Firenze and my friend, David

Michelangelo's David

With a heavy heart, we left our family in Tezze sul Brenta (Bassano) and travelled by train to this beautiful old city - Florence or Firenze to meet with my best Italian friend, David!  What an experience to be able to take my nephew to the Galleria d'Accademia to view the most beautiful sculpture in the world (in my opinion).  It brought me back to 1978 when I first saw the statue in the same place.  At that time I was overwhelmed by excitement and remember very moist eyes.  I had read about this magnificent city and statue but never thought I would ever see it and yet here I was!

On our first full day here we took a tour of the city including the Accademia, the Duomo and the Piazza Vecchio.  We also walked across the Ponte Vecchio and took in the magnificence of the Arne River and all that the Medici family and others had done to make this the city what it is.




On our second day, we were brave (or at least I was) and took a Vespa tour of Tuscany.  With DJ as the driver, we zipped through the hills of Tuscany surrounding the city.  We stopped high above the city for a photo opportunity, drove by the last home of Galileo (who was basically under house arrest by the Pope for declaring that the world was round, rather than flat).  We drove through grape vineyards and fields of olive trees and ended the trip at a quaint little restaurant on the outskirts of the city.  There we had the best bruschetta, pasta and roast beef and really good white wine.   I arrived back at the apartment safe and sound and sleepy.  We also met a charming couple from New Zealand named Mack and Mary.  That was a terrific addition to the day.

Ponte Vecchio - bridge of gold jewelry

DJ sitting high above Firenze

Outside our apartment in Firenze

Ciao, Bassano

Ponte Vecchio, Bassano del Grappa

Bassano del Grappa is my hometown in Italy.  It had to be the first stop on my tour with DJ so that he would get a taste of the real non-tourist country that I love.  We spent three days here with the Lago family including the youngest girls Elena and Stefania.  To say they wined and dined us is an understatement.  Between Lina's asparagi rissoto and Roberto's grilled chicken and sausages, we just about rolled out of town.  Not to mention the gelato (which I'm pretty sure I mentioned in the last blog).

Famiglia Lago

We were lucky to have the girls (and Alessio, Elena's boyfriend) to take us all around.  One of my favorite stops besides the old bridge is the walled city of Marostica.  We were not here at the time to see it, but this town hosts a life size Medieval chess tournament every September.  We were lucky, though, to see the city and to drive to the top of the wall where the old castle is now a very good and pricey restaurant.  We had just enough time to see the town and then get home for a home-cooked Italian of salad, pasta, vegetables and meat grilled in the fireplace of the family's "party room."  Lots of good wine and a little grappa at the end.

Roberto the chef

DJ, Alessio, Elena, Stefania

Our apartment balcony

The adventure continues

Maybe 25 years ago, my dad had me take a picture of him in front of this same bakery in Bassano del Grappa.  Now I am taking one of my nephew, DJ.  Our second day in Italy has been relaxing, at least for me.  Poor guy couldn't sleep last night because of the heat and jet lag.  I'm used to jet lag, and also new to open the windows and keep the door to my bedroom open.  He was sweltering with the door closed.  So I had the opportunity this morning to take in the  street market right in front of our apartment.

The weather man said it was going to thunder and storm today, but by the time my charge got up at 11:30, it looked beautiful, so we walked across the "new" bridge in Bassano to the Bike Store and rented two really great bikes.  We set off to retrieve my phone, which I had left at the family's house last night in Tezze sul Brenta, but we got lost.  So what could we do but stop for pizza at Al Mulino in Cartigliano?  The matriarch of the family, who was waiting our table, said that we were 30 minutes BY CAR from Tezze sul Brenta.  How in the world did we get so far off course?  We found out from her son, however, that we were only a few kilometers and made it to the family's house in due time.  The adventure was not over.

 As we left to beat the rain that was coming, we were drowned in a storm of epic proportions and had to turn back.  I'll spare you of my photo, but here is DJ soaked to the gills.

Now Dj has gone with Elena and Stefania to buy the fixings for tiramisu.  I think he needs to learn to make this so he can treat me when we get home.

Elena and Stefania

Tonight is asparagi rissoto at the family's then a street fair.  I'm going to try to watch Scandals on Netflix while the young ones go bar hopping.  It is a good trip so far.  I just hope that my charge can get over his jet lag tonight.  This is a big learning experience for him about international travel.

Italy through new eyes

This is our view from the window of an unbelievable apartment in Bassano del Grappa.  Carlotta is the owner of this B&B (Ca' Garibaldi), which my nephew and I rented for three days in this beautiful city in the foothills of the Dolomites.  Thank you Airbnb!  We arrived in Bassano after a 14 hour trip that took us from Washington Dulles airport to Paris Charles de Gaul (unfortunately not enough time to get into Paris, but that can be another trip), to Venice Marco Polo airport, then a bus ride to Mestre railstation and finally a train ride to Bassano.  He is freaking out with jet lag and I am trying to reassure him that it will get better.  If you haven't travelled internationally as frequently as I have, you don't have an appreciation of jet lag.  I think he is getting it now.

Carlotta and two members of my Italian family, Elena and Roberto, met us at the train station.  What a wonderful first day in Italy.  We showered, rested, then walked into the piazza for a small "aperitivo", then dinner with the family (unbelievable melon and prosciutto with Asgiao and grana cheeses, salad, and a spaghetti.  What could be more Italian.  I ended the day with a Bacio gelato, which was just about the most wonderful ice cream I have ever tasted...just like the Bacio candy here in Italy....dark chocolate with hazelnut pieces.  DJ and Roberto's girls, and Alessio took off for a night at the "disco."  Other than the jet lag, I think he is having a great time.  Unfortunately, he has not seen and probably won't see any Mafioso hanging out on the street.  I believe my dad and Hollywood have given him an unrealistic picture of Italy.  Elena thinks he might have better luck in southern Italy, but that will need to be another trip.

Did I mention that it was over 90 degrees here yesterday and there is no air conditioning?

Customer Service

I've been asked why I haven't been writing recently, in my mind, it has been because I am too busy.  But maybe it is because nothing has gotten me riled up enough to stop what I am doing to start writing.  Until now.

I'm sitting in the waiting room of a hospital with a friend waiting for the staff to call him in for a procedure, the outcome of which can be good or can be pretty bad.  This "Top 100 Hospital" as the signs in the lobby brag has an information desk that does not know where the Cardio-Pulmonary lab is located.  As we finally discover, it is on the level right above the desk where we are standing.  She also does not tell us that we need to sign it at a computer across the hall from her before we walk up the stairs to the lab.  The laboratory staff look at us like we are disturbing them and like we should know that we needed to register before we bothered them.

 I am retired, but if I were to start working again, I'd love to have the job of showing organizations like this one how to interface with their customers.  People who are in this facility are scared, confused, and they don't need the further stress of mis-information.

Okay.  I'm back.  Tomorrow I leave for Italy and hope to blog from there.  Breathe, breathe, relax...

Pulling the Plug

Pulling the Plug.  I'm not talking about pulling someone off life support, although at this point, the decision to pull my cable TV cord is weighing on me heavily. I'm talking about pulling the cable from my television and landline phone, entering the modern world (of the young) and streaming video for my entertainment for FREE.  The thought is freeing, but the decision seems so permanent.  A few weeks ago my friend Hawaii Mike gave me a ROKU to get me started.  After some work on his part (I'll explain later), I started using it and exploring all my options.  I'm HOOKED.  I've pulled the cable from the television upstairs (MY television) and I watch what I want when I want it.  Thus far, I don't miss anything....and I don't have 550 channels of which 540 are worthless.  So let me explain the process, then I'll get back to how making the move is scary.



ROKU

The ROKU is a streaming video device. [Warning to my readers who are technical:  I'm explaining this the way I'd want someone to explain it to me.  It might not be technically correct, but they'll understand it.]  This means that you can watch streaming video on your television  through the ROKU.  Most of you are probably familiar with NETFLIX.  The original NETFLIX mailed DVDs to you for viewing (Pam, you know who you are....).  NETFLIX now can stream those same shows onto your television.  The ROKU is the mechanism for getting the videos to your TV.  I don't know how else to explain it, so I hope you understand.

Through the ROKU, I can access "channels" ....NETFLIX, HULUplus, and Amazon.com are examples of the channels available on the ROKU.  Through Netflix, I can watch the complete series for shows such as Breaking Bad and Revenge, which were very popular television shows.  I can also watch movies or my current favorite, the NETFLIX produced series House of Cards.  Through Amazon.com (I am a Prime member) I watch Alpha House, a political comedy written by Gary Trudeau.  It was my favorite before I watched House of Cards, now there is sort of a tie.
 

Through HULUplus I watch television programs that have already been broadcast.  For example, I can watch Saturday Night Live from last Saturday.  I can also watch movies.

I subscribe to the ACORN channel.  This is an all British TV and movie channel.  House of Cards (the original British show, The Office - original British, Ms. Marple, etc., etc.)

One problem I encountered was that I could not access the network stations (NBC, ABC, or CBS) through ROKU.  These organizations do not have a channel on ROKU nor does HULUplus provide some of the network shows (Big Bang Theory being the most serious loss to me), so I also bought and installed antennas on all of our TVs.  Through the antenna, I get all of the network stations, plus several PBS and old movie stations (and infomercial stations, which I just delete).

This is what it has taken to establish this set up:

$49.99 - ROKU - Installation (30 minutes) - per tv
$39.99 - Antennas - Installation (30 minutes) - per tv
$79.99/year - AMAZON Prime
$84.00/year - Netflix
$60.00/year - ACORN

It is not for everyone...if you are a big sports viewer...no ESPN.  If you are a CNN groupie....you can get CNN stories, but not the constant streaming of news all day.

I was so tired of dealing with the cable company.  I resent paying for the hundreds of channels that I never watched, the constant "specials" and "bundles" so that I could never rely on the amount of my bill from month to month.  I resented the need to call them periodically to threaten leaving the service in order to get the bill lower.  The last time I did this, they lowered my bill $90 a month!  What in the hell do older people do who either don't know to call, or just don't call.  They just keep paying.

Anyway, I and Ramiro are very happy with our set up.  I watch what I want when I want.  After the initial set up expense, I'll be paying $62 a month for internet instead of the $152 for the bundle (that included $118 in "discounts").  I'll control what's on.

Pulling the cord was scarey.  Calling the cable company took some courage as I knew they would try to talk me into staying on...lower costs, more features, etc...  But I did it. 

Christmas Present

I hate it when Thanksgiving comes so late in the month.  I've have a couple little decorations for the holiday, but somehow it just seems pointless to put them out.  As soon as I do, I've got to put them away for Christmas.  CHRISTMAS!  

My Norman Rockwell idea of Christmas was not the way we celebrated Christmas when I grew up.  Six kids, lots of aunts and uncles on both sides, many houses to visit, and many gifts to open.  We never really decorated, a Christmaas tree for sure and perhaps a string of lights outside.   We didn't really sit down at the table and carve the turkey.  [Actually, this is a Norman Rockwell THANKSGIVING painting---but what the heck.  You get the idea.]

So, I've spent a lot of time as as an adult trying to create my own version of the Norman Rockwell Christmas.  For at least the past 12-13 years, I've hosted a dinner for eight of us (that's all the chairs I have) a couple weeks before the big day so that everyone can get to their own families for the 25th.  The eight participants  remained the same for many years....Lee, Suzanne, Ione, Ruthie, Dick, Peggy, the Latin Lover and me.  Old friends and my senior visitor project - Ruthie.  Ruthie died a few years ago at 97, so Pam took over her seat.  I had decided to expand the dinner this year (folding chairs---yuck) by adding my neighbors Kevin and Rita so we would now have ten.  Very sadly, Dick died this year and Ione could not make the celebration, so...once again eight.

My goal each year is to have a unique decorating plan and a unique menu---mostly recipes I've never tried before!  Yes, I know you should never try out new things, but I've only had one really bad outcome---flourless chocolate cake that was supposed to ooze out melted chocolate like an under cooked brownie.  Mine was so dry I had to cover it with Kool Whip!

This year Zebra and Red was the decorating theme.  I spent most of November and early December plotting out what I was going to do and then making the garlands, etc....Photos below attest to how it turned out.  

This garland took me days to make, but it turned out pretty well.  I'm hoping to sell all of these decorations on ebay.  On my meager retirement income I can't afford to make new things every year.  If you know of any one who wants red and zebra table cloths, napkins, etc... let me know.

Lighting the garden was a joint effort with me and my friend Rita.  Night time pictures don't really do it justice, but you get the picture.  Note to anyone who wants to do this kind of thing:  EXTENSION CORDS.  OMG, we must have used a dozen.  It will be better next year now that we know what to do.

I have fun every year matching my wrapping to the theme of the decorations.

This wreathe took me hours to make.  I copied it from one I had seen in a Christmas catalog for $359!  I like it, but now I understand why they charged so much for the original.

2013 Menu:  Emeril Legasse apricot glazed chicken and rice pilaf, Italian sauteed asparagus, and tasting desserts in mini wine glasses.  Everyone seemed to have a great time.  

I've got my theme picked out for next year.  I need peacock feathers.  Does anyone have a source?