Italy-France September 2012

We arrived in Milan on Tuesday morning Aug 22.  For lunch we went to a recommended restaurant only to see the sign (which we saw repeatedly over the next 3 days) chiuso per la feria or closed for the holidays.  On the other hand our hotel, The Bruneshelli was brilliantly located next to the Duomo.  We did a city tour on Wednesday culminating in a viewing of the Last Supper.  Dan Brown was right it does look like a woman to the left hand side of Christ.  As the only restaurants that were open were in the Galleria Victor Emmanuel that is where ate most of the time.  On Thursday we did the tour of the golden quadrilateral where all the fashion houses are located.  Well worth a visit given the importance of fashion in our culture.  I also bought a Tom-Tom which proved invaluable.

Friday we hired a car and drove to Verona.  We stayed at the Anfitheatro BandB which is conveniently located next to the Arena.  We saw Carmen and it was an amazing experience.  The chorus must have been over 200 people and the stage at least 8 times that of the Sydney Opera House.  They had horses cantering around on the stage. It started at 9 and finished at 1am.  As we and the other 20,000 people streamed out we were so glad we were only 5 minutes away from a bed.

The next week we stayed in a villa near San Casiciano with Ann, Anthony, Jan and Peter.  One would not call the village attractive but the villa (other than the access) certainly was.  We had a great time visiting Sienna, Greve, San Gimiagno, and Florence.  We had two good dinners at in the village at Cinque de Vino and Nello but then the day generally comprised a visit to a town, lunch and then return for an evening meal in the villa.  In Sienna I saw the head and thumb of St Catherine who is revered in Italy because she pursuaded the Pope to return to Italy from France and the 57 floor marbles in the Duomo which are only on show for 6 weeks of the year.  In Florence we went and saw the Fra Angeleco paintings at San Marco and then a great lunch at the Golden View restaurant which overlooks the Ponte Vecchio.  We also went to Greve, home of Chianti (where as the waiter was pouring a Chianti Ann loudly proclaimed that Chianti wine was rubbish) and a great butcher and finally San Gimigano where we ended up having lunch at the DiVinorum which has great views over Tuscany.  The funniest moment of the week was as the dinner was finishing on the first night.  We had a Bengali waiter and Peter Arnold wanted a taxi back to the villa.  The waiter said that taxis were few and he had a friend who would drive them.  He came and the three left.  Five minutes later he reappeared saying they did not know where to go.  Luckily I had loaded my new Tom-Tom the villa as the Home Address and we are able to guide us all back.

We then moved to St Jennett in Provence which is up in the hills behind Nice.  The views of the villa we stayed at were spectacular and the access again a tricky rutted path.  This time we had Vivienne's sister, Virginia and her husband Pierre staying with us.  We had two dinners in St Jeannet, the first at the Chante Grille was excellent, the second at St Barbe was probably the most expensive and worst meal of the holiday.  Again we could have been lost going back to the villa but remembering what had happened in San Casiciano, I had reset the home address and we got back to the villa.  Vence, Tourettes-sur-Loup and Gourdon were great villages in the mountains, St Paul de Vence was quite rightly described by our housekeeper as Disneyland.  We went to Nice, finally found the Matisse Museum which led us attending the Matisse Chapel in Vence.  I must confess while I liked his pre-WWI paintings I found his late work (mainly scissor cut outs pretty simplistic).  We also went to Cannes to visit relatives of Pierre and had a great lunch at La Napoule.  In Gourdon we ate at Le Grande Homme which was aksi excellent.

Our final meal together was at L'Amial at Sante Maxime as we were both driving west.  On Trip Advisor someone had rated the restaurant very poorly because when they asked for two vegitarian meals in a group of 4 the manager physically threw them out.  We however meekly asked for the Plat du Jour and had a great meal.

We then moved onto the Pavilion at Pampelonne at St Tropez.  This is a great place to stay and highly recommended.  The owners are English and on Monday night they throw a great BBQ.  Our first night we ate in Ramatuelle at La Farigoulette and had a great meal.  But we were the first people to sit down and were served reasonably promptly.  Other later arriving couples were still waiting for their first course as we paid our bill.  The other great meal was La Pesquiere in St. Tropez at Le Ponche bay.  This is set back from the port in the old village and was great value.  Vivienne liked the nature around St. Tropez and on our final full day we drove around the hills in Gassin and Cavalaire finishing at Le Mignon restaurant on Pampelonne Beach   It is on the southern tip of the beach and not nearly as glitzy as some of the other locations nearer to St. Tropez.  The money in this area is extraordinary.   Ferraris abound,  Porshes are common place and there must have been at least 20 $100 million stinkboats moored at the port.  Now I know what if feels to be one of the 99%.

We then returned to Italy.  We spent three nights at Santa Margherita Ligure which is a great place to visit.  It is on the Italian coast about 30 minutes south of Genoa.  It has a great atmosphere and you can catch boats to Portofino and Cinqueterre.  We stayed at the Santa Margherita Palace which is a brand new hotel done with Italian style set back 5 minutes from the beach.  We had probably the best meals of the holiday at Le Nostromo, Aqua Pazza and Oca Blanca.  The first was #1 in Trip Advisor and booked out every night.
The owner recommended the other two restaurants and while not quite in the same league as Le Nostromo were certainly not far from it.  In all three cases the food was excellent and the wine chosen by the owner superb value (we generally paid around 20 euros a bottle.)  Cinqueterre gets all the raves but I would stay in Santa Margherita if I was going to this area.

Our next stop was Bellagio on Lake Como.  Another fantastic place.  Drive up to Bellagio via Lecco and then going back catch the ferry across and drive down through Tremezzo.  We did ferry trips to the Villa Carlotta (excellent) and Como (we arrived at lunchtime and the Duomo was shut).  You could give Como a miss but on the drive back to Milan we stopped at the Villa del Balbianello which has to be seen to be believed.  We stayed at the Hotel de Lac which is conveniently located at the Ferry Terminal.  We typically had a late lunch at the Hotel de Lac people watching and then went to a wine bar for a single course meal.
We had two great meals at the Enoteca Cava Turacciola and Apertivo et Al.  On our final night we ate on the terrace at Hotel de Lac.  This is another place to put on your bucket list.

Finally we returned to Milan.  We went to La Scala to see a ballet, Eugene Onegin which was unbelievable.
La Scala is very simple outside but unbelievably sumptuous on the inside and the people watching during the intermissions was great.  The next day we visited the Pinotecca which was very good and unlike say the Uffizi  in Florence there was no queuing.  It is a very good art gallery.  That night we went to Le Navigli area and ate at the Osteria La Vigne, top of the Lonely Planet recommendation and a good meal.

In conclusion we ate well, the A$ kept up its remarkable strength so we felt we were getting value for money everywhere we ate and stayed.  I dread to think what the places we visited would be like in July and August but as most of holiday was in September the crowds were manageable.  I sort of feel I now have Italy out of my system but it is one of the great places for Australians to go for a holiday.

The other big change is how much technology has changed solo travelling.  A GPS system is invaluable and mine cost 139 euro which is a lot cheaper then renting one and also more likely to have up to date maps.  A Kindle means you do not have to lug a pile of books around.  I read 5 e-books while on holiday including Hilary Mantel's 900 page epic A Place of Greater Safety.  Finally we took an Ipad with us.  While not very good for entering data an Ipad is great for reading it.  Instead of going to the well-worn copy of Lonely Planet I found that increasingly we would look up Trip Advisor and 10 Things to Do ... when visiting a new town.


Chris Golis Australia's expert on practical emotional intelligence
website: www.emotionalintelligencecourse.com mobile: +61-418-222219

USA June 2012

USA June 2012

This is our first big trip for 2012.  The plan was simple.  Fly to Hawaii, then to San Diego to stay with my sister, drive up the coast road to Carmel, meet up with the Teed-Up golfing tour, then fly back to Hawaii for two nights and home.

The first leg we stayed at the Turtle Bay Resort on the Oahu north coast.  Great resort and we played two rounds of golf. The first was on the easier Fazio course and I managed to beat Vivienne 39-38 so avoiding any chance of being bagelled.  On the second day we played the harder Palmer course and Vivienne again beat her handicap (26) with 37 points but I did not (and my handicap is 26 as well).

We then flew to San Diego to stay with my sister.  We did the tourist bit by visiting the Midway Aircraft Carrier and had two meals.  The first at The Fish Market was average but the second at the just opened Brooklyn Girl Bistro in Mission Hills was fantastic.  Well worth the trip if you are in San Diego.  We saw a great musical The Scottsboro Boys.  Finally I bought a new RocketballZ Driver and Hi-loft 3 wood.  What happened is that we had gone to a golf shop to buy some balls for Vivienne when I saw that Taylormade was offering a 50% trade in for old clubs.  As I was travelling with a battered R7 at least 6 years old and an even older Cobra 3 wood, I thought this was a fantastic offer and rushed back the next day.  It turns out the offer was actually 50% extra on the trade in value of the clubs.  The 3 wood was valued at $0 and the R7 at $4 so my trade in was actually $6 which of course I claimed.

We then did the drive up US1 from San Diego to Carmel in a day.  We should have spent 3 days to do it justice.  However a friend of my sister Wendy, Madeleine, suggested that we stay at the Bernardus Lodge in Carmel. Not cheap but then when you are met in reception with a glass of pinot noir, and your mini bar comprises wines from the winery and it is all complimentary you end up thinking life is beautiful.  We spent a three days mooching around Carmel and Monterey.  We ate at Wills Fargo the first night (steakhouse 5/10), Marius the second (10/10) and Le St Tropez in Carmel (8/10).  My sister and Madeleine flew up to Monterey from San Diego in the evening and that night we closed the bar at The Hogs Breath Inn which was originally owned by Clint Eastwood.

The next day Wendy dropped us off at the luxurious Pebble Beach Lodge where we started our golf tour with Teed-Up.  We played the Links at Spanish Bay and Pebble Beach which is almost hallowed ground for most golfers.  We ate at the Tap Room at Pebble Beach which is the golfers bar par excellence for two nights.  The ambience was great; my golf mediocre.  However we then moved up to San Francisco playing Pasatiempo, Cinnabar Hills and Bodega Bay.  We stayed at the Fairmont Hotel at the top of Nob Hill which is an historic and great hotel.  We ate at Venticello and the Nob Hill Cafe which are near the hotel and great restaurants.  We also had a meal in Chinatown at Hunan Homes which was very good.  We went to the 2^nd and final days of the Open at Olympic Park.  The course was very tough and winner Webb Simpson won with 1 over par.  On the final day we watched the field go through at the third hole.  68 players, only nine birdies and Tiger shot a double bogey to the stunned silence of the spectators.  The hole was a downhill par 3 and most players were hitting a 6 or 7 iron.  My big golf day was at Cinnebar Hills where I won the comp for day which was worth $100 and with which I bought a US open 100% Pima cotton golf shirt for only $92.

We missed out on the final day’s golf because my Resmed mask broke and I had to get a replacement.  This proved a challenge but there is nothing like turning up at a sleep centre and presenting a tale of woe.  I got a brand new sleep mask from the lab for nothing and peace was restored for the rest of holiday.  The previous night I had slept on the floor in the hallway.

We flew back to Hawaii and spent two nights at the Sheraton Princess Kalulani at Waikiki.  Geoff Thomas had recommended staying there saying it was inexpensive because it was set back from the beach but said the trick was to then go the Happy Hours at the beachside hotels which you could afford because you saved money on the accommodation.  The people staying at the Princess were certainly a different demographic.  We did Happy Hours at the Moana Surfrider and the Halekulani and ate a great Italian, Il Lupino.

All in all a great trip.  We were very lucky with the weather and thank goodness the A$ remained at relative parity with the US$!

Chris Golis Australia's expert on practical emotional intelligence website: www.thehummhandbook.com Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgolis blog: blogs.bnetau.com.au/aussierules/category/improving-your-eq/ mobile: +61-418-222219

Italy 2011

 

For our next holidays Vivienne had decided that she wanted to have a cappuccino in Italy for our next holiday so being a man who always listens to his wife off we went.  We prepared by taking Italian lessons and I read four of the detective novels by Donna Leon which I can highly recommend.  They are set in Venice and give a good insight into the Italian character.

We flew Austrian Airlines, who were giving the best deal in business class, and started with three days in Vienna staying at the Nestroy Wien arriving early in the morning.  I had missed out on a trip to a Heuringer Inn the last time we went and this time I was determined to go.  So off we went taking the tram on a Friday afternoon to Heiligenstadt a pretty village outside Vienna.  Unfortunately no inns were open (they open around 5pm) and Beethhoven's house was closed.  We found a pub called Joe's Sports Bar, had ham and eggs for lunch and returned to Vienna city.

After that inauspicious start we had a great time.  We had done the major sights last time in Vienna so this trip we went to the Albertina Museum and Schloss Belvedere.  Both times we had lunch at the museum restaurants which were very good, particularly the Albertina.  The other highlight was attending a concert on Saturday night at the Hofburg Palace.  There are a number of kitsch concerts offered in Vienna but this was terrific.  No quasi Mozart costumes and the hall was packed with about 80% of the audience local Austrians.  A great night.

Monday we flew to Italy, hired a car and GPS and started our trip.  The first part was comprised 5 nights ticking boxes in the bucket list.  We visited Perugia, Assisi, Urbino, Ravenna and Bologna.  We soon learnt the drill which was to drive straight into the town to the hotels, disregarding any signs saying restricted entry.  We unloaded luggage and got permission from the hotel to park in the centre, and generally overnight parking at 33% of the cost.  The order of the day was arrive at the hotel in the afternoon, freshen up, walk the town and perhaps see one sight, have a drink watching the passegiata, dinner, wake up the next morning, see a sight, check-out and drive to the next town over lunchtime.  Ratings are out of 5

Town	Hotel	Restaurant	Sight
Perugia	Brufini Palace 5	La Taverna 10/5 best meal we had in Italy	National Gallery of Umbria 5
Assisi	La Fortezza 4 great if you like hills	La Fortezza 4	Duomo – lots of catholics great Giotto frescos
Urbino	Italia 4	La Taverna del Leone 4	Palazzo Ducale 5
Ravenna	Centrale Byron 4	Capello 1 overpriced and not that good	The mosaics 10/5
Bologna	Orlogio  4		Plazza Magiore 5

All the above towns are worth a visit but I was particularly taken with Ravenna.

The next stop was Segrimonio in Monte a small village outside Lucca where we were staying in a luxury farmhouse complex with two other couples from England, our good friends the Arnolds and Mayers.  We took trips to Pisa (must see but lots of tourists) , Viareggio, Barga, Villa Reale and walked the walls of Lucca.  We had three great meals: Osteria Veccio Pazzo near Villa Reale, Restaurant Ricardo in Barga, and Osteria Baralla.  Everyone recommends Trattoria de Leo and it was packed when we went but I thought it overrated.  However to me the highlight of the stay in Lucca (along with the town itself) was having three evening meals in the villa dining al fresco in the Italian style.  Ann and Jan did great final meal and I cooked everyone an Australian BBQ and my spaghetti bolognaise.  The weather was brilliant, blue skies 35 degrees plus during the day and 25 degrees plus in the evening.

We then took off to Amalfi staying in the centre at the Hotel Lidomare.  The drive along the Amalfi coast was spectacular, if somewhat tortuous.  The original plan was to use Amalfi as a base and drive to various locations.  However we decided two drives along the coast was going to be enough (one in and one out) so we ending up changing our schedule.  We took a coach up to Ravello the first day, boat trips to Capri and Positano the next two, and stayed in Amalfi for the fourth.  Capri was probably the highlight (think Mykonos with Italian style) but the other places all had their highlights.  Unfortunately the Blue Grotto in Capri was closed because of the weather but we had a good lunch at Verginello.  We lunch at the Cafe Bruno in Positano (the fish antipasto and view are brilliant).  Amalfi is more of town and has a good passegiata.  We had two great meals at Il Tari and the Trattoria de Gemma is worth a visit (but reserve a table if you want to eat on the balcony.)

Then it was on to the final leg: Rome.  On the way we up we stopped at Pompeii.  Unfortunately when we arrived the ticket collectors were on strike and although we tried to game the system by going to another entrance (and failing miserably) we finally got in along with another 10,000 tourists.  I was disappointed with Pompeii which comprises lots of red brick ruins.  The good stuff (the mosaics and frescos) have all been moved.

Using the web I had found an apartment to rent Vibiana owned by an Australian, Jennifer Pudney, who was a former lecturer in English literature at La Sapienza University founded in 1303 and the largest university in Europe.  The apartment was located near Termini rail station, on the junction of Vias Bixio and Giovanni Giolitti.  Gritty is how would describe the area but the apartment was clean and spacious and inexpensive and close to the university area in San Lorenzo. 

The first day we hired a guide, Peter Kilby, on the recommendation of a golfing associate Charles Vowell.  You can learn about Peter at the following website http://www.perfectraveller.com/.  He picked us up at 10am (somewhat bemused at our location as I am sure most of his clients stay around the Spanish Steps and took us on walk around the less visited places in Rome.  He is very informative and very good.

He has also a number of audio files which on his website which you can download.

On our tour we covered some of the Pigna Rione walk and the Capitoline Museums in the Piazza del Campidoglio.  My favourite story from the walk is that the unbelievable bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius on his horse (copy in the square original inside) was only saved from melting down by a Pope was because for centuries the Catholic Church thought it was a statue of Constantine, the first Christian emperor.  Any we had a great time in particular visiting a number of churches that are famous in history but relatively free from tourists.  The next day we went to the Galleria Borghese using Peter’s tapes as our audio guide.  The two tapes are probably his best in that he takes you to the major sites in the museum (you are only allowed in for two hours) and gives a tremendous insight in to detail of the sculptures and paintings.  You must book on the internet before you go the Galleria Borghese – we went on Saturday and people were going there to be told the next admittance time was Tuesday.  Even if you don’t use Peter personally, if you are going to Rome, download his Galleria Borghese tapes and go there.

We then ticked off various sights.  We went to the Colesseum, which had a queue over kilometre long.  The trick as outlined in Lonely Planet is to first go to the Palantine (10 people in the queue), buy the joint ticket, walk through the Palentine park and then straight into the Colosseum  The Trevi fountain was packed, standing room only, but we threw in our coins.  The Pantheon is well worth a visit.  Piazza Farnesi is stunning, Piazza Navona and Campo De Fiori have degenerated into tackiness.  We went across the Tiveri river to visit Castel San. Angelo but given the number of tourists in Rome we decided to give the Vatican a miss.  On our last day we visited the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme which holds the finest collection of Roman remains in Italy.  Only a smattering of visitors but probably one of the finest collections of statues, mosaics and frescos I have ever seen.  You really got an insight how rich and opulent Roman society and how much the decline into the dark ages really was.

So there you are; four weeks in Italy and we did not visit Venice, Florence or the Vatican.  It was hot but thankfully we were there when the A$ was at a high so relatively cheap.  Great trip and I now have Italy out of my system.

Chris Golis Australia's expert on practical emotional intelligence website: www.emotionalintelligencecourse.com Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgolis blog: blogs.bnetau.com.au/aussierules/category/improving-your-eq/ mobile: +61-418-222219

Hawaii & San Diego May 2011

This was a trip borne out of the Australian dollar’s new found strength.  Each year I try to visit my sister’s family in San Diego.  This year I had not worked out a trip when suddenly I discovered that Hawaiian Airlines flies direct from Sydney to Honolulu and then flies direct from Honolulu to San Diego.  Thus we would miss LAX.  When the A$ broke though parity I decided, like nearly every Sydneysider I know, why waste the opportunity to travel?

So I suddenly organised a trip: Kauai (5 nights), San Diego (6) and Maui (3) playing 7 games of golf with Vivienne.

In Kauai we stayed at the St. Regis Princeville overlooking Hanalei Bay, easily one of the best hotels and most spectacular locations I have ever seen.  As you have breakfast on the terrace, you see rainbows on the mountains.  I have put some photos up on Picasa.

My wife and I play stableford against each other and we played Makai, Poipu Bay and Makai again.  Both are terrific courses: Makai has just been renovated and you play Poipu Bay back 9 along the cliffs.  Vivienne won all three games and I will say in passing that her handicap is 25 and mine is 24..  We generally ate at the St. Regis Hotel but had two great meals outside.  First was at The Eastside in Kapaa and is highly recommended.  We also had drinks and a meal at Neide's Salsa and Samba.  This has had far more mixed reviews on Trip Advisor but after a game a golf, and four Happy Hour margaritas at $6 each, any meal would have tasted great.  After its renovations Makai is now a great course and another highlight was seeing a baby albatross.

We then flew to San Diego and spent 6 nights with my sister’s family.  She threw a party on Sunday which was night Bin Laden was shot.  When I said this would guarantee Obama’s election half the party (Republicans) left.  The only restaurant we used was The Prado at Bilboa Park which is part of the Cohn Restaurant Group which I had never heard of but I understand is quite successful in the USA.  It is good pub and recommended.  It was a good week to be in the US  with the Royal wedding of Will & Kate, Trump’s collapse over the birth certificate and then the Bin Laden shooting.

We played two rounds at Torrey Pines which is another PGA course spectacularly set along the California coastline.  Great course, small greens with quite ferocious rough very close to the greens.  You have to use a ‘flop’ shot to lob shot out of the rough and then stay on the green.  Phil Mickelson is the master of this shot and once you have played Torrey Pines and realised this is the course he learned to play golf you understand while he is so good at it.  Vivienne again beat me but even funnier was we were playing with two other golfers on the first day from interstate.  On the back nine Vivienne scored 20 points while the other two both picked up on six holes.  Parting words “we were not just beaten out there by your wife, we were crushed.”

Back in Hawaii, we stayed three nights at Kapulea villas, again on the northeast corner of Maui.  We played the Plantation Course twice which is equally spectacular and another PGA course.  Appleby has won three times here and Ogilvy twice.  The weather, which in Kauii and San Diego had been beautiful, turned turbulent.  It was warm, but windy and showery so carts were restricted to the paths.  Finally I broke through and beat my wife and repeated the win the next day.  So I wasn’t bagelled which after the first 5 rounds was becoming a distinct possibility.

On the food front we ate the first night at the Bay Tree at the Ritz Carlton which was pretty good but the next two nights at the Pineapple Grill which was excellent.  The Pineapple Grill is also run by Cohn group and is a great pub.  The service is exceptional.  I left my credit card in the bill folder and they tracked me back to our villa within 30  minutes to go back and collect it.

Summing up a great trip, made even better by the weather.  Kauii is the wettest place in the USA, with 11.7 metres of rain on Mt. Waialeale.  Sydney gets 1.2 metres per year.  My sister went on her second honeymoon and had 5 days of non-stop torrential rain which is why she lives in San Diego which gets 0.3m annual rain.

Chris Golis Australia's expert on practical emotional intelligence
website: www.emotionalintelligencecourse.com
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/chrisgolis
blog: blogs.bnetau.com.au/aussierules/category/improving-your-eq/ mobile: +61-418-222219