Day 7 - Florence

We arrived to Florence a little after noon. Even though we supposedly had "permission", we were nervous about driving into the ZTL - the zone inside the city center that only cars with permission can drive in. We've heard several bad stories about $1000 tickets being mailed to you 6 months after the trip!

We started with an absolutely yummy lunch at da Nerbone in the mercato centrale. I had to be careful not to order the tripe (stomach lining), their specialty. We had pork and it was so good!

Next we went to the Accademia for our reservations to see Michelangelo's David. It is quite impressive! Esp. when seeing his "slaves" there - unfinished carvings "trying to break free from the stone". The slaves help you understand the complexity and amount of work involved. Amazing!

Then we walked over to the Santa Croce church - their "Westminster Abbey" - that holds the tombs of Renaissance giants and even Galileo. Many of the gravestones that line the floor are decorated with a full-size body, and it feels eerily disrespectful to accidentally step on them!

We decided to climb to the top of the Duomo's dome to view the city in the late afternoon sun. The 463 stairs to the top are within the layers (claustrophobic passageways) of the dome. It was pretty cool. I wish we could have gone slower to get a better feel of Brunelleschi's masterpiece, but the flow of tourists keeps you moving.

After working up a substantial appetite, we grabbed a picnic and wine from the popular bakery Forno Sartoni - and ate it on the wall of the Arno River, overlooking the Ponte Vecchio and setting sun. Unforgettable!

Lastly we got gelato from Perche No - a very old gelateria in Florence. Of their many flavors, we chose honey-sesame, chocolate, and white chocolate, and wandered around the old part of Florence.

We are staying at the Hotel Alessandra, next to the Ponte Vecchio. They are treating us exceptionally well! Our room is quite big and has a view of the Arno River. Our private bathroom is down the hall, which adds to the charm.

Day 6 - Cinque Terre

The Cinque Terre is made up of 5 remote coastal villages along the Ligurian Sea. It used to be only possible to arrive by boat, but now train or even driving a small-laned road are options. We drove, and were fine but met a lady who "cried" on the road. It is quite narrow, with hair-pin curves that cannot fit 2 cars, yet locals barrel around them at 50 kph!

We stayed in the village of Vernazza. You cannot drive into any of the tiny towns; we left our car ~10 min walk out of town, up in the hills.

We came here to explore each of the small villages via the 6 mile hiking trail that connects them. It takes ~6 hrs to hike the towns if you have a steady pace. We went to buy our admission ticket only to find out all but one section of the trail is closed due to recent rains. That leaves traveling by train as the main option. We then discovered they changed the price of their train - instead of charging 1.70 euro for a day pass, it is now 1.70 euro per (short) ride! I was in disbelief trying to process all the contrary information- which seemed like a bad April Fools joke on Rick Steve's, who made the area popular with his detailed guide.

We assumed surely we must have misunderstood the broken English translation - the trail appeared open and we had heard talk of people using it. It was beautiful and peaceful. It took us ~1 hr to get to the next tiny village, Corniglia, positioned high above the sea. After lunch there we took the train to the next town, Manarola, so we could walk the short (1/2 mile), paved Via Dell Amore sidewalk to the 1st town, Riomaggiore - the only part of the trail technically "open".

We enjoyed seeing the quaint Cinque Terre, intensifying our Italian adventure in the twisted, narrow passageways of the hilled villages overflowing with charm - saturated with Americans. We stayed at the B&B Elisabetta in a large 2-room flat overlooking the sea. We thoroughly enjoyed a bottle of wine on the balcony! And for dinner, we ate local trofie al pesto and fried seafood at Ristorante Vulnetia in the piazza on the water.

When you visit, we highly recommend a stop to see the lively Sicilian brothers at Il Pirata, who offer a great assortment of home-made foods.

Day 5 - Pisa and Lucca

This morning we walked off our last bridge, leaving behind the pedestrian life, and returning to civilization and the real world. I hadn't realized I was feeling claustrophobic in Venice until I got back out into the open space and country-side!

We picked up our car rental in Venice. After hearing about crazy Italian drivers, Greg was not looking forward to driving here, but it didn't take him long to relax behind the wheel, and blend in like a native. I think "Mario" is actually having fun on the roads in our 5- speed!

We drove 3 1/2 hours to Pisa. As we got close, and I spotted the Leaning Tower on the horizon, I pulled one of my "moose" squeals, getting myself into a bit of trouble with the driver.

The Leaning Tower is in a walled area called the Field of Miracles - a cluster of 3 buildings: a cathedral, a baptistery, and a bell tower. At first sight, the tower actually looks squatty and shorter than its massive reputation! We had fun posing with the tower - pushing it over and holding it up. We had a nice picnic on the huge green lawn while we waited for our tour. It was all decent, and worth the afternoon detour, until it was our turn to climb it. Then it became a trip highlight! Climbing it is similar to the Statue of Liberty except for the odd and thrilling sensation of going down when you were climbing up (because of the lean). There are actually 3 levels to the climb (each one where you get to go around the outside). It was such a unique, fun experience!

Next we drove a charming road to the walled, quaint town of Lucca ... With every bit of historic charm you'd hope to find in Italy! Except for a few locals, there is no driving permitted within the walls. The cobblestone "streets" are pedestrian only, and full of locals savoring the great things in life - esp. during their passegiata, their evening stroll through town. The wall itself is quite wide, and felt like a park as we walked along it. We are staying next to the ancient "anfiteatro", originally the amphitheater during the 2nd century! The B&B Anfiteatro is our largest, nicest room yet!

We thoroughly enjoyed our short time in the town - a relaxing drink in the town's center square, local snacks from Pizzeria da Felice, and dinner at Trattoria da Leo!

Tomorrow we head to the remote Cinque Terre area, where they still live the old style of life, and modern wi-fi is not available.

Day 4 - Last day in Venice

The day started with a text from our cutey patooty son Chris, who snuck his phone to bed with him so he could text us. He sent us pix of the cat (who could care less that we are gone) and himself. So stinkin' cute!

This morning we had breakfast on the hotel's balcony overlooking the Grand Canal. It was fascinating to watch Venetians start their work day in their boats. We are a few buildings down from the fish market. I chuckled when I saw it for the 1st time - immediately recognizing it from the scene in The Tourist when Johnny Depp runs along the roofs and then jumps off the balcony and lands on the cop. That is the fish market!

Today was a combination of rain and drizzle all day long. It made for a completely different Venice with a lot more great photo opportunities. (Note: any photo posted during our trip can only be from our phone; we have no way to download from our cameras until we get home.)

We started the day at St. Mark's Basilica. We used a Rick Steve's audio tour which worked perfectly for us. The church is a magnificent creation of mosaics - both on the ceilings and floors. I found it interesting that the entire floor (all mosaics) "rolls like the sea" instead of being flat.

We spent the next 2 hours wandering around. It is much easier to get around here if you are not trying to get anywhere in particular. Though I must say I have a good feel of the place now - Greg, not so much :) Our calves are sore from walking up and down the steps of all the bridges. There are over 400 bridges here which equates to maybe one every 100 steps or so?

For lunch we had tasty pizza at Antico Forno. It is standing room only, unfortunately. Between our long walk and all the rain, a comfy seat would have been welcomed.

Then, instead of boating over to the island of Murano to watch them make glass, we found a guy here. His name is Mauro, and the Internet knows him quite well. He welcomed us into his shop to demonstrate his dying trade. Absolutely fascinating, and Chris would have been mesmerized! Anyway, nice guy - worth your while!!

A fresh nutella crepe was our perfect comfort food for today! Then dinner back at last night's place, and just as good! Lastly we ended our day with a final stroll through St. Mark's square.

We leave Venice in the morning!

Day 3 - Venice

I awoke to a quiet peace except for the seagulls and church chimes beckoning me to deserted St. Marks square. We packed up, enjoyed a delicious but quick European breakfast and headed out to our tour of the Doge Palace. Usually an early bird, I was surprised we were rushed to make our 10am tour!

The Doge's Palace (Palazzo Ducale) is where all of Venice's rulers lived and passed judgement on everyone else. Rather than take the usual public tour, we signed up for the "Secret Itineries" tour which highlights hidden areas of the palace, Venetian politics and historical intrigues ... Like Casanova's escape. The palace was attached by the Bridge of Sighs to their prison. Currently the bridge is covered in scaffolding - sponsored by Toyota, and painted like blue skies.

My sad "foreign experience" today was when I was suddenly and unexpectedly separated from Greg, who didn't even realize I was gone. I had already checked with security that I could bring my "purse" through, but security then had a shift change and the new lady wouldn't let me in - while the tour unknowingly passed through without me. Luckily I wasn't detained long enough for the group to disappear through one of the secret passageways, but it was upsetting all the same!

After the tour and meandering around the square, we sat along the Grand Canal, absorbing Venice. Then we ate at nearby "sandwich row".

Next we took the elevator to the top of the bell tower (campanile) which offers great views of St. Mark's, the piazza, and the city.

If you know anything about St. Mark's square, you likely know about all the pigeons there. People think it is so cute to feed them. Greg's experience was hilariously different and unexpected, as he was innocently splattered with bird crap. He shall never forget St. Mark's square!

It was finally time to try gelato. I'll keep trying it but so far it doesn't qualify as a highlight!

On our way to our next hotel, this one on the Grand Canal by Rialto Bridge, we found a lonely gondolier with nothing to do. We weren't sure we could leave Venice without experiencing a gondola ride ... Very costly yet very Venice. Ours was worth it and unforgetable - and offered a different perspective on the city.

For the next 2 nights we are staying at Hotel San Cassiano. Our room is still small, but this time directly above the water (Greg says it sounds like a pool is below us). Our puppy Kiara would love it here as the bathroom comes with a "dog bowl" as Greg called it :)

Tonight's dinner was so delicious we left with reservations to return again tomorrow. We ate at Al Nono Risorto, boasting to have the best pizza in Venice. We decided to try both a pizza and pasta. Greg's mom makes a yummy puttanesca so I ordered that. Sadly it came infused with anchovies, so Greg graciously ate it. I'm so lucky he loves me - which he truly must because the pizza was to die for - we savored the taste of each one of it's ingredients - with lots of wine too, of course.

So the funniest thing about Venice is how disorientated, utterly lost and confused Greg is here! Once he turns a corner he literally cannot find his way back! I laugh that I read to "try" to get lost here! Yeah right, try NOT too!!

Day 2 - Enroute to Venice

Our plane landed in Munich bright and early. Having no checked luggage, we were through customs in a heartbeat, and jumping on a train to downtown Munich. Ironically we figured out the ticket machine quicker than we did in DC 2 years ago. But truthfully we had no idea what we bought and if we were on the right train! Fortunately we were, and 45 minutes later were walking through the Karlstor- the gateway to the Old Town. We took a short self walking tour. Interestingly the scaffolding covering the facade of Saint Michael's kirche (church) was a "picture" of the real facade, instead of the usual ugly scaffolding. The Glockenspiel in the Marienplatz was beautiful in an ancient sort of way, and the city's chiming church bells were musical. The streets were just beginning to wake up, and we had the Frauenkirche (one of Munich's most famous landmarks) all to ourselves ... the first of many churches on our trip! Legend has it that the builder made a deal with the devil not to have any windows in exchange for help building it, and truly from the "devil's step" in the entrance hall you can't see any of the ~20 beautiful stained glass windows! (Ok, you could see the one behind the alter.)

Next we headed to the Hofbrauhaus. Originally we hoped to have their beer and brat breakfast but our jet-lagged stomachs couldn't even consider it. Instead we headed to the Viktualienmarkt (farmer's market) to pick up a selection of meats from a butcher and breads from a bakery. Then we headed back to the Hauptbahnof (train station) to catch our train to Venice. "Bad luck for you" the nice ticketing agent informed us - Italy is having a train strike so we could only go as far as Brenner, Austria (at the Italian border). Shattered is my romantic vision of riding into Venice like Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp in "The Tourist"!

The train ride was off to a great start. We had our reserved compartment to ourselves until 2 Englishmen came in, followed shortly after (and to their disappointment) by their wives. They proceeded to break out 6 glasses and a bottle of champagne, and keep us laughing til our cheeks hurt!

The last 4 hrs of the ride were in a cramped bus. We got our taste of "Italian driving" and made a mental note not to get in the way of any big buses.

So, a plane, a train, and a bus ride later... We finally arrived in Venice! Walking over our 1st bridge, we were in disbelief and delight -- omg we are in Venice!

50 bridges later, and still no hotel, the excitement was starting to wear off. We accepted "being lost" as the tourist norm, but I guess I hadn't realized it would involve so many dead ends and back-tracking! And doing it at night made me feel blindfolded! We were trying to follow the signs to St. Mark's but they inevitably were not placed at forks in the road. And several had been tampered with - perhaps by shop owners who wanted the tourist path to pass their store. Whoever said "Venice is for Lovers" was obviously not severely jet-lagged and famished. If my lover said one more time, "haven't we been here before?" (implying we were walking in circles) I was going to push him in a canal!!

We finally found our hotel - without directions - which must've been blind luck. We spent our first night (a late change to the itinerary) at Hotel Do Pozzi near St. Mark's. Our room was "small" but we had no complaints. I'm sure the bathroom was designed with a sick person in mind - how ingenious to be able to sit on the pot and throw up into the sink at the same time!

Arriving at our 9:00pm dinner reservations at Osteria ai Quatro Feri, I was just about at my breaking point. I thought I knew just where the restaurant was but we ended up in a deserted, unlit alley. When we did walk into the restaurant, it was crowded with all Italians and no Americans - and they really didn't want to give us the time of day. I almost started crying when they sat us with another lady - this was not the romantic 1st meal in Italy I had envisioned! The menu was all in Italian, and my sinking feeling was confirmed - every dish was fish. Greg was in heaven and my dinner - a 1/2 carafe of delicious red wine - was quickly warming my spirits.

Needless to say, we crashed hard into our bed. Considering tonight was Italy's time change, it was now midnight! What an experience our 1st (2nd?) day was!!

Day 1 - A travel day

Well we are officially off - with leg 1 of our 2 flights under our belts! We have a short layover now in DC before we leave for Munich. We left Sacramento in the dark after waking the kids to give them big hugs. Sweet Chris set his alarm for 4:45am, as if we'd leave without saying goodbye! I wish we were leaving all that Sacramento rain behind but it is plaguing the 15-day forecast in Italy too! Regardless, this is an absolutely amazing opportunity - and we are thankful to our parents, brother and friends for allowing it to happen, knowing we have left the kids in safe hands. We feel like honeymooners :) Ciao for now!