We left Lorica today earlier than expected but we just need to adjust to changes in our intinerary. Lorica is high in the mountains and very green but also secluded. Like I said no Internet access. I wanted to mention the food at the hotel. Lorica is known for their mushrooms. They have an annual mushroom festival. Our spaghetti is just a tomatoe sause and we've added mushrooms for a change. They are wonderful. We've driven up and down the mountain several times and now realize it is no big deal to drive in the country. Our intentions were to have [View Full Entry]

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After the police let us go....or after we ran away from the them we found the train station to be totally vacated. The old man behind the ticket counter felt sorry for us because we were literally stranded due to it being a Sunday. He called his personal friend taxi driver away from his family on a Sunday to come rescue us. He took us 90 minutes up the mountain to our destination a beautful mountain lake view location. We squeezed in his car with window open and hair blowing all over the place like mister toad wild ride. The mountains [View Full Entry]

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Please excuse the typing and punct. because the keyboard is slightly different than what we have and we are on a limited time to write. Since Lorica is isolated we do not have Internet connection there. We had one of the locals that works at Lorica (named JJ) take us down the mountain to the train station at Cosenza. While waiting for the train, our friend Leonardo who now knows that these crazy americans tip well convince us to let him take us to Paola train station for a faster train to Reggio Calabria. We missed the fast train Eurorail and [View Full Entry]

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We are calling Bob "Leonardocito" because he is doing a fab job driving a stick shift in traffic avoiding the millions of Vespas (motor scooters). Everyone here has one and dont obey laws. like running through red lights and against traffic and on curbs etc. I am navigating with map and reading road signs. We need the two of to equal one italian driver. between the two of us we are surviving the drive. Per Robert: I was a jerk in a restaurant by accident. I didnt wait my turn to order food. the local that was there gave me a [View Full Entry]

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We woke up Sunday morning in Salerno expecting to visit Pompeii. All plans had to change because as we were aware and yet not...everything is closed on Sunday. We had to move forward with our plans to go to Lorica because there was only one train that day. We sat at the train terminal for approx. 3 hours just people watching. It appears that all service oriented people are short and disgusted with American Tourists yet any of the locals are really willing to help and have fun with the crazy americanos. The trains are not as expected. No one alerts [View Full Entry]

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Yvonne had the pleasure of meeting Mario a local from Florence Italy. Of all of the American I could have sat next to, I sat with a real Italian. Our communication was slow and difficult but I learned so much. He was very aware of American politics and asked who I would be voting for in the next presidential election. He made a big deal about the entire world was waiting on our decision to elect a new president. Mario was coming from a Rotary International convention. He is 67 years old and retired but had such a compasion for helping [View Full Entry]

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What a first day. Yvonne's trip to Roma went without a hitch until she started to look for the Calderon Family who was suppose to greet her at the airport. A three hour delay (two hours of it on the plane) in New York started the ordeal. We finally met and had to take a train to Salerno our first stop. We held tickets that we had not a clue what they meant. So we sat and waited 90 minutes for a train that would never be. We finally figured the first train was to actually take us to the main [View Full Entry]

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I am close to getting myself psyched up for our flight to Rome. I can get claustrophobic at times, but, have been practicing getting into what I call "endurance mode". That is where I find my "happy place", a visualization technique. I then slow down my breathing and my heart beat while blocking out distracting sounds. I'll be ready come June 20th! Our first leg is from Los Angeles to New York, 5 plus hours. I never thought I would say that," that is the easy part!" We (Bertha and RJ) will have about a 2 hour lay over before leaving [View Full Entry]

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I have been reading every word Rick Steves wrote about travel in "Italy 2008". His travel tips seem so common sense so I have been trying to prepare according to his suggestions. Bob and I researched luggage features, luggage size, weight, and what we would absolutely need to take. I even bought a sling strap back pack that has a Rick Steves brand name on it! So in three weeks of travel...you may see pictures of me in the same outfit three times or more. We won't skimp on the deoterant and will wash clothes whenever we can. We will soak [View Full Entry]

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We are counting down the days to take off! In one week we hope to be enjoying our International travels but the anxieties have already begun. As we check our list of things to do, we came across our first snag. As copies of passports were being made for backup Bob discovers RJ's passport has expired. It seems impossible that it would only expire after two years. When Bertha and RJ went to London, they both acquired a passport. Bertha's passport won't expire for another 8 years...possibly it was because RJ was a minor at that time and it was only [View Full Entry]

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