Pillows, Thieves, Italy

This is too long and probably boring post!  I started the blog as we were leaving Vienna, but due to spotty and slow internet connections I was not able to update until today.  So it jumps around from pillows to our stay in Siena, Italy.

First, about pillows and beds.  It has been so long since I have slept in my bed at home that I will have to get use to it once we return.  As much as I miss my bed, it is pillows that have become by obsession! And I think Rick has become just as obsessive.  Every new place I am thumping the pillows and testing their softness.  I like down pillows, fairly soft and I like to sleep with two pillows.  In Switzerland and Austria the pillows were perfect! They are huge, soft and filled with down or a down like material.  Very, very comfortable.  We saw some pillows at a department store in Vienna and I was trying to talk Rick into buying them.  He did not want to haul the pillows all over Europe, but now I think he is regretting his decision! Even the night train had decent pillows.  But then you get to Italy, and it is like sleeping on a rock.  The pillows are flat and hard, especially uncomfortable when you have a cold and just want to elevate your head.  In Austria and Switzerland and now Slovenia the beds are made up with a bottom sheet and a duvet that is folded.  Easy to make, cozy to sleep under unless the room  is hot.  In Italy, the bed is made up with a bottom and top sheet and a thin blanket or coverlet.  So if you could combine the pillows from Austria and the linens from Italy it would be perfecto!  The cultural differences of the pillow and bed are perplexing.  Based on outward personalities you would think the Austrians would have hard flat pillows and the Italians soft pillows, just saying.  I just wish I had taken a photo of the pillows in Italy.
One more story to share about Vienna that Rick and I and are still giggling over.  As we walked down the Mariahilfer, which is just full of trendy and traditional shops we noticed a huge window with a model.  My first thought, wow that is a realistic mannequin, then I realized it was an actual person. This nice looking guy, with no shirt and a buff body was modeling jeans in the window.  It was so funny watching people stop and stare.  I should have taken a photo it was hilarious.

Not sure if you can really see the pillows, but our bed in Siena, Italy

These pillows may just come home with me.  Typical Austrian pillow

We took the night train from Vienna to Milano, and it worked out better then we expected.  We had a sleeper car with our own bathroom and although small was fairly comfortable.  The beds were roomy and the air con in the compartment worked. We both slept fairly well and arrived Italy feeling rested.

I made Rick sleep on the top bunk.

 We arrived Milano in the morning and had a 90 min connection.  I needed to purchase our tickets for the Cinque Terra leg, so we went to the ticket kiosk.  I had purchased train tickets before using the kiosk, so I was confident I could do it again.  However, immediately, we had men swarming us and trying to interfere.  One guy was so close to me, that Rick stepped in.  He was either going to try and pick pocket something from my backpack or try to see if I was going to use my credit card.  Another guy started touching the screen, as if he was making it do something special.  I was paying with cash and when the tickets were printed he demanded 1 euro for his "assistance". I told him, I didn't ask for his help and to leave me alone.  He kept saying 1 euro, we just glared and walked off.  I know the economy is tough in Italy, but stuff like that just ticks me off. After that incident, we found a nice quiet place for coffee and waited our train.  We had no issues the rest of the day and was met by our landlady at the Riomaggiore train station.  She was very helpful and explained hikes, busses, restaurants, etc for us.  I so much enjoy Italy, its culture, food and people, but like everywhere there are thieves and thuds who prey on tourists, old people and women traveling alone.

Cinque Terra was beautiful.  The towns seem to hang from the cliffs and the the colors are so beautiful.  We had drinks at a bar high above the see and met some nice people from Seattle. The sunset was beautiful.  The next day we had coffee and pastry at a local bar/cafe and had a nice conversation with a lady who lives half the year in Riomaggiore and the other half in New Jersey.  She is originally from Ecaudor, but is an American citizen.  She was so interesting and helpful.  We ran into to her several times and she was always asking about our day etc.  We took a bus to Volastra, high above and hiked along a trail for almost 2 hours to another village.  We were thrilled to see locals harvesting grapes on the steep hillsides and see the terraced gardens.  In Cornelgia we purchased sandwiches and picnicked on a plaza.  We had some yummy gelato before heading down the trail to the train.  From there we went to Monterosso, so Rick could see the village and we could taste some local wine.  We then took the boat back to Riomaggiore.  On the boat we met some girls from Seattle and a couple from Medford, Oregon.  Interestingly, he is a VT (80's).  Small world.   That evening we had dinner at wonderful restaurant on the harbor.  Our landlady had made our reservation and she had booked the primo outside table for us.  When we arrived, there was some confusion because they could not find our table.  When I mentioned to the waitress that Martha had called, she knew immediately which table was suppose to be ours.  Some couple had told them they were Jennifer (my name was on a reservation card that had been placed on the table and they must have seen the name and said it was their table).  The male waiter went over to them and had this big argument about them taking our table.  Rick was convinced we would be sitting inside, but low and behold they finally got up and moved.  As they walked by they said "Pardon" to us....yeah right.  After that it was a wonderful meal with a wonderful view.  We talked briefly with another couple, I made a comment that we were taking bets where they were from.  I said Scotland, Rick had said Australia and even guessed Melbourne and he was correct.

After a short stay in Cinque Terra it was on to Siena, Italy with an overnight stop in Pisa.  I woke up feeling lousy from a cold, so as soon as we arrived our B&B in Pisa I went to bed for a nap while Rick explored.  Later in the evening we walked over to the Leaning Tower of Pisa and Rick could not resist posing.  It was so funny watching everyone do the "pose"  They were either holding the tower up or pushing it down.

Riomaggiore, Italy harbor

Drinks at sunset

Trail from Volastra to Cornelgia

Gelato as the award for a long hike

Dinner in Riomaggiore overlooking harbor.

 Leaning Tower of Pisa and the Field of Miracles Baptistery

We finally arrived Siena, which is a beautiful and peaceful town in the hills of Tuscany.  We stayed at the same B&B that I stayed at last year with my sisters.  The inn is ideally located and the owners are so sweet.  They even gave us a small bottle of prosecco for Rick's birthday.  We spent our time in Siena being lazy.  We wondered the streets, window shopped, took a wine tasting class, and visited the Duomo.  It is one my favorite churches in Italy, the Piccolomini Library inside the church has stunning frescoes that have never been restored and yet they look like they were just painted.  The floors are beautiful a beautiful carved marble representing stories and legends.  They are only uncovered in Sept and October.  In the one side chapel there are two Bernini sculptures and in another area of the church a Michelangelo.

We had wonderful meals, from a simple mix plate of salads, cheeses and meats and a carafe of wine at a traditional Osteria,  a small restaurant with tables under a grape arbor in the middle of a park, to an upscale restaurant with tables perched on platforms on a steep street.  Here are just a few photos from our 3 days in Siena.

Outside the Duomo in Siena

Lunch at All' Orto De' Pecci

Rolled Focaccia-stuffed with tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. 

Walking path back to the Campo from All' Orto.  We needed that walk after eating the focaccia!

 View from the Panorama at the Duomo

Piccolomini Library frescos inside the Duomo

St Catherine's Sanctuary 

Various views of Siena

Bernini Sculpture 

Lights along the street

 Another fresco from the library, obviously out of order.

Ceiling from the baptistry which is located behind the Duomo.  The ceiling was in wonderful shape and since it was not crowded I had time to really take my time.

Italians seem to know how to enjoy life.  They love their coffee, they gelato and of course their wine.  It was fun seeing little old men sitting on benches, just watching the world go by or families having birthday parties.  We even came across a block party for one of the neighborhoods in Siena.

This is the end of this section of our Italy trip.

Vienna

This is my third trip to Vienna.  The first time we came with Nick and Lauren.  Rick had a conference (surprise, surprise) and we tagged along.  Although it was our second trip to Europe it was the first time we had brought the family.  Nick was 19 and had just finished his first year of college so Lauren must have been 12;  that should make it summer of 2000.  A few things will be forever etched in my brain.  Going to a welcome bbq at the home of a professor and Nick getting very "happy" from the endless flow of beer.  Getting on the train (metro) for the first time and Nick not getting on in time, so I  watched him on the platform as we disappeared.  I couldn't understand a lick of German and was not sure we ever see him again, but we did at the planned stop...see he was listening.  Meeting Geoff and Linda (our Australian friends for the first time) and of course the "the soccer shorts" story.  Lauren kept saying she wanted to try a Sacher Torte, we were having a long day of sightseeing and everyone was starting to melt down.  She kept on an on about the Sacher Torte!  Finally, Rick, being very exasperated, said to Lauren, "what is the big deal about getting soccer shorts, you can buy them at home"? It was perfect, we all cracked up, the tension melted away and poor Rick is still being teased about the "soccer shorts".  Such a dad thing.
The second time we visited Vienna was in 2003. After a 5 week trip through Europe, we arrived Vienna to help Rick get settled in his apartment for his teaching gig.  Lauren and I would have a few days here before heading back to states.  That was the trip, where we spent probably half a day looking for a shower curtain for his bathroom and discovering Demel for pastries and coffee.
This time, we are in Vienna for a few days and will return in mid October for another 4 days.  Rick and I were able to spend one day together getting reacquainted with the city, getting lost a few times, having coffee and cake at The Demel and walking along the Prater.  While he worked the last two days, I was able to explore a few museums and churches on my own.  It has been cool and somewhat rainy, but overall fairly pleasant.  We spent one evening with the conference attendees at a heuriger  or wine tavern drinking local wine and eating traditional heurigerian food. Last night we found another heuriger restaurant and stopped by after our extra long walk for dinner, wine, and music.  It was a fun evening.

Later this evening we will take the night train to Milan, Italy and then on to Cinque Terra for a few days,  before heading to Tuscany.  We have spent the day walking, looking at coffee makers and pillows...a story for a different post and now we are sitting at a traditional coffee house, Cafe Leopold Hawelka,  drinking wine and beer, reading, catching up on email etc before heading to the bahnhof to catch our train.  I just read in my guide book that Warhol and Arthur Miller use to frequent here when in Vienna.

 Volksgarten in Vienna.  I love this park, it is so pretty, but don't walk on the grass!

 I asked Rick to stand in front of the fountain and he started to stand on the grass!  I stopped him before he was yelled at by the  nearby groundskeeper.

 Hmm, I think the yoga pants are looking a little snug...must do more walking and less eating.

This is one of the statues outside the Hofburg, the winter palace for the Hapsburg.  I like the pigeons resting on various parts of the statue

Not statues, but confections or cakes on display at Demel.  Demel was a coffee shop favored by the king and kaiser in the 1800's.  You go in and pick your cake from a display, they hand you a piece of paper with a number on it, you go back to your table and hand the waitress your ticket and order drinks etc with her.

 Rick waiting for the cake and coffee.

 This is a side view of St Stephens.  The tile roof is beautiful

The Inner Stadt area of Vienna. Mix of old and new, the city was bombed in WWII

Inside St Stephens, it is pretty dark and gloomy compared to some churches. I am hoping to take a tour in October to learn more about it.

 Rick wanted a photo of the Demel sign.  See the K. U. K under it's name; favored by the King and Kaiser.

 We took a walk through the Prater, tried to capture this photo of the horse and carriage, but I was a little slow.  But you get the idea of the park...Vienna's equivalent to NYC Central Park

 Went to the Leopold Museum.  Interesting collection, but not really my cup of tea. The museum houses many Egon Schiele's paintings.  I did like some of his early landscapes.

This is Death by Gustav Klimt.
The Leopold had a few of his paintings and drawings, but most are at the Belvedere, which I hope to get to on our next visit.  I did go there in 2000 and it was impressive.

View from the top floor, it was a rainy day and I am not sure which building I am looking at.


On Friday,  I visited the Albertina Museum.  They were having a special exhibit of Miro.  I have seen a few of his paintings over the years, but never an entire exhibit and a range of his work over so many decades.

The one above is from his early years, a landscape of his parent's farm near Barcelona

I thought both of these painting were amusing.  The one above is earlier when he started painting more as a surrealist and the bottom one was much later.

The Albertina museum is housed in one of the palaces.  Here are a few photos of some of the rooms. I liked the story about how this room or perhaps the room above went up in flames because the daughter was a secret smoker and had the habit of hiding her cigarettes behind her back, which resulted in her dress catching on fire.  Sadly, she died from her burns and the room was completely destroyed.

This was the music or ball room.  Before electricity the chandaleirs were lit by candles, plus along the walls.

After the museum I started walking toward the center of town and walked through an archway of the Hofburg Palace.  The Spanish Riding School is housed here and I just happened to walk by as they were returning some of the horses from morning practice.  We actually went to a morning practice session on our last trip in Vienna with Lauren.  The horses are beautiful.

There are hundreds of horses and carriages in the city

Dome on the Hofburg

I read about this church called St Peters.  Oldest church in Vienna.  The church is very ornate and they have free organ recitals each day at 3.  I stayed and listen for about 15 minutes, but the pews were so hard and uncomfortable that my poor old back was moaning in pain.