Stories from the Road

Stories from the Road

Rome. Italy

September 21, 2016

Even flying from Boston rather than San Diego, it is a long day to Rome.  I enjoyed my cubicle (more than coach) in Business Class on the BOAC flight to Heathrow. No lines getting on the plane, time in the lounge, and then a “little private room.” The flight people were friendly and polite, and we had no problem making our connection to Rome.

Leonardo Da Vinci Airport presented a different cultural experience. Rogue cabbies were trying to lure us to their vehicles; the noise level was high, and the driving, as usual, was nutso. Our driver seemed like a nice man, but I felt like I had entered a Bourne movie once I entered his cab, as he drove in and out of traffic at a high rate of speed for forty minutes or so.

The people in front of us at the check in desk at Hotel Dei Borgognoni were told their reservations weren’t in the system. I was about to make an empathetic comment, but I didn’t think they would receive it well. Hopefully,

things got straightened out.

Our hotel is nice, but it doesn’t look as spiffy as it did on the web page. The location is great, even if the place could use a make over. We will turn in early to get ahead of jet lag. Earlier we had a mixed salad and lasagna at a neighborhood place. The food was excellent, and I had a nice interaction with the chef, who was wandering around the restaurant. He seemed to appreciate our positive comments about his lasagna.

Tomorrow we’ll wander the city a bit and hit some familiar spots. The hotel has a nice buffet breakfast, which we will take advantage of. Have a nice evening.

Snowmass Stories

Stories from the Road

January 12, 2015

Snowmass, CO.

It is 30 degrees in Snowmass, Colorado at 6:15 in the morning. Hopefully, we’ll see Roger Spragg at breakfast. He was due in last night via van at 8:30 or so. The snow has stopped; though it is due to begin again later this afternoon.

Some years ago at Snowmass, I made a hard turn on the Big Burn, and my binding sheered off. The snow was too deep, and I was too high on the mountain to ski down, so we called the ski patrol, and they gave me a ride down in a toboggan. They were having fun taking a “civilian” down the mountain and seemed to be going pretty fast. I found out at the ski shop that the Marker binding I was using had been recalled, and the store gave me a new set of bindings at no charge.

The Australians dominated Il Poggio last night. A family of five sat near us. They seemed like nice people, but I thought they must also be rich people when you consider the cost of five people coming to the states and skiing. Lift tickets this year cost $129 a day for an adult, whereas I paid $8.00 a day when I first skied in Aspen in the late 60’s. I bought a senior season’s pass, this year, which reduced my cost to $37.00 a day.

There are four ski mountains in Aspen with Snowmass being the largest. Set three miles of highway 82, Snowmass has been built on a mountainside. Once Vicki and I came here to hike in early October. We drove from Denver, and when we woke on our first morning, we found 6 inches of snow.  It melted quickly and we were able to hike. To our surprise, the animals had taken over the village, which was mostly closed up that time of year. Deer were here and there, and we saw a number of fox, elk, and eagles but no bears.

Roger arrived last night and joined us for a very good ski day. Vicki and Roger both skied well on a wide variety of trails today. We skied all over the mountain in an effort to give Roger an overview of Snowmass. Pasta with shrimp tonight.

Have a good evening.

Stories from the road

Stories from the Road

March 5, 2013

Whitefish, Montana

To the east, I see the pink sky as the sun rises in the Rocky Mountains of Glacier National Park. The day is clear, and though the weather consistently shifts over Big Mountain, the group should at least have a few hours of clear visibility on the hill.

 During cocktail hour last night, we saw three deer in the Spragg’s backyard. We had a nice dinner then of minestrone soup with home made rolls. For dessert, Roger put together an ice cream with raspberries dish. It was an excellent meal. A bottle of Malbec accompanied our food.

This morning I went to the Wave, a state of the art pool and workout facility in Whitefish. I swam laps, took a hot tub, and finished off with a steam bath. Later I went to the state liquor store and bought some goods. One of my items was a blue colored gin, named, Magellan, which is hard to find in stores. The man behind me, who was buying a pint of something, took an interest in the blue gin. He was a nice guy, but most people buying pints in mid morning should take a right turn and head directly to AA.

I drove to Columbia Falls and had a great burger and vegetarian chili soup at a place recommended by Carole Spragg. There were a lot of locals there in ball caps, and it was a fun place to eat a good meal, soak up some local color, and read on my iPhone.

I was searching for wild life but didn’t see much until I drove into the gated community where the Spraggs live. I came across 2 different herds of deer and got many good camera shots.  By driving slowly and not making any sudden moves, I was able to have the deer stay in their positions for several minutes.

Tonight the Spraggs have invited Martin and Eleanor Hale to dinner. Martin is a well-known ski coach and former director of the ski school at Big Mountain. Eleanor was an alternate on the 1960 Olympic Alpine Team.  They are gracious, interesting people, and I am looking forward to rekindling my friendship with them. They always have “mountain stories” to tell, and what is better than sipping a martini and listening to the Hales tell of mountain lore?

Have a good evening.

Atomic Blonde

We saw this movie yesterday. If you want to see a bunch of seemingly disconnected action scenes with Charlize Theron throwing guys around, you may like the movie.  I found the plot to be convoluted and very hard to follow. There are some good actors in the movie, but a poor script wastes their talents. The movie is like a video game with no stop activity and loud music, but it doesn’t hang together. Go see Dunkirk!

Stories from the Road

Stories from the road

July 20, 2016

Seattle, WA

The waterfront had changed since 1962. In those days Seattle was an industrial city with lots of bars that served pigs feet and Olympia Beer. On a cross country jaunt, I worked at the Space Needle for a month before heading back to New England.

Now the city was shining with high-rise buildings, which overlooked the scenic harbor. Tourists crowded Pike’s Marker, and it seemed there was a trendy place to eat every few yards.

Before driving to Olympia we are spending a couple of days in Seattle. Our hotel is the Inn at the Market, which has a good location and terrific rooms. We are walking the city, and I won’t see my rental car again until we are ready to leave. Today we hope to hit some outdoor shops and a glass exhibit at the Space Needle.

There are a lot of homeless young people who appear to be “on the road”. Their handmade clothes, old musical instruments, and dogs provide them with a vagabond appearance.  I wondered if some were disillusioned with road life

since they seemed spiritless and tired. One group was singing some punk rock songs for money. They weren’t very good, and I thought people were giving them money out of compassion rather than an appreciation of their sound.

Our bellman, John, was a nice guy. He grew up in Idaho and was a river and mountain person. I had fun talking with him about many of the same places we had been. Like Portland Seattle seems to be a city of young people and has an energy that is contagious.

Have a good day.