A Roma!

A late night lead into an early-ish morning as Alison and I woke up and made our way via metro to the Vatican museum. Bypassing the lines, we walked right in and presented our 10 am reservations to 3 layers of guards before finally making our way into the monstrous museum. With an audio-guide to lead the way we passed through Egypt, ancient Greece, the dawn of Christianity, the Renaissance, the Baroque period before finding ourselves amongst modern art. Of course the highlight of the tour was the Sistine Chapel - however being crowded into a big room, filled with over 500 people, with security shouting "shhhh" and "no camera please" it was hard to feel like we were in a chapel; let alone one of the most beautiful chapels in the world.

After 3 hours of wandering through the art we made our way over to St. Peters and waited in a very long but fast moving line until we got in. We skipped going to the top - having already seen much of Italy from high points and not energized enough to wait in yet another line to climb yet another flight of stairs.

The previous night Akos gave us a laundry list of places to go in Rome. Having made it through his first recommended stop and knowing that we had 6 more sites to see, we decided that lunch was in order and found ourselves at one of the many corner cafes having a fixed plate lunch of bruschetta, pasta carbonara and fruit. Nothing special but it worked. Akos called shortly after we sat down to lunch to make plans to meet for gelato near the Pantheon. As we worked our way to the Pantheon we could only laugh that in Rome a designated meeting place could be centuries old. A quick tour of the Pantheon worked up our appetites just enough to be ready for the greatest gelatteria ever...150 flavors of AMAZING. Recognizing that 2 flavors on the cone would not be enough, we each got 3 flavors and savored every bite of the goodness. Bacia, coffee crunch and marscapone for me - passion fruit, chocolate orange and vanilla cream for Alison. Akos had his eaten before I could find out which flavors he chose...it was that good!

Akos escorted us back to our hotel giving us the scenic tour - Trevi Fountain, Barberini Plaza, then finally back to the Spanish Steps. Sigh - we didn't make a dent in our sightseeing list but wow, what an afternoon.

Dinner was relatively low key - at a restaurant near the hotel. After dinner, Alison headed back to the hotel to rest her weary feet while I took an Advil, through on my boots and made my way over to Trastevere to meet Akos and his friends on his final night in Rome. It seemed as though all of Rome was out on these streets; talking, drinking & smoking. Fortunately our group called it a night around 1 so I was able to make it back at a reasonable hour. Of course when the taxi dropped me off, all the lights were off in the hotel lobby and the doors were locked. After ringing the bell a couple of times, I saw that the lobby attendant was curled up sleeping on a couch in the lobby. After a couple of loud knocks and rattles of the glass door I woke the hard working man up; bid him a good morning and was off to dream about another fun day in the city.

Half the calf covered

Three meals in three cities was the mission of the day when the alarm went off at 6:30 am. After quick showers in the 2x2 shower we finished packing and hopped on our last boat in Venice. The morning was brisk and the city was bustling but we had cappuccinos to drink and bolognese on the brain.

We arrived at the Venice train station and just caught the local train to Bologna. The quick dash meant no time for a final Venetian meal but after the 3 course feast from the prior night, worse things in life have happened.

Arriving in Bologna shortly after 10, we checked our suitcases at the station and took off down Via dell' Independenza the famed covered archway street leading to Piazza Maggiore and Basilica di San Petronio. After a quick pass by of the Neptune fountain and church it was nearing lunchtime so we made our way toward the University excited to try the fabled Bolognese gastro delights. We settled on La Stanze, a recommendation in one of our guide books, primarily because we could find it and also because it was located inside of 1500s chapel. The food was good but not amazing. Oh well, we tried.

We headed back to the train station and took the pricey but fast Eurostar train back to Rome. Arriving in Rome around 5 pm we faced a chaotic rush hour at Termini station. Making our way through the throngs we eventually made it on to the metro and to the Spanga stop - next to our hotel and the loiters loitering on the Spanish Stairs.

Checking into the uber-modern Hotel Elite seemed a promising upgrade from the Venice room - until we exited the lobby and found ourselves in 1800s Rome. Our hotel room has elements of Ikea not so subtly blended with elements of San Francisco half-way house. A window that faces a wall; a wall that splits the room for no apparent reason; warped wood floors and 2 twin beds. When in Rome...

Our grad school friend Akos called to welcome us to his city and invited us out to drinks with his Roman friends. He picked us up at our hotel and we headed out to the Pantheon area where a hip, yuppy-filled wine bar was in full swing. After a glass of wine at Saloto 52 with the locals we headed to a nearby pizzaria for pizza and more wine. The evening didn't wrap up until well past midnight leaving a very tired Alison and I to wonder what time people start working in this fun city.

A day at sea

Waking up to the sounds of Venice starting to move is surreal. Between the sounds of morning deliveries, the first cruise passengers to make it to the Murano glass shops lining the Rialto bridge and our neighbors we were up, showered in our 2x2 shower stall and off to enjoy a morning cappuccino and pastry. Having covered most of Venice by foot yesterday, we bought a 24 hour boat pass and set sail for Murano.

Arriving in Murano we expected to be harassed by locals wanting to give us a tour of the glass factories. Being subjected to nothing of the sort we learned that factory tours had been stopped due to public safety concerns. Not sure why those same concerns weren't extended to the overly crowded boat that took us there; we went off on our own to try to decipher the real Murano from the Chinese imports. Once that fun was done we caught another boat to Burano and thoroughly enjoyed the multicolored homes and shops selling lovely lace and accessories.

As the sun started to set and we ran out of layers to put on we headed back to the mainland and napped before heading out to what proved to be one of my top 5 dining experiences of all time at La Bitta. A wonderful salad with fried cheese, soft blankets of gnocchi with artichoke to start; pork with mustard sauce for Al and a bean and barley soup for me and shared panna cotta and a slice of spice cake for dessert washed down by a half bottle of wine and we were finally the fat, happy tourists we knew we could be.

Rather than taking the boat back, we walked back through St Mark's Square and got to enjoy the duelling orchestras that surround the plaza. Sigh, what blessed girls we are.

Happy Birthday Alison!

Lucky girl, having a birthday in Italy! We caught an 8:40 morning train to Venice and arrived around 11 to bright blue skies, bustling canals and no idea how to get to our hotel. After waiting at the wrong vapporetto stand for about 10 minutes we figured out where to go to get on the boat to Rialto. A quick ride down the Grand Canal and we arrived at the Rialto stop - and began to follow the broken English directions to San Bartolomeo statue which appeared on none of our maps but was supposed to point in the direction of the alley in which our hotel was located. We found it with relative ease and quickly checked into a very, very small room that was barely worth the 100 euro we paid for it in terms of luxury but completely worth it in terms of location.

We quickly changed into short sleeves and began to make our way through the small streets of Venice. Shocked by the number of tourists everywhere we looked we ducked into a promising looking bar for a quick birthday lunch. The caprese salad and pizza were mediocre but the mini bottle of Prosecco that cost the same as a bottle of water was delicious! Recharged we headed into the tourist hoardes trying to sink St. Mark's Square. We saw the basilica, went to the top of the bell tower - this time by elevator- then headed over the Accademia bridge to explore La Salute church and the Dorsoduro neighborhood. Our quick walk along the waterfront soon turned into a long walk through the neighborhoods of San Polo. As darkness came, we finally found the Rialto bridge and knew that we survived the mouse maze of Venice.

Alison's birthday dinner started with drinks along the Grand Canal then became a bust as we couldn't find the restaurant recommended by our guidebooks and settled on what looked like a homey neighborhood spot but was really just a lame excuse for Italian lasagna and shrimp scampi. We skipped dessert at the restaurant and found a cafe for some intensely rich hot chocolate and slightly stale cookies.

Venice still gets two thumbs up as we look forward to seeing more.

Accidental Tourists

With the majority of Florence closed on a Monday, Alison and I signed up for a wine tasting and cooking lesson north of Florence in Rivello. We were picked up by our guide Jessie (from Arizona) along with 6 other Americans and taken to a working olive oil and wine making villa. We had the opportunity to tour the production area before being taken to a tasting room where we sampled 5 different wines from the vineyard. Our tour group was great fun and we were all friends by the 4th glass.

After wine tasting we were taken to a woman's house in the countryside and taught to make pasta dough which we then turned into spinach and ricotta ravioli and fettuccine. While the dough was tasty the finished product rocked my world. Just a little butter and Parmesan was added to the ravioli and our hostess made a fresh tomato and basil sauce to lightly coat the noodles. In addition she also made us stuffed tomatoes, pizza and some sort of fennel and cheese goodness and wrapped up our day with her tiramisu. Lucky for me Alison was full by the time dessert came so I got a second helping. Hello big fat belly!

We arrived back in Florence around 5 and quickly jetted through the inside of the Duomo then went to the train station to buy our morning tickets to Venice. I tried leading us a different way back to the hotel but after an hour of walking (without a map) we ended up right back at the train station. Oops. The upside was that I walked off 1 piece of tiramisu.

Our early evening nap turned into an all night slumber so no last night in Florence gelato for us. Somehow I think gelato will be in the cards again.

Florence top to bottom

After a long Saturday sleeping in and enjoying the extra hour courtesy of the time change seemed appropriate.

Shortly after we finished breakfast in the hotel Alison arrived and met the Towers girls. It was only appropriate that the college roommates should meet the grad school roommate. Laura, Stacey and Maryl left their luggage in my room and the 6 of us headed out to the museum containing all of the art from the Duomo. After about 30 minutes we were all laughing about our collective dislike of museums - even the ones containing such history.

Next Alison, Maggie, Stacey and I climbed the 400+ stairs of the Duomo belltower and enjoyed the cool breezes that helped subside our wheezing from the stairs and the general lack of deodorant on the men surrounding us.

Our quick descent down the tower led to a final picture, sad goodbyes and a promise not to wait another 10 years to see each other again. With that Alison and I headed to the Accademia museum where we briefly explored the art until we came to see the David - truly the most magnificent piece of art I have ever seen. The size of the sculpture was beyond all expectations and after looking at it for a few seconds the white of the marble seemed to turn into a pinkish flesh color. Alas, even David wasn't enough to keep us away from pasta so we headed around the corner to enjoy lunch al fresco at Pasticceria Robiglio. I had risotto that tasted like the best mac and cheese ever.

Alison and I headed toward the Uffizi by way of the leather market and the Ponte Vecchio. By the time we got to the Uffizi we were too tired to go in so we let our reservations go to waste and opted for more gelato instead.

Laura and Stacey were taking a night train to Leon for the second half of their European wine tasting tour so we grabbed a quick dinner with them which included us sharing a plate of tortellini stuffed with pear in a gorgonzola sauce. Yummy!!!

With that Laura and Stacey were off and Alison and I called it a day.

Classic Chianti, Classic Vandy girls

After a thorough search of the hotel room I realized that my camera was officially gone and I would have to go into the most beautiful countryside without anything to preserve the memories beyond my own memory and the cameras of Maggie, Laura and Stacey.

Our driver Guido picked us up at 8:30 in the morning and whisked us away with our first stop in Greve. We arrived around 10 in the morning and were greeted with the town market going on in the main square. Similar to Maggie's town market in terms of items being sold except for the large food truck selling fried foods - calamari at 10 anyone? Si per favore! We also sampled some very tasty boar salami in one of the local stores before loading back up and heading deeper into the winding roads of the Tuscan countryside.

Our next stop was for wine and olive oil tasting at a picture perfect castle on the top of a Tuscan hill, surrounded by vineyards, oil groves and a partially filled in moat. We were given a tour of the hotel rooms and informed that it makes for a lovely destination wedding spot. 4 tasty wines, a half cup of olive oil and a half pound of pecorino cheese smothered in jelly later, we were ready to begin our private 4 course lunch with more wine and olive oil on the side.

After lunch we headed off to our third and final stop, San Gimignano, a medieval town turned tourist trap. 2 hours walking the streets of leather shops, candy stores and olive wood vendors did me in and knocked me out for the drive back to Florence.

Of course after all of that food, we still had room for dinner so we headed out for a light and mediocre dinner.

Thank you Maggie for organizing such a perfect day.

Firenze!

After a 4 hour train ride from Naples to Florence on Friday, Maggie and I walked into the lovely Hotel Calzaiuoli, one block from the Duomo, and found the other half of our Towers IV crew - Maryl, Stacey and Laura. After screams, hugs and some jumping around we checked into our spacious room and headed out into the rainy afternoon to explore the shopping district of Florence, which our hotel is conveniently located in. In addition to convenient shopping, gelato abounds and I for one intend to try as many gelatarias as possible.

Wandering through the many street vendor stalls and impromptu markets the 5 of us began catching up on the past 10 years of life, love, loss, and future plans. While it has been 10 years since we were all together, not much has changed...and that seems to be a good thing.

After an hour of wandering around, Stacey and Laura who had just arrived from DC headed back to the hotel for a quick nap while Maryl, Maggie and I went to the leather market to look at...well, leather. Sigh. Why oh why is the dollar so weak!?! We would all be wearing new jackets and carrying new purses...as it is, most of us are now carrying new purses (everyone save me).

We had a yummy dinner at Osteria Za Za - which came highly recommended from just about everyone...and it did not disappoint. Chianti Classico, many appetizers, eggplant parmesean, etc - sigh - la dolce vida! After dinner we made a pit stop in a nearby Irish pub hoping to relive our college days. Sadly, Irish carbombs in Italy at 32 are not what they once were...so we headed back to the hotel quickly thereafter; making a pit stop for gelato...of course!

Unfortunately I seem to have lost my camera at some point during the above adventures (damn you Irish carbomb)! Hopefully it will reappear at some point in this miraculous city.

Rain Day

Yesterday's miraculous weather turned into today's fall showers. Not wanting to be on a boat headed to Capri in the wind and rain, Maggie and I stayed local - going to the Thursday market in her town and to the mall.

The market was 1/100th the size of the OC swap meet but packed in just as much junk, vegetables, underwear, and knock-off purses. I declined to purchase anything...just was not feeling the fake Prada next to the salted fish stand.

The mall was about 10 minutes away with a H&M, Zara and Carrefore all under one big roof. We explored the Napoli fashions...most of which looked like H&M at a variety of price points. Again, not feeling the fashion but definitely was feeling the AMAZING GELATO!!! Multo bene! I had some sort of hazelnut, chocolate concoction which made me want to cry from the sheer joy of the tasty treat. Sigh...totally worth waiting many, many years to try.

The afternoon was filled with thunderstorms, crying Ethan who hasn't had a nap in 3 days because I'm here, and a trip to the ATM where my card was brutally rebuffed. Grrr. Thankfully a quick call to the bank should solve the problem. If not, I may have to become a "campfire girl" (aka Napoli lady of the night or day as we witnessed driving to the mall) to get some cash...just kidding.

The rain seems to be subsiding - although tomorrow's train ride to Florence is supposed to be soaking as well. Can't wait to get there and see the gals!

Perfect vacation day

My 6:30 am wake-up call courtesy of little Allison and Ethan was the perfect way to start what began the perfect day. After dropping the kiddos off at preschool, Maggie and I hit the pasticcieria for some yummy morning treats (cornetto cioccolato = nuetella croissant = heaven) then were off to battle the mad mad roads on our way to Pompeii.

Arriving in Pompeii around 10 am we were greeted by the requisite street vendors, public bathrooms lacking toilet seats, tour buses filled to the bream with eager visitors, and 2000 + year old ruins. The scale, the sophistication, and the views were absolutely amazing. It was a perfect day; high 60s, bright sun, clear views of Vesuvius looming over the town. After 3 hours of constant walking and audio touring, we decided that lunch and beach towns were more important than seeing the other 3/4 of the town...so we piled back into the van and drove the winding roads to Positano.

Positano is a splendid town along the Amalfi coast - with houses built into cliffs that put 34062 Blue Lantern to shame in terms of perilous building. We ate yummy calzones on the beach and wandered through the winding roads filled with shops and restaurants. There was still sunlight after I spent my shopping allowance for the day so we started to head back via Sorrento. Arriving in Sorrento 45 minutes later, we found more winding roads of shops, restaurants, and lemoncello vendors...yikes. Lemoncello = wowzah...hair on my chest...may have to bring some back for my next dinner party...

Sorrento was charming but after 7 hours away from Little America (aka the Navy Base) it was time to load up the minivan, and get back to a yummy dinner of caprese salad made by Maggie with fresh buffalo mozzarella and pizza from the local pizzeria Arizona.

I think it's a toss up between calories burned and calories consumed. Overall a great day to be on vacation.

What do you get when you mix Euros and retired midwestern Americans?

A 10 hour plane ride of women sitting next to you drinking too much chardonnay getting excited about their Carnival cruise and men that shamelessly stare at you...such was the flight from Chicago to Rome. American Airlines leaves a lot to be desired in international travel. A plane heading to the food capital of the world and what do we get served "beef and potato" or "chicken and rice" loaded in salt...cold roll...cold iceberg lettuce...no free cocktails. I had a row to myself which slightly helped with sleeping through the flight, save for the aforementioned chardonnay cruisers and starers.

Landed in Rome at 9 am and effortlessly went through customs. An 11 euro 30 minute train ride from the airport to the city, followed by a 10 euro 2 hour train ride from Rome to Aversa and I am swept away by college roommate Maggie in the well-used minivan. Maggie was born to drive here - where there are no rules of the road, kids move freely from the front seat to the back seat to the trunk space while cars zip through narrow winding roads.

Can check eat pizza in Naples off my list. Yep....it's damn good. Thanks to Mags for starting me on the eating spree.

Off to explore the military base outside of Naples. From Maggie and Dan's 1500 square foot 3 bed room 2 bath apartment...all I can think is that I'm in a parallel Irvine where the gate guards have really big guns and Vesuvius lingers on the horizon.

Ciao Italia!

Packed...primped...ready for 2 weeks of eating, drinking, laughing, walking, and adventuring. Stay tuned for what's to come as I battle jet lag, Napoli pizza, Chianti Chianti, and whatever else fair Italia has to offer!