I can definitely say my life is richer because of the profitable programming featured on HGTV. Shows like “Love it or List It”, “Divine Design” and “Curb Appeal” have helped me draw up plans to transform our living spaces into … Continue reading
It’s been a mad dash to the finish line—Lufthansa flight #8831 — for me. Memories of our weekend trip to Italy are nothing more than broken seashells at the bottom of my new suede purse. On Sunday evening, Tim and … Continue reading
This is by far, my favorite day of the trip. The beach was wonderful, Venice offered some great views but day 3 was spent entirely devoted to reading a book. Not many pics to post from this day but imagine … Continue reading
The Grand Canal of Venice
Lilly poses in front of an imposing shell sculpture on San Giorgio island
We woke to the most beautiful Italian fall sky and knew it was going to be a great day to visit Venice. We’ve toured Venice on several trips before but this time we were looking to do something a bit different, off the beaten “tourist” path. It’s a bit of a slog to drive from Aviano to Venice, primarily because the most direct route takes you through little towns and hundreds of round-abouts. I’m a fan of the round-about but when you have 3 in a row all within 1/2 mile, it just gets to be annoying. We made it to the parking garage around noon; we selected the Tronchetto lot after trying to get into San Marco and discovering that it had a long waiting line to get in. Not a problem because the walk from Tronchetto includes a chance to admire the cruise ships docked for the day. This afternoon there were four massive ships including one from Princess Lines complete with a jumbotron screen on the top deck showing a movie. I guess some passengers just don’t care for Venice all that much. Once we got closer to the city we decided to veer right–to the art museum–instead of going left, which would put us on a beeline for St Mark’s Square. This was a wise choice because our walk to the Guggenheim Gallery was practically people-free. Every square we came to had about 10 tourists standing in the middle, looking at maps, wondering where to go. It was great fun exploring this side of the city where the alleyways were dark and mysterious and I had plenty of time to casually stroll and peek into the storefront windows. A lot of art was for sale as well as leather gloves in an assortment of rich colors and decorative fur trim. Missing from this walk: the tidal wave of tacky souvenirs and street performers that seem to concentrate near Rialto Bridge and Mt Mark’s Square.
Taking a break, Italian style
Bridge of Sighs, Venice
Alexander Calder is known for his large sculpture and hanging mobiles. This one is displayed right on the Grand Canal, Venice
Pablo Picasso–Bathers with a Toy Boat
Marc Chagall–Rain
Jackson Pollock–Alchemy 13
Tim and Lilly elected not to go into the museum so when I exited they were eager to continue on our Venice tour. We made our way over the bridges to St Mark’s Square and from there took a vaporetto to San Giorgio island, one of the tiny islands that make up Venice proper. We toured the church there and I took the elevator up the bell tower to get a great view of Venice below. This is the only way I know of–except the new helicopter tours–to gain a better understanding of how all the canals work to move goods and people through the city. We took a stroll along the docks and watched an MSC cruise ship slowly and patiently pull out for their next port of call. Near the church, we enjoyed a cappuccino and glass of wine and just soaked up the sun and Venetian atmosphere.
Reminds us of Southern California, but with better coffee
Which way do we go? Simply look up on the sides of the buildings to figure out which way to walk
The imposing Campanile on St Mark’s Square
I love the twirly, twisty, whimsical tops of St Mark’s Cathedral
To close out the day, we had dinner at a Trattoria recommended in the Rick Steves’ book. Our prior experience with these restaurant recommendations hasn’t been stellar, but because it was such a tourist-light day in Venice, we thought it might be easy to score a table. We showed up right when the restaurant opened for dinner and after 20 college kids were seated at a long banquet table, we were ushered to a quiet table in the garden. It was one of the best Italian meals I’ve enjoyed and I have to say it was primarily because of the setting. Little white lights twinkled above us and the scent of lilies blanketed the moist air…the table wine was good and my lasagne bolognese was divine. Of course,we wanted the experience to last a bit longer so we ordered dessert (profiteroles and tiramisu) and cappuccinos. What a way to close out a perfect Venice day.
Italians just know how to set the stage for something grand
Venice at night…boats tucked into their watery beds until morning
The fabulous view of Dolomite Mtns from our hotel room in Aviano
We had a fabulous summer in Bavaria. Unlike last year when the cold grey skies kept temps in the low 60s for most of the summer, we have enjoyed a season featuring bright blue skies and strong rays that kept us going back for a dip in the Parsberg pool. But, oh how quickly we forget the good times had. For most of September it’s been consistently cloudy and seems as if fall is here to stay. So, on a recent long weekend, we packed up and headed south to our favorite sun destination: Italy and this time around, we selected the coast of the Adriatic Sea for some relaxation. We took off from Lupburg around 1:30pm, long enough to give the kids a “full day” of school but allowing us to drive the entire distance in daylight. We arrived in Vicenza just 7 hours later and made a beeline for our favorite Italian restaurant: Al Portego. Of course, I ordered the pear faggotini..mmm, those little pasta purses stuffed with sweat pear and prosciutto that make my mouth water. Tim had a most excellent carbonara pizza, featuring a fried egg right on top. And Lilly couldn’t quite get the German out of her…she ordered the wiener schnitzel with fries and was quite satisfied. We always use booking.com to find cheap but decent hotels on our weekend trips and this time we stayed at the modest Hotel Europa in Vicenza; not much to look at but the price was a bargain–73 euro with breakfast included.
Definitely love this bag–but it’s not on sale, yet.
After a filling breakfast the following morning I couldn’t resist being so close to Nove and Dueville and not stopping in at VBC Ceramica in Nove and Nicoli Italia. At both shops I was able to find a few irresistable items–additional seafood platters and a Vietri pitcher at VBC and 4 purses at rock-bottom prices at Nicoli. I have to say, if you’re interested in leather purses, check out Nicoli on Facebook or sign up for their e-newsletter. I stopped specifically because they advertised an end-of-season sale but we came on day 4 of the sale and many of their items were gone. I found great deals but I can only imagine what they had available on the first day of the sale.
Plenty of sapce for friends to Join us for a drink under the umbrella
Lilly loved collecting the small spiral shells that she named “unicorn horns”
there’s something about kites that just makes me smile
We finished up shopping around 11am and made our way to Jesolo Beach, just north of Venice on the Adriatic Sea. The day couldn’t have been better: soft wispy clouds gently sailed across the sky. The sun was warm and the water temp cool. Lilly was the smart one and simply donned her suit first thing in the morning; Tim and I took turns changing into our suits quickly in the car and then packed up towels and books for the beach. I can’t quite describe how good it feels to show up at the beach and not have to fight for parking or a place to sit on the sand; the beach was practically deserted so we have our choice of locations. We spread out our towels near the water’s edge and spent the next several hours lazily gazing at the sky, watching random kites sail overhead and collecting seashells. We did have to endure the various independent salesmen hawking their wares on the beach: sunglasses, scarves and personal umbrellas were popular items being offered but I was intrigued by the lady yelling: “Massage-ee, Massage-ee”. She was able to service the woman in front of me but 30 minutes of a sand massage and oil doesn’t look as good as it sounds. We wrapped up our day at the beach by driving over to Aviano Air Base and checking into our resort-like accommodations featured in their TLF (temporary lodging facility). The view of the Dolomite Mountains from our hotel room was stunning and watching the F-16s fly overhead was just the icing on the cake. We enjoyed a simple dinner from the grocery store and tucked into bed nice and early.
Look out Edelweiss Lodge and Resort–Aviano just might have you beat for spectacular views
Bright blue skies greeted us in Passau
Living in an empty home for the past 3 weeks has made us desperate for getting out—simply anywhere, we haven’t been terribly choosy. This past week, we drove out to Passau for the afternoon. We had briefly entertained visiting Passau last summer when we were in the beginning planning stages of a Danube River bike ride from Passau (a common starting point for bikers) to Vienna. Since we never got past the internet research stage, Passau disappeared along with the vacation plans. That is, until the monumental floods that Germany experienced this past spring featured Passau prominently as it became completely submerged and traffic was diverted away from the town as crews worked to repair bridges and roadways.
passau flood
The buildings in Passau often include these plaques marking high water for different floods
Located on the banks of the Danube River, this jewel of a town is one of the stopping points for the riverboats that ferry passengers up and down Germany’s famous river. The town is actually at the meeting point of three rivers: the Danube, Inn and Ilz rivers, which probably makes this a prime place for flooding. As we walked the streets, we noticed high water marks from past floods. For residents, the flood of 1954 was the last major one recorded; this past spring, the waters managed to climb above that water mark making it the most severe flood since 1501, more than 500 years ago. Repairs are still being made and most of the city’s parking garages were still boarded up. Ground floor apartments and shops had powerful floor fans working to dry the walls and many crews were sawing, hammering and painting damaged walls.
The big draw of Passau, besides the awesome shopping found on the main market street, is St Stephen’s Cathedral and its massive organ, which is the largest church pipe organ outside the US. It used to be the largest in the world, but knowing excess in America, the First Congregational Church in Los Angeles happens to beat the 17,774 pipes ad 233 registers found here. And, wouldn’t you know it? There was a 30 minute organ concert scheduled for noon at the church. We paid 4 euro for a grand tour of the cathedral and then sat mesmerized as we listened to the organ. The concert started out with Bach (the master of organ music) and featured other selections from different musical periods. It concluded with one of the loudest sounds I’ve ever heard from an organ. So loud, that I could feel the vibrations in the marble floor tiles of the church. Now, that’s a concert that gets deep into your bones.
The fabulously decadent organ of St Stephen’s Cathedral. Immensely baroque
The ornate ceiling of St Stephen’s
The gold-leaf pulpit with lots of saints and cherubs to cheer you up
Saint perched precariously on the edge of the pulpit
We concluded our mini tour of Passau by walking slowly along the Danube River and looking across to Austria. Tim and I love to imagine what life was like for residents 400 years ago. There is something very alluring about living on a river and watching boats carry people and goods to far away places.
View of Austrian castle complex from Passau
Bustling market street in Passau..great, high end stores
the new town hall of Passau
A Moveable Feast 