A wedding in Venice

Goodies
Orchestras in in St. Mark's square

Different shops in Venice

 

Day 11 - Ciao Italia!

Departure day.. I am so sad to say goodbye to Italy.  We departed out of Marco Polo airport in Venice today.  We got up early, around 7 am to pack and get ready for a 1:40.  We had to walk to the St. Zaccharia port near St. Mark's square to catch the Alilaguna boat to the airport.  It was only a few minute walk but we wanted to give ourselves enough time with luggage to give over the little bridges.  We stopped in St. Mark's square for a quick goodbye and then walked over to the port to catch our boat-it was right behind Doge's palace.  It cost 12 Euro each to ride the boat, but it was so worth it because it took us directly to the airport-it went so smooth.  The whole experience in Venice has gone so smooth-transportation is very easy, although more costly than Rome (1 euro for the metro/bus in Rome, 6 euro to take the water taxi in Venice).  We caught the 9:25 am boat (it comes every hour on the :25) and it was much nicer and bigger, and it did not make me seasick thankfully.  However, JoAnne and I still feel dizzy even today.  We had a 7 minute (signs gave exact minutes) walk to terminal.  The Marco Polo airport is so nice, smaller than Rome and JFK, and very well marked by signs.  We ate a delicious lunch of pizza and salad, and then did a little shopping  in the duty-free shops.  

We departed on time and the plane was much more comfortable than the one we took coming.  We had a bonus- when we took off we flew north which meant we would fly over switzerland.  It was a clear day and so we got a beautiful aerial view of what I think are the Swiss alps (correct me if I am wrong).  I took a picture through the plane window, but it doesn't do it justice.  It was an 11 hour plane ride to Atlanta, but it went smooth and we had a very good flight.   We arrived in Atlanta and went through an uneventful customs line.  The only problem we encountered was Frank's luggage got lost in Atlanta (we were supposed to get it and recheck it in Atlanta after customs).  Thankfully it showed up in Raleigh!  We tried to carry-on most of our souvenirs, so it wouldn't have been too tragic if it did get lost.  Anyways, we had a very tiresome layover in Atlanta (4 hours-and we were on Italy time so it was like 4am for us).  But we made it home and I got the best hug from Madelyn.  

Words cannot express how amazing our trip was.  It was just incredible and I am so thankful to Frank for letting me plan this trip.  I love you babe!  I highly recommend taking a trip to Italy if you have the ability to-it was worth every penny.  I also highly recommend Rick Steves' book (if you didn't figure that already), it was so worth it to plan this trip ourselves and explore Italy like a local.  Thanks everyone for reading the blog-check back again, as I will be posting more pictures to it.

Ciao!!  Arrivederci!!

My my seafood plate (not so good of a picture)


Looking out from the Rialto bridge on to the Grand Canal


Glass pieces - not really a good example but I didn't have any other good pictures.


The island of Murano

Day 10 - The sleepy town of Murano

Today we awoke to a nice breakfast delivered to our room of cappuccino and muffins. Our B&B is so sweet- very clean, comfortable, and a great central location if I haven't said so already. We headed over to St. Mark's for a quick cappuccino. We took a boat over to Murano- an island in the lagoon. It was about a 25 minute ride and for some reason it made me very sea sick. All day today I feel like I am dizzy and rocking back and forth. We have to take a 1hour and 15 min boat ride to the airport tomorrow and I am little concerned.
Murano is a charming little island, very quiet and serene. It was Sunday and so things were quiet. Unfortunately, we were unable to watch any glass blowing exhibits because it was Sunday. However, we walked through store after store of different glass trinkets and saw galleries of some awesome glass pieces. It was different. After taking the boat ride back (I stood for it to see if that would help..it did), we headed back to our room for a quick 10 minute cat nap. We then headed back to the Rialto market to do last minute shopping for gifts. After shopping we decided to take a gondola ride-it was dusk and the grand canal looked so romantic. It cost 100 Euro for 4 people! Costly, but a must for romantics... and I am a romantic! It was magical and I am glad we experienced it.
We ended the night at a restaurant that we tried to find "off the beaten path," non-touristy. I got brave and tried a mixed fried seafood plate. It was a little scary- craw fish, calamari, and who knows what else. I didn't finish it, but I shared some of JoAnne's spaghetti arrabbarata. We wandered a little more after dinner trying to find the patisserie that Frank and I found yesterday that made the best cannolis. Unfortunately we didn't find it, but we enjoyed a gelato which finished off the night perfectly.
We leave tomorrow afternoon and so I will probably post one more time tomorrow when we get home. I will miss Italy very much. I have experienced so much in the past 10 days, I feel so fortunate. Thanks to John and JoAnne for the fun times with you guys, we had a lot of good laughs.

In the market near the Rialto. That is garlic in the center of the red peppers.

I love these Salvador Dali clocks!



Ducale Palace (Doges Palace)

Day 9 - My feet are tired

We had a fun day in Venice shopping in the markets around Rialto and St. Mark's square. We took the vaporetti (water taxi) ride and cruised the grand canal. It was such a beautiful day! Blue sky and mid-70 degree weather. We have only had rain once on this whole trip and it was only for an hour in Rome. We couldn't have asked for better weather. Anyways, Frank and I wandered the streets of Venice and tried to get lost. You can only get so far because it is an island. We enjoyed our wandering and got some good pictures of Venetian architecture-it is gothic with an Islamic influence. We walked and walked and tried to get lost. Venice, as complex as it is, is not hard to find your way around because the main sights are well marked with signs. We have walked so much on this trip- miles and miles a day. We probably haven't lost any weight because of all the pasta, olive oil, and gelato. We are so addicted to olive oil that we poor it on everything we eat! We enjoyed an awesome dinner at a little restaurant in some back alley that took us a while to find-we had stumbled across it yesterday and wanted to come back. A guy with an accordion played out front. It was like a movie. I am completely addicted to Arrbarata (spelling?) sauce with penne- it is spicy and we can't stop eating it! I love you madelyn! Keep posting me notes-I love them!

The Rialto bridge

St. Mark's at night

A few more pics of Tuscany

Enjoying our dinner made by Graziano.


JoAnne and I at our Tuscan Villa

Q & A

In response to some of Madelyn's questions: The weather here is awesome. October is the perfect time to come to Italy because it is 70's during the day and 50-60's at night. It is also not as high tourist season as September. Our favorite experiences have been the Coliseum and our dinner with Graziano at our Tuscan Villa. Everything has been wonderful though! I absolutely love Rome and will miss sitting outside every night at the back alley cafes enjoying the best red wine I have ever had. We would walk the streets in Rome till midnight every night and not feel scared-it is awesome. I couldn't do that and feel safe even in Raleigh. Venice is the same way and we ran out last night to get hot fresh pizza rolls at 11:30 pm! They are delicious. I found my art! An oil painting by an artist set up next to the Rialto bridge. It is awesome! I don't want to leave Italy, but I miss my daughter so much. If she was here I don't think I would come home.
In response to mom's questions: Yes, I have used a little of the phrase book, but people speak pretty good english here and so it has been fairly easy to get around. Listening to my italian audio book on my ipod has really helped as it gives you correct pronunciation. I have been able to understand a suprising amount.

Ok, will try to post something about Venice tomorrow before we depart on Monday. Ciao!

I have been collecting rocks from all over Italy for Madelyn because she loves collecting rocks. One is from the coliseum, one from the roman ruins, one from Tuscany and the rest from various places that I can't remember :-) Hope you love them Madelyn!



St. Mark's Square

St. Mark's square

Day 8 - Venice, the land of a hundred islands

After a stressful ride through Florence to drop of the rental we made it to our train to get to Venice. It was a 3 hour ride to the S. Lucia train station on the island of Venice. What a sight! It is gorgeous here, and contrary to popular opinion, it does not stink. The water looks quite clean actually. It feels like we are on a movie set with these back alleys. Venice is a shopper's dream as it is full of gorgeous shops filled with elaborate murano glass, leather, and other high quality gifts. Our B&B is just a 2 minute walk from the famous rialto bridge. We walked our way to St. Marco's square and that was quite an experience. Yes, it filled with pigeons and they will land on you if you get close to them-it freaked me out. They are harmless though and it was fun nonetheless. The square was surrounded with orchestras playing-it was unforgettable. That is all I can say about this trip. I do want to say that the food in Italy is so freakin' good, I don't know what I will eat when we get home. Everything is fresh and top quality. JoAnne and I are addicted to spicy pasta and bread with olive oil. I have eaten enough olive oil that I may end up sliding back to N.C. Pasta just isn't the same in the US. Ok, I will go for now. Love you Madelyn!

The leaning tower of pisa!

Tomatoes from the garden

Some of the Tuscan countryside we seen on our way to Pisa.

John took this picture from our villa- beautiful!


My dream kitchen-in our tuscan villa


Our Tuscan Villa

Day 7 Pisa

Today we awoke to a wonderful organic breakfast put on by our wonderful caretaker, Graziano. We are the only ones staying at the villa (only 4 rooms) and it feels like our home. We decided to try to drive to Pisa to see the leaning tower and some of the tuscan country side. It was a bit scary driving through Pisa but John did it and we somehow made it so close to the tower (without a map) that we only had to walk a block to see it. We saw the leaning tower of pisa! It was awesome! It actually made me laugh because it really leans far! You could climb to the top but it comes with a 15 euro fee and we were fine admiring it from the ground :-) The whole area is called the "Field of Miracles" It consists of a duomo (cathedral), baptisery, cemetary and the leaning tower, which is the bell tower. All of this is scattered on a huge field of green grass. On the grass were tourists posing for pictures and locals enjoying a picnic. We did the touristy pose of "holding up" the tower. It was so much fun. After seeing the tower we did a little shopping and then headed back to our villa to enjoy our dinner (Pisa is 90 km away-about 55 miles). We got back to our villa and enjoyed some wine on the terrace while admiring the view of Florence. We were served dinner at 6:45pm and it was one of the best experiences of my life. Graziano cooked in front of us homemade pasta (he had been cooking the sauce all day-using tomatoes and red peppers from the garden). We ate heartily. Our second course consisted of steak and fried zuccini and potatoes-delicious. Lastly he served us his home-made tiramisu. That was like nothing I had tasted before. All the while he told us about the Yonnetti name. He said that he believes Yonnetti was originally spelled "Ionnetti" or even possibly "Jionnetti". He also said that names that end with "i" generally come from the region of Puglia which is above Calabria. He said that names ending in "o's and a's" usually come from Calabria region and "o's" also come from Sicily. Him telling us the correct pronunciation of Yonnetti and about our name's history brought tears to my eyes. It was incredible. Of course that story doesn't top John and JoAnne's experience in Calabria. When they went to Calabria found the village John's great-grandmother was born in and even found her birth certificate! They were able to make copies of it and made tons of friends there as well. You will have to have them tell you the story-it gives me chills. So we ate dinner until 10pm talking with Graziano and enjoying good Chianti. It was unforgettable. I will miss this place and will definitely return again. It would be a great place to go with family and enjoy the tuscan countryside. (there is a pool Maddy!). We leave for Venice tomorrow so I may not be able to post after today. We will try but if not, love to you all and we will see you when we return! Ciao!!!

Day 6- Firenze

We had to say goodbye to Rome today as we were heading for Tuscany. We took a train to Florence (Firenze) and met up with John and JoAnne, as they arrived the day before. We shopped in Florence the whole day with the exception of Frank and I breaking away to see David at the Academia Gallery. David was awesome! He is so massive-probably the height of 3 men put together. It was a sight I will never forget. We had entered the museum and admired some frescoes and then turned the corner to see this long arched hallway-sunlit and lined with sculptures by Michelangelo. At the end of the hall was a sun-lit dome with David in the center. It was breathtaking! We toured the rest of the museum and then headed back to the shopping market to meet John and JoAnne. They were buying leather coats-beautiful leather! On the way we stopped to see the famous duomo which is what you see in all the pictures of Florence-the huge dome. After our shopping excursion we took the brave task of driving through Florence to get to Fiesole. John did an awesome job driving and JoAnne is the master navigator. The drive was up a mountain and it was little narrow roads swerving up and up and around and around. We got to our tuscan villa which is actually in the town of Ulno. It was the most beautiful place I have ever see. It is surrounded by olive groves, flowers of various sorts and cobblestone walkways. It overlooks the city of Florence and all the bedrooms, bathrooms and common areas have huge picture windows to look out over the city. The B&B itself is a masterpiece. Built in the 60's, it is solid as a rock. The bathrooms are all marble, the kitchen is my dream kitchen and it is decorated like a tuscan cabin. I will post pictures when we get back as it is very slow to post pics on this internet connection. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner of spicey pasta, gnocchi, and calzone in Fiesole with some good wine and beer (the common theme here). After we enjoyed a drink with some gelato and bailey's at a Irish pub in town. All in all it was a good day. We miss you madelyn! We love you!

Pizza in Naples

Naples and Mt. Vesuvious

Day 5- Michelangelo's masterpiece

We started the day early to get to the Vatican Museums. We wanted to see Michelangelo's ceiling in the Sistine Chapel. We waited in an 1.5 hour line around the Vatican city wall, but it wasn't too bad because it was a good opportunity to people watch. There were tour guides offering tours which would skip the que but they wanted an extra 29 Euros each which gets pretty pricey. We entered the museum and immediately went to the post office to mail some post cards as we heard the vatican's postal service is the most reliable.
The Vatican museums consist of 4 miles of art, which we could not physically do. However, we did walk for 2 hours and saw some amazing sculptures, frescoes, tapestries, and a really cool gallery of maps painted on the walls of Italy. It all culminated at the sistine chapel where we spent some time admiring Michelangelo's ceiling. It consisted of the different Bible stories, including the creation of Adam and Eve, their expulsion from the garden of eden, the flood and many other Bible prophets. After leaving, we were dumped out in to the entrance of St. Peter's Basilica. This is the largest church on earth and let me tell you, you can not imagine the immensity of this place unless you seen it yourself. From the floor to the top of the dome is the length of a football field. It was quite a sight. After walking out to St. Peter's square we walked across the Tiber River and headed to the Pantheon. There we again gawked at the immensity of this structure. Huge granite columns dating back 2000 years ago. It is amazing because it is so well-preserved for being so old.
We then enjoyed a dinner at a little cafe around the corner and a gelato on the steps of the Pantheon. All and all, it was a good day.
I am really going to miss Roma! I love the outdoor cafe's in all the back alleys- you felt like you were on a movie set. The weather has been perfect-70's during the day, 60's at night. This has been an unforgettable experience.

The Roman Forum

The Coliseum

Day 4- Pizza in Napoli

Ok, so about the Naples trip. We took a train ride to Naples from Rome-about 2 hours. We really did not have a plan, just thought we would follow Rick Steve's "Slice of Neopolitan" self-guided walk. We got off the train station, expecting to see this beautiful city with the Mediterranean sea in the back drop. What we saw was a bustling, gritty, polluted city. Anyways, we took the walk and got a little off track because street signs are so hard to follow. We ended up just exploring the city by foot-wandering around until we hit port. It was an amazing sight to see all the cruise ships at port. We saw Castel Nuovo and from there we could see a beautiful sight of the Mediterranean Sea and Mount Vesuvius. From their we walked to the the "Teatro di San Carlo"-Europe's oldest opera house. It was beautiful. After which we walked across the street to the Galleria Umberto. This is a shopping mall but no comparison to Crabtree Mall :-) It was incredible with tall arched ceilings and decorated with marble and granite and who knows what else. We then took a taxi up to Certosa San Martino- a former monastery, now museum, with a incredible view of the harbor, city and Mt. Vesuvius. And yes, if it wasn't for this view (and the pizza), we would have been really upset about making the trip to Naples. Speaking of the pizza-yes it was the best we ever had, as it should be since Naples is the birthplace of Pizza. Anyways, back to being at the Certosa San Martino- the taxi ride was the most insane ride I ever had. The driving is even worse in Naples than Roma. We went up and up and up and around and around and around until we were dropped off at one of the highest points in city. We were a little scared because it was 5:30pm and the museum was closing in an hour and we weren't sure how we would get back down. Thanks to the girl in the museum we got directions back by bus then metro and it only cost us 1 Euro verses the 15 Euro to go by taxi. We made it back and met up with John and JoAnne at the train station as they were coming in from Calabria. We took the cheap regional train home, which was a little scary. One thing I have learned is that it is worth it to upgrade to a better train. We were surrounded by a bunch of chain-smoking drunks. At one of the stops on the way a drunk guy threw a rock at a window in our train car and it shattered the window! Thankfully, we made it back to Roma safely. This trip to Naples made us all appreciate Roma so much. You can walk the streets in Roma without being scared and there is always people around. We didn't arrive in to Roma until 11:30pm and we walked back to our hotel room and crashed. Can't wait to tell you about our next adventure!

Day 2 & 3 - How do you say "crazy" in italian?

Ok, I am sorry I have not posted in the last few days. It is hard to find internet access along with it costs money. We are having a wonderful time. So much to say, so little time! I only have 30 minutes of internet time so here it goes. Day 2 we took a cab ride to Rome's Bethel branch and had a wonderful tour. Will tell you more about that when we get home. We then took a grouling ride back to the city center by bus-slightly scary. We got to see the "real" Rome and it's people. After we went to John and JoAnne's room to rest and head to the Coliseum-there hotel is just up the street from it and we could see it from their terrace. We stopped for some yummy pizza (actually I had a gyro-I know it is greek but isn't that where the Roman's came from?) We then strolled around the coliseum, roman forum (ruins of imperial Rome)and Palatine hill (palace of Roman Emperors, such as Constantine). It started to rain so we headed back to their room and that is when I posted some pics (john brought his computer). We then took a cab to Piazza Navona and had dinner on this busy square. It has a hopping night life-filled with music, artists and street vendors. Along with two beautiful fountains created by Bernini. We drank wine (no headache because of the lack of sulfites-it is true mom!) and good beer and enjoyed a gelato. The next day we hit the Coliseum again to actually tour it. It was a beautiful day and being inside that structure is incredible. We took tons of pictures and also toured the roman forum a little more in depth. We enjoyed an awesome lunch of antipasta and panini's at a cafe around the corner, sitting outside enjoying the atmosphere. Frank and I then splitted ways with John and JoAnne and we headed to the Galleria Borghese. This houses some beautiful sculptures by Bernini-including the breath-taking Apollo and Daphne. Will say more about that later. We strolled in Rome's central park and lounged by the fountains after our museum tour. We ended the day at an awesome cafe by Trevi Foutain. It served the best spaghetti I ever had. Frank had the lasanga and the biggest beer we ever seen (1 liter). We strolled the streets at night, shopping at local vendors. Yesterday we went to Naples and I will post that story maybe tomorrow or the next day. I don't have much time left so I will go for now. I cannot express how crazy the driving is here. You risk your life every time you cross the street. I will also say that the culture is much different than I expected-the restaurant service is not as friendly as the US-may be because of the big city. Also, none of the toilets have toilet seats so I am learning to balance very well. I will post more soon with pictures-promise! We saw the sistine chapel today and it is more amazing than I ever expected. I love you Madelyn-we miss you so much! That is the hardest part about this trip is not having you with us! Can't wait to see you. Hope you are having fun with nana and papa!

Day 1 Roma- We made it!

We made it to Rome! We had a smooth flight and arrived on time in to Fiumicino airport, Rome at 11am on 10/5/07. We had a little trouble finding our hotel and ended up wandering all around the Barberini/Trevi Fountain area for miles-it was frustrating with luggage but we got a good tour of the neighborhood-we were so close but the street signs are very hard to find and the maps can be challenging.
Anyways, Rome is incredible. It is collossal!!! It is exactly how I pictured it but 500% intensified. The driving blows away anything we have ever seen (including NYC). The cars and scooters drive up on the sidewalks, don't pay attention to the lines on the road and blow red lights if no one is coming.
After getting settled, we visited Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, and then took a horse and carriage ride around the city-visiting places such as the Pantheon, Italian government, and a bunch of crazy churches that I can't even remember the name of. It was so much fun! Then we walked the alleys around our B&B- there are tons of little cafes, shops and fruit markets-it is beautiful. To end the night we visited hard rock cafe for some gifts and found a outside cafe to enjoy a couple glasses of wine, beer and bread with olive oil. Anyways, there is so much to say but I am on John's computer so I am just giving the highlights. But we are having a blast and I can't wait to tell you all more about it.

Arrivederci!!!!!

Just a quick post before we leave to say arrivederci!  I hope you will enjoy my journal of this incredible adventure.  We will be in Rome tomorrow morning around 11am as we have an overnight flight tonight out of JFK.  We plan on seeing the Coliseum first thing after getting settled to get us pumped up and to get over the jet lag.  Saturday we will try to see the Sistine Chapel and some of the other famous works in the Vatican Museums.  We will also be visiting the Borghese Gallery and then doing a night walk around the spanish steps/trevi fountain. Sunday we will spend time exploring ancient Rome's pantheon and forum.  Monday we will head to Naples and Capri for the day.  Tuesday we plan to just explore what we can but also enjoy relaxing at the markets, cafes and bars :-)  Wednesday we head to Florence/Tuscany and then Friday we head to Venice for 3 days.  Stay tuned for more details!