Through the Alps Into Italy

I'm sitting in the Da Carlos hotel in Lucca, Italy typing this. I'm 7 miles from the "Pisa Torre" or "Leaning Tower of Pisa" and 45 minutes from Firenza (Florence). Jean and Summer are in the room getting ready for the day. It's 10:40AM September 2, 2007.

We left Germany yesterday (early) morning and drove through Switzerland (Alps) and into Italy. It was a gorgeous drive. The Alps and Tuscony are a visual that I will never forget! We hit a couple of snags along the way; the Autobahn was closed between Karlsruhe (Germany) and Baden Baden (Germany), that was a 20 - 30 minute detour. Then the big one was a Stau (traffic jam) in the tunnels of the Alps. That was another 1.5 hours. No big deal, like I said, it was a beautiful drive!

Today we plan to see the Torre and then train into Firenza. The girls have an opera to go to tonight - La Bohème - it was the inspiration for RENT. Lucky and I will hang out in Florence and maybe do another blog entry with photos from today.

Italy is gorgeous, the people are friendly and the language is awesome!! So passionate!!! BELLISIMA!! Wish you were here! (Click to enlarge the photos)


Driving through the Alps in Switzerland.


The view from our room at the Da Carlos.


Our waiter shot this at dinner last night. We had two bottles (one white and one red) of wonderful local wine. Seafood is the dish here for dinner. I had Sea Bass, Summer had the "fried plate" with squid, octupus, little fish and big fish and Jean had the clams and pasta. It was excellent!



Summer was curious about what she was eating.



The Sea Bass was outstanding!! I loved it!!


Salute! Jean drinking the local white wine (it was YUMMY!)


The (thinking) sexy beast himself sampling the local fruit of the vine.



Lucky enjoying the Lucca morning sun today at breakfast.

Prague (Praha), Czech Republic (Bohemia)

The Jacobsons in Prague (Praha), Czech Republic (Bohemia) February 2007

 



Jean, Summer and Quinn at the 13th Century Charles Bridge in Prague.

 

Summer and Quinn in the Metro in the heart of Prague. You go down many layers in the earth to get to the Green line. It reminded me of the "Journey to the Middle of the Earth" - we kept going down and down. Very steep and fast escalators too. Unlike any Metro we've been on, including Paris, London and New York City.

 

Jean and Quinn enjoying a 1L Czech Beer called Pilsner Urquell made in Plzen, Czech Republic (we drove through it). These were $3 USD each! All you need is one!

 

The famous Charles Bridge (and Prague Castle in the background). Built in the 13th Century (Gothic) by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. Gorgeous and looong! Kitsch booths setup all along it with people trying to peddle their fake tourist-art. And it was packed with people! I can't imagine this place in July! It serves a function, it connects Old Town with Mala Strana.

A Quick Overview of the Week

We spent the last week in Prague (Praha), Czech Republic. It was gorgeous! It's old, beautiful and full of art and history. It blew my mind. As an artist, and a human being, Prague is one of my favorite places so far.

We spent a lot of time in the Jewish Quarter (the ghetto) and went into the old synagogues - the Spanish Synogogue and the Maisel Synagogue. Again, beautiful and full of both incredible and disturbing history. Kafka, The Golem, Charles Bridge, Old Town Square on and on.

The weather was nice too. We went on the Metro, the bus, walked until our legs hurt everyday and then walked some more. It was great fun and we even learned a lot!

Some More Photos



Jean on the Charles Bridge in front of one of the many statues that adorn the bridge. Very beautiful (and large) pieces of art.

 



A musician in Old Town Square.

Ladenburg, Germany

Ladenburg is a beautiful, and very old, city. Depending on who you talk to, it's either Germany's oldest city or has the oldest university in Germany. We had dinner in a restuarant that was built in 1638. It was an experience to eat in "Die Kartoffel" - they serve you a very nice salad, a nice big potato (of course) with delicious Sahne and then your steak comes out - it's sizziling and raw on a very hot stone! You cook it to your liking on the stone (yes, a stone and it stays hot a very long time).. amazing stuff!


"Haupstrasse, Ladenburg, Germany"
August 16, 2006


"Street Scene, Ladenburg, Germany"
August 16, 2006


"Steak and Stone - Die Kartoffel, Ladenburg, Germany"
August 16, 2006


"Die Kartoffel, Ladenburg, Germany"
August 16, 2006


"Quinn Enjoying a Medevial Meal, Ladenburg, Germany"
August 16, 2006

Thanks George

It was bound to happen. I knew it would but, I wanted to keep it as far from me as possible. Last night we felt the "sting" of being outsiders. Of being Americans and of not understanding this culture.

We were visiting one of our favorite restuarants (so far), after meeting with the current renters of our house, and we had a "reality check" experience. Here's what happened:

It was about 8PM and we wanted to get something to eat. The Alteus Brauhaus was less than five minutes from the house and we decided to go for some of that great raspberry/vanilla ice cream and schnitzel. We walked in the resturant and we were greeted by the barmaid, "Abend", we replied, "Abend". It was so nice last night we wanted to sit outside. In Germany, like most European countries, people prefer outside to inside (weather permitting). We found a table and sat down. There were a lot of people sitting outside. Most of them were having drinks. Not too many were eating. My daughter worried that we were crashing a family reunion or something. I told her not to worry, it will be fine.
The waitress came to the table and asked us what we wanted. In terrible German we said, "One Pils and two Spezis, please" I suppose that clued her into the fact that we were American (as if they couldn't tell from our dress and mannerisms already). She returned with our drinks and never said another word. We waited for 45 minutes and could never get her attention again. She served everyone else around us and we became invisble.
My American attitude wanted to tell her off, my "you're in another country" attitude wanted to humbly exit the place with myt tail tucked between my legs. We chose the latter. We had to go inside to pay our 7 Euros for the drinks. Again, she never came back to the table! The language barrier is terrible. If I would have known how to say, "Frau, Speiskarte bitte" life would have been much easier.. I think. I wonder if we were ignored because we didn't communicate well enough or that we were who we are? I think it's the latter but hope it's the previous.
It was both humilating and frustrating. If you've ever been in Europe, you know how long it takes to have dinner here. When you are hungry and tired, it gets complicated.

Long Words & Furry Houses

We are having fruit and ice cream tonight and I noticed this German word on the lid of the fruit. Although the English word for "preservitives" is quite long, the German word has a certain look about it that makes it appear like an alphabet:

Unbelieveably good ice cream! I was never really a fan of ice cream, German ice cream has made me change my mind.



A house next to us near KantStrasse.. you'll see these everywhere, I really like them!

The Jet Lag Is Almost Gone

Today was the first day with really clear heads, the jet lag is almost gone and our bodies are tired at night and alert in the day. So we rented a car.

What a difference wheels make! I missed driving. After getting our ID cards and eating lunch, we headed over to check out Grunstadt. The Grunstadt area is known for it's local wines/vineyards. They don't export the stuff, you have to come here to drink it. It's fairly close to the French border (we are already, Grunstadt is a 25 minute drive). The vineyards there are GORGEOUS! If you've ever been through Washington state or northern California, times that by ten and you'll start to get an idea of what the Grunstadt area looks like. To put this in perspective, the exit we took was called "Deutsche WeinStraße" (German Wine Street). We plan to check out other small villages this weekend. We want something that is close to a bigger city that allows us to access a bakery, cafe, pub and market easily. We'll find it, there are plenty of places to choose from here.

Also, this was my first day driving on the Autobahn. It's awesome! And yes, I drove fast (when appropriate and legal). My top speed was 170 Kmph (just shy of 110 mph) - it's good stuff! And yes, I was sober, very very sober! You DO NOT want to drink AT ALL here and drive, serious stuff!

We had dinner at "Alexandros" a Greek resturant/hotel a couple of miles up the road in Kafertal, Germany. Yummy!

New Tastes & Smells

I started "in-processing" today. I have to attend briefings, fill out paper work and watch Power-Point presentations. This will go on all week.

Jean and I just got back from visiting the housing department. We are scheduled to look at a house in Rheinau, Germany. It's 225 square meters, 6 bedrooms, apartment upstairs, fenced yard, terrace, etc. We'll see what happens. We're also second in line for a nice place near Grunstadt. I would prefer that area.

I got to video conference with my friend Caron last night. It was very enjoyable, technology is great! I hope we can do that more often!!


What a wunderbar dinner!! This is what I love (at least one of them). We had a little zin before dinner but these Wiener Wurstchen were the tastiest (a bit salty cooked in Olive Oil) with the Kohl!! There was a nice (dijon like) mustard and dill cream! The (peach) yogurt for desert was the creamiest and best I've ever had!! What can I say? The hits just keep on coming. Now if I can get some sleep tonight!!





Guten Nach!