Rome to Venice

On Wednesday, we had the morning in Rome before taking a train to Venice. Having woken up after 9am, we headed out along back streets and found a nice little bar/cafe for coffee and a pastry. Off to the Colosseum then and its crowds of tourists! We had read in the guide book that you could avoid the ticket line by buying tickets at a different entrance, but Jake discovered that you could also avoid the line by purchasing an audio tour for 4 extra euros each. Around the coliseum we walked learning about the brutal games and spectacles that went on there. Like 500 bears emerging from a whale skeleton! The coliseum's marble, wood and most other building materials were scavenged later to build other buildings in Rome, so large parts of it have been stabilized and excavations continue. From there we explored other Roman ruins in the huge archeological area near the Coliseum.

We caught our train with no problem, but found out that we had only validated one of the 2 tickets we needed to validate (you need to validate your ticket and get a stamp for your Eurail pass). The conductress was very nice and instead of paying the 50 euro fine she let Jake get off in Florence to get the Eurail pass stamped. We decided that if he missed the train I'd meet him in Venice, but neither of us thought it would come to that. It nearly did though and you can imagine my relief when a few minutes after the train left the station Jake appeared in the aisle! There were very long lines at the Eurail ticket window (that was true in Rome too and at the time we were congratulating each other that we didn't need to go the window since we already had our tickets!).

So we both arrived on time in Venice. There we needed to get our boat passes and public toilet passes. We stood in a line for about 25 minutes and the lady told us that we needed to go outside to another ticket office. That ticket office said try the one 100m to the right, and yes!, success at last. Then off to our B&B, conveniently located within a short walk of the station across a canal.

So it's true – EVERYTHING in Venice is transported by boat! Very cool to see the boat ambulance, garbage boat, DHL boat, boats carrying boxes and food, etc. They unload onto large dollies which are hauled around the cobbled streets for delivery. It's nice not to have to deal with cars, although there is plenty of pedestrian traffic. Tourists from all over the world are here. In both Rome and here our meagre Italian is sufficient and most people speak enough English that you wouldn't need to know any Italian.

This morning we took the #1 Vaporetto down the Grand Canal. Venice is very beautiful with a feel of decaying elegance. The first floors of many buildings along the Grand Canal have been abandoned to rising waters, but the upper floors remain occupied. There are so many flourishes and brightly painted shutters and hanging flower baskets that it seems very colorful. Wide streets give way to tiny alleys or dead end against a canal. The city has wisely posted signs that direct you from one area to another, but it is more fun to just take a street at random and see how far you can get. So far the food has been mediocre, but we have reservations tonight at a restaurant with a Michelin star!

We got off the Vaporetto at the Giardini stop where there happens to be an architectural exhibition. The whole area is part of Venice's general exhibition grounds where many countries have there own buildings like at the World's Fair. For the architectural exhibition they had exhibits on architecture in their respective countries. The main exhibition hall had different exhibits by architecture firms. Much of it was very avant-garde but really pretty interesting even to the lay-person like me. Jake was taken with the folding wooden chairs that could be stacked to form stadium seats and moved to be a full size chair or a short chair for kids. We took the vaporetto back up to San Marco, the main plaza, but avoided visiting it yet by taking back alleys until we found a place for lunch. I've decided that if you're not sure about the quality of a restaurant, pizza is a good bet!

Rome

Noi arriviamo en Roma! We arrived in Rome! 2 uneventful plane flights on USAir featured seats that reclined by maybe 2 inches, a video monitor that only got the teen movie channels, and charges for headphones. But on time! Customs in Rome could not have been easier with no questions, no scanning of passport, no paperwork, and no passport stamp! Are we officially here?

Anyway, we took the train from the airport to Stazione Terminali and walked a few blocks to our hotel, Luxury Le Griffe, which is conveniently located on a main street that goes down to the historic center. We couldn't check in until 2pm, so we took a walk down Av. Nazionale to the see some of the Roman ruins. Also took in the Trevi fountain which was packed with tourists (see photo) and then found a nice Ristorante/Pizzeria off of the main fountain area for a leisurely lunch on a patio. The restaurant was named Sancto y Profano, “sacred and profane”. We started with the house antipasti featuring hot and cold dishes like eggplant parmesan, salami, olives, artichoke hearts, crepes stuffed with sausage and a spicy red pepper and olive spread. As we anticipated our main courses, the fungi delivery van arrived with wooden trays of fresh porcini and chanterelles. I expressed interest in the mushrooms and our waiter took us inside for a closeup view. Jake got pumpkin and sausage ravioli as his main course and I had the swordfish in lemon and bay leaf sauce, both excellent. A ½ liter of white wine washed it down. Back to the hotel for a 2 hour nap!

Feeling somewhat revived, we went to the nearest bar for an expresso and capuccino and a little cinnamon hazlenut flaky pastry. This energized us enough to go see the Parthenon, an elephant by some famous sculptor, a jesuit cathedral, and the Navaro and Fiori plazas. Rome is beautiful at sunset, in fact the light all day seemed soft and glowing. From Fiori plaza we strolled across the Ponti Sisto to the Trastavere neighborhood, the old Jewish quarter. This was our favorite area so far with narrow winding streets and lots of shops and restaurants. We had a salad and pizza at Pizzeria Scaletti near the main church plaza. On the way home we took a few wrong turns so it was a long walk home. On the other hand, it took us by some more ruins that were quite impressive all lit up (see photo). And now, here's hoping for a good night's sleep!

Jake Says: You all know that one acquires certain expectations about foreign cities. I expected that Rome would have a lot of old buildings in a terrible state of disrepair and piles of architectural rubble. I just didn't expect so much!

Ready for Italy?!?

Yup, Sylvan says we're already to go. For me that mean preparing myself to gain 10 to 15 pounds -- not by losing in anticipation, but just getting ready by salivating. While I took the Italian class too, I am too busy learning Spanish to pay much attention. So I focused on the numbers 1-100 and how to say "I would like . . . " I also plan to say Bon Giorno all day and night. Yippee! I can also say "Where is the bathroom?" and "How much does it cost?" I figure, what else does one really need to know?

Italia

This year's major adventure will be a month in Italy! Jake has been there on business before, but has only seen a couple cities up north. In preparation for this trip we enrolled in Conversational Italian at Chesapeake Community College. This class has covered more grammar than conversation, but at least the teacher is a chef who has worked in Italy and is rapturous every time he describes foods. We did watch a great Italian movie in class last week, "Johnny Stechinno" (Johnny Toothpick). I'm learning more convesation by listening to Pimsleur's Italian CD's. So far I can say I would like to eat or drink somthing and at what time I would like to go shopping. Also, "where is the museum?".

So far our itinerary will be one day in Rome, train to Venice, 3 days in Venice, train to Florence, rent a car to get to our apartment in Castellina di Chianti for 12 days. After that, who knows! Next post will be after we arrive, September 14.

Final Post

We have been back from Maryland for five days now and this will be the farewell post. Our Santa Fe furniture arrived yesterday. We've been living in Oxford and going up to Denton every day to clean the house, unpack, garden and fix things that have inevitably come apart during our year away. We'll move up there at the end of the week, but may be back in Oxford for a couple weeks if we get some further house renovation done. We are looking forward to seeing all our friends here, getting settled into our home and new routine, and working on postponed projects. We already miss Santa Fe though and will still strive to find a way to live in several places at once! We hope to post future travel adventures here, but it will probably be awhile. Thanks for reading and keep in touch!

XC West to East

The furniture movers arrived promptly Friday morning and by 1 pm we were loaded up and on the road back east. Friday night we camped at Palo Duro Canyon State Park just south of Amarillo. Known as the “Grand Canyon” of Texas, it really was beautiful. We camped at the bottom of the canyon in one of several camp grounds. Colored canyon walls rose on either side and the bottom was intersected by small arroyos with lots of signs warning about flash floods.

Saturday we sped across Oklahoma’s back roads and into western Arkansas. In Oklahoma we stopped for a picnic lunch at Ft. Cobb Wildlife Management area. There is a large lake there surrounded by forests and homes. A friendly bulldog accompanied us on a walk on the red dirt roads that follow the lake shore. In Arkansas, the rivers were in flood stage and the first park we stopped at hoping to camp near Alma, AR, was closed. So we went to a nearby KOA instead. KOAs are always neat and clean with great restrooms. This one had lots of odd looking ducks that came around looking for handouts (see photo of nesting duck). We went out for dinner, and got very average Italian food. Unfortunately the Catfish Hole had a long line. It rained that night, but we were warm and dry in our tent.

It stayed cloudy as we kept mainly to Rt. 40 through AR. We decided to visit Graceland since we were going to pass right by it. The ticket pavilion is across a 4 lane street from the house and they ferry people over on small buses. You get an audio tour with your admission. The house looks like a modest southern mansion from the front, but is fairly small really. On the tour you visit the first floor, the finished basement and the outbuildings. The décor is extreme 70s. Green shag carpeting in the “living room”, called the Jungle room because of the color and heavy carved wood furniture (see photo). A mirrored rec room in the basement and another room covered in pleated boldly patterned fabric on the walls and ceiling. Other buildings contained Elvis’ dad’s office and an enormous trophy collection. From that collection you see the overwhelming influence Elvis must have had on the musical world.

Keeping with our musical theme, we made our way to Nashville, home of country music! We found a hotel near downtown and made our way over to the bars and restaurants in “The District”. After strolling around a few blocks, we had dinner at Ichiban, a very good Japanese restaurant. We were desperate for some good food and this was very satisfying. Afterwards we picked out a bar with a band. At most of the bars, the bands are visible and audible through a glass window facing the street. So you can walk along and choose where you want to go based on what music appeals. We ended up at the “Second Fiddle” and got a beer at the bar. The band was quite good and played a wide range of classic and contemporary covers. One band member’s fiancée was there with her sister, and the sister also sang a few LeAnn Rimes songs quite well.

The next day we drove to Knoxville where my high school friend Mary now lives. She took us to a good local chain restaurant for lunch and then we went for a short walk at a local waterfront park. Knoxville seems to be surrounded by rivers and lakes. Apparently boating is a big thing to do there. Fortified with goodies she’d made, we continued on to Abingdon, VA to visit my friend Quinn. Quinn is an artist, actress, and “cat wrangler” for a cat rescue organization. She and her current two cats greeted us (or at least one cat did, we never did see the other one). We went for a walk around the incredibly cute town of Abingdon. It would be a great place for a long weekend of theatre and hiking. Quinn fixed us a salad made with locally collected branch lettuce and pasta with homemade pesto.

Finally, on Tuesday we drove from Abingdon to Oxford, MD! We did detour off the interstate for a while and stopped for lunch in Sperryville, VA at a café in an old renovated church building. Arriving in Oxford around 4:30, we were warmly welcomed by my mom and dad and by Calla! Calla seemed to forgive me for having left her for a year, although I’m sure it wasn’t hard for her given all the attention she got while I was gone!

Battle of Glorieta Pass

Texans march through New Mexico Territory attempting to claim the southwest for the Confederacy. Union troops from Colorado engage them in battle between Santa Fe and Albuquerque enlisting a few poorly trained New Mexican soldiers. The Battle at Glorieta Pass proves a turning point in the war in the southwest as Union troops defeat the Confederate soldiers by burning their supply wagons forcing them to return to Texas.

Or something like that. This weekend there was a re-enactment of the battle held at Rancho Las Golondrinas, a living history museum near Santa Fe. The New Mexicans were represented by about 5 guys dressed in Mexican peasant garb (see photo of one captured by Confederate soldiers). They spoke Spanish and broken English during the skirmishes. The Union soldiers outnumbered the Confederate soldiers and were much more organized, but then the Confederate soldiers were the ones with the horses. Apparently neither army was particularly popular among the native New Mexicans during the Civil War. As an easterner, I never knew there were Civil War battles this far west. One person said it was because the Confederacy wanted the gold recently discovered in Colorado.

Las Golondrinas was quite impressive. There are historic buildings of several eras including 2 working water mills for grain and a simple molasses mill. People were on hand to demonstrate various crafts such as weaving, iron work, and bread baking in adobe ovens. They were quite entertaining with good analogies or contrasts with present day technology. The woman in the kitchen described grinding corn on a stone as "the aerobic upper body workout" for the women of the era. An acequia runs through the property watering small fields and an orchard. Sheep and goats are kept at the farm and probably other animals during the summer. The landscape is quite varied with small ponds, dry hills and enormous cottonwood trees.

On the way home we stopped to check out the "World Series of Trailer Roping". It turned out to be a team calf roping contest. We think the winner gets a horse trailer. It was a very local event with no stands for spectators, you just hang out by the rail or sit on the back of your pickup truck. It is not easy to rope a calf over the horns and back legs. Most teams failed but a few managed the impressive feat of coordination. There were some women in the competition so it wasn't completely a male dominated activity. The small food booth's menu was in Spanish mostly, but the announcer spoke in English.