Dana's Travel blog Final stop France, home & more pics

And for you photo nuts, (not just you Alan P.) here's a link to see ALL of them full sized (not collaged and cropped... Warning there's mine and Kim's, so over a thousand:
https://goo.gl/photos/LDTrVxckc3rGp2zv7

Oct 14-17th From Rome, Easyjet's 90 minute flight for €44 per person won out over taking an 8 to 10 hour train journey the length of Italy. I do love train travel but the cost was enormous by comparison as well. Also, this way we had more time to enjoy the rest and relaxation of one of our very favorite places on earth,  Antibes.

We took the airport express bus from Nice and it's been so long since we did that,  we missed our stop." It stops at the Main Square after the train station right?  Oh I guess not... well let's see where we end up!"  Luckily we know how to walk over from the next little town, Juan les Pins. It's maybe 10-15 minutes longer than if we'd gotten off at the proper stop in Antibes. So once again we were extremely grateful to have small light backpacks to travel with. We'd dumped a small duffel each after the cruise which not only cleaned out our closets of goodwill stuff but saved us a significant amount of money by not having to pay for luggage on the hopper to Nice or the flight home. And thank you again Barry for carrying my bike saddle home! (it just fit but was more the bulk and weight I was grateful not to have)
We needed to collect the keys to our dear friends David and Anna's flat.  So we met up with their friends who keep it up for them. This was entertaining as they'd had quite a bit of time, and therefore wine, to wait for us to arrive.
After getting our washing in the machine we took advantage of the sunshine and spent about a half hour laying on the beach. It wasn't warm enough to want to swim but it was still lovely.
I will not go on and on about the food but I will just mention that there's nothing like fresh baguette with French butter or fresh croissants. Trust me it tastes different there! I had the most amazing dish of turbot and clams with a truffle cream sauce for dinner our first night.
We spent the next two days decompressing from the constant touristing and crowds by not doing much. Our books, blog catchup, the quiet and the gorgeous view were enough to keep us perfectly content.
Our exceedingly cheap flight on Norwegian Air took us from Nice to Oslo to Oakland. We started the day at the bakery... Excuse me patisserie... at 7am to collect breakfast (croissants),  lunch (quiche) and dinner (sandwiches). I even picked up some unique gummy candy 'orangina flavor' for the flight.
Luckily I managed a few naps throughout the day,  which was 26 hours long before we were home and passing out in our own bed! (yay... Simple pleasures!)

We used the early rise of jetlag to get our garden in order for the winter season. I'm easing myself back into work with a couple massage/injury rehab sessions a day (although my phone is blowing up with texts from clients wanting to see me.. Which is nice, and flattering).  We can't seem to stay up much past 10 still. So we haven't gotten back to our dancing nights, but I expect next week that will change. I have however made it out to the park to do a couple miles jogging/walking at least twice.. Ahh pasta& croissants& gelato&... 😉

Well thanks again for following along. We haven't anything blog worthy on the calendar for 2016 as we plan to do some projects on the house. But, as my little sister Lydia says 'I'll believe that when i see it'!

If you are getting this and there's something going in your life or a trip you've taken that you'd like to share...I've been out gallivanting so much this year I'd love to hear from y'all... Drop me an email.
Hugs,  Dana

Dana's Travel blog Rome Oct 11th-14th '15

Dana's Travel blog Rome Oct 11th-14th '15

After inspecting the weather reports, we composed a plan of action for our 3days in Rome. To maximize our sightseeing and enjoyment of this amazing city we decided to book professional and vip access tours of both the Colusseum and the Vatican museum/Cistine Chapel.

Day 1 was a walking tour that I devised from what I recalled seeing on my last trip to Rome years ago with my mom and Wendy. We stumbled on a ruin right away,  (not hard to do as they are everywhere in Rome) with many cats... Turns out it was where Julius Cesar was murdered. Then we walked up to the Pantheon and on to lunch while seeing countless churches, fountains, sculptures, ancient buildings etc along the way. I sent Kim, Lisa, Steve and Barry off to see the Trevi fountain and the Spanish Steps while I zipped back to our AirB&B and moved our luggage to our new AirB&B that we'd be in for the rest of our time in Rome. I hopped the metro and met them at the steps. We continued on down a little (we could only handle about 2 blocks before we had enough of the crowds and chaos) of the famous shopping street. We cut over to Piazza Navonna and then to one of my favorite exhibits... Leonardo Da Vinci's machines. He was one amazing dyslexic, time travelling genius! Hadn't known before seeing this exhibit that he wrote backwards and reversed (like in a mirror).
Roman thin crust pizzas for everyone!

Day2 While the weather was still good we took our VIP tour of the Palantine and Colosseum with 'Walks of Italy'.
The Palantine is the most famous and ancient part of Rome filled with the ruins of the forum, governing houses, many palaces, temples, bathhouses, stadiums and burial places (not gravestones.... think enormous cathedral sized ornate buildings in tribute to the dead nobles who were elevated posthumously into gods)
When we saw the line to get into the colosseum we were very glad to have spent the extra money to skip straight in. The tour also covered three areas that are not on the normal entrance allowance. We got to be out in the middle in the stage,  toured the  underground passages and went up to the topmost tier for photo opportunities and a great view of the Palantine that we'd just toured. Oh and by the way evidently no Christians were actually martyred there..everyone thinks so but that was actually in a stadium in Gallia.

Day 3 A super early wake-up and taxi to make our tour of the Vatican museum/Cistine Chapel. Again we splurged to get to skip the line and also to spend some time in the Cistine Chapel before normal open hours. Much more pleasant than the later stop in at the end of our time in the Vatican museum. Very crowded and the guards constantly over the loudspeaker telling everyone to be quiet and stop taking pictures!
After a nice quiet twenty-five minutes in the Cistine Chapel we backtracked to the beginning and had a tour of the highlights of the Vatican museum. After having been there once before I can say this merely scratched the surface, seriously impressive. Even with our early start there were times when the crowds were oppressive, luckily for me our guide seemed to dislike the heavy crowds as much as I and would move us or stall in a room accordingly. The tour of the Vatican finished up with a walk through the private corridor directly from the Cistine Chapel into St Peter's Basilica. After a circuit of the cathedral (and explanation of the various tombs within) we exited to the main square for a look at the roof of the Cistine Chapel and the window where the Pope speaks from.
After this second tour I was sold on Walks of Italy. Great way to maximize what you can see in a short time with guides that were native, history majors and excellent English speakers. (I sound like an advert)
By this time, without much breakfast, lunch was severely overdue. So, we hopped a taxi to the only square without a church, Campo del Fiore for lunch at La Carbonara and a walk through the market stalls.
Sufficiently refueled we walked back to our apartment for a rest and pack session until it was time to go out in search of dinner.  Kim had pizza and I lucked onto a more northern dish we had accidentally discovered years ago,  Tagliata balsamico. Which is a tender steak seared, sliced and served with shaved parmigiano,  rocket (arugala) and a balsamic reduction. It was a decidedly fitting and rich final Roman meal for our trip.

14th Oct
We shared a taxi to the airport in the morning and Steve,  Lisa and Barry all flew home. Kim and I took easyjet to Nice and a bus to our favorite spot, Antibes.

Oct '15 Italy Ave Maria 5th&6th

Ave Maria Oct'5-6th BikeBarge

5th(cont.)We did so much in one day and I really enjoyed the Amusement Park Museum in Bergantino, so I almost forgot to mention the last stop of the day at the Grana Padano factory. We toured the storage area where the 88 pound rounds were kept, scraped and turned regularly. Outside we had a cheese tasting which was nice... Although it is very related to parmigiano reggiano (made in a very specific area) it is slightly sweeter and less hard. Learned that the part on the edge (rind) is not only edible but the most coveted part. Later on that evening the chefs aboard the Ave Maria heated up some bits of the edge for us all to try.
Unfortunately, a few times the wind would shift and we were subject to the smell of the required pig farm. Evidently every cheese making facility includes a pig farm where the whey byproduct is fed to the pigs.

6th Since Roberto was still available for the next day Lisa, Billie and I took the chance to get a ride into Ferrara. Since the boat was not going near it, we could meet the cycling crew there in time to tour the castle... Not the Gonzaga family territory any more, now on to the Estense family. The three of us did a great job of sightseeing on our own. We did one of the longest walking tours the city map offered and got to see much of the highlights of town including the amazing wall around the entire city. We started by walking past the castle, Cathedral and through the winding narrow streets. Peggy, you will be happy to know my collection of door pics was greatly expanded on this walk! Thank goodness I don't have to pay to develop all these to find 34pics of doors and 2 of us at the sights ;)
Our destination was the National Archeological Museum of Ferrara. Here we enjoyed the reconstructed Romance Era garden, the palatial building itself with its many frescoes and the huge collection of Greek and Etruscan artifacts from the long buried city of Spina. It was discovered in 1922, even though it had been known of in multiple writings for centuries, and dated back to the 6th century BC. Such amazing artwork in pottery,  glass, wood and metal!
After walking most of the way back we decided to stop for soup, pizza and calzone as the temperature had dropped and the rain started again. We got so lucky to have nice weather mostly and only rain while we were indoors!
We then met up with the riders by the castle where there was a required Gelato stop Fichi e Noci (omg fig and walnut FTW!)
Many of the group decided to go to an authentic Enoteca to drink wine.  Kim, Lisa, Steve, Barry and I toured the impressive castle and it's interesting dungeons.
After that it was time for the riders to head to the train station to meet the bus that would carry all of us (and the bikes) to Adria, where the boat was moored.  Lisa,  Billie and I caught a cab there and we all had an hour rest on the bus.

Italy '15 2nd half Ave Maria 7-10th

Ave Maria Oct 7th-10th bikebarge

7th Riding day for some and cruising for others. Kim and Barry rode with the main group and Steve, Lisa and I stayed aboard to enjoy the scenery and the traversing of the 3 locks between the rivers and canals as we made our way closer to Venice.

8th
The day was beautiful weather and started with a walking tour of Chioggia to the fish market and then a little free time to explore. We all met back at the Ave Maria where the boat, with everyone on board, cruised to the next island. There the cycles were unloaded and most of us rode along in the Venetian islands. We rode the length of the narrow island with the Venetian lagoon on one side and the Adriatic on the other. We then took a short ferry (with our bikes)  to Lido,  one of the most prestigious(and expensive) vacation destinations for all of Italy. We stopped there for a gelato and then rode back to where the boat picked us up. A lovely afternoon cruise past Venice (which I understand we weren't supposed to do but got away with it anyhow) and circled back to where we would spend the night. We had a fabulous mooring right on the dock where the Venice waterbus stopped.

9th Had a good walking tour of 'the hidden Venice' by Hein in the morning. It was followed by a dull tour by a professional guide of the San Marco square and a few landmarks on the way to the Rialto bridge.  We made it 2/3 of the way through and bailed on 'Debbie Downers' talk to have lunch and sightsee on our own. Managed to get some shopping in and had some more amazing gelato. (Nutella flavored gelato with a salted pistachio ganache!)

10th Travel day:Breakfast, said our goodbyes, disembarked the Ave Maria, took the water bus to the train station, train to Rome & train to the other end of Rome. We arrived fairly late so after checking into our AirB&B we went to dinner in the drizzle. The meal was spectacular, papardelle and lamb chops for me and amatriciana pasta and saltimboca for Kim. I loved the walls and ceiling in this cozy scooter themed locals restaurant. The walk back was in a cool downpour which meant wet socks for many. The drought stricken Californian in me still didn't mind and I enjoyed sleeping to the sound of the rain.

Italy Ave Maria Oct 3-5

This week's adventure was planned about a year ago after the Eugene to Portland bike ride. It was decided that the next trip should be something special and somewhere gorgeous. Italy on a canal bike boat tour won out over the Croatian coast where we'd be in the Adriatic (with at least one seasick companion) or a similar canal route in the south of France. This tour is a great combination of bike rides, tours of interesting castles, museums, landmarks and cruising. The France trip had mostly winery stops which might appeal to some, but our group of cycling tea-totallers decided on a bit more touristing over 'tasting'. We joined the boat in Mantua and disembarked in Venice a week later. Anyone wanting to really get a look at the lovely ship can see it in detail here:

Ave Maria Boat

http://maps.google.com/maps?layer=c&panoid=cMC1Rr2LPYsAAAQp0vNeTw&cbp=1%2C139.77649%2C%2C3.0%2C-6.9783015&cbll=0%2C0

Our guide Hein was from Holland and really made it a great and entertaining week for all. The chefs Giuliano and Sylvia made sure that no one lost weight by feeding us amazing food every night. Highlights of tenderloin of pork, swordfish with a side of fresh octopus salad, Guinea fowl in a pomegranate sauce,  duck ragout pasta, gorgonzola&pear pasta,  lasagna, molten chocolate cake, panna cotta, almond shortbread...well...you get the jist. And for my chefs (Amy,  Gerald etc...)there will be pics.. As promised.

Oct 3rd was check in, dinner and orientation. We dropped our bags and then walked through town to get a look at the huge Gonzaga castle which covers a tremendous amount of the old part of town. Dinner was fantastic medallions of pork tenderloin

Oct 4th we did our first ride, an out and back of only about 40 kilometers. We got to ride along the lake path for some of it which was very pretty.
Our first stop of the day was the famous church of the blessings where there was a crocodile suspended in the middle of the church and many rustic paintings by grateful parishioners who'd survived various calamities.
Lunch was alongside a quiet country road and then a short ride to the boat. After dropping the bikes there our guide took us for a walking tour of Mantua. More Gonzaga estate and history.

Oct 5th was a bike ride to Zelo but since Lisa and one other lady weren't able to ride I joined them and Roberto (a hired driver) for a mellow and personalized tour. We visited a quiet and impressive church, where all the walls and ceilings were Trompe-l'œil frescoes to look like reliefs,  marble columns and even a full cupola with windows! We followed along with the riders by meeting them at their stops. First was the smallish castle that was part of the giant Gonzaga heritage. It is in the process of becoming a museum all about the Po river and is not yet open to the public... but Hein got a key from the mayor, so we got a tour. Then on to the lunch stop at the 'Cat Asylum' which was a picnic table/bbq area pullout along the road that had two houses specially designed and built to be a cat sanctuary. They were decidedly less interested in our group then we were in them and their cute little bunk beds.
The last stop of the day was definitely the best. We toured the museum of the history of amusement parks. Turns out almost all carnival rides came out of this one area of Italy and are still made there today. So if you are my age or older and wondered why the Carnys always seemed to be Italian gypsy folk, that's because originally they all were!

Italy '15 Bike/Boat Final European Adventure

September 30-Oct 3rd
Some think that traveling the world is glamorous but I do have to admit certain aspects of travel are not always so:
Sept 30th 7 am out the door
9am fly out from Sacramento airport to Dallas
Switch to flight to London.
Switch to flight to Venice.
Walk the length of the airport (it seemed)  to get to the water transport which took an hour to get us into Venice.
From 9am PST to 3pm Italy time Oct. 1st, the next day. Total travel time 21 hours.
Needless to say I was pretty beat tired by then.
After our lovely hostess had led us to the loft apartment and showed us how everything worked we only had a little bit of time before we expected Steve and Lisa.
Since it was not a good idea to nap when that tired, as it might turn into sleeping away the rest of the day, we went out and walked to the Rialto bridge and back to our lodgings. That was purely to reinforce that we could find our way again and then we promptly went back to the bridge to collect Steve and Lisa and lead them to the AirB&B.
At this point we are to the good part...
Off we all went to get dinner. We walked about a bit and rejected the seafood spot in favor of Da Mamo for lovely pizza and pasta. Our first meal in Italy a true success, we meandered back and all slept hard for quite a few hours.

Oct 2nd:
Our first full day we headed out on the ACTV (waterbus) to Murano where we admired the glass (much from China) and went to an entertaining glassblowing demonstration. Afterwards we hopped back on the water bus to Burano where all the houses are very brightly colored and the specialties seem to be seafood and lace making. After a meander, nice lunch and a short visit to the lace museum and we were ready to head back to Venice. Dinner in the Restaurante l'Olandese Volante in the Campo S. Lio was lovely. (The Flying Dutchman in the Square of Saint Lio)

Oct 3rd:
After we had breakfast (including by the way... warm fresh baguette at the little grocery store on the corner for 30¢!) we gathered up and headed out to catch the water bus to the train station and made our way to Mantua to join our ship.  The lovely Ave Maria was awaiting our arrival. With time to spare, we did a little sightseeing of the palace grounds once reigned over by the wealthy Gonzaga family. Our orientation and first dinner boded well for a fun and delicious upcoming week (excluding any possible weight loss!)