The 5 Euro Painting........such a deal.

So, I'm walking through the town of Florence, Italy, which is where we were spending day four, and town three of the infamous 10 destinations in 12 days "Speed Tour of the Mediterranean".   And it's beautiful, and fortunately Simon & Ann, our English friends are with us as unofficial tour guides.  Ann and I are walking along, and this guy comes up to us trying to sell me this painting.  Well, actually it is a poster... but it has texture, sort of like an oil painting.

The view is of the river Arno, and the town of Florence with all it's signature sights and/or sites.  The Ponte Vecchio bridge is perhaps the most significant, seen in the upper left of the poster/painting.  This bridge was not destroyed as the German's retreated in August or 1944.  Hitler instead ordered buildings on both shores demolished to deny the approaches (since rebuilt).  The bridge itself dates to Roman times, first mentioned in a document circa 996.  Stone piers anchored a wooden deck.  A flood in 1117 swept away the wooden superstructure, but it was then reconstructed all in stone.  In 1333, it was again swept away by a flood, which left only two central piers of this closed-spandrel segmental arch bridge.  Twelve years later (1345) it was rebuilt as you would see it today, with the center span being 98 feet, the two side spans at 88 feet, making it a total of 274 feet across the Arno.  Shops continue to do business on the bridge, but the butcher shops (once common) have been replaced by jewelers, art dealers, and souvenir merchants.

Which brings me back to my story - this souvenir merchant, one of the many who were legion on the ground, sees me and Ann walking and says "buy this lovely painting, only 25 Euro".  I never even hear him, however Ann relates to me later that this was the initial "ask".   As his persistence increases exponentially, he gains my attention and says "sir, for you, only 20 Euro".  Now, that's roughly $26 dollars U.S. currency (a buck thirty buys one Euro).  I walk on...........

He now says "I make a deal, 15 Euro"  I politely tell him "grazie, no".  He mutters something in Italian, probably along the lines of "mister, you're killing me here", so I reach into my pocket to show him I don't even have ten Euro, but I do produce a five Euro piece of bluish gray paper showing a Roman aqueduct on one side, some columns (probably ionic, perhaps doric, certainly not corinthian) on the reverse.  It's my BAFO, my best and final offer.  "Sir, the poster is lovely, but all I have is this - do you want it?   Quickly he snatches it as I firmly grab hold of the painting, and the deal is done.

So, I feel pretty good about it - got this nifty souvenir for only five Euros, which look to me like oversized Monopoly money.  As we walk on, I note others of his trade are selling the same poster, but starting at 20 Euros - the word is out, these cruise ship passengers won't pay retail.

So, for six dollars and fifty cents American, I bring home the poster, which my wife takes to Hobby Lobby and has framed..........for $184.25 (frame, glass, spacers, labor and tax).  I suspect that poster merchant followed me home from Italy, and got a job at Hobby Lobby to wreak his revenge.  But it is what it is, and as a memory of Tuscany and Florence, well worth it.

The town of Quarto D'Altino, near Venice

Local Elementary School

War Dead Monument

the town Plaza, facing St. Michael's church.

The last day in Venice was spent not in Venice, but chilling out at the small town of Quarto D'Altino, which was within walking distance of our Crown Plaza hotel.  The hotel, next to the train tracks into Venice, was perhaps half a mile into town,  so we walked there, and enjoyed lunch near the school. After lunch, window shopped.  Like many other places, between one P.M. and four-thirty P.M. (1300-1430 hrs), businesses shut down, with the exception of some eating places.  Later that evening, I went out and brought back a  pizza and a 1.5 liter Coke, spending all of ten Euros.  Lunch was 15.5 Euros.  The train into Venice would have cost more, without eating, and frankly we were beat after all those 10 places in 12 days where we saw enough ruins to last a lifetime.  That of course, doesn't count the ruins left of my checkbook.  Ratings:  Best big city: Barcelona.  Best place whole trip: Mykonos, Greece.  Worst: Rome, where crowds were horrible, following two hour bus trip from port.

Take aways:  Venice was lovely, as was Barcelona.   Tuscany, where we tasted wine in a 900 year old castle, was a place I'd return.  Had fun with our friends Ann and Simon, and Simon and I toured Toulon, France where the French Fleet is based and we visited the Naval Museum.  The Corinth Canal was spectacular, and I am glad I passed up Athens to journey, by boat, between the Ionian Sea and the Aegean Sea through that impressive (finished in the 1800's) cut that must have towered 150 feet.

The museums, palaces, Vatican, etc. were impressive, but next time more time shall be leisure, less time paying to ride buses and listen to tour guides accents.   Best comment from Simon about a tour guide was priceless......"she moved faster than a rat up a drainpipe".  You gotta love the English!

Corvettes on the Circle

The magic moment - 1st in class award

My 2010 at the beach Corvette won 1st place in class, at the recent

Corvettes on the Circle, Saturday, May 5, 2013

It was the first win for this car.  I had seen my prior 2011 win in an Illinois car show, where it captured the Chief's Choice - an obscenely tall trophy with a cop pointing a gun on it.  That was my immediate past Corvette, a 2011 Cyber Gray Coupe.

We had traded that car for this one year earlier model convertible, as I clearly missed having a rag top.  My history of Corvettes runs from a 2001 convertible, to a 2004 Lemans Blue coupe, to a 2008 Metallic Silver coupe, to the aforementioned 2011 Cyber Gray coupe, and now this car.  This was my fourth year participating in this event, where in addition to a "goodie bag" the registration fee includes a nice sports shirt with logo.  It was a long day, starting with our 20 club members lining up downtown and driving in convoy to the St Armands Key at 7:30 AM, and ending mid afternoon at 3:30 PM...but it was worth it.  Elizabeth tells me I must keep this car for at least two more years, so I should enjoy this trophy while I can.  This sixth generation Corvette (C-6) is likely to not be replaced with a yet to be released for sale seventh generation Stingray.  Who cares, I'm finally back to having a convertible, and it's RED.

Honors College versus College of Art and Design square off on the flag football field of battle

This is the Liberal Arts version of combat - flag football

Pre-game coin toss, NCF in blue, Ringling College in black

 This Sunday, I was invited to witness the "tie-breaker" in a series of five athletic challenges between the "Fighting Armadillos" of Ringling College of Art and Design and the New College of Florida team (who apparently failed to agree on a name).  Perhaps a fund raiser to "Name That Team" for the Relay For Life/American Cancer Society will follow this afternoon's event.

Ringling College failed to tie the game as time ran out in their own red zone, failing to score the point which would have sent the game into overtime.  So, the record now stands at 3-2, based on today's nineteen points scored by New College, and a valiant eighteen points by the Fighting Armadillos.

Now, the concept of a red zone in flag football, played by seven on a side, all wearing belts of "flags" to be substituted for a real man's tackle.  The game becomes more of an evade and escape exercise, and most scores came from running, although a fair amount of passing was attempted but to little success.   I thougt that Michael Long of New College was the better passer, but the QB from Ringling seemed more agile in the running game.  
That's Long in the blue uniform, number 0, and Hunter Thomposon of Ringling in the black, number 1.
Hunter ultimately sacrificed his dark head of hair as the loser, but his father (who is President of Ringling College) had a worse fate.
The Presidents of each university agreed that the losing educator had  to sit in the dunk tank while people threw softballs and tried to soak them for fifteen minutes following the game.

It was a fun day, and I've posted quite a few additional pictures to my FaceBook page.  I think the best comment was "New College was best at playing the game, while Ringling excelled at filming it.        

Seven Critical Thinkers from New College

Michael Long, winning QB

Beautiful daughter, beautiful grandson

The picture on the left just arrived today, where Cole Robert was enjoying the afternoon with his mom and other neighborhood women.  The subdivision is a very sociable place, where after work "winding down" is the order of the day.

The photo on the right is perhaps a week old (circa April 1, 2013) and shows Cole sitting on his dad's lap.  Caitlin of course is flashing that winning smile.  People say she cannot deny being my child (nor can her brother JB) although I just keep getting older and she looks better each year.  She will reach the dreaded (by some) 30th birthday this year, and will reach that wonderful time in her life when a woman truly comes of age - knowing where she's been, where she's going, and having developed a plan to get there.  Cole turns 18 months later this month, and each time I see him through the wonders of iPhone technology, he continues to amaze.  Grandchildren truly are a blessing, and you only wish they lived closer.

Kiwanis of Longboat Key

I served as President of this club (Kiwanis of Longboat Key) from October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012, and the fellow on the right side of the picture, Jim Burmeister, followed me.  The fellow on the left side, Richard Crawford, will follow Jim in the succession of officers.  I've been associated with Kiwanis since May of 2005, and have been the club Secretary (and in this picture the guy behind the camera) since 2007 or 2008.  Time flies when you're having fun.

The lady in the picture and the six other men are all representatives of organizations we supported in our most recent fundraising endeavor, the Gourmet Lawn Party.  That event, held on the driving range of the Longboat Key Club-Islandside location, drew 28 restaurants plus other vendors offering beer, wine, flowers, etc.  Admission was $25 and the food and drink were free once past the gate.  We raised $50,000 and the group above benefitted from $30,000 of that total, with the balance set aside for the 2013 individual scholarship cycle of our club.

The organizations represented by the people in the photo were the Boys and Girls Clubs of Sarasota, the Boys and Girls Club of Manatee County (Bradenton), Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Sarasota, Children First of Sarasota and the Child Protection Center of Sarasota and DeSoto Counties.  Our club meets 51 Thursday mornings each year (we take off Thanksgiving only) at the LBK Club-Harbourside location, and have programs each week.   Many of the youth oriented charities come before us to speak, and we listen to their stories.   Our club also is very involved in helping through others - we have been the highest revenue "Kettle" of the Salvation Army of Sarasota for the past three or four years.  This year we stood outside and helped raise over $5,000 in front of our neighborhood PUBLIX grocery.

I'm now involved in helping make our Third Annual Valentine's Dinner Dance a success - we sold all seats (200) during the first two years, and hope to continue this year.   Last year's "profits" resulted in over $15,000 toward our Foundation's gift programs.  Once again, we'll have a big band dance and award a Citizen of the Year at the dinner dance.  Not sure where I find the time, but Kiwanis (an old Indian word meaning "charity shakedown") is in my blood and my heart.  As my Kiwanis shirt reads "It's all about the kids", we hold their futures in our hands.

And now, driving the number 33 car..........

Move over Darryl Waltrip, Cole Bob
wants to drive this year.

"Cole Bob" Kreienkamp checks out Grandma's Volvo 

 NASCAR will be the ultimate destination for Cole Robert Kreienkamp, based on his meteoric rise in the stock car ranks as the number one baby driver for Richard Childress' Number 33 car, sponsored by General Mills.  He's the latest stock car phenomena to come out of the St. Louis market, and takes his driving seriously but with a lot of enthusiasm.

Cole already is doing a number of public appearances on behalf of product line Cheerios, which he heartily, if not messily, eats every race morning. 

When asked to comment, he said something which I'm sure was positive, but must admit I'm just not sure what he said.  After all, he's only 13 months old.