Made it back "home".

Strange how one enjoys the company of your outlaws much more when your betrothed is not around.... No intentional disrespect, but I enjoyed the meals and being strangled by my nieces (twins also same birthday as me, not that I care) so incredibly more when I don't get the "stop it, you're over exciting them!!". Well that's what uncles are made for...

I had an extremely easy journey back to Italy, slept 10 minutes in Bolzano at 05:30 Monday.

Made girls drive the mountain roads to Val Daone (pics attached), they are so confident in driving. I say to them that I didn't get to drive abroad until I was 28 and that scared the proverbial out of me, even then. They are still shy of 19 and they say, bring it on. Art by Three are fearless of heights too, which scares me something rotten. At nearly 6 ft 5, I get scared just standing up, but they can climb mountainous routes that make me squirm...

 

This morning, my wife disappeared (no bad thing), so I took the advantage to repair our heavy wooden blinds in our bedroom, go to the recycling centre, go shopping by bike, say goodbye to family here who are off to Mallorca for a week and cook tonight’s Chilli con Carne.

Also booked in is our trip to Switzerland, (Grindelwald for Jungfraujoch and Schiltorn) Austria (Werfen, for ice caves and castle). We're going next week. Art by Three have started painting today and are working on Prague etc.

I am now on our balcony and listening to the fauna that are declaring their territory and courtship rites. Let them have it, I say.

Good night all
R

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

I had planned to take the train this morning to Verona from our 'local' station, which is some 30 miles from our new base in Valle di Ledro. However, a "Gentleman" offered to ferry me to Verona, not by a ferry, but his car.

There are two problems with this offer. 1) This gentleman never, ever accepts any compensation for his time, diesel and his annoyance at having to listen to my drivel for 1.46324 hours (as he had reminded me) in his vehicle. 2) Although he is Italian, he can drive well. I do know this as I can take my eyes off the road and talk for 1.46321 hours (the difference being for when I coughed).

This kind gentleman is a friend I have known for many years. We can call each other some terrible things, but as his use of English is better than mine, I usually have to admit defeat. He is also a driving instructor. (Yes, the Italians do have them..) I have taught him well in English sarcasm, self-depracating manners, not least the art of understanding proper Ale from the British Isles. ( & Eire post 29/03/2019.....

I bade farewell to my semi-conscious wife at 07:00 (yesterday Art by Three cleaned the apartment top to bottom and sorted out all their 'stuff' for artwork). I had to return to England as you know for just a couple of days, but still many Italian friends said their goodbyes and offered their advice on how to prepare for the return journey on Sunday. I might not be tempted with going via Portugal, Morocco, Libya, Lampedusa after all.

So, the first Gentleman gets me to Verona airport. One good turn deserves another, so I am happy to help with directing the priority/non-priority queues, giving up my seat for a very noisy mother and child (not sure who was loudest), translating for others and lifting heavy baggage into overhead locker-things. So, I decided I should be the Second Gentleman of Verona... We did well today, sir.

I am now home with the outlaws again, having dined well on a roast with potatoes etc, with gravy that you just can't  do in Italy. Summer (the Cat) was pleased to see me again, but she intimated that her territory was now "up for grabs", back at our place. Apparently, she has accepted all-comers into her new patch, so we'll be expecting squirrels etc for dinner some time soon. A good friend of ours, we'll just call her Eve for now, loves her animals, so we won't complain if the squirrels don't pay their way. The Wife and Art by Three announced that they have just bought a new bed and mattress as "her old one was too lumpy". Fair enough, I suppose.

We are really looking forward to this next stage.  I'll bring the girls' car out to them on Sunday/Monday and they are planning short trips. Maybe they can drive the mad, driving instructor, Gentleman of Verona and show him how it's best done. As I taught them to drive in the first place, maybe we might lose this battle....

Thank you, Mr Shakespeare, for your fine work. If we ever meet again, then I will be happy to hand back my dated copy of Julius Caesar that I was "encouraged" to appreciate at 13 years of age. I did enjoy it, Bill, but all I can say is - Et tu Brute?

Art by Three will be discussing next week as to Switzerland trip via Austria, weather depending. I know they are excited about that as I had a "man trip" up the Schiltorn in June and it was outstanding scenery. I have been told I don't deserve a second trip, so I'll lick my wounds in a coffee-bar at the bottom of the cable car.......

Good night all.....I leave you with Summer

I set the alarm for 4 am.....( in the morning )....

Don't worry, I'm not going mad. Well not just yet anyway. The words "4am in the morning" have been with me for most of the 460 miles drive today

I blame Mike Oldfield. I blame him for writing those lyrics in that wonderful piece of work entitled "Moonlight Shadow". He enticed the vocalist (the amazing Maggie Reilly) to agree to sing "4am in the morning" as the words errrrr....fitted the music/score/whatever.

How can 4am be anything other than morning, I ask?....if anyone can prove otherwise, please let me know. Yes, I hear you cry - in the Arctic circle for example there are seasons without any sunlight for months, so maybe there could be a 4am in the evening, but Mike Oldfield was definitely not writing about polar bears carrying guns while being on the run..

I digress, sorry. At 4am (in the morning), I hauled my carcass out of bed and successfully negotiated my way downstairs to make tea, coffee and to warm the flask. No sign of the cat, so we'll Skype her tomorrow I guess. Everyone all ready at 5am and we said goodbye to the outlaws.

A 06:50 Eurotunnel was offered, gladly accepted. Art by Three put on their eye masks and settled down to snooze whilst we tore through France, Belgium and Luxembourg. A spot of luncheon washed down with a cheap diesel fill up @ 1.139 euros per litre in Luxembourg. Autobahn driving in Germany allows one to eat up the miles, so we arrived near to the hotel by 3pm (in the afternoon).

We have stayed here before, Sankt Annagut at Burrweiler not far from Karlsruhe. A lovely spot indeed. The girls chatted about our plans for the Tuscany trip. We have a week near Pisa, then another week near to Grossetto on the coast, followed by Siena. Please do feel free to give advice as to your favourite places to visit. One good one so far is the remote village of Volpaia..We keep telling others that this will be "work". You should see their reaction..

Anyway, thanks to Mike Oldfield and Maggie for being in my head since 4am (in the morning).

Good night all and sleep well.

It was the best of times and the worst of times....

......good old "Boz", or, to you and me, Charles Dickens..

In his reference to the comparisons between London and Paris, in his "Tale of two Cities", I am now also finding myself on the cliff edge, as it were.

I/we have had to be a part of so many sad sorrows in our departure in the last week. Although many of my "male" friends (I use the term loosely) have been stoical in defeat as their jealousy of my travelling around Italy and Europe, we have still been forced to hug, cuddle and dribble on each other's collars...

So, did Charles Dickens suggest Paris was better than London, or vice versa? No, there are always problems and they remain relative to your current position.

For example. I got to 30 years old and I thought (as you sometimes do), what will become of me? I have no children, should we maybe travel a bit?? So, I received my three daughters whilst still 30....incredible but that definitely halted any plans on travelling...

So, the Ford Galaxy is now packed to the gills. The cat is still confused, a collector popped in today to pick up some artwork, I am fortunate that I can return for a couple of days this weekend to take over the girls car....


....and the girls have said....I am the world's worst blogger. I don't care.. I will write a book of my memoirs and if anyone can tell me what I was doing, please let me know...!!

Lago di Garda versus Sutton, Greater London

Well only 7 days more of Sutton.
Time waits for no man, as they say, but the onerous task of cleaning the two cars ( the Fiat 500 L is of course, the girls) definitely can wait. I have done everything I possibly can do to avoid this most unpleasant experience.

I have helped the father-in-law cut back some ferocious trees and shrubs, offered to help my better half with the shopping excursion to Morrisons and have recently been hiding in the bathroom. However, I fear that I will be discovered at some point and my fate will be sealed.

We have heard that snow has fallen on the mountains near where we will be based near Lake Garda. The better half has had more kittens now as she is frantically telling me to swap all the summer clothes "that I should have packed by now" for woolies, cardies and long johns. (Apologies to our foreign readers, I have no idea what she is talking about either...)

Morrisons have furnished us with another 12 bottles of Adnams Ghost Ship Ale that also need to find their homes in the car for onward transmission to the Uncle in Italy who has solved the crises, namely Global Warming and our broadband connection..

As I reflect on how far we've come with the girls since the day that my better half telephoned me at work and announced that we were due to receive three bundles of joy all at once, I find it reassuring to remember the panic setting in on how to cope with all the chaos, feeding, winding, burping, soiled clothes, dribbling etc......and then I thought, why worry about my habits, shouldn't I care more about coping with three little babies instead?

Cleaning the cars doesn't seem too that bad all of a sudden....

Triplets want to take the hats they bought in Prague after hearing about the snow!!!!

Non ha peli sulla lingua....he doesn't have hair on the tongue....

Or a better translation would be....he says it how it is......

Berlin no way as "nice" as Prague...don't get me wrong, I love Germany. I think if you visited Berlin first, it would be incredibly more enjoyable.

It is a very easy city to travel around by public transport, no doubt about that....and the beer, whilst hitting the pocket at 4.50 euros for 0.5l, was very refreshing in the heat.

The weather 'improved' for us for about an hour, in that the temperature dropped to 27 degs and we had a light shower which brought all the Berliners and tourists out to play in the streets to witness this thing called "rain".

We've now moved in with the out-laws for 10 days or so, so I pity them as they see their beautiful home being filled with boxes of stuff pending our departure. However, famous bolognese has been offered along with casserole and dumplings tonight, so life is not too bad after all...

Chaos this morning as family in Italy advised that they couldn't find the socket for our new broadband connection...Panic ensued and the emergency services were put on high alert. This would be a disaster of huge proportions...thankfully all now sorted and we are so grateful that we have offered to take over 24 bottles of English ale as part of the relief mission.

A very kind and lovely customer of the girls artwork (he has commissioned a Maserati Ghibli and a Tornado as a result of seeing Art By Three in a local paper due to their getting distinctions at college), has visited us this morning to collect two pieces from them. Thanks Pete, also for the choccies, wine and beers!!

Anyway, tempus fugit as always and I need to start brushing up on my hazy Italian.....ciao for now....

Melting quicker than an Eskimo in a sauna.........

Ever regret not checking that your Hotel has full air-conditioning?
Ok, can't complain - my fault, I guess. Girls have an app that tells you how many steps you've done. I do often ask why?, because I do miles, like we do years, not seconds for your age etc. So, their app tells me that 22,000 steps equals 13km, which in 34 degs and full sun must be either crazy or mad, or both..
As we have the Berlin pass, which means we can use the underground, I thought that must be cooler. Oh no. How wrong. There must be a whole liquid entity of myself distributed throughout the seats on the U7, U2 and the S whatever..
We crawled through the Charlottenberg gardens, chasing the shade. Headed off to Potsdamer Platz and boiled ourselves in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Humbled by man's inhumanity to man in the museum of the holocaust near the Tiergarten. Girls dived into the Ritter (chocolate) museum. Mum and Dad dived into a small bier garten (to get shade of course).
Went east-side and had dinner near the Alexanderplatz before returning to hotel for cold showers. Hoping to believe the forecast that we could be down to 25 tomorrow.

Art by Three seem to be very at home in visiting new places. I'll have to review our budgets for the Grand Tour.....