Ciao Italia!

It's so great to need reading glasses ... all the time!

The super clear water of the Med

Our morning breakfast spread here at our hotel

No we're not on stilts. The adorable man in the middle was our driver to our favorite restaurant in Sorrento.

Hard to believe, but our Italian adventure is coming to an end. We've had an amazing time in this wonderful country. The people of Italy are so nice. Friendly, warm and welcoming. Very proud of their country. 

We leave Sorrento early tomorrow morning to drive to Rome, then fly to London for the night.  Our goal is to catch a show in the West End tomorrow night then ... Thursday morning we fly home. 

Once we're home we'll do a few updates to to blog on food we places to see, and places to avoid.

Until then ... Ciao from Corst and Ro

Sorrento

Sunday afternoon, after a "short" 1 1/2 hour drive from the Pompeii area we made it to Sorrento. Traffic getting here was something else. Since this is the low season we keep saying, we can't imagine what it's like here in July!

After all the "city" travel it feels like we're on a vacation from our vacation. Sorrento is a lovely town, on the Italian coast with a sweet feel. We're in a great hotel with a truly amazing view, you'll see the pics. 

Yesterday we spent the day walking around the area, and had dinner at a real "authentic" Sorrento restaurant. Great food, great service, full of Italians, not tourists.

Today, we hung around the hotel to enjoy the swanky vibe. Tomorrow we plan to squeeze in our last official Italian shopping  day.

We leave for London early, early Wednesday morning, then head home Thursday.

It may sound cliche, especially for the two of us, but this really was the trip of a lifetime. Enjoy the pics. 

Pics from the day in Pompeii

Vesuvius-apalooza

Today was a day all about that crazy volcano Vesuvius and the town it covered, Pompeii.

This morning after about an hour-long winding drive from our hotel we arrived at the parking lot of Mount Vesuvius. Of course this was after passing four Italian trinket stands selling all sorts of Vesuvius stuff. Yes, you can buy an urn, little versions of the mountain (elevation 4,000 feet) six little gemstones in a box, and the obligatory Vesuvius wine. No, there are not vineyards in the crater.

We paid to park, paid to enter the park and began our climb. 30 minutes straight up hill. After huffing and puffing our way up, we reached the top. What an amazing view. Who knew Naples was so huge? The city sprawls for miles at your feet. Then there is the view of the Med. Stunning.

While we were up there Miss V coughed up a couple puffs of smoke for us. No hot lava, but enough for a great photo op. After an hour up there shooting pictures, and chatting with a couple of high school seniors from Boston we started our decent. It's always so much faster going down!

Now ... off to Pompeii. Pompeii was a town of 20,000 that lived just like a normal city would. There were street vendors, theaters, folding walls, kitchens, baths and even a sewer system that worked so perfectly that we copy it today. The cobble stoned streets (to us) were actually the water system in place in town. At most intersections you would find two to three large stones that people used to walk from one street side walk to another. The lower street (sewer system) was flushed daily so that people did not live in filth or disease. Sewer streets that were wide enough to accommodate horse drawn carts had the path of the cart worn into the stone (pictures included) the streets they didn't want carts to go down simply had had three tall marble slabs before they began making it impossible for a cart to pass. Carts were a standard size so that they could roll down the path and pass over the elevated walking stones.

Baths had heated floors as well as grooved walls and ceilings to capture moisture and run it down the proper channels. The richest man in town had a wonderful home with a large courtyard in the middle of his property. He had several mosaics in the property and lived a very nice existence in the Pompeii of 600 B.C. Check out the pictures of the items I mentioned. It's quite a place to visit.

Internet in Assisi

Assisi

View from our hotel in Assisi

The Church of St Francis

The Clouds of Tuscany

Siena under construction

A couple of "spritz" for lunch

The view from our room in San Gimingano - not too bad

Sheep! And the shepherd! Look close.

Yes in the land of the monk of the animals we have the Internet. Not at our hotel, but at a small bar full of Italian tweens gaming and looking at You Tube. In any case, you can see what we have been up to the past couple of days.

Renting the car at the Florence airport, we headed south toward San Gimignano, a hilltop town in the middle of Tuscany. Adorable. We stayed in a huge room at the top of a converted bell tower. We had stunning views of the Tuscan hillside as you can see from the photos above.

Wednesday we spent the day in Siena. A lovely student filled town. Chic, but not as trendy as Florence.

Thursday morning we left for Assisi. The land of the animal-loving monk. St Francis' tomb is impressive under the nave of the church. Yes, a couple more churches. Sweet Corstiaan agreed to drive me a couple hours out of our way to see this amazing town. We were just too close by not to see it.

Tonight we are safely ensconced in Hotel Ideale www.gotelideale.it if you are interested in our view and tomorrow we depart for our five hour drive to the Amalfi Coast. I'll be making sandwiches for the trip, but you can be sure the drive will be well documented.

Until then ...

Corstiaan and Rosemary

In the Tuscan Hills

Sorry for no pics, but we do not have Internet access at our hotel.

We left Florence yesterday, and are now in the true Tuscan hillside. When we are able to post pictures, and you see our view, you will be amazed.

Today we are in the lovely hilltop village of Siena. Old and beautiful. Look for more info from us soon, as we are paying by the minute.

Ciao

Ro and Corst

The Fiat 500 Club Photos

The Fiat 500 Club

Today we joined an elite group of visitors to Florence. The Fiat 500 club! An adorable British gal named Sophie and her husband Alex started a little touring company here in town. What makes they're company so unique is the cars that you use to take the tour, the Fiat 500! This car is an automotive icon in Europe and was produced to meet a city dwellers needs. It is truly the first "City Car". Mini and Smart are second and third when it comes to fun little cars. The fiat came with a 497 cc engine that made a whopping 14 horsepower. The second variant had a much more powerful 19 horsepower. That is less then almost every scooter on the road. Anyhow as you can see from the pictures they are restored and look and drive great. They all have been given names by people who helped Sophie and Alex start they're company and today we had the privilege of using Giancomo. Our group was 8 including Sophie and we were partaking in the wine tour. They offer a picnic tour, a quick one hour city tour and just about any other fun tour that you can think of. I can't tell you in words how much fun this was. If you are ever in Florence or know someone that is going to Florence they must do this tour.

Our procession of cars drove four in a row through the city and out into the surrounding hills. We were led by Sophie to a winery where we had a red and white tasting as well as some small gastronomic fare. Salami, prosciutto, olive tapaned, two different cheeses and a bruchetta. A lovely way to spend the early morning and afternoon. We stopped at the Palazzo Michelangelo which has commanding views of the city and then drove back through town to the 500 garage.

All in all it was one of the highlights for me. It reminded me of why I like to get into a car and drive so much. Tomorrow we go get our rental car and start heading out into the hill towns of Tuscany. It should be fantastic.

www.500touringclub.com

Update - The Food

Yesterday Marjorie asked me what was my favorite meal so far. I panicked because I couldn't remember all our meals. This morning while lying in bed I did a mental recap of the food. I'm going to do it on a day by day basis, hope it's not too boring.

Wednesday our first day in Rome.
La Taverna de la Fountain

A family run tiny restaurant with the father in his toque standing at the entrance to the kitchen and his two tattooed children waiting on the tables. When I couldn't decide between the veal and the rabbit, the son said "I bring you a little of both" I'm already loving Italy and I haven't even been here for 12 hours.

It was delicious. The veal was actually a veal meatloaf that immediately had a familiar taste. Was it something from my childhood? I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I loved every bite. The rabbit was rolled with sage and prosciutto and had an amazingly simple but light sauce. You may be thinking rabbit? But it was subtle and yes, kinda tasted like chicken.

Thursday
Est Est Est

Corstiaan found this place in a guide book. Supposedly the oldest pizza restaurant in Rome. Hey it was Thursday, and we always have pizza with our neighbors Tom and Linda so we figured why not? This place however required reservations! When we arrived for dinner at 8:30 the place was packed and there was a huge wait out the door. Glad we made the reservation.

We started with a Frito Misto which is a mixture of fried ... everything. Zucchini, cheese, fish, rice balls. You name it, and they battered and fried it. After a full day of walking around the Collesium and the Forum we figured a little fried food wouldn't hurt. Yum

For our pizza we shared a quattro pizza. No, not one with four cheese, but one pizza divided into four sections with four toppings. The best of all worlds.

Anchovy. Mushroom. Tomato. Salami. All on a fluffy crust. Not too fluffy, just right. The tomato tasted like it was just picked from the restaurants back yard. Sweet and delicious, that was my favorite. Corst loved the Salami.

Friday
Mario's

After a full day at the Borghese Gardens and Gallery we decided to try the small trattoria next to our hotel, we felt we had walked enough that day. It didn't come recommended by the owners, and after this meal, we knew why. It was just sad.

The owner and his daughter never smiled. They just brought the food and set it in front of you. I ordered the gnocchi with red sauce. Eh, it was edible, but it tasted like the vacuum sealed stuff you can buy at World Market, certainly not what I expected in Rome.

Lesson learned, stick with the recommendations.

Saturday
Fabrizo's

Saturday was Vatican day. Though the restaurant was not within walking distance, but well worth the cab ride.

Wow, did they take care of us. Fabrizo and his wife just kept bringing out the food. The fried (but not battered) whole artichoke was unforgettable. Imagine artichoke flavored potato chips. It was beautiful and delicious. The specials were meatballs in a gravy with peas and a veal stew with tomatoes and parsnips. We ate every bite of both.

They were the nicest people and were thrilled when we asked if we could have our picture taken with them. As you can see, they are not the tallest Italians around.

Sunday
Back to La Taverna de la Fountain

Yes, I know. With all the restaurants in Rome why didn't we try another restaurant? Because this place was just that good. The pasta in a light cream sauce with broccoli was a great way to end our trip to Rome. With all the celebrity pictures on the wall, Robert Di Nero, Ron Howard, and even a Franco Harris signed Pittsburgh Steelers poster we knew we were in good company.

There was a gelatto shop around the corner we ended our night with a sweet and frozen nightcap.

Monday Venice
Though Venice is a beautiful city the food scene lacks a bit. Since everything has to be brought in from somewhere else, it's just not that great.

We stopped at a modern, swanky (by Venetian standards) place for just a nibble for dinner. Everything was fish. It either was a fish, or had fish in it, or on it. Now we love fish, but at 10:00 at night it just doesn't sound that appetizing. I ordered a couple of hard-boiled eggs with anchovies on top, a couple of mussels that had some kind of vegetable topping, and Corst found him some rice balls, but there was a small piece of fish hidden inside.

Tuesday
Lunch at Harry's Bar. Just had to do it. The sticker shock was astounding, but the bellini was amazing. Peachy and bubbly, but at 17 euros a pop, just one each. I had a chef salad (with anchovies mixed in of course) and Corstiaan had a 19 euro grilled cheese sandwich. Was it worth it? Maybe. Was the food good? Not really. But in my foodie list of must-do's I can cross this one off my list.

We continued to fight the cold and rain, but found a cute little restaurant to have dinner. Nope, can't remember the name, but it was good. Not great, but good. Any they didn't play that hide the fish game. A simple penne and a salad was fine. Nothing mind blowing, but it was cold out and the restaurant was close by.

Wednesday
You may have noticed that there aren't any restaurant names listed other than Harry's. Sorry, but they were that forgettable. Wedneday's dinner was once again spent avoiding the rain. We found a cheery place that was bathed in yellow. Looked interesting enough and was close by. I ordered the mixed grill and Corst had the spaghetti. My mixed grill consisted of chicken, veal and beef. I think those Jenny Craig meals have more appeal. Corsie's spaghetti was super super rich, but okay.

Thursday
Lunch was an overpriced pizza at a restaurant overlooking the Rialto Bridge. Again cold, and rain. The Bellini wasn't as good as Harry's but it was more than half the price.

Thursday night was a quick nibble at a corner bar. The salami sandwich looked safe enough, so I ordered it. Corst ordered something that he thought was going to be fried cheese. Turns out it was breaded bread, with an anchovy inside. He couldn't wait to get out of Venice.

Friday
For lunch I took four rolls from the hotel's breakfast buffet and made us salami and brie sandwiches for the train. After all the crummy Venetian food, this was a welcome treat. Like a little bit of France on the train to Florence.

Trattoria Nerone Pizzeria
Yes, the name of a restaurant again. Found in a guide book this was a wonderful welcome to Florence. The gnocchi with mozzarella and red sauce was amazing. While still not home made, it was head and shoulders above Mario's in Rome. The side vegetables of spinach and zucchini were delish.

Saturday
After another copula climb to the top of Duomo we hunted for a place to stop for lunch. Couldn't find the place we were looking for, but stumbled upon a small bar that seemed to be filled with locals. My farfalle with spinach was amazing. Corst had a yummy risotto with broccoli. Finally ... vegetables again!

We skipped going out to dinner and instead had cheese, wine and salami while watching the final episode of Top Chef on You Tube.

To answer Marjorie's question of what was my favorite meal ... I'm still not sure. But I do know one thing, the food in Florence is much, much better than anything Venice has to offer.