UK!

 
In case you haven’t read previous trip posts, I am horrible at flying.  I think flying is AMAZING but I don’t fully appreciate it until I am home from my trip.  Basically, the least amount of turbulents freak me out and  I can’t sleep on a flight because I feel I need to stay awake to “help the pilot”.  And no, I have no skills whatsoever when it comes to flying a plane—just a worrywart about flying.  I was fortunate to be able to upgrade to Business which makes a HUGE difference in how I feel on the flight but I still can’t sleep.  The flight itself was very nice and calm.  Woohoo!  And, bonus, I got a free pass to use the “Arrival Lounge” in Heathrow’s Airport.  That was totally cool.  I managed to use almost every little amenity inside that shower room—whether I needed to or not!

Skipping over the part where I took the “lift” down a floor to get to the shuttles only to realize that they were on the original floor I had been on …and skipping over the part where I didn’t realize I could have bypassed the long wait at Hertz because, even after all these years, I was still considered a Gold Passport member (thanks to all those car rentals on my regular trips to Vanderbilt a decade ago.)  I got my small rental car (automatic…many are not) and slowly made it out of the rental lot and onto M4 (the highway).  I’ve driven in the UK before but it was a long time ago.  I remembered some of the basic weirdness of driving on the other side but it was little things that kept getting me.  Like, the parking break and gears being on the other side.  Or trying to adjust the mirror with my left hand instead of my right. After all, the ignition was still in the correct side.  I still don’t know if I successfully turned on the driving lights or not.  For awhile I thought the lights were the cruise control…wasn’t very effective in that role in case you were wondering.  Even after driving around for 5ish hours, I am still not sure where some of the things are in the car.  Don’t worry—I don’t plan to drive at night here.

I made it out of the heavier traffic of London and stopped at several of the rest areas along the road.  I don’t remember them from before.  They were similar to the service areas in the states.  I was thankful for their regular occurrence since I was jet lagged.  At one of them, I decided to relax for a bit. I parked in the 2-hour lot.   Since I wasn’t sure of the rules in the UK, I didn’t want to stay in the front seat in case it looked like I was sleeping behind the wheel so I got in the back seat and stretched my legs out.  Too small for any real rest but I needed to figure out it I should find a closer hotel and head to the castle the next day since I was getting worn out.  Right about that time, a crazy driver drove the wrong way and headed right toward me.  Since I was in the back seat, there was nothing I could do but try to figure out how hard he was going to hit me (and to be thankful that I got full insurance coverage for the car through Hertz).  He slowed when he realized I was there but then started again toward me.  I stared at him and he stopped and turned around somehow.  Well, that unexpected boost of adrenalin got me all riled up and I was wide awake for the rest of the drive!!!

Bovey Castle is in Dartmoor National Park and about 220ish miles from Heathrow.  The first 200 miles are really easy—get on M4 which connects to M5 and don’t accidently get off of it.  Even the next 16 miles on A30  aren’t too bad.  The last 10 miles, however, are much more challenging.  Bovey sends a link to their own directions to make sure visitors can avoid the teeny tiny roads that are only 1 car wide in spots.  Uh, yeah.  I found many of those roads on my journey.  Also met a nice guy in a new housing development (first spot where I could turn around on one of my accidental scenic routes) who said I was completely in the wrong area.  At this point, I called Bovey Castle to let them know that I was not going to make my 2pm afternoon tea.    Made it back to where I had started that last 10-mile part of the journey and found some free wifi at Hog & Hedge http://hogandhedge.co.uk/ (really cute place…recommend it if you are lost…or not lost in this area) and a tasty chocolate croissant and figured out where I had gone sooo wrong.  I also noted that there was a Travelodge right next to the food place in case I needed to give up on the castle.  I did pretty well until I made it to the little town of Bovey-Tracey.  Then it was more difficult to figure out where I should be.  I ended up finding one of the back roads to the castle that had many teeny tiny parts to it…very intimidating when a line of “Lorries” came the opposite way. After driving the amount of miles that the map had told me and realizing I was (once again) on the wrong road, I had to find a place to turn around.   I ended up with a chartered bus behind me for part of it.  When I found a place to pull over, I let the bus pass me and had it blaze a trail for me on the teeny tiny road. It worked much better seeing a large vehicle go in front of me.  Plus, cars coming the opposite way had to pull over for the bus so they just continued to wait for me too.

Incidentally, the hardest time I had remembering which side to drive on was on those teeny tiny roads where there are sometimes no divisions anyway.  However, when a car starts heading right toward you, it becomes important to remember that in the UK, you need to get to the left. 

Finally, I made to Bovey Castle.  The grounds are gorgeous and there is an award-winning golf course here too.  (Not planning to try it out since I can throw a golf ball further than I can hit it…and that’s not saying much.)  I didn’t do much exploring upon arrive.    My main objective was to take a nap and then wake up for dinner.  I reserved a Valley-view Castle room.  It was a great decision.  The hotel also included a free sample of their Bovey Sloe Gin made here.  It is a red color and tasted great but after one sip of the powerful stuff, my face turned the same color as the drink.  One of Bovey’s activities available for guests is to take a course on how they make the gin.  Unfortunately, it appears to overlap in time with my “Birds of Prey” experience.   Oh well.

The Merchants (and Hotels) of Venice - July 11-17, 2016

Hmm,  now that I’ve been to Venice, I guess I’ll have to read or watch that Shakespeare’s play.

I loved Venice!  It is amazing.  I stayed at two different hotels while there and loved both of them for different reasons.  The first hotel, Hotel Concordia, was right in the heart of the action.  Literally outside the front of the hotel were numerous shops and restaurants.  I technically didn’t have to leave that tiny little area to get most of the things people want to do/see in Venice.  The back of the hotel is on Piazzo San Marco. 

Now, if you’ve been reading my other posts, you know how I like handrails.  So that was one area of issue that I had with the hotel.  The part on street level was essentially a very nice marble entryway with stairs up to the lobby.  If you have any reason you can’t climb stairs (aside from my wimpy-where’s-the-handrails attitude), then you might not want to stay here.  Once up in the lobby (0), there is a teeny tiny elevator that was even smaller than other elevators I’ve seen in Europe.  While technically it could fit two people, I think I only ever saw one person in it at a time.  I had gotten a great deal for a larger room on hotels.com.  I took the elevator up to the second floor (2) and then had to climb more stairs up to an attic-type area.  It was a large room with a seating area and a nice bathroom.  But, once again, if there were reasons I couldn’t climb stairs, it would have been impossible to get up there since it was stairs-elevator (or stairs)-and more stairs.  However …Location …Location …Location!  It was perfect for my personal goals there.  It also was easy to have some friends meet me there since it was in the heart of so much activity.  The best part of the location was early in the morning and later in the evening when the bulk of the tourists weren’t around.  It had a completely different feel as the merchants opened their shops before the first tour groups landed in the area.

My second hotel was a few bridges over and about half-way between Piazzo San Marco and the Rialto Bridge.  Hotel Ai Cavalieri di Venezia –on old 18^th century palace converted in Feb 2015 to a hotel (if I understood them correctly.) It was in a quiet area but still close to the action to make it super convenient.  The hotel didn’t have its own restaurant but it did serve breakfast.  (It’s sister hotel was nearby with a restaurant but I didn’t check it out.)  It was probably a good thing that I had to leave the hotel to go find food because I don’t think I’d want to leave it otherwise.  I ended up in a junior suite that was on the first floor (or second floor for those from the US.)  It was gorgeous with an original fresco on the ceiling.  Seriously, I spent a lot of time staring at the ceiling.  The room was clean.  The furniture (looked like antiques or really good replicas) was beautiful and huge, and the bathroom was all marble but with an anti-slip mat that I had been longing for in the other three hotels I’d stayed in during my trip to Italy.  The hotel itself had some great options for boat tours, Murano glass tours, and even the fireworks display for a big event in Venice.  I was content to just see the neighborhood and stare at my ceiling.  ;) 

I ended up with more stuff than could fit in my bag so I decided to take a water taxi back to the train station.  It was a flat fee of 70Euros.  While it was a lot compared to a Vaporetto, I figured it was a chance to see different parts of the city than would be possible otherwise as we went through smaller canals.  I had to order it about 30 minutes in advance but he showed up about 20 minutes after the call.  (My hotel had its own water boarding area.)

Getting on and off the water taxi was not a problem since they seemed very used to accommodating tourists.  In fact the main problem was after I was on the dock that one of the other tourists trying to get to the water taxi and it was hard to get around her on the narrow dock.  Not the water taxi’s fault.  I’d recommend it if you have the ability to do so. 

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venice? - July 11, 2016

Skip this post unless you really want to know the excruciating details of traveling by train from Rome to Venice.  In case you’re like me, I wanted to have a really good idea of what it was like to get to Venice on my own.  So, here are some details about getting from Roma Termini to Venezia St. Lucia by train and Vaporetto.

I bought my tickets on Italo before leaving the states.  I only had my confirmation number and had not yet stepped foot into the train station.  As a result, I arrived WAY too early.  Since my hotel was within walking distance, I walked over about 2 hours before my train was to depart.  I checked in with Italo and they confirmed I really did just need to know my reservation code (and my cabin/seat number) to board the train.  Since I was leaving in the morning, there were no places to sit and relax so I spent two hours standing.  I found a little nook near a kiosk that wasn’t opened so at least I wouldn’t have to worry about someone coming up from behind me without my knowledge.  After about 90 minutes, a couple from Texas stood near me and it was nice to have someone to chat with while waiting.

Finally the track was posted for the train and I found my cabin.  When I tried to push the little green button to open it, a French man informed me in French that they were cleaning inside and we could not yet board.  When I said, “ah,” he asked (in French) if I spoke French.  I said, “un peu” and felt very happy that I knew enough to understand him.  (Okay, truth be told, it was more from how he was gesturing that I got the clue of what was going on but still, it’s communication, right???)

The doors were opened between 5-10 minutes before departure.  There were a couple of steep steps up like in the DC-to-NYC trains) but there was a great handrail (and you know I love me some handrails.)   I found my seat and realized that half the seats were facing one way and half the other.   I sat in my seat (7 in Prima so it was a seat by itself) with my bag overhead.  When we took off (on time which surprised me), I was facing backwards.   The rest of the cabin was full so it wasn’t like I could switch seats especially since they were reserved.  I mumbled to myself  and figured that I would just have to deal with it. 

After waiting so long at the hot train station, I was really dehydrated.  The train attendants served small cups of water, juice or soda and crackers or cookies twice during the trip.  I tried to go to the vending machine and had gathered all my Euro coins but they only took bills of 5 or 10.    There was also free Internet on the train but you need to have your reservation code and email handy.  Sometimes the internet worked fine…other times not so much.  Picky detail—the shades spanned two rows so if you wanted it down and the person in front/behind you wants to have it up—you have a problem.

In Florence, the train pulled into the station but then left the same way.  In other words, the train starts going the other direction and my seat was finally facing forward.  Woohoo!   There were a lot of tunnels during part of the trip but it was still a pleasant ride overall.   In some cases, the speed of the train, time, and temperature was shown on the digital readout above the cabin’s door.

There are two Venice (Venezia) stops.  I had double-checked before leaving that it was St. Lucia that I wanted.  But, it was still a little strange to ignore the first Venice stop. 

Finally, Venice.  Woohoo!  I took my time to get down the steps of the train and then made it outside.  Gorgeous view immediate upon leaving the train station.

There were multiple little ticket booths and Vaporetti areas.  I had no clue where to go so I got into one of the lines.

I knew my hotel was very close to Piazza San Marco and I knew from researching ahead of time that I needed either “1” or “2” but it didn’t quite click that those were essentially the bus line and not a particular stop on the generic all-encompassing line.  (It might seem obvious to you, but I am going to blame not sleeping well the night before.)

It was 7.50Euro for the ticket and the lady pointed in the direction that I needed to go to get to the bus and reminded me that I had to validate my ticket before boarding.  I’d heard a lot about how important that was so I intended to follow directions.  

I headed over to the right stop and watched someone try to validate their ticket but the machine didn’t work.  He went over to the nearby one and it beeped like it was supposed to.  I followed his example but I kept getting a red light.  I ended up walking back to the ticket booth and having them check my ticket.  They said it was already validated and that I could board.  Somehow I had must have got it close enough to the machine that it had validated before I had actually tried to do it.  The correct Vaporetto was just leaving when I finally got back to the area so I had to wait.  It’s probably a good thing too since random conversations with others made me realize that above my head in the dock waiting platform was the stops for Vaporetto 2.  It was kind of like the metro where you could see what was going to be coming up before your stop.  After a couple of Vaporetto came by just to drop people off or saying something implying that they weren’t taking any passengers (no idea why…but no one else moved to board so I didn’t either), another Vaporetto 2 docked.  It was easy to board with my bags (and my general klutziness) due to the way the boat docked and the ramp they had.  The gap between the boat and dock was as small as they could have made it and there was a person there that helped to reassure wimps like me that they wouldn’t just let us fall into the water while boarding.

The ride itself was cool but there were a lot of stops along the way.  It took awhile to figure out which direction the boat was going (both ways would have gotten me to the right place) so I found a seat inside and enjoyed the ride.  Although, the sounds of the motors when the boat was getting out of the way of other boats and when it was pulling up to a dock was a bit disturbing.  Part of me wanted to grab my belongings in case we were having engine troubles and I had to make a dash for the land.  (I chose to ignore that I was only capable of dogging paddling.)

Some of the smaller stops along the way seemed like they were more subject to the waves from passing boats than others.  However, the stop for San Marco was once again very steady and easy to disembark. 

The sun along that stretch of Venice is very strong with no shade.  (The inner walkways have plenty of shade.)  There are a lot of vendors and kiosks.  While some were tempting, I wanted to get to my hotel.  It seemed in either way that I’d have to cross at least one bridge.  The bridges have stairs.  Stairs up.  Curved top.  Stairs down.  With lots of tourists in the area, they were often sitting on the sides where the handrails were.  Really?  I need my handrails! 

So, the hardest part of the trip was going up and down stairs, up and down stairs, up and down stairs with a heavy bag.

Later, I did see that one of the bridges had added some mini ramps on one side of it.  I don’t know if I could have just taken that one and been done with it or not.  Since I didn’t want to think I had gone over more stair-bridges than necessary, I am going to pretend that one didn’t exist but if you go, I encourage you to investigate.

The walkways were easy to roll my heavy bag on considering how old they were.  They were not cobblestones but instead were really flat stones that were relatively level.  Considering how easy it was for me to trip, I actually felt comfortable walking and looking up at the scenery compared to other places I had visited in Italy.  Go Venetians!

Rome wasn’t built in a day…neither was Ostia Antica - July 6, 2016

Not too far away from Rome (distance-wise, not traffic-wise) is Ostia Antica.  It was a big deal of a port in the 2^nd century with about 50,000 residents.   We visited the ruins as a group and it was very interesting…very old…and very hot.

Once again, I think the people that created these old cities were much more coordinated than I am because the steps and roads were very uneven. I’m assuming that some of that was due to being a couple thousand years old but I know I have a HUGE appreciation for the standardization of steps and handrails these days.   Woohoo!  Go modern steps and handrails!

Some of the highlights of the tour were the amphitheater, the ruins of a townhouse, and a bathroom.

While the amphitheater made me thinks of all the performances that might have taken place there, and the townhouse made it possible to imagine what daily life might have been like, it was the bathroom that really stuck with me.

The bathrooms were the big gathering place and where people conducted business while doing…their business.  Basically there was a rectangular room with a bench around three sides of it and numerous holes for the people to use.   I mean, seriously, what?!?!  What if the last meal didn’t quite agree with you when you went to use the facilities?  What if you had IBS?  What if you were suffering from a severe gas problem that day?  So many questions…  But really, would you seriously get invited over for dinner that night if they heard some of the intestinal issues you may be having?  Or, perhaps all the issues that I’m concerned about weren’t problems back then.  Or, or, perhaps there were private toilets where you dealt with real visit to the bathroom and then you went to the public toilets later just for show (you know, like in the comedies where people eat food before going on a date so they don’t look like they’re eating too much.)    I guess it is just one more thing to add to possible “scary bathroom dreams” that we all sometimes have.  What?  You mean that isn’t something that everyone has nightmares about???  Uh, me neither.

At least you know that Ostia Antica made an impression on me, right?  ;)

Random observations…

-It’s been easy to figure out what to have for dinner since I have only found Italian restaurants around.  At least it makes it easy to prepare my taste buds for what they will be experiencing.

-Tour buses have a difficult time in the narrow streets of Rome.  The cars/trucks don’t particular care for waiting for the bus to load/unload.  Our bus eventually had us meet it on a wider nearby street.

A lot-o Gelato

It took me over a week before I was able to have some real Italian Gelato and all I have to say is…why did it take me a week before I had some real Italian Gelato?!?!

Since there are no Starbucks here (Alas! Three weeks without my beloved Double-Chocolaty-Chip-Frappuccino), I really enjoyed the chocolate chip gelato—stracciatella.  Doesn’t that just sound soooo much fancier than chocolate chip???  I think I’m going to start using that term instead of chocolate chip back home…Friends, you’ve been warned!!!  Oooh, And my Starbucks drink could then, in theory, be a double stracciatello Frappuccino.  Ha!

Part of the fun of staying for two weeks in the same hotel is to get to know the surrounding neighborhood.  It didn’t take long for the local restaurant, vendors, and street peddlers to recognize us.  In some cases that worked out well (e.g. Hotel staff knowing who in our group liked cappicino for breakfast) and in other cases—not so much (street peddlers spotting when one of us was weakening to pressure to buy something…lol.)

Some in our group ventured much further to find the best gelatos around.  It made me think about tour groups that should exist.  Here are some of my ideas:

1)   The Gelato tour:  A tour that stops at all the best gelato in Rome.  You eat you way across the city.

2)   The Shade tour:  A tour that visits all the main historic and cultural sites but  recognizes that some of us enjoy them a lot more when we don’t have to worry about sunburns, heat strokes, and general sweating.

3)   The handrails on tour:  A tour that visits the historic and cultural sites but makes sure that the routes that are taken have handrails to get up and down the old uneven steps.  What is it with ancient ruins and the lack of handrails…Were they just naturally move coordinated than me???

4)   The “Fast-Trak “tour:  A tour that visits all the main historic and cultural sites but has an option for the people who are more interested in checking off that they have visited the location and then want to buy souvenirs that prove that they were there.

5)   Other ideas???