Day Two of Paxlovid for Mike
While Mike is pretty much tied to his room here at the hotel, watching Italian TV (I think he seems a little better than yesterday), I figure I should take advantage of this return visit to Milan. I’m in a separate hotel room and feel fine.
So I walked… about 6 miles total and climbed about 8 floors. I walked from the hotel to the Piazza degli Affari, where I saw the famous “finger” which is strategically facing the Italian Stock Exchange, the Borsa… a sort of “F*** You” to the world of bankers and corporate CEOs. The statue is titled “L.O.V.E.” which stands for “Liberta, Odio, Vendetta, Eternita” (Freedom, Hate, Vengeance, Eternity.) It was created in 2010 by Maurizio Cattelan, who is well known in Italy for controversial art works. The statue was supposed to be temporarily placed in Piazza Affari but the Milan municipal government decided to keep it in the piazza indefinitely. The artist has never commented on the meaning of the statue, but everyone assumes it refers to the economic crisis that affected Europe from 2008 forward. The stock exchange is a fascist-era building. It should be noted that Piazza Affaari is in a business district and not a tourist destination, although word has spread and people do come and take pictures-–mostly of themselves with the statue. When I got to the piazza, there were just two other people there.
From there I walked through the medieval part of Milan through the Cinque Vie and on to Santa Maria Presso San Sanitoro, a 15th Century church… and just roamed the neighborhoods in and around this path I set out on… I went to see the Wall of Dolls, a protest art piece with scores of dolls tied to a wall—symbolizing crimes against women. Eventually I returning to Piazza Duomo and to the hotel to check on Mike. We are actually now neighbors as he is in Room 106 and I’m in 107. If we knew Morse Code we could communicate; instead we are opting for iPhones—the contemporary Morse Code.
After a brief refreshing rest at the hotel, I headed out to actually visit the Duomo. I figure when in Milan—one must see the Duomo, even if you’ve seen it before. With ticket in hand (actually don’t think we needed to pay for tickets years ago) I trekked (along with many others) up to the roof and terraces of the building. The Duomo is 350 feet tall and has 135 spires. It was (according to my phone) six flights up and six flights down. These narrow stairwells with uneven treads and risers brought me to the many terraces and the roof where you could see the spires and trusses up close and get great views of Milan.
Construction of the Duomo started in 1386 and was initially intended to be made of terra cotta, but once the design was revealed and the grandeur was understood, the project was done in marble that came from the Lake Maggiore area. In order to get the marble to the site, canals had to be dug and those canals are visible along the “navigli”. Thousands of artists and sculptors were involved in the construction and architects from across Europe were invited to participate – 78 different architects were involved. The church was consecrated in 1418 but in reality only the nave was finished.. Construction of the church continued for several centuries more. Frankly I had forgotten how many stairs there were (256 to get to the terraces); had I remembered I might not have done it. But I did do it and glad I did. And the inside of the Duomo is spectacular –- in some ways more “barren” than so many other churches in Italy. There are supposedly 3,400 statues, 135 gargoyles, and 700 figures within and on the façade of the building.
Following the Duomo I headed back to the hotel briefly and then –-having already walked more than 15,000 steps (and my foot is not totally great yet) and climbed all those stairs—I decided to take a taxi to dinner. And unlike last night when I took a taxi I was much more careful with my pronunciation of the street name (Last night I needed to go to Via Corsico, but I guess my pronunciation made it sound like Via Corsica—big difference, totally different parts of the city. Ate at Il Carpaccio; interesting menu.
And then I headed back to the hotel.
Tomorrow is another day. Hoping Mike will be well enough to see a little of Milan before we leave. I think his isolation will end on Sunday. Keeping fingers crossed.
Best –
Fern
17. Milan: April 27 2023.
Messy day… I’m now in my third room at the hotel, and they only have 21 rooms. But hopefully this is my spot for the foreseeable future.
Thanks for all the notes about Mike’s health and my gout attack. Mike’s on Paxlovid, which we brought with us from the states. Good thing, because I don’t think they prescribe it here. I’m doing better although I probably shouldn’t have walked as much as I did today—about 3.5miles. Since I had to be near the hotel to move my stuff from room to room, once the new room was ready, I just took a short walk back in Piazza Duomo and through the Galleria. Follow-up on the Leonard Cohen “Hallelujah,” it seems as if all of the different singers who perform in the piazza do at least one Leonard Cohen song each day. So high likelihood that you catch it a few times in a day…. which is fine by me.
The pigeons were out in full force, as they usually are and as they have been for decades (or maybe centuries?) Once the room was ready, I got settled in it and then had to deal with returning the rental car. Since Mike has been doing most of the driving and I’ve been the navigator, I was a bit concerned about being both the driver AND the navigator, having to negotiate getting from the hotel which is in a pedestrian zone to the train station. I asked the rental car people if they would pick up the car but that wasn’t going to work. Then one guy at the front desk suggested that he could drive his motor scooter in front of me and he’d lead me to the rental return. But in the end Mike decided that he could handle driving the car if I navigated… we both wore N95 masks in the car and kept the windows wide open. Once we got to the drop-off (near the Central Station), Mike got into a taxi and headed back to his isolation room at the hotel.
I strolled the area and neighborhood near the station and also walked through the Mercato Centrale—a hip series of food stalls, with great graphics and good food. Then I headed to what they call Platform 21 (a secret underground platform) where Jewish prisoners from the San Vittore Prison lined up to be loaded on freight cars and taken on trains to extermination camps. It was 3:35 when I got there, knowing it closed at 4. Turns out you have to be there 30 minutes before closing. So, I probably won’t see it, unless I come back to this area another day.
Then I walked to the Metro station and decided to test Milan’s public transit which seems pretty efficient if you’re in the central area. Got back to the hotel, checked in on Mike, and then decided to go to the restaurant where Mike and I had a reservation for tonight. Mike ordered in… So I ate at 28 Posti which is a really sweet contemporary Italian restaurant that focuses on no waste and innovative dishes.
There were three little amuse buches as “gifts of the chef” which were delightful and there is no way I can tell you what they were. Then I had two dishes.. baby artichokes that had been roasted and then they poured some kind of potato, black truffle, tarragon oil on… And I had the spaghetino (?) that had a fish and shellfish broth and was topped with a sprinkling of some kind of red pepper. I did have dessert but couldn’t finish (needed my “plus one” to share the meal)—some kind of porcini mushroom gelato with carob and tiny apple chunks alongside very very thin chocolate crackers and carob crackers. Then they brought a thank you gift from the chef—which I brought back to Mike. I think they were various fruits that had been either dried or gelled. They looked great.
I taxied back to the hotel and here I am.
I’m hoping that I’m in better shape tomorrow and will get out of the center of Milan into some neighborhoods. Mike will be in his room and hopefully feeling a little better. Keeping my fingers crossed that he feels well enough to have at least one day in Milan outside the hotel.
We will assess the situation regarding Geneva on Saturday, but right now it’s not looking good and we are likely to leave for the states from Milan, not Geneva… but that’s another story and will require finding flights. Haven’t even started that yet.
Best –
Fern
16. Verona to Milan: April 26 2023. Unexpected changes to itinerary; unexpected way to spend last days in Italy.
26 April 2023
Ciao-
Well, where to begin?
We were supposed to head from Verona to a little place called Castle Strambinello, today—in order to gain access on Thursday (tomorrow) morning to see Damanhur which per its own website is “an international community founded by spiritual researchers, pushing the boundaries of perception to bring catalyzed personal-collective growth, and galactic understanding of our connection to the universe.’ Those of you who know me well are probably laughing already, but we really wanted to see this place which includes what looks like an amazing subterranean ‘cathedral’ that they call ‘the Temples of Humankind.’ The complex was dug by hand into the mountain. It’s decorated with mosaics, stained glass, sculptures, and wall paintings. You can google it and see why we were interested in seeing it. We did however laugh and say that we would send word out that if you didn’t receive a blog from me tomorrow night you should send out a search party, since it’s clearly some kind of cult and perhaps we were kidnapped! (Only kidding). After the visit to Damanhur, we planned to head to Milan for four nights and then on to Geneva.
But a few things happened and the final one just toppled the plans.
Both of us had developed bad colds—congestion and coughing—around the time we got to Verona. Once this started, I took the antibiotic I had brought with me because it was clear that it was bacterial. It seemed to begin to ease the symptoms for me. (I must have been to about three pharmacies for various over-the-counter remedies for both of us: cough medicine, nasal spray, lozenges, etc..) But just as the cold (for me) was easing up, I got a gout attack, which normally is not a big deal (I take a pill for the gout daily and thus don’t usually get any gout attacks, but somehow I got this gout attack (maybe too much wine), which really is like having a bunion or some sore on your foot; no real visual sign, but it hurts. Anyway, because I was taking the antibiotic for the cold/virus I wasn’t sure if I could take the gout medicine. I googled and really didn’t understand the answer, so I went to two pharmacies in Verona. The pharmacist said “Nessun problema” translated to “no problem.” But I was very wary because I wasn’t sure he really understood the question and initially thought I wanted to refill the prescription. So I went to a second pharmacy, and they pretty much also said that it wasn’t a problem. But the way I understood the information on Google, I thought it said the opposite. So I didn’t take the gout medicine and figured I’d suffer with the pain for a few days.
But Mike really felt miserable this morning as we set out on our drive. We got to Brescia and stopped for lunch and decided at that point to ditch the Castle and Damanhur and head directly for Milan, where Mike could just jump into bed and sleep off his cold. Therein began a series of phone calls to cancel the castle and Damanhur and to see if the Hotel Gray in Milan could take us for an extra night, arriving tonight instead of tomorrow night. (Hope you’re following all of this mess.) When we stopped in Brescia we went to yet another pharmacy, and again I showed the two pills and asked if there would be a negative reaction between the two. Again I was told it would be fine and again I was not sure the pharmacist understood the question.
So we drove on to Milan and Mike was feeling awful.. and I took over driving. We checked into the hotel which is located within earshot of the Duomo and the Galleria. Mike jumped into bed and I went to yet another pharmacy close by, thinking that as a big city I might get a pharmacist who spoke and understood more English and could explain any reaction between the drugs. Sure enough this pharmacist seemed to really understand the situation and warned against taking both drugs simultaneously. Glad I hadn’t taken the gout pill.
As I reached the Piazza del Duomo which is just down the street from the hotel and where the pharmacy was located, a woman with an amazing voice was singing (in Italian) Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”.. It was magical. My memories of previous trips to Milan are all good and we were looking forward to these few days. To me, Milan is like the New York of Italy, in spite of the fact that it only has about 1.3 million people. But I couldn’t hang out. Went back to the hotel and we both realized we should take the Covid test (which we brought with us).
Mike tested positive; I am negative. Then the recommended procedures began to settle in. I am now in a separate room at the hotel; Mike is in the original room. I had to quickly gather my things and thankfully was able to get the only vacant room at the hotel—which is a weird room, and hopefully they will move me to another room tomorrow. Mike is having all his meals by room service. The menu is very very limited (surprising given the rates we are paying for the hotel!) And we are now paying for two rooms. The 5-night stay will be like a mortgage payment… maybe higher. But it is for the best.
The hotel did seem to know all the protocols. And I have reviewed everything online on the CDC’s site. Assuming I continue to test negative, it seems that I can move about out in Milan, but I will avoid going inside places and given that we are traveling alone and I’m now without Mike, I’m really traveling alone, I don’t think I can spread anything to anyone. Mike will continue to test daily and we will see what transpires. I will also test daily. Our big question really deals with whether or not we can actually leave Milan in 5 days (supposedly that’s the recommended isolation period for Mike)… which would be Monday and that is exactly when we are supposed to head to Geneva, by train. Assuming I continue to be negative (keep fingers crossed), and I isolate for 24 hours, I’m free to move about. But we shall see how comfortable the family in Geneva is with all of this. Stay tuned.
The challenge now will be meals for Mike. The hotel, surprisingly at these rates, has a very tiny restaurant (and limited menu choices,) and having just had dinner at the restaurant, my report is that it is not very good. We had reservations for several wonderful dinners here in Milan. Anyway, we are glad to be in Milan, but a bit deflated. And Mike is not so good. We brought Paxlovid with us so he’s already on the regimen. If I test positive, I’ll need to rely on whatever drugs Italy is using since we only had one Paxlovid regimen with us. Since Mike already had Covid once—about a year ago–when we asked for the Paxlovid we figured it would be for me.
Fortunately we are not at the one star Verona hotel! The Gray is upscale and pleasant (although rooms are small), we both get CNN in our respective rooms; and I even found Law and Order in English! So I’m really set….
More tomorrow.
All the best. Stay safe.
Fern
Greetings from rainy Verona-
Hope all is well. So Biden’s in for 2024. Mmmmmmm…. It’s going to be bruising; if it’s Trump/Biden again we’re in for a roller coaster ride. Trump somehow manages to have his missteps slide right off. As president and candidate, Biden will be scrutinized a great deal more. There are so many unknowns. With only 42% of Democrats supporting the reelection right now, Biden will need to get both Dems and Independents (and maybe some rational Republicans) enthused about his campaign. And Trump Republicans—well nothing to say there, as they continue to support him without question and without any sense of history or the potential of this megalomaniac in office. And so much can happen in the next 18 months.
OK, back to Verona which is a beautiful and historic city that dates back to the 1st century B.C.E, flourished during the 13th and 14th centuries, managed to take preservation seiously in later years, and continues today to be an example of a city that has developed continuously over a two-thousand-year period. But alas, or perhaps because of the beauty, the city is flooded with tourists (and it is not even high season). But they don’t venture far from the main pedestrian streets (which are no more than 20’ wide) within the old city, so as long as we move to adjacent streets and smaller lanes and alleys, we have the place to ourselves—well practically… We are walking the original street patterns that wind and follow the river’s edge which curves and curves throughout the town.
The city has definitely adjusted to tourism, and it drives the economy. Unlike everywhere else in Italy where shops close between noon and 2:30, Verona stores (at least in the center) remain open. While English is still not heard regularly, nearly all people in the hospitality industry can speak English easily. It is odd, though, to walk along beautiful streets lined with buildings that are centuries old and to see the ground floors of those buildings completely overtaken by chain retail behind floor to ceiling glass “sheets”—sort of homages to Zara and Guess and Sephora. In the center of the city is the amazingly large Arena—a Roman amphitheater built in 30 CE and still in use today as a venue for large scale performances.
A simple stroll from our hotel to the main piazza (Erbe) is testament to my comments. There is a large open-air market, probably the site of a market for thousands of years. Only now, there are no fruits and vegetables and no cheese — only souvenir trinkets at little stalls. So, the physical is wonderful, the spaces are reminiscent of history… but consumerism has overtaken the grounds (of the old center city).
We didn’t go inside the Arena because the lines were just too long and we were really in need of an escape route from the crowds who had identifying markers for their tour groups, so we found a truly nice walk to the river through local streets, which was great. Eventually, we stopped for lunch at a small café right on the river and lucked out in getting a table riverside. But our luck would not last long as the dark clouds started moving our way and we moved inside the restaurant…. And then we had to walk through wet streets and rain to get to the hotel to take shelter. Thus, while I still think it’s a great city, our experiences have not been stellar. We are headed out to dinner very close to the hotel—not by choice, but because we don’t really want to get stuck in more rain. We actually had a reservation at what looked like a great restaurant, but decided it was too dicey to walk that far. Hopefully this place will be ok..
Mike has now downgraded our hotel to ½ star! But it is clean and well located, and we’ve had some other amazing hotel experiences so one bad egg isn’t terrible.
Take care –
Fern
PS As we were about to leave for dinner, we realized that Mike had been carrying a cross-body carry bag (in which we were keeping things like raincoats when we walked) and it wasn’t in the room. We checked with the lobby of the hotel and then retraced our steps and realized he must have left it at lunch. But we had no idea of the name of the restaurant and so as we sat at our dinner place, we were both on iPhones trying to recall the name and location, which bridge was it near, what part of the river… Mike figured we’d just walk there tomorrow morning before we head out of Verona. But I knew better, than to wait for the last minute. Anyway, finally found the name and called. And the bag was there; good thing we dealt with it because they were closing tomorrow for a two-week holiday! Mike took off right after finishing dinner and I dealt with the check and headed to the hotel, where we both are sitting now. And the little local restaurant Greppia turned out to be quite good. Had amazing pumpkin ravioli with some sort of apple mustard and sprinkled with pistachio dust. Other dishes good too but this was really special.
14. Trieste to Verona via Treviso. April 24 2023
Greetings from Verona
We left Trieste after a very quick breakfast so that we could get on the road at a decent time.
Within about thirty minutes of driving, we were immersed in a huge downpour—as if the Adriatic just got dumped on our car and the road. At times, we could only see about 20 feet in front of us, maybe less. And as usual lots of trucks on the road—kicking up more water. Then a little before we got to Treviso, where we planned to have lunch and walk around the town, the clouds broke, and we actually had a few moments of sun and just drizzle for the rest of the day.
Given that it’s easier to have a destination to put into GPS as we drive into these towns around lunchtime, Mike decided to make a reservation for lunch in Treviso which is about halfway between Trieste and Verona (our next real stop). We’d heard good things about Treviso and we had never been, so we decided that would be the lunch and afternoon stroll location. Turns out that Treviso is quite delightful and definitely worth a stop.
Due to the rather leisurely lunch at Le Beccherie, which is located right on a small canal, surprisingly with water clear enough to see to the bottom (Le Beccherie was worth a trip all on its own) and the fact that the weather was so uncertain, we only had time for a very short walk to and from where we had to park our car (outside the historic center) and a few detours to see some great streets. So, Le Beccherie… we really were just looking to have a simple lunch…was a huge surprise. We shared a starter and a pasta and a dessert. But before we began the meal four incredible little “nibbles” – “gifts from the chefs” (which is the norm in the high-end restaurants) arrived at the table… one more aesthetic than the other and each just wonderful little bites, along with fennel bread sticks and fantastic olive oil. Our starter was a beef tartare that looked like dessert when it arrived at the table—beef with lemongrass foam and a tart green sauce, along with some other ingredients. The pasta was a homemade egg chitarra pasta with hazelnuts and miso butter topped with grouper tartare and a little caviar. For dessert we tried their supposedly famous tiramisu…which we were told was literally invented there in Treviso and also learned that the word “tiramisu” is one of the five most famous Italian words in the world.
The origin of tiramisu – or so the story goes—dates to when the then-owner of the restaurant, Alba Cameol, in 1955, was pregnant and her mother-in-law worried about her diet. She prepared hearty breakfasts each day and included zabaglione and coffee. She wanted to be sure her daughter-in-law had the energy to face the demands put on her by the restaurant and the pregnancy. Once the baby was weaned and she returned to work in the restaurant, she decided to add a new dessert into her menu.. and that dessert was inspired by those breakfasts. First there was a lot of experimentation and finally in 1972 they decided the new dessert was perfect and ready for inclusion on the menu. They had tested ricotta and other ingredients, and finally settled on fresh mascarpone. In that same year, Le Beccherie exhibited at the Milan Trade Fair and ended their menu with Tiramisu. I think that this recipe has received some sort of honor from the Italian government. So, how could you possibly pass that up… not us.
Treviso has about 80,000 inhabitants and the river runs throughout the town, so you are constantly crossing wonderful little foot bridges to get around town,
Once we located our car, we began the drive to Verona (population 280,000) where we will spend the next two days. We drove through beautiful countryside, vineyards, villages, and hamlets with what seemed like oversized churches for their location in such small villages. Nonetheless, they were lovely and impressive structures. Eventually we arrived in Verona—which looks delightful, but we had a really hard time finding the hotel. We are located inside the historic center which restricts cars. We had to have our car “licensed” in advance to be able to drive in just to unload our luggage. Then we parked in a public garage, where the car will sit until we leave Verona. As we strolled to dinner, we could sense that Verona has a great vibe, lots of young people (there’s a university), and wonderful amenities—lots to explore tomorrow. Anyway, the GPS somehow could not really pinpoint the hotel’s location, so it would say we were “here” but we weren’t really. After two phone calls to the hotel and some very detailed instructions, we got to the hotel, dropped off the bags and “registered.” The challenge had been that the roads are very very narrow and there are tons of pedestrians walking everywhere and not expecting cars since so few are allowed in. But still those that are allowed into the town must navigate people and streets that clearly were not laid out for cars. We had to drive across piazzas and make turns that cars really cannot make. I think we looped around the town three times before we finally got to our destination. One issue was that the hotel is on a tiny alley and the GPS doesn’t quite acknowledge it.
I think that’s it for tonight.
All the best… Got some snippets of US news tonight so I gather Tucker Carlson is out (aw shucks!!) and that Don Lemon is gone as well (Aw shucks, again! Was this tit for tat? And planned by the owners of both stations to happen simultaneously?) In any case – for my two cents—no great loss.
Fern
P.S. From the lap of luxury at the Savoia Excelsior Palace in Trieste, with our two balconies and room that was probably 600 sq feet + about another 200 sq feet with the wardrobe room and bath and foyer, we are now in the very very modest Albergo Mazzetti Hotel which while noted as being 3-star is probably more like a 2-star (or in my opinion, maybe a 1 star or star-less)… this being based on the Savoia being a 5-star (and maybe I’d give it six out of five). So it’s a bit of a downward slide here.. but also a nice balance in our journey—moving between such extremes.
Buonasera or as they say in Slovenia (the language that needs to get a few more vowels)–Dober Večer…
Before getting into today’s adventures, I want to give a little more clarification about that singing and dancing in the piazza yesterday for Trieste’s Carnivale. It was truly ironic to see these turn-of-the-century pompous and–to my mind–pretentious buildings as the backdrop to all of the joyous kids and adults frolicing and singing everything from the “YMCA” to the “Macarena” to “Old Macdonald.” Certainly not what the architects of the Austro-Hungarian empire imagined. If you can imagine the most decorated tiered-wedding-cakes and think about walking between and among dozens of them—-that’s what it’s like to walk through the “official” parts of Trieste. A bit like the buildings of the Gilded Age in the states—but more so.
We headed out to stroll the town— no real destinations—walked across the canal and into some neighborhoods. The city was out in full force as it was a really beautiful day and it was a Sunday. One thing to note—here in Trieste, as in every other Italain city (and actually probably throughout the world, as we’ve noticed this on many trips to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East) there are lots of bookstores!! Someone must be supporting these book stores. Eventually we stopped at a place for lunch along the canal and sat on a floating deck, luxuriating in the great weather and view. Many waitresses seemed to look a lot like Melania and I’m guessing they, too, are Slovenian and commute to Trieste for work.
I decided I really love the Italian language and recognize how different it sounds here from the Italian I heard growing up in my neighborhood in Brooklyn, which was populated pretty evenly by Jewish families and Italian Catholic families. But the Italian spoken in Brooklyn had probably gotten corrupted over the years after families lived in Brooklyn for decades and the English of immigrants merged with their Italian. And none of these people ever returned to Italy—rather they created a new kind of working class Italy in Brooklyn. But the Italian spoken here (especially in the northern part of the country) is super expressive and works well with people’s facial and hand emphasis of what they are saying. Just like the Swiss refer to “High German” as distinct from “German,” maybe NY needs to have another term for the Italian that is spoken there.
We stopped in at a small museum that had a show called ‘It’s Arcademy.’ A juried show of fashion designers’ creativity in making art fashion or making fashion art—whatever. It was sort of fun seeing things like hats that are so huge, they need to have an attachment that sits on the shoulder and neck of the wearer to support the hat.
Then we carved our way around town, stopping occasionally and ultimately heading back to the hotel to relax a bit before dinner. By the way, my laryngitis is about 75% gone, but I still have a bad cold. Dr. Fern decided it was time to take an antibiotic (which I brought with me). And now with just one day of the antibiotic the coughing is all but disappeared (well maybe it’s 25% of what it was) and I hope by the time I finish the regimen (3 days from now) I’ll be as good as new.
We had decided a while ago that we would have dinner tonight in Slovenia since it’s only about a 15 minute drive from the hotel to the border towns of Slovenia. We had read about a restaurant in a Michelin list and figured we’d give it a try. Actually there were several that sounded fantastic, but the drive would have been longer. We had been to Slovenia more than once when it was part of Yugoslavia, although I don’t remember what villages we saw, only the big cities.
Anyway, we headed to Gostilnica Ruj, located in a little farm house at Dol Pri Vogljah (remember I said they needed more vowels). We purposefully left enough time to get there early and walk through the town. Alas, there was no town, so we were just very early for our reservation, so we drove to find a real town and eventually drove through Sezana (population 6,000) and then headed to the restaurant. Gostilnica Ruj is essentially a former farmhouse that is now home to the restaurant. Very quaint; food was quite good (and not as “heavy” as I had imagined. There are about three small dining areas and a small bar. Seemed like the other diners were mostly Italians, but some were speaking Slovenian. The road to the restaurant was pretty windy and uphill. On the return trip, the GPS got a little lost and couldn’t locate us so we just tried to find roads that went downhill. Eventually the GPS came to life and routed us to the hotel. Frankly, being on those dark isolated roads would have been far scarier in the states than here—because you’d know that the likelihood of people having guns would be a sure thing. Here that is very very unlikely.
OK.. back at the hotel.
Headed to Verona tomorrow, with a possible lunch stop in Treviso; we shall see.
Best-
Fern
12. Padua to Trieste via Portograuro. April 22 2023
From rustic to elegant… from small village to Village People! Greetings from Trieste
Hope you are doing well and enjoying what appears to be sunny spring weather in Oakland and perhaps in other parts of the region and the US. We have hit good weather and even here in Trieste where we expected it to be cooler, it is sunny and very moderate.
We left our little nirvana in Padova after a delightful breakfast that came to our door, once again, at around 10:00; today we took the “box” to our private outside patio, which was perfect. We got on the road at about 11 and headed to Trieste, but with a stop in a small 6,000 population town called Portograuro which was somewhat unplanned but totally cute with canals and wooden bridges. We ate at a little trattoria that was filled with locals, mostly families (it’s Saturday); food was good.. and after a brief stroll, we headed to Trieste.
Before going into our arrival at Trieste, a few points of observation— Italy seems to have latched onto technology in a big way; they have lots of remotes for everything from the drapes to the windows, to heat, to toll booths, elevators, etc. Italy also seems still to be more focused on Covid than we are in the US; while people are no longer masked, they have signs everywhere with warnings about covid; all restaurants use QR codes; there are antiseptic wipes and soaps everywhere; I went into a store to try on earrings and was not allowed.. could only hold them close to my ear. And there are many more examples.
And on a language matter, I have been trying to use my not-great-Spanish only to find that Italian is less like Spanish than I thought. Felt I was very clever the other day in asking about an umbrella and used “paraguas” only to see the person look very puzzled.. Turns out the word in Italian is “ombrello.” Go know!
Also, seems like every child here in Italy, and many adults as well, wear tee shirts and sweatshirts and jackets that sport names of American cities or teams or musical groups; and the music playing in lots of bars is American music from the 80s, occasionally earlier. So American “culture” is strong here… for better or worse.
Anyway, after lunch we headed to Trieste, a city we have not been to in decades. What I remembered most about the city was that it seemed more like Vienna or Budapest than like Italian cities in the demeanor of the people. The physical nature of the city includes broader streets than in other parts of Italy, and the building stock is more 19th and early 20th century than 15th, 16th, and 17th century than the other places we’ve been traveling on this trip. I also remembered the large square and the walk along the sea, and lots of people strolling at night.
We arrived at around 4:00 and immediately left the hotel to stroll — with the intention of walking out to the big stone “pier” that is now a strolling hangout where you can watch ships come and go or just sit. It was packed with people of every age and ethnicity; actually we’ve seen more people of color here in a few hours than we’ve seen in Italy on the rest of the trip. But we were distracted by loud music and microphones coming from the square. So we headed that way. Turns out that today was “Carnival” in Trieste and the final part of it was music and dancing in the square. Many people were in costume, sort of like Mardi Gras. The emcee and singers were very funny, even though we didn’t totally understand what they were saying. One routine was having everyone in the square (about 400) dance and sing to “Y-M-C-A”… It was loud, it was raucous, it was lots of fun. Children and adults were singing and dancing throughout the square. After a few sets, we continued our stroll to the waterfront just in front of the square.
Then we headed to the hotel to get settled and head for dinner.
We are at the Savoia Excelsior Palace… which is like the antithesis of all the hotels we’ve been at on this trip. It’s super elegant; the building is more than a century old; it’s on the big side; our room is about 600 sq feet and we have a “luggage room” inside our room which Mike says is the size of the cabins he’s been designing for the homeless. It’s located in the prime spot in Trieste, and our room has two balconies. Ok.. the lap of luxury. Not sure how we got this room; I think we got upgraded for some reason… or maybe they upgraded us…not complaining.
Eventually we headed to dinner—about a 16-minute walk (good to add to our steps given that we were in the car much of the day, but the walk to and from the restaurant) which enabled us to get the steps today to over 10,0000. We ate at Menarosti – a 120-year-old mainstay in Trieste. We were the only non-Italians. It’s one of those white tablecloth places with antique wall sconces and chandeliers. Everyone was local and seemed to know everyone else. We started with thinly sliced local shark that was lightly grilled and then covered with onions soaked in vinegar (great); then pasta vongole (with baby clams); then lightly grilled squid, served at room temperature with chard. All really good, very simple and oh so tasty. Yes, we could not resist the dessert so we had two —- Mike had apple strudel (I said they had some Viennese roots here) and I had tiramisu.
We walked back to the hotel… and now I’m ready for bed.
All the best
fern
Ciao from Padova –
Today we walked and walked and walked. Padova is very walkable, but I think we overdid it. We are exhausted. Figure we are averaging about 5-6 miles per day… so by the time we get back to Oakland we will probably have walked more than 100 miles in Italy. Just thinking about that makes me even more exhausted. Padua is one of the few stops on this trip which is a new city for us… and I recommend it.
Began our day with breakfast at the Wine Tower… The hotel delivers a wooden box filled with lots of goodies for breakfast. It arrives on the outdoor patio, and they text a little picture of where they left the box, so you know it is there. The hotel only has 4 rooms so there isn’t any real restaurant. Still they put out quite a nice spread, Now about the Massiimago Wine Tower…It has a very complicated history dating to the 14th century as a defensive complex. Over the centuries, it was bought, sold, and rented by many different historical figures and was used for a range of activities and enterprises. In the 17th century a horrendous crime is said to have taken place here-–the murder of the owner’s pregnant wife (with fifth child) by her husband. Fast forward to the very beginning of the 20th century and the property was owned by a monsignor, until the end of the first world war… then sold to some very wealthy family who began to create gardens and vineyards. And then in the first part of the 21st Century, the buildings were restored and transformed into the little hotel and also some housing (although not sure where that housing is–maybe it’s for the manager).
Our room(s) have ceilings that are about 11’ with wood beams about two feet apart that are about 8’x8′ spanning about 14’. The floors are stone or maybe clay tiles. The bedroom sits above a living area and the stair is open so you have a sense of an even bigger space and even taller ceilings. Ok.. enough about our accommodation which I’d say was both a lucky and accidental choice.
We headed first to Piazza delle Erbe. There are several squares in the historic center of Padua, but this is the largest and is adjacent and connected to Piazza della Frutta. Together they form one of the largest markets in Italy and it’s dominated by the very large Palazzo della Ragione. The market takes place daily on the two squares and on the first level of the Palazzo there are tiny shops, selling mostly food, and also numerous restaurants as well. We visited the upper floors of the palazzo which throughout history encompassed the medieval market hall, the town hall, and the palace of justice. The upper floor was dedicated to the town administration; while the ground floor still houses the historical covered market of the city. The palace separates the two squares, and you can move easily through the building to get from one to the other. The upper floor has the “great hall” which is 270 ft long and 88 ft wide and about 40 ft high. The walls are covered with allegorical frescoes.
While Mike sat on a bench in the piazza, I checked out a few interesting shops and began a conversation with the owner of one. Turns out she was married to an American and has a child with him, but he has returned to the states—Memphis to be exact. He’s black and the child is bi-racial. She was talking about how shocked she is to hear about all the violence in the states and that her son does not like to visit the father in Memphis, because the father is very strict with him—fearful that the son who has grown up in Italy doesn’t understand the dangers in the states and about how police deal with Black teens.
And while I was having this conversation and Mike was outside, Mike witnessed an interesting event: Three cops, cabanieri, (two male and one female) were walking; she had a bicycle. The male cops were teasing her and they knocked her bike down and she almost fell. She was pissed. The guys took off –running across the plaza.. She left her bike and started chasing the two male cops across the plaza and they all disappeared but everyone at the plaza continued to be shocked and were talking about what had happened. An older gentleman who works for the city stayed by the bike to see that it wasn’t stolen. Do not know the outcome of the story.
From there we meandered around the city, walking in the oldest medieval sections and also headed to the Scrovegni Chapel which has a lot of frescoes by Giotto. Interestingly, they are ‘monetizing light’ in that church as it is difficult to see some of the areas and the frescoes since they are in very dark parts of the church. There is a machine, into which you can put one, two, or three euros and then lights go on and stay on for specified periods of time, based on how many euros you put into the machine. I guess they are trying not to leave lights on all the time as that could damage some of the art.
Then we strolled more in the medieval section (what was once the Jewish Ghetto) and eventually arrived at Saint Anthony’s Basilica— which is gigantic…. And filled floor to ceiling with art, sculptures, frescoes, and more. Given my rather simple tastes, this one was a bit much. As we were walking around inside the church, the music for the mass was beginning and we had to stay on the edges so as not to disturb participants. As you exit the basilica, you arrive in a very sweet courtyard and then walk through a narrow passage to get to the front plaza. From the basilica we walked back to the Wine Tower to relax and head to dinner.. very simple local pizza and salad.
We are beat. I’m sure more happened today, including a stop for gelato, but I think I will call it a night.
Tomorrow, we head to Trieste.
Be well.
Fern
10. Bologna to Dozza to Padova …April 20 2023
Ciao from Padova – From the Red City to the Mural City to Padova
April 20, 2023
We left Bologna (the Red City – called this because of the proliferation of red tile roofs and because of its politics—Bologna has a history of being left leaning) after a brief stroll and picking up our car in the public garage not far from the hotel.. which included backing out of a one-way street after loading our luggage and being within inches of planters and motorcycles … and people. The garage guy had a news clipping tacked on the cashier wall.. so I took his picture and told him I thought he must be “Famoso.” Not a clue what the article was about.
Then we drove through amazing countryside—lush green fields with yellow wildflowers everywhere as we headed south to Dozza (a town of just 6,000 that we had heard about, It was a bit of a detour as we needed to head north to get to Padova (Padua). For a short time (maybe 5 miles) we were on the autostrada, and when we exited at the toll booth and stuck in our ticket the amount that came up to pay was first 83 EU (about $89) and then it switched to 53 EU (about $56)… we laughed and started to push a few buttons. And then tried to insert 3EU but the arm did not lift; then we realized that an arm came down behind our car so we were just stuck at the toll booth. Italy is more automated than we are in many ways… The machine started to talk to us— in Italian. Then we pushed a big red button on the toll machine, and finally a woman came out. She looked at the toll and asked in mostly Italian where we had come from. We said Bologna and she laughed. The toll was supposed to be 5 EU. She and another guy did some maneuvering with the machine, and we gave them the additional 2 EU and we were on our way.
We arrived in Dozza around 12:30 and began walking through the very picturesque little village that some years ago (I assume in an effort to build its economy through tourism?) began a biannual festival of painted walls, when famous national and international artists paint permanent works on the walls of the houses and commercial buildings. I’d say there is a wide variety of skill and talent but it’s a delightful walk and the cutest town ever. Stopped for a quick (well nothing is really quick about eating in Italy) lunch and as we left the restaurant it began to rain. We headed to the car and as we left little Dozza, we realized that on the outskirts of town there were more murals… and we had not had our fill of gelato for the day. So we stopped at a bar/gelateria and walked around to see these other murals. When we went for the gelato, we realized this place was a real mix of “services”— full gelateria with about 25 flavors, a full bar, sandwiches, and in the back room, slot machines!
Then we finally got serious about getting to our hotel in Padova which would be about a two hour drive. All was going well, but we never saw any signs for Padova.. just Verona and Milan. Jokingly , I said… “gee maybe there are two hotels with the same name”… and one is in Verona!!” We pulled over and googled to learn that there is a Massimago Wine Suites Hotel in Verona and a Massimago Wine Tower Hotel in Padova. When I entered the name into the GPS as we left Dozza the hotel in Verona popped up quickly and I never checked that it was Verona.. only looked at the name and focused on Massimago. Both were two hours from Dozza and fortunately both were to the north. Readjusted and redirected and we were finally really on our way. Made it to Padova about 30 minutes later than expected but then the GPS just could not find the hotel.. so we circled a bit and finally drove over the little river that goes through the city about three times and made it to the very lovely Massimago Wine Tower Hotel with just 4 rooms. We are in a two level “suite”.. The place is wonderful (and we’ll see more of it tomorrow.) It’s very centrally located but sort of nestled in a park-like green space that feels as if it is in the countryside. Too small to have many services, but we don’t need much. They deliver a box breakfast in the morning to your door.
Once we were settled and dry, we walked about 25 minutes to an amazing restaurant called Fuel – the most upscale place we’ve been to during this trip. Dinner was wonderful; more about that tomorrow.
Fading now…
Fern
9. Bologna… The City of Arcades. April 19 2023
Ciao from Bologna –
Following last night’s fantastic meal at Ahime we strolled back to the hotel through Via Independenzia which is arcaded for as far as you can see. I do remember walking these streets some years ago and while the structures are the same, the proliferation of international chain stores – has truly changed the nature of the city (in my humble opinion). And the amount of graffiti, while sometimes quite artistic and political, is also a newer phenomenon – more graffiti-like and less mural-like than in other cities we’ve visited.
What I forgot to mention yesterday, is that I’ve come down with laryngitis and really can’t talk. I’ve been to about three farmacias and have lots of over-the-counter medicines and I’m having hot water with lemon and honey as well. I’m hoping for a miraculous cure by tomorrow. In the meantime, I can only whisper.
We began our day today, like probably every other foreigner who comes to Bologna, by walking to Piazza Maggiore which is really the heart of the city and the result of centuries of transformations that added important buildings around the perimeter, including the Basilica of San Petronio, the Palazzo dei Notai, the Palazzo d’Accursio, the Palazzo del Podestà and the Palazzo dei Banchi. The square itself dates back to the 13th Century, when different functions were brought to this central place. It’s roughly 200’ x 380’ which is about twice the width of a football field and half again as long. The piazza was (and I suppose is every day) filled with school kids on class trips, everyday Bolognans criss-crossing to get to work or home, and tourists. It’s got a real vibe, with cafes lining the fronts of all buildings, except the churches.
From there we walked down Via Rizzoli which is filled with food stalls and markets and restaurants, and then we left that immediate center and walked to the old ghetto where the streets are even narrower than in the other parts of town. Stopped briefly at a tiny museum devoted to the history of Jews in Bologna. Clearly off the beaten path as most of the exhibits were only in Italian and it was pretty thin in content. Then we stopped briefly at a little coffee shop called Camera A Sud (meaning South Room) for my now ritual hot water with honey and lemon. Really cute café with mostly outdoor seating.
Then we strolled to the Teatro Anatomica which is housed in Palazzo dell’Archiginnasio which is home to an amazing library. The Teatro is from the 17th Century and is the room where public body dissections took place. According to the literature, these dissections were done with an Inquisition priest watching and ready to intervene “if proceedings became too spiritually compromising” — whatever that means. There are wood tiered seats around the room that surround a marble topped table, where the body used for the demonstration, was laid. Above the table there is a sculpted Apollo looking down from the ceiling. Also, the lecturer’s station at the front of the room has a wood canopy that is held up by two skinless, wood-carved figures. Boy, those were the days!!!
Then we took a leisurely stroll back to the hotel to relax on the 4th floor deck that is part of our room. We tried to make reservations at several restaurants for dinner and all were booked. Hard to be spontaneous these days when traveling. So we are headed to something called Colombine Alley (or Viccolo). Hope it’s good.
Will fill you in tomorrow, from Padua…
Best -Fern
