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What I had anticipated as a
nice leisurely Sunday drive a few days ago, taking me from Geneva
Switzerland to the northern most part of Italy, was anything but.
The trip from Hotel Tiffany in Geneva to the airport went smoothly enough.
I caught an early morning tram to the station, a train to the airport, and
then picked up my rental car from Avis. I had reserved the car on
the internet using www.expedia.com while I was in Zurich. Sure
enough, everything was in order when I picked it up. I think it cost
me about 200 dollars a week and a $250 dollar fee to drop it off in Vienna
nearly three weeks later. Once I was all set, I was off on the
highway. The forecast was for rain today, and from the sky, it
certainly looked it. I had to use my intermittent wipers most of the
way, but occasionally had to switch them fully on as the rain would come
down hard at times. The ride of out Geneva went smoothly enough, but
soon I would come to the Alps. The roads became downright dangerous
at times, with cars going very fast on mountain passes and through the
tunnels. At times, I must be
So, I arrived at my nights
location at nearly 5 in the evening, at Hotel Cannero on the
The road back to Foresteria Serego Alghieri was pretty straight forward, as I followed the signs for various little town between Verona and there. All I could think about after that night's experience is what a life I lead. I'm old enough now to accurately gauge my life against that of the average man (or woman) and I know it is anything but average. Fortunate I'd have to say, not lucky though. I, like yourself, are only the accumulation of your life's experiences. I guess you might say I am lucky in the respect of how and where I came into this world. (Cleveland Ohio into a Catholic family of ten) Often, I am asked how I come up with such ideas. In response, I will say that as a child, my parents provided what they could beyond the necessities, but having ten children the necessities were often all that we were given. If we wanted anything else, we had to be creative and find a way to get it. I also greatly attribute my psyche if you will to a series of books I read as a child by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The original book was called "The Great Brain". Now, I 'm not insinuating that I have a great brain mind you, but the book is about a boy growing up in the early 20th century in Utah. He like myself, had to come up with ideas for things he wanted to have or accomplish. Anyway, back to my journal. As you might imagine, Foresteria Serego Alghieri was very quiet when I got back. People had either gone to bed or were out on the town. I went upstairs, finished a journal entry about Geneva, and then went outside for a cigar with some wine. I sat in the courtyard and I must tell you it was stunning! The night was quiet and the stars were bright. After an hour or so, I went upstairs and climbed into bed. I had no alarm clock and there was no one available for a wake up, so I knew I would wake up when I'd wake up.
The next morning, I wouldn't
say I slept in, but I was later in getting up than normal. I needed
the rest. I spent some time after breakfast shooting panoramas and
then taking pictures of the staff.
The next day arrived and I found myself editing my panoramas for my 10:00 presentation at Masi. I arrived there and after showing them the panoramas - care to guess - we negotiated. I told him $350 for all of them, he came back with $300, I then said "and a bottle of wine", he said "done!". He gave me two... I left Verona just after that and headed for the location where I am now - Castel Fragsburg high in the mountains overlooking the town of Merano. All I can say for now about this place is that it is a paradise! Until my next update, take care. PS. I just had to share with you the lovely dinner I had at Castel Fragsburg this evening. The following five pictures are 1., The view from Table; 2. Doris and her boyfriend Tamás who are from Hungary and work here at Castel Fragsburg; 3, 4, 5, 6 are the courses of my dinner. So, until next time, Ciao! 
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It would be impossible to
describe the view that lay before me here in northern Italy as I sit on
the terrace of the Castel Fragsburg (
honest,
I shouldn't have been driving, as I was very tired, and hung-over to boot.
Some of the mountain tunnels hugged the side of the cliffs, open on one
side with pillars that seemed to be endless. I became mis-oriented a
couple of times and even contemplated pausing on the roadside until I felt
more capable of navigating the roads, if more out of concern for those
others on the road than myself. A common site on the side of the
roads in Europe are elaborate memorials where loved ones lost their life
on the road. Most of them are crosses with a corpus on them. 
lakeshore
of Lake Maggiore. ( I think that is the spelling) I had
originally not had a reservation on this night, but sent them an email
after having located them from a book I had, called "The Greatest Places
to Stay in Europe". They had so kindly accepted my request for a
complimentary night in exchange for being listed on my web site and two
panoramas. When I arrived, as with many hotels in Italy, it was
family run, and
the
family was lovely. I met two brothers, a sister and her husband, and
the mother who ran the hotel, quite efficiently I must say. The
night went quite well, with me taking some panoramas and having a nice
dinner on the water front, as well as sharing some stories of my travels.
One of the sons in particular seemed very interested in my "wares" and
talents. He had lots of questions. One thing I didn't expect
about this part of Italy and will not forget in the future, is to bring my
own cigars. They don't seem to smoke finer cigars here, or perhaps
they can't afford them, so I ended up being given a couple that had been
sitting out of a humidor for quite some time. I must be honest in
telling you that once was a pleasure, has become a terrible addiction for
me. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy them, but I get "cravings"
for them now, and that is not good. I will quite cold turkey when I
get back! Promise. So the evening at Hotel Cannero came and
went. I slept well even though it was quite warm out. My internal
alarm woke me at six and I got right up so I could take advantage of the
dawn light, rising over the nearly hills. I took several panoramas
and walked up the hill for some shots of the village from up high. I
returned for a nice breakfast and then had a panic attack as I had mis-placed
my camera bag. You should of seen me running the village scolding
myself as I did. How could I lose such a precious thing? I
finally found it sitting near my car in lot some three or four blocks from
the hotel. Damn I thought, someone up there is watching over me.
I
got back to the hotel and the one son had arrived and wanted to take me
out on the boat for some shots of the hotel from the lake. I had to laugh
(if only to myself) when we got the harbor and he pointed proudly to a
little "dingy" with oars and said, "That is the boat!" I only hoped
he didn't intend to row me out too far, or did he expect me to row?
Just kidding. So out we went, and quite quickly I must say. I
took the pictures I needed and then just had to take one of him, if only
to share with you. It was a great experience. After ashore, I
got a taste of what I could expect from the Italians I would be dealing
with over the next few days - bargain. It seems that Italians like
to negotiate any price I might give them for my services. Seeing as
this trip is not really about making a buck, I really didn't care. I
left about noon feeling very good about my visit and hope that I will be
invited back one day. 
With
my departure from Hotel Cannero, came the arrival at my next stop - Villa
Ca' Vettor ( 
Within
an hour of leaving Ca' Vettor, I arrived at the
I
met with Mirko and we discussed some panoramas we could take. One on
the castle, one in the harbor, one on the terrace, etc., etc... The
shooting went very well and soon we had nearly ten panoramas.
Once
inside, I was greeted by a man whose name I think was "Blume" or something
like it. He remembered me from last year also and was very glad to
see me. He carried my bags in, past the resident German Shepard who
seemed as tame as could be, living the good life one might say. I
went to the desk and Stefania was so cheerful and glad to see me.
Also at the desk, was a guy named Simon who worked in the wine shop on the
estate. He was in his late twenties, perhaps early thirties and
looked like a typical Italian you would describe if asked to do so.
We chatted briefly and then I went to my room, number 5 I believe.
Once there, it was such a
nice
apartment, complete with a living area, a kitchen, bath, and a sitting
area. It was perfect! I settled in and then started to make a
Van Morrison CD for Stefania as I thought she might like it. Blume
located a box of Cubans for me and told me to help myself. I
showered and then decided to go to the city of Verona. As mentioned
earlier, I got lost once I got there and stopped to ask a guy who turned
out to be a marble factory worker. He saw I
was
somewhat distraught, as I wanted to get in and out of Verona that night,
there only for dinner and to buy some real cigars. He ended up in my
car, and to make a very long story short, we wandered the streets of
Verona together, smoking Cubans before having dinner. He understood
most of what I said, especially that since he was smoking his first ever
cigar, that he was a "big man" today. He would reply, "No, you're
the big man!", and back and forth we'd go. Finally he conceded and
acknowledged he was the big man and I asked if his wife would think so
later that night? "Tomorrow I will be the little man again" he would
say now and then. We had a great dinner and then on the way out of
the city to the road
which would take me to the hotel, and where he would
depart my company, it happened. The police pulled us over as we
looked suspicious. While one ran a check on my license and conversed
in Italian with my temporary travel partner, the other checked my car,
unpacking all of my luggage, item by item. At one point, he lifted
the 16 year old bottle of un-opened scotch out of my bag, held it up and
winked at me giving me a nod of approval. He did spend some time
looking at the mini-detergent packages of tide which had disintegrated
into a powder by now. When everything checked out, they let us go.
Then, the Egyptian got me to the road out of town and we said goodbye, me
putting 10 Euros in his hand, knowing it should of been at least $20.
The
two girls, Stefania and Claudia were so very happy to oblige a photo shoot
in the garden. "The Count is gone they said, so it is no problem!"
We had a lot of fun taking pictures and when finished, I put them on a CD
for them. They loved them. As I was readying myself for
departing the hotel, about one I think, I was in the lobby showing the
panoramas to the girls. A man named Dott. Sandro Boscaini was there
who seemed interested, and after seeing the panoramas, he said "Mr. Hall,
you must come back to my winery, only 200 meters away and shoot the
cellars. It is one of the biggest and best wineries in all of
Italy." How could I refuse I thought. So down the road we
drove, me behind his Alfa Romeo to the winery called
Now as luck would have it, a young
girl from Verona named Manuela was "assigned" to escort me. All I
can say about her was she was gorgeous, and interestingly enough, spoke
perfect English as she had majored in languages. Her English was
spoken with a distinct British accent though, making it sound even more
pleasant. We must of spent two hours together, carrying my equipment
from cellar to cellar. I told her the more shots I took, the more
money I'd make. Poor girl, I must of talked her ears off, asking her
questions and telling her stories. When we finally finished, I had
taken nearly 70 pictures and 14 panoramas. When we got back to the
offices, it was late and most of the staff, including Dott. Boscaini had
gone home. Now, that meant I'd have to find a hotel nearby, which as
luck would have it, turned out to be the best thing that could of
happened. I went back to the
Also, I
stopped in the wine shop to see Simon and he offered to tour Verona with
me that night. I couldn't believe it I thought, as I had been
saddened seeing how beautiful Verona was the night before and not having a
chance to go into the city for an extended visit. And that is what
Simon and I did. He came to the hotel and I followed him nearly ten
miles into Verona and we left our cars there and walked into the city
after going up to a high hill overlooking the city. From up there,
we took some fantastic shots, of the city and of each other. At one
point I told him that he looked like a typical Italian, bald shiny head an
all. He laughed and agreed. The next several hours were
fantastic. Simon lived in Verona and we walked the street like we
owned them. He kept telling women I was a big American photographer and I
wanted to take their picture. It never worked, but such was life.
I did get one marriage proposal at a cafe we stopped at for a beer though.
Long about ten o'clock, we went to a pizzeria I was told was the best in
Verona.
There we had one the best pizza I have had on all my travels
to Italy. Perhaps because it was almost like an American pizza, with
thicker crust than normal. We had chance to clown around and take a
picture behind the counter, putting the pizza in the oven. We also
had a lot of fun with the waitress, who was from Romania. She was so
very pleasant to chat with, and quite attractive as well. "I'm going
to Romania" Simon said at one point referencing her beauty. As our
pizza arrived at the table, an apparently famous football player arrived
for dinner. A black man of Brazilian origin, he was Verona's best
football player, earning 2,000,000 lire a year. You wouldn't of
known it by looking at him though. He looked like your typical "joe".
Our night ended after dinner and we helped some lost British girls to
their hotel. Simon was trying to scam one of them that had "large"
breast which he said is the best part of a woman.
We carried their
luggage and they all laughed when I said, "See girls, the Italian man
takes the bag with the wheels, and I, the American, the one that must be
carried." We said goodnight to the girls and found our way back to
our cars. We said goodnight and I told Simon how much I appreciated
his company. As I drove off into the Italian countryside, I felt as
if I had just made not only a new friend, but a great one at that.
Simon, if you ever find yourself to this journal, all I can say it you are
the best!