This morning we visited the Academia Museum. It’s claim to fame is “David”, which is absolutely spectacular. It’s second claim to fame is that has more religious art than any other place in Italy except the Vatican. Unfortunately, most of that is mediocre. The third reason to visit the Academia is their musical exhibit. They have some really weird stuff.l Here’s an instrument that Benny Goodman never played.

Rick and Suzy decided to spit off and spend some time exploring and shopping. We wanted to visit the Duomo. We needed tickets, the ticket office had a small museum. I was all museumed out. I had an espresso while Danita visited the museum. An hour later, I called her to make sure she was OK. It was all fine. I was comfortably in the shade, people watching. I found this family amusing. They stopped their bikes in front of me and discussed something for quite a long time. One could always tell which person was talking by seeing who was waving their hands.

Like the major church in Pisa, the Duomo has four buildings: church, baptistery, bell tower, and baptistery. The major difference is size. Plus the Duomo buildings are level. The line to get into the church was incredibly long and we heard the inside of the church was plain. So we skipped that. The church’s dome is the famous Brunelleschi’s Dome, which is actually two domes (one inside and a second one outside). It is famous mostly because everybody said it would fall down. They may well be right, but it hasn’t fallen so far.

Of course we had to climb the bell tower. And we visited the baptistery. The building that surprised me was the baptistery. A yurt is a 6- or 8-sided building, usually with canvas walls. It has a roof, a floor, and not much of anything else. Today I learned that a baptistery is basically a yurt with stone walls. There is a small alter. And the ceiling is beautifully painted. But that’s it. It’s basically an empty 6-sided building.

Tomorrow is a travel day. It’s also a race against time. Our train is scheduled to arrive in Venice at 1:35. At 2:40, they pull the water taxis to make room for the annual regatta. If the train is too late, we’ll be carrying suitcases up and down those all-so-quaint “inverted-V” bridges.

Here’s some more pics of our day.

Today was a little stressful. We took a bus tour to Pisa. The stress came from my cell phone, which didn’t seem to be capable of giving decent directions. But we made it there in plenty of time. We had an unusually small tour group because a party of 12 literally missed the bus.

The tower is in one of four church buildings in a square inside the medieval walls. The first building is the baptistery, where Galileo was baptized. You can barely see the roof is part red tile, part grey lead. When the building was built, the river ran nearby. The red roof was a visual signal to mariners that they had arrived at Pisa. The church is the second building. It’s a large and impressive edifice. The main attraction is the leaning tower. Being close to the river, the ground is not stable. None of the buildings are level. The tower’s small base and extreme weight led to its trouble.

Danita and I were kind of tired, so we took a rest after we got back. We’re having the standard afternoon thunderstorm. Tonight we’ll eat at “Dinner with an Artist”. There will be six of us at this artist’s house. It should be an interesting experience.

The trip over for all four of us was log but uneventful. We were concerned because Rick & Suzy flew from Houston to join us. We both had connecting flights, and our ability to communicate was limited until Danita and I found a way to swap our phones’ SIM cards. It seemed like a possibility for an arduous experience linking up in Europe. But everything worked out perfectly. All 4 of our flights were on time. No baggage was lost. Sharp-eyed Danita found a cell phone store in the Rome airport. We even caught a little sleep on the plane coming over.

Our hotel in Florence is the Hermitage. It is about a block from the famous bridge Ponte Vecchio. The butchers built their shops on this bridge. The Medeci kicked them out because they were smelly, and invited the gold and silver artisans to move in. To this day, the bridge has jewlery shops. This is a shot of the bridge from our hotel’s rooftop garden.

The other Florence headliner is the “Duomo”, the dome on Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiorenze. How is it that the town we call “Florence” the Itanians call “Fiorence”? I don’t know. But for something built in the 7th century, it cerainly has an impressive dome.

Yesterday we dedicated ourselves to visiting museums. We started with the Ufizzi, which was built as the Medeci’s office building, then moved on to the Pitti Palace. The Pitti was built by a family who competed with the Medecis. The Pitti family went broke, and the Medici’s bought it for their home. Both buildings were amazing in their own rights, and were filled with even more amazing stuff. Usually one museum room is pretty much like the next, but some of the Ufizzi rooms had a completely different feel based on space, lighting. and content.

Pictures don’t mean much without the captions. In the galleries at the bottom of these blogs, you have to click on the picture to see the caption. You can scroll right to see the next picture.

Yesterday our drive to New York took us right by Cherry Hill. We decided to do a quick look-see. Cherry Hill hasn’t changed much. We stopped at the Ellisburg McD’s for a toilet break and ate our left over pizza in the parking lot. *Somebody’s* old favorite Ponzio’s is still there and still pulling them in for lunch. The old house is still there and not changed since the last time we saw it.

The drive was uneventful until we crossed the Verrazano Bridge. The GPS did not agree with the road signs and we made the wrong choice. We ended up driving through the heart of Brooklyn. It added an hour to our drive, but the weather was nice and we had the time. It was my first time in Brooklyn. I found it quite interesting. The people, the stores, the houses, and even the high rises look and feel exactly as I imagined. I only saw one derelict house and one unused retail space. That’s a healthy neighborhood. The most surprising thing is that I didn’t fee rush and anxiety in the traffic. Most everybody was laid back and taking it as it comes. (This applies only to the side streets. The expressways were terrible.)

This morning we went to Mike’s deli for breakfast. It was a short drive, 3 miles from the hotel. We found the right place for sure. We saw several works from the port authority and the airport stop to get breakfast. The correct way to do this is to double park without turning your flashers on, have all the guys get out of the truck and buy their breakfast, and make sure there’s plenty of sugar in the coffee. (We refrained from the local practices.)

We visited the Queens Botanical Garden in Flushing, staying on the side roads. It was a beautiful morning and a very nice park. We paid for parking and put the ticket in the window, but got a $45 parking violation anyway. Hopefully the online appeal process works. There’s a photo gallery below, if you’e on the web site. (Photo galleries are not in the Email.)

We’re off to the airport in a little while.

We had an unusual storm this week. It started as a standard T-storm, but half way through we got a lot of pea-sized hail. Hail is very unusual in our area. I went out to the back porch for a closer inspection. The hail formed an incredible illusion. I couldn’t see the hail coming down. Once it hit the ground, it bounced up. It looked like the hail was popping up out of the grass, like some vast hoard of underground insects trying but failing to fly up and attack the Earth. It hit everything else in the area, of course. It made quite a popping sound when it hit the side of the house, a fence, or another solid object. But the most surprising was the hail that hit the outdoor air conditioning unit. The fan was running, and threw the hail horizontally in all directions, like tossing pebbles into a giant blender. It was quite a show.

There was an exciting explosion this morning a little before 8. A group of offices had a gas leak. Anybody in our neighborhood felt their house shake. Some people thought it was a house nearby that blew up. Some thought it was an earthquake. We were at breakfast and didn’t feel a thing. One of our neighbors, who will have hip replacement surgery in a few weeks, came over after we got home to see if we knew what it was. We didn’t know at the time, but I found a report on the internet not long after he left. I went next door to let him know. I’m glad I caught him. He had a flashlight in hand and was prepared to climb into his attic to make sure the roof was still in place. I’m very glad I caught him before he tried climbing a ladder with his bum hip.

It’s a relaxing weekend for us. We went to a Caribbean dinner last night, complete with steel drum music. This morning we took advantage of the last of Danita’s birthday freebees. We went to the Silver Diner where Danita got a free breakfast. It also came with a free desert, so we had triple-layer triple-chocolate cake for lunch. There’s no food in the house, so we’re going to Tino’s for pizza tonight. We’ll have a fresh image of American pizza to compare with our Italian dining experience. And we’ll have enough leftover pizza for lunch tomorrow.

We’ll leave mid-morning tomorrow for a hotel near JFK airport in New York. We’re using their “sleep and park” offer. Tomorrow we’ll visit a nearby park with a botanical garden. Our flight leaves at 5 PM Monday. Everything is packed and done except for the last minute items.

Ciao!

The day is approaching. We’re going to Italy! We leave August 26 and return September 17. As usual, I will be blogging our experiences. My plan is to limit Emails to one or two pics. If you want to see more pics, visit the website. Our task for this week is to get everything we need packed in a carry-on bag. Rick Steves, European travel guru assures us it is possible. We’ll see. 

Should you need to contact us, we will be as available as our WiFi. Just Email deichenlaub@gmail.com, or call or text 410-417-8854. Any of these will send an Email. I will see your Email, voicemail, or text the next time I check my Email. If there is an emergency, we will be on the cruise ship Sept 3 – Sept 11. While we are aboard, you can call Oceania’s emergency contact number at 866-242-7447. 

My physical therapy went well. I still have a little discomfort in my right shoulder, and I can’t sleep on my right side. But I have full range of motion and don’t experience discomfort during the day. They told me to go home and don’t come back until after we return from Italy.

We had what felt like an unusual experience last night. We ate at home. We went to Tino’s Wednesday for our weekly dinner out. Thursday was a financial seminar  which included a dinner at Season’s 52 (excellent food, mediocre financial advice). Tonight we have a neighborhood bull roast. Sunday we’ll have breakfast at the Silver Diner to get Danita’s free birthday entree. Monday our condo is having dinner at Timbuktu, a seafood place that is supposed to have good crab cakes. Then we eat at home for a nearly a week until our next neighborhood party next Saturday, a Caribbean dinner.

Our last big news is the new printer. I like it a lot. It keen surprising me with practical features I didn’t expect to get. When scanning, it scans both sides of the page in one pass. It skips the back of the page if it is blank. Copying includes all the duplex options (single sided to double sided, etc.) Scanners used to just create pictures of text. I scanned a document and decided I wanted to copy some text. That’s when I realized this scanner can actually convert a scanned page to text. Plus good printing in color or B & W.

This is an amazing amount of excitement. I better quit before I get over excited. I hope this finds everybody doing well.

We had outings 5 days in a row. Wednesday we went to Houlihan’s to get Danita’s free entree. Thursday was a neighborhood party because they got new furniture for the clubhouse. Friday was a neighborhood hot dog and hamburger grill. Saturday we went to an outdoor concert in Catonsville, followed by an ice cream in Historic Ellicott City. This morning we went to First Watch to get Danita’s free breakfast. We got a lot of other stuff done last week. I got my “Real ID” driver’s license all squared away. In addition to all that, Danita took her dad to his last PT appointment. I had 3 doctor’s appointments. My urologist decided he wants to look at my bladder again. That’s certainly not my favorite test, but as he said, it eliminates all the bad stuff.

Our printer stopped working after 8 years of faithful service. It was time for a new one. It took almost an entire week to get the new printer up and running. I bought a Canon color laser all-in-one. I’ve always had good luck with HP printers. Their physical printers are good, and their drivers are excellent. Unfortunately, HP has fallen behind the competition, so Canon it was. This is an extremely well-built unit. In other words, it’s heavy (60 pounds) and large (18″ cube). We decided to move furniture around to make a spot for it. When it arrived, it was quite an effort for Danita and me to get it upstairs and on the furniture. It comes with a 3-year warranty. If we exercise the warranty, we have to have the original box to ship it in. The box became a nice sized table with the addition of a table cloth. The day it arrived, the only thing we did was to get upstairs and on the furniture. Most of the installation was easy, but as expected, configuring the “scan to computer” option was cumbersome. Fortunately, that only has to be done once, and I am supposed to be an IT guy.

We leave for Italy in two weeks. The travel prep list is taped to the door. For the next two weeks, we’ll be busy scratching things off the list.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.

The feds passed the Real ID law several years ago. Maryland issued Real ID drivers licences but failed to scan identity documents required by law. Now everybody in MD that has a Real ID drivers license (such as me!) has to go to the MVA with identification papers. I need to prove who I am (passport or birth certificate), where I live (utility bills, etc.), and that I am using the SSN issued to me. This last one is tough. I could use the original letter sent by the SSA, if I had it. Or I could use a 1099, if I had one with the full SSN printed on it. Unfortunately, my 1099s haven’t had the full SSN printed since 2014. Fortunately, I keep 7 years of tax records. On paper. My appointment is Monday. Maryland has done a good job of setting up centers to accept the ID papers. I expect I won’t have to wait long.

I also visited the SSA office, on the theory that it’s probably a good idea to have that SSN issuance letter. I couldn’t believe how fast the SSA was. When I went, they had me fill out a form that said I would need my birth certificate. The office is 5 minutes from home, so I went home, got my birth certificate, and came back. By the time I got back, they had already called me. It turns out I didn’t really need my birth certificate. But I only waited a few minutes for my second call.

Danita’s birthday is this week. She has done an outstanding job of getting freebies. So far, she has:

• $5 off a bottle of wine
• $10 off at the restaurant Cinco de Mayo
• A free entree at Houlihan’s
• A free entree and desert at the Silver Diner
• Another free entree at First Watch
• Free pancakes at IHOP
• A free desert at Tino’s

We don’t think we’ll be able to use all of these before we leave for Italy, In part, that’s because we also have 5 neighborhood parties. Who knew retirement is so hard?

I hope this finds everybody doing well.

Jul and the kids went home late Tuesday afternoon. After all the disruption in their travel plans, they had to suffer one last disruption. Their flight didn’t have a pilot. They sat on the tarmac for an hour before they could take off. Danita and I took advantage of the two extra days to take the kids to the cryptographic museum at NSA Monday. Tuesday, we took them to the Lego store. Both trips were very successful. You can see some pics on the website in the previous blog.

We spent most of the rest of this week getting the house back to normal. We finished the last of the leftovers last night. Danita’s last PT appointment is this week. Basically, they plan to document her range of motion and cut her loose. She’s tapering off the Prednisone, but it’s a very slow process. My PT is ongoing. I still have quite a bit of trouble with my right shoulder. I’m back on the bike, so that’s good. And I can sleep at night almost normally, which is also good. But I can’t carry even the lightest backpack on my back. I certainly hope that clears up before we leave for Italy in just 4 weeks.

There’s not much else going on here in Columbia. I have to prepare for my last presentation on “Cutting the cord”, which I will give tomorrow. I’ll talk about using TV antennas. It’s an amazing contrast between how easy it was to do back in the day, and how complicated it is today. We have a neighborhood concert with wine, cheese, and desert this evening.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.

Secret Messages from the NSA

Monday, we took B & E to the National Cryptologic Museum at the NSA. The museum is much more kid friendly since the last time we went. The hobo codes were quite popular. The other big activity was decrypting secret messages with a ring decoder. Whoever set this up was quite clever. Most of the secret messages were near the floor – kid friendly while simultaneously discouraging over-pushy parents. There are 15 secrets. The most popular station was encrypting your name with an Enigma machine. The kids enjoyed learning how to operate the machine. Elizabeth encrypted her name, and checked the result, twice!

Planet Explorer Vehicle

Today we went to Arundel Mills Mall and visited the Lego store. The kids started out just looking at the kits. About the time they were done with that, the play station opened up. They worked together to build a vehicle to explore a planet. The staff was going to assemble a new Lego display, and asked if Mark and Elizabeth wanted to volunteer to help build the display. They finished the first part together. Meanwhile, Nanna built her own “Explore a planet” vehicle.

Building the Big One

Nanna’s Vehicle

Now it’s time to go to the airport. Happy travels, Reeds. We enjoyed visiting with you!