I can’t begin to say what a thrill it was when the train came out of the tunnel into Riomaggiore, the first stop in the Cinque Terre, and I got my first glimpse of the sea. I arrived here in Vernazza about 12:30 this morning and I wish I’d spent my entire vacation here. It’s…
My train for Castelnuovo di Garfagnana leaves in about an hour, so Iàve been wandering around Lucca this morning, took a bike ride on the walls (itàs like the Lucchesi version of Greenlake), and popped into this Internet spot, where they charge ten cents a minute. In Firenze I got 30 minutes for a Euro.…
No long post right now. Iàm in Lucca. Itàs lovely. And hot. And supposed to be hotter tomorrow, like 35°. So I am going to take a day trip by train up into the Alps, around Castelnuovo and Barga.
One last post from Firenze. It remains hot and sunny, and I am glad to have the respite of my air conditioned B&B in a very convenient location. Iàve been to more things than I can remember. I have been writing down highlights in my journal, so Iàll be able to share details later. The…
Sono in Firenze. Forget the throngs. (Take San Gimignano and multiple by 1000.) And I donàt know why there is a need for a hundred different booths on the street selling the exact same belts, scarves, and T‑shirts. None of that matters. I was here 5 minutes, just walking to my hotel from the bus,…
Sorry to all who have been waiting for my first report; I only today discovered that the hotel has internet access. And this keyboard types some bizarre (Italian) characters, so if I accidentally type some accents, forgivè me. So the first thing to report it that it has been terribly hot the whole time. Today…
The cab came on time, my flight left on time and actually got me home early. Joy was there to pick me up, and I got home to find my house and my dog and my garden all looking just fine (thank you, Ursula).
The country itself … it’s grand. It’s so damn grand.… It’s like trying to paint Niagara Falls or a brilliant sunset or the Grand Canyon or some other visual aspect of nature which can only be described by people who have lived in it, have soaked it up, have been in that environment long enough…
8:10 a.m. What a difference a good night’s sleep can make. I’m ready and looking forward to my first-ever helicopter ride, and even though there are some clouds, the sun is out. The helicopter people are picking me up at 8:30, so I’m having a muffin and coffee while I’m waiting.
5:00 a.m. I just got dropped off at Denali River Cabins, where I have an hour to wait before my 6:00 departure. There’s a restaurant that’s supposed to open at 5:00, so I can get breakfast. A few other brave souls are here waiting for it to open as well. I’m sitting here wearing a…
7:30 a.m. I’m sitting across from the Alaska Railroad depot, which doesn’t look even remotely like what I expected. I imagined a quaint village depot. No, it’s nothing like Grand Central Station, but it’s more like a small white office building than a train station. Until I saw “THE ALASKA RAILROAD” on the front of…
7:05 a.m. Hard to believe that by the end of today I’ll be back in Anchorage. Five days ago, the thought of being in Anchorage was thrilling. Today it just means that my Kenai adventure is over. Yesterday on the road to Hope along Turnagain Arm, we stopped to check out the bore tide coming in.…
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