Day 14: The "Lasts"

With today being out last day in Italy, we got in our "last" everything: our last monuments, our last balsamic vinaigrette and bread craving, our last gelato--although Kristi skipped this gelato and I had two cones, typical. We woke up kind of early today, although we didn't have any place to be, but we also didn't want to sleep away our last day in Italy. 

Our waiter gave us regular croissants this morning, which wasn't cool. We've been getting chocolate or jelly filled for the past two days; we were spoiled. We were laughing though, because for breakfast, we eat a croissant and two slices of bread with jam... Breakfast of Italian champions, I guess. 

We took new and different streets, just to explore, to get to the Trevi Fountain. We each threw in two coins (right hand over left shoulder, as the tradition goes): one means that we'll return to Rome and two means that we'll find love. We then headed to the Spanish Steps and then to the Pantheon for photos. We went back to a little piazza where we are dinner and happened upon a Sunday market. We explored the market and then just walked around, ducking in and our of shops, getting lost and discovering new fountains and ruins throughout the city. 

For dinner, we followed our noses and ate at a snack bar (this was actually on accident), but the food was delicious!! It was the first time this trip, I'm ashamed to say, that I got fish! We finished up the night with packing our suitcases. As much as we've loved Italy and don't want to say goodbye, we're so ready to be home with our families, in our own beds, where we don't have to use outlet converters and can wash (and dry) our clothes and where bread isn't a meal. It's been a fun two weeks. We've had highs and lows, hot and cold days, but it has been an adventure neither of us (or our parents, I'm sure) will forget. Italy stole our hearts, but our home will always be with the people we love the most! 

Day 13: Pompeii & Naples

Today was our day trip to Pompeii! We took the 6:26am train. We barely made the train (sensing a pattern here), because we forgot our snacks at the B&B so I ran (literally) back, grabbed the snacks and then we ran--we're talking a full on sprint-- to our train. We made it though and that's all that matters! After the hour train ride, we switched to a chater bus... Let me pause here and say that driving is organized chaos in Italy. Whoever has more guts, or the bigger car, wins. Our bus was going down narrow streets and weavin in and out of parked cars with ease. Then there was the fact that we were driving on cobble stone streets. It was an experience.

After another little train ride, we finally arrived to Naples (or Napoli as they call it in Italian)! We got a little turned around when we were trying to find the entrance to the Pompeii site and an older gentleman wearing a hat, walking with a cane and carrying a National Geographic magazine, hollered at us and walked with us to the correct street. It was the cutest thing! We bought our tickets and headed into the site. 

The preservation of the site is amazing! From poetry to tables to artwork on the walls of homes, the volcanic ash preserved the site so well. Between the guide we received with our ticket, Kristi's knowledge and Rick Steve's walking tour, we got a really good feel for what we were seeing and what like was like back in 79 A.D.

They had "fast food" bars, where people would walk up on the street and buy food which was kept hot/cold in inlaid bowls in the counter. We were able to see the holes in the sidewalk outside the bars where the owners would place poles to stretch material over the sidewalk to create shade for their customers. They also had an amazing canal system. They raised their sidewalks to cover lead pipes carting water throughout the town to homes, bathes and drinking fountains. The water that ran down the streets was more like sewage, so they put hop scotch stones in the street so people could cross, but they left just enough room for carts to pass through. They also inlaid white, shimmery stones in their sidewalks that caught the moonlight and lit up the streets so that they could see at night. 

While the casts with the most details aren't pictured here, the bodies were actually really interesting. I was surprised to see that two of the five bodies we saw were actually pretty big, showing hight. It was fascinating to see how the people shuttered, curled into a ball or shielded their faces as the ash came raining down on them.

I could go on and on about Pompeii, but seeing as I'm typing these blog posts out on my phone, I'm going to leave it to the photos to show the rest. For dinner we stopped in Naples, the birthplace of pizza, and got a take away pizza at the so called original pizza place. They only have two kinds: margarita and marinara. This was the pizza place where Julie Roberts the in the movie Eat, Pray, Love. It was so delicious! We are at the train station and unintentionally did every possible insulting thing... We were wearing shorts and workout clothes; we ate pizza with our hands; we were laughing kind of loudly. Sorry, Naples. We were just really hungry. 

Day 12: Rainy, relaxed day in Rome

We slept in a little again today. When we woke up, we could hear the pellets if water hitting the shutters on our window. All of the excitement and motivation to go explore the northern part of Rome, left us. We lazily made ourselves decent enough to go to breakfast and regrouped. We decided to just walk around for the day; let our feet decide what roads to turn down. Thankfully, the drizzle had stopped by the time we left our B&B for good.

We ducked in and out of clothing stores, but with the sun shining, we decided to hit the landmarks we had originally planned to see today. We'll go back by them all on Sunday for photos, since I didn't bring my big camera out today. We wandered to the Trevi Fountain, which is so much bigger than I expected, yet it's tucked between two narrow streets. 

We continued on to the Spanish Steps, which honestly look so much nicer in the movies. There were hoards of people sitting on them eating lunch with flocks if pigeons and other birds overhead swooping down to hopefully get a bite. The Spanish Steps sit in the middle of the very nice shopping district so we wandered the streets and sat in Piazza de Popular (where Rome's original north gate stands) for a little while. 

After a bite to eat we headed towards the Pantheon--you pretty much just follow the bottleneck of tourists once you're a few blocks away from any major site. The Pantheon was really neat! The diameter of the building didn't feel too big, but, when you looked up to the dome, you suddenly felt dwarfed by the monumental size of the structure. 

Rick Steve's claimed in his book that one of the best gelato places in Rome was just north of the Pantheon, so we had to check it out... He was right. Topped with homemade whipping cream, this gelato definitely won our hearts. 

We wandered a little more, but followed the Tiber River to The Vatican (we knew our way back from there) and headed back to our B&B. The rain had made for a very humid and hot afternoon, so we showered and went back out for dinner. We ate a cute place, where one of the waitresses, an older lady, was from California. She sat us at the table next to a couple from Ohio. The waitress had actually just moved to Italy in September from Slovakia, where she taught English to school children. The food and company was good after a long day!

We stopped by the supermarket to grab some snacks for tomorrow (we're going to Pompeii!) and had to grab more gelato from a place near our B&B. They have this one flavor (white chocolate with caramel and hazelnut) that Kristi and I are both obsessed with.

We called it an early night since we have to be up so early for our train to Pompeii!

Day 11: Vatican City

Today was sleep in day! Our reservation for the Varican Muesem wasn't until 3pm and we just planned to explore the city, so why not catch up on a little sleep. We needed it after waking up at 6am for the past week. Our hotel is paired with the cafe on the corner of our block so guests get their breakfast (the second "B" of B&B) there complimentary. We had chocolate croissants and bread and jam. I true Italian breakfast. We were hoping to walk through more ruins, but our tickets didn't work today. So, we headed towards the Tiber River to make our way up to The Vatican. We accidentally stumbled upon the Bocca Della Verita, the stone face (think the movie Roman Holiday) where you stick your hand in the mouth and the myth says your hand will get bitten off if you're a lier. We of course got photos there and then walked up the river and over to Vatican City.

I knew that Vatican City was in Rome. I knew that I was going to see it on this trip. I knew that I would go inside Saint Peter's Basilica. I knew all of this, yet nothing prepared me for today. We crossed the river and turned the corner and there, rising above the other buildings at the end of the street was St. Peter's. I instantly had tears in my eyes; I've seen it on TV, but it's one of those things that I never thought I'd seen in person. It was a "pinch me" moment.

We headed into the church, but because of time had to run over to the Vatican Museum to make our reservation. The museum was beautiful! If I remember correctly it's around 7 miles of artifacts and history. It was all stunning! The history was mind blowing! The last room in the museum was the Sistine Chapel. The zoomed in photograph of God and Adam's fingers touching (where Gid made man) has hung in my parents room for as long as I can remember. Suddenly, I was gazing up at the original all thought up and painted by Michelangelo. We sat in the chapel for maybe 30 minutes; there were so many details to take in. We've been using Rick Steve's audio guide, so we listened to that throughout the museum, chapel and basilica. Using his tip of going through the tour exit door, we were able to slip right back into St. Peter's Basilica and skip the security lines. 

Back in the basilica, I was awed once again by the the grandness of it; it's huge! However, because of the way it was designed, it feels somewhat intiment. Kristi and I picked up on the audio tour where we had left off earlier when we suddenly heard singing. I walked up to the security guard and asked if there was a mass being held. There was! He let us past the gate, right past the main alter under the dome and back to the smaller alter under St. Peter's chair--let me just pause and say that i was having an out-of-body experience. I sat down in the pew, looked up at the light streaming in through the stained glass window of a single white dove and started crying again. I couldn't believe I was there; I felt so blessed. How I wish I could have called my grandmother and spoken to her about it! She would have loved it, but I felt her sitting right there with me, which made me cry even more. The mass was in Italian and it was beautiful! The choir was from Philadelphia   and did an amazing job. It was all just so surreal. I can't even put it into words--and, yes, I'm crying as I'm writing this. 

We stumbled upon the cutest piazza on our way back and decided to grab dinner. The piazza was a perfect little square with restaurant after restaurant. In Italy, they have a person (or two) standing next to the displayed menu and they try to convince you to eat at their establishment. Well, we seemed to be the target of everyone's attention. We were yelled at, taken by the arm and sweet talked by nine different restaurants, four of which offered us free champaign. Kristi was the decision maker tonight, so she chose a place (champaign and a free appetizer). We felt bad though because we only got salads, but we were saving it for gelato. We finally made our way back to our piazza, which is about a 45minute walk from The Vatican and grabbed gelato. It was so good!!! I swear, Rome has had the best gelato of any of the cities... No complaints from those cities though!

Day 10: Florence to Rome

We were sad to say goodbye to Carla this morning; she has been such a wonderful host and has made us feel so at home. However, we were ready to leave Florence. After our relaxing visit in Monterosso, the crowds and street venders were a hard adjustment. We viewed Florence as a needed transition though from Monterosso to Rome. Carla warned us this morning to be very aware of our surroundings in Rome. "It is a big city," she explained, "and has suffered the consequences."

We said our goodbyes and walked about 30 minutes to the train station. Our train to Rome was our first high speed train; we're talking 248km/h. Our ears were popping the whole way, but it was a short hour and a half ride. We got a little lost when trying to find our hotel, even though it was just a block away from the train station. We've heard iffy things about the area near the train station (just to be very alert and aware of your surroundings), so we were all eyes and ears walking around. Our guesthouse seems nice inside though and we have our bathroom which is worth the walk to the sites.

We set out to get lunch and to buy our tickets to the Colosseum. We grabbed lunch at this cute urban restaurant, turned the corner and just like that we were standing in front of what seemed like miles of ruins. To our left, the coliseum, tall and demanding our attention. Directly in front of us was the Roman Foram, somewhat desolate and forgotten, yet with a beautiful aura about it. And to the right, on a hill, a gleaming white marble building with two bronze statues on top... Honestly, I'm still not sure what it is. 

We walked around the Colosseum for about an hour just soaking it all in. Before we walked around the Roman Forum, we grabbed gelato--the best we've had this far, might I add. The forum was really cool. It was Rome's busiest square back in the day. Words and photos can't do it justice! We ended the day with standing in line at the train station to buy our Pompeii tickets for Saturday! Long lines, but worth it for the discounted tickets we got! Tomorrow we're heading to the Vatacin! 

Day 9: Academia & Uffizi

While we might still look and feel a little tired, we felt back to our old selves this morning. With another delicious breakfast from Carla and a call to Academia confirming that they did open at 8:30,  we set out, fingers crossed, that they'd be selling tickets at the door. There were hords of people and many different lines, but we hopped in the right one. Two and a half hours later, we were walking into the museum! It was worth the wait to see David. He was huge, grand; standing 14 feet tall under a glass dome, he controlled the entire gallery. Photos weren't allowed, nor would they do the sculpture justice.

We explored the Piazza di San Lorenzo, which has a market and food market. We grabbed a pizza in the newly renovated upstairs. I ordered what I thought was a veggies and mozzarella pizza, but it ended up being sardines and spinach... I tried a piece, but ended up having to pick the sardines off. I also tried a chocolate granola bar from a vender, which was delicious! We stopped by the train station, wandered around, ducked into a few stores and ended up at The Uffizi Gallery. We waited for about an hour and a half (in the shade, thank goodness) and finally walked in!

The Uffizi Gallery is u-shaped and we followed Rick Steve's audio guide through the museum. With room after room (I think we went in something like 48 rooms) of paintings and statues, it was nice to get a tour if the highlights and interesting pieces of the gallery. Honestly, I felt like Kiera Knightly in Pride & Prejudice when she is going through Mr. Darcy's gallery in his estate: in awe of the beauty. We walked through the gallery for about two hours and then wandered in and out of stores to work up an appetite. 

We ate at a place on a side street by the duomo. We got free bread, so Kristi was happy, and they had good wine, so I was happy. After a leisurely (and long, since we still aren't sure how to politely ask for the check) dinner, we walked home. We gave Carla our laundry this morning and we found it folded on our bed. She's been so wonderful to us! We're calling it a night since we'll be up early to travel to Rome! 

Day 8: We don't follow the crowd

We were so hungry when we woke up this morning. We each ate two apples for dinner last night because we couldn't decide what sounded good. Carla, the B&B owner had an amazing spread in the dining room: jam filled croissants, fresh squeezed orange juice, homemade fig and blackberry jam, homemade biscotti, fresh bread (Florentines don't use salt in their bread), hard boulder eggs, fruit and yogurt, AMERICAN COFFEE (I love her!), and tea for Kristi. We practically waddled out of her apartment; we were so full! 

Walking into the city, we were both a little melancholy. Our stomachs were hurting and we were very tired. We put on a big-girl pants though and hiked up the 400+ stairs to the top of the bell tower where we had panoramic views of the city. We toured the duomo, which has the longest nave in Italy, and went through the duomo museum.

Afterwards, we walked across the Pointe Vecchio, which is the famous bridge with fancy jewelry shops on it. Hoping that food would settle our still upset stomachs, we grabbed lunch at a little cafe and walked up into the countryside. The hour walk took us past Galileo's house, a fortress and the original Florence city wall dating back to the Renaissance era. We had little glimpses of the city, but it wasn't until we hiked up to the San Miniato Basilica that we got AMAZING city views. Inside the church, the Olivetani friars, who study there, we're practicing/singing the gospel. No lights were on in the church, only candelabras on either side of the alter. The dim lighting accompanied by the friars haunting hymns made for a beautiful and moving experience. 

From there, we walked down to the Piazzale Michelangelo and grabbed some delicious gelato. Instead of going into more churches, we wandered around and came upon the Florence School of Leather. We were able to walk through the workshops and watch as the masters worked. Kristi was in heaven! She's been talking about a leather jacket since we landed in Italy eight days ago! Their practice and precision was really cool to see. We walked though the Baptistery, but decided to grab an early, bland and healthy dinner as we still weren't feeling 100%. We chose a little pizzaeria close to the duomo, but weren't very impressed with the food; we're missing Monterosso's fresh tomatoes and Verona's amazing pizzas. When we went in to pay, the waiter gave us two free lemon shots. We were a little hesitant to take them, but, since it was only 6:30 and we were heading home, decided it was harmless. The funny thing is that we both felt better afterwards. We stopped by a minimart and got two bottles of water (We think our upset stomachs might be due to the water) and went home. 

We started looking up museum tickets and Pompeii train tickets, but weren't having luck. Feeling defeated and very tired, we asked Carla for help. She told us that all tickets for tomorrow were sold out. She explained that the Uffici and Accedemia workers aren't sure if they want to work tomorrow morning (I'm not kidding), so they might open at 8am, or they might open at 11am. No good for us. We were frustrated and felt even more tired; I think Carla could tell. She disappeared into the kitchen and came back a few minutes later with tea, homemade biscotti and Nutella. It sounds so simple, but it was so sweet! We honestly felt better after out mini tea party.

With a little more energy, we regained some confidence and some computer research thanks to my mom, we decided that we'll head to Accedemia first thing tomorrow and test out luck with last minute, walk up tickets. Fingers crossed! 

Day 7: Monterosso to Pisa to Florence

Today was our second travel day. We woke up a little early this morning and grabbed breakfast at a bakery in Monterosso, walked around town (you can cover all of Old Town in a leisurely 10 minute walk) and checked out of our hotel. Andrea, the owner of our hotel, helped us so much these past few days; we were sad to leave.

On the train to Pisa, we sat next to an adorable Italian couple, Gulia and Margo, who are both in their 20s. Gulia's English was quite good and Margo wasn't bad either, so we spoke to them on the hour train ride. Giulia is a volleyball player at the university and Margo, 25, is working. It was fun to tell them customs in America compared to Italy. Giulia's jaw dropped when I told her that we pick up pizza with our hands (they eat it with a fork and knife) and we share pizzas (they order a whole pizza for themselves). They were flying to Paris, but had two hours before their flight, so they wanted to go to the Tower. Gulia invited that we all go together. Let me just say that walking around the streets of a foreign city is much easier and less stressful when you're with people who can speak the native language.

We walk to and took a few photos at the Tower before we split so they could catch their flight and we could eat... pizza, of course! We exchanged emails and Facebooks. Giulia offered that next time we come to Italy, we can stay with her, and if she ever comes to the states, she can stay with us. When they went to double kiss us on the cheeks, we hesitated, as I'm sure most Americans do. Giulia asked if we triple kiss in America. When we told her that touching and PDA was frowned upon in America, she was shocked. It got Kristi and I talking... If public hugging and kissing and showing affection was normal in the U.S. we might have less drama, less sneaking around. It's a sweet thought if nothing else. 

After lunch, we went into the Baptisery and Church. The architecture and history were amazing! 

With just 25 minutes until our train, we practically ran back to the station, which is 20 minutes away from the Leaning Tower. There is a famous gelato place on the way back and, although we had just 15 minutes at that point until our train, we  couldn't say no to famous gelato. IT WAS WORTH IT! It was by far the best gelato we've had since we've been here. Kristi got 2 scoops of Nutella and I had a scoop of Nutella and Mint. We got to the train station with 4 minutes until our train left. We ran to the baggage drop to collect our suitcases, ran to the departures listing, stamped our train ticket on the platform and borded the train just 30 seconds before the doors closed. It was close, but we made it! 

When we got off the train, we wanted to walk to our B&B, but we couldn't figure out the direction, so we ended up taking a cab. Carla, the owner along with her daughter Elizabeta, was there to greet us with water (they don't have enough here) and the most amazing little chocolate eggs we've ever tasted. Kristi swears there's Nutella in the center; she ate about six when we first arrived. Carla gave us a map, we regrouped and headed out to explore a little before the sun went down. 

We were headed for a gelato shop Elizabeta recommended when we heard a man shouting, ""Free jacket! Girl in the blue! Blonde hair!" from a leather shop we were walking past. Kristi stopped dead in her tracks (she's been talking about leather jackets all week) and poked her head inside. That's when the man came running out from behind the counter, still yelling, to meet us on the side walk. He bear-hugged me and kissed me on the check. He pointed into the store and told me I could have any jacket I wanted. Kristi, who was standing and laughing at this whole scene, pipped in then and asked why she didn't get a free jacket. He looked at her, said "You, Jennifer Lopez!" (Which I still think should be a compliment, she's beautiful!) and grabbed her leg. It was the weirdest, funniest, "only in Italy" situation. Before we could be persuaded inside, we told him we were on a gelato mission and kept walking. By this point though, we weren't even hungry. So, we walked around the city center to orient ourselves a little better and then walked back to our B&B, which is about a 20 minute walk from the center. 

Back at our B&B, we spent nearly an hour talking to Carla's son (his name escapes me) to et advise on the museums. Our conversation quickly turned to his place of work (he makes commercials and videos of food for television and does artwork exhibitions) and the Italian architecture and culture. It was neat just to talk to him and pick up a few more Italian words. 

Day 6: Sagra del Limone

Today was the Lemon Featival in Monterosso! After our long hike yesterday, we decided to not set alarms and slept in... An 11 hour hike called for 11hours of sleep! We woke up feeling like "a million bucks," as Kristi would say. We took to the streets in Old and New Town Monterosso, which is separated by a tunnel. Everywhere you turned was yellow decorations and lemons. From culinary to jewelry booths, everyone on Monterosso seemed to participate in the festival. For a good reason too, lemon fields line the cliffs surrounding the village.   It's beautiful!

We are breakfast/lunch at our favorite gelato place--we went there on our first night in Monterosso and met Manuel, one of the guys who works there, and started up a conversation. We ten walked over to New Town and figured out our train tickets for tomorrow. With a lemonade (freshly squeezed) slushy in our hands, we climbed down to a flattish area of the cliffs lining the beach. The crashing of the waves over powered the voices of people at the festival. We sat there for an hour maybe, talking and writing in our journals. It was beautiful. 

Dinner was a vegetable salad, which in reality was a plate of sautéed vegetables. The tomatoes here are amazing! I sound crazy, but Kristi will back me up when I say that the tomatoes here are the best we've ever eaten! For dessert, we split a huge slice of chocolate pie. The crust of the bottom though was thicker than American pie, although it was light as air. The chocolate filling had a consistency of pudding, but had bits if chocolate inside. Words don't do it justice! And with a glass of wine... it was delicious!

We went back to our hotel, repacked our things and set back out for the festival bands. A true band (trumpets, flutes, etc) played and we sipped on hot chocolate while we were waiting for the DJ. They're hot chocolate is like pudding before it cools: so hot and insanely thick. It was so thick that the last few drops wouldn't come out of the cup... So we ended up tearing the tops of the styrofoam cups off so we could finish it! I'm sure we looked ridiculous and the townspeople were thinking, "crazy Americans," but we wanted every last drop! It was that good!

When the DJ first came on, no one was dancing, but within 10 minutes, we were all in our feet dancing to every type of music imaginable! It was so much fun! I danced with an older gentleman--we're talking grandpa, he was adorable. Dancing with the locals, meeting a few other Americans and the whole night were the perfect way to spend our last night in Monterosso!

PS - if you were curious, we were a little sore from the 19 mile hike yesterday, but not too bad!