text:
PUBLIC MEETING: Calaveras County Board of Supervisors, 6 p.m. Tuesday, Board Chambers, 891 Mountain Ranch Road, San Andreas.
The Calaveras County Board of Supervisors will discuss a variety of topics, including a public transit study and an update on the Williamson Act, during a special meeting Tuesday evening.
The board occasionally holds evening meetings in an effort to encourage participation from people who can't attend the board's regular daytime meetings.
On Tuesday's consent calendar, the board will consider appointing Megan Stedtfeld as interim county counsel from June 28 through Dec. 30. The county's chief attorney, Janis Elliott, is retiring at the end of June.
Stedtfeld, a deputy county counsel, is scheduled to earn $60.58 an hour as interim county counsel.
Regular agenda items include:
• approving an agreement with Augustine Planning Associates for preparation of the Housing Element of the county's long-awaited General Plan land-use planning document.
The contract is for $22,015 with a term ending June 30, 2015.
"Because the county has been working on a comprehensive update to its General Plan for several years, and it was anticipated that update would have been adopted prior to this year, the Housing Element was not included in the scope of work for consultants working on that update," states an agenda submittal. "However, due to the delays that have occurred, the Housing Element now must be included in the update process."
• accepting the Calaveras Transit Intercity Service Feasibility Study, which outlines potential public transit destinations outside of the county. The study provides a comparative analysis of the benefits offered by traveling to cities such as Sonora and Lodi.
After an evaluation of the cost benefits and overall effectiveness of the routes, the study recommends a route to Stockton as the most effective.
That bus service would be in addition to routes to Columbia College and Jackson.
• receiving a report on the Williamson Act, which gives farmers and ranchers a break on property taxes in exchange for not developing their land.
Of the total 43,370 parcels within Calaveras County, 1,158 are now under a Williamson Act contract. Acreage under contract totals 140,919, and the total assessed value of Williamson Act parcels in the county is $39.5 million.


text:
Polls show an increase in religious faithMarch 19, 1997
By Jeff Talbert
Lariat Reporter
Recent polls have shown that although national church attendance appears to be on the decline, more people are believing in the Bible and professing to be Christians.
Pollster George Barna was reported in The Providence Journal-Bulletin as finding that 86 percent of people interviewed profess to be Christians. But Barna also found church attendance to be as low as 37 percent in any given week.
Dr. Jeter Basden, associate religion professor and assistant director of ministry guidance, said more people are professing faith in God because of the uncertainties, the complexities and the hopelessness of the world.
'People are turning to God to find hope, meaning, purpose and joy in life,' he said.
He said that although people are professing faith in God, they are disenchanted with the institutional church.
'They see the institutional side of the church and not the spiritual fellowship side,' Basden said. 'Some of this may be the church's fault.'
Dustin Zanders, a Rockdale sophomore, said he is a Christian but does not always go to church. He said churches are 'not meeting the needs of what people expect the church to be like.'
Basden said he believes a fewer percentage of University students are going to church now than a generation ago, but he believes there is a growth in the percentage of students who profess faith in God.
He said this is evidenced by increased student involvement in parachurch organizations such as Campus Crusade, Young Life or Mission Waco, and the growth of the number of students going on mission trips.
'Students get involved in a lot of parachurch organizations and use that as a substitution for church,' Basden said.
He said he believes his generation has the tendency to substitute church attendance for personal faith, while the younger generation tends not see the importance of church attendance along with their personal faith.
'It's like a student saying he'll substitute studying with going to class,' Basden said. 'A student can't do that. A student has to both go to class and study.'
Copyright © 1997 The Lariat
Comments or Questions can be sent to The Lariat
More News ...

subset: commoncrawl


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Why should a clock only tell time when it can be so much more? Now they can dock their iPod or iPhone and turn a clock into a stereo to broadcast their tunes through the room.


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Last week ministers managed to rewrite some of the protections in the controversial Justice and Security Bill while it was being scrutinised in committee: this week backbenchers MPs are starting to hit back.
I reported in late January that Andrew Tyrie was considering amending the legislation, and that a group of Tory MPs was minded to support him. He has now tabled a series of changes for the report stage of the Bill in the Commons, with the support of Liberal Democrat deputy leader Simon Hughes.
Tyrie's proposals involve creating an elected chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee who is an MP, which is one of the recommendations in his CPS paper on the Bill.
These proposals relate to part I of the Bill, which is perhaps the less controversial section of the legislation. Lib Dem grassroots members are continuing to push their parliamentarians to vote against part II, which contains measures for secret courts, or Closed Material Procedures.
Last week's committee hearings saw the amendments from the House of Lords torn up through a series of new amendments by ministers. Labour's shadow justice minister Andy Slaughter says the party will also table amendments to part II which reinstate those from the Lords. He tells me:
'Our position has not changed: we have been very nervous of CMPs throughout and that if the government is saying that they should be restricted in the most appropriate way, i.e. as a last resort, then at the very least we need the Lords amendments to do that.'
Subscribe to The Spectator today for a quality of argument not found in any other publication. Get more Spectator for less – just £12 for 12 issues.
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436 14th Street, Oakland, CA 94612Request info Add to list
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Coalition of U.S. Women's Health and HIV Advocates Call for Accelerated US Government Plan for Demonstrating Feasibility of PrEP for Women
Mar 04, 2013, 12:52 ET from AVAC from ,SisterLove
VOICE Results Underscore Need for Clear, US-Based PrEP Implementation Agenda
ATLANTA, March 4, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Women and PrEP Working Group, a coalition of more than 50 women from leading AIDS and women's health organizations, today called on US government agencies to coordinate a national agenda that will quickly and accurately answer questions about how the antiretroviral (ARV) drug Truvada can best be made available as an HIV prevention option for women at risk of HIV infection.
The Working Group called for a US federal coordinating group to be convened with the goal of ensuring that plans and funds are in place for demonstration projects that will answer key questions about the use of daily tenofovir/emtricitibine (TDF/FTC, brand name Truvada) as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among women in the United States, as well as plans for educational campaigns for women, their partners and health care providers as PrEP is rolled out.
"Many women in the US are at high risk for HIV. In some communities African American women are at as much risk of HIV as in many African communities and they need new HIV prevention options that they can control and use to protect themselves. PrEP can be that option for some women. The scientific evidence is clear, and last year's FDA approval of Truvada as PrEP for all men and women at risk of HIV paved the way for the next steps," said Dazon Dixon Diallo, MPH, Executive Director of SisterLove and convener of the Working Group.
"While the clinical science is clear, the social and behavioral implications are less so, and we now need to develop and fund demonstration projects that will help answer a range of questions about real-world use of PrEP by American women and move toward an integrated plan for PrEP rollout in our communities that includes support for healthcare providers, social workers and others who will help women use PrEP effectively," Diallo added.
Researchers reported today at the 20th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) in Atlanta that none of three interventions tested in a large scale trial among African women, known as VOICE (Vaginal and Oral Interventions to Control the Epidemic) - daily oral tenofovir, daily oral TDF/FTC and daily 1% vaginal tenofovir gel - provided additional protection against HIV, likely because of low adherence in across all three interventions.
PrEP trials in Africa have provided key data about women in different populations and life circumstances. Trials have shown high rates of effectiveness among African women in stable relationships in which one partner is HIV-positive and low or flat rates of effectiveness among young women who were less likely to be in stable relationships. In all of these trials, including the VOICE trial, higher rates of effectiveness were linked with higher rates of adherence.
"The VOICE results were disappointing. The fact that few women in a trial which had very high rates of HIV incidence chose to, or were able to, use the products daily shows that we have much work to do to understand what social, cultural and other factors affect adherence to the prescribed dose and how we can support women in effectively using new prevention tools. But PrEP remains a valuable option for many women who will want to and can use it as prescribed," said Manju Chatani-Gada, Senior Program Manager at AVAC and co-convener of the Working Group. "Well-designed demonstration projects will help us understand adherence and other real-world issues for women who choose to use PrEP."
The Working Group calls for a coordinated, timely and adequately funded U.S. government response to PrEP for women that involves the full participation and leadership of individuals and communities most in need of effective, comprehensive HIV prevention. The federal coordinating group must look to answer critical questions not answered by current data about daily Truvada for PrEP, including:
- How will daily PrEP be used for HIV prevention by women in the United States?
- What data are needed regarding daily PrEP's acceptability and effectiveness among those women?
- How will daily PrEP be promoted, made accessible and financed for use by U.S. women?
The Working Group calls for prompt action from federal agencies, led by the Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop a plan that will fill the gaps in PrEP research, public and provider education, social marketing and public policy, and that defines the next steps required for real-world use and development of a comprehensive rollout plan for PrEP among at risk women in the United States.
"Male and female condoms are wonderful HIV prevention options that work for many women and their partners. But some women can't insist their partners use condoms, and many young women and their HIV-positive partners want to have children," said Erika Aaron, a nurse practitioner at Drexel University School of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and HIV Medicine. "Those women need other options to protect themselves from HIV. PrEP can help them stay HIV-negative. We have a moral imperative to find ways to make it available to women who need it and who can use it."
The Working Group on U.S. Women and PrEP Statement and other information about PrEP and women is available at http://www.prepwatch.org/#women.
SOURCE AVAC; SisterLove


text:
Discussion in 'General Pro Player Discussion' started by ninman, May 8, 2008.
Are the only top ten players who have never retired from a match. Interesting huh?
and we have Djokovic and Davydenko on the other end of the spectrum, one who retires for "sore throat".
Denko retires because the mob tells him too.
Separate names with a comma.


text:
Tuesday's Reserve League match between the Colorado Rapids and Vancouver Whitecaps at Dick's Sporting Goods Park will have multiple benefits for the Rapids coaching staff.
For starters, the match is expected to include Pablo Mastroeni, Martin Rivero, Deshorn Brown, and possibly Edson Buddle and Kevin Harbottle - five players who are returning to full fitness following injuries that have sidelined each for multiple games this season.
"It's definitely going to help," Reserve team coach Wilmer Cabrera said Monday. "Especially the guys coming back from injuries - to get the timing that they need and to get game fit. And the other part is to continue pushing the young guys to be ready for the first team or when Oscar (Pareja) needs them."
Chris Klute, Shane O'Neill, Kamani Hill, Danny Mwanga and Nathan Sturgis - all starters in the 1-0 win over Toronto last Saturday - used early Reserve League games to show head coach Pareja that they could be counted to help the first team.
"It's been happening this year, a lot, that (Pareja) has needed to use the young guys," Cabrera said. "These games are very important for them to take that responsibility and to step up to show everyone in the club that they are ready to play if the coach needs them."
The match against the Whitecaps presents more experienced players like Tony Cascio, Anthony Wallace, and Stew Ceus minutes to stay sharp and impress, as well as younger players like Dillon Serna, Kory Kindle, Davy Armstrong, and Brenton Griffiths to work on their games against quality opposition.
And finally, the match will again serve as a link between the pro side and youth system, as up to five Development Academy players are likely to be called up against the Whitecaps.
"It has to be the connection and it has to be how we're going to develop as a club," Cabrera said. "Now they have to step up, get into the rhythm and see what it's like to be at the professional level."
Rapids Development Academy U-18 players Isaac Martinez, Ricardo Perez, Bryan Windsor, and Austin Seifert - who have all seen playing time official Reserves League games this year - were joined at Rapids training on Monday by Academy teammates Alex Braman, Alex Toderica, and U-16 goalkeeper Hayden Davis.
The Reserve League game against Vancouver will kick off at 12 pm MT on the main training field at Dick's Sporting Goods Park and is free to the public.
Note: The Rapids and Whitecaps first teams don't meet until late October when they will play back-to-back, home and away contest to close out the regular season.


text:
Health education and promotion specialists are leading the nation's health improvement efforts. The Health Education program at Plymouth State University prepares students to work in a variety of educational, community and medical settings, including public and private schools, hospitals, managed care organizations, insurance companies, volunteer agencies and public and private work sites.
Content areas of health education:
- Nutrition/Fitness
- Disease/ Mental Health
- Sexuality and Family Life
- Substance use and abuse
- Community Health/Personal Health
- Safety and First Aid
- Environmental Health
- Consumer Health
For more information contact about our Health Education program, contact:
- Dr. Margaret Burckes-Miller
Department of Health and Human Performance
Plymouth State University
Plymouth, NH 03264
- Dr. Irene Cucina
Graduate Health Program Coordinator
Department of Health and Human Performance
Plymouth State University
Plymouth, NH 03264


text:
Here's a quick video for the Presonus Studio One 2 users, on how to drag and drop audio from Maschine 2.0 into the DAW.
Also, gives a quick idea of why this can be very beneficial to your workflow, especially if you prefer linear arranging of your song.
Being able to do this makes Maschine very flexible as an idea/sketchpad and then you can take those ideas into your DAW as audio data.
Super quick!
If you have any questions just ask*access all exclusive tutorials, downloads, workouts, and the member community when you join today!


text:
RoseAnn V. Shawiak
Placating Composition - Poem by RoseAnn V. Shawiak
Writing through music, enjoying tones and sounds of every
note as it fills my mind with an energy from above.
Never needing any thoughts ahead of time, because the first
note of music's melody brings words flowing like a beautiful
waterfall, cascading through my mind.
Many beautiful accolades form in the nature of poetry as
life is attuned to the many particles of what surrounds me
in wonderful array.
Tempting associations shape, form and entice rhythms into
existence, giving me a pleasure exceeding life itself,
nothing compares to it's essence and passion of being.
Taking everything into account, I continue to enhance life
through every note being played into every poem, written
and placed in the universe divine.
A placating composition soaring into an interior intellect
and imagination, a beautiful wonder, always filling me no
matter what I do, a mater of urgency, tantalizing my mind
to write.
Topic(s) of this poem: poem
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RoseAnn V. Shawiak's Other Poems
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Caged Bird
Maya Angelou
Rudyard Kipling
Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
Robert Frost
I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You
Pablo Neruda


text:
Daedalic Entertainment - Memoria Trailer
View Single Post
August 27th, 2013, 22:30
Originally Posted by
Blackguards is a full fledged TB RPG.
Didn't want to make a new thread for that, also because this video is just in German:
But for the english speaking guys some snippets from it:
The reporter asks about the roleplaying parts of this game as the previous focus was mostly on combat (190 Battlemaps).
Deadalic answers that there are RPG elements, and these elements can be for example that you come into a room and have to find out what it this room is actually about, you have to make decisions which may be good or bad. But they might seem gut but later in the game you may find out you actually made a bad decision (by me: think Witcher1).
One example was also that you might find a room with a lot of chests, you plunder some or all of them, but this might have the impact that the amount of enemies you will face afterwards will be higher which you don't know beforehand. It's like you have to live with the consequences.
Most of the decisions however are on the battlemaps themselves.
Some of the character might also not do on the battlemap what they should do (e.g. because they took drugs).
He also mentions that everything in the plan for release at the end of the year.
From the rest (and previous interviews) it sounds much like this game consists of going from battlemap from battlemap. In each battlemap you have to do things. Like solving riddles, fighting and whatnot.
While this can be "full fledged TB RPG" as Gorath mentioned, I think it's not what most people would expect from such a title.
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The seventh and final season ōMad Menö begins at 10 p.m. EDT Sunday on AMC. Seven episodes will air in 2014, to be followed by seven more next year. Online: http://www.amctv.com.
NEW YORK (AP) Ś Chat with Matthew Weiner these days and you feel the added depth of his ōMad Menö immersion.
When its bifurcated final season begins at 10 p.m. EDT Sunday on AMC (with seven episodes, to be followed by seven more next year), the second of those final hours will be shooting, while the fifth of seven final scripts will be taking shape on the page.
And then?
The looming end has taken root in the ōMad Menö conversation among fans, even as they mark time waiting for the 14 new installments. Meanwhile, Weiner, as the auteur of this landmark drama series, voices both resolve and wonderment at his task of bringing ōMad Menö in for a landing.
His goal, he says, is not to wallop the audience with a grand parting shot, but something more gently profound: ōto leave the characters in a place where theyÆre going to be in viewersÆ imaginations forever.ö
Weiner has said many times he hit upon some semblance of that ōfitting endö several years ago.
And yet: Pulling the plug on a TV series goes against every instinct of the person in charge, he says Ś the person whose primary duty is to keep the show alive and well, week after week.
Even for a series veteran like Weiner (who was a writer-producer of ōThe Sopranosö as well as the sitcom ōBeckerö), his mission to end ōMad Menö is ōa totally antithetical thing, an exercise that is outside my realm of experience.ö
Viewers will remember that at the close of last season, which spanned the stormy year of 1968, Don Draper (series star Jon Hamm) was left in disarray. He had been sidelined by his ad agency after suffering a meltdown at a client meeting. His loving wife, Megan (Jessica Pare), walked out on him after one too many broken promises.
The 1960s have been hard on Don. A man who, years before, assumed another manÆs identity, he has shaped his sense of self, and his career, from cultural models that seem to grow increasingly outdated as the Æ60s wear on. Don Ś however charismatic and commanding his image Ś is on a downward spiral as he hits middle age, fast becoming an old fogy in a youth-obsessed era. Or so it may have seemed to some viewers.
Weiner doesnÆt see him that way.
ōThereÆs been a constant assertion about Don being out of touch, and that, by 1968, his style of advertising isnÆt working anymore. IÆve never felt that,ö Weiner says. ōWhat I do feel, particularly last season, is that society has caught up to him. Identity issues caught up with society, which made the society more like Don. HeÆs never been MORE in touch.
ōThe world is changing. That was the original intention of the show. And change makes everybody feel out of place.ö
Indeed, there have been signals that Don, swamped by painful recognition, is braced to take corrective action.
Last seasonÆs fade-out found the man who, at the seriesÆ start was fiercely guarded about his past, coming clean to his three kids: Don stood with them outside the former whorehouse where he, born Dick Whitman, was raised as an orphan.
Now, how does the new season pick up the action?
As usual, Weiner made sure the preview he shared with TV critics was accompanied by a laundry list of details not to be divulged: things like when it takes place and whatÆs going on with DonÆs work and private life.
What, then, can be shared? That the episode, written by Weiner, is richly satisfying. That the cast (also including Elisabeth Moss, John Slattery, Vincent Kartheiser, Christina Hendricks and Aaron Staton) remains terrific. That the series seems headed confidently down its home stretch.
Pretty much the rest is meant to stay hush-hush.
But secrecy is not simply an obsession for Weiner. ItÆs a marketing strategy that serves ōMad Menö well.
ōThis was a decision I made at the showÆs pilot stage,ö he says. He pointed to January Jones, who plays DonÆs ex and at the showÆs inception was still his wife. ōShe was not part of any of the press material for the first season, because I didnÆt want anyone who watched the pilot to know until its final moments that Don was married.ö
Weiner laughs, recalling the first table read for this obscure new series on an also-ran network as he demanded confidentiality from his cast.
ōEverybody looked at me like weÆd be LUCKYö if spoilers were a problem for this show. ōThey were thinking, æYou REALLY want us to keep things a secret?Æ
ōNot all entertainment has to be this way,ö Weiner acknowledges, ōbut I thought that the surprise of our storytelling would be a smart marketing decision. Luckily, AMC agreed, right from the beginning.ö And as Weiner hoped, it helped get the show noticed Ś and still does.
Now the end is in sight. How to pull it off in a way that does justice to the series and its fans? And to viewers who have yet to discover it, and wonÆt until all the cats are out of the bag?
ōIf æMad MenÆ continues to be watched after its ending airs, whoever approaches it will know how it ends,ö Weiner muses almost wistfully. ōHowever we end the show, there wonÆt be any more secrets. ThatÆs kind of weird.ö He means to leave a show behind that will satisfy latecomers, too.
But thatÆs all ahead.
ōBefore then,ö he declares, ōweÆve got a lot of ground to cover.ö


text:
Battlebus tour company or Overload tour company for a PRIVATE guide American DDay?
Here are my notes.
Cost for a couple: Time:
Battlebus 500E 8:30am-5:30pm
Overload 365E 8:30am-6:30pm
Both customize and preplan to our interests.
I have read them all!
Battlebus guide can be your driver, called "Step-On guide" or we drive and they navigate. They do not accompany you
into musuems. Buys their own lunch but website suggest that we could.
Overload uses their vehicle, picks you up and drops you off at your hotel. Will accompany us into museums. We buy their lunch (15E) which I included above.
Both have impressive reputations and reviews.
Overload has been around for
20+ years, Battlebus is 5 yrs old.
Personally, We have the knowledge and a good
understanding of these historic events. Looking for a tour guide who will truly bring
this history to life for us.
I've exhausted my research and now it's time for the folks of "Fodorville" to share their wisdom.
So Battlebus or Overload?
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Which company would you choose and why?Private guide for American DDay tour.
Battlebus tour company or Overload tour company for a PRIVATE guide American DDay?
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You really need reviews from people who have done at least one or the other, and that's not me. But, if you want opinions, I guess the obvious thing is to choose the cheaper one if you think they are the same quality of guiding. NOt going into museums with you wouldn't be important to me, and it sounds like you. That is a 135 euro difference per couple (are these priced per couple? why not just state them per person, it would make it easier, if that's what they are), or about 67 euro pp. That's a big differential for a one day tour if it's the same quality, don't you think? Personally, I would be biased against Overload just because the idea of professional tour guides telling you that you have to buy them lunch and telling you the price seems stupid to me. If they want that much more money, why don't they just add that amount to the fee.
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Cost Breakdown:
Battlebus E250pp
Overload E175pp plus guide's lunch.
I thought it was tactless that they
priced the "guide's lunch" instead of including it into the "private tour". We always give a gratuity and depending on the circumstances, we'll also buy their meal.
When an opportunity presents itself to spend more time with a local in foreign county it adds to the experience.
Once in Capri we charted a small private boat and captain to take us around. Back in port we invited Fiore and his family for drinks at the cafe, it was very memorable.
Yes you read us correctly, no hand holding in the museums. Also we can control the amount of time we spend in each place. Because we are leaving Tuesday open, we can return and spend additional time, and see other
things we couldn't do on Monday's tour.
It will probably come down to the cost.
If anyone has any experiences with the
"private tour" of either company we'd like to hear from you.
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We have hired PRIVATE guides twice - once in the parking lot of the Bayeux train station, and once at the Vistor Center in town.
Both times, we got very well-informed local guys who seem to really enjoy their jobs, know the D-Day history cold, and have myriad anecdotes told by their parents and grandparents about that tumultuous period.
The price in both cases was less than 100€ for an all-day tour for the five of us - wherever and whenever we wanted to go. We bought lunch in Port-en-Bessins for both guides.
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Did you meet with them a day before, setting a price and explaining what you wanted to do, then they took you the next day?
We'd want to go over our plans with them
just as we have emailed each of these 2 companies in advance.
For Monday, we have a list of what we'd like to do from Utah Beach to Ouistreham. Certain musuems will enhance our tour and others we'll visit when we're alone on Tuesday.
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I already knew which roads to take, so I just navigated from the right seat.
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If you weren't navigating did you think the driver couldh've done it without
your help? Did he have the historical knowledge?
Also, you can communicate in French and I can only do the basics.
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Oh, sure - he lived there, after all. He knew the roads like the back of his hand.
I would just say, "Let's start at the Mulberry museum in Arromanches" or "[#3 son] wants to see the battery at Longues sur Mer. We'll go there next."
He spoke English for the benefit of my family members who don't parlent français.
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While we did not use a private tour guide option, we did use Battlebus in Sept. of 2004. We first met up with Dale of Battlebus (a Brit) on our Rick Steves tour (Paris & Heart of France). He joined our bus for a day's tour as a local guide. We enjoyed him so much, when we got back to Paris we went back to Bayeux for another full day tour - I believe we took the Band of Brothers tour - as we had already covered the main sites on the RS tour. (I really went back for my husband who loves WWII history - but I really enjoyed it too.) He certainly made history come alive. The all day tour was not in a "bus"with a ton of other people but in a minivan with maybe six other people (Dale drove).
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The Battlebus "American Highlights(1) day group tour", up to 8 people, would be a good alternative. We want to go west to east and end at the cemetery in Colleville for taps and that's exactly
what this one does.
We're just trying to arrange some additional US sights, and some of the
British/Canadien DDay. I thought it was odd that neither of the Battlebus (1) day tours included the Arromanches, only the Mulberry Harbor. Also, the Ranger musuem in Grandcamp-Maisy is closed on Mondays. We'll be returning to see that on Tuesday as no one has that on their group tours and it's of personal interest to us.
Thanks for the thoughts and if anyone has any ideas please let me know.
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My sister and I took a couple of Battlebus tours last year and they were absolutely amazing . We did the "Band of Brothers" and "Canadian Juno Sector Tour" with Paul and Sean as our guides, respectively.
I would HIGHLY recommend Battlebus, as they truly know what they're talking about. I majored in history in university and have studied WWII exhaustively but I still learned a great deal on their tours . The great thing about Battlebus is that they not only give you the statistics and the basic information, but they also tell you the personal stories of the soldiers that fought and show you things you would never have thought or known to seek out. For example, on our Juno Beach tour, Sean pulled over on a seemingly ordinary street and pointed down at the curb. The 5 of us on the tour looked down, puzzled, to see strange looking notches cut along the sidewalk. Sean went on to explain that the notches were created by tanks rolling through town and that the town, to honour the memory of those who fought, carefully preserved them, even going so far as to remove them when patching up sidewalks and replacing them when the repair work was done. It's those kinds of details that make Battlebus special.
The Battlebus guides also carry visual aids (maps, personal pictures of soldiers, etc.) to help illustrate their stories and make history come alive. The organized tours are also fairly flexible so, if there's time, the guide may throw in extra stops based on what he senses the group is interested in. Paul, the owner of Battlebus and our "Band of Brothers" guide, even went so far as to pull out a book of visual aids from a DIFFERENT tour on the ride home and tell us stories from that tour when he saw how fascinated my sister and I were.
I really can't recommend Battlebus enough .
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Another vote for Battlebus. When they could not run a Canadian tour during our stay, Paul detoured to insert as many Canadian sites as possible for us, as well as sites for the Aussies on an American tour. Also, the visual aides are a big plus in understanding the battles.
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Still another vote for Battlebus. We took the "American Tour" last Sept. and had Gert for a guide. He was from Belgium and had moved to the Normandy region to study WWII history. There were 7 in our group started at Sainte Mer Eglise and ending at the American Cemetary even stopping at a B & B along the way where we had pre-ordered sandwiches ready for us and eating in the van so we didn't waste any time. It was a great idea.
He took us to some out of the way places with personal stories of the fighting that took place there. His maps and visuals made it easy to understand.
We had planned on staying in Bayeaux for 2 days but ended up staying for 4 because there was so much to see.
Don't forget to visiting the German cemetary - it was quite a contrast to the beauty of the American one.
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For those who think hundreds of Euro is an awful lot to pay for a verbal presentation of stuff that's in books selling for under $20, google michelin 102
Are "visual aides" some sort of assistants for the blind?
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Robespierre, the tours we're referring to don't cost hundreds of euros - I believe the cost was 75 euros, which, while not an insignificant amount, was well worth it for an 8-hour tour of hard to reach/find places in a very small group with a knowledgeable guide.
Also, the information presented in the tour was not information that could be found in $20 books, or any books for that matter. The facts and figures can be found anywhere, to be sure, but the Battlebus guides get most of their stories from veterans themselves and take you to places you would otherwise not be allowed to enter (for example, onto a number of privately owned farms and inside the walls of an abbey).
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I wasn't referring to any tour in particular. There are many ways to go about a D-Day tour, and various people want to do it different ways. There is something to suit every taste and level of historical knowledge.
My only point is that there are price points all over the spectrum. Battlebus charges 80€ per person, the same that the private guides charge for a carload (5, in our case). It's each person's choice.
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Make that 80€ per person for the American Highlights Tour 8:30-5:30.
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DiG- DS and I loved our day with Gert from Battlebus. He went waaaay beyond the basics to point out things we would have missed along the way. He truly seems to love his job.
We wished we had another day available with the company. We'll use Battlebus on our return.
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D-Day Tours www.overlordtour.com
We spent September 12, 2010 touring Omaha/Utah Beaches and the area portrayed in "Band of Brothers" with Mr. Alain Chesnel.
Mr. Chesnel is extremely professional and has a vast knowledge of
D-Day. He is very intelligent, well informed and clearly has a passion for the events of D-Day history and their implication in world history.
We highly recommend his services.
Jim Juknialis
Becky Morgan
Cleveland OH USA
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text: I very much wanted Jeff Fisher. I feel he is a players coach and players seem to work very hard for him. After him I have a very easy pick for who I would like to see us land as 2012 Head Coach of the Miami Dolphins: Option Number 1 - Pete Carmichael jr. of the Saints (I would possibly be even happier to have him over Jeff Fisher) Option Number 2 - Joe Philbin of the Packers.... Can you guys let me know what you feel the possibility of us landing one of these two guys and which one you would rather have?


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Football fans welcomed the start of the new season at bars and nightspots all over South Florida Thursday night.
Miami's own music mogul Luther "Uncle Luke" Campbell served up a taste of his new namesake rum at Wynwood's Gramp's bar. The avid football fan called it a must-have for the season.
"I mean, hey, you gotta have the chicken wings, you gotta have the rum, and you know, you gotta have the girls," Campbell said.
Though the Broncos and Ravens were on the screen, much of the bar talk centered on the home team.
"I think they're going to go all the way," Campbell said.
Down at Club LIV on Miami Beach, the Miami Dolphins cheerleaders rolled out their new calendar to rave reviews. Fan Gerald Robinson said the only thing better than his new calendar would be if his prediction came true.
"The Dolphins are gonna go all the way this year," he said.
Dolphins Stories on NBC6.com:
- Philbin Won't Compare Tannehill to Luck or RGIII
- Dolphins' Incognito Fought With a Security Guard: Cops
- Dolphins: Smith Swung Helmet at Incognito


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TESS VIGELAND: Fifty years ago, a German pharmaceutical company introduced a drug called Thalidomide. It was supposed to help pregnant women cope with morning sickness. Instead, it left thousands of babies dead or severely deformed. Victims and their families received millions of dollars in compensation, but now many of those Thalidomide babies are middle-aged.
Their health is deteriorating and the money is running out. Today, two British victims are in Germany to launch the latest stage in a multi-billion dollar campaign for more generous payback.
From London, Stephen Beard reports.
STEPHEN BEARD: Thalidomide left Karl Davies disabled from birth. His arms are little more than hands protruding from his shoulders, but that doesn't stop Karl from trying to lead a normal life.
KARL DAVIES: I'm using my foot to put the key in and turn. OK, that's on. Now it's shoe back on.
In spite of his disability, Karl drives himself to work.
DAVIES: Now I'll use my foot to hook underneath the door, and I'll just slam the door and pull my foot out and leg out of the way rather quickly so I don't get caught.
An adroit performance, but Karl admits that at the age of 45, it isn't getting easier.
DAVIES: It's getting increasingly difficult over the years. Flexibility's gone. My hands aren't as flexible or as strong as they used to be, and things are more painful year, by year, by year.
And more expensive. When they were born, the thalidomide victims were not expected to live more than a few years. Now many of them, more severely disabled than Karl, have outlived their compensation. They've launched a campaign to get more money. They've targeted the German manufacturer of the drug Grunenthal, and the German government.
NICK DOBRIK: They have not lived up to their moral obligation, and eventually we will sit down and negotiate a settlement which will make the thalidomiders financially secure.
Nick Dobrik, himself a moderately disabled thalidomider, is heading the campaign. He's asking for $6 billion, an average of $1.75 million for each of the 3,500 surviving victims. Grunenthal has rejected that claim, and agreed only to pay an extra 75 million. The German government has proved unresponsive.
When Nick and his fellow campaigners turned up on the doorstep of the German embassy in London last month, the ambassador's deputy was not exactly welcoming.
AMBASSADOR'S DEPUTY: He physically can't see you today.
DOBRIK: You don't seem to care about them.
DEPUTY: No, that's not correct.
DOBRIK: Well, why won't you receive them?
DEPUTY: That's not correct at all.
Grunenthal paid the equivalent of $200 million to the German victims of the drug in the early 70s, but that money's run out. The German government now pays the German victims an average of $8,000 a year. Jacqueline Perry is a British lawyer who's working pro bono for the thalidomiders. She says the business of compensation has changed dramatically since the early 70s.
JACQUELINE PERRY: We calculate it in a much more exacting way than was ever done in the days when a sort of general figure was thought of. You looked at the ceiling. You gazed out of the window. You divided by three, and it was a very much less scientific basis.
Thalidomide victims in Spain and Italy got no compensation at all. The US largely avoided the disaster. The FDA refused to approve the drug, but there are thought to be about a dozen American victims whose mothers took the medicine while in Europe. We don't know whether any of them were compensated. Lorraine Mercer is another British victim. She has no arms or legs. She lives alone in a small apartment surrounded by electronic devices.
ROBERT: This is the electric door mechanism into Lorraine's apartment. It's an automatic system which is radio-controlled.
Robert is a part-time carer. In spite of Lorraine's severe disability, in spite of the fact that British victims are better off than most, she doesn't get full-time care. She can't afford it.
LORRAINE MERCER: It's not easy, very hard to survive on your own.
Once she sang in the church choir, but breathing trouble has crushed her vocal chords. Her health is declining fast, but she's completely committed to the campaign.
MERCER: I will go and fight if they don't give us more money. I will go and fight until we get somewhere.
The victims intend their new campaign to be a landmark in the history of product liability and compensation.
In London, this is Stephen Beard for Marketplace.


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President Barack Obama wrapped up Thursday's health care summit with strong words for Republicans: Find common ground with Democrats in the next six weeks or we're moving on without you and letting voters decide in November who was wrong.
"The question that I'm going to ask myself and that I ask of all of you is, is there enough serious effort that in a month's time or a few weeks' time or six weeks' time, we could actually resolve something. If we can't, I think we've got to go ahead and make some decisions and I think that's what elections are for," Obama said at the end of the seven-hour meeting at the Blair House.
Obama said he will be looking for "significant movement, not just gestures" in the coming weeks from Republicans. He highlighted GOP proposals that he embraced in the summit — namely, a market-based exchange, tort reform and a focus on cutting waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare — in a show of his reception to their ideas.
But he doesn't need them in order to move the issue forward. "Procedurally, it could get done fairly quickly. We cannot have another yearlong debate about this," he said.
An administration official later sought to clarify Obama wasn't talking about any specific timetable. "He was just saying that we are going to continue moving forward over the next few weeks as we take the final steps necessary for passage," the official said.
Republicans spent much of the day pushing the idea of taking on health care reform in a piecemeal approach, an idea that Obama shot down in his closing remarks.
"A step-by-step approach sounds good in theory, but the problem is, we can't solve pre-existing conditions if we don't do something about coverage," said the president. "Baby steps don't get you to the place where people need to go. They need help right now."
Obama also called on Republicans to do "a little soul-searching" to figure out how they would deal with "the core problem" of providing insurance to 30 million people and addressing the issue of pre-existing conditions. He acknowledged that Republicans might not have much incentive politically to work with Democrats.
"I don't need a poll to know that most of the Republican voters are opposed to this bill and might be opposed to the kind of compromise we could craft," said Obama.
But if Republicans aren't willing to work with Democrats on advancing a health overhaul, Obama predicted that Congressional leaders "are going to have a lot of arguments about procedures in Congress about moving forward."


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eXpresso for Microsoft Office expands cloud collaboration
Aug 13th 2010
eXpresso Corporation, a provider of cloud-based document collaboration solutions for business, has announced the launch and immediate availability of its eXpresso for Microsoft Office, now featuring full collaborative support for both Word and PowerPoint, in addition to its existing Excel support.
The new offering delivers online collaboration capabilities that differ from Google Docs or Office 2010 by allowing multiple office documents to share and simultaneously edit text and presentation files while preserving file formatting, regardless of the software version in use on the desktop.
"Documents are the lifeblood of every business and Microsoft's Office productivity suite is the de facto standard with 550 million suites installed worldwide," said eXpresso Corporation CEO George Langan. "With eXpresso's collaborative methodologies, Office users can now take advantage of unmatched functionality and cloud collaboration with a simple, affordable solution."
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First, we want to thank the folks on Fodor's and other sites like RS and TA for their great help in planning our trip. Also two new travel books--DK's Back Roads Northern and Central Italy and The Rough Guide to the Italian Lakes. Never done a trip report, much less a "live" report. Hope you enjoy it. As we go thru Switzerland and Italy over the next four weeks, any suggestions for places to see or where to eat on each leg of the trip are ALWAYS appreciated.
Background--we are retired couple in early 60s who fell in love with Italy on our first trip 15 years ago. Been back almost every fall since then. We now live most of the year on a small remote island in the Bahamas, so we tend to go to small towns and villages when visiting. We think the best way to do this is by car. Due to Delta FF miles, best route for this trip to Italy was RT nonstop from Atlanta to Zurich to minimize miles for business class. So we added a week to the trip and we are now visiting 4 lakes in Northern Italy we have never been to on the way to and from Zurich. Going to lots of new places and only staying in 3 hotels we have been to before, so hopefully this will be a mostly new experience for us, even after 12 previous trips.
2 nights--Klosters, Switzerland, day trip to Davos
2 nights--Lake Como/Varenna, ferry trip to Bellagio
3 nights--Lake Iseo, day trips to Bergamo and Franciacorta
3 nights--Lake Garda/Bardolino, day trips to Verona and Sirmione
4 nights--Greve/Chianti, day trip to Siena
4 nights--Montalcino, day trips to Pienza and Montepulciano
3 nights--Cortona, day trips to Assisi and Umbrian countryside
2 nights--Rapallo, day trip to Portofino
3 nights--Lake Maggiore/Cannobio, day trip to Borromeo islands
1 night---Zurich airport, visit/lunch in Lucerne in route
Leg 1--Atlanta-Zurich-Klosters/Davos
We are at the International Terminal in Atlanta ready to board the plane to Zurich where we pick up our car for four weeks. We got a great price on a rental from AutoEurope with Europcar. We have used them many times and they have always done a good job. including a relatively small charge for a "dangling" side mirror on our last trip! From Zurich it's about 90 miles to Klosters where we spent one night in 1998. Going back to the Hotel Chesa Grischuna, a picture perfect Swiss chalet hotel in the heart of Klosters. Plan to recover from jet lag by taking the aerial tram up to about 7500 ft and have a leisurely lunch while we enjoy the scenery. Day 2 is a trip on the train to Davos for the day. Never been there. Any suggestions for meals or things to see in either place would be great.
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Italy and Switzerland--September/October 2013
First, we want to thank the folks on Fodor's and other sites like RS and TA for their great help in planning our trip. Also two new travel books--DK's Back Roads Northern and Central Italy and The Rough Guide to the Italian Lakes. Never done a trip report, much less a "live" report. Hope you enjoy it. As we go thru Switzerland and Italy over the next four weeks, any suggestions for places to see or where to eat on each leg of the trip are ALWAYS appreciated.
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I love it---do you have room for me?
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Bob--read ALL your trip reports. You have been a big help for this trip. Just wish I could write in your entertaining way.
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(Hi Bob..I would ask the same question!))
Skip..while in Greve, located in the middle of the oval-shaped town is a family restaurant on the 2nd floor, Giovanni Verazzano.
A feeling of eating in their private dining room, superb food offerings and pleasant ambience which is totally relaxed and familial.
We enjoyed that place en route Florence to Siena. You may be in time for grape harvest and the colors of the leaves should be dramatic...deep rust, red and orange. Greve is completely surrounded with vineyards. The ride to Siena is an easy one
but parking in Siena is a nightmare. Best bet is to park at the south gate (Porta Romano)and walk(level) into town, 10 minutes or so.
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Hi Skip,
Your trip report comes at an ideal time, as I'm in the early stages of planning a 1-week trip to Tuscany, split between Chianti and the Montepulciano/Montalcino areas, for next September.
Can't say that I'm a huge fan of the very urban town of Davos, but there's some great yet easy hiking (you'll still need at least trail running shoes) in the area, and the fact that all the lifts and local public transportation are freely accessible to hotel guests in the summer is a huge plus in my book. My suggestions:
1) Take the bus from Davos Dorf station (not Davos Platz, there are 2 stations) to Dürrboden and walk back, either to Teufi or all the way to Davos. This is a very gentle walk along the base of a valley.
2) Take the Gotschna cable cars all the way to the top and walk on the aptly named Panoramaweg path that runs mostly parallel to the mountain and is therefore reasonably level, either back and forth to the Parsennhütte, or all the way to the middle station of the Parsenn funicular, which you can take down to Davos. The latter is a bit more ambitious but easily doable if you're fit.
Weather-wise, Wednesday should be perfect weather-wise and Thursday should still be mostly sunny, so if you get a reasonably early start you should still have a hiking great day. We've been having gorgeous Indian summer weather for the past few days (I live in Western Switzerland).
It's been too long since I was last in Davos and Klosters for me to feel comfortable recommending any restaurants. If you're into 20th century art and/or the clouds roll in faster than predicted, the Kirchner Museum is worth a visit - I really like the artist (German Expressionist painter), not that impressed by the museum itself unfortunately.
Finally, on a completely unrelated note, if you're looking for a place to splurge on superb food in a great setting, I can definitely recommend lunch on the terrace of the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio. Of course in Italy there are quite a few such places...
Have a great time and keep us posted!
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Andre-- thanks for the ideas on Davos. Tomorrow we will probably go up the mountain if the weather is okay, if not, visit places in town. Had a little "glitch" in the start of the trip that changed our plans.
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Driving in Europe always seems to involve one trying day. Last year it was a "dangling" side view mirror getting off the ferry on Elba. This trip it also happened on the first day.
Landed in Zurich early. Had the bags in the car and on the road to Klosters in an hour after we landed. Doing great. Unfortunately my wife and I said to each other how great the trip was starting. OOPS.
That's when we got a phone call from a Swiss number about 10 miles outside of Klosters., 80 miles from Zurich. It started with "Mr Hudgins are you missing any of your luggage". Of course I said no until I looked in the back seat and didn't see the extra suitcase we packed. Back to Zurich. Thru Zurich downtown due to a wrong turn(beautiful city), pick up suitcase, back to Klosters. All's well now, especially after checking into our favorite hotel, Chesa Grishuna and a wonderful dinner-- two different veal meals.
We plan to start counting our bags before leaving on each of the remaining legs!
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Andre. just returned last week from 3 weeks in Italy including stays in Greve, Radda and Siena.
Hotel Athena in Siena has its own parking garage just inside the gate and is super location to walk to all major sites .Highly recommend but make sure you ask for 4th floor or higher as part of building is on hill, so below ground level rooms exist.
Loved Radda even more than Greve for its panoramic views and great food.Best meal ever at La Botte di Bacco
We did a self guided cycling tour and used Booking.com ( plus Tripadvisor) for all places except 1st night and last 4 in Rome and were pleased with it. You dont prepay so have some leeway if you arrive and want a different room. I definitely learned to ask " may I please see the room"?
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Just flew home from Zurich two days ago. We had gorgeous weather during our stay (4 days 20th-24th) in Switzerland, although Germany was cold and very damp where we were (former East Germany) for a week prior to Switzerland. Hope you are enjoying your trip. We (DH and I) love "seat of the pants" travel, and always do rent a car. We've had our own "luggage issues" (I won't go into details, but it was a National Lampoon's European Vacation sort of incident just a few days ago!).
Don't you love it when you have to drive through Zurich?? Our garmin keeps trying to get us there, but we KNOW the better way using the Nordring and Westring to get around a lot of the traffic. Been travelling to Switzerland twice a year for decades.
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Hi, here are some suggestions:
- Two off the beaten path places in the Garda lake area: Parco termale del Garda, a natural open air SPA in a beautiful garden (http://www.villadeicedri.it/parco_main_prova.html) and Borghetto sul Mincio, a delightfull middle age mills hamlet, with excellent restaurants. You can actually get there by bike from Peschiera, following the Mincio River (more details in this post http://wp.me/p3sImA-9G)
- Not too far from Verona (if you have a car), UNESCO heritage sites Mantova and Sabbioneta
- For itinearies and travel tips in the Montalcino and Chianti area you may have a look at my travel blog www.delightfullyitaly.com
- Rapallo isn't that nice, you may consider Sestri Levante (www.google.it/search?q=sestri+levante&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=YaVEUv7cKIHVtQagu4CoAg&ved=0CE4QsAQ&biw=1440&bih=781&dpr=1), which is also a good gateway for Cinque Terre. You can get to portofino from Sestri either by Boat or by Train.
- When in Portofino, don't miss San Fruttuoso (you can get there by boat, from Portofino)
Hope this helps
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Been having too much fun to post.
Switzerland-- picture postcard beautiful. People very nice but a bit reserved. At Europcar they upgraded us to an Audi A3 with auto transmission. Great piece of German engineering and fun to drive in the mountains.
Klosters--perfect Swiss chalet village. Very quiet during this slow season with many restaurants, bars and hotels closed. We loved its charm and quietness. Hotel Chesa Grischuna is a very welcoming place. We had a nice corner room on the top floor. Breakfasts were great and included not just the normal Continental breakfast but also eggs. Its restaurant deserves its high reputation. Great food and attentive service. We had two different veal meals, one sliced in mushroom sauce with rosti and other one of the most tender veal steaks I've cut into. We wanted fondue the last night there and decided on Rustico, a small hotel and restaurant. So slow the fondue restaurant was closed during weekdays, so they used a private dining room in the hotel to serve us a very private cheese fondue. It was delicious.
Davos--Andre, I agree with you about Davos. While once it was probably a charming village like Klosters, it is now a developing city. Lots of action without much charm. Worked around a bit looking for the Panorama restaurant. Finally realized it got its name because it was up a mountainside. Part of the Schatzalp resort. You get there by also vertical funicular tram ride up the mountain. The view from another thousand or so feet up is indeed panoramic. The food was good.
We had a carrot/orange/ginger soup and local dish--Rosti. Loose English translation would be "mound o hash browns". Chose one with cheese and bacon. Turned out to be a mound of hash browns, covered in Swiss cheese and topped with 9 slices of bacon. They keep a cardiologist on staff. It was delicious.
Suisse is a very organized place. Everything seems to work. Driving is polite. Everyone seems to slow down to the speed limit when it is reduced. They literally slam on the brakes to allow people to cross the street in crosswalks. The Calanda and other local beers were delicious. Their local Pinot Noirs were great and much better than anticipated. Bringing a few bottles home.
We drove yesterday over two mountain passes, one so high it was above the tree line, in Switzerland to get to Northern Italy and it was a great fun. Now in Varenna on Lake Como. Headed to Bellagio by ferry today.
Thanks to all for suggestions about things to see and do.
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I was in Garda last month and took a drive to Albisan - quiet little place with amazing views of the lake. Had delicious lunch at Ristorante Panorama.
My step-great-grandmother took me here because she said that it was a little place that my great-grandfather discovered (he grew up in Garda) and used to take her.
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5th morning in Europe. 5th morning raining. No worries, beer is still good/cold and the red wine is great.
Italy--Bella Italia. Arrived 2 days ago after beautiful drive thru Switzerland. Spent the time on Lake Como in Varenna and Bellagio. Como is another magical beautiful place. Easy to understand why Mr Clooney, who everyone talks about here, picked Como.
Varenna is a very small quiet town on the Eastern shore with great views from our hotel--Albergo Milano. Very nice folks run this 8 room inn, all rooms lake view. A little bit of a hassle getting your bags from parking garage to hotel as not accessible by road. But once you are in, you are happy. We were met in Varenna by friends from the Bahamas. Had a excellent lunch with lots of laughs and travel stories at Il Cavatappi. Mixed salads, pate, local sausages, spaghetti with pomodoro and grilled fish from Como. All good especially the fish. Then visited the two Villas, Cipressi and Montastero, and their gardens. The latter's garden is very large but the stop in their bar midway thru the garden helped. Dinner that night at the hotel's restaurant, La Vista. Dining on a terrace overlooking Lake Como, eating fantastic food is hard to beat. Risotto with saffron and ossobuco, mushroom crepes and grill freshwater bass in a delicious sauce. Outstanding overall. Diners mostly Americans and Aussies. Many stories told about each other's travels in Italy. Pouring down rain next morning so we slept in and then had lunch at Borgovino on "restaurant row" in Varenna. Best meal yet in Europe. Fish soup, slightly spicy with lots of shrimp, mussels, squid, clams. Spaghetti with same seafood. Risotto with mushrooms and Taleggio.
Tiny place where reservations are needed. Great waiter.
Bellagio--not much time to visit there but ferried over for a quick trip. Grand tour 1800s resort feel to the waterfront. Did some shopping, wandering around and few stops for refreshments. Totally different than Varenna. Much busier. Day ended watching NFL football! while waiting for last ferry back to Varenna. Hard to believe but the once a season game in London was on and US fans watching it like it was a Serie A soccer match.
On to Bergamo for the day and then 3 relaxing days on Lake Iseo.
Thanks as always for the suggestions. Any idea for a favorite winery in Franciacorta would be great.
Got to go, looks like the SUN may be coming out.
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Day 8 of the "Sun Watch". Still looking for it. Left rainy Como 3 days ago for short truck clogged trip to rainy and windy Bergamo.
Bergamo-- thank you Claudio on RS Helpline. He lives in Bergamo and suggested we visit. Great stop. Citta alta is the old preserved foot traffic only medieval city above modern Bergamo. Found parking near the funicolare that took us straight up the hill. Spent late morning walking around almost deserted streets. Then the college let out for lunch and we were surrounded by students. Ate at Sant ambroeus trattoria.
Fancier than we planned but great meal of artichoke hearts with goat cheese, polenta with walnut cream sauce, Bergamo ravioli with butter, sage, cheese, bacon and a massive veal Milanese. Visited several churches including the spectacular Santa Maria Maggiore. One of those words can't describe it churches. One of the best we've been on any trip to Italy.
Iseo--a great find. The baby lake between Lakes Como and Garda. Three days here have been a blast but for the weather. Could not see the lake for 2 days from our hotel on the lake! Il Due Riccoli is a beautiful country home turned into a small resort. Great restaurant, nice people and is about 2 very curvy miles up the mountain from Iseo so wonderful views. Spent 2 days walking around Iseo and enjoyed this small waterfront town with its town square. Visited about all of it including the police station to pay our parking ticket. It was closed. Gotta love Italy. No tourists. No Americans. Just kids and families playing and biking in another car free area. We have enjoyed it more than Lake Como. Because of weather we didn't see all that we wanted so will make this a return destination. This is Franciacorta wine country and it is delicious. The hotel set up a very special tour for us of the Bellavista winery. It is the name of our house in Bahamas and our favorite champagne. Thank you Roberta for a memorable tour and our gift--6 liter empty bottle of Bellavista if we can figure how to ship it home. Even spend one weather crappy afternoon at the outlet mall about 15 minutes away near Brescia--just like the states including a food court with McDonalds. Made an obligatory stop as we do each time in Italy. cheeseburgers just like the states but they have beer and wine. Gotta love the Italians.
Headed to Lake Garda. Thanks CourtK for your suggestion. We will try to visit. Staying in a B and B just above Bardolino for the 3 day Bardolino wine festival plus a side trip to Verona for one day. Never been to either place so we are looking forward to the new adventure.
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CatchK. Sorry I got your name wrong before. Headed to Albisan for lunch. Just a short drive from where we are staying. Hope they serve Bardolino there as we may need a little " hair of the dog" and peace and quiet after the first night of the Bardolino wine festa. Fun crazy time.
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Hi Skip and BA! Or might the moniker Bacchus and Ceres be more appropriate as it would appear the gods have decided to revisit one more La Dolce Vita Italia in the most capable bodies of you two! What a wonderful itinerary and it sounds like you two are partaking to the fullest! And you still have 21 days to go? I think the over under would be 18 days at this pace but I would not bet against you! Did I see a visit to Cantina Lenotti?
We love you two and are thoroughly enjoying our vicarious travels with you.
Thanks and Safe Travels.
Andy and Polly
Life is good!
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Iseo trifecta--we loved Iseo but now have to relate 3 different things that happened to us, all on the same day as we have discovered.
1--dinner bill--had a quick meal at a nondescript place on the square one night. Average food not worth a review. Discovered the next morning we had had been given the wrong bill. There were only 3 tables eating. Not a wrong item, but we had paid the wrong bill. Upon further review, our Germans friends got our cheaper bill and we got theirs. Only about a 10 Euro difference , but the start of a trend.
2--parking ticket-- we parked in the white line parking but apparently overstayed the max time while eating and paying for the wrong bill. Police station closed on 2 separate attempts to pay.
3--laundry-- the same day 1 and 2 happened we picked up a weeks worth of laundry at the cleaners. 2 days later and now in Bardolino we open the bag and discover it is NOT our laundry! Don't know name of the cleaners. No name on bag. We need our laundry. Some guy needs his.
So yesterday drive an hour or so back to Iseo. First try to pay ticket again. Police station open but they won't open locked door. Finally they do when I show the ticket and it is paid. (Must be no crime in Iseo as police open 4 days a week, 4 hours each day). Then go to laundry. Closed but opens in 30 minutes. Along comes the lady who runs it, sees me and starts with about a hundred apologies in Italian. I give her the wrong laundry. She gives us ours and it's back to Bardolino with the Iseo trifecta completed.
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Bardolino wine festival--we wanted to stay on Lake Garda near Verona to see both for the first time. Picked Bardolino because there happened to be a wine festival going on at the time we planned to be on Garda. Perhaps best described as--
Start with a New York City street fair or small Southern county fair, add in scores of kids and hundreds of dogs, both on leashes or in strollers, dozens of food stalls, a few small concert venues, 2-3,000 Germans escaping South from Octoberfest and you begin to get the picture. Oh yeah, there's wine. Lots of wine. You buy a souvenir glass and then go from one food/ wine stall to another paying a nominal charge for each glass. All while 60s, 70s and 80s American rock and roll music is being played on loudspeakers along the beautiful Bardolino waterfront. Can't make it up.. Lots of people, lots of wine, lots of fun. The Germans, who apparently love Lake Garda, were the primary revellers. Italians and other folks from North Europe also in good numbers. Spoke to one American in two days. Definitely worth going if you are in the area on the first weekend of October
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I think I'm coming up with a plan for my next trip to Italy...
If you take the side trip to San Fruttosa from Portofino, continue on from SF to Camoglie by ferry. The fronts of the buildings were amazing. We did all three in a day trip from Cinque Terre.
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Thanks kwren. We live on the water and love a good boat trip.
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From Portofino you buy the tickets to SF. You buy the tickets to Camoglie in SF (different boat line - about a 30 second walk to that dock from the first once there) so I would recommend checking to be sure both are running before leaving Portofino, unless of course you will go to SF anyway. Ferries to SF leave every hour. There's a really good gelato place by that dock - the melon tasted like the best and freshest canteloupe I've ever eaten! The raspberry had a few seeds in it and the dark chocolate was excellent too. It's a short walk to the train station in Camoglie to go back.
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JP and tower. Thanks for the suggestions on Chianti on Tuscany. We are on a second day here. Looks like some hope of the sun coming out.
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Sun watch-Day 12. Left Lake Garda in pouring rain. Rain or overcast/fog each day on Lake Garda. Rained during whole day trip to Verona. Rumors of sun when we get to Tuscany.
Lake Garda--Bardolino was very nice. Worth a future visit. Our B and B was just average. Probably stay somewhere next time. It did have a nice view of the Lake, but hard to actually see it due to conditions. We enjoyed the experience of the wine festival. Ate at Don Pedro based on TA reviews and local suggestion. Very good seafood. Spaghetti vongole and mixed grilled fish. All great. Garda apparently is slammed in the summer, but was very quiet when we were there other the the wine festival along the waterfront. Also visited Sirmione, located on a tiny peninsula out from the southern end of the lake. A touristy busy town, even midweek. Nice old medieval castle and village. Ate lunch at Osteria al Torcol. Its high TA ranking is well deserved. Great food. Nice staff. Asked 3 different shopkeepers how to get there and all three said we were headed to a good restaurant. They were right. On a side street away from the mass of tourists.
Only had time for a day trip. Could easily spend a few days here. A city centro that is a mixed personality. Part magnificent Roman ruins from 2000 years ago. Incredible preserved arena that has active concert schedule. Typical old medieval buildings and churches from 400 years ago. Neoclassical buildings from the 1800s, and then unfortunately lots of cars. Only drawback we saw. Had another great lunch at an old traditional trattoria--La Taverna Della Stella. Lamb chops, spinach, polenta with bacon and Parmesan, salad. Busy noisy fun place which ran the gamut of people from Italians with their children to a variety of tourists. Apparently Veronese cuisine includes horse meat and donkey meat. Many items prominent on the menu, but we decided to pass on them. Enjoyed walking around the town, even in the cold rain. Planned to have a quick early dinner before heading back to Garda. Walked down a likely side street full of out door tables and ran into La Pagoda. A Chinese restaurant. After 20 Italian lunches and dinners in a row (other than the McDonald's stop), we tried it out. Great food. Real Peking duck with pancakes, duck sauce, slivered scallions etc. Rest of food equally good. Nice attentive staff from manager on down. All Chinese staff, waitresses in traditional Asian dresses. A nice change of pace.
On to Tuscany. Our favorite place.
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Hi Skip and BA,
Great fun following along with you using Google Earth and your wonderful commentary. Absolutely charming villages and towns and beautiful vistas.
With a street address for your next stop we could join you in your garden or at a near by café via Google Earth. Be safe!
Fall has arrived here, nice.
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Thanks Andy. Weather has gotten better. Food and wine always good. Tuscan hills are hard to beat.
Going to Siena today for lunch and a visit to the Duomo. Our favorite church in Italy. Then on the Montalcino for 4 days.
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Tower--on our way to Siena. Thanks for the reminder of the Porto Romano for parking. We discovered it by accident about 10 years. I agree it is the place to park for an easy, flat walk into Siena.
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Vinci--never been there. Looks about halfway between Cortona and Rapallo on one of our travel days, so thinking about a quick stop and lunch. Worth a stop?
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Sun Watch Day 16. Put a fork in it. It's done. The sun came out literally as we crossed into Tuscany. Had great, mostly sunny 4 days here.Thanks again for suggestions.
Sasso Marconi--a little town that tourists don't visit and probably never mentioned on this blog. We stopped only because it was an exit on the autostrada halfway between Lake Garda and Tuscany. And it had a well rated little restaurant--Osteria dei Sani. Had Sunday lunch in packed place with Italian families. Not sure they had ever seen tourists before. No English spoken. My noodles with truffles were great. My wife's veal with mushrooms better. Great food at cheap prices. A little worried about having a little wine and beer for lunch while driving until we realized the uniformed policemen seated next to us were also having wine with lunch. Gotta love Italy.
Chianti--We stayed 4 nights at a small B and B about 3 miles up a dirt road above Greve--Le Cetinelle. First time we stayed there. Won't be our last. So good it gets a separate writeup. Visited Greve, Radda, Panzano, San Donato, Barberino, Tavernelle, Castellini, Volpaia, and numerous small villages. Views while driving remain some of the best, if not the best in Italy. Visited Castello D'Abola and Casa Sola for wine tours and tasting. Had some great meals including two of our favorite places where we try to eat on each visit to Chianti--(1)La Toppa in San Donato. Luigi and his father are great cooks and better hosts. You feel like you are eating in their house. Great fresh pastas, perfectly cooked meats. Best thing on the menu is onion soup. Their house bottled Chianti is excellent. Never seen a printed menu. Luigi just tells what he has made for the day. He was kind enough at the end of the meal to not only give us a discount as a returning customer, but a bottle of their La Toppa wine; and (2) Ristoro Lamole is even better. Filippo is the owner and grand marshall of the dining floor. Charming, funny gentleman who loves his job and takes time to talk to everyone. Restaurant full with a mix of tourists and wine producers. Onion flan with truffles, pear and ricotta ravioli, guinea fowl in an apricot sauce, fennel au gratin. Easy to understand their top rating with TA. (Also by chance had a cooking class at our B and B with his beautiful wife Kalinka.) Lamole is 5 miles up a secondary road from Greve. Beautiful drive. The restaurant faces west for magnificent sunsets.
Other good restaurants in Greve included La Cantina for pizza, Enoteca Fiorpiazza (and its fun manager Luca) and Verrazano. In Panzano we ate at new restaurant--Cantinetta Sassolini. Very good. Panzano has 2 larger than life characters--Dario the butcher near the main road and Stefano the wine professor located in the old town near the church. No stop in Panzano is complete without a visit to both. As usual the Chianti Classico Riserva wines were great.
Only disappointment was a long planned visit to American cemetery just outside Florence. Both my wife's parents served in Italy from the landings at Salerno to the end of the war and were married just before the end of the war in Naples. 10 years ago we visited the cemetery in Anzio and it was a moving experience. This time we pulled up and the gates were locked. Sign said "closed due to government shutdown". Turned out to be our government not the Italians. Another place to add for the next trip.
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Siena--maybe our favorite city to visit in Italy. Only city we have visited on each trip to Italy. The main piazza is one of the great meeting and people watching places. We always have lunch at La Costa and always eat pizza. Even for a touristy place, they have good pizza.
But the main site the brings us back each year is the Duomo. Spectacular church. Hours to do it minimal justice. Probably our favorite church in Italy.
After our day stop it is on to Montalcino.
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Hi Skip & BA,
And, please, which day are we on?
Just finished Wednesday though Sunday with family, loverly!
Love you two,
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Between too much fun and poor wifi reception, my "live" dropped off the gird. Back home now and will pick up with Montalcino. Thanks for the posts and help.
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Montalcino--4 days and nights in our favorite Tuscan hill town. Stopped at a couple vineyards for tastings-Barbi and Banfi. Had great lunches outside of Montalcino at Taverna Barbi, Il Leccio in San Angelo in Colle and La Porta in a little hill town below Pienza. We think these 3 restaurants are great. Visited many little hill towns and Montepulciano. Had not been to MP in about 8 years so decided to give it a real visit. Still underwhelmed. Just don't see in it what we see in Montalcino. Nothing more fun in Montalcino than sitting outside at one of the two bars on the main street and watching the citizens on their nightly walk thru the town. Visited a couple enotecas to see if they could ship our friend Bob, the 6 liter bottle of Bella Vista, back to the states for us. Tomas at the Fortezza was happy to do it and gave us a great price for shipping after we also bought some Brunello to send home. Stayed at Hotel dei Capitani. They provided us a great repeat visitor rate. In town with easy to access driving and free parking. Nice helpful staff. Short 5 minute walk to the center of town. Found a great inexpensive laundry to get clothes done. They even delivered the clothes to the hotel.
Ate at two favorites--Grappolo Blu and Re Mecchia. Tried a new place one night as favorites were closed--San Giorgio. Very good and very inexpensive, like ossobuco for 8E. Weather even cooperated.
Only problem we had was not spending more time here. More than 4 nights next time as it is a great location for visiting all of Southern Tuscany.
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Backtracking to Greve, have to give a special shout out to our B and B in Greve--Le Centinelle. Best B & B experience in 15 years of traveling to Italy. It is 5 kilometers up an unpaved road from the center of Greve. Beautiful refurbished farmhouse with 5 or 6 rooms and an apartment. Vistas of the hills of Chianti and Florence in the distance. Run by a wonderful woman Simonetta and her husband Luca. Nice clean large rooms and bathrooms. Central area for good breakfasts with fresh eggs, drinks at cocktail hour/sunset including their wines and also dinner when cooking class has been in session. She was helpful on things to see and places to eat in Chianti, especially places we knew nothing about after 15 years of driving around the area. We meet some great folks from Canada and Austria while there.
Had a cooking class with Simonetta and her friend Kalinka. Not very expensive, fun and good food that we ate that night for dinner--bruschetta, ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta and a butter and sage sauce, chicken ciaccotore with vegetables and panna cotta with chocolate sauce. 3 hours to cook and 3 hours to eat.
This place is great and it is very inexpensive (half of what we had been paying and twice the fun).
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Avignonesi--having sampled Brunellos on wine tours around Montalcino and Chianti Classico around Chianti in the past, decided to find a vineyard on our drive from Montalcino to Cortona to sample Vino Nobile di Montepulcino this trip. We had tried this large producer's wine in the past and discovered their tasting location, a Palazzo east of Montepulciano was directly on the way to Cortona and they had a tour and lunch option. It was GREAT. Way beyond expectations. A detailed over an hour long tour with a wonderful guide followed by a 4 course, 9 wine tasting 3 hour lunch. The lunch was served on an outdoor patio, beautiful views, gracious attentive service. Gourmet food beautifully presented to a small group--maybe 20. Wines were excellent and included 2 proseccos, a Chardonnay, their Nobile, 2 IGT blends, one Supertuscan and two incredible 10 year old Vin Santos. Definitely give this tour and lunch a try if you are in the area. Actually a little closer to Cortona than MP.
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Oops. Ran out of energy last October and forgot to finish the rest of the trip. Reports on Cortona, Assisi, Rapallo, Portofino,, Lake Maggiore, Cannobio and last day in Switzerland coming up.
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At Zurich airport we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express. We tend not to stay at chain hotels and but chose it because it offers a free shuttle to the airport and the price was right. We were pleasantly surprised. Although like most airport hotels there was nothing of interest around, the room was modern and clean, the dinner we bought at the HI was tasty and not a rip off and the included breakfast was very good. The shuttle worked very well for us. We checked into the hotel, made a shuttle reservation for the next morning and then returned the rental car to the airport, taking the free shuttle back to the hotel. Next morning bright and early we shuttled to the airport without the hassle of returning the car when in a time crunch.
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Getting ready for our October 2014 Italy trip in 5 weeks and realized, again, that didn't finish 2013 report. Procrastination may be my middle name!
After a monumental meal at Avignonsei, see above, we arrived in Cortona, another great hill town. We stay at the Hotel San Michele. Nice place, good rates, in very center of town. You can drive right to it and they take car of your car! In addition to some superior churches and great restaurants, one of the things we really enjoy in Cortona is the evening stroll thru town by the residents. Young and old, couples and families. Grab a seat at an outside table at one of the bars in the main square and watch the people go by. Our main reason for Cortona this trip was as a nightly base for 2 side trips. One day we spent in Assisi, another favorite. One of the most rewarding spiritual places to visit. The story of St. Francis and Sister Claire is amazing. Their churches are very impressive. Much fancier than either would probably have liked. Lunch at Taverna dei Consoli. Excellent pasta with sausage and truffle cream sauce. We also made a side trip on way back to See St Francis' little first church-Porziuncola--below Assisi. This tiny church is still intact but has a massive basicila built around it--Basilica of Santa Maria devil Angeli. Worth a visit if you are going to Assisi. Other day trip was to visit Podere Calzone in Umbria near Todi. Umbria is beautiful and this totally renovated farmhouse is now a beautiful villa that some friends own. We toured the property and vineyards, sampled the wine and enjoyed a great 3 course lunch prepared by their cook. Thanks Laura and Jim. If you want a luxury rental in the rolling hills of Umbria. Stay here.
Our dinner plans for 3 nights in Cortona got changed due to the long day trips. Places we planned to eat like Osteria de Teatro, a favorite, were unavailable. We did have two really good meals at new places--Nessan Dorma near the Teatro and Locanda al Pozzo Antico near the hotel. Neither was on our radar screen as places to eat, but both are worth a return visit.
This ended our trip to our favorite area of Italy--Tuscany. Now we had to make our way back up to Zurich to drop our car off. Staying at new places for us, Rapallo and Lake Maggiore, on the way.
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Just a quick 2 night stop. Halfway between the Lakes and Tuscany. We thought the drive along the coast to get there would be more scenic. Unfortunately tunnels abound in Italy. Rapallo must have been great resort 80 or 100 years ago. The old hotels and promenade along the water are great, but it is very dated. A block or two back and the scenery gets worse. A few churches to see there. Intricate lace work sold here. Apparently at one time 8,000 women were working hand stitching lace here. The waterfront view from our small hotel, Astoria was why we stayed here. It was great. Seafood dinner a few blocks away at Ristorante Elite was equally good. A few tourists, like us, eating early and then it filled up with locals.
Our plan was to ferry to Portofino and then, thanks to suggestion of many Fodorites, continue on to San Fruttosa and end up in Camogli. But the ferry had limited service that day and we had to settle for just Portofino. Nice ride and spectacular harbor once there. Had another great seafood meal at Ristorante Stella on the waterfront. Fairly reasonable for pricey Portofino. Glad we stopped here for two days, but would probably try a less populated area next time we feel the need to stop along this part of the coast.
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Lake Maggiore--
Cannobio. Our last stop in Italy. Just saying the name 11 months later brings a smile to our faces. Definitely the best new place we visited on this trip. Charming village on the western shore. Quiet except for a fun Sunday market. We roamed the streets and used the town for a base for sightseeing. Hotel Cannobio is right on the water and our lake view room was large and comfortable. Tremendously helpful staff. All of their recommendations were spot on. The breakfast, included, was more typical of a buffet breakfast you have to pay for. Typical but more of it plus eggs and Prosecco. Blood orange mimosas are a good way to start the day.
We had good meals along the waterfront especially Villa Maria. Enjoyed the little Bar Porto for drinks before dinner. Also went up into the woods for lunch at Grotto Sant Anna. Beautiful setting amid waterfalls with excellent restaurant.
Borromean Islands. The real treat of the lake. The Borromeans were the big deals around here hundreds of years ago. They apparently wanted a palace on every little island. Two palazzos on two islands (Madre and Bella)'with large gardens. Little fisherman's island in between for lunch or dinner. We had a very nice meal at Trattoria Imbarcardero. Easy ferry system between the islands and various towns along the lake.
We liked this area so much, it will be the start of our trip for 2014.
Things on the list for next time include Villa Taranto in Verbenia, Cannero Riviera, Val Cannobia and perhaps renting a boat. We like this lake the best of the six we have visited over the last few years!
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Ended the trip at the airport staying at the Hilton with award point. Nice busy business hotel. The real find was a place to eat a few minutes away in Glattburgg. Scheuwan Chinese restaurant. Very nice Chinese family , speak English run it. The real McCoy for Asian food. Great change after 27 days of Italian lunches and dinners. If staying by airport or just have a long layover, it is worth a visit.
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Planning for trip this year has finally gotten me to finish last year's report. Headed back to Italy next week.
Can't wait. Thanks to all the helpful suggestions for the trip last year and also suggestions for the help for this year's trip.
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