Genoa to Cinque Terre

Claire and Bruce used a travel agent for their tickets. $1200 each round trip to Genoa. Good price. Genoa is easy for me to get to from Verona. It is a city from which tours to Cinque Terre tend to start. Now I need to find a cozy place for us to stay in one of the villages. We will be together the last ten days of my trip. We leave Italy on the same day, May 24!

Verona Flat

I rented a one bedroom apartment in Verona through Airbnb from April 11-May 24. Full price is 23 euro a day, divided by how many people are there on any given day!

It has a sofa sleeper that I can use when company visits. I can also get 2 additional single beds.

Check the website for details:

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/3926378

Cinque Terre Getting there

Cinque Terre-Getting There

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187817-s301/Cinque-Terre:Italy:Arriving.And.Departing.html


Most travelers to Cinque Terre arrive via train. The five villages that make up Cinque Terre are on the Genoa-La Spezia (Pisa) rail line. The most easily reached town by train is Monterosso. Trains run from the station on the northern side of town to Florence (trains run every hour, the three-and-a-half hour ride costs 8 Euro), Genoa (every hour between 5:30 a.m. and 11 p.m., the hour-and-a-half ride costs 3.62 Euro), La Spezia (every half-hour, the 20 minute ride costs 1.19 Euro), Pisa (every hour between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., the two-and-a-half hour ride costs 4.39 Euro), and Rome (every two hours, the seven hour ride costs 26.60 Euro). One of your best bets to get around Cinque Terre is to purchase a Cinque Terre Tourist Ticket, which costs 4.20 Euro. This ticket lets you take unlimited train rides to the five villages over a 24-hour period. Another option is the Cinque Terre Card (5.40 Euro) which allows for unlimited train, bus, and path access for a 24-hour period.


There is also a ferry service available to get you to Cinque Terre from La Spezia. The La Spezia-Monterosso ride costs 18 Euro. Ferries leaves twice a day for the one-hour boat ride. From Monterosso, you can find ferry service to the other villages. There are usually a number of ferries that leave each port during the day. Fares cost between 2.25 and 8 Euro, depending on destination.


http://www.cinqueterreonline.com/tips.htm#getto

It is not easy to find accommodations in the Cinque Terre (Monterosso, Vernazza, Manarola, Corniglia, Riomaggiore) unless you book ahead. You can try to arrive without reservations, but from June to September it is almost impossible to find a free bed in these little villages. The only chance you have is to arrive early in the morning and see if anything is available.

The town of Levanto is bigger and has a lot of accommodations: Hotels, camping areas, Bed & Breakfasts, vacation rentals. You can select from a great choice of places and prices.


Remember: Make your reservation months before your arrival. Then make a confirmation call some time before your arrival. If the hotel thinks you will not show up, they will give your room to somebody else!

Count Down

I am now on vacation! I have two weeks to empty out Kellee's room so that she and Jayson can move in. I have moved everything out of her closet and working on the same in the TV room so Jayson has a closet.

Tonight I spent looking at places in Verona. If I can get it I am leaning toward this one, See if you can view. There is no cost if you choose to sign up with airbnb:

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/3926378?checkin=04%2F11%2F2015&checkout=05%2F24%2F2015&guests=2&s=Jj7M

The apartment has only 1 bedroom but it has a sofa sleeper. My cost is 836 euro a month. That is about 27 euro a day, to be divided by how many people are there on any given day. I can get as many as 2 more beds if others want to come. I have leads on several larger places. I am thinking Ebony/Matt and children? Or the Finley/Williams group?

When Claire and Bruce come, they can have the bedroom and I will take the sofa. They are leaning toward May 14-24 or so. Claire wants to go to Cinque Terra. I am discussing the place I posted earlier for those dates. If all that works out, I will rent the place in Verona for a month and then take Claire and Bruce to Cinque Terra.

Now hot tub and bed. Buona notte

10 work days to go

I am not officially retired until December 31, 2014. On that date we become eligible for the County retirement insurance. This is the reason I have been working full time for the past few years.

As of today, I have ten working days left. I will work until next Thursday, December 11. Then I have vacation for two weeks. In which time I have much packing and sorting to do!

I return to work for a few days, December 30 and 31 to sort and pack some more. Then done with this phase of life.

It is like looking at the universe through a telescope--so many solar systems to visit.

Gene's Guide to Sicily

This is from Gene:

Website to check out

http://www.thethinkingtraveller.com/thinksicily/guide-to-sicily

calendar

Arrivals calendar so far:

Irene January 13 to May 25
Greg January 13 to April 15
Yotam tentative Feb 23 March 6
Katy ticketed for Feb 24 to March 6
Jean March 12 to March 18
Chris S tentative March 30 to April 15
Michael and Ann May 25-may cross at airport!

Maybe???
Jeananne and Nick
Claire and Bruce
Gary and Debbie
Randy and Dagmar
Rebecca and Kevin
Sheila and Steve
Shirley P

trapani weather

It was 77 degrees in Trapani earlier this week. Here is a link to the weather.  Put your cursor on the line and click. A button will appear below it that says, Go to Link, click that and it takes you to the weather site.

http://www.weather.com/weather/today/Trapani+Italy+ITXX0077

Anzio 30-50 Euro a day

I have to decide by November 1, if I want to stay so close to Rome as Anzio. What we discussed is a charge of 35 euro a day when I am there by myself and up to 50/day when I have guests. It would be convenient for folks flying into Rome. I had planned to travel further north, but it is likely that it would be warmer to some degree in Anzio.

If you are interested in this area, please post a Comment on the blog, email or call!

Irene

Cinque Terra Coast

I have not yet committed to a place on the mainland of Italy after I leave Sicily. I am negotiating for various places for April and May. Have a look at these options on the Cinque Terra coast.

http://www.ferienhausmiete.de/ferienhaus_details.php?obj_nr=15844

When you click this link, it will be in German. Go up to the far right corner where you will see several flags. Click the British flag to change the wording to English. Then look at some of the listings.

Irene

Marlowe a Mason? A Free Thinker?

Came across an interesting idea in a book a few weeks ago. Some guy said that the description of the scene when Marlowe is killed is reminiscent of a Masonic Temple initiation. Marlowe was in a tavern with three other men most of the day, walking in the garden and sharing dinner for a period of about 10 hours. He was reportedly laying on the bed after dining while the others played backgammon. There was a dispute over the bill and he reportedly attacked another man with that man's knife. Ultimately the other man stabbed him through the right eye and Marlowe died. An inquest was held 24 hours after the death was revealed. He was buried in a mass grave the same day. Was he assassinated like Hiram or was it homicide in self defense as the survivors' claimed?

I read the same story in several accounts, with much debate among scholars. This one is from Elijahprofet.net: "According to the Masonic legend, Hiram Abiff was a man of Tyre, the son of a widow, and the chief architect of the Temple built by King Solomon. He was the central character in the building of the Temple and one of three leading characters along with King Solomon and Hiram, King of Tyre.

Hiram Abiff, Masonry teaches, was the only one on Earth who knew "the secrets of a Master Mason," including the most important secret of all, the "Grand Masonic Word," the name of God (the "ineffable name"). In the Occult,  knowing the name of a spirit is a key to having its power, there was a very great power in knowing this word.

Knowing the other "secrets of a Master Mason" would enable the masons/workmen working on the Temple project to go out on their own, working as Master Masons and earning Master Mason's wages."

Hiram Abiff had promised to reveal the "secrets of a Master Mason," including the name of God ("Grand Masonic Word"), upon completion of the Temple, and to make the workmen Master Masons, enabling them to go out on their own as masters (instead of  "fellowcraft" Masons). One day Hiram went, as was his custom, into the unfinished Holy of Holies at noon ("High Twelve") to worship and to draw up the work plans (on his "trestleboard") for the workmen to follow the next day. The workmen were outside the Temple for their lunch break ("…the craft were called from labor to refreshment…").

As Hiram was leaving the Temple he was accosted by three men in succession, who demanded that they be given the secrets immediately (without waiting for the Temple to be completed). He was handled roughly by the first man (Jubela), but escaped. Accosted and handled roughly by the second man (Jubelo), he again refused to divulge the secrets and again escaped. The third man (Jubelum) then accosted him and, when Hiram again refused to divulge the secrets, the man killed him with a blow to the forehead with a setting maul.

The body was then concealed under some rubbish in the Temple until midnight ("low twelve") when it was taken out to the  a hill and buried. The grave was marked by an Acacia branch, and the three men then tried to leave the country.   They couldn't get  passage on a ship so they retreated into the hills to hide.

King Solomon was notified that these 3 men were missing in addition to Hiram Abiff who was also missing.  Two searches were conducted.  The temple was searched (presumably at the King's request) and none of the men were found.   At this point 12 "fellowcrafts" reported to the King that they and three others had conspired to extort the secrets of Hiram Abiff from him but they had repented and refused to go through with the plan. They informed the King of the three men that murdered Hiram Abiff and King Solomon then sent out a second search party to look everywhere they could and find the body of Hiram Abiff."

Anzio south of Rome

The asking price for this apartment is $3000 euro a month. That is 100 euro/day. More than I can spend. I am negotiating with the owner for a lower rate. I could probably do 50 euro/day if I had some company for some part of that time between April 10-May 25.

The apartment, located at Anzio in the quiet, historic town south of Rome, is three bedrooms kitchen and two bathrooms. It offers 7 beds and a terrace to enjoy admiring the "Paradise" (Liberty casino). It 'just a few minutes walk from the beach, from the central fishing port and train station every hour linking the town to the capital. Enriched by the opportunity to be able to do so comfortably tourism in Rome, stay at Anzio provides a nice clean beach holiday, cultural visits, the ancient Villa of Nero to the historic buildings, the Museum of the Landing Villa Adele and excellent dining with fish specialties can be enjoyed in the typical restaurants.



Following the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943, American and British forces drove up the peninsula until being halted at the Gustav (Winter) Line in front of Cassino. Unable to penetrate Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's defenses, British General Harold Alexander, commander of Allied forces in Italy, began assessing his options. In an effort to break the stalemate, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill proposed Operation Shingle which called for landings behind the Gustav Line at Anzio (Map).

Lord, what fools these mortals be!

Wait til you here what I did! I was working late one night last week and decided to apply for my passport renewal on line because my work computer has the right version of Adobe for the forms. I Googled the site-National Passport Processing Center. When I opened the link, it said "Express Passport." Said it was authorized by the US government to expedite passports but if you did not need extra time, could also apply on line. I thought the company was a subcontractor to the US government for this function. It said if you need an expedited passport, there is a $99 fee. I didn't need an expedited passport, so I figured I would be paying the regular fee.

I clicked to the next page, which was the payment page. I paid by credit card $139.00 and then completed the on-line form from the US government. That page had a fee schedule that said the renewal was $135.00. It also said that you must pay the exact amount. I was not sure why they would want me to pay the extra $4.00, so I brought it all home and showed to Greg. He just shook his head and said, that is a scam. I said I had paid by credit card, so I would just cancel. He said he thought it unlikely I would get my money back.

Sure enough, I called them, I emailed. They said it was clear on the web page the fee was non-refundable. The said they would credit me $50 but the balance would go toward paying for the mailing labels they were emailing to me. I said I did not want their product or their service and I wanted a full refund. The credit card company said they would challenge it but I am not hopeful. Like I told the guy, I believe him when he says what they are doing is legal, maybe not moral, but probably legal.

Then I went on-line and read a lot of stuff about such companies. I sent my passport renewal by mail to National Passport Processing Center. It should not take long. I am always telling Greg, don't click on a link. Find the site, enter in the browser and go to site directly. Taking my own advice would have come in handy last week. Also a good reason not to work too late/brain drain.

tickets

Greg got our tickets with the help of his cousins, Michael and Ann! We fly to Florida for a Kaufman family wedding January 10, then on to Italy from there about January 13. Greg has decided to stay until after my birthday in April! Wow. Treat for me.

My friend Katy has her tickets as well, after she does a tour in Morocco.

Dagmar, in Berlin, is looking into a place owned by friends of hers on the Cinque Terra coast. I definitely looked at this place on one of the advertised sights, not knowing that a family member knows the owners!

http://www.ferienhausmiete.de/ferienhaus_details.php?obj_nr=15844

See if you can figure out how to translate!

Riccione on the Adriatic coast April 25-May 31

I have continued to discuss with landlords, possible places to stay in April and May. If not Verona or Padua, maybe Vincenza or along the coast. I found a wonderful 2 bedroom apartment in Riccione. This is on the Adriatic coast near Rimini on the main road to Bologna. It is available for April 25-May 31. $1750 euro for five weeks. That is a more than I want to spend if I am there by myself. My idea is that any guests would pay a share of the rent for the time there. If one person stayed with me a week, you would contribute $170 euro. That is a pretty good value.

Who wants to come share the cost for a week or two or three?

I found this place on Intervac, which is primarily a Home Exchange site, but some people will rent. I hope you can open the link. You should not have to sign in to view this home.

http://us.intervac-homeexchange.com/listings/5201d00ee3bbfe7b9107b055

Airline Tickets

In the past few days Greg has been trying to get frequent flyer miles tickets from Portland with a stop in Florida for a wedding and then on to Palermo. We would have to pay a separate ticket for the Portland/Florida leg. He was ready to purchase on Delta but Alitalia Airlines schedule was not working. The Delta staff spent several hours working on this and ended by suggesting we try again in a few days.

Yesterday, Greg learned that United will allow the stop over in Florida with a frequent flyer ticket. He nearly had this ticket ready to purchase. The agent thought this should work, it is allowed in the rules, but she could not get the system to let her enter the information.

Blog Guests

I set up the privacy settings so that only people who I identify by email can see the blog. Readers have to log on to Blogger so I will send a separate email announcing the publication of the blog!

This has been a lot of work. All my emails were on an old hard drive which crashed. I was able to get some from my email system in the Netzero cloud but not all and some of these will be old....

I entered by hand emails from Netzero to my gmail account. Hope this reaches the intended viewers to stimulate thoughts of travel to Italy.

Maybe Padua or Verona April or May

I have not found a place in Rimini or Ravenna yet. Nothing so far that I can afford in Trieste. I have pretty much given up on house exchange except to see if they are interested in renting.  AIRbnb tends to be cheaper, but also smaller places and most are not interested in a two-month stay. Sabattical.com has some potential as a source to find the right accommodations for this time period.

Passport in Order

Today I decided to blog reminder to check your passport. So I pulled mine out and it expired in March. Holy Crap Batman!

Marlowe in Padua debunked!

The Marlowe Society Research Journal-Volume 9-2012 article by Peter Farey is titled, "Did Marlowe Die in Padua in1627?" It runs through the various researchers and articles and some follow-up since the Front Line production. In 1983 Calvin Hoffman did travel to Padua to prove his 30-year campaign that Marlowe escaped England and died in Padua in 1627. His source was from the will of a journalist friend that said a guy named Petro Basconi left papers stating that he knew an English writer named Marlowe, who had to leave England and died in Padua.

In Much Ado About Something, Michael Rubbo found a letter from Hoffman (1983) that said Washington Irving, US Ambassador to Spain 1842-6, had seen the relevant document. Various people since then have not found a Bosconi or Basconi family in Padua. The name Marlowe did not appear in any records of death in Padua from 1626 to1651. Christian Lanciai stated in the Marlowe Society Newsletter 22 (Spring 2004) that he did find a Merlini who had died in1647 but Dr. Frank Haines wrote in a letter dated 9/3/1985 that common names in Padua are Merlin, Merlo, Marlin, "which nullifies the possibility that they referred to Marlowe (at the time)."

Did Marlowe Die in Italy?

I have been planning this trip for several years. I want to write a screenplay about Christopher Marlowe, with the premise that he wrote the Shakespeare plays as an ex-pat living in Italy.

See the Front Line PBS production: "Much Ado About Something" in 2003.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/muchado/

In the transcript from PBS, John Hunt is quoted as saying  "The evidence is in the form of notes which Mr. Hoffman, aged 75, received this year from the will of a journalist friend. These say that a 16th century Paduan, Petro Basconi, left papers stating that an English writer named Marlowe lived with him as a recluse until dying in 1627, 11 years after Shakespeare's death.The notes add that the writer had had to leave England. The papers were passed down the Basconi family and were said to have been shown during the 19th century to a British ambassador to Italy, who is said to have commented that he was afraid to tamper with a matter so dear to the English heart."

Road trips for foodies

You might want a food tour rather than an historic sites tour. Check out this one for Sceptre Tours:

http://www.roadtripsforfoodies.com/2014/07/slow-food-tours-in-italy/

Elder Hostels web page has a link to this 10-day tour for $2100-2500:
 http://www.goaheadtours.com/tot/food-wine-flavors-of-tuscany-umbria

buon appetito!

Road Scholar tours in Italy

You could visit me on either end of an organized tour. Several friends have reported some wonderful experiences with Road Scholar tours.

About $3300 for 13 days starting in Naples/Sorrento/Positano and return to Naples.

Program # 18213RJ
MOST POPULAR!

Beyond the View: The Amalfi Coast and Sorrento
Italy
12 night(s)
09/30/2014, 10/14/2014, 10/28/2014, 03/17/2015, 03/31/2015, 04/14/2015, 04/28/2015, 05/19/2015,06/02/2015, 09/15/2015 (and 4 additional dates...)

The cliff-top road along the Amalfi Coast is one of the most beautiful stretches in the world, but this sun-kissed region has so much more to offer th...(read more)

Rating:  4.8|more details |reserve now

Maybe Northern Italy Trieste April or May

What I like about Trieste is that it is an old city. It is  a charming place with a quiet atmosphere with a beautiful view of the Adriatic. James Joyce once lived there. It is more eastern European because it is close to Slovania and Croatia.Trieste also is easy access to Venice.

https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?type=avastbcl&hspart=avast&hsimp=yhs-001&p=trieste+italy

Rimini or Ravenna Spring 2015

Prego. How is it going? I am practicing Italian every day but my memory is not very good so it is slow....

For the second half of my stay, I am considering northern Italy, on the coast. I like the area of Ravenna and Rimini. I am talking to several landlords about the best options for a long-term stay.

Most people visit the central Italian city of Ravenna for its superb Byzantine mosaics - and rightly so, for they are the finest outside Istanbul. 

http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/ravenna/map

https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?type=avastbcl&hspart=avast&hsimp=yhs-001&p=rimini+italy

Will you come to visit? When? Let me know by email any particulars since the blog is public!

Irene

Irene's Sicily Feb and March 2015

Buon giorno and benvenuto! Good day and welcome to my blog about Italy in 2015. Please see the link to Casa Locogrande for information about the place I am staying in Sicily in February and March:
http://www.trapanese.de/casa_locogrande_price.html

To get there, you arrive at the Palermo airport. The house was built in 1965. It is located in an orchard with the nearest city is Trampani. In the winter months of February the weather can dip as low as the 40's and as high as the 60's. It is a bit warmer in March, of course. The house has a big veranda, a large living room with a fireplace and TV. The largest bedroom has its own bath and two other bedrooms share a bath (with a tub). The heat source is a wood stove, just like at home!