Raffaellesco - Bill and Suzette's Sailing Adventure

 11/09/2025-Barcelona Spain The day started out well. All flights from Barcelona to Atlanta appeared to be a go despite the government shutdown and the canceling of hundreds of flights. The taxi was on time and traffic was light on a Sunday morning as we made our way to the airport. The only airport in Barcelona. We have been in and out of this airport 6 or 8 times, we know it well. We checked in at the Delta Sky Priority desk, no waiting. Next stop was the customs office to get a paper stamped so we could get our VAT refunded for our Beltrami purchase. It takes some effort to get the refund, so we typically do not bother with smaller purchases. In this case the VAT was nearly 300 euros. The line was long, but it moved quickly. Unfortunately, Beltrami did not give us the right paper and we could not get a refund. Moving on we proceeded through the security check with no issues. They are far more efficient here in Europe, yet I do not feel that they are cutting any corners. Be...

 11/2/2025-Milan, Italy One thing we have found in Italy is that they have mosquitoes but they do not believe in window screens. We made the mistake of leaving the windows open yesterday during the bewitching hour for mosquitoes. This resulted in an overnight battle to kill them before they ate us. Fortunately, they like Suzette way more than me…go figure. We packed up our bags and called an Uber for the 20-minute ride to the airport. Arriving at the airport and checking the board for gates and times I quickly realized we were at the wrong airport! We were at the Linate airport just outside of Milan, but we were supposed to be at Malpensa Airport 29 miles outside Milan. We jumped in a Taxi and took a 200-euro taxi ride. As we approached the taxi stand there appeared to be an argument between two taxi drivers, we ended up with one of them as our driver. On the way to the airport a car in front of us was moving slowly out of the toll booth and our driver lays on the horn. The guy...

 10/27/2025-Como, Italy The skies were clear and the air was crisp as we walked the lake front to the Funicular for a ride up to 222 m. The view from the top was beautiful, mountains and lush landscape dotted with beautiful old homes. We followed the path to the Farro lighthouse ascending another 200 m on an artfully constructed stone path past the imposing old homes. From the light house we could look to the west and see one of Switzerland’s fingers of mountain that poked deep into Italy. Our cell phones chirped with welcome to Switzerland picking up on their cell towers. This statue represented the soldiers who served and the fallen soldiers Lake Como The original steam ferry Classic Venetian water taxi The Funicular From the top of the Funicular A grand Villa Switzerland in the distance The lighthouse Fall foliage Another beautiful Villa Milan in the distance In the little town below the lighthouse, we could see the Swiss influence. In the café we enjoyed a body warming and fi...