Lago Bolsena, Mostra Scambio and a Sunday Drive

To finish catching up, on Saturday we drove back to Rome via Lago Bolsena in the southern part of Tuscany. It was slightly overcast but warm. We drove through the town of Bolsena and ended up stopping for lunch in the town of Montefiascone. Both of them were very picturesque but we were tired so we did not stop to explore. We were back in Rome by late afternoon.

On Sunday we went off to a car/motorcycle mostra scambio (swap meet) at an ippodromo south of Rome. Contrary to the impression English speakers get an ippodromo has nothing to do with hippos but is a horse track. The mostra scambio was interesting but not nearly as large as the annual event in Padova. The track was fascinating as well. There were the old, unused stands standing not far from the modern stands.

We cruised around and looked at everything—the restored cars and motorcycles, the vehicles in need of restoration, the parts and tools, manuals, books and documentation and t-shirts, jackets and other motoring related paraphernalia. There were even a few stalls with a few pieces of antique (?) furniture and bric-a-brac.

It took us an hour or so to work our way through the stalls. The early brisk fall air had warmed up to the point where it made one think of escaping to the sea or mountains. Our first impulse upon leaving was to head for the Alban hills but we soon found ourselves in the middle of a traffic jam. Obviously we were not the only ones with that thought.

We turned around and decided to head back to our apartment by heading right through the middle of Rome. Being midday Sunday there was not a lot of traffic. After driving directly to S. Giovanni in Laterano we made began to rely on the GPS, sort of. Our route took us past the Baths of Caracalla, Circus Maximus, Piazza Venezia and then along the Tevere until we arrived back at the Ponte Milvio neighborhood. Although we enjoyed the trip it was a relief to put the car back into its parking place.



Old, unused stands at track



Mostra scambio under raised terraces

New stands at track

The Ferrari symbol seems to be everywhere in Italy

View across the track to the mountains

Parade area and winner's circle



Vendors have many methods of storing small parts but I like this low budget option--chopped off water bottles



Recap of Summer 2010

FINALLY, I am getting around to another blog post.  It is the afternoon before we leave for our fall trip and I feel compelled to catch up.  So here is a quick recap of summer 2010.

We stopped in London for two nights on our way back to Seattle/Whidbey Island. It was a fun visit and quite relaxing after the hectic few weeks selling and moving out of our house.  We visited the Imperial War Museum (fascinating!), the Victoria and Albert (saw an exhibit of Princess Grace of Monaco's clothes) and rode the London Eye.

The London Eye is a giant ferris wheel. Each "car" holds 25 people although there was only about a dozen in ours. The views were spectacular and it is really something different.



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
We were only back on Whidbey Island for a week before we headed to Wenatchee for my niece's high school graduation.  She is the oldest of the grandkids so it was a big deal.  Here is Emily with my parents, Marion and Jack.

It felt like we were hardly home in June because less than two weeks after we were in Wenatchee we took a five day road trip to Sonoma, CA.  The purpose was to see the NASCAR road race there but we also managed to stop and see friends in Eugene, OR (formerly of Italy) and two of my dad's cousins and their families.  The race itself was loads of fun. This picture shows the aftermath of a crash that happened right in front of the randstand. Overall the racing was very good. The weather was sunny and cool but that was a lot better than the cool, rainy weather in Western Washington that lasted until July.
 
 

July 4th weekend we drove to Kent, WA to see the Vintage car races and look at all the cars on display.  They were featuring Alfa Romeos and lots of other interesting vehicles. 
 

In mid-July I went hiking near Snoqualmie Pass with some of our skiing friends.

On the hike we passed two lovely alpine lakes. Of course I have totally forgotten their names.  You can see that the weather was lovely and warm.

On the weekend we usually have our big summer party (that we skipped this year) we went to Enumclaw for the annual Northwest Scottish Highland Games.  This photo shows the massing of the bands that is held each day at 12:00.  All the bands competing parade out and play together.  It is quite spectacular.  Dom is a real pipe band fan.  We checked out all the exhibits and booths, met up with friends and listened to all of the band competitions.  Several of the top bands in the world were there including Simon Frasier University from Vancouver, Canada.
 

There was a break in activity until late August when I went on a three day kayak trip with my sister, Patty, and two friends, Deb and Cindy.  The first day was somewhat overcast but we never got rained on.  This picture of Patty is not bad considering I took it blind over the top of my head!

Here we are at lunch our first day.  Our guide, Wyatt, was very good and lots of fun.  We also had a Canadian couple with us, Brian and Kim.  They hailed from Smithers, BC which is pretty far north. 

Our second and third days were sunny and warm.  The kayaking itself was fun (although rather hard work) and it was fascinating being right down on the water.  We spent most of our time close to shore where we could see down into the shallows as well as the beach activity.  No orcas swam by but we saw porpoises, eagles, sea otters and many other creatures.  Our camp site on Cypress Island in the San Juans was visited by racoons and mice.
 
 

We enjoyed the beach camping.  Tents, sleeping pads and pillows were all provided by Anacortes Kayaking.  Wyatt proved to be an excellent cook.  We brought along plenty of wine and the company was excellent.  The scenery was beautiful including this view of the rising moon at sunset.

Our last day was the sunniest and warmest.  This was our view of Mt. Baker from the kayak as we made our way back to Anacortes.

Before we headed off our last morning the guide for the other group that camped near us took a picture of all of us and our kayaks.
 
Although we enjoyed the trip the paddling got to us by the last day.  I am glad we did not do the five day trip!  Next summer we have plans for another girls' trip that are active but not quite so intense.
 

The week after Labor Day Dom and I tore out our bathroom in preparation for a total remodel this winter.  This is the view of our bedroom looking into the bathroom area.  As you can see we did a pretty thorough job.

There is not much left of the bathroom and dressing area that were there before.  Our plan is to convert this area to a walk-in closet (rather than a dressing room) and make the bath area larger.  It will all be very nice when it is finished sometime in March.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Those are the highlights of our summer.  Tomorrow we are off to Italy to look for a new place there.  At the moment we are leaning towards an apartment but we will see what happens.  We will also spend most of October in Rome.  This is something we have wanted to do but was not practical when we had a house three hours away.  Now that we are between houses it seems like the perfect opportunity to immerse ourselves in the Eternal City.  It will also provide lots of new material for the blog. :-)

Auto e Moto d'Epoca a Roma Fiera - Dom's version

Here are Dom's favorite vehicles from our visit to the classic car show near Rome.

Auto e Moto d'Epoca a Roma Fiera

Last Saturday Dom and I drove to Rome for another classic car and motorcycle show.  It was a beautiful day for a drive down the coast and we enjoyed the trip.  The show was at the Roma Fiera not far from the airport at Fiumicino.  The complex is HUGE and it took us a while to figure out where the show was within the many buildings, how to get into the parking area and then how to get into the show itself.  Eventually we did and found a number of interesting vehicles.  Of course, the vehicles I find noteworthy are not always the same as those Dom likes.  So, here is are my highlights from the show.

I loved the display of four classic Fiat Cinquecento models.  They were "dressed" as the four seasons.  Here we have "summer" with all that one needs for a day at the beach.

Here is "fall" with debris from the vendemmia (grape harvest).

Here is "winter" complete with fake snow, a sled and skis.

And finally we have "spring."

I also always enjoy the different permutations of Vespas and other scooters.  Here is one with a sidecar.

Here is a Vespa with a trailer.  It has an interesting "hitch" that allows the trailer to rotate around the seat portion of the scooter.

Here is a bright pink Vespa, exactly the color I would like if I had one!

In one section of the show was a great mass of different types of scooters and motorcyles.

Here is another view of the scooter mob.

Here is an American import I did not find terribly appealing.  This giant Jack Daniel's bar complete with country music on a big screen TV and...

...a giant buffalo for "bull riding."  I actually saw someone on the buffalo!

Outside the Fiera complex there were several GIANT olive trees.  These had the biggest trunks of any olive trees I have ever seen.  Obviously very old, they were probably transplanted here from another location.  We see this frequently and the olives are so hardy they seem to come through the transplanting with no trouble. 

In another post I will give you Dom's favorites from the show.