A button that I observed at Gatwick

Yes, it is true. I found this button at our gate on Tuesday and I understand that someone has pushed the button. I am not sure if the return trip will be smooth and we might end up missing our connection in London. We are flying from Cork to Heathrow and jumping on a direct flight to Seattle (Bradley) and Denver (Charlotte).

I assume that most of the mess will be worked out by Tuesday. Some members of family are freaking out and spending hours working on travel arrangements. It's kind of funny because I don’t think that calls/emails will make a difference.

Anyway, in London the panic button has been pushed.



  

Beaches in Ireland?

Yes it's true and the water was not too cold (but I did't swim).

  

Another Venice Pic

  

Venice for 3 days

We enjoyed our 3 day jaunt to Venice. Everyone warned us of the stench, but the canals did not smell.

The gelato in Venice was decent, but it was difficult to find home made Gelato. We stayed in a great location tucked away into the northern section of town in one of the last real neighborhoods and dined on tasty local food.

I would recommend a trip to Venice, but no need to spend more then a few days in the city. The trip to Ireland was long and our flight was delayed but we ran into Charlotte’s family on the plane. This made the wait easier and we enjoyed watching the jet lagged kids wander around in a stupor.


  

Disconnected 2

We are currently in Venice and have experienced another disconnected episode. This relates to one fact: internet is very expensive in Venice. It usually runs between $10-20/hr.

Due to the high cost this post will be short.

We have been in Venice for a few days and are heading to Ireland tomorrow. The travel day will allow for a bit of blog catch-up. Stay tuned - the internet bill is adding up.

The view from the front

The olive trees and wine grapes located out our front door.

  

The reason we have been disconnected

This has been our home for the past week.

  

The ever crowded florence streets

Walking elbow to elbow amoung a bunch of crazy tourists.

  

This one is for Lesley

Gelato in Florence at Lesley's favorite store! We were walking down the street away from the mad tourist rush and randomly wandered into this highly recommended gelato store.

Speaking of touristy - Florence was more crowded then London except everyone was a tourist. It has been extremely crowded and packed with all sorts of tourist. Actually, hardly anyone was speaking Italian. I must admit the city was much more hospitable then my last visit because the city stopped allowing cars in the historic center and the weather was extremely cool.



  

Tuscan Hill Towns

During the past few days we have traveled to numerous Tuscan hilltowns that were built in the 1600's. Many of the towns still have the original stone buildings and town walls. Inside the towns await numerous wine shops, touristy stores, Gelatto stands and tasty Tuscan restaurants.

The majority of the towns are located a short drive away and when we return at night we often stop at the random vineyard on the side of the road for a wine tasting. At the conclusion of the tasting we end up buying a bottle of Chianti for about $12 and head home. Arriving at our house we enjoy a short afternoon siesta and a cool swim followed by Parma, Prosciutto, Cheese & Wine.

Let the good times roll.

Housing Update

Seattle House -- Keep your fingers crossed – we look at offers today!
JH House -- It “passed” our inspection.

Unplugged

On Saturday night we arrived in the Chianti region. We are staying in a town with no phone or internet, but 1 vineyard, 2 pools & 4 other houses.

This makes for great traditional Italian meals, exception local wine tasting and drinking.

Racing in Italy

Driving in Italy can be hard:

1. The roads are not marked
2. People drive FAST
3. All of the signs are in Itailian
4. It is normal to tailgate

All of the road signs just point towards the next city which is not always on the map. This makes it difficult for a foreign couple to figure out which road to take with the result being that we drive around each round-about several times in a row.

Travel Day

On Saturday we packed our bags and departed from Paris on Easy Jet and landed in Pisa, Italy. We spent time wandering amoungst the howards of tourists under the leaning tower. It’s funny to watch everyone trying to take a picture of the tower. The famous shot is when the person posing tries to put their hand in the position that gives the allusion that they are “holding up” the tower. This pose makes for good people watching.

Food

French food is great, but not all it’s cracked up to be. One of the main challenges is figuring out what you are ordering. A number of touristy restaurants list the menu in English but I try to avoid these restaurants for the obvious reasons. This leaves my preferred approach: point to the waiter what I want to eat and hope for the best. Basically, it’s a gamble but sometimes it pays off wonderfully.

In Paris the good food seems to cost well over $150 for dinner. We had one memorable meal and a few others that were enjoyable. The best food has been lunch. Generally we pickup a sandwich or make a small picnic with cheese, ham, bread, wine and pastries. The total cost is around $10 and the food is exquisite. Following the meal with a small delicate pastry provides enough energy to power through a few more museums.