Category Archives: Travel

Monterosso al Mare, Corniglia and Vernazza, Italy

May 22, 2010 jd 1 Comment

Finally, an internet connection to blog with!

May 16, 2010

Monterosso al Mare, Italy… arriving by train, we knew that the Agrotouristico Baranca was uphill about 10 minutes away, so we called to have our luggage carried uphill for us to our place that we were staying at for two nights. The train arrives in what they call the “new” town, divided from the “old town” by basically a small mountain. After a snack, we walked around the rocky cliff that fronts the sea. One of the more expensive restaurants Ristorante Tortuga (Turtle Restaurant) is built right into the cliff wall (under the walkway). Walking further we enter the old town, and out to the breakwater. From there we can see the two bomb hardened bunkers built by the Germans in the occupation of the town. The Allies tried to bomb the train tracks, but only succeeded in taking out the Town Hall (it has been rebuilt on the same site.)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIe7V-_do3A

After wandering a bit we came to the main church in town, Church of Saint John the Baptist. It is built of black and white Italian marble in a Romanesque style, and next to it the Oratory of the Dead (also black and white) this was built by a brotherhood of good works, like a Rotary Club called “confraternities”. The town had two, the black and the white. This building was the oratory of the Black group, and their good work consisted of arranging funerals, taking care of widows, orphans and the shipwrecked. Here is their symbol, a skull, crossbones and an hourglass…death awaits us all… (nice huh?)

We followed the suggested walk so we could explore the town and see the sights according to Rick Steves. We went back to the waterfront to start our walk to the Church of the Capuchin Friars (a lot of steps in the “Switchbacks of the Friars”, but great views at the top. This church was also black and white, but a closer look showed no marble, just cheap 18^th century stucco!! But the inside was nice and there were some nice paintings attributed to Antony Van Dyck.

Then we walked further upward, to a cemetery, built around and within an old castle. Very nice views. But lots of dead people. Following the Rick Steves map, we continued uphill, for some distance!!! Hard walking (a real hill!!) finally a sign for Buranco Agrotourismo. Down, down, down a hill. Finally, a big party (the owner is a member of Parliament and) had a big party going on. But we had wine tasting and leftover snacks, from the dinner verrry good!! Our place was very cute, sleeps three, basically a small house, over the wine room itself. Only after getting here, a strenuous walk of about an hour, did we get told that there was a 2 minute shortcut to the town!! Oh well, we got to see the sights, I guess.

The next day we visited first, the town Corniglia, high on a hill, we took the bus up (I was so glad), then walked down through the town, nice views, nice food. David hurt himself again (with his sore leg from the Heidelberg bike accident) trying to walk down the 400 stairs.

Then we took the train to Vernazza, it had a nice harbor, we walked to the top of the town, then back again, watching the stream, which in this town, has not been covered by a road. Nice town, but we were on the way back to Monterosso al Mare. A nice dinner and a night at the farm. See the video of our experiences.

Next we move to the Hill Towns of Tuscany, see you tomorrow

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Manarola, in The Cinque Terra, Italy

May 17, 2010 jd

I stayed up until 1 am posting Friday’s blog. The built-in alarm woke me up at 6:30 am and I decided to sleep another 5 minutes. Well that was almost a big mistake, instead I was waking up at 7:30 and the bus leaves in 30 minutes. So we all rushed to our final packing and made it to the bus station with 5 minutes to spare.

Leaving Punta Ala by bus, we made it to Follonca in about 35 minutes and hopped a train to Pisa. From Pisa we transferred to La Spezia. Weather ranged between cloudy and steady rain all the way.

La Spezia is not a tourist town and we stayed there only long enough to grab a great lunch of Italian food. Then we took another train to our next vacation stop at Manarola, Town #2 in the Cinque Terra. We are staying there for two nights. The train arrives in the station, where you take a pedestrian tunnel (a two hundred foot long tunnel in which the inhabitants huddled in World War II during the bombings of Italy) to arrive at the main town.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OcSb8brztw

In Manarola, we hiked the trail that winds through parts of the many vineyards that hug the mountain sides. Can you image the labor involved in taking care of these grapes, pruning, spraying, picking, and then finally hauling them off of the mountain? Then we went to the marina and enjoyed a drink and some coffee in the sunshine. Lots of tourists in this town. The place we stayed, Casa Capellini, had a balcony and the most fantastic views. Some of the pictures you see in the video were taken from the balcony of our apartment. As you can see, the town is on a mountain side, and walking is either vertical up or vertical down, or at least it seemed that way.

The next morning we took the Via dell’Amore, (lovers lane) to Riomaggiore, took the requisite picture kissing at the specified seat of love.

The town seemed smaller than Manarola, we did the Rick Steves’ walk to see the town and its churches, had a bite to eat at a Pizzaria, and took the walk back. It had started to rain, so we spent the afternoon in a bar, drinking caffe latte grande (and wine for Judy and David) and discussing David’s crazy construction ideas (among other things).

After a short nap, we went back (our second dinner in as many days) to Trattoria Dal Billy for a wonderful dinner of black pasta (made with squid ink) and assorted seafood, mussels, clams including some things that looked like they were from outer space, sort of a weird shrimp (this was for David and Judy). I had a steak, but it was sort of cooked in a sauce instead of grilled, but very good all the same. The Grapa was complementary, making a fine evening all around.

The next morning we took the train to Monterrosso al Mare… to be continued with the next blog…

By the way, we were in an area without wifi for the last several days and I had some withdrawal problems, not having access to the internet, but now that I have a connection again, things are fine.
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Grossetto, Italy

May 13, 2010 jd 1 Comment

We awoke in time to catch the 8:00 bus to Follonica, thinking we had a train to catch at 9:30 AM. Got to town, went to the bus station and bought three tickets… checked the line and sat waiting. Trains went by on both directions at a high rate of speed… time moved on. Finally a railroad employee asked us what we were waiting for? We said to go to Grossetto… we walked him to the sign, and he showed us the 9:30 train only worked on Sundays and holidays… BUMMER.

So then we walked around, somewhat familiar with the town since we has been here the day before yesterday (that was the day we learned to take the early train) Trip to the grocery for David to get some beer, stop for a sandwich, then down to the beach… not exactly hot, but not too cold either. So we sat on the wall and watched Italian society evolve around us, while David drank beer, and ate strawberries and sweet rolls.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69CdovqEaKE

Finally, time for the train… a quick ride, less than 50 KM (that’s what the ticket said) and we were at Grossetto. All the shops in the train station wanted 7 Euros or more for a map… so we wandered, until we could pick up a free map (pretty bad Zerox), but we found a fantastic “Museo Archeological” and spent several hours learning about the old former city of Rocellae, an ancient town of Etruria (now Tuscany), which survived until the Middle Ages before being abandoned. The ruins are about 8 km northeast of Grosseto. There was lots of interesting pottery and other information about how life was lived in that time.

There was also information in the museum of Roman evidence in the area, statuary and pottery.

Then we wandered into the old walled city of Grossetto: The walls were begun by Francesco I de Medici in 1574, replacing those from the 12th-14th centuries, as part of his policy of making Grosseto a stronghold to protect his southern border. The construction took 19 years, the resulting walled city in the middle of the current Grossetto has a hexagonal shape, six straight walls, between each is an arrow shaped reinforcement , for defense. Until 1757 the exterior was surrounded by a ditch with an earthen moat.

After dinner, a quick trip back to the train station for the return to Follonica, and finally to Punto Ala, home until Friday and we venture on!
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Follonica and Punta Alta, Italy

May 11, 2010 jd

I made a video of a few pictures I took around Follonica and Punta Ala. However, I am still learning and this video is not too good. I lowered the resolution of the photos before I made the film and it shows. The next one will be better.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCOTP5JbHEM

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker

Travel

Punta Alta, Italy

May 11, 2010 jd 2 Comments

We left Florence on May 8 and continued by train to Follonica. The train ride took three hours. It was fast and very clean. From Follonica, there is a bus or taxi that goes to Punta Ala, our final destination for this leg of the trip. Our choice to go to Punta Alta was a taxi for 35 euro’s or 2.5 euro’s for a bus. Although we had to wait two hours for the bus, it was very comfortable and a short ride of 30 minutes. Punta Alta is in the Tuscany region but located on the Mediterranean coast (actually called the Ligurian Sea). After much difficulty and wandering aimlessly, due to an almost complete lack of signage, we came to our destination, Residencia I Borboli.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2-vTEUDyeU

Turns out this is a very exclusive residential area, with a huge marina filled with millions or more likely billions of dollars worth of yachts, sailboats and a few smaller vessels. It is off season now, a little early (probably why Judy was able to get the timeshare on a trade), their season starts in June. So not too many people and some restaurants still closed. A little market (things cost 4X what they do in Follonica) which is really about the size of a 7-11 store.4:30 or you are there for the night! On our way to catch the bus, we walked the block in a different direction. Looking at one of the closed stores, we saw what we thought was a bum. Hadn’t seen any bums since we had arrived in Italy, only a few beggers. But lo! It turned out to be David, Judy’s son! The night before he had a bad bicyle accident and was laying down in pain. He had just arrived in Follonica, and was waiting for a bus.

So after our reunion, we all waited for the bus to Punta Ala. It was a good thing because given the hard time we had at finding our place to stay, at least we could save David the search, and given that he was crippled and in pain from a bicycle accident in Heidelberg before he left yesterday, that was a good thing.

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Florence, Italy

May 10, 2010 jd

Early in the morning, May 4, 2010 the alarm rings and our day starts, a drive to Sacramento where it takes a map and a phone call to find the address of the person storing the car and driving us to the airport. Not a good start for a 6 week trip to Europe.

But everything is fine from there on, United Airlines is on time and arrives early at Dulles International Airport. The flight from Sacramento to Dulles Airport normally takes four hours and eleven minutes. We had a tail wind so we arrived a little early. A decent lunch and we await the next leg, Lufthansa to Frankfurt, Germany. So far it has been painless, as I read the paper and do Sudako, Judy has finished one book on the new Kindle. The next trip will be the grueling one, but an overnight trip, so we shall see.

The wait for our next flight is four hours. But somehow we end up at the wrong gate and miss the connection. Another one leaves an hour later and we arrive in Frankfort just an hour after our planned flight…however, the problem is our flight to Florence has left, and all flights are full until the next day.

So it is a night at a German Hotel by the airport, and a trip to downtown Frankfurt on the subway for the day of May 5, 2010. We find this fantastic shopping center called “My Zie” which has a glass tube going through it from the front to the top of the building. Very modern (and expensive inside) At the Food Mall there was every kind of food (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Italian) except German. So we went on the street for some German food. And the good news was we were able to change both out reservations in Florence and the Walking Tour of Florence and famous art galleries to the following days without added costs.

Arriving in Florence, it is raining. Luckily I had brought an umbrella, and Judy had a hood on her coat, and our room at Katti House were only a few blocks away. After lunch, we explored the town, (all within a 20 minute walk from our rooms. I recognized all the 14^th century buildings and main historical sightseeing spots from my three months of playing “Assassin’s Creed II, a Play Station 3 video game!! Assassin’s Creed II is set in the 13^th century with a very realistic recreation of the cities of Florence, Rome, Tuscany and some other minor towns. The historical buildings are in the game with a history of the time they were built and by whom.

We visited both the Galileo Science History Museum, and the Da Vinci Museum, to find tons of fascinating inventions and scientific findings, that were then somewhat lost through the dark ages to be rediscovered later.

On Friday we had three (3!) different Walking/Art Tours of Florence. The first walked us through the history of the city from Roman times, with a small walled city and tiny streets, through the Renaissance, with a second set of walls, further out, and then a third set making the town very large, to now where of course the city expands past all those walls, most of which were ripped down and re-used to build other buildings, churches, etc. We went inside the Beautiful Duomo, once the largest Church in Christendom, made entirely of white, green, and pink marble from Tuscany. Fantastic! You could see one side, recently cleaned and the other being restored with much soot and dirt on its outer walls. Luckily the current mayor of Florence has 4 weeks ago ordered all traffic diverted from the area, so hopefully the dirt build up won’t happen so fast. Much better for us pedestrians too!

Via Pietro Metastasio, Over looking the City of Florence

See Google Map below for location

The Uffizi courtyard was filled with famous originals (and some copies) from famous Renaissance sculptors. The Orsanmichele Church, in the 9^th century was a market place, later turned into a church (with grain stored in the top two floors) because miracle started happening in front of a picture of the Madonna in the market! And Point Vecchio, the famous bridge in Florence, filled with gold sellers, and the crossing place for the “Prince’s passageway” the Vasari Corridor, allowing the ruling Medici family to go from the Pitti Palace ( their home) to the Uffizi (the center of government) without having to go out in public (including the smells), or be subjected to the dangers of open courtyards (the ever ready thief or assassin). We then toured the Uffizi itself ,packed full or famous artist’s works, and then to the Accademia, to view Michelangelo’s David, a truly amazing sculpture carved out of marble, with no models, working from the top – down to the feet.

By the way, I have a new Samsung camera which has GPS built in. That way, I get a map and location of where the pictures were taken. Kind of neat, since I’ve taken many pictures and wondered later where they were taken.

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Traveling and Also, the True Meaning of Dog Sledding

May 3, 2010 jd

Hi to all of you who have been reading my blog. I’m leaving for Florence, Italy tomorrow. We fly out of here tomorrow from Sacramento, then to Dulles Airport. From Dallas we fly to Frankfurt Germany and from there to Florence. We plan a trip from the north of Italy to the most southern part. We’re also going to Heidelberg, Germany, were Judy’s son David has been working as a physicist for the last three years. Back in the States in six weeks.

So my blogs are going to be off and on, but I’ll be taking lots of pictures of our travels and I’ll post on this site.

In the meantime, here’s a really cute video of the true meaning of dog sledding.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcXX60tZZow

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
General Contractor
Civil Engineer

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Travel

On the California Delta

May 31, 2009 jd

Why a trip to the California Delta? Well last summer Judy and I were at “the Taste of the Delta”, food, wine and vendors all together in a one day festival. At the conclusion of the event there was a raffle, and we actually won! It was a two night stay at the Delta’s Dockside Boatel, along with two massage treatments. So we finally got around to scheduling the trip last week. After a day exploring the area on the way from Sacramento down Hwy 160 from Sacramento, and only getting lost only a time or two, following the “Delta Loop” near the intersection of Hwy 160 and Hwy 12, we arrived at our destination.

Called the “Easy Breezy” she is a 40’ Bluewater yacht, which remains dockside as a “boatel”. If you had a boat you could come in to the “boatel” from Stockton, Oakland or Sacramento, as there is plenty of tie-down space (up to 22 feet) on the same dock. It is located on the calm Georgiana Slough of the Mokelumne River. But, since we were driving, we came on board from the land. It is a very open floor plan, sleeping at least 6 or 7, and the two of us had lots of space. There is a full galley, the head and private stateroom below, a spacious cockpit, and fly bridge sundeck above. A great breakfast was included, both days, and the rest of the time we just sat and watched the world go by (a few boats), and lots of birds, fish and insects. Water, water everywhere, all very calming and relaxing. If you are interested in trying the “Easy Breezy” yourself, call Sue at (510) 919-2197.

Looking at the Delta from the sun deck of the "Easy Breezy"

Oh and we highly recommend the massage treatment too – just a few miles away in Isleton, with Pam Roum Certified Massage Therapist, (cell 209-366-4474) was wonderful. An interesting note is that Pam is also certified to do equine massage, if your horse is also in need of some relaxation! Isleton is a cute town too and we ate at Rogelio’s the Chinese – Mexican – American – Seafood – Italian restaurant in town! If you can’t find something on that menu to please everyone in your family it will be truly remarkable, with the complexity of the menu available.

The California Delta is a unique spot, in many ways not changed from the pioneer days when gold hunters and adventurers trekked to the ports of Sacramento and Stockton via river steamers. Today instead of paddle wheelers and steamers there are thousands of pleasure boats. There is a certain remoteness to the Delta, not easy to find elsewhere. There are 55 major Islands, and 1,000 miles of navigable waterways. I am sure we would have gotten a better feel for the Delta if we had been able to rent or had a boat, but it was a great mid-week getaway all the same!

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A Journey to Locke, California

May 30, 2009 jd 1 Comment

Main Street of Locke. Can you see the ghosts of the Chinese Immigrants walking on the sidewalks?

We took a trip to the Delta and on the way, we passed the little town of Locke, a town rich in the heritage of the early 20th century Chinese settlers who moved there to work on the farms. In 1913, the Chinatown of nearby Walnut Grove was destroyed and burned after an accidental fire, thus causing the migration of Chinese into the neighboring areas.

The land was leased from George Locke, as California law at the time forbade the selling of farmland to Asian immigrants. Many Chinese immigrants were facing massive discrimination in the major cities. It is a town built completely “by the Chinese for the Chinese” and can be considered a distinct rural Chinatown enclave. A Hong Kong developer bought the town in 1977 from the Locke heirs, and sold it in 2002 to the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. In 2004, the agency finally allowed the sale of land to those who had been living on the land for many years.

Although more places are closed now, probably due to the recession, a few places were open, and the town still boasts about 80 residents. The town hasn’t changed much since the earlier settlers and there are several interesting museums taken care of by local volunteers. There is a Chinese language school museum, the Locke Boarding House Museum and a museum where the Chinese used to gamble, complete with the old gambling tables, the old safe and other artifacts. It’s said that they kept as much as $6,000 in the safe and it was never robbed. That amount, in a period when men worked for one dollar a day is saying a lot. And it is saying a lot for the security, which included letting the dealers live upstairs of the casino.

There is still is a restaurant, “Al’s Place” on the sign, the only non-Chinese business in town, however it has been known as Al the Wops since 1941. Al died in 1961, but his place remains as a bar and restaurant which is famous for its steak dinners.

Then there is the famous toilet garden put together by Constance King, who likes to be called Connie. Connie took decommissioned toilets from different old building in Locke and has used them as planters, growing flowers in them. Connie is known as the honorary “Mayor” of Locke and at a young 85, is still going strong.

More on Locke can be found on the website Wikipedia of Locke.

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Buenos Aires, March, Friday the Thirteen

March 16, 2009 jd

The smaller building on the right is the Metropolitan Cathedral accross the street from The Plaza de Mayo

I decided to go to the Museo de la Polica Federal on Friday the 13^th . My trustee handbook of Buenos Aires (three years old) said that the museum was open Tuesday through Friday. Therefore, of course, it was closed. Do not carry a three year old guide book with you, spend the money and buy an up to date tour book when you travel. I already found a couple of night clubs that were permanently closed that were mentioned in the book as a good place to go.Anyhow, the museum focuses on uniforms, badges and weapons over the ages. According to the guide book, it also has a truly gruesome room dedicated to forensic medicine, which includes dismembered bodies and other unpleasant sights. Not mentioned in the museum is the sadistic role the Federal Police had in the Dirty Wars of the 1970’s. Maybe it’s just as well that the museum was closed. The museum is located at San Martin 353 if you are in Buenos Aires and care to visit it.San Martin Street is near the Plaza de Mayo.

The Plaza is the exact location that the Mothers of the Plaza De Mayo marched for many years, during and after the dirty wars of the 1970’s. The mothers were women who had had their children kidnapped by the military to be tortured, murdered and never heard from again. The women marched to bring public awareness of what atrocities the military government was committing during the 1970’s Dirty War. This was a period when the military overthrew the government and took control of Argentina. They were responsible for up to 30,000 people disappearing. The mothers’ bravery finally put enough pressure on the military government to restore the country back to an elected civilian government.So leaving the closed Mueso de lan Polica, I walked over to the nearby Plaza de Mayo. Across one of the streets of the Plaza de Mayo is the Metropolitan Cathedral. The present building’s construction started in 1752 and built under the direction of Antonio Masella. The design is that of a Latin cross basilica. It was finished in 1822 (And you say your contractor is slow?) In 1827 a portico was built in a French neoclassical style. This is a wonderful building which is really a piece of art, I highly recommend a visit to the Cathedral if you are in Buenos Aires.

Inside the Cathedral. Notice the huge columns.

Leaving the Cathedral I walked over to the nearby National Historical Museum. The location that houses this museum was originally built in a location chosen by Juan de Garay when founding the city in 1580. It was remodeled in 1621, however in 1632 it was abandoned due to the threat of collapse.In 1731 the building was totally reconstructed and remains now almost as it was originally designed. The museum is a curious mixture of different things, as are many of the Buenos Aires museums are that I’ve gone to. There is an exhibit of lighting throughout the ages, such as candles, candle molds all the way to the present day florescent energy saver lights. Then there are portraits of famous Argentineans, pictures of jail scenes, a reconstruction of an old jail cell (The original structure had a small jail) and stocks. What I mean by stocks are those wooden blocks of wood with hinges and holes in them so you could stick a person’s head or legs through them as punishment. (I’m sure some of the people who had their money stolen by Bernard Madoff would like to see stocks make a comeback)