De Wilde West Tour

Touring De Wilde West With Erik De Wilde

Erik and Fabienne arrived from Belgium on the 12th coming into LAX.

Somebody mis-read the arrival information and arrived at the airport for the early flight and had to wait three hours extra for their flight!

LAX was like a zoo, there were crowds of people from the Orient milling round and pushing their  way to the front GRRRRR!

However once the guests arrived at Hotel Amer-Cain, they felt much more relaxed.

I think that they had some idea what to expect.

Relaxed can be taken to excess.


Pretty soon it was time to head off on the road trip.

We did about 1050 miles visiting Las Vegas, Williams, The Grand Canyon and Laughlin.

Of course you could be forgiven for thinking that we had included a trip to France in the mix.

In Las Vegas we met up with our nephew Steven and his wife Angela.


We then headed out to Williams AZ. 
On the way,we stopped to see the Hoover Dam from the bridge.

It was a bit tough on Anne, we got out onto the bridge and she felt a bit wobbly.

A result of the effects of the Meniere's Syndrome.

Once in Williams and checking into the hotel, there was a Surprise from Surprise in store.

Barb and Leon had driven up to spend the night in the same hotel.

After checking in, we took the limousine service downtown.

These are golf carts operated by an outfit called Trips for Tips, worth remembering if you are ever in Williams.

Of course, we were headed for the Canyon Club, our kind of place.
(Right Tess?)

Next morning we said goodbye to Barb and Leon and took off to visit the Grand Canyon.

Pictures don't really tell the story very well, but here are some to give you and idea of the grandeur of the vistas.
It has been quite some time since my last visit and a lot of improvements to visitor services have been carried out by the Parks Service.


Once our visit to the Canyon was complete, we left to continue our journey to Laughlin.

If you don't drink or gamble then Laughlin is a bit of a non-event.
So it works for me on both counts.

The dice gods were not on my side for this visit!

Wrap Up

The Trip Home

The cab picked us up at the hotel as scheduled at 3:00 AM.

The drive to Naples airport was fairly quick as there was very little traffic at that time of day.

No matter which route you decide to take, you have to go over the mountains. A bit of a white knuckle ride during the day, even scarier when it's dark.

We arrived at the airport in Naples and checked in easily. Once they opened up the security screening area we were inside the terminal and ready to go in just a few minutes.

The lounge was scheduled to open at 5:00 AM, it was opened by a very truculent employee at 5:15 AM.

I have to  say it was not the best Lufthansa lounge I have seen.

The flight to Munich was just the way I like them, uneventful.

The lounge in Munich was much better.

Lots of choices for food, good seats and a great view out over the runway.

Not forgetting of course ample places to recharge the electronic leash.

That is of course if you hadn't put the charging cable in your checked bag, DUH!

Being Munich, it rained, This was my fifth time in Munich and on four of those occasions it rained.

Soon we were on the plane headed for LAX, a flight of eleven hours and thirty minutes.

A glass of wine before take off and settle in.

Check out the leg room, no please don't check out the legs.

Lunch on the way and then maybe a nap.

This part of the flight always seems interminable. You look at the map and you have just started crossing Hudson Bay, you look again an hour later and you are still over Hudson Bay.

It's kind of like listening to Mahler.

Our plane arrived at LAX right on schedule at 3:00 PM local time.

A quick trip through customs and immigration and we were on the sidewalk by 3:30 PM.

The car drive was not there at the "Meet and Greet" as he should have been, but a quick call and he picked us up at the kerb or curb depending upon your preferred lexicon.

Of course the traffic on the 405 was terrible at that time of day.

Finally we were home, 5:00 PM, exactly 24 hours since we got up in Italy.

We were met with a spontaneous round of indifference from Missy.

Severely jet lagged and ready for sleep.

Ciao Bella,

Norm

Last Day

We are starting our last day in Maiori.

Just a walk around town, a little poolside lounging and then pack the bags ready for the trip home.

I had seen this guy in town a few times with a small car, he stopped frequently and guys would come out to meet him, then money changed hands.

No product changed hands.

What would you think?

Same as me, the guy's dealing drugs.

This morning early I saw him pull into the entrance of the hotel.

Something was clearly visible in the back of the car.

Then I saw what he was doing.

He delivers fresh fish from last nights catch this was about 6:00 AM

The thing in the back is an ice box.

Then he drives around later in the day and picks up the money.

I guess that way the fish spends the least time in the car.

Of course El Leopardo had to take his annual vacation.

Here he is hanging out at his favorite bar.

Of course you know what they sell in bars, beer.

This is a good one, Nastro Azzuro.

However as with all things sold within the EEC it has to come with all kinds of warning.

One is obvious:

Don't Drink And Drive.

The others not so obvious:

Don't Drink Or You May End Up Pregnant.

Don't Drink More Than 18 Of These Per Day

HOT NEWS JUST IN

A new wild fire has broken out in the hills behind town.

There are no planes or helicopters yet.

Yeah! I know "Hot News"

A bit trite but still OK.

Ciao Bella

Norm

On The Downhill Slide

We are close to the end of this trip, just one more full day to go.

On Monday we head for the airport at 3:00 AM to catch a 6:00 AM flight to Munich with connection to Los Angeles.

But enough of that.

As usual I have been on vacation with a couple of different women, Dame Edna was not on this trip, I was hoping that she had retired, but maybe not.

On this trip Cher decided to join me!

We booked a table at the restaurant Eldorado which is right on the beach here in Maiori.

A really nice place with an extensive menu, heavily accented toward fish.

They offered Irish beef which was my choice, really well cooked on the rare side of medium.

Just finish off I had a cigar, yeah you all know me better than that.

It was just a bread stick.

Following dinner, we went to a bar / restaurant on the main drag (only drag) here in Maiori.

They had a duo singing and playing music.

Of course when we arrived I was with Cher and after a little while she went to the bathroom and came back sans wig and bandana but wearing my hat.

That raised a few eyebrows.

This morning we decided to rent a car, but as we were not planning a long trip we just got the cheapest we could find.

With this one you can get extra discount if you deliver a few groceries whilst you are out on your travels.

However that comes with its own raft of problems.

How in hell do you find somewhere if the people who live there put the wrong number on?

Ciao Bella 

Norm

Another Day In Paradise

.

Yesterday I told you of the dangerous things to do.

Well here's of the best and worst things to see.

Guys wearing what the Australians call "budgie smugglers" or what we call Speedos, Ugh!

Olympics OK, walking around town maybe not.

I decided to take the picture of the store model as the real thing could be very troubling to people of a nervous disposition.

Yesterday we went to Positano by boat.

You take a small boat from Maiori to Amalfi and then change boats for 

Positano.

Talking about things to see, this is my favorite view of Positano.

Pretty nice really!

Seriously folks this is Positano.

Of course when you are in Positano you have to shop.

On the way back the boat pulls into Minori which is the next town along from where we stay.

Moving on to more views.

This was the view from our balcony this morning .

There was a wild fire just over the ridge behind the town.

All day we have had the fire fighting plane coming overhead and picking up water form the sea.

They are flying sub five minute round trips which shows how close the fire is.

Then of course there is parking Italian style.

This poor guy had to wait for hours for someone to show up.

Here is one of the best views, looking from our balcony with Madame in the picture.

Ciao Bella

Norm

Travels in Italy

Its beginning to feel a lot like California.

Earthquakes to the north and wildfires to the east.

However we have survived so far, the greatest danger by far is crossing the street. The second great danger is traveling by cab.

Yesterday, we went by cab to the hill town of Ravello, a trip not for the faint hearted, but well worth it.

We had lunch in the restaurant Villa Maria, the items they use are largely from their own organic garden.

What you really pay for is the million dollar view.

Everywhere in this town is either up a steep hill or down a steep hill.

We then walked to Villa Cimbrone, where the English aristocracy had a hand in making the gardens more like English formal gardens. When I say had a hand in, that is just a figure of speech. My guess is that they did the pointing and the heavy looking on. 

The dessert menu at the Villa Maria had some things from their garden but also lots of decadent treats too.

Of course being in this area you have to go for Lemon.

Low fat, no calories, yeah! Right.

More fairy tales later.

Ciao 

Norm

On The Way To Italy

We left the gate at LAX right on schedule but then spent twenty minutes touring the airport before we took off.

As we flew north and east across the States, I could tell from the direction where we would be crossing.

"Wake up Jeff, I'm bringing us in to land"
It only took a little over two hours to get there instead of three days the last time.

I waved to Rainer Dango as we passed by Siegen.

We arrived in Munich right on time.

The flight down to Naples was on time and full.
In fact I thought at one point that it was like one of those clown cars where the people were getting out of the back door and coming around to the front.


The views are spectacular coming over the alps and then over Venice.

The car was waiting for us at the airport and we were in Maiori in about an hour or so.
More soon
Ciao

Norm

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Location:A340 Headed For Munich