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6:12:00 PM EDT
Feeling Quiet
Adjusting a day at a time
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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I am so happy that your trip was so wonderful! I look forward to seeing some photos! xoxo rose
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How fun reading all of this.....I'm traveling vicariously through you!!! It's interesting about the bread isn't it? That would be a good things for me I suppose, maybe I could lay off the carbs more!!
I'm with you on the Gelato....and guess what is my favorite flavor?? Chocolate chip!!!!! GMTA :) I always get it in Italy when we're in EPCOT....it's a yearly treat.
I'm so glad you are back, and I can't wait to see pictures!
Pooh Hugs,
Linda -
I loved Italy when I went there in '99, I'll be back there in three weeks! You aren't supposed to put butter on the bread over there, the locals just pour olive oil over it! I don't like anything greasy so butter and olive oil are out for me, I just eat bread dry. I'm looking forward to seeing Florence now that you said how much you loved it. I laughed at you having to drink the sparkling wine instead of getting the ham sandwich! It sounds like you all had a load of fun! Jeannette xx
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I am looking forward to your pictures, etc as I have never been there. I still need to get the pictures I took on out 5 week adventure in Feb & March into an album. I made the cover for it but that's as far as I gotten. Maybe I should pull out the card table and sit down at it tonight and get started. Hope that sleeping thing gets straightened out soon. It must be a miserable feeling. Linda in WA http://journals.aol.com/lsfp1
960/LindasWorld/
5/4/08 3:55 PM