cigalechanta

You make me hungry when I read your reports.

rhkkmk

its tough eating breakfast for two--me and linda (mrs HI T)... all those croissants...

k went for a longer walk this AM, while i slept extra...

at noon we went across the road to a bench lakeside and ate the same sandwiches which we had yesterday.. yum... it was very sunny and warm--shirt sleeves. K took some flat stanley pics at lakeside.

we decided to drive north a bit so K could visit the Villa Taranto botanic gardens (10E). i wisely stayed in the car lakeside and watched lake activities for a couple of hours.

on the way home we stopped in Verbania for some gelatia.. i had lemon and K had a caramel..

back to the B&B for some internet. last night i worked on an
around the world flight and i wanted to see the results delta came up with: jfk to dubai via paris, dubai to the maldives, maldives to sri lanka, sri lanka to bangkok, bkk to sydney via Guangzhou china, sydney to auckland, auckland to jfk via tokyo and seoul..... $8032. comments??

at 7:15 we headed out to dinner at Amalie Restaurant. our hostess had suggested it as an upscale unconventional place.

we shared the place with one other couple and their dog until we left about 9:30 when 4 more arrived. we both selected the veal capacchio (sp) with shaved artichoke, Parmesan cheese, flower pedals, fresh herbs and other small things and a delicious dressing. K had a small whole fried sole with crumbs, herbs and a lovely sauce. I had shrimp and scollop ravioli with a powerful light tomato sauce. we had a bottle of rose and water.. no dessert 85E.

good but not over-whelming.


tomorrow may be a boat day as rain is coming the following days.

simpsonc510

I love carpaccio! Sounds yummy, as does the sole and ravioli! If you are eating breakfast for two (for Mrs HT) can you eat dinner for two (ME)??? haha

I could definitely sit by Lago Maggiore for hours (but on the Swiss side, in Locarno). Are you going "up" there by chance?

rhkkmk

we went there yesterday...i will have caprese salad for you

simpsonc510

That'd be PERFECT, Bob. That's my favorite salad!!

hawaiiantraveler

Got any room for custard danish? I know Karen is not letting you have all those croissants.

Check the Star Alliance around the world farss

http://www.staralliance.com/en/fares...he-world-fare/

Or the Sky Teams Round the world tix

http://www.skyteam.com/your-trip/Tra...ses/Go-Global/

Someone here will have a good idea.

Aloha!

DonTopaz

re RTW: You need to list the places where you want to stopover. (Do you want to spend time in Dubai or Guangzhou, or just change planes there?)

I'm guessing that you picked Delta/Skyteam because you liked your flight on Korean, but it's probably impractical to use Skyteam if you want to visit Syds & NZ -- of the major alliances, Skyteam is the only one without an Oz/NZ-based carrier. Same goes for the Maldives (Male).

tengohambre

Bob,
That fare is in biziness class, for two, including hotels, right?
It seems high.

Where is next?

rhkkmk

skyteam seemed easiest to use on line..

economy for 1 person, robert

japan and thailand are next in october... looking for more fodorite participation...

DonTopaz

$8k is too high. You probably can do it for less than $6500 (depending on which cities you actually want to stop over in), and certainly for under $8000.

rhkkmk

thanks don... i will seek out your advice

rhkkmk

thanks lcuy for the heads-up on the down load of all the free travel guides, K is downloading righ now, as the bells ring noon

rhkkmk

i neglected to include the "freebie goodies" we received with our dinner: a lovely sweet fruity cocktail, called a martini was presented with an ambousse (sp) of a small warm fish 2 bite morsel... the bread basket was huge and included some warm dough nuggets with hers cooked inside and finally we were given 2 chinese soup spoons filled with chocolate mousse and 4 pieces of sweet candy, two with strong sesame seed taste and 2 with date tastes....


Thursday May 9


at breakfast we have been enjoying the company of two young germans from Munich... the man spent a semester at suffolk university in boston and is a very interesting guy. the woman is still studying...

K took her usual walk around the neighborhood. we decided then to ride up into the hills overlooking the lake to a restaurants the germans had told us about.... after twisting and turning, making one small mistake, seeing great views of the lake and passing thru several small villages we arrived at Locanda Verbena; str per il mottarome; Vezzo, a small B&B and restaurant. we were the only ones there for lunch.

we ordered 2 meat and cheese antipastos and bottled water. they arrived on plate sized round boards. in the center was a warm round cheese and perhaps 6 different meats.. just what we wanted. later we ordered a plate of freeform tortellini with a fresh cheese and herb filling---delicious and filling. for dessert we shared a slice of pear, chocolate and almond tart...PERFECT--41E--expensive lunch but delicious... dining room was lovely... they are extending their terrace currently so should be trully lovely.

on the way home we decided to explore nearby and nearly go stuck in a tiny alleyway. the car was 1" from one side of the wall. i finally got out without a scratch, but it was close...

for dinner we decided to return downstairs to Posta Restaurant. we had a 7:30 res (essential). the place was full again.

we shared a tomato brushetta (2 huge pieces of bread with fine oil and herbs and a mound of diced red tomatoes (a meal in itself). that night they offered a special of rare thinly cut tender beef (think fine london broil) mounded over cut red cabbage and drizzled with a sweet balsamic viengar...
Simply the best meal this trip thus far, save Jane's pork medallions... for dessert K had "eggs on a dish"--- two apricot 1/2's over vanilla gelato with a drizzle of liquor (looks just like two sunny side up eggs).
we ordered a large carafe of the house white, a fizzy dry wine, plus a water... 63E Y U M M Y....

rhkkmk

FRIDAY IS A DRIZZLY wet day in the AM... I "sleep" in and K heads for Isla Bella, one of the small islands just offshore. this island has the famed planned gardens and the mansion from a glamorous past era. 7.8E r.t. boat ride and 13 E for island admission. she enjoyed it... tons of organized tours out there which she avoided.

we plan now to have pizza or soup for lunch as the skies brighten.

Dinner tonight will be a return downstairs at 7:30... we love just going downstairs... between our door and their door there is a gelato shop...

rhkkmk

Tomorrow we head further west in the Piedmont to another B&B near to Asti.

rhkkmk

so it was minestrone soup and 1/2 ham pizza each with water, followed by a shared gelato on a park bench and some sun at lakeside.

dinner was perfect: 1/2 portion Gorgonzola mousse with celery and thin pear slices, plkus walnuts for me and brushetta for K again... she had veal bites and mushrooms in a rich gravy and we each had roasted pots. I had the mustard beefsteak, large but thinly cut. she had pineapple carpacchio (circles cut paper thin) with vanilla ice cream and i had tiramisu with candied roasted almonds... a 1/2 carafe of the fizzy while tonight plus water. she accepted a lemon-chello, i passed... 58E.

the B&B was 80E per night.

tonight there is a two man, one woman "circus/magic show" for kids in the square. just now the woman is rubbing fire against her skin. i expect bookchic to appear any minute..

Florida1

Gorgonzola mousse sounds really good!! Sounds like a really fabulous trip!

rhkkmk

we leave the asti area tomorrow for france, where we will have only 1 day of wifi and then 8 days of silence before we return home.

at some point i will catch this TR up as our asti area stay has been fantastic with a very nice B&B and very good food and wine.

Craig

Bob, I realize rural France can be a bit backward but 8 days of no wifi anywhere nearby? I assume you plan to get out - restaurants, etc.?

rhkkmk

we will be in the maures and i can't remember if they have wi-fi...

arrived in antibes this afternoon... i had forgotten how different france is to italy...

we drove all through the alps to get here... tons of switchbacks and narrow canyons... huge ups and huge downs...
isolated little towns and ski chalets.. still lots of snow around