Our Photos

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Our flight was relatively uneventful given the hurricane of fuss over the volcano in Iceland.

The plane did detour to a more Southern route to avoid the smoke and ash and we encountered some fairly stiff turbulence as we entered the European airspace.

But we arrived in Milan only about 20 minutes late.

It began with Facebook.

I was FB friended by Giuseppe Nucatola, the son of Salvatore Nucatola, a distant cousin whom we were fortunate enough to meet in 2005 in my grandfather's town of birth, Palermo. Giuseppe and his wife Laura live north of Trieste. They said, "We hope you will come and visit us someday." If you know me, you know that my passion is Nucatola genealogy and meeting members of the extended Nucatola family. When people suggest that we visit them, with Nick's help, I will be there as soon as I can. The soonest we could visit Giuseppe and Laura was during my spring break this April.

In a recent note from our longtime friends Agnès and Jose Maria, they said that we should tell them where we were spending our vacation in 2010 and they would meet us there. Nick suggested Lake Como. Could we combine a visit with both couples in Lake Come and Trieste, making various stops along the way? It seemed like a great idea to us.

Many airports were being closed because of atmospheric ash from the eruption of a volcano in Iceland. Ours was one of the last planes to leave JFK for Malpensa Airport in Milan. And Agnès was on one of the last planes to leave Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris before it was closed.

We looked forward with excitement to arriving in Milan.

We landed at Malpensa airport only about twenty minutes late, a minor inconvenience considering the Iceland volcano was about to close the airport. Our new, four wheeled luggage arrived safely as well. We glided over to the train station underneath the airport. There, the ticket seller gave us exact directions to Como, which involved changing trains in Saronno. Could it be the Saronno of Amaretto fame?

As soon as we exited the train station, we were amazed by the beauty of the lake and its mountain setting around the bustling city of Como. We found the docks and figured out how to take the high speed hydrofoil to Lenno and our hotel. The hydrofoil lifted completely out of the water as we whisked along in the haze, half way up the lake in about twenty five minutes, in time for an excellent lunch in our hotel, the Hotel San Giorgio, which we devoured with enthusiasm (pasta Bolognese and pasta w/tomatoes and basil). The hotel is right on the water and right next to the ferry terminal, extremely convenient, quiet and with beautiful gardens—a great choice from Jose-Maria’s guidebook.

After a nap we went for a walk in the garden. We heard our names being called. Jose-Maria and Agnès were waving from a hotel window. We joined them and went for a walk in the quiet town and checked out the entrance to the Villa del Balbianello which was closed for the evening. We sauntered back to the hotel and a delightful meal while J-M & Nick took turns playing with a new iPad. At dinner Agnès pondered, "We don't understand why Americans don't want other Americans to be able to buy health insurance." Nick ate a lake fish, Barbara had ravioli with a light butter and sage sauce.

Nick's job was to make the travel arrangements and mine was to speak Italian. I was hesitant at first. We followed signs to the train ticket office. The clerk spoke perfect English and gave us very clear directions for taking the train, including a transfer to Como. In Como we were approached by a couple who told us they were from Albany, probably because Nick was wearing a cap from his alma mater, RPI, which is in the Albany area. Their travel nightmare included having their plane land in Rome instead of Milan, waiting in the airport for hours until enough cars were added to the Rome-to-Milan train so that they could get tickets on it, and then arriving so late that the only way they could meet their daughter in Como was to spend $235 on a taxi.

Many people have told me that I'd love Lake Como. When that happens, I am always aware that falling in love is a subjective experience, and I generally doubt that I will fall in love as deeply as they have. I was wrong. I was in love immediately. We were on a boat gliding atop a lake surrounded by mountains, passing medieval buildings of muted colors on the shore! I looked forward to more boat trips on the lake.

Our home base was a small town called Lenno. Our hotel was adjacent to the dock and right on the water, with no roads or traffic sounds. It was lovely. Fortunately, the hotel had a restaurant, because we hadn't had a meal since we left the plane. I have never eaten Bolognese sauce before because I didn't think I would like it. Wrong again. I loved it. Nick had one of his favorites, pasta with a light tomato and basil sauce.

At home Nick is very careful about his diet. One of the things on his no-no list is pasta. Since this was a vacation in the food paradise of the world, he splurged a little. Or maybe more than a little. But it was worth it.

It was so great to be with Agnès and Jose Maria again! Jose Maria came to New York during the fall, but Agnès could not get time off from her job. Whenever we get together the conversations flow easily and the guys seem if they had just talked with each other last week.

Being too tired to venture very far, we opted to have dinner at the hotel, where the food was again delicious. We looked forward to spending the next day exploring with our friends.

After breakfast we all headed out for Tremezzo and the famous Villa Carlotta on foot since we missed the boat. We walked along a marked pathway up the side of the mountain, across, and down again seeing spectacular views of the lake and environs. Though it took one and a half hours instead of twenty minutes as advertised it was a wonderful introduction to the area. We found ourselves glad that we didn't stay in Tremezzo because the hotels are situated right on the heavily trafficked and noisy road next to the lake. In Lenno the main road is inland.

Villa Carlotta is grand. We visited the house and then found an out-of-way trattoria for lunch. Then back to the Villa gardens which, being 150 years old, had blooming rhododendron trees twenty meters tall. Spring flowers and colors were everywhere.

We caught a boat back to Lenno. Barbara went for a nap while the rest of us went to the local Villa del Balbianello, less grand but more beautiful than Villa Carlotta, with a 300 degree view of the lake. It did require a long hike around a mountain to get there. They locked the gate after we got in.

For dinner we ate at Trattoria San Stefano, recommended by the hotel, with regional cuisine. Nick & Barbara had veal limone; J-M & Agnes fish.WE seemed to be the only tourists there.

Saturday was to be a full day of exploration. On the way to the boat dock, we learned that Agnès loves gardens as much as Nick does. We found out that we were reading the very complex boat schedule incorrectly, and there would not be another boat for some time. As Nick said, we were told that the walk to Tremezzo would take twenty minutes. Full of energy, we ventured ahead. There were many uphill paths and staircases, all steep. Later Jose Maria was to tell us that he felt a tightening in his chest while we were ascending the hills! We loved passing the homes and villas and gardens. We imagined living in one of them. Then we imagined getting all the supplies we would need up the hills. We decided that we'd prefer to admire the homes on the hills than live in one of them.

Villa Carlotta is a magnificent mansion that was given by Albert of Prussia's wife Princess Marianne of Nassau, to her daughter Carlotta upon her wedding to Georg II of Saxe-Meinengen. Got that? My knowledge of European history is sadly lacking, but I was soon to discover that most European heads of state were related. There are fantastic views from the villa of the lake and of Bellaggio on the opposite shore.

Jose Maria correctly thought that food at someplace out-of-the-way would be better than food at a restaurant on the main road that was geared for tourists. He was so right. We climbed a hill and were the only people lunching al fresco under a clear blue sky at a little trattoria. Jose Maria and I had delicious homemade pasta, possibly Bolognese.

I, too, loved the gardens at Villa Carlotta. I wanted to visit Villa del Balbianello with the others, but I was afraid to put too much stress on my back after all the walking we had done. It was a good decision. I was perky again at dinner.

It started out very rainy, but that did not dampen our plans. First we went to Bellaggio but found the garden tour closed because of the rain. So we sat at a café, sipping cappuccino and coming up with plan B. We decided to go to Varenna and Menaggio.

Varenna is both beautiful and quiet. We visited the Villa Monastero and its gardens there—occupied until the 20's by a German family. The weather cleared gradually.

Lunch was at a tourist restaurant on the main road. Barbara's only poor meal of the trip, tortellini w/cheese—salty and undercooked. We ferried over to Menaggio to walk around. We found it a bit of a disappointment—no great sights, architecture or museums. After climbing steep, cobble-stoned streets, we had a nice view from the top of the hill of the town below us. We headed back to Lenno for dinner again at Trattoria San Stefano.

Let me start by thanking my colleague, Cathy, who suggested that I bring a lightweight waterproof jacket with a hood. I needed it! But rain or no rain, we were going to be out and about as much as possible.

We figured out the boat schedule and explored our way through Bellaggio, Varenna, and Menaggio. Unfortunately, I neglected to bring our tour book, Rick Steves' Italy, with us. Athough the book does recommend a restaurant on the main road that caters to tourists, we went to the wrong one. This was the only unsatisfying meal I had during the trip. I learned from that point to order fresh homemade pasta so as to avoid getting frozen pasta cooked al dente, which, to my taste, is a synonym for hard.

I'm not sure what I ate at Trattoria San Stefano that night. I'm pretty sure that Nick had lake fish, which he liked. We were definitely the only tourists in the restaurant, and conversations with Agnès and Jose were still flowing freely. Even wlth the rain, it was a great day filled with stimulating conversation with our friends.

After a fond adieu, we headed out early on our own for the next leg of our journey, to Padova [Padua], near Venice.

The Majestic Toscanelli, w/four stars was our fanciest accommodation so far. Our walk there from the station was a little too far for foot travel. For dinner, despite a bad review by the hotel clerk but a great review by Rick Steves' travel book, we ate at Osteria Dei Fabbrio. Probably the regional cuisine was too much for many Americans, but we enjoyed it. We ate pasta with various sauces.

Padova is a big college town, flooded with (noisy) students but with art treasures galore as all the famous painters spent time there. Galileo was a college professor at the University here before he went to Pisa and troubles with the church. We were near the market center with a magnificent large market building.

It's funny, but Agnès and I didn't get to asking about our children until just before we were to leave Lenno. Of course I was glad that her children and granddaughter are well.

We met a fellow at the boat dock who could not get a flight to New York because of the volcanic activity. He said his boss understood that there was nothing he could do, other than to enjoy Lake Como longer!

Nick and Jose Maria were still chatting enthusiastically up to the time that we had to go our separate ways. I told Agnès that they were cut from the same cloth. She liked that expression.

The train journey to Padova from Como was easy and relaxing.

Although the bar across from our hotel room was a hangout for college kids, the noise level didn't keep us from getting to sleep quickly. We had an early reservation for the Scrovegni Chapel in the morning.

We had an early morning reservation to see the famous Giotto frescos at the Scrovegni Chapel, as they may only be visited by twenty five people at a time for exactly fifteen minutes. It was quiet for our viewing, but as we left we saw crowds queuing for the next time slot. No photos, alas. We headed off to the market area to look at the verdure (veggies) and a pizza lunch before heading back to the station, via public bus this time.

We took a milk train to Verona, which was almost an hour late getting in, but we caught the right bus to get to the Hotel Aurora, which was right on the market/tourist square. High up, it was almost quiet. The staff were very helpful. We ate at Osteria Del Duca where the food was also regional. Horse and donkey were on the menu. We did not experiment, eating pasta, eggplant and mozzarella. Being full of energy after dinner we did half of Rick Steves' walking tour at night, which had its own uncrowded pleasures.

Padua is easy to navigate once you are familiar with it. Everything is within walking distance. We walked to the Scrovegni after breakfast and were in the first group of visitors to see the frescoes. We had never heard of them before; they were so beautiful. It is kind of like the Sistine Chapel, but there were only five other people in the room. Nick bore his disappointment that no photos were allowed very well.

We checked out but left our luggage in the hotel so that we could visit the Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua. Nick was not aware of St. Anthony and my reliance upon him. St. Anthony is the patron saint of lost items. Whenever I lose something, I step back and say a little prayer to St. Anthony. Obviously this was taught to me by my mother. Very often, this clears my head so that I can find the lost item.

Many people had told me that they had a feeling of spirituality in Assisi. I so wanted that feeling, but we found Assisi's cathedral dark and uninviting. The fact that the temperature was more than 100 degrees did not help. Padua was different. I found the spirituality I was searching for. Many prayerful people felt it, too.

In addition to praying for things you have lost, you can also pray for things you've never had. I told Nick that if my prayer comes true, he will have to bring me back to Padua so that I can thank St. Anthony.

Back in town, I realized that I had not had any pizza or gelato yet. We ordered a slice of zucchini and yellow pepper pizza. Each slice is twice the size of an American pizza slice. They fold it in half so it looks like an open calzone, and serve it on a piece of cardboard wrapped in paper, so you can eat as you walk. It had a very thin crust and was light and delicious. We had to go back to the hotel to get our luggage so we could get the next train to Verona.

From the train station we took a bus to our hotel, which was just off the center of town. There were many school groups on field trips, with teachers counting their students, which reminded me of home. The hotel gave us a book of things to do, which were mostly shopping, in which I have very little interest.

One little glitch in our plans was that I thought Nick had my cousin Giuseppe's phone number, but Nick thought I had it. He was frantic. I told him that technology would save us. We e-mailed Carla to have her ask Giuseppe for his phone number. Then I Facebooked him myself as a back-up. Nick located a store that sold Italian cell phone minutes. Buying them requires giving a photocopy of your passport as well as signing documents in triplicate. I knew that Carla would come through for us, and she did.

The Osteria at whlch we had dinner was in our Rick Steves guide book. No English was spoken, but by now I was doing pretty well in Italian.

We spent the morning touring Verona. Verona was pretty but mobbed with tour groups, more people/sqr. meter than Venice. Not too much to see other than the statue of Juliette and the outside of the Roman amphitheater. No great sights or museums.

Took the train to Venice which ran horribly late. Giuseppe Nucatola, Barbara's 4th cousin once removed, couldn't get the day off to meet us. This was actually fortunate considering how late the train was. Finding the hotel was a bit of challenge. We were given about the most quiet room we've ever had--quite amazing being a two minute walk from San Marco.

Quasimodo/Igor at the hotel led us to Trattoria Alla Rivetta, which was similar to Osteria Romana in Rome, with highly professional but humorous and very happy waiters who loved their customers using 5 or 6 languages. I had Sea Bream, B had Shrimp & Pasta. 1/2 l. of house Prosecco got us tipsy. Panna Cotta for dessert.

Afterwards, we strolled past the dueling orchestras in surprisingly quiet St. Marks Square, then we strolled all the way to the Rialto Bridge and back, along a path with hundreds of upscale shops.

Carla got Giuseppe's phone number. We called him as we were walking through Verona. He told us that he had to work that day, and asked if we would like for him and his family to meet us in Venice tomorrow. Perfetto!

Another train ride, and ah, Venice. We had directions as to how to get to our hotel via vaporetto, which is basically a water bus. We quickly discovered that we were waiting at a vaporetto stop that was heading away from the center of town. We searched for the stop in the other direction and boarded the boat.

Of all the places we were visiting on this trip, Venice is the only one we had been to before. That was thirty-three years ago on our honeymoon. Venice has a magic that casts a spell over visitors. Do you remember the muted colors that were in your box of sixty-four Crayola crayons when you were a child such as yellow ochre, burnt sienna, dandelion and flesh/peach? Those were the colors of the palazzi along the canal. And the water is a very soothing shade of green.

Our hotel seems to have been taken over by the hotel next door. As we were walking down a long, quiet, empty alley, someone behind us called, "Signore! Signora!" The manager's assistant explained that we should follow him... this way. He didn't look like Marty Feldman, but we called him Quasimodo/Igor (to ourselves, of course). We did not remember the Rialto Bridge from our honeymoon, but we remembered St. Mark's.

After breakfast we entered the San Marco cathedral. Saw the famous horses, up close. Then the replicas on the balcony.

Giuseppe Nucatola and his wife Laura Nicastro drove in with their new baby, Nicholas and Laura's cousin, Samantha. We took the 52 express vaporetto to meet them @ 11:05, but it was almost 1 by the time we met up with them, which caused us some anxiety. All was well.

For lunch we went to Brek, a cafeteria style restaurant chain, crowded but with surprisingly good food. Something to keep in mind for the future.

We then strolled from the train station all the way to the Rialto bridge while they showered us with little gifts all along the way! We parted company with a promise of a feast at their house in Udine on Sunday.

We walked back for a nap and dinner at Trattoria Alla Rivetta again. I had calamari & shrimp, Barbara, veal Bolognese. Afterwards we strolled San Marco marvelling at the increase in pedestrian traffic over the day before.

The number of people in St. Mark's Square seemed to have multlplied exponentially from the night before. Mosaics... attaching tiny stones of various colors to a wall or ceiling to create magnificent art... so amazing.

The statues of the four famous horses that we saw on our honeymoon had been moved indoors, but for a fee, you can go upstairs and see them up close. You also get a great view of the square and the canal from upstairs.

We forgot that we had Rick Steves' audio of St. Mark's Cathedral on our I-Pods. We were a little late for our meeting with Giuseppe and Laura, but they were later and very apologetic. What a cute couple and an adorable baby! We communicated very well using a lot of Italian, a little English, and sometimes charades to get our meaning across. We strolled through Venice, marveling at the wonder of it all.

We indulged in our first gelato. I love the sweet fruit flavors, strawberry, raspberry, and mixed (frutti di bosco) because they are so intense. Nick likes lemon, which is very refreshing but not my favorite. You know, when I was little girl, we kids loved getting lemon ice from Lemon Ice King, which was on the corner of my grandmother's street. The grownups always ordered lemon, but my favorite flavor was cherry: sweet, intense,and it had an added bonus of making my lips red.

After breakfast we bought a 12 hour Vaporetto ticket with plans to do some intense sightseeing today.

We took the 82 vaporetto to S. Tom‡ and visited the Santa Maria G. Dei Frari church, Rick Steves' favorite, and listened to his audio tour on our iPods.

Then we toured the Scuola Grande di S. Rocco building featuring the "Tintoretto Sistine Chapel." Quite awesome, even though the colors had faded a bit over the last 500 years. We visited the adjoining church.

Searching around the neighborhood we found a pleasant, very old lunch restaurant that served locals. We shared a tuna salad, which was a tossed green salad with tuna on top. Italian tuna is so flavorful!

Taking the vaporetto back to San Zaccaria, we toured the Doge's palace for almost two hours, blown away and feeling we never saw it before.

A late afternoon nap. Took the 52 vaporetto to the train station to get reservation to Trieste, but discovered the reserve train doesn't leave from the Santa Lucia train station. Got a generic ticket.

Did the Rick Steves' Grand Canal audio tour on the No. 1 vaporetto in the rain. Our umbrella blocked the view of the vaporetto pilot! But no harm was done and they were cool about it.

Went back to our now favorite restaurant in Venice. Sea Bass for me, Calamari & Shrimp for Barbara. Lots of prosecco and a limoncello after dinner drink.

I don't remember all the trendy shops being in Venice in 1976, but then, I am not into shopping. There were even more people there than there had been the day before.

The Doge's Palace... If I had been inside it before, I would have remembered it! It is startling to see the actual cells of the dungeon and to consider that humans are still treating other humans that severely in much of today's world. Nick's great grandfather was imprisoned for at least eight years during the Italian revolutionary war in the 1850s for being a supporter of Garibaldi, and I am absolutely amazed that he survived because I'm sure conditions in the prison he was in were no better than what I saw here. I'm grateful, too, because Nick's great grandpa married Nick's great grandma after his release from prison.

In 1976 we rode in a gondola. I told Nick in advance that another gondola ride was in my plans for this trip. However, the weather did not cooperate, being either too rainy, too cold, or too windy in the evenings. But we had already done that, and we enjoyed several canal trips in the vaporetti, so I wasn't too disappointed.

We had breakfast and caught the vaporetto to the station and caught the 9:50 train to Trieste. The weather was overcast with light rain. Barbara was again grateful to have brought along a hooded raincoat. From the train's windows, we saw mostly flat farmland, but last fifteen minutes were supposed to be more scenic, with views of the sea. Being that the weather was pretty hazy, we did not see much of it. We did catch a quick glimpse of Miramare Castle as we went by it.

We got into the hotel at lunch time. They recommended a trattoria, Al Vecio Canal, saying it served local Trieste cuisine. We found out that the food was very Germanic. We had boiled sausages with spinach, and a mixed grill of sausages of various types, spare ribs, and chicken, all very simply prepared, with mustard and spicy peppers on the side.

We had a little rest. Giuseppe and Laura drove in during the afternoon to take us to Miramare Castle. The castle was built by archduke Maximilian of Austria, who became the emperor of Mexico. His wife Carlotta was a first cousin of both Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Miramare was busy, because of free admission and gorgeous weather. Very 19th century, all rooms had a special view of the sea. The gardens were extensive.

They dropped us off at the hotel afterwards and we were on are own for dinner. We ate at a trendy seafood restaurant, Ristorante Alla Vecchia Lira, with good food but a young and inexperienced waitstaff. We shared a mixed shellfish appetizer and a catch of the day for the main course.

Again Giuseppe was full of apologies because of their tardiness. We were not punching a time clock and we well understood that baby Nicholas needed to be taken care of first.

At first we thought that Carlotta of Villa Carlotta and Carlotta of Miramare were the same, but no, they were not. And it's funny, but neither was Italian, nor were they called Carlotta in their own language.

Laura and the baby remained outside while Giuseppe made sure that Nick and I got all the best views. We chatted in Italian continuously, with Nick being more and more amazed by my comfort level in the language of our ancestors.

Italian Liberation Day!

We had the morning to ourselves. We discovered that despite being off the tourist trail, Trieste is beautiful, uncrowded and has a lot to see and do. We walked up the long steep hill behind the hotel to the mediaeval Castello San Giusto and its duomo. The duomo was quite ancient and reminded us very much of the one in Ancona, Barbara's grandmother's town of birth, that we saw in 2005. In fact Trieste, in general had the same flavor as Ancona. The ramparts of the castello gave us great views of the city, and its museum had many Roman artifacts gathered from around the city. It was also a wonderful feeling having the museum to ourselves.

Afterwards, we strolled to the main mall of the city and ate lunch in a nice bar/restaurant along it, sharing a salad with cubed chicken on top—delicious. We walked along the shore and docks and headed back to the hotel to be picked up by Giuseppe at 2PM. He had invited us to his home town of Udine for dinner.

We ended up touring of some smaller Italian cities and towns, Udine, and Cividale, medieval towns with arches, churches and bridges. Cividale was quite mobbed as a flea market was spread out through the town with lots of Italian "stuff" from the present to the distant past. We found a brass sun and a brass moon for our deck, which we actually bargained over.

Afterwards we went to a restaurant that was part of an agriturismo, a working farm complete with authentic barnyard odors and the animals that produced them. We were joined by Laura's mother and her companion Sebastiano, her sister Fabiana and brother-in-law Stefanno, and their 1 year old daughter Asia. By now Barbara was speaking Italian with everyone including the wait staff. We were fed course after course until we could barely move while enjoying the family gathering and stories. It was great to be treated so warmly. The meal included red wine, sparkling water, homemade pasta with three cheeses, penne pasta with pesto sauce, veal. polenta, two egg fritattas, one with potatoes and one with onions, salad, and coffee for the Italians. We definitely had no room for dessert. We did, however, try an after dinner drink called sorbetto, which consists of prosecco, vodka, and lemon gelato. Wow!

Giuseppe said he regretted we weren't staying long enough for him to take us to Austria, Slovenia and Greece.

After dinner, we were driven back to our hotel, an hour drive, arriving about 11:30. We fell asleep without too much trouble.

I loved this day! Giuseppe and Laura are such a great couple, and their son is part of a very loving family. They wanted so much for us to know and spend time with them and they treated us like visiting royalty. I hope that someday we will be able to entertain them as well in the US. I was grateful to our Italian teacher, Edda, for enabling us to communicate so well.

As we were driving from Trieste to Udine, we listened to Pavarotti. Here we are, driving along with an Italian, speaking Italian, listening to Pavarotti... this is a dream come true!!! The next song was Louis Armstrong's It's a Wonderful World... the favorite song of my former teaching assistant, Maxine. We taught it to our class back when we taught three year olds!

My favorite statue dulring the trip was in Cividale. It was Julius Caesar, with his hand extended in front of him, as if he were using it for emphasis while talking, the way Italian-Americans of my dad's generation did.

I showed Giuseppe my Boccia watch. Now I know the definitive pronunciation of the name!

Giuseppe told us that he has promised Laura that he will take her to New York someday. He said he will speak better English when he visits us in our country than he does now. I told Nick that I want to get an Italian language program to improve my Italian before they come. He responded that I already speak better Italian than any program would cover!

Giuseppe and Laura asked us how long we were married, and they marveled at the answer, thirty-three years, probably because we are very happy and affectionate with each other. My dad told me recently that I have a wonderful husband, because I tell him where I want to go, and he takes me there. Obviously, it's more complex than that, but yes, I do have a wonderful husband!

We left Trieste early for the 9:38 AM train to Milan. The car was almost empty but our seats were jammed against the back and not adjacent. We swapped seats so we could sit together. Despite its 4 hour duration, it was a relaxing journey, and we got to nap and enjoy the farmland views. We wondered what some of the crops were---rectangular patches of tall trees and a low, bright yellow flowering plant.

A metro ride brought us to the Milan Cathedral, 4th largest in Europe, adorned with hundreds of spires and thousands of statues. After munching a salad nearby, a side street brought us to our hotel, Gran Duca di York, easily the most luxurious of our trip, including Padova. Our room had a plant filled veranda overlooking the traffic bound street, and the staff was most accommodating.

After checking in, we went to view the cathedral. As the guidebook says, the 52 columns inside were like sequoias and the ceiling was barely visible. The highpoint of the cathedral is the marble roof with hundreds of statues, Gothic points and arches, views and a rambling walkway to the center of the roof. We had wisely taken the lift and saved our legs.

Back to the hotel and a late afternoon rest, we went out for a late dinner (for us) at Hostaria Borromei, recommended by both Rick Steves' book and the hotel, very charming. Risotto w/artichoke tips; veal milanese.

As we are waiting for our main course, Barbara saw a man waiting in the next room whom she thought looked a lot like Rick Steves of PBS and guidebook fame whose books we have mentioned many times. When he came into our room, Barbara heard his voice and said, "He IS Rick Steves!" She waved our guidebook. He said to his assistant, "Those folks have the books, let's say hello." He introduced his assistant, a Milanese guide, and chatted with us a while. He was updating his guide books and asked about our experiences. We told him how great Trieste is,and that he might want to consider including it in a future book or PBS program. He gave us his e-mail address as I had a restaurant recommendation in Venice for him. One often thinks, "If I met so and so, this is what I'd say," and we got to play out that fantasy. We thanked him for the help his guidebooks have been for us.

Full of energy afterwards, we walked through Galleria Vittorio Emanuele with its bright lights and high glassed domed ceiling and enjoyed the Milanese evening.

I simply want to add that the staircases on the roof of the cathedral looked like those in Hogwarts except that they don't change direction while you are on them. In fact, Rick Steves was on them in his video, but they were locked to tourists.

This was our full day in Milan so we decided to hit some guidebook hot spots.

Our first goal was to see if we could nab a cancellation to Leonardo's Last Supper. We went to the subway (metro) and bought two 24 hour Milan public transportation passes. Only one of them worked. A second one got us on our way to the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie where the fresco is located. Alas, they had no cancelations all day. Oh well, we have accepted that we can't see everything. Strike one!

The Leonardo Museum of Technology was within walking distance. It was closed as emergency work was being done. Strike two!

We thought visiting the Milan Cemetery, known as the most unique in Europe, would be a different experience. Getting there turned out to be quite a challenge. A subway to the nearest stop, a secondary Milan train station, left us 1/2 km. away, but when we got out, the construction surrounding the train station left us quite disoriented. By the time we figured out what direction we actually had to head in, we were another 1/2 km off course. We found the cemetery at last but arrived exhausted before we started exploring it.

It was worth the trip. Each plot, and there were thousands, from the most humble grave to the grandest tomb, was completely unique. Most were decorated with statuary depicting a theme different from the others, from sentimental sorrow, to a portrait or scene of the deceased, to mythical allegory. However, many showed young soldiers who perished in WW I being mourned by their mothers.

A trip to the toilet was a unique experience. We were loaned a key that would have kept The Last Supper safe.

We did not stay too long, but the problem of how to get back to the hotel presented itself. The guidebook suggested a tram was the most direct, but it was unclear which one and where to pick it up. After some poking around we found what looked like a tram stop a couple of blocks from the cemetery. An inquiry got us on the right one, which sent us on a scenic journey to end right near the hotel. Success!

It was lunch time and we were hungry, so we tried a recommended cafeteria. This worked out very well as the quality of the food, a tuna salad and dried beef appetizer, were excellent. All the foold was fresh. We saw no fries, processed or packaged foods.

Heading back to the hotel, we window shopped. We chanced on Peck's, a high end grocery store to put any in Fairfield County to shame in both quality and price. We couldn't resist picking up a couple of items to remind us of the culinary delights of the trip.

We decided we were museumed out and actually took the afternoon off from sightseeing—relaxing in our beautiful room instead. We then headed off the Hostaria Borromei again for dinner. Rick Steves wasn't there but as it was quiet the waiters hammed it up with us and played with Nick's camera. Barbara had osso bucco con risotto Milanese, both regional specialties. I had lamb with fried artichokes, also unique to the region. This was the most memorable meal of the trip.

Our last night, we went "home" to make sure everything was packed up. Nick watched an episode of Poirot in Italian on TV.

We haven't mentioned the breakfasts. A breakfast buffet was included each day. The choices of foods varied, but they generally included granola, yogurt, cold cuts including prosciutto, cheese, sometimes eggs, macedonia (fruit salad), whole fruits such as bananas and apples, croissants, bread for toasting, spreads for the toast such as preserves or nutella (a chocolate hazelnut spread), cakes, pies and other pastries. I am not a fan of nutella at home but I loved it there. And there would always be tea, coffee, or cappuccino, and fruit juices.

In Padua there was a large section of a wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese on the table, with a small knife for breaking off little chunks. Parmigiano, the queen of cheeses, and my grandmother's maiden name... no wonder I found Padua to be so special!

We took a morning taxi to the Milan Centrale train station to avoid being on the metro with our luggage at rush hour. This worked out very well as the driver dropped us off right at the special Malpensa Express entryway. The train took us off to the airport, stopping in Saronno where we started our journey when we picked up the train to Como.

The flight was timely, though 50 mph winds meant a very bumpy landing. Another passenger lost her lunch on the approach. On the ground they were spraying down construction work to keep the dust to a manageable level.

Our luggage was first off the plane, customs was quick and our limo was waiting for us. We got home in a timely fashion to a cool house.

Ah Italia, arrivederci for now...