Northern Italy Trip
6-17 March 2011
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Trip Log and Pictures |
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While waiting for warm boating weather, we decided to visit Northern Italy. Good friends Gary and Pat Ralston suggested the trip and Gary did most of the planning. We wanted to see a gondola drift down the "streets" of Venice. We wanted to see Florence, the town where Galileo, the Father of Science, and Machiavelli once lived. We wanted to see other points around and between. And, we did. As we're retired military (except for Carey), we were eligible for "space available" seating on military aircraft. Carey is eligible because she is married to me. This great benefit allows active and retired military to see the world for a bare minimal price. The added benefit was the opportunity to meet many of the guys and girls of the U.S. Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines that were traveling on these planes to and from deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, Qatar, UAE, and other troubled spots and several of their formidable young families toting baggage, kids, strollers, and pets through the long lines and boarding ramps, without a complaint or grimace. Fine young people. Below is a small sampling of the pictures from the trip. |
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The statues of Galileo and Americo Vespucci at left, are prominently displayed in Florence as is Machiavelli, the statue of at right. |
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| 6-7 Mar 2011 Colonial Beach, VA and Baltimore, MD |
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We left Colonial Beach on Sunday checked in at the Air Mobility Command counter at BWI Airport and signed up for space available seats to Ramstein, Germany and Aviano, Italy. We were ready to go after an overnight stay at the USCG base in Baltimore's Curtis Bay area, complements of Gary's research. Waited all day, but finally were ticketed on a large MD-11 aircraft to Ramstein Germany late Monday night....350 passengers on a military-chartered World Airways plane. |
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| 8-9 Mar 2011 Ramstein, Germany. |
After an all night flight we arrived at the US Air Force Base in Ramstein, Germany on Tuesday and walked across the street from the terminal to a beautiful military lodging facility where we were able to stay for $39 per night ... a very nice suite. We ate on the base that night. Gary was slightly disappointed as we ate Italian food (Macaroni Grill, no less!). No German food available on the air base and taxi service into town was impossible to get that evening. Up early the next morning, we made our connecting flight to Aviano, Italy, another US Air Force Base, located at the very foot of the Southern Alps in Northern Italy about one hour north of Venice. Another well-appointed hotel, offering lodging suites for $39 a day. |
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| 10 Mar 2011, Venice Italy |
Thursday, the 10th, we bundled up and began our adventures with a train trip to Venice, followed by a water taxi ride to San Marco Square, one of the city's seven squares. San Marco is the most famous one and the location of the Doge's palace, shown in the center pane just below. Walking through the palace takes some time and all four of us worried we'd ever get out of the prison system located in the lower section of the palace. A delicious lunch and the Grand Canal ride around the town made for a great day. We jumped the train back to Aviano, cocktails and dinner.
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| 11 Mar 2011, Palmanova and Grado, Italy | Next day, Gary rented a small Fiat and we headed off to the north coast of the Adriatic Sea, via Palmanova to the small seaport town of Grado. Palmanova is a small walled city built as a fortress laid out in the shape of a star with the town's outside walls over 12 feet tall. In the center of the city is a large square where most of the larger buildings are located. We toured the town a bit and then stopped at Ristorante al Gambero for a fantastic seafood pasta lunch. The prawn topping the sea food dish was huge, and below it was an amazing assortment of clams, mussels, scallops, fish and pasta. Fully sated, we were ready for the next leg of the drive to Grado. A large boardwalk, marinas and Mediterranean-styled apartment buildings and small hotels line the rambling shoreline of the town. We sat at an outdoor cafe, sipped vino and relished the view and the local hospitality. | ||
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| 12-14 Mar 2011 Siena and Florence, IT. | The weekend was upon us. Gary and Pat wanted to travel to San Marino on the East coast, then Verona in the north central area, while Carey and I wanted to venture on to Tuscany and Florence. We each set out in our rental cars, with Carey and I making the four hour trip to Florence on Saturday, where we checked into a lovely small hotel and enjoyed an amazing dinner at a small lovely cafe that evening. Next morning we set out in search of Siena, considered to be the loveliest of the Tuscan towns. And it lived up to its reputation. An hour's drive south of Florence, it consists of 3 sections, each a medieval compound or structures built of a separate hill. It remains a vibrant city, neat, orderly, with the town's buildings still the homes of the residents and businesses. Amazingly beautiful and a spot not to be missed by any visitors to Tuscany. The first three pictures below show part of the city. We certainly got our exercise that day. Although it was raining, we enjoyed a wading tour along most of the meandering ancient streets. Carey insisted on finding the local winding road through the countryside for our return trip to Florence. And, I was glad that she did as we wound through the small hamlets, through a local biking decathlon, and a memorable stop at a small country restaurant where we enjoyed a late afternoon feast. We were ready for a long night's sleep when we got back to Florence. Monday brought intermittent rain that didn't deter us from our exploration of the historic gems of Florence, including the Medici enclave, the Arno River that bisects the city, and the famous art and sculptures for which its renown. Pictures below the first row are all from Florence. Along the way, Carey observed that American tourists were easy to spot.....carrying the ever- present plastic water bottle and, of course, being the only people wearing flip flops in the winter. She was only disappointed that she wasn't wearing them, traipsing through the puddles. Then, we joined the traffic on the Auto Strata back through the countryside, headed to a local cafe in Aviano. | ||
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At left and above are pictures from Siena, IT. At right and below are pictures from Florence. |
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| 15-16 Mar 2011 | Tuesday we readied for the return trip home, trying to figure out how we had packed all that stuff in those few bags in the first place. Wednesday morning we were standing tall at the Space A call counter hoping for a seat on a DC-10 back to BWI. The plane was delayed and it was not until noon that Carey and I were finally ticketed on the flight. After that, we spent in literal "hurry up and wait" exercises that tested even the most patient. Flying out of Aviano, we again landed in Ramstein for refueling and passenger adjustments. Late evening, hours after leaving our hotel in Aviano, we took off from Germany, headed to BWI, arriving hours later tired but deeply pleased with our trip. And appreciative of the military's fine accommodations and the gracious, friendly and helpful Italians we met at every turn. Northern Italy should definitely be added to anyone's bucket list. | ||
| And Finally | Here the four of us are at Ramstein, Germany on the way back home after a great trip.
To the right you see a larger group. In the back is Terry Capps a retired Air Force Officer we met and talked to during our stay in Aviano. To the left side of the picture are two fellows who befriended us on the transit home. At far left is a retired Army Colonel who travels a good bit on Space A and his traveling friend who is a US citizen who lives in Italy a lot who is married to an Italian lady who likes to live in the US. A great group. We love it. |
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