Quote: David Feherty

June 24, 2005 at 6:59 am · Filed under Quotations

It’s how you deal with failure that determines how you achieve success.
— David Feherty

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From the front

June 15, 2005 at 7:42 pm · Filed under On the Radar

Phew.. back from Italy but right into a work move. We moved our offices today down the block but it might as well have been down the road. Jeff and I moved mountains of data, and then today did the physical work and man, at 100’ out in the sun it was a hoot. heheh. A few aftershocks to deal with over the next few days as I deconstruct our remaining now highly disfunctional old server room. I’ve got the Italy posts in process but haven’t had the mindshare to get it done. It will.

Need rest, feet ache, Zzzzz

-a

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On the road again, in Frankfurt

June 10, 2005 at 3:24 am · Filed under Excursions

We’ve been by train, plane, car, and boat. We just left out animal travel else we’ve done it all. We are currently sitting in Frankfurt awaiting our plane at 11a local time. It’s been an early morning leaving for the airport in Milan at 5a but it’s been smooth enough.

Looking forward to being home. We’ve had our fun, and are in need of some down time. It will be good to go over the more than 700 photos we’ve taken and try and condense our trip into something we can show and not take all day. Robin did most of the videography on the trip and amassed around 45minutes of video footage.

Anyhow, 2hrs + 8hrs air time, we’ll be home around 6pm EST.

-a

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Florence, Italy, Part 1 of 2

June 8, 2005 at 3:20 am · Filed under Excursions

To get into Florence we had to change trains outside the city and head towards Santa Maria Novella station. Our train skills had improved enough we got our tickets rapidly and we were there before we knew it. A short walk around the corner and a few additional blocks brought us to Hotel Aprile. We checked in but had to wait a half hour for our room so we scavenged their booklet bins and sat down in there patio to figure out the plans. We mapped out a few of the suggested restaurants we brought with us and then found a tour group doing a Siena / San Gimignano trip on Monday. We thought it a good idea at the time and booked later that afternoon. Our evening walk was at 5:45p, with that in mind and a few restaurants at hand we were ready.

We really didn’t know what to expect out of any of our rooms as we booked them. Hotels can make something look one way online or in photos but until you’ve stayed in the region you just don’t know. Hotel Aprile was pretty fantastic. When we got our room we were treated to vaulted ceilings and spaciousness that we had not afforded any place as of yet. A view of Santa Maria Novella church from the window, and the courtyard below, we had been given one of the quiet rooms away from the main street. Fabulous. We explored the area surrounding the hotel and grabbed panini for lunch then went back to our room to get ready for the evening.

We got to our meeting spot for the Florence Evening Walk a little early so we stopped in a bar/cafe for some caffeine. It was rather foul which was disappointing but there is no excuse to scalded milk in Italy! heheheh. The tour however was another story. Our guide was Freya a cute little Australian blonde that had come to Italy for 3 months of language lessons and ended up staying five years. She took us across the Trinity bridge and gave some nice stories of local lore and old Medici intrigue.

After a good hour or so walk we stopped at a wine bar and enjoyed a wine from San Gimignano, Vernaccia. Freya gave us all tips on where to eat which turned out to be off the charts. After Freya left we went to Sasso di Dante with an Australian mother and daughter duo, Carroll & Kathy, that was on the tour with us. This was probably the best time we had our whole trip. Our dinner mates were great company, and the food we had at Dante’s was just amazing. We got a bottle of Chianti, a filet w/ cognac sauce, a filet with peppercorn sauce, an herb & cheese gnocchi. The peppercorn steak and gnocchi were the best I have ever had. Simply writing about it makes me salivate. After finishing the wine and meal, Kathy got her mom & Robin into another mezzo (1/2liter) while I sipped on a single caffe’. Then, to top it all, our great waiter brings over a chilled bottle of lemoncello and shot glasses. A digestive he called it. Woooo.. It was snappy! We enjoyed a few sipped shots of that and stumbled our way home. Excellent suggestion from Freya!

The next morning I thought I would try and use the “Internet Point” that the hotel provided. It was a rather cheap windows box with some bad pay as you go ware on it. I picked up a scan pass and began to check my mail when I noticed the international keyboard for the first time. Well that sure did throw me for a loop. I still don’t know how to get the @ sign. I got what I needed done through as little duress as I could muster. Everything seemed quiet at home which is always nice. I did note the little technical geek in me that they were using ADSL and I could probably hijack their connection, which I did so on two occasions. I paid for my time didn’t I?

We packed our day bag and had decided that our targets for the day were the Accademia & to see one of the Leonardo da Vinci exhibits. To get to the Accademia we went through San Lorenzo square which is also the street Market (Mercato). Here we saw blocks and blocks of wares of all sorts. Shirts, bags, glasses, glass, plates, belts, leather products galore. In the middle of all this is their large market which has a bottom floor full of 2x2 blocks of meat, poultry, fish, while upstairs has all their fresh vegetables & fruits. Quite amazing. I am so jealous. We kept on going and ended up waiting a small spell in the reservation line (always good if you don’t want to wait 1+hrs). The Accademia really isn’t as large as I had thought. Michael is the largest attractor which was great to see. I am still amazed at how much artisan-craftsmanship was needed to make such a thing. After that we cruised through many rooms of religious artifacts and an exhibit on the history of music.

Leaving the Accademia we headed a few streets and blocks away to where an exhibit on Leonardo da Vinci bringing his sketches to life. You can see through his work that many ideas in the world were linking together. Ancient thoughts, old thoughts, modern thoughts, renaissance thoughts, all merging together to form so many of the fundamentals we still use today. It would have been neat to see the man in action.

More on Florence later.. Florence Part 2 of 2

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Monterosso, Cinque Terre

June 7, 2005 at 6:13 pm · Filed under Excursions

Continued from Starting in Milan

Heading to Monterosso the only hitch we knew we had to deal with was a misbooking that seperated Robin & I by a train-room/section. Robin had practiced much the night before saying “Please excuse me may I sit next to my husband.” Of course when the moment came it was a bit more confusing than that but the woman we displaced was very agreeable to the switch. It took a bit more explaining to the conductor but our gracious passenge-mates helped with the translations.

Getting off the train in Monterosso we were greeted to humidity and heat. We knew basically where we were going and made a bee line to the Hotel Cinque Terre. It reminded me of an island hotel. I looked for the little guy who would say “The Plane The Plane”, but all I found was the nice elderly lady at the counter. We were escorted to our room on the third floor. The room was without air conditioning but with large doors opening to the outdoors and a fan. Sea breezes and cool nights would keep us content even if we fought with a few neighborhood dogs barking or the sound of a moped or two. The trains that ran sounded like waterfalls, but they stop at midnight so that doesn’t last too long.

We found our first dinner restaurant named Tortuga high on a Monterosso cliff face. They treated us to a seafood risotto, swordfish in a capers butter sauce, and a tiramisu, all very good. The risotto had a firmer texture than I was normal to and would like to try something akin to it at home.

The next day we took the regional boat to Riomaggiore where we walked the “Via della’ Amore”, Street of Love. You have to pay to walk this little section as it is the most popular. It is a nice walk situated right on the sea that anyone should be able to complete. The walk put us in Manarola which we then scouted for a suggested restaurant, Trattoria Billy. We were about to give up finding it since it was far from the tourist area and near the entrance to the town. We were very glad to find it however as we had a primi of pasta al Billy, a fried seafood (calamari/squid) plate, and whole grilled fish sided with grilled eggplant in balsamic. Very very good. We topped ourselves off with un caffe and then walked back to the train station, delighted to have visited Billy.

We had thought to stop in Vernazza; instead we decided to go there for dinner since we had another suggestion for Ristorante Gambero Rosso. When we made our way back out that evening the restaurant was not a disappointment. The staff was friendly, fun, and lively. The outdoor tables were huddled together and we had a nice conversation with a couple from la Spezia. The woman had never visited Cinque Terre in 30 years. As the night drew on they had to hurry out as they were in sun/water wear and had to ride home on a scooter. We had a great meal here consisting of home made pasta & pesto, stuffed mussels, grilled tuna & another fish we just couldn’t put a name to. For dessert the house had a “Dolce della Casa” which we had to order. It had a great sampling of a flan like lemon custard, soft strawberry mousse, an almond cake, and another spice-like cake. We were then treated by our happy waiter introduced us to a local dessert wine that sounded like “Shakatora”. This was a great night but we learned one of our final train lessons. Make sure you know when you can get home as we had to wait an hour and a half for the last train to pick us up to go back to Monterosso.

Cinque Terre is a beautiful set of locations. It is commonly described as a place that is a “fishing village”. With the amount of tourism, and Italian vacationers, the place was all a bustle and seemed very far away from a quiet rural spot. Highly recommend it but bring some cash because the food costs get pretty high.

Next on our stops, Florence, Part 1 of 2

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