TravelLaughter

Why anyone would question someone's credibility, or find humor, after they mention their sister's death is beyond me. What is March is telling the truth ... would that in any way bother you? Amazing the depths.

TravelLaughter

... correction, what IF March is telling the truth ...

ira

A **sister** named Rocco?

suze

I did not read all the replies but will answer the original question march123 asked. IMO there is no need to practice before your trip, unless you want to.

Once you are in Europe if you wish to try some local wine along with a meal, simply order one glass of the "house" wine (red, rose, or white). Or if there are two of you split a small carafe or pitcher. Nothing you need to know more than that.

If you are ordering water in a restaurant it is normal to order a bottle to share - either still/flat/without gas or fizzy/with gas are the usual choices.

cmt

Her sister, Ira, may have been known under a name that you don't remember.

Analyze the above sentence. Was I speaking about her sister Ira, that is a sister named "Ira"? Or was I addressing to Ira, in effect saying, "Hey Ira, her sister may've been known under some name you don't remember."

Same goes for the sister-comma-Rocco-comma-etc. sentence above. Get it?

ira

Dear cmt,

No one named Rocco has replied to this message.

Therefore, "My sister, Rocco,.." can only refer to a sister **named** Rocco.

cmt

1. I don't know posters' real names. Someone who posted on the thread may be known to March as "Rocco."
2. A Susanne Rocco might post under the ID "Rocco" just as Mary Seigfried might post as "Seigfried."
3. If in doubt, no harm in taking it all at face value for purposes of discussion. Doesn't mean you're foolish if you do so.

crefloors

Oh for goodness sake!!!!! This thread is really "drifting"...LOL First of all, no one ever takes the first drink with the idea of becoming a "drunk". It seems it's in the genes and you either are or you aren't. Plus, if you want to drink wine in Europe, drink wine in Europe. Order it, drink it, you like it or you don't. If you like it you may drink more, if you don't like it, try another or just don't drink it. Why is this all so complicated? No matter what you know or don't know about wine makes no difference...you buy some, you drink it, you like it, or you don't. Like I said in my other post, I just went to a wine tasting, and there were people buying wine at a particular winery that personally, I did not like and did not buy. Doesn't make it bad, doesn't make it good. It's not that difficult.

cmt

Ira et al.: Please read through the following thread, note posters' names and any references they make to spouses: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34508753

As I said, when in doubt, better to take things at face value. Doing so does not reflect a lack of intelligence.

allisonm

Sorry, I skipped some of the middle of this thread, but somewhere someone said they were not looked down upon for ordering tap water. We were in London a couple or three years ago and stopped in this nice little pasta-style restaurant for dinner. I asked for "a glass of water", and the woman who seated us (and I think she may have been one of the owners) literally looked down her nose, lifted her eyebrows and asked, "Do you mean TAP water?" That was exactly what I meant, and what she eventually brought me. (Without ice, I might add!)

That being said, where is march123 going in Europe? Not all of Europe is full of wine drinkers. When I drink wine in Ireland, it is usually served out of a small screw-cap bottle. I only order it when I am tired of Smithwicks. Most of Ireland drinks other than wine, from what I have seen. France or Italy would be another story.

Don't start drinking wine to try to fit into someone else's culture!

march123

I'm sorry for the confusion. My sister's screen name here was "rocco." She also went by "graziadei", our grandmother's maiden name). Here is part of her obituary, for those who doubt me:

"A memorial celebration will be Oct. 16 for XXXXXX XXXXXXXX, who died Sept. XX at home in Santa Cruz after an 18-month battle with cancer. She was 50.
Born in San Diego, she graduated from XXXXX XXXXXX High School in 1972. She attended UCLA, then transferred to UC Santa Cruz and graduated with a degree in biology in 19XX. After some international travel, she settled in Santa Cruz in the early 1980s.

As proprietor of XXXXXX XXXXXX, she combined her natural science background and artistic talent to create beautiful interpretive signs and graphics.
Her work is scattered around many natural spots in Northern and Central California — Monterey, Half Moon Bay, Sacramento, Palo Alto — but most extensively in Santa Cruz County: Neary Lagoon, Natural Bridges, Arana Gulch, Lighthouse Field, Wilder Ranch, Loch Lomond, Watsonville Wetlands, Pogonip and several Santa Cruz state parks.

She was an environmentalist and animal lover who enjoyed reading, gourmet cooking and fine wines, music, gardening and traveling. She liked to take long walks with her dog Rocco.
She was stubborn, willful, compassionate, generous, brave and beautiful."

At her memorial service, her husband had a huge poster made of her standing in the window of their room at the Del Senato, with a marvelous view of the Pantheon, taken on her farewell trip.

I do not take offense because I have been around here a while and know most of you posters' personalities. You have all been an inspiration and I am definitely going to Europe (25 years since my last visit.)

Thank you for all the advise about wine. I guess all I really wanted was to know the name of a wine I could go out of county and buy and bring home and sip in the privacy of my own home. My family (in California) really loves wine and I thought I would surprise them on my next visit by not making a face when I tasted some. And then I could actually order a glass in Italy next year. I have no intentions of becoming a hardcore drinker.

marcy_

march123,
I'm so sorry about the loss of your sister. I remember her posts here on Fodors, and have looked back at some of them.
(by typing "rocco" in the search function)

It's such a loss for someone so vibrant to have died so young-- my condolences to you and your family.

Good luck with your wine tastings! It's hard to say if it will be something that you'll learn to appreciate or not, but it's worth a try, and I think it's great that you have an open mind about trying new things.

ira

Dear March,

My apologies for any offense I may have caused with a flippant remark.

To respond to your wine question:

I suggest that you consult your CA relatives for suggestions as to what they like.

Where will you be going?

LoveItaly

I also send my apologies and sympathies on the loss of your dear sister march123. Losing one so young and vibrant is extra sad.

No excuse of course, but I guess some of us have gotten a bit jaded due to some unpleasant trolls that keep posting here. A lesson to all of us not to just assume.

May I suggest a wine that may be a good one to start with. It is Prosecco. It is from the region of Veneto. It is a white wine, light and refresing. I think it might be easier to enjoy (at least for your first glass) then a red.

I am sorry that you are in a dry county and cannot buy any wine. Is there a county close to you that you could perhaps wine from?

Take care, and enjoy planning your trip to Italy. 25 years is too long to not visit Italy!

TravelLaughter

Sorry about the rudeness and the snort, march123. Chalk it up to a complete lack of class. Hope you're holding up okay. Your sister must have been an interesting and good person. Take care.

KT

I apologize, too. I guess I was just taken aback by the concept of learning to for travel purposes and so I was overly suspicious.

I will tell you that I rarely drink (not out of any principled decision; I just don't like it that much) and have never been given any trouble about it on any of my trips to Europe -- and that includes Italy. In fact, I have an Italian friend whose family operates a winery and he doesn't like wine, either!

KT

Make that "learning to drink for travel purposes...."

Scarlett

TravelsSmirking speaks of Lack of Class. Whatever, I am sure he is quite full of Class himself..or at least thinks so.
But back to drinking!
My husband thinks the wine tastings idea is great, you can learn and have sips and see what appeals to you.
I suggested Port and Kir (wine & cassis) because it is tasty and might appeal to a first time drinker.
Have you ever tried Champagne? Some people love it. All those bubbles~
Do let us know how it goes, there is a thread on the Other Topics forum called Wine-Os Only- read some of that, see if anything interests you~
My condolences on the loss of your sister, Scarlett

march123

***UPDATE***

I told my husband about my plan to try some wine and he located a bottle of wine lying in a cabinet in the kitchen (shows how much I use my kitchen). He had bought it about 12 years ago before we were married and had forgotten about it. It cost $20.59 back then.

The label read:
1988 Spatlese
SCHLOSS GROENESTEYN
Rudesheimer Berg Rottland
Riesling
RHEINGAU

Last Saturday, after dinner, we got some cheese, sausage and crackers and opened that baby. It was very sweet and and after a couple of glasses, it just tasted like fruit juice! Before I knew it, we had drunk the whole bottle!

Sunday we traveled to a larger city and I thought I could buy some more wine. Now I know what blue laws are!

So my husband went on a short business trip this week and came back with 3 bottles of wine, 2 rieslings and 1 chardonnay. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm only going to try one glass a day from now on.

Thanks for all your suggestions. We spent some time looking at cellarnotes.net that Michel_Paris recommended. It was very helpful.

suze

Mix dry white wine with sparkling water for a spritzer, add lemon slice.