No volcanos in Parma

If anyone is wondering Mt Etna, the erupting volcano in Italy, is no where near us. I haven't posted to the blog because the Internet at the hotel sucks. Big corporate chain hotel ( only one we are staying at). Parma is great and I will try and post something later but may have to wait until our Wednesday when we reach Pavia.

Made it to Parma

Walking through Park Ducale. There are several pics from 2009 on this park. We may post pics later but we don't have the greatest net here. More soon though.

Padua Market

Just a few shots from Padua Sunday market.  We're off to Parma in an hour or so.  Good news is we're slightly out of the main ring in Parma and the hotel has parking - looks like an easy drive (once we get out of Padua).

Belts! but I didn't need one this time.

And Porchetta!

Mmm….Porchetta

And lots of nummy goodies!

Padua in Pictures

Some shot's of Padua I found interesting.  We're actually here for the huge sunday market but I didn't post many pictures of that (yet - maybe later tonight).  Off to find some dinner.

 

Travel Guidelines 1:

Travel Guidelines are going to be mostly notes for myself about future travel (what works and what doesn't).  That said I thought you all might like me to share.

1) Leave a place wanting to see more rather than thinking you've exhausted the place.  For us this means 1 day in Trieste or 2 in San Sebastian.  Remember you can always go back.

 

Dinner in Padova

Artichoke and Parm Salad

Mixed Green Salad

Squid Ink Pasta with Tomatos and Mozzeralla

Lasagna with Artichokes and Ricotta….mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

 

Made it to Padova

Made it to Padova! GPS route was a little circuitous but we got here.

BTW

Our hotel in Trieste was L'Albero Nacosto. If you decide to visit here this is the place to stay. Nice old school Italian hotel run by a wonderful family.

On the road again

Leaving in an hour or so for Padua (it's about 2 and 1/2 hours from here).  

Would I do Trieste again?  Maybe if I were in the mood for seafood.  If you are in the area it's worth a day/night (2 nights was too much) but, unless you are after seafood, you also would be just fine taking the extra hour and going to Ljubljana.  I didn't dislike it just think there's better ways to spend vacation time.

Around Trieste

So Trieste is a nice enough place to stop for a night or maybe two.  It's great to be in Italy again and Trieste is Italy from the language to the food.  Sure you can find Slovenian influence but who wouldn't expect this - the border is just a few miles away.  Here are a few shots from our time here both food and around town.  Going to bed and we're too tired to do much more blogging about Trieste.  Bottom line if you are in the area it's worth a stop for the seafood (Osteria Istria) and worthy of 4 to 6 hours to see the sights.

I've got a shot somewhere of Carolyn eating the Sardines - she actually said they weren't bad.

Dinner from last night - the whitefish carpaccio  in the lower left hand corner was particularly good

There was this giant set of stairs so we thought "why  not".  They went up...

 

and up...

And up some more until you reached the fortress of St Giacomo

The castle itself was OK but the view from the top and on the way down made the hike up worth it.

Bye for now - off to Padua tomorrow.

 

This is What we Deal With

In the 70's (at 10 pm), full moon over Piazza dell'Unita d'Italia, the square crowded with street performers, and people laughing and having fun.  This is the kind of thing we have to deal with on a daily basis.  As my friend Jeff would say: "It ain't easy being us".  

Had a great seafood dinner at Osteria Istria - will post some pic's tomorrow - going to bed.

Le Renault

Here's our car:

 

And the weird key.  It's about 2x4 inches.  You plug it ion a slot in the car's dash and then push a button to start it.

Nice car.  6 speed manual transmission but it's got pretty much everything I could imagine including a usb slot that controls my iPad so I can listen to my music.

Pranzo!

MUCH Better now...

An Insalata Mista (beans, tomatoes, and corn) and an Insalata Capricossa (tuna, mozzarella, olives, and tomatoes).  And uno mezzo litre Friulian wine (based on a cab franc).  Life is almost perfect...

NOW it's perfect!  Peach and Lemon.  How do they get so much fruit flavor in these things?

Goodbye Ljubljana

Last coffee on our little Terrace.  This place (Slamic B&B) was great.  Highly recommended.

Made it to Trieste

Quaint hotel and friendly people. Hellova Drive (the last 2k through the city). The GPS did come through. No idea how anybody found this place before GPS. Windy one way streets barely a car width across. Whew - time for del vino.

Off to Trieste

We're packing up and will probably take a short walk to stretch our legs and then we're off for the arduous drive to Trieste (kidding it's an hour on the freeway).  More soon.

Ugh Sokol..

So best laid plans aft gang a gley? Recommendations from two locals plus I did look it up on Trip Advisor (rated 25th out of 400 in Ljubljana). Sokol was terrible.

I should have known cause it screamed tourist trap from the menu in 5 languages to the waiters wearing "traditional" costumes. Not even going to post pics - from the best meal of the trip to the worst in 24 hours.  They did brew their own beer which was OK - but for Carolyn (who doesn't drink beer) nothing.  

On the bright side the B&B (Slamic) we're staying at is sponsoring a concert in their court yard tonight so we're listening to these guys (who aren't bad):

Ljubljana - The River

There's a huge pedestrian zone along both sides of the river running through Ljubljana.  It's full of cafe's, shops and people.  Some pictures might help explain it better.

 

 

This is where we had dinner last night

A bit random here but this guy is playing a theremin (that instrument that makes the weird noises in science fiction movies).  This was the third street musician playing a theremin we saw in Ljubljana.  Why here?

Gonna go rest for a bit now it's 3:15 in the afternoon and we've been walking since 10:00.

Tivoli Park

Tivoli Park is the big central park in Ljubljana.  It feeds into a pedestrian core that leads to the town center and the river.  Here are a few photos from our walk around the park this morning.

 

 

 

The walk way to the town center

Right behind the train (accessed via the walk way) is about a mile of pedestrian only zone that leads from the park to the river.  More on the river in a bit.

Little Known Tips

It's funny. We've really gotten in the Europe groove quickly. Things are not as strange to us as they are to newbie travelers from the states. For example:

Toilets have 2 flushing levers. 1 uses less water than the other. I'll leave it to your imagination as to why

The locks turn twice. The first turn will set the bolt but it allows the room service key to work. The second turn locks your door from anyone.

Hydration is critical to keep happy. You can ask for tap water but you must specifically ask. If you just say water they will bring you carbonated bottled water (at 3-5 euros per bottle). If you want just plain bottled water you have to ask for still water. And ice must be requested.

The bikes will miss you. If you try and dodge them or change direction you'll get hit. Trust the system here.

People smoke here. Get over it. Stay out of bars or choose your seat carefully if it bothers you. Smoking is stupid from a health perspective but its not our job to change the behavior of other cultures.

These kinds of things seem to cause consternation and at times bring out the worst in fellow travelers. But once explained people get it and are ok.

Off to the Races

Finally beat my body into submission and slept the whole night last night!.  Adjusting to a 9 hour timezone difference is tough.  Took me 6 days this time.  If we weren't doing tourist activities I could have gradually adjusted (like we do when we return) but then I'd of missed out on a lot of stuff (I'd be sleeping when all the tourist stuff is open).

Off to see the city sites.  We'll post some pictures later during our mid-afternoon break.  We got a recommendation from a few different people last night for local cuisine - a place called Sokol i think (I know where it is).  We're supposed to try the wild game plate and there's a house dish (can't pronounce it).  We'll see but it's a high probability we'll head there around dinner time (which is like 7:30 or 8:00 here in the city).

It's Official: I LOVE Slovenia

Wow.  Just Wow.  All I'll say is go to Slovenia - rob a bank if you must to pay for it but go to Slovenia.  Make it to Bled and then Ljubljana at least.

This and a fresh roll was our lunch - the Strawberries were the sweetest I've had in years.  This was 2 euros (about $2.60).

It was from the huge market that runs in town everyday.

In the central area of town

On the river that runs through the town

 

This was a local sparkling wine - a bit like spumonti but dryer.

With the Aperitif came rolls and buffalo mozzarella in a tomato gaspatcho

Followed by an octopus salad

Washed down with a local white Sauvingonasse (a white that was a cross between sangiovasse and sauvignon blanc) with fresh pea soup.

 

As a main course local pasta with truffles and Slovenian pancetta (bad picture)

Or a tagliatelli with lobster. 

All at the restaurant Valvas'or.  This was a Trip Advisor #2 restaurant in Ljubljana and it was amazing.  The staff were attentive and fun.  Just a great three hour meal.  Tomorrow we'll get more pictures of the city.  Good night all.