The Long family - Steve, Nicole, Autumn, Zane, and Bryce - wander the Earth to live life, make friends, learn, and find things we didn't know we were looking for.
For those following along, we had a major mishap in France and I ran out of time and energy to chronicle our Milan and Barcelona adventures. Taking a page from the Star Wars out of sequence movie releases, this blog shall fill in a gap in our timeline....
April 21 & 22, 2018
Our final couple nights in Italy were spent in Milan for two reasons, it was the cheapest place to fly on to our next stop, and Autumn's favorite performer, Macklemore, just so happened to be in town. Is it strange that we actually planned our entire Italy trip based upon being in Milan for this particular weekend to see this particular concert? Well, it was worth it. Autumn created another VLOG with links below. Here is a short narrative and some pics to highlight our stay.
First and foremost, April is a wonderful time of year to visit Milan. The weather was simply perfect, not too hot, not too cold, and no humidity. Milan itself doesn't have the old timey charm of the rest of Italy, but it does a splendid job of integrating greenery in to a bustling metropolis. The main boulevards have parks and walking promenades down the middle and are lined with old trees. This is probably not a town to settle for a vacation, but it makes for a decent place to bookend a trip to Italy with just enough to see in a couple days.
Highlights:
Duomo de Milano:
Rivaling it's Florentine cousin, the main Duomo in the center of Milan takes on a more Gothic look with hundreds of pointy spires shooting upward. If I were a giant with a 200ft long foot, accidentally stepping on this structure would smart like stepping on a pile of Legos. We scaled the stairs and had a sit in the top of the Duomo.
Was inspired by some other folks on the roof taking glamour shots.....
Central Park:
Milan has a proper Central Park that made for a proper afternoon of wandering. The highlight of this jaunt was taking a cue from the locals and finding out that if you plug the downspout of the many public water spigots, it redirects the water thru a tiny hole on top, creating a refreshing fountain and free public shower.
Macklemore:
Autumn's first ever concert was about one year ago at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium to see none other than Macklemore. Autumn's second concert is now Macklemore at the Fabrique in Milan! I must admit, he gives everything he's got in every show he does. The audience was much the same as in the states but with one noticeable difference, no overwhelming scent of herbal enhancements. Great show.
Another Autumn classic shot. This is in Gettysburg. [wink wink, this is from inside the car. She didn't want to get out....]
[Editors note... Narration by Nicole] May 22 to 25: York
Our next stop was Pennsylvania. Not Philadelphia though. We've been there before and wanted to explore the lesser known back roads. The drive from the bustling City to the peaceful countryside was uneventful, other than I got White Castle for the first time in decades! While I know it's horrible for my body and not tasty to most, it brings me right back to my childhood and tastes like heaven. Steve and the kids were not impressed, but tolerated my pit stop. Our home near York was idyllic, set on 10 acres with horses and a barn cat and we wished we could have stayed there longer (but alas, the home was booked on either side of our three night stay). From this home base we visited Gettysburg and Hershey. The battlefield was impressive with the museum and movie being very well done by our National Park Service. We learned a lot about the Civil War and Abraham Lincoln (Steve's favorite president). Hershey kept us busy at Hershey's Chocolate World and Hersheypark (Basically a Six Flags park with intense roller coasters. Because nothing says Milk Chocolate like a nausea inducing thrill ride). We were reminded, however, that Steve and I enjoy amusement parks more than the kids!!
> Gettysburg
The "cyclorama", a massive 360 degree mural that blends in to the foreground was very impressive. This was painted over 100 years ago and was like going to the movies before motion pictures.
Another roadside picnic
Contemplating the severity of Picket's Charge.
Historic cannons are found throughout the Gettysburg countryside showing where and how the Union faced the Confederates.
The site of the Gettysburg Address.
> Our Airbnb / Horse Ranch
This was a first for us. The Airbnb had a great game room, with darts, billiards, foos ball, and... a shuffle board table. Although Zane kept calling it "Slide board"
> Hershey Park
Bryce is doing his very best to avoid bumping the center rail.
Was a warm day and this log ride was a welcome bit of chill.
May 25 to 28: Lancaster
From York we traveled on to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Yes, Pennsylvania Dutch (which should actually be Deutsch as they came from Germany) country where the Amish live. Our goal was to learn who they are, why they live "differently" and what that tells us about our country. We first traveled to the oldest home in the region, built in 1719 by Christian Herr. Steve was fascinated at the structure and the rest of us learned a bit about colonial life. It was impressive that 300 years later, this building is still strong without a single nail or screw. After this we "moved" into our next place, a basement apartment in farm country. While perfectly comfortable and quite large, the family above was a bit loud and we were reminded of apartments in the cities we've spent time in. At least the basement was a cool respite from the humidity, and the house border collie, Buddy, was a hit with the kids.
> The homefront
His name is Buddy
The last house had table shuffle board, this house has full shuffle board! Steve and Zane took full advantage.
Of course, Bryce and Zane occasionally broke out in to a game of wiffle ball to pass the time.
We spent the weekend exploring the area from an Amish buggy ride to Kitchen Kettle Village, to the oldest Farmers Market still running in the country, to an Amish farm with school house, to the Choo Choo Barn (huge model train center). We learned that the Amish are very proud of their traditions and religion. They remain simple, "plain" folk to express this commitment to their culture and religion. Modern times are changing their lives in so many ways including solar power and a decrease in farming as they can no longer compete with the commercial operations driving the prices down. The new generation is trying to find jobs, but with only an 8th grade level of education (the highest grade the Amish attend), it's difficult to find employment. It is an interesting time for these people. We are proud that they can make these choices in our country freely, as our kids have seen this is not possible in many places throughout our world.
> Central Market (Lancaster)
Autumn with her Shoo-Fly Pie and Whoopie Pie in front of the Central Market
Inside the Market. Really beautiful old "barn" style building
> Hans Herr House
We arrived during a demonstration day. This guy was really in to talking about coke (not the drinking kind, but the smelting kind).
The kids playing a colonial stick and hoop throwing game. Harder than it looks.
Original home. Has the oldest staircase in America, so they say.
> Abe's Buggy Rides
Our Amish buggy driver, Sadie, was a wealth of information about the Amish life and the challenges of maintaining this lifestyle while surrounded by a modern society.
Zane drove nearly the entire time (except for when we had to turn across oncoming motor car traffic!)
> Around Lancaster
A very typical scene around Lancaster. The Amish continue to do all their farming with horse drawn tractors. Seeing them stand behind horses five wide is really something else (and definitely something we'll never see in California).
Lancaster County has an abundance of covered bridges
We're not quite sure of their utility, but the Amish have an inordinate amount of miniature horses. They're everywhere in Lancaster.
The Amish don't use bicycles, just these big wheel push scooters.
> Kitchen Kettle Village
This store has a cornucopia of sampling stations. We spent a solid 30 minutes in this store just popping from one shelf to the next, slopping jams, jellies, salsas, honeys, etc, etc, on small crackers.
> Buggies around town
[Note from Steve... One of the most striking things to me about the Amish Country is just how devoted they are to maintaining their way of life, and it is never more apparent than the ongoing use of the horse drawn buggy. It's not just some fictitious thing we see on TV or in Movies. It is genuinely how they get around, and causing havoc with the cars and trucks around them. It's truly fascinating. They are modest folk, and don't necessarily appreciate having pictures taken, but I had to snap some candid photos to immortalize the experience]
Call it what you will, but it's pretty amusing that the epicenter of the Amish country in Pennsylvania is a town called Intercourse (which is halfway between a town called Blue Ball and Paradise - and that's no joke... google it)
We were also able to have dinner with my cousin Kim who just moved to a home on 3 acres near Harrisburg. Her mom, my Aunt Tricia, has been living at our house for the past year and we are so grateful. I know we could not have done this without her taking care of not just our home, but my parents as well 😉. (Although I think my Aunt, my Dad, and my other Aunt, have been having a blast and are sad about our return). It was so nice to see Kim and meet her husband, Jason. The place they have chosen is a beautiful part of our country!
