Coming Home

I suppose you could say that this was the beginning.  I'm not sure when this photo was taken, but the little baby in the picture I think may have been my grandfather's cousin.  I'm a bit unclear on all of the lineage, but I know that this was the marriage that joined the Prestigiacomo and Posante families into one extended family.  Now many many years later we came to celebrate an extraordinary group of immigrants and their many many offspring.  It was a great day, perfect weather and many cousins whose names I knew but whose faces were pretty much a blur in my memory....many from 40+ years ago. 

What I learned today is what I've missed by not knowing them all of these years while I've been galavanting around making new friends, building my own "family"  and seeing the world.  My 40+ years away from here have been wonderful and wouldn't trade them for anything, but today made me wonder what I missed being away from family.

I have to admit, I could not keep these guys straight.  

What a madcap group.  Mom and Dad said "You ought to have known their parents!"  Dad always loved being with his cousins.












My dad represented the last of his generation, I believe.  At 90 he could still remember the cousins' names and tell some old jokes.  It was great to see the cousins'  admiration for him. Made me proud.



We have an opera singer in the family.  That was quite a surprise.  Now I've got to go to an opera and see if I'll like it.  I never thought I would, but hey, if you are Italian I think you have to love opera.  

Day 28 - America the Beautiful

Cowpasture River

Last week I was waxing poetic about Bella Italia.  Today I drove over 600 miles on Interstate 64 through Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky.  Bella America I say today.  Wow - our country is beautiful.  I love the east coast, I love I 64.  I drove along Cowpasture River---it wasn't L'Adige in Italy, but it was beautiful.

I and my friends live in one of the most economically rich areas in the country.  Arlington County has unemployment rate of 3.5%.  Driving across part of the country today I had to think about those who are not in the same situation.  Near Charleston, WV:  "The billboard high over I-64 outside the capital of this blue-collar state minces no words: “Obama’s NO JOBS ZONE: The President talks about creating jobs but his EPA is destroying jobs.”  Although I don't agree with the sign, I wonder how I would feel if I lived here rather than in northern Virginia.

I stopped for coffee at a McDonald's.  A young man was interviewing for a job and obviously wanted it badly.  He was not a young kid (high school) but a young MAN - 20s or so.  I heard him telling the  interviewer about what a hard worker he would be, but wondered what kind of an impression he made with the heavily tatooed arms.  Or am I a just northern Virginia snob?

In the second McDonalds (notice a pattern here?)  I picked up the local newspaper to see what made the front page.  The start of archery hunting was the main story above the fold.  I guess W.VA. is not a battleground state because there was no mention of the presidential race, no mention of syria, or Ambassador Stevens.  What would my thinking be like if this were my paper rather than the Post?

I marvelled at the names we give our cities.   Goochland County?  Don't get me wrong, I bet it is a great place to live, but who came up with this name?

I'm looking forward to the trip back home because the trees will definitely be turning golden yellow, red and orange all along I64.  West Virginia is beautiful, the mountains are great and I64 is a terrific road.

Day 27 - Don't worry about having time on your hands

It is day 27 and those of you contemplating retirement---I need to reiterate that you should NOT be worried about not having enough to do.  I've not even had a chance to pursue the classes I want to take, volunteer activities, etc....and I am feeling overwhelmed.  So those who know me will recognize that this is an eternal state of affairs with me, but where does the time go?  Of course, I've been spending lots of time with my photos of Italy...researching photo book publishers, trying out Animoto for video production, making hard copies and framing for friends.  I guess that is how I've wasted this first week of freedom.  

Now I am leaving on an 11 hour drive to Indiana with my flea-ridden dogs (HOPEFULLY the fleas are gone).  I'll post from there.  But before I leave this morning, I wanted to highlight an article from the Washington Post that I think makes a good point about our current tax code and the ridiculous rhetoric of this year's presidential campaign.  The article is not "pro" anyone, but it is honest about how we got to where we are today with the tax code.  Oh how I wish our representatives could work together to solve these problems instead of pointing fingers.

Mitt Romney and the 47 percent, joined at the hip

Alan Sloan, Washington Post, September 27, 2012

And my laugh for the morning:

DAY 25 - Pondering on a Tuesday

Post 9-25-12

Most of my friends (well, except for the Lass) say they don't get my humor and don't understand why Get Fuzzy makes me laugh.  So I am taking a poll.  

Dear Readers - If you find today's strip funny, please comment.  If you don't find it funny, you can also comment.

NOTE:  I find this strip funny because Bucky and Satchel remind me of my own "Boys" - Chapi (white one) and Indy (dark one).  In my twisted mind, Indy is Bucky and Chapi is Satchel.  Why? you may ask.  Well Chapi is a typical naive dog, sweet, sticks to me like Velcro, and let's Indy push him around.  Indy has always seemed like a cat...doesn't want to be held, goes upstairs to his bed if we have guests, steals Chapi's toys.  

I still don't know what retired is really going to feel like, but can tell that I will still stress myself out even if I am at home on my own schedule.  The stress right now is that I am trying to publish a book of my photos of the Italy trip.  I've been switching between Shutterfly, Blurb and CVS photo trying to figure out which software will be the best for me.  Now I have the rest of my life to do this book, but it is stressing me out to get it done quickly.  So quickly, that all of the work I did on blurb this morning was LOST because I had not signed in.  Complete mistake of a rookie.

Friend and I have kept out promise to work out during retirement.  After we returned from the bike trip, we've immediately started back at Body Pump.  However, biking really didn't exercise the same muscles.  Yesterday about an hour after BP, I had to take ibuprofen and a nap.

Today, we walked about four miles.  Oh well, if I want to take a nap I can!

Musings on an early Monday Morning

Molly Ivins

Went to see Kathleen Turner play Molly Ivins in the play about her life, Red Hot Patriot.  Because she had such a way with words I was really looking forward to a few good laughs from a fellow liberal.  I left the Arena Theater with misty eyes instead.  Molly died in 2007, and all her career railed against  the political system that we have learned to live with.

"We don’t need a lobby reform package, you dimwits, we need full public financing of campaigns, and every single one of you who spends half your time whoring after special interest contributions knows it."

"Either we figure out how to keep corporate cash out of the political system or we lose the democracy."

Turner as Ivins

I left misty-eyed because I feel so powerless. 

How can a country that believes so much in democracy, and that wants others to take up our form of government --"a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system"-- have come to the place where our nominees turn down the public money from the people in order to raise money from corporations and special interest groups without the regulations of the public funds?

And what can one retired, non-confrontational American citizen do about it? 

And another thing.  Ivins died in 2007.  In the play, Turner as Ivins  says that insurance companies would only pay for a mastectomy of one breast.  I'm not sure if the quote in the play was from her writings.  Recently, a friend blamed this same issue on "Obamacare."  I didn't know enough about the Affordable Health Care Act to address the issue one way or the other, and I don't like confrontation.  How is it that everything is so difficult to understand that the spin-meisters can spin it any way they want to spin and that most of us don't know enough about the programs to counter what's being said?  Am I just too lazy to learn all of the facts?  What about the rest of our citizens?

We just lost our one week old baby panda, too.  His or her birth was an uplifting moment for all Washingtonians.  

Maybe I'm just being emotional this morning, but my eyes are misting again.    

Celebrating with Friends

 

 I’ve been so busy the last few days, but finally had a chance to look at the photos from the retirement ceremony.  They blew me away.  Not only was the photographer fabulous --- a friend from work---not a professional!, but just seeing all of the people who came.  That day, I was kind of in a daze.  I didn’t even realize everyone who attended.  Just wanted to post some of my favorite pictures.

This is supposed to be me on my bike.  Other than the skinny legs---I think it looks like me.

Wonderful Colleagues

How did I get such a handsome Colonel?  I'll never tell.

The Party Planners and Great Friends

Old Friends

A crazy crowd

My family

Leaders in my field/Great Friends

What can I say?

My long time roommate and leadership.

Feeling Good

Birds flying high you know how I feel
Sun in the sky you know how I feel
Breeze driftin' on by you know how I feel

It's a new dawn, It's a new day, It's a new life, For me
And I'm feeling good

Fish in the sea you know how I feel
River running free you know how I feel
blossom in the trees you know how I feel

Dragonfly out in the sun you know what I mean, don't you know
Butterflies all havin' fun you know what I mean
Sleep in peace when day is done
And this old world is a new world
And a bold world
For me

Stars when you shine you know how I feel
Scent of the pine you know how I feel
Oh freedom is mine
And you know how I feel

It's a new dawn, It's a new day, It's a new life, For me
And I'm feeling good

Any Michael Buble lovers out there?  My sweet spouse played this CD for me today on our way to walk the boys in Old Town.  I’ve heard this song before, but never really listened to the words.  The Silver Tongued Latin Lover said that this was my new theme song.  As I listened, I realized he was right.  This is a good retirement theme song.

It is Sunday and I am not worrying about tomorrow because Monday is just like Sunday when you are retired!  Freedom is mine, and you retirees, you know what I mean.

Day 20 - Retirement is really happening

Okay, I promised to write about retirement.  Now that my fantastic trip to Italy is but a memory, let me catch you up about retirement.  

While I was gone, I got my final check from the government.  This check included my last week of work, payment of my vacation days that I had not used, and my performance award.  That is great news for those of you who will be retiring.  Right on time.  It is good news because you won't get your first check until the month after you retire and then it won't be a full check.  OPM suggests that it will be about 60% of your real pension.  

The final check was a lot of money, but before you get excited, let me add some reality to the situation.  Since I got all of the money in one check, the taxes were unbelievable.  Federal tax - 24.5%, State tax - 6.5%, and Medicare was about 5 times what I normally would pay.  So, the net check was big, but not that big.

I figure I will live off this check for the months of October - December.  If I get an interim annuity/pension check in October, November and December, I'll save that money for the first three months of 2013, because I don't expect a full check until April, if I am lucky.  So in Jan-March I'll use the 6 partial checks, plus what I've saved.  But, it looks fine for now.  That's what is important.

While I was gone, I also got two envelopes from the Office of Personnel Management. One of them contained my Retirement Services Reference Card, which contained my Claim Number.  With this number, I can access the OPM website for retirees.  At the OPM site, I will be able to make changes to my pension such as getting OPM to deduct state taxes and make allotments.  I don't have the claim number password yet, so can't tell you how easy the program is to use, but it looks good.

I also got a big envelope from the Defense Logistics Agency through OPM.  This contained copies of the forms I submitted when I retired.  I've not had a chance to go through it all yet, but will and will let you know what they say.

I spent this morning taking the funds I received and transferring them to various accounts for annual bills, vacations, monthly bills and for cash.  I don't want to look at my checking account and think I have ALL THAT MONEY, when in reality, the money is already designated for bills.

So, within three weeks of your retirement, with any luck, you will have your end of your career check, your paperwork, and your retirement card to access services on-line.  Not too shabby really for government work.  Thank you, OPM.

Ideas about traveling

I know that lots of you travel like we did through work, but it is amazing how much you learn on each trip.  We are sitting a Via S Salvatore 6, Verona, Italy, discussing the ups and downs of the trip.  In no specific order:

1. Europeans do not use wash cloths.  If you want 'em, bring 'em with you.  
2. When packing, consider that you will be carrying your luggage up and down the stairs at all train stations.
3. When travelling with a group of people seriously consider a travelling purse --- that is pool your money for all expendables and re-fresh as needed.  We had no problems at any restaurant or bar because one person paid for everything.
4. Bring clothes that can be hand washed and dried over night.  Remember that our Italian washer in the apartment took 2 and a half hours for one load.  There are  no dryers.
5. Ladies - If non-Western bathrooms are all you have available, take care with how you squat down, make sure your pants are pulled to the front, and be careful where you aim.  It is not like pee-ing straight down on an American john!
6. Ladies - If you are in a non-Western bathroom, make sure you securely lock the door lest it flies open while you are in mid-stream.  If the door flies open, #5 doesn't really matter.
7. Italian coffee is powerful and concentrated.  Make sure you buy plenty of milk to mix with it in the morning.  We bought a liter, but ran out off three days---and only two of us drank coffee.
8. Make sure you know the words for "salt" and "sugar" before you refresh the sugar bowl.
9. Can't advise you about the lights, but we never figured out the switches in any of the hotels, nor in this apartment.  We just kept turning them on until the one we wanted lit up.  Don't even get me started about the hotels where you had to insert your room key into a slot to keep the lights on.
10. If traveling in a group like ours, consider a "first aid kit" for the group.  We used band aids and Neosporin for messed up knees from falling off the bike, ibuprofin for sore muscles, but we were also prepared for lots of other ailments like colds, gastro-intestinal ailments, etc.....  Motorbike says to bring along an anti-bruising pill.  Of course, we hope that none of you fall as much as we have done.
11. Although the new unstructured/barefoot athletic shoes are all the rage in the US, don't count on using them on these European cobblestone streets.  The soles are just too thin.
12. Although the prices for food seem a bit high, realize that you are not paying a 20% tip---it is included in the price.
13. It is not advisable to ask your roommate right before going to sleep if she knows what a bed bug looks like while pointing to a small black dot on the white bedspread on her bed.
14. When trying to navigate these small and ancient streets, looking for a parking garage, don't joke with the navigator.  She who did not heed the warning in #5 above is not going to think it is funny if you respond jokingly to her statement that she is "looking for P".  She means that she is looking for the capital P for parking garage.  Keep it to yourself if you're thinking of a different meaning for pee.  
15. We love Verona and will definitely consider returning for a longer time.  This apartment is in the best part of town, the owner Carlo is just fantastic.  Cannot recommend it too highly.

Soave - Love the wine, love the city

Grapes drying over the entrance to the old town.

 We took the tangenziale 11 from Verona to Soave for a little light refreshment.  Both Friend and I like Soave white wine.  Couldn't believe it but we arrived the day after the week long festival of grapes.  The grape pickers were parked in one of the local areas with their RVs to pick the grapes in this area.  What started as an idea for a quick light lunch of pizza, ended with a terrific meal at the Tratorria Amedeo.  We passed up the donkey stew (a specialty here) for a meal of various pastas and a pork steak.  It was a great meal, the Soave was rather disappointing however.

 I can't resist photos of the food in the windows.  These are samples of the breads.  The festival had taken place last week, but vendors were still around.  We saw stands with all kinds of olives, cheeses, sausages, and bread.  The smells were to die for.

Of course, we had to gas up the car before we took it back to the airport.  That was an adventure.  While Friend was trying to pump the diesel, I was watching the gauge and telling her it was not full.  Finally the guy from the station came out and pointed out that diesel was running out onto the ground.  It was full, but the gauge wasn't registering.  I believe it would have been a great Marlboro moment to just light one up.  Luckily, we did not have any smokers in the group and were able to pay the guy and get out of there before the place blew up.

Wanted to give kudos to Motorbike who has cleaned the kitchen every morning of our visit here in Verona.  Please see the kitchen photos below:

"Kitchen" closed up.

"Kitchen" open

We think this is a pretty cool set up.  Fits the environment of this apartment, too.

Tomorrow is our last day in Italy.  We are already thinking about renting an apartment for a month,studying italian, and inviting our friends to join us for a week or two.  This place (ANTICA VERONA) is a great location.  Perfect in fact.  We are in apartment #2.  It is cute and the owner is an artist.  He hand painted all of the ceilings and furniture you see in the photos.

NOTE:  We are proud that our National Zoo has a new baby Panda.  Italy is wonderful but I think we are all ready to come home.

Verona - Walking Around -9-17-2012

Castello Vecchio last night

After last night's near fiasco getting back to our apartment in the old part of Verona (impossibly narrow streets, thousands of Italians walking around, bicycles, scooters, etc...), we've decided not to keep the car.  We are going to drive to Soave for a pizza and Soave white wine, then return the car to the airport.  On Wednesday morning we will take a cab to the airport as our plane leaves at 7:44 a.m.  We did not  consider the time of the plane or the location of this apartment in the very beautiful, but hard to navigate Verona Vecchio.

This morning's forced march.

Verona Arena - 2000 years old

we are fascinated with the windows and balconies.

Friend led us on an exercise walk this morning, meaning we were not to sight see, but we did any how.  It is overcast, but still got some pretty good shots.  We saw the Arena where the operas are staged, but could not figure out how to get in.  Will research that before we walkover there again.

Bassano del Grappa, Tezze sul Brenta and Marostica

Bassano del Grappa - one of my favorite cities in Italy and very near my Italian family the Lagos.  We made a quick trip over to Bassano this morning.  Not a problem getting there at all on the A4 autostrada.   We stopped for a beer, Radler and a coke light, some shopping in the food and grappa stores, and a great stroll through the town.  I'm pretty sure my companions loved this city as much as I do.

NOTE TO SELF/OTHER TRAVELERS:  If you come upon a stoop down toilet (you'll know what I mean when you see it), pull your pants down and up towards your front.  sounds weird, but you'll know if you do it wrong!

From Bassano a very quick drive to Tezze sul Brenta the home of the Lago family.  They were all there when we arrived with a fantastic spread of Italian food ready for us.

 This is Roberto and me.  He is the youngest of the brothers and the father of Elena and Stefania.  He is also the cook of the family dinners.  We had salad and spaghetti.  Then Roberto grilled chicken, ribs and sausages in the oversized fireplace in the family's cantina.  Super.  We ended the meal with Asiago cheese, tarts, coffee and grappa.  I love this family like they are my own.  I have been visiting with them for over 34 years.

Angelo - the oldest of these brothers.  Haven't seen him for several years and in the interim I believe he has lost his sight---but not his good humor.

Now, some of the real notes from these travelers' adventures:

1.  Italian coffee espresso pots - water goes in the bottom, coffee in the middle.  Turn the heat up high, but once it starts boiling and the coffee begins moving to the top of the pot, turn the heat DOWN.  Or be ready to wipe up the coffee.

2.  European washing machines.  Basically, just forget them.  Friend started a load of wash last night and 2 and a half hours later the machine was still going.  In all, she had about ten items in the machine mostly underwear but could not get the machine to stop or to let her remove the clothing.  Not sure how these machines are supposed to be efficient or eco-friendly.

3.  FINALLY - Just because you can get somewhere doesn't mean that you can get back! especially if you are living in the "old" part of town that is one small street after the other.  If lost, follow the "CENTRO" signs to get into the downtown, then pray someone can speak english and give you directions.  It does't hurt to have someone driving who is not scared and a navigator with a pretty good sense of direction.  The best idea is to know the exit FROM the autostrada.  If at all possible, get an American version of the map or get a GPS (SOMEONE in this group didn't think we needed one.)

Bike Trip Update



Mantova - Friday night

 I got in trouble this morning because I did not diclose that I too fell during the trip.  The difference, I pleaded, is that I did not fall OFF my bicicleta----both of us fell over at the same time trying to avoid two people exiting a bus.  I still have the fewest and smallest bruises!

We will take the 12:28 bus to Verona and until then take a little stroll through Mantova.  Lots of German tourists as usual, but we are in Italy...scooters, bikes, cappucino and great wine.  Life is Good.

We arrived at our apartment in Verona about 1:30.  Antica Verona  It is a fabulous place in the old part of the town.  Talk about being in the right place.  Carlos, the owner, showed us how everything works and took us to the door of a great restaurant the Osteria da Bertoldo.  Wow, the food was out of this world and the wine!  I had the Paparedella with cheese and walnuts.  Great lunch and start to the Verona visit.

Front door and Motorbike

Vegetable market on "our" street

Friend and I just got back from the super mart called PAM for things for breakfast.  I said I knew how to use the espresso pot, so lets hope I remember tomorrow morning.  I could definitely stay in this place for a while, but we have only three more days.  Will post pictures as soon as I down load them.

Apartment we are renting

Peschira to Mantova - 33 miles

The last day of biking and it was wonderful.  We were so tired last night from the horrific hills that we did not get up until 0800.  Had a great breakfast with two cups of cappocino.  I give points to the "German" part of Italy for their great bread.  I'm not sure why Italian bread is so dry, but it is.  The yogurt was still good as was the "blood orange juice."  That dark red juice is delicious.

We spent most of the day with a small river to our left and fields to the right.  Not sure what they were for sure, but we think some of them were rice.  We stopped in Soave (which i thought was the Soave where Soave wine is made).  Found out that we were not in the "wine" Soave village.  However, we found a terrific restaurant that served the local specialty - ravioli with pumpkin.  I can't say I really would order it again, but it was interesting.  Sort of like a pumpkin pie in pasta.   Doesn't sound that great does it?

Mantova Enoteca - Happy Hour!

We arrived in Mantova after the great lunch.  We are right near the train station, not a great hotel, but okay.  We walked about 3 or 4 miles through the city.  It is a beautiful old city with many buildings from the 500s.  Of course, then we found a great "enoteca" - wine bar.  Friend has a gift for this! 

We gave up our bikes today.  I'm feeling free after 180 miles of biking.  All of us are very bruised, although I am the least bruised.  The other two have major bruises, which if seen by someone not familiar with our trip, might prompt us to be reported to protective services.  We are feeling proud of what we've done over the last seven days.  Somehow we made it up the hills, were able to find great food, and re-learned how to order red and white wine.

We are missing CNN (American version), eating dinner when we want to - dinners don't start until 7:00 or 7:30 ---.  Although I love the food here, I am getting tired of the great bread, cheese and ham for breakfast and the European coffee.  I'm getting kind of ready to have "american coffee."

I sure wish I had some other clothes, too.  Although I brought what I wanted to bring, I am already tired of it.  As with most trips, I could easily burn everything in the suitcase.  I miss the Big Bang theory and the hard copy of the Washington Post.

mille grazie per tutti! 

Trento to Pescheria - 33 miles

OMG.  What a day.  The rain cleared up, we got an early start because we had to be at Riva de Garda not later than 2:00 to catch a 2:55 ferry from the north of Lake Garda to Pescheria where we would be staying the night.  Our maps said that this was the one "difficult" day with hills, so we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time.   We needed it!

It took almost 30 minutes to find the bike trail out of Trento.  I love Italy, but unlike the German portion of Italy that we just left, the trails are not well mared in this section.  We finally got on the trail, but Friend got her shoelace caught in her bike chain while crossing a bridge with a VERY strong wind.  She made the split second decision that it was her or the map.  so, we were without a map for the total of the day.

We were stoppinig folks on the side walks for directions, but unfortunately it seemed that every one of them gave us the wrong direction and it was UP HILL.  The last time we were SO CLOSE to Lake Garda and a very nice gentleman said to go right, up the hill for short while and then down all the way.  Unfortunately, had we gone around him, we could have gone down straightway.  Instead, all three of us started up the hill (18 degree grade), Motorbike made it ahead of me, I made it a bit of the way and then walked, and Friend had the sense to ask a cyclist who told us we were going the wrong way.  We finally got onto the right path and our reward was Lago de Garda (see photo).  what a wonderful sight to see.

By 1:55 we got to the ferry and saw all of our fellow riders already enjoying beer, wine and food.  We had made it, celebrated with a Radler, beer and coke light.

Frankly, I'm too tired to tell much more except to say that all three of us are very bruised after today's ride and looking forward to an easy ride to Montua tomorrow.

BOLZANO TO TRENTO - 43 miles

Sunny and 85 degrees - this has been our life for the past few days.  Now Weather.com tells us that it will be 68 and raining today.  So we do our due diligence and figure out it will not begin raining until noon, so we will bike as far as we can, get out our rain gear, and if worst comes to worst, catch a train to Trento.  That is the plan.  I kind of like the plan because who wants to come home from a big time biking trip with no stories of heroism?



APPLE PICKERS



Getting out of downtown Bolzano was a challenge, but we made it.  We had left the Scala Hotel pretty early hoping to get quite a way before the impending storm.  It was a terrific ride.  Once again, apple orchards on our left and the Adige River on our right.  There must be one million apple trees in this area.  I'm really kind of getting sick of seeing the apples and hoping to see the vineyards any time now.  One interesting thing, though, we finally got to see how the apples are picked and NO they are not picked by a machine.  They are picked by hand.  I don't know how long it will take them but it seemed like it would take a lifetime.

We stopped for an apfelsaft and kept congratulating ourselves on our decision to bike.  One kilometer later the light drops started falling, we dug out our rain gear, and took off...not bothering to put on our rubber overshoes---too cool for that.  So, then the sky began falling and we realized the mistake but were too wet to put on the shoes.  Friend kept saying to look for Mezzocorona the last possible place to catch the train.  I pointed out that Mezzocorona was 1 km away, while friend said it couldn't be that close.  We passed the last major train station when the lightning started flashing and the thunder started rolling in.

"Stazione"  my new favorite word.  Through my fogged up sunglasses the small white sign appeared and we made our way to a stop for the local train.  It was such a relief!  45 minutes later (30 minutes waiting and a 15 minute ride) we arrived in Trento.  Only Italian on all of the signs, no German/Italian, and buildings that were peeling paint--finally we were in the real Italy! 

Our reward was the four star hotel The Grand, with an all white marble bathroom and hot water.  It is supposed to be beautiful again tomorrow.