BTilke

Sitting in the den in our cottage in Maidenhead, getting over jet lag as my overnight flight from Orlando to London got in this morning at 6:30 am.
There are fireworks going off in the green nearby. Hmmm, are there other Americans in the neighborhood?

Speaking of fireworks, I was happy that my flight yesterday afternoon managed to take off from Orlando in a brief quiet period between some very active thunderstorms.

LoveItaly

Sitting in front of my laptop wishing I didn't have to go to the grocery store as it is so hot here in Vacaville! Wish I was in cooler and breezy Benicia right now!

To mcnyc, I saw your comment on MXP and getting into Milan. There is a shuttle bus from the Milpensa airport (think it runs every 30 minutes or so) that will take you to the Central Train station in Milan. Is that what you were thinking of? That is the easiest way to get into Milan IMO. Have a fun time in Italy.

And crefloors, you have a fun time with your brother in SF and Sonoma! Wish I could have some of those cherries, they sound wonderful. A neighbor gave me some peaches from a friend's tree the other day. So much better than the supermarket ones.

Happy 4th of July everyone.

ro

I am having breakfast in front of my computer in rainy Perth, Western Australia - Australia !!

tedgale

At home in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

My *kid* brother (aet. 47), his wife and 2 daughters -- up for the weekend from Washington DC -- have just left after an earlyish dinner served on the deck in humid heat. They head to DC, I to eastern Canada tomorrow.

My trip: Prince Edward Island for a four day business trip, after which I leave for 2 weeks at our wonderful, nowhere-like-it cottage up the Ottawa Valley near Eganville....

No European travel in view until the autumn, as NOTHING would make me leave Canada in the summer.

crefloors

LoveItaly, just hang out in the frozen food section when you go to the store. That's what I do when it's really hot. The cooler where they keep the cold drinks is always good too. I know, it gets horribly hot in Vacaville and those brown hills makes it seem even hotter. You'll put new meaning to the words: "chill out"

Weezie

I just came back from the fireworks at Annapolis, MD, 6 miles down the river. Right now everything is dwindling down but I look across the Severn River and I see different communities with their fireworks. Very hometown America. I wonder what my son is doing right now in West Kirby, England.

SeaUrchin

Loveitaly, I used to have an Aunt who lived in Vacaville, she would ask "when are you coming up to Cow Town?"

Right now I am sitting on my veranda sipping wine and watching the neighborhood go up in fireworks. It looks like a war zone and smells of gun powder and sulphur. I have Nick and Jessica Spec. on the tv and I have my laptop on the table and I'm still trying to find decent airfare for the Fall. I think I will just buy one and forget about the budget.

LoveItaly

Hi crefloors, your post made me laugh as I did get to the supermarket and dear one when I reached in the frozen food cabinet to get some orange juice I almost climbed in it, LOL! And although I did not need anything else in that aisle I must have pushed the cart back and forth a half of dozen times, LOL!! And then when I walked outside, oh sigh, it was sooo hot again. But tonight it suddenly cooled down and so neighbors/friends and I watch the fireworks and it was a lovely evening. Maybe signs we will have lower temps tomorrow? I say with fingers crossed. I envy you going to SF and Sonoma.

And SeaUrchin, first of all hello!! Gunpowder and sulpher, sounds like my neighborhood tonight which is usually very peaceful. Think someone called the PD because about 5 minutes ago peace reigns again.

SearUrchin, I will tell you a funny story about Vacaville. Its nick is "CowTown" however the reason it is named VacaVille is due to the fact that a Manuel Vaca had a Spanish homestead here. He donated one square mile to start a town if the town was named VacaVille after him. Done deal, and thus the city's name.

Now, a quick story you might enjoy. Think you know my daughter & SIL went to Rome the first part of June due to serious medical emergencies regarding my SIL's father and mother in Rome. Not a fun month for them but of course at the worse of times there is always sweet times. A cousin of my SIL gave my dauther a present right before they were flying back to SFO. It is a big fat heavy ceramic cow, white with black dots with the silliest looking face you have ever seen. The cousin explained that first of all she had seen the "Happy California Cow" commercial on some program in Italy. And since my daughter and SIL live in Vacaville which meant "cowtown" when she saw this ceramic cow in some gift shop in Rome she purchased it for them. Silliest cow you ever saw, but it is so precious.

About airfare and budget, I have come to the same conclusion too SeaUrchin. I never seem to get a "bargain" as so many others do and I am tired of driving myself crazy about it. I am at the point that the best flight for my schedule, what is convenient for me etc. is paramount. BTW, what part of Italy are you going to in fall? Did I read somewhere you will be in N Italy, or am I wrong? Take care.

Stellarossa

Swithering whether to go to Starbucks as I sit at my cube in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio.

gertie3751

LoveItaly, so you're in Vacaville? Someone I know told me they moved there a few years ago and I was never really sure if it was a real place (with a name like that)or if they were kidding. But you have convinced me.

English_Pippin

I'm in my 200 year old stone cottage on the north Pembrokeshire coast in Wales, with views out over a very angry sea and misty headlands.....and it's pouring with rain too! Wouldn't think that you'd need a sweater in July!

schnauzer

I'm in my study in beautiful Sydney. It is the middle of winter here, but hey guess what? As per usual the weather is fab, high teens (in centigrade), we haven't really had a winter yet, English Pippin, you should come on down! Leave your sweater behind.

pastyp

Sitting at my desk in Dublin Ireland, trying to inspire myself to come up with a 'dynamic and fun' design for the web site I'm working on. But all the time looking out the window at the reason why "Ireland is so green"!!!! For after 3 days of warm, pleasant weather, the heavens have opened and the rain is pounding off the flat metal roof over head. Just three hours to go until I head home out of Dublin to beautiful County Kildare, where (if I pick up the theme of the very first few posts on this thread), I'll find that with all the rain we've had today, that the weeds at the end of the garden are surely now banging on the patio door to get in!!!

Enjoy where ever you all are!

Pasty

gertie3751

EnglishPippin
I was in West Wales (Tregaron) this time last year and had to borrow sweaters and anoraks because the weather was so cold and misty. Good to hear some things never change. We managed to include Llandewi Brefi on our itinerary.

English_Pippin

Hi Gertie - the sun has just come out as we speak, and it makes me realise all over again why I chose to live in this beautiful place (I've just been brave and discarded said sweater!) Glad you enjoyed the 'wild west' of Wales!

SeaUrchin

It's so interesting to read what Fodorites all over the world are doing!

Loveitaly, thanks for the info on Vacaville. I always thought it was named for the cow citizens of the area. My aunt sold her home there in the 1960's, bought a little strawberry ranch right in Napa Valley and when she passed, her relatives sold it to a major winery for mucho dinero as you can imagine. Vacaville and other little towns in No. Cal. hold special places in my heart, but they are like convection ovens in the summer!

Glad your daughter and husband had a little brightness in that trying time too.

rubytwo

I am in my office in Tampa, Florida. I am about 20 stories up and I am looking out on blue sky and the blue waves on the bay. A cruise ship is just now leaving port bound for the Caribbean..But I have photos of my trip to South Africa on the wall and photos of standing on top of the Aiguille du Midi in Chamonix. Ever so much more exciting and I am mulling over a trip to Florence or Venice next year.

LoveItaly

Hi SeaUrchin, oh yes, I can imagine that your aunts relatives sold your aunt's property for a lot of money, Napa has changed so much.

And SeaUrchin, you will probably be shocked but Vacaville now has almost a population of 100,000 residents. When your aunt lived here it was such a small community. Remember the onion factory and the odors, LOL. Take care.

FainaAgain

San Francisco... went to lunch at 1 pm hoping to sit on a bench and read. Came back to warm up 10 minutes later! It's freezing here! Somebody please tell me it's July not January!

So now I am at my desk, looking at the Swiss pictures, daydreaming

peeky

I'm sitting at my desk in WEHO and eating oreos which are giving me a headache but I keep noshing.

We just met an actor who is trying to revive his career by kissing up to my boss. It is a cloudy and morose day.