Category: Europe

Market Day in Lido di Ostia

It’s market day in Catona… Hmmmm, no, wait – that’s the line in “Under the Tuscan Sun”! …but that’s what it feels like… I feel as though I am alternately living the scripts from “Eat, Pray, Love” and “Under the Tuscan Sun”…

Anyway, yes, today (Saturday morning) is market day here in Ostia.

In addition to all the street vendors I mentioned in a previous post selling everything from vegetables to “Prado” wallets (ok, so another movie reference (“Serendipity”)), there are indoor markets such as this one less than a block from where I live.

It is a huge inside food and flower market, selling everything from vegetables to meat, cheese, seafood and more…

The prices of food here is very good – and the price of wine even better! 🙂

For instance, last night I went literally two doors from home to an Indian restaurant – that reviewers have said is the best in all of Rome (and Rome is an hour away!)… and not only was it delicious, but a half-litre carafe of red wine (una caraffa di vino rosso) was a massive four euro! I knew I liked this place for a reason… 🙂

Although, one element that is taking some getting used to is that people eat supper very late here, with many restaurants not even opening until 8:00pm. While I do not mind waiting until 8:30pm or 9:00pm for a formal dinner as is often the case in England, for a regular evening meal where I need to go out to eat – and more importantly come home late – I would really rather eat much earlier.

I arrived here just as they opened so pretty much had the place to myself until just before I left.

Now that I am settled in, I usually go out a couple of times a week to buy groceries and this (below) is a fairly typical meal with enough for left-overs… That and (again with the movie references), the dolce far niente of Julia Roberts in ‘Eat, Pray, Love’, nibbling on some cheese and bread… Perfetto!

…and another perfect sunset viewed from my balcony…

Ciao!

~ Bella

Anti-Mafia Rally On My Street

Sitting out on my balcony, working on Bridgit’s next book and I hear a commotion down on street level, getting louder and louder, closer and closer…

So, I grabbed my camera and looked down to see what was happening…

It was an anti-mafia rally! Turns out (after being then curious enough to do some research) since 2013 there has been a significant mafia presence here in Ostia. Apparently they prefer the ocean to the city so have moved much of their operational base here.

My best attempt at translating the banner below:

If the youth denies the consensus also, the mysterious and all-powerful Mafia will fade away

People of all ages and walks of life were involved – from school children to pensioners…

This unfortunate elderly couple were attempting to cross the road…

…and, as always, the cars push through… (at least the pedestrians know to get out of their way – well, most of them)

Why are these policemen all turned around?

They are looking at this woman who is actually hitting the man in the car who literally bumped her!

But, this is Italy, so they allowed her to continue and eventually flagged the man through the intersection and away from her…

…at least it is never boring here!

Until next time…

~ Bella

Ostia Update #2

It is another glorious day (Monday) here in Lido di Ostia! It is a little overcast, but the sun is shining, it is around 20oC and barely a breeze…

By the way, here is a map giving you an idea of where Ostia is in (the blue dot) relation to Rome – about an hour away.

My first stop was the bank to get some cash. I had already gone hunting to find an ATM but not being successful, eventually asked Andrea (who owns my apartment) and he advised that there are several, but they are all inside…

I don’t know if you can tell from this photo (there was someone using the ATM and another waiting after me so didn’t want to be too obvious) but to enter a bank here, you not only go through the first door, but you then need to enter through a second secure door… It feels like airport security!

Anyway, cash procured I decided to go and check out what is reported to be Lido di Ostia’s number one tourist attraction – Pontile di Ostia (or the Ostia Pier)…

It is only a 10 minute walk and on the way saw more ‘interesting’ parking… LOL!

…and no, neither ASSHOTEL nor Hotel Ping Pong are someone’s idea of a joke… (and ASSHOTEL is the National Association of Hotel Entrepreneurs…)

Stopping for some lunch and a glass of wine, I was amused to watch the man in this Navara SUV reverse into the huge green garbage bin, and push it back about six feet (it was originally near the large pole) to make room for him to park…

It appears they are building many more bathing sheds in time for summer…

…and this is the legendary pier… Hmmmmmm…………. I am not quite sure what makes it the number one attraction, but ok…

…all the stick-like-things in the distance are masts – the marina is about a 45 minute walk and is on my agenda for another day…

This photo below gives a better indication of how far to the marina…

No, these are not beach towels belonging to a race of giants – they are blankets for sale…

I was fascinated to see so many people fully dressed – many in business attire – reclining on the beach…

…and I am not sure what these two were up to – but it seemed to be a very unorthodox method of boating…

…and alas, Romeo left Juliet to fend for herself…

…and another magnificent sunset…

Well, am now back home again and back to work…

Sending love and smiles from Italy…

~ Bella

I love Ostia!

Welcome to Ostia Update #2…

I have been here just under a week and the more I get to know the place, the more I love it here!

As I write this, it is 20oC, a slight breeze is blowing in from the sea, there is literally not a cloud anywhere in the sky… The only things visible above are the birds and the white trails of planes off in the distance…

Found my ‘local’

You know I like to have one or two (or three) local watering holes wherever I am that are essentially my ‘Cheers’ (where everybody knows your name).

Thus far, I have found my favourite ‘local’ – as in when I need to have people around me. It is just at the end of my street and has all the main criteria…

Wifi, wine, comfy tables and chairs at which to work, nice people, good food, reasonably priced… and outdoor seating that is covered.

…and speaking of reasonably priced, whereas the other pizza place I went to on day one was delicious, for the pizza slices (that amounted to probably one more quarter than is in this photo) plus some Coke Zeros came to 21 euro.

Here, these slices (which btw is one slice of one, and one slice of the other – keep forgetting a ‘slice’ is the entire length of the huge pizza! – oh, well, will just take the rest home), plus half a spinach quiche, Coke Zero and a glass of wine… 21 euro!

…and I also love my local butcher – literally just downstairs… They speak zero English so it is a wonderful opportunity for me to improve my Italian… and right next door to the butcher is my wine shop!

Yesterday I ventured out for a trip to the supermarket that is about a fifteen minute walk away and again, managed the entire shopping excursion using no English!

OK, so don’t get the wrong idea – my command of the Italian language amounts to about ten phrases, but so far I am picking things up reasonably well – and it is making me be ever so much more observant, paying attention to what others do and say…

I love it!

Watching life below…

Standing on the balcony of my penthouse, it is fascinating to just watch the life below…

As you see in this photo, there is a market in the car park – but apart from the shoes (that seem to be there every day) the other stalls change day by day… and on Saturdays, the entire space is FILLED to capacity…

Just one block away is a green grocer…

…and more ‘interesting’ parking… 🙂

…and every single evening, I am treated to a magical display of colours that is literally awe-inspiring… Every evening!

Well, this little Princess Pixie needs to get back to work…

Will check in again later…

Sending love and smiles to all…

~ Bella xxx

Ostia Update

As I begin this post, it is Monday here in Ostia (after arriving on Saturday and sleeping much of Sunday!).

I went for a walk with the intention of getting some lunch, some wine and some groceries. As the song says, two out of three ain’t bad. Groceries can wait… One has wine and pizza – all is well with the world…

My impressions of Ostia thus far (and perhaps could be extended to any metropolis in Italy, I do not yet know) are that the people are mostly friendly, behind a very self-important exterior.

I have made a decision to become as fluent as I can in Italian while I am here and as I find places where the staff are friendly and help me learn the words, they are the shops I will frequent.

Such as for lunch, I found a pizzeria about a block away where I had lunch (photo below) and in addition, I purchased a couple of different slices to bring home.

The man serving asked me in English if I wanted them hot or cold and I said cold but could he please help me learn how to ask for that in Italian? He not only obliged, he had me repeat the words a couple of times until I pronounced them correctly and even put them into a sentence. I will DEFINITELY be going back to that shop!

Hot = Caldo and Cold = Freddo

While I was sitting outside on this magical day – sun shining, not a cloud in the sky and 15oC / 59oF – I was amused by the traffic.

As soon as the lights change, people about four or five cars back beep their horn… Cars are parked in the turning lane…

…and speaking of parking… If you look at this photo below… It looks like the silver car only has a couple of inches front and back, yes? Well, you are correct. That’s all they had – until they reversed INTO the car behind them and INTO the car in front of them and did about a seven-point turn to get out of the parking space…

Also while sitting having lunch, this car decided since there were no parks on the street, the sidewalk would do just fine. It is certainly never boring here!

Typical building here taken with my phone while on my walk…

This is the post office…Then, I called into the bar beside home and bought a bottle of wine. Between them not speaking very much English and me not yet speaking very much Italian, we managed to get by – thankfully most wines have the same varietal name in any language…

As I went to pay for the wine, the woman asked me a question in Italian. I asked if she spoke English and she said, “no a little,” followed by pointing to the wine and saying, “gift yes?”

I said that it was a gift for me, but asked her (in Italian – Qual e la parola italiana per) what is the word ‘gift’? She replied, “regalo” and, like the man before, helped me to make sure my pronunciation was correct. I am especially happy with this, since this place is literally next door – and the closest place to buy wine! 🙂

OK, back to work… Andrea (the man who owns my apartment) is coming by this evening to reinstall the table, chairs, umbrella etc… I cannot begin to express how much I am looking forward to that. There is such a fabulous energy out on the balcony!

…and Bridgit is still stuck in the English Channel awaiting my finishing the next book!

Ciao!

~ Bella

First Class Overnight Train from Vienna to Roma

Ostia, here I come!

My wonderful limousine company picked me up from the lovely hotel in which I stayed while in Vienna and deposited me at Wien Hauptbahnhof, more commonly known as Wien HBF – the main train station in Vienna.

…and btw, those of us old enough to know what it means to “spend a penny” will appreciate this… One needs to exchange money for the convenience, however the penny now needs to be 50 cents! Talk about inflation! 🙂

Now up to the platform to await my train… along with a gazillion teenagers.

According to Rail Europe, one’s carriage and room is clearly marked… Me thinks the word “clearly” was lost in translation somewhere as the only indication of which carriage was which were small stickers on the inside window of the carriage doors… (so you can imagine the scrambling over one another that was occurring as everyone was attempting to find their allotaced conveyance) – and once on the correct carriage, my ticket said my room was number 11. The only problem with that was that there were only eight rooms on the carriage…

Minor technicality I thought – only to have the steward tell me that 11 didn’t really mean 11 – it mean 1. Of course, I should have known that (not!).

So, now safely curled up in room 11 or 1, we set off… Auf wiedersehen, Wien!

In my room awaiting me were the newspaper (and a very cute baby giraffe on the cover!)…

…some slippers, a towel, and some goodies…

…coat-hangers…

…and a bottle of Prosecco!

After we were underway for about 20 minutes, the steward came by, took my breakfast order and made up my bed – that I have to say was VERY comfortable!

Once I found where everything was located and settled in, I curled up early and listened to the beginning of “The Shack” audio-book. One of my clients told me how much she enjoyed the movie and I figure, unless I want to see it in the cinema in Italian, it will be some time before it comes out on-demand – so to the book I went.

Eventually, I turned everything off and curled up to a better-than-expected sleep. I love trains (particularly steam trains, but I didn’t see any that went between Vienna and Rome so…) and I find something soothing in the sound and rocking…

That is, until 1:20AM when the train skidded (literally) to a halt, throwing me into the wall (thankfully I wasn’t facing the other direction or I would have ended up on the ground) and my bags skidding across the floor!

Almost immediately everything went silent – no motors, no sound of air conditioner… Nothing.

I thought we might have hit a cow or something and as I opened the blind, was expecting to see black nothingness on the other side.

Instead, I saw what looked like some type of maintenance stop.

We were there for about 15 minutes before the motors and air conditioner etc restarted – and then another 5 minutes or so before we again started off…

No idea what happened, but we ended up arriving in Roma 20 minutes late so me thinks this was not a scheduled stop…

Morning breaks and I see out of my window scenes stereotypical of Italy…

…and then – breakfast in bed!

About forty minutes later, we arrive in Rome…

…oh, and I don’t know if you can make them out, but there are beautiful vines all over the building in the background…

Now, this photo below is not what it seems… It looks like the cars are waiting for that man to cross the road. HARDLY!!! Crossing the road here is like playing Frogger! It just so happens, both vehicles were stopped to let people in/out/whatever…

…and yes, they are automatic weapons they are carrying…

My limo driver and I had a little difficulty finding each other – especially as he spoke very little English and I have yet to get a handle on Italian – but we eventually connected and then off we set for Ostia…

…driving through Rome, there are nuns everywhere!

Founded during ‘my time’ (LOL!), Ostia was established in 1884 next to the remains of Ostia Antica – the original port city of ancient Rome.

This, below, is a shot of where my apartment is – right in the heart of everything and literally 100 meters or so from the sea…

This is the view from the front door of my building – and I feel the bar next door will become one of my favourite spots… second only to my balcony here in the penthouse where I look forward to curling up for hours and writing…

Below is said balcony – currently devoid of furniture as there was a big storm recently so the owner put everything out of harm’s way – that is, after one of the tables literally blew off the roof!

View from my balcony… It’s not massive, but I like it.

The bathroom has a spa-type feel…

Downstairs, literally around the corner is the local butcher…

This is a shot of the next-door bar from around the corner…

Turns out Saturday is marketS day – that is market plural… You turn a corner – there is another market. You walk a few hundred yards – another market!

From what I have seen thus far, Ostia is overall not what I would call a pretty place – it wears its challenges, grime, and litter very openly… but on the other hand, it is extremely vibrant – and there are pockets that are stunningly beautiful.

This is the market to which I am headed next Saturday to do my weekly vegetable shopping! …and I couldn’t find anywhere near where I was in Vienna that had natural organic massage oil… Hey presto! …and my first transaction conducted entirely in Italian (as the stall holders did not speak a word of English).

Now, you might think this Mercedes is driving through the intersection – yes? No – he is parked.

This little white zot is turning left, yes? No – he is parked as well.

Perhaps the driver of this yellow thing is sitting there waiting for someone? No – they are parked just like the ones further up the street.

…and yet another optical illusion that people give way at crossings… The cars closest to me – parked. The cars furthest away – parked. The white on in the middle? Stopped to let someone out.

…and finally, a lovely restaurant for lunch (even if they do have very uppity staff and are over-priced)… but since they are so close to home and so beautiful, I will probably be back…

Not sure what I ordered (LOL) but I know it was fish (that much I could translate) and it tasted like a cross between tuna and pork – with the consistency of swordfish. It was delicious – or make that, delizioso!

…and now I am safely back in casa mia…

Wishing you a truly glorious weekend, my Friends!

~ Bella

Vienna Update

Final updates before I leave Vienna…

Siting here finishing lunch, I thought I would give you a quick update on a couple of things that were not included in my main post on Vienna yesterday (http://luxuriousnomad.com/vienna-city-of-contrasts/)…

Drinking Water in Vienna?

The best in the world!

No need to buy bottled water in Vienna since the water that comes out of the tap comes directly from the mountain springs in the Styrian/Lower Austrian Alps – and all without any pumps and NO additives!

It is considered the finest and cleanest town drinking water in the world.

Also, on its way from the mountains to the city, the water flows through hydroelectric power stations, that generate 65 million kilowatt hours of power, or enough for a small town.

Homeless People in Vienna

Again, Vienna is a city of contrasts… While there is a homeless population here, they range from coming right up to your face and attempting to stare you down to get money (and when you tell them “no, thank you” they just come closer and stare! It seems to be a city-wide trait…) – to a number of people who are homeless who have started to earn money by being tour guides! Seriously! Here is an interesting article on the subject: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/homeless-people-become-city-tour-guides-for-vienna-in-austria-a6807171.html

Actually, while sitting here typing this, an older man who came up to me and asked for money – and this one was quite polite so although I said no, he looked at the remains of my lunch that I was in the process of finishing so I invited him to join me and bought him lunch! He was so lovely and so appreciative. Made my day!

Indoor Smoking

Remember, I mentioned in my last post about the smoky cafes?

Well, yesterday while I was working in the (non-smoking) cafe of the hotel (I get better wifi there than in my room), I made some new friends who grew up here in Vienna. Apparently it is illegal to smoke in many places (not all yet) but according to my friend, the government is reluctant to do anything about it because of the amount of international espionage that goes on here – apparently they do not want to tell anyone what they cannot do.

Interestingly, that’s the second time I have heard mention of spies here in Vienna! Apparently a remnant of the Cold War, now the focus of the espionage community (that is how it is described!) is in the information arena.

I think the reluctance to bring in and uphold the non-smoking laws is also due to the huge number of smokers in Vienna.

Austria has one of the highest rates of smoking in Europe with around 33% of Austrians who smoke regularly.

Shopping!

While I did not anticipate doing any shopping here in Vienna (it is hard enough to close my travel case as it is!), apart from going to McShark (yes, you read that correctly – McShark!) to buy a new protective cover thingy for my iPhone (I managed to break the current one the day before I left England)…

…and on my way back to my favourite lunch spot, found a magical and beautiful luxury accessories shop that is going out of business this weekend!

Came out with a collection of magnificent scarves that were originally 85 Euro each – for 7.50 Euro a piece!!! …and a lovely Italian leather bag that was 120 Euro for 20.50 Euro!!!

Happy, happy Princess Pixie!!! Especially given that the bag is actually something for which I have been searching for some time – as in a stunning white bag for summer that is large enough to carry my laptop… and a girl can never have too many quality scarves…

Well, am about to finish my wine, wrap up the work I have been doing and head back to the hotel for a massage before settling down for an evening of back to back calls with clients…

Guten Nachmittag von Wien!

~ Bella

Ride the World’s Oldest Surviving Ferris Wheel With Me!

Vintage Ferris Wheel – the highlight of my trip!

You know how I am about history, particularly that which falls into the English Victorian era – so image my delight at discovering this extraordinarily beautiful gem here in Vienna!

Btw, if you would like to read my post about my visit to Vienna, you can find it here: http://luxuriousnomad.com/vienna-city-of-contrasts/

This Giant Ferris Wheel was built in 1897 and was constructed to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Emperor Francis Joseph I.

Although some of the superstructure and all of the cabins were destroyed by fire and bombs during WWII, the Giant Ferris Wheel was restored and became a symbol of the reconstruction of Vienna.

Oh, and in this innovative billboard, you can see an example of the dinner ‘tours’ they have.

Entering the exhibition prior to the Wheel itself is like stepping into a magical world……… I cannot begin to express just how much I loved it!

A panorama that goes right around the room – a room that is filled with cabins/carriages containing vintage dioramas with full movement…

I could have just stayed in that room for hours and hours and hour…

This below is a 360o photo I took of the interior…

…and now to the ride itself…

Is it just me, or does that look like a robotic Mr Pumpkinhead?

To your right, you can see the bungy-jumping tower I mentioned in the Vienna post.

…and here is the amazing piece of architectural art of which you saw closeups in the Vienna post…

…a sneak peek inside one of the dining cabins…

I sooooooo do not do heights, but one needs to make an exception for something of such historical significance and absolute beauty…

~ Bella

Vienna – City of Contrasts

Welcome to Vienna!

Although I do not tend to have rigid ideas of what a place will be like before I visit, I must admit I wasn’t expecting such contrast here in Vienna between the old and the new – not just buildings but also philosophies and … well, read on and you will see what I mean.

The photos and commentary below are a little jumbled in order thanks to a minor technological hiccup… 🙂

So, let’s start with the view from my hotel bedroom window that greeted me upon arrival…

…and here begins the contrasts… This is the church of St Joseph and it is home to musical performances from Mozart to Electronica! …and it is lovely to hear the bells peel at noon each day.

…and in the morning, this is what it looks like…

Breakfast in the hotel to start a wonderful day of sightseeing…

So, then I headed out for the day with my intention to explore and also to catch the hop on hop off bus to get an overview of the city.

No sooner do I leave the hotel than I have my first blonde moment… I had plugged in to my GPS where I needed to go however as I walked it would say “60ft” then “150ft” and I kept wondering why..??? Hmmmmmm – note to self: when you keep getting further away from where you want to go, it is because you are WALKING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION! LOL! I realized my error at “286ft”. 🙂

This statue is of Empress Maria Theresia, the only female ruler of the Habsburg Empire. Maria had 16 children in all, one of the being the famed Marie Antoinette of France (I didn’t know Marie Antoinette came from Austria!).

Also, she was a woman ahead of her time instituting reforms especially in finance, education, healthcare, and civil rights.

I love that many buildings retain their gilt trimmings…

If you look carefully at the Hotel Regina below, the facade is actually a picture. It seems quite common here that when a building is being renovated, they do their best to disguise the scaffolding and preserve the vista of the building by putting a lightweight image of the building on the outside of the scaffolding.

This wedding cake looking building is the Votive Church. It was built between 1856 and 1879 but since the city walls still existed at that point, the church had no parishioners!

This was one of the absolute highlights of my trip – riding the oldest surviving Ferris wheel in the world at das Prater!

I have created a separate post for that here: http://luxuriousnomad.com/worlds-oldest-surviving-ferris-wheel/

Set aside in 1873 for the World Exhibition, the Prater is a lovely public park – free to enter and wander around (the rides all vary in price).

…and no, it is not your imagination – this column is crooked.

Seeing signs like this one realizes just how small Europe really is…

This is a railway station – and if you look to the left, you can see the building extends and actually looks like a train…

Yes, this is as close as it looks – and it was that close on BOTH sides of the bus!

…is this the Austrian support for ‘Free Willy’? 🙂

A little later in this post you will read more about graffiti – and this photo below shows just how committed they are to their “craft”…

The modern buildings here are largely works of modern art…

…on the bus, there is a commentary provided in a variety of languages…

…it may be fuzzy, but this is one of my favourite moments – seeing a neon “FREEDOM” sign… Being a girl who values freedom more than anything in my world, I loved this!

Vienna’s weather is extremely changeable – very much like Torquay… One minute sun, the next a shower, then the sun shines through again…

The food here has been wonderful… This below is from an upscale Italian restaurant not far from the hotel – and these were the sweetest clams I think I have ever had! The owner prepared a special dish for me – tossed in truffle oil… YUM!

As I leave the hotel via the private entrance/exit, I smile every time I see this gorgeous door…

OK, back to St Joseph…

Street scene just around the corner from the hotel…

Of course – an Irish Pub in Vienna!

I don’t know if you can make it out, but that is a stuffed rodent in the window!!!

One thing that did surprise me was that smoking is still permitted indoors (although thankfully not in the hotel in which I am staying). There are remnants of the idealized notion of Viennese smoky cafes everywhere…

When I brought up the Google Earth image of where I am staying, since the wifi here is soooooo slow, I actually really liked the impressionist images it gave me…

One of my ‘locals’ – yes, it is an Asian restaurant but they have the fastest wifi I have found…

This below may be a chain, but they have the yummiest of icecreams!

No, these people are not crimson, it is just the outdoor heaters…

…even my minimal German can work out what this shop is!

OK, let’s get into the subject of graffiti a little more… While there are some examples of ‘local art’ like these below that are quirky, a little later you will see another side to this ‘artistic endeavour’ in Vienna.

Love this outdoor ice-skating rink!

…and now for some more graffiti…

Here in Vienna, graffiti is considered a valid form of personal expression… What I certainly didn’t expect is to find the Danube lined with graffiti!

Back to das Prater (and apologies the photos are not in order)

What everyone needs – a pink pig covered with graffiti dispensing cash…

People actually bungy-jump from this tower!

This (below) is a person on an exercise machine…

Suddenly I am back in France???

It is obscured, but this below is a suburb of Heaven… The Steinway Haus…

Goethe looks like he has had one too many Rotwein und Wiener Schnitzels

There is something that just doesn’t sound right calling Alexander the Great, Alexander the Grosse…

…and just when you thought you had seen it all – animals playing a Viennese waltz on piano accordion…

One cannot come to Vienna without having a Wiener Schnitzel!

This below is the little Italian restaurant I mentioned earlier…

…and to finish off my day, a massage… I love that the hotel has a spa – and that the floatation tank looks like it is smiling at me!

There is SO much to see and do here – in one week I have not even scratched the surface of the surface of the surface…

Tomorrow I need to curl up at the hotel and get a bunch of work done (and fit in yet another massage) – and it is supposed to rain all day, anyway – and then on Friday I head to Italy!!!

Danke, Vienna!

~ Bella