April 29-May 10, 2024

After nine nights in Hilton Head, it was time to pack up and head out to Charleston area for our stay in Mount Pleasant. The KOA was the resort of choice, checked in on our lake view in front the gcity gin house lots next to each other and spent the day playing cards and enjoying some quiet time.

Tuesday, we all went over to Paige and Dusty’s new house on Daniel Island for our three night stay. Fun to stay in this beautiful new house with stunning views of the marsh land towards the ocean. Paige, Dusty, Ron, Kathy, Glenna and I went to the Costa Charleston Italian restaurant Tuesday night for dinner, this is one of Charleston’s hot spots and it certainly didn’t disappoint. We had a fabulous meal with a couple bottles of our friends Vinatieri wine spending time catching up and planning the weeks activities. Our ride back home was provided by George, a long time favorite driver of Paige and Dusty’s. Music, singing and rocking out is always in order when traveling with George. A couple of days enjoying their company, pool time, cards, MMT’s and long walks around the island filled our time. Thursday night we had “Pat’s Paella Party” with Ron’s friends (Shawn, Callie and Macy) visiting from Virgina and some of Paige’s neighbors. Really fun time with great food, wines and friends…..

Friday morning was golfing day for Glenna, Paige, Dusty and I at the Daniel Island CC where they are members. Teed of at 8:00 am on a beautiful, sun filled warm day hacking our way around the manicured course. Didn’t see any alligators around the ponds but still were cautious when hitting our balls close to the water. Fun day on the course and the lunch after in the clubhouse restaurant was a perfect way to spend the day with our great friends. Friday night we all met back at the KOA Resort to have a dinner on our last night together. Ron BBQ’d a few ribeye steaks, Glenna served up a baked potato bar complete with sautéed mushrooms and Kathy made a seven layer salad that was enough to feed the resort. We celebrated Macy’s 15th birthday with the Nothing Bunt Cakes treats that Kathy provided along with the Crumble Cookies that Macy shared with us. Paige brought us bottle of Nickel Nickel Branding Iron along with some Hall favorites, all were great and the weather was perfect for our outdoor patio dining.

Saturday morning was moving day, packed up and hit the road towards Sevierville, Tennessee. This six hour drive thru some rain still had gorgeous views of the Smokey Mountains. Lunch at a rest stop and made it safely to the Two Rivers RV Resort in Sevierville. Our side by side spaces were right on the riverbank overlooking this flowing waterway. Right down the street from us was the Smokey Mountain Knife Works, this is billed as the worlds largest knife store. Kathy, Glenna and I had to go check it out and it was incredible. Knives of every size, shape and color filled the store that reminded me of a Bass Pro Shop or Cabellas including all the taxidermy wildlife. Nothing that we absolutely had to have so back to the RV for some 3/13 cards, dinner and Woodford cocktails while watching the Kentucky Derby. Sunday morning was Ron’s turn to check something off his bucket list. Yes, a first time to eat at the famous Waffle House. We sat at the breakfast bar and had fantastic service from Paige, her very southern accent added to the experience. The waffles, and hash browns were the featured items so we had to try them. Carl the grill master cooked our breakfast while we sat and watched the orders come together. I’m just saying that for us, Paige was the highlight and we would be one and done with the Waffle House but Ron was happy as seen in the pictures below. Back to the RV, packed up and off to Nashville. This 4 hour easy drive thru more green mountains gave us great picturesque views all along the drive. Arrived at the Elm Hill RV Resort, checked in to our 2 sights overlooking the marina on one side and the reservoir on the other side.

Monday we went into town to Lower Broadway where all the music happens. One of our favorite spots is the Listening Room Cafe, today they had four song writers playing thier songs during this 90 minute show. Lunch was great while enjoying the latest tunes in the Country music world. Next stop was AJ Good TIme Bar, this Allan Jackson bar had live music so we had a cocktail before moving on to Rippy’s Honkytonk for a couple hours of fantastic music. This place was really jumping for a Monday afternoon. Dierks Bentely bar was another stop and a walk up and down Broadway taking in all the sights and sounds of downtown Nashville.

Tuesday we had the pleasure of visiting our good friends, Mike, Flora, Tyler and Megan over in Galatin, Tennessee. Quick tour of the house and beautiful property on Lake Hickory then into the boat for cruise. Mike showed us around this huge lake with beautiful houses lining the shores. Back to the house for dinner, stories from the past and catching up on life in Tennessee. Tyler and Megan have sure grown up to be young adults and a pleasure to be around. I think they all like the Tennesse life and it’s been great for this wonderful family.

Wednesday the weather was taking a turn for the worse, we decided to move on from Nashville and head to Memphis a day early to try to escape the tornado warnings. Turns out to be a very good move as a tornado touched down very close to where we we staying. Mike and Flora weren’t as lucky, they had hard rain, wind, lighting and thunder all night and had trees down, dock damage and flooding as the lake rose over 5 feet during this major storm. All were safe but lots of damage to the docks on the lake.

Our first night in West Memphis was a little scary and the rain, lightning and thunder rocked the rv and flooded the campground. Still not as bad as other areas in the state so we are happy to be here. Lunch on Thursday was time to visit the famous Rendezvous Charcoal Ribs in Memphis just back over the bridge in the downtown area. The ribs were the highlight along with a couple of ice cold pitchers of beer to wash down the dry rub that make this place so famous. Back to the RV for cards and hanging out relaxing before making the drive to Hot Springs, Arkansas for the next five nights.

Enjoy the pictures from these places and more to follow from Hot Springs….

On Lake Hickory with Mike, Flora, Ron, Kathy, Glenna, Pat

Kathy and Ron loving the ribs at Rendezvous

Dinner with Mike, Flora, Tyler, Megan, Ron , Kathy, Glenna and Pat at their beautiful lake house

sunrise on Daniel Island

getting ready for Paella

finished product

sunrise by the pool

dinner at Costa in Charleston

Dusty and Pat enjoying a pool day

Pat, Dusty, Paige and Pat back at the rv

these are called fox squirrels

big gators on the golf course

Harbor Town

Kathy, Ron, Glenna and Pat at the Listening Room Cafe in Nashville

beautiful RV spot on the river in Sevierville, Tennessee

moving day!!!

Memphis rib joint

a few weather issues but all good for us

Sunset booze cruise

picture says it all

April 12-25, 2024

After a one night delay because of the Tornado warnings, we made the beautiful drive down to the Tampa / St. Pete coastline. Glenna and I were on our own as Ron and Kathy headed down to the Villages to visit friends. The hightlight of the drive was going thru Ocala, Florida. This beautiful horse country had miles and miles of horse ranches with over 1200 horse farms, 50 breds of horses and 35,000 thoroughbreds as part of the 75,000 horses in the area. Don’t want to be the one that has to cut the grass but it sure was pretty driving by these pristine properties. This horse capitol of the world has the largest number of horses than any other county in the USA.

Checked into our the St. Pete KOA for the next 6 nights, settled in and set up some plans for the week. Dinner and tour of Clearwater beach with friends Allan and Denise proved to be a spectular day. Driving over the bridge to the beach with clear views of the aqua colored water and the white sands were a sight to see. Clearwater beach is always voted as one of the top beaches in Florida and one of the top beaches in the world. Dinner at Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill on the patio eating some local favorites like Grouper sandwiches, ceviche and of couse a cocktail to celebrate our reunion with friends. A walk down the beach towards Pier 60 and viewing the sunset with a few thousand others that pack the beach every night to see this stunning event from Mother Nature. Music, sandcastles, food trucks and local vendors filled the beach providing endless entertainment for the locals and tourists.

When Ron and Kathy rejoined us, we checked a bucket list item for Ron. Dinner at Bern’s Steakhouse in Tampa did not disappoint, this famous steakhouse has over 900,000 bottles of wine and a dessert room like no other. Started of with an Old Fashion (their signature drink) and proceeded to enjoy our steaks accompanied with French Onion soup, salad, baked potato and asparagus, all included with your steak choice. A nice bottle of Vinatieri wine paired perfectly with the prime beef choices. After dinner our professional waiter Mitch, set up a tour of the kitchen, wine room and a trip to the dessert room. This 6000 foot kitchen was a real treat to see, lots of moving parts as the chefs in different food stations cranked out these excellent culinary delights. The wine room was musty, dimly lit with bottles of wine dating back hundreds of years. No samples here but amazing to see what is the largest private collection of wines in the country. The dessert room had over 48 private eating areas all made from old wine barrels and piped in music from the pianist playing in the upstairs lobby. We sampled a couple gourmet, all in house made desserts including Ron’s favorite Banana Cream Pie and a Choclate Lava Cake with hot fudge, all were delicious.

A coulple more MMT’s around Clearwater then off to St. Augustine while Ron and Kathy heading down to the Everglades and Vero Beach to visit friends. Checked into the St. Augustine KOA, set up camp and went into town for the Hop on Hop bus tour of downtown St. Augustine. Lots of history and is the longest continually inhabited European-founded city in the United States, beautiful beaches, old streets filled with bars, local eateries and shops. Friday morning we had a special MMT (magical mystry tour) down to Datona Beach and visiting the famous Daytona 500 race track and museum. This 55 minute tour gave us the opportunity to drive on this 2 1/2 mile oval track, walk the start finish line that surprised us by being an 18% grade. The museum was filled with auto, air, and boat memorabilia including this years Daytona 500 winning car from William Bryon. Short drive over to Daytona Beach, brought out our beach chairs and enjoyed sitting and people watching, waves rolling in sitting on the white sands of Florida.

The afternoon took us into St. Augustine where we checked out the local St. Georges street full of shops, bars and local food establishments. We went into the Prohabation Kitchen that was recommended to us by our friend Fred who frequented the area back in his work days. Live music and a great bar was the local scene with very friendly bartender and a perfect old fashion to top off the day. 

Saturday April 20th was moving day so we packed up and headed towards Hilton Head, South Carolina. Nice easy drive north thru Georgia and on to the island. Checked into the Hilton Head Motorcoach RV Resort, set up and spent the rest of the day hanging out. Sunday was a golf day and we were so happy to be going to visit some old friends from our Poway days. Art and Linda live in Bluffton, just a few miles off the island in a wonderful golf community Berkely Hall CC. We arrived at their house and took the tour of this spectacular house and property and then off to the South golf course. Fun times on the course with old friends, Art hasn’t lost his touch shooting a 72 that could have been a 69. Linda, Glenna and I did ok as well trying not to get to close to the alligators that were sunning themselves on the shores of the many ponds. Dinner at the club catching up on old times and what the future brings to us all. Spent the night with them and another round of golf on the North Course today. Equally as beautiful and this proved to be a bit tougher than the South Course. Still had a blast, cards and dinner at the house afterwords followed by a movie then off to bed. Art is the breakfast / dinner chef and gave us some very good meals while there. 

Back to the island to meet up with Ron and Kathy, spent some time relaxing by the lake, reading and just hanging. Wednesday we went out to dinner with Art, Linda, Ron, Kathy, Glenna and I to the Fishcamp on Broad Creek restaurant overlooking the marina and waterways. Great dive bar and a local favorite with oyster, hushpuppies and grouper as some of their specialities.

Thursday was a MMT day as we drove over to Beaufort, SC. Lunch at a local BBQ joint that was just ok and hopped on a horse drawn carriage tour for a ride around Beaufort. Beaufort was chartered in 1711 and is the second oldest city in South Carolina next to Charleston. Stopped at the local farmers market and seafood store in Bluffton on the way home and had a nice seafood dinner at the RV’s next to the lake. We will be in Hilton Head a few more days then off to Charleston for our next 5 nights seeing friends and enjoying the great places in Charleston.

Clearwater Beach

relaxing evening at the Hilton Head RV Resort

Kathy and Glenna getting Arts clam linguine

carriage tour in Beaufort

Fishcamp on Broad Creek

Harbor Town on Hilton Head Island

Pat and Glenna lunch

lots of big gators at the golf course

Glenna and Pat at Daytona

Sunset at Clearwater Beach

never disappointed here

Linda and Glenna at Berkely Hall CC

Art and Pat

Fox Squirrels on the course, the largest species of tree squirrels.

moving day!!!!!

Parlor Donuts in St. Augustine

great wine at Berns

Two full time butchers working dinner shift

dinner at Berns

Pat, Denise and Allan on Clearwater Beach

on the patio at the RV Resort

Glenna at her happy place in St. Augustine

seafood dinner

Ron and Pat shucking oysters

old fashion cocktails Prohibition Kitchen

beautiful flowers and trees in South Carolina

great oak trees everywhere

beach time

Daytona tour

wine room tour at Berns Steakhouse

huge part of St. Augustine

lunch with Jim Duffy in Clearwater

Clearwater Beach

March 20, 2024

Great week in Carrabelle including a round of golf at the St. James Bay Golf Club, chartering a fishing boat, visiting old friends in Panama City Beach, the Springs at Wakulla, farmers market, and making new friends at a local hangout.

We had a great visit with my old friend Christie and her husband Tom, they live in a beautiful small community in Panama City Beach. We spent the day on their boat cruising the bay and going into the Gulf of Mexico. The emerald green water and the pure white sugar sand was a real treat to see along the prestine shoreline. Always great to spend time with lifelong friends.

Sunday April 7th was a day for Glenna to check the box for fishing in Florida. Perfect day on the water as she caught a 19 pound Redfish, a few catfish, white trout and a couple of Bonnet Head sharks. I also caught 3 Redfish but Glenna had the jackpot fish. Most were returned to the water but we did keep 1 Redfish and a few Trout that made a nice dinner for Ron, Kathy, Glenna and I when we returned.

Monday was golf day at St. James Bay Golf Club, this was a very challenging course with just ok conditions and long areas to cross from the tee boxes. We survived the day but not our best day of golf but always a fun day with friends getting outside and some exercise.

Tuesday was a good MMT day driving towards Tallahassee to visit the Springs at Wakulla, this is a State run park with a museum, swamp lagoon and boat tours. We took the 45 minute boat tour with Captain Scott giving us the history and highlights of the swamp. This is where they filmed the first Tarzan movie with Jonny Weissmuller, Creature of the Black Lagoon and has the worlds deepest natural springs, over 1500 feet deep. Lots of alligators, bald eagles, birds, turtles and we even saw a mama manatee with her baby swimming past our boat.

Walks along the beach, MMT’s around the area, quite time at the RV and visiting the local fresh fish market, Millanders. We had fresh oysters, royal red shrimp, homemade dips made with old family recipes. We met the owner, Vance and his family that runs this little gem in Carrabelle. Yes, we bought plenty of this delicious shimp to put in the freezer to share when we get home.

Wednesday and Thursday we were and still are under tornado and flash flood alerts so we decided to stay put here for one more day then continue our journey on Friday under clear skies with no wind and rain.

Next stop for us is Tampa Bay with Ron and Kathy going to The Villages to visit some friends. We will hook up back with them in Tampa Bay next Monday.

dinner at Meril in New Orleans

dinner with friends in Fairhope, Alabama

peacock at Sean and AC ranch

beautiful wine room

Fort Pickens, Florida

sand bars in Destin, Florida

views of the beach during lunch at The Back Porch

sunset in New Orleans

we are still pretty good at shucking oysters

Royal Red Shrimp

this is how we felt after golf at St James Bsy

Glenna with Captain Roger and her big Redfish

Pat, Paul and Roger

Pats Redfish

Tornado that pushed this house over in Panama City Beach

Pat and Glenna on Tom and Christie boat

Pat and Christie

Captain Tom

Blue Angels

Glenna reeling in the big one

pictures don’t do justice to these gorgeous beaches on the Gulf

Shrimp salad for dinner

Pat, Ron and Glenna on the beach in Navarre

Great stop on our MMT for a snack and margaritas

Kathy is an expert on making BBQ oysters

Glenna has perfected the shrimp boil

March 20, 2024 to May 20, 2024

RV excursion with Pat and Glenna and our great friends Ron and Kathy Fawcett

Get ready, folks, to start this incredible journey across the United States, traveling our superhighways, backroads, waterways, big cities, small towns, golf courses, diners, drive-ins, and dives, visiting friends all along the way. Travel for Pat and Glenna begins this Wednesday, March 20th, with Ron and Kathy leaving on Friday and meeting us for our first stop together in Benson, Arizona.

Big Cities along the way include: New Orleans, Pensacola, Panama City, Tampa Bay, St. Augustine, Hilton Head, Charleston, Nashville and many small towns in-between like Hot Springs Arkansas, Pine Top Arizona, Destin Florida, Glendale Arizona, and who knows where else. Buckle up, it’s about to begin…….

Stay tuned for a weekly update!!!!!

September 26-28, 2023

We left Santorini mid morning and headed down to the ferry harbor for our journey over to Athens. Another day on the water is always a good thing, this high speed ferry made a few stops to other Greek Islands along the way and we pulled in to the harbor in Athens a bit late but good to be there. We had a taxi lined up to take us into the city centre to our hotel. The Niche Hotel was located just below the Acropolis and the view from the rooftop restaurant was spectacular, especially at night when the Parthenon was lite up. Glenna and I had a seat at the outside bar with a bottle of wine and some appetizers, it was perfect to sit and stare at this amazing site as we reflected on our epic trip.

Wednesday morning we had a tour scheduled for the Acropolis, after a night of rain, thunder and lightning, it didn’t look good. However, the rain slowed down and off we went. We met our guide Yota and started our walk up the hill and into the entrance. What an incredible masterpiece for the world to see, amazing that they were able to preserve the ruins after all these years. The museum was equally impressive and filled with statues and pieces of art. Down the hill we went and into the town of Plaka where we found a nice restaurant to sit and have a snack and rest our legs. Plaka is the oldest neighborhood in Athens and Athens holds half of the 10 million people that live in Greece. We revisited Plaka later in the evning to find a place that Guy Fieri visited and raved about the Gyros served here, did not dissapoint. After 6 miles of walking, we went back to the hotel for one last look at the Acropolis from the rooftop bar and called it a night.

Thursday was moving day, off to the airport for our flight to Chicago then LAX. Got in around midnight, checked into the Hilton Curio hotel for the night. Our car transport pick us up on Friday morning and drove us back to the ranch.

What and epic trip we experienced, Glenna and I feel very fortunate that we had this opportunity to explore Italy and Greece and spend time with some family and friends along the way.

Fun facts about our journey:

32 day trip

Carry on luggage and a backpack, no checked bags, way to go Glenna!!!

2 Continents

3 Countries: Italy, Switzerland and Greece

13 different Hotels

2 Airlines: American and Ryan Air

Many Boats, Ferries and Boat Tours

Trains, Trains and more Trains all throughout Italy

Many Taxis and Private Cars

To many Super Yachts to count but were awesome to see

1 Fantastic Cooking Class

To many Pizzas, Pastas, Greek Salads and bottles of wine to count

Miles of walking and to many steps to count

12 Bags of Homemade Carmels shared with fun people in Italy and Greece

1 Fantastic Anniversary with Pat and Glenna, # 8

Keep living your dreams, travel, eat, drink and love your familes and friends!!!!!!!

Cia, Antio Sas and Good Bye for now, thanks for following along.

Love and Hugs,

Pat and Glenna

Acropolis at night from our hotel rooftop bar

Pat in the kitchen with the cooks in Plaka

Our journey

Don’t see 20% grades to often

Pat at the Parthenon

Pat and Glenna

Ruins under the city

Parthenon sculptures

Pork Gyros in Plaka

Great restaurant in Plaka

This was the spot of the first olive tree in Greece on the Acropolis

Good Greek wines

View of Athens from atop the Acropolis

Good Night from Athens

September 21-26, 2023

Early morning flight out of Naples, Italy direct to Santorini. Our only good option was a 6:05 am flight so that meant a 2:30 wake up, packed up and taxi at 4:00 am to the airport. Pouring rain with lots of thunder and lightning prior to takeoff but only a light rain for the takeoff on this Ryan Air flight. Good 2 hours flight and smooth landing along the Aegean Sea on the Eastern side of the island. Private car to the hotel and arrived at the On The Rocks Hotel well prior to our check in time but spent the day walking around town, had some lunch and was able to check in a little early. WOW, this place is spectacular with stunning views overlooking the Western side of the island right above the Caldera. Here’s a little bit about a Caldera:

(Santorini’s half-moon-shaped bay is the center of the caldera (a cauldron-like volcanic depression), which collapsed after a volcanic eruption during the Minoan civilization, eventually leading to their decline, just like Pompeii. Indeed, the eruption was so massive that it seems to have caused significant climate perturbations; it was possibly one of the biggest volcanic eruptions on Earth. The outer edge of the ancient volcano gave birth to Thira, the main island. Subsequent eruptions during the 16th and 17th centuries are responsible for the creation of the islands Palea Kameni and Nea Kameni. Furthermore, excavation works done at the site of Akrotiri have shown that the island, at the time named Kallisti, was the cradle of an advanced civilization dating back to 4000 BC.)

Getting back to the first days lunch, we stopped at a little local deli and market that looked like gyros were the top items. Boy, we tried a chicken and a pork gyros with a greek salad, olives on the side and everything was delicious. Turns out we visited Jimmy’s Gyros a few times on this trip and it was right around the corner from our hotel. Also, the market sold wine and we picked out a nice Pinot from Greece with the help of the owner and bought a bottle. Again, we made it back there a few times to buy more wine.

One day we rented a Polaris side by side to go explore the island. Spend the next six hours traveling the pothole filled narrow roads into some small tourist towns. Visited Red Beach, Black Beach along the south end of the island. The black sandy beach was pretty cool, very soft black sand that stretched along the seashore filled with chairs and umbrellas waiting for more tourist to arrive. Stopped at a winery for some wine tasting, the Santo Wines built in 1911 had spectular views and decent wines. Pat noticed a very small sign along the road that pointed to a Tomato Industrial Museum. We turned down the windy road and headed towards the water on this part of our MMT. We came accross the museum, went in and took the self guided tour for 6 euros and learned how they made tomato paste and sauce for many many years in Santorini. Who knew we would have a tomato tour in Greece. Back on the road to explore the town of OIA on the most Northern tip of Santorini. This high end tourist town was very crowded along the narrow steep streets filled with all the top shops in the fashion world. Back to the hotel while continuing to explore the islands Eastern side.

The walk over to Fira is about 1 1/2 miles away on a footpath full of steps up or down on every step. As we approached the town, we could see the four cruise ships emptying thier tourist to spend the day walking around the town. Three ways to get up the very steep long hillside from the ships at the bottom to the town on top. One was to take the cable car, two was to get ontop a donkey and have a slow bouncy ride to the top or three, walk the path and the 588 steps to the top. It was really more because most of the steps were big enough you needed a second step to get up. After walking theu crowds and small walkways, it was time to head back to our hotel and keep getting more steps and exercise before it got to hot.

Sunday was set aside to take a sunset dinner cruise with Santorini Yacht Sailing, this 45 foot catamaran with a crew of 4 proved to be a great way to spend time on the water. We had a 1:30 pickup at the hotel and a van ride over to OIA to the Ammoudi Harbor, baorded the vessel and set off for the day. Toured aroud the dormant valcano and small island that made up the Caldera. Saw Red and Black beach, stopped at two swimming spots, had a very nice early dinner with wine, beer, soda, water and plenty of time to chat with the 18 passengers. This was a really fun group and that made it a special trip along with the crew that were fantastic, especially Joe (go figure). The sunset over the water was a bit hampered with clouds and haze but still enjoyed it before heading back to the harbor.

Monday is some pool time, loved the Magma Ruins and the Santo-Rin cocktails and a relaxing lunch, packing up and getting ready for our ferry ride over to Athens on Tuesday afternoon. Foggy morning but great afternoon and evening. One last bottle of wine in the terrace enjoying the spectacular views.

Next stop is Athens!!!!!

Ferry to Athens

Sunset cruise around the Caldera in Santorini

Pat with the Captain on the cruise

Pat and Glenna at a swimming spot

Famous rock in Santorini that you can walk around the top

Pat in the warm sulfur waters

Views of the towns In Santorini

Ammoudi Harbor in Oia

Who know that dress throwing was such a big business in Santorini. $300 euros per photo session

Beautiful church’s always with blue domes

Here comes breakfast up the stairs each morning

Sunset view from our terrace at the On The Rocks Hotel

Wine time

Did I mention they have a lot of steps here?

Lots of churches

View from our terrace

Interesting houses in Oia

Ditto on the wine time

This is a typical vineyard in Santorini, not like California wineries

Our stop at Santo Winery

Tomato Paste Plant and Museum

Finished product

Black Beach on the Eastern side of Santorini

Just another beautiful view

This is how we got around on our island tour, very fun to drive

Sunset

Cruise ships in the Caldera spending the night.

On the Rocks Hotel in Imeriviglion on Santorini

Cocktails by the pool

Sunset cruise

wasn’t long before the captain ask me to take over

Then Glenna jumped in for a test drive

Glenna cooling off

Glenna in the back of the catamaran

Glenna liked to get close to the edge for pictures

Good bye from Santorini

September 12-20, 2023

 The Amalfi Coast is a region famous for vividly-painted towns that tumble down cliffsides to a sparkling azure sea, the Amalfi Coast is Europe’s most alluring stretch of shoreline. Nearby you’ll also find the glamorous island of Capri, a popular haunt of the wealthy for centuries and renowned for its natural beauty as well as its grand mansions and chic hotels, not to mention that this is where the Caprese Salad started. Be sure to wear your runners, plenty of vertical steps to work off the pasta, pizza and wine.

We left Cinque Terre by train, headed thru small towns and eventually to Rome where caught a connection to Naples. We had a private car waiting for us for the unbelievable MMT (magical mystery tour) over to the Amalfi Coast to the town of Amalfi. After a very long windy road over the mountains and down the coastline the views along the drive was spectacular. First stop was at the Vista D’ Amalfi Hotel (more like a bed and breakfast), checked in and admired the view overlooking the harbor and off to town for some exploring. The first night was a special night for us, our 8th anniversary. We found a great little restaurant on the beach called Stella Maris with a very nice owner, Antonio taking very good care of us. Lovely Italian dinner with wine, views to die for and the perfect weather made for a great night. The sencond day we walked thru town, bought some supplies, spent the afternoon at the beach club and enjoyed our homemade dinner of cheese, prosciutto, tomato’s, basil and some good Italian bread on the balcony watching the boats roll in and out sipping our wine.

Day three was moving day over to my bucket list hotel for the past 35 years. The Hotel Santa Caterina was a place I visited years ago and lunch overlooking the beautiful waters of the coastline and said that someday I will return to stay here. Well, someday was today……..We checked into the this 5 star resort hotel that did not disappoint in any way, from the front door to the lobby, the rooms, bar, pool, service and very nice staff was over the top. They let us check in at 10:30 in the morning where normal check in is 3:00 PM, went to our room and then to the pool for a relaxing afternoon. Spent the next two days at the hotel and had a blast. We met some very nice folks on vacation and shared some Italy stories most were envious of our 32 day trip to Italy and Greece.

Next stop was Positano, just a short ferry ride away along this same beautiful coast. The town was very crowded and like the others full of steps and vertical hills to climb. We stayed at the Cova Dei Saraceni just a few steps away from the ferry terminal. We walked to the hotel with our carry on suitcase and our backpacks, checked in and hit the town for some lunch. The front desk manager at the Santa Caterina Hotel, Simone told us about a local lunch spot that we tried. WOW, he was right. Great food, awesome view over the water and friendly service that the locals enjoy. That was really a linner for us so we hung out on the terrace of our room and played some cards and watched the boats below come into and out of the dock unloading and reloading all the tourist. Boy, Italy is full of tourist this time of year. Normally, this would be a slow down time for Italy but not this year, super crowded every day in every town. Repeat of days in other towns and then off to Sorrento for 2 nights. Ferry ride from Positano to Sorrento is only a 40 minute ride long the coast and a cheap 18 Euros per person fare. That beats a 1:30 drive and 120 Euros if you took a car.

Arrived in Sorrento, a car was waiting for us to arrive an take us to our hotel some 40 minutes away in a small town called Vico Equense. A quaint litte village away from the crowds. Checked into the Towers Hotel Stabiae on the Sorrento Coast and toured the facilities, nice pool, private beach, great suite with huge terrace balcony overlooking the Gulf De Napoli looking right at Mount Vesuvius. Took a shuttle into town, walked around a stopped at Restorante Titos for an early dinner. Fredrick the maitre D’ offered us a anniversary glass of prosecco for a starter then homemade pasta with seafood, sauted mediterranean vegetables and some limoncello as a digestive after our meal complements of Frederick.

We saw so many super yachts all along the Amalfi Coast in these harbor towns. Very busy boat traffic that would drive the US Coastguard crazy. After many days of yacht watching we have voted and here are the winners:

The Academy award for Honorable mention goes to Jeff Bezos and his 417 foot sailing ship that travels with a 246 foot yacht that supports his sailboat with toys, crew and supplies. He was in the area but we did not see it.

The Runner up goes to Jerry Seinfeld’s yacht at 138 feet which we did see in Positano.

And the Academy Award for Best Yacht…….drum roll please……goes to this beauty: Steven Spielberg’s 250 million dollar, 357 foot super yacht! It dwarfed all the other super yachts in our Positano harbor ( see picture below). This yacht has a annual service price tag of 20-30 million dollars. Different league folks!!!!!!!

Tuesday morning we were off to Capri on a boat tour after a long ride back to the harbor. Boarded the boat with ten others and procedded towards the Isle of Capri. Dock at the Grand Marina, the local tour guide gave us some options to spend the next 4 hours and off we go. We took a small bus to the top of Anna Capri, which is on the top of the island, walked around, saw the local church, shops and went down to Capri for some lunch. Since food, wine and great culinary experiences are more important to us than shopping we found our restaurant and checked in. The La Capannina was highly recommended to us by some locals in Almafi so we had to try it. WOW, we are sure glad we did, this place was fantastic. The food, wine, service and atmosphere were over the top. Burrata salad to start then ravioli caprese and veal cutlet to finish made for the perfect lunch along with a bottle of white wine. Back to the boat, stopped for a swim as we toured around the entire island to see the colorful grottos and sculptured seashores. Stopped at the only freshwater waterfall on the island for a shower of cold clean water off the back of the boat deck then back to the harbor for our departure. One of the couples, Paige and Scott got engaged while on the island, that made for a Prosecco filled ride back and many pictures of the happy couple. Back to the hotel for our last night on the coast.

Naples

Our driver picked us up at the hotel on Thursday morning, drove us Pompeii for a tour of this ancient city. We had a very informative 2 hour walking tour from our guide Becca. She was full of Pompeii history and gave us the perfect views and back stories of Pompeii. Rosario, our driver took us to our hotel in Naples City Centre and we said our goodby’s after a few days of traveling together. Checked into the Naples Centre Suites and Spa where the owner Frederic gave us the history of the place and pointed our some local dinner options. After walking to the town Piazza, the largest and oldest, so they say in Italy we had our fill of tourist and shops. Dinner at a local Naples restaurant, Trattoria Toledo served the traditional Naples cuisine. Dinner and off to bed, very early flight tomorrow morning to Santorini, Greece for the next 5 days.

CIAO from Italy………

had to have some gelato

Moscow mules at the pool in Positano

burrata caprese salad in Capri

Ravioli caprese

veal cutlets

pool view at Hotel Santa Caterina

Glenna in the library at the pool

dinner on the balcony in Amalfi

fun watching the ferries come and go I Amalfi

Boat tour in Capri

lagoons in Capri

time for a swim on the boat tour

crazy blue colors in the waters around Capri

fireworks on the beach for our anniversary

Anniversary dinner in Amalfi, one of them❤️

art in Amalfi

Sunrise from our hotel balcony at the HSC

afternoon espresso in Naples from the hotel owner.

Glenna and others getting a waterfall shower off the back of the boat

lots of super yachts in Capri

Limoncello after dinner

Towers Hotel along the Sorrento coast

hard to beat this view for some wine and snacks

did I mention lots of boats along the Amalfi coast?

Spielberg yacht

Glenna in the old Pompeii outdoor theater

Amazingly these Frescoes survived the eruption of Mount Vesuvius

Spielberg yacht

great food In Positano

bucket list hotel in Amalfi, hotel Santa Caterina

nice pool to hang in

Pizza by the pool

Here’s to the Amalfi Coast until next time

CIAO

Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Rio Maggiore (From North to South)

September 9-12, 2023

After taking the train thru Pisa from Bologna, the four of us (Pat, Glenna, Mike, Sandy) arrived in Monterossa and took the time on the waterway to enjoy the beautiful views. While there, we did find a small bar / Cafe to buy a couple of large bottles of beer to quench our thirst as we waited for the taxi. The Alberto Ristorante Delhi Amice Hotel was not far away but schlepping the luggage up the hills and not really knowing how far it was , was out of the question. Checked into our rooms and set out for the day. Pat, Glenna and Sandy went for a walk around town while Mike found a small pub to enjoy a beer and rest his weary knee. The town was small but crowded with lots of shops, restaurants cafes and small markets with fresh fruits and vegetables. We had dinner at the Restorante Moretto in the town square with steaks, mussels, calamari, fresh Italian breads and some wine to wash it all down. Back to hotel and found a rooftop terraced deck with tables and chairs and a stunnng view of the town and harbor. This made for a perfect place to play some cards, drink a bottle of wine we purchased at the local market and watch the sunset.

Day Two: The breakfast at the hotel was really good with pleanty of fresh fruits, yogurt, dry scrambled eggs or eggs to order (YES) along with the typical display of breads, croissants, and american coffee. Walked down to the dock and boarded our sight seeing tour for the next 3 hours. The Ale Terre Boat Tours with Alessandro and Tomi as Captain and guide procedded to take us on our Magical Mystery Tour along the coast of the Ligurian Sea. The views of the 5 towns and a couple of small villages on top of some hills was spectacular. Thank you Judy and Mike for suggesting we take this tour and seeing Cinque Terre from the water. Two swimming stops, a very nice lunch with Procsecco, Beer for Mike and cold water made the trip a huge success. More walks around town, stopped at now our favorite wine store and headed to the rooftop deck for a repeat of last nights shenanigans. Mike and Sandy went to dinner and Pat and Glenna called it a night.

Day Three: Repeat on the good breakfast and off to the train to head to the town of Manarolo to start our journey visiting all five little towns. Our goal was to walk to Corniglia but after walking most of the way there, the trail was washed out and the detour took you over the mountain for another 3 hours to get there. We passed, turned around and walked back to town. Took the trains to the other towns. All were very crowded and after walking up and down and up and down these all seemed the same. We stopped in Vernazza to have lunch at Restorante Gamgero Rosso overlooking the harbor. Good pasta, burrata and some house white wine served by one the best waiters we have ever had. Timothy hustled his way around the busy restaurant and kitchen to make the dining experience a treat. He wanted to take a picture with us at the end for his memories. (Maybe I tipped him to much). Walked and walked each town and back to the hotel. Wine on the rooftop deck with cards, sunset and a final final with Mike and Sandy. Next morning we had breakfast then hit the trains, Pat and Glenna heading to the Amalfi Coast, Mike and Sandy heading to Lake Como.

Glenna, Timothy and Pat in Vernazza

Beautiful small beaches in Cinque Terre

Pat, Glenna and Sandy at the harbor in Vernazza

Glenna enjoyed the pasta that Timothy recommended

Great travel partners Glenna and Sandy

Pat and Sandy had the fresh creamy cold burrata on crispy Italian bread

shopping

Mike and Glenna

map of the five towns

train ride between towns

dinner in Monterosso

Boat tour seeing the towns from the water

Lunch on the boat tour

Captain and tour guide

View from the rooftop deck

wine and cards on the deck

Beer stop on arrival in Monterosso

Mike, Sandy and Glenna with carry on only on this 32 day trip

lots of beach umbrellas to pick from

Sandy and Pat at our favorite wine shop

lots of small local fruit and veggies markets

Mike and Sandy on the train

Sunset from the rooftop deck and good night from Cinque Terre.

Next stop is the Amalfi Coast

September 6-9, 2023

WOW, WOW, WOW, what a trip to Bologna we had. This University, food town, museum, churches, shopping and much more did not dissappoint. The weather was perfect, with high 70’s to mid 80’s during the day and perfect slightly cooler in the evenings.

We arrived in Bologna after a one hour train ride from Milan, the train station was less than ten minutes to our Hotel Corona D’ Oro located in the city centre. Great location for touring the city and finding good eating establishments. Met up with Mike and Sandy Oberg who traveled from the Almifa Coast to be together for the next 6 days. Pat and Glenna jumped on the Hop on Hop off tour bus for the next hour to get a quick overview of the city and sights. Mike and Sandy took the tour earlier in the day. Met them for some adult beverages at a local deli and wine shop that was reccomended to us by some folks we met in the NY admerils club, they were from Bologna and had lots to share about thier lovely town. Thank you Rachael, Barbara and twin sisters for all your inputs. The Bottega PortaNova owned by Paolo greeted us as locals and told us the story of the family business and shared some local Bologna deli meats and cheeses and of course some good local wines. We enjoyed more wine and stories from Paolo for a couple hours then off to the hotel.

Parma Tour

We took the 7:30 AM train from Bologna to Parma and met up with our tour guide outside a smaill cafe where we had some coffee and croissants before loading the small tour bus. First stop was the Caseifico Basilicanova Parmesan Regginio cheese factory, this was a family owned cheese shop where they made 14 large wheels of cheese every day. We were able to watch the Master Cheese (Paulo) maker take the last batch of cheese out of the large copper vat as they explained the process to make these delicious wheels of cheese. We toured the plant and then tasted the various aged cheeses from a minimum of 12 months to 60 months. The process was the same but the aging made the difference between the aged cheeses. Next stop was the Conti Parma Ham Plant, this tour was good but would have been better if we could have seen the workers in action processing the hams. Tasted some great prosciutto in various stages of aging. All good and we were all amazed at the number of hams hanging in the storage area and the number of ham plants in the area. The final stop was the Balsamic Vinegar Tour at the Acetaia Picci 16th century farm. This private house was full of hundreds of casks full of aging balsamic vinegars. Mr. Picci grows his own Trebbiano di Spagna Grapes and oveesees the slow cooking and delicate stage of starting off the casks to hold the balsamic for years to come as they age up to 25 years. The tastings were incredible, we tasted the 12, 18 and 25 year balsamic and you could really taste the difference. The last one was served over some custard but very popular over ice cream and or strawberries.

Bolognaese Cooking Class: September 8, 2023

After months of email communications, we finally got to meet Rita Mattioli. Rita was born and raised in Bologna and is a teacher for a Consortium of 3 American Colleges, Rita teaches Gastronomical Culture. She met us at our hotel and procedded to walk thought out the town centre explaining the importance of the food of Bologna and how it became known as the food capitol of Italy. They have a canal system for water and many old churches, museums, shops and eateries. Stopped at a couple local markets to pick up the fresh ingredients for the cooking class and walked to her house. Pat, Glenna, Mike and Sandy spent the next 4 hours enjoying making pasta, Bolongese sauce and Tiramisu for dessert. Rita and her assistant Valerie, provided a perfect setting for this event. Prep station, kitchen and table settings were ideal. All the food we made turned out good and Rita had meats, cheeses, artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, fresh Focaccia and onions to enjoy as part of our meal. Very fun way to spend the day and you can see in the pictures below. Check the box on a cooking class in Italy……

Next stop is Cinque Terre September 9-12, 2023

Paolo and Pat at his deli wine shop

main Piazza in Bologna

beautiful old walkways on the tour

water canals through out the city

local markets fir your fresh food daily

Parma and cheese shop for our class.

Glenna making pasta

hand made tortellini

Sandy and Glenna tasting the goods

time to eat our culinary delights

Pat adding to the Bolognese

Pat with owner at Balsamic tour

Rita and Valerie

Pat at the old Roman wall built around the city

Casks of balsamic in the aging process

Sandy and Mike enjoying their pasta

Parma tour

lots of Parma hams aging

testing the cheeses for cracks

look at all these wheels of cheese stored during the aging process

Pat helping serve the different aged cheese after the tour

dinner time at Rita’s

Bolognese with homemade pasta

delicious tarra massu

Rita, Mike, Sandy and Pat on the walking history tour

Paolo and Pat at his wine deli shop in Bologna

large vats that make 2 Parmesan Reggiano wheels at a time

did I tell you they have lots of tomatoes in Italy?

picking up the fresh focaccia

Glenna, Rita, Mike and Sandy on the tour of Bologna

Flights and Milan August 29-31, 2023

Tuesday August 29th we left the Ranch and headed to LAX for the night. Spent the night at the Hilton, watched the planes pass in front of the full moon and land one after the other for hours. Early flight to New York on Wednesday morning, hug out at the Admirals Club at JFK while waiting for our flight to Milan. One highlight was that we met a very nice family in the club. The Mom and 3 daughters were traveling back to Italy after a vacation in the USA. Turns out they were from Bologna, where we will be after Lake Como. They shared some great places to see and offered to meet up with us to show us around. Boarded the flight to Milan and after a very bumpy first 3 hours, settled down for a nice flight. Arrived on time, quick run thru customs and off to City Centre Milan. Spent the day walking around town, lunch at Le Grazie near the Centre and started our Last Supper Walking Tour. This was a 3 hour walking tour that started with seeing the Last Supper painting by Leanardo Di Vinci painted from 1492-1495. The next two hours was the tour thru Milan seeing old castles, parks, exhibits and the Duomo De Milano Cathedral. Thuis was started in 1386 and finished in 1965 and the Sforza Castle, a medieval fortress built between 1360 and 1499. We visited the Camparino Bar, where they invented Campari. This is a red Italian Bitter Liqueurs used to make various crafted cocktails. We tried one with orange in it and it was good but not our favorite cocktail. Back to the hotel for the night. Thursday morning we went to the Avis Rental Car agency to get our car and start the drive up to Lake Como.

Lake Como September 1-6, 2023

Glenna did a great job navigating the tricky roads to get out of Milanand of to Lake Como. Beautiful drive up the countryside and took a side trip into the town of Como, this was at the start of the lake. Fairly good size town with windy streets working our way past villas, shops and restaurants along the way to Menaggio. The small town of Menaggio is about 40 minutes from the town of Comoand is a perfect place to start our Lake Como adventures. Checked into the Grand Menaggio Hotel , a typical European room but we did have a king size bed and a fantistic view of the lake. Glenna and I had lunch at a small local restaurant around the corner from the hotel, Dal Tata for a pizza, salad and the smallist glass of wine possible. I guess 6 euros only gets you a 2 ounce pour at this place, needless to say we did not stay for another glass. That evening, my Niece Allison and her husband Duane arrived from Germany for the long weekend. We met up with them and went to Caffe Ventralle on the water in Menaggio for dinner, catching up, a gelato and listening to the jazz orchestra playing a variety of music on the Piazza before calling it a night. They drove in from just outside Frankfurt after a 7 hour drive.

On Saturday morning after breakfast at the hotel, we met Allison and Duane at the ferry terminal, bought our day passes and boarded the ferry to Varena. We did the lovers walk along the shoreline, took some pictures of the town villas and shops them dicided it was time for the next stop. Another ferry ride to Bellagio not far away and started walking around this iconic village. The clear blue water, begonia plants and the bougainvillea was stunning, not sure the pictures will do justice. Lunch at the Bar Florence sitting outside under the shade trees next to the water made for a perfect setting for our Italian meal. Lunch and service were great and that gave us the energy to start our 4 mile walk to the local fishing village we wanted to check out. Up and down several large mountain roads, we finally made it to the harbor. Not really a fishing village but lots of boats in the crystal clear blue crisp water along the docks. Started the long trek back to the town center when after a short time, a taxi van came by and gave us a ride back. Took the ferry back to Menaggio, enjoyed the views and made our way to the Di Vino cafe on the hillside street where every table was at a slant. Didn’t bother us as we had a margarita pizza in honor of Jimmy Buffet who passed away earlier that day. No real margaritas so this was the next best thing. Sunday late morning we went back to Bellagio for a walk around the other side of the town, stopped at the seawall for some pictures and had lunch the La Punta Restaurant overlooking the lake. Glenna and Duane had the Perch and assorted fish while Allison enjoyed a pasta dish and Pat had prosciutto melon that was perfectely ripe and fantastic. Shopping along the way back and on the ferry to Menaggio. We had a couple more days of sight seeing, pool time, driving over the Switzerland border to see Lake Lugano for the day. Beautiful drive over the mountains with stunning panaramic views of the lake and towns along the way. Came across a golf course on at the top of the mountain on the way back, stopped to check it out and have lunch on the patio watching the golfers stroll in from thier hilly round of golf. The Wine Shop in Menaggio, Enoteca RE DI Quadei proved to be a good spot to relax, people watch and have some wine and they provide a very nice charcuterie board with each bottle of wine purchased.

Fun facts about Lake Como:

Shaped like a topsy-turvy Y, Lake Como is renowned for its superb panoramas, terraced citrus gardens, luxury villas overlooking the shimmering water, boat tours and beaches for refreshing swims.

Lake Como, Italian Lago di Como, also called Lario, Latin Lacus Larius,  lake in Lombardy, northern Italy, 25 miles (40 km) north of Milan; it lies at an elevation of 653 feet (199 metres) in a depression surrounded by limestone and granite mountains that reach an elevation of about 2,000 feet (600 metres) in the south and more than 8,000 feet (2,400 metres) in the northeast. Lake Como has three branches of approximately equal length (about 16 miles [26 km]). One stretches northward past Colico; of the other two, one stretches southwestward to the city of Como, the other southeastward beyond Lecco (this branch also known as Lecco Lake), with Bellagio Promontory marking the bifurcation.

Next stop is Bologna

Pat and Glenna at Lake Como

Grand Menaggio Hotel

Allison and Duane

Lake Como

very good ferry system on the lake

Private Villas used in the movie Casino Royal and Star Wars

breakfast view each morning at the hotel

Beautiful scenery on the lake

flags of the visitors

Duane, Allison, Glenna and Pat out on a walk around Bellagio

waterfall in Nesso

lots of bell towers here, fun to hear the clanging of the bells

golf course in the mountains atop Lake Como

ferry boat out on Lake Lugano in Switzerland

lots of walking around Varenna

villas on the lake

boat tour with captain around Lake Como, nice old boat, captain not so good

Concert on the Piazza in Menaggio

Nice lunch places in Bellagio

Hydrofoil ferry boats on Lake Como

Dinner in Menaggio

No olives for me but lots for everyone else

Pat and Glenna on the Lovers Walk Trail in Varenna

Prosciutto and Melon is very popular and very tasty

Order a bottle of wine here and get this with it

Car club from Switzerland visiting our hotel in Menaggio

Duane and Allison on boat tour

Narrow streets in Italy