Our home away from the hotelsThursday
Another interesting day in Italy. Earlier in the trip we had thought about writing about our bathroom adventures but then decided against it, but after tonight we decided we had to share our experiences with all. First of all the bathrooms outside of the US are nothing like what we are used to. We’ve had buttons to push for number one and number two business on the wall and the top of the toilet. We’ve had knobs to turn, chains to pull and even a hole with foot indentions to straddle over. Tonight was the ultimate experience. This was at a restaurant in Riva del Garda. The seat had to be lowered to sit on it and then it immediately raised after use and a sanitizing mist automatically sprayed the seat! Never have had that experience. Also you might be interested to know they are called WC’s here (water closets) or Toilettes. Most of the time there is one door and behind that 2 stalls, one for men and one for women and a common hand washing area. We are just not used to that in the US. We drove from Caldero to Rovereto, with a side trip to Bolzano today. We went to the Archeological Museum there and saw the “Ice Man.” He was discovered in 1991 and they have determined him to be 5,300 yrs. old. It was fascinating to see what they learned about him as far as what he ate, his tools and his clothing. They could even determine how he died and approximate age. Bolzano was a charming little town with an unbelievable city market right on the street. Great little shopping area! Tonight was drove to the lake area. Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy. We walked around the town, ate some fabulous pasta and had our memorable WC visit. Afterwards walked around the lake back to the car. Our room tonight might be a little warm…we are not in the mountains and have no air conditioning. Again we had a hard time finding a room…lots and lots of tourists! We left a wake-up call when we came in from dinner last night and then noticed we had no phone when we returned to the room….of course we assumed they would knock on our door…guess what ? NO wake up notice of any kind…luckily we woke up early from all the road noise. We then discovered the ONE person there was serving breakfast and anything else that needed to be done!
Friday September 12
Finally we are at our aeroporto hotel…again with our driving skills it was not an easy task! We’ve lost count of all the wrong turns. For your information US towns are mostly laid out on a grid pattern. Our streets run parallel and cross each other. These towns run on a spoke pattern and the small towns may have 5 or 6 different spokes and lots and lots of one-way streets. Lets face facts the initial placement of many buildings here is from the medieval time period. You can get in a town one way, but cannot exit it the same way! Today we had a beautiful drive as we came down the eastern side of Lake Garda. We then stopped at a town called Sirmione. It had a beautiful castle and old town directly on the lake. There we had our cappuccino and bought cheese on the street for our lunch. We then journeyed on to Milan to find the hotel and then to return the rental car. Just finding the hotel was a challenge but we did. Hopefully getting to the airport will be easy tomorrow because someone else will be taking us. This has been a wonderful trip and we’ve seen an unbelievable amount of Italy. Phil and Deanna did an excellent job of planning and preparation for the trip. To them we are forever grateful. This has been such an enjoyable trip! Anyone wanting to come to Italy be forewarned; it is a captivating country, wonderful food and nice people. Come once and you will want to come back! Tomorrow we start our 18 hour trip back home...milan to jfk to chicago to nashville! Long travel day!
Another interesting day in Italy. Earlier in the trip we had thought about writing about our bathroom adventures but then decided against it, but after tonight we decided we had to share our experiences with all. First of all the bathrooms outside of the US are nothing like what we are used to. We’ve had buttons to push for number one and number two business on the wall and the top of the toilet. We’ve had knobs to turn, chains to pull and even a hole with foot indentions to straddle over. Tonight was the ultimate experience. This was at a restaurant in Riva del Garda. The seat had to be lowered to sit on it and then it immediately raised after use and a sanitizing mist automatically sprayed the seat! Never have had that experience. Also you might be interested to know they are called WC’s here (water closets) or Toilettes. Most of the time there is one door and behind that 2 stalls, one for men and one for women and a common hand washing area. We are just not used to that in the US. We drove from Caldero to Rovereto, with a side trip to Bolzano today. We went to the Archeological Museum there and saw the “Ice Man.” He was discovered in 1991 and they have determined him to be 5,300 yrs. old. It was fascinating to see what they learned about him as far as what he ate, his tools and his clothing. They could even determine how he died and approximate age. Bolzano was a charming little town with an unbelievable city market right on the street. Great little shopping area! Tonight was drove to the lake area. Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy. We walked around the town, ate some fabulous pasta and had our memorable WC visit. Afterwards walked around the lake back to the car. Our room tonight might be a little warm…we are not in the mountains and have no air conditioning. Again we had a hard time finding a room…lots and lots of tourists! We left a wake-up call when we came in from dinner last night and then noticed we had no phone when we returned to the room….of course we assumed they would knock on our door…guess what ? NO wake up notice of any kind…luckily we woke up early from all the road noise. We then discovered the ONE person there was serving breakfast and anything else that needed to be done!
Friday September 12
Finally we are at our aeroporto hotel…again with our driving skills it was not an easy task! We’ve lost count of all the wrong turns. For your information US towns are mostly laid out on a grid pattern. Our streets run parallel and cross each other. These towns run on a spoke pattern and the small towns may have 5 or 6 different spokes and lots and lots of one-way streets. Lets face facts the initial placement of many buildings here is from the medieval time period. You can get in a town one way, but cannot exit it the same way! Today we had a beautiful drive as we came down the eastern side of Lake Garda. We then stopped at a town called Sirmione. It had a beautiful castle and old town directly on the lake. There we had our cappuccino and bought cheese on the street for our lunch. We then journeyed on to Milan to find the hotel and then to return the rental car. Just finding the hotel was a challenge but we did. Hopefully getting to the airport will be easy tomorrow because someone else will be taking us. This has been a wonderful trip and we’ve seen an unbelievable amount of Italy. Phil and Deanna did an excellent job of planning and preparation for the trip. To them we are forever grateful. This has been such an enjoyable trip! Anyone wanting to come to Italy be forewarned; it is a captivating country, wonderful food and nice people. Come once and you will want to come back! Tomorrow we start our 18 hour trip back home...milan to jfk to chicago to nashville! Long travel day!
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