I did have to borrow a few photos from Sandy to complete my blog, but as I’m sure you know she takes great photos on her own. So here is Italy through Sandy’s eye’s.
Italy through the eyes of Sandy
Italian wrap up
I’ll never forget our Italian vacation, it exceeded all my expectations. Luckily I have many photos to bring me back. A few things stand out in my mind and I would like to express my gratitude to all who made this trip so memorable. A big part of it was sharing the experiences with family and friends. Together, we gorged ourselves with great food and enjoyed good wine. And of course the laughter, lots of laughter, sometimes uncontrolled laughter.
Jimi – your thoughtful meal planning, ability to improvise and expertise and grace in the kitchen was incredible. That’s why there was always a crowd watching you cook. It’s unfortunate I rarely get to see you these days. Thank you so much.
Joan – many thanks for all your help with planning and organizing this excursion. All the things you did to watch over us, attend to our needs, accommodate our wishes from throwing a coin at the Trevi fountain to finding the best gelato shop did not go unnoticed. It wouldn’t have been the same without you.
Jon – or Mr Perfect. Way back when you first brought up the idea of this trip, it seemed like a fantasy. I can’t thank you enough for inviting us and I’m sure you and Kathy did more things than we’ll ever know.
On some level Italy has ruined me. I’ll never enjoy Italian food again unless I go back. Also I now want to take 2-hour lunches.
I don’t think we’ve ever spent this much time together and I have to admit I was a little anxious about spending 10 days with 14 people in a foreign country. Now I can say that my anxiety was unfounded.
I also learned a few things on this trip:
- Don’t give Uncle Dave too much wine.
- Tami & Amy Tahoe are very photogenic.
- Caitlin, beautiful as she is, I can never take a good photo of her. A failure on my part.
- Italian versions of French Bulldogs are much bigger.
- Italians don’t pick up after their dogs.
- Italians don’t drink tap water.
- Pesto is not supposed to be so heavy with basil.
- Never shoot portraits without Amy Tahoe.
- TJ Maxx $10.00 knives are a good deal.
- Whatever happens make sure I bring that flash.
- I can eat and drink a lot and only gain 1 lb. if I do a lot of walking.
- Bring comfortable walking shoes regardless of how they look.
- Ho bisogno di carta igienica più (I need more toilet paper).
- Never let Jimi hold my passport.
Italy 2010 Day 10
Our final day in Rome started out by walking to Campo de’ Fiori, an outdoor market in the heart of Rome.
From there we headed toward the Vatican stopping on the way at a restaurant I didn’t think was that good.
Vatican
I decided not to post too many Vatican photos as they can look repetitious.
I had mixed feelings about going to the Vatican as I have my reservations about the Catholic church. However, I will admit that I found the Sistine Chapel to be magnificent. In the end, I was glad I went although I wish more photography was allowed.
For our last dinner in Rome we revisited one of the “good” restaurants.
Italy 2010 Day 9
Rome
Day 9 started with a taxi ride to the middle of town where we started our walking tour of Rome. Giulio Cesari our tour guide was informative and charming.
After the walking tour, we had lunch and took it upon ourselves to explore the rest of the city.
For dinner, we ventured a couple of blocks from our hotel. The fried artichoke was excellent. I really enjoyed my puffed pastry, beef & mozzarella dish but Jimi ruined it for me by stating it was a glorified cheeseburger.
Italy 2010 Day 8
We checked out of the villa, but not without incident. The day before, it rained so the clothes we left hanging on the clothesline got soaked. We drove around town in search of a laundromat but learned from the tourist office that the only self-service facility was at the top of Montepulciano. Unwilling to carry 11 kilos of wet clothes up the hill, we decided to go with the professional cleaners near the villa. Our extremely limited Italian was compounded by the proprietor of the laundry not speaking any English. She didn’t even take our name. Would we get our clothes back before it was time to leave for Rome? How do we know that the neatly but mysteriously wrapped piles of clothes are indeed all of ours?
As promised, the lady had it ready at 9:00AM the next day. With that resolved, I created new stress by insisting on doing a pano before we left.
Osso Buco
Rome
We made good time to Rome. We had drivers pick us up after we returned the rental vans to take us to the hotel. I stopped wondering why we needed drivers when we started zipping through the streets of Rome. The extreme narrow cobblestone road would have stressed me out if I had to drive on them.
At the hotel owner’s suggestion we had lunch at a place around the corner. The osso bucco was marvelous, the marrow was buttery.
Later in the afternoon we took an open double decker tour bus around Rome. It was nice to survey the sights from the comfort of a very high bus. Impossible to get any photos, but nice none the less.
Next we made the mistake of listening to another suggestion for dinner, which was right next door to the hotel. It was less than stellar. All the Italian cliches were present. The costumes, the singing. Our waiter either got our orders wrong or took it upon himself to change them. My risotto wasn’t cooked all the way. I guess they can’t be all winners.
Attempting to wash the bad experience down our throats a few of us went to a bar for an after hour cocktail. The very modern restaurant was playing euro versions of 1970 songs.
Italy 2010 Day 7
Sarteano
Day 7 started out with a drive to Sarteano to explore the open air market.
Sarteano should really should be renamed Citta piena di gatti (town full of cats) as we saw numerous cats… or I should say gattos.
We found Sandy’s Caffe on one of the small streets and decided to have a cappuccino. We met up with Jimi & Amy. Jimi was excited about finding fresh porcini mushrooms.
Later we drove out to the Etruscan Tombes.
I was disturbed to find condom wrappers on the ground. Littering yes, but who would go to a tomb site to… nevermind.
Monticchiello
For lunch we had reservations at La Porta in Monticchiello. The fresh porcini salad and the beef cheeks were outstanding.
Dinner was left in the very competent hands of Jimi, who made a great chicken dinner.
After dinner we helped make sandwiches for our trip into Rome. This was our last night at the villa.
Italy 2010 Day 6
The prior day apparently ended with some late night drinking and card playing. I was a good boy, asleep. Looks like Skittles were used as currency.
For breakfast, we had hard boiled eggs. Laid on a crostini and topped with caramelized onions, prosciutto and fresh vegetables, these were the fanciest hard boiled eggs I’ve ever had.
Clothes needed to be washed and while there was a washer at the villa, there was no dryer. I now know why I couldn’t find the coat rack.
Everyone wanted to return to Montepulciano to do some liesurely shopping . For lunch, we separated into 2 groups. Our group went to La Briciola. We immediately noticed that the menu was in Italian, which we welcomed as a good sign. Our waiter was very charming and encouraged us to practice our Italian. I attempted to relive my gnocchi experience. BTW the grilled vegetables in Italy are so good.
Brushing up on our Italian, we learned a new and not so useful phrase,”Non ho malattie contagiose!” I have no contagious diseases.
Did I mention the roads are narrow? All the cars in Italy are so small and cute.
Portrait day – Since we had some dead time I decided to attempt some portraits at the villa (portraits are my weakness). Thanks to Amy for her help, at the same time my apologies to Amy as I forgot to take a portrait of her. The shot of Amy was a test shot.
That night we had 2 chefs come in to prepare dinner. For whatever reason this is the only photo from that dinner. It might have something to do with the numerous bottles of wines and incessant laughing.
Italy 2010 Day 5
We awoke very early to drive to Chiusi and catch the train to Firenza (Florence). It was a nice change from some of the long drives we’ve been subjected to. I once wrote that I was in Florence… Florence Oregon . Now this was the real thing.
Florence
No photography of David allowed, although I saw a few trying to sneak in a shot (no respect). He was truly amazing.
They just had to try a McDonald’s while in Italy.
For dinner we decided to go back to our local favorite Tre Stelle. All of the alcohol indulgence backfired that night when Uncle Dave inspired by David started making penis jokes. Everyone was brought to tears.
Although some could not bear to hear it.
Exhausted, everyone went straight to bed when we got home. So I thought…
Italy 2010 Day 4
Podere Spedalone
Day 4 started with a drive out to a farmhouse, Podere Spedalone on the outskirts of Pienza. Giancarlo, the proprietor, was quite charming and he immediately made us feel welcome at his place. In the backyard where drinks and appetizers were served, we met Maggie the Magpie, an injured bird nursed back to health at the farm. Maggie was quite social.
With lunch ready, we shuffled into the dining area. Needless to say, the multi course meal was fantastic. Standouts were the vegetable ravioli, braised pork in milk, ice cream with pink pepper corns and a fig desert.
After the meal, we spent some time entertaining ourselves wandering the property and playing with the resident dog. We never got the dog’s name. He was shy at first but slowly warmed up to us and then started demanding attention and play.
Later that afternoon we drove into old town Montepulciano for shopping. I understand this is where part of the movie New Moon of the Twilight saga was filmed. We also had an appointment for some wine & olive oil tasting.
Italy 2010 Day 3
Pisa
A trip to Pisa of course meant we had to take six million photos of the leaning tower. If I had a euro for every time I saw someone doing the hand on the tower pose, our airfare would have been paid for. This was also the beginning of the ever repeating theme of being awed by historical sites and then disappointed by the sight of vendors selling cheap plastic miniature reproductions within close proximity.
These photos don’t do justice to the scenery. This and other sites were just jaw dropping. I wish I would have brought my flash that day. What was I thinking?
For lunch we separated into two smaller groups and went to look for a place to eat. I can’t for the life of me remember the name of the restaurant we ended up in but we had the back room all to ourselves.
Of course we had to have gelato after.
Sadly I found that graffiti is a universal problem.
Dinner that night was memorable in a good & bad way. We all agreed this was the worst meal of the trip so far, so I won’t go into details.
Perhaps to compensate for a bad meal Jimi performed his childhood impressions of Jon.
