On the plane back home now. Got up early and had our last breakfast of cappuccinos and croissants. Caught a cab to the airport, where we parted ways with Stacy. Did a little more shopping before our flight.
Saw pretty much everything we wanted to and a lot more. I'll miss the gelato and pizza!
Our last day in Rome and we decided to visit the Colosseum, or as my nephew referred to it - "the big round thing". On the walk down, we stopped at the church, St Pietra in Vincoli. Inside is Michelangelo's Moses sculpture and the alleged chains that held Peter in prison. Got to the Colosseum and made our way inside. Pretty cool to be inside a building that old. Toured around using the Rick Steve's audio guide and took a ton of pics (of course!). Walked around the forum after that, before heading to the Mouth of Truth, which is inside a church near the Tiber River. Had to wait in line before finding out if our hands would be bit off! Guess we're not liars, lol. Then in was time for a gelato break. Yum! Wandered a bit more before stopping for dinner. Decided to have snacks, zucchini flowers (stuffed with mushrooms and ricotta), mozza balls, and foccicca bread. And tiramisu for Dessert! Also tried a summer spritzer - a orange drink we'd seen every night and wondered what it was. Then we did some shopping as we walked back to the hotel. Our final stop was our second dose of gelato. The previous night the gelateria by our hotel had a giant line, so we looked it up online and found out the have cones they fill with chocolate and 4 flavours of whipped cream for the top. (we learned in our food tour, it's an actual rule, in Rome, you are allowed 2 flavors and whipped cream, at no additional cost). It was veeerry tasty!! Packed up for our trip home before heading to bed.
Our 2nd day in Rome, was spent exploring. We saw the scaffolding covered Trevi fountain, the Spanish Steps, several beautiful churches, Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, and lots more! Nice to just walk around and explore. We went to the cat sanctuary, with is where Julius Caesar was killed, and on our way back, got held up by a police barricade. Turned out it was for the Pope. Saw him drive by, but we were on the wrong side of the street to see him wave. Had dinner near Piazza Navona and had gelato for Dessert. On our way back, we were entertained by a wonderful Street performer singing opera. Tomorrow is our last day. We'll be going to the Colosseum and Forum.
Our first day in Rome, started with our Eating Italy Food Tour in Testaccio. We took the subway there and found our way to the start. Our guide Emma, was awesome. For four hours, we ate Cornettos, tiramisu, cheese, salami, prosciutto, pizza (the 3rd best in Rome!), bruschetta, Buffalo mozzarella, pasta, wine, and gelato. The area was very authentic. They have a "mountain" made of piled up broken pottery, which is where we ate our pasta - the mountain is cool so they use it for wine cellars. Then we were very full. One of the trip highlights for sure. After that we walked through Trastevere and saw the Bascilica there. Went uphill to the view and walked down to the Vatican. Visited St. Peter's, wow, it is huge and very oppulent. Left there to go to out night visit at the Vatican museums. Wandered through, with a bonus fireworks show outside, till we got to the Sistine chapel. Another wow! Then we were beat, so back to the hotel to rest up for tomorrow.
Dear readers. Be prepared for a filler post, as nothing significant happened today.
Our last morning in Amalfi, we head to Rome this afternoon. More rain, but this time it cleared up fast. Did a little shopping before checking out of our apartment and heading to the ferry. We ferried to Salerno, a very scenic ride. From Salerno, we take a train to Rome. Which is where I'm currently writing this post.
Now in our hotel, the best one we've stayed in. Huge room for Europe. Had dinner at the local bar. Went for a little walk, where I saw my first rat. Tomorrow food tour and Vatican!
Our full day in Amalfi started with a Thunderstorm. The first rain of our trip. Power even went out for a minute. Of course we had just finished hanging all out laundry out to dry. Our plan was to head up to Ravallo and walk back down. So we decided to go ask for recommendations for indoor activities at tourist information. A very unhelpful girl said there was nothing. We decided to see the inside of the duomo, but there was a wedding happening, so we only got to peak inside, while the bride was arriving. By that time the rain stopped, so we caught the bus up to Ravello. Another windy road up while standing on a bus. It is beautiful up there. Lovely coastal views and beautiful old architecture. We visited Villa Rufalo, a garden and the place where they host the musical festival every year. More stunning views. Then we found the path back down to Amalfi. Luckily there are lots arrows guiding your way. Another beautiful walk. Lots and lots of stone steps later, we reached the town of Atrani. There's a tunnel through the cliffs to Amalfi. Chilled for a bit before walking around the town. We found a series of waterfalls, so pretty! There was a bigger one, but it was behind a locked gate. :( Had dinner, lasagne for me, penne with spicy tomato sauce for Jacky, swordfish for Stacy. And we shared the local dessert a sponge cake with lemon sauce. Deliza a limone.
We decided to use our last but of time in Capri by taking the chair lift - or walking, in Jack's case, to the top of Monte Solaro. The highest part of Capri. Stacy and I braved the heights of the lift, while Jacky braved the incline of the hike and we met at the top. It was less scary than I expected. The views from the top were amazing! Headed down to Anacapri again, for some shopping before heading back to Bussola di Hermes for our bags. We were sad to leave as it was such a lovely place to stay. The owners could not have been nicer! The hotel dropped us back at the bus stop for our last crazy ride down the hill. The busses are tiny here, because the roads are so narrow. It takes a lot of talent to drive there, which is probably why they don't allow visitors to drive. Took the ferry to Amalfi, where Jacky stood on deck and got to enjoy the sea spray, and found our way to the residence CasaAmalfi, our apartment for the next two nights. Had dinner in Amalifi before heading to bed. Tomorrow we hike down from Ravallo.
Spent the day renting a self drive boat and driving around the island. We each took turns being "captain". Stopped and dropped the anchor a couple of times and had a swim in the Mediterranean. So lovely! Had a snack on board, as well. We stopped at the "white grotto" to have a look before returning our boat. Then we took the funicular up to Capri town to see the sights and do some shopping, before heading back to Anacapri. We decided to swim into the famous "blue grotto" which was incredible. You swim into a small opening, guided by a chain. The water is an amazing shade of blue. Such an exilerating experience! We then headed by to the hotel.. We made reservations for dinner at a restaurant that picks up up at your hotel. Very tasty. Ended the night with some complimentary Limoncello!
We left Naples this morning and took the ferry to Capri. It is stunningly beautiful. After a crazy bus ride to Anacapri on the other side of the island, we found our hotel.. An adorable place, with a terrace view of the sea. Too bad it was so hazy you can't see much. Hot and 82% humidity today... My hair was wet all day! We chilled for a but in our room before heading out to see Anacapri. Lots of cute shops, some closed today. We had lunch at a little restaurant. Stacy and I had delicious Limoncello slushies! We wandered around into the evening, just checking out the area. Tomorrow we are renting a boat to drive around the island!
Hi Slept in a little this morning before checking out of Hotel Emma and walking to the Academia. We pre-bought our tickets online, so we could skip the line and thought we got an awesome deal at 5€ instead of 15€, but found our it's a European history day so admissions to all museums are 1€ + service charges. The line up was quite long, however we found a couple of nice people to chat with in line. Finally made it in and got to admire David. He is quite spectacular, bigger than you expect. Took our pics, selfie included, and browsed through the rest of the museum, which is really quite small. From there we did some window shopping & wandering, before we bussed back to our hotel for our luggage. And then left for the train station. Got there early, so grabbed a bite to eat at the McDonald's. They have tiny calzones and mozzarella sticks! Also 0.50€ milkshakes.. We had coconut. Yum! Currently we're on the train to Naples, where we spend one night before heading to the island of Capri in the morning.
Just got back to the hotel, after pizza at da Michele in Naples.. Supposedly the best.. It was different than home, but very good! We tried both kinds Margerita and marinara. Naples is pretty gritty, but we'll see how it is in the morning.
Today was our tour of Tuscany, with Walkabout Florence. Had to be at the train station for 815 to catch the bus, so we took the city bus there. Luckily the hotel let us grab a crossiant on the way out, since breakfast didn't start till 8. The tour starts in Siena, an old walled city.. All the buildings are burned Siena colour. It has the oldest working bank in the world. We had a tour of the city and the Duomo (another incredible church!) and then we had about 45 free minutes on our own, which was not enough! We did buy some delicious cookies, which are a specialty in Siena. From there we drove through the hills to an organic farm/Vineyard for lunch. Had a tour of the farm, which had amazing views of Tuscany. Lunch was 4 kinds of wine, bread with garlic and olive oil (all produced by the farm), pasta with meat sauce, salad, cheese with prosuitto and salami. Dessert was almond cookies which you dipped in dessert wine. Everything was very good. Then we were off to San Gimignano for almost 2 hours. It's an medival city with many towers. We walked around (got lost again!) and had some award winning gelato. From there we drove through the Tuscan Hills to Pisa. Did an obligatory cheesey photo at the leaning tower. We did a tram tour of historic Pisa before heading back to Florence. This was the first day where the weather wasn't perfect and sunny. No rain though, just some clouds. Apparently we missed a crazy rainstorm in Florence, so we picked the right day for the tour! Tomorrow we see David, before heading to Naples. And where we are joined by Stacy for the rest of our journey. Photos to come....might be on FB again.
Another busy day, walked to the historic centre to check out all the sights. It's very easy to get turned around in Florence, we spent 30 mins looking for the Duomo. When we finally tracked it down we toured inside. Another beautiful Cathedral, inside and out. After seeing the highlights, getting lost and eating lunch... Chicken burger and fries... We found our way to the Arno River, crossed over and started our walk up to Piazza Michaelangelo and San Minatore Church where the views of the city are incredible. We realized when we got there that we took the longer, but more gradual incline, instead of the steep hill everyone else took. The church is beautiful, with a lovely colombarium and cemetery. Walked down and followed the other side of the river to Ponte Vechiccio. Crossed back and did a little window shopping along the way. Then we tried to find a restaurant we'd passed earlier for dinner, but no luck. Had some tasty pasta and bussed it back to the hotel.
Forgot to mention, that is not a pic of the actual Last Supper in the last post. It's a copy outside the rectory. No pics allowed of the real thing.
After a tasty breakfast at the hotel, cappuccinos included, we headed to our walking tour. We started at the spectacular Milano Duomo. One of the largest cathedrals in the world. Inside was beautiful. They house one of the nails from the crucifixion there (not on display). From there we walked through one of the oldest shopping centers in the world, mostly luxury shops, like Prada, Versache, and Gucci (which apparently is a no no to wear in Milan!). Walked to the Opera house, La Scala, and through the streets of Milan to Santa Maria della Gratzie where the Last Supper is. If was much bigger than I expected and some is very faded. It has been painted over several times and was restored back to it's original layer (about 90% was able to be recovered). Our tour ended there and we are our first gelato - coconut and coffee for Jacky, white chocolate and pistachio for me - on the way back to the Duomo. Yum! We had tickets to go the top of the Cathedral, so we made our way through the masses of pigeons (I managed to not run away in fear, even posed for a photo) and we took the elevator up. Wow, it did not disappoint! Amazing views and stunning architecture. Rushed back to grab our luggage and hop on the train, where we learned your seat number is important. Arrived in Florence and figured out how to take the bus to the hotel. Hurray! It's very cute here at Hotel Emma. Had pizza and cannelloni for dinner at a nearby place and tomorrow we'll check out the sights around town.
Got ready to leave Paris, got to the train station on time, when we discovered I left my camera at the hotel. Luckily, we were able to get on a later train and I got my camera back. Just lost a couple hours in Milan. We knew there were bound to be some hiccups on the trip, hopefully this is the biggest one. Typing this on the train, our seatmates are a kid and his grandma, he's maybe 4 and they speak no English, no French and limited Italian. Currently he's absconded with Jacky's phone, because he had nothing to entertain him on a 6.5 hour train trip! This is where my rant starts. Holy cow. Grandma (sitting next to me (and now putting some kind of stinky cream on her bare feet!) is an arm rest hoarder, who kept elbowing me in the side. The kid, who loooves talking (even though no one knows what he's saying) , is pretty cute. Which is good, because after the first 30min, he started getting really bored. Jumping on seats, cuddling up to Jacky. Loved her nails and her arm... Then, he discovered the girl across the aisle was watching a movie on her iPad. He got on the luggage rack behind her to watch. This ended up with him "shooting" people. He cuddled up to this girl while playing iPad games. All the while Grandma says nothing and eventually falls asleep (with her elbow in my side!). Anyone could have snatched him of the train and she wouldn't have noticed. After awhile he almost fell asleep with Jacky as his pillow. This was before he saw her phone and was entranced. He quickly got bored of her lack of games and started eyeing my phone. Decided to let him play with it, since he was so cute and that kept him off of Jacky. At one point they were sharing her seat. At least he kept us entertained.
Got off in Milan and managed to easily find our hotel, had a cappuccino and a mini pizza. Chatted with some Belgians at the bar. Tomorrow we do a walking tour of Milan, before heading to Florence.
