Tuesday, September 16, 2008 8:40 PM
Pop-a-long here,
Wait! Turn left there at the salad bowl. Oops! Turn right at that spaghetti type intersection. Golly! I'm confused what intersection was that, lasagna I think. Gee! I feel like a real meat head, ah, I mean meat ball. How do you speak this language.
Normally when I open this blog it's to catch up on the adventures of Idalis and Kevin. But this time Carmela and I are a part of the adventure.
As I type in this blog the four of us are in Bonassola Italy at a quaint little community of villas called La Francesca in a villa named Margarita. Yes! each villa has it's own name. What can I say; the beauty and topography of this area is absolutely astounding. One of the first things we did was to take a hike through and around the cliffs of this area. Now let me tell you these paths are very narrow, very steep. very rugged, some of the areas have railings and other areas are without railings. When I say narrow I mean narrow straight up on one side and straight down on the other side one slip and you will be singing hallelujahs in a place called heaven or Hell for some of you. You will have to ask Kevin to show you some of the photographs and digital movies he took. Maybe he will put some shots on this blog. The scenery in this place reminds me of a the rugged coast of California in a town called Carmel Calif. The shoreline is very rugged with jagged rocks and boulders and many protrusions of rocks and boulders breaking the water off shore. The hills are accented with foliage of pine trees and other types of local vegetation that is very dense, exceptionally green and breath taken. When you take in a breath of air you can smell a sweet and pure aroma of the surrounding flowers and vegetation that is pleasing to the senses The towns and villages are spread throughout the mountains and nuzzled in the many coves along the coastline. The buildings are festive with multi-colored buildings with a flare of their own, the locals are friendly, and the streets are narrow and full of very narrow and very tight curving streets. If you have ever ridden in a car with Kevin driving in Miami, then you have experienced what kind of driver Kevin is. Well, take that experience and put Kevin in a rented six speed stick shift diesal Fiat, add some hills, tight curves, steep grades and Kevin becomes a Tazmanian devil in overdrive.
Now let me share with you a little side excursion we took, (because I learned something about my son Kevin I didn't know), When it comes down to knowing East from West he seems to have difficulty identifying which direction is which. After picking up the rental car it was decided that we would take route A-12 to Bonasolla which follows the coast going North, however getting out of Rome was a big challenge we had not counted on. There is an autostrada that circles the city of Rome. This needed to be found so that we could exit the city, guess what?, this in itself from my perspective seemed to be impossible to find even when using a map. Well to make a long story short, somehow we found the autostrada, but were no where near route A-12. So we ended up going on route A-1 which goes North up the center of Italy on toward Florence. After accomplishing this Idalis, Keven, Carmela and I breathed a sigh of relief. Now we had to find another route to Bonosolla. This route was to be route E-80 West. When Kevin spotted route 80 he immediately made an exit and we were on our way to our planned destination. After cruising for about an hour we noticed that none of the cities we were supposed to be traveling past were cities as posted on the map. It turned out that we were traveling East instead of West. Sooooo, we turned around and started heading back. We did see a lot of pretty Italian country side. After this little excursion we managed to find the highway we were supposed to exit at for our ride to our destination. Now this provided us with another challenge because it was getting dark fast and noting the challenges we already had during daylight hours we could only imagine what challenges lie ahead. We all wanted to stop in Pisa Italy to see the leaning tower of Pisa before the sun went down. Guess what? We found it without much difficult. Let me tell you what a beautiful (Bello), site to see, you have got to experience this at least once in your life time. The rest of the trip to our destination (even though the sun had gone down) had not presented us with any problems that we weren't able to work out. So goes one day in the journey of Idailis and kevin traveling with mom and dad in Italy.
12 comments:
I must say, I have survived a ride with Taz! I can only imagine what it's like with mountains and pending death around every corner. Egad!!! As far as getting lost...hm, who was it that was mistaken? Kevin or Dad? (Remember that time in Arizona, Dad? Hahaha!) I'm glad you've found everywhere you wanted to go. I loved the pictures. Idalis, you and dad are constantly pushing on opposite sides of things. (Remember the stone at the zoo?) Keep blogging, all of you, it's fun to read. Jeremy and I love you guys!
Re,
Great to hear from you! We are still talking about our Skype conversation! You have moved up the ranks to become the number one blogger, taking the title from Rami! Hear that Rami, your title has been challenged.
Anyways, we finally made it where we needed to be and that is what counts. Dad was in the front seat and assigned co-pilot, but I do not want to blame anything on him. I really thought we were going the right way.
The Pisa picture was intentionally modeled to replicate the zoo stone. Good observation! TALK to you soon. We love you very much, but must go as Mom just finished cooking our Italian meal that we will eat on the verranda overlooking the Ligurian Sea!
Where is everybody else???
Love,
Kevin, Idalis, Mom and Dad
I don't know where everyone else is, but I'm addicted to checking the blog. Just in case you posted something within the last 15 minutes. Thanks on the observation points. Nothing gets by me! Ok, some things do. Well, a lot of things. Ok, so you got me, almost everything does. But that one didn't! And imagine that, mom making Italian food in Italy. Are you sure it's not Mexican casserole? Jeremy is standing next to me smaking my arm and telling me to tell you guys something. "Muway way a-yo" which roughly translates as "You guys really had me with the Skype call because I was looking for you on the computer screen and thinking 'how the heck do all four of you fit in there?' and then mommy explained it was just your voices on a speaker and that you're really in Italy and that it's like the telephone but either way I was so happy to hear your voices and I miss you a great deal and don't forget my crappy t-shirt." He's a talkative sort!
Hello, Laura here. How wonderful it all sounds, it's those lost moments that will lead you to the greatest surprises! Enjoy Italy to the fullest and have a glass of red for me and the freshest pesto you'll ever have, it makes me cry just a little bit.
Missing you here in MIA, Josue is at a surfrider movie thing at the new surf shop that opened where the old surf shop was.... next to The Bar. Got to hang our with Sarah and Katie a few times, drank a beer and toasted the two of you, and... I'm sorry bc it feels like cheating, we went to... dare I say it allow and confess... Yoga okay, we all went to a yoga class together. Whew, I feel so much better. They've gone to see Shaun box tonight at the Hard Rock. We've just finished the album cover and the songs have all been mastered so... we are getting closer to a release date!! Will keep you posted and we send our love to our roaming friends.
ciao,
yo,yo,yo! 1st let me say the writing talent in this family is story book.You guys bring us along through every word.Now let me tell you of highway robbery in amature boxing!My opponent was this guy built like a little brick shithouse.For 3 rounds we traded what people said were the hardest blows they'ed ever seen in amature boxing.In the second round I caught him so hard with a right the ref gave him a standing 8 count.Over the course of the next round I hit him so hard he had to clinch me twice.He physically looked dazed.Not to say this fucker didn't catch me to,he did.He trians with full contact fighting in homested and he was good; but there was no doubt I won each exchange for 3 rounds, not to mention the 8 count!When the ring anouncer gatherd the score cards and read his name the place exploded with boo's and calls of BULLSHIT!!!!! The ref immeaditly came over to me and said "I don't give a shit what they just said, you won!" Then with all the uproar, 1 of the judges says "I don't know what they were watching, cause you fucking won!" So 3 of 6 judges voted for me plus the ref.1 of the officails says, well we cant recall it,sooo.Twice dude.They F me twice, this time a true F'ing!So I'am out of the competitive fight scene.I'll just have to beat people up in the street; were theres no judge!Anyway, that's the story.I miss you both keep up the good travels! peace,love & happiness! SK.
Hello travelers... i havent posted any comments but im still reading. its so nice to see the four of you out there having fun. idalis, i guess you have gained some weight with all the goodies youve been sampling in your travels, otherwise i dont see how you can hold that tower up, especially with kevin pushing it on the other side (was he on the west side or the east?).
thanks to you, now i have to scrape that bumper sticker i picked up in virginia on the way back from jersey. thats not hard, the hard part will be finding one from paris.
vagamom and popalong, sounds like you guys are having a good time out there. i am happy to see you guys get together so far from home.
i havent commented since the last time, but i am following along and reading your posts so keep blogging and i will keep reading. love the pictures... rami
SK,
Always a great pleasure to see a comment from you. So, you like the parent's input? Seems like they have been inspired. They, we, are all having a great time in Italy. It is by far the most expensive place yet, but we have found ways to cope. We were all wondering about your match and were talking about it last night at dinner. My Mom says you are a man of many talents. I will now have to break the news to her that one of them is beating up people in the street. I think you should travel to Morocco to get some practice!!!! I am really sorry to hear that happened again. Maybe somone is trying to tell you something. Perhaps you should take up ping pong or badmitton. I really don't want to have to listen to the same stories over and over again when we are old and you are punch drunk!!! Missing you like crazy and waiting for Sarah to download Skype so we can finally talk! We just left a place in Italy that you guys would have loved. Rock climbing, hiking, bike trails, awesome leaps from high places, crystal clear water, oceanside paths along cliff edges. You name it. I assume similar to Hawaii, even though I've never been there, and without all the ice and agro surf dudes!!!
Rami,
So nice to see you commenting again. We thought we lost you. The picture at Pisa is actually my Dad and Idalis. They have this little competition going where they like to flex their muscles! Would you like us to buy you a bumper sticker from here and send it to you? Something like "My sister went to Italy and all I got was this stupid bumper sticker". Stay cool and stay in touch!
Laura,
Gret to hear from you. Yoga, eh? Did Josue join you? He could probably use a good stretch! Idalis is glad to hear you are hanging with the girls and keeping the "Gabba Gabba Girls Club alive! We can't wait to get our copy of the new album, wink, wink! We miss you guys and hope you are well. Please tell Josue to have Mikey Bones and Wyatt send me a shout out. I am starting to think they do not like me any more! By the way, we have had and will continue to have several "reds" for you!!!
We love and miss you all!
dang, if i woulda clicked on the picture, i could see it was popalong... sorry
Hello globe trotters! We just wanted to take a moment to let you know that we were thinking of you. We went to Coral Castle today and believe me when I say you guys are missing out! It was finer than any building you've seen anywhere on your travels yet! Katie and Jeremy and I were overwhelmed with the grandeur of it all. Katie actually decided that she no longer needs to see the Taj Mahal because it could not possibly compare to the beauty of Coral Castle! So her trip to India may be off! All kidding aside, we wanted to let the four of you know that you inspired in us a sense of adventure. And what an adventure we had today!! We love and miss you. Have fun for the rest of your stay in Italy, although we're not sure how it could compare! Hugs and Kisses from all three of us!!!
yo,yo,yo, I can't figure out how to use the fuckin' skype! Can you guys or somebody,anybody, give me instructions.S.K.
Hello All!
Katejerealong,
We are so glad to hear that you were overcome with emotion upon visiting the Coral Castle and having the secrets of the universe revealed to you. Funny thing is, Idalis and I love that place and spent almost a whole day the last time we were there. Easily amused, I suppose. Did you get your picture with the life size Ed poster?
Rami,
No worries. By the time Italy is over, we will all be so big, nobody will be able to tell us apart!
Shawn,
First, this is a family site, easy with the obscenities. Just kidding. I imagine it is just all that angst and emotion working its way out. Why on Earth are you trying to download Skype. If left up to you, we will never talk!!! Just kidding...again! In all seriousness, it took me a whole month to get it to work. ReAnne may be able to help with that. Maybe even Katie. All I know is that after trying throughout the whole trip, I finally went to the download Skype free page, asked to download it and voile! it finally downloaded. I will tell you this, once downloaded, I had to go and find which file it was stored in, right click on the skype icon and choose 'run' or 'install', I forget which one. Try to see if that helps at all.
To everyone else, our Skype name is 'vagalongtalk', because someone had the gaul to take vagalong. I am not sure why some of you can't find us. I was not able to find my sister for a while. I will try to go into our Skype profile and see if I can add more information to make it easier. In the meantime, keep loving, laughing and visiting the whole host of oddities and curiosities that Florida has to offer in your quest for adventure. We think of you often and and send our love to you always!
The 'Going Broke In Italy' travelers!
Hey Kevin,
Reading about you two in Paris brought back memories! When I was there, they had a wedding. Beautiful! And nothing taste as good as a ham and chz sandwich from a corner market! Things are getting interesting at work!!!
Safe travels.
The tabloid queen!
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