if we knew it was in French? Oh well. He explained where the theatre that runs the English language movies in town was located. About two miles away but we had shade most of the way so it was a nice walk. The only new movie they had when we arrived was Spiderman II; since we’d already seen that in Paris we continued walking. By now we were back on the Promenade along the Beach. Decided to try the French McDonald’s (Quick) and had their chicken sandwich. Very good lunch especially since we were able to eat at a table outside enabling us to both enjoy the cool breezes and the views of the people walking back and forth to the beach.

Arrived back at our hotel and enjoyed the balance of the afternoon in the quiet and cool room that we now call home. I also spent some time on the managers’ computer reading emails. Not able to hook up my computer here in this hotel. Her computer had a French keyboard (letters are the same but located in different locations); so I used the hunt and peck method of typing. Once into the Internet, all of the instructions and buttons were in French. The only English was in the actual emails that I opened to read; but, still worth the effort as it’s always good to receive news from home.

Monday, August 2^nd:

A quiet morning of walking around town. Spent time shopping at the large Gallerie Lafayette Department Store across the street (it was closed as were most other stores on Sunday). Found some snacks for the train trip tomorrow. Then we went to the individual shops including several bookstores; one had an Internet so I took another stab at the French keyboard and did better than yesterday. I found the comma and some other punctuation marks that I couldn’t find yesterday. The number keys require the use of the shift key to work; only two euro for twenty minutes.

Weather is humid and slightly overcast but still in the high nineties. We decided to wait until after 2 pm to go to the beach. I spent some time working on the photos in my computer. Even though I’ve eliminated a lot of multiple shots, as well as fuzzy ones, I’ve still got several thousand photos. But, from those I have a “Best of Spain” and a “Best of France” that I’ve selected for printing and photo albums when I return home. There are about two hundred fifty photos in each of those albums. Today I put titles on each of those and eliminated some more in the process. These “Best” albums are copies so if I change my mind the original is still in the main album; just harder to locate. I did set the camera up to print the date on each photo and that helps immensely when trying to remember the details on each photo.

Jim went window-shopping after he tired of the television repeats and brought back an egg and cheese crepe that we shared for a late lunch before heading for the beach about 3 pm. Thought we’d have an easier time finding space but the beach was still packed with people. We were lucky and found a spot very near the water for our bamboo mats. Stayed for a little over an hour watching the boats pulling the parachutes, cruise ships going in and out of the harbor, sailboats in the horizon and the bathing beauties of all shapes and sizes as they paraded past our mats on their way to and from the water. Occasionally we’d get an eye full if we were on our backs and opened our eyes at the wrong time! We have to pack tonight and get ready for our first train journey tomorrow.

We’ve decided to take the city bus to the train station. The train doesn’t leave until 10 am so we should be able to have breakfast and make our way there in plenty of time. We’re doing this train thing on second class cars so will probably be with lots of young people. The area is full of American and British youths traveling for the summer.

About 7 pm we started walking and made it all the way to the port, about two miles before heading into the old part of the city for dinner. Found a great little restaurant called Le Romarin and enjoyed a wonderful dinner while keeping a watchful eye on the sky; raindrops were falling now and then and we were sitting outside. Made a fast dash back to the hotel thinking it was going to pour, as it was very humid, but never more than drops here and there for the whole evening. Packed our suitcases and set the alarm for an early start in the morning as we cross the border into Italy.

NICE AND THE TOPLESS BEACHES.....

Saturday, July 31st, 2004 Nice, France

After sending our journal yesterday, we went out for our final walk around L’Isle sur la Sorgue. Watched the locals playing in the water throughout the city. Spent some time at the boating club observing members challenging each other in the flat boats and sat for a while listening to singers doing short routines for mike checks for the concert tonight in the town square.

This morning we were up at the crack of dawn and ready to leave by the time we had breakfast at 7:15 am. The newspapers and television news shows were full of reports of major traffic for the Autoroutes towards the south as people started out on their traditional August vacations this weekend. When we stopped at the rest area after the first hour it was full of people still sleeping in their cars. Traffic was heavy but not impossible.

When we opened the instruction book from the car agency to verify the procedure for returning the car this morning at the Nice Airport we discovered that we were suppose to have made a reservation four days ago. Opps…guess we’ll stop by on the way in to Nice to see how we can overcome this slight problem. The plan had been to drive to the hotel; drop the luggage and then go to the airport. (When we leave from Nice we will be using the train for the Italy portion of our trip). Airport traffic was bumper to bumper. Accidentally got into the “Kiss and Leave” (that’s exactly what the sign said) and that took even more time. Finally parked; went inside to the return counter and Jim worked his magic charm. Never mentioned that we didn’t have an appointment; requested the gate code (that we were supposed to have received when we got our appointment four days earlier) and when the guy couldn’t find our name in the appointment book; Jim said we’d be back in a hour as we needed to take our luggage to the hotel in Nice prior to leaving the car. Worked perfect! The clerk slotted us in for the noon appointment.

By noon the luggage was at the hotel, the car had been returned to Peugeot and we were on the bus back to Nice. After getting checked in to the hotel and a short nap; we put on our swimsuits and headed for the beach with our bamboo mats and beach shoes. The beaches here are rocks…shoes are very important! Advantage is that you don’t have sand sticking all over you; disadvantage is that the rocks can be rather firm! But we enjoyed our hour in the sun (that was about all we could take) and even the novelty of the topless ladies all around us soon wore off.

Back to the hotel, we’re about four blocks from the beach; rested up a bit before dressing and then headed for the local Catholic Notre Dame Cathedral for Saturday evening Mass at 5:15 pm. From there we walked another mile and visited the Russian Orthodox Cathedral; very ornate and beautiful inside and out with extensive use of gold leafing plus onion shaped turrets. They were in the process of chanting their Vesper Service while we were there. Checked the train station on the way home and then had a wonderful dinner at our favorite restaurant from the 2002 trip. Walked to the promenade along the beach by way of the old center and enjoyed an evenings’ stroll for about six blocks. The English tourist who didn’t like walking on the rocky beach to enjoy the view built the first promenade; it was built of marble. Today it’s concrete and asphalt. Swimmers still dotted the beach and ocean; bicycle riders, skate boarders and roller blade pros were streaming down the bicycle section as other just strolled along as we were; enjoying the sights and sounds of an evening in Nice. We had street musicians entertaining us; a magnificent evening sky and a mixture of language sounds surrounding us as we enjoyed our evening walk before heading back to the hotel.

2004 HEADING FROM PARIS TO PROVENCE

Tuesday, July 27^th, 2004 Heading for Provence

We enjoyed our crepe dinner in Paris last night as we sat outside under the awning watching the rain that started just after we arrived at the café. Purchased beer to enjoy with the crepes; it also allowed us to sit at the tables. The café is separate from the crepe maker even though they are in the same building. By the time we’d finished our crepes the rain had stopped and we walked back to the hotel under the dripping trees and enjoyed the fresh air! Band of Brothers was on the television as it was Monday night again.

On the road by 9 am; it only took us about fifteen minutes to be out of Paris. That’s definitely a record! It helped that we were only a short distance from the Peripherique by way of Port d’Orleans; then only a thousand meters on the Peripherique (thank goodness as it was bumper to bumper) and we turned south on the A6. The southbound traffic was a breeze; pity the poor souls headed into Paris in the stop and go traffic running opposite our wide-open route. For those who have asked about the cost of the toll roads; it was 439 kilometers (about 270 miles) to Lyon, took us about four hours and cost 23.50 Euros to use the Autoroute (toll road).

On the way down we enjoyed a beautiful day with lots of sunshine. Our girls were waiting for us with their faces uplifted to the sunshine. Enjoyed the Chateaus that dot the hillside and the castles ruins on the hilltops. The fields were full of sunflowers, corn, wheat, hay and herds Charolais cattle (the white ones). They are harvesting the hay right now. Farmers use the method of rolling the hay into huge round bales that remind me of rolling snow for a snowman in the wintertime. Right now, round bales of hay are lying all over the fields waiting to be picked up for storage.

Just outside of Beaune we passed the Chateau Chateauneuf where we’ve enjoyed several delicious meals and I remembered our stay on the “Lady A” (a canal boat that is permanently moored on the Burgundy Canal that flows through the valley) next to Autoroute that we were driving on. We stayed there for four nights in November of 2000 for our first visit to Beaune. There was another American couple also staying on the boat and we shared the drama of the trying days of the Presidential Election and the “chad” issues. The boat owners were constantly changing the television channels and/or ignoring our request to watch the news on CNN. We’re looking forward to being home for this election and also a smoother flow of voting results.

Stopped in Beaune to pick up my vitamin pillboxes that I’d left last week. Purchased gasoline at the local supermarket (1.04 Euros per liter compared to 1.15 on the autoroute) before heading south towards Lyon. We visited Lyon during our trip in 1992 and so decided to make our overnight stop in Vienne, about thirty kilometers south of Lyon. We had decided that to drive from Paris to Provence was just too long for one day.

Vienne is a beautiful town located along the Rhone River and offered extensive Roman Ruins to explore. As soon as we were checked in we headed over to the Gare (the train station) to see about purchasing the first of our seat reservations for our journey into Italy in August. I had purchased our Eurorail Pass for Italy prior to leaving home. I had also very carefully researched the train schedules on the Internet and made a list of the train numbers, etc. that we needed seat reservations for because of time schedules, etc. We also needed a ticket for the first day from Nice across the French border, as our Europass is only good for Italy. The stationmaster was great. Very patience, spoke no English, and spent nearly half an hour with us attempting to fulfill our request. Finally, he suggested that we get the last part of our reservations after we arrive in Italy as he was having trouble getting the hours that we wanted. But we did manage to get the tickets from Nice to the border, the reservations for seats to Genoa, then for the trip to Rome and also for the trip to Naples. He was so good we surprised him with a tip before we left. He was shocked to say the least!

Spent the balance of the afternoon exploring all the Roman Ruins scattered throughout the old center of town. Everything is walking distance from our hotel; an Ibis Hotel with central air, television, elevators, internet access…wow….and only a two star. One thing that we’ve learned is that when you need change, go to the Post Office. Banks post signs in their windows that say “No Change”. The Post Offices have a special machine for obtaining change; handy for parking meters and Laundromats. Yes, that is coming up before we get on the train so we made a visit and got prepared early.

Wednesday, July 28^th: Back on the Autoroute; known in France as the Autoroute Du Soleil (route to the sun) as it goes from Paris to the south of France. Only used it for a short distance and then headed for the side roads to find a small town that one of my books (novels) written with French themes mentioned. The town is Seguret on D23 southwest of Vaison-la-Romain. A very old, small village located on the side of the hill. We walked from the bottom to the top and back to the car. Many of the shops were selling Christmas Nativity Scenes. Seems like a community theme as there were many different shops selling the Nativity Sets. The surrounding hills were covered with vineyards. We’re really in the center of wine production and nearly every Vintner has a wine tasting shop for the public. In France they sometimes call them Caves. So far we’ve managed to keep driving without testing the vintages. But, we sure have developed a taste for Pastis; decided to shop for another bottle today.

Weather is getting warmer. We had ninety-four degree weather when we arrived in L’Isle sur la Sorgue at 1 pm this afternoon. We’re here for three nights. Wonderful village known for its’ Market Days on Thursday and Sunday. The one on Sunday is most famous for it’s Antiques. We will miss that one as we leave Saturday morning. If you’ve not been here, there is a delightful stream that flows through the town. It’s fast moving with crystal water from underground springs. They race very thin boats that are only able to go under the bridges because the pole man lies flat in the boat as they scoot under the bridges. We had dinner tonight outside on the edge of the river. I kept looking for the twelve-inch fish that we saw during the afternoon. I have not seen any fish other than that one! We think they must release him once a day to entertain the tourists.

Our hotel is quiet, has all the amenities and is reasonable. It is also only two blocks from the center of the village and is called the Hotel Les Nevons. We spent a good part of the day today repacking our luggage for next week after doing the laundry. When we leave here we will be dropping the car off when we arrive in Nice. We’re mailing another box home and leaving a goodwill package here in the hotel room for the maids of things we decided to just leave. Amazing how luggage grows and grows and grows…..

We’ve been watching the Boston Democratic Convention today; so nice to have CNN and be able to catch up on the news. Until now the French TV station had a reporter in Boston covering the convention so we have been getting the news story; but only in French.

Thursday, July 29^th: Slept in a bit and then headed for the Thursday Market. Had lots of fun; hard to not purchase sooo many things but then the “baggage issue” rears it’s ugly head! But we did find a couple of unusual small things to purchase. The food is what is so much fun. The wide variety of cheeses, olives, spices, vegetables, meats (cooked and raw), fresh fish including the head of a swordfish, bolts of material, flowers (fresh and dried) you name it; it was here. We found a clever little dish that grates food very easily and Jim purchased a small package of ground up spices. We’re going to find a pottery shop in Orange County when we get back to the USA that has the Provence style pottery; we’ve said this before, but this time we WILL actually do it when we get home! One dish that I really liked was made for olives; about six inches round with an attached small bowl for pits and a smaller one for toothpicks. Surely someone in America has made one of these! Lots of dogs, bicycles and baskets created a special flavor and the interesting places they find to park their cars while they shopped was a constant surprise. They’re so small the French seem to be able to park them on the proverbial dime.

Finally left the market, picked up our car and headed for the large supermarket on the edge of town. Needed to purchase tape and string for our last package. When we took it to the post office we were pleasantly surprised when she said we didn’t have to pay any postage. Seems as though when we purchased the box at the post office last week; the postage was included in the price of the box as long as we didn’t exceed a certain weight! That makes the first five boxes a bit cheaper than we’d thought. Hummm….maybe another box in the near future?? We’re keeping the extra tape and string just in case we decide to send more home.

Decided to drive to the Fountain of Vaucluse. We’d been there in 2000 but wanted to see everything in bloom. Beautiful and quaint, not very changed. Decided to walk about a mile each way to see the actual “source” of the water for all the crystal clear streams that run throughout the region. We were amazed when we arrived and found the pool to be extremely low due to the lack of rain for the past few years. It was at least twenty feet below the level in 2000. I guess California is not the only area affected by drought these days. We purchased a book and found that these conditions have occurred regularly over the centuries.

During the afternoon the children learning how to maneuver a kayak in the river entertained us as we walked along the river. A teenager seemed to be in charge; each of the kids wore a life jacket. He was working with a group of ten. He had them going up and down over small rapids created in the river; great place to safely learn the techniques. Other teenagers were busy jumping and diving into the water from a bridge; each trying to be more daring than his friends. Everyone in the water wears shoes we noticed; lots of rocks and unfortunately trash litters the bottom. All along the river there are concrete steps that allow people to sit with their feet in the cool water. Shoppers, both old and young, sit next to their bags for a break in their day with their feet dangling in the cool water. And so another warm day closes. It’s much cooler in the evening but hits the nineties during the day. The shade is comfortable but walking in the sun is guaranteed to burn your skin!

Friday, July 30^th: This is our last day before heading for Nice. We decided to go south and find the town of Ansouis located just north of Pertius. A couple of years ago we both read “The Magic of Provence”, a book by Yvone Lenard. She had restored a home below a castle in a hill town and wrote a book about the village of Ansouis and her experiences.

Found the town perched on a hillside with the castle at the top just as she described. Parked near the café and walked up to the castle as we knew her home backed up to the base of the castle. We discovered a beautiful home that Jim was sure belonged the author; we also found the Tourist Information that was actually built into the back of the home. We were fortunate to find a delightful young French girl who spoke extremely good English in the Tourist Information Shop who confirmed that we were correct about the house. We were the only customers and she spent about twenty minutes with us. The castle is only open in the afternoon, it was now only 11 am, but she offered to ring up the author as she is now in residence and does not mind meeting people who ask about her. We elected not to bother her but asked many questions of the clerk. She has a new book out called “Love in Provence”…Jim is sure we’ve read it but I don’t remember reading that one. Will check when we return home. Asked her why the first book was not translated into French and she replied that the editor would not cooperate as French people don’t like to read books by Americans about their French experiences…or something like that. There was a German translation in the shop for sale as well as the English version. We also saw a selection of wines from Forbin de Janson. Of course Jim couldn’t resist asking about that one and again, she provided us with lots of information regarding the town where the wine is grown.

When we left Ansouis we had a new quest; we were on the road to find Forbin de Janson. Finally found the town known as St’ Egreve Janson after touring several cornfields. Nothing much, lots of new houses; but no winery with the name of Forbin de Janson was visible in the areas that we searched. We did find a street by that name and drove to the end of it without success. Headed back to our hotel for a late lunch and siesta time.

It’s been fun being back in Provence again. Tomorrow morning we head south to Nice and turn the car in at the airport. We have three nights in Nice and then take the train into Italy. I will miss the ease of using the internet in France. Last time we were in Nice at the same hotel I had trouble signing on and finally had to use my computer from the manager’s office. Do hope they’ve corrected that problem. So for now it’s adieu, farewell and au revoir until next time.