Today in Verona

 Verona

Woke up this morning, enjoyed breakfast, packed up and moved into the ancient center of Verona.  Had a little trouble finding our hotel even though the address was only 100 meters off the main square.  The GPS said we were there but we couldn’t find it.  Finally asked a shop keeper and she pointed to the green door next door.  There it was, the Al Filarmonico written on a 4” by 7” brass plate at the bottom of the door.  We rode a rickety elevator built for two, dumped our stuff and joined a city “jump on, jump off” bus tour.

One of the first stops was Juliet’s balcony.  Didn’t see any Capulets or Montagues but it is possible they blended into the 100’s that were there to see Juliet’s statue.  People lined up to get their picture taken cupping Juliet’s bronzed breast.  It is supposed to bring good luck but we didn’t stand in line to test the theory.  We did learn that Shakespeare didn’t invent the love story.  Some guy named Luigi Deporto wrote the “true” story hundreds of years before and Shakespeare adapted the novel into a play, using all the original character names and geographic references.  The Capulets actually owned the house with the balcony back in the day.

We were treated to many sights of ancient Roman ruins and art but the most memorable item for us will be the Arena.  Built 2000 years ago as a purpose built 30,000-seat entertainment center.  They have cleaned up the wild animal scat and most of the Christian blood, and the gladiators finally ran out of bears, wolves and lions to kill.  The gladiators were eventually replaced with altos and tenors.  The Arena is now the largest outdoor opera house in the world.  It is amazing that a building over 2000 years old, remains essentially unchanged, and is still operating with the same intended purpose.  Not sure BC Place will still be operating in 3986.

There werent any real lives to give the thumb up or down to but couldn't resist.

The night’s highlight was dinner.  Deborah chose a restaurant based on the Trip Advisor’s highest ranking.  It was further out than others off the main square.  A small place in a narrow alley.  It looked very promising.  We enjoy trying to pick items from a foreign menu so we were initially disappointed when we found an English menu translation and then quickly happy again as we found out that the elegantly named main meat dishes were… horse.  You could order horse tartar, horse frays, horse meat sauce, or horse steak.  If horse wasn’t exactly what you hankered for, you could have donkey.  Needless to say, I ordered chicken and the Osteria del Duca will not get my number one recommendation. 

Feeling a bit bad not biking anywhere especially when we saw all the regular folk biking around the city.

Check Out Those Heels!

Headed to the train station tomorrow to travel to Venice.

Arrived in Italy

Arrived in Italy

Well, we made it.  We arrived in Verona, the city made famous by Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.  Haven’t been down town yet to see if there are any Capulet Family gang members hanging around the street corners but we might see some tomorrow when we start exploring.

Great trip over but not without a few challenges. 

The drive down was fine but when we arrived at the Airport Marriott, they refused to honour our reservation for Park and Fly.  Long story short, we like to fly out of Seattle.  It is relatively convenient, always cheaper, and usually cheaper to park the car.  Thanks to Jinder and Kal, we usually use the Springhill Suites Marriott in Renton, we have always parked for free (regardless of the length) and received free shuttle service to the airport coming and going, all for the price of a single night’s stay (about $100).  We usually chose to stay on the night of our return.  This time around the Springhill was full on our return date of Oct. 3.  The manager booked us into a sister hotel at the airport at double the usual price and assured us the same rules applied.  When we got to the airport Sunday, the Marriott manager said “no”, despite the reservation.  No sweet-talking changed his mind and there may have been an F-Bomb fly from someone as we melted down.  No place to park or stay and we were leaving in two hours.  Desperate, we drove back to the Springhill; they created a vacancy, registered us for the free 25 days parking, and dropped us off at the airport with time to spare.  Challenge resolved.

Just as we began to relax over a drink at the airport we looked outside and saw our BA 747 being prepared.  We were taking pictures of the plane through the window and noticed a worker scramble up to the starboard engine and begin applying strips of duct tape to the undercarriage of the wing, where the engine joined.  As our level of concern began to rise, another curious onlooker remarked in his British accent, “Four strips of tape ought to do it, those Rolls Royce engines aren’t that heavy.”  Trusting souls that we are, we boarded without question.  Since we made it safely we can only conclude that duct tape really can be used for anything.

And then we noticed the tape job in progress!

The polar ride itself was great.  We purposely got up early so we would be tired on the 7 pm flight.  Neither of us made it through the first movie.  We both slept until breakfast was served an hour before the end of the 9 hour flight.  The magic of modern chemistry living is marvelous.  After seven hours of sleep we were very refreshed and ready to start the adventure in earnest. 

Note to self… Seattle flights are cheaper but one must read the fine print and ask the right questions.  We knew our BA flight from Seattle to London Heathrow meant transiting from Heathrow to Gatwick for the two-hour leg to Verona.  What we didn’t expect was that we had to clear Customs and Immigration, retrieve our luggage, find our own way from Heathrow to Gatwick, and pay for it on our own, all in a three hour window.  Daunting at first but we were in Gatwick sipping Americano Espresso’s an hour before our flight.

In closing, here it is at 9 pm, safely in Verona, we have unpacked (literally), and are heading to the hotel bar to toast a glass of wine to our safe arrival.

Ciao Baby...

Getting Started

Welcome to our first time Blog.  

It is time for another trip.  We decided to record our thoughts and comments along the way, in a different way.  Gone are the 3 by 5 inch spiral notebooks (we still have our 1981 book from our first trip to Europe together) and thanks to Glen, (Captain Ron of the Caribbean and teacher extraordinaire) we now have a digital way to record whatever we want.  We are our own intended audience but a few friends and family will be invited to follow along if they so desire.  We don't know if we will always have Internet connections or the time to enter stuff but we will try our best.


On this trip we are off with a group of friends to cycle, trek, and see the sights of Italy.  Our friends Nola and Glen hatched the idea.  Nola hiked in Tuscany last year and wanted new partner Glen to experience Italy.  Avid cyclists, they also knew someone who had done some biking in Italy and soon the idea of an active/adventure holiday was born.  While we are not in the same category of “fitness” as Nola and Glen (and most of their friends), we both had this type of adventure on our “bucket lists”.  It sounded like fun and we committed. 

Before long so did eight others and our party of 12 was complete.  Sam and Cheryl (experienced international trekkers and organizers - Thank you Sam!), Phil (super cyclist & friends) and Linda, Warren and Dianne (Nola's brother and sister-in-law), and long-time friends of Nola's, Marci and Keith.   The trip turned into a week of cycling near the Adriatic Coast followed by a week of trekking (with full packs) through Tuscany.  Before you start thinking we are an overly hearty bunch please be aware we will be pampered in hotels and B&B's along the way.  Deb and I will go early and spend nearly a week in Verona and Venice.  We will also extend our stay with a final five days in Rome after the others have made their way home.

We have been preparing for this trip for months.  The prep work has been extensive.  We have discovered that cycling isn’t just cardio for the endurance and leg strength for the hills (I’m told Italy is all hills in that region) but it is the oh so necessary butt time in the saddle that is most important.  We have learned to “enjoy” long rides and endure the “end” results.  Rides from home to Chilliwack and Fort Langley for lunch have been good as well as a Victoria to Sooke seaside lunch.  Each ride from home results in one of the four mountain hill routes to get home so we hope we are prepared.

The most serious prep has been the potluck dinner planning meetings.  Each couple took their turn (but I think we missed ours) and the dinners were dominated with wine drinking and discussions about how many pairs of underwear a 25-day trip requires.  Such discussions are very necessary knowing everything you take has to be carried on your back.  After a few test walks I have determined that about 10 kilos is my max.  Two pair of underwear ought to do.  Deborah is now bringing hand-laundry soap.

Our packs are packed, the cat is off to Grammas’ house, and there are two more sleeps before we are off to Seattle (the 9^th) for our British Airways flight.  Seattle, London, and then to Verona.  At this point it is two days in Verona, two days in Venice and then an unplanned day before travelling to the Belvedere Bike Hotel in Ricionne for the start of the biking.

Back home on October 4... We will try to stay in touch…

Packs Were Purchased and Prepped

Deborah is packing light to make room for shopping in Rome (after the trekking is done)

Planning Meeting With Our New Travelling Companions

Marcie, Nola, Glen, Warren, Philip, Linda, Cheryl, Sam, Keith.
Dianne is in the kitchen, Deborah is taking the picture, and George was asked to get his head out of the picture by Deborah.