Monday, December 23, 2013

The Learning Curve is Long Hard and Steep and the Path is Interfering with My Sleep!

Sorry Robert Frost, I love your works and this poem, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, has greatly been in the front of my mind these last two weeks. Moving to another country with 5 suitcases, a very delicate but adorable little Shih Tzu, a medical condition or two without speaking the language and a husband that is not known for his flexibility is much more difficult than I thought it would be. AND I’M A PLANNER! I’ve been planning this puppy for months. There have been highs to be sure but yesterday I bottomed.

Setting up house has its newly married aspect to it and the apartment is as advertised. Spacious in a 200 year old mansion, in a lovely old residential neighborhood surrounded by other stately old mansions. The views of the River Po and the majestic Alps bring a smile every morning. The very narrow road (strada) is cobblestoned and the first time we tried to find our place we totally dismissed it as someone’s driveway versus the road. The road wound up a mountain and we were transported to another time in another country, lovely truly lovely.  

Sentry kitty's on top the columns to our apartment

The first night was a little rough but we didn’t have anything other than the things we had brought with us, certainly not enough to feel nested. Tomorrow, we said, tomorrow (domani) we will put our little nest together, go do some more Christmas shopping, find a FedEx spot, and get the little fuzzy one her hypo-allergenic pet food, yep we can do this, we’ll be ready for our journey.

We were having trouble finding her special food

It has now taken almost three weeks to accomplish the ‘nest’ and all of the core things we felt needed to be done so we could start taking our next steps. Let me correct that, VPN has not, so far, been as easy as we thought it would be. Keeping in touch, which is what in part this blog was to be about, continues to be sporadic because of weak signals or loosing connection all together. We have one English speaking television station and it is EuroNews with about a 30 minute repeat cycle for 24 hours and my favorite of all is the portion of EuroNews that runs intentionally with ‘no comment’, whhhaatt?


So what is the hardest part? It may be a three way tie between the street names not clearly marked, actually they are barely marked with carved signs on the corner side of the building about 6”X16” and they aren’t lit and there may not be a side of the building that you can see while driving through a huge roundabout at 35 miles per hour. Okay that’s one, the second is shopping in a one stop manner is not the preferred way of doing things in Turin, it seems they prefer sole proprietor shops that may be scattered all over a very difficult town to get around in, that’s two. Language, it is challenging to even purchase things like cream for your coffee, half of a pound of ham for sandwiches (parmacotto is ham; dodici fette is 12 slices) but perhaps more importantly products are not necessarily even used here, such as diet soda, salad dressing, breakfast cereal is extremely limited, there is no maple syrup for pancakes. Well, that’s three and that is the end of my whining.

Heavily bundled up me waiting for ham slices
Yep Foxy Mega rolls of toilet paper


The days can be exhausting just trying to get something to eat when you are hungry, admittedly we have an unusual dining habit even for the states. BUT, my hubby has been the strength and hand needed when I thought I couldn't lift myself another moment or rise to the physical or mental challenge. The little fuzzy one with her big beautiful dark eyes the calm she provides that is better than any pharmaceutical but much more habit forming and last, but in no way last, our lovely landlady Anna.


Anna, the generational owner of the mansion is gracious, inclusive and a phenomenal guide we simply could not have asked for a better spot to begin our European journey, she is going to be very difficult to match. We are here in Turin for another month and know that every day will have its lows but also the highs will be more frequent as we learn more.

The next post has got to be Food and Fashion right?  See you can't get the girl down:)




Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Driving from Paris to Lyon, France to Turin, Italy Ohhhh Mon Dieu!

So I am just wondering IF one's spouse or partner is the same sex, let's just say two males, do they drive furiously  to their destination because there is some bio-genetic code that males have to combat with the road?  Then it would follow that IF one's spouse or partner is the same sex let's also conjecture two females they would wander seemingly without purpose but just gathering lovely experience after experience and take forever to arrive at the original destination?  Just wondering.

Certainly, I believe that IF there is a man behind the wheel there will be only combat with the road, the petrol, the other cars, the mileage..."what is a Fountainbleu?  huh? yeah I think I heard of Castle Chateauneuf?  Burgoyne, there was a WWII battle there right?  Do you want to stop at the next truck stop, I can top off the fuel?"  Well, you can say this can't be a road trip, but that does not make it so.

Really the intent is to put some jest in this post and ultimately with some "skillful point making", that is what they call 'pouting' right,  we ultimately stopped at enough 'truck stops' to take a couple of pictures of the spectacular Alps, Mont Blanc, the almost fine art road signs in France that picturesquely announced what the next city or town was well known for, such as one was famous for champagne and it had bubbles on it...just lovely.



While in the ferociously moving vehicle I got a spectacular shot of an ancient church literally at the top of the mountain with the sun making it seem as made of gold, don't have a clue what it was but if it was what I think it was, a church where princes and soldiers went before long journeys to receive blessings to protect them on the a harrowing road ahead....coincidence perhaps not!  



About 500 miles all in all, the car GPS is pretty good, the streets of Lyon were a nightmare, we were not safely in bed until well after midnight.  No parking had been reserved for us, so we had to seek public parking and literally haul all of the luggage to our room.  Well, let me painfully honest here, the result of NOT having a bio-genetic code to combat with a  road, also makes it impossible for one to haul anything but the little fuzzy one, my purse and my "keep it happy damn it attitude" because this is a great trip., seriously a really great trip.



Our spirits sometimes go south when we get tired but in reality we both love to solve things and solving the mystery of the destination on a foreign road is pretty invigorating.  It would seem that the major highways are funded by tolls, you pay the toll based on how many km you have go from checkpoint to checkpoint.  We stopped counting but think in our  500 mile journey there were approximately 6 tolls and we paid in total about 100 Euros or about $140.  We felt safe at night, but we didn't take any chances just to be sure.  Tolls and tunnels, since you going through the Alps there are lots of tunnels, makes the Eisenhower Tunnel look like a poser, sorry Colorado.  


The little fuzzy one is doing really well all things considered, however shy she was before, and she was VERY shy has gone a little shyer.  For me her tender little heart and extraordinary big brown eyes make me strong for her.  There is a really cute picture posted tonight of her little head resting on my neck pillow in our hotel room in Lyon at midnight waiting for her humans to finally go to bed.  Did I mention that she has not barked once on the trip?  In the hotel in Lyon, there was an ever so slight growl when she heard someone go down the hall, only if you know her will you know how very slight that growl was.  



The next post will be about setting up house in Turin, I miss a shopping center, and the Turin grocery store clerk tried to school me on buying produce.  Well, that is a story for later.










Friday, December 6, 2013

Paris-Fashion and Food

Perhaps the place to start is the color and I do mean "the" color- black, black did I mention black?  Of course, I had done alot of research for the trip and was aware that there was going to be a preponderance of black, if one wanted to add a splash of color, then buy a scarf here, don't pack stuff that would make you scream tourist by just standing on the street.  There was so much black it almost reminded me of a trip to China many years ago and there were millions of dark haired people with black clothing, almost like a uniform.  Well, of course the clothing is beautifully cut in Paris and could hardly be thought of as a uniform, but then when something is de rigueur does it ever run the risk of being uniform because it is so common?

There are three more words to add to the Paris fashion scene; boots (very good boots of all heights, heels, colors, well not all colors); scarves (oooh la la do they take their scarves seriously men and women), leggings (well this for the benefit of briefness let's consider leggings as also hosiery, tights, skinny tight pants almost always black).  Ifmadame/mademoiselle wore leggings they were paired with a tunic or mini skirt.  I don't remember a single ensemble that wasn't beautifully pulled together from head to toe.












.Men however are much more likely to have on Docker-like or jeans in jewel tones, yes green, red, bright yellow.  Saw some men in velvet trousers, navy blue velvet,  one gentleman had a pair of royal purple velvet trousers, beautifully tailored he walked much too fast to get a picture, intriguing to say the least. Oh yes I forgot about corduroy...really does anyone wear corduroy anymore?   I try to think of the conversation that it would take to get hubby into a pair of colorful corduroy trousers....nope, that's not happening.

 It should also probably be said that simply NO ONE wore clothing that was not body appropriate to them.  NO ONE flashed underwear of any kind, belly rolls, cracks hopefully you know what I mean etc.  However that being said it is the city of 'love' so of course there were several couples that I thought shouldn't they just get a room!  One such couple sat next to us at dinner, the tables are very close, let's just say that kind of smacking would be rude if only food was involved. Really, it was rude, time and place people, time and place.

And now before I sleep tonight let me fondly say that it is not possible to get a bad meal, snack, dessert.  Parisiennes walk alot and they walk fast, which is good because the food is magnifique.  The hot chocolate is the best I have ever had in the world, the delicious crusty baguettes which citizens looked like they bought daily so many were carrying them under their arms as they rushed home.  We even had game foie gras, something that I would never do in the US, don't even want to ponder how it is made.  It is oyster season and we love them so, but of course they had to be sampled.  Cheeses paired with wines (lots of wine it is France afterall), wonderfully yummy desserts with coffee (hubby says the coffee is very good, I don't have a taste for it no matter where we are). 

Probably, breakfast was our favorite because the little fuzzy one got to sit next to us in a chair observing great puppy manners and watching, she seems to always understand what her humans are doing.  Enjoy the pictures we enjoyed gathering them.  We are off to Italy in the morning, and the little fuzzy one now has her European Pet Passport.  Bon soir Paris. 

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

PARIS-Day 1

It's exciting to be here, it is only kinda sorta sinking in that perhaps this may be more than just a long vacation.  I think it will help when we get to Italy on Saturday and set up housekeeping. Okay, let's talk Paris.

Let's start with customs....the months of preparation and paperwork to make sure that the fuzzy one wasn't put into quarantine or denied admittance wasn't even looked at...in a way it was a little like a lost opportunity to "proudly show" the attention to detail to insure her acceptance into the European Union.  Well, they checked our passports and said "bienvenue". 

 We leased a car and my adventurous husband drove like a maniac just like the other Parisiennes. Lanes are kinda suggested, motorcylcles pretty much drive wherever they want at high speeds, there are lots of roundabouts (what else would you expect from a city laid out like a huge wheel) and GPS says make a right turn on the 4th turn in the roundabout...but there may be 8 main turns and 4 minor turns....it may take you a couple of passes on the very large roundabouts.  We were in such a great mood that it simply didn't matter, we laughed and said okay let's try that again.  Although hubby had already read a book on international driving, we had gotten our international drivers licenses, nothing prepares you for a highly mobile city of over 9M people with signs in a language that you only studied for two years in high school.  

We were very tired, no sleeping on the plane, so we got to the hotel (sweet little boutique hotel wtihin two blocks of the Eiffel Tower and truly pet friendly we love you Hotel Motte Picquet) and got us and the fuzzy one settled in snugly.  So far so good, everyone had treated us very well and at least acted like our lack of French was endearing.  We somehow were able to stay up until 5 o'clock Paris time after flying all night, trying hard to slam shut any jet lag.  I forgot to tell the little fuzzy one the plan, she woke me up about 3 a.m. Paris time and wanted to eat, go potty and get a drink.  Really, it was very sweet and reminded me of when my babies seemed to not know what time it was and only I could tend to their needs.  Of course walking a busy avenue in Paris at 4 o'clock in the morning is a lonely place to be, but for a brief moment we had Paris all to ourselves, she always makes me smile.

So much more to say and of course fashionistas and foodies there are some really great pictures coming tomorrow.
















Sunday, December 1, 2013

Toronto Residence Inn-Ants are Okay but your paying pet is a nuisance

We have been staying at Residence Inns' for years, it is the only Marriott that takes pets.  As a pet owner that travels with their pet you learn that getting nice accommodations with a pet is increasingly more difficult. One also does sympathize with hoteliers that all pets and pet owners are not well mannered and respectful of the property and other guests.  I do not have a solution to that and understand that simply me saying that my little dog is the most docile, quiet and obedient dog that I have ever seen little less having the privilege of being her human has probably been heard before by the front desk and proven untrue.

Now of course is the HOWEVER, if you say you accept pets, and you charge $100 regardless of how long they stay they shouldn't be relegated to the floor and perhaps the room known to have an infestation of ants.
We should have said something when we went into the room and there were no less than 5 ant traps.  We mused that since it is December and very cold someone had just not picked them up.  Well of course you feed your pet in a bowl that you put on the floor.

I prepared her dish from freshly opened packages that I had brought with me placed her dish on the floor.  In her typical Princess fashion she did not immediately wolf it down (it's hard for a Shih Tzu to wolf), in probably 5 to 10 minutes I went to check to see how she was doing with eating in a new place...to my horror she had eaten about half of the food and was sitting in front of her bowl shaking her little fuzzy head vigorously, hmmm, I looked in her bowl and there was about 100 ants!  I should have taken a picture, but my immediate reaction was to make sure she was okay.

I grabbed the bowl wrapped it in a plastic bag then started an in depth examination of Miss Ambassadorable.  I gave her a thorough exam, washed her face, chest, paws, gave her a prescription ear wash that we carry for her because of allergies.  When she seemed calmer I took the bowl to the front desk.  The front desk manager was seemingly as horrified as I was and did in about a half an hour switch us to an upper floor.  We were told that we could not have an upper floor when we checked in because we had a dog, dogs had to be on the first floor.

In fairness to the Inn, they did move us and comp'd our last night, they provided a name of a vet in case we needed to take the fuzzy one for an exam.  Think how delighted I was after months of planning for our long trek to Europe with a pet, that we might miss a plane because the hotel had such infestation that my precious little one got too sick to fly...little less be imported to Europe.  I was shaking down to my core.

She seems to be fine no more head shaking, she is adorable and cute and fluffy and in about 3 hours we are on a flight to Paris.  Thank you front desk hotel clerk from righting the best you could a stunning hotel experience, but I am done with Residence Inn by Marriott.  Pets are not welcome.

We Did It! Colorado to Toronto-First Leg of an Undetermined Legged NEXT!

So much has happened since the last post when I said triumphantly that we were going to buy tickets, which we did....but it is stunning how difficult it is to travel with a pet in-cabin across the Atlantic.  Thank you Air Canada!  

 So much planning has gone into this trip, months in reality, and it hasn't been without the help and support of our children and grandchildren. The family was almost all together for a wonderfully big Thanksgiving Dinner, a great way to begin a big adventure. Thank you, even the tiniest baby helped with her beautiful little smile when we cuddled her bye bye for now.  The tallest grandbaby gave us sweet hugs and we hold them dear forever.  Daughter you were instrumental in getting the last of the house ready for our extended trek, we simply could not have stepped on the plane without your organizational push, no wonder you are so good at what you do, thank you. Son, thank you for the ride to the airport with sister it was great to get the extra time and funny stories, we love you both so much.

We are spending a couple of days in Toronto in order for us and Miss Ambassadorable to rest up for the flight to Paris. Being OCD when it comes to planning we have a couple of errands to do today before we get on the plane tonight....and of course have a little time to watch some of our Broncos today...go Manning.  

There is much more to say....but I will do that later.  The next topic will be Marriott Residence Inn Toronto, Ants and their Pet Policy.  The pic is Miss Ambassadorable patiently waiting on her Princess pillow in our new room that is NOT infested with ants



Saturday, September 7, 2013

How on earth did I get here?

How did a little girl born in poverty of a 15 year old mother and a father who was almost twice her age and with a very sketchy past get to this spot in life of wondrous anticipation?  Well, the truth of it is that is was hard, required a lot of determination to NOT be what I saw all around me.  There just had to be more.  There is more, every step of the way, there is simply more if you reach and if your hand gets smacked you reach again.

Not to ramble about with this blog thing but perhaps I should say what wondrous thing is going on.  I retired, my husband is about to retire and we are going to Europe for at least 6 months to wander around, learn, see, meet, experience, reach for more.  Tomorrow we buy the tickets.

It is a big step.  We will rent out our home, we aren't going on an organized tour, we do know our first couple of locations but after that we will methodically find together the things we have read about all of our lives.  Oh, I forgot to mention we are taking our beloved little Shih Tzu.  We have been talking of this trip for 5 years and planning it for the last year.  Did I mention tomorrow we buy the tickets?

There is a lot of planning and research that goes into a trip like this and the 'next' people we are becoming.  This blog is just one example.  This week I will link all of the key resources that we have been using to give us our high degree of confidence to travel vicariously.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

That Which Seems Like the End is Only the Beginning

Well, here I am in an unexpected place, a person that has always been pretty private, with a small group of friends.  But something big is about to happen and it's time to change my ways.  Perhaps the something big is just for me and my little niche of my world, but nonetheless to me it is big. This "blogging" thing is not the first step in all of the changes that have been taking place the last couple of years, it is a vehicle to facilitate MORE.

Travel Vicariously will be talking about a journey to be sure...but it is so much more than planes trains and automobiles.  Travel Vicariously will be life learning, loving, moving on and perhaps endings.  Shouldn't all of life travels have been for something?