The focus for everyone takes a very tangible shift today. We are anxious but not to see a sight, or have an experience, meet a deadline, etc. but instead to get home. It's funny how you set out on a remarkable journey and excitedly bid adieu the familiar and people you love and then there is that marked moment when you've had enough and are ready for home again. We are ready for our own beds, our own showers, our own food and of course, the people we love. Today is that day. We pack it all up, board the bus, head to the airport and home.
Carmen does not miss any opportunities to tell a sleepy bus full about a few remaining landmarks that we are passing on the way to the airport. She follows us inside, makes sure we are all checked in to our Lufthansia flight and then hugs each of us and waves us goodbye. We have about 15 hours of travel in front of us, from the hour and a half flight to Germany, two hour layover and 11 hour plane ride from Germany to Houston. We are much quieter, sleeping and sights set on home. We arrive loaded with a lifetime of memories, bags and bags of souvenirs and camera's full of photo's. In the days and weeks to come, we will share our stories and photo's with loved ones and maybe even begin the daydream of when and where we will return to Italy again.
Next stop Greece in 2011 which includes three days in Athens, four days cruising on a commercial cruise ship to four major islands with day time excursions on each and a fairwell evening back in Athens. I will be pricing a Go Ahead Tour via EF (swankier hotels in the city center, swankier meals, luggage moved about for you throughout the tour, etc.) for July of 2012 that will either take us to Amsterdam, Luxembourg, Brussels and Paris OR a tour that spends days in the countrysides of Paris and includes a few days in the city center. It has been my pleasure leading such a remarkable group of people on such a fantastic journey and I hope we might travel together again.
Arrevaderci,
Lisa
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Hotel Hilary
Pasquale has deposited us safely at our hotel, has accepted our tip and thanks to him and off he goes for a vacation with his onwn family. Our last night in Rome is concluded with a dinner of pasta pomodoro al dente, breaded veal, roasted garlic potatoes and dessert. We were the only ones in this newly remodeled hotel, thus dinner was very much a family meal as this is what we've become over the course of our journey. The meal concluded with speeches of gratitude for the children who were so wonderful throughout the tour, closing thoughts from me to the group about our remarkable journey and of course, how much we appreciated all that Carmen did for our group.
Carmen, who jokingly claims to be "27" but has a 30 year old son and has been working for EF tours for 15 years and is, thus, much more "mature" than 27. She is responsible for making sure we never waited in any line, had every ticket, reservation, tour guide, bus ride, etc. right on cue with no glitches at any time, during our stay, which is remarkable. She spent the entire tour making sure that we were as happy as could be expected, with the only exception being out of her control at the hotel in Florence, though she certainly threatened them plenty at this stop. She spent most of her time in the bus with microphone in hand for sharing all that she knows about amazing landmark from Milan to Sorrento and back to Rome. She is clearly as knowledgeable as any academic and cares deeply about the best parts of her country. She worked very hard to get to know each of us, spent time teaching us fun hand gestures and key words used in Italy and accommodated all of our needs to the best of her ability. As we leave Italy, we will leave behind a friend.
Different members of our group chose to stand and give thanks for various people and help they've rec'd throughout the tour and just overall gratitude for all they've experienced. We'll rest our heads for a few hours, pack up and leave the hotel for the airport at 3:45am. Our rooms are the direct opposite of any European hotels as they are brand new and huge. The weather is cool so we are all able to shower, spread out and pack with the windows open before settling in for a 5 hour nap.
Carmen, who jokingly claims to be "27" but has a 30 year old son and has been working for EF tours for 15 years and is, thus, much more "mature" than 27. She is responsible for making sure we never waited in any line, had every ticket, reservation, tour guide, bus ride, etc. right on cue with no glitches at any time, during our stay, which is remarkable. She spent the entire tour making sure that we were as happy as could be expected, with the only exception being out of her control at the hotel in Florence, though she certainly threatened them plenty at this stop. She spent most of her time in the bus with microphone in hand for sharing all that she knows about amazing landmark from Milan to Sorrento and back to Rome. She is clearly as knowledgeable as any academic and cares deeply about the best parts of her country. She worked very hard to get to know each of us, spent time teaching us fun hand gestures and key words used in Italy and accommodated all of our needs to the best of her ability. As we leave Italy, we will leave behind a friend.
Different members of our group chose to stand and give thanks for various people and help they've rec'd throughout the tour and just overall gratitude for all they've experienced. We'll rest our heads for a few hours, pack up and leave the hotel for the airport at 3:45am. Our rooms are the direct opposite of any European hotels as they are brand new and huge. The weather is cool so we are all able to shower, spread out and pack with the windows open before settling in for a 5 hour nap.
If ever we are to run in to royalty or movie stars, it's today in Capri.
Capri is on tap for today. We have to check out of our hotel at 8am, after breakfast and we are off to the pier to catch a ride on the "jetfoil." Oh boy.
We are all prepared for a hot day on the water and up to Capri (pronounced "Caaah-pree" with the heavy accent being on the "Ca" and not the "pri" as we say it at home.) We've sunscreened ourselves, put on shorts and carrying umbrellas to block the sun. We board a vessel that is clearly a ferry boat of a sort, but nice. It's got plush seats in an interrior cabin, TV's mounted, air conditioning, etc. and the best part is that this thing really moves as it takes about 300 passengers across the Bay of Naples to the isle of Capri. The minute we step off of the boat, we realize it's cold, breezy and threatening rain. Uh-Oh. We meet our guide "Sasha" at the pier and board another smaller boat that will carry only our group around one side of Capri and back again. This puts us close to the beatiful turquoise water and Sasha points out caves, red coral, and the hilltop mansions where the rich and famous live. As we near the edge of the first side, we see multiple yachts anchored of off the coast but what has really captured our attention are the rain clouds that are growing angrier by the minute and we are decoys in an open air boat and all dressed in our sun wear. Sure enough....we are caught in a terrible rain storm, all huddled together and miserably cold. Our boat captain drives us quickly to a grotto and pulls in to shelter us while the bigger part of the storm passes. We are shivering and thus, wavering between being miserable and laughing about this misadventure. We made our way back to the pier safely after the rain stopped and hoping that we would dry out quickly. We would now travel by "funicular" which is essentially a hillside gondola/train that would deposit you into the hilltop square that is meant for shopping. This whole island is packed today and bustling with "mainlanders" coming over to shop at the high end stores such as Gucci, Prada, etc. It is clear that not just anyone gets to live or vacation here and that only the rich and famous spend more than a day on Capri, as we were. While the majority of the group went on a walking tour towards the Gardens of Augustus, famous for producing the flowers of amazing perfumes, etc. http://touritaly.org/tours/capri/TheGardensOfAugustusInCapri.htm
Our girls were shivering and miserable so we called a necessary time out for the four of us to help them warm up and salvage the remainder of the day. What better way to do this than by having a hot chocolate and pasteries, in a sheltered corner, while drying out. After enjoying this stop, taking a bathroom break that had a hand blower that we used to dry clothes, we were ready to take in Capri the remainder of the day. We met our group back in the main square, just in time for dinner at a local pizzaria which offered us pizza, or pasta or swordfish. Mackenzie and I ordered pizza's, Madelyn Pasta and Patrick swordfish so we could sample and share. Our whole group dined together here and then we set out on our own to shop at the top or take the funicular back down to the pier area for less expensive items.
The scenery around capri reminds me of a place where an Audrey Hepburn movie might have been filmed. It really is the stomping ground of the rich and famous as noted by Danna and Suzanne who paid the double whammy to sit and people watch. Danna said she'd never seen so many Louis Voutton bags being shuttled about. People were tanned in crisp white pants, big floppy hats, jackie o glasses, gold jewelry, fashionable in every way.
We bought the girls sweatshirts that say "Capri" on them and have a small italian flag emboidered on the sleeve, to help them warm up for today and also to have unique jackets for school this year. Expensive, Si'. But a good buy given that we'd had a chilly start to our day. We had time to sit on a bench and watch the sailboats go by and rest our weary feet before boarding the Jetfoil again. When waving goodbye to Capri from the departing jetfoil, we would ride farther across the bay to Naples and would be picked up by Pasquale. After the three boat rides and rainstorm, Pasquale and our charter bus were a welcomed sight. The bus ride back to Rome (3 hours) was very quiet as most were asleep with exhaustion and contentment. This was the official end of our journey as our last night in Rome would be a fairwell dinner and obligatory nap before getting up at the crack for the airport.
We are all prepared for a hot day on the water and up to Capri (pronounced "Caaah-pree" with the heavy accent being on the "Ca" and not the "pri" as we say it at home.) We've sunscreened ourselves, put on shorts and carrying umbrellas to block the sun. We board a vessel that is clearly a ferry boat of a sort, but nice. It's got plush seats in an interrior cabin, TV's mounted, air conditioning, etc. and the best part is that this thing really moves as it takes about 300 passengers across the Bay of Naples to the isle of Capri. The minute we step off of the boat, we realize it's cold, breezy and threatening rain. Uh-Oh. We meet our guide "Sasha" at the pier and board another smaller boat that will carry only our group around one side of Capri and back again. This puts us close to the beatiful turquoise water and Sasha points out caves, red coral, and the hilltop mansions where the rich and famous live. As we near the edge of the first side, we see multiple yachts anchored of off the coast but what has really captured our attention are the rain clouds that are growing angrier by the minute and we are decoys in an open air boat and all dressed in our sun wear. Sure enough....we are caught in a terrible rain storm, all huddled together and miserably cold. Our boat captain drives us quickly to a grotto and pulls in to shelter us while the bigger part of the storm passes. We are shivering and thus, wavering between being miserable and laughing about this misadventure. We made our way back to the pier safely after the rain stopped and hoping that we would dry out quickly. We would now travel by "funicular" which is essentially a hillside gondola/train that would deposit you into the hilltop square that is meant for shopping. This whole island is packed today and bustling with "mainlanders" coming over to shop at the high end stores such as Gucci, Prada, etc. It is clear that not just anyone gets to live or vacation here and that only the rich and famous spend more than a day on Capri, as we were. While the majority of the group went on a walking tour towards the Gardens of Augustus, famous for producing the flowers of amazing perfumes, etc. http://touritaly.org/tours/capri/TheGardensOfAugustusInCapri.htm
Our girls were shivering and miserable so we called a necessary time out for the four of us to help them warm up and salvage the remainder of the day. What better way to do this than by having a hot chocolate and pasteries, in a sheltered corner, while drying out. After enjoying this stop, taking a bathroom break that had a hand blower that we used to dry clothes, we were ready to take in Capri the remainder of the day. We met our group back in the main square, just in time for dinner at a local pizzaria which offered us pizza, or pasta or swordfish. Mackenzie and I ordered pizza's, Madelyn Pasta and Patrick swordfish so we could sample and share. Our whole group dined together here and then we set out on our own to shop at the top or take the funicular back down to the pier area for less expensive items.
The scenery around capri reminds me of a place where an Audrey Hepburn movie might have been filmed. It really is the stomping ground of the rich and famous as noted by Danna and Suzanne who paid the double whammy to sit and people watch. Danna said she'd never seen so many Louis Voutton bags being shuttled about. People were tanned in crisp white pants, big floppy hats, jackie o glasses, gold jewelry, fashionable in every way.
We bought the girls sweatshirts that say "Capri" on them and have a small italian flag emboidered on the sleeve, to help them warm up for today and also to have unique jackets for school this year. Expensive, Si'. But a good buy given that we'd had a chilly start to our day. We had time to sit on a bench and watch the sailboats go by and rest our weary feet before boarding the Jetfoil again. When waving goodbye to Capri from the departing jetfoil, we would ride farther across the bay to Naples and would be picked up by Pasquale. After the three boat rides and rainstorm, Pasquale and our charter bus were a welcomed sight. The bus ride back to Rome (3 hours) was very quiet as most were asleep with exhaustion and contentment. This was the official end of our journey as our last night in Rome would be a fairwell dinner and obligatory nap before getting up at the crack for the airport.
Ahhhh Sorrento
It's easy to say that at this point we are overwhelmed with each new turn. Just when we think we've seen the best thing we'll ever see, wham, the next new adventure proves to be as good, or better, than the last. Sorrento brings us to an entirely new adventure in that we are now tapdancing along the edge of the Meditteranean ocean and then into the Bay of Naples. (Sorrento and Naples are neighbors and are situated along the bay.) We wound up and down a hillside that was steep but overlooked the beautiful turquoise bay on our right. Our hotel "Il Faro" is across from the pier and thus down the hill from our bus stop in Sorrento. The hotel has sent a van to collect our luggage, which frees us to shop for a few hours on the hilltop before dinner. We divide up into our family groups and take off. Sorrento is indeed good shopping and seems to have a bit of everything we've found individually in each city so far. Murano Glass, Florentine Leather, Cameo's, lots of lemon inspired products, etc. The girls had been saving their money to spend for here so they both had enough to buy a really nice leather purse, scarves, earrings and Mackenzie found a "clearance" bin leather jewelry box. I have enjoyed one of the two purses that I bought in 2007, on almost a daily basis so I managed to find one that is the same color and about the same size as the one I have already. Patrick kept admiring a leather carry on bag in each store so while he was in a neighboring store with the girls, I picked one up for him for fathers day, which would be tomorrow, and managed to hide it amongst the many other bags of loot we were carrying around.
The girls and I enjoyed a gelato at undoubtedly the best gelato stop so far. With Lemon's being such a big part of the landscape here, I couldn't resist ordering mine in the lemone and it was just like eating a fresh lemon. The girls of course, had something gooey with chocolate. Patrick has discovered "Granita's" which is best described as a small glass with fresh whipping cream, then hawaiin shave ice infused with espresso, then topped with more heavy whipping cream. He had his first two in Florence and was determined to find another one here. Mission accomplished.
We met most of our group in the central square and then had an interesting time traversing the cliffside 100 steps/stairs down to the shore area and made our way to our hotel. This is a very sweet, mom and pop hotel that one might expect to stay at a seaside resort in Europe. Carol said when she was waiting to go up to her room she noticed the owner pulled out a hankerchief and polish the button to the elevator. So while this isn't at all a posh, new, American hotel at all, this is a charming, well loved family run boutique hotel.
Tonight we will enjoy a one of a kind experience, paid for by EF tours to make up for the bum hotel experience in Florence. We were taxi'd back up the hill to a local theater to enjoy an evening of traditional Neopolitan dancing and singing. While it was all in Italian, it was charming, entertaining, fascinating, etc. The place was once a hotbed of upper crust but now it was half full of either tourists like us or Italian's on vacation. Everyone was served champagne or whatever drinks they wanted during the hour and a half long show. At the end, the audience was invited to dance about on the stage with each other or the performers. While the evening had us up very late and we had yet another early start to our day, it was worth the exhaustion to see this very charming show. Thanks EF!
Back to our rooms, that are spacious and clean, for a good nights sleep.
Buona Notte Sorrento!
The girls and I enjoyed a gelato at undoubtedly the best gelato stop so far. With Lemon's being such a big part of the landscape here, I couldn't resist ordering mine in the lemone and it was just like eating a fresh lemon. The girls of course, had something gooey with chocolate. Patrick has discovered "Granita's" which is best described as a small glass with fresh whipping cream, then hawaiin shave ice infused with espresso, then topped with more heavy whipping cream. He had his first two in Florence and was determined to find another one here. Mission accomplished.
We met most of our group in the central square and then had an interesting time traversing the cliffside 100 steps/stairs down to the shore area and made our way to our hotel. This is a very sweet, mom and pop hotel that one might expect to stay at a seaside resort in Europe. Carol said when she was waiting to go up to her room she noticed the owner pulled out a hankerchief and polish the button to the elevator. So while this isn't at all a posh, new, American hotel at all, this is a charming, well loved family run boutique hotel.
Tonight we will enjoy a one of a kind experience, paid for by EF tours to make up for the bum hotel experience in Florence. We were taxi'd back up the hill to a local theater to enjoy an evening of traditional Neopolitan dancing and singing. While it was all in Italian, it was charming, entertaining, fascinating, etc. The place was once a hotbed of upper crust but now it was half full of either tourists like us or Italian's on vacation. Everyone was served champagne or whatever drinks they wanted during the hour and a half long show. At the end, the audience was invited to dance about on the stage with each other or the performers. While the evening had us up very late and we had yet another early start to our day, it was worth the exhaustion to see this very charming show. Thanks EF!
Back to our rooms, that are spacious and clean, for a good nights sleep.
Buona Notte Sorrento!
Marco's Pompeii (part two)
Before entering Pompeii I think we all might have expected to be a little bored. This site dates back as early as 8th century BC and the date of the Vesuvias erruption that froze Pompeii in time is 79AD. I mean, just how much excitement can we expect when walking miles through this ancient civilization that is sure to start looking the same after about the first ten minutes? Umm...enter Marco. Marco is our Pompeii guide that is best described by Carmen as "delicious." She's right. He's got every female swooning, from Madelyn all the way up the chain and all of the guys feeling defeated, before we ever get started. If we came to Italy hoping to set our sights on the stereotypical beautiful male Italian, here he is. Marco. Marco isn't just handsome but he's also a true academic. He's got a Ph.d in some form of history but has made himself an expert in all things Pompeii. What makes him unique and Pompeii anything but boring is that he uses a "storyteller" style of talking about Pompeii while we walk. He chooses various people in our group to become the important people of Pompeii and sticks to the story throughout the whole hour and a half. We walk slowly through only one small portion of Pompeii that ends up being two miles in total. One of our first stops is at an amphitheater area where Gay and Dennis showed us just how amazing the acoustics are by singing Amazing Grace together. I am sure they will never forget it, as none of us will. We continue to walk in and out of structures to see frescoe's, examples of advanced architectural elements. At one point the adults went in to the "brothel" area with Marco while the kids stayed with me and played in a drinking fountain that is still fed by a spring and carried by an aqueduct that was used by the people of Pompeii. They were giggling, splashing and then played a bit of hide and seek in the walls of Pompeii. It was really joyful for me to watch them play and every minute was a picture. We went to a big open area that was surely a courtyard for public events. It's now a grassy knoll of sort and we continued to enjoy photo ops and listen to our dreamy Marco. It's clear that Marco loves Pompeii because of the stories he so passionately tells, but he also stops to point out where vandals have carved their names into walls with stories like "Mario was here." He's quick to call them "stupid" and shakes his head at the lack of respect. Of course we agree, but luckily the vandalism is sparse and he has to point it out for us to really notice. Pompeii is so huge that there is no way it can all be gaurded, thus making it vulnerable to these people with lack of moral judgement. We ended our tour by looking at an area of cataloged items excavated from the area, such as statuettes and vases, urns, etc. It was sad to say goodbye to Marco and Pompeii was certainly bigger "wow" than we thought. We capped the day by enjoying some lemon and orange juice before hopping the bus to Sorrento.
Pompeii or Bust (Part One)
This is where I am supposed to talk about how awful Pompeii is because Joe, Debbie and Derek changed their minds about visiting Pompeii on the "Free day" in Rome and instead, hung out with us. I will say vehemently, that I still think they made the right choice, but I am afraid I will not be able to report a sad story about Pompeii. Today was wonderful in every way.
The drive from Rome to Pompeii was a needed break but was also another glorious look outside the windows at areas in the Southern regions of Italy. Ironically, the area around Pompeii looks a lot like the Texas City in that it's a very industrial (read as UGLY) area until you drive right into the area around Pompeii. Carmen did point out that we have entered the region of oranges and lemon's which will become present in our drinks, on our plates and in the swag for sale at gift shops from Pompeii, to Sorrento, to our last stop at Capri.
When I traveled to Italy in 2007 with my pal Anne, I regretted not having bought hand carved Cameo's for my girls, as Italy is known for it's hand crafted Cameo's, especially around the Ponte Vecchio in Florence. I was determined not to make that mistake twice and Patrick was fully on board here too. Carmen assured us to wait until Pompeii and that she'd take us to a nice Cameo store so this is where we kicked our day off when we exited the bus to Pompeii. In the shop, we were welcomed and then gathered around a very old man, who had been carving cameo's from sea shells there for over 30 years. He spoke ZERO English but had a smile bigger than Dallas and was happy to sit and entertain the kids with his carving abilities, long after the adults moved away to shop for cameo's. The prices were much much better than at the Ponte Vecchio and the service was charmning. Mission accomplished in that we bought the girls cameo earrings of their choosing, two small rings for me, and a beautiful cameo pendant for my sister as her birthday has passed during our being in Italy. We were not alone as it seemed like most everyone was shopping for a cameo of some sort before heading across the street to Pompeii.
We walked through some stalls and were immediately taken back by the mass of the lemons there. They were double fisters, about the size of cantaloupe's. Every vendor offered fresh squeezed lemonaide or orange juice made from these beautiful fruits grown locally. This is undoubtedly "Limoncello" ground zero as well. Limoncello is an after dinner liquor that may as well be a whisky shooter. The Lemon in it makes you think it'd be sweet and savory but instead, it's enough to burn all the way down and finish with a cough. I'm sure someone, somewhere, thinks it's delicious. :-(
We were able to enjoy a fixed menu lunch at a swanky hotel that is perched near the entrance of Pompeii, or a self serve lunch in which you could pick and choose the pieces to your meal. Everyone except for Patrick and the girls and I chose the fixed menu meal and said it was great. Pizza, wine/soda's and dessert. Patrick and the girls and I had a great meal, filled with local veggies which we have been missing in the land of carbs. Patrick and I had a plate of roasted chicken with eggplant, carrots, roasted potatoes, peas, roasted red and yellow peppers and zuchinni. Mackenzie had ravioli and Madelyn had Lasagna and we all shared a big bowl of fresh cherries and a plate of carprese (roma's, mozerella and basil)
Now that we've shopped and filled our guts...it's time to enjoy Pompeii.
The drive from Rome to Pompeii was a needed break but was also another glorious look outside the windows at areas in the Southern regions of Italy. Ironically, the area around Pompeii looks a lot like the Texas City in that it's a very industrial (read as UGLY) area until you drive right into the area around Pompeii. Carmen did point out that we have entered the region of oranges and lemon's which will become present in our drinks, on our plates and in the swag for sale at gift shops from Pompeii, to Sorrento, to our last stop at Capri.
When I traveled to Italy in 2007 with my pal Anne, I regretted not having bought hand carved Cameo's for my girls, as Italy is known for it's hand crafted Cameo's, especially around the Ponte Vecchio in Florence. I was determined not to make that mistake twice and Patrick was fully on board here too. Carmen assured us to wait until Pompeii and that she'd take us to a nice Cameo store so this is where we kicked our day off when we exited the bus to Pompeii. In the shop, we were welcomed and then gathered around a very old man, who had been carving cameo's from sea shells there for over 30 years. He spoke ZERO English but had a smile bigger than Dallas and was happy to sit and entertain the kids with his carving abilities, long after the adults moved away to shop for cameo's. The prices were much much better than at the Ponte Vecchio and the service was charmning. Mission accomplished in that we bought the girls cameo earrings of their choosing, two small rings for me, and a beautiful cameo pendant for my sister as her birthday has passed during our being in Italy. We were not alone as it seemed like most everyone was shopping for a cameo of some sort before heading across the street to Pompeii.
We walked through some stalls and were immediately taken back by the mass of the lemons there. They were double fisters, about the size of cantaloupe's. Every vendor offered fresh squeezed lemonaide or orange juice made from these beautiful fruits grown locally. This is undoubtedly "Limoncello" ground zero as well. Limoncello is an after dinner liquor that may as well be a whisky shooter. The Lemon in it makes you think it'd be sweet and savory but instead, it's enough to burn all the way down and finish with a cough. I'm sure someone, somewhere, thinks it's delicious. :-(
We were able to enjoy a fixed menu lunch at a swanky hotel that is perched near the entrance of Pompeii, or a self serve lunch in which you could pick and choose the pieces to your meal. Everyone except for Patrick and the girls and I chose the fixed menu meal and said it was great. Pizza, wine/soda's and dessert. Patrick and the girls and I had a great meal, filled with local veggies which we have been missing in the land of carbs. Patrick and I had a plate of roasted chicken with eggplant, carrots, roasted potatoes, peas, roasted red and yellow peppers and zuchinni. Mackenzie had ravioli and Madelyn had Lasagna and we all shared a big bowl of fresh cherries and a plate of carprese (roma's, mozerella and basil)
Now that we've shopped and filled our guts...it's time to enjoy Pompeii.
Italy loves Children as much as Rednecks love Nascar.
There isn't one place we've ventured into (hotels, gelaterias, retail vendors, restaurants) in which the little girls on tour aren't met with an especially enduring "ciao bella" and adoring looks. As apparent it is that Italy loves children, it is very clear that the younger the better. As the baby of the group, Madelyn is a rock star at every turn. She has had her cheeks stroked, pinched or patted, been called "picollina" or "princepesa" and even got the staunch customs agent in Rome to smile and interract with her. In times when adults or even the other children are told "non," if Madelyn needs something, or a bathroom, she gets the red carpet with a smile. Thus, I would say that a small child would be the perfect accessory for anyone taking a trip to Italy.
This is also a good time to note that our "children" ranged from Madelyn (7), to Megan and Mackenzie (10), Alexis (11), Savannah (14) and Megan (17, who is more an adult at this point than a kid) were unbelievable to watch on this tour. No whining, complaining, slumping, moping, at all. It was hot most of the tour, lots of moving, lots of waking up early to get going, lots of standing in lines, lots of history which can be very boring to kids, whacky bathrooms, funny food, etc. and they couldn't have been any better. We rec'd many many compliments from our tour guide, Carmen, who said she could not believe it how well the girls all behaved. It really is remarkable to see how awesome these kids are and knowing how much they have learned on such an adventure.
They added a fun dimension to the tour and I know all of us will have even fonder memories of our tour because of having them there with us.
This is also a good time to note that our "children" ranged from Madelyn (7), to Megan and Mackenzie (10), Alexis (11), Savannah (14) and Megan (17, who is more an adult at this point than a kid) were unbelievable to watch on this tour. No whining, complaining, slumping, moping, at all. It was hot most of the tour, lots of moving, lots of waking up early to get going, lots of standing in lines, lots of history which can be very boring to kids, whacky bathrooms, funny food, etc. and they couldn't have been any better. We rec'd many many compliments from our tour guide, Carmen, who said she could not believe it how well the girls all behaved. It really is remarkable to see how awesome these kids are and knowing how much they have learned on such an adventure.
They added a fun dimension to the tour and I know all of us will have even fonder memories of our tour because of having them there with us.
A not so free day in Rome. Thank Goodness
Rome is a bustling city that is always awake and not so easy to navigate. It's a modern city that is built around an incredible history, thus an even juxtaposition between old and new. Before we ever left, I knew that we wouldn't want our "free day" to be free. This would mean each of us would head out into the city, in our own directions, armed only with a map. NO thanks. So I collected 10 euros from everyone and offered this to Carmen and a small portion to Pasquale to be our guides for the greater part of today. We headed out at 10am (hallelujah! We are whipped) after a terrace top breakfast and our first stop, Capuchin Crypt beneath the Capuchin Church of the Immaculate Conception (1645). http://www3.sympatico.ca/tapholov/pages/bones.html
If you've never visited a catacombs then you will not be able to fully appreciate the complete oddity of this place as I can only say that it's catacombs on steriods. The entire crypt is small but every square inch of it is decorated with carefully arranged bones of monks. It was disturbing enough that I can see this as a teenagers delight and enough for Madelyn to have to be carried by me, facing the opposite wall with windows. Yikes.
We left the "church" and strolled leisurely through several piazza's, with Carmen giving us the history during our journey to the Pantheon. We very much enjoyed the one room temple built for the gods of Ancient Rome in 126 A.D. Especially remarkable (other than the fact that for centuries this was the largest unsupported dome erected) were the tombs of perhaps the most significant king of Italy Vittorio Emmanuel II and the wife of king Umberto I, Margherita. Interesting fact is that the most popular pizza, "the margherita" is a tribute to Umberto's wife and represents the flag of Italy by using tomato sauce (red), mozerella (white) and a sprig of basil (green).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon,_Rome
After leaving the Pantheon, we made our way to the Spanish steps which included time for shopping for street art and it was certainly time for a gelato!! Then on to the most beautiful square in all of Rome, Piazza Navona. It's a busy and very big square that has the central "Fountain of four Rivers" by Bernini that is certainly impressive. There are beautiful buildings surrounding the large square, restaurants and there is an abundance of street artists, musicians and children playing in the square with adults sitting around fountains. We would use this as a meeting place and allow the group to split up into smaller groups to go off shopping or for lunch and stay near the piazza, while Carmen had to check in to the EF offices today. She would meet us back her at 6pm in time to walk to dinner and then head out with she and Pasquale for an unbelievable night tour by bus.
I can't speak for the rest of the group, but I can tell you that Patrick and the girls and I enjoyed a delicious, if not the best meal on tour, during this free time. We made our way out of the square back to the area near the Pantheon and enjoyed four completely different meals that we could share: Steak and Chicory for Patrick, Risotto di Funghi for me, Ravioli with tomato sauce and parmesian for Mackenzie and Tortellini with ham and white sauce for Madelyn. We also shared a plate of melon with proscuitto and two samples of bruschetta. One with anchovy's (salty) and one traditional with fresh tomatoes and mozerella. This meal set us back $100 but was leisurely and completely delicious. We enjoyed shopping time in the alleyways until we made our way back to Piazza Novana. Once back in the square, we found most of our group sitting on benches and enjoying the accordian player on one end of the square or sax player at the other end. We were entertained for about an hour by a street performer who gathered a crowd to watch him break free from a straight jacket and chains, followed by a group of young 20something men who were fascinating break dancers.
When met by Carmen, we walked together to our dinner location, which was upstairs in an upscale restaurant. We had delicious lasagna for our first course, followed by veal cutlets and salad for our second serving and a delicious Italian pudding with fresh berries, which has a fanciful name that escapes me. It was much like Creme Brule' with berries on top. Of course there were many bottles of wine (prosecco or a nice red at most every meal) flowing at each table for the very low price of 8 euros per bottle. All local, all delicious.
We topped our day with the best 15 euros money can buy, for 2 and a half hours of "Rome by night" by tour bus. I wish I would have written down every single thing we saw, but I will do my best. Carmen talked her way through the city while en route to a hilltop view of all of Rome, thanks to Pasquale. This isn't a stop that bus drivers can get to but Pasquale is no ordinary bus driver. He's been doing this for 30 years and it shows. We arrived at this hilltop area just in time to see a bride and groom in a convertible Rolls Royce, driving off with a long vail flowing off of the back of hte car. It was hard to tell whether this was a real wedding or a photo shoot, but the lack of an audience tells me it was likely a photo shoot. We had to cross the street in front of armed gaurds outside of the home of the embassador to Spain, but it was worth the moment of unease. On one side of us was a beautiful church with full walled fountain (hence the photo shoot) and on the other side, an overlook to the whole entire city below. There was no way to go wrong here when snapping photo's.
We passed many amazing sights, which were lit up by the amber glow of street lights, making them more beautiful than in the daytime. Even when seeing the same things we saw earlier in the day (colloseum, roman forum) they seemed like completely different structures. To the best of my memory, we saw Trajan's Forum, The Colloseum and Palatine Hill/Roman Forum area, Circus Maximus and perhaps the most impressive view at night are the Baths of Carcalla which are now used as a concert venue in the summer. http://www.rome-in-italy.com/PHOTOS/rome-antique/Thermes-de-Caracalla_3595.jpg
We would bid adieu to Joe, Debbie and Derek, who are leaving the tour to head home at 4am in the morning, while the rest of us would pack our minds and our bags and head into the extention portion of the tour. First stop Pompeii!!
Ciao,
Lisa
If you've never visited a catacombs then you will not be able to fully appreciate the complete oddity of this place as I can only say that it's catacombs on steriods. The entire crypt is small but every square inch of it is decorated with carefully arranged bones of monks. It was disturbing enough that I can see this as a teenagers delight and enough for Madelyn to have to be carried by me, facing the opposite wall with windows. Yikes.
We left the "church" and strolled leisurely through several piazza's, with Carmen giving us the history during our journey to the Pantheon. We very much enjoyed the one room temple built for the gods of Ancient Rome in 126 A.D. Especially remarkable (other than the fact that for centuries this was the largest unsupported dome erected) were the tombs of perhaps the most significant king of Italy Vittorio Emmanuel II and the wife of king Umberto I, Margherita. Interesting fact is that the most popular pizza, "the margherita" is a tribute to Umberto's wife and represents the flag of Italy by using tomato sauce (red), mozerella (white) and a sprig of basil (green).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon,_Rome
After leaving the Pantheon, we made our way to the Spanish steps which included time for shopping for street art and it was certainly time for a gelato!! Then on to the most beautiful square in all of Rome, Piazza Navona. It's a busy and very big square that has the central "Fountain of four Rivers" by Bernini that is certainly impressive. There are beautiful buildings surrounding the large square, restaurants and there is an abundance of street artists, musicians and children playing in the square with adults sitting around fountains. We would use this as a meeting place and allow the group to split up into smaller groups to go off shopping or for lunch and stay near the piazza, while Carmen had to check in to the EF offices today. She would meet us back her at 6pm in time to walk to dinner and then head out with she and Pasquale for an unbelievable night tour by bus.
I can't speak for the rest of the group, but I can tell you that Patrick and the girls and I enjoyed a delicious, if not the best meal on tour, during this free time. We made our way out of the square back to the area near the Pantheon and enjoyed four completely different meals that we could share: Steak and Chicory for Patrick, Risotto di Funghi for me, Ravioli with tomato sauce and parmesian for Mackenzie and Tortellini with ham and white sauce for Madelyn. We also shared a plate of melon with proscuitto and two samples of bruschetta. One with anchovy's (salty) and one traditional with fresh tomatoes and mozerella. This meal set us back $100 but was leisurely and completely delicious. We enjoyed shopping time in the alleyways until we made our way back to Piazza Novana. Once back in the square, we found most of our group sitting on benches and enjoying the accordian player on one end of the square or sax player at the other end. We were entertained for about an hour by a street performer who gathered a crowd to watch him break free from a straight jacket and chains, followed by a group of young 20something men who were fascinating break dancers.
When met by Carmen, we walked together to our dinner location, which was upstairs in an upscale restaurant. We had delicious lasagna for our first course, followed by veal cutlets and salad for our second serving and a delicious Italian pudding with fresh berries, which has a fanciful name that escapes me. It was much like Creme Brule' with berries on top. Of course there were many bottles of wine (prosecco or a nice red at most every meal) flowing at each table for the very low price of 8 euros per bottle. All local, all delicious.
We topped our day with the best 15 euros money can buy, for 2 and a half hours of "Rome by night" by tour bus. I wish I would have written down every single thing we saw, but I will do my best. Carmen talked her way through the city while en route to a hilltop view of all of Rome, thanks to Pasquale. This isn't a stop that bus drivers can get to but Pasquale is no ordinary bus driver. He's been doing this for 30 years and it shows. We arrived at this hilltop area just in time to see a bride and groom in a convertible Rolls Royce, driving off with a long vail flowing off of the back of hte car. It was hard to tell whether this was a real wedding or a photo shoot, but the lack of an audience tells me it was likely a photo shoot. We had to cross the street in front of armed gaurds outside of the home of the embassador to Spain, but it was worth the moment of unease. On one side of us was a beautiful church with full walled fountain (hence the photo shoot) and on the other side, an overlook to the whole entire city below. There was no way to go wrong here when snapping photo's.
We passed many amazing sights, which were lit up by the amber glow of street lights, making them more beautiful than in the daytime. Even when seeing the same things we saw earlier in the day (colloseum, roman forum) they seemed like completely different structures. To the best of my memory, we saw Trajan's Forum, The Colloseum and Palatine Hill/Roman Forum area, Circus Maximus and perhaps the most impressive view at night are the Baths of Carcalla which are now used as a concert venue in the summer. http://www.rome-in-italy.com/PHOTOS/rome-antique/Thermes-de-Caracalla_3595.jpg
We would bid adieu to Joe, Debbie and Derek, who are leaving the tour to head home at 4am in the morning, while the rest of us would pack our minds and our bags and head into the extention portion of the tour. First stop Pompeii!!
Ciao,
Lisa
Bathroom blogging....
stepping on a button on the floor, pushing a big white square on the wall, pulling a chain hanging from the tank, turning a lever 90 degrees on the wall, pushing a button on the top of the tank....are just a few different ways we had to flush the toilette in Italy, followed by various means of running the sink to wash our hands. My personal favorite is the foot pedal on the floor that you step on to make the water run. Very efficient and hygienic.
About half of our bathrooms paid no attention to male/female, even where a sign was present. Perhaps the best bathrooms were the ones at the roadside "autogrille" which is akin to Buckees, if Buckees had an espresso counter and served pretty decent meals.
There is always a certain challenge to find a bathroom when you need it, as most are tucked into well hidden places and are not available to you unless you are a patron of whatever the store is selling. Once you do find one, any number of interesting variables such as those listed above, can be found. It is always a best practice to carry a travel pack of sanitary wipes and travel tissues as the level of "clean" that exists in these usually fall well below our own American expectations.
Thus, the only way to consider a trip to the bathroom is as small adventure within the larger one we are on.
About half of our bathrooms paid no attention to male/female, even where a sign was present. Perhaps the best bathrooms were the ones at the roadside "autogrille" which is akin to Buckees, if Buckees had an espresso counter and served pretty decent meals.
There is always a certain challenge to find a bathroom when you need it, as most are tucked into well hidden places and are not available to you unless you are a patron of whatever the store is selling. Once you do find one, any number of interesting variables such as those listed above, can be found. It is always a best practice to carry a travel pack of sanitary wipes and travel tissues as the level of "clean" that exists in these usually fall well below our own American expectations.
Thus, the only way to consider a trip to the bathroom is as small adventure within the larger one we are on.
A word about "travelers Rash" AKA Brawny Edema
It appears that there is a form of Edema that commonly attacks travelers, under the right conditions. These conditions are: heat, excessive walking followed by excessive sitting (plane/bus) and radical change in diet. These list of conditions exactly match all that we are experiencing, thus as early as day TWO, "Brawny Edema" has reared it's ugly head. The symptoms are in varying degrees of swelling of the feet and ankles and a rather unsightly red skin rash that seems to have very few symptoms of it's own, other than a disturbing appearance. Once we had proper diagnosis, thanks to Carol seeing a hunky Dr. in Montecatini, we realized this was something about 30% of our group was suffering from, including yours truly. The condition, if not followed by excessive swelling, isn't enough to slow you down from the sightseeing, but if excessive swelling is present, then of course the best cure is to put your feet up, thus slowing you down a bit. Regardless, this became an inconvenience for those that had this in it's most severe forms and a complete non-issue for those of us that had only the rash and no swelling. The treatment for this, if excessive swelling is present, is a diuretic/lasiks and staying off of your feet. After back home and in our own environment, the rash and swelling should dissapear.
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