Friday, May 28, 2010

I'm actually writing this from my 8 hour flight back to JFK. We had a 4:30am wake up call this morning and already took a 2 hour flight first to Germany. Right now as I look at the screen above me, it says we have 3 hours and 54 minutes before our arrival at JFK. The past 2 days, the finale to our trip, have been long and busy but fun... and I unfortunately had no time to blog. Sort of happy about that because it gives me something to do to pass the time right now.

When I think about it, sometimes it felt like I was in Italy 2 months but then sometimes it feels like it flew by. Either way I am ready to get home, but just as ready to go back at the drop of a hat.

Today is.... Friday. Ugh. Its been so difficult keeping track of days, dates and time while in a foreign country. But yes, so... Wednesday morning was our last day in Rome. We were told to pack our bags, but to also pack just a separate overnight bag for our night in Sorrento. Once on the bus, Stefania said we would realize really quickly once we arrived to our hotel in Sorrento why we could only bring a small bag.

In between Rome and Sorrento was our afternoon excursion to Pompei. We had a new bus driver, Alessio, who looked like he drove buses during the day and was an Italian model at night.

As we approached Pompei, all of a sudden while driving down a little Italian highway there is Mount Vesuvius. Just hanging out on the side of the highway. You never truly get used to these sights just popping up out on no where when in Italy.

Stefania did her thing and gave us some history while we made our way. Once off the bus, we met our local guide named Roberto. Roberto was an older man (told us his age, want to say he was in his early 70's! He said he was a "senior guide") and had been touring Pompei for years. He said when he was younger he actually worked digging there, so he totally knew his stuff. He actually had a gold ring on (pinky finger, of course) that had a cameo inside that he said he found while digging and was allowed to keep!

He also told us he had mafia connections. Chez loved that.

The Pompei ruins are spectacular. As you walk through and see ruins of these REAL things like bedrooms, bakeries, center squares, even brothels you are honestly able to just imagine it full of life that was suddenly taken away by the looming volcano in the background. Roberto said something like 700,000 people have illegally built homes on/under Vesuvius since it's eruption and it still heats up and gases at least once a week. He said all residents living there must keep gas masks in their homes always... You know, just in case.

We saw all the famous discoveries they have there covered in volcanic ash. The pregnant lady, the dog, the man covering his nose and tons of other items like pottery. It sort of blew my mind how they have all these things stored. They are just behind a gate outside in a narrow covered building. If it rains or gets windy, the items are right there. Some are under glass but some aren't. Strange.

We walked through the main site. Roberto showed us a map and there are so many other places around the area to see but obviously are time was limited since we had to make a dinner reservation in Sorrento. It was so hot that day and we were all starting to look and feel exhausted. After the tour, Roberto showed us to a cafeteria where you can get an all included lunch for 12 euro so pretty much the entire group went and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon for lunch.

I don't think I went into much detail about the other groups we were with, mainly because most of them were not friendly and/or creepy. Along with my group from Kean, there was a group from Florida, Iowa and Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh kids did not do the extention to Sorrento so they left right after Rome. From what we heard, most of that group hated the trip and couldn't wait to get home. Really the only time I talked to a few of them was our group dinner night in Florence because there were no seats for me and Chez at any Kean tables.

The Iowa kids were all pretty standoff-ish and kept to themselves. The only 2 people from that group we bonded with were the cutest ladies, Nancy (Nan for short) and her sister Liz. Nancy was the college leader from Iowa and her younger sister Liz is a special ed teacher from Missouri.

Liz's claim to fame was on our day trip to Verona, she fell and severely cut her hand. Once we got to Florence she had to go to the hospital for stitches. The night of our wine tasting in San Gimignano, Liz and her sister ended up at a table with me, Jill, Mary and Chez. They were so friendly and sweet and we had such a great time with them. They particularly thought it was cute that they were sisters on the trip together and so were me and Chez, just about 20 or so years younger than them. Then when we arrived in Rome, we happened to sit with them again for dinner and talked the entire time. Wonderful ladies.

The Florida group was a melting pot of characters, most we came up with nicknames for. Mark Consuelos, Steve-O, V. Rab and the most hated of all, Creeper... who also goes by Douchebag or Tool, depending on what he was doing. There were a handful of cool people in this group and last night we all exchanged emails/Facebook so we could see pics and stuff.

Lunch in Pompei was pizza. Honestly, I've made a pact to not eat pizza or pasta for at least a month now. I love it, but wow. Its literally all we ate. I miss meat and chicken and vegetables! I have eaten more carbs the past 2 weeks that I have in the past year!

The drive as we arrived in Sorrento was SICK. The Bay of Naples and the cliffs and beaches were simply the greatest eye candy you'll ever see. We parked the bus and retrieved our overnight bags and made our way to the hotel. Remember when Stefania told us only one bag? Well, there was the biggest staircase I have ever seen in front of us which is how we had to get up and down from the hotel. The hotel sits on the very bottom of a cliff right on the water and the staircase scales the cliff. Only pictures can describe this staircase.

We made our way carefully down (not for those scared of heights) and got to the hotel. We were all pretty shellshocked at the close proximity to the beautiful coast. Our room was nice and we settled in and freshened up. Stefania was going to do a small walking tour of the town before dinner so of course we decided to go - though a LOT of people opted out to go to the beach.

The only people on the walking tour were me, Jill, Mary, Chez, Jen (from our Kean group) and a girl Michelle from the Florida. We kind of enjoyed it this way. We got to talk to Stefania a little more personally. Before we started the walk she told us her next tour is in 2 weeks - Italy & Greece in one tour. Love it and love her. Would love to do that one with her in the future!

We had to go UP the crazy staircase (which only gets difficult on the last flight and makes you feel okay that you ate pasta for lunch and dinner the day before) went to an included dinner at the hotel (pasta - what do you know!).

Sorrento is another charming town, reminded me a lot of Verona, just on the water. There are only a few main streets, tons of shops and an amazing view. She pointed out a few spots (churches, a look out point where we took pics, Limoncello shops where we got so many free samples and a cute senior club patio where all these old Italian men were playing cards) then she let us free to shop. I got a pair of sandals in a shop where an old Italian lady was making them right there! And a few gifts.

We also met the cutest and oldest dog we've all ever seen. In Sorrento there are a lot of random town dogs sitting around. Non bother you and according to the shop owners, they are harmless. This one we met a shop owner old us was 19 years old! He was SOOO old! He got up to walk around and was hobbling around like an old man. He didn't have a name so we named him Lione (Lion in Italian because his hair was crazy and he looked like one).

After shopping we had to make it for an included dinner at the hotel, pasta again! We decided to go back up to the town after dinner which was awesome. Jen's sister Jo joined us. We went back to the lookout and saw the coast at night and had our last gelato of the trip. Tear tear! I think I made it to 10. It was White Chocolate.

I love gelato. I will miss making it an essential part of my daily food intake.

After that we went back to the hotel. Jill got a cough/sniffley so she got tea with Chez at a restaurant next to the hotel. Mary and I went up to Linda's room where a bunch of the girls from our group and Linda's husband were on the balcony talking and having wine and cheese. We stayed and hung out for a bit but were so exhausted, so went back to our room to shower and pass out.

The next morning we had breakfast and then boarded a ferry to our day trip to Capri. We had a new local guide for that, her name was Francesca. I slept with my head in my hand on the boat ride, as did everyone else.

Capri is out of a postcard. The port is so picturesque. The water is teal blue. The sailboats are so classy. The cliffs are so perfectly scattered with houses and hotels dotting them. Once off the boat we boarded a smaller boat for a cruise around the islands to see exclusive homes and hotels atop the cliffs and all the famous grottos.

The water was extreeeemely choppy and our little boat was swaying like crazy. I was super surprised no one got sick.

We drove right into the grottos and through the famous "love" grotto which you make a wish when you go under. After the cruise, we board the Furicolare, which is like a tram car/trolley that scales the hills of Capri to take you to the top of the town.

Once at the top, you could literally die at the views.

Francesca took us through town - so many high end exclusive designer shops. At the end of the shops was a famous garden overlooking the water. The name of it escapes me, but we took lots of pics.

Afterwards we had lunch (they had chicken! So I got that instead of pasta or pizza) and then we had free time to walk around town. We all did some shopping and realized it was our last real day so we had to spend all our Euro cash. Wasn't hard to do that!

We said ciao to Capri and boarded a ferry to Naples. Again, we all passed out on the boat ride. We had no time for anything in Naples which was a bummer since that's where my family is from, just had to get off the boat and board our bus back to Rome. A reason to go back!

On the bus ride back to Rome, Stafania played the old Sophia Loren movie that took place in Naples & Capri ("It All Started in Naples"? I think it was called) I didn't stay awake for a lot of it, but it took place at all the spots we had been to that day. The port, the streets, they even took the same Funicolare!

We arrived in Rome and had our last dinner in Italy included at our hotel - a different hotel than we had previously stayed in Rome. This one was right next to Termini, which is the main bus station.

Our last dinner was nice. But it sort of ended weirdly. A father from the Florida group thought it was a good idea to get up and roast Stefania, which quickly got inappropriate and awkward. I won't go into detail, but let's just say several people cut the guy off and made him end it. Linda and basically everyone from our group apologized to her on his behalf and she said not to worry. I guess she deals with rude people all the time so she knows how to let it roll off her back, but we were all embarrased to say the least.

After dinner we went up to our room to back our bags to go home. Like I said, we had a 4:30am wake up call and had to get right on the bus to the airport. Its going to be a rugged few days getting back to our time, but I am thankful it is Memorial Day weekend and I am off Monday!

So that's that! I can't believe its over but like I said, so happy to go home. I miss my parents so much, I miss my home, my bed, American toilets and showers, not having to use electricity converters, my Chi hair straightener, not being exhausted, having clean feet, not living out of a suitcase, vegetables and fruits, driving in a car, television and Internet...

But I will miss gelato, Stefania and Gianluca, the Italian language, the amazing history and sights of the most beautiful country in the world, spending time with Chez, Jill, Mary and all the other wonderful people I got to know and laughing and making amazing memories and much more! I'm so lucky to be Italian and have experienced its wonder at such a young age. I can't wait to go back. I will go back.

My favorite city of all the main cities we went to was Venice. It had the most charm mixed with history. Least fav was Rome. Favorite excursion was wine tasting in San Gimignano. :)

Yes! Only 2 hours left until JFK! Then we have a bus ride to Kean. I am crossing my fingers Memorial Day traffic is nice to us. Then its off to the shore house to relax all weekend. I am so excited to share my goodies, pictures and stories with friends and family.

This will not be the last of me. I plan to post pictures and probably update with more memories as I go through all my souveniers and pictures, so continue to check this. Thanks to everyone who followed me as I blogged from my tony Blackberry for 11 days. :)

Ciao, and goodbye Italia! Thank you.


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Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Sorrento

Need to get to bed and will blog about my day tomorrow, but I just had to say how lovely the town of Sorrento and the coast of Italy is. I feel like I'm in the most amazing place on Earth.

Oh, right. I am.

Will give full details of Pompei and Sorrento tomorrow when we're off to spend our last full day in Italia in Capri!

Exhausted. Bed time.

I miss my own bed!
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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Did see the Pantheon

Just wanted to add that after we left Gianluca (sad face again) we did end up going back to the Pantheon on our own and it opened back up. We went in, oogled at how awesome it was and then sat in some pews inside and admired it for a while.

The only really famous thing we didn't see was the Spanish Steps. Gianluca brought some people there after we split from him, but we opted to just shop.

We'll see them our next time in Rome... :)
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Roma... NYC with ruins.

Didn't get to blog yesterday. We got back to to the hotel super late last night and today we literally spanned the entire city of Rome from 9:30am to 9:30pm. We were trying to guess how many miles we walked today. Chez and I think 8-10! This lady on the tour with us has a pedometer on and as of today she broke 100,000 steps!

Yesterday our first stop was the Vatican. I was most excited for this. The line to get in wrapped around the outside walls and it has been sooo hot here so waiting kind of sucked, but we make the best of it!

When we go to these visits, we always switch from Stefania to a local guide. She attempted to explain why to us. It has something to do with her license and the tour company. She can give us historical info on the bus and technical info in front of places, but can't give historical info outside - they have to switch to a local tour guide.

Our guide for the Vatican was an Italian woman named Sylvia. We entered the Vatican museum first and saw tapestries and frescos all leading up to the amazing Sistine Chapel. My goodness, it was unreal to be in there. It was packed - wall to wall people. No pictures allowed but of course most travelers are disrepectful and were taking them anyway. Even as they were making announcements not to.

The Last Judgement is a sight to see. It is such a familiar image but when it is right in front of you, you can stare at it for hours and probably catch something new everytime. Seeing things like this really make me believe that people like Michaelangelo were magical. Legit. Because HOW did he do that?

Next we went to St. Peter's Basilica which was my favorite part. The Basilica is MASSIVE! It goes on forever. The ceilings are ornate and the statues and mosaics are everywhere. Everything that looks like a painting in the basilica is actual a mosaic. Little tiny pieces of tile making the most detailed images all throughout the place. Mind boggling!

After the basilica we walked out into St. Peter's Square - again, simply unreal to be there. We saw the pope's windows open and I was lucky enough to pass the Swiss Guard when they were changing so I took a video of it.

We then went into the Vatican gift shop for lunch and shopping. The shop blesses any item and actually delivers it for free to your hotel room! I bought a gold crucifix and have been wearing it ever since. They also sell stamps and have their own mailbox there since the Vatican is it's own state. So you can write, stamp and mail cards right there and it will be a Vatican stamp with all Vatican postage on it. I mailed a card home from there. And several friends and family will get postcards sent from my Rome hotel with Vatican stamps. Fun!

After the Vatican, the day kind of took a stupid turn. Remember I mentioned going to a university in Rome? Well, it turned out to be this shabby community-ish college and they legit just took us on a boring campus tour for 3 hours... Showing us their computer labs and library and things that meant nothing to our lives. If it was some old historical campus I guess it may have been cooler but it was not at all. THEN, the worst part was we had to sit through this little play/recital that some of the students put on for us.

I understand they worked hard to do what they did (sing, recite poetry, play music, do some skits) but they did 90% of it IN Italian and none of us knew what was going on. We were there soooo long, all afternoon basically. It was just boring. Everyone thought so. Stefania had told us this was the first time they included this stop on the trip and I hope they got the drift that it was an anticlimactic end to an awesome day.

A few of the Italian girls got on our bus afterwards to go get coffee with some people on our group. Mostly the boys. Lame. We opted out of that and went back to the hotel to freshen up. We had decided back at the university when we were all standing around bored out of our minds to all go to dinner - all 10 girls from Kean on the trip. We have all been split up mostly as we get free time on the tour. So we did an Italy girl night.

After sort of getting lost trying to find a neighborhood to eat dinner in that Stefania had recommended, we ended up turning around and going back into the center of the city where we were all pretty familiar with. We ate at this lovely spot in Piazza Nuovo, I want to say it was called Bernini Grill? Something like that. I have the card somewhere. But the waiter was sooooo nice. His name was Ocho and he took great care of us. I got gnocchi (couldn't leave Italy without it) and it was delicious! And we got so many free things, including dessert and then the owner (who apparently is the second richest man in Rome) came out and gave us all 10% cards to his shop.

He also told us he was an extra in New Moon. LOL!

Ocho took pics with us, gave us his Facebook URL, and walked all 10 of us to a cab. But his friends were having a birthday party at a restaurant right next to his and he walked by with all us girls and his friends started cheering and taking pics. It was so funny!

So the day at the weird university ended with a lovely dinner. No gelato yesterday though. Travesty!

Today was long, hot, soooooo much walking and we're just pooped - but still loving it! We had free time all morning until 2pm-is so we went on our own to the San Angelo Palaca (amazing views) and then no lie walked all the way across town to the area near the Colesseum. There is soooo much traffic in Rome so walking is the best bet. We ate lunch at a cute outside restaurant (had caprese salad and pizza with fresh veggies mmmmm!) and then made it to our Colesseum tour.

Stopped for gelato. #9? (I think)

Double scoop! Pistachio and Biscotti! Heaven!

Our tour guide for the Colesseum was a short Italian guy named Antonio from Naples. He was so cute! We spent the rest of the afternoon there and in the Roman Forum. You can't honestly believe these things until you see them. And Rome is just nuts. Its like NYC with traffic and a ton of people but then all of a sudden you turn a corner and there's some big excavation site with ruins.

After those visits we had the option of going to the Pantheon with Gianluca. We were sooooo tired but Gianluca is not going on the extention trip to Sorrento with us so this was our last opportunity to spend time with him. There was some big concert/political demonstration in the Pantheon square when we got there and we couldn't go inside, so we decided to just say bye to Gianluca then.

He was so sweet! He told us to be well and take care and he asked us to take a picture with him. Earlier we were discussing whether he'd think we were total creeps for wanting a pic but he wanted one! We took pics and hugs and said ciao! Then for the next 20 minutes we devised a plan on how we could continue to stalk his life because we love him so much.

After we left Gianluca (sad face) we just walk aroud and went into shops until we couldn't feel our feet. OMG, we walked so much. We got sandwiches to go and got a taxi back to the hotel for the night. We are off to Sorrento for an overnight trip tomorrow and have a 5:45am alarm. Ugh!

I just have to mention, the weather has beenn spectacular. Sunny and warm every single day.

I've wanted to purchase internet minutes this whole trip but just haven't had the time. I can't wait to share pics with everyone I know!

Off to bed now. Should have been sleeping awhile ago. Ciao ciao!
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Sunday, May 23, 2010

Viva Papa!

Travel day yesterday. Packed up all our belongings in the morning, ate our last prison Florence breakfast and boarded the bus. Just like we have been this whole trip, we all passed out on the bus ride. They always stop at a rest stop about 1-2 hours into the drive to go to a rest stop. Italian rest stops are NOTHING like American rest stops. Italian rest stops are like gourmet shops with gas stations outside. Every one is the same. They have coffee bars, wine, cheese, salami, gourmet food to buy, toys, souvenirs. Its so funny, everyone ends up coming back on the bus having bought all kinds of stuff. Who shops at a rest stop?

Seriously, only in Italy.

On our first rest stop yesterday we actually visited this big pottery warehouse and had a 10 minute demonstration and then got to browse their shop and use their restrooms.

We made it to Assisi about 15 minutes later. Assisi was beautiful. Again, originally thought it would be just this tiny religious town but these towns are all so impressive. Assisi had just as many restaurants and shops as Verona.

The view as you drive up to Assisi is breathtaking. St. Francis' Basilica is massive. Stefania (just learned she spells her name with an "f", not a "ph") toured us around the streets first, took us to the top for a panoramic view, and then we went into St. Chaira's church and saw her tomb. After that we had some free time and had lunch at a cafeteria which is just like a buffet. But in Italy, this is the best buffet ever. I had risotto for lunch with all kinds of grilled veggies. Amazing.

After that we toured St. Francis' Basilica which was gorgeous. We also visited his tomb under the church as well which was amazing. You're in a beautiful underground cave with candles and gates and ornate ceilings and an altar with his tomb. We sat down and just watched everyone walk through for awhile. It was very peaceful and humbling.

So, the afternoon in Assisi was very nice. We boarded the bus again on the way to Rome. Probably about another 1-2 hours in the bus. Once in Rome, Stefania told us about the neighborhood we are staying in. It is called Parioli. Its extremely exclusive and expensive. Multi-million dollar residences.

This hotel is like 100x better than the Florence one. We are back to big breakfasts and showers that aren't just holes in the floor. Though this shower just floods and our carpet is all wet.

I am beginning to hate Italian bathrooms and electricity. Dealing with converters is just frustrating now as we all try to charge our stuff at night$.

We are also beginning to come up with nicknames for a lot of the people on tour with us. We have a group of midwesterners and they are so... midwestern. Makes us happy to be from where we are, where fashion is cute and not things like velvet or pleather pants.

Last night we had an included dinner at a cute trendy spot in the historical district of Rome. Rome has 3 million people living here so it is very much like NYC. Dinner was a buffet (but remember how amazing I said Italian buffets are) and afterwards Gianluca took us to Piazza Novona for "Rome's best gelato". I said to him "Gianluca... Do you ever eat BAD gelato?" And he actually said yes! So, we need to believe him when he takes us to the "best" places.

What am I on now! Gelato #8? Whatever it is, I had Ananas flavored (pineapple) and I think it was the best I've had so far.

The Piazza was buzzing at night. We got to stroll around for a few minutes and then met up with Stefania for our Rome at Night tour around 9pm. We walked around to a few places on foot... The Pantheon and Trevi Fountain were as wonderful as I thought. Threw my 3 coins into the fountain for luck (first one means you will come back to Rome, 2nd is any wish, and third means you will get married).

Then we boarded a bus for a panoramic night drive. Saw St. Peter's (the pope's light was on! That means he was still awake), the Colesium (amazing, simply amazing at night - can only imagine when we visit during the day tomorrow) and many other monuments. There were a lot of Angels & Demons references. When I get home, I want to watch that movie again, for sure.

The tour bus took us back to the hotel. I find myself awake until at least 12:30-1am every night. I guess with the napping on the bus and the wacked out sleeping habits, I just get a weird jolt of energy and end up packing, cleaning, writing postcards and saving photos all night.

We are standing in line to get into St. Peter's Square right now. Breakfast at the hotel was back to the big breakfasts like Venice, thankfully. We are so excited to get to the Vatican today. We are touring the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican, seeing the Pieta and more while in the square. Then we have some free time in the city. And then later on this afternoon we are going to the University of Rome for some time with some Italian professors and students. Stefania said this is the first year they have done this portion of the tour at the university. Should be interesting.

Tonight dinner is on us. We're planning to go back into the center of the city.

We opted out of doing the catacombs optional tour tomorrow. Its not a must and we'd rather get some more free time in Rome.

Think that's it for now. We haven't moved on this line yet but I'm gonna go stroll around. Ciao!
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Times

I just realized it looks like I'm posting these at the craziest times. Like it says its 12:45am. Its definitely 10:02am right now. I guess the time settings in this blog account are screwy. But just wanted to share that if it looks like I'm posting at weird times, its not correct.

LMAO! Chez was just sleeping so soundly and Stephania got back on the mic to talk and Chez jumped out of her seat and covered her head like the bus was about to implode. She got so scared, hahahahahahaha! I am laughing so hard at her I am crying.
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Passignano

Note to self: name of lake is Passignano.

Just crossed border from Tuscany to Umbria and saw a sign.

Stephania is talking to us about all the olive trees around the lake.
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Montepulciano!

Early wake up call this morning. Re-packing our bags with all our new stuff and dirty clothes has become a feat. I still haven't expanded my luggage yet which I'm hoping is a good thing.

Quick breakfast and last walk down a few streets in Firenze to board our bus this morning. On the bus now to Rome, stopping in Assisi.

Stephania totally just made a Twilight reference as we drive the highway. We're passing near Montepulciano where New Moon was filmed last year and she pointed it out. Love her. Saw signs for both Volterra and now Montepulciano. Passed too quickly for pics. Oh well. But pretty awesome! We also just passed the area where "Under the Tuscan Sun" was written. And now we're passing the largest lake in the region can't remember the name. Stephania sounds better saying it than I ever will.

Sometime between now and when we leave I am taking a video of both Stephania and Gianluca speaking. I don't ever want to forget their lovely voices and Italian accents.

That's all for now. We are all napping.

P.S. Has anyone gotten any of my postcards yet?

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Saturday, May 22, 2010

San Gimignano... place of dreams.

I fell in love with San Gimignano, Tuscany tonight. What a special night. About half our combined tour group signed up for the optional trip out here and those who didn't go missed the most amazing evening. This has been my favorite night since we've been here.

The first thing that made it special was that both Gianluca and Stephania came. We haven't really been with the both of them together since the tour started. Jill and I have this insane obsession with wishing Stephania and Gianluca would hook up. They are both so beautiful and smart and Italian and perfect. We take creepster pitures of them and I think they are starting to catch on.

Gianluca was right. San Gimignano beats the town center of Florence by far, at least for me. San Gimignano is quiter and more quaint and the scenery is just straight out of a movie. In fact, Stephania told pointed out a spot that all shots of Tuscany in so many famous movies were.

I thought we were JUST going wine tasting but Gianluca and Stephania took us to a few spots for panoramic views of the Tuscan hills (absolutely no words) and then we had an hour and a half or so for shopping and to go to the World Champion (literaly, no joke - they won awards) gelato shop in the world.

I bought a few cute gifts, we took lots of pics, and I had gelato #6? Loosing count. But it was Tiramisu! Delicioso!

Afterwards we boarded the bus again and headed to the winery for our tasting. On the way Stephania had us singing, it was so much fun. When we got there, we had a few minutes to hang out in the garden (straight up out of The Godfather) and then headed into a beautiful outside patio for the wine tasting. The host was Pierre Luigi, the funniest Italian man I have met so far. The way he taught us to taste wine was hilarious. For instance, when you go to smell the wine out of the glass you have to lower it to your "pee pee area" - LMAO! He was so entertaining and wonderful. They served us 6 different wines and oil and vinegar. Everything tasted amazing. They also gave us bread, salami, cheese, chips, and Luigi's grandma's lasagna which was by far the most delicious lasagna I have tasted in my 25 years of existance.

Luigi came around and added biscotti flavored olive oil on top of the lasagna and OMG it was amazing. There was meat on top of the lasagna and I said to JIll, "what is on top of this?" and as she stuffed her face she said "I don't know and I don't care!"

We were able to order anything we wanted to get shipped back home. I ordered some things but I will not say! Presents for mom and dad. ;)

We just got back to our hotel in Florence. Everyone is super tired from the wine. 6am wake up call to pack the bus and head to Rome! Stop in Assisi on the way. Assisi on a Sunday should be fantastic.

Love to everyone reading. Ciao!
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Firenze!

Made our way to Florence yesterday. It was a long day on the bus, but I was pleasantly surprised. Our driver, Mimo, gave us a smooth ride. Literally every person passed out the entire bus ride. We stopped halfway through the ride to spend the afternoon in Verona. I was expecting Verona to be a little country village, cobblestones and nothing more. Boy was I wrong. Verona is amazing! There are main streets full of upscale stores, the roads are made of marble! There were several flea markets and an amazing food market going on. We're talking fresh meats, fruits, pastries, rice balls (which we ate like apples for lunch) and pretty much every other amazing Italian food you could think of.

We made our way to "Juliet's Balcony" (which is not real, but the amount of tourists would make you think otherwise). The coolest part is right before you get to the balcony there is a tunnel wallpapered in love notes that people have left. Just hundreds and hundreds of post-its and papers with notes. Its a sight to see. So romantic!

The balcony is underwhelming, but we did the touristy thing of taking a picture next to the Juliet statue while groping her boob. Supposed to give you luck in love.

Afterwards we just walked around and then enjoyed the afternoon sitting on the steps of the opera house, with the Roman Arena in front of us. We've really been blessed with amazing weather. Sunny and warm everyday, no humidity.

Bussed it onward to Firenze (Florence for you non-locals). Tons of traffic, but again we were all passed out. The most amazing part is as you get closer to Firenze, the landscape completely changes. Tuscan hills and greenery, little village homes, winding water. We got the most breathtaking shots out of the bus window!

We literally had 5 minutes to walk to the hotel, throw our bags in an elevator the size of a small closet, run upstairs and then make it back down for dinner. We walked through the town to the restaurant only to come our right smack in front of the Duomo. Italy is like this. You are walking around these tiny streets and then all of a sudden the most amazing historical sight is right in front of you. As if it's just another building.

Dinner was at a cute restaurant with the group. Chez and I had to sit with a group from Pittsburgh because there was no room, but it was good to sit and talk with new people. One of them just graduated in Interior Design so Chez and her hit it off.

Afterwards the group split up but tall dark handsome tour guide Gianluca was going to "the best gelato place in Florence" so we followed him. We learned a little about his life on the way. He's from Parma, never been to the states (insane!), does other tours in Ireland and France and is single. LOL! He was asking us about New Jersey. When we told him it was the home of Bruce Springstein he got so excited. He loves Bruce.

Gelato #6? Rum!

Went back to the hotel and passed out. This trip is exhausting! Breakfast at the Florence hotel was like jail food compared to the Venice hotel. Just cereal and bread. Can't complain though because after breakfast we headed to see the David. The David is just unreal. You walk into this little shabby looking building only to be greeted with his presence. He's so beautiful. No pictures unfortunately (not allowed) but I bought a 1 euro postcard. Again, stupid American mistake. They were selling them for mere cents outside the museum.

After that we had free time and Chez, Jill and Mary being art nerds wanted to go to the Medici museum. Our tour guide Stephania rec'ed the museum so we went. The chapel inside is breathtakingly huge. So amazing.

After that we ate paninis outside the Ponte Vecchio and did some shopping on the bridge and had a cappacino. We didn't get to go into the Ufitzi (spelling?). It was not included in our tour and the line to get in was incredibly long. But we then had a 1.5 hour walking tour with an amazing guide named Nicolo who was soooo learned in Florentine art history. Chez was in love with him. He took us through the Ufitzi area outside and then into the Duomo and the chapel. We were glad we were able to take pics inside. You feel so small in these big structures!

After that we went to a leathermaking shop. The girl who works there was funny, she had a tough sense of humor. She talked about how to make leather and how to tell if leather is real. Gianluca, one of our guides was able to secure us all a 10% discount in their shop. We all got gifts!

In the bus now on the way to an optional excursion for wine tasting and lasagna for the evening in San Jimignano (spelling?). Gianluca said people rave that this section of Tuscany is more beautiful than Florence.

We'll be the judge!

*my phone may have posted this twice, once unfinished and once finished... Oh well... I'm surprised my blackberry is being this nice to me for this trip!*
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Firenze!

Made our way to Florence yesterday. It was a long day on the bus, but I was pleasantly surprised. Our driver, Mimo, gave us a smooth ride. Literally every person passed out the entire bus ride. We stopped halfway through the ride to spend the afternoon in Verona. I was expecting Verona to be a little country village, cobblestones and nothing more. Boy was I wrong. Verona is amazing! There are main streets full of upscale stores, the roads are made of marble! There were several flea markets and an amazing food market going on. We're talking fresh meats, fruits, pastries, rice balls (which we ate like apples for lunch) and pretty much every other amazing Italian food you could think of.

We made our way to "Juliet's Balcony" (which is not real, but the amount of tourists would make you think otherwise). The coolest part is right before you get to the balcony there is a tunnel wallpapered in love notes that people have left. Just hundreds and hundreds of post-its and papers with notes. Its a sight to see. So romantic!

The balcony is underwhelming, but we did the touristy thing of taking a picture next to the Juliet statue while groping her boob. Supposed to give you luck in love.

Afterwards we just walked around and then enjoyed the afternoon sitting on the steps of the opera house, with the Roman Arena in front of us. We've really been blessed with amazing weather. Sunny and warm everyday, no humidity.

Bussed it onward to Firenze (Florence for you non-locals). Tons of traffic, but again we were all passed out. The most amazing part is as you get closer to Firenze, the landscape completely changes. Tuscan hills and greenery, little village homes, winding water. We got the most breathtaking shots out of the bus window!

We literally had 5 minutes to walk to the hotel, throw our bags in an elevator the size of a small closet, run upstairs and then make it back down for dinner. We walked through the town to the restaurant only to come our right smack in front of the Duomo. Italy is like this. You are walking around these tiny streets and then all of a sudden the most amazing historical sight is right in front of you. As if it's just another building.

Dinner was at a cute restaurant with the group. Chez and I had to sit with a group from Pittsburgh because there was no room, but it was good to sit and talk with new people. One of them just graduated in Interior Design so Chez and her hit it off.

Afterwards the group split up but tall dark handsome tour guide Gianluca was going to "the best gelato place in Florence" so we followed him. We learned a little about his life on the way. He's from Parma, never been to the states (insane!), does other tours in Ireland and France and is single. LOL! He was asking us about New Jersey. When we told him it was the home of Bruce Springstein he got so excited. He loves Bruce.

Gelato #6? Rum!

Went back to the hotel and passed out. This trip is exhausting! Breakfast at the Florence hotel was like jail food compared tr
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Friday, May 21, 2010

Off to Florence!

*We've now arrived in Florence and had our first night here already. But this post from this morning never went through... so sending it now*

Good morning!

We are finishing up breakfast right now. Last night after we got back from Venice we relaxed a bit then headed to Lido for dinner. We found this cute restaurant... wait... Every restaurant is cute but this one was awesome. It was outside with a little canopy and an Italian guy singing and a fountain. We ate pizza for an appetizer (yes, how great is that?), Jill had ravioli, Chez had gnocchi, Mary had noodle pie and I had spaghetti bologonese. We also got a caraf of rose wine which was probably one of the best wines I ever had. We laughed and shared our food and got swindled by a vendor who came to our table and gave us roses and then asked for 2 Euro from each of us.

We must have dumb gullible American girls written on our foreheads. Good thing we laughed about it the rest of the night.

Gelato count:

5) Dolci Stella ("Sweet Star" which was bright blue in color with star sprinkles and tasted like funfetti/cotton candy)

Leaving Venice now. The routine of the morning has turned into literally stuffing our faces. Everyone else eats a bowl of cereal or one croissant. Jill, Mary, Chez and I eat 2 hard boiled eggs, Italian donuts, yogurt, fruit, meat & cheese. We tear it up!

About to board the bus to Florence. Stopping in Verona on the way! Ciao!

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Thursday, May 20, 2010

Alora!

Alora (guessing you spell it that way) is an Italian interjection that our guide Stephania taught us yesterday. Since then we've been saying it all the time. It means literally nothing and it's something you say when you don't have anything to say. Like Americans say "sooo..." or "ummm...".

This very second I am sitting on the steps in St. Mark's Square with an Italian band playing next to us. The square is packed! It's sunny and hot and just perfecto!

Today was a long day of sightseeing. We keep saying we can't believe this is only really day one! We have done and seen so much. Today we toured St. Mark's, the Doge's Palace, St. Mark's Basilica, the Museo Correr, shopped on the Rialto Bridge, took a gondola ride around the Grand Canal (where our gondola driver was singing his own little tune of "Bella bella bella mozzarellaaa!"), saw a glass blowing demo at Murano, strolled through the smallest of streets around Venice eating gondola shaped pizza.... now Jill is in the middle of St. Mark's feeding pigeons! One just perched on her shoulder!

Francesca cried in the middle of St. Mark's today. LOL! We took a picture in front of the palace and then she looked at it on the screen, said it was so beautiful and broke down crying. Everyone was like "OMG, what's wrong?!?!" and she got all embarrassed and giggled it off. She is so cute. But that just shows you how overwhelming this place is.

Mom and dad, you can stop worrying now. She only cried for a minute. ;)

We have a 5:15 boat ride back to Lido. We had the option of staying in the square but apparently it gets expensive and super touristy. So, we are opting to go back to the main street in Lido where we were yesterday for the night.

I took about 300 pictures so far. Everything is just so picture-worthy. You just can't believe what you are looking at.

Jill started collecting photos of every good looking Italian man we've seen. Seriously, Jersey guids got NOTHING on these guys.

Off the enjoy the last half hour we have in the square. We are having a blast.

Alora.

P.S. Gelato update:

4) Yogurt flavored
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Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Oops?

Every single girl except one was late for our first scheduled group dinner. It was set for 8pm. Our room phone rang at 8:25pm and it was Stephania saying we were late. We freaked out only to run out the door with all the other girls who were late, too. This time change and the fact that we haven't slept since Monday night is messing with us all! We all looked like zombies at dinner.

We had a straight up 4 course Italian dinner. Antipasto, macaroni, meat and potatoes and my third gelato of the day! Which luckily was not a repeat flavor!

3) Half vanilla/half chocolate

Gianluca, our tall, dark and handsome male tour guide talked to us about all the extrra excursions we can go on. We want to do them all! Tomorrow's optional is a gondola ride... Duuuh, gotta do it. The others include busing around Rome at night (my favorite!!), wine tasting in San-Something (Gianluca says it so fast and effortlessly, I couldn't tell you the city name right now), tour of the catacombs and a Tarantella music show after dinner one night! I really hope everyone decides to do them. They all cost extra money and we can only go if 20+ people sign up. Don't be cheap, peeps! When in Rome!

Now Francesca and I are going to lay out our clothes for tomorrow and hopefully get some REAL rest, not on Lufthansa. Jill and Mary just came by to call their parents. Time to call it a day!

Goodnight, Venezia.
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8 hours I'll never get back.

Our flight from JFK to Germany was nothing but LONG. We sat on the runway for an hour in New York. Didn't take off until 5:30pm. Guess it was because of the rain. I ended up falling asleep the hour we were sitting waiting to take off and was pretty much awake the entire flight. We watched "It's Complicated" with Meryl Streep, ate airplane macaroni for dinner and fidgeted in our seats for 8 hours.

Oh, and the screaming Italian baby was 3 rows in front of me on the plane. Sweet.

We were in Frankfurt airport for about 2 hours or so. Not long enough to make any real comments about Germany other than the German flight attendants were fierce and everyone says "'Sank you".

I lucked out and got a window seat on this flight to Venice. Unfortunately, we were all split up on that flight but it was so quick, it didn't matter. I slept the 2 or so hours and was just happy to be able to look out the window when we arrived in Venice!

We landed smoothly and met one of our tour guides, Stephania. She is a drop dead gorgeous Italian woman. Bronzed skin, curly black hair, perfect little Italian accent. The first thing I said was "I want to be her!!"

When she lead us outside to our bus and we took our first breath of Italian air, we were so excited!

We took a bus onto a ferry and took a ride to Lido, which is the city outside of Venice we are staying. The ferry ride, which you would think is just a plain old ferry ride, was nothing short of spectacular. We cruised to coast of Venice, saw the most amazing buildings, bridges, passed St Mark's Square. Unreal.

Once off the boat we got back on the bus for a short ride to the hotel. Stephanie recommended we take a public bus to the main street of Lido for the afternoon, which is exactly what we did. Our hotel is clean, fresh and modern. Chez and I got our room, cleaned up and met Jill and Mary to make our way.

The first thing we did when we got off the bus and turned the corner is get our first gelato. We just HAD to do it. Soooooo delicious! So much that after we strolled down the streets of Venice eating our first cone, we stopped at another vendor near the beach and got another! We agreed this would turn into our new obsession quickly. My goal is to not eat one flavor more than once. So far...

1) Amare (amaretto flavored)
2) Cookies (cookies & cream flavored)

We also walked to a Venice beach! We walked on and were staring out at the Adriatic Sea. Really? Really!! Took lots of pics. Afterwards we strolled back towards the main street. Stephania said it is a GOOD thing to get "lost" in Venice, there are so many side streets and little areas to see. We cut through lots of streets and found so many picturesque homes. Homes with beautful flower boxes, laundry hanging across the windows. Literally, what you dream Venice to be we saw in our first short afternoon. I keep saying this to Chez.. we love Italy so much and we literally haven't even seen anything yet!

Oh and let me just take a moment to say: Italians got it made!! Do these people work! Everyone is just strolling and eating and laughing and on their boats at 1pm in the afternoon. It's just THE life!

Mary and I went back to the hotel and napped. Chez and Jill stayed out a bit longer and then they came back and fell asleep out by the pool! I just got out of the shower which thankfully and surprisingly had amazing water pressure. Chez is sleeping again next to me. We have a group dinner scheduled for 8pm so I am about to go get ready.

I asked and an hour of internet is 2 euro. I may purchase an hour and share some pics either later tonight or tomorrow night.

Until then... Ciao!
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Tuesday, May 18, 2010

What up, JFK.

We're sitting in JFK now. Our meet-up and bus ride to the airport was fine. It's rainy and gray out, but no one seems to care cause we're going to Italy!!

All the girls are awesome so far. Everyone seems to be clicking well.

Airports are funny. It's so interesting to see all the people and different gates with different places around the world.

I got frazzled going through security. I was unzippering and opening and rushing and aaaah! But we all got through okay.

About to board. Everyone looks like they're getting tired which should be a good thing. Though I hope I don't have to sit next to the screaming Italian baby.
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Monday, May 17, 2010

The night before...

Hi, from my couch!

I've been meaning to set up a blog for a few weeks now. And here I sit, 11:10pm the night before I'm about to embark on the trip of a lifetime..... odds and ends still needing to be packed strewn around me... my toes still unpainted... my iPod still sitting here plugged in waiting to be filled with new songs. It feels like the night before a big exam at school, or the night before Christmas. I'm not sure how long this night is going to last, but I hope it lasts long enough for at least my toes to dry.

I still can't even fathom really that tomorrow is the day we're going to Italy. I can't picture myself there. It's just mind-boggling. This has been my dream trip for pretty much ever. My sister and I first signed up for this trip exactly a year ago. I remember updating my Facebook saying "I'M GOING TO ITALY IN MAY 2010" and it seemed like such a long time to wait. My sister got me a calendar for Christmas this past year that taught me a new Italian phrase every day and I've been reading them at work every single day and it seemed like it would take forever to rip through it all the way until May 18th. Now it's here. Really?

Everyone who knows me knows that I've never been ANYWHERE. I mean, Disney World rocked my little 11-year old world but I've never been out of the country... hell, this is only the second time I'll have ever been on a plane! So, this is just probably the biggest excitement of my life to date. This is the type of trip people are jealous of. I'm jealous of my damn self!

I have the pleasure of traveling with my lovely sister (who just graduated college last week!) her two close friends and our roommates Jill and Mary whom I love, and a small group of others from my sister's new alma mater. It should be a really great group and I look forward to spending the next 2 weeks traveling the most beautiful country in the world with them.

I decided last minute to take my father's netbook with me on the trip. I have a travel journal in book form, but I just can't imagine sitting and handwriting my thoughts every night after a day of touring. I'm a fast typer, I can type a whole lot more in a whole lot less of time than I can hand write. I don't want to lose these memories and I can get them out quicker via keyboard! I have not a clue about the wireless internet capabilities in our hotels, but I'm not even concerned. Just knowing I have the option of typing my thoughts and saving posts if I need to is enough for me. And there's always internet cafes that I'm sure are a lot cooler than the internet cafes I have been to in the states. Like the creepy one I went to down the shore when I was 16 or so. Weird.

Okay, seriously. It's now approaching midnight and the toes are still not painted. Do Italian people even care about pedicures? They better.

Until next time when I can really say "Hi, from Italy!"