We interrupt this blog...

to ask an important question. (Can you tell I'm tired and bored? Oh, and I have a headache.). Why is it that so many Americans are overweight? In Italy we saw a handful of overweight people and I'm quite certain they were Americans. Can this be the reason?

Travel hour # 19

This is Rachel after 19 hours of traveling. We still have an hour to wait before getting on our flight from Chicago to Seattle. We are tired and bored.

Venezia – Murano Island

Today we took the free taxi from our hotel to Murano Island. I knew it was a scam when the concierge said we would need to pay our own way back to Venice but we went anyway. It turned out to be a lot of fun. It was really exciting racing through the Venice lagoon on the water taxi. We were met in Murano by a glass salesman and taken on a “tour”. It wasn’t too bad, though, and we did see a bit of glasswork being done.

Afterwards we ate at Ristorante Busa. Alex continued his eat-like-the-locals thing and ordered cuttlefish cooked in its own ink. Rachel was thrilled that a 1 ½ eared cat sat under our table and I was happy to finally order acqua rubinetta (tap water) and actually be served instead of having to buy the icky bottled water they push everywhere here. When we were done eating we walked through the streets of shops filled with souvenir quality (and mostly tacky) glass stuff, and went into way too many of them. Catching the vaporetto back was exciting – we transferred boats at San Marco and took the bus all the way up the Grand Canal to our local stop.

We were supposed to go to dinner at Sangal’s. But we got lost on the way there somehow, and arrived late, by 25 minutes. We looked at the menu in the window - super expensive. We decided to forget it and went to the Hard Rock Cafe down the way. It was fun, because we made a list of all our "best of's" for the trip. I'll post them later. This was our final big night in Italy. Tomorrow we need to pack and hit the hay early. I can’t believe the end of our trip is here.

Sometimes my mouth just gets in the way

While walking back from San Marco tonight Rachel said how Venezia is her favorite city of all time. We were crossing a small bridge, just around the corner from the Rialto. I pointed out to Rachel how dark the water was, and then proceeded to tell everyone how lots of mystery novels are set in Venice. Because the water is so dark, victims disappear, never to be seen again... What a dope! I scared her. I hope I didn't ruin the Venice experience forever.

Firenze – Venezia

Why is it that we feel the need to Americanize the names of places outside of the United States? I mean if your name was American Joe would you call yourself Giovanni because you crossed the Atlantic? It really bothers me. Florence is Firenze, Rome is Roma, and Venice is Venezia. Don’t Americanize them!

Firenze to Venezia - Part 2

Today we took the train to Venezia. It turned out fine, even though I rode backwards and was a bit sick. Rachel, Grandma and I were stuck sitting in the same pod as a big mouth Italian guy. He really thought he was a player. He kept sitting on the edge of the seat next to Mom and trying to look like a stud. He befriended the Italian-speaking couple from China next to him and then the poor Chinese guy had to translate to me everything Studly wanted to say. And he did not shut up for at least 2 hours. Even when we ignored him and looked out the window. I should have puked on him – that would have shut him up. (Have I ever mentioned that I HATE people who never shut-up and talk incessantly about themselves...)

After we got to Venezia we took the vaporetto to Hotel Antico Doge. It’s nice but not Casci. We ate a quick lunch / dinner of pizza and salad, and walked over to show mom the Rialto and San Marco. After looking at way too many junky shops and then getting Frulala juice drinks, we went back to the hotel to sleep.

Leaving Hotel Casci

Today everyone awoke with a sense of doom. We all wanted to leave for Venezia but were so sad to leave Signora Carla and Hotel Casci. We went down to breakfast to find that Signora Carla had presents for the kids! Rachel opened hers and it was 2 glass bunnies - how perfect is that?! I looked at Rachel and she was about to cry. Then Carla came to ask me if I was still sick, and I cried! She is such a sweet lady - and we will all really miss her. No hotel experience will ever compare. Hotel Casci is not very fancy but it is a perfect home base.

Leather Jacket Update

Here you will notice a young man looking way cool with Farmani sunglasses and a leather jacket. That is not a model. It's dear son Alex. We all love his jacket. What we don't love is that we had to return to the store twice after buying it. And this was not easy, since the shop was in the middle of the white tented market right out the door from ZaZa, had no name and we (well, I) lost the receipt. Reason? This particular jacket has a double zipper and unless the zippee lines up the zipper just perfectly, the zipper gets off track and does not unzip. At least upon our second return, the salesman gave us an entirely new jacket. I think it was because I started trying on jackets my size.

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Down and Out in Italy

I was feeling pretty happy about being away from North Bend and all the sickness these past few weeks. After all, being an ocean away seems like a good barrier. No such luck. I woke up today with either food poisoning or stomach flu. It's not fun. On the bright side, though, the kids and Grandma had to step up. They ventured out alone for lunch. They did get lost - Rachel said they asked about three people "Dove il Duomo?", without much luck at understanding the answer. Finally, Rachel was able to read the map and get them back.

For dinner they ventured out again, this time to find me some soup. Before they left, Grandma made everyone agree that they would know where they were going before walking blindly this time, so there must have been something to that at lunch. They accomplished their dinner mission, though, so all went well.

And Signora Carla, our hotel hostess is amazing. She made me tea twice and sent down a huge bottle of water. She is so concerned. Just another reason to love Hotel Casci.


-- Posted from my iPhone

Tour of Tuscany

On Saturday we took a tour of the Tuscan countryside, as well as several towns. We left Florence at around 8:00 AM on the “Best of Tuscany” tour bus. Our first stop was Siena. What a cool town. Very high up on a hill. To get to the town square we took five escalator flights up from the bus stop. I cannot imagine getting up there before technology. A local guide met us and took us past the world’s oldest bank, into the campo where the annual Palio horse race is held, and then into the Cathedral where we saw four Michelangelos and some amazing frescoes by Pintorecchio. After Siena, our tour took us to a Tuscan winery for lunch. The lunch was good, but I think this is where I contracted food poisoning. (Or it could have been the pizza Alex and I ate in Siena I guess, but my bet is the farm.) The best part of lunch was the view. Just like in pictures. Next time I come to Italy, I would like to stay in Tuscany. After lunch, we were dropped off in San Gimignano – known as the Manhattan of Italy. There are 15 or 16 remaining bell towers here – the most in all of Italy. It is a beautiful skyline. Being in town was okay – mostly only time for shopping. The kids did try ad excellent gelato flavor, though – Saffron. This is the only place in the world that makes saffron gelato – and it is sold at a gelateria called “The World’s Best”. Our last stop was Pisa. Pisa is kind of a must see place, but it is also really a dump. Our bus dropped us off 15 minutes away, so by the time we walked there we only had about 45 minutes. The kids had to find the water closet, so that left about 30 minutes – not enough time to climb the tower, but too much time to stand around looking at it. After Pisa, the bus drove us back to Florence. We arrived around 8PM. We planned to take a cab from the bus drop off at Santa Maria Novella, but there was an accident blocking all cabs from getting in, so we ended up walking. We even got lost, but Rachel saved the day with her map reading skills.
We were really tired – and practically fell into bed. Little did I know I would be up all night…

Firenze - Accademia & Gemstones

Opera - In the City of its Birth!

Since performing in three, Rachel has become an opera afficionado. (We think she is a mini Grandma Vi.) I have to admit, at first I thought she was faking it. I mean, it really can be a little boring watching people sing in a foreign language for a really long time. But after seeing her getting the DVD's from the library, and watching 2 or 3 hours of subtitled singing, as well as looking up the story lines on the computer, I decided it must be a real love. So, for her, I booked us tickets for an Opera in Firenze. The only one I could find during the time we were there was "The Barber in Seville". (We really would have preferred Tosca.) I told her at home ahead of time, and she did what she does - watched it and read about it. I read about it too, in my Opera for Dummies book. I promptly forgot the story line. Rachel gave us all a rundown at dinner right before the opera, and again I forgot the story line. After watching the whole first act, I decided I better read the program, and once I did, I really enjoyed the second act. Well, I enjoyed the whole thing, but it's so much better when you know who the characters are.

We saw our opera at St. Mark's English Church. The opera was in Italian, but the narrative before the acts was in English It was really wonderful.

OH!!! And I almost forgot. After the opera the manager called us a taxi and Milano 25 picked us up. This was the craziest taxi we've ever seen. The driver was fun. She has a poster saying she was driving a taxi to raise money for children with cancer.

Firenze - The Uffizi, The Bargello and Santa Croce

Today we woke up around 8AM, and the kids and I had a wonderful Hotel Casci breakfast. The hotel owner remembered us from 2 years ago. She made the hot chocolate that the kids have been craving since our first trip. We told her that mom did not sleep well because her pillow was too hard and the owner said she would find a soft one or even go buy one. She is so nice. After eating, we all walked in the rain about 20 minutes to the Uffizi. (Alex and Grandma bought umbrellas for 4 EU apiece.) This time we knew more of the artists whose works are displayed at the Uffizi so it was more meaningful. The Giottos were incredible - probably my favorite. It was also cool to see the Ghirlandaios - Michelangelo's first teacher. There is one Michelangelo and two DaVincis. Rachel's favorite was Botticelli's "Birth of Venus". Alex liked the ancient busts the best. Grandma continues to be amazed by everything in Italy. She's right - it is amazing!

After the Uffizi, we went to the underappreciated Bargello Museo. This is a museum that Rachel had really wanted to see last time we were here, but we didn't get a chance. It was really amazing. The highlights for me were the four Michelangelo sculptures, as well as Donatello's "David". I even took a sneaky picture to match the one I took of THE David last trip. Alex proclaimed that he prefers sculpture over painting while in the Bargello. I was really impressed with Alex in this museum. He knew what was housed here before we went in and was able to explain it and find it for us.

Once we were museumed out, we headed for lunch. we were able to find Trattoria Anita - a Rick Steves' recommendation. It was a great value for the price - 3 courses for 8 EU. But, it wasn't ZaZa!

Santa Croce was our last stop, before heading to the hotel for a rest. The kids and I remembered this from our last trip. It was again amazing to see the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo, but not as awe-inspiring as seeing them for the first time. Much of Santa Croce is undergoing restoration right now. It is good to see Italy caring for its amazing treasures. The best part of Santa Croce for Rachel and I was picturing Lucy from "A Room with a View" losing her way in the church and meeting up with the Emersons.

My quote of the day

Be Italian!

Firenze

We arrived in Florence today around 1:00 PM. Mom was a little stressed about going through the subway in Rome to get to Termini to catch the train to Firenze. She was also a little stressed about us having no money and neither of our ATM cards wanting to work. We (well, I) came up with a new phrase. "Be Italian!"
The Italians are so passionate but don't really seem to get too stressed. As opposed to the Croatians who seemed pretty glum while we were there. We want mom to embrace her Italian side.

We checked in at Hotel Casci, and went immediately to our favorite restaurant - ZaZa! For a little more then the price of our horrible meals in Rome, we ate bruschetta, papardelle with boar's sauce, ravioli with walnut sauce, chicken with truffle sauce, tenderloin and ravioli with a beef ragu - topped off with house wine. Amazing!

After our meal we finally had a chance to do what Mom has been dying to do the whole trip - shop! We wandered through the white tented market area near Via Cavour. There was a lot of merchandise - some tacky but most of it actually good. I bought a scarf. Rachel bought a hat and scarf. And the most anticipated purchase of the whole trip was finally completed- Alex's leather jacket. He spent nearly 3 months of allowance as well as some incentive reading program money. But, he thinks it was worth it.

We are now back in our hotel - journaling, blogging, talking, playing DS and relaxing.

Ancient Rome

We returned to Rome from Croatia on Monday night. Our driver Massimo picked us up from the airport and drove us back to our apartment. We were met again by owner Carla - she is such a nice person. Rachel and I headed out to the small grocery down the street and bought some food items to make dinner. It was great to cook ourselves and save money! As usual, we went to bed early, in order to rest up for our big day - touring ancient Rome!

Croatia – Hvar

We woke up early today and headed down to eat our free breakfast before going to the islands. The lobby of our hotel had a grand piano and Alex had been dying to play it since we had arrived. He asked the front desk if he could play and they said only performers were allowed. But this morning some guy was playing, and not very well either. Alex ate and then walked over to the piano to see if he could take a turn. The player and his friends were happy to share, so Alex played some Beethoven, Joplin and Rachmaninoff. He was going to play "Behind the Waterfall" for Grandma when the front desk guy came running over and quite gruffly said "You can't play!" The previous piano playing-turned audience guy proceeded to argue with the front desk guy, during which time we left to catch our cab to the ferry terminal. This has reaffirmed my opinion of Croatia - grouchy!

We took a 9AM, 2-hour long ferry ride from Split to the Croatian island of Hvar. We wanted to be sure and see some of the Dalmatian coastline for which Croatia is famous. The ferry took us to Stari Grad and we took a bus from there to the town of Hvar. Hvar is known for its beach resort atmosphere and it fortress. Built on a Roman Foundation, fortified during the Venetian empire and still in use today for music and cultural activities, the fortress was quite a site. It was about a 20 minute hike, up about 10 stories worth of staired-streets and then along a paved hiking path of switchbacks. We hiked up with a new friend – Nancy – who we met upon exiting the bus. Nancy was really nice - a French-Canadian nurse working in Boston. We also met up with a little cat along the way – Rachel gave it my gluten-free blueberry bar to eat. We toured around the castle, and enjoyed the site of the town below. It was really cool to be inside a medieval castle and see the attached walls surrounding the town.

After hiking back down from the castle, we headed to lunch at Palace Paladini – a recommendation from Nancy’s Rick Steves book. It was pretty good – Alex and Mom had lamb, Rachel had pasta and I had veal. At the end of the meal, our waitress brought grappa for the adults and crepes for the kids! Before boarding the bus back to Stari Grad and our ferry ride, we walked along the coastline. It was very peaceful. There were very few people in the town of Hvar and most shops and restaurants were closed. We could definitely tell that this is a summer beach town. It was fun though – and a nice way to see more of Croatia. Tomorrow we will spend the morning swimming at the hotel before flying back to Rome.

Croatia - Split

We arrived in Split, Croatia by air on Friday night. Checked into the Hotel Meridien Lav, in Podstrana (20 minutes by taxi), and went to bed pretty early.

Today (Saturday), we started the day with a great free breakfast and a walk along the Podstrana shore of the Adriatic Sea. We took the 1:30 pm shuttle back into Split and spent the day there. We ate a traditional Croatian sandwich from a local corner bar, then gelato from a very cranky gelatoria shop owner, walked around the streets, paid three different entry fees to see areas of Diocletian's Palace, climbed the very scary bell tower, and then ate again- this time pizza.

Now it's 8:00 pm, the kids are swimming, mom is emailing and I am blogging when I should be finishing my book. Especially since the only one who reads my travel blogs anyway is my mom and she is here with me! I guess I'll keep it up though since it's kind of like a scrapbook but easier.

So far Croatia is interesting. Way less crowded then Rome. Cleaner in some ways, like no grafitti, and dirtier in others - very strong sewer smell! Some of the people (mostly shopkeepers) are pretty standoffish, although Mom did talk to the ticket guy while we were climbing the bell tower. He said that the name "Listik" is definitely a Split-area family name and that 100 years ago my Great-grandmother Mary probably walked through the same streets we were on today. Very humbling.

Croatians are very fashionable, especially compared to fleece-clad Pacific Northwesterners. Lots of black, leather and heels.

And, actually, our concierge in the hotel has been really helpful- he told us about the sandwiches, gelato and pizza places we went to today. And Rachel bought a doll and the shop owner gave her a little turtle made of sea shells for free, so maybe the people are pretty nice, after all.

Tomorrow we wake up early and take a ferry to see some of the islands. Good night for now!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Luco dei Marsi

Today, after our subway, train and bus rides, we finally arrived in Luco dei Marsi. This is the town that we believe my mom’s grandmother- Maria Gargana was from. We exited the bus near the piazza, and walked down the street to see if we could find a tourist information center. Most shops seemed to be closed, but we did find one open place – some sort of office. Using my small Italian language skills, because the three women in the office knew absolutely no English, I learned the location of the town church and also that we should eat at Ristorante Carallo. We returned to the piazza and walked up the steps to see the town church. We met a Luco man in front of the church who spoke English. He said that the family name Gargana was definitely from the area and there were still family members in the area. He suggested that we check with the town hall to see about family records. We went in to the church, wondering if it was possible that this was where our grandmother and grandfather were married, before taking the boat over. How cool is that? We looked for a church office but nothing was open.

We then headed to lunch at Ristorante Carrallo. It was really nice – traditional Italian and such sweet service. Our server there also knew the Gargana name. She said they might own a tabacchi shop on the main road. After eating, we went past the shop but it was closed. We stopped in at the town hall, and I gave the man a list of the names we were looking for. He said it would be impossible to find the information that day, especially since our bus back to Avezzano was leaving in ½ hour. I left him my address so we’ll see what information, if any, turns up. (All this communication was also done strictly in Italian – I am getting impressed with my abilities!) It is too bad we did not have more time in Luco, and more information before we even arrived in Italy, but it was still interesting to see the town and streets that our ancestors walked before immigrating.

We took the bus – train – subway route back to Rome, stopped and had gelato and pastries for dinner and then back to the apartment to play chess and go to bed.

Tomorrow we fly to Croatia!

In Avezzano

We are now in the Avezzano bus station waiting 1 hour for a bus to Luco dei Marsi. We are waiting because we missed the last bus by like 5 minutes due to my inabilty to speak Italian and the fact that nobody here speaks English. Avezzano is a small industrial town and Luco is even smaller. What adventures await!

-- Posted from my iPhone

Blogging on the train

We are on the train heading to Luco dei Marsi.

This is how we started out-

We woke up at 5:00 am. Walked 2 blocks from our Roma apartment to catch subway #1 to Roma Termini station. We transferred to subway #3 to get to Roma Tiburtino. At Tiburtino we headed to the ticket agent to buy tickets for the 2 hour train ride to Avezzano. When we get to Avezzano we will take a taxi or bus to Luco dei Marsi. And we're doing all this in a combination of Italiano and English. No wonder I messed up and didn't get our tickets stamped. Thank goodness the conductor took pity on me and did not fine us. I just wish the ticket agent had told me about the stamping thing. Or maybe he did - in Italian...

-- Posted from my iPhone

The Papal Audience / Vatican Museum Day

Today we started the day by lining up to get into the Papal Audience at 9:00 AM. We were able to get really good seats near the white barricades. This allowed us to see the Pope up close as he drove by in the Pope-Mobile. It really was pretty cool.

Afterwards, we went and checked in to our VRBO apartment. We were pretty happy upon check-in. I was relieved, especially since it is always a bit disconcerting to rent a place over the internet and wonder if it even exists before getting there. We had only a little time to enjoy the apartment before heading off to get lunch before our 2:30 PM tour of the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel.

And speaking of lunch, that was quite an ordeal. After walking past several places and finally choosing one, Alex ordered a sandwich. The guy came over and pointed toward a table so we told him we had 4 people and sat down. After sitting and waiting for at least 10 minutes without even being given a menu so the rest of us could order, we decided to leave in order to not be late to the Vatican Museum tour. While we were looking at the gelato right next to the sandwich shop, the sandwich owner came running out telling us (well, really yelling at us) something in Italian. Apparantly the sandwich guy had already made us 4 sandwiches. He must have thought we ordered 4 sandwiches when I said we had 4 people. He was pretty mad. And I was too, a bit. After all, if the Italians want to continue to enjoy American money they should at least learn a bit of English. And it was too bad, because the sandwiches would have been a lot better then the awful pizza we ended up eating at the grocery right across from the Vatican Museum entrance.

(Here's an aside - I really don't understand why the most impressive museum in the world also has the ugliest entrance in the world. This is it: )
The Vatican Museum tour started out promising, until the head sets that we all had starting getting radio interference from another tour guide. During our whole 2 hour tour, the head sets went in and out. Alex finally gave up and just looked around. The museum was very crowded - probably 3 or 4 times when we were there in November 2007. I cannot imagine being in Italy during July - the busiest month. The amount of stairs we had to go up and down was crazy too. But when the tour culminated in the Sistine Chapel, it was all worth it. Words cannot describe the feeling of being in the presence of the greatest work of Renaissance art and maybe all time.

After the tour we headed to dinner and then to bed.

Our first day

Today was our first day in Rome! Our flight landed around 9:00AM - this was around 2:00 AM Chicago time, I think. We were very tired. We took a shuttle to the Atlante Garden Hotel, and checked in. Since our room wasn't ready we left our luggage and walked over to St. Peter's Basilica. It was so crowded. We were able to see the Pieta and walk around the church a bit. We then got a quick bite to eat and headed back to the hotel for a nap. When we woke up, we took the bus (#81) from Piazza Risorgimento to pick up our Papal Audience tickets. We walked past Trevi Fountain, took the requisite photos, and stopped for dinner at a place called Chianti. It was very nice. Afterwards, we walked to see the Spanish Steps before taking the bus back to our hotel for sleep!

Rachel and Grandma at Chianti restaurant

We're really going!

Sitting here waiting to board our flight to Rome!

We have about an hour to wait.

I cannot believe we are really going.

Ciao for now!

One less worry...

Every time I tell Rachel I am moving to Italy, she wants to know if the cats would be allowed. I decided to check. Turns out they can come too!

Pet Travel FAQ's

Gluten-Free in Italy

I'm so excited to go to Italy! One of the many reasons is the food. But I have been really strict with gluten-free eating lately, and you know that Italy is of course the land of pasta. And it also turns out that Italy is excellent for gluten-free meals.

Here's a great blog post by the Gluten-Free Girl.

My favorite excerpt...

• You see, in every place we ate in Italy, the waiters and chefs understood. From what I have been told (both here and in Italy), the Italian people have been educated about celiac. Children are now routinely tested for the disease before kindergarten, a test as ritualized as a standard set of vaccinations. If you work in food in Italy, you know how to feed people well, no matter what their allergies and concerns. And here is my favorite fact: adults with diagnosed celiac in Italy are given two days a month off, with pay, to go search out their food.

Maybe I'll just stay!

Maps

I am trying to compile information before we go, including maps.

Here's my first attempt at a personal Google map. This one shows the route from Rome to Luco dei Marsi, San Vincenzo, Casalvieri and back to Rome. These are the towns of mom's Italian ancestors.


View Larger Map



This is a map of Rome, showing sites of importance to us during our stay.


View Rome in a larger map

Traveling Abroad?

Here are some really good sites that I have been using while planning this trip. Just click on the links.

That costs how much?!!!!

What time is it?

What do you think?

Another Trip, Another Blog

Well, I sure did a lousy job trying to blog and post pictures of our East Coast trip this past August. I am going to try and at least get the pictures updated eventually.

But, it's time for another trip around here and that calls for another blog.

You can tell by the name - we are going to Italy! This time, the kids and I are going with Grandma. In addition to the biggies of Rome, Florence and Venice, we hope to see the towns of our ancestors - Luco dei Marsi and San Vincenzo in the Abruzzo region of Italia. We are also taking a trip inside of a trip and flying from Rome to Croatia for 3 days, then back to Rome.

And the name of this blog is inspired by the book of the same name that my grandmother and I shared and loved together. We wanted to visit Italy together and it never happened. I'm so happy that my mom can share the experience with her grandkids, and Grandma Vi can look down and join us too.