Italy Trip: Another Scrap With Friction
Oct 15th, 2014, 12:33 PM
#141
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Since I think that many people are not reading my trip report in the spirit in which it is intended, I have rewritten the days events in the more conventional Fodors/Tripadvidor format:
We had a fabulous breakfast and took a wonderful train to Venice. The train stopped for a long time at Padua so we could view the fabulous train station for a long while. We arrived at Venice's beautiful train station and then took a fabulous vaporetto to Rialto. We found our fabulous hotel that was decorated with cute little dead pigeons. Ca Amadi was fabulous!!!! So beautiful and romantic, just like on the website. The room and breakfast area are full of wonderful antiques. Even the bathroom towels were antiques! Breakfast had fabulously wonderful pastries, with just the right amount of stale texture and artificial taste. Yum! We walked over to see St Mark's and got to see its fabulous canvas roof. We were so lucky to show up now, otherwise we might have missed it! When we decided to walk over to the TI , these cute little pigeons came over for food. They were fabulous!
We had a fabulous breakfast and took a wonderful train to Venice. The train stopped for a long time at Padua so we could view the fabulous train station for a long while. We arrived at Venice's beautiful train station and then took a fabulous vaporetto to Rialto. We found our fabulous hotel that was decorated with cute little dead pigeons. Ca Amadi was fabulous!!!! So beautiful and romantic, just like on the website. The room and breakfast area are full of wonderful antiques. Even the bathroom towels were antiques! Breakfast had fabulously wonderful pastries, with just the right amount of stale texture and artificial taste. Yum! We walked over to see St Mark's and got to see its fabulous canvas roof. We were so lucky to show up now, otherwise we might have missed it! When we decided to walk over to the TI , these cute little pigeons came over for food. They were fabulous!
Oct 16th, 2014, 04:53 AM
#150
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"As I suspected, bad attitude poorly disguised as wit. Even we are against him."
I'm sure that people like probably said the same thing to Mark Twain and George Bernard Shaw. Fortunately, it did seem to affect them.
Actually, this is coming out most like P. J. O'Rourke.
I'm sure that people like probably said the same thing to Mark Twain and George Bernard Shaw. Fortunately, it did seem to affect them.
Actually, this is coming out most like P. J. O'Rourke.
Oct 16th, 2014, 05:32 AM
#151
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Come on, carfree, we've all experienced glitches and, you must admit, your title <i>does</i> lead one to believe yours would be replete with them. Please don't let anyone stop you from finishing.
Oct 16th, 2014, 07:34 AM
#153
There is, bvl, it's called real life.
BTW, carfree, I reread my last post and realised that you may have thought that I was being sarky. That was not my intention - sorry if you misinterpreted it. I too want you to read about the rest of your trip, warts and all.
BTW, carfree, I reread my last post and realised that you may have thought that I was being sarky. That was not my intention - sorry if you misinterpreted it. I too want you to read about the rest of your trip, warts and all.
Oct 16th, 2014, 09:10 AM
#154
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<i>I'm sure that people like probably said the same thing to Mark Twain and George Bernard Shaw. Fortunately, it did [not] seem to affect them.
</i>
They probably knew that they wrote literature. Your post reminds me of two books: <u>Night Train to Turkistan</u> which was a very funny and enjoyable read, and <u>Malaria Dreams</u> by the same author who tried to replicate the tone of misadventures of the first book; unsuccessfully in my opinion. Tales by slices are not always the best.
</i>
They probably knew that they wrote literature. Your post reminds me of two books: <u>Night Train to Turkistan</u> which was a very funny and enjoyable read, and <u>Malaria Dreams</u> by the same author who tried to replicate the tone of misadventures of the first book; unsuccessfully in my opinion. Tales by slices are not always the best.
Oct 16th, 2014, 12:38 PM
#156
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Actually both Mark Twain and George Bernard Shaw were much respected and appreciated in their time -- and both wrote "fabulous fabulous" reports of their trips abroad. They loved travel, and they loved continental Europe, so much they spent as much time as they could there (although the vegetarian Shaw complained about the meaty tendencies of Italian food).
What they made fun of was the self-absorbed American tourist who plops himself in Europe and who can't bestir themselves to read one bit of anything -- let alone history -- as preparation.
I seem to recall both of them liking birds, too, but I could be wrong. I am certain both of them would have shot themselves first before recycling such a tired cliche as "rats with wings".
I'm sure the OP loves being begged to continue this masterpiece (I doubt he has any intention of stopping, don't y'all worry). I think I'll stick to reading Twain and Shaw.
(just in case anyone would care to do so also….
http://www.examiner.com/article/mark...enice-gondolas
What they made fun of was the self-absorbed American tourist who plops himself in Europe and who can't bestir themselves to read one bit of anything -- let alone history -- as preparation.
I seem to recall both of them liking birds, too, but I could be wrong. I am certain both of them would have shot themselves first before recycling such a tired cliche as "rats with wings".
I'm sure the OP loves being begged to continue this masterpiece (I doubt he has any intention of stopping, don't y'all worry). I think I'll stick to reading Twain and Shaw.
(just in case anyone would care to do so also….
http://www.examiner.com/article/mark...enice-gondolas
Oct 18th, 2014, 04:58 AM
#158
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My wife told me that I have some 'splaining to do. I have made a lot of references that may be unfamiliar to many people. In the spirit of full disclosure, here are some explanations.
" After a shower, I always felt like Derek trying to get out of the giant pod in "Spinal Tap". Derek Small is a character in the hilarious movie "This Is Spinal Tap." In one performance, the band members emerge from giant plastic pods on stage to do their number. But Derek struggles to get out his while the rest of the band perform the number. He eventually charges out just as the song is over. It's funnier than it sounds. Not as funny as the Stonehenge number, though.
"stomach was doing backflips with reverse handstands that would have scored Olga Korbut a 10." Korbut is a former Olympic gymnast and annoying celebrity.
"when it was the price you paid for a night spent drinking too much Mateus or Boone's Farm." Cheap, horrible, wine that students used to drink. Boone's Farm is/was apple wine and particularly vile.
"Alas, we were also experiencing the one source of friction for which all my planning and vacation tribology." Tribology is the physical science that studies lubricants, the remedy for friction.
"Having seen many Lassie movies, I immediate knew that he wanted us to follow him." Lassie was a collie dog and star of many movies and later a TV show. In virtually everyone, she'd rescue a lost child r something by getting help. She's go up to her owner barking and taking a few agitated steps away in some direction. Inevitably, his owner world say, "I think Lassie wants us to follow her!" The line became a popular joke.
"Of course, to paraphrase Father Flanagan, 'The is no such thing as a bad gelato'." Father Flanagan ran Boystown, a school for what was once called wayward youth. He was famous for having said, "there is no such thing as a bad boy." Yes, he was that naive.
"Or too much Dr. Oetker has ruined my pizza taste buds." Dr. Oetker is a brand of frozen pizza. Probably the best, except for Buitoni.
"Three coins on the concrete...
Which one will the concrete bless."
A play on the song "Three Coins In The Fountain," from a movie of the same name. Three American women in Rome through coins into the Trevi fountain hoping to have a dream "blessed."
"Having seen the episode, we could follow the plot despite not understanding the words, other than the occasional "Jane" and "Leez-bone." Every so often through the unintelligible rush we'd also hear one of the characters say "Johnny Rosso." "Jane" and "Lisbon" are the names of the two main characters. For the show's villain, "Red John", the Italian TV translated it to
"Johnny Rosso". Probably no relation to Carlo.
"we didn't really know anything abut the place, other than that it was named after a John Travolta character." An obvious reference to Vinnie Barbarino in "Welcome Back Kotter."
" I could almost hear Jefferson Airplane playing somewhere in the background." Jefferson Airplane is perhaps the greatest rock band of the psychodelic 60's. They were really groovey.
"There were so many that I also couldn't help thinking of that Daphne Du Maurier story and feeling a slight tingle of anxiety. Was that Tippi Hedren standing over there by the Florian's?" Dauphne Du Maurier wrote a story called "The Birds", where all the birds ganged of the world up to attack humans, peck out their eyes, etc. Alfred Hitchcock made it into a movie starring the immortal Tippi Hedren. There is a recent TV movie about the movie.
" After a shower, I always felt like Derek trying to get out of the giant pod in "Spinal Tap". Derek Small is a character in the hilarious movie "This Is Spinal Tap." In one performance, the band members emerge from giant plastic pods on stage to do their number. But Derek struggles to get out his while the rest of the band perform the number. He eventually charges out just as the song is over. It's funnier than it sounds. Not as funny as the Stonehenge number, though.
"stomach was doing backflips with reverse handstands that would have scored Olga Korbut a 10." Korbut is a former Olympic gymnast and annoying celebrity.
"when it was the price you paid for a night spent drinking too much Mateus or Boone's Farm." Cheap, horrible, wine that students used to drink. Boone's Farm is/was apple wine and particularly vile.
"Alas, we were also experiencing the one source of friction for which all my planning and vacation tribology." Tribology is the physical science that studies lubricants, the remedy for friction.
"Having seen many Lassie movies, I immediate knew that he wanted us to follow him." Lassie was a collie dog and star of many movies and later a TV show. In virtually everyone, she'd rescue a lost child r something by getting help. She's go up to her owner barking and taking a few agitated steps away in some direction. Inevitably, his owner world say, "I think Lassie wants us to follow her!" The line became a popular joke.
"Of course, to paraphrase Father Flanagan, 'The is no such thing as a bad gelato'." Father Flanagan ran Boystown, a school for what was once called wayward youth. He was famous for having said, "there is no such thing as a bad boy." Yes, he was that naive.
"Or too much Dr. Oetker has ruined my pizza taste buds." Dr. Oetker is a brand of frozen pizza. Probably the best, except for Buitoni.
"Three coins on the concrete...
Which one will the concrete bless."
A play on the song "Three Coins In The Fountain," from a movie of the same name. Three American women in Rome through coins into the Trevi fountain hoping to have a dream "blessed."
"Having seen the episode, we could follow the plot despite not understanding the words, other than the occasional "Jane" and "Leez-bone." Every so often through the unintelligible rush we'd also hear one of the characters say "Johnny Rosso." "Jane" and "Lisbon" are the names of the two main characters. For the show's villain, "Red John", the Italian TV translated it to
"Johnny Rosso". Probably no relation to Carlo.
"we didn't really know anything abut the place, other than that it was named after a John Travolta character." An obvious reference to Vinnie Barbarino in "Welcome Back Kotter."
" I could almost hear Jefferson Airplane playing somewhere in the background." Jefferson Airplane is perhaps the greatest rock band of the psychodelic 60's. They were really groovey.
"There were so many that I also couldn't help thinking of that Daphne Du Maurier story and feeling a slight tingle of anxiety. Was that Tippi Hedren standing over there by the Florian's?" Dauphne Du Maurier wrote a story called "The Birds", where all the birds ganged of the world up to attack humans, peck out their eyes, etc. Alfred Hitchcock made it into a movie starring the immortal Tippi Hedren. There is a recent TV movie about the movie.
