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!