Friday, May 18, 2012
Slow time in Umbertide
We've mostly just been around the house in Umbertide and seeing friends. Adding some pictures of the house and the Wednesday market.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Getting to Umbertide
Saturday was our departure from Rome. I had booked a rental car to pick up at Termini, with worries about the drive from there to our apartment, and the parking when we loaded the luggage. The previous night, we saw the Baci da Roma owner at the restaurant; she said it could work out, including getting the complex's garage opened. In the morning I found the doorman, who said it could be done when I got back with the car.
I took the Roma-Giardinetti train to Termini, went to the Hertz counter, and there was a line. It took time to get to the front, I got the paperwork done, and was sent with keys to the garage down the street where I was to get a garage exit ticket at the ground floor office and take the elevator to the 7th floor to get the car, a VW Golf. I did that, I had my GPS good for Italy on me, but the battery had no charge and I'd left the charger at the apartment. I'd studied the route pretty well and made it without mistakes, just impatient drivers behind me and the harrowing changes of lane needed around Porta Maggiore. I found parking in the median; that was enough for me to find Margaret in the apartment and get the bags down.
I plugged the GPS in and followed directions. The route I'd studied had us going out on the A24; the GPS had me take the Tangenziale/Via Olimpica to Via Salaria to get to the G.R.A. and A1. We had a smooth ride to the Orte exit; with the later start than planned, it was time to stop for lunch. I exited at Narni Scalo, where there was a ride to take before we got to the town (the Scalo in the valley, not the hill town) and had a self-service selection at the Paprika bar-restaurant. Then it was a smooth enough ride to Umbertide.
The keys that I brought worked. We settled in, but the wi-fi wasn't working. We went out to market and had our walks around town. When I wanted to put the car into long-term parking, I found that most of that space had been taken by a new park relating to the walk along the Reggia stream, which had basically been a drainage ditch and was now prettied up:
Sunday and Monday we settled into town, seeing old friends, and getting prompt service for an unmentionable plumbing problem and the wi-fi connection. We're looking for a nice slow stay here.
I took the Roma-Giardinetti train to Termini, went to the Hertz counter, and there was a line. It took time to get to the front, I got the paperwork done, and was sent with keys to the garage down the street where I was to get a garage exit ticket at the ground floor office and take the elevator to the 7th floor to get the car, a VW Golf. I did that, I had my GPS good for Italy on me, but the battery had no charge and I'd left the charger at the apartment. I'd studied the route pretty well and made it without mistakes, just impatient drivers behind me and the harrowing changes of lane needed around Porta Maggiore. I found parking in the median; that was enough for me to find Margaret in the apartment and get the bags down.
I plugged the GPS in and followed directions. The route I'd studied had us going out on the A24; the GPS had me take the Tangenziale/Via Olimpica to Via Salaria to get to the G.R.A. and A1. We had a smooth ride to the Orte exit; with the later start than planned, it was time to stop for lunch. I exited at Narni Scalo, where there was a ride to take before we got to the town (the Scalo in the valley, not the hill town) and had a self-service selection at the Paprika bar-restaurant. Then it was a smooth enough ride to Umbertide.
The keys that I brought worked. We settled in, but the wi-fi wasn't working. We went out to market and had our walks around town. When I wanted to put the car into long-term parking, I found that most of that space had been taken by a new park relating to the walk along the Reggia stream, which had basically been a drainage ditch and was now prettied up:
Sunday and Monday we settled into town, seeing old friends, and getting prompt service for an unmentionable plumbing problem and the wi-fi connection. We're looking for a nice slow stay here.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Friday: the Sistine in a Dream
I learned yesterday of a city transit strike today. We started the morning slowly, and I saw some buses and trams go by, most going to the garage, but some in service. Going by Porta Maggiore.
We walked to Piazza Vittorio Emanuele and tried to catch a cab on this transit strike day. While I was on hold with one of the switchboards, an available one showed up. We went to Campo de' Fiori, and ate at La Carbonara, which she wanted. Good memories and o.k., but I think it's declined. She did some shopping, and we visited the Pantheon, a great place, and it's been decades since I've been inside. Then some time at a café nearby.
She really wanted to see the Sistine Chapel; I warned her about the current state of the crowds, but when I learned, I think from Sandra, about the Friday evening openings for this season, I booked us to go there at 7. It's questionable whether I should have had us walk with time approaching, since she was aggravating her ankle injury. The approach to Castel Sant' Angelo:
We got to the Vatican Museums entrance, and found the line for people with 7 p.m. reservations. We got in through the entrance new to me. We went straight to the Sistine Chapel, without being in position to run. It was amazing to see the Chapel almost empty, and admire the art without the crowds. We were getting, from what I could tell, only the natural light, so it was interesting not to see the effects of the post-restoration bright colors so much. A very memorable experience for the current time.
With a bit of a wait, we found a taxi to take us home. We've come to like the Miseria e Nobilta restaurant under the apartment, a hangout for the residential neighborhood, with karaoke tonight.
That ends our stay in Rome; off to the Umbertide house in the morning.
We walked to Piazza Vittorio Emanuele and tried to catch a cab on this transit strike day. While I was on hold with one of the switchboards, an available one showed up. We went to Campo de' Fiori, and ate at La Carbonara, which she wanted. Good memories and o.k., but I think it's declined. She did some shopping, and we visited the Pantheon, a great place, and it's been decades since I've been inside. Then some time at a café nearby.
She really wanted to see the Sistine Chapel; I warned her about the current state of the crowds, but when I learned, I think from Sandra, about the Friday evening openings for this season, I booked us to go there at 7. It's questionable whether I should have had us walk with time approaching, since she was aggravating her ankle injury. The approach to Castel Sant' Angelo:
We got to the Vatican Museums entrance, and found the line for people with 7 p.m. reservations. We got in through the entrance new to me. We went straight to the Sistine Chapel, without being in position to run. It was amazing to see the Chapel almost empty, and admire the art without the crowds. We were getting, from what I could tell, only the natural light, so it was interesting not to see the effects of the post-restoration bright colors so much. A very memorable experience for the current time.
With a bit of a wait, we found a taxi to take us home. We've come to like the Miseria e Nobilta restaurant under the apartment, a hangout for the residential neighborhood, with karaoke tonight.
That ends our stay in Rome; off to the Umbertide house in the morning.
Full day to start in Rome
A busy day; I'll try to be brief. Thursday, our first interest of the day was to get to the Centro Storico. At Piazza di Porta Maggiore, at a tabaccaio we got transit passes for the day for €4 each. Rather than the bus, we took the Roma-Giardinetti train, which is really a tram, in this section operating on the street (via Giolitti) but ending at the Ferrovie Laziali section of Termini station. We split a panino in the station bar rather than planning a full lunch, and boarded express bus 40, to Largo Argentina. We cheated a little more on a rich calzone at Il Delfino.
Great memories for Margaret to see Piazza Navona. People were gathered an apparent fashion model on a shoot.
We went through more familiar streets to Campo de' Fiori.
Sat down at a café on Piazza Farnese, and walked down via Monserrato, seeing our old school building: it has changed.
We turned around and went to the Campidoglio museum for the Lux in Arcana show, the Vatican's secret archives. We got tickets and had a bathroom need. Being directed to that, we followed signs upstairs to the show. It was a small show on preservation matters, such as dealing with document deterioration. This was what the whole widely promoted show was? I thought we had some time to visit the main museums. Then I saw that the main show was near the entrance; we'd just seen a final technical section. The main show had important documents like Galileo's recantation and on matters with the end of the Papal States.
At the Campidoglio:
We had our booked tour of Palazzo Valentini, where there are recent excavations of an ancient Roman house. There was confusion as we walked down glass steps on top of historic steps. Fascinating, although the TripAdvisor rating of it as the number 1 sight in Rome may reflect more ratings because it's new rather than objective fact. Margaret was feeling her old ankle injury flaring up.
The full day ended with a get-together at Piperno with Slow Travelers Sandra and Heidi. I'd known of Piperno as a well-regarded restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto; it was nice to have their specialties including carciofi alla giudia and gnocchi, as well as meeting with nice people.
We went to Largo Argentina to catch the two buses that we planned, but Margaret said to go ahead and get a taxi, so the transit pass was not put to good use. Still, it was nice to get promptly to our apartment at the end of this full day.
Great memories for Margaret to see Piazza Navona. People were gathered an apparent fashion model on a shoot.
We went through more familiar streets to Campo de' Fiori.
We turned around and went to the Campidoglio museum for the Lux in Arcana show, the Vatican's secret archives. We got tickets and had a bathroom need. Being directed to that, we followed signs upstairs to the show. It was a small show on preservation matters, such as dealing with document deterioration. This was what the whole widely promoted show was? I thought we had some time to visit the main museums. Then I saw that the main show was near the entrance; we'd just seen a final technical section. The main show had important documents like Galileo's recantation and on matters with the end of the Papal States.
At the Campidoglio:
We had our booked tour of Palazzo Valentini, where there are recent excavations of an ancient Roman house. There was confusion as we walked down glass steps on top of historic steps. Fascinating, although the TripAdvisor rating of it as the number 1 sight in Rome may reflect more ratings because it's new rather than objective fact. Margaret was feeling her old ankle injury flaring up.
The full day ended with a get-together at Piperno with Slow Travelers Sandra and Heidi. I'd known of Piperno as a well-regarded restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto; it was nice to have their specialties including carciofi alla giudia and gnocchi, as well as meeting with nice people.
We went to Largo Argentina to catch the two buses that we planned, but Margaret said to go ahead and get a taxi, so the transit pass was not put to good use. Still, it was nice to get promptly to our apartment at the end of this full day.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Flights and surprise on arrival in Rome
Noting while I'm offline: The flight to Chicago was on a United CRJ-200, a cramped regional jet, but it was short enough not to be too painful, and it was on time. Unlike most of their RJ flights, it arrived at the main Terminal 1, concourse C, with the design evoking grand old train stations. I have three hours to wait for Margaret's arrival, and don't know much about that flight's status; for now I'll just count on everything working right.
The flight, scheduled for 7.30, arrived at 7.50. I was getting worried about getting to our departure gate in time for the international cutoff for the 8.50 departure. We took the underpass between concourses C and B and went to the Lufthansa boarding gate at the far end of B. An agent said Margaret's carry-on had to be checked, and he let us sit in a special sitting area for preboards. We got to preboard, and when boarding was complete there was a couple behind us whom Margaret met on the flight from Sacramento; they were also going to Rome. It was nice to meet them.
The aircraft, an A340, was reasonably comfortable in Economy. The lavatories were on a lower level, nice that waiting passengers weren't in regular aisles. I took the dinner choice of curried chicken. It's different than usual having Margaret with me, but I got a fair amount of sleep.
The arrival in Munich was scheduled for 12.50; we were early, landing at 12.15, and getting to the gate at 12.30. The arrangement was simlar to Frankfurt; we disembarked on the upper non-Schengen level and walked the length of it, clearing passport control, then went downstairs to the Schengen level. We went through an area of several shops and an airy gate area. I was surprised that there was no security check; they relied on our TSA clearance in the U.S.
Margaret got an iPhone plan that seemed to be a good deal, although I'm skeptical. We got euros at the ATM. We asked to get seats together and for Margaret to preboard. That boarding gate had stairs down to the tarmac where we were the first to board the bus. Our preboard status wasn't much help in getting off the bus and taking stairs to board the plane; our new seats were in row 7, towards the front. We were served cake. I'm writing this onboard as we're on target for an on-time arrival at 4.30 p.m.
We arrived. and baggage claim at Fiumicino airport was surprisingly fast. We had reserved a car and driver with Rome Shuttle Limousine; the driver was there and took us to the Mercedes. We were reserved at the Baci da Roma B&B www.bacidaroma.it ; even though the area south of Termini isn't a favorite of mine, I was intrigued by the rooms evoking fashion and pop culture icons. Just to be extra sure, I called the owner while we were on the way; she said there was a complication with the room and asked me to give the phone to the driver. She asked him to take us to an alternate nearby location. We got there and the owner said the previoius guest had left with the key; even though they had other keys, she couldn't guarantee the safety of the place, especially if the guest had lost the key. So we were booked in a 2-bedroom apartment with kitchen, a more complete space, in the same general area but beyond Porta Maggiore, and so outside the Aurelian Walls. We'll see how it goes; we had our first meal in Italy in a restaurant downstairs from the apartment.
The flight, scheduled for 7.30, arrived at 7.50. I was getting worried about getting to our departure gate in time for the international cutoff for the 8.50 departure. We took the underpass between concourses C and B and went to the Lufthansa boarding gate at the far end of B. An agent said Margaret's carry-on had to be checked, and he let us sit in a special sitting area for preboards. We got to preboard, and when boarding was complete there was a couple behind us whom Margaret met on the flight from Sacramento; they were also going to Rome. It was nice to meet them.
The aircraft, an A340, was reasonably comfortable in Economy. The lavatories were on a lower level, nice that waiting passengers weren't in regular aisles. I took the dinner choice of curried chicken. It's different than usual having Margaret with me, but I got a fair amount of sleep.
The arrival in Munich was scheduled for 12.50; we were early, landing at 12.15, and getting to the gate at 12.30. The arrangement was simlar to Frankfurt; we disembarked on the upper non-Schengen level and walked the length of it, clearing passport control, then went downstairs to the Schengen level. We went through an area of several shops and an airy gate area. I was surprised that there was no security check; they relied on our TSA clearance in the U.S.
Margaret got an iPhone plan that seemed to be a good deal, although I'm skeptical. We got euros at the ATM. We asked to get seats together and for Margaret to preboard. That boarding gate had stairs down to the tarmac where we were the first to board the bus. Our preboard status wasn't much help in getting off the bus and taking stairs to board the plane; our new seats were in row 7, towards the front. We were served cake. I'm writing this onboard as we're on target for an on-time arrival at 4.30 p.m.
We arrived. and baggage claim at Fiumicino airport was surprisingly fast. We had reserved a car and driver with Rome Shuttle Limousine; the driver was there and took us to the Mercedes. We were reserved at the Baci da Roma B&B www.bacidaroma.it ; even though the area south of Termini isn't a favorite of mine, I was intrigued by the rooms evoking fashion and pop culture icons. Just to be extra sure, I called the owner while we were on the way; she said there was a complication with the room and asked me to give the phone to the driver. She asked him to take us to an alternate nearby location. We got there and the owner said the previoius guest had left with the key; even though they had other keys, she couldn't guarantee the safety of the place, especially if the guest had lost the key. So we were booked in a 2-bedroom apartment with kitchen, a more complete space, in the same general area but beyond Porta Maggiore, and so outside the Aurelian Walls. We'll see how it goes; we had our first meal in Italy in a restaurant downstairs from the apartment.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Taking off to Rome
Margaret and I are at our respective airports, ready to join on the trip to Rome. So far we're showing our flights on schedule to Chicago, where we connect to Munich and Rome. There's the confusing matter of when we get the boarding passes for Lufthansa after the first United segment. United could check us in online but not print boarding passes unless our passports were scanned in their system. Then when I got to Kansas City airport, the check-in counter just gave me the United pass; for LH they gave cards saying "This is not a boarding pass." They said the gate counter might help. I asked there and they gave me the LH passes.
Meanwhile, Margaret got all her passes; we compared notes and, in spite of my having asked LH to link our reservations, our seats were separate for the Munich-Rome flight, where seat assignments open only when check-in opens. So we'll wait and see if we can get that sorted with Lufthansa somewhere. That's it, I don't think I'll be posting until Rome.
Meanwhile, Margaret got all her passes; we compared notes and, in spite of my having asked LH to link our reservations, our seats were separate for the Munich-Rome flight, where seat assignments open only when check-in opens. So we'll wait and see if we can get that sorted with Lufthansa somewhere. That's it, I don't think I'll be posting until Rome.
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Italy trip approaches, I think
So much of my blogging is about planning; things have happened and I haven't posted much. I'm not sure how I'll be about posting during the trip.
What can I remember about the planning that's gone on? United sent me a schedule change giving me a connection in Chicago that's legal, but much shorter than I'm comfortable with, especially wanting to meet Margaret on her arrival. This was because my original Kansas City-Chicago flight was taken off the schedule. I was able to change to the earlier time, giving me a lot of time at O'Hare. Once United and Continental were fully merged, there were new confirmation codes, and there have been minor schedule changes. Margaret's connecting time is pretty short, and we've talked about contingencies if something goes wrong there. I've been keeping a spreadsheet of how her inbound flight has done, and it's usually gone well.
Basics of planning: a B&B in Rome on arrival, car rental through Auto Europe to go to Umbria for two weeks in my Umbertide house, return car, train to Naples for time booked on Capri, return to Rome, return to U.S. On the reservable trains Rome-Naples and back, I got a €9 Mini fare.
Worrying me: Margaret had a badly sprained ankle, and more health problems, having me worried about her, but so far things look good for the trip. So I'm looking forward to a trip unlike any other for me, in terms of the type of companionship I'll have. This update on the planning has been brief, and I hope to do some blogging during the trip, with less detail than I've done before.
What can I remember about the planning that's gone on? United sent me a schedule change giving me a connection in Chicago that's legal, but much shorter than I'm comfortable with, especially wanting to meet Margaret on her arrival. This was because my original Kansas City-Chicago flight was taken off the schedule. I was able to change to the earlier time, giving me a lot of time at O'Hare. Once United and Continental were fully merged, there were new confirmation codes, and there have been minor schedule changes. Margaret's connecting time is pretty short, and we've talked about contingencies if something goes wrong there. I've been keeping a spreadsheet of how her inbound flight has done, and it's usually gone well.
Basics of planning: a B&B in Rome on arrival, car rental through Auto Europe to go to Umbria for two weeks in my Umbertide house, return car, train to Naples for time booked on Capri, return to Rome, return to U.S. On the reservable trains Rome-Naples and back, I got a €9 Mini fare.
Worrying me: Margaret had a badly sprained ankle, and more health problems, having me worried about her, but so far things look good for the trip. So I'm looking forward to a trip unlike any other for me, in terms of the type of companionship I'll have. This update on the planning has been brief, and I hope to do some blogging during the trip, with less detail than I've done before.
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