Viareggio is like.....

Viareggio is like…….

Mission Bay in San Diego, Santa Cruz beach boardwalk, the Great Highway. It is a total beach town, right down to

 

But unlike California beaches, not everything is free. Here’s the dividing line between the 13 Euro cost for 2 chairs and umbrella and the very nicely raked sand of the private beach – and the other side that’s free. The ladies just walked around the fence liked they owned the place.

Those of you who know Becky know that she will never willingly go to the beach – sand, wind (especially WIND) yuck. So, you know who did touch with bare toes the Med and who didn’t

 

And now, the mystery – what is this that was cluttering up the free beach? Looks like a perfectly round hairball but it came in all sizes, from ½” diameter to almost 2 inches (OK, in a sop to all of you Euro types, from 1 cm up to 4 cm – and you realize that all of our ancestors actually intentionally LEFT Europe – for good reasons, right?) – I picked one up today, and here is what it revealed

More of the same hairy stuff- go figure

Tom lied- I actually  went in the water. With my swimsuit on

This is his idea of a day at the beach:

Update Italy

We've seen the Cathedral in Lucca. 

The beaches are not open yet in Viareggio.

We like hanging out on our porch in Camping Paridiso.

Cinque Terra Report

Cinque Terra is not too far from Carrara so it’s not surprising to me that we found doorways, lintels, and doorsteps made from……Carrara marble. Pretty sweet touch. And Cinque Terra? Sure, really nice and quaint – UNESCO treasure and all that but can you say, “Pier 39”? It reminded some of us of Mont St. Michel and other highly regarded tourist beauties.

A prize to somebody who could tell me why these pear stems should be waxed. Are they “Makers Marl” pears or what? Even the melons have it but how come the pears in the next crate didn’t rate the treatment?

Remember elegant European males who carried man-purses? That’s so 20th century. Today the dudes have haversacks like this to carry their gear and hands are free – awesome idea.

Several methods to visit the 5 towns. Duncan and Jessie took the hiking style to connect with towns – we took the sea route on this ferry boat. You load at the dock – gangplank stairway while the Captain keeps the motor pulling hard astern and the boat and gangplank constantly rising and falling with the motion of the ocean. Becky can tell you about those motions while she was inside waiting in line to get off. The boat ride does give you a different perspective from the view from the shore.

Www

So, here’s the 3rd way to get around Cinque Terra. You and hundreds of your newest, closest friends can take the train. And this is midweek before the season starts. I don’t want to think about Cinque Terra in July/August.

Did we eat in Cinque Terra? Without fail – and frequently.Some of us had stuffed anchovy for an appetizer, some of us had pasta with anchovy fillets – don’t think of anchovies packed in oil – these guys came straight from the boat that morning – some of us were contented with plain old pesto – and MANY of us finished off the afternoon with magic elixir-in-a-cup. We ran into a critical issue as soon as we got to our cabin in Viareggio – no filters for the coffee maker. And then started the great quest – “You got any coffee filters for sale here?” And a universal shrug, “No, dude – why don’t you drink espresso like other decent humans?” We finally tracked down a box and will now keep them under lock and key.

Tom's version of the past few days.

Pop quiz! What do you know about Guyana? Do you know it’s in South America? Do you know that’s where Jim Jones, Leo Ryan, Jackie Speier earned their places in history (infamy)? This isn’t the French Guiana that Ray Stafford remembers from his rocket launches. So, what’s this got to do with Becky’s blog about Graduation, Italy, and her house in France? Well…..glad you asked that question because we started out the adventure with a little bump……

The dudes in Air France DID make out my original ticket in my passport name, same for Becky. Unfortunately for me, the Dudes in Air France’s mileage club, of which I’m a member, thought they should use the name on my mileage clubapplication and transferred THAT name to my final boarding information. The Dudes in the US Government really don’t like that – all names have to match up. Thomas Simpson needs to be “Thomas Simpson” and not “Tom Simpson” that the mileage dudes tossed in. And that meant Becky got her boarding pass, got on her flight to Nice, flew to Nice…….by herself. I got to hang around the ticket desk for 3 hours getting that sorted out,getting the Mileage Club name corrected, watched her airplane take off, and then headed to Queens, NY – a suburb of JFK airport, to spend the next 2 nights while I waited for my next available seat to Nice.

And THAT brings us to Rockaway Boulevard in Queens, scene of the Econo Motel where I’m staying. It’s the middle of the Guyanese neighborhood  in NY and if you know (or learn) some Guyanese history you won’t be surprised when I tell you these are mostly Indian Guyanese immigrants. India had a ton of indentured laborers shipped off across the world in the olden days – Fiji, South Africa, Guyana and more.  There are tons of cool Guyanese grocery stores (that sell tapioca, Becky), restaurants that feature Island cooking and Roti, and when you hear Bollywood-infused Rap coming from the hipster Guyanese immigrant cars – at full throttle - Awesome! You know you’relivin’ in the USA – especially when the family running theEcono Motel are from Bangladesh. We had a lot of conversation about winter, snow and ice that was their 2014 experience.

Some people get to Italy, some people don't.

Becky arrived in Pisa this afternoon, Tom is camped out in New York. Seems that the name on his ticket didn't match his passport. Humm. Nobody's claiming responsibility. And since we were too late in resolving it Thursday evening and this weekend is the Canne film festival, he couldn't get on the Friday flight and will have to wait until Saturday. Becky will drive back the 4 hours to Nice on Sunday am to return the rental car and meet up with him at the airport. Best to get this bad juju over with at the beginning of the trip. But thanks to the wonder of global cell service, I could hook up with Duncan and Jessie in Pisa, get a room in the same hotel and met them for our first fabulous dinner.

This is the view from the hotel car park.

New York finally

II don't remember why in January a red eye flight seemed like a good idea, it's not that great. But we are here with our mountain of luggage at the Larchmont Hotel in Greenwich Village. This is what I think New York should look like short brick buildings not towering skyscrapers. We walked (and walked) Highline Park an oasis created on an above ground railway line some very interesting plants including this Giant Leaf Magnolia. 

Wednesday- Duncan graduated today lots of good speeches for change, ceremonies not taken too seriously by either students or faculty. Didn't rain which is good.

Tom finally got to hold the baby

Newest grandchild

We are so glad to welcome our newest grandchild- Abigail, just 2 days old today. 8.5 pounds and cute as a button.

Glad she arrived before we take off Monday.

   

You shouldn't have more personal stuff at work than you can carry out in a Girl Scout Cookie Box. This box has been to many jobs.

Burlingame? France?

Tom says France will have to be really good to beat sitting in his own backyard.