Heat

Well, while the temperature in Dallas is 108, in Simbario it's 75 degrees. I am ready to go back to the mountains of Italy!

Not so fast!

Well, my last post we were leaving. As it turns out, we were unable to get on our original scheduled flight. There were only 7 spots & 22 people flying on passes. As it turns out, there were 4 other women who were also unable to fly; a woman and her two nieces & a lady who hD cone over for the weekend with her friend who was on the flight crew over & back,& thought also in October there would be no problem! Ha! The lady with her nieces had stayed the night before at a Hilton Garden Inn nearby & knew they had a free shuttle. A call was made & luckily they had 3 rooms. It was near a small lovely town with a castle called Somma Lombardo where we attempted to walk in the rain for dinner. Only 700 meters the desk clerk said...WRONG. more like almost a mile. Turns out on Halloween & Sunday to boot, both restaurants were booked up. Took an over-priced taxi back & ate at the hotel. The good thing was Barbara & I met 3 lovely women & one teenager and enjoyed a dinner with them.Thanks ladies for the help & company!

sabato ultimo giorno

Today is our last day. Did you know that Milan used to be part of Austria? We are both so tired, we walked around looking for some shops near the hotel, found none that interested us & came back to the hotel. Repacked our suitcases for our trip home.I considered going to the top of the Duomo, you can see the Alps & all over. Top of the Duomo being way up high between the spires. However, common sense came over me & I discarded the idea. The car will pick us up at 6 am tomorrow so that extra hour of sleep from "falling back" won't help us much. We have not been able to find a decent Internet Cafe that allows Barbara to use her USB reader to upload photos so the last ones will be loaded after we get home. I will be adding some post script comments & hints for traveling in Italy too, after we get back. We have had a grand time & we hope sharing our experiences has brought you enjoyment too!
By the way, we still have 7 days worth of travel on our Eurail passes which are good until October 2011. You know what that means! We would never let anything like that go to waste!
Ciao!

Friday

Well, duh forgot to mention yesterday we also cruised the galleria de Vitorrio Emmanuel, a glass domed shopping mall built in 1867. Shops like Prada, YSL, Gucci; oh sure we shopped til we dropped...not. Also forgot to tell how when we checked in at the Madison Hotel, the desk clerk asked if my name is Italian; si, I replied. Italiano di Calabria? OMG must be Italian drum signals! Turns out he has friends by the same name who are from there; told him if they are cousins tell them to come visit!
Friends & family of Barbara will appreciate that today we went to Cimitero Monumentale, a cemetery! But not just any cemetery. It is a cemetery of 245,000 square meters (about 60 acres), 20,000 sq. meters of which are gardens. The cemetery consists of bronze & marble sculptures everywhere and is more like an art garden than cemetery. Hopefully pictures will be posted tonight or tomorrow. Went to Peck (http://www.peck.it/) & bought stuff to bring home. Tomorrow is our last day! We were going to go to Lake Como but my congestion & cough is getting me down, so guess we won't stop in to see George.
3 things I've looked for but not found meatballs, garlic bread, a single rich man my age. Surprisingly hard to find-crushed red peppers. Every time I ask for it I get ground black pepper!!No one in Italy seems to eat the stuff, crazy!!

Milano

Here we are in Milano. Last night as we were walking to a restaurant we encountered an extraterrestrial experience. Suddenly a ray of light shown & angels were singing...it was a Mexican Restaurant!! We stopped in our tracks & went in; while it was not Tex-Mex, it was Mexican & we wolfed it down. Tonight we made it to the other restaurant.
Today we rode the subway & saw the magnificent Duomo, plaza, La Scala & Peck. How I wish I had an extra $500 to buy 2 tickets to see "Carmen" at La Scala tomorrow night. But we did see the magnificent theater & museum. I plan to return to Peck before we leave to buy some items to bring home. Barbara thinks Milan is just like any other big city, I really like it do we differ there. We have lots more pictures to post when we get to an Internet Cafe that allows uploads. Buonanotte!

Wednesday

Well, of course our last morning the sun comes out! I didn't mean yesterday that I don't like Venice. There are many nice things here. I like the way each "neighborhood" has it's own campo, like a courtyard really with shops & restaurants. Once we got our internal compasses going we found our way pretty well. I think Carnivale might be fun here, all the beautiful masks etc. Despite the cold, yesterday afternoon we had to go out in Barbara's quest to find the best gelatto. She has tried gelatto in every city. Yesterday there was one close by that Rick Steve's had recommended. I asked if it was truely better than the others she said she didn't know because she got a different flavor each time!
We are now waiting for the water taxi to take us to the train and our last city, Milan, where the weather says the sun is shining and the high will be 56. Ciao

Venice part 2

ok, I think the Travel  or Discovery Channel should pick us up as a new TV show. Traveling for Baby Boomers or something like that. Maybe if I post it they will come... (ha)
It is 50 degrees today, thankfully not raining and no wind blowing; I wound up buying a knit hat to stay warm. They say it is below freezing in Paris and London. Forecast says 56 in Milan tomorrow.
We were NOT awakened by sirens this morning as we were yesterday; we found out later that the sirens mean flooding, seems Venice floods 100 times a year on average and yesterday was one of those days. You will see when we can get to a computer that will allow us to post pictures.  I guess most of you know there are no cars, motorcylces or bicycles in Venice because of all the bridges(and canals). I cannot figure out what people do when they are old or disabled.  Everyone seems to have a dog that they walk. Those dogs, I guess, will never know what grass looks or feels like because there is none. We walked all over this morning and I guess I've seen all of Venice I need to. Beautiful glass of course and lace but it's expensive and just ok for me.
Note: you read online and other places tipping is not expected in Italy. That is because so many restaurants charge a "cover" charge per person. Last night we ate a place that charged a cover charge AND 10% service fee!!!! Highway robbery!
We have agreeed we felt we were most in Italy when we were in Calabria because the people there have not been tarnished  and made indifferent by masses of tourists. I hope to go back there again!

Vencenzia

It was a dark and stormy night, they could hear their footsteps echo as they walked through the pavestone tunnel ;-) ok,ok.
But when we arrived yesterday it had started raining 20 minutes prior our driver said.  When we went to dinner last night, to a close restaurant, the desk clerk said so we "didn't get lost", we walked through a dark area over a bridge and through 2 tunnels. Wound up at a lively and warm restaurant where a large group of French men and woman were dining.  As we walked through the dark,we did kind of wonder tho'.  
In all the cities, to alleviate stress, we have had cars pick us up at the stations and take us to our hotels. Until yesterday, we sometimes wondered why we had done that but believe me, having someone pick you up at the Venice train station and take you to your hotel was worth it!!!
Today things were more lively but a cold front has come in and it is 56 degrees and raining (I hear it was  35 degrees in Milan :-(( We walked around all morning, managing to circle the warren of mazes a couple of times. San Marco square was flooded and apparently several cruise ships had come in, it was VERY crowded. On top of my stuffed up nose and cough, it did not make for a pleasant stroll. If the rain clears up perhaps it will be better tomorrow.
We are in a lovely hotel, I know this won't sound like it looks but the walls in our room are covered in a royal blue with gold brocade, it's like being in a little jewelry box. When we checked in the desk clerk, who is a cross between looking like John Malkovich with a Christopher Walken voice and a flair for the dramatic, asked if my name was Italian. I acknowledged it was to which he replied " Ah! You have the blood of Italy flowing in your veins!" He then explained our room normally would have been in the annex, but they had placed us in the main building at no extra charge. Grazie!
We have free Internet here but no way to load pictures yet so it will be a few days. Ciao per ora!

Saturday night

Just a few more things; when looking at the pictures, just remember, they are not only beautiful, they ar, many of them 1,900 to 2,200 years old. The tour guide in Rome said most Americans don't think anything existed before themselves!
Italian attitudes: When going in to the Uffizi at the "reserved" door a woman came up and asked the guard in English how she could get in, he told her to go to Door # 2 and stand in (the LONG) line to buy tickets, I told her go to Door #3 and she could make a reservation. She looked at me and walked off, he told me "She's French, she won't understand"; then another woman came up, asked him in Italian where to get tickets, he told her to go to door #3!! Guess they don't care fr the French either.
Putting in a recommendation now for a restaurant, where we have eaten twice La Falterona, around the corner a bit from our hotel, close by the Internet cafes.  Trattoria Falterona is at Via Zannoni 10r, just off Via Faenza. The food is fantastic, the best we've had since being in Italy.  Chef owned, small place where the locals eat amd we were lucky enough to stumble onto.
Which reminds me also, Firenze is a meat city and the T-bone steaks here remind me of the steak place in Amarillo where if you can eat it all you get it free. Mind you it is the standard size for T-bones here. several pounds I promise you!

Firenze (Florence)

First off, I want to take time to say on CNN this morning they reported the Texas Rangers are going to the WORLD SERIES!!!  OMG!! Go Rangers!!!
Some people have had trouble entering comments. So I have changed the design, if you have a Google account you can make comments. In other words if you've ever had Picasa, or used a Google page you have an account and can log in.  A Google account is free; anyway maybe you can comment easier now.  I'm just trying to cut down on any Spam.
Barbara and I have decided we love Firenze. It is an easy city to walk around in, no real need for public transportation. We have encountered many many nationalities in our travels. In the South of Italy, people from the U.K:, inlcuding Australia, abounded. Despite what some people think, Calabria is a big tourist area. The are 2 coastlines on the Ionian Sea and the Tyrrheanian Sea,  BIG beach resort areas. In the summer a lot of people go into the mountains where my family is from to hike.  The farther north we get the more Germans, Dutch, Middle Easterners, and Asians we see. Yesterday on our trip we made acqauintance with a young woman who was traveling with her mother. They were from Singapore. They had visited London, where her sister is working and had come over to see Italy.  We began the day going to San Gimignano (Jim-in-yan-o); it is the most well preserved midieval city in Italy. It  was once known as the city of 100 towers, now there are only 14 left. The city gained it's wealth from travelers going to Rome, but in the 17 or 1800's the black plague hit and wiped out the town. Now it is on the come-back as a tourist spot. It is lovely and quaint  and VERY clean with panoramic views of the Tuscan hillsides. There were two art galleries there with beautiful art for sale, seemed to be a "artist" type place. We the went to Siena for two hours UP hills, down hills and back UP hills; reminded me a bit of being at the University of Texas campus again.  Honestly we think San Gimignano is much prettier and nicer than Siena and the two Chinese ladies agreed. We had a sampler lunch at a restaurant, pesto pasta, pizza with tomato & rucola, sandwich bites. salames and cheese, and sweets. Let me remind you that Barbara being smarter than I, still is wearing her tennis shoes, while I after getting awful blisters almost the first day with my "walking" shoes have been wearing my sandles with socks to walk every day. I think I will have them bronzed when I get home.
 After Siena, we went to Sant' Appiano, in the Chianti area of Tuscany, to a winery where we tasted 4 different chianti. Did you know the wine is named after the hills? They are the Chianti Hills.  Decisions, decisions, should I buy wine here or wait and buy it at Jimmy's in Dallas?  Jimmy's won, didn't want to carry those bottles to 2 more cities before home! Also met a young man and his wife from New Jersey whose family has 7 stores there, wants us to get our Italian meat and cheese from him, doesn't sell wine yet!
We got back to Firenze at 7 pm and I had been fighting off a sore throat and cough all day so we ate a quick bite and I went straight to bed. Today we went to a laundry to wash clothes (no Internet at that one) then back to the room, Barbara walked over to Ponte Vecchio while I stayed in bed. I will NOT be sick!
Tomorrow we go to Venice. It's hard to  believe we have been here 2 and a half weeks and have only 8 days to go. Ciao---

Firenze

Thursday

well, we arrived in Firenze yesterday afternoon. May I say we were thrilled that our room at the Hotel Atlantic Palace is very nice and the bathroom is 3x the size of the last one! This is only the second room tho' where we have not had a balcony, sad story, huh? Barbara is posting pictures as I am typing (we are at an Internet Cafe). I think she is going to post last bathroom-present bathroom side by side for your amuzement.  The weather here is cool, almost like being back in Simbario\Spadula, except the radiator is on here! It was very cool early today but warmed up nicely. It's now 9:30 pm and it's chilly!
After our arrival yesterday, we walked around the corner to the Piazza San Giovanni, and the Duomo and then to the museum of the Duomo.  On the way to the Duomo, we walked through the Mercato Centrale.  Stall after stall of leather, purses, coats, briefcases; if the can make it in leather, they've got it. Also of course, jewelry, scarves, from the sublime to the ridiculous.  They even have 99 cent and 1€ stores here! Which reminds me, if you are thinking of coming to Europe keep an eye on the dollar & Euro conversion. When I first started watching 1€=$1.29 now it is 1€=$1.45, darn if I had bought Euro early on!!
As soon as we got here yesterday, we had the concierge make reservations at the Uffizi and Galleria del Academia. We were so glad we did because the lines to buy tickets when we got to each place were very very long. When we got to the Uffizi (pronounced ooo-feet zi) the lift was broken so we had to climb 5 big flights of stairs to get to the museum which is a large U shape.  I tell you these two 64 year old over-weight women have GOT to be losing weight ;-)  Anyway, we walked all through the museum looking at the famous Renaissance art of Botticelli, Michaelangelo, and names I can't remember or spell. Afterwards we walked across town to the Academy to see The David. How magnificent he is!! When we got back to the hotel, a large tour group was checking in and we had to climb the stairs again to get to our 2nd floor room. WE are feeling every bit of our 63 years tonight!
Tomorrow, we go to Tuscany, Sienna and 2 other places, and yes, we're doing a paid tour this time. We get to go to a winery and have a tasting of wines and munchies, yea!
Ciao for now!

Wednesday

NOTE: if you have not figured it out, when you click on a slideshow, it will open in a new window, & you can see pictures full screen!
ok, no we did not skip over to Greece from Rome. Day before yesterday we went to see the Pantheon, not the Parthenon.  It was still amazing. Did you know that even though there is a hole in the top of the Dome, with the door open, the draft pushes the rain up and out?
Yesterday, we went to the original domed stadium--the Colosseum and spent about 3 hours. There was more we wanted to see but honestly, we were so tired from the day before, we went back to the room and I took a nap.  Just a note that except for the Monuments of Rome and Vatican Museum tours, we have used only public transportation.  It's east enough but you encounter a lot of stairs when using a "train," subway, whatever you want to call it.  Last night we went to dinner near the Spanish Steps. It got late on us and Barbara was worried we would not catch the last train so we did not go to the top, but I promise you all the other steps we have climbed, we have done the Spanish Steps several times over! I wish I'd had my stress test at the cardiologist's office after the trip instead of before, I think I would have done even better!!
Most hotels have CNN here, the only English speaking channel or BBC, however the only news I've seen reported has been that some guy named Rooney wants to leave Manchester United, the Chilean Miners were rescued and there are riots in France over pension reform. However, last night we saw that Cliff Lee pitched a great game against the Yankees, 13 strikeouts and the Rangers won and were in a 2-0 lead in the series. YEA! Go Texas Rangers!!
ok, we're off to Florence-- Ciao

Roma!

We are on sensory overload today.  We started at 7:45 am to go on the tour for the Monuments; Trevi Fountain, the Parthenon, the columns of Rome, obilisques, etc, etc. St Peter's Basilica. We had gone to St. Peter's  the first day back when we frst arrived. Must have been dumb luck, there were no crowds whatsoever that time and we went right in. Thank goodness today , we were on a tour because the line was through the carrels and all the way arouond St. Peter's Square. Tours get to skip the line! But it was crowded we guess because the Pope sanctified 6 new saints yesterday. (To my friend D.M., I did not see the Pope to give him your message ;-). In the afternoon, we went through the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. We got back to the hotel at 6:30 pm.  We will post pictures soon.
We are at a different hotel this time around and we vote San Remo Hotel here better than Hotel Select. Select has NO ELEVATOR, very small room (my son would not be able to fit in the shower) , and their breakfast is not as good as San Remo; plus the desk clerk at Select has a pissy attitude! Example, this morning I dropped the soap in the shower, had to open the shower door to bend down to pick it up! It was hilarious,and happened twice! Next time I want to be able to afford the Excelsior!
Exhaustion is setting in, more tomorrow. Buona Notte!!

Sunday 2

Ok we are at a laundromat/Internet cafe ;-).  We discovered the hard way that hand washed laundry like we got in Spadula is expensive! It's been the most expensive thing we've bought so far! In all fairness we didn't know it would be hand washed by the lady who does the wash for the hotel.
 Pictures are loaded. Lemons, lemons, lemons, lemons; if not lemons, olives growing all over Sorrento.  Lemoncello is the big drink and it packs a punch.  The hotel Alpha was quite nice except for the 30 yards or so of steps leading up to it (see picture).  We could see Vesuvias from our balcony!  From the roof you could see almost the entire Bay of Naples.  The walking in Pompeii made both our feet sore. The streets back then were large rocks and it hurts to walk. Can't imagine how they did it back then.  Signing off now. Our laundry is done! Ciao for now

Sunday

Ok from my phone & paying for the time so just a short note for now. Sorrento was lovely! Our hotel was actually in Sant'Angello, a division of Sorrento. We were one Circumvensuviana (CV) stop from the center of town. We took the public bus to Amalfi, up the mountains, across the mountains, down the mountains, on roads that are NOT built for big buses. Barbara & I were a little green upon arrival in Amalfi. Seemed better going back. It is beautiful there & we really enjoyed the trip. Met an Air Force pilot & his wife going to Positano for a mini- honeymoon before he goes to Afghanistan. Yesterday we went to Pompeii, amazing that it is still there considering it was built before Christ times, and the disaster was in 79 AD, yet the buildings still stand. We really enjoyed Sorrento & never made it to Capri or Naples, not enough time.
Today we returned to Rome for 3 nights, then off to Florence. We will try to get to an Internet cafe to load pictures. Boy! They really spoiled us in Spadula!

Thursday

With hugs all around, we left Spadola\Simbario today. We learned that  Calabria is beautiful, the people are warm and that right on the sidewalks you can pick, grapes, apples, figs, kiwi (yes kiwi). We also discovered all those days we were not in fog, but in clouds. As we went down the mountain we could look back up at the clouds hovering over where we had been. On the drive down we came upon an area where there was a panoramic view, Francesco said on a clear day, you can see all the way to Sicily.
And to my relatives, yes, I have death records birth records of our great grandparents excpet Francesco Valente. They could not find his in Spadola and we found his parents names too late to go back.
We rode the Eurail to Naples  "BEWARE PICKPOCKETS" signs everywhere. We caught the Circumvensuviana to Sorrento, thinking it was a direct "train". Turns out "direct" means you don't have to change trains. It was actually a subway type train that made 35 stops before getting to Sorrento.  Full of people, no airconditioning except little windows, we stood for an hour all the way to Sorrento guarding our purses and bags.
Tomorrow Amalfi, Positano and Ravello. Buona Notte!

New Pictures

New Pictures have been added to the Calabria Album

Wednesday

Well, this is our last day in Spadola/Simbario.  Yesterday we went to Simbario's cemetary. Francesco insisted on driving us because it was raining and a very thick fog. He couldn't believe we were actually going to wander around in the cemetary in that weather.  Barbara and I spent hours searching each and every tombstone there and taking pictures of family named tombstones. After we walked back to town, we were sitting on a bench deciding where to go next when our friend from the first day arrived. Bruno Bertucci is his name; shortly, his nephew Nicola Ciconte came up. Seems he works in the cemetary and they drug us BACK to the cemetery and pointed out each and every relative. Nicola is like a walking history professor and knows how every person is related and what Valente is a Simbarini and which is not!. It is important to note, that he told us several times that I, Sharon, look like a Simbarini but Barbara does not, she looks like an American! :-)
After the second visit to the cemetary, they drug us from house to house to meet cousins (and Bruno is sure we are cousins).  We met my grandfather's sister's daughters, Nicolina & Lisa Betta Carello,  who are 77 and 80 years old; Elisa Donato who is 92, & another lady whose last name is Valente but insisted no she is a Bertucci! We also met the Tassones he is a magistrate here and  I am not quite sure from which direction but they are cousins. We also went to meet the Giusseppe, son of my grandfather's brother, Salvatore. Turns out while we were going to meet him, he had come to the hotel to meet us! Understand all these visits and conversations were in a mix of my pidgen Italian and Nick's pidgen English and Bruno simply speaking  Italian SLOWLY. However, we managed to communicate pretty well anyway.
It seems I am also in "trouble" 1) because we did not stay in a hotel in Simbario, 2) my name is Sharon and not Francesca, Nicolina or Mary and 3) I spell my name with a "ti" instead of a "te".
We ended our day in beautiful sunshine in the cemetary in Spadola, which is actually where my great grandfather was born looking for gravesites there.
Today we walked back to Simbario in the fog and rain and went back to the Commune with Father Stephen and were able to access records of births, deaths and family regsitery, similar to a census: At first Sgn. Roti did not want us to have copies because we would "not understand" them. We, with Father Stephen's help, were finally able to take pictures of the documents for our records.  I hope we can load more pictures this evening
The woman at the coffee shop attached to the grocery store knows us on sight and what we drink now, too bad we have to leave.  So tomorrow we leave for Sorrento. Not sure what computer access I will have so for now Ciao!

Monday

I am writing today from Sga. Graziella's computer.  She is the owner of the hotel. The people here are at the hotel are so very hospitable.  They allow us to use the hotel computer at the desk, or since today it is busy, her personal notebook.  Francesco, the only one who really speaks English, works it seems night and day.  He does the hotel booking, waits tables and raises Cane Corso- huge dogs that we will get pictures of.  Also, Luigi and Carla her children work here. Although they serve a cold breakfast at the hotel, lunch and dinner are at the Taverna di Borboni a few paces in front of the hotel.  The Tavern has been here 25 years, the hotel only 3.  To my surprise there is not one spaghetti dish really familiar to me!  The driver who picked us up in Rome (in a Mercedes-made us feel conspicuous) said if  we were going to Calabria we should learn to say "I don't eat spagjhetti!"  Last night I ate fish, which was very good. Porcini are the BIG item.

This mornng it was 57 degrees, raining and a heavy fog. However, we persevered and walked to the Commune in Simbario.  There Mayor Andreacchi and Dominica were waiting for us.  He had received the email I sent ahead of time and said there was no family left. However, when we began going over the names, Dominica figured out that indeed, there is family (it always takes a woman). Dominica immediately got on the phone and called Nicolina Carello, daughter of Brunina Valente Carello. Brunina was my grandfather's (Nicola Valente) sister. She was blind and received a pension for that. She married Vitantonio Carello and had 2 daughters, Nicolina and Elizabetta. Nicolina came down and met us and invited us to her home. Father Stephen has said he will go with as translator but it will be Wednesday since he must go to Catanzaro tomorrow.  Once Dominica put two and two together, she said I have numerous cousins here. I guess we will meet them Wednesday. Tomorrow we will go back and try to find more on the Donato side.
Pictures posted!