Thanksgiving breakfast up Millcreek Canyon

Thanksgiving with friends up Millcreek. What a treat, to see everyone in the morning with no stress. everyone brought something to add to the menu.

scrambled eggs to order, danishes, fruit, bloody maries and coffee with baileys. chased down with a cup up mulled wine. Perfect way to start a day.

we are very thankful for our extended family in Utah.

Chris goes to Germany

Follow Chris through Germany on his blog

www.christripgermany.blogspot.com

Home Sweet Home

Early flight out of Boston. We have to be to the airport about 5:30. If you look at it as Italy, it is 11:30 in the morning, no problem. If you look at Mountain time it is 3:30. Jetlag is interesting. No problems with our flight, other than it was completely full and we have the same movie showing. Oh well. We arrive in SLC. We can't beleive how green it is and how nice it is to be home. We are only a cab ride away.

We pull up to the house. Good to be home. We are welcomed by our neighbors. So weird to not be welcomed by Mirnyi.

The lawn is a bit long but the rain has treated us right and everything is green. Thank god for the help from Christine and Karl. We are so lucky to have friends that are so great.

Start a load of laundry, answer work emails, off to prep for a brew. Amazing how quickly real life comes back to us. Such is life. Our photos will keep our memories fresh and the blog is our notebook. We noticed that we were not diligent with spell and grammar check. Sorry for the errors. Oh well made it humorous to read.

We make some plans to get Mirnyi back. We hear some good stories about her experiences in Montana. It would seem a city dog has some growing up to do in the country. But she had a great time. City dogs are not used to the high water in the creeks and have some trouble on large hikes. That might be city or her just milking it from Bush and Kiley. She loves attention.

To make the story complete, we now are calling her Holyfield and her cousin Mike Tyson. Lets just say there was a trip to the Vet and some stitches. I guess her weird ear will also be a memory of our trip to Italy. I wonder what Dr. Perioux will say to me next check up. Nothing will surprise her after the goiter from last summer.

Ciao for now. We will get photos linked and updated soon.

GOOD-BYE ITALY

Florence to Rome to Boston to Salt Lake. Easy Easy.
Early morning, the cab picks us up about 5 am. We have to grab an early flight to Rome. Carol and Rob are Florence, Amsterdam, and Minneapolis to Salt Lake.

Good-bye see you in the states.

No problem with our flight to Rome. Good news. We get in and have a few hour layover. Next top Boston. Flight is delayed. Flight is delayed. What is the problem? Air Italia is on strike. It should only be a couple hour strike. Come back in an hour. Come back in an hour. The americans are getting embarrassing. They seem like they might riot. The air italia girls have a way to battle it. They go on a smoke break what do they care, the wait is nothing they can control.

The americans are harmless, they are just overly concerned about their snacks. "Will we get snacks while we wait? Where are the snacks?" Where are these people from? When was the last time you had a delayed flight for any reason and got snacks. We also notice we are with the type of passengers, that line up as soon as there is a chance we might be boarding. Imagine they have lined up no less than three times to be told we are delayed. They are willing to wait in a line of pushy people, just to go downstairs and then get on a bus that has to wait to be filled to then drive them to an airplane that won't be leaving until completely boarded. Maybe they don't realize we have assigned seats. Odd these tourists.

Finally we are off. They call it a strike. We call is a long smoke/caffe break. What do we know? Ironically, when we arrived in Rome 18 days ago the busses were on a 1/2 day strike. Very odd. Rumor is that the garbage collectors are on strike in Naples. What is with this country?

Oh well, can't get to stressed. We are on our way and technically this is still vacation.

Shit, we are going to miss our connection. Not to worry the nice gal at Air Italia, says "no problem, it is our fault, and we take care of you. No problem, just find the Air Italia desk we take care of you". Chris was pretty sure they were just pawning us off to Delta once we arrive in the states. But they did take care of us. Well that means they put us up in Boston for the night. Worse things could happen as we end our vacation. Pistons are in town, we get to watch the wings game and we get to end our fabulous vacation over LOBSTER.

We fly out in the a.m.

A new day in Italy.

We slept in to day. We needed it. After so much walking, museum touring, and general excitement, our bodies told us to rest.
But now we must get going. The Pitti Palace and the gardens are first on our stop. What an amazing place. The exhibit in the gardens of where fashion in Italy came from was amazing. To see how the silk is made for a dress that then took 5 months to complete is unbelievable. We feel very un hip in our REI pants and walking shoes. Oh well comfort first when traveling.

We spent the rest of our Florence vacation taking in famous sites, including the Duomo (you MUST hike the stairs to the top). 424 steps up and then back down, but well worth it - even if you are slightly clastrophobic and afraid of heights.

The view of the Fresco'd ceiling was amazing, as was the view down into the cathedral. Michelangelo's 'David' statue, the Medici Chapels, and the churches of Santa Maria Novella (the Dominicans), Santa Croce (famous people buried there include Michelangelo, Dante, Machiavelli, and Galileo to name a few!). Another must is the view of the city from Piazza Michelangelo, which offers a very different view in the day and at night.

Chris and I took a bottle of wine up on Saturday at dusk. A little to touristy, but amazing views. Carol and Rob will need to join us tomorrow night for our last night in Florence. We will be sad to go.

Climb the bell tower and walk the square. We have seen as much art, architecture and taken in as much culture as we can this trip. We rent bikes and explore the rest of the neighborhoods. What a great day. We ride over to meet Carol and Rob for lunch at our favorite Kebab hole in the wall. We recommend they rent bikes as well.

Off to explore and do some shopping. Drop the bikes, grab salami, cheese, olives and bread for our evening up above Piazza Michelangelo. The four of us head up and reminisce about our great trip and how easy we all are to travel with. It is nice to have people you can travel with. We open the bottle of wine Alex gave us as a parting gift. Salute to Italy, our new friends and our travel partners. We are sad to go.

On to Florence

We are back on the road for Pisa. We have to skirt Florence. Should we dump the car in Florence? Screw the tower, does it really even lean? Let’s give it a shot. How hard can it be to drive in Florence? How out of the way is the airport?
To answer both of those questions, hard and not well marked. We drive in circles. Every corner a new sign and arrow for the airport. We are not even sure we can leave the car here instead of Pisa. Well we know we can but what is the cost in Euros? HHMMM. Finally the Aeroporto. We find Hertz, park and the guys run in to check with the Hertz desk. We are in luck; "In training" is on the job. No problem, yes no problem, of course, no problem. Not sure what our new bill will be, but he has customer service down.

We grab the shuttle to bus station. We should be checked into the Hotel Liberty in no time. Grab the D bus, and jump off at the end of the line. What a lovely stroll. Then we go up and we walk and we walk and we walk. Are we in the right place? Where in the hell is hotel liberty? Can we stop at the Italian Country Club for a Birra? Damn are we lost? No such worry. We finally find it. We walked completely up a hill to come down and around. We are a couple minutes walk from edge of town. Great location, lovely hotel. The rooms and bathrooms are huge.

Quick Shower and change of clothes and get settled in. We are off to explore Florence. There is enough stuff in Florence that you could spend weeks looking around the place - our time here will give us a good taste of the place. We walk over to the Uffizi. What no line, you can go right in, they close in just under 2 hours. Worth the try. Let’s go in. The Uffizi has a pretty amazing collection of Renaissance art. Of course everyone flocks to see Botticelli's Birth of Venus, which of course was pretty surreal to be standing in front of the original. As Rob put it, Boticelli kicks Michaelangelos ass. But there was must more to be seen. Room after room, gallery after gallery showcasing some of Medici's former private collection. Almost two hours later, what a great experience.

We continue to walk the streets and take in the tourist sites as well. I hate to say it but you have to do the bridge at least once.

We grab dinner and more vino and we know that we will have a lot to take in the next couple of days. We welcome it.

SAD DAY WHEN WE LEAVE WINE COUNTRY

Monticino is a great place to lay your head. But the mornings come early and they are not quite. We are awoken by traffic, the sound of glass and footsteps on cobblestone. Time to get up. We grab some caps and a danish and say our goodbyes to Mario. A quick stop at the internet cafe to check on Uffizi tickets and we are off. No tickets as of yet. Keep trying.We have heard the wait in line can be over 2 hours. Even a 19 day vacation does not allow for that kind of wasted time.
We are off to drop the car in Pisa. We will then take in the Leaning Tower and head grab a train to Florence.
Sienna is our next stop on the way. We need to go through Sienna to get to Pisa. But we didn't realize we needed to go right through Sienna. Literally. Our last stop in Sienna was us wandering aimlessly, wondering if we would ever find our way out of the walled city. Second trip is a little different. "How do we get out of this town?" El Limited Traffico????? I guess this is the street for us. Before you know it we are actually driving through the city center of the walled town. The streets are getting more narrow and the policia are starring. Or atleast that is what Chris feels. Are we going the correct way? What should we do? How do we get out of here. Should we pull over and run up the bell tower. Clear day good views. We keep driving the uphill narrow streets. Signs for the Piazza.
"Wait is that a drive up Gelato stand? Life is good" Quick hard Right. Finally we are out of the chaos.

Wine oozes from the pores

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Day Seven. We are off to the lake region

Good nights sleep off for a quick cappacino and to the post office. Stamps and postcards.

Get to the water bus and the train station.

OOOps wrong water bus we are going the wrong way. Long way to the station.

Quick get tickets lets go. OOPs we forgot to stamp the tickets. Run Chris run. Train to Milano.

We met a very nice South African Couple. Cindy and George. They were on their way home to Johanisburg. They were entertaining. 12 to 1 conversion for their money. Wow makes the dollar look good. They had their laundry done at the hotel. George says it was the cost of a washer at home. YIKEs. Cindy had to keep the receipt as a reminder for the next time she wants to make a bad decision.
They invite us to South Africa and recommend the Garden Tour, wine country near Cape Town.

We arrive in Milano and tell them goodbye. They are going on to Zurich.

No much to see only in the station for a transfer. No Gelato.
OOPS again we miss the stamp. Run Chris Run. All running and no gelato makes Chris a sad boy.

Quick nap on the train and we awake to the most spectacular mountains we have ever seen.

Catching up on the blog

Day 6 and we are spending our last real day in Venice. Tomorrow we must leave.



Beautiful people everywhere we go. Maybe it is because we are trying to take it all in before we leave. We have noticed the italians take a lot of pride in their sunglasses, watches and shoes. I did find a lovely dress in a window that could be mine for 1,900 euros. hhhmmm



We make a quick snack and we are off to San Marco Basilica. We get in the Q early. The line got quite long. But we were in without any problems.

What a magnificent sight. Beautiful Beautiful Beautiful. Time for prayers and reflection. Nice to stop and think.

Venetian History Museum is the next stop. We grab a birra and slice.

We go back to find the Irish Pub. We had a Guiness for Richard and toasted him. Saw a great irish tombstone saying we cant wait to share with him. No sign of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Next stop open air market near the Rialto Bridge. Grab the water taxi to the Acadamia museum. It dawns on us. Enough Renessaince art for one day. Maybe we should go to the Peggy Gugenheim Museum, for a taste of modern art.

Gelato for us. Carmel for Trish. Chris orders Pesca. The young italian girls, go back and forth is this one peach? Is this one? Girl number 1 takes a taste and says yes pesca. Girl 2 takes a bite no banana. Girl number 1 double dips in what is banana, oh si this other is pesca. Chris got the Pesca. No worries we didnt get the double dip.

Nap on Canal. Back to hotel. Out for the nights. Internet Cafe to make some plans.

The Florian for cocktails. Thank you Karyn, and G & G Knisely. Great recommendation, we lift our drinks to you as we listened to the Orchestra play in the courtyard. Lovely.

We beleived and still mostly beleive you can never have a 2nd, 1st night in Venice. Common phrases we keep hearing "I found it" "Here it is".

We run across a non descript bar but are amazed to see a Minnesota Wild flag flying. A shout out to our MN family and friends.

Stumble across or chris would say he found our wine bar from the 1st night in Venice. Polleria. The bartender remembers us. Is that a bad thing or a good thing? We go with the later as he pours us a drink upon entrance. Sad to see more tourists, but still mainly the locals are enjoying the food and drink here. We have 4 new wine recommendations. Good night in Venice. Maybe you can have a 2nd, 1st night. We are not sure. But we did have a great night.

On the Hunt

Looking for Carol and Rob. Anyone seen the new tourists in town.

Wish us luck.

Ciao

So little time so many flavors

We are behind on the blogging. Sorry. Thanks to everyone that has been emailing us. We are so happy you are enjoying our travel blog.

We must sign off for now. So little time and so many Gelato flavors.

Grabbing the fast train.

Ciao.

How many twins in one country

We are so far from home and the distance from our friends and family. Seems to be little. We have seen the twins of the following people:
Ryann Williams
Eli Deeb
Brian Gresh
Chris Pearson
Makes us feel at home.

Who will be around the next corner.

Waking up in Venice

The hotel which seemed so quaint is not as quant this morning. We were awoken by construction workers at 7:30 am

Breakfast of Melba toast, where are our crossaints and danishes?
We are off to explore.

Bell Tower, should be cool with a view of the entire square and surrounding area. We pay our 8 Euro and we are in the Q. Sudden activity. The elevator door is broken. It will not open. The workers run in circles, phones are ringing, Mossimo Mossimo the person in the elevator joins in the yelling. Tourists are not sure what to do. The French couple in front of us demands a refund, the woman looks alarmed. Chris says we are still in. The worker grabs a ladder and what looks to be a yard stick. Finally the door is opened, but the ride has been closed for the morning. We get a refun and are on our way.

Murano. Glass Furnaces and factories. Quiet inviting. Walk walk walk. Abacus of glass in the square. Makes even me like math. Enter Church with entire floor and celing made of Mosaic. Glass Crucifix on the wall. This includes teh cross and jesus being made of glass. Amazing.

We must power up, we have glasses to find. Birra and a panini to go. We walked the entire island and still cant find the glasses. Mary where in the hell did you get those glasses?

Back to the water bus, heading back to San Marco Square.

Check the Doges palace for tickets and times for tomorrow. Shit it is open and no line. We are dragging but we better go now. We go right in. Amazing art and architecure. Big money with the rulers that ruled until death. Old and new prisons, not somewhere you want to live. Across the bridge of sighs..............................

Back to the bell tower. The elevator has been fixed, we think. Chris says we are Kenny Rogers. Gamblers, lets take a chance, roll the dice. What is the worst that can happen. Stunning views and great photos.

The engine needs fuel. Market for wine, salami, olives and pecorino cheese. Sesame crackers and we are off to our hotel. Relax, sit, eat on the canal.

Discuss Lake region plans as we prepare to go out for the evening.

Birra and pizza while we stroll the city. Still looking for Gelato. Cafe Modonna off the bridge rialto. No reservations. We will go late. Dinner after 10 pm. This is a vacation.

Stumbled upon the Irish pub unexpectantly. Didnt we look for this last night. Right there on our path. Tomorrow we return.

Bad day no Gelato. Chris says if you miss a day, the next day you get to have it four times. HHMM What flavor he will choose!!!

Good night.

Venice here we come!!!!

Check in with Mom's = Happy Mothers Day from Bologna.

Finally a good nights sleep. It is nice to catch up. Vacation can be tiring. Even a hard bed didnt keep us from getting necessary zzzz's

Wow Astoria puts on a good spread. Grab our cappacino's and we are off.

on the move for info on Bologna, anything to see befor we head North?

Go to the square - it is amazing how many men in italian suites are taking advantage of a bike. It is alarming to see all class of people on bikes. Why don't we embrace public transportation in the states? The Haas couple feels at home. We wish we lived somewhere that cruisers were so popular. Heels, italian loafers. jeans, nothing keeps an italian from a bike. All of you americans need to embrace bike to work week this week.

Grab the train. a little siesta but we are missing the afternoon nap. Send Chris to the drink cart. 1-2 liter will make the train ride fabulous.

More great views and we arrive in San Lucia Train station.

It only takes a few minutes to realize that despite some recommendations to skip Venice. We love it. It is chaotic yet exciting.

We find our hotel with little problem. It is quaint and lovely. Narrow marble steps lead to the Piano level. Room 6 - little room, with wooden shutters, open to the courtyard.

Off to explore.

Turn, turn, turn, turn over canal, turn, getting lost and loving it. Lost never felt so good. Small walkways with bright buildings and fabulour doors. Photo opps all around.

Barcero - locals only. no one speaks english. Excellent. Lovely food and wine. Small plates with local Toscano vineyard.

Must continue. Turn , turn, turn, over canal tunr over canal. We find ourselves at Rialto - bella but to many tourists. We must return after their bedtimes.

Look another Barcero - perfecto. Trish must think of Terri at this local. Duran Duran and Depeche Mode on DVD- Flat Screen. You would love it.

Finally Gelato. This time for Trish and Chris.

Jewish Ghetto for a carafe of Vino Rosso and Scallops.

Back to Bus system (boats) #1 boat down the Grand Canal. Slow and easy - lovely.

Bed more lovely.

Good Night.

Sunday is a holy day in Italy

Early morning and we were off to St Peters Basilica. We stopped for a quick cafe latte and croissant, we were at the front of the line. 15 minutes later and a much longer line, we were informed we were in line for Mass. Wont my mom be proud. Long story short, we needed a ticket. No pope for us.

We decided to make the most of the early start. Back to the train station. We are going to head south to go biking at a park with Roman roads. The bikes were little euro and very ghetto, but who needs a low gear in Italy. The park was spectacular. We road to the catacombs and saw beautiful scenery. We stopped for lunch that consisted of a 1/2 liter of wine, procuito sandwich and an apple. Lovely. The ride back we went by some spectacular villas. A few seemed to be having parites. hhhmmm how do we get an invite?

Acoording to Chris the only thing missing from this perfect day was gelato.

Time to pack and get on the move. The train is leaving for Bologna. We enjoyed a birra and a slice of pizza before boarding. No gelato. Line is to long, still waiting for the daily gelato.

1st class train was empty, plenty of room to stretch out and relax. The train went through Umbria and Tuscany. The views were amazing. So lush and green. Everything you would imagine. We have to pinch ourselves. This is beautiful.

We make it to Bologna. Now we just need a hotel. Stow the luggage and take what you need we are on the move. Around and around we go. We might have walked the entire city Twice.

Finally an available room at Hotel Astoria. The lovely lady could recommend a restaurant. Might be the best meal yet. Benessimo! Great. Gorgonzola and walnut pasta. I wonder how much we will gain on this vacation. The carafe of wine helps.

23:30 Finally Gelato - just made it.

Back to Astoria and a good nights sleep. No alarm clock. Vacation is good.

We hope to update the blog with photos soon.

Day two

Another great day in Italy. Not easy to have a bad day on vacation. Busy day that started early. We were up before the local cathedral was ringing the bells.

Of course we miss Mirnyi. Everyone said we would see a ton of cats. None as of yet. But we see a lot of people traveling with Dogs. Good thing we know she is in good company and loving Montana.

Odd enough, we have found that the gentleman at the front desk likes to pull the american trick of yelling louder when we do not understand Italian. I have not been yelled at so much since CYC in Helena. We seem to make it out with some idea of what to do............................

It would seem the Italians like to start their morning with a leisurely coffee they do not understand we are in a hurry or To Go. Getting a Java to go proved difficult. We grabbed a fabulous baked good, anything with procuitto and cotto can not be all bad. We found our way on the local bus system to Vatican City. Even a non catholic like Haas was impressed. The line was quite long, but it pays to be there early. We were only in line for 20 minutes. I found a local Cafe that would serve Americano to go - she might have been trying to prove a point when she looked down her nose and said Americano = of course. I could not be bothered. I was a hero.

Chris called it catholomania, (sorry Birdie) = the art was amazing. If you have painted the Sistine Chapel wall before Michelangelo erases it are you looked upon similar to the 5th Beatle. Sorry Buddy, an artist has entered the house. Who are you? Wow we are still amazed at the art, not only at the Vatican Museum, but throughout.

What are the two things you should not leave home without when traveling out of the USA? We would say the camera charger and Koozies. How do we know this you ask? Last night we realized the camera situation. Nothing worst than buying a disposable camera with no flash. I am sure the photos from the Vatican will be stellar.

Koozie you say? When we left the Vatican, and ordered a beer on the street it was very clear. We asked, can we go with this? Free to walk the streets? It is like H2O he says. I have never wanted a Koozie so badly. Warm and 75 degrees, even a Perona gets warm qickly. Damn make a note, Koozie in our luggage someone alert Carol and Rob before they head over.

The much cooler desk clerk at the hotel spent some time on the internet and the phone. When asked where he would buy a camera or a battery his response far far away. HMMM what does that mean? Switzerland? France? The USA? Not to worry, with a swipe of the American Express we were back in business. Samsung or Nikon who can decide = go with the least Euro!!!!! Nikon it is. Batteries, memory card and a camera all can be yours conveniently at the train station for just over 200 Euros.

Lunch down the street at a cafe with beer, wine and panini. I love Italy. Surrounded by people leisurely enjoying coffee and red wine with a cigarette. No where to be, everything they say sounds fabulous.

We have bought into the afternoon siesta. Every afternoon we spend 30 minutes snoozing. Window open and the sound of the city are soothing. We wake up refreshed and ready for more more walking, sites, wine and beer. Maybe some pasta.

Early evening and we are back at it. We take a stroll through what is known as a neighborhood of the best shopping. How do we know this is not true. Wall to wall tourists. Not to be understated. The stoll ends at the Spanish Steps. Very impressive and worth the hike to the top. We watched the sun set over Rome while enjoying Capaccio, parmessan and greens while enjoying a cocktail for Chris and of course the house red for Trish.

Dinner followed at the most authentic Italian Restaurant yet. The Gnocci with wild mushroom was to die for. Reminds me of why I miss Pomodoro in Salt Lake City from the late 90s.

The walk home consisted of chatting, cheering our good fate, and searching high and low for a Cigar for Chris. No luck, it would seem in Rome they do not know the difference between cigarettes and cigars. Chris had to settle for a Twix that cost him two euro. You do the math.

We gave up, grabbed a couple of beers and headed to the patio before bed. We have a 7 am wake up call. St Peters and some biking are calling our name before we head to Bologna.

Hope all is well with everyone. Tomorrow we head somewhere more casual for more drinks and relaxing. Rome is tiring us out. We need a vacation from our vacation.


Ciao.

While in Rome......

I doubt this place needs much of an introduction. Pretty much everyone knows it's a place with 2,700 years of history and the place where modern civilization was founded. Although we only have 3 days wish us luck. We are guessing you could spend weeks getting under the skin of the city.

Rome is a big city , but even if you're lost in the city, you can turn the corner and see something that's two thousand years old right in your face. It's truly amazing how much history this city has and how much is still preserved.
I'm not sure what we expected. Modern skyscrapers adorned with Trevi fountains? We had some idea that didn't materialize. What we found instead were wide boulevards lined with trees--an abundance of greenery and speeding traffic in a city sprawl.

We first visited the Coliseum. The Coliseum defines the glory days of Roman Empire.

After the Colosseum, we spent some time walking around the Roman Forum (a densely packed area of the city littered with Roman ruins older than, a lot older than, most countries) .

Next stop the Pantheon. We had been told the that the Pantheon was perfect. After seeing it, we must agree. We were overwhelmed with its simple beauty. It is supposedly Rome's best preserved monument of antiquity, probably because it was transformed from a temple that honored all the Roman Gods of Mythology into a Christian church, honoring one God.

Even if you usually dislike tourist places, the Pantheon is really a must see.
For nearly two thousand years this building has stood in this spot, while around it battles have been fought.

We went to dinner at the Piazza Navona. It is a large pretty oval Piazza, lined by with beautiful buildings including a church and lots of cafes, perfect for people watching.


A day spent at the Colosseum, Pantheon, the Forum, is like taking European history 101.
I know I'm not giving the best description of Rome here and I won't even try because I think it's one of those places you just have to see it for yourself.

The Eagle has landed

With the exception of being surrounded by a team of italian teenagers, the flight was relatively uneventful.

Traffic was horrific to our hotel. Luckily we are on vacation and could care less. The cab driver on the other hand was a little annoyed. Fixed rate to center of Rome, he is not making any money this a.m.

We are off to explore and hopefully meet up with Allison and Kevin for dinner and drinks.

Ciao.

36 hours but who is counting...............

We are finishing up our final to-do's. Chris is marking off the list and it looks like we might actually be prepared to leave on Thursday morning. We don't use the term ready because we are definitely ready.

Thanks for all of the advise from our friends who have been to Italy before. We look forward to keeping you all updated with our blog and hopefully photos.

Wish us luck, we love to travel, even though I always burden myself (Chris) with far too much luggage!