cmcfong

Wow. What a marvelous report.
I hope you, LoveItaly, and all your friends and relatives stay safe in the storms. Happy new year.

letour

Underhill, what a lovely, thorough account! I enjoyed several of the details including the teenager offering his sandwich to the mendicant on the street, the eiderdown flight blanket and your referencing of cargo pants! Sorry for the cane dropping on your noggin. Ouch!

Welcome home, and thanks for revivifying your trip. Look forward to the pix.

letour

Underhill

Thanks to all who survived reading this lengthy report!

Alas, the neighbor's father died, not unexpectedly--time to say goodbyes.

I left out one very important bit on Day 2: we had a ship-safety drill, which involved learning the exit routes and actually putting on life vests and getting out the body suits to be worn in very cold water. Which it was. Not as cold as my husband tested with his hand in the Antarctic, but that's another story.

We had a spectacularly beautiful sunset tonight, and the rains are supposed to be absent for about 3 days. I sure hope so--the ground is so soggy that a big section of a fence shared with our neighbors fell over, just when I thought we were caught up with house and property maintenance. It's a good thing we already had our tickets for France next October.

dina4

Hi Underhill!

I finally had time to read through your report. Wow!
It sounds amazing!!!!
Thank you for sharing!

Happy New Year!
Dina

LoveItaly

Ah Underhill, the fence is down. I am sorry, but not shocked with all the rainstorms we have had. What a nuisance. And how sad for your neighbor. Not a pleasant way to start a new year. BTW, I got a quote from my General Contractor a month ago regarding fences. $25.00 per foot. Sigh.

Hello cmcfong, all is well here for me. I feel very fortunate. One friend lost hundreds of dollar worth of food in their freezer due to the power failure and many here are dealing with sludge and mud but fortunatly I and my family are safe and sound. And the storm has passed.

I was rather shocked. A friend in Austrailia just emailed and said she saw on their TV news the problems we were having. It is a small world isn't it?

And the fires are still raging in Texas,, Oklahoma and the eastern part of New Mexico. What a terrible beginning to a new year.

Underhill

Today is a beautiful day here near Sacramento--balmy temperature, sun, blue sky...how nice to know it's all still there!

But I'd like to be back on the Danube.

mvor

Underhill, thanks for another great report. (I, also, liked to hear about the young man sharing his sandwich.) We were at the Nürnberg market in late November and I was surprised how much of the merchandise was handmade or unique. It turned out to be one of my favourites.

A belated thanks also for your recommendation of the Alziari olive oil shop in Nice. We bought some oil in September and my husband is in love. Fortunately we'll be back in June so we can stock up.

LoveItaly

Hello there Underhill, yes today was beautiful. I thought I had forgotten what blue sky and sunshine looked like!

I am going to Portland, OR in March and than Italy, either April or September. Probably September. Hope our good weather continues for awhile so people can get their homes, cars and gardens back into shape. Take care!

Underhill

Loveitaly,

Lou're going to Oregon in March, I might go to Seattle--perhaps we'll pass in the air. Then back to France in early October.

hopingtotravel

Underhill, what part of France for October? While California was having its miserable floods, our part of Alaska was pleasantly in the 20's with a nice snow coating.

Underhill

Mostly Provence (to see friends and explore where we haven't already been), with a few days in Paris at the end.

I like the sound of your weather, hopingtotravel!

Underhill

For those who asked, here's the link (I hope it works!) to my trip photos:

http://www.snapfish.com/thumbnailsha...43/t_=15992843

Click on Jean's Photos.

letour

Enjoyed the photos, Underhill! The markets, churches and architecture are all very appealing. It looks like the boat was very comfortable and pleasant too. I would love to take a barge trip one day on a European river. Thanks for the added inspiration and hope that your comfortably reestablished back home.

Cheers!

letour

hopingtotravel

Loved the variety of architecture in your photos. The boat did look comfortable--and larger on the inside than I would have expected.
No flooding, but sporadic interruptions of air traffic up here due to a periodically spouting volcano.