Edmonds Through the Back Door.

I went to Edmonds, Washington for the day to hear Rick Steves do some travel lectures. Packed house, with tons of people taking notes as he spoke. Couldn't believe it when I bumped into him on the street later in the day. Nice guy and he graciously snapped a photo for me.


Here's his new Italian phrase book & dictionary with Vespa on the cover

If you're ever in Edmonds, you should definitely go to the Edmonds Historical Musuem.

The first floor is currently housing a collection of residents' playthings.
I loved the wall of cameras.

In the basement, there is a huge assortment of historical collections-everything from washing machines, typewriters, switchboards to nautical dodads.

Smallpressapalooza 2009!!!

Powell's City of Books is hosting their annual Smallpressapalooza this coming Monday.

What's Smallpressapalooza, you maybe asking yourself?
It's a five-hour marathon reading session by local and national small press publications.

I'm very excited to be taking part in the event and will be reading from my latest issue of Bumpstart at 7:15pm. There may be "scooter wine" available for quaffing. Come on by, it starts at 5 and goes to 10pm.

Photo Friday: Piaggio Museum

For Bumpstart #2, I tried squeezing in as many photos as possible from my scooter adventures in Italy. Some didn't make it into the issue, so I'm going to post a few here every Friday. For this Photo Friday, I will be taking you on a virtual tour of the Piaggio Museum in Pontedera.
The museum is housed in Piaggio's old tool and die shop.Piaggio didn't just make scooters. Here's their train in the front entrance to the museum.This is the famous "Dali Vespa". Two Spanish students rode this Vespa around the world in 79 days. During their travels, they met Salvador Dali who went to town on their scooter with his paint brush.


In this photo, you can see his crown signature. "Gala" was Salvador Dali's wife and muse.

A small portion of the Piaggio Archives.

Here's some of the Vespa models on display. They almost look like toy models stacked on top of each other.

Overhead view of the museum's array of Piaggio goodies on display.

Hmm, wonder if they're hiring...

Be sure to hit the gift shop before you leave.
Ciao for now. Karen

Happy World Pasta Day!

Hey, guess what tomorrow is. It's World Pasta Day! Yup, and here I thought it only happened on Wednesdays.

To celebrate this carbolicious day, please enjoy some foodie photos from my recent trip to Italy. The below photo may just appear to be a plate of nicely presented pasta, but when I look at it I remember dining in Verona during opera season and hearing arias lofting overhead from the nearby coliseum.
Verona was also the first place I saw an Ape putting around. I was so excited when I saw it going around the square collecting garbage. Throughout my time in Italy, I came across countless numbers of Apes. In Florence, I even saw some electric powered ones. The Italians use their Apes to transport all kinds of things from luggage to huge wine casks. And I hear in Cinque Terra a certain Aussie tourist named Jannelle got a ride in one, but I'll let her tell that story in Bumpstart. (cough, cough hint hint Janelle).
While I was visiting the scooter motherland, I met up with Scooterbella, a Vespa touring company in Tuscany.



My Vespa tour group (Photo from left to right: Melanie from Australia, Bill from Boston, Tour guides Sagra from Spain and Elizabeth, an expat from PA, and Janelle aka "Ginger" from Australia)

One of my favorite restaurants we stopped at was L Alto Chianti.


Their ravioli with truffle slices was so good.

Besides the great food, their restaurant had a roof terrace that provided spectacular views of Chianti.
I see now why so many tourists have a hard time leaving Tuscany.

Bumpstart Goes to Italy

Hey everybody. I just got back from my Italian holiday and am gradually getting over my jet lag. So, I can start posting a couple photos from my trip. Italy was amazing and I have lots of great stories and photos to share. The Italian hospitality is unequaled and I plan on returning very soon. My first stop was in Venice. In the above photo, Giovanni, my charming gondoleer is posing with a copy of Bumpstart! He wouldn't sing, but when he wouldn't stop talking about Vespas, I knew I picked the right gondoleer.

More photos to come....

Karen