Siena and San Gimignano

We set our alarm because we didn't want to be late for our tour to Siena and San Gimignano. We had our usual morning cappuccino and caffe latte, along with breakfast and then left to go to where we were to meet our tour bus. The bus is a double-decker and we sat on the top. We have a tour guide who can speak at least four languages. There are French, Spanish, Italian and English speaking tourists on this bus. An hour and a half later, we arrived in Siena. This city is from mediaeval times and has succeeded in keeping its mediaeval appearance intact over the years. Interestingly enough, Siena and Firenze were rivals in the old days. Siena had one-upmanship issues - what ever Firenze had, Siena had to outdo it. The one thing Siena tried to make bigger than Firenze was their duomo (cathedral), but it doesn't even come close to measuring up to the duomo in Florence. The duomo here is beautiful though. The entire floor is made of marble and is a sight to see. We only had 20 minutes to see the duomo - it wasn't nearly enough time to see everything we would have liked to see. After the tour guide guided us around, we only had an hour and a half to roam around and do what we wanted to do. We went to a local shop that sold fruit and meats and made sandwiches on the type of buns we wanted. The proprietor and Arrigo were having a good time talking about whatever they were talking about. We took our sandwich and glass of wine and sat on the curb to eat where there was a spot for customers to eat; just a piece of cardboard that said "Poggia" and "Mele" and below ...Serve per Seders - a place to sit and there wee two big apples for us to sit on. We like the off-the-beaten-path restaurants because we get to talk (or at least Arrigo does) to the locals and they treat us better, especially once they hear Arrigo speak Italian. It's time for us to go to the bus to the next stop at San Gimignano. We enjoyed seeing the mediaeval city of Siena. It reminds me of the movie Les Miserables. We just passed a couple of fields of sunflowers, but they were all limp. I don't know if it's because it's the end of summer or because it is a rainy day. It would be beautiful if they were fully open and smiling at us. I love sunflowers. San Gimignano is a city surrounded by a wall. In the mediaeval times, the wall protected the people from their enemies. It is beautiful and a tourist trap, just like Siena. I saw some nice purses and boots, but I think I can find them for cheaper in Florence or Rome. We stopped at a winery on our way back to Florence and Arrigo bought some wine and cenerone cheese and also bought a package of dehydrated Ribollita soup - the same kind of soup that we had at lunch with Sara yesterday. Tonight is going to be a night in after we go for supper at the Archie Bunker place. We need to have some of that Tuscan tomato soup again, or maybe there will be Ribollita. After that, laundry and postcards. It's insanely expensive to send a postcard home - €2 - so needless to say, we aren't going to send many.

History lesson and day of churches

Today we met Sara. We knew the forecast called for rain, so we dressed accordingly. We were walking towards the train station where we were to meet Sara, and Arrigo got a text message from her. She told him she arrived at the station early and just as he read the text, Sara was in front of us. Arrigo had never met Sara before, and I definitely hadn't, but we have seen pictures of her, so we recognized her right away. We greeted her in typical Italian style - a kiss on each cheek. We spent the entire day with her and had a great time, and at the same time learning about the history of Firenze. The first church we went to was Santa Maria Novella, but it wasn't open to the public yet. We wandered over to Santa Croce, which is also a museum, and on the way we stopped at one of the oldest pharmacies in the world called Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella. It was established in 1221, and it's where the rich go to buy their lotions and potions. The museum and church at Santa Croce are amazing, just like all the other churches here. Michelangelo and Galileo were buried here. There is so much history here in Florence, not unlike all of Italy. The churches here make churches in Edmonton look like houses. The Basilica in Edmonton would be a corner church here. Even the corner, out-of-the-way churches have prcieless works of art by Michelangelo and other masters of architecture, painting and sculpture. From there, we went for lunch at a small (like a lot of restaurants here) cafe right beside the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. By this time it was pouring rain and it was nice to be inside and stay dry. We had soup called Ribolatti - a bread and bean soup that is boiled over and over again. The more times it's boiled, the better it tastes. This soup was like a meal. I also had pici, sort of like broad spaghetti noodles> I forget what kind of sauce it had, but it was delicious. We showed Sara some videos of the family, the same videos we showed Fanny and Pierina. Well, staying dry only lasted as long as it took to eat lunch; it was raining hard outside, so I bought a cheap rain poncho for four euros.

Are my feet supposed to get this sore?

Today was our first full day in Florence and believe it or not, the first thing I did is log into my blog just to check it out. Arrigo better drive me to the insane asylum because this blog is driving me crazy. It doesn't recognize my paragraph breaks. I'm an editor for a living and I can't edit my own blog. The first thing we did is go for breakfast. It wasn't as good as in Cinque Terre, but it'll do ha ha. We went to the market, and our plan was to walk the market first to see what there was to offer. That plan didn't last very long. I bought a purse at the first purse stand we saw. Apparently we got a really good deal because we were his first customers of the day. I'm sure everybody makes the same mistake. I know this because there were stands everywhere with the same purse for less money. Oh well! We bought a few more things before we went into the indoor market. The indoor market is for fish and fruit and vegetables. Last night when we went for dinner, a couple from Toronto sat beside us. They told us about a place in the market that sells a delicious dish of beef on a bun. Just look for the long line of people and you'll know you found it. Sure enough, we ended up in the middle of mob central. So many locals were lined up for this beef on a bun, that we thought that maybe these Torontonians knew what they were talking about, and they did. It was delicious. These Italians really know how to cook...you don't even have to go to a restaurant. It's just as good from a stand of some sort. We went exploring all day. First we checked out a few museums. You wouldn't believe the sculptures and the detail. I am officially amazed yet again. We lucked out at all the museums we visited today. There were no entrance fees. We walked to the Ponte Vecchio Bridge, which is amazing. This bridge is unbelievable. There are homes on the bridge, as well as several shops, mostly jewelry shops. We stopped for a cappuccino and continued on our way to the Micheal Angelo Piazzale. Amazing views, not to mention a sculpture of David - one of the many in Venice, but we are going to the Academia and Uffizzi galleries on Tuesday where we will see the original "David" - the one that is protected. We decided to take the bus back to the hotel from the Piazzale because our feet were sore, but we stopped for food first at a street vendor. We each had a sandwich and then some pasta. Man oh man, they know how to cook pasta here. It is delicious. Let's all count now - how many times have I said delicious. When we got back to the hotel and before we went up to our room, Arrigo bought a beer for 2 euros, and the beer here is in big bottles. It's time to turn in now; our feet are killing us. We had a long day, and tomorrow Sara, Pierina's daughter, is meeting us. Stay tuned.

Fabulous Firenze

We leave for Florence today. First thing's first though - breakfast. The breakfast that comes with our room is no continental breakfast - it's much better. Fresh fruit salad; yogurt; meats (we have learned about a meat that we haven't heard of that resembles a sort-of ham, called speck and sliced so thin that it feels like silk); hard-boiled eggs, and they are kept warm in some sort of hard-boiled-egg warmer...that's the only way I can explain it; muesli; and pastries. It's a great way to start our day to the last two villages of Cinque Terre - Manarola and Riomaggiore. We couldn't hike to them like yesterday because the trail beyond Corniglia is closed from the land slide a few years ago, so we took the train. We left our luggage at the front desk for the day and we picked it up later. I experienced a whole new type of toilet in Riomaggiore - there was no toilet. It was a whole in the ground. There was a sort-of porcelain basin on the ground with a whole in the middle, but it isn't something you can sit on. It did flush though. Weird! There were a couple of women that walked in and then walked out again - they didn't even want to try it. Our last stop in Riomaggiore was in an art store where we bought a colourful silk screen painting. It was expensive, but it's another piece of art for our new house to remember Italy by. Oops, I ended a sentence with a preposition - please forgive me. The painting is being shipped home because we don't want it to get damaged. We thought we had missed the train back to Monterosso, but we arrived just in time. Good thing for us that the trains are late on a regular basis. When we arrived in Monterosso, we bought some souvenirs and had a bite to eat before catching the train to Firenze. We are now on the train and we have decided not to go to Pisa today. We don't want to check into our hotel after dark. Maybe we'll take the train to Pisa another day. There is a well-known market in Florence that we will go to tomorrow to buy leather goods - more carry-on luggage to carry all of the things we have bought. I'll definitely have to buy a leather purse or three. I'm going to have to down size my purse collection at home. I have heard that Florence is known for its leather. That is why I didn't buy a purse in Venice... because I was holding out for Florence. Maybe we should buy a purse for Arrigo too ha ha. He is enjoying carrying the urban man-bag I bought before we left home. He's feeling quite at home - all the men carry them here. We are meeting up with Sara, Arrigo's cousin, and if she has the day off tomorrow, she is going to come to the market with us. I'm sure she'll be able to show us where to go for the deals. I'm looking forward to meeting her. After I meet Sara, I will have met the entire Monai family - all 65 of them, and that's only an approximate number. Today, whenever I stopped in a store to look at clothes, Arrigo simply said "Florence." I knew what he meant - Florence will have better prices, and I can't spend all my money in one place. He was right. He knows me so well. There will be better shopping in Florence. Rose, too bad you aren't here...we could shop up a storm! We're here. We got lost as soon as we got out of the train station. We eventually found our hotel and the front desk attendant speaks very good English. Complimentary coffee and croissants and happy hour from 6:30 to 7:30. I think it's free too. The hotel room is nice, and the bathroom is huge. The other hotels we were at were much smaller. A laptop is even supplied. Finally, maybe I can post some pictures, but the only problem now is to get them from my iPad to the lap top. Oh great, an Italian keyboard!!! We went to a restaurant called Tratorria La Burrassa. It was a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant just down the street from our hotel. We both had Tuscan Tomato Soup - nothing like the soup we have at home. It was very thick and tasty. Your spoon would stand up in it. It was the best soup we have ever tasted. Arrigo had lamb and I had Tortelli with porchini mushrooms. Delicioso. It wasn't very expensive. If Archie Bunker were Italian, he'd eat at this Tratorria for special nights out. After dinner, we explored. I can't even begin to explain how massive the Duomo (basilica) is. I could just sit in awe and look at it for hours. I didn't have any idea what to expect, but maaaan, is this impressive. You can almost feel the blood, sweat and tears that went into building it. It is constructed of brick and marble and took 140 years to build. Amaaaazing! So much history. WOW! There was a lot of entertainment in the square and tons of activity. Sara is meeting us tomorrow and going to show us around. It turns out that the market is open every day. We already have our eye on a piece of luggage to bring all our new stuff home in. Turns out I can't add pictures. I'll post pictures to Facebook. Oh, and by the way, I'm never using this blog again after this trip. I think it is outdated and there are better blog sites out there. Ciao of now.

Cinque Terre

We arrived in Monterroso yesterday. I was impressed and said to Arrigo "can we please, pretty please stay here an extra night and just forfeit one night's accommodation in Florence?" He quickly convinced me that although Cinque Terre is beautiful, two nights is enough. Cinque Terre is a tourist trap and expensive anyway, so let's save our money so we can buy things in Florence. We leave for Florence tomorrow. Back to Cinque Terre. Today we went for a hike, a very tiring hike to Vernazza and Corniglia. The tough hike wasn't for the faint of heart, but is well worth the sweat. The views were beautiful. I was taking pictures like they were going out of style. Arrigo must have been thinking "mama Mia, what you take all these pictures for?" When we got to Vernazza, we shopped around a bit, but didn't buy anything, but we did have a gelato. Next stop...Corniglia in an hour and a half. Not again. I didn't sign up for this! When we arrived in Corniglia, the sweat was worth the trek. Another beautiful village of Cinque Terre. I wish I could share my pictures with you, but I can't figure out how to upload my pictures to Picasa. When I try to add pictures to my blog, it doesn't give me the option of choosing a picture from my photo gallery. I can only add from a URL, my blog (that's a pretty stupid selection, since I am TRYING to add them to my blog), or I can choose to add pictures from Picasa.

A long post, without pictures

I am very disappointed in the Internet connection here. It is difficult to attach a picture. Until I figure out how to do it, I will only be writing about our travels. Before we caught the train to Montebelluna, we walked around Venice for a few hours, watching kids play soccer and just enjoying our last bit of time in this beautiful city. When we finally made our way to the train station, we almost missed it. The schedule said the train was to leave from platform 7, but we found out later, with just a few minutes to spare, that the train was leaving from platform 2. Good thing Arrigo asked an attendant, or we would have missed it. As an FYI, the train system is called Trenitalia. Fanny picked us up from the train station, and it was a short 5-minute drive to hers and Nicola's house. This was going to be our home for the next four days. We will be sharing it with their children, Sophia,11 and Agata, 8; their three cats, Charlie, Otello, and Silvery; and their dog, Lucky. With Arrigo and me, it was a full house. I felt bad that I couldn't communicate much with Agata and Sophia. Sophia is learning English in school so I could speak a bit with her. I mostly communicated with Agata by using sign language, laughter, and simple words. Arrigo has been able to practice speaking Italian a lot since we have been in Montebelluna, so he was a hit with the girls and they loved his humour. Day 1 - Arrival in Montebelluna By the time we arrived, we hadn't eaten since breakfast and we were starving. Fanny felt like she was being a horrible host letting us starve. I guess she thought she should be able to read our minds and know we were hungry. I suppose I should have told her about "Mind Reading 101" at the U of A. We spent the day relaxing and enjoying Fanny and her family's company. The girls were very entertaining, especially Agata...she's quite a little rascal. Their house is tiled throughout - tiles on the support posts, walls, floors, stairs, and even the garage floor. Not just plain tiles either, but colourful mosaics. Can you imagine tile in our garages? Everything is made of stone and the floors are all made of ceramic tile. The garage floors are even made of ceramic tile. Try and imagine nice ceramic tile in Canada, not only in the bathroom and kitchen, but on the garage floor too. It wouldn't take long before the tiles would be destroyed from the snow, salt, and mud. If our houses had tile like they have tile here in Italy, our houses would be unaffordable, almost like they are now ha ha. The only problem though... the homes take four to five years to build because they have to make them earthquake proof, and they are made from cement. There are a lot of regulations to follow. Arrigo thinks it takes so long to build because the workers take a lot of coffee breaks. Day 2 - Visiting Fanny and Nicola dropped us off at Pierina and Gianni's house in the morning, and they went to visit Nicola's sister in Milano, so we spent the entire day with Pierina, Gianni, Sylvia, and Antonio. Pierina and Sylvia were very happy to see Arrigo and were delighted to meet me. Sylvia and her boyfriend, Antonio, could both speak English, so at least I had a chance to participate in the conversations. Pierina spoke a bit of English. I felt bad that I couldn't contribute more to a conversation. Pierina's husband, Gianni, couldn't speak English at all, so I couldn't speak to him. I'm sure glad I had interpreters with me. Pierina cooked lunch for all of us. There was a lot of wine on the kitchen table - I think I counted three bottles. Not only do they drink wine at dinner, but at lunch too - wine flows freely here! Pierina made gnocchi! But it was better than any gnocchi I have ever tasted. It was a special dish called Gnocchi di Roma. They enjoy their food here and preparing special dishes for us. Sylvia's tiramisu was also the best tiramisu we have ever tasted - and with that...dessert wine. I think I'm going to gain weight. After dinner, we went next door to visit Zio Zeno, Arrigo's uncle. He was happy to see Arrigo, and to meet me. Arrigo' family are very nice people. It's nice to see such a loving family. Zio Zeno was smiling the whole time. We showed him a video of Arrigo's family from the Sunday before we left. Zio Zeno was happy to see the family. He was waving to the video as if they were right there. It was funny and nice to see. We recorded a video of Zio Zeno to play to the family when we get back to Canada. When we returned to Pierina's house, we ate dinner. I don't know how they don't gain weight here...the food is delicioso. Day 3 - We're Trapped On Monday morning, Fanny took the girls to school and the dog for a walk, and she told us she was going to be gone for half an hour. We decided we wanted to go for a walk, but couldn't get out of the front yard because there is a gate we didn't know how to open. All the homes here are gated. OK, let's go back inside. It turned out that we were locked out of the house too because unbeknownst to us, the door locked automatically when we closed it. We were trapped. We waited for Fanny to come back, and waited...and waited...and waited. When she finally came back, she was very apologetic. We were all joking that she is a bad host - first, when we arrived, she didn't feed us; and now we get locked out! We quickly forgave her though. For lunch today, Nicola prepared a special pasta dish for us. They enjoy preparing special meals for family. Later in the day, we went to Asolo. The most beautiful town I have ever seen has got to be this town. The roads are only wide enough for one-way traffic because the streets were originally intended for horses and walking only? It's just like you see in the Tour de France - narrow streets through small towns. One might ask "How is traffic not chaotic?" There is a timed light at each end of the main thoroughfare so each direction knows when to go. Arrigo was always holding my hand because I have a tendency to just bolt. You shouldn't bolt onto the road here because the road is narrow and windy. There are shops and cafés on both sides of the street, and I would tend to bolt from one side to the other. Fanny bought a cup to match another cup they have at home. We continued on our hike up to the top of Asolo, where there was a fort/castle. The view from the top was fantastic. On our way back to Montebelluna, we stopped for pizza. Nicola opened the hatch back, and out fell the cup and saucer that Fanny bought. It was broken, and boy oh boy, was Fanny angry with Nicola. I must say that listening to an argument in Italian is much more enjoyable than listening to one in English. Once the argument was over, we ate pizza as if nothing happened. Fanny told us it was known as the most famous pizza in the area, and she was right. Delicioso! Another fabulous day in the beautiful country of Italia. Day 4 - Our Last Day Today is our last day in Montebelluna, and the first thing on the agenda... the post office. We wanted to send the two papier-mâché masks that we bought in Venice home. We didn't want them to get destroyed during our journey. Now that that's out of the way, we can go for a cappucino. The cappuccinos here are much better than in Canada. Come to think of it, I don't drink cappuccinos, but I know cappuccinos in Canada are too strong for me. Maybe it's the milk, but I don't need to add sugar...it's smooth. Before we knew it, we had to start making our way home for lunch. We stopped at the grocery store and bought some ingredients to make sandwiches for our ride on the train to Cinque Terre tomorrow. This evening, we go to a city called Treviso. We stopped in a candy shop and bought some marons, candies that are made from 90 per cent chestnuts and 10 per cent chocolate. Arrigo bought them because Fanny mentioned that she craved them during her pregnancies. He also bought a sweater for the cool evenings ... wait, there are no cool evenings. I guess he'll have to wait until we get back to Canada to wear it. Fanny and I bought shoes. We were both happy that we got such a good deal on shoes. Actually, I'm excited that I bought shoes made in Italy and that they were such a good deal - double whammy! I couldn't come to Italy and not buy shoes. I think we will be buying a small suit case for all the stuff we buy. When 7:30 rolled around, we had to head home for dinner. We had a choice between ravioli or another kind of pasta I haven't heard of, but made with Zia Lina's pasta sauce. There was no question... we have to have Zia Lina's home made pasta sauce. There's nothing like home-made pasta sauce, especially when it's made with love. Pierina and Gianni came by for a visit after dinner and the wine flowed freely again. We were all laughing at my several attempts of taking a picture using the timer on my camera. Fanny took a picture too and I accidentally deleted the picture because I can't read Italian. Stupido Ellen! It's time to go to bed. We have to get up early tomorrow morning to catch the train to Cinque Terre. We had a very enjoyable time with family. I really like Arrigo's family, but then again, who wouldn't? Fanny and Nicola welcomed me with open arms. Entertained by Agata and Sophia, not to mention the cats and dog. They made us all laugh. When we got to the train station, we realized we forgot our sandwiches we made for our train ride. Yet another reason for Fanny to think she was a horrible host.

Venice - Day 2

Today, our agenda was to go and see St. Mark's Basilica, go to the top of the Bell Tower in the square, and visit the island of Murano, famous for its hand-blown glass. First though, breakfast on the patio of our hotel. The menu - warm cream-filled croissants and other pastries brought to our table, fresh fruit salad, a granola-type cereal, yogurt, and coffee. The coffee here is much tastier than I usually drink. A couple from Australia (nick-named banana benders because they are from New South Wales) were at the next table. we struck up a conversation with them. I remembered the term banana benders from when I went to Australia. This was their last day in Venice, but it just the beginning for us. Time to go and start our day. We made our way to St. Mark's Square, but not without passing through the markets first. We walked through the fish market, which smelled like, well, fish. We stopped at a few places before getting to St. Mark's. We both had to dress with our knees and shoulders covered because that is they way you are supposed to dress in a church here in Italy. As I type this, a police boat just sped by, complete with syrens and flashing lights. On with our day! The basilica was beautiful inside. The ceilings were painted, the floors and artwork was all done in mosaics. It's also huge. After we finished in the basilica, we moved on to the Bell Tower. It is a tower overlooking St. Mark's Square. It is so tall that it provides a spectacular view of all of Venice. Now, on to Murano. We took the Vaporetto to Murano and as soon as we disembarked the boat, an employee of the glass factory was there to greet us and guide us to watch a demonstration of glass blowing. I wasn't too thrilled at watching the demo. It was a lure into the overpriced glass factory. We just bought a small colourful paperweight for 15 euros. We started wandering around and ended up in another store selling Murano glass (well, almost every store sells Murano glass). To After Stefano, the store owner, showed us various lamp shades, we mixed and matched two lamps. He is going to make the lamps for us and ship it over to us. Another piece for our home. When we finished shopping on Murano, we took the Vaporetto back to Venice and then walked back to our hotel. I started to type my blog, but I couldn't keep my eyes open. It must be the air that makes me so tired. Tomorrow morning we check out and make our way on the train to Montebelluna. It'll be nice to chill out with family. I'm getting angry that I can figure out how to add pictures to my blog when my pictures are right here on my iPad. I have a feeling it is the Internet connection in this hotel. I'm going to try again tomorrow and then if I can't figure it out, I'm afraid I'm going to give up. Ciao for now!

Vivacious Venice

We arrived in Venice almost an hour early...we must have had a tail wind. Arrigo‘s cousin, Fanny met us at the airport, armed with train and water bus schedules. She reminds me of Caterina...she looks just like her. We took the bus to one of the public water buses...the Vaporetto...that would get us to our hotel. In fact, we bought a 3 day pass to use the water buses. The Gondolas are waaay too expensive. We might still take a ride on one for the romanticism aspect, but we would rather spend our money on other things, like shoes and purses, and stuff like that ha ha. We arrived at our hotel and Walter just happened to be outside to greet us. We were pleasantly surprised with the helpfullness Walter showed us. Upon checking in, Walter made us an espresso and then took us to our room. The rooms are not very big, but very clean. Bidets are something we are not used to, so we have not taken advantage of that part of the bathroom yet. We went out to explore Venice and got lost several times, but that is the charm of Venice. It is not very big, so it is easy to get back on track again. You just have to look for bridges...there are hundreds of them. We found a jester mask that we really like, and we decided to buy it because it is not made in China, but rather made in Italy. We think it will go nicely somewhere in our new house. I bought a purse too, and then we went to St. Mark‘s Square to people watch and walk around abit...who am I kidding, we walked around alot. Later in the evening, we went back to St. Marks Square to see what its like after dark. There were still a lot of people in the square and three groups of musicians playing classical music. To sit down and watch them and order a coffee or food was expensive. We paid six euros just to sit and watch them play and paid for our food on top of that. Go ahead, guess how much we paid for 2 cappuccinos and a few cookies...33 euros, which is the equivalent of $45. No, we would not usually pay that much money for a couple of non alcoholic (or alcoholic for that matter) drinks, but we are in Venice after all. Writing this blog is frustrating because my keyboard is not reacting to my commands the way it should be. Wireless keyboards, they are more hassle than they are worth. I will figure it out hopefully before my next entry. I am not able to figure out how to attach pictures either. I figured it out yesterday in the Edmonton airport, but for some reason today, it is beyond me. I will attach them when I figure out how to do it. Tomorrow, we are going to see the many churches they have here in Venice, as well as the Murano Glass Factory. In the meantime, enjoy reading. Ciao

We're here...well, almost

We arrived at the airport a mere four hours in advance.  Just as we expected, Mom and Dad arrived to pick us up at least 15 minutes early...have to ensure we don't miss our flight ha ha.

Since we already had our boarding passes, we didn't even have to check in at the front counter.  First stop - security.  We crossed our fingers that it would be smooth sailing, and it was a breeze.  Next stop...breakfast.  Maaaaan, is stuff here at the airport ever expensive. It cost $18 for a coffee, chocolate milk, and two egg croissants.  My chocolate milk was $3.69 alone.

Arrigo is reading the newspaper on his phone as I type this blog entry.

Local news

Enough of this blogging...let's go shopping to get some maple syrup for the relatives.

Stay tuned for more.  Next blog entry will be coming to you live from Venezia, Italia.

Ciao