Please, let me Assisist you, Signore Francesco

Assisi kids, is beautiful. I think this trip may have been one of the best trips we've gone on in Tuscany. I don't know if it was because of the mystical mood of visiting St. Francis, or the mercurial weather, or the general giddiness of us girls, but it was a near perfect day.

We hopped on the train to Assisi (train, if you haven't noticed, is our main form of transportation around Italia); it was a long trip, 2 and 1/2 hours. We arrived at the train station and noticed a definite difference in temp. I am not sure why Florence is generally warmer than the other tuscan towns we visit, but it is. Pollution? Anyway, we froze until the little bus came to take us to the main area of town. This time we did not get lost! Yay!!

Directly upon arrival we headed towards the Basilica of San Francesco. Let me tell you straight up that this was the biggest church I have ever seen. We later found out this is because it was enlarged later in time, but it was quite impressive on first glance. But before we even went inside the basilica, there was an exhibit of pictures from Mother Teresa's mission in India, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of her birth. These pictures set the mood...and tore me up. We headed into the Basilica which actually was pretty normal looking, in fact it was a little unimpressive. It is super old so most of the frescos had been rubbed off. Then we went down to the crypt. This place was magical. They had (semi) recently allowed access to St. Francis's remains, and the sat in the middle of this brick column. All around the column were lanterns, and people had left pictures of (I assume) deceased love ones, mainly children. Everyone became very quiet and contemplative. It was like how I imagine churches were in the medieval times; in addition to the rather pious nature of the crowd and obvious reverence, there were quite a few people with maladies with their families praying for healing. The whole thing left quite the impression.

Afterwards we traipsed over to the "newer" part of the basilica. Another cool thing about San Francesco (well not about him but the site)? There are still SO MANY monks. And not just old dudes, but young guys. As a non-Catholic, I'm not sure why I thought that was awesome, but I did. Anyway, the new part of the church was teeming, teeming, with elderly people on tours. I am not usually afraid of crowds, if anything I get annoyed, but this was terrifying. We girls literally hung on to each other for fear we would be washed away in a sea of three and six legged centurions (canes and walkers for those of you that need a little more coaching). Needless to say we stared from the back and then exited quickly and quietly. No need to disturb that ant hill.

The weather had been kinda shaky earlier in the morning, but the transition from clouds to light made for some really cool pics. Here is an example:

We wandered the adorable town, saw a few more churches. Two of note: the Temple of Minerva and San Rufino Cathedral. The Temple of Minerva is now a (rather gaudy) small Catholic church, but it was a pagan temple. Assisi was founded around 1 AD, but wasn't Christianized until 3 AD. The Temple still looks pretty darn Roman, with giant marble columns. The San Rufino Cathedral is (to my over-saturated eyes) pretty par-for-the-course as far as Cathedrals go visually. What makes it significant is that it was the place where Saint Francis was baptized. I supposed I should give a little run down on St. Francis, as he is the key element that takes Assisi from just another darling Tuscan town to a place for pilgrimage.

Francis of Assisi was born in the early 1180s. His is the classic tale of a pivotal religious figure (though sort-of atypical of a Catholic saint, i.e. he wasn't martyred). He was born to an affluent family, the son of a prosperous cloth merchant. He lived as a typical well-to-do young man, and fought as a soldier. It was actually while he was off fighting that he had his first vision from God, directing him to go back home to Assisi. He began to lose his taste for worldly life, and made a pilgrimage to Rome where he begged with the beggars there (I'm not sure why). It was then that he decided to renounce his trappings of wealth and live simple life with very few possessions. He began preaching around Europe and eventually Egypt and the Middle East, amassing many followers. He was almost always cheerful, able to charm even the Muslim kings (to this day even in the most stringent political regimes, the Franciscan brotherhood is allowed in many Muslim nations). The Pope endorsed his brotherhood, and the Franciscan Order was created (as well as the Order of Poor Ladies, or the Order of St. Claire - the first of the ladies). Towards the end of his life he received the wounds of stigmata, and even though he went through many types of treatment (I guess because he did not realize what they were?) they never healed. He died not long after that, legend has it while singing Psalm 141. He was made a saint two years after he died, in 1228. He is the patron saint of animals and the environment, and one of two patron saints of Italy.

Anywho, after all that, we headed up a big hill (yes, of course this has not changed) towards La Rocca Maggiore. This is the name of the big fort at the top of the hill overlooking the town, which has served as the main defense, refuge, and point of contention for the many different ruling parties which have presided over Assisi. I think this was my favorite thing we saw. Does anyone remember the big tunnel playground things from back in the day? Like bigger versions of the ones in McDonalds and such? Well, this castle/fort/whatever was kind-of like an adult version of one of those. It had multiple towers, open courtyards, and one really, really fun "secret" tunnel. Well, fun for me - I practiced my speed walking. Unfortunately, for those more blessed in the height department (Jennie) it was a little hazardous. Poor girl suffered a serious blow to the head and almost broke her sunglasses. That put a bit of a damper on the playing, but all was forgotten when we climbed the largest tower, the polytagonal tower, and were rewarded with beautiful 360 degree views of the area. It made me wish I still had my elph (anyone remember those?) which had three different settings (regular, wide, and wider).

The only down point of our day was lunch, which took place in a seemly quirky and cute cafe...but the pizza probably came from a box and the wait staff imported from Romania or some other Eastern European nation. Not that there is anything wrong with that, I just would prefer my Italian food from someone more...Italian. And less crabby pants.

All in all, the day was excellent and I think Assisi may win for my favorite town in Italy I've seen so far. I highly recommend it.

THE Cinque Terre

Hello there lads and lasses - I mean, ciao uomini e donne. Come stai? I hope you all are well!

Today we will be discussing our trip to Cinque Terre! For those of you that are not in the know, Cinque Terre is a group of five villages located on the "Italian Riviera", or in the north western part of the country (please refer to the map below).

They were reputed to be both beautiful and isolated - which means I desperately wanted to go!

To reach the towns, it is necessary to take a two-and-a-half hour train to La Spezia, and then take the little local train to the first town, Riomaggiore. In order to do the whole thing (even though we didn't actually end up doing it all) we got up really early, like 5:30 am early. Ugh. But we did it and made it to the train by 7-ish. The train ride was fairly uneventful except I got sat on by a rather large high school student in bright green pants. Luckily the loud (and obnoxious - I apologize to EVERYONE for my adolescence) kids were only on the train for a half-hour or so. I tried to sleep through all of it.

We arrived in La Spezia without any problems (except for one of my legs being flatter than the other). Then the wait began. Our train was supposed to come an hour after our arrival in La Spezia...but then an hour became an hour-and-a-half, then two hours, then two-and-a-half hours, etc. We finally ended up hoping on a different train than our original choice, but it all worked out fine and we got to Riomaggiore only an hour or so behind schedule.

A train runs between each town, but the girls and I were set on walking it. Now, I bought "50 Hikes In and Around Tuscany" before coming to Italy and the folks who wrote that book classified the hike as "moderate". (A word of warning about this book - it has been almost completely unhelpful. Almost all of the starting locations can only be accessed by a car, which means I can't get to any of them.) Indeed, the first lap between Riomaggiore and Manarolo was exceedingly easy, to the point I was concerned about the phyiscal state of these so called "hiking experts" that wrote the above book. And it was crowded with old people. And it was utterly beautiful.

We walked through the Via dell'Amore, where I took a few romantical pictures of the girls. We admired the locks of love, literal padlocks that couples hook to the nets guarding against rockslides (safe??!!) to symbolize that their love will last forever. It's a thing they do here -- there are a whole bunch in front of the Uffizi in Firenze. After the stroll we arrived at the train station for the second town, Manarolo. (Looking back, we never actually went through the town...oopsie!) We hopped on the train there because the trail was closed between the second and third town due to something...possibly a rock slide? So we got off the train at Corniglia, and that is where things started to get interesting.

In order to get up to the town we had to climb A MILLION BAJILLION stairs. SO MANY. When we finally got to the top we were congratulated by this sign:

We thought that this sign signaled the decline in the difficulty of our trip...it did not. It only marked the beginning. After the stairs we wandered through the quaint, tiny town of Corniglia (according to Jenn's guidebook, the least impressive of the five...snooty snoot snoot). We climbed the winding streets of the town, noting the ivy-covered restaurants and colorful buildings, the terraced vineyards winding up and down the hillsides. When we reached the town, located on a summit, we looked outward and forward to our unknown destination. "Is that the town all the way out there," someone said, pointing to a tiny speck of pink in a mini-mountain. "No, couldn't be, that is way too far away," someone else replied, but this someone was wrong. Very, very wrong.

The book said the hike was set to last an hour-and-a-half. Jenn, the speed walker that she is, thought that they probably had padded the time. Nope, it took exactly an hour-and-a-half because even though we went at a good clip, the first half was STRAIGHT UP, and the second half STRAIGHT DOWN. Over unsteady boulders and slippery stones, logs, and mud holes no less. Again, I questioned the "moderate" rating in my hiking book, but for a completely different reason. I no longer pictured the writers as asthmatic, wrinkly elders wrapped in synthetic fabrics and zinc oxide; but instead evil, evil sadists with walking staffs and pitchforks. That is probably overstating the point but still...it was more challenging than a mere "moderate" would lead me to believe.

By the time we arrived in Vernazza, we were pooped. Which was perfect really, because Vernazza was the ideal place to unwind. We basically fell down the street leading into the town, and landed at the steps of a darling shopping area. We looked in a few stores, seriously contemplated buying a few items, and took in the glorious day. By the time we made our way down to the Marina, we were hongry. We grabbed pizza, and jeebus, I don't know if it is because I hadn't eaten since 6 am that morning, but it was delicious. I picked a pesto pizza, which has officially converted me to the cult of pesto (I was on the fence before). And after that I had the unicorn of ice creams - cinnamon gelatto, which previously I'd heard rumor of but never actually seen. It was worth the wait.

We took our food down to the inlet area, and laid out on the rocks. The wind dried our sweat and the sun warmed our tight muscles and this is what we had to look at!

Not bad.

I'm sorry to say kids that we never made it to the fifth town. We really did contemplate hiking over to Monterosso...but for some crazy reason, laying in the sun seemed more appealing. Jenn's guidebook told us the hike over would be even steeper than the one we had just climbed, and also assured us we had seen the best town anyway. We didn't need to hear anything more than that.

Until next time kiddos -- which will be Assisi! Are you excited?!? xxx

The Pisa and Lucca Experience

Hello my darlings! I am finally (sort-of) catching up to "real time"! Which only means that I will need to start doing more exciting things so I have something to blog about! Who knew that this blog would serve as an impetus for italian/european adventures! Or that I'd need it?! (I don't).

But -- Pisa and Lucca! We decided to do both in one day mainly because no one wanted to spend a whole day in Pisa. It is requisite that all travelers to Italy see the leaning tower, but other than that Pisa is kinda a hole. I'm sorry but it is what it is! And Lucca is a little baby town, but a hidden Tuscan gem. So as Joey would say, "put your hands together..."(but instead your hands hold Pisa and Lucca, not jam and...you know).

Also this trip was special because it was the first trip that all five friends (Caroline, Jenn, Jess, Kate, and ME) went on together! We (C, J, and C) got up early and walked over the bridge to collect the cousins, and then headed towards the train station. Luckily Pisa is only an hour away by train, and Lucca is about halfway between Pisa and Florence on the way back. Another plus? Tickets to Pisa from Florence hover somewhere around 6 euro. Sweet!

We all got on the train...and then promptly passed out. When we awoke an hour later,we scooted off the train, grabbed a cappuccino, and headed towards the tower. As I said earlier (in less flattering terms), Pisa is not the cutest place. Not because the architecture is ugly, or the city is sprawling or anything, it's more the whole place just looks run down. Graffiti everywhere, vagrants on corners selling cheap crap, creepy people...I'm probably making it sounds worse than it is. Really, the biggest deterrent from visiting Pisa? It's boring. That is until you get to the tower, and accompanying cathedral and baptistery. Set out on a green field outside the city center, the whole thing is certainly picturesque. The architecture of the tower et al. is gorgeous. My sister commented that she thought the Pisa Duomo is one of the most beautiful she's ever seen, and I am inclined to agree. Here is a pic so you can decide yourself:

We saw the tower, some of us did the (un)necessary "holding the tower up" picture, and then headed towards the Cathedral. It is possible to go inside the tower itself, but apparently its pretty expensive and not necessarily worth it (like many other things you climb: the Space Needle, Statue of Liberty, St. Louis Arch, etc). The cathedral was spacious, beautiful...a nice church essentially. I really wanted to go in the baptistery because the building was just so pretty, but if I've learned anything in Italy it is that baptistery's are often much more glamorous from the outside from the inside. So, we just admired it from afar and then we were done with Pisa! Off to Lucca!

Lucca is and was the ying to Pisa's yang. The village is CUTE kids. Its quiet too...and strangely full of Britains. There were also an obscene amount of churches - if the word "obscene" can ever be applied to churches. But whatever, the streets were wide(ish) and tree lined (mostly) and best of all, they had a WALL! Now ever since the ridiculously wonderful wall walk my family went on around Dubrovnik (GO!! DO IT NOW!!!), I have had a love for all things wall. Lucca was no exception, in fact it was exceptional (bahaha). Minus, of course, the couples making-out every couple yards. And I am not exaggerating -- literally every couple yards. It was like some smoosh-smoosh regulator had gone and marked where each little kissy-face couple should go. But make-out mountain aside, we sat up on the wall and relaxed and threatened to push each other off -- all that good stuff. It was a good day!

Cheerio! xxx

Roma - Part Four (End Scene)

Let's dive in directly, shall we?

After the whole Vatican experience, I was wiped. I met up with Jennifurball, and we had a glorious salad for lunch. Italian food is good, as is expected, but kind of lacking in the vegetable department. At least cheaper Italian is anyway. Afterward, we were kind-of at a loss for what to do. We looked through J's guidebook and I hit upon the Protestant Cemetery.

I understand this would not be a draw for many folks, but there was a certain someone buried in the cemetery that I have had and will always have a crush on. As a warning, this next bit is going to get a bit word-nerdy. I have a rather embarrassing declaration to make: I LOVE the romantic poets. For those that are not English folk, this is akin to an art person declaring they love Monet or Renoir. In other words, "duh, they are decidedly unoffensive - who doesn't like them" and/or "wow, you are super unoriginal and kinda...lame". Whatever, it is what it is. So, now that you know my slightly shameful secret, you will appreciate how excited I was when I remembered a certain Mr. John Keats had died in Rome. Here is a little history of John Keats (from our good friend Wiki):

Was born on Halloween (oooo!!) 1795 in England. He was the last born of the Romantics, and the first to die. Though he enrolled in medical school and apparently did quite well, he was determined to be a poet. His was first published at the age of 19; and was an author by 20. He befriended the Romantic set, and wrote some more poetry - basically all of it panned by the critics. He contracted tuberculosis from his brother, and was told to relocate to a warmer climate. He died in Rome in Feb 1821 at the age of 25.

The Protestant Cemetery also houses the grave of Mr. Percy Bysshe Shelley, the big kahuna of the Romantics. Also lots of other important people - anyone who died in Rome that wasn't Catholic. They put all those crazy followers of Luther way outside the city center where they would not pollute the holy catholic community. Jennie was not super into the idea of going to this cemetery, she isn't a fan of cemeteries in general, but even she admitted that this place had an air to it after we arrived. The entrance is marked by a giant pyramid which was built in 30 BC as a tomb, and then later incorporated into the Cemetery walls. The cemetery itself is decorated in a Mediterranean fashion, with palm and Cyprus trees everywhere. It was all very peaceful -- that is until they started playing some obnoxious classical music in order to drive us out. Unfortunately we didn't arrive at the graveyard until 4 and it closed at 5. So, we raced around trying to see everything we wanted and then scooted out.

Highlights (in pictures):

After the Cemetery, we headed back to our B&B to get ready for dinner. The cousin of a friend of Jennie's was very kindly taking us out to dinner! Her name is Fabiana and she is darling; she is from a village outside Naples and took us to her friend's pizzaria. Now, as everyone knows, the best pizza in Italy comes from Naples, so we were excited! And I can say now that both the food and company were delicious. The restaurant is called PepeNero, if anyone is ever in Rome and wants good pizza!!

The next day we stayed just long enough to do a good turn for an elderly lady staying in our B&B, (well Jennie really did it, I just accompanied) and then picked up Caroline! Our third roomie, finally arrived! We are now complete!

And thus the trip to the south was over, as is this post. Arrivederci!

Roma - Part Tre (the Vatican)

Hiya Friends!

So, where did we leave things?! Oh yes, right before I took my tour of the Vatican! Well, Jenn and I rose early, took in some nutrients, and headed towards the Nike store in front of the Vatican area. (Yes, this is for real where we were told to meet). Jennie accompanied me through the subway, for which I am grateful because even though there are only two lines, finding the station and the train in the correct direction is tricky. Having already done the whole Vatican thing and with her "museum allergy", Jenn had chosen not to accompany me through the tour. However she did want to see the Pope's Wednesday blessing, so we headed over to the predetermined tour meet-up.

And there on the corner was Fe, looking bubbly and energetic per usual. We had gotten there about a half-hour early and consequently it was suggested that we go find a place to get a cappuccino and chill -- which is exactly what we did. We ended up waiting for around 45 mins to an hour because the metro was nutso and had caused quite a few folks to be late, but finally we were off (no crazy British families appeared - score!). We picked up our ultra stealth earphones (the holy Romans do not like you to be all loud in the Pope's house), received our free tickets for the Pope's blessing, and headed towards the walls of Vatican City. Actually getting into St. Peter's Square was kind-of a cluster eff because there is only one entrance. Well, there are two but the one we went through was built...sometime recently to accommodate larger crowds; it still took about 15 mins though. When we finally busted through (just me with the group at this point, Jenn had moved on), we walked out on to the near vacant piazza. Which allowed us to get bomb spots near the "road" the Pope would ride by later in the day. We could have sat in the seats, but Fe advocated standing near the partition that blocked off path for the popemobile in order to get a better view. While waiting for the Pope to appear, I passed the time trying to take pictures of the Swiss Gaurd in their original uniforms -- here is one now:

The story behind the Swiss Guard is that the Pope commissioned the Swiss Guard in the 15th century, due to their reputation for being highly disciplined and loyal.

And then finally the Pope came out in his little vehicle and the blessing began! Here is a short video I took of the procession:




Honestly, I was expecting crazy cheering crowds and Italian mothers weeping and Nuns praying on hands and knees...but it was decidedly less exciting. Though there was a commotion when the Pope first appeared, after that audience participation was lackluster. We listened for about 20 minutes, and then left to tour the Vatican museums while everyone was still at the blessing (it goes on for hours).

Let me tell you, the Museums at the Vatican are HUGE. I was in the museum for around 5 hours and I only saw the main portion, the "Classical Antiquities" -- I did not even touch the Egyptian collection, or the library. But the part I saw was enough (my feet rrreeaaalllyyy hurt by the end). If I haven't said it before, I will say it again - my guide was the BEST. She was so informative and positive and perfect. And the things I learned....I want this blog to be informative but I am afraid most of you would fall asleep if I prattled on about everything I was told at the Vatican museums. So I will give you a few highlights (with pics):

- Frescos are mad hard to make. They involve plaster, cartoons (ancient roman word for sketch), pigments and a hella lot of patience. Before being commissioned to create the roof of the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo (translated into Spanish as Miguel Angel) (this made me laugh) (I like parentheses) (is this distracting?) (anyway...) had never done one before. In fact, he turned the project down and wasn't going to do it, until the Pope threatened him with excommunication!







- This is the most anatomically correct sculpture ever made.








- The ancient Romans were crazy genius. This purple marble is the most rare marble eva (there is actually none naturally occurring in the world currently), and is so hard it takes modern scientists hours to make a 3 cm long cut in it using diamond tipped saws. How the h-e-double hockey sticks did they carve this?!?







- Classical sculptures had EYES. Creepy no?














- Miguel Angel was a sexist, temperamental crabby pants. But still....so talented, so dreamy. Sigh.






The above sculpture is actually from St. Peter's Basilica. It was one of the first things Michelangelo ever did, and the only work he ever signed. And he only signed it because there had been a rumor floating around that someone else had sculpted the work - so he sneaked into the basilica and wrote his name on Mary's sash! Michelangelo's female sculptures usually lack...femininity (Michelangelo really like the menfolk), but this Mary is beautiful. I think it might be my favorite thing I've seen by his hand.

After the museum, we were spit out into the Sistine Chapel. Reviews of the chapel fall into two camps: 1) OMG, IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL and 2) omg, it is so overrated. I think I fell in between (per usual). I am very very glad I saw it, if nothing else but to pay tribute to a once-in-a-lifetime masterpiece. Was I impressed? Definitely. Was I moved? Not particularly. I actually liked the fresco Michelangelo did on the wall better than the ceiling. It was more dynamic.
One interesting tidbit - you are not allowed to do take any pictures of the ceiling. I thought that this was due to the effect of thousands upon thousands of camera flashes on the pigmentation. I was wrong. Apparently, a television company funded the restoration of the ceiling back in the 80s/90s, and offered to do so as long as they were given full rights to any and all images taken of the chapel. So, there you go.

By the time I wandered into St. Peter's Basilica I was in a state of extreme over-stimulation. The immensity and sheer gaudiness of the basilica did not help matters. Frankly, I do not remember much beyond gold, marble, and the press of humanity. The sculpture discussed above was a high point, but otherwise I wandered around the cavernous space in a daze; it was completely beyond my ability to take in any more illustriousness. I was sponge who could take on no more water; after doing justice to the Holy See and his holy seat, I was very happy to go and sit in piazza and wait for Jenn.

I hope you enjoyed this installation of "Courtney sees lots of stuff and tries to word vomit it all over the page". Next time we will explore the protestant cemetery! More exciting than it sounds...???

xxOx

Rome: Part Duex, er Due

Hi hi, I'm back! Did you miss me? I hope not because its been less than 24 hours and the last thing I need is a bunch of clingy hangers-on. Oh wait, did I say last thing? I'm sorry, I meant first thing - I momentarily forgot its my life ambition to have groupies.

Anywho, I last left you before we met the wonderous Fe, who saved our trip to Rome! Or something way less dramatic...she was just a really good tour guide. But a good tour guide can make all the difference, don't you think?

So Jennie and I marched outside the Colosseum and were immediately greeted by a thin, blonde, incredibly bouncy middle-aged British woman (Fe!). She led us up the stairs to Palentine hill, where the Roman nobles had lived. She showed us where Nero's infamously grandiose palace had once stood, along with various other palatial ruins. The hill afforded an awesome view of Rome and the Circus Maximus. Guess who also decided to build his palace up there?!? Good ole Mussolini. Just in case anyone wasn't catching on to his whole "we were the greatest once and will be again" campaign.

Making our way to the Roman Forum, we walked through citrus and olive groves. A group of really weird folks on our tour (more on them later) tried the olives and spit them out immediately. They were apparently "not ripe yet" (or soaked in brine...duh). Fe told us an interesting tidbit - apparently citrus is a natural mosquito repellent. So besides being attractive and nummy, ancient Romans planted citrus groves to deter pests. (This information had me applying orange peel to my skin for days.) Of course, thanks to the Americans and DDT, mosquitoes have been almost eradicated in Rome.

The Forum itself is crazy. I mean, based on looks alone without a guide its not that impressive. But once its explained, the Forum is amazing. Buildings around 1500 years old still stand, despite being buried for hundreds of years. That's right - buried. Before excavation, the Forum was a cow field, occasionally broken up by the upper halves of buildings and monuments. Remains of temples from the earliest days of Rome mix with medieval churches, while plots of land indicated as granaries and markets vie for space with the skeletons of giant palaces. The Forum was the center of Roman life for centuries; consequently it's mind boggling to think that the Italian archeologists had no clue what they were unearthing in the late 19th and 2oth centuries.


Throughout the tour, Jenn and I had both noticed a very strange family touring around with us. At first it was not readily apparent they were a family, instead it looked like 3 couples traveling together. But as time went on, we came to realize that it was a set of parents with two adult children, one boy and a girl, and their significant others. The didn't seem weird in the beginning, just overly physically affectionate. Then we began to notice the kids and parents sharing cigarettes (hand-rolled at that, though that is pretty popular over here in general) and later a couple of giant beers. But the kicker was when we watched them take large swigs out of what appeared to be large juice boxes. Closer inspection revealed, however, that it was actually wine from a box. These people had been drinking and smoking and canoodling for 3 hours in the middle of the afternoon on a tour. To top it off, the Dad used my head to steady his camera for a picture. I know I'm short but seriously??!! You should at least ask someone before using their head as a tripod.

Luckily, after the Roman Forum, the tour was over. Weird British families aside, it had been very informative and fun. Fe thanked us for our attention and then told us that she would be giving a tour of the Vatican the next morning. Well, I jumped on the opportunity -- we already knew she was great, and Jenn had previously let me know she was not really interested in doing the whole Vatican thing and I was reluctant to go alone...here was the perfect solution! Excited about my future Vatican adventures, Jenn and I bid Fe adieu and headed out to complete Jenn's ambitious Roma checklist.

Next stop on the Rome train?! The Pantheon. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. I seriously think it was my favorite thing we saw. I hadn't known much about it previously, but inside I was enchanted. It was so BIG, and SPARKLY, and...ROUND. AND the oculus...I don't know why it made such an impression, but it did. I could have stayed there forever looking at that giant marble eye, but there was more to see so we left, albeit grudgingly.

The next few hours were a blur of sights: the Trevi Fountain (yes I did throw a coin in), the "Wedding Cake", Piazza Popolo, countless designer stores. By the time we were done, it was very dark outside and our feet were very, very sore. We decided to call it quits, feeling quite proud of ourselves. As a reward we treated ourselves to a Chinese dinner. Sounds strange but hey, four weeks of any food, even good food, can get really monotonous. We also, inadvertently, were staying in the Asian section of town. When in Rome, do as the Chinese...??

Next up - Courtney meets the Pope! I am totes serious...if by "meets" you mean "watches on a street with thousands of other people". Whatever, same difference.

Buona Sera!

Roma, Part I

Hey kids - so AGAIN I've been slacking in the blog department.. I am so sorry lovers. Today is a down-time day, so I will (fingers crossed!) use it to catch up!! I may post multiple blogs in one day - please ignore. I could write everything in one post, but I think it is more "edible" in bite-size portions.

Ooootay! so, day 3 of our trip - Rome day! We arose, ate one last delightful breakfast, and skedaddled. We hopped back on the Circumvesuviana, rode it to its zenith in Naples, then hopped on our locomotive to Roma. Upon arrival, we started our search for our bed and breakfast. After winding through various sketchy parts of town, making Jenn grit her teeth, we arrived at our destination...only to discover we were about 5 minutes from our starting-point at the station. Damn you google maps.

Now, on the way to Rome, Jenn had been sketching an itinerary of sorts. According to her calculations, we would need our full two days to see everything deemed necessary. Well friends, I tell you now, we did almost all of it (minus the Vatican) in one day. Not even one whole day, like half a day. Item one on the list - see the Colosseum. So off we went. We grabbed some (delicious) pizza and ate it on a low wall outside the huge monolith. It looks just like it does in pictures, just as imposing and overwhelming. (Sidenote - I think it is even cooler at night. Please see the pictures below and make your own decision)
















The important thing was the giant building in front of us of course, but I bring up the pizza for 3 reasons: 1) people told me that Roman pizza is crap, but I found it very yummy, 2) it confirmed that Florentine pizza is, in fact, crap, and 3) zucchini is a really good ingredient on pizza and an Italian word we "incorporated" into American English. But back to the Colosseum; we headed towards the entry way, and were almost immediately accosted by a million tour companies. We initially brushed off most of the offers, but somehow allowed ourselves to be talked into one. I can't remember why we stopped for this particular group, but I think someone may have complimented me on my sunglasses (a sure way to this girl's heart). In any case, it proved to be one of the best decisions we made on or trip.

Though at first it didn't seem that way. We joined a human cattle train/our tour group and streamed into the Roman ruin. Our guide was a peculiar fellow, dressed in a linen suit with tennis shoes and dirty jacket cuffs. He had a potbelly and a very unusual accent, which we later decided was an Italian/Australian mix. I think I fixated on his appearance and/or accent because it was more interesting than what he was saying...he wasn't the best tour guide I've ever had. He was particularly obsessed with the ancient Roman physique, using multiple adjectives to describe the extreme beefiness of the gladiator. Otherwise I didn't learn much, besides that Romans invented/perfected cement and probably wouldn't have been able to make half the wonders they did without it. But luckily I'd seen enough Hollywood movies featuring the Colosseum to get the general gist of the layout and purpose for the building without further instruction.

After the guide was done dispelling his few wisdoms, he turned us loose to roam for an hour before the next part of our tour. Jennie and I circled the arena, pretending that the squalid hordes of touristas below us were squalid hordes of Roman spectators (not much of a stretch really), before heading to the gladiator exhibit. The exhibit outlined the various types of gladiators and the people who were conscripted/enslaved/volunteered for such a dangerous career choice (the proportions of the three groups changed over time depending on the status conferred with the position). It also included full costume recreations...which basically means they had me at "embossed metal shield complete with gilded stallions". An hour was not enough time to see it all, but we had no choice but to move on. So we left to explore Palentine Hill and meet our new guide, Fe, the best tour guide EVER. But, I think I have exceeded your short Gen Y attention span at this point, so I will introduce you to Fe tomorrow. You will love her, I promise.

As a parting multimedia experience, please take a gander at this mushroom lasagna we made for dinner:



Lovelove!

Part 2 - Trip (more) Southern Italia

Today it smelled like the smokey-fall smell I love, and we went to what is quickly becoming our very favorite place for aperitivo - Cuculia. Yesterday, after a month of agonizing and searching and debating, I purchased both black pepper and black boots. Tomorrow, our dear friends are going to make ricotta gnocchi and meatballs for weekly group dinner. Life is grand.

But back to the trip. When we left off, Jennie and I were huddled in our teensy B&B (glorified hostel) room in Sorrento. It was Capri day and I was excited to head out; but not before fortifying ourselves. Our accommodations may have been spartan, but they put out one hell of a spread. Which is to be expected I guess, as it also served as a cooking school. We ate the goodies, talked to some of the other guests (one of the perks to being in a hostel environment), and gathered ourselves for our day. The B&B actually offered tours to Capri but one of the purveyors had been rude to Jenn, so we had decided not to take them up on their expedition offer the night before. Turns out they weren't even going out the next morning because it was "too rough" to take the boat. Obviously experienced seamen, Jenn and I scoffed at this example of worry-wartyness and headed towards the Marina to catch a ferry.

I should point out that the Marina is down below the town, like down below a cliff. You have to climb a series of steep stairs. I wish I had taken a picture to post here, but take my word for it that it was long and perilous; 6 minutes to get down, but you could halve the time if you rolled. I wanted Jennie to test it, but I didn't think she would be receptive to the proposal. At the bottom we bought a ticket and waited in line to board. Once on the boat we settled in...and realized that perhaps we should have listened to the folks back at the Hostel. Luckily neither of us are particularly susceptible to motion sickness because it was rough kids. The crew started handing out free sick bags and there were quite a few shaky hands raised to receive them. I didn't actually see any vomiting (which is good because though I can handle a rough sea with the best of them, the minute someone regurgitates in front of me I join in like backup singer), but I was glad when we finally docked.

Jenn and I were the first folks off the boat, basically running away from the hordes, and made it to funicular...just in time for it to start raining. For anyone that doesn't know, a funicular is basically is the hybrid of a glass elevator and chair lift. It took us from the big marina up to the town of Capri itself. The ride up was nice...if cloudy. But the downpour did not actually happen until we got off Mr. Wonka's glass elevator -- and we had not brought our umbrellas because they were deemed too "heavy". BAD choice. We ran to a cafe to wait out the storm. I ordered what was probably the most expensive, if completely delicious, hot chocolate of my life. Then we wandered the mountainside.

I have to be completely honest, I really, really enjoyed the vistas of the small marina and famous three rocks (see the pics to each side); they are beautiful. But I was a bit put off by the lack of an actual town; it was more a conglomeration of couture shops. My never ending search for real, relatively untouched mountain/island hamlet was stymied again! But it is a beautiful place for sure.

After wandering around Capri for a while, the weather actually cleared up and we headed down to Anacapri. Anacapri is the smaller town below Capri. It was basically more of the same, BUT we discovered the most magical thing -- a real live chair lift that took you up to the very tippy top of the island! The ride itself was awesome, if a little scary. We were hauled up, individually, in what looked like elementary school chairs, complete with movable "desks" - see Jennie in the picture to the left. When we got to the top we had the most amazing 360 vista of the whole island, with Ischia and Vesuvius in the background. There was also a little cafe and lots of lounging space, which we most certainly would have taken advantage of if the rain had not threatened to roll in again. (Jenn says I win for worst weather she's had while visiting Capri). Instead we hopped on the next chair back into town.

All in all, I really enjoyed my trip to the isla, rainy weather and all. We returned to Sorrento, triumphant and glad we had decided to brave the elements after all. We sprinted up the stairs (due to a housekeeping issue) and were completely winded by the top...and hungry. Which was perfect because we had big plans for dinner - a full traditional Italian feast!

We changed and headed back out, to drink prosecco and watch the sunset from a "secret" cafe Jennie and her parents had discovered on a previous visit. It was beautiful, watching the sky above the cliffs work through all the shades of Easter (and my wardrobe). And there were fireworks!! We aren't sure why, perhaps the heritage days? But it was perfect.

And then we ate. And ate, and ate, and ATE. We started with bruschetta, moved on to a seafood salad with octopus, mussels, clams, squid and a liberal topping of lemon juice. Then lasagna for me, carbonara for Jen, mussels with pepper, and finally to finish with lemoncello in a chilled glass. I moaned and groaned and thought I would die. But what a delicious death. I was so full that when we returned back to the B&B, a few fellas struck up a conversation with us girls and I couldn't even concentrate. We shot the shit, drank some wine (I actually crammed more inside my already swollen belly), and then when it was possible to get away, basically ran back to our room. They were culinary kids, normally right up my alley, but my stomach was acting like an unruly child and demanded all my attention. I'm glad I did it, BUT NEVER AGAIN.

And that is it for the second installment! I hope you enjoyed it. As an update on the mosquitoes, after a lull in activity I woke up with FOUR bites on my face today. Sweet, looks like I have chicken pox. No amount of poison in the air or citronella candles appear to deter them. Any other genius ideas?

Love love!

Part 1 of Trip (More) Southern Italia

Hello my little chicken cutlets! I return from the South triumphant, riding on a golden chariot stolen from the Circus Maximus. Actually, that's not true...I rode in the metal box that is EuroStar. And Circus Maximus no longer has chariots, just dust and old men running in endless circles. But I still arrive triumphant! With new roommate in tow! But that is getting ahead of myself.

Since I've been gone for such a long time and seen so many wondrous sights (okay, probably taking this too far), I am going to separate my trip into multiple blog posts. Also, I tend to get bored before I'm done if it goes on to long. :)

Jennie and I set out on Sunday ultimately for Sorrento, but our first actual stop was in Pompeii. This was very exciting for me because Pompeii is on my (long) list of ancient sights to see! In order to reach both Sorrento and Pompeii it is necessary to change from the EuroStar train in Naples to the circumvesuviana line. This line does exactly what it sounds like, circumvents Vesuvius. I actually got to see that mammoth in person!!! So exciting. A note about Naples however, and I will warn you it is not a fair assessment as I did not actually see the city. Really, it's more of a comment on the entire Campania area. Firstly, it's beautiful. Rocky cliffs jutting out into blue, sometimes aquamarine, waters. Citrus trees, grape vines, tomatoes in excess. But good lord, the graffiti, the trash, the vista ruining slums. It could be so much, a haven. Instead, it is a lesson in not appreciating the gifts given.

Anyway, Jenn and I jumped on the small (graffitied) local train and headed towards the Pompei Scavi stop (there is a stop for Pompeii, but that is not the correct spot to see the ruins). We dragged our bags off the train and dropped them off at the luggage drop in the park - very convenient. We grabbed a quick lunch, fairly typical panini, but the drinks were the big thing. In this region, as I said above, they grow lemons and oranges. Now, while we were there the fruits looked oversized, about twice the "normal" size. But Jenn says in the spring, when she was there last, they are GINORMOUS. Like, four to five times as big as a normal American citrus. They make lemon and orangeade; I got the lemonade and it was delish! I highly recommend it to any lemonade freaks out there like myself!

After our nibbles, we headed into the ruins themselves. Turns out we were very lucky girls (as if we doubted) because that weekend Pompeii was celebrating "cultural heritage days" and everyone got in for free! So, that was super sweet; the only money I spent was on an audio guide. Jenn opted not to get one as she had been to Pompeii a couple of times previously. But, secretly, I love audio guides. They just have so much information and I AM A NERD. So we wandered around the ruins as I learned about Pompeii before the big BOOM. I was surprised to learn that Pompeii is not exactly an accurate representation of the usual italian town -- it was considered a wealthy city. Certainly we saw quite palatial houses, one that literally spanned an entire block! But it was cool to see how an ancient Italian house would be laid out -- with the servants quarters and winter rooms upfront, courtyard and summer rooms open to the elements in the middle, and private family rooms in the back. It's nuts to think that this was a lively, self-sustaining town and then within a few hours it was completely wiped out. Apparently it wasn't the ash that laid waste to the town, other villages in the area were also coated, but it was the blast of noxious poisonous gas that was blown through the town that killed everyone within minutes.

My favorite part was the main forum area, and the temple of Saturn. The weather for our visit was actually pretty awesome; there was a violent storm building around vesuvius and the dark cloud made it look as if the volcano was erupting. Made it easy to imagine what the citizens of Pompeii saw right before they met their demise. We didn't make it to the giant amphitheater, but we did visit the small theater -- I really enjoyed the ancient graffiti and "community boards". People posted all sorts of things, almost exactly the same as today - help wanted ads, rental opportunities, missing pets, conspiracy theories, etc. And the graffiti was very amusing, especially the man who felt the need to tell everyone about how he came to Pompeii and "all the women couldn't resist me and all but a few gave themselves to me". Some things never change. And yes, I did see the brothel...it was interesting, and by far the most crowded area. Hahaha.

After I was done soaking in the ruins, we packed up and hopped back on the circumvesuviana. We headed south, to the end of the line, until we reached Sorrento. Sorrento is a cute, quaint town situated on the edge of the ocean. The first night we set up shop in our very tiny hostel room and then headed out for dinner. I had the most delicious risotto fruta di mare ever, and our waiter was great. The only thing that marred the meal was our "soapy wine". It was fine until we got towards the bottom -- we think that they didn't wash out the pitcher well enough! (In Italy if you ask for the "vino di la caza" or wine of the house, they give it to you in liter or half liter pitchers). After choking that down (greedy girls that we are we had ordered a liter) we were pooped, and headed home!

And that my friends, is where I will leave it until the next time! As for current events, I have nothing to impart but the usual Firenze debauchery -- we thoroughly introduced Caroline to the Florentine nightlife last evening! Love you all!

Viarregio!

The girls wanted to feel the sun on their skin today, so we headed out to the seaside town of Viareggio. A fairly harmless hour and a half train ride from Florence, we made it there with very little problem. We even gave ourselves enough time to get McDonalds...(eep, we've been very good about not being americanas up till now!). It was J's first train trip, so she was startled by the trains whizzing by SOCLOSE to each other - enough to give you a heart attack.

We arrived in Viareggio, hopped out of the train station, and headed straight towards the sea. We arrived to a soft expanse of "real sand" and dozens of brightly colored chairs and umbrellas. Now, all of us were pretty sure that payment would be required for this visit to the seaside, but for the life of us we could not find any direction on the subject. So we unanimously decided to set up shop at our preferred group of chairs until someone yelled at us. Plopping down on some blue loungers, we proceeded to make ourselves comfortable, despite the herd of noisy german adolescents behind us. (As far as I could tell, the only english words they knew consisted of four letters). Lotioned up (though really, only ginger me used the sunscreen) and stripped down to our suits, we put our feet up to relax...and then an Italian lifeguard appeared and told us that we needed to pay at a building and then he would "open the umbrella for us".

So we redressed, packed up our stuff, and walked the fifty feet to the cabana area? We bought our tickets (5 euro each - better than we were expecting) and that gave us free access to the bathrooms, changing rooms, water, and three beach chairs and umbrella. Not so bad. Basically all the beaches in Viarregio are private, and buildings like the one we visited dot every few meters up and down the beach. After we had paid for our plot of sand, the same lifeguard as before came over, took our ticket, and then sprinted back to the exact spot we were at before. And no, he did not open our umbrella for us because it was already open. So we set up shop again, and proceeded to have one of the most wonderful and relaxing afternoons. EXCEPT for the bazillions of vendors who were walking around selling stuff. All kinds of stuff: sunglasses, silver jewelry, puffy coats, books, kites, etc. That was annoying -- they would just stand there and harass you even after you told them no. We finally resorted to pretending to sleep when the vendors came by; that is until we actually fell asleep.

After that it was pretty much smooth sailing (speaking of sailing, there were so many sailboats out and I was jealous!). Kisses belle!

This and That

The past couple of days have been a sort of montage of Florence events; I will highlight a couple.

We climbed up to the Piazzale Michelangelo again to both get some exercise and visit the cemetery behind the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte. I have a not-so-secret love for cemeteries; I enjoy the peace and general ambiance. Plus, graves are often just crazy intricate and beautiful. This cemetery was no different; in fact, due to the opulent Italian funereal traditions it was more grandiose than I was expecting. Some of the tombs were seriously the size of small chapels, forming "streets" of small, overly embellished "buildings". I was astonished that anyone would put that much thought into a memorial for the dead; however I was more impressed by the individual graves. Some of the statuary was just beautiful. I think this one was my favorite:

I mean, look at the artistry in the draping of the dress! The statue was made by a man for his "lost love".

I also liked that a lot of the graves had lanterns on them. I don't know why, but I like the idea of someone going around to all the graves at night, igniting the lanterns and leaving the graveyard a sea of glowing lights. It's comforting for some reason.

After we were done roaming around the bone yard, we made our way over the basilica. I had gleaned from internet research that if you stayed until 5:30 pm (4:30 in the winter) you might get the chance to listen to the monks sing their evening chants. We were just so lucky that we caught the monks starting their hymns down in the crypt. Jennie and I found a "comfortable seat" (slabs of marble, but it was actually cool and nice) and listened to the surprisingly good voices. You know, now that I think of it, I have never heard a bad group of monks singing...why is that? Do they only choose the good voices to sing? Or since they do it every day, does practice make perfect?

It was extremely soothing to sit and listen to those guys sing. In fact, after about a half hour we had to leave because we were falling asleep!! It was like sitting in a dark womb-like place listening to lullabies. It is an experience I hope to do numerous times in the future.


The next day we were jonesing for some green, so we headed right outside of town to locate the Ciscine Park. One of the less fantastic things about Florence is that they charge for basically all the gardens and parks. And we aren't talking like a few Euro - usually around 10. So, for a girl that likes to be out in nature and idle around, it has been very challenging. But, the Ciscine park is free!! AND it is closer to "our" side of the river. AND, on Tuesdays it houses one of the biggest flea markets I've ever been to. I mean seriously, Jenn and our friend J went with, and we were not sure if it was ever going to end! We didn't purchase anything, but I will be going back and I probs will!

I miss everyone very much and hope you are doing well!

A beautiful day in Fiesole

Hello lovies!

Today is the day we will talk about Fiesole. Ole!

Uh, okay.

Dammit, can't stop rhyming! Anyway (ack!), yesterday I visited the adorable village of Fiesole. Set in the hills about 30 minutes outside Florence, it is the perfect (and cheap!) day trip. Apparently native Firenzians jet up to Fiesole quite often in the summer to get away from the oppressive heat, mosquitos, and tourists (not necessarily in that order). I can completely understand why; it is the type of darling town I could definitely see myself inhabiting.

I started the expedition by trooping over the bridge and up to my new friend's (K&J) apartment. Jennie decided to take a day for herself, so it was just me and the girls! They led me to the bus area; we thought we needed to buy tickets at the ticket pagoda, but no, you bought them at the Pasticceria across the street. Duh, who wouldn't know that. So we bought tickets for both there and back (apparently it is hard to find a place to buy tickets in Fiesole - probs cause they are hidden in a pizzeria or gelatteria or something), and hopped on the number 7 bus. 30 minutes and we were there (minus a brief rest stop for the driver to read his newspaper)!

Fiesole is darling and small. There was a craft fair set up in the center of town so we browsed around. We sampled some excellent wine from a local vineyard which we ended up buying later - 3 bottles for 15 euro! An investment for weekly group dinners! But, I will get back to that later.

Female J has the best travel guide book ever - the DK Eyewitness Guide to Florence and Tuscany - and it was a two hour walking tour around Fiesole! We didn't end up doing the whole walk because you know, being a hill town Fiesole is...hilly. Go figure. But we started our tour with a viewing of the requisite town Duomo. Due to a bare shoulder issue I was unable to actually go in the Duomo, but the girls assured me it was nice. Looked a little like San Minitao, they said. I can tell you from the outside though, considering the church had been around for hundreds of years it looked remarkably new. Perhaps Mr. Duomo had a little work done?

We did combat my intensifying dislike for hiking up steep hills to reach the "scenic viewpoint", and were rewarded with a glorious view of Florence and Tuscany. Afterwards we headed towards the Monastery of San Francesco. This is a darling monastery, still in use, located at the top of yet another hill. We tiptoed into the chapel and listened to a monk practicing on the pipe organ, and then wandered out into the courtyard. The building was deceptively large; after viewing the tiny courtyard, we somehow found ourselves in a gallery holding all sorts of chinese and egyptian relics. Apparently the monks had been sending over missionaries for a very long time, and in return for saving a few souls they got all sorts of cool stuff! There were silk robes, giant jade basins, gold buddhas, and a real (live?) Egyptian mummy!

After viewing the treasure troves from the Orient, we moved on to the austere quarters of the monks of yore. The rooms were SO TINY. Like, barely enough room for a wooden plank bed, and a small desk with chair. I am not sure how the monks live now; the currently living quarters were blocked off from the public.

Pooped, we wandered back into the main piazza and hopped on the bus back to Firenze. We ended the night with a wonderful home cooked meal, courtesy of J & K (Jennie came and joined us for that part!). The first of many! Don't be jealous:

And now I must go because I am being eaten alive. WHEN WILL THEY DIE??!!

I adore Tenuti Torciano

Hello my long lost pals. Sorry I have been so delinquent in my blogging of late -- I have no excuse and humbly offer you my head. But if you take it, then you will certainly not get any more blog posts. So I suggest you graciously decline.

Today Jenn and I ventured off the reservation again to visit a winery that she had previously attended. The name: Tenuti Torciano. The destination: San Gimignano (Jim-in-ya-no). Getting there was yet another adventure and lesson in Italian traveling. We bought our train ticket in what we thought was the correct direction (turns out it was). But we were running late and the line to purchase the ticket was really long, so we ended up sprinting to the train. We got there just in time...only to realize we hadn't validated our ticket. For all those that don't know (I didn't) you HAVE to get your tickets validated when traveling in Italy, especially if you are a foreigner. If you get caught with an invalidated ticket they officials are liable to charge you FIFTY EURO. So Jennie jumped off the train and ran to validate it - leaving me with her purse and no ticket, and two minutes to spare. I was in a complete panic until she reappeared a few minutes later, panting with our ticket stamped. Whew, crisis averted.

Then the conductor shouted that we the train was to be delayed for 10 minutes. Swell - we giggled at this, and settled in to wait and for the ride. However, the delay proved not only eye-rollingly annoying considering our pre-boarding flutter, but significantly more detrimental to our second train connection. We looked up our connection in Empoli, ran to the platform...and watched our train pull away. Now, our original plan was to take a train to San Barbarino and then walk the 40 minutes to the winery, so we had allowed plenty of time to get to our destination. However, due to the unexpected hour long layover, we were now only going to have 20 mins max to get to the winery. There was no way we could get there on foot, so we decided we were going to have to cab it upon arrival in Barbarino.

But, of course, Barbarino was no man's land. Like straight up boonies. Not a cab insight. We had no choice but to hoof it...and so we set off. Originally, we had imagined an idyllic walk through wine country. This fantasy was ruined by two things: the necessity for hustle and a lack of path and/or sidewalks. We had to resort to walking on the shoulder of the main road, tripping over weeds and brush when forced off the road by vehicles. It was less than romantic, we'll just say.

However, we finally arrived and I can say the effort was worth it. After a few awkward moments, one of the sons ushered us in with the declaration, "I love girls from Washington DC!". They set us up like princesses (which is what they called us all afternoon) at a table for two overlooking the various other groups. They taught us the "correct" way to taste and smell wine, how to hold the glass, proper table deportment (put both hands on the table so you don't look drunk), etc. They walked us through the tasting, illuminating us on the proper foods with what "weight" of wine, where the grapes were grown, percentages, SO MUCH INFO! But they stressed that even for all this talk, there was only one rule and that one rule was that there are no rules!! It's all personal taste.

It was extremely entertaining watching the family at Tenuti Torciano whirl around like some sort of play/italian sitcom. They would come inside, yell at each other, gesticulate wildly, and then compose themselves right before exiting to entertain their tasting groups. Jennie and I had the time of our lives watching the crazy activity while enjoying our vino e food. And the wine...and the food...SO GOOD. The first plate was cheese, salami, bread soaked in olive oil, and salad with hands down the BEST balsamico I've ever had. I, along with my mother, am a balsamic connoisseur and this was exquisite. (Unfortunately the price matched the quality - 50 euro! eep - to rich for this girl). This plate was specifically for tasting, matching each glass with each food to feel out the various combinations. We were then given Peirluigi's (our wily and gracious host) Mama's lasagna, which has officially become the best thing I've eaten in Italy thus far. To top it off, they liberally doused it in truffle oil - heaven.

The wines were excellent, and I discovered I quite like chianti. Jenn asked to try the Spumante and they willingly obliged; it was super yummy. They chatted with us and when the realized that we had walked from the train station they were shocked. "Are you crazy??!!" they yelled and then demanded to know why we hadn't called them. We explained that we wanted to walk, but they would have none of it. One of the brothers offered to drive us to the Poggibonsi (sidenote - I decided if Tigger was Italian he would live in Poggibonsi) but Pierluigi said it was too "dangerous" to leave us alone with either of the brothers (haha) so he insisted he take us personally. He also would not let us pay for the tastings AND gave us 3 free bottles of wine. Ridiculous hospitality!

He first had to drop his son off at the "scooter doctor" and then safely deposited us at the Poggibonsi station, even going in to make sure we could get tickets. He bid us adieu, but not before exchanging cards with Jenn, a possible job offering looming (social media marketing). The train ride home was relatively uneventful, if slightly stressful at points when we didn't recognize where we were. We arrived late, around 9 and immediately retired to bed, sated and stuffed. All was well in Italia (minus the need for a few antacids later in the evening).

Buona Sera!

Lazy Daze

As I mentioned in the previous post, Jennie and I were not in the best of shape Saturday morning. And/or afternoon. So, it was well into the day before we rolled out. I wanted to see the Pitti Palace gardens; it was such a perfect day for it - autumn may actually be coming!!

The Pitti Palace was the final escalation of the rediculousness that were the Medici. The extremely weathly family ruled Florence for a good 400 years before eventually falling into decline. Though "humble" bankers and not nobles, they managed to produce several popes and eventually were given titles. There are various Medici residences scattered throughout the city, but the Pitti Palace was the culmination of Florentine opulence. The Boboli "gardens" are actually several "axis" spanning eleven acres. I thought that we could just go there and roam around like in the US - usually you don't have to pay for the gardens of a manor. I was wrong - it was 10 euro alone for gardens and a few of the smaller museums!! You have to pay another 10 euro to enter the palace itself. I was very spoiled in DC; this paying for museums/gardens/etc is a drain on my wallet.

One note about the Gardin Boboli -- it ain't no easy stroll through the flowers. It was work honey. Jen and I thought it was the perfect way to get back into the day -- so we were unprepared for the hike in front of us. Not only is it multiple acres, it is multiple acres uphill. This is a trend I am noticing in Florence; a trend bathed in sweat, and accompanied by aching lungs and shredded feet. But we did it, we made it, and I enjoyed myself. I especially enjoyed this guy:

Don't hate cause I get all the hotties.

Post Boboli, Jennie and I decided to go have our first real dinner in Italia. We decided just to visit our neighborhood Trattoria. We sat outside, enjoyed some very good red wine, and ordered our meals. I ordered the pasta a la caza (fresh linguini with porcini mushrooms) and it was delish! Jennie learned an important lesson however - she ordered the chicken...and that is what she got. Nothing else. So, they apparently observe the classic Italian dining structure -- multiple courses. But all was well -- they wouldn't let us leave! They ended up giving us free dessert and another free after dinner drink (sambuca - blech!!). What was supposed to be a normal weekday dinner ended up a two and a half hour affair. It was a good way to end the day.

Sunday I rousted Jenn and headed out to hike up to the Piazzale Michelangelo. It is reputed to have the best view of Florence. Jen had been there prevously, but had arrived by bus. We found out that walking it is an entirely different thing. Again much steepness, much uphillness. But Jen and I agreed that if we did this three times a week we'd be in SUPER good shape. So, we panted and groaned and heaved our way to the top, and the view was as promised. The Piazzale is dedicated to Michelangelo and there are copies of his works scattered around the piazza. There are also two churches, the Basilica of San Minitao and the Church of San Salvatore, and a beautiful graveyard. Unfortuntely we were were just a half hour too late on Sunday to go into the cemetary -- we will have to do that again in the future. But we did go and explore the two churches; I personally think that the Basilica had one of the most arresting mosaics I'd ever seen. (Random sidenote: I love gold leaf. Love. It. Please bury me in a dress made entirely of gold leaf.) There was a bride and groom taking pictures in front of the basilica and in front of city overlook - I bet they turned out awesome.

The Church of San Salvatore was plainer and simpler. In fact, apparently Michelangelo reffered to it as the "comely peasant girl". It was nice but not really notable; the best thing about it was when Jen thought that the bible was open to the book of "salami" (it said Salmi).

And then we went to the market and bought salami.

Well, we did more than that, but it was pretty boring and housework related. I am indoctrinating Jenn into the cult of clean sheets. Not that she is dirty...she just isn't fanatical like me. The rest of the house can go to hell but god forbid you put your feet on the bed. We ended the night by sitting on a bridge and watched the sun set over the river.

Tutti bene.

We went to Siena!

Buona Sera! Come, sit, and listen to my story of Siena. Er, or just read it.

Jenn and Courtney's tour o' Italy continues! We got up quite early (and boy, was it a struggle) and headed over to the train station. We weren't really sure how to get to Siena -- you can take a train to the Siena train station, which is located 3 km outside of the city center, where there is a reputed mini-bus which would take us into town. You can also take a bus from Florence right into the center of Siena, but we decided we would take the train, mainly because we didn't know where to catch the bus! The train trip went well, only about an hour and a half...and then the trouble began. We could not for the life of us figure out how the "mini-buses" worked, but we bought a ticket and hopped on one we thought was heading to a Piazza in the center of town. We were wrong; the bus was going on a loop to the hospital. So, after that waste of a half hour, we got off back at the train station again. Jennie was not doing too well at this point, so we bought her a snack and headed for a cab.

After we finally arrived in Siena, things started to look up. We went to Piazza del Campo, the unique seashell shaped Piazza, bordered on one side by the beautiful Palazzo Pubblico/Torre di Mangia. (I bought a seashell shaped patch as a souvenir). Also in the Piazza is the Gaia Fountain; the fountain was pretty, but relatively unimpressive. We chilled in the square, got our bearings and headed towards the Duomo.

If the Gaia Fountain was less than awe-inspiring, the Duomo was more than I was expecting. The outside looked traditionally Gothic, but the inside was astounding. Extremely ornate, every surface showed some mark of a craftsman. We lucked out also, in that the main floor is apparently covered up for most of the year, only exposed from Sept-Oct. One of my favorite parts of the Duomo was a room displaying giant illuminated (manuscript) hymnals. I love those things!

After leaving the Duomo we set out to find the Enoteca Italiana. A hybrid between a warehouse and a museum, the Enoteca houses 400-500 different wines, representing the wide variety of Italian vini. It was fun to see the hundreds of bottles, but even more fun was the scanner they gave me! Every bottle had a bar code attached to it, and once scanned, a description was read out by an annoying british "woman". I had way too much fun with that piece of equipment, and then we headed up to the bar area to try some excellent prosecco. The day was beautiful, mild and sunny; Jenn and I relaxed on the patio drinking our cheap and wonderful wine, while communing with the cooing pigeons.

We wandered around the surrounding park and took some pictures of the city, and then decided it was time to head back. Hoping to avoid the fiasco that was our trip to Siena, we actually asked a person at the transportation station and figured out the bus situation. We bought our tix, wandered around the city a little more, and then headed out. We were pooped and slept the whole way back (mouth open, with minimal drool).

We had promised our new friend from the Lyons Fountain that we would stop by -- it was supposed to be an early night. However, again we partied too hard (but made more friends!) and were paying for it this morning. But that one of the pluses in living somewhere versus visiting -- you have the luxury of time!

I have now joined the 1990's.

Because I swear that is when my new-to-me-Italian-phone was made. 1998 to be precise. In fact, let me locate an image of this beauty (see below and to the left).

Except mine has been "improved" with brilliant blue hard shell. I hope I can get a Backstreet Boys ring tone. Or N'Sync...(no joshing, "Digital Get Down" just came on my iTunes. Tooo cool for school.)

N-E-Ways (who remembers that little tiding? Who can still probably fold a note at least 10 different ways?!?), let's get back to Italy. Yesterday -- I got my phone, but that has been established. Then, we went to the train station...uninteresting...Oh, Oh!! I remember!! We went to Santa Croce.

According to my good pal Wicki, Santa Croce is the largest Franciscan church in Florence and THE WORLD, and a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church. Legend even says that it was founded by St. Francis himself. Basically anyone who was worth anything in Italian history is buried there. Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Dante, even our good friend Galileo who, you know, wasn't the church's favorite son for a while. Honored folks that they are, the memorials are against the wall, each bigger than the last. We are talking 3D projections, complete with giant female angels holding tokens representing the trades that made each dignitary famous. The floor is covered in worn carvings commemorating either rich or important folks, names lost to memory and images not long from oblivion as well. It was terribly interesting, but looking back I probably should have rented an audio guide. Please remember that if you visit -- there was probably a lot that I missed!

On the way out to the garden area, we came upon the Museo d'Opera. Once again ignoring Jennie's looks of desperation, I dived in. I will say, however, this was one museum I could have done without. For an Opera museum, there was suprisingly little about...the Opera. In fact, none as far as I could tell. There were randomly scattered pieces of Renaissance art, which maybe would have told a story if I had paid closer attention, but really I did not feel compelled to.

On the way home we stopped in front of the Pitti Palace and just lounged for a while, taking in the sun and the breeze. It had been a pleasant day, but we were hungry! So we headed back to our apt for a homemade din-din. Jennie had pretty much cooked all "meals" (I am counting cappucini and banana's as a meal) up to this point, so it was my turn! Inspired by my surroundings, I decided to take a stab at making tomato sauce from scratch. Lacking a wise Italian Nonna to teach me such things, I have always been intimidated by the prospect of making tomato sauce. That, and I never liked it. But, not to be deterred by the lack of such a small thing as knowledge, I tried and it turned out pretty darn well! At least, Jenn said she liked it...I lack the skills (for now) to serve as a human lie detector, so I am forced to take it as truth. I wasn't entirely without help either, I used this recipe from the Smitten Kitchen for my base.

In other news, I was bit by a mosquito on my FACE last night, and have consequently declared all out war. I have killed six while writing this post (Jennie gags every time). I might be the only person to contract malaria while in Italy.

Peace.

We made friends!!!

Yayayayay! On a reference from one Jenn's friends, we went to a pub called "The Lions Fountain". We were told to ask for two people who were not working at that time, but the bartender coincidentally had dated said friend of Jenn's! (Apparently he wasn't working at that bar when she knew him.) He was very fun and friendly and held Jen's credit card hostage so we wouldn't leave! He also introduced us to two other Americans that were just starting their stay in Florence -- one is studying art restoration at the University here and the other is her cousin who came to "chaperone" (re: have a good time). So -- instafriends! Jenn and I and the other girls all stayed at the pub WAY too late and ended up going with J (first bartender) and the other bartenders (all super nice) to a "secret" bar after they closed up shop. It was fun but we didn't stay for very long...we were very tired, as such a late night was not expected.

Other than that, our day was pretty uneventful. We woke up late again (this pattern has to stop sometime). And then it rained. So, we got ready and sat out on our balcony and watched the rain until it stopped. We headed out to the city center to try and find some markets and the elusive hotel where Jen and her Mom had stayed previously. We found a market, and it made me laugh because the stuff being sold is almost identical to the fare sold at Eastern Market back home, possibly with a greater emphasis on "leather" goods. We then stumbled into a large square with a basilica against one side. We tried to check out inside of the basilica, but a service was going on and neither of us wanted to interrupt that! (Though that didn't deter many people).

Things started to look familiar to Jenn and she realized that we finally had found the area where she had stayed before! That mystery solved, we set out to find a phone store but ran into the Archeology Museum of Florence. I dragged Jenn in and made her look at all the relics of the bygone Italian ages. I learned about the various groups who had roamed through Italy, from the Etruscans to the Greeks to the Italic tribes (not in that order). The museum also had an impressive collection of Egyptian artifacts, though the room with the mummies and sarcophagi freaked Jenn out. It was a titch creepy - there were exposed skulls/bones, open caskets, and the lights were dimmed so everything was bathed in an eery half-light.

After I decided I had tortured Jenn enough, we left to go in search of a place to have a glass or two of wine. We found a darling wine bar across the square from the Lion's Fountain and had some wine, and an antipasti plate. We met some nice Canadian women who were toward the end of a European tour, and chatted with them for a bit. And then it was off to the Lion's Fountain, shenanigans outlined above.

Ciao Belli!

We overslept by, oh, 12 hours..

on Tuesday morning. Well not overslept by 12 hours, but we did sleep for 12 hours straight. I guess not sleeping for almost 24 hours the day(s) before will do that to a person! So our dreams for a morning spent sipping cappucino in a piazza were dashed. BUT, we consoled ourselves with the promise of a pizza lunch and set out for the day.

Since the day looked vaguely ominous, we both opted for jeans. Big mistake -- though not terribly hot, it was humid. Luckily we are from DC and are used to humid weather! Jennie took the lead and we launched our sweaty selves onto the city of Florence. Our apartment is located on the other side, the non-touristy side, of the river Arno, which is perfect because it means that we do not have to deal with the craziness of the city center but we are only a 10 min walk away! So we crossed over the bridge, and took a moment to look at the Pontevecchio. A brief history of the Pontevecchio: it's a bridge that has been around since the 13th century. Originally it housed exclusively butcher shops; you can still see the hooks for hanging animal carcasses. It was a carnivorous paradise until the 15th century when the Medici's changed it over to gold and silver shops. Apparently they were offended by the smell of the animal pelts, which were soaked in vats of urine (when reading this Jennie goes, "how did they even get vats of urine?") to cure the hides. And jewelry shops, selling gold and silver, still line the bridge today!

Jenn gave me the basic tour -- Pontevecchio, the city center, the Duomo. We both decided however, that we will have to wait to do the touristy things until probably the end of the month. It is still just too crazy with touristas here right now. Instead we tried to find the square where Jenn and her Mom stayed the last time they came to Florence; it proved a futile effort, but we did end up coming upon the Church of Santa Maria Novella. We paid the entrance fee (3.50) and entered into the Church. It was founded by the "Preaching Friars" in the 13th century, and had undergone three different renovations. It was very pretty and...church-like. Apparently, though we only found this out later, we saw the pulpit from which Galileo was denounced for heresy. I would love to tell you the impression this made on me, but unfortunately all the enclaves and such blur into one big mural of people in robes adorned with halos, and differentiation is difficult. By this time Jennie's blood sugar had begun to dip and was fading (we realized that we hadn't eaten in 21 hours!), so we went searching for that promised pizza.

The rest of the day was spent running errands and catching up on the internet (it had been two whole days and we were beginning to twitch). At night we went to find a trattoria serving aperitivo. This is traditionally a precursor to the dinner meal; you pay for the drinks and then there is usually a buffet which is free. However, we found this ADORABLE place where they do an aperitivo semi-untraditionally; the drinks are cocktails not wine, and they serve you your "meal" individually. We were planning on using the aperitivo as an appetizer to our meal we were going to make at home, but it was plentiful and DELICIOUS. On one plate contained some sort of green pea mousse, a fagioli type substance, brie, hot dogs and peas (strange), and fresh pasta with tomato sauce. We were smitten. The place is also super cute, with an almost American coffee shop type vibe; local art on the walls, books everywhere, mod type furniture. We decided that we will be visiting Cuculia on the regular.

Arrivederci babies! See you tomorrow, if I haven't been devoured by the mosquitos!