The potato is planted

Hi friends.  I should have gotten on and posted this yesterday, but I was just whipped out!   I didn't sleep well Friday night in anticipation of my travel day Saturday, then a long day of travel and a 6 hour time change all added up to one tired puppy on Sunday.  I finally got home about 11:00 pm local time, Saturday night, but to my body it felt like 5:00am Sunday.  I spent the day with Rhonda, showing her pictures and taking frequent naps.  Hoping that I am back on schedule now.  Talk to you all soon!

Paris...oui oui!

Just a quick post today...was too tired to post last night.  We left Beaune and traveled to Paris on the bus.  We had to say goodbye to our driver Hub, since we had reached our final destination of the trip...sad to see him go; such a nice guy.  He dropped us off almost at the doorstep of our hotel, which is no easy feat in this city!

After getting settled in we toured Saint Chappelle, which has stained glass windows dating back to the 1400s...unbelievable that they have endured all this time.  The second photo here is of the altar in the downstairs chapel...loved the arches and colors.  (The top photo is of the building where Napoleon is buried and is one I took while waiting for my hotel room to be readied.)

After Saint Chappelle, we walked over to Notre Dame Cathedral and did a walk through there.  They were saying mass while we were there, but we had thousands of others there for company as well, so it's not like we interrupted anything.

A stroll through the Latin Quarter rounded out our group activities for the day, so I went and got dinner, then got my camera and tripod and headed over to the green space in front of the Eiffel Tower.  I hung around there for over an hour waiting for full dark...took a bunch of pictures and was there when they finally lit it up at 11:00pm.  There was lighting already, but when they turned on the sparkler lights (my own description--looks like the flashing Christmas lights), it brought a loud cheer from all the onlookers.  It was a real party atmosphere, with locals and tourists all congregated together, having picnics and drinking.  There was a group of young locals behind me playing beer pong, but I didn't see any fights or any hostilities the wohoe time I was there.  We Americans should take a couple of lessons from that!

See ya soon friends!

y

France--the Final Country

Another early start for our merry band of travelers today, leaving Switzerland behind and heading into France.  We arrived in Beaune at about 1:30 and did a quick get oriented walk before going on a tour of Hotel Deux, a hospital from the 14th century.  Interesting and an example of philanthropy in the middle ages, as it was funded by a Duke to treat the poor.

A wine tasting followed and was interesting and tasted great!  We sampled several different wines, one being a 90 euro bottle!  Tasty!

Several of us went out to dinner afterwards, the pictures of which can be seen here.  I had a salad, followed by Escargot (done it, probably won't order them again), Beef Burgoinne with noodles, and a dessert of sorbet, merrangue, whipped cream and kassis wine--a syrup like liqeur that was very sweet and a good topping for an ice cream type treat.
 
The trip will be ending soon and I will be heading home Saturday.  I think I will be ready as 3 weeks seems to be about my threshold for time away from home.  We head for Paris in the morning for the final stop on our tour.

Goodnight friends.

Lauterbrunnen Valley

Another free day today, this time in the Lauterbrunnen valley of Switzerland, where back in 1969, a James Bond movie was filmed (In Her Majesty's Secret Service).  I will have to make a point of seeing it again when I get home since I have seen the scenic backdrops that were used.  They are spectacular, by the way.  The first 2 photos today are from my walk through the valley: there are spectacular waterfalls everywhere you look and the Alps are breathtaking.

I started my day off at 7:30 am, hoofing it to the gondola station about 15 minutes from my hotel.  I made the 2nd ride of the day, arriving at Schilthorn, elevation 9700 feet, at about 8:30 am, beating the clouds by about a half hour.  By 9:00 there wasn't much to see, except for the 007 stuff,which was cool, and by 10:15 or so I headed back down the mountain.  There were 4 separate gondola rides each way and on the way down I stopped off at all the stations to take different angles of the mountains.  Once at the bottom, I caught a bus into Lauterbrunnen where I had lunch followed by chocolate cake and hot chocolate and bought a new Swiss Army knife (with a green handle--the only place you can get them is here in Switzerland, and I had the handle of mine engraved with my name).

Afterwards I headed back to my hotel on foot, a walk of about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  Arriving back here, hot sweaty and tired I rinsed off in the shower and took a welcome nap.  A wonderful dinner followed along with some drinks with the members of our group.  Hub (our driver) also had some Belgian beer he shared with a few of
us, so that was my nightcap.

Incidentally, the three peaks you see in the picture above are Eiger (ogre), Munch (monk), and Jongfrau (young maiden).  According to folklore, the monk is guarding the young maiden from the ogre.  Anyway, that's all for tonight.  Gutten nacht.

Switzerland!

It was an early start for our band of travelers today.  We had to be at the train station in Monterosso al Mare to catch the 8:25 train back to where the bus was parked.  The drive was long and at times difficult, but Hub did a masterful job of negotiating narrow mountain roads, complete with switchbacks and lots of other drivers, some of whom really didn't seem to know what they were doing.

As we crossed the border from Italy into Switzerland, the scenery began to show dramatic changes.  The Alps were looming, with snow
capped peaks and sheer rock walls.  Stephanie and Hub had put their heads together yesterday and decided on a route that took us through Susten Pass, at about  6700 feet above sea level.  It was sunny and gorgeous when we stopped and about 65-70 degrees; that's when the snowballs started flying!  Our break was short though and everyone soon went to use the restrooms or get snacks.  Within about 10 minutes the sun was gone and the clouds had engulfed us...a few more minutes and some small hail started to fall.  Go figure!

We made it down off the mountaintop safe and sound and got to our hotel in time for a wonderful dinner of cheese fondue, pork roast with mashed potatoes and carrots, cauliflower and green beans, followed up with a custard dessert.  We do eat well on this trip!

I'm going to sign off now so I can be up early to start tomorrow's adventure.  Bye folks!

The Cinque Terre!!!

Day 15: A free day in Italy's Cinque Terre

s  region.   This is one of the main reasons I booked this particular trip.  I have many times gone to art fairs and seen pictures of this area and thought to myself, "I want to be the guy taking those shots."  Well, today, I was the guy.  The weather was beautiful and I started out the day with Dean and Sandy as hiking partners.  We set out about 9:30am to hike from Monterossa al Mare to Vernazza.  The going was tough, with a lot of stairs to climb along the way, but we got to Vernazza right about noon and found a restaurant that was both in the guide book and recommended by Stephanie.  More stairs to climb to the Ristorante el Castillo, but well worth
the effort.  The second photo here is of my lunch,
spaghetti al pesto and it was deliciousioso!  The
owners were extremely nice, especially when we
mentioned Stephanie and Rick Steves Tours.  The matriarch of the family even sent over a complimentary bottle of wine when we didn't have any yet to join her in a toast.  Delphina is a real sweetheart and obviously Stephanie is very well thought of as well!

After lunch I parted ways with Dean and Sandy,
taking the train from town to town and finding the
vantage points from which to take the photos I
wanted to get, then taking the boat back aftewards.
What a day!  I am absolutely exhausted, but happy
that I had good weather today.   Tomorrow it's on to Switzerland and the Alps.  Goodnight all, Ciao!

Day 2 in Rome

 Once again, I am going to make my post short and let the photos speak for themselves.  The day began with a trip on the Metro to the Vatican museum.  Once again we had a local guide to help bring the exhibits to life for us.  The pictures I am posting are of paintings by Raphael.  The use of the vivid colors and the awesome detail were really something to behold.  Even after centuries, the colors really stood out.  The other photo is of the outside of St. Peter's Basillica which is where we ended our guided tour.  We also toured the Sistine Chapel, but unfortunately I couldn't take pictures there.   It was another awe-inspiring sight.  The prospect of making such a large "canvas" come to life the way Michelangelo did just astounds me.  Everything was so proportionally correct that I couldn't help but wonder "how did he do that"?  I have a reborn respect for the ancient Romans and their art and culture as a result of this trip.

Signing off now because I need to be up early for the journey to the Cinque Terre (Italian Riviera). The bus ride is supposed to be about 7 hours, and I hope to recuperate a bit from a couple of tough days of lots of walking and steps.  I have big plans for the day after tomorrow, hiking and photography in the Cinque Terre.  Arrivederci!

Roma!

This post is going to be relatively short...I was too tired to post last night, as I usually do, and am just taking a break in today's schedule.  Yesterday, July 4th (Happy Birthday USA!), we got up and left Venice and traveled to Rome.  Traffic and drivers here are nuts, so am glad I wasn't the one behind the wheel of the bus.

After checking into our hotel we had a quick orientation walk around the immediate neighborhood, then hopped on the Metro to go meet our local guide, Franchesca, who gave us a tour of the Colliseum, the Forum (ruins), and the Pantheon.  She really gave a lot of  information that made history come alive for us and lots of insights into the way things were back then.  Rick Steves Tours really found themselves a keeper with Franchesca.

We finished up at the Pantheon and a number of us headed up the hill to a restaurant that Stephanie suggested.  We no sooner got there and the skies opened up giving us a rain shower that really cooled things down--a welcome relief!  By the time we were done eating, the rain had stopped and most of us went on a night walk of the city, featuring Trevi Fountain and a hike to the top of a hill for a great view of St. Peter's Basillica lit up in the night sky.

Take a look at the photos...they say it better than I can.  Ciao!

A Busy Day in Florence

Today was a busy day from start to finish.  An early breakfast was followed by a climb top the top of the Duomo...463 stairs if you believe the writings about it.  I went  with a very nice couple from Washington state, Dean and Sandy, and a woman from near home, in Oxford, MI, Barbara.  We made it to the top of the dome in about 20 minutes, sweaty and out of breath, but the view was great!  It's the highest man made structure in Florence, and even though it was hazy, the views out over the city were tremendous.

 The second picture was taken inside the dome on the way back down.  The structure is actually built with a dome inside a dome, and all those stairs are in between the two.  What's shown here is actually the inner dome that is the roof of the cathedral, and the light area in the center is the cupola where we actually climbed up to and were able to walk all the way around the outside.

After climbing down I went with Dean and Sandy on a hike to the other side of the river to check out a
church there we had been told had  some great views as well as being spectacular structures in their own right.  The views there looked out over the whole city, not just from the city center looking out, as the ones from the Duomo did.  The rounded structure on the right is the Duomo I've been referring to, and we were at the very top, walking around the cupola.  Sandy didn't like it very much when I wiggled the rail as we were getting our picture taken up there; I wonder why!

The last picture is of me next to the Arno River.  It's a very picturesque place and the still water and calm
breezes made it even more so, the reflections really
showing up in the water.

In the afternoon we got together with the group for a trip to the Uffizi.  Once a city building,it became a private art gallery and home to the Medici family in centuries gone by, but is now a museum.  No pictures were allowed there, but we saw all the masters and had a great local guide to tell us all about what was going on in the paintings, the circumstance surrounding them when they were painted, etc., and generally keeping things interesting for us.  Many props to Cindy for her work.

Well it's late and I'm tired from climbing about a thousand (really!) steps today.  It's up early and on to Rome tomorrow.  Ciao!

Left venice...on to Florence

I'm posting this a day late.  Yesterday (Tuesday) morning we left Venice to travel on to Florence.  After breakfast I took a walk before we left to see the city before it filled up with tourists from the cruise ships.  the morning is when the work gets done.  The stores and restaurants get supplies, the garbage gets picked up, and the street vendors all come out of the woodwork to start setting up again for a new day.  One thing I found surprising was the number of unleashed dogs in Venice.  Many were just allowed to roam free and seemed to stay out of trouble and everybody's way for the most part.  I saw one that was lying by a pile of trash that had not yet been picked up having himself a nice snack--a very cute dog and had a collar and tags.  I would be afraid Buddy would get dog-napped in similar circumstances.  I guess they just look at things differently here.

Anyway, the bus ride to Florence was nice, but also different than what we'd experienced so far.  Our driver, Hub (pronounced hoob), had to be more aggressive than previously.  The truck and bus drivers play a kind of cat and mouse game, jockeying for position in the heavy traffic.  Sure makes me glad I don't have to drive here!  Hub makes it look very easy and it seems like he knows every road in Europe; if he's gotten lost at all during this trip, none of us know it.

The Tuscan region is semi hilly and reminds me a bit of the Smoky Mountains at home, or maybe the Adirondaks.  The hills are large enough to be imposing, but not exactly awe-inspiring.  Overall it's a very pretty area and I can understand why people want to come back here for a longer stay.  There are a LOT of people in Florence, though, and bikes, scooters, cars, etc., which all adds up to a lot of chaos.  Somehow it all seems to work though.

Yesterday after a get-oriented walk, we went to the Academia and saw Michelangelo's David.   It is really a large statue--I had always envisioned it as a life-sized piece, but it must be 10 or 11 feet tall.  Our time at the Academia was very limited and we followed it up by a group dinner not too far from our hotel.  We started with a salad, then a pasta course (spinach ravioli in marinara sauce and nyokes in a white sauce with zuccini flowers), then beefsteak topped with lightly steamed arugula and rosemary roasted potatoes, finally followed by a dessert cart with about 8 choices on it.  I took the strawberry Teramisu (delicious) and finally managed to roll myself out and get back to the hotel.  I skipped out on a night walk Stephanie was going to lead because I was just too full and too tired.  To bed early last night and up early today.  This morning I'm going to go climb the 463 steps to the top of the Duomo for a bird's eye view of the city.  Ciao!