CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES
We had decided that we wanted to go see the leaning tower in Pisa and Lucca.. both are on the west side of Tuscany. We took a very long but scenic route to Pisa. We passed by farms, tiny villages and fields and fields of dried sunflowers. We could only imagine what they would have looked liked when they were in bloom. After 3 hours we got to Pisa.. not what we expected, quite dirty. The tower was fun, we took all the typical cheesy pictures of us holding up the tower. The best that Pisa has to offer was the market just by the tower where we all bought purses.
Then we went to Lucca. It is quite a large quaint town that has an entire wall still surrounding it. They made the top of the wall a beautiful walking/biking path. We were lucky enough to get to it at dusk so we could see the sun setting on the buildings. As in Montepulciano and Sienna, the place was full of tourists and shops.
The next day we went back to Sienna since Sucia had not seen it yet and we wanted to go to the weekly market. Compared to Sunday, this day it was a zoo. Tourists everywhere. The market was overwhelming..stand after stand of clothes, toys and food. We did our best to strike deals.. sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. The food stands were the most fun, we befriended this man selling cheese and meats and he let us try almost everything. I had no idea there were so many different types of Pecorino Cheeses.. I discovered I like the aged ones the most as they have the strongest flavor.
Our next stop was San Gimignano. It is a small hilly town where 16 of the 60 towers are still standing. Again shop after shop line the streets.. It either a shop of ceramics, wine or cheese. As we were heading back to the car we followed the signs to the Roman Ruins and came across these huge bath houses with water still running in them. As we thought we were heading back to our car we realized we were on private property and the owner informed us that they were where the Romans would come to clean their clothes. We of course asked if we could see his house.. it was from the 15th century.. his family has lived there for generations.. pretty neat. Up the steep hill to find our way back to car we found a path that went around the city walls. The views were amazing as it was a clear day and you could see vineyards and olives trees everywhere and it was quiet and peaceful as we were the only ones on the path. On our way home we stopped in St. Lucia and came across the postcard view of San Gimignano with the sun hitting the towers. We got home and made another exquisite meal in our Villa from food we got in San Gimignano.
Our biggest day yet was Florence. We had reservations for the Galleria del Uffizi. We made it town in time (1.5 hour trip from our villa) but the next adventure was finding our way to the museum. This adorable elderly woman helped us, got on the bus with us.. one stop and we were told to get off..nothing like 2euros for 4 block trip. We were so worried we would not make our next stop.. the Academia.. that we rushed thru the Galleria in an hour with out audio tour. As museums go, it was not as grand as I had expected and the audio tour was very hard to follow. The highlight was seeing a couple Michelangelo and DaVinci paintings.
At the Academia.. as expected seeing Michelangelo's David was moving. We found out that the piece of marble was rejected by 2 or 3 other sculptors who thought it had to many deformities. His left arm was broked off during a riot in the 1600's. Other than that its in pristine condtion. The pictures we took of the David outside the Uffizi is a copy. The original stood there for years, but pollution was ruining it so it was moved to the Academia. David is supposedly the most perfect proportioned statue in the world. The details were terrific, you can see his stomach muscles, his veins in his arms, his pupils and his toenails.
For dinner we went with Sucia's friend Cornaldo to a places called Persues..(.Link to Perseus Restaurant) (son of Zeus and who cut off the head of Medusa with a sickle). In the pictures of Florence of the statues, he is the green statue with man holding a head. This restaurant is known for its Fiorentine steak which is from Chianina cattle. The minimum order is for two people as the piece of steak is huge. It is covered in salt, the outside was crunchy and the inside is served rare. If you ever go to Florence and you like steak, this is a must!!
Friday, October 8, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Life in Tuscany is Grand!
CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES
Hi. Well we have been here for two days now. It took us one day to get here from Rome as we overslept and basically got kicked out of our apartment in Rome when the cleaning lady showed up. We then took a taxi accross town to a kiosk that sold paper products to rent our Budget Rental Car. We were sure we had been had when the taxi dropped us off. But it was all legitamite and we got a our Chevy Wagon... good old american sized car for our big suitcasees.
Driving in Italy was okay, better than I thought it was going to be. They respect the left passing lane and as long as you do as well, your okay.
Our first meal in Tuscany was in a restaurant in a town that has only 1 restaurant and 2 pizzerias.. it was spectacular.. I had steak with arugula and Parmesan and Deanna had pasta. Yesterday we went to Sienna, we toured the Cathedral and walked the streets. Most were closed as it was Sunday but the town square was alive with people from all over the world. Its considered one of the most amazing town squares in all of Italy. We sat down and just looked around for a an hour taking it all in.
Then we went in to Florence to pick our friend Sucia up and ended up experiencing Italian LA traffic jams. Cars, cars, cars and no where to go.
Traffic was so bad that we decided to stop in some random town and ate at the only restaurant that was open and had people in it. They served you flat bread with sea salt and Rosemary... we ate the entire plate. We had ordered bruschetta, calamari withe vegetables and gnocchi with Gorgonzola and walnuts.. so much food, but we ate it all.
Today we woke up at 11, so late.. but made it to Montepulciano and Pienza. where we shopped and shopped. Quaint little towns with picturesque views, town squares and full of Americans. At every stop we made, we met people from the US and a couple Germans. We expected to come across a few but not everywhere.
At the top of Montepulciano is the town square with a cathedral and a castle. We took Rick Steve's advice and went wine tasting at Contucci Winery. one of the oldest in town. I ended up buying a Santo.. which is a wine where the grapes are dried for months and then the wine is fermented in small oak barrels for 7 years. I had never tasted anything like it.
At dusk we made it to Pienza which had been recommend by quite a few people. Its was very quiet and we were able to visit some of the shops before they closed. Here we bought the most amazing bread sticks form this old lady and both Sucia and I bought our boots.. her red and mine blue/black.
One the way home we stopped at a grocery store and bought food for dinner. We made steaks with a white wine garlic reduction, thick spaghetti with a tomato-truffle sauce and snacked on truffle spread, black and green olives and a radicchio, tomato, arugula salad.. great way to end the day.
As I sit here and write this, Deanna and Sucia have gone to bed and there is a thunderstorm coming in.. with thunder and lighting and hail...lights flashing on and off.. as I have not seen in years...don't wanna go to sleep yet. :)
Hi. Well we have been here for two days now. It took us one day to get here from Rome as we overslept and basically got kicked out of our apartment in Rome when the cleaning lady showed up. We then took a taxi accross town to a kiosk that sold paper products to rent our Budget Rental Car. We were sure we had been had when the taxi dropped us off. But it was all legitamite and we got a our Chevy Wagon... good old american sized car for our big suitcasees.
Driving in Italy was okay, better than I thought it was going to be. They respect the left passing lane and as long as you do as well, your okay.
Our first meal in Tuscany was in a restaurant in a town that has only 1 restaurant and 2 pizzerias.. it was spectacular.. I had steak with arugula and Parmesan and Deanna had pasta. Yesterday we went to Sienna, we toured the Cathedral and walked the streets. Most were closed as it was Sunday but the town square was alive with people from all over the world. Its considered one of the most amazing town squares in all of Italy. We sat down and just looked around for a an hour taking it all in.
Then we went in to Florence to pick our friend Sucia up and ended up experiencing Italian LA traffic jams. Cars, cars, cars and no where to go.
Traffic was so bad that we decided to stop in some random town and ate at the only restaurant that was open and had people in it. They served you flat bread with sea salt and Rosemary... we ate the entire plate. We had ordered bruschetta, calamari withe vegetables and gnocchi with Gorgonzola and walnuts.. so much food, but we ate it all.
Today we woke up at 11, so late.. but made it to Montepulciano and Pienza. where we shopped and shopped. Quaint little towns with picturesque views, town squares and full of Americans. At every stop we made, we met people from the US and a couple Germans. We expected to come across a few but not everywhere.
At the top of Montepulciano is the town square with a cathedral and a castle. We took Rick Steve's advice and went wine tasting at Contucci Winery. one of the oldest in town. I ended up buying a Santo.. which is a wine where the grapes are dried for months and then the wine is fermented in small oak barrels for 7 years. I had never tasted anything like it.
At dusk we made it to Pienza which had been recommend by quite a few people. Its was very quiet and we were able to visit some of the shops before they closed. Here we bought the most amazing bread sticks form this old lady and both Sucia and I bought our boots.. her red and mine blue/black.
One the way home we stopped at a grocery store and bought food for dinner. We made steaks with a white wine garlic reduction, thick spaghetti with a tomato-truffle sauce and snacked on truffle spread, black and green olives and a radicchio, tomato, arugula salad.. great way to end the day.
As I sit here and write this, Deanna and Sucia have gone to bed and there is a thunderstorm coming in.. with thunder and lighting and hail...lights flashing on and off.. as I have not seen in years...don't wanna go to sleep yet. :)
Friday, October 1, 2010
Our First Adventures with Roma
CLICK HERE TO SEE PICTURES
It is hard to believe we have been here for 3 days now. We are staying in Campo dei Fiore. It part of ancient a Rome where the streets all curve, have cobblstone and you have to stand against the wall when a car goes by. Our apartment is amazing, it is in very old building with marble staircases and stained glass panels it has 2 bedroom and is fully furnished with kitchen, w/d and internet. Yesterday, we walked over to the Colosseum and came accross a tour group from Romaround Tours. They lead you in pass the crowds and right to the entrance, very worth it as the lines were outrageous. We learned that entrance to the Colosseum was free to all the Roman people; it was the Emperors way of crowd control, and that it was finished in 8 years since it was divided into slices so each family was competing against each other in finishing their section. Upon opening they had games for 100 days and killed about animals and 900 people and the spectators brought perfume to the smell. Recycling was big back then as most of St. Peters Square marble taken from the Colosseum and all the holes one sees in the walls is where the iron was removed in order to make weapons, it was never bombed as one initially thinks.
From there they took us over to the Foro Romano. This place was amazing, it was hard to believe it was in the middle of Rome. It was tranquil and peaceful. We heard about the starting of Rome between the two brothers Romulus and Remus and the Palatine Hill, saw ruins of the Emperors bath houses, the original city hall. This building had the highest arches and windows of any other building in Rome. Upon the fall of Rome, supposedly the knowledge of how to construct this buildings was lost until after the middle ages.
For dinner we walked and walked to find this Osteria recommended by two New York Chefs, we got there at 1045 and all the could offer us was 2 dishes. I had the Osso Buco with p eas and it was great, but the tiramisu won our heart for the evening.
Today we went on another tour with Romearound tours of the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and St. Peters Basilica. Our tour guide was Ian from Scotland and made the 3 hour journey well worth it. I learned that the Vatican has Vatican FM (vaticanfm.com)which broadcasts daily, they have their own post and stamps and have official Facebook and Twitter pages. The Sistine Chapel was the highlight as expected, what I plan to look into are the stories Ian gave us about Michelangelo and his paintings. He pointed out quite a few places where Michelangelo was poking fun at the Pope who commissioned him. Some may be true, who knows. What was most unexpected for me was how emotional I got when I saw where Pope John Paul was buried. Memories of my grandmothter watching him on TV for Easter and Christmas mass came flooding back. She would sit and watch so intensely. The little I know about the Pope and the Church I learned from her.
Tomorrow we are off to Sienna. I get to drive us out of Rome, that is going to be an adventure.
It is hard to believe we have been here for 3 days now. We are staying in Campo dei Fiore. It part of ancient a Rome where the streets all curve, have cobblstone and you have to stand against the wall when a car goes by. Our apartment is amazing, it is in very old building with marble staircases and stained glass panels it has 2 bedroom and is fully furnished with kitchen, w/d and internet. Yesterday, we walked over to the Colosseum and came accross a tour group from Romaround Tours. They lead you in pass the crowds and right to the entrance, very worth it as the lines were outrageous. We learned that entrance to the Colosseum was free to all the Roman people; it was the Emperors way of crowd control, and that it was finished in 8 years since it was divided into slices so each family was competing against each other in finishing their section. Upon opening they had games for 100 days and killed about animals and 900 people and the spectators brought perfume to the smell. Recycling was big back then as most of St. Peters Square marble taken from the Colosseum and all the holes one sees in the walls is where the iron was removed in order to make weapons, it was never bombed as one initially thinks.
From there they took us over to the Foro Romano. This place was amazing, it was hard to believe it was in the middle of Rome. It was tranquil and peaceful. We heard about the starting of Rome between the two brothers Romulus and Remus and the Palatine Hill, saw ruins of the Emperors bath houses, the original city hall. This building had the highest arches and windows of any other building in Rome. Upon the fall of Rome, supposedly the knowledge of how to construct this buildings was lost until after the middle ages.
For dinner we walked and walked to find this Osteria recommended by two New York Chefs, we got there at 1045 and all the could offer us was 2 dishes. I had the Osso Buco with p eas and it was great, but the tiramisu won our heart for the evening.
Today we went on another tour with Romearound tours of the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and St. Peters Basilica. Our tour guide was Ian from Scotland and made the 3 hour journey well worth it. I learned that the Vatican has Vatican FM (vaticanfm.com)which broadcasts daily, they have their own post and stamps and have official Facebook and Twitter pages. The Sistine Chapel was the highlight as expected, what I plan to look into are the stories Ian gave us about Michelangelo and his paintings. He pointed out quite a few places where Michelangelo was poking fun at the Pope who commissioned him. Some may be true, who knows. What was most unexpected for me was how emotional I got when I saw where Pope John Paul was buried. Memories of my grandmothter watching him on TV for Easter and Christmas mass came flooding back. She would sit and watch so intensely. The little I know about the Pope and the Church I learned from her.
Tomorrow we are off to Sienna. I get to drive us out of Rome, that is going to be an adventure.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Where we are staying
Almost ready to go
My friend Deanna and I are embarking on our first trip to Italy. I met Deanna in LA in graduate school while at USC. We happened to be a in a small neuroscience class of about 12 and both of us had gone to University of Michigan during the late 80's and 90's. Instant roller blading, beach volleyball, hiking, movies and making empanada friendship. She lead me to my first job in the biomedical device industry at Medtronic in Santa Rosa as her old boss became mine. Deanna lives in Portland and we have been able to stay in touch even though we only see each other once a year. Last year at my birthday party, I talked about going to Italy and she decided to join me. We have both traveled quite extensively but neither of us have been to Italy.
We have planned this for a year now and can't believe its around the corner. We are meeting in Rome next Wednesday and staying in an apartment for 3 days then we head to a Villa just outside Sienna for a week. We plan on making day drips to Florence, Sienna, San Gimignano and Cinque-Terre. After Tuscany we head back to Rome for 3 more days.
In Tuscany, Deanna's friend Sucia is joining us
I plan to post many pictures of our adventures.
I'll link this blog to Facebook where you can check it and see what were up to and most importantly what we are eating!! :)
We have planned this for a year now and can't believe its around the corner. We are meeting in Rome next Wednesday and staying in an apartment for 3 days then we head to a Villa just outside Sienna for a week. We plan on making day drips to Florence, Sienna, San Gimignano and Cinque-Terre. After Tuscany we head back to Rome for 3 more days.
In Tuscany, Deanna's friend Sucia is joining us
I plan to post many pictures of our adventures.
I'll link this blog to Facebook where you can check it and see what were up to and most importantly what we are eating!! :)
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