June/July happenings....

Summer has finally made it here to Zurich.  April was a great month, weather wise.  May was okay but for part of June, it not only rained nearly every day, but was overcast and chilly as well.  Chilly as in 60 degrees for the high!  Recently though, the past few weeks have been excellent: sunny and warm. Unfornuately, last weekend it was rainy and chilly....and it was my birthday!! Yes folks, I have finally reached the big 3-0. It's quite a milestone actually. I am in a great place in my life, and Aggie still loves me. What more could I ask for!?

So I mentioned in the last blog, the Euro 2008 Soccer tournament was being hosted by the countries of Switzerland and Austria.  Therefore, the downtown area of Zurich had a "Fan Zone" area where big screens were set up for watching the games.  Plus, there were tons of food stands and vendors lining the lake front, inviting for an easy dinner option!  The games have been a ton of fun to watch and a few of our friends actually had tickets for some of the matches. The finals were on June 30th, where Spain beat Germany 1 - 0 in a barn burner.

Aside from all the soccer action going on, we have been meeting up with our friends for a few fun activities.  A few Saturdays ago, a group of us got together for brunch and then played cornhole down by the lake in Enge park.  That park is such a scene and of course, we fit right in by bringing the first and only cornhole game to the city.  The afternoon basically consisted of us drinking and playing...a perfect day in Hamilton right?  I have this dream of being the "Father of European Cornhole".  "We'll see!" says the Ag.


One weekend later we went to our friends, John and Helen's, for a tasty BBQ and then went out for just a bit.  Aggie wasn't 100% just yet, so she crashed early, but as I said before, she is getting her strength back day by day.

So far, the month of July has been lots of fun!  The first weekend in July (5-6th) began my birthday week as Aggie and I had a "spa weekend".  Aggie had received a very generous spa package from the family she works for and shared the gift with me.  We thought this would be great way to relax from all that has been going on over the past few months and that it would be an excuse to kick off my birthday celebration! Plus, I got some awesome hiking shoes and pants from Ag for by birthday (a week early but that's okay!).

We chilled on Friday night and then got up early on Saturday morning.  We drove down to the town of Schwyz, parked the car and then headed for Stoos, which is a car-free town (you could only get there by cograil up the mountain).  The ride was super easy (about an hour from Zurich), and we got there with no problems.


Up we went on the cograil for about 7-10 minutes.  When we reached the top, we got out and found the hotel with no problems...there was only this wellness hotel and then one other hotel in the whole town on top of this mountain!  There were a few shops around, but most were closed as they were ski shops.  


We went to the hotel and dropped off our bags.  Our plan was to go hiking in the morning and then get our treatments in the afternoon. The hike we chose was great! It ended up being roughly three hours total: two hours up and one hour back. The trail went up a mountain and through cow pastures. (We started at 4000 feet and hiked up to roughly 6200 feet.) It was quite the climb! The views were amazing too (be sure to check out the pictures).



The crazy thing and the scary part about the trail was that we literally had to walk through herds of cows....and these cows were not small! We have been on many hikes where we were in similar situations, but there was usually only 5-7 cows, and we were always with more people. Well, this time we had about 20-30 cows and no other people!

Our heart beats increased rapidily two times walking though two different pastures. On the way up, we passed through one pasture where the cows had horns and were about 5-10 feet away from the path. A couple was about 50 feet in front of us though and they got through with no problems so we thought we would be okay too. We were fine, but after we got through, we found a huge stick to use as "back up" if we needed it! We kept the stick for most of the hike up as it turned out to be a good hiking stick!

Then, the second cow pasture we encountered that was rather stressful was on the way back down the mountain. Of course, we had discarded our "protection stick" a while back! Two girls had just come through the pasture gate and we stopped for a second to survey the land. Aggie and I saw the cows and the path leading down the hill. The path seemed to lead to the backside of the cows; no problem we thought! Well, as we walked along, the path curved back around right into the middle of the cows! They were literally sitting on the path! We really couldn't go off path as the stones and mountain side would be an easy ankle twister. So we took a deep breath and maneuvered our way through the cows. It was nuts! One actually swatted me with its tail as I passed it. Anyway, we got through and made it down. We were really disappointed we didn't video tape the whole ordeal! It would have been some excellent coverage.

So, when we got back to the hotel, first thing was first - we grabbed a beer at the hotel!


Then we changed into our swimsuits and crashed on the lounge chairs out in the patio area. It was great! As we laid there, several people came out, walking around in white robes and slippers. At 3pm or so, our room was ready and we went to drop our things off. Sitting on our bed were big fluffy robes and slippers as well as towels and a "beach" bag. We felt like royalty! We slipped on our new "wellness gear", packed our bag with our towels and magazines and headed down to the spa.

First we had full body messages. That felt nnnnniiiiiicccceeee, especially after a challenging hike. Then, we had some time to kill before our next treatment so we went to the sauna and jacuzzi. Let me tell you, Europeans LOVE to get naked! There were naked people in the saunas, hot tub, steam room, etc. I have never seen so many booties before in one place, just walking free as can be. I had my speedo on, so I almost felt like one of them! Anyway, the time came and we got our pedicures. Yes, you read that correctly. Aggie got me a "Man Foot Treatment". I hate to admit it, but it was really nice!


That evening we had a delicious four-course dinner and some wine. We finished the evening off by reading and watching the sunset out on the patio, then headed off to the lounge area for a night cap. The next morning we had a huge breakfast spread, and it was very tasty! After eating we checked out and headed back to Zurich. The rest of the day we just hung out and enjoyed the nice weather.

My birthday week went pretty well...nothing too crazy went on. Of course (as I mentioned above) it was rainy and chilly all weekend. On Sunday afternoon we met up with our good friends, John and Helen, for a light dinner. They hooked me up with a great birthday gift...a bottle of Scotch and some Sprungli chocolate!


We have some other fun things going on in July...Helen's birthday was this weekend and our friends Laura and Robbie came into town to visit (we'll write more about that next week).  Next weekend I am running in a half marathon in Davos (middle of the Alps). In August we are heading to the French Riviera for a long weekend, and we will probably try to toss another trip in there, just not sure on the destination yet.  Then, my Uncle Terry and Aunt Phyllis will be vacationing in Europe at the end of August and will stop by to visit us.  I'm heading to London for a few days in September for work and Aggie might try to join me for part of the trip and visit with Darren and Nicole and their new baby, Alexandra. In early October we are coming home for a couple of weeks (and weddings). The summer is flying by!

Family, Family, and more Family III; The Bill's rule Switzerland!

Happy 4th of July, mitenand (everybody)!!  

So to pick up where we left off at the last blog, Ferd and Audrey left Zurich on Tuesday, May 27th.  Lots of laundry, cleaning and grocery shopping was done in 3 days....then, voila!  La Familia de Bill arrived on Friday morning.  We had 5 days of fun-packed activities to get on with before Aggie was admitted to the hospital on June 4th.

Well, they (Bill, Rita and 'lil sis, Theresa) got here with no problems.  Hooray!  I have to mention from the beginning that this was Mrs. Bill's first time overseas and maybe the 4th time in her life she has flown in an airplane, so it was HUGE that she was making the trip and wonderful that they didn't have any issues getting here. I also have to give Mrs. Bill some props for conquering the hill on the walk up to our apartment from the tram stop. That was no easy feat, and she did it day after day.

They got to the Zurich Flughafen around 8:30am, and we went back to the apartment to get everyone settled in.  Theresa wandered into our room and found a warm bed to lay on while Mrs. Bill curled up on the couch.  Meanwhile, Aggie and her dad hit the town!  (I, unfornuately, had to go into work.)

Ag and her dad first stopped at the train station and picked up half-fare cards for everyone.  Half-fare cards are something that are usually only offered to residents of Switzerland.  Aggie and I have them and, although they are CHF 150 each, they are fantastic because they save you lots of cash on train tickets when you travel within the country - as the name would suggest, half-fare card holders pay only half the normal train ticket prices.  However, since the Euro 2008 Soccer tournament was being co-hosted by Switzerland and Austria during the month of June, the country of Switzerland was offering them to visitors (for CHF 40 each) for the entire month.  Talk about timing!!

After they got their half-fare cards and organized a few days of travel, they headed to Sprungli.  Sprungli is a delicious and somewhat ritzy chocolate shop that only exists in Switzerland (it's the "real" Swiss chocolate, and they're stuff is sold in Sprungli stores only).  They bought a few goodies there, checked out some of the city, and then headed home to see how everyone was doing.   The rest of the evening was very low key and relaxing at the apartment.

Saturday, all of us jumped in the car and drove down to the Interlaken and Grindelwald area of Switzerland.  We walked around the town of Interlaken and checked out quite a few shops.  Our next stop was Lauterbrunnen, which is an extremely small mountain-town with a huge waterfall.  The Staubbach Waterfall is 300 meters high and seemingly just falls into the town.  It was really cool to see.  Then we headed to Grindelwald for a late lunch.  We found a good restaurant and everyone enjoyed a nice Swiss meal!  

On our way back to Zurich, we stopped over at our friends, Sally and Jake's, house for a cook out.  As you will recall from our time in Luxembourg, this is the family Aggie used to work for (their little boy is Sebastian, and they just had a new baby girl, Jamie Kay).  They actually live in Zurich as well now, and it was Sally's birthday.  So we were happy to crash her party and see them (and the kids!).

Sunday was an awesome day for all.  Everyone slept in, which was extremely nice.  Then, we took a boat cruise from Zurich (at the north end of the Zurichsee) to a small town at the south end of the Zurichsee called Rapperswil.  The boat ride was about 2 hours long which was perfect as the day was nice and sunny, and you could see the mountains pretty well in the distance.  

In Rapperswil there was an Ironman going on in full effect!  It was kind of crazy....the running part (the marathon part) was in the little town.  We cheered for runners as we walked through the side streets and finally stopped at a outdoor patio restaurant for a late lunch.  Mr. Bill couldn't resist ordering the "sausage for two" and it turned out to be one of the largest sausages I've ever seen!  (Except of course for...um, well...nevermind)  Seriously though, it was huge.  After we ate, we walked around a bit more, and then we headed back to Zurich via the train.  Within an hour we were all back at the apartment, relaxing and getting ready for the next day's adventure.

On Monday, I had to work, but Team Bill took the Glacier Express, a panoramic train ride through the Alps in the heart of Switzerland.  They took the train from Zurich to Brig and caught the Express in Brig.  They rode for about 4-5 hours enjoying the scenery.  Then they traveled back to Zurich from Chur via the normal country trains.  

They loved this experience, aside from their train being delayed for an hour and a half (and note, trains, buses and trams are like clockwork in this country so this was very strange that things were delayed).  However, the good thing about being delayed is that they got to check out the town of Brig which they wouldn't have done otherwise.     

Anyway, they enjoyed a picnic lunch they had packed on the train, and they also ordered some additional drinks and other snack foods as they traveled.  Aggie said the Express had full course meals, and anything else you could think of, on offer though out the entire ride.  The day was a success, and everyone arrived back at the apartment all happy and excited.

On Tuesday they were up and out early again...this time they were headed to Luzern, which in my opinion is one of the coolest cities in Switzerland.  It's a very easy 50 minute train ride there from Zurich, so getting there was fast and simple.  Upon arriving, they walked around, checked out the markets, and then grabbed some coffees and ice cream at a little parlor.  

They headed back to Zurich later that afternoon, and while Mr. and Mrs. Bill relaxed out in the patio area, Aggie and Theresa went to babysit the 4 little girls Ag watches.  Theresa, being an elementary school teacher, was going to look after the little ones while Aggie was in the hospital.  This worked out very well, and the girls definitely kept Theresa busy!  That evening for dinner, I met everyone at the Zeughauskeller, a big beer hall in the center of town that has very tasty, traditional Swiss food (they also have "flaming beers" which Josh and I enjoyed while he was here over Christmas).   We all rolled home (literally...we ate so much) afterwards and crashed.

The next morning, Aggie and I went to the hospital and checked her in.  As most of you know, Ag was diagnosed a few months ago with a benign tumor in her pituitary gland (basically, the master gland of the body).  The tumor was producing (in extreme excess) a hormone that would prevent Agnes from getting pregnant.  Around the pituitary gland are your carotid arteries and optic nerves.  And, oh yeah, your brain.  So having surgery was risky.  But, based on our options and consultations (of which, Pete Stratil was absolutely crucial), we opted for a neurosurgeon to remove the tumor rather than fighting it with medicine.  The whole process was quite an emotional one for us, but now that it's done and over with we are so thankful and happy!

Thursday morning, two nurses woke us up at 6-6:30am.  Aggie put on her "surgery" gear and off they wheeled her....only to be brought back to the room 10 minutes later as an emergency came up and they had to push her operation back to 10am!  The time in between was a bit nerve-racking but what can you do?  We sat in her room and laughed and joked and talked about how nice it was going to be when all this was over with.

The surgery ended up taking place at 10am like they said, and we are really happy to announce that it was a complete success!  You could just tell that the surgeon was impressed with his own work.  He was a able to remove the whole tumor, which was amazing (there were risks involved, depending on how the tumor was attached to the pituitary "area").  Aside from Aggie having very low blood pressure and her body temperature dropping during the surgery, all went flawless.

That night she slept in the ICU, which was okay she said because she was on so many drugs she didn't really know (and/or care) what was going on around her!  Friday afternoon they took her back to her room.  The rest of her time at the hospital was okay.  The operation was through her right nostril, so she couldn't breath through her nose for about a week.  She still can't smell, but hopefully this sense will come back in about a month (at which time she will no longer be immune to the Dutch ovens I've been conjuring up for her!).  They took blood every morning and late afternoon.  This became a process after a while, however, as she doesn't have "good" veins.  Therefore, she got poked quite a few times in efforts to draw blood.  The shot she got every night in her legs was a bit painful too, but necessary to keep the blood circulating in them.  Sleeping at night wasn't fun for her as she had tubes hooked up to her and couldn't really move around.  She also had to breathe through her mouth, which made her mouth extremely dry and kept waking her up.  It was tough, but she's a trooper and she managed.  To make light of the situation, I told her that, in the future when our kids act up, she can tell them she had brain surgery in order to bring them into this world, so they sure as hell better listen!

The hospital staff were really cool and they brought me a cot to sleep on in her room every night.  It was a good set up because everyday, I would leave in the morning and head into work.  Mrs. Bill and Theresa would come and spend the day with Ag, then I would come back in the evenings.  Lots of friends and visitors came to see her too.  We are so grateful to have such wonderful friends here and who just stopped in and "chill" with us!  We are also obviously so grateful for all of our friends and family at home who sent cards and gifts and flowers, etc.  Agnes was so happy to receive your well wishes.

Monday morning she had her eyes tested and the reports all came back positive (the tumor had begun to affect her sight in her left eye).  Her blood pressure was still a bit low, but all systems were go and they let her leave one day earlier than expected.  Tuesday we "moved" out of the hospital and back to our apartment.  

Mrs. Bill and Theresa left to head back to the States on Friday (the 11th).  But...not before Mrs. Bill (a carpenter) helped me make a corn-hole set!  Holla!  I can tell you that I've have never been so happy to throw bags than when me and Ag played a couple games out back the weekend after she got out of the hospital.  We have since put our set to good use and it has been quite fun.  We will write about what has been happening during Aggie's recovery time (basically the whole month of June) in the next blog.  Stay tuned!!

PS.  Thanks again for everyone's thoughts and prayers during this time in our lives.  Your support has been wonderful! 

PSS.  We just had a meeting with our endocrinologist today (July 4th), and Aggie's right on par and doing perfect with her recovery. Big smiles all around!

PSSS.  Make sure to check out all our pictures (there are some really good ones!) by using the link at the top of this page.

Family II; Venice and Como, Italy, plus Zurich, Switzerland

(Dates of travel: May 22nd-27th, see previous blogs for the whole Marcum vacation)

We got to Venice from Florence in about 2 hours and 40 minutes. Not too bad. It was a nice sunny day and we arrived around 1pm or so.

Here we are!

Our hotel was a 5 minute walk from the train station which was totally key. (Sometimes you never know if the area around the train stations will be sketchy, but in Venice, the area is okay....Paris is another story.) Anyway, we got to our hotel which was kind of pricy for what you got; however, that is how Venice is in general. Cool place to see, but expensive food and accommodations.

Venetian traffic jam

Well, we were out and walking around by 2pm. We did lots of window shopping and weaved all around the city, over the small bridges and canals. Venice is known for it's Venetian glass which is very colorful and elaborate, and there are lots of glass shops. Also, there are tons of places that sell masks, similar to what one would wear at Mardi Gras. The masks are worn for the Carnival of Venice, and the carnival starts two weeks before Ash Wednesday and ends on Fat Tuesday.

Hellooooo...anyone in there?

Anyway, the last time Aggie and I were in Venice, we were with our good friends, Steph and Pete. We had left thinking Venice was just kind of average. This time, however, we were very pleasantly surprised with how nice it was...we loved it! Granted, it wasn't too hot yet; we have heard that in the summer it's extremely warm and smelly.

We continued to wander around, saw St. Mark's square, got pooped on (bird), hung out...all in all, good times! We were all starving around 3-4pm and of course, almost all restaurants were closed and not opening until 6pm. Well, we finaly found a pizzaria that was open and took seats right in the front window which was great for people watching. Our server was really nice too and we even got tasty lemon shots at the end of our meal!

After the feeding

The rest of the evening was low key as we just had some gellati and chilled. The next day we got up and grabbed coffee and some crossiants at a local shop near the hotel. Then we got a few groceries for our lunch on the train and we caught the 10:52am train to Lake Como. From Como, we were going to then take a bus to the small town of Belliago. This adventure turned out to be a lot longer that we had planned....

The train from Venice to Como was 4 hrs. It was easy enough as we were able to play cards, eat, read, etc. It was prefect. When we arrived in Como we had to wait almost an hour for the local bus that would take us (and about 20 other people) to Belliago. That was not perfect. Once the bus arrived, we all piled on. Everyone fit but luggage was all over the place. Then, the bus continued to stop thoughout the city of Como and on it's way to Belliago letting locals and others on. Thank goodness we had seats is all I have to say! Besides being so crowded, the bus basically winds its way along the edge of a cliff. It's not a good sign when the bus driver has to blow his horn almost every 30 seconds as the bus goes around a bend to ensure no other cars are coming, all the while as you are peering down over the cliff of certain death. It was blowing my mind! Needless to say, we were happy when we finally got to Belliago.

Of course, our bus passed our hotel right before we got to the town of Belliago. We rode for a few more minutes and when the bus stopped, we got off, thinking we were going to have to drag our bags back to the hotel that was about a 10 minutes walk back on the main road, all uphill. Plus it had just started to rain and turned really chilly. This was not a desirable situation. There was a mini "choo choo" train (of course there was! think King's Island tour through Smurf-ville) that was in the same lot the bus stopped in. I jokingly said to Ferd, "Go see if that yay-hoo goes to Hotel Silvio"...not thinking he would. Well, devil be damned, he did and our hotel was the last stop! The train was taking off in 5 minutes so we jumped on and enjoyed the short ride around the town and then to our hotel.

Our hotel transport

The hotel was awesome! We all got settled into our rooms and made dinner reservations for that evening at the hotel restaurant. We then went into town to walk around for a few hours. Dinner that night was delicious and the view wasn't too shabby. The dinning room was all glass and the view was of the lake which looked amazing at night.

Not a bad view (from the hotel)

The next day we woke up, had breakfast and then headed into town again. We strolled around and checked out all the shops, bought a few things, relaxed. This was a place we could have stayed at for anoher evening. There wasn't a ton to do which was great! All we wanted to do was end the vacation relaxed and chilled which we did.

Chillin with some Bellagio microbrews

We caught the scary bus back to the main town of Como later that day and caught the 3:07pm train back to Zurich that Saturday afternoon. Our train arrived back in Zurich around 7pm, and we were happy to be back in our apartment. The Italian adventure was a success, and we were happy to celebrate that right on our own couch.

The next morning (on Sunday) Fred and I went for a jog. Then we all went to mass. After mass, we went down to the lake and had a picnic. We met up with our friends, John and Helen for a short time, then headed back to the mansion. That night we had a BBQ and just chilled.

Picnic in the park

BBQ at the house later that night

Monday we took Fred and Andrea all over the city and we showed them the hospital (where Ag's operation was to take place only a handful of days later). That evening at the apartment we had a traditional Swiss dinner, raclette. Josh, Brent and Erika can attest to how good this meal is. It was very fun and we all ate drank and were merry. Tuesday I took them to the airport and off they went! The advenutres of Ferd and Audry in Europe had ended. Now, the third version of "Family, Family and more Family" is about to begin. Aggie's parents and sister, Theresa were to arrive three days later, on Friday. We have lots of cleaning, laundry and shopping to do!! Stay tuned for their adventures!!

The Bills in Europe!!

Family, Family and more Family II; Chianti or bust

(Traveling days: Tuesday, May 21-Thursday, May 23rd)

So, picking up where we left off from the previous blog, we got to the main station in Rome with no major issues and jumped on the train toward Florence. We had bought train tickets off the Eurostar website for traveling in Italy. The deal was for any three days within a 2-month time span, we could ride the trains anywhere in Italy, plus we had upgraded to 1st class too!

We took our seats and got all comfortable. We started riding; life was good. The train conductor came around and asked for our tickets. I whipped them out, and he said that we needed our supplement. A supplement for what?? Apparently we had to pay extra to be on the Eurostar and fast trains...who knew!?

Long story short, the tickets allowed us to travel in Italy on the intercity/country trains but not on the direct and/or main trains from city to city. If we rode on these trains we had to pay an extra supplement. The catch was, to ride on the "good" trains, the travel time was almost ½ as short! Of course we (and everyone else) wanted to upgrade. The supplement wasn’t too expensive but if anything, it just caught us off guard and were annoyed...especially since we had gotten a similar deal from the same website for Josh when he came to visit back in December. His was for travel in Switzerland, not Italy, and it was flawless.  He could basically ride any public transportation anywhere in Switzerland for free.  Apparently, in Italy, they do things differently.

Anyway, we got to Florence from Rome in 1.5 hrs. It was raining when we left Rome and was still raining (hard) in Florence, so we opted to take a cab and arrived at our hotel 10 minutes later. The hotel was the top floor of some random building (so random, in fact, that I thought the guy had dropped us off on the wrong street), right in the middle of the city. The location was awesome and the hotel was average. We dropped our things off and headed out, umbrellas in tow!

My umbrella was jacked!!

We walked around and saw the main site of the city, the Duomo, Bell Tower, Ponte Vecchio, the major museums, etc. To our advantage, it was raining just a bit on and off so the market area was completely booming with vendors but not shoppers. We were able to move from one stand to the next and chat with the locals, bargain with them, etc. It was fun! We got quite a few things there too.

Haggling over a hat

That evening none of us were really hungry so we just had a “snack” night. Aggie and I walked up the street to a local café and got a calzone and some wine to go. We split that amongst ourselves and enjoyed a few other tasty treats; we did some fine dining that evening in Ferd and Audrey’s room!

Wednesday we had breakfast at the hotel and then went out to explore the Tuscany region. We had organized for a private driver to take us all around the area. The first stop was to "The Mall" where all the major Italian designers have outlet stores. Then, we went to a wine tasting and finally stopped in several small villages/towns throughout the Chianti region and worked our way back to Florence.

The Mall area was cool, that is if you had the money for it. They had everything from Gucci to TODS to Emmanuel Ungaro to Ermenegildo Zegna. In the stores you could just envision the runway models with the clothing on, strutting their stuff! For an outlet though, it was still very pricy. The best comment was from Ferd, “I want to go back to the streets!” (He was referring to the street markets.)

We piled back into our van and went on to an outstanding wine tasting near the village of San Gimignano. It was so much fun and we got a meal out of the deal too. We sampled 2-3 wines with an appetizer that consisted of salami, cheese, and bread (which was drenched in fresh olive oil). Then we sampled 3 more wines with our main course, lasagna. Not just any lasagna...our host Luigi's mother's lasagna. This was one of the best lasagna dishes I have ever sampled in my life…seriously. Finally, we had a refreshing, sweet dessert wine to top off the whole meal and then out came the Grappa! Talk about clearing out the nostrils...

Us...about four-deep in wine

From there we went to San Gimignano and walked around a bit. Then we went to Castellinao in Chianti and finally Greves. The whole day was supposed to be for eight hours, but our driver, Alessandro, took us around for an additional 1.5 hours more! It was tons of fun and we really enjoyed ourselves.

We got back from such a wonderful day and made the mistake of going out to eat that night. There was a huge soccer match on that evening (the Champions League final), and I really wanted to see it. The pub we went to was packed so we just opted to grab something at a pizzeria near our hotel. The service was HORRIBLE and the food was average. Mom had some sort of slimy things in her salad and Ferd had sardines in his. Plus, to top it off, I had to leave the table because I felt sick (too much wine and beer in one day for me I guess!). My parents and Ag said my meal however, which they ate because their's were horrible, was very delicious….

The next day we checked out and headed to the Florence train station. Our next stop was Venice. We got our supplement tickets (ah hah! I said to the ticket checker man this time around), and since we had some time to kill, I got our supplement tickets for Como secured too. The train was packed, and everyone seemed to be trying to go to Venice that day. We squeezed our way through the asiles only to fine some other Americans in our seats.

We ended up just swapping them seats to make the situation easier for everyone. I talked to the dude a bit, and they had the same train tickets we had ordered off of the Eurostar site. They couldn’t believe how crazy it was that we had to get the supplements too. The tickets were basically useless (and yet curiously expensive)! Oh, well. Live and learn...at least we all had our noses in tact (sort of)...onward to Venice!

Family, Family and more Family II; “Nosy” adventures in Rome

First and foremost, I'm pretty sure that everyone got my email on Thursday. But if you didn't, Aggie's surgery was a resounding success and she's now home and recovering quite well. She will be back to 100% by the beginning of July, and the doctors are all very pleased with her progress. So pleased, in fact, that they let her go one day early! We will post a separate blog about that in about a week or so (a whole new "nose" story). But for now here's a picture for you all to feast your eyes upon:


Well, as you all know, we are on a kick with the “Family, Family and more Family” blogs. This is the 2nd edition. We say farewell to the first edition, which featured my cousin, Brent and his wife, Erika, and hello to the second edition, featuring my parents, Fred and Andrea.

Here was the basic itinerary of the elder Marcums' trip to Europe:
Friday, May 16th: Aggie and I fly from Zurich to Rome, stay overnight in the Marriott near the airport (Fred and Andrea were to arrive on Saturday morning at 7:35am)
Sat, May 17 - Tues, May 20th: Tour Rome
Tues, May 20th: Rome to Florence via the train, stay in Florence 'til Thursday, May 22nd
Thurs, May 22nd: Florence to Venice via the train, stay in Venice Thursday night
Fri, May 23rd: Venice to Lake Como via the train, stay in Lake Como Friday night
Sat, May 24th: Lake Como to Zurich via the train, stay in Zurich until Tues, May 27th
Tues, May 27th: Andrea and Fred fly home

The blog is going to be really, really long if we write the whole thing now, so we are going to divide it up between the cities we visited. Therefore, the first blog is all about Rome. Now I know some of you were becoming a bit “nosy” regarding to my Dad’s adventures…so, here we go…

Aggie and I flew out in the evening on Friday. We got to Rome around 9:30pm and we’re immediately reminded of how nice we have it in Switzerland. No offense to the Italians out there (and my cousins!), but things in Italy are just a bit “dirty”…at least the things we seemed to encounter. Anyway, long story short, avoid the bathrooms at the airport if you can, and if you do need to go, be sure to carry tissues or napkins with you.

We knew the hotel was close by and remembered that last time we were in Rome, the taxis were relatively cheap and reasonable. Well, we get ready to get in one and the driver tells us that it’s going to cost 40 euros (just over 60 bucks) for a 5-minute ride! So, we get out of line and call the hotel that says they have a shuttle service still running and can come over and pick us up. So we find the shuttle waiting point and notice the sign says the last shuttle comes at 9:20pm. What?! Did we have a ride or not??

I call the hotel back at 10pm (after waiting for about 15 minutes) and another lady answers the phone. She politely informs me that her colleague was wrong and that we needed to take a cab. Lovely! So, a cab drove by just as I got off the phone, we jumped in, drove for not even 5 minutes and paid the dude 30 euros. (He was nice enough to drop 10 euros from the fee….)

We check in and the hotel totally reminded us the Marriott hotels in the US: big, air-conditioned rooms, modern building, fluffy beds, etc. We checked in and made arrangements for the next morning. Mom and Dad were to arrive at 7:35am so we figured we would be back at the hotel around 10am. They could shower and relax a bit, and then we could jump on the Marriott’s shuttle that takes you into the heart of Rome. We could take our bags and such as well, so the set up was perfect. The shuttle departs every few hours so we opted to leave at 11:30am.

Of course, we were hungry from our travels and I asked if the restaurant in the hotel was still open. It wasn’t but the bar was and we could order food from there. PERFECT! After a bottle of Chianti and some food, we went to bed full and happy; excited to start our adventures with my parents.

We woke early and took the hotel shuttle to the airport and waited…and waited…and waited. Finally, I said to Ag, “What is their itinerary again?” “Seven thirty-five am from Newark,” was her answer. Of course, that flight was not listed on the board. There was a flight from Newark that was to arrive at 8:44am and was delayed until 9:20am, but that was it. I then asked if we were at the right airport or did she get them confused (there are 3 airports in Rome).

I pulled out my blackberry to look up their flight info in email while Aggie had a minor panic/heart attack. Low and behold, she was right, 7:35am from Newark to Rome. She smiled a HUGE smile of relief…now the question was, where the HEY-YELL my parents be!?

By 10am, they still hadn’t arrived so I sent Aggie back to the hotel to get our things packed up and organized. Finally at 11am I see my mom come through the door. The customs area was packed and just a mess; then of course, the airlines had lost their luggage. Finally big Ferd came through the door as well, and we were back at the hotel at 11:30am.

Aggie asked for a late checkout and changed our shuttle service to the city for 2:30pm. We relaxed for a bit and then went to the bar area for some food and drinks before we headed out.

Andrea's example of "relaxing"

The shuttle ride was about 30 minutes and it literally dumped us into the heart of the city. It was perfect! We ended up walking to the hotel from there and checked in with no problems. By 4pm we were finally off exploring!

We started the trip off the right way, with a gelato cone! Then we walked to the Spanish Steps, into the shopping district and to the Fountana di Trevi. We grabbed a snack, walked to the Pantheon and then walked back to our hotel. We covered a ton of ground!

We had dinner at the pizzeria next to our hotel that Aggie and I went to when we went to Rome the first time together back in Dec 2005. It was as good as we remembered and we all cheered for a successful day, despite the morning issues. Now the next goal was to get my parents’ bags….

Sunday we woke up and enjoyed breakfast with my dad. Mom slept in for some time, which was fine. Aggie ran down to the front desk to ask the concierge something and came back with my parents’ bags! Hooray! Everything was starting to fall into place.

We then left and headed to the Vatican. We jumped onto the bus, which dropped us off right in front of the Vatican City. We thought we would go and check out the Sistine Chapel first, and to our surprise and disappointment it was closed! (Note to blog fans, the Sistine Chapel is closed almost every Sunday and some other random days throughout the year)

The good news was we could still get into St. Peter’s Basilica, and there was mass going on! We joined the mass and afterwards walked around a bit more then explored the crypt. Of course, everything was as impressive and amazing as we remembered the first time we were there.

After mass at St. Peter's

After the Vatican City, we jumped on another bus and headed to the Coliseum. We stopped on the way to enjoy some snacks in a small park by the Italian government building (at least that's what I thought it was). Then we got a few pictures with a Roman soldier; he was trying to steal Aggie from me!

Off with your head!

The Coliseum was very cool to see in the sunshine. (I had a horrible experience here last time as it was raining hard and the grounds were all muddy.) We envisioned the lion fights and chariots that stormed this amazing fortress.

Afterwards, we grabbed some sandwiches at an outdoor café, and the waiter was extremely bizarre and quite rude to the table next to us. It ended up being comical after a while - we were dying laughing as were a few other tables around us. Seriously, the waiter would walk by this lady and mouth off to her under his breath every time he passed. We have no idea why, but either way it was funny. Anyway, my dad and I then enjoyed a cigar on our walk back through the city. We ended up at Piazza del Popolo and climbed the stairs into the park that overlooked the city. Then, we walked through the park back to the hotel and had dinner at a nearby restaurant. Off to bed we went, ready for the next day’s adventures.

Our plans for Monday basically consisted of sleeping in and taking the day easy, as the only main thing we really needed to see was the Sistine Chapel. So, Aggie and I went down to breakfast around 8:30-ish, and Aggie saw my dad heading out for a jog. (Unfortunately I couldn’t go with him as I have a torn calf muscle.) Well, about 20 minutes later as I was enjoying my 3rd cup of Joe, Audrey came into the breakfast nook saying that dad fell while running, is bleeding all over and thinks his nose is broke! WHAT?!

Aggie and I rushed up to the room and the three of us get the bleeding under control (it’s a blessing that my mom is a nurse). Turns out that as Freddy was turning a corner to come home, he slipped on an oil spot on the road and the next thing he knew, he was eating the curb. Ouch!! Anyway, I ran down to the front desk and ask the concierge for a taxi to the nearest emergency room. He said that he saw someone come in all bloody…was this related? Um...hello??

The cab drive was fast and the doctors and nurses rushed him and mom into the room immediately. Aggie and I were escorted to the waiting room. What a room it was! I have never been in a hospital that was so strange and dirty. Put it this way, Aggie tried to ask for toilet paper for the bathroom and the information lady sent her to the paper and magazine stand down the hall! I carried around a magazine as “back-up” just incase. There were people from all walks of life wondering around, and most of them had portable IV's hooked up to them. It was strange.

Four hours and some x-rays later, it was confirmed his nose was broken. He could have surgery right then and there, or he could wait to have it when he arrived back in the States (however, they would have to re-break it). He opted to wait and we got out of there as quickly as we could and hoped for the best. Fast forwarding to the next day for minute: my mom said that night was the first night Fred didn't snore while sleeping. How funny. "Falls down a well, eyes go crooked. Gets kicked by a horse, eyes go back to normal. I don't know!?!"

We walked back to the hotel just relieved to be in fresh air. We passed a farmers market that was just about to close up shop so we grabbed some fresh bread, cheese, fruit, etc. At the hotel, we then took turns getting ready and eating. By 3pm we were ready to go!

We jumped onto the bus and walked quickly to the Chapel. We had noted on the previous day that the Sistine Chapel closed at 5:30pm but you had to buy tickets and be inside by 4pm since it’s a large building and there are many things to see. As we walked up, it was almost 4…. there were no lines…. did they already stop letting people in?? Ugh…Nope! We walked right up, got tickets and started exploring. It was perfect!!

The place was very empty and Ag and I couldn’t get over it…last time we were there, it was so crowded you couldn’t really “experience” and see everything because you were either getting in someone’s way, running into someone, etc. Anyway, it was awesome and then at 5:30pm, we were kicked out. But the timing was perfect and we had plenty of time and space to see the entire museum, the Borgia apartment and the actual Chapel.  We also had plenty of time to do funny "statue" pictures. Below is a post-nasal fracture Fred re-living one of the many jogging incidents he has had with K-9's back home.

Not again!!

From there we jumped back onto the bus and headed back toward our hotel. We got off about 4 stops early and grabbed dinner on this random street we had found two days before. It was a very quaint and somewhat ritzy side street with cafes lining the streets. We stopped at one for dinner that evening and the scene and crowd was very fun.

Tuesday we woke up, had a hardy breakfast and jumped into a cab, heading to the train station. This cab went as far as we went the day before but the driver charged about 10 euros more…something about 1 euro per bag…whatever. We were there and ready to get to our next destination: Florence.

Next stop: Florence