Tuesday, August 31, 2010

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!

Monday, August 30, 2010

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

Friday, August 27, 2010

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

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

New Friends & Old Wine Bar

Basilica San Pietro--St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City

Foro Romano

The Colosseum

RACING IN ROMA

Jill and I have arrived in Siena after a three hour bus trip (nicely airconditioned), where the Tuscany landscape is a mix of medieval buildings, rolling hills, and a gorgeous sky.  Our room with a view is an understatement to say the least.  But rewinding to where we left off from our last blog and last time with internet availability, we completed many of our Rome must sees. 

Monday evening was a visit to the Spanish Steps which was incredibly packed with tourists and Italian men shoving roses at you in hopes you might buy from them.  We discovered the Enoteca Antica on one of the small cobblestone streets.  Enoteca is Italian for wine bar and this place had been in business for over 200 years.  The wine was just fabulous and our gnocchi we ordered literally melted in our mouths.  By far the best meal we had in Roma and made some fun local friends who helped us practice our Italian.  Most of our sentences begin with Como se dici, meaning How do you say...?

Due to unforseen difficulties with her flight and the lack of a proper communication channel, Erin was unable to join us Monday evening.  Happily,  the next day the three of us was able to tour together.  An interesting dining option in Rome is to stand up at the delis/quick service restaurants where you can sip teeny tiny espressos ( about 4 sips per cup) and eat pressed paninis while being entertained by the server whose charasmatic personality and hate of all US cities with the exception of Miami kept us entertained. 

 The long walk to the Vatican compounded by the blazing sun (i.e. with every step another drip of sweat rolls down your back), thousands of tourists, and a slight detour in the exact opposite direction which thankfully Jill realized before we walked too far.    Arriving at the square, we quickly got into line for what we thought was the Vatican.  Half an hour later after going thru the metal detectors, having Jill fail the dress code due to an apparently too short hemline, quickly get her back thru the line after donning a pashmina over her skirt, and being stopped by another guard telling Erin to pull the hem of her skirt down we finally are allowed to go in.  Turns out the line we were in wasn't for the Vatican Museum (housing the Sistine Chapel) but for St. Peter's Basiclica only, have we mentioned the poor signage in Italy yet?   The Basilica itself was one of the most incredible sights we've seen thus far and pictures would never do it justice... 

When we stopped to ask a guard about the entrance to the Vatican Museum, we were informed that it was 1 kilometer (actual distance still in question) around the city wall and to the left.  Realizing it was 3:50 and knowing they stopped allowing visitors at 4 put the three of us into a full on sprint towards the entrance.  The girls with their tennis shoes and me with my Ecco sandals.   I am happy to report the sandals did not slow me down as we quickly manuvered around people leisurely walking in the same direction.  Making it just in time, we paid for our tickets and quickly began our tour at the Vatican.  The Sistine Chapel was just stunning as you stared at paintings drawn with such talent that the figures appeared as if they could step out of the walls and into the room.  Definitely worth seeing and after our overload of visions from the day we headed back to our hotels to relax before our evening plans. 

Getting back to today...Jill and I checked out of adorable hotel in Rome and headed to the metro for our bus to Siena.  After a bit of difficulty finding the actual bus station we quickly bought our tickets 15 minutes prior to its departure.  Well that catches you up to present and tomorrow we are hoping to see more of Siena and possibly a cooking class. 

Ciao for now!  Jaime and Jill

Monday, August 23, 2010

Toilet seats, humidity, & Roman ruins

We made it safe and sound to Roma and are loving it... learning a lot on along the way... like... transportation signs are not universal nor all in English, like everyone will tell you. It took us at least an hour to figure out how to exit the Rome airport... and I think we might have died or fainted if we had to walk through all the smokers gathered outside, one more time... we forgot how much people smoke here. We finally found our way, (we blame a combo of lack of sleep and poor signage) jumped on (with fingers crossed) an unmarked, sweltering, stifling train in 90% humidity and sweated our way along the 40 minute ride into the city, where our 500 meter walk turned into blocks & blocks uphill to our hotel on the 4th floor of a mostly unmarked building (we blame that for why passed it up the first time we went by.) Thankfully it has a "lift" or elevator which is basically a tiny closet that goes up & down... but it did the job and when we arrived inside Hotel Margaret we were pleasantly surprised with the hospitality, size of our room & and we discovered a whole new appreciation for air conditioning.

No sleep that first day... Saturday... watched 2 movies on the flight and talked but couldnt fall asleep... when we got to Rome we decided to push through and lasted until about 3pm local time and then joined in on the WONDERFUL concept of siesta and took a 3 hour nap before heading out for a lovely outdoor dinner where we made some friends... a couple from the South of France... she an English teacher, he a Math teacher. (For those in AZ, Rome is 9 hours ahead... for those in OH, it is 6 hours... everyone else, do the math yourself! :)

Now... to the toilets... whoever decided to not put seats in public restrooms must have been a man! Seriously... most places have just a porcelin bowl but as we also discovered, at a poor tourist's expense, no matter how crude the bathroom, you must politely ask if you can use it, inside a shop or restaurant. The beautiful young Italian woman serving pizza by weight stopped what she was doing to berate the man & his son for just assuming they could without buying anything.

As we briefly mentioned above... it is incredibly warm here. The only bright spot is that everyone looks as sweaty as we feel. It is incredibly hot & humid... very glad we're doing Rome on the front end of this trip.

The food... AMAZING... so far we've done pizza, seafood risotto, spinach and ricotta ravioli, caprese salad, famous grilled veggies, gelato, & of course WINE.   No disappointments there and definitely looking forward to continuing to indulge ourselves in the cuisine... that reminds me... we had a long conversation today about how these beautiful Italian folks stay so slender with so much pasta and bread around. Carbs, carbs, carbs. Our theory... a combo of walking every where and not eating processed foods.

We can check off several items on the tourist to-do list... The Colosseum, The Forum, The Pantheon, & Trevi Fountain. There was an interesting incident outside the Colosseum when we saw a group of men with bags running past us. Jaime's first thought was, "Should we be running, too?" Then we saw the police car chasing them. Turns out they were selling purses & jewelry illegally. I fumbled to grab my camera but couldnt snap the photo in time... sorry no visuals.

We were so hot by the time we got to the Pantheon today that when we saw the massive amounts of people and tour groups, we decided to skip going inside and went to have lunch instead. We were perfectly ready to blow it off, until our waiter told us it was a must do. So back we went... thankfully, the crowds had died down and we fully enjoyed what we saw... beautiful... Its amazing when you see all these giant buildings and think about the work that went into them without the luxury of the modern tools and technology we have now... very impressive.

One more interesting thing... We accidentally ended up at a place called the Quirinale. There was one police car parked out front and an officer standing in what looked like a piazza. You could see into a formal looking courtyard and a man dressed in what looked like a cross between a Canadian mounty & British officers uniform. So I went up to ask the police officer for more info.
me: what is this?
him: the presidential palace
me: ...
him: presidente
me:...
him: of italia
me: the president, president????
him: si, si, the president of Italy
me: lives right here?
him: yes
me: is he there right now?
him: yes
So, of course... I had to have a photo taken right there... unbelievable how close you could get... no fences, barriers, nothing... just one guy with a gun... but i guess thats all you really need.

By the way... the Spanglish thing was dead on... we can't stop speaking Spanish to everyone here... the good news is... they seem to understand it... and they do seem to appreciate our attempts at Italian.

Later tonight... we will meet up with Jaime's good friend from high school, Erin, who is hopping over from London. We plan to do whats called the Dolce Vita Stroll this evening and visit the Spanish Steps. Tomorrow we will tackle Vatican City... St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel.

Ciao for now,
Love, Jill and Jaime

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Ready or not...

I haven't done laundry, haven't packed and am in fact still in a hotel in Flagstaff, AZ with less than 3 days to go 'til my flight to Italy. Despite not being ready, I really am more than ready and can't wait to trade the 12-15 hour days I've been working up here at Cardinals Training Camp for the pasta dishes, wine tastings, and amazing adventures waiting for J-squared in Italy!
Jaime and I will meet up in Charlotte, NC on Saturday, then off on a direct flight to Rome, where we will desperately be trying to learn Italian... you can probably learn a lot in 9 hours, but I'm afraid the locals are going to end up having to put up with our Spanglish, (spoken with an Italian accent.)
Anyway... just wanted to test this blog-thing out before we leave in case you care to follow along on Italy 2010! Ciao for now!!
~Jill

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Countdown to Italy!!!

We are getting excited for our trip to Italy!!  We leave in 20 days!!!