Our First Week in Italy

Wednesday, August 29, 2018 & Thursday August 30

Travel Day

​

Our flight was scheduled to leave at 7:30 p.m, so we spent the day in a frenzy doing last-minute things.  Margaret decided to transfer the Italian Language discs to the Surface and, of course, ran into issues.  The files could only be read from the discs, so they had to be converted.  And, this took quite some time.  But all was done in plenty of time to wait for the taxi to pick us up.

We breezed through security and had time for a cocktails and snacks before boarding.  AA had overbooked the flight, so they offered passengers $800 each plus hotel if they would wait until the next day’s flight…  this was tempting, but we were way to ready to get to Italy and passed the offer up.

With three seats in a row, there was a woman sitting next to us who was from Texas.  She told us she was going on a cruise from Venice to Rome and had sent ahead two suitcases because she had to have 12 pairs of shoes with her (she owns 300+ pairs).  She loves her shoes, so, we told her about TrueGault.  She said she sorts her shoes in her closet by how long she can wear them – these are 1 hour shoes, these are 2 hour shoes, etc.  I gave her one of Sandra’s business cards and showed her photos of my shoes.  She said that I had just made her day!

​

We breezed through customs and then had somewhat of a problem finding the car rental facility.  Hertz had said that to add Margaret as a driver, it would be $11 a day, so we had opted to not do that.  However, at the check-in we were told that because Mike is a Gold Member, Margaret can drive free.  We will see how well that works out….

​

Our car is a little Ford something that’s really cute and just the right size for us.  We soon discovered that the GPS on Mike’s phone works really well, thank goodness.  We had no trouble finding Lina’s restaurant.  What fun it was to open the door and see Sara.  It was the middle of the midday meal time there so everyone was quite busy.  Lina stopped to say hello, and Simone brought us some wine.  It wasn’t too long before things slowed down and our Google translators went into action.  It was much fun catching up and seeing photos of the family. 

​

We followed Sara to the apartment, which is about a 3-minute drive from the restaurant. To our surprise, on the kitchen table were two bottles of wine and a card from Margaret’s sister Carol wishing us each a Happy Birthday.   The apartment is on the second floor, above the apartment that once was used by her grandparents, Angelo and Flora (now deceased, Angelo was Margaret’s father’s first cousin).  There are two bedrooms, but only one bed.  The second bedroom is used for laundry.  The washer is in the bathroom.

​

After unpacking, taking a short nap, and washing up, we headed back to the restaurant.  On the way, we spotted a grocery and stopped to pick up a few things for breakfast the next morning.

We returned to the restaurant where Lina fed us as if we were starving children.  But I must say that we will eat anything she cooks.  It is all so delicious!  The meal started off with an eggplant appetizer, layers of thinly sliced grilled eggplant with a tomato sauce and melted cheeses in between.  Then pasta with sauce made with tomatoes from Sara’s garden.  Sprinkle some fresh parmesan on top and Enjoy!  The next course was prosciutto and cheese with bread.  The best part, however was Lina’s homemade tiramisu truffle balls.  Then she brought out her liquors.  Have you ever had Chamomile liquor?  And her homemade licorice liquor.  She offered us grappa, but there was just no room in our bellies for anything else.

​

Friday, August 31

​

Back at the apartment, we fell asleep until 9:30 am, ate a little, got cleaned up, and returned to the restaurant.  Lina was sitting at a table in the back with a huge bowl of fresh sardines in front of her.  She was cleaning and filleting them.  Simone brought us each a cup of espresso, and we chatted for a couple of hours.  Then the food started coming out.  Pasta with salmon and zucchini.  Fresh bread.  Then freshly fried sardines (yes, the ones Lina had been cleaning) and salad with radicchio. By then it was after 1:00.  So Margaret decided we needed to do something and we took off to find the train station in Dolo.  Once we figured out where to buy the tickets, it was easy. The train to Padua came by in just a few minutes.  We spent the next 3 hours wandering around, admiring the buildings and watching the people.  We stopped at an outdoor café on a square for some spritzes. 

We easily found our way back to the train station, had to ask directions to the platform, and headed back to Dolo.  We are impressed with the number of trains here but they do seem to run late. 

We stopped at a grocery, picked up some salami, cheese, and bread, and headed back to our Italian home.  We popped the cork on the red wine – Casonato Cabernet Franc.  (Casonato is Margaret’s grandmother’s family name.)

​

It’s Saturday morning now, and Margaret has just finished writing this while sipping tea and eating yogurt and a croissant.  We are off on another adventure.

   

Mike Here. 

We deliberately picked the smallest car available and with a manual transmission to get the true Italian driving experience.  I haven’t driven a stick shift since our last sojourn to Italy 7 years ago but it all came back.

​

We are using our phones a bunch since we have yet to search out an internet connection and we are glad we switched to T-Mobile.  Phone calls are $.25 a minute but everything else is part of our normal plan.  Data is throttled down – Mike at 4Gig, Margaret at 2Gig – but that has not been a problem and the all important Google Maps works great in the car.

​

Margaret hasn’t mentioned how cute, cute, cute Sara’s apartment is.  We are fortunate that she has let us stay here.

​

Saturday, September 1

​

Margaret here.  We kinda got a late start again, and took off for Caorle about 11:00.  What a crazy drive!  I was so glad Mike was driving.  Narrow roads, multiple round-abouts, sharp turns, and one-lane bridges.  We found the hotel where my sister Carol stayed a few years ago.  The owner’s name is Guancarlo, and we chatted with him for a few minutes.  The town is both a fishing village and a resort town.  Guancarlo said that from April to mid-September, the town is very busy.  The rest of the year, it is empty.  This weekend was very very very busy.  In ten days, everything will be closed.

We walked through the tourist shopping areas and along the water’s edge.  Beautiful old buildings squeezed in between more modern apartments and hotels.  Take a look at the photos.

On the way back home to our cute apartment, we stopped at the grocery again and picked up some fruit.  Then, after arriving home, we decided we needed more wine, so we ventured out again.  I took a deep breath, and offered to drive.  The last time I drove standard shift was when Carol and I traveled to Italy (in 2004?) after she broke her arm.  Did she do that deliberately so that she wouldn’t have to drive?  I think not, but it’s a good joke.

​

On a sad note, while we were in Caorle, Kate called me to let me know that her grandfather Frank Wilkerson had died.  I think he was 95 years old.  And Caroline was driving to Kentucky (from Chicago) to see him for the weekend when she got the news.  Mike and I are both very sorry for their loss.  Frank was a good person.

 

Sunday, September 2

​

Margaret here.  IT’S MY BIRTHDAY!  Just what I wanted:  To spend my birthday in Italy.  Mike and I both slept late – almost noon.  About mid-afternoon we took a walk into the main part of town.  There is a charming square and very few people were there when we arrived.  Since it’s Sunday, the shops were closed and so were most of the restaurants.  We found a coffee shop open and had some espresso while enjoying a nice breeze and great weather.  Back home, we relaxed some more for about an hour, then hopped in the car and headed to Sara and Massimo’s farm for dinner.  Massimo’s beautiful daughter Asia speaks fairly good English, so she served as translator all evening.  We were given a tour of the farm, saw the cows, the horse, the goats, the equipment.  The farm has been in the family for generations; a large barn is over 200 years old (and the roof is falling in, but no one seemed to care). 

​

Massimo’s brother and three children joined us for dessert, which was a birthday cake made by Sara.  Check out the photos.  It was the best birthday ever, even though “No credo di avere settanta anni.”

Mike here.  Another testament to Google Maps as it weaved us through local roads to get to Massimo’s family farm.  The farmhouse was beautifully restored and Massimo’s father gave all the credit to Massimo, a lot of beautiful artistic and architectural highlights.  (Note that I spent my birthday Wednesday stuck in a middle seat on the flight over, but it was only my 69th)

 

Monday, September 3

​

Margaret here. We stayed close to our Italian home today.  We did laundry.  We walked to the town center and discovered a huge market.  Anything and everything you might want.  We bought a tire pump for the bicycles, which Mike had cleaned, and we bought a new coffee pot.  Since we had brought the Surface with us, we stopped at a café and tried to do some emails, but the speed was too slow for our short patience.  That evening we walked across the street to a restaurant called Trattoria al Castello for a bite to eat. We just had salads, but they were delicious.  Our living room and bedroom are short on lighting, so we made a vow to find lamps very soon.

​

Tuesday, September 4

​

Margaret here.  This morning we organized ourselves well enough to head off on another adventure at about 10 a.m.  A war buff, Mike is always attracted to war memorials, and today was his day.  I will let him tell you about that.  For me, mostly I remember the harrowing drive up the mountain.  White knuckles, and closed eyes for over a hour and a half.  It was a moving experience for me though, as the battles came so close to my family’s home in Ponte di Piave.  I was very happy to make it down the mountain safely.  We stopped at a lighting store and found two lamps on sale that we thought would be perfect for the apartment.  Then a little grocery shopping.  I made our first dinner “cena”, using tomato sauce made from tomatoes in Sara’s garden, and we popped the cork on a very nice bottle of Barolo.  Now to snuggle in for a good night’s sleep.  Buono Notte. 

​

Mike here.  As part of our 2011 trip to Italy, I had found some material on the Italian/Austrian front in WW1 and especially the importance Mount Grappa played in stopping Austrian advances in the battles for the summit (1917 & 1918) and the final offensive push off the mountain that forced the Austrians to retreat from the mountains and opened a flank attack in the flatlands along the Piave river.  Our visit to Italy is the 100th anniversary of the end of WW1 and we put a visit to the memorial and cemetery on our list of things that were important for us.  There are statues all over the area memorializing the 18 year olds who were called up to fight these final battles, “I regazzi del 99” (the boys of 99)

​

The drive up and down the mountain was in first and second gear only for us.  Margaret does not do well with constant hairpin turns next to sheer drop offs but it was important to her to make it to the top and she gutted it out.  On the way up we saw multiple signs for cow crossings.  While we never saw a cow we kept hearing the cowbells.  Each hairpin turn we kept expecting to run into a roadblock.  Coming down we saw that the cows were grazing on the hillsides above the road looking down on us.  Goofy things we saw:  bicyclists pushing up the mountain to turn around and come flying down.  At one point I saw a group of bicyclists flying down the road and stopped our car before a hairpin turn and waved over a following car as the cyclists whipped around the turn.  Also, coming out of a hairpin turn on the way down, I had to stop the car as a huge farm tractor was coming into the turn with two cars attempting to pass him.  Not enough road for all of us.  Margaret would have been happy on our way up to be stuck behind a big slow-moving tractor, the Italian drivers not so much.  Last goofy thing:  above the road as we climbed was a constant circling flock of paragliders.  Margaret would keep saying something about them and then shriek “look at the road, don’t look at them”.  This happened more than once…funny

​

Off to bed and a 10:30 phone call from Chase asking if we had wired hundreds of dollars through Western Union or spent hundreds at a boutique.  Nope, and a new credit card is on its way to Italy for us.  It’s an inconvenience but it is something we had planned for so it is a minor inconvenience.  The joys of travel, even with RFID wallets and using cash only in the market, someone got their hands on our card.  We ate two meals in restaurants and let them walk away with our card to complete the check…hmmmm.