Our Great Italian Adventure

It was the type of vacation that makes you need a vacation when you return. Up early each day, board the tour bus by 8am, gone all day, board the bus again around 5pm, back to the hotel to eat and drink like pigs. The tours each day mostly consisted of churches, churches and more churches. By the end of the week, I could care less if I ever saw another church in my life. Baroque, Renaissance, blah, blah, blah. Popes, Emperors, painters, sculptors, blah, blah, blah. As a sufferer of self diagnosed adult ADD, it was just too much information.

Some highlights:

• The Vatican and all that it includes; Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica
• Trevi Fountain where I made a wish. It's sort of in an alley, very bizarre.
• The Colosseum (that we actually only saw from the outside, long story, but after waiting in line for some time, the man at the gate told us to come back tomorrow. Bastard!)
• Tuscany and all the quaint little towns we visited including Cortona (one of my favorites) which is the setting for "Under the Tuscan Sun." A book neither of us has read and a movie neither of us has seen.
• The winery visit in Montepulciano (say that ten times really fast after drinking wine!) and all the tasty wine. Nothing like a good wine buzz in the middle of the afternoon!
• The David in Florence. Unbelievable. He's huge. Rick was quick to point out that David's second toe is considerably longer than his big toe. Justin will be happy to know that too.
• Bologna, a quaint little town with it's open air produce and fish markets. Why can't we get produce like that in the States? Those Dagos really know how to grow shit.
• Venice, even though it rained like hell that day and we never got to take our gondola ride. But Venice is my favorite. It smells like my mother's kitchen. Mmmmmmmm.
• The Murano glass factory, even though I couldn't afford anything there.
• Padua, home of St. Anthony. Inside St. Anthony's church they actually had is tongue on display. Gross! And Padua University where Galileo studied. When someone graduates from Padua University, their friends and family dress them in whatever silly outfit they choose, parade them through the town, singing all the way, while the graduate carries a bottle of alcoholic beverages that they must drink from every few minutes. People hoot and holler as they pass by and bystanders can do almost anything to the graduate, including but not limited to kissing the grad and smearing whipped cream on them. CRAZY SHIT. But they sure have a good time celebrating. When viewing the pictures, see if you can guess which photo is of the graduate. It shouldn't be to difficult.
• Our last night cocktail party with all the great new friends we made. There were John and Big Debs (who weighs all of 4 lbs.) from Kentucky. John used to be a judge. Perhaps they discovered how much wine he drinks and this is why he no longer is a judge. Then there was Pete and Susan from Detroit. Pete is a true Irishman and quite the gentleman while Susan is a troublemaker. I say that with only love in my heart. Finally, Bill and Mustang Sally from Iowa. Thank god for Sally who was our menu interpreter and Bill who turned Rick onto Shout wipes. A brilliant invention for men with big bellies! And, I turned them all onto Lupini beans. Only my family and Italian friends will know what those are.

To view all the fabulous pictures of all the churches, click here.

Ciao from Rome

What a crazy place! When we arrived yesterday we hopped in a taxi from the airport to our hotel. We both immediately commented on the crazy people who ride scooters/Mopeds as a means of transportation. The taxi driver told us that it was the best way to see Rome AND avoid the constant traffic. Rick and I both agreed that there would be no scooter rentals for us, for we want to come home via jet plane rather than pine box. Within minutes doesn't a scooter run into our taxi and, BAM!, the scooter rider is on the ground! Fortunately he was OK, but our taxi was pretty wrecked. Nice way to begin our Roman adventure. So far we have visited the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain and Vatican City. All very cool, but the Sistine Chapel and Michaelangelo's work is absolutely mind boggling and breathtaking!

We are hoping to still make it to the Colliseum before heading north to Florence tomorrow. Very rainy today so that is putting a damper (pun intended) on today's plans.
However, we did drive by the Colliseum so that may have to do. Could be a good excuse to return to Rome someday.
The wine is oh so tasty and CHEAP! I have had fresh mozzarella with every meal so I couldn't be happier. The hotel I booked for us in Rome is fabulous; we have a corner suite with two terraces!

CIAO!

And We're Off!

The big Italy trip is finally here. First stop Rome. Bob and Shirl are holding down the fort here in the HG. Tune back in after the 21st and there will be lots of pictures and stories.

I will miss my dog. ;(

My Pottery Obsession

I bought this gorgeous platter in Colorado with the intention of hanging it on the wall in my upstairs hallway. I cannot possibly be the first person ever who wants to hang something like this on the wall. After searching high and low on the web for a way to hang this, I have come up with nothing. There is not a search term I haven't tried. The platter is about 20" in diameter, about 3" deep and quite heavy. I found plate hangers for smaller lightweight items but nothing that would do for this. This is just the kind of shit that sets me off. What the fuck? There is nothing on the web to hang this thing? I don't believe it.

Years ago when I was having some glass shelving installed in our master bathroom, I wanted some sort of bracket that wasn't ugly and didn't stand out too much. The installer told me they didn't have anything like that. I simply replied, "I cannot be so original that I am the first asshole to want such a thing." Remarkably he found a solution that pleased me. Not an easy task, I know. But I also cannot be the only one to want to hang something like this on the wall.

I think I will just look for two separate brackets to affix to the wall and go from there. Unless Jeanne the Web Queen someone has a better idea. I am open to suggestions.

FYI: If you are searching for marijuana smoking paraphernalia, just add the word "bowl" to your search terms!

We're So Excited!

Our trip to Italy is just around the corner and we have finally received all of our travel documents. Because we are going on a tour, we did not know exactly what hotels we would be staying at. Of course we were promised four star hotels, but you never know what you will actually get. We spend the first two nights in Rome at the Marcella Royale Hotel. Then it's off to Siena to the Hotel le Fonti for three nights. No website given for this hotel and, I must admit, that makes me just a bit nervous. Finally, three fabulous nights in Venice at the Hotel Brioni Mare. We are definitely going for a gondola ride in Venice this time around. Screw the cost. I also have plans to significantly add to my Murano glass collection. I love that stuff, all of it. We welcome any travel tips and suggestions.

Unbelievable

We returned late last night from our first trip to Colorado and the Rocky Mountains. A client of Rick's was generous enough to let us use his "Kamp" as he calls it. His kids call it his 5 acre money pit and work farm. Let me tell you, hardly what I would describe as a camp! A gorgeous cedar log home complete with guest house where we stayed and where this picture was taken. We fished for rainbow trout on Lake Granby and actually caught some. Ate them too. YUMMY! We spent an afternoon driving through Rocky Mountain National Park. Overwhelmingly beautiful and scary at the same time. I'm not one for heights so there were times during the drive that I literally could not look. I've seen the Adirondack Mountains in all their seasonal glory, I've seen the Blue Ridge Mountains and they really do look blue, but the Rockies are truly spectacular. (I've also seen the Swiss and Italian Alps, but that's another continent altogether.) To be more than two miles above sea level is mind blowing and breathtaking, due to the altitude. We ended our trip with a night in Denver where we got to see Jeanne's "Booty Lounge" apartment. Very hip loft in the LoDo area of downtown Denver with extraordinary views of its own. We shared a delicious meal with J & J at a champagne bar that Jeanne selected just for her me, then the four of us went to a Colorado Rockies game. Really awesome stadium that was barely half full even with the Rockies in the running for a wild card spot in the playoffs. Sad, I thought. Saturday morning the kids took us out for a great brunch at the cutest little French bistro near Jeanne's apartment. Nothing like a few mimosas before you get on a plane! To view all the Colorado pictures, click here.



Sports Update

Today is the Bears season opener at home against the Kansas City Chiefs. I hope we kick their asses.

I hope my brother Bob is doing a little gloating down in St. Louis since the Cubs did win 2 out of 3 games against the Cards.

And Michigan whooped the shit out of Notre Dame yesterday!