Washington. 8/18/2006-8/22/2006.

As penance for not going to Italy with us, Joe agreed to spend a few days with us in the Seattle area. The weather was gorgeous, with light scattered clouds. It’s hard to believe that it rains 250 days out of the year in this city (although the total rainfall is only 37”).

Anne & I took a quick ride to Snoqualmie Falls, located about 45 minutes from the SeaTac airport.

We hit many of the Seattle attractions. These included the Space Needle, still looking fresh and modern after 40 odd years (it was built for the 1962 World’s Fair); the Experience Music Project inside a Gehry-designed building; the Science Fiction Hall of Fame; and the Pike Market. Joe’s friend left him a game cartridge lodged in the crack of a wall, which amazingly he managed to find.

The cruise on Lakes Union and Washington was quite pleasant. We passed by Bill Gates’ house, built at a cost of over $50M and now assessed at over $100M (well, you don’t really know what it is worth until it is sold). For such an impressive sounding house, it looked surprisingly modest. It was also interesting to see Route 520 built on top of a floating bridge. We also passed by the water home community of “Sleepless in Seattle” fame. It’s amazing how many boats there are in the Seattle area – one registered boat for about 10 residents.

A water home community on Lake Union.

The Gates estate as seen from the tour boat. Surprisingly modest for a place worth over $100M.

It was great fun watching boats being launched from the Alki ramp while we waited for Joe to finish his 9-mile jog.

Inside the Seattle Public Library, known for its unusal architecture. Indeed.

Monday we had lunch (hamburgers) at Dick's in Queen Anne, where they had a shooting a couple of days earlier. Simple but tasty fare. Afternoon drive to Port Angeles via a couple of Ferries. Ferry traffic was quite heavy during the summer season; we had to wait about 45 minutes for the boats. The Red Lion hotel is located on the waterfront. Known as the gateway to the Olympic National Park, Port Angeles is a surprisingly small, quiet town that appears to be on the decline.

Dinner at the 3-Crab restaurant in Dungeness was okay. Sequim is the "lavender capital" of North America.

On top of Hurricane Ridge, with glaciers and snow-covered mountains in the background.

The ride to Hurricane Ridge took 40 minutes, covering 19 miles. The skies were clear at an altitude of over 5000 feet. There are quite a few trails along the way, we didn’t have time to walk them, though. We drove back to SeaTac at a leisurely pace, had dinner in Chinatown (Weller Street), and caught the redeye to get back to Newark Wednesday morning.

Seattle skyline in view from the Ferry, on our way back from Port Angeles.

Italy. 7/22/2006-7/29/2006

After several years of talking about it, Anne, Ellie & I finally spent a week in Italy. We joined the “Italian Holiday” tour of Trafalgar. The tour included stops at Rome, Venice, Lake Garda, and Florence.

7/22/2006. Flight from Newark to Rome. We were seated in the last row. Flight was generally okay, food was adequate, service was pleasant. Audio video system didn’t work most of the time, although I wasn’t planning to watch any movie anyway. Plane departed and landed on time, another pleasant surprise. My low expectations of Alitalia definitely helped.

7/23/2006. Waited for 90 minutes for bus ride to hotel. We had a room (Melia Roma Aurelia Antica) available soon after we showed up. Took hotel shuttle into town, and walked around for a couple of hours. Saw the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountains, the Piazza del Popolo, and the Pantheon. The Pantheon was built in the second century, and was the largest domed structure until 1960 or so, most impressive. Evening took optional Rome by Night Tour. Tour guide started from the Tiberius River and showed us the modern Rome, the medieval Rome and ancient Rome (first century BC). Dinner at Piazza Navona with its three fountains was marred by slow service. Drove by various monuments including Victor Emmanuel II, the Colosseo, and the Palatine Hills.

Inside the Pantheon. As with many other Roman buildings, it was preserved by being converted into a Church.

7/24/2006. Woke up early to head to the Vatican. The crowds were huge. Stood in line for about an hour before we could get in. Went through a long corridor (of statutes, candelabras, maps, and tapestries) and the Raphael room before we went into the Sistine Chapel. Most prominent work was that of Michaelangelo who spent years spanning decades painting the ceiling and the walls. Reminded me of the EPCOT display at Walt Disney World. Tour of the Vatican Museum was followed by a walk to St. Peter’s Basilica which is the largest church. Building was impressive. Didn’t know someone destroyed the Pieta in the 1960s. The mosaics were fascinating, each may be made up of half a million tiles by my estimation.

Visited the ruins after lunch. The Colosseum (Flavius’s Amphitheater) lived up to its reputation. Walked up Via Sacra to Titus’s arch. Walked down to the old ruins but didn’t walk among the columns because of excessive heat. Note to self: come back when it’s cooler.

Took hotel shuttle to town, so-so dinner at a Piazza del Popolo local restaurant, went by the Fountains again before heading back to the hotel.

St. Peter Basilica.

In Front of the Colesseum. Ellie did go inside.

7/25/2006. Most of the day was spent in the bus getting from Rome to Venice. Tuscany is exactly as we imagined it from the movie “Under the Tuscan Sun”. Got into Venice a little before 4 pm and took a 40-minute Gondola ride. Walked in town for a bit. We managed to find enough shade among the buildings that it was quite pleasant. Dinner at the hotel (Hotel Anthony Venice) was standard tourist fare.

Obligatory Ride on a Venetian Gondola.

7/26/2006. Walked around St. Mark’s square. Visited Doges’ Palace, the Tower (with a great view of the city), and the Church. Took a boat ride to Burano Island and had a hearty seafood lunch at the Trattoria Raspo de Ua. These Venetian boats are surprisingly stable for their size. Burano evokes images of Lamma Island, but much cleaner and more nicely painted.

In Front of a Nicely Painted House on Burano Island.

Bus ride to Lake Garda left in the afternoon. Our room in Hotel Atlanta in Nago/Torbole had a great view of town and the lake. Tried to walked to Torbole after buffet dinner but gave up half way. Walked up to Nago instead. Bocci contest must have drawn everyone in town to watch.

By Lake Garda. Village of Torbole.

7/27/2006. Early morning cruise was delayed because boat didn’t show up on time. Nice 40 minute ride past towns of Limone and Melcisine. Bus ride to Florence arrived in time for a walking tour. It also rained quite heavily. We got wet, but the rain also helped with the heat. Visited the Duomo, the Baptistry (with its $0.5M door), Piazza Signoria with the various statues, and the Santa Croce church where Galileo, Michaelangelo, and Rossini were buried. Walked around after dinner at the hotel. Saw Ponte Vecchio but the shops on the bridge were closed.

The Door of this Baptistry Cost $0.5M to Replicate.

7/28/2006. Morning tour of Florence included a visit to the Accademia where David stands. The statue is about 17 feet high and weighs about 6 tons. Michaelangelo actually painted only when summoned by popes and kings – he would rather do sculptures. He started about 40 pieces and completed only 13 or so.

Had pizza (finally) around San Croce Basilica. Ellie bought a lime green leather handbag at Peruzzi. Left for Rome early afternoon. Dinner at a local restaurant with singing by some local artists. Bought a CD from them. Hotel: Sheraton Golf.

7/29/2006. Left Rome in the afternoon. Virgin Atlantic flight from London to Newark was horrendous. The lady who checked us in was either incompetent or dishonest when she explained why our pre-assigned seats were gone. To top it off, they lost one of our bags.