Italian Driving Lessons

The idea was to avoid the labyrinth of Naples by travelling on the freeway to Sorrento. It was a good idea in theory but the guidebook didn't mention anything about the mechanics of the toll system.  We went flying through the place to get "billettos" when we first entered the freeway. When it was needed at the toll booth to compute the amount we owed, we sat with the arm down and little voice saying something in Italian to us over a speaker. We put in our MasterCard and were charged $120. Live and learn I guess.

The whole day today has been difficult.  The traffic on the mountainous road to Sorrento was bumper to bumper. Poor Laurie was changing gears every two minutes. Officially the road is exactly two lanes wide, no sidewalk, no parking. People on scooters and motorcycles were using the centre line as another lane, zipping in and out of busses letting passengers off, looky-loos who were parking half in the lane while they ogled the stunning views over the cliff edge. Cyclists were making better time going uphill than we were.

Hotel Michaelangelo - our current home

When we got to Sorrento the difficulties mounted as the numbering on the buildings was screwy and of course there were no road name signs. We finally found the hotel that we had booked with the travel agent.  However they were very sorry but they had made a mistake and other guests had our room for another night.  They had booked us in a very nice four star hotel closer to the centre of town. This is where we are now sipping very expensive gin and tonics.




Sorrento is an old town perched on the edge of the cliff high above the ocean. It seems like half of Italy is here enjoying their summer vacation. That would account for the heavy traffic. I had thought we were coming to a small town to relax for three days.

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The only "beach" around are private docks anchored to the base of the cliffs.
.At least we had a nice seafood lunch. I indulged myself tonight by buying clothes for my grandsons.Tomorrow we will find the laundromat and try to catch up on our laundry and we have tickets for an evening of opera arias.

Adventures with Uncle Andre

Formia, near Minturno

What possessed us to think that we could rent a car in Rome and drive south to the Amalfi coast?  Our ultimate goal today was to visit the Minturno Commonwealth War Cemetery.







First we had to find the Avis Car Rental Office in Rome.  Dragging our luggage, soliciting opinions from police officers and by much trial and error, we found the office and were taken by van to the sight of our rental car -a very small Fiat Panda. The trunk is full with one of our suitcases; the other has to ride in the back seat. Avis cars are given to you with a minimum gas or diesel in them and none is available. Finding diesel was our first priority plus finding a route around the Roman ruins, churches and other monuments, one way streets, passing-on-the-right scooters, and dawdling pedestrians. Our arsenal was two GPS, a Rome map and a map of Italy. Laurie was driving and I was navigating. By some fluke we made it unscathed with few wrong turns!

 

Cemetery Register

 
 

Finding the  Commonwealth War Cemetery was another matter. After a three and a half hour  drive, the GPS took us down a dirt road and not to our destination - more hopping out and asking for directions.  It turned out that we were not far away but the instructions included turning left into a No Entry street (with no other option than entering a freeway). Fortunately the traffic was light.

I never met my Uncle Andre and I know little about him from my father or other relatives. He was six years older than my dad, taller and slighter too. He looked reflective in photos and didn’t have the impish demeanor of Dad. He must have had a bit of a rebellious streak though because he played stride piano even though he came from a straight-laced Baptist family. I know nothing of his occupation, but he must have had one as he joined the war at age twenty-five. Both he and my dad signed up to be scouts in different regiments. Dad was put into the tank corps because he wrecked too many motorcycles and he got into mischief while hanging around waiting for the regiment to catch up to him. Since Uncle Andre spent the whole of his war as a scout for the British Army, it is likely he was responsible, although he never had a higher rank than Lance Corporal.  He may have shared my father’s dislike of the military machine. It was interesting that both brothers chose riding motorcycles as their preference for “doing their bit”.  They had an older brother that was killed at age 12 while riding a bicycle.  After that their mother decreed that no one in the family would ride a bike again.

 I have copy of a letter that Andre sent my grandmother.  It was one of the few things left of the family memorabilia. The letter is beautifully written, both in appearance and text. It contrasts sharply with the inscription  that the family had placed on his grave marker in the Minterno Commonwealth War Cemetery -  “Look with sorrow, as you gaze with horror at the modern ways, the symbols of tomorrow.” He was killed December 9, 1943 along with another chap from his regiment. He was 29 years old. Uncle Andre never married nor had children.

 

 

 

We stumbled upon our hotel on the front in Minturno, now a tourist beach town. As soon as we unpacked and went to set up the computer and access the internet, we realized that we had left our our power adapter in the last hotel. Although the hotel had one to borrow we realized we had to buy a new one.  We borrowed some single gear old clunkers from the hotel and pedaled off down the promenade. The “i” information lady suggested we might get satisfaction at “Chinatown”.  We weren’t sure where this was and had visions of a section of the town with a Chinese gate and such.  The red silk lanterns and gawdy polyester flowers outside a shop indicated that “Chinatown” meant the same as “dollar store”. Laurie found the power adapter and we cycled back as thunder rolled in the mountains behind the town and lightning forked the sky some distance away. We had to celebrate today’s triumph so we parked the bikes and toasted Uncle Andre with a beer in a bar on the beach.

 

First Day of Second Half of Trip

We started the second half of our Italy experience at a slower pace. We took a taxi to the train station where we caught the 11:23am train to Rome.  We got stopped in a tunnel for 15 minutes and when we emerged the rain was pelting down. At the central rail station a heated argument took place between a man trying to get out of our carriage and a man trying to get on at the same door. As they yelled back and forth people piled up waiting to exit and people were getting soaked waiting to get on.  There was something particularly Italian about the whole scenario.

When we finally got off we had to walk for blocks in the downpour. We got soaked as did the clothes in my luggage. It was uncomfortable but it wasn't cold. It was supposed to be a five minute walk to our hotel from the station; it took us much longer. Trying to follow the GPS without getting the phone wet was a little tricky. The streets are not labeled and they frequently change names midway so walking in Rome is a bit like a trip to the corn maze for Laurie.

After a rest in our hotel room we ventured out for dinner. We were late for our reservation because we saw sunglasses on sale on the way. Laurie had to replace the second pair that he has lost this summer. We finally found the restaurant - Osteria da Fortunata. It was very well rated and it was full of Italian people.They had a woman sitting in the window making pasta.

We invested the money that Peg and Hubie had sent for our anniversary in a bottle of Pinot Grigio. Thanks very much! It was delicious.

Final Day of the Choir Tour

Today, Sunday, is the last day of the Amabilis Singers tour of Italy.  Many of us are going on to other destinations, either in Italy or other places in Europe. I think we can be described as tired but happy.

After buffet breakfast some of us made the trek into historic Orvieto for a guided walking tour, others went shopping. Laurie and I did a bit of both and then returned to the hotel before the arranged rendezvous for the bus.

The cathedral above the house
s on our walk into town

We look a local bus to the Funicular to reach the bottom of the hill and then caught a taxi. It was our Magical Mystery Tour to celebrate our fortieth wedding anniversary.

Clock tower with moving man that strikes the bell

Olive wood shop

 

The group assembled for dinner tonight. Gifts and words of appreciation were expressed for the tour leader Cristina, the bus driver Fauto, the volunteer helpers that loaded the bags and provided security for our things, Carol our very organized Amabilis connection, Ingrid our fabulous pianist and Ramona our musical director whose energy and passion for the project got us all here together to make music and have fun!

Orvieto - Seventh Performance

There had been several severe accidents on the highway on Friday so Fausto, our driver was concerned that the regular route from Ravenna to Orvieto would be crowded with the traffic that had been told not to drive the previous day. So he took a scenic back roads route through the Umbrian countryside. Unfortunately the restaurants that they had expected to be open were closed.  We pulled in at an Auto Grill and all 70 of us lined up at one till to pay for our pizza or sandwich.

View of old town of Orvieto from our room

More view from room.

 Our hotel is about a 15 minute drive into town. We then had quite a hike to the Piazza del Duomo.

Marble carvings on front of Duomo

After a long day of driving there wasn't a lot of time to freshen up before heading out to the Orvieto cathedral. We were singing at the Saturday mass but a wedding preceded the mass so there was some hanging around. Eventually we were set up out of sight in a corner to the right of the altar. I hope we sounded like angels. Thunder rumbled during the service and we came out to find that there had been a huge rain storm.

Orvieto cathedral

Some of us went out to dinner and whiled away the rest of the evening after mass in the Italian way -  lots of wine, good food and friendly conversation with fellow choir members and local families. We went back to the hotel in two of the four taxis in town.

Sixth Concert Ravenna

We arrived in Ravenna from Montecatini Terme on Friday after a three hour bus trip. We met our guides for the walking tour of the architecture and mosaics from the Byzantine period. Our effusive guides stretched the historic talks to such a length that Cristina jokingly commented over the p.a. system in the bus the next day that she had wished she'd had a gun to "put them down" (so we could get on with our scheduled activities of group dinner and concert).



Basilica de San Francesco 5th century mosaic of 3 wise men, Jesus and Mary

Basilica de San Francesco is constantly sinking
 and water with goldfish permanently sits under altar area

 



One of the buildings that we visited during the walking tour, the Basilica di San Vitale, was the venue for our sixth concert. This town is known for its appreciation of culture; the audience was largely comprised of locals who had come specifically to hear us. It was difficult to focus on Ramona's conducting with the wonderful art in your peripheral vision. This was many choir members' favourite venue.



Basilica di San Vitale outside
 



Basilica di San Vitale inside

Free Day and Mini Fifth Concert in Florence

On Thursday some people went off to Florence after breakfast on the coach for shopping or museum visits. I stayed behind to try to recuperate and catch up on the blog.

It was calm and civilized in Montecatini Terme but Laurie said it was hot and crowded in Florence although he did enjoy the Uffizi gallery.

Late in the afternoon the choir assembled in the Piazzale Michelangelo for four songs.