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  • Blog
  • Italy 2022
    • The process before leaving town...
    • About
    • Annie Hart Cool
  • Life as it appears to me

Cool Annie's Travels

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The Birthday Blues

7/30/2016

2 Comments

 
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Another "August Baby"- a Leo called me last night distraught. Our birthdays both fast approaching and she was blue.

"I don't like getting old, I didn't accomplish what I wanted. This is just not where I thought I'd be at this age."

Such a common soundtrack for anyone as the train to our next trip around the sun starts to chug into that birthday station.

I love this girlfriend. She's beautiful, kind, talented, funny and like most Leo's, she moves about the world like a confident Lioness. But then...there are those blue days... Those days that send her into her dark Lair to take stalk of all that she "isn't".

"Bah Humbug" I say to the the "birthday beat ups". The committee in your head is busy making up stories about you that you ought not trust! The committee is fabricating based on ancient forgotten belief systems. You need to shut that committee down!

It's true! I have regrets!

I regret biology never made me a Mom. Yet, I am a Mother to many.

I regret my body size and shape never matched the speed and fit way I've lived my life.

I regret wasting time. Wasting relationships...wasting opportunity...

But this is not my "Birthday Bash". My time to beat myself up...

Instead I'm taking a page from my friend Dan's birthday book.

He takes his birthday off every year no matter what. (Trial attorney)

He spends most of his day alone.

He writes down 10 Accomplishments for the next year and highlights where he could do better in his daily living next year.

It's his "business plan of life" day. His "off the gerbil wheel" and sit with himself day.

And, because he's had his heart and lungs, knees and hips redone a couple of times...

He always throws in some Gratitudes around "being allowed to be here still".

So here is my birthday challenge to all my magically energized, beautifully enthusiastic, arrogantly confident fellow LEO's...

Ten. Just 10 things you'd like to accomplish during this next year...

My list:

1. Take the time to read at least 2 "fun" novels

2. Make a plan to schedule and afford a "spa" day at least once a quarter.

3. Put 1000 miles on my bike.

4. Get on stage. in a production 4 X next year.

5. Redecorate my house.

6. Take more art classes

7. Spend more alone time with my hubby

8. Bring long weekends back into my life (this is sacrilege if you are a Realtor)

9. Explore more hike and bike trails at least 10 in New England.

10. Reconnect with at least 7 of the people who we always say "let's get together", but time and life get in our way and it just never happens.

I'm so grateful my lovely sad lioness called me yesterday.

She reminds me, to be grateful. She reminds me, that my shoulder is still open for business if you need to cry on it...

But mostly she reminded me of what's important. Friends!
2 Comments
Ginny
8/2/2016 08:14:07 am

Count me in Annie!

Reply
Annie
8/2/2016 08:23:49 am

Awesome, Ginny

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Our Bike and Barge Itinerary!

Day 1: Individual arrival in Mantova


Day 2: Mantova, 21 mi. (35 km)


Day 3: Mantova - Governolo - Zelo, 32 mi. (50 km)

Day 4: Zelo - Ferrara - Adria, 31 mi. by bike + 37 mi. by bus (50 + 60 km)

Day 5: Adria - Po Delta Nature Reserve - Pellestrina Island, 25 mi. (40 km)

Day 6: Pellestrina Island - Venice, 19 mi. (30 km)

Day 7: Venice, free day

Day 8: Venice,
​departure following breakfast
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Mantova is one of the most beautiful towns in Northern Italy as many worldwide know artists have left their masterpieces for us to enjoy, thanks to the famous Gonzaga family! Benvenuti a Mantova!
Day 2: Mantova - round trip tour - 21 mi. (35 km)


This entire day is dedicated to the discovery of this wonderful city and its surroundings, dominated by the wealth and influences left by the Gonzaga family, who owned the city for over 400 years.

Mantova was considered one of the most important cultural cities in the Renaissance and it still maintains a lot of the landscapes and the building that made it famous during that period.

​ In the late afternoon, a local guide will lead you through the most known highlights of the town.

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Day 3: Mantova - Governolo - Zelo, 32 mi. (50 km)

After breakfast, on board, you navigate from the "lakes" of Mantova and cruise through the lush wetlands that lead to Governolo Lock, where Mantova's Mincio River flows into the Po.

​ From here, by bike, you follow the broad sweeps of the levee towards Ostiglia, renowned for its medieval fortress and fierce fighting in 1945, as the Allies drove Hitler's forces back.
Bergantino, home of the distinctive Museum of Fairground Rides and its collection of street organs, all expertly restored (and thunderous!).


This village is also in the heartland of Grana Padano, the arch-rival of Parmesan. A visit to the local cheese factory, sampling some well seasoned Grana, is a must-do.

​You meet the barge in Zelo, a sleepy village on the Canal Bianco, the waterway which runs parallel to the Po.
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Day 4: Zelo - Ferrara - Adria, 31 mi. by bike + 37 mi. by bus (50 km by bike + 60 km by bus)
Following breakfast, you will start cycling towards Ferrara. Once you have reached the town, which earned the name of "city of bicycles", you will be enchanted by the historical center, still surrounded by the old city walls.

​You will enjoy a guided town tour. From Ferrara, a short bus transfer will bring you to Adria, an ancient Greek port, famous for trading amber coming from the Baltic. It's a remarkable museum that also bears witness to its Etruscan, Roman, and Venetian Heritage.
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​Day 5: Adria - Po Delta Nature Reserve - Pellestrina Island, 25 mi. (40 km)
After a short ride on board, you cycle into the delta of the life-giving Po. This unique wetland is the prime reserve in Europe for herons and home to a sizeable colony of flamingos. Weather permitting, as you continue towards Chioggia, you can also enjoy a stop at a beach and a dip in the Adriatic - not forgetting a hot savory piadina! Chioggia is also known as "Little Venice", a colorful fishing hub. The overnight takes place on the island of  Pellestrina, just in front of Chioggia.
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Day 6: Pellestrina Island - Venice, 19 mi. (30 km)
Venice beckons, but first another world altogether: Pellestrina, the first of two islands you traverse today – a humble and tranquil fishing backwater, picturesque as ever with its cottages, boats, and nets. A short island-hop by ferry transfers to Lido. Fashionable in high society ever since the Belle Époque, the Lido di Venezia is now home to the International Venice Film Festival and its galaxy of stars.

​ After rejoining the barge, you will enjoy a leisure cruise in front of St Mark’s square to the final destination. After dinner, you can savor Venice at night, now free of the crowds and at her most romantic: Benvenuti a Venezia!
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Day 7: Venice, guided walking tour and free time
A guided walking tour of Venice begins around 11 am and lasts approximately 1.5 hours. It begins in St. Mark square and continues towards the bigger "sestiere" of the city, Castello.

You will visit Campo Santa Maria Formosa where you can experience a characteristic market and then a city hospital and large gothic church in Campo dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo. Later, you will go to Campo Santa Marina and to the Rialto Bridge. During this tour, the guide will explain these sites from the outside, no entrances are planned. 
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I guess I always knew this… but forgot?

As we prepare to leave on vacation the energy in the house is a mix between excitement and dread. You know the anticipation? The expectation ! And all the things you forgot.

I take a breath and lean in to my suitcase. I don’t know why I fret. The few things I pack can be washed and reworn!

If Covid taught us nothing it taught us sweat pants can last a week if handled carefully! Two weeks in Italy requires comfort clothes and something a little stylish… but wait, I live on Cape Cod!

We have completed most of the requisites. The note to the Dog sitter, the walk about with the gardener, the cleaned out refrigerator… but then it dawns on us…
what about the storage on our phones?

​TONIGHT. Tonight we will be deleting everything. Sorry, but it’s true.
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