The Cashews European Adventures for 2018

Europe et AL

Well, hello again my trusted readers, or non readers as is probably the case.  This is the Big Cashew, once again thrilling you with my travel stories and words of wisdom(?) that you have come to expect and forget before you even hear them.  We are back on the road again, this time, its another trip to Italy, but with a side stop in France (Lourdes) at the request of the little woman.  I will note that we have been on this trip for almost a week now, but this is the first chance I have had to sit down and write about all the fascinating things we have experienced or seen.  So on with the diatribe.

Day one, the Trip begins
We had a 6:35 PM flight out of Philly on 10/1.  The flight time is about 8 1/2 hours over night so it can be a bit long and uncomfortable.  Well, that is the how you would describe almost any airline seat.  But wait, I hear there is a rumor that some passengers actual can enjoy a flight in the comforts of their own seat, basically separate from other passengers with the ability to sit up or recline to almost any degree up to and including completely horizontal.  In addition, they get their own gourmet dinner, drinks and snacks, plus they have basically a surround sound system for watching movies, TV shows and special presentations of their choice.  But, as I said, this is just a rumor which I am sure has no basis in reality.

As you can see from this photo, this passenger is in a terribly uncomfortable position, with almost no "frills' at her disposal.  This spartan setting only has the following minor creature comforts:

• A seat, minimally cushioned like a Lazy-Boy chair, that moves from fully up rite to fully reclined and any position in between.
• A reading light
• A remote to operate the video screen
• noise cancelling headphones
• A care package made up of various sundry items for her to keep
• A choice of dinner between fillet Mignon or fried shrimp with accompanying vegetables and other sides
• a pillow and blanket
• complementary champagne
• Wine, beer and other liquors such as Glenlivelt whiskey, Bacardi rum to name a few
• Breakfast before you land 
• extra attention from the numerous people attending to you

So you see, it was a very difficult trip that we embarked on, and one we somehow managed to survive.  I don't know how we did it, but sometimes you have to sacrifice for the good of the world as we know it!

We arrived at about 8:45 AM Rome time, and after our trudging through customs, who seemed more concerned about whether I had a blank page that they could stamp as opposed to smuggling in drugs or weapons.  Fortunately, I had the necessary blank pages in my passport.

Day 2 Arrival and Departure

After clearing customs and finding our luggage, we were headed to the car rental counter.  well, actually, we needed to purloin two baggage carriers to handle our 5 suitcases and carry-on bags.  Did I mention we like to travel "lite"?  So, anyway, we loaded up and headed to the counter for the car.  The Rome airport is very similar to airports here in the US, although their car rental companies are still located on the airport itself.  You have to walk a couple of long corridors to get to the counters.  Then you have the identify the correct company.  Since I book on-line and look for a reasonable costing car that can handle our luggage, it is usually not one of the big named rental companies.  Hertz, Avis, Alamo, Budget and National are all here.  But they tend to be higher priced.  There are numerous lessor known businesses, although EuropeAuto is throughout Europe.  That is who I chose, but as I noted earlier, nothing is ever easy.  There is another company called AutoEurope, however, their sign shows their name as both AutoEurope and Europe Auto.  A little confusing, and it does not take much to confuse me.  I took a ticket to wait my turn and it would have probably taken an hour or so.  I decided to take a walk around to see other wait times, and low and behold, I find EuropeAuto.  There were three people ahead of me.  So this was an improvement.  I had to track down Chiara, who was on the other side and move all our luggage to the correct counter area.  Oh well, just another dirty look I have gotten.  Once called up, it did take about 15 minutes, but fortunately we were then on our way.  I ordered a compact wagon which turns out to be a Renault.  It is more than adequate for our storage needs so I loaded it up.  But before we leave, I all ways take a full set of pictures just to be safe and have proof of the condition of the car.  

While taking these pictures, I happened to step on some very slippery stuff.  It must have leaked from the car that was parked next to ours.  It was not oil, but I could not be sure what it was.  At least I did not slip and fall.  It just seems like there is always something that will challenge us a little bit.  Last year it was the Italian monsoon that was taking place in Rome as we arrived and tried to drive to the Naples area.  Or the time they gave me a car and told me what slot it was parked in.  I went to the slot and there was a car, in the correct color and size.  So I drove it but was stopped at the exit as the paper work did not match.  It was the wrong car.  How am I supposed to know?  But you get the picture.

The rest of the day was without incident.  We drove the 230 kilometers, just a drizzle along the way and made it to Naples area. Then we head to her sisters house but got lost and past the exit.  Took about 30 minutes to find our way, but we did.  Once unloaded, and slightly rested, we then went to Chiara's mothers house for a brief visit.  She is in the throws of dementia and does not even recognize Chiara.  She also has to be forced fed as she does not eat on her own.  Not the way you want to think of your parents as elderly.  We left to go to Angela's and ran into our first detour on this trip.  We have since stumbled across other detours in the area, so I wondering if this ancient place is just finally falling apart.  We were advised the there has been a lot of rain and it is eroding the substructure so some roads are caving in.  I will keep you posted on that situation.

Day 3, Rest and Relaxation
This was a day to catch our breath.  To begin with, I slept well past 8 and I cant remember when that happened last.  We hung at Rosaria's for awhile then sent back to her mother's.  While there, Onofrio was completing a shower.  He asked us to stay a few minutes and he would be up.  Then, since their mother was going to bed for her nap, he invited us to come down and have some lunch.  He ran out to complete an errand and picked up an octopus just to cook it for me.  He cooks one every trip I make and this one was no exception.  Since my lunch usually amounts to half a sandwich and some iced tea, this was a bit more than that.  The octopus must have been 5-6 pounds and he cooked pasta and sauce.  The meal was fabulous and the octopus chunks were large,  It also passed for both my lunch and dinner as I was stuffed and ready for a nap.  Oh the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune that I must suffer in silence about!

Well, that was about it for the day as we were preparing for our trip to Lourdes, France on Thursday.

The Lourdes trip and Activities
The day started out fairly early.  We had to drive back to Rome to catch a flight to Lourdes airport.  The Rome airport is not Fiumicino (Leonardo Da Vinci) but Ciampino, which is slightly south of the city.  It is a much smaller airport that services smaller cities in Europe.  It is so much different that what we are used to.  You walk in and there is a one or two counters to get your ticket, but that's all. Two one person counters.   If you have your ticket already, you go to these glass doors, have the scanner read the bar code on the ticket and wait for the doors to open.  On the other side, you have security.  But there are no major lines,  In fact, there were 3 people ahead of us.  You put your travel bags on the conveyor and walk through the older type scanner.  No body scan.  Just a metal detector.  We also had more than 3 oz of liquids in our bags but no one stopped us nor checked inside.  And that was it.  We just waited for the plane.  The 2 hour trip to Lourdes went fairly quickly and when we landed we encountered that same kind of airport.  We did have to go through customs, but all they did was look at the picture and pass you along.  That was it.
We took a cab to our hotel, which was a very nice place to stay and then went out to walk around.
Lourdes is famous for the Virgin Mary appearing before the peasant girl, Bernadette 15 times.  It was finally considered to be true by the Vatican and the site is now a memorial shrine.  Hundreds of thousands of people visit it yearly.  It can become very crowded very quickly.  There is a chapel and a church known as the Immaculate Conception.

As you will note in the  pictures, there is a hugh square for people to gather, and gather they do.  There are specific activities that occur daily and it is all choreographed by the church.  There is the rosary said multiple times daily, in Italian, French, Spanish and English.  There is the Grotto where Mary appeared that is a sacred site where people come to touch the rocks and pray to the statue that represents the Holy Mother.

This is where the rosary is usually said.  It gets so crowded there it is difficult to get through to the other areas.  You also have to stand as there is limited seating.  Further down from there is the fountain area.  A spring flows through the grotto and it is unusually clean.  Numerous small fountains were created to allow people to fill bottles with this water, which is considered holy.  Many believe it has recuperative powers and they drink it or use it to bless themselves.  The next area is the bathing section.  This is where people come to bath in the spring waters, which, again, are stated to have recuperative powers.  This area is fully controlled and you have to wait your turn.  There are three entrances for women.  One for the handicapped, one for women with children and one for people without physical issues.  You are escorted inside.  You disrobe behind curtains and then two volunteers help you into the water.  You usually are submerged to your neck.  Then you are helped out of the tub, dry off and get dressed.  They then escort you out.
This option is so desired that you need to show up about 2 hours ahead of time to be able to get on line to go.  This option is open to both men and women, going to separated entrances, however women are more inclined to go through this.  This was one of the main reasons Chiara wanted to come here.  She waited a total of 3 hours to get her chance in the water.  I did not partake, yet if I had wanted to, I could have gone 3 separate times while waiting for her.  The men's side is not crowded.
The process to me does not seem totally fair to the women who have no physical issues.  The entire experience is geared to support the handicapped.  There are hundreds of volunteers to assist those so handicapped.  They provide special conveyances, which look like Chinese Rik Shahs with someone pulling them where they need to go.  Although there are hundreds of handicapped people, they are far outnumbers  by the non-handicapped.  They get through the process more quickly and are given that preferential treatment.  The ladies, such as Chiara, have to wait all these hours while mostly standing.  It can be quite a grind.  To top it off, women with children have their own section and there were very few who used it.  Those that did were taken in within minutes and there was never a line.
The greatest danger you face in the town, which surrounds the grotto, is when a special event or a procession occurs, once it is completed, there is a mad wheelchair dash to either head back to the volunteer site, their hotel room or the bus which is leaving soon after the activity.  You take you life in your hands if you try to walk the streets.

Back to the chapel, there was quite a difference inside when compared to the larger shrine above.  The chapel has these incredible mosaic art on both sides before you reach the altar itself.  You will note by the pictures the work this required.  There are 5 on each side, all telling a story about Mary or Christ.  They are so well done and preserved, the color just jumps off the tiles.

While I was waiting on Chiara to take her plunge, I walked around the area.  Beyond the Grotto is a walkway that runs along the river that splits the holy site in two.  It is not a deep river but it seem larger than just a creek.  I walked to the end and found some concrete tables and benches so I sat and watched the stream and played with my phone for a little while.  I then walked back to the bath area and saw that there had been some but not a lot of movement.  Chiara was moving up but it turned out it would be 2 more hours.  I then went to the square and decided to walk through the chapel and shrine.  I have outlined what I saw above so I will not repeat myself. After the climb up what seemed like Mt Everest and after a caught my breath while walking through the church, I decided to walk some more.  Actually I more or less wondered around with no particular direction until I made it back to the baths and waited for Chiara to finish.  Then on Friday night we decided to participate in the procession of the Virgin Mary and Rosary.  This was about a mile walk all around the area with thousands of faithful following with lite candles.  We both had candles which had a protective paper bib to keep it from blowing out.  This worked fine for most of the time until mine went up in smoke as my arm got time holding it up.  That was my excitement for the day!

The weather was really good for most of our stay.  It was about 80 degrees and sunny Thursday til Saturday.  The evenings did get cool, down to the lower 50's with a breeze that puts the chill in you.  You have to expect this as you are in the Pyrenees mountains.  The weather changed late Saturday afternoon.  I become very overcast and windy, which eventually lead to rain.  That sent most of the huddled masses home or at least to their hotels or the nearest bar.

We did not stop at the bars, although we did get a complementary drink from the hotel.  The hotel also took care of breakfast which I found to be a bit better than US hotels I have stayed at.  They had a little better selection with the eggs, sausage, Canadian bacon, hard boiled eggs, pastries, cheeses, fresh breads and fruits.  This helped us skip lunch since we were not hungry then.  For our dinner we first tried this place on the river.  Another night we tried one of the Brassieres.  There were plenty of them.  They have a specific menu, very similar for each one that we checked as we walked along.  The food was decent but it was the speed by which they brought it.  Although I did not time them, it was much less than 10 minutes from order to delivery at the table.  Also, one night we were serenaded by a singing waiter who was actually pretty good. Overall the trip was a success as Chiara got to experience the bathing and participate in one of the processions. 

On Sunday we returned.  The flight back was even less taxing than the previous one.  We did not even have to show our passports in Rome.  You just keep walking out.  We headed to the parking lot, got in the car, pulled out our ticket and went to the exit.  I put the ticket in and then the credit card.  To my amazement, it requested my PIN.  This was wonderful except for the fact that I do not have a PIN and never have had one.  We finally had to ask for assistance and all they said was back up and try the other exit.  Of course the same thing happened.  We finally had an attendant direct us to a pay station where we paid for the parking and updated the ticket.  Then we went back to the exit,  This time it worked.  Finally we were off.  No issues except we did hit a detour just a 1/2 mile from her mothers house that was not there last week.  We had to backtrack and then go a more circuitous route.  But we did make it.  The rest of the day was to recuperate which was find by me.

Tomorrow we will have the trip to the beach, lunch with her friends (me excluded), and time to spend with Genaro.  So stay tuned.