September 25, 2011

Day 19 - Verona to Cinque Terre

It was hard to leave our little agriturismo high above Verona. Our last breakfast was outside on the patio. We shared our meal with a couple from Boulder, CO who had arrived the night before from cycling in the Dolomites. They seemed just a little bit older than us and a lot fitter! She was a clinical social worker and he a fundraiser with The Nature Conservancy. It was a fun conversation. They have traveled in similar places to us and it was nice to share experiences.

After packing up we visited that giant, round church on our hill that I had photographed the first day. Didn't go in. Just enjoyed the view of Verona!

Marco suggested we stop in Mantova on the way to Monterossa al Mare, our destination. It was another medieval village. We never found the restaurant he suggested for lunch but we walked around and discovered this round church from the 15th century. Over the years it had been built over and was uncovered during some road construction in 1901. The town restored it to its original form only having to rebuild the dome.

Rooftop Gardens

We continued our drive arriving in Monterossa around 6pm. The instructions were to park in a parking lot 300 meters above the hotel. We could either pay someone to drive our bags to the hotel, not us, or shlep them ourselves. We shlepped! The hotel is a Rick Steves suggestion. I think we have the tiniest room so far but it is right in the middle of the old city. We are on the first floor which is really the second floor. Outside of the 4th floor is a 3 story garden area with lemon trees and grape arbors. The building is ancient and built into the mountain.

After our arrival we wondered around the town. It is very touristy but not too obtrusive. Lots of people on holiday and seemingly enjoying themselves. We're a short walk to the Liguirian Sea but by the time we wandered over it was dark. The whole area is known for its fish and sea food. Rick enjoyed his dinner of spaghetti with fresh anchovies. I like my spaghetti with meat sauce!

September 24, 2011

Day 17 - Lake Garda

I still didn't feel so great this morning so after breakfast, I went back to bed. We ended up leaving Verona around 1pm for a trip to Lake Garda. We stopped on the way at a supermarket for some cough medicine and some lunch. This store was like a Target Super Store. The first large market we've been to in Europe.

We ate our bread and sliced chicken on a bench on the southern end of Lake Garda. This is the life!

One of the first things we saw as we made our way up the coastline was a museum devoted to olive oil! How could we not stop? The museum took an hour to go through and was really well done with videos on the history of olive oil and how it has been made through the ages. They had exhibits of the ancient equipment and the new. The nice thing was that it was free. The only thing was that you exited through the gift shop, of course!

The giftshop was like going to a vineyard for a wine tasting, only this time there many many, many kinds of olive oil available to sample either with bits of bread or on a spoon. I really enjoyed experiencing the differences. Rick, who hates olives, abstained! If you want a virtual tour of the museum you can go to their website.

We continued to drive on the east shore of the lake heading north. There was a lot of haze over the lake and surrounding mountains so we decided not to take a boat ride. As the sun began to set we found a place to pull over and watch it. It was lovely.

Marco had suggested another restaurant for us and with our late start, our timing was perfect to arrive after 7pm! It was at the very northern tip of the lake, and has been in the family for generations. No one spoke English but they did have an English menu. Marco had told us to try the "fried meat." I somehow made a mistake in ordering and after the appetizer of sausage, polenta, and sauerkraut, the server brought us a serving of carpacchio. The people at the next table laughed at me when they saw my face as I realized what I had ordered. I rarely eat red meat, let alone meat that has been smoked but not cooked! The pickled veggies were wonderful. The next meat course came fried and I actually enjoyed it. It was accompanied by two kinds of beans. The one I liked tasted just like baked beans. We had their special, grandma's secret recipe apple cake for dessert. It was the best!

It's now 1:30am, Rick is a sleep, and I'm feeling the best I've felt in days! We leave lovely Agriturismo Sommavalle tomorrow. I have really enjoyed our time here despite my cold and will miss it!

As our vacation is drawing to a close, Rick and I have been talking about how different it has been traveling without Susan and Werner. Besides being totally disappointed that they weren't joining us, I think we were both a little apprehensive about having three weeks with just the two of us. We always believed, despite the differences in our personalities, that we traveled well together. This time, we know that we are a great traveling team. We complement each other in many ways. I can't imagine having such great experiences with anyone else by my side!

September 23, 2011

Day 16 - The Lessinia plateau

We spent today and this evening in the Lessinia plateau. It's an area of the Veneto that begins about 30 minutes north of Verona. It is known for its panoramic views and ancient inhabitants. It was truly beautiful with lots of interesting things to see. It can be a tourist area in the summer and a ski destination in the winter. It was pretty deserted, except for locals, today. In fact, as we zig-zagged through the area, we found several of the things we wanted to see, closed.

Largest Natural Stone Bridge in Europe

Our first stop was the largest natural bridge in Europe. We spent around two hours exploring the area. All the signage was in Italian but the views we definitely could understand. It was home to an ancient population who inhabited its caves. At first, after hiking in the direction of the bridge, we didn't realize we were standing on it. When we hiked down further, we discovered that we had been. Here are some pics:

There were tons of caves to explore

Okay, after I wrote the above, I closed up shop for the night. I have had a cold for the past few days and it finally knocked me down. So, I'll continue relating yesterday and finish with what we did today.

After visiting the natural bridge we went in search of one of the two restaurants that Marco had recommended for local specialties. We've gotten in the habit of eating a good breakfast at 9ish and then being hungry for lunch around 3ish. This doesn't fit in Italy and so when we found the first restaurant it was closed and they told us to come back at 7pm. We drove to the second one and were told the same thing so we decided to keep exploring.

One of the many quarries we saw.

The area is known for its stone called "pietra di Prun" or Prun stone. It's pinkish in color and is used in building in this area including roofs. Most roofs on old and new buildings were Prun. In fact, it must be pretty cheap for them to use it here because most of the fences were just sheets of Prun laid end-to-end.

New house with stone roof

Old house made of Prun

We drove on to see a cave that had stalagmites and stalactites  but it was closed. Then we went to a fossil museum but it was closed too! It seems that things are only open weekends this time of year and this was a Friday. We didn't put this together until we drove to a different town to see an ancient ice storage building but by the time we got there it was around 5:30 and even if they were open on Fridays, they were closed!

A real Italian cow next to our car

Now with only an 90 minutes to kill until we had dinner, we drove the long way back to the restaurant passing ski areas and many cows grazing in beautiful scenery. It really was pleasant and not too  frustrating until we found ourselves back at the restaurant and it was only 6:15! We pulled into a parking lot near it and Rick took a little nap while I played solitaire on my iPad.

The view of the dining room from our table!

Polenta/Cheese/Mushrooms Appetizer

We got to the restaurant at 6:50 and they were all flustered because it wasn't 7pm. They sat us though in the deserted dining room at at 7:00pm gave us menus and took our order.By then we were pretty punchy and the son who knew a little English warmed up to us. We had a wonderful polenta appetizer that was wonderful.I had "gnochi sbatur" which was the specialty of the area and it was indeed delicious. Rick had sliced pork which he also enjoyed. We shared a lovely plate of veggies. For my foodie friends, here are some pics.

Sliced pork, gravy, walnuts

Gnochi Sbatui

Tomatoes, zucchini, potatoes

After dinner we made our way back to Verona. It was only 40 or so minutes away but the hairpin turns in the dark were a little hairy for me. Rick took them in stride and got us back safely!

September 22, 2011

September 21 and 22, 2011
Days 14 and 15 - On the Road and Verona

I didn't have it in me to post yesterday. I had the beginnings of a cold the day before and it came on strong yesterday. I felt like crap with a sore throat, lots of sinus pressure, and a headache. I feel better today. Thanks to the migraine medicine I took last night, Ricola, and lots of water!

Yesterday we left Altaussee and headed to Italy. We went through some amazing mountains and beautiful scenery. Rick has been so great about driving, our "ladies" did their usual arguing about route, and I slept part of the way but we finally made it to Verona at 5pm. What we didn't count on was how hard it was to find the agriturisimo at which we are staying! Forty minutes and a couple of phone calls later we made it!

Susan found this place through TripAdvisor.com. It is wonderful, and so is Marco the owner. He was very helpful in suggesting restaurants, places to see in Verona, and a couple of day trips. I think I'm the saddest yet that Susan and Werner aren't with us. They, especially Susan, would have loved this place and somehow, we are going to get her here in the future.

The agriturisimo mainly grows olives for oil here but they also have grapes, some fruit trees, pomegranates, a kiwi tree, a very beautiful vegetable garden. We're high up on a hill above Verona. There are only four rooms and so far we haven't seen the other guests. Here are a few photos:

View toward Verona

Another beautiful view

Our room is the window on the left

After an adventure at a self-service laundry, we headed into old Verona. Marco told us about a free parking lot which was just a few minutes walk to the Ponte Pietra. It is an old Roman bridge that was rebuilt from the original stones fished from the river after it was destroyed in WWII.

We wandered through the town. It pretty touristy but has an incredible amount of Roman remnants and those are what interested me the most. We had trusty Rick Steves with us on my iPad but mostly Rick Gumpertz led the way turning down tiny vias and into piazzas and piazettas.

We did find the "supposed" Juliet balcony. It looked just like it did in Letters from Juliet. What struck me was all the graffiti and, for some reason, gum stuck on the walls leading to the little courtyard. Rick thought people must have used gum to stick up their letters. Here's the other bizarre thing, besides it's probably a made up place, but there is a statue of Juliet and people line up to get their picture taken fondling her breast.

Around 3:00 we stopped at an osteria that Marco recommended and had a great lunch/dinner. I'm so excited to be in Italy and be done with the Swiss/German/Austrian cuisine. Not that it was bad, it's just that the styles were all similar in taste. It was delightful to have olive oil to dip my bread in. I think it may be in my head but the olive oil imported from Italy we get in the US tastes nothing like the fruity, extra virgin olive oil you get here. It's so delicious, I sometimes want to order it by the glass! Just kidding I'm sure the bread is part of the magic too.

I had fettuccine with peas and tomatoes and Rick had what was simply a hunk of melted cheese with potatoes and a bacon-like meat that he said was very nice.

We were the last diners for the afternoon (they close for a few hours between lunch and dinner) and we chatted with some of the staff. They helped me with some Italian words I couldn't remember the meaning of and were just very pleasant.

After lunch we meandered around some more. We checked out Roman arena and gate.We saw lots more Roman remnants, some beautiful frescoes, tiny streets, interesting statues, and even a L'occitane! We took a photo for my son, Daniel, who works at the one on the Plaza.

By that time, all I had energy for was to eat a gelato from the place both Marco and Rick Steves recommended and then walk back to the car. I don't know what the building is on top of that hill (some kind of church I'm sure but I do love the cypress trees in Italy.

Speaking about loving Italy. I so love it here! I love the way people sound when they talk, I love the easy-going nature of everyone, and I love the landscape. I'm on vacation so I'm not thinking of the politics, the past, or the prejudice perpetrated on my peeps. I'm in the moment and very happy here in it!

September 20, 2011
Day 13 - Altaussee

I neglected to mention that our hotel has a spa in it. We decided to take advantage of it (I mean it's raining still so what else could we do!)

I had the first appointment. In August, I had a girlfriend weekend in Santa Fe with my friends, Leslie and Billie. Leslie signed us up for a head and neck massage with a salt scrub at the most wonderful place, Ten Thousand Waves. Anyhow, since we are in salt mine territory, I thought another salt scrub was in order.

This was a little different as they had this amazing table. It felt like it had a small mattress filled with warm water on it. The scrub was a bowl of honey, rapeseed oil, and coarse salt. After she finished scrubbing my body (apparently in Austria they think it important to exfoliate your breasts too, oy vey), she folded the mattress over me and wrapped me in towels so I felt like I was in a cocoon. She then pushed a button on the bed and the hardness under me disappeared and I was floating in what felt like a bottomless water bed. It was warm but not too warm. She explained that it was to open my pores and let the oil in. She turned down the lights and left me there for ten minutes. It was pretty psychedelic. It reminded me of the thing that we had in the 80s where you floated in a dark tub of salt water. She checked on me and then left me for another ten minutes. I had coffee for breakfast so I didn't fall asleep. It was just utter relaxation, both mind and body. What an experience. After there was a shower right in the room so I was able to shower off the salt but leave on the oil.Then it was a matter of putting on the bathrobe they provided and taking the elevator up to our room. What a luxurious treat!

After I was done, Rick had a hot stone treatment with a massage to follow. His description wasn't as detailed as mine but he thorough enjoyed it.

After Rick relaxed a little, we headed off to the salt mine in Hallstatt. Werner had assured me that I would enjoy it so I was pretty calm until we got there and I noticed the funicular. I didn't realize that we had to go up a mountain to go down into it. This seemed like the longest funicular I've been on. Here are a couple of photos of it and from in it.

Once we got off the funicular we then had to take a "panoramic lift" up higher, and then we walked still higher to the place where the tour started. Along the way, they had interesting information. Hallstatt is the oldest salt mine in the world. There is evidence of mining here from 7000 BC. That's the Bronze Age!If you are interested, I put a link about the mine above. It was a fascinating experience and hard to believe people have been here that long.

Archeologists discovered a burial ground and were able to uncover more than 1500 human remains of an advanced society. They had some good exhibits about how the bodies were buried and how they were discovered.

Once at the beginning of the tour, they suited us up in two piece outfits that were to protect our clothes for the slides and keep us warm. The mine temp is about 50 degrees with 65% humidity. The guide gave her spiel in German and English. This would not be a tour for anyone with claustrophobia. Some of the tunnels were quite narrow. We walked throughout the 80 minute tour and had two "slides" to take us to different levels. My trainer Stacy would have been proud of how easy it was for us to do all he walking and climbing.

I'm proud of myself that I didn't freak with the slides. The first was shorter. You straddled a wooden rail, put your feet up and your hands on your knees. The first one I leaned back a bit far and went pretty fast. The second one was 65 meters long and I sat up for that one. They took photos of us and calculated our speed on the second one. I was going 21 meters per hour. Rick went 31. The tour guide 38. We left the pictures in the car. I'll try to include them in tomorrow's blog post.

Along with the slides, they had a couple of light shows and multimedia presentations. They had a giant underground lake that was incredibly beautiful. The website shows it. Our pictures didn't turn out. At the end of the tour, we boarded a little train, same straddling position and it took us for a ride about 5 minutes to where we started. Then we had to make our way down the mountain to the funicular. It was totally cool and I am so glad I did it. Here are a few photos but they don't do it justice. This first pic is me with a "fake" miner.

The next is the entrance to the mine.
Then walking through the tunnel. Notice the salt on the beams.
Me waving before going down the second slide.

These two photos are of the town of Hallstatt. Very lovely.







Thanks, Werner, for convincing me that I could do it. It was a fantastic experience!

Tomorrow we're off to Italy!

Erratum, i.e. I made a mistake

Oops! I got Strauss and Brahms confused in my post. Brahms is who I meant. Strauss was the guy whose statute was being repaired in Vienna. Thanks to my wonderful husband, Rick, for finding the error!

September 19, 2011

Day 12 - Altaussee

The forecast was correct, it rained all day. No wind just a steady, chilly rain. After breakfast we came back to the room and I did what I hoped I would do, took out the watercolors I brought with me and painted a picture! The view out our window was so dreary that I instead chose a photograph from the trip to use as my model. As some of you know, I have no confidence in my artistic abilities but I try every once in a while.

After my heartfelt experience with Hundertwasser, I was intent upon having a creative experience with no judgment. I somewhat enjoyed myself playing with the paint. There are parts of my painting I like. I'm going to post it here in an effort to get over myself. It is my intention to keep at the painting until I can enjoy the whole experience instead of just parts of it.

This afternoon we decided to venture out to do our salt mine tour. Hey, it's underground. A little rain can't mess it up. There are two tours in the vicinity, one in Altaussee and the other in Hallstatt. We checked out the one near here but the brochures informed us that the Hallstatt one is more extensive. It was a 30 minute drive to Hallstatt and the rain turned to slush as we went up over the mountain. Then it turned to snow! Not knowing what to expect, I encouraged Rick to turn around but he wouldn't, saying he knows how to drive in snow. I also was feeling a bit anxious about the tour since the pictures in the brochure showed people sliding down a big slide to get to the mine. I don't like heights and I don't like speed. Why would I think this could be fun?

The snow didn't accumulate where we were but by the time we got to Hallstatt, the last tour had left. Now I get to be anxious until tomorrow! I've been telling myself that if it were that dangerous, they wouldn't let people do it. I'm mostly concerned about how you stop, like in do you go flying off into the mine?

When we got back to our room, I detected snow on the mountains across the lake. Wow, a week ago I was whining about being too hot in Zurich and now it's cold enough to snow! You notice I'm not whining though. I prefer this to the heat.

After our now habitual afternoon nap, we went down to dinner. They seat us a the same table each meal. The dining room is very quiet and feels kind of formal. People smile here when you make eye contact but don't seem to welcome conversation.

The hotel we are staying in used to be a villa called Villa Wagner. A friend of Herr Wagner (not the composer) was Johannes Brahms. He apparently spent time here and composed a couple of his pieces in this villa. They have a Brahms Room which is set up to feel like a Viennese coffee house. They serve cake and coffee in the afternoon. There is a baby grand piano in it. Usually they have a life sized dummy to depict Brahms sitting at it. At 8:00pm tonight they had a live pianist playing Brahms, among other pieces. We went in after dinner to enjoy the concert. The only thing disconcerting to me was that they had placed Johannes at the bar and he starred at me the whole time!