taking a tour of the harbor on Tishie Mae (that counts as 'sailing', right?), doing time in the cattle car, taking in the view, tripping down pictureseque lanes and having a hellava good time!
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Mike is here all of two hours, and what happens? I fall! Ankle kaput, Kate down. This only happens, ONLY, when Mike is around!!!!!! ouch. It's all purple and swollen, usually that's a good thing…..
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with the boat out in the harbor, Bert's been crashing here. On the balcony to be exact. Ruby loves it. She also digs the long 7am walks. Now she's gonna be all spoiled. -
I had no idea. Watching the Olympic Games from a euro/brit point of view is enlightening. Did you know there was Olympic badminton? I played once, as a girl, at French camp in Hackensack, MN (yes, even I hate myself). But any Olympic dreams were dashed by an overwhelming fear of small, fast-moving objects.
We fenced too. That ended in disaster when two older girls in my cabin used the foils to intimidate me into giving up my beloved Esprit shirt. Pre-teen tragedy. -
Tonight's ITV news story re: Hurricane Charley included a clip of G.W.B., and I quote, "…people's lives are turned upside down…". The man is standing in front of an overturned mobile home.
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Job hunting sucks. Apartment hunting sucks. Doing it all from a zillion miles away? Ugh.
Thank god for H. and wine. lots of wine. -
ohmygod. i'm moving to Portland in a month. i've never even been there. i don't have a job. all my stuff is in Savannah. my furniture is rented to someone else until January. i don't have an apartment. i don't have a job. i have to transport the dog with me. i will arrive with only two suitcases. i can't sleep on handbags and shoes. i don't know anyone there. i don't have a job. i won't have a computer. or towels. or silverware. or a bed.
but i will have those Italian handbags.
freak out time. -
I didn't think it was humanly, nor, mathematically possible for Mom and I to spend more time together. But, this past week in Italy, we did. And no one is dead. I've gained a post-skirmish-guilt handbag (the best kind), but no one is dead. Success!
Bert had to take the boat out into the harbor the day we left and has had it there since; all the berths in Port Vaubon are taken for the month of August. So, it's a row in and out for Bert each day, and sleeping on the balcony here at night. Remember sleeping porches? In this heat and humidity, it would be a nice thing, Bert's the lucky one tonight. -
A quick trip over the border: Based in the lively working city of La Spezia, on the large Golfo dei Poeti, we spent an afternoon in the nearby fishing village of La Grazie, another day in beautiful and popular Porto Venere, a long day enjoying the charms of Cinque Terre from land and sea (by ferry boat), and a last, quiet stop in the family-holiday seaside town of Loano.
quick thoughts on Italian life:
The people watching is outstanding: love seeing the genes go by as families stroll together in the evenings–Mom, Pop, Grandparents and bambinis. Sightings of grandfathers with grandchildren on bicycles too numerous to recall precisely.
Food, food and more food. If it's not a mini-meal of munchies served with every cocktail or glass of wine at a cafe, it's the gelato. Or the classic two plates plus an antipasti plus dessert (often gelato). We're still digesting.
You can never have too many different floral patterned textiles in a hotel room, that's just a given. And that strange scrambling, scratching noise last night? We're pretending we didn't hear it. Large rat dreams aside, it could have been anything, really. Probably just our imagination.
It's so nice to see smiles. And friendly faces unwary of strangers. And to hear the occasionally, proudly pronounced, "thank you" in English. Also "pleasethankyougoodbyehello" makes a fine greeting.
One good thing about excessive speed (oh, how the Italians love it): No time to even bother getting seasick on ferry rides.
Note to traveling Americans: Please, please, please use your "indoor" voice. They can hear you coming, trust me.
Maritime Museums (see second photo of Mom with Huge Anchor): Highly recommended, especially for the "Wall of Knots". On Bert's recommendation, we visited, and could just imagine him spending an hour studying that wall. Does he know how closely it resembles Macrame?
