Italian Baseball Tour- June 2008

 Upon arrival in downtown Milan, our rooms were not quite ready for check in, so we left our baggage at the hotel and set out on our own walking tour of the city. A stroll down the main business thoroughfare (Via Buones Aires) led us past the many shops and delicatessens in the bustling city and eventually we gazed upon the magnificent cathedral in the heart of this district, the Cathedral of Milan (Il Duomo di Milano e la Madonnina). It took my breath away as I pondered how in creation this structure was built, later to learn that the process took 400 years to complete! Paul, Elisa and I ventured inside the magnificent structure and we each lit a candle for Hobbs teammate Mickey Williams, who is waging a heroic battle with cancer. We had a wonderful lunch at one of the nearby restaurants with outside seating, then took in visits to the fabulous “fashion district” and covered mall. We wandered into a neat family-owned deli, which featured marble and hand carved counters- all hand made by the owners- to say nothing of the food selections, which included meats, fresh vegetables, and fruits. It also featured an eating area on the second floor where customers could enjoy a casual lunch after making their selections. On the way back to the hotel, we had a chance meeting with Cobe and Sherry Haskell who recognized my maroun “Italian Tour” shirt. They were the first of the wonderful people we were to meet and get to know on this unique tour. The others came trickling in during the course of the afternoon, some having taken advantage of the Early Days side trip to Lake Como. My roomie, Jason Masciorini, had missed his flight to Milan and would arrive on Wednesday AM. We met Dennis in the lobby of the hotel and he suggested that we all get together for dinner. We walked a couple blocks to the Ristorante Sabatini for the first of many great Italian meals we would enjoy. There we met one another and Marge’s first premonition came true. Paul started and I completed the story of my Opening Day experience on April Fool’s Day 1996 in Cleveland- and no I won’t repeat it here. Dennis introduced us to his assistant and nephew Corey Brown and fellow travelers Allan and Marianna Green, Larry Webb and wife Barbara, John and Cindy Angelesco, Tony Schmitz and wife Julie, our scorekeeper and backup tour guide, Mark Fess with wife Donna, Steve Fagin from Chicago, and Cobe and Sherry from Los Angeles. We learned that Lou and Catherine Patler had to cancel due to a heart attack suffered by Lou about a week before departure. We were glad to hear that he is well on his way to a complete recovery. We capped the evening with a stop at a Gelato shop on the way back to the hotel. (My adoration of Gelato began on my one and only other trip to Italy in 2001. It was there that Marge suggested that I should legally change my name to Angelato.) Right about the time I hit the sack for some much needed sleep, Milan lit up with celebration as the Italian soccer team had just defeated France 2-0 in European Cup, making the semifinals. I dozed off to the sound of screeching tires and honking horns, similar to that of downtown Cleveland whenever the Indians managed to win an important playoff game.

Wednesday June 17th- the 6:30 wake up call came way too soon but we had a job to do. Breakfast included many options such as eggs, meats, cereals, fruit, coffee, juice and breads/rolls. We met our tour guide for the day, Maria, who was passionate about her native city Milan and knew everything you ever wanted to know about its’ history. She told us that Milan is the economic capital of Italy and there are 1.4 Million people residing in the metropolitan area. One of the very first stops was at the cathedral and taking the elevator to the top for picture taking was a must. Most of the group took advantage of this and were similarly in awe of this structure. We also visited the great Castle of Milan, Castelle Forzecko, the opera house, where many of the legends (including my favorite Luciano Pavarotti) have performed. Finally, we visited a monumental cemetery and La Scala museum. We were surprised the see the amount of graffiti around the city. Maria was very saddened by this and indicated that it is very difficult to catch the culprits in the act- she hopes that one day they will “grow out of this stage” and appreciate the beauty and culture of their heritage. It was on this leg of the tour in Milan where I first noticed a possible connection to a relative living there. A car was illegally parked (at a crooked angle) in an illegal parking space on a tree lawn in a very crowded section of town. It reminded me of my long history of parking tickets, first in the college days, then in downtown Cleveland where good spaces are few and far between. I couldn’t help wondering, “Could there be a genetic link here”? At about mid afternoon we headed back to the hotel for a quick change into our baseball uniforms and a 40-minute bus ride to Seveso, where our first game opponents, the C.A.B.S. (Club Alto-piano Basball of Seveso) awaited our arrival. It was a quaint little village and the field was nice compared to of the ones we are used to. The left field “wall” was a large net about 40 ft high which extended into center field and protected an apartment building behind it. I had a great time hitting fungoes to our outfielders as part of our pre-game warm up. We were a little taken aback by the “50-ish” players on the CABS team which included two 17 year olds and nary a man over 35. Nonetheless it was exciting to be playing the game we love in a foreign country. The local villagers greeted us enthusiastically and one “well-oiled” local was particularly excited as he chanted “USA, USA”!!! We played reasonably well scoring a total of nine runs but the youth and speed of the Italians, coupled with an error or two, proved to be too much and we lost to the home team 16-9. What I will remember the most about this game is an incredible catch made by my roomie Jason who ran down a long fly ball to deep left center, diving at the last second and snagging the ball in the web of his glove as he skidded across the soggy outfield grass. Fans and players from both teams gave him an ovation and I can honestly say that it was one of the five best catches I have ever seen in person. Paul scored the first run of the tour and Dennis started on the mound. John Angelesco, Allan Green and Steve got key hits in the contest. What followed the game was one of the (many) highlights of the trip for me. We proceeded over to a pavilion where the locals had prepared a sumptuous Italian meal for us which included pasta, pizza, vegetables, meats, cheese, home-made bread, white and red wine, and dessert. For a moment there I had a flashback to the 1950’s when on every Sunday the entire day was spent at Grandma’s house, enjoying the food and “LaFamiglia”. The bonding that took place was incredible as we overcame any language barriers that may have been there. I heard one of our guys say to one of the locals “ I hope that you will judge our country by what you see here and not by what you read in the papers and by our politicians.” The reply was “Will you do the same for us? We have our problems too. I had one very “heavy” conversation with one of the CAB players about how our mutual love of the game of baseball brought us both to this place and time. Heavy-duty stuff. One of the players from the Seveso team, named Andrea Visi told me that since the time he was a little kid he loved the game of baseball and read everything he could get his hands on to read about the American stars. He dreamt of getting to play in a game like this against Americans, who have named the game as their national past time. I had a handheld tape recorder with me and recorded his story as he told it to us. We partied hard, took pictures, signed autographs for the kids there and gave away baseballs. The evening was topped off by shots of “Garappa”, which had to be as close as you can get to pure alcohol. By the time I dragged my carcass on to the bus, my body was pretty well anesthetized. It is safe to say that a good time was had by all! I took down the names and addresses of kids that I promised I would send some American baseball souvenirs to and intend to fulfill that promise.

Thursday June 18th- Jason was able to get his computer hooked up to the internet so I was able to send my first email to Marge and my four children and two grandchildren before packing our bags. I described the “Seveso Extravaganza” to them and afterward Marge told me that one of the kids said to her that “you do realize Mom that he is NOT coming home! After Breakfast, we boarded the bus for some final touring of Milan before heading to our next stop, Verona. We visited the church, which is now a museum, where Leonardo daVinci’s original painting of “The Last Supper” and “The Crucifixion” are both housed. We learned that during the war when all of Milan was being bombed, the people built a one-foot thick brick wall in front of the masterpiece and it came through the war unscathed. It was also on this portion of our tour that I saw the one and only SUV in Italy – smaller version at that. I took a photo of it because it stood out so much among the mini-cars, motorbikes, and bicycles that are the prevailing mode of transportation in the country. The bus trip to Verona ensued. This quaint northern Italian city quickly became my favorite stop on the tour and I fully intend to return there someday-hopefully when there will be performances in the outdoor coliseum. We were met at the city “gateway” by our tour guide- a delightful lady by the name of Maria Pia Girolami. I remember this because she autographed a copy of her book, entitled “Verona: City of Dreams”, which she authored a few years ago. I was immediately touched by the beauty, majesty, and rich history emanating from this special place as well as the incredible architecture and warmth of its people. The Adige river snakes its way through and around the core of the city and many historic stone bridges facilitate traffic to and from it. We stopped to view the “Ponte Pietra”, a 2000-year-old stone bridge that links the two banks of the river at its narrowest point. On our particular tour, we saw the respective birthplaces of Romeo and Juliet, heard the “Rest of the story”, viewed awesome homes (including the fabled Scala family- very impressive home setting but would you want the above-ground tombs of your descendant relatives “living” right across the street from you?”) and shops, had lunch in an outdoor restaurant in one of town’s many courtyards, took pictures at the town square, walked the narrow city streets which were meticulously maintained, and ended our visit near the spectacular outdoor coliseum, which still hosts live events in July of every year. I am convinced that you could spend a month in Verona and still not soak up all that it has to offer. Another Bucket List Entry: Visit Verona with Marge and as many family members as possible. We boarded the bus and headed for the Hotel Antares where we changed again into our baseball gear and proceeded to Dynos Stadium, where we were scheduled to play our second game at 5:00PM. We arrived at approximately 4:00PM, began to warm up, and then found out that the game was rescheduled first to 6:30PM and then to 8:00PM. Dynos Stadium was very nice and the team we played was the best team we faced on the tour. They were loaded with young, fast athletes and had plenty of power as well. Remarkably, we hung tough against them for six innings before the wheels came off, as the score was tied 2-2 after six. The Runs were batted in by Allan Green and Tony Schmitz and Roomie Jasonini started the game on the mound and kept the very athletic opponents off balance by changing speeds and not feeding them all fastballs, which they craved. Mark Fess made several nice plays at shortstop. I got a lot of action at third and it was truly a fun game to play in. The Dynos had one “older” looking guy with gray hair whom we nicknamed “the Gray Fox” as he was a crafty veteran pitcher. (He was the ONLY guy on any opposing team with so much as a hint of gray hair.) We also were quite impressed with the opening ceremony in which several kids and the umpire marched out to home plate holding up the flags of each country. The national anthem of both the USA and Italy were played, which sent shivers down my spine, and the players on both sides were introduced- it was great!!! It was also very cool that music was played over the PA system in between innings, very similar to what you hear at major league venues; we learned later that Dennis had a hand in this. Steve, John, Allan and Larry Webb hit the ball well while Cobe made some excellent plays at first base. After that game, we again were met by kids seeking baseballs, autographs, etc. I took to a little guy named “Luca” and told him that I had a grandson named Luke. We took pictures, proceeded to the pavilion to partake in another post-game feast and had a great time with the players, fans and villagers in attendance. I think it was after this game that Mark gave one of the kids his prized maple Bat- a generous act indeed. It was past midnight when the festivities ended and nearly 1:00AM when we got back to the hotel. My mind wanted to take a dip in the pool but my body crashed big time the instant I laid down after showering. The 6:45AM wake up call would come soon enough.

Friday June 20th- After breakfast and checkout of the Hotel Anteres, we boarded the bus bound for Venice for what proved to be a very interesting day….yes, yes… a very interesting day indeed! To help pass the time on the bus, we videotaped several “interviews” of various players and spouses, capturing their impressions to date. Upon arrival in Venice, we were given maps of the city and instructions to meet at the Tranchetto station at 3:30PM to meet the bus for our trip to Arezzo. We broke up into several groups, each of whom decided to do their own thing. Our group decided to take a gondola ride, which was a lot of fun but we opted out of the glass factory tour in favor of “discovering” the city on our own, stopping for lunch, and visiting several shops along the way. As we drew nearer to the scheduled gathering time, I was in a group with Jason, Larry Webb and wife Barbara and Cobe and Sherry Haskell. Jason was our leader and I gave him my map, which had the name of the station where we were to re-assemble. This is where the “interesting” part starts. It was hot and I decided to get a drink of water at a font in one of the alleys we were walking in. It took not even a minute and I had lost our group- I ran ahead and came upon several possible turns that could have been made and suddenly realized that I had gotten myself LOST in Venice with very little time left to make the scheduled rendezvous with the group. After a brief moment of “wigging out”, I began a desperate attempt to communicate with ANYONE who could direct me to Tranchetto Station (Thank God I had remembered the name). Now I really was in a James Bond movie!!!!! After asking seemingly scores of people how to get there, I was told to take the Water Taxi and its last stop (No. 8) was Tranchetto. I jumped on to the taxi and kept asking the driver how far to Tranchetto and he kept reassuring me that it was the last stop on the route. That seemed fine until we hit stop no. 7 and everyone was told to get off the taxi. What about stop 8????? How in the hell do you get to stop no. 8? After several frenetic attempts to communicate with strangers about this, my prayers were answered. I heard an older couple in the crowd at this stop speaking English- they actually were from England and were familiar with the city of Venice. They explained that I had to make a Transfer at station 7 to another water taxi, which would end the route at Tranchetto station. I was now at least 30-40 minutes past the meeting deadline. Finally the water taxi arrived at Tranchetto and fortunately, there was Mark Fess, who volunteered to be on the lookout for me as the others were already on the bus- a small distance from where the taxi drop off point was. I truly felt horrible and apologized to everyone for causing this delay. Paul had purchased an apron with the statue of David (including private parts) silk-screened on it and for a penalty I was made to wear it on the bus trip to Arezzo. I was very happy to get off with such a slight sentence. We were only minutes into that trip when we discovered there was more drama/trauma to deal with. Elisa’s purse was in a shopping bag that Paul had left at the shop where he bought the apron. With the agreement of the people on the tour, the driver turned the bus around, returning to Tranchetto station, and miraculously, the purse and shopping bag were at the shop unscathed. That was a MIRACLE if I ever saw one- I later told Paul & Elisa that I don’t think a missing purse at our family reunion would have a chance of being returned intact. Needless to say, our travel mates were not exactly pleased with the “Ohio people” at that point but graciously bit their tongues as we headed to our next stop, the village of Arezzo. We traveled through the city of Bologna, stopped at a roadside plaza for a bite to eat and arrived at the Hotel Planet just outside Arezzo in the late evening. Again I had great intentions of joining the group for a much-needed drink, but my body had other plans- I was asleep in about 2-3 seconds after laying down just to “rest for a second or two”.

Saturday June 21st- it was up at 6:30, Breakfast and on to the bus to begin what proved to be the longest day of our tour. We were bussed to the field in Arezzo where we warmed up and then played game number three in the hot morning sun- a game with many highlights (we won 12-2) and one major lowlight- our catcher Larry Webb had caught a bat swung by an opposing batter right in the ear just below where the mask offered some protection. It was obvious that he needed stitches and there was concern about a possible concussion. The local meds arrived and Larry, accompanied by Barb and a couple of the other fans, was taken to the local medical center where he was treated and released after getting the ear stitched and bandaged. Tony volunteered to pitch and did a fabulous job through the first six innings, then took over for Larry behind the plate as Dennis came in to close out the win. I remember retiring the very first batter of the game on a line drive and that Cobe made several nice picks at first base. Just about everyone contributed offensively, with Jason hammering a drive to the base of the fence in right center- unbeknownst to the center fielder who was obviously in another world. After the game, we took several photos and yet another feast/celebration took place. We discovered that one player was an American from Philadelphia who spends six months of the year in Arezzo and that another makes regular trips to Twinsburg, Ohio where his employer is headquarted- a small world indeed. It was here that one of the Arezzo players, noticing the nickname given to me at Fantasy Camp- Bigcat, said that you are “ El Gatto” on the field (meaning a ferocious cat with claws) but that off the field I would be known as “Miscione”, a gentle and domestic house cat. We were hustled back to the hotel after this celebration and given about 30 minutes to shower and re appear at the bus to start our touring of the incredible village and, thanks to Dennis’ foresight, tickets to an event that occurs only twice a year- Il goirno della Giostra, Joust day, featuring competitors from each of the four quadrants of the town. We first met our tour guide who pointed out various points of interest as we ascended toward the top of the hill where the cathedral is located. We were able to witness the amazing procession through the town’s narrow streets, where the colors of the respective teams are elegantly displayed in the costumes of the townspeople in the parades- from toddlers to old timers. The rolling of the drums, displays of flags, and the trumpeting sounds of large horns made you feel like you were living in medieval times. We took time out for dinner at one of the many little restaurants that populated the byways, and then proceeded through narrow passageways to the Piazza Grande in the center of town where the jousting match was staged. The event is held only two times per year- once on a Saturday night in June then on the first Sunday afternoon in September. Dennis’ buddy Luca had gotten us great seats for the event, which was preceded by an exciting performance of flag jugglers and musicians. Then came reading of the challenge to Buartto, King of the Indies, and the jousting match began. The current version of the competition features two horsemen from each of the quarters of the town run on horseback toward a huge effigy of the “Saracen”, striking its shield (with designated target areas representing a point total which rewards accuracy) in an attempt to accumulate the highest score. At one point, there was some controversy between two of the quarters who began charging toward each other throwing dirt and yelling something I could not understand…but I assume it was not NICE. (This sequence briefly reminded me of attending a Browns-Steelers game in the Dawg Pound at Browns Stadium.) Authorities quickly dispersed the crowd and restored order. The team from Porta Crucifera, with red and green colors won the match, which set off a huge celebration. Witnessing the whole extravaganza was certainly a unique thrill. By now it was late evening and we began our walk down the hill with Luca and his wife, who had worked with Dennis in arranging both the game earlier in the day and getting the tickets to the Jousting match. By the time we reached the main transportation station, it was past midnight and there would be no bus to bring us back to the hotel, as bus drivers can only be on duty a certain number of hours per day. That was fine except for the fact that there were only four taxis working at that hour and competition for their service was fierce. Our group gave thought to flagging down a driver- ANY driver- and begging him to drive us to Hotel Planet- about 6-7 miles away. Finally, a cab arrived and 7 of us piled in. What we didn’t realize was that this driver was obviously related in some way to Mario Andretti- truly a man who embodied the “need for speed”. Realizing that there was money to be made, he took us on a wild ride at speeds of what seemed like 70-80 MPH on the narrow, winding 2-lane road leading to our destination. Our first clue that he was a “risk-taker”, was his barreling down on a car in front of us who was moving altogether too slow for Mario- he gave new meaning to the term “tailgating” staying inches behind the car until he seized the opportunity to pass him in tight quarters. The next clue came on the open road out of town when he passed a number of cars on a curve as the car swayed and swerved its way to the hotel. At several points on this jaunt, I honestly felt that my final resting place would be in Arezzo, Italy. We somehow arrived intact and Mario sped off to take care of his next victim…er customer. Our weary and traumatized bodies hit the sack at probably 1:00AM and awoke again at 7:00 AM.

Sunday June 22- After breakfast and checkout, we boarded the bus headed for the beautiful city of Florence. It was on this leg of the bus tour that several of us decided to poll those interested in determining the top 10 greatest baseball players of all time. Using a point system, we collected the data from about 20 people including several of the ladies and announced the top ten vote getters from a group of 32 total players named. For the record, here are the winners: 1- Willie Mays 2-Babe Ruth 3-Ty Cobb 4-Hank Aaron 5- Roberto Clemente 6-Mickey Mantle 7 & 8- A tie Barry Bonds and Pete Rose (both jackasses off the field) 9-Ted Williams 10-Sandy Koufax. They were followed in the voting by Joe Dimaggio, Nolan Ryan, Cy Young, Lou Gehrig, Cal Ripken, Carl Yastremski, Walter Johnson, Frank Robinson, Rogers Hornsby and Ken Griffey Jr. It was fun talking baseball with hard-core students of the game including Dennis and Steve. It was on that day that we also learned of the passing of comedian George Carlin and a contest ensued to see who could identify the “seven” words that you are not allowed to say on Television or Radio. Corey correctly named them- we will not list them here in the name of decency. Upon our arrival in Florence, we met up with our tour guide for the day, a delightful and enthusiastic young lady named Francesca. We convened at the Art Institute and proceeded toward the Duomo, the great Cathedral of Florence whose exterior was 100% marble. She gave us earphones and spoke into a microphone, which made the tour much more enjoyable. We entered the Palazzo Vechio Square where the statues of David and also Neptune watch over the visitors. There we broke into groups and had lunch at one of the many restaurants in the area. We regrouped and toured the Uffizi Gallery, getting a first hand look at the work of some of the world’s greatest artists including Leonardo daVinci, Michelangelo, and Boccelli. We learned that Michelangelo started on many projects that he never finished as the artists of the time demanded to be paid in advance. Many of the works had a religious theme and every one of them had a story that went with it. I swear that Francesca knew all of the stories. We also learned that da Vinci often worked a self-portrait into many of his works. On our last leg of the formal tour, we visited the Academy of Fine Arts where we gawked at the original statue of David, which started off as a 5-ton slab of granite and took Michelangelo 3 years to complete. We also happened upon former N.Y. Yankee outfielder Paul O’Neill, who was touring there with his family. This put another punctuation mark on the fact that this was indeed an Italian BASEBALL tour. The museums in this city cannot be appreciated in one quick walk through tour-there is just too much to grasp. Francesca turned us loose at mid afternoon and we were free to do our own touring and to meet at a designated Bus Pick up location at 8:30PM. I ventured off on my own to do some shopping for souvenirs and found a couple of shops near the Duomo that filled the bill - AFTER stopping for a Gelato first, of course! I purchased a nice leather purse for Marge and some Italian embroidered aprons for some of the cooks in the family. I met Paul and Elisa at 6:00PM and we attended Mass in the Duomo-quite an experience. The Mass was said in Italian but booklets were given out that included the English translation. An attendant stationed at the door gave a wrap-around veil to women whose arms and legs were not covered “appropriately”. This might have been annoying to some visitors but I was impressed that there is still a standard of respect that it sometimes missing in our culture. An interesting fact I learned from one of the shopkeepers on one side of the Duomo is that his particular side never gets washed by the city crews (as it is off the beaten path of tourists) while the other three sides are constantly being maintained. He suggested that the local officials never seem to get to his side but that perhaps a “campaign contribution” or the like might result in some action. Some things remain facts of life in all countries. We completed our walking tour with a light dinner and made it to the bus pick up station ON TIME! It was a wonderful day in Florence though HOT and somewhat humid. Back to the hotel to prepare for Monday’s trip to the eternal city- ROMA.

Monday June 23rd- Breakfast at 8:00Am and on the bus at 9:00 for the three-hour trip to Rome. The first leg of the trip was through the magnificent region of Tuscany, with its’ rolling hills and beautiful greenery. You gained an immediate appreciation of why it is one of the most fertile regions in the world. Mile after mile revealed rustic homesteads surrounded by acres of vineyards and perfectly aligned rows of every kind of vegetable, fruit and flower (including huge sunflowers) known to man. We arrived in Rome around noon and traveled toward the Coliseum to meet our final tour guide, a thin man with a Yule Brenner haircut, named Alberto. He really knew his stuff but often got ahead of the pack, speaking into his microphone but hardly ever looking back to maintain eye contact. He put me in mind of the British comedian “Bean”, only with a shaved head and dark-rimmed glasses. We had lunch first and then met up with Alberto for a tour of the Coliseum. It was at that stop where I had maybe the best food of the entire trip. It was a little deli with twelve items to choose from (I sampled them all) which included eggplant, marinated artichoke, various peppers in olive oil, tomatoes, fish, etc., etc. After seeing the coliseum up close, we returned to the bus and headed for other incredible landmarks which included Trevi Fountain, where I made a wish and threw a coin over my shoulder into the water, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon- complete with marble floors and the hole in the ceiling, and finally the retail district of Rome, where the beautiful people come to purchase their high fashion clothing, shoes and accessories from the likes of Armani and Gucci. We proceeded to our hotel, the Hotel Albani Roma where we checked in, freshened up and met in the lobby for drinks. We then walked to the Bucella Balestra Ristorante for an elegant dinner. My intention was to have a “light” dinner before crashing but the appetizers kept coming and coming. What is a diner to do when tempted with wonderful presentations of porticini mushrooms, brusciutto, eggplant, artichokes, rice tomatoes, various types of cheese, fruits and fresh breads? In an act of generosity, Paul (aka Paolo Peranti) picked up the tab for the entire group. That set off many toasts and several rounds of Limone Liquer, which topped off the evening. Again, it took me all of say five seconds to fall asleep once I hit the bed.

Tuesday June 24th- At breakfast, I was very impressed that an older gentleman, dressed to the nines in a business suit greeted the hotel guests and supervised a team of waitresses who fulfilled every request for juice, coffee, and anything else that we could not get for ourselves from the breakfast buffet. It would be another full day, with a tour of the Vatican scheduled and then a bus trip to a village named Nettua for our final game on the tour. It was on the way to the Vatican that I had yet another instance of possible genetic links. A harried driver in one of the very busy roadways of Rome was frustrated that someone had cut him off in a traffic lane he started into. I noticed the man’s hand gestures as he cussed out the offender and it called to mind VERY SIMILAR gestures that I have used in similar circumstances back home. “Could he be a cousin?” I wondered. We again met Alberto and entered the Vatican Museum first. There we saw the many collections of art sculptures, Tapestry, Framed art, Maps, and ceiling frescoes dating back many centuries. We then entered the breathtaking Sistine Chapel where we took in perhaps Michelangelo’s greatest work. It was packed with tourists and though we were repeatedly asked to remain quiet, there was a buzz of noise, which to me was a distraction. I had been to Rome one other time in 2001 and that tour for whatever reason did not have nearly the mass of people and we were given ample time to just sit and contemplate this unbelievable work of art. Alberto led us into St. Peter’s Basilica and indicated that we would take a break and reconvene in about 25 minutes at a certain point. Since I had seen the cathedral on my earlier trip to Rome, I wanted to pick up a couple more gifts for my daughters, daughters in law, Marge and my two sisters. I had one particular shop in mind within Vatican City and figured I could buzz in and be back in time to meet our group. What I didn’t figure on was the fact that you cannot re-enter the cathedral once you leave that immediate area. STRIKE TWO. (Venice was STRIKE ONE). After completing my mini- shopping binge, I headed back to the cathedral and was stopped by the guard who said that I could not re-enter. Chalk one more incident up for the Ugly American. After resisting a temptation to “storm the gate” (Thank God I did NOT), the guard agreed to walk me up to the area where Alberto told us to reconvene and verify that I was with the group. The guard escorted me to that area and engaged in a vigorous conversation about the ignorance of my actions (to which my guess is that Alberto totally agreed). My Italian is not that good but I’m certain that I heard the expression “Stupido Americano” several times. I got the distinct impression that Alberto was not coming to my defense in any way and this was confirmed when I was escorted out of the complex and in effect out of the country. Alberto led us back to the bus and waved goodbye (and in my case good riddance). We had about an hour to get ready for our bus trip to Nettua, a small fishing village northwest of Rome on the coastline, where we would play our final game. It was only about an hour bus ride but we spent another forty-five minutes navigating through Nettua’s narrow streets in search of the baseball complex. It was hot and we were all tired from the touring, etc. This was not a good way to start a game against a much younger group of players, which included a player from the Dominican Republic. The game got off to a rough start as we found ourselves down 7-2 after the first inning. We were beginning to settle in when, in the fourth inning disaster struck. On a pop up perfectly placed mid way between home plate and first base, Tony, our catcher and Larry playing first base, took off in hot pursuit of the ball arriving at the same spot at the same time. It happened so fast that no one had the presence of mind to Yell out who should go for it. Their heads impacted at full speed and both guys suffered gashes that required stitches. They were transported to the local Med Center accompanied by Julie and Barb and a woman who came down from the stands who could speak perfect Italian and English. That play ended the game and our playing part of the tour. While the guys were being treated and patched up (thankfully both were OK), the rest of the team engaged the locals, partook in some of the food and refreshments, then signed balls and bats for the kids there. One of them was named Davide and he was amazed to learn that I have a son named David. We met his parents and had a wonderful chat with them. Both Larry and Tony were in good spirits when they came back to the complex. The bus returned us to the Albani and several of the group walked to a local restaurant for a late snack. That was our final complete day in Italy and what a wonderful adventure it was!!

Wednesday June 25th- Everyone was again up early, had breakfast and then said our final good byes. Some of the group was staying on for a few more days of R & R in Sorrento and other spots south of Rome while some of us headed to the airport for the 9-½ hour flight to the USA. Paul & Elisa had a later flight and went out to the Vatican, catching a glimpse (and taking some pictures) of the Pope in his weekly appearance. They successfully pulled it off and made it to the airport in time for the flight. Getting through security was a hassle as I was selected to have my carry-on bag inspected. Somehow, I made it through the maze and onto the plane. As always, the guy in front of me immediately pushed his seat back as soon as he could. But it did not affect my state of mind as I reflected upon all the wonderful memories I had collected, the treasured new friends I had made, and the beautiful sites I took in during the past nine days, to say nothing about getting to play baseball in a foreign land and bond with the local villagers. I left with many lasting impressions of this grand land and thought that we Americans could learn a few things from people in other countries if we just observe and listen. The people in the villages made the biggest impact on me with their generosity, humility, work ethic, pride in what they do and their spirit and passion. The Arezzo experience, complete with the Jousting match and all the pageantry was a unique thrill. The architecture, works of art, and historic landmarks was very humbling to behold and of course the FOOD- grande!! Getting to play baseball on well-manicured fields was just icing on the cake. I was also very impressed with the Italians’ respect for their heritage and churches, museums, and the pride they exhibited in the various treasures within the country. (You could see this in the each of the tour guides we had on this tour- from Maria to Alberto!) What a pleasure it was to share this incredible adventure with Dennis, Corey, Steve, Jason, Allan & Marianna, Tony & Julie, John & Cindy, Mark & Donna, Paul & Elisa, Cobe & Sherry, and Larry & Barb. Arrivedeci Italia!!! Angelo Ford (Miscione)

The shuttle bus to the terminal led us to the passport control and baggage area. Both of them went relatively quick. The airport seemed to be relatively new though not fancy at all. It took probably a half hour to rent our car from EuroCar. No one seemed in very much of a hurry.

Once all the paper work was done, a new adventure in driving was ready to begin. Almost immediately upon entering the highway, we hit a toll booth where we gave them about $.75. About 2 miles later we came to another tool area. We pulled up and there was nobody there. We kept waiting but nothing happened. Finally after being honked at a couple of times we went on laughing about not paying.

The Autostrada circled around the perimeter of Milan. Milan looked very much like many other western urban cities. There was a definite predominance of red tiled roofs over light brown brick walls with plaster.. This became more apparent as we got out of the city into the country side.

Our agenda called for us to drive about 4 hours from Milan to Bologna. There, we were to play with the local team that night. In the meantime, my travel mate, who was also an architect, and I enjoyed seeing the buildings and country side. It was very flat, a long valley from the Alps hundreds of miles South. Mostly farm land with a few small cities.

After a couple of hours we were coming to Parma. We decided to stop for lunch. When exiting the Autostrada, we were confronted with a guard at the exit toll gate. He didn't speak English and we didn't speak Italian. As it turned out, that toll booth we stooped at near the airport we were to push a button to give us a ticket. Since we didn't have the ticket, he had to charge us the maximum which was about $65. That was the most expensive toll I ever paid.

Parma seemed like a Midwest farm town. There was a small downtown area where we had a sandwich in the cafe. A very salty ham sandwich. Then it was back to the highway.

We tried to follow our map to our hotel and had our first experience of getting lost. Maps and street signage in Italy is somewhat lacking compared to US standards. After getting lost and driving in circles and going the wrong way on one way streets, we ended up on a 2 lane country road headed into the hills away from town. After driving about 2 miles looking for a place to turn around, we came across out hotel. What a surprise!

The Park Hotel was a relatively new hotel of about 5 stories with a couple of restaurants, and a large pool. We checked into our hotel room. It was pretty small. 2 standard size beds in contact with each other just barley allowed enough room to stand up on the sides. It had a small closet and a view of the rolling hills and train tracks behind. The bathroom was very nice and I began to appreciate Italian bathrooms. They all had nice fixtures, much more contemporary and fancy than US facilities usually have.

After a trip to town to get water and supplies, I spent about a half hour looking out my window watching 2 beautiful Italian girls decorating the pool area for a party. Then it was time to depart for the evening game. We found the stadium fairly easily by following the "Stadia" signs. Every city has signs that clearly lead you to the "Centro" and "Stadia" areas.

Almost all major cities in Northern Italy have a baseball team. Bologna was no exception, it was a nice stadium 10-15 years old with several other sports fields adjacent to the ballpark. It was much like a lot of minor league parks with a capacity of around 4-6000 people.

As it turned out, this was the night the "A" team was to play the "B" team. We were allowed to join with the "B" team and take on the professionals. Like other countries we have played in, baseball became a medium for communication. After stretching, I strolled over to the bull pen area where our Italian teammates were. Most were about 18-22 and I motioned to one of the catchers. I warmed up with him with an audience of several other young players. None of them spoke English but they understood a sharp breaking slider, a curve ball and the sound of a fast ball hitting the pocket of the glove.

The kids started the game and about the 4th inning, they began working us into the lineup. By now, it was about 10-0. The "A" team we were playing was pretty good being professional athletes. The Italian league is equivalent to about A or AA baseball in the US. I pitched 3 innings to them and they hit the ball pretty hard. I did manage to strike out a couple. The game went on under the lights for 9 innings. I think our team scored only a couple of runs but we had fun and got a taste of Italian baseball.

Umpiring the game was an American, Rocky ???. Rocky played for the Mets AAA team under Clint Hurdle. I knew Clint from a couple of Dream Week camps so it was like a friend from home for him. Both he and his wife were glad to see and hear Americans speak American.

Rocky was fun and filled us in on a lot of the local baseball activities. Italian teams have a few different rules than American baseball. Each team is allowed to have 2 Americans and 2 Cubans. This one also had a Chinese player.  You could only use an American pitcher if the other team was using one. If one team took out their American pitcher, the other had to do the same.  This adds a different aspect to the strategy of the game.  Rocky told us his job was pretty easy. He gets paid about $40,000 a year tax free, gets a car, an apartment and his meals paid for. They play once a week and practice every day. It is optional if he wants to practice or not. Sounded pretty good to me. There are apparently a lot of former American minor league and a few ex-major leaguers playing in the "Spaghetti League".

Rocky told us of a restaurant to try so he, his wife and our the team went to dinner at a local restaurant near the Central Area. Delicious pizza, calzone and salads. We ended up eating at this place 3-4 times during the week. We were quite a spectacle walking around in our USA uniforms.

San Marino, or Mt. Titano as it is refereed to, consists of three very steep mountains with an old medieval type city winding up to the top of the tallest mountain. It was a pleasant day visiting the various shops, seeing the old fort/city and the surrounding countryside. Afterwards, we drove about 3-5 miles to Remini, where we spent some time on the beach, admiring the multicolored umbrellas and cabanas of the Adriatic Riviera. From there we walked to the commercial strip where we had a light lunch and a tour of the beach community and its many attractively designed small hotels. After that, it was off to the city Centro where we spend about an hour admiring the old Roman ruins and the local female population.

We were to play the Remini team that night. After finally finding the stadium, we arrived to find they were practicing for a tournament beginning the next day and didn't want to play. Like many in Italy, the stadium was very nice. A tall concrete stadium that would hold 5-10 thousand people. We watched them practice for a while, spotting the token 2 American players, one used to play in the bigs for the Reds. I strolled to the bullpen where there was a Cuban coach working with one of the Italian pitchers. Neither of them spoke English, the Italian did not speak spanish and the coach did not speak Italian,  but we both spoke baseball. I began reacting to various pitches and making various jesters to the coach. After a while each time he would try to say something to the pitcher, he would look to me for approval or other input. This went on for about 15 min. until we finally departed for Bologna.

We had dinner that night at a small restaurant outside of Bologna.  We then went a couple of miles towards our hotel on the 2 lane road.  Almost immediately, we noticed there were cars parked on both side of the road a mile from the hotel.  We figured someone must be having a big party.  Turns out they were and it was at our hotel.  The place was packed, they parked us on the lawn in front of the hotel, almost in the dining room. We went to check out the party and found out it was the first night of the disco season and there was free admission so all of central Italy was on hand.  There were several areas for music.  There was an area with jazz, a large disco dance pit and another dance area by the pool.  These were all outdoors and a rock and roll club under the pool indoors.  What a party, thousands of people with hundreds of beautiful and exotic women.  Boy did I fall in love.  Drinks were 10,000 lira, about 6-7 dollars for a beer.  I liked the Techno Rock and modern disco music and had a great time shaking my butt in the midst of crowd. Being dressed in shorts and tennis shoes and being much older than most, we stuck out like a sore thumb but we had a great time anyway.  We did find a few Italian girls who spoke english to talk with. I also saw the 2 girls who were fixing the pool area for a party the day before, they were dancers on the disco DJ stage.  It was a warm night so there were helicopters flying over occasionally to cool things down.  The party went on until 4 am.

After about a couple of hours driving the Autostrada through the mountains, we made it to the city. We gassed up for the first time, at about $90/tank I was glad we had a reasonably economical car to drive. As usual, we got lost following the signs to the center of town, they disappear after a while. After a few blocks of driving around the block, we finally found a parking place near the university.

Plenty of art and architecture to admire in Florence. Il Duomo is the famous church in downtown. The bridge over the river, and of course the statue of David. David was closed that day because of the scare of the bomb earlier that morning. We cruised the outdoor flee mart, various downtown shops and had lunch in a street cafe while we again admired the local female population. This became a continuous pastime in every place we went.

By late afternoon it was time to find the stadium and get ready for the night game against the locals. It was less than 2 miles from where we parked but took over an hour of frustrating driving in circles trying to follow the map to the stadium.

Once there, we saw a large park with 2 stadiums, one for soccer and the other for baseball. Both seemed relatively new and were relatively new facilities. There were kids soccer matches going on one side of the stadium and on the other was a little league game. There were also some batting cages with curved glass roofs next to the field. We changed in the locker rooms but found out the game was postponed for about an hour waiting for the other team to show up.  I took a nap in the infield grass watching the sun go down.

Again, we played the minor league team "B" team. I was the starting pitcher again and pitched reasonably well. Our defense was pretty shaky, the third baseman made 2 errors in the first inning, the left fielder dropped 2 balls in one inning and the shortstop was never in the right position. As usual, we recruited their catcher for our team. He didn't speak English but we got along fine communicating via baseball.  It was a see-saw game with the lead changing hands a few times.  One of the high lights was Little Home Run Harry Rapf hitting an in side the park home run.  By the 7th inning, they brought in a new young 18 year old left handed pitcher. I was the first one up. His first pitch was a wild fast ball that hit me in the left ankle. It hurt a lot. As it turned out, it cracked my ankle bone. I've been hit before so I didn't pay it much mind. I pitched the eighth inning and finally they turned out the lights of the stadium.. After 8 innings it was tied 8-8. Like all the places we played it was very warm and somewhat humid so we went through a lot of water bottles during the game.  It had been a hard fought game and the 15-20 fans that watched the game from the stadium stood up and shouted. Bravo, bravo, bravo.... This was the closest we came to winning a game.

We drove the 2 hours back to Bologna and had a take out dinner at a small traveling food stand near the city center.

After taking a boat back to the parking lot, we returned to Bologna for dinner and back to the hotel. Since it was Friday, it was disco time once again. The place was packed again with many of the same people from a couple of nights before.. We parked on the front lawn and spent the rest of the evening shaking our behinds to Techno rock, drinking beer and admiring the many beautiful women.

As usual, we arrived just as all the restaurants were closing. We did find one in the Piazza and chatted with a couple of American tourists. The square consisted of beautiful architecture and the churches were pure art and craftsmanship. After a couple of ours of being tourists, we hit the road again for our evening destination. lake Montefiascone. It took about 2 hours of driving through foothills and valleys. It reminded me a lot of the Alexander Valley north of the Santa Rosa, CA area. There were a few cities we passed that were classic feudal fortresses on top of hills, overlooking all their fiefdom and and the valleys below. The most impressive was the town of Orvieto.  Defiantly a medieval setting in a beautiful valley.  We got lost there trying to follow the signs, we spent a good half hour trying to find the right road out of town? After finally locating it, we made our way up a windy road and out of the valley. I was punching it as fast as my little rental car would go around those windy roads only to be yelled at and honked at by those obnoxious Italian drivers. It was getting a little irritating.

By the time we reached the town of Montefiascone, my nerves were pushed to the limit. There were of course little to no signs in town. Our directions led me to a one way road and driveway that ended inside the lobby of a building, I thought it was just another arch to a small street. After realizing we drove into the inside of a building, we searched again and found our hotel. Much to the chagrin of the 2 honking and screaming drivers behind me on a one lane road.  I stopped in front of the hotel to check in. After a couple of more screams from them, I took my baseball bat out of the trunk and yelled at them with a very angry look on my face. Suddenly they stopped and cooled down. I asked to see the rooms first, then I moved my luggage into the room then went to go find a parking space and release the 2 guys I was holding hostage.

A nice little hotel, probably 12 to 14 rooms run by a couple who owned it. Marble floors, and modest furnishings but nice bathroom fixtures and accessories. Wasn't much to do in this little town, especially on a saturday night.  There was another ancient church and only one restaurant open. Other than that it was a gelato for desert and off to bed. Kind of a boring Saturday night considering Rome was only an hour away.

Unfortunately, the Pantheon was closed because of fear of terrorist attacks.  We did find a restaurant at the piazza that was open so we had an enjoyable lunch while watching the locals. Afterwards, we tried to find our car. We walked past one square that was guarded by several soldiers with machine guns. The war between the Mafia and the government was still on and I believe we were walking past some important government building. We paid no attention and walked right through the guards like a couple of dumb tourists and eventually found our vehicle.

We made our way to St. Peter's Square and the Vatican.  We arrived shortly after the Sunday morning mass.  There were still a lot of people in the plaza and we took a tour of the inside the Cathedral.  Quite an impressive feat of architecture, history, opulence, craftsmanship and power. The Sistine Chapel was closed by the time we got to it so we decided to approach it the next day.

We made our way to the Coliseum and the old Roman fort.  The coliseum is an impressive sight to see.  Plenty of catacombs and architecture.  After about an hour at he coliseum, we toured the old Roman fort next door.  Plenty of ruins, arches, statues and history.  From high on the hill you can see how the old city was put together and the impressive arches into the city.

By now, we were beat. We decided to stay at a Holiday Inn we found on the way into Rome. It was $220 a night, according to the Swedish clerk,  but sure hit the spot. It was nice to have real American TV, queen sized beds, normal bathroom fixtures and other American type of amenities. We stayed in for the evening to watch TV and rest.

The next day was to be a very long one.  After a hotel breakfast, it was off to the Vatican.  Equally ostentatious as the Vatican was the Cisteen chapel.  This was an endless display of art that seemed to go on for ever.  Touring these facilities seemed to enhance my appreciation for history and certainly realization of the greatness of peoples that have come before my time.  Finding the famous Michael Angelo painting of God touching man was an experience in itself.  A good half hour of following signs through the maze of rooms, chambers and hallways eventually lead to a small room on a lower level.  The painting itself is much smaller than I
expected it to be.   After a little break in the inner gardens, we decided we had enough of the big city and decided to continue on to our next destination, Naples and Pompeii.

After emerging into the country side we cruised along the Appin way south.  We passed Monte Casino, the famous Nazi strong hold during W.W.II and reflected on the many historical sites we were traveling through.  There was a point where the Autostrada ended and merged into a local highway and wouldn't you know it, it was a speed trap.  There was, what looked like, some
antiquated surveying equipment and a speed gun set up and then, about 1/4 beyond that, a few police cars and officers.  They of course pulled me over and began speaking to me in Italian.  I had no idea what he was saying so I created my own conversation in English.  I asked him how he was, what was going on, told him the area was beautiful and after the lady policeman in front of my car gave him the nod, he waved us on.  I had no idea what was going on until after I returned to the US and got a bill from the rental car company for about $120 for a speeding ticket.

Eventually, we arrived in Naples.  It seemed like a modern city as we approached but as we drove along the coast highway southward towards Pompeii, it seemed very old and the whole area seemed like a big slum.  I didn't see much I liked in Naples but saw very little of it.  We made our way south a few miles eventually arriving in time to visit the ancient city of Pompeii at the base of Mt. Vesuvius.  We purchased a few nick nacks from the locals at the entrance.  Some priaptic Pompiieans in various contorted shapes, and some brass phallic symbols and a few other reproductions of Pompiiean culture.  Pompeii itself was quite interesting.  I spent a couple of hours walking the narrow stone streets, looking through the houses, studying the architecture, statures, carvings and many painting still on the walls.  There were many headstones with carved images to represent the owners or the trade of the inhabitants.  There were large open temples, piazza's parade grounds and a very nice coliseum or arena.  This is quite a restoration project that is still on going.  I highly recommend this as a destination site.  It would probably take an entire day to see the entire city, we were there for only a couple of hours before it began getting late with many dark shadows.  We still had
a long drive ahead of us so we departed.

Following our maps through Naples of course got us lost and spent a fair amount of time driving around slum like residential neighborhoods until we eventually came to the coastal route headed north.  The night sky was appearing as well as a number of black hookers along the highway.  Some pretty strange sites to behold.  We did drive through a small town,  believe it was Cuma, that seemed much like many mid west American towns, this one had it's Christmas lights spanning across the main street for several blocks.  We weren't sure it they stayed up all year or what but it was an interesting site for June.

It was a nice drive along the coast, watching the light disappear into the Mediterranean and the near full moon over the sea.  We stopped in Mondragone for dinner that evening.  This was a small coastal town with a nice restaurant on the water.  The waiter did not speak English and I pointed to what I wanted on the menu. Yet another delicious sea food Italian dinner.  I decided I would be cool and to to order my desert in Italian. I gave my best interpretation of strawberries (fragoli) to the waiter.  He looked puzzled and waved his hand at his nose.  I guess I ordered beans for desert (fraggiol) by mistake.  I went back to pointing and got my strawberries for desert.

Breakfast was the usual pastries with coffee.  We strolled the beaches and made a trip into downtown Anzio during the afternoon.  Anzio is a small town with a very nice town square near the water.  We had a great lunch at a seaside restaurant near the downtown and then returned to the hotel to get ready for the baseball game that evening.

The stadium, just outside of the downtown area, was probably the oldest and least attractive we played in during our tour.  We had batting practice and infield practice with the Anzio team.  I shared shortstop with one of them who it turned out to be from San Diego.  As mentioned previously, American ball players are given living expenses and transportation while playing there.  He apparently did not rate so high as he only drove a moped.  We did make friends with their pitching star, Roberto Espinoza, the brother of Alvaro Espinoza of the Cleveland Indians at that time.  He is a big time superstar pitcher in the Venezuelan leagues and was there playing in the off season.

We were no match for the Anzio team.  I pitched 7 innings and we lost by some large amount of 20 or so to very little.  The Anzio team was much younger than we were and it was difficult for us to hit 80 mph pitching.  About the 6th inning, my ankle began to have terrible pain, I could hardly walk.    I was glad to see the game end as the injury I received a few days earlier in Florence seemed to be flaring up again.  As it turned out, getting hit by a pitch in Florence had cracked my ankle bone and pitching again cracked it even more.  My ankle swelled up considerably.

We did go to dinner that night after the game in the downtown Anzio area.  This was a restaurant recommended to us by the team,.  La Rosa was great entertainment.  We cruised into town amongst heavy street traffic.  I parked only to have a small car with 4 girls stop to yell at me and tell me what a bad driver I was.  I didn't really understand a word they said but it was interesting.  We were still dressed in our USA baseball uniforms so I asked if they knew Tommy Lasorda. My partner kept trying to tell them, in poorly pronounced Italian, how beautiful there were.  After a lot of hand waving they left, one of our other teammates explained to me she was saying I drive like an old man.  Oh well, at least I was approached by some beautiful women.  The restaurant was in the basement of a commercial store and had a great atmosphere.  The owner was the cook, waiter and singer.  He was also a comedian.  He performed all these tasks and provided us with a a great meal and a lot of entertainment.

It was Memorial Day and some of our teammates went to the Memorial Cemetery in Anzio in honor of the American troops who died during the Anzio innovations of W.W.II.  The Italians were there in full plumage regalia creating a very colorful sight.  I spent the next day in bed with ice on my ankle.  Much pain every time I moved. I watched a lot of Italian TV including some Italian westerns, in Italian.  The rest of the team went to play the Neutenno team that evening. The stadium they had was brand new and very nice, but the other team didn't show up.  Our team just took some batting practice and came back to the hotel.

Later that night, there was a TV show being recorded in our hotel lobby and dining room.  Our friend, Roberto Espinoza was having a 1/2 special interview to broadcast back to Venezuela.  He was also in league with our hotel, this is where he received his food.  We had dinner with him and one of the other Italian players.  There was lots of food, wine, beer and BS being exchanged long into the evening.

We returned to the hotel in time to get ready for the evening baseball game.  They again had a great stadium just on the outskirts of town.  We were beaten again by their B team.  I was still hobbling along with my swollen ankle so I didn't play.

After a light lunch, we cruised down out of the coastal mountains into the flat farm lands west of Milan.  Very much like central California. We had no hotel reservations so we stayed at a Hotel 6 looking hotel on the north highway out of Milan.  It did have a 3 hole golf course.

After a couple of hours rest, we were ready for an evening in town.  We drove the side streets into downtown, passing gypsy encampments, lots of pizzas and eventually parking next to La Scala Opera house.  We found a nice restaurant in the Gallaria Vittorio Emanuele and had another great meal.  The Gallaria is the worlds first enclosed shopping mall, centuries old and faces the Piazza del Duomo.   Adjacent is the Duomo, the most flamboyant of all the Italian cathedrals.  After cruising the Gallaria for a while we cruised town, observing the train station built by Mussolini and several feats of beautiful architecture.  After some transvestites and/or cross dressers got into our car and tried to hustle us, we decided to call it an evening.

The next day we toured the Duomo and did some shopping and girl watching at the Gallaria.  No trip would be complete without at least one trip to a local McDonalds to see if it is the same everywhere.  We visited the one near the train station and found the usual consistency.  After enjoying the sights for a while we headed north to the Itilian/Swiss Alps and our next destination, Lugano.

We eventually wound our way around Lake  to the delightful town of Lugano.  Lugono reminded me of Newport Beach in the mountains.  Lots of Rolls Royce, limos, and fancy town and sport cars.  The town on Lago Lugano, a large lake with a parkway between the road and the lake.  Lots of boating, swimming, bicycling and family sports.  This seemed like a popular vacation spots for families.  I could have stayed there several days myself, it was beautiful and lots of nice energy.  We had a nice but small hotel room, $95/night, with a balcony looking into the lake.  I sat there for hours enjoying the feel and view until the sun went down and a huge full moon came over the lake.  It was a beautiful experience.  We ventured down to the piazza for dinner about 10 p.m..  It was Saturday night and the piazza was packed.  A great evening for people watching and good food.

Later, I went to the local casino.  I never did figure out the games.  I spend $10 Swiss on a slot machine that told me I kept winning but never gave me anything.  Most people were playing a different type of roulette game.  This one only had 9 numbers.  The tables were very crowded and smoky so I never did get to play.

We continued our day by driving to our next stop in the Italian Alps in the town of Stresa.  This is a very elegant tourist town on the lake.  There are a number of very nice hotels and an interesting old town area.  We stayed at a lake side hotel in old European style for about $95/night.  The bathroom and fixtures were again elegant and the view to the beach below, Lago Maggiore and the beautiful garden Island of Borromean beyond made for a please stay.  Another wonderful dinner in a local restaurant and it was time to pack for home.

The Italian people we encountered all seemed warm and congenial, except of course when they got into their automobiles.  The food was excellent everywhere.  The hotels were good to very nice for prices ranging from $35-$100/night except for the Holiday Inn in Rome which was more.  The baseball facilities were good to very good.  Sports seems to be an integral influence in the Italians society.  They have better baseball facilities than many American fields.  The Italian players are well versed in the game.  Each game we played,  had an Italian catcher who didn't speak English.  Once again, baseball was the common denominator to allow us to communicate and learn from each other.