Mize Clan Italy 2006
Monday, June 19, 2006
To see the blog for the entire trip be sure to scroll to the bottom and click JUNE 2006 .. otherwise you'll only see the last 10 or so posts ...
.... Our farewell to the Big Eagle Crew in Nice .. so sad. The crew came out in the same AC/DC shirts they greeted us in ... sorry limited edition.
..... Painful End To Fantastic Trip!Although we always anticipate the transatlantic trips to be hard, the trip back exceeded all of our expectations. The condensed Summary:
Ed took eleven of us to Nice airport ( Jae and Casey took earlier flight) at about 8:30 AM Friday for 10:30 departure on British Air.
A very pretty agent informed us with a smile that our flight was delayed and that we would miss our London connection and we would need to rebook .
Then (still smiling) she inquired " Was I OK with that?"
A very different not-smiling FRENCH British Air agent, after 1 hour, finally rebooked us on Continental, (that same airline I swore to never fly again after our disastrous trip to Greece with them last year).
Also we would have to split into two groups in New York. Although no fault of ours, this nasty agent was very irritated that we were making her work so hard, and was anxious to make us all go away.
The decision on how to split the group was highly controversial and kind of reminded me of the movie Sophie's Choice, where Glen Close has to choose between her children in a concentration camp, I was just sending mine to New York .. not quite the same thing.
... Still in Nice but now at the Continental Terminal after crazy van ride ... we basically go through the whole rebooking routine AGAIN .. this Continental agent blamed the British Air agent (both French of course) for screwing it all up ( remember the nasty one), anyway this agent liked my AC/DC TShirt .. maybe that's why they finally got it right ...
.. Arriving New York we made it to Continental agent to get boarding passes.
She confirmed what the Nice agent said, that there would only be room for seven and the remaining four would have to stay in New York the night. and would have to fly out Saturday.
So after wishing Jacob, Genna , Will and Meredith good luck the rest of us headed to the gate. Meanwhile Jacob and his team we're going back to British Air terminal at JFK to get them to cover the hotel.
While we're waiting to board Jacob calls to say they got on a 7:00 Pm Continental flight direct to Houston out of LaGuadia and they were taking a cab there.
At no time to this point had any of the numerous agents informed us of the LaGuadia options. We agreed to wait for them in Houston for the flight to Corpus ( since we would arrive ahead of them of course).
As we're boarding the Houston flight the agent informs us we're missing a critical piece of flimsy paper and refuses our boarding. So, after some intense dialog, monolog, with the agent, and watching the gate close we conceded defeat and decide to catch a flight out of LaGuadia, which means a bus ride first.
We then wait an hour for a bus to take us to LaGuadia to catch the last flight at 8:15. Arriving at Continental terminal LaGuadia, I purchase 4 more tickets (yes ones we had already paid for) and after more arguing got credit for two more -a minor Victory.
As we go to the gate we are flagged for a strip search since we all purchased last minute one way tickets - talk about salt in the wound!
Finally - we're walking to our gate and we catch Jacob and his group as they're boarding - their flight had been delayed. So now we had a real horse race to see which group get to Houston first.
Our flight to Houston was long but uneventful, and sure enough we see Jacob and his group waiting on their bags in Baggage Claim - and we found our bags already there - stacked nice and neat! So we won the race!
After depositing Regina outside to wait for her son to pick her up, the rest of us caught the Van to the FB0 where Tres was waiting with the King Air for the last leg to Corpus. Getting on our plane was like being home already.
Arrived at the house around 12:30 AM - my bed has never felt so good!
Finally ... we're on the plane to JFK .. ! Our problems aren't over but at least we can argue with someone who speaks English in the good ol' USA .. !
Thursday, June 15, 2006
The Admiral returns with a rather large Pina Colada which the girls share ...
.... Last Day ( : ( in St Tropez France ... saw more yachts anchored here than anywhere else ... hit the beach at a high end beach bar.
The guy in the orange hat kinda reminded Regina of Atila .. who she was missing to her surprise.
Robot vs Chinaman .... we all rooted for the underdog, Robot ... he did win one match ... but even in defeat he was fearless.Wednesday, June 14, 2006
.... Changing of the Guard at the Palace .. and a good look at the harbor. They were still tearing down the grandstands from the Grande Prix when we arrived.
Big Eagle backed into a slot a few down from Lady Moura, a 344' monster with a 61' beam and crew of 61 which can do 20 knots.
It's owed by an X of a Saudi Prince (pocket change).
The shot from the top of the hill makes the comparison between Big Eagle and Moura clear ... no that's not a dingy next to Moura .. its Big Eagle!
Despite this Big Eagle was the 4th largest yacht in the harbor ... still respectable. The other two monsters were Atlantis II ( 380') and ICE (295').
The construction of new yachts has dropped BE out of the top 100 largest .. the smallest listed now is 204' ... but BE is certainly the largest 'classic' with the best crew.
... Pulling into Monoco ... early ... had to kick the kids out of bed to see this ... they just yawned.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Trip so far: from Strait of Messina we came north along the Italian coast .. stopping at Pozitano on the Amafli coast, then to Capri, then to Ponza to Rome to Elba to Monte Carlo ....
... Elba Island, Tuscany Italy .. the last home of Napoleon... We came here from Rome. This was great spot ... wonderful beach ... great shopping (home of the Lockman watch).
... The Big Eagle Crew won its 3rd straight volley ball title against the guests, two straight games in a 3 game set .... we got bashed! Of course we were required to play 3 women. Meredith was awsome but just not enough to save the bacon. I think Christiana has been hiring vollyball ringers.
The Crew huddles ... but we show no fear ( we should have).
... Princess's Genna & Casey stay cool in the shade talking to Meredith who was playing a mean game. We had to send them in a few times and they immediately watched the ball land in front of them ( Genna says indignantly .." I'm used to someone covering for me! )
.... Meanwhile this Italian (Alberto) watched from the sidelines and enjoyed the whole thing .. as did other Italians from a more proper distance.
.... Prior to the Big Volleyball game (@ Elba) Grant BBQ's ribs and chicken .. fattening us up for the kill.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Random Pics: Casey & Meredith, Jamey & Meredith, Will & Genna
Three of Genna and Meredith's UT friends showed up and stayed on Big Eagle to party with the kids.
I had to wake them up with a foghorn the next morning ( after what... 1 hour sleep?) to make the 10 AM ride to Rome.
Since we were out of room they sleep in the salon. Trey, the one with the goatie, couldn't find his pants the next morning, but that didn't seem to bother him at all.
While the kids went downtown, Jae & I headed out to Villa Adriana, Emperor Hadrian's summer 'house' .. located in Lazio about 20 mi east of Rome.
The place is truely striking for several reasons; unlike Rome its in the country with beautiful trees, and its huge ... amazing one person ( and the supporting players) would make it his weekend getaway.
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Hadrian’s Villa near Tivoli (Rome) was built by Emperor Hadrian, starting from 117 A.D., as an imperial palace far away from the city of Rome. It is the most extensive ancient roman villa, covering an area of at least 80 hectares, more or less as Pompeii.
Hadrian's Villa is one of the most complex and significant examples of the builing genius of the Romans.
http://www.villa-adriana.net/pages/eng/top.html
We ran into this group of archaeologists working a portion of the site .. many portions are closed because they're still active.
This mirror pool is one of many on the site .. there used to be a sheet waterfall from this structure down into the pool.
This is a great place to visit because its off the beaten track, very few tourists come here, and its so beautiful with all the trees and trails.
... Port of Rome ... up from a night of partying the kids waiting for the Van to take them downtown.
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