Munich (Germany)

Got up really early, got the rental car and some cash. Had lunch (Burger King) and then left Ramstein (1115). Kurt brought the hand-held GPS (luckily) and we had fun watching our slow ground speed (the little Corsa has trouble on the hills...). No problems getting to Munich - we drove on the Autobahn (we were not fast, though). Arrived around 1800. As I was driving in the city, I knew it was another one of those unbelievable moments and I said to myself "I can't believe I am really here!" We checked into a little hotel and then went to have some dinner in the (famous) Hoffbrau House. We sat at long tables on benches, ate bratwurst and sang songs with the locals while holding HUGE mugs! I can't imagine what would possess Hitler to want to do anything other than enjoy all of this... Kurt and I wandered around to several bars until well after midnight. He stayed out, in fact, until nearly morning...

Ramstein (Germany)

Hung around all morning - waiting for the boss to tell us the next plan. Had dinner with Kurt at Anthony's Pizza near our hotel. Around noon, we learned that we weren't needed today - and that we could get a rental car tomorrow. Still not sure, at that point, what our next plans were. We wasted time for several hours - exploring. The hotel said they had to move us to another place in a couple of days - we'll see how that turns out - because they weren't planning on us being in town for more than one night. Dinner at 2100 at Vesuvios Restaurant again - met the boss and he said we "might as well go see some of the country" until Friday... Wow! We met a few local guys later who took us out to Kaiserslautern until very late. Kurt and I will get out of here as early as we can tomorrow.

Ramstein (Germany)

Got a call very early that they needed someone to fly up to Germany today. It kind of sucked, since I had been flying until 0100 last night... They told me I had two hours before I needed to get airborne - which presented a lot of problems. And, best of all, they told me I needed to get back before midnight. After my annoyance with all of this wore off, I realized that the experience would be good. Kurt was assigned to go with me - he's pretty sharp - and we took off on time. Trouble getting ahold of the Italians (we tried to enter their airspace near Brindisi). Eventually on our way - using the hand-held GPS to get there. We got a cryptic comment from the French that something was wrong with our IFF, but we didn't think anything of it at the time... Arrived around 1500 - very cool weather (no snow, though). We were planning our return to the Ship but just before our scheduled departure we were told that they needed us to stay until - at least - Wednesday (when the Ship is at sea again). This means we'll miss the port visit to Trieste (too bad), but we'll be in Germany for about a week. We had dinner with the boss after he finally got done with all his meetings - an Italian Place called Vesuvios (2200).

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Cannes, Provence (France)

Another visit to this beautiful port city - in the WINTER! No one is ever on the beach, of course, and the shops are mostly closed - at least that is what I hear... After our usual training this morning, I went back to the Ship. I was supposed to work today and get off tomorrow. Instead, I ended up having to call everyone back to the Ship when they cancelled the Port Visit around 12 hours after we anchored... Almost no one made it back - and I was kind of glad we'll be leaving tomorrow.

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Milano, Lombardy (Italy)

Took the girls to the airport (pretty impressive building - built by Mussolini) before noon. They will be home this evening with the time zone changes. It was a sad goodbye. Gerald and I caught a late train back to Livorno. Would have liked to spend more time in the north of Italy but almost out of money and time before the ship pulls out again... Arrived after dark and stopped for one last beer before we are trapped at sea for awhile. It was a fun and interesting trip!

Milano, Lombardy (Italy)

After breakfast at the Hotel Alimandi, we spent most of the morning trying to get a credit card number to pay for our room.  Due to the stolen bag, Nicky thought it was prudent to cancel all of the cards we had with us. Got help from our sister-in-law.  Fortunately, I have an ATM card for the rest... Bought some new toiletries to replace stolen items. Found an electric razor - they make good ones in Europe. Walked around in Rome (including the Vatican) for a little while before getting on the train with Gerald and Angie. Headed to Milan so Nicky and Angie could catch their plane home. Went through Bologna on the express (small upgrade fee on the Eurorail pass). Arrived before dark and took taxi to Hotel Speronari, located across the piazza from a beautiful cathedral. We walked around in front of the church in the evening but never got to go inside, since it was locked. Dinner prices triple those in the south - actually had to eat at McDonalds (low on cash)... This is my last night with Nicky until May.

Roma [Rome], Latium (Italy)

A long day, but really memorable (Nicky will say infamous!)... We woke up early, checked out of the Titino Green Park Hotel and drove down to Avellino so I could visit the city archives. Vincenzo always said that he was from "la citta, no la provincia," so we were certain that we were in the right place. A nice lady told us (in English) where to go to find the records - and she was very helpful in describing the city as it looked in the early 20th Century. There have been several earthquakes since then, so things are really different. When we were finally in the archives, I showed an old lady my genealogy (names and birth years listed). She didn't speak English but knowingly smiled and went over to a huge book case (10 feet tall) and climbed up a ladder until she came back with a huge, dusty book. She opened it up and pointed - there was my whole family! I had but to copy and bask in the glow of good record keeping. Lots of new information - it was great to see how the old town clerks kept track of where everyone lived and when they emigrated to the US. We left around noon and explored the city streets - including the one with the Ippolito's parish. We drove up to a mountain nearby called Montevergine. It got really cold and windy up there (our car had a temperature guage)... In fact, it was nearly impossible to get into the shrine to the Mountain Virgin up there since there was so much snow. A priest gave us some good icons that were blessed there - gifts for Grammy. I have a feeling that her dad was thinking of her when he named her Virginia... We drove back to Salerno in the late afternoon to return the car. Got on the train and had no problems until Rome: we were switching to the subway and I had to get tickets - Nicky and I got distracted by vagrants who took one of our bags (a little backpack with our video camera, the shrine icons and the genealogy!!!)... We finally made it to the Hotel Alimandi (Gerald and Angie were waiting). Nicky told me "I hate this country and I never want to come back!" I hope she is kidding...