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Days 78-81: Ahhhmalfi Coast

7/30/2013

We spent the next several days on the Amalfi coast. We rented a two bedroom unit from Amalfi Vacations called Villa Limone, which was situated on the road between the towns of Minori and Ravello. The unit came with sensational views, its own patio area overlooking the Mediterranean, and a beautiful pool that we shared with the other few units in the complex. In addition, there was a caretaker, Franco, who lived on the grounds and raised a variety of fruits and vegetables for the guests - tomatoes, eggplant, grapes, pears, basil - which we utilized regularly! Franco was fantastic. When we first met him he told us that if we needed anything all we had to do was call and he'd be there within 10 minutes. He was a man of his word, often times anticipating what we would need before we could even call to ask! Here are some photos of our amazing place in Minori:

Our villa. We had the top floor of this building.

Living room balcony...

...and the view from that balcony!

Our patio, where lemons fell into your lap!

How I started each morning - coffee and a view.

Our villa's amazing caretaker,Franco, with Chris' mom.

Walking through Franco's garden to get to the pool.

Franco's grapes

View from the pool. All the green on the terraces are Franco's gardens where he grows lemons, pears, tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, peppers, basil and more!

View in the other direction.

Our lounge spot.

Infinity pool

Pink sunset over Minori

One day, Chris' parents treated us to a day-long boat excursion up and down the coast. Franco hooked us up with a nice boat and captain, Giovanni, and we spent the day zipping along the coast, swimming and checking out a couple of the other towns - Positano and Amalfi. We thought this was a perfect way to see the coast, as you can take the boat wherever you like, jump in the water whenever you feel the urge, and you don't have to deal with the crazy roads! And of course, the views from the water can't be beat. A definite highlight of our time in Amalfi!

Our boat - Fox Run

Chatting in Italian with Capitan Giovanni!

Enjoying a gorgeous day at sea.

I'm on a boat!

Exploring a nearby grotto.

A view of our villa from the sea.

Most church steeples along the coast are covered in colorful mosaics like this one.

Time for a swim!

Positano

Positano - beautiful but very crowded!

Walking the (steep) streets of Positano

Positano's beach

Positano bench

Another milestone was hit on the boat trip - my first jellyfish sting. Yup, it finally happened and it really wasn't that bad. Luckily Chris' mom had some Afterbite in her bag and the sting disappeared in about an hour's time.

We were out on the boat from around 9:30 until 5:30pm. Right around 5:30 the weather changed suddenly and storm clouds rolled in off the mountains. The sea started to churn and Giovanni rushed to drop us off before the rain & lightning began. Luckily our trusty caretaker, Franco, was at the dock waiting for us and helped us get back to the apartment safely before the crazy storm. From our apartment we watched lightning over the water, and later, a beautiful rainbow.

Giovanni drops us off at our dock. A storm is brewing!

Ciao Ciao! Giovanni races home to beat the storm.

Rainbow after the storm:)

Of course, we can't talk about Southern Italy without mentioning food! We had some great meals while in Amalfi - both home-cooked and at restaurants. On our first night we went to a beautiful restaurant called Il Giardiniello in Minori. We sat on their patio covered in grape vines and lemon trees. The food was excellent, the service was great and the live music was a nice touch.

Enjoying dinner at Il Giardiniello

Frutti di Mare... YUM!

Another night we went to Midnight Sun Bar in the main plaza by the beach. Our waiters were incredibly friendly and the linguini al limone was just as good as the reviews said it would be...maybe better!

The rest of the time we grilled steak and sausage on our outdoor patio overlooking the sea. Of course we had fresh fruits and vegetables from Franco's garden to accompany our meals! We also had a few dinner guests. Meet our holiday cats that we named Mama Cat and her kittens - Anna Lisa and Lucia:

Mama Cat

The kittens: Anna Lisa was the bigger, more energetic one. Lucia was the tiny one that liked to cuddle with Chris.

Yeah...she got a little attached to Chris' dad :)

Although none of us are really cat people (Chris and his dad are allergic and I don't find them very friendly) we quickly warmed up to these three. Look at them - how could you not?

After about three weeks in various parts of Italy and a few prior trips, we both declared this area our favorite part of the country. The views, the water, the villages, the food and the people are incredible. This is certainly a place we hope to visit again.

Amalfi tip: If you don't like crowds avoid staying in the major towns like Positano. When we visited it was difficult to walk around because the streets are packed with tourists. The food prices are also a lot higher here than in the other towns. Minori is one of the smaller towns along the coast and we never felt claustrophobic nor did we ever have to wait for a table at either restaurant.

Tip #2: Driving along the coast is dangerous. The narrow roads twist and turn along the mountainside and through passageways in tiny villages. You share the road with busses and motorcycles (who have their own set of rules). Driving here is not for the faint of heart, so be prepared if you choose to drive! While we hated to leave the Amalfi coast, we bid good riddance to the driving.

On one of our days in the Amalfi coast, we drove about 40 minutes to the town of Solofra. What is Solofra's claim to fame? It is the ancestral home of one branch of Chris' family. They left Solofra around the turn of the century, but several family members stayed behind and the current generation living in the US has largely lost touch with the branch that stayed behind. So we decided to check it out and do some digging. What did we find? Stay tuned for the next post!

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Day 77: Pompeii - A Catastrophe Frozen In Time

7/28/2013

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The ancient town of Pompeii, famously destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, lay conveniently along our route of travel from Rome to Amalfi. We therefore decided to stop and take a gander at this ill-fated society.

Brief History
Pompeii was an important large city in ancient Rome, with a population of about 20,000 during its heyday. The population consisted of about 50% citizens and 50% slaves. Pompeii was a port city as well as a holiday destination due to its close proximity to the sea and thermal springs.

Everything changed in 79AD, when Mount Vesuvius unleashed its wrath on the town, covering it with about 20 feet of volcanic ash. Those people that did not immediately leave perished from toxic gasses, and then the entire city was buried under volcanic ash. As a result of the eruption, Pompeii now sits well inland from the sea coast.

Discovering an ancient city ... in your backyard
Centuries passed after the eruption, and soon a small village was established above the buried city. In the 1700's a farmer (or a group of workers) was digging in the land and discovered a frescoed wall. Excavations began in the 1700's and took place throughout the following century. The ash preserved the city and its deceased inhabitants remarkably well over the millennia. Much of the structural damage was due to the earthquakes that plagued the city before Vesuvius blew its top.

See that white house in the background? The land was consistently at that level before excavations began. The entire city was was buried in the hill!

Walking Tour
We had about two hours to see the site, which is massive. We therefore felt it prudent to hook up with a tour guide in order to make the most of our limited time. We used Pompeii Walking Tours and our tour guide, Fabio, was great.

POMPEII TIP: If you would like a guided tour, don't wait in the massive line for tickets. Simply find one of the tour guides who will cut the line and buy your tickets for you.

The following is a photo journal of our stroll through ancient Pompeii:

Entering Pompeii

View of Mt. Vesuvius and the Temple of Jupiter overlooking the forum.

Pompeii's forum

Pompeii had no plumbing, so sewage was washed out along the streets. The streets featured these stepping stones that allowed carts to pass along the street, while enabling pedestrians to cross without getting their feet dirty.

The Temple of Apollo

A kitchen in a large Pompeii home. This family likely had slaves who would cook and manage their house.

Inside the men's bath house. The bath house had three rooms, with progressively warmer temperatures. This room was a locker room - the men would leave their clothes in the cubby holes between the statues.

Marble wash basin inside the steam room of the bath house. This marble was of the highest quality and was brought to Pompeii from Tuscany.

The walls inside the steam room of the bath house were hollow and had hot water piped through them to provide heat and steam. Very advanced!

One of the baths. Sunlight would come in through a hole in the dome. The dome was decorated with a fresco of sea creatures that would reflect on the water of the bath.

Our tour guide, Fabio, describing a typical 'fast food' restaurant in Pompeii. These basins would have contained pots of different types of food.

Courtyard of a nice Pompeiian home. The cistern in the middle of the room collected rain water for use in the home. Its second function, when full of water, was to reflect the sunlight to enhance the ambiance of the room.

Close up of the tile mosaic on the floor. Notice the swastikas in the border design. Swastikas, originally a Indian symbol, represented luck and well-being in western cultures up until Nazi Germany. Since then it has become taboo, associated with antisemitism, murder and hatred.

Columns were typically made of bricks covered with decorative plaster.

These paintings were on the wall above the central food market. Note the paintings of bread and fish - ancient Roman advertisements!

Plaster mold of one of the unfortunate victims of the Pompeii catastrophe. When Pompeii was excavated, the cavities left in the ash by bodies were filled with plaster to obtain these molds. Most victims perished due to suffocation from the noxious gasses. This person was a slave, as evidenced by his large leather belt.

Close up of the victim's head. The skull is real. What most impressed me about the plaster molding process was how it captured their facial expression and their body movement. You immediately understand how they perished and can see the pain and fear they felt at the end. It's fascinating, terrifying, and very sad all at once.

Another victim. This woman was pregnant. Notice how she is trying to protect her face from the noxious gasses and ash. Many of the bodies were found in a similar position.

Pompeii was renowned in ancient Rome for the quality of its prostitutes. These frescoes in one of the many brothels served as a 'menu' for patrons.

A street-side fountain. These fountains distributed fresh spring water for people to drink. Each fountain was decorated with a different figure, which is how many people would give directions around the city. Instead of street names, directions were often conveyed by figures carved on fountains or on the sides of buildings.

A couple of kids demonstrating the Pompeiian method of drinking from the fountain.

The large theater in Pompeii. Performances are still held here.

The Barbiers in Pompeii

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Day 76: Sweet Sistine and the Dead Popes' Society

7/27/2013

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On our third full day in Rome, we set out to explore Vatican City. We had booked a 9am visit to the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel, which allowed us to engage in more line-skipping. This was again a great move, as the line to get into the Vatican was stretching back many blocks even before the museums opened for the day. We purchased audio guides which proved to be very helpful, especially in the Sistine Chapel.

Sistine Chapel
After wandering through some of the Vatican's museum quarters, we entered the famous Sistine Chapel. The chapel is well-known as the site of the Papal elections, as well as for the elaborate paintings covering its walls and ceiling. We spent a while admiring these amazing works of art, though we were not permitted to take photos. Here are a few things we learned:

Michelangelo was not the only famous painter that worked on the chapel
Michelangelo only painted the ceiling and front wall featuring The Last Judgement. The side panels were painted by a variety of master painters from that era including Botticelli. Raphael also created magnificent tapestries depicting the life of St. Peter and St. Paul. Sadly, the orignals were burned during the Sack of Rome in 1527.

If walls could talk...
Well, these walls do! The side panels depict two sets of stories from the bible - one side features the life of Moses while the other side features the life of Jesus.

I'm Michelangelo and I do what I want
Michelanglo was originally commissioned to paint the 12 Apostles on the ceiling of the chapel. He turned down the job because he considered himself a sculptor, not a painter. As a compromise, the Pope said he could paint biblical scenes of his choosing. I guess this flexibility pleased Michelangelo because he accepted and chose The Creation, Adam and Eve, The Garden of Eden and the Great Flood.

What does Sistine mean anyway?
The chapel is named for Pope Sixtus IV who restored the Capella Magna.

An artist's revenge
Michelangelo painted most of the figures in The Last Judgement as nudes. One cardinal named Carafa was outraged by the naked figures and started a censorship campaign known as the Fig Leaf campaign, demanding that the figures be covered up. The Pope's own Master of Ceremonies, Biagio de Cesena, eventually denounced the nudes. Michelangelo was so angry with de Cesena for siding with Carafa that he painted de Cesena's semblance into Minos, judge of the underworld. The nudes were eventually covered up by artist Daniele de Volterra, nicknamed The Breeches Painter.

St. Peter's Basilica
After spending the better part of an hour in the Sistine Chapel, we next made our way over to St. Peter's to see the magnificent interior of the cathedral. This is one area where our streak of line-skipping came to an end, as it did not seem possible to avoid the massive queue of people stretching well beyond the beginning of the colonnade. Entrance to the basilica is free, however, and the line here moves fairly quickly. If you have never been to the basilica, it is a truly amazing and beautiful place, and a must-see if you are in Rome.

Ready to see St. Peter's

Greeted by a couple of angels

Every inch is spectacular!

Bernini: The Master of Movement
I'm in awe of Bernini. He had the ability to make stone look like it's moving.

Bernini's baldacchinno - At 98 feet tall, it's said to be the largest piece of bronze in the world.

Bernini's "Cathedra Petri" and "Gloria" (gold altar in the background). In person, it looks as though it's melting out of the wall.

Pope John Paul II
John Paul II was, and still is, adored by Catholics all over the world, so it's no surprise that his tomb rests under an altar in the basilica. Most popes are laid to rest below the basilica in the grottoes (more on this later). Among all the chapels within St. Peter's, this one was full of the most worshipers.

Pope John Paul II's tomb in the Chapel of St. Sebastian at St. Peter's

A family, praying together at Pope John Paul II's tomb

Changing of the Guards
When we left St. Peter's the Swiss Guards were changing stations. I know it's tradition, but these soldiers wear the most ridiculous uniforms. You'd think they would have a lighter version for those sizzling summer days in Rome!

I caught this guard wiping away the sweat from his face after standing in the sun for about 10 minutes.

Vatican Necropolis
After a lunch break, we had booked an afternoon tour of the Necropolis beneath St. Peter's Basilica. The Necropolis was an ancient above-ground cemetery filled with tombs and mausoleums of wealthy Roman families. This cemetery also housed St. Peter's tomb, which was discovered underneath an ancient Roman family mausoleum.

Upon discovery of St. Peter's tomb, the emperor Constantine filled in much of the Necropolis in order to build the first St. Peter's church over St. Peter's tomb in about 320AD. The Necropolis was not excavated until the 1940's under the direction of Pope Pius XI, who wished to be buried near St. Peter's grave. These excavations discovered what is thought to be St. Peter's tomb and remains. Some of his remains were removed and are housed in different places, including the sphere above St. Peter's dome. Today, visitors can book a tour to visit parts of the Necropolis, and can view a portion of St. Peter's tomb that was left exposed during the recent excavations.

Unfortunately, this was another area where photos were not allowed, but we would certainly recommend seeing this area for yourself. We loved seeing the many layers that led to St. Peter's final resting place. These tombs provide evidence on how the ancient Romans' outlook on Christianity changed over time. For example, most tombs housed many family members and the walls were covered with pagan symbols, images, and writing since most people worshiped these gods during that era. However, every now and then there were tombs with this symbol:

Chi-Ro - early Christian symbol (photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

This was the early symbol for Christianity or followers of Jesus Christ. This symbol on a singular grave resting in a pagan tomb means that the family respected this person's decision follow the Christian faith. These people contributed to building the foundation of the Catholic faith...and they are literally IN the foundation of its greatest church.

In addition to seeing St. Peter's tomb, we got to see the small chapels beneath St. Peter's Basilica toward the end of the tour. These were stunning! We also walked through the grottoes and saw the tombs of many of the popes throughout history.

Tip: You need to book your Necropolis tour by contacting the Vatican well in advance. At the end of the tour, you come out right near St. Peter's Basilica, and can enter the Basilica without waiting in the massive line. So, if you are scheduled for a Necropolis tour, you'll also get to visit St. Peter's. We didn't find this out until after we'd already waited in line to visit St. Peter's earlier that day, however, we decided to pop back in for another visit anyway.

After several busy days in Rome, we had an early night and got ready to depart for our next stop, the Amalfi coast!

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Days 74-75: ROMEing Around

7/26/2013

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After spending a relaxing week in Umbria, we were ready to sightsee in Rome. Mom and Dad Barbier would be joining us for 9 days so we had a lot to look forward to!

Yet Another Serendipitous Moment!
We arrived the day before Chris’ parents arrived and stayed at a little B&B in the Prati neighborhood called St. Peter’s Guesthouse. We cannot recommend this B&B highly enough. It’s in a great location near the Vatican and the Metro, the rooms are modern and clean, and the bed was very comfortable (a rare find in Italy). They give you complimentary treats like fresh almonds, chocolate and red wine, and you can also take free snacks from the common kitchen (coffee, yogurt, fruit, cookies, beverages). I felt like I was back at Google!

That evening, we discovered that our friend Rosemary was in Rome taking a 2-week class. We were lucky to cross paths with her since she'd be returning to Boston just two days later. We met for dinner at a little osteria in the Prati neighborhood where we sat outside and spent the evening catching up and laughing.

Dinner with Rosie in Rome!

Rosie & Chris making me laugh!

Team Barbier x2
The next morning, two more Barbiers joined our team. We picked up Mom and Dad Barbier at the airport in the morning and then ventured back to find the apartment we had rented for the next few nights. Our apartment was also located in the Prati area, about a ten-minute walk from the Vatican. The apartment was great – newly renovated, spacious, quiet and it had a fantastic A/C – very important for summer in Rome. The unit had 3 large bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen and living room – all connected by one giant hallway. My two favorite parts of the apartment were the SUPER tall ceilings and this poster hanging on the kitchen wall:

Gregory Peck in our kitchen!

I really enjoyed seeing Gregory Peck every morning and might have to purchase a similar print for my own kitchen one day.

A man named Roberto greeted us and showed us around the place. He spent a half hour outlining places to see & eat on a map – very helpful! I’d recommend staying at this apartment, especially if you are traveling with a group.

Another Rome tip: If you find yourself here with a car, the Prati neighborhood is a great place to stay, because you can easily find street parking for just 8 Euros per day. The rest of the city is either off-limits to cars, or it is very expensive/impossible to find parking.

That afternoon we explored the Prati neighborhood, walking down to the river and seeing the Castel Sant’Angleo. A couple of fun facts about Castel Sant’Angelo:

The Roman Emperor Hadrian commissioned it as a mosoleum for himself and his family
It was later used as a fortress for the popes. There is a tunnel called the Passetto di Borgo that connects St. Peter’s to Castel Sant’Angelo. Pope Clement VII used this tunnel to flee St. Peter’s during the famous Sack of Rome in 1527!

Castel Sant'Angelo

Angles along the bridge leading to Castel Sant'Angelo

That night, we dined at Da Vito e Dina in the Prati neighborhood. It was a very low key, friendly neighborhood restaurant with tasty food. After dinner we stopped at Old Bridge for gelato (obviously)!

Limoncello to end the night!

The Colosseum:
The next morning, we had a tour set up for the Colosseum. We were so happy we reserved our tickets & tour in advance because the line was incredibly long and the heat was oppressive. We walked right past the line to pick up our tickets and waited about 5 minutes for our tour to begin. Our guide was a tiny woman named Anna Maria and she walked us through the Colosseum in about 45 minutes. You are probably familiar with the blood, gore and debauchery that took place here. However, here are a few things you may not know:

The Colossuem is made of travertine and used to be completely white. They are currently trying to restore it to its original color.
The structure was held together by giant iron clasps, which are no longer there because they were removed and used in the construction of the Vatican. In fact, most of the Roman Forum and Colosseum were torn down/stripped in order to provide materials for other buildings in Rome. Amazingly, the Colosseum still stands, sans clasps.
The official name of the Colosseum is the Flavian Amphitheater. It became commonly known as the Colosseum because of the colossal statute of Constantine that stood in front of it during Roman times.
Gladiators could be slaves, enemies conquered in war, or regular free people who signed up to fight. A gladiator rarely lived past the age of 30. However, the average Roman citizen of the time also did not long past age 30, so a gladiator's life expectancy wasn't as short as I initially thought it would be.
All of the events held at the Colosseum were totally free to the public. Events could either be sponsored by the emperor, or very wealthy Romans, as 'gifts' to the Roman citizens.

The Colosseum. This used to be completely white, held together by iron clasps. The dark spots on the exterior are where the clasps used to be.

Inside the Colosseum

Roman Forum:
This was one of the highlights in Rome. While we didn’t have a guide, we did download an app onto the iPad that helped provide context. A guide would probably have been best, but you need to secure them OUTSIDE the entrance gate. We thought we could secure one inside the gate. We did learn some interesting things:

1. Another Use for Vinegar
Vinegar has los of uses - salad dressing, cleaning agent and some people even put it on sunburned skin. Well, here is another use to add to the list - vinegar dissolves marble. Since most of the ancient Roman buildings were made of marble, barbarians used ropes soaked in vinegar to try to destroy the buildings, by entwining their marble columns in the rope. That is why you see those deep cuts on the columns in the picture below. This strategy didn't work very well since the vinegar also ate away at the ropes!

See the marks just below the top of the columns? Those are from the vinegar soaked ropes that enemies used to try and destroy the building.

2. The Patron Saint of Cooks
Saint Lorenzo, originally from Spain, was an archdeacon in Rome who was responsible for the church's treasury. When the Roman emperor Valerian commanded that all Christian bishops, priests and deacons be put to death, he also demanded the church's treasury to turned over to him. Lorenzo rushed to distribute all the church's money to the poor and needy. When Valerian's men came for the treasury, Lorenzo presented them with the poor people of the city, saying they were the true treasures of the church.

Needless to say, Valerian was not happy. His men laid Lorenzo down on a piping hot gridiron in an effort to torture him so he'd tell them where the church's treasures were hidden. He would not give in and after 8 hours of cooking on the iron Lorenzo exclaimed "This side is well done. Turn me over". He eventually died on the gridiron and he is now known as the patron saint of cooks and chefs.

Saint Lorenzo was cooked alive in front of this building.

3. Six 40 Year Old Virgins
Being selected as a Vestal Virgin was one of the greatest honors in ancient Rome. The six vestals had one main task - to keep the eternal flame lit at all times. They were also required to stay chaste during their 30-year term. There were severe punishments if they failed in these two areas:

If the flame went out, the emperor would publicly beat the virgin in charge.
If one broke her vow of chastity, she was sentenced to death by being buried alive.

Technically, they didn't have to adhere to these rules their entire lives. They were selected when they were young (6-10 years old) and served a 30-year term: 10 years of training, 10 years keeping the flame lit, 10 years teaching new recruits how to manage the flame. Back then, 40 was considered pretty old so most of their lives revolved around this one task. After 30 years of service they were usually married to Roman royalty. Marrying a former vestal virgin was considered a high honor and came with a sizable dowry.

The girls had no choice in the matter. In ancient Rome, it was a big deal if your daughter was chosen to be a Vestal Virgin. It was the parental trump card.

At first, I thought Vestal Virgins led a dull life, attending to a flame all day for 30 years. But upon learning more about them, it was a pretty good gig in ancient Rome. Firstly, the Romans considered them lucky because they got to escape the obligations of marriage and children (which leads me to believe that being a wife in ancient Rome must have been difficult). They were considered high priestesses and had the opportunity to study state rituals off limits to male priests. They could own property, make a will, vote, and condemn prisoners. Their word was trusted above all and emperors often sought their advice so they had a lot of political influence. They were also entrusted with the state's most important documents and relics.

The remains the Vestals' temple (left) and house.

After the forum, we walked back to the metro, stopping to see the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps along the way. We went home, showered and then headed back downtown for dinner. After a quick stop to see the exterior of the Pantheon, we went to dinner at Armando al Pantheon, where we had a delicious meal. Afterwards we walked to Piazza Navona where we got gelato at the same gelateria that Chris' mom went to when she was 12 years old! Chris' dad also ordered a tartuf which was a delicious new discovery for all of us. We really enjoyed strolling around Piazza Navona and the surrounding streets at night.

Chris, after throwing 3 coins into the Trevi fountain. We'll be back again!

Chris' mom in front of the same gelateria in Piazza Navona she had visited when she was 12 years old.

How could you not?

Next day…Vatican!

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Days 66-73: One Week in Tumbria

7/20/2013

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After Florence, we set off to see Tuscany and Umbria (aka Tumbria). We spent about a week exploring the area, basing ourselves in San Gimignano and Orvieto.

San Gimignano
San Gimignano is a small town about forty minutes south of Florence. The town is well known for its setting and its incredibly well-preserved medieval architecture, in particular, several tall watch towers along the city walls. It is also a very nice town to explore on foot, as few cars are allowed into the city itself. One notable feature of San Gimignano is that it home to our (thus far) favorite gelato in Italy! If you happen to find yourself in town, be sure to stop off at Gelateria Dondoli. It is worth the line! We also dined at Ristorante Dorando, which was lovely.

We used this city as our base to explore Tuscany. Here are some photos:

Entering San Gimignano

View of Tuscan countryside from San Gimignano

Typical shop in San Gimignano featuring the region's signature dish - Cinghale or Wild Boar

Tuscany

Tuscan tomato soup at Ristorante Dorando. Amazing!

Chris' rabbit appetizer

Tuscan cantaloupe - just one component of our picnic at our hotel - Casolare le Terre Rosse - in Tuscany!

Chianti Region
We spent a half-day driving along route 222, which links many of the small towns in the central Chianti region, with hopes of stopping off for a few wine tastings. We soon learned that wineries in this part of the world operate a bit differently from others we’ve visited, as most do not have staffed tasting rooms where you can just drop in and visit. Most wineries that offer visits must be arranged in advance; tastings usually include an extensive tour of the facilities; and there is often a fee involved of at least 25-30 Euros per person. We did stop at one winery that was offering drop-in tastings – Vescine on the outskirts of Radda in Chianti. Here we enjoyed a variety of red wines and a beautiful setting.

Vescine winery

Awaiting our chianti at Vescine

Siena
On our way south from San Gimignano to Orvieto, we spent a half day exploring Siena. Siena is considered the ‘heart of Tuscany’. It is a very charming city with an expansive old quarter and a beautiful central piazza and Duomo.

Siena

Duomo in Siena

Castiglione del Lago
We stopped off at a town called Castiglione del Lago on the shores of Lake Trasimeno. The small town is very picturesque with an old castle overlooking the lake - one of Italy’s largest.

Castiglione del Lago

Orvieto
Orvieto is a small town in Umbria located about an hour and a half north of Rome. One of the most interesting things about Orvieto is that is situated at the top of a natural tufa plateau rising above the surrounding land. Orvieto is another lovely little town with a beautiful central cathedral. There are also expansive caves beneath the city that can be explored.

The hill town of Orvieto

Orvieto from another angle

Orvieto Cathedral

Magical side street in Orvieto

Il Mago di Oz - The Wizard of Oz in Italian

Typical scene in Orvieto

Bride in Orvieto getting ready to walk down the aisle.

We stayed just outside of Orvieto at an Agriturismo called La Rocca Orvieto. This means that our lodgings were on a working farm, which produced grapes, olives and many types of fruit. We had our own apartment with a pool overlooking the beautiful Umbrian countryside.

Our apartment building at La Rocca Orvieto

Our apartment - Uliveto - at La Rocca in Orvieto

View from our patio at La Rocca

Misty morning on La Rocca farm

La Rocca

Our apartment was located by the large rock

In addition to producing great wine, the region also abounds with sunflower fields!

Sunflowers!

While we had beautiful weather in Orvieto, interestingly, a thunderstorm seemed to come through almost every afternoon. The storms would only last a few minutes, but they were a constant fixture of our summer stay in Orvieto.

Overall, we had a wonderful week exploring these regions. Next stop...Roma!

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Days 63-65: My, What a Big Dome You Have

7/15/2013

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No visit to Italy is complete without experiencing the cultural epicenter of the Renaissance - Florence, or as they say, Firenze. This city boasts a great deal more than just Smurf gelato!

Restricted Driving Zones & San Gaggio
We checked into our B&B, a nice little place called the San Gaggio House, about a 20-minute walk south of the Ponte Vecchio, the old bridge leading into the main part of the city. Many of the Italian cities frequented by tourists have enacted restricted driving areas in the older parts of the city, or what are known as ZTL’s. Florence is a prime example. Driving inside the ZTL boundary is allowed only for residents who have registered their car with the city. The boundary lines are under video surveillance, and every car’s license plate is filmed as it crosses into the ZTL. Anyone who drives into the ZTL without permission is issued a fine on the order of $500+. Therefore, we needed to either find a hotel with parking outside the ZTL, or find a place on the outskirts to stash the car for a few days. SanGaggio house lies just outside of the southern boundary of the ZTL, which worked out perfectly for us.

Our Plan:
We had several major sites we wanted to hit while in town. The big ones included:

Uffizi Gallery – one of the greatest Renaissance art museums in the world
Firenze Duomo – Florence's Cathedral, boasting a large painted dome that inspired Michelangelo’s work in the Sistine Chapel
Accademia Gallery – museum housing Michelangelo’s David
Piazza Michelangelo & Basilica di San Miniato

FirenzeCard
Our first order of business was to invest in a Firenze Card. This card, valid for 72 hours from the first use, allows you access to 72 different sites throughout the city – including all of the major places we wanted to visit - for one price. You guessed it - 72 Euros! It also gets you free public transportation. But the best benefit is that you get to go through a designated line at most of the major attractions. This meant that the longest we ever had to wait for any of the museums or other sites was about five minutes. For instance, when we arrived at the Ufizzi Gallery, the line to enter the museum was snaking around the building, past the sign that read ‘Wait time from here: 90 minutes’. With our Firenze Cards, we walked up to the door and right into the museum. By saving us an hour and a half in line, we thought the card had already paid for itself; even if we did not visit anything else! Needless to say, we highly recommend buying this card if you visit Florence.

A solid acquisition

Day 1:
We arrived in the afternoon, checked into the San Gaggio House and had some lunch at a nearby café that was absolutely packed with locals. It was here where we discovered our new favorite salad, featuring Brasiole - a type of cured ham from northern Italy - that we would later make on a daily basis for lunch while in Umbria. After lunch we went to the famous Uffizi museum. The last time I was in Florence, I waited over and hour to get into this museum and then had to abandon the line in order to catch a train on time. So I was delighted when we got into the museum in just 5 minutes with our Firenze Card!

The Uffizi Gallery
Uffizi actually means offices in Italian. It’s so named because the building was built by Giorge Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de’Medici as the offices for the Florentine Magistrates. In addition to being offices, Cosimo I also arranged to have his best art pieces displayed in this palace. Over the years, more of the palace was used to display the Medici family’s extensive art collection - either acquired or commissioned. Great artists like Leonardo Da Vinci and Michaelango would gather at the Uffizi both for work and for inspiration. The last Medici heiress, Anna Maria Luisa, worked with Florence to transform the palace into a museum. It was first opened to the public in 1765.

The museum boasts pieces from some of the greatest artists of all time – Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Bottecelli, Raphael, Giotto, Caravaggio…the list goes on. My favorites were Bottecelli’s Magnificat Madonna (her gold hair looks 3d!), Primavera, and of course the most famous, Birth of Venus. Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo was also spectacular. We spent about 2 hours here and then it was closing time. We probably could have spent another half hour or so looking at the collection of foreign paintings in the basement! We appreciate art, but are by no means Renaissance experts (I prefer 20th century art). If you are a big fan of Renaissance art, you should allocate at least a half day to this museum. Even if you aren’t an art lover, come here to see the Bottecelli pieces. They are amazing and you just might become a fan!

Bottecelli's Magnificent Madonna (photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

Bottecelli's Primavera (photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

Bottecelli's Birth of Venus (photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

Michelangelo's Doni Tondo (photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

That evening we went to a little trattoria called Alla Vecchia Bettola on the outskirts of town for dinner. We sat outside and enjoyed some pasta and the house chianti. In Florence, they often don’t have tables for two, so towards the end of our meal another couple sat down for dinner next to us. They turned out to be a lovely couple from New York who were traveling in Italy on business. We immediately hit it off and got to talking about everything and anything. The lady was wearing this spectacular necklace, which we later discovered was her own design! Her name is Sharon Khazzam and she sells her line exclusively with Barneys – check out her pieces here. (Bostonians – she is having a trunk show at Barney’s in Copley on Dec 21st). Her husband was in Italy in business, as he has a business distributing men's suits to many retailers in the US, and was on a sourcing trip. We were having a great time and could have talked to our new friends for much longer. However, we had overstayed our welcome at the restaurant and there was a huge line of people waiting for a table, so we were eventually asked by the waiter to get going (a first in Italy, where you usually have to try to hunt down the check)!

Day 2:

The Big Dome:
After a lovely breakfast of freshly baked croissants at our B&B we walked back into town to discover more of Florence’s treasures. Our first stop was the Duomo:

Duomo: The Duomo, or Cathedral, of Florence, was begun in 1296 and construction was completed in 1436. As it took 140 years to build, construction was overseen by many different architects and builders. The outside of the building is decorated with marble, and the process of finishing the exterior design work lasted nearly 500 years until the late 1800's.

Dome: At the time of its construction, the dome was the largest octagonal masonry dome to be built without the use of wooden scaffolding. The architects of the dome looked to the dome of the Pantheon in Rome for guidance on how to construct the dome in Florence. However that dome is made of concrete, is circular, and was built using wooden supports. At the time, there was not enough wood in Tuscany to construct scaffolding to support the Florence dome during construction. The solution was to use bricks, which are relatively lightweight and strong, and to surround the interior layer of the dome with four iron chains to keep the dome from spreading under its own weight. This dome remains the largest brick dome ever constructed. The inside of the dome is covered with a fresco depicting The Last Judgement. The painting was started in 1568 by Giorgio Vasari and was completed 11 years later by Federico Zuccari. When viewing the fresco, you can discern the two artists different styles in different areas of the painting.

Tower: Next to the Duomo is a 280 foot tower called Giotto's Campanile, completed in 1359. We climbed about 400 steps to reach the top of the tower. It offers great views of the Duomo next door and the city of Florence below.

Our first order of business was to hike up four or five hundred stairs to the top of the old tower next to the Duomo. Here was our view from the top.

Beautiful Firenze

Murals inside the huge dome depicting The Final Judgement

A humorous scene on our way up to the cupola

While hiking up to the cupola, we got to see the paintings adorning the dome up close

The dome depicts heaven, hell and everything in between.

Wild

You could get up close to the murals inside the dome. As you can see, the dome is beginning to crack in places.

The last leg of the climb to the cupola - in between the two layers of the dome!

Beautiful view from the cupola, of the tower we had climbed a bit earlier.

Bronze ball atop the dome containing holy relics

David:
After the Duomo we went to see the statue of David at the Accademia Gallery. Created by Michelangelo sometime between 1501 and 1504, David is a 17-foot tall marble statue depicting the biblical hero David either before or after he slays the giant Goliath (there are many interpretations of the statue). During this time, most sculptors depicted David either immediately after he slayed Goliath, with the giant’s head underfoot, or during the fight, where David is in the midst of using his slingshot. Michelangelo’s version shows David in a contemplative state with no Goliath in sight. No Florentine artist had ever omitted the giant before Michelangelo. Some say this sculpture depicts David just before he is about to fight Goliath. Others say he is reflecting after the battle. While no one knows for sure, David has become a one of the world's most recognizable pieces of art, representing youth, strength and beauty.

This was Chris’ favorite piece of art we saw in Florence, and although I’ve seen it person before, it was still as impressive as seeing it for the first time. We spent some time staring at the statue from all angles, appreciating how difficult it must have been to sculpt, while at the same time trying to find some imperfections to prove that Michelangelo was indeed, human. After admiring the statue (while being knocked around by the throngs of tourists), we went to a side gallery that described the ancient process of making replicas of plaster sculptures.

Michelangelo's David. We were not allowed to photograph inside this museum so the image is courtesy of Wikipedia.

Lunch: Ristorante Accademia
Right around the corner from the Accademia Gallery is a fantastic restaurant called Ristorante Accademia, recommended by my cousin Elizabeth. Here I had my favorite meal in Italy thus far: Truffle ravioli. Our waiter was fantastic and incredibly funny!

Dinner: Trattoria Sostanza.
This place was recommended to us by my sister in law, Jen, who had been there last year on a company trip. It’s a little hole in the wall place, but VERY popular. We visited the night before to get a table and they were full for the evening. Luckily, they had a 9:15pm reservation for two open the next night so we deicided to try it out. It’s very casual - maybe fits 30 people - and you sit at the same table as other parties. We sat next to two really friendly Italian guys who fortunately spoke a bit of English. Chris ordered the dish they are famous for - Pollo al Burro, or Butter with Chicken. He said it was about the best chicken he has ever had. Of course my bird aversion meant I had to take his word for it! I had a Florentine steak which was massive. While I’ve had better steak before, it was tasty and a nice change of pace from the pasta I had been eating for 2 weeks. The two Italian guys at our table couldn’t believe I ate the entire steak and even told me it would be a good idea for me to walk home instead of taking the bus because I ate the whole thing! Their concern over my food intake didn’t stop them from offering me some of their dessert – a berry merengue – which was fantastic:)

Florentine sunset on our way to dinner.

Watching the sunset along the Arno river.

Day 3:
We checked out of the hotel in the morning and headed over to Piazza Michelengo to see a stunning view of the city. This is also where we discovered the Smurf gelato. Then we walked up the Basilica di San Miniato which had a very interesting layout inside – much more compartmentalized than other churches. The best thing about the Basilica was, of course, the view!

Panoramic view of Florence from Piazza Michelangelo. Click the picture if it's too tiny.

Florence from Piazza Michelangelo

View from Basilica di San Miniato

Cemetery of San Miniato

Basilica di San Miniato

Inside the Basilica

After our Florentine adventure, we set out to see the beautiful countryside of Tuscany and Umbria.

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Day 63: Leaning Fools of Pisa

7/12/2013

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Ok, perhaps fools is a little harsh. Of course, the people I’m about to describe are not necessarily fools. They just looked a bit foolish for a moment. And I captured that moment on camera.

Our route of travel from Levanto to Florence took us by Pisa, so how could we not stop and see the famous tower? The tower was pretty cool, but we spent most of our time watching the other tourists attempting to photograph one another holding up the tower, knocking it over, kicking it down, stabbing it, etc. Here are a few examples:

A typical scene near the tower. When you take the tower out of the picture, it looks pretty ridiculous. There is even an ambulance nearby in case foolishness leads to injury.

Making his country proud.

I'm not sure anyone else was even photographing this one.

Everyone around this guy is in a state of disbelief. I think that might be his daughter looking away in shame.

If we didn’t have the photo, no one would believe it.

The trifecta.

I’m not sure this one totally understood why she was being asked to stand this way.

The little guy knew better, but his mom was determined.

Everyone stop!!! (We agree)

The first of the kickers...

Another kicker. The photographer had a very interesting perspective.

This guy must have been Delirious to wear that outfit in the heat. Eddie Murphy called from 1983 and wants his jacket back.

This dude sort of pulls it off. Notice our old friend Delirious in the foreground taking a mental note of his moves.

This guy had no idea what he was doing. Whatever he was doing, he was having fun doing it.

This one was adorable. Much too cute to make fun of.

Doublemint gum ad?

I think you are meant to believe she seduced the tower over.

This kid was actually falling asleep while posing.

Tai chi anyone?

So there you have it - humans at their finest. But of course, we too are just simple humans so how could we not join in on the fun?

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European Short-Term Car Leases - Leasing vs Renting

7/11/2013

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We chose to rent a car during our 2 months in Europe, as we thought it would be the best way to go off-the-beaten-path and maintain a flexible schedule. This meant we'd need a car from mid-June to mid-August - 56 days to be exact - picking up the car in one city and dropping it in another.

One way to do this was to simply rent a car.

Another option was a short-term lease. This is a program run by both of the large French car manufacturers - Renault and Peugeot/Citroen. I believe they receive some sort of subsidy from the government for the program as it helps to drive tourism. The manufacturers like it because they get to book a few additional sales. Here is the deal:

Technically, when you sign up for one of these 'leases', you are actually buying the car. The manufacturer guarantees they will buy it back from you at a set time and place, for a set price.
The manufacturer registers the car in your name and provides full insurance for liability and collision, which is valid throughout Europe.
You are allowed unlimited mileage.
You pay only one price, which is the equivalent of the purchase price minus the buy back price plus the registration and insurance costs.

The manufacturers claim that this is typically the best deal for those who need a car for at least 17 days. So of course, we decided to crunch the numbers.

Car Rental:
First, we broke down the car rental costs:

Base cost to rent the car
Drop Fee: In addition to the rental cost itself, rental companies will also charge you a one-way or drop fee, which can be quite a lot depending on the beginning and ending cities you select. In our case, beginning in Montpellier and ending in Amsterdam, the fee was actually pretty reasonable. If we had chosen to drop it in, say, Rome, however, it would have been exorbitant.
Insurance: On top of the rental cost, you have to decide if you want to purchase extra insurance for collision coverage, which is very pricey. Most of the time, we do not purchase this coverage, as it comes with our credit card. However, most credit card policies do not cover rentals over 30 days. This meant we'd either need to do two separate back-to-back rentals of under 30 days, or buy the insurance.

As it turned out, the drop fees associated with the back-to-back rentals made that option totally cost prohibitive. And the collision insurance effectively doubled the cost of the car rental.

French Manufacturer Lease Program:
We next priced out the Renault and Peugeot/Citroen, lease programs for the same car class we had been quoted for the rental.

With these programs, you can pick out the exact car and options that you want, and the car is delivered to you brand new from the factory. The only thing you can't pick is the color!
There are extra charges if you choose to pick up or drop off the car outside of France. The charges vary based on the city you choose.
In addition, your family members are allowed to drive the car, something for which car rental companies would charge extra.

Interestingly, our quote came out very close to the cost of the one way rental plus the insurance. The cost was essentially a wash. We had read great reviews of the lease programs and how hassle and worry-free they are, so decided to go that route since we'd have a new car and everything was included in one package before we left.

Our date and time of pickup were confirmed, and when we arrived in Montpellier, the entire pickup process was fast and efficient. Here is what we ended up with:

Citroen C4

This is a Citroen, which had 4km on the odometer when we picked it up. It gets about 60 mpg, has good legroom, and a navigation system, which has already proven invaluable. We are almost half way through our time in Europe and so far, so good!

In conclusion, it turns out that 17 days is not necessarily the break-even point at which buybacks become more cost effective than renting. In our case, the break-even point was 29 days because our credit card covers car rental collision insurance for rentals under 30 days. Since we needed the car for 56 days, the need to buy the collision coverage is what ultimately changed the economics for us in favor of leasing. However, each situation is different, so it's always good to spend some time comparing all the options.

One final tip. The lease programs are booked through a small number of agents in the US, which you can find online. Here are a few of them:

http://ideamerge.com/
http://www.autoeurope.com/go/peugeot/peugeot-overview/
http://www.renaultusa.com/

It doesn't really matter which one you choose, but there is definitely some negotiating room built into their pricing. Once you figure out which car you want and get your quote from their website, you can contact them to ask for a further discount. You can then play the agents off one another until you end up with the lowest price. We did this successfully and saved a bit of money.

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Days 61-62: Cinque Terrific

7/9/2013

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We decided to pay a visit to Cinque Terre, the beautiful region along the north western Italian coast. Cinque Terre, which translates to 5 lands, is a collection of five small villages along a stretch of rugged coastline connected only by a train and hiking paths.

Home Base: Levanto
I had visited the area about 12 years ago with a couple of friends and hiked two segments of the trail, but Chris had never been. Twelve years ago, my friends and I were backpacking so we took the train to Monterosso (the northern most of the 5 towns) and used it as our home base. This time, Chris and I did things differently since we had a car and I suspected the 5 towns would be really crowded. Therefore, we based ourselves in a town called Levanto at the northern end of Cinque Terre, where we could easily catch the train to one of the 5 towns to begin our hike. We stayed in a small B&B called Rosa dei Venti, located right near the beach & downtown area. The B&B is run by a man named Marco and his sweet mother, Mamma Rosa, who greeted us each morning with a big smile and a hug, and then cooked us an awesome breakfast! She didn't speak any English but still talked to us a lot in Italian and somehow we managed to communicate with each other.

Levanto has a large beach that is half public and half private. They also have many little restaurants, shops and gelato stands. We had a really nice dinner at L'Articiocca.

Cinque Terre Day Pass
Early the next morning we walked about 15 minutes to the Levanto train station and bought two passes for Cinque Terre - for 10 Euros, you get access to all the hiking trails and unlimited rides on the train between the towns.

Crowded Terre
When we arrived, my suspicions were confirmed - tourism in Cinque Terra has exploded in recent years. When I was here 12 years ago, the trails were free to hike and we saw very few other people. This time, the place was packed. I think this is in part due to the fact that I was here in April instead of July, and in part because Rick Steves found out about it and put it in a guide book. I suppose this is great for the local economy, but certainly creates a different dynamic for a visitor. The thing that was different this time around was that the trails were wider and had guardrails. When I was here 12 years ago I remember hiking trails just wide enough for one person with steep drop-offs and no guardrails. Now that there is a lot of two way traffic and families with children hiking the trail, the national park had to take some safety precautions.

Corniglia
Unfortunately, upon buying our tickets, we found out that for some reason only one segment of the trail was open for hiking. The good news was, this meant we didn't have to decide which sections we wanted to hike. We took the train to the third town of Corniglia, and then hiked back toward the second town of Vernazza. Corniglia is located on top of the cliffs, while Vernaza is by the water, so the hike was mostly downhill!

Corniglia

Leaving Corniglia

The Things We Do for a Beach...
We decided to hike down to a beach that was at the base of the hills outside of Corniglia called Guvano Beach. The beach was clearly marked on our Cinque Terre map, but on the path we only saw one way to access the beach:

Sign for Guvano Beach pointing the down the cliffside. Hmmmm...

We debated it, but then decided to go down the path a little to see what it was like. It turned out to be an incredibly steep, windy path down the side of the mountain through some pretty dense vegetation. It was a little scary but we decided to stick it out, as we knew there was only one section of the main path open to us that day. Plus it was HOT. It took us about 30 minutes to negotiate the steep path down, and we eventually found our way to the beach. The good news is that the difficult descent meant the beach was almost empty, which was a nice break from the crowds above.

Guvano beach from farther up the path, with the town of Corniglia in the background. We had to hike down the cliffside to reach the beach!

Guvano Beach

Naked People
Upon approaching the beach we discovered the other reason why this beach was not that crowded: it was a nudists' beach. We did not mind sharing the beach with the nudists, but decided it would be polite to give them a wide berth, and plopped down at the other end of the beach. This worked out well as this was the first time we felt like we had a beach to ourselves in Europe. We took a dip, had some lunch and stuck around for another hour or so before continuing on.

Decision: Cold Dark Hole or Hot Cliff Climb?
Before making our way back up the mountain side, we tried to find out if there was another way to get back up to the main path. A local kid directed us to an abandoned railroad tunnel, which he said led back to Corniglia. The tunnel was pitch black, and about a kilometer long. We had a flashlight and headlamp in our bag, so decided to try it out.

Why not?

About five minutes into the tunnel, however, we thought better of this plan. As the light from the tunnel entrance dwindled behind us, it became clear that our two puny flashlights were not cutting it in the complete darkness. We had no idea exactly how far the hike through the tunnel was going to be, and what sort of creatures - animal or human - could be waiting for us within. We decided to turn around and brave the ascent back up the steamy cliffside.

Here we go again.

Fortunately, the hike back up the cliffside was much easier than the hike down. We continued on toward Vernazza and found a place where we could climb out onto someone's roof to survey the view:

Looking back at Corniglia and Guvano Beach.

Vernazza
From here, the hike to Vernazza took another hour or so. I remembered thinking that Vernazza was the prettiest town last time I was here, and I was not disappointed this time around either!

Approaching Vernazza

Getting closer...

Vernazza

Vernazza Harbor

While the view of Vernazza from Corniglia is beautiful, I still think the view coming to Vernazza from the other side (Monterosso) was the best. Unfortunately that trail was closed this time around.

Vernazza was overwhelmingly crowded. After spending about 5 minutes in the main piazza, we hiked up to the top of the town and found a nice quiet nook with a view where we took a break. At this point it was getting a bit late, so we decided to head back to Levanto for dinner, hopped back on the train, and we were back at our B&B in just 15 minutes! We had a nice night strolling through Levanto before continuing on to Florence the next day.

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Days 58-60: The Quiet Majesty of Lago di Como

7/8/2013

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Lake Como - home to charming mountain-climbing villages, sweeping views, jasmine-scented gardens and George Clooney. While we didn't get to see the latter, we enjoyed the other beauties from this very special place in the world.

Varenna

Lake Como, Italy lies about a 2.5 hour drive south of Axalp, Switzerland. We once again had to traverse the Sustenstrasse on our way out of Switzerland, but this time, it was snowing on top and the road was a bit icy, making for a harrowing few miles of driving! We eventually made it back to Italy and found our lodgings in the sunny town of Bellagio, Italy.

Lake Como is long and thin, and shaped kind of like an upside down Y, or more precisely, like an armless guy running.

Bellagio is centrally situated at the center of the Y, so you have lake views all around. Across the lake from Bellagio to the east is the town of Menaggio, and across the lake to the west is the town of Varenna. These three villages are the most popular vacation destinations, so there are regular ferries running between the three towns. At the southern tip of the lake is the city of Como, which we drove through on our way to Bellagio. Don't stay here because it's a more of an industrial city, and the southern part of the lake is polluted, so you can't swim in it. The northern part is fed by runoff from the Alps, so it features crystal clear waters and beautiful vistas.

We rented a 1-bedroom apartment at Casa la Rosa, about a ten minute walk outside of town. We were up a slight hill, which gave us a beautiful view!

Breakfast with a view

While it took us 10 minutes to walk down to town, it took us 15 minutes to walk back up to the apartment. A trade off for the nice view was a steep climb up the hill. In order to distract ourselves during the ascent, we played a movie-themed 20 questions. It helped a lot!

The apartment was huge by Italy standards - big living/dining/kitchen area and an equally large bedroom. We also had our own washer which was key! Our only complaint was one all too common in Italy: the beds were uncomfortable - lumpy to be specific. This would be the first of many tough mattress experiences as we are in Italy for 3 weeks!

Another added bonus to renting an apartment at Casa la Rosa is that the owner, Marco's, family runs a take-out place in Bellagio. They are super nice people and never charged us full price when we stopped by to purchase paninis, gelato, pizza or wine.

We spent our first day in town walking around and checking out Bellagio and some of the lake shore. Bellagio is a very nice little town, consisting of two main streets featuring lots of restaurants, bars and shops. It gets very crowded during the day - especially on the weekends - when people come to visit on the ferry from either Menaggio or Varenna, but quiets down nicely in the evenings.

Bellagio

The quieter side of Bellagio

Bellagio

Bellagio Gardens

The next morning, we rented kayaks to see more of the lake and villages, while getting a workout. In the afternoon, we took the ferry over to the town of Varenna, which is similar to Bellagio. It was Sunday, and many of the shops were closed, but it was a really pretty little town to walk around.

Chris, on his kayak in front of Bellagio

Me, struggling to keep the kayak straight. I had a tough time with these Bic branded kayaks. Bic should stick to razors and pens.

Arriving in Varenna on the ferry

Varenna

The food in Lake Como is nothing original, but we found a couple of good spots. La Fontana is a nice place on a side street in Bellagio with standard Italian fare. We also found a neighborhood restaurant down the street from our apartment called La Bellagina, which had decent food and a really nice view of the lake.

View from La Bellagina in Bellagio. They also have a good seafood salad antipasti.

We loved Lake Como - it's one of the most picturesque places we've seen thus far and that is saying something after coming from Switzerland! I'll leave you with this sunset view over the mountains...