{"id":923,"date":"2015-04-24T13:24:56","date_gmt":"2015-04-24T13:24:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/travelwithus.us\/?p=923"},"modified":"2015-04-25T08:56:40","modified_gmt":"2015-04-25T08:56:40","slug":"we-made-it-or-here-we-are-in-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travelwithus.us\/?p=923","title":{"rendered":"We made it! Or, here we are in Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_925\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-925\" style=\"width: 182px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/travelwithus.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/1429875906779.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-925\" src=\"http:\/\/travelwithus.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/1429875906779-182x300.jpg\" alt=\"Santa Margherita\" width=\"182\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/travelwithus.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/1429875906779-182x300.jpg 182w, https:\/\/travelwithus.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/1429875906779-623x1024.jpg 623w, https:\/\/travelwithus.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/1429875906779.jpg 720w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 182px) 100vw, 182px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-925\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">View from our balcony<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Well, after several plane, train, and car rides, here we are in <a title=\"Santa Margherita\" href=\"http:\/\/www.tripadvisor.com\/Tourism-g187827-Santa_Margherita_Ligure_Italian_Riviera_Liguria-Vacations.html\" target=\"_blank\">Santa Margherita<\/a>! It is beautiful here. We are at the <a title=\"Grand Hotel Miramare\" href=\"http:\/\/www.grandhotelmiramare.it\/\" target=\"_blank\">Grand Hotel Miramare<\/a> for a 5 night stay with Lis&#8217; dad and stepmom, with whom we had lunch today, and with whom we will walk in to town for dinner in about an hour.<\/p>\n<p>Lis is working on some blog posts cataloging some of our transit misadventures, and I don&#8217;t have it in me after all of our traveling to do much but post this picture. I will say that one of my favorite things so far, is that we were able to converse a bit with the driver who brought us from the Genoa airport, and who spoke minimal English. This, because we&#8217;ve been diligently practicing our Italian, via the <a title=\"Pimsleur Italian\" href=\"http:\/\/www.pimsleur.com\/learn-italian\" target=\"_blank\">Pimsleur<\/a> CD&#8217;s we checked out from the library, and our <a title=\"Duolingo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.duolingo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Duolingo<\/a> Android app. So Lis was able to thank him for waiting for us (we needed to stop to get Euros), and he said something to the effect of &#8220;Oh, at the airport you always have to wait,&#8221; and <em>I understood him!<\/em> I couldn&#8217;t really say anything but &#8220;Ah, si&#8221; in response, but I understood. Later, when the traffic was heavy, I said &#8220;molte macchine&#8221; (many cars), and he said, &#8220;Si, multe, multe&#8221; and then talked about how bad the traffic is, especially on the weekends. He interspersed this with the occasional English word, so I was able to follow most of it, I think. Very cool.<\/p>\n<p>Addendum: We just walked in to town (not for dinner, as said above, as dinner won&#8217;t be until 7:30pm, now that we&#8217;re in Europe), and conducted a transaction in a hardware store, where I asked &#8220;How much&#8221; in Italian, and, again, understood the answer! So exciting. But, the item I purchased, duct tape, wasn&#8217;t duct tape at all, which I didn&#8217;t know because I couldn&#8217;t read the Italian on the packaging. So, can&#8217;t win &#8217;em all, I guess.<\/p>\n<p>(The duct tape is to fix a tear in my <a title=\"travel vest\" href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/AyeGear-Mens-Pocket-Travel-Pockets\/dp\/B00ENHV9RY\" target=\"_blank\">AyeGear 23 pocket travel vest<\/a>, which I still love with all my heart despite the great rent in the back panel)<\/p>\n<p>Addendum #2: <a title=\"Santa Margherita Ligure\" href=\"http:\/\/1drv.ms\/1HCceVy\" target=\"_blank\">Some pics<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_923\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"923\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"chart-bar\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-chart-bar fa-w-16 fa-2x\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M396.8 352h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V108.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v230.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm-192 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V140.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v198.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm96 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V204.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v134.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zM496 400H48V80c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16H16C7.16 64 0 71.16 0 80v336c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h464c8.84 0 16-7.16 16-16v-16c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16zm-387.2-48h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8v-70.4c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v70.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8z\" class=\"\"><\/path><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"https:\/\/travelwithus.us\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Well, after several plane, train, and car rides, here we are in Santa Margherita! It is beautiful here. We are at the Grand Hotel Miramare for a 5 night stay with Lis&#8217; dad and stepmom, with whom we had lunch today, and with whom we will walk in to town for dinner in about an &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/travelwithus.us\/?p=923\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">We made it! Or, here we are in Italy<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_923\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"923\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"chart-bar\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-chart-bar fa-w-16 fa-2x\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M396.8 352h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V108.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v230.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm-192 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V140.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v198.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm96 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V204.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v134.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zM496 400H48V80c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16H16C7.16 64 0 71.16 0 80v336c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h464c8.84 0 16-7.16 16-16v-16c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16zm-387.2-48h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8v-70.4c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v70.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8z\" class=\"\"><\/path><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"https:\/\/travelwithus.us\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,3,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-april-2015-italy-england-qm2","category-everything","category-vacation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelwithus.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelwithus.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelwithus.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelwithus.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelwithus.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=923"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/travelwithus.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":935,"href":"https:\/\/travelwithus.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923\/revisions\/935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelwithus.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelwithus.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelwithus.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}