Today was our first full day in Italy and we headed straight for the Coloseum. Actually, we had to buy our Roma pass first which would allow us to bypass the nasty lines at the Coloseum and many other places. We were going to go to a Tourist Information booth to buy them which was a little bit out of our way, but then Dan remembered that often times you can buy them in tobacco shops etc. He  remembered this tid bit of info, just as we were passing buy a shop so we ducked in and sure enough! Smart thinkin', Danny.

We made our way to the site that Rome is perhaps the most famous for. There were hoards of tour groups being dropped off by big buses. We did, indeed save a LOT of time being able to go through the special "Roma Pass" line that had about 5 people in it. We then went through "security" which was really just two Italian men in uniform having a conversation with each other while people walked by. Easiest security check I've ever been through.

Inside we were treated to all the sights you would expect here. It's just like it looks on TV. Big, old, and amazingly still well in tact after all of these years. The best part of it, for me, was that it was so accessable. There were marble pillars and sculptures and other things that were just right there for you to touch. Not much was behind baracades or glass or anything. Artifacts are usually things you see in a museum setting. But these were right there, just waiting for you to approach and interact with. It was really a treat.

Next we made our way to the Forum. This was something I was particularly looking forward to. It was really hot, but luckily there are these really neat public fountains where you can fill your water bottle. More on that in another post. It was a bit crowded and we actually skipped seeing some of the stuff because of the masses of people. One of the cool things we stumbled upon was an area that was fenced off for studends who were doing an archelogical dig. They all had various tools and were meticulously brushing away dirt from the stones that lye beneath. How they were able to tell old stones and dirt from the new stuff, I'm not sure, but they looked like they knew what they were doing.

Once through the Forum, we decided that we were pretty hungry so we found a little place to grap a couple of slices of pizza that were delicious. After the pizza, it was time for some gelato. There was a Whiskey Cream flavor that Dan and I each tried. DELISH! We then made our way back to the hotel for a little nap before heading out for dinner. We passed through some pretty amazing nieghborhoods including this one:

By this point we are getting pretty good at navigating the streets without getting run over  by taxis or Vespas. I wanted to take photos of everything and I think Dan was getting a bit tired of waiting for me.

Sorry, Danny. I just can't help myself sometimes. There were so many interesting stores to look at and people to watch. The beauty here is really never ending.

And so that was our day. I'll do a seperate post on our dinner. For now, it's time to sign off and say buona sera!

My Thoughts on our first 24hrs in Rome

Door to Door it took Kris and I 20hrs to get here.  Luckily 15 of those hours were spent in either the British Airways first class lounges in San Franciso and Londo or the First Class Cabin of the Boing 747 we took most of the way.   I have to say it was quite a luxurious way to travel.  The new first class pods on the plane were fantastic.  We began with a couple glasses of champaigne before we took off.  It was nice to relax and meet some other traveling couples right off the bat.  After we got to our cruising altitude, we enjoyed a delicous 4 course dinner with white table cloths and wine to go with each course.  After stuffing ourselves and each watching one of he 100 or so movies available to us on our own flatscreen, the stewardesses made our beds and off to sleep we went.  By the time we woke up, there was only and hour left in our flight.  We were served a nice breakfast and a few minutes later, we were in London.  After a couple hours in the BA Lounge and some more delicisous food we took the relatively short 2hr flight to Rome and we were here.

We planned all along to train in from the airport, but we could not get the automated train tickets to print.  Luckily a shuttle just happened to be leaving and for the same price, we got dropped off right at our hotel for the same price.  Good timing.

Ok...enough on the travel thoughts.  We arrive at our hotel around 7pm, unpack and then hit the town.  We have done all the prep, we have our maps and we know what and where we are going....or so we thought.

Lesson #1 - Rome is not laid out like a modern city.  City planning was at it's infancy when this city was designed.  There are so many little streets going all different directions that is very easy to get lost and end up going the opposite direction than you want.  Our 10 minute walk to the Trevi Fountain took probably an hour.  At one point, we had no idea where we were.

Lesson #2 - The streets and allys are so narrow and the buildings so tall that you cant really tell where you are.  You could be a block away from where you want to go and have no idea where it is.  We finally ask directions from a shopkeeper and after a few more attempts we find our first destination...The Trevi Fountain.  It did not disappoint.  Seeing it at night, all lit up, is a must and was a great way to start our Rome experience.  Unfortunately we had to share it with a hoard of people, making it a bit difficult to even get good pictures.  We got a few, but I couldn't help think how much better it would be if there were just a few.....hundred fewer tourists there.

The Pantheon is next.  We have our map, plan it out thouroughly and are sure we can get there without much trouble.  After all, it is only about 6 blocks away and it is a huge building that you just cant miss.  Wrong again.   Lessons 1 and 2 smack us in the face again and after another 45 minutes we finally find it.  It was so worth the efforts... WOW is all I can really say.  It was incredibly impressive....everything about it is just SO BIG and SO OLD.  It really took my breath away.  It sits on a little piazza with cute restaurants and a lovely fountain.  You could here live music playing and it wasn't nearly as crowded as Trevi Fountain.  It was just a perfect setting lit up at night in all its glory.  It was our highlight of the night.

Off to Piazza Navonato people watch and get some dinner.  Two blocks away...piece of cake.  HAHAHAHAHA....right.  Lessone 1 and 2 kick our ass again but we finally found it.   After 20hrs of getting here and another 3 wandering around gettng lost, I don't think we had the energy to really enjoy it.  We did find a nice quiet restaurant down a little ally and enjoyed a lovely dinner around 10:30 at night.  I had spaghetti carbonara and Kris had black pepper and parmesean pasta.  Of course a caraf of wine and some bread rounded out the meal perfectly.  It was nearing midnight and we were exhausted.

Lesson #3 - When all else fails, catch a cab.  It was a 10 euro ride back to our hotel and it was well worth it.

A really great first night in Rome.  We are so looking forward to getting a good night sleep so we can get lost again tomorrow.

Throwing our coin in to ensure a return to Rome
So ok, that wasn't my first 24hrs in rome, but it was the first 24hrs of the trip.  You will have to check back for our Coleseum/Forum trip on morning 1.  I am sure there were more lessons to be learned and fun to be had. 

Arrivederci

It's like waking up on Christmas morning. As our dear Aussie friend Ally would say, "No more sleeps." It's time to get this show on the road.

Well, not quite. Today is the day we leave but our flight isn't until about 5pm. There are still some things left to do like return borrowed CDs to the library, send out some cards to folks, finish packing, clean the house up a little and so on and so forth.

Last night I finally finished our master guide book. I took information from various places and compiled it all into one place and arranged it all based on our daily itineraries. Admittedly, this is much more for me than for Dan. I like to have a bunch of information readily available, whether I'll need it or not, so that my brain is free to let go of any worry and focus on the experience before me. Here are a couple of examples from the book:

My thought is that this book can also serve as a place to capture notes about places we ate or things we saw in the moment. There are some blank pages here and there throughout, including a bunch in the back. Information, information, information....that's what gives me piece of mind to then be able to let go and enjoy the moment.

Now I just have to make sure the book makes it into the backpack.

A wine faire in Florence? OK!

As luck would have it, there is going to be a wine faire on Friday and Saturday while we are in Florence called Winetown. A BIG shout out to Karen, author of An American in Italy, who is so awesome that she actually sent me an email to let me  know that this was happening while we would be there. I can feel the warmth of the Italian spirit already.

Winetown takes place in various piazzas throughout the city in the areas of Tornabuoni, Oltrarno, and Proconsolo. There will also be an abundance of musical performances throughout the city which is really exciting. You buy a glass for 15 Euro and it comes with a wine card good for 5 tastings (and of course you can always buy more points for the card for more tastings). Here is a list of the various locations:

Zone A - "Beyond the Tuscany" - Palazzo Guicciardini, Pitti Palace, Palazzo Corsini, Suarez, Chiostro Grande dell'Ammannati

Zone B - "The classics of Tuscany" - Davanzati Palace, Palazzo Bartolini Salimbeni, Chiostro del Magistero, Palazzo Antinori

Zone C - "La terra che amiamo - I Biodinamici" - Loggia del Grano, Sala d'Arme di Plazzo Vecchio, Museo del Bargello, Palazzo Pazzi Quaratesi, Palazzo Nonfinito, Chiostro delle Oblate, Giardino ex Museo "Firenze Com'era"

This is such a bonus for us. What a wonderful way to start our visit in Florence.

Pain, Vin, Fromage - Dinner with friends

As luck has it, our paths will be crossing with some dear friends of ours whilst we are in Paris. We are having dinner together, and perhaps cocktails pre or post manger. A quaint little fondu joint in the 3rd arrondissement came highly recommended from our son's ex-girlfriend's Mom - yes, we have gotten input and recommendations from EVERYONE we've ever known.

Pain, Vin, Fromage is a small place that apparently has some of the best fondu around. It comes highly recommended on TripAdvisor as well. On that note, I highly recommend TripAdvisor as a resource when planning ANY trip, or even if you are just looking for great local recommendations while at home. Invaluable resource.

We'll post photos and a review once we've stuffed ourselves full of cheese and chocolate.

Packing for Europe - Keep it Simple (but still cute)

I finally bit the bullet and started sorting out what I want to pack for Europe. We are only doing carry-on luggage, at least until the last leg from Paris back to San Francisco. Can a gal actually spend 17 days traveling through Europe with just a carry-on and not be incredibly out of fashion?

I think so, but then every gal is different.

I started by pulling out the pieces that I though were must brings. One pair of jeans, three pairs of shorts, one skirt and two dresses. What I noticed was that I had a good base of colors to build on: red, black, cream, white and denim.

From there I pulled out some of my tops that I really love, but that are travel friendly. I did this with the expectation that I would be ruling out some of the tops as I started to make different outfit combinations.

Here's the key. Any shirt that only went with one bottom was automatically ruled out and vice versa. I don't want to have 5 separate outfits, I want to have choices with all of them based on the given day. Garanamals-style. You know, lots of combinations with just a few pieces because everything goes together.

I also needed to consider that at some of the sites we will be visiting, modest dress is mandatory. For instance, at the Vatican, you can't have your knees or your shoulders bare. For this purpose I added a light-weight, white cardigan. The weather is another variable. In Rome and Florence, it is likely to be in the mid 80's while in Paris, the highs are likely to be only 65 (which means that the mornings and evenings will be in the 50s). It's complex.

This a photo of what it looked like just before the final cut. Like I said, lots of black, white etc. but you'll notice just a bit of color with the red and purple (the teal shirt didn't make the cut).

I was really surprised how well this came together with only a couple of missing pieces. I'll be bringing a pair of walking sandals and a pair of suede shrug boots for sure. I do need a pair of nice black flats that I can wear with the cream dress shown here. That is what I will be wearing the night of our 22nd wedding anniversary dinner as we cruise up and down the Seine in Paris.

Wow, did I really just say that? Pinch me.

 I may toss in one more pair of shoes. Something that isn't quite a sneaker but is a comfy walking shoe.

The best part about it? I weighed the suitcase with all of my clothes and shoes and it weighed only 13 pounds! Seriously. I know I still need to add toiletries and accessories, but still. I'll take that to the bank. I can easily hoist 20 pounds on my back and trudge through a train station.

At least I think I can. Stay tuned for updates post-"hauling the luggage through the train station." Ah well, it's all part of the journey.

For now, I'm off to the mall to see if I can find the illusive black flat that is both cute dress worthy AND walking around friendly. It doesn't sound like it would be too hard, does it?

Rodin, Flesh and Marble - Paris Exhibitions

Our trip is getting oh so close. 7 days until lift off from SFO.

I've been looking at what will be going on in each of the cities we will be visiting (not things that are always going on, but special events). One of them that caught my eye is this special exhibit at the Rodin Museum in Paris. We'll already be going to the permanent exhibit, but this looks like it might be worth the extra EUR 9 each to see.

Rodin, Flesh and Marble - Paris Exhibitions What's on | 60by80