Tuscany and Umbria - Part II
Trip Start
Apr 06, 2003
1
46
69
Trip End
Ongoing
Tuscany and Umbria,
Italy
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
TUESDAY
We decided to get an early start this morning. We drove 30 KMs to Assisi, the birthplace of St. Francis. We parked the car and made our way to the very un-Franciscan church. St. Francis preached about modesty, non-materialism, and simplicity but it appears that the architects of this church ignored this. They built a huge white memorial to honor Francis, who died in 1226. The site chosen for his burial was known as the "Hill of the Damned" because that was where the outcasts were buried. But Francis was a man of the common folk so he wanted to be buried among the worst of them.
We were able to sign up for a tour with a monk from Zambia. He was pretty funny but for some reason, I'm not sure a monk should be joking about his vow of celibacy and how he is single but might change his mind. The monk told us a lot about Francis and his beliefs. Francis believed that all of us were equal, even animals. He called everyone and everything 'brother' and 'sister'. This might explain my in-laws treatment of 'sister Chloe'. During the tour, the monk was telling us about some of the controversies of the past and actually took a shot at the pedophile priest controversy by saying that "the church used to be faced with SERIOUS controversies". I couldn't believe he actually said that. What a weirdo. But for all the strange things he said, he also provided a ton of info about Francis and the church. The frescos, which were seriously damaged in a 1997 earthquake, were all very interesting. The monk was able to point out a lot of details that I never would've been able to find. For example, in the fresco of the nativity scene, there was a second child in the manger, Francis. There were also scenes of Jerusalem with the church painted into the landscape. It was pretty cool. This was the painters' way of paralleling Francis' life with Jesus'. While the church was beautiful, I couldn't help but notice another inconsistency between the church and the teachings of Francis.
Francis believed that we were all equal and yet, the monk seemed to almost brag when he told us how the poor were allowed to worship in the church. The only hang-up was they were not allowed in the seats, which were reserved for the wealthy only, but could stand. If Francis believed we were all 'brother/sister', why were the poor not allowed seats? The other interesting thing was with regard to the stigmata. No disrespect to anyone who might be reading this but let me get this straight - if you are accused of being somewhat crazy, you are an outcast. If that outcast then 'miraculously' gets cuts in his hands, feet, and side, also known as the stigmata, he is now a saint? Sounds a bit fishy if you ask me. Anyways, this was a very interesting visit.
We left the church and picked up one of the chotchkies that was being sold to the mass of pilgrims. They had Francis' face on basically every piece of shit. I decided to pick up a small plastic figure of a monk drinking a beer.
We next grabbed a delicious slice of pizza before spending the next few hours following a walking tour of this beautiful and interesting city. We were really glad that we had stayed as it seemed that most tourist visit the San Franciscan church and then get back on the road and leave town. They are actually missing quite a wonderful town.
As we were finishing up our walk through town, it began to rain. And it never stopped the rest of the day. It came down so hard. It reminded me of our time in southern Spain on the Costa del Sol. On that trip, as it poured I often said "Costa del Sol my butt". This became a common saying for us on this day too.
But we didn't let the rain ruin our day, we got back in the car and went to Perugia, a town of 150,000 people, for dinner. We walked around for a bit. It seemed like the whole town were college kids. Perugia had some very nice stores. Julie and I went into a few of them but as I am not a shopper, they were pretty lame-o if you ask me. The one store I found interesting was the Bennetton. Not because of the selection of goods but because it was housed in an old church on the town square. We have seen that a bit, but it's pretty cool when you see these old buildings used for modern purposes.
It continued to rain so we found refuge in a small internet café before dinner. We ate at a really nice restaurant in a cave (Ristorante il Falchetto). Julie started with polenta with melted cheese and I had lentil soup. Both were good. We then both ordered the house specialty, gnocchi with spinach, ricotta, and tomatoes baked and served in a burning hot plate. It was real good. But the best was still to come - a hot crepe with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and nutella. YUMMY! It was a very nice meal (EUR 47) but it was still pouring.
The drive home was a tough one as it was raining very hard and the dark of the night wasn't aided by street lights. It was pitch black. Luckily the drive was only about 5 minutes but despite the rain, the Italians seem to still like to tailgate. I couldn't believe it. Anyone hear of 'defensive driving' around here? We were in no hurry so we took our time and let the crazy Italians pass us up.
WEDNESDAY
We started our morning with a tour of the agriturismo grounds with Fabio. This Fabio wasn't the coverboy with flowing golden locks but was the farmer. Fabio walked us around the 590 hectares farm that produces cherries, olives, apples, tobacco, corn, rice, rosemary, and sugar beets and raises cows, pheasants, boar, and deer. Fabio told us all about the property, including the church from 1400 and the fort from 1700 that came complete with a defensive wall. The agriturismo is making the fort into a restaurant. It even has fresco paintings.
Fabio was a really nice guy but since his very basic English was far better than our Italian, we had a tough time communicating with him. Until I busted out an electronic translator that LaSalle gave to its customers a few years ago. That thing was awesome! Fabio would try to tell us something and if we weren't able to understand him, I would hand him the calculator-size translator and he would type the Italian word and hit 'enter'. Of course the translator doesn't have every word but it has enough that we could find a close word. It was very helpful.
With the help of the translator, I asked Fabio about his holiday plans, as it was Liberation Day. Fabio, however, referred to it as Republic Day instead. He said since Mussolini had 'invaded' the country, the Americans freed the Italians from a dictatorship and created the country as a 'republic'. Fabio referred to Mussolini as 'Saddam' but also gave Bush two big thumbs-down. Coincidentally, Bush was in Rome the day before and was met by plenty of other Michael Moore fans.
Our political discussion finally brought the sun out though! So we wished Fabio a pleasant Republic/Liberation Day and got the car. We drove about 20 minutes to Lake Trasimeno, the largest lake in Italy.
We pulled off the highway and made our way to the lake. It was fairly spartan but we parked the car in the town of Passignano. Just at that time, it started to rain again. So what better time to find a restaurant and get some lunch. So we found a descent restaurant (Restaurante il Molo) where, despite being ignored by the waitstaff for the first 15 minutes, I had a caprese salad and Julie had prosciutto with melon, followed by perch in oil for me and tagliatelli with ragu sauce for Julie. Following the nice meal we asked for 'il conto' ('the check' in Italian, about the only word we learned) and headed outside. But before we did that, I asked the waitress for change. The lady wouldn't give me change so I explained that I wanted to leave a tip. Surprisingly, she still wouldn't give me change. Oh well, her loss.
Now that we were done with lunch, the sun finally broke through, this time for good. With this turning into a beautiful day, I wonder how things were going in the office...NOT! The lake was pretty big, although you could easily see across it. The town we were in was not too exciting but the others didn't seem a whole lot better. We stopped at the ferry office to see about taking a boat trip but we had missed it...and it didn't sound too interesting anyways. But it was a pretty day out so decided to walk along the lake for a bit.
The lake itself was pretty dirty and it didn't seem like the kind of lake that you would swim in. Once we saw the little heads of the water snakes that live there, we could understand why the lake was empty. Yuck! All in all, it was pretty gross and the visit was very uneventful. So why not stop for a gelato!
After our treat, we hopped back into the car and headed back to the agriturismo. We stopped into the office to get a recommendation for dinner since the truck-stop from the other night was not what I was in the mood for. A few days early when we checked-in, I was asked to leave a security deposit for our room. I didn't have the cash with me at the time so the owner suggested that I put it in an envelope and stick it in the mailbox of her home. So when we got back from dinner the previous night, I had dropped it in the mailbox of the building next door to the office. The owner told me that she got the deposit but that I had put it in the mailbox of her staff (ie. good old Fabio). Good thing they're honest around these parts because I put cash in the envelope. But anyways, I couldn't believe that big building was the staff quarters? Where did she live? What was her 'home'? Well, as we left the agriturismo every day, we would pass this huge ass building about 20 feet up the road. It looked like a hotel or a monastery or something. It was huge! THAT was her home. She lives there with her elderly parents. I remember thinking that she was a bit old to be living with her parents. I guess not...when you have a house that size. The funny thing is the staff house was nice enough for us which is why I left the check there. I had no clue what that other building was, but now I know. Nice pad! She even referred to it as a "castle".
While at the office, we bought a few things that the agriturismo manufactures - you know, gotta support the little guy. We bought some honey and olive oil. Although based on the furniture in the 'showroom' of the office, they didn't need our support! She had this gorgeous wall-sized hutch. It was huge, about 15 feet tall and 25 feet long. It was amazing. I asked about it and she said they had it 'laying around' at their home in Florence. 'Laying around'? What else did they have 'laying around'? And how many homes do they have? Geez! And from the sound of it, I got the impression that they only brought the crappy furniture to the agriturismo. At this point I really wanted to see what her home up the street looked like but I was got shy and did not assume my role as the pushy American. Oh well, but I'm sure it is amazing.
Afterwards, we went up to the place, dropped off the car, and changed into our bathing suits. We were the only ones at the pool so we relaxed and enjoyed the remainder of the day at the pool. It was wonderful and extremely peaceful!
Just about the time we were ready to go for dinner, it started to pour again. I definitely understand why this part of Italy is known as the 'green heart'. We drove through the rain for about 35 KMs, along country road and up swerving hills. Finally, we made it to Gubio, an apparently cute town of 30,000 people, where we would be eating dinner. I say "apparently" because we didn't really see anything since it was raining again!
As we drove into town, it seemed very confusing. There seemed to be millions of people running around and the rain didn't help to make the situation any easier. I had no clue where to park but since it was raining very hard, we weren't in the mood to search for a spot or park very far from the city walls. We found a parking lot but the gate wouldn't open. What was going on? Did it short-circuit from the rain? Was it closed because of the event that was obviously going on in town? Who knew. We finally found a spot on the street but we were still unsure if we were allowed to park there or if it was only for residents. We decided that since it was raining so hard, it was doubtful that the parking officers would be handing out tickets now. So we waited in the car for another few minutes until the rain finally slowed to a drizzle.
We grabbed the umbrella and walked through the mass of people to Taverna del Lupo, the restaurant that the agriturismo had recommended for us. It was a very nice place and I could instantly tell that we were out of our league. The waiter was very nice though and wheeled over the bread cart for us. He told us why the town was so crowded - it was some kind of annual kids' event. It looked like fun though. Anyways, the waiter helped us with a glass of wine from their 'cheap stuff' list while our neighbors at the other tables ordered fancy shmancy bottles. I even overheard one lady telling the waiter about how she had always wanted to try the XXX wine and he told her that the owner makes a very nice wine but is a real asshole (not verbatim). It's kinda weird to hear people talk about the winemakers like they know them.
Anyways, the food was delicious and the ambiance was beautiful. I started with a mushroom omelet of sorts and Julie had eggplant carpaccio with melted cheese. For dinner I had homemade ravioli with ricotta cheese and asparagus and Julie had veal. The meal was exquisite but there's always room for dessert - especially when the dessert menu includes crepes with fresh berries and ice cream! The meal was really good and was not even too expensive (EUR 73 total). We were in need of a good meal so this worked out perfectly. We loved the place so much we even bought one of those ceramic plates that was made just for this restaurant.
We left the restaurant and walked around town for about 2 minutes but since it was probably going to rain any moment, we didn't mess around too much. Although we had read that Gubio has a nice Roman coliseum. Oh well, next time.
We got back in the car and made our way through the dark twisty hills back to the agriturismo. It was another really nice day.
THURSDAY
*** Written on my PALM keyboard while on vacation ***
SIROLO
I am in absolute heaven. Maybe it could be a tad warmer. But heaven nonetheless.
It is Friday and Julie and I have been in Italy 7 days. Taking a suggestion from Gino, someone from work who grew up in Milan, we arrived in Sirolo yesterday afternoon.
Sirloin is on the east coast, along the Adriatic Sea. It is in the province of Marches. The town has virtually nothing to it but a beach and 1 street of stores and restaurants, possibly 2,000 people. Although someone told me that the town grows to 18,000 in the summer. That's crazy! Good thing we were early!
We are staying at Hotel Arturo on the beach (EUR70/night). It is the only hotel on the beach with all the others a 2-minute car ride uphill to where the aforementioned street is.
Right now I am sitting on a very comfy green lounge chair, looking out into the sea, while Julie is beside me working on her 3rd or 4th book of the trip. If she had brought her knitting needles, she could've knit my a little blanket to keep me warm. The sun is out (finally) however the fresh sea breeze has required me to keep my shirt on or my nips would be as small as the pebbles that make up the beach. The waves are inching closer and closer to where we are, crashing against the small white, yellow, beige, and brown pebbles in a rhythmic and relaxing manner. The birds can faintly be heard in the distant green hills that hover over the water to the left. Like I said, I am in heaven.
Along the beach, there are about 15 or 20 people. There are umbrellas that are set up, however none are open as the breeze is keeping the weather bearable.
Behind us is a bar/restaurant that our hotel runs. There are a handful of patrons sitting on the patio enjoying espresso and vino while they siesta the afternoon away.
And again, there is us, sitting along the sea.
Yesterday we woke up at our agriturismo. We got in the car about 11:15 and headed out of Umbria. Umbria was a wonderful place to be based for a few days. It truly is beautiful and very very green. Almost everywhere we looked was a farm with some sort of decaying building of yesteryear. It's like there are so many building that people just can't keep them up.
Anyways, we left the agriturismo and headed towards Gubio. We didn't stop but picked up the highway there. We realize why Umbria is called the 'Green Heart', it basically rained the whole time we were there. And yesterday, it poured! We inched our way through the pelting rain to Fabriano.
Fabriano was also recommended to me by Gino. It is known for its paper. You know that rough stock with the ungroomed edges, the paper that everyone uses for something in their wedding, that's what they make in Fabriano.
So we parked the car and headed into town to get some lunch and paper. At the time it wasn't raining but just as we got far enough from the car, it began. We wandered around town for a bit looking for something that looked like a paper shop but we didn't find anything. We also couldn't find a tourist office. Finally I stepped into an office which looked official and asked for the tourist office. The man instructed us that it was the first building on the left by the street, basically exactly where we had parked. I don't know how but we had missed it.
So we entered the office and asked the man for some help. He didn't speak English but understood that we were looking for paper. So instead of telling us where to go, he took us.
The paper shop was in the back of a book shop. It was not exactly what I was expecting. I was expecting to see tons of shops with beautiful papers in the windows and doorways. I am guessing that that does exist but since it was raining, I didn't really feel like looking for it.
So at the back of the bookshop Julie and I rummaged around. I mean this in the most masculine way possible - the paper was really pretty. There were these little kits with tiny folded papers and envelopes of all colors, tied with a bow. We thought about getting some but with email, we don't know anyone who writes letters anymore. But we did get a photo album filled with about 30 pages of white Fabriano paper and a blue cover made from Fabriano paper. We'll use it for our pics from this trip.
After the paper, we dashed through the rain across the street to a cafe for a bit of lunch. Ironically, this is where we found someone with good English. We were guessing that since there seemed to be a million German tourists throughout Italy, the tourist offices are better prepared for German travelers than English-speaking. Anyways, we each got a really good toasted sandwich with tomatoes and mozerella cheese. The bread was lightly salted and toasted just right. It was so good. The waitress asked us if we were from England. This has happened to us many times. I think it might be the fucked up way Julie speaks that throws everyone off. Or maybe these random places we have been going don't get frequented by the American tourist often so they assume we must be British. I think it's a bit of both, but it is kinda cool that we might be the first Americans they've ever met in their town. Wow, isn't that scary, I am the face of America. I represent you all. Well, I guess it can't be worse than who they already thinks represents America - Senior Bush.
Well, after our sandwiches, we raced back to the car. For a few moments, it stopped raining and began hailing. What luck we have!?!?
We stopped for a little bit of gas. The place was closed but the automatic payment thing was open so I tried my luck. And it worked.
So we trudged on through the pouring rain until we got to our next stop of the day, Grotto Frasassi.
I have no clue why this is but Julie loves caves. Everywhere we go, if there are caves nearby, she wants to go. Maybe she was a spelunker in her last life. But we pulled off the highway to see Grotto Frasassi.
The ticket office was in the center of this really cheesy area full of stalls selling crap. Things like beebe guns, Italian soccer jerseys, and plastic something-or-others. It was total crap. I wanted to get Julie a Juventis hat - this is the team the guy at the sandwich place by my work likes, maybe he would save her an olive loaf then.
We had to wait an hour for the next English tour. Since we had seen a cave in Spain in Spanish, we decided to wait for the English tour here. Plus, it was pouring so it wasn't like we had anywhere else we needed to get to.
While Julie bought the tix, I went to the little boys room. Surprisingly, it was very clean. Also surprisingly, it had no toilet, just a porcelain hole in the floor. Seeing how this trip was going to consist of solids and not liquids, I was not very happy. But when you gotta go, you gotta go. So I positioned my feet well out in front of the target so there wouldn't be any mishaps, I leaned back and placed my forearms on the tile and pushed with all my might. Maybe I shouldn't go into all the detail...but why stop now, right? It seemed like an eternity before something came flying through my legs but there it was, a bull's-eye, right in the hole and most importantly, away from my pants. My sense of relief was amplified when I realized, right there, standing with my pants around my ankles (but not too low as I didn't want them to touch the floor), that I realized that you are supposed to stand and not sit.
Anyways, I left the crappery for the swapmeet that we had to enjoy for the next hour. I picked up a Gatorade (Gatorade is just making it to Europe and doesn't seem to be making much of a dent in the market - but I sure do love a Gatorade after a workout). Man, I really like writing about my poops, don't I? How old am I? Good thing these are so long nobody reads them anymore =) I can write just about anything. I am the devil. Anyways, I also bought a couple of pastry croissant things filled with nutella. They were yummy!
Well, finally, the tour was about to begin. First they loaded a bus of Italians and drove them to the caves. About 10 minutes later, the bus was loaded with everyone else. Once we got to the caves, our bus was split into 2 tours of Germans (about 50 people) and a tour of English-speakers (about 15 people). A family of 5 in the English tour was Dutch. Julie thought it was interesting that they chose to be on the English tour instead of the German tour since their German was probably as good as their English. But I pointed out that first, why would you chose to be on a tour with 25 when you can be with 10 and second, why would you want to be with all those damn Germans.
So it was Julie and I, the Dutch family, a family of 5 from the US (I'm guessing FL since one of the sons had a U of Miami hat on), and a few other people from who knows where. There was one British family with a very young girl who missed the whole tour because the daughter cried the whole time, obviously not loving the cave. She was also on a leash. It was very weird. I questioned Julie as to what she would do if her kid didn't like caves. Would she sacrifice her tour? I didn't really get an answer.
Anyways, the caves were really cool. Probably the nicest caves we have seen...and we have seen a lot of 'em. They were discovered by a group of hikers from above in 1971. 'From above' apparently means something special because the guide pointed that out a few times. Basically what happened, they were hiking when they found an opening in the mountain side. They began exploring a bit and discovered a huge drop. They weren't sure where it led but from that point, something they appropriately called the Ledge of Fear, they dropped a few rocks to figure out what they had found in the darkness. Each rock took 7 seconds to hit the ground. They knew that whatever it was, it was big.
They returned to town and 2 days later came back with a 120-meter steel ladder. Can you imagine how heavy that ladder must've been? With the ladder in hand, they climbed down into the cave. The first room discovered is so big it can fit the entire Milan Cathedral in it.
The cave was really pretty. The front room was huge and the stalag's were awesome. The guide said that it takes 10 years for a stalag to grow 1 centimeter. With hundreds of stalag's over 3 meters tall and a dozen 20 meters tall (called the Giants), that's a lot of years!
The guide also relayed another story about the discovery of the caves. He said that when the guys were exploring the cave, they made their way into a room which they would refer to as the 'Room if Infinity' because they could not find their way out until after spending 23 hours in it. They finally found their way out when they found a landmark they passed on the way in, a stalagmite they had called the Polar Bear because it looked like the animal. 23 hours? Kill me now! I would've given up, curled up into a ball and cried until I died, figuring I had gotten myself lost.
Anyways, the caves were cool and very pretty. By the time our hour tour had finished, the sun had broken through the rain and we were ready to head to the sea.
So we drove about an hour until we reached Sirolo. We went to the tourist office and were shocked to see it still open at 5 PM. The man inside was very helpful and assisted us in finding a place to sleep. We called a few homes with rooms for rent but no luck. Just then, a man came into the tourist office to replenish his stock of business cards advertising his hotel. We spoke to him for a few moments. His English was good and we felt pretty comfortable with him. Earlier we had discussed staying on the beach (since Julie says we have never done something like that - apparently she wasn't with me on my honeymoon) so we got in our car and followed him to the hotel. When we got to the parking lot, he wouldn't let us (I mean me) carry our bags - he loaded them both into his car and drove us down a very steep service road to the hotel.
The rooms were nice, nothing special, but it is right on the beach and the room has a balcony looking onto the beach and sea. It was so peaceful and after a few nights in a city (Siena) and a few nights in the country (agriturismo), a couple nights on the sea would be perfect. We also knew we would be taken care of when I noticed the crucifix by the door.
Well, after dropping our bags at the hotel, we got in the car and headed back uphill into town for dinner.
We wandered around the town square but nothing seemed too special. Julie suggested that we head back to a restaurant she saw on the ride. It was a great suggestion...geez is she wonderful.
We entered this small but bright and airy restaurant called Rocco. There was one other couple occupying one of the 15 or so tables. They were from London. They were there with their 6-ish year old son who spent the whole meal talking to his dad about soccer and his soccer sticker book...I wonder if he knows the chick Beckham had an affair with is Dutch. The family is staying at the hotel and had eaten there the night before (and maybe the night before that and the night before that).
They had flown in to Ancona, the major city about 30 minutes north of here. The woman's sister bought a villa with some friends in the area so they know the town a little. Apparently, the hotel and restaurant are known to be very very good. Through our conversation with them, we got the sense that they really know their food. The woman suggested that we get the appetizer starter. GOOD SUGGESTION!
We were expecting a plate with 4 little samples of things. Not even close. The waitress brought out 4 separate plates in intervals, every time with new silverware to suit the food.
So first, she brought us 4 thin slices of raw tuna with sesame seeds. It was not exactly sashimi, not exactly carpaccio. But it was good.
Next she brought us soupspoons for our little fried (not oily at all) fish balls. They were served on a skewer, about 4 of them, hanging above a bowl of potato chowder. These were probably my favorite of the 4.
Next came an octopus salad served atop a pea puree. I left the octopus for Julie but enjoyed the pea puree. It was also very good.
Lastly, we were given 1 cherry tomato. Doesn't sound too impressive, huh. The tomato was sitting on a piece of brushetta, surrounded by 3 or 4 anchovies forming a ring. Then, covering the tomato from all sides, more anchovies, so that you couldn't see any of the tomato. I am not a huge anchovies fan but these were so good. They were not the super salty ones I am used to. They were so light and fresh. It was really good.
Between the antipasti and the 1st course, we had a couple glasses of local wine and really good fresh bread in the form of knots. It was great. It was also interesting to hear the owner talk about the wine not only for the quality of the wine but also for the quality of the person who makes it. He told the Brits next to us that they were asking about a very nice wine but that he didn't really like the owner of the vineyard. It was pretty cool. This man reminded me in a strange way of Stan. I just have this image of Stan running a small but critically-acclaimed restaurant in small town Italy and not only creating wonderful dishes with the freshest ingredients but discussing with his guests the local wines. Stan, Julie and I will come to visit you and Sasha (who will be in the back doing the dishes) anytime.
Anyways, for our first course, I ordered a thin pasta (like angle hair but not) with olive oil, capers, tomatoes, and more anchovies. It was so good. Julie ordered eggplant ravioli with a light tomato sauce. She was kind enough to let me have a taste. It was also very good.
I had decided to be a real Italian and order a 2nd course too. I knew that Julie would help me with this. So we got eggplant and lightly-cooked (a bit more than seared) tuna. It was, as expected, very good. The plate was decorated with a green olive paste which was a nice addition to the taste of the fish.
And lastly, we somehow had room for dessert. I ordered a flowerless chocolate cake filled with piping hot chocolate that poured out when cut into. Julie had a vanilla custard-like thing served on crisp wafers with strawberries.
The strange thing, after all this food, I was not stuffed. It was like it was the perfect amount. Maybe because the servings were somewhat more under control than your typical Cheesecake Factory-size, you could eat more. This was the same when we ate at Tru in Chicago. I guess if you eat normal portions, you can eat more food and not be full.
It was also very nice to have food that was light and not covered in sauce. The freshness of the ingredients was clear and probably added to our ability to walk out of the restaurant and not need to roll ourselves out. This was probably the best meal I have ever had and although it was a little more than I would normally spend, this was a special dinner and was well worth the EUR 104. I will probably remember just about every detail of this meal forever.
From here, we got back in the car and headed back to the hotel. I sat out on the balcony and listened to the waves while looking off into the gorgeous night sky. This was a super day!
FRIDAY
We awoke after a wonderful night sleep with the rhythmic sound of the waves and the cool sea breeze just outside our door. The shower was one of those nozzles with a drain in the middle of the room - no actual shower or curtain, just a shower in the middle of the bathroom. I kept telling Julie I was going to use the toilet while showering - I think she was happy finally to know that I wouldn't be peeing in the shower but rather, peeing while in the shower. But despite the all-in-one bathroom, we finally got a hot and strong shower so we took extra time scrubbing a week's worth of Italian grime from our bodies before heading uphill for a bit of breakfast.
We peeking into a small shop on the plaza where I got a spinach and cheese toastie and Julie got a small olive pizza toastie thing. They were good.
We next stopped into the tourist office for a bit of hiking direction. We walked out of town, past a small market, and up into a forested area. It was beautiful. The flora and fauna was very lush with breathtaking views of the sea below and small villages in the distance. Along the walk I saw a wild pheasant that I wanted to take a picture of. Julie began to get impatient as I waited for the 'perfect' shot. Just then, a dog that sounded a bit bigger and meaner than Chloe let us know that he didn't like us hangin' around his property. Julie took off running. Seriously, it was the fastest I had ever seen her move those little legs of hers. But we escaped unharmed and finished up our hike. All together, we hiked for just over 2 hours. Although to be more accurate, it was more like a stroll along a slight incline than a hike. But does it really matter, it was great!
We found ourselves a small cliffside restaurant where we picked up a Coke to get some much needed sugar before finishing up the walk and returning to town.
When we got back into town, we called Julie's mom to wish her a happy b-day. We didn't get to talk long since we had to use the spare coins we had on us since the town was now on siesta and the tobacco shop that sells pre-paid phone cards was closed. We did find it cool though that she would be celebrating with some Indonesian rijsttafel (kinda like tapas for Indonesian food). Indonesia used to be a Dutch colony so A'dam has lots of Indonesian restaurants around. We love getting rijsttafel but because it's a lot of food, we usually save it for when visitors come. But now that Madison has an Indonesian restaurant, I guess we won't be getting rijsttafel when Julie's parents come to town. Oh well.
From here, we drove back downhill to the hotel and found some beach chairs to relax at. That is when I wrote the t-pod section above. The beach is very strange - it is not the sandy beaches we have back home but rather made up of small, dime-sized pebbles. It is not the most comfortable stuff to walk on. But I had a lounge chair, a bag of cherries, my sunglasses, and the relaxing atmosphere, so I was OK.
After sitting for some time out at the beach, the tide began to come in. Suddenly, the pebbles were being covered with seaweed. The man who runs the hotel that we saw at the tourist office began raking the seaweed into small piles. Even his 90+-year-old father helped out with the raking. It was very bizarre. I have no clue why they were raking. Were they just cleaning up? Or maybe the seaweed was going to be used for food or something? Who knows, but it was a strange sight.
I decided that now would be the perfect time to finish my day at the beach. And what better way than with a cold brewski. While I was sitting there, I noticed that the entire hotel staff was eating dinner together. Again, this was a strange sight. But I suppose if the kitchen is clean enough for them to eat, it's good enough for me too.
But we felt that after a full day sitting at the hotel on the beach, we needed to get outta there so we got back in the car and headed back uphill the 2-minute drive.
We found another very nice restaurant. When we got there, they were not opened yet so they asked us to come back in 30 minutes. This is something that seems to happen often. I guess we like to eat early. Anyways, we walked around for a bit and passed the time. When we got back to the restaurant, it was obvious that the waitress was in a bad mood. She didn't seem to want to help us too much. We were having trouble communicating with her since she didn't speak much English. But no matter, we pressed on. Although a few moments later I overheard her tell the table next to us that the cook would come up to talk to them since he spoke better English than her. Why wouldn't she make that suggestion for us? No matter, we started with fried anchovies (yummy). Julie had pasta with meat sauce and I had pasta with fish sauce - although I had requested it not come with shellfish, it was covered with them...so I had a lot of picking around to do. For some (bad) reason, I decided I was going to be typical Italian that night and order a starter, a first dish, and a main course. The first dish is the pasta and for the main course, I ordered grilled turbot fish. It was really good...but I was stuffed at the end of the meal.
There was only one last thing needed to make this an authentic Italian meal for me...lemoncello. Lemoncello is a desert liquor. I ordered one but it took forever to arrive. Every time the waitress walked by, she would look at me and say while nodding "lemoncello". Finally, it arrived. It tastes like a lemon-drop. It is very sweet and very strong.
The last thing that was interesting about this dinner was the German family that dined at the table next to us. Even though the restaurant was a tad warm, the dad took it upon himself to determine the setting for the rest of us when he got up and shut the window. I was pretty annoyed. But it got worse when he then lit up his cigarette. What an a-hole! I wish I had to fat.
Anyways, even with the German and the bad waitress, it was another very good meal and fairly inexpensive (EUR 50 total).
We got some cookie and nesquick gelato for Julie, went back to the hotel, and finished the day with a bit of Italian MTV.
SATURDAY
We went uphill and parked the car and withstood the barrage of Italian from some angry old lady. We had no clue what she was saying to us but I think she didn't want me parking where I parked so we got back in the car and found another spot around the block.
We picked up some bread and fruit at a small shop and ate it beneath the church tower. It was very relaxing. Inside the shop, Julie and I both had a laugh at the store shelves. They were packed with Barilla pasta. Back in the States, there is a commercial for Barilla about it being 'just like the pasta in Italy' or 'Italy's favorite pasta' or something like that. I guess they weren't lying!
After breakfast we walked out of town again and began hiking along a different path from the previous day. This hike was awesome! It somehow surpassed yesterday's. It was much more difficult as well. After some time, we came to an overlook that was spectacular. Below was a protected cove with a beautiful beach. We were way to high to get down, otherwise we probably would've spent our whole day there. But I'm glad we continued. We eventually came upon an area that was completely covered by trees. It was beautiful and a well-needed cool-off point as it was pretty warm out. As we hiked, we saw many people who looked a bit too old to be doing the hike we were doing. If anything, this served as my motivation. 'If grandpa can do it, I can do it.' We passed people with walking poles. I always find this hilarious. I want to ask them where their skis are but that's just mean. We also passed some people wearing polyester suits and jeans. These people must've been sweating their asses off because I was - my back was drenched in sweat! In fact, I was so wet, I was cold in the shaded cover of the trees.
We eventually made it to the end of the path. There was some sort of church that was hosting a wedding. We had gotten there for the end. The bride and groom were in the courtyard with all of their friends. I think the groom was a soccer player because all of the bridesmaids put pink soccer jerseys over their dresses and the groomsman put on red ones. Just then, they began blasting Culture Club's 'Do You Really Wanna Hurt Me'. It was straight out of 'The Wedding Singer'. It was pretty cool to see though.
We began to hike back to town, passing the cutest puppy. After 90 minutes of hiking, we started to pass the time with a riveting rendition of 'Row Row Row Your Boat'...in the round! It was very exciting. But we finally made it back to town, just over 2 hours after starting.
So again, we started our day with a 2-hour hike, we might as well follow suit with some time on the beach. This time however, we were treated with some topless sunbathers! I guess the sluts come out on Saturday! Joey, don't get too excited, there was nothing too great to see. But it was still interesting to see...from a cultural perspective =)
We shared a beer to celebrate our wonderful hike, although they wouldn't let us bring a glass out onto the pebble beach so we had to drink from a plastic cup. Nevertheless, the beer was tasty. We shared a tuna, mozerella, and tomato panini sandwich and relaxed. The beach was packed but the hotel guy hooked us up with a lounge chair. Nice!
After a few hours, we went to the patio where we had a proper beer (in a glass) and some snacks - really good spicy ricecakes and pistachio nuts. I did get a bit burnt though. No biggie, it turns into a tan in a few days.
We went halfway uphill for dinner, eating at a small restaurant that overlooks the beach (Ristorante Vittoria). Julie had a huge ass serving of fried calamari and tagliatelli with shellfish while I had penne with red sauce and grilled fish. Despite my fish coming whole (ie. head and all), it was really good. We also ordered fried olives, which apparently are a regional delicacy. They were delicious! The breading was slightly sweet, almost like hush-puppies. YUM YUM YUM! We finished the meal with some ice cream. Another good restaurant and another inexpensive meal (EUR 46).
SUNDAY
This being our last day in Italy, the plan was to wake up and drive a few hours back towards Rome with a stop somewhere outside of Rome before returning the car to the airport and finding a place to sleep since we had a 6:30 AM flight the next morning. That was the plan.
So we woke up to the familiar sight of rain. It was not raining hard but it was raining so I didn't mind that we would be in the car most of the day. While Julie carried the backpack to the car, I checked out.
The hotel staff was really awesome! They totally helped make this portion of our trip great! Gino did very well with suggesting Sirolo. As I was checking out, the man who we met at the tourist office asked me where we were from. I told him Chicago to which he said "I was just in LA and Vegas". I thought that was a really funny answer. I hope he knows Chicago isn't really near the cities he visited. I suppose that's similar to when we as Americans meet someone foreign and tell them that we went to XXX or know someone from XXX even though they are also probably hours apart as well. Anyways, the man bid us a happy journey and invited us to come back someday - I hope we get to! He even gave us a couple free orange juices for the road!
I thought this was also funny - the hotel owner apologized for the poor weather. We thought the weather was perfect but apparently, it was unseasonably cold for early June. He said most people come for the warm weather...which should've been about 95 by now. I'm glad it was 'cold' because 95 would've been too hot for me. This was perfect.
Anyways, so with our free orange juices, we headed out of Sirolo south towards Rome. We drove through more beautiful countryside and over huge mountains. After about EUR 20 in tolls, 350 KMs, ¾ tank of gas, 2-½ hours, and hearing the song 'Fuck You You Ho, I Don't Want You Back' about 50 times, we were just outside of Rome. We had decided to stop in the town of Tivoli, a resort town of the ancient Romans. It was the summer playground of the wealthy Renaissance and is now a tourist attraction due to the terraced gardens and fountains of Emperor Hadrian's Villa Adriana.
We parked the car, stretched our legs, and headed towards the entrance. But the rain didn't let up so we went to the snackbar to get lunch, hoping that the rain would stop after lunch. While the snackbar did have a pretty good tuna sandwich, the rain didn't stop. We decided to get back in the car and just drop off the car at the airport. I think if this was the beginning of our trip, we would've gone to see the gardens since it was more like a drizzle but we thought the garden wouldn't be quiet as pretty and relaxing as we had thought it would be in the sun. Also, we were tired and we had packed an awful lot of sights into a week so if we miss this one, no big deal.
As we left, we came across a ridiculous amount of Mini Coopers all driving together. It was like a parade. Julie loves that car. I think she just has a little-person's complex.
So after another 30 minutes, we made it to the airport at around 3:00. We dropped off the car after putting on 1550 KMs and headed into the airport. We thought since we were there pretty early and there would probably be a few more flights to A'dam that day, maybe we could get on an earlier flight and sleep at home Sun. night instead of flying home first thing Mon. We found the KLM counter but unfortunately, I had bought the 'cheap bastard' flight which didn't allow changes, even for a fee. Damn!
So the next option was to find the luggage-drop so that we wouldn't have to schlep our bags to some hotel since we'd just be returning to the airport in a handful of hours. We were about to check the bags when my genius wife thought to consider what time the bag-check would be open the next day. Lucky I brought her along with me because it wouldn't be open in time for us to get our bags.
So strike two. We were really tired now and getting a bit cranky. But we still needed to find a place to sleep that night. So we went to one of those accommodation booths at the airport. We checked about staying at a B&B near the airport. We figured since the flight was early, we didn't want to go all the way into Rome but would rather stay minutes away from the airport. That would keep the taxi fare cheap too. But there didn't seem to be many options and the best option would've cost us EUR 76 plus a 20-minutes cab at EUR 24 each way. So after looking at a crappy B&B with a 20-minute commute for EUR 124 we decided to bite the bullet and stay at the on-sight Hilton for EUR 195. Yes, this was against all I stand for in not getting the cheapest place possible but what was the 20 minute cab ride now and again at 4 in the morning worth? Plus, having a guaranteed clean room with a nice shower? That was all worth an extra EUR 71 if you ask me!
So we gladly pulled our luggage about 300 feet through the airport to the Hilton. We checked in and hit the shower! It was great! And it felt so great to shave! I didn't realize how tiring sightseeing was. We got into bed, turned on CNN, and watched hours of coverage on D-Day's 60th anniversary and the passing of Ronald Reagan. It might have been the highlight of our trip. We couldn't even muster the energy to go out for dinner and being sick of Italian food, I ordered a fish sandwich with fries and Julie had a hamburger from room service! DELICIOUS! Although it was EUR 17. But again, soooo worth the extra money!
MONDAY
After a wonderful night sleep on a big Hilton bed, we woke up at 4:15 AM and walked all the way over to the airport. I think in the future, if we have a morning flight, we will be staying at the airport hotel! Talk about convenience!
The flight was uneventful but we did have to wait for over an hour at Schiphol for our luggage. Although we had asked KLM staff a few times for our luggage, they never really seemed to have an answer for us. Finally, they told us that they had 'left a car at the plane' (whatever that means) and that was causing the delay. But finally, our luggage arrived. So this was the official end of our trip and yeah, now I get to go to work!
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Well, if you made it this far you have even less to do at work than I do. But this was a great trip. In general, we love traveling in Italy because we figure that even if the town is crappy, the museum is boring, the people are bitchy, and the weather is shitty, the food is ALWAYS great!
In fact, we will be returning to Italy in just 2 weeks where we will meet our friends from Chicago, Mitch and Robin. We are meeting them in Florence, where we will spend the night before we go to Cinque Terre the next morning. Cinque Terre is a group of 5 fishing villages near Pisa that are connected by train and hiking path, no roads. I've been before but Julie hasn't. It should be very relaxing and it will be great to get to hang out with Mitch and Robin. We were planning on going back to A'dam after the long weekend but because Julie will be working come September, we can't take the week trip to Portugal that we were planning. So we extended our trip in Italy and will spend a handful of days at the Italian lakes (ie. Lake Como or something like that) and then a few days in Verona, the home of Romeo and Juliet. We are excited to be seeing an opera in the outdoor Roman coliseum. Check it out, the place looks magical...http://www.arena.it/.
Upon our return to A'dam, we will have more friends from Chicago visit, Jeff and Andrea. We are so excited to have them visit us here. We then have more Chicago friends, Justin and Erin coming to town. It is a very busy month for us. But we are thrilled to have people coming. If this inspires others, please let us know what you're thinking.
We are also hosting a party this Friday night for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. We had planned on attending but because flights and hotels are so ridiculously expensive, we are taking a pass. So we'll have some buddies over instead. We are excited for the Games though and hope that there is someone who can fill our Bob Costas void. By the way, if anyone knows anyone going to Athens, we have some tix that we need to get rid of. PLEASE put me in touch with them.
That's it, have a nice day and enjoy this week's Amish in the City - by far the greatest concept in reality TV!
Talk with ya soon.
-Stephen
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