The Pick Up

I was being picked up from the aeroporto by Drew, who has been my Italian tutor for 6 months. We've had many conversations and he sends learning videos -- usually wearing disguises -- so I was surprised that he didn't wear a Ronald McDonald wig when he came to pick me up.  Happily surprised!  :-)

He had commanded that we will speak only Italian because I need to practice... And he expressed doubt (dowt -- the B is silent, from your Teacher!) that we will be able to communicate together. But all this big talk went out the window. We spoke perfect Engtaliano together and laughed for 5 hours straight!


Crossing the Pond

At this point my lucky charm stopped working... perhaps the wifi wasn't strong enough, I dunno.

At any rate the plane was so cold that even my hoodie and the extra thick Alitalia blanket didn't help. AND though I did get my aisle seat, I was seated next to AMERICANS. Mannaggia!!! No practicing my Italian tonight!!!!

I ate the lovely meal of pasta, had a (plastic) glass of red wine, had 2.5 ounces of hot tea to warm up, blew up my horseshoe pillow, and went to sleep.

I woke up just before Ireland, put on my makeup and brushed my teeth, and waited for arrival.

Point A to Point B

Again, my lucky charm is working wonders for me. I'm seated next to a little lady from Myanmar ("You know, Burma," she says) who was in the US for a Methodist conference in Houston. She's taken the opportunity to visit all her friends -- Minnesota, Mount Rushmore, ecc.. and will spend three weeks with her son in Brooklyn. We had a nice conversation -- often about how cold it is in the airplane!

Baggage was easy in JFK... and then I took that wonderful airtrain to a different terminal for Alitalia. OMG.... The line for "already checked in via web" was short... MA! MA! they wouldn't check my flight for another 30 minutes.... So, I sat on the floor and ate M&Ms in the interim.

And again... My lucky charm is working overtime!! TSA was easy peasy.... the wait was pretty long but I had great fun people watching... Many many Hasidics heading for Moscow. Many Italian with dozens of children waiting for my flight (noooooo!).....

It's colder than a well-digger's ass and I have to put my hood on in the airport.

I spent my hours thinking of the fantastic conversation (in Italian) I would have in the plane to Milano. Then I stood in the boarding line with a NY poet who shared my political views (while we watched the CNN trainwreck) and an Italian couple with their sweet little dachshund Remo in a carry-on bag with his head poking through. He was so tired, but trying to stay awake... Didn't want to miss anything.....

And we boarded the plane for Milano.

Aeorporto numeri uno


Per TSA warnings of long lines this summer, I arrived at the airport even earlier than usual.... what a waste of my time... I guess most people DRIVE on Labor Day, so the airport was really not busy at all... lines were short.

Unfortunately I learned upon checking in at CLT that since I booked my two legs on separate airlines I would be unable 'check through' to Milano. (Since when???) Meaning, at JFK I will have to go through to Baggage Claim, get my bags, checkin at Alitalia... and go through NYC TSA... Mannaggia!!

I get through CLT TSA easy peasy and hit the ATM, only to learn that my carta has been switched to Euro already... I can't get any cash... and don't have any USD on me... only Euros..... and I'm soooooo freakin hungry. After hours of sitting and thinking about my empty stomach I remember I can probably exchange... so I found the little exchange cart and got enough dollars for yogurt and M&Ms.  Pranzo of Champions.

The airport is freezing... more than usual... So I put on my hoodie at noon-ish. And at 1 we fly.

Me Me Me!


I have three nights before I meet my team in Firenze and two nights after I leave my team in Piombino to plan for Me Me Me! And there are so many options that I'm as overwhelmed as a shoe freak at Nordstrom Rack -- oh wait, I am a shoe freak at Nordstrom Rack. But I digress.

I fly into Milano, so touring there is an option. While it is billed as historically insignificant to other Italian cities, and apparently suffered a good deal of damage during WWII, there is a lot of art there including da Vinci's The Last Supper (thank you Dan Brown, I'll never look at this painting with the same wide-eyed Baptist wonder as I did afore ye). Also, I'm working with a lot of people from Milano on Hello Talk and it might be nice to actually meet some of them face to face. (Or not, as this might actually turn out to be a whole 'worlds collide'  can that is better left unwhooped. Food for thought.)

I could hop a train to a different city between Milano and Firenze -- Parma (ham), Modena (Balsamic vinegar), Bologna (ummm, bologna), Genoa (Christopher Columbus, see 2015).

Or... I could go... to the beach......... Dig, if you will, the picture (in the words of the late great Prince), a good book (in English), soaking in salty water,  under the Mediterranean sun, while sipping a cool adult beverage (or ten).

I made my Me Me Me beginning and ending accommodation bookings, and I think you know me well enough to know what I chose.........

Team Schedule



I started by making a tentative schedule to share with My Team, picking starting and ending and all points in between. I analyzed transportation options, schedules and costs, and tweaked the schedule to minimize travel time and maximize tourist time. And I started scoping out flight options to share.

I went through several iterations of tweaking the schedule -- based on good train connections, availability of good AirBNB bookings close to the train, things to do, diversity of locale. And I ended up with what I believe is a fun, efficient, and comprehensive overview of Tuscany and the central coast.

I added days onto the beginning and end of the group trip for me, myself and I (it is my vacation after all) and I booked a really great flight for myself through Milan.... JFK <> Milano $850. Duh. 


Hello Talk


With the new year my Italian class geared back up after a hiatus.  It took some effort for me to get back into the groove since I'd abandoned my fledgling fluency to the siren call of Google Translate, but with an interesting group of fellow students I fought off the cold black arms of mid-winter blahs and hit the books.

While I initially started my revival di Italiano with DuoLingo, a new app suggested by my luscious classmate Michele -- Hello Talk -- quickly became my go-to study tool.

Here is the premise of Hello Talk. I set up a (free!) profile -- I am an American and English is my first language; I'd like to learn Italian (many languages available!). Based on this bare-minimum amount of data in your profile you are given access to a queue of people who are native Italian speakers who want to learn English. You can build out your profile with more information, age, location, skill level, a little blurb about yourself. And you can search for partners based on several selection criteria -- gender, age, who is online, who has written blurbs about themselves, location, etc.

Then basically you reach out and interact with people. You can do basic texting. You can do voice mails. You can do real time calling -- with excellent fidelity! Peeps will reach out and interact with you. Much like real life, you will determine who you want to interact with based on personality, style, etc. Some folks are more structured and serious, some are more casual. Some participants want to do everything by text, others want to do everything by speaking.

There are built-in reminders that Hello Talk is a language learning site, not a dating site... and there are ways to get rid of stalkers.

Hello Talk is another storefront in the sharing economy. I help you with your English, you help me with my Italian. Perhaps it is a little one-sided in X relationship, with me doing all the teaching... While in Y relationship I'm doing all the learning. All in all, in my interactions I think it evens out. And we each get individual native-speaking tutors.

There are more functions I won't go into, and probably many more I don't even know about... Also, you can upgrade to a paid version for more goodies.

Take it from me, this tool is worth a look-see. Available today at your local App Store. Tell 'em I sent ya!

Italia Here I Come!



So it's that time again, time to rev up the travel engine.

I've gathered a group of like-minded ladies (My Team) for a trip to Italy in 2016, with myself as the leader... my goal is to show them that a trip to Firenze is no different than a trip to New York... an airport is an aeroporto, a train is a treno, a city bus is an autobus, a smile is a smile is a smile .... And people are the same everywhere.....

It's just that some people have waaay more cool stuff in their backyards than we do.

I'm using this trip as a test kitchen, a Beta Test. Could I make a late life career of this type activity? Not really being a tour leader, but teaching people to travel. Teaching people to be 'Travelers'.

It will be an interesting ride.

Italy 2016

Then put your little hand in mine
There ain't no hill or mountain we can't climb
Babe
I got you babe
I got you babe 

Don't hit that snooze bar, Phil! You're gonna want to relive this!

I'm going back to Italy -- and this time I'm takin' a few of my friends!

Stay tuned!