I can't even begin to express how awesome this trip has been for me, and I'll go ahead and speak for my parents and say that they thoroughly enjoyed themselves as well. Italy was all that I dreamed it would be and more and I can't wait to save my money and go back again and again!
I suppose I should chronicle our last day in Italy just to close things out properly. So we began Wednesday with a 3am wake-up call...fun. A shower, quick last minute packing, and the trials of lugging our bags down ourselves due to lack of bellboys took up an hour and we were on the road by 4am. Sorrento is only about 3 hours from Rome and the airport but we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time before our 11:15am flight. The drive was mostly uneventful and we arrived at the international terminal by 8:15 or 8:30. Flights were all on time, and it was smooth sailing in the skies back to Philadelphia, then on to hometown of good ol' Richmond, VA. Mark graciously met us at the airport to take us home, and by the time we got back to Villa Rosa we had been awake for 24 hours! Exhausting, but completely worth it. The end of the week and a nice relaxing holiday weekend have proved to be necessary for getting over jet lag for all of us. Now we are back on our feet and back to the daily grind.
I can't wait to post all the pictures and share all the memories and sites and gorgeousness with all of you! The only thing that would have made it better is if we could have taken you all along for the adventure. Just to name a few of my favorite things and memories about L'Italia, in no particular order: kids on leashes, dogs in strollers with diapers, crema gelato, sidewalk cafes, intense hand gesturing everywhere, yelling everywhere, getting to say "buongiorno!" and "buona sera!" all the time, seeing zero SUVs and zero pimped out cars and zero spinning rims, Gucci, most delicious pizza anywhere, watermelon gelato, walking down public streets with a beer, having 2 glasses of wine with every meal (not just lunch and dinner), tasting gnocchi and realizing we really do not like it, tasting the original Alfredo sauce and realizing no American knows how to make it, seeing the motherland - Sicilia! Trying to speak Italian and failing miserably, trying to speak Italian and having a coherent conversation (kind of), adding 11 spoons to my collection (haha), buying a pair of genuine Italian leather shoes (they are beautiful), tasting Limocello for the first time and realizing why they serve it in such small little glasses, lemon trees growing in every possible crevice of every street and yard, fields of sunflowers, vineyards, tiny cars everywhere, stracciatella gelato, motor scooters taking over the streets, moms with three kids on one scooter, taxis that overcharge, hotels that overcharge, getting free food at our hotel, custom-made omlettes that weren't on the menu, Mount Visuvius, Mount Etna, thousands of years of history next door to modern government buildings and apartments, the Roman Road, umbrella pine trees, Oleander flowering 7 months of the year, wild roses everywhere, "2 Euro, special price!" from the unauthorized vendors, winding roads that are illegal in the US, views that do not exist in the US, and a thousand or more pictures to remember it all by. I could keep going...
Thanks, Mum and Dad, for taking me on the trip of a lifetime! It was simply amazing. And thanks to the fam and my dear friends for reading our adventures...I know I'm wordy and probably too detailed, but you know this is as much for you as it is for us. Love to everyone, look for our pics coming soon!
Arrivaderci,
Sara
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
More Breaking News!
I'm sitting in the hotel room checking email and updating this blog, while watching Bloomberg TV becaues it's the only channel in English and I just had to share my astonishment: Madoff is sentenced to 150 years in jail!!! Good for the judge I say, and what a message he's sending. Anyways I don't want to turn this into a political or newsy blog but I had to share about poor Bernie. Go America.
Good night from lovely Sorrento...I'll look out my window to the beautiful city view for you ;)
Good night from lovely Sorrento...I'll look out my window to the beautiful city view for you ;)
Amalfi Coast: Positano and Amalfi town
It is so hard to pick a favorite day or excursion on a trip like this, but I’d say that Positano definitely ranks up there for me. But first I must tell you about driving there…oy. We got a decent start by leaving the hotel in our rental car around 10:30am, and following the Hertz “NeverLost” (aka a Garmin GPS with a Hertz sticker on it), began to make our way to Positano. There are no highways in this part of the country, so it is all back roads by our standards…they twist and turn sharply and at some points people have to pull over to let others pass or let a bus pass. So the whole trip was an adventure because of this, but the funniest part was that the “NeverLost” led us down a road that was not really a road for real cars, in my opinion. For 2 whole kilometers we were squeezing between stone walls, scraping side-view mirrors and door handles, and holding our breath hoping we weren’t going to get stuck and have to go backwards. Luckily Dad has lots of video game car experience and handled the car quite nicely and we made it out the other side in one piece…I took some pictures of the sidewalk we drove down so you’ll have to check them out.
Now! On to Positano! There is one road that leads into Positano and one road that leads out. We wound our way down the cliff and finally found a tiny parking garage to store our car while we walked the solely pedestrian town center of Positano. It is just wonderful – just a downward sloping sidewalk with some occasional stairs winding down the cliff with chic women’s boutiques, ceramic shops, art galleries, touristy stores, pizza stops, and gelati counters. Just the most charming place ever! Mum and I went into a bunch of the stores to check out the clothes which they have in abundance, and I bought an authentic made-in-Italy shirt! So fun. Once we reached the bottom, we walked along the beach briefly, had some beverages, and then wound our way back up the cliff for a pizza snack and the most delicious watermelon gelato before getting our car and heading south to the town of Amalfi. We successfully found the town, since there is pretty much one road that connects all these little coastal towns it wasn’t too difficult, found some parking and did much of the same as we did in Positano. Amalfi is structured a bit differently though, so we parked much closer to the town center. We spent a little time window shopping, checking out the massive lemons for sale, and then the rains came and we sought shelter under a restaurant umbrella. After a little while, we decided it call it a day and got back on the road to Sorrento.
I have failed to mention it sufficiently, but the drive along the coast to and from these towns is just breathtakingly beautiful. Some famous guy said something about how you may think you have seen beautiful landscapes but you have seen nothing until you’ve seen the Amalfi Coast, and although I’m not a world traveler and can list the international places I’ve been on 4 fingers, I completely agree with him. It is the most charming place, with so much character, so much to see, plenty but not too much to do, GREAT food, and inexpensive souvenirs (very important). I have absolutely loved our day today and aside from a couple close calls with busses on precarious curvy bridges over deep gorges, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Tomorrow I believe we are relaxing yet again before we prepare ourselves to travel back to I Stati Uniti! Arrivaderci, miei amici e famiglie!
Now! On to Positano! There is one road that leads into Positano and one road that leads out. We wound our way down the cliff and finally found a tiny parking garage to store our car while we walked the solely pedestrian town center of Positano. It is just wonderful – just a downward sloping sidewalk with some occasional stairs winding down the cliff with chic women’s boutiques, ceramic shops, art galleries, touristy stores, pizza stops, and gelati counters. Just the most charming place ever! Mum and I went into a bunch of the stores to check out the clothes which they have in abundance, and I bought an authentic made-in-Italy shirt! So fun. Once we reached the bottom, we walked along the beach briefly, had some beverages, and then wound our way back up the cliff for a pizza snack and the most delicious watermelon gelato before getting our car and heading south to the town of Amalfi. We successfully found the town, since there is pretty much one road that connects all these little coastal towns it wasn’t too difficult, found some parking and did much of the same as we did in Positano. Amalfi is structured a bit differently though, so we parked much closer to the town center. We spent a little time window shopping, checking out the massive lemons for sale, and then the rains came and we sought shelter under a restaurant umbrella. After a little while, we decided it call it a day and got back on the road to Sorrento.
I have failed to mention it sufficiently, but the drive along the coast to and from these towns is just breathtakingly beautiful. Some famous guy said something about how you may think you have seen beautiful landscapes but you have seen nothing until you’ve seen the Amalfi Coast, and although I’m not a world traveler and can list the international places I’ve been on 4 fingers, I completely agree with him. It is the most charming place, with so much character, so much to see, plenty but not too much to do, GREAT food, and inexpensive souvenirs (very important). I have absolutely loved our day today and aside from a couple close calls with busses on precarious curvy bridges over deep gorges, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Tomorrow I believe we are relaxing yet again before we prepare ourselves to travel back to I Stati Uniti! Arrivaderci, miei amici e famiglie!
Lounge day
Sleeping in is so glorious and I will miss it dearly on July 13th (or 20th, not sure yet) when I start my job as a real life person and no longer have time to sleep in. Boo. But back to sleeping in…we did so until about 10 or 10:30 and went up to the upstairs lounge where we had free breakfast on the outdoor terrace and enjoyed the view of Sorrento. Wonderful. Then Mum and Dad went to work out, and I went to work on my tan. Equally as difficult, as you all know. There is a separate pool on the 7th floor we get to use and it’s great…there’s no kids and we get free drinks and snacks all day long. So awesome. Eventually the parentals joined me in the sun and we enjoyed the day! Early evening brought some clouds in, and we moved under the covered terrace to snack and play Canasta…very fun, and need I mention that Dad won. Eventually we figured we should get ready and head to dinner! So we cleaned ourselves up around 7:30 and headed into town to hit up a guidebook recommendation, Pizzeria Giardiniello. I had an enormous calzone made for 5 people, Mum had delicious spinach ravioli, and Dad had pasta fagioli and cannelloni with a wonderful mix of meat inside. Everything was so good, and for such a reasonable price too! I love these small non-touristy places because no one speaks English and they are so friendly and happy to have you there, regardless of whether you can communicate or not.
So that was our day! After dinner we walked around a little bit in town and then came back to read and relax in our rooms…quite uneventful but absolutely delightful. Tomorrow we head south over the mountain to explore a little of the Amalfi coast!
So that was our day! After dinner we walked around a little bit in town and then came back to read and relax in our rooms…quite uneventful but absolutely delightful. Tomorrow we head south over the mountain to explore a little of the Amalfi coast!
Rental Car fun and Sorrento!
Buongiorno! This morning, Dad got up early to catch the shuttle to the airport to pick up our rental car – we decided of all the options for getting to and from Sorrento, this was the best, cheapest, and easiest option for all of us. So after some hassle at the rental counter and an hour of round-trip travel, he returned and we piled all of our luggage (all 7 bags) into our “luxury” Ford Focus and we got on the road! The trip from Rome to Sorrento (which is south of Naples – check your maps) is rather short and pleasant, only about 3 hours. We made it to our hotel in Sorrento in 3 hours and maybe 15 or 20 minutes because of some traffic and some confusion on the roads in this small city. The Hilton Sorrento Palace is located on the side of a mountain which overlooks the city/town of Sorrento, the Bay of Naples, the city of Naples which is visible across the bay, and also a cool view of Mount Vesuvius. Our rooms (I was lucky enough to score my own room again!) on the 6th floor give us a great vantage point for this fantastic view, and the layout of the rooms is such that the beds face the huge sliding glass door. It’s wonderful to wake up to, especially since there is a switch next to the bed you can press to have the curtains automatically open. So cool.
After checking in and settling into our rooms, we explored the hotel (it’s huge and has a conference center, three pools, gym, auditorium…just endless), and then ventured out to do a lazy walking tour of Sorrento. We started in the city center, Sorrento’s only piazza, Piazza Tasso. It’s very loud and congested with pedestrians, cars, busses, mopeds, dogs, and tables which leak out into the piazza and the road from the surrounding cafes and restaurants. On one side of the piazza you can see down a gorge and into the sea where the harbor of Sorrento is, and turning around you can see the main couple of streets in this city. From the square, we found the statue of Signore Tasso, the 16th century poet who is namesake of the square. Behind the statue, there was a cool indoor garden which apparently is typical of an 18th century aristocratic palace’s courtyard. It was kind of like a greenhouse with painted tiles all over the walls, a fountain and lots of greenery. After that we went down a narrow street, passed a couple of road-side shrines to Mary and some other saints, and found the local Cathedral which apparently houses the bishop of this area. Mass was going on so we of course stayed and tried to get as much out of the Italian service as possible. It is, as they all are, a beautiful church. This one however has lots of inlaid wood art in it, as this is the area’s artistic specialty and it is everywhere. I have never seen this kind of work so detailed and wood in so many different colors…the craftsmanship is just remarkable. So after mass was over, we wandered down some other streets, passed the Sorrento Men’s Club (which is so hilarious – it’s a closed off patio full of old Italian men gesturing, yelling, and drinking. Think of the Godfather, and any other stereotypical Italian scene where the women are cleaning and the men are sitting around talking about them. Just great. Also there are no phones allowed in this place…so funny. The guide book we’re using tells us an Italian joke that says that Jesus must have been a southern Italian, because his mother believed he was God, he believed his mother was a virgin, and he lived with his parents until he was 30. Haha! Anyways, after this bit of fun, we found the main shopping street! It is full of shoe stores, designer boutiques for men and women, small town stores, touristy places, and of course lemon products! The lemon is ridiculous in this region – they grow it everywhere and do everything with it.
So then it was dinner time and we made our way to a place that had been recommended to us by friends called L’Antica Trattoria, since 1930. This place was SO cute. The outdoor patio was covered in oleander, purple blooming vines, lemon trees, wild rose vines, and a bunch of other beautiful flowers overhead. They served dinner in a sort of set price menu style, where you pick and entire meal including all three courses for one price. So mum got the vegetarian meal, which was a plate of yummy seasoned vegetables for antipasta, a bowl of linguini with zucchini flowers (a specialty of this place – it’s a fried battered zucchini flower stuffed with ricotta cheese…so good) and pesto-ish sauce, and then eggplant cooked as we’ve never seen before…delicious. I had one of their “traditional spring” meals, which included a plate of fried vegetables (zucchini flower, fried carrots, zucchini, cauliflower, and onion), gnocchi in a tomato and mozzarella sauce, and then beef with potato cake and spinach…we learned we’re not so big on the gnocchi but everything else was great. And Dad had another of their traditional meals which included a local fish for antipasta (it was so good but weird – really thin and transparent), cannelloni, and then pork with potatoes and vegetables. All in all it was a great meal and we were all stuffed to the brim afterwards!
Tomorrow we are taking a day off from being world travelers and will be relaxing at the hotel…more to come!
After checking in and settling into our rooms, we explored the hotel (it’s huge and has a conference center, three pools, gym, auditorium…just endless), and then ventured out to do a lazy walking tour of Sorrento. We started in the city center, Sorrento’s only piazza, Piazza Tasso. It’s very loud and congested with pedestrians, cars, busses, mopeds, dogs, and tables which leak out into the piazza and the road from the surrounding cafes and restaurants. On one side of the piazza you can see down a gorge and into the sea where the harbor of Sorrento is, and turning around you can see the main couple of streets in this city. From the square, we found the statue of Signore Tasso, the 16th century poet who is namesake of the square. Behind the statue, there was a cool indoor garden which apparently is typical of an 18th century aristocratic palace’s courtyard. It was kind of like a greenhouse with painted tiles all over the walls, a fountain and lots of greenery. After that we went down a narrow street, passed a couple of road-side shrines to Mary and some other saints, and found the local Cathedral which apparently houses the bishop of this area. Mass was going on so we of course stayed and tried to get as much out of the Italian service as possible. It is, as they all are, a beautiful church. This one however has lots of inlaid wood art in it, as this is the area’s artistic specialty and it is everywhere. I have never seen this kind of work so detailed and wood in so many different colors…the craftsmanship is just remarkable. So after mass was over, we wandered down some other streets, passed the Sorrento Men’s Club (which is so hilarious – it’s a closed off patio full of old Italian men gesturing, yelling, and drinking. Think of the Godfather, and any other stereotypical Italian scene where the women are cleaning and the men are sitting around talking about them. Just great. Also there are no phones allowed in this place…so funny. The guide book we’re using tells us an Italian joke that says that Jesus must have been a southern Italian, because his mother believed he was God, he believed his mother was a virgin, and he lived with his parents until he was 30. Haha! Anyways, after this bit of fun, we found the main shopping street! It is full of shoe stores, designer boutiques for men and women, small town stores, touristy places, and of course lemon products! The lemon is ridiculous in this region – they grow it everywhere and do everything with it.
So then it was dinner time and we made our way to a place that had been recommended to us by friends called L’Antica Trattoria, since 1930. This place was SO cute. The outdoor patio was covered in oleander, purple blooming vines, lemon trees, wild rose vines, and a bunch of other beautiful flowers overhead. They served dinner in a sort of set price menu style, where you pick and entire meal including all three courses for one price. So mum got the vegetarian meal, which was a plate of yummy seasoned vegetables for antipasta, a bowl of linguini with zucchini flowers (a specialty of this place – it’s a fried battered zucchini flower stuffed with ricotta cheese…so good) and pesto-ish sauce, and then eggplant cooked as we’ve never seen before…delicious. I had one of their “traditional spring” meals, which included a plate of fried vegetables (zucchini flower, fried carrots, zucchini, cauliflower, and onion), gnocchi in a tomato and mozzarella sauce, and then beef with potato cake and spinach…we learned we’re not so big on the gnocchi but everything else was great. And Dad had another of their traditional meals which included a local fish for antipasta (it was so good but weird – really thin and transparent), cannelloni, and then pork with potatoes and vegetables. All in all it was a great meal and we were all stuffed to the brim afterwards!
Tomorrow we are taking a day off from being world travelers and will be relaxing at the hotel…more to come!
ROMA!
Today was lovely. We slept in a little bit and got going about 11 or 12 to head into the city center. Once there, we ventured back to the souvenir shop that we visited yesterday next to the Vatican. Mum and Dad saw some things they liked and we wanted more time to pick out what we wanted. Buying a crucifix is serious business when they come in such a variety of shapes (haha), sizes, and colors! So we spent a significant amount of time there, and then on the recommendation of our friend Mario (a friend we made while making purchases at his store), we went and found Ristorante Spinosi, where we were greeted by a bleach blond fat Italian grandma. She asked us if we wanted wine or beer, salad, and pizza or pasta…and a few minutes later we were eating the best meal of all our lives. It was wonderful, and I’m certain that she took our “order” and went back to her kitchen and prepared our salad, pizza and pasta herself. It was glorious, and of all the good meals we’ve had on this trip, this one is in the top 3. That’s really saying something.
After the landmark lunch, we wandered our way back west across the city and first found the Pantheon. It really is a testament to the incredible engineering and architecture the Romans were capable of – without any kind of heavy machinery or computers! The dome is the biggest unsupported dome of its kind, and engineers and architects around the world still marvel at its structure and ability to stay standing, let alone for so many centuries. The White House, among other government and national buildings worldwide are modeled after the Pantheon. It has some cool altars inside honoring kings of Italy, and Jesus – the side where mass is held weekly. How cool would it be to go there regularly! “Oh me? I belong to the Pantheon Church of God, how about you?” Right. Anyways, after that we kind of followed a walking tour that took us to some extra special churches and monuments, and eventually finding our way to some old Roman ruins, the Coliseum, and the Palatino which includes the Roman Forum. These sites really were fabulous, and showcase the former glory of the Roman Empire. I’d say that we probably would have gotten more out of them if we had gotten a guide or done a guided tour instead of just wandering around. While it was nice to go at our own pace and leave whenever we wanted, we certainly had a lot of questions about what we were seeing that went unanswered. Still, definitely worth it! Check out the pictures (they will go up eventually, promise) for some cool views.
By the end of our Roman ruins exploration, it was about 6:30 or 7pm, and so we had to sort of speed up our tour to get to the things we wanted to see before dinner reservations at 8pm. So we caught a taxi to the Trevi Fountain since we had heard this was a must-see while in Rome. It definitely was wonderful! The fountain is a little different from others in that it’s not in a traditional piazza – the fountain is huge and is only a one-sided fountain (instead of circular) and was set against the side of a building. This makes for a neat looking fountain and good views from the facing street, but it’s not so good for the thousands of tourists coming by daily to take pictures! We managed to work our way down and snag a spot in front of the fountain to take our picture and throw some coins over our shoulders for good luck, as is the tradition. One coin to come back to Rome, and a second coin to find love, and apparently a third coin to get a divorce…not so sure about that last one. Mum and Dad tossed one each, and I tossed two just in case :) From there, we walked to the Spanish steps to take some pictures…I have to say the steps were not as glorious as they were talked up to be, but still very pretty! Plus they’re on one of the streets that has all the designer shops on it, so that was fun too.
Sight-seeing finished, we got a taxi to our dinner destination: Lo Zodiaco. This place was great – it sits at the top of a hill/mountain which overlooks the whole city of Rome. As you can imagine, the views were wonderful of the city all lit up at night! We were one of the first people to get to the restaurant (surprise, no one eats as early as 8pm in Italy), and so it was nice to have the porch to ourselves for a little while. The food was good – I had spaghetti in seafood sauce, which means I had spaghetti in a light red sauce with shrimp, clams, oysters, and muscles. Mum had a delicious veal in light lemon sauce, Dad enjoyed beef and cannelloni, and we all had some yummy dessert – tortufa, gelato, and a bowl of strawberries. Hungry yet? After dinner we caught another taxi back to the city center where we waited for the hotel shuttle to pick us up at 11.
Tomorrow we have decided to leave Rome early and head south to Sorrento to make sure we get some good relaxation time! Only a few more days…
After the landmark lunch, we wandered our way back west across the city and first found the Pantheon. It really is a testament to the incredible engineering and architecture the Romans were capable of – without any kind of heavy machinery or computers! The dome is the biggest unsupported dome of its kind, and engineers and architects around the world still marvel at its structure and ability to stay standing, let alone for so many centuries. The White House, among other government and national buildings worldwide are modeled after the Pantheon. It has some cool altars inside honoring kings of Italy, and Jesus – the side where mass is held weekly. How cool would it be to go there regularly! “Oh me? I belong to the Pantheon Church of God, how about you?” Right. Anyways, after that we kind of followed a walking tour that took us to some extra special churches and monuments, and eventually finding our way to some old Roman ruins, the Coliseum, and the Palatino which includes the Roman Forum. These sites really were fabulous, and showcase the former glory of the Roman Empire. I’d say that we probably would have gotten more out of them if we had gotten a guide or done a guided tour instead of just wandering around. While it was nice to go at our own pace and leave whenever we wanted, we certainly had a lot of questions about what we were seeing that went unanswered. Still, definitely worth it! Check out the pictures (they will go up eventually, promise) for some cool views.
By the end of our Roman ruins exploration, it was about 6:30 or 7pm, and so we had to sort of speed up our tour to get to the things we wanted to see before dinner reservations at 8pm. So we caught a taxi to the Trevi Fountain since we had heard this was a must-see while in Rome. It definitely was wonderful! The fountain is a little different from others in that it’s not in a traditional piazza – the fountain is huge and is only a one-sided fountain (instead of circular) and was set against the side of a building. This makes for a neat looking fountain and good views from the facing street, but it’s not so good for the thousands of tourists coming by daily to take pictures! We managed to work our way down and snag a spot in front of the fountain to take our picture and throw some coins over our shoulders for good luck, as is the tradition. One coin to come back to Rome, and a second coin to find love, and apparently a third coin to get a divorce…not so sure about that last one. Mum and Dad tossed one each, and I tossed two just in case :) From there, we walked to the Spanish steps to take some pictures…I have to say the steps were not as glorious as they were talked up to be, but still very pretty! Plus they’re on one of the streets that has all the designer shops on it, so that was fun too.
Sight-seeing finished, we got a taxi to our dinner destination: Lo Zodiaco. This place was great – it sits at the top of a hill/mountain which overlooks the whole city of Rome. As you can imagine, the views were wonderful of the city all lit up at night! We were one of the first people to get to the restaurant (surprise, no one eats as early as 8pm in Italy), and so it was nice to have the porch to ourselves for a little while. The food was good – I had spaghetti in seafood sauce, which means I had spaghetti in a light red sauce with shrimp, clams, oysters, and muscles. Mum had a delicious veal in light lemon sauce, Dad enjoyed beef and cannelloni, and we all had some yummy dessert – tortufa, gelato, and a bowl of strawberries. Hungry yet? After dinner we caught another taxi back to the city center where we waited for the hotel shuttle to pick us up at 11.
Tomorrow we have decided to leave Rome early and head south to Sorrento to make sure we get some good relaxation time! Only a few more days…
Breaking News!
Michael Jackson is DEAD?!?!?!!!!! I have just learned this and am so shocked I don't even know what to say, it is so weird. He was so weird. More breaking news about this event: Italy doesn't really care. I've heard a couple blips about him on the radio, but other than that, absolutely nothing. Life moves on! And now his children (and children all over for that matter) are safe.
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