Our Italy Plan
Susanna and I are definitely going to be in Carmignano (near Florence, in Tuscany) for a week, at this villa.
We definitely plan to spend some extra time in Italy before we get to the villa, and rent a motorcycle.
We just spent the weekend mapping out possibilities, and here’s our current itinerary. There are some long days on the bike, and we need to make sure these are reasonable choices. We’re willing to have some long days on the bike, especially when bookended with light days. Plus, we will have a week in Tuscany with no riding (unless we want to). Going to be quite a whirlwhind when we’re not at the villa, though.
We pick up the bike in Milan, and then head north, stay a night in Varenna on Lake Como. We head north through the mountains to Glorenza (Glurns). From there to Castelotto for a couple of nights. From there we take the mountain road down into Venice (one of our long days).
That is our first leg, and here’s the map: Milan to Venice.
After three nights in Venice, we head to Rome, with one stop on the way (two long days both) in Assisi: Venice to Rome.
Then we take the slow route back along the coast towards Tuscany, with a stop in Grosetto (we know nothing yet about this place other than it’s next the Parco Naturale dell Maremma.
From there, we head up to our villa near Florence, spend a week, then head to Milan and home.
Here’s the overview map with directions plotted: Milan to Milan.
Are we crazy?
[...] This is the updated (format, not content) Ketchup Bandit page (and here’s the original). [...]
[...] Ol’ Kelly’s at it again. This isn’t the first email I’ve gotten from her. Hi John- [...]
Wow, this cracks me up! How many times are they going to send you mails before they get the hint???
If they only knew who they were talking to….
Crazy like a fox! Cannot wait!
Sounds ambitious. How long are you there? closer to 3 weeks.
Brett and I were in Italy for roughly a week. one day in Venice (which for two guys was enough) didn’t spend the night there…it’s one of the most expensive places in Italy (at least on our budget’s in 1996) and small, although it was unique.
Spent maybe 3-4 nights in Rome. Huge and wouldn’t begin to see everything.
My favorite was Florence. spent maybe 2-3 nights.
We took the train for transport and did a couple overnighters.
If you have the energy to pull off all that travel then great, I’m sure the country side that time of year will be scenic. It’s tough to balance the desire to see and do as much as you can in a compressed time while still feeling like you relaxed and got a feel for some of the locations, people, atmosphere, etc.
We were there in mid October and the weather was still very nice.
Sounds great no matter what you decide to do.
Great trip. You are going to be traveling through one of the greatest mountain ranges in Europe, the Dolomites. An awesome ride with some incredible mountain passes. There were a few ascents and descents with over 70 switchbacks each way. Hang on!!!!
[...] April 25, 2006 at 6:02 pm · Filed under General In preparation for our Italy Trip, I just bought a new camera, a Nikon Coolpix P4. [...]
Like the video – very cool. I’ll have to join up for a game in the next few weeks!
John
I am looking for John Stewart from the Flatwoods WV area who is my cousin.
Please let me know if you are the one.
Kay
Kay – I am not the one; my family is all from the Missouri area.
Good luck!
awww poor Marley!!! That was the most pathetic little noise ever! I’m sure she’s all better now, though
Well, she got worse before she got better.
Two weeks later, while we were out of town, she ripped the staples out! Ouch… another $250 trip to the emergency vet (it was a Sunday, of course).
Then, this is the stupidest one, a week later we ran some errands with her, and just spaced about her stitches while we went into Menard’s. We came out and she was happily sitting in the back seat with a gaping wound. We were SO pissed at ourselves over that one.
That time, we took her in (to a 3rd vet) and they said she was healed up underneath enough where it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to stitch it up. So we just washed it out once in a while and now it’s all pretty much healed up. Last night was her first without the e-collar on.
Wow!!! What an ordeal!!!
Glad she is finally healed up enough now to go without the dog freezing collar
Jane is my hero!
I am a rock star!!!!!
Nice games
From: Sharon Burden
To: John Stewart
Date: Aug 19, 2006 12:50 AM
Subject: Re: Reception
The church feels I should have both DVD’s at my disposal. Send them snail mail in an unmarked package please. ASAP is important. Jesus can’t wait much longer.
John,
You are my hero.
That is all.
[...] The $20, no rebuy, game got under way at 7pm with a full roster, the second-to-last game for at least a month (as Susanna and I will be in Italy for three weeks!).Full RosterJohn StewartRobert ReganNickles StantonChris ArmagostAdam BodetteRob LarsonDan HesselsonJohn CoklNathan BowdenPat Wissell [...]
wow
Hear hear! But to clarify: What you voted NO on was NOT a gay marriage amendment — the amendment proposed has absolutely nothing to do with the legality of gay marriage.
What you voted on was whether or not to foreclose the possibility of ever offering rights to couples who are engaged in civil commitments, straight and gay alike, and whether or not it’s legal to revoke rights now in place for such couples.
Anyway, right on.
Is the presidentgoing to coopt the November election withthe news of Sadem Hussein’s trial verdict?
What is a ‘Presbyterian’ ?
KICKASS!!!! http://www.venganza.org/
I agree. Someone banning someone else’s right to marry who they choose is, in my opinion, a breach of personal freedom.
People should not care what their neighboors do behind their doors. Nowhere, does it say that marriage is between a man and a woman, except in the bible, but we all know thats all speculation.
It should be noted that South Carolina did the same as Wisconsin yesterday. Apparently, hicks in our state don’t learn from our own lessons either.
I wasn’t just embarrassed that it passed. I was embarrassed by:
1) the huge margin by which it passed
2) the number of people who were against it (that I spoke to directly) who didn’t even bother to go out and vote because “it’s a foregone conclusion that it’s gonna pass”
So shame on SC for being bigotted hicks and/or not having the backbone to stand up against those hicks.
- Mike from SC
Although I believe Gay marriage should be legal, I think you are a douche bag for the stance you are taking here. It is their right to vote for this, many people feel homosexuality is wrong and many of those who don’t are at least turned off by it.
But you go ahead and call them stupid and call them hicks, since you are the moral authority.
I say, Shame on the legislators who are allowing the Constution to be abused this way, and for preying on the fear and hatred of the average citizens who put faith in them.
Fuck you, fucking thinking Wisconsin is all hicks, real cool. If you think that, you are as close minded as the people that voted yes on the amendment in question. nice blog entry asshole.
Not true, Brian. I don’t think ALL of Wisconsin is made up of bigoted hicks… only 59% of us. Both Tennessee and Virginia had more people vote against gay marriage ban amendments. TENNESSEE AND VIRGINIA.
(Edit: Looking at the latest numbers, Tennessee voted 81% for the amendment. Virginia is still showing as less than in Wisconsin at 57%)
I do love this state; I’m a cheesehead through and through.
But today I am ashamed.
ok its fine if you are from here. Its not cool to badmouth a population unless you are part of it, you know. thats what I was keying on. I remember this gay marrage thing going around last election when i lived in michigan. it went through then too.
John,
Are you really sure that Wisconsinites voted in favor of this? After all, 2000, 2002, and 2004 were so rife with vote fraud, how do you really know?
On the one hand, it’s a wonder that the Repugs even lost anything on Nov 7th. It is as if the vote riggers realized the spotlight was on them. On the other hand, with rigging being so easy, e.g. apparently the Diebold GEMS program is totally open to tampering, I find it hard to believe that the riggers completely stood down.
Z
In all the times I’ve voted here in Madison (my first voting experience was 1992), we have had optical paper scan ballots, which are much less apt to be hackable than any touch screen system. Not sure about the rest of Wisconsin.
It really is the best system. Instant paper trail, no confusion on what you voted, and easy to recount.
John,
Have you watched the HBO doc. ‘Hacking Democracy’? If so, you’d realize that the optical scan ballot boxes are just as “hackable” as the GEMS Diebold system or any of the other electronic voting machines — definitely worth a watch!
I’m sure that we will be hearing about voter fraud/tampering/intimidation in the future, but not on the scale that many in the tech world predicted and feared. While the bans on gay marriage are unfortunate, I can’t say that I am surprised. The institutions of church and state are as fused today as they have been in living memory. And we know where the church stands on the matter. Perhaps the Democrats may be able to help the nation understand that neither church nor state informs the other? Could be asking a bit much… A good read would be Jimmy Carter’s, Our Endangered Values.
Regardless, I’m very happy with the results of yesterday’s election – here’s hoping that the Democrats chart a new course for America!
I don’t know about the Wisconsin amendment, but the one here in Virginia had language that would restrict any marriage-like contract (regarding benefits, custody etc..) between unmarried adults. The poorer showing for our amendment might be due to the small number of people who, despite thinking gays are “icky”, read the proposal and realized what a profoundly douchebaggy bit fundamentalist tripe it really was.
Wow,your a nasty little monkey when you don’t get your way,aren’t you? It’s their loss I say, bring them to Canada .We’ll marry’em ,give them some complementry mucklucks,and put them up in a nice igloo for the night.
Funny thing about the system we have in this country. You know, the one where people vote, and the largest number of votes is counted as the prevailing view of the people. Why is it that everytime a state or country votes some way besides your way, you decry them as hicks or idiots, or declare the vote itself as hacked or otherwise invalid? Given the way that gay marriage bans have been passing in various states around the country, it would seem that the majority of the people in those states believe it should be banned. You may not agree with it, but I guess that doesn’t matter a heck of a lot, does it?
Oh, and one more thing: Fuck you.
What kills me is how we hate gays enough to deny them equal protection under the law….
But we love Herb Kohl and re-elect him by a huge margin.
Well, Bigots are usually pretty clueless. This time it’s no different
“many people feel homosexuality is wrong and many of those who don’t are at least turned off by it.”
And so it was with ‘miscegenation.’ But using your relavatist thinking, that was a-okay.
Excellent point, Sara. Here’s the definition of miscegenation for those of us who didn’t know:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miscegenation
To your mom who said "Given the way that gay marriage bans have been passing in various states around the country, it would seem that the majority of the people in those states believe it should be banned."
The whole point of the government, the Constitution, and especially the Bill of Rights is to protect the few from the tyranny of the many. It’s too bad right now that gay people don’t deserve our protection. In 100 years, as I said, history will look back on us and judge us in the same way we judge those 100 years before us, and their treatment of black people.
The bigotry argument doesn’t work. Imagine arguing with a KKK member that their stance is wrong because it’s racist.
Understand that while the intent of the Amendment is to ban gay marriage, the wording is to define marriage as being between one man and one woman. The argument that works is that nobody can define what a man or woman is. If you think you can, I have a list of unanswered questions at http://holdthemilk.blogspot.com/2006/04/whoa-man.html
To mk in Virginia: The WI amendment was similar to yours, invalidating “…a legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals…”, thus shutting down the possibility of civil unions and likely jeopardizing domestic partnerships. We don’t have a state-wide domestic partnership registry in WI (and now we never will, until the amendment is repealed), but both the cities of Madison and Milwaukee do, and they offer partner benefits. It could also cause challenges to wills and powers of attorney, and even domestic abuse protections, like in Ohio. I think a lot of people just didn’t get it, and I know that some just refused to believe it, based on blog entries and letters to editors that I have read. People are often very good at burying their head in the sand.
Yes, Nov. 7, 2006 was a very sad day indeed for seven of the eight states that passed one of these mean-spirited and discriminatory amendments on the ballot. Shame on all the state legislatures for allowing this issue to be even considered as a constitutional amendment. And why are these amendments allowed to pass with a simple majority? Shouldn’t it be really difficult to amend a state constitution? Shouldn’t it require at least a 2/3 majoirty? Does anyone else think this is totally nuts? But let’s give a big round of applause to Arizona!!! They got it right
Most white americans are hicks. They are ignorant about the rest of the world. Bunch of rednecks they are.
Fuck all the “enlightened” progressives I see espousing their usual drivel.
Agree with me, or you’re a hick.
You know what? Agree with ME or you can go FUCK YOURSELVES.
> You know what? Agree with ME or you can go FUCK YOURSELVES.
The point is not that I’m right because I say I am right.
The point is that I am right because of a fundamental right of humans to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
This includes taking part in those parts of society from which some people are currently excluded.
Just as slave owners and racists saw no wrong in owning black folks, you see no wrong in preventing gay people from marrying.
I’m just recording my statements, now, for posterity. A hundered years from now, you and those other fine citizens that voted with you will be recognized for what they are… close minded, bigoted, fucking hicks…
…just as we regard those that a hundered years ago thought that freedom for black people was an atrocity.
I would strongly disagree. For the record, I am not a Christian, or a hick(you know that) and I’m definetly not a bigot, yet I voted against it. It’s not that I don’t see anything wrong with preventing gay marrige, I just feel it’s more of a wrong to vote for it.
You know John, your statement about a hundred years from now looking back, I say the same thing about George W. Bush. Looking back people will realize, that through all the fumbling speeches, he was right. In fact, it’s very similar to Winston Churchill. But a big number of people in Madison, including the gay community, are close minded about him because they don’t share the same views as him, yet they have no problem saying”Kill Bush”. Or “Bush Lied!”(the worst one cause they all lie), and the list of protests goes on.
So I would challenge you, next time you want to call people who don’t vote with the same mind frame as you close minded, think of the hypocrisy of your words…
Cheers mate!
That, was fukin awesome!!
I strongly believe that voting for a gay marriage ban was wrong, and that those (including you) who did so did a disservice to our fellow human beings.
Does that make me close minded? Far from it! I am always open to hearing any argument that makes a case one way or the other. Based on what you imply, no one with a strong opinion can be open minded, right? This makes no sense.
The fact is, I have yet to year any argument against gay marriage that is not rooted in dogmatic, archaic, and usually religious beliefs. What is your argument, “I just feel it’s more of a wrong to vote for it.” This is certainly not going to win the debate!
As for Bush, I always had an open mind on him… until he totally fucked this county (and the middle east) up down and backwards. I didn’t vote for Gore, so you can’t claim that I have a kneejerk reaction against the Republicans; in 2000 I was just as unhappy with the Democrats.
However, in the past seven years we have seen incompetence compounded with hubris that has succeeded only in harming this country.
I judge him based on his actions, not political dogma.
um. Yea.
If you could see the look on my face…
I can’t really put it into words.
Sadly, those were all men. Well, sort of…
That was an interesting experiment
regards