Missing Pat

 The first thing I read by Pat Conroy was an excerpt from The Lords of Discipline in a copy of Playboy I swiped from my dad. I didn't take it for the articles but I did read them and this, this made an impact. I wanted more. Here was a voice like mine. I remember staying up too late reading it and it may have been the first book, aside from Fun With Dick and Jane, that I ever reread. The Boo, The Water is Wide, and of course The Great Santini all were read and reread. Later, there was The Prince of Tides, South of Broad, his cookbook. Anyone who has played a sport and isn't a superstar can relate to My Losing Season. 

Pat (I always thought of him as Pat, Mr. Conroy was his dad), and I shared geography. If you've read his books you know that's important. I didn't have all the moves he had in his early life but Callanwolde, which features large in Prince, was not far from my maternal grandmother's house. He taught for a time at St. Pius, not far from where I grew up. I have ancestors buried in Charleston and Beaufort, two cities he loved and wrote about frequently. (If you see a deSaussure anything, that's us.) 

But the place we shared the most is Fripp Island. We've vacationed there for years and years. A small barrier island not far from Beaufort with a two lane bridge as the only access it is a magical place. I've seen sea turtles born there, watched my kids run to the ocean, seen dolphins, fished, come close to alligators and deer, eaten shrimp right off the boat and crabs my son and nephew caught, ridden miles on a beach cruiser and hacked away at golf balls. And Pat, Pat lived there. I didn't know that for several years though I knew of his love affair with Beaufort. But one trip I saw autographed copies of his books in the local store. 

I told my mother she could bank a few Christmas gifts by getting copies of the books. We were driving back to Atlanta separately. She stopped by the store on her way out to buy some books but they were out of autographed copies. She asked the person working there who replied that they didn't have any more "but he's standing right there, you could ask him". Now, at the time my mom wasn't a big reader. So you have my mom, who hadn't read his books, having a 20 minute conversation with my favorite author. Life is funny that way. But I now own autographed copies of most of his books with personal notes in them. He took the time to hear her story and responded to it. 

I never sought him out during our many trips but I always kept my eyes open and we always had fun guessing which house could be his. I never met him. I'll have to seek out his grave next trip, pour out some whisky and thank him for his words. 

Wonders of Man

In the 1970's Newsweek published a series of books called the Wonders of Man. My paternal grandmother, Sarah deSaussure Heath, ordered this series and would pass them on to me as she finished them. They fascinated me and gave a pretty good coverage of each of the topics. There were titles such as: The Statue of Liberty, Venice, Machu Pichu, The Forbidden City, Versailles, and The Loire. I still have those books and they are on display in our home. We still use them. We re-read the Venice book and ordered the Florence book prior to our trip to Italy last summer. They also remind me of Meme, as we called her. She had a love of travel and history and was a big influence on me.

I was looking at those books the other day and realized they were a sort of bucket list. And I can cross off quite a few, though I still have quite a few I want to see.

The Wonders of Man

Venice - been twice

The Colisseum - been twice

El Escorial - not been there

The Forbidden City - nope

The Taj Mahal - uh uh, not yet

Tower of London - been there

Versailles - been twice

Statue of Liberty - been to New York but didn't get to see it

The Parthenon - yep

The Alhambra - not yet

The Loire - loved it

Kyoto - someday

Notre Dame de Paris - been twice

Machu Pichu - definitely on the bucket list

Pyramid and Sphinx - also on the bucket list

Teotihuacan - uh, no

White House - been there

Hagia Sophia - someday

Mecca - don't think so

The Kremlin - definitely someday

Vienna - no, only got as far as Salzburg

Florence - yes indeed

The Hague - no

So, I'm happy with what I've seen and look forward to what I haven't. And I think Meme would be happy too.

 

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Under the Tuscan Sun

Ok, I'm ready to retire to Tuscany. As long as I can have my own villa on the top of a hill and have an American bathroom. Oh, and have a chef occasionally like Chef Laura and her assistant Other Laura. This place is beautiful. And so much cooler weather wise after the stifling heat of Rome. We took the 14:20 train from Rome to Florence, rented a car (Alfa Romeo baby!), and took off for the villa. One wrong turn in Florence and one more on a beautiful little dirt road and we were here. Our villa is called Azienda Agricoli I Leoni, roughly farmhouse at the lions or of the lions. There are two stone lions out front and Castiglione is nearby. It's a beautiful place on a hill overlooking valleys filled with olive trees and vineyards.

One of the views from the Leoni villa

Azienda Agricoli I Leoni

We arrived late on Saturday and just ran to the local Alimentari, or grocery store, for some cold cuts, cheese, and coffee. That night we spent drinking far too much wine and playing Cards Against Humanity. We had 10 of us drinking wine and put away 14 bottles. It was a fun night but most paid the price the next day. On Sunday a group went to Siena for an hour while another group of us went to the closest town of some size, Montespertoli. On Sundays most everything is closed but we did find a small bar/restaurant open and had some spaghetti Bolognese. In Montespertoli all the shops were closed but there were several local artisans set up in the town square. I bought a nice little mortar and pestle made of I think olive wood and a nice little watercolor painting. After the cost of Rome it was nice to pay just a few Euros for these.

The market at Montespertoli

Sunday night we had the first of four planned meals we hired Chef Laura to prepare. It was amazing. We ate under a gazebo by the olive trees. The chefs Laura prepared everything. Neither speaks any English but we got by. Elizabeth's brother Bill had made the arrangements to have them prepare the meals. There were several choices and we all voted before we came over. For this first night we had four bruschetta to start; tomato, mushroom, onion, and something green we all forgot to ask about but later learned was zucchini. Second course was the pasta. I think it was with a basil cream and tomatoes. It was obviously freshly made pasta, delicioso. Next came some greens with salt and olive oil and sliced tomatoes as the sides. They complimented our mixed grill perfectly. There were pork chops, chicken and best of all, steak Florentine. Steak Florentine is a huge steak cooked rare, sliced in large strips and shared. This was followed by fresh strawberries in a nice whipped cream. You'd think I'd gain ten pounds but I've actually lost weight over here what with all the walking, no real snacking and while it seems like a lot of food it's all natural and really well balanced.

Steak Florentine prep in progress

Various bruschetta toppings underway

Chef Laura manning the grill

The little girls invited us all to a pre-meal garden party

Chef Laura and Chef Laura

After that huge meal it was off to bed because the next day was King Family Wine Tour 2013. Bill, The Planner, had arranged for us to have tastings and or tours at five wineries. There were ten of us in two cars. We started with one just down the road, Podere dell'Anselmo, and as it turned out it was my favorite. I'm sure the beautiful Italian hostess had nothing to do with it. We tried 6 wines: a local white, hard to do around here; two Chianti and they have to be made a certain way to get the Chianti label; a rose; and two super Tuscans, one of them an oak casked reserve. All of them were terrific. I bought 3 bottles and off we went to the next one. Or at least we tried. GPS and directions both failed us and we ended up on a dirt road that my poor Alpha Romeo kept bottoming out on. After a hair raising descent we made it to a road. We had to skip that one and the next. We then went to lunch at a nice little trattoria. I had a local peasant stew with beef and onions. It was awesome. The next winery, Barbudo,  had terrific views and a woman who spoke no English at all. But we made do and bought a few more bottles. Then we went to the local castle and winery. Castello Sonnino in Montespertoli. The castle dates to the 1200's. We had a nice tour and a great tasting where we also tried the local honey on Pecorino cheese and some truffle oil and olive oil.

First wine tasting of the day!

The Road of Death

The view from the Barbuda winery

Castillo Sonnino

Castillo Sonnino

Castillo Sonnino - last tasting of the day

The next day we spent in Florence. As with the hill towns and other places in Italy you aren't allowed to drive in the city center. We drove the Alpha Romeo into the city and planned to park at the train station. The only problem was we couldn't find the parking lot! So there I am puttering down a one way street with an impatient truck driver behind me. Suddenly I see an open parking spot to my left. I start to pull in and BEEEEEP! a scooter whips by and stops, the driver, an older guy in a poplin suit, glaring at me. I start to apologize when the truck driver behind me starts yelling. At the scooter guy! We think he was saying, "Hey this tourist has held me up enough! Shut up and move along and let him park! You shouldn't have whipped around us like that anyway!" Anyway, free parking for the day!

Elizabeth had gotten us tickets for the Accademia and a morning appointment. We were late but it wasn't a problem. I was so glad she had paid for a time slot. There are three lines to get in, those without tickets (the longest line), those in tour groups, and those with reserved times (our line, the shortest). We walked through and saw some nice paintings and musical instruments but what we were really there for was David. And it didn't disappoint. It was amazing to see it in person. The oversized Hand of God, the size of the thing. It was amazing. My other favorite was the series of slaves by Michelangelo. These are the unfinished looking pieces where the subjects are emerging from the stone. No pictures here because the Accademia allows no photos. We saw several folks get busted. They delete your picture if they catch you.

After a quick bite and a coffee we went to the San Lorenzo street market and did some shopping. I've discovered I suck at haggling. No surprise, I also suck at buying cars. But we did get some nice things, a wallet for me, a purse for Elizabeth. From there we went to the Duomo and Baptistry. The Duomo, or cathedral, is most famous for it's dome by Brunelleschi. The baptistry is famous for the doors, the Gates of Paradise. These doors were the result of a contest and were one of the first works of the Renaissance, which was born in Florence. Incidentally, the reason the Baptistry is a separate building is because at that time you couldn't enter a church until you'd been baptised. So they put up baptistries across from churches. We didn't go inside either one. We just couldn't face another line. They do have a Florence pass if you go and want to see inside these or climb the Carillon.

San Lorenzo market

Next it was off to Ponte Vecchio. This famous bridge is the place to buy jewelry in Florence. We did some shopping and had a gelato and then headed to the Uffizi for our appointment there. A short wait to pick up the tickets and a slightly longer one and we were inside. We saw the Birth of Venus and several other famous works but honestly it was so hot and we were so tired we breezed through most of it. We then headed back across town to the trusty Alpha Romeo and a drive back to the villa for another great meal.

The Duomo

Later in the week we headed to a couple of the hill towns Tuscany is famous for. These are medieval towns on hills, usually walled, that haven't changed much. The first we visited was San Gimignano (pronounced Giamano). It was a beautiful drive getting there. As in Florence you can't drive in to the town but they have well labelled parking lots outside town. We parked at one just outside the gates. The entire town is surrounded by a wall. But that's not the impressive thing. In the middle ages rich families would construct towers to live and work in. The size of the tower indicated your wealth (compensating for something?). Occasionally they would battle it out from their towers. San Gimignano originally had some 70 odd towers. 14 remain but that's more than most towns. We spent most of our time people watching in a square with a cistern dating from the 1200's. They built cisterns in squares and collected the rainwater from the towers through pipes under the square, through a sand and limestone filter and into a buried clay cistern. Amazing engineering.  The other town we visited was Lucca. Lucca is famous for it's wall. Originally there was a Roman wall, then a medieval wall, then, with the birth of cannon on the battlefield, a Renaissance wall. It's this last wall that is so famous. Encompassing the whole town it is extremely thick and has heart shaped bastions to deflect cannon balls. It's so thick you can bicycle on the top of it and ride around the whole town in less than an hour. So we did! It was one of my favorite things we did on the trip and easily the best 18 Euros I spent.

Some of San Gimignano's towers

Natalie and Ron spent the day relaxing in the square

The cistern

Over the centuries ropes cut into the stone cistern

Biking around Lucca

On Lucca's wall

Our last day in Tuscany we spent just riding around and taking pictures. We had all liked the Laura's so much we had them cook us one last meal, brazino (sea bass). They had prepared these really simple salads all week with just greens, olive oil and salt. I had liked it so much they offered to get me some olive oil. So I bought two liter cans from them and smuggled them home. Don't tell Customs! One last thing about the villa. Italians, and Europeans in general, don't have the same addiction to air conditioning we have. At the villa we had to pay extra for air conditioning. Sergio, the owner, handed over the remotes for the individual air conditioners but only if we agreed to pay for the electricity. The other option was to let him set them and pay a fixed fee. As it turned out it was cheaper for us to have the remotes! Natalie paid him for the usage and we all packed up. The next day we were off to Venice!

Sunset over Tuscany

Standing by an olive grove

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Roman roamin'

Rome is kicking our butts. We arrived on Tuesday morning and it's now Thursday evening. Elizabeth got sick at the Vatican and threw up in a garbage bin outside a souvenir shop after we spent 145 Euros for a soso lunch. That sums it up. Ancient history, the Church, and things more expensive than expected for less than anticipated returns. But don't get me wrong, we've seen things we always wanted to see and we have had good experiences too. And honestly the wine you can get for a couple bucks is amazing. But this is an exhausting city. We saw Elizabeth's Aunt Erica while here and she says it's suffocating living with so much history. I completely understand. There's a little church down the street from the apartment we've rented. Just a little nondescript thing but the lowest level is pagan in origin, the nave is medieval and the ceiling is Rennaissance. If that's on a little side street you can imagine what the rest of the city is like. I'm on historiographical overload.

The place we are staying is a nice two bedroom apartment with a pull out sofa. It's a two minute walk to the Colisseum so it's a great location. And it's nice having a washing machine and a kitchen. It was pretty reasonable too. But like a lot of these things it's only got air conditioning in the two bedrooms. We open the doors and its not too bad. There's a terrific gelato place on the corner, a grocery around the block and several nice coffee shops.

I don't think there's any such thing as coffee to go here. At least I haven't seen it. Instead you order and are served in a nice little coffee cup your espresso or capucino and you drink it standing there. It's a nice little break in your morning. It costs more if you sit down at a table, even to wait. It's little things like that that leave you feeling a little bit ripped off constantly.

The food has been hit and miss. And it seems we can only feed our group of six for 100-150 Euros whether its lunch or dinner so the last two nights we've stayed in and had cold cuts sandwiches. We did have a wonderful meal at Elizabeth's aunts house and also had great pizza there including one with zucchini blossoms and anchovies that was surprisingly delicious. The gelato everywhere has been great. I like the fruit ones and the pistachio but the chocolatey ones have been popular with our crowd too.

Getting around took some getting used to and now that we're leaving of course we've gotten the hang of it! We blew a lot of money on cabs early on. They aren't that expensive but we always needed two. As an aside, you just round up if you want to tip the driver. But busses are the way to go. We bought the Roma Pass to get in the Colisseum, Palatine and Forum and it comes with free public transport for three days. Although I must say we were never asked for a ticket. You also have an option of buying minutes on busses. Not sure why they do it that way but they do. When a bus comes you just shove your way on. Romans don't believe in lines.

The Coliseum is as grand as I remembered from 26 years ago and they have a nice little open air museum on the second floor. They are doing construction on the Forum and they have terrible signage so we got a little turned around but we saw all we wanted to see, including the spot where Caesar was cremated. But it's so much to take in! Later in the day we went to Trevi fountain which was my second favorite sight we saw. It's so surprising to round a corner and suddenly see this huge refreshing fountain growing out of a building. We tossed our coins so we'll be back! We then walked down the street to the Spanish Steps where we were attacked by rose and souvenir wielding hawkers. We did have a fun meal not far from there though so it wasn't all bad.

 

We also went to the Vatican. We had arranged through the apartment owner to have a tour guide. The guide was an extra 180 Euros but she explained a lot to us and we skipped all the lines. Aside from the heat and crowds it was very interesting. The Sistene Chapel was as awe inspiring as I remembered but the murmuring crowds and the constant shushing and cries of "Silencio!" from the security staff take some of the luster off. St. Peter's too is awe inspiring but it's just too much to take in. Bigger isn't always better and I found it hard to feel God in that space.

 

Today though was my favorite day. We took the 85 bus from the Coliseum and got off and walked several blocks to the Pantheon. We met Erica there and had a quick coffee and then went inside. It was much less crowded, free and beautiful. It was my favorite site we've seen. The light coming through the open skylight is stunning. Erica told us that on Pentecost they drop roses from a helicopter through the hole. That must be magical.

 

Then we took a walk and strolled through the Campo de Fiore, a famous market. We got some nuts and enjoyed the sites. We then took a tiny bus back to Erica's where we had lunch. Afterwards we said our goodbyes and then walked to the Cola di Riezo to do some shopping. Conrad got some awesome Italian dress shoes. The girls found some clothes they liked and I got an Italian bicycling jersey. Apparently I'm a giant here because I was a 4XL here. I'm only an XL back home! Tonight we begged off meeting the rest of the family at Erica's. We'll take it easy and pack up. Tomorrow we leave for Florence and our Tuscan villa!

 

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You bet we're gonna have fun in Vegas!

On a plane heading to Las Vegas! We're going to meet our friends Carl and Nicole who are driving down from Phoenix. Up at 5 am to make our flight, Elizabeth is currently napping next to me. I'm using the Blogsy app on my new iPad. So far so good. It was easy to set up and typing on the iPad has actually been pretty easy. It's a mini that Elizabeth got me for my birthday this week and I'm embarrassingly in love with it.


We're staying at the Planet Hollywood Resort. It's the old Aladdin hotel remodeled. I going to try the "slip the check in person a $20 to get an upgrade" trick but I'm notoriously bad at this sort of thing so we'll see. We've reserved a cabana by the pool for the day on Saturday. My thought was it would not only be cool but it would also keep us out of the casino for the day! More on that on Saturday. Since we're on such an early flight we're probably not going to be able to check in right away. Hopefully our luggage will make it and we'll be able to grab our bathing suits and head to the pool. It's supposed to be 111 there today. Yikes!

We did do a better job packing this trip. Just 1 large and 1 carry on suitcase. For our Italy trip this summer we're limiting everyone to a carry on a piece. Not sure how Elizabeth will be able to do that but we'll see.

More later!

The fanciest G&T I've ever had

Well it's 7am and I can't sleep. The suns up and shining through the window despite the curtains. Probably another way to get you in the casino. The pilot of our flight said "remember, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, including your money". And it's true in a way. But isn't that half the fun? And a reason to come back? To try again?

Fritters in a shoe, why?

We got in early yesterday and paid an extra $28 to check in early. Turns out that wasn't the best idea. We did get rooms next to each other but it was limited availability so it was in an older part of the hotel. We did get a nap in though.

Good friends, good times! At Jaleo

We spent the afternoon catching up with our friends and doing a little gambling and then headed out to dinner. Carl and I had a bet on who would lose the most weight before the trip and I won so dinner was on him. Thanks Carl! We went to the Cosmopolitan to their tapas restaurant and bar Jaleo. Really cool hotel and a cool bar and restaurant. They had specialty gin and tonics so I had to get one! Right? The bartender was a great guy. From Brazil. Gave us good advice on what to order and took our picture for us. Dinner was good. We got fritters that came in a shoe for some reason, some carne asada, some shrimp, some chicken. Had a blast. And just so you know, I didn't have to pay! Thanks Carl!

Back to food and drink. If you sit down at a bar and put in $20 in the video machine they'll comp your drinks. You don't have to actually play and lose that $20. You can cash out when you finish your drink. But honestly it's a lot of fun. Carl and I sat and played for a while at New York, New York one afternoon. The bartender was cool and told us to play Deuces Wild and taught us the best way to play. I won $17 bucks or so and we had a couple drinks. If you're playing slots or a low limit table game you'll get drinks comped too but verrrry slowly. It's not the best way to drink. It's better some times to just pay for your drinks at the bar and not gamble away more than you're drinking. Both ways are fun.

The food was better than I expected. In addition to Jaleo we also went to Spago at Caesar's Palace, which was great, and breakfast at Paris casino, which was incredible. Ate there twice. Get the corned beef hash if you go! We tried to get in Gordan Ramsey's BURGR restaurant but the line was always too long. Nicole had a rewards card for the Harrah's chain, which includes Planet Hollywood, so we got some discounts on some meals. Thanks Nicole!

The secret VIP entrance to Absinthe!

Had to take a picture of this!

It was great being there with folks who know what they are doing. There's a discount day of ticket service that we used for both shows we saw. If you aren't wanting a particular show it's a great way to go. And we actually got into the main one we wanted to see, Zumanity. It's a very adult Cirque show and was really amazing. I don't know how they get such athletic, talented and good looking people but wow! We got seats on the second row so I had topless women flying over my head and Elizabeth had spandexed male crotches in her face. The drinks all have sexy names. We did Jell-O shots. Can't tell you how long it's been since I had one of those! And then I had a Long Dong Silver. Come on, wouldn't you? There was a pre-show and Nicole got called up on stage for it and was promptly dry humped by the comedy act. She's a good sport though and we all enjoyed it. As she made her way back to her seat she flipped her hair and loudly said, "Nothing I haven't done already this weekend!" The audience went nuts. There's a lot of adult content so if you don't like that sort of thing don't go. If you do, you're in for a fun night!

The other show we saw was Absinthe! at Caesar's Palace. This is a smaller venue, a circus tent outside Caesar's. we once again used the discount ticket service and sprung for the VIP seats since it was just a few bucks more. We were third row this time. Once you purchase your tickets you have to go to the box office to get the actual seats and tickets. Nicole and I went to pick them up but got lost in Caesar's on the way. That place is huge! I usually have a good sense of direction but all the twists and turns and no daylight got me. We got good seats though. It's a circular stage in the tent. The show was similar to Zumanity in that the acts were sexy and acrobatic but this was earthier and less well choreographed, more circus like. Both shows were great. The MC or Ringmaster, I think they called him the Billionaire, was hilarious. And this was the show where I was called up on stage. They were setting up a high wire act so to entertain the crowd the MC had a lap dance contest. He picked me, "big white guy", to go up against "the only black guy in the audience" to dance for "dirty Republican wife". His names, not mine. I had to go first because as the MC said, "it'll be all over when black guy dances for her". I may or may not have had a few drinks. Since my moves are limited I went for the slowly peel off the shirt move and butt shake. Hilarity ensued. "Black guy" wasn't much better thankfully but she chose him as the winner. I like to think the audience liked me better. Can't trust those Republican wives. We all won a drink of Lucid Absinthe so I finally got that drink of absinthe I wanted a year ago in New Orleans! It was really licorice tasting. Reminded me of ouzo. Not bad but probably not everyone's taste.

My second place drink of Absinthe

Lap dancing like a fool

As I stated earlier, we had originally thought to rent a cabana by the adult pool. If you want to rent one,  do it in advance as we had some trouble getting the reservation. It's a great idea. You can do it with a bottle or without. You get mixers and a bartender and some other stuff. In the end we didn't do it. The pool just didn't look that great and we were having too much fun doing other stuff. Other hotels have the same type service so check if you go.

We wrapped up our weekend the next day and said our goodbyes. Elizabeth wasn't feeling too well at this point. I recommend Dramamine for hungover travelers. I mean dehydrated travelers! When we got to the airport our flight had been cancelled and they had booked us on a flight 3 hours later. Sigh. Then that flight had delays and then an engine problem so it was 2:45 am by the time we got home. But we did get a $50 travel voucher. Hmmm, what should I bet it on?

Can't wait to go back! What a great weekend!

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