I desperately needed a vacation and this certainly gave me a battery recharge. So it started in late June with a group of family members.
In total it was four countries to visit in roughly three weeks.
Barcelona
Being unfamiliar with Barcelona, I booked a place that appeared to be a good setup for our group with all of the many factors that one has to take into consideration.
Being a soccer fan, I wanted to make sure I got to see the Camp Nou, one of the most icon sports stadiums in the world.
So I found a place in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat. The cab driver told me right away that this wasn’t the area that the tourists stayed in. That area was 15-20 minutes away by car. Cab rides fortunately were not as expensive as I thought.
But less than one block away was a bakery that was on level with Portos that we have in Burbank and Glendale and there wasn’t a line out the door and the prices were so inexpensive. We ate dinner in a few fantastic places in Barcelona. The tapas were outstanding. The freshness of the food really stands out.
As I found out, the area in L’Hospitalet was very nice and the accommodation was fine. We were across from a fenced in park of basketball courts and there were an awful lot of kids, both boys and girls, who were mostly middle school aged kids. I remember thinking in my head that these are exactly the kind of kids that our local coaches would be glad to have.
I had yet to see Barcelona’s stadium on the morning we were to leave the townhome we were staying in. So I walked to Barcelona’s New Camp – a 30-minute trek uphill. I knew I would only have a few minutes. I had no time to go inside the venue, which is under construction and I got there about 15-20 minutes before the team store at the stadium opened at 10 a.m. and saw lots of teenage American kids there as part of a group. Once it opened I quickly went through the three-story store and grabbed a few things before heading
Cruise
The ship went on a 7-day tour of the Western Mediterranean.
The first port stop was Valencia. I didn’t know what to expect. The bus dropped us off in an area that was known as the city center and it turned out to be fantastic. There were lots of beautiful buildings, places to shop, churches, beautiful statues and great food along the way. I even got a glimpse of a baseball game on the way back to the bus. Valencia is definitely a great city to see as it is often overshadowed by the larger Barcelona.
Following the stop in Valencia, the cruise brought us to the famous party island of Ibiza. We arrived on a Monday and there was a significant shortage of taxis. We had to wait more than hour to finally get on. We got to go a local beach and the water was very warm compared to what we are used to. It was a nice place, but not as great as it was hyped up to be. It is generally frequented by many of the current and retired international soccer stars and the cab driver confirmed that many of the former Real Madrid and Barcelona greats have homes there.
After spending 4th of July at sea, I woke up on the 5th not feeling well at all. I sensed that I had a fever and almost didn’t get off the ship to go to Portofino. But traveling half of the world away to not get off the boat to see one of the most iconic areas of Italy, I somehow got myself to go. Right away I ran into the beach front “Puny Ristorante”, which Los Angeles Lakers icon Magic Johnson has claimed on social media as being his favorite place to eat in the world.
Portofino is a tiny village and we quickly took a bus to neighboring Santa Margherita Ligure, which is also spectacular. Not long after, I realized I wasn’t feeling well and decided to take the bus back to Portofino. It was a short experience, but at least I satisfied my goal of saying that I was there.
The next day on the ship we back tracked to France’s Ajaccio on the island of Corsica. Ajaccio is a beautiful place. I was still recovering from the previous day. But I managed to get off the ship and walk around the town by about 30 minutes before deciding to go back. I knew the following day was the Cinqueterre of Italy and that was requires lots of walking and I didn’t want to wear myself out.
Fortunately, I made great strides on Friday and was able to make it to Cinque Terre, which is five tiny towns that are all close by and connected by a train in case one does not want to try walking in between each one, which are connected by a walking path.
We essentially saw four of the five towns and each one is small, beautiful, up on a hill and overlooking the ocean below.
The cruise ended the following day and we spent two days in Rome afterwards.
Rome
On Sunday we came to understand that the Pope Francis would be speaking to a crowd, so we walked to the Vatican and were able to see him for about 15 minutes. We had also made arrangements to meet up with my father’s cousin, who lives in the area. We found my dad’s cousin and his son and went to get a bite to eat with them afterwards. We spent a few hours talking with them and in talking with my second cousin whom I was meeting for the first time, I go to find out that his wife has a cousin who lives in Los Angeles and it someone that I know.
What a small world.
Sicily
On Monday July 8 the vacation continued to Sicily, where my parents’ were born.
We spent some great time with family and visited Mt. Etna, which is just a 25 minute drive up the street from the home of our relatives. There are spectacular views from the volcano that overlooks much of Eastern Sicily.
On Thursday night we visited 7+ restaurant, owned by Luciano Carciotto, who had won a contest in Las Vegas in 2017 for being the best pizza maker in the world. His winning pizza is far different than anything one would imagine for ingredients. The great appetizers and the fact that I went for the rich burrata ball first was a mistake. It made it too difficult to finish. But it was an excellent pizza. We met Carciotto, as we had in Los Angeles in 2019. The good news is that he plans to open restaurants in the United States.
But it certainly was interesting that he told me amongst his work in Los Angeles was working at the home of a well-known Toluca Lake actor.
Our trip continued to the shore of the town of Giardini-Naxos, which is adjacent to the famous resort town of Taormina. There it was more of the same, great food, great beaches, great walking. One day we took a boat tour ride around the area and were able to see the yacht of Houston Rockets owner Tillman Fertitta. It had been reported that he was in the area on social media and his yacht has not hard to miss with a Rockets logo flag as well as the state of Texas flag both very visible.
One day at the beach my dad starts conversing with someone else sitting nearby. I got into the conversation and the guy said he too was a sports fan and he tells me he follows basketball in Italy. So I asked him if he remembered a championship about 15 to 20 years earlier when a 3-point basket was scored at the buzzer and the referees had to go look at instant replay to decide whether or not it beat the buzzer. He said he remembered the play and I asked if he remembered the player who threw up the shot and he said ‘Ruben Douglas’. I told him that I had known Ruben since he was 15 years old at Bellarmine-Jefferson High and wrote many stories on him.
Germany
The journey ended by going up to Germany for one day to see an elderly relative. The cathedral of Koln was absolutely incredible and is a must see.
Trip Home
Our luggage almost got lost, but thanks to the great staff at London Heathrow and the crew with United Airlines, the journey home was a smooth one. If you plan to travel, English is now widely spoken and or at least understood in many parts of Europe, so the language barrier isn’t as much of a barrier as it may have once been.
