It has been one long perpetual summer. Of course, up until 2 weeks ago, it didn't feel so much like it. Too much of being ground up by the machine (you know, that 'working for the MAN' stuff). Not enough being outside and getting the recommended daily dosage of Vitamin D and fresh air. But we have been lucky. A small respite was had. That window joyfully known as 'vacation' was opened if only for a brief 14 days. And where, what, how, might you ask? Italia. Yep. A huge swath through the land of cheese, wine, cured meats, great furniture and car design.
We gave up the cape and goggles (superhero daytime job) to capable hands, and on September 20th, boarded a big Lufthansa plane tired, but ready for the break. 14 days found us winding our way through Venice, Umbria, Naples, Capri, and finally Portofino. We won't bore the average-reader-with-the-attention-span-of-a-gnat with the gruesome details, but a 10K overview (along with requisite snark and praise of course):
Venice - Nice architecture. The Peggy Guggenheim? Eh, not all that. Of course, take this with a grain of salt since the Binkomonster CTO positively HATES Jackson Pollack (and there's an awful lot of Pollack in that collection). The 2 Max Ernst pieces were intriguing, and a big thumbs up for the Magritte. Murano rocked. Glass blowing furnaces/shops every other door, and more artsy glass than you can shake a stick at. The museum wasn't bad, although the ancient pieces of glass bits were on the more boring side, they did have some VERY IMPRESSIVE martini glasses (worth the price of admission). San Marco square = predictable/touristy/damn pigeons all over. Like it better EMPTY. Which leads to another observation. Venice = very annoyingly CROWDED. We're talking late September (off-season?) WTF? GO HOME people. Food and wine were great. A huge gold star for Harry's bar. The Bellini's were FANTASTIC, and we simply did not have enough of these. Another annoying observation? Had dinner at outside bistro, seated next to a couple from Ohio. The woman was eating french fries, and a bland regular/mixed salad with oil and vinegar. *Sigh* Some people just don't deserve a stay in Italy. You go 3000+ miles to eat what you can get in your own backyard? Nice bar in the Rialto full of locals (great tapas and even better drinks).
Umbria - We want to relocate here. No. Seriously. The castle, the office, everything. This place just rocks beyond belief. Verdant hills/trees as far as the eye can see. Small medieval towns everywhere. The most amazing food on earth. Wine that would make you weep. No crowds. Just peace and quiet and pasta. (sound of quiet sobbing....)
Naples - Hmmm.. suddenly we have a better understanding of NYC/New Jersey Italians (it all makese sense now). Not a favorite stop. Trains look worse than subway cars in NYC proper. Humid. Poorer. Folks don't seem quite as happy as the Northerners. Sorrento isn't bad (but much of above masked by large percentage of tourists). More stupid conversations overheard: prototypical suburban New Jersey/Italian housewife out on her first international foray "oh we went to this restawraaant and the waiter gave us bread and ahlive oyel and it was fahntaaastic!" "oh the waiter served us a bottle of whiine and it was reeeeally great!" Lady, we'll take a gamble here and state that we don't think you would recognize a good bottle of wine if it walked up and hit you on the side of the head. Stick to your Friday potlucks enjoying that "homemade" lasagna. Really.
Capri - Aw yeah. There aren't enough superlatives in Webster's to adequately describe the coolio factor. Let's just say that if we can't relocate to Umbria, Capri would be perfectly acceptable.
Portofino/Santa Marguerita Ligure. - Charming. It does hold up to the image you see in 'Enchanted April'. Lots of trees, castle type structures hidden under leafy growth. Beautiful bay, and amazing coastline. It would of course, have been a wee bit more enjoyable if the sun had deigned to show itself once or twice. It was very rainy for the duration, but then there is beauty to be admired within those conditions too. Very good food (O Magazin how we miss you!). Our hotel was adequate with the best features being the bathroom and the private deck with oceanview (and a table for for, AND a chaise). Again, it could have been enjoyed to the fullest with some sun, but we did manage to crawl out one evening and consume a bottle of wine.
The last day saw us take a very comfortable taxi ride to Genoa, hop on a prop plane and head up to Germany to board the big plane that would be taking us home. Although the ride on the prop plane was a bit nervewracking, we will admit that the view of the Alps was nothing short of stunning. So now we are home. With our wine, alcohol, shoes, scarves and various toys. The vacation balance has been exhausted, and we plod on for another year to the next big break.
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