Ciao Italia!

Just a quick farewell from Italy... A quick stop to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa and then it was off to Dublin to finish off our trip.  We flew Ryan Air, which is one of the low cost airlines in Europe (think Southwest, but you have to pay for anything extra).  When I booked, I made sure to register us for the higher weight limit (20 kg) for our checked bag... and we made sure to check in before we got there so we wouldn't have to pay to print our boarding pass.  Just a note, we were worried about the weight limit so we asked to weigh our bags before the check-in process to make sure they were under the limit.  The check-in attendant was more than willing to let us, which was great.  I was nervous they would say no as John and I had a pretty rough time leaving in 2008 and ended up paying a hefty fine for our overweight bag.  So definitely make sure that you do that - they are pretty strict.

Unless you are flying in and out of Pisa, I don't believe it's worth a trip.  Maybe we missed out on something and didn't fully understand it?  But seriously, there is hardly anything there... just little shops, the tower, and lots of people.  It was also really hot in September.  Not a big fan.... But here are some final pictures to say goodbye.

Picture taken from our Villa with Florence in the background.

The newly stabilized Leaning Tower of Pisa.

The Alps - I've never really seen them, except from an airplane or from a train.

Sunset from the airplane on the way to Dublin.

One of the first sighs of Ireland - and of course it's a golf course. 

I'm on a boat!

After Rome we spent a bit of time at the villa relaxing.  Our next trip was just a day trip to Venice (Venezia).  We were taking the train there in the morning and coming back later in the evening.  Like our other day trips, we didn't book very far in advance because we didn't feel that we would have any trouble with tickets selling out on the train.  We were a little bit wrong in that assumption (ass, u, me... got it...).  So when we went to the train station to buy our tickets the day before, the early morning train was SOLD OUT.  Really?  It was a Thursday.  Who goes to Venice on a Thursday?  Answer: everyone.

So after much scrambling and thoughts of making a random overnight trip of it, we decided to just take the later train instead and pulled into the station just in time for lunch.  I find that when I'm in Venice (did that sound pretentious?  I'll restart)... I find that Venice requires me to take a lot of pictures.  Many of the exact same thing over and over again.  The canals look different around any corner when you don't have a camera in front of your face.  But unfortunately they start to blend together once you flip through the pictures.

Venice to me is full of colors and boats... and I love both of those things.  They also have a lot of bridges... another thing which clearly is intriguing to me.  Fun fact (maybe just fun to me?), when I was looking at the map of Venice I saw all of their public transit.  It looked exactly like a Metro map or the L map... and I was so surprised that they had an underground here.  Then suddenly I realized the public transit is on the canals... d'oh.  I'm smart...s-m-r-t.

We took a gondola ride along the canals... We started off from a pretty busy section, so it was a little choppy until we got into the island canals, but it was fun.  I hadn't done that before, and for the price, I don't think I would do it again.  I suppose it's a "must do" for Venice though.  All in all, it was mostly just wandering between the streets, taking in the colors, the views, etc.  We didn't get to go into St. Mark's due to an insanely long line.  I had been in there about 8 years before (wow----that is insane) and it has some of the most beautiful mosaics that I have seen.  The floors are covered, and it's just incredible.  That was kind of a bummer that we weren't able to see it.

Overall, everyone in our group loved Venice -- I am still "okay" with Venice.  I don't know that it will be on my list for a very long time.  But, it's still a pretty cool city, and I would recommend it.  Without further ado, here are the pictures.  Sorry for the heavy-text post, just wanted to fill everyone in.

Gondolas are everywhere.  The gondoliers wear the striped shirts and hats that you expect.  It's fun.  You get to see everything from a little bit of a different perspective.

One of the many pictures of boats.... and colorful buildings.  Contrary to what I would have believed with the sold out train, there weren't a lot of people on the side streets.. so we were actually able to take pictures without people!

The Grand Canal that runs through essentially the center of the island.  

Umm...yes, he is actually wearing a shirt that is specifically made for the collar to be popped.... It kind of freaked me out - but not too much that I couldn't pull out my camera and take a picture.

Fun Fact #2: This building in the back left (brown/gray) is on the rehearsal dinner invitations from our wedding.  When John was last in Venice he was on a gondola and took a picture while under the bridge you see of the building in the back.... Weird.

This is Basilica di San Marco with the mosaics.  You can kind of see the gold mosaics in the arches.  It is truly an incredible church.  I recommend it!  If we had more time I would have probably made us wait in line.

Piazza San Marco is notoriously full of rats with wings... err.. pigeons.  Why people like them and feed them, I do NOT understand.  I understand even less when people are so excited when they land on their bodies... or when people sit on the ground with them.  It's disgusting.

This is where we took off on our gondola.  A little bit away from St. Mark's.

My last post for this trip will just be about the doors that we saw.  Americans do not appreciate a really great door, let me tell you.  

On our walk back to the train station to head home.  Boat...check...color...check.

I think we are on the Rialto Bridge over the Grand Canal.  It's a famous bridge, but I there seems to always be an advertisement on the side of the bridge which really discourages me from taking pictures of it.

Sun is setting around the bend of the Grand Canal.

 

I mean, if you're out walking in Venice, you should probably bring your pet wolf.  That seems like the way to go... Just an FYI, this was walking across the new Calatrava bridge (Ponte della Costituzione).

So that was Venice... I think everyone should try to go, but I personally don't think I could spend too much time there.  I would like to see Murano, getting a boat and cruising around the islands sounds like fun... but I think that's far in my future.

When in Rome

An overnight trip to Rome is not enough time... and I could have spent some more time just walking around.  We had such little time to see all the "big" sights, we weren't able to just wander like we had been doing since we left London.  

Our hotel was right off the Campo De'Fiori.  Which was walkable from the train station (albeit tough with our heavy bags), lots of restaurants, and an open market in the mornings and early afternoons.  The hotel (Hotel Camp De'Fiori) was fantastic.  There was roof top deck which provided some amazing views (to be seen later) and they welcomed you bringing up drinks and snacks.  It was also just a great location to see all the sights that we had on our list.

We noticed that there were quite a few Subways while we were over there.  I don't like Subway in America, so I can only imagine that its European equivalent is very similar.  But, strangely enough, we did see quite a few people eating it.. and maybe it's because of their "hand made gelato"... I'm not sure I trust it.  Ha.

I would probably eat at Subway more if they had homemade gelato in the Subway on the first floor of my work.

Martha had done some legwork and reserved tickets to the Vatican Museum for us.  While St. Peter's Basilica is free, the Vatican does cost money.  We were considering a tour, but we were worried about committing ourselves to so much time in a museum.  Contrary to popular belief, I can really only stand about one hour of painted golden halos and various religious art.  But, while we didn't do the tour, I highly recommend buying the tickets online so that you can avoid the line and you get to reserve a time.  The line to buy tickets and get in stretched down the wall, and while I don't know how long it would have taken to get in, I can't imagine that it would have been worth it.  (Oh and brilliant invention - Nutella to go!!!  It comes in a little container with little breadsticks and tea... Yummm!!!).

A nun sitting among the columns of St. Peter's Square.

This was after the Vatican Museum and on our way into St. Peter's Basilica.  They look so serious...

I tried really hard to avoid taking pictures of the Swiss Guard in the Vatican.  I feel bad for those crazy dressed guards that look as though they should be part of some flamboyant display on Broadway or the likes.  But truly, when I look at them, the outfits scream "look at me!  take a picture of me!"... and so I had to oblige.  They must get so sick of people looking at them.  People were literally crowded along the fence, 2 or 3 people deep, to take pictures.  So I took some pictures of the architecture to squelch my conscience.  

How very Liberace of them..

After the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's we saw Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps... we ate gelato (seriously every day required gelato, and if a day was missed - clearly two the next day was required)... and made our way back to the hotel to enjoy the roof deck before heading to dinner.

Trevi Fountain.  We threw in our mandatory coins to make sure that we return to Rome and that we return to Rome with our love -- I'm assuming that is going to still be John.  Haha.

Just one of the views from the panoramic magnificence that was the roof top.  In the distance you can see the Victor Emmanuel Monument.

The next morning before heading to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum we checked out the market in the Camp De'Fiori.  It was so colorful, and everything just looked delicious.  We bought a few spices (which we have used, and are VERY spicy if used in excess), Marla bought some saffron (wow that shiznit is expensive).... it was great.

This guy was just sitting at his booth and carving vegetables.. On the other table there were curly-q carrots.

This is the market that we bought our spices from.  I don't think I can see the spices we bought in the picture, but everything we bought contained red pepper flakes in abundance.

We walked back by the Victor Emmanuel Monument.  It's not the most .. ummm... revered monument in Rome.  It's called the "wedding cake" and the "typewriter"... It's on the Piazza Venezia and it apparently destroyed quite a few Roman ruins for its construction.  Not a good way to score points with the Roman people from what I understand.

On our way to buy tickets for the Roman Forum and the Colosseum we saw this woman.  A weird little doll strapped to the top of her luggage.  It was seriously creepy.

John loves Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome.  He loves Greek and Roman Gods... I'm not too far behind.. although I can't apparently remember all of my mythology.  It's so amazing to think of what people constructed so long ago and it's managed to stay standing through all of this time.  Incredible.

I 

The outside of the Colosseum.  The structures they built back then and the bloodshed they encouraged.

They have a replica of the floor that used to be over the tunnels.  It used to be covered in sand (arena is Latin for "sand" -- sorry, no fancy symbols here -- which I think is interesting) and clearly the gladiators fought various animals and each other in the center.  It's insane to think about the animals that were housed under the floor, and the intricate methods to get them raised up to fight.

The outside layers of the Colosseum.  When you are walking around, you can definitely see where our modern stadiums get their inspiration.

The Roman Forum.  Our last stop before heading to the hotel to pick up our bags, see the Bone Chapel (Cappuccin Crypt), and on our way back to the train station to get back to Florence.  

We saw the Cappuccin Crypt (multiple spellings, I chose one, hopefully it's ok).  It cost us 1 euro, and we got to walk through the crypts completely decorated with human bones, bones of Cappuccin Friars. We couldn't take pictures, but it was surprising how "beautiful" bones could be.  They had pelvis's that looked like butterflies and all sorts of other designs made from bones that I never could have imagined. 

So that was the Cliff's Notes of Rome.  Our entire trip has essentially been Cliff's Notes, but this was exceptionally quick.  We saw the highlights, I'm not sure anyone (except for John and me) want to go back -- but it was definitely worth the trip.

(P.S. Definitely look into the Hotel Camp De'Fiori - wonderful hotel... if only our TV had worked...)

I Cinque Terre - do you?

We decided to take a day trip to Cinque Terre.  The most exciting for me, a new place!  I had never been, John hadn't been in over 5 years.... the weather was beautiful... seemed like a nice day for a hike. So we packed up, drove out, and saw 4 of the 5 towns.  We started at the southern most town, Riomaggiore.  When I think of seaside Italian towns - this is exactly what I'm imagining.  The colors of the buildings, the unbelievably clear water, the row boats sitting in the harbor.  It was incredible.  I couldn't imagine having to navigate these hills on a daily basis though.  It was intense going down, and certainly worse walking back up at the end of the day and two hikes later.

Here is Riomaggiore from near where we ate lunch.  We had focaccia bread, which tasted like butter - not really butter, but it was rich and flaky and buttery goodness for sure.. Yum!! 

The boats sitting in the harbor.  The girls rowing the boat on the right were quite the entertainment.  They apparently thought rowing a boat was much easier than it was, and for some reason each girl is operating an oar and sitting in opposite directions.  Eventually we did see that they made it out into the sea.  We didn't see if they made it back.

Europeans are awesome. 

We did the first hike as a group to the next city, Manarolo.  The trail is called Via Dell'Amore (Lover's Walk).  It was  pretty easy trip... and it was great to see Mediterranean and the cities from a distance.  It was really warm out, and very sunny.  We noticed that a lot of locks were throughout the hike, along with scraps of anything that people could tie.  Locks are one thing, but honestly, I don't understand why people were quite literally tying trash along the trail.    

On the second part of the trail, there were some park people that were cutting down the trash, and leaving the locks.

Part of the Via Dell'Amore.  How medieval...

Somewhere between Riomaggiore and Manarolo.

When we got to Manarolo we took the train that connects the city to the third town, Corniglia.  The trail between Manarolo and Corniglia was closed from a rock slide earlier in the year.  Pat and Martha continued in the train onto the fourth city, Vernazza, to wait for us while we hiked.  

The second hike was harder than the first.  There were a lot of stairs and just general vertical hiking.  It was warm, I was sweaty, but it was still a great time.  The trail was beautiful, and worth the walk.

A look back at Corniglia.

 

Our first real sight of Vernazza.  It's amazing to think of building these homes and buildings on the side of the mountains, I can only imagine the views if I lived here.

This was a fish shop.  The cat was sitting in the door with the kids, waiting for a snack.  Apparently the owner did eventually give the cat something to eat.

Toes in the Mediterranean..  The sand was mostly black, and very soft.  We were so warm from our hike, I was wishing that I had worn/brought a swimsuit.

Paint peeling, colors fading - Italian chic.

Beer, sun, and sea.... aahhhh....

After a little bit of relaxation, we headed for the train station and took the train back to the first city, Riomaggiore.  If we had more time, or had stayed the night we could have made our way to the fifth city (Monterosso), but we wanted to get back for dinner closer to the villa.  

The sun was setting as we made our way back to our car.

I think I could live with this outside my front door.

I think I would like to spend more time in Cinque Terre.  I would hike the trails, swim in the sea, and just generally relax with the beauty of it all.

Firenze - Land of meat, pasta, and pizza...

We arrived in Firenze (Florence) on September 14.  It was the longest part of our trip, and supposedly what was to be our most relaxing city.  We rented a villa (more to be posted later with a couple of overall views - it was pretty amazing)... rented a car (I stand corrected, a 9 passenger VAN with a stick shift)... and toured Italy.  That's where our culinary adventure began as well.  Let me introduce you to some of the amazing deliciousness of Italy (albeit - a small flavor)...

Just to provide proof that we were in fact in Firenze.  Here is our first sight of the Duomo as we came in from the train station.

Our villa (sorry to tease, there will be more later on the villa) was situated just up the road from San Martino alla Palma, about 45 minutes outside of Firenze.  When we asked for a supermarket, we were told to go to (phonetically) "ibercompt".... apparently that translates to ipercoop.  It was insane... It was like a Walmart Supercenter, but different.  There were other shops there, outside of the grocery store.  One of the ipercoops that we went to had a shoe store, an electronics store, and a lingerie store.  I mean, what else do you need?  Upon entering though - this is the sight that we saw ---- meat (prosciutto in mass quantities....) and salamis.  It was so weird.  And, you must wear gloves whenever you touch produce lest you be met with angry stares.

Down our street from our villa, there was a pizza place that we went to our first night.  While we all ordered pizza, Katie ordered pesto pasta which was pretty fantastic.  I decided I needed to document the wonders of Italian pasta...

Down in the heart of Firenze, having a bite to eat and a glass of wine.  Sitting on the piazza and watching as people walk by.

Palazzo Vecchio as seen through wine... Yumm!

Again, Katie gets the most exciting and delicious meals.  We didn't quite know what to make of it.

We ended up at the pizza place down the hill more than once.  Here is a sampling of the pizzas we had, and they were amazing.  The crust is the real winner here - and us who ate it of course.