denisey

Hi Bimmer09,

 

Lol, here I am writing about bus depots and you're dazzling me with La Fenice photos. Wow! You've got me drooling. I HAVE to see an opera in this beautiful place....just have to! With our next vacation still a year away and Italy probably waving on the horizon for the oh so distant year of 2017 -- things like this will help me keep the dream alive until we finally experience La dolce vita on sight again. Thank you!!!!!!

 

 

Stef

I'm looking at 2018 for a return to Europe! :(

I will definitely need to go look at the opera house next time I am in Venice! Loved the photos Bimmer!

Denise

:) finally decided on next year's summer vacation .... guess who won?

 

Scotland!

 

Just this time we'll stay on dry land ...we'll be travelling in a Panda (with the stirring weel on the left side) from our doorstep with two dogs along ..... oh goody! I really hope they allow dogs in bed and breakfast places ... might have to check that first .... and does anybody know if you can take two dogs along into a Scottish pub?

 

:pI can't wait to be in Scotland again!

 

Stef

Hmmm....not sure about the pub, but I had always heard it was very difficult to take animals into the British Isles...that might just be from the US/Outside of Europe, but worth looking into.

Ah, I looked it up, not too bad, but there are some rules to follow first! And you should check with your vet to make sure the pets are healthy enough to travel ;) that should be the easy part!

https://www.gov.uk/pet-travel-information-for-pet-owners#countries-and-territories

The picture on this one looks a little like Stef!

http://www.visitscotland.com/en-us/travel/information/pets

Welcome Back! It looks like Tenerife is going to be another fun port!

...while Stef is taking a few days, I thought I'd tell a Funchal Madeira story.

About midday when we were there, a group of 5 of us decided to have lunch. We went into a tiny restaurant near the market. They only had about 5 tables, and made a group of local leave to make room for us.

When we got our meal, my husband asked for pepper. We definitely had a communication gap, because they just didn't understand him. Finally the light went off, and they happily brought us a bottle of pepper sauce (like tabasco). I told him to give it up and eat a meal without a pepper shaker.

Recently, I was upgraded to First Class on a flight and brought home the little salt and pepper packet. Hubby wants to save it for when we go back to Madeira, so he can have pepper.

So sorry Stef, Tanja and Tarik! I know you will miss Cody, what a great dog!

Take what time you need, we'll be here when you are ready!

 

PS: I need to take a break from review writing for a couple of days.... am fighting to keep my own dog alive .... and it doesn't seem as if I'm winning .... He's 12 and his liver decided to quit spontaneously .... we do all we can ... day and night .... but no success yet. He's just not ready to go yet .... or I'm not willing to LET him go yet .... either way.... I could use some lit candles or pressed thumbs these days.

 

Stef

Oh poor doggy! Sending out a lot of good wishes!

So how was the concert! I'm sure it was great!

Note to self: don't read the food posts BEFORE breakfast...that cheese looked really good this morning!

Denise

I can see why you loved La Palma so much, it is very beautiful! I don't know why, but I was surprised to see the "big" town at the port. It makes sense that it is there...but I had the beautiful country side and the quaint town with balconies in my head!

Looking forward to Tenerife...

And I am putting the Canary Islands on my wish list!

lol -- Denisey, just for the record: Our preferred travelling speed on the freeways is between 140 - 160 km/h, which is between 80 and 100 miles per hour.

 

:cool::eek::cool:But with our new truck we can easily drive 200 km/h as well ... which we also do occasionally when the roads permit it.

 

But not everybody drives that fast .... but there's a law saying you may not drive less than 60 km/h on the right lane and no less than 100 km/h on the left lane. But I've never ever seen anybody actually going as slow as 60!

 

 

lol -- and of course we say "Gesundheit" .... although the new "Knigge", which is sort of THE guidebook of good manners suggests not to say that anymore, since you're implying somebody is sick when you whish him health after he sneezed. Now you're supposed to not say anything at all and pretend it didn't happen .... I dunno --- I think that's rude ..... we stick to saying Gesundheit as does everybody else I know. Screw the Knigge.

 

 

Stef

The B.F. prefers to drive very fast also, but here you always find the silly person driving very slow in the left lane!

That is very funny with Gesundheit and the Knigge! It almost sounds Japanese to not say anything, so as not to embarrass anyone! I'm sticking with Gesundheit also!

brrr-rrrrr-rrrr! Lizards!

It is about that hot here also, and we rarely get those kind of temps, 24 is normal! So no one has air conditioning!

The cat keeps yelling at us to make it stop!

I was interested in the advice for sailing into the Fjord. We are considering a cruise that sails into the Columbia river. We usually get aft cabins, so I think it would be worth getting up early that morning and watching the approach from an upper deck. I've seen ship do this on TV and it looks pretty dramatic.

Iceland you say....That sounds fun. We are doing the same as you and taking the lazy way out in Naples and doing the Vesuvius hike/Pompeii tour. 4 days until our travel to Barcelona begins!

I'm not so sure a hike up Vesuvius could be called "lazy!"

:)

Yah! Another review in the works! I mean another CRUISE in the works!

Have a blast and take notes for us land-locked folks!

Denise

How great to have this beautiful place mostly to yourselves! That was a great plan to do the hike before the crowds got there, even if the taxi cost a little more.

And I had to say "Aaaaaaw! Cute!" at the hand holding part!

Thank you on the compliments on my blog. Siena is a pretty magical place...and when there isn't the horse race, it is romantic to stroll at night.

I just checked and there is a race tomorrow (2 July) and another on 16 August this year. I'm not sure if you can find any TV coverage on it, but I'll bet there will be internet pictures/movies.

Okay Stef...day off granted! I know, so generous of me, since I haven't posted anything on my trip since Wednesday!

I do want to say....

1. it is amazing, the scenery does look like Montana!

2. I was glad to see the close up of Tanja...it is always nice to see her, but I was interested in the hats made of cork, and could see more of that in the picture

3. I love the picture of the two of you with the hill in the background!

and

4. I think you are well on the path to being one of those interesting, intelligent, worldly people...it is a journey and I'm betting if you had asked any of those people on the bus, they would have said they are not there yet!

And personally I am fighting the grey hairs!

Wow! Another exciting Island. It is kind of amazing how different each one is.

I did see a Canary Island cruise and thought about it...but it was on the Queen Mary 2 round trip from London, so unless someone gives me a suitcase full of money, it is not happening!

Spinnaker2 you HAVE to write a review! I'll read it, I promise!

Darn English! You said it just fine, I read it wrong!

Either way the Bif was pretty good!

hey Denisey,

 

you got to try the espetada! Very cool!

 

And I loved to see your Bologna pictures, since we didn't end up going there ourselves this was a very special treat. Thank you !

 

Lol -- and I even got a mention, oh my:).

 

Lol -- although I think you're a bit of a sissy for not posting closer pictures of the Neptune well :D;):D.

 

Stef

Yup, that's me, the big sissy! But that fountain was something else! You'll have to go to Bologna on your big European driving trip!

And I'll have to go back to Madeira to try espetada!

The pastries look yummy, I might have to try them. My oven does go that high, but I'm wondering if you could cook them a little lower and then use a kitchen torch to caramelize the tops, like crème brulee?

I also liked the qassata on Malta...so I think I need to go back there too...

Oh, if only all this work didn't get in the way of my travels!

Denise

Wow! Thanks Stef! I loved "our" visit to Madeira.

They have changed the end of the toboggan ride since 2008. Our ride just ended at the end of the street, no café. There were a couple of tables set up with items for sale, but no nice cakes.

We debated walking down, but took a cab. There was grumbling about the cost, but I am glad we did.

We also ate at a local restaurant in town. It was a very small place, and when we walked in, they kicked out a group of locals to give us a table! They then told us we could have the Bif or the feeeeesh! We had the Bif (beef) and it was very good. I don't know if the fish was your ugly friend, but I wish I had tried it.

LOVE the hats!

It is 11 o'clock at night! I go to bed at 9!!!! I've been sitting in my hotel room just cackling over this review....and I won't be able to read more, or your other review until after work...

They think I am serious, and it would hurt my reputation to cackle at work!

Thanks for the great review, what a fun trip! And now I know why I don't travel with minions!

Oh, I'd love to see that video:D. I haven't mastered the art of videoing yet ... just pictures .... but in this case I think only a video can give you a correct impression of the speed and the sounds and the thrill of it all. Very cool!

 

I loooove your nightly photography tour through Venice and the fact that you actually got to experience Acqua alta is firing up my jealousy .... wow! Did I mention I LOVE your blog? Lol -- and I experienced the pepperoni pizza culture shock the other way around when I first came to America .... who would have thought pepperoni meant salami here? Weird world:D!

Hmm....I'll see if I can find the video and post it when I get home this weekend. My camera at the time was a digital "point and shoot" so videos were pretty easy.

I also remember that we had a guy jump out and take our picture while riding down the hill. By the time we got to the bottom, there was our picture printed out for us to buy...at a bargain price, I'm sure! But we bought it. I'll have to look for that too....

Quick honey, jump in the toboggan --- I’ll take a “before” picture.

Whoohoo, we’re the very first tourists today.

And I love yours!

 

For the record, Denise's Portuguese is much better than my German. :rolleyes:

 

Also for the record, I'm a working mom with kids around the age of your son. I have enjoyed reading about your family adventures but I also love seeing how the two of you interact when he's not around. Your relationship is beautiful to see.

LIKE!

I think this beautiful relationship is a good part of why I love these reviews. Stef could write about going to the store, and it would be fun!

(I do miss Tarik just a little bit on this cruise, but am glad you had a romantic trip!)

And don't even get my husband started on how poorly I pronounce ANYTHING in any languague...even English!

But I'm excited to hear about the toboggans! The B.F. keeps asking if you went on one!

Hi Stef

 

Denisey will probably be along later but I think you're referring to a small space not being big enough to swing a cat. If that's the case it is from when prisoners were whipped as a punishment. The whip had multiple strands to cause the most pain and was called a cat o' nine tails. The flogger needed to raise his arm to bring the whip down with force and if the space was small there wasn't enough room for him to do this properly.

 

Hope this helps

Carol :)

Thanks Carol! I'll admit I would have had to look that up. Okay, no more swinging of cats, that's for sure! But it was a small room!

The plaque commemorates a man and his wife, the fifteenth generation to hold an entailed estate (the kind of property awarded to members of the nobility). They made a sacred vow (voto) to erect this statue dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Much better translation!