mrmossy

We REALLY enjoyed our time in Venice and could have stayed longer, but the end of our trip was quickly approaching and we still wanted to see Milan before catching our flight out. The train ride to Milan wasn't very long -- maybe about 2 1/2 hours or so on the high speed train. When we got to Milan we had our usual argument about how we would get from the train station to the hotel -- I wanted to take the metro and Michelle wanted to take a cab. We took a cab. For the first time on our whole trip we questioned the Rick Steeves' guide. All of the recommendations in the guide have been great so far. However, the Hotel Vecchia Milano is a total dump! The place was dark, dingy, dusty and ... read more

We are scheduled to fly back to the US on Monday Mar 22. Today we received an email from Expedia telling us to "call them immediately concerning our flight." After calling, we found out that the first leg of our flight (from Milan to London) had been canceled due to the British Airways strike. After calling Expedia we learned that many of the shorter flights scheduled between Mar 20 and Mar 22 were being canceled however the longer flights were unaffected. So our flight from London to San Francisco was fine - we just didn't have a way to get to London. Per Expedia, we had 2 options - rebook our return trip for April 3rd (!!!!) or book a new Euro flight on a different airline (which we would have to pay for b/c BA ... read more

(Sunday March 14) Since the only channel broadcast in English is CNN (snore), we've been watching a lot of Italian TV. We are completely hooked on "Affare Tuoi" an Italian game show loosely based on deal or no deal. We have set our watches to be sure to be in the room at 8:45 PM every night so we can watch it. We also really like the DeeJay channel, an Italian music video channel. On Affare Tuoi, instead of suitcases they use big, antique-looking boxes. Instead of hot models, the people holding/opening the boxes are potential contestants, each from one of the various Italian regions (e.g., Rome, Puglia, Tuscany, etc). The contestants so far have been a series of hot moms (per Scott) and a guy who looked like Mario from Super Mario Brothers. No one ... read more

Here is a tutorial on how to drive in Florence - DON'T do it! We had a rental car since it was the only way to get around the hill towns of Central Italy, so we used it to get to our hotel in Florence. What an adventure that was. First of all, Italian drivers are all insane. We come from a country where there are strict rules about driving - you stop at a stop signs, you merge when safe, you yield for pedestrians, you stop on a red light and you go on a green light. None of the rules apply here in Florence. In fact there are many destinations in the city that there is NO way to get to unless you break a law or two! Of course with Michelle being such ... read more

(Wednesday March 10 at 1230 pm) Hallelujah. The power, heat and water are back on. We are still farm-bound because of the mud on the road, but everything else is back to normal. The snow is melting quickly. Our hosts made a huge lunch for us. We started with a bowl of ribbolita soup (veggie/bean soup with bread). After the soup they served a huge bowl of pasta and a bottle of wine. Thinking that was it, we were about to head back to the room when they brought out the focaccia bread and a platter of sausage and potatoes. Holy cow - way too much food. Then came the cake - this put us way over the top. Serious food coma. Anyway, all is well and back to normal. Weather permitting, tomorrow we are off ... read more