Time has flown by during the last little leg of our trip here in Roma. We are staying in a 15th century building- I would call it a palazzo but that hasnt been confirmed and it also makes it sound luxurious. Our little room is far from luxurious, but the location couldnt be better, steps away from Piazza Navona and within easy walking distance to the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Via Del Corso, St. Peters and all the other "free" spots in Roma.
However, we did not get here without incident. It was just about the only clear morning we saw in Cinque Terre the morning we left, yet our train to the main station where we were supposed to catch our 4 hour train to Rome, was 40 minutes late. I panicked knowing that this would make us late for our Rome train, which we reserved 1st class tickets for. Our experience at the station a couple of days before was not very good, and I panicked wondering what would happen when we tried to explain we missed our train because the Cinque Terre trains were running 40 minutes late. Poor Brad had to deal with me in panic mode, but was kind enough to grab me a caffe latte while we waited, which he kept calling a "latte cafe." After the latte cafe I was doing better but still a little upset.
Finally our train arrived and we positioned ourselves near the doors so we could make a run for it when we got to the station. Unfortunately, a very annoying Australian woman was also in the door area showing bewildered tourists photos of herself being courted by a middle aged italian on her ipad, explaining everything (in a high pitched voice) from her outfits, to the car the italian drove, to what an ipad was. We rolled eyes with a local and couldnt wait to get off the train.
Brad and I devised a plan that I would run off the train to get into the ticket line to switch our tickets, and he would manage the bags. When the train stopped, annoying australian asked Brad to help her with her bags, and I jumped over all of them and ran to the ticket line. Brad showed up about 5 minutes later and I explained the ticket lady was seeing about getting us on a later train. I looked around and noticed my bag wasnt there so I asked where it was. He gave me a terrified look, then looked around, then said, "I had it..... I took that ladys bags off, and...." and then ran off back to the train while I was in such shock and panic I cried without tears. The ticket lady came back and said we could get on the later train but wouldnt have seats, which only made things worse. I walked around like a psycho, shaking and all red, trying to find Brad. A lady came up to me and said she saw my bag on the train but wasnt sure who it belonged to. Brad was gone, my bag was gone, and I didnt know what to do. I made a mental note to be nice to Brad because I knew he would feel bad enough and it wouldnt help to give him a hard time. But I was still a total wreck.
Suddenly, he emerged from the subway, drenched in sweat and completely relieved looking, with my bag hanging off his shoulder. I didnt know what to do but dry cry some more and he told me to calm down, then bought me a fanta (my drink of choice on this trip). We ended up getting on the train and only had to move seats a couple of times, but got to stay in 1st class, yay!
Rome is better than I remembered, probably because of our room location. We saw St Peters today along with the Colosseo which was just as amazing as the first time. This is Brads favorite place next to Venice because of all the shopping and night life. We have been very lucky to not have to deal with con artists or pick pockets because we walk pretty much everywhere. We actually took the metro for the first time today and it was quite pleasant.
We cannot believe the trip has gone by so quickly and we fly home tomorrow!! It has been such a whirlwind. Thanks to everybody for reading. I will follow up with some photos here and on facebook when we return.
Ciao!!!!
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Finally!
The sun came out today, hurray!!! We spent time on the Italian Riviera in Santa Margherita Ligure, near Portofino. It was beautiful! The train ride alone was enchanting.. all along the coast, like something out of a movie. I cannot upload pictures at the moment, but here is one of Santa Margherita from the web:
This is the town we have been staying in, Vernazza. Its so charming and the locals are a hoot. One of them (an older male) tried to dance with Brad at the bar last night. The vantage point of this photo is up in the cliffs we walked over that one fateful night (again, from the web)..
Finally, this web shot is of Monterosso, the town next to us. I think I like Monterosso the best because of its sandy beach. I didnt go all the way in the water this trip because while today was sunny, its also a bit cold and I caught a bug a few days ago. Im trying to stay healthy so I can enjoy the rest of the trip without incident!! But my legs did take a dip and boy it was fantastic. I will use any excuse to come back here!
PS- HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the town we have been staying in, Vernazza. Its so charming and the locals are a hoot. One of them (an older male) tried to dance with Brad at the bar last night. The vantage point of this photo is up in the cliffs we walked over that one fateful night (again, from the web)..
Finally, this web shot is of Monterosso, the town next to us. I think I like Monterosso the best because of its sandy beach. I didnt go all the way in the water this trip because while today was sunny, its also a bit cold and I caught a bug a few days ago. Im trying to stay healthy so I can enjoy the rest of the trip without incident!! But my legs did take a dip and boy it was fantastic. I will use any excuse to come back here!
PS- HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Monday, September 27, 2010
In Search of Sun
I have dreamed of coming to the Cinque Terre for years... and the three days we have booked have seen nothing but rain and threatening clouds. Dissappointing, but not all that bad.
The first highlight of the day was waking up early due to a wind storm, walking down to do laundry, and happening upon what I believe to be the best "brioche" in existence. This tiny bakery here in Vernazza that supplies breads and pastries to the towns throughout the region happens to make my new favorite breakfast item. They call it brioche but it looks more like a mishapen croissant with chocolate and a hint of hazelnut in the center. Melt in your mouth delicious!!!! I went back for more an hour later but it was sold out. I might wake up at 8am tomorrow just to get a fix!
The second highlight came when we walked down to the harbor and spotted several townsmen in their underwear frantically bringing boats in out of the choppy waters. Tighty whities galore! It was like watching your elderly Italian neighbor rip off his pants and tackle the sea with his bare hands. And yes, we got pictures!
The weather was so bad we decided to head out to Pisa for the day and check out the famous leaning tower. It was a choice we initially regretted after encountering the rudest Italians thus far. We have been keeping to ourselves and navigating everything pretty effortlessly and without asking for too much help- even when we do it is rarely met with opposition. Well, on our way to Pisa, we had to make a connection at a small train station with very little time. We ran to get our tickets and board the train when the evilest looking train man whistled at us from 10 yards away before we even stepped foot on the train. We figured there was a misunderstanding so we approached him with smiles. He told us we could not board the train and did not offer an explanation. We walked away confused and approached another train man in a different car. As we chatted with him from outside the train and he told us we could indeed board, evil train man whistled again and motioned to slit his throat! As we stared at him in confusion, he whistled one final time before he hopped on the train and it took off.
A few other Americans on the platorm could not understand what went wrong and we chatted about it for a while until we felt better. We finally got on a train and made it to Pisa where a nice elderly couple and their grandaughter guided us to the leaning tower. It was nice to meet some gentle Italians at that point. From there, the rest of the day was completely fantastic. We took a bunch of pictures and laughed watching all the other tourists line up to do the obligatory photo op of pretending to hold the tower up- totally cute. We spent some time gawking then grabbed a nice lunch and chatted with some British and German couples before renting a golfcart-like bike and peddling through downtown Pisa. We had no idea where we were going but had a great time pretending. We passed a Timberland shop that was on Siesta and made note to stop by at 4 when they reopened.
The Timberland store opened at 4 on the dot and Brad rolled in and asked for a 48 shoe to try. Again he was refused and was told the biggest he could get was 45. The best is how the clerks react.. not with a laugh or apologetically, but with smugness and superiority. It seems as though being confused is not allowed in Italy! But its fine because we laugh anyway about the fact the people could get so uptight about somebody having a size 45 foot. It makes Brad feel like a celebrity. After this 3rd shoe fail, his solution was to get an ankle brace from the Farmacia and it seems to be working quite well. But no more moonlit hikes on cliffs...
The sun still evades us so we are going to make our way to Portofino tomorrow. Even if the sun hides away at least we will have another Italian Riveria town to check off the list! I am bringing my swim clothes and taking a dip no matter what though. I did not come this far to hide away in a gelato shop (although who am I kidding.. bring on the gelato!)
We are still living off the high from Venice and having a very special engagement trip. I love love love Brad for thinking of proposing this way and keeping it a well hidden secret. I know a lot of you predicted it, but Brad literally let me do all the planning and until the last minute did not even know when we would be in Venice let alone if I would suggest a gondola ride (he knew everything had to feel like it was my idea if it was going to work). I could not have planned a better way to start the next chapter of our lives! But just in case you were wondering, we have held back all the lovey-dovey details because there is nothing more embarrassing than VDA (virtual display of affection). Hopefully we have not weirded any of you out!!!
Oh, and we will have a few more pictures soon of the rest of our trip.
Thanks again for reading!
The first highlight of the day was waking up early due to a wind storm, walking down to do laundry, and happening upon what I believe to be the best "brioche" in existence. This tiny bakery here in Vernazza that supplies breads and pastries to the towns throughout the region happens to make my new favorite breakfast item. They call it brioche but it looks more like a mishapen croissant with chocolate and a hint of hazelnut in the center. Melt in your mouth delicious!!!! I went back for more an hour later but it was sold out. I might wake up at 8am tomorrow just to get a fix!
The second highlight came when we walked down to the harbor and spotted several townsmen in their underwear frantically bringing boats in out of the choppy waters. Tighty whities galore! It was like watching your elderly Italian neighbor rip off his pants and tackle the sea with his bare hands. And yes, we got pictures!
The weather was so bad we decided to head out to Pisa for the day and check out the famous leaning tower. It was a choice we initially regretted after encountering the rudest Italians thus far. We have been keeping to ourselves and navigating everything pretty effortlessly and without asking for too much help- even when we do it is rarely met with opposition. Well, on our way to Pisa, we had to make a connection at a small train station with very little time. We ran to get our tickets and board the train when the evilest looking train man whistled at us from 10 yards away before we even stepped foot on the train. We figured there was a misunderstanding so we approached him with smiles. He told us we could not board the train and did not offer an explanation. We walked away confused and approached another train man in a different car. As we chatted with him from outside the train and he told us we could indeed board, evil train man whistled again and motioned to slit his throat! As we stared at him in confusion, he whistled one final time before he hopped on the train and it took off.
A few other Americans on the platorm could not understand what went wrong and we chatted about it for a while until we felt better. We finally got on a train and made it to Pisa where a nice elderly couple and their grandaughter guided us to the leaning tower. It was nice to meet some gentle Italians at that point. From there, the rest of the day was completely fantastic. We took a bunch of pictures and laughed watching all the other tourists line up to do the obligatory photo op of pretending to hold the tower up- totally cute. We spent some time gawking then grabbed a nice lunch and chatted with some British and German couples before renting a golfcart-like bike and peddling through downtown Pisa. We had no idea where we were going but had a great time pretending. We passed a Timberland shop that was on Siesta and made note to stop by at 4 when they reopened.
The Timberland store opened at 4 on the dot and Brad rolled in and asked for a 48 shoe to try. Again he was refused and was told the biggest he could get was 45. The best is how the clerks react.. not with a laugh or apologetically, but with smugness and superiority. It seems as though being confused is not allowed in Italy! But its fine because we laugh anyway about the fact the people could get so uptight about somebody having a size 45 foot. It makes Brad feel like a celebrity. After this 3rd shoe fail, his solution was to get an ankle brace from the Farmacia and it seems to be working quite well. But no more moonlit hikes on cliffs...
The sun still evades us so we are going to make our way to Portofino tomorrow. Even if the sun hides away at least we will have another Italian Riveria town to check off the list! I am bringing my swim clothes and taking a dip no matter what though. I did not come this far to hide away in a gelato shop (although who am I kidding.. bring on the gelato!)
We are still living off the high from Venice and having a very special engagement trip. I love love love Brad for thinking of proposing this way and keeping it a well hidden secret. I know a lot of you predicted it, but Brad literally let me do all the planning and until the last minute did not even know when we would be in Venice let alone if I would suggest a gondola ride (he knew everything had to feel like it was my idea if it was going to work). I could not have planned a better way to start the next chapter of our lives! But just in case you were wondering, we have held back all the lovey-dovey details because there is nothing more embarrassing than VDA (virtual display of affection). Hopefully we have not weirded any of you out!!!
Oh, and we will have a few more pictures soon of the rest of our trip.
Thanks again for reading!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Mountain Goats
Italy has taught me that plans are no good. We all know this is a difficult lesson for me... I always have everything planned.. to a fault. While Brad isnt much of a planner, he always has an emergency plan mapped out for any situation.
In Italy, plans are useless. Sure, you should know what time your train should depart, where Rick Steves says you can find the best gelato, what time you should get up to beat the lines at historic sites, etc. But with the exception of the cities we decided on and the accommodations we booked, nothing has really gone as planned. All of this worked out for the best, until today. Bum bum buuuummm...
We landed in Vernazza, the 4th town in the Cinque Terre, on time and made it to our hotel fairly easy. From there we walked down the winding road to the harbor and took in all the beauty of this lovely cliff town. Its unlike anything we have ever seen. If we had to compare it would be like Half Moon Bay set atop Devils Slide... but not so scary sounding! The town only has a population of about 500 people, so you can imagine how short our town stroll actually was. We saw everything we needed to see, I indulged in a chocolate, caramel, and coffee gelato, YUUUM, and we took the train to the next town.
Now, Cinque Terre translates to "five lands" or five towns. They are all in the same general area but separated by cliffes and trees and everything else that grows and lives on a cliff by the sea (more on that later). Our town has a ruined castle, a little harbor and a tiny beach. The town we visited, Monterosso, is the only one with a sandy beach. I had fantasies of laying out in the sun and humming "sway" by Dean Martin and speedo watching. Unfortunately, it had just downpoured and everything was soggy with overcast skies. So we opted to walk around Monterosso and then Brad went on a mission to find some new shoes because his current Merrels can no longer sustain is ridiculous platapus feet. His arch is completely collapsed which causes his massive ankle to bust through any shoe he has. Literally, the seems come apart. We found a shoe place and told the man his European size, 48. The man said, "no, thats too big" and could only produce a size 43, which did not fit. He told us nobody has feet that big and it would be nearly impossible to find a shoe place, but to try the one at the other end of Monterosso.
That shoe place only had Birkenstocks and neither of us felt like rocking the early 90s so we passed. At this point we had missed our train and the next one would come in an hour. I decided it was no big deal and we should just walk the trail back to our town. We could see the town from where we stood, so we thought it would be easy. I told Brad walking on earth is easier than pounding the pavement, and we set off.
The walk was absolutely breathtaking. The sun hung low in the sky over the sea and the lights from Monterosso twinkled in the near distance. We stopped a few times to snap some photos and scarcely listened to hikers headed in the opposite direction who said there were treacherous trails ahead. The cleavage sweat one woman was sporting should have been our first signal to head back and catch the train before sunset.
About 20 minutes in, we took a wrong turn and somehow ended up in a cliff dwellers minature vineyard. My guess is it produces one bottle of wine a year. When we finally made it back to the trail, I started to wonder if we should just go back to where we came from. The sun was nearly set and according to other hikers we had about an hour of hiking left. For reasons we still do not fully understand, we both decided to continue on. The path narrowed to a foot wide with no railing and for at least 20 minutes went entirely uphill. Panic set in when the earth became muddy, branches stabbed us in the eyes, and bugs flew into our mouths. I kept telling myself, Im a capricorn and goats were built to do this.. but the thought didnt help. In reality, we arent goats.. we are a couple trying to enjoy the best of Italy. I have already proven to be a clutsy spaz and despite Brads ability to think quickly in an emergency, neither of us had a phone or a flashlight (Brad had attached them to our luggage, not my purse). As we wound through the cliffs and approached a severely shaded area, I slipped and my right butt cheek landed on what felt like a pyramid. From this point on, Brad insisted on holding my hand, which was very brave of him in my opinion because the likelihood of me going down and bringing him with me was very high. We walked like this for the next hour as it got darker and darker, slipping on rocks and mud and praying we didnt fall off the cliff never to be seen again. At one point Brad even handed me a rock which was to be used to throw at wild beasts and zombies that were out to get us in the dark, on a cliff, in the middle of nowhere. If I wasnt so scared of falling or having to spend the night up there, I would have laughed! Instead I gripped on to it and seriously thought about how hard I would have to throw it in an emergency.
The hike seemed to take an eternity, but finally as the sky was completely dark we saw our towns bell tower in the near distance and relief set in. After another 100 or so steps down steep unstable rock stairs, we were both so grateful to have made it out alive. We decided it was our craziest adventure to date, and that at some point, it will all be funny. For now we are just exhausted and laughing out of shock. I was convinced Id have a Lifetime moment and break down into tears in the shower, but so far, Im good. Brad deserves a new pair of shoes and we both deserve another three scoop gelato, and Im thinking the latter will happen for breakfast tomorrow||
:)
In Italy, plans are useless. Sure, you should know what time your train should depart, where Rick Steves says you can find the best gelato, what time you should get up to beat the lines at historic sites, etc. But with the exception of the cities we decided on and the accommodations we booked, nothing has really gone as planned. All of this worked out for the best, until today. Bum bum buuuummm...
We landed in Vernazza, the 4th town in the Cinque Terre, on time and made it to our hotel fairly easy. From there we walked down the winding road to the harbor and took in all the beauty of this lovely cliff town. Its unlike anything we have ever seen. If we had to compare it would be like Half Moon Bay set atop Devils Slide... but not so scary sounding! The town only has a population of about 500 people, so you can imagine how short our town stroll actually was. We saw everything we needed to see, I indulged in a chocolate, caramel, and coffee gelato, YUUUM, and we took the train to the next town.
Now, Cinque Terre translates to "five lands" or five towns. They are all in the same general area but separated by cliffes and trees and everything else that grows and lives on a cliff by the sea (more on that later). Our town has a ruined castle, a little harbor and a tiny beach. The town we visited, Monterosso, is the only one with a sandy beach. I had fantasies of laying out in the sun and humming "sway" by Dean Martin and speedo watching. Unfortunately, it had just downpoured and everything was soggy with overcast skies. So we opted to walk around Monterosso and then Brad went on a mission to find some new shoes because his current Merrels can no longer sustain is ridiculous platapus feet. His arch is completely collapsed which causes his massive ankle to bust through any shoe he has. Literally, the seems come apart. We found a shoe place and told the man his European size, 48. The man said, "no, thats too big" and could only produce a size 43, which did not fit. He told us nobody has feet that big and it would be nearly impossible to find a shoe place, but to try the one at the other end of Monterosso.
That shoe place only had Birkenstocks and neither of us felt like rocking the early 90s so we passed. At this point we had missed our train and the next one would come in an hour. I decided it was no big deal and we should just walk the trail back to our town. We could see the town from where we stood, so we thought it would be easy. I told Brad walking on earth is easier than pounding the pavement, and we set off.
The walk was absolutely breathtaking. The sun hung low in the sky over the sea and the lights from Monterosso twinkled in the near distance. We stopped a few times to snap some photos and scarcely listened to hikers headed in the opposite direction who said there were treacherous trails ahead. The cleavage sweat one woman was sporting should have been our first signal to head back and catch the train before sunset.
About 20 minutes in, we took a wrong turn and somehow ended up in a cliff dwellers minature vineyard. My guess is it produces one bottle of wine a year. When we finally made it back to the trail, I started to wonder if we should just go back to where we came from. The sun was nearly set and according to other hikers we had about an hour of hiking left. For reasons we still do not fully understand, we both decided to continue on. The path narrowed to a foot wide with no railing and for at least 20 minutes went entirely uphill. Panic set in when the earth became muddy, branches stabbed us in the eyes, and bugs flew into our mouths. I kept telling myself, Im a capricorn and goats were built to do this.. but the thought didnt help. In reality, we arent goats.. we are a couple trying to enjoy the best of Italy. I have already proven to be a clutsy spaz and despite Brads ability to think quickly in an emergency, neither of us had a phone or a flashlight (Brad had attached them to our luggage, not my purse). As we wound through the cliffs and approached a severely shaded area, I slipped and my right butt cheek landed on what felt like a pyramid. From this point on, Brad insisted on holding my hand, which was very brave of him in my opinion because the likelihood of me going down and bringing him with me was very high. We walked like this for the next hour as it got darker and darker, slipping on rocks and mud and praying we didnt fall off the cliff never to be seen again. At one point Brad even handed me a rock which was to be used to throw at wild beasts and zombies that were out to get us in the dark, on a cliff, in the middle of nowhere. If I wasnt so scared of falling or having to spend the night up there, I would have laughed! Instead I gripped on to it and seriously thought about how hard I would have to throw it in an emergency.
The hike seemed to take an eternity, but finally as the sky was completely dark we saw our towns bell tower in the near distance and relief set in. After another 100 or so steps down steep unstable rock stairs, we were both so grateful to have made it out alive. We decided it was our craziest adventure to date, and that at some point, it will all be funny. For now we are just exhausted and laughing out of shock. I was convinced Id have a Lifetime moment and break down into tears in the shower, but so far, Im good. Brad deserves a new pair of shoes and we both deserve another three scoop gelato, and Im thinking the latter will happen for breakfast tomorrow||
:)
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Florence + the Machine
It's nearly midnight and I have hijacked the b&b computer. The owner is down the hall, and it sounds like he could be wrapping some early christmas gifts. Brad needed to eat again so he went down to a pizza/kebab place and is watching italian MTV in our room while he eats. It's crazy how normal this all feels...
The day was spent shopping.. we're both addicted to all the leather in the open market here. Vegan friends, our apologies in advance. Everything here is just so well made and different than anything you can find in Cali!
After all the crazy shopping, we finally got around to climbing the dome. I had done it before and knew what to expect.. 463 steps to the top is no joke. Brad glanced at the dome from our position in line on the ground and decided it was an easy 10 stories high. Needless to say, by the time we reached the base of the dome, he was beat. His flat feet thumped up the spiral cement staircase and echoed throughout the entire church. We finally emerged at the top and took in the spectacular view. I had explained to Brad before we went up that the marble at the top makes for a slippery surface and the last time I had been up there with Lauryn, she slipped and I sort of had to help save her life. Naturally, Brad did the same (camera rolling) and was super spooked. Then he accused me of not warning him. Ha!!!!!!!!!!
We hiked down and hobbled around on wobbly legs, searching in vain for a couple of recommended restaurants. We found one of them but it didn't open until an hour after we got there so we passed. We settled on a little pizzeria near a gelato place we were told not to miss. The waitress was an older lady who refused to speak english. Which was fine, but it meant she had to ask me "mangiaore o bebende" (or something) in a thick accent several times before I got it- dinner or just drinks? Honestly it didn't sound anything like what she was trying to say so I don't blame myself for being confused. Brad ordered a pizza and I had pear and cheese ravioli (thanks, Darbs!!). My food was delicious, but Brad's was a slippery mess. He spilled on his nice white shirt TWICE and was so frazzled that we left in a hurry. Now don't ask me why, but Senor Brad decided to fasten his watch around a bottle of water while we ate. Of course, when we left, the water and watch were left behind and a few blocks after I discovered the worlds best gelato, he realized it was missing and ran like a bat out of hell without speaking a word. As I watched his massive calves speed through the narrow road, it became clear he wasn't thinking and suddenly I stared in horror, along with several other tourists and Florentines, Bradshitcrazy slam his fists into the back of a car and do an action hero leap around the side that literally caused every single person to freeze and make sounds that sounded like "what the hell" in every language imaginable. He didn't stop and kept running until he disappeared into the doorway of the pizzeria.
The waiters had thrown out the water and all laughed when Brad fished it out of the trash can. He was completely nuts! We are constantly being reminded to take things slow and watch for moving sidewalks and vehicles. When we arrive in the Cinque Terre tomorrow, I'm sure that will be easier to do. We plan to just plain relax and enjoy a bit of hiking and swimming in a place neither of us have been, but heard so much about! Special shout out to all our coworkers who have told us great things!!
The day was spent shopping.. we're both addicted to all the leather in the open market here. Vegan friends, our apologies in advance. Everything here is just so well made and different than anything you can find in Cali!
After all the crazy shopping, we finally got around to climbing the dome. I had done it before and knew what to expect.. 463 steps to the top is no joke. Brad glanced at the dome from our position in line on the ground and decided it was an easy 10 stories high. Needless to say, by the time we reached the base of the dome, he was beat. His flat feet thumped up the spiral cement staircase and echoed throughout the entire church. We finally emerged at the top and took in the spectacular view. I had explained to Brad before we went up that the marble at the top makes for a slippery surface and the last time I had been up there with Lauryn, she slipped and I sort of had to help save her life. Naturally, Brad did the same (camera rolling) and was super spooked. Then he accused me of not warning him. Ha!!!!!!!!!!
We hiked down and hobbled around on wobbly legs, searching in vain for a couple of recommended restaurants. We found one of them but it didn't open until an hour after we got there so we passed. We settled on a little pizzeria near a gelato place we were told not to miss. The waitress was an older lady who refused to speak english. Which was fine, but it meant she had to ask me "mangiaore o bebende" (or something) in a thick accent several times before I got it- dinner or just drinks? Honestly it didn't sound anything like what she was trying to say so I don't blame myself for being confused. Brad ordered a pizza and I had pear and cheese ravioli (thanks, Darbs!!). My food was delicious, but Brad's was a slippery mess. He spilled on his nice white shirt TWICE and was so frazzled that we left in a hurry. Now don't ask me why, but Senor Brad decided to fasten his watch around a bottle of water while we ate. Of course, when we left, the water and watch were left behind and a few blocks after I discovered the worlds best gelato, he realized it was missing and ran like a bat out of hell without speaking a word. As I watched his massive calves speed through the narrow road, it became clear he wasn't thinking and suddenly I stared in horror, along with several other tourists and Florentines, Bradshitcrazy slam his fists into the back of a car and do an action hero leap around the side that literally caused every single person to freeze and make sounds that sounded like "what the hell" in every language imaginable. He didn't stop and kept running until he disappeared into the doorway of the pizzeria.
The waiters had thrown out the water and all laughed when Brad fished it out of the trash can. He was completely nuts! We are constantly being reminded to take things slow and watch for moving sidewalks and vehicles. When we arrive in the Cinque Terre tomorrow, I'm sure that will be easier to do. We plan to just plain relax and enjoy a bit of hiking and swimming in a place neither of us have been, but heard so much about! Special shout out to all our coworkers who have told us great things!!
Friday, September 24, 2010
Florence! & Proposal Pictures!
Hello Team!
We are in Florence and loving it. The day started out with a bit of a bump.. we failed to reserve train tickets ahead of time and ended up having to wait three hours for a train to Florence. But this didn't bother either of us much because I suppose we needed the rest and down time.. so I could heal my aching knees and Brad could shop at Chinese dollar stores. That man loves junk!! I sat in a cafe and drank two lattes that seemed to have been made with heavy cream and loved every second of it. We finally got to board our train and while I finished the second Dragon Tattoo book, Brad listened to Tupac on repeat. Okay maybe there was some Eminem thrown in there :) It was a three hour ride and both of us were starved by the end of it. Along our lovely journey, we have learned that Brad and I are like a newborn babies and need to eat every two hours or the beast comes out. We actually ended up being in first class (nothing like flying first class) and were excited to see the food trolley come by. For a
moment it felt like we were headed to Hogwarts. But we were quite disappointed to learn there were no Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans and our stomachs roared in protest.
When we landed in Florence we went to our b&b, ate some pizza right quick, and made our way down the main. As we approached the Duomo, my heart skipped a beat. As cheesy as it sounds, this darn dome, church, and baptistery bring tears to my eyes. The facade is simply amazing and I cannot get enough. Every angle is breathtaking. Brad, being the designated photographer of the trip, took a ton of great pictures as I played tour guide and told him whatever I could remember from my previous trip and college Italian Renaissance Art History class. I'm sure I fudged a few details but who cares! The architecture speaks for itself. Tomorrow we'll take the climb to the top for a grand view of Firenze.
We wandered the streets and caught the tail end of the daily open market, making sure to snap up a few items to bring home. Then we aimlessly headed toward ponte vecchio but arrived too late and missed all the gold. We'll have to go back tomorrow. We decided it was feeding time again so we headed toward the piazza de la republicca and settled in for an over priced meal. Brad ordered a large coke and spaghetti with meat sauce, I got the ricotta spinach ravioli in a creamy truffle sauce. His coke arrived and we both laughed so hard we nearly started crying. It was so huge it could have been mistaken for a two liter in a medieval goblet. It ended up costing 9 euros but it was so worth the laugh!! After dinner we sat in the piazza and listened to a musician play an acoustic guitar and sing James Taylor and Simon and Garfunkel songs with an Italian accent. So beautiful! Then we got our "fanta" on and walked through the rain, refusing every single street peddler trying to sell us an umbrella, and laughed about all the silly things we've seen and done on this trip.
And finally, the photos from our engagement!!
before.. drinks in hand!
rialto bridge, right where he proposed in the gondola
ahhh!! Is this real??
the ring
yay!
We are in Florence and loving it. The day started out with a bit of a bump.. we failed to reserve train tickets ahead of time and ended up having to wait three hours for a train to Florence. But this didn't bother either of us much because I suppose we needed the rest and down time.. so I could heal my aching knees and Brad could shop at Chinese dollar stores. That man loves junk!! I sat in a cafe and drank two lattes that seemed to have been made with heavy cream and loved every second of it. We finally got to board our train and while I finished the second Dragon Tattoo book, Brad listened to Tupac on repeat. Okay maybe there was some Eminem thrown in there :) It was a three hour ride and both of us were starved by the end of it. Along our lovely journey, we have learned that Brad and I are like a newborn babies and need to eat every two hours or the beast comes out. We actually ended up being in first class (nothing like flying first class) and were excited to see the food trolley come by. For a
moment it felt like we were headed to Hogwarts. But we were quite disappointed to learn there were no Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans and our stomachs roared in protest.
When we landed in Florence we went to our b&b, ate some pizza right quick, and made our way down the main. As we approached the Duomo, my heart skipped a beat. As cheesy as it sounds, this darn dome, church, and baptistery bring tears to my eyes. The facade is simply amazing and I cannot get enough. Every angle is breathtaking. Brad, being the designated photographer of the trip, took a ton of great pictures as I played tour guide and told him whatever I could remember from my previous trip and college Italian Renaissance Art History class. I'm sure I fudged a few details but who cares! The architecture speaks for itself. Tomorrow we'll take the climb to the top for a grand view of Firenze.
We wandered the streets and caught the tail end of the daily open market, making sure to snap up a few items to bring home. Then we aimlessly headed toward ponte vecchio but arrived too late and missed all the gold. We'll have to go back tomorrow. We decided it was feeding time again so we headed toward the piazza de la republicca and settled in for an over priced meal. Brad ordered a large coke and spaghetti with meat sauce, I got the ricotta spinach ravioli in a creamy truffle sauce. His coke arrived and we both laughed so hard we nearly started crying. It was so huge it could have been mistaken for a two liter in a medieval goblet. It ended up costing 9 euros but it was so worth the laugh!! After dinner we sat in the piazza and listened to a musician play an acoustic guitar and sing James Taylor and Simon and Garfunkel songs with an Italian accent. So beautiful! Then we got our "fanta" on and walked through the rain, refusing every single street peddler trying to sell us an umbrella, and laughed about all the silly things we've seen and done on this trip.
And finally, the photos from our engagement!!
before.. drinks in hand!
rialto bridge, right where he proposed in the gondola
ahhh!! Is this real??
the ring
yay!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Thanks, friends!
Thanks everybody for your sweet comments and emails. It's nice hearing from you and validating this is real because it truly seems like a fairy tale! We spend our last night in Venice and tomorrow we head to Florence. I can't wait!! Though it's hard to imagine any place being as wonderful as Venice.
Back to the travel aspect of this little blog... I'm on my iPod now so I have to keep it short. We went to Padua today and saw the scrovegni chapel.. Most amazing art I've seen in Italy. On our way back into Venice and completely exhausted, I somehow managed to lose my footing and tumble like a sack of 900 potatos on to the pavement. Brad tried to catch me but big tree fall hard. My first instinct was to laugh and poor Brad was very upset because the way I fell I could have lost some teeth. All that personal training on my arms might have paid off! I did my first ever push up! We laughed about it until I did a repeat on the buss and almost connected my teeth with a pole. Then we both realized I am a total spazz and need to pay more attention! Both times I checked the ring while Brad checked my teeth. Eh, priorities!
Thanks again for all the great comments and emails! More later... Xo
Back to the travel aspect of this little blog... I'm on my iPod now so I have to keep it short. We went to Padua today and saw the scrovegni chapel.. Most amazing art I've seen in Italy. On our way back into Venice and completely exhausted, I somehow managed to lose my footing and tumble like a sack of 900 potatos on to the pavement. Brad tried to catch me but big tree fall hard. My first instinct was to laugh and poor Brad was very upset because the way I fell I could have lost some teeth. All that personal training on my arms might have paid off! I did my first ever push up! We laughed about it until I did a repeat on the buss and almost connected my teeth with a pole. Then we both realized I am a total spazz and need to pay more attention! Both times I checked the ring while Brad checked my teeth. Eh, priorities!
Thanks again for all the great comments and emails! More later... Xo
Magic
Venice is the most magical place we have ever been. The day was filled with wandering and getting lost- in a good way. Brad experienced his first and second best pizzas he has ever had. And here we thought Village Host in Belmont would hold that title forever! I had so many sweets I nearly made myself sick. Gelato at 1030am? Yes please!
St Marks was by far our most favorite place to people, bird, and architecture watch. There was also a lot of very expensive shopping to do, but we had a gondola ride planned for the evening so we behaved ourselves. After a short siesta we made our way back to Rialto bridge to have some dinner. There were several places to choose from, with waiters who could have been mistaken for car salesmen. We could not get further than the second restaurant before we were practically forcefully sat down and handed bellinis on the house. Of course Brad, being who he is, inspected every other table at the restaurant and took note that nobody else had a bellini, and strongly suggested I refrain from drinking for fear the Venetians had a plan to poison us. I ignored him and drank not only mine, but his as well. I figured we were in Italy and if I was going to die, I would do it in style, and a little tipsy ;)
After dinner, Brad apparently turned into an alcoholic and would not let us do anything until he had a drink. I started calling him "vacation brad" because he was acting very strange with the paranoia and alcoholism. We finally got our drinks from a tiny little bar that had several drinks to choose from, but suspiciously only let us choose from a menu on the wall to the right, with choices such as "orgasm" and the ever popular sex on the beach. I asked for something good with vodka, and the bartender shouted "FANTA! FANTA? FANTA!" until somebody else at the bar said "vawdkuh" and he finally got it. We took our drinks to rialto bridge to drink and had a great time canal watching.
After some time we made it to the gondola and Brad picked our gondolier quite selectively; he wanted somebody who "looked like he knew what he was doing." We got a very nice 3rd generation gondolier from Murano, took a fantastic ride through the grand canal and small canal and heard about many of the historic sites. As we emerged from the small canal and just before Rialto bridge, vacation brad starting acting weirder and weirder and suddenly he was on one knee. I could not believe what I was seeing until he said, "Babe, we have been together a long time and I would like to ask you to marry me. Will you marry me?" and brought out the most gorgeous ring I have ever seen. I said, "OF COURSE!" Suddenly vacation Brad went away, and it was just the two of us giggling and so happy to be together in the most romantic place in the world. Our gondolier said it was good luck to kiss under Rialto bridge, and we did so as he took a picture.
It was a spectacular evening and the most magical I have ever had. Venice is my new favorite place :)
We are not in the best internet cafe and pictures are not working... so we will have to load them later, boo!
Ciao!
St Marks was by far our most favorite place to people, bird, and architecture watch. There was also a lot of very expensive shopping to do, but we had a gondola ride planned for the evening so we behaved ourselves. After a short siesta we made our way back to Rialto bridge to have some dinner. There were several places to choose from, with waiters who could have been mistaken for car salesmen. We could not get further than the second restaurant before we were practically forcefully sat down and handed bellinis on the house. Of course Brad, being who he is, inspected every other table at the restaurant and took note that nobody else had a bellini, and strongly suggested I refrain from drinking for fear the Venetians had a plan to poison us. I ignored him and drank not only mine, but his as well. I figured we were in Italy and if I was going to die, I would do it in style, and a little tipsy ;)
After dinner, Brad apparently turned into an alcoholic and would not let us do anything until he had a drink. I started calling him "vacation brad" because he was acting very strange with the paranoia and alcoholism. We finally got our drinks from a tiny little bar that had several drinks to choose from, but suspiciously only let us choose from a menu on the wall to the right, with choices such as "orgasm" and the ever popular sex on the beach. I asked for something good with vodka, and the bartender shouted "FANTA! FANTA? FANTA!" until somebody else at the bar said "vawdkuh" and he finally got it. We took our drinks to rialto bridge to drink and had a great time canal watching.
After some time we made it to the gondola and Brad picked our gondolier quite selectively; he wanted somebody who "looked like he knew what he was doing." We got a very nice 3rd generation gondolier from Murano, took a fantastic ride through the grand canal and small canal and heard about many of the historic sites. As we emerged from the small canal and just before Rialto bridge, vacation brad starting acting weirder and weirder and suddenly he was on one knee. I could not believe what I was seeing until he said, "Babe, we have been together a long time and I would like to ask you to marry me. Will you marry me?" and brought out the most gorgeous ring I have ever seen. I said, "OF COURSE!" Suddenly vacation Brad went away, and it was just the two of us giggling and so happy to be together in the most romantic place in the world. Our gondolier said it was good luck to kiss under Rialto bridge, and we did so as he took a picture.
It was a spectacular evening and the most magical I have ever had. Venice is my new favorite place :)
We are not in the best internet cafe and pictures are not working... so we will have to load them later, boo!
Ciao!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
In Venice!
After a very special set of flights, a bus, a train, and several blocks on foot.. we have landed in Venice. YAY!!!!!!!
A recap-
Flight to Philly- sat next to a woman with her toddler on her lap. Toddler was pretty well behaved, except she kept grabbing at her moms you know whats. I was not bothered by this because I know kids just grab at anything. But it became obvious little toddler girl was really going for something in her moms shirt, and kept asking for it. It got uncomfortable when Brad and I heard the mother say, "aye, suave, con amore!" And then, "no, no no no more for you." Then the little girl cried and protested and kept grabbing the goods. I asked how old and the mom said 1 year 8 months.. and that she wanted her body back. Please keep in mind mom had a bad case of dog doo breath. It was a long 5 hours. To top it off, we had a man two rows up shuffling a deck of cards THE ENTIRE FLIGHT. It was beyond ridiculous. Then, Obama was in Philly so we had to circle a bit before landing, because apparently nobody can be in motion when he is at an aiport. Freeze frame!
Flight to Brussels- We had the coldest seats on the plane, and figured out it was due to a broken vent which allowed cold air to seep through the wall. Brad used some stickers from the tray table to cover it up and had the whole two rows behind him laughing. It helped, but not a whole lot, so frost bite kept us from sleeping.
Flight to Milan- again with the smells. Not one person on the plane was wearing deodorant. The worst culprit spent about five minutes, arms up, searching for a place to stow his bag. We made it to Milan finally, about 30 minutes late and with no sense of smell after all the BO burned out any sensation in our noses.
After a bus and a dash to a freezing cold train (again with the air con!), we landed in Venice and made it to our very nice hotel. It was nice to shower and smell something other than poo and body odor. And here I sit in the weirdest internet cafe I have ever been in, with the smell of sewage wafting through the barred up window. Ah, Italy!
The great news is I have already procured some Nutella and Go, Brad has discovered he can eat the food here, and we have so much planned for tomorrow! We are beyond tired at this point and just in go-mode. Dinner will happen when it is appropriate (another couple of hours, 9pm) followed by gelato! YUM.
Thanks for reading!!!
A recap-
Flight to Philly- sat next to a woman with her toddler on her lap. Toddler was pretty well behaved, except she kept grabbing at her moms you know whats. I was not bothered by this because I know kids just grab at anything. But it became obvious little toddler girl was really going for something in her moms shirt, and kept asking for it. It got uncomfortable when Brad and I heard the mother say, "aye, suave, con amore!" And then, "no, no no no more for you." Then the little girl cried and protested and kept grabbing the goods. I asked how old and the mom said 1 year 8 months.. and that she wanted her body back. Please keep in mind mom had a bad case of dog doo breath. It was a long 5 hours. To top it off, we had a man two rows up shuffling a deck of cards THE ENTIRE FLIGHT. It was beyond ridiculous. Then, Obama was in Philly so we had to circle a bit before landing, because apparently nobody can be in motion when he is at an aiport. Freeze frame!
Flight to Brussels- We had the coldest seats on the plane, and figured out it was due to a broken vent which allowed cold air to seep through the wall. Brad used some stickers from the tray table to cover it up and had the whole two rows behind him laughing. It helped, but not a whole lot, so frost bite kept us from sleeping.
Flight to Milan- again with the smells. Not one person on the plane was wearing deodorant. The worst culprit spent about five minutes, arms up, searching for a place to stow his bag. We made it to Milan finally, about 30 minutes late and with no sense of smell after all the BO burned out any sensation in our noses.
After a bus and a dash to a freezing cold train (again with the air con!), we landed in Venice and made it to our very nice hotel. It was nice to shower and smell something other than poo and body odor. And here I sit in the weirdest internet cafe I have ever been in, with the smell of sewage wafting through the barred up window. Ah, Italy!
The great news is I have already procured some Nutella and Go, Brad has discovered he can eat the food here, and we have so much planned for tomorrow! We are beyond tired at this point and just in go-mode. Dinner will happen when it is appropriate (another couple of hours, 9pm) followed by gelato! YUM.
Thanks for reading!!!
Monday, September 20, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Almost Ready! Italia Here We Come!
Colleen here!
Brad and I have been planning a trip to Italy for about a year now. For him, it will be his first time out of the country. This will be my second time to Italy but my first time out of the country with my favorite weirdo :)
When we decided to go to Italy, I was excited because I would have the opportunity to play tour guide, a.k.a. Rick Steves, for two weeks. Brad said he didn't care where we went because everything would be new and exciting to him, so he let me pick our destinations. I ended up choosing some places he couldn't miss, and bed and breakfasts with owners who have personalities, mostly because I cannot wait to see Brad interact with some of these supposed goofy Italians. His Italian vocabulary is very limited and mostly includes a few choice words he learned from his Grandmother, which are not appropriate for this family blog ;)
We're hoping to have the times of our lives, eat a bunch of delicious food, take a million pictures, and not want to come home. We will update this blog when we have some down time and hopefully share photos and hilarious stories about Brad falling in love with vegetables and me giving birth to a cow because we missed our train.
Special shout out to Brad's Mom and Dad for bringing us to the airport at 5am Monday morning, my Mom and Mike for watching our little man Jeepers, and sweet Molly for coming over to stay with our rascal Fiona while we're gone.
Brad and I have been planning a trip to Italy for about a year now. For him, it will be his first time out of the country. This will be my second time to Italy but my first time out of the country with my favorite weirdo :)
When we decided to go to Italy, I was excited because I would have the opportunity to play tour guide, a.k.a. Rick Steves, for two weeks. Brad said he didn't care where we went because everything would be new and exciting to him, so he let me pick our destinations. I ended up choosing some places he couldn't miss, and bed and breakfasts with owners who have personalities, mostly because I cannot wait to see Brad interact with some of these supposed goofy Italians. His Italian vocabulary is very limited and mostly includes a few choice words he learned from his Grandmother, which are not appropriate for this family blog ;)
We're hoping to have the times of our lives, eat a bunch of delicious food, take a million pictures, and not want to come home. We will update this blog when we have some down time and hopefully share photos and hilarious stories about Brad falling in love with vegetables and me giving birth to a cow because we missed our train.
Special shout out to Brad's Mom and Dad for bringing us to the airport at 5am Monday morning, my Mom and Mike for watching our little man Jeepers, and sweet Molly for coming over to stay with our rascal Fiona while we're gone.
Itinerary:
9/20: Head to Milan
9/21-9/24: Venice, Padua
9/24-9/26: Florence, Pisa
9/26-9/29: Cinque Terre (Vernazza)
9/29-10/1: Rome
10/1: Fly home :(
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