Siena & Pisa Italy - Day 2 thru 5

     After a hectic first day we arose early to get a jump on our 2nd day in Italy.  We were staying at a well-maintained quaint hotel in Siena (Hotel Arcobalino).  The hotel was owned and run by Lucca who was young and personable.  Christiana seemed to be 2nd in command also with a very friendly personality.  If you read my previous story (Italy our Big Vacation - Day 1)  you are aware that the airline lost our luggage, all of it.  So the four of us, Mimi & I, plus our good friends John & Cindy were traveling light but not by choice.  Our lost luggage had not yet arrived by morning but we had bought a few new clothes on the day we arrived, so we would make due, surely the luggage we be here when we arrived back at the hotel on our 2nd  day in Siena.  Our 1st night we walked to the Antica Trattoria Papei Restaurant in Siena, we had a very good pasta dinner with amazing dessert.  We took a cab home and slept like a rock in dirty clothes.

     We awoke the morning of our 2nd day still without luggage but we were undeterred by this unfortunate issue.  We had made arrangements for a wine tour for our 2nd & 4th days before we left to tour the city of Siena.  We planned on making it a leisurely morning touring the city taking in the Italian scenery mingling with the locals who were very friendly, before taking our afternoon wine tour.

     Paola, our guide picked us up at the hotel for our Chianti Wine tour.  We went to 2 wineries plus an outside market and fortress, beautiful scenery.  We had 2 other couples with us in the limo, Graham & his wife from UK and Mike (retired mailman) & Leslie from KC Missouri.  Mike and Leslie were a hoot, they were on a 6 week trek of Europe each traveling with only a backpack of clothing which they had to get laundered every few days.  At one of the wineries Cindy met a cute little girl (3 or 4 years old) and asked what her name was, but got an odd look from the little girl, Cindy then realized she's Italian and doesn't speak English, Duh!

     That night we ate dinner at the hotel the food was very good and the dessert was great.  The Italians like their dessert.  Still no luggage and now we were getting conflicting stories on their whereabouts.  Crashed in bed.

     We woke up the 3rd morning with no sign our luggage, great!  The girls were getting a little emotional about this now, shedding a few tears because they said they looked like a crack heads.  John & I sympathized as we sipped our cappuccinos in the Al Fresco breakfast cafe.  This day was spent touring all around Siena had some great pizza and did a little more shopping.  John and I bought some underwear (can never have enough underwear) but it was Dynamic Mens Underwear, What the Hell, way to tight, made tight whiteys seem baggy, not good.  We walked around all day visiting Piazza's (Town  
Squares) and Duomo's (Churches), just taking in the sites in this interesting Tuscan city.  It was a fun a relaxing morning with many things to see including the street performers posing as statues which was the first time I ever saw such a thing, now it seems to be commonplace wherever there are tourists. We got a little confused on how pedestrians cross the roundabout with the crazy drivers and got called "stupido" a few times. When we arrived back a the hotel, still no luggage.  We were told it was in Rome, then Florence then Rome with a courier and might not arrive until Thursday due to the holiday (Freedom of Italy". We were leaving fro Venice on Friday, would we ever see our luggage again?  John and I went out to get some fiber, don't ask. Didn't sleep thinking about the luggage all night.

     It's the morning of our 4th day, still no luggage and now Customs is asking for our passport numbers so they are authorized to break into our luggage, really, why?  We have another wine tour booked today which includes a tour of San Gimignano.  Great wine tour, the winery owner was hilarious but John and I were toasted so we were ready to laugh at anything.  John was poking me in the face asking if I could feel that, yeah, toasted.  San Gimignano was a cool town, it would have been a great place to stay.  We dropped Joe & Brenda (the other couple in the limo) at their remote location in Castellina  (back in the corner in the dark), they said they like the quiet.  Our tour guide Mariano got more talkative on the way home so he and John had a good
chat.  When we arrived back at the hotel we had a great surprise, our luggage was here, WooHoo!  We would be going to dinner in style tonight.

     Our dinner reservations for our 4th night were at a small restaurant (Nonna Gina) that was a fairly good walk from the hotel but it didn't matter because there were many sites to keep us occupied and we had our new duds.  We arrived early at the restaurant (dinner time starts at 7:00 pm) but once seated we enjoyed a pleasant meal with the house wine which was cheaper than the bottled water.  After our meal the waitress brought us a complimentary glass of Amaretto or grappa (which is an Italian brandy distilled from grape skins) which has a high alcohol content, while our wives drank Coca Lite (diet Coke) also more expensive the house wine.  We called a cab to take us back to the hotel and had a driver with an attitude.  I commented about the narrow streets just to start a conversation and quickly retorted that the roads were built for horse and buggies which most foreigners didn't understand, Well then ok.

     Day 5 our last day at Hotel Arcobalino, we bought train tickets to Pisa to see the leaning tower.  We were told don't spend more than a day there not much else to see but the tower.  It was a 2-hour trip with stop in Empoli.  The tower was awesome; we climbed 300 steps to the top.  It was an amazing view, stood where Galileo dropped stuff to test gravity.  John touch the highest stone, I touched the lowest stone (oldest), always a competition with us.  We had lunch at a street cafe before going back to Siena.  After a rest we had another great dinner and dessert in the hotel restaurant.

     All in all it was a great stay in Siena despite the missing wardrobe, next time we are taking a backpack with at least 3 days of clothing.  Off to Venice tomorrow, Ciao!

     

6 Pretty Goods Rules to live a Happier Life

So why do we need more rules when we have the Ten Commandments.  We probably don't but it appears no one is paying much attention to the Ten Commandments, so I thought it would be good to lay down some simple straightforward rules.

1. Don't be a dumb ass
    Make common sense a priority in your life.
    Don't blame others for your bad choices and behavior.
    Celebrate your achievements and the achievements of others.
    Don't be jealous of others.

2. Don't commit crimes (This might be the most important rule)
    Expect to go to jail if you commit a felony crime.  Jail will be life altering but not in
        a good way.
    There's an old saying "If it walks like a Duck and quacks like a Duck, it's probably a
        Duck".  So don't expect to be treated like an upstanding citizen if you walk and act
        like a criminal.

3. Treat others with respect and kindness
     How you like to be treated is how you should treat others.
     Other people want the same thing as you, so be kind to them.
     Act like you are happy and successful and others will respond positively.

4. Get as much education as possible
     Formal education; not the chemical content for making meth.
     Share your knowledge with others.
     Being born does not automatically entitle you to money & success, you need
        knowledge and hard work.

5. Don't wear your feelings on your shoulder.
    Lighten up, don't take everything so serious.
    Don't assume everyone is out to get you, laugh it off.
    Some people will be cranky for no reason, don't let that affect you.

6. Live your life looking to the future without dwelling on the past.
    Lose the "Everybody hates me, nobody loves me, I'm gonna eats some worms"
         attitude.
    Your ancestors may have been mistreated but you can't undo that so remember it,
         but move forward in a positive manner.
    Everyone needs help sometime in life, so ask for help when you need it.

Intelligence of Youth or Wisdom of Age

     In many countries elders are revered for their wisdom but in the USA it seems youth is valued for their enthusiasm while the wisdom of age is ignored.  There is no denying that much can be accomplished by the enthusiasm of youth but without the guidance of wisdom, the enthusiasm could lead them down the wrong path. Not to say that everyone with age is wise but while the young can be intelligent they are not old enough to have the wisdom of life.  It would be prudent for the intelligent youth of today to seek out the wisdom of the elders when dealing with extreme situations.  Our enthusiast youth however must be wary of those elders that self promote their own agendas.

     I don't mean to sound preachy but right now there are many of our youth listening to the wrong advisors that are leading them down the wrong path toward violence. Things can be resolved in a positive way in our society but they don't happen with violence.   Actually, many things have already changed over the years for the betterment of humanity.  Recently, we all have stepped backward in time losing precious ground in positive race relationships and communication.

     You may have noticed a look of concern on elderly blacks, I have but I have not been bold enough to ask what they were thinking.  My guess is that they see the progress made in race relations over the past many years going down the drain in a matter of months due to the problems in Ferguson and other cities in the USA.  It is unlikely that anyone has ask the elderly for their advice which is truly a shame because their words of wisdom might help the young avoid disastrous pitfalls.  "Just Saying..."

Funny Miss-Communications

     Interesting and funny conversations may not be the most common but they certainly are the most interesting.

     We always enjoyed watching Wheel of Fortune.  It was on TV when our kids were young so they seen it as well but I'm not sure how much they paid attention to it.  Our son is Patrick but we rarely use his full name, we just call him Pat.

     So one evening we are watching Wheel of Fortune and Pat ask "Who is that guy?"  Mimi's response was "Pat Sajak", Pat says "Jack", then he says "Who's that?" Mimi again says "Pat Sajak",  Pat says "Jack" then he says "Who's that?".  What is this an Abbott and Costello routine?  Mimi laughs as she now understands Pat was just doing what she asked, Pat took it literally when he heard his mom tell him to say Jack so that's what he did.  She quickly cleared up the confusion when she said explained that the name of the guy on the show is Pat Sajak.

     While working in my business renting advertising balloons I had partnered up on occasion with other companies.  Some of these owners in addition to renting advertising balloons also were balloon pilots and would book passengers for flights.

     One of the guys I worked with was Floyd, we helped each other out on occasion and because of that we were lucky to get a few rides in his Hot Air balloon.  Floyd frequently called and to leave a message but on one occasion someone in our household took a message and misspelled his name. The message read "Call Fly od". It was funny because just flipping one letter with a space changed his name in a humorous way.

     When I arrived home and saw the note I said "Who's Fly Odd". My mind just added the other d to complete the word.  Since Floyd was a balloon pilot it seemed like an interestingly appropriate nickname.  So from then on Floyd was forever known as Fly Odd at least in our family.

     I worked for McDonnell Douglas/ Boeing for 33 years and throughout those years we had a number of gatherings or after work parties.  Sometimes there would be people attending that you did not know.  So here is a conversation someone had at one of these parties.

     At one of these parties two people were standing together watching others in the room when one of the guys noticed three guys conversing across the room and ask the other, "Who's that standing next to Joe Grygiel?" the other guy answered,  "That's Charlie Hall",  the first guy then responded, "No the other guy"  the second person quickly answered "Oh! that's Charlie Hall, and again person one said "No, no the other guy".  You've sunk the hook now reel him in.  Sounds like another "Who's on first routine".  As you might now suspect there were 2 Charlie Hall's and they were both talking to Joe Grygiel.  That's just too funny.

     I'm sure there are many mis-communications in life, which cause problems between people but I look for the humorous ones to brighten my day.

My Religion versus Your Religion

      I was raised a Christian (Catholic) and as a young kid in grade school we had religion classes.  We were taught that the Catholic religion was the one true religion. Other religions were substandard so to speak; at least that's how I understood it.  This was confusing to me because was I just lucky to be born into the one true religion, how unfortunate for others born into a different religion.

     This statement left me with many questions.  What about those people who never had the opportunity to become Catholic or those that never even heard of Christianity?  Would they have a chance to enjoy eternal happiness?  What about the tribes that worshipped a pagan god or the sun?  When ask I was told the people from other religions could go to heaven but it would be a different type (lower level) heaven than Catholics, really, that doesn't sound fair.

     So here's my take on the subject.  Your religion is not any better than mine and mine is not any better than yours.  All religions are supposed to promote kindness and understanding for all, generally speaking, do good things and provide positive spiritual guidance. So if you belong to another religious denomination, which teaches you to live a better life then what's wrong with that; nothing as far as I can see. As long as you are inspired by something or someone to live good life then isn't that what all religions want.  Why all the competition between religions?  Shouldn't all religions have the same goal, teach you to live a good life so you can earn eternal happiness (whatever that means).  I can't believe that God as a particular religious affiliation, it just doesn't make any sense.

     One more thing you should know, all through history there have been religious wars which is troubling in itself but if you belong to a religion or religious faction that's main purpose is to promote violence, torture and hatred, it's not a religion; it's a terrorist group. That's pretty basic, if your religion tells you to torture and kill others you are a member of a terrorist organization.  




     I looked up the definition of religion on the Internet and was surprised to find no clear unopposed definition.  To simplify it says religion is the service and worship of God or the supernatural based on a set or system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and ways of doing things.  According to that definition a terrorist group could be classified as a religion, that's just wrong.  Nothing is said about doing good things or helping others which is rather disappointing because that is truly what I believe religion should be doing.  I like my definition better than what I read and I think that is what God intended.  "Just Saying...."

Hiking Mount Elbert (the tallest peak in Colorado)

   I have always liked physical challenges nothing dangerous, but challenging and fun.  This was also true of my buddy John.  We biked the Katy trail from end to end, hiked many trails including some in Arizona and New Mexico.  We were always interested in a challenge so John and I had trained for this hike all summer.  We were excited to have this challenge to hike the tallest peak in Colorado (one of the fourteeners).  We arrived the day before with our wives (Cindy & Mimi), this was our vacation but we were taking one day to hike Mount Elbert.

     We were staying in a hotel in Breckenridge, Colorado about a 30 minute drive from the mountain. We drove by the day before to be familiar the trailhead location, since we were planning on leaving early in the morning it would be dark when we arrived.

     I didn't sleep well, excited and nervous about the hike.  We got up early and ate a light breakfast (bagel with cream cheese) not wanting to feel weighed down by a big meal.  We each had our backpacks filled with the recommended equipment for this hike, figuring it's better to be over prepared than under. I remember it was cold & dark when we started up the trial, this would be an 8 mile hike (round trip) at a high altitude.  I started out wearing a light rain jacket, which kept the rain off but also kept the sweat in and in no time I was dripping with perspiration.  This was a mistake, which added to my anxiety.  We hiked at a good steady pace since we were told that we needed to reach the peak before noon so we would be headed down the mountain before the afternoon thunderstorms hit which apparently happened often.

     Once it got light I decided it would be a good idea to removed my jacket, I was feeling a little weak.  I had plenty of water in my camelback and was drinking as we hiked but I had sweated a lot out when my jacket was on.  This was a popular trail and although we started early we saw a few people on the trail, 2 mountain bikers, a few campers and other hikers including a slightly built lady that appeared to be in her 70's walking briskly past us both directions (it was obvious that this was a regular routine for her).  I could tell that John was feeling fine, much better than I was.  Despite this being a well-traveled trail there was still a chance that you might stumble upon a bear so we were always on the lookout.  John could tell I wasn't feeling good and he offered to carry my backpack, initially I refused then I accepted his offer a little before we reached the tree line.  The tree line is where the trees stop growing because they can't tolerate the environment.

     The scenery changed drastically once you got above the tree line, this is where we saw the campers, they had pitched their tents on the edge of the tree line.  The trail traversed back and forth but was easy to follow, but rocky and steep and with the thin air at this altitude it was harder to breathe.  We continued the hike but I was going at a much slower pace even though John was carrying my pack.  We had been informed about 2 false peaks on the mountain not to be confused with the actual peak containing a book you sign to document reaching the peak but unfortunately I was not in any shape to reach even the 1st false peak.  I had altitude sickness, which was totally unexpected because I had been skiing in Colorado many times and never imagined this happening.  I stopped climbing about 12500 feet.  I told John to go ahead and I would wait for him but John refused saying we were hiking together, he did decide hike up a short distance to the next turn to get some pictures but returned and we made our way back down.

    My buddy, John carried my backpack all the way down the mountain, thanks John.  Hiking down is not much easier because it's hard on your knees. We made it back to the trailhead but I did not feel any better, it would take until the next morning before I recovered.

     Even though I got altitude sickness I'm glad we took on this challenge.  Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the top but who knows someday we may try it again and I will be prepared to carry John's backpack if he needs help.

Accumulating Stuff or Experiences

   It seems many of us throughout life will accumulate many things and this stuff is important to us, at least at the time.  The thing is as I've gotten older I realize that what I find important is the experiences rather than the stuff I've collected.

     You might have had a really cool car at one time and if you think back about the car, what you are really remembering is the experiences (trips) you took with the car.  If you had a different car (less cool) and made the same trips your experiences would be just as memorable.  As a kid you may have had those favorite board games that you played with friends, or brand new bike that you rode all around but they would be worthless if you never opened the box to play them or never took your bike out of the garage.  There would be no joy from having this stuff because you would not have created any lasting memories.

     We all collect stuff but if for some reason that precious stash of stuff was lost or stolen the memories of the experiences you had while collecting, playing with or sharing your stuff is something that is not lost.  I love collecting memories, those times with family and friends, work experiences, random encounters with strangers and travel which opens your mind up to the unique and exciting differences in other cultures.

     Many memories are associated with things, which makes having things important but mainly because they bring back pleasant memories.  What's cool about memories is that you can make new memories everyday at any age.  There are no educational requirements, no physical test, no age limit,   no economic, cultural or race restrictions, almost anyone can make and collect memories.  I say almost because sadly Alzheimer's patients have created memories but those memories may no longer accessible to them.  Family and friends are the only ones that can keep those memories alive.

     I encourage everyone to write their memories down (at least some) because it is a way to stay connected with others.  Someday when you're sitting around with friends exchanging enchanting stories you will realize that the memories and stories of life bring you the most happiness, not the stuff you collected.  "Just Saying..."