The Cleansed Palate

Today was more of a recovery day. It was non-stop the past couple of days (actually weeks for us), so we just hung out and visited, laughed, ate, and did a little more laundry…nice day to chill!

We arranged for the bus we used yesterday to take us to Ferentino. What a magical day!!! Our family greeted us with open arms, meeting us at the exit into town so the driver could follow them to their home near the top of the city. It was tight maneuvering in several spots, but our driver was adept at squeezing that bus through traffic and narrow openings. I am in awe!

We went first to one of the homes of our family, where we were met by several family members. We were able to communicate with one another…My husband and I speak very little Italian, but my nephews both have been taking lessons (one for 5 years), so they were a tremendous help!

We went to a restaurant owned by one of their friends. The restaurant is normally closed on Saturday at lunch, but they opened just for us. They had a large table set up for all of us, and greeted us with glasses of prosecco for a family toast. Then the feasting began!!! Local cheeses and meats started things off, followed by 2 pasta courses (the first: a dish made from my husband’s great-grandmother’s recipe), a meat course, dessert, and drinks. Amazing! Perhaps our best meal yet in Italy…actually, perhaps our best meal for our entire trip!!

We were taken on a tour of the town next. We visited the cemetery where many in the family are buried. Then we were taken on a tour of the town (a walled-in town older than Roma), visiting a few of the ancient gates leading into the walled town as well as one of the local churches. The views were stunning from atop the hill…I cannot begin to imagine how wonderful it is to wake up in a town as awe-inspiring as this every day…truly spectacular!

We headed back to the house after the tour to say our goodbyes for this visit. I cannot believe how quickly the time passed, but it was such a wonderful gift that they opened up their homes and hearts to all of us. I am so grateful for this time and hope they are able to come to visit us so we can extend a warm welcome to them in the USA…it was a happy yet sad trip back in the bus to Rome – if that makes any sense…

Highlights: Coliseum; Forum; lunch at Trastevere; top of hill for view; Pantheon; Piazza Navone; church; Trevi Fountain – threw in my coins; gelato; Palentine Hill; walked to Campo di Fiore for dinner/panini

Today we had a full-day tour of Roma. There are 13 of us here, and a mini-bus was arranged for those of us going on the tour around town. We began at the Coliseum, followed by the Forum, and the Pantheon after that. Our bus drove us around Roma, including a visit to the top of one of Rome’s 7 hills for the view and a stop for lunch at a non-touristy trattoria near Trastevere. After lunch we headed for Trevi Fountain (yes, I threw in my coins…no sense testing the gods for a return visit…), had gelato at a nearby gelateria, and ended the tour with a visit to Palentine Hill. Our guide was packed full of juicy tidbits and fun facts…

That evening some of us walked from the apartment to Campo di Fiori for Panini at a little shop in the square…well worth the walk. We stopped for wine and to people-watch along the way…lovely evening! Time for bed…early day tomorrow!

Highlights: 1.To café for coffee/breakfast; 2. family arrives from the States; 3. hang out; 4. Laundromat (loved being able to communicate in Italian); 5. Speaking more Italian here; 6. Gelato; walk around a bit with family; apartment w/ terraces

Our family arrived safe and sound…the fun begins!! We mainly just relaxed today. We had a lot of laundry to take care of, and given the minimal situation we have to do laundry at our apartment we elected to take a couple of loads to a local Laundromat. We could not find a ‘do-it-yourself’ place, so we dropped our clothes off at a place that did it for us. Expensive? A little, but also convenient and a relief! The best part was being able to communicate with the owner, who only spoke Italian, and understanding her/her understanding us!!! Those Italian lessons paid off after all!!!

There are 13 of us here now, so we have rented two apartments. We are in the smaller apartment with my parents; everyone else is in the larger apartment about 15 minutes walk from here. That one overlooks the Coliseum, and there are 2 terraces there (one on the top of the building with 360 degree views). It is an incredible spot to enjoy the scenery, have a glass of wine and relax with the family.

Highlights: 1.left Firenze after breakfast for Roma 2. Side ‘trip’ to Pisa…only got to view the tower and got 39 euro parking ticket* 3.arrived at apartment in Roma…no good bed yet again!** 4. Dinner at place right around the corner – more touristy…so-so. 5. Family arrives tomorrow!!!

*Pisa: We arrived, hoping to go up into the tower to the top. There was a two-hour wait to go up, and we had to be in Roma to check into the apartment by 5, so no time for that…disappointing. Our lovely gentlemen in the parking lot neglected to tell us we had to pre-pay for parking and put the ticket in our windshield, so our 1 hour visit to Pisa resulted in a 39 euro parking expense. Nice…

**Roman holiday today – St. Paul’s Day – meaning no traffic in the city, so no problem getting to the apartment. The apartment is nice: two bedrooms, two baths (one with a narrow shower!). The water pressure is so-so, but we also have A/C – a must here in summer! And it works: another plus. The washing machine is small and located out on the balcony in cramped quarters. We only seem to be able to use the 4 hour wash cycle. No dryer here…and the clothes line is conveniently (cough, cough) located under the A/C where condensation can drip on the clothes in the right conditions. But really we are in a good location. Other downside: these European beds…what’s up with them? With all of this incredible architecture here they cannot figure out how to get comfort into a bed?? Really??? I miss my bed….

This morning I enjoyed a quiet cup (ok…two cups) of cappuccino at a café across from our hotel. The woman there – the owner, I assume – was so friendly. I loved sitting there watching the people stroll by…some tourists, some locals. It was early enough that the city’s routine workers were starting their daily activities. Trash pick-up is obviously first thing Tuesday morning, shops received deliveries of food and other goods, and there were workers setting up scaffolding to work on restorations of the historical buildings. It was a nice slice of Florentine life, mixed in with a bit of tourist life…but mostly I enjoyed the solitude from my family.

My husband and I toured Il Duomo (only 2 minutes walk from our hotel) in the morning, walking the 154 steps up to the dome, and then continuing up the additional 300+ steps to the very top. Stunning views from here!! Rather than wait in the looooong line to enter the church, we elected to pay for the guided tour. It was a deal and saved so much time. Plus, we were able to see parts of the dome and church only open to those doing the tour. I highly recommend it.

We grabbed a quick bite to eat before meeting up with a guide (Marco Secci) to tour the Uffici museum, a 2 minute walk in the other direction from our hotel, then headed to see ‘David’ after that…amazing! Our guide was one of the best we have encountered. I made sure to get his business card so we can use him again when we go back to Florence. And yes, we do plan to return one day to see all the things we didn’t get a chance to visit.

Marco suggested yet another local place for dinner; also right around the corner from our hotel (I should mention we had a phenomenal hotel location!). After dinner we headed on a walk past Ponte Vecchio to one of the De Medici castles open for a late-night visit. My husband and I toured for a bit…amazing to see how grand some folks lived! It was a nice night and we enjoyed our walk back through town to the hotel. Florence is a beautiful city, well worth the visit. Hopefully we will have the opportunity to return.

Today was more of a recovery day…we took it easy, strolling around Florence’s street markets and checking out the historical buildings/landmarks. We had lunch atop a restaurant overlooking Ponte Vecchio, and then we walked a bit more in the afternoon. It was nice to have a low-key day to unwind from all of the constant activity we had been experiencing.

We were directed to a different restaurant for dinner – another typical Florence-style eatery. Our waiter was phenomenal and funny, patient with us as we practiced speaking our minimal Italian. At the end of dinner a man popped into the restaurant dressed in renaissance attire and recited a portion of Dante’s ‘Inferno’ (in Italian of course). It was quite beautiful and was a fabulous way to end the meal!!

Fun times today!!! We left Verona toward Firenze (Florence) and made a side trip to Modena to visit the Ferrarri museum. A voluptuous woman greeted us as we parked the car, asking my husband, “Would you like to drive a Ferrarri?” Grin upon his face, he replied, “Yes…”

Next thing I knew he was signed up to test drive the ‘California’…the one that has room for 4. In a short time he was driving off for a 30 minute test drive, our two boys (grins upon their faces, too) and one of the drivers in tow…That drive was supposed to include time to come back and switch out one of the boys for me, but the car representative somehow misunderstood and they did not return for me at all…so I got to go out with one of their other drivers (he drove) for a ride. All’s well that ends well!!

The ride over, we headed to the museum to check out the cars on display there (and yes, have a bite to eat…), thus ending the ‘drinking and driving’ portion of our travels! From here on out there should be no more car museums!! WooHoo!!!

Firenze was our next stop…and what an adventure trying to drive to the hotel we had! Our GPS had us going all sorts of ways: down one cobblestone street, up another, through this alley, out that one…we were so lost! We finally called the hotel and they told us to stay right where we were. They sent someone to find us/drive our car to the hotel. Then they took our car info so they could send it in to the city to make sure we didn’t receive any fines for driving places we shouldn’t have – and we drove into a lot of areas we shouldn’t have while searching for the hotel!

Paoli was the restaurant recommendation from our hotel concierge, and it did not disappoint. It even offered a snooty Italian waiter who really didn’t want to wait on tourists. But wait on us he did, and our meal was wonderful. We finished, walked back to the hotel (right around the corner), and enjoyed watching a street performance by a Charlie Chan-esque type man before heading to bed…

My husband and I toured Verona in the morning, leaving the boys after breakfast since they had no desire to join us. Our first stop was the coliseum in Verona…it is smaller than the one in Rome, but it is much more intact. In fact, it is still used for concerts and other large venues to this day. The very top tier is the only one not still in place due to an earthquake way back when…

Next, we did a walking tour (a la Rick Steves) through the center area of town. We strolled through streets and alleys, stopping at a pastry shop for some cookies, continuing on past the main square and past a couple of churches. We eventually ended up by the river and walked along it for a short time on the way back to the hotel to meet up with our sons.

The afternoon was a bit of a disappointment. The concierge had suggested a drive to Lake Gardo where we could view the lake and mountains. However, once we drove out there we found that it was crowded and there were not a lot of available places to park. We figured we’d just drive around and view the scenery instead, but found there really was no place to pull over to take photos, and the roads were not conducive to seeing the sights…what we did see was spectacular, and I would love to return one day when we have more time and can have someone explain how to best get around the area.

We continued on to Parma from Lake Gardo where we had dinner. Our little adventure of the day involved winging it to get there, finding out there are many zones non-locals are not allowed to cross via car (and they offer steep fines if you do cross those zones, so hopefully we avoided them all…), and finally locating a place to park. By the time we went through all of this we were starving! We did not get the tour of downtown Parma that I had hoped for, but we did have a great meal before heading back to Verona…including gnocchi for me (best I’ve had).  Perhaps the day didn’t go as planned, but it still had a nice ending!