July 21, 2011. Venice and Murano Italy. Today we decided to boat out to Murano, an island about 35 minutes from Venice. Murano glass is world renown, and glassmakers have been making glass in Murano since 1291 C.E. We took the "water bus" from the train station area to Murano and sat in the very rear of the boat. The view was spectacular as we left the inside of the city onto the more open water. On the way, we passed a variety of smaller islands, including "Isola de San Michele" or in English, San Michelle. It was originally a prison island, but since 1807 it became a cemetery for the people of Venice and surrounding areas.

Once in Murano I was interested in finding Vetri Artistici, the "furnaco" and show room I had visited during my trip in 2008. I remembered it was near the lighthouse, so we made our way in that direction. Again I was lucky and found the furnace and the show room in just a few minutes. Once there, I met Raffaele -- the same gentleman who had helped me on my previous visit. I reminded him of our meeting and mentioned that he had, at that time, taken me to the special showroom upstairs as well as a private viewing room for the furnace. Raffaele didn't remember me specifically, but my description of the venue let him know I was a repeat visitor. We were able to visit the upstairs showroom and the furnace. It was quite thrill.

After leaving the factory, we caught a bit of lunch and continued our exploration of Murano. One item I wanted to buy was a figure of a rabbi in Murano glass. I had seen these in the Ghetto, so I hoped I could find them in Murano and meet the artist if possible. I always enjoy pieces of art from the artist him/herself. As we passed a shop, Linda jumped and pointed out the rabbi figures! We went into the store, found the artist whose name is Simon. We had a chance to talk about his art for awhile, take a picture or two and buy one of his pieces. It is a rabbi holding a Torah with a Star of David inscribed in the front. It's quite beautiful and I think a unique piece.

After returning to Venice we waited in another long line at the train station and bought our tickets for a day-trip to Verano tomorrow as well as our transit to Innsbruck Austria on Saturday. Linda bought some jewelry in The Ghetto, we did a bit of shopping at the Coop and caught another wonderful Chinese dinner at our favorite restaurant.

By now it was 11:30 p.m., so it was time to get some sleep. One interesting note is that the dinner hour in Italy is fairly late, and many people are just starting their evening meal at 10 p.m. and later.

More to come!!

July 20, 2011. Venice Italy. We started out the day with a stop by the local internet point. There are variety of these kinds of stores throughout Italy. In this case, the internet point was in a small bookstore near a local university about 5 minutes from the Hostel. We then set off for a walk toward the "Stazzione" and found a laundrymat on the way. We'll do some laundry this evening.

Nearby, I re-located an artists' studio that I had visited during my trip to Venice in 2008. The artist, Massimo Busetto, occupies a small corner store/studio not far from the Grand Canal. His studio is full of his works, many of which I'd love to own. We talked about my previous visit and while he didn't remember me, he did enjoy the fact that I found him again and took the time to stop by. We invited him to Palm Desert and the very active "art scene" there. It was an enjoyable visit.

We took the "Ponte Degli Scalzi" (this is the main foot-bridge by the train station) to the other side of the Grand Canal and turned right, looking for the Jewish "Ghetto" (the term "ghetto" in Europe refers to the neighborhood, and doesn't carry the negative connotation we associate with

the word). It didn't take long before we found ourselves in the Campo Degli Ghetto. Besides the Chabad House, there are variety of art shops, artists, music and restaurants. It's a small area, but seems vibrant and with interesting points to see for the visitor. I had a rather long and interesting discussion with Elisha from the Chabad House about the meaning of donning of "tiffilin" -- and while he invited me to do so, I have so far declined. Maybe tomorrow!! We finished up the visit by stopping by the Restaurant Gam Gam for a wonderful meal. The restaurant supports the Chabad House so we felt we were supporting their effort in Venice.

We continued our walk around the neighborhoods and continued farther into the city -- or at least we thought. It's interesting, but the Grand Canal circles around the city, so as we walked farther and farther away from the train station, we finally realized were were walking closer and closer to our lodgings at the Camp Del Toma! We found and crossed the Ponte Realto. This bridge was built in 1181 C.E. It went through a couple of changes, and in 1255 C.E. it was changed from a pontoon to a wooden bridge. It was surrounded by a market and eventually became part of the market itself. Today, it is a modern steel/concrete structure covered with shops of all kinds (see the last photo of this entry). It was crowded and fun, with hundreds of people buying and selling items of all kinds.

Later in the afternoon, we found the laundry and did a week's worth of laundry. Now, they tell you that Venice is an expensive city. I can now attest this is true, a "single load" of laundry cost us 24-Euros -- the equivalent of $36!! Wow, we coulda bought new clothes for that, right??!! Of course, any experience leads to another. We were having a bit of trouble understanding how the machines in the laundry worked, so a young man came to our rescue. His name is Sharif. Sharif is from Afghanistan and has been living in Venice for 2 years. While the rest of his family is still is his country, Sharif told us he was very glad to be in Italy and loved it here. He said he hoped to visit the United States some day, and we invited him to contact us. We'll exchange Facebook friendships.

Our final outing of the evening was for dinner. We walked toward the Ponte Rialto looking for a suitable restaurant and saw a Chinese Restaurant that looked interesting. We walked inside and looked around, not sure we wanted to stay. There were 2 couples sitting at a table who signaled us saying the food "was great". We had a enjoyable 10 talk to these folks from Manchester in the U.K. Lots of laughter and joking let to a delightful exchange between us. They said they were leaving for home in the morning -- my comment was "oh darn, we were going to buy you dinner tomorrow night"! With that, one of the guys said he'd "send me the bill". Great fun.

Oh yes, the food was great!!

So far, we've met interesting people from India, China, Afghanistan, Canada, Australia, the U.K. and of course, the U.S. So our trip has been more than just an Italian experience, but an international experience as well.

Tomorrow we plan to go to Murano, so stay tuned....

July 19, 2011 -- Tuesday, Venice Italy. We started out the day with a re-visit to the Academia Gallery and a chance to see Michaelangelo's David. After an hour wait in the "non reservation line", we were able to get a ticket and wandered through the Gallery. In addition to the Michaelangelo collection, there is a magnificent collection of works by Botticelli. We stayed for about an hour or more and went back to the hostel for our baggage.

One interesting experience of note is when we met Manuel and his family. He is a retired Filipino soldier now living in Austria. He and his family emigrated to Austria 14 years ago. In additional to Tagalog and English, he and his family speaks fluent German. More interesting is when, during our discussion, he said how much he really liked a film called The Sound of Music. With that, he began singing the song in its entirety!! So, picture this , a Filipino now living in Austria who speaks German singing the Sound of Music in English. It was great fun...

We found our way to the "Stazione" and boarded the train at 2:30 p.m. As luck would have it, it was a modern Euroliner -- a beautiful high-speed train with luxurious seats, free coffee and air conditioningIt took the train 2 hours to travel from Florence to Venice. Here again, Linda and I had the good fortune of meeting a delightful couple from India. His name is Shashank (we didn't quite get his wife's name), and for the next two hours or so, we all discussed a variety of interesting topics -- but especially a philosophical discussion on the subject of "truth". The most interesting part of this is that, coming from India, Shashank had an entirely different point of view -- one based in "eastern beliefs". Both Linda and I found it very stimulating and the time passed quickly.

Once we arrived in Venice, we found our lodgings and settled in. After a bit of dinner and exploration, we'll called it a night and will get an early start in the morning.

So, as usual, stayed tuned.....

July 18, 2001, Florence Italy. It's Monday and we decided to take in the "David " at the Academia Gallery. It's a relatively short walk from our lodgings, so we started out around 10:30 a.m. or so. About half way there I mentioned that "you know, I'll bet the museum is closed on Monday -- many of them are!!" And, sure enough it was. No big deal, we decided we'd see David in the morning before we left for Venice.

We then made our way to the train "Stazione Santa Maria Novella" to settle on a time and train for our transit to Venice.We booked a 14:30 (2:30 p.m.) train so as to give us enough time to visit the Academia. We both figured we had walked enough over the past couple of days, so we opted for one of the double-decker buses for an overview of Florence. We then spent the next 3 hours touring the city and listening to the on-going description of the city.

One of the stops was near our hostel, so we took 1/2 hour break and had a bit of lunch. It turns out that Italy is full of "falafal joints", a food that Linda and I both enjoy. After lunch we re-boarded the bus for the second half of the guided tour. We finally left the bus at the Ponte Vecchio and took a slow walk back into our side of town.

After dinner, we thought we'd see if there was another concert near the Piazza de Republica and found a trio featuring trumpet player Fabrio Morgera. He was accompanied by a keyboard and drummer. The drummer, Piero Borri, was one of the most extraordinary musicians I've seen. All in all, the music scene in Florence seems to be very full -- and, apparently, free to those who seek out these performances.

Each of the cities we've visited has its own charm and personality. Rome and its antiquities is a wonderful place to see. Tuscany, with its villages and towns is beautiful, serene and charming all at the same time. But Florence is a step up. This is a vibrant city, teaming with activities, sights and people. Where Rome has a fair amount of litter in streets, Florence is clean and well maintained. The warm nights bring people into the streets for a variety of activities -- even at 1 and 2 in the morning. Yet, one feels safe and welcome. So, if you've got a week or two and want to visit Italy -- Florence is my recommendation.

Of course, we'll be in Venice tomorrow, so my opinion might change. Stay tuned!!!!

July 17, 2011, Florence Italy. Today started out a bit late as we didn't get going until 10:30 or so. Our lodgings are in a great location and we found a nice little coffee shop around the corner. Our first stop, we thought, would be the Ponte Vecchio. You may know that the Ponte Vecchio is a Midieval bridge over the Arno River. The bridge started its existance in 996 C.E. and has been in use ever since. Commerce first started on the bridge in the 15th Century and is currently the venue of a variety of "gold shops" and other jewelry. it's quite the site.

But, before we made it to the bridge, we happened upon the Galileo Museum on the river front. The museum is home to a variety of science exhibits -- medicine, astronomy, electricity and the study of gravity just to mention a few. But, my interest was the fine collection

of telescopes, including the first ones used by Galileo. He first turned the telescope to the heavens in the 16th Century and the discovery that Jupiter had moons that circled its planet changed the modern world. There is also a very nice collection of Newtonian (reflecting) telescopes.

Upon leaving the museum, it was back to the visit of the Ponte Vecchio. I wanted to find a replacement earring for myself in 18K gold. The original earring belonged to my wife Portia, and I wore it as a memorial to her. During a surgery I had in 2010, the ring was somehow lost, so my goal was to replace the ring. I had always thought I would wait until I returned to Florence and get an 18K ring. So, it was fun to complete that journey.

Linda and I wondered around the neighborhood near the Ponte Vecchio for a couple of hours. The nearby streets were filled with all kinds of shops and cafe's. It seems that, when in Italy, one consumes a good quantity of food!! And wine. And beer!! So, we enjoyed the afternoon. At around 3;30 p.m. we went to the Picasso, Miro and Dali exhibit at home of the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation. The exhibit covered the period from 1896 and into the lives of these three men.

At 5:00 we went to the Teatro Oden and saw an English language film, the latest Harry Potter film. While the film was "so so", it was good sit in a darkened theater on comfortable chairs and enjoy some quiet time. Upon leaving the theater, there was another band setting up at the same venue where we enjoyed the performance the night before, so we decided to stay for awhile. We thought we'd get a drink and walked to a nearby bar where there seemed to be a private party in progress. I asked if it was, in fact, a private party -- we were not only told it was, but we were invited to join in the birthday festivities!!! It was catered and we enjoyed a good serving of delicious food and wine before the music began.

On the way back to the hostel, we happened on an enjoyable street performer who, dressed like Charlie Chaplin, was entertaining the crowd. We stayed for about 1/2 hour before heading back. One final beer ended the evening, and we shared a "Guinness" at one of the local pubs. We sat outside, soccer was playing on the TV, people were enjoying the warm evening and we had a great time. We didn't leave until around 11 p.m., so we had quite a full day.

July 16, 2011. So, when you stay up until 1:30 a.m. looking through telescopes, drinking wine and enjoying good conversation there's every reason to assume you'll miss the 'direct train" to Florence. And that's just the way it went. We finally boarded a train for Florence at 12;22 p.m., but it went to Livorno and Pisa first -- entirely in the wrong direction. But, board the train we did, and we finally pulled into the Florence station at 3:30 p.m.

Our lodgings were a 30 minute walk from the station and our directions to the hostel were perfect. It turns out the hostel is in a 200 year old building on a cute side street not too far from the Florence Duomo. Cute cafe's and other shops line the narrow street in both directio

ns. We're on the 2nd floor, and looking down onto the passing crowd is fun and enjoyable.

We've decided to stay an extra night, so we'll be in Florence for 2 full days besides today. That'll give us 2 1/2 days of adventure in this most beautiful city. Upon our arrival, the desk clerk knocked on our door and presented us with a nice bottle of red Tuscan wine from the owner! A most surprising but welcome gift. Just outside our room is a refrigerator full of beer and water, and we were told to 'help ourselves".

For those of you who may be wondering, and noticed that I used the term "hostel" rather than "hotel" -- it should be known that Europe is full of hostels of one sort or another. Many people refer to them as "youth hostels" -- but the reality is that these dwellings are just another way for the owners to attract their guests. We have a private room, for example, and in this case, we share the W.C. with another room down the hall. The advantage is that one can obtain lodgings for 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of the average hotel

and still be in a clean safe environment. We're right in the middle of the city with attractions all around us, so it's well worth the perceived inconvenience of sharing a bathroom!!

After a bit of exploring and shopping we'll call it a day and get an early start in the morning. Florence is a city well worth exploring with lots of sights and activities to enjoy.

We had a lucky find as we were wandering throughout he streets near our lodgings. Besides the fact that there is a Picasso, Miro and Dali exhibit at the art museum (we're going there tomorrow), there was an amazing performance of "progressive jazz" by a quartet of musicians just outside the museum. The performance started at 9:30 p.m. and they played until 10:45 p.m. or so.

One really neat innovation was when the drummer came out from behind his drums and played the cello!! The sax and guitar player were able to make sounds I'd never heard in music before -- a truly wonderful exhibit of musical skill. I wish I could do that!!

So, as always dear reader --

Stay tuned......

July 15, 2011 -- Wandering Tuscany. Francesco and I spent the morning working on one of his telescopes. After disassembling the mountain and cleaning some of the worm gears (I don't want to get too technical), we were able to make the drives on the mount work nicely.

Francesco arranged for us to visit Villa Ferraia (http://www.villaferraia.com) for an evening of food, drink and astronomy. Vittorio, the owner of the villa has a 14" Meade telescope in an observatory. We set out by car around 1 p.m. and headed into the country-side. Along the way, we visited a number of Medieval villages including Montancino, Sant' Antimo and finally Tocchi where the Villa Ferrais is located.

Vittorio's Villa is in a fairly remote part of the country-side and we drove over a rough dirt road for about 20 minutes. Yet, there were many visitors at the Villa, including people from Europe, the U.S. and "down under". There's a beautiful swimming pool with lush grounds and gardens.

After dinner, we set out for the observatory at about 10 p.m. The moon was up and pretty bright, but we were still able to see quite a nice selection of deep-sky objects.

Today we'll be heading into Florence for a couple of days of sightseeing and exploration. Among the sights we want to see is the U.S. Military Cemetery which is the final resting place to more than 50,000 WWII soldiers.s including the great globular star cluster in Hercules. We explored the skies, drank some wine and talked until we all agreed it was time to head home at around midnight.

More to come.. Stay tuned.

July 14, 2011 -- SIENNA, ITALY. We set off for Sienna today by way of the train. Sienna is about 1.5 hours from Francesco's house in near Follonica. The station was very small with only a ticket machine to help us. With the instructions in Italian, it took us -- and Francesco -- a few minutes to figure out how to get a ticket. But get one we did, and were able to board the train at around 9:45 this morning.

Once we got to the train station in Sienna, Linda and I found the Tourist Information desk, got a map, had a bit of coffee and then set off for the city. It's about a 30 minute walk up and over a sizable hill. The city is quite beautiful and very modern. There is a combination of little streets winding through the city as well as wider more modern boulevards. We decided to stick to the smaller streets to as to see the various shops and people.

We wandered into the city and finally found what I think is the main square, the Piazzo Del Campo. There is a beautiful fountain in the square which dates back to 1419,

but the square itself was, once, as an open market that was established before the 13th Century. Needless to say, the surrounding buildings were beautiful and the square itself is an imposing space of commerce and activity.

Part of the adventure was to continue into one of the side streets to the left of the square. We continued exploring away from the Piazza up a bit of a hill and into a more residential part of the Sienna. At one point, Linda spotted a sign to a "Sinagogue" and we ventured in that dir

ection. The sign invited to knock on the door and ask for a tour, but there was no reply. We stuck around for a few minutes, knocked a few more times, but to no avail. So, we continued walking farther into the city.

At one point we found a neat fountain and took a bit of a rest. Right around the corner was "Conad City" which turned out to be a super market, so we went inside for some yogurt, fruit and cold drinks.

We found our way back to the train station about an hour early and visited a "Galleria" across the street. Lots of neat shops. Once we were back in the station, we met a couple of "kids" who has just married in Palm Desert!! They live in Irvine and were on their honeymoon in Tuscany and the rest of Italy. Small world, isn't it??

When it was time to get onto the train back to Montepescali, we were surprised that the train

one "one car only"!! About a dozen people got onto the train and we enjoyed a quiet ride back to where Francesco picked us up. All in all, our impression of Sienna is that it a most beautiful, cosmopolitan and charming city. The combination of shops, streets, history and people make it a perfect place to be. I, for one, felt it would be easy to live in such a delightful city.

July 13, 2011 -- Today we were off to Pisa by train. Francesco and I spent the morning working on one of his telescopes and fooling around with one of his computers. The challenge is make his "wireless connection" work -- but we did succeed.

At around noon, we boarded a train for Pisa. It takes about an hour and a quarter. Once there, we found the Tourist Information Desk and got a map of the city. It was about a 35 minute walk to the Tower and Duomo area of the city. The construction took place over a period of 177 years and began in 1173! It's a beautiful structure made mostly of white marble. It is the bell tower for the Cathedral which is located nearby.

Pisa is a beautiful city with lots of nice shops and restaurants. The river Arno runs prominently through the center of town -- and it was busy with boat traffic and other forms of commerce.

On our way back to the train station, Linda and I stopped at a cyber cafe for a quick fix of email and Facebook. We also found a delightful falafel shop and enjoyed a bit of lunch. Tomorrow we "may" go to Sienna or Montealcino. In a couple of days we'll be off to Florence, Venice and points north -- but that's a blog entry for another day.....

More to come..

Wednesday, July 13, 2011. We arrived in Follonica around 3 p.m. and met my friend Francesco at the station. A short ride, about 10 KM, and we pull up to his home in the Tuscan mountain-side overlooking Follonica. It's a remote, quiet and beautiful setting. Like me, Francesco is an amateur astronomer and has several interesting telescopes. We have a number of other interests in common, including electronics, an old camera collection and technology in general.

Francesco's far covers quite a bit of acerage -- although I'm sure sure how much. But he does have an olive tree orchard with about 200 trees. The olives are harvested yearly and made in olive oil at a local "refinery". Francesco keeps some and sells the rest. He also has a substantial solar-power system that provides him with much of his electrical needs. The excess is sold to the city. Francesco tells me that his energy use is quite low and he will actually make some income from the effort. Pretty neat.

After a delightful dinner, we went into the small village Gavarrano on the top of the hill. The majority of the buildings are several hundred years old and the streets are narrow and winding. There is a working mine in the side of the hill that provides the area with income from pyrite. We got back to Francesco's placed around 10:30 p.m. and after an interesting discussion about some communications equipment he bought in the U.S., we hit the sack around 11:30 or so

.

Tomorrow we have train tickets for Pisa, so keep tuned..... More to come.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011. Since this was our last day in Rome, we decided to take a tour bus around the city. We thought we'd see all of it without having to walk too much. So, we decided to take one of those double-decker tour buses around the city. This was the way to go. We stopped at the Trevi Fountain again, this time to get a better picture of ourselves and had the fortune to meet a nice couple of folks from the U.K. on holiday for a few days.

As we were leaving, we stopped at a neat little cafe called the News Cafe and struck up a conversation with the "bar tend". He was most enjoyable, and we exchanged pleasantries. His name is Chris. Chris and I decided we'd become "friends" on Facebook, so

I gave him my Facebook user name. Since it continues to pretty warm in Rome, Linda and I enjoyed a couple of beers while Chris put out a nice serving of patatoe chips as a snack.

We boarded the tour bus again and made our way back to the Termini and hotel area. After checking in with Francesco via email, we found we needed to leave the city in the morning and head into Tuscany. Francisco said that "Tuesday would be better for him". Linda and I had decided we need to sample "pasta" while in Rome, so we found our friend Riccardo and asked about a good restaurant. Luck would have it that his commendation was just around the corner just a couple of blocks away, so off we went. By now it was around 7:30 p.m. or so. Riccardo told us to ask for "Mario"...

We found "Fraginetto Restuarant" in short order and introduced ourselve

s to Mario the owner. After explaining we wanted authentic Italian food, Mario said "I'lla take care of you" and brought Linda and bowl of lasagna and me some linguine con mare (linguine with fish). The food was great and we enjoyed a nice bowl of fruit to end the meal.

So, tomorrow we'll be on our way to Follonica, stay tuned..

Rome, July 10. Linda and I started out the day with a nice breakfast in a nearby bistro. The food in Italy -- Rome at least -- is quite a bit different than at home. The eggs are similar but cooked differently. After going to the Roma Termini, we asked the folks where there was an English language movie house in the city. They found one for us, and we plan to take in a movie at 5:30 this evening. It should be cooler and comfortable.

We bought a day-pass on the bus/subway lines and made our way to the Vatican for a visit to the Pope. You may recall that last time I was in Rome, I met the Pope face-to-face. That didn't happen this time, but we did get to see much of the Vatican and wandered the grounds for a couple of hours. There was a nice shaded area where it was cooler and more comfortable in the heat.

At about 2 p.m. we wandered back into the Ottaviana section and I was able to locate the falafal shop I had found in 2008. The shop has been there for about 6 years and it was petty much the same. Linda and I had a neat falafal sandwich in pita bread and it was ju

st delicious. It's about the best falafal I've tasted anywhere. After we jumped the train for a ride to the Spagna station to try to find the movie theater.

As is the case, the maps are good but not great -- but after a bit we were able to find the theater and saw we were a bit early. No problem -- an hour at the local air conditioned cafe with a couple of beers hit the spot perfectly. At about 5:00 we found our way back to the movie house. A couple of minutes later, the line started to build up,

and we struck up conversations with all of those around us. One women was living in Rome working for the U.N. food program. Another couple had lived in Rome for 20 years

or so. Even though they maintained their U.S. citizenship, they found Rome a great place to live -- although, they said, it was a bit expensive. Still, they loved it in Italy.

After the movie (we saw The Conspirator with Robin Wright), we walked to Piazza Venezia and boarded a bus back to the Termini and hotel. Dinner was light but refreshing and we got to sleep around 10:30 after a very busy day. Tomorrow we plan to do our laundry and then enjoy the city from one of the many double-decker tour buses.

Today turned out to be very hot -- about 85 or 90-degrees. Since Linda and I were covering much of our day on foot, it made for a lot of "stops and hydration!!" -- in other words we sat and drank lotsa water...

Our first stop was the church at San Pietro in Vincoli to see the only Michaelangelo outside of the Vatican in Rome. It's the "horned Moses"and was, if I'm correct, completed in 1515. The sculpture is just beautiful -- it clearly understood why the Pope's of the day wanted Michaelangelo to complete a v

ariety of work -- including the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.

We had tickets to gain entrance to the Coloseum at noon, so we made our way there and spent a hour or a bit more wandering the ancient structure. Lemme tell ya, there was a hugh crowd of people there, and by buying our tickets on-line, we didn't have to stand an hour or

more in line.

After looking at the map, we found that the Jewish section, the Synagogue and Hare Krisna Temple were a short walk, so we set off to find all three of these sights.

One thing about the tourist maps of Rome is they are incomplete! I figured it would be an easy walk to this section of town, but after a couple of twists and turns, we found ourselves lost in the neighborhood. We were "close", but couldn't find our way to the specific streets we needed. Luck would have it w

hen we saw an older man walking with groceries toward his home. A quick question or two -- with a complete explanation of where we needed to be was forthcoming. Of course, his instructions were in ITALIAN, but we pretended we understood him and finally found our way. It took three more questions, including one to a local traffic cop, for us to find our way.

All in all, it was worth the journey. The heat has been pretty oppressive over the past day or so, but by taking it slow, we're able to get along OK.

We made our way back to the hotel by bus at around 3 p.m. It's interesting to note that riding the bus in Rome is a test in endurance and patience. Today being Saturday, the buses were very crowded, so even though we bought a ticket, we didn't get close enough to the "validation" machine to have to use them. It seems that most bus riders in Rome don't pay, they just hop on and hop off!! Yet, the system seems to wok, the buses are on time, and if you can stick it out, you'll get where you want to go -- with a ticket to use another day!!

So, either tomorrow or Monday we'll head off to the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel. We plan to head up north to Follonica on Tuesday or Wednesday.

As always reader -- more to follow.....

Linda and I landed at the Rome Airport at around 10:30 a.m. on Thursday 7/8/11 and took the train to the Roma Termini. Our lodgings were 4 blocks from the Termini and we found them without too much trouble. It turns out the Roma Termini is a great location, central to lots of little shops and cafe's -- and all the transportation options one needs to get around Rome.

After a good night sleep (we hit the sack at around 5 p.m.!!) we got up around 9 on Friday and set out for a day of sightseeing. After finding a neat little "super market" and getting our lunch and snacks for the day, we headed over to the Trevi Fountain. Remember "Three Coins in a Fountain" and "Roman Holiday" -- well, it's the same really cool fountain. The fountain is +500 years old, founded and built for Pope Urban in 1629 or so. Neat. The water was clear and cool -- cold actually -- and with the ambient temperature around 85-degrees, it felt really great getting wet.

We spent about an hour there, threw some coins in the fountain met a couple of neat couples from Canada and Venice California. It's easy to meet people when you offer to "take a photo for them" so they can both be in the picture. We had a great time. It was off for a walk and found a neat cafe where we enjoyed some of Rome's finest coffee!!

Then it was off to the Pantheon. Now here's a rare and beautiful building -- built I am told -- in 27 B.C.E. The tourbook we bought describes it as the largest free standing masonry dome built. Inside it lighted by a huge central opening/window in the center top of the dome. We were able to sit for a while and enjoy the cool inside.

After wondering some more, we stopped and enjoyed some "thin crust pizza" cooked Roman style and a couple of beers. We sat outside and enjoyed people-watching as well as good conversation. After, we struck out on foot and intended to walk back to the Termini -- but,good sense urged us onto a bus and we made it back in style in one of Rome's many motor-coaches.

So, we're more or less done for the day. We'll go out this evening and explore the neighborhood around the hotel and Termini, maybe visit one of the neat cafe's for a beer or gelato flavors in the street-side vendors. Tomorrow we plan to hit the Colosseo and find the one Michelangelo that it "outside the Vaitcan".

More to come........

Some interesting new developments for our trip to Italy have occurred since my last posting. My friend Sam, manager of Scope City in San Francisco, introduced me to Francesco who lives near Grosetto and Follonica in Italy. Francesco is a retired physicist with an interest in astronomy and telescopes. On a recent trip to the United States, Francesco and his wife had occasion to stop in Scope City and was introduced to me via telephone. We exchanged a couple of emails, and a few days later he and his wife were able to stop by my place in Palm Desert. We had a great visit, talked about my telescope building efforts and amateur astronomy in general. Francesco went on to invite Linda and I to his home in Italy. He further offered to take us on a personal and guided tour of the Tuscany area!! Francesco offered us the use of one of his cars for a few days! What a treat this will prove to be...

As the trip to Italy gets closer, the itinerary is beginning to materialize. It's clear that we'll be travelling to Rome and then to the north. Switzerland is a short train ride away, so a trip there should be in the offing. Additionally, we've decided to make our way to Munich so we can take a side trip to Dachau. Dachau, for those of you who may not know, is the infamous "slave labor" camp run by the Nazi's during WWII. The camp was opened in 1933 and continued in operation until it was liberated by the Allies in 1945. The camp is now a museum located outside the city of Dachau.

More later.....

May 1, 2011: This will prove to be an interesting summer. During the month of July, I'll be travelling with my friend Linda to Italy for 30 days. We'll fly into Rome for a week then travel throughout the country. We'll visit Tuscany, Rome (of course), Solarno, Naples, Milan, Pisa, Florence, Venice and much more. It's possible we'll get into southern France and Germany, but that's up in the air right now.

As was the case with my last EU trip in 2008, I'll be carrying a computer with me. I'll post to this blog every day with comments about our travels and pictures. So, stay tuned. More to follow....

Now that I'm back in the United States, I've had a chance to think about the places I've visited over the last two months. It has been quite an adventure. I spent the first 10 days moving around England and much of France with my friend Roger Sims. I cannot express enough, my thanks to Roger and Helen for the kind hospitality. Their sons, Nickolas and Robert and delightful young men, and it was a pleasure getting to know them better.

Once I was on my own, I made my way from place to place by rail. For those of you who plan any travel throughout Europe, I can highly recommend the Eurail pass. I was able to go to many of the European Union countries without any problems, never having to show my passport and only having to pay a small additional "fee" occasionally. Otherwise, all train travel was covered, which by the way included some of the underground (subway) systems in many of the cities. In every case, the people in the train stations, information bureaus and tourist bureaus were kind, courteous and helpful. If there was a "language problem", there was always someone who helped. I did my best at learning some of their language and the "locals" were always grateful and humorous.

In many ways, when something did go wrong, it was part of the adventure. For example, on my way to Pompeii, I missed the stop and went too far. The next stop was Solarno, a beautiful Italian city on the Mediterranean Sea. I had the pleasure of spending a couple of hours there waiting for the next train back to Pompeii.

Importantly, one must not take themselves too seriously. Many times I laughed at myself for some reason or another. The second time I broke my camera, for example, it cost me a couple of $, but it was fun to seek out a store, find the camera department and explain what I wanted.

Many of the countries I visited were battlegrounds just a few years ago. Now their communities are thriving and prosperous. Many people are multi-lingual, educated and well traveled . Generally, the average workweek is 35 hours and most Europeans get 25 days or more vacation per year. Most of the countries I visited have universal health care systems, and while there are always "pros and cons" about subjects such as these, it seems better to have a health safety-net than nothing at all.

In my opinion, the most beautiful cities were Paris, Budapest, Vienna and Krakow. The most interesting was Rome. The most delightful was Amsterdam. The most friendly people were the English, French and Dutch. The cities I would visit again -- ALL of them. I can't think of one city that disappointed me.

Here's a list of the countries and cities I visited.

United Kingdom
Stroud
Gloucester
Stratford upon Avon
London
Portsmouth

France
Le Havre
Bayeux
Jonchery
Dijon
Paris

Italy
Pisa
Rome
Verona
Pompeii
Salerno
Florence
Venice
Murano

Germany
Munich
Mittenwald
Berlin
Dachau
Potsdam

Czech Republic
Prague
Terizen
Kunta Hora

Hungary
Budapest

Austria
Vienna
Innsbruck

Hungary
Krakow
Auschwitz
Warsaw

Holland
Amsterdam

Belgium
Brugge
Brussels
Antwerp

I've enjoyed keeping this blog. It's a reminder of my experiences along the way -- an experience I will not soon forget. So, until the next adventure -- Ciao... Dennis

Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam Holland. I awoke to a strange email saying that British Airways had canceled my flight. No more explanation, except it was an aircraft that could not be maintained. But, there were no suggestions, no telephone numbers, and the only hyperlink was broken!! So, needless to say, British Airways was on "my list" -- if you get my meaning!!

After trying a couple of things on the Internet, I called the travel insurance company, Access America. They bailed out on me by saying that, if the airline cancels a flight, it's not covered with their insurance. If I incurred any additional costs, it would be between me and the airline. So, for those of you who are planning a trip here or there, my suggestion is NOT to take the most expensive insurance. Just get the "health" section of the policy in case something hapens to you. Oh, they did offer to help for for an "additional charge", but after spending more than $500 on travel insurance, and thinking I was covered, I declined their offer. Thanks again Access America.

Jennifer and I went to the airport as planned. She went to find her flight (we traveled separate airlines) and I set out to find a British Airways agent. It didn't take long, although there was no signage for me to follow. The airport information desk was helpful and I found the ticket counter was nearby. To British Air's credit, they did offer me 2 flights -- one to Paris and then to LAX on Air France and one on KLM directly to LAX. Needless to say I took the KLM non-stop and will in LAX at the same time my canceled flight would have been there. So, what started out as a potental disaster turned out ok, and I'm pleased with the outcome.

The plane starts boarding at noon and it's around 11:40 a.m., so I'm at the gate. So, with boarding time close at hand, I'll sign off and continue this at a later time.

I arrived at LAX at 3:10 p.m. By the time I cleared customs it was 4 p.m. and our friend Dianne was there to pick me up. She suggested we wait around for Jennifer to arrive at 7 p.m., we went went to a local restaurant and enjoyed some soup and conversation.

Jennifer and I arrived home at 8:30 p.m. or so. We had left for the Amsterdam airport at 8:15 that morning, but the time difference is plus 9 hours. By the time we walked in the door we had been up and in transit for 19 or 20 hours. Ten minutes later, I was "out cold". As I reflect on my last 2 months of travel, it's hard to believe it has come to and end. At the beginning of the trip, it seemed like it would go on forever! Of course, all good things come to a close, and in many ways, I'll be glad to be getting back to the U.S. and the routine I've set for myself.

Ciao for now....

Monday, June 30, 2008 Amsterdam Holland. Jennifer and I were up and out early today, around 9 a.m. After a continental breakfast at the hotel, we made our way over to the market area. I needed to have some laundry done, and there was a vendor there who would do the work for me. For a couple of extra Euros, my clothes were washed, dried and folded. We walked along the street-market for a bit, bought a gift or two and then decided to make our way to the Jewish Museum in downtown Amsterdam.

It was a beautiful day, so we decided to walk. I was surprised to find that, when walking straight along the street and not following the tram tracks, it only took us around 20 minutes to get to the museum. We paid our entry fee and each of us got an audio tour. The museum was originally a synagogue dating back to 1671. After the Second World War, the synagogue lay unattended and in disrepair, but in 1989 the building was renovated and the museum opened its doors. Although it is not the first Jewish museum that has been in Amsterdam, it is now the only one in the city. The collection is about Jewish life in Amsterdam from the late 17th century to present. Jennifer and I spent around 2 1/2 hours going through the collection thoroughly.

As we left the museum, we noticed the Amstel Diamond building across the canal. Jennifer recalled that there were tours given, so we took our chances and went to the front door. We gained entrance and, yes indeed, we were given an introduction to the cutting, polishing and setting of diamonds. We stayed around 45 minutes. On the way back into the center of town, we stopped at a coffee shop on Rembrandtplein for some coffee and conversation.

We thought it would be a good idea to get the train ticket for the journey to the airport tomorrow morning. We both need to be there early. I went ahead to the train station while Jennifer checked out one of the many beautiful stores along the canal. We met 45 minutes later and decided we'd take a tour of Amsterdam by canal. So, we found a canal boat to our liking and spent the next hour going around the city from that perspective. It was a warm and delightful day, and being on the water was just the perfect end a day of sightseeing.

By 6 p.m. we were back at the laundry, I picked up my clothes and we decided to go to our favorite tapas restaurant for dinner and drinks. The restaurant is called Pilsvogel, and we liked it so much that we've gone back 3 times now. This was our last evening in Amsterdam and we wanted to enjoy a good meal, talk about our experiences together and pursue one of our favorite passtimes -- people watching!!

So, tomorrow it's to the airport and back to reality. What a wonderful 9 days in Amsterdam. What an absolute wonderful 2 months in Europe. It's hard to believe it is coming to an end, but while these kind of trips always do -- there's always next year.

Bye for now....

Sunday June 29, 2008 Amsterdam Holland. Today was a most unusual day, as Jennifer and got up at around 1 p.m.!! After running around Amsterdam for the week and going off to Brugge then Brussels and Antwerp, we must've needed the sleep. As we were leaving the hotel, we rented 2 bicycles and set out to explore a bit. At first, we stayed in the immediate vicinity of the hotel to get used to riding a two-wheeler again! We zigged and zagged, but finally got our bearings.

We set off to find some breakfast and rode over to the marketplace, and weren't surprised to find the market closed as it was Sunday. But there was a restaurant or two open and we chose one we had seen over the past few days. We sat down outside and had some coffee to get started. As we enjoyed the morning, I struck up a conversation with a couple of young folks at the next table, and after a couple of minutes asked them if they'd like to join us. They did.

Daniel and Martine are delightful young folks from London. They had flown to Amsterdam for a weekend holiday and stopped at the restaurant for breakfast. We spent the next 3 hours laughing, exchanging stories, exploring ideas about travel, politics and the European Union. The food was good too. Toward the end of our visit together, we exchanged the promise to email each other, and I gave Daniel my blog and website information. Jennifer and I both hope they'll be in touch, and we feel we made some friends during our time here.

We jumped back on the bikes again and headed out of the city. At first we stayed on quiet streets and it didn't take long for us to get into more residential areas of the city. The homes were large and beautiful and we were sure we found the "high rent" district of Amsterdam. We continued along one of the canals for a good time and kept going away from the hotel for around 45 minutes or so. We decided to turn around and head back. Between Jennifer and I we were able to return directly to the hotel area without any problems.

As we were riding back to the hotel, it was around 6 p.m., we thought it'd be fun to check out the cinema and see "In Bruges" with Colin Ferrell and Ralph Finnes. We figured that, because we had been there, In Bruges would be a great film to see together. We locked the bicicyles near the tram and took the short ride into town. We bought tickets for the 19:15 (7:15 p.m.) showing and decided to find a coffee shop while waiting for the film to start. It wasn't a far walk to a nice shop on Rembrandtplein before Jennifer and I were enjoying a nice cup of coffee and enjoyed and some of Amsterdam's finest . . .

Back at the hotel we checked in the bicycles and then made our way back to our favorite "tapas" restaurant. It was the final game of the Euro2008 Cup with Germany and Spain as the finalists, so we sat outside to watch the game. There was about 20 minutes to go. A couple of beers and a dish of olives capped off a most enjoyable day. We both realized that tomorrow, June 30, is our last day in Amsterdam. The time has gone too quickly, but we agreed we've had a wonderful visit to this most wonderful city.

Saturday, June 28, Amsterdam Holland with day trips to Brussels and Antwerp. We were up early again this morning so as to make an 8:59 a.m. train to Brussels. Unlike the train to Brugge yesterday, this one did not require a train change, and we rode straight through. We got to Brussels around noon and found our way to the tourist information center. As it turns out, the tourist office was outside the train station in a large square. It was a 5 minute walk there.

Our initial impression of Brussels is that it is beautiful European city with lots of little streets that wind themselves here and there. Brussels is a large city with more than one million people living there. It is the administrative heart of the European Union. Brussels is considered the "defacto" capital of Belgium. It is also the home of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

After our stop at the tourist information office, we were armed with a map of the city and learned that much of what we wanted to see was nearby. We went deeper into the city, following cute little streets with lots of shops and restaurants. Earlier in the day, it was obvious that it had rained, but now the sky started to clear and the sun began to warm us. We explored for about an hour before taking some time for a quick snack of won-ton soup and some tea.

As we continued our explorations, we happened onto the formation of a parade. We asked what the occasion was, and were told that it was a parade in celebration of "Meyboom". Meyboom is a Belgian holiday celebrating a "feat of arms" in the 14th Century. Meyboom means "tree of joy" and the celebration takes place with the planting of a tree on the 9th of August. The parade is complete with brass bands and giant puppets. Jennifer and I watched the parade, with the giant puppets and all, and were told it was a "pre-planting celebration". We followed the parade back into the heart of the city.

By now it was around 3:30 and we decided to take the train back to Antwerp for a look around there too. We boarded the train and we arrived in Antwerp after an hour journey. There was an orchestra playing some delightful music at the train station, so we stopped and listened until they packed up their instruments and left.

As we left the train station and started walking along one of the main streets, we noticed a cinema and decided to take a look. We enjoyed a showing of "Made of Honor" and then continued exploring the city for the next hour or so. Antwerp is a beautiful city, as well, and has a population of around 470,000 people. We were limited in our time and stayed on the main streets most of the time. Unlike Brussels, Antwerp didn't seem to have the many twisty streets, but we may have missed those sections altogether.

Jennifer and I headed back to the train station so as to make the 7:59 train to Amsterdam and got back into the city around 10:30. It was just getting dark and we were tired, so we made our way back to the hotel for a good nights sleep. Tomorrow we plan to rent some bicycles, visit the Jewish Museum and explore more of the city. We also want to take a boat ride on the canals before we have to leave on Tuesday.

Ciao for now.....