In Defense of Pizza

NO! This pizza can't be defended.

In case you're wondering, that really is hotdogs-and-frenchfries pizza, courtesy a cafe in Sorrento that caters to Brits and children. (The proprietor assured me that it's just the kids that buy such a thing, although there was some puzzlement when I asked for what she called "Italian Coffee" rather than what most folks there order.

This was in Rome -- our final meal. Much more appetizing, including the pasta with green things that Stacey ordered and the pasta with wild boar sauce I selected. 

Most menus feature pizza -- in better flavors than suggested by the top pic. In San G., I had a pie that featured most of the flavors of Tuscany; it wasn't "traditional" in the foodie sense, but it had everything I saw growing in the region in tastefully arranged quantities. Excellent stuff. That's my defense, meager as it is.

This is the only beer I really liked in Italy -- something I found in a quiet spot in Anacapri. It's French, and tasted amazing. Mmmmm.

This one is somewhat random to the subject, but I thought I'd throw it up. I have too many photos to sort quickly and the dust of Vesuvius is still coating my hiking shoes, but more are on the way. Really.

Pictures

Well, it looks like between the two of us, we have over 1000 photos to go through, sort, edit and rename, so it will take a while to put together an "album" of Italy photos. Going through my photos, I can see that I took the most in Cinque Terre and Sorrento, the two ocean front towns that were the most picturesque and relaxing. I also have many photos from Lucca, San Gigminano and Orvieto, the three smaller towns we visited, and, of course, Venice. Interestingly, I took fewer photos in Florence and Rome, but don't worry: Mike took many more photos of those two cities.


Here is a picture of Tom and Kirsten, the Portland couple we met in Manarola (they were staying in the same building we were, right downstairs). I took the photo from our balcony above them. I need to edit it so that they are focused better, but you can see how high up we both were from the water.


We also tried to take photos of the food we were eating. A typical day's meal in Italy went like this:

Breakfast: Cafe latte (the hot milk was served separately from the espresso usually, especially in southern Italy, allowing me to mix it the way I wanted) or cappuccino for Mike, and a croissant (usually filled with chocolate, cream or jam). Sometimes we were able to find fruit and yogurt (or if we were in a bed and breakfast hotel they would serve it--but that was rare).

Lunch: Pizza (with a variety of topping choices) or a panini (sandwich on thick bread, usually tomato and cheese, something with salami) or tremezzini (smaller sandwiches on white bread--actually quite good).

Dinner: Often pasta (though someetimes we'd have pasta for lunch) or a caprese salad, and wine.

Believe it or not we both lost weight on the trip: 6-8 hours a day of walking can do that!

Here's a picture of our lunch in Monterosso, one of the towns in Cinque Terre.




Here is a photo of a street in Burano, the lace-making island near Venice. I'll post more photos another day....

Home!

We have been up since 3 am Amsterdam/Italy time (so 6 pm Monday night Oregon time) and it is now 5 pm Oregon time--so we are too tired to do much but dig thru a month's mail. I also have a head cold (at least it didn't start till the last day of the trip!).

Thank you John for picking us up at the airport!

More in a day or three: the trip back to Bend was uneventful (well, except for a "security" incident in Amsterdam that delayed us 1.5 hours)...

The cats seemed only mildly interested in our return home, which is a sign that we had a good housesitter. But now Joey is demanding my attention (and canned food, I suspect). Some of our daffodils are still blooming and tulips, too!

Ciao!

Sorrento, love it...

Since Sorrento is just too beautiful and I have yet to find affordable and fast internet access, this may be my last post. There is so much I have not posted yet: thoughts, reflections, little details (like the Italian man yelling at the British teenagers to respect his country as they are guests--they had their feet on the train seats, and finding a wonderful bookstore in Rome called Bibli where they were showing The Quiet American, with Michael Caine, in English with Italian subtitles, so it was the first movie we have seen in Italy, and hearing everyone laugh at the lines that indirectly critiqued the Iraq war...AND I must talk about crossing streets in most cities in Italy where there are no stop signs or lights--pedestrians simply walk into the street and the speeding cars and motorinos STOP--it is quite empowering) that I have not included in this blog. I will definitely ADD to this blog when we get home. I have been keeping a written journal so those details are in writing and not just fleeting memory.


Today we spent the day in Pompeii...not nearly enough time to see it all, of course, but enough to truly appreciate the ruins. I have wanted to visit Pompeii since Janet and I took Latin with Mr. Higgins and he focused one term lesson on Pompeii. And Janet, Italians really do say SALVE for hello (tho buon giorno is more common).

Mike is hiking up Vesuvius and I am back in Sorrento, not at all interested in hiking up a volcano, thank you very much (though I cannot wait to see his pictures--he took pictures from Mt. Solano on Capri yesterday where he took the chair lift up, and they are stunning...we will definitely post those at some point). I am thinking of taking a dip into the Bay of Sorrento now, joining the very very many British tourists who are here on vacation (and the many Italians who are here for the weekend). Despite the crowds, tho, Sorrento does not feel crowded (Capri definitely DID feel crowded). In fact, so much of Sorrento looks like the setting of British movies that take place in the 40s or 50s. There is a place called the Foreigners Club that looks very familiar to me (and it has wonderful public bathrooms)! The Engish Patient perhaps??

Tomorrow we plan to visit Positano, the beautiful city on the Amalfi Coast drive (and accessible by boat) that is the featured location of so many movies.....

Ciao for now!

Sunny, wonderful Sorrento

We are finally in beautiful Sorrento, but alas, the Internet connection is quite slow and I just lost a long posting, so this will be short.

We love our hotel, overlooking the sea. We love the sun, the limoncello and the atmosphere in general in Sorrento (especially after rainy, hectic Rome).

We visited Capri today, and are pleased we chose Sorrento as our homebase.

Tomorrow, we go to Pompeii for some educational sightseeing, but otherwise, the goal of Sorrento is to relax in the sun.

And I am off to the rooftop terrace of the hotel to do just that.

Ciao!

Stacey

Photos of Empire

Finally, a few more photos -- only horizontal, as I don't know how to rotate the vertical snaps from the flashcard. (Once home, I'll photoshop our highlights and inundate all viewers.)

Going from ancient Rome one day and Vatican City the next was a dizzying experience. Both huge empires, but in vastly different states. Very cool. It was rainy all day yesterday -- the thunder rocked the Pinacoteca museum in the Vatican, causing even the serious guards to roll up the shades to look.

We could spend weeks here and not exhaust the offerings, but I'm looking forward to Sorrento tomorrow. Peace is one of the great offerings of Italy.

More later. Ciao!

Laundry morning in Rome

The sun came out briefly in Rome this morning, but the gray clouds loom, so we are in the laundromat with a group of 5 Texan students, doing laundry and checking email.

Yesterday we toured the Vatican Museum (the paintings and tapestries are wonderful) and the Sistine Chapel (smaller than expected, crowded, but beautiful....I need many more coins for this computer to truly describe it).

Dinner at a kebab place called Planet Kebab--a nice break from Italian food!

Mike is going to upload some photos so more later.

Roma!

Wow. Saw sunbeams coming out of a cloud yesterday striking a church -- one of those postcard moments -- and then I realized that sunbeams can't really miss here. :)

We hit the Coloseo and other ruins, ate very well, explored some of the town. Remarkably, it feels safe here. Maybe not so remarkable, but it's like N.York with wider streets and more piazzas. Yes, the groovy stuff is a thousand or two years older than N.York, but the comparison feels comfortable. Trastevere, where we're staying, feels like Brooklyn.

We bought some wine at a shop a block from our hotel last night. I dropped my change and began looking for it (coins are like quite valuable here) and the shopkeeper/butcher laughed a bit, gave me the same amount I dropped, and wished us a good night. Local owners are super-cool -- kinda what I recall of Brooklyn, but Stacey could tell y'all more.

Pictures? Many. Post them? Soon. I'll switch to Stacey's machine, which has a card reader.

Ciao! Off to meet Signor Ratzinger, along with a few thousand other travelers.

Rain and Ruins in Rome

Hi all, We arrived in Rome on Sunday afternoon when it was sunny and hot....but by last night the rain came. Love those guys on the street who sell umbrellas!

On Sunday, we walked from Trastevere (the left bank of Rome where we are staying in a rather dingy, but very quiet, room) across the river stopping at various famous piazzas with lovely fountains, including the famous Trevi Fountain (so much smaller than it looks in La Dolce Vita, but we did throw a coin in over our shoulder to make sure we return to Rome someday, as the superstition goes...). We also toured the Pantheon (very impressive inside and out) and found the famous Spanish Steps which were crowded with very drunk American students (it was probably 4pm). Keats'House/Museum was closed, but we hope to get back there tomorrow....

We also found an Irish pub where we had Guinness on tap--for 5 euros, which is horridly expensive, but it tasted so good after the long, hot walk.

Yesterday was our Caesar Shuffle day (Rick Steves' phrase) where we visited the Coliseum and the Roman Forum and the Palentine Hill where Augustus and Livia lived (among other caesars). The sites were crowded, but not so bad since each site is so large and spread out. The Coliseum is the "least" ruined and thus the most obviously impressive, but we enjoyed the other sites, too. We also managed to figure out the subway system so we could get to the church with the Bernini statue I so wanted to see, Teresa in Ecstasy. An amazing church, full of gold and angels....

Had our first tiramisu at a restaurant near the Coliseum--very yummy! We returned to Trastevere late, so did not have dinner till around 9pm. We sat outside at first (almost all restaurants have tables outside) but then it began to rain and we were moved inside to one of the LAST tables in a fairly large restaurant. Soon after there was a long line of people waiting to eat dinner at 9:30pm. The restaurants are packed at that time of night (even on a Monday night). I had a lovely Caprese salad, probably the best one yet (tomatoes, mozzerrella, olive oil and balsamic dressing and this time with green salad, too).

Today we finally found this Internet "store" that allowed us this time to post here, but we are eagerly off to visit Vatican City today and, with luck and not horrific crowds, see the Sistine Chapel. A Swiss couple we met yesterday said the line was at least 2 hours long (and you cannot reserve as you can with the museums in Florence). (Note: we have heard so much German since we have been in Italy--this must be a time for vacation for Germans--that we can now tell the difference between Swiss German and Germany German, tho Mike did ask an Austrian couple where in Germany they were from, and the man quickly corrected him). Our guidebook says that we may actually face a much shorter line if we wait till noon or 1pm to go, so our plan is to get there by noon....

I see that Tom and Kirsten, the Portland couple we met in Manarola, posted a comment the other day!! We will definitely check your blog when we get home to see how the rest of your Italy experiences were! I must say that we miss Manarola--Cinque Terre was the most relaxing and beautiful part of the trip in many ways....We have tried to get away from the touristy areas of Rome (and one main reason we are staying in Trastevere is because it is less touristy and definitely looks like Brooklyn in many ways). Yesterday, we walked through what must be an area of embassies and found a quiet pocket park.

It is now time for another espresso--we have become spoiled with breakfasts here: a cappuccino and a croissant in the morning at the hotel, then a mid-morning refill and search for yogurt for Stacey who needs more protein than a croissant can provide).

Ciao,

Stacey

Orvieto!

Another thing to add about San Gimignano: we walked by a group of high school aged students obviously on a school trip and we were all standing on a view point with a wonderful vista, and the teacher told the students (in Italian) to start reading the handout he passed out to them all: then they all read aloud "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" in English! It was an English teacher's scene!

We arrived in Orvieto on Friday afternoon after a pleasant 70 minute train ride (only one transfer--which makes train travel less stressful especially since they do not announce stops ahead of time and we just guess based on time of arrival--luckily, the trains to run on time), and immediately loved it. From the train we could see the small town up on a double sized Pilot Butte-height rock. When we got off the train, we were directed to the funiculare, a one-car tram that takes people up to the top of the "rock" in less than 5 minutes. Then we took a small shuttle bus to the center of town where our Bed and Breakfast is--it is walkable in less than 10 minutes but the shuttle was so conveniently there and cheap.

The La Magnolia Bed and Breakfast is above a restaurant owned by the same family. We were first shown a very very large room with lots of sun and a big bed, tv, bathroom (the largest room we have been in so far) but she quickly asked if we would take the apartment instead since she had a single guest who did not need the apartment---so now we have the apartment!! Large bedroom, smaller living room and a very large kitchen. Breakfast is served in the restaurant downstairs....But unlike Siena, Orvieto is wonderfully quiet at night, so we slept so well. After three very noisy nights in Siena (the noisiest night time we have experienced, with Venice being 2nd--pedestrian zones are almost noisier than car traffic), we awoke refreshed.

Orvieto is smaller than Lucca, another medieval town on a rock surrounded by a wall. Yesterday we visited the gorgeous Duomo and walked to one of the viewpoints along the wall. Today we hiked along more of the "ropa" (not sure if that means trail, but we assume it does) outside and within the town wall. It was beautiful today--sunny, warm). We also visited the Archaeological Museum and the Underground Etruscan caves....

We are enjoying this town: though the food has not been spectacular, the wine and biscotti are delish.

Tomorrow we go to Rome!

Ciao for now,

Stacey

Towers and Walls

San Gimignano is very nice -- quiet, old, lotsa towers. Once you figure out how to avoid the tourist section on market day, it's really quite relaxing.

We walked the perimeter, visited the highlights, ate well, drank well (the local wine and grappa) and rode the bus back to Siena.

Now we're taking turns updating the blog whilst doing laundry.

Tomorrow we travel to Orvieto. A Reed College student told us about an Etruscan room at the archaeological museum there that sounds very fascinating.

Ciao!

Catherine. Saint Catherine.

Hi. More pics. The first is the medieval skyline of Siena as seem from Basilica di San Domenico, home of St. Catherine's mortal remains and much art devoted to her. In the skyline you can see the civic and religious centers of power.

The second is -- if you look like really really closely -- Daniel Craig in Il Campo with a crowd of cheering extras. It's for the next James Bond movie, which obviously will include some sort of chase scene during Siena's Palio horse race extravaganza. The fake (sans horses so far) one happened today; the real ones are 2.July and sometime in August.

Tomorrow: San Gimignano. Ciao!

more on cq

this is the wide-angle view from the deck. time's running out to post, but more later!

ciao!

Settling down in Siena

It took us 5 hours to get to Siena door to door so we are tired right now. But, Siena looks interesting so far. We will know more tomorrow in the daylight. We did find two great pubs both with balconies overlooking Il Campo, where the Palio (horse races) are held every July and Aug. We had apps in the first bar and pizza and panini in the 2nd bar called Key Largo. Met a student from Reed College in Portland who is studying in Italy. Wonderful view of the campo as we ate our dinner (tho I am in desperate need of fresh veggies...luckily the farmers market is tomorrow).

It is a little rainy here, but not so cold now that the wind has died down.

I have SO much to add to our blog, but that will have to wait till tomorrow. Claudio, our host in Manarola, was a fascinating man. He made us mint tea as we waited for our wonderful apartment to be cleaned. And I forgot to write about the art students in Lucca who spent literally 8 hours sketching San Michele in different lights with their art instructor standing around the entire time smoking cigarettes. And about the several times that Mike and I have spoken in Italian and been understood by Italians (and of course the numerous times we were not understood). I actually have a list of other details to add here and I will tomorrow....

A summary of night noises so far:
Venice--parties in the piazza outside our window till 2am but then quiet till 9am when the Rialto market opened.

Florence--quiet all night long since we were not near a piazza till the pigeons woke us around 7am.

Lucca--quiet all night till the shopkeepers opened their stores around 7am or so.

Manarola--waves crashing, seagulls....wonderful!!

Siena???

Ciao for now!!

Stacey

Last Day in Cinque Terre

Since I don't want to spend too much time in this "net" cafe, I won't be uploading photos today (alas), BUT the web photo on the left is EXACTLY our deck at the Manarola apartment. The same chairs, umbrella, view!

Last night we did laundry in the sink again, and Mike hung the laundry on the lines outside the kitchen door. EVERYONE hangs laundry outside their windows here, and we've seen it all over Italy. The clothes do dry fast that way, too. We splurged for dinner last night, sharing all three courses: grilled swordfish, grilled calamari and pasta with mussels.

Mike is hiking the Cinque Terre trail today (should take him 3 hours or so) while I plan to sit on the beach and read, then shop, and meet him at the end of the trail in the town of Riomaggiore where this is a bar called Bar e Vini Pie de Ma (bar and wine at the foot of the ocean??).

Cinque Terre has been a wonderfully restful stop on our trip. All that we can do here is walk, sit in the sun, eat and drink. There are many fewer tour groups here (in Florence they were everywhere): the tour groups are quite large and very annoying since they basically hog the very narrow streets.

There are 5 towns in Cinque Terre each with their own "feel" and all about 4 minutes apart by an hourly train (or a boat). NO cars are allowed in the towns (with some exceptions in Town #5):

Town #1: Riomaggiore: I'll be meeting Mike there in a few hours, so more on that later.

Town #2: Manarola: where we are staying. It's one of the smaller towns, less touristy, and, if I had to compare it to an Oregon coast town, think Yachats (but with no beach--there are two rock-decks folks sun on and jump into the ocean from). We are renting the top floor of a house. Our downstairs neighbors for the last few days have been Tom and Kirsten from Portland, ironically. I'll post their photos another day. We had breakfast together and today they are off to Lucca. Mike and I would love to hear all about the rest of your trip! Post a comment!

Town #3: Corniglia: I haven't been to this town. It's the only one without a harbor so the boat doesn't stop here. Mike said he'll check it out as a break point during his hike.

Town #4: Vernazza. We visited here yesterday, taking the boat from town #5 to here (a 5 minute, stunning boat ride). This town has almost a fairytale like harbor it's so beautiful. It's a smallish town (tho larger than Manarola), and like Manarola, there is only one main street with shops and restaurants. The gelato is excellent here and we sat for an hour in the harbor people watching while we enjoyed it (I had limone in una cupa piccola, and Mike had vanilla and chocolate in a cone). Think of this town (for the Oregonians reading this) as "Newport"-like, but with a VERY tiny beach.

Town #5: Monterossa. This is the "Seaside" of the Cinque Terre with a long beach, parts of it private, parts public. We waded in the ocean yesterday in this town and had a delicious lunch at a restaurant on the ocean (I had the ravioli stuffed with walnut sauce; Mike had gnocci stuffed with spinach). I'm here now since this, the biggest town, has two Internet cafes and I hope to go wade in the water once more!

Tomorrow we leave for Siena---more in a day or two.

Stacey

Elevation

Mike here. We're hanging in Cinque Terre now ... staying in a lofty little apartment with multiple decks overlooking the Ligure Mare. (I call it part of our Mediterranian (sp?) Adventure, but Stacey says it's really the Ligurian Sea. Can a journalist get away with leaning on poetic license?)

A tip for future travelers: Don't patronize companies that have tour groups larger than eight. Other tourists will make fun of you and you'll block the views. It's like these giant herds of orange-hatted fleas. :)

The trains run on time! Well, mostly. The Oregon couple staying in the apartamento below us got in late 'cause of a brief strike. We got on the wrong train and experienced the milk run, but it was scenic.

Land-use geeks: The notion of "high-value farmland" that is incorporated into Oregon law is frequently defied. The vineyards in Cinque Terre are on near-vertical slopes; the wine tastes very good, thank you, as do the lemons, etc.

More photos soon. Ciao!

Cinque Terre

Salve a tutti!

And happy mother's day mom! (and all of you moms reading this).

Today is Sunday and our first chance to check in online in Monterosso, one of the towns in the Cinque Terre (the "lesser" Italian Riviera according to some guidebooks, but clearly still stunning). We arrived in Manarola (the smaller town we are staying in) Saturday afternoon where we met up with Claudio, who showed us to the apartment we are renting. WAIT to you all see the photos from this apartment: We are on the top floor of a house that is already high up on the cliff. We have THREE decks overlooking the Ligurean Sea. It's unreal. We didn't realize we'd find an Internet cafe so we don't have the connection to upload photos here: perhaps from Siena later this week. We sat on one of the decks last night and watched the sun set.

I should also note that the young couple in the apartment below us is from Portland, Oregon;=)

Manarola is small, quiet but stunning. Many of the tourists are Germans and Brits with hiking poles (there are many hiking trails nearby). We took the train to Monterosso today which is much bigger and bustling with tourists since there are several sandy/rocky beaches. We plan to stick our feet in the sea soon. It must be near 80 degrees today and sunny. There are so many non-Italian tourists here that the sales people are pleasantly pleased when Mike and I try to speak Italian, and especially when we say "prego" after they say "grazie"!

White wine and grappa and limoncino (which we haven't tried yet) are the popular drinks of the area. There is also a raisin dessert wine we haven't tried yet. Instead of pizza, foccaccia and a chickpea bread seem to be everywhere. With luck we'll remember to take pics of the food. I did take a picture of a beautiful german shepherd sitting regally on a bench in front of a fancy wine shop--John and Cora will love that picture since it looks like Rosie!

Two young British girls are booking tickets to Dublin then Glasgow on the computer next to me. Two days in each city---that's a little too rushed for me. As it is, the 2 nights in Lucca were not enough.

Mike is on the other computer posting something, too!

Ciao for now,

Stacey

Lovely Lucca!

Salve a tutti! It is Friday and we are enjoying a sunny, relaxing morning in Lucca. We love it here: it is warm, sunny, and not very crowded. Near our Hotel Puccini is Piazza San Michele and there is a man there each day who looks JUST like the "homeless" man on Brooks St. in Bend but instead of a dog and a cat, this man has a dog and a rabbit! We took pics of the rabbit cleaning the dog's ears (I know Andria will appreciate that picture).

Oh, and I forgot to mention for Eleanor that I have pics of Dante's House in Florence (Casa di Dante) for her!

I also need to take more pics of the food we've been eating. Today we will buy food for a picnic--we are renting bikes for a leisurely bike ride along the town walls. We will probably buy bread, cheese, tomatoes, and fruit and one of those cute little bottles of Prosecca.

Ciao for a few days. Tomorrow we leave in the morning for Manarola in Cinque Terre. It is a small enough town that I don't expect to have Internet access (unless the larger town of Vernazza has a cafe). Our next bigger town is Siena--we will be there Tuesday night.

(Mike here ... switching to Stacey's computer to save our Internet cafe minuti): The sunshine has been gorgeous. Lucca is the warmest stop yet, and there are all kinds of nooks and crannies to explore. The wall around the city will be our first Italian bicycling attempt -- definitely much safer than the streets of Firenze, where bicyclists, scooterists and motorists share enough space for two of the three. Towers are way cool, but my knees say it's time to stop climbing for a day. :) Brunelleschi's Dome, San Giorgio Maggiorie and Torre Guinigi so far. Pix t.k.

Ciao,

Stacey and Mike

Arrivederci, Firenze!

We are checking out shortly and headed to the smaller city of Lucca, west of Florence. It's about a 90 minute train ride. Repacking our backpacks reminded us NOT to buy "stuff" yet (but no, I do not regret buying my new shoulder bag!): luckily, the train station is only a 10 minute walk from the hotel.

It is getting warmer here: 75 is going to be the high here in Florence and 74 in Lucca. It's perfect weather....

One of the Florence newspapers, Il Firenze, had a article on Clinton and Obama that I could mostly understand. They refer to Obama as the "senator of color" who was victorious in the latest primaries against the "bitter" Clinton! (the headline is "Pari amaro per Clinton"---the hotel clerk says that means "bitter" though I am thinking it is more like "sour grapes"?? If Carmelo or Mike are reading this let me know...I am curious!).

We attempted to read the rest of the paper over our last breakfast in Florence: yogurt and cafe latte for me, cappuccino and "una paste" for Mike. We have become comfortable in "our" neighborhood so it is sad to leave, but I am looking forward to the next few smaller towns...

Ciao for now. Our next posting may not be for a day or so.

Stacey

Just the Two of Us (and everyone else in Venice)

Here we are! Very cool trip so far. The walking is a little wearing sometimes (it's good when we remember it's okay to stop and rest), but incredibly rewarding.



Sunset from Ponte di Trinite was gorgeous. That said, Michelangelo's David was stunning in one of those awe-inspiring ways humans don't often experience. (Stacey says "ditto".)

Lunch at Cafe Zà Zà also was good, thought not so nourishing as the Accademia. Still, the pesto was immaculate (and very close to San Lorenzo, so doubly blessed). It's 7:30 p.m. now, and Stacey's hungry. :) Ciao!

Always with the reading, mia cara

You will note that this is la professoressa prima in her natural habitat. Note the essential nutrition (she is reading a book) and the historic setting (bridge of sighs is just to the right of the Doge's Palace).

Florence

We are getting spoiled with the computer at the hotel, though I usually have to wait for the other two American couples to finish using it (one couple from Seattle, the other from Texas...former English teachers). I suspect we may have a little more trouble with Internet access in Lucca and Manorola, the small towns we are going to next (we leave for Lucca on Thursday late morning).

Today was another beautiful day: high in the low 70s, lows in the low 60s. We had breakfast at the Mercado Centrale, then went to the Science Museum next to the Uffizi: Mike was in his glory explaining the physics behind the telescopes of Newton (I STILL cannot find the apostrophe key!!). Then we hiked up to Piazale Michelangelo--THAT was gorgeous. We have tons of pics from that view, and the Japanese Garden there was beautiful. We may return to picnic there tomorrow (we can't --FOUND THE APOSTROPHE!--picnic in the Boboli Gardens it seems).

Then we toured the Uffizi: loved Venus on the Half Shell (funny name we heard for Botticelli's work). Very crowded with tour groups, alas, so not exactly a leisurely experience.

Dinner tonight was panini in a local bar playing 1980s American music (that the night bartender switched to jazz).

I won't promise you all pictures yet....it seems it's more challenging than we thought. By the time we get back to the hotel we are usually ready to crash and read the New Yorkers I bought over.

One of the local bookstores had a section of books in English including one shelf they titled " The Next President"--the shelf included books by Obama and Clinton (not McCain) but the sign was directly under Clinton's book. However the few Italians who brought the topic up with us seemed to be pro-Obama.

Ciao for now,

Stacey

Getting around to posting ...

Hi! It has been an amazing first week so far. La professessa prima (that would be Dr. Donohue, to those who haven not yet heard she earned the Faculty Achievement Award) has provided the subject of wonderful photos, to be posted soonish.

Mia cara & I had a wonderful day in Firenze, including groovy finds at Mercato Centrale and excellent dinner near Ponte Vecchio.

A student dude named Pete was playing guitar on the ledge at Ponte Trinite ... I introduced myself and we talked for awhile (maybe a long while, as Stacey got to wondering where the heck I was ... ooops). He had excellent travel advice. :)

More ... much more ... later.

Firenze! (and more on Venezia)

I need to add more about the memorable events in Venice that I left out of my previous post:

• the weather was stunning...in the high 60s-low 70s and sunny: we are both quite tanned
• the traghetto ride across the Grand Canal was much more romantic than the bus-like vaporettos
• the churches! We saw such wonderful art at San Sebastian and San Giorgio.
• Campo San Polo: a family neighborhood surrounding a large plaza where children played, people sat and talked, and trattorias served wine and panini or pasta
• walking along the Guidecca Canal through various neighborhoods (Santa Croce, Dosorduro and Castello)
• while Mike was climbing (actually, there was an elevator) the tower on San Giorgio, I took pictures for a variety of tourists, and got to practice my French and Italian (we have seen only 2 Americans, one on the plane from Amsterdam)

Today we are having a "rest" day in Florence: it is rainy and cloudy, but still mild, in the 60s. We had breakfast at a local "bar" (ordering in Italian), bought stamps at the Tabachi on the corner where the owner corrected, politely and enthusiastically, my pronounciation of "francobolli", and, most importantly, we shopped at the Mercado Centrale where Mike bought a hat and I bought a light brown leather purse that many of you will greatly admire. We also went shopping at the regular market for toothpaste, the farmacia for contact solution, and finally, now this is exciting, we did laundry (hey, do not knock clean clothes!). A woman came into the laundromat and starting talking to me in Italian--I guessed, correctly I think, that she wanted to know how well the dryer worked. I must have given her a good answer since she thanked me.

We just love how people are so happy to hear us attempt Italian and how they also are not shy in correcting us: Mike got a lesson from the hotel clerk last night. I gave him my passport, and Mike said to the clerk "anche mio?" instead of "il mio anche?" (mine also?).

This afternoon we are in search of Deutsche Bank, since it seems that our banks are quite picky about which ATM we are allowed to use. Life goes later here for us, so we will probably walk all over till 10pm or so (it is nearly 3pm now). I love all of the walking we are doing and it reminds me how much I used to walk in Brooklyn and New York, and that I miss it.

Ciao for now!

Stacey

We are HERE!

Hi all. First, forgive any typos...I am not used to the keyboards here. And second, thank you all for emailing me and asking me when we are posting! This will be a quicky post for now...we will see if we can upload pictures when we are fresher tomorrow.

We are now in Firenze...after the 3 hour train ride from Venezia we arrived at Hotel Enza (there is air conditioning here...a nice treat) around 4:30, went for a long walk to the Ponte Vecchio and back. Ate panini and wine and gelato (in separate stops) and already love the plaza north of the Uffizzi ...I forget the name already, but it has all of the very impressive statues (and a policeman who kicks out people who attempt to picnic near them).

Venice was WONDERFUL. I loved the car free city and the islands nearby. We visited all of the usual places and got lost in other places that were less crowded and even more charming because of it. Burano was simply a dream island....the colorful houses, the artists working on jewelry and lace, the sunshine and lagoon breezes. The Peggy Guggenheim has a room full of Pollacks and a Chagall in the hallway (among other things). We saw the high tide flooding of San Marco and the dueling orchestras (much more impressive and romantic at night than during the day when it feels so false).

A list of Venetian highlights:

• the first ride on the Grand Canal
• Buying food at a supermarket deli and being understood in Italian (1 etto fromaggio e pane e vino rosso)
• Burano and San Giorgio ...Mike went up to the top, while I finished a Donna Leon mystery sitting by the lagoon (her mysteries are set in Venice)
• walking and eating in Santa Croce and Canareggio (spelling?)
• the Guggenheim
• getting used to being on vacation and feeling relaxed
• gelato (so far, better in Venice than in Florence, but we have not really given the gelato here a chance yet)
• seeing very few Americans (tho the euro is coming down each day)
• church bells
• that 3am phone call from Kathy with the very very excellente news!!

The only "downer" so far is that BOTH of our banks seemed to have neglected to note that we are in Italy, despite two phone calls before we left, so we were short on cash on our last day in Venice (luckily, Pensione Guerrato agreed to take our credit card for partial payment (not that they had a lot of choice). And, it seems that my friend Jeanne was right---daily withdrawal limits count Friday--Sat--Sun as ONE day at least for Washington Mutual....

More details to come tomorrow.

Stacey