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Additional Text for the 04/12/06 Alumni Sandstorm 
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>>From: Stan McDonald ('53)

				TRIP TO ITALY
				        2006

MARCH 1, 2006:

	Andrej came to pick us up at Jason and Sharon's in
Bratislava, Slovakia, at about 7:00 a.m. We said our goodbyes to
Jason and Sharon and the kids and Andrej loaded our luggage into
his new Mercedes for the ride to Vienna. We had a comfortable
ride to Vienna with Andrej. He has been a driver for Jason and
Sharon for about 3 years now — a second car for them. We arrived
at the Vienna airport with about 1 ½ hours to spare. Plenty of
time to check in our bags and find the departure gate. The flight
began at 9:25 a.m. — and took about 1 ½ hours to fly Austrian
Arrow - Tyrolean Airlines to Venice. I read a free Wall Street
Journal and Dorothy did as well. 

	Upon arrival in Venice, we bought a 3-day pass for the bus
and Vaporetto (a water bus) and took the bus from the airport
into Venice. There we were dropped off at the terminal for the
Vaporetto #82. It took us right up to the door of our hotel — the
Rialto Hotel (within 60 feet of the front door). It is just a
short distance from the Rialto Bridge. We checked in right away
and the bellman took our bags to our room 140. We were pleased
with our room. It was not large but nicely appointed. The
bathroom had a marble tub and shower. The tub had a jacuzzi, the
room had a toilet and bidet as well. Our arrival was about
lunchtime and we were hungry. So we went next door to eat lunch
on the recommendation of the desk clerk. I had a pasta dish of
noodles and parmesan plus a salad. Dorothy ate fish. We followed
the meal with a gelato (ice cream) just outside the restaurant.
Then we began our walking tour of the streets of Venice. The desk
clerk had provided us with a complimentary map of Venice which he
marked to show special places of interest. We followed his advice
(and others) for awhile. We stayed on Rialto Island — walking
though the San Marco area. I took several pictures as did
Dorothy. We walked through several plazas which had historical
significance. We went into numerous shops. Just to browse. But
Dorothy was always looking at purses. She had met a woman at the
San Diego Airport who had one she liked that she bought in
Venice. We looked at Venetian glass places – the glass items were
beautiful but sometimes too gaudy for our tastes. Many of the
pieces were quite expensive. Dorothy liked several pieces of bird
statuary. She thought they were too large and fragile to
purchase.

We browsed some men shops — yep, my idea — and ultimately I
purchased a silk Versace tie — a one-of-a-kind type...classy in
silver and black and I knew just how and with what business
attire I wanted to use it. The store (owner-manager) displayed a
photograph of George Clooney which was autographed with "This is
the best tie shop in Venice."

On our walking tour, a Canadian couple overheard us speaking
English and came up to us and said ... "oh, what a relief to hear
someone speak English" (English is spoken quite a bit but
evidently they hadn't heard it often enough). We stood and talked
with them for about 20-30 minutes in front of a shop on the
canals....and learned that they were in Italy and other parts of
Europe to celebrate their 25th anniversary. Her second marriage
and his first....he is seven years younger than her....he is 57
and she is 64. We learned that they had just come from Florence
after being at the Torino 2006 Olympic games. Her son from a
previous marriage, Jeff Pain, had won a silver medal in the
"Skeleton" event — a one-man luge where the athlete goes down the
luge run headfirst. Jeff Pain is older than most Olympic athletes
at age 37. But I am impressed with the danger of the event and
their report of his conditioning for the event. After our
discussions we decided to get together for dinner the following
night. Their names are Murray and Diana Lowick. He is a
commercial insurance broker in Calgary, Canada, and she is a
retired teacher. We went to dinner in the San Marco area at a
small restaurant.... I had lasagna and Dorothy had spinach
canneloni. Then we retired to our hotel room to rest for the
evening.

March 2, 2006

The next day we observed that the meteorologists sure missed on
the weather ...having forecast rain. We had sun with us both
yesterday and today. It was "nippy" however and we were glad to
have our "cold weather attire" both days. 

Our breakfast at the hotel .... salami, ham, cheeses, yogurt,
freshly baked croissants, orange and other juices, herb teas,
etc. We then took a vaporetto (a water bus) ride all around this
part of Venice, stopping at various stations along the way to
sightsee by getting off to walk the streets and go into a myriad
of shops. Dorothy continued her search for a certain kind of
leather purse for herself and one for Monika, our Austrian
friend. 

We stopped for a break in the afternoon sun at the Hotel Grassi
on the Grande Canal and sat on a patio overlooking the canal and
its heavy water traffic. We ate pistacchio nuts, interesting
crackers and dark green olives, and a beverage. We watched the
gondoleers and other kinds of boats go by in both directions. But
the most interesting event there was a situation where a police
boat was going by in front of us at a rather ordinary pace and
suddenly a screaming siren brought our attention to a speeding
emergency medical inboard boat on its way to either pick up
someone or deliver someone for medical treatment.

In the afternoon, to rest our weary bodies, especially our aching
legs and feet, we went back to the hotel and both of us took a
jacuzzi bath in our marble tub and bathroom to restore ourselves.
After dressing again, we went out again to shop.... we found a
shop where Dorothy purchased four identical (except for the
color) leather shoulder purses ...red, tan, blue, and
black....one each for Shirah and Sharon, and two for herself.
They are kinda small but convenient for walks and taking a
minimum of "stuffas." She was also looking for a purse (different
type) for Monika Jost.

In the evening we had a message from Murray and Diana Lowick ...
the Canadians ...that they would meet us at our hotel lobby to go
for dinner. They had arranged a reservation at a restaurant that
was not a long walk away but it was over the nearby foot bridge
and 3 or 4 blocks onto the mainland. Trattoria a Madonna — we had
a marvelous dinner and sat and talked our way through several
courses lasting four hours. We now have an open invitation to
attend the Calgary Stampede or come and stay with them in
Calgary. He is still working as a broker and skis. He mentioned
Banff and Lake Louise areas as potential sites if we visit them.
They were headed out for Innsbruck, Austria, for skiing with Jeff
Pain and others after leaving Venice, then would head back to
Canada.

March 3, 2006


Today we are going by train to Florence. After checking out of
our hotel we took a vaporetto to the train station for our trip
to Firenze (the italian name for Florence and the name of my
bicycle). It was somewhat of a hassle to find out if we could
leave 2 hrs. earlier on an "open ticket" which our travel agent
had obtained for us (in Vienna, Austria). We obtained an upgrade
on our train reservation to Euro Star (newer trains) for 15 euros
each. Then we got on the earlier train and met four Australians
with whom we joked and exchanged comments. Later, we discovered
that we were not sitting in the right seats according to our Euro
Star tickets....each seat is assigned but I confess that my
Italian is not good (ha!). Twice, someone had come and said we
had their assigned seats but by that time our luggage was safely
ensconced in the overhead bins and the train was very crowded
.... we suggested that they take the empty seats (at that
time).....they did. We arrived at the Florence train station
after an interesting ride through the Tuscany area and some
mountainous territory ..... Italy is beautiful, I think. Of
course, if you want to, you can find many things to complain
about while you are there .... like all the hucksters in Venice
who keep jabbing "free" tickets to a place that manufactures
venetian glass, the Murano Glass Factory. But I just laughed them
off with a "no, thanks." Dorothy was more irritated with them and
said so.

Upon arrival in Florence, we followed our four newly-acquired
Australian friends — one couple from Sydney (John & Yvette) and
another from Brisbane (Chris and Barbara). We left the Stazione
Santa Maria Novella and trudged through the streets to a site
near their hotel. We thought it was near ours as well because a
hotel named similarly to ours was marked on our map for us (by
Monika) .... Hotel Santa Croce, indicating that was where we were
to stay. The Australians were staying next to the Piazza della
Signoria and the famous Uffizi Gallery. After saying our goodbyes
to the Australians (we ran into them again later on) we went to
the wrong hotel and they called a taxi for us to take us to our
hotel ... Hotel Croce di Malta on Via della Scala, near the
Stazione Santa Maria Novella. 

Whew! We were glad to get to the correct hotel .... it was much
better than the one we incorrectly sought. The new hotel had 20
foot room ceilings and must really be old ... as in centuries,
but the bed was king-size and softer than the last hotel bed...in
Venice. We had a late lunch in Florence where it had rained but
the sun was out. We ate at 4 p.m. — pizza and a dessert of hot
chocolate ....15 euros for the hot chocolate at a fancy hotel off
the Piazza della Signora ... but a great "people watching" spot.
Later we slept 8 hours ... it felt soooooo good.

Our continental breakfast was muesli, yogurt, cheeses (the usual
European fare), ham, 2 kinds of croissants, grapefruit juice,
herb teas, and water. We then decided to go to the Uffizi Gallery
where there are huge nearby statues .... including a replica of
David by Michaelangelo.....the gallery is actually many types of
galleries within one.....statues, paintings, and frescos on the
ceilings done by Rubens, DaVinci, Michaelangelo, and a slew of
other artists on several floors of joined buildings covering
thousands of square feet of space. It is probably the top
attraction in Florence. I took many pictures and I hope at least
some of them will be good. While we were waiting in line to get
in, we met a nice young English couple from near London, England.
We talked to them 3 separate times during the time we spent at
the Uffizi. Dorothy's favorite piece of art was one painted by
Rubens ..... the size of the painting was about 20 feet long and
8 feet high of someone in a chariot surrounded by many others. I
liked a lot of things there but especially some of the frescos
and statues.

I had a chance to take several photos of statues around the
Uffizi outside (you cannot take flash pictures inside the
building), including the famous David statue. Then we strolled
down the street outside toward one of the five bridges over the
Arno River to the one with shops on both sides of the bridge
which sell jewelry including some Bulgari jewelry. The street
name is Via de Gucciandini. I took several photos from the
bridge. Dorothy and I strolled down the Palazzo Pitti and back.
She was still looking for a purse for Monika even though she had
already found one. I thought she might keep the one she purchased
for Monika for herself (more her style) and get another one for
Monika which is what she did. We took our purchases back to the
hotel and then headed out again. We had lunch and sat next to a
couple celebrating before he, as an American Army colonel, had to
return to Baghdad to serve a few more months. They had been
married only about 6 years and they were on holiday before going
on to Rome to meet her parents who were to bring their young
daughter to see them both in Rome. They evidently have a home in
Honolulu. Dorothy asked the wife if she did a lot of praying
while he is away in Iraq and she readily replied that she did.
They were a very handsome couple. When they left us there in the
restaurant they were going out to attend a musical (probably an
opera) there in Florence.

After several more short jaunts on this day, we went to a
dinnerhouse named Buca Mario's in Florence. I had heard of it
from a young man we met in a chocolate shop in Bratislava,
Slovakia, who had stated that it (Buca Mario) served the best
italian food he had ever eaten. I had already seen the entrance
to the place once before and declined to go any further because I
thought it was a "dive." It was down a short flight of stairs and
didn't look especially good. But on my second recommendation from
someone else, we decided to try it. A good decision. We sat next
to two interesting couples there in the back of the restaurant,
one from Holland and the other one from Japan (a businessman and
his wife). The place was an old wine cellar dating back into the
1800s. The waiters were dressed semi-formally and served with a
flourish. I ordered tortellonis stuffed with spinache and covered
with an asparagus sauce. I would have licked the plate at home it
was so good. For a second course, I ordered veal scallopini
served with garnished mashed potatoes. Wow. So goooood. Dorothy
ordered a seafood plate .... a bit of a mistake, I think, because
she didn't know its ingredients before being served. It had
mussels (I do not like them and she isn't crazy about them
either) plus it had little squid ..... the whole squid in it.
Yuck. But she ate it because it was served with a decent pasta as
a base. Plus a salad. But I had the better food and she would
readily admit that if asked. Then for dessert (we were there long
enough for me to digest all that food I mentioned) I had a
caramel custard served with strawberries and Dorothy had
strawberries and whipped cream. 



March 5 and 6, 2006

We arose somewhat numbed by all of our previous walking. After
showers we went to our last continental breakfast at Croce di
Malta. The we repacked our bags for the trip to Bologna. The trip
through the Tuscany countryside took only one and half hours. It
gave us a good opportunity to see the area and appreciate the
olive groves, vineyards, and small towns in Northern Italy. Some
of that area is mountainous but not quite as high as the Alps.
Our seats were next to two young Italian boys about 10 and 11
years old who were quite restless .... I joked around with them
... arm-wrestling and stacking their Uno cards (Italian version).
Then Dorothy and I assisted them in working Italian crossword
puzzles (technique-wise only obviously because we are not
conversant in Italian). They and a bunch of other kids and their
parents in some cases were on their way to another Italian city
north of Venice. At Bologna we said our "arrivedercis" and our
"ciaos". Our hotel was only a short 3 or 4 blocks from the train
station. Bologna is a very old city. It is known for its many
arches built into the downtown buildings. We walked with our
luggage to our Hotel Tri Vecchi. Our room overlooked Independence
Street and had wooden shutters which opened out onto a courtyard
in front with a large statue. It was supposed to be raining that
day but it did not rain much until after we had walked and eaten
a lot and were ready to turn in. We left the windows and shutters
open partially and the rain came down hard. For me it was welcome
in that I can fall asleep very quickly when it rains. I had
originally thought that we were going to have an indoor swimming
pool on the fourth floor of this hotel. Not to happen.....it was
only in the new hotel which is 15 kilometers out of Bologna!....I
was disappointed that we brought our bathing suits for nil. We
ate twice during the two days there at the same restaurant where
we ate dinner the first night --- Victoria's Restaurant around
the corner. Good service and food. Not fancy but good. We walked
a lot around Bologna and it was Sunday (5th) and most of the
shops were closed. The next morning we did more walking and were
surprised that the sun came out .... which belied the actual cold
air that we felt. Again, it reminded us that we were glad to have
brought the long overcoats and my cossack-style hat. Dorothy had
a hood. We both had warm wool scarves and used them. The hotel
room which I thought would be the best of the 4 of them turned
out to be the biggest disappointment ... especially the tiny
2'x2' shower in the rather small bathroom. But we managed to take
showers in it. One good thing was the large plush bath towels and
another was the excellent breakfast served there. We had many
types of pastries and croissants; eggs scrambled with ham, bacon
(too salty for me), yogurts, rolls, fruit — pineapple, peaches
and pears, apples, cookies and custard cakes and pies, etc.

We trekked around Bologna – first to the Piazza Maggiore where
the symbol of Bologna — the fountain of Neptune — was reflected
in the morning light and I took several pictures of it. We
eventually went into the huge cathedral ---- the 5th largest
church in the world. What spectacular things we saw. This
Basilica rivals the one we saw a few years ago in Salzburg,
Austria. Supposedly you are not allowed to photograph inside
it.....but I did take one photo of the interior looking toward
the altar – but it will not do justice to the grand space — the
ceiling is more than 100 feet high. We purchased a booklet later
and some picture cards.

Then we walked around the other sites in Bologna and took
pictures of a multitude of arcades. We bought some books at an
international bookstore — novels and a book on Bologna like the
ones we got on Venice and Florence. We sought out some places
that were recommended to us, like the Tamburini — a shop (and
bar) that has meat hanging in the place and all kinds of food
including various raw meats and poultry with many prepared
dishes. I took pictures. Then we went looking for another place
called Bruno e Franco, a food shop with butchers and cooks in
uniform .... which were practically tuxedos with red hats and bow
ties and white bakers frocks. I took a picture of them. But we
ended up eating again at a known place ... the Victoria
restaurant around the corner from our hotel. We both had lasagna
and salad and soup. When we retired for the evening we watched
CNN Europe to get news. We missed that while in Bratislava
because Jason does not have television so as to protect his kids
from rather liberal and risque European programming.

One more point about our Bologna visit. We met a very nice and
distinguished looking couple in a chocolate store (very fancy
chocolate treats) that was also a wine tasting place. We went in
there frankly to go to the restrooms and to look over the
wonderful looking display of all kinds of tortes and chocolate
desserts. But over to the right there was a large wine-tasting
bar as well. Well, Dorothy got in line for the ladies room and we
had a rather short couple in front of us that looked to be in
their early 70s. They were all dressed up in semi-formal attire.
Dorothy and I were dressed casually as we were for the entire
trip. We struck up a conversation with them and their lady
friend. It turned out that he is an attorney still practicing in
Bologna and had lived in New York City for five years as an
attorney for the Italian delegation to the United Nations. He had
a very kind face and had obviously smiled a lot during his
lifetime because the smile lines were in his face. The couple was
also obviously exposed to social situations .... they were very
gracious and warm. They said that they had not practiced their
English in some time since being back in Italy but we thought it
was very good.

March 7, 2006 

We took a train to Padua from Bologna. The ride from Bologna to
Padua was on a non-Euro Star train. We decided to try one and see
what they were like since it was only about an hour and a half
ride. It turned out to be a good choice. We read some on the
train to Padua. I had a new novel to read and so did Dorothy. She
was also struggling some with a sinus problem .... probably
invoked because she opened her window last night and was sleeping
very close to it and it was cold and damp during the night. It
was a sunny morning, however, on the way to Padua in spite of a
forecast for rain and clouds. Somehow, our luggage seemed heavier
than it was when we left Venice for Florence. Ha ... From the
train station to our hotel .... just across the street ... the
Grand Italia Hotel. Turned out to be the best rather than the
worst hotel as I had expected. We were in a very convenient spot.
The room was large and nicely appointed and furnished us with
terry cloth slippers and nice accessories. Close to the elevator
... even though we were on the first floor above the lobby. We
walked through the town a lot during the day we were there. We
took a lot of pictures, primarily of the architecture. We went
through a large university near downtown.

Boy, that was an eye-opener. There were about ten to twelve
posters for candidates for some student organization elections of
about five feet by six feet in dimensions and were black ink
drawings (actually caricatures) of the various candidates for the
election for officers of the student body. Never had I seen such
pictures in public display of the candidates in the nude with
their body parts distorted and grossly overblown ... and they
were allowed to be posted in the open street around the
university there in Padua. I know that Padua was the site
Shakespeare chose for his Romeo and Juliet but this was bizarre
and even in the U.S. it would be considered pornographic. I did
not take a picture!

During the trek the shops were closing for the mid-day break
which is the custom in Italy. We went into a chocolate & coffee
shop frequented by university students and had two large mugs of
hot chocolate...very thick and rather bitter without adding two
packets each of sugar to each. Then it was good. We then went
back to the hotel for lunch of leftover lasagne and pizza in bed.
While lying there our door suddenly opened and without a knock or
any warning, in came a young looking person who claimed to be
hotel staff. He made comments which were apparently in reference
to the room key — a magnetic card — which he held in his hand and
told us that our card was not in the slot provided in the room
just inside the door and a window was open which had alerted
security. When he left we discussed that he had not knocked and
what if we had been nude or otherwise indisposed? Dorothy went
down to the front desk to inquire about the young man who gave
his name as "Giovanni." The short of it is that we had one of our
windows open and no key card in the slot where it is supposed to
be placed when we were in the room for security purposes. So
hotel management had Giovanni go to our room to check on the
situation and to be sure we were not being burglarized. Frankly,
I am glad that they check on things like that.

We decided not to go out at all to eat dinner but rather, because
Dorothy was not feeling well with her sinus condition, we merely
went to the very large McDonald's nearby for salads for Dorothy
and I. While waiting for my meal a man about 30 to 33 years came
up to me and then "out of the blue" he grabbed my right hand and
kissed it, saying "I Algerian ... I Algerian ..." I thought ...
"So.....!" I tried to avoid him and he was not easily avoided. I
just knew that it was leading up somehow to begging for money .
We saw plenty of beggars in Italy and hucksters too. That, along
with something else we discovered that happened when we got home,
was cause for Dorothy's less than enthusiastic statements about
her vacation there. [Namely, that we were robbed of about $800.00
from one of our bank accounts by someone who had posed as a
person to assist getting our Visa card out of the ATM in Florence
and his sudden disappearance instantly afterward with an apparent
female accomplice who was standing behind me. How did we know?
The next two days there were withdrawals from our account in
Marseille, France, of close to $400 in one instance and over $400
in the other. Whoever it was tried as many as five times
thereafter to use the card unsuccessfully. Thankfully, our bank
has restored the monies to our account and set their detectives
to track down the persons responsible. Back to the restaurant
story where the guy kissed my university class ring and tried to
maneuver his ring and ring finger next to my ring ....
fortunately he did not have success and I pulled away. He was
escorted out of the restaurant by the manager. We went to bed
early for our last night in Italy. Our baggage was repacked
slightly for our trip back to Venice by train the next morning.

March 8, 2006

We caught an early train out of Padua for Venice. It left at
about 8:30 a.m. We sat in a boarding area and it was also an
"uscite" (Italian for exit). A young man who later told us he was
17 years old began discussions with Dorothy and eventually with
me. He was very bright and self-taught in English. His mother was
French and his father is Italian. He took both those languages in
school but because he wanted to learn English he has done so on
his own. He was on holiday from Florence and was already on the
train when we got on. He got off the train at the last town
before Venice. 

Upon arrival in Venice, we checked our bags for several hours at
the train station to be free to walk around again. We roamed the
piazzas and shops again. We ate again there before finally
boarding the vaporetto to the bus station which would take us
back to the Venice airport in the evening for our flight back to
Vienna, Austria..

At the airport we read our books after looking through the
airport shops. The flight on Austrian Arrow (Tyrolean) Airlines
... a prop jet ... took 1 and 1/3 hours to Vienna. Andrej, our
taxi man from Bratislava, was there to meet us. We retrieved our
luggage at the carousel and loaded it into Andrej's Mercedes and
headed for Bratislava at about 9:25 p.m. We arrived at Jason and
Sharon's house at about 10:25 p.m. We had a good discussion with
Andrej about why he is so much more industrious and
capitalistically-oriented than some Slovakians. It felt good to
be back and sleeping in Hanna's twin beds. 

Stan McDonald

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