Last Day in Italia

Today was the last day our our Italian adventure. We've definitely seen a drop off in our tourist interest. We only took about 5 pictures today. A clear sign that we are ready to go home. We are definitely ready to eat something not Italian. We can't wait for some good old Mexican!!

With nothing on the agenda, we just wandered the city, window shopped, and went back to the same place as yesterday for lunch. Unfortunately, April was unable to locate the FedEx boat. Instead, she had to settle for the DHL boat - lame.


We would like to take this time to alert our fellow Americans that they have been the victims of an insidious scam. We can confidently say that Mario's has the best chicken parm in the world. Of course, that is largely due to the fact that chicken parm does not exist in Italy. We've been to nearly 30 restaurants during our odyssey and no one has had chicken parm on the menu. Tom is so disallusioned. That's like finding out burritos are not Mexican (...What's that you say...?!?)

So we leave tomorrow morning and will be back in LA by late afternoon. We've had a great time and hope you enjoyed following our trip.

Venezia

Yesterday was our first full day in Venice. We didn't have a very long list of things to see, so we pretty much just wandered around the city. We did manage to get in a couple of very important sites - the bridge without railings and the original Ghetto. For some reason, April had her heart set on seeing the bridge without railings. Apparently, we were the only ones. It was tucked away on the north side of the city and we were the only ones around. April was sure to stay off the bridge when Tom was near, knowing the temptation might be too great for him to resist. The original ghetto is definitely not a ghetto anymore. It looked like most other piazzas. There was a holocaust memorial & a synagogue.

We also hit some of the more traditional tourist highlights like Piazza San Marco. However, as with most of those types of places, we found the hoards of tourists unbearable. For some reasonù, people let pigeons land on them and they feed them from their hands. Don't people know they are just flying rats? Gross! After a few minutes, we decided to escape the tourists and were remarkably successful. We actually wound up in a completely deserted area of town near the arsenal. It was a nice contrast to the overwhelming crowds. We found a decent spot for lunch that was probably 50/50 locals and tourists which is actually pretty good. It was one of our cheapest meals of the trip.

Last night, after dinner, we went on a gondola ride. Surprisingly, we were the only boat in the canals for most of the trip. Usually, when we see gondolas, they are backed up in traffic jams so we got really lucky. We went by Mozart & Goethe's houses as well as other famous Venice sites. It was very romantic (Tom did not write this).

Today is our last day in Venice, and Italy! We don't have anything planned, so April's search for the FedEx boat will probably be our only real mission.

Firenze

This morning we headed to Venice with a brief stop in Florence. But first, we had to get to the train station. It is about 1.5 km from our hotel, so we asked the guy at the desk the best way to get there (we originally walked from the train station - but were in no mood to do that with our heavy bags). He said he could call a cab, but we could walk. Tom told him that we'd probably prefer to cab it, and his response was priceless: "But you are strong". Tom quickly agreed that he was strong, but would still prefer to ride.

The train to Firenze was fairly quick and we were there by 11 AM. We decided to spend 3.5 hours there, figuring that would be enough to do everything we wanted. However, an hour and a half later, all we had seen was a line to the Academia Gallery (statue of David) and an even bigger line into the Duomo (monster church). At least we now have something to look forward to on our next trip to Italy. We did see the Ponte Vecchia bridge and a copy of the David statue. Overall - we were less than impressed. It seemed there were many more tourists in Florence than even Rome, and it was a bit annoying. The highlight of the day was when the cops came down a street which sent the hustle men running. We've never seen people move so fast. They obviously have the art of packing up their counterfeit goods down to a science.

Satisfied that there was nothing left in Firenze, we took an early afternoon train to Venice. April is looking forward to a romantic gondola ride tomorrow evening, but Tom is more interested in reliving some of their great canoe rides in the Concord river, where we tried to tip over other canoes (except for nerds in kayaks).

The Suffering

This morning we woke up early to get ready for our bike ride. April decided to return her
original bike so she could rent a better one from the great shop we found last night. We got to the shop and were happy to see Paladino, the owner. He got us set up quickly and we told him we'd be back for his lunch time ride. He seemed suspicious that April was coming - but I let him know she is usually faster than me. April was a little bit agitated, and was eager to prove him wrong.

After heading home to 'kit up', we headed out for a short 30 km morning ride to the west of Lucca. It was nice to be back out on the road, and this time on a properly fitted bike. Our course was also much more quiet than our ride out to Pisa. There was a decent hill at the edge of our trip, but we got nervous about gassing out when we still had the big ride in the afternoon, so we turned around to head back for lunch. We also started to see the first cracks in April as she dropped back rather quickly when the road started to go up.

We grabbed some quick pizza, but much to our surprise/disappointment, it was basically square, elementary school pizza. Thoroughly unsatisfying - an Italy first. We then headed over to the shop. April started to get nervous as she realized, the many gelato days were starting to have an effect. We were pretty embarrassed when it appeared Paladino sent away one of his friends who came to ride. An obvious comment on his opinion of our riding skills.

We set out for a ride along some open fields on narrow and quiet country roads. When we turned to start into the hills, Paladino was pointing out sites of interest including the home of a famous Italian sprinter's mom. We stopped a couple of times along the way to get water and take picture before the major climb started. It was 7.5KM long and a total elevation gain of around 2900 ft. If you do cycle, you know that is pretty tough, if you don't cycle take our word for it. After the first couple of kms, Paladino pulled away from Tom. April was already in distress. The good times didn't last much longer for Tom. Paladino said that the record time up the climb was just over 19 minutes by a professional. We're not sure how long it took us, but I'd bet over 45.

On several occasions, Tom would circle on the switchbacks (corners) to catch his breath. He pretended he was waiting for April - but that was really just a cover. April was even worse off, nearly brought to tears. Another friendly Italian gave April words of encouragement as he rode with her for a while. He ended up stopping at the top, waiting, and continuing with us for a few more miles. Eventually, the ultimate indignation - Paladino started back down the hill to see where we were. Tom was only 1 turn from the top but was in his circling pattern. He played it off like he was waiting for April, so Paladino came away with a very false impression of Tom (A. he's a strong cyclist held back by April and B. he's a supportive husband willing to sacrifice his ride for his wife - both false). Paladino continued down and April wasn't actually too far behind and gave her some encouragement. He then went back up to the top with Tom. When April got to the top, Paladino was actually super impressed with April. He said she was the best female cyclist in Lucca.

We then rode another 40 km the long way back to town for a fantastic ride (90km total for the day). Needless to say we are pretty wrecked, largely due to the preceding extended period of extreme inactivity. Overall, it was the highlight of our trip. We bought a couple of jerseys with the shop name (ChronoBikes) and took more pictures. Paladino said he was going to put our pictures on his wall, and we even heard him bragging in Italian to his buddies about April's riding prowess. We'll definitely have to come back once we are in a bit better shape! We got him a thank you bottle of wine and are going to send him a jersey from our local shop.

Slightly Askew Tower of Pisa

Yesterday, we arrived in Lucca, the next stop on our whirl wind Italian vacation. It's a small, walled medieval town about 50 km west of Firenze (Florence for you noners).
We're staying at a quaint B&B, Villa Romantica. Tom is none too pleased about the name, but he can't deny it's probably the best place we've stayed to date. Of course, his opinion is largely swayed by not 1 but 2 english-speaking television channels!!

The town is surrounded by a 30 ft high wall that is also about 50 ft deep. It's pretty impressive. The top of the wall has been converted to a park with benches and a wide bike path. Inside of the wall, it is truly a medieval city. It's exactly as you'd imagine it except replace the rats and lepers with fancy shoe shops and restaurants.

Today, we rented bikes at one of the 2 bike shops near our hotel. Tom broke his first bike on a test ride - completely bending the deraillier. They gave him the only other road bike they had but it was a little too small. April's bike was a little on the small side too, but they were close enough. We rode about 25 km to the south to see the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was great to be on bikes again and off our aching feet. We took back streets but they were still busy, and we even had to traverse a 1km long tunnel. Tom flatted twice, so we spent almost the entire time in Pisa trying to pump up his tire (unsuccessfully) and then find a bike store (successfully with the help of 2 tourists and a couple of cops).

Overall Pisa, exceeded expectations. Based on what everyone told us, we were expecting a dump. It was actually pretty nice - but there wasn't much to do beyond see the tower and make fun of people taking lame pictures where they pretend to hold the tower up.

When we got back, Tom returned his bike because it was just too small and we went exploring the city and found a 3rd bike shop that also rented bikes, but high end ones. The owner was super cool and one of the employees was from the states so communication was a little easier than at the other shops. The owner offered to take us on his lunch time ride tomorrow up in the local mountains. We are thinking of doing it as we've been dying to do some climbing.

Pompeii & Friends

Yesterday, we trained up to Pompeii to check out the ruins. We weren't expecting such a large and well preserved city. It was amazing! Walking down the small streets with largely intact buildings on both sides, you could really get a great sense for what this place was like 2000 years ago. Many of the houses and shops were in great condition with paintings still on the wall. There were also a couple of theatres and a mini-coliseum that were in much better shape than the ruins in Rome. There was also some surviving marble which was neat. We spent over 3 hours touring the site and still didn't get to everything. Again, there were plenty of well behaved independent puppies roaming around and benefiting from the generosity of the tourists. Some people were petting them, but we're sure they are regretting that now that they probably have fleas.

We headed back to Sorrento for a late lunch and our customary afternoon nap. But as we were walking through town, we heard someone calling Tom's name. It turned out it was one of our friends from college, Adam!! He and his wife, Danielle, were spending a week in Italy. Tom hadn't seen him in about 2 years and April hadn't seen him in 7 years. We spent a while chatting in the street and decided to hook up later for dinner. We had dinner at a seafood restaurant in the marina and had a great time. It was a nice change of pace from our usual solitary meals.

Our dinner neighbor tried to get us to order whitebait, which sounded like some sort of sardinnes, but we all balked. When our dinner came and he saw we didn't order them, he was pretty sad, because we think he wanted to have some. April offered him some calamari but he really had his heart set on the whitebait.

Today we trained up to Lucca (about an hour west of Florence). At the train station in Napoli, we tried to buy some snacks for the ride, when it was brought to our attention that we were trying to pass a counterfeit 20!! We think it was from the change we got at lunch on Saturday at the Fauno Bar (do not go there!). So now we have a useless fake 20 - thank god it wasn't a 100.

Tomorrow we are all set to rent some bikes and head out to Pisa and beyond. We checked and there are 2 bike shops next to each other and they both rent road bikes so we are all set.

Positano Stairs

In lieu of the lack of availble bikes for hire (aren't we continental?), we decided to head over to Positano on the other side of the penninsula today. We grabbed the SITA bus from the station around the corner which took us on a long windy road over the mountain along the cliffs to Positano. The views are spectacular but the road is narrow so it can be a bit nerve wracking at times. (People with the initials JA would be pumping their imaginary brakes the entire time!)

The bus let us off about 800 ft up, so we had to hoof it down the stairs. Not bad on the way down, but we were not psyched about the return trip. Positano has a really neat old world feel with very narrow streets and tons of shops. Of course, we aren't big shoppers so most of that is wasted on us. Positano must be known for its sandals because about everyother shop was selling them. A few places had guys outside actually making them.

We ran into a family that we met yesterday catching the train. It was good to see they made it as they got on the wrong train! We also met a family from Connecticut with a near identical itinerary as us. They actually did us a favor and let us know that there was construction on the road to Amalfi, so we ended up not going. We grabbed a nice lunch right on the beach and then headed back up the mountain. It actually wasn't all that bad and we were passing people left and right, so our form isn't completely gone.

The bus ride home was quite an adventure. The first bus that came by was stuffed and only one person could cram in. By now, there were probably 30 people waiting to head back to Sorrento. When the next bus came, it didn't look much better. For some reason, this bus was only 2 minutes after the first, but the buses are usually at least a half hour apart, so we knew this might be our only chance for a while. Seeing an opportunity, April made a dash for the bus, knocking old ladies to the side (accounts may differ). It was great to see such tenacity and very unexpected! Luckily, I was able to sneak into her wake and sneak onto the bus. About another 10 people were able to get on and people left road side were very upset.

Apparently in Italy, there are little to no safety requirements as there were people practically stuffed in overhead bins. It was insanely hot, so we didn't much mind that this driver was more aggressive than our first. He basically, just honked his horn the entire trip to say "coming through, move it or lose it". There were a couple hardened old cyclists along the road which was like rubbing salt in our wounds. The saddest moment of the day when an older man in his 70's, about as tall as Tom's waist, tried to get off the bus but by the time he made it through the crowd, the driver had started up again. Everyone yelled to stop, but that driver was hard core. The bus drove on for another 10 minutes before he was able to get off at the next stop. April almost cried.

So far the neatest thing about Sorrento is the vibrant independent puppy community. We say independent because they are not affiliated with any specific people. They frequent most of the shops and take siestas outside the others. Some enjoy strolls with their friends and others prefer more solitary walks.

Tomorrow we head to Pompeii.

Train to Sorrento

Yesterday, we checked out of our hotel and took a train to Sorrento. Unfortunately, our intended train was booked so we had to catch the next one an hour later. This gave Tom time to wander around the station looking for a bathroom, which was surprisingly hard to locate. And when he found it, it charged 0.80 euro, so he decided to hold it.

We had window seats facing each other, but no seat reservations, so we had to hold our breath while other passengers boarded - hoping they wouldn't have tickets for our seats. Luckily, no one came and we got to keep them. The train ride was 2 hours, but went by really fast. There were mountains on one side and fields and ocean on the other. When we got to Napoli, we had to transfer to a commuter style train which was much less comfortable. It took 1:15 to get to Sorrento, but it seemed like forever.

After checking into our hotel, we decided to have lunch, explore a bit then check out a local bike shop where we planned to rent a couple of bikes for a trip along the coast to Positano and Amalfi. The walk to the bike shop was much longer than expected and when we arrived, to our disappointment, the shop was no longer there. It seems the shop hadn't been there for a couple of years either. Tom was so sad he almost started crying and he was fussy the entire walk back to our hotel. I almost put him on punishment and almost made him spend the night in one of the Carl Farbmanesque fold down bunk beds mounted on the wall across from our bed.

Dinner was great. We ate at a lively outdoor place complete with live piano music- mostly movie theme songs then we explored a bit more before heading back to the hotel. Next up, we're daytripping to Amalfi and Positano.

Last Day In Roma

Today was our last day in Rome and we still hadn't seen any catacombs so we got some tickets for the Archeobus to go see the biggest and oldest catacombs at San Sebastian. We definitely felt like noners being crammed on a tour bus, but it was the easiest way to get out there. It was our first time seeing and going outside the city walls which was really cool. We jumped off the bus at the first stop and decided to walk the rest of the way. It was a pleasant walk on a private tree lined street right off of Via Appia. As we were walking an old man on an even older bike passed us (barely). Although it was over 80 degrees out, this guy was wearing a cap, long sleeve shirt and sweater vest. We thought he was going to tip over he was going so slow. April wanted to hug him.

We got to the catacombs just in time for the last tour of the morning. They told us that these were the first catacombs and that the name catacomb actually derived from this area. This is apparently crucially important as our guide repeated this fact no less than 5 times. She also had a wicked accent. Tom was confused as to why she kept talking about symmetry, but she was really saying cemetary. Also, don't ever confuse a creamatorium with a dormitorium if you ever go on this tour - the guide will be very sad.

After we got back, it turned out to be Gelato Day again, so we went to one of the top places near the Trevi Fountain. It was manned by the Gelato Nazi. April was trying to kiss Tom when it was their turn to order so he had to quickly disown her or risk not getting any treat. Actually, it wasn't that bad, but some other people we asking for tastes and he barked "No Tastes!" We imagined the "for you." We'll give him this, that man knows how to make a Gelato.

Our last dinner in Rome, turned out to be our best (at least from Tom's perspective). It was nearby so we didn't have to walk far, it was relatively cheap, the check came in a flash, and oh yea, the food was good too.

Tomorrow morning we are headed by train to Sorrento for a couple of days. We're hoping to rent bikes on Friday and go for a long ride along the Amalfi Coast. On Saturday, we are going to visit Pompeii. After that we are heading up to Tuscany, to Lucca, for some romance - according to April. However, as evidenced by the current struggle for the keyboard, I think we all know what is going to happen.

Vatican

Yesterday we toured the Vatican. We used the same tour company as with the Coliseum, but results weren't as good. The Vatican was packed with huge tours so we had to use ear phones to hear our guide even though our group was only 5. Between shoddy connections and her accent, it was sometime difficult to hear. It wasn't that bad, though, so it was still enjoyable.

Tom was underwhelmed by the Sistine Chapel, but did you really expect anything else from such a non-believer? Saint Peter's Church was insanely big. We couldn't get over how enormous it was. We also went below to see some of the Pope's graves. John Paul II's had a crowd and a security person. We were both angry that the Roman's seemed to have a thing for statues of little boys killing cute baby animals. They were the true barbarians!

Our tour was in the afternoon, so by the time we got back, it was time to go to dinner. We tried a place around the corner from our hotel, that came highly recommended by the hotel staff. April had a bad experience the night before with the shrimp (they just fried the whole thing and left it for her to dissect!) so she took extra precautions with the waiter this time, including drawing a shrimp in his notepad. Unfortunately, the language barrier was too great and another 2 shrimp carcasses came out on her plate. Luckily, Tom came to rescue and cut the heads off on his plate and hid them under his garnish. Despite the scary presentation, the shrimp and the rest of the food was actually very good. And in what seems to be a dining tradition for us, two thirds of the time we spent at the restaurant turned out to be time waiting for the check after we asked for it. We can't quite figure out what happens during the course of the meal but at some point, our waiters just forget about us. The worst part is, we end up sitting at the table like idiots with no food or drink or cake. Anyway, Tom took matters into his own hands and went looking for our waiter who, as it turns out, was about a foot away from our table, filling waterbottles. Tom asked for the check for the second time and after about ten minutes, another waiter brought our check over. We paid and bounced.

Roma Day 2

After walking for about 3 hours yesterday, we made the mistake of returning to the hotel in the late afternoon to "rest" our feet and watch the Giro. Almost 3 hours later, we woke up confused and hungry. Not to worry, we went back out for a nice dinner and bottle of wine on Via Veneto. Thanks to our prime hotel location, this added another 3 miles to our mileage for the day because someone is too cheap to spring for a taxi (on the plus side, April has plenty of stores to choose from to purchase the necessary items for her hair). We also learned that 3 course meals are 2 too many for April.

By the time we got home and went to sleep we figured everything was set for our 9AM tour of the Coliseum and other ruins, but our cat nap earlier in the day came back to punish us as we both woke up at about 3 and couldn't fall asleep again until after 5:30. Of course, just earlier in the day Tom jinxed us by proclaiming that he never gets jet lagged (which he still stands by).

So after waking up late, we had to double time it down to the Coliseum for our near personal tour (only one other couple). The guide was kind of strange, but he was very thorough. It ended up as a pretty great experience and we're excited about tomorrow's tour of the vatican from the same company. The ruins were fantastic, but we still had trouble figuring out what was from the Roman Empire and what was added later because they kept building churches amongst the original ruins. The size of the buildings is pretty amazing especially considering they did it with only manual labor. We also learned that Tom would have been likely sold into slavery as a Gladiator. According to the guide, that often happened to the husky boys. He probably wouldn't have lasted long.

Some other notes on Rome, jaywalking is not only allowed, but apparently encouraged. This is greatly appreciated coming from LA where most people dare not cross once the light starts blinking. Food service here is pretty quick, which is a huge plus compared to our previous adventures in Europe. The weather has been great - mid 70's and it looks like we are in store for another gellato-day tomorrow!

Finally, we've been in Rome for 2 full days and we've yet to swat one baby down, but we remain at the ready!

Locked Up Abroad - Switzerland

April kept her streak of getting hassled at airport security intact on our way through Zurich. As usual, her bag was identified for additional screening. The first swab test came back positive, so the security person came back with some sort of battery powered hair drier and began rummaging through April's bag. At this point, I quickly removed my wedding ring and faded into the crowd so at least one of us could enjoy the vacation. April was annoyed but not surprised by my move, but I warned her about her nefarious activities. After watching a couple seasons of Locked-Up Abroad she should have known what she was getting into. But I imagine, locked up in Switzerland probably isn't too bad - likely no machetes. Luckily she passed the second test and I was able to reclaim her as my wife.

The flight was long, but the personal TVs, real silverware, and free booze were nice.

Our hotel is nice, but definitely not in the "prime" area. We are really close to the train station, which if you are familiar with Philly is like a dirtier 30th St. Station. We didn't get in until after 7PM, so we just dropped off our bags and got some quick pizza. April had a sausage pizza which was more like mystery meat, and I had what apparently was their clear flavor. I was able to convince her to "share" which should have let her on that something was up as I never share food. At least it was cheap.

After dinner we did a quick walk around town and saw ruins of a huge kegger in a park with bottles and trash everywhere. Beautiful.

This morning we woke up and headed out for a longer walk around town and saw some of the sights including the Pantheon, Spanish Stairs and the Trevi Fountain. April didn't want to see any of the major ruins like the Coliseum. We have a tour scheduled for tomorrow and she didn't want to spoil the surprise.

Return to Solvang

We just got back from a return visit to Solvang. We decided to take the trip up north to celebrate our one year anniversary and to get a nice bike ride in. The trip up was easy, traffic was generally good with a few slow patches in right before Camarillo and right around Santa Barbara. Because we'd had a great deal of rain, the skies were beautifully clear and the views of the coast and the mountains just east of us were breathtaking.

Though the skies were bright blue, we did have weather concerns. Daytime highs were supposed to be in the mid to high 60s but as we rolled up to our hotel in Buellton, just a few miles down the road from Solvang, it was pretty crisp. At around 3:30 or so it felt like it was barely in the 50s-- fine for walking around in the sun, which is what we planned to do that day, but it didn't bode well for the morning bike ride we had planned for the next day. Especially since Tom realized later that afternoon that he'd forgotten some of his cold weather riding gear. All he had were regular bike shorts nothing to cover the rest of his legs.

After checking in we drove over to the town of Los Olivos and did a little exploring. Despite frequent protests from Tom, we visited several little shops and galleries. April enjoyed the merchandise, mostly little knick knacks and objet d'art made by locals. She especially liked all the organic lavender harvested from local farms. Tom, who professes to hate "smell" was not nearly as excited.

We spent the remainder of the day in Solvang checking out the sights there. While April made sure to visit one of Solvang's famous bakeries, Tom went off in search of a bike shop where he could find something warm enough to wear for the next day's ride which, if the evening temps in the 40s were any predictor, would be very, very cold.

Tom found a bike shop got his cold weather gear. The cashier invited us on a 9am group ride scheduled for the next day but we declined. It would probably be preeeeety cold that early in the morning and we had a ride route planned out that we wanted to follow. After a little bit more browsing, we were starved so despite the fact that it was still a little before 5, we decided to head over to the Hitching Post for dinner.

We got to the Hitching Post right along with the rest of the blue hair crowd but although the place was empty- the hostess told us that she couldn't seat us until 6 though the place had been open for dinner since 3pm and the place was empty. It was straight out of an SNL skit. She literally looked around the empty restaurant then looked at her reservation list and apologetically told us that we'd have to wait until 6. It was insane. We put our name on the list then took off to get some stuff for our ride and get snacks to sneak into the movie we planned to see later that night.

We got back to the Hitching Post around 5:20 or so. The place was still pretty empty and we waited till about 5:40 before we were seated-- in a cluster of tables that had been empty the whole night. Dinner was good -steak and a their own syrah- but the apple cobbler dessert April chose left a lot to be desired and it put us too late to catch Seven Pounds at the one theater in the area.

The morning of our big ride dawned clear and icy cold! We decided to wait until after 10am so things would have a chance to warm up a bit but even at that point, temps were still in the 40s. We put on a few layers of gear including our new Showers Pass windbreakers from the Andersons and went out into the elements. It was freezing as we started onto Santa Rosa Road but within 10 minutes are so we were all warmed up. The sun was really warm and the windbreakers were phenomenal. In addition to the clear blue skies, the hilly landscape and animals we saw were extremely cool. The roads were pretty quiet-- we were passed by a few cars but mostly just a few random mail trucks. One of the coolest things about the ride is how peaceful it is. There are several stretches where all you hear is the sound of your own breathing and sound of your bike on the pavement. It's very relaxing.

After a few climbs and some really nice scenery, we got back to the hotel in just about 40 miles. We felt really good and it had gotten a little warmer so we decided to continue and pick up the individual time trial route from the Tour of California race that usually comes through Solvang in February. April's favorite part of the entire trip came when we passed by a mini horse farm. She demanded that we stop and check out the horses. It's a great little hilly route that passes through a couple of farms where cows and horses stare at you as you gut it out climbing then turn back to their grazing. That part tacked on about another 20 miles or so of good solid riding and we got back to the hotel just in time to shower and do a late check out. It was a great ride and a nice way to end a really pleasant trip.

We stopped into the town of Santa Ynez to catch a late lunch before heading home and were saddened to see that everything shut down at 3:00-- we grabbed snacks then decided to eat in Summerland outside of Santa Barbara then just head on home.

Another nice trip. Looking forward to our next visit-- perhaps in March for the 100 mile Solvang Century bike ride.

Mission Accomplished

With all of our vacation objectives accomplished, we took yesterday off. We went to the hotel beach and crashed in our room most of the day. April read a book and Tom watched Tour de France coverage. April grabbed a Puka Dog for lunch- which is basically just a Polish sausage with a spicy sauce and a fruity relish. Tom was fascinated by a nearby street intersection and made April get out of the car and photograph it. You can figure out why from the picture.

Today, we headed back up to the north shore for one last snorkeling adventure. We first stopped for some shopping in Hanalei (Puff the Magic Dragon's real home town - Honalee). There was a crazy homeless guy muttering to himself outside the bathroom so we felt like we were back in Santa Monica. At Tunnels beach, we again saw a turtle, but this time we have proof! Then, as we were getting out of the water, we found a monster turtle that was about 3x the size of the other one only a couple of feet from shore. It was a great way to end our aquatic adventures.

On the way back home, we had lunch at a restaurant called Scotty's with a really nice view, then we stopped at Wailua Falls. You may recognize it from the beginning of Fantasy Island. Don't worry if you don't, neither did we. It was pretty powerful though, and neat to see up close.

Tonight, we went out for a romantic dinner at the Beach House in Koloa. At least that was April's plan. Unfortunately, she made the mistake of bringing Tom. As usual he ruined the mood and even put her on shout with the waiter for drinking his water. The dinner was actually fantastic and definitely our best meal of the vacation (except for the steaks Tom grilled.) Tomorrow we are heading home and we are bummed that this is our last night in paradise.

Surf 'n Turf

April's food woes continued this morning. She awoke to find her last remaining sealed bag of Honey Bunches of Oats gone. Instead, the tainted 'Gecko Flakes' were all that remained. Tom suggested she dust off the Gecko poos but she was not hearing it. Undaunted she began to make herself a PB&J sandwich, only to discover several mold colonies growing on the unopened loaf of bread. Poor April.

Once breakfast was figured out, we headed out for a hike on the north side of the island to a secluded beach only accessible by a treacherous 2 mile hike along a cliff. It actually wasn't all that treacherous, but it was muddy and wet which made the steep rocky path dangerous. It was so muddy that likely neither of our sneakers will survive our trip (much to Nathan's satisfaction). The hike to the beach took about 1.5 hrs. The water was a beautiful iridescent blue. We decided to picnic in the shade on some rocks, when this scraggly cat came by. This little guy didn't look like he was going to make it so April tossed him some ham. He wolfed it down but was too scared to stick around for anymore. If he was smart he start hunting some of those surplus chickens. We originally planned to hike further into the jungle a couple of miles to some waterfalls, but Tom was getting tired and fussy so we headed back to the car. It was a fun hike, but we were both happy we didn't extend the trip.

Muddied from our trip, we headed to a nearby beach to wash off and snorkel. It was our best venture yet. We saw a turtle floating along the reef and Tom actually went up to pet it. We also saw an octopus land on a rock and change colors! This was the same beach we were at a few days earlier when a fish got quite demanding looking for treats. Well, today, we saw whom we will assume was the same fish. But this time he brought back up. April dipped her head underwater when she realized they were circling around us. She tried to intimidate the fish but he called her bluff and swam right at her. He also came correct with his 4 or 5 buddies. When April looked for her backup, she saw Tom high-tailing it for the beach. She didn't know he could swim so fast. (Check out the picture in our first post to see the fish we are talking about). Unfortunately, we didn't bring the camera out snorkeling today and missed a lot of great shots.

Animal Farm

Today we set off to see Waimea Canyon (the Grand Canyon of the Pacific). It is on the west side of the island which isn't too far from where we are staying. We drove to the top of the canyon which was only about 4000 ft above sea level but had amazing views. Tom would have liked to try riding his bike up, but April was happy that our bikes are safe and sound back in Santa Monica. There were several lookout points along the way to the top. The first few looked out of Waimea Canyon towards the middle of the island and a beautiful waterfall, but the last stop was definitely the best. The view looked down a canyon on the most western part of the island that went down to the ocean. The sheer drop from the green canyon walls was unbelievable. We could also see clouds forming and then dissipating at the top of the ridge.

With all these great views, April's favorite part of the trip was much more simple - a family of goats and more chickens. As we looked out over Waimea Canyon, a family of goats walked by us along the cliff walls. They ended up coming over to the parking lot where April chased them around trying to feed them grass. These goats were pretty wary of her intentions and wouldn't let her get anywhere near them. Of course, this was after she spent about 10 minutes video taping an enormous brood of chickens. We're not sure what this one rooster had been eating but he's probably been using HGH and hitting the weights pretty hard.

After the trip to the canyon, we went snorkeling again with less than stellar results, visited a local blow hole, watched turtles play in the surf, and walked on a quiet beach in front of some swanky hotel. Despite all these great activities, nothing could erase the disaster that was breakfast this morning (or highlight, depending on your perspective-This is obviously a Tom comment). Before we set out this morning, April decided to have a second bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats. As she poured bowl 2 she found the prize - A 4 inch long LIVE GECKO. It was definitely one of the loudest screams she's ever made. In the confusion that ensued, somehow the gecko got trapped under a measuring cup. Tom, who is none too fond of pests and lizards, was of no help in the Gecko removal process, so April had to set him free outside. Needless to say, she's done with Honey Bunches of Oats for a while.

Let's hope tomorrow gets off to a better start!

Aloha

As you already probably know, we are in Kauai for the week. We have a great condo right on the beach in Poipu, on the south side of the island. It has a full kitchen and there is a gas grill so Tom is in heaven. We already went to Kauai Costco so he could buy steaks and tuna. Perhaps the only thing he likes better than tuna out of the can is saving money on eating out.

Tom's other favorite food is also in abundance, chicken. A hurricane in the early 90's freed several chickens from captivity and they have thrived. You can't go anywhere without seeing roaming packs of chickens on the side of the roads and parking lots. They are like delicious packs of street toughs strutting around with impunity. One last food remark - apparently poor Hawaiians are stuck in the '50s when it comes to cuisine. Both McDonald's and Burger King are spending big bucks marketing the new food craze - SPAM! Spiced ham is apparently where it's at for breakfast. We don't think we'll be partaking in this island tradition.

As expected, the water is beautiful and the snorkeling is great. We've already seen several turtles playing in the surf and once while we were snorkeling. Today while up on the north shore, there was a fish that wouldn't stop following us. He probably thought we were going to feed him and he was quite insistent, he hung out with us for well over 30 mins, swimming all around us. We both are afraid of sharks so we have been pretty conservative and haven't gone out to far yet. We like to snorkel near other groups of 'healthier' tourists, hoping they would be more appetizing to any sharks that may happen by.

On Saturday, we took a helicopter tour of the island. We were concerned when the pilot did not know Raffi. We thought all helicopter pilots knew each other. We were actually more concerned when the helicopter was grounded before we got on. They OK'd it fly about 5 minutes later. They said it was a grease problem and they just used some WD-40. Is that the correct procedure, Raf? The tour was amazing. I'm embarrassed to say, but it actually felt just like seeing a movie on an OmniMax theater (IMAX for the less fortunate). The tour covered almost the entire island. The pilot even pointed out the Australian fern which covers much of the island. It was originally brought to Kauai has a house plant, but it ended up infesting the entire landscape. I didn't know that Australians had so much in common with their plants (not Matt)!

We've had a great time so far but we've got a bunch of stuff planned. As always, we'll keep you posted!

Solvang and the Santa Ynez Valley-Sideways Land!

Friday afternoon we took a drive up the coast to Solvang and the Santa Ynez valley to do a little cycling and some Christmas shopping. They filmed the movie Sideways in the Santa Ynez valley so it's always fun to go up there and see all the wineries and restaurants where they filmed the movie.

We got there in decent time despite the holiday traffic. We took Pacific Coast Highway up past Pt. Mugu then drove over past the outlets and picked up the 101 the rest of the way up to our hotel in Buellton.

We checked in then drove over to the little town of Solvang to have a look around. Solvang is a little town probably no more than a few square blocks. Most of the buildings are all timbered and decorated to look exactly like a little Danish village. Actually parts of it really reminded us of Switzerland--the same types of shops and items. It's a little cheesey in places but there were a few shops that had some cute items. By the time we got there it was around 5pm and many of the shops were closing so after looking in about 5 shops or so we went to dinner.

The Hitching Post restaurant, one of the places where Sideways was filmed, was right along the route from Solvang to our hotel so we went there for dinner. It looked exactly as it did in the movie and despite the fact that it was packed and we didn't have a reservation they seated us immediately. We got steaks and had our waiter suggest a good wine. Both glasses he brought out were pretty good. Tom of course would rather just have a cup of grape juice but in wine country, you really should have at least one glass of wine.

After dinner we bought movie tickets for National Treasure-Book of Secrets which was horrible-- we should have checked the write up on Maxim's Movie Blog before going. After that we turned in early because we had a long bike ride planned for early the next morning.

We put off riding until as late as possible because it was basically freezing. We probably didn't start out this morning until about 10am. The ride was fantastic! As we got going the sun warmed us up a bit so we were actually pretty comfortable. We set out on a the very quiet Santa Rosa Road and rode over rolling hills past alternating farms, vineyards and orchards. We saw lots of cows and horses. They looked bored and showed no interest in us as we rode past.

We completed our loop by driving about 20 miles down Rt. 246 which, though much busier than the road, it had a really wide shoulder/bike lane so we could ride two across most of the way. Total ride was a little under 40 miles-- good enough to feel like a workout but not so much that we were drained for the rest of the day. After that we showered then headed off to get some lunch and do some shopping in Los Olivos, a cute little town we discovered when we did our 100 mile bike ride up there back in March.

Lunch in Los Olivos was nice and we found some great stuff in a little shop not too far down the street from the cafe which we picked up after lunch. After we finished our shopping, we were pretty much done with the Santa Ynez valley so we took off for home.

It was a great little getaway. If you're looking for a really nice mini vacation-- head up there. Really, spend a night-- we stayed at the Marriott in Buellton in a suite almost as big as our 2br apt for a really reasonable rate. If you're not into cycling, you can sub in some wine tastings since there are wine tasting rooms about every 3 feet in the towns. Anyway, we had a really good time.

Back Home Safe and Sound

It was sad leaving Amsterdam but we were ready to go. We were kinda running out of steam. The day before we left, we came home in the middle of the day to rest for a while and watch a little tour coverage. We were getting tired.

We went to bed late and woke up early the next day to catch our flight out of Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. We hopped a tram to the train station then caught a commuter train to the airport. Schiphol was your average run of the mill airport except for the straight out of SNL duo that was in charge of entertaining the crowds in line at the passport control. They had mics speakers and a little sound mixing board and prizes. They helped us pass the time by playing name that tune-- a blend of eighties power ballads and old Dutch folk favorites. We didn't win any prizes but the performance was really prize enough!

We made it home safe and sound if a few hours later than expected. Our flight out of Heathrow was delayed about 4 hours. So we got to spend some quality time getting acquainted with the high-end mall/duty-free store/foodcourt that was Heathrow. The place was absolutely mobbed with people. Somehow we found a quiet little corner of the terminal where we slept, read Harry Potter 7 and then we ate lunch at Fridays. Despite the less than comfortable situation, it was nice to be back in the land of the English speakers. It took me a while to adjust and I kept saying thank you to salespeople and waiters in Dutch.

The 10 hour flight home went by much quicker than we thought it would. Tom read HP7 and slept and I watched Bourne Identity and slept about half of it. Despite all the sleeping, we arrived in LA tired and were thrilled to finally get back home.

It's tough to sum up a great trip so I won't even try. What I will say is that we both had a really good time and we really enjoyed reading the comments and emails people sent us along the way.

Till the next big adventure.