A Day of Driving

Yesterday (Wednesday) was spent in the car, driving from Sorrento right up through the heart of Italy to Venice. It pretty much took the entire day by the time we got lost (brand new highway of which the GPS was unaware), parked, took a bus to the Grand Canal Ferry, and then got dropped at our dock. It was well after 8 pm when we finally got into the hotel, so we pretty much dropped off the luggage and headed out for dinner. Not a single picture!!

For dinner, we had some delicious pasta with seafood given that it's all so freshly caught. We sat at the only table inside the front dining room so we could have a view of the World Cup game that was on the little TV/computer rigged up. Before long, there was a group of Italian men crowded in there with us acting very similarly to Joel on Packer Sundays - hollering, ranting, cheering, shaking their fists at the screen. It was quite the spectacle and lots of fun. Spain won which made them all very happy and Calvin kept his disappointment about Germany's loss to himself. We can only imagine the fervor if Italy was still in the Cup.

We're staying in the Pensione Guerrato, a 550 year old hotel down the tiniest of "streets". We're not on a canal, but our view out the window is just as Sue described; we could reach out and shake hands with our neighbors across the alley. The room is spacious and modern, but you can see in the floor, built to last 1,000 years, the former grandeur. In addition, they left squares in the walls non-refurbished so you can see what they used to look like, with stenciled "wallpaper". For someone into old buildings, Venice -- and Italy in general -- is a paradise. I promise some pictures with the next blog.

More tomorrow...

Sorrento

We had a much needed lazy day today. We slept in a bit, had a breakfast on site, did some laundry and hung it out on our balcony to dry. Then we took the shuttle into the town's center for a few hours for some pizza and gelato. Sorrento is a huge lemon producer, so there are lemon groves everywhere as well as shops selling all of the possible things you can make with lemons. Now we're back at the hotel waiting until we're hungry again so we can enjoy another lovely meal in the hotel restaurant. Here's a link to where we are: http://www.ilnido.it/

Pictures today are: Drew being lazy and the Mount Vesuvius view we have off our balcony.

Tomorrow is our long drive day to Venice. We're not sure if have internet access there so we may not be blogging again until we reach Tuscany.

AND, as Drew noted today, only 6 more days until Alex arrives!! Hooray!!!

Vesuvius & Pompeii

Today we had to rise up early to leave Rome for the airport, where we rented a car and headed to Mount Vesuvius. After hiking to the top of Vesuvius (pic 1) we then headed to Pompeii (pic 2). Both very cool to see, although Pompeii has to take the prize since it's an entire ancient city uncovered from the volcanic ash. You really get a great sense of ancient Italian (or Roman) life.

It was a very long day and we're beat, so a short post tonight. We're now in Sorrento at a beautiful hotel with a great view of the Mediterranean Sea and Mount Vesuvius across the Bay of Naples from high up the side of a mountain. We made it here just in time for dinner, which ended up being wonderful! Life is bene (good).

Now time for sleep. Buonanotte.

xo

Mamma Mia It's Hot!!

They weren't kidding when they said Rome is hot in July! It's been topping out better than 90 degrees and when you're walking a gazillion miles a day, you can really work up a good froth. We did finally master the bus, subway and Metro systems so that's made the travel a lot easier. Did I mention that the founders of Rome had no master plan -- they just let anyone build anywhere so there aren't any straight streets which makes really small maps very hard to follow. But I digress.

Today we visited the Spanish Steps (see picture) since the boys hadn't been there yet. (Joel and I went there one evening by ourselves.) Yes, they're really steps...lots of them. So we climbed up them and then went back to Villa Borghese for a little grass time. We tried out the segways in the park which was quite the adventure and was deemed 'Alex worthy'. We rate everything we do on whether it's worthy of doing it again at the end of our trip when we return with Alex and segways have officially made the list.

So now we're sitting for our last time at Mad Jack's (the American bar with Irish beer and the waiter from Ecuador) while Drew and Calvin are back at the apartment hopefully whipping up our dinner of salad and pasta. Off to Pompeii and Sorrento tomorrow. We've loved Rome, but are looking forward to the next leg of our trek with seaside views and smaller venues to navigate.

xo

Farmer's Market

OK, I think we're really bad at this whole blogging thing. I swear we posted another day, but it's just not on the site, so I'll try again. Yesterday was spent at the Villa Borghese, which is both a park and a mansion with amazing art. The park is something like Central Park in New York, but not nearly as well kept. The mansion was a former Cardinal of the Catholic Church who clearly used some of the money to build both a house and collect art -- and a lot of art!! There were several spectacular pieces, but the ones that really struck us were the sculptures by Bernini, including Apollo & Daphni, and Pluto & Prosperini. Both spectacular works that make you wonder why Michelangelo is more famous than Bernini -- I know!!! We couldn't take pictures at the Borghese so the sculpture you see is from a cathedral, still by Bernini though. This one called the Ecstasy of Theresa.

Then this morning Ellen and I awoke very early (before 7 am which is damn early in Italy!!) and walked to the market in Campo de Fiori. We actually arrived before the marketeers (Ellen), but not by much. Anyway, we were able to buy very nice fresh vegetables, fruits, cheeses and meats for our lunch that same day.

Later we had a cooking class at the La Fate in Testevere. We had a wonderful time with our chef, Andrea, learning to cook the non-Roman Testevere way (first pic). For sake of history, Testevere was the very poor part of Rome, from where all the nobles inside Rome got their food. Therefore, the cuisine is very different than inside the city, even 2000 year later! Many Romans still snub their nose at Testevere (including our apartment landlord), but we found it much like home. Then again, we are from New Haven.

Tomorrow is our last full day in Rome, then on to Pompeii! Supposedly our next few stops have internet connections, so we hope to be fully connected.

Ciao.

Venerdi (Friday) in Roma

After four days of some pretty heavy sight-seeing, we took it a bit easier on ourselves today, not leaving the apartment until about noon. We took the bus (successfully) to Villa Borghese, Rome's version of Central Park. There we rented a four-wheel bike (assisted by electric motors, which came in very handy) and toured the Borghese mansion, which is so full of art it's amazing; many Caravaggio's, Bernini's and others. Bernini's sculptures are every bit as a good as Michelangelo's, perhaps even better (blasphemy!). They look alive. No pictures allowed so I can't share.

The first pic is in the park, the second shows a Bernini (The Ecstasy of St. Theresa) in the church Santa Maria della Vittoria.

Ciao.

The Vatican

Today was spent at the Vatican City. We had guided tour both of the Scave, which is the excavations that take you right under St Peter's Bascillica and a direct view of St Peter's grave. The entire Bascillica and Catholic Church is literally built on St Peter's foundation (grave), just as Jesus stated in the Bible. Fascinating.

Then in the afternoon we met up with our Roman guide, Federica d'Orazio, who gave us a personal tour of the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums. There is so much art in the Vatican it's beyond comprehension. It's actually overwhelming, but Federica's knowledge made it manageable. Michelangelo's ceiling was breathtaking.

Getting to and from Vatican City was also an adventure, as we navigated the Roman bus system for the first time. They have no schedule, but simply come and go as they please. Just my style. Obviously, Joel is writing now.

Enjoy the pic.