Venice, the long trip home & final thoughts

It'd be interesting to know our impressions of Venice if we'd visited during the first part of the trip, rather than at the end. Don't get me wrong... it's a beautiful city, but we were so exhausted, and I was losing the battle with a cold so let's just say it wasn't our favorite stop on the Italy tour. It didn't help that it took a 6-hour train ride to get there, but we were very impressed with ourselves for managing 3 transfers in small Italian towns and getting everywhere we needed to be on time while hauling luggage.
We arrived in Venice at dusk and this was the first view as we walked out of the train station:

Then, we got on a boat for the 40 minute ride down the Grand Canal to our hotel. That was pretty cool.

The next morning, we were so tired, we couldn't get out of bed. Thankfully, it started thundering and raining so we had an excuse. We finally ventured out around noon and the tiny streets were jam-packed with tourists... so much so, you couldn't help but feel claustrophobic. Everyone seemed to be smoking and in such cramped quarters it's like they're all blowing it in your face. Yuck! Unfortunately we don't have fabulous food stories from here... everything was just so-so (again, maybe it was the cold & exhaustion, but I don't think so).
We did love working our way through all the colorful shops full of Murano glass... the famous glass made off the shore of Venice. They've been making it there since at least back in the 1200's and it is beautiful. The shops are also full of gorgeous masks (like mardi gras masks). The annual Carnival of Venice is right before lent and back in the 1600s & 1700s, you could do anything you wanted with anyone from any class, as long as you were wearing a mask.
Our last night, (Friday), we hate to admit we were in bed by 8:30 p.m. We didn't get the great night's sleep we had hoped for due to noisy neighbors and the mosquitoes that were stalking us. It was absolutely maddening that everytime you were about to drift off, one would buzz your ear... ugh!!
Our journey home began at 6am Venice time... with us having to repack to fit everything in our suitcases. Mission accomplished so we headed to breakfast for our last capuccino :( and then took a 90-minute boat ride to the airport. Our 9 hour and 20 minute flight was direct from Venice to Philly. In Philly we had to go thru customs & recheck our luggage. I landed in Phoenix at 8pm local time (5am in Italy) only to discover my suitcase didn't make it. To add insult to injury, a few hours later, Jaime (who was in Cleveland) and I both discovered we had food poisoning... so that kept us up all night, again! Not fun! (US Airways finally delivered my bag late last night with a broken handle. Awesome!)

The traveling, jet lag, food poisoning, lost/damaged luggage couldn't possibly overshadow this amazing trip. There are so many things we will miss...

(especially our morning capuccino)
Our experiences were unforgettable and I hope that if you are considering traveling you'll go ahead and book now. Go! Do! See!  Fall in love with a language, a street, a pasta dish. You'll definitely learn something & it just might be life-changing. We're already trying to decide where to go next year.
Thanks for following our adventure!
Ciao for now,
Jill & Jaime

Pisa = Disney of Europe... and Cinque Terre

Jill and I are leaving Cinque Terre today for Venice, our last city on our 2 week tour of Italy.  Backing up from our last post, we left Florence with heavy hearts and lighter wallets and jumped on a train to Vernazza (one of the 5 towns of Cinque Terre) and decided to stop in Pisa along the way.  We arrived in Pisa, which was jam packed with tourists also trying to get the the Leaning Tower.  After a short but hot and smelly bus ride, we jumped off and walked with the sea of people toward this famous tilted building.  The tower itself is definitely leaning maybe even more than we originally thought, but the true sight to see was the line of people throughout the Piazza, attempting the Pisa Pose... a photo op of holding up the tower.  After we posed for our very touristy pics, we got out of there as quickly as possible (actual time in city = 1 hr).  Pisa really seems to be the Disney of Europe.

Back on the train we went and we arrived in Cinque Terre, which is absolutely stunning and quite peaceful.  Jill and I did the hike through all the 5 towns, 9 km total and elevation facts unknown... but it took a little under 5 hours of up an down hiking.  We'll let the pictures speak for the views we enjoyed throughout our stay.

This is Vernazza... the 4th of the 5 villages. We stayed here. Ahhhhhh! Population about 1,000.

Shot of Vernazza taken on our hike. You cannot imagine the climb up stairs with luggage to stay in this town. But that challenge was quickly forgotten when we received our best greeting ever from the incredibly enthusiastic Monica, who rented us the room. She makes you feel like you are a family member.

Above is Corniglia (pronounced Cornelia)... 3rd of the 5 villages

The reward for our hard work... an Italian beer (Moretti) and Acqua (water)

Our new friend, Tyanne, who lives in Portland, OR but is from Apache Junction, AZ!!! She was traveling alone so we invited her to have dinner and drinks with us at Il Pirate with the famous Canoli Brothers... Gianluc and Massimo who are hilarious! (Unfortunately our pix with them are on Jaime's camera.)
We are off to Venice... Ciao for now!
Jaime & Jill

F is for Florence and FABULOUS

Even though we can't ever seem to find what we are looking for on the first try, it's ok here in Florence because it gives us another chance to see more of this incredible city. We are loving the views, the streets, the piazzas, and the people. (the food and wine are a given). But today's blog will focus our recent shopping experience... one we can only describe as amazing!! (We'll get back to food a little later)

We shopped all day long... well, really just browsed... We spent hours not really finding anything we liked, until we happened into a tiny shop called Sistè. Max, the designer, was working inside and we had a blast modeling his one size fits all sweater that can be worn in 20 plus different ways.  It took him 3 years to perfect it.

Max's designs are all very creative and he has a lot of asymetrical styles. His Sistè line is sold around the World in high end stores, like Bloomingdales. In the store we went to, in addition to that line, he has items with no labels that he sells for much cheaper... like the sweaters which we each HAD to have... just £45. He is going to email us when he has samples in other fabrics (a lighter weight sweater and in linen) and colors, so we can purchase more if we want. I could totally see these things on an infomercial and he would sell millions... so if anyone is interested in buying, let us know so we can include in the next order. :) We told him he needs to create a YouTube video showing all the different ways to wear it bc there are so many it will make your head spin & we are wayyy to tired to remember them all!!

We were in the store so long and having so much fun, we didn't realize it had started pouring outside. So, we ducked into a jewelry shop and browsed the really cool, locally designed bracelets and rings... thankfully we resisted the temptation to buy anything there so we could head back to a leather shop we had stopped in earlier in the day. As we ran through the rain to get there, we were so cold, we popped into a sweatshirt-tshirt shop and were seriously contemplating buying the cheesy Italia sweatshirts until we realized... 'wait a second we just bought sweaters!!!' So we threw those on, (in different styles so we didn't look like twins) and ran to the leather shop. The American woman who was there this morning was gone and her husband, the guy who actually makes all the BEAUTIFUL shoes and bags by hand was there. Stefano, who had been hunting wild boar in the morning (got 8 of 'em) has lived in Florence all his life and after working as a musician, and helping his father, a jeweler, he started making shoes. He has been in the same shop in for 38 years and he sells A LOT of shoes. Just yesterday, he said a French couple bought 12 pairs of shoes, 3 bags, and ordered 2 pairs of sandals!!!  He told us not to worry if he didn't have our size, he'd just make it and ship it to us. Fortunately (or unfortunately for the wallet)... everything fit!!!
Forget Louis Vuitton... Check out handmade leather loot:

Ummm Hello??!! Could these boots be any more fabulous??!!

We spent at least an hour with him and this great couple Fran and David who were also shopping. She an Ohio State Alum (O-H) from Warren, now living in New Jersey.... He sounded like he was probably Australian, but we didn't ask. They travel the World and come to Florence every summer.
It'll be interesting to see if the trends we're seeing here will take off back home... the most popular are... ankle & calf boots with shorts... often with cutouts on the heel, toes or top of the foot... gladiator sandals and boots... funky pants that I would describe as harem pants or an updated version of MC Hammer pants... thin material and the crotch is dropped to the knees or lower... the tops are either tunic style with embroidery or an updated version of a shawl but with sleeves it'sAn upside down triangle that hugs the body at the hips.... all their shirts, except the tunics, hug the body at the hips.
After shopping and a rest back at the hotel room... we checked out a great dinner spot, recommended by Vancouver Vern from yesterday's blog. Our waitress at Osteria Dè Benci wasn't remotely interested in serving us, but the food was great.
We split the Pappa al Pomodoro... a traditional Tuscan bread soup in tomato sauce... crazy good!

And... how about this wild dish?!... which smelled a little funny but tasted amazing...

It's called Spaghetti dell ùbriacone... drunken spaghetti in red wine with garlic, parsley and hot pepper. Yum!!
It's so fun making new friends and seeing so many great things and eating so much amazing food!
Now we are off to Cinque Terre which the locals have all told us is very beautiful. We aren't sure what the internet situation will be like there so we may not be able to update until Venice.
Until then... Ciao!!
Jill and Jaime
p.s. We're both on the verge of colds but plan to push on thru, so keep your fingers crossed!

WE HEART FLORENCE!!!!!

Jill and I are loving Florence.  Starting in the intense chaos of Rome, to the tranquil Siena, Florence is an ideal in between since it has more of a small town feel with lots to do.  So much beauty so much sculpture and don't even get us started on the shopping.  Last night was absolutely gorgeous as we watched the sunset from Ponte Vecchio (famous bridge in Florence) overlooking the Fuime Arno (river). 

We continue to meet interesting and fun people along the way.  As we were sitting at dinner one night, two German grandpas beside us began conversing with us in quite limited English.  Albert and Gero met earlier in the week during their group tour from Germany. Since Gero (on the left) knew more English... he became our translator and we enjoyed ourselves so much that we decided to share a bottle of wine and learned the word for Cheers! in German is Prosit... or you can say Zumwold (to your health).

We had drinks the next night with a couple that lives in Vancouver. Vern plays in the symphony and played all the music for the Olympic medal ceremonies for the events that took place in Whistler, at the Winter Games. His wife is from Australia. We had met them earlier in the evening at a piazza, when we stopped and asked if they would take our picture for us. So, when we saw them that night, we decided to have a chat.

Still eating our way around Italy, in Florence we have sampled noodles with wild boar sauce and ribollita (traditional Tuscan soup with tomatoes, veggies basil, and bread) and have loved it all.  We tried a calamari zuppa (soup) last night that was fantastic.
One night at a nearby Piazza, there was a musician playing for a crowd of people.  His choice of songs were a little familiar... including Let it Be, With or Without You, & the Sounds of Silence which were great for crowd singalongs.  Along the way back to the hotel, we saw many illegal vendors who could put down their wares and scoop them back up again in a blink of an eye whenever the police came thru.  They can be quite aggressive here and one chased Jill and I down the road after we glanced over at his "Gucci" purse.

We did manage to find the Accademia which houses the sculpture David.  We were again wowed by Michaelango's talent as much as we were with the Sistine Chapel.  Especially when you looked thru the other rooms full of sculpture created 200 plus years after and with not nearly the incredible skill as Michaelango.  Vern is going to send us a picture bc he was able to take one when a guard turned the other way. During our visit, they were more strict... no photos.

Above is the Duomo in Florence. At one time it was the largest Cathedral in Italy... now it is only the 4th largest... still it is so big, we could not capture the whole thing into one photo.
Since we love Florence so much we have decided to stay another night.  We lucked out when our quite noisy hotel was booked for this evening and the much nicer (and quieter) hotel on the floor below was available.  And the guy at the desk even came down on the price when we mentioned how much cheaper the other hotel was.   Nice!!

Ciao for now,
Jaime and Jill

Cin Cin from Tuscany

I can't believe we left the U.S. a week ago today... time is flying! We leave Siena today and take a bus to Firenze (Florence), which we will likely use as a home base to visit more small towns in Tuscany.
Yesterday we visited two such towns... Castellina in Chianti... a tiny little medieval town. It's what they call a wall town, built to keep out attackers. This one also had tunnels.

They would often get attacked on both sides because they were stuck in the middle of fighting between Florence and Siena.
This is city hall:

We also visited a winery called Poggio Amorelli and got a tour from the owner-winemaker, Marco.

My fave was a Chianti Classico. Marco told us his own winery is only about 10% of what he does... his real profession is as a wine taster. He says in 3 hrs, he can do 200 bottles!!!!.. since he can't eat or drink anything beforehand (so as not to affect the taste) he usually does this from 7am to 10am.

Our tour guide, Franchesca and Marco, the winemaker

Our last and longest stop of the day was to a town called San Gimignano (jim-NYAWN-o)... another medieval wall town on top of a big hill.

A super cute Sienese gal named Francesca was our tour guide for the day... and there were 3 couples with us... one from Australia (but they are living in London), one from New Zealand, and one from South Africa. They were all really fun. We met our first Americans at the top of  San Gimignano... Cindy and Jeff from Denver, who were on their honeymoon. They were fun, too and encouraged us to join them for wine tasting, so we did.

While much of the region is all about Sangiovese grapes... San Gimignano is all about whites... the name of the grape escapes me but it begins with a V. They were all very good.  (By the way... we've seen tons of English speakers but we really havent seen any Americans on this trip other than a few at the Vatican).
After our day trip... our love affair with Pici (handmade pasta) continued!!! (technically it is pronounced PEE-chee but with the Sienese accent it is PEE-shee and since pici is their dish, the second form is the way to pronounce it) and it was the best so far. It's a good thing we have to walk so much here or we could never eat so much pasta!! Anway, we went to this adorable restaurant, called Di Nonno Mede (They told us Nonno means grandpa and mede is nickname)  recommended by Franchesca. Outside was this view of Siena and the back of the Duomo (which was the green & white striped cathedral we showed you yesterday)

After our AMAZING meal, sat and talked with the owners... which was pretty interesting since they don't know a single word of English. Some of the waiters helped translate when we ran into issues.

Our Spanish has proved to be very useful bc many of the words are the same or so similar they can figure out what we're trying to say.
After dinner, we did make it to the very end of the free concert in Siena's main square. Unfortunately the photos are on Jaime's camera and we can't seem to get hers to upload. The square holds 50,000 and it looked super packed to us, but estimates were closer to 30,000... and it was 80's Italian pop... we're told the two guys... Lucio Dalla & Francesco De Gregori are kind of like the Rolling Stones of Italy. And speaking of stars... the big news in town... the most famous current pop singer in Italy, Gianni Nanonni, who was born in Sienna and still lives there, is pregnant... she's 52 or 54 years old (we heard both from locals) and she hasn't said who the father is.
The other big story on the news... the heat wave all over Italy... so it's not just us complaining. :) I thought it was hilarious that in the story, as the reporter talked about people escaping to the beach towns and they showed video of sunbathers, they played Katy Perry's California Girls. (By the way...  everywhere you go here, shops, restaurants, etc, they play current American songs... Rihanna, Kesha, Usher, etc.)
One more thing... the mosquitos... zanzaras... are really bad... I think I am up to about 10 or 12 bites and they itch like crazy. I've starting noticing the legs of everyone we see out and about are also covered in bites. The zanzaras are definitely getting their fill of the tourists!!
Well, I think that's all for now. We'll write more when we get settled in Florence.
Oh... and in case you don't know... cin cin is Cheers! You can also say Salute!
Ciao for now!
Jill & Jaime

Under the Tuscan Sun it's all about the food...

Ciao Amicos!! We are definitely eating our way thru Italy... everything is so fresh! I know this will be a shock to many, including myself, but I am actually eating tomatoes... they are called San Marzano and I hope I can find them back home!
We are in Siena, in the heart of Tuscany... once a town of 100,000... it lost 70,000 people to the "Black Death". Today the population is 50,000.
Here is the amazing view at sunrise from our hotel room:

A typical street in Centro Storico... downtown Siena.

So... Jaime and I took a class last night at a cooking school and it was AMAZING!!
Luisa was the chef  (she was MUCH friendlier than she appears in this photo! :) )

And we cooked alongside 4 other fabulous gals... 2 from Japan, 1 from Belgium, and our fave... Elisabeth from Manchester, England who uses fun phrases like "I am jiggered" for tired and "She is crackers" for crazy. On the menu... Pomodori Gratinati (an antipasto of stuffed tomatoes),

Foccacia (which we made from scratch)  Pici All'aglione (handmade pasta... yep made the dough and rolled it ourselves...with garlic & tomato sauce)... can't get enough of the pici (I will be making it at home!!).

A fun fact... Italians put a basil leaf on top of the pasta dishes... so the colors of the flag are represented... white, red, green)  and we also made Coniglio alle olive e aromi (that would be rabit with olives and herbs).

For dessert we made Budini di Amaretti e Gianduia (similar to flan... made with amaretto, chocolate and milk). I cannot put into words how good this meal was. I heart Tuscan food!
We have also become quite addicted to the cafè here... It is so interesting how people go to standup bars and drink these little bitty cups of espresso.

That's what you get when you order cafè. A capuccino is the way to go... slightly bigger with frothy milk on top... soooo good! On the subject of standup bars... not sure if we mentioned before that its less expensive to stand and eat or drink... (for cafè: £1 standing vs. £4 sitting... if you sit for dinner, you'll pay a cover charge or service fee... sometimes as much as 25%.)
So... Today we are going to a little town called San Gimignano and will tour a couple of Chianti wineries... yum!! Tonight we will come to the main square in Siena for a concert with some Italian music star... everyone is talking about it and very excited so we think it will be fun to check it out.
We've tried to branch out ordering things we wouldnt normally pick... like crostini with ewe's milk cheese & lard (yum) and basil pesto with anchovies (not so yum)... and for lunch yesterday I tried Fagioli all'ucelletto con salsicce (white beans with grilled sausage)... amazing!
Anyone hungry yet?? Be nice to us and we might make you pici sometime!
One non food related item... we again failed a dress code policy when we checked out the Duomo (cathedral) in Siena yesterday and forgot about the no shoulders rule. Fortunately, they passed out paper shawls so we were able to appropriately cover up.
Jaime makes quite the sideways paper shawl model:

Inside the green and white striped church:

Saw some Michelangelo statues and learned an interesting tidbit... after 2 statues, the young artist  was asked to make a 3rd but got called away for another job. By the time he had a chance to come back, he said he was too famous to come back to this small town so the spot where the statue is supposed to be remains empty to this day. (The empty spot is on the top right... the two bottom statues Saints Peter and Paul, he did)

 Oh and one more thing... in case you weren't able to picture the toilet situation... here is a visual:

One more thing... we know Grongie (most of you know... thats our grandpa) would LOVE to read this blog and would be sending us all kinds of notes and stories about his travels and giving us a verse of an Italian song here and there. It was one year ago last night that Jaime and I spent our last hours with him. We think of him often and miss him lots.
Ciao for now!
Jill & Jaime

New Friends & Old Wine Bar