A Little Left of Center II

This is such a busy week.  Today, Mom and I went out shopping.  We went to Target first, then Kohl's, then Michael's and then Starbuck's and See's Candy.  It took a total of 2 1/2 hours to get all of our errands taken care of.  It's such a beautiful day so it was a lot of fun being outside in the breezy sunshine.

We did a little shopping for the Open House we are hosting on Saturday to celebrate Cari's college graduation.  I got more dessert plates and napkins and picked up some candies and crackers to set out along with the buffet food we are going to serve.

Once she graduates, we will be in full swing getting ready for her March 21, 2009 wedding.  I sent in the deposit check yesterday to hold the date at the site she has chosen.  As we get closer, I will post some pictures of the place.  We have been talking about all of the little details surrounding a lovely wedding and one of the things we thought about was a favor for each guest.  I am thinking about a See's candy truffle in either chocolate/hazelnut, chocolate/chocolate mint cream, or coffee latte.  The wedding theme is going to be on the Italian side so I thought the chocolate/hazelnut would be nice because it is such a popular flavor in Italy.  The coffee latte would be along the Italian line, too.  The chocolate mint would be nice because everyone enjoys a  mint after dinner.  I brought home one of each for her to try.  She may hate this idea but it was a delicious experiment anyway.  LOL

I'm finding that my ideas about her wedding are met with resistence and very little enthusiasm.  She has very strong ideas about how she wants HER day to go and I totally respect that.  I told her that I would be offering ideas and suggestions with no expectations attached.  She has full right of refusal or acceptance.  It's totally up to her and Sam to decide everything.  My biggest challenge is to keep the teasing to a minimum.  She is so literal and gets upset because she thinks I'm serious.  As hard as it will be, because I love to joke and tease, I am going to try not to do it as far as the wedding goes.  Lord help me.

Going backto Saturday, we are having around 30 people for an open house to celebrate Cari's graduation from California State University, Fullerton.  We are so proud of her.  We are extra proud that she has been hired full time by the company she has been interning for this past year.  She is being hired as Office Manager and Account Manager for one of their most successful artists.  She is thrilled.  She is especially happy because they asked her before she had a chance to ask them if she could go full time.  That was so great.  They have been paying her for 4 months already because she has taken on so much responsibility.  She is the only paid intern at the company and the only one hired full time.  We are PROUD of her.  She is doing what she always wanted to do - what she went to college to do.  She is really fortunate.  So many kids graduate from college and have a terrible time finding jobs in their field of study.

I will be posting pictures of her big day soon.  Watch for them!

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I got my last package from Italy today.  A box of goodies from Cinque Terre.

Pesto Sauce, Wine, Marinated Olives, and beautifully Scented Soaps.  The huge jar of pesto belongs to my sister.  I wish I had bought that much.  Those three little jars are going to go FAST.............  The wine belongs to Cari.  She hid it so no one would open it and drink it.  LOL  The flowers in the back ground are a gift to Mom and me for Mother's Day from Dennis.

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Oh, my!  Venice is so beautiful.  I had seen many pictures, movies and documentaries about Venice but those things pale in comparison to it's true beauty. 

We arrived in Venice by train from Verona.  It's great because you walk out of the train station and right onto the water taxi dock.  We found a boat going in our direction, got on, and before we knew it, we were at the Rialto Central Market stop.  We got off the boat, walked across a courtyard and down three tiny streets to the left and found our hotel.

The Pensione Guerrato is where we stayed in Venice, Italy for 2 nights.  It is a former palace and was built in 1277 and is right on the Grand Canal near the famous Rialto Bridge. (In the picture above, you can see a picture of the Rialto Bridge and my lovely daughter, Carianne with her fiance, Sam.  They studied in Italy for 2 1/2 months in 2006.)  The palace was donated to the nuns of St. Lorenzo and it's rooms were rented to merchants staying in Venice until about 1381.  It was destroyed by fire in the 1500's but rebuilt and has continued to be used as an inn to today.  It is mentioned in Rick Steve's travel book of Italy as one of his favorite places to stay in Venice. Note:  Rick Steve's Italy 2008 book was our Bible during our stay in Italy.  It helped us so much with planning and executing our travels.

Cari and me in St. Mark's Square, Venice, Italy

Beautiful gondolas

Rialto Bridge at night

Our tiny B&B room in Venice.

My Mom in our tiny B&B in Venice.  Notice the glass lighting fixture - amazing.

Restaurant in St. Tomas square

Museum in St. Tomas square.  Outstanding artwork, craftsmanship, and decor.

I loved Venice but a few days was enough to see what we wanted to see.  We were there on a weekend so it was very crowded and it was difficult to get around.  The water taxis were jammed with people and once you got off at your stop, the places we went to see were over crowded too.  If I go back, I will go midweek.

We enjoyed our B&B very much.  They served a very nice breakfast in a nice size dining room.  The staff was friendly and very helpful.

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When we arrived in London, Heathrow, we stopped to check our schedule and to see how long we had before our connecting flight to Milan.  I looked at my wrist to check my watch and BINGO, my watch was gone.  I had been in London for 10 minutes and I had already lost my watch.  I recall stopping to change the time.  I think I must not have tightened the strap well enough and it fell off while I was struggling with my luggage.  I had an over the shoulder bag and my rolling carry-on suitcase as well as another rolling carry-on with all of our toiletries inside of it.  You cannot believe all the stuff we took on this trip.  It was ridiculous.  No wonder I lost track of my little Winnie the Pooh watch.  LOL

Anyway, I didn't spend anytime worrying about the watch or even looking for it.  I went into Harrod's at the airport and purchased a watch with a black wrist band and a black face with silver hands.  Behind the hands, a cute picture of a West Highland White Terrier to remind me of my Kasey girl at home.

When we got to Milan, we took a bus from the airport to the central train station in downtown Milan.  It's about a 30 minute bus ride on a road simular to a US highway/freeway.  When we arrived at the train station, we tried to find a telephone to call the bed and breakfast to tell them we had arrived and would be taking a cab to their location.  We couldn't figure out how to use the telephones to save our lives.  We read the instructions several times and still had no luck connecting to the B&B.  Giving up that idea, we walkted to the Taxi stand.  As we walked over there, I rolled my suitcase through dog poop.  Oh, god!  ICK.....  I couldn't believe I'd done something so disgusting.  I found some grass and pulled my suitcase thru it and got most of it off - thankfully.

As we walked up to the taxi stand, the driver of the first Taxi started loading our luggage in the back of his cab.  We asked him if he had a cell phone so we could call the B&B.  "No, phone."  he replied gruffly.  We explained that we had to call the B&B before going.  He told us he didn't understand so Cari told him, in her basic  Italian about our problem.  He turned and started pulling our luggage out of his car.  He was NOT happy at all.  He was saying things in Italian that we knew were angry words toward us.  Cari told him, in Italian, "We are so sorry."  He turned to her and in great English said, "You're sorry! I'm trying to work here."

He pulled the last suitcase out of the car and pushed it toward us saying more angry words in Italian.  All of us stood there, smiling and saying, "You, too!"  like he was wishing us a good day.  Later, we would laugh hysterically about this and it is in our "Top 10 Most Embarrassing Moments". 

When we realized that we were not going to be able to call ahead, we found another Taxi and went to the B&B unannounced.  Luckily, our hostess was there waiting for us.  She met us at the door off the street and lead us through an entry with beautiful marble floors to a small, and I do mean SMALL elevator.  She loaded the luggage and then sent it and Mom up to the 2nd floor while the rest of us climbed the stairs.

We got everything inside and she showed us to our room which was actually 2 rooms and a private bathroom.  In the main room, there were two twin beds (for Cari and me) and a dining table with 4 chairs.  In the next room, there was a queen size bed (for Carol and Mom) and the doorway into the bathroom.  It was a great set up for us. 

Our hostess, Manuella, made us comfortable and then left us for the night.  After she left, we laughed for about an hour about the day.  We laughed about me losing my watch and dragging my suitcase thru dog pooh.  We howled about the angry taxi driver and how stupid we must have looked as we grinned at him, nodded and said, "You, too" while he was cussing us out. It felt so good to laugh until our sides hurt.  It was a great stress reliever.  Little did we know those funny things were just the first of many hilarious adventures.

 Mom and Carol at our dining table

 Carol with our room safe.  I'm NOT kidding.  We had a tiny tin box with a tiny little key as our room safe.  Cari said, "Why didn't they just put a sign on it that says 'Steal Me!'  This is another thing we got hysterical about.  So cute!

 Brera Museum, Milan     We got in free because it was Culture Week in Milan.  Very cool! 

  My favorite piece of art work was di Vinci's Last supper.  We got to go see it on our 2nd day in Milan.  We were very lucky to have this experience.  As you enter the sacred place, you must wait with your group in a small room with wooden benches to sit on.  When it's your turn, a guide takes you into a corridor leading to the room to see the painting.  You walk thru several glass chambers.  In each one, you stay for about 30 seconds while your body cools to the temperature of that chamber.  You move to the next chamber which is cooler.  You wait, again, until your body cools.  You go into another chamber where the temperature is the same as the room that holds the painting.  As soon as everyone's body has cooled, they allow you in to see the painting.  Only 15 people at a time are allowed to view The Last Supper for 15 minutes.  At the end of the 15 minutes, they let the room stand empty for 15 minutes so any body heat and/or humidity that has been created by the last group will dissipate.

The experience had all four of us in tears.  It was so emotional and special to be in the presence of this painting.  On the wall across from the Last Supper is another painting by several well known artists of the day of the Crucifixion.  That was such a beautiful depiction of that day.  It also brought tears to our eyes.

  The magnificant Duomo in Milan.  The most ornate and beautiful church we saw.

 Inside the Duomo.  The stained glass and sculptures are unbelieveable.

 Stained glass in the Duomo in Milan

 Across the square from the Duomo

 Wonderful shopping area across from the Duomo.  Gucci, Versachi (sp),  Vuittan and Armoni are just a few of the designers with shops here.

Milan is a very hectic, busy city.  People seemed to dress nicer here than anywhere else.  Milan is a high fashion center for the whole world so it's not surprising that the residents pay closer attention to their clothing and styles. 

I loved Milan but it's not one of the cities I would revisit.  It's just too difficult to move around.  So many people that the buses, streets, stores, restaurants are all crowded and uncomfortable. 

In my next entry, I will tell you about the four of us getting stuck in the B&B elevator.  It's quite a tale.

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What a nice day it was!  I took Mom to my hair dresser so she could get a hair cut.  I made an appointment to get my hair cut next Wednesday while I was there. 

After the hair salon, we had a quick lunch at home and then went with Cari to Redlands to see The Mitten Building.  This is a lovely building that used to be a packing house many years ago.  It is constructed of brick, has dark wood floors, and open ceiling showing all the big beamed rafters.  It has an upstairs section where the vows will be exchanged and a huge reception room below where dinner will be served and the reception will be held.  We are probably going to invite around 125 people to the big day.  Should be lovely.  Cari is so excited.  I can start to see the Bride's glow about her.

Mom and I started our scrap booking today of all the photos and goodies we brought home from our trip.  It's going to be so much fun putting these books together.  We can re-hash the entire trip while we put our pictures in the books.

Speaking of the trip, I'm going to post some pictures from Verona.  Verona was our second stop on the trip.  We spent the first few days in Milan which I will write about another time.  This little town was one of our favorite stops during our time in Italy.  It is quaint, charming, and not as busy as Milan, Rome or Florence.  It is the home of the 3rd largest arena in Italy. 

While we were  there, there was an International Choir competition being held in the arena.  Choirs from all over the world were there.  We were lucky enough to meet members of the choirs from Puerto Rico and the Ukraine.  The arena hosts a summer Opera Series that attracts opera lovers from all over the world.  They use the old arena because it has perfect acoustics. 

We stayed at a lovely Bed and Breakfast Inn just a bus ride away from downtown.  We loved this place.  It was comfortable, clean and they served the best breakfast of the trip.  All the cakes, pastries, and other food was made by the owner of the Inn.  What a great cook she is!  Everything was delicious.

Verona Breakfast - just look at those delicious cakes.  How could you choose which ones to eat?  Awesome. 

Verona Arena - 3rd largest arena in Italy

Juliette's balcony.  Can you imagine Romeo standing below professing his love for her?  Her statute is in the shadow on the far left.  You can just barely see it.

These last two photos were taken on the lovely Verona Streets.  These are typical of Italy - very narrow, cobble stone streets, and lovely colors.  In the last photo, you can see my sister Carol's back (Black blazer and black pants) and Cari's back - jeans, black sweater with her white t-shirt showing just a bit.

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There's a lot going on around here.  Good stuff, too.  On Friday, my daughter, Mom and I are going to see the place where Cari and Sam want to get married. 

  We have a 1:30 appointment with the event planner. They have set the date for the wedding - March 21, 2009.  It sounds like a long way off but when you are planning a wedding you really do need a year to pull it all together.

  Cari will graduate from California State University at Fullerton on May 17.  The ceremony starts at 8:00 in the morning.  Since it's outside, it's probably a good idea to start early in case it's a hot day.  Chances are, though, it will be overcast and cool.  That would be fine with me.

This coming Saturday, May 3rd, is Bryan and Shannon's 11th wedding anniversary.  They are going to Las Vegas to celebrate and I am going to go to their house and stay with the kids.  Please pray for me.  LOL  I'll need lots of extra energy to keep up with 4 kids.  They are really good so it should go well. 

Bryan has passed all of the requirements to get into the Sheriff's academy.  The May class has been filled so he will go into the academy that starts in September.  He was disappointed at first because he is really ready to get going on this new phase of his life.  After thinking about it, he thinks it will be a good thing to start in September so he won't be doing those 10 mile runs when it's 110 degrees outside.  I think he was spared a lot of misery by going when the weather is a lot cooler.

I received a vase I bought in Florence today.  I had it shipped because it's big and I didn't have space in my suitcase for it.  It arrived in perfect shape.  I am so happy with it.  It's just beautiful.

  This is a picture I took of it in the pottery shop in Florence.  I just love the poppy and the wheat stocks on it.

I am really missing Italy and all of the fun things were were doing while there.  It's hard to get back to my life.  I'm feeling a big let down and trying not to get depressed.  Sniff, sniff...I had so much fun.  I want it to go on and on.

I will be posting more stories and pictures of my trip in the next few days.  It's so much fun to go through all of the ticket stubs, brochures, post cards, and other things I got there.  Makes me feel like it's not that far away after all.

P.S.  Thanks to Jeannette of Welcome to My Travels.  She told me what the conversion from grams to ounces is and also what 'dl' means.  Can't wait to cook a great Italian meal.

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Greetings.  I have been home 4 days and I am still struggling with the time change.  I wake up around 2 in the morning and cannot go back to sleep until at least 4:00 a.m.  I'm also having the wildest, most vivid dreams since I got back.  It's strange because I usually don't remember my dreams but now it's like I'm watching a movie when I dream and I wake up recalling most of it. 

I am having so much fun organizing all of the post cards and brochures I collected.  I have them in order and I'm thinking about scanning a few because they are so much better than the photos I took.

I would like to be able to post some nice pictures to show some of the sites we visited.

We started in Milan, then went to Verona, Venice, Florence, Paris, Cortona, Cinque Terre, and Rome.  We returned to Florence for the last 8 days of our trip because we love the city and feel so comfortable there.  While there, we did take a side trip to Orvieto, a medieval town high on a hill. 

   One of the funniest things that happened (and there were many funny moments) was at the train station in Milan.  We were waiting to get a train to Verona and since it was late afternoon, my sister and I went to a Snack Bar to pick up some drinks and some sandwiches for the trip.  Carol ordered and got her stuff, then it was my turn.  My Italian is hopeless.  I stood by the ham sandwiches and thought I pointed to the two I wanted.  The guy asked me what I wanted and I told him "prosciutto" which is ham.  He repeated it and I nodded, "Si."  Well, he went to the refrigerator and pulled out a chilled bottle of prosecca which is a sparkling wine on the line of champagne and poured me a glass.  Carol and I looked at each other and around the room to see who ordered that and then we looked at the clerk.  "Yours."  He said pointing to the glass.

Well, he couldn't very well pour it back in the bottle so I paid 4,50 Euros (about $7) for a glass of sparkling wine. By the way, it was wonderful.  I did enjoy it very much. 

After finishing it, Carol and I left the Snack Bar with her purchases and I was empty handed.  I didn't want to try my luck at ordering again.  Who knows what I would have ended up with.

I was very impressed with the transportation system in Italy and Paris.  If you call a taxi, the dispatcher tells you exactly when it will arrive.  "It will be there in 4 minutes," she would say and sure enough it was right on time.  Trains are on time most of the time.  We only had a few delays and they were around 10 - 15 minutes.  Let me tell you, though, when it's time to get on a train you had better get on and get seated because they waste no time getting in and out of the stations.  You have very little time to get yourself and your luggage on board before the doors close and you feel the train moving down the tracks.

  In contrast, if an Italian tells you it takes 5 minutes to walk to a certain place, it could be 5 minutes or 45 minutes.  When you ask why they say 5 minutes when it was a 30 minute walk, they shrug their shoulders and laugh, "We're not the Swiss.  If you want exact time, go to Switzerland."  I guess that's because the Swiss are known for their fine time pieces.  The big joke between us when we had been walking for a long time was, "Only 5 more minutes."

Our bed and breakfast in Rome was described as being on a lovely, quiet residential street.  I guess it must be relative to the rest of Rome because it was anything but quiet.  The main ambulance station was around the corner, we were a block away from the freight train tracks, one of the main tram lines was right out front, and the noise from sirens and car horns was very loud.

Another interesting aspect of the Italian way of life, is how tiny things are.  They live in tiny apartments, drive tiny cars, walk down tiny - narrow streets.  Their Coca Cola light comes in a can that looks like a Red Bull can.  It's only 10 ounces compared to our 12 ounces.  They sell eggs 6 to a container instead of 12.  All the eggs we saw were brown with bright yellow yolks.  Their bread is tasteless.  I think that was one of our biggest Food Shocks.  It looks like beautiful, tasty American french bread but when you bit into it, it has zero flavor.  They do not use salt in the bread batter.  The crust is chewy and the insides are soft and fresh.  The butter is unsalted, too, so you can't spice things up by putting butter on the bread.  It is good to use it to sop up any sauce that comes on your food.  The flavor of the sauces makes the bread much tastier.

Other than that, the food was wonderful.  We loved every meal we had there except the last dinner.  It was awful.  The pasta is out of this world and the sauces they prepare are so delicious that we wanted to take a cooking class in Florence to learn how to prepare them.  We weren't able to take a class but we are determined to learn how to recreate some of those delicious meals.

The Gelato (ice cream) was the highlight of most of our days.  We tried as many flavors as we could in the time we were there.  My favorites were coffee and chocolate chip but I also loved mixed berry and banana.  They like to use a lot of hazelnuts there and have several gelato flavors that have the nuts in them.

Another thing that is different is the restaurants charge a sitting fee of around 2,50 euros per person.  There was one coffee place there that sold a coffee latte at their coffee bar for 1,70 euros but if you sat and were served, the same cup of coffee was 6 euros.

I was surprised, too, by how nice the people were in Paris.  We have heard how rude the French are to Americans but that was not our experience at all.  Everyone we met was friendly, helpful, and kind.  I was very impressed.  It made our few days in Paris very nice.  I absolutely loved Paris.  I wish I had more time there because their museums are so awesome.  I only saw a fraction of the Orsay and the Louve.  It was so enchanting to come face to face with paintings, like The Mona Lisa, that I had studied and seen in books my whole life.

I truly loved my time in Italy and Paris.  I can't think of anything negative to say about anything.  Things are really different from the U.S. but not in a negative way.

Next time I post, I will share some photos.

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We are home!  We got back Friday, April 25th.  A day late but safe and sound.

It's 3:20 a.m.  I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep so I thought I'd post a quick hello.  I will be writing a lot more and posting pictures when I get a chance.

The trip was a joy.  I loved it so much.  It changed my life forever in positive ways.

I can't wait to share the details but right now, I'm going to try to get a little more sleep.

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