Europe 09

It was nice to be in Rome in August. Even though it was hot, and crowded with tourists, the streets were pretty much empty of traffic as most Romans were at the beach. It was nice to see my father, though he has aged since we last saw him at Christmas. This upset me very much, though I think his biggest problem is boredom, not to mention that he is under the care of too many doctors, all specialists. We walked around a lot despite the heat. We were grateful for Rome’s many water fountains. Sam proved to be a good walker, he and Chandran would often go off on walks together after we had called it a day with the twins. Franca was happy to see us in her grumpy way and she liked having an appreciative crowd for her wonderful cooking. While in Rome we went to the zoo, and had fun watching the monkey pit. I took Sam, Chiara and Laura to the forum and colosseum, while Chandran and Nick went to the Campidoglio, and saw us through a telescope from there.

the Roman forum

On the Pincio

After a few days we went off to Sorrento with my dad. We took the train to Naples and a car picked us up to take us to our hotel. Sorrento is lovely. It was cooler than in Rome and I think the sea air was good for us all. The hotel had a very nice swimming pool, and this was good as the Sorrento beach is not so great. The twins enjoyed splashing around and making friends. My dad wold join us in the late morning and we would have lunch by the pool.

Sorrento, view from the hotel room

My dad

We went to Pompeii, without my dad, and walked and walked. It is a incredible place, though Nick and Laura hated it. We found a good resturant right at the exit and sat down to lunch and a lovely bottle of Falagnina, a local wine. The next day we went off to find a nicer beach than what Sorrento proper had to offer. I was longing for a sea bathe and felt that both Sam and Chiara should go swimming in the Med. We found a lovely pebble beach in a grotto that had been used as a pool since Roman times. There were ruins of a Roman villa on the rocks around it.

Pompeii

The grotto

We had meant to return to Rome via Cerreto Sannita, my grandfather’s birthplace, but the driver had gone to pick us up at Salerno instead of Sorrento. So we took a taxi back to Naples and the train to Rome. Back in Rome we walked, had dinner with my uncle Mario and Aunt Maria and went to the Vatican.

Dinner with Mario and Maria

We took a train to Umbria so I could meet up with my childhood friend Cristina. It was great to see her. She has an old farmhouse that she has converted into apartments that she rents out, a kind of B&B. Her Sister Rosaria has a similar but bigger place across the hill. Cristina ‘s Mother, Stella, was also there. It is always great to see her, she is so full of energy.

Card Game with Stella and Elvira

Cristina's house

Rosaria's B & B

The kittens

Sam, Chandran, Nick, Chiara, me, Cristina, Laura, Piero and Elvira.
(Nicola is missing he was not feeling well)

After Rome we took the night train to Vienna. This sounds much more fun than it is. There was no restaurant car, and we had not planned for this. Luckily the conducter had a few sandwiches and sausages. My father was not thrillled. Vienna is such a beautiful city, and my father was very glad we went. We stayed a day and then took a train to Salzburg.

The Cathedral in Vienna

My father had an ear infection, so Sam joined us for our first concert (London Symph., conducted by Gergiev, performing Shostakovich’s 8^th). The next day my father was feeling better and was able to attend (Vienna Phil. conducted by Dudamel, Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto (soloist Znaider) and The Rite of Spring: fantastic), although the treatment for the earache left him temporarily deaf. Sam and Chiara also joined us. While in Salzburg we did our usual trips to the Castle and Chandran took the kids up the Cappuchin mountain.

At the Goldner Hirsch restaurant

After Salzburg we took what we thought would be an easy train ride to Frankfurt. A delay (all our Italian train rides were right on time, and none of the Austrian/German ones!) and Chandran’s weak german ended us up on a hot, late, and packed train. Frankfurt itself was a bit of a shock. We probably should have done some more research about Frankfurt’s bad neighborhoods before booking our hotel. We were only there for the night, and came back to the states yesterday. Kamala met us at our apartment, and we said goodbye to Sam. He was a great travelling companion.

Playground in Frankfurt