Stromboli

Nikki and I have just returned from a day trip to the Aeolian Islands, not quite the home of the winds, but to a couple of cartoonishly volcanic volcanos. We swam in the clearest water I have ever seen, that from bottles included, and lounged on black sand under the cliffs and sulphur clouds of the smoldering Stromboli. We are both a bit "cotto", (cooked) but will live. Tomorrow we spend our morning searching the little cemetaries of the hill towns for Nikki's relatives' friends' graves, and then say good bye to her remaining family before setting off for Naples the next morning. I promise to upload some of the 1000 plus photos nikki's taken, tomorrow.
ciao

The Best

Nikki and I have just stepped off of the 6th of what will be 7 trains connecting the distant places of Poperinge Belgium, a small hop-growing town and WW1 battle front in West Flanders, and Pescara Italy on the coast of the Adriatic sea. After a pilgramage to the secluded Trappist monastery of Westvleteren for what is widely called the best beer in the world, Nikki and I returned to Brusells for the afternoon to await our overnight train to Milano. Our route required a change of trains in Frankfurt Germany at midnight, and due to a mistranslation somewhere, we missed our train. We were then booked on a train through the swiss alps to Basel, where we were promptly charged 75$ a piece for not having the right papers or tickets despite the assurances of our angry german train person that we would be fine. After sleeping that off, we stepped into the velveteen air of the ungodly milan train station filled with sweating, smoking people, standing in lines longer than the trains they were waiting on, under the shade of the fascism saturated neo-classical/modern train station, sans- airconditioning. Half of the ticket machines were out of order, and one supposedly worked although it did not accept any form of currency or card. Luckily we found a machine that did, bought tickets for the first train to Bologna, where I am now at an internet cafe drinking cold fizzy water in the blasting cooled air. In a few hours Nikki and I will take our final train for the day to Pescara, after sampling some of the legendary cuisine of Bologna. Ciao.

Filling in the Gaps

So the last few days has been more eventful than I anthologized. After our blitzkrieg tour of Dublin, featuring an appearance by the 9th Century Book of Kells, and exhaustion-repelling Guinness.


After a visit to the world's most well-stocked pub for shockingly fresh belgian beer, we collapsed in our hotel room for our first night of sleep in 2 days. The next morning we took a meandering bus ride between windmills, serenaded by the what I'm sure was profanity, coming from the mouth of our eccentric Dutch bus driver. We've had a relaxing past few days riding a boat on the canals, touring a ducth micro-brewery run by the mentally ill, and visiting museums. Tomorrow we board a noon bus bound for Anwerp to visit some of Nikki's native friends.

Live from Amsterdam

Nikki and I, after a sleepless morning jaunt through Dublin, a nap in Brussels, and a busride through the windmills conducted by an eccentric Dutchman, have arrive in beautiful Amsterdam. Nothing really to report, just that we are alive and somehow still really enjoying each other's company after 72 consecutive hours together.

Last minute browsing

Don't let me forget about "Sagra of Ham and Melon Around 19 July, Mozzagrogna (Chieti)." which will apparently be going on when we arrive in Nikki's Mom's region. http://www.deliciousitaly.com/prodotto.php?id=185®ione_id=1

Nikki's Blog

I am laying on the carpet in Nikki's house in North Brunswick, NJ planning to the hour our Grand Tour, which starts tomorrow evening. The itinerary is contained in the google map below, and in graphical form on Nikki's blog here:http://careeningthroughtheuniverse.blogspot.com/

With some luck we should be in Dublin in about 36 hours from now.

To Be Continued......now

View Nute [deleted scenes] in a larger map