from my sweets.
Happy Halloween!
10/31/2011
10/30/2011
October 7-9
Oct. 7-We enjoyed a leisurely morning before heading to Siena. Siena has very limited driving within the city, so we parked in a free parking lot next to the medieval fortress and headed to the hotel. Siena is lovely, and if we ever go back to Italy, I'll want to stay in Siena for at least three nights and use the city as a branching out point to visit other Tuscan towns. Our hotel room was cute with plenty of room and a pretty canopied bed. The view from our room was pretty spectacular. It was very close to Il Campo, the square in Siena where people gather. We milled around Il Campo, admired the city hall and Torre del Mangia (city tower), and viewed the Fountain of Joy (Fonte Gaia). We saw the duomo, duomo museum (Museo dell'Opera e Panorama) and climbed 120 narrow, winding steps to get a breath-taking panoramic view of the city. We also briefly explored the crypt and baptistery of the duomo. We ate dinner at a restaurant in Il Campo and then headed back to our room.
You can click on the picture below to see our photos of Siena:
Oct. 8-We ate breakfast at our hotel and left for Florence. The drive to the city was uneventful. Once we entered the city, the driving was anything but uneventful. We discovered very quickly that Florence is much like Rome with it's tiny narrow streets and seemingly random placement of one-way streets. Our GPS, which up to this point had been extremely useful, became worthless as it told us to go down one-way streets the wrong way, and once we actually made it to our hotel, it kept telling us to turn around. Thankfully JD had purchased maps of the cities we were visiting, so he was able to get us to the right spot. The other complication is that Florence, like Sienna, has very limited driving in the city and will ticket you if you are driving when and where you shouldn't be. Our hotel assured us that they would take care of any ticket as long as we didn't drive in a "public transportation only" area. We don't think we did, but I guess we'll find out in a few months. There are traffic cameras throughout the city to capture the license plate image of cars driving in the wrong area.
Once we were settled in our room, we set out to explore Florence. We made our way to the Uffizi Gallery, an art gallery with a great collection of Italian paintings. We saw works by Giotto, Leonardo, Raphael, Caravaggio, Rubens, Titian, and Michelangelo, as well as a room of Botticellis. We saw his famous Birth of Venus, which looks like a woman coming out of an oyster shell. The best things in this museum (Carey's opinion) are Michelangelo's only surviving easel painting, the round Holy Family, and the view of the Arno River and Ponte Vecchio (famous bridge across the river). After we left the museum, we wandered around the river, walked across the Ponte Vecchio, and took lots of pictures.
We used our borrowed Rick Steves Italy book and did his Renaissance walk through Florence. The walk pointed out the bronze doors on the baptistery of the Santa Maria del Fiore (duomo). The audio guide of the walk pointed out another church, Orsanmichele, with many statues on its exterior (some by Donatello). We also walked by Palazzo Vecchio (city palace) and saw a replica of Michelangelo's David. It stands in the same place as the original once stood. The original was moved to the Accademia (another museum) for its protection. Its left arm was knocked off when someone threw a sofa out of a window of the palace during a protest. Don't worry - they glued it back on. The walk finished up at the Arno where we took a bunch of pictures. Saturday evening we regressed into our American selves. JD was craving food that sounds like Rick Dawn Folds and then we watched the VT-Miami game on sling box.
October 9 - We had breakfast at the hotel and then we set out on another walk. We went back to Ponte Vecchio to try and get more pictures. Then we walked up to Galleria dell'Accademia, which houses Michelangelo's David. We both agreed afterwards that it was our favorite museum, and David is an amazing work of art. On the way back from Accademia we swung through Mercato Centrale and the market around San Lorenzo church. We bought a few things although JD passed on a 25 euro Rolex. From there we walked back over to the Duomo. The line was much shorter than Saturday and we went inside. The only art of note inside was a massive mural of judgment day painted on the inside of the dome. We went back to the hotel for a nap and then skyped with the kids. Isabel dominated the conversation by yelling "Mommy Daddy Mommy Daddy" over and over. We got a kick out of it. We at dinner at Trattoria ZaZa close to the central market. It had very good online reviews and pleased to say those reviews were accurate.
You can click on the picture of Florence and the Arno River below to see more photos from Florence:
You can click on the picture below to see our photos of Siena:
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| Siena |
Oct. 8-We ate breakfast at our hotel and left for Florence. The drive to the city was uneventful. Once we entered the city, the driving was anything but uneventful. We discovered very quickly that Florence is much like Rome with it's tiny narrow streets and seemingly random placement of one-way streets. Our GPS, which up to this point had been extremely useful, became worthless as it told us to go down one-way streets the wrong way, and once we actually made it to our hotel, it kept telling us to turn around. Thankfully JD had purchased maps of the cities we were visiting, so he was able to get us to the right spot. The other complication is that Florence, like Sienna, has very limited driving in the city and will ticket you if you are driving when and where you shouldn't be. Our hotel assured us that they would take care of any ticket as long as we didn't drive in a "public transportation only" area. We don't think we did, but I guess we'll find out in a few months. There are traffic cameras throughout the city to capture the license plate image of cars driving in the wrong area.
Once we were settled in our room, we set out to explore Florence. We made our way to the Uffizi Gallery, an art gallery with a great collection of Italian paintings. We saw works by Giotto, Leonardo, Raphael, Caravaggio, Rubens, Titian, and Michelangelo, as well as a room of Botticellis. We saw his famous Birth of Venus, which looks like a woman coming out of an oyster shell. The best things in this museum (Carey's opinion) are Michelangelo's only surviving easel painting, the round Holy Family, and the view of the Arno River and Ponte Vecchio (famous bridge across the river). After we left the museum, we wandered around the river, walked across the Ponte Vecchio, and took lots of pictures.
We used our borrowed Rick Steves Italy book and did his Renaissance walk through Florence. The walk pointed out the bronze doors on the baptistery of the Santa Maria del Fiore (duomo). The audio guide of the walk pointed out another church, Orsanmichele, with many statues on its exterior (some by Donatello). We also walked by Palazzo Vecchio (city palace) and saw a replica of Michelangelo's David. It stands in the same place as the original once stood. The original was moved to the Accademia (another museum) for its protection. Its left arm was knocked off when someone threw a sofa out of a window of the palace during a protest. Don't worry - they glued it back on. The walk finished up at the Arno where we took a bunch of pictures. Saturday evening we regressed into our American selves. JD was craving food that sounds like Rick Dawn Folds and then we watched the VT-Miami game on sling box.
October 9 - We had breakfast at the hotel and then we set out on another walk. We went back to Ponte Vecchio to try and get more pictures. Then we walked up to Galleria dell'Accademia, which houses Michelangelo's David. We both agreed afterwards that it was our favorite museum, and David is an amazing work of art. On the way back from Accademia we swung through Mercato Centrale and the market around San Lorenzo church. We bought a few things although JD passed on a 25 euro Rolex. From there we walked back over to the Duomo. The line was much shorter than Saturday and we went inside. The only art of note inside was a massive mural of judgment day painted on the inside of the dome. We went back to the hotel for a nap and then skyped with the kids. Isabel dominated the conversation by yelling "Mommy Daddy Mommy Daddy" over and over. We got a kick out of it. We at dinner at Trattoria ZaZa close to the central market. It had very good online reviews and pleased to say those reviews were accurate.
You can click on the picture of Florence and the Arno River below to see more photos from Florence:
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| Florence Photos |
10/28/2011
October 6th
On October 6 we checked out of the Mercure and headed to Termini (train station) to pick up the rental car. We got on the road around 10:15 and cleared Rome by 10:45. We managed to get out of the city without too many wrong turns and were very thankful for the GPS. Our first bit of troube came when we exited the Autostrade (toll highway) and got to the toll booth. JD inserted our ticket into the wrong slot, and we couldn't get it back. Also, the machine in the credit card only lane wouldn't read JD's card (no chip, remember), so he had to get the cars behind him to back up so he could get over to the cash lane. He tried to explain to the gentleman at the ticket booth that the machine "ate" his ticket. There was a definite language barrier, and JD finally resorted to exclaiming "Biglietti irregulari", which in pigeon Italian means irregular ticket. The gentleman finally figured out that we had inserted our ticket into the "biglietti irregulari" slot instead of the regular slot. He unlocked the box, got out our ticket, and charged us the appropriate amount.
We stayed at Castello di Velona in southern Montalcino, and it was spectacular. It was built around the old fortress and you can still see the outline of the fortress, but it has been massively expanded. Montalcino is very hilly and has some taller mountains, and our place was on top of one of them. The views were amazing. After touring the castle, we went to a local winery and enjoyed a tour with wine tasting. After that , we went back to the castle and each got a massage and enjoyed relaxing by the pool filled with natural thermal spring water. We then enjoyed a delicious dinner before retiring to a fabulous room with a bathroom almost as big as our bedroom at home.
Click on the photo of the castle to see our photos from Montalcino.
We stayed at Castello di Velona in southern Montalcino, and it was spectacular. It was built around the old fortress and you can still see the outline of the fortress, but it has been massively expanded. Montalcino is very hilly and has some taller mountains, and our place was on top of one of them. The views were amazing. After touring the castle, we went to a local winery and enjoyed a tour with wine tasting. After that , we went back to the castle and each got a massage and enjoyed relaxing by the pool filled with natural thermal spring water. We then enjoyed a delicious dinner before retiring to a fabulous room with a bathroom almost as big as our bedroom at home.
Click on the photo of the castle to see our photos from Montalcino.
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| Montalcino |
10/23/2011
October 4th and 5th
October 4 - We had purchased tickets to the Vatican museum (do this online for as many attractions as you can) and got going a little late. We grabbed breakfast at the little restaurant on the hotel roof and jumped into a cab. We got to the museum entrance about 5 minutes before our entrance time. There are amazing and beautiful works of art, and we rented an audio guide to help us along. We both appreciated the biblical scenes more so than the Catholic church history ones but still got a lot out of it. The highlight is obviously the Sistine Chapel, and I was annoyed that photography is not allowed there.
We ate lunch at La Rustichella (Via Angelo Emo 1 just up the hill from the museum entrance), and we each had a tasty serving of lasagna. This meal is most memorable because JD convinced me that "Uomini" had to mean "women" (sounds like it). I had to use the restroom, but when I found it, I couldn't determine which was women's. I came back to ask JD and he investigated. He came back laughing, assuring me that "uomini" meant women--it's pronounced something like "wimeni". So, I took his word for it and discovered that he was indeed wrong.
After lunch, we enjoyed the artistic and architectural treasures of St Peter's Basilica and then caught the Metro home. We rested for a little while and then decided to grab some pizza. Some travel message boards had listed Dar Poeta in Trastavere (Vicolo dei Bologna 47) as some of Rome's best pizza so we called a cab and were off. Trastavere is hilly and has narrow streets and our cabbie decided to give us our money's worth. He worked his way down smaller and smaller streets at high speed and my knuckles got whiter and whiter. At one point he had to back up because he couldn't fit down a little alley. He finally stopped the cab and apologized that he couldn't get us any closer. We finished the trip on foot and were rewarded with some of the best pizza we've ever had. We shared a tiny table with some Chicagoans on their honeymoon and had a nice chat - they were the only other non-Italians at the place.
After supper we had planned another stroll, but abandoned it because of fatigue. We grabbed some more gelatto and caught a cab home. You can click on the photo of the Vatican model to see our pictures from Vatican City.
October 5 - We had planned a Colosseum/Forum day and were able to walk from our hotel. We went to breakfast at a little cafe at the corner of via di San Giovanni in Laterno and Fao di Roma and then went to the Colosseum. We tried a tip that someone told us about and bought our tickets at Palatine Hill (3 minutes away) and thus skipped the long ticket line at the Colosseum. We had downloaded a walking tour podcast and enjoyed listening to the narration on our mp3 player. After the Colosseum, we did Palatine Hill and the Forum. On the way home we grabbed snacks and drinks for later in the week.
You can click on the photo of the Colosseum to see more pictures of the Colosseum and Forum.
Wednesday night we met our friends Andy and Kate at Maccheroni Trattoria (Piazza delle Coppelle 44) near the Pantheon. It was a pleasure to dine with people who could order authoritatively and who could ask questions about the meal. We had terrific food and a nice visit and then finished up with gelatto (sensing a trend?) from the famous Giolitti gelateria (via degli Uffici del Vicaro 40).
I took this picture on the walk to meet Andy and Kate. I have no idea what this building is but it is beautiful.
Gelatto with Andy and Kate:
We ate lunch at La Rustichella (Via Angelo Emo 1 just up the hill from the museum entrance), and we each had a tasty serving of lasagna. This meal is most memorable because JD convinced me that "Uomini" had to mean "women" (sounds like it). I had to use the restroom, but when I found it, I couldn't determine which was women's. I came back to ask JD and he investigated. He came back laughing, assuring me that "uomini" meant women--it's pronounced something like "wimeni". So, I took his word for it and discovered that he was indeed wrong.
After lunch, we enjoyed the artistic and architectural treasures of St Peter's Basilica and then caught the Metro home. We rested for a little while and then decided to grab some pizza. Some travel message boards had listed Dar Poeta in Trastavere (Vicolo dei Bologna 47) as some of Rome's best pizza so we called a cab and were off. Trastavere is hilly and has narrow streets and our cabbie decided to give us our money's worth. He worked his way down smaller and smaller streets at high speed and my knuckles got whiter and whiter. At one point he had to back up because he couldn't fit down a little alley. He finally stopped the cab and apologized that he couldn't get us any closer. We finished the trip on foot and were rewarded with some of the best pizza we've ever had. We shared a tiny table with some Chicagoans on their honeymoon and had a nice chat - they were the only other non-Italians at the place.
After supper we had planned another stroll, but abandoned it because of fatigue. We grabbed some more gelatto and caught a cab home. You can click on the photo of the Vatican model to see our pictures from Vatican City.
 |
| Vatican City |
October 5 - We had planned a Colosseum/Forum day and were able to walk from our hotel. We went to breakfast at a little cafe at the corner of via di San Giovanni in Laterno and Fao di Roma and then went to the Colosseum. We tried a tip that someone told us about and bought our tickets at Palatine Hill (3 minutes away) and thus skipped the long ticket line at the Colosseum. We had downloaded a walking tour podcast and enjoyed listening to the narration on our mp3 player. After the Colosseum, we did Palatine Hill and the Forum. On the way home we grabbed snacks and drinks for later in the week.
You can click on the photo of the Colosseum to see more pictures of the Colosseum and Forum.
 |
| Colosseum and Forum |
Wednesday night we met our friends Andy and Kate at Maccheroni Trattoria (Piazza delle Coppelle 44) near the Pantheon. It was a pleasure to dine with people who could order authoritatively and who could ask questions about the meal. We had terrific food and a nice visit and then finished up with gelatto (sensing a trend?) from the famous Giolitti gelateria (via degli Uffici del Vicaro 40).
I took this picture on the walk to meet Andy and Kate. I have no idea what this building is but it is beautiful.
Gelatto with Andy and Kate:
10/19/2011
October 2nd and 3rd
We left for Italy on October 2. Two nights before, Pierce began running a fever. It persisted through Saturday and Sunday he was worse. It was hard to leave him when he seemed so miserable, but we didn't have a much of a choice, so we headed to the airport and my heart was heavy. We flew Lufthansa because they are a part of Star Alliance with United and we had beau coup points with United. We were able to use the Senator (1st class) lounge at Dulles International Airport, and it was nice to relax in comfortable chairs and have room to stretch out before the flight. Our flight left at 6:45, and our goal was to get some sleep on the way over, but dinner service took forever to complete, so we only got about 3 hours of sleep. JD was sleeping hard, and I heard serious snoring. I woke JD up to tell him he was snoring only to realize it wasn't him. Ooops! JD was pretty gracious about it, but I did feel bad. We can laugh about it now.
We had a short layover in Munich, and we were worried about our luggage getting to the plane. We landed 30 minutes early, and as we arrived at the gate, we were informed that there was a 30 minute delay due to fog. So, we had plenty of time to spare and we hoped this meant the same for the luggage handlers. On the flight from Munich to Rome, business class was exactly the same as coach class except there was a tray placed on the middle seat. We both thought that was funny. We also went through immigration in Munich, and since Germany and Italy are both Schengen countries, we didn't have to go through immigration again in Italy. Sadly, we don't have Italy stamps in our passports:-(
Here are some pictures JD took on the plane from Munich to Rome.
The Alps:
Me, after 10 hours on a plane:
We landed in Rome at 11:45 and grabbed our one bag (It made it!). We walked to the train station and arrived about 5 minutes before our train into Rome left. JD was all excited at our timing and we got in line at the ticket machine. Unfortunately, American credit cards do not have the new EMV chip technology used in Europe, and most European credit card readers no longer read the old magnetic strip, so we missed the train while waiting for assistance. We caught the next train and made it to Roma Termini at 1:30 pm. JD convinced me it was a good idea to walk to the hotel since it was only 0.75 miles away. I quickly determine that walking on cobblestone sidewalks with heavy luggage on 3 hours of airplane sleep was a very bad idea.
We did make it to our hotel, the Mercure Delta Colosseo around 2:00 pm. Our room was tiny but clean and neat. The hotel's rooftop restaurant and pool had a great view of the Colosseum.
The view from the roof of our hotel:
We had a short layover in Munich, and we were worried about our luggage getting to the plane. We landed 30 minutes early, and as we arrived at the gate, we were informed that there was a 30 minute delay due to fog. So, we had plenty of time to spare and we hoped this meant the same for the luggage handlers. On the flight from Munich to Rome, business class was exactly the same as coach class except there was a tray placed on the middle seat. We both thought that was funny. We also went through immigration in Munich, and since Germany and Italy are both Schengen countries, we didn't have to go through immigration again in Italy. Sadly, we don't have Italy stamps in our passports:-(
Here are some pictures JD took on the plane from Munich to Rome.
The Alps:
Me, after 10 hours on a plane:
We landed in Rome at 11:45 and grabbed our one bag (It made it!). We walked to the train station and arrived about 5 minutes before our train into Rome left. JD was all excited at our timing and we got in line at the ticket machine. Unfortunately, American credit cards do not have the new EMV chip technology used in Europe, and most European credit card readers no longer read the old magnetic strip, so we missed the train while waiting for assistance. We caught the next train and made it to Roma Termini at 1:30 pm. JD convinced me it was a good idea to walk to the hotel since it was only 0.75 miles away. I quickly determine that walking on cobblestone sidewalks with heavy luggage on 3 hours of airplane sleep was a very bad idea.
We did make it to our hotel, the Mercure Delta Colosseo around 2:00 pm. Our room was tiny but clean and neat. The hotel's rooftop restaurant and pool had a great view of the Colosseum.
The view from the roof of our hotel:
We dropped our bags, grabbed a shower, and headed out for an afternoon and evening walk. We took a cab to the Pantheon, then walked to the Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps. We had dinner at L'Antica Birreria Peroni (Via di San Marcello 19-halfway between the Pantheon and Trevi Fountain). As the name implies (Peroni), it's better known for its beer than food, but it was serviceable. We finished up with gelatto at the Spanish steps and then caught the Metro back to our hotel. We came out of the metro to a gorgeous view of the moon rising over the Colosseum.The Pantheon:
Raphael's tomb in the Pantheon:
Trevi Fountain:
In front of the Trevi Fountain:
The Spanish Steps. Can you find JD?:
Colosseum at night:
10/16/2011
We're back!
We are back from an amazing 13 days in Italy. We celebrated our 10th anniversary (4 months late) by touring Rome, Tuscany, Florence, the Mediterranean town of Lerici, and Venice. My parents stayed with the kids and did a wonderful job of carpooling, getting to gymnastics, piano, sports classes, church, AWANA, etc. We are so very thankful for them. I was informed by Madelyn that the family we carpool with prefer Granddad to me. Ha! I took close to a thousand pictures, and when I'm not jet-lagged, I'll post more details and the pictures.
I'll start with these, though. J.D. treated me like a princess, and in Montalcino ( a small Tuscan town) we stayed at Castello di Velona. It is a castle turned spa, and it was unbelievable. It sat atop a mountain and provided amazing views, beautiful amenities, and a pool filled with water from thermal springs.
The castle:
The castle from the pool area:
Standing in the lobby:
Views from the pool deck:
The pool:
A view from one side of the castle:
People have asked about my favorite part, my favorite city, etc. I can't pinpoint my favorite thing because we had such a great time at every place we went. I can say that my favorite area was Tuscany, with the Mediterranean area being a very close second. Tuscany reminded me a lot of the landscape of Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee with its mountains and rolling hills, mostly rural areas with a few small cities and lots of farmland. The coolest thing was the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It really leans-a lot! My favorite piece of art was Michelangelo's David. The biggest "wow moment" is walking out of the Collosseo metro stop in Rome, seeing cars zooming by, and then looking up and seeing the Colosseum- 2000 year old building surrounded by modern buildings and machines. It's almost Hollywood set-like.
I have much more to post on the trip, and you might get tired of seeing the pictures and reading about it by the time I'm done.
I'll start with these, though. J.D. treated me like a princess, and in Montalcino ( a small Tuscan town) we stayed at Castello di Velona. It is a castle turned spa, and it was unbelievable. It sat atop a mountain and provided amazing views, beautiful amenities, and a pool filled with water from thermal springs.
The castle:
The castle from the pool area:
Standing in the lobby:
Views from the pool deck:
The pool:
A view from one side of the castle:
People have asked about my favorite part, my favorite city, etc. I can't pinpoint my favorite thing because we had such a great time at every place we went. I can say that my favorite area was Tuscany, with the Mediterranean area being a very close second. Tuscany reminded me a lot of the landscape of Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee with its mountains and rolling hills, mostly rural areas with a few small cities and lots of farmland. The coolest thing was the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It really leans-a lot! My favorite piece of art was Michelangelo's David. The biggest "wow moment" is walking out of the Collosseo metro stop in Rome, seeing cars zooming by, and then looking up and seeing the Colosseum- 2000 year old building surrounded by modern buildings and machines. It's almost Hollywood set-like.
I have much more to post on the trip, and you might get tired of seeing the pictures and reading about it by the time I'm done.
10/01/2011
Lunch of Champions
This is what happens when you leave a jar of peanut butter near Isabel. It was on the table (not her tray) when I left to get a knife.
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