What Next?

White peacock, Isola Bella, Lake Maggiore, Italy

By the time they reach their fiftieth birthday, if they are lucky enough to have done that, most people have more life behind them than ahead. 

Seeing as I just turned 60, this simple math has been on my mind.

And I keep asking myself what next. 

I think I need to work for a living until I'm sixty-five, which is very different from wanting to work that long.

The lingering effects of major surgery keep me mindful that I may outlive my able-bodiedness.

My trip to Italy showed me that travel works as a simulacrum of youth. Being carefree while absorbing terabytes of new information is almost like being twenty-five. The world is once again full of wonders.

With my dwindling stock of days remaining, I need to figure out how to keep my world full of wonder.

Hello? 

For more than five years this blog has had 25 subscribers, give or take. Over the past two weeks, I have gained many new subscribers. As of this morning, that number is now 117. 

I am thrilled that my audience has grown, but I can't help but wonder - assuming that the Blogger bot filter has not failed - who the new readers are. 

If one of my new subscribers could click through the post title to the actual blog site and leave a comment letting me know who you are, that would be swell.

Thanks for reading!

Karen

Summing Up - Part Two

Keep your eye on the tour guide totem to stay with the group and understand what you're hearing on your radio. Local expert Susanna's pink flag at St. Peter's Basilica.

Bus Touring - the good and the bad

Traveling on an organized bus tour has many benefits, some of which I've already mentioned: access to good hotels; travel itineraries that take you places you have no idea even exist. 

There are also nice logistical supports: the luggage is all taken care of; meals are either pre-arranged or recommendations are made for good places to eat. 

Rome's Local Expert Susanna, who took us through the Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica, the Colosseum and all the fountains and squares in the afternoon.

Our local expert in Pompeii, whose name, like Pompeii was for all those years, 
has been lost to history.

Patricia, our tour Director, explains the tattle slot in Verona.

The stars are the tour Director, the Driver and the "local experts" so called who help you appreciate what you're seeing.

Our tour Director, Patricia, and our driver, Salvatore, were wonderful. 

Salvatore was unendingly pleasant and kind. And, boy, could he drive that bus.

Patricia worked hard all day every day to make sure we knew what was going on, and that we were taken care of. One of the people on our tour had Parkinson's disease and travelled with a wheelchair. Every day, for every location, Patricia had an access route mapped out and a strategy to make sure he and his wife got the most out of their tour.

Patricia lives in Tuscany, just this side of Umbria, and her husband joined us for the final supper.

When I realized I'd forgotten our passports, Patricia did not hesitate; she called the hotel where I'd left them and helped me make arrangements to get the passports sent to our Florence hotel.

When I needed to find a doctor, Patricia made it happen. 

The "local experts" - who were for the most part named Anna, or Maria, or Anna Maria (only two of the guides - the ones in Pompeii and Capri - were men) - are people who answer the question "what do you do with a degree in art history?" But for Capri, where Stephano barely mailed it in, the guides were excellent: knowledgeable and passionate about their subject matter. Most of them were also funny.

The "best performance of a detailed local history" award goes to our guide in Milan. Using people in the group, she took us through an amazing 700 year chronology of the rulers of the region. Bruce was, very briefly, the King of France. It was hilarious with the added benefit of being accurate and true. 

The castle in Milan.

The less great side of being on a bus tour: 

• the schedule is unrelenting. We were up and out of bed every morning at five or five thirty. If we were moving on, we had our luggage out in the hallway by seven, had eaten breakfast and were ready to get on the bus by eight. 
• you spend a lot of time on the bus. Seeing sixteen cities in thirteen days means you have to travel the distance between those cities. Two whole days of the tour were taken almost entirely up in getting from point A to point B. 
• you're in a crowd no matter where you go. 
• you eat a lot of highway food.
• you live out of your suitcase for the duration.

Fellow travellers

Kim and I goofing around at the base of the "fat baby" statue in Pisa.

We were 50 of us on this trip, about half from the United States, eight from Australia, two from South Africa and the balance, 15, were Canadian, which is apparently a larger than normal contingent of frost backs for these tours.

Among the Canadians were the couple travelling with the wheelchair, three fun and loveable women from Ottawa celebrating 30 years of friendship, a nice couple from Nanaimo, and us, the Five Canadians, travelling together to celebrate a spate of 60th birthdays. 

Bruce and I are slow to get acquainted with people, and by the last day we were still struggling with names, but, I would say, overall, this was a lovely bunch.

I can say that because of how the group responded to the couple travelling with the wheelchair. One tour member, a fellow from San Fransisco who has had both of his hips and shoulders replaced, helped with the chair every day up and down cobblestone inclines, over giant curbs and even up and down short flights of stairs. 

We were all concerned and solicitous of the whereabouts and condition of the couple travelling with the wheelchair.  They were our group project, though Patricia and the man from San Francisco still did most of the heavy lifting, so to speak.

Included meals and food in general

I was hoping for great food in Italy. The highlights were, in no particular order:

• risotto with peas at the Hungaria Hotel in Venice, almost but not quite good enough to make me forgive them their sins
• caprese salad with farm fresh tomatoes and mozzarella made just before the meal and right before our eyes in Sorrento

• smoked fish antipasto at the "Be My Guest" dinner on Lake Maggiore
• pizza Margarita at the UNA hotel in Rome
• ravioli with pecorino and pear in butter sauce, Piazza Santa Croce, Florence
• ricotta and spinach crepes, San Gimignano

The tour package included breakfast every day, dinner at the hotel for about half of the evenings and the "Be My Guest" dinner. The "farewell dinner" outside of Rome was also included. 

Burano: like Venice but smaller, less crowded and more quaint.

There also were, at extra cost, special excursion meals - one at a farm house in Sorrento (where they made the mozzarella), one at a cafe in Burano (see above), and one in the hills outside of Florence. If I were to do this tour again, I would not choose the excursion meals: I don't need to eat that much food.

The bronze David overlooking Florence with a nice sky.

The included "eat at the hotel" meals were all fine. That said, after we tried the minestrone soup once, we never tried it again. I've already noted the fine risotto and peas in Venice. The lasagna for the pasta course at the Grand Hotel Dino was superior. The meat and potato courses at all the hotels were a lot like any meal prepared for a large group that you would get anywhere. 

For most of the tour, the breakfast buffets were perfectly OK. There was always lots of space in the dining room for us and any other groups visiting the hotel; there was lots of food and the table service was assiduous - staff kept the buffet stocked and the dining tables cleared and reset to keep up with the inflow and outflow of people eating breakfast.

Then we got to Florence. Everything that worked everywhere else did not work in Florence. There were too many people for the space available; the buffet was not restocked and the tables were piled with dirty dishes. 

This seemed very bad. 

Then we got to the Sheraton in Rome. A contingent of maybe a couple of hundred Chinese people all wearing blue windbreakers with the slogan "Lets Make History Together" on the back descended on the breakfast room. It was like Florence, only much, much worse. There appeared to be only one staff person working the entire room. At one point there was no food or even plates on the buffet, the "coffee" machine was completely depleted, not a single table had been cleared. 

Charter flight trans-Atlantic travel

If I were one of those rich people who ruin everything, I would only ever travel first class. Economy travel on flights over four hours is grim; it doesn't matter which airline you're on. 

The experience in the airports is just as bad. People travelling in the hundreds and thousands strain systems past capacity. It's wall to wall chaos.

As For Italy

The basilica in Milan

Until I travelled to Italy, I thought I lived in a country with pretty countryside, interesting geography and intriguing regional differences. With twice the population of Canada on a land mass about a quarter of the size of Ontario, Italy exists in a category of its own. 

The Italian landscape is spectacular, full of surprises, always beautiful. I rarely read on the bus because it was too much fun to look out the window. The many stops along the way and special tours were just as much fun.

All that marble needs to come from somewhere.

The view on the way to Positano on the Amalfi coast.

The creepy Madonna Grotto: Capri

We have abandoned saw mills in Ontario: they don't look like this.
Old saw mill in a river chasm, Sorrento.

Fishing boat on the lagoons outside of Venice.

Italian cities and towns are treasure troves of art and history. The artwork showed skills people don't have anymore. The fine craft has lost its patrons and will never find a mass market.
  

When the Vatican sends flowers: mosaic tabletop "thank you" from the Pope to the  Borromeo family.

I noted, without going along with, the spiritual content of a lot of the grandest artwork. I maintained my sceptical position, no matter how beautiful the art.

The holy spirit: St. Peter's.

The hand of god: Ravenna.

The hand of God / the Holy Spirit / a brisk wind at Assisi; chairs blown over at an ecumenical conference.

Most of all I was just taken with how pretty and old everything is in Italy. We have nothing to compare this with in Canada. 

A pleasing Venice prospect from the Grand Canal

"So we started digging and we found a whole other city": archeological excavation of an old city wall, including watch tower foundation in Verona.

"This is the stuff we put up high": far away artwork, Vatican Museum

A pretty sculpture inside St. Peter's: I observed to Bruce that humans just don't make this sort of thing anymore.

Recalling that the pretext for this trip was to do something for the three 60th birthdays - Bruce's, Kevan's, mine, in that order - happening between August 24 and September 23 2017, it's hard to imagine how we could have made a better choice for what to do.

Thanks for reading!

Karen

Summing Up - Part One

Me and my body guard at a prospect on the Amalfi coast. Photo by Kevan Macrow.

We really enjoyed our time in Italy. I've summarized some key points for your reading pleasure and to convey some of the essence of our journey, more or less in the order that they occurred to me. 

I've done this in two parts because otherwise it is too long.

On the way to the Sistine Chapel:
the Map Gallery with trompe l'eoil ceilings and massive crowds.

Money's worth

Bruce and I agree the tour was worth every dime we spent. The trip delivered everything promised. We had an incredible experience; saw things and went places we would never had dreamed of on our own. 

Through the bus window, the quintessential Rome:
umbrella pines, traffic, sunshine and ruins

Plumbing

Wherever I'm travelling, I always have an eye out for washrooms. Italy's added a dimension of adventure. Even the fixtures in the hotels provided puzzles to solve. I did eventually figure out how to get the shower to turn on in the Grand Hotel Dino in Baveno, but then could not get it to shut off.

What I could never be sure of in a public toilette: will the toilets have seats; will there be toilet paper; will it be obvious how to flush the toilet; will it be clean; will there be a way to dry my hands and if it's a blower, will it work; how do the sinks work (some had taps, some electric sensors; one operated by foot pedal).

What I could be absolutely sure of: there will be a line up for the ladies; if there is more than one stall, at least one stall will be out of service.

Bruce strikes a pose in Pompeii. I quickly got over trying to keep other people out of  my shots. The woman in the near background was a member of our group, a fellow Canadian,  and a frequent photo bomber.

Health care

Prescription drugs are affordable in Italy. As a precaution against a possible blood clot, I got loaded up with anti-biotics, anti-inflammatories and anti-coagulants. Total cost: about $60 CAD. 

In Italy, radiology and imaging clinics are like hotels. Once you register, you are put in the care of a beautiful hostess all dolled up in a stylish uniform and award-ceremony-ready hair and make-up. My hostess also acted as an interpreter for me and the doctor who did the ultrasound. My favourite line: "The doctor would like you to throw away your leggings."

The sad perished Pompeii dog we all read about in grade school.

The weather

Nice collection of tourists and umbrellas - from the windows by the Bramante staircase at the Vatican Museum.

We lucked out big time with the weather. We got rained on only once, in Venice. We had a near miss in Pisa, much to the chagrin of the guys aggressively selling umbrellas. Our first day in Rome was rainy in the morning, but we were indoors for most of the time so it did not matter. By the time we were doing our walking tour in the afternoon, the rain had stopped.

As wet as we could be on dry land: the Rialto Bridge in Venice.

Every other day was either intermittently overcast or bright and sunny. Despite the omnipresence of two-stroke and/or diesel engines, the air quality in Italy was mostly good. There was no humidity. The breeze was always fresh and cool, even when the sun was strong. 

Crystal blue skies over Pompeii

Hotels

Trafalgar Tours has buying power no single person can match, so we stayed in some great hotels.

In Rome the first time, we stayed at Hotel UNA - just a few blocks from the Colosseum. Our room overlooked a street lined with cafes where the noise of conversation and laughter did not stop until around 2 in the morning. If you stay at UNA, ask for a room facing the courtyard. 

Bruce demonstrates the life of Reilly on the Johanna Park Hotel patio.

In Sorrento, we stayed at the Johanna Park Hotel, a family-run estate-like hotel in the countryside. Our spacious ground floor room had oversized, old-fashioned furniture and a walk out patio with high walls. There was an outdoor pool but only Bruce remembered to bring his bathing suit; instead we spent the afternoon drinking prosecco on the sunny patio lined by olive trees and overlooking the gulf of Naples.

Gulf of Naples as seen zipping along in the bus.

In Assisi, we stayed at the Cenacolo Hotel - an erstwhile monastery in a beautiful setting - distinguished by its strong, reliable wifi.

Don't be fooled by the fancy facade.

In Venice, we spent two nights on Lido Island at the Hungaria Hotel. This hotel is beautiful on the outside but is also the one place I would never go back to. You can read about why on my TripAdvisor review.

On Lake Maggiore in Baveno, we stayed at the grandest of the hotels on our itinerary: the Grand Hotel Dino. The place made me feel like a movie star. There were thousands of people staying there, but nothing ever felt congested. The vast, luxurious dining rooms had floor to ceiling windows overlooking the lake. It was stunning. This is the place where I left our passports behind.

Look! A picture of Rob Ford at the Grand Hotel Dino!

In Florence we stayed at the Mediterraneo Hotel, just a five minute walk from the historic centre of the city. The rooms were great, the wifi strong and the breakfast room was like a zoo. See next post for details.

For our last night, we stayed in a Sheraton hotel close to the Rome airport. The room was great: best bathroom of the trip with both a bath and a shower. The breakfast room set a standard in zooishness to rival the Mediterraneo in Florence.

The crowds

I had no expectations about what the sightseeing experience in Italy would be. When I saw the crowds at the Vatican Museum - our first major stop - I assumed that, well, it's the Vatican. Of course it's going to be crowded. 

But then I saw the colosseum ...

And the Spanish Steps ...

And the Trevi Fountain ...

The size of the crowds at the famous sights we visited overwhelmed the experience. The fancy piazzas designed to hold mere hundreds of people were grotesque mob scenes where I could hardly move and could barely see the thing I was there to see. Travellers now arrive in such numbers that even the greatest of the grand spaces cannot hold its character in the face of zillions of selfie-taking tourists.

Bus tours are part of the problem. Ten busses at once can inject five hundred people into any given location.

But the biggest culprits - figuratively, literally - are the cruise ships.

The face of the beast: cruise ship coming into berth in Venice

Same ship: fellow travellers and Santa Maria del Salute added to show scale

Cruise ships ruin everything

Aida ships carry about 2,000 passengers;
there were six others like it docked in Venice that day

Cruise ships are designed to comfortably accommodate thousands of passengers (ranging from 1,500 to 6,000). But when multiple ships disgorge their human cargo onto a small European city, the effect is monstrous. The day we were in Venice and could not move for the crowds in St. Marks there were, reportedly, seven cruise ships in dock.

While the historic city centre once was home to a population of 250,000, all those thousands had their own washroom. When 70,000 people a day show up in Venice who don't live there, the city is overwhelmed.

My next post will review the fine points of bus travel and what makes Italy so great.

Thanks for reading!

Karen

Tuscany Then Rome Then Home

Grave markers at the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial

Sunshine, Grape Vines and Cypress Trees

The towers of San Gimignano

We departed our Florence hotel with its comfortable rooms and jam-crammed mob scene of a breakfast room around 8 in the morning.

This is our last full day in Italy. Our sample of Tuscany, along with simply driving through the stunning countryside, included the deeply sad American Cemetery where about 40% of the young people who fell in the late days of the Italian campaign are laid to rest.

Then we went to San Gimignano, a heartbreakingly quaint medieval town where rich people built towering homes as their mark of status and wealth. These tended to tip over, so the town imposed a height restriction of 200 feet. There were more than 70 towers at the height of the building frenzy. There are a bit more than a dozen left. 

I still stand by my observation that rich people ruin everything. But, in doing so, they build things that tourists come along to take a look at much later. And then the cruise ship tourists ruin everything (more about that later).

Kim and her designed-to-the-smallest detail cup of tea. See next shot.

The tea came on its own wooden tray, with a special plate for the skinny pyramid
tea bag whose string ended in a precious little leaf that protruded through
the hole in the lid for the cup: exquisite.

We were in Rome by about 5:00 p.m. and shortly after that sat down to our last meal together as a randomly selected group of people who happened to book the same travel tour.

The Five Canadians will be shuttling to the airport tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. and, after one last blast of duty-free shopping, will be airborne around 2:00 p.m. Italy time. We'll be home around 5:00 p.m. Toronto time. Actually, only Bruce and I will well and truly be home. Carol will have another long trip to get back to Nanaimo. Kim and Kevan will still have two hours or more ahead of them to get home in Belleville.

This has been an amazing trip. I'll sum up tomorrow.

Thanks for reading!

Karen

AHM DCT #6 through #10 Plus Some Good News

#6 - Pieta, unfinished

#7 - St Matthew, unfinished

#8 - David, finished and then damaged and then repaired

I had the best of both worlds today, sightseeing in Florence AND getting an ultrasound that came up negative for blood clots. We got our passports back, too.

Along with all the famous Michelangelo sculptures (the pieta is disputed), finished and not, we saw some pretty buildings.

#9

These shots are of the same pretty building, the duomo in Firenze. I took the bottom one just before Bruce and I headed off in exactly the wrong direction to get that ultrasound. We eventually got turned around the right way. I took the one on the top from a prospect on the way to another fine meal, the likes of which we routinely have on this trip.

#10 - Look! Another David!

Thanks for reading!

Karen