Pontremoli Italy

by allberry2001, posted in Main

That was our destination on this trip to Italy. My wife’s sister bought a place in town after we did a drive-by visit last year and she saw the photos. I must say it is a small town at that, now that we have stayed there a few days it seems everyone in town knows everyone else. I got the impression it’s a hiking area that is really busy in the summer season.

That was not the only reason we were there as like last time we were looking to buy a place for ourself’s. Myself and my wife went house hunting last year with not much luck, between the language problem and realtors not showing up it was more of a drive around Italy.

This time with my sister-in-law’s help we did find a realtor that we could work with,2 in fact. One of the first places we looked at was not much more than stones in shape of a house, the land it was on was huge but it was not “livable” till a lot of work was done.

The next place we looked at was a 3-story box more or less with a 2-car garage on the bottom level. The apartments were in “better” shape almost to the point we could get one up and running in a short time and have someplace to live. The idea was to create a B&B so we would have an income while living.

Now like most Italian towns, they have a castle at the top of the hill, and the next home that is livable was in between this castle and town ( a big hill ).

At this time again I’m trying to get as much info about my Grandpa who left Italy in the early 1900s.

Back to work…sorta

by allberry2001, posted in Main

A long time ago I started driving trucks and mixers were my first, after that came computers. Well I tried going back to driving a Mixer for 3D Concrete in the last week and it was so much fun knowing I didn’t forget how and I could still do it. My body was sore for a day or 2 but I will live.

As for 3D Concrete, they are hurting for drivers but after a few days, they wanted me to finish an 8 hr shift at 2PM and wanted me to come back in at midnight that same day for another shift. This should not be legal and I know it’s not safe driving a 60 to 70-thousand-pound truck half asleep.

This is why they can’t get drivers.

His first time in Italy

by allberry2001, posted in Main

And we are off again, this time it was a trip with Grandma and mom. It was my Grandson’s first time in Italy and like all 13-year-olds, the flight was too long. The battery on his devices ran out, and we were flying into Venice, something we had never done before. We had arranged transportation from the airport to “close to our B&Bs”. But due to the weather, the boat ride had been moved to the car and then the boat. We had been told that our first stop would be my sister in laws stop by the company that booked this, seems the driver of the boat didn’t get the message. He dropped us off on the other side of the island and we had to find our way from there, in the dark and rain.

The B&B that the wife booked she “thought” had a lift, but we found out it didn’t. 3 flights of stairs to get to the flat. After a long flight that was a disappointment. The flat had a patio where you could see the tower in St. Marks square so that was a plus. We had 4 days in Venice and by the time we left the grandson could navigate the allies on his own. I think he gets it from his grandma.

The next trip was by high-speed train to Florance, it is so much easier to go by train in Italy than flying anywhere. I think I was more impressed with the train than he was, even though I had made that trip before.

Florence is so much smaller than the other cities we were going to see so it didn’t take much for him to learn his way around.

Then there was Roma, a city I have been to many times before and I wanted to show him everything but with only a few days it was not possible. We saw the big sites and even got lost a few times in the rain, and had to walk from the train station to the Pantheon. That was fun, my phone was giving some odd directions so as a test I let him navigate from where we where to where we wanted to be. In a city with his phone he got us there and I was so proud.

Some of the places I have had so much fun in he got to see, the restaurant that we eat at where I had took his mom years before remembered us as always and we are famiely to them so they always treat us right. Now from the Phanton to our B&B was not that far, and at 13 years old and seeing how he did so well on other streets I asked if he could walk me though going from here to there. After the 2nd day with some corrections he got it correct and could do the walk without us, another proud moment if you know the streets of Rome you know what I mean.

All in all I think everyone had a good time on this trip and its one I will not forget, I hope his mom and him go back and visit without us and see and do what they want.