Day 16 September 16, 2006 Going Home

Hello,

Well, we are finally at home, safe and sound in South Boston, VA. It is so good to be home. Let me tell you about our day.

We get up at 5am, that’s 11:00pm here in VA. In case I did not mention, Italy is 6 hours ahead of VA time. We get ready to catch a cab to the train station. We have to take a train to the airport. We get to the airport around 7:40am, our flight is not scheduled to leave until 9:45 am, so it should be plenty of time, right.  Well……

When we get to the check-in area, the line is very long. They have people there checking your passports before you even get to the check-in. After we get there, we have to check our luggage. We get out of that process at 8:45am.

So now we head toward the gates to security. That line is out of this world. Milan has two different gates letters: either it’s A or B, whatever gate number it is, it will either be gate A or B. Well, they have security for each gate and everyone going through that particular gate letter has to go through that gate checkpoint. I know it was a couple of hundred people in our line. But the line moves pretty smoothly, so we get through rather quickly, but the security was not as tight as American checks, more on that later. So, we have only a few minutes to get to the gate to catch the plane. We look at the board and it said that our flight was boarding, so we pick it up a little. When we get to the gate, no-one has begun to board the plane yet. In Milan, they bus you from the gate to the plane. They only have one bus and it is alternating between our plane and a plane with a trip to Caracas, Venezuela. Now, I would love to go to South America, but not today, so I pray that we get on the right bus. 9:45am comes and goes and we have not even reached the front of the line, nowhere near the gate. But the plane cannot take off because half of the passengers are still in the waiting room. Finally, we get to the gate and wait for the bus. But before we do, they do another search of our carry on baggage. So, we have to go through another checkpoint before boarding the plane.

When we finally get on the plane, the pilot asks everyone to please get settled quickly because we have a 10:20am window to leave (notice that we are already 30 minutes late). Well, we miss that window and they tell the pilot that it could be another hour and ten minutes before we can take off. We had a 2.5 hour layover in Philadelphia, but that cushion looks to be in jeopardy. Well, thankfully we take off at about 10:45am, only an hour late.

The plane ride was pretty uneventful except that there was a family seated across the aisle from us. A father, mother and two young boys, about 4 and 6 years old. Well, you would think that in an 8 hour flight, the kids would get tired, but not these two. They cut up the whole trip across the Atlantic. I do not believe in beating children just to beat them, but these two boys were buck wild and needed a good beat down, but the parents tried to reason with them. It was horrible. Parents, if you cannot control your kids and they do not behave at home, what makes you thin that they will in public?

Mercifully, we finally get to Philly about 1:15pm EST. That’s an 8.5 hour flight. When we get to Immigration, the line is crazy long, but we get through pretty quickly. Then, we have to pick up our luggage. I’m praying that our luggage did not get lost. Well, mine is one of the first to come out. Thank God. Craig and Chris’ arrive shortly thereafter. Next, we have to go through customs. No problem.

Next, we have to re-check our luggage for the connecting flight. No problem and they make sure that they have our baggage on the right flight. No problem. Well, we head to the gate to get ready for the connecting flight, but there is a long line. What’s up?  They are checking passports again. For what? We have been nowhere, but in their control. But it goes rather quickly. Then, there is another line. We have to go through a security checkpoint again. This time we have to take off shoes, belts, empty your pockets, they check your carry-ons again and everything. That takes a while. We finally get through at 2:55pm. That’s 90 minutes for all that stuff. Welcome home!!!!

We go to the terminal snack bar to check the Tech-Duke score. No need, Tech 36 Duke 0. Our flight is scheduled to leave for RDU at 3:55pm. Time to spare.

We get on the flight to RDU and the 90 minutes fly by. We land in RDU and meet Bill, frined of Craig and Chris, to take us home. We go to baggage check to get our bags and don’t you know that my bag was the very last to come out. Yes, I was pretty doggone nervous.

After a 90 minute drive, we arrive at the Jones home in SOBO. William and Tine, Chris and Craig’s parents, are there to meet us. It was really good to see them again. Tine had a gooey chocolate cake for us and a bag of peanut M&Ms for Craig. It’s great to be home.

After staying for awhile, Craig and I leave to go get some fried chicken. I hate to say it, but I do not want anymore pizza, pasta or ham for awhile. I needed some good ole American grease. Chicken and biscuits!!!!!!!!

Well, when we got home, the dogs were anxiously awaiting our return. I really missed Reba and Little Girl. I was as glad to see them as they were me. Walking in the door felt like heaven. Thank God, we were home!!!!!!!

Well, that’s it.  I hope that you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing it. I want thank all of those that helped me write this (Craig) and those that found me the computers and time to get this done (Chris, Daniele, Gianluca and Luca). I wanna thank all of you that sent in comments. It was great to know that someone was reading this other than me.

Well, I’m out. Time to get to bed and get ready for the real world. It’s 11:30pm. We have been up for 24 hours straight. Need some sleep. Gotta get our baodies adjusted to this time zone again.

I hope to hear from you soon to tell me how you liked it. If you would like to see the other pics that were taken, just let me know.

God bless,

Bryan and Craig

Day 15 September 15, 2006 More Rain in Milan

Buon Giorno,

Well, its still raining and they are predicting terrible storms for Torin, so we are going to stay in Milan. This will give us a great opportunity to get things ready for our long flight back to the states tomorrow. Plus, we get a chance to do some last minute shopping and touring of Milan.

<>Gianluca comes over to Luca’s apartment <> and makes a great lunch, pasta of course. He makes a baked pasta with zucchini, carrots and mozzarella cheese. We then head downtown to find the best chocolate shoppes. While we were out we saw the piazza <> where Mussollini was hanged and tortured by the Italian people. Luca eventually joins us and shows the best chocolate shoppe, <> Giannovani Galli. <>When we walk in, its has the best smell. All you see are some of the prettiest chocolates that I have ever seen. The smell is indescribable. The best thing that I can say is pure chocolate. Luca gets us to try Glacied Chestnuts. They are delicious. I have never had anything like it. Reminds me of a very refined sugar mix of grounded chestnut in a roll. Luca said that Galli’s makes the best Glacied Chestnuts in all of Italy. I believe it. We also get a chance to go to the Piazza <> <> and Duomo of Milan. Once again, the church is beautiful. But unlike the others, this one has armed guards that frisk us before we go in. Kinda freaks you out a little. Seeing guys with automatic weapons guarding a church.

For dinner, we got to Gianni’s restaurant, Gianni was our host the very first day, exactly two weeks ago (seems like we have come full circle). He owns a great pizzeria, the Pizza Genius. He serves Chicago-styled pizza, thick crust and fresh toppings. It is really cool. There they cook all the pizza the same way. They dress the dough with olive oil and tomato sauce. After this is cooked ,he adds the toppings on top and then serves it. One slice is equivalent to about 3 American slices. The bread is crispy on the outside but very soft and light on the inside. Craig and I have a salami, mozzarella and mushroom. Wow!!! What a great pizza.

We then head back to Luca’s to get some sleep. We have a very long travel day tomorrow back to South Boston.

The next time you hear from me will be from the friendly confines of home from South Boston, VA.

USA, here we come

Ciao, Ciao

<>

Day 14 September 14, 2006 Milan and the Rain

Buon Giorno,

OK, it finally happened. I knew that after 13 days of perfect weather, something had to give. The weather that you have been having in the states has finally hit us. We woke up this morning to find the heavens wide open, raining cats and dogs. What a miserable start to the day. I’m so glad that we changed our plans. I would have hated to walk around Turin in the rain. But its now time to tour Milan, one of the fashion capitals of the world.

Gianluca  comes to get us this morning. We take the trolley  to the  first mall in the world.  I can say that we have taken just about every mode of transportation in Italy, except for horse and buggy and a scooter. We have been on a bus, plane, boat, trolley, subway, car, whew all in 14 days.

We then proceed to Fashion Row, where all the great designers and fashion houses have a shoppe: Prada  Louis Vitton  Mercedes  Salvatore Ferragamo  Gucci  Versace  Cavalli  Dolce & Gabbana , we saw them all. There were even 2 American favorites in the crowd with gourmet stores.  &   Both of them were packed to the rim. Europeans love that stuff. It was the first Burger King that we have seen in Italy, but MC’D’s are everywhere.  Oh yes, the Africans were there as well. Selling knockoffs right outside of the store’s doors. It was crazy.

I must tell you, saw is all that we did. The prices were SKY HIGH!!! And they were SKY HIGH in Euro, not American Dollars. Today 1 Euro = $1.34 American. The prices of things here are crazy. A pair of Levi’s will go for 85 Euro, that’s about $100. Earlier, I told you about the tennis shoes at Foot Locker. I love to buy shoes and clothes, but I cannot afford these prices. Whew we!!!!!!

After walking around, we have lunch at Princi’s . It is a great little spot to have a quick bite. I had the lasagna and Craig had ravioli. Both were outstanding and rather cheap. It’s amazing you can grab a great lunch for two for around 10 Euro, about $13.50 American, but you cannot afford to buy anything else.   

We then toured the famous castle here in Milan, Castello Sforzesco . With its seven centuries of history, the castle  has witnessed the glorious periods and dramatics moments of Milan. Today, the castle is home to 12 different museums, including museums of Ancient Art, Egyptian Artifacts, Musical Instruments, Furniture History and Photographic Archive. he castle itself is huge and a treat to see. 

We then take the trolley back to Luca’s so that we can go out to dinner. I know that you are not going to believe this, but we are going out for Italian Chinese Food tonight. I know, I know, but 14 straight days of pasta and pizza, we need a break. We go to the restaurant and have a great meal. We have spring rollls, wontons filled with shrimp, meat or cabbage, Chinese beer (very smooth and not bitter at all). for the main course, I decide to have Pineapple Chicken;Craig has the Sweet and Sour Chicken; Chris has the Sweet and Sour Shrimp. Its funny, but the three Italians have different varieties of soy spaghetti (Chinese spaghetti). Old habits are hard to break.

After dinner, we call it an early night to get ready for tomorrow. If the weather holds up, hopefully we can shoot over to Turin. If like to today, I think that we are going to have another day in Milan. But donàt worry anyone, there are gourmet chocolate shops here in Milan that we can get chocolate, shipped straight here from Turin daily.

Ciao, Ciao

Day 13 September 13, 2006 Venice and Murano

Buon Giorno,

I must admit, this day has me very excited. There were two places that I definitely wanted to see on this trip and they were Rome and Venice. Well, I must tell you that Roma about blew my mind. Today, we will see what Venezia has to offer. I cannot wait.

We have to take the train to Venice. It is a 3 hour ride from MIlan. The closer we get the more water we see. I guess that I knew it, but never thought that much about it, but Venice is actually an island.  The view of the city coming over the bridge on the train is startling. Seeing the city surrounded by all that water is awesome.

After we get off the train and leave the station,  you immediately know that you are in a city different than any other in Italy.  The fact that they city is on water becomes evidently clear.  There are boats everywhere.  The streets are actually waterways. There are no cars, scooters or motor vehicles to be found. There are people everywhere, surprisingly a large number of English speaking peoples. That is a welcome surprise.

The first thing that we do is get on a boat to go over to the island of Murano. The Venice area is known for its glass works and Masks. On the island of Murano is where the best glass is made. When we board the board we get the opportunity to go through the canals  and see the many bridges that connect the different sections of the city. Boats of all shapes and sizes pass along side us +  and meet us coming the other way. As we head out to the open sea, you can really see the shape of Venezia and the different buildings that it has to offer.

When we arrive on Murano,  we get to see one of the glass masters  give a demonstration on the art of glass making. He is extremely talented.  The streets are lined with glass shoppes of all shapes and sizes. Mostly all of the are selling glass ware, whether it be jewelry, figurines, watches, clocks, even small furniture. But the thing that stands out the most is the waterways. Your eyes cannot help but glance back to the water to see the many boats go by.  After being in the hustle and bustle of the other cities, dodging cars and scooters, being able to walk through the crowd without a worry is a welcome change.  Another interesting fact; the walkways and streets of Venice are the same size as the other Italian cities, but since there are no cars lining bothe sides of the street, there is so much more room to move around.  The quality of the glassware in the shoppes is impressive.  You would not believe what things are done with glass. It is all so beautiful.

After walking around for a while,  we decide to go into the heart of Murano and find some lunch. The bars along the streets are usually touristy. Get off the beaten path and you can find some good home cooking. We find such a restaurant and have a bowl of pasta. We have Amergiano (spaghetti with bacon, onion, chilies and tomato sauce. It was a little spicy for Chris and Craig, but it was right up my alley.

We then took the boat back to Venice to further explore the island. I will let the pictures do the talking. Enjoy.     

These pictures are from Piazza de San Marco on the island of Venice.     If you feed the pigeons,  they will come to you like they are trained.    Its now time to say good bye to Venice, What a lovely city.  

That evening, we head back to Milan for dinner with Luca and Gianluca. We eat dinner at the Playtime Restaurant,  better known as the Pink Room.  My mother, grandmother and Tine Jones (Craig and Chris’ mother) would love this room, pink is all of their favorite color. Tonight, I get a little adventurous. I have seafood risotto. The dish has mussels, shrimp, clams and calamari (better known as squid). I must admit that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Craig had a Salmon Steak with grilled veggies. It was a great meal.

We were supposed to head for Turin tomorrow, but we have changed plans. Since the public transit workers are on strike on Friday, we will not be able to tour Milan as planned on Friday. So we will switch days and do Milan tomorrow. If you can believe this, the strike is a planned strike. They are doing it to make a point. They plan to work to get everybody to work Friday morning, then go on strike at 8:45am until 3:30pm,time to take everyone home. Hmmm, interesting strategy.

Ciao, Ciao

Day 12 September 12, 2006 A LONG Travel Day

Buon Giorno,

There is nothing much to write today.  We are going to travel from Lecce to Milan. It’s a 10 hour trip by train. At least the scenery will be good and we will be in first class.

Well, I must admit that the trip was not that bad. Time seemed to fly right by. Craig and I played a lot of Casino and I think that he is getting the hang of it.

This last leg of the trip, we will be staying in Luca’s apartment, another friend of Daniele. Luca has a beautiful apartment. Shelves lined with books all through the house. His collection of cassettes, video tapes, DVD and even reel-to-reel tapes is extraordinary. Most of the music is classical and operatic. Luca has cataloged over 38,000 items in his collection.

Since the hour is so late, we just get a sandwich then head off to bed. Tomorrow, we head to Venice and Murano.

Day 11 September 11, 2006 Otranto and Santa Maria de Leuca

Buon Giorno,

Our guide today is Ricardo,  another friend of Daniele.

Our first destination is Otranto,  nicknamed the Martyrs Town,  along the Adriatic Sea south of Lecce. 800 Christian townspeople were beheaded by Turkish invaders in 1480 for refusing to convert to Islam.  The town has a mixed heritage. Greek, Turkish, Spanish, Italian; it was viewed as a gateway from the Orient. The Roman Navy would sail from Otranto to the East.  

For lunch, we stop at a local bar and have another rusticco. I really like these sandwiches. They are delicious.

Next, we head down the Adriatic Coast to Santa Maria de Leuca, one of the ports where the Adriatic and the Ionian Seas meet.  Along the way we see some beautiful coastline scenes.  The water is so clear and the views from the cliffs overlooking the scenes are spectacular. We get to see the Church of One hundred stones. It was unusual because of the size and smoothness of the stones used to build this 4000 year old temple.

We then head back to Leverano. First, we have to drop off Ricardo in San Donato, a few miles from Leverano. We get to meet his mom, Rosa and his aunt.  Rosa has made for us a tiramasu, which is cookies soaked in coffee, layered with marscapone cheese filling and topped with coffee flavored whipped creme and dusted with cocoa. Thank you, Rosa!!!!

Tonight will be a short and quiet night forus because tomorrow we take the train to Milan for the last leg of our trip. The train ride lasts almost 10 hours. OH BOY!!!!!! Daniele makes us a quick and light rosotto for dinner. Risotto is arborio rice, simmered with vegetable stock, slowly cooked until its tender and creamy, then he added porchini mushrooms, parmesan cheese, carrots and onion.

A riverderci (Good bye)

Day 10 September 10, 2006 Nighttime

Bona Notte (Good evening),

Well, I must tell you that the cooking experiment had mixed results. The pecan pie did not turn out so good. The pie crust was in a paper container, not a tin container and did not survive. Also, the brown sugar that was used must have been old as dirt. Finally, we Italy does not have Karo Syrup, so molasses was used. It did not mix well with the bad brown sugar. I guess you can see why there are no pecan pies in Italy. The banana pudding turned out a heck of a lot better than the pie. The only problem with the pudding was of course no Nilla wafers and no vanilla. Can you believe no vanilla in Italy? Oh well.

For dinner, Daniele made frezo, hard crusted Italian bread, dipped in water, then add extra virgin olive oil, tomato and seasoned to taste. It is a very light and quick meal, but surprisingly fills you up. After dinner, we head to Lecce, the capital of the region by moonlight.  It is beautifully lit.  We get to see the duomo, bell tower and church. I hope that my camera can do it justice. The rest of the city is lit as well. The city was also a stop on the Appian Way, the famous Roman road through Italy and the world. The town square has a marker there.   Another interesting fact about Lecce is that it had a coliseum as well. Not as big as the famous one in Rome, but it did have its own.  Only a small portion is left today.  But wherever you find modern civilization, you will find:  Good ole Mc’D’s. HAHA.

We then turn in for the night. Tomorrow, we go to Otranto and Santa Maria de Leuca, one of the furthest points south in Italy, where the Adriatic and Ionian Seas meet.

Day 10 September 10, 2006 Old Gallipoli and the Sea

Buon Giorno 

We are off to old Gallipoli today to sea one of the most famous seaports in human history.  Many a navy has used this port to guard Italy, even in WWII. Old Gallipoli was founded by the Greeks, therefore you see much of the same structures as we saw in Alberobello and Ostuni.   The water and coastline is so beautiful.  The water is so many different colors.  I hope that my camera can do them justice.   Gallipoli seems to have each corner dedicated to a different saint.  There is even a picture of St. Joseph with Jesus,  usually all pictures have Mary and Jesus, not Joseph. We even see the old fort that now belongs to the Yachting Club.

For lunch we have the bomb. It is called rusticco. Think of a creme puff pastry filled with cheese, tomatoes and a white sauce. It was out of this world. It is only served in the Lecce region. I should have been eating these a long time ago. We also share a calzone and a small piece of pizza. You have to remember that their food and portions are so light. But seriously, I could eat another rusticco right now.

We then spend the rest of the afternoon at the sea near Gallipoli.  The weather was outstanding.  84 degrees, breezy and the waves crashing against the break.  I can only hope that the pictures show you how beautiful the water and the coastline are.

Tonight, we are going to have dinner Gianluca’s house. Chris, Daniele and Craig are preparing dessert right now as we speak. Two SOBO favorites: banana pudding and pecan pie.  Only problems; Nilla wafers are not to be found in Italy and they do not have pecans either. Chris brought pecans, but they will have to improvise on the Nilla wafers.  I’ll let you know later how things turned out. Until the next time,

Ciao, Ciao

By the way, to all Americans, please be careful on September 11th. It is the 5th anniversary of the worst tragedy in American history. Remember and don’t forget, but be careful, I know that we will. God bless.

Day 9 September 9, 2006 A Day on the Adriatic Sea

Buin Giorno

This morning we head out for the towns on the Adriatic side of Italy. We are going to Alberobello and Ostuni. Ostuni is known as the “White City.”  All the outside walls of the town must be white. It is also a “hilly” city. We go up quite a bit to reach Ostuni, but it is not considered to be in the mountains. The city has the beautiful white walls with the narrow streets that are so common in Italy.  While on the streets, you barely have enough room to open the doors of the car without touching the walls. It is cool that the homes are right on the street. You can definitely get right out of your car and into the house.  The scenery of the sea is wonderful.  Can you tell that I am running out of adjectives to describe the views here?

Next on our list is Alberobello.  It is known as the City of Trullos.  There are ancient trullos everywhere. Alberobello has the feel of a Greek or Turkish city. You can definitely tell who built this city and that we are now on the Greek side of Italy.  Lining the streets are many shoppes that sell lace, ceramic and crochet made goods. The artists and makers are right there in the shoppes and proud to share their skill with you.

Well, its time to head back down the hill to Leverano. We have been invited to a party tonight. Time to rest up. 

Ciao, Ciao

Before leaving for the party, Teresa, Daniele’s sister, makes us a pizza to tie us over until the party. It has tomatoes, mozzarello, olives, ham and tuna. Too good. I hope that Craig can duplicate it when we get home.

The party is for Valerio.  He owns a summer home right outside Brandisi on the Adriatic coast. Yeah, I know, don’t say a thing. A summer home on the Adriatic Sea, living large for sure. Valerio has a large courtyard to host the party. He even has a wood BBQ grill outside, kinda reminds me of home. On the grill he has sperdini (shish kabobs), made of pork, zucchini, peppers, bay leaves, onions and other veggies. They are too good. Daniele made pasta with veggies to bring along. Yummy!! Valerio has three different kinds of cakes at the party. His birthday cakes were topped with whipped creme, a layer of cake, pistachio filling, hazelnut filling, whipped creme and another layer of cake. He also had a peach cake and something that reminded me of lady fingers.  All three were delicious. Trust me, we tried them all.

After a long drive back to the trullo, we called it a night. Tomorrow, we tour old Gallipoli and spend the afternoon at the sea. It’s a hard life, but someone has totell you about it.

Ciao, Ciao

Day 8, September 8, 2006 A Relaxing Day on the Sea.

Buon Giorno

Since Daniele and Chris have another meeting with the mayor and they want to go shopping in
Lecce, Craig and I decide to stay at the trullo and go to the sea. Oh, the weather is outstanding. Maybe 85 degrees slightly overcast with a cool breeze blowing off the
Ionian Sea. You could not ask for better weather.

We lay there watching the swimmers and boaters go by. We even sea a few people scuba. We also see many people crabbing in the shallow waters. We see a lot of different types and sizes of crabs along the rocks. If you can believe it, we even see a few people cleaning their dinner in the sea. We saw a man with what looked like an octopus or squid killing it against the rocks. I mean, he was beating the devil out of that poor animal on the rocks. Sounded like someone hammering nails into a concrete wall.

They are so many different types of people there: families, couples, groups of young people, all enjoying the sea. It is a nice quiet day of rest. Now this is a vacation. Nothing to do, nowhere to go. I could get used to this.

After a long afternoon at the sea, we go back to the trullo, its still cool, to take another nap and get ready to go out to dinner. 

We go to Daniel’s home for dinner. His sister, Teresa, prepared dinner for us. An authentic Italian meal. We had eggplant Parmesan; baked mashed potatoes with tomatoes, olives, tuna, capers and onions; greens that sorta were like collards or turnip greens, fresh, just made today, mozzarella and bread. I also had some conservo, a hot sauce made with sweet red peppers, chile peppers and olive oil. It was quite hot, but not too hot for me. I would love to taste it in some nachos or hot wings. I am going to bring some home. I liked it that much. All the vegetables eaten tonight were grown on the family farm by Teresa. It was a genuine Italian farmer’s meal.

After dinner, Craig and I got a chance to update the blog. Lisa, are you happy now. As for the handbags, if the polizia catch me, there is a 10,000 Euro fine for buying from a non-licensed merchant. So if you will bail me out, I got you covered. HAHA.

Well, time for dessert. You already know what it is. You got it. GELATO!!!!!! Until the next time,

Ciao, Ciao