It is best to start today's entry with a great big thanks to everyone that sent us e-mails thanking us for finally getting off our comfortable bottoms to find an Internet cafe and update the blog. We are sorry to cause any of you worry, but after our past few accidents we certainly understand why you envisioned us in a double room at the Pisa Generali Oespital. Given our new understanding that there is no charge for hospitals, and our strong desire to beat our 100 Euro per night budget, a hospital stay does not sound all that bad.
We're doing fine. The camera is taking photos, but technical issues with the Internet cafes make it easier not to post them until we get to somewhere with wifi, so you'll have to wait to see for yourselves that we are alive and well. Mike's purple leg is healing, although the bruise looks like gravity is doing a number on the purple spot, that now stretches from the top of his leg and down below the knee. Who would have thought that bruises sag just like the rest of our aging bodies.
Last night was one of those occasional nights we have when one or both us us can't sleep. This isn't unique to this trip, but we notice it a lot more when there is no where to go to sit up and read while the other sleeps. So, last night I sat in the tiny bathroom reading for several hours until Mike woke up so that we could keep each other company in our wakefulness. We were attacked by mosquitoes for some reason and they were relentless. They did a number on me in Florence too, but they hadn't been too bad in Cinque Terre until last night when they feasted on us both. The biggest problem was the sate of alert you stay in waiting for the next attack so that you can cream those little puppies. In any event, after only a few hours sleep we got up, showered and took off for the bus down the hill to the train station. We were without our normal two cappuccino breakfast, as town doesn't open up until 9:00 am. Even the bus driver doesn't make any runs that early, so we ended up dragging our wheelie bags and our backpacks down the switch backed road, through the grape vineyards, above the 180 degree view of the ocean and down to the train station. Kind of makes you feel sorry for us having to make that walk at 8:00 doesn't it?
The train to La Spezia went fine, but when it came time to board the train to Milano we found ourselves locked out of the train. A nice conductor took pity on us when they announced that our train was delayed for an hour and tried to help us find an alternative. But, while we was looking at his hand held computer trying to figure it out the engine started up and it was decided we really didn't need to delay an hour, we could take off. Getting on a train that has mechanical problems is a lot less scary than an airplane. This train was configured in sets of six seats. Our seatmates included a couple from Golden, Colorado, Mike and Vicki who we spent the entire two hours talking to about our travels. The poor Italian businessman sitting in the fifth seat with his computer out trying to work!
We are experts at doing the on/off trains. We can hike our bags up and down the stairs and onto the overhead rack like nothing. We remind ourselves that this is taking the place of the gym time we spent lifting weights. Today we had three trains to load and unload, but the speed with which we handle the bags now is much better than when we started the trip.
There are numerous drawbacks to cheap hotels but the most obvious one is that they are ALWAYS up lots of stairs. That makes them particularly nasty after carrying the luggage on and off the train and across a new town in which you don't know where you're going. When you get to the hotel, like we did today, and there is only a sign on the door and a set of stairs facing you, it is daunting. Sometimes we lose our sense of humor and adventure, although today, even without sleep we climbed them without complaint.
The proprietor of this hotel was not a day under 85 years old and it was clear from our communication that she spoke less English than we speak Italian. She made lots of attempts to explain her Italian to us with more Italian, but it was like a Laurel and Hardy to do business with her. She had us worried that we were not going to get the room we had reserved earlier, but it turns out that she was actually lamenting the fact that there were no more rooms with en suite bathrooms (we already knew this sad fact). She took a shine to me, and took my hand to walk me around the place and show me how the locks work (we have four keys to use to get safely to our room) and where the facilities are. This tiny little old lady was explaining to me something about Mike not using the same shower as me. I finally figured out that she wanted him to use the shower reserved for extra tall people rather than the other one for the rest of us. After checking in and giving her our passports as required in most of the hotels we have stayed in, we asked her about an hour later for our passports back. The answer was no, but it took us major interpretations to figure out why. At first we thought we wouldn't get them back until we paid her the money, but it turns out the English word for money is similar to the Italian word for Wednesday or tomorrow or whenever we think she is going to give them back to us. We'll see.
We saw a poster advertising a production of Romeo and Guiliette(their spelling)at the ancient Roman arena in Verona. So, here we are staying in a hotel on Via Cappoletto, home of the Capulets and we may have a chance to see the play in a thousand year old arena. We haven't tried to buy tickets yet. A task for tomorrow.
The Internet cafe closes early here in Verona, so we will sign off and go get some dinner. Our love to all of you. Thanks for the notes. Gerry, we are still laughing at your comments. And Maryann, thanks for the advice on Venice.
Love, Deanne (and Mike)
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
Internet Free Italy
It is hard to believe that anywhere in the world (outside of Mancos, Colorado) still uses dial up access to the internet, but this place does. We left Lucca and headed up the the coastal area of Italy known as the Cinque Terre, or five lands. It is the most heavenly place- five little tiny towns perched on the edge of the world. We are in Coniglia, the center most of the five towns. We ended up in this one by chance, having spent our final night in Lucca on the mobile phone calling all of the hotels in both guide books. We started with the Lonely Planet guide because its slant towards young and poor travelers seems to fit our budget aspirations better than the Frommer guide book. After exhausting all of its possibilities, we started into Frommer. On our tenth call (as marked off in the book so that we didn,t call any twice) we found the one with a room for three nights. Our hotelier runs a restaurant, and like many of the businessmen in this town, also rents out rooms. We have a gorgeous view from our window above the restaurant of the town and the ocean. Our western facing window gets spectacular views, which once we get to internet other than the current internet cafe, I will share with you.
Our choice of Coniglia was pure chance, but one we are very appreciative to have received. The towns on each end of the Cinque Terre are the most lively, with more hotels and beaches to accommodate the crowds. Our town is the only one perched high on a hill, requiring either a bus ride or 365 steps to go from the train to the town square. Each day we travel from this town on the train to one of the other towns in order to see each of these unique little villages. Coniglia is delightfully remote and uncrowded but we have tried each of its restaurants and now can unequivocally say that it is possible to have mediocre food in Italy. This area is best known for its white wine (good- we have tried it repeatedly to verify) and its seafood. Under ideal circumstances Mike is not a seafood lover, but in a place where you don,t know what you are ordering, and where most fish and shrimp comes with unsavory identifying information like heads, tails, skins and shells, he is very reluctant to venture away from his safe spaghetti with pomodoro sauce. We had sea bass one night, as the only way to get it was to order for two, and when it arrived in its birthday suit on the table, we picked through its bones, skins, eyeballs, etc. to get our three bites each. We decided to forgo the fish for awhile. I have had spaghetti with clams, a nostalgic family favorite, and spaghetti with seafood with the rubbery calamari that brought back the nostalgic memories of my twenty-first birthday party during which I was introduced to calamari for the first time.
The only internet access available in Coniglia is in the "bar", a tiny little room full of old men playing cards. At the back of the room there are two ancient PCs set up with dial-up access to the internet. The agony of waiting for the screens to load have prevented us from doing anything on these machines. Instead, we took the train to the northernmost of the towns, Riomaggiore, today. We are sitting in the internet cafe, where between the two of us, we are using more than twenty percent of the computing capacity within a fifty square mile area. Amazing. Because I am not on my own computer I can,t update the photos. You will be happy to hear that out of every fifty shots I take without automatic focus, about twenty or so are decent enough to share. The others are so out of focus as to be relegated to the delete bucket immediately.
Today is our sixth day in Coniglia. We extended our stay once we got here and found ourselves in such a beautiful and peaceful place. We have been spending our morning walking (after breakfast of cornettos and cappachinos) and our afternoons resting, and Mike is slowly healing from his accident. The purple spot on his leg, which pretty much fills up the back side of his left leg, has started to fade as his strength returns. His knee swells up each afternoon, so we rest to recover.
Tomorrow we leave here for Verona. We were considering Como, land of George Clooney and most of the people that leave here, but others have told us that it is not as magical as the Cinque Terre, so we have decided to see it later. Verona is a convenient stop on the way to Venice, a city that we have never seen. The controversy of whether to go to Venice or not seems to be popular among the tourists, many of think it is too over priced and smelly and others who think it romantic and beautiful. We thought we would check it out and see for ourselves.
There is most definitely a traveler's sharing of information that takes place. When we hear English we frequently lean over to the table next to us or the people nearby and start up a conversation. In the Cinque Terra most of the English we hear is from Canadians rather than Americans. We met a newlywed couple from Ottawa, Brad and Melina. Like us, they stayed in Conigulia for five days, although Brad's outgoing personality made them the center of attention in town. They made friends with everyone and were invited to dinner at the home of people they met in town. We met them for wine at the Entoteca (wine bar) several nights and made friends along with them. The proprietor of the wine bar was spending his days picking grapes and Brad helped him haul the grapes down to the cellar below the wine bar for pressing, so we were able to meet the crew and hear all about the process. When Marco, the proprietor (named in the Rick Steves guide book) decided to share his television with the town in order for everyone to watch the France vs. Italy soccer finals, we were invited to sit in the alley and watch the game with everyone else.
One night we sat down for dinner in a restaurant high above the ocean alongside a table with four people speaking English. Together we were the only people in the place. They heard us and made room for us at their table and soon we were part of the group from Texas. These two couples went to college together twenty years ago and travel together every year or two. it was fun to meet them and to be part of their party. So, we have found alternative entertainment to make up for lack of Internet.
We spoke to Caitie yesterday. She and her roommates were spending their Sunday afternoon doing homework. She is recovering from tonsillitis which she thinks she has had for awhile but has just now seen a doctor. Life is good and she seems very happy with college.
Verona should have better Internet access, so we will check in again soon. Gotta go now: Mike is done and ready to hobble our way back to the train and our hammocks.
Deanne
Our choice of Coniglia was pure chance, but one we are very appreciative to have received. The towns on each end of the Cinque Terre are the most lively, with more hotels and beaches to accommodate the crowds. Our town is the only one perched high on a hill, requiring either a bus ride or 365 steps to go from the train to the town square. Each day we travel from this town on the train to one of the other towns in order to see each of these unique little villages. Coniglia is delightfully remote and uncrowded but we have tried each of its restaurants and now can unequivocally say that it is possible to have mediocre food in Italy. This area is best known for its white wine (good- we have tried it repeatedly to verify) and its seafood. Under ideal circumstances Mike is not a seafood lover, but in a place where you don,t know what you are ordering, and where most fish and shrimp comes with unsavory identifying information like heads, tails, skins and shells, he is very reluctant to venture away from his safe spaghetti with pomodoro sauce. We had sea bass one night, as the only way to get it was to order for two, and when it arrived in its birthday suit on the table, we picked through its bones, skins, eyeballs, etc. to get our three bites each. We decided to forgo the fish for awhile. I have had spaghetti with clams, a nostalgic family favorite, and spaghetti with seafood with the rubbery calamari that brought back the nostalgic memories of my twenty-first birthday party during which I was introduced to calamari for the first time.
The only internet access available in Coniglia is in the "bar", a tiny little room full of old men playing cards. At the back of the room there are two ancient PCs set up with dial-up access to the internet. The agony of waiting for the screens to load have prevented us from doing anything on these machines. Instead, we took the train to the northernmost of the towns, Riomaggiore, today. We are sitting in the internet cafe, where between the two of us, we are using more than twenty percent of the computing capacity within a fifty square mile area. Amazing. Because I am not on my own computer I can,t update the photos. You will be happy to hear that out of every fifty shots I take without automatic focus, about twenty or so are decent enough to share. The others are so out of focus as to be relegated to the delete bucket immediately.
Today is our sixth day in Coniglia. We extended our stay once we got here and found ourselves in such a beautiful and peaceful place. We have been spending our morning walking (after breakfast of cornettos and cappachinos) and our afternoons resting, and Mike is slowly healing from his accident. The purple spot on his leg, which pretty much fills up the back side of his left leg, has started to fade as his strength returns. His knee swells up each afternoon, so we rest to recover.
Tomorrow we leave here for Verona. We were considering Como, land of George Clooney and most of the people that leave here, but others have told us that it is not as magical as the Cinque Terre, so we have decided to see it later. Verona is a convenient stop on the way to Venice, a city that we have never seen. The controversy of whether to go to Venice or not seems to be popular among the tourists, many of think it is too over priced and smelly and others who think it romantic and beautiful. We thought we would check it out and see for ourselves.
There is most definitely a traveler's sharing of information that takes place. When we hear English we frequently lean over to the table next to us or the people nearby and start up a conversation. In the Cinque Terra most of the English we hear is from Canadians rather than Americans. We met a newlywed couple from Ottawa, Brad and Melina. Like us, they stayed in Conigulia for five days, although Brad's outgoing personality made them the center of attention in town. They made friends with everyone and were invited to dinner at the home of people they met in town. We met them for wine at the Entoteca (wine bar) several nights and made friends along with them. The proprietor of the wine bar was spending his days picking grapes and Brad helped him haul the grapes down to the cellar below the wine bar for pressing, so we were able to meet the crew and hear all about the process. When Marco, the proprietor (named in the Rick Steves guide book) decided to share his television with the town in order for everyone to watch the France vs. Italy soccer finals, we were invited to sit in the alley and watch the game with everyone else.
One night we sat down for dinner in a restaurant high above the ocean alongside a table with four people speaking English. Together we were the only people in the place. They heard us and made room for us at their table and soon we were part of the group from Texas. These two couples went to college together twenty years ago and travel together every year or two. it was fun to meet them and to be part of their party. So, we have found alternative entertainment to make up for lack of Internet.
We spoke to Caitie yesterday. She and her roommates were spending their Sunday afternoon doing homework. She is recovering from tonsillitis which she thinks she has had for awhile but has just now seen a doctor. Life is good and she seems very happy with college.
Verona should have better Internet access, so we will check in again soon. Gotta go now: Mike is done and ready to hobble our way back to the train and our hammocks.
Deanne
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Trying not to cry over spilled camera
We are in Lucca now. Our room, while well within our budget, comes with a steep price. Four sets of stairs over which to carry luggage and ourselves to be exact. It makes us nostalgic for the tiny 2 foot square lifts of our past. For 70 Euro per night we have a room without breakfast and with a bathroom across the hall. Apparently later today the guy with the en suite bathroom moves out and we graduate to a bathroom that does not require getting dressed to use. Although the guidebook says that breakfast is included, the cook is ill, so we are roughing it at the bakery downstairs. The joys of improvising!
Poor Mike is still recovering. His leg is massively purple where he landed, and it stiffens up when he sits, so he still needs some recovery time. It is nice not to be on crutches, though. After our arrival yesterday he rested while I went out exploring. I visited several churches and had a great walk. Unfortunately it was my turn to take a spill. I was putting my camera in its bag while walking and I missed a step inside a church. It was a short step and I easily regained my balance without falling, but the camera crashed to the marble floor with a resounding noise that made me want to cry. It seems to take photos okay, but only on manual focus. The automatic focus capability disappeared on the floor of the Basilica di San Frediano in Lucca. I must admit I relied heavily on that feature. The photos I took yesterday after the accident were occasionally in focus, but more often than not, they were fuzzy. I have to learn the focus now, which is more difficult with my glasses than the automatic focus was. I am trying to keep a positive attitude and look at this as a growth opportunity.... my photography skills will improve!
So, if you there aren't many photos for the next few days you'll know that the ones I am taking aren't making the grade.
Tomorrow is Matt's 23rd birthday. He never reads the blog or looks at e-mail so it is highly unlikely he will see this greeting. But, just in case any of you talk to him, give him our love. Happy birthday Big Guy, with love from Mom and Dad.
Poor Mike is still recovering. His leg is massively purple where he landed, and it stiffens up when he sits, so he still needs some recovery time. It is nice not to be on crutches, though. After our arrival yesterday he rested while I went out exploring. I visited several churches and had a great walk. Unfortunately it was my turn to take a spill. I was putting my camera in its bag while walking and I missed a step inside a church. It was a short step and I easily regained my balance without falling, but the camera crashed to the marble floor with a resounding noise that made me want to cry. It seems to take photos okay, but only on manual focus. The automatic focus capability disappeared on the floor of the Basilica di San Frediano in Lucca. I must admit I relied heavily on that feature. The photos I took yesterday after the accident were occasionally in focus, but more often than not, they were fuzzy. I have to learn the focus now, which is more difficult with my glasses than the automatic focus was. I am trying to keep a positive attitude and look at this as a growth opportunity.... my photography skills will improve!
So, if you there aren't many photos for the next few days you'll know that the ones I am taking aren't making the grade.
Tomorrow is Matt's 23rd birthday. He never reads the blog or looks at e-mail so it is highly unlikely he will see this greeting. But, just in case any of you talk to him, give him our love. Happy birthday Big Guy, with love from Mom and Dad.
Monday, September 3, 2007
The joys of having a neighborhood
Mike is back among the mobile walking world. He turned in his crutches this morning and walked to meals. We stayed close to our hotel today, so the ventures out were not overly aggressive, and he aced each of the walks. So, ready or not, we leave Florence tomorrow. We were not able to go to any of the museums during our stay due to the accident, so we have reserved our hotel room for several days in October, just before we leave Italy. We will visit Caitie and see Florence so that this wonderful city is one of our final memories.
Just walking around the neighborhood of our hotel has been a pleasure. We are only a block from the Mercato Centrale- Florence's huge central food market. Opened in 1874, it is reportedly Europe's' largest covered food hall. We strolled around the first floor where the meats, wines and assorted other things like wine and olive oil are sold. I have added some photos of the meat counters, where we saw whole rabbits, minus their skins, and pigs feet as big as my forearm. The second floor was the produce floor, where they had wonderful fruits and vegetables along with entire stands of mushrooms (funghi) with a rich, earthy smell. We had our second coffee of the day in this market served by a pleasant woman with no front teeth.
Being immobile has given us some side benefits. We have eaten meals at several hotels twice, and the familiarity of the staff in seeing us the second time makes it feel like home. The Italians welcome us with even more enthusiasm when we return for the second time. Of course, the gelato lady has seen us three times, but that is purely for the medicinal qualities of the calcium in her Straciatella gelato, this wonderful chocolate chip flavor.
Caitie started classes today. Mike and I took Caitie and two of her roommates to dinner tonight after they walked to the bookstore downtown to buy their textbooks. We needed to give Caitie the suitcase we retrieved from Rome, so our visit with the girls allowed us to pass the big bag along to her. The NYU photos include some pictures of the three roommates who seem to have become very close in less than a week's time. Mike and I are so pleased that Caitie has such good friends to help her transition to college life.
Tomorrow- it's off to Lucca. Another walled city; but this time with gelato.
Deanne
Just walking around the neighborhood of our hotel has been a pleasure. We are only a block from the Mercato Centrale- Florence's huge central food market. Opened in 1874, it is reportedly Europe's' largest covered food hall. We strolled around the first floor where the meats, wines and assorted other things like wine and olive oil are sold. I have added some photos of the meat counters, where we saw whole rabbits, minus their skins, and pigs feet as big as my forearm. The second floor was the produce floor, where they had wonderful fruits and vegetables along with entire stands of mushrooms (funghi) with a rich, earthy smell. We had our second coffee of the day in this market served by a pleasant woman with no front teeth.
Being immobile has given us some side benefits. We have eaten meals at several hotels twice, and the familiarity of the staff in seeing us the second time makes it feel like home. The Italians welcome us with even more enthusiasm when we return for the second time. Of course, the gelato lady has seen us three times, but that is purely for the medicinal qualities of the calcium in her Straciatella gelato, this wonderful chocolate chip flavor.
Caitie started classes today. Mike and I took Caitie and two of her roommates to dinner tonight after they walked to the bookstore downtown to buy their textbooks. We needed to give Caitie the suitcase we retrieved from Rome, so our visit with the girls allowed us to pass the big bag along to her. The NYU photos include some pictures of the three roommates who seem to have become very close in less than a week's time. Mike and I are so pleased that Caitie has such good friends to help her transition to college life.
Tomorrow- it's off to Lucca. Another walled city; but this time with gelato.
Deanne
Sunday, September 2, 2007
A new world experience in the old world
Today was an errand day. After our leisurely breakfast at 9:30 (my how we have changed in six weeks) we walked to the train station and caught the train to Rome, as chronicled by Mike in his blog addition below. He didn't mention an experience we had on the way back from Rome that I found very interesting. As we have been doing, we struck up a conversation with the people sitting near by us in the train. These men were obviously Americans, as evidenced by the diet Cokes they pulled out of their "panini express" bags (think Italisn McDonalds). The Boston Red Sox hat was not enough of a clue as to citizenship, as every other European wears a baseball hat from the US, mostly the NY Yankees. Even the Adidas tennis shoes was not 100% proof positive, although it was close. The Diet Coke was a clincher though. They cost between 2 and 4 Euros for a bottle of Coke Light, or $2.75- 3.50, so anyone drinking them must be a sure fire addict, and that is almost always an American. There were other obvious clues too, but the Diet Coke was the sure fire proof. The Rick Steves guide book that they pulled out after we had pegged them as Americans only cemented the opinion.
In any event, these two big, buff guys were sitting there in the train across from us, although not right beside us. Placed just right for us to notice them while we were reading and to start up a conversation. Independently we were trying to peg their story (business collegeagues out to see the sights on the weekend, etc.) until we struck up a conversation. They seemed happy to talk to fellow Americans and told us they were celebrating their honeymoon, having just married in Boston at their home, and again in Maine at the family home of one of them. We talked about their wedding, their jobs, their holiday and ours and altogether had a nice visit during the remainder of the 1 1/2 hour train ride from Rome to Florence.
I relay this story because it struck me that although we were traveling in an old world country with architecture and heritage thousends of years old all around us, we were talking to people that could only share their life story with us in the current world. How wonderful to be visiting the world of the Renaissance and the Great Thinkers in a time of telerance and acceptance.
Peace,
Deanne
In any event, these two big, buff guys were sitting there in the train across from us, although not right beside us. Placed just right for us to notice them while we were reading and to start up a conversation. Independently we were trying to peg their story (business collegeagues out to see the sights on the weekend, etc.) until we struck up a conversation. They seemed happy to talk to fellow Americans and told us they were celebrating their honeymoon, having just married in Boston at their home, and again in Maine at the family home of one of them. We talked about their wedding, their jobs, their holiday and ours and altogether had a nice visit during the remainder of the 1 1/2 hour train ride from Rome to Florence.
I relay this story because it struck me that although we were traveling in an old world country with architecture and heritage thousends of years old all around us, we were talking to people that could only share their life story with us in the current world. How wonderful to be visiting the world of the Renaissance and the Great Thinkers in a time of telerance and acceptance.
Peace,
Deanne
Return to the scene of the crime....
Today we ventured out to the scene of my illustrious fall at the Florence train station. Equipped with my rented crutches and a strong resolve to conquer the crossing of the Marble floor unscathed, we set off for the dreaded station! We made it down the street and across several busy intersections and into the station where we once again retraced our steps to the ticket office. I just kept my head down and plowed ahead never taking my eyes off what felt like a skating rink. After successfully getting our reserved seats we went out to wait and see what track we would be departing. Deanne went to check the board while I carved out a clean spot on the shiny surface. As she returned , she had this big smile on her face and I thought, "Oh no someone else took a header!!" However it was good news. As she was looking up at the board she recognized a familiar face to all Seattleites and baseball fans everywhere...Edgar Martinez!!!! She came running back, and I looked, and at first he looked a bit different, and then he turned and sure enough it was Edgar. Not being shy I went over and just said "Edgar"? Big smile and he says " Where you from?" We say Seattle and he shakes hands with us and I told him last summer I met him at Barnes and Noble in Bellevue ( eastside of Lake Washington) and when I went outside I saw a kid with his mother and I said, "Hey kid, go inside, Edgar Martinez is there and you may get an autograph". Kid looks up and says, " I know, he's my Dad". Edgar's wife Holly got a big laugh out of that and Edgar today said he remembered that day in Bellevue. So a little lousy Karma and then some good at the train station. We went on into Rome, retrieved this monster bag for Caitie and came back to our home away from home. I must tell you one other funny story from our new friend, the hotel manager, who looks a little like Danny Divito and is usually very serious. All excited, he was telling us about a movie the famous Italian actor Roberto Benigni, who is proudly from Florence and won an Oscar, was playing in a smaller role in an Italian gangster movie. In broken English the hotel manager is doing a great job of telling us that Roberto is sitting at a outdoor restaurant having espresso. At a table a safe number of yards away a guy is stealing a banana and is putting it up the sleeve of his jacket. Suddenly a black car pulls up with brakes screeching and a Mafia guy jumps out with a machine gun and blows the banana thief away. Roberto does not know the banana guy owed them a lot of money, so as he is leaving another person comes up and asks what happened, and Roberto says " I don't know but don't eat the bananas!!!! He cheered up my day! Have fun...enjoy. Go Mariners!!
Mike
Mike
Saturday, September 1, 2007
A Quiet Saturday... Take that back, IKEA is not quiet
We have been staying close to our room for the past few days in order to let Mike's leg heal. Yesterday he was in pain and needed to stay in bed, but today he woke up in good spirits and anxious to get up and move around. He removed his compression bandage and went to breakfast then went for a spin around the neighborhood. We are starting to feel like locals... we have our favorite haunts. After our morning walk, we came back for laundry (he is taking full advantage of his injury to have his laundry done by his adoring wife) and naps. Then, at about 1:00 we took an even longer walk to have lunch. Mike got around these rocky streets on those crutches, dodging motorcycles and tourists adroitly.
Caitie and two of her roommates came by to visit Mike, brightening up the afternoon. Then, the girls and I headed out in search of the free IKEA bus that takes shoppers from downtown (the illustrious train station of the banana affair) to the IKEA store. We were on an expedition to furnish the dorm room with a few essential elements. Four girls and one shower means that to take a shower you have to dodge four razors, four bottles of shampoo, four bars of soap, four bottles of conditioner, etc. all spread out on the floor of a 3x3 shower. They were using a donated towel as a rug, and their suitcases to hold their belongings. So, we went in search of supplies.
If you have never been to an IKEA, that major Swedish chain store for furnishings and lots more, save yourself the agony and skip it. If it is even possible to be more crowded that the store in Seattle, this one was. The good thing about having the store crowded with Italians is that you feel like you are walking around in a bubble where the noise might as well be TV blaring. You hear people talking but you can totally tune it out because you haven't got a clue what they are saying. The hardest part of an IKEA store is the lay-out of the store and the way they organize the merchandise. Imagine a two story football stadium in which you enter through one door, get funneled up some stairs, snake around the entire football field in a pack of frenzied shoppers through rooms and rooms of furniture, only to end up at the opposite end of the field having walked its length and width four or five times while you were winding your way to the end, then walking down another set of stairs to do it all over again on the bottom floor until your eventual escape at the exit cashier line where you get to stand for twenty minutes and contemplate your purchases. As you wind your way through the pretend kitchens you are never sure whether this is the spot where you look for the coffee mug you want, or do you wait in the hopes that their will come a coffee mug department. Likewise, do you grab the single rug you like from the fake bathroom, or do you leave it there knowing that there will be a new rug, not a sample, further in the bowels of the store in the rug department. For all the challenges of keeping a smile on your face in a store designed to frustrate anyone, I must admit it was fun to spend my time with Caitie and her roommates. The three of these girls are beautiful, fun and polite. It was a treat to be invited to share their decorating trip and I loved to be part of it. They are all very excited to be at NYU and full of the excitement of the first few days as they learn all about this new city, culture and university life. Their enthusiasm for their purchases and their concern about making sure they got good value for their expenditures was a treat. I was likely the oldest person on the IKEA shopping bus by a good twenty (okay, maybe a little more) years, and it felt like I was sneaking in for a peak at life among the college kids. They told me about the other students they have met, the parties and dancing they have been doing, their developing friendships, etc. After hearing all of that, I REALLY want to be a university student in Florence.
Deanne
Caitie and two of her roommates came by to visit Mike, brightening up the afternoon. Then, the girls and I headed out in search of the free IKEA bus that takes shoppers from downtown (the illustrious train station of the banana affair) to the IKEA store. We were on an expedition to furnish the dorm room with a few essential elements. Four girls and one shower means that to take a shower you have to dodge four razors, four bottles of shampoo, four bars of soap, four bottles of conditioner, etc. all spread out on the floor of a 3x3 shower. They were using a donated towel as a rug, and their suitcases to hold their belongings. So, we went in search of supplies.
If you have never been to an IKEA, that major Swedish chain store for furnishings and lots more, save yourself the agony and skip it. If it is even possible to be more crowded that the store in Seattle, this one was. The good thing about having the store crowded with Italians is that you feel like you are walking around in a bubble where the noise might as well be TV blaring. You hear people talking but you can totally tune it out because you haven't got a clue what they are saying. The hardest part of an IKEA store is the lay-out of the store and the way they organize the merchandise. Imagine a two story football stadium in which you enter through one door, get funneled up some stairs, snake around the entire football field in a pack of frenzied shoppers through rooms and rooms of furniture, only to end up at the opposite end of the field having walked its length and width four or five times while you were winding your way to the end, then walking down another set of stairs to do it all over again on the bottom floor until your eventual escape at the exit cashier line where you get to stand for twenty minutes and contemplate your purchases. As you wind your way through the pretend kitchens you are never sure whether this is the spot where you look for the coffee mug you want, or do you wait in the hopes that their will come a coffee mug department. Likewise, do you grab the single rug you like from the fake bathroom, or do you leave it there knowing that there will be a new rug, not a sample, further in the bowels of the store in the rug department. For all the challenges of keeping a smile on your face in a store designed to frustrate anyone, I must admit it was fun to spend my time with Caitie and her roommates. The three of these girls are beautiful, fun and polite. It was a treat to be invited to share their decorating trip and I loved to be part of it. They are all very excited to be at NYU and full of the excitement of the first few days as they learn all about this new city, culture and university life. Their enthusiasm for their purchases and their concern about making sure they got good value for their expenditures was a treat. I was likely the oldest person on the IKEA shopping bus by a good twenty (okay, maybe a little more) years, and it felt like I was sneaking in for a peak at life among the college kids. They told me about the other students they have met, the parties and dancing they have been doing, their developing friendships, etc. After hearing all of that, I REALLY want to be a university student in Florence.
Deanne
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