Well, we’ve been traveling for 4 months. One third of our year long trip is over. During that time,
we have been to 18 countries, most recently San Marino yesterday. What a gorgeous, if tiny, country! It is perched on a precipice, 1000 feet above the Italian countryside below, with views stretching forever to the Adriatic and the mountains to the west.
We are spending a week in a small resort complex near Gubbio, in the Umbria section of Italy. From our window, we can see farms and mountains, and, in the distance, the medieval city of Gubbio. There is fog in the valley every morning, but it has burned off by late morning on most days. We wake to the sounds of cows and
roosters—no cars, or airplanes. We are using this week to rest and recharge our travel batteries. While we have not grown tired of our trip, it is wonderful to not have to plan where we are off to, not have to pack, to stay “home” in the evenings, playing cards with the kids.
As we lounge, we have been talking about the past four months. By and large, the trip has been incredibly easy. We have enjoyed being together and enjoyed the places we have visited. Along the way, we have met many people (lots of Australians!) The first question we are inevitably
asked is, “What is your favorite place?” We do not have a single answer. Every place we’ve been has been wonderful. England, our first stop, was clearly our favorite, until we went to Wales and Scotland, which were just as great. Then, Great Britain was our favorite until we traveled to Norway and Sweden. Each successive country had something special about it. The national park in Croatia, the mountains in Slovenia and Slovakia, the fjords in Norway, window shopping in Istanbul, the views in Santorini, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, St. Basil’s in Moscow, St. Peter’s in Vatican City, the food and wine in Italy, the beer in Germany and the Czech Republic, Budapest at night, the old city of Dubrovnik. These are all our favorites.
There are some things that have provided us with extra enjoyment. Ethan was in hysterics
reading the street signs in Great Britain. His two favorites were “The Elderly Person Crossing” and the “No Shoulder” (or Sharp Drop Off). The former was a sign with two old people crossing the street. The silhouette of the people showed an old man, walking hunched over with a cane. The person behind was an elderly woman walking bent over, too, and it looked like her hand was in the old man's back pocket. I call it, “Beware of Elderly Pickpockets.” The latter sign was a picture of a car running off a cliff. I think it meant beware of running off the road into the water, which was 50 feet below, but the picture was so funny. Like it meant “No Diving With Your Car.”
Siena especially liked visiting a certain city in Italy. Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? They are overlooking one of the nicest squares in Italy. Twice a year they hold a mad horse race around its perimeter called The Palio. This is Siena, the city our daughter is named for. She loved seeing gelaterias named Siena. Bars, banks, restaurants, T-Shirts, pins, and every other piece of trash you could imagine, all emblazoned with her, usually unusual, name. Cool! Ethan wants us to visit a town called Ethan.
I get a kick out of the Renaissance paintings of Biblical figures with Guiseppe, the local town
administrator, and Paulo, the guy who paid the artist to paint the piece. “Look, honey, there’s me with Jesus and Mary! Did I tell you I ran into them the other day?” I mean, it strikes me as a bit ludicrous, but I guess it was all the rage for a few hundred years. Like the ancient equivalent of getting your picture taken with a life-sized cardboard cut out of a famous person.
Kim has enjoyed talking with the locals, even if they don’t understand him, and he certainly doesn’t always understand them! I must say his German has been extremely useful. Even here in Italy, there are lots of traveling Germans with whom he strikes up conversations. Of course, he does sometimes throw out a German phrase instead of the appropriate one for the current
country. Like greeting people in Italy with Guten Tag! Most people have spoken excellent English, though, and we have made new friends in Vienna, in Prague, in Bratislava, in Krems, in Gubbio, on the Hurtigruten, from Melbourne, and from Canada, South Africa and Perth.
The world is full of some wonderful people and places and we feel very fortunate to be meeting the former and seeing the latter. We do miss our friends and relatives back home, and our pooch. After four months of travel, we each finished the following sentence. The world is: (Siena) “….our oyster”. (Ethan)”…a big place.” (Wendy)”…lots of
fun.” (Kim)”…so much more full of wonder than I ever imagined.”
To end with the Beattie Beer (and wine) Index: This area of Italy is covered in vineyards; in fact, we can see two from our room. The wine is dry and cheap, two of our favorite adjectives to describe wine. We shared a half liter at lunch today, for 2 Euro fifty, about 3.50 USD.
So, with a glass of Chianti, or Brunello (both local wines), we say
Salute! Yamas! Sherefe! Slainte! Nastrovya! Prost! Skor! Skol!
Cheers, to all of you, in whatever language
The Beatties
we have been to 18 countries, most recently San Marino yesterday. What a gorgeous, if tiny, country! It is perched on a precipice, 1000 feet above the Italian countryside below, with views stretching forever to the Adriatic and the mountains to the west.We are spending a week in a small resort complex near Gubbio, in the Umbria section of Italy. From our window, we can see farms and mountains, and, in the distance, the medieval city of Gubbio. There is fog in the valley every morning, but it has burned off by late morning on most days. We wake to the sounds of cows and
roosters—no cars, or airplanes. We are using this week to rest and recharge our travel batteries. While we have not grown tired of our trip, it is wonderful to not have to plan where we are off to, not have to pack, to stay “home” in the evenings, playing cards with the kids.As we lounge, we have been talking about the past four months. By and large, the trip has been incredibly easy. We have enjoyed being together and enjoyed the places we have visited. Along the way, we have met many people (lots of Australians!) The first question we are inevitably
asked is, “What is your favorite place?” We do not have a single answer. Every place we’ve been has been wonderful. England, our first stop, was clearly our favorite, until we went to Wales and Scotland, which were just as great. Then, Great Britain was our favorite until we traveled to Norway and Sweden. Each successive country had something special about it. The national park in Croatia, the mountains in Slovenia and Slovakia, the fjords in Norway, window shopping in Istanbul, the views in Santorini, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, St. Basil’s in Moscow, St. Peter’s in Vatican City, the food and wine in Italy, the beer in Germany and the Czech Republic, Budapest at night, the old city of Dubrovnik. These are all our favorites.There are some things that have provided us with extra enjoyment. Ethan was in hysterics
reading the street signs in Great Britain. His two favorites were “The Elderly Person Crossing” and the “No Shoulder” (or Sharp Drop Off). The former was a sign with two old people crossing the street. The silhouette of the people showed an old man, walking hunched over with a cane. The person behind was an elderly woman walking bent over, too, and it looked like her hand was in the old man's back pocket. I call it, “Beware of Elderly Pickpockets.” The latter sign was a picture of a car running off a cliff. I think it meant beware of running off the road into the water, which was 50 feet below, but the picture was so funny. Like it meant “No Diving With Your Car.”
Siena especially liked visiting a certain city in Italy. Where in the world are Ethan and Siena? They are overlooking one of the nicest squares in Italy. Twice a year they hold a mad horse race around its perimeter called The Palio. This is Siena, the city our daughter is named for. She loved seeing gelaterias named Siena. Bars, banks, restaurants, T-Shirts, pins, and every other piece of trash you could imagine, all emblazoned with her, usually unusual, name. Cool! Ethan wants us to visit a town called Ethan.
I get a kick out of the Renaissance paintings of Biblical figures with Guiseppe, the local town
administrator, and Paulo, the guy who paid the artist to paint the piece. “Look, honey, there’s me with Jesus and Mary! Did I tell you I ran into them the other day?” I mean, it strikes me as a bit ludicrous, but I guess it was all the rage for a few hundred years. Like the ancient equivalent of getting your picture taken with a life-sized cardboard cut out of a famous person.Kim has enjoyed talking with the locals, even if they don’t understand him, and he certainly doesn’t always understand them! I must say his German has been extremely useful. Even here in Italy, there are lots of traveling Germans with whom he strikes up conversations. Of course, he does sometimes throw out a German phrase instead of the appropriate one for the current
country. Like greeting people in Italy with Guten Tag! Most people have spoken excellent English, though, and we have made new friends in Vienna, in Prague, in Bratislava, in Krems, in Gubbio, on the Hurtigruten, from Melbourne, and from Canada, South Africa and Perth.The world is full of some wonderful people and places and we feel very fortunate to be meeting the former and seeing the latter. We do miss our friends and relatives back home, and our pooch. After four months of travel, we each finished the following sentence. The world is: (Siena) “….our oyster”. (Ethan)”…a big place.” (Wendy)”…lots of
fun.” (Kim)”…so much more full of wonder than I ever imagined.”To end with the Beattie Beer (and wine) Index: This area of Italy is covered in vineyards; in fact, we can see two from our room. The wine is dry and cheap, two of our favorite adjectives to describe wine. We shared a half liter at lunch today, for 2 Euro fifty, about 3.50 USD.
So, with a glass of Chianti, or Brunello (both local wines), we say
Salute! Yamas! Sherefe! Slainte! Nastrovya! Prost! Skor! Skol!
Cheers, to all of you, in whatever language
The Beatties
1 comment:
Courtesy of Heather, I got to check out your performances on horseback! Siena, you look like a natural!
Brenda (sometimes known as Epona--look it up!)
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