Italian Invasion
So it's almost 6 years after the trip, but here is my Italian Invasion...
Day 1
As the time drew closer to our departure, nerves from the anticipation began to frazzle. We were about to take our first trip across an ocean to another world. The morning began with coffee and mani/pedi’s at our favorite nail shop. Talk about a great way to start any day. Perhaps I should do that every morning. Who wants to pay for that? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Now, home to shower, clean up my place, make the bed and pack anything last minute needed. Mom calls. “Let me take you gals to lunch before you leave.” Lunch at Jason’s Deli. Abby and I are both in purple; unplanned. Awesome. We make it to the terminal, check bags, and have a surprise visit from dad who took time off work to see us off. He’s the best! Go daddy; you’re so awesome. As Abby valiantly crosses through security without the boot (go girl), I make my way through the scanner. Hold still. Spin around. Clear. Stuff is gathered, shoes are put back on, and our trek to the other side of the terminal begins. It’s our first time in Terminal D and it’s a whole other world. , if the world crashed around us, we’re totally good. HAHAHA! Restaurant after bar after shop after spa we pass. I just move in here? I would have everything I need including the ability to fly anywhere in the world I wanted at any time I wanted. Hello perfect life! A girl can dream…
We reach our gate and decide to relax and enjoy an adult beverage and some snacks at TGI Friday’s while watching the Olympics on TV. Whiskey and diet, vodka sprite. . Mom handed us both a gift before we left and said to open it once we reached the gate and sat down. She gave us both journals to document our trip and scribed in both a little note from momma bird. I find this gift amazing because not a few days ago did Grace tell me to write what occurs each day in a journal as a way to look back and remember all the little details that tend to fade as time ticks on. Hello perfect bon voyage gift! Thank you, mom… you’re the best! Don’t be sad. I promise we’ll be back. Stop crying.
It’s time to board.We enter the plane and it’s HUGE! As we sit, we notice screens attached to the headrests of the seats in front of us. Touch screens.We can watch movies or TV of our choice! Hello awesome. The doors close and the flight attendants begin their pre-flight instructions. First in English, then Spanish seeing that we’re heading towards Madrid. The plane takes off! We reach our cruising altitude of 37,000 feet and beverage service begins. also begin to watch The Lucky One. Who’s the lucky one? This girl who loves her some Zac Efron. The movie is completing and dinner service begins. Would you like meat, rice, or pasta? Uh, pasta, I guess. I think that’s what I had. Not really sure, but the wine was free, so sure. After dinner, I began to watch Think Like a Man. Funny movie. Apparently, I was laughing out loud. LOL! After that movie, we were still 5 and a half hours from Madrid. We are to arrive at 10am Madrid time. Huh? How did 7 hours just disappear into the ocean? Talk about a time warp! Literally. I’ll try to sleep, which I’m somewhat successful at… somewhat. I’m hot then cold then hot then cold then I need to move and all I want to do is stretch my legs. Abby wakes me and says they’re serving coffee. Ok… It’s only 2am back home. I’m usually asleep at that time, but yeah, coffee sounds good. It was not good. It was awful, but it was coffee… I think.
We land in Madrid. The moment the wheels touched the ground, I officially became a world traveler. My dream finally came true. I am a world traveler now. I just need the stamp on my passport to prove it. We exit the plane and we were instructed to check in for our connecting flight. We find the information desk and I realize I need to speak Spanish, not Italian at this point. I walk up to the desk and ask, in Spanish, if they speak English. The clerk says poquito. Awesome. In her broken English, I take away that we need to follow the signs for HJK gates. So, in the maze of the Madrid airport, we follow signs which are all in Spanish. We walk to the Customs counter and the customs officer stamps my passport. It’s complete. World traveler. Now, we have to go through security again. Luckily, Abby has been wearing her boot so they open a lane for us. We unload and wait in line. I walk through and pick up my things. Abby sets off the alarm. She is asked to step to the side and spread for a pat down. She is terrified. I find this hilarious because this is not the first time this has happened. She’s fine and we continue to the elevators following the signs for HJK. We are now on a driverless tram. God, I hope we’re going the right way. Whew. We see signs for HJK gates and signs for coffee. At this point, I NEED COFFEE. BAD!!! I order a cappuccino with a little cinnamon sprinkled on top is presented to me. Glorious. It actually tastes like coffee.Breathe. No one will get hurt now. HAHAHAHA! We walk to our gate and we immediately board onto our connecting flight to Rome. We don’t sit together for this leg, but it’s only 2 hours. No big deal. We’re off again. As we are taking off, I look out the window and see a large cross painted on the side of a mountain.I smile and say a little prayer thanking God for this amazing opportunity to travel across the globe. I sleep.
As I wake, we are over water and 30 minutes from landing. I see boats in the water, beaches lining the coast, and water breaking over the currents. It’s beautiful. I giggle. I’m halfway across the world and it’s just now starting to hit me. We turn left and right and left and right and we land safely in Rome! We have made it! I heave a sigh of relief. We’re here, finally. After months of anticipation and counting down, I’m in Italy. WOW! We make our way through the gate and out the door. There is a barrage of people waiting for friends and loved ones to de-board. There are so many people. Just like at home. We head to baggage claim and retrieve our bags without incident. Now to figure out where our shuttle is. It’s at the very end of the terminal. Awesome. We step outside and immediately are in shock at how low the temperature is compared to home. Maybe the high 80’s and a breeze. We both giggle. We know how jealous our friends would be right now. We trek down to the shuttle and as we arrive in the waiting area, the shuttle arrives to pick us up!What service! We are the only passengers and we’re okay with that seeing that we’ve been in a plane for 11 hours. We arrive at the hotel and proceed to check in. Our reservation is not there. Say what? The concierge points out we’re at the wrong hotel. Awesome. He calls us a cab and it arrives as we walk out the doors. Again, what service!! He drives us into Rome and drops us at the correct hotel. check in, get keys, open the door and fall into bed. Pure exhaustion. We nap for a few hours and it’s lovely. It’s not 6:30 and Abby is hungry as am I. We shower, get ready, and head out the doors. Did I mention how much I love the elevator yet? Touch and the doors are closing and it’s moving. Amazing! Which way? Left or right? Left? Sure. After about 25 feet, we turn around and head the other way. As we reach a major street, Via Tuscalona, we see a Pastareia/Pizzeria across the street that’s open. Done. We enter and are seated. The menu is in Italian with some English subtitles. We order some wine,take a stab at what we ordered, and were not disappointed. I had a gnocchi with a truffle cream sauce and mushrooms and Abby had a tomato linguine with spices. Delicioso! Malto Buono! We stuff our faces, naturally! After dinner, we walk around to see what there is. Most all the businesses are closed since it’s after 10pm, but the breeze is glorious and it’s about 70+ degrees outside. Some locals are out walking dogs, vespas pepper the streets, and couples are out walking and kissing, and laughing. It’s another world! Abby’s foot is tired, so we head back to the hotel and up the awesome elevator. It’s now almost midnight here and tomorrow is filled with… well, who knows just yet!
Day 2
We head over to the fountain again and refill our water bottles with fresh, spring, Italian water.I don’t think I’ve had so much water in one day in my life. I’m dreadfully parched, hot and sweaty, and completely awestruck by what I’ve just seen. We take a few pictures and head to the souvenir shops. After pushing our way through the massive crowd of people crammed into the shop, we see it. The most glorious thing on our first full day in Rome; GELATO!The time has come for our first official Italian gelato and boy, if it wasn’t the most delicious gelato EVER! White, pink, and green… I have no idea what the flavors were exactly, but I did not care. We continue to walk out of Vatican City and head off in search of lunch.We cross a large bridgeand see a pizzeria across the way. Done! We grab a table for 2 and enjoy pizza margherita and pizza diavolo… oh, so cheesy and oh, so good!!!Forward march to more discoveries in Rome. Piazza Novano, Piazza Colonatto, Piazza something else, Piazza this and that. Turn left, turn right, go left, go right; not really sure where we are heading, but we’ll discover something soon. We made our way through another smaller piazza and we’re immediately whistled at as we head up a street. They begin to follow speaking in Italian. I grab Abby’s arm and start laughing as I pull her faster along. We make a quick left and see “WINE BAR”. We walk in. They are gone. Well, while we’re here, might as well. “Due vino alla rossa, per fevore”. I’m even impressed with my Italian; rolling my r’s and all that jazz. LOL! The wine is amazing! Smooth, bright, so open. I'm in heaven as I slowly finish my glass savoring every last drop. Let’s go left and see about finding the Trevi Fountain. We head left… nope, wrong way. Turn around and go this way. We start passing shops filled with art, tapestries, glass items, clothes, shoes, books, café’s, etc. We pop into a little dress shop and see some super cute, handmade Italian dresses. It’s so happening. So we have a costume change and ask the sweet, little lady working how to get to the Trevi. “Go-a right-a at de next-a street-a. Then-a make-a right-a at de next-a street-a. Walk-a down-a de street-a and see de Trevi”. “Gratzia gratzia. Arrivederci”. She must have been all of 4’10” and pure Italian. So we take her directions and arrive at the Trevi.It’s PACKED! We don’t care. We start snapping pictures and push our way through the crowd down to the fountain for our photo op and a chance to toss our coins in. I go first.I sit, the water is so cold. I close my eyes and wish while tossing coin #1. Abby snaps the pic. #2. #3. Abs turn.Same for her. Wishes made! Let’s do more shopping? OK! And we do! Let’s go this way, ok! We start to trek up a large hill and make our way to the Piazza di Quarinale. It’s so open. You can see right down to St. Peter’s dome. We head across the way and decide it’s time to head back to the hotel. We start walking down the street and find a random park with a large statue of a guard on a horse.We take a break and rest in its shadow. The sun is finally beginning to set and the weather starts to cool. We make our way back to the Metro and head home to the hotel.We can’t seem to get there soon enough, but I know I will be thankful for the touch elevator. As soon as we open our room door, I fall to the floor. My feet hurt something fierce and I’m covered in city grime and sweat. As I peel my shoes and clothes off, I step into the most glorious shower I’ve ever taken. I stand and just let the water pour over washing away the day. Abby and I settle into our beds and turn on the Olympics and before we know it, it’s tomorrow. We slept through the night and completely missed dinner. Oh well… at least we have breakfast!
Day 3
Breakfast, again, was delicious! A few americano’s, some fruit and pastries and I’m ready for the day. We get ready and trek out to the Colosseum. Line A to Termini, then line B to Coloseo. As soon as we surface from underground, standing proudly before us… The Colosseum. We cross the street and make our way to the line. 30 minutes later, we have our tickets and are heading into one of the oldest and most talked about pieces of history. The day seems even hotter, but this place is amazing. The lower level, the higher level, just amazing. It’s baffling to think that Romans, royalty and peasants alike, centuries ago enjoyed many sports in this very arena. Hello historical moment in Emily’s life! I felt like going home and watching Gladiator. We made our way out of the Colosseum and saw Roman soldiers standing atop the hill. Oh, hells yeah! We trek upward and have pictures taken. One guard would not stop looking down Abby’s dress… hilarious. When it was my turn, I stood up on the step and the soldier bit his fist and just smiled. We had our pictures and it was worth it! Let’s find an umbrella or a floppy hat. The sun is unbearable today! Hats found, water purchased, and shade is entered. It’s just so hot! Let’s go check out the Piazza del Popolo.
We make a B line for the B line, cross over to the A line at the Termini and make our way to Flaminio. My favorite part of this is when the train is arriving, it starts pushing air through the tunnel where you are standing. It’s a perfect relief, even if for just a moment! We step off and up from underground and immediately see a bench in the shade! The Piazza is just behind us. After a few minutes of rest, we head across the way and into the Piazza. There is a large obelisk in the center encompassed by four lion fountains. We head towards the water and are immediately approached by a man with flowers. He hands us 3 red roses apiece and explains that these are the roses of Santa Maria and they will bring you luck in love. He asked if Abby had a boyfriend, she replied no. He says to her that in 2 months time, if she doesn’t look, she will find love. He asks me the same question, I reply yes. He says I will be married within a year. He says we are beautiful and says something in Italian, then asks, “Do you have something for me?” Seriously? You’re handing out the blessings and you want something for it? Ugh. Here are some coins. We continue to head towards the water and are approached by another man who hands up 2 white flowers apiece. These roses are symbols of peace in your life. Then he ties a bracelet around my wrist and says to make 3 wishes as he makes the 3 knots. Why not, right? It’s Italy. So I wish. He does the same for Abby, but she couldn’t understand what the man was saying. The he says, “Do you have something for me?” Oh, come on! Here are some coins, now go away. Great, now we need more coins. Another man starts to approach and push more flowers in our face. We start saying, “NO GRATZI NO GRATZI” and quickly make it out of the center of the Piazza. Good grief!
After that, we see a long street full of shops and begin to make our way down. We stop here, we stop there… Just a little shopping in Italy! We, however, made it a point not to shop at any store we have in America. What’s the point? It’s now later in the afternoon and we’re hungry. We stop for lunch at a little ristorante in the piazza and are led to a lovely table in the direct breeze line! Whew! Bring on a glass of water and a glass of wine. Abby ordered Fettuccine alla Pomodora and I order Spaghetti alla Carbonara. SO amazing! The wine, the food. Abby and I chat it up for like a hour or so and have some cappuccino’s to top the meal off. Oh, Italian Cappuccino’s… how I love you! Ok… so let’s make a plan for the rest of the night so we don’t miss dinner again! Let’s see the Trevi at night, do a little more shopping, grab some wine, and then come home. PERFECTO! We trek back to the hotel and I immediately shower. Another glorious shower! Now to nap for a bit, head back to the Trevi and have some dinner at the little pasta place we found the first night!
The Trevi at night is something to behold. It’s absolutely beautiful weather and the water is so cold. Simply amazing! As we make our way to the fountain, the streets are crowded with locals and tourists alike. People stop at local shops and eateries for dinner. We pass a violin playing duo right there on the street. It feels like Italy now! As we turn the corner, we see it. It’s all lit up and hundreds of people are crammed into the small little piazza where it is located. Flashes from cameras, laughter and much conversation, and little plop plop plops are heard over the uproarious sounds. Wish after wish being made and we’re next. We stop at a side vendor and purchase some souvenirs and decide after the Trevi we’ll do more shopping. We make our way down the steps and push our way front to the edge of the fountain. It’s incredible! The water flowing, the statues in all their glory, the lights from the water; seeing all this made it complete. We could have gone home right then and there and been fine. 1. 2. 3. Plop. Plop. Plop. We made our 3 wishes (yes, again, but no one said anything about a limit on wishes).
We stop here, we stop there… we shop here, we shop there! It was amazing and quite cheap compared to what I originally thought it would be. Buy a little of this, buy a little of that. This is too much fun. Ok… let’s head back to the hotel and figure out what we bought and how to pack it all! We walk away from the beautiful Trevi and towards the metro. As we near our stop, we are stopped by a gentleman passing out flyers for the bar to his immediate left. He stops me and looks at me quizzically for a moment and asks if I remember him. I do. He was the guy from the metro we saw earlier that day. We never spoke, just saw him. CRAZY! I tell him we’ll be back tomorrow, but we need to get back to the hotel. He claims he will hunt me down in America if I don’t come back. HA! On the metro with loot in tow and back to the hotel. Let’s stop for a bite now. Done! As we walk in, the servers recognize us and welcome us in. “Buono Sera, Buono Sera.” Abby has a Pizza Margherita and I enjoy Farfalle Arribinata. Delish, of course! We trek the few minutes walk up the hill to the hotel and stroll through the doors. Off to unpack and repack all our new things! Exhaustion creeps up and before we know it, we are in bed and very asleep!
Day 4
“Are you getting up for breakfast?” says Abby. I mumble something to the effect of “no” and she heads off for breakfast. I gradually roll out of the bed and onto my feet. They hurt so bad I lay back down for a moment. I’m not looking forward to walking around today at all. I shower and start getting ready. Abby comes back in the room and we decide to go see the Spanish Steps at Piazza de Spagna. We make our way back to the metro (we are pros at it now) and head off to Spagna. We are stopped at the Termini and are not allowed further due to the tracks now being under construction until the 25th of August. Awesome. We head up and outside, look around, complain about how dreadfully warm it is, and decide to head back towards the hotel. “Hey, we could check out Piazza Re Di Roma” says Abby. “Eh, sure, why not”. Piazza Re Di Roma… circle, that’s it. A big circle. So we walk the circle and we’re done. “Let’s go nap and then have some dinner” I say and Abby agrees. Her foot really could use the break from walking anyway. Back on the metro, the next stop is Ponte Lungo; our stop. We exit, head up, then left, then down the hill, then right, then under the bridge, then left and up the hill. We made this trip a few times now.
The room is so cold inside (thank goodness); we just curl right up and fall to sleep. 4 some odd hours roll by and we’re STARVING!!! Let’s go back for the last time to our favorite spot for dinner and then maybe head to a bar or something. We change and head over. They are closed. CRAP!!! Are they closed for the day or just at the time? We wander around and see that other restaurants are currently closed, so we look for gelato and an ATM and successfully find both! We sit on a bench and enjoy the gelato in the cool evening breeze with a bunch of old folks sitting around us speaking in Italian and no doubt complaining about the youth of Italy like most old folks do! It’s just more fun to hear it in Italian. We head down to our restaurant and as luck would have it, they are open! We enter, order, eat, and decide to have a few drinks at the hotel and enjoy the cool evening weather on the patio.
It was such a beautiful evening outside. Probably in the mid to high 70’s. Just glorious. We sit outside, play some music and just converse and laugh! It was a great night and both of us were thankful we took a day off from sight-seeing. We both needed the rest and we have to check out for a new city tomorrow; Florence! We pack all that we can before we crash, so we can have breakfast in the morning and head out!
Day 5
Breakfast? HA! It doesn’t help when you stay up late the night before drinking on the patio enjoying the night time breezes. We must have stayed out until after 1 am! I know I was drunk when we headed back to the room. I knew the elevator would make the trip to the bed fast. Touch and go! It’s the greatest elevator! I hope they’re all like this in Europe. We quickly pack, shower, and check out. In Italy, there are city taxes you have to pay to stay in a hotel. In Roma, it was 2 Euro per person per night. Whatever. We ask for a taxi to the train station because lugging those suitcases to the Termini stop off the Metro would have been impossible.
Taxi arrives and we’re off. I love the way these cab drivers move in Italy. Stop signs and what not seem more like suggestions rather than laws. They drive up close to other cars and practically move them out of the way. I have yet to see a speed limit sign. I like it! We arrive and immediately have NO IDEA where to go. We start walking, attempting to read the signs in Italian, and somehow have made it to the trains… we think. An older gentleman stops and provides us with help. He works for the train company. He informs us our train leaves in less than 10 minutes and we need to hoof it. So we run. We run to this stop and that’s wrong. Then we run here and that’s wrong. ARGH! I’m hot, sweaty, frustrated beyond all hell and it appears we will miss our train. Great. We see a conductor and I ask him if he speaks English. He says a little. He tells us we have to go to information to switch our ticket to the next train departing in 45 minutes. So we go to information. We wait in line forever to speak to someone at the information desk. Abby walks over to one of the attendants and asks how we change our ticket. She tells us we have to go to this other place to do that. AAAAHHHHH! I’m pissed and hot. BAD COMBINATION! We go to the other place and the attendant tells us we just need to board the train and pay the conductor the difference to ride. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!! We finally board and find 2 vacant seats. The train leaves minutes later. WHEW! Thank God we made it and we’re heading to Florence!
The train ride was smooth and quick. This is the first time I’ve ever ridden a train. I could do this again… without the drama though! Within an hour, we arrive in Florence! We de-board and look for the uscita (exit). It’s hot outside; ugh! Not hot like Texas, but hot nonetheless. We look around to see if we can see the hotel and finally ask a cabbie if he knows. He says it’s just around the corner; 10 kilometers he says. What the hell is 10 kilometers? Did he say 10 kilometers? How the hell far is that? We grab bags and begin our discovery of 10 kilometers or whatever he said. Sure enough, it was just down the way at the end of the block. Thank God! We walk in and check in with Fabio. He tells us of some tour options we can take and that the hotel has internet. We walk to the elevators and I’m hoping for another glorious elevator. Boy, am I disappointed! It’s like the slowest elevator in history, but it sure the hell beats walking up those stairs. What seems like an hour later, we reach the second floor of the hotel. We head to our room. This one is even smaller than the last and it has a muggy/sticky feeling inside. Oh great. I’m gonna walk around Florence in the heat and come back to a sticky room. I’m about over this vacation at this point. The beds are uncomfortable, the pillows suck, and the shower is yet again, small on top of the stickiness.
We shower and head down to book a tour. Fabio suggested the Tuscany in a Day tour. The tour included Pisa, San Gimignano, lunch at a Tuscan winery, and Siena. Sounds amazing! I never thought I would get to see Pisa this trip let alone Tuscany! We head down the street to the Il Portale that Fabio suggested for dinner. He said if we mention his name we get a discount. What the hell?! It’s worth a try. We walk in and are seated. We open our menus and to our absolute amazement: MEAT is on the menu! HALLELUJAH!!! We order dishes with chicken and it was amazing! Ah, maybe this won’t be so bad. Let’s explore and see what Florence has. We walk around the city and find many shops, street vendors, Trattoria’s, and gelateria’s! As night drew in, we opted for gelato; naturally! We stopped at a little gelateria in the Piazza Santa Maria Novella and sat outside in the evening breeze lazily enjoy some gelato. What a lovely end to a day that began with such a fluster. We head back to the hotel and attempt to sleep. HA! Abby and I are up talking until after 1am! Crap! We have to be at the walkabout at 7:40 am… this is gonna make for a long day.
The alarm sounds and we’re up. Breakfast starts at 7 and we’re ready for some coffee! Breakfast was quick and delicious and the morning was cool. Maybe high 60’s, low 70’s. GLORIOUS! We make our way to the walkabout and meet our tour guide, Beatrice! We board the bus and we’re off to Pisa! It’s about an hour or so from Florence. We arrive, park, and walk over to the piazza where the leaning tower is located and the Cathedral of Pisa. The tower definitely leans. The cathedral opens at 10am for tours and it’s your option to see the cathedral or just shop and see the tower. We take the iconic pictures by the tower, grab a few souvenirs, and wait to enter the cathedral. It’s so beautiful inside. Little details everywhere. Paintings on the walls, floors, and ceilings. Crucifixes hang from just about anywhere. It’s so beautiful; I’m awestruck. We are to meet back at the gate at 10am. We head back to the bus once the group is gathered and make our way to San Gimignano; about 1 hour 45 minutes away. I fall asleep on the drive there and awake to find myself in the Tuscan country! The roads are winding, the cypress trees line the roads, the vineyards are everywhere; it’s so gorgeous! We wind our way up a hill to the winery for lunch. We arrive and sit outside at these beautiful tables overlooking the countryside; I’m beyond happy. The wine is open and ready for pouring and the first course is on its way out to us. The bruscetta is full of flavor. Next comes the insalate with a olive oil/red wine vinegar dressing. Then the main course of penne pasta tossed in a tomato pomodoro sauce and topped with basil leaves. Dessert is a milk pudding topped with strawberry preserves. The conversation flows at our table with people from all corners of the globe; Australia, Dubai, Bangladesh, America. It’s great to converse with other people on this trip besides my sister and the random Italian I’m purchasing souvenirs from. We snap a few pictures of the town of San Gimignano from the country. We load the bus and head to San Gimignano for some more sight-seeing. It’s hot hot hot and so crowded. We walk for a few minutes and Abby and I decide to sit on some stairs and wait for the rest of the group to gather for the last leg of our trip. It’s now 3 pm and we’re heading to Siena. What we quickly learned about the particular day we arrived in Siena is that the Palio horserace that occurs twice a year was happening that weekend. So how crowded San Gimignano was no comparison to how Siena was. Siena was full of people! If I had to compare, I would say Times Square around New Year’s! We met with a local guide who took us through the city. We passed groups of people wearing the flags of their district in celebration of the Palio. We make it to the Duomo interior for viewing. It’s even more majestic than the other churches I’ve seen. Except the Sistine Chapel… I don’t think you can top that! The tour ended there and we were to meet back at the Piazza del Campo at 6pm to head back to Florence. This piazza was probably the worst place to meet considering how crowded it was for the Palio race. The festivities started at 7:45 that evening and ended after the 16th of August. 3 day party!!! The group arrives and we push our way through the crowds to head back to the bus. I’m not a fan of crowds, but I’ve learned to navigate them well. I wonder how this will translate back at home in Texas. LOL!
45 minutes later we are back in Florence. We are smelly, but so happy to have been on that tour. We make it back to the hotel and immediately shower and decide to eat at Il Portale again since it was so delicious the first time! Indeed it was again! I finally was able to have prosciutto e melone (prosciutto and melon) and a delicious glass of chianti with a scrumptious steak cooked to perfection atop a rucola salad. I’m officially spoiled, but know I will not eat Italian food back at home for months due to the over indulgence here! LOL! At dinner we choose to make the next day an easy day with shopping and eating since we do not want to miss our train to Venice tomorrow. We will be early! After dinner, we pop back to the hotel for sleep! We both passed out immediately and slept quite soundly that night!
Day 6
Around 11:30 that morning we woke up rested and replenished. 12 hours sleep was necessary at this point! Let’s lunch in the piazza today! So over to A Boardo we go and sat outside for a delicious lunch. Abby ordered the tortellini al prosciutto and I have Lasagne al Forno. It’s quite yummy! We walk around and found the Italian Flea Market, or so we called it! Street vendor after street vendor with carts full of such wonderful things! We make our way through and grab a little of this and a little of that! Each vendor attempts to stop us with words of “bella” and “madam”. It was so fun and we got quite a bit of stuff! We finish, grab some gelato, and head back to the air conditioned hotel. We pack what we can in preparation for tomorrow’s journey and nap before dinner. I could get used to napping before dinner. How can I make this happen at home?? HAHAHA!
After a delicious nap, we freshen up and head out for dinner. Dinner was at a local Trattoria just down from Il Portale, but I can’t remember the name of it. Something in Italian. HA! We dine on bruschetta, spaghetti, and a delicious chianti all the while discussing the most absurd things about life back at home. How will we bring Italy back with us and what will never change. Such great conversation. After dinner, we decide to head back to the piazza for some evening sauntering. I’ve become quite accustomed to sauntering now. Life is beautiful, why speed through it? We see some kapoeira artists performing in the streets and have a sit to watch. Some aren’t very good, while others seem to have effortless control and execution. As we sit and watch, we are offered some wine by a local musician sitting on the bench across from us. We enter into a small conversation with them and thank them for the wine. I giggle and wonder why more men are not like this at home? After several minutes of watching the performers and sipping on the wine, the musicians rise and inform us they will be performing just over yonder if we would like to come and listen. We agree. After we see they have set up and begin to play, we saunter over and sit on the steps of the Church of Santa Maria Novella and listen to various blues tunes rising into the evening air. It was such a glorious evening; one for the books. This is what vacation is about. This is the Italy I wanted to be a part of! Ah, Florence, what memories you will hold for me. After a few tunes, we decide to turn in so as not to be late for our train in the morning as we had previous to our arrival in this city.
Day 7
Breakfast comes around 8 for us and we enjoy cereal and coffee. We decide to eat our breakfast on the veranda just outside the dining area and we are immediately joined by the birds; 6 or 7 of them. Birds in America dare not sit so close to humans. It’s such a foreign concept we can do nothing but giggle. We check out and head over to the train station. Rather early than running crazy late.
We arrive and walk in towards the platforms. We are experts now and know exactly what to look for regarding the train systems. We wait and wait and wait for our platform number to appear on the screen above. We see that we are standing near the higher number platforms and just hope and pray our platform will be near us. The number appears and we are directly in front of it! WOOT WOOT! We head towards our car loading area and await the passengers arriving in Florence to de-board. We then lug our suitcases aboard, stow them, and head for our seats. Seated and it’s very well air conditioned. HALLELUJAH! Our 2 hour train ride begins. We pass through Padova first and V. Maestra before finally arriving at our destination: Venice! We walk off the train and head towards the city and immediately we are on the water! How amazing! I walk to a tourist information center and ask how to get to our hotel; the Villa Rosa. The specialist informs me it’s just a 5 minute walk down to the left. Fantastic! We head left; passing through crowds and street vendors alike. We continue left, but with no signs telling us of what street we’re on or if we’re heading in the right direction. Finally, a nice boatman says to me, “You look-a lost.” “Yes, we’re looking for the Villa Rosa hotel. Do you know where it is?” “Ah, yes-a, you have just-a missed-a the turn. Turn a left just-a there and down about-a 200 meters you-a will see it.” “Gratzi-a gratzi-a.” We turn back and down a narrow street/alley and finally reach our hotel. It’s definitely old-school Italian looking with marble floors and carpeted stairs. No elevators. The concierge hands us a large key (an actual key) and points us to our room. The “bellboy”, I guess that’s what he was, assists us with our bags to our room and we open the door and it’s just beautiful. 2 beds, wood planked ceilings, lovely draperies and bedding, a private balcony/deck with a table and 2 chairs, and the smallest bathroom I’ve ever seen. We immediately turn on the A/C unit to the coldest setting; 18 degrees Celcius. We drop bags and head for lunch. Starving.
We walk the long trek back to the canals and search for a restaurant to eat at. We go back to the restaurant we first saw as we turned the corner and the maitre’d seated us right by the water. He kept going on about how tall I was and that I would have to bend down to kiss him or he would have to throw kisses up to me and all in Italian. I just laughed. He kept saying “Mamma Mia”. I almost broke out into song, but refrained. We had spaghetti and ravioli and just enjoyed being right there by the water. It was so cool and there was a constant breeze. How amazing! We’re actually in Venice! After lunch, we walked around and did some more shopping. So much shopping on this vacation! We head back for cooler air in the room and a nap before dinner all the while discussing our plans to ride a gondola and see St. Mark’s Square the following day. Dinner was at a small café on the canal that must have been family owned. A family was sitting inside enjoying a meal and members kept getting up to serve the customers seated outside. How wonderful! We saunter back to the hotel and crash out, but excited for tomorrow’s festivities on our final full day in Italy.
Day 8
It was so cold last night, I had to pull on the wool blanket from the armoire to stay warm. What a peaceful slumber though the bed was definitely not the most comfortable. As we get ready in the smallest bathroom in Europe, I am taken aback by the vacuum like apparatus on the wall. There’s no way. Is this the hair dryer? Sure enough… I dried my hair with a vacuum hose in Venice. We head out toward the main square to partake in our first ever gondola ride. Both of us are hoping for some delicious Italian man with perfect hair and caramel skin that would serenade us with some romantic Italian aria. We didn’t quite get that, but our gondolier was quite the learned gentleman. He helped us onto the boat and we took a seat and set off in the early morning sun for St. Mark’s Square. Marco was his name. He slowly steered the gondola across the Grand Canal and turned down many side streets. He commented about the architecture and told us stories about the old days in Venice. He asked us questions about America and our lives back there. I snapped shots here and there and just took in how breathtaking it all was. We arrive and Marco helps us de-board. What an experience! And now we make our way to St. Mark’s Square. Abby wants to chase the birds.
We turn left and right and left and left and right and right again. Abby stops and says, “Do you hear that?” I stop and listen. I do. NO WAY!!! We follow the sounds turning left and right again completely losing where we are on the map. And there it is… A singing gondolier! We stop on the bridge to snap a shot and listen. Yessssss… just what I wanted to see while in Venice. Well, back to left and right turns and finally we make it. It’s enormous and completely covered in birds and people! There are little café tables around the perimeter of the square. And she’s off… running after the birds and getting them all a flutter. We grab some more souvenirs and look for a way back to the other side where our hotel is located. We have 3 options: another expensive gondola ride, the water bus which just departed and won’t be back for at least an hour, or a water taxi which was not as expensive as the gondola, but more expensive than the bus. What the hell… you only live once, right? TAXI! We board another boat and we’re off. Wind in our hair, water splashing as we hit the waves. We pass the water bus and just giggle.
We head back towards our hotel for a nap before dinner is in order. The room is frigid making for perfect nap temperatures. Moments later we’re both asleep with no alarms set. A few hours later I awoke; Abby was still out. So as not to disturb her, I grabbed the magazines I bought at the beginning of the trip and went out onto our private veranda. I sat down and thumbed through the pages looking for a read. I read this article about the shootings in Norway and another on Joseph Gordon Levitt. After a while, I could hear the clanking of silverware on plates, people having conversations, glasses clinking together, the water lapping, the wind blowing. All I can think is how quickly we move in America. How we never really stop to listen and just be still. I finally learned what it felt like to slow down; to stop and listen. How truly blessed am I in my life to learn this very delicate and underrated art at my age. And being still in an art!
Well, Abby slept right though dinner, so we go downstairs to see what little snacks we can partake in. We found some crackers. I ask Abby what time we need to head out in the morning to get to the airport. “4 am.” UGH! “Ok, I’ll get a taxi from the concierge.” It’s been my job to speak the Italian since I happened to somehow be more fluent. I walk over the concierge desk. “Buono Sera”, I say to the man at the desk. “Buono Sera, signora. Come posso aiutare?” “Mi dispiace. Son no parlarle italiano, parle inglese?” “Non parlo inglese.” “WHAT?” In this moment, I actually panicked a moment. He doesn’t speak English. My Italian is not good. How in the hell can I ask him for a cab to be here at 4am? Wait… trusty I-Phone with a google translate app. Lo and behold as I reach for my phone to open the app I see that the concierge has done the EXACT SAME THING! Our phones talk to each other only to find out that cabs do not run that early in the morning on this side of the canal. We need to go the Piazzale Roma across the way and wait for one there. Joy. We head to the room to pack our bags and set alarms to rise at an ungodly hour and head home.
Day 9
3:30 am came very early. We dressed and readied ourselves to head back home. This has been one of the longest vacations I’ve ever taken; at this point, I was ready for my bed, my large shower, and anything but Italian food. We manage to lug our bags down the stairs. We turn in our key, say our ‘thanks’ and ‘good-byes’ and head out the door. The air has a slight chill in it; a blessing later. We walk to the main bridge next to the train station where we arrived and look up. The thing about bridges in Italy, they are not ramped, but staired. We must take all our luggage across this bridge; at least 30 stairs on one side and 30 down the other. I’ve now begun to sweat and Abby and I flip flop from top to bottom dragging the luggage across the bridge and no one in sight to help. After about 15 minutes, we’re across, I’m sweaty gross and I see in the near distance another bridge to cross. Are you kidding me? I’ve had no coffee, I’m exhausted, I’m sun burnt, my feet hurt, I’m hungry, and it’s 4:30 in the morning. We cross the bridge. And we cross the next. And we cross the next. Luckily, a doorman was cleaning the glass of his hotel and was able to point out that the Piazzale Roma was just ahead with no more bridges to cross. As we walk toward the Piazza, we see people waiting for cabs also. Whew! I sit to catch my breath and Abby grabs some Gatorade since cappuccino’s are impossible to find on the street at this hour. A cabbie pulls up and I flag him down. He loads the luggage and we’re finally off to the airport. Our flight leaves at 7:30 for Madrid and Abby wants to make sure we’re there early enough to make the flight.
We arrive at the airport at 5:15 am. Why are the ticket counters not open? Oh, because the airport, technically, does not open until 6 am. So we sit and wait. Upside, we’re first in line to get our tickets. Downside, we can’t get our tickets until we pay for our checked luggage and we can’t pay at the ticket counter. We now have to wait for the baggage people open up to take our money. At this point, the line for the ticket counter is weaving around the poles and I sure as hell am not waiting any longer. I pull my diva card and walk around and straight up to the counter, cutting in front of people to whom I throw the ‘don’t mess with Texas’ look to, get the boarding passes, get us through security and to our gate. Finally, we’re on the way home. Abby springs for cappuccino’s and croissants. As we sit at our gate waiting to board, the shops begin to open. The fates were smiling on Abby because directly across from us was a Burberry store. All trip long she wanted to find a Burberry purse to bring home. Not an Italian designer purse while being in Italy, but an English designer purse. It’s as if she sees a white light and eyes glazed over heads toward her bank accounts pending doom. 20 minutes later she walks out with a shopping bag in hand and the biggest grin on her face. I look at her as if she’s crazy seeing that she already purchased a couple purses in Rome that were actual Italian leather. She death clutches the bag as we board and head to Spain.
Once in Spain, we have a 2.5 hour layover; enough time to grab some lunch. We find the gate first and then seek out refreshments. We settle for a soggy sandwich and stale chips. After practically throwing the meal away, we see a vending machine. Chocolate and sodas it is. We stock up and wait at the gate for boarding call. This leg of the flight we are not sitting together. I ended up in a middle seat and she got an aisle. I’m not sure which was worse; the screaming, kicking children behind me or the man who had his rear end in her face the entire flight. I think she got the better end of the deal.
11 hours later we are back on American soil only to stand in the longest line of my life to go through Customs. Suddenly, Abby freaks out. She realized she had snow globes in her bags. The liquid was over 3.5 ounces. I told her not to mention it and I’m sure it would be fine. I was concerned about the bottles of wine I had in mine. I told her to let me do the talking and all would be cool. We make it to the counter and our Customs officer was so nice. He asked about our trip and how the food was. I told him I didn’t want to even hear the word spaghetti for at least 3 months. He signed our paperwork and we were out of limbo. We loaded up all our 1 million bags on a cart and walked through the doors to be greeted by mom and dad! Home at last!
This was a trip of a lifetime and sometimes I still can’t believe I was there at all. It’s definitely on my must see again list.
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