Fantastic Fall!

Moving to Denver eight and a half years ago has been one of the best decisions of my life.  As a child, we lived in Florida and Arizona.  I had never lived anywhere with four true seasons, although I travelled all over the country for nearly five years as part of my job with MRI Network.  That’s how I fell in love with Colorado.  I’d fly into Denver, grab a rental car and drive through the state from Colorado Springs all the way to Grand Junction, with stops in Summit county and Glenwood Springs along the way.

I remember driving in front of a major blizzard once while leaving from Colorado Springs to head back to Denver before going north to Cheyenne, WY.  That was one scary ride.  I beat the storm over the pass, got through Denver just fine, and then hightailed it north.  Unfortunately, the storm caught up with me about 30 minutes shy of Cheyenne.  I drove that last bit hugging tight to a large semi right in front of me.  He was plowing his way through and the road would have been impassible without chains if he hadn’t been there.  He was even thoughtful enough to pull off the highway at my exit.  I love it when everything works out.

I have truly enjoyed being able to enjoy the changing seasons in a new place.  Not that "if it's July, it must be monsoon season" wasn't enjoyable in Tucson, and it's glorious mascot, the Palo Verde Beetle 

wasn't perfectly creepy, but having a true fall with leaves turning on trees taller than 20 feet is something spectacular.  The drives into the mountains in September and October to view the gorgeousness that is the Aspen leaves changing and the really great Zombie walk in downtown Denver herald The Fall.

We've moved closer to downtown than ever before and actually had plans for dinner with a birthday celebrating friend far from downtown the night of the Denver Zombie Crawl and we decided to use the really great public transportation system to get down south.  Walking to the light rail station took less than ten minutes.  Then a Lyft driver collection in a lovely luxury Mercedes to drive us ten minutes to the cavernous bar with full volleyball courts.  Voila!  No driving needed.  

Light rail was hilarious, our stop was just before downtown and we had an almost empty train to step into.  But two stops later, it felt like nearly all of the Zombie Crawl was trying to get on our train!   People of all ages were participating, and this was the mostly family aged crowd getting their younguns home and to bed.  Nurses, doctors, lawyers, business people, farmers and more, in their shredded clothing and shredded skin.  Terrific special effects on some of them with really nutty attachments and adornments.  Somebody made a killing on make up in Denver this month.

The only downside to Fall is the ending of my favorite Farmers Markets.  I was really enjoying the fall vegetable bonanza, but as we are due for potential snow tonight, everything's harvested at this point.   My girlfriend runs Denver Public Schools sustainability programs and has set up a number of school gardens whose students had moved on and were no longer tending them or harvesting, so she called twice with offers of free organic produce.  One batch was a ton of asian eggplants, peppers and beets.  So I got to experience some new recipes.  Roasted with balsamic reduction was one of my favorites and easy to do as well.

The squash crop was really great this year, and I have loved learning new recipes to enjoy them.  Right now two of my favorites are with butternut squash, a Ras el Hanout seasoned casserole with pecans and a squash and pear curried soup.  The richness and well seasoned dishes make them taste totally different to me.  

Unfortunately, I’m in a vegetable impaired household.  Corn and peas are my husband’s favorites, and he does love Brussel sprouts as well.  Add in onion and spinach and that’s about as diverse as he likes.  I love making spaghetti sauce and sneaking in the grated zucchini.  

With only one child in the house now it’s not quite as festive as it has been in previous years with my own four.  Four pumpkins to carve, pumpkin seeds to toast in the oven and a maniacal Halloween decorated home for our annual party.  When the kids were little and we lived in town, we would host the party with Aunt Gina playing the wicked witch telling a ghostly tale, with bags of miscellaneous food to substitute for the eyes, brains and other assorted organs in her scary story.  Then a full night of trick or treating with all the neighbor kids and moms or dads.  Then later, we lived so far out that we would simply throw a party to get people together!    

The nearest suburban area was about a ten minute drive in from our remote rural land.  So they’d go trick or treat with friends either there, or in Tucson’s most decorated neighborhood, Winterhaven.  The Covenants for Winterhaven insist that you need to decorate for the Christmas Holidays and it eventually bled into Halloween as well.  A great walking tour of some really nicely decorated homes and you could count on a terrific candy haul from the evening!  

Denver’s fall traditions include the Zombie Crawl, one of the largest in the nation.  Then there’s the Bug Ball, and about a million other parties for Halloween.  We haven’t had a single trick or treater in any of our apartment buildings in five years, other than Nicholas’s twin siblings.   So Nicho goes elsewhere to trick or treat.  He joined his friend Michael this year.  In past years he’s gone for scary, but this year, at age 13, he decided he wanted to go as a girl.  So the blond wig, tights and a skirt showed up and we have one picture to prove he does look remarkably like his sister Lindley with that blond wig on!  Unfortunately for him, no one knew it was a costume.  Bet he’ll be back to scary for next year.

Thanksgiving is the other lovely fall holiday and what a wonderful one it is.  Practicing gratitude is a terrific excuse for a holiday.  Additionally, in my world, it was the only holiday I could own living in a town with both my mother and my former mother in law.  Mom got Easter, my mother in law took Christmas and I latched onto Thanksgiving after the divorce.  It became My Holiday.  I once fed 23 people on Thanksgiving and they were all relatives.  We put our deposit down on our gourmet, organic turkey today and I’m very excited to try some new recipes to go with our tried and true ones.  That Ras el Hanout seasoned butternut squash may end up on the menu this year.  

Our fall traditions also include an annual watching of Mel Brooke’s classic, “Young Frankenstein”.  For fifteen years now, I’ve hosted a viewing of it at our home.  It was one of my favorites from the moment I first watched it, and VCR’s made it possible to own it!  I was thrilled and it may have been one of my first video purchases.  I brought it into my job at Dun & Bradstreet and we hosted a lunch hour viewing session two days in a row that first year that had about 30 people in the room.  Once I left D&B, I hosted it at home with friends and family every year near Halloween.  

For two years in a row, we traveled to Europe over the Thanksgiving holiday.  Oddly, they don’t celebrate it over there.  But we were fortunate enough to be in London for the Sunday paper with the entire dish list and recipes for a traditional English Christmas turkey dinner.  It was serendipity that someone left a paper in the airport with the exact article I was hoping to see, but the newspaper bin was sold out in our hotel and I missed it there!  

Corinne and I got home, changed clothes and drove directly to the store for the makings and spent our first jet lagged hours at home making a full on turkey spectacular.  Roasted Chestnuts in the stuffing, giblet gravy, homemade cranberry sauce and more.  Because who doesn’t like turkey dinner after traveling?  

The smell of leaves getting crunched underfoot, the beautiful colors, combined with Denver’s notoriously blue skies make me very happy.  We still get enough warm days to continue riding our bikes some days as well.  It’s a great time of year for me, and the icing on the cake is that the ski resorts open soon for the winter season.  We didn’t ski last year and the year before but Richard’s a very elegant skier and I get by.  Our hope is to spend at least four ski days up there this year.  And Breckenridge is our version of Winterhaven, a beautiful neighborhood ski town that looks like a European village decked out for the holidays.  

I don’t think it’s an accident that I’m a November baby as well.  So for me, Fall is filled with fun, great food, good friends, happy holidays and the promise of a sparkling snow season.  

Family with a side of BBQ

We had a fabulous summer, and came back from Europe in the hazy glaze of June.  In July we were set to go babysit my beautiful grandson while his mom and dad went to the Army ball in Manhattan, KS, a seven hour drive away.  Then my husband's family called and indicated that his mother may be mentally failing and since he's the lawyer son it may be time to get some documentation in place for the "in case of" scenarios.

Well Memphis is another nine hours from Manhattan, KS.  And my aunt Cheryl is halfway in Springfield, MO, so our quick long weekend turned into a full on road trip.  While we're at it, let's invite Corinne and the five month old baby to come with to visit family!  We'll have three adults in the car to test drive how he travels!  

But wait, this was a wake up call that you never know how long you have and we REALLY need to get the baby to AZ to see my mother, mother in laws, father in laws, and grandmother.  So let's then drive to Denver when we return to Manhattan and all fly out to Tucson!

Four day weekend=sixteen day road trip.  And that's how we roll.  

Turns out grand baby Lincoln is a trouper.  He was great!  Corinne sat in back with him and RIchard and I sat in front.  She exclusively pumps so that got electronically handled in the car as well.  All in all I was quite proud of how well we rode.  Turns out you stop more often and the stops last longer, but other than that, it was no different than our other trips to Memphis.  

It was lovely to stop and visit with Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Tom and see their long awaited "dream home" in the flesh.  And to actually meet the "Meowsers from Missouri", well that was a dream come true:)  My Aunt is a fabulous blogger type human for her four kitties.

RIchard drove pretty much the whole way. Going through the Ozarks at night was a little surreal, especially at this one gas station where the locals showed up at around midnight.  We were, most assuredly, not in Kansas anymore.  Local color abounded when the shirtless man drove up with his tattooed beauties for more beer and snacks.  Any dentist could make a killing there if he were willing to barter.

Once in Memphis at about 2AM, we picked up our key and went to our temporary housing.  We got to stay in a beautifully appointed townhouse owned by an Aunt of Richard's and decorated by his interior designer sister.  It was lovely!  Full house to ourselves for our entire Memphis section of the trip made all the difference for little LIncoln and Corinne.  And the BBQ!  Corinne got to see why everyone raves about Memphis BBQ.  Daily.  Every day.  Sometimes twice a day.  Wet, dry, pork, lamb, beef, we tried them all.  We became connoisseurs of coleslaw.  Beloveds of banana pudding.  We took her to the Peabody, where "The Delta begins in the lobby of the Peabody".  We showed her the Mississippi River and were blessed to arrive with some unseasonably cool weather for our walk along the banks.

Then back to Manhattan for a quick visit with daddy again.  We had left our Wrangler for Steven to drive, and took the incredibly economical Prius hybrid on our journey.  Steven loved the Wrangler, and we loved the Prius!  Then we headed to Denver to catch our flight to Tucson.  Corinne got to visit with two of her three siblings and we got to babysit again while they went out.  Turns out Gammy Lauren can put Lincoln to sleep with singing!  We played music, then after two final rounds of The Beatles "Yellow Submarine" he zonked out for the night.  Whew!  Because the machinations and rocking, shushing that mommy and daddy do were actually not possible for me.  I don't have the energy or stamina anymore for those kind of calisthetics.  

We timed the bottles in the early morning for our flight so that he'd be sucking away while lifting off.  We didn't need to worry, he was the best flyer ever!  Not one little peep.  He loved it:)  Our one and a half hour flight was just fine.  Gammy held him for lift off on the first flight, Corinne held him on the way home.  Both ways were peaceful and easy.  I keep referring to him as "Future World Traveler" from one of his little GAP outfits, and he's proving me right.  Which is really good for an Army brat.

For our Tucson leg, I had used my trusty VRBO.  Once again we had a three bedroom house to ourselves for the four day trip.  From Starpass we were an easy 15 minutes to everyone we wanted to see.  My first mother in law, Judy, had us all up for our first night, along with my mother.  I should mention my first father in law, Bob, is a staunch Republican and my husband once sat next to Hilary Clinton at a political fundraiser.  We had a lively conversation after dinner that most of the family walked away from, fearful of the sparkling that can occur from Bob if he gets cranked up far enough, but that didn't happen.  It was fun to watch though!  

We began the next day with swimming at the Starpass resort.  Corinne's BFF forever, and mom of the adorable toddler Mason were staying there for an event.  Whitney's husband's mom used to be my other daughter's Brownie troop leader, so I've known him since he was a tot.  BFF Whitney's parents were there as well.  Good to see everyone, even better to do it from a pool in July in Tucson!

Then we got our five generations pictures out of the way at my mom's.  My sister came into town from Phoenix and picked up my grandmother on the way over.  Grandma Balija is now 97 years old and travels with oxygen.  She's sharp most of the time, although she sits quietly now more than ever before.  She loved Lincoln but couldn't always seem to place whose baby he was.  I'm glad we got there when we did.  Great Aunt Naomi had a blast with him.  

We try to do one big party for all my second husband's family.  This was no exception, a huge summer barbecue out at my former sister in law's house.   Her parents, my two nephews, my former in laws, my former husband's current wife and son, his current in laws.  And my niece.  And assorted other family friends.   The irony is that my green chili chicken enchilada recipe is the one she serves, and someone finally converted her to beer from wine coolers.  Whew!  

Topped it all off with a final dinner for hubs #2, Howard, because he was working the day of the party and couldn't make it.  So that became our reason for hitting favorite Mexican restaurant, Mosaic Cafe off Grant Road.  Homemade tortillas.  Yum.  We had Steven's step mom join us there as well as my mom.

The thing that most touched me is that each and everyone of my former in laws wants to claim me, my daughter and my grand son.  They like my husband Richard.   It reminded me that ALL family is a function of created language.  I'm blessed to have such a big one.

Spare day in Paris

6/3 Tuesday this must mean Mannheim to Paris

What a treat! An extra day in Paris. We left Germany and blazed to the airport to return the rental car, having added an extra night to our hotel. Isis Hotel in the CDG airport. Nice enough, midrange place, but poorly staffed for the crowds they had.

So we had seen previous ads about the Van Gogh exhibit at the Musee d'Orsay and Richard had said how lovely the gardens were at the Musee Rodin.  We combined both in our final day.

With "The Thinker" as the only Rodin scultpure that I was familiar with, I was unsure what to expect at the Musee Rodin. But the grounds of the former hotel were delectable and the outdoor gardens were awesome. And it was perfect that there were impessionist art works including Van Gogh, as well, but it was the outdoor sculpture garden that made this a delightful stop.

The Musee d'Orsay was a wonderful gallery of Van Gogh as well as other Impressionist artists, and I loved the "train station" setting. All in all it was a wonderfully decandent art day.

Say yes to Mannheim, No to Metz

6/2 Mon Prague to Nuremberg to Metz 2 hr 56 min; 4 hr 9 min

Except that wasn't what we did.  Instead, we stopped at some adorable little town near Mannheim called "something German".  We wanted a REAL schnitzel and some spatzele before leaving Europe.  The goulash and dishes in Czech Republic were close but not quite schnitzels.  We were leaving to go see a Holocaust museum, but this is where the war crimes were tried, not the right location.  So we modified our plan and blazed quickly through Germany so we could have another full day in Paris before heading home.  Add it up, it's over 7 hours of driving today.

This is why it's good to have some flexibility in the schedule.  You get to allow for things like Hot Springs and one more day in Paris!

It was Sunday and the Trip Advisor Hotel restaurant recommendation was closed.  That's right, a hotel restaurant that was closed.  Yelp to the rescue, thank you Lindley.  We found a quaint and friendly beer garden style restaurant less than 5 minutes away and had a fabulously great meal!  Oops.  Not only is all our money not €, we sure didn't have enough cash to pay the bill anyway.  And they don't take cards.  Faceplant.

So Richard and mom set off to find at ATM while we hung out at the restaurant.  Twenty minutes later we were on our way to our Mannheim hotel (free parking and wifi), Hotel Huntress wins again, this one was just over €100.  We got in late, so check in was at a small side door.  The apartment was three bedrooms again, across the street in a different building, but the wifi wasn't working.  Kelsey was taking a bath and didn't notice the shower sprayer soaking the floor and in turning it off for her, I got soaking wet.  I then strip off my wet clothes.  This is when I get asked to go find out the wifi code.  Across the street.  Late at night.  It was not our best moment of the trip.

Later, I found out the critical need for internet was to finish Richard's amazing plan to have our friends finish our packing and have movers move us into our new apartment while we were still in Europe!  And all of that planning was critical and had to be done now.  

He got connected, we got sleep and then up the next morning for a local grocery store.  I've now decided I collect reusable shopping bags by the way.  I have some from Montreaux, Mannheim, Paris and Prague.  I'll remember this trip every time I  go to the grocery store!

We happily munched on a variety of fruits and sausages and yogurts and nuts as we hurtled ourselves back to Paris.  Paprika Pingles?  Check.

Prague is for Par-Tays

5/31 Sat Vienna to Prague 3 hr 27 min

The final farewell to Austria was that Richard couldn't use cruise control much due to heavy construction.  His calf was really bothering him and he needed a massage or a hot springs pronto.  Fortunately Bad means Baths and we were right in the heart of hot springs territory!  Serendipity:) We followed the signes to Romertherme because it was open for one more hour!  They discounted us and Kelsey, Lindley, Richard and I went and took the water for 45 minutes while mom waited in the lobby. Richard's leg felt immensely better.  It's a communal and co ed changing room too.  Their approaches to nudity are distinctly different from ours.  There were entire families changing together with both small and bigger kids.

The next morning started with us leaving "western Europe" and fast approaching what was the former Soviet bloc countries.   One of the things we had noticed during our trip was our disappointment that we no longer get passport stamps for each country.  Europe is Europe.  And Swiss, French, Austrian, Italian and French passport stamps no long really exist unless you fly into those countries from someplace else.  We had passed former border patrol stations that now sit sadly vacant.  For you James Bond fans out there, how many times have we seen those border crossing scenes?  Now instead of shiny and efficiently scary checkpoints, it's cracked concrete and weeds.

We stopped at a restaurant in a small town in the Czech Republic.  There seemed to be more open hills, wildflowers and natural grass than agriculture, although there were as many farmer market stands on the roadside as there are spots on a Dalmation puppy.  First things first, make sure the place takes credit cards!  This was our first stop in a non € country.  Nope, they have their own currency here!  The Czech koruna. Kč.  New money symbol, new math to do on the exchange rates.  And what math!  Koruna to dollar is something like 20 to 1.  Ever carry around 5000 dollar bills?  We did!

Found a great hotel with big bathrooms and new furnishings.  It was 30 minutes from town center, but the local transportation is fantastic, as it is in most of Europe's larger cities.  Free parking and wifi handled, we went to the giant mall next door to buy our bus/trolley passes.  We had had a fairly short drive and it stayed light until 9PM, so heading out at 4PM we still had a long time to go see the sights.

This location was one on mom's bucket list.  And we budgeted up to two and a half days here.   We used Google Maps walking directions to get to the main square, saw the unbelievable mechanical clock and ran into a giant festival with live music!  Flyers were handed to us for a later organ concert in one of the beautiful cathedrals, and that may be my one regret, that we didn't get to hear that.  But there was music everywhere in Europe.  On the metros in Paris musicians would clamber on and play standing up, surfing on the metro line as it jigged and jagged, demonstrating extreme physical talent in addition to their musical skills.

They also have lots and lots of street musicians.  In Prague, many were playing accordians.  But the festival we found in the big square was a guitarist playing pop tunes.  There were booths for food and drink rimming the square and everyone was just plopped down eating, drinking and partying.  They had a booth with Prague Ham, stuck on spits and roasting over open pit fires, sizzling juices throwing a delicious smell in the air.  Also huge kettles of traditional cabbage with bacon and onion.  We got some of each and went to town eating and listening to the music.  

Then we walked to the Charles Bridge which has some of the finest views of the city's famous skyline.  Pastel fairytale minarets and domes, the glistening water and the amazing light of sunset were all postcard perfect.  Our trip home was a bit dicey, we got on the trolley.  Going the wrong direction.  But Rick Steves says that's a great way to see the whole city, and it eventually loops and goes back the other direction.  So we rode 30 minutes out to the edge of town and then another 50 minutes to get back to our hotel.  Got the full view, then off to upload photos to Facebook.  

Day two in Prague, we left Richard at the hotel to do some work and rest his leg, and we four went back to the Charles Bridge area for some shopping!   I had spotted an Antique store next to the trolley stop the night before plus it appeared less touristy than the area by the square.  At home, I collect crystal.  Most of it has some personal meaning to me, and I was thinking a small piece of Bohemian crystal to bring home would be perfect.  There was a crystal store right near that Antique shop.  

We started that day shopping in the hotel gift shop.  They had Pashmina scarves, Cashmere scarves and Silk scarves and we picked several of each before we even left the hotel.  The antique store was filled with a large variety of items, some quirky, some unknown, and some really elegant.  My grandson is named Lincoln Edison, so I had to buy the antique "Edison" lightbulb holder in German!  And a lovely bronze taper holder shaped like my daughter's old dog Leo.  Lindley found some garnet rings, they are her birthstone and there was garnet everywhere.  And amber.  Turns out they mine them both nearby.  I ended up with a green hued "lemon quartz" ring with a big rectangular stone, and an antique looking ring with a clear crystal stone.  

So instead of crystal vases, I took home crystal on my finger.  I love rings and haven't had any that fit since gaining weight, so this was a good day for me.  The next store we found some garnet for my other daughter, who is also a January baby.  Then a handcrafted "made in Prague" store where mom picked up some soaps and lotions for my sis and her hubs.

Kelsey loaded up with a nice sweatshirt and an assortment of tshirts, trinkets and baubles for any number of her friends.  I've never seen so many beer and weed souveniers in my life.   The nice guy at the store also gave me a great deal on a bunch of wooden bookmarks.

Then we wanted a "real" Czech meal and all day mom was looking for a particular pastry.  Her grandmother was Croatian and she had memories of those pastries.  We found an authentic restaurant with a nicely enclosed courtyard and ordered lunch.  Afterwards, we wanted something sweet so we found the particular pastry we had tried at the square that first night.   Called Trdelnik, it is another open fire style cooking.  They roll a big long snake of dough, then wrap it with each piece touching the next row like a slinky around a four inch wooden dowel.  Then that goes over the open fire and is rotated until the dough is cooked, then dusted with sugar and served in a paper cone.  Delightful!  Not the pastries mom remembered growing up in mostly Bohemian Berwin, IL, but still yummy.  Good on mom for remembering the "please and thank you" to use in Prague at the restaurant!

Vienna and Freud

5/30 Fri Venice to Vienna then Prague 5 hr 36 min

Ugh.  And OMG, the scenery is amazing.   We had swapped cars out at Avis in Milan at the airport due to a STABBED TIRE at an Italian Area Servicio, and parked the new car for most of two days at Venice.  Now we were driving it through Europe and noticing the huge loss of the window space from our previous car.  The first rental had an amazing feature.  The ENTIRE HEADLINER pulled back about a foot to display GLASS.  So for Richard, this was very enrolling.  He loves Jeep Wranglers.  Open tops, open sunroofs, open windows, all contribute to the "Awesomesauce" experience of driving.  Our new car didn't have the awesomesauce headliner experience.

Even so, the three row vehicle was getting us into Vienna just fine.  We found the Freud Museum and toured the home of modern psychoanalysis, then found a lovely coffee shop with cappucinnos and croissants.  They had a really great white washed wine box finished wall.

 We stayed that night in a hotel near the airport.  It was a horrible drive in construction zones to get to the place, but once there, the hotel was "passable".  Unfortunatley, they could not take credit cards, their computer system had crashed, so we went to find an ATM to pay for the hotel.  Fillled with a Czech team of female sports fanatics who had obviously just won a match.  Very excited, lots of beer drinking, and we just slept after a very long road trip.  Not sure to this day what sport they played, but had a very "Eastern European" feel to the evening.  I was reminded of Nadia Comenici.

Boat and Breakfast in Venice, and the Cabin Boy is pretty

5/29 Thu Florence to Venice 2 hr 40 min

We had stayed the night prior in Prato, home of the "textile museum" in Italy, which I now wish we had had the time to tour.  My sister in law is an interior designer and I strongly suspect there would have been lovely things to see there.

Alas, we only slept there, blazed through Florence and then booked it in the car onto Venice.  Venice is unique.  For somewhat suspect reasons, it was not on my mother's bucket list.  Some friend she had had said that "the canals smell".  So mom had scratched it off her list at some point and I was bound and determined to put it back on.

It had been a marvelous and miraculous city on our previous trip two years prior and it was the one place I had said "we must come back".    Such amazing architecture, such lovely shops, such beautiful colors and the art glass of Murano.  

But. Venice. Is. Expensive.  

Hotel Huntress to the rescue.  Thank you Hotel gods!  We found a BOAT AND BREAKFAST!!!!  A YACHT.  With rooms.  Each with individual bath/shower areas.  The bathroom had a slatted wood floor.  The sink had a shower nozzle.  The "shower" was "the room".  And a private toilet per room.  So a "triple room" meant a double bed on bottom and a twin bunk on top.  

My daughter and step daughter asked my 78 year old mother to sleep ON THE TOP BUNK.  And my mother said "okay".  I worried for a bit that in the middle of the night my mom would get up to go to the bathroom, step onto some necessary part of anatomy of either my daughter or stepdaughter, and that an emergency room visit would result for multiple parties.  And then I decided not to worry, because, hey, that never solves any problem.  Ever.

So then the miraculous occurs and one of the 20 somethings decides that the Literally, "Cabin Boy" is CUTE.  Like 24 hour boyfriend cute at least.  Maybe 72 hours.  

As mentioned previously, we had a hard time finding the boat, and had picked up two Chinese girls who attend school here in the US who were also hunting for said boat. We ate dinner with them at the recommended restaurant.  The girls all discussed plans.  Their plan was to teach Cabin Boy some English and Chinese.  Our smart daughter's plan was to use Google Translate to flirt.

Our girls won.  He turned into a 72 hour boyfriend with Facebok connection before we had to delete him.  He wanted to move to the US and have beautiful children I think.  But he was sooooo pretty.  *sigh*

http://www.booking.com/hotel/it/venezia-boat-amp-brekfast-caicco-freedom.en-us.html?tab=4&aid=356981&rid=482104512&label=review_am

If this is Wednesday, this must be Tuscany!

5/28 Wed Lugano to Florence 3 hr 59 min

Another four hours in the car with five family members of three generations:)  I think it went well!  This was the day we headed into Italy for the "Area SerVICio's" (proclaimed loudly, with hand gestures.  

We previously visited Italy with Corinne and Steven and had a blast yelling Italian phrases at the top of our voices while tooling down the highway.  This trip, we stopped for our "pea sized bladder" passenger, who shall remain nameless, about every hour.   But these road side stops are NOTHING like the truck stops in America.  They are nice, they are clean, they have gourmet meats and cheeses and wine, and they are filled with lots of candy.  Kelsey found "Crispy M&M's" in the blue package that haven't been sold in the US since the 90's.  

We found our beloved Paprika flavored Pringles again and ate them non stop on the road.  But we also had a sizable collection of bread, meats, cheeses and fruits from Lugano to make on the go sandwiches.  Mustard in a tube, some lovely sliced raclette cheese and salami and Parma.  Which is ham.  Cappucinnos whenever the driver ran out of steam.  We ate our way through Europe, but then if you've seen the pics, you would know that it's our thing:)

Driving into Florence, the hills gradually show up, you see the cypress and other trees on the hillsides, and the lovely, pastoral orchards and vineyards.  Sheep now, not cows.  We were most definitely in Tuscany now, knocking another one off of my mom's bucket list.  I found the Andrea Bocelli and we listened to some opera while driving through Tuscany. *sigh*

Then we took another of our wrong turns (thank you GPS app that did NOT keep up with new construction).  We actually had waited 30 minutes in the Italian Area Servicio with free but slow wifi to download this app.   So we ended up on a high mountainside in a quaint little village.  If there'd been a hotel, we were close enough to Florence that I would have said, "let's book a room for tonight!"  Instead we hopped back on the highway and passed Florence up to stay in a town known for it's textiles.  They had a textile museum even.   We got in just before dark though and chose to eat in the hotel.  Great wifi, a fabulous front desk manager, and the meal was actually quite good.  

We always looked for WIFI and free parking.  Those are mandatory when you're driving through Europe, which meant we were frequently 30 minutes outside of the major towns.  

The next morning we were off to Florence to see David.  We were scared.  Last year when Richard and I went, we didn't find any of the "large, easy to read Parking signs" that Rick Steves had said to look for.  Florence has an old historic town center that you can't drive through.  It's a €100 fine each time you do this.  We had done it approximately four times last year.

This is where the famous David statue by Michaelangelo is located.  We went to Rick Steves trusty Florence guide again and this time we parked at his recommended pay parking lot which had an actual address, which was NOT full, as advertised!  Then we all caught a taxi to the town center and back.  

Richard was kind enough to stand in the LONG line for us (almost 1.5 hours) to get tickets to see David while the four of us took off in two groups to go shop.  For Italian leather:)   Someone in Oxford, MS got a very nice purse from her daughter and my mom got her first taste of real Italian Gelato.  

We whipped through the museum, saw David, which was as amazing as you can imagine,  and immediately set out to our next stop, Venice.