The Guest Gets the Best...

There is a definite season for visitors to Maine. Summer brings them in droves, with visions of lazy beach days and idle strolls through cobblestone streets, ducking into shops for treasures to bring home. We Mainers have a love/hate affair with this time of year. We enjoy showing off the beauty of our state and basking in the envy of tourists who remind us how lucky we are to live here. On the other hand, we brace for the increase in crowds, the "creative" driving habits of some of our neighbors to the south (dubbed massholes) and count the days until late fall when we can reclaim our state, breathe a sigh of relief and resume our quieter lifestle. Only the hardiest of souls venture across the Kittery Bridge after November 1st, fearful of becoming trapped by the blizzards they believe we get non-stop from then until May.

Last summer, my sister and niece came for a long weekend in early August. They enjoyed themselves so much, they decided to make it an annual tradition. I did my best to put my hometown on display last year and, as a result, they clamored for more.

Our first stop was Deering Oaks Park and the Farmer's Market Saturday morning. That was an encore request from last year so off we went.








They loved the many colors of flowers and the tables and stalls mounded with fresh produce everywhere.










It was total sensory overload and we loved it!












Everything we saw looked so fresh and delicious.












It made us hungry just walking around.




















And the flowers were spectacular. They almost made me forget those sub-zero, blizzardy February days.












Even the dogs were feeling upbeat and sociable as they conducted their obligatory "sniff and greet" routines.





Once we had surveyed all the offerings (and Lynny had purchased her usual "kitty" paraphenalia from the craft vendors) we headed up the coast to have lunch at Five Islands Lobster Company in Georgetown. I'd love to show a picture of that beautiful spot and our lunch but it's impossible to steady a camera with both hands wrapped firmly around a roll crammed full of delicious lobster meat picked fresh from a lobster that had probably been pulled from the water that very morning. No mayo, no other stuff, just lobster...precisely the way God intended us to eat that ambrosia. Man, they were good! Brendan and I have been there and taken pictures many times before so this is the view we had from our al fresco dining spot, courtesy of a previous visit. It looked exactly the same.



Next it was on to nearby Reid State Park, known for it's long beautiful beach seen in the top picture. There is a rocky outcrop overlooking the beach so we climbed up (despite Lynny's case of acrophobic jitters). Once there, she refused to venture anywhere near the edge, although she admitted it was a spectacular view. Here are some of the pictures from there.







Lynny and Melissa against the pine and ocean backdrop.












Brendan and Melissa made Lynny VERY nervous with their proximity to the edge. (It actually slopes down to the water pretty gradually but she was convinced a rogue wave...or a great white shark...was on its way in to snatch her baby and my hubby!)








OK, I'll admit it does look a little scary, especially from Lynny's vantage point practically hugging the trunks of the pine trees up above for dear life.











We finally came down from the ledges and decided to walk along the beach for a bit. It was tough going, the sand was griddle hot and the water was too churned up (and VERY cold) to do any leisurely wading.











So Melissa decided to send her boyfriend in New York a message, writing it in the sand and attempting to snap a picture with her phone. Clueless beach people kept ambling right over it like zombies. It took her four tries before she got a shot without somebody's big hairy feet stepping all over it.

Some people just ain't got no couth...or appreciation of young love and great artwork. :-)








We finally headed home, with bellies full of lobster and a little sunburnt, having introduced Lynny and Melissa to another spectacular coastal spot.

Sunday was overcast, threatening rain so we headed downtown to visit Brendan at the bakery where he does his usual Sunday morning gig. We indulged ourselves with some more lobster in the form of a frittata at the Porthole and then did our best to give the local retail economy a shot in the arm in the Old Port. Tough job but somebody's got to do it.

We spent much of the weekend poring over old photos, regaling (or boring) Melissa with stories that she has probably heard before about growing up in the fifties with our quirky family and dissolving into fits of laughter at forgotten events and images. In short, we had a wonderful time together.

Distance separates our family, much as it does so many families today but those rare times when we can reconnect bring us back immediately to earlier times that seem so much simpler. They weren't all sweetness and light...my siblings and I bickered and argued like nobody's business...but we now realize the value of having each other, the strength of the bonds forged by years of shared experiences of joy and grief, with the common everyday in between. We recognize each other's imperfections and idiosyncrasies and despite them, perhaps even because of them, we love each other to our cores.

Thanks for the wonderful visit, Lynny and Melissa. Can't wait for next year's summer visit! I'll alert the lobster boats you are on your way so they can stock up!

Our Most Excellent New York Adventure

Each year Meredith and I take a trip right after Christmas to upstate New York (Schenectady to be exact) to visit my sisters, brother, stepmother and their families. This year we expanded our travels to tack on a trip down to New York City so she could visit some of the graduate schools where she has applied and interview some of the researchers she hopes to work with. We were blessed with a lull in the
bitter cold and a respite from the barrage of snowstorms and so enjoyed some worry-free travel.

The upstate portion was our usual stay with Sally, my wicked stepmother (hey, that's what SHE calls herself!) and the obligatory dinner at my sister's house to exchange gifts and pig out on lasagna and spaghetti pie. Unfortunately, my Florida sister and her family couldn't come this year. (We missed you, Bets!) Here are some shots of my wacky family. We definitely put the "fun" in "dysfunctional!




John may have been flashing a peace sign but Lynny and I were definitely putting bunny ears on Sally, who, for her part, was clueless to what was going on behind her.













Sally looks downright disgusted at her grandchildren's behavior and, for the record, Meredith knew she was being "bunny-eared" by her cousin Paul. What a crew!










After two days of that merriment it was time to head downstate to the Big Apple. We are blessed with wonderful friends who put us up very graciously. Chubba has been Brendan's best friend since childhood. He is a senior finance executive for the Metropolitan Museum, a fact that figures in one of our misadventures for the trip. Diana, his wife is a most gracious hostess with a large Italian family, including Meredith's new best buddy, Johnny, who loves the Yankees as much as she does. Johnny and his wife, Linda joined us for dinner that first night. My favorite experience was listening to Meredith trying to explain Molecular Genetics and her graduate programs to the rest of us. All Johnny cared about was that he would have a buddy to go to Yankee games with him for the next few years!






Here is Chubba with his new "baby", a 2-seater hard-top convertible Mercedes. He took us each for a spin and it is quite a machine.










Monday we headed into the city. We took the train in with Chubba and all went to the museum which is closed to the public on Mondays. Chubba showed us his office, we discussed a rendezvous point later and then Meredith and I began our exploration of the vastness of the museum. We explored the ancient Greek and Roman sculptures, which reminded me so much of our trip to Italy last Spring. Then we headed over to the Egyptian artifacts, which includes an amazing number of mummies and a full temple donated by the Egyptian government in the 1960's when the Aswan Dam project flooded a large area adjacent to the Nile. Suddenly a guard approached me and asked for my staff badge. I explained that we were guests of one of the museum's executives and he told us we would have to leave if we were unaccompanied by a staff member. He was initially a little nasty but then softened when he realized that it was an innocent mistake. Chubba hasn't worked there all that long and we were his first guests during closed hours. The guard escorted us upstairs where we told Chubba that we had been busted and would have to leave. He felt terrible and walked us out with some suggestions of other places to go. We just laughed it off. After all, how many people can claim to have been thrown out of the Metropolitan Museum of Art? We didn't even have to try to steal or vandalize anything to accomplish it either!

The rest of Monday we explored the East side, finding the Rockefeller Campus where Meredith's interviews were to be held later that day, and then heading uptown to find Columbia's Medical campus at 168th Street. That's where our second adventure of the day occurred. Apparently the program that Meredith applied to must be a special secret program because no one knew where it was. We got four different sets of directions, followed each one dutifully, only to find out we were NOT in the right place. One person suggested that we go to the Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital Emergency Room because "they have a directory of everybody." That would have involved crossing a major street for the third time so we just popped into a building called the [insert la-di-da name here] Research Center. The building guard there directed us to go back across the street and "right next to the homeless shelter -- just look for all of the people outside smoking"... not what a Mom wanted to hear in THAT neighborhood. One very well meaning woman pointed out a tall building that she described as the library and told Meredith to go up to the second floor. At that point I waited outside, rested my feet sitting on a bench and took a couple of pictures of the area:

























She was gone for a while so I thought maybe we had finally hit paydirt. I thought wrong. She came out eventually, shaking her head and told me that the front desk guard had told her the program was NOT on the second floor but in room 313 on the third floor. He directed her to an elevator in the back of the building and she emerged onto the third floor to find the entire floor to be nothing but empty classrooms. She couldn't gain access to the second floor at all so decided to give up and come back outside. We admitted defeat and took the subway back over to the east side to grab some lunch. We had lunch in a quintessential NY Jewish deli. The owner, a little old Jewish man, even offered to pay for my lunch if I didn't like it. He got to keep his money because it was delicious! It was almost time for Meredith's interviews at Rockefeller so we walked over to York Avenue. The guard recognized us from our reconnaissance trip earlier and called to announce us. She was delightful but made a remark about everyone working there having an attitude that shook Meredith up a bit. The Rockefeller property was exquisite, overlooking the East River. I wanted to take pictures but Meredith gave me the evil eye when I touched my camera so I refrained. Here is a picture of their entrance from the web:



She had two very productive interviews and fell in love with the place. And it was easy to see why. It is clear that this is a serious research place -- lab coats all over the place. To my little lab-rat cookie, this is heaven on earth. Unfortunately, it is also the most competitive grad program on her list so I have all my fingers crossed, have started a few novenas, implored all my dead ancestors to pull any strings they can with the big guy, and wished on every first star I've seen to make this come true for her. It would be HUGE!

Needless to say, we were exhausted after our first day. We met Chubba in Grand Central and took the MetroNorth home for a quiet dinner and an early bedtime. Day Two promised to be just as active, but with a lot more funstuff thrown in.

And we were back at it bright and early on Tuesday. Diana drove us to the train and we went by ourselves. We headed over to NYU's medical campus which is also on the East Side but down in the 30's. Meredith has an interview scheduled with them in February so she just wanted to check out the neighborhood briefly. Not as ritzy as the east 60's but still very nice. Then we treated ourselves to a trip to the top of the Empire State building. I have been there a couple of times but she had never been. When she was much younger we opted to take her to the top of the World Trade Center instead and, of course, now I am so glad we did.

Back in high school she did her senior project on the Chrysler Building and fell in love with the Art Deco building style. Built only a few years after the Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building eclipsed it and became a more famous example of the Art Deco style. It really is a classy gal. This is the entrance lobby:



Is that freakin' magnificent or what?

Being a Tuesday, it was very quiet but we still had to walk through miles of roped-off trails to first pay our $38 for two tickets, secondly go through security (who confiscated my knitting scissors...oops!) and thirdly get our souvenir picture taken so they could shake us down for a ridiculous amount of money when we came down. Finally we took the elevator to the top, yawning to pop our ears as we reached the 86th floor.

It was a little hazy up there, probably due to the warmer than usual weather NY was experiencing. Oh, and a wee bit of smog from all the traffic below. But the views were still spectacular. Here are some of them:






Looking north towards Central Park and Harlem













West to the Hudson River. That looks like a ferry of some kind, maybe from New Jersey?





















South to the Statue of Liberty and the construction rebuilding the area around the World Trade Center site. (No, I still haven't been down there...and I don't know if I ever will be able to face not seeing those two gorgeous buildings again.)







Northeast to the Chrysler Building and the Queensboro Bridge with Queens beyond













I took a couple of pictures of Meredith with her beloved Chrysler Building in the background...





...then we watched people do some incredibly stupid things (like hold their cameras out beyond the barriers without the wriststrap on to take self-portraits), visited the overpriced giftshop full of tacky chachkis, and then took the elevator back down. Worth $38? Probably not but I'm glad we went.

We walked over to Broadway, cruised through Macy's first floor and the Cellar as I reminisced about the way it was 25 years ago when I lived there, and then headed up to Times Square. Now THERE is a change for the better! What was once the porn and peep show capital of the universe has now become a thriving, exuberant symbol of the vitality of New York.







Ok, the corner hustlers are still there but they are dressed a lot better than they were 25 years ago and they don't reek of Mad Dog 20/20 and pee.






















I didn't have the overwhelming urge to run home and take a shower when I got within ten feet of them. The flyers they were trying to stuff in my face were about cellphone deals instead of topless bars. Overall, a tremendous improvement. Good job, Rudy!







From there we headed over to Sixth Avenue and I took Meredith across West 47th Street, better known as "The Diamond District" for its saturation of jewelry shops with individual booths and bustle of jewelers. She was mesmerized by the endless windows of spectacular jewels, gold and silver. All along the street we heard the singsong "We buy gold" -- an invitation to make a deal of a lifetime. Thirty two years ago Brendan and I went there to buy my engagement ring. Fortunately for us, we met a wonderful elderly couple who recognized two babes in the woods and took us under their wing. Sophie and her husband (who never said a word in the years we knew them) were Austrian emigrants who fled from the Nazis in the late 30s with a few gems hidden in their clothes. They built a small business for themselves, primarily due to Sophie's keen eye for character and quality and her husband's jewelery crafting skills. Fate was smiling on us when we found them that November day. They are long dead but never forgotten. That day is a treasured memory among so many together.

Meredith and I then walked up Fifth Avenue to Rockefeller Center at 49th Street. We were lucky enough to find the Christmas tree still standing, although they were already in the process of removing the lights.

































Despite the warmth of the day, there were quite a few skaters.








We walked through "30 Rock" with a quick trip into the NBC studio store and then out to Sixth Avenue where we checked out Radio City Music Hall (just the outside since we didn't have the time or the money for the full tour). We were getting hungry so we hopped on the subway and headed down to one of my favorite parts of the city -- Little Italy.

Exiting on Grand Street we were immediately plunged into the teeming masses of Chinatown. Once I got my bearings I found Mulberry Street and headed for Hester Street and my FAVORITE Little Italy restaurant, The Puglia. If you are going to be in Little Italy, write that name down. It is inexpensive, delicious and fun. Tables are long so seating is family style, a great way to meet people. Lunch is fairly quiet, although that day a busload of middle-schoolers were there on a field trip so it was pretty raucous. A new addition is a wood-fired pizza oven in the back of the restaurant, probably serving only for dinner to maximize its use. Dinner at The Puglia is a Little Italy experience, complete with a live singer who was diners up on their feet singing, dancing and waving napkins. Meredith and I enjoyed some fried mozzarella sticks and parmigiana, chicken for her, eggplant for me. It was WONDERFUL and we left satisfied but not too full to avoid a stop at our other Little Italy mainstay, Ferrara's, the dessert capital of the Western Hemisphere. I'll let the pictures tell THAT story:



























Ok, $11 for two cannolis IS a little steep but we did choose table service, that included the tax and tip and, after all, they were FERRARA'S cannolis. Nuff said.





Now it was time to make our way back uptown to Grand Central, catch the train to Chubba and Diana's and say goodbye to Gotham City for now. Little did we know that there were more adventures in store. Remember Johnny? He works for MetroNorth and his offices are in Grand Central Station. He knows that place like nobody's business. On a previous trip he took us behind the scenes, showing us Donald Trump's indoor tennis court, the Campbell Apartment (formerly the private residence of a NY Executive and now a fashionable cocktail lounge), and the big kahuna, the switch room. He also took us up on the catwalks high above the Grand Concourse where snipers were stationed in those chilling post-9/11 weeks. I took this picture from up there last winter when we visited:




As we got into Grand Central on the subway, we remembered that Johnny had told us he would be off work at around that time. And we saw him just as he was getting off the elevator. He brightened when he saw Meredith and went into tour guide mode all over again. This time he wanted to show us the new Grand Central Market, an amazing array of individually owned booths for commuters to go "grocery shopping" on their way home...provided they don't mind leaving a lot of their daily wages right there. As Johnny told us, "It ain't cheap!" Here is a sampling of what we saw:



















Every kind of sausage imaginable!

























No stinky fish here...so fresh it will slap you silly!


















Prepared food more your style?


















Here's the Beef! Where's your wallet?















Say cheese!










Ok, we were starving by now. So the three of us hopped on the train and set out for home. Along the way Johnny pointed out where the new Yankee Stadium is being built. Meredith was totally mesmerized. He might as well have been showing her heaven on earth. When we got to Croton-Harmon, Johnny gave us one more treat. We got to play engineer! There was a train engine in a repair area and he took us up to the cockpit (I guess that is what it's called) and we posed in the driver's seat.


































Thanks, Johnny! You're the greatest!




What a great trip! We came back to Maine the next day with some great memories and some high hopes for a chance to spend a lot more time in the Big Apple. Meredith now has two interviews scheduled: NYU and Columbia and fingers crossed for Cornell and Rockefeller. She should know within the next couple of weeks and then it's off to the future, a very exciting place for her (and us!)

Mas de Madrid y Adios!

Day two in Madrid was another beautiful but hot one. We had really been lucky throughout our trip, having gorgeous sunny days every day but one. We got up early to maximize our last day in Spain and headed over to the Plaza Mayor to start off with a leisurely breakfast in one of the many plaza's outdoor cafes. We settled on the Cafeteria Magerit and ordered pastries, coffee and some delicious peach juice.



Zoom in on those glasses and see if you can pick out something that was a surprise... yes, there are not one but TWO ice cubes in each glass!!! We were astounded! Meredith seems to be staring in disbelief. It was a delicious breakfast. Shortly after it was served we were joined by a visitor.




He was very cute...













...very tame...










...and VERY persistent










but we reluctantly opted not to feed him since there were other sparrows very nearby and we were concerned about causing a "sparrow riot." He was not very happy with us.


The morning was so gorgeous and we felt so lucky to be enjoying it in such a beautiful place. We even had a very friendly waiter who actually seemed to be enjoying chatting with us!



This was the view from our table into the center of the Plaza.








After breakfast we took a walk around the Plaza, starting with the majestic statue of Felipe III in the center. The origins of the plaza go back to 1581 when plans were drawn up to build a central plaza to replace an older, smaller plaza. Construction did not begin until 1617 and finished in 1619. A series of fires nearly destroyed it and it was completely renovated in 1790. The statue of Felipe III dates back to 1616.
















Hanging with Felipe





The Plaza Mayor has been the scene of a wide range of events: markets, bullfights, soccer games, public executions, and, during the Spanish Inquistion, "autos de fe" against supposed heretics and the executions of those condemned to death. The Plaza Mayor also has a ring of old and traditional shops and cafes under its porticoes. Celebrations for San Isidro, patron saint of Madrid, are also held here.


Along one side of the plaza is the Real Casa de la Panaderia, named for the Royal Bakery that was built here in 1619. The current building was done in 1673 after one of the many fires and now houses the Madrid Bakers Guild.






The frescoes were added in 1992.









We left the plaza through one of the nine archs that are placed symmetrically around the plaza.





It took us out onto some quaint old streets, so narrow and winding, and filled with very interesting old shops and buildings.




This cookware shop has probably been there since the middle ages.



We walked past a beautiful small church and found ourselves at a wonderful indoor market, not as opulent as the one we had visited in Barcelona. This one was obviously frequented by the locals rather than aimed at the tourists. The merchants seemed surprised to see us. One of them declared Meredith to be "muy bonita" (very pretty) and embarrassed her completely. As with the other markets, the best and freshest were on display.






Who knew there were so many different kinds of eggs?










These little piggies went to market...and probably wished they hadn't!










It was a double decker market. This was the view from the second floor.









We left the market and continued through the streets, reaching the Iglesia San Andres










and a fascinating fountain.









We passed this beautiful little park with the statue of Don Alvaro de Bazan, a 16th century Spanish admiral whose successes included suppressing piracy at sea, conquering the Turks in the Holy Alliance with Austria, and enforcing Spain's claims of land won in battles with Portugal. He also commanded the Spanish Armada which met a disastrous fate against Sir Francis Scott and his British fleet, when, due to delays in supplies, they were surprised in port and destroyed. He was named the first Marquis of Santa Cruz by King Felipe II and was a distinguished naval architect who designed the Spanish galleons which were so instrumental in transporting the riches of the New World back to Spain. He died in 1588 in Lisbon shortly before the Armada was ready to sail after being rebuilt.




It was noon and we suddenly heard a thunderous peal of church bells. Looking through the buildings we saw the towers of the Cathedral.













A few more turns and we were facing the Catedral de la Almudena, the largest Cathedral in Madrid.


Inside it was cool and very dark. I noticed bouquets of flowers on the floor and at first I thought they had fallen or been dropped there. On closer look, I realized that they had been placed there deliberately. It turns out we had entered the crypt and the floor was covered with gravestones. I started doing a kind of hopscotch dance to avoid stepping directly on these graves, much to the amusement of a couple of young priests chatting up by the altar. It seemed very strange to have all of these people buried INSIDE the church instead of in an adjacent graveyard until I realized that in the middle of an ancient city like Madrid, there was no room for any adjacent graveyard. The land was all spoken for. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of those graves must have had to be some very special parishioners to have merited such special final resting places. The Cathedral was built between 1879 and 1993 and most of the available space was occupied. We weren't able to go into the main part of the church but the crypt was most impressive.



The main entrance to the church faced the Presidential Palace...















...separated by the huge Plaza Armeria.








It contains 2800 rooms but only 50 are open to the public. It is used for visits by Heads of State and other Official Ceremonies but is not the official residence of the Royal Family. They actually live in a smaller palace outside of Madrid, a former hunting lodge. I have a feeling that it bears no resemblance to any hunting lodges here in Maine...no Moose heads on the wall or rocking chairs on a porch.


We walked along the east side of the Palace and crossed the street to the Plaza de Oriente, a large park with meticulous gardens and many statues.





The most prominent one is a large statue of Felipe IV, erected in 1843.









A short distance away we came to the Plaza Isabel II and a statue to the controversial queen. Her father, Ferdinand VII abolished the Salic laws which declared only sons to be heirs to the throne, thus paving the way for her to become regent at 13. Her ascendency to the throne was challenged by her uncle, Ferdinand's brother who declared himself King Carlos V, precipitating a series of wars between his supporters and those who believed that Isabel was the rightful heir. She married her cousin at 16 to insure a continuation of her line and had thirteen children, of whom eight survived. Her husband/cousin probably fathered none of those children since he was gay and very open about his sexual preferences. Isabel was also very open with her many love affairs. She was dethroned in 1868 by reformists and sent into exile to France with her husband and children. She soon divorced her husband and abdicated her crown in favor of her eldest son. She died in 1904 and was returned to Spain for burial.






Adjacent to the Plaza Isabel II is the Teatro Real, Madrid's main opera house.


We were getting hungry and had walked almost 8 miles so we stopped for some lunch and a chance to rest our feet. Since we were close to the main shopping area near Puerta del Sol we did a little window shopping and picked up some souvenirs. It was now late in the afternoon and, once again, the heat was making us drowsy so it was time for a siesta. Fortunately, we were close to the hotel so it made sense to take a break from our travels.

We had decided that our last night in Madrid would be Paella night. We had enjoyed the Barcelona version but wanted to sample how madrilenos prepared this classic dish. We decided to try one of the many cafes at Plaza Mayor so we could sit outside and enjoy the evening while waiting for it to be prepared. Paella is cooked to order so it can take 20-30 minutes or more to be served. We enjoyed a glass of wine and did some serious people watching in the Plaza. It was a truly spectacular night. Despite being close to 9PM, it was still quite light.































The paella was delicious and very filling. We lingered over our dinner until after 10 and then took a leisurely walk through the center of the city for one last time. The streets were full of couples, families, groups of friends and all were enjoying a beautiful early summer evening. I took a couple of last shots of Plaza Puerta del Sol before heading back to the hotel for the final time.







(Sorry about the blurriness...I almost didn't post these but then I thought they had kind of a cool, kinetic feel to them much like the atmosphere on the street.)







The next morning we packed our bags and checked out. We hadn't been on Madrid's subways yet so we were expecting a repeat of our Barcelona experience with steps everywhere. To our delight, the subways were very "wheel" friendly, extremely clean and efficient. We purchased a special ticket that allowed us to take the train directly to the airport where we were scheduled to take a short flight back to Milan on one of Europe's many smaller discount airlines, Easyjet. We didn't know what to expect in terms of the time it would take so we gave ourselves plenty of time. It turns out we gave ourselves WAY too much time. We were at the airport in no time at all, leaving us with almost four hours until our flight. We checked in at the gate, had lunch in a small restaurant at the airport and waited to board.

Easyjet does not give assigned seats so you basically take whatever empty seat is available once you board. That could have been a recipe for disaster, given the European decided aversion for waiting in line in an orderly fashion. I had visions of being mobbed and elbowed as everyone jockeyed for prime boarding position. It turns out that they do have a system after all. We were allowed to board based on our check-in time. Having arrived so early gave us a decided advantage. We were among the first group allowed on the plane so we had our choice of seats. We watched as people who boarded later got more and more agitated and frustrated, especially groups of people who wanted to sit near each other. Finally everyone was aboard and seated and the two hour flight to Milan took off. We were served a soft drink and, before we knew it, we were on the ground.

It was cloudy in Milan and still beastly hot. We took a bus from the airport to the train station, instead of the Malpensa express train which I had taken when I first arrived. Our hotel was near the train station, one of the hotels we had stayed in before we left for Naples nearly two weeks earlier. It was the swanky one with the suite and the ballroom-sized bathroom where we had been able to store Meredith's large suitcase and a couple of other bags from her four month stay. This time we didn't get the suite but rather a smaller room but still very comfortable and with the highly prized free internet. We hungrily caught up on emails and checked our favorite websites, feeling as if we had been exiled to Siberia without that contact.

Meredith got in touch with a couple of her friends from the Collegio who were still around and we arranged to get together for a final dinner before we left for the US the next day. It started to rain as we left the hotel, the first real precipitation we had seen since I arrived fifteen days earlier. It cooled things down a little and felt very refreshing.



We met Kyle and Aleyna and had dinner at a great restaurant in the Porta Genova area of Milan. We followed it up with some wonderful gelato, including my first-ever Chocolate with Pepper gelato...a-may-zing stuff!!!! Truly good times!

The next day we packed up everything and headed back to the train station where we boarded the bus to Malpensa Airport. It was time to come home. I was sad to see my 15 days in Europe ending and I know Meredith was feeling even sadder about seeing her four month adventure in Italy come to an end. The flight home went smooth as silk and, before we knew it, we were in Logan airport. There was a bit of an uncomfortable moment as we went through Customs. As luck would have it, we had a tough female customs agent who found it hard to believe that Meredith had spent four months in Italy and had not purchased more than she declared. Meredith just looked her straight in the eye and said, "Everything was much too expensive. College students can't afford Georgio Armani!" The woman smiled, knew she had been bested, and let us go on through. It was a priceless moment.

We boarded the bus to Portland and headed home in a torrential thunderstorm. A very different weather picture than we had been used to the previous two weeks. Brendan met us at the bus station, gave his baby girl a big hug, packed our many bags in the car and we went home to recover from a wonderful vacation. We both hope to go back someday but this trip will always be a special one since it was our first taste of travelling abroad. So many wonderful memories.

Here are some things that made it so successful (in no particular order):

* Chris, our wonderful travel agent at AAA
* advance reservations for hotels and museums on the internet (I particularly would recommend venere.com for hotels and tickitaly.com for museums)
* Lonely Planet travel guides (www.lonelyplanet.com)
* Streetwise Maps (www.streetwise.com)
* Eurail passes and reservations (Again,thanks to Chris at AAA)
* A digital camera
* Good luggage on wheels
* Space-saver bags to help with compact packing
* A sense of humor and an adventurous attitude
* A flexible agenda and a willingness to change course for something interesting
* Using a smile as a universal language
* Knowing when to ask for help
* Patience

Armed with the above things, your journeys are bound to be successful!