DannyZ Travels: Lake Como, Italy

In an effort to put up posts with details and pictures of our last few EuroTrips I decided to do short posts called "DannyZ Travels:"  That way I can get things up a little faster.  Here's my first entry; enjoy Lake Como.

Our Visual Memories from Lake Como, Italy

From May 9-12, Vicki and I visited beautiful Lake Como.  We stayed in a little town on the lake called, Tremezzo.  Centrally located on the lake, Tremezzo offered beautiful scenery, nice hotels (Villa Marie) and some very nice restaurants.    

Sorry for the Silence

Wait, March 25 already?  When did that happen. And how did I go almost a week and a half without a new post?  Plus I missed mentioning our 2nd month anniversary in the Netherlands (March 15th) came and went.  Seems like after our trip to Rome, and our 15 minutes of fame, life just went into hyperdrive with no signs of slowing down.

So here's a short compilation post of what we've been up to.  I hope to have full write-ups on some of these topics very soon.

March 14th:  Went our our first "Expat Couples Blind Date."  Thanks to expat-blog.com 's forum Vicki and I were able to meet another nice couple from the next town over.  

March 15-17th: Traveled to Warsaw, Poland for St. Patrick's Day.  Warning: post may feature gratuitous pierogi pictures,  you've been warned.

March 18th-21st: Volunteered with an expat website, called Expatica.com. They are based here in the Netherlands in the town of Haarlem.  The commute takes almost 2 hours, but the adventures were worth the trip.

March 23-24th: Overnight in Dusseldorf, Germany to seek out pretzels and mustard.

I've also been busy putting together submissions for two writing contests.  Thanks in advance to everyone who took the time to Vote, Tweet, Like, & +1 my article on Cologne, Germany on barrelhopping.com. Every vote on their page counts as a full vote & social media interaction counts as half a vote.  The voting is open until March 31st so you can continue to VOTE EARLY & VOTE OFTEN.  Thanks for all your support.  You can read the article again and vote again right here.  

My other submission was for a contest sponsored by expatblogs.com ; the theme: "Top Lists."  I love making lists, as you can see from some of my posts, so I was all in for this one. I won't reveal the focus of my list just yet.  You should be able to view and make comments on my submission on their website after March 25.  Winners will be based on the lists with the best "high quality feedback."  I'll leave it up to my loyal readers and fans to decide what that means.  Thanks again for your support.  

As a reward for reading to the end and to apologize again for the silence last week, here's a picture of some pierogis from Warsaw, Poland.  

Have a great Monday everybody!

When in Rome...Get on Action News

Okay, let's play connect the dots real fast.

I was born & raised in Norristown, PA (a suburb of Philadelphia)---moved & now live in Oss, Netherlands (an hour & a half south of Amsterdam)---vacationed in Rome, Italy this weekend---interviewed by major Philadelphia news outlet in front of St. Peter's Square, Vatican City.  Crazy world.

Thanks Bonnie for your TV pic!

Vicki and I took a long weekend to Rome to catch up with a good friend and to see some white smoke and a new Pope.  Well, we were too early to catch any smoke, but we did catch an interview from Action News reporter, Brian Taff (front runner to take over for Jim Gardner when/if he retires, IMHO). After we learned from Alicia Vitarelli's twitter that Brian Taff from Action News was in Rome, I immediately composed this tweet:

He taped a story while in Rome about buying a crappy umbrella from a street vendor

Brian, to his credit, quickly responded:

I wasn't comfortable tweeting my email (but in retrospect would it have mattered?  I dunno.)  So I asked him if I could "DM" (Twitter speak for "Direct Message") my address to him.  No response.  So a day goes by and I tweet him again:

Still no response.  I thought, "Hmmm, he's blowing me off."  Ducis Rogers immediately becomes my new front runner to take over for the legendary anchorman Jim Gardner.

Ducis Rogers the next Jim Gardner? 

I needed a new angle....I needed a new face: a duck face.

Since I was too cheap to splurge for the €2 to activate the internet on my phone, we were just using Vicki's phone for data outside WiFi zones. We were both in St Peter's square when I "borrowed" Vicki's phone and tweeted this breaking story from Vicki's twitter account "by mistake":

Then all this happened:

In case you needed proof the interview was really in Rome, see bus

The meeting took place as planned on Sunday at noon in front of St. Peter's where we met Brian and his crew.  He spent time interviewing us, then posed for some pictures.  But my favorite part was shooting the "B-stroll" footage.  Special thanks to Sean and Kris for sending us your screen grabs below.

So, did I ever unveil my diabolical interview plot to Brian Taff. Nah, I was testing his investigating reporting skills. Sadly, he did not put it together that I was the one who orginally tweeted him or that I used Vicki's twitter to pose as "Some broad you might wanna know" making a duck face in their twitter profile.  I have no doubt Alicia Vitarelli would have uncovered my scheme.  She's just that good.

But again, to their credit Brian and his crew put together a great piece with all the best sound bites and Emmy worthy B-roll.

"Okay Vic, laugh on my count....3,2,1..."  Classic B-Roll (Photo Credit: Sean O'Neill)

More classic B-Roll with nondescript, labeless water bottle (Photo Credit: Kris Goorsky)

 

So now I bring you, THE BIG STORY ON ACTION NEWS.

These will probably be our new facebook profile pictures forever.  Thanks Sean!

Here's my entire uncut interview.  I'll admit, I was a little nervous.  You try looking at those sunglasses.  Well, thank goodness for editing.  I wasn't fast enough on the draw to record Vicki's interview unfortunately.  She was just so awesome I was simply captivated by her responses.

Moving closer to our world with friend Brian Taff (@briantaff6abc)

Oh, and if you're wondering what happened to his jacket.  Brian lent it to a fellow journalist from I'm guessing somewhere in South America.  True story, the reporter walks up and asks Brian for his jacket so they can tape a spot.  Brian obliges and lends his coat.  Stand up guy that Brian Taff but he needs to back off the hand on the hip thing; that's Alicia Vitarelli's thing.

Thanks everyone for reading and thank you all for the feedback through facebook & twitter.  We've greatly enjoyed our 15 minutes of fame.