Tuscany

Day 6...on our last day here in Siena, Italy. Rome was thoroughly exciting, we walked an average of 8+ miles per day taking in the sites and it seems every corner we turned an exciting piece of history presented itself to us. Apparently Italy contains 60% of the world's historic artifacts and of those 40% are in Rome. Each day we would head out to see three or four specific sites and would pass a dozen others in the process. Siena is less touristy than Rome and way more relaxed. We've been walking around town for three days now enjoying the historic sites like the Piazza del Campo where they hold the famous il Palio horse races, and of course enjoying some really amazing food...pizza, focaccia, pasta, ravioli, canoloni, etc. You all know, I am all about the food.

Yesterday we took a wine tour with a native to the area--went to a region of Tuscany between Florence and Siena in the Chianti Classico region (pink and black rooster on the label if you are familiar with it). We toured some castles, drove to Mona Lisa's garden, had an amazing lunch looking over the Tuscan countryside, and sampled wine, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The balsamic surprised me the most, it was like nothing I have ever tasted.


Oh, our room with french doors, a balcony and a view doesn't suck either (as Bill would say).


Off to Florence tomorrow. Oh, and Happy 1 year anniversary to this blog...my little fall off the cliff was exactly one year ago on June 19...so happy I am up and running around after that fiasco. :)

Rome, Day 2

This will be short and sweet...we saw a lot today. Started with a tour of the Colisseum and the Palentine, saw the Palazzo dei Conservatori, the Ghetto District (thankfully not the ghetto like we use the word) and the Tiber River, Monumento a Vittorio Emanuele II and the Trevi Fountain.

Tomorrow will mostly be spent at the Vatican and Sistine Chapel. We are all having an amazing time--this place is incredible.

Rome

We're here! The flights were long and cramped, thank goodness for iPods and in-seat movies. Yesterday was super long for us, having woken up at 4:30am, arriving in Philadelphia at 4:30pm California time and in Rome nine hours later. We fought jetlag and stayed up last night so we were on approximately 20 hours with no sleep. Yesterday we saw Piaza Navona, the Pantheon and the Spanish Steps, and about a dozen other landmarks on our way to those--which I will have to identify and learn the significance of later. The weather is excellent, maybe a degree or two warmer than perfect, our hotel in Rome is simply awesome, right across the street from a pizzaria, a bakery and restorante. It's 7:30am now and our host at the hotel, Marianna made us a wonderful breakfast with pastries, yogurts, fresh fruit and expresso. We're within walking distance to all the major landmarks. Will post more later as we get time, headed to the Colosseum now. Ciao!

Things I like

• Chicken Strips and beer tonight at our local favorite dive with amazing friends--congrats to Sara on the new permanent job and a Happy Going-Away!
• A going away party for us on Thursday
• Making a good dent in my laundry list of things to do before I leave
• Receiving the much-dreaded "Supplemental Property Tax" bill only to find they are giving me a refund
• Finding out they lowered my property taxes, which lowered my monthly payment
• Discovering that Placer County has both the lowest property taxes, the lowest sales taxes (8.25% versus 8.75% in Sac & Yolo Counties, and 10.75% in some Los Angeles County cities) AND the second lowest energy utility rates in the State. All the more reasons to love my new town.
• Getting approval from Roseville City planning dept to reduce my fence set-back from 10-feet to 5-feet, which adds enough land to build raised garden beds in my backyard.
• The Euro is at a 4-year low, saving us 30% across the board on our trip. (Reduces the cost from 'ridiculous' to 'ridiculous minus 30%')
• My new "chainsaw on a stick," because seriously, is there anything more fun for a guy than a chainsaw on the end of a 15' pole?

And these three backyards go on my vision board:
I like moving water (as evidence by my career choice), so a fountain would add some interest to my dry creekbed area of the backyard. I will find a tall ceramic outdoor planter and install my own pump and lighting--a perfect recipe for a backyard disaster.


Raised garden beds



And minus the pool, a new set-back fence, yard lighting (circuits I will of course build with LED) and my existing Arizona sandstone pavers as you see here.



Don't hold your breath, there's a reason it's called a "vision board" and not a "completed projects board." And no, my backyard will never look that amazing, but you can bet it will be lit like crazy.

Memorial Day weekend

I have managed to live and work in northern California and somehow never visit the Shasta-Trinity Wilderness area, so Memorial Day weekend seemed like a good time to give it a try. We were surprised by the complete lack of people and once we ventured off pavement we had a wide selection of beautiful primitive camp areas along a creek to choose from.

I'm tired and in need of sleep, so here are some photos for now.

Train pulling wind turbine blades:


Anyone want tobacco by the pound? Yuba City is your place.


Yuba City in general gave me a few chuckles:


Whiskeytown Lake


I caught this image of an eagle trying to pluck fish out of the Trinity River


Not a bad find for Memorial Day weekend, next to a beautiful creek with swimhole (albeit a cold one), NO people, and you can't beat the price (free):


Creek flowing through camp:




Next time the kayaks are coming too.

Gearing up

I have said this year-in and year-out, that if I ever won the lottery my first stop would be REI where I would buy a trip to [everywhere] and all the gear to support it. I still feel like a kid in a candy store everytime I walk through the door. Tonight's mission was to pick up a backpack to lug all my stuff around Europe for 22 days. I have a true backpacking pack but it's much too large and has too many straps to safely make it through the airline baggage handlers. So I got this:



So yea, it's a pack to hold your junk. But I particularly like the zip-off daypack on the front side and the shoulder straps and hip support belt all zip into an enclosed pouch so they won't be eaten by the nasty airline baggage handlers. It also opens like a school backpack so you can leave everything neatly packed and grab out what you want. Top-loading backpacks require you to unpack literally everything to find what you need--a serious downfall when you're living out of it for an extended period of time. REI had it for 30% off so it found its way home with me along with a nice inflating neck pillow for sleeping on the plane, a lightweight microfiber towel and a couple other odds and ends. Beyond Europe this will be my bag of choice for the trips to Canada as well. I know, I know...I am expressing way too much enthusiasm over a backpack.

So where is my time going? Trip planning, working out at the gym, dinner/happy hour with friends, BBQs, physical therapy, some time helping a friend on his classic Datsun 240Z, home improvement and time with a super cute, intelligent and fun tri-athlete I recently met. We're taking full advantage of the holiday weekend and doing what everyone else in California is probably also planning to do--go camping.

One final trip-related piece of excitement...look what has happened to the value of the euro compared to the dollar. This pretty much equals a "22% off sale," resulting in a savings that just about equals the cost of the plane ticket. Bonus.

pre-vacation excitement

I made a mistake. I scarfed down a grande soy mocha earlier this morning and now I am spending my lunchtime surfing of the island of Corsica via Google Streetview. This has left me excited beyond belief, like a kid in a candy store, a Ricardo with a new super smart smartphone, an Ellie with a suite of Dora whatevers or a Mike with a racing bike made out of bacon...yah, that excited.

Bonifacio, France:


Random section of road on the west coast of Corsica:


Corsica Streetview Map (click me!)
I find Streetview to be an amazing tool for trip planning. Having the ability to check out a hotel from the street reduces the possibility of an overnight stay in the foreign equivalent of the Bates Motel. At the same time I'm trying to resist the urge of looking around too much since I want to be surprised by the beauty when I'm actually there.

When I started researching rental cars I found their Citroen models have really cool panoramic roofs, which we would be able to take full advantage of on their roads.


Today is my friday and I have a weekend full of outdoor fun planned with great people, including mom of course!