Tomorrow, Monday, we fly to London, then on to Milan, Italy and from there by car to beautiful Lake Como where we will stay for several days. From there we travel by car to Venice and spend another two days before boarding the Seaborn Spirit for a cruise down the Adriatic. At Lake Como we are staying at the Castadiva Resort which is located on six acres right on the lake. It was the residence of a 19th century opera singer, Giuditta…
In the 1976 movie by Paddy Chayefsky, Network, actor Peter Finch plays the role of an ex-TV anchor whose mentally ill ravings are exploited by the network for their own profit as he unravels on the air mentally. Finch’s character, Howard Beale, raves into the camera: “Howard:I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth. Banks…
A week after we arrived we are leaving warm, sunny Hawaii for cold & rainy Seattle. It's been a relaxing business/vacation trip. We have been at the Fairmont here at Maui which is located next door to the Four Seasons. Our unit is below the hotel main building where there are a row of two level rooms near the water with small dip pools. Except to eat and a couple of shopping trips we have not left our area. We have…
Greetings from tropical Maui with warm temperatures and the sound of crashing waves. Yes, I know it is Good Friday & Lent, but Lita and I are here for business. I have a deposition of a client next week in a case we have here in Maui. It is a tragic case involving a Maui man, married with young children who was treated for a tumor with radiation therapy and was given excessive amounts with devastating consequences to him. Maui lawyers have…
We ate another unique meal with breakfast. We were given a wooden, rectangle shaped, tray with six small cups. Inside of each was a different food, like a yogurt, and each was unique tasting and very good. There was a plate with thin ham, small sausage and small cuts of cheese with a small tomato on top. Everything was unusual and an adventure to eat. A very unusual kitchen and chef. After breakfast we walked the narrow stone road down…
It is a three hour drive from Saint Martin to Saint Emilion. Most of it on an autobahn like freeway. The entire drive was through farm and unimproved land. As we got off the freeway and closer to our destination many large and small vineyards began to appear. Some very beautiful chateaus were seen more often. The road became narrow. A two lane asphalt road without shoulders until we finally arrived at tiny Saint Emilion. We said good by to…
The Ile de Re is a small island off of the city of La Rochelle southeast of Paris. It is 14 miles long and only 4 miles wide. It is nearly flat. Our hotel is in St Martin, the island’s capital, and is a fishing port with white washed houses and a protected harbor. Fifteen minutes away is La Flotte which is regarded as one of the most beautiful villages in France. It, too, is a small port and fishing…
I forgot to mention in my last posting that at the seminar of lawyers we attended, someone brought up the gold ring scam (See previous posting where I explained how it worked) Out of the group of these bright trial lawyers two of them were willing to admit they had fallen for it. One lucked out paying only 5 Euros, but other paid twenty Euros for a worthless piece of junk jewelry. How many others who were too ashamed to admit they…
This is our great train experience and what we learned as first time train traveler’s in France and which is well understood by every school child I’m sure, but for us a challenge. This only applies to the main train depot in Paris which is our sole experience in train travel. We had our tickets purchased before we left the U.S. for the TGV train from Paris to La Rochelle. When we got to the station our driver showed us the…
