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

Wow It's Four Months Since I last Made A Post!

Here We Go.

As most of you already know, Anne's brother passed away at the end of June.

We were both in the UK at the time, but as the funeral service was delayed by the need for an autopsy, we came home. Anne returned for the service alone and spent some time with our niece and was able to meet up with many other members of her family.

During the month of July, I finally retired from Shultz Steel Company entirely.

The company was sold and my contract as a part time consultant was ended.

My retirement gift to myself was a Porsche 911, something I have wanted all my adult life, and  had been planning since 2007.

When the economy tanked, I was in the fortunate position to have some cash on hand and decided to start buying stock at bargain basement prices. Some were winners and some were losers, but overall I did OK.

After about 18 months of retirement and the end of the contract, I decided to pull the trigger and buy the dream car.

It is a 2014  911 Carrera with 20,000 miles on the clock when I picked it up.

Here is my favorite girl, and of course Anne wanted to be in the picture too.

We are in Long Beach, opposite the Queen Mary.

Anne has just read this. She wrote a Limerick recently to express her feelings on this subject, and was awaiting an opportunity to give it an airing.! It fits perfectly right HERE!

There was an old fart from HB

Who bought a Porsche that filled him with glee

He said, "There's room in the rear

For a  twelve-pack of beer 

Not a wife... Now I'm really free!"

Our first long trip was out to Surprise Arizona to visit Barb and Leon.

The car performed perfectly and "surprised" me with the gas mileage.

30 MPG at 74 average MPH.

Barb, is doing fine and Leon is doing a fine job taking care of things.

Here he is taking Georgy for a spin around the kitchen in Barb's walking aid.

We all went out to Scottsdale Harley Davidson, 

This was an idea that Barb came up with as we had not been out there before.

Wow! is this the kind dealership or what?

It has a a huge selection of bikes, a coffee shop, a wedding chapel . . .  and the biggest Chinese Gong you have ever seen.  ( Calm down, folks.  This is not a euphemism for . . . anything.  I said "Gong", not "Bong")

The Gong is banged with a humongous hammer when someone buys a bike,

This actually happened whilst we were there (I put the whilst in for you, Leon)

 Look to the left of the white table to see a side view of the gong!

 Madam enjoying a Corbin seat.

Each branch of the military was honored with a bike painted with its emblem.

Following the HD visit we went on to old town Scottsdale and visited the Rusty Spur.

Where Anne tried out a different seat.

I didn't see any guns so I guess everyone complied with this rule.

The history behind the bar.

It seems that in this area of greater Phoenix that you can navigate with only two street names:

Bell and Grand

If you can find one of these you can find your way home.

We all had a "Grand" time, and the whole trip rang our  "Bell"!!

Those of you who know all of the participants will be aware of the minor conflicts which arise between partners!

Here is the proof that sometimes even men can admit that , although they were not wrong, then perhaps they were not 100% right! (Ahem!   Interjection from Anne:  Leon had to be cajoled to sign the above document!)

I can hear all the women groan and say "Yeh! Too right"

More soon from the other side of the pond.

Ciao Bella

Norm and The Editor

Headed Home

All of the events we attended went very well, from surprising our Niece and all the family to the visit with Anne's brother John and his family.

Dame Edna was in full swing with a couple of her nieces in cahoots.

I got to see my cousin Elizabeth and her husband Jim twice along with some members of her family.

Here they are, with daughter Janet and grand daughter Rhiannon.

We also met up with Anne's other brother Mike and his wife Mary.

Of course no visit to the North East would be complete without a trip to the motorcycle shops on Westgate Road.

I do believe that I've found my next project bike.

The guy in the store had dragged this out of the river in Hexham; it looks like some one took a sledge hammer to it before throwing it in.

This is something like what it may have looked like back in the day.

It's a 1000 cc BSA V-Twin the built in the 1930s.

Walking around Durham, I was interested  to see this installation of an Archimedes screw, usually they are used to pump water out of the river.

In this case however it will be used to generate electricity for a new building adjacent to the river.

It will, when commissioned produce 100kW which is about 75% of the building requirements.

Next to the screw a small bypass channel was constructed to make it easier for fish and elvers to move up and down stream.

This guy had already figured out what that channel was for!

More soon when I get back to the beach.

Norm

Arrived in Maui

Well not quite.

We arrived in Newcastle right on schedule on Thursday around noon and picked up the rental car.

The weather was pretty fair, cold but at least not raining.

For once, Hertz came through with a better car than the one I ordered.

Friday night was a complete success, a total surprise for all concerned.

Of course the dancing queen was having the time of her life.

A minor problem in the hotel, was that the refrigerator did not work.

So a redneck refrigerator was required.

Finally on Saturday, Billy the maintenance man brought a replacement. Problem solved.

More soon from the islands, British Isles that is.

Norm