Tuesday and Wednesday, 2-3 November 2010: Coming Home


Tuesday: Leaving Venice

As I described in an earlier entry, leaving Venice is an experience in itself—although it would have been even better if it hadn’t been raining. We have pre-arranged to be picked up by private taxi and hostess and the small boat is docked at the hotel’s pier at 7:30 am. The boatman take care of the luggage, and then literally lifts each of us up over the side of the boat (the top of the dock is partially under water from the rain) and deposits us inside the warm, cozy cabin. We get a final tour of the canals as we head out into the open waters of the lagoon for the 20-minute speedboat ride to the airport. It’s just like a jet flight before the jet flight.

The actual flight is long and boring—even with four (count ‘em) mindless movies to watch, but we arrive at JFK almost on time and get wheelchair help for me and a skycap for the luggage and we are whisked off to the car waiting to take us back into Manhattan for another night at Helen’s on 15th Street.

Wednesday: The Flights Home to Tucson

It’s a lovely, cool morning in New York City, but it’s almost anti-climactic to think about another day of travelling home. Although we are worn out by travel and time changes, we are happy that our flights leave and arrive on time. Anita and Chris pick us up at the Tucson Airport and we are soon home with Jake and Luke, both of whom have grown a little pudgy while we have been gone. But we ALL need to lose a little weight after vacation. We are very grateful to Loretta, who, as always, has taken good care of the house and cats. It’s really nice to be able to travel and to not worry, because we have someone so caring and trustworthy to look after things at home.

Posting Pictures on Kodak and the Next Cruise

I’m in the process of editing the many, many photos from the trip, and I will start posting them on the Kodak website as soon as I can.

In the meantime, I can dream about the next cruise . . . 17 May 2011 on Holland America’s ms Rotterdam—28 days from Ft Lauderdale. After an eight-day Atlantic crossing, the cruise will visit Cork, Dublin, Liverpool, Ilfracombe (GB), Cherbourg, Dover/London, Zeebrugge (Belgium), Rotterdam, Copenhagen, Rostock/Berlin, Tallinn (Estonia), St Petersburg (2 days), Helsinki, Stockholm, and end in Rotterdam. Can’t wait!

Monday, 1 November 2010: 
Another (Rainy) Day in Venice


Morning in Cannaregio

What is it about Italian coffee? Every morning at home I dutifully warm the milk and pour the liquids with both hands to make the proper blend—but it just doesn’t come out right. We enjoy several cups of this ambrosial concoction along with the buffet breakfast at the hotel. Then it’s off to explore Cannaregio, the sestiere that extends eastward from the central train station. Although the Grand Canal offers a convenient geographic landmark for tourists, it is very easy (and mostly pleasant) to get lost in the streets and alleyways that meander and wind through the city. Lucky for us tourists, the city authorities have placed helpful signs along all the routes, pointing to either San Marco, Ferrovia (train station), Rialto, or Accademia. So no matter how lost you are you can almost always find your way to one of these landmarks.

Today is a national holiday (All Saints Day), so the city is still filled with tourists jostling in the rain. Fall brings quite a show of colors to the foliage and provides an unexpected palette of surprises around every corner (not to mention slippery leaves on wet pavement). We begin to follow another Cadogan walking tour through this part of the city, formerly the Jewish Ghetto, but decide to put away the guidebook and just enjoy the show of architecture that greets us at every turn—not to mention a wonderful small, very contemporary mercado, displaying every imaginable sample of local foodstuff, from fresh-baked breads and pastries to huge preserved Parma hams.

We even find an internet shop where we can check in for tomorrow’s flight and print our boarding passes. Next stop is a leisurely lunch with levitating gnocchi (see photo), prosciutto over arugula, and deliciously tender veal. Then we head back to the hotel to finish up our packing.

Evening at the Rialto Bridge and a walk through Santa Croce

After packing and a nap we take another slow vaporetto ride down the Grand Canal to the Rialto Bridge. Evening lights are starting to come on as we walk back through Sestiere de Santa Croce to the hotel, stopping for our last Italian pizza before setting our alarms and turning in for the night.

Sunday, 31 October 2010: Venice


Leaving ms Queen Victoria

We are really happy that we had a beautiful day for our gondola ride and visit to Murano yesterday, because the rain has started and will continue off-and-on until we leave Venice on Tuesday morning. But this morning our task is to leave the ship and head to our hotel, the Carlton on the Grand Canal, not very far from the pier—as the crow flies. But in Venice nobody pays attention to the birds, and getting to a hotel five minutes away is just as complicated as getting to a hotel on the farthest island in the lagoon. Money, of course, solves all problems, so we enjoy a water taxi ride from the ship to the private landing outside the hotel, conveniently located across the canal from the train station and two minutes walk from the new, elegant Calatrava Bridge, the first to be built across the Grand Canal in 150 years

The hotel’s newly-painted façade and marble lobby provide a warm welcome, and our room opens onto a lovely patio in the back of the hotel. The walls are padded (?) and covered with garish striped fabric, but the bed is comfortable and the bathroom is roomy and has a heated towel rack. In spite of the rain we don’t waste much time in the room, but head out for our first walk, torn from the pages of the Cadogan guide to Venice that I first used in 1993. It’s too bad this series of guides are out of print; they provide excellent maps and walking directions along with informative descriptions—all leavened by a slightly wacky sense of humor and an attitude that doesn’t take itself too seriously.

A Late Morning Walk with Tintoretto for Reward

The route for the first walk will take us from our hotel through the Sestiere of San Polo (one of the six districts of the city), stopping for a late morning latte and chocolate croissant at a small café. Although Sunday morning services are still going on in some of the churches, others have just reopened to visitors, and we happily fall upon the back entrance to the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, housing a display of 54 monumental paintings by Tintoretto. Lunch is a warm bowl of minestrone and a club sandwich—not the most exciting gastronomic treat, but perfect for a cool, wet day.

An Afternoon on the Grand Canal

After lunch and a brief rest back at the hotel we take a slow vaporetto ride down the length of the Grand Canal all the way to San Marco. The open back deck is a perfect place for taking pictures of the monuments and grand homes that stumble one after another along the waterfront, as well as for getting a sense of the life-on-water that is the daily routine of the Venetians. Passing under the Rialto Bridge I get a glimpse of the Hotel Marconi, where I stayed in 1993. (I won’t report on the more primitive places I stayed in on earlier, student-day trips to Venice.) We reach San Marco just as dusk is falling and the soft lights of the city are emerging from the mist. We have salad and pizza for dinner at a quiet restaurant not far from the Piazza and then return to the hotel by vaporetto, ready for a good night’s sleep.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Saturday, 30 October 2010:  Venice


Arrival in Venice

Both Henry James and Thomas Mann told their readers that the finest way to see Venice—for them the only way—is to approach by sea. And although a vaporetto ride from the Lido to San Marco will serve in a pinch, there is nothing quite like the first glimpse of domes and campaniles rising in the mist as the Queen Victoria approaches the entrance to the Venetian Lagoon.

The ship nears Venice about 11 am and almost all passengers gather on the upper decks to watch as we sail past the outlying islands and the almost-completed system of flood-gates that will remain under water and out of sight until, when needed, they are pumped full of air and rise to the surface to keep the sea from its usual flooding of the city. Water traffic increases as we sail closer to the Lido and the small islands that dot the lagoon. A flotilla of small craft accompanies the Queen Victoria as she passes into the convergence of the Grande and Guidecca Canals.

 









Although the main marine terminal is on the other side of Venice close to the train station and the Piazzale Roma (where all cars are parked), our ship docks quietly alongside Riva dei Sette Martiri, just a short walk along the waterfront to Piazza San Marco. The juxtaposition of the behemoth ship and the two- and three-story buildings that line the Riva is remarkable—and causes quite a few stares from the local populace and tourists. We will remain docked here until 9 pm tonight, when the ship will sail up the Guidecca Canal to the Stazione Marittima for tomorrow’s debarkation (and provide a series of glorious nighttime views from the balcony of our stateroom).

Afternoon:  Venice by Water

The agenda for the afternoon is a boat ride that first takes us to the small island of San Giorgio Maggiore, that sits in the water across from the welcoming dome of Santa Maria della Salute and the façade of the Palace of the Doges. The highlight of the island is the Basilica San Giorgio Maggiore, designed by Palladio, that contains a series of paintings by Tintoretto, including “Collecting the Manna” and “The Last Supper” above the high altar.

Our second visit is to the island of Murano, famous for its glass-blowing workshops, where artisans still craft all the works by hand. The museum and showroom we visit contain room after room of the most fantastical and imaginative glassworks—from practical lamps and chandeliers to fanciful sculpture and decorative pieces. There are immense chandeliers hanging everywhere, in colors from monochromatic black and white to exploding arrays of multi-color combinations. But I am most impressed by some of the more contemporary pieces. Unfortunately, no picture-taking is allowed. It’s a good thing these pieces are all too fragile and expensive to transport!

The motorboat takes us back to San Marco where we embark on a—yes, it’s the cliché of tourist travel; expensive, but worth every penny—gondola ride through a series of small canals. We have time to wander about Piazza San Marco and some of the surrounding streets before returning to our ship, exhausted and exhilarated. Sadly, the romantic mood doesn’t last for long because we have to pack and put our bags outside the stateroom door before 11 pm tonight.

Luckily for us, tonight is the end of Daylight Savings Time across Europe and we will get an extra hour of sleep before we have to leave the ship in the morning.

Tuesday, 2 November 2010:  Farewell Venice, Hello New York


I left my readers in Dubrovnik last Friday, so you can expect a couple of days’ worth of blog reports covering the last days of the cruise, Venice, and the trip home. We enjoyed a magnificent clear day when we arrived in Venice on Saturday, but Sunday and Monday were days and nights of intermittent rain and drizzle—not enough to keep us in our hotel—but enough to make the canals rise a bit and pose the threat of acqua alta, when even locals have to wade through the waters of San Marco.

Leaving Venice is an experience in itself—although it would have been even better if it hadn’t been raining. We had pre-arranged to be picked up by private taxi and hostess, who park their small boat at the hotel’s pier. They take care of the luggage, and the boatsman literally lifts each of us up over the side of the boat, because the water has risen above the level of the dock, and deposits us inside the warm, cozy cabin. We get a final tour of the canals as we head out into the open waters of the lagoon for the 20-minute speedboat ride to the airport. It’s just like a jet flight before the jet flight.

The flight is long and boring—even with four (count ‘em) mindless movies to watch, but we arrive at JFK almost on time and get wheelchair help for me and a skycap for the luggage and we are whisked off to the car waiting to take us back into Manhattan for another night at Helen’s on 15th Street. Tomorrow afternoon we fly back to Tucson to see our friends and our cats again.

But I will be back with more of Venice. And I will start posting lots of photos on the Kodak website as soon as I select out from the more than one thousand pictures we have snapped.

Sunday Morning, 31 October 2010:  Disembarkation in Venice

This may be my last posting for a few days, as we leave the ship and I don't know what the computer facilities will be like our Venice hotel.  However, I will continue the narration of the trip when I return to the US and have access to electricity again.

Friday, 29 October, 2010:  Dubrovnik

We dock at the new port of Dubrovnik and do not have to use tenders to go ashore.  We have only tendered once, in Monte Carlo.  The bus takes us to a panorama high over the old city and harbor, surrounded by its miles of walls and four corners of fortifications.  Much of the city was unfortunately destroyed or damaged during the wars of 1991-1997--you can still see shrapnel marks on the sides of buildings.  However, through international aid, the entire city was rebuilt in just a few years and now looks exactly as it has for several centuries.  We explore the highlights of architecture and interior decoration, but most enjoy strolling the old streets and alleyways, some just long flights of stairs, that wind through the city.  The shops are filled with luxury goods---and the prices are the cheapest of all the places we have visited.  We stop in one shop that sells only locally produced goods and enjoy a conversation with the young owners about returning and spending a month in a rented villa or apartment.  Sounds like a good idea,

But we spend most of the morning sitting in a cafe watching the world go by.  We don't do the walk along the upper rims of the walls, because there are just too many stairs to get up to reach them (oh for the days of my youth).

Our ship leaves in the early evening as the sun is setting and we back up under the suspension bridge to make the turn out into the harbor and the Adriatic Sea, on our way to Venice.

Thursday, 28 October 2010:  Kotolokon and Olympia


Kotolokon is the port for the ruins of Olympia in the west central portion of the Peloponnese, the peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean south of Athens. It is much quieter and more picturesque than the busy commercial port at Pireaus. A 30-minute bus ride over the hills takes us to the small modern town of Olympia and its magnificent archaeological site. In the Greece of the 5th Century B.C., this was a religious precinct containing major temples to Zeus and Hera. Every fifth year sporting competitions were held in honor of the gods—which eventually gave rise to the Olympic Games, both classical and modern. The ruins are set among green lawns and evergreen trees. There is also a huge grove of Judas trees which bloom in vibrant shades of purple and pink in the spring. Although it is October now, I was lucky enough to have been here in late April 1993 when everything was in spectacular bloom. Today there is light misty rain (the only rain of the trip so far), which adds a veneer of soft silver light to the scene of the ruins.

There are two museums that are alone worth the trip here:  the new Olympic History Museum and the older Archaeological Museum. The first contains sculpture and artifacts illustrating the history of the sporting and religious aspects of the games. Much of what we know about this period in history comes from the wealth of information in the sculptures and in the implements of sport and worship used at the time. The two most important and beautiful works are the Nike (“Wingless Victory”) and Praxitales’ Hermes, a work that matches Michelangelo’s David in its depiction of the youthful male form.

The Archaeological Museum is built around a room that matches exactly the dimensions of the temple of Zeus, located nearby in the ruins. While the base and some of the pillars of the original temple are still in place outside, this room contains original sculptures that lined the friezes of the temple, each statue placed exactly where it would have stood on the original building.

After visiting the ruins and the museums, we are ready for a relaxed lunch at a resort hotel just outside the city. In the late afternoon we return to the ship, worn out physically, but rejuvenated in spirit. We decide to skip the dining room tonight, and opt for pizza cooked to order in the Lido. We turn in early looking forward to the extra hour of sleep we gain tonight as we turn back the clock on our way to Dubrovnik.

Wednesday, 27 October 2010:  Athens


As we dock in Piraeus, the port of Athens, now connected to that city by a half-hour Metro ride, we are among five other large cruise ships—so much for quiet, off-season travel. There are lots of crowds and the temperature is quite warm, but nothing can spoil the excitement of being in Athens on a beautiful day.

The Plaká

Today’s tour is supposed to begin at the Akropolis, so that we can walk the steps and stand on the hill in the cool morning. But this is Greece, and there is an economic crisis, and all the guards at public monuments are on strike—but only until noon. So we will spend our morning time in the Plaká, the oldest part of the city, with small streets lined by two- and three-story buildings with shops, bars, and restaurants, the Cathedral (deconsecrated and closed due to recent earthquake damage) and several small, much older brick chapels and churches. There are extraordinary views of the Akropolis, with the Parthenon clearly visible in the sunlight. The best part of the morning is an early lunch at a tavern, under cool shade trees. We share a tomato, cucumber platter in olive oil and local herbs (why can’t we get tomatoes like that in Arizona? I guess I know why!). Will has a large casserole of moussaka and I have chicken and peppers souvlaki.

The Akropolis

After lunch we return to the main square for the trip to and trek up the Akropolis. The bus can only take us so far and then it's marble steps the rest of the way. Our tour guide today—the only one we can complain about—keeps us standing in the sun while she drones on with facts and figures that we’ve already read in the guide books and that we won’t remember anyway, while all we want to do is be in the presence of the monuments ourselves. So we escape her clutches, climb the remaining treacherous steps and finally reach the breathtaking sights of the Parthenon and the Ereictheon shining in the bright afternoon light. Unfortunately, we don’t have time today for the new Akropolis museum, opened just last year, but we can see the building on the hillside below us, along with the Odeon of Apollo, and a series of Roman-Syrian pillars across the way behind Hadrian’s Arch. On the other side of the hill, in the near distance, are the restored Agora and several other original temples. It really is wonderful to be here, even among the crowds, but we kind of long for the peace and quiet of the Greek temples in Agrigento, Sicily, which are much larger and more completely preserved (I’ll stop quibbling now).

Dinner and Goodnight

As the Queen Victoria sails out of Piraeus in the early evening we are treated to a spectacular show of thunder and lightning. The rain continues most of the night as we sail to Kotolokon, but the ship is securely built—and very quiet—and we hardly feel the sea at all. For dinner we finally have an offering of escargot, but the rest of the meal, like most of the food, is adequate but not very interesting. At least our servers, Jane and Merwin, from the Philippines, are very good and make the meals pleasant.

Monday, 25 October 2010:  Malta

The weather continues to be spectacular, kindly providing us with bright, clear mornings and afternoons, and evening sunsets that streak the sky and sea with a palette of reds and golds.  This is my first visit to the island nation of Malta and its companion island of Gozo, so I am eager and excited about the all-day tour which takes us to Valletta (the capital city), Mdina (the “quiet city” of the Middle Ages), and a number of viewpoints around the island.

Valletta and Mdina

We enter the port of Valletta just as the sun is rising and are treated to views of fortifications on each side of the harbor and the city rising on the hills above. The buildings are bathed in the rosy light of the morning as small fishing boats and larger sailboats begin to ply the waters.

Valletta, home to the Knights of Malta, is surrounded by its medieval walls; we stop in gardens outside of the walls for a view over the harbor before entering the gates of the city. St John’s co-Cathedral (shared by Roman and Eastern Orthodox Catholics) is a fairyland of wild baroque decoration, much of it marble, and the rest gilded wood and stucco. The aisles surrounding the nave contain eight chapels, each dedicated to one of the languages spoken on the island (don’t ask). The highlight of the cathedral is Caravaggio’s “Beheading of St John”; the dark vitality of the original puts all the copies to shame. Valletta itself is a charming town with many architectural relics from the Medieval to the Baroque. After strolling through the older parts of the city we leave through an old city gate (of no particular historical or artistic interest) that is being replaced by a municipal structure designed by Renzo Piano, that will contain visitor center, auditorium, concert hall, and meeting rooms—as well as providing a new gateway to the old city.

After leaving Valletta, we ride through small prosperous-looking town surrounded by olive trees and long grasses waving in the breezes. Next are the ruins of the Tarxian Temples, built of local limestone in 3000 BC, probably by refugees from nearby Sicily. The site overlooks the sea and the ruins sit amidst wild clover and cypress trees. The nearby streams are swollen and muddy—we have just missed intense rains over the past several days (but today the sun is shining). We stop for a leisurely lunch at Razzett L-Antik, housed in a building dating from 1743, and famous for its home-baked bread (crusty on the outside, soft on the inside, with the aroma of the fields and the mill still adhering). We also make a brief stop at a “crafts village,” but the good pieces on display are too large and too fragile to transport (rugs and modern art glass, for example), and the smaller pieces are just the usual tourist trinkets.

Our last visit of the day is the best: the “quiet” city of Mdina, the oldest city on the island, with only 300 inhabitants. This is another walled city with so many quaint alleyways, picturesque doorways, and fascinating architectural detail, that my camera just takes pictures (far too many) by itself—I don’t even have to look. The prize of Mdina is the Cellini silver altarpiece in its Cathedral, the most beautiful and valuable one in all of Europe.

Cunard Tours

All of the shore excursions have local guides, most of whom are quite knowledgeable and helpful (at least up to this point in our trip). Additionally, a person from Cunard accompanies each tour to evaluate the local guides and drivers, as well as to assist passengers. We were lucky to connect with Elizabeth (Mexican by birth but living most of her life in Toronto) on a number of these tours. She is sort of half passenger-half Cunarder, as she helps out with the tours. In addition, her 28-year-old son (the oldest of five children) is the production director for all the electronics and entertainment on board the Queen Victoria. She is a lively and charming companion and we have enjoyed her company at a number of street-side cafes.  

Tonight’s Dinner

• Gazpacho; leaf lettuce with tomato and shaved fennel in vinaigrette dressing; rack of lamb, potato roti, roasted vegetables; strawberry ice cream (L).
• Minestrone soup; Norfolk turkey slices with cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, stuffing, sausage; sticky toffee pudding (W)—Thanksgiving a little early.

Tomorrow is our only sea day and a welcome day of rest.  I will resume with our arrival in Athens on Wednesday.

Sunday, 24 October 2010:  Tunis


The opportunity to visit North Africa, if only for one day, was one of the deciding factors in choosing this particular cruise (in addition to the fact that Cunard owed me a rather large credit for having missed the sailing of the Queen Mary 2 back in April). Will and I had spent two wonderful weeks in Egypt in 1993 and we were interested in seeing another aspect of Arab culture. We gained extra sleep last night as clocks were set back one hour (we will lose that hour again on our way to Greece).

The ship docks in the harbor of La Goulette, the port suburb of Tunis. The first part of our tour takes us by coach over the salt lake separating Tunis from La Goulette, originally providing access for fishing, but now largely silted up. Tunis lies about ten miles to the southeast of the port and the cities of Carthage and Sidi Abou Said lie ten miles to the west. There is good rail service connecting all these points for those wishing to visit on their own.



Welcome to Tunisia



The old city (Tunis Medina) is a very large warren of interconnecting streets and alleyways, each turn providing another picturesque view (and the opportunity for too many photographs). The Medina contains a variety of souks (bazaars), mosques, public service buildings, and many private residences. It was the heart of the medieval city and modern Tunis grew up around its walls. Our guide takes us into the maze and provides some tips for shopping and for finding our way back to the Kasbah (castle fortification) on our own, where the bus waits for us. We visit a carpet and art shop with a second floor balcony providing views over the roofs of the Medina and the whole city of Tunis. From here we can see how far the Medina extends, remembering that it is possible to spend an entire life in its environs; there are shops for every physical and material need, mosques for spiritual succor, cafes with hookahs for entertainment and relaxation, and the gardens of private homes for family and friends.  Of particular interest are the vividly painted wooden doors and window frames.

Before leaving the shop we are regaled with (or subjected to, depending on your point of view) a display of hand-made rugs in a rainbow of colors and textures—all very beautiful and all ready for sale and shipment overseas. We have free time to wander through the streets, some covered and some open to the skies, as we work our way back out to meet the tour bus . . . and we are off to . . .

Sidi Abou Said and the Ruins of Carthage

We have chosen not to visit the ruins of Carthage because we had such a marvelous afternoon at Herculaneum while visiting Naples and I know from the guidebooks that the site itself is rather small and limited. But our bus takes us by the main site as we drive 20 minutes on the other side of Tunis to Sidi Abou Said, a charming small town painted entirely in white and blue (except for the few buildings that aren’t). There are no great monuments, mosques, or churches, but the town sits on the side of a hill overlooking the Mediterranean. There is only one street going up and down so we can wander without fear of getting lost. This is a place for sitting in cafes, shopping for crafts and souvenirs, and watching other tourists do the usual tourist-dance. It is obviously a place with a more well-to-do population, as the homes and cars we pass are quite elegant and new. The Presidential Palace (one of them) is situated on the road back to Tunis as is a 150-year-old cedar tree, cut and shaped like a very large Japanese bonsai.

Welcome to Greece


We arrive in Athens this morning for the first of two days and two ports in Greece. We continue to outwit the weather, bringing bright skies with us wherever we go. But first it’s back to Italy and our visit to Naples.

Saturday, 23 October 2010:  Naples

We have a leisurely morning exploring the heart of Naples on our own, before this afternoon’s tour to the ruins of Herculaneum. We have been to Naples before and know to take extra precautions with our belongings and to avoid busy crowds as much as possible. And just as twenty years ago, Naples is in the midst of a garbage collectors’ strike (déjà vu). There is a collection of historic monuments within easy reach of the pier: The New Fortress, the Piazza Plebescito, the Galleria Umberto II, and the Basilica of San Francisco de Paolo. Add to these, of course, the spectacular view of the bay, the Amalfi Peninsula and Mt Vesuvius. And whatever one thinks of Naples, one has to admire the pizza—so we enjoy our share at an outdoor café near the harbor.  During our wandering, we come upon two weddings, one with a rather harrid-looking bride.

In the afternoon we head for the ruins of Herculaneum, a Roman resort town buried by the eruption of Mt Vesuvius. The site is much smaller than Pompeii, but the ruins are better preserved because the town was buried in the thick mud of the eruption rather than the hot rocks and burning lava that destroyed much of Pompeii. The vivid red and blue wall paintings and mosaics are still as vivid as when they were created. The wooden beams framing the one- and two-story buildings are still in place—more than slightly charred. The entire site gives a realistic impression of life for the leisure classes a very long ago time.

 

Back on the Queen Victoria, before dinner we have drinks at one of the ship’s many bars with the Drakes from New Zealand, a couple celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary and their retirement from a hard life on a dairy farm--we also learn that he is a direct descendent of the famous English explorer. We had met them yesterday during our lunch in the Tuscan hills. The highlights of dinner are salmon rilletes, radicchio and shaved fennel salad, and medallions of beef (for me); lobster bisque and chicken tikhal mahshala with poppadums and riaté sauce (for Will). Dessert for Will is treacle pudding with cream sauce. And I’ve neglected to describe the variety of dessert truffles that are served every night with coffee.