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.
Well this week we are off to Italy again. This time we landing in Milan and staying for a few days, our first time seeing the city. This is a trip looking and signing the paperwork on a home’s in Italy ( for my sister in law )
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.
So we made it to San Francisco and as it turned out we had a show in Sacramento on Sunday so there was no reason to return to Reno for 2 days. The show ended at 10pm on Sunday and then we drive, getting to the hotel down by Fisherman’s Warf. The hotel was no frill’s place but it had free parking, others were charging about $60 a day just to park your car.
The grandson and his mom were there and did a lot of walking around while we got things set up for the flights, he had not seen so many hills before. We found a nice place to sit and have dinner and drinks and once Dawn was done with work she joined us. We also found an old-time arcade and spent way too much playing old games.
The Warf
So the next day our real trip started, we were going from SFO to London on one flight. If you get the chance to make it all in-flight do it. From there we only had about a 3 hr layover to Glasgow, Scotland. Now this is someplace we have not been yet and I’m glad I didn’t have to drive after the flight.
Glasgow
The city was not as small as I thought it would be, some of the restaurants are a little pricy and we weren’t there long enough to find a place to eat that wasn’t expensive. We did find a pub around the corner for breakfast and good drink prices. The place Dawn rented for the 3 days was on the top floor and in the center of town, what a good view.
Edinburgh Scotland
The train ride from Glasgow to Edinburgh was quiet and relaxing not anything like air flight travel these days. You could look out the window at the sites and you mostly had cell service. Getting into town Damein was so excited, he and I had been there before and he wanted to show Mom and Joyce everything. The house we had rented was a little out of the center of town but the walk was not that bad.
Edinburgh Castle
This was going to be the bulk of the trip and this city is big enough you need about 4 days or more to see it. The rain seems to be avoiding us for most of the trip. So much walking and even a night Ghoust Bust Tour made it a great time for all.
Aberdeen
The next city was Aberdeen,Scotland and the “hotel” we booked was just across the street from the train station but soon as we left the station the rain found us. It’s called The Station Hotel and I would not recommend it. Mold on the walls and slanted floors and so hot inside the building. As for the town it self it was small not much to see and we were not there that long. Don’t think I would go back to it.
Inverness,Scotland
So we get back on the train and head to Inverness, Scotland. Also somewhere we had never been, the size of the town was small and getting around was not going to be a problem.
The view from our house
My wife and son just loved this place, it was small enough to get around and there were shops and pubs all over the place. We took a day trip on the bus up to Loch Ness and it was chilly but so beautiful Dawn said she didn’t want to go home. We did not see Nessy.
In town
The people in Inverness were so wonderful and welcoming we wish we had more time in this town, Dawn was so hoping that the flight would have been delayed or canceled when we had to go, the airport was so small and so easy to get throw we had to start home. We will have to go back.
London
On the way home, we had an 18-hour layover so we got a room and did some exploring. We had all been there before so we didn’t need to see too much. And yes we did get lost on the tube. I think this is going to be the last trip of the year. Let’s see what next year brings.
After a hell of a time with Delta Airlines about them stranding us in Amsterdam for 2 days and not being able to leave the airport, they canceled my tickets with no notice. We rebooked on American and saved $1000 , oh wait I forgot to say.
Damein Berry
We are going back to Scotland in about a week, with a short stop in San Francisco. More to come next week.
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