The Ideal Island Vacation: Ischia, Italy

In early June, we realized Ian had some vacation days and sometime - sometime soon - I was going to be far too big and uncomfortable to travel. Thus, our usual brand of spontaneous/half-planned travel was born. But where?

There are few place we won't go. Bucharest in August? Why not. Copenhagen just for a day to pick up a parent? Or course. Idaho? Let's do it!

But given our poor trip planning, flights to just about anywhere were more then we hoped to pay. So I got creative. Thought outside the box. I looked at packages. Rarely the best deal for us bargain-basement globetrotters, I found that easyjet delivers some pretty enticing cheapo deals. I found one such combo (just over 400 euro for a flights & hotel for 2 for 4 nights) to the island of Ischia, Italy. After we fell in love with the area during a trip to Naples and the island of Procida two years earlier - we couldn't resist going back.

Feeling the Gay Lovin'

I've covered the Christopher Street Day Parade on this blog before (A Gay Affair 2011), wrote a post on the work blog about this year's event in Berlin (Gay Pride: An Expat Celebrates Berlin's Christopher Street Day) and waxed on endlessly about equality in person. But this month, LGBT Pride Month, my cup has truly runneth over in gay lovin'. Let me count the ways...

Naples - When the Moon Hits Your Eye

As Berlin summer weather continues to prevail, (RAIN...lots of rain) we are brought back to a sunnier time, just a month ago, when we were in Naples with my nephew.

Naples & Vesuvious

Ian suggested titles for this post that were both apt and ridiculous.

*Naples, a lovely place to wa- WATCH out for the vespa!*

*Rome wasn't dirty enough for you? Ben venuto a Nopli*

*Buffalo Mozzerella and the Mystery of the Stolen Passports*

*Dr. Palm Tree - or How I Stopped Worrying about the Heat and Love the Camora*

*Naples - We came for the pizza, we stayed for the dirty-ass fountain*

*Don't want to siesta? Go for a walk with the tourists and Indians*
 *Naples - where the majority of people are Fat*

USA, USA, USA - An Expat Return home

We're back!

Back in the land of big coffees, big American breakfasts, big cars, vast lands, Mexican food, livestock, childhood friends, homesteads, driving, BBQs, Oscars, TV, and FREEDOM. We are back in American & couldn't be happier.

747!

Our Plan of Attack on Paris

When we plan (aka fall into an internet sink hole) for travel to places like Bratislava, Reykjavik , Polignano a Mare, Italy, Sighişoara, and Ljubljana - any resource is a good resource.

Researching our xmas gift to each other - a trip to Paris - is different. Much written about, photographed, and waxed on about lyrically, everyone and their mother has advice on Paris. And we have our own thoughts as well. I had one day in Paris on my month long high-school-group-adventure back in the day, and Ian & I spent 2 nights there on our month-long traipse around Europe in 2008. We are crazy excited to go back.

Onto what we have used to prepare for the trip.

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Paired with last night's karaoke escapades and tomorrow's flight, I got a little John Denver on the mind:



We are taking the parents to their 4th-6th European country. Flying to Budapest & spending a few days there, then a day in Bratislava, then Vienna. Some new, some old for us, but I am sure it will all be fabulous. Especially since having them here has been so fun-filled in boring 'ole Berlin.

Greg Porter Everbody!

Greg came, he saw, he conquered, and sadly- he's now left. It was an amazing two weeks of 3 countries, 7 cities, many meals, and incredible sights.

We certainty got on his nerves a bit, and he got on ours every once in a while, but everyone was on their best behavior and it was a joy to have him here (although I may seriously strangle the next person who wants to go shopping). He easily amused all of our friends as I uneasily tried to remember if there were many actually embarrassing stories we had told about him(ask about the watermelon story). Luckily, just laughs were had as he told ridiculous jokes, made inappropriate gestures, and described for me what "tender vitals" referred to (ewww!). It has been 8 months since we saw our friends & family. Damn that's a long time! C'mon over folks - the water's fine.

Along with the post and pics of Copenhagen, here are some pics of Greg in Berlin.

After a beautiful spring & start to summer, the weather was awful the whole time he was here. Luckily, Berlin thrives in gloom.

Greg & I visited Ian and his class and the boys were all over both of them.

Greg gets to know Darius who speaks with a British accent. "Do it again! Upside down!"

The great, the only- Hühnerhaus,

Templehof Park - the former airfield is perfect for jump shots

 

We went old person and did the boat cruise. It was awesome.

When he got on the plane (another close call, although not nearly as tight as the flight to Italy), he teared up, immediately causing us to cry. We watched him enter the security gates with his bags of goodies, and thought of the long gap in time between seeing those you love as an expat. The pay-off of European living, loving, eating, and drinking is worth it...but it's close. 

Complete album of Greg in Berlin.

Update:  Greg had a horrific flight home, but is finally there safely.

"I just got home. The flight from Amsterdam was late, so I ended up missing my flight as did most of the people on our plane, and every other plane that came in on that day.  There was crazy rain and bad wind and it ended up closing the airport.  KLM was awful.  I was in line for over14 hours trying to get a ticket. Ended up spending the night in the airport and not getting out until 10:00 on Friday.  Had to fly to Portland, then Seattle and andy and granny picked me up.  Yikes....what an ordeal!"

Lesson learned - never leave Europe.

A Bergamo Beginning

Once again, we are rating our travel experiences independently for y'all to enjoy (or deplore, either way). Bergamo was the first stop on the Italian week-long tour and while it was largely chosen because it  is a Ryanair hub for Berlin, we were more than pleasantly surprised. 

Transportation

Greg
4 Cappuccinos - Late take-off, on-time landing. Funicular was like an E Ticket ride.

Ian 
3.5 Cappuccinos - Easy access on the bus. Funicular was great. Didn't use it other than that.

ebe
5 Cappuccinos -Notwithstanding our near miss on the flight, it was basically on time, comfortable enough, and got us to Italy. Success. Buses and trains in & out of the city were inexpensive and easy-to-use, and the funicular was able to be used on the same ticket. The attendant even waved us on when we were slightly out of time. Love that side of the Italians, especially coming from Germany.

Accommodations

Greg

4.5 Cappuccinos - Gracious hostesses who greeted us with a family-like welcome. Fresh cappuccino & newly renovated flat with a fantastic view.

Ian 
5 Cappuccinos- Our very own B&B?! What more could you ask for.

ebe
4.5 Cappuccinos -B&B Donizetti opened in the last month and I hope that with success, it does not lose it's sincere charm. The ladies were genuinely sweet and a cappuccino and snack as soon as we arrived was  sorely needed. A shared bath would have been less desirable had there been other guests, but we had the entire place to ourselves and had full use as well as the living room.

Sights

Greg
4 Cappuccinos - An evening walk about in a fairytale town with charming lights, beautiful flowers, and tile roofs as far as the eye could see. Me thinks me in love. 

Ian
4 Cappuccinos - Beautiful old town that was a nice way to get thrown into Italian flair.

ebe
3 Cappuccinos - The old town called as it sits atop the hill. Gorgeous! The city was such a welcome change, so Italian. A really great first look into Italy. However, it's "sights" are limited and I wouldn't spend much time here, but would love to come through again.

Dining

Greg

4 Cappuccinos - Sorry Papa Murphys, real Italian pizza can't be beat. Top it off with a beautiful setting and I'm in gastric heaven.

Ian 
4 Cappuccinos - Pizza was great and just the right amount of gelateries and bakeries to keep me happy. 

ebe
3.5 Cappuccinos - Lots of touristy options (menus in English & German) which is bad & ok. A liter of wine lubricated the delicious pizza meal. Buffalo Mozzarella makes my world.

Overall

Greg

4 Cappuccinos- Although it's small, it was full of charm and the welcoming people made it a place easy to return to. 

Ian 

3.75 Cappuccinos - Beautiful old town with an overall great experience. A great way into dip your toes into the craziness that can be Italy.

ebe
4.5 Cappuccinos - I loved this. Really. Especially after the stress before the flight, it was such a relief to actually be back in Italy and enjoying the adventure we were on.

More pics of our Italian adventure 

Tourists on the Run

It was time for the BIG TRIP TO ITALY! I was lucky enough to go on a European adventure when I was 16, and Ian and I had raced through the country on our European tour, but Mr. Greg has never been & was very excited to make it to his #1 destination in Europe. As our flight was in the afternoon, we leisurely prepared (especially after a surprisingly boozy 4th of July. Don't worry- terrible, but edited -pics will appear).

Before leaving Berlin we're all smiles

Ian got back from work around 12:30 and took a nap as I began to get nervous. By the time bags were packed & we were heading out the door, we were a little late. After errors at the print shop for our boarding passes and errors buying an extension on the U-Bahn we were really late.

We missed the first train to the airport. Starting to panic, we anxiously boarded the sweltering train. Willing it faster, we sat in tense silence for most of the ride & Greg tried to retain faith in our guide abilities. As we continued to slowly glide, we gathered by the door & gave Greg the grim estimation. We would have to run.

At 4:45 the train arrived at the airport. The gate closed at 5:00 & the flight as 5:30. One of the wonders of Ryanair that we always boast (besides the wonderful prices) is that they are almost always on time. I was cursing that as I literally sprinted toward the airport. Sweating profusely and now coughing from the run, we checked in as the German (rightfully so) tsked tsked us. We raced through security and ran to the gate. I thanked my lucky stars as a I saw the line to get into the waiting area. We made it! I don't know how, but we made it. I asked about 5 times to make sure we were in the right line and sweatily hugged Ian as the clock struck 5. We were going to Italy.

Utter relief in Bergamo

Now in Bologna, we spent a night in Bergamo (surprisingly gorgeous), Venice (expectedly awesome), and will continue to Cinque Terre after this. Pics & ratings to follow....

Franc, Beloved Father/-in-Law & Wedding Planner, is Coming to Europe

Continuing our Bad Habits in Trip Planning- we are off to pick up Ian's dad tomorrow in Copenhagen!

Excited? YES!
Ready? No. yes. Maybe.

There really isn't a lot to get ready. We're just going to be gone for 2 days & the hotel is already taken care of. We have done our rambling travel reading about the city, picking out what beers & food we want to eat (you know, the important stuff). But life has been so hectic I don't even know if I have processed. We're seeing Greg. Tomorrow. Ahhhhh!

Copenhagen is going to be great. We are literally ecstatic to see Greg. His cousin visited with us just a few weeks ago, but he will be the first of the immediate family/friends to come over this time.

In his honor, some great Greg pics:

Greg impersonates Ian in some of his wares

In 2007, Greg visited for Christmas with Granny who is in her 80s . They were troopers, but Greg recalls this winter as the "coldest winter Berlin has ever seen".  It wasn't. But it was pretty cold.

Greg & Ian before the wedding

Greg & I at the wedding

You can see where Ian gets his humor

Last 4th of July - "Look at my cock" was frequently heard. From my FiL. Yeah- it was weird, but not entirely unexpected.

Welcome to Europe, once again, Mr. Porter!

Update: The trip was...a success. I think. You decide. 

 

Airplane Movie

Icelandair was a-ok. Punctual flights, funny Icelandic written on the pillows, seats, etc, and your private monitor in which you could select what you wanna watch. You could even watch the flight pattern all the way through, facts about Iceland, and learn Icelandic.

Not bad, besides one complaints:
No snacks. Seriously, seven hour flight & nothing besides juice.

We did catch up on some moving watching-

Sex in the City 2

Toy Story 3

Simpsons episode

Modern Family

King of Persia
Lie to Me
Family Guy
American Dad

All that really matters is that we touched down. Thanks Icelandic Air!

November 14th, 2010

...and away we go. Iceland, Amsterdam, Venlo, Cologne, BERLIN!