Bikes, finally

Yesterday was great--Gina and I met a nice older Italian gentleman at lunch (Gianni) who took us to a gelateria for award-winning gelato--he knows the owner so it was a large glass full of chocolate, banana, cantalope & chocolate cookie gelato w/whipped cream and a wafer cookie. Molto buono!!!! He asked that we tell all our American friends of the wonders of their gelatto.

We went on a long walk, Gianni's English was pretty good so he told us a lot. We got a tour of his pride and joy--his boat. I felt a tickle in my throat and freaked out. All of the stress leading up to this trip set me up nicely to get sick. So I OD'd on vitamins and herbs, drank tons and went to bed before 8pm. I'm a little nasally today, but not sick.

This morning I attended mass after breakfast (love it that all Catholic masses are the same so I knew what was going on). After, wandered through Fano taking in the (closed) cute shops and narrow cobblestone streets.

We met with the tour group today to all meet each other over lunch and get familiar with trip protocol. Our leaders are Marcello and Frank--both Italians but Frank lived in Colorado for many years. The group is 10 big--everyone is from the Bay area (Cali) or Colorado except for 2 people, I think.

We did a quick ride to make sure the bikes are set right so the real mileage will be tomorrow. Tour of Fano tonight a piede (walking) and then dinner.

So far I haven't seen anyone fit the stereotypical Italian male (in attitude), everyone is warm, gracious--beautiful inside and out (with being very natural).

Buona notte!

Made it

Yesterday I arrived w/o any problem in Rome and it was super easy for my roommate, Gina, and me to meet up at the airport. Three train rides and a little over 5-6 hours later, we were in Fano, a beautiful beach town full of Italians and almost no Americans. Italians are still on holiday so the beach is packed, the water is warm and a gorgeous blue color. We were good about not sleeping yesterday as that would have been bad for jet lag. We went to the beach, swam, chatted with the locals on our limited Italian and their limited English. Recommendation for dinner was a place called Florida.

We came all this way to eat at Florida. Ha! I had a Guinness in a bottle (chocolatey and wonderful), and a thin-crust vegiteriana pizza--it had a lot of arugula on top and the sauce was wonderful. I'm guessing that is American style pizza, but lovely still. It was a nice outdoor setting, it is very much like paradise here. Bikes & Vespas line the streets, we're missing our bikes. My computer is having issues connecting to the internet, not sure why yet (using Gina's iPhone).

Today so far we're both being beach bums and are a little tired, but no sign of jet lag. Off to lunch now!

Ciao ciao.

The Trip has Begun!

I'm hanging out for a few hours in the Washington, Dulles airport awaiting an 8-hr flight to Italy. Thank goodness there's wifi here, I don't have my trusty iPhone so have felt all morning like I forgot something (like an arm or something of equal importance). I bought 2 hours and it's taken all of that time to finish up loose ends that I didn't have time to take care of in Denver. Skype calling has saved me. I was freaking out at the idea of using a pay phone. Oooh, did people use those once upon a time? $1/4 min talk within the US. Sounds not as cool as Skype calling on the cute Netbook. So far, it's connecting to the internet great (better than Linux systems used to).

Packing last night was dizzying with being excessively tired and probably a little more stressed than necessary considering that I was trying to pack so few things, but I still hardly had room for those basics. The bike stuff takes up a lot of room, and the helmet is outside of the bags (it'll be tossed promptly after the bike portion of the trip is over).

Everyone sitting around me is wearing nice shoes. Must be Italians. I'm feeling a bit too casually dressed. One has to wear pants, however, if one is wearing compression stockings (those that are used for patients). This is a test run for these. If they work here, I trust they'll work great after races, too. I digress.

Off to walking laps in the airport and shifting into sardine mode. Thank you to everyone who's emailed in the past day or so! More from Rome, maybe in Italiano!!!

The excitement has hit

I've been so looking forward to this trip; but it was only this morning when I literally flew out of bed that I realized the true excitement and adrenaline rush of what it means to actually be traveling to Europe oh so soon.

I'm almost packed and my place is nearly perfectly clean (can you believe it? I certainly can't!)

Still checking items off the list, there is a lot more yet to accomplish!

Packing Day #2

Yikes, it's nearly time to depart. There have been a few days since the last post & those have been completely non-packing days. Today a little happened, but there's been so much else with which I've needed to concern myself. At least now I can report having gone on a 4-hour climbing road ride yesterday (solo) and 2-hour today (with friends, thank goodness), so I have a little more confidence that my legs will be suited to the riding ahead. (It's more a confidence thing than anything else--it's too late now to gain any more fitness or strength.) And now my pedals and saddle are in the "Italy" pile growing on the floor. The next pedal stroke will be on Italian soil!

Tonight I went to a BBQ for my company and it was a really nice time to get to meet the significant others of my co-workers (those I haven't met before) and some co-workers are in from out-of-town. I finally was able to place much of the stress that's been building up continually out of my mind and relax a little. But still, I could use so much more time.

The more I talk about the trip, the more real it becomes, but yet I still cannot fathom what this new (old) world will be like. I'm excited, but in a different kind of way: without being able to imagine something, it will only become real when I'm actually there. The most exciting part, by a long shot, is (hopefully) meeting some cousins who live in/near the same old town where my Grandma spent a good deal of time when she was young. I've learned more about my Great Grandfather in the past week than I had ever known before--the trip has already shown its incredible value and I haven't gone anywhere yet.

Tonight I was debating out loud with my manager whether or not I should buy into the wine kitty. He feels very strongly that I should. I'm still luke-warm on it since it won't include any beer...they do have good beer in Europe, yes? It's not that far from Ireland, I should hope the Guinness is fresh. Hmmmmmmm...

Packing Day #1

Much of the fun of traveling is thinking about it and preparing for it. Since I have absolutely no idea what to expect, what things will look like, who I will see and interact with, etc., I haven't been spending much time thinking about the trip.

I'd love to report that in the past few months since I decided to go on this trip, that I've learned Italian. No, I've come up short (really short) in that area. I have accumulated a stack of books on Italy and its various regions, its cuisine, history and novels that are love letters to it. Most of the reading I've done dealing with Italy are books finished well before I decided to go there. My main excuse (if that's what it can be considered) is that I've keep incredibly busy with a variety of extracurricular activities of all kinds and work has been full-on as well.

I have accumulated an interesting set of information on this place through jumping around in these books and talking to others who all report they absolutely love it there. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the List, the restaurants of where to eat, landmarks to visit, people to see. I will do my best to see and do everything (as my nature makes me inclined to try) and I'll do my best to blog back as often as possible.

Hopefully the Italian CDs that I've been listening to (yes, I even practice aloud so long as no one is anywhere near to hear me) have leaked into my brain. My iPhone is set to the Italian language. Every standard label on the phone is not translated...I'm beginning to understand. Thank goodness the "Call" button is green and "End Call" is red.

Tonight was the first real prep in the way of trying to pack. REI can hire another employee now that I got through there. The first cut of important things includes wipes that work in place of a shower (I trust I won't need them, but you never know), a very fun toothbrush holder that incorporates toothpaste and a skirt that is below my knees--so as to gain admittance to the Vatican and nearby venues. No knees or shoulders showing. I'm hoping it'll be cooler temps there then than it is right now.

I've been told to watch the movie "Angels & Demons" for a view of Vatican City and Rome. This afternoon I did a movie search and it turns out that tonight was the very last showing of the movie anywhere in Denver. So I ran up to the theater to catch it after REI. Yes, I saw more of Rome/Vatican City than I've ever seen before.

Did I mention that this trip is going to include a lot of bike riding? Yep, lots. I've never put in so few miles as I have in the past few weeks. Between racing crits at the end of July and a lot of random distractions, the miles have not been adding up. Thank goodness Italy is at sea level. The oxygen will make up for the fitness I've lost recently.

Time to get some sleep. The one thing I need more than anything else as I leave: a 100% immune system which includes not being overly tired, fatigued or stressed.

Back to Blogging

Buongiorno!

Keep watching this blog...it'll become far more interesting very soon. There have been many adventures since the last post, just *no* time to write anything here.

Ciao!