tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-125955132011-04-21T14:20:49.786-04:00A journal of our April 2005 European Vacation where we took delivery of our new BMW X3 and drove it around Northern Italy.Matthew Belkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940706819789717468noreply@blogger.comBlogger141100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12595513.post-1150205074571828692005-04-29T19:24:00.000-04:002006-06-13T09:32:03.773-04:00

The flight home went OK. Customs in Atlanta sucks, though. Because the international concourse is the very last one, and the furthest from the main terminal, you have to go through passport control, pick up your luggage, go through customs, re-check your luggage (unless you're connecting to somewhere else on Delta), then go through the metal detector lines. If a couple "heavies" come in at about

Matthew Belkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940706819789717468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12595513.post-1140559075934175122005-04-28T22:35:00.000-04:002006-02-21T16:57:57.246-05:00

Today was our final full day in Europe. It has been awesome being able to spend some "real" time over here; not feeling nearly so rushed as usual. Today we crossed the Alps at the Brenner Pass from Italy into Austria and took the autobahn over to Salzburg. While Angela wanted to find the eggs, I was looking forward to the cheese and bacon "crusted" pretzels at the stand in the square in front

Matthew Belkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940706819789717468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12595513.post-1140552942151465862005-04-27T22:14:00.000-04:002006-02-21T15:47:10.130-05:00

The sun rose to a gorgeous day today; not a cloud in the beautiful, deep blue sky. This morning at breakfast, Angela read that Bolzano has the highest per-capita income of any city in Italy, and that the shopping here is fabulous. Needless to say, she was pretty excited about her prospects. We decided that she would do her shopping, and I would do my thing and we would meet back in the main

Matthew Belkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940706819789717468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12595513.post-1133821039005905572005-04-26T22:41:00.000-04:002006-06-08T08:10:51.076-04:00

It was another lazy morning. After breakfast, we spent the morning packing and loading the trucklet, and waiting for our call from BMW Roadside Assistance with their plan for helping me get a new tire. They called around 9:30 or 10 and had made arrangements for us to get the tire replaced at a garage on the north side of Florence (Sesta Fiorentino), on the autostrada heading north out of town.

Matthew Belkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940706819789717468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12595513.post-1131129835440955472005-04-25T22:43:00.000-04:002005-11-04T16:31:59.536-05:00

Today was a lazy day. We slept in, had breakfast, and went back to the room to get ready in a very leisurely manner. Today being an Italian National holiday, none of the big attractions in Florence were open. We took the bus up the hill to Fiesole to see what this little town had to offer. Fiesole is situated on the site of an Etruscan settlement that pre-dates the Roman Empire. There is also a

Matthew Belkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940706819789717468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12595513.post-1123793565160216222005-04-24T23:47:00.000-04:002006-02-21T16:35:27.000-05:00

Didn't get too much sleep last night; what with the near death experience and all. We had to basically get the first bus of the day down to the train station. There was some confusion about how to actually convert our online reservation into a ticket, but I managed; with the help of the customer service lady, to operate the kiosk.We booked our first leg to Bologna on the Eurostar. It was a quick

Matthew Belkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940706819789717468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12595513.post-1123122968036786892005-04-24T00:19:00.000-04:002006-02-21T16:34:07.576-05:00

We slept in a bit this morning; knowing that our schedule wasn't going to be so hectic. Breakfast in the hotel's dining room was a surprise. They had quite a spread of scrambled eggs, sausage, the customary breads and pastries, cold cuts and cheese. I was very thankful to be able to eat a "normal" breakfast.After the bumpy bus ride into town, we got off at the Accademia stop and saw the super

Matthew Belkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940706819789717468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12595513.post-1121390580161796852005-04-22T22:22:00.000-04:002005-08-03T21:38:12.510-04:00

Another driving day today. We drove down the coast almost to Pisa, then turned inland into the heart of Tuscany. Before arriving in Florence, we really wanted to go to San Gimignano to see the medieval towers. Can I just say that Tuscany is beautiful. Even in the early spring, before the Sunflowers or poppies are in bloom, the Tuscan landscape is exactly as I pictured it. We actually passed by

Matthew Belkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940706819789717468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12595513.post-1116701744703428532005-04-21T22:06:00.000-04:002005-08-03T21:33:33.506-04:00

We had to get up early today to make the 8:30 ferry over to Varenna. The ferry ride was pleasant; about 20 minutes or so, and once on land, our navigation lady guided us down the lake until we could get onto the Autostrada towards Milan and on to the Ligurian coast. Our route took us around Milan, down towards Genoa, around Genoa and along the coastal higway to Rapallo. The drive was amazing.

Matthew Belkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940706819789717468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12595513.post-1116698234726011082005-04-20T22:18:00.000-04:002005-05-21T13:58:54.813-04:00

Thankfully, the kids staying in the hotel weren't too obnoxious last night. I guess the manager had a little "sit down" with their chaperones and told them to get a handle on their charges; since he didn't want to issue a bunch of credits to the complaining guests.It's our last full day in Bellagio, and Angela wanted to get some shopping done at some boutiques that she'd seen during our evening

Matthew Belkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940706819789717468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12595513.post-1115949299375997702005-04-19T22:27:00.000-04:002005-05-21T14:05:49.833-04:00

Man, was it nice to sleep in today. We rushed down for breakfast just in time and promptly went back to our room to get ready for the day. The day started off well enough, with bright blue sky and a few puffy clouds. Our agenda today was to take the ferry over to Tremezzo and see Villa Carlotta and its gardens, built by an Italian nobleman in the 16th Century and continually added to over the

Matthew Belkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940706819789717468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12595513.post-1115858365395689522005-04-18T22:38:00.000-04:002005-05-11T21:53:17.486-04:00

It was a very early morning today. We wanted to get to the ED Delivery center as early as possible so that we could get on the road and be in Bellagio in time for dinner. Our plan for the day was to pick up the car; find a Walmart or other similar store to get a Euro-spec hair dryer; swing by the dropoff location to arrange for our after-hours dropoff; go back to the hotel and get our gear; and

Matthew Belkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940706819789717468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12595513.post-1115858061041155672005-04-17T22:00:00.000-04:002005-11-04T13:16:19.030-05:00

Our flight to Munich was uneventful. We landed around noon or so, went through immigration (why can't arrival into the US be as easy?), collected our 4 suitcases, and found the Lufthansa Airport Bus pickup point. Good thing we're going to be driving an SUV around, since manhandling all this luggage would have been a giant PIA.We checked in to the Munich Marriott and immediately set out in search

Matthew Belkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940706819789717468noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12595513.post-1115049018797371232005-04-17T10:30:00.000-04:002005-05-11T21:32:56.723-04:00

Well, it's another year and another European Vacation. Like last year, we're killing two birds with one stone and picking up a new car for Angela: a BMW X3 3.0i "Sports Activity Vehicle." We're going for 2 weeks this time; so we've used up every one of our suitcases. One of these days we'll learn how to pack light.This is our first Saturday departure and it was a welcome change to be able to take

Matthew Belkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17940706819789717468noreply@blogger.com0