Guest Writer(s)

When I last posted, I mentioned that I had asked my parents to share their thoughts about Italy and their experiences after having lived my life for a few weeks.

Here is what they shared.

From my mom:

Our trip to Italy was really a lot of fun and I even learned new things.  Carrie was a great tour guide.  It was really nice when the restaurants offered the menu in English as well as Italian.

Our trip included staying in a 1 bedroom apartment between visiting Venice, Rome and Florence, Como, Varenna, Bellagio (these last 3 were on Lake Como). My favorite was Venice—the unique canals and we had a great visit to Murano, which was where Murano glass comes from. I was hoping that we would be able to see glass actually blown but we checked several places and it was not happening that particular day. Carrie and I had a great day shopping and looking at jewelry. Of course, Richard was not that crazy about shopping.

During the week, while Carrie worked, Richard and I went into Milano. To get to Milano from Opera one takes a bus and then a tram (45 mins); so the 1^st day we had to learn about the transportation and what tickets took us where. On the way into Milano it was very interesting to see how some of the people parked cars (mostly Smart cars-small). They parked on the sidewalks- some were normally parked, but some were pulled in head first. I understand they charge to park in town. Some days I would read about a place in Rick Steves' guide book and pick a place to find or Carrie would mention a place such as SuperPolo, the international grocery store.  Well, that one took a little bit of asking directions, but I managed to find it and brought back more American food products to Carrie. Streets in Milano seem to appear and then they disappear.  I was so glad for the maps that I carried all the time. Weather was another factor—cold and rainy—not particularly inviting to go site seeing.

Grocery shopping was also a learning curve, but we managed to figure out most of the products.  One does not touch the fruit/vegetables in Italy; you put a plastic glove on and then pick them up bag and weigh. Milk that Carrie buys is not refrigerated, but it tasted fine. I believe that one thing I noticed the most was how many people walked everywhere. I walked to the grocery; I walked to get drinking water to refill the plastic bottles. I am going to make an extra effort to ride my bike or walk to places more often. We take many things for granted here in the USA.

Rome had a lot of history.  During our stay, we did get to visit many places: Colosseum, Forum, and the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. It was beautiful, but way too crowded. All of the Duomos in all the cities were just beautiful. Seeing the Trevi Fountain at night was very impressive.  Spring was in full bloom at the Spanish Steps and I enjoyed the sight.  Breakfast and Lunch seemed to be pretty much the same thing everywhere, such as cresent rolls with chocolate bits (brioche), fruit tortes,  prosciutto (ham) and cheese or pizza (but not US pizza) again ham and cheese sandwiches.

It was great for me in Florence as our Hotel was right in the shopping district and easy to find. I liked seeing Michelangelo's David, but I really enjoyed the view of the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. We get up and do the museums in the morning and then just start walking around. One day we went to a botanical garden (not quite up to par) but some of the gardens had similar flowers to what we have here and then we saw a few new things. I wrote down some of them to look up when I got home. We did the Resaissance Walk and decided that it was just looking at mainly olde buildings that some had some unique facades and some were pure ugly. People watching was more fun there than here and I really enjoy people watching.

So to sum up our adventure it was truly great-from Milano, Bergamo, Bellagio, Rome, Florence, Venice and even Opera where I walked or ran through the cornfields.

From my dad:

Milano
Plusses	Minuses
-Duomo (cathedral)	-Dirt
-Last Supper	-Rude people
-It’s flat	-Graffiti (although some of it is quite good)
-Apertivo bar -10 euro for cocktail and all you can eat
-Super ground transportation
Venice
Plusses	Minuses
-Exceeds expectations	-Pigeons
-First view of grand canal
-San Marco piazza (with the tide bubbling up thru the stones)
-Chefs Wife where we stayed- building was put up in 15th century
-Food (sea bass and pasta dinner we shared)
Rome
Plusses	Minuses
-Sistine Chapel	-Crowds
-The Forum	-Crowds
-Trevi Fountain	-Pickpockets
Florence
Plusses	Minuses
-David	-Bells to blast you out of bed
-David
-David
-Ponte Vecchio
Bergamo and Varenna
Plusses	Minuses
-Funicular	-Hills
-Lakeside lunch, Snow-capped mountains in background	-Hills
Note: train travel at 187 mph. WOW!