Columbia University

Today we had planned to go "uptown" and visit the Columbia Campus. Linda had been there in the 60's, so it was a trip into the "old times". Things had changed for her and it was barely recognizable -- but she did see one or two landmarks from the "good old days". We wandered the campus for about an hour and then headed downtown -- on foot!! Columbia is at 116th Street on the west side. I hadn't been in that part of the city before, so it was fun to see something new. It's a beautiful area -- lots of nice buildings and shopping. But, of course, not as crowded as Times Square or the rest of downtown.

At one point, we hopped a subway train and took it down into Times Square again. We wanted to try a piece of the "famous" Lindy's cheesecake. We found our way there and enjoyed the air conditioning of the dining room. The cheesecake was served -- and it was "ok". Nothing special, we thought, but then again -- what do we know from good cheesecake or GREAT cheesecake!! It was fun anyway.

We found the "wax museum" with a really good figure-likeness of Morgan Freeman in the front of the museum. I took a photo with him. You must admit, the figure looks just like the real guy -- doesn't he??

Self and Morgan Freeman

After all the walking we had done the last two days, we decided to hunt down a movie  both of us could see for the first time. We went to an AMC theater on 42nd Street and saw "Step Up Revolution"!! Here again, don't waste your time or money on this film. The dancing was good, the story was lame.

We walked down 6th Avenue toward the Inn and stopped in at the Empire State Building. We thought we'd visit the "observatory". There was a 2 1/2 hour wait in line, so we decided to blow off that until we return later in the month.

Tomorrow we have an 8:20 a.m. train for Boston, so we'll be up early and out of here by 6:30. The plan is take a bus or cab to Penn Station so we can find our track and settle in until departure time.

Time for some well deserved rest!!

Ciao.....

Canal Street

Today has been quite a day. We covered a lot of territory on foot, so we're a bit tired -- but not worse for the wear. We started out at around 10 a.m. deciding to keep to our schedule. We walked a few blocks to the downtown "6" train and took it to Canal Street. Canal Street is a shoppers paradise, especially if one is interested in "bargaining". I bought a "T" shirt, for example, that started out at $20. I offered $5!! The vendor and I haggled for a few minutes before we agreed on a $7 price! Not bad for either of us. The vendors abound -- hundreds of them up and down the street, selling everything from "Rolex" watches to 25-cent key-chains. We walked the entire length of the street on both sides, enjoying the people and activity. At one point we found a neat little bagel shop and stopped for an "everything bagel". There is nothing like a New York bagel!

We then headed into Little Italy and Chinatown. Restaurants and shops everywhere. People everywhere! It was a delightful late morning and early afternoon, the weather was perfect -- not too hot, and we walked slowly taking in all the activity. We happened onto the "Tenement Museum" and looked around for awhile. It is easy to imagine our great-grand-parents living there. If you've seen the movie "Hester Street", you imagine the neighborhoods and what it was like.

Our exploration of the area took us to Houston Street. Our first stop was "Schimmels Knish Bakery". We ordered a "kasha knish", and with plenty of mustard. We thoroughly enjoyed our snack. It was great. Thanks to our buddy Howard, we found the place -- otherwise it would have been missed. Still on Houston, and just down the street a block or two, is Katz's Deli. Katz's is a landmark (founded in 1888) and crazy with activity. We found our way into the restaurant and "took a number"!! Once we were able to figure out how to get our food ordered, we were seated, given a huge plate of pickles to "nosh" on and were served. Well, it was $37 later that we left the restaurant, full with good food and happy as larks!! We both agreed it doesn't get better than this...

Washington Square

We crossed town again, going West toward the Hudson River, and wandered into Greenwich Village. Our first destination was New York University and then onto Washington Square. It was a warm day and the fountain at the "square" was refreshing. Along the benches many people were sitting and enjoying the sun, a trio of musicians were playing music. The predominant instrument -- a trumpet -- lent itself to the enjoyable character of the afternoon. Linda and I waded in the fountain enjoying the coolness of the water. A breeze would sometimes spray us with the water -- a great way to cool off in a fairly hot day in the City.

About an hour later or so, and we off again -- this time to find Greenwich Street. It was on Greenwich Street that my father-in-law had his business in the 1950's and 60's. I remember the address and found that, now, the building had been replaced with upscale apartments. It was an interesting lesson in what I call the "gentrification" of a neighborhood.

NYC High Line

Our last point of interest was the "high line" which starts on 12th Street  (by the Hudson River) and runs up into the 30's. The High Line is an old elevated train track that, at one time, worked as a freight line.  Once in disuse, the line had been threatened with demolition until the 1990's when a couple of local's lobbied for, and succeeded, in saving it as a green belt along the otherwise industrial and residential city. We walked the entire length of the new park, enjoyed the views of the Hudson River and had a nice cup of coffee at one of the few vendors along the way.

We left the High Line at 30th Ave. and started walking across town to our lodgings on 3rd Street. It's a long walk, and about 3 blocks into it, we hopped a bus and sat in the cool air conditioning the rest of the way. After a break and wonderful dinner at a local Thai restaurant, we decided to call it day.

So, tomorrow it'll be "uptown". We'll visit Columbia University  (Linda used to work there) and wander down through the 80's (the museums) and into Central Park. So, and I know I say this every time I end an entry --  stay tuned.

More later.....

Self, Ilene, Linda and Jerry

One of our first challenges this morning was find a laundromat. Now, remembering this is New York, we were certain it would be an easy task. And, easy it was. A fully featured laundromat is just around the corner -- WITH a wash and fold service. So, for $7 "bucks", we having our clothes done. No hassle..

We met my friends Ilene and Jerry at 10:30 a.m. in front of the Inn. Portia and I originally met Ilene at a Shabbat dinner in NYC in early 1996. Ilene then introduced to her "boyfriend"  Jerry to us and we've been friends ever since. I knew they'd be early or on time. After-all, they were both born and raised in Manhattan. New Yorkers are always on-time!  Sure enough, we found them at 10:25 and spent the next few minutes saying hello. The last time I saw them was in 2009, it was a nice reunion. We decided to have brunch in the restaurant right next to the Inn. The food was "ok", but the company was terrific! We enjoyed getting to know each other again. Linda fit right in and she and Ilene talked non-stop with each-other during a most enjoyable meal. We said our good byes around noon and agreed to get together on 8/23 when we return to NYC for the last week of our stay in the East. Something to look forward to.


Linda and I decided to walk up-town and see  Grand Central Terminal.  On the way there, and just outside the station, Lexington Avenue was shut down for a "steet fair". Ten full blocks, from 45th to 55th avenue's were closed for the festivities. We walked every inch of it -- while enjoying some of the foods (I do realize I talk about "food" alot. But, hey, we do a lot-a walking!!).

After we walked the full length of the street-fair, we proceed over to Grand Central. It is a majestic building to be sure. Construction started in 1930 and the building was dedicated in 1931. Not only is Grand Central a beautiful, it is very VERY large.

Our original plan for the day was to go downtown to Canal Street, Little Italy, Chinatown as well as visit the famous "Katz's Deli" on Houston Street..  We also intended getting a "knish" at Schimmel's  (thanks Howard).  The hour was late,  so we decided to see those sights tomorrow. We did have the rest of the evening at our disposal  so we went to the theater -- movie that is!! And saw a film titled Soldier of Fortune with Christian Slater. Don't waste your $$ if you want to see a film.

So, as always -- stay tuned and check back often. More to follow......

Well, it's 12:18 a.m. and we just got back to our lodgings.. It was a long and eventful day.  But one of the best we've had so far during our trip to the East Coast. Our plan was to visit Coney Island and Brighton Beach Avenue in Brooklyn. We found, as luck would have it, that we only needed to walk 3 or 4 blocks to catch the "D" train to Coney Island. No train changes were needed. So, we were off at about 9:30 or so. Of course, we had to find a Starbuck's for our obligatory morning coffee.

Brighton Beach Ave.

Once we boarded the train, it was an easy ride to Coney Island. I recalled, from my stay in New York during  the 60's, that Brighton Beach Avenue was an easy walk from the Coney Island train station. We started walking along the boardwalk, and just to be sure we asked a couple of people if we were right about our assumptions. Again, we were lucky. We met Ellie!! She's a 76 year old New Yorker, who was born and raised in Brooklyn. She not only told us where Brighton was, she walked with us along the way. It also turns out that she attended Lincoln High School at the same time my wife was there and new some of the same people. How ironic is that??!!

Brighton Beach Avenue is about 8 blocks long, filled with shops and restaurants from one end to the other. We enjoyed a potato knish, a bit of fruit from one of the many fruit stands along the way and met some interesting and delightful Brooklyn characters. By that time, it was around 2 p.m. One thing was on our minds -- and that was LUNCH at Nathan's Famous. Nathan's Famous is a "hot dog stand" founded by a Polish immigrant, Nathan Handwerker, in 1916. It's been a Brooklyn landmark for the last 95 years, and last year alone sold over 425 million hot dogs (that million with an "M"!!).

The Wonder Wheel
Ferris Wheel

I pride myself in being a "non meat" eater, but ask many of my friends who'll tell you that -- every now and then -- I indulge myself. I enjoyed 2 hot dogs with onions and yellow mustard as well as an ear of yellow corn-on-the-cob. Linda enjoyed the yellow corn and cheese fries. All in all, a thoroughly enjoyable culinary experience. One highlight was a chance meeting with "Anthony". He knew of our Palm Desert home, having served in the Marines in Twenty-nine Palms for 18 months during the 90's. He's spent his entire life, except for the military, in Brooklyn -- in the same apartment he inherited from his parents and told us he'd be there "forever". We had a great time talking about the New York and Brooklyn of today and how things have changed.

After taking some pictures at the Wonder Wheel and the Cyclone, we decided it was time to head back into the city. By now it was around 4:30. We had tickets to Brooklyn Comedy Club show at 9 p.m. and decided to get cleaned up and leave a bit early for the show. We took the bus across town and transferred up to 53rd Street -- and, of course, had a snack before we settled in for the show at the theater. We sat in the front row and enjoyed the comedy and banter of 5 comedians. We also had a delightful time talking to our neighbors at the table before show show -- one couple from Maryland and the other from Kansas.

Linda and I left the show at around 10:30 and decided to walk from 53rd Street to 34th Street in the warm summer evening. As we went through Times Square we were delighted with the throngs of people and activity along the way. New York is truly a city that "never sleeps"!!

So, as the day comes to a close, it's time for some sleep. We've got another full day planned for tomorrow, so as always --  readers and friends -- stay tuned!!

One final note -- today, August 4th, is my son's birthday. Happy Birthday Ken.

Ciao for now.....

ARRL HQ

It was another late morning for us -- about 8:30 a.m. before we left the Inn. Our plan today was to rent a car and head into Connecticut for a visit to the American Radio Relay League's headquarters. We also thought it would be nice to get outof town and see some of the beautiful and plush views the countryside. We made it to Alamo about 8:45 and were set up with a Ford Fusion. We left the garage around 9 a.m. and, with the aide of our trusty GPS, made our way out of Manhattan. Let me say this: There is a LOT of traffic in New York City. It took us a long, LONG, L-O-N-G  time to get off the island. With the confusion of the one-way streets and construction detours, it took us nearly an hour to go the few miles to get to, and over, the Triboro Bridge and on our way.

Once we got rolling, things went fine and we made it to Newington Connecticut just in time for a 1 o:clock tour. We met our tour guide, Rudy, and took a nice leisurely look at the radio league's facilities. Visiting the original building was a treat, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I was most interested in seeing the "Diamond Terrace" in front of the entrance. The Diamond Terrace is a patio made of  "memorial bricks" with various inscriptions. I had one placed in Portia's honor in 2006. We thanked our guide and said so-long to the nice people at the ARRL and set out for the drive back to the City.. It was a great visit.

Linda drove back into New York.We got back about 6 p.m. and made our way over to the local Loew's Theater to see the new Total Recall film. Since it started at 7, and we had about an hour to kill, we took advantage of one of the many pizza joints along 2nd Avenue near 33rd Street. Needless to say, the pizza was exceptional -- if you haven't had a chance to stop into one of the these little places in NYC, I highly recommend it to you. You won't be disappointed!!

Tomorrow we're planning to take the subway to Coney Island and take in Nathan's Famous (hot dogs), see the Cyclone and take a ride on the Wonder Wheel.  We'll also visit Brighton Blvd and the famous Coney Island boardwalk.

Stay tuned for a full report in tomorrow's blog entry.

Ciao for now...

Our Train from Washington DC
to New York City

Up early, we set our clocks and had "Snoozster" call my phone. We wanted to be sure we made the 9:20 Amtrak to New York City. It's about a 20 minute walk from our lodgings to Union Station, so we set out about 07:45. Once I converted the "confirmation printout" into actual tickets for the trip, we made our way downstairs for breakfast. Just as a note, the bottom level of Union Station is a large and extensive "food court".  Many of the court restaurants are quite nice, and good food abounds!!

Real Time Train Location

We located our track and boarded the train at 09:00 and found a couple of comfortable seats. I must say, even though I'm always bragging about the train system in Europe, I am impressed with the trains up the Northeast Corridor. Our seats were comfortable, the food car was open for coffee and pastries and -- yes -- we have free "wifi" right at our seat! Really neat. One nice feature of the wireless connection is a "real time" map of our progress up north into New York City. At this writing, 11:30 a.m. we have just departed the Philidelphia train station. Train we're about another hour or so to the Big Apple.

We arrived in New York City at 12:50 p.m. Penn Station is large, very large!! We wondered around a bit, and found the ticket counter for Amtrak. We  bought our tickets for Boston on August 8th. Luck would have it that a Wells Fargo ATM was nearby, so I was able to get a few $$$ for the day. We walked a considerable distance to the 7th Ave and 33nd Street exist of the station. After checking the map, we found our lodgings -- the Budget Inn of New York City -- was a short  (point) .9 miles away, so we setoff by foot to find the hotel.

Linda and "Enrico"

It turns out that our hotel is an absolutely delightful inn which opened just a month or so ago. The rooms are very small, but newly refurbished. Each has its own air conditioning -- something worthwhile in NYC during August. Wireless internet is available throughout the entire inn and in each room, so Linda and I are able to log into the internet (we both brought our netbooks). I noticed that the young man behind the desk was singing as he was checking us in -- AND, that his name was Caruso. I asked if his first name was "Enrico" and he replied -- "well no, but that's what they call me!". It was a delightful exchange and we felt we had made a new friend during our first few minutes in the City. I've been calling him Enrico ever since...

Now THIS is pizza!!
NYC style...

We happened onto a Metro subway station and decided to pay a visit to Times Square. It didn't take long before we were one of "thousands" of New Yorkers and tourists wandering the few blocks that make up one of the busiest areas in any part of the world. It was crowded. One could feel the energy all around us. We got some tickets for a Comedy Central show on Saturday night and then decided to head back to the Inn.

We walked over to the 45th and Madison and had a cool beer at the Roosevelt Hotel -- a favorite hangout during the many trips I made to New York when employed with Alps Electric in Silicon Valley.  I even ran into one of the "door men" that I became friendly with in the 90's. Hard to believe he still works at the hotel. But, it's his career and he's busy making a living in the city and raising a family in Long Island.

So, tomorrow is another day. We'll be in a car instead of walking.That'll be a nice change. I can tell I need to  workout on the treadmill at the gym before starting one of these adventures!! My feet and legs are urging me to "stop" -- well, too bad, it just ain't gonna happen!

More to follow.....

In front of the
Holocaust Museum

We started the day at 8:30 after a much needed rest. We were able to find a 24-hour Safeway supermarket and went shopping for lunches and some fruit. It was just 3 blocks away from the INN and very convenient. Instead of walking to the National Mall, we chose to use the Washington D.C. Metro subway system. Every city should have this kind of transportation system available to its residents. We were able to get to the Smithsonian Metro Station without any hassel and made our way to the U.S. Holocaust Museum. I remember going to the Holocaust Museum when it originally opened in 1993 It's hard to believe that it is now celebrating its 20th anniversary. Time does fly. It turns out that the museum will launch a  four-city tour to educate people nationwide about their work and its continuing relevance of the Holocaust. The tour will be in Los Angeles on November 18, 2012 at the Skirball Cultural Center, so mark your calendars.

Needless to say the visit to the Holocaust Museum was a sobering but enlightening experience. One looks at that time in 20th Century History with wonder and awe. How did a small group of fanatics, the Nazi's,  turn so many countries into murdering nations? It defies belief. Obviously, the evidence is so overwhelming, it is also a wonder that anyone could deny that the Holocaust happened. The collection covers 3 floors of the enormous building. As we worked ourselves from floor to floor, we found there is still so much to learn about what happened. I'm glad to say there were quite a few visitors there and lots of young people.

If you recall from yesterday's entry, we had made arrangements with Congresswoman Bono-Mack's office for a tour of the U.S. Capital. We had a 2 p.m. appointment, so at 1 p.m. we left the Holocaust Museum and made our way to the Cannon House Office Building. We decided to walk, so we made our way the 2 miles along Independence Avenue to the Capital. As luck would have it, as we passed the National Air and Space Museum (the rear of the building), their observatory was open and volunteers were giving visitors views of the Sun. We spent a few minutes with them, looking at the Sun and talking about the telescopes they had at their disposal. Inside the dome is a 15" telescope on loan from the Harvard Obervatory. Very impressive.

Center of Washington D.C.

We set out again for the congressional offices and found Bono-Mack's office right on time. We met our tour guide, John Klarin. We also had the pleasure of meeting Joel Thayer, a Staff Assistant to Ms. Bono-Mack. I must say, we were treated just great. The staff was warm and welcoming and we enjoyed a few minutes in the office talking about their jobs and what they did during the summer. Unfortunately, Ms. Bono-Mack was on the floor of the House and unavailable to say hello.

John took us through a variety of tunnels from the office building to the capital building itself. It was interesting to hear many of the stories John had to tell us. We had a chance to visit the original U.S. Supreme Court rooms, the early House and Senate chambers and everything in between. One interesting stop and location of the actual "center" of the U.S. Capital. Here one can stand on a spot which marks the beginning of the four main quadrants of the city. 

John Klarin, self, Linda and Joel Theyer
Congresswoman Bono-Mack's  Office

After a 15 minute film in the Visitor Center's Theater, we had an opportunity to go into the Gallery of the House of Representatives. There were only about a dozen members in attendance. The discussion was about "taxes" -- as seems to be the usual case. At one point John Boehner, Speaker of the House of Representatives, spoke on the subject for about 5 minutes. His comments were what one would expect. Nothing new, but vastly interesting. It was great to see our "government in action" -- or would that be "inaction"?? (of course I'm kidding).  We spent around 2 1/2 hours with John. The tour of the Capital was fascinating and we were both glad we took the time to keep our appointment with these fine young people.

I must say that everyone, everywhere in the Capital, was friendly and helpful. We joked with  the Capital Police, had a fine time with the interns and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I heartily recommend that, if you have an opportunity to visit Washington D.C., to take the time to call your Representative and make arrangements for a tour. If you're interested in a Pentagon or White House tour, contact them 6 months in advance. Those reservations are hard to get.

Tomorrow we'll be leaving Washington for New York City by train. So, "stay tuned". As always -- more to follow.....

Dennis touching a "moon rock" at the NASM

Today was our first full day in Washington D.C. We headed out about 8 a.m. and found a "Dunkin' Donuts" for coffee and a bit of breakfast.Their coffee is really good -- although Linda opted for a Mocha Latte at Starbucks. We walked over to the National Mall and got their around 9:15 or or. The museums don't open until 10 a.m., but the Smithsonian "Castle" opens at 8:30, so we found our way there for some information, a bit of rest and a look see at some of their exhibits.

At around 9:50, we made our way to the National Air and Space Museum. we spent about 4 hours looking at the exhibits on both floors. The museum has changed a bit since my last visit in the 90's, but it is still the place to go! The aircraft is first class and the exhibits and descriptions impart a wealth of information about aviation. As one enters the museum, the "Milestones of Flight" exhibits are overhead. One thing missing, so I thought, was the Wright Flyer - the first controlled flight of an aircraft. It turns out the Wright Brothers have their own exhibit now, so it was still there -- just not in the expected place.

At noon, Linda and I went into the Einstein Planetarium for a presentation called Journey to the Stars. It was nicely done with great photos and discussions about origins of galaxies, stars and planets. The planetarium has a beautiful Zeiss projector recessed into the floor and out of the sight of the audience. Yet, the presentation was outstanding. We finished out stay at the Air and Space Museum with a quick look around the rest of the exhibits. One needs to realize that it takes "days" to do a proper job looking into all the exhibits at NASM. We were there for 4 hours, so much was left unseen!! A good reason for another visit at another time.

New Car "showroom" -- 1951 Buick

We took a long walk along the National Mall toward the American History Museum and got there around 2:30 or so. It had been a number of years since my last visit, so I was expecting to see much of what I experienced in the 90's. But, museums change and exhibits change too. We were looking forward to seeing the "automat", for example, but found that it had been 8 years since it was removed!! Time does seem to fly. Many of the exhibits have been changed from actual artifacts to photographic displays and discussions. I was rather disappointed in the move away from using actual artifacts as exhibits. There were some, and those were still of excellent quality and content.

I was disappointed to find that the "ham radio station" was no longer a the museum. The "working post office" was gone, the 1890's "soda fountain" was gone too. The general look and feel of the museum was cold and uninviting. I'm hoping that, in the future, exhibits will improve and change for the better.

Marie Mitchell's Telescope

By now it was getting rather late. We decided to hold off the Holocaust Museum until tomorrow. We've also contacted our Congressional Representative and was invited to stop by for a VIP tour of the capital building. We have a 2 p.m. appointment with them for tomorrow -- more walking!!!!

On the way back to the Inn, we decided to take a look at Union Station. It's about a 15 minute walk from our lodgings. We enjoyed the activity and ambiance.  About an hour later, after a nice scoop of Hagen Daas ice cream, and we made our way back to the Inn for a well deserved rest.

So, as always dear reader -- stay tuned, more to follow....

Linda and I got to the Palm Springs Airport around 6 a.m. (our good buddy Jim gave us a ride) and boarded an American Airlines flight at 7. After departing, we flew into Dallas and then on to Reagan National. It was an easy ride. Unlike my usual pattern, I actually slept for a little while, so the flight went quickly.

Once in Washington D.C. we made our way to the Metro and took the subway to the Gallery Place (Chinatown) Metro station. A short 3 block walk and we were at the Capital View Inn on I and 3rd St. We're also a short walk to the National Mall and the museums we want to see.

Around 7 p.m. we went into Chinatown and had dinner at a local joint. The food was just "ok", but edible!! We agreed not to go back there again!! Oh well, one must strike out sometimes.

Tomorrow we'll be heading over to the National Air and Space Museum and American History. If we have time, we'll also go over to the Holocaust Museum. We've made arrangements with our U.S. Representative -- Mary Bono Mack -- for a Capital and Pentagon tour on Wednesday. That should prove interesting. Unfortunately, we won't be able to get a White House tour as we didn't give them enough notice. They tell me one needs 3 or 4 months for those tours.

P.S. Don't tell Ms. Mack I'm not gonna vote for her!!!

More to follow..

The day after tomorrow, on July 30, Linda and I will set out for a month on the East Coast. We'll be going into Washington D.C. for a couple of days to see a variety of the Smithsonian museum's and other sites. We've arranged for a congressional tour of the capital building and Supreme Court. 

From Washington we'll go by train to New York City for a 5 day stay. Linda will visit her cousins who are in the 90's. New York lends itself to a wide variety of activities -- Broadway plays, Canal Street, the Lower Eastside, Ellis Island -- you name it, New York City has it. During our stay we'll visit Newington CT. and the American Radio Relay League's Headquarters for a nice visit.

On August 8th, we go to Grand Central and transit by train to Boston. Ah, the Freedom Trail and Fenway Park call us for a couple of days. Boston is a great town, lots of sights, activities and GOOD FOOD!! A few days later we're on our way to Portland Maine for a visit to our good buddy Dave Blumin and his wife in Boothbay Harbor. My niece Deb and sister-in-law Winnie live in Brunswick Maine, so we'll check out those guys during our time in Maine.

Another highlight of our trip will be a stay in Springfield Vermont, the site of Stellafane. Stellafane  is sponsored by the Springfield Telescope Makers founded in 1923 by Russell W. Porter. Among his other credits, Porter was the designer of the 100" and 200" telescopes located on Mt. Wilson and Palomar Mountain. Springfield is considered by many as the "birthplace of amateur telescope making".

We'll be returning on August 30, but in the meantime -- keep an eye here. I'll be posting photos and comments about this adventure during our trip.

August 10, 2011 -- Palm Desert, California. Wow, after 2 days of travel we returned to Palm Desert at around noon on the 9th. We boarded the Alitalia flight at 9:30 a.m. for the first leg of our return on the 8th. As soon as the plane was boarded by all passengers, there was a medical emergency and a doctor was called on-board. The bottom line is that, instead of leaving at 10 a.m. we sat in the plane for 2 hours and finally left at noon. The result of that delay was a missed flight for the second leg of our journey and were forced to stay overnight at Ohare Airport in Chicago. So, making the best of the situation, we chose a hotel across the street from the airport, had a nice dinner and got some sleep.

The rest of our journey went flawlessly, and we arrived at the Palm Springs airport at 12:10 on August 9th. The temperature was 109-degrees F, but it was good to be home after such a long and exciting trip. So, of course, jet-lag is part of the reality of these kinds of trips, so here it is 1:50 a.m. on the 11th. I'm wide awake and ready to get busy. The rest of the "world" is asleep!!

Looking back on our travels for the last month, I think about the many places we've been -- but more importantly, the many people we met. Our stay with Francesco, and his wife Laura, in Tuscany was a highlight. Their hospitality was a wonderful gesture of friendship. Our visit with Carlo in Caserta was just as wonderful, and I'll always remember the lunch his mom made for us. On every day, and every where throughout the trip, we had serendipitous meetings with people from all over. Young people traveling throughout Europe and people of all ages on holiday from every part of the world. We met people from Canada, the U.S., Singapore, Slovakia, Russia, the U.K., the Philippines, Austria, Germany, Australia and New Zealand, China, Iran and Afghanistan. One highlight was meeting Dr. Sajo, a Justice of the European Court of Human Rights

Our favorite city was Florence Italy. The music, culture, food, activity and people there were beyond description. In every corner of the 3 countries we visited -- Italy, Austria and Germany -- we found friendly, engaged and happy people going about their routines of working and living their lives. We had the occasional "language barrier", but in every instance, we were able to make ourselves understood in one way or the other. We did find that Italy is going through it's own "financial crises", but for some reason, the people were engaged in the "moment". I think their "social safety net" helps them cope with these realities. In some way, the Italians seem assured knowing that they live in a society that invests in the "individual" through such programs as universal health-care.

So in closing, I can recommend travel to everyone who can find the time to do so. The benefits of going to different places in the world and meeting the people there are incalculable. As the old TV commercial used to say: "Try It You'll Like It"!!

How true.

Bocca della Verita

August 7, 2011 -- Rome Italy. It's hard to believe that our trip is coming to an end. We'll be catching an Alitalia flight at 10 a.m. tomorrow morning. This has been quite the experience, and we've enjoyed every minute of it.

We did have a plan for today and set off around 10 a.m. to get a couple of things done. After an initial check-in at one of the local Internet Points, we found that it isn't possible to check-in on-line for our flight. I can only think it's because of the emmigration requirements. So, we'll get to the airport a bit earlier than planned to take care of checking in and getting to the gate on time..

One of the tourist attractions we wanted to see is the "Bocca della Verita", in English it's translated as "Mouth of Truth". It was made famous in a movie scene with Gregory Peck and Audry Hepburn in the film Roman Holiday. It is the image of a man's face and has been on the wall in the pontifco at the church Santa Maria in Cosmedin since the 17th Century. It is most "famous" for its role as a "lie detector". Tell a lie, and it is purported to "bite off your hand"! So, I was sure to tell the truth when it was my turn. Neither Linda nor I lost any fingers.

After we left the church, we noticed we were'nt very far away from the Jewish section of Rome, so we decided on a "kosher lunch". We found a cute restaurant called the Bocconcino Kosher and enjoyed some Falafal, beer and salad. While there, we had an "fun" exchange with a family from New Jersey. One last chore we accomplished was finding the train that'll take us to the airport. The Italian system is pretty efficient, with trains leaving at :22 and :52 minutes past each hour.

We finished up the evening with a nice "Japanese" dinner!! OK, so we haven't enjoyed the Italian food here that much, but it really doesn't seem to suit our taste. Go figure.

Ciao for now, ciao from, and "to", Italy.

Carlo IZ8GNR at his radio.

August 6, 2011 -- Rome Italy -- Today, was our day to head out to my "ham radio" friend Carlo Capola. Carlo lives near a city in southen Italy named Caserta -- not far from Napoli. Yesterday we had bought reservations on a "fast train" to Caserta and the trip was supposed to take 1 hour 15 minutes. Yet, the Italian train system has its own way of doing things and we stopped in the middle of no-where for 40 minutes. No explanation was given and we arrived late. Carlo was patient enough to wait for us, he found he is short order (I must look like to American tourist, because he picked me out immediately) and we got into his car bound for his home.

Lunch is Served!!

Carlo lives in a farm-house in the Alvignano area of southern Italy -- about 30 minutes by car away from the train station and Caserta. Linda and I met his mom and dad and we were told we were invited for lunch. Meanwhile, Carlo took me to his radio shack for a look at his ham radio equipment. He has a really nice setup, and we discussed  the kind of activities he enjoys the most -- which is "chasing distant stations" on the radio.

It wasn't long before lunch was served and we joined his parents at the table in their home. Now, we were told we were "special" guests, so a multi-course meal was prepared! It consisted of "anti-pasti", followed by a main course of spaghetti, then salad and then ice cream! I gotta tell you, I don't have much of an apetite for large quanities of food, so by the end of the meal -- Linda and I were contentedly "stuffed". What a wonderful meal made by an Italian woman in the southern Italian countryside.

We returned to the train station at 3:30 for a 4:00 p.m. train and got back into Rome, also a bit late, a 5:25!! I have been having a battle with my "sinuses" for the past day, so  I made a stop by the "Farmacia" to get some anti-histamine. In Italy -- Europe I think -- the pharmacists are trained to prescribe some medicines, so I was lucky finding a young woman who seemed to know what I need. NOW, I just need the courage to take the stuff!!

News at 11..

August 5, 2011 -- Rome Italy. We boarded a train this morning in Florence for Rome and arrived at about 12:45 p.m. We reaquainted ourselves with "Riccardo", a new friend we made when we were in Rome a few weeks ago. Riccardo manages a hotel a few blocks away, so without much effort we found our way, got settled and set off for the Sistine Chapel at theVatican. We had 3 p.m. reservations, so it was easy to get there on time.

Linda and the St. Peter's Basilica

Once we were at the Vatican, we entered a bit early and wandered through the extensive collection of the Vatican Museum. Along the way, we had an opportunity to take a break and a cup of coffee on the Vatican grounds. You can only imagine at the majesty and beauty of the Vatican. Its lawns, flowers and hedges are beautifully manicured. Despite the thousands of people who visit the Vatican Museum on a daily basis, the grounds are spotless. There is an extensive collection of Egyptian relics, Roman and Grecian sculpture and artificates from the early history of the Vatican. Once we entered the Sistene Chapel, the frescoes are breath-taking. Michaelangel's work is amazing, and one can see why the Vatican  in general, and the Sistene Chapel in particular, is such a sought after tourist destination.

Oh yeah, and one more thing!!

After about 2 1-2 hours in the Vatican Museum, we hopped the subway back to the Roma Termini. I have an acquaintance in Caserta south of Rome by about 2 hours. Carlo Capolla is a ham radio operator who lives nearby the city. He and I made our acquaintance through Facebook, and Carlo will be hosting us at his home tomorrow for a few hours. It'll be interesting to see a new city and visit the ham radio "shack" of an Italian ham radio operator. So, stay tuned for that blog tomorrow night.

Once we were back at Riccardo's "Internet Point" cafe, we asked him about a good Chinese restaurant in the nighborhood. He and a co-worker put us onto a neat little place around the corner and we enjoyed "yet another Chinese meal in Italy"! We'll be getting some well deserved rest this evening, do some reading, watch some TV and get ready for an early rise for our trip to Caserta tomorrow.

So, as always, stay tuned.

August 4, 2011 -- Florence, Italy. So, readers, first things first. Today is my son Ken's birthday. So, I want to wish Ken the best birthday ever! Take the day off, enjoy the wife and family and have a snack at Canter's Deli for me!! I love you.

Rowers going under the Ponte Vecchio

Today is our last day in Florence, and we're 4 days from returning to the U.S. We started out the day getting some laundry out of the way. We also thought we could rent a car and head for Lucca. There are a couple of car rental agencies in Florence -- one, EuropCar, had cars for rent but cars were 160 Euro's for the day. That's $240! On top of that, they didn't have a GPS, so even if I was nuts enough to rent a car for that kinda money, I couldn't find my way around. The next agency had cars for less, but a 2 hour wait in line deterred us from getting one. So, we thought -- OK, we'll take a train.

We were only a few blocks from the train station, so we made our way over there to check out the schedule. There was, in fact, a train for Lucca at 13:44. It turned out to be a "slow" train and the trip would have taken 2 hours plus to get there. So, in the end, we decided not to go to Lucca -- at least this trip. We saw on the map there is a Science and Technology Museum in Florence and decided that, after lunch and an Internet Point "fix", we'd make our way over there.

Planetarium in Florence, Italy

Lunch was at a nearby Falafal joint we discovered near the hostel. They have great coffee, my favoriate drink (Fanta Zero) and the best beer in Italy -- Birra Moretti. The Falafal is pretty good, too. About two doors down is a place called the "Internet Train", so we stopped in and used the computer to buy a ticket for the Sistene Chapel tomorrow at 15:00. We'll be in Rome by noon, so that'll give us plenty of time to drop our bags off at the hostel and make our way to the Vatican. We then set out for the Museum of Science and Technology -- and the planetarium there -- to see what we could see. Unfortunately, they were closed, and the building seemed completely shut down.

On the way back to the hostel we stopped at one of the local supermarkets, the Billa, to buy some fruit and drinks. It had been a busy day wandering the city, so it was nice taking a 30-minute break enjoying a cold drink, listening to some music on the T.V. and talking. We thought it'd be fun to find a Chinese restaurant, so we made our way over to the "InfoPoint" nearby. We learned there were a couple of good restaurants near the train station, so another hike over there was in order. We found a great little family-owned place and had a light dinner of noodles, won ton soup and rice.

At around 8:45 p.m. it was time to check out the music concert near the Odeon Theater in the middle of town. By now, we knew Florence pretty well, so we found the venue in short order. The quartet consisted of a drums, piano, base and "bongo". I would describe it as "modern jazz" -- and frankly it wasn't to our liking, so we left, making our way back to the hostel. On our way, we ran across a street guitar player/singer, Paolo Depa. He was better listening than the more "professional" group, so we stayed for a while. He sang a variety of popular songs from the 60's-90ìs, including the Beetles and Elvis!!

By now it was 11:15 p.m., so we figured it'd be prudent to get a good night's sleep and hit the train station early.

More tomorrow from Rome..

August 3, 2011 -- Florence, Italy. This morning we went over to the train station to get our reservations for Rome on Thursday. We've gotten a 11:15 reservation one of the fast-trains, so it'll be a comfortable ride on the last leg of our journey. While we were there we decided to follow through on some research we did last night and take a day trip to Cinque Terre (pronounced: chink-wa terry). We boarded the train for Cinque Terre at 9:30 a.m. and arrived around noon.

Cinque Terre, Italy

Cinque Terre is on the coast of the "Italian Riviera". The closest city, and the city we changed trains in is about 10 minutes away by train but through a long LONG tunnel through the mountains.. The literature about the area says that "over the centuries, people have built terraces on the rugged, steep landscape right up to the cliffs that overlook the sea. Part of its charm are the small family owned businesses. Paths, trains and boats connect the villages, but cars cannot reach the villages from the outside".

The first train stop is the village of Riomaggiore. This is an amazingly beautiful village dating from the 13th Century. It is known for its unusual character and wine. We didn't see the vineyards but they are, we were told, extensive in the hills nearby. It seemed to me  the major industry was tourism. There were hundreds of people walking the narrow streets, looking in the shops and at the marina. I noticed, for example, a group of about 10 folks dressed in Scuba gear getting into a boat for a trip out into the harbor. There was a dive shop nearby.

While there are a total of 5 villages all connected, we decided that one was enough. By the time we walked up and down the hills, and climbed the hundreds of steps from the top of some of the streets to the bottom where the marina was located, we were "done"!  We made our way back to the train station and caught a 4:30 p.m. back to Florence thru La Spezia and Pisa. We finished up the evening having a delightful "kosher vegetarian" meal at Ruth's Restaurant in the Jewish section of town.

Ciao for now

August 2, 2011. Florence Italy. We boarded the "Frecciarossa" -- the 175 mph high-speed train from Bologna to Florence at 9:30 a.m. Our train was actually at 10:30, but a train came into the station and it was headed for Rome, so we boarded. Interestingly, no one asked us for our tickets or any other identification. These are wonderful trains. Comfortable, air conditioned, VERY fast and has internet on-board!  It only took us 35 minutes to get our destination.

One interesting event occurred when we were making our way to the train station in Bologna. We noticed much of the station blocked off and radio and TV crews setting up their equipment. Additionally, there were a fair number of Carabinieri" (police) at and around the station. Once we neared the front door of the station, I asked what was going on and was told that it was the anniversary of the 1980 bombing of the station which killed 85 people and wounded 200 others. The policeman told me it was the worst tragedy of its kind since the end of WWII. It seems there would be a commemoration later in the day. The picture at the right is of me and the policemen who said they were in their "dress uniforms". Very impressive, wouldn't you say???

Gov't Building at Palazzo Vecchio

Once in Florence, it was easy to find our hostel since we had stayed there before. I made a reservation for 2 full days at the Alex House on "Borgo de Grechi.  We were surprised to find, this visit, that our accommodations is an "apartment", with a living-room, dining-room, kitchen, private-bath and bedroom -- and, of course, the balcony overlooking the city! Really neat. The Alex House is centrally located and very near most of the interesting spots in Florence. Not far away is the Ponte Vecchio and Galileo Museum. Florence is still full of life, with tourists everywhere. There are large numbers of groups walking throughout the city with tour-guides speaking all sorts of languages. We were also told that August is the month that most Europeans take their vacation, so people from all around the continent are coming here for their holiday.

Synagogue, Florence, Italy

In the early afternoon, we found the Jewish Museum and Synagogue not too far from the hostel. We enjoyed an hour going through the museum and spoke with one of the docents. Her comments were interesting, noting that Italian Jews don't use the word "Jew" or "Jewish" to describe themselves. Rather they use "ebraica" (and variations of the word) to describe their community. She said it was their way of putting a distance between the connotation of "Jew" (Juden in German) and all that it implies about their experience in Italy. Down the street from the museum is  "Ruth's Kosher Vegetarian Restaurant", and we made reservations for tomorrow evening at 7:30 p.m. That should prove to be interesting, I think.

We finished the evening by dropping by the "Odeon" to see if any English language films were on the play-bill.  We saw Roberto Benigni's It's a Beautiful Life. It seemed to punctuate our earlier visit to the Jewish Museum. Just outside the theater, the Cafe Odeon was offering its Happy Hour and for the price of a beer, we were able to enjoy a nice dinner in their outside seating.

We have two more days in Florence to go. So far, we haven't decided what to do as yet. Maybe a day trip or some other interesting activity. We'll know more in the morning after asking some questions and doing some research.

Ciao for now.

August 1, 2011. Bolgona, Italy. Well, it's hard to believe that it is August 1st!! We've been in Italy, Austria and Germany for the last 22 days, and we'll be returning to the U.S. on August 8th. But, we're still in Bologna and still enjoying our stay. We arose early this morning and enjoyed the hotel's continental breakfast. As usual, it was delightful. It turns out, also, that the hotel has a neat little "modem" that one can rent for 5 Euros a day. Just plug it into the A.C. and enjoy broadband internet connectivity in the room. Having high-speed broadband is always enjoyable for me -- I get to check into Facebook and read my email regularly.

Last night, when reading about the various museums in the Bologna area, we discovered many of them are closed on Monday. This being Monday, we figured we had chosen a "bad time" to spend our only day here. But, undaunted, we set off for the Jewish Museum we discovered yesterday. As we approached the museum, after a 10 minute walk from the hotel, it looked closed but some windows were open, so I knocked loudly on the door and asked if "anyone was there". Some one came to the window and motioned us to "pusha the buttona". We did and gained entry in just a few minutes.

The Jewish Museum of Bologna is located on Via Valdonica, in the area of the former ghetto. Information at the museum states that it was formed to conserve the Jewish heritage and culture that has been part of Bologna for centuries. There are few artifacts in the museum, but a rather complete description of the Jewish experience -- both in Europe, Italy and Bologna. The story seems to be the same everywhere one goes in Europe. The Jews were accepted, rejected, expelled and ghettoized in every country. Italy is no exception. Now Jews are accepted once again and in most instances somewhat "protected". We finished our time at the museum with a look in their gift shop and left after saying our "good byes" to the curator.

Once again, we decided on a double-decker bus tour of the city. It turns out that Bologna is a much larger city that we first thought. It is the 7th largest city in Italy with a population of more than 1-million. Bologna is famous for its towers and porticoes, its many churches, a historical downtown and, of course, its food. The city even has a "leaning tower", built in the 12th Century. The bus took us around Bologna, up into the hills overlooking the city and into the fancy residential and shopping neighborhoods. The open-air bus was comfortable and we enjoyed the time we spent seeing parts of the city we didn't know existed.

Tomorrow we're on the way back to Florence. We've made a reservation at the same hostel as before. It's comfortable and centrally located. A couple of days later, we'll be back in Rome for the remainder of our trip. Time -- I can attest -- passes too quickly!!

Ciao for now, i miei amici!!