Capri!

On Thursday we decided to take the high speed ferry to Capri!
















On the way, the ferry stopped at Positano, and I have to say, all agreed that this was the best way to travel to Positano! For future reference, avoid the coast drive and take a boat!















After a little over an hour we arrived on Capri! We saw the funiculare, but didn't know whether it took us to Capri town or whatnot (and, ironically, we had left our guide book behind) so we started out walking!






















We ended up walking all the way to the top of the island and beyond! (Thus, we had no guilt about having a little snack at the top of the Island, some gelato and later lunch!)



































Once you get away from the port, Capri is really beautiful... and the shopping! Wow! They have TWO Prada stores, a TODs, Malo, Ferragamo, Missoni, Dolce & Gabbana, etc., etc. and tons and tons of jewelry stores and of course, hand made shoes! The Husband and Miss B. treated me to a lovely lapis and gold bracelet that we found in a little shop off of the main street. I also got a great little sundress that I ended up wearing out of the shop!





















Miss B. also had her first ice cream CONE! With lemon and strawberry gelato






On our way back to wait for the ferry we met up with two very nice couples who were staying in our hotel and who were visiting from Atlanta. Having grandchildren themselves, they of course loved Miss B! They also had almost the same itinerary as us, having spent the first few days of their trip in Rome and then in the Amalfi coast... they even had visited Pompei on the same day as we did! It's always fun to run in to other Americans while traveling...

Blow Out.

So, today we got a flat tire. It was my fault. I have a very bad relationship with the blue stone curbs that are very popular in and around the 'hood. This time it was the curb at Kinko's. I got out and looked at the tire and everything looked fine. We then proceeded to go to Target, Panera and Wegman's. Everything was fine until I go to drive away from Wegman's and I realize that the car seems to be pulling to the right.... I head home and then I start to hear a funny sound and I think: "Yeah, that's not normal!" I stopped the car near the battlefield and alas, the tire was Flat. F-L-A-T. This wouldn't have been too bad, but for the whole trunk full of groceries and the "raining" thing. I called the Husband who rescued our perishables and called BMW Roadside assistance who sent a Russian man in a Hyundai to change my tire. We'll be visiting the dealer tomorrow. Ugh!

Paestum!

After our successful visit to Pompei we decided to head to Paestum on Wednesday. We made arrangements with the hotel to have pack lunches made for us and off we went! Unfortunately, we started off by taking the semi-coast road through Salerno, rather than taking the A3. This turned what should have been an hour to an hour and a half drive into at least a two hour drive, and, unfortunately, Salerno isn't particularly scenic, but we had a good time anyway!

Paestum is a really neat site and after having visited Pompei it was easier to picture what the layout of the town would have been and what areas of the ruins were probably homes versus stores/shops, etc.

The best thing is by far the temples at the site! Paestum was originally a Greek colony and the temple ruins are really impressive. So impressive, in fact, that now we feel like we never have to actually visit Greece! (Sorry, Leda). Just kidding, there still is Santorini, after all!






There were few tourists (and only a few tour groups) visiting while we were there, mostly it was us and some lizards! It was a nice day and a lot of fun getting to wander around admist the ruins.

Afterwards we headed back to Amalfi and in the evening we drove to Positano for dinner at La Sponda, the restaurant at Le Sirenuse. The terrace at Le Sirenuse is gorgeous and the food was terrific! I had never had escargot before... and there was caviar involved (and not just as a garnish!)

On to Pompei!

On Tuesday we had our first breakfast at the terrace restaurant at the Hotel Santa Caterina




It was really good. Italians don't really do breakfast like Americans (or the French, for that matter), but they did put out an awfully nice spread for us including lots and lots of sweet pastries, eggs (which were really good), bacon, rolls and cold cuts, etc., etc.

After Miss B, browsed our guidebook we decided to head to Pompei despite some rainy weather.




Although we did have a bit of difficulty getting to Pompei, once there we really enjoyed it.




Apparently, some people don't share our feelings.












Pompei is really neat.




You can really get a feel for what life was like in the town of Pompei.














And it is amazing to see how decorated with frescos and detailed tile work so many of the homes were.






















Afterwards, we hit up a small pastry shop and had some cannoli. On our way back to the Amalfi Coast we decided to go up over the mountains, rather than driving back around on the coast road.

On our way, we encountered a local goat herder!














That evening it was room service back in our suite!

Monday...

On Monday we checked out of the Inn at the Spanish Steps (which, by the way, had a *fantastic* roof garden/terrace where breakfast and their complimentary evening snacks were served... I don't know why I didn't take a picture of that because it was really beautiful and made you feel like you were at home in the heart of the city) and after being told that the Via Condotti was in a restricted traffic zone, loaded up all of our bags and took a cab up to the Avis on the Via Sardegna.

Originally we had rented a Mercedes A180, but before heading off to Italy we had done some research and came to the realization that in the A180 we had a choice: either (a) our luggage could travel to the Amalfi Coast or (b) we could travel to the Amalfi Coast, but apparently there wouldn't be room enough for all of us. So, we "upgraded" to a Passat Wagon. In theory. When we got to Avis (or should I say when the cab driver dropped us and all of our luggage on the sidewalk *near* Avis) we were given the option for 5 Euro more to "upgrade" further to a Ford Mondeo wagon. Oooooh! And, it was a 6 speed manual transmission! Even better! This thing was the size, and had the handling capacity of, a Boston Whaler. But at least our luggage fit in the trunk. We had also asked for a child seat for Miss B. They had one (and it was brand new), but for "liability" reasons Avis couldn't install it for us so the Husband had to become quickly aquainted with how to install this Chicco car seat. All the while our car had been parked perpendicular to the Avis garage entrance and another American couple were sitting in their rental car, blocked in by ours while I loaded the trunk and the Husband worked on the car seat installation. It was actually quite comical.

Once finally on the road we made really good time since Kilometers, convienently, are shorter than miles.

Our first stop? The Abbey at Montecassino.


Unfortunately, it was closed.

Miss B's answer to that?

Climb the gate!

Afterwards, we elected to lunch at none other than McDonalds!
The Husband informed me that he had never eaten at a McDonalds outside of the Northern Hemisphere. I informed the Husband that I've eaten at McDonald's in France, Italy and Germany! You know how a few years back McD's made a big deal about how now all McNuggets would be made out of white meat? Well, any stockpile of mixed meat McNuggets must have been sent to Europe. In Italy you can still find that dark meat boot shaped McNugget. Oh, and don't forget-- ketchup packets? 20 cents per packet.

After lunch it wasn't too long on the Autostrada to get into Napoli proper and head around Vesuvius towards Salerno.

Nothing like a toll road to make you feel at home!

First stop before hitting up the Costieria Amalfitana proper? Vietri sul Mare!



Where we stocked up on ceramics (because our luggage wasn't heavy enough...)



And then we began the drive. The coast road is pretty amazing and not unlike a roller coaster. It is completely built for driving with a little Alfa-Romeo, or other such sportscar (though noting, not a very large sportscar since around every turn you have the possibility of being face-to-face with a tour bus). The road was designed less with a giant Ford boat in mind. Poor Miss B. tossed her cookies about half way between Vietri and Amalfi thus making the car smell like wild boar sausage and chicken McNuggets for the rest of the trip.

Finally, we arrived at the Hotel Santa Caterina in Amalfi. It is absolutely gorgeous and we got a lovely room with a nice terrace perfect for Miss B. to run around on and enjoy.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

So, our first Sunday in Rome was a rainy one. After having lunch/brunch at a local place near the hotel we cabbed it over to the Crypta Balbi and then had dessert at the Ducati Caffe. Afterwards we walked over to the Capitoline Hill and checked out a bit of the forum.

Luckily the weather dried out a bit and we were able to walk from the forum down to the Campo dei Fiori for our dinner reservations at Al Bric. At Al Bric we had a wonderful dinner. We got a selection of Italian goat cheese (which came with various honeys and mustards to sample with the cheeses), fabulous home made bread and grissini, I got arancini as an appetizer and the husband had grilled polenta with baby octopus, then I got a wonderful pasta with a ragu and the Husband got pappardelle with wild boar sausage and we shared osso bucco as the final course. We walked back to the hotel via the Piazza Navona (visiting all three fountains) and had some gelato at Giolitti...

To Un-Friend or not to Un-Friend

Do you have any of these Facebook "friends" who are constantly playing one of those goofy facebook games (like "Mafia!" or whatever) or filling out those "five favorite" list things or otherwise clogging your status list with information you really don't care about especially since this particular person is not anyone you actually ever considered a friend but someone you know (from high school, or the like) who friended you and you're not sure why and you accepted their "friending" because you were unsure of the etiquette of ignoring the friend request?

Now what the hell do I do?

Can I unfriend? Is that bad? Is it bad Facebook karma?

Can I change my settings so I never see an update from this particular individual again unless they do something interesting like cure the Swine Flu or win the Nobel Prize?

Day Two!!

On Day Two we visited the Vatican Museum... we had gone online and ordered our tickets in advance, which allowed us to skip the line for tickets. (Apparently, that line can be quite long, and on the day we visited it looked to be very long, so it was nice to be able to breeze through)... Note to self, however, the walk from the Spanish Steps to the Vatican Museum is long.... take a cab! ;)




Once we got there we were told that we had missed our guided tour and that the next one wasn't until 2pm, but we could, if we wanted to, walk around by ourselves. Done! No waiting in line and not having to be on the guided tour-- works for us!

Now, the next funny thing is all throughout the Vatican Museums there are billboards with pictures of the Sistine Chapel and information about it. Not just a few, there were at least twenty or thirty of these scattered about the premises. Each one would have a tour group in front of it and a tour guide describing the chapel. The Husband said this was happening because the chapel was so small there wouldn't be room enough for any of the describing to take place inside the chapel. Ironically, one of the tour guides was telling his group the reason that they were discussing the chapel outside of the chapel was because it is still used as a chapel and one needs to be quiet once you're inside. Yeah, okay.

FYI, here's a picture of the Vatican Gift Shop. I just thought it was funny.

















So, we walked around and around looking for the Egyptian wing and the infamous chapel (you'll recall from my earlier post that the museum doesn't give you a map...) and we walked through the pine cone courtyard about seventeen times.





















The Husband asked a security guard whether there was any way that we could get to the chapel without going up any stairs since we had the Maclaren in tow... we were quickly re-directed to walk through the exhibits backwards. We passed lots and lots of people. They all looked a little miffed. The Husband said that it was sure proof that these folks had all already seen the Sistine Chapel.

We get there. Finally. It was PACKED! And about the size of our family room (with higher ceilings, of course). There was no way that the tour guides were explaining the ceiling outside of the chapel because it's "still used", no, the people had to describe the chapel outside of the chapel because there's no room to breathe, let alone hold a seminar on Michaelangelo! I managed to step into the center of the room and quickly take a couple of pictures, right before a security guard said: "No Photos", "NO Photos!"


Why no photos? Because the poster of this photo is 10 euros out in the gift shop!












Afterwards we had some scary pizza in the cafe in the basement of the Vatican, visited the Vatican post office for some commemorative stamps and had to walk back through the courtyard to get to the damn Egyptian rooms!

Here's a neat picture of a fellow photographer in the courtyard...




















Check this out.... hieroglyphs!














Neat statue... (but it could use some dry cleaning)...




















We tried to take the stroller down here but were quickly directed to the "ascensore"...




















Afterwards we walked from the Vatican City to the Gianicolo... there are nuns everywhere!




















Once there, we went to the botanical gardens... a bit shabby, but still pretty neat, and we found a really cool lookout point in a bamboo forest that looked out over the Roman cityscape...















Then we walked through the Trastevere... and back across the Tiber.

We're Back!

So, we've returned from Italy and what a trip it was!



















After we left the Inn at the Spanish Steps our internet access was spotty, so we're going to have to do recapping after the fact.

Here was the view from our hotel window... later in the week the Spanish Steps were covered with blooming flowers!




















Bulgari was right across the street!















Here was our local nut man! ;)













On our first day, we wandered around the eternal city, starting out with a trip over to the Vatican (in preparation, of course, for viewing Angeli e Demoni, out in theaters 13 Maggio!) I have to say, St. Peter's is so large that in person it looks like a two dimensional movie set. I think Ron Howard has something to do with that.














Later on, we walked around in the tridente area and had a lovely lunch (with some really tasty bruschetta misto)....



















After our wandering, it was time to check in to the hotel proper. Once we were cleaned up and ready to roll around town we hit up the Antica Cafe Grecco for a caffeine and chocolate ice cream infusion...














and then walked over to the Trevi Fountain.

Oggi!

Today we started out strong by sleeping in!

Then we went to a quick lunch locally (at a place kind of like le pain quotidien) and then over to the Crypte Balbi (which is a museum of Roman history and has an tour of excavated ruins). Then (since we were in the neighborhood aka right across the street) we went back to the Ducati Cafe and had a really great dessert treat... molten chocolate cake with pistachio gelato and creme englais.

Then we walked over to the Capitoline Hill and walked through a bit of the forum. Then we walked through to the Campo di Fiori and finally stopped for our dinner at Al Bica on the Via Pellegrino. The food was fantastic (thank goodness!) Then we took a long walk back to the hotel via the Piazza Navona, the Tiber and finally up the via Condotti.

More stories to come for tomorrow!

Oh, One More Thing...

Apparently, in the Vatican City toilet seats are a needless formality. As are maps of the Vatican Museum. You know, have you ever been to the Louvre (or virtually any other museum on the planet) and you can have your choice of the map of the building in any one of five different languages? Not at the Vatican! You can purchase a rather thick guide book for 10 Euro, but a map? Not so much.

Italia 2009, part due

We made it to Italy and have been hanging out in Rome since yesterday morning. So far we've managed to pack in a lot of sight seeing. Our hotel (the Inn at te Spanish Steps) has a great location (wedged happily between Prada and Damiani on the Via Condotti) and its entry way actually opens into the Cafe Antica Greco (one of the famous tea rooms...)

Yesterday we walked all around, including walking up to the Piazza del Popolo, over to the vatican, up the Quirinal hill. We shopped and ate. Today? Today we went to the Vatican Museum (and skipped to the head of the line by having bought our tickets in advance over the internet... and then skipped ahead to get to the Sistine Chapel because we had a stroller.... they let us go in through the back entrance, which shaved off quite a bit of time!) Then we went to the botanical gardens, walked through the Ghetto and the Campo Dei Fiori, ate at the Ducati Cafe (yes, as in Brad and Angelina motorcycle Ducati), had gelato at Giolliti, went to the La Riscinte department store, walked around the Pantheon and generally did a lot...

Tomorrow? Its supposed to rain so we are planning to go to the museums like the Crypte Balbi and the Ara Pacis. Buona Sera!

Wowee-wow, wow!

So, it's that time of year again. Time to pack our bags and head out on a trip! The Mom and Dad have been kind enough again to be our head airport chauffers and cat-sitters in residence and we are (mostly) all packed and ready to go! More details to come!!!

Party Dress!

Here is the party dress, in action!