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Message started by mpescatori on 11/21/10 at 23:55:19

Title: Greetings from HOME !
Post by mpescatori on 11/21/10 at 23:55:19

OK, boys and girls, you want to see what it's like to live in the OLD World ?

I mean, really old... "OLDE" old...

;)

Well, here's the view from my parents' house... LERICI in Italy

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs483.snc3/26455_1299441339574_1636630785_739590_6562064_n.jpg

The Castle on the left is also quoted in Dante's Divine Comedy (in the Inferno, where else ?)
The Norman-looking tower on the right is actually the clock of City hall (big grey rooftop)

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs483.ash1/26455_1299441419576_1636630785_739592_4554636_n.jpg

The small tower that juts over the rooftops on the right is a former "summer residence", often called "casina di caccia" or "hunting lodge", it is now a kindergarten run by nuns. Built sometime in the Reneissance.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs483.snc3/26455_1299440739559_1636630785_739576_7908913_n.jpg

This is the castle as seen from below, it was built by the Republic of Pisa in the 12th Century.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs503.snc3/26455_1299440779560_1636630785_739577_6731005_n.jpg

Seafront

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs503.snc3/26455_1299441259572_1636630785_739588_6529281_n.jpg

This is PORTOVENERE, built by the Republic of Genoa in the same period; it is just across the bay; Pisans and Genoese, being arch competitors for commerce with the Middle east in the Middle Ages, would often shell each other's merchant vessel whenever at range.
They would also protect the coastal villages from raids by pirates and Saracen slave traders.
(but then they would do the same against Algeria and Tunisia, and the Ventians against the Turks...)

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs503.snc3/26455_1299440979565_1636630785_739582_4261222_n.jpg

Closeup of the ancient Chapel to St.George

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs483.snc3/26455_1299441299573_1636630785_739589_8006680_n.jpg

Goodnight !

8-)

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by PerrydaSavage on 11/22/10 at 00:20:10

Absolutely beautiful mpescatori! Would love to visit Italia someday ... I have friends who are from/live in Trieste.

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 11/22/10 at 01:50:45

How in the ( olde) world did they get EVERYbody in town to use the same shade of green on the shutters?

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by mick on 11/22/10 at 03:31:13

435C5A5D40477646764E5C501B290 wrote:

How in the ( olde) world did they get EVERYbody in town to use the same shade of green on the shutters?

good eye Justin I see it but didn't wonder why unlike me or my artists eye,must of had a senior moment.

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by mick on 11/22/10 at 03:39:51

Beautiful, breathtaking !
Give us an idea of the cost of living there ? I doubt there is any building going on, what you see is what you get. Like housing costs ? food ? utility's ? . I bet the same family's have lived in the same house for years. Funny you hardly ever see places like this in a travel agents broucher. Hopefully your parents are still alive and well.
thanks for sharing , that made my morning :) :) :)
PS,Maurizio, those little islands ,are they inhabited ? do they have names ?

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by babyhog on 11/22/10 at 08:35:45

I agree, absolutely breathtaking. (I actually have a jigsaw puzzle of your Seafront picture, from almost the same vantage point.)

I WILL visit Italy some day. I also thank you for sharing those magnificent shots. I can't imagine waking up every morning to such beautiful scenery.

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by Serowbot on 11/22/10 at 09:11:01

There is no place there, that I can't imagine myself sitting...

... and to think, I'm just 6 lottery numbers away... :-?...

Beautiful....

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by splash07 on 11/22/10 at 10:43:10

mpescatori,
Beautiful pics, I have a large amount of family in Rome and visit every few years. Next time im over we should get up and talk thumpers.

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by mpescatori on 11/22/10 at 14:39:23

Thanks for all the replies ! :)

Splash07, you just come over, I'll give you the kind of tour the tourist guides never tell you about ;)
:-?
Naaah ! Not that kind of tour, what are you thinking? :D
Eating, staying the night out kind of tour ! There's more traffic at 11p.m. on a Saturday night than 11a.m. next Monday morning!

Perry, my Mom is from Istria, my grandmother's younger brother still lives in Trieste.
You fly over, I'll drive/ride/whatever.

Mick, You're not 6 lottery numbers away, there's a great flight by AirFrance from SanFrancisco to Paris, connetc to Rome
OR
Direct Alitalia from LosAngeles to Rome. Both overnighters. You just come, I'll make sure you get nice and fat and happy ;)

Babyhog... whatcherwaiting fer, gurl ?

Anyway, if anybody is considering visiting, just drop me a line, I will make sure you get to see what no brochure will ever mention!
I mean, what's the point of seeing what everybody else has already seen?
How about some hidden trasures ? ;)

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by babyhog on 11/22/10 at 18:03:37

Hell, I don't know what I'm waitin' for... retirement, I guess!

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by LANCER on 11/22/10 at 18:45:15

Beautiful shots my friend. I wish I was there now.

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 11/22/10 at 18:53:19

You can have the airport, I wont go.

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by Skid Mark on 11/22/10 at 19:36:20

Great pics!!. If the missus and I ever get a chance to get over the big pond we won't know where to start. There is just so much history to taken in and see!! Thanks for the look see.

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by kimchris1 on 11/22/10 at 19:58:40

Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos. It is always a pleasure to view other places in this world.. :) kim

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by John_D FSO on 11/23/10 at 00:07:53

Some great pics; I particularly like the colors in the last one! :o

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by mpescatori on 11/23/10 at 02:39:52

Give us an idea of the cost of living there ? I doubt there is any building going on, what you see is what you get. Like housing costs ? food ? utility's ? . I bet the same family's have lived in the same house for years.

Housing in Lerici and Portovenere is hideously expensive !

What was a mere fishing village in the 1950s became a nice place to go for your Sunday stroll in the 1960s, discos opened in the 1970s and...
...well, a modern apartment with a view will easily go for 7000-8000 Euro/sq.meter, so a medium-sized apartment (80sq.m. = 800 sq.ft.) will retail for 600thousand Euro.
That's ... ::) ... 7x8=56... x 1,35 = US $ 750.000 !!!

Gasoline is currently at E.1.30 (regular) and E.1.45 (premium) to one liter, multiply by 1.35 and multiply again by 3.85 to have $/gal. prices
(warning: Do not do this without medical assistance!) $7.50/gal .. :-[
Utilities such as electricity are about 10-11 Eurocents/Kilowatt.
Water is... rainwater, riverwater collected and driven in public plumbing, of course we pay for public water works but it's cheap.

Internet is one of the cheapest in Europe, the average is a flat E.20/month for unlimited ADSL (4-5Mbits) and free local calls, everybody with a computer will have this kind of connection.
Only those without a computer will still have the "old" analogue phone lines, which by the way are actually more expensive...
So nobody has dialup any more, it's simply obsolete and has been phased out.

My Dad's apartment is valued in the range of one million Euro, that's $1.4million, not because he's rich (he bought it in the mid '70s when housing was affordable) but because prices have skyrocketed.
Mind you, I'm talking about a top floor 3 bedroom apartment with a double dining room+living room, garage, cellar + terrace upstairs, it's most unusual.

He was just lucky he bought a house with a view. BTW he still has dialup...

Similarly, I house hunted in Ronme until I found a top floor apartment in a condo with a (relatively) large estate, so from my windows I can see a good half mile away over treetops, no rooftops nor anybodyelse's windows to block the view !
I have ADSL with two phone lines and 10MBit link, E.40/month flat rate with unlimited calls nationwide 8-)

Again, unusual.

BUT in Italy the average "dwelling" will be a 750-800 sq.m. two bedrooms apartment in a 5-10 story condo, car parked somewhere in the street, with other 5-10 story condos all around you.

Just roam with Google Earth or Google Maps Street View and see what Lerici is like ("walk" the narrow alleys and have fun!)

The outskirts of Rome, or Milan (or Paris) are completely different.

We have a tradition of multi-story condos, way back in ancient Rome there was a neighborhood called "Centum Cellae" it still survives today as "Centocelle", the name means "the one hundred condos", even in ancient Rome they had 3, 4 story buildnigs in brickwork, shops on street level, the well-off would live on the second floor, the only one with a brickwork floor, so you could actually have a fireplace and cook your own food, 3rd floor and on up the floor was made of planks and straw, so there was no way anyone could cook their own food, people would go to the local bakery and other shops and buy ready-made dishes.
Hey !
The Romans invented fast food joints !!!
:D
BTW my house is at 41º56'34"N, 12º34'45.50"E on GoogleEarth; the pic was taken last summer so it's all yellow and dry, the estate has buildings set up in a fashion to look like a huge "G" with green lawn and birch and poplar trees; you will notice my view from the top floor looking SouthEast will go a looong way compared to the neighbors !!! 8-)

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by Southpaw on 11/23/10 at 11:43:56

Beautiful pics, I bet it's hard to have a bad day watching that kind of sunset! Thanks for sharing!

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by mick on 11/23/10 at 12:35:23

Maurizio, I must ask. Do you get special housing privilages because of your rank ? I mean to say a Colonel is a pretty high rank.In the British army they command a complete regiment, well him and the RSM ;)
I remember our CO had 6 pigs on the army property,that were fed slop from the mess everyday,so they got plenty to eat.
I'm assuming you are a full time Army Officer ?
Mick

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by mpescatori on 11/24/10 at 05:22:42

2E2A2028372B262F2A2E263A430 wrote:

Believe it or not, Mick, the only two times I got housing rpivilegs was when I was in the UK (one year in Camberley, Surrey, and two years in Upavon, Wilts, just north of Stonehenge) and when I was a Battallion Commander in Sardinia.

Else, I had to find myself an apartment and pay the rent out of pocket.

The house...OK apartment I live in now is my own, bought it in 2002 for some 80thou Euro, in those days it was roughly the equivalent to $80 (give or take) now it's valued 4 times as much, talk of a lucky investment !!! Mortgage expires in 2017.

What benefits do I get ? Free medical care for all the family (just consider my son has been seeing the dentist FREE for the last 6 years, 8 times/year for his braces) and a free bus pass...
If I retire after 35 years, my pension will be some 80% of my pay, but if I hang on tight and retire after 41 years, I could well "graduate" to 105% of my pay.
Promoted one rank up the day before I leave and sidestep into the Reserve, that's how it works.

So, I have to decide whether to leave and see the world or hang in there for the extra money.

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by mick on 11/24/10 at 09:20:11

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by mpescatori on 11/24/10 at 09:36:05

5F5B5159465A575E5B5F574B320 wrote:

Wow ! I was stationed in Warminster Wilts you must know the place,
My regiment was there for my last year as a training regiment ,we trained infantry to work with tanks,using us for cover and that sort of thing, Some very nice pubs in Warminster, they also sell "Scrumpy" did you ever drink that ? they say if you drink enough of it you will go blind. Maybe just an old wives tale...[\quote]

Of course I know warminster ! ITC it's called now, Infantry Training Centre, there's a beautiful Regimental Museum there, too.
As for the ale (do NOT call it beer!) I remember a wonderful unpasteurized ale they made in Devizes called "Pigswill", strong as an angry mother-in-law !!!
;)

[quote]My mom told me doing some thing else will make me blind, I did lose most of my sight in my left eye,
Oh oh ,she was right.I had better stop,shoot I forgot what it was now.

That's because you were looking in only one direction, not my fault, you were doing the lookin'
;D

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by mpescatori on 11/24/10 at 09:42:10

A little follow-on reading for you, Mick

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/27/Flag_of_the_British_Army.svg/180px-Flag_of_the_British_Army.svg.png

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Arms_School_Corps

http://www.army.mod.uk/images/corps-badges/badges_small-arms_74x74.jpg

http://www.army.mod.uk/sasc%5Cdefault.aspx

http://www.army.mod.uk/images/central-panel/medals_vets_410.jpg

http://www.army.mod.uk/structure/3745.aspx

:)

Title: Re: Greetings from HOME !
Post by mick on 11/24/10 at 09:48:40

thankyou Sir,
I am going to take my nap now ,will enjoy reading the stuff you posted later. Mick