Another visit from a friend and a nightmare of an illness.

We have had a busy time since our return from the Netherlands.

Our second day Back Ginda Fisher came over for a visit.  I picked her up from the Chiusi train station and brought her home for supper and a short conversation. The poor girl was exhausted from her travels.  The next morning, George and Antonio took her to get a rental car as the place was closed when I picked here up. 

This visit was a nice one for George and Ginda, but a real horror for me. I picked up strep throat when up north and by this time was wanting nothing more than to stay in bed and be a vegetable.  I did concede and  visited the doctor.  The price of medication here astounds me.  I was taking antibiotics, another pill for the cough and some drops to clear the phlegm and it was only 9 euros! That is simply unheard of in the states.  Sadly, two of the medications did not agree with me, but the bed rest did and I began to get slightly better.

George gave Ginda a tour of the castle, and I prepared dinner for him to put in the oven and headed back to sleep.  (Sorry Ginda).

The next day was not much better for me, but I did manage to give Ginda a tour of the hotel and the Casa di Ghiochi before collapsing back into bed.  She and George spent the afternoon chatting while I recovered a bit more. 

The third day Ginda was on her own and headed to Orvieto for the day.  This is one of my favorite places to send visitors who want to venture further from the castle.  The duomo is amazing, the underground is eye opening.  It's an all around wonderful place to go.  

By the weekend I was feeling a bit better and made a few 'good' meals and as is our usual, we went out to Gallo for dinner.  

I was going to make a Berrocal dinner for her, but was so miserable I simply couldn't.  Have no fear though, she was allowed to solve a few and seemed to enjoy it.  

We also managed to play a game or two of Eurorails and yes, in the last one, Ginda beat me. Well done!

I took Ginda for a ride over to Castiglione del Lago for a tour of their castle.  As usual, I stayed on the ground floor while Ginda climbed the tower.  I'm still terrified of heights, and while the tower is lower there, ours is divided by floors so it is easier for me to get to the top without fear.  

While there, we saw an 'interesting' art exhibition...

Ginda took her leave to head to Germany for an event she had there, and I took back to my bed. This bug was really doing me in.

The next afternoon, Elena took me back to the doctor for yet another round of medication.  It seems all that bed rest wasn't enough and I needed another dose of antibiotics.  By this time I was so miserable, I was taken back home, put into bed and really don't remember the next two days.  

Thankfully, we were guest free for a week and by the time Rod and Merry arrived, all I had was a terrible bark. During that week George and I took off for Perugia to get a new oven for the Casa di Ghiochi and two mirrors for our master bathroom.  I'm sure glad we bought this van.  It has come in very handy over the past 6 months.  

King's Day Party

Two days after Nigel and Steve left, George and I got in the car and headed for the Netherlands again.  We were given yet another invitation to Wil's King's day party and this time we could attend.  No mad rush to get our Permisso in before the deadline like last year.  

On this trip, I learned my lesson.  No more Formula 1 motels for us.  We decided we want a bit more comfort than a jail cell.  

While I am still American, I've embraced the European lifestyle. 5 hours of driving is more than enough for me.  We make it to Como, just North of Milan so we miss the morning traffic when we take off again.  This also allows us to gas up before Switzerland (it's super expensive there) and have a bit of a lie in in the morning. 

This trip was the usual stop, but this time around we decided to head for Heidelberg instead of Baden Baden on the way up.  We found a place called boarding hotel.  This was nice as it had a kitchen and I was able to make a lovely salmon dinner for us.  Ok.  I really chose it because it was next to a Kaufland.  You see, George loves rye bread and it is difficult to find rye flour here so....when in Germany-buy 24 kilos of it.  That will keep us going for a few months.  We should be good until this time next year.  Oh, and they also have caraway seeds which simply do not exist here.  And beer.  good beer.....Ok. So I did a big shop.  And that in itself is rather strange.  I love the Italian food and have really gotten into eating what is readily available and seasonal and grown locally, but some things just don't exist here.  (Thankfully I've gotten past my cup-a-soup phase.)

From here we headed up to the Netherlands. First stop was to pick up a table from Jan Zoon for the Notre Dame puzzle, then off to the hotel for a long nights rest before Wil's party on Sunday.  

Wil's party was great fun.  I enjoyed the company and the puzzles!  I mean have you ever been in his place?  They are everywhere! The eye doesn't know where to look next.  There are just so many things to see.  Each time I come, I'm amazed.  

Will had a good lineup of people and we mostly all moved out to the garden for more chat and puzzling.  Oskar had a big table of his work set up.  Interesting as always.  Otto Hein's daughter was invited and was selling many of her late father's puzzles. The guys all dug through the boxes and purchased many from her.  George and I waited and once the day was over, we made an offer on the rest of the puzzles.  That in itself is a story.  

There was pizza for lunch and cakes upon arrival.  Wil did a good job of hosting.  There was a bit of rain at one point, but it passed quickly and was really only a few drops.  Around 6 I guess, we all headed to a Chinese restaurant for dinner.  What a lovely thing for Wil to take us all out.  I swore off Chinese after leaving HK, but am now getting used to eating it again in small doses.  The Hot and Sour soup I had was amazing!  I'd do that again.  

Before dinner though, we had a huge packing puzzle.  We had to get all of the beer, flour, puzzle, and table into the van.  Oh, and did I mention the two refrigerators that I carry with us? When we left Jan's we just threw the table in and headed out. It was caddywonk in the extreme and none of the puzzles would fit.  George kept saying we would leave the flour and the beer behind.  Over my dead body I say.  So Steve and I took everything out, we put the table in on an angle and low and behold, everything else fit perfectly!  No beer or flour was left behind.

From here we headed to a hotel for the night.  The next morning we had a trip to a clay 3d printing shop with Oskar and José.  What an amazing place that was!

Not only does it print clay, but it is food grade equipment.  It looks like I may be getting a 3d printer of my own in the not so distant future.  

We really were impressed by their set up.  Not only do they make clay items, but they make their own machines!  

Oskar gave them a gift of his puzzle vase and of course it had to be tried.  

After about 2 hours, we had to take our leave as I had a bath with my name on it.  Off to Baden Baden we went.  It was a short 4 hour drive and when we arrived and parked the car, we headed straight for the baths.  This is heaven to me.  Relaxing for 3 hours in the warm waters and saunas and I was out for the night.  

The next day was a trip across the mountains (through a bit of snow flurries) and back to our favorite hotel in Como.  We set up our usual game of Eurorails and were just beginning to play when a lady decided to join us for the game.  It was interesting to say the least.  We spent more time talking than playing and eventually gave it up and went to dinner together.  

The next morning we woke early and headed home.  I had Ginda Fisher coming the next day and needed to get the house set and groceries bought.  It never ends does it? 

Steve and Nigel come for a visit

Steve came to visit with us a while back and while here, we were discussing Nigel who felt left out.  There was a politeness on Steve's side when he didn't invite Nigel without our consent, and a sadness on Nigel's when he wasn't asked to come along. (Hint to all puzzle friends; just drop by.) 

This month we rectified this.  Steve booked a flight and I sent the invitation to Nigel.  Problem solved.  They were on their way.

I picked Steve up at the airport in the morning and took him for a bit of a shop before heading home.  We had lunch then I headed out to pick Nigel up from the train station.  The guys set to work puzzling or something while I got started on dinner.

We had a great week of puzzling, unpacking, and building.  There were a few nights of competition drinking as well, but we won't discuss those. 

The guys all spent some time working on the 3d printers.  George got a few tips and we ended up buying new plates for the Bambu's.  Sadly, the new heat beds didn't come in on time so those didn't get changed out.  

Somewhere along the way we had a Berrocal dinner because, why not? I'll cook and set it up, but someone else has to do the dishes.

We played a few games of Italian rails and while I was teaching Nigel how to play, George and Steve ganged up on me to crowd me out. I don't remember who won, but it wasn't me.  

It was a few days of hard labor for them too.  They spent a bit of time assembling my exchange puzzle, a bit of time unpacking some of the wooden puzzles we have.  And for this I can't thank them enough.  The castle is almost completely finished.  

There are a few glass shelves I need to redo in the mirror room as the first glue we bought was no good and it falls off the mirrors.  

We went to Masolino for dinner this time around as well as Gallo.  Spreading the love around as it were.  We had a breakfast or two in the square and the guys enjoyed a few walks around the town.  

I had Nigel try the trick door to no avail.  

He and Steve had a go at Richelieu.  (Or is it Richie Liu?) Stan Issacs had taken it apart quite a while ago and I couldn't get it back together.  The boys did it with strict instructions to never disassemble it again.  It's had a hard life and it looks like the prior owner took some sort of a saw to it. 

On the penultimate and last night they were here we had a go at the Mega Mansion.  This was just recently uncrated so it was the first time it has been played with.  I love it!  Sadly, we did not finish it, but it is waiting for their return in the fall to be finished up. 

All in all it was a great trip full of laughter and friendship and we look forward to their return.

Until next time...Happy puzzling!