Milan and Turin...

We spent a four day weekend in Milan and Turin. Milan was really nice. We did not see much of Turin other than the very long wait in line to see the Shroud of Turin.

Let's start in Milan - the fashion capital of course. The needle and thread is a neat display that starts the fashion district part of the city.

We journeyed on to the castle of the city and the art displayed within.

This was the last piece being worked on by Michelangelo right before he died in Milan.

I really enjoyed the Madonna and Child with Mary nursing baby Jesus.
My favorite people posing with other famous people!

So then we headed to the famous Duomo in the main part of the city. The Duomo is quite amazing and the photos don't come close to showing it's true beauty - which are in the elaborate stained glass windows. This cathedral is in the heart of the city and is second in size only to St. Peters in Rome. It took over 200 years to complete the building. The dedication of several generations to complete this structure is stunning by today's standards.

The Madonna at the top of the Duomo.

The famous rose window that is centered by the sun symbol that you find all over the city and represent the city of Milan.

St. Bartholomew - who was stripped of his skin for his transgressions. This is the most famous statues in the Duomo.

The main pulpit of the Duomo.

Unfortunately, we did not get to see DaVinci's Last Supper. The tickets were sold out for weeks ahead and even though they are free, we could not get them. We were told that many of the tourist groups reserve out bunches of the tickets then sell them online - so boo to them. We will get back to Milan again, I'm sure and hope to see it next time.

One of our days was spent in Turn, where all I can say is "Oh my aching feet." We had tickets to see the Shroud of Turn - which most people believe is the burial clothe of Jesus. So, whether you believe it or not, it is a tremendous religious symbol so many, many, many...people stand on line for hours, and hours, and hours...to see it. We, being the religious nuts that we are known to be, joined the line! (!!)

(OK, sidebar here. Most of you know that Lenny is what those church going folks call a CEO - Christmas and Easter Only - so he went out of his way to get these tickets for me - the Christian upon whom he is relying to ride my tailcoat into heaven. So, being the appreciative wife that I am, I could not disappoint him by not willingly standing in what was by far the longest line I have every stood in all of my life. Our feet were aching and we stood there for over 3 hours. So, I tried not to complain, but I don't think I managed that very well. Despite it all, I'm glad we did it so we checked it off the list!!)

They only put the shroud on display ever 10 years, so this really was a "once in a lifetime experience."

The crowds!

I do want to go back to Turin since the city is quite beautiful and we really did not get to see it because our feet hurt so much.

So now, we are almost done with May - and considering that it's almost July maybe I should be pleased with that?? I really need to get my ironing done so I must stop writing for a bit. Besides, I'm sure you are all sick of reading all this stuff!

Coming soon...Corfu (Greek Isle) for Memorial Day weekend! Stay tuned!

Austria and the drive South...

So, we left the castles of Germany behind to get over the Alps and into Austria for the night. The drive was just amazing. Alex was very funny as she kept seeing thing after thing that was so beautiful she could not stop saying "Wow!"

So here's the famous Cooper for which we drove three days to Germany. Lenny said we'd share it, but since it's been over a month and the only chance I've had to date was on the drive here from Germany, I suppose it's really his car. This problem was solved by the fact that my car did finally arrive (in early June that is) and now I have the big "Mommy Mobile" and can keep up with the Italians.

So, back to the trip home. Driving the Alps was quite an experience. One that while I was not overly eager for, I would love to do again!

The views were tremendous.

And...now we are on the Austrian side.

We drove a few hours and ended up in Innsbruck for dinner. We found a lovely little hotel that had a great restaurant. Turns out they eat the same foods as the Germans and so we had a traditional "German" dinner of Schnitzel.

We did not have a lot of time in Innsbruck but we did do a little touring downtown before getting on the road. I long to go back there soon as spend more than half a day.

We spent the morning in the town square and visiting the famous Dome of St. Jakob. This place is the most amazing and just simply ornate one I've seen outside of St. Peters.

Can you imagine preaching from there?

So, those who've followed my photographs know that I tend to find the odd in midst of the normal everyday. Well, as we walked through the town I saw this tag on the street - No Cops. Lenny and Alex were forced into my art and did so in an agreeable manner - which is to say that Lenny went along with it because it shuts me up and Alex, of course, is game for anything! Don't be surprised if this shows up on our Christmas cards!

On over the border we went and crossed into Northern Italy. This border is amazing and the vineyards are tremendous. This view is of a cloister of nuns who make wine. We drove up the hills - with zig zag turns and all to have a great lunch on the Italian side of the border - only to realize that in Northern Italy the first language is actually - you guessed it - German!

It was Mother's Day so we just enjoyed the view and a great meal. Hmmm...sounds like food is a top priority, well, it's Italy after all!

We made this journey into a four day event. We drove further south to Verona, Italy. Which for Shakespeare fans is the famous home of Romeo and Juliet. Unfortunately, we had bad weather and so we did not have any good photos to share. The most interesting thing that happened after spending all that time in Germany what do we find in downtown Verona but a German Beer Festival! So, we had the traditional oversized cup of beer and on we went toward home.

Catching up...

So, it's been a while. Lenny told me last night that I need to get back into my blog as I have not done anything in a while. I could make a lot of excuses but the reality is that I've been so busy doing nothing and enjoying it that I have not been writing about it! Well, I can't even say that's the truth since we've actually be pretty busy I just have not taken the time to write about it.

So, I left off telling you we'd go visit a castle, and we did just tat.

On our way to the Neuschwanstein Castle, we found this lovely church at the foot of the hill. The weather was a bit overcast and chilly - it was still Spring here and Germany is not known for it's balmy weather!

Take note of the lovely yellow flowers. We say them all along our route and they just covered the hills. The beauty of them was amazing so we took many photos along they way.
It turns out, upon loser examination that the flowers covering the fields were nothing less than...yes, you are seeing it right. They are the bane of existence for homeowners and yet, covering field after field in Austria they are just amazing - Dandelions!

We got a real kick out of that.

So, on up to the castle. This castle had quite a tragic history but the bottom line is that the prince that constructed it was ultimately dethroned - driven crazy and drowned in a lake with his psychiatrist. He was well known for construction of the vast castles and in fact was the primary designer of at least three of them, the most famous of which is Neuschwanstein. Often this one is called the Sleeping Beauty Castle and was the inspiration of the design for the Disney versions in California and Florida.

We took what every princess takes, a horse and buggy ride up the hill to the castle.

The view as we headed up the hill.

The first stop on the route is the cantilever bridge. For those who don't know (an I who had to look it up) "cantilever" is a design aspect that puts equal parts pressure toward the center so the bridge stays up without support in the center. This bridge was quite high above a river and the view is spectacular. I'm not a huge fan of heights so I tried not to look over too often!

No photos were allowed in the castle itself, so we only have them at a distance. The inside was quite spectacular as well and we decided that we would spend a good portion of the next couple of years tackling the objective to see as many of these wonderful German Castles as possible.

We departed that afternoon for Innsbruck, Austria where we spent the night before heading down into Italy for the drive home. Next up, Mother's Day in Austria.

Munich, Part II

Alex loved this gal hanging out in the square! Hopefully, she will never hit this stage?!Yes, Lenny I can read a map!
We found these friendly Lions in the inner courtyard of the New Town Hall. They are really just for a restaurant, but we like to make fun of ourselves in public, so here we are.
OK, I guess I have to explain. Anyone who's looked at our FB photos knows that I have this thing with kissing inanimate objects. It started out as a joke between Lenny and I and has now developed into a full blown obsession. Alex harasses me to do it now while Lenny walks away and pretends he's not actually with us. So, there you go. Don't be surprised to see pictures of me doing this sort of thing all over Europe.
Alex in the square. The girl just can't take a bad picture. I'm hoping she'll be "discovered" while we travel Europe and I can become her manager.

The Carillon or Glockenspiel. Played for us at 5 p.m. and it was great. We waited quite a long time in the city square for the time to come and wouldn't you know, Alex had to use the rest room a 1 minute until 5 p.m.! I sent her into a restaurant - and I waited outside. She made it back in time to see the show! The top part of the clock is a celebration of the marriage of a Duke Wilhelm V to Renata. The bottom is a traditional Schäfflerstanz (the coopers' dance). In the 16th century a particularly bad period of the plague hit town and everyone went into hiding. The first people to dare go back onto the streets were barrel makers who performed a big dance to show that it was okay to come out again. The Duke of Bavaria was so happy about this that he actually ordered them to re-enact this every seven years, a custom which continues to this day. (Next one is 2012, maybe we'll be there?) (*I stole that from Wikipedia, just wanted to be honest!)

The gargoyle, I just liked him mainly because he looks like he might of just passed gas! I know, odd sense of humor I have!

The cherub slaying the snake was one of four representing the four evils of the world on the fountain in the middle of the square.

I wish I was better at figuring out how to edit the photos in these posts so it does not require you to roll around to see which photo I'm talking about. One day I'm just going to spend the day figuring it all out!

Now, I've been blogging now for three hours to catch things up and we have not even hit the Alps yet??!! Lenny did not get to enjoy Munich as we departed on Saturday morning to head to the infamous Neuschwanstein Castle on our way to Innsbruck.

Next up, Castles...

P.S. There is only limited space to upload photos here. I have been posting most of our best photos on Facebook. If you want to see them, you can find us on FB at lennyandsandy@yahoo.com or just send me an email and I can send you links to view our full photo album.

Munich and the Cooper

New Town Hall.

Old Town Hall
View from the top of the New Town Hall looking to the Old Town Hall.Loved this "gargoyle" of a dragon attacking a group above with the spire of the Old Town hall in the background.
Madonna is the center of the square!

There has been much debate in our household on what to do about the fact that my car (a Pacifica - mommy-mobile) is still en route and we had just Chip, the old Naples beater to share between us. We came to the base and spoke the the car guys - because you can buy a car here and not pay taxes so you save a bit. The only cars they sell on the base here are Fords. I don't have anything against Fords, and in fact, if I could get a Mustang, this is where the story would end. But, the only affordable car for us was the Focus. BOOORRRRRRRIIIIINNNGGGG.

So while we negotiated for a boring car, Lenny made his way to Germany for 13 days worth of meetings. Turns out, in Germany you can buy way more cool cars - including BMWs - so we started a new debate. What can we afford and will it require me getting a JOB - which is a restricted word in our house! We settled on a Mini Cooper - and it's adorable and fun to drive.

So, thus an unplanned vacation begins. Alex and I flew up to Munich on May 7th to meet up with Lenny and drive the car over the Alps and back to Naples. It's a bit of a haul so we made a four day weekend of it. Lenny did not get to Munich until Saturday so Alex and I did our touring on Friday after landing and had a lovely day.

Munich is beautiful. Clean and friendly and even the cold, wet weather (which followed us the entire weekend) did not put us off. We dropped our luggage at the hotel and went downtown. Keep in mind, years ago - when I was 16 in fact, I did a summer Rotary Exchange program in Germany. I flew over with a large group and we all landed in Frankfort. All of the others I flew over with then headed south to Bavaria - ALL of them - and I was put on a train North. At the time I thought I must have done something bad because all I really knew of Germany was the castles and sights of Bavaria. I ended up in the Harz Mountains area near the East/West German border. It took some adjusting, but I did fall in love with the region - and the adorable blond boys who always seemed to be around, the warm beer at the pubs, etc. (Yep, 16! but it was all legal.)

So now, slightly older, I was very happy to see what Bavaria was all about and I was not disappointed. While no beautiful blond boys paid me any attention at all, I still enjoyed sharing Germany with Alex. It was a fast afternoon and we will certainly go back.

Some of the highlights, we went in the "New Town Hall" which is the building you see above that looks very much like a cathedral. There is also a shot of the Old Town Hall from the spire of the New Town Hall - it's a bit on a smaller scale. Like many of the cities we have travelled, Madonna is the highlight in the town square and you see Munich's famous Madonna with the New Town Hall in the background. In the next post you will see the famous Carillon - also called a Glockenspiel which dances three times a day. I was very glad that we were able to hang around downtown and see it do it's thing!

More pics in the following post.

Roses of our Yard

It's been a while since I've blogged - mainly because we've been quite busy here with travel and such. So, first I wanted to share some of the pictures that I took after a rain storm here the first week of May. Our landlord is a master gardener and he lovingly cares for these roses and they surround our yard. This is just a small taste of some of the varieties he has and he is here at the house almost daily to assure their care.

One thing important in Naples is to have a good landlord. Whether he is "connected" or not is a topic of discussion among some neighbors but we don't care since his connections keep us from being robbed. It's a sad state of affairs but the unemployment here is nearly 40% so while they intend to do no harm, robbing Americans of some of their possessions is a way of life. We have bars on the windows and must remember to lock them when we leave or at night. I guess it's not that different as we had so many bikes stolen back at home that I lost track and the car was broken into more than once, so at least here they do it to feed their families!

I'm still working on getting the driving thing down and yesterday Alex and I took a ride to an old family friend's day care center - my first trip through the heart of a little town and not on the highway. What a grand adventure it was. What I have quickly realized is that you just look straight ahead, not side to side. If you look left or right, you will more than likely rear-end the guy ahead of you. So, it turns out I impressed my 12 year old (who quite honestly thinks I am the dumbest person on the planet lately) with my skills! Didn't hit anyone, didn't let anyone cut me off, smiled politely at those who felt the need to be ahead of me and gave them courteous gestures of respect. (O.K. I can't really give any gestures at all because managing the steering wheel on old Chip (the car) and the stick shift is just about my pay grade. So, I just smile and shrug.

There will be a lot to catch up on today as it's time for me to fill you all in on our adventures in travel. Next up...Cooper!

Meet Margaret and Chip

O.K. So my friends are harassing me to blog more. I was very busy assuring my afternoon nap was taken care of, so I apologize to those who are waiting with baited breath for my updates!

Having successfully napped already today, here we go!

Lenny has left us and gone up to Germany for 13 days (he's actually already a week in) so I've been on my own for the first time. With limited knowledge of the area, I decided to stick with what I know and stay pretty much between the two Navy installations we have here. The base where Lenny works is called Capo (short for Capodichino which is right next to the airport) and the Support Site which is where the base housing (for the suckers who have to live on base!) and the Exchange and Commissary are there.

We have a GPS - and we have named her Margaret. She is Margaret because she speaks to us in a British accent and the only English name Lenny could think of was Margaret Thatcher. She does have a very authoritarian voice, so it works! When you don't take the turn she has indicated she gives you a semi-frustrated "Recalculating" message. Her only issue is that she's not quite as quick on the uptake as the Naples traffic expects me to be.

In my adventure to Capo to simply park the car she twice told me to make a left hand turn several seconds after I had passed said turn. She simply "recalculated" me and back I went. Here's another funny thing about traffic here - the roads only go one direction, so if you miss your ramp to someplace you can't just go up to the next exit and go back the other way. You have to suffer passing through several small towns and somehow, Margaret comes through at the last and puts us back the way we came. Lovely.

Alex is quite tickled that I talk to Margaret as I drive. The reason is since I'm already driving the oldest Naples beater around, I feel that I should be polite to the car and the GPS so they will continue to take me where I need to go. So in that vein, while Lenny was gone we also named the car - He is now known as Chip. This makes sense right? He has many chips where he has lived through some typical Naples side swipes. So, he is Chip.

I fear that Chip is not long for this world though because while Lenny is in Germany he's been working on purchasing a new car. My car - the Pacifica - is somewhere in the Atlantica en route to Naples, so that would mean that Chip will be retired from our little family. This does not make me sad even a little.

So, now we head into a few very busy days. I will try to get the post up about Alex and my visit to the Royal Palace downtown Naples but friends, Alex and I will be flying on Friday up to Munich to meet up with Lenny and we will be spend the next few days driving our new car back to Naples. We hope to make several stops along the way and will get lots of photos.

Looking forward to updating you all soon.