ITALY - PART DEUX

O.K., now where was I? Oh yeah, we'd just gotten to Rieti (pronounced Ree-ay-tee). I was sort of backed into the decision to go there. Susan really wanted to spend some time in a small town, in a villa preferably rather than a hotel, in other words, someplace different - very different.

Our friend Nick Beaudin's cousin just happened to own a place in scenic Rieti province, Italy. You're probably seeing where this is going by now, but just in case you're not - we rented the villa for 5 days in early June, and with one minor exception, it was fantastic! The exception was the fact that the place was at the bottom of the hill, which under normal circumstances would be a good thing for an old guy like me, with bad knees. Sadly, one enters the village of Paterno at the top of the hill! I calculated that had there been stairs, instead of steep paths, there would have been 155 of them.

The view at the left is that from our patio (or is it veranda?). It was one of the most pleasant parts of a fairly long trip, but this wasn't even the best view from this spot. Of to the left, about 10 kilometers away was a national forest with the letters D V X formed at the top of the mountain. The initials are actually a representation of the name DUCE - for Benito Mussolini!

With Paterno as our base of operations, and a small red rental car as our chariot, we took on the highways of Rieti and Tuscany, and more importantly the drivers of those provinces. Despite what Susan thinks, I'm a pretty good driver, and I'm much more cautious when driving in Europe than I am in the U.S. - an actual defensive driver! Who'd have thunk it?

Defensive driving in Italy involves having right side tires over the white line at the shoulder (for British readers, switch sides). The proper defensive move is to get as far on to the shoulder as you can, slow to a crawl and pray!

IT WAS A GREAT TRIP, WHAT'S NEXT?

Last time, I speculated about the upcoming trip to Italy and points north. Not too much turned out the way it was planned, but it was a great trip nonetheless!

Highlights? Way too many to list them all. We left Chicago on June 1st and flew to Rome. You can't do much in Rome with just two days, but we caught a few of the touristy things including the Trevi Fountain (above). Our hotel, the Concordia, was midway between Trevi and the Spanish Steps. Most of our full day in Rome was spent between the Pantheon (right) and the Vatican City. For a first timer in Rome, I was blown away by the Pantheon. It's not much from the outside, but inside it's simply amazing. We walked to the Vatican, taking back streets and meeting a few incredibly nice people, including the waitress from Sardinia in a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant just west of the Pantheon. By the way, she really didn't care for the Italian President - Berlesconi.

The Vatican was a really unique experience. They have the art of moving people down to a science. Those of you who know me understand that I absolutely hate standing in line. Imagine thousands and thousands of people trying to get into St. Peter's Cathedral at the same time, and all of them ahead of me! Suffice it too say, even I had no complaints about how fast we got inside.

The artwork was fascinating, and the cathedral was huge. I had borrowed a book years ago from a friend of mine in Springfield. The book, entitled Basilica detailing the building of St. Peter's, the intrigue, the fights but it really helped me to appreciate the magnificence of this landmark. And this is just the first two days....19 to go.

On Friday morning, June 4th, we caught a commuter train to Fara Sabina in Rieti province. We had rented a house there with the help of our long-time friend Nick Beaudin. Nick's cousin owned this place in Paterno, a town about the size of our block at home! The couple that serve as caretakers/tour guides, Susan and Bruno Micocci were great. Susan met us at the train station, and took us across the street to the car rental place. Since the rental place had no one who spoke English, Susan was a godsend. Driving in Italy, was something everyone should do once, but never have to do twice. It is written that Italian drivers believe that it is not only their god-given right to ride your bumper, they believe that it is actually required by Italian law!

Our first night in Rieti was highlighted by a cooking class in Fara in
Sabina, not to be confused with the train station 10 miles away. Our chef Mauricio was really enjoyable and taught me a lot, and even showed Susan a few new things. Maybe I am biased but the food was pretty good.


Next time: The rest of Rieti, Assisi, Florence, the Magnani Papermill and Lake Como - and we're not out of Italy yet!

IT'S NOT THE GRAND TOUR, BUT...

It all began about three years ago, when I foolishly asked Susan where she'd want to go if she could go anywhere! I didn't like her first two answers (Singapore and China), so I kept pressing until I got a better answer.

As fans of TV's Rick Steves, the PBS Travel Guy, we agreed that a trip to Italy, including the Cinque Terra, was our perfect trip. Well, the trip is on, but the Cinque Terra may be off. Come June, we're off to Rome and end up three weeks later in Denmark (or Sweden). The specifics of the trip are Top Secret, which means we haven't figured it out yet. As of this morning, we'll travel to Rieti, a small village northeast of Rome. We'll rent a villa there from a relative of a friend. Day trips to places like Assisi, Perugia and La Specia are certainly on the table.

From there, we could travel to Florence, Pisa, Milan, Luganno and Zurich, as we wend our way north. From Zurich, one of our favorite cities to visit, we'll probably fly to Oslo or Copenhagen. Eventually, the plan is to take a combination of trains and boats to Bergen, Norway and from there the fjord trip to Flamm. Susan has taken the trip once before and thoroughly loved it.

The itinerary is not set, but it promises to be great fun. Interested? Then join us.

FRANKFURT & POINTS WEST

We just recently returned from a short trip that included Germany, France and Luxembourg. This time we tried a slightly different model for travel - it involved limited use of road maps, no GPS, and where possible no hotel reservations! It was an incredible way to travel... not a good way, but incredible nontheless.

We did have a reservation for several nights when we first arrived. We traveled up to Koblenz, Germany - a spot that we had briefly passed through 35 years ago. Back then it was cold, wet and I was sick. This time I wasn't sick. We did have a chance to walk down to the Deutchen Eck, or the German Corner where the Rhine and Mosel rivers come together.

The following morning we drove up to Cochem, which is supposed to be the most picturesque spot on the Mosel. Our hotel was right on the river, and it was really nice. Would have been even nicer if anything had been open in town, or if the car park was a little closer to the hotel. It was six block straight uphill through really narrow streets.

We chose to drop the car at the Frankfurt train station the next day, which on paper looked pretty good. Finding the station was actually pretty easy, finding AVIS at the station - not so easy! We finally found the office and got the car returned in time to get taken for a ride - literally and figuratively by a Frankfurt cabbie.

We were in town for a trade show - Paperworld at the Messe Fairgrounds. This is a truly impressive facility. Ten multi-floor buildings each floor probably in the area of 100,000 square feet. We spent parts of four days on mostly one floor of one building!

On Tuesday morning we set off for the train station again to pick up another car, only to be told that we had to go "downtown" to get it. How much more "downtown" can one get than the Central Train Station? Fourty five minutes after arriving, we drove off in out rental car bound for La Barouch, France. I dare you to find it on a map without Googling it! Five hours later we slid into town, halfway up the Vosges Mountains outside of Strasbourg, France.

Susan had e-mailed the hotel ahead of time to see if their restaraunt would be open. They replied that while it wouldn't, several others would be open in town. Well, as we went out for dinner with our friend Maria Pfaff, we came to realize that perchance our hotel had erred - there was nothing open. We finally found a pizza place open in an even smaller town 15 miles away.

On our way back to Germany to fly home, we decided to head back by way of Trier, Germany and Luxembourg. This is where the no resevrations came into play, and it wasn't fun. We did find a hotel in Trier that was convenient to the Autobahn (and nothing else!). It was affordable, but bore a striking resemblance to a flop house. We chose to go elsewhere, and headed into the city center - specifically towards the Porto Nigra. We found a great hotel and after only 40 minutes managed to get to it.

Turns out that Trier is a pretty interesting place, and we'll try to get back there for a more complete visit - maybe even in warm weather. Our trip back to Frankfurt was highlighted by a very quick side trip to Luxembourg where neither Susan or I had been before. Because we had plenty of time, we took mostly back roads and really enjoyed a relaxing ride.

It was a successful trip and we managed to survive the lack of reservations etc. Next time, oh heck, next time will have its own set of challenges which we'll deal with. I'm already looking forward to it.

TRAVEL IN THE INTERIM

While the trip to Italy is still in the works, the world must go on in the interim. We were blissfully planning an idyllic trip to the Southern Hemisphere that could have included Australia, Hong Kong and Hawaii, when we received an e-mail from one of our favorite suppliers asking us to consider meeting with their staff at the Paperworld show in Frankfurt in January. January in Germany?

We'd done this a few years ago, and Susan and her sister did it last year, so it's not unprecedented - just cold. The skiiers out there would probably be drooling at the prospect, but alas I cannot really get into that mindset. Besides, very little skiing gets done in Frankfurt these days.

The Paperworld Fair is truly amazing! Numerous huge exhibit halls are located just outside if the city center. The Frankfurt commuter trains routinely stop at Messe, and a train pass comes with the Fair registration. In addition to the art materials sections, there are separate fairs for Beauty Supplies, Office Supplies, Christmas materials and who knows what else.

A few years ago, when I went with Susan, we were walking the show one day, and kept bumping into an acquaintence who became a greater pain in the %&^ with each meeting! When I saw him coming down the aisle late in the afternoon, I'd had all I could take of him, so I ducked into the first booth that I could, and pretended to be interested in their products!

It wasn't too long before I realized that I actually was interested in some of their supplies, and a serious conversation began about the brayers and hand tools. The acquaintence is long gone from the art materials industry, but we're still selling the German Brayers and tools. Sometimes you just get lucky.

FLORENCE

I intended to write this a long time ago, but a variety of things have intervened. First, let it be clear to the casual reader that a trip to Italy prior to 2005 ranked in my top ten list of places that I wanted to see firmly in 77th place!

I went to Italy with all of the enthusiasm I would have mustered for a trip to the dentist for a root canal. In reality a root canal would probably gotten a slight edge.

Susan backed me into a corner and pride would not allow me to admit that my not wanting to go to Italy was keeping her from returning to a favorite place. I have to admit that after 31 years of marriage, I had really screwed up! We first travelled to Venice (see the earlier post on Venice). A few hours by train left us in the middle of what could be Italy's most beautiful city. A short cab ride took us to the Hotel Pendini on the Piazza de la Republicca. We were just blocks from the Duomo and from the Ponte Vecchio.

Not surprisingly, the food in Florence was to die for. We didn't find a meal that was less than spectacular the whole time we were there. Sadly, since I don't stand in lines if there is any way around it, we missed the two treasures of Florence - the Uffizzi Gallery and the Academia Gallery - the home to David. Reservations just weren't available for either during our short stay. Next time, perhaps, a little advance planning would be in order.

As far as customers go, Florence is similar to Venice in the number of calls available. We have for many years supplied Santa Reparata International School of Art, either directly or through individual students. While making the call there in 2005, it was suggested that a distributor in Florence could be a great thing. I, of course, agreed since it would make it easier to justify a return trip.

The logical choice was Zecchi's Art Store, a stone's throw from the Duomo. We made a late evening call on our last evening in Florence. To be generous, Zecchi's staff was somewhat less impressed with us than we were with their city. They didn't yawn, or ask us to leave, but neither did they show even the remotest sign of interest either. Well, the salesman in me wants another crack at their stern facade.

Next time is starting to look like 2010, but I'll be ready to return any time...I'm a convert.

CHANGE OF PLANS

Wasn't it Robert Burns who said," The best laid plans of men and mice oft go astray."? Well, it's close enough for government work. Most of you are probably aware that our travel plans are put on hold for 2008 due to a family wedding. It seems like Lizzie and Josh will do more traveling this year than Susan and I.

The big day is November 8th. Currently plans are for a wedding of epic proportions. Maybe "epic proportions" is a little over the top, but it's going to be a great time, even if it means that the trp to Italy will take a little longer to put together.

It doesn't mean that there is no travel in the offing, but we'll be focusing on the domestic side of things for a while. This Fall, it looks like North Dakota (mid America Print Council), Tennessee (college reunion which I swore I'd never go to) and hopefully New England (some long overdue sales calls) are on the top of the list.

Regular trips to Springfield and Washington, DC are soon coming to an end (January 9th to be specific), and our lives will soon be our own again.

Nonetheless - keep thinking about joining us in Italy. We'll be refining the itinery until it's as close to perfect as we can get it.