March, 2015

Having recovered from our PTFD (Post traumatic flight syndrome), we are back in the saddle. With the East coast weather being what it was, we missed every flight and connection we had, and got re-routed through London instead of a direct flight, for a total of over 30 hours travel time to get from NY to Paris.

The house was in good kit, and after replacing a few burned out light bulbs, it was none the worse for wear. I even joined a 12 step program for workaholics and vowed to do no thing here but eat, drink and be merry. Well, after 12 days I fell off the wagon and begged Janice to let me [ Or... wait! Was it the other way around?] forge (hand forge, not copy) a candelabra at my curmudgeon blacksmith buddy's shop below. "Idle hands do the work of the devil", she warned me.

We barely had time to get over the jet lag, see a few friends and it was time for our little yearly road trip. As of this writing, we are half way through our nearly 5 week adventure. Our first stop was the port of Honfleur where we spent the night.

 Port of Honfleur

Next was Vimy France, where my grandfather fought in the trenches during WWI. Years ago, we had visited the site with our daughter Cassie on the actual day of his funeral that was being held in Canada. 

The trenches, minus the mud, blood and guts.

Bomb and shell craters. Now grassed over with pretty trees

They had closed the museum for the work that was being done but when the curator heard that my grandfather had fought there and he was being buried at that very moment, he opened the place up for just the 3 of us. Janice and I wanted to return to see the big remodel of the memorial site that had been underway at that time. 

Taking artillery shells to the front

My grandfathers job was to take the mules loaded with artillery shells to the front and bring the bodies -or parts thereof- back to the rear.  He once told me that up to 3000 shells were being lobed per hour. It was like Dante's inferno.

We learn something new every time we have come. At the time my then 16 year old grandfather illegally volunteered for what he thought would be a big adventure, The Canadian expeditionary force as it was called, had 3000 soldiers in training, no uniforms, 2 canvas fabric airplanes and 625 horses to their name. In the nearby battle of the Somme, the dominion of Newfoundland ( it was not yet a province) lost it's entire Battalion - nearly 800 men- in the first 30 minutes of battle.

The fact that Vimy was conveniently on the way to the main event of our trip was a bonus. The main event, of course, was the wedding of daughter # 3, Mandy, to her guy Markus. They have been together for 11 years, nearly longer that her mother and I have been married (!)

They chose to tie the knot in two steps as is common in Germany, as the state does not recognize a religious union. First was the civil ceremony with a few friends and family which we attended, to be followed by a proper church wedding in the months to come, when more family can attend. This will require a return trip for us which is in the interest of trying to help us rack up more frequent flyer miles, I guess. We wish Mr. and Mrs. Siebenharr all the best. 

OK, that makes three down and two to go... 

On our way to the reception, I followed a guest’s car that knew the way as it was held out of town. Doing so, we were on the German autobahn that has no speed limit. Soon, we were going 100 mph (160 K) and I suddenly realized that I was driving faster than I fly. Go figure.

The view from our room in Portofino. Enough said.

Next was crossing the continent through the whole of eastern France, skirting Switzerland to avoid the snow, down to Portofino Italy on our way to Lake Bolsena for a week where we had a home exchange. 

The 100 yard rule

OK, this is how it works. We are in a part of Italy where little English is spoken.  It also happens to be in an area where our GPS does not recognize almost any obtuse, obscure location we are looking for. In these areas, our GPS couldn’t find its own rear end with both hands. Ditto for Google maps. It’s as though there is no there, there. (!)  Our GPS can takes us to any one of thousands of locations but "the road near Guseppi's barn" is not one of them.

So, we are left with the old school method, by asking for directions from folks who do not speak English to folks who do not speak Italian. How are we doing so far? Our solution is to revert to the tried and tested 100 yard rule.

It’s simple really. You ask someone where a location is and add an “A” or an “O” to any word.  (My version of Italian). Like “Excuso, directionarea to Luigi home-s-co?” or whatever. Then, watch their hands. It is pointless to listen to what they say since you won’t understand a word anyway. But their hands show you to go straight, turn left and then right. Anything they say or do after that is to be disregarded as it will only confuse you and you won’t remember it anyway. 

First, do what they said, then pull over and ask someone else again. By then you will have covered at least 100 yards (hence, the rule) confirmed that what you did was correct and be that much closer to your destination. Lather, rinse, repeat. It has never failed to get us to what we were looking for. Any country that has Russian Vodka can’t be all bad. Except Russia.

How to access a Roman theater that is closed to the public and as the sign clearly says "entry is forbidden"

Having said that, we found ourselves looking for old favorites that we had explored in years past, including some Etruscan tombs (200 BC) and a Roman theater that we had also discovered. Neither was on any map, Google or tourist brochure. To say that both were out of beyond would be an understatement.

Finding them required many segments of the 100 yard rule, speaking to farmers, shop owners and local police. But, we found them again. The tombs are accessible by a path fit only for a mountain goat and those willing to claw their way through brush and bushes. In other words, us. Arriving, I went straight into my inner Indiana Jones, flashlight in hand.  Should you want to visit, they can be found at grid coordinates N 42.33715, E 011.95127 near the town of Cinelli.

This cliff side carving was continuous for  500 yards  ( 500 M)

You go first, she said.

Sarcophagus, inside caves.

The Roman theater is in a fenced in area that is closed to the public, but we regarded that as a suggestion, not a hard and fast rule. It is jaw dropping to be walking around inside of it, with not a soul in sight the entire time. The place was ours alone. Living in the subzero of the north east of America for weeks on end may build character, but being the guy with a natural tan here on Lake Bolsena in February and March is a lot better.

We managed to find two new World Heritage sites to visit here also. The first was the Basilica of San Salvatore in Spoleto [815 AD], the 126^th WHS we have seen. The second was the hilltop town of Assisi, of ‘St. Francis’ fame. (WHS # 127)  Be you a believer or a common run of the mill heathen, these world heritage sites are the rock stars of the most significant art, history and places to visit, anywhere. Period.

Finally, today we left from Livorno and took the ferry to the Island of Corsica for a week of exploration. I will surely have more blah, blah, blah about that next month. Heck, some of it may even be true!

Our digs outside of Bastia, Corsica.

Road trip 2015 ( first half to date)

My bucket list addition

I ran across this little gem last month and it instantly went near the top of my bucket list. They call it extreme hot-tubbing and I am guessing it's extreme because of the size of the tub. 

The fact that it is located 450 feet above the gorge offers a nice view to add to the fun of a great rappel down to it. I have been scouring the areas of Switzerland where it is said to happen but Janice keeps wanting to visit other places. If I find it, I'm in! Except for flying, can you possibly think of anything more fun? 

Speaking of flying, did I mention there are only 76 more days till I am dancing with the angels, again?

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