Arevedeci Alex. We will miss our friend. If you are ever in Utah please stay with us.
We head south to wine country.
Stop in Montipulcino for wine and a tour of the city. Crostinis and Bruchetta to get out of rain. This town is amazing. Wine cellars under the city. Catacombs of wine..................... We meet a nice couple from Toronto, eh.
Off to our next stop. Montalcino. This is a town for the Haas' Find a room, inexpensive and Mario is great, and offers a wine tasting. Right in town and above a restaurant and cafe.
We check in and off to explore. We hit the Belvedere for a glass of wine and some internet time. Nice Italian invites us back for the local happy hour. come back, we are busy when the workers get off shift. 7:30 or 8 pm that is when we get busy. You buy drinks we supply food. Split up and meet back later.
Guidebook says wine oozes from the pores of this town. Every third stop is an Enoteca (wine store). This is where we go to die.
Wine tasting - 10 great Brunellos and we are happy to buy.
Off to the fortress, some culture with our wine please. The Fortress has nothing but open space and one small enoteca. More wine please.
Tour the city and run into the Sogards. Back to hotel for a bottle of wine to head to top of town. Watch the sun set in Tuscany.
Talk to some germans. in town training for the iron man. Finally some sarcasm. We miss the sarcasm of america. Italians, not sarcastic. Germans sarcastic. Haas and Warnken surnames both German. I see a pattern here.
Dinner? Happy Hour? What to do? One drink at the Belvedere so we can decide. A bottle of wine, homemade bread, salami, cheeses, risotto and cake add two local Grande Birra' and Happy Hour is over.
Off to bed. Wait one more restaurant. They are closing, but Trish works the magic. "We will be quick quick, I promise" Another bottle of wine, some crostini and a hot dish and we are off to bed.
5/24/08
San Gimignano
We are up early and off to southern tuscany. The city of San Gimignano is amazing. At one time they had 70 towers, now 14 stand. A city within a wall. Great character and views. We check out a church, some fountains, panoramic views of Tuscany valley lush and green. Quick slice and birra and we are on our way. Rob swears, best pizza yet.
Next stop Certaldo and Vinci. We have some trouble in Certaldo. No driving, steep hills and we are lost. Forget it, lets move on. No stress allowed on vacation.
Vinci, the birthplace of Leonardo. Cool town. Museum, and grounds. What a genius. It is amazing to see all of his inventions. We walk grounds of museum. Chris takes a nap in park. Back to homebase for night. We walk around, write postcards. Rob and Carol do laundry.
We take a trolley up to Monticatini Alto. Amazing views above Monticatini Terme. The trolley that first opened in 1908 last refurbished in 1970. chuga chuga chuga up the steep mountain for dinner. Best meal over all for the team. Great wine from Montipulcino. Train down and to bed.
Next stop Certaldo and Vinci. We have some trouble in Certaldo. No driving, steep hills and we are lost. Forget it, lets move on. No stress allowed on vacation.
Vinci, the birthplace of Leonardo. Cool town. Museum, and grounds. What a genius. It is amazing to see all of his inventions. We walk grounds of museum. Chris takes a nap in park. Back to homebase for night. We walk around, write postcards. Rob and Carol do laundry.
We take a trolley up to Monticatini Alto. Amazing views above Monticatini Terme. The trolley that first opened in 1908 last refurbished in 1970. chuga chuga chuga up the steep mountain for dinner. Best meal over all for the team. Great wine from Montipulcino. Train down and to bed.
Tuscany here we come
Off to Wine country, still raining. What gives? Guess a raining day in Chianti is better than a sunny day anywhere else. Great drive through Chianti. Lovely country. Caselinna for lunch. We walk around the town and grab lunch. We sit down with our wine, birra and panini. A woman at the table next to us asks if we could help them pick something to order. They don't speak italian. We are slightly annoyed by these americans. Panini is not that hard. Please. then we realize, holy crap this couple is the couple we met in Harry's in Venice. The loud americans with the other couple from Pennsylvania. Wow small world. We help them out against our best judgement. They are off to Raffa. Make a note we don't want to go there.
We find a vineyard. Fonerutili, taste taste, taste. Purchase. Beautiful grounds, great wine. life is grand.
We contniue to Sienna.
We arrive. Rain, rain, rain. Wow Piazza amazing. We can't go in the tower, to much rain and wet shoes are trouble in the bell tower. We need to experience the Piato. Local Horse race in city square. Looks like trouble, but could be entertaining. Maybe this is our next reason to celebrate in the US. July and August they run.
We leave Sienna. Get a little lost but no problem. We are heading back to the hotel.
We get in to town, grab dinner and to bed. We are tired. Hanging out with Italian Musicians is tiring.
We find a vineyard. Fonerutili, taste taste, taste. Purchase. Beautiful grounds, great wine. life is grand.
We contniue to Sienna.
We arrive. Rain, rain, rain. Wow Piazza amazing. We can't go in the tower, to much rain and wet shoes are trouble in the bell tower. We need to experience the Piato. Local Horse race in city square. Looks like trouble, but could be entertaining. Maybe this is our next reason to celebrate in the US. July and August they run.
We leave Sienna. Get a little lost but no problem. We are heading back to the hotel.
We get in to town, grab dinner and to bed. We are tired. Hanging out with Italian Musicians is tiring.
Good Morning in the Cinque Terra
Up this morning. What a great nights sleep. The sound of the sea through our window. We head down the 139 steps for coffee on the Piazza. Looking out to water. Saying our goodbyes to a lovely place. Back up for bags. Bring them down. Lets make a plan. Maid calls, you have forgotten a tshirt. Rob back up and down. To start his day he had to walk 556 steps. Is the Tshirt patagonia. consider it yours.
Early but Foccacia books and smells great.
Bye Cinque Terre off to Pisa to pick up the car.
Train transer wen smooth. We are getting quie good at this traveling thing.
Car is small but we stuff our bags in and are off for Montecatini.
We will hit Pisa on the way home. Rain Rain Rain.
Wait Lucca the three walled city. We have been told it is a must do. We walk the city. Should we rent bikes. Lets grab a bite. To much rain. no biking the wal. We need our hotel.
No problem finding our next stop. But no map to te hotel. Where are we? Where is our hotel? No one speaks english in this little village. Rob makes a call. While the girls, pick up wine, salami, cheese, bread and olives. nice afternoon snack if we can find our hotel.
Alexandro on the line with Rob. "We are out, where are you? We will come get you, no problemo." Fiat shows up and he runs across the parking lot to greet us. European hugs and kisses and we jump in our car to follow him. A quick game of follow the leader and we are at the hotel. A little scary, but Haas is quite the driver in Italy. Perfecto.
Alex gives us the rundown on the area. Anything and everything we could want to do, he is giving us the info..... hot springs, wine country, towns, villages, views, spas, anything we can imagine. We are going to need more time.
Wine and snacks in the Sogards room and we are get ready to go out for dinner. Wait Alex's brother arrives at hotel. Mossimo. Fusion Jazz Musician. Tells us of his american travels 20 years ago with in Michigan "with chicks and hot tubs and Gibson Guitar". Please will you play for us?
Off to Grand Buffet for dinner. This place is fantastic. Lots of bling and velvet. Stairs up to who knows what. An actual Antipasto Buffet laid out in shells. Unbelievable. Recommended by Alex. Perfect. Waitress as nice as your mother, very little english, but keeps trying to get our food ordered. Fabulous. We walk home in the rain. Exhausted from Trip and travel. Home to bed for a fresh start tomorrow.
Wait Alex greats us as we walk in "Our cousin is here from Argentina, we have never met, join us in the kitchen". How can we resist. Grappa, Sambucca, Bongos and guitar playing for the next 90 minutes. Not to mention the video of Alex's trip to Utah.
Mossimo is great and entertaining. La Famia and we are finally off to bed. Great night. Thanks Tony Caputo for the recommendation. We couldn't ask for more.
Early but Foccacia books and smells great.
Bye Cinque Terre off to Pisa to pick up the car.
Train transer wen smooth. We are getting quie good at this traveling thing.
Car is small but we stuff our bags in and are off for Montecatini.
We will hit Pisa on the way home. Rain Rain Rain.
Wait Lucca the three walled city. We have been told it is a must do. We walk the city. Should we rent bikes. Lets grab a bite. To much rain. no biking the wal. We need our hotel.
No problem finding our next stop. But no map to te hotel. Where are we? Where is our hotel? No one speaks english in this little village. Rob makes a call. While the girls, pick up wine, salami, cheese, bread and olives. nice afternoon snack if we can find our hotel.
Alexandro on the line with Rob. "We are out, where are you? We will come get you, no problemo." Fiat shows up and he runs across the parking lot to greet us. European hugs and kisses and we jump in our car to follow him. A quick game of follow the leader and we are at the hotel. A little scary, but Haas is quite the driver in Italy. Perfecto.
Alex gives us the rundown on the area. Anything and everything we could want to do, he is giving us the info..... hot springs, wine country, towns, villages, views, spas, anything we can imagine. We are going to need more time.
Wine and snacks in the Sogards room and we are get ready to go out for dinner. Wait Alex's brother arrives at hotel. Mossimo. Fusion Jazz Musician. Tells us of his american travels 20 years ago with in Michigan "with chicks and hot tubs and Gibson Guitar". Please will you play for us?
Off to Grand Buffet for dinner. This place is fantastic. Lots of bling and velvet. Stairs up to who knows what. An actual Antipasto Buffet laid out in shells. Unbelievable. Recommended by Alex. Perfect. Waitress as nice as your mother, very little english, but keeps trying to get our food ordered. Fabulous. We walk home in the rain. Exhausted from Trip and travel. Home to bed for a fresh start tomorrow.
Wait Alex greats us as we walk in "Our cousin is here from Argentina, we have never met, join us in the kitchen". How can we resist. Grappa, Sambucca, Bongos and guitar playing for the next 90 minutes. Not to mention the video of Alex's trip to Utah.
Mossimo is great and entertaining. La Famia and we are finally off to bed. Great night. Thanks Tony Caputo for the recommendation. We couldn't ask for more.
5/23/08
The Cinque Terra
Rain Rain Rain. 4 minute ride to the Montorrossa. Skip for now and on to Vernazza.
Great town, samll boats, fishing village. Rain starts again. hard this time. Lets get out of it....in for cappacino. hey look pictures of their rooms. awesome. Dua dbl rooms please.
Off to explore next town. We will explore Veranza later.
Train to Cornglia. The rain keeps us from the hike. Way up on hill, alleys are up and down. no flat. rain subsides. Stop into wine bar. What a character the owner is. Carol took a photo of his boat in the water and recognized the symbol on his boat and the wine bar. The symbol is a jug you drink out of. pulling away from your mouth as you drink. Comes with a bib. is this a marketing plo for americans? Another glass please.
Walk to Manarola. a little muddy, great views. train to Riomaggiore. Grab a bite. Subpar pizza back to get luggage and check in hotel in Vernazza.
We check in and the woman takes us around the corner. Wish we had a photo of our luggage on our backs and Rob with his very large bag. she tells us up a few stairs and turn a few more stairs. We go up and up and up and up. 139 steps later we are at our rooms. the rooms are great. but nothing like the spectacular views from the terrace overlooking the water on the another bottle of wine and some cheese and bread we could stay here all night.
We meet a nice couple from Denver heading to the Lake Region. We tell them to stop in and visit AuGuisto and please get in to our restaurant. Someone needs to experience it if not us.
Off to dinner. Best all around it seems. We take in the local flavor with some Bianco and anchovies. Followed by pesto, spagetti with seafood. One more birra up to the terrace to watch the full moon come out of the clouds. What a spectacular time.
Great town, samll boats, fishing village. Rain starts again. hard this time. Lets get out of it....in for cappacino. hey look pictures of their rooms. awesome. Dua dbl rooms please.
Off to explore next town. We will explore Veranza later.
Train to Cornglia. The rain keeps us from the hike. Way up on hill, alleys are up and down. no flat. rain subsides. Stop into wine bar. What a character the owner is. Carol took a photo of his boat in the water and recognized the symbol on his boat and the wine bar. The symbol is a jug you drink out of. pulling away from your mouth as you drink. Comes with a bib. is this a marketing plo for americans? Another glass please.
Walk to Manarola. a little muddy, great views. train to Riomaggiore. Grab a bite. Subpar pizza back to get luggage and check in hotel in Vernazza.
We check in and the woman takes us around the corner. Wish we had a photo of our luggage on our backs and Rob with his very large bag. she tells us up a few stairs and turn a few more stairs. We go up and up and up and up. 139 steps later we are at our rooms. the rooms are great. but nothing like the spectacular views from the terrace overlooking the water on the another bottle of wine and some cheese and bread we could stay here all night.
We meet a nice couple from Denver heading to the Lake Region. We tell them to stop in and visit AuGuisto and please get in to our restaurant. Someone needs to experience it if not us.
Off to dinner. Best all around it seems. We take in the local flavor with some Bianco and anchovies. Followed by pesto, spagetti with seafood. One more birra up to the terrace to watch the full moon come out of the clouds. What a spectacular time.
Rolling green hills and the Sea
What lovely landscape. We arrive in Levanto. Get a room at Hotel Dora and walk to explore the town. Birra and caps at the beach. Vacation is so good.
Chris gets Gelato.
Back to hotel, change for dinner. Explore town. Lovely town. But we are ready to head to the Cinque Terra.
Good night.
Chris gets Gelato.
Back to hotel, change for dinner. Explore town. Lovely town. But we are ready to head to the Cinque Terra.
Good night.
Milano or Bust
We are off to Milano. Rain again. Check train schedules and off to find the Sogards at their hotel. Still no luck with phone number. We find their hotel and they are out exporing. We leave a note and back to train station. Time to purchase a ticket to Levanto. The train station is crazy on this Friday night. What no seats? What one seat? This is not good. What to do? Why are we trying so hard to get out of Milano? Call for hotel. Check in, off to find Sogards for Dinner.
Finally we meet them for drinks. More rain, off to dinner. Plan in place for Saturday morning.
Back to hotel. Good night.
What is that noise? What is going on out side? It is so loud and awakes us early. Sounds like something................ We open the shutters and where an empty parking lot stood last evening is now and outdoor market. Explains the loud early morning.
We pack up and head to train station. Meet Carol and Rob and we are off to the Cinque Terra.
Bottle of wine and snacks............. Train travel is definitely for us.
Finally we meet them for drinks. More rain, off to dinner. Plan in place for Saturday morning.
Back to hotel. Good night.
What is that noise? What is going on out side? It is so loud and awakes us early. Sounds like something................ We open the shutters and where an empty parking lot stood last evening is now and outdoor market. Explains the loud early morning.
We pack up and head to train station. Meet Carol and Rob and we are off to the Cinque Terra.
Bottle of wine and snacks............. Train travel is definitely for us.
Morning fog on Lake Como
We awake early. Up at 7 am. breakfast downstairs, croissant and coffee. Trying to phone number to reach Carol and Rob. Why does this number not work. Maybe the phone card.
We walk to center of town to get a new phone card. maybe the luck will be better. We try again to call them no luck. we ask the woman at the hotel to help us. she looks up Hotel Milano in no less than 4 books. The phone number is correct not sure why it does not work.
We take a hike up to the castle. the views are amazing. we can see the lake and all of the towns spotting the shore lines. Lake Como is said to be in the shape of a man. We are staying on the right hip. Across the way we see the two legs that are Lecco and Como. the Testicles(Belagio) is directly across from our little harbor town. Glad we didnt stay there.
We go back to town to check on train schedule. Birrra and Bruchetta. Photos Photos photos.
We fill out some postcards and we are off to the train.
Arivedarci Varenna- By now, maybe forever, but always in our hearts.
We walk to center of town to get a new phone card. maybe the luck will be better. We try again to call them no luck. we ask the woman at the hotel to help us. she looks up Hotel Milano in no less than 4 books. The phone number is correct not sure why it does not work.
We take a hike up to the castle. the views are amazing. we can see the lake and all of the towns spotting the shore lines. Lake Como is said to be in the shape of a man. We are staying on the right hip. Across the way we see the two legs that are Lecco and Como. the Testicles(Belagio) is directly across from our little harbor town. Glad we didnt stay there.
We go back to town to check on train schedule. Birrra and Bruchetta. Photos Photos photos.
We fill out some postcards and we are off to the train.
Arivedarci Varenna- By now, maybe forever, but always in our hearts.
Is this a Hollywood Set or are we in Italy
These Mountains are unbelievable. Lake Como is quite lovely. We cant beleive we are experiencing this after the busy cities; Milano, Venice, Bologna and Rome. Feels like a different country. We are so glad we added the Lake Region of Northern Italy to our list of must do.
The train arrives in Varenna. Off and two streets over to our hotel.
Rain, rain, rain.
We check in. The couple that runs the hotel are the perfect little Italian couple. He meets us, "no english, my wife she come, she speak english, here is key". He is the chef and travels to Cuba every year as a featured guest and to teach cooking classes. Seems he travels all over the world when Varenna shuts down in Dec-Jan. His wife is great. We want to hug her.
We drop our luggage and head out to explore. More rain, the streets are all cobblestone and run along the lake. We walk around the town a little then duck in a bar to dry off. The interior of the bar is all stone. Beautiful, will dark wood.
We have a new friend the barista AuGuisto. We talk politics, travel and what it was like to grow up in town of 800. Good times. He recommends a restaurant down the street. He calls to get us in, tries but no luck. They are booked. The chef is known to be very particular and choose all of the ingredients for his menu. We are disappointed. AuGuisto asks more than once and still no luck. He recommends a larger restaurant. Nine tables. New. It was great. Only one waiter, and the place was busy. But our meal was excellent.
The walk back to our hotel, we find the 4 table restaurant to try for reservations. We have decided we will extend our stay for one more night if we can get in. How great to be on vacation with no schedule. We stop in but they are full tomorrow night as well. oh well back to the hotel.
Wait Gelato. We havent had gelato. The search begins. The search ends. First Gelato of the day. That was close. To bed.
Good night.
The train arrives in Varenna. Off and two streets over to our hotel.
Rain, rain, rain.
We check in. The couple that runs the hotel are the perfect little Italian couple. He meets us, "no english, my wife she come, she speak english, here is key". He is the chef and travels to Cuba every year as a featured guest and to teach cooking classes. Seems he travels all over the world when Varenna shuts down in Dec-Jan. His wife is great. We want to hug her.
We drop our luggage and head out to explore. More rain, the streets are all cobblestone and run along the lake. We walk around the town a little then duck in a bar to dry off. The interior of the bar is all stone. Beautiful, will dark wood.
We have a new friend the barista AuGuisto. We talk politics, travel and what it was like to grow up in town of 800. Good times. He recommends a restaurant down the street. He calls to get us in, tries but no luck. They are booked. The chef is known to be very particular and choose all of the ingredients for his menu. We are disappointed. AuGuisto asks more than once and still no luck. He recommends a larger restaurant. Nine tables. New. It was great. Only one waiter, and the place was busy. But our meal was excellent.
The walk back to our hotel, we find the 4 table restaurant to try for reservations. We have decided we will extend our stay for one more night if we can get in. How great to be on vacation with no schedule. We stop in but they are full tomorrow night as well. oh well back to the hotel.
Wait Gelato. We havent had gelato. The search begins. The search ends. First Gelato of the day. That was close. To bed.
Good night.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)