The Gypsy Life: 2014

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

I'm Back - Miss Me?

We last left you when we stopped in New Mexico for a while. In fact we were there 5 weeks! It was a nice break. Brian and family came the middle of Balloon Fiesta week and stayed for 4 days so that Ezra could see the b'loon-b'loons. We were able to go down to the field on Friday morning to see the ascension, but were cancelled out both Friday and Saturday night because of weather. Unfortunately that was the one thing that Christie REALLY wanted to see. There's always another time.

After we left Rio Rancho we drove '66 to Flagstaff, Az. Then dropping south to our RV lot in Surprise for a few days we took a few days talking to our contractor and sub contractors about the house we are building on our lot. We really didn't want to go, but we are very glad we did. There was just some things we had to finalize that we couldn't do over the phone. They plan on being done by mid-December. Then when we get there after Christmas we start making it a place to live during our stay.

When we were done there we drove back up to Flagstaff and continued on our trip. Most of the driving on '66 has been on surface streets - some not so great, but it was still on the Mother Road. When we got into Arizona our highway driving got more intense. To put it better - from Chicago to the New Mexican border our highway driving was less than 100 miles. Arizona itself was probably 100+ miles of highway and California wasn't much better. In Ca. you jump on and off the interstate because they haven't kept up the road as well. In fact, we were going to go back on '66 by Needles to Barstow, but was turned back many times by road closures because of the monsoons that hit a few months ago and wiped out 5 bridges. We hope to do that section when we go back to AZ for the winter. But knowing California and how "quickly" they do repairs I don't hold out any hope.

I was a little worried about going through LA and fighting the traffic (which is a mess). Somehow we lucked out and drove through there on Sunday. No traffic, no stop and go - it was a dream drive! I was a little bummed that I didn't take any pictures during the drives in cities, but when you are trying to navigate for the driver and follow directions where there aren't any real signs to follow the priority is to get through in one piece and pictures are pushed into the background. But we finally reached Santa Monica and the end of Route 66. What a disappointment! The official end of '66 is at the freeway and there is nothing noted. So you have to accept the Santa Monica pier as your stopping point. In fact one man as trademarked a sign he made to show the end of the road.

But we are now back home in Sacramento and it was a great trip. The "official" mileage of '66 is 2448 miles - we did 2786 so as you can see we did a few u-turns, wrong turns and returns. It's all in the journey! I couldn't post pictures because my tablet wasn't able to accept the camera, so I am going to give you a few here below - enjoy!

Monday, September 15, 2014

Intermission

While we sit here in Rio Rancho until the Balloon Fiesta I thought I would regale you with some interesting and quirky things we have encountered on our trip so far. And the only way that I could keep them straight is by doing them in state order. But I need to let you know that I am working with two books and trying to see as much as we can is a little difficult. Our main book is an excellent one that takes you step by step through this journey as we travel '66, but sometimes he does go off route if there is something he thinks is worthy of discovery. Our second book does the same thing, but not with the same detail. The only problem I have with going "further afield" is that the directions are a little sketchy in that they will say "west of town on route such-n-such you will find so-n-so. Problem with that is they do not put in the mileage or any other focus point for you to look for. So we have probably missed quite a few things. Also, like I said in my last post, if we stopped at every museum and/or antique shop they suggest we would be on the road for months! Now with that said, let's go!

Illinois:
They love their "three giant brothers" in this state. If you have ever seen large or giant statues of men that look like Paul Bunyan holding an axe or a muffler or something like that, that is what these "giants" are. And they are well loved here. One is dressed in a spacesuit, one holds a hot dog and the third holds an American flag.
There are few places where original '66 is abandoned, but you walk (or drive) on some of it. The concrete is cracked and grass is coming up through the cracks giving it a very depressed look, and it goes parallel with the newer section of '66.
Bloomington is the home of McLean Stevenson of M*A*S*H and his cousin Adlai Stevenson, but you would never know because there is no notifications that we could see. BUT it is also the world's sole source of BEER NUTS!!!!!
We took a side trip just so we could go by the town of Funks Grove. I mean how many times can you see a place called Funks Grove? Also they are the home of Funks Grove Maple SIRIP (correct spelling), sold since 1891.
Springfield we already told you about the Abe Lincoln stuff, but we didn't tell you about having lunch at the Cozy Drive-In. So what you say? Well, I will have you know that the Cozy Drive-In is home to the original CORN DOG!
The Luna Café in Mitchell has it's history with the gangsters including Al Capone. Also gambling and "ladies of the night" were in residence there and the neon sign out front would tell when the "ladies" were there by lighting the "cherry" on the sign.

Missouri:
Stanton is home to the Meramec Caverns ((which were advertised for MILES before ever reaching them) and the Jesse James Wax Museum. They claim the outlaw didn't die in 1881, but in 1952 under the name J. Frank Dalton.
Bourbon tickled me when we saw the huge water tower with just the word Bourbon on it. Imagine a whole tower full of bourbon!
In Buckhorn another sign got me giggling - there is an adult bookstore by the road and a sign that advertises it and right below the sign is a bowling pin (with no bowling alley in sight) - go figure.
Marshfield is the hometown of Dr. Edwin Hubble, the astronomer and namesake of the Hubble Space Telescope.

Kansas:
This was the shortest route that '66 took. It is only 13 miles on the Southwest corner of the state.
In Baxter Springs there is Murphy's Restaurant hitch is housed in the former Baxter National Bank. Checks are positioned under the glass table tops and the ladies room is the former bank vault.

Oklahoma;
Commerce was the former hometown of Mickey Mantle. Unfortunately there has been no push to point this out at all. There is a little league field named after his dad, Mutt and the book mentions his former "home" address, but there is nothing there. There is also supposed to be a small display in a park commemorates a local constable who was killed by Bonnie and Clyde. We found the park and where the display would have been, but everything was gone from it.
Miami (say My-am-uh) is a remnant of the 9-foot Hwy AKA Sidewalk Hwy, Ribbon Rd. It's only 9 feet wide, made of concrete with curbs and asphalted over was paved in 1922. The book said that some sections were bumpy and gravelly. HA, most of the road was gone and only dirt remained. We did find some concrete sections towards the end, but remember that we are in the Corvette. Needless to say, the car got a little dirty that day. It was an experience though.
Vinita we stopped and ate at Clintons Café which has been owned by the same family since 1927. In fact the son, grandson and niece were working there that day. The World's Largest McDonald's is there and it crosses over the I-44 freeway (all lanes). It was a rather awesome sight! We missed the World's' Largest Calf-Fry Festival too. That was in mid-Sept. You do know what a calf-fry is, right?
Chelsea has the honor of being the home of a vintage house mail-ordered from the Sears catalogue in 1913. They even take tours by appointment so you can see inside.
Andy Payne is honored in his hometown of Foil as the winner of the 1928 Bunion Derby - the transcontinental foot race from LA to NYC that followed all of US 66.
Claremore is all about Will Rogers. Museum, Blvd, Hwy, and statue.
Erick is the hometown of the singers Roger Miller and Sheba Woolley who sang Purple People Eater. There is a Roger Miller museum in this tiny town.

Texas
Second shortest alignment of '66 at only 178 miles of the original. Now about 150 miles remain.
Shamrock has it's own piece of the Blarney Stone from Ireland..
Conway has it's version of Cadillac Ranch (in Amarillo next to I-40 where Cadillac cars are buried nose first into the ground then graffitied) with Bug Ranch. Instead of Cadillac's buried, it's VW bugs. Karl was rather offended since he still owns his first VW.
Adrian is billed as midpoint on '66. It has a small display roadside, a café and gift shop.
Glenrio is basically a ghost town now. It was bypassed by I-40 and so it died. There was good picture taking shots there and there is one house still occupied. In the town there is the ruins of the Texas Longhorn Motel and as we were entering the town here comes a couple from the front of the motel where they staged a photo op with the women waiting at the front of the motel with a suitcase!

New Mexico:
Tucumcari is still a busy town, but it has a lot of old '66 remains. And that brings us to Rio Rancho after going through downtown Albuquerque.

When we leave here we will be continuing to Arizona, drop down into Phoenix to see our building project in Surprise and then back up to Flagstaff to finish '66 into Santa Monica, CA. So stay tuned and we will move in about a month. See ya!!

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Route 66 - Part 2

When we left St, Louis many of our readers were afraid that we were going to go by Ferguson, but no worries - we went around the east of town where Ferguson is on the upper left of town. So we were off!

Going on this journey has really been a great tour through earlier times and a slower way of life. You don't realize how much the interstate has taken away from just a slower pace of life. Towns which probably were once thriving are almost to the point of total abandonment due to the diversion of the main traffic. We see businesses closed and buildings in ruin, houses deserted and families gone, industry closed and money lost. Mother Natures has taken back many places that once was alive and vibrant. On the other hand we have crossed bridges that have been in use since the early 1900's and are still being used today

For the most part we have been following an interstate through the states, but some places we are paralleling the original abandoned '66. It is usually cracked and the grass is coming through the pavement. It is a melancholy feeling looking at that concrete road. I wish I could post some pictures, but only using a tablet makes it a little tough. I do have plans to put a lot of these pictures in a book so if you ever get close to us I will show them to you.

Right now we are in Amarillo and are only about 300+ miles from our house in New Mexico. We are planning on staying there until, after the balloon fiesta which ends the 2nd weekend of October. Then we will drive down to Phoenix to see our building project on our RV lot for a few days then continue our '66 journey in Flagstaf. For those who are wondering, we left Chicago on Sep. 3, had two stops where we stayed for 2 nights and now it's Sep. 10. So we have traveled about 1100 miles in 6 days (but we haven't stopped at a lot of the places they suggest because you can only see so many museums until they start looking the same.)

Friday, September 5, 2014

Route 66-And Away We Go!

Start - 9/3/2014, 8:44am, 16,835 miles on the odometer

We left Chicago and started our journey down Route 66 in the Corvette. Of course our first stop was to have breakfast at the famous Lou Mitchell's on Jackson St. What makes them so famous is that they have been doing business on the same block since 1928! So of course it has been a staple for route 66 travelers to start (or end) they trip there. They greet you with fresh donut holes no matter what time you show up. They are famous for their fresh squeezed orange and grapefruit juice, homemade bread, fresh made orange marmalade and breakfasts that will fill up the heaviest eater. I asked about their omelets and the waitress said that they use 3 eggs, but it comes out to be about 4.5 eggs all together. So being the lighter eater that I am I ordered two eggs and she put down 1 egg! So I was a little suspicious. But when she brought it to the table the 1 egg almost equaled 2.5 eggs. Plus they give you toast and potatoes! Then at the end of the meal they give you a petite bowl of ice cream to "cleanse the palate". Chicago wasn't as bad as we thought or were told it was. We walked the streets and felt very safe. It isn't as congested as New York City and not as crowded.

As we continued down the road we made wrong turns, u-turns and not even close turns (thank God for my smart phone and Google maps!) But we always got back on track. One funny thing happened in Joliet, Illinois. Firstly Illinois is very proud of their 3 "giants" on 66. They are statues that were created in the early 1950's and you would recognize the mold of them as they are the large man that usually holds a muffler in his hands in from of a garage. Well, Illinois has three of them: one is a spaceman, one holds a hot dog and one holds an American flag.

We have gone through towns with names like: Romeoville, Elwood (where the Blues Brothers took that name for John Belushi's character), Chenoa (which is just a spot in the road now), Shirley, Funks Grove that sells maple SIRUP, McLean where Adilai Stevenson and his cousin McLean Stevenson who paid Coronel Blakes on the M*A*S*H Tv series were born and Atlanta with it's big smiley face water tower.

We arrived in Springfield, Illinois where it is all about Abe Lincoln. We started by having lunch at the Cozy Dog drive-in. What is so special about that you ask? Well, that is where the corn dog was first invented and served! We then went to visit Lincoln's tomb a little outside of town in Oak Creek Cemetery. It is a very impressive place outside and inside. The inside is all marble and very well maintained. As you walk through the hall to his tomb you can see how much this man was loved because of the care that was taken in building the whole building. He is buried under the big marble square and his wife, Mary and three of his sons are buried in the wall opposite of him. His oldest son, Robert is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Then we went to his museum and spent almost three hours there. It is split into four parts. Journey 1 is his life from growing up in Kentucky and getting into politics. Journey 2 is his journey through his presidency and assassination. Then there are two short movies. Next door is the library that is just as big if not bigger than the museum.

Today we were traveling through a lot of corn fields going on the old roads of 66 that aren't used anymore since a better highway was built. We even found a 1.4 mile stretch of road that was brick! Our last major stop today was at the St. Louis Arch. We took a tramcar up to the top of the 630 foot arch and could see forever! We tried to get to it about 7 years ago, but weather forced us to forgo that. And after driving in St. Louis we both agreed that we are NOT city people - never have been, never will be. We are in Pacific, Missouri tonight and will be in Springfield, Missouri tomorrow. As you can see we aren't in any hurry!

Monday, September 1, 2014

Trip Beginnings

We have started the next phase of our summer traveling! After driving 1,937 miles in 4 days we arrived in Bowling Green, Kentucky for our first stop of our journey. We went there to take the factory tour of the Corvette factory that we didn't get to take when we picked up our car in 2013. Problem is along with ourselves there were over 6,000 other cars at the museum! Have you ever seen 6000 Corvettes together at one time? It was an awesome sight, believe me! Every place that had room to park, it was filled. Cars from the 1950's up to and including the new 2014's were there. Blue, white, red, black gray - with stripes, without stripes, with chrome wheels, or aluminum, or black - convertibles, T-tops and half-tops. Our tour was fantastic. Usually a regular tour consists of 15-20 people and 1 guide with no sound assist for their voice so it's very difficult to hear them in a large and noisy factory. Since we picked our car up at the factory last year we were to get a VIP tour which only takes 6-8 people. We actually got a better tour since the van left the museum without us and another couple. They immediately came back with another guide and the four of us had our tour.

The next day we took off to our next stop (which really started this whole 66 trip). We went to Nashville for a Gold Wing (motorcycle) get-together. That is what we started to talk about doing during the beginning of the year, then added the Corvette tour and when I found out that Karl had a bucket list item of driving Route 66 it all came together. Anyways, this second stop was just time to be other Gold Wing riders from all over the US. We stayed at the Opryland Hotel which was a beautiful place with all sorts of Southern charm. We went to the Grand Ol Opry one night and on the General Jackson paddlewheeler showboat on another.

Today we moved towards our third stop and are in Indianapolis on our way to Chicago to start Route 66 on Wednesday. Everyone has asked us how long do we plan on being on it and our honest answer is we really don't know. It is 2400 miles and most people have done it in about 2 weeks. Our goal is just to really take our time and stop to see what we want for as long as we want. We have no plans on where to stop or for how long. This trip is kinda freaking Karl out because he doesn't like to be spontaneous. He wants to know where, when , how, etc. My answer is stop planning for once!

Oh, and for those keeping - we only had one problem when we left on this trip. I had forgotten something at the CA house and we had to go back to get it, but we were only a block away.

Stay tuned!!!

Monday, June 30, 2014

Epilogue

Well, I thought that my last post would be it until the Route 66 trip later this summer, but not so, dear readers. For those who have been faithful readers of this blog you would have noticed something strange about the beginning of this trip. For those who aren't regular readers I will explain.
If you take a quick look at all of our travels you will notice that when we start on any of our journeys there is usually a snag of some kind to start things off - mostly something that will delay our start by a day. Really! I'm not kidding. Just take a look. It started to become a joke for us. We would actually expect something to happen to start the journey. So, when this trip started and nothing happened I should have realized that it was wrong or bad luck maybe. Anyway, I did have a moment of unease, but figured that our luck had changed. We went through 22 days of travel without any event happening. On our way back from Germany I though, "Whew! Almost home free without incident!" WRONG!!

So let's start on the day we were to leave Germany to fly home. We drove from Munich to Frankfurt the night before to turn in the car we rented and stayed in a hotel that was right in the terminal. The next morning we were 3 hours early to check in since it was an international flight. So by 8am we were in the terminal waiting for our 11am flight home. At 930 an announcement came over the intercom that the plane (which was sitting at the gate!) had a technical issue and they were waiting to see what was going to be done about it. Now during this time Karl and I weren't worried because we had a 3 hour layover at JFK in New York City - no problem. At 10am they took the plane out of the gate! Now we had to wait for a new plane to come in. Do you know that getting a new plane to replace a bad one doesn't happen real quick? Finally at 1pm we were off. Okay, only two hours late and the pilot said that he should be able to make up the time and we should only be about 1 hour late into NYC. Great - then we would still have 2 hours to get through customs, change terminals and board the flight to Rochester. We were staying a few days there so that I could visit Mom.

Now, part 2. After 8 hours in the air we arrive at JFK and taxi into the boarding area. But we arrive at 3pm and our next flight leaves at 4:17. Quick thinking - yeah we may still make it. Start to taxi to the gate and he stops just short of the gate. He had to wait for a tractor to hook up to tow us into the gate (we were a big plane). After sitting the pilot comes over the intercom and tells us that the tractor that was to tow us BROKE DOWN! It is now 3:30- no way we could make our next flight so I am on the phone in the plane to Delta (our next flight) to get us booked onto the later flight of 9:30pm. We did make that flight and arrived in Rochester at 11pm. Today (June 30) we were getting ready to come home to CA.

Part 3. After turning in the car at 1pm we sat in the terminal waiting for our 5:45pm flight to Sac. with a layover in Chicago and be home by 10:35pm. At 4pm I got a text notice that our plane was delayed to 7:30pm which would make us miss our connection in Chicago. So I get on the phone to Southwest and see if there is any other flight we can get out of Rochester to make our Chicago connection. The agent said there wouldn't be any problem because the connecting flight was also delayed and we would get there in time. The weather in Chicago was creating all kinds of havoc with the airlines. Anyways, we didn't worry until I get another text to inform me that the flight out of Rochester was now cancelled!!!! Great! Back on the phone again. Called another carrier and we were working on getting a flight from them- got it all booked and was ready to pay for it when she said that the first flight was delayed and we would miss the connecting flight! So here we sit, still in New York and will, hopefully, be flying out tomorrow.

Here is the number of hours we have wasted in airport terminals in the last two days:
Frankfurt, Germany - 5 hours
JFK - 4 hours
Rochester - 6 hours until flights were cancelled
Total of wasted time - 15 hours

I think I will take Scarlett O'Hara's mantra - "After all, tomorrow will be another day."

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Sorry It's Been So Long :(

The internet has not cooperated these last few days! Some hotels didn't have any, some you had to pay for and sometimes our travels were so busy I didn't have time. But now we are slowing down and we have internet so I can update you with many days. Here goes.

We last left this post where we were going to be going to a little town that was the gateway to the Matterhorn. We arrived in Zermatt on June 17th and we were staying until June 19th so that our group, those that wanted and could go, would go up to the Klein Matterhorn (little brother to the Matterhorn) could get up close and personal without actually climbing the Matterhorn. Karl and I stayed in town since the altitude was going to be above 12,000 feet and he wouldn't be comfortable that high because of lack of oxygen. So we walked to the edge of town and sat in a little park looking up at the Matterhorn waiting for the clouds to clear from the top of the mountain. It showed it's tip a couple of times, but never cleared completely. So the following pictures show what it looks like in clear weather and what we actually saw.

So you can see how close we were from seeing it. The group that actually went up higher did see it uncovered and were awed. Also during the time we were in Zermatt they were going to celebrate Corpus Cristie Day (Christ's Day) the next day and a high school band serenaded the town the night before. Unfortunately, they also celebrated the following day at 6:20 AM! Our tour guide joked that he called for a "natural" wake-up call.

June 19th we were on the move again to end up in Lucerne, Switzerland. But before we arrived there we stopped at many places along the way. Our bus took us through the lower Rhone Valley which is called the breadbasket of Switzerland for all the fruits and grapes they grow. We passed miles and miles of vineyard that grew grapes they would eventually make into their local wine which is a white merlot. Then we stopped in Berne to see the bears which is the mascot of the city since Berne means bear in German. They are kept in a concrete enclosure during the night, but at 9am they are let out to roam the river bank.

Next stop was in the village of Interlaken. We were going to take photo stop to get pictures of Jungfrau Mountain, but the clouds covered it completely. On we go. We stopped at Truemmelbach Waterfalls which are waterfalls inside a mountain! They are Europe's largest subterranean water falls. The sound was unbelievable! There are 10 falls in total and 6 of those are in the mountain.

We arrived in Lucerne and were taken to another Swiss dinner party after we rested and did some unpacking.

June 20th we stayed in Lucerne for the day and walked the city to the Lion Monument. For those of you who have been to Stone Mountain in Georgia this will look similar. This was carved in memoriam for the Swiss guards that were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution while guarding the French Royals. It is a lion (the symbol of Lucerne) impaled by a spear covering a shield with the Fleur-De-lis and next to the shield with the coat of arms of Switzerland. It was a very sad feeling looking at the monument and the facial expression of the lion.

Our next stop was to take the cog train up to the top of Mount Pilatus. The journey is almost 7,000 feet up on a cog train with the inclination of 48 degrees. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the middle point and another 15 minutes to get to the top. The legend goes that the mountain was haunted and people weren't allowed to go up there. The haunting was that the restless ghost of Pontius Pilate found lasting peace in the mountain and no one was allowed to go up in case they would disturb his ghost.

In our room that night I looked out at the surrounds buildings and noticed a unique chimney feature that I hadn't seen before, but I thought was a great touch.

June 21st we were on our way back to Frankfurt where it all started,but of course we had more stops to make. Our first stop this day was at Rhine Falls. When I saw it I immediately thought that it was a miniature Niagara Falls. See what you think.

Now, I don't usually take photos of bathrooms or anything that is in there, but I couldn't resist this time. On the wall behind the toilet I looked up and saw this sign:

I want you to read the first "instruction" then look at the first picture. Then please notice that this is written in ENGLISH! I didn't think that the Swiss thought we do that! Oriental, yes, French, yes, but Americans? Hmmmm.

After an hour here we were going to where I have been waiting to visit for 2 weeks. We traveled through the Black Forest and stopped at a cuckoo clock maker's store! Oh yeah!!! I had been waiting for this stop so that I could finally get a genuine Swiss Black Forest cuckoo clock. But what a surprise awaited us. Outside the store there was a gigantic, working clock running. The picture doesn't really show the height of the clock, but if you take a look at the figure on the right, he is the same height as a human! It was awesome. Of course I got my clocks and we will receive them in about 3-6 weeks.

After arriving back in Frankfurt we had a farewell dinner with all of our group, drank wine (or beer), reminisced, laughed and had a general good time. The next day we parted ways with hugs and promises to email each other.

So ends our organized group tour. We were driven to the airport where we picked up our car and drove back to Austria to join up with the Blue Knights for the International convention. Since Karl was going to be in meetings all day on the 23rd I decided to go on a tour and visit Grossglockner. This is a glacier that is 12,461 feet high and the highest mountain in Austria and the highest mountain in the Alps east of Brenner Pass. (Sorry about the cross showing the in the picture. I was shooting out of the bus's front window and he had it hanging from the mirror.)

June 24th Karl and I both took a tour up to Hitler's "Eagle's Nest", his mountain-top retreat. The history of this building is that it was built in 13 months during 1938-1939 as a 50th birthday present. It cost over $130 million Euros to build. But Hitler only used it 14-15 times because he was afraid of heights and was claustrophobic. The original elevator is still in use with all original parts. Because he was claustrophobic, the elevator was made of brass with a mirror effect so that he didn't fell the closeness of it. It can hold 45 people! The dining hall that could seat 30 people comfortably is now the restaurant and the conference room is also used for the eating. Eva Braum's "tea-room" is next to the conference room. No one ever slept there except the soldiers who patrolled the mountain top 24 hours a day. Unfortunately the weather was terrible and we couldn't see anything around the building.

We have finished our touring for now and will arrive back in New York on the 29th for 4 days. Then back to Calif. where Karl will take off for Washington for a few weeks (I'm staying home!). But stayed tuned readers! There will be another blog in September when we are taking the Corvette and traveling Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica. Pictures will be AWESOME! Ta-ta for now.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Guess What? More Traveling!

June 16 we traveled from St. Moritz to our destination of Lugano. But along the way we stopped at different places to see more of Switzerland (surprise!).

Now, remember, we are traveling in a 45 foot bus on not real wide roads. BUT these are some of the roads that our driver had to maneuver coming down the mountain from St. Moritz!

Many times I would see our back end almost meet our front end. It was a rather nervous drive, but our driver was awesome!

Once we got to the bottom we were on our way to Lake Como. It is a beautiful lake surrounded by high mountains, harbor filled with boats, and surrounded by fabulous villas. A very wealthy place. Now, notice in the picture, on the top of the tower. It's GEORGE CLOONEY!!!!! You will have to look real close though.

Once we got to Lugano, after getting into our hotel, we were off for a boat ride on Lake Lugano to a traditional "grotto" for a fabulous 3 course private dinner party. This grotto was a restaurant that you had to go through a small terraced community to get to. During the tour of the lake we saw beautiful villas, small villages and this church. It was built in the 700's and is still being used today. Think about it - this church is over 1700 years old!

June 16 we were off to our next hotel stop. But we were first sailing to Isola Bella in Lake Maggiore to visit an unbelievable palace that is still being used for a summer palace to a noble family who's roots go back to the 1700's. It was built by Prince Barameo for his wife. And the family still comes to this georgeous place for the months of August and September. During the rest of the time it is open for visitors. Along with the 1200+ room palace it also has terraced gardens that are to die for. And included in all this are 4 pure white peacocks

Our hotel tonight is in the alpine town of Zermatt which we had to get to by a train. Tomorrow, if the weather coorperates, our group will be going up to the Klein Matterhorn which is the smaller brother of the big Matterhorn. Karl and I will NOT be going because of his asmah. The elevation is over 12,000 feet. So we will have free time to walk around the town and enjoy not doing anything.

Oh, by the way, did you see Clooney? Gotcha! He wasn't really there, but I wonder how long you stared at that picture to try and find him! His villa is really a couple of miles away from the lake. I am so bad, sorry!

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Apologies

I need to start this post out with an apology to you, the reader. My last post was hasty and very short in description of our travels. After traveling for 5 days and constantly seeing things (more than one a day) and trying to remember and write what I think you would like to read I grew lazy. Tired and lazy. Hopefully the rest of the posts will be better since Internet is in the rest of the hotels we will be staying at. So with my apologies to all let's move on.

June 14 was largely a travel day for us with some stops along the way. We left Villach in Austria and traveled across the border into Italy to visit the Dolomites, the Italian "Rocky Mountains". These mountains are grey in color and very high and sharp. During the trip we rode through beautiful valleys that show a typical Austria//Italian mountain village. Tyrolean houses with flowers in boxes on each window were abundant.

Crossing back over the border into Austria we arrived at our hotel for the night in Innsbruck in the Tyrolean Alps. We took a walk in the old town and saw the "Golden Roof". It is the symbol of Austria and consists of a bay window covered with bass tiles that are polished and gives the illusion of a golden roof. Kinda weird, but, hey, who am I to judge? That night after dinner we went to a Tyrolean song and dance show that has been playing continuously over 30 years by one family. They play seven nights a week. We heard yodeling, saw men in leiderhosen, listened to the alpenhorn and saw a young girl play all kinds of Austrian instruments. It was a great show!

Today was another travel day, but much shorter. We saw more small valleys, very tall mountains still covered with snow and beautiful villages. We enjoyed a buggy ride through the Roseg Valley which is famous for lush Alpine vegetation and the beautiful faces of the Swiss brown cows with their cow bells ringing through the valley until we came upon a glacier. Unfortunately, as is happening with most glaciers, it is receding at an alarming rate.

Tonight we are staying the the ritzy-glitzy village of St. Moritz. La-de-da. Tomorrow we will be traveling along Lake Como in Italy - think I will see George Clooney?

Friday, June 13, 2014

Finally Have Internet with Good Connections!

We are finally at a point where the internet is working and with good connection. Before it was hard to have anything download or even have the computer load emails. So we are 6 days into the trip and I have a lot of information to fill you in on. So sit down in a comfy chair with a good drink and get ready to travel.

On June 7th we took off for our overnight flight to Frankfurt, Germany. After arriving in the afternoon on the 8th we go to dinner to meet our traveling group. It was going to be a good trip! Everyone was friendly and were ready to have a good time. So off we go the next day.

June 9th we leave Frankfurt after having a bus tour of the city along the Romantic Road to the town of Rothenburg. It is a medieval town that was celebrating a festival with townsfolk,in period costumes roaming the town and reacting a festival day. Bands of soldiers were marching around the town, peasants were walking around with their livestock, singers serenaded diners, and we were in the midst of it all. One house that I have to show you is one that is a little lopsided. Notice the house angle and the people in front.

We arrived in Munich the night of June 9th. Taking a bus tour of the city with a local guide we were shown the Olympic Stadium, the Holocaust Memorial and Marienplatz which is a bustling shopping area. Then we arrived at the Linderhof Castle which was built by King Ludwig II. After that we were off to see the beautiful town of Oberammergau. That probably sounds familiar to some people as the town that holds the Passion Play. For those that haven't this towns holds a play once every 10 years that shows the life of Christ. The town has about 2000 residents, but during the passion play it jumps up to about 500,000! The houses and businesses are beautifully painted with murals like this:

June 11th we were off to Salzburg, the town of music. Our first stop were the Mirabell Gardens which was the scene for the movie "The Sound of Music" during the Do-Re- Mi song. Remember the children playing in their "curtains" clothes where Maria teaches them how to sing? Well, we saw the steps where the kids jumped up and down while they were singing the notes, the fountain they danced around and we walked down the tree lined path where they finished singing. It was a great time. We crossed the Danube River many times and then that night we went to a Heurigen dinner which is a dinner of a normal "farmer's dinner" complete with all the wine you can drink. Needless to say we were having a great time.

June 12th we were given a city bus tour of Vienna with a local guide who showed us all over. Unfortunately Vienna is a dirty city with lots of graffiti. The buildings are beautiful, but it's a shame that you also have to look at stuff like that. As an extra excursion we took a bus trip over to Bratislava, Slovakia. It was the first time we have ever been in a former Iron Curtain country. It was an eye-opener. It is still a rather new country for tourists, but they are trying. It was interesting to see how people lived under Communist rule. The following pictures show how the Communist government kept houses (or rather didn't keep houses). They are just now trying to reconstruct houses and the town itself,but it's going to be a long project.

June 13th has taken us to the beautiful Schonbrunn Palace in. We were lucky enough to get a "private" tour of the palace before the general public. During the summer the palace will get up to 50,000 visitors a day!!! The palace was going to be the same size as Versailles in France, but due to money woes it ended up only have the size. Still, it had over 1,000 rooms. On our way to our night stop tonight we were privileged to stop at the Lipizzaner Stud Farm and found out all about the royal white horses. It was great because there were many foals running around because they breed the mares so that they will deliver in the spring.

Tonight we are spending the night in the village of Villach, a spa town in the Austrian Alps. Tomorrow we are off to Innsbuck. See you later!

The Gypsy Life

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