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Post by Tex on Oct 22, 2009 10:12:58 GMT -6
ch-ch-changing planes at Madrid was an adventure. The TV screens that give out gate numbers was on the fritz, our flight and several others listed 3 terminals but no gate for many flights, including ours. The lady at the information booth could only say YES. What is the gate for flight 3364, YES, etc.
Venice is as beautiful as I remembered it, but was stormy for the first two days. Today was acque alte, extreme high tide, which happens once or twice a year, so we trudged around St Marks Square in wader boots borrowed from the hotel.
We made friends with the lady who owns the hotel, whose family has for generations made Murano glass. Tomorrow we plan to take the ferry to Murano and see her family factory and check out the glass making.
Later guys.
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Oct 22, 2009 10:53:47 GMT -6
The lady at the information booth could only say YES. What is the gate for flight 3364, YES, etc. I hope she at least remembered to include the copyright information after the "Yes". |
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Post by Tex on Oct 23, 2009 13:02:46 GMT -6
We asked a lady at the desk what was the best restaurant in her neighborhood in Venice. She drew us a map and it was a little tricky to find but very good. We visited with the manager and he gave us a couple of shots of something called grappa, which was good but fairly strong. The food was excellent and reasonable. The weather has been a little nasty but everythings good.
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Post by ♥ COVID-19♥ on Oct 23, 2009 21:01:17 GMT -6
I have tried grappa a couple of years ago out of curiosity but would never do it again. It's trash -- they make it from seeds & stems of grapes used for wine. IOW, the leftovers. I couldn't recommend it unless you like drinking something that will force you to make faces.
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Post by Chicago Jake on Oct 24, 2009 1:39:15 GMT -6
I've tried grappa as well, and I find myself in the distressing situation of agreeing with BB. It is not fit for human consumption! In the future, I'll stick with more genteel beverages, like kerosene or hydrochloric acid.......Jake
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Post by Tex on Oct 24, 2009 1:58:21 GMT -6
This tasted like brandy with some cinnamon.
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Post by Tex on Oct 27, 2009 10:21:01 GMT -6
We hit Santorini this morning - a beautiful island. The late Lou, of this board, told me that his sister had a villa on Santorini. She was in tall cotton.
We are in Mykonos and it is a little after dark. The Greek islands are fabulous but there is an abundance of overpriced jewelry stores. The tourist season lasts only about another week - the sales people are quite aggressive to get the last bite of the apple.
I believe that older German ladies live to cut the line, whether for dinner or the bus.
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Post by Christinko on Oct 27, 2009 11:02:15 GMT -6
Mykonos has a cute little nude beach with lovely vistas (Paradise) if you get a chance to take motorbikes around the island. And I distinctly remember a piano bar that I was asked to leave....
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Post by Robin Hood on Nov 1, 2009 14:13:23 GMT -6
Grappa... I had some when I was in the Marine Corps, I remember two things about it...the shit we had was cheap and wow...what a hangover  |
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Post by Tex on Nov 2, 2009 12:13:48 GMT -6
I am not going to repeat the travelogue info about the Parthenon and the houses on Santorini with the blue roofs. It was beautiful and we had a great time.
The most pleasant surprise was Dubrovnik. Considering that they were bombed heavily in 91-92, I didn't expect much. It was the most picturesque and cleanest stop on the cruise - we would go back.
One night on the cruise before the show started, they had a 15 minute or so movie on the ships of the Costa Line, past and present. Noticeably absent was their most famous ship, the Andrea Doria.
One story that I had to read twice to make sure that I was getting it right was the story of San Todaro (Saint Theodore), who was the patron saint of Venice prior to their stealing the remains of Saint Mark from Alexandria, Egypt and upgrading.
Saint Theodore was a soldier in the Roman army in the 4th century AD. An edict went out that all soldiers would make some sacrifice to a Roman god. He refused on grounds that he was a Christian. His fellow soldiers gave him some time off to reconsider and he went out and torched the Roman temple. He was burned alive for this stunt. It sounds like his fellow soldiers were cutting him some slack and he turned around and dropped them in the grease. I can't blame the Venetians for wanting a new saint.
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