Hurricane Season 2004 - After the Storm

“I don’t know what we ever would have done without you people. God bless you.”
“It’s hard, but thank God we’re all still alive.”
“We’re doing a little better today, but I don’t know how we’ll ever get this whole mess cleaned up.”
Hey, guys! What’s for dinner today?”
“I just hope Frances hits us instead of somewhere else. We’ve already lost everything anyway. I hate to see anyone else have to go through this.”
“They just condemned my house. I have nowhere to go. I lost my job when the hurricane blew the building away. I don’t know what to do.”
These were some of the comments we heard on our first day working with the Red Cross after Hurricane Charley.
Type rest of the post hereMy friend Gail and I were on Ft Myers Beach, Florida, a long skinny island no more than 2 – 4 blocks wide in most places. Charley had devastated the area 2 weeks before we arrived. Now, with electricity restored to most areas, everyone was trying to clear away the devastation caused by the powerful Friday the 13th hurricane. The residents of this area had thought they were safe. Then, just before making landfall, Charley had made that unexpected “jog to the east,” while strengthening to a category 4. 145 mile an hour winds and a 15 foot wall of water do unimaginable damage. Every house we passed appeared to have most of its contents piled at the edge of the street, and most houses were on stilts, so that the main floor was actually as high off the ground as a normal 2nd floor. Beach sand was everywhere. Downed trees. Waterlogged carpet, furniture, sheetrock. Refrigerators with watermarks half way up. And this in one of the less damaged areas hit by the storm. And everywhere we went, smiling people. Grateful that they had survived. Grateful to see us.
Gail and I were doing duty on an ERV (Emergency Response Vehicle), providing meals, water and snacks twice a day to the people of the area. As the driver carefully maneuvered down each dead-end street in our ambulance type van, one of us ladeled out meals into divided Styrofoam clamshell containers. The other talked to the people who watched for us coming down their street. Serving chicken and dumplings with mixed vegetables, canned peaches and a roll from a vehicle dodging downed trees and miscellaneous debris can be a challenge.
It was the first time for both of us to do this type of volunteer work. Everyone there was so grateful, and so brave, and often, so scared. We were grateful, too. Grateful for the opportunity to help a little. And we were overwhelmed – by the devastation and by the positive attitudes of the people.
We had arrived in the area the afternoon before and had been given a guest room in the home of someone we had never even met before – our online friend Nancy Goodenow. Nancy had been in Costa Rica when Charley had hit. She worried on the group about her beautiful cat, who was weathering the storm without her back in Cape Coral. When I e-mailed Nancy that we were going there to help, she immediately offered us a place to stay. Since we had expected to try to find someplace we could get away with sleeping in the back of Gail’s covered pickup truck, we blessed Nancy many times over. Nancy had worked with the Red Cross before, and was able to give us some pointers and head us in the right direction the next morning.
We were welcomed with open arms by the Red Cross people. There were already over 6,000 volunteers working in the area, and they needed more. There were many jobs to be done. The gigantic mobile kitchens were able to prepare 20,000 meals a day at each of 2 locations. People were needed to work on the ERV’s, delivering the meals. Others were assigned to other trucks, delivering cleanup supplies and water. Others were assigned to Family Services, interviewing people to determine their needs and provide financial assistance. They needed phone people, clerical people, coordinators. There were doctors, nurses, medical and mental health workers. Somehow this massive effort was being done almost completely with volunteers. Only about 5% of Red Cross workers are paid staffers. During a massive crisis like this, I assume the ratio of volunteers to staffers becomes even larger, as many local people become “spontaneous” volunteers. “Regular” volunteers, the ones who have attended the numerous Red Cross volunteer classes and are rushed to the scene when a disaster occurs, had come from as far away as Washington state and Canada. Many of them had driven the ERV’s or other needed vehicles all the way to Florida. We met people from all over the country. Many of them, like us, are retirees, who are able to be away from home when needed. Some are working people, who have an understanding with their employers that when a disaster calls them, they will be gone for 3 weeks, the standard time commitment.
Many of those who were hit by this disaster are elderly. This is, after all, South Florida. “Starting over” at 80 or 90 looks different than when you are 20 or 30. Many had no insurance. Most didn’t know where to start. And no one could find a roofer. Most were still waiting for an insurance adjuster. Some, who had been told the adjuster would call them to schedule a visit, wondered how that would be done without working phones.
During her first week there, before our arrival, Pam, the navigator on our ERV, had noticed one elderly lady who struggled down the stairs of her home to get a meal each time. Pam immediately befriended the lady and carried a meal, water and snacks upstairs to her on each of our twice daily runs. One of our jobs was to keep our eyes out for people who might be in critical need of more assistance than we could provide with a meal. When we came across the woman whose house had been condemned and whose job was gone, Pam immediately realized that she was on the verge of collapse. We quickly turned around and went back to headquarters to get a mental health worker out there to help the young woman. Everyone was working together to do the best they could to provide help for the immediate needs of the victims. The long-range needs are another thing. We all worried about people in their 80s and 90s who were going to have to start over. We worried about young people, jobs gone and running out of money, with young children to care for.
We learned a lot from our experiences after Charley. I learned that soaking one’s hat in ice water and then re-applying it to the head can provide wonderful relief from the Florida heat. We learned that it’s possible for an almost all volunteer group of 6,000+ people (from 48 states, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Canada and Costa Rica) to come together and immediately provide help to those in need. Is this what is meant by “organized chaos?” There were times when it seemed no one knew what was going on. Nevertheless, it all somehow got done, and got done well, and usually it got done with a smile. We learned that people somehow find incredible strength within themselves in times of crisis. And we learned some things about preparing for a hurricane, which turned out to be useful information the following week.
It seemed that just as we got up to speed with our jobs, we had to leave. Hurricane Frances was now threatening us and it looked like this one would be worse than Charley. It was enormous. And it was headed toward the other side of Florida – the east side – where Gail lives. As most of the regular Red Cross people were preparing to leave the area for safety if necessary as Frances headed toward us, Gail and I headed toward this new monster storm, to make her home ready for a potential pounding. Frances got on all our nerves, growing and getting nastier by the day, but slowing down to a crawl. It looked like we were definitely in the path of the storm this time. Lucky for us Frances decided to hit further north, around Stuart, Florida and then across the state toward Tampa and then toward the north. Hollywood, where Gail lives, felt very little effect from the storm, although we were without electricity for 22 hours and many were without for much longer. One massive tree was uprooted across the street. We kept watching the huge mango trees in Gail’s yard, expecting them to end up on her house. We were lucky.
Let me tell you about my friend Gail. Gail is the kind of person who is always there to help those in need. I’ve never known anyone else like her. When someone experiences a personal crisis, Gail doesn’t just say, “Call me if I can help,” or even “Is there anything I can do to help.” She seems to already know what to do, and just proceeds to do it. When her ex-husband, of many years before, had a personal crisis and was about to lose his home, she made sure he got medical care. Then, with her limited funds, she bought a mobile home for him to live in, rent free until he could get his feet on the ground, for a small rent thereafter. And, since he was physically unable to handle the move, she drove the four hours to his area in a U-Haul truck to get him moved in. When her neighborhood was up in arms over a homeless shelter moving into the area, Gail took them used clothes and bedding. So it wasn’t surprising, when I asked if she would go with me to do hurricane relief work, when she answered, “Of course I will.” Everyone should have a friend like Gail. Most people don’t. I’m lucky. I do. By the time Frances finally passed, we were bored. And ready to go back to work.
Workers were now needed further north on the east coast, where Frances had done the most damage. But people were still needed back on the west coast, which had thankfully been spared the worst of Frances’s fury, but was still trying to cope with the destruction of Charley. Gail and I loaded up the truck again and headed back west, across Alligator Alley, and went through Punta Gorda to Port Charlotte (the 2 towns that had been worst hit by Charley). As we drove through Punta Gorda, we couldn’t speak. I thought of describing it as a war zone, but doubted whether war zones looked this bad. It seemed that everything had been destroyed. I had read that 80% of the buildings in the area had sustained some damage. I couldn’t imagine where the 20% were.
We assumed we would have to drive north a long way to find a place to sleep. We stopped at the one hotel we saw which appeared to still be intact and open for business. They told us that there were no rooms available in the area. We stopped at the nearest Red Cross office and by some miracle they knew of a hotel that might still have a room. Someone made a call for us and found that there was one room left at the Veranda Inn in Englewood. They promised to hold it for us and gave us the Red Cross discounted rate. We were thrilled to find that it was only 3 or 4 miles from the place where we would be working, and that there was a great restaurant directly across the street, also still opened. After a great meal of fresh sautéed scallops, we hit the sack.
The next morning, we arrived early at the Red Cross service center, ready to work. But first we stopped at a Dunkin’ Donuts along the way for our morning fix of donuts and coffee. Gail swore we would both gain 20 pounds from this experience if we kept eating according to my cravings, but I was determined to take advantage off all the things available that we don’t get in Costa Rica.
Gail was put to work the first day driving trucks around to different locations. Driving was the one job that she really didn’t want, but after all we had said we were willing to do anything that was needed, and Gail is a retired professional truck driver. She was stuck! After the first day, she was given various jobs in the office, including making phone calls to recruit additional workers from the community. I was given the job of “crowd control.” It turned out that my job was not nearly as unpleasant as its name sounded. I spent the rest of the week outside of the service center signing people up to meet with a case worker and making sure there was some semblance of fairness in who got in first. It gave me the opportunity to talk with a lot of really great people, and to hear their incredible stories. People lined up well before we opened in the morning. Some people ended up waiting most of the day. Everyone understood that the workers were doing the best they could to help a lot of people who desperately needed assistance. Patience indeed is helpful at times like this.
One elderly woman sat and talked to me for a long time. Her home was gone and she was hoping to get some help. She had her hair done up in those pink rollers that women wore back in the 50s. Spotting some people around with big camera equipment, she told me she hoped they weren’t from the TV station, because if her daughter in New Jersey saw her out in public in her curlers, she would disown her!
One 75 year old woman and her quadriplegic son talked with me for a while and gave me a copy of the newspaper article which had been written on their family’s survival. Sixteen family members had gathered in the home they thought would be the safest to weather Charley together. In the darkened house, one of the women got everyone into the internal hallway as the worst of the storm hit. The pool cage blew off. The glass doors began to buckle. Then they saw light and felt a breeze. The roof had begun peeling off. The glass doors exploded, knocking one of the men 8 feet backwards, acting as shrapnel as it hit his arm and foot. “That’s when I realized,” he said, “this is the scaredest I’ve ever been in my life!” Miraculously none of the other family members sustained injuries, although the home was destroyed.
In Port Charlotte, as in Fort Myers the week before, we met fascinating people from all over the country. One fun, friendly couple called themselves “Doves.” They are members of a whole group of people, in touch via an internet group, who live aboard their motor homes, moving around the country as the mood hits them. When there is a disaster somewhere, they go where they’re needed, taking their homes with them. When they arrive at the Red Cross site, they’re ready to go to work. Mary and Ernie invited us to their home for a glass of wine, and then out to dinner. What a fascinating lifestyle! They’ve been living “on the road” for four years now, and tell us that there are many more people out there just like them.
As the week went on, I seemed to be talking with younger people, many of them with young children. Many of them were having big problems getting to the Red Cross location to apply for help. They didn’t live near. School had finally started, and their kids were on different shifts. Some of the schools were damaged and couldn’t be used, resulting in doubling up at other schools, with shifts starting very early in the morning and others going late into the evening. People were waiting their turn to see a case worker and afraid they would lose their place, but had to go pick up or drop off children at school. I hated it but I couldn’t tell anyone how long it would be before they got in. There were so many people. Some people had needs which were straightforward and readily addressed. They might be with a case worker, once they got in, for 20 minutes. Others were there for hours.
We were preparing to move out again. The Red Cross administration still had not decided when and where the workers would be moved, but everyone was told to be ready. Hurricane Ivan was coming toward us, and it looked like this could be worse than Charley. Worse than Frances. Everyone was edgy. People were getting really nervous. Toward the end of the week, people weren’t talking about what had happened to them during Charley anymore. Everyone was talking about Ivan, about getting out of the area. “I’ve got to get out of here,” one woman told me. “I can’t go through it again. But my tires have plugs in them from the nails I picked up from the debris. I don’t know if my car will make it out of the state.” Then there was the young father who said that, if it was just him, he could sleep in his car. “But I’ve got three young children. I have to find some place to take them. Our house is gone. My job is gone. I’m out of money.” You could feel the tension rise as the third “big one” moved closer. I asked some people why they hadn’t come for help before, right after Charley hit. They told me that they hadn’t realized they could get help. Or they figured others needed it more than they did. They had a little savings. They could take care of themselves. Now, several weeks later, the savings were gone. Their jobs were gone. For some of them, their homes were gone. Others were just severely damaged. They worried that their homes, many with blue tarps provided by the Army Corps of Engineers on the roofs, would not make it through another storm.
Finally, on Friday afternoon, we were told we would be closing down at noon on Saturday. Most of the workers would be sent to Orlando to weather the next storm. When it was over, they would be back. Some of them would probably be sent to other areas, depending on where Ivan decided to make land. Gail and I would head back across the Everglades again, to make sure all was well at her home. I would finally get a chance to hold the beautiful seven month old grandson I hadn’t seen yet. Then I would be going back home, to Costa Rica.
Just before we closed down, a young woman drove up to the front door and jumped out of her car. There were two babies in the back seat. “I don’t know what to do. I have nowhere to go,” she sobbed. Clearly on the verge of collapse, she had driven to the Red Cross, hoping someone could help her. She didn’t know what to ask for, but she knew she needed help. Gail had just walked up, finished with her job for the day. She stayed with the young woman while I went inside to get a mental health worker to come out front. When Gail put her arm around her, the woman clung to her. Apparently her in-laws had told her that they would not help her, that they took care of their own family and that she should do the same. Just when you think your faith in humanity has been permanently restored, something like this happens. After getting her car safely parked, two Red Cross workers carried her two babies inside. Walking alongside, she appeared frail and young. It was the last we saw of her. I hope she got the help she needed. I hope her life improves.
“Would you do it again?” I asked Gail as we drive back across the Everglades. “Absolutely,” she said. “Yeah, me too.” We were grateful that we had been able to help. We were warmed by the many displays of the durability and compassion of the human spirit. We had made new friends. Our lives had been enriched.
Ivan spared us. Others weren’t as lucky. This, the third big storm to strike Florida this year, pounded up the Gulf of Mexico, striking the Florida panhandle and Alabama with all his fury. There were few areas in Florida which hadn’t been affected by at least one of these three massive storms. Gail got back to her life. I returned to Costa Rica. And we watched, in horror along with everyone else, as Hurricane Jeanne threw her destructive force at Haiti, killing hundreds of people, and then at Florida again, this one making landfall on the east coast, in the same area where Frances had hit, then following Frances’s path west and then north into Georgia. Chances of two major hurricanes making landfall in the same spot in a given season are said to be more than one in a million. Never before had four major hurricanes pummeled one state in a single hurricane season, never mind within six weeks. Our lives had been enriched. Many others will never be the same again.
In response to Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne, which the Red Cross calls the “largest natural disaster in its history,” over 10 million meals and snacks have now been served (as of October 4th). That’s twice as many meals as were provided after Hurricane Andrew. Seven weeks after Charley, the 1st hurricane, 100,000 meals are still being served each day. 1,733 shelters, serving 415,589 people, have been set up during that period. As of the 27th of September, 491 Emergency Response Vehicles had been in operation. 22,732 health services contacts and 42,858 mental health contacts had been made. This effort was accomplished by 25,578 workers, most of whom were volunteers.
The American Red Cross operates almost completely with volunteers. Not one penny is received from the government. This awesome organization, which helps thousands of people wherever disaster occurs, is funded totally by contributions, which can be made online at www.redcross.org.

Aunt Kay & Uncle Nello Visit Costa Rica!

We've had the grand honor of a two-week visit from Gene's Aunt Kay & Uncle Nello in celebration of their 55th wedding anniversary! It was soooo much fun having them here, and now that they've left, we feel lost. There are some people that we wish so much that we could get interested in moving down here so that we could see them all the time. Aunt Kay & Uncle Nello are at the top of that list. Unfortunately the are quite happy where they live now and have no thoughts of moving (even if they do like our company, too!) They said they had a wonderful time and really liked Costa Rica a lot. But alas! It's not where they want to live. Que lastima!
We of course tried to show them as much of our new country as possible, and introduced them to many of our good friends. Seems like we just scratched the surface though, and we're keeping our fingers crossed that they enjoyed their trip enough so that they will return - maybe next year.
The highlight of their visit was our trip to the Caribbean...

We had planned a 2 day trip over because we wanted to share our favorite beach places with them. We went over by public bus (as we always do), giving them a great opportunity to ooh and ahh over the enormous number of waterfalls and the unbelievable array of trees and jungle and plants and things that look like way-overgrown versions of things we used to have in miniature versions in pots.
We had made reservations at our favorite place to stay in Cahuita, Kelly Creek Inn. Kelly Creek has just 4 rooms.
The rooms are spacious, beautiful and comfortable, but the really great thing about Kelly Creek is the food, including real paella! Actually the other great thing about Kelly Creek is that it sits right on the edge of Cahuita National Park - and is just a couple blocks from everyplace you might want to visit in the town. Our hosts Marie Cloud and Andre are originally from France and Spain, and they know how to serve up authentic paella
, as well as a lot of other fabulous dishes. After the 1st night in Cahuita, and a taste of the charm of the village as well as the food at Kelly Creek, Aunt Kay & Uncle Nello asked if we could please stay for 4 nites instead of 2, and that they would like to treat for the extra nites! How could we say no to such an offer!
We've always loved the long walk through the jungle path in the national park. Kay & Nello enjoyed it as much as we do, and we walked part of the way back on the beach, rather than the easy path through the forest. Watching our favorite uncle trekking along ahead of us, we hoped that we will be that limber and active when we are his age. Of course he's only 90.

Besides Kelly Creek, we ate at another of our favorite Cahuita restaurants, Cha Cha Cha - incredible dinners - on the expensive side. Robertos's and La Fe are sort of "tipico" places, inexpensive, food that's usually good, but not usually particularly remarkable. In Puerto Viejo we spent most of an afternoon on the water at EZ Times, lunching on a variety of bruschetti and margueritas. Though not cheap, especially if you imbibe in several large margueritas, EZ Times is a really fun place to hang out.

In the Central Valley we did the Cafe Britt tour (where Aunt Kay was selected to enact the part of the "mother of the bride," and on another day visited Zoo Ave, one of my very favorite places here (where birds and other wildlife are rescued and released back into the wild where possible). We also had a leisurely walk one day throught the gorgeous gardens at Hotel Bougainvilla. The Gold Museum was another highlight.
Besides the requisite walk in parque central de Heredia, enjoying ice cream cones from Pop's, we ate at some of our other favorite places near home: Matices in San Rafael, Pan e Vino in Heredia, Don Tito in Heredia.
Of course all of our friends fell in love with Kay & Nello. They are a really cool couple! Our great friends Judy & Bob invited us to their home in Santa Lucia de Barva for dinner, and on another day we were all invited to dinner at the Heredia Centro home of our buddies Emma & Jon. On their final evening here, Aunt Kay & Uncle Nello insisted on hosting a party of their own, entertaining all of us at a dinner at Pan e Vino, to thank all of our friends (and their new friends) for a wonderful time! We're just all hoping that they will return to visit us again soon.

10 Weeks in Europe - Part 8 - Random Thoughts

1. Favorite activity: Wandering around the streets, especially the little alley streets, just being there. I know I was always either walking around with my mouth hanging open at the sights or just smiling stupidly in my excitement at seeing these places. It was awesome. We did an amazing amount of just walking around. Upon arrival in each new place, one of us would say, “We made it! We’re in .......” We really were like a couple of kids.

2. Other Favorite Activity: Drinking coffee! It was fun to observe the different customs surrounding coffee drinking – and figuring out how to ask for what we wanted. I think our biggest spending item may have been coffee drinking! But what a great way to people watch! We were intrigued to learn that in Spain there is one price for a cup of coffee at the bar (low), another for a coffee at a table, and a third price for coffee at an outside table (highest). The locals walk in, stand at the bar, down their caffeine fix and leave. It appears that they need their fix several times a day, but it has little or nothing to do with socializing. Now that I think about it, the 3-tier system wasn’t just for coffee. It was for everything, including food.
3. Awesome Architecture: I was struck by the difference in the architecture. In Spain and Italy, the buildings were awesomely detailed and artistic. It seemed that their creators simply wanted to impress the world with the most complex, artistic, expensive structures in the world (“Where did they get all that marble?” / “How did they DO that?”). If they were also strong and secure, so much the better. But as we traveled to Austria and Germany, and to some extent the Czech Republic, it seemed that the buildings’ designers had been aiming for big, powerful, and secure. If they were also beautiful, that was o.k. Usually they were. But many in Austria and Germany seemed strictly utilitarian. Interestingly, clothing styles seemed to follow a similar concept! After the classy dressers of Italy, Austria seemed downright homespun.
4. Getting Around: The only way to travel extensively through Europe is by train. Eurail pass in hand, we felt the freedom of being able to go anywhere, although there were additional charges for sleeping cars or reserved seats, and a separate pass was required for the Czech Republic. The trains were (almost) always on time and it was a very relaxed way to travel. There were all different sorts of seats and accommodations on board, but almost all of them were very nice, even luxurious in some instances. Some of our more interesting experiences were related to the train system. In the larger cities we used the Metro systems (not included on the Eurail pass, but very inexpensive) to get around everywhere easily. There were only 3 places we wanted to go where we couldn’t get to by train, but took the bus, which was also enjoyable and convenient.
5. Carrying Stuff: The only way to carry your stuff around Europe is by backpack. We saw many people struggling up stairs in train stations and metro stations (yes, some have escalators, but not all) and in hotels (yes some have elevators, but not all) carrying or dragging suitcases. Smiling, but trying not to gloat, we “bounced” up the stairs with all our stuff on our backs. By the way, the ground floor in Europe is zero, not one, so if they tell you the room is on the second floor, that means there are two flights of stairs to climb!
6. Packing: The only way to backpack for an extended period of time is to drastically limit the amount of stuff you take along. My full backpack weighed 12 pounds when we left home. Any more than that would have been too much for me. Do you really need more than 3 outfits to wear? We won’t discuss what it weighed upon our return, with the cookbooks, art books, flyers and picture postcards, as well as the wine and cheese purchased on the last day, but I have a tip for the next trip: Paper weighs a lot. Take along a few big manila envelopes and mail the accumulated paper back home to yourself every couple of weeks. Wish I had thought of that before.
7. Guidebooks are Heavy: We read numerous guidebooks before we left, then tore out just the parts we thought we needed to take with us. I didn’t want to throw them away once we had been to each area, so I kept carrying them around. Another time, I would mail them back home to myself.
8. Lodging: Spending a lot of money on lodging is not necessary in most places. Also, there is no direct connection between cost and quality. We always took rooms with private baths, and the rooms were always more than acceptable. Most were really nice, and had been recently renovated, with nice modern bathrooms. Our lowest cost room was 39 Euro ($48 US), and that was one of the nicer places we stayed. Although we paid much more in some places, it was mostly because we were too lazy to look around for a better price, or didn’t want to spend the time walking around looking. The lines between hotels, pensiones, and hostels were blurred, with many calling themselves “pension/hotel,” or “hostel/hotel,” although generally speaking, the “hotels” had things we didn’t really need (tv, phone, etc). We didn’t want to be tied to an itinery, so didn’t make advance reservations, except for our first stop, in Madrid, and for semana santa in Rome. There was never a problem finding a good place to stay.
9. Tourist Information Centers: Every town, large and small, seems to have at least one information center, usually in the train station. They can provide a wealth of useful information, as well as help you find a place to stay. Some will call and make a reservation for you (often for a small charge), some will just give you lists, and some, like the wonderful lady in Sorrento, will chat with you about the different hotels, call over and have them hold a room for you at the one that sounds best until you can walk there (at no charge), and just generally make your arrival pleasant.
10. Food: Spending a lot of money on food is not necessary in most places. Our favorite foods in Spain were found in the tapas bars, which I especially adored because even though I don’t have a big appetite, I was able to try lots of little things. And there was always a fabulous variety of delicious things to try. In Austria, we found a wonderful place with various little munchies on small slices of bread. There may have been 3 dozen types to point and choose from, and they were all good!
11. What Time is Dinner?: We found that every town we visited had different customs on meal times. It helps to ask the locals or at the hotel about this when you arrive. More than a few times we found everything was closed at the time that we decided we were hungry. We always carried around snacks (and wine!) but that didn’t help if you were craving pasta! In one town in Spain, we realized that we had to eat early in the evening. Then arriving in the next town at around six in the evening, we decided we were hungry. There was not one eating establishment that opened for dinner before 8:30. Every country and every town in each country seemed to be different on this.
12. Where Shall We Eat?: Asking the locals where they eat is the best way to find good places. Not only will their recommendations be cheaper, but the food will be way better. An effective alternative, and the one we actually usually used, is to wander the streets until something tickles your fancy. Our favorites were always the little hidden away, or hole-in-the-wall places that weren’t mentioned in the guidebooks.
13. Art Education & Audioguides: If I was doing it again, I’d try to do some reading on art and art history before the trip. I loved getting to see so much famous art, but it would have been more interesting if I had understood more. I was overwhelmed by the size and detail of much of the old art. I was also shocked at the deep, vivid paint colors used in some. I had expected them to look dark. I learned that some look dark because of the years of accumulated dirt and grime and stuff that was painted over them, but that the original colors were brilliant. The audioguides available at the larger museums, usually for about 3 euros, were well worth the cost.
14. Tour Busses: The Hop On / Hop Off bus tours available in most large cities were a great way to get a preliminary orientation. They provided headsets with pre-recorded information in several languages. They cost from $13 (Madrid, which also offered ½ price for seniors) to I think about twice that much in Paris. You can spend the day hopping off and then on again at any of the stops along the way.
15. Language: I’ve heard over and over again that it is not necessary to know the languages when traveling Europe because so many people speak English. While it’s true that you can almost always find an English speaker when you need one, there are times when you cannot. Especially away from the major cities, language can be a challenge, whether trying to get information on the trains or simply trying to order some food. My advice would be to learn as much language as possible, and then carry along a good translator, whether a book or electronic. We had enough Spanish to have no problems in Spain, my little bit of Italian helped some, or at least provided amusement for the locals. We didn’t stay long enough in France for me to really try out my bits of French. But in the Czech Republic, I could have starved while trying to read a menu! Austria and Germany also seemed great mysteries to me. If you’re going to stay strictly in tourist areas and eat in tourist places with menus in multiple languages, you can get by with just English, but it’s a lot more interesting when you can communicate at least a little bit, and the “local” places are always more fun than the “tourist” places.
16. Weather: We wanted to beat the hordes of tourists and heat of the summer, so we left on March 24th. On March 26th, after observing what other people were wearing in Madrid, I bought myself a warm black jacket (had to be black to fit in!), along with a big heavy sweater, a long-sleeved undershirt, and a pair of warm tights. A couple of weeks before our return, the weather finally got nice. I still probably wouldn’t want to go in August next time, but maybe would wait until April or so.
17. Money: We took only a small amount of cash in US $’s. We just stopped at an ATM machine every few days and got cash in the local currency. There are ATM machines everywhere. We used money belts to carry our cash, credit cards, plane tickets, eurail pass and passports. The euro makes traveling from country to country ever so much easier. The only country where we had to switch to another currency was in the Czech Republic.
18. Senior Discounts: Many places have senior discounts, even if they don’t advertise them. It’s definitely worthwhile to ask, since some can be as much as 50%. Once in a while the discounts were only for European Union residents, but in most places discounts were available for anyone over 65, or sometimes 60.
19. Meeting People: People most everywhere are friendly. Sometimes the easiest way to start up a conversation is to ask for help. Most people actually like to help strangers, especially if it gives them a chance to talk about their own country. We didn’t, I think, do enough of this. It’s easy when you’re traveling as a couple, to tend to talk to each other, in your own language, and miss some opportunities for new friends.
20. Just Do It!: Traveling Europe is such an amazing experience that I can’t believe neither of us had done it before. Of course there’s always a reason not to go: not enough money, not enough time, when I get that big promotion or that new job, maybe when the kids are grown, maybe when we retire. Or we’re too old, or too something else. We met all kinds of people from many different places, and they were all having fun. We met very young people traveling on their own, we met young couples traveling with as many as four small children. We met people in their 80’s and 90’s. They were all traveling independently and having the time of their lives. Some stayed at hostels with shared bathrooms and bought food at the grocery stores, from street vendors and inexpensive hole-in-the-wall places. Some stayed at upscale high priced hotels and ate in the more expensive restaurants. They were all having their own brand of high adventure. If there were anything I would change, it would be to go much sooner. I would have loved to have taken my kids when they were young. At the time, of course, I thought I couldn’t do it, didn’t have the time, didn’t have the money. Now I know that, if I had it to do over again, I would find a way. One thing that Gene and I realized when we started talking last year about doing this trip, was that we didn’t want either of us to be in Europe for the first time someday saying, “Gee, Gene would have loved this,” or “Wow! Laurie would have loved this.” When we started planning the trip, we thought that this would be the trip of a lifetime, so we’d better do it now. We thought we would go to one or two places so that we would have time to get to know them a little bit. We ended up going to eighteen cities in six countries. Now that we’ve returned home, all we can talk about is where we will go next year!

The Wanderers Return - 10 Weeks in Europe - Part 7

Return to Spain
Upon our arrival in Madrid, we walked to another track and boarded Spain’s AVE high speed train for Seville! Paris to Seville was by far the longest leg of our trip, but we enjoyed it thoroughly. Seville is a beautiful city, another one that we wouldn’t mind revisiting for a longer period. We went to a flamenco performance, did a lot of walking, drank lots of coffee, and of course Sangria, ate tapas to our hearts’ content, discovered a used book store, and generally just had a great time, wandering around the little streets. After Seville, we bussed to Arcos de la Frontera, a beautiful

little white village, hanging off the sides of a cliff. We spent a couple of days wandering around this quaint old village, drinking beer, eating caracoles, being happy. We wandered into this busy little bar one afternoon and saw the signs that we had seen everywhere else that day in Arcos, “Hay Caracoles.” We also noticed that every time the server went to the bar to pick up more orders, he was yelling “Mas caracoles!” We didn’t know what it was, but had to find out, so we ordered “Caracoles Y dos cervezas, por favor.” We were served glasses of tiny snails in a hot liquid. Snails sounded good, but the liquid was, I thought, suspicious. Since it was necessary to drink the liquid in order to get to the snails, I bravely started drinking. Pretty good stuff! We hated to leave this little cliff-hanging village and their wonderful caracoles, but were off next for another cliff-hanger, Ronda. Beautiful Ronda! We had a memorable lunch at a little table sitting cliffside. Except it wasn’t really cliff-side; it was more like our table was on a rock that to extended out over the great ravine, the deepest I had ever seen. Since I’m deathly afraid of heights, I didn’t even think I’d be able to do it, but it was a beautiful day, and a fabulous lunch, and I’m ever so glad we were there! A young American couple at a nearby table heard us talking about the trains and busses and came over to talk. They had rented a car because they had been told it was the only way to get around to the villages of Andalucia. They hated doing all that driving, and didn’t even know about the busses, which go everywhere that the trains don’t go. The last time we saw them, they were off to find out where they could turn their car in.
By now there was a sadness seeping in on us, knowing that our adventure would soon come to an end. But we were excited about our next stop, Granada, and the Alhambra. We briefly discussed skipping it, in order to scale back our last week and relax more. Fortunately we talked ourselves out of that thought and spent two days exploring that magical place. Like Florence, the hillside villages and most of everything else we saw, it’s indescribable. You read about these places, you see pictures, but you can’t believe how incredible they really are.
I don’t know how many times I asked during our trip, “But how did they do that?” Majestic buildings of marble, some of which had taken centuries to build, domed roofs and other details that seemed to defy engineering possibilities, building details and art that had consumed entire lifetimes. And buildings which hung onto the very edges of vast cliffs. So many things that seemed to me unreal. I couldn’t get enough of it, and almost everywhere we visited, I really wanted to stay longer.
After Granada, we returned to Madrid, and it truly felt like a homecoming, returning back to the wonderful city where our adventure had started almost 70 days earlier! We spent our wonderful final trip days relaxing and wandering around seeing and doing a few things we’d missed the first time through, when it had been cold and rainy, and truthfully miserable, although we had tried not to admit that, since we were having so much fun in spite of it. We had lunch and drank sangrias at a cafe in the incredible Plaza Mayor. We strolled the beautiful paseos. We agonized over whether to buy some of that fabulous Spanish ham and hope that we could get through all the checkpoints entering England, the US and Costa Rica returning home. We decided it wasn’t worth the risk, and just bought some wonderful cheese and wine (by the way, did you know you can buy acceptable wine in Spain for as little as $1US a bottle?!). I’ve been regretting it ever since, since unlike our trip going over, we never seemed to get checked on the way back! I bought another tapas cookbook. And then, suddenly, and way too soon, it was time to come home. But we have so many memories, and so many dreams for the next trip. It was an awesome experience, and I can only wish we had done it much sooner. But then, we’ve both said all along that we’re trying to make up for all the things we never got around to doing during our “wasted youth!”

The Wanderers Return - 10 Weeks in Europe - Part 6

France to Revisit a Family Connection
Next we were off to Metz, France for a very special project. Gene’s Uncle Nello had lived in a hotel in Metz during WWII, 60 years ago.

He has often talked about the year he spent there and what a beautiful place it is. He used to talk about taking a trip back one day, but in the past couple of years has been saying the trip would be too much for him, although he’s a very hardy 90 years old, and probably healthier than I am! So we had decided that our trip had to include his town and his hotel in France. Upon our arrival at the beautiful train station in Metz, we walked across the plaza to an outdoor cafe for coffee. We spread our map out on the table and asked the waiter if he could point out where we were on the map. He did so, and asked us where we were going. When we told him the Hotel Royal, he laughed, and said it was right around the corner! We got a room at the hotel, on the same floor that Uncle Nello had lived on, spent a couple of days wandering around the streets of that beautiful little city, stopping to have coffees (!) and taking a ridiculous number of pictures. As we started reporting back to Gene’s uncle via e-mail, he started remembering all sorts of things he had forgotten (like that the hotel was only a block away from the train station), and got very excited about our trip, asking us to report as much detail of our trip as possible! I guess we got him started, because he and Gene’s aunt have now decided to come visit us in Costa Rica (something we could never talk them into before) and will be here for 2 weeks in July! After our amazing stay in Metz, it was time to head back to Spain for the final weeks of our trip. We took the train to Paris, spent an afternoon there, seeing as much of the city as we could from a double-decker bus, then boarded our night hotel-train for Madrid, a delightful trip, with a private berth with our own bathroom, including shower! Our tickets included a pleasant dinner, with wine, in the dining car, as well as breakfast the next morning. We enjoyed a relaxing breakfast as we approached Madrid, talking with an interesting fellow from France, but originally from Colombia. He was on his way to Colombia to work on a documentary film he is producing.

The Wanderers Return - 10 Weeks in Europe - Part 5

Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany – Fairy Tale Land

Traveling by train from Italy to Austria, we found ourselves with a middle of the night train change and really didn’t know where we were. Eventually we found that we needed to order cafe o’lait, rather than cafe con leche or cappuccino. Ahha! We must be in France! It was a scruffy little station with strange procedures for obtaining a cup of coffee, and with stranger bathrooms. We happily continued on


to Austria.
In Austria, we visited Salzburg (which I feel we could have skipped, but everyone else who goes there seems very excited about it; I must be missing something) and Vienna, which was more beautiful than I could have imagined. Gene’s cold was still bothering him and it was still raining a lot of the time, so I spent one day wandering around seeing the sights on my own. The place is beautiful. Fairy tale buildings and parks. Music. And more good food! All in all a beautiful city that we definitely could have spent more time in.
Next on our agenda was Prague! Now I have to tell you that this whole “side trip” through Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany only happened because a zillion people kept telling us, “Oh, you must see Prague.” I’d never even thought of it as a place to go. Thank God for friends with good free advice! Prague is, I believe, the most beautiful city in the world! The beautiful architectural styles were quite different from the other places we visited. But what was fascinating was the fact that while very old, all of the buildings were so pristine that it seemed like they must have been built yesterday. There was music everywhere. And walking back over the Charles Bridge late in the evening, we had the most amazing view of the massive castle perched on the hill above our hotel. I kept thinking, “I thought Disney made this up, but it’s real and it’s enormous, like a whole town!”
We spent close to a week in Prague and would have liked to stay longer, but had other places to see and things we wanted to do, so we next took off for Germany, where we visited Freising, Regensburg, and Munich. Gene had visited these places on business and was anxious to show them to me and see them as a tourist. I had started getting the hang of beer drinking in the Czech Republic (the largest per capita consumers of beer in the world, the guidebooks told us), but refined my skills to another level in Germany, where I discovered that the “small” mug of beer is about a liter. But “it’s o.k.,” our B&B host tells us. “You can drink 10 or 12 of them without ever getting a headache or a bad stomach.” When I look at him questioningly, he says, “Really! It’s true. I’ve proven it!” So we wandered around the beautiful neighborhoods in Germany, visited beer gardens, had dinner at the oldest active brewery in the world (with some new friends from California, one of whom was originally from Germany). Wandering down a tiny alley-like street one afternoon, we noticed that every door step in front of the little houses had beautiful potted plants on and around it. Everywhere in Europe there seemed to be flowers. There may have been no room for a garden, or even a patio, but there was always room for a potted plant hanging off a wall.

The Wanderers Return - 10 Weeks in Europe - Part 4

A Ferry Ride, Sicily & the Ancient Wonders of Florence

From Salerno, we took the ferry out of Naples for Sicily. The overnight ferry trip was fun. Our room was very luxurious, with ensuite bath with shower, and sleeping at sea was relaxing. Eating in the dining room was fun once I got over my irritation that the earliest reservation we could get was for 10:30 because all of the tables at earlier sittings had already been taken by massive numbers of tour group people.

. This after trying to fight my way to the information desk with numerous fast-talking Italian speakers elbowing and pushing their way in front of me, leaning across the desk to get the immediate attention of the desk people, who were certainly not going to bother to tell them that I had been there for 20 minutes before they arrived. (Hey! I didn’t say everything about the trip was perfect!) A couple of late night glasses of wine in the bar up on the top deck after the mobs of vacationing school kids (!) had disappeared was heavenly! Arriving in Palermo early the next morning, the city appeared bedraggled and soiled. I’m sure that if we had stayed longer, or arrived under different conditions (other than lost on the waterfront not knowing where to go so early in the morning), we would have found interesting neighborhoods and things to see. But we finally found somewhere to get coffee, unstrapped our backpacks, and proceeded to figure out where else we could go. After consulting our maps and guidebooks, we headed for the train station, and a few hours later were in Cefalú, a most charming town which exists in the very shadow of the biggest rock I’ve ever seen, seeming like it might consume the town at any moment. Wow! Another wonderful town for wandering through tiny cobblestone streets, eating great food, and drinking lots of wine and cappucino. Another fabulous helpful innkeeper. An invitation to stay at the home of a wonderful Swiss couple whom we met at an outdoor cafe for no more than 10 minutes on the last day of their visit! We both fell in love with Sicily and hope to return for a longer stay.
From Cefalú, we took an overnight train to Florence, definitely the most uncomfortable train trip of our adventure. The fact that we had somehow got ourselves tickets for a compartment with 4 other people, all “sitting/sprawling” in reclining seats all night was somewhat offset by the fact that our traveling companions were friendly, fun people with whom we had some fun conversations about language and food – all of this mind you with hardly a word of common language!
Every city we visited in Italy was a fabulous experience, and I’d be hard pressed to pick a favorite, but Florence was absolutely amazing. I had no idea that so much art existed in the world, or that such awesome, huge, beautifully detailed buildings existed. The concept of all those famous ancient statues just being there outside in public for everyone to see still baffles me! Another city to totally fall in love with! We spent a week in Florence, wandering the charming narrow streets, eating good food, drinking good cappuccino and wine, visiting more museums and cathedrals and listening to music. We stayed at a the B&B Battistero (“Rooms with a View”), directly in front of the Duomo’s Baptistry. It’s a wonderful little place with only 6 rooms, and when you open your windows, you’re looking directly at the Baptistry. Amazing! Wonderful hosts, charming place, and only 3 flights of stairs to climb! An unusual little side benefit: breakfast in bed – including a boiled egg! We were there for a week and were not ready to leave. We definitely had not seen everything we wanted to see.
Florence is absolutely another city that we hated to leave and would like to visit again.
While in Florence, we also took a day trip to Pisa and gawked at the buildings, which lean even more than I had envisioned! We looked at our tentative itinerary and decided that it was more important to us to spend more time in Spain at the end of the trip than it was to spend time in Venice. So Venice ended up being just an afternoon stopover from the train between Italy and Austria. What a fascinating place! Clearly it would have been worth it to stay a couple of days, but it didn’t interest us as much as the other places on our list, so we were happy with our decision. Leaving Italy, however, was sad. We loved it. We could live there. We’ll be back.

10 Weeks in Europe - Part 3

More Train Experiences & a Bus Ride Along the Very EDGE of the Amalfi Coast!

After Rome we headed south by train to beautiful and charming Sorrento, where we had some great food and wine, stayed in a wonderful small hotel down a tiny cobblestoned alley, took day trips to Pompei and Herculeum, and where I had another interesting train experience.

From Sorrento, I took an afternoon trip to Ercolano to see the ruins at Herculeum, about 30 minutes away via the Circumvesuviana, the local train line. Returning in the late afternoon, I found myself on the green line, instead of the blue line, and ended up in Poggiomarino, a town I’d never heard of before. I calmly got a ticket to backtrack to Trecase, where I knew I could change over to the blue and get to Sorrento. Somehow I ended up all the way back in Napoli, but wasn’t concerned because I knew I could simply take the blue line from Napoli to Sorrento. I asked 3 different people on the platform to make sure I took the right train this time, since there were no signs and no markings on the trains as there were at most stations. I knew I was on the right track, but there was no way to be sure which route I was on until we passed the first “wrong” station. Comfortably settling in with my book, headed home at last, I thought, I suddenly realized we had passed Pompei, which meant I was on the green again. There was nothing to do but stay on it to Poggiomarino, and then start backtracking again. Once back in that station, asking for help in my tiny bit of Italian only helped me to determine that the man at the counter spoke no English. Luckily for me, a very kind man walked up to me and said, “You need to go to Sorrento?” He turned out to be the conductor of the train I needed to take back. He was apparently waiting for his shift to start, and told me that the train I needed to take would be there in 40 minutes. It was now about 8 pm, and of course Gene was back in Sorrento, wondering where I was. I couldn’t call him because, even if I could have figured out the phones, I couldn’t remember the name of our hotel! (And you all thought I was so organized!) The nice conductor watched me and made sure I got on the right train, and then made sure I got off at the right place and knew which train to take from the other side of the track to backtrack to Sorrento! By the time I arrived back at our hotel at about 9:30 at night, Gene said that he was beginning to get a little concerned, and figured that something like that had happened! He hadn't taken it really seriously, knowing that I would figure out what to do. We went out for a wonderful late dinner and had a great time discussing what fabulous new experiences we were racking up. Sorrento is beautiful. It’s charming. The food is great. The people are nice. We loved it. I could live there. Really!
To get to our next town, Salerno, we took a bus for the first time, rather than a train. We wanted to see the Amalfi Coast that we had heard so much about. I guess when I was reading about it and looking at the pictures, I forgot how terrified I am of heights, especially when the road from on high drops right straight down the cliff to the sea, about a mile below! Especially when the winding road is less than six inches wider than the bus! The trip was every bit as awesome as I had been told. And it was absolutely terrifying. I’m sorry to have to confess that my eyes were closed and my breathing stopped for much of the trip. And that’s the truth! We had been talking with a very charming and friendly family from Ireland while waiting for the bus, a couple and their teenaged daughter and son. We didn’t hear much from him during the bus ride, and when we reached the half-way point, in Amalfi, I found out why. He couldn’t talk while holding his breath either! I realized at this point that Gene really doesn't take me seriously. I had just finished telling him that we were taking a boat the rest of the way to Salerno because my heart couldn’t take any more of this ride. I then turned to the Irishman to discuss our heart attack problems. While we talked, Gene strolled off to get bus tickets for the rest of the trip to Salerno! Yes, we took the bus.
When we arrived in Salerno, it was cold and raining. We got off the bus and walked a few blocks to the train station and found the information center next door. A helpful attendant told us which hotels in our price range were close by. We started walking and lucked out again, finding a good place to stay about three blocks away. It was a charming old place with a wee balcony, right on the main pedestrian street and near the old quarter. It even had an elevator! We only stayed a couple of days in Salerno, the weather was wet and cold, and we were both now dealing with colds and sore throats. We didn’t see much there, but we did have some incredible food (of course) and wine. It seemed to be a charming and interesting town with lots of wandering and eating opportunities. We loved the old quarter with its charming narrow streets and hidden away restaurants. Our host at the hotel, like many other innkeepers along the way, was amazingly friendly and helpful, wanting to give us lots of advice to make sure our visit was the best it could be. He was a transplanted New Yorker of Italian descent, and both of us thought that his mannerisms made us think of a character that would be played by Dustin Hoffman as a mafia guy! Our first night there, he directed us to a wonderful restaurant in the old quarter where the locals eat. It was great, the food was wonderful, and we heard nothing but Italian being spoken at the other tables. We got there just before the dinner hour rush, and wished we had gone later, because we would have changed our orders if we had seen what other people were getting first! Lots of great-looking stuff we’d never heard of before. Can’t remember it now. Wish I’d stolen a menu. Will have to return someday. Our second night there, our host walked us to a restaurant owned by a friend and ordered for us, to make sure we got the best fish dishes in the house! Again, it was fabulous. The name of the place was “Pinocchio,” and we were waited on by Signor Pinocchio himself! No kidding! We couldn’t help noticing that the Italian couple at the next table seemed to have some problems. He, an older guy, tried to get friendlier and friendlier. Just an affectionate sort of guy, I guess. She, a much younger woman, in turn, kept backing off and looking more and more annoyed. Finally he apparently just got too darned affectionate. She jumped up, grabbed her purse, and walked out, leaving her coat behind. A few minutes later, he sheepishly paid the bill and left. Some interpersonal relationship issues are international. We couldn’t understand a word they said, but had no problem understanding nevertheless! I kind of would have liked to stay longer in Salerno, if only for the food (!), but we decided to continue south to Sicily, in hopes that the weather would be drier and warmer. We didn’t get to see much of Salerno, but we like it. I could live there. Really!

The Wanderers Return - 10 Weeks in Europe - Part 2

Getting to Italy, Trains & Rome

Throughout our grand adventure we were amazed at how well the train system worked. We could get almost anywhere, they almost always left on time, the views in many cases were awesome, and we could just sit back and relax, knowing that we would eventually reach our destination. Some of the trains had sleeping cars, bar cars and dining cars. Some of them had people who came through with snack and drink carts, like on the airlines. There were varied comfortable seating arrangements, from nice little compartments with seats for 6 people to lounge type setups with tables for card playing or eating to airplane type seats, except more spacious and comfortable. Train riding was one of the fun parts of travel. That didn’t, however, mean that all the details always worked out as expected.

. Leaving Spain turned into an interesting experience, as we arrived at the train station in Barcelona an hour ahead of time and learned that our night train had just left. The internet said the train left at 21:30, which we had verified the day before at the station when we reserved our sleeping berth. Now, with full packs on our backs, we were told that “You can’t trust the information on the internet,” and “There’s nothing that can be done. The train leaves at 20:30.” A call back to our hotel determined that they had no rooms for the night, but they knew of a small apartment nearby that we could have for the night at the same price as the hotel. So we spent the night in a charming little apartment and got to have an extra day in Barcelona!
In Italy, we first visited Vernazza, one of five little villages (the Cinque Terre) hanging off the cliff over the sea. I never had the guts to count, but I think there may have been as many as 200 steps up the 7 sets of winding rock stairways between buildings to get to our lodging house. Then we got to climb to our 3rd floor room in the charming old building. The place was awesome, and I would do it again, but I would consider skipping the 3rd and 4th courses at dinner before trekking to our room the first night! Watching the sea beat up the rocks far below made me feel like I was living in a storybook. This couldn’t be real.
After Vernazza, we headed for Rome for Semana Santa, where we got to see more amazing architecture and art and statues living outdoors. We also got to be in St Peter’s Square on Easter, along with several thousand other people, to observe the Pope blessing the world. I’m not Catholic, but nevertheless found it to be fascinating. Even more fascinating was to listen to all the Italians happily talking in little groups with their friends throughout the ceremony. Those who weren’t with friends were on the cell phones talking to their friends. Amazing. I also noticed that, in the Sistine Chapel, with signs and guards everywhere asking people to be quiet and not speak, there was the constant hum of conversation. These people just can’t stop talking! The art, architecture and history! What an experience to get to see all those places we had only read about! We spent an afternoon wandering around the Forum, where, although archaeological excavations continue, we felt we had stepped into the past. We learned that the Coliseum took 10 years to build, and that it was built to hold 50,000 spectators. We also learned that during the 100 days of opening ceremonies in AD 80, hundreds of animals and 2,000 gladiators were killed. Some knowledge you’d prefer not to have, but there’s no denying the grandness of this ancient structure. St Peter’s Basilica, the Roman Forum, the Coliseum, the Pantheon, the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel, Trevi Fountain. Ancient statuary in the public streets, everywhere we looked! We spent a fun hour watching a wild woman wading in the Trevi Fountain for coins. We thought the policeman who was trying to get her out was going to end up falling in the fountain with her. He finally threw up his hands and left! Rome was an awesome experience, but after a week there, I wasn’t really unhappy to move on. Our hotel room was more than adequate, and only three flights up, but the innkeeper was a witch. It was still cold and rainy and Gene was suffering with a sore throat. I never did figure out how to say “sore throat” in Italian, but apparently my grabbing of my throat while gasping and wheezing got the point across at the farmacia, and gave them a good laugh for the day as well. We found a favorite eating spot, with great, cheap food and friendly waiters, but most of the restaurants seemed overpriced. We barely caught a thief (actually a team of two) attempting to steal my handheld PDA directly off a restaurant table in front of me. These guys were good. One of them put some kind of flyer on the table to show us, while the other one talked. Suddenly we realized we didn’t know where the PDA was. It was under the flyer, with his hand ready to take both as they walked away! Although Rome offers some of the most awesome art and architecture in the world, most of the city was dirty. If we were planning our first trip again, we would definitely go to Rome because it was a great opportunity to see all the historic sites. But it’s probably not one of the places we’ll travel to again.

The Wanderers Return - 10 Weeks in Europe - Part 1

Falling in Love with Spain
Although our homecoming from 70 days wandering around Europe is a few weeks old now, it seems that we are just now settling into some semblance of routine and beginning to catch up on projects like reporting on our travels. It was wonderful being back home and seeing all of our “hometown” friends, including Dale who helped take care of our house, Bob and Judy, who had returned earlier from their travels to various points in North America, Jim and Flora, who had returned from their latest world travels, and Jon and Emma, who have now returned from their trip to New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Washington state, Virginia and various points in between. I saw a picture of Flora playing in her first snow, and I’m sure she was more excited than any little kid in snow for the first time! “Tell me everything,” one friend said upon our return. “What was the most interesting thing about your trip?” another asked. Both queries left me speechless, a condition not normal for me. Where does one begin? For me, it was my very first trip to Europe, a life-long dream. For Gene, it was his first time, except for a few brief business trips a few years back. We were both so excited and had so much fun that we were talking about where we want to go for our next trip long before we returned. And now that we are back in our wonderful home and familiar surroundings, we’re still having that conversation! We have clearly been bitten by the travel bug!
Our Adventure Begins
The countries we visited were Spain, Italy, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany and France.

The vast majority of our time was spent in Italy and Spain. We both fell in love with Madrid, where we started, but then loved Barcelona, too. The art, the architecture, wonderful old neighborhoods to walk, the tapas, the wine, the cafes, the coffee, the chocolaterias! We were surprised at how inexpensive it was to eat and drink (we did lots of it). In Madrid, we stayed at a beautifully renovated old hotel right on Plaza del Sol. We could open the french doors at night and listen the music in the plaza and the sounds of nighttime in Madrid. These people never ever sleep! In Barcelona, we stayed right on La Rambla
and had a wonderful time wandering and watching the mimes, the people, the flower vendors and bird sellers, the constant activity.
One man insisted on teaching me how and where to shop for antelope leather and wanted to make sure that, if I bought leather, I knew to buy antelope, not cow. It’s the most beautiful soft, light-weight stuff, and doesn’t become water-spotted when caught in the rain. Alas! There was no room in my back pack, and I didn’t think I’d get enough use out of it in Costa Rica to justify the purchase! Another man who we met while sitting on a bench on La Rambla wanted to discuss his urinary tract problems and his efforts to go to Florida for treatment! In both cities, we took the double-decker “Hop on the Bus” tours for overviews of the cities and a good look at the neighborhoods and architecture. Then we took off on our own to see the places we wanted to see more of, the museums, cathedrals,
etc. Once, trying to exit the Metro train in a crowd, I got caught when the doors started to close. Suddenly there were two big guys helping Gene pry the doors open so that I could get out. Another interesting experience! Our first train experience was on a hotel train to Barcelona, and we loved it! I could live in Madrid. I loved everything about it. Of course I could live in Barcelona, too! We left by night train for Italy, grateful that we would be returning to Spain at the end of our trip to see more. Spain had stolen our hearts.
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Barb & Chick Visit Costa Rica

When Gene's cousin Barb emailed that their cruise would be making a port call in Limon, we decided, along with our friends Emma & Jon, that it was the perfect excuse (like since when do we need one!) to spend a few days on the Caribbean. So we booked rooms at our favorite Caribbean get-away spot, Kelly Creek Inn, right on the edge of Cahuita National Park. After spending the first night there, falling asleep to the sound of the surf and the howling of the monkeys, Gene and Jon drive to Limon to pick up Barb and Chick at their cruise boat. We spent the day walking through the park and along the beach, watching the animals, lunching at EZ Times in Puerto Viejo. At the end of the day, they all surprised me with a birthday cake back at Kelly Creek! Chocolate cake and wine at a Caribbean Beach - tough to beat that one for a birthday celebration! We were all sad that their stopover was for only one day, but everyone had a great time, and we're hoping that Barb and Chick will get back to see us soon for a much longer stay.









Bye Bye Barb & Chick! Hope to See You Again Soon!

Gail Comes to Costa Rica

My best buddy Gail from Hollywood, Florida (where we lived before Costa Rica) actually came to visit us! She had promised when we moved here that she would be down - and Gail is always good for her promises. What a great time we've had!


Bienvenida! Welcome Party for Gail on the patio

Zarcero-
famous for the topiaries in every size and shape in front of the church
Topiaries shaped like a cat riding a motorcycle, an elephant, a bullring with matador, charging bull, and spectators. That's what I've read. You coulda fooled me. Interesting, but mostly I thought it looked like mis-shapen shrubbery!


















And a morning at Zoo Ave - not only is it beautiful but it's one of the most relaxing and fun places to visit in the area, as well as being filled with educational information about all the birds and animals that are rescued and bred there. A Costa Rica must see!

They say that all good things must come to an end, but I've never understood why. We did a few days on the Caribbean in Puerto Viejo and Cahuita, some more day trips, a lot of sitting around and talking. And suddenly it was time for my good friend Gail to leave. I just hope that she had such a good time that she will want to come visit us again soon. I miss her already!

Groceries

The regular grocery stores that most Ticos use are much smaller than what we were accustomed to in the US . “Pali” is the lowest price grocery store, but the merchandise is very limited. Good for laundry supplies and staples, but not much for fresh merchandise. “Mas por Menos” is a step up in price and also in variety of product availability. You could probably get everything you need there, but not necessarily everything you want. They have a decent fresh produce department as well as fish and meat. They also carry the local coffee that we like and our favorite “vino collapso.” Another store, “MegaSuper,” is similar. Depending on the neighborhood, both “Mas por Menos” and “MegaSuper” may have a greater or lesser selection. There are also “Hipermas” and “Auto Mercado,” which are almost like the big stores you are accustomed to in the US , and offer many imported products at very high prices. Next, my favorite stores are the little neighborhood stores, the "pulperias". It’s amazing. Every little neighborhood has one. There are two in easy walking distance of our house. Their size ranges from teensy to very small, but they cram an amazing amount of varied products into the space available, everything from a few fresh vegetables and fruits to school supplies, zippers, bread and milk and gift wrapping paper. Many also carry meats. Recently, on the corner of our street, someone opened a small meat market (carniceria). If figure if I wanted to, I could get by without ever leaving “the hill.” Many neighborhoods also have nice little fruit and vegetable stands, but we don’t have one - yet. Also, downtown there are many open fruit and veggie stands on the street, and in some areas, people just selling peppers, cilantro, or whatever from the sidewalk. Another of my favorites is the Mercado, the big rambling area downtown with many vendors of fruits and vegetables as well as meat, fish, herbs, fabric, kitchen ware, clothing, baskets and God knows what else. Going to the market is always fun, the produce is fresher and cheaper. Last and least expensive for fresh stuff is the Saturday morning feria, or farmers’ market. The one in our town, Heredia, is huge. It’s about 4 blocks long, with vendors’ stands selling every sort of vegetable and fruit. There are also a few stalls with meats, cheeses and other stuff. But mostly it’s fresh produce. A great way to buy good fresh stuff at great prices, but also great entertainment on Saturday mornings. Some towns have their ferias on Sunday mornings. On a recent trip to the feria, we bought:
Kilo of potatoes
Kilo of carrots
4 Red peppers
½ Kilo of onions
Bunch of radishes
Large squash
3 Small cauliflower
4 Large tomatoes
4 Ears of corn
4 Small cucumbers
Kilo of avocados
Small pineapple
Small watermelon
Cantaloupe
Strawberries
½ Kilo of cheese
All told, the above, which more than filled my super oversized market shopping bag, cost about $8 US. It’s possible to eat very well on a very small amount of money. It’s also possible to spend a lot, if you need specific imported or prepackaged things.

Christmas Nite Lites

Great Christmas afternoon eating, drinking good wine, and having good conversation on a great variety of subjects with our new friends Linda & Chuck (hosts) and Emma & Jon. The lights out over the valley as we rode down over the mountains coming home tonight were awesome.
It’s Christmas. It’s different from any other Christmas we’ve ever had. We miss our family. We miss our long term, loyal, forever friends. We miss shopping for fun presents and wrapping them and watching them get opened. But we are enormously grateful for our newly adopted home, for the opportunity to live in such an awesomely beautiful and fascinating place, for the amazingly warm and friendly people, the opportunity to learn and live in a new culture, and for the wonderful new friends we are making, who, while adding a whole new dimension to our lives, will never be able to replace the old friends and family we left behind. Hopefully all of them will eventually find their way down here to visit us.

Holiday Customs

There are some odd combinations of customs here. Of course it's a very Catholic country. Throughout the evening and late into the night on Christmas Eve, we heard church bells ringing. Beautiful. There are so many beautiful old churches, and several are close enough for us to hear the bells toll. But we also listened to the fireworks late into the night. How did fireworks ever get to be part of Christmas? Some of them sounded like bombs going off in front of our house!

Every house in Costa Rica, as near as I can tell, has a crèche in, or in front of, the house. Many of them are huge, and very detailed. Apparently historically, in keeping with the private celebration of Christmas, the crèches were inside the house. In recent years, the Ticos have started decorating outside, and the displays of lights and huge crèches and other decorations are fantastic. I wonder how some of them can afford the electricity bills.
I suspect that the stores sell more during December than they do the entire remainder of the year. This is largely because every Tico worker, by law, must be paid a full month's salary as a bonus during the first week in December. Rather civilized idea, don't you think?
And of course the food. It's a big tradition here to have tamales for Christmas. Apparently every woman in Costa Rica has her own recipe for tamales, and prepares large batches of them. They are fabulous. I don't know what other things they cook for the Holidays, but I can tell you that the aromas coming from my next door neighbor's kitchen last night were so incredible, I thought of going over and standing at the door looking hungry. This morning there are more aromatic foods being prepared over there.
Speaking of food, we have been invited to Christmas dinner this afternoon at the home of our friends Linda and Chuck, who I had met when I was down here two years ago. They live further up the mountains from us, real country, with a fabulous view. It will be fun!

Feliz Navidad de Costa Rica

It's Christmas morning at our casa in Siboney de San Pablo de Heredia de Costa Rica. As I sat in the courtyard peeling onions for our traditional creamed boiled onions, I daydreamed about all the Christmases past. Has there ever been a Christmas when I haven't made boiled onions? I don't think so. Are my kids making boiled onions today? I doubt it. Funny. I always thought I was raising them to be totally independent. But now I think I failed to teach them the most basic of important things. Creamed boiled onions on Christmas day.
Today is very different from our Christmases past. In some ways it may be like Christmas forty years ago or more in the U.S. Especially if you were Catholic. Which I wasn't.

Last night we went downtown to go to mass at the beautiful old church by el parque central in downtown Heredia. We didn't know what time the service was, so we got there at almost seven, just in time to hear the end of the Ave Maria, which was incredibly beautiful. There weren't as many people there as I had expected. But then we realized that almost everyone goes to the midnight mass. After the mass, they go home for dinner. We enjoyed walking downtown on Christmas eve. There were a lot of people out and about, but not nearly as many as the night before, when it appeared that absolutely everyone was downtown doing last minute shopping. Buying a few gifts for our friends, I thought this must be like Christmas in New York, with all the hustle and bustle, street vendors selling everything, and bubbly young women cheerfully wrapping gifts for their customers. It was fun.
Speaking of view, it is the most glorious Christmas day in Costa Rica. I'm sitting barefoot in the courtyard writing this. It's warm and sunny and beautiful. Our house is enclosed by this beautiful private courtyard downstairs, so there's no view. But from upstairs, we see out over the valley and to the mountains on the other side. It is so beautiful. I really can't believe we live in a place like this. We’re so lucky. At night the lights all across the valley and into the hills are absolutely indescribable.