Food

Llast night in Italy and I feel some mention of food needs to be made. Food has been fun in Italy. 

I think Fritz has had a Pizza Margherita at every chance - and there have been a lot of chances and a lot of delicious pizzas. 

First night in Venice above. Pizza hadn't arrived yet, but it was good. Below is 2nd night in Venice, new restaurant and pizza is good.  

Off to the Cinque Terre where the seafood was fresh and we took part. 

Insalata de mere above. We gamely tried it, and it was delicious and fresh, but we just couldn't manage that many tentacles.  Bill ordered the fish baked in salt. He liked it, but what a lot of work for a piece of fish. 

On to Rome where we ate in a lot and had the best and worst pizza of the trip. 

Worst pizza above in Testavere in Rome. We loved the location, but the place catered to early eating tourists.  Below, was this tiny place near the Vatican where they aged the dough for two days. Amazing!!  Bill loved the crust and the pizza was the best in Italy. 

In Tuscany we ate in a lot but not on the first night where we found ourselves in a local spot in an old medieval town called Asciano. I love eating al fresco in Italy.  

Gotta get some in Siena too. 

The pizza is culturally appropriate, good, cheap and fillled the boys up.  You can't beat it.  

Our last night in Tuscany was at this wonderful local spot where we splurged and had a fine Tuscan dinner with local ingredients.  Primi Piatti was homemade pasta for Karl, below. 

Local veggies - 

A Tuscan moon rise

Tonight is our last night in Italy, Bill doesn't feel great, we didn't have a reservation, so we get our pizza to go  and eat it on the roof of our hotel in Santa Margharita Lagurie. Lovely. 

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Agro Tourism

Hello! We are now in Tuscany! Currently we are staying at a Agro tourism lodge called el Mollinelo. There are multiple other guests here from places like Poland and Belgium. This place also is a fully functional farm, with chickens, doves, ducks, dogs, and a new litter of kittens.

We have spent a LOT of time with the kittens, while their mothers hovers around us at EVERY meal we have. There are also fields expanding out all around us, which with the hills makes for beautiful scenery.

So far, we haven't done too much around here. We've done a 20 k bike ride, using the host's bikes and their son as a guide.

We have also visited Sienna, and Orvieto, which are 2 nearby Tuscan hill towns. Sienna was quite pretty, the Il Campo square still had sand in its stones from a recent horse race, Il Palio.

Also in Sienna we went to a small shop where there was a multitude of meats and cheeses and wines. we bought a selection of meats and cheeses for 2 people, that ended up satisfying all 4 of us.

Apart from that, there has been much reading, swimming, eating, and football/soccer.

Thanks for tuning in and see you... In the next chapter... Of the trip...

Vatican

This is 3/4 of the family in front of saint peters basilica. This place is huge. Once we were done looking at the main room we went up to the top of the dome. You could se most of Rome from up there or at least a lot of it. While we were up there they were having a mass. The alter at this church was huge or a least it was big for a alter. 

Stairs and Lines

We have climbed to the top of St Paul's dome in London, Notre Dame and the Eiffel tower in Paris, our 4th floor ( really 5th ) apartment here in Rome and today the dome of St Peter's at the Vatican. Lots of going in circles up ancient stone steps - but the cardio workout is great. Oh and the views aren't bad either. 

We've also waited in a lot of lines. We've been strategic as possible but invariably there is a line - for security, to get in to something to check your coat. This hasn't diminished the experience, more a commentary on the amount of people who visit these iconic places.  People from EVERYWHERE!!!!  Culturally everyone deals with the congestion differently. In England there is order and structure to the lines. In Italy - free for all and insanity. When in Rome though .......

 

The boys are getting an amazing experience. They were lying in bed talking about ART before going to bed last night.  It's all about the exposure - and slowly it creeps in and makes a mark. 

Ruins of Ostia Antica

These are the ruins of Ostia. That is only a small chunk of it.  It's actually a lot bigger. The ruins of Ostia are really cool to go to. The best part about it is that there are no security gaurds standing around so that you don't touch anything. Here you can touch it, walk around it, climb on it a little bit, and do whatever you wish to do. Its not like one of those small little places where they have fences around everything and you can't get good picture. I thought it was one of the best things so fare on this trip. 

     The ruins of Ostia were a town that was a port but then the river moved so its no longer a port anymore. 

By Fritz

Rome

It has been a while since we've had a full update. The Cinque Terre allowed us to unplug & it's taken a little while to plug back in, but if anyplace will force a re-engagement with life, it's Rome. 

We rented a flat very close to the Colosseum; it's just ahead on the left:

 

A little loud, but right in the center of it all. The first night we arrived, we had to do a bit of wandering & here are the boys mugging for the camera:

We toured the forum & the colosseum the next morning with a guide, followed by a siesta & a wander up to the Pantheon & through Trestavere for dinner:

Today, we woke up and went for a stroll on the Appian Way:

The Appian Way included a visit to the original catacombs at San Sebastion (sorry, no photos allowed) & a lengthy encounter with Rome's public transportation system. Another siesta, followed by a visit to the Trevi Fountain:

We ended the day at the Borghese Gallery, for some amazing Bernini sculptures & renaissance art. A nice pasta dinner at our flat with a good bottle of chianti & a sweet dessert wine. Not a bad way to celebrate the fourth. We hope everyone else had a great holiday as well.