Last leg of the trip

We left the island of Corsica on the 27th via ferry and arrived back in northern Italy the morning of the 28th. The ferry ride is 10 hours long so we opted to get a cabin on the ferry and sleep the night there, saving both the cost of another hotel in the extremely expensive Bonifacio, France area and we could sleep rather than wasting daylight hours on the ferry ride. We spent the following few days in Vinadio, Italy staying at my sister's friend's (Stacey and Loris) cabin. The house was amazing...custom-built of stone with beautiful woodwork everywhere and a view of the valley and river.

Stacey and Loris' parents were amazing, they took us hiking two different days and each night made us amazing dinners. One night they made hand-made potato and pork raviolis, fried porchini mushrooms, salad, bread, amazing wine and cheese from their own cellar--which, by the way, is built into the walls of a historic fortress. The second night they made pesto spaghetti, roast beef, salad and more wine. The third night they prepared polenta with sausage, a salad and some wonderful gelato.

Fortess walls of Vinadio, Italy:


View from the cabin:


The group:




Yesterday we spent most of the day traveling. We drove our Fiat rental car from Vinadio, Italy into the nutty traffic of Milan. From Milan we took three different trains to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. The last train was a cog train to get up the steep mountain. We spend the next two nights in Lauterbrunnen. Tomorrow we are taking the cog train to the Jungfrau "Top of Europe," a cogtrain station at over 11,000 feet in elevation.

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland:




After tomorrow we take a gondola and a cog train to spend the following three nights in Murren, Switzerland. One more week to go, then back to reality.

France

Paradise found. This trip keeps getting better and better. I'll post a few pics for now and follow up with the stories later.

View from our room in Porto:

View from our room in Bonifacio.

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.