Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Good morning from Venezia!!!!
Hi everyone! We arrived in Venice Monday morning, and took a water taxi from the train station right to the hotel. We are staying at the Ruzzini Palace located on a beautiful piazza. The hotel is gorgeous, only 29 rooms and fortunately we were upgraded to a lovely junior suite with huge 20 foot casement windows that open to the piazza. This morning I woke to the smell of fresh bread and pastries baking from the restaurants right across the square, as well as to the sound of glorious deep church bells ringing the square awake. The sun is beaming and the weather here has been gorgeous, around 60 or so, sunny and incredibly bright and cheerful.
Yesterday we walked all around Venice and spent some time in St. Mark's square, and we visited St. Mark's Basilica. The church was built in 1053 and frankly everything here is about 1000 years old. The canals are incredible and it is really easy to get lost here because there are so many twists and turns. There are no cars, just water taxis, water busses, private boats and gondolas (I may have missed another kind of transport). There are tiny bridges that connect you to other places on the island but you need to pay attention to the street you are on, otherwise you end up down an alleyway to a small plaza with no outlet except the canal.
The food here is wonderful, and Tim and I have had our fill of wine, pasta, bread and salad both mixed and capreze that I think I am now half italian!
Today we are taking a tour of the Hidden Gems of Venice with a tour guide from where else? England of course. Ha! Angelina Jolie and my love Johnny Depp are filming a movie here, a remake called The Tourist and I am hopeful that we can find out where they are filming and watch by the sidelines. In the other two cities I was worried about looking like a tourist, but in venice pretty much everyone is a tourist!!! The city is busy but not too much so so it's nice to wonder around, stop at little side street cafes and order espresso and/or gelato and watch the world go by.
Last night after a lengthy walk by the sea, the vendors and a host of gondoliers, we ate a romantic dinner by the grand canal at a cute little restaurant called Al Buso. The owner was wonderful and kept bringing us things including some after dinner drinnks I couldn't recognize but were delicious! A couple next to us had a great big yellow lab at their feet and they were sitting behind me but the dog came next to me and put his head on my feet while I stroked his head and belly. Tim was jealous!! The dog was adorable and every time I see a dog I realize how much I miss cricket. After dinner we took a beautiful moonlit gondola ride with a gondolier who has been doing this gig for 44 years, and whose family has been doing gondoliering for 500 years. 500 years!!!!!!!!! Can you imagine? He took us to these quiet out of the way street or canals, and we saw Mozart's home and Marco Polo's home. Their homes!!!!!!!!!!!! It was unbelievable!!!! The history here is so rich, and now I can also understand why the venetians talk about carpe diem...some of these homes don't look like they are going to last another 1000 years, with the water damage and age of the buildings.
The people are very nice, kind and sweet and have been very helpful to us, especially if we find ourselves suddenly lost down the road walkway. We have lots of touring to do today, so now that it's after 7amI will wake Tim, get us some coffee and begin the excitement of our day.
On Wednesday we fly back home, and while we have had a wonderful adventure meeting great people, seeing beautiful places, breathing and walking and touching history every moment, drinking incredible wine and eating the best food on earth, it will be good to get home!
Have a great day and a good week!
Gail & Tim
Yesterday we walked all around Venice and spent some time in St. Mark's square, and we visited St. Mark's Basilica. The church was built in 1053 and frankly everything here is about 1000 years old. The canals are incredible and it is really easy to get lost here because there are so many twists and turns. There are no cars, just water taxis, water busses, private boats and gondolas (I may have missed another kind of transport). There are tiny bridges that connect you to other places on the island but you need to pay attention to the street you are on, otherwise you end up down an alleyway to a small plaza with no outlet except the canal.
The food here is wonderful, and Tim and I have had our fill of wine, pasta, bread and salad both mixed and capreze that I think I am now half italian!
Today we are taking a tour of the Hidden Gems of Venice with a tour guide from where else? England of course. Ha! Angelina Jolie and my love Johnny Depp are filming a movie here, a remake called The Tourist and I am hopeful that we can find out where they are filming and watch by the sidelines. In the other two cities I was worried about looking like a tourist, but in venice pretty much everyone is a tourist!!! The city is busy but not too much so so it's nice to wonder around, stop at little side street cafes and order espresso and/or gelato and watch the world go by.
Last night after a lengthy walk by the sea, the vendors and a host of gondoliers, we ate a romantic dinner by the grand canal at a cute little restaurant called Al Buso. The owner was wonderful and kept bringing us things including some after dinner drinnks I couldn't recognize but were delicious! A couple next to us had a great big yellow lab at their feet and they were sitting behind me but the dog came next to me and put his head on my feet while I stroked his head and belly. Tim was jealous!! The dog was adorable and every time I see a dog I realize how much I miss cricket. After dinner we took a beautiful moonlit gondola ride with a gondolier who has been doing this gig for 44 years, and whose family has been doing gondoliering for 500 years. 500 years!!!!!!!!! Can you imagine? He took us to these quiet out of the way street or canals, and we saw Mozart's home and Marco Polo's home. Their homes!!!!!!!!!!!! It was unbelievable!!!! The history here is so rich, and now I can also understand why the venetians talk about carpe diem...some of these homes don't look like they are going to last another 1000 years, with the water damage and age of the buildings.
The people are very nice, kind and sweet and have been very helpful to us, especially if we find ourselves suddenly lost down the road walkway. We have lots of touring to do today, so now that it's after 7amI will wake Tim, get us some coffee and begin the excitement of our day.
On Wednesday we fly back home, and while we have had a wonderful adventure meeting great people, seeing beautiful places, breathing and walking and touching history every moment, drinking incredible wine and eating the best food on earth, it will be good to get home!
Have a great day and a good week!
Gail & Tim
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Just a hello from Florence!
We arrived in Florence wed. afternoon 5/12. We took the train from Roma to Firenze. It was great! The train station is a little bit jarring if you don't speak Italian but Tim was great and we found the right track, right train and finally after some time the right compartment and seats! We had a lovely train ride through the countryside of the region Umbria and arrived at the Florence train station around 1pm.
Our hotel is a beautiful old palace, the Bernini Palace right smack in the middle of a lovely square and right next door to the government building, steps away from Neptune's Fountain, the Uffizi and the Statutes of the Rape of the Sabine Women. Everywhere we look, there are churches, churches and more churches, more squares of cobblestones that you can imagine and lots of little shops....lots of shops!!!!
Every half hour, 45 minutes and on the hour church bells ring right outside our bedroom window. We have these beautiful huge floor to ceiling casement windows that swing wide open into the room and I either feel like Juliet or Rapunzel in looking over the grated patio fencing to watch the people walking in the square next door.
Streets are so tiny that I hold my breath when walking because equally small but fast scooters come racing by about 30 miles per hour and sometimes you need to just jump out of the way. Everyone here speaks another language, but certainly everyone loves the language of beautiful Italian Renaissance art and fabulous Italian food.
During our time in Rome we hired an incredible guide to show us a special tour of the Vatican, as well as a special tour of two of the seven hills of Rome where we viewed some of the oldest churches in Rome. We also saw the Knights of Malta building and hopefully Tim will add that photo soon!
In Florence we hired a tour guide to take us to the Duomo (huge cathedral), the Uffizi (huge art gallery of art formerly owned by the Medici Family, and the academe where we saw Michelango's David. He was beautiful and huge and reminded me a little bit of Timmy. Photos to follow shortly when I wake Timmy from his nap. Today (Saturday) we traveled with another guide for a day trip through Tuscany with a spectacular stop at a winery where we had a private wine tasting and special lunch with a wine discussion by the owner. Just prior to the wine stop, we stopped in Sienna and later after wine we stopped in San Gimignano, an 11 century town with a main street so narrow and slender that cars, even the little smart cars can barely fit, and only the local cars can travel the streets. The town was charming although it was raining and cold, and you know how yucky that is when you are traveling. But after a great lunch, and trying over 10 bottles of different kinds of wine, we were a little bit more relaxed and hopefully those photos will even be okay! Ha!
Having guides to help show you around are wonderful and incredibly helpful and make life much easier for us to enjoy the many sites around us in a more knowledgeable way. Hope to write more soon, but suffice it to say in a heartbeat I would move here for a year to work and enjoy the people and the landscape. Not sure if Tim feels the same way, because he is still napping.
:) Have a great weekend!!
Gail and Tim
Our hotel is a beautiful old palace, the Bernini Palace right smack in the middle of a lovely square and right next door to the government building, steps away from Neptune's Fountain, the Uffizi and the Statutes of the Rape of the Sabine Women. Everywhere we look, there are churches, churches and more churches, more squares of cobblestones that you can imagine and lots of little shops....lots of shops!!!!
Every half hour, 45 minutes and on the hour church bells ring right outside our bedroom window. We have these beautiful huge floor to ceiling casement windows that swing wide open into the room and I either feel like Juliet or Rapunzel in looking over the grated patio fencing to watch the people walking in the square next door.
Streets are so tiny that I hold my breath when walking because equally small but fast scooters come racing by about 30 miles per hour and sometimes you need to just jump out of the way. Everyone here speaks another language, but certainly everyone loves the language of beautiful Italian Renaissance art and fabulous Italian food.
During our time in Rome we hired an incredible guide to show us a special tour of the Vatican, as well as a special tour of two of the seven hills of Rome where we viewed some of the oldest churches in Rome. We also saw the Knights of Malta building and hopefully Tim will add that photo soon!
In Florence we hired a tour guide to take us to the Duomo (huge cathedral), the Uffizi (huge art gallery of art formerly owned by the Medici Family, and the academe where we saw Michelango's David. He was beautiful and huge and reminded me a little bit of Timmy. Photos to follow shortly when I wake Timmy from his nap. Today (Saturday) we traveled with another guide for a day trip through Tuscany with a spectacular stop at a winery where we had a private wine tasting and special lunch with a wine discussion by the owner. Just prior to the wine stop, we stopped in Sienna and later after wine we stopped in San Gimignano, an 11 century town with a main street so narrow and slender that cars, even the little smart cars can barely fit, and only the local cars can travel the streets. The town was charming although it was raining and cold, and you know how yucky that is when you are traveling. But after a great lunch, and trying over 10 bottles of different kinds of wine, we were a little bit more relaxed and hopefully those photos will even be okay! Ha!
Having guides to help show you around are wonderful and incredibly helpful and make life much easier for us to enjoy the many sites around us in a more knowledgeable way. Hope to write more soon, but suffice it to say in a heartbeat I would move here for a year to work and enjoy the people and the landscape. Not sure if Tim feels the same way, because he is still napping.
:) Have a great weekend!!
Gail and Tim
Friday, May 14, 2010
Finally Time to Blog
It is 11:30 in Florence and this is the first time I have been able to blog.
I walked my shoes off in Rome, I mean literally. The soles of my Ecco's started to come apart.
Still I was able to perservere and walk around the town.
We met our guide Sylvia and toured the Vatican, Sylvia was a was a smart idea. She pointed out some very interesting details. For example in the lower right hand side of the last judgment is a portrait of a cardinal that Michelangelo didn't like. He is pictured in hell with a snake biting his private parts. The girls got a kick out of this but I thought it was little strange.
Our favorite restaurant was a place called Lucci's. It is a fun a little Trattoria near the coloseum. You had to sit right next to other people and whether or not you wanted too, you became friends. Ordering at this restaurant was fun. If you asked for something and they did not feel like serving it to you they just gave you what they wanted to give you. All I know was that the house wine was great.
The colloseum was magnificent, of course you know Gail would find an interesting detail. She found the vomitarium. This is where the Vestal virgins would go if the games got too bloody, so they had a place to get sick. I guess everyone else just got sick all over each other.
The games were not that much different form tailgating. People had food, drink yelled and got sick. I guess the only big difference is that sometimes the losers died. However not as often as you think mainly because of the expense of training the gladiators. It is all about the money.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Lots of walking, Lots of History1
Greetings from Roma!
Tuesday May 11th was a spectacular day! We had our private tour of the Vatican with our wonderful and adorable tour guide Silvia, a young woman who is incredibly knowledgeable about just about everything.
Vatican City was amazing and the Sistene Chapel was beautiful and made me cry! We were able to visit the tombs of many of the popes including Pope John Paul II and we viewed the tomb of St. Peter. St. Peter!!!! That is amazing!
We toured St. Peter's Basilica and St. Peter's Square and saw some original apartments of a number of popes from centuries ago.
Later on in the day, we walked through the Palantine and the Roman Forum and saw the Trevi Fountain and along the way we stopped to visit every church. The Roman Forum was also amazing because there are these pieces of roman architecture just laying about on the ground as as well as seeing parts of the Temple of Saturn and the Temple of Romulus. These gems are smack in the middle of a very busy and bustling city. We did lots of walking and saw lots of people and lots of tourists.
The Sistine chapel is beyond words. The art by Michelangelo is so spectacular and so huge and so brilliant (especially since the work has been totally restored). The only issue was that there were so many tourists in the same spot, it took away from the solemnity of the chapel and was hardly meditative even though the guards kept reminding people that the chapel was a sacred space.
We dropped into bed after 10pm last night, exhausted after a full day of walking what seemed like about 10 miles.
Food is magnificent and dinner was at Al Moro close to the Via Corso but on a cute little side street. We ate outside, very romantic and chic with beautiful candlelight. We share an incredible antipasto full of meats enjoying great slices of crusty italian bread (no butter..Tim was bummed!) and a delicious al moro pasta also as a shared dish that was a very light carbonara. We each enjoyed the most tender veal dishes; Tim had a veal and porcini mushroom dish and I had veal scallopine which was light but filling.
No dessert or espresso for us last night but we enjoyed a starlight sky as we walked a few miles of a brisk walk back to the Hotel Lancelot. Another magical day together!
Gail & Tim
Tuesday May 11th was a spectacular day! We had our private tour of the Vatican with our wonderful and adorable tour guide Silvia, a young woman who is incredibly knowledgeable about just about everything.
Vatican City was amazing and the Sistene Chapel was beautiful and made me cry! We were able to visit the tombs of many of the popes including Pope John Paul II and we viewed the tomb of St. Peter. St. Peter!!!! That is amazing!
We toured St. Peter's Basilica and St. Peter's Square and saw some original apartments of a number of popes from centuries ago.
Later on in the day, we walked through the Palantine and the Roman Forum and saw the Trevi Fountain and along the way we stopped to visit every church. The Roman Forum was also amazing because there are these pieces of roman architecture just laying about on the ground as as well as seeing parts of the Temple of Saturn and the Temple of Romulus. These gems are smack in the middle of a very busy and bustling city. We did lots of walking and saw lots of people and lots of tourists.
The Sistine chapel is beyond words. The art by Michelangelo is so spectacular and so huge and so brilliant (especially since the work has been totally restored). The only issue was that there were so many tourists in the same spot, it took away from the solemnity of the chapel and was hardly meditative even though the guards kept reminding people that the chapel was a sacred space.
We dropped into bed after 10pm last night, exhausted after a full day of walking what seemed like about 10 miles.
Food is magnificent and dinner was at Al Moro close to the Via Corso but on a cute little side street. We ate outside, very romantic and chic with beautiful candlelight. We share an incredible antipasto full of meats enjoying great slices of crusty italian bread (no butter..Tim was bummed!) and a delicious al moro pasta also as a shared dish that was a very light carbonara. We each enjoyed the most tender veal dishes; Tim had a veal and porcini mushroom dish and I had veal scallopine which was light but filling.
No dessert or espresso for us last night but we enjoyed a starlight sky as we walked a few miles of a brisk walk back to the Hotel Lancelot. Another magical day together!
Gail & Tim
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
ROMA!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hello! Greetings from Roma!!
We have made it safely, although the flight delay and the flight itself took a very long time.
We are staying at the Hotel Lancelot a lovely 60 room boutique hotel with views of the colloseum from our adorable balcony! We are in a great residential neighborhood a few brief blocks from the colloseum and we are on the fifth floor so we overlook the rooftop gardens and other patios and balconies, with colors of the buildings lovely shades of yellow, creme and orange. It is beautiful and quaint. Although at times I feel like I am in the midst of the Bourne Identity movie, with the vespas racing by and the policia speeding by with their very unique sirens, and sitting next to people at dinner from so many different countries. It is wonderful!
The colloseum was magnificent!! Imagine being in the same spot as the Gladiators.... this whole city is history iteself. We were wandering through the colloseum for about 3.5 hours, and although there was a little bit of rain, a drizzle really... the site was so spectacular and awesome it took my breath away.
After our time at the colloseum, we wandered our neighborhood and found a great trattoria mnetioned to us by our driver. Luzzi was a fun neighborhood spot where the whole dinner cost aobut 26 euro! Tim was dying for spaghetti and meatballs but they offered him this incredible pasta with bolognese sause that was amazing. We had a delicious antipasto dish of fresh vegetables and a litre of maltipulciano that was yummy! After dinner outside on the sidewalk with people walking by and sharing tables with other wonderful people, we explored the neighborhood and did some window shopping and just enjoying! We found several gelatorias in our neighborhood and stopped at one for a small coni of chocolate and crema. We walked for awhile as the grey sky cleared a bit and we listened to the wonderful sites of a city slowing down and heading to sleep. Luckily we were able to stay awake until around 9:30 Roma time and were able to sleep through the night. We are 6 hours ahead from home, and 9 hours ahead (Andrew time!). Tim will figure out how to add some photos. Today we are off for a private tour of the Vatican. I am so excited! Roma is a beautiful and enchanting city with centuries of history staring at you every step of the way...Between the sites, sounds and wonderful smells of restaurants, gelatorias, bakeries and espresso bars, I am in heaven!!!!
Gail
We have made it safely, although the flight delay and the flight itself took a very long time.
We are staying at the Hotel Lancelot a lovely 60 room boutique hotel with views of the colloseum from our adorable balcony! We are in a great residential neighborhood a few brief blocks from the colloseum and we are on the fifth floor so we overlook the rooftop gardens and other patios and balconies, with colors of the buildings lovely shades of yellow, creme and orange. It is beautiful and quaint. Although at times I feel like I am in the midst of the Bourne Identity movie, with the vespas racing by and the policia speeding by with their very unique sirens, and sitting next to people at dinner from so many different countries. It is wonderful!
The colloseum was magnificent!! Imagine being in the same spot as the Gladiators.... this whole city is history iteself. We were wandering through the colloseum for about 3.5 hours, and although there was a little bit of rain, a drizzle really... the site was so spectacular and awesome it took my breath away.
After our time at the colloseum, we wandered our neighborhood and found a great trattoria mnetioned to us by our driver. Luzzi was a fun neighborhood spot where the whole dinner cost aobut 26 euro! Tim was dying for spaghetti and meatballs but they offered him this incredible pasta with bolognese sause that was amazing. We had a delicious antipasto dish of fresh vegetables and a litre of maltipulciano that was yummy! After dinner outside on the sidewalk with people walking by and sharing tables with other wonderful people, we explored the neighborhood and did some window shopping and just enjoying! We found several gelatorias in our neighborhood and stopped at one for a small coni of chocolate and crema. We walked for awhile as the grey sky cleared a bit and we listened to the wonderful sites of a city slowing down and heading to sleep. Luckily we were able to stay awake until around 9:30 Roma time and were able to sleep through the night. We are 6 hours ahead from home, and 9 hours ahead (Andrew time!). Tim will figure out how to add some photos. Today we are off for a private tour of the Vatican. I am so excited! Roma is a beautiful and enchanting city with centuries of history staring at you every step of the way...Between the sites, sounds and wonderful smells of restaurants, gelatorias, bakeries and espresso bars, I am in heaven!!!!
Gail
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Delayed Thanks toi the Volcano
Well we made it to the airport. However our plane is 3 to 4 hours late thanks to the Icelandic volcano. So far all I know about Iceland is that is was founded by Eric the Red who was kicked out of Sweden,they drink a lot of vodka , it is bankrupt and it has a big stupid volcano my suggestion is that it sinks into the ocean and be done with them.
Our driver Michell know how to get to JFK fast and also knew how to tail gate, it was a fun ride with Gail grabbing my hand every ten minutes.
We are now sitting in the Delta lounge, which is nice, and drinking wine and watching the Players Golf Championship. I think I will take a nap, just like home.
Things could be worse, this way we can sleep on the plane, thanks to Denny and his ambien ,and get into Rome refreshed and ready to go. Tim
Okay everything Tim said was right on target! I am nervous about flying and worried about sleeping and now I am worried about when we are leaving. Boy do I love traveling!!
Happy Mother's Day to all our wonderful friends and family who are the most excellent mothers ever!!
We packed everything we needed to pack except I forgot a spare pair of contacts, so I am checking on mail options to have them sent to me, just in case... You never know!
We have lists of places to visit a mile long, thanks to lots of reading and lots of friends commenting. We packed light, only one small bag each and Tim has a great Rick Steves backpack (Thanks Niki & Rich!!) with reading material and our netbook. Hope to continue writing hopefully from Rome Italy and not having to spend the whole week in the Delta sky lounge. Thanks for listening! Stay tuned.
Gail & Tim
Our driver Michell know how to get to JFK fast and also knew how to tail gate, it was a fun ride with Gail grabbing my hand every ten minutes.
We are now sitting in the Delta lounge, which is nice, and drinking wine and watching the Players Golf Championship. I think I will take a nap, just like home.
Things could be worse, this way we can sleep on the plane, thanks to Denny and his ambien ,and get into Rome refreshed and ready to go. Tim
Okay everything Tim said was right on target! I am nervous about flying and worried about sleeping and now I am worried about when we are leaving. Boy do I love traveling!!
Happy Mother's Day to all our wonderful friends and family who are the most excellent mothers ever!!
We packed everything we needed to pack except I forgot a spare pair of contacts, so I am checking on mail options to have them sent to me, just in case... You never know!
We have lists of places to visit a mile long, thanks to lots of reading and lots of friends commenting. We packed light, only one small bag each and Tim has a great Rick Steves backpack (Thanks Niki & Rich!!) with reading material and our netbook. Hope to continue writing hopefully from Rome Italy and not having to spend the whole week in the Delta sky lounge. Thanks for listening! Stay tuned.
Gail & Tim
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