Tuscany!

     

     Tuscany could only be made more fabulous by the addition of our dear friends!  Days spent exploring ancient towns (on purpose) and scenic undulating back roads (on accident) led into nights of plate after plate of raviolis and tagliatelle and many bottles of Brunello, Nero, Nobile and Vernaccia. Most mornings would begin with us, coffee in hand, peering out over the misty Tuscan hills. Nights would end by the outdoor fire pit, watching stars and listening to the boars rooting in the olive orchards.  Oh Tuscany!

View on the way to Volterra.

We spent some time with an amazing alabaster artist and on the way out, we
asked him to suggest a place for lunch.  He said "follow me" and we did...
The menu changes each day and there were exactly four items on the menu
the day we visited so of course we tried them all!

The square in Siena.

Everybody hanging out on the square in Sienna after drinking some mighty
fine cocktails in a little bar with a balcony overlooking the city.

                                                     

 The Piccolomini Library of Siena's Cathedral. 

A sculpture in one of the chapels of Siena's Cathedral.

Outside Siena's Cathedral.

An awesome deli in Siena that slices cured meats on one side and makes
freakishly delicious pizzas on the other.  It's amazing how quickly eating raw
meat from a giant pigs leg (hoof still attached) becomes normal...

  

Vallombrosa,an ancient abbey still inhabited by monks sits just above our agriturismo.
I brought 20 Euros of chocolate from the monks and promptly left it at the rest area on the  highway.
I'm sure right now, as I type, some truck driver is eating my chocolate...

Dan and Illiana hanging out in a cave near Vallombrosa.

On the path leading around Vallombrosa.

Agriturismo Petrognano

View from the agriturismo.

Awwww...the good life!

Dani living out his agrarian fantasies...Miss Ann
looking beautiful and humoring Dani.

Lynette and Dave smooching in Volterra.

On the backstreets of Florence, this adorable pup awaits his turn for a portrait...

Apparently photo shoots really take a toll on him

A side street in Siena.

Our beautiful daughter hanging out on one of the many bridges crossing the Arno in Florence.

Orvieto, Truffles and Boars!

Illiana standing on the city walls of Orvieto, Italy.

     On the way to Agriturismo Petrognano, where we stayed a week with several of our friends, we stopped at one of our favorite hill towns in between Rome and Florence, Orvieto!  Even though we are actually in the Dolomites at the moment (THE most beautiful place on earth), this is the first time I have had consistent wifi (or as they say in Italy "wee-fee") so I'll try and get caught up on all of our adventures!

Freakishly good food.   They specialize in wild
boar and truffles.  Dan specializes in eating
wild boar and truffles...perfect match!

Dan started the meal with a plate of cured meats.
Notice how happy he looks...

Black truffles...looks like poop but taste like heaven...

Pici pasta covered in freshly shaved truffles.

This was all that was left of the boar after we rolled out of town...

Just when you least expect it, you turn a corner and
find something magical.

Orvieto's Duomo

This is the side view of the Duomo.  The church is made
out of black (or dark green) and white marble mined near
the town.

That's me hanging close out the window of my new house...just kidding. :(

The ancient city walls surrounded by olives trees and vineyards.

Roman Holiday

     It is 11:30 AM and we are patiently waiting for our teenager to get out of the shower.  When she realizes the time, she'll yell at us because we didn't wake her up in time for cappuccinos (though trying to wake her up involves verbal and sometimes physical abuse on her part).  The ritual of the cappuccino has become very important to her, however in Italy it comes with a whole host of rules, the most important being you must drink it before 11 AM.  Order it after that magic hour and the bar tender will look at you as if you just said, "I actually prefer Stouffer's lasagna over that drivel I had at Roma Spirita last night..."

We are encountering glitches with everything connected to wifi so I'm going to cut this short and get right to a photo tour of Rome...

Waiting to go through security for the highly secretive Scavi
tour under Saint Peter's at the Vatican.  Three levels
of Pagan mausoleums and Christian catacombs equal 
unparalleled fun!  Well, for me at least...

Dan and Illiana heading to the Vatican!

Dogs have free run of the eternal city and
are allowed anyplace most humans are
and are usually more well behaved.

         

The only way to park in Rome...

Roman water is ice cold and taste fantastic!  Ancients
fountains are sprinkled throughout the city and everyone
uses them.  Illiana demonstrates one of the many
acceptable drinking techniques.

Our favorite place to have breakfast...a little
cafe just outside our apartment.  The
owner is a huge fan of 80's music.  There's nothing
like singing "karma, karma. karma, karma, karma
chameleon" as you tour the colosseum!

Getting ready to don the body bonnets as we wait for another
storm to roll across Rome's most famous outdoor market, Campo
de' Fiori.

Poncho Envy

     Our first full day together was a wonderful meander around our neighborhood, the Campo de Fiori and the Colosseum.

The weather is completely bi-polar...in the morning it was mid 80's and after it rained it dropped into the low 60's!  So we did what only a tourist would do...donned the poncho or what I call the "body bonnet"! No one likes looking like a tourist but hey, it's that or sit in the room all day!  By the way, the back of our ever so stylish ponchos say "Rome" with a picture of the colosseum.  We all felt super stylish.

Dan refused to let us photograph him in his.  Let me know if you want me to bring you one back! When we bought them, the guy tried to cheat us but Dan yelled at him in a big man voice which made me and Illiana laugh but was also quite impressive!  It did the trick and the guy gave us the proper change and ran!

   

View from our apartment between two of the storms

Dan and Illiana's arrival in Rome

The only times I am ever envious of short people are on airplanes. I am convinced that there is no such thing as a pleasant flight across the pond, however TAP Portugal did a much better job with Illiana and I than they did with Rhonda. We left the house Wednesday night and visited with my wonderful brother Dave and his family. The following morning Dave took 4 hours out of his busy schedule to drive us to Miami for our flight (thanks again bro).

Two flights and 13 hours later we end up in Rome. Next we take a crazy cab ride through the tight ancient labyrinth of streets in my favorite part of Rome, Trastevere, where we are dropped off at the door of the apartment building we are staying at.

What to do now?  We contemplated taking a nap, but we are in Rome again, how could we possibly just lie down?  Instead we have a cup of tea and set out on a "little" walk. Two blocks from the apartment we find an art supply store. I wish the stores in the states were half this complete.








More wondering around and we recognize the area.  Three right turns and two lefts later we are standing in front of the Pantheon.
This isn't the first time I have seen this marvelous building (and I sure hope it's not the last).  Like so many things in Rome, this building has an aura that always stops you in your tracks.
  



We wondered around a few more hours where we came across the Spanish steps, Column of Marcus Aurelius (another stunning masterpiece) which sits in the middle of the Piazza Colonna.
Illiana was surprised and excited when we stumbled upon her favorite clothing store which they don't have in Florida. Going to the one in Barcelona was her top priority of things to do in Spain since she didn't know there was one in Rome. Something tells me we are still going to the one in Barcelona.

After dinner and GELATO, another wonder of Italy, we headed back to the apartment. Our "little" walk turned into a 6 hour journey, but not only was it the perfect start of our trip (aside from missing Rhonda and Nate) it also wore us out enough for a good night sleep. Hopefully we will be on Roman time in the morning.

Dante's First Ring of Hell is in Rome

     

Gelato in San Gimignano

     There I was. My first night in Italy. Crying in the middle of Rome’s train station. Exhausted. Hungry. My luggage scattered about me… no way to get to Florence and no place to stay in Rome.  I left Orlando at 9:30 AM on Friday and arrived in Rome, Saturday night at 10:30.  I was supposed to be in Florence by noon.  Sweet little nuns were sending me frantic emails saying, “Where are you Signora?  We are missing you! We are worried!  In Firenze your soft bed awaits and we have a continental breakfast for you in the morning!”  To top it off, my email wouldn’t work so I couldn’t tell the nuns that I was just stranded and that I had not been abducted by the shady man asking, “Bella!  Bella!  Why you cry?  Maybe shawl with naked statue of David make you feel better?” I’m in Italy a week before Dan and Illiana to take a class on Dante’s Inferno…I’m sure there is a special ring in hell for someone that skips out on a reservation in a monastery.  One more thing to make me give TAP Portugal (the airline that caused the cascade of bad events) the finger, or whatever vile hand gesture they use in Italy to tell someone how much you are annoyed by them.  I eventually realize that no one is going to magically whisk me off to Florence so I put my big girl panties on and stumble down the street to find a place to sleep.  I get the last room in a sweet but expensive hotel in the heart of Rome’s tourist hell and sleep…and sleep…and sleep.

            I finally make it to Florence the next day and everything falls into place.  It is HOT but the gelato is cool and I’m in ITALY! 

The only thing that could make this better is if Dan and Illiana were already here!  I’m stuck with only my iphone but below is a little photo journey of the adventures I’ve had so far…Ciao!

         

Florence

   

Duomo in Florence

 

6 Euros gets you a drink and buffet. I had three Negronis.
I don't remember the buffet.

My first real Negroni

My brother Greg would fit in perfectly here!

My classmates at Il Latini

Il Latini! Family Style at it's best!

 

Two lemon cellos! My lucky day!   

View from the very top of the duomo in Florence.

View from the top of a tower in San Gimignano. Yes I'm tired.