Getting to Prague

Sunday, May 22, 2016

After a hurried breakfast at an amazing buffet at our hotel, we caught the train to the airport.  Marie was flying out of Terminal 1 and I was flying out of Terminal 2.  The train terminated at Terminal 1.  I had plenty of time to go in with Marie and make sure she got checked in okay.  She had to check one of her bags through to SFO.  She wasn't too happy about that.  I couldn't go any further than that point, so we said our goodbyes and headed in our separate directions.  I went back down to where we got off the train to catch a shuttle bus to Terminal 2.  This is one big airport!  It took almost 10 minutes to reach the other terminal.

I was flying on Easyjet.  They are a budget airline and they are no frills.  They were very good about emailing information and reminders to me.  I had to check a bag because they only allow each person one item in the cabin.  I arranged the checked bag when I bought my ticket because that saved a lot of money.  After I checked the bag I went to the gate area.  Except they divert everyone through a huge shopping area.  My gate wasn't going to be announced until one hour before the flight.  I found a place to hang out away from the shopping while I waited.  When the gate was announced I went right over there.  First off, I never want to hear anyone complain about Southwest Airlines again.  This place was a zoo.  There were 3 gates in one area.  There were maybe a dozen chairs at each gate.  The crowds merged together to where it was difficult to figure out which line you were in.  And unlike Southwest, we all had seat assignments.  What's up with that?  Describing them as lines is being generous.  It was a mass of people moving in no particular order.  Actually, I saw that a lot in Italy.  Anyway, we finally boarded and the flight was uneventful.  I was a little surprised when some people started clapping after we landed.  Were they not sure that was actually going to happen?

I had to wait for my luggage before I could go out to where Jim was waiting.  Finally I got to the Arrivals Hall.  It was so good to see him!

Milan - Not A Fan

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Today is it.  Our last day in Italy.  Tomorrow Marie flies home and I fly to Prague to meet Jim.  This 3 weeks has flown by.  After breakfast we walked down the road for a ways to see more of Varenna.  It was a beautiful morning.  

We had a taxi pick us up at the hotel to take us to the airport.  The train ride was uneventful.

After arriving at Milan Centrale station we used Goodle maps to get us to our hotel.  As has happened many other times on this trip, the walking instructions were not very good.  We found our street (around the corner from the train station) and I spotted our hotel, Hotel Bernina.  Great!  We went in.  They couldn't find our reservation.  I was asked for a confirmation number.  I pulled out the paperwork and duh, we are booked down the street at Hotel Berna.  Bernina, Berna...sigh, the names are all sounding the same.  We went to Hotel Berna, but our room wasn't ready.  They took our bags off of our hands and we bought tickets for the Hop On/Hop Off Bus.  They said they are only sold in 48 hour increments.  Later we found that they do sell 24 hour tickets.  Oh well.

The HoHo was ho hum.  There are 3 routes that supposedly take you to 3 areas.  We took Route B from Milan Centrale first, since that was the stop by us.  We completed the circuit and went back around to the Duomo.  It is very impressive from the outside.  The large crowds deterred us from trying to go in.  

We got onto Route A next.  It went by many of the places we saw on Route B, and a few new places.  We didn't bother with Route C.  We were tired and wanted to check into the hotel.  We went back to Route B to get back to our area.

We stopped at the station to get our tickets to the airport for tomorrow morning.  We then went to the hotel and got checked in by a nice man named Andrea.  We had a discussion about our names and he informed us that our room had been upgraded.  Nice!  We went up to our room and found our suitcases there.  It's small but very nice.  And surprisingly breakfast is included.

Andrea had suggested a place for dinner and he made a reservation for us at 7:00.  We went to Osterio Fara.  We were treated so well.  We were given glasses of prosecco when we sat down.  Then came some bruschetta.  Then a basket of chibatta bread.  We ordered a glass of wine each.  I ordered linguine with lobster and Marie ordered scampi with rice.  Marie was freaking out when her scampi arrived with antennas and eyes.  My lobster include the green junk.  Hmmm...that's getting scooped off and out of the way.  Dinner was very good.  Dessert?  No thanks, we are full.  No problem, here's a bottle of limoncello.  Let me pour you some.  I will leave the bottle on the table.  Wow!  They are getting a good review!

Now we are back at the hotel.  I'm ready to get a good nights sleep.  

Lake Lugano

Friday, May 20, 2016

For our last day of touring (more or less) we decided to take a trip to Switzerland.  We looked at the weather forecast when we arrived in Varenna and decided that the one good day would be spent going there, since it would involve some travel.  We took the ferry to Mennagio, and had to wait for the bus.

It was a one hour bus ride to Lugano.  The driver honked often when going into blind curves to let other drivers know he was coming.  We didn't go with any expectations or even any knowledge of what to do there.  We were just winging it.  We headed towards the lake when we got off the bus.  There is a beautiful park and then a promenade that follows the lake.  There are many benches for people to sit, relax and enjoy the view.  We found a boat that goes out for an hour.  It was heavenly to be out on the water in such a beautiful place on such a perfect day.  It was 75 degrees and sunny.  Who could ask for more?  

After we got off the boat we found a tourist train that took us around Lugano in a 45 minute loop.  

We took the bus and ferry back to Varenna.  It had been a long day.  We had a leisurely dinner at our hotel.  We actually ate there all three nights.  Then it was time to get things together.  We leave in the morning for Milan.  One night there, then Marie goes home to her Jim and I go to Prague to meet my Jim.

Lake Como - Day 2

Thursday, May 19, 2016

In the morning we returned to Lecco to retrieve Marie's jacket.  We took the train.  We had considered taking the ferry from Lecco to Bellagio after that, but it was raining and cold.  We took the train back to Varenna and got warmer jackets on before taking the ferry to Bellagio.  I've been there on a sunny day, and I've been there on a cold rainy day.  I'll take the sun!  We went into a Bar (cafe) to get some hot chocolate.  It wasn't much fun dealing with the weather, so we decided to go back to Varenna.  We did talk to some interesting people on the ferries and in the Bar.

Yesterday we had dropped some laundry off to be washed for us.  This was a first for me.  I'm pretty particular about how my clothes get washed.  I decided I shouldn't be so concerned, though I did grab a couple of things out of my bag that I wanted to be sure were hung to dry.  We picked the clean clothes up on our way back to the hotel from the ferry.  They sure smell better than clothes worn too long or washed in the sink!

Because of the nasty weather we decided to eat at the restaurant at our hotel.  We shared a pizza and green salad, and were stuffed when we finished.  How do people here eat so much?

The Road To Lago di Como

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

After breakfast this morning we bid a fond fairwell to our Agriturismo.  This place is beyond beautiful.  My only complaints are that A) It is much more spread out than I was aware of in the description.  B) The narrow and winding roads make it challenging to get to and from there.  C) We were not able to have quiet time during the day due to the construction of a pergola next to our room. D) It was not set up to encourage a communal experience and communication between guests.  Interacting with other people is one of the things I enjoyed most about our stay at Agriturismo Marciano in 2010.  

We drove to Lecco and dropped off our car.  None too soon as far as I'm concerned.  I'm tired of the stress of driving, and I'm looking forward to being car free until we pick one up in Austria on May 28.  Driving there should be a dream compared to Italy.  We took a taxi to the train station and caught the next train to Varenna.  As we were on the train, Marie realized that she had left her nice jacket in the rental car.  When we arrived at our hotel the person at the desk called Europcar for us.  They had found the jacket and would keep it until we could retrieve it this afternoon or in the morning.  We decided morning would be better.

We walked around Varenna a bit and happened across a restaurant/hotel with a bar that had stunning views.  We had a drink there.  After that we walked along the lake front, admiring the views.  We had dinner at the restaurant that is attached to our hotel.  It was very good.  It's been a long day.  Time to call it a night.

Lucca

Tuesday, May 17,2016

It's our last day in Tuscany, so we decided to drive to Lucca.  Jim and I were there in 2010 and loved it.  It's supposed to take about 1 1/2 hours to get there from where we are staying.  We made it in one piece to the flatlands and onto the autostrada.  When we got close to Lucca, Marie mentioned that she would be interested in seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa since we are so close.  I was driving, so I told her she needed to change the information on the GPS.  Apparently it didn't work, because we were directed to get off the autostrada in Lucca.  We stopped to pay our toll.  That's when the trouble began.  We went to a line that takes cash.  So far, so good.  I put 20€ in for the 6€ toll and it spit back 14€ in coins.  Great, my short arms couldn't reach the coins.  I opened the door to be able to reach further.  Success.  I got them.  Holy crap, the car shut off and wouldn't start back up.  I tried everything.  I put the car in park.  It wouldn't start.  I took the key out and reinserted it.  It wouldn't start.  Cars were lining up behind me.  I tried to get them to get in another line.  They backed up and Marie turned the hazard lights on.  More cars got behind us.  Don't they know what those flashing lights mean?  Someone was talking to me through a speaker.  In Italian of course.  I didn't have a clue what they were saying.  I told them in Italian that I didn't understand and don't speak Italian.  A guy came out.  I tried to explain.  He disappeared.  Time went on.  I was stressing out.  What do I do?  AAA wasn't going to be of any help.  A guy pulled behind us on his motorcycle.  He came over, thinking I didn't know how to pay the toll.  As I tried to show him that the car wouldn't start, it started.  What?  The guy who works there walked up with the phone to his ear.  I suspect he was calling a tow truck.  He seemed a little pissed off when I drove away.  The entire incident lasted about 10 minutes but it seemed like an hour.  Needless to say, we didn't get to Pisa.  Sorry Marie.

We parked just inside the walls in Lucca and followed the GPS directions to the address I had from my guidebook for the tourist office.  We wanted to get a map and verify the 2:00 p.m. walking tour.  We arrived to the address.  No TI there.  I googled tourist office and got another address.  We walked another 20 minutes to get to it.  It was by the train station.  We paid 1€ for a map and he marked down which TI the tour leaves from. We walked on the wall until we got to the area where it was.  Wouldn't you know it was less than 5 minutes from where we parked.  This day was not off to a great start.  They did give us a free map, so now we had two.  We walked around and saw some things, then went back to the TI for the two hour walk.  We received our third map.  I enjoyed the walk because  I like to learn more about the history of the places I go.  After the tour we had an early dinner, then headed back.  There's no way I want to drive the narrow windy roads in the dark.

Tomorrow we drive to Lake Como and get rid of the car.  The sooner the better!!

Doomed Down Day

Monday, May 16, 2016

We have been on the run since we arrived 2 weeks ago.  We decided that we should take a day and just chill out and enjoy this beautiful Agriturismo.  We had a leisurely breakfast, and each made a sandwich to have later.  Our plan was to hang out in front of our place and enjoy the sunshine.  We could read, relax and chill.  We set our chairs out in the sun to dry off from last nights storm.  We went up to our room to deal with some laundry that didn't want to dry.  Then a worker showed up, then another one...the next thing we knew, there were 3 men and a chainsaw.  Great.  We decided to take a walk up the road to see what was there.  We saw the stainless steel tanks that hold the organic wine the Agriturismo sells, and the house where the owner lives.  

We kept walking.  Then we decided we should walk back, get the car, then drive up the road to see where it goes.  We got back to the house, only to find the couple with a room across from us were outside enjoying the sun in the chairs we had set up.  No....that was OUR plan!  It didn't look like they were going anywhere soon.  We drove up the road and discovered the hard way we couldn't get too far.  It ended and we had to turn around.  But the ground was wet and I couldn't get any traction to get the car back onto the road.  Marie pushed and I gunned it.  It finally worked.  I don't think AAA could help me out there.  

This is how wide the roads are.  This is not a one way street.

Pothole repair

We decided to go back to our room to get our sandwiches, then go hang out by the pool.  I ended up falling asleep on the lounge chair.  I got a little pink.  Those chain saws were going all day, so going up to the pool was a much quieter place to be.

Lunch break for the workers.

Ahhhh....

We were going to go horseback riding.  After we saw how muddy everything was we decided against it.  We each have only one pair of shoes.  If they got messed up we would be screwed.  

We had dinner at the restaurant here again.  We both had the grilled sliced beef tenderloin.  It was delicious. 

Tomorrow we drive to Lucca.  I hope the weather isn't too bad.