Easter in Milano - Lake Como

Pete's birthday on Easter Sunday gave us an excuse to travel. In Europe, it's a 4-day holiday weekend over Easter so we took advice of friends who have been to Lake Como and took off. It's only a 1-hour flight from here to Milan! We went with some new American friends we met at the Easter festival a few weeks ago in Wiesbaden. After arriving in Milan, we took a short bus ride to the Milan Centrale station where we caught a train to Varenna, a little town on Lake Como. The picture says it all... wow was about all we said for the entire first day there. It was a beautiful sunny spring day on Friday so we took the ferry to see the other little towns surrounding the lake. Bellagio is one of the most famous towns. George Clooney lives nearby - there are plenty of sightings but none by us.

However, there was plenty of wine sampled and the day itself was so amazing, we had a hard time putting down the camera. Everywhere you turn is another interesting shot. The town of Varenna like most of the towns is built on the side of a mountain, so all roads lead down to the lake. The lake is really long and narrow so the only way to get across is to take a ferry. So that was the drill... take a ferry, stop at a cafe, drink wine, eat something, move on....



On Easter, we asked our hotelier at Albergo Milano if the local church was Catholic. She said "of course, in Italy we only chose one religion." So we went to the local church where we enjoyed an all Italian mass (except for some Latin that Pete remembered from altar boy days).

We unfortunately needed to check out and head for the train back to Milan. Just outside the train station we had booked sight unseen rooms at the Michelangelo Hotel. Turned out to be a fantastic location, a bargain and with beautiful rooms. We highly recommend it. This helped since it continued to rain on Sunday during our sightseeing.


Everything starts and stops at the Duomo in Milan. Nearby is the earliest known covered mall from the late 1800s. The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele turned out to be a great place to spend some time under the rain-soaked glass roof. More wine and great food.....
Of course, on our departure day, the sun shone again giving us a great view of the Alps as we passed over on the way back to Germany.
Ciao!

No Direction Home

Sunday was a day of learning when to go with plan B. It was Palm Sunday, so we wanted to find the English-speaking catholic church which is about a half hour away. As we got ready, I (pete) picked up my phone only to discover the time had magically sprung ahead overnite. We actually missed the EU version of daylight savings time. No excuses, we talked about this the night before as we played scrabble with our american friends (after dinner at our new favorite(!) Italian restaurant in Wiesbaden). So... plan B. Let's go find the church anyway and go for a drive around the area to see where stuff is.

After finding and visiting the church, we were getting hungry and I remembered seeing this American sports bar in town. Since I have missed the entire final four so far, I thought maybe I could see some reruns. I walked in to see the most wonderful site - 4 TVs with a different game on each one. It turns out, they run the AFN - Armed Forces Network - in this bar and they get the entire CBS feed without commercials. OK, you do have to suffer through a few "be all you can be" infomercials. So, I got to see the Saturday region finals AND have an all-u-can-eat buffet... a true American Sunday afternoon.

None of this was on Plan A. We finally found our way home and did the usual Sunday afternoon reading and radio. And, since it was still so light outside, we went for a walk to see a forested area we had seen on our drive earlier in the day. About the time we got to the trailhead, it began to rain. Plan B. We finally found our direction home for good.

This weekend we are headed to Milan and Lake Como for a short Easter trip.
Tschus! and Ciao!

My Trek to Sacre-Coeur

Pete had business in Paris and Brussels last week so I hopped in the car to ride along with him. On Monday, he was at meetings all day so I looked our hotel window and there in the distance was this lovely site. It is the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur de Montmartre. I stopped at the hotel desk to get the best route for walking. As I left the hotel, I had more confidence than I had 6 weeks ago on my initial trip here.

The area we stayed is Gare De L'Est which is known as the French African area. My main route was down a busy Parisien street filled with bridal and tuxedo shops...one after another. It got a little sketchy in some areas (probably my anxiety coming out). But I didn't turn back and made it to this beautiful Montmartre "Hill of the Martyrs."


It is quite a climb up the hill but well worth it. The sight is spectacular with almost a 360 degree panoramic view of the city below. Of course, the ever-present Eiffel tower is always somewhere in view.


After spending some time in the church (where photos are verboten), I visited the Place du Tertre which was once the main square of the village of Montmartre and is now filled with cafe's and local artists selling their work on the spot.


When I got back to the hotel, Pete had just come back from his meetings. Soooo...it was such a nice evening, we trekked back to the Sacre Coeur with me as guide. I got a lot of nice hill climbing in that day. On our walk back to our hotel, we stopped at a cafe for dinner.
Au Revoir

Easter Festival

This weekend was the annual Easter Festival in Wiesbaden. Like all other festivals in this region, it was well-attended. There were music stages all around the city center, wine bars, beer stands, and wurst....all kinds of bratwurst.

The festival occurs 2 weeks prior to Easter every year. There are booths setup all along the old center from artisans and other vendors. We were walking by this stage, when we heard "Little Wing" coming from this amazing duo. At that point, we just sat down and found a Rheingau wine stube, bought 2 glasses (yes, real wine glasses that you use until you are done and return to the same stand). Now, this is the way to have a festival!

Easter bunnies were in abundance, all passing out chocolate easter eggs to the kids. Of course, Mary wondered why she wasn't offered any. But with a glass of wine in one hand....

We found a new street we hadn't even been through before. It looks like an Italian alley with open air restaurants.

Of course, kids were all over the place, and some were replaced in their buggies with sponge-bob's friend Patrick!

After a bit of rain on Saturday, it is looking beautiful today so we may head downtown for another round of festivarianism.
Tschus!

Spring Break

Yay!!! Our girls finally arrived. We greeted them at the airport early last Sunday and hauled them to our home in Wiesbaden. We had croissants and juice and they crashed on the couch. When we finally got them coherent, we took the "Mary Walk" into town. We took them to the Ratskeller for German wine and cheese...then on to Vapiano's for a lively Italian dinner (interesting fresh pasta or pizza prepared cafeteria-style). Since it was Sunday, of course, all the shops were closed but the restaurants were open and busy!

On Monday, Pete headed to work while the girls slept in. I took them on my Kur Park walk in the late morning... and familiarized them with the park. Later in the afternoon, we visited the shops of Wiesbaden and stopped for wine at our favorite (yes, favorite) Rheingau wine shop. When Pete joined us in the evening, we had a quiet dinner at home, looking forward to our drive to Paris the next morning.



We headed into Paris centre from the wide open highway to the narrow and crowded streets of downtown Paris. Our hotel was located right in the heart of the city near Notre Dame...and within walking distance of most of the sights.
This was Katie's first visit to Paris and first time seeing the Eiffel Tower in person. Previously she only experienced my many trinkets, pictures and sculptures of the famous tower. When we arrived late in the afternoon, as if scripted, the tower lit up in random flashing lights just to welcome us. Katie was amazed how seeing the Eiffel Tower in person was exactly as she had expected... perfect! Emily had lived here for about 6 weeks while doing a study abroad program so she was familiar with the transportation. Her navigational skills got us through the Metro underground without incident. We had a Parisien dinner (omelettes, french onion soup, salad nicoise and pommes frites) nearby with a view of the lighted tower.

The next day, Emily and I visited the Musee d'Orsay to take in the official French Impressionist exhibit....while Katie and Pete toured Notre Dame Cathedral. We met for lunch on the left bank in the Latin Quarter. The days here were really windy but mostly sunny. You have heard of Paris in the Spring...well, we were a bit early for that experience.

We took the metro to the Arc de Triomphe and proceeded to window shop down the
Avenue Des Champs-Elysees to the Place de la Concorde....through the Tuilleries Gardens and ending at the Louvre Museum. A long walk but well worth it...the sights are amazing and you get a sense of the history and planning that went into the city landscape.

This picture was taken at the Place de la Concorde built in 1757. This beautiful site is where the public witnessed the guillotine deaths of Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette and other aristocrats.



At the entrance to the Louvre, the controversial glass pyramid welcomes visitors. But then, the Eiffel Tower was thought to be a blight on the landscape of Paris when it was first built.

Every once in awhile, we would lose track of Emily... she was off capturing her own version of Paris.


Thursday, while Pete was shooting video of some installations, the girls and I meandered down Rue St. Michel on the Left Bank past Sorbonne University. We stopped at the Luxembourg Gardens to sit for awhile in the sun with Parisiens all doing the same thing. Pete and a few of his associates met us for dinner near our hotel for an authentic French country dinner consisting of steak, forested fried chicken, potatoes and cheese gratin with sausage, and... Creme Brulee.


This ended our Paris visit. We headed back to Wiesbaden on Friday morning. Along the way, we stopped in Champagne country in Reims to visit the Champagne Pommery. This has one of the largest wooden vats in the world filled with Champagne.

Friday night we did a progressive walkabout to a few favorite night spots, ending at the Irish Pub with live music. The girls had as close to a spring break experience as they could. Saturday, we visited the farmers' market and had dinner with our American friends at a new favorite authentic German restaurant.

Tschuss!!

Sorry for the delay in posts....we have had our daughters visiting and took a side trip to Paris for a few days. Stay tuned for pics and blogness of some sort. Emily and Katie say HEY.
Tschus!

Some of my favorite shops

Had a beautiful day on Saturday. It seemed like the entire population of Wiesbaden was outside. So we joined them. I visited some of my favorite shops in town and Pete took pictures. Surprise, surprise, my favorite places are mostly flower shops.
But this first shop has an incredible layout of the freshest vegetables and fruits from all over Europe. We found small tomatoes grown in France that were the sweetest I had ever tasted.


And here are the many flower shops I love to visit. This one is my favorite. A girl named Ellie works here and speaks perfect English so I visit with her often. Spring and the Easter season are big celebrations here. Flowers and early forced bedding plants are abundant and surprisingly sold this early. I too have already planted 3 pots on our patio... imagine that! And Pete halls them in every night... some things never change!


Here's a clever idea using a large grapevine wreath and fabricated Easter eggs.

This place has the most beautiful orchids. And Pete was interrogated (in German of course) apparently by the owner who wasn't too fond of us taking pictures. Must be afraid of the competition getting ideas.


I'm just starting to grow my own orchids and love everything about them especially the low maintenance.



Pete thought this would be a good store for him.



On the way home, the fountains were in full motion. Our American friends here say that the locals start Spring on March 1st. Judging from all the people out and about, they mean it.


Even the the pond in the park had it's water spout going strong only a few feet away from the slowly melting ice.

Hopefully Spring is here to stay. Tschus!