Category: Special Guest Writer

Incredible India. Dance Video.

DAY 25 DATELINE, COCHIN, INDIA- We disembarked to music and bare-chested men and assorted gods and goddesses dancing, had a harrowing ride (is there any other kind in India?) in a tuk-tuk and saw beautiful Hindu temples.

goddessarttrucks

Many Vreeland/Italy connections here: the tuk-tuks are like your Italian Ape, right? Your cousin Max Holden who stayed with us in Panicale, was my Cochin travel consultant. And our Panicale buddy Diletta Cuccinetti did a yoga retreat here!

A big thrill just now: watching the little pilot boat speed alongside to let two Cochin pilots disembark. They did it by ladder as the huge QM2 powered out into the Indian Ocean. It looked harrowing but they were sharp in their white Bermudas!

Stew note: We’ll get to the crazy good Ape videos in the next blog!

. . . Greeks bearing Gifts . .

panecottaHey Stew,

I loved your post on the pic of Diarmuid. And aren’t you smart about the Minoans? The ship arranged a last-minute tour of Knossos, but Diarmuid and I had both been there so we hung out with Nikos instead. Excellent choice! think he liked having his pic taken: He treated us to cherry and chocolate pannecotta with chocolate bits. Very gracious, no?

Happy Walter’s tonight!

Love to you and Midge.

Kiki

Stew note: center of the ancient world? Knossos? oh that. yawn. been there. done that. Loved the dolce treat photo. ummmm food.

Bar-the-lona.

Day 4 Departing Barcelona – Our guide for the Gaudi tour is … Carmen. I love Gaudi!

Sent from my iPhoneo

Kiki
kikigaudi

Stew note: i don’t know. maybe that bar-the-lona is how they pronounce it shipboard. chi lo sai. Kiki, Karmen and Gaudi. Sounds like a great team. Or a funky funky law firm. Dear Kiki: Wish we were there. enjoy!

Want to go around the world? Follow Kiki.

kikiconcord2MAINE, SOUTH HAMPTON AND BEYOND– For all these many years, our partner in crime (owning a home in Italy) has been Kiki. She encouraged us to buy when all else and logic screamed “Really?” So glad she took us to that place.

And now, she’s going on a little trip. Around the world. And promised to send us iPhone snaps and bon mots from where ever the Queen Mary 2 takes her. We’re living vicariously and thought maybe some of you might want to come along for the ride. Cruisin’ with Ms Kiki. All aboard!

This is her starting the trip getting ready to board the Concord. Concord, the bus. Not the dearly departed super sonic jet. What a difference an “e” makes.

See you in . . . South Hampton, Barcelona, Egypt, Dubai and points East

Stew Vreeland

How about a slice of Italy?

ITALY, NYC–Couple good ways to slice it. One is checking out our friend Steve Callen’s blog. Steve is a film maker from Down Under. He’s chucked it all down there for the moment and is living The Life in Italy. But old habits die hard and the video cam is still grasped tightly in his fist. To our benefit. He’s got a couple video Slices of Life in Italy. One two-parter is him doing a walkabout in Florence. And another one is going on An Explore south of Naples. As Carter said peering into Tut’s Tomb “I see wonderful things.” And his audio capture in Panicale . . . and the story that went with . . . they are able to put me there – on the very Umbrian cobblestones – without pictures. To my mind’s eye, it is a graceful piece of art. And his Spielberg Sighting Story is most excellent fun.

Need another slice? Our friend Shireen got our attention today with a link to an Urban Daddy story about a store that is all Tiramisu. Shireen is ahead of the loop on many things and we look to her for fun trends on all things electronic. She recommends Urban Daddy app and website. They are both pretty slick. We’ll be in Boston a few days next week and we will definitely be using that app there. Addresses, phones, photos, maps, pretty nice.

See you in Italy,

Stew