Tales of the traveling Neo
Here I am in—Italy!
Why Italy? Well, why not.
But August is not the time to visit Italy I hear you say. It’s awfully hot, and besides the whole country is on vacation.
True, but here I am. I didn’t choose the date. It’s a family event and a reunion of sorts, in Tuscany. I’m not the greatest of travelers, especially long distances, and I’m still recovering from what turned out to be about a 24-hour trip and jet lag. Not to mention the fact that the hotel I’ll be in till Saturday keeps throwing me offline and not letting me get back on. I’d planned a lot of already-prepared posts for you as well as some new stuff. But the best laid schemes o’ mice and men…and bloggers…
I assume this will all get straightened out soon, and I’ll be posting and vacationing at the same time. But for the moment please bear with me and keep checking back.
One or two observations about Italy—
I landed in Rome in a thunder and lightning storm. Fun! But the enormous airport there was a model of efficiency, at least in my experience. The international arrivals building was loaded with people from all over the world, pulling their wheeled luggage and hurrying wherever they were hurrying, and the helpful signs at the airport were numerous, keyed with lots of graphics and arrows that actually turned out to point to the destination they said they were pointing to, amazingly enough. The signs were in Italian and English for the most part, but as I said the graphics would help even people who don’t speak either language (fortunately for me, I’m adequate in one).
The luggage came immediately, and contrary to rumor and fear, it was all there. But it was the bathroom sinks in the airport that I loved the best. Each one was large and had three operations for the weary traveler. The first was a faucet that turned on automatically, something most airport faucets do these days except ordinarily more than half of them are malfunctioning. These functioned perfectly. Likewise, each sink had its own automatic soap dispenser to the right of the faucet, working perfectly as well. But the piece de resistance (how do you say that in Italian?) was the individual hand drier to the faucet’s left that sent forth a small but intense blast of hot air that was focused and effective, drying the hands in about three seconds flat.
Beautiful.
More anon! It’s better than endless chatter about the most pressing issue of the day, Trump and Omarosa, isn’t it? But that’s a low bar.
Oh, and Italy? Beautiful, too.
Say hi to David for me when you get to Florence. Seriously, have a great time and eat well.
I hope you have a lovely time. Send some touristy pictures. I love other people’s vacation pics.
Love Italy, especially Tuscany, and the Italian people, and the food, and the wine.
Enjoy!
While they are those who make jibes at Italian efficiency their Industrial Design work has always been first rate.
Enjoy your wonderful vacation!
Buenisimo!!
While in Italy, do not scrimp on your use of superlatives. Remember that all Italians are drama queens. Have a great time!
I’m filled with envy and fond memories. I hope you have a wonderful trip.
I’ll have a pizza to go with no anchovies.
Italy is a great place. I arrived the first time in 1967, my travel agent was the US Air Force via C130. I got to help unload the plane and my luggage was what I napped on in flight. The in flight entertainment was going up to the flight deck and talking with the Navigator. Nice guy. Stayed for 9 days and worked the whole time, still had a great time. Life was good for this 20 year old.
Have fun !
BTW, WordPress does have a “schedule posts” function, so if you find a good internet connection, you may want to post ahead of schedule.
I hope you have a wonderful time in Italy, Neo. I liked the bedroom lighting and bathrooms in all the places I stayed while there (Rome/Amalfi Coast). (I had my husband buy a toilet with a bidet following my trip to Italy!)
I remember well a car trip tour of the ancient fortress towns of Tuscany. Perugia and Assisi and a few others. Highly recommended. Some of the drivers then (1980’s) were madmen.
While in Tuscany, I highly recommend the Etruscan tombs in Cerveteri if you are near them; many people overlook them but they are quite fascinating. There is (was?) also a very nice Etruscan museum in Vulci if you happen in the area.
Enjoy!
Florence is fascinating and you could spend a week there just soaking it in but the hill towns in Tuscany are great, too. So relaxing and the food is the best!
Have a great time. Try Venice, if you can.
It’s a family event and a reunion of sorts, in Tuscany.
Really? Is your family Sephardi, like Eydie Gorme (nee Gormezano)? Can you sing?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2Llrp9TWqU
Hey, if you’re in Tuscany try to drop by the stunning and fascinating town of San Gimigiano. It boasts a torture museum, a Man Ray exhibit, and an arts festival right now.
http://www.sangimignano.com/en/
Rent a car for a day and drive around. Tuscan roads are a symphony for wheels.
Spent a lot of time in the Rome airport waiting for Customer Service in California to open, I second your kudos on the bathrooms. And clean. I like Italy and am content to pay 50 euro cents to an attendant for tidy well stocked bathroom. Lift a glass of limoncello to our mutual love for Italy – you might like Sicily as well as the mainland…
Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy! And have a safe trip.
Italy! I haven’t been there in lo these many years, but I remember it so fondly. Enjoy, enjoy.
Tuscany is beautiful, but October is the month we prefer. Tourists gone, prices have dropped, and the locals more relaxed and outgoing. Have fun, enjoy the veggie heavy food, the cheese, and the finest wine in Europe.
TommyJay on August 15, 2018 at 11:09 am at 11:09 am said:
I remember well a car trip tour of the ancient fortress towns of Tuscany. Perugia and Assisi and a few others. Highly recommended. Some of the drivers then (1980’s) were madmen.
* * *
Some!?!?!
I took a semester of Italian in college, so I could begin to understand the classical songs my voice teacher had me sing in high school. Quite entertaining. The instructor often brought his French mistress to class (the term “significant other” was not yet in vogue).
The only phrase I can still remember (although I sing the language very well) is “Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch’entrate ”
(I did check the spelling, though; it’s been 40 years! – only missed one vowel and the apostrophe).
Dante: abandon all hope, ye who enter.
I mutter it frequently, especially about politics.
Italian drivers straddling the center line on the highway so no one can get in front and potentially slow them down. Crazy! Also, beware their bridges. Yikes.
(Not that we’re all that on the infrastructure upkeep front despite all the talktalk from pols.)
Hopefully, there will always be an Italy. Over the decades, their dysfunctional governments have created a bit of doubt.
Over the course of 25 years in the USN, I have visited more times than I can count; and have spanned the country form Sicily to Milan, Genoa and Florence.
I doubt that there are many cultures that can be as exasperating, or charming.
One story. Many, many years ago, I was dispatched to the mountains of Sardenia to coordinate an exercise from the Italian operated, NATO owned, missile tracking range. (The drive through the mountains is another scary story with a happy ending.) The ship decided that I needed an interpreter, and sent along a Sailor who had learned Italian while based in Sicily. My Italian counterpart from Milan, who spoke perfect English, would not even attempt to converse with him Claimed that he could not understand a word that he said, because it was not proper Italian. On the next trip the ship found a sailor who had attended school in Rome. The Officer from Milan was better satisfied, although he still didn’t understand why he should communicate through an enlisted man. Neither Sailor was made to feel welcome, and I was not surprised. For some reason the powers that made the decisions did not understand the culture of European Officers.
In the Officer’s Club I encountered some German tank officers who were there on maneuvers. They spent the whole time telling me how dysfunctional the Italians are. Ah, NATO. It is possible that the only organizations that compete in dysfunctionality are the U.S. Congress, or the Veterans Administration. Or perhaps, and, hopefully, the Russian and Chinese high commands.
My wife and I went to Italy for the first time last fall–25th anniversary trip. Lots of observations, but in line with the plumbing theme: All the places we stayed had abundant water flow rates in the showers and sinks. The water quality was excellent as well. My mental theory was that, given all the ancient Roman water-works, Italians see abundance of water as an indicator of civilization and take it very seriously.