<<Every time I dream it's just a little bit stronger than real life...>>
I like that.
Danon has me dreaming about Italy again. Here's one by Mary-Chapin Carpenter...
What if we went to Italy
A suitcase of books and one bag apiece for the summer
I don't speak a word of Italian
Except for Campari and soda for two, how much is a lire
Yes, a villa will do and a breeze,
In Tuscany, please
What if we spent all of our days
improving our minds, learning new ways to be lazy
It wouldn't be too much of a strain
Relax after breakfast 'til lunch comes around
Can't wait for dinner, oh, I need to lie down
And refuel, out by the pool
What if the ancients were lazy like us
Too blissed out to paint, to sketch or to sculpt
Just as relaxed as the tower of Pisa
Not ever missing that old Mona Lisa
What if we never got back on the plane
As summer turned colder then warmer again
Losing all track of the passing of years
'Til it no longer mattered how long we'd been here
What if we went to Italy
Maybe next year, just you and me for the summer
I still can't speak any Italian
But words are replaced under Siennese skies
By nothing so much as a nod, and a sigh,
And a wish to be always like this...
Well there was the movie "Roman Holiday" with Gregory Peck and Audry Hepburn and it had the song 3 coins in the fountain
Three coins in a fountain
Each one seeking happiness
Thrown by three hopeful lovers
Which one will the fountain bless
Three hearts it a fountain
Each heart longing for its home
There they lie in the fountain
Somewhere in the heart of Rome
Which one will the fountain bless
Which one will the fountain bless
Three coins in a fountain
Through the ripples how they shine
Just one wish will be granted
One heart will wear a Valentine
Make it mine, make it mine, make it mine
I've just come back from a short cruise and was lucky enough to visit Florence, Pisa and Capril mama mia - wonderful land and language and our guide on one of the doors was a signora molto bella
We've been dancing in the dark here for awhile, Hiama...Fortunately, Withers lit the candelabra for us.
So glad you're back! We'll take a break from dancing while you tell us about your trip. Did you get to walk up the tower in Pisa? What did you think of Capri? I loved it there. So....do tell!!!
Are the italians in Italy as good looking as the italians in London ??
Viz,
You have to book months in advanced to go inside the tower after all the recent remedial work. They shut it completely to tourists for 3 or 4 years whilst the work was done, the best benefit is from outside anyway as you can really see the tilt, the Cathedral and The Baptistry are not as well known but very beautiful and they tilt too, though not to the same extent. Its due to the sandy soil. Capril was wonderful, we went up in the chair lift, a little nerve racking but fun and a wonderful view.
Gautam,
The Italian ladies were beautiful, I am not the one to judge the guys, they seemed much the same as the UK, there are lots of people careering around on little mopeds and motorcycles and everyone drving seems to have a death wish.
Hiama - I was in Italy in 2000, while the work on the tower was underway. They had excavated around the bottom, and one side of the foundation was sticking up in the air. It really looked as if it would fall down at any moment. If not for the belt of steel cables around its middle anchoring it to steel posts & cranes, it would have. The cathedral was very interesting. Pisa was competing with Florence, etc. to build an impressive one, but they couldn't afford new marble. So they took it from ruins of old Roman buildings (early-day recycling). You can see "Imperial Caesar Augustus" and other carved lettering all over the outside of it. Poetic justice after all those years when Romans persecuted Christians. Re: drivers with death wishes...I have a journal entry I'll have to share as soon as I find it....
Glad you enjoyed your trip! Lola, et. al, should be back shortly.
Here's that journal entry...
RULES OF THE ROAD: NO RULES
It is pure mayhem. No one pays any attention to traffic rules here. They don't necessarily stop at red lights. They ignore lanes. They park close to the curb (usually) but in any direction they like. In Naples, I saw an electric streetcars running down tracks. They were in the center lane of a 6-lane street, separated from car lanes by a high curb. But did this mean anything to the Italians? Of course not! The Neapolitan drivers drove right on top of the tracks, in front of and behind the streetcars, often slamming on their brakes and jumping the high curbs as if they were driving Hummers. In one place, we saw five narrow, little Italian cars lined up side by side across two painted lanes, revving their engines until the light turned green. Right before the light turned, another road race was on.
Machismo rules! Who proceeds through the intersection first? When do you turn left in front of oncoming cars? Where do you park? It is all a matter of nerve. Driving in Italy is not basic transportation...it is sport. Male or female, whoever has the most guts wins.
Now, driving in the mountains is really fun! To increase the anxiety, they make all the mountain roads just slightly narrower than two lanes. One side of the road is bounded by sheer rock cliffs. When two drivers approach each other from different directions, someone must pull over halfway onto the narrow shoulder. If there is one. If there isn't, someone must back up until a shoulder appears. Who pulls over or backs up? That's right...machismo rules!
It really quickens the pulse when huge glass-sided tour buses are involved. Our bus driver, Stefano, was raised in the mountains of Italy, so he won most of the face-offs. We applauded him frequently. Several times we all held our breath. There are a lot of tunnels in the mountains. (Tunnel is "galleria" in Italian, just like the mall at home.) Fortunately, we never had to back out of one...they do make the lanes slightly wider inside tunnels.
And speed? Well, this is Italy, home of the Ferrari and the Alfa Romeo! The faster the better! Germany has the autobahn, Italy has the autostrada (highway.) It's not quite as fast as in Germany, but there is no speed limit on the autobahn. You're supposed to drive fast there. Italy's autostradas supposedly have speed limits, but I never saw one. In fact, I never saw a speed limit sign the entire time I was in Italy.
Now, that would be a truly useless job for someone...making speed limit signs in Italy. Right up there with the guy who paints the lines on the roads.
Stefano said he visited America once. It was very interesting, he said. He was most impressed with "the discipline you American drivers have." What a funny way to put it! He was amazed that we actually stop at stoplights and park in parking spaces. And he was particularly amazed that we rarely used our horns. He said driving in America made him nervous. I am still laughing!
Hi Viz and hiama ~ thanks for the tour!
A dear family friend, on one of her many trips to Italy, was hit by a car and landed in hospital with a broken leg. At the time, the incident was certainly not comical/ but now when we dicuss the accident we can laugh because her driving skills were certainly inherited from the Mother land.
Whenever she apporaches a curb near any of our homes, all we see is a silver BMW flying toward the parking area, with an "Aida" tape blaring from the CD player, and a big smile on her adorable face. She's 86 years young ~ and I believe she'll still be driving when her century year arrives.
And yes, when visiting Italy, her mode of transportation is a Vesba
Great stories everyone. Brings back many memories - having driven in Europe on many trips since the mid '70's. I got used to the fast driving on narrow streets - that being the norm - and I must say an American Teenagers Dream come true. Speed limits were finally placed on the AutoBahn - 130kph = 80mph. One of the wierdest places I have driven there was in Budapest the year the 'Iron Curtain' fell. There drivers would routinely park cars ON the side walk. And, one day as I approached a traffic circle with a mounded grassy knoll in the middle of it - an auto approached at a high rate of speed - STRAIGHT ONTO AND OVER THE CENTER KNOLL - completely across grass, jumping curbs, etc and straight out the road on the opposite side of the circle. That was Budapest. It's a little better now - as is Vienna and most of the rest of Europe (except for Italy - now that is still a fun place to drive) the fines are SO high that the drivers are actually minding the rules of the road and going slower. I still love to drive over there except for the parking, that is a magic act - if you are lucky.
Sorry to be away for so long guys..................I've been in Albuquerque. Here take a look........
http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3002&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=470
I'll catch up here and get back to you all. Withers, I see you've been keeping my guests comfortable. Thank you all friend.
Actually, start here on that thread.
http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3002&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=430
There are photos of everyone for all to see. Handsome bunch of folks at this gathering.
we had so much fun!!!!! I wish the rest of you had been there! Maybe we should plan a Salon gathering sometime along the way.
We'd have to plan it for someplace between the U.S. & England. Actually, considering the costs of flights, and that a bunch of us are from the western U.S., New York City might be the reasonable halfway point. Now, wouldn't that be appropriate!!
That would be prefect! We should make some plans.
Oooh!!! What a great time everyone had!! I have just now finished looking at the pics and reading the 'reviews'!! What a wonderful group of people to get together. All the Good Guys!! I have thus far met only two A2Kers - Cobalt, who spent a great couple of days with us - and, BillW and his wife Kay who visited us during their Shreveport, LA stay. Both meetings were just absolutely great with wonderful people. Patti and I are looking forward to meeting more A2Kers.
I agree with Danon's comments what a great bunch of folks, wouldn't it be great to have a WORLD gathering somewhere sometime ?
Just wanted to say hi to legs . . . i mean Lola . . .
Ooooo, loookeeng good ! ! ! !
Here's lookin at you, babe.
You guys are embarrassing me. Please keep it up.
Hi there Setanta. Long time, no see. Good to see you around the Salon again.
I'm going to bed now. Pooped pooped pooped...........too much fun in Albuquerque! Must rest up. Get ready though.........I'll be back.
