Another trip report so you can ignore. I do these for myself and my friends and family.
~~~~~~~~
Ah. Just back from a trip to the US of A. It was a busy one. Impressions on my first day…the first day is always a little surreal. Everything is so big! So fast! So tidy (at least in the ‘burbs). So expensive! So expansive! Tooooo many commercials. Toooo many drug ads.
We had done on-line shopping before going, which I had sent to my sister (thanks Cindy!). She brought all my loot to our meet-up in Annapolis. Chili powder, some clothes, kafir lime leaves, lemongrass paste (Thai food here we come!). Lots more hot sauce 😋. Then we did some shopping at the drug store and grocery. Not much this time. Travel sized items, pens and pencils (cheaper there), deodorant, gorilla super glue, binder clips, scotch tape, Saran Wrap, peanut butter, picnic salt and pepper shakers, cheddar cheese… lots of goodies. But now on to a few trip details.
We took the train to Fiumicino near the Rome airport to Pascucci Porticciolo a small hotel with a Michelin one star restaurant of the same name. It’s always fun to have a night with good food before a trip. The trip was uneventful and we arrived at 1:30PM at Washington Dulles airport. It was hot and we are not used to it what with the very cold spring we’ve had in Umbria.
Our first night in the US was not far from the airport at the Hyatt in Reston VA. It’s an OK hotel. The carpets are well worn and a bit dingy in the hallways. The curtains in our room sorely needed attention or replacing. The systems are all old. Bath is very dated, nicer towels would’ve been good — the room was adequate in space and the beds were comfortable and had nice linen. Price was over $300 for the one night we stayed. I didn’t think the cost to value was close at all. We went to dinner at PassionFish. I remember it from before we left. Decent seafood. I had oysters on the half shell and crabcakes. Unseen in Umbria. Miss those!
Next day we were off to the nuptials of our niece Rachel. They were held in Baltimore, a city near my heart as I went to college there. Rachel had asked us, as the couple she knows who’s been married the longest, to speak during the ceremony. I loved the wedding. Not religious, presided over by Uncle Paul, Alex’s Uncle. Alex is Greek and so there were some Greek traditions incorporated. Sarah, the maid of honor, placed crowns connected by a white ribbon while they did their vows. After the vows, and the kiss, they walked out to the music from the Dating Game. So cute and fun. The reception was nice with an 8 piece band called the Bachelor Boys. Great dance band. During the bands off time they played Greek music on the stereo system and all the attendees learned the Greek dances. Men dancing together, women together. It was fun. Anyway, I’m super happy for Rachel and Alex and I’m sure they will have many years, and many adventures together!
Pictures courtesy of Rachel’s FaceBook photos. The Happy Couple!
Rachel and Sarah, Her Maid of Honor – Lovely sisters.
After three days of Wedding activities we drove the short drive to Annapolis. On our way out of town we stopped at the address where I had lived during my MICA year. John Street on Bolton Hill. It was still unrenovated after 50 years. A big surprise. It was fun walking the old neighborhood.
My old house.
We had a really nice VRBO house rented just half a block from Main Street Annapolis. My sister and her husband drove the furtherest from Central Virginia to join us for a short trip.
From our front porch. Every passerby chatted with us!
Maryland state capital viewed up a narrow street.
We ate and strolled the town. Shopped and one day we did a voyage aboard a beautiful schooner called Woodwind. 72 feet, five sails. We had pretty good wind and sailed the whole time getting up to about 10 knots.
After that nice visit with my sister and Bill we headed back to northern Virginia where I visited our storage. I wanted Cindy to have a key as she’s going to oversee my cousin coming to take some family antiques. My goal is to slowly empty this space. I will probably ship some things to Italy. But I’m giving away a lot. Some old friends, Carlo and Mary, stopped by to pickup one of the German schranks we brought back from Germany where we all lived for a time. It will have a good home with them. And we had a nice dinner together at Vermillion.
The three days in Alexandria were busy. We stayed in the Kimpton Lorien Hotel and Spa. Of all our hotels, this was the best. They get it all right! We had a lovely dinner with Luther’s brother Mike and and his wife Anne at Magnolia. We so seldom see each other, just the four of us, so it was nice to catch up. I had a lovely evening of cocktails with my “Cook” Book Group of friends. We go back more than 20 years. Such fun to be outside on the beautiful deck and the Aperol Spritzes and conversation flowed. Such intelligent and thoughtful women. I love and miss them.
Photo courtesy of Ellie Thayer. Our group! We missed Lynn, Pam and Christine.
And I had a nice tête-à-tête with another old friend and walking buddy of mine, Rosemarie. So nice to see her. It had been a while!
We left from Dulles non-stop to Rome but were delayed when the airport was closed due to lightening strikes. Returned home to our wonderful house/cat sitters from Toronto. They had a lot of rain, unfortunately, but they made the best of it and the end days were fine. I think they had a good time and best of all, they really loved our boyz Rocky and Simba. Mark and Liz, you are always welcome to come back!
Glad to be home in Italy’s Green Heart!