Munchin in Munchen

When we checked in for our flight to Munich (Munchen in German), Wendy was worried about having to pay extra, due to the weight of her bag being over the "limit" (50 lbs).  So she goes first and puts her luggage on the scale.  She sees that it is over by at least 20 lbs but the ticket lady had not said anything about it being too heavy.  Doug and I could only look at each other in wonder as Wendy asked, "Does that weigh too much!?"  We quickly shut her up with our heavy laughter as we imagined the very few ways she could've handled that worse.  One of which was her taking out her wallet, opening it up wide as if to offer it's entire contents and saying, "Is this enough to cover it?"  It's gonna be funny for a long time to come!  The flight was pleasant and we got our new favorite airline candy bar, Balisto.  I saw someone throwing their's away and I almost snagged it for Wendy, THAT'S how good they are!

We got a nice little surprise when we went to get all of our seats together for the Munich to Chicago flight!  They had overbooked it and were offering $900 plus hotel for the night and also dinner and breakfast for each of us!  We debated if it was doable but quickly came to the realization that we couldn't pass it up.  So we got over $3000 collectively which, using Doranian mathematics, paid for our trip entirely!!  Plus, we got to have a night on the town in Munich and Wendy and Doug had never been to Munich before.  I was really excited myself because Munich was definitely a close 2nd in the ranking of favorite cities I visited in my backpacking trip with Shane in 2003.  We were put up in the Airport Sheraton Hotel, which was a 5 min shuttle ride from the Airport.  It was a pretty nice place actually, not overly posh but not dumpy in any way.  We all tried (fruitlessly) to call home using Doug's calling cards but none of them worked.  We just paid with a credit card or room charge instead and then took a much needed nap.  After the naps, we went to our buffet dinner which wasn't too bad and the Paulaner Weiss Beers were money on the spot!  We liked them so much, we ordered another round.  I was loving the chance to enjoy some hometown German beer.   We caught a cab back to the airport, got a train ticket and headed to the Marienplatz (Main Square).  There were several beer halls around the area and after checking out the Marienplatz at night we strayed into Donisl and had some Hacker-Pschorr Pilsners.  They were tasty but we decided to move on and experience another hall.  As we walked, Doug noticed a sign for Kilian's Irish Pub so we stopped in for a pint of Black Velvets (Guiness and Hard Cider) and Irish Car Bombs, Wendy had a Red Snake (Cider, WiessBier and Blackcurrant juice) which she loved.  There was a birthday party going next to us and some of them looked like they were way too young but the legal age for beer is 16.  Either way, everyone looked like they were having a great time, their wings and onion rings becoming very appealing despite the fact that we had recently eaten.  Time was ticking away on our night so we moved on once again, bound for the legendary Hoffbrau House!  On our way there, we saw a few people gathered around a telescope.  It turned out that there were 2 telescopes actually and they were much bigger than any I had ever used before.  One of the guys that I assume owned it said that today was "World Wide Astrology Day" , of which we had never heard that before in our lives.  Celebrate the assassination of the Civil Rights Movement's Leader by looking at some stars.  What I saw when I looked into the first one totally blew my mind!!  It was aimed at Saturn and you could not only see the rings with your own eyes but you could see the moon of Saturn as well!  I actually asked if it was real.  The other telescope was aimed at the moon and this was even more amazing than the view of Saturn.  I have never seen such a clear, live view of the moon in my life, it was breathtaking.  I liked them so much I had to go for second look on each.  

With uranus (I mean Saturn) on our minds, we got back on track only to be sidetracked again by a Japanese restaurant.  Our intense desire for some food variety kicked in and turned us towards the entrance.  They were closing but directed us to a different Japanese restaurant, Toshi, a few blocks away.  We went all out and got some Edamame, and one each of California Roll, Spicy Tuna Roll and an Alaska Roll along with a couple bottles of Asahi Beer.  Everyone was in heaven!!  I've never tasted Sushi so good!  I'm not sure that it was actually THE best (though it could be!) Sushi ever but it was more about the timing and desire that made it great.  I could've eaten a couple more rolls myself but we went on our way once more, this time to the Hoffbrau House for real...and they were closing at 11:30pm.  We gleaned from the locals that they deal with drinking lushes all day long and they sort of say, "Ok, we've had enough...get out!"  Rejected, we scuffled on to find one more beer hall to enjoy before our night's end.  On our way, we happened upon a little Kabob joint (think Gyros, not meat on a stick) and even though we didn't need more food we all split one Donner Kabap, which was frickin fantastic!  It was so good that, for a second, I forgot about the awesome sushi we just had.  We were talking about all the beer halls closing so early and Doug was trying to say how they go to the Pub first and the to the clubs but instead he said, "Well, I'm sure they're all planning on Plub then Cub".  Wendy and I had a really good laugh on that one!  Future beers were not in the cards though as it had gotten late and we didn't want to miss the last train back to the hotel.  Factoring in the half hour train ride back, we needed to go anyway to even get a chance at 4 hours of sleep.  All in all, it was an exciting and unexpected addition to an already amazing trip and I was glad it came about.

And on the last day, we rested

Our last day here in Italy.  It has felt like a really long time but also has seemingly gone quick, strange.  We've done so much and seen so many towns here, it has really been a once in a lifetime trip!  We all got up around 8:30 and had breakfast outside on the patio with Murph and his wife Lisa.  The Italians apparently can make a darn good French Toast, who knew?  The 3 of us guys had to return our scooters from the day before by 10:30 so after that I came back to the room and did the past 3 days of blogs while the others laid by the pool.  The price I have to pay to be the designated blogger I tell ya!  I napped after that and the others eventually tired of the sun and came up to figure out our lunch plans.  We are all so very tired of eating pizza, pasta and antipasto that we did several searches for a McDonald's.  It was for naught, there is no McDonald's here in Sorrento, amazing!!  We gathered our collective brain energy and formed the idea of going to a market and getting some fresh mozzarella and some tomatoes and making our own Caprese salads along with some nice bread.  The plan worked flawlessly, just like how Jeni has been quoting the A-Team's Hannibal all trip long "I love it when a plan comes together!"  We amassed all our ingredients underneath a tree next to the outdoor pool , including some fresh basil, olive oil that Jeni and Doran got earlier in the trip and the key ingredient...Wendy's 12 yr old Balsamic Vinegar she bought at Castello Banfi.  So good we couldn't just pour it out of the bottle, heavens no!!  We used a straw to trap some in there and dropped the portions out bit by bit.  It was quite possibly on of the best meals we had all trip and it only cost a total of around 25 Euro for everything!

After that, I did some sunbathing by the pool, Doug joined me for a bit then tried to make some calls, Jeni and Doran went up to their room and Wendy did more shopping.  We gathered back at our room to enjoy the 1999 Castello Banfi Brunello di Montalcino Reserva I had bought (it scored a 96 in Wine Spectator!) while we watched the slideshow of the trip Jeni and Doug had prepared.  The wine was great and it was really amazing to see all those photos capturing all the fun we've had the past 13 days!  You're really reminded of how much damn fun we had and how we will all remember this forever, unless we get alzeihmers I suppose.  Maybe even alzeihmers will get beat by the memory of this trip, that when we visit Wendy in her nursing home at the ripe old age of 81 and she asks us if we liked our day trip to Amalfi would be a testament to the magnificence and beauty of this experience!  I have loved this trip and I love my sibs and sib in law!!  I hope anyone reading this has enjoyed living vicariously through us, we love you all and would love to be here with you too!  Buona notte, ciao!  ~Dave

When you motor away...

Maybe I should've gone with a Nelson song "After the Rain" instead of a Guided By Voices reference in the title.  The day before or after a bad day always seems to be much improved, if not awesome.  In the morning the sun was shining and Doug, Doran and I decided to rent scooters and ride back out past Amalfi this time, to Ravello hopefully.  Jeni wanted to get some shots of us with the scooters so after renting them we headed the 2 blocks back to the hotel.  Jeni had her video camera ready and got each of us coming around the corner towards the hotel.  I was the last one of the group and as I started to take the turn, I noticed Doug wiping out on the (esp for him) easy curve!  I flat out died laughing!  Of all the people to wipe out, Doug was the best one of is to have it happen to!  No harm was done to man or machine so we got through our photo shoot and ripped off to the coast. 

Doug, Dave & Doran on the Hogs.

It was a little cold in town and I wished I had gloves for the ride.  As we tried a different route out of town, we got lost.  Sometimes the "let's just go and see what happens" theory doesn't work so well.  Drifting around some unknown town, I saw a sign for the town of Crapolla!  We all had a hearty laugh and took some photos for posterity.  

One town we didn't want to visit!

The local Police helped us get back on the road to Positano, which would get us out to Ravello.  The coast was perfectly sunny and there was not much traffic to navigate.  We opened it up and we were flying now, it felt amazing!  It made me wonder why anyone would take a smelly bus on these roads, curvy and right on the cliffs edge.  We knew from prior experience not to just sit behind a car if it was slower than us so we were darting in and out of on coming traffic most of the time.  It was quite a thrill!!  We stopped several times along the way to appease Doug's video "ideas" which we will see if they turn out or not.  Wendy forgot to get sand from the beach in Positano so we dropped down there for a quick bit and we were back on the road again.  We went thru Amalfi to Ravello where we decided to get lunch.  We found a pizzeria that had take away pizzas.  Doran and Doug really wanted some authentic sausage on theirs so they asked if the "Furter" was sausage and the man said yes.  They ended up getting sliced hot dogs.  I loved my pizza though with Ham, Mozzarella, Artichokes, Pepperoni and Tomatoes...mmm!  The town is pretty small and we wanted to get down to another beach past Ravello so we scooted on but couldn't figure out how to get down there.  Rejected, we decided to head back homeward, stopping at a new town called Scala just to see what was there.  Scala led us up to the micro-town of Minuti where there was a sign for Punto Panoramico (Panoramic Point).  We went as far as we could with the scooters, parked them and walked down the trail.  We were WAY above Ravello and Atrani (town between Ravello and Amalfi) at this point and you could see everything including clear across the sea.  I know it will be the best view, with the Amphitheater in Pompei a close second, that I will see on this trip!  I wish I could even describe it but the picture will have to try for me.  

An unforgettable view from Minuti.

It was getting a little late, factoring in the drive back so we turned it towards Sorrento and buried the needle (except for mine, whose Speedometer and Odometer didn't work at all!)  At some point in the trip, I suggested that if we weren't going to be back on time, we should call the girls and let them know because they'll get worried.  Doug said he had a calling card as Doran said "Jeni won't worry".  Doug didn't end up making that call and when we returned, they weren't too happy about our lack of courtesy.  Now, I've been in a few relationships in my life and I'm still amazed that after all this time, even when presented the option and reminder to be courteous, men still make it a second thought.  What amazes me even more, is how the person who wasn't courteous can somehow find a way to be mad at the person who was sitting there worried about their loved ones safety.  

Dinner plans were made for a Pizza place, imagine that!!  As we walked down, Doran was ahead of the group and he just disappeared.  He was being mopey or angry or whatever he had no right to be and none of us cared to have him around in that state anyway...brings back some memories of Pa doesn't it?  I guess the nickname RJ is there for a reason.  We all enjoyed our meals, Wendy and Jeni got Pizza and Doug and I split a steak and got our own pastas.  My lasagna was probably the second best I've ever had (at least outside of my mom's house).  Doug got his new favorite (and mine too) Penne all' Arrabiatta.  On our walk back, we stopped at the #1 Gelato place in all of Sorrento, Primavera Gelato.  They had somewhere around 50 flavors I bet and we all found something we loved, even though some of us might have bought $14 worth.  There was a bowling alley a block from the hotel that we had seen earlier and the plan was to bowl a couple games in Italy.  We were able to bring our own beers so we stocked up at the grocery store and gathered a group of at least 12 people to roll the night away.  We had a lot of fun and by midnight, everyone was ready for bed.  An Edward Jones Financial Advisor from Alaska's daughter, Andrea and  I decided to continue the night with some hiking up some 300 steps that Wendy had done earlier in the day.  We walked for almost 2 hours, enjoying whatever small town we were in and the views of Sorrento and the Bay of Naples below.  We got back to the hotel and I, of course, had some internetting to do.  I finally crawled into bed, just in time to be lulled to sleep by Wendy's snoring.  Instead of counting sheep I counted tree trunks that Wendy was cutting!  The girls will have to fill you in on the non-worrying portion of the day, they shopped is all I really know.  One full day left!!  I can't believe it's almost over and even though I would love to stay in Italy, my friends, my bed and American food are calling me!  Ciao!

Stinging in the rain

Hoping for good weather today, we (along with Bonnie Bakke and her sister Grace) packed up and got onto the bus...that's gonna take us to the Amalfi Coast.  (a little Soul Coughing for ya).  With the Jones arranged tour, it would've cost something like $70 but we took the regular bus and it only cost $9!  The views of the coast and cliffs were pretty good, as good as you could expect for an overcast day.  We stopped in Positano, a town made famous in the Audrey Hepburn film Roman Holiday.  It was amazing!  This little town, crammed into the cliffs, homes built seemingly on top of each other all the way up the rock walls.  Bonnie and Grace had received some advice to go to the restaurant Chez Black and that the proprietor, Rosario, would take care of us.  At the end of our walk down to the small beachfront in town, without even looking for it, Chez Black was right there!  

Doran, Bonnie & Doug with our server Rosario

So we hung out there for several hours, taking in the beautiful view of the town and the sea while enjoying lunch and great service from this excellent eatery.  We had a little more time before the bus came to take us on to Amalfi and we decided to meet up again an hour or so later.  Everyone did their own thing for the most part, from taking in Art Galleries to more shopping to eating Kinder Gelato (best so far!!).  The weather was getting worse though and this would be the turning point of the day.  

Dave on the beach

We all got together again and walked up to the bus stop.  As we waited, we all debated if we should continue on to Amalfi or head back to Sorrento.  We decided that we would take the first bus that shows up, whichever way it was going.  Unfortunately the Amalfi bus showed up first.  Someone at the bus stop has said they heard the busses weren't going all the way there, that there was something wrong with the road.  When we got to the edge of Praiano, we found out they were right.  The bus stopped and no one did anything, and eventually the bus driver just yelled a "Hello!?" and explained that we had to get out and walk 1 km to the other side and take a bus from there to Amalfi.  We debated again if we should go but we figured this might be our only chance to see Amalfi so we went on.  The walk, in the rain and into the wind mind you, was actually 2km!!  There was, of course, no visible reason why the bus could not sally forth onto Amalfi.  Once we arrived at the other bus stop we waited, in the rain and cold wind for the bus to show, not knowing when that would actually be because the schedules were WAY too messed up from this wrench in the well oiled Italian bus system (the seats were oily from their hair, the transit system sucked! (jk))  Finally a bus came to end our suffering and we drudged our way to Amalfi.  I slept almost the entire way and woke up to us getting off the bus.  We went in to a couple stores and Wendy bought an umbrella.  

In the rain at the bus stop in Positano

The next thing I knew, Jeni, Doran and I were on a bus headed back to Sorrento.  Cold, wet and generally tired of things, we said "Amalfi Shmalfi" and got the heck outta Dodge!  The others said they were going to take a cab back.  We had already paid for a round trip ticket so we just counted our blessings we were out of the weather and going home.  We had to walk the 2 km again, this time it was easier with the wind at our backs and took no time at all and the bus was there when we arrived, things were looking up.  Then after 10-20 mins of the bus not going anywhere we asked when it was leaving and they told us it would be ANOTHER 45 mins until it left...ugh!  With a bus full of teenagers yelling and laughing, the wait seemed more like 45 hours!  Finally the bus started and we headed back to Sorrento.  We decided to get food at a restaurant Patti Bosco had recommended and it was only ok at best.  My Penne all' Arrabiatta was very good but the service and the bread was bad AND they charged not only a seating fee of 1.50 Euro but also a 15% service fee that ISN'T for the waiter...weak!  Bad day (relatively) #2 behind us, we sauntered back to the Hilton and called it a day.  So it looks as though April Fool's Day was indeed a joke this year...a bad one.

Ah-heee...CAH-pree!

Travel back in time with me to Tuesday as I forgot to do that blog entry and everyone else's blog fingers have died.  We got up early and caught the boat to Capri for 27 Euro.   I don't even get why anyone would do the Edward Jones endorsed tours for at least 3 times the price.  The boat ride was decent but it was mostly cloudy out with a good chance for rain.  When we arrived on the island we got tickets for the Funicular and rode that up to the proper area of Capri.  We had a coffee (Coke Light for me) at a nice little caffeteria and lounged for about an hour.  I think we all felt a bit sluggish, possibly due to the overcastiness going on but we finally arose and took a small little bus to the town of Anacapri.  There we found a chairlift (with only single chairs) that would take us to the highest point of the island, Monte Solero.  The view was amazing and you could see all around the island.  We tried in vain to find a spot to have a picnic lunch but to no avail.  The rain started coming down and it was very windy up there (duh!).  So we headed back down and as we descended a whole entire class of kids were heading up.  We joked that it was God telling us to leave with the rain so we didn't get stuck having a picnic up there with 50 teens screaming and laughing.  We had our picnic down in Anacapri instead and eventually somehow crammed into the bus with 80 other people and went back to Capri for some shopping.  Afterwards, we went back down to the bay to figure out how to see the Blue Grotto caves that are all the rave.  Of course, the Blue Grotto tour was closed because the seas were too choppy...damnit!  So, we decided to head back when the next boat came.  Some of us sat and waited, some of us walked around and shopped some more until our boat came.

Tuesday night was the Edward Jones theme dinner and we went to a little spot tucked in the hillside.  It felt a lot like the place we had the Budapest theme dinner, except the end result wasn't the same.  They brought out grilled veggies and 3 kinds of pizza, but we got hosed on the 3rd for some reason because they skipped our table.  The next course was Ravioli so good that Mr. Boyardee himself would approve!  I guess Karma decided to even us out because they came around with seconds on the Rav.  Thanks, jerks!  How bout you scurry over to that brick oven and make up some more of that 3rd, most delicious of the 3 looking pizza, huh?  Wine calmed us all down and the table red was flowing pretty well as we waited at least 25 minutes to get our main course, Roasted Pork and Potatoes with a meager amount of gravy.  Until the extremely neglectful service woke up from their siesta and gave us our I hate to say it, but I have not been blown out of the water with any meal I've had yet and that is especially true of the desserts.  This one was no different either.  I don't even remember what it was, to be honest, it was THAT forgettable.

A lazy Monday

Yeah, if you thought the pace sounded slow yesterday, get a load of today.  Doug and Doran went to their FA meeting and Wendy and Jeni joined them for the spouse portion at around 9:45.  I slipped in for breakfast around the same time and came back upstairs for more sleep.  The lot of them got back up to the room around noon and we putzed around some more until the city tour started at 2pm.  Doug and I didn't like the sound of a 3 hr tour in a bus so we played hooky and sat at the outside pool for 2 hours and ordered a couple of rounds of Corona as well as split a cheeseburger while we tanned.  Awesome!  We just chuckled about all the poor fools in a bus.  After that we went down and swam in the indoor pool for a bit, then came back up around 5pm and lounged about and internetted until our dinner with Patti Bosco, a broker for Hartford at 7pm.   We ate a great meal with some really good wine and walked home all the way up hill.  All in all a good day and now we sleep with thoughts of sugar plums in our head.  Tomorrow we head to the Island of Capri at 7am!!  Yay!

Our warp drive is damaged Captain!

Today marks the beginning of the "Edward Jones" portion of the trip.  Let me tell you, the pace is VASTLY different from what we were doing!  It's like flying at Warp speed in the Enterprise and the powerrr goes out, leaving you to cruise at a gentle pace.  We got to "sleep in" this morning (2pm is sleeping in for me) and we all had breakfast out in the kitchen/dining area.  Our host, Antonio, had arranged for us to have breakfast from 8:30 to 10:00.  Jeni and Doran were in the kitchen at 9:00 and he still wasn't down there so they decided to make themselves an Espresso.  Having owned a coffee shop, they clearly knew their way around a coffee machine so Doran did his first.  When Jeni was in the middle of hers, Antonio came down and got very mad that she was doing that.  But what we didn't really get is that maybe he was mad that HE wasn't able to serve us and not that they were using the machine themselves.  You just never fully know!  After breakfast and listening to Doug's video taping of Wendy sleeping (to document how "bad" her snoring was) we packed the Mondeo up for the last time and started our "quick jaunt" to Sorrento.  It was supposed to only be a 20 min drive that turned into at least an hour and a half due to traffic jams, city driving and general parking disorder.  I could never own a car in this country, unless I lived outside the city and NEVER needed to go to the city.  People park right next to someone that is already parked against the curb, not only leaving them with no way out but also blocking another lane of the street!  It's so messed up and just throws traffic completely out of whack.  We all cheered upon our arrival to The Hilton Sorrento Palace, elated to be in a more permanent space.

We checked in and our room has a great view of the water and the hills/mountains!  It was a bit overcast today so it wasn't as nice as it will be if it ever clears up.  The entire trip so far, Wendy and I had been noticing in the showers that there are these strings coming out of a plate in the wall and when you pull them they don't do anything.  Not until we got to Pompeii did this change and we discovered a buzzer went off when we pulled it this time.  We all figured it was the "I've fallen and I can't get up" string.  Well, the one here in The Hilton says ALARM right underneath the plate in the wall.  Curious George, I mean Doug, decided he wanted to find out what it did anyway!!  Everyone reading can guess that an alarm in the room went off and the phone rang immediately, the front desk asking if everything was alright.  We said yes and got it shut off, crisis averted.  Jeni and Doran brought up some "welcome mimosas" that all the Jones folk received after check-in and told us they were going down to the indoor pool.  Before we went down there, we checked out the rest of the hotel and Wendy had come up before us.  When Doug and I got up to the room, it was dark and Wendy said that when she got up there, the now famous alarm went off again.  She told us that she snapped a picture of the room and right at that instant, the alarm went off.  I told her that there is no photography in the room, as it was built and designed by an extremely famous architect and that's why it went off.  Doug and I chuckled quietly as she was buying into my ruse.  Finally Doug and I were cracking up and it was obvious to her then that I was yanking her chain and we all had a good laugh about it.  The pool was amazing!!  It was 3 stories underground with Fresco paintings all around and 3 story high cliffs with vines and plants growing on it.  The first thing I did was to climb up on to some part of them and "cliff jump" off, it was only 15 ft max though and the pool wasn't even 6 ft deep so I could only jump instead of truly dive.  We spent the better part of 3 or 4 hours in there I think until we decided we had had enough laughter and horsin' off.  Some of us napped for an hour before the Welcome Dinner started and some us are still napping and didn't get the rental car back in time.  The Welcome Dinner was tasty as usual, with a great pasta dish, Lasagna and Sea Bass for the main courses and some grilled veggies, octopus anitpasto and some Sweet Berry Mousse!!  They say you're supposed to spit it out but....no way hosay!!  Tastes like fruit!  (We've been quoting the Sweet Berry Wine sketch by John C Riley from the Tim and Eric Awesome Show all trip long and it still has legs!)  Afterwards we tried to figure out internet service, 88 Euro for a full week is the best deal available but that is still ridiculous!!  That puts it somewhere around $120 for only a week of wireless internet, that is more than the bottle of wine I bought in Montalcino!  But my body was starting to shake from Facebook withdrawals and I needed it, BAD!!  We talked with mom's friend Bonnie Bakke and her sister Grace for a while and then came up to the room, did some internet until our Wendy mandated lights out at midnight was enforced and went to bed.  Like I said, the pace is vastly different.  All we did was eat twice, swim and hang out...killer day!  Til tomorrow, take it easy loved ones!