31Oct14 : Some Thoughts on Europe; 15 Months Day-to-Day: o We got back from Dublin on 14 September. One day later, I started a cold that lasted for almost four weeks. I know that I caught it from that guy who coughed on me in the boarding line at Dublin airport – dumbass! [Pardon my French. Hah, I slay myself.] Being a most generous person, I gave it to Charlotte. o Chef Charlotte made a new Italian recipe: slow-basted chicken and pancetta. I call it Lick the pot chicken”. It was so good that I used a baguette to wipe out the pot before I washed it! o Charlotte met the ladies in Croix-Rousse for cafés twice and the Ladies Book Club. We flew to visit Roma, Italia; 14-18 October o We stayed at the Excel Rome St. Peter hotel on Via Catone near the Vatican. o We toured Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano (Saint John’s basilica), Castel SantAngelo, the Colosseo, the Pantheon and Vatican City. Some of the things we saw in the Holy See were: Basiliche Papale San Pietro (Saint Peter’s basilica), Cappella Sistina (the Sistine Chapel), Giadarni Vaticani, Musei Vaticani, Palazzo Apostolico, Piazza San Pietro. o We walked around Roma … a lot … over 3½ days. There is so much to see and do. We have to go back! Some of the things we saw were: Altare della Patria, Arco di Costantino, Basilica di Massenzio, Basilica di Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Basilica Emilia, Bocca della Verità (Mouth of Truth), Chiesa di San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Chiesa di San Paolo Dentro le Mura, Chiesa SantAgnese in Agone, Chiesa di Santa Maria di Loreto, Chiesa Sant Marcello Al Corso, Circo Massimo, Colonna di Marco Aurelio, Colonna di Phocas, Domus Aurea, Fontana dei Fiumi, Fontana del Nettuno, Fontana della Barcaccia, Fontana di Trevi (undergoing an 18-month, $3M restoration), Foro di Augusto, Foro di Nerva, Foro di Traiano, Foro Romani, Mausoleo di Augusto (under reconstruction), Obelisco Agonale, Palazzo Madama, Piazza Navona, Piazza dei Quiriti, Piazza di Spagna, Portico dOttavia, Scalinata di Spagna (Spanish Steps), Statua di Cesare, Tempio di Apollo Palatino, Tempio di Ercole Vincitore, Teatro di Marcello, Tempio di Marte Ultore, Tempio di Portuno. o Our best food experiences on the trip were: o Ristorante 34 must be experienced! We had dinner there twice. It’s very close to Piazza di Spagna. On the first night, we had Octopus, Shrimp and Pistachio salad, Lamb Sweetbreads with Artichokes and Suckling Pig. On the second night, we had fried Squash Blossoms, Strascinati with truffle and bacon, and Rabbit in vinegar and garlic sauce with olives. o We had the best gelato EVER at Gelarmony Arte del Gelato Siciliano. o Antico Caffè Greco (c. 1760) is the second oldest café in Italia. It’s over-priced, but I would recommend it just because of its history. o We had lunch, grilled Artichokes and Ravioli, at Ristorante Tre Scalini on the Piazza Navona. Lyon sites and monuments explored: o La Vogue des Marrons came back to Croix-Rousse on 04 October. It’s your normal, run-of-the-mill carnival with gypsies. It is fun, for a weekend; but it runs for 5 weeks! In 2014, we have visited: o Belgique: Bruges, Bruxelles o España: Barcelona, Sevilla o France: Arromanches-les-Bains, Asnelles, Caen, Château de Chambord, Château de Chenonceau, Château de Versailles, Dijon, Grenoble, Le Mans, Luc-sur-Mer, Nice, Orléans, Paris, Reims o Ireland: Dublin o Italia: Milano, Roma o Monaco o Portuguesa: Lisboa As of this writing, we have the following trips planned. o 04-08 November: Trip to Venezia, Italia o 26-29 November: Trip to Paris, France (again) o 23-28 December: Trip to Madrid, España (again) o 2015: London, England + Poland + Greece + Amsterdam, Nederland? +Liechtenstein? + Luxembourg? + Vienna, Austria? o 2015: Maybe, a Far East tour of Tokyo, Japan + Seoul, South Korea + Shanghai, China + Hong Kong + Hanoi, Vietnam + Vientiane, Laos + Bangkok, Thailand + Rangoon, Myanmar. Some general observations: o ALL elementary school-aged girls in France have a squeal that is so high-pitched and loud that it attracts bats! Pre-school girls that don’t get their way have an equally loud fake cry that gives me a migraine!
Posted on: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 06:16:54 +0000
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