Our itinerary is shown below. The red line on the map shows where we went... starting with our flight from London (off the map on the upper left) to Seville, Spain. In Spain, we went from Seville to Granada to Barcelona. It was our first time in Spain and we learned more history then we ever expected. Then we trained to Provence, France followed by a few days in Nice. From there we spent 5 weeks in Italy with a short detour into Switzerland.
You can click on the photos to enlarge them.
Sept. 12: Depart from San Francisco for London
Sept. 13 - Sept. 16: London countryside staying with UK friends
Sept. 16 - Sept. 22: Seville and Granada, Spain (south of Spain)
Sept. 22 - Sept. 26: Barcelona, Spain
Sept. 26 - Oct. 3: Provence region, France (southeast France)
Oct. 3 - Oct. 6: Nice, Cote d'Azur region, France (French riviera)
Oct. 6 - Oct. 9: Rapallo, Italy staying with Italian friends
Oct. 9 - Oct. 13: Piedmont region, Italy (during white trouffle season)
Oct. 13 - Oct. 16: Switzerland visiting Manini family
Oct. 16 - Oct. 20: Lago di Garda, Italy
Oct. 20 - Oct. 23: Venice, Italy with Denver friends
Oct. 23 - Oct. 27: Veneto region, Italy with Denver friends
Oct. 27 - Nov. 1: Florence and nearby small towns with Denver friends
Nov. 1 - Nov. 12: Cortona, Tuscany region, Italy
Nov. 12 - Nov. 14: Rome, Italy
Nov. 15: Depart Rome for home
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We're Off (Sept. 12)
The first leg of our trip was our inaugural trip on the San Francisco BART rapid transit system. We left from the Dublin station about 3 minutes from Stephen and Anh's house, and the train went directly to SFO in about 1 hour 25 minutes. It was easy and we enjoyed watching all the stopped traffic on the freeways along the way. BART goes directly to the international terminal at SFO, so it was a one minute walk to the United ticket counter... which was empty.
A cute story on the airplane. After the plane took off, the flight attendant brought drinks around (business class is nice) and we asked for champagne. She gave us our glasses and Marcia mentioned it was our anniversary (39 years). About 30 seconds later, she came back and took our glasses and said you can't drink that because she was going to get the good champagne from first class. 30 seconds later she brings us new tall champagne glasses and pours the good stuff. She kept refilling our glasses until we polished off the entire bottle. Good start. After our meals (not great), our iPods and half of a sleeping pill made the rest of the 10 hour flight go by fast until breakfast before we landed.
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Ascot (near London, England) (Sept. 13-16)
We arrived in London to the waiting arms of old friends from Joe's working days. The Robertsons live in Ascot, Berkshire near the famous horse racetrack. We'll be here until Saturday staying in Dave and Sandra's house. They have a great house with an amazing yard and garden.
Our 2 month journey has begun!
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Our UK friends, Dave and Sandra, took us to Windsor Castle today. The Queen wasn't in to treat us to lunch, so we dined in a great typical English pub. We also visited Ascot racetrack and enjoyed an espresso at an outdoor cafe. Meeting Dave and Sandra's kids and grandchildren was a real treat. Many thanks to our English friends for being so hospitable and never letting us spend our money.
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Seville, Spain (Sept. 16-20)
We arrived in Seville, Spain around 9pm Saturday night. Flight was good and customs was almost non-existent. Taxi driver did not speak any English so it was lucky we had written down the hotel name and address before landing. It only took about 10 mintues to get to the hotel and the desk clerk spoke English (he was from Chile). Our room is small, but the atmosphere is all Spain.
A food court full of tapas restaurants/bars was just around the corner and we had dinner and wine outside. No one spoke English and many of the young people were smoking... the only negative. It was crowded including families with their children which seemed strange since it was 11pm. All restaurants here stay open until at least midnight. The weather is great with clear night sky and about 70 degrees. We can´t wait to explore the city in daylight tomorrow.
We´ve been in Seville for 3 days and had some wonderful and unique experiences. This beautiful city is steeped in much history and culture.
We arrived late Saturday night, had a few tapas and called it a night. Sunday morning we started to explore the city. Although we´ve been to many small towns with narrow, windy streets, this is the largest and most confusing place to walk around. There is very little english spoken here so even Joe´s great sense of direction and map skills are challenged. We are surely glad that we are not driving.
The architecture is amazing. Some buildings dating back a 1000 years look like they were built yesterday. Gardens, palaces and churches are abundant. Four days is hardly enough time to fully experience what this city has to offer. The 2 hour bus tour we took is a must to comprehend the history. The Plaza de Espania built in 1929 was beyond words.
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On Sunday, we experienced our 1st bullfight. The ceremonies were fascinating, but after watching 2 bulls killed, we were ready to move on.
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The Flamenco dancing season has opened, and we were able to get tickets to a special performance in a small cultural center. We had nothing to compare it to but were not too impressed.
Today we hope to visit the Jewish museum. Before the Jews were expelled, many cultures lived in harmony. The Spanish Inquisition took care of that. The Jewish quarter is still one the most beautifully preserved areas.
We are really enjoying Spanish culture, Tapas and walking everywhere to balance the intake of food. The city is quite alive at midnight and very well lit for walking back to our hotel.
Tomorrow we leave for Granada to see the famous Alahambra, and then on to Barcelona.
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Granada, Spain (Sept. 20-22)
We took a 3 hour train ride from Seville to Granada. The scenery was rather boring, but the trains run on time. Granada is a smaller version of Seville. Except it has the Alhambra. The Moors ruled Spain from about 1000 to 1300. Then the Christians began pushing them south until Granada was the last Islam city. The sultan built a city within Granada called Alhambra as his last defense. It is a very large walled city with 3 palaces and many residences for the nobles plus gardens and more. Alas, the Moors were pushed completely out of Spain in the 1400s. Some of Alhambra was destroyed by Napolean many decades later, but the palaces remain.
Granada has other sites to visit, but the Alhambra is the key one. It is the only Moorish palace in the world outside of Arab countries.
The food continues to be hit and miss. But we did decide to splurge and go to a fine restaurant one night. The food was awesome, like any upscale restaurant. While we were eating, 12 guys came in and sat at a large table next to us. After we had all finished eating, Marcia did her normal and said hi and asked where they were from. They all worked for the same international company. Ten of them were from Egypt and 2 from Lebanon. They were extremely friendly and for the next 15 minutes we talked as if we had known one another for a long time. They then asked if they could take a photo with us, and we all began snapping away. I guess maybe there is still hope that all cultures might live together in peace one day.
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We are off to Barcelona. And if you want to impress your international friends, here is how the Spanish pronouce these cities:
Seville is "Sa vee ah" with the accent on the vee.
Granada is just like it looks.
Barcelona is Barthalona.
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Barcelona, Spain (Sept. 22-26)
We arrived in Barcelona Friday around noon and had a siesta. In the evening we had the most unique Rosh Hashana ever. We contacted a Barcelona Jewish group via the Internet before leaving home and arranged to attend their service in a hotel Friday night. Now sometimes I have heard a sermon and thought I did not understand the Rabbis point. But this is the first time I did not understand one word of what he said. That the Hebrew was the most familiar to me was a switch. And the Shema in Spanish was not what we were used to. After the service, we also attended the dinner they had with about 100 people. They put us at a table with all Americans who also were in Barcelona on vacation. We had a great time. The dinner lasted until well after midnight and the children there seemed to be used to staying up so late.
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Saturday we visited the popular walking street, La Rambla. It is about a mile long with a large promenade in the middle of the street. People crowd both sides of the street and the promenade which is why pickpockets are a plenty.
With the start of the Jewish New Year, we will start our tours of the city tonight.
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This is going to be a long post because our last 2 days in Barcelona were amazing... and very educational (I know, you´re supposed to have fun on vacations, but we slipped up and learned a few things ;) Barcelona is part of northeast Spain called Catalana and the language is Catalan which is almost as different from normal Spanish as Italian. And BTW, Spanish in Spain is different from in Mexico. The Catalanians have always thought of themselves as separate from Spain and there was even a civil war in the late 1800s (which Spain won). We hope you enjoy the photos and you can see larger versions by clicking on the pictures.
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Barcelona is on the sea and is a large version of San Francisco. It is huge. The general center of town is probably about the size of San Francisco and everything is accessible by the underground subway. Many of the streets are very wide with sidewalk cafes on almost every block. Stopping for tapas is easy and always includes a beer.
The city has 2 well known favorite sons. Around the world, Picasso is the best known. He was born in northern Spain and moved to Barcelona as an adult where he did a lot of his painting. The Picasso Museum has his early works from his high school and university years. They are traditional paintings well before he created his now well known style.
But in Barcelona, the most popular man is the architect Gaudi. He began designing and creating houses, apartments and other official buildings in the early 1900s and was far and away the most unique architect of his time (perhaps in the entire world). These photos are of Casa Mila (La Pedrera). It is an apartment building he designed and built which has no straight walls anywhere on the 5 floors. And the roof is curvy (not flat) with sculptures. We got to tour an apartment and the roof, and I would live in it in a minute (although I probably couldn´t afford it).
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Gaudi´s biggest undertaking was the Temple of the Sagrada Familia which he started around 1920. He died before he finished it, and it is still under construction by architects who are following exactly what Gaudi designed. It is simply undescribable. You just have to see it. The largest church structure I have ever seen except for the Vatican. Inside, it is over 200 feet in places and on top of some of its spires are fruit in all their colors. Everything he included signifies something significant. This is truly one of the unique things in the world... and we never heard of it before coming to Barcelona.
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We also visited the Palau De La Musica Catalana which was constructed to house the Barcelona corral singers in 1908. It is now the premiere music hall in the city. Again, you cannot describe the building. It is another awesome creation (not by Gaudi since he was too young at the time).
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To top off our trip, the 3 day End of Summer Festival was going on while we were here. Out last night here is the last night of the festival. So we went to one of the largest plazas in the city, together with over 100,000 other people (no kidding) to listen to music and watch the fireworks. When you see 10 minutes of fireworks, you generally are pleased. If you see 15 minutes, you are fulfilled. If you see 20 minutes (which I am not sure I have ever seen), it is awesome. WELL, Barcelona lives by another standard. We were overloaded with music from around the world and 40 minutes of non-stop tremendous fireworks. You simply looked up with your mouth agape and watched something unique. The crowd was almost always silent except to applaud. You´ll just have to see the video I took to understand what it was like. Seeing 100,000+ people crowd together and then disperse is really something. Everything was peaceful and everyone was pleasant. Young and old alike will not forget this evening.
We took this picture in Gaudi´s famous apartment building, which was furnished with pieces from the period of 80 years ago including children´s toys, to show our grandchildren. We hope you like them Kayla and Ryan.
We´re off to Provence, France in a few hours, but I just had to write this blog while I was still in Barcelona.
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Provence, France (Sept. 26 - Oct. 3)
Our adventure is changing from history, architecture and night life in Spain to beautiful countryside, food and wine in France. And our typical daily food budget is going from 50e-60e to 150e-200e. Provence is a region in southeast France and we are in the central part of Provence. We have taken day trips east, south and north so far; I list the towns we visited below.
On our first day here, we decided to splurge and go to a very nice (and expensive) restaurant, Le Mas des Herbes Blanches, in a town about 30 minutes away called Joucas. I mention the town so you might use Google maps (satellite view) to see how it is up on a mountain overlooking the Vaucluse and Luberon valleys. We met a famous Hollywood director named Adrian Lyne (Flashdance, Fatal Attraction, etc.) and his wife who live here 6 months of the year, and they gave us recommendations where to go and what to see. After they left, we started talking with another couple, Julius and Eugenie from San Diego, and stayed for a total of 6 hours. They too gave us great advice on restaurants. Our view of the valleys was amazing.
Note to Jason: The director knows Joel Silver quite well. We talked about the Ultimate History Book, the sport, you and Joel's role in the sport for 30 minutes. He can't wait to call Joel about it. Now we have a director and producer; perhaps a movie is not far behind ;)
After such a wonderful lunch (by far the most expensive lunch we ever had), we headed back to our town of L'Isle sur la Sorgue (the Sorgue is a river which flows by and around the town) and a small dinner. Our town is known for its river which controlled its history and business in the past. Now it is a bustling little town with a great market on Sunday. Appropriate for Yom Kippur, a little Jewish history. This town was one of the very few places Jews were allowed to live in France in the 1700s because the Popes allowed them to live here in Ghettos.
Here are the day trips we took:
Towns East:
This day was all very small towns including Gordes, Joucas, Rousillon with its vivid red clay mountain, and Goult. We walked through some of these towns without seeing anyone except for Rousillon which was full of tourists. In the evening we drove to Coustelle where we had dinner and went down into the wine cellar to select our wine. The pumpkin, mushroom soup was amazing... wish we had the recipe. The food in Provence is proving to be as amazing as its reputation.
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Towns South:
Les Baux (amazing fort), St. Remy (where Van Gogh lived a while and painted), and Cavillon where they still have a Synagogue they maintain as a museum which we visited. The photos we took of the Synagogue are astounding since it was last used over 3 hundred years ago.
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Towns North (wine tasting in the Rhone valley):
Vacqueyras, Gigondas, Sequret, Orange (with a large, still in use, Roman Amphitheater), and Chateauneuf-du-Pape. In Vacqueyras we met two couples while wine tasting who helped us translating, Catherine and Pierre (formerly from Canada and now living in Switzerland) and Roy and Evelyn from Canada. As was usually the case with people we met during our trip, they were very friendly and we joined them for lunch. Our camera battery ran out so no photos of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, but we tasted and bought some awesome wine from a man whose family has been making his wine for 6 generations.
The stories behind the towns are fun and interesting; I wish I had the time to add all of the details we would like.
Sunday Oct. 1, we took it easy and stayed in L'Isle sur la Sorgue and walked around the large Sunday market with over 100 stalls selling produce, fruit, clothing and wares. We enjoyed a special goat cheese from Banon in Provence which is very strong and great with bread and a strong wine. For dinner, we went to a restaurant recommended by Adrian and Samantha, Le Jardin du Quai (Daniel Hebet master chef). It was another gastronomic adventure and Daniel and his girlfriend were friendly (www.lejardinduquai.com)... Marcia never misses a chance for a photo op with a famous chef ;)
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Tuesday was Yom Kippur and our last full day in Provence. We went to the city of Avignon about 30 minutes away (the largest city in Provence) because we heard there might be a synagogue there. And sure enough, we found the synagogue which is one of the only two remaining synagogues still in use in Provence. They allowed us to enter after checking our IDs and loaning me a kipot. The synagogue was orthodox (although they didn't understand the word since they only worship the traditional way with no knowledge of Conservative or Reform). It was built in the 1500s. The building is not very impressive from the outside, but the inside worship area is still beautiful. Marcia went upstairs where the women and children sat and I peered into the round area where about 100 men were praying. The rabbi, cantor and elder were in the middle on a slightly raised platform. All of the men wore tallit but there were no extras, so I could only stand at the door and watch and listen. Everyone kissed the massuza on the doorpost as they entered and left. It was wonderful, spiritual and I am sure it was the same service held over 300 years ago. I could see my grandfather (Zaddie) standing in there as if he were.
After leaving the synagogue, we visited what Avignon is most famous for... the Palace of the Popes. From the early 1400s to the early 1500s, a group of breakaway popes left Rome and stayed in Avignon where they built the palace/fortress. It was quite a juxtaposition from the synagogue. Eventhough the popes palace was huge, the synagogue had much more meaning for us. And to be able to attend a service for a short time on Yom Kippur was very special for us.
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It wasn't easy fasting in Provence, but we enjoyed breaking the fast with sweets when we returned to our town. The owner of Hotel Les Nevons (www.hotel-les-nevons.com), Mireille, was very helpful every morning when we asked questions about where to go and how to get there. We would highly recommend this town and this hotel as a great base for visiting Provence.
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Nice, France and the Cote d'Azur (Oct. 3-6)
We arrived in Nice Tuesday afternoon and our small hotel faces the promenade on the sea. We are very near the old city of Nice where in the evening we selected from over 30 outdoor cafes/restaurants in a pedestian only area. It was really wonderful. We awoke to a sunny day and the view of the sea is amazing. Nice may cater to the tourist, but it does it in a nice way. Our early opinion of Nice is very positive. We strolled the promenade of a few miles along the acqua colored sea. It is a sight and experience well worth the trip.
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Then we visited the Chagall Museum and were in for a surprise. This is a national museum dedicated to Chagall and he donated most of the huge paintings in the museum. It was stunning. We stayed for 2 hours and enjoyed the rich colors of Chagall in an amazing setting. If you are the least bit interested in Chagall, it is worth coming to Nice just for the museum.
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Walking around Nice is great. You have the deep blue and aqua sea, a beautiful city with lots of fun, and tons of outdoor cafes and restaurants. These statues were at the famous Hotel Negresco on the promenade.
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Our last day started with a bus ride up the corniche (mountain road) to Eze. There we ate a simple meal and looked over the French Riveria. From there we rode into Monico and Monte Carlo. Our gambling luck was not working (we need our daughter in law, Anh), but we walked around and viewed the extravagance. I was a bit turned off by how many tourists and no locals were visible. Of course the local wealthy were hidden in their villas.
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On our way home we decided to stop for dinner in Villefranche which is a small coast town close to Nice. We found a great restaurant on the sea, La Mere Germaine, and dined for a few hours taking the last train home. Marcia had the best Bouillabaisse she ever had. It was a wonderful ending to our French Riveria days. Gina and Jason, many thanks for letting us know about this wonderful town.
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Ligurian Coast, Italy (Oct. 6-9)
We entered Italy as we started our trip in England... to big smiles and open arms. Our Italian friends, that we met 25 years ago through Joe's work, met us in Rapallo (on the Italian coast east of Genoa) and treated us like royalty. We stayed in their apartment with a view impossible to describe of Portofino and Santa Margherita. We had a home cooked dinner every evening and toured the area by day. One day we visited Chiavari and ate Ceci (very thin chick pea pie baked in the oven like a pizza); it was VERY tasty. It was fresh porcini mushroom season and Valeria cooked a great variety of dishes with them; again, VERY wonderful flavors.
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Our visits included Chaivari, Ne (for a great lunch), Zaogli and Rapallo on Saturday; and then on Sunday we were surprised to visit Cinque Terre and take the great walk between Monterosso and Vernazza (about 1.5 hours going up about 500-1000 feet and then along the coast with a similar view to Big Sur in California). The spaghetti marinara with "fish of the sea" really hit the spot.
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Mille grazie to Andrea and Valera Pesaro for their wonderful hospitality. They were a wealth of history and warm times.
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Piedmont Region, Italy (Oct. 9-13)
We arrived in the Piedmont area of Italy. That means Barolo wine and during October white truffles. We start our gastronomic phase now. The hotel is called da Felicin (www.felicin.it) and was started by the grandfather of the current owner, Nino, who is also the master chef and in the attached photo, and his wife Sylvia. Nino's father and mother still work at the hotel and it was fun to watch Nino and his father bicker. I guess the father wants the hotel to run as it used to, and the son has his own ideas. The da Felicin's restaurant is famous for its haute cuisine, and Nino has an ego to match it. The meals are all quite amazing starting with a 3 course appetizer, then a pasta course, then a meat or fish course, then dessert with perhaps cheese too. There was so much food we couldn't finish all the courses. With our first two dinners in Piedmont we ordered a Barolo Cavallotto, Bricco Boschis 2001 and a Barolo Sandrone, Cannubi Boschis 1995; both were wonderful.
The town of Monforte D'Alba had a Jewish ghetto in the 1800s, and unlike most places, Jews were allowed to own property. They assimilated into the population and disappeared (I sometimes wonder if that is also happening today in America). Nino's grandmother was Jewish, but not his parents.
Italy produces 21% of the total world output of wine, and they produce 29% of the European output of wine. Piedmont (Piemonte in Italian) accounts for only 6% of total Italian output of wine. In Piedmont the most popular grapes grown are the Moscato, Dolcetto, Nebbiolo and Barbera grapes. Moscato makes a sweet wine, and Dolcetto and Barbera are typically everyday wines (some are very good). The Nebbiolo grape is used to make 3 types of wine: Nebbiolo, Barbaresco and Barolo. Barolo is the king of Piedmont wines and the most expensive with a wide range of style and taste. The Nebbiolo grape is grown in the Langhe region of Piedmont in towns like Barolo, Monforte D'Alba (the town where we stayed) and others. Our town was a great location for taking short day trips around the Langhe region, but the town church had a clock tower (in addition to its bells) which chimed every hour all day and night long. It took a few days to get used to it and sleep well ;)
Barolo wine was founded by Marchesi Falletti in the early 1800s. The Marchesi Di Barolo winery is the oldest and one of the largest. We had a very good tour there, learned a lot, but did not like their style of wine.
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Our first full day in the Piedmont area began our education on the wines and food of this region. Piedmont is in the northwest corner of Italy and has a number of regions within it. We are in the Langhe area where the Nebbiolo grape is grown which is where Barolo and a few other wines are made. We visted two wineries to taste wine. At Marchesi Di Barolo we tasted 1.) Barolo, Costade Rose 2001, 2.) Barbaresco, Estate 2001, and 3.) Barbaresco, ??? 2003. The second tasting was at the Clerico winery where we tasted their wine for over 2 hours. Two other people there tasting, Carol and Andrew from England, gave us great advice on Barolo as this was their eleventh trip to Piedmonte tasting the wine (hope we get an invitation to their Barolo wine collection). The wine maker, Domenico Clerico, surprised us and came into the tasting room and spoke with us for over an hour. He spoke only Italian and the woman who handled the tasting translated. It was truly a personal experience. When we were leaving, they gave us a bottle of their Barolo wine... and we did not even buy anything (since it is too difficult to carry them with us). We loved his wines and have started ordering them in restaurants. The Clerico we tasted were:
1. Dolcetta, Visadi 2005
2. Arte 2003
3. Barbera, Trevigne
4. Barolo, Ciabot Mentin Ginestra
5. Barolo, Pajana
We were pretty busy each day in Piedmont. On the second full day there we drove through La Morra for a quick visit, then to Bra for lunch at Boccondivino and a visit to the Slow Food Organization headquarters (www.slowfood.com). We then drove to Alba where Marcia had a manicure and we walked around the town center for a while. That night we had a very light dinner since we were still full from our large dinner at da Felicin the previous night.
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On Thursday we had lunch at the Brezza restaurant in the town of Barolo and then tasted the Brezza wines with the winemaker's wife. We liked them and bought 2 bottles. Then we tasted Mascarello wines which we didn't like as much. We ended our tastings at Elio Grasso which was fun. Signora Grasso ran the tasting in a beautiful large room in their new villa. The young tour guide did not speak English very well, so he did the tour in Italian and Marcia translated for me; she did an amazing job. It was also nice to finally meet the son, Gianluca Grasso, after seeing him at dinner the previous two nights. We tasted the following great wines today:
Brezza winery:
1. Barolo, Sarmassa 2000
2. Barolo Cannubi 2001
3. Barolo Cannubi 1999
Elio Grasso winery:
1. Barbera, Vigna Martina 2004
2. Barolo 2002
3. Barolo, Runcot 2001
[Note: 2/3 of the 2002 grapes were destroyed around Barolo by a severe hail storm.]
That night it was back to dinner at our hotel in da Felicin with another awesome meal by Nino. This time we figured out how to pace ourselves in order to get to the special chocolate dessert.
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Note to Nancy and Dave: Please thank the Yosts for their great suggestions. L'Isle sur la Sorgue and Monforte D'Alba are great base towns to visit the surrounding areas.
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Southern Switzerland (Oct. 13-16)
We drove from Piedmont, Italy to the border with Switzerland and then took the train over the border to Losone, Switzerland near Locarno to stay with our exchange student, Adriano's (from 15 years ago) parents. Adriano drove down from Munich where he lives now to see us for a few days.
We are back to home-cooked meals for dinner while we are here and enjoying them a lot. Saturday was our first all cloudy and cool day, and we walked to the nearby town of Ascona on Lake Maggiore. The chestnut festival was going on with local wares and food. The roasting chestnuts drew a large crowd, and when we got back to the Maninis they roasted fresh chestnuts which we ate for an hour. Hmmm. Another home cooked meal that night of course. Margrit never lets us help, but she always keeps us well fed.
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Sunday Adriano drove us all to Morcote which is a small beautiful town on Lake Lugano. We had a very good lunch and walked up over 200 steps to the church. From there we drove to a town on Lake Maggiore, Luini, for gelato of course and another market. It was a beautiful day... and again Margrit's home cooked dinner when we returned. We are getting spoiled with not having to spend money to eat. They all drove us to the train station and we said our goodbyes.
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Mille grazie to the Maninis for being such a wonderful part of our family.
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Impressions and Thoughts Halfway Through Our Trip
Our weekend in Switzerland with the Maninis marked our halfway point in our adventure. Four and a half weeks and 5 countries of traveling behind us and four and a half weeks in Italy to go. We have a few impressions in no particular order:
- It is hard not to eat too much when you are on vacation... suggestion: walk more and eat less.
- Rick Steves' tour books are detailed, accurate and helpful.
- Trains and buses in southern Europe run on time and are comfortable.
- We like the concept of Spain's tapas with small portions of many tastes, but the quality is hit or miss.
- Provence's bistros generally serve very good food.
- Provence has many upscale restaurants which are usually great.
- The French smoke a lot (seems like a national pasttime) including in restaurants, so we tended to eat outside where at least it was a little better.
- The Italian's obey the no smoking law in restaurants, so we tend to eat inside. They still smoke a lot at the tables outside.
- We have good weather karma.
- With now having spent about equal time in Spain, France and Italy, we can say they each have different tastes in food and culture. It's hard to put in words, but it really has been a varied vacation so far. The food in France is the fanciest and perhaps best tasting, but we missed our salads and veggies. In Spain we had a few very good meals at upscale restaurants when we splurged, but generally the food was a bit salty and dry for our tastes. Italy remains as we remember it. The food is generally simple, varied and great tasting.
The notable restaurants we have eaten in so far -
SPAIN:
Granada - Las Tinajas
Barcelona - Posit
FRANCE:
Joucas - Le Mas des Herbes Blanches (Michelin 1-star)
Coustellet - La Maison Gouin
L'Isle sur la Sorgue - Cafe Fleurs (Au Jardin d'Aubanel)
L'Isle sur la Sorgue - Le Jardin du Quai (Daniel Hebet master chef)
Villefranche - Le Mere Germaine
ITALY:
Ne - La Brinca
Monterosso - Moretto
Castiglione Falletto - Le Torri
Barolo - La Cantinetta
Monforte d'Alba - da Felicin (Nino master chef)
Bra - Osteria del Boccondivino
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Lake Garda, Italy (Oct. 16-20)
After trying to get a reservation in Bologna and Vicenza, Italy with no luck while in Switzerland, we took the train to Desenzano on Lake Garda and walked to the tourist office where they helped us find a hotel. The hotel is like the town... a bit tired. But we are enjoying relaxing which includes walking the promenade and small streets in the town center. Yesterday we took the boat to Sirmione on the tip of a peninsula and spent the afternoon walking a bit and having lunch. Marcia wanted me to include the photo of high heeled boots; note the prices (you can click on a photo to enlarge).
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Lake Garda is the third of Italy's 3 big lakes. Lake Como and Maggiore are in the north on the border with Switzerland and are beautiful. Lake Garda does not have the mountains in the south of the lake where we are, so it doesn't quite have the charm and beauty of the other two.
Today it was not unique to be having our breakfast cappuccino and croissant in a nice cafe, but it was different that the cafe included 2 roman columns built around 400 ad. After enjoying wonderful weather on almost every day of our trip, today it turned cloudy and cool. Hopefully the sun will return soon.
Tomorrow we train to Venice and meet our friends from Denver, Cindy and Bob McCready, who are joining us for 12 days in the Veneto and Florence areas.
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Venice, Italy (Oct. 20-23)
We arrived in Venice and checked into our hotel, Mercurio. Our friends, the McCreadys, arrived late due to a missed connection in Germany, but we are all enjoying ourselves. Venice is perhaps the most unique city in the world with waterways and bridges to everywhere. Music every night in St. Mark's Square is wonderful. We found the crowds to be smaller and the food better and less expensive in the areas outside San Marco. Our hotel room was very small and the bathroom barely big enough. Our friend, Bob McCready, is 6' 5'' and had an interesting time taking a shower (the photo his wife took is hilarious).
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In the 1950s, there were about 150,000 people living in Venice. Today the population has dwindled to about 50,000. On the plus side, there are about 18 million visitors every year. On the minus side, the many fruit and produce stands along the tiny streets are gone, replaced with shops like Gucci and new hotels. And due to the sinking city and rising water, in about 100 years, all of the streets will be underwater.
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Our favorite restaurants in Venice were owned by the same family and near the Accademia, off the beaten track of tourists: Ristorante San Trovaso and Taverna San Trovaso (www.tavernasantrovaso.com). The Zuppa di Pesce was the best Marcia has ever eaten, and the Bolognese and Pesto pastas were outstanding. The waiter played a joke on Marica pretending to spill a coffee on her... it was a trick tray and cup and saucer (he asked my permission first while Marcia was at the bathroom).
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Our last day was overcast and drizzly. As I left the city on the water bus, seeing how the water often lapped above the doorways on the very old and dirty buildings, I felt as if I was watching a dying city. We truly hope Italy and Venice find a way to save the city as it is a treasure worth saving.
We were amazed how large the cruise ship looks as it docks in Venice. Click on the 2nd photo to enlarge and check out the ship in the background.
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Veneto Region, Italy (Oct. 23-27)
We left Venice and drove to our small base town of Monselice south of Padua. We visited the two other interesting small towns nearby of Este and Mantagnana and enjoyed climbing the tower of the walled city in Montagnana.
Tuesday we visited Vicenza which gets relatively few tourists. We toured a few historial sites including Palladio's Teatro Olympico and enjoyed our first sunny day since our friends arrived. We arranged to meet the Italian woman (Catherine, who we met while visiting Zion National Park this summer) who lives in Vicenza for a drink at 6:00pm. Then we all went to her house for dinner with her husband, Gianni, and 3 children. She began with glasses of prosecco (an Italian drink very much like champagne) until her husband arrived home from work. After some wonderful conversation with Catherine, Gianni (Johnny) and Catherine's mother who also lives in the same building, dinner began with a wonderful mushroom pasta, followed by some great pork, potatoes and salad, fruit and dolce, and after dinner drinks. Of course the wine flowed all night too. They all speak English very well so communication was easy... and we talked about everything - from our respective countries to the rivalry between Gianni and Catharine's mother who is from France. When Italy and France play in the Soccer finals, the two of them have to separate themselves ;)
We had a very wonderful evening. We all feel we have made new friends who we will see again. I don't know if all Italians are as hospitable as Catherine and Gianni (I doubt it), but they went way beyond what we expected. We didn't leave until almost midnight. Mille grazie to both of them.
Wednesday we slept a bit later than usual, went to a laundramat (yes, we wash clothes every once in a while), then drove to Verona. Juliet's baloncy is not all that exciting, but the city center is pretty and alive with people. Again the fancy chain stores are a bit of a turn off, but that's the price of attracting huge numbers of tourists I guess. The gelato was good and Cindy's afternoon gelato dish had a 4' straw (note to the McCready clan: I'm sure you will not be surprised to hear Bob finished what Cindy left ;) Bob is becoming an expert on gelato and red wine. Verona is also famous for its huge amphitheater which is still used for concerts.
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Thursday we treated our visual senses to their limit in Padova (Padua in Italian). After walking around the large town center, we were able to visit the Chapel where Giotto painted his amazing frescos (Capella degli Scovegni). After an introductory movie, you are able to enter the chapel for 15 minutes where you see the master's work. Giotto was the inspiration for most of the great painters to come after him like Michaelango. And if that wasn't enough, the museum is now having a huge Mantegna exhibit which we viewed for over an hour until we just couldn't absorb any more. It was just awesome.
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The open air bus tour of the city was also fun and informative. After the tour, we had a coffee in the famous Caffe Pedrocche where the elite of Padua meet and discuss politics and art since 1831. When we left at 7:00pm, it was rush hour in Padua. Fortunately I have the best navigator you could ask for in Bob McCready. And the car GPS navigator system is fun and accurate, so we got back to Monselice for a great dinner in a villa restaurant next to our hotel. The owner's wife came by our table and showed us around her villa (exactly why she came by our table is another very fun story that often happens when Marcia is around).
I wish I had the time to add more details about what we saw in Padua. It is worth a lot more words.
Now we are off to Tuscany.
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Northern Tuscany (Oct. 27 - Nov. 1)
We decided to check out a villa near Florence in the town of "San Casciano in Val di Pesa." The villa/hotel, I Barronci (www.ibarronci.com), turned out to be beautiful with a matching view of the Tuscan countryside. It didn't take us very long to decide to stay. Dinner in the hotel restaurant was great and the Casa Emma "Soloio" 2001 Tuscan wine Bob selected was awesome (note to his family: Bob was always ready to order the expensive wine, and we all enjoyed his selections.)
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Our hotel was helpful in arranging for a private guide and tickets to the Uffizi gallery. Saturday we went to Florence, and we were fortunate to have a passionate tour guide for 3.5 hours. The first 2 hours she took us around the city and then into the Uffizi Gallery where she overloaded our senses (we've been doing that a lot lately) with the famous art and clever stories about the painters and sculptors from 1200-1800. She also educated us to the what, where, who and why of the art. After more than an hour in the Uffizi, we were ready to rest our brains with a cappuccino. We had a brief lunch and gelato (of course), and then we walked around Florence. We stopped at the Synagogue but could not enter during Shabbat services. It's quite an amazing structure with a high turquoise dome that stands tall in the city. Bob and Cindy had dinner in Florence, but Joe and Marcia were too full to eat another meal; instead we updated the blog.
If anyone is coming to Florence, we recommend our tour guide shown here in the photos and enjoying a cappuccino with us after filling our brains to the limit with art history:
Grazia Zatti
V. Guicciardini 15
50125 Florence
tel. +39 055 218907
grazia.zatti(at)libero.it
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Sunday we took a leisurely drive to Certaldo for a wonderful lunch at Ristoranti Latini where Marcia talked them into giving us a free bottle of wine to take with us. Then on to San Gimignano for sightseeing. We bought some bread, cheese and salami which we ate with our free bottle of wine when we returned to our villa (we were all too full to have a full dinner). It was a great day, but we were disappointed to see how touristy San Gimignano had become. Bus loads of tourists were arriving constantly and the trinket stores had replaced the wonderful local shops we remember from 5 years ago.
Monday we discovered there was a market in our town of San Casciano, and Marcia is not one to ever miss a market. So after breakfast we all walked the market buying gifts for the grandkids. Then we drove to Greve where we had lunch. We heard about a good winery for tasting and found it up on top of a hill. The wine was good and Bob bought a bottle which we plan to drink tonight. When we returned to our villa it was still daylight, so we enjoyed viewing the Tuscan countryside by the swimming pool drinking our wine. As the sun set, we all voiced how this could be a place we could stay for a long time.
Cindy and Bob left this morning from the Florence airport, and we decided to stay in the villa one more day to relax and decide where to go next for the last 2 weeks of our journey. We don't know yet where we will go, but it will probably be in Tuscany and we will enjoy it wherever we wind up.
Without our navigator, Bob, and the car GPS system (we traded in the big luxury car for a smaller one for just the two of us), we got lost returning to the villa from the airport... Bob, come back!
Most of the people at the hotels we have stayed at during this trip have been very helpful, but we wanted to make a special comment about this villa, I Barronci. The entire family that works at the villa were extremely friendly and helpful. They often went beyond the norm in assisting us. Whether it was direction assistance, serving us in the restaurant, or just chatting, they made us feel like we were at home. We would definitely return, and we recommend it to everyone if you're coming to Tuscany and/or just Florence. Peiro (the father of the owner who was usually behind the front desk), Phillipo (the son and owner, who used to be a successful Italian race car driver) and his wife Roberta (who often brought her 4 month old daughter with her and Marcia couldn't get enough of holding her) were just wonderful. And all the others who work there like Claudia and the cook (from Sri Lanka, I am sorry I cannot remember his name at the moment) were just as kind and helpful.
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Cortona, Italy (Nov. 1-12)
As we leave October behind us, unfortunately the weather turned drizzly, overcast and cool. Hopefully November will return to our wonderful weather soon.
Wednesday, Nov. 1, Marcia and I decided to check out Arezzo, a fairly large town southeast of Florence. We had a light lunch but decided not to stay. Joe wants to spend the remaining time in Italy with great views of the Tuscan hillsides, so we stopped at the tourist office and asked about hotels and agritourismos in or near Cortona (yes, the town from the book, "Under The Tuscan Sun"). Most of the Italian tourist centers are very helpful and this one was no exception. After discussing what we were looking for, she called a villa she knew just outside Cortona, and we arranged to see it.
It took about 40 minutes to drive to the villa and it is amazing. The buildings are from the 19th century, but they were renovated and turned into this villa in 2004. It is called Villa Aurea (www.villaaurea.it) and is halfway up the mountain to Cortona (Cortona is at the top of the mountain). The villa includes a spa and Marcia has already scheduled our massages and treatments for tomorrow. In the warmer months, you can swim and eat outside which would make the place very desirable.
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Our plan is to relax, walk a lot, and soak in the beauty of Tuscany for the next 10 days or so before driving to Rome for our final few days. As you can see from these photos, the Tuscan countryside around Cortona is beautiful. The valley seems to stretch forever as you view it from the top of the Cortona mountain.
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Today we awoke to a beautiful, crisp fall day as we opened the shutters on our room windows. The rain from yesterday cleared the air and now you can see forever. We found the perfect place for R&R from the sightseeing we have been doing. We asked the people at the front desk about walking to Cortona at the top of the hill, and they thought we were crazy. It's about 2 km straight up. We'll drive it first and see how adventurous we feel. Here is a photo of Cortona.
(Note: the following blog episode is from Marcia, picking up where Joe left off above.)
We are now in the last two weeks of our wonderful adventure. We've had sooo many wonderful experiences, learned so much history, drunk too much great wine, and eaten tooo much wonderful food. Of course, our clothes are too tight, and we are trying to slow down...BUT NOW we are under the Tuscan Sun (where the book was written.) So we must explore more and eat and drink more.
We were staying just outside of Cortona at a lovely hotel/spa, but it was a little too boring and the toilets were too high for me (every room has handicap toilets). I had a nice massage and did relax a bit. The hotel had a restaurant, but it was not great. Therefore, if we wanted to go to dinner, we had to drive on windy dark roads... and we get lost enough in the daylight. (We can write a book on getting lost in Italy.) Getting lost while driving is part of the fun and experience.
This morning at breakfast, I decided we should stay inside the walls of the town of Cortona. We started to explore hotels in the town and found a few that seemed okay, but not perfect... too close to the church bells and bathrooms too small. (I should do a "real" review of hotels one day). We walked around the corner to look at one more hotel and there was the San Michele. It was a 4 star and looked quite fancy, so Joe thought it might be too pricey, but he agreed to check out a few rooms. The last room the manager showed us was a suite with a porch that had a 180 view of the Tuscan countryside (see photo). This hotel was the home of some wealthy family built in the 1500s. We negotiated a price.... and sure enought we will be moving there tomorrow.
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The Hotel San Michele is a restored Renaissance palace. The historic building served as the residence for the Marquis of Monte St. Maria family as well as the Palace of Justice in the 16th century.
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Although the town of Cortona was made popular by Frances Mayes' book, "Under the Tuscan Sun," it has remained a true Tuscan hill town. It has many tourists, but it is not full of tourist shops with T-shirts and junk. The people of Cortona live and shop there, and the restaurants are wonderful. Tonight I bought a 2 liter bottle of water for 0.29e and a bag of fresh fruit for 1.90e.
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The hills in this town are sooo steep that we had trouble walking to the top. The locals, however, were slowly walking up the steep hills (steeper and longer than San Francisco) to the many churches at the top of the town. This is an Etruscan town whose history dates back to before the Romans (from about 500bc to 200ad). We'll give you more history updates after we explore.
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This website has some Cortona history:
http://www.cortonaweb.net/en/history/01-history-cortona
Our room in Hotel San Michele is pretty much the penthouse suite. It's very large (about 30' x 25') with a large remodelled bathroom, AND a patio with gazzebo overlooking the Tuscan valley where we enjoyed glasses of prosecca watching a beautiful sunset. It is the most spectacular hotel room and view we have ever had. A great way to relax after a very active 7 weeks. Cortona seems to have achieved the perfect balance of keeping its roots while enjoying the success of tourism. With enough tourism, comes good and numerous restaurants and other services that travellers like. But some towns (like San Gimignano) have gone too far with trinket and junk shops everywhere. We may stay in Cortona for a while meeting the locals and touring the town and countryside.
This morning we awoke to the entire valley being covered in a blanket of fog. Being above it, we have a beautiful sunny day. The hill Cortona is on is about 1500-2000 feet in altitude.
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The magic of Cortona has infected us. The people, the history, the beauty all combine in a very unique way that almost forces you to enjoy yourself. Marcia will add details soon, but as a few examples: the owner of our favorite family restaurant here in town (Giancarlo) now takes Marcia out for caffe and dolci while he talks about his family. The family that owns the local market and wine shop has given us a real education on olive oil and arranged a private wine tour. Many of the shopkeepers now say Buon Giorno to us when we see them. And every day we have lunch on our hotel room patio overlooking the Tuscan valley and basking in the Tuscan sun. Today we are meeting with another real estate person (Marcia has already met his children) to discuss renting an apartment here next Spring. We met the husband and wife local furniture store owners at dinner and stopped by their store the next day. Their store is 4 floors of a large circular building with their apartment on the top floor (the roof has their swimming pool). They invited us to their apartment for a drink where we met their daughter. Tomorrow we are having dinner with them at their favorite restaurant. They only speak Italian, but Marcia has been communicating with everyone in Italian with no problems. Fortunately I tend to understand much of what they say... but often I have no idea until Marcia translates.
We have decided to extend our stay in Cortona until Sunday, Nov. 12, when we will drive to Rome for the last 3 days of our journey.
Our wonderful time in Cortona continues. We are meeting more people and having the shop owners we meet show us around town and possible apartments if we return in the Spring. We went to dinner with 2 women from Texas, Cheryl and Nancy, that Marcia met, and the owner of the restaurant raises owls. We took this photo so you would believe us ;) The restaurant, Locanda Saloon, is on a ranch and looks more like Texas than Tuscany. And don't forget, you can click on a photo to enlarge it.
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Our wine tour and tasting at Avignonesi winery was great. They make the Italian after dinner drink called Vin Santo. They first dry the grapes on mats for 6 months and then age them in small barrels for 10 years. They will open the 1996 barrels next May. The weekly Cortona market is today, so Marcia is there of course. When we got back to town, a real estate agent showed us an amazing house for rent with 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms (that's rare) and an awesome garden overlooking the valley. It's not available next May and June, but we are thinking perhaps April.
[note to Toni: Our time with you at the villa you rented in Tuscany 6 years ago has always inspired us. Perhaps we can reciprocate... how is your schedule next April?]
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We said goodbye to Cortona Sunday and to the friends we made there. It was sad to leave, but we know we will be back soon.
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Marcia's Personal Comments About Cortona
Six years ago I read "Under the Tuscan Sun" (which took place in Cortona) while sitting on the beach in Hawaii. All I could think about was visiting this beautiful part of the world. We were fortunate to be invited by some friends to spend 2 weeks in a Villa in Tuscany a few months later. That experience changed our lives (thanks Toni and Dave). I understood what a small Tuscan town was, where the locals only spoke Italian and the mamas were in the kitchen cooking the real thing. I came home from that trip and immediately started studying Italian because I knew we would travel to Italy frequently. Over the last few years we traveled to many places in Italy and Tuscany, but never to Cortona.
I thought it would be a town crowded with tourists and may have lost its charm, like San Gimignano. I'm glad I was wrong and so pleased that we experienced the magic of this special town.
From the moment we arrived in Cortona all the wonders of this town and our experiences there fell into place. Hotel San Michele was heaven on earth. The suite with a terrace overlooking the valley (Val di Chiana) was always bathed in sun. Even on days that were foggy below. The hotel staff, Gianmarco, Francesca and Margarit were like having a family, always friendly even when they were busy. Gianmario, the new general manager, was GM at the Mark Hopkins in San Francisco a few years ago (small world). He was extremely warm and welcoming. Francesca was my personal salon guide. The very first restaurant Margarit recommended was the place where we ate 5 meals. La Grotta had good home cooking at reasonable prices. Twin sisters were the chefs and the brother-in-laws were the waiters. We became part of the family. By the time we left, they were treating us to a special chocolate liqueur after dinner drink.
One evening we were sitting in La Grotta and met some Texans, Ted, Marci and Mike, staying at our hotel. They were with a tour guide, Giancarlo, who was very connected in Cortona. After being introduced to Giancarlo, he whispered that Frances Mayes' husband, Ed, was sitting at the table next to us. After the restauant emptied, I told Ed to thank his wife for writing such a wonderful book that inspired me to visit Tuscany and learn to speak Italian. He then stood at our table and talked to us for about 20 minutes; he was very warm and friendly. He said they just finished picking olives and Frances was back in the States. The tour guide invited us to have dinner the next night with the tour group plus a few other of his friends who live in Cortona a few months of the year (photo). After dinner, we all went to Giancarlo's house for after dinner homemade limoncello.
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One day Giancarlo (another Giancarlo), the owner of La Grotta, took me out for coffee and canoli and showed me around town. When we told him we might want to come back next year and rent a place, he introduced us to all the real estate people in town.
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My italian skills became handy when I was shopping or helping American tourists translate their transactions in a store. That's how I met 2 lovely women from Texas, Nancy and Sheryl. Sheryl has an apartment in Cortona and Nancy was visiting for the first time. We kept meeting in town and realized our paths were supposed to cross, and we had some fun adventures with them. Besides shopping, eating and drinking, Sheryl took us to a restaurant/ranch where the owner raised owls. Joe has a photo of that. The next day, Andrea, the son of that restauranteur was in town, and he stopped to chat with me on the street. The next day I'm standing in a doorway of a shop daydreaming and Andrea shouts, "Ciao Marcia" as if he has known me for years. .
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Girasole is a cute shop, owned by Alesandra. I was in her shop chatting with her when another woman I met walks in and says hi Marcia. Two minutes later another woman walks in and says hi Marcia. Alesandra says, "How come everybody knows you? You'll be the mayor if you stay here one month." What can I say?
The friendships and hugs in just one week were infectious. In all of our travels in Italy, Cortona definitely felt like home. We were very homesick before we got there, but meeting all the families made us feel welcome and ended our adventure on a very high note.
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Rome, Italy (Nov. 12-15)
After driving the 2 hours to Rome, we arrived in the brand new Rome Marriott Park Hotel. It is huge... but no people. It only opened in late September and is positioning itself as the largest meeting/convention space in Europe. It will take a few years I guess, and in the meantime, we are among the 30-50 people staying in a hotel that has 600 sleeping rooms. It feels surreal, and it is very different from the small wonderful hotels we have been staying in. However, it has a very American bathroom and all the amenities we were accustomed to before we left the States... tissues, lotion, bath gel, etc.
The hotel has a free shuttle into Rome, and today we are walking around the city. After our morning cappaccino, we walked along the Fiume Tevere (the river) and had lunch in Trastevere (the old, arty part of the city). Tonight we are meeting our Roman friends, Claudio and Smilja, for dinner. Again, we are having great weather and feel the sun gods have been shining on us. Our friends took us for an aperitif and then to a new restaurant where we dined in style and talked for hours. Rome is a very dynamic city both during the day and in the evening. Just finding a parking space is a normal ordeal which Romans take in stride.
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On the morning of our 63rd day in Europe (and last full day in Italy), Marcia had a hotel sales staff take her on a site tour of this huge hotel in case she ever wanted to organize a conference in Italy. That led to us having lunch with the Director of Sales. While eating, the owner of the hotel came by with a group of men and we were introduced to him. As Marcia never lets an opportunity get by her, she then talked with the owner in Italian (he did not speak English) for a while. He then brought the GM of the Milan Marriott over and introduced him to us (the owner also owns the Milan and a few other Marriotts in Italy). Our friends picked us up and we went into Rome to have a real Roman meal... that means many courses of good, but not fancy, food. When the final 2 courses were brought to the table, we were already stuffed. A singer came by and played Arrivederci Roma which was quite nice given we were leaving early in the morning.
Mille grazie to Smilja and Claudio for taking us to two wonderful dinners in Roma.
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We're Home (Nov. 15)
Our flights from Rome to Frankfurt and then home to San Francisco were on time and smooth. We took the San Francisco rapid transit (BART) from the airport to home where Stephen had Kayla and Ryan waiting to hug and kiss us. Anh was home cooking up a wonderful meal.
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Many thanks for all of your warm comments. Here are a few stats from our trip:
No. of Days = 65 (incl. travel to/from Europe)
No. of Countries Visited = 6 (incl. Monaco)
No. of Cities/Towns Stayed In or Visited = 48
No. of Airline Flights = 4 (12,000 miles)
No. of Train Rides = 7 (1,500 miles)
No. of Rental Cars = 4 (6 weeks & 1,500 miles)
No. of Differenct Hotels = 13
No. of Nights in Friends' Homes = 9
No. of Wine Tastings = 8
No. of Pictures Taken = 1,020
No. of Video Clips Taken = 60
Most expensive meal = $300 (lunch in Provence at Michelin 1-star)
Biggest expensive surprise = $100 to fill gas tank
Least expensive hotel = 66 euro per night
Most expensive hotel = 180 euro per night
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It was an awesome adventure... we can't wait to return to Italy next Spring.
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THIS IS THE END OF THE COMBINED BLOG.
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