Stan and Kiyomi Hutchings' Musings and Travel Adventures

2011-06-23 shopping at ICA

2011-08-23T19:02:00.000-07:00

Today we went grocery shopping at the local ICA Maxi . This was a huge market, larger than the stores we are accustomed to shopping in. Besides food, it carries all kinds of other goods, including "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series books and videos (in Swedish, of course). Pippi Longstocking is quite popular with Swedish children, so we saw many books and videos featuring her and her friends. We were impressed with the checkout system: when you enter, you pick up a barcode scanner. As you add items to your cart, you scan the price tag; for produce, you use a scale, select the type of produce and specific item. A label is printed, which you affix to the bag and scan. Kiyomi was fascinated by how easy it was to go through the check out line when all your items are listed in the scanner, and just needs a quick confirmation by the check-out clerk. Then just zip your credit card and you are done!

2011-06-22 Kiyomi's nice birthday

2011-08-23T19:00:00.000-07:00

Kiyomi had a nice birthday experience, we visited Roland's mother, Wiola. She lives in a very nice condo in the heart of Stockholm. On the way back we visited the Bergius Botanic Garden and Park where we saw a kitchen and herb garden, a Japanese garden and pond and many native plants. We then had dinner with Veronica and Sami, and met their 2 children, Felicia (3) and Victor (1 yr 3 months). The children are energetic dynamos. Johan was there, too; but we hardly recognized him. He had grown up to a handsome young man, quite different from the 10-year old we remembered from our last visit 20 years ago . We had a nice time, watching the kids play and hearing what they have been doing in the last 20 years. Veronica cooked the Italian delicious meal, and for dessert a fantastic chocolate and strawberry creation, with whip cream topping. Roland provided the wine from his company GustaVino, a special Chianti imported from the Italian island Elba that was an excellent companion with the meal. We found the sun still up at 11 pm when we finally went to bed; it set around midnight, then came up about 2 am.

2011-06-21 Stockholm, Sweden

2011-08-23T18:57:00.000-07:00

Roland and Ragnhild met us at the port after we disembarked. After a quick trip to their home in Haninge, we returned to Stockholm for an Italian celebration put on by the Italian club that they both belong to. We had a delightful time. There were a variety of Italian cheeses for tasting, champagne, red and white wine, a "little ear" pasta with broccoli and cheese, then the main course, and tiramisu for dessert. Roland's friend Carlo was a dinner companion, and he was a wealth of information and entertaining stories.

2011-06-20 Helsinki, Finland

2011-08-23T18:55:00.000-07:00

Today we stopped in Helsinki, Finland. We took a shuttle from the port to the city center. Kiyomi enjoyed going through the Marimekko store. Then we walked back to the ship along the shore, past the Silja "Symphony" we took 20 years ago from Stockholm to Helsinki. This is our last night on board, so Stan enjoyed the string quartet while Kiyomi packed. Then we had an early dinner and retired early so we could get up early to watch our cruise through the Archipelago to Stockholm. It was beautiful watching the many islands go by. The sun had come up at 2 am, so there was plenty of light by 4 am.

2011-06-19 T St. Petersburg, Russia

2011-08-23T18:53:00.000-07:00

Today we continued in St. Petersburg, Russia. Our tour was to Catherine the Great's Summer Palace in Pushkin, a few miles outside St. Petersburg. The ride through the city was interesting: among establishments with names I could not even guess at the pronunciation or meaning (they used the Cyrillic alphabet) were very familiar icons: MacDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Subway, Ikea, Yves DeLorme and a few others. The Palace grounds are beautiful green woods, with many flowering shrubs. We were told in the winter, when there is 18 to 19 hours darkness, temperature below zero, and snow several feet thick, it is not so pleasant. But today was sunny and warm, with birds chirping and the sun reflecting off gilded towers. Inside the Palace was very lavishly decorated. There was a spacious high-ceilinged ballroom, with huge windows giving a view of the landscape on both sides. Another section was composed of many large rooms, one after the other, connected by a long hallway that went through each of them. Gilt candle holders lined the wall, and the doorways were elaborate gilt designs. One of the rooms was the throne room, one the paintings room, one the giant portraits of Catherine and Elizabeth, one a dining room, one was the Amber room (wallpapered in real amber). After touring inside, we went outside, past the bath house, which was a very large multi-story structure that reputedly was used for more than just baths. We saw a Turkish bath house across a lake; apparently the Russian nobility enjoyed bathing. We had a concert by some singers inside a chapel that had incredible acoustics. They sounded really good. Then we returned back to the ship along Moscow Prospekt and through St. Petersburg. We enjoyed Tea Time and the string quartet concert, then prepared for our dinner at the Polo Restaurant, which features steaks. I had Surf 'n Turf, Kiyomi had a New York Steak. For dessert I could not make up my mind, so had the Quintet Special, a sampling of five of the eight dessert selections.

2011-06-18 St. Petersburg, Russia

2011-08-23T18:51:00.000-07:00

Today we stopped in St. Petersburg, Russia (aka Petrograd or Leningrad). The ship docked on the Neva River, but visitors cannot enter the city without a visa or being with an organized tour. Our first day tour was of the Hermitage, the Winter Palace of Catherine the Great, built in the late 1700s. The architecture is "over the top", competing with the other palaces of Europe for ostentation. There are lots of statuary, parquet floors, marble staircases and columns, chandeliers, gilt and glitter, and of course Catherine's fabulous collection of art from all over Europe. She seemed to specialize in old masters, especially from Holland, Netherlands, and Spain. Unfortunately the Hermitage is a major tourist destination, so it is quite crowded. The tour has to keep moving, to make room for the following groups. It is difficult to appreciate the splendor while being herded along surrounded by other people. I did not bother taking photos; I just gawked at the architecture, decorations and treasures, overwhelmed by the quantity and quality. It was a cold windy rainy day, and we were glad to be indoors. After returning to the ship and taking a brief rest, we enjoyed Tea Time and the string quartet concert. We had dinner at the Red Ginger restaurant, where once again we enjoyed the Asian Fusion menu. Kiyomi reports the sushi plate is satisfactory, and the Chilean Sea Bass is delicious. Stan had the Thai chicken soup with coconut milk and pan-fried noodles, then a delicious tapioca-mango dessert. The show featured the Marina Singers and Dancers in "Swing Time", a retrospective of the music of the 1940s. Again, lots of energy and color made for a very enjoyable show. The second part of the show was the Liars Club, where we had to guess which of three definitions of a word was correct. Des, Cherry and one of the dancers were the "definers" of five words that were unfamiliar (such as tittup, groaking, xhosa). Each definition was accompanied by a very funny story about how the person knows what the word means; but only one definition is true – the other two are lies. The audience guesses which definition is true by applause. Sad to say, we were wrong 3 out of 5 words. Who knew there was a word that means, "fear of having peanut butter stick to the roof of your mouth"?

2011-06-17 Tallinn, Estonia

2011-08-23T18:49:00.000-07:00

Today we stopped in Tallinn, Estonia. A shuttle bus took us to the Kanuti Garden and entrance to Old Town (Vanalinn). Kiyomi took one look at the "garden", saw it was just a small park with a flowerbed and fountain, so we walked through it into the town, along the cobblestone streets and up to the Toompea area overlooking the town with a very nice panorama view, where the castle and several cathedrals/churches and museums are located. As we passed one of the churches, we saw a graduation ceremony had taken place, and many people, all dressed up in their finest and carrying flowers, were celebrating. The architecture here was medieval, in contrast to the new, modern part of town. We noticed that here, too, many, if not most, of the young people have cell phones, and use them frequently. We had another very enjoyable meal in the Grand Dining Room, and later saw the show "Groovin", a retrospective of the music of the 60s and 70s, sung and danced by the Marina Singers and Dancers.

2011-06-16 Riga, Latvia

2011-08-23T18:47:00.000-07:00

Today we stopped in Riga, Latvia. The ship docked along the riverbank, just a few blocks from the city. We walked over to and along the City Canal, a nice waterway bordered by trees, lawn and flowerbeds. It was a quiet and pretty walk. Then we walked through Old Town, looking at the gothic, baroque, and Art Nouveau architecture, many points of interest (that were marked on the map we brought from the ship), souvenirs shops, pubs and cafes. As we were walking back to the ship, the sky got darker and darker. We just made it back to the ship when a heavy rainstorm passed by. Back on the ship after lunch, Kiyomi got her nails done while Stan got a haircut (not as good as Bob does). After Tea Time and the string quartet concert, we attended a preview of future cruises. We decided the San Francisco to Miami Panama Canal cruise sounded interesting, so we signed up for it. We enjoyed a delicious dinner in the Main Dining Room. The service is first-rate, the waiters are well-trained, and the menu selections are wonderful. It is hard to choose among the 4 or 5 appetizers, soups, and/or salads, 5 or 6 entrees (not to mention 6 or 7 dessert choices!). There is something for every taste, including "healthy:, vegan, and "just meat and potatoes" appetites. The evening entertainment was "The Gypsies' Enchanting Evening" featuring virtuoso violinist Artur Banaskiewicz playing gypsy-inspired music with great flair and excitement. His fingers flew and the bow was a blur as he made his violin sing.

At sea

2011-08-23T18:45:00.000-07:00

Today we should have stopped in Visby, Sweden, but high wind prevented the tenders from operating. The ship was too large to dock in the port. The ship continued toward our next port: Riga, Latvia. We had dinner at "Chez Jacques", the French themed restaurant. Stan's escargots were served under a puff pastry shell, and were quite delicious. The evening entertainment was a high energy singing and dancing performance "Con Molto!". It was an enjoyable performance, colorful costumes, and very well executed.

2011-06-14 Gdynia, Poland

2011-08-23T18:35:00.000-07:00

There was a shuttle bus into town; from there we walked to the seashore, and a long way beside the beach. Then we walked over a few blocks and passed through a residential area. The differences in architecture were quite distinct: some buildings were pre-war and in disrepair; some were post-war Communist era and quite plain and drab; some were new or newly renovated, and were modern style. The yards were not maintained for the most part: uncut grass, not much landscaping, minimal flowers and shrubs. The evening entertainment was Des & Cherry King, a magic and comedy show. We were sitting in the front row, so Stan was called on to help out, and played a straight man role. Even sitting right up front, it was not clear how some of the illusions were performed – it really looked like magic.

2011-06-13 Ronne, Denmark

2011-08-23T18:32:00.000-07:00

Today we stopped in Ronne, Denmark. We walked through the town, admiring the medieval architecture. It was a holiday so everything was closed. The town was very peaceful, no cars and hardly any pedestrians. We walked through a woods to a Radisson Hotel where we had coffee and beer for $15. Then we walked back along the cliff above the Baltic Sea. Then we returned for the 4 pm High Tea and Marina String Quartet. The evening show was Agata Holdyk, an very accomplished pianist, who played a number of classical selections for us.

2011-06-12 Warnemunde, Germany

2011-08-23T18:28:00.000-07:00

Today we stopped in Warnemunde, Germany. We walked around the old town for our daily exercise, past many fish shops, selling fresh as well as freshly prepared, smoked, salted, dried, or whatever. We continued on past the port area window shopping, then walked along the waterfront bars, pubs, souvenir shops and hotels to the end of the road, where there were two lighthouses marking the entrance to the harbor, and a beach that was quite popular despite the cool temperature and cloudy sky. Then we returned for the 4 pm High Tea and Marina String Quartet. We had dinner at the Toscana Italian theme specialty restaurant. Stan enjoyed Lobster Fra Diavola, Kiyomi enjoyed a delicious pasta dish.

2011-06-11 Cruise the Oceania "Marina"

2011-08-23T18:21:00.000-07:00

After packing and a leisurely breakfast, we took a taxi to the port and boarded the Oceania "Marina", the newest and largest of Oceania's fleet. We were immediately impressed with the luxury and opulence, extending even to our cabin. There are some more photos at Smugmug. We have a tub and a shower, plus plenty of room to move around. The stateroom on the 9th deck has a queen bed, nightstands, a large desk, a sofa and coffee table. Then the veranda has a table and two chairs overlooking the ocean or port. The desk includes a laptop computer, but all it does is email and Internet; and at $0.95/minute(!) we won't be using it. Email is $3.95 per letter (as many cc as desired no extra charge). There is a satellite newspaper service for $6.50/day/newspaper. All of the ship's areas are sumptuously furnished, with modern art and sculpture to enhance the comfortable areas. There are decks 4-16 available to passengers. Everyone was given a deck map/guide along with their stateroom key/boarding card/charge card so we could find our way around. Even so, it is easy to get turned around. After listening to a concert by the Marina String Quartet, we had a delicious Asian Fusion dinner at the Red Ginger restaurant, one of four specialty restaurants we'll try. Kiyomi was very pleased with the Japanese style dishes, and Stan enjoyed Thai cuisine.

2011-06-10 Copenhagen 4 Frederiksborg Castle

2011-06-11T02:01:00.000-07:00

2011-06-10 Today we took a train trip to visit the Frederiksborg Castle Gardens. The castle dates from the 1600s, although it was reconstructed in 1859 after a fire. The garden dates from the 1720s. It has several major sections: the four terraces; the monograms (made up of 65,000 box plants) of Frederik IV, Frederik V, Christian VI and Margrethe II; the cascade (waterfall feature); two ponds in addition to the castle lake; and the sculptures. We split a nice roast beef sandwich and potato fries, and had a coffee and a beer (179DKK or about $36) at the Vivaldi Café. Then we walked back through the pedestrian-only street, with shops on each side, to the station. Along the way I bought four AA batteries for DKK 70 or about $14). We were impressed with the quiet efficient train and rail infrastructure. It seems to serve the Danes well, and is a boon to tourists, too. Back in Copenhagen, we were again impressed by the large number of cyclists apparently returning from work. The bike lanes separated from pedestrians and motorists are a real help to encouraging cyclists. For dinner we had "A Taste of Thai": coconut chicken soup, pad thai and two beers (176 DKK or about $36).

2011-06-09 Copenhagen 3 Christiansborg Slot

2011-06-11T01:57:00.000-07:00

2011-06-09 Today we visited the Christiansborg Slot (palace) http://www.ses.dk/da/SlotteOgHaver/Slotte/ChristiansborgSlot.aspx. It's an important government building, serving Parliament, the Prime Minister, the Supreme Court and has the Royal Reception Rooms. The Reception Rooms were open to the public, and are very impressive. The rooms are spacious, with very high ceilings that are decorated with paintings and chandeliers; the floors are parquet in complicated geometric patterns. The walls are decorated with huge paintings or tapestries, many woven especially for the palace. The rooms are still used by the Royal family for State functions (dinners, receiving ambassadors, etc.). Then we went around the corner to the Thorvaldsen Museum www.thorvaldsensmuseum.dk. Bertel Thorvaldsen was the pre-eminent Danish sculpture, lived 1770-1844. He designed the museum and bequeathed his works to it when he died. It's a very pleasant exhibition of marble sculpture, much like the Roman or Medieval, but the works are complete – not headless or armless. We had lunch at a Thai restaurant, but it was somewhat disappointing. The cooking style was not as sophisticated as we are used to. After lunch we went to the
For dinner we had a Margerita pizza, mixed salad and two 250cc beers for DKK 232 or about $46. Fortunately it was all very good, generous portions and good draft Tuborg. Photo is one of the many elephants, each of which is painted in a unique manner.

2011-06-08 Copenhagen 2 Rosenborg Slot, National Gallery of Art

2011-06-11T01:54:00.000-07:00

2011-06-08 After our nice buffet breakfast we walked to the Rosenborg Slot (Chateau) where we saw a retrospective of Royal family life from 1600-1863in furniture, portraits, jewelry, table settings, etc. The Treasury, downstairs in a walk-through vault, was very impressive, with bejeweled swords, gold place settings, royal jewelry, and 3 royal crowns studded with jewels. Outside was a lovely garden we enjoyed walking through on our way to the Statens Museum for Kunst (National Art Gallery) where we were overwhelmed by the quantity of Danish and other art covering 700 years. There were hundreds of works by Danish artists we'd never heard of, plus many works by famous artists like Picasso, Matisse, and Rembrandt. And not only paintings; there were sculptures and wood block prints, and some multimedia items. After the art, we went to the Botanical Garden to enjoy Nature's art. We saw a lot of familiar plants, and some that were new to us. It was warm and sunny, so walking through the garden was quite pleasant. We had dinner at the hotel: Kiyomi had steamed mussels (very fresh and tasty, according to her) and I had a Chocolate "Bomb" with ice cream. It was not the "moelleux chocolat coeur fondant groseille" that I had expected, but was delicious nevertheless, with three kinds of chocolate: frosting, cake and topping.

2011-06-07 Copenhagen 1

2011-06-11T01:51:00.000-07:00

2011-06-07 We get a nice buffet breakfast at the Phoenix Hotel, good strong coffee, authentic fresh Danish pastries, cereal, eggs and bacon, fruit, cheese, etc. With the high prices, I try to fill up so I can last to dinner. Even McDonald's, Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken are expensive. We have a Copenhagen Card that gives free admission to numerous attractions, and free bus rides around the city. Today after taking a canal tour for an overview of the city, we went to a couple of interesting museums; one that traced Danish design and art over several hundred years; and one that gave a history of the recent Danish kings and queens, with examples of their furnishings of their study or office. In the evening we ended up at Tivoli Gardens, after walking through the main shopping street. At Tivoli we heard a nice concert, admired the flowers, and decided not to try any of the rides. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by for Chinese and Japanese food take-out, which we enjoyed at the hotel.

2011-06-06 Midnight Sun

2011-06-11T01:49:00.000-07:00

2011-06-06 I was up several times last night and this morning to take a picture of the view (photo), using the midnight sun. Unfortunately, the sun was not visible due to clouds, but the light was more than sufficient to photograph the scenery. We experienced 24 hours of daylight. After sleeping a few more hours, we awoke to a clear blue sky. So ironic that it was just hours too late for me! We disembarked and were taken to the airport for our flight to Copenhagen via Oslo. We arrived safely in the Phoenix Hotel in downtown Copenhagen. We find the prices quite high here, too.

2011-06-05 furtherst north

2011-06-11T01:46:00.000-07:00

2011-06-05 Today we finally see blue skies again. We passed an oil refinery located on an island, burning gas on top of high stacks, we could tell what it was. The strong chill wind was blowing the flames almost horizontally. Later we passed and island dotted with 3-blade wind turbines generating power. It seemed ironic that the waste gas was burned, rather than harnessed for power. All of the islands are splotched with patches of snow. The clouds returned in the afternoon and evening. At about 7 pm we reached the northernmost point of our trip (photo), off the north coast of Norway.

2011-06-04 Tromso

2011-06-11T01:43:00.000-07:00

2011-06-04 Yet another chilly windy rainy day. Our port is Tromso at N 69°38'55.5" E 018°57'43.5". We walked into town up to the main street where there was an old car festival, some actually quite old. We stopped by the northernmost brewery in the world and had the local Mack beer in the Ølhallen pub (established 1928)

2011-06-03 Bodo

2011-06-11T01:40:00.000-07:00

2011-06-03 Today is another chilly windy rainy day. Our port is Bodǿ, above the Arctic Circle (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_Circle) at N 67°17'20.1" E 014°23'44.7". We walked around for exercise until it started to rain, then rushed back to the ship. There was not much to do in port anyway, besides get the exercise.

2011-06-02 Trondheim

2011-06-11T01:37:00.000-07:00

2011-06-02 Our main port is Trondheim at N 63°26'32.7" E 010°24'16.5". It was windy and cold, but not raining so we decided to go for a walk. We walked past Chinese, Thai, Italian (pizza), French and American (Burger King and McDonald's) restaurants to an old church with nice architecture. As we were returning, it started to drizzle so we stopped into a mall consisting of 5 stories with many kinds of shops. Everything was more expensive than in the US, and the fashions were not to Kiyomi's taste, so it was just looking at the merchandise.

2011-06-01 Norway Fjords

2011-06-11T01:35:00.000-07:00

2011-06-01 The morning was clear and sunny, and we saw some spectacular scenery. However, it was too chilly to comfortably stay outside on the deck, so we did most of our watching from the Deck 7 lounge. There is still a lot of snow on the mountains around the fjords, so we see many waterfalls. Some are mere trickles, some pretty large cascades. Some of the mountains seem bare of vegetation, where only a greenish moss or lichen exists; others are covered with trees. Houses and villages are infrequently seen. Apparently the Hurtigruten line is a ferry service between towns, and runs up and down the coast, often passing each other. The ships stop by various towns, often for just 15 to 30 minutes to board or deboard passengers, and load and unload freight. Then one port will be a major stop, where excursions from the ship are started; for example to visit a glacier, see the sled dogs, visit North Cape, etc.

2011-05-31 We depart Bergen

2011-06-11T01:30:00.000-07:00

2011-05-31 We departed Bergen today on the Kong Harald for the Hurtigruten Norwegian Coastal Cruise. We are expecting to see the Midnight Sun (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_sun) as we cruise north to Kirkenes. The long days will also give us more time to admire the lovely Norwegian fjords and picturesque little towns that are the highlight of the cruise. Contrary to the brochure, the ship has no reliable Internet service, so I was not able to send and receive email.

2011-05-30

2011-05-31T02:28:00.000-07:00

Another cold, windy day with rain showers. We took a walk, but had to hurry back to the hotel when it started raining. By the time we reached the hotel, the sun was coming out again. So after a while, we set out again to visit the shops. Everything is much more expensive than we see in the Bay Area. At a Chinese restaurant we paid $25 for a dish of Chow Mein, and another $5 for Chinese tea (just common Oolong, not even Jasmine). We spent most of the remaining day and evening reading and relaxing. The hotel's supper buffet was quite good, plenty of real food, not just snack food. The cheese selections are very nice: blue cheese and several varieties of mild white cheese. There is a surprising amount of fresh vegetables and fruit available at breakfast and supper, considering we are so far north. I suppose most of the food is imported from southern countries.

2011-05-29

2011-05-31T02:22:00.000-07:00

We awakened about 6 am despite going to bed after midnight. The time change meant our bodies thought 6 am was 3 pm and that we were sleeping the day away. By 6 am here at 60 degrees North latitude, the sun has been up for a while, and doesn't set until quite late in the evening. We went for a walk, but the temperature was about 10 C (50 F) with a chill wind, and occasional showers. Bergen is an attractive city, not too big to walk around, and actually quite pleasant with the picturesque buildings. Bryggen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryggen) is a port area, and a historically significant UNESCO World Heritage site. We found everything quite expensive; the dollar is pretty weak. At Macdonald's we had a chicken nuggets with fries and a soft drink that cost about $20. Fortunately our hotel serves buffet breakfast and evening buffet, with coffee and tea available during the day. It is pleasant to sit in the lobby area where the sun shines through the window (when it's not raining!).

2011-05-27

2011-05-31T02:14:00.000-07:00

We departed SFO at about 8:15 on Lufthansa for Frankfurt, Germany. We were in Business Class, so the food was very good. The salad was just about a meal by itself; then they brought the main course. Complimentary beer or wine is served in Business, so we enjoyed a relaxing meal. The entertainment system was old style, but I watched The Green Hornet, which I had not seen before. The seats are quite comfortable, with foot rests that make the seat like a recliner, and very nice head rests that prevent your head from lolling to one side when you sleep. After a nap, we had breakfast prior to our landing. It was already 3 pm, but our flight for Bergen was not scheduled until about 9 pm. With our Business Class tickets, we were able to wait in the very nice lounge with snacks, coffee, and an interesting view of the Frankfurt airport, where airplanes from all over the world came and went. Our flight to Bergen, Norway was on a small E80, but we were served a nice meal and beer. After arrival at the Bergen airport we collected our luggage and took a cab to our hotel, The Clarion Collection in Bryggen, the former Hotel Havnekontoret. The cab fare was over $100, our first "sticker shock". We later found out a an airport bus goes from the airport and stops right in front of our hotel.

2010 September 20-30: Road Trip to San Diego

2010-12-21T18:26:00.000-08:00

Mon 20 Sep. We left in the late morning, then had lunch at the Salinas Marie Callender (where else?!), coffee at a Pismo Beach Starbucks. We stayed in the Solvang Wine Valley Inn. We walked around Solvang, noticing the many empty shops. Finally came upon an open restaurant, so had dinner at The Red Viking. Today we had good weather, so it was a nice drive. The title link is to the Smugmug gallery of photos we took during the trip.

Tue 21 Sep. We left Solvang in the late morning to avoid Los Angeles rush hour, and had lunch at a restaurant recommended by Connie and Robert, The Crab Cooker in Newport Beach: clam chowder, halibut grilled, shrimp + scallop skewer. Then drove along Highway 1, noticing the bells every mile or so, until 1 merged with I-5. After a smooth drive, we arrived at Mother and Daddy's home in El Cajon at 4:30. We took them out for dinner to Jamacha Junction for prime rib, salad, and a nice pinot noir. It was all delicious.

Wed 22 Sep. We met with Lee and Debbie for lunch at La Mesa Brigantine Restaurant. We each ordered our favorite-I had shrimp, Lee soft shell crab BLT, Mother, Kiyomi, and Debbie had fish taco, Daddy crab cake sandwich. We all agreed to share a mud pie dessert. Delicious! We returned home and visited with Lee and Debbie. From Lee we heard what went on behind the scenes at the Naval Academy. It was not all serious study.

Dinner was the delicious leftovers from Jamacha Junction that were too good to throw away: prime rib, tacos, French Fries, and wine. Dessert was a choice of four flavors of ice cream.

After dinner we watched our home movies of Yellowstone road trip. It renewed good memories.

Thu 23 Sep. We had lunch at home with Lee: Dagwood sandwiches, beer, gourmet cookies for dessert. For dinner Kiyomi cooked a delicious meal for us: crab + avocado wrap appetizer, sweet white corn soup, shrimp + scallop in won ton wrap, honeydew frappe, pork tenderloin with pineapple + orange glaze with basil and society garlic garnish, strawberries with strawberry cream sauce. It was a gourmet experience.

Fri 24 Sep. We had lunch at home; last night's leftovers, still delicious. Then for dessert, honeydew melon, grapes and cookies. Dinner was coconut shrimp and salad from The Outback Restaurant, which we seldom get to enjoy because of its distance from Palo Alto. A glass of wine added to the enjoyment.

Sat 25 Sep. We had a nice breakfast of pastry, bacon and fruit. We were packed and departed by about 11. Feeling hunger pangs, we got off I-5 for lunch at Dana Point San Clemente and decided on the Wind and Sea Restaurant, right on the water, for fish n chips, grilled artichoke. There was a nice view watching all kinds of harbor traffic – yachts of all sizes, sail boats, outboards, surf boards paddled standing up.

On to the Beverly Hills Plaza Hotel on Wilshire Blvd, where our suite had four rooms plus luxurious bath: living room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom with balcony. Very posh and comfortable!

We met with Connie and Robert for dinner at Valentino (Italian) Ristorante. I had chocolate papperale, Kiyomi had octopus, Connie had ravioli, Robert had chicken. It was all delicious. My dessert was chocolate tortino - excellent! Kiyomi and Connie had cannelloni, Robert had chocolate mousse. We left the restaurant stuffed.

Congrats to the just-engaged-today Alan and Mari!

Sun 26 Sep. We enjoyed a nice breakfast of pastry and coffee in the hotel, did not need much after last night.

We went with Connie and Robert to the Getty Villa, met with Jon, Nicky and Michael. We walked around and especially enjoyed the gardens and Roman and Greek art and sculpture. There were very nice displays. We had lunch at the Museum, my nashi-kabocha soup was quite good. The Gods and Goddesses, and Warriors and Heroes sections were especially notable.

For dinner Connie and Robert joined us for Chin-Chin takeout Chinese and Trader Joe's wine at our spacious hotel room.

Mon 27 Sep. We had a nice brunch of leftover Chin-Chin Chinese, then departed for Pismo Beach. We took scenic Rte 154 from Santa Barbara over the mountains as a side trip. There were very beautiful scenic view of the mountains and ocean, but it was a very hot day, about 105F. We had a Starbucks stop in Santa Maria; the GPS got us to the mall, but finding the shop was difficult = it was inside a grocery store. We arrived at the Dolphin Bay Resort in Pismo Beach. It was a large suite, with full kitchen, living room, balcony overlooking the ocean, large bedroom - even a washer and dryer. We walked the beach, which was much cooler here at 75F with nice breeze. The water was cold, however, so we did not go in deeper than our ankles. For dinner, we walked to McClintock's Saloon and Dining House, which was recommended by Aunt Marge. They had enjoyed it 25 years ago. We had steak dinner "the works" split between us: onion rings, big tossed green salad, ranch fried potatoes, baked beans, rice pilaf, garlic bread, 12 oz NY Steak, Blue Moon beer, and chocolate mint ice cream. Even splitting the meal we were stuffed! And it was delicious! Stars above were beautiful as we walked back, and then to the end of the hotel's walk down to the ocean, away from lights.

Tue 28 Sep. We awoke to sound of surf, fog horns and birds – it was a recording, set to turn on in the morning! When we went on our balcony we got the real thing, with a beautiful view in addition. We took a drive around the area and admired the mansions that have been built on choice coastal properties, some are like castles.

We then drove to Pismo Beach downtown and State Beach, but were not favorably impressed. Our area is quite nicer, with upscale newly built homes, resort hotels and restaurants. Then we drove 7 miles to Avila Beach and liked it much better. It is a smaller and nicer community, with interesting eateries and shops. We had coffee and fudge in one of the local coffee shops. Later in the afternoon we went to a wine tasting at our resort, featuring several different local wines, live music and snacks overlooking the ocean and colorful sunset. I had snacks, Kiyomi had wine. Then we had a light but delicious dinner: Thai style mussels, grilled baby artichokes with garlic and olives, crispy green beans. We watched a funny romance on our room's DVD, "The Prince and Me".

Wed 29 Sep. We reluctantly left our luxurious suite and headed up the coast on US 101. The view along the coast was beautiful, with the ocean on our left and varying country on our right. We saw Hearst Castle up on the hill, and continued to our accommodations, the Ventana Inn in Big Sur (http://www.ventanainn.com/). What a beautiful setting, among the redwoods and other old trees, with a view overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We enjoyed a welcoming glass of wine as we checked in, refreshed ourselves in our luxurious room for a while, then went to the cheese and wine tasting. There was a great variety of local cheeses and wines for tasting, we could have made it a meal. But we had to control ourselves, since we had reservations at The Restaurant at Ventana. The meal was superb. The dessert was especially good. In our room we watched "The Queen" on DVD. It was an interesting interpretation of the days just following Princess Diana's fatal crash.

Thu 30 Sep. We got home this afternoon after our very enjoyable road trip. It was great seeing our relatives down south; we just wish we could have seen Patricia and Eric, too.

We saw quite a bit of different weather as we traveled up and down the state. Really cooked in temperature over 105F going over the hill from Santa Barbara to US101. Pismo Beach was very pleasant, sunny and warm day, cool evening. Originally we were going to return via US 1 along the coast to Pescadero, then over the hills on La Honda Road; but it was so foggy and cool on US 1 that we went over to US 101 from Carmel to avoid the chill and damp.

2010-06-30 China - Shanghai

2010-07-10T22:11:00.000-07:00

Our last day included Old Shanghai and Yuyuan Garden. The Garden was interesting, as we recognized motifs and themes we saw in other gardens: pavilions situated for viewing, ponds, lots of stone, walkways through arches, dragons, etc. Kiyomi and I really enjoyed this garden, too.

As we exited the garden, we could see the Shanghai skyline in the distance. The bus took us to the Bund, where we looked across the river to the rebuilt area. One of the skyscrapers had an opening so any dragons flying by could go through without hitting the building. The World Expo is over there.

After the Bund we went to the Shanghai Museum where we enjoyed seeing galleries of Jade, Paintings, and Calligraphy. We would have liked to spend several more hours there, and some time in the Museum Store.

In the evening we had our Farewell dinner Chinese Banquet, and then were treated to a performance of a Shanghai acrobat show. We were amazed at the grace, strength, agility, coordination and skill of the acrobats. Each segment seemed to top the previous one, and all were amazing. We watched in open-mouthed disbelief at some of the acts, which just seemed impossible. I mean, I could almost handle one hula hoop; one of the performers started with five, and increased the number from there. Finally she looked like she was encased in a giant Slinky. I wished they allowed photography, I would have loved to see it again. I guess I'll have to sign up for another cruise...

The next morning we were up a 5 am to get to the airport for our flight home - uneventful on ANA, with a transfer in Tokyo and direct flight from there. But what a trip! We certainly enjoyed it (though it was nice to be back home under clear blue skies, cool temperatures and low humidity!)

2010-06-29 China - Nanjing, Suzhou and Shanghai

2010-07-10T21:22:00.000-07:00

Today we left the Viking Century Sun in Nanjing and boarded our bus for the trip to Shanghai. Our first stop was the famous Garden of the Master of Nets in Suzhou. It is a lovely garden, quite different from the gardens of Europe, but with its own charm and beauty. Kiyomi was especially impressed by the design that involved all five senses (touch, sight, sound, smell, taste). Even the walkways were interesting. It reminded us of the Huntington Garden near Pasadena, CA that we recently visited. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to this beautiful garden.

The restaurant where we had a Chinese Banquet lunch was above a silk embroidery shop. The colors and artistry of the art was amazing. Vibrant colors, detailed designs and interesting subject matter characterized the works. Many were classic Chinese scenes and landscapes; many were animals (real and imagined); some were copies of other paintings. They ranged in size from perhaps 4" by 6" up to folding screens that were 5' by 7'. Some were the same on both sides, but a mirror image. Prices were pretty high; even the small ones were hundreds or thousands of dollars US.

After lunch, we had a tour of a silk spinning factory. Here we saw the process of getting silk thread from the silkworms, and the process to unwind the silk from the cocoons to produce thread. It was fascinating to see the people working, mostly manually (the automatic machines were not operating, apparently skillful workers do a better job). Kiyomi bought a silk shawl, light blue in color that is beautiful. Many of our fellow travelers also bought silk items, including lovely silk quilts ready to go. They made shipping very easy, too.

Eventually we arrived at the Ritz-Carleton Shanghai, a 5-star hotel. We were on the 41st floor, with a nice view, especially after dark. The buffet dinner was extensive and enjoyable; Kiyomi concentrated on salad and Japanese food, I had steak and many of the delicious dessert selections. Back in our room we were glad to have a hot bath. Although the bathrooms on the Century Sun were spacious enough, there was no tub.

2010-06-28 China - Mount Jiuhua

2010-07-10T20:51:00.000-07:00

Today we had our disembarkation briefing - the cruise is almost over! How time flies when you are having fun. First up in the morning was a lecture by Professor Fei on Buddhism. It was more an examination of Buddhism's place in the world today, and its history, rather than exposition of its tenets. Dr. Fei is not a monk, and was dressed in "civilian clothes" rather than the saffron robe of a monk.

After lunch we went by bus to Mt Jiuhua. The ride was very pleasant, through farmland where we saw farmers tilling their fields with water buffalo; and peaceful countryside. The sky was still hazy, and visibility was limited to about 1/4 mile. As we started up the mountain, we were advised there were 99 hairpin turns (99 being a lucky number). Our luck held, and we made it up the winding road with beautiful scenery out the window. The higher we got, the prettier the view - just like the ancient paintings, copied by the Japanese, and admired by Kiyomi. At the end of the road, we got off the bus and looked around, cautioned to "keep off the grass". There are reputedly 99 temples (that lucky number again!). We only had time to visit two, the Zhan Chan Lin and Qiyuan Temples, both on the lower area. There is a gondola that goes up to the summit, but since it was rainy and foggy, we decided it wasn't worth the effort. The temples we saw were beautiful. Here's another. There was a lot of dragon motif - statues, carvings, bas relief, etc. Kiyomi, being born in the year of the dragon, loved it. Inside the temples were huge statues of Buddha and many of the deities, including the female characters beloved by women.

We enjoyed a Chinese Banquet Farewell Dinner, as tomorrow morning we arrive in Nanjing where we will disembark, and continue to Shanghai by bus.

2010-06-27 China - Jingdezhen ancient ceramic factory

2010-07-10T20:23:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Jingdezhen for a visit to a ceramic factory that has produced pottery for at least 1,000 years. The royal court of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties got their royal porcelain here: the blue and white, the family rose, the rice-pattern, and color glaze. Many of the cruise members bought some of the lovely offerings, and we enjoyed the demonstration of how porcelain is manufactured, from mixing the kaolin, turning the items on a wheel by hand, painting the designs, applying glaze, to firing in a kiln. The shop had a huge selection of exquisite items, ranging in size from tiny to taller than me.

We had a Chinese banquet lunch at a local hotel, it was quite good, with the usual variety of dishes served on a Lazy Susan from which we each took our helpings. The Chinese "local beer" has been uniformly good. It seems to have less hops than American and European beers, giving it a lighter milder taste. It goes well with the Chinese food.

After lunch we visited the "poreclain outlet mall", where porcelain of all kinds were on sale. The selection was incredible; virtually any kind of porcelain was available in all sizes. There were dozens of shops like this, on several streets. The goods were very tempting, but we could not easily carry any more stuff, especially fragile items. But many of the other tour members bought some very nice items.

After dinner the crew of the Century Sun put on a cabaret/talent show for us. We were surprised at the high quality of talent, and the beautiful costumes. It was a very enjoyable show, and it seemed the crew enjoyed performing for us (many of the crew performers had reminded us during the day that the show would be good and to watch for them).

2010-06-26 China - Hubei Provincial History Museum

2010-07-10T20:14:00.000-07:00

Today was a visit to the Hubei Provincial History Museum. We rode through Wuhan (capital of Hubei Province, and a history of 3500 years). It's also famous as the start of the revolution in 1911 depicted in the movie "The Last Emperor". The Museum visit started with a wonderful musical performance of both Chinese and Western music on the 65 ritual bells that cover 5 octaves. The bells are exact copies of from the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng (around 433 BCE). The performers were in traditional, very beautiful costume, and put on a delightful performance. AFter the concert, we went in to the main part of the 4-story museum. Starting on the 4th floor, we walked through the Minority Ethnic Clothes exhibit, then down to the Painting and the Calligraphy exhibits. Kiyomi was fascinated to see the original paintings that were copied by Japanese painters, and used as their inspiration until they developed their own style. She also appreciated seeing the evolution of the Kanji script, from the original scratching on turtle shells to the vertical writing on bamboo slats to the current form, which is similar to the Japanese Kanji, but a little different. So she can usually get the meaning of the Kanji, but not always; and cannot pronounce it in Chinese at all.

Later in the day after our return to the ship we had a Napkin Folding demonstration by our favorite waitress, Fiona.

Later we saw the A&E biography of Mao Tse Tung (now Mao Zedong –wikipedia.org). It painted a pretty grim picture of the Chairman from a Westerner's point of view; but apparently he is still revered by many Chinese. If he had not set Chinese progress back 40 years, who knows what China's place in the world would be today?

2010-06-25 China - Yueyang Tower and Tea Garden

2010-07-10T20:05:00.000-07:00

Today was our visit to Yueyang Tower and Tea Garden. On the way we passed Dong Ting Lake, but the haze in the air made the view very dim.

The Tower has three stories, but was covered with construction blankets, so we could not see the actual tower. In any case, it is the latest of many rebuilds and restorations. There were scale models of previous versions that were very picturesque. We could go inside the Tower and view a famous poem inspired by it, as well as a copy of the poem. Of course, it was in Chinese characters, so most of the group could not read it, but could admire the calligraphy (there is a scholarly study here). On the third level was a poem in extremely cursive calligraphy written by Chairman Mao when he visited the Tower in 1976. The study critiques it, and gives the English meaning for each of the characters, but it didn't make much sense to me.
After the Tower, we went to the Tea Shop where we were introduced to "Silver Needle Tea", also known as "Dancing Tea". We enjoyed seeing the tea needles rise and fall in the glass; if you add boiling hot water to the needles, they rise, then sink, then rise, then finally sink. Hence the "dancing" name.

The evening musical performance was "East meets West" when the 3-piece Chinese orchestra joined the Baker Street Duo to prove music can unite the cultures. It was interesting to hear the Chinese instruments performing Western music, they did an excellent job. I regretted not bringing my video camera to capture the performance.

2010-06-24 China - Jingzhou Elementary School

2010-07-10T19:42:00.000-07:00

Today was a visit to the Jingzhou Elementary School that Viking has sponsored for the past ten or so years. We were greeted by a drum and bugle corps, lining the walk on each side. Many students came to shake hands or give a "high five". Then there was a dance performance with singing, and after the very warm welcome we went to the classroom to be entertained by more singing. Then the teacher told the children to get out their English lesson books, and each of the students got their own personal English tutor. My student was pretty good; he was a third-grader, and the lesson book had had a lot of phrases and number exercises. We went through the numbers to 20, then the alphabet, and then phrases. It was an enjoyable morning, and hopefully the children will be more favorably disposed to Westerners as they get older.

Note: If you'd like to contribute more to the School Fund, I got this information from Viking:
"Thank you for your recent online inquiry.
If you would like to make a donation to one of the children or to the school in general you can use the account information found below. Each child requires about 200 US dollars for school every year. This would be an excellent amount if you were looking to sponsor a child for one year, but we would appreciate any donation you would be so gracious to give. You can do a money transfer directly from your bank to the account below. If there is a specific child name you would like the amount to go to specifically, be sure to make a note of this.

Jingzhou: (for VRC school #1 and #2)
Payee: JING ZHOU SHI SHA SHI QU JIAO YU JU
Payee bank: BANK OF CHINA HUBEI JINGZHOU BRANCH
Account Nr: 18305208093014
Swift Code: BKCHCNBJ600

Best regards,
Viking River Cruises
877-668-4546"

After the school visit and return to the ship, we set sail for Yueyang, enjoying more scenic cruising.

There was an interesting lecture on "China Today" that told us what China has been doing in the past 30 years or so, after Mao died and the more progressive Chinese leaders took control. We heard about the "one child" policy, and how it has changed many aspects of everyday life. The change from a closed country to a much more open policy has been evolutionary, and continues today. Education has become an important goal for the future advancement of China on the world stage.

Later we learned the rules on how to play basic Mahjong the way the Chinese do; it is a universal pastime, especially among the older people. We did not learn how to score, just the basic moves and strategies. If you are interested in the Chinese rules, they are here. Other countries have different rules (written and unwritten!); see here for more.

2010-06-23 China - Three Gorges Dam

2010-07-10T19:25:00.000-07:00

Today was our introduction to the Three Gorges Dam, a colossal 1.3 mile wide and 610 feet tall project started in 1992. The project has continued since then, and will be finally complete in 2011. There will be an elevator for small ships! Larger ships will have to use a series of 5 locks. Almost 2 million people have already been relocated as the river has risen up to 330 feet, with another 100 feet to go, and as many as 6 million people will eventually be relocated. The project is submerging almost 2,000 villages, towns and cities. The three benefits of the dam are flood control, power generation (equivalent to 18 nuclear power plants) and safer, improved navigation on the river. There is a lot more information at the links, or google "three gorges dam" for even more discussion and photos.

2010-06-22 China - Lesser Three Gorges

2010-07-10T19:06:00.000-07:00

Today was scenic cruising through the Qutang Gorge. We saw the original inspiration of the sumi-e paintings of the mountains mysteriously shrouded in fog and clouds (still shrouded in fog and smog), which were later copied by Japanese artists. That misty foggy look is what it really looks like.

Later we got off the big ship at Wushan and got on smaller ships for a cruise on the Daning River through the Lesser Three Gorges (Dragon Gate Gorge, Misty Gorge and Emerald Gorge). We could almost see blue sky occasionally, and the Gorges' scenery was awesome. The Daning was a more blue color, and looks much cleaner than the Yangtze. This is a river where fish are "farmed", and bring a premium price, being from clean water. This is the site of the "Hanging Coffins of the Ba people" that were subject of a Discovery Channel program. Personally, I could not make out the coffins that the guides pointed to, but others apparently did, and photographed them.

After lunch on the ship, we could enjoy more cruising through the Wu (Witches) Gorge, which runs between Sichuan and Hubei Provinces. There are some awesome photos here.

There was another excellent dinner, climaxed by a Happy Birthday cake for Kiyomi, since today is her birthday. Our tour leader, Simon, must have found her birthday on her passport, and asked the chef to make a white cake with white frosting (which was delicious). Later that evening the ship went through the 5-stage Three Gorges Dam ship locks, but it started from 11 PM, and we were in bed by then.

2010-06-21 China - Shibaozhai Temple in Zhongxian

2010-07-10T18:54:00.000-07:00

Today was our arrival in Zhongxian for a visit to the Shibaozhai Temple built around 1650. We walked through the new relocated city, across a swaying suspension bridge and through a yellow glazed entrance gate. I could not see the 9-story pagoda plus 3-story temple on top as we approached, but as we walked around a high wall, the pagoda came into view. It was built into the cliff rather than on top, so was not visible from the city. We decided to climb the spiral staircase with 99 steps (9 is a lucky number), and our guide explained the history and stories of each level. The temple at the top had several alcoves with statues of deities, including the female goddess beloved by women. There was an arched stone bridge across a small pond, and according to legend, if you can cross it in three steps, you are assured of going to Heaven. A lot of our group did it, but we figured it couldn't be that easy to attain Heaven, and besides we were not sure which Heaven was meant. Our guide had said that for the Chinese, according to Taoism, Heaven is pretty much our environment, not a celestial paradise. There was a nice view of the countryside, which would have been better on a clear day.

After returning to the ship and enjoying another sumptuous dinner, we retired early to recover from the strenuous climb, and rest up for a busy day tomorrow.

2010-06-20 China - cruising the Yangtze River

2010-07-10T18:47:00.000-07:00

When we awoke on 20 June, the ship was already sailing down the Yangtze River. The sky was the same warm and humid, with overcast haze/fog/smog that we've seen every day so far; apparently it is the usual weather pattern three-fourths of the year. We were served a lavish breakfast buffet, all kinds of breakfast foods of all nationalities.

Afterward we had the embarkation briefing where we learned about the ship's facilities in detail. Then we had an informative lecture on the Yangtze River: history from 3,000 years ago, the several names it has been given, why it is known now as the Yangtze, its length, and other information.

In the afternoon we arrived at new Fengdu, a relocated city. When the Three Gorges Dam was constructed, the depth of the Yangtze has increased by about 300 feet so far, inundating old Fengdu. I must say, it doesn't look new. It seems to be run-down and messy, though the relocated inhabitants say it is much better than their previous city. That may be the official line the local guides are instructed to say. They seemed to speak of the old city with fond nostalgia. We heard more than 1.2 million people were relocated to a higher elevation along the Yangtze due to the rise. About 40 percent of the $25 billion cost of the dam was relocation expense, 30 percent cost of the dam construction. Anyway, we were not particularly impressed with Fengdu.

That evening on the ship we had a welcome champagne toast and a concert of traditional Chinese music performed on traditional instruments. Than came a delicious Chinese food banquet of many different dishes skillfully prepared. After dinner there was a fashion show demonstrating the costumes of the various ethnic minorities of China. It was very colorful and interesting.

2010-06-19 China - Xian

2010-07-10T16:22:00.000-07:00

Today was our visit to the Terra Cotta Army site, another highlight of the cruise. We had seen reproductions of various sizes in shops everywhere, including some full-size jade reproductions at the Great Wall. It was a different experience to see the massed ranks of thousands of soldiers and horses that have been unearthed so far. We heard there could be as many as 6,000 figures, most of which are not even yet unearthed and pieced together. Apparently the excavation is still in progress, and will keep students and professors of archeology busy for years to come, first unearthing the broken figures, and then piecing them together. A 360-degree movie gave the history of Qin Shi Huang, the warrior king who had his army constructed more than 2,000 years ago starting in 246 BC. The official website, in addition to wikipedia.com, is www.bmy.com.cn according to our ticket. There is a lot of information, many images, and you can get it in English. The city's history goes back at least 3,100 years, and was the capital for 12 dynasties of imperial rulers.

We had extra time before our flight, so we were able to visit the Da Cien (or Da Yan) Temple with its Wild Goose Pagoda, built in 645 AD. According to the story, Xuan Zhaung traveled to India to obtain the Buddhist scriptures, and then spent about 10 years translating them to Chinese. Xi'an is the beginning of the Silk Road, where the silk goods started their journey to the Middle East and Europe. We saw a depiction of the life of Buddha, statues of the various deities, and enjoyed the art museum, where beautiful works of art were displayed and sold. Kiyomi was fascinated by the calligraphy done by the abbot of the temple, and almost bought it. She may yet, over the Internet, since they have an email address (susanna951225@yahoo.com.cn).

After our visit, we went to the airport for dinner and our flight to Chongquin where the ship Viking Century Sun was waiting for us. Chongquin was the capital of China during WWII, and the base of the Flying Tigers. I wondered if it was the Chunking of dried noodle fame. We went directly to our stateroom for a shower and good night's sleep.

2010-06-18 China - Beijing and Xian

2010-07-10T16:09:00.000-07:00

After breakfast we boarded the bus and went to a silk carpet workshop, where the silk carpets are woven and sold. We were shown the various qualities of carpets, depending on how many knots per square inch, which ranged from inexpensive to almost priceless. We were familiar with the concept from our visit to Istanbul and Egypt, where carpets are also woven.

Then it was on to the airport, where we took a flight to Xian, famous for the terra cotta warriors. We checked in to a new hotel, the Kempinski Hotel, apparently one of a German chain. It was quite deluxe and comfortable. For dinner we chose to attend the Tang Dynasty (618-907) Dinner and Show. The food was pretty good, not excellent, but acceptable. The show was fantastic, it reminded me of a Las Vegas production with an all-women orchestra of ancient Chinese instruments, dressed in Tang Dynasty costumes. Then there were dances where long scarves were gracefully swirled through complex patterns, dances telling a story, martial dances with elaborate and colorful costumes. We thoroughly enjoyed the show.

2010-06-17 China - Beijing and the Great Wall

2010-07-10T13:05:00.000-07:00

Today was our introduction to the Great Wall of China. It was raining in the morning, but by the time we reached the Wall it had stopped raining, but was still hazy to foggy. Thousands of other visitors to the Wall were walking in two directions from the main entrance. We chose the less traveled but steeper way, and found it to be most challenging. The slopes the Wall was built upon were quite steep, it felt like our noses were almost touching the ground in front. When we reached stairs, they were of uneven height, making climbing a matter of concentrating on the next step, so we didn't dare watch the scenery. Only when we reached the level spots or the towers could we look around, and admire the view. We were surrounded by forest sloping down the mountain on each side of the Wall, and in two directions we could see the Wall continuing for miles and miles across the top of the mountain range. Walking in both directions along the Wall were thousands of other visitors. Fortunately today was cool, high 60s, so despite the exertion of climbing, we were not overheated. I'd hate to do the tour on a hot humid day (or a freezing day when ice would coat the walkway and stairs!). The souvenir shop was like a museum that sold its treasures. There were all kinds of art: sculpture, carving, jewelry, jade goods and jewelry of all kinds, some lovely paintings of several styles.

We had a traditional Chinese lunch at a local restaurant after a brief introduction to jade and jade art at the Dragon Land Superior Jade company. We learned to distinguish jade from glass and marble by the tone given when tapped, and saw some truly magnificent examples of jade carving as relief and sculpture. We learned that for the Chinese, jade epitomizes "spiritual wealth, noble morals, and the finer things in life". If you are interested in buying jade, log in to http://www.longdishop.com with code 1005 197 137 for more information, password if required is 197137. You are encouraged to negotiate a price and try for free shipping door-to-door (not through customs).

Finally we went to the Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs, through a marble gateway and down a long avenue lined with stone sculptures of elephants, lions, camels, and some mythical animals.

We returned to the hotel for the evening meal, a fixed menu of tasty selections.

2010-06-16 China - Beijing

2010-07-10T12:48:00.000-07:00

To start the day we had a lavish buffet breakfast, including many Chinese dishes and familiar Western breakfast items. I tried a little of everything until I ran out of room on my plate. After breakfast we went by bus to see Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. It was jammed with people, apparently today was the last day of a Chinese vacation so everyone was out. There were vendors every few steps, offering goods of every description, but mostly books, maps, fans, soft drinks, and trinket souvenirs of the Forbidden City. It was a hot muggy day, but very hazy - we were wondering if it was smog or just haze. It didn't seem to burn our eyes, but there was a smoky undertone, so we suspect smog. We walked what seemed miles across the Square, and finally came to the entrance. There was a crush of people entering, but we made our way in, only to find out there were several more gates to negotiate, of which we could see the first in the far distance. After another long walk and crush as everyone tried to pass through the gate, we were in another courtyard, with the next gate far in the distance. Needless to say, the Palace grounds are huge. Photos and videos don't give a good indication of the size, especially without people to give perspective, and cuts of the time it takes to traverse the courtyards and stairs. There was a wide-screen TV in the Square; we're used to 50 inch TVs, but this looked like a 50 foot TV!. I had to take a picture, and fortunately there were plenty of people to give the size its proper perspective.

After the Square and City, we went to a lavish Chinese lunch at the New Nikko Hotel. Kiyomi recognized the Nikko name from Japan. The lunch was typical Chinese, featuring a lazy susan about 4 feet in diameter made of glass. Then the surface was soon covered with numerous dishes of various traditional Chinese cuisine: corn soup, sweet and sour, stir fried, fried rice, noodles, won ton, dim sum, watermelon for dessert. We enjoyed Chinese beer with the food, a mild flavored beer with not too much hops taste.

Next we went to the Summer Palace, another huge property constructed for the Dowager Empress. We took a Dragon Boat to the main area, rather than walking a mile or so. Then we walked around the grounds for about 45 minutes, seeing only a small portion of the garden area. It was like a huge park, with pathways winding among the trees, interspersed with areas to stop for a view or contemplation. We could not imagine the Chinese royal ladies walking; we suppose they were carried in palanquins. It was hard enough for us to walk up and down the hills and steps.

After the Palace, it was "and now for something completely different", a visit to a working-class neighborhood to see an ordinary home in the Hutongs (narrow ancient alleys) district. It was very different from the opulence of the royal dwellings and surrounding gardens. The home was typical of the neighborhood, several generations living together, with kitchen and bathroom across a small courtyard (which was also a public walkway). The owner proudly displayed many souvenirs from previous visitors – flags, notes, postcards, photos, dolls, etc. along with traditional family heirlooms passed down over the years. There were several magpies (which could speak Chinese!), koi, and cats. After our visit, we were given a rickshaw ride back to the bus. The surroundings were not well maintained and ramshackle, lots of trash strewn around, but quite a few nice cars: VWs, Ford, Toyota, Suzuki, etc.

We returned to our hotel, and both of us commented how we were impressed by the wide straight city streets bordered by trees and flowers. The streets were normally three lanes in each direction, with a fourth lane for left turns at the lights, and separate side lanes in each direction for bicycles, and for taxis and buses to drop off and pick up passengers. There were many very colorful flower beds along the way, and weeping willows seemed to be the most popular tree, but we saw many other kinds. We did not expect so much greenery. We were also impressed by how tall the buildings were, especially the newer ones. At night some of the buildings put on an impressive light show.

2010-06-15 China - Beijing

2010-07-10T12:38:00.000-07:00

We arrived at Beijing Airport about 8 pm 15 Jun. We were impressed by the huge size and modern architecture of the airport; it is really something to see. We decided they had remodeled it for the Olympics, but it certainly exceeded our expectations. We met up with our tour group leader Simon and transferred to our hotel, the 5-star Ritz-Carleton Beijing. We were greeted by a display of lightening and thunder at the airport, and heavy rainstorm. We settled into our deluxe room on the 9th floor for a quiet night.

The Title Link is to our Smugmug Japan-China photo gallery. China starts on the second page (page 2 of 16). That is the same as this link.

2010-06-14 Sheraton Miyako, Tokyo

2010-06-14T04:04:00.000-07:00

Monday was raining, but we decided to take the hotel shuttle to Meguro station. We had an excellent Tempura lunch at the department store next to the station, then decided to shop for a light snack for tonight. We got a salad and Yebisu Premium Malt beer, and also pastries for tomorrow's breakfast. We got a little exercise walking up and down the stairs at the department store. The area around the station has numerous interesting shops; for example, we had a Starbuck coffee, there's a Macdonald's and a Baskin-Robins across the street, and numerous restaurants, in addition to the ones on the 6th floor of the department store.

We're packed for tomorrow, and ready to go on the 1 pm bus to the airport for our flight to China.

I've uploaded the photos so far on our trip, and one movie (#31) of the octopuses (octopi?) still squirming at Akashi. I don't know how the movie will turn out, it played for me. They are in the Japan-China Travel gallery at http://hutchings.smugmug.com/Travel/2010-Japan-China/12550061_NtU6m#900556436_FMyFx

2010-06-13 Kobe to Tokyo

2010-06-14T03:13:00.000-07:00

Sunday we left Kobe on the Shinkansen after a delicious Soba lunch with Kiyomi's brother's family. This was Kiyomi's last chance for her favorite Kansai style Udon noodles that she so loves. We returned to the Sheraton Miyako in the late afternoon. We took a walk around the neighborhood for exercise, stopping by several pastry shops for tomorrow's breakfast, then had a very nice Chinese dinner at the hotel.

2010-06-12 Visit Akashi and family reunion in Kobe, Japan

2010-06-14T02:58:00.000-07:00

Saturday we went to a neighboring town, Akashi, the town where Kiyomi was born. It's famous for fresh, dried, cooked and preserved fish and octopus dishes of all kinds. We had the most well-known dish for lunch, Akashi tako yaki, 24 custard-like dumplings with a piece of octopus inside. They are really quite good. After we returned home, our niece Shinobu-chan, and her 4-year old son Akiko-kun, came to visit. He is all boy, full of energy, running around playing with is ball and bat (made of soft foam rubber!) and collection of little "hot wheel" cars. For dinner we all feasted on some of the fish dishes we brought home from Akashi.

2010-06-11 Visit with Yamasaki family, Kobe, Japan

2010-06-14T02:54:00.000-07:00

On Friday night, Kiyomi's brother took us to his home in Kobe. It's in a nice quiet residential neighborhood, and is a single family dwelling. We had a nice reunion with his wife Kazu-chan and son Kaoru-kun.

2010-06-09 Tokyo to Kobe, Japan

2010-06-14T02:45:00.000-07:00

After our pastry snack and the delicious coffee, we packed our luggage for the trip to Kobe. We left the two big suitcases at the hotel, since we will return here the day before we leave for China.

We left by Bullet Train for Kobe in the afternoon. We saw Fiji-san on the way, it is still capped with snow. Today is quite warm in the Kyoto/Kobe/Osaka area, in the low eighties. We met with Keiko Nakauye, Kiyomi's school-days friend. Her husband is currently in Samoa teaching technology to the native residents. He'll be there for another year-and-a-half. She will visit him later this year. We talked with him by Skype, and it sounds like he is enjoying himself. He had tried scuba diving, and seemed to like it. There is not such a variety of food there, mostly it's imported. I think he misses vegetables and fruit especially.

Keiko is a very accomplished cook, and we enjoyed several meals she prepared for us. She also has very elegant taste in dishes, just like Kiyomi. Everything was beautifully presented. She had even created etchings on the glassware, as an art project. She created the designs and did the etching with a sand blaster.

Japan - 2010-06-07/08

2010-06-14T02:18:00.000-07:00

We departed SFO at about noon 7 June on ANA flight 7 bound for Narita airport Japan. We had reserved Premium Coach seats, which are just like business class seats, but not the upscale food selections. The seats have lots of room and recline fully, so you can sleep if you want. Since it was normal awake time, I watched 2 movies, "From Paris with Love" and "Eli's Book". Usint my new QuietComfort 15 noise-canceling headphones, I could enjoy the movies without any background noise. They worked like a charm. After that, I read an interesting science fiction novel, "Spook Country" by William Gibson. He developed several concepts that are just beginning to be possible, geo-hacking as an art form (like enhanced reality available on iPhones) and espionage using very high-tech equipment. It was a good read.
We were upgraded to full Business Class, so had two excellent Japanese meals. Since ANA is a real Japanese airline, the food was authentic and delicious, and served quite elegantly.
We arrived about 4 pm 8 June at Narita (midnight Pacific), and took the Airport Limousine to the Tokyo Sheraton Miyako Hotel (in Minato-ku). It's a luxury hotel, very nice rooms and service, several restaurants and Internet. I just had a warm relaxing bath and crawled into bed and went to sleep in the king-size bed.

Japan - 2010-06-09

2010-06-09T02:35:00.000-07:00

Due to jet lag, we awoke at about 4 am local (noon Pacific) Wednesday 9 June. Kiyomi enjoyed the traditional Japanese breakfast menu, while I had a Continental OJ, coffee and toast. The Japanese coffee is delicious, strong and full-flavored. A few cups and we were ready to go.

We had a very nice meeting with Mrs. Kunishima and her granddaughter Hitomi for lunch. We decided to meet at our hotel and eat in the very elegant Japanese restaurant, the Yamatoya-Sangen. We each had the very traditional Japanese meal, served in lovely lacquered boxes by a waitress dressed in kimono. There were some delicacies I did not recognize, but many I did, such as the fish, the tsukemono (pickles), miso soup, tofu, and dessert (mochi balls in sweet bean sauce). It was all quite delicious, I enjoyed everything, even the things I didn't recognize.

Mrs Kunishimi is about 89, but is still spry and very alert. She still has a very nice complexion, almost no wrinkles, and a cheerful friendly disposition. I guess her personality is what attracted Mother to her, as Daddy worked with her husband Adm. Kunishima. Anyway, we thanked her for her efforts 36 years ago as our go-between when she facilitated our marriage. I think their status impressed Kiyomi's parents, and made them more favorably disposed to me as a prospective son-in-law.

After bidding them sayonara, we took a walk to a nearby garden, the Happoen. It is a lovely old garden, has been there several hundred years. We were impressed by the azeleas, the 13-story pagoda made of stone, and the huge koi swimming in the lake. We also saw some turtles and a large bird like a heron. After the garden we walked around the Minato City area, impressed by all the green: trees and shrubs everywhere. It was very refreshing to see so much nature left. There were still old-looking Japanese buildings, perhaps restaurants unchanged over the years, and many small shops. Of course there are also high-rise office and apartment buildings, high school, University, shrines and temples. Our walk became longer than planned as we wandered fairly far from the hotel, due to the winding nature of the Japanese streets. Interestingly, we saw almost no Toyota Priuses; but many boxy mini-van-type vehicles.

We bought some of the local pastries at a department store, I had the sweet fruit variety and Kiyomi had the spicy curries. After such a big lunch we didn't need much dinner, so splitting a Suntory Premium Malt beer, we just snacked on the pastries. Kiyomi met with her longtime friend Kyoko, and they chatted for several hours in the hotel lobby while I went to bed early. It seems Kiyomi adjusts to the time change much faster than I do.

Mon 25 Nov- Disembarkation at Miami and home via Southwest Airlines

2008-12-24T23:56:00.003-08:00

Mon 25 Nov- we had to get up early to have breakfast; everything closes about 8 am, and we were supposed to vacate our rooms by then. Our departure was scheduled around 10 am, so we went to the library and read our books.
Disembarkation was smooth, wait for a taxi was short and before noon we were at Ft. Lauderdale airport. We checked with the Southwest agent, and managed to get on an earlier flight. We arrived in Denver, had lunch, got on another plane, and arrived on time in San Jose. Amazingly all our luggage made it, too. Alan was ther to pick us up.
On the way home Kiyomi requested a stop by Nijiya, the big Japanese supermarket. After nine months, she had an overwhelming urge for mizudake, a Japanese soup made with lots of vegetables, so that was our first meal at home.
So ended our grand trip through Europe: safe at home, healthy and with all our luggage.

Mon 24 Nov- Our last day of the cruise

2008-12-24T23:56:00.001-08:00

Mon 24 Nov- we enjoyed the final buffet breakfast, and then walked the deck to enjoy the nice weather as we steamed toward Miami. Stan had finished 'The Singularity is Near' and had started on Thomas Friedman's 'The World is Flat'; so he was trying to finish as much as possible before disembarkation, while Kiyomi was trying to finish her book. We enjoyed the Horizon Lounge for a while, and then played Held in the Game Room.
Although the Regatta had nominal Internet access, it was $1/minute, a rate that just didn't justify using the Internet, especially considering the very slow connection speed (satellite link - cable is not available at sea!). We did make an exception and checked in at Southwest for our flight tomorrow, and just that cost about $10. We enjoyed the last String Quartet performances.
Dinner tonight was at the Tuscana, an upscale Italian themed restaurant, where we had an excellent Italian dinner, complete with olive oil and balsamico (which we now appreciated after our tour of Tuscany) with the bread, freshly-made pasta, and Stan had the dessert quintet special, similar to the Polo Grill, it's a selection of five Italian desserts

Sun 23 Nov- Jacques Pepin cooking demonstration

2008-12-24T23:55:00.002-08:00

Sun 23 Nov- after breakfast, the enrichment lecture was 'The Environment and You', in which Derek pointed out the need for taking better care of our environment, emphasized by the photo of the small-looking earth as seen from the moon. There was not much disagreement about the need to be good custodians of our world so we can leave it in good shape to our descendents.
The final Jacques Pepin cooking demonstration was enjoyed by a large number of passengers; many, including Kiyomi, got autographed books or DVDs after the demo.
We had an early dinner so we could listen to the String Quartet for a longer time, then attended the show 'Salute 2008', which featured not only all the entertainers, but also the officers and crew from all departments of the ship. There was mutual appreciation expressed between the officers and crew, and the passengers, and an 'Auld Lang Syne' rendition by everyone.

Sat 22 Nov- Hamilton, Bermuda

2008-12-24T23:55:00.001-08:00

Sat 22 Nov- after another nice buffet breakfast, we decided to walk to the Bermuda Botanical Garden (http://www.bgci.org/garden.php?id=852). Once we left the center of town, it was a very nice walk (except for lack of sidewalks) through pretty lush countryside. It's surprising how well everything grows, considering the soil is mostly limestone. The garden was very enjoyable, not just a compilation of plants, but an enjoyable layout with interesting areas, including a small-scale example of four different types of gardens. We got our exercise for the day walking there, walking around the garden, and then walking back to the ship. The ship departed for Miami as we watched from the rails. We enjoyed another great dinner and String Quartet music.

Fri 21 Nov- Hamilton, Bermuda and Stan's birthday at the Polo Restaurant

2008-12-24T23:54:00.000-08:00

Fri 21 Nov- when we awoke and went for breakfast, the sea was much calmer. We decided to play Held and read in the Horizons Lounge. During and after lunch, we were approaching our port, Hamilton Bermuda. We sailed past beautiful tropical islands with lush vegetation, and fabulous mansions with yachts anchored in front.
After the ship docked, we disembarked and walked around the town. We found a flower shop where we bought Casa Blanca lilies for our cabin, and also picked up maps with tourist attractions. The GPS did not know about Hamilton, but we saved the ship's location so at least we could head back in the right direction. Hamilton is an attractive, clean town (a map and tourist info is at http://www.lookbermuda.net/bermuda.aspx?id=8002&client=undefined, and has a nice park downtown next to the library, the Par-La-Ville Park. We walked around for a couple of hours, then returned to the ship for the Quartet and then dinner.
We had dinner in the Polo Grill, a separate restaurant on Deck 10, which specializes in meat dishes. The view of Hamilton was beautiful; they have already started putting out Christmas decorations, and it is quite pretty. Stan had the 'Surf & Turf', beef and lobster; Kiyomi had the New York Steak; both were excellent; and we had Asti Spumante to go with it. For dessert, Stan had the special quintet of desserts, a little taste of five of the items on the dessert menu. It was a very enjoyable meal celebrating Stan's 66th birthday.

Thu 20 Nov- another rough day at sea in the Bermuda Triangle

2008-12-24T23:53:00.000-08:00

Thu 20 Nov- We awoke to another rough day; we were again glad our cabin is amidships. Some passengers had trouble sleeping, and we noticed a number of seasickness remedies, including a bracelet that applies pressure to the wrist and Dramamine or Bonine patches. Oceania@ sea put on a 'The Amazing iPod' presentation, showing the timeline of the iPod from its first appearance to this year. It really illustrates Ray Kurzweil's thesis in "The Singularity is Near" that the rate of adoption of new things like cell phones and personal music devices is accelerating. A cooking demo by Jacques Pepin was scheduled for immediately after, but had to be canceled due to the rough seas; Kiyomi and many other passengers were disappointed. Maybe it has something to do with our traveling through the Bermuda Triangle
After our buffet lunch, Stan attended the enrichment lecture 'Man on the Moon'. It was quite interesting, illustrated by many photos.
The Art Seminar 'Spanish Masters' compared and contrasted Spain's two surrealist painters, Salvador Dali and Joan Miro. Stan and Kiyomi still don't like Miro, but understand his art a little better; we got an even greater understanding and appreciation of Dali.
The Regatta String Quartet played for Afternoon Tea, so we again enjoyed their styling. The after-dinner show was supposed to be Hanna Starosta in a new show, but the rough sea caused her to cancel. Instead, we got a show featuring several of the other singers, plus the Regatta Orchestra.

Wed 19 Nov- another day at sea - a Country Fair and 'Destino'

2008-12-24T23:52:00.000-08:00

Wed 19 Nov- after breakfast, the crew put on a Country Fair. This is where they put up many games of skill and chance for the passengers to try their skill or luck, things like ring-toss, basketball toss, etc. We had more fun watching than actually participating. Some of the games were quite amusing to watch. Fortunately the sea had calmed somewhat.
After the buffet lunch there was an art auction preview, with free champagne to lure people in. Kiyomi and Stan would have attended even without the champagne inducement; there was a lot of interesting art to look at, by well-known as well as unknown (to us) artists. Stan likes Salvador Dali, and they had a special presentation of 'Destino' created by collaboration between Walt Disney and Dali, setting Armando Dominguez’s Mexican Ballad 'Destino' into an animated short based on Dali's art ( http://www.animationartconservation.com/destiny_of_dali_destino.html). There's lots more if you google the words: disney dali animated short.
The String Quartet played at Afternoon Tea, then workout, then yet another great dinner, followed by a comedy and magic show featuring Mark Worgan in a new show. Once again his act was very enjoyable, with hard to believe effects.

Tue 18 Nov- a rough day at sea

2008-12-24T23:51:00.000-08:00

Tue 18 Nov- the ship was rocking pretty vigorously, so getting breakfast was a challenge, avoiding other people who were also having trouble walking in a straight line. We managed successfully, and heard some of the passengers comparing this 'little roughness' to some real heavy seas they had encountered on other crossings. We were glad we were not on them! The enrichment lecture was about 'College Hall - RAF Cranwell', apparently Derek Clark's alma mater, which was also attended by both Prince William and Prince Charles. If you're interested, try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_College_Cranwell but the anecdotes told by Derek Clark were quite interesting. A cooking demo by Jacques Pepin was scheduled; Kiyomi and many other passengers were inspired.
The String Quartet didn't play at Tea today, so we spent more time in the gym, trying to burn off calories that have been building up and out from all the good food.
After replenishing the lost calories at another delicious dinner, we attended the show 'Collections' featuring Emily Garth (see http://hstrial-egarth.homestead.com/references.html for a bio and photos; she's also on FaceBook and MySpace.) You can hear her singing a few nice songs on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vLOSFSYe-Y

Mon 17 Nov- another day at sea

2008-12-24T23:50:00.002-08:00

Mon 17 Nov- after breakfast there was an Oceania@sea seminar on using the Internet to shop, then an art seminar on Picasso -'the artist who changed the world of art'. Then the buffet lunch, which features many delicious desserts and 8 or so flavors of ice cream with various toppings that Stan cannot resist; and cooked-to-order pasta that Kiyomi cannot resist. The enrichment lecture presented 'Travels of a Spaceman', which Stan found interesting, but Kiyomi skipped.
After the Afternoon Tea with String Quartet concert, and the trip to the gym, it was again time for another great dinner.
The show was a hilarious 'The Liars Club' presentation. We found out there is actually a phobia about getting peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth (http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_phobia_is_the_fear_of_peanut_butter_sticking_to_the_roof_of_your_mouth), among learning other interesting (but not very useful) words. The truth was often as fantastic as the lies.

Sun 16 Nov- another day at sea

2008-12-24T23:50:00.001-08:00

Sun 16 Nov- after breakfast there was a cooking demonstration by Jacques Pepin scheduled but a rough sea caused cancellation. The ship was pitching pretty vigorously, but fortunately neither of us got seasick. We kept busy playing Held and eating. The guest enrichment lecture by Derek Clark was "it's Rocket Science", a topic dear to Stan's heart, since he was a rocket scientist for 20 years, but Kiyomi decided to skip it.
After another delicious dinner we skipped the show (singing style we don't like) and listened to the String Quartet instead.

Sat 15 Nov- Funchal, Madeira (Portugal)

2008-12-24T23:48:00.000-08:00

Sat 15 Nov- today we docked in Funchal, Madeira (actually part of Portugal) for 8 hours. We went ashore after breakfast, with a shopping list that included flowers for the cabin and Port wine for after-dinner enjoyment. We walked around the town, enjoying the warm day, blue sky, kind of windy, but really quite pleasant. We found some nice flowers, but not the fragrant variety of the 'Casa Blanca' lilies we wanted. The flowers do add nice color and some pleasant fragrance to our cabin. We found some nice "Casa dos Vinhos Madeira" port, 3 bottles for the price of 2, so we bought that. It's really good as a sweet after-dinner drink. We walked back to the ship through Santa Caterina Park, enjoying the garden aspects and the nice view of the harbor and town below.
Back on the ship, we enjoyed lunch and later the String Quartet. We relaxed, reading our books and playing 'Held'.
The show (after anaother delicious dinner) was 'A Celebration of Music', featuring the vocal styling of Emily Garth, Kami Rodgers, Chris Shafer; and the music of the Regatta String Quartet and the Regatta Orchestra (all Russians, playing very jazzy arrangements of tunes).

Fri 14 Nov- Jacques Pepin Cooking Demonstration

2008-12-24T23:47:00.000-08:00

Fri 14 Nov- highlight of today was a cooking demonstration by Jacques Pepin, one of Kiyomi's favorite cooks. Master Chef Pepin is the Oceania's executive chef, and has many 'signature' dishes available in the dining room. He is onboard for our transatlantic crossing, and today gave a demonstration that was packed with interested passengers. The link connects to the KQED website, where Jacques records his shows for PBS. You can get lots of information there, including recipes and future programs schedule. Afterwards, he autographed cookbooks that were eagerly snapped up. Kiyomi got three total, one for her, and one each for our children.
We enjoyed the Regatta String Quartet performances, then had another delicious meal, and the hardest part was choosing among all the interesting menu items (the next hardest part was eating everything - there was sooo much and an irresistible desert came just as you felt you could not eat another bite!) Afterwards we enjoyed the comedy and magic of Mark Worgan 'Unseen by millions'. It was fun, his magic seemed like it wasn't working, but at the end, to our surprise, everything came out right.

Thu 13 Nov- Day Two

2008-12-24T23:46:00.000-08:00

Thu 13 Nov- the ship docked at Tangier, Morocco but we stayed on board, enjoying the view of the city from a distance. We had been there on a previous cruise, and didn't need to renew our acquaintance. After a leisurely breakfast buffet, we played some ping pong, read our books, and played our favorite card game, 'Held'. It's a competitive version of solitaire that gets pretty wild at times (especially with more than two players). If you're interested, I'll try to find the rules (pretty simple, actually, if you know the version of solitaire it is based on).
Our daily schedule is usually Afternoon Tea at 4, then from 5 to 6 or so, a trip to the gym, where Stan rides the stationary bike, Kiyomi does the Stairmaster; then both of us do resistance training on the equipment. We burn off a few calories and enjoy the exercise. We enjoyed the gym and exercise quite a few times during the cruise, as well as walking around Deck 10 that overlooks the pool in one direction, and the ocean in the other.
After the gourmet dinner and listening to the Regatta String Quartet in the Upper Hall, we went to the show featuring Kami Rodgers in "Opera in Concert", a selection of arias that we both enjoyed, as did the other passengers.

Wed 12 Nov- Day one, at sea

2008-12-24T23:43:00.000-08:00

Wed 12 Nov- the Regatta serves an extensive breakfast buffet, as well as a sit-down breakfast, which is served by waiters in the Grand Dining Room. We usually opted for the buffet at the Terrace Cafe, going for the fresh fruit, fresh bread, cooked-to-order eggs or omelet, and plenty of coffee (Stan added the cocoa mix to his, as might be expected).
After breakfast was an Oceania@sea presentation, 'Digital Camera and Photography - Tips and Tricks' presentation that Stan enjoyed, learning several new things. Then it was lunchtime, and we usually go to the Terrace Cafe for the extensive luncheon buffet; Kiyomi having pasta, vegetables and salad while Stan tries several of the desserts and ice cream with various toppings (usually including chocolate syrup).
In the afternoon there was an enrichment lecture 'Journey into Space' (or why you don't want to be an astronaut!) by Derek Clark of the RAF (retired). His talk considerd the effect on the human body of space flight, and the living and working conditions in a space microgravity environment. The talk then considered the uses of space, such as the Global Positioning System (which I used extensively in Europe) and space surveillance, before ending with a discussion of the Challenger accident. He had a host of stories, and lots of pictures about the early days of space travel.
At 4 pm daily is the Afternoon Tea, which features hors d'oeuvres and tea, but more interestingly, music by the Regatta String Quartet. The quartet is composed of 2 violins, a viola, and a cello. The performers are 3 lovely ladies and a handsome guy, all Russians, all professional musicians, playing all kinds of music, from classical to pops, and often very unusual and interesting arrangements. There is a photo here: http://hutchings.smugmug.com/photos/433158617_LCFmC-L.jpg. Stan made it a point to attend the Afternoon Tea daily to hear the quartet. On our trip over, there was also a Regatta String Quartet, but they were 4 different musicians, 4 lovely ladies.
I'm not going to do a thorough daily report on the food experiences; if you've taken a cruise, you know the experience; and if you haven't taken a cruise, imagine dining in a four-star restaurant. Suffice it to say each evening was a gastronomical adventure: delicious food in an elegant setting in the Grand Dining Room, served by attentive waiters. Each day had a different set of choices for appetizers; salads; soups; main courses; and desserts. Fortunately the servings were not excessively large; unfortunately, it was extremely difficult to decide on one each - sometimes Stan or Kiyomi just had to order more than one.
After dinner was the entertainment, first the 8:15-9:00 performance by the Regatta String Quartet, than at 9:45 the featured show. Tonight was Hanna Starosta, a virtuoso violinist. You can see a Hanna Starosta Promo at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL6Ap03twtc. She gave a rousing performance, similar to the YouTube performance. .

Tue 11 Nov- Depart Barcelona, Spain for Miami, FL USA

2008-12-24T23:42:00.000-08:00

http://hutchings.smugmug.com/ (photos)

Tue 11 Nov- we got up, had coffee and finished our packing. Ship boarding started from about 3 pm, so we had a last lunch in Barcelona at a nearby restaurant, Cafe Roma: a bottle of 'Senorio de Aldaz' rose; spaghetti with garlic oil; grilled cuttlefish with salad and fries; cost E35. It was quite good, a last taste of Europe in Europe - Italian food in Spain.
We did last-minute Internet work, then checked out of the Torre Catalunya, took a taxi to the port and boarded the Oceania lines ship Regatta. It was the same ship we took to Barcelona 8 months ago. The boarding formalities were unexpectedly smooth; a few minutes of check-in and we boarded the ship and were taken to our room.
Stan hurried to the library to check out Ray Kurzweil's 'The Singularity is Near', which he started on the way over. Fortunately it was still in the library. Kiyomi signed up for the Spa and Beauty parlor. Then we checked out the food - they were already serving hors d'oeuvres, and we wanted to sign up for the specialty restaurants: the Polo (specializing in beef and other meat) and the Toscana (specializing in Italian).
The ship 'set sail' for Tangier, Morocco, and we settled into our cozy inside cabin. We chose inside because in the event of rough weather, the inside cabins closest to the intersection of the three axes of rotation have the smoothest ride. Also, there is no porthole, so there is no dawn to awaken you; you just eventually feel you've had enough sleep and get up nicely refreshed.

Mon 10 Nov- one last PT/INR adventure and shopping Barcelona

2008-11-10T10:24:00.001-08:00

Mon 10 Nov- after breakfast of coffee, bananas and artichoke hearts, we left to find a place for Stan's PT/INR test. The local pharmacy referred me to a nearby hotel, the Hospital Clinic of Barcelona. Looking at the map, it wasn't far, so we walked there in about 20 minutes. We asked at the info desk, and were directed down the hall, but apparently passed the room and ended up where we got sent several different places. Finally, after asking several nurses and doctors, we were directed to the correct room, where we spent a few minutes with paperwork (very little, just date of birth, address, age, name, etc.). Then the test was very quick, a finger prick and the answer within minutes. Cost was E 21, about $30.
Then we were ready for lunch. We found a Tapas Bar restaurant, apparently a chain with several other locations including Mexico, and decided on a couple of draft beers and the seafood special 'Mariners Menu', consisting of: toast with garlic and tomato spread (similar to yesterdays, but already prepared - we preferred yesterday's); fried calamari; grilled cuttlefish with lettuce, tomato and carrot salad; garlic shrimp (shrimp and garlic cooked in olive oil; and steamed mussels; for a total cost of E 48.50.
After lunch it was off to La Rambla for last-minute shopping. Kiyomi found a Lottusse shop, apparently in business since 1877 that had very nice leather goods, so that's what we got. Gifts for the kids and a new belt for Stan. Kiyomi stopped by several other shops, investigating price and quality versus Italy and France. She decided leather is good in Spain and Italy; clothes and cashmere garments in Italy.
Back at the hotel we started preparing for our cruise home tomorrow.

Sun 09 Nov- a tour of Barcelona

2008-11-10T10:23:00.001-08:00

Sun 09 Nov- a tour of Barcelona
Sun 09 Nov- after coffee, artichokes, tomatoes, banana and orange for breakfast, we set out to explore Barcelona, intending to go to the Montjuic to look at the gardens. Partway there we saw the open-top tourist bus that makes a circuit of Barcelona, going past all the important landmarks on the way. We decided to do it, for E 21 each. So we went around the Montjuic, then past the port and statue of Columbus. We got off the bus at La Rambla, the interesting pedestrian walkway that is lined with shops and performers. We got back on the bus at Placa Catalunya, which then took us past the (still unfinished) Sagrada Familia cathedral, and up to Park Guell, where we got off.
We had lunch at a local restaurant, Casa Manzanares, that turned out to be quite delicious, a pleasant surprise: 1/2 liter house rose wine, E 2.60; toast with garlic and tomato - you rub the garlic and tomato on the toast, then add some olive oil, and get a delicious appetizer, E 5; a calamari planch (tapas) - delicious squid, E 3.80; anchovy tapas E 3; pimientos padron tapas, E 3.50; Mediterranean pizza E 6.90; green mixed salad E 3.25; and 2 espressos after the meal, E 2.50; all that food for E 30.55.
We waddled up to the Park Guell to walk off some of the calories, enjoying the sunny cool 17-18 C day, with nice views of Barcelona and some of Gaudi's designs in the park.
We got back on the bus, which then went past the sport stadium and down the Avinguda Diagonal, lined with shops, banks and other businesses, and finally back to the hotel. We checked the Internet in preparation for two weeks with limited access, then read our books.

Sat 08 Nov- to Barcelona, Spain; Hotel Torre Catalunya

2008-11-10T10:16:00.000-08:00

Sat 08 Nov- after a leisurely cup of American coffee, we checked out of the Hotel Grand Florence and went to the airport. The cab was E25 for the 20 minute ride to the small Florence A. Vespucci airport. We checked our luggage in to the Meridiana Airlines counter, breathing a sigh of relief that there was no extra charge (we were 1 kg over the allowance). Then we went through security with our carry-on bags, expecting them to be weighed, but they just did the inspection without weighing us in. Another sigh of relief.
We were early, so decided to have a light lunch at the airport's MyChef snack bar. Kiyomi had the menu 1 pasta for E 8.80, which included a salad, spaghetti and a soft drink; Stan had a piece of chocolate cake. The spaghetti was made from fresh pasta - we watched the counter personnel make more pasta and put it into microwavable containers for heating. It was actually pretty good; apparently it is difficult to get bad pasta in Italy, because the place would be boycotted. The flight left on time, and arrived in Barcelona on time.
We took a taxi after collecting our checked luggage to the Grand Hotel Torre Catalunya, a modern high-rise hotel next to the Barcelona Sants station (we could have taken the airport bus and arrived just across the street instead of the 40+ euro taxi). Our room on the 14th floor has a beautiful view toward the Mediterranean and Mount Montjuic. We can see the cruise ships in the harbor; we might be able to watch the Regatta arrive on the 11th.
We had dinner in the hotel's <isual Restaurant Panoramic (that's a horizontal V, at first I thought it was a C!), which has a restaurant on the top floor where it has a spectacular view of Barcelona. They have a very interesting menu selection; we had a nice white wine; then a small glass of a seafood puree with anise and gelatin that had a taste more like mild mushrooms; Kiyomi had 'Iberian suckling pig with cooked peach with passion fruit and vanilla oil' that was tender with a crispy skin; Stan had 'Guinea fowl cannelloni with sauce of foie in the truffle perfume, chestnut puree, rocks of herbs bread and a black beer reduction' that was an unexpectedly delicious combination of ingredients; then a plate of interesting petit fours to finish the meal. Total cost was E 67.70; but the ambience, the view, and the interesting cuisine made it worthwhile.

Fri 07 Nov- shopping and our Italian farewell dinner

2008-11-10T10:13:00.002-08:00

Fri 07 Nov- we had a cup of coffee in the breakfast area of the Hotel Grand Florence so we could admire the beautiful architecture and decoration/renovation that makes this a 'Luxury Collection' property. It really is a beautiful interior.
Kiyomi wanted to spend our last day shopping, so we walked around the old town area.
We had lunch at a local cafe: 1/2 bottle 'Chianti Colli Senesi' S. Quirico 2006 wine (E 8.50); 'calabra', a toast with artichokes (E 5); spaghetti vongole (E 10); couvert (bread that you get charged for, whether you want it or not); 2 espresso (E 3); total E 37. We continued shopping, stopping in at Hermes, Ferragamo's, Laura Piano, and others. Kiyomi found a nice pair of shoes to match her coat, and a shirt for Stan, and found out it was a good thing she bought her Tanino Crisci coat in Milan, because the store in Florence did not have any left.
In the evening we were invited to a family reunion with Ragnhild's family they were staying with. We went to the Villamagna restaurant in the hills above Florence where we had a variety plate of antipasto (4 kinds of prosciutto and bologna, cheese, toast with chicken liver pate), 2 huge pizzas with 4 different toppings (cheese, prosciutto, meat, zucchini & eggplant); and several different kinds of pasta. Everything was wonderful, and we had a great time communicating in several languages. Kiyomi was speaking in Spanish, Ragnhild and here relatives were speaking Italian and English, Roland sometimes spoke Swedish as well as Italian. Stan was strictly English. It was lots of fun figuring out what the others were saying, and trying to answer. Everyone was so friendly and happy that the atmosphere was so pleasant we didn't want the evening to end. It was definitely a high point of our travels. Meeting with the local people and communicating over a meal is one of the best parts of traveling; that's what we've noticed everywhere we've been.

Thu 06 Nov- Galleria dell 'Accademia and Galleria d'Uffizi

2008-11-10T10:13:00.001-08:00

Thu 06 Nov- after our buffet breakfast, we walked past several cathedrals and through a very picturesque part of town to the Galleria dell'Accademia. This is where the 'David' by Michelangelo is on display, and was a 'must-see' for Kiyomi. It is a beautiful work. Other displays at the Accademia were of old religious art - annunciations, adorations of the babe, crucifixions, martyrdom of saints, etc., some of which were quite beautiful and spiritual, some revolting, some forgettable. The room full of plaster casts of older Roman sculptures were much more interesting; lots of very nude male and female gods, goddesses, fauns, nymphs, etc. with very nice proportions. We were surprised that the very strictly Roman Catholic society would allow such a display of nudity, especially in the same gallery as all the religious art.
We then walked back past the duomo and several other churches and cathedrals to the Londra where we checked out and moved to the Hotel Grand Florence, a 5-star Starwood Luxury Collection hotel right on the Arno River. Our room was on the 4th floor and had a great view over the piazza and the river toward the southeast.
We had our lunch at the hotel: bread sticks served with Ornellaia extra virgin oil; sparkling water (carbonated); Stan had chard flan with melting Pecorino cheese; Kiyomi had spaghetti with artichokes and a draft beer. It was quite tasty, but a bit expensive.
After lunch we walked along the river to the to the

Wed 05 Nov- Villa Gamberaia

2008-11-10T10:12:00.001-08:00

Wed 05 Nov- after our buffet breakfast and learning Obama had won the election, we asked the hotel to print the tickets to the Galleria dell Accademia and Uffizi Galleria that we will visit tomorrow. We had bought advance tickets through the Internet to ensure entry, and to avoid the possibility of long lines (even in this off-season time, the lines at the Uffizi can be quite long).
We met with Roland and Ragnhild and they drove us to the Villa Gamberaia, located on the hillside of Settignano, a suburb of Florence, with extraordinary views of Florence and the surrounding Arno valley. It was built in the early Seventeenth century and been renovated after WWII.
After the garden, Kiyomi and Ragnhild decided to visit Pittarello, a shoe store near Prato in Sesto Fiorentino. We drove to the town and had lunch at the Opera Cafe, a modern snack shop with a piano theme that served good fusili pasta with clam sauce and shrimp curry rice. After lunch the ladies looked at the hundreds of different women's shoes in many styles - boots, heels, pumps, ballet, exercise, etc. while Stan and Roland looked at the men's shoes. Another popular shoe store near Prato we skipped was Scarpe & Scarpe, which apparently also has a huge assortment at reasonable prices.
Back at the Londra's Garden Lounge Restaurant, for dinner we had 'Montecarlo Rosso 2007' red wine; a ham quiche appetizer and welcome champagne; linguine alle vongole veraci' (linguine with clam sauce); 'zuppa di verdure invernali' (winter vegetable soup with carrots, beans, peas, potato and cabbage). It was quite good, cost E 33.

Tue 04 Nov- Vinci: birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci

2008-11-10T10:11:00.000-08:00

http://stanhutchings.blogspot.com/ (this information as a blog)
http://hutchings.smugmug.com/ (photos)

Tue 04 Nov- after our buffet breakfast, we met with Roland and Ragnhild for a day in the countryside. They took us to Vinci, the birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci.
We had lunch at the Restaurant Leonardo (many shops and other buildings have names related to Leonardo da Vinci, like the Mona Lisa Hotel, etc.) We had 'Sangiovese Toscano in purezza 2007', a wine bottled locally for the restaurant, and the 'menu of the day for tourists and workers': spaghetti with clams (Kiyomi, Roland & Ragnhild); minestrone soup (Stan); grilled meat (Roland and Stan) and salad (Roland and Ragnhild). Afterwards we drove up the road to see the birthplace. It was interesting to see the farmhouse where he was born almost 600 years ago; even more amazing, it is still there, pretty much as it was, after being restored and donated to the town and endowed so visitors can enter free. On the way from the parking lot we admired the view of the Tuscan countryside, with olive trees full of olives ready for harvest. After the visit, we stopped by an olive pressing coop, where local olive growers brought their olives to be pressed for the 'nouvelle' virgin oil, the first pressing of the olives. The oil came out a fluorescent green, quite vivid compared to the later refined product we see in the stores.
In the evening we watched some of the early reporting of the presidential election, and skipped dinner.

Mon 03 Nov- Florence on a rainy day

2008-11-04T09:39:00.000-08:00

Mon 03 Nov- after breakfast and a short walk to the tourist office in a light rain and cool 18-19 C temperature, we investigated the possibilities for visiting. Today most of the interesting places are closed, so we'll have to visit from tomorrow.
We had lunch at the Londra's restaurant: 'Buonamico Montecarlo' 2007 white wine; Kiyomi had linguine with clams; Stan had hamburger with fries and pickled veggies. The rain came and went as we were investigating, so we didn't venture out.
In the evening we met with Roland and Ragnhild Edstrom (Roland is a 'cousin' who lives in Sweden, but is visiting Ragnhild's Italian relatives near Florence). It was great to see them again after many years; they are very nice relatives. Roland drove to a town above Florence (using a borrowed Tom-Tom GPS), where we had a lively discussion and catch-up of news, plus dinner: a nice Chianti wine and fizzy water; an antipasto variety plate; Stan had the delicious lasagne while everyone else had a wonderful linguine with fresh mushrooms.
After dinner we took a walk to the viewpoint where we looked down on Florence with a dramatic pattern of foggy and clear view.

Sun 02 Nov- Florence, American WWII Cemetery, Piazzale Michelangelo, farewell dinner #3

2008-11-04T09:38:00.002-08:00

Sun 02 Nov- after breakfast we departed for Florence. On the way, we stopped by the Florence American Cemetery and Memorial site (http://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries/cemeteries/fl.php) to pay respects and remember the lives lost in Italy during the latter part of WWII. More than 5800 are interred here, the ones not returned to the US for burial. We were reminded of our Viking Cruise visit to the American Cemetery in northeast France, where 'Battle of the Bulge' victims of World War I are buried.
On the way to the hotel we stopped at the famous scenic view of Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo, and where the bronze copy of Michelangelo's 'David' is located. It is indeed a lovely view, and the sky was clear and blue, the temperature a warm 22-23 C.
Then we checked in to our 'Hotel Londra', and immediately left to visit the 'Giardino di Boboli' located at the 'Palazzo Pitti', a short taxi rides from the hotel. We had a snack at the Caffe on Piaxxa Pitti, just across the street from the Pitti Palace, of beer, spaghetti and salad.
We enjoyed walking around the huge garden/park for several hours, admiring the statues, fountains, views of Florence and the surrounding countryside, and an extensive collection of 18th and 19th Century porcelains. There are some really beautiful patterns; I guess this was the Medici family collection.
After the garden, we walked back to the hotel over the 'Ponte Vecchio' (bridge over the Arno River) famous for the goldsmiths' shops lining both sides, so you can hardly see the river. We continued walking past the 'Galleria Gli Uffzii', the 'Piazza del Duomo', the 'Santa Maria Novella', and many, many shops of all kinds. There were crowds of people out; it was Sunday and a really nice day, so everyone was taking advantage.
For our Farwell Dinner #3 at the hotel we had: red wine Montecarlo 'Il Borghetto' 2006; pasta with a cream sauce flavored with bits of ham; risotto with meat sauce and peas; turkey with gravy and baby boiled carrots; a lettuce with oil & vinegar salad; flan for dessert; a champagne toast following dessert; and a 'discovery' cookie characteristic of the region. We spent a long time saying goodbyes and wishing well to our traveling companions of the last 16 days. Many go back to the USA tomorrow, though some are continuing in Europe for a while longer.

Sat 01 Nov- Montepulciano, farewell dinner #2

2008-11-04T09:38:00.001-08:00

Sat 01 Nov- after the buffet breakfast, the sun was shining and the temperature was a comfortable 16-17 C, so we joined the GCT bus trip to a nearby hilltop town Montepulciano about 2000 feet above sea level. Most of the group went, and we again passed through beautiful Tuscan countryside, up to the town. We walked up, up, up to the main piazza, enjoyed the view of the countryside through the clouds that were starting to cover the hilltop. Then walked down, down, down to the bus pickup area. We thought about tasting the famous 'Vino Nobile' local wine, but decided not to. We did stop by several of the interesting shops. After our exercise, we stopped into a small cafe/bar for cappuccino, only E1.50 each, and looked at the Italian version of 'People Magazine'.
Back at the Ambasciatori Hotel, we finished off the fruit, tomatoes and wine for snack. Then Kiyomi had a Shiatsu massage while Stan read and worked on the computer. To Kiyomi's great surprise, the masseuse turned out to be a man; but she said he was very skillful, and was from Opatija, Croatia so they had something to talk about.
For our farewell dinner #2 we had: a fantastic buffet with many different dishes characteristic of the local cuisine; 'Palazzo Bandino Toscana' red wine; spiced [with little peppercorns] meat of the Impruneto; spaghetti with tomato and meat sauce; 'zuppa inglese (trifle)' for dessert.

Fri 31 Oct- Acqua Santa Therme, farewell dinner #1

2008-11-04T09:37:00.000-08:00

Fri 31 Oct- Acqua Santa Therme, farewell dinner #1
Fri 31 Oct- after the buffet breakfast, we checked the weather, but it was still chilly and windy, so we stayed in, working and reading. For a light lunch at the hotel we had Gavioli 2007 'Castellaro Chardonnay di Toscana', a local wine; spaghetti with garlic oil, cappuccino and a caramel creme dessert.
After lunch it cleared up and was 15-16 C, so we took a walk past the numerous shops and cafes to the Acqua Santa Therme (spa: http://www.termechianciano.it/in Italian), a large park that was almost deserted, but was very pleasant to stroll through the grounds. There was a large area where people could sit and drink the water, which is reputed to be good for liver and kidney problems. The park was somewhat hibernating for winter, but we could see that it would be very nice in the spring and summer. Walking back, we found a bookstore that had lots of garden books, but unfortunately, all were in Italian.
Dinner was an included trip to 'Il Casale', a local restaurant for the first of three farewell dinners: local red house wine; tostino (toast) with various toppings-chopped tomato, chicken liver pate, olive pesto; delicious minestrone soup; chicken roast and port steak; zucchini and eggplant; a delicious tiramisu for dessert.

Thu 30 Oct- relaxing in Chianciano

2008-11-04T09:36:00.002-08:00

Thu 30 Oct- after buffet breakfast, the sky cleared and the temperature was a pleasant 16-17 C, so we walked around Chianciano, where we got some fresh fruit and tomatoes from a small market. As it started clouding over and a chill wind picked up, we headed back to the hotel to read (Stan continued reading an anthology 'Predators', a gory gruesome collection of horror stories about predators and their victims), Kiyomi did some work and watched tennis on the Eurosport channel. As it started to rain heavily, we were glad to relax in our hotel room, where it was warm and dry.
For lunch and dinner we snacked on the fruit and tomatoes we'd bought earlier.

Wed 29 Oct- Archaeological Etruscan Museum, Val d'Orcia, Radicofani, lunch at an agriturismo farmhouse

2008-11-04T09:36:00.001-08:00

Wed 29 Oct- after our buffet breakfast we left on a tour of the Tuscan Val d'Orcia, Orcia Valley. It's the home of the Etruscans, who predated the Romans, and the site of the book 'Under the Tuscan Sun'.
We visited the Archaeological Etruscan Museum "Delle Acque" in Chianciano Therme (http://www.chianciano-terme.info/museoetruscodelleacque/indexe.php) that features Etruscan artifacts dug up in the surrounding area. Apparently they cremated their dead, and put the ashes into a 'canopic', which is usually in the shape of a head or house. The pediment ruins of an Etruscan Temple which dates back to the 2nd century B.C. was the featured display.
Then we continued to Radicofani, driving through typical Tuscany countryside, with roads lined with cypress trees, to the hilltop town, which was enveloped in clouds as we approached. We walked through the town, visiting the church with its unique art.
We had lunch at an agriturismo farmhouse: red house wine, pecorino cheese, various characteristic hors d'ouvres (spicy tomato, sausage, hard boiled egg, chicken liver pate on toast slices); minestrone soup with black cabbage, beans garbanzo beans in a thick delicious stock; homemade pasta with tomato and meat sauce; mixed salad (served after the main course and before dessert, as is customary here); delicious tiramisu for dessert.
Although the sky was cloudy and there was occasional rain, the countryside still had a beauty that was perhaps enhanced by the weather.

Tue 28 Oct- Furlo Gorge, Trasimene Lake, Chianciano

2008-11-04T09:35:00.001-08:00

Tue 28 Oct- after the buffet breakfast we departed for Chianciano. On the way we stopped by Furlo Gorge, famous as being a stopping point for Mussolini as he traveled between his home and Rome on the ancient Etruscan, then Roman road known as the Flaminian Way. After a snack of cheese and other goodies, we saw the room in which Mussolini often ate meals as he stopped by; and we heard many anecdotes of the innkeeper's experiences with 'Il Duce' there are many photos and mementos of his better days.
Later Stan had a flashback to his university days when we passed by where the Battle of the Trasimene Lake (217 BCE) took place. It was a major Roman defeat by Hannibal during the Second Punic War. It's amazing how much history is in this area of Italy.
We continued on to Chianciano Therme, a conveniently located town famous for water that is good for the liver and kidneys (http://www.termechianciano.it/index.en.php).
For the included welcome drink and dinner we had: 'Palazzo Bandino' Toscana red wine; a hors d'oeuvres buffet that could have been an entire meal in itself, with all kinds of vegetables, meats, salad fixings, etc.; roast pork loin in curry sauce; mashed potatoes; coffee parfait ice cream.

Mon 27 Oct- San Marino and its castles

2008-11-04T09:32:00.000-08:00

Mon 27 Oct- after the buffet breakfast, we decided to take a walk to see the most interesting features of San Marino: the castles above the town that are part of the republic's crest. It was a sunny cool 18-19 C, warm in the sun but cool in the shade with the wind. We walked to the several viewpoints on the way to the castles, enjoying the magnificent view of San Marino (city and republic) and Italy. The walk up to the castles was very pleasant, the air was fresh and cool but not chilly and the views were awesome. We did not go into the castles since they were museums dedicated to weapons of war.
We had a light lunch at a pizzeria: beer, cappuccino, cafe, spaghetti with clams and mixed salad, all for E 21.20. It was more than enough to tide us over to dinner, which is included in our tour.
The afternoon cooled off and got cloudy, so we stayed in the hotel, working and reading.
For our included dinner at the hotel, we had a nice bottle of red wine on the table, pasta with meat sauce, veal with gravy, potatoes and green beans, gelato for dessert. We had a relaxing supper chatting with other members of the tour.

Sun 26 Oct- San Pellegrino Restaurant and San Marino

2008-10-29T14:28:00.001-07:00

Sun 26 Oct- after breakfast we departed by bus at 8:30 am. We stopped by Spilamberto, a town famous for balsamico (balsamic vinegar, but not the grocery store kind). The museum showed the process of making traditional balsamico, culminating in a minimum 25-year aged product that sells for hundreds of dollars per pint. It's a real chemical process, starting from the 4 kinds of grapes used, the cooking process, the different kinds of wood used in the set of barrels as the liquid ages. The 12-year aged product was offered to us for tasting, about 2-3 ml on a spoon. It did not smell at all like vinegar and tasted and looked more like a somewhat tart brown gravy.
For lunch we went to the San Pellegrino Restaurant and had: the local red sparkling wine; gnocchi puff pastry flash fried in oil so it puffs up like a balloon; home-made hand-crafted tortellini in chicken broth; mashed potato and turkey with balsamico gravy & stewed onion; assorted pastries and espresso or grappa for dessert.
We crossed the Rubicon River, made famous when Julius Caesar crossed it with his legions and led to his downfall at the Ides of March.
We left Italy and entered the oldest republic, the Republic of San Marino, then climbed Mt. Titano to the town San Marino at an altitude of 2200 feet. We checked into the Grand Hotel San Marino; our room was large and comfortable with a great view of the surrounding countryside. We took a walk around the town, admiring the view of the countryside and becoming acquainted with the landmarks of San Marino.

Sat 25 Oct- a working and relaxing day; dinner at Lido Restaurant

2008-10-29T14:27:00.000-07:00

Sat 25 Oct- after breakfast, it was still a foggy cool 16-17 C day, so we decided to stay at the hotel. We had decided to skip the optional tour, but were considering visiting another garden near Venice. Instead, Kiyomi worked while Stan continued reading. In the afternoon it warmed up a bit and the sky cleared, so we took a walk for cappuccino and small (200 ml) beer; the cost was E 5.20.
Back at the hotel, we enjoyed the thermal pools again.
For dinner we decided to return to the Lido to try another pasta dish; some of them served to other customers looked delicious. We tried 1/2 liter house white wine, a mixed salad, a dish of grilled vegetables (zucchini and eggplant), spaghetti with clams and gamberetti & vongole (shrimp & clam) pizza. We were again pleased by the quality, quantity and price.
Since we move to San Marino tomorrow, we spent time packing because wake-up is 6:30 am.

Fri 24 Oct- Villa Barbarigo, Valsanzibio

2008-10-29T14:26:00.002-07:00

Fri 24 Oct- after the buffet breakfast we took a walk to pick up the ironing (E5 for two shirts), then walked through a park with walks lined by gingko trees starting to change to gold. It reminds us again summer is over, but the weather is still pleasant, 15 C with sunny blue sky. Back at the Helvetia, Kiyomi worked and Stan, having finished 'Weep No More, My Lady', started reading 'The Pillow Book of Lady Wisteria' (in feudal Japan, passion and secrets lead to murder...) by Laura Joh Rowland, apparently the latest mystery to be solved by Sano Ichiro and his wife Reiko.
In the afternoon we visited a nearby garden at Villa Barbarigo near Valsanzibio (http://www.valsanzibiogiardino.it). It was built in 1669 with a symbolic meaning to the path expressed in fountains, ponds, gates, sculptures, a maze, an island and plants. It was restored to original plan over the last 80 years by the current owners. It was well worth the trip and admission; we spent two hours wandering around the trails and paths, admiring the beauty and serenity of the garden.
We enjoyed the thermal pools again after returning to the Helvetia.
For dinner we went to the nearby Lido Restaurant, and were pleasantly surprised by the quality, quantity and price. We had 1/2 liter house white wine, a mixed salad (lettuce, tomato and shredded carrot), a dish of grilled vegetables (zucchini and eggplant), an order of linguini 'Lido' style (squid, tomato sauce and mushrooms), and a quattro stagnione pizza; total bill was E 26, reasonable compared to other restaurants considering the high quality.

Thu 23 Oct- Abano, Hotel Helvetia's thermal pool & candlelight dinner

2008-10-29T14:26:00.001-07:00

Thu 23 Oct- after breakfast, we decided to take a walk around Abano, have some clothes ironed, buy toothpaste and AA batteries while we walked. There is a nice pedestrian zone next to our Hotel Helvetia, so we walked around it as we took care of our shopping. There are many hotels, since Abano is famous for thermal springs since Roman times. There are many upscale brand-name shops selling jewelry, clothes, souvenirs, shoes - the usual 'old town' businesses.
We had nice draft beer (E 8) at the 'City Bar' cafe as we looked over information from the Tourist Office, deciding whether to visit a garden if it's nice tomorrow. There are several nearby, but only one is open when we will be able to visit.
When we returned to the Helvetia, we decided to try its thermal pools (inside and outside, connected by a swim-through passage). The water was pleasantly warm, so we could stay in for more than an hour without getting too hot or cool.
GCT had arranged a candlelight dinner with music, so at 7:30 pm we went down to enjoy it. They served: Paoni Colli Euganei red wine; aubergine (eggplant) pie with parmesan cheese; risotto with Bassano asparagus; swordfish with croutons, bread and spinach; green apple sherbet to cleanse the palate; glazed leg of pork with honey and potato Mont Blanc (mashed potato); and King tart for dessert. It was a very enjoyable and tasty meal. The pork was brought out through the darkened room in a parade lit by sparklers. The King tart was a cake with fruit embedded and topped with whipped cream.

Wed 22 Oct- Padova and E'Orto Botanico del l'Universita di Padova

2008-10-29T14:25:00.000-07:00

Wed 22 Oct- We got up at 6:45 to join the GCT tour of Padova (Padua), home of the second oldest university in Europe. We saw where the first autopsies were performed for would-be doctors. The university's walls were covered with the coats-of-arms of the students who attended. Apparently Galileo taught here for many years; as well as Copernicus and Vesalius. After that, we visited the "E'Orto Botanico del l'Universita di Padova", the botanical garden used by the students of the University of Padua. It had many different plants, all nicely identified with the Latin name and Italian name. It was not a formal type garden, however; it is really a reference work for the students. The walk was pleasant after the hustle and bustle of the city center with the university. We stopped by the open air market and picked up some grapes and tomatoes for snack tonight, since dinner is not included
We had a pizza, beer and cappuccino (E 11) in the 'Caffe Cavour' in the Piazza Cavour near the university, watching the people go about their business until it was time to board the GCT bus back to Abano.
There was a lecture 'Italian with and without words' lecture given by Lucio. He gave us a history of the Italian language as it evolved from Latin, and gave us tips on proper pronunciation. Then he told us many interesting anecdotes and examples of silent communication by gestures and facial expressions, including some very impolite gestures he warned us NOT to use. Following his lecture, a recent Padova graduate talked about the current affairs in Italy, and how things have changed since becoming an EU member and adopting the Euro.
We went to the nearby 'Cafe Milano' where we had pasta and ravioli, plus draft 'Birra Forst Spa Merano' Pils beer (since 1857, http://www.forst.it), currently and Italian beer, but formerly Austrian when the Austro-Hungarian empire held sway. Anyway, it was quite good, as were the pasta and ravioli.
We found the Internet to be available at the Helvetia, but at E 6 ($10)/hour, rather expensive. It's hard to understand why some hotels charge so much, and some provide it free. We've started using free Internet as a criterion when looking for accommodations.

Tue 21 Oct- Sirmione on Lake Garda, Abano and Hotel Helvetia

2008-10-29T14:24:00.000-07:00

Tue 21 Oct- after getting up at 6:15, we had a nice buffet breakfast and then departed for Abano. On the way, we stopped by the ancient town of Sirmione, located on a promontory that stick far out into Lake Garda. We had a snack at a little cafe-bar on a side-street of Sirmione on Lake Garda. It was cool and cloudy, but pleasant to walk around.
We ordered a light lunch of a Margherita pizza and two kinds of Lugana wine, a specialty of the region. The wine was very pleasant, not too dry but with a nice taste that complemented the pizza.
Our GCT 'discovery' was 'Pocket Coffee', a few milliliters of espresso in a chocolate shell. When you bite down, the espresso squirts out, then the chocolate combines with the taste to be really good. Stan bought 2 5-packs at the next stop at E 1.70 each. This is a cool-weather product, not available in the summer; and not recommended to be kept in pockets, despite the name.
Shortly after arrival at the Hotel Helvetia, we were taken on an introductory stroll through Abano, famous as a spa ('therme') town.
Dinner started with a fantastic appetizer buffet, which had enough different selections to be the whole meal: all kinds of fish, shellfish, octopus salad, shrimp, scallops, etc.; plus many vegetables including artichoke hearts, green beans, asparagus, spinach, etc; and green salad fixings with different dressings. After filling up on the buffet, we were served seafood risotto, washed down by the mineral water and red wine set on the table; after that, they served fish with boiled potato; and then finally a wonderful custard/vanilla pudding in delicate flaky pastry.

Mon 20 Oct- Cernobbio, Hotel Regina Olga, Villa d'Este

2008-10-29T14:23:00.000-07:00

Mon 20 Oct- we enjoyed the included buffet breakfast at the Villa Serbelloni, the coffee made fresh for us, and the nice selection of items, then took a leisurely walk around the Serbelloni gardens again, then got ready to leave to join our GCT tour group at the Hotel Regina Olga in Cernobbio. We went by limo, a lovely one hour drive along Lake Como, usually several hundred feet above the lake itself, with a beautiful panoramic view of the lake and the towns and mountains on the opposite side.
On arriving at the Regina Olga, we were pleased to be met by our GCT Tour Guide, Lucio, who was expecting us, and assigned us a very nice room with a terrace. After settling in, we went for a walk and came upon Villa d'Este. Our limo driver had recommended it, so we decided to visit: the 'admission' was to have a drink and/or snack at the bar; so we sprang for two E10 ($14) Nastro Azzuro beers, and were glad we did. The garden was quite nice: it was designed to climb up the hill, toward a statue of Hercules, featuring a very long cascade falling from the statue down to the beginning of the path up, which featured very erotic mosaics, bas relief and statues.
We returned to the hotel and enjoyed the welcome champagne drink, white wine and the special dinner prepared for the GCT group: penne pasta with white cheese sauce, loin of veal with herbs and veal with chard and potato, and delicious meneghina sponge cake with cream custard for dessert. We met some of the group who will be our companions for the next 10 days or so.

Sun 19 Oct- the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni

2008-10-19T10:36:00.000-07:00

Sun 19 Oct- after breakfast we packed and moved to the 5-star Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, just a few meters north of Hotel Metropole.
After checking in, we wandered through the gardens. They are not very impressive or large, but they were pleasant to view, and we got some nice photos and video. We found the Internet connection was not free, but was pretty reasonable - E10 for 99 hours. It would have been a better deal if we were going to be there several days, rather than just overnight. There were no English language newspapers, surprising for a 3-star, unforgivable for a 5-star hotel. There was a very nice plasma TV in the room the got CNN and CNBC, among others, so that somewhat made up for the lack of newspapers.
Then we had lunch at the restaurant, beer (bottled, unfortunately they don't have draft beer available), a large bottle of water, spaghetti with clams and ravioli with meat stuffing and mushroom sauce. The view from the restaurant was a panorama of Lake Como and the far side of the lake, on a beautiful somewhat hazy day, cool 17-18 C, but the restaurant was glassed-in with floor to ceiling windows. The food was excellent, really good home-made pasta and ravioli; the service and settings were impeccable, as expected for a 5-star restaurant; but the price was E62 (almost $100, good for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but I would not make a habit).
We used the Internet to check transportation and accommodations for Florence and Barcelona, the last stage of our trip before the cruise home. We could go by ferry, a 20-hour trip from Livorno (an hour-and-a-half from Florence), or train (about 24 hours, with a change or two at odd times), or by air (one-and-a-half nonstop via Meridiana).
Luggage is the big issue - we have too much for the allowed air transport, and too much for the train to be convenient. The ferry might be OK, but 20 hours is a long time, and the port is not convenient. We're leaning toward the flight, though we'll have to pay an extra $100 or more in excess baggage charge.
We listened to the live music by a 3-piece band (piano, violin and string bass) in the large sitting room that adjoins the restaurant, enjoying an evening drink and very nice music.

Sat 18 Oct- another work/reading day in Bellagio Hotel Metropole

2008-10-19T10:35:00.000-07:00

Sat 18 Oct- it was a cloudy cool day, so we continued working and reading after breakfast and searching the Internet for hotel accommodations and transportation. Stan read 'The Times' (http://timesonline.co.uk) for the market and other news while Kiyomi worked. Stan finished 'Simply Divine', a humorous book with lots of puns and names that were funny when read aloud; and started 'Weep No More, My Lady' by Mary Higgins Clark, which seems full of 'red herrings' and misdirection as to the villain, but is interesting reading, and fast.
After a break for beer and coffee at the Metropole cafe, we continued until dinner. For dinner we had: 1/2 liter house white wine; proscuitto & cantaloupe, salami, cheese and tortilla appetizer; spaghetti with vodka sauce with cheese & ham and panzerotta of the lake (mushroom, ham and fish wrapped in a thin pasta shell) for first plate; Milanese veal chop (breaded and fried) and steak, with beans and potato with rosemary for second plate; and a surprise grande finale dessert plate of chocolate cake, chocolate muffin, apple tart, vanilla pudding and whip cream, served with a glass of sweet wine like Muscato. What a pleasant surprise! The waiters and maitre d' came over, shook our hands, kissed Kiyomi, and bade us farewell.

Fri 17 Oct- a working and reading day at Lake Como

2008-10-19T10:34:00.000-07:00

Fri 17 Oct- after breakfast, Kiyomi continued work on her article while Stan read the newspaper and continued to read 'Simply Divine' by Wendy Holden. It was a nice sunny day, so we decided to try to visit the garden at Villa Serbelloni in case it were cloudy or rainy when we check in Sunday, where we had coffee and beer (for an astronomical E15 ($22) (although it did include a dish of potato chips); but they would not allow us to see the garden, as we were not yet officially guests. After a short walk, back at the Metropole, we continued working and reading until dinner.
For dinner we had: 1/2 liter house red wine; three kinds of smoked fish appetizer with toast; bucatini pasta Amatriciana (tomato and ham sauce) and risotto Milanese style (mixed with white cheese) for first plate; grilled veal escalope and escalope Aosta Valley style (cheese and proscuitto layers on the veal) for the second plate with cauliflower au gratin and potatoes as second plate; chocolate cake and lemon sorbet for dessert.

Thu 16 Oct- a working & reading day

2008-10-19T10:33:00.002-07:00

Thu 16 Oct- the sky was grey and threatening rain, so after breakfast we checked with reception about the tour of Villa Mylius Vigoni. She found the tour was cancelled due to insufficient number and weather concerns. Stan read the newspaper, relieved to see the market and financial meltdown is at least temporarily controlled while Kiyomi looked for a place to stay in Florence. Back in the room, Stan prepared the photos for upload, updated the blog and continued reading while Kiyomi continued work on her article.
After a coffee break at the Metropole's cafe, we continued inside, since it was still cool, windy and threatening rain. Stan finished 'London Bridges' and started (for lack of anything else) 'Simply Divine' by Wendy Holden.
For dinner we had: 1/2 liter house white wine; beef cured and cut like proscuitto & white cheese appetizer; dumplings Roman style (with cheese) and pasta Woodman's style (in a white sauce with peas and mushrooms) as first plate; sirloin steak Mirabeau (with anchovy topping) and fish with almond sauce, served with rustic potatoes & pan-fried peppers, onions and potatoes as second plate; vanilla ice cream and tiramisu for dessert.

Wed 15 Oct- another walk to San Giovanni through Villa Melzi

2008-10-19T10:33:00.001-07:00

Wed 15 Oct- after breakfast, Stan read the paper while Kiyomi worked on her article. After it warmed up to 18-19 C, we took a walk down Lungo Lario Manzoni, which had a flea market going on. We walked around looking at all the things on sale, many good bargains if only we had room for them. Then we continued to Lungo Lario Marconi, the lakefront promenade, then through the Giardini di Villa Melzi (http://www.giardinidivillamelzi.it) again, through Loppia, past Villa Gerli to Guggiate and San Giovanni, where we sat on the bench for a while, watched fish, birds, boats and ferries, then walked back, stopping by the highly recommended 'Alle Darsene di Loppia' (http://www.alledarsenediloppia.com) just outside the south entrance of Villa Melzi for a beer and excellent cappuccino. We walked back through the Villa Melzi on a different path, enjoying the lovely warm day, views of the lake and beautiful garden scenery. Although it is mid-October, there are still many flowers blooming, especially gin-mokusei. The Japanese maple around the pond give wonderful colors as the sun shines on or through the leaves, and the reflections in the pond are beautiful.
Back at the Metropole, Stan finished 'A Season in Hell' by Jack Higgins and started on 'London Bridges' by Richard Patterson (his tenth Alex Cross adventure) while Kiyomi worked on the article.
For dinner we had: 1/2 liter house white wine; proscuitto & cantaloupe appetizer (almost a meal in itself); tagliatelle with gorgonzola cheese and farfalle (bow-tie) pasta with sweet pepper sauce for first plate; Hungarian goulash and perch filet with butter & sage served with baked new potatoes and courgettes (zucchini) Peasant style for second plate; lemon sorbet and cream pudding for dessert.

Tue 14 Oct- another PT/INR test adventure

2008-10-19T10:32:00.001-07:00

Tue 14 Oct- left for an 8 am appointment for the PT/INR test before breakfast, walked to the clinic as the sun was coming up in about 20 minutes, where the doctor met us and filled out the forms for the blood draw and test in about 2 minutes. Then we waited inside about 5 minutes until the nurse took passport and copied the information to the medical form; waited about another 5 minutes to be called, blood drawn and ciao. In and out in less than 20 minutes. Walked back to the hotel in time for breakfast. The results of the test were faxed to the hotel about 1 pm, and faxed by the hotel to Kaiser soon thereafter. I had the evaluation back from Kaiser before we went to dinner.
After breakfast we read and worked a while until it warmed up to about 18-19 C. We had planned to visit the Villa Mylius Vigoni in Menaggio, but found out (fortunately before we left the hotel) that the villa is only open on Thursdays for tours. So instead we walked over to Pescallo for the exercise up and down there, then up and down back again, ready for a beer/cappuccino break.
Kiyomi took Stan shopping and we ended up with three shirts and a pair of stretch jeans. They offered free alterations to shirt sleeve length and jeans. The shirts are high quality material, and with the minor alterations, nicely sized and fitted for Stan.
We read and worked before dinner, then checked email and Internet for places to stay in Florence.
For dinner we had: 1/2 liter house red wine; a huge amount of shrimp cocktail with mayonnaise sauce as appetizer; pipette pasta greengrocer style (mixed cooked vegetables) and trenette pasta with basil pesto sauce for first plate; escalope cordon bleu and pork cutlet with rosemary, sandy potatoes & fennel root for second plate; lemon sorbet and profiteroles for dessert.

Mon 13 Oct- PT/INR location, Hotel Belvedere, prescription refill at the pharmacy

2008-10-19T10:31:00.000-07:00

Mon 13 Oct- PT/INR location, Hotel Belvedere, prescription refill at the pharmacy
Mon 13 Oct- after breakfast, Kiyomi continued working on her report while Stan finished 'Drop Shot', an enjoyable and funny detective story, and started 'A Season in Hell', a book by Jack Higgins. We were waiting for the sky to clear and for it to warm up before our walk.
Stan checked with the hotel receptionist about when and where he could get his upcoming PT/INR test done. She found out it could be done at the hospital in Menaggio, or at a once-a-week clinic in Bellagio, a 25-minute walk or 5 minute taxi ride. Stan decided to have it done tomorrow, close by in Bellagio, even though it's earlier than necessary, because now the boats to Menaggio are infrequent. We asked the GPS, and it told us 15 minutes walking would get us there, so we tried it; actual time was 25 minutes, but we took several round-about walkways.
On the way back, we stopped by the 3-star Hotel Belvedere for a beer and cappuccino (at E10/US$15, expensive, but we were there for the excellent view of Mt. Grigna, the other alps, and Lago di Lecco, so considered we were buying a nice view also; the cafe across the street was 1/4 the price, but no view). Their dining room also has the great view. It wouldn't be a bad place to stay, though it's a bit far from Bellagio center and the boats/ferries/shops/restaurants.
We continued our walk back through the fishing village Pescallo, and up, up, up the path and then down, down the path to Bellagio. We walked up and down in Bellagio for a while, Stan got a new backpack to replace his camera bag that has fallen apart, then back to the Metropole.
Kiyomi's prescription of 25 mg hydrochlothiazide tablets was getting low, so we decided to try the pharmacy. Sure enough, they looked at the prescription on the label, and immediately fixed us up with a refill, 20 tablets for E1.25 (that's less than US$2).
Kiyomi continued shopping, finding a very good shop named 'GLAMOUR' at Salita Serbelloni 18, with a knowledgeable proprietress while Stan returned to the hotel to blog and read.
For dinner we had: 1/2 liter house white wine; proscuitto with artichoke & garlic toast with tomato & basil spread appetizer; conchiglie pasta with mixed cheeses and tagliatelle pasta with meat sauce for the first plate; lake trout with aromatic herbs and roast beef with peas & ham & potato Lyonnaise (in cream sauce with onions) as second plate; Sacher tort and lemon sorbet for dessert.

Sun 12 Oct- walking and relaxing around Bellagio

2008-10-19T10:28:00.002-07:00

http://stanhutchings.blogspot.com/ (this information as a blog)
http://hutchings.smugmug.com/ (photos)

Sun 12 Oct- after breakfast we worked and read until it warmed up to 19-20 C around noon. Then we walked over to the northern point of Bellagio where the two arms of the lake meet. We watched the fish and enjoyed the sun. Then we walked back through Bellagio, up and down streets (actually pedestrian stairways lined with shops of all kind) we hadn't been on before. We continued along the lakeside promenade Lungo Lario Europa, lined with raised flower beds on one side and the lake on the other. We watched the antics of the ducks and other birds, were amazed by all the fish we saw, and enjoyed the warm 22-23 C sunny day. Then we walked back to the Metropole.
After a beer/cappuccino break, Stan read the paper (the London Times is the only one in English) and worked on the blog while Kiyomi went shopping. We miss CNN and CNBC, which are not available at the Metropole; only the Eurosport channel and France24 (http://www.france24.com/en/)are in English. It was surprising and interesting to hear a French TV station broadcasting in English, with a very French and European perspective on the news.
For dinner we had: tomato and mozzarella cheese with lettuce and basil appetizer, 1/2 liter house white wine; spaghetti with shrimp & courgettes (zucchini chunks) and ravioli stuffed with green pesto (broccoli) under a cheese sauce served with rocket (arugula) & stuffed tomato for first plate; braised pork shank and fried fish for second plate; chocolate muffin and tiramisu for dessert.

Sat 11 Oct- a walk to Suira, Taronico, Casate and Regatola and back

2008-10-19T10:28:00.001-07:00

Sat 11 Oct- after breakfast, and a wait until it warmed up, we took a walk first to Suira via a pedestrian path we noticed yesterday, then on to Casate, Taronico, and then to San Marino, where we had a delicious Paulaner draft beer and capuccino while enjoying the beautiful view at the appropriately named Bellavista Ristorante on this sunny and warm 21-22 C day. We continued on to Regatola and back to Bellagio through Aureggio. They are all cute little towns with narrow twisting streets that are often cobblestone and narrow. We could frequently catch the fragrance of gin-mokusei as we walked the paths.
Back in the Metropole we read or worked. Stan finished reading Phillip Margolin's 'The Associate' and started Harlan Coben's 'Drop Shot'
For dinner we had 1/2 liter house white wine; smoked salmon with toast appetizer; tagliatelle with aromatic herbs and cannelloni with spinach & ricotta as first course; escalope Gypsy style (stewed sliced carrots, ham & peppers) and grilled sirloin steak, with French fries and stuffed tomato as second plate; wild berries cake and apple tart for dessert.

Fri 10 Oct- a walk to Mulini del Perlo

2008-10-19T10:27:00.001-07:00

Fri 10 Oct- after breakfast we looked at the map of the area, read the walking excursions, and decided on an ambitious walk to Mulini del Perlo for a view of all three arms of Lake Como. We walked again by way of back roads that were winding, cobblestone, and too narrow, or steep with steps, for a car. The walks were generally fenced on each side with 7-8 foot tall stone walls, so we could only see the tops of the shrubs and trees in the yards; but we could frequently catch the fragrance of gin-mokusei. We walked through the town Aureggio, wondering who lived here and what did they do for a living. As we climbed the hill toward Mulini del Perlo, we could look back and see the yards that had been hidden from view as we walked by them, and the villas on the hill across the valley between us.
We reached Mulini del Perlo, at an altitude of 320 meters (about 1000 feet), and when we looked out from a viewpoint we could indeed see the three arms of Lake Como. It was a beautiful view, sunny and a warm 21-22 C. We walked down Via al Perlo toward San Giovanni, enjoying the pastoral landscape. We wondered if any cars could negotiate the stony steep winding trail.
Back in Bellagio, after a beer/coffee break, we worked or read for a while sitting in the afternoon sun on our balcony. It was relaxing to look over the lake, enjoying the boats coming and going, and the antics of the swans and ducks.
For dinner we had: 1/2 liter house red wine; melon and proscuitto appetizer; dumplings Florentine style (green color, made with broccoli) and maccheroncini pasta with aubergines (eggplant) for the first plate; breaded & fried plaice and beefsteak Pizzaiola style for the second plate; lemon cake and chocolate muffin (warm and YUM!) for dessert.

Thu 9 Oct- a walk to San Giovanni

2008-10-19T10:26:00.000-07:00

Thu 9 Oct- it's a sunny cool 15-16 C breezy day, and we took a long walk again to enjoy the picturesque surroundings of Bellagio and the views of the lake. During our walk it warmed to 18-19 C and became quite pleasant. We went to the nearby San Giovanni town by way of back roads that were winding, cobblestone, and almost too narrow for a car. In San Giovanni we sat by the lake for a while, enjoying the peace and quiet, and warm sun. Then we walked back to the hotel for a beer and coffee.
Stan finished reading Tess Gerritsen 'The Mephisto Club' [http://www.tessgerritsen.com] while Kiyomi worked on her report.
For dinner we had: 1/2 liter house white wine, a selection of three kinds of smoked fish (tuna, salmon and cod), very thinly sliced as appetizer; crepes chef style (cheese and butter) and Trenette pasta with tuna & olives as first plate; roast chicken and escalope Lombardy style as second plate; vanilla pudding and tiramisu for dessert.

Wed 8 Oct- a walk to Pescallo on the Lago de Lecco side, back over to Loppia

2008-10-19T10:25:00.002-07:00

Wed 8 Oct- a rainy morning as we had breakfast, looking out and seeing the mist and rain dramatically obscure the mountains and the far side of the lake. It was pretty, as long as we could stay inside. Later we worked the Internet and read the paper. Things look pretty grim for the financial markets, banks and stock markets. We hope the world's leaders can get their acts together and do what they are elected and paid to do.
With the sky clearing and the temperature rising to 18-19 C, we decided to take a walk. We found an interesting cobblestone walk from Bellagio up over the hill and down to the fishing village Pescallo, which is on the Lago de Lecco side of Bellagio. There were many picturesque villas, hotels and homes, lots of flowers, shrubs (including blooming fragrant osmanthus), ivy enclosing houses in various shades of red and orange. It was a beautiful walk, and the cool temperature was stimulating. Then we walked back to the Lago di Como side to Loppia, the southern end of Villa Melzi, and then back north to Bellagio.
We had an afternoon break at our Hotel Metropole, on the outside terrace right on the lake, watching people throw bread to the swans and ducks, and seeing the ferries and boats come and go. After a rest, we took clothes to the laundry, and picked up hearing aid batteries (Duracell 13, 1.4 V zinc air) at the local pharmacy. I'd heard hearing aid batteries were hard to find in Europe; but perhaps Americans don't think to ask at a pharmacy.
For dinner we had: 1/2 liter house red wine, proscuitto appetizer; penne pasta with hot tomato sauce and risotto with mushrooms as first plate; escalope in Marsala wine sauce and grilled sole as second plate; granny's cake (a nice lemon flavored light cake) and vanilla cream pudding for dessert.