Viva la France

OK, I am back in France. I am having trouble with finding keys on this keyboard. I have so much to post and so little time. It is really difficult typing on this KB. I will update the blog when I get back. All is going well, having a lot of fun, walking around a lot and seeing so much stuff. I have a written journal which I will post to my blog in about 5 or 6 days.

Have a great 24...Al

Walking in Rome

Day 14

Today was a long day. We left at 7AM and did not arrive back until after midnight. We must have walked over 12 hours. I guess I will rest when I finally come home. :)

We started out the day at the Vatican Museum which was so amazing. It was art piece after art piece on the walls and ceiling, it was unbelievable. I could have spent all day in there looking at all the art. We then went to the Sistine chapel which was unbelievable. It really is not something I appreciated until I saw it in person. I have seen so many pictures, but it is nothing like this. It really was fascinating.

We then walked through St. Peters Basillica which was an amazing church. No, I am not sick of churches yet. :) It was a very good feeling taking some holy water. The art and statues were amazing. I love mosaic art, it just fascinates me. The Pieta was beautiful and so impressive!

We then went to the Coliseum and the Forum which were very impressive. However, it looks much bigger when it is depicted on television. However, it was a sight that was very impressive none the less.

My Aussie friend and I left the group which was heading back to the hotel. We figured we were here to see Rome, which is what we did. I feel I can sleep or swim at home.

We went to St. Pietro in Vinculo which had the Moses statue which was one of the most impressive sculptures I have ever seen. It was massive! There was an odd skeleton with a sickle on one of the displays, I assume representing death which was odd in a church.

We then went to the Cappuchin Monks. We then saw what odd really was. In this church we saw chandeliers made from bones, Christian paintings surrounded by skulls and bones. It was the strangest thing I have ever seen. I even managed to take a few secretive photos since the guy in front was screaming at me when he thought I was about to take a photo. We found this place from a tour guide we had met in Venice from another tour.

We then went to the Pantheon. The dome was huge. The temple was originally for Pagans. Raphael was buried there. The church was very beautiful as was the fountain outside.

We then went to the Piazza Navona which had a beautiful fountain. The fountain of the Four Rivers was most impressive. The two other fountains featuring Neptune and Moor were also nice. The square was originally a stadium which was larger than the coliseum. S. Agnes' church was beautiful.

We went to the Sacred Acre which was ruins that were not discovered for centuries as they were covered. It was very interesting.

We then went to the Vittorio Emanuelle which was very impressive, even during the day. It was a huge structure with amazing sculptures. There are two flames burning for the unknown soldiers. There are two naval soldiers with uzis standing guard. The museum had many military pieces.

We went back to Trevi Fountain which was very beautiful during the day also. It was sooo crowded. We also threw another coin in the fountain. The sculptures of Neptune and the horses were very impressive.

We then finished our touring at the Spanish steps. We climbed to the top of the steps and went into the church at the top. The church was very nice. There was some kind of mass going on with people in robes and hoods praying on the floor. We walked back down the steps and hung out for a bit. There were many people sitting on the steps, reading, talking, and just people watching. The fountain at the bottom of the steps was very nice. There was a plaque on the wall near the steps that said Keats lived in the building and died there at age 25. Below was a museum of Keats, Shelley, Lord Byron, and many other poets, but it was closed.

For the next hour or so we trekked across town to the restaurant that was recommended by the beautiful dark haired Italian at our hotel and confirmed by our tour guide. We had Calamari for an appetizer which was very light compared to the States. I had steak appizzaola which is a favorite of mine. It was on par with my own. :) There was some Italian singing. As we sat there some people in the square started singing more upbeat Italian music, with a latin flair. It definitely enhanced our dining experience. We had a ricotta cheesecake which was excellent! I remember my Mom making a similar cake at Easter time. I thought of my Mom many times today. It would have been nice to share my stories of the Vatican and St. Peter's with her. She would have loved to see the pictures and hear all about it.

We then caught the 23:00 bus back to the hotel. It was a very long 17 hour day. I slept like a baby! :)

Roman Holiday

Day 11

We traveled today to Venice. We saw a lot of the countryside along the way. We went to Venice this evening for a nice Italian dinner. We had mozzarella and tomato with fresh basil and balsamic vinegar which as very good. I had ravioli with a pink sauce which was very good. However, everyone else did not enjoy their meal.

We then walked, walked, and walked some more through Venice. It really is a beautiful city at night, We walked all through the city ending at St. Marks Square which was very beautiful with some bands playing beautiful music.

Day 12

We started off the day at the Doges Palace which was truly amazing. The architecture was beautiful including statues of Mars and Neptune. The Golden staircase was very impressive. The ceilinigs and walls were covered in murals by Venetian artists. They were some of the largest I have ever seen. We stopped at the Bridge of Sighs and all sighed. :) The palace had a prison which was odd. The bridge got its name from the prisoners led to jail or to execution and they would sigh.

We then went to St. Marks Square where we went in the Byzatine Basillica which was very beautiful. It was very odd that the church floods from high tide. The paintingaìs told stories from the New testament which was very impressive. The church was over 1200 years old and St. Mark is actually buried there.

We stopped for a glass blowing demonstration which was very interesting. The guy created a vase in no time. I bought some really beautiful glass dolphins.

We then picked up where we left off last night, walking and walking, and walking some more. We walked through many churches and squares.

We had three gondolas for the 11 of us that went. We had an accordion player and singer. It was a lot of fun, but would have been nicer to have someone special to share the romantic ride. I recognized Volare and Solo Mio as songs he sang.

We then headed back to the hotel for a nice Italian dinner. Everything was excellent. I am going to sleep well tonight.

Day 13

Today we drove from Venice to Rome.

We drove to the tourist area and had a six course dinner. It was an excellent meal, small portions, but a lot of food. They had a guy with an accordion and another with a guitar singing Italian songs. He played That's Amore and Volare, among other Italian favorites.

We drove to the Trevi fountains which were beautiful. We threw the coins in the fountain. However, my journey did not turn out like the movie. :)

We stopped at the Circus Maximus which was where they had the chariot races and the Christian executions. We also stopped at St. Peters Square which was beautiful at night. The Vitorrio Emanuelle was amazing at night.

Mozart Madness

Day 8

We left Lucerne which I really enjoyed.

We stopped in Lichtenstein which was very mountainous. The scenery was very nice.

We then went onto Innsbruck. We went to the Maximillian Museum which was nice, but small.

We took a beautiful, scenic ride to Salzburg. I got sick of carrying around my video/digital camera. I bought a very nice, compact, 6 mega pixel digital camera with a very nice sized monitor. It fits in my pocket.

After having a nice Austrian dinner a couple of us walked the streets of Vienna which was very beautiful, especially at night. We walked around for a few hours, even running into a German Beer Festival which was a lot of fun.


Day 9

We walked around Salzburg, seeing many sights we saw last night, however, they were explained. We stopped at the Mirabell Gardens which were real beautiful and saw two weddings going on.

We went to St. Peter’s Church which was amazing! The ceilings were unbelievable. We saw Mozart’s birthplace, house, and also many places from the Sound of Music.

We then drove to Vienna. We have a beautiful hotel right on the Danube River. It is one of the nicest hotels so far and we had a few really nice hotels. Only the one in Lucerne was small.

I had no luck getting a reservation at the Sacher Hotel, a place that was recommended, which was totally booked. The second choice the hotel suggested was also booked. Saturday night!!! The third choice was the charm. WOW!! We were not disappointed. Only myself and one of the Aussies went. We went to a 300 year old Austrian restaurant called Piaristenkeller. The food was exceptional. It was a four course pre fixe menu. The first course was an assortment of fresh Austrian hams and wild boar pate. It was sooooo good. The second was a soup that was very good, but I forget what it was. :) The third course was a deer steak that was superb! The meat was in some sort of gravy on one side and a cranberry type sauce on the other. Dessert was some frozen cake with the best vanilla and chocolate ice cream I have ever had. Thank God I am doing a lot of walking! :) I would highly recommend this restaurant.

When we thought the night could not get any better, we were two of ten people in the restaurant each night that get invited on a tour of the wine cellar museum. It was truly amazing. We got to learn about the history of the restaurant, the emperor, the empress, and their wine. First the owner’s son came around and put these strange hats on the ten people invited, and then paraded us through the restaurant and into the cellar. The wines housed here are gifts to the emperor and empress. The youngest wine is from 1917 and the oldest from the 1700’s. Paintings from the cellar and the restaurant were all authentic from the era of 300 years ago. It was a very impressive collection. The group was given a glass of champagne which I was told was very good. The owner’s son spoke of wine from his own personal collection. Wine which bared his picture and were from his wedding, graduation, etc., made just for that occasion.

We really enjoyed this experience and is a definite highlight on this trip. It was just pure luck and being in the right place at the right time.

PS. My dinner was the same that Mozart used to eat. :)

Day 10

We started the day off at the Schonbrunn Palace which was unbelievable. There were 40 rooms which we visited. Also, the grounds were all very beautiful. Male Aussie and myself trekked up to the top of the hill for an unbelievable view of the palace and the city. No one else in the group attempted the climb up. The view was well worth it. Some crazy people were even jogging up the hill. They said it should take about 45 minutes each way. It took us about 35 minutes or so round trip.

We then went on a tour of Vienna which was very beautiful with stops at the Heldenplatz and St. Stephen’s Church. I then ventured out on my own and went to the Jewish Museum which was very impressive, especially with the Lorenzo Da Ponte and Mozart exhibitions. It is the oldest Jewish Museum in the world opening in 1895 and closing in 1938 for obvious reasons. It moved many of its pieces to other museums. By 1990 it only located about half of its near 7000 pieces. Some were destroyed, lost, or just unaccounted for. . The museum was very interesting including a viewable storage area on the top floor. The Mozart and Da Ponte exhibitions were both excellent!

I also went to the Judenplatz which was excellent with a memorial to the 65,000 Austrian Jews murdered during the Holocaust.

Tonight we had a very nice Austrian dinner of Weinerschnitzel. After dinner we went to a concert performed by a Viennese Waltz orchestra. It was beautiful music of mainly Strauss and Mozart. The classical music was amazing, as was the opera and ballet.

Swiss Miss

Day 6

Today we went to the Black Forest which was very interesting. Most of what we did here however, was look at cuckoo clocks. I did not buy any clocks since I did not want to clean it and not sure it would fit the décor anywhere except in the dining room. I did not want to buy something I might not use or my maid would not want to clean. :)

We then continued our ride from Germany through to Switzerland. We were on an almost 7 hour trek today. We then stopped at the Rhine falls which was absolutely beautiful. We walked through most of the falls as time allowed.

In Switzerland we stopped at a beautiful Jesuit church. The architecture inside was amazing. We then walked all around the city and to the famous Lion monument. The detail of this was magnificent. The city is absolutely beautiful and the mountains are amaying!

We then checked into our hotel, walked around, and had a very nice dinner at the famous Swiss House. I had Weinerschnitzel cooked for me by a beautiful, young waitress. I never had my ex wives cook for me. :) We then went out to a few nightclubs which were very much younger then us and one of us was 35. :)

Day 7

Today we trekked up to Mount Pilatus by train and tram. Once up. Myself and one of the Aussies climbed up the rest of the way to the top. No one else from the group attempted this for some reason. It was cool up there and there was not much air. I am not sure how much further I would have been able to go. It was very steep and the air was very dense at that altitude. We were the only two to head up to the top. The view was amazing. There were 6 fighter planes flying in formation.

This afternoon we walked around the city for a bit and had a nice lunch at a riverside café. I had a wonderful mozzarella and tomato with basil and balsamic vinegar. I love the authentic Italian balsamic vinegar.

We had a nice dinner overlooking Lake Lucerne sitting outside listening to someone singing opera on the bridge. My dinner of Monkfish was superb.

We then walked around the city for awhile.


More later...Al

Deutchland

Day 3

There was a young guy and a young girl from Australia that joined the tour today. So, we started hanging out together along with the younger guy from Philly.

We left London today and went on the Eurostar through the tunnel, through Paris, and onto Brussels.

I am using a German KB which is weird!! The Y and Z are swapped, among other things...

We stopped in Brussels and saw the Grand Palace which had tremendous architechture. It was truly amazing.

We sat in a cafe listening to some music and soaking up the sun. It is unseasonably warm.

We also saw a statue called the Manneken Pis which is a famous statue of a boy peeing in a fountain.

We had our welcome dinner tonight and got to know some more people.
After dinner we waked around the city and stopped at a cafe for some good converesation. I am learning a lot about Australia.

Day 4

We started out on the road at 7:15, not my favorite hour. I woke up at 4:30AM. My sleep is very screwed up, just like home. ;)

We drove from Brussels to Amsterdam. We went on a beautiful canal ride through Amsterdam. About 6 of us stayed outside on the back of the boat and enjoyed all the sights. I met a nice guy on my tour who lives in Monterey and is a chef at one of the courses associated with Pebble Beach. He invited me to come play golf next time I am in CA, for free!! Pebble Beach Baby!!! I have not been to CA. in about 5 years and I love CA.

We went to a Diamond Center. I am not going into it, it was not my thing and I was kind of forced to stay.

Myself and the Aussies went to Anne Frank's House. I had chills when I first went in and even welled up at times. It was very sad and very moving. It was a truly amazing place, the history of the house, Anne Frank, the hiding place, the diary, and the capture, were all an experience I will never forget.

After dinner a few of us went to the red light district. It was a bit strange and only a few attractive women. We even saw a few people leaving after receiving some services. :) We then went to a coffee shop very briefly which had marijuana and hash on the menu, very strange.

Day 5

We left Amsterdam and headed over a Dutch region known as A Bridge Too Far. We then went to Cologne and saw a beautiful Gothic Cathedral. It was enormous! It was very beautiful and huge.

We then went on boat ride along the Rhine river from Heidelberg to Rhineland. It was beautiful with some very huge castles.

We are now in Rhineland, just had dinner and going to relax before heading to bed.

I have a German KB and can only spell check in German, so I am sorry for any typoes. :)


Have a great 24...Al

London Town

Hi everyone, I am alive and well and in London. I am trying to deal with this UK kb. I know I am supposed to ask for a US one, but they do not have one at the hotel. Oh well, I will spell-check. :)

I left Orlando, delayed about an hour due to a very bad storm. I slept about five hours on the plane which I was happy about. It started out rough until the TV and video games came on, then the little UK tourists got quiet.

I arrived in London at 8AM. It took almost three hours between customs, getting my bags, and travelling to the hotel from Gatwick.

I checked in and took off running. My first stop was to the ATM to convert to pounds. I then was starving since I did not eat dinner on the plane and did not have breakfast. I found a little Italian place called Cafe Uno which had some of the best flatbread pizza I ever had. I could not believe it.

I then started my tour of the city on one of the open air double decker buses. I sat on the top to take pictures and work on my tan. :)

I went to the National Gallery which was very good. I was very Christianed themed with many interesting pieces. Raphael was one of the famed artists I remember. I then stopped at the Covent Gardens which was a very active, fun place. It was a very pretty area near one of the theatre districts. I walked around Trafalgar Square which was another people watching place with some interesting statues and a very bizarre sculpture of a no armed, short legged pregnant woman. Or at least that is what it appeared to be. :) I stopped at Westminster Abbey which was phenomenal. It was so beautiful. The architecture was amazing! In addition to all of that I toured most of London and Westminster and learned a lot about the history of London.

I had a great dinner at a restaurant called Cafe Fish. They started me off with a salmon pate that was unbelievable! I had a very good Monkfish dinner. I would recommend this restaurant. I then went to the theatre and saw a play called Fool for Love with Juliette Lewis (Cape Fear). The acting was excellent and the play was good. I then went to try and sleep but could not fall asleep until after midnight.

Day 2

I started my actual tour today. The day began with a good English breakfast sans the bangers. My group is made up of mainly older people, 8 older people from Reading PA, one young guy from Philly who does not seem to happy with me because I am a Yankee fan, 3 people from Japan, a few from Canada, and three black women around my age from Atlanta. I am sure I will get to know many more as we go.

We did a similar tour today that I did yesterday, but a bit more informative. We went to St. Paul's Cathedral which was beautiful. It is over 1400 years old. The architecture was unbelievable. The mural on the ceiling was amazing in black, white, and grey. There were many people buried in the crypts in the basement, including the Duke of Windsor. It seems many famous people are buried in churches here. There was an American chapel in memorial of the American soldiers who died in WW II defending England.

We stopped at Buckingham palace to see the procession of the horses. There was no changing of the guard today, only on even days in September. There was a beautiful 9-11 memorial in a park near the US embassy.

In the afternoon I went to the Royal Mews which was very interesting. There were only a few of the 28 royal horses there. The carriages were unbelievable. It is funny but he one that carries the crown is bullet proof. However, the one that carries the Queen is not. Hmmm, I guess the crown cannot be replaced, but...

I then went on a tour of Buckingham Palace which was nice. We went through the 14 state rooms that were open. It was unbelievably ornate. The art, gold frames, chandeliers, etc. It was quite impressive. They had a room full of 80 of the Queen's gowns. Some were really beautiful. I think the women enjoyed this much more so than the men. I feel that I am at Disney here with all the places ending into a gift shop. :)

I went to dinner at a recommended restaurant called Maggie Jones. It was exceptional. I had a crab, salmon and greens appetizer that was unbelievable. I then had medallions of venison that was incredibly good. The person I went with had steak with a mango sauce that was amazing. If I had to go back, that is what I would order. I highly recommend this place. It was SERIOUS!!

I spent most of the evening going over the rest of my trip with a nice person I met who gave me some suggestions on the rest of my trip.

Well, here I am now updating my blog. This is work! LOL I hope everyone enjoys it. I am really having a lot of fun and will post again soon.

Have a great 24...Al

Ciao

After packing and repacking three times I am finally ready to go. I have never packed shirts or a jacket before. I have always used a garment bag. This packing was very challenging. I am down to about 10 days worth of clothes after finding that my suitcase weighed 70 pounds and I needed to keep it at 50. After removing a few gold bricks, I got it to 53 pounds. I am assured this is OK. The airlines limit is 70, so it is the tour companies policy. Well, I have come to the realization I will be doing some wash and a lot of ironing. By the way, those roll up bags work great at saving space, but not at saving weight obviously. :)

Anyway, I am now relaxing before heading to the office for a little bit, then off to the airport. I will most likely post something by the end of the weekend to let everyone know I am alive, well and having a great time.

Well, I am off to London. Cheerio and have a great 24...Al

Almost ready

OK, less than 24 hours away. I cannot believe the day is almost here. I am packed except for all my shirts and sportscoat which are ready to go into the suitcase. My backpack is packed. I have almost 500 songs I really like a lot in my MP3 player, I have a few books to read. My alarm clock and watch are on London time and I am ready to go. OK, who said every post was going to be about exciting stuff. :)

I want to thank everyone for all the suggestions and recommendations. I really appreciate it. I have so much planned I just hope I get to do it all. Oh well, if not it gives me a good reason to come back.

The next time I will post I will be in London.

I am heading to bed soon so I can wake up at 4AM and hopefully sleep at least 5-6 hours on the plane.

Have a great night all...Al

OK, I am just back from a nice weekend golfing in Daytona Beach, I have 27.5 hours of work left this week and then I am off to Europe. Tomorrow I begin my no jet lag experiment. I plan on going to bed around 7PM or so and waking up no later than 3AM. I figure after a few days of this I should be almost normal. (Hey, stop laughing!) Tomorrow I plan on packing and I hope I can fit everything. Oh well, I guess there are stores in Europe. :-)

Over the next few days most of you should be or have been introduced to my blog. People keep asking what is a blog. It is just an online journal of whatever topic people want to talk about. Feel free to post some comments of your own. Any touring suggestions would be appreciated and considered if time allows.

I will be posting to this blog at least on a weekly basis. I am not bringing my laptop ( do people really bring one overseas?) so I will have to resort to hotel and internet cafes. I have too much to do than to sit around spending time online. That's what work is for. Only kidding, my boss may read this! :-)

I will probably update this once more before I leave, then who knows, but I am sure I will try and post something before then end of the weekend.

Have a great 24...Al