Producing Electricity in Europe + Other Stuff like Paris

If you are following along with my blogs you will see that the last one left off saying how you produce electricity in Europe. Ok, I'm self-centered enough to mislead you. After all, it is about me. What I'm talking about is putting your door key into an outlet that lets you use the electricity in your room. Electricity is expensive enough that they make you use your ONE room key to keep the lights on. If you leave, you get about 5 minutes of courtesy lighting before they go out. I know, I timed it when Andy had to leave the room to call a friend because the phone connection sucked from our basement room. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me get back to France.

By the second day in Paris we realize we are in a really seedy part of town. Website pics looked great. Brenda does some Internet checking and finds a hotel in what a waiter later described as the "Golden Triangle," read: five-star really expensive, you will have to cash in your retirement accounts to pay for, but totally worth it. They bend over backwards for us and seem to like us.

Side note: French people do not really like Americans. Small slights...sitting in a sidewalk cafe and asked for the bill...apparently the waiter didn't like us much. We wait about 20-30 minutes and I decide to use the loo. Walking to the restroom, a waiter steps in front of me and pretends to check a bill or something. I tell him in French "pardon me" and he says yes and moves. I come back and we still don't have the bill. Finally Sue says, "watch this, " and proceeds to stack our dishes. You have never seen a waiter produce a bill so fast in your life. Gotta love that passive-aggressive-behavior. :)

Back to the blog: We are within walking distance of everything worth seeing. We walk and we walk and we walk, which is a really good thing after all the food we've been eating. Coming from not-so-sunny Seattle, I am roasting and sweating profusely which really sucks.

We did the Eiffel Tower, we did the Louvre (for only 3.5 hours) OMG - note to self: go back for several weeks to see the entire thing. We only touched the minimum - Mona Lisa,Venus de Milo, antiquities of Rome and Greece...too awesome!

Next up: Sue's 50th B-day Seine cruise. More Fun!!

Does Paris Have Seedy Neighborhoods, and Am I Paying to Be in One?

Got off the plane in Paris and kissed the ground. Not literally, just figuratively while wondering how American unions would deal with this. Wildcat strikes I guess? Hmm.

Took a taxi to the Hotel, lots of construction which should have been a sign. Cost the 5 of us 60 Euro (+ 25% to convert to dollars, you do the math). checked into the hotel, very nice English speakers. Rooms are typically European, read: SMALL. Everything seems OK, but temps outside are 90-ish and there is no AC. Do have some nice fans in the room though. Andy and I ballet dance around each other getting from the computer, bathroom...um, that's all the room there was. Had a bed and very little room for our ginormous suitcases. See the references about luggage in the first couple blogs. Tsk.

Struck out late at night to find dinner. Looked at the Hotel's map of recommended spots and saw the closest one was #7. We all eagerly head that way and end up at probably the only Chinese restaurant in Paris! We're cool though, 5 cranky Americans, no food for hours. Chinese sounds superb! We go in and the Chinese owner is so nice and friendly that it's worth it. He really went out of his way to make us feel welcome. Food was awesome!

Next up: How to produce electricity in Europe. :P

Thursday - Viva la France and Italy and Strikes!

We got up early Thursday to get packed and ready to fly to Paris. Used the Garmin this time to get us to the airport. Boy oh boy...tip for you Garmin users: check to make sure you don't have it set on "avoid toll roads" or else you will be seeing every single round-about between Tuscany and Florence, and believe me it is very easy to go round and round and round on the round abouts. What should have taken us 20 minutes ended up being an hour.

Lucky for us we got there in plenty of time to hurry up and wait, and wait, and wait. Brenda kept warning us that she was jinxed when it came to airline travel. (For a day-and-a-half trip to Texas for a wedding, it took three days, nine flights and seven airports!) Should have known then. The airline started out delaying our AirFrance 1:15pm by 15 minute increments. After about the 3rd time of changing the departure, the natives and everyone else started getting restless. At that point the harried counter person told us that the flight was cancelled and we should get on the bus outside the door and go to baggage claim to get our bags and rebook. After standing on the bus for about 15 more minutes it drove about 200 feet and dumped us all off! We then waited another hour for our luggage which never came. Finally we left baggage claim went back through security and back to our gate. Much to our chagrin (or relief) we were told that the plane was actually working and our luggage had never been off-loaded. *sigh*

Some of our party had tried to rebook while waiting for luggage so lost seats on the plane and had to be reassigned. Needless to say the five of us were spread out about the plane. While the plane was boarding the captain came on and told us to take our seats immediately as we needed to get going. Of course nobody was listening and continued to mill about. After everyone was seated they came back on the speaker and said that there was an air traffic controller strike in Paris and we had missed our 5 minute window to take off. We would have to wait for the next opening which would most likely mean another 2 hour wait! By this time, people are really cranky, and demanding to get off the plane. One hour goes by, then a second. People who want off are told to push the attendant button and someone will come talk to them about disembarking. Some people get off, the rest of us soldier on in the sweltering heat (more on sweating later). The captain explained that those who got off the plane would be stranded until Saturday as the Italians were planning to strike on Friday. Meanwhile, a crabby French Dad with two daughters kept insisting they give his daughters food. This is another story entirely so if you care, ask me and I'll fill you in.

After the second hour of sitting on the tarmac, they start giving water to the children. Brenda asks for water twice and is told children get it first. Little did they know she was suffering from heat stroke and had dangerously low blood pressure. Finally, the flight attendant asked if she was ok and Brenda said no. They instantly called an ambulance and took her out on the stairs. While the aid car was trying to get her to go with them, Brenda was refusing thinking she didn't want to get left behind. Finally they took her up in first class, found a Dr. onboard, did an EKG and laid her on the floor with her feet up. After giving her massive liquids, she got reoriented and the captain decided to have the crew do the food service on the tarmak.

Finally we all got juice/water and tuna or salmon sandwiches. We left at 7:00pm. Note to everyone: don't ever fly in Europe, take the freakin' train!

Tuscany - Day after Wedding - Wednesday

Wednesday was a very low key day. Most of our group went sight-seeing. Andy and I hung around the Villa near the pool and visited with those who were around. The weather had been pretty rainy up until the day of the wedding. In fact, the only time it rained that day was while we were having the wedding dinner in the restaurant. We were lucky the weather gods were smiling on us.

If you get a chance to travel to Tuscany in Italy, I highly recommend the The Villa Fambroni. It is located in the beautiful Tuscan Valley and is a 12th century castle (Panzalla Castle), divided into several fully-equipped apartments. The villa can accommodate anywhere from two to 45 people throughout the property. Our party stayed in the Il Pergolo which can accommodate up to 10. We had eight and were quite comfortable. Stephano and his partner Sergio, were as gracious as they could be. Not only does the property have a restaurant and winery, but the owners are also chefs and offer cooking classes and catering services. Be sure to bring food and drink with you as the restaurant is only open at certain times/days, but can be negotiated as needed.

Day of Wedding

Finally here! Pretty low-key, but high stress for me. I can only imagine what Ashley is feeling. Two+ hours before the wedding, I check in on her, Amanda and Lani (maid-of-honor & bridesmaid) are assisting her getting ready. They are double-timing it on her hair with dual curling irons. The best I can do is retrieve sustenance for the maid-of-honor, hold the curling iron and hairspray, and converse with Lori (mother-of-the-groom). Ashley is beautiful even without the dress. Lori's space is being invaded as her room is being used for preparing the bride.

I head out to get ready myself. Denial is still rampant.

Before the wedding we are doing pictures. I'm still ok. Such a beautiful couple. They were made for each other. They have been together for 10+ years, so this is a natural step. Pictures went well. Good-looking people on all sides of the families.

Ceremony - Beautiful! What can be any better than a terrace overlooking the Tuscan Valley?! Short, sweet, Ashley & Kyle are a little nervous. Kyle messes up a couple of words but it's totally sweet. Blink, blink, it's over.

My BABY IS MARRIED!! Reality sets in...reception is awesome. Proud Mama's tears flow. (See facebook reference on day of wedding.)

Italy - 2/1 days before the wedding

Disaster! Babbie finds out the next morning (Sunday) that her passport and 400 Euros were lifted from her purse somewhere between Rome and Florence! She, Pete, Rae, and Andy have to do an embergency trip back to Florence to report the theft to the consulate and get a temporary passport. Good news is they also get to sight-see while I prepare for the big event.

Theresa (don't you love the 3rd person?!) & posse (Sue/Brenda) head into the nearest town to buy items to decorate the restaurant for the formal wedding dinner. This is the suprise. We found major bling: pink/white glass cubes and purple/pink flower candles along with silk long-stem roses to decorate the different tables. Stefano (Villa owner, chef, head tour guide) is gracious enough to help us call the florist and get bridal flowers for the wedding party as well as flower arrangements to augment the bling on the reception tables. We went with white/pink roses for the Bride & bridesmaide bouquets, white roses for Dad's/Groomsmen and pink roses for Mom's and Grandma. The table arrangements were also pink and white rose mixes. Really beautiful. My Posse+Julie and other wedding guests moved said bling/flowers to the reception/dancing area after dinner. It looked beautiful.

I can't say enough about Stephano and his partner. They totally bent over backwards to help us make the event perfect. Stefano actually called the florist - they had been closed for what is equivalent to siesta the entire time we were in town - he translated for us ordering all the flowers and then drove us into town the morning of the wedding to pick them up. He was even patient enough to let me run get a Mother-to-Daughter bride gift at the nearby jewelry store. If you ever go to Italy, you *have* to stay at Villa Fabbroni. Here's the link: http://www.villafabbroni.com/ I will certainly be leaving an excellent recommendation for them on his website.

Special shout out to Brenda, Julie and Sue for keeping Mom sane and everything decorated!

Italy - Day 5+

Got to Florence via train, grabbed a cab from the train station to airport to pick up the rental cars. One Garmin, one Tom Tom, two cars and little luck finding the Villa. Did see the beautiful countryside of Italy though. Tip: make sure you have the correct GPS coordinate settings before you actually start driving - 3 different settings in the Garmin. The scenery of rural Italy is unbelievable - just like the depictions in books and paintings, absolutely gorgeous. Ran into Dave Porter at the grocery store and followed him to the Villa. Such a small world for being in a different country!

The Villa (actually a 12th century castle converted into several apartments) is amazing. Lots and lots of antiques and marble everything. We rented the whole thing since there are near 40 of us. The owners are nice as can be and super helpful. There is an on-site restaurant and winery. Great fun and family, I can't imagine life getting much better than this. Italians are very friendly and nice.

Working on a surprise for the Bride and Groom, more on that later. Rehearsal dinner was last night, wedding today. Best friends Sue and Brenda plus sister Julie helping to keep the mother-of-the-bride sane. Andy downloaded the first batch of pics to the computer yesterday. I haven't seen them yet though...will try to get some of them posted soon. Ciao!

Alexandra - so right on the manicure!! Toni - postcard on it's way, just have to find your address!

Italy - Day 4 Rome to Florence

Train travel...love it! Our hotel room in Rome was pretty much next door to the Rome Termini station. Huge, huge train station which was also our next mode of transportation from Rome to Firenze (Florence).

First things first. Day 3's afternoon was spent at the Roman Coliseum. I pre-purchased our tickets online to "avoid the long lines" only to mis-connect with our tour provider. Not sure if the whole thing was a scam or what as nobody we talked to, including the ticket office, had ever heard of Italy Tours.com. I'll be doing some more investigating on that. Seemed like a legit company. When we called the number the person who answered only spoke Italian so we couldn't lodge a complaint. We ended up walking around for miles and got a couple of great photos of us all flipping off the coliseum. I probably won't be posting those to face book though.

Back to the train. After figuring out how to validate out train pass (one ticket for 3 passengers time stamped in the terminal before boarding) we excitedly got on car three, track 9. Train's leaving at 12:15 pm and we can't seem to find Sara's seat. Since the car wasn't too crowded we picked a random seat for her figuring we would move if needed. At 12:14, Sara reads the ticket and says, "Car 8?"

Hmm, I thought the seats were pretty luxurious for coach and I realize we are sitting in first class. I misread the ticket's passenger number (3 of us) for car number and knew we'd better get ourselves back to coach - which happened to be the same car my sister and her kids were traveling in. So here we are with our stupid heavy bags (see previous 2 blog references to heavy bags), and are literally running from car to car through the train, only to be stopped at the restaurant cart which is locked. Having just witnessed passengers running hurriedly to catch the last train, and being denied access, I had visions of us experiencing the same fate. By now it is 12:15 and we have to haul our bags off the train down several steps, run the length of the restaurant cart and get back on before the doors close for good. Lucky for us we were in time and even managed to find space for our stupid heavy bags, which by-the-way had to be stored overhead. Ugh! So we were sweaty and panting but at last found Sara's seat.

Italy - Days 2 and 3 - Rome

Wow! Rome - unbelievable...the history, the culture, the quaintness, the graffiti - amazing.
Had a great flight over on Air Canada. Having been a travel agent in a previous life I knew to get bulk-head seating on the over-seas flight (tip: next best thing to paying for business/first class seating when exit rows are not available). Plenty of room for my 6'4 hubby. He watched 3 movies during the flight, I drank lots of red wine with my new Canadian friend Anna who happens to work for the airline and was flying home to London after interviewing for a new job in Canada. Totally gregarious, would have made a great New Yorker. Most of the passengers in coach were treated to our loud conversation and all of them knew my name by the time we landed as she was well trained in using it in conversation. :)

Upon arrival in Rome, we checked into our 5th floor hotel (elevator not working as someone on the 4th floor didn't shut the outside door (another blog, but see the reference to me checking my bag in the previous blog...which translates to: heavy freakin' bag hauled up 5 flights) and met up with our good friends Pete & Babbie. So we're doing the Italian thing and sitting at an outside cafe, enjoying great conversation and some rosso vino, when a guy walks up asking us for a cigarette. Since none of us smoke, we were telling him we didn't have any cigarettes. He gets this funny, guilty-like look on his face and in broken English says, "Well, since you don't have any cigarettes, how about I take one of these," and proceeds to grab one of the bottles of wine off the table and runs off. It was actually pretty funny as the look on his face was like that of a kid getting his hand caught in the cookie jar, and he totally ran like a girl.

Highlights in Rome: Seeing the Vatican's Sistine Chapel/Museum. Interesting factoid - since it is its own country, you need a visa to get in. Tourism is not a valid reason. We decided if we wanted to get one, reasons could be Seminary study (student visa) or car washer as the only thing we saw of the Vatican country was a large parking lot. Our tour guide told us there was a couple of shops and a store, but not a whole lot else. She also told us the Michelangelo spent his whole time painting the ceiling standing upright with his head bent back. Having done this for so many years he developed a hump in his back and his eyes tended to roll back in his head at inopportune times. Interesting. Also learned that the artists were natoriously vain in that they painted themselves, friends and enemies into many of the paintings (some not so favorably).

Italy - Day 1 (2) - Leaving Seattle - Destination Rome

Here I am at 2:30 am Italy time (somewhere around 6:30 pm Seattle time) and my insomnia has finally kicked in, big time. Not too bad I'm thinking for being gone since Wed and it is now Sunday. It took a while for it to catch up. I wonder if it has been happening during the day... (or night if I were on the west coast) and I just didn't notice since my days are screwed up with the 9 hour time change? Probably.

Here's my trip thus far:

Day one - first mia culpa - trying to get through screening at Seattle airport.
I'm doing good, no big issues, I'm checking my bag so I don't have anything in plastic baggies to screen. I'm walking through the x-ray machine and the TSA guy is shaking his head at me. Not understanding, I keep going. He gets this funny look on his face and holds up a sign that says, "Do Not Enter." I stop mid-stride and shake my head back at him, shrug my shoulders and say, "what?" He promptly points at my feet and says, "your shoes." DOH! I forgot to remove my dumb shoes. I must have traveled at least 20 times since 9-11 and never forgot them before. I wonder if this is a sign of things to come.