Tag: travel

Culture Shock

by midgeguerrera, posted in Any Day in Pontelandolfo

Oh no, has it really been more than a month since I shared my adventures with you? Were you thinking “she must be off doing something magical.” “Maybe she is checking out the new murals in Pompeii.”

Sigh, I am staring blankly out the window clutching my wallet to my chest. We flew back to New Jersey at the end of January and ran smack into the big bad brick wall of culture shock.

cul·ture shock (Definition from Oxford Languages)

  1. the feeling of disorientation experienced by someone who is suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes.

WHAT! WHAT! NOOOOO!

How much???? NO! NOT THAT MUCH! HEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLP!

HOW LONG? Where am I?????

“Jack,” I queried, “Did I become mean looking or just old and nasty? Unless I say good morning first, everyone passing us is ignoring us.” The ever logical Jack replied, ” No one in Ewing knows your name. Most people are just getting on with their lives. Not everything is about you. We aren’t in Pontelandolfo anymore.”

I really miss the cultural and personal connection that comes from a bunch of people knowing my name and hearing “ciao Midge.” Even if everyone in the pharmacy is a stranger they’ll say Buon giorno to each other. Simple welcoming phrases can put on smile on a lonely person’s face and pull me out of my doldrums.

We love to eat out and don’t need an occasion. Just the joy of – what BS – OK, at this point in my life I’d rather be creating and writing than cooking. So we do eat out a lot. Lunch every day In Pontelandolfo, home cooked with love at Bar Elimar or Ponte Simone cost me about $20 for the two of us. Often less. Out to lunch in NJ my hand trembled when I signed the credit card for a cheap two roll lunch with miso soup at a substandard sushi restaurant that cost $50 for two people. Don’t get me started about the cost of bad coffee in a cookie cutter coffee place.

I miss starting my day with a trip to Cafè Style, chatting with the owner and having him make a perfect super hot, low on foam cappuccino.

“Un euro per favore.” Yup, one euro for a perfect coffee. Since the euro and dollar are almost par you can see why I shudder at the $3.50 to $5.00 almost OK tasting cappuccinos to be found near our condo. Stop, asking If I want whipped cream! Ugggg.

And what is this “there is a 3.5% surcharge if you use a credit card?” Talk about declassè. Dear restaurant and store owner, It is the cost of doing business, raise your prices to cover the cost. Or, as the evil kid in my brain thought, are they just doing the surcharge thing to grow their profit margin and the prices already cover the surcharge. Seriously, is this just a New Jersey thing or is it happening everywhere?

I will admit if the amount I’m spending in Pontelandolfo is less than 40 or 50 euro, I pay in cash. They don’t do the up-charge but I am guessing that a fee must be there.

Don’t get me started on medical issues. Knowing the early bird gets the appointment, I started calling the doctors we wanted to see in early December. My thought was we would be able to see the doctors we have loved for years the first week we were back. Not! Calling in early December meant seeing specialists at the end of February. And all of these frustrating gate-keepers! I had a million questions about Jack’s new Italian pacemaker that obviously wouldn’t get answered until we were in the office. Using WhatsApp, I am able to communicate directly with our Italian specialists. Doctors who actually respond themselves within a day. Sigh… We are only here for a few months so I will suck it up.

“Your co-pay maam for the anticoagulant that your exceptional cardiologists in two countries feel is important to keep you from stroking out is only $500 a month.” You laugh! That is true. Being an inquisitive patient advocate, before we left Italy, I had called my New Jersey pharmacy and my medicare part D insurance provider asking what the anticoagulant pills would cost me a month. After laughing out loud and then cursing out loud, I went to my Italian pharmacy and bought retail the three months worth of pills I needed for my stay in NJ for – drum roll please – 96 euros a month or about 100 dollars a month. Other brands that our USA chums were prescribed would still cost me over $200 a month. In Italy, my universal healthcare system knows not taking the drug could kill me, therefore, like Jack’s diabetes medicine, it has no co-pay.

YES I WILL STOP WHINING! There I feel so much better just getting that last whine out of my system. You all, my delightful readers, are like extended family. And as you know, only our family ever sees us whine. (Ha ha ha.) Thank you. Grazie.

All that bitching out of my system, it is important that you know that we reallydo like being back in New Jersey. I get to see people I adore, eat food from lots of different cultures, ramble through our lovely condo building for instantaneous cocktail hours and easily enjoy lots of urban culture.

Speaking of culture – who is ready to visit Pontelandolfo in 2025?

Click here to find about both our Cooking and WRiting Programs.

Thanks for listening. I promise no more whining. Talk again soon.

Ci Vediamo

Midge

Happy Holidays from the Sannio Hills

by midgeguerrera, posted in Any Day in Pontelandolfo

This year we are celebrating the holidays in the Sannio Hills of Southern Italy. The house is ablaze with lights. Thanks to our talented landlord, there is even a 20 foot tall Italian flag that seems to billow in the breeze. Inside, with the pellet fire roaring and a single malt to sip, I’ve been ensconced in a comfy chair binge reading a series by Carlen O’Connor. The books set in a small Irish village made me realize that village life, wherever your village is, has a similarity. People taking care of each other. Holiday events filling calendars. Decorations making every village even more beautiful. Scents of baking, prepping and bubbling fill kitchens. The shops are stocked with “must have” new goods and their instagram feeds are bursting with photos. We are blessed to live in such a village.

Is everything perfect? Nah. That charming roaring pellet fire is our boiler. That means freezing or filling the pellet stove with 30 pound bags of pellets, cleaning the pellet stove and dragging the ash vacuum outside to empty; cursing at the error 12 on the freakin’ pellet stove; searching for that wool sweater that we (Jack) swore he left here; and of course seeing mountains of baccalà in every market and enough delectable sweets to keep me lying on the couch binging holiday movies for weeks. Sounds terrible – not! Yes, there is snow on the mountain peaks. Yes, the wind is whipping in the Sannio Hills. Yes, our cheeks are rosy. AND YES this little village is full of happiness, good cheer and enriching our lives.

Village life and Pontelandolfese have warmed my soul. Nicola makes sure the too heavy for me to even drag bags of pellets are near our door. Lina arrived with enough homemade pasta for me to freeze for Christmas Day. Adele dropped everything when I had a WHOA was that an earthquake vertigo attack and quickly got me into see a specialist. Our car was in the shop for 7 days – don’t ask. Alessio has turned his free time into “drive Midge wherever she needs to go time.” Other people hearing through the village network that our car was on the fritz, offered to drag our butts wherever we needed to be.

Starting with the December 8th lighting of the Christmas lights in Piazza Roma, we have been out and about enjoying the season. Pontelandolfo, as I’ve bellowed from the rooftops before, is full of creative and energetic folks who produce events, art, and cultural happenings. Check out the calendar –

This holiday season enjoy your village, wherever you are. Spread the good cheer, love and peace that warms the hearts of others. Buon Natale! Buona Feste!

Midge

PS. La Befana arrives during epiphany bringing candy or coal to Italian Children throughout the world. Take a peek at the play I wrote. It is available through Next Stage Press. Mamma Mia, La Befana??!!

PPS. Did I mention the lights? Enjoy –

Riohana – Morcone’s Cocktail House

by midgeguerrera, posted in Any Day in Pontelandolfo, Food - Eating In and Out!

It was hard to imagine we were in the medieval village next door to Pontelandolfo. Riohana Cocktail House, is a hip bar with a Manhatten vibe. What exactly makes this a cool place? Could it be the drink menu designed by an ace mixologist; the laid back jungle atmosphere replete with couches, cozy tables both indoors and out; an outrageous bar menu; and gastropub fare that goes way beyond the mundane? With two out of town guests, Jack and I put on our party clothes and drove to Morcone to find out.

Ever curious, we wondered what the two story building balancing on a mountain ledge had been. A blacksmith’s shop was the answer. Hmm, I thought, a walled in outdoor terrace with a metal gate to the street – corral? Did horses head to a watering trough neighing about their new shoes? We never did find the answer. We did find an adult watering trough that made us whinny with delight.

Mattia Cioccia is the bartender/manager and creative force behind the Riohana Cocktail House. He is also the reason we went. I first met Mattia years ago when he was a bartender at Pontelandolfo’s Landulphi pub and restaurant. We bonded when I made him laugh by reminding him in barely there Italian that I was an American woman and could handle a double pour of vodka, gin, scotch etc. Mattia is a first rate mixologist and has a delightful personality. His bar menu at Riohana had enticing names like –

Since gin is one of my go to beverages, I felt compelled to try “Ant-Ree.” Floating on top was a toasted mini mandarin slice. I could picture the ants marching along carrying their citrus find. It was delicious. So delicious that – no I will not reveal how many adult beverages I can consume and still wend my way home on mountain goat paths. Each of us had a different drink. Each drink was unique and perfectly blended. Mattia knows his stuff.

The kitchen didn’t disappoint us either. We started with the €3 each “Tagliere/aperitivo.” Snacks to accompany our cocktails that were interesting. Don’t tell Jack that the open faced tramezzini he gulped down was made with pickled eggplant. After another drink or three we realized that ordering something heartier might be appropriate. They have essentially a hot sandwich, panini, menu.

The green beverage you see in the background is a gin and basil drink. I’ve had it before and think I also had one that night. Gulp. Back to the sandwiches. We each got a sandwich cut in four parts. Swapping and tasting was the idea, my Alpi e Appennini was so scrumptious that I cried when I shared. Great tasting, fresh ingredients made each one exceptional.

The best news? Jack and I after an enjoyable night out in Morcone spent only €36. Are you all starting to understand why we love spending time in the Sannio Hills? Great stuff and prices we can afford. We will return to Riohana Cocktail House.

Ci Vediamo!

Midge

FOODIES TAKE NOTICE

The time is now to organize your pals to come and Cook in the Kitchens of Pontelandolfo! We are setting up 2025 spring and summer’s programs now.
Email me at info@nonnamulberrytree.com

thre is no better way to start cooking than with a bar crawl! Cook, Eat, Laugh!

Is it Mountain Air or Genetic?

by midgeguerrera, posted in Any Day in Pontelandolfo

I know, I know you have heard it before but it is true -seriously – it is true. Something here in Pontelandolfo activates creative woo woo and the arts – especially literary arts burst forth with abandon. Yes, of course I have another case in point – Carlo Perugini.

I first met Carlo at a Club di Libro di Pontelandolfo meeting. The book club members were part of the villages intelligenza. For me, reading the books and listening to the discussion was like an Italian language seminar. Carlo was not only an articulate participant but he also threw great parties – literary themed of course.

Discovering that Carlo was an author, I ordered one of his books. Scarpittopoli: Pontelandolfo: persone, personaggi e storie del tempo che fu a collection of short stories/fables located in my favorite village.

What fun, laugh out loud fun, at the antics of long ago villagers. Those of you who follow me, know that I’ve been studying Italian for a pazillion years. Carlo’s book was the perfect companion to those studies. The stories were interesting, pulled me in and written in such a way that even I could enjoy every – well almost – every word. After that, I was hooked on the canon of Carlo Perugini. HEY Italian teachers – consider his books!

Carlo’s love for Pontelandolfo’s past is evident in his first book, “AUGUST 1861 MEMORIES OF THOSE DAYS.” You have heard me prattle on before about the rape, pillage and burning of our village by the Italian army. Genocide is not fun.

Carlo’s work personalizes that horrific event. During those dark days, someone kept a graphic diary and hid it in the ceiling . A contractor pal renovating that ancient house found the diary and gave it to Carlo. The book first published in 1989 was a resounding success. It is in its third edition today and liberally quoted, mentioned and listed in the bibliographies of other books about the conquering of Southern Italy.

Nessun altro si salverà!: L’affondamento del cacciatorpediere Scirocco nel ricordo del Sergente Nocchiere Michele Perugini – a long title but a gripping memoiresque book. (“No One Else will be Saved.”) It is the tale of Carlo’s father, Michele, who joined the Italian Navy during World War II and was the only survivor of a horrific loss of a ship. The opening chapters – so reminiscent of the stories my nonna told – were so gripping I poured two fingers of scotch and settled down to finish the book in a marathon sitting.

La Ruzzola del Formaggio e altri Racconti is another collection of short stories. I am a sucker for these tales and giggled out loud while reading some of them. The title story reveals the passion Pontelandolfese have for “rolling the cheese.” Everyone who comes to Pontelandolfo and has a chance to see this sport can’t believe that enormous wheels of cheese – big enough to break your leg if it hits you – are careening down our streets amid cheers and curses. Our last group of Cooking in the Kitchens of Pontelandolfo participants had a fun filled afternoon rolling the cheese with our local Ruzzola champion.

His list of published works goes on but Carlo Perugini is more than a collection of books. He is also an environmentalist/activist member of Italia Nostra. He is committed to environmental protection. I’ve written about how the Sannio Hills are being inundated with wind turbines while windless Tuscany has none. Carlo is part of the group leading the charge to protect the hills around Pontelandolfo.

He is also a director of the World Wildlife Fund Oasi Di Campolatara and can been seen with school children explaining the pollination process and need for bees. I asked if he kept bees. Of course he does! He is a beekeeper and makes honey. In the spirit of transparency I must tell you he gave me a jar. It was scrumptious.

Besides bees, at Carlos home one can find miniature goats. He actually raises miniature goats. I haven’t asked if he makes goat cheese – that would be too pushy. Though I do love fresh goat cheese.

He has been lobbying for the inclusion of Pontelandolfo and Morcone in the Parco Nazionale del Matese. That inclusion would provide a plethora of benefits for our community. .

Protecting the environment requires understanding the media and how to make a voice heard. Carlo is also a contributor to the newspaper, La Cittadella. The articles are often reprinted and posted.

This incredible author, activist and genuinely nice guy spent his working years as a nuclear engineer. He worked all over the world. India, China, South Korea are just a few of the stops. Clocks in his office have times set for Roma and Seoul. (No he doesn’t glow from nuclear waste only from environmental passion and creativity.)

According to Carl, ” I have been an engineer for all my life and I had the opportunity, for work, to travel all over the world. I have always regarded this as a fantastic experience. Living away from the house where I was born for long periods, I suffered from nostalgia for my small native village in the Matese mountains. So I started writing stories of my village to feel closer to my people.”

We are so glad he did. Carlo Perugini is an incredible example of how the mountain air or our Pontelandolfese DNA has developed an avalanche of artistic citizens.

Ci Vediamo

Midge Guerrera

You too can breathe in our mountain air! Our team is setting up writing and cooking programs now for 2025. Email me at info@nonnasmulberrytree.com for exciting information.

Playwrights Come to Pontelandolfo

by midgeguerrera, posted in Any Day in Pontelandolfo

Write Where You Are, a non profit committed to providing playwrights with a variety of opportunities, is sponsoring its first Playwright’s Retreat! Administrative Director, Jonathan Samarro, has been working with a group of Pontelandolfese – gulp, that includes me – on creating the perfect October 14th to the 23rd, 2025 experience.

Write Where You Are 2024: Pontelandolfo offers playwrights the space, time, and community needed to move forward in their work.  The Italian landscape and village life are a great catalyst for creativity.  In addition to providing time for ones own daily writing, they’ll offer activities to inspire you, from master classes in playwriting, to a stimulating array of cultural events and opportunities to socialize with fellow writers as well as local people.   This is your time to nurture your work.

Write Where You Are – Pontelandolfo participants will share large double rooms in La Locanda della Presuntuosa, a large villa on acres of land.

Pontelandolfo’s cobblestone streets take you to a castle tower, cafés, ancient Roman churches and miniature works of art hidden within an area steeped in history and culture where the main plaza is still the center of town life and lore.

The retreat is only open to eight people. ONE SPOT REMAINS! Playwrights who participate in other Write Where You Are experiences signed up quickly. Interested in that one last spot? Contact Jonathan for more information – jonathanjsamarro@gmail.com.

INCLUDED HIGHLIGHTS: October 14 – 23, 2024

  • Transportation from the Benevento Train Station to Pontelandolfo
  • 10 nights a villa near the historic center of Pontelandolfo. 
  • Most meals are included, either out or cooked by our host/cook. Vegetarians can be accommodated.
  • Arrival Day Bar Crawl will help you know the town and for them to meet you.
  • Local Sourced Food Lunch at Agriturismo Borgo Cerquelle
  • Master Classes with Rosemary McLaughlin, director of the Playwriting Program at Drew University.
  • English Speaking Translator for all Italian centered events.
  • Daily opportunity for participants to share work.
  • Opportunity to meet and talk to Italian theater professionals. (https://solot.it/chi-siamo/)
  • Wine and artesian food tasting at a local vintner.
  • Excursion to Altilia Roman Ruins
  • Traditions of Historical Pontelandolfo – hunt for family crests and learn to roll cheese, la ruzzola. Cheese rolling is a sport that is now recognized and goes back centuries.
  • Excursion to Benevento – museum, Teatro Romano, Hortus Conclusus and explore historic center.
  • Optional Excursion to Reggio Caserta. Tickets are currently €15.
  • Wood-fired pizza made high in the Sannio hills in a centuries old oven.
  • Transportation to all workshops and events.

Ci vediam a presto!

Midge

Longing for a trip to Italy but are doing a staycation? Sip a Prosecco and read my humorous travel memoir, Cars, Castles, Cows and Chaos. Published by Read Furiously.

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Boom, Bang, Ouch and GRAZIE A TUTTI

by midgeguerrera, posted in Any Day in Pontelandolfo

Have you missed me? Sorry, I’ve been so silent, but life in New Jersey had some ups and downs. Speaking of ups and downs. Boom, bang – no not thank you mam – but my blood all over the nice marble floor of Aeroporto Fiumicino. Caspita! I’ve always had stars in my eyes but this wasn’t my favorite way to find new ones.

I am now – thanks to family, friends and the medical system – fine. Swollen knees, cracked teeth, ditzy witzy head and a hole in my lower lip ain’t gonna keep me down. Yes, I did all the right things – went to doctors, dentists, got X-rays and an MRI. (Panoramic X-Ray of my teeth – €40. MRI of my fabulous head – €100.) That’s the boring part of the tale. This is actually one of those “feel good” stories.

BACKSTORY –

Why were my eyeglasses on the floor over there? Hmm? Opening my eyes, the first thing I saw were my eyeglasses floating above my ear. My ears were very active –

Signora, mi senti? Ma’am can you hear me? Yes I could hear her – what is in my mouth? Why is my nose smelling the floor?

Tutto OK? Was I OK? Bo? I haven’t an idea – the floor looks good – nice marbling. I was asked that by about six different people. Was I finally an extra in the Law and Order franchise?? Damn, what fun. Do I get the SAG day rate??

Apparently, after we got off the plane, which had been held for about 3 hours on the tarmac in Newark, NJ, got Jack a wheel chair ( his aching back won’t tolerate super long walks), I fainted.

Sta sanguinando! She’s bleeding! Whose bleeding? Shit is that wet stuff under my mouth my blood? Shit, it is my blood. People, speaking a variety of languages, were tossing blood soaking up things at me and putting them on my lower lip and chin. No one was afraid to touch the bloody lady sprawled on the floor.

Two woman helped me sit up. Whoa – sitting on the floor was a nice change from eating the floor but I wasn’t going anywhere else. Weee, the merry go round is fun! We’re my underpants clean and not ancient?

Chiamare i pronto scorso! Someone called the EMTs and suddenly I was in a chair being prodded and poked.

There had been a female vigile near by who not only had seen everything, but with the incredible woman pushing Jack’s wheelchair got me to sit on the floor and carried all pazillion pounds of me to a nearby chair. How did the chair got there? She explained to the head EMT (doctor) that I was walking perfectly well and then suddenly like a waterfall slowly wafted to the floor smacking my face/head. Wafted to the floor – was that a Graham dance move or was I once again channeling Ruth St. Denis?

Good goddess, why is Midge telling us all this horrific tale? Because “she” – me – I was treated like visiting royalty. Every staff person who interacted with me was genuinely concerned, courteous and terrific. OK, OK, I can hear you cynics thinking – they just worry about lawsuits. In Italy a lawsuit would take 100 years.

I am telling this tale because I want to publicly thank the woman pushing Jack who then called for a wheel chair for me and organized our getting through passport control, getting our luggage and even asking a pal at lost luggage to leave her spot and find Jack’s lost bag. Damn, she was great, as was the other woman who was stuck pushing me and dragging my carryon.

The vigile must have called the accident in and two oh so handsome men in superior uniforms arrived to check our passports and calmed me down in English. Actually, they both had luminous dark eyes and maybe that’s what calmed me down.

The EMT staff was there quickly and acted professionally. As a woman was taking my blood pressure and oxygen levels another was looking in my eyes. Everything they checked was perfect – even my sugar levels. They wanted to transport me to the hospital in Rome, I wanted to go home. After signing a release that I was refusing the hospital, I was not allowed to stand and transferred to the wheelchair. Grazie Mille a tutti.

This is one of the reasons I had to get home. Our first group of culinary adventurers were arriving June 8 and I landed June 1.

I want to thank Giuseppe who was our ride home from the airport. He literally waited hours for us and didn’t laugh at my bloody swollen face once – well maybe once. He was a gem.

Once I landed on the couch in our house, I received incredible support. Thank you Annarita for all you do. Thank you Mariann and Jeff for making sure I wasn’t comatose and fed. Thank you Carmella and Giusy for making sure I had help, appointments for X-rays and doctor visits. Thank you Rossella for keeping me sane. Thank you Zia Vittoria for getting edibles in my empty refrigerator. Thank you to the men in my life Jack, Nicola and Mario.

Thank you all.

Stay tuned for more about life in a small Southern Italian village.

Ci vediamo.

Taxi Drivers – Love Some and Hate Others

by midgeguerrera, posted in Practical Matters - Living Abroad, Travel Comments

I’ve often said, one of the advantages to living in Pontelandolfo is that we can hop around fairly inexpensively to visit other European cities. During one rainy week, four of us hopped over to Amsterdam for a taxing good/bad time.

Like foxes sniffing for prey – taxi drivers roam the streets of Amsterdam looking for wet and bedraggled tourists to gouge. When we landed, the fox phone chain must have been rattling. The foxes didn’t have far to look for new soggy chickens to fleece! Our happy or maybe crazy foursome went out in wind, rain and hail. Ten minutes after leaving point A to get to point B, we looked like dripping shaggy dogs. The foxes pounced-

“Growl, there are four good ones,” drooled the first driver we met. “The white haired guy looks old and about to faint. Errrr, and look at that chubby momma flagging me down. She can barely waddle in the rain. The other two, with hair plastered down, look ready to cry. Hee, hee hee. Yumm.”

Ann Frank Museum visitors que up in the rain.

It was pouring when we left Amsterdam’s Ann Frank Museum. My little party of four was soaked and starting to wrinkle. Sadly, I didn’t see the driver’s drool and flagged the fox’s cab. It stopped. We started to get in and told him the name of our hotel.

€30, he snickered.

What???!!! We had paid the cab to get to the museum only €17. He looked at me. I looked at him. Susi, my friend sputtered, that isn’t just. We all looked at the rain, and sunk into our seats. No tip was getting into his greedy little paws.

After that scurrilous experience you would think we would have learned something. Noooo! We took a fun, yet rain and hail filled, canal boat tour. Seriously, the rain and hail made me feel like a native. We were toasty dry on the boat and laughing at the sounds above us. Then we got off the boat. Merde. It took thirty seconds for the rain to fill our shoes, pockets, hair and drench our coats. We clambered up the metal stairs to the dock and headed for the street. Susi raced ahead and starting talking to a cab drive. We all piled in. The hotel was about eight blocks away. We could see it. If we were nimble youths we would have run. We aren’t nimble or young. We asked the driver if he was going to use the meter.

It’s raining – you want a ride – €30.

Not a sputter came out of our blue and freezing lips. We paid the €30. It must be the official rain on tourists price.

I noted the similarity between the fair and honest taxi drivers of Naples and the fair and honest taxi drivers of Amsterdam. The honest folks clicked on their meters. The price gougers didn’t. The honest ones played by all the rules. Once, the four of us attempted to jump the cab line to enter the second and bigger vehicle in the cue. The noble driver of the second car wouldn’t accept us as customers and sent us back to the first car. Whoever was first in line was to be our driver – no matter how tight a fit it was for four people.

The foxes are always ready to take a bite out of your wallet. In Amsterdam, the unmetered prices versus metered prices fluctuated between thirty to fifty percent more. Some times even the metered fairs varied coming and going too. How could that be, we would bellow. Then one of us would point out that we seemed to have driven in a circle two or three times.

Hmm, has that ever happened in Naples? Until we knew better, Jack and I had been fleeced from the Naples train station to our hotel in the center of town. A tourist, or person who looks like a tourist, needs to beware. Drivers have said things like, your suitcase is big – that costs more. There is a special charge for blah blah blah. Look at the posted price sheets. There should be posted fixed prices in every cab. Amsterdam didn’t seem to have prices posted. Actually, they didn’t have cab licenses posted in the cars either. One time, after we got in, the driver took the sign that said taxi off his roof and tossed in on the front seat floor. He didn’t use the meter either. He had lots of reasons.

One way streets. Construction. Rain. I can tell you about the city. Beh.

Researching after the fact is like being a Monday morning quarterback. As I was writing this rant, I thought I should check with the experts. According to http://www.amsterdamtips.com/amsterdam-taxis –

Taxi Rates in Amsterdam 2022

The cost of a taxi in Amsterdam depends on 3 elements – a starting tariff, a cost per km and a cost per minute which is all calculated by the compulsory meter in the vehicle. The maximum allowable rates are as follows:

Taxi car (4 people): €3.36 start tariff + €2.47 price per km + €0.41 price per minute

Taxi van/bus (5-8 people): €6.83 start tariff + €3.11 price per km + €0.46 price per minute.

Reading that, I began to understand why some drivers took the longest routes. I also read that you didn’t have to tip the drivers – except maybe the change. Sadly, not wanting to be ugly tourists we asked our first driver what the tipping standards in the Netherlands were. He said 10-15% but not mandatory. Duhhhhh. Silly girl, next time I should reasearch before we go anywhere. But why should I have to? Why can’t every driver be like the fair and honest drivers? Sigh…

Happy traveling! Enjoy every voyage – even if it rains.

Ci sentiamo,

Midge

Happy Soon to be Halloween! Click here & check out my children’s play, Wanda the Girl Who Cried Witch!
Visit www.midgeguerrera.com for more of my writing. Hugs to you all for checking it out.

Tales of Pontelandolfo to Hit Bookstores

by midgeguerrera, posted in Any Day in Pontelandolfo, Travel Comments

For the past ten years, many of you have been with me on my journey as a Jersey girl living in Pontelandolfo. My second – or is it third – act as a quasi expat in a small Southern Italian village has been filled with unexpected life detours. Your support of my blog was the kick in the keister I needed to write a book about these Italian adventures. Gulp – the book is being published by independent press, Read Furiously! It even has an ISBN number – it is the freakin’ real deal. Wowza!

I cried when I saw this. Alex said it is like preparing for a Broadway opening – we are in previews!

In these most unpredictable times, a fantastic get away is just at your finger tips! Sip a prosecco, sit in a cozy chair and read about places that you are not only visiting through my book, but can someday experience yourself. Giggle at the illustrations drawn by my best bud Janet Cantore Watson.

Pre-ording the book insures a copy lands in your mailbox at the same time it hits the book stores. All of you have always been here with me. As I think about you now reading my book, my heart fills with emotion. Thank you.

Pre-order from my great publisher – Read Furiously!

Pre-order a book at your local bookstore. Say hi for me. I would be happy to do a zoom reading for them too. You can also use Bookshop.org.

Barnes & Nobel now has it available for pre-order. So does Amazon.it! Amazon.com will have it someday.

Grazie mille! Abbracione a tutti!

Ci Vediamo

Midge

Check out my plays on Next Stage Press and the New Play Exchange.