Day 17

Our last day. Breakfast at the La Palma was nice. We had a table by the open doors and it is going to be a hot but beautiful day. We fueled up for our big day at the market in Intra, just past the town of Verbania. We heard it was big, but we didn't know what we were getting into. We decided to drive because that was only 20 minutes and the boat ride was going to be 45, plus the times the boat left were not that good for us. It was a beautiful day to drive around the lake and we were glad we had the car option. We packed up the room and loaded the car with our bags. We left our "gift bag" at the hotel, because it has chocolate in it and we didn't want it to melt while we were at the market, so they held it for us behind the desk. We'll be heading back to Stresa for lunch anyway, so this worked out nicely. We hopped in the car and took the 20 minute drive to Intra. When we arrived at the market, we couldn't find a place to park. It was insane! So we followed parking signs to a multi-leveled parking lot that went underground. We had to walk a few blocks to the market, but no big deal. EVERYONE was going to the market and we just followed the crowd in. When we arrived, the amount of vendors was overwhelming. Guy would tell me a meeting spot and then give me about 30 minutes to cover that area. While I was shopping, he was scouting the next spot for me to shop. There were shoes, belts, leather coats (too expensive), clothes, linens, cheeses, breads, fresh fish, pastries, rotisserie chicken, local foods, etc. Lots of places selling the same things when it came to the shoes, clothes, and linens, but the food vendors were pretty unique. I bought a two blouses and they bartered with me a little, but not too much. So after about two hours we were sweating from the hot day and were visually exhausted. :) What a huge market. I read later on the Internet that it is such a huge market that people from Locarno, Switzerland come down to shop. :) I took several photos to document the day.

We went back to the La Palma and put our remaining bag in the car and headed to the town for lunch. We wanted to eat outside one last time and circled around the square looking at the menus to decide. I wanted to have gnocchi again, so we chose the La Piazzetta. The server was a very nice young man. We ordered bruschetta with mozzarella and tomatoes. I ordered 4 cheese gnocchi and Guy ordered the pumpkin ravioli. Guy's ravioli had some weird bark looking stuff on the top. He got a piece in his mouth and after chomping down on it, it was part of a cinnamon stick. He wasn't super hungry today, so I pretty much cleaned up both of the plates. I can't really say who won...because the cheese sauce on the gnocchi was rich and delicious, but the pumpkin ravioli were very different and sweet. I liked them both equally. After lunch, Guy treated me to my last gelato and I got chocolate, coconut, and caramel. He ordered fragola (strawberry). We walked along the lake to watch the boats taking the people to Isola Bella and stopped in the shade to finish our dessert. I'm happy to report that Stresa has lifted its ban on young people as today when we walked around the town we FINALLY saw nearly as many younger people as old people. After we decided that at some point we were going to have to drive away from Stresa, we headed for the car. I forgot to go back up to the top of the hotel and do a panoramic photo from the top. I did one last night, but wanted to during the day. :( I'll catch it next time.

Bidding farewell to beautiful Stresa, we headed for Arona just to check it out as we drove by. There are TONS of motorcycles on the road today and they make their own lanes...usually just down the middle of the road between the cars. When we found a place to park, it was filled with motorcyclists who were taking a break in the shade and had their leathers pealed down to their knees. We tried to find a place in some shade (to protect the chocolate) but figured we wouldn't be that long. We found the main shopping street and it was really cute, but the shops were all fancy shops. Nothing we really had much interest in, so when we headed back toward the car, we walked along the tree-lined waterfront. Not as beautiful on the far south end of Lake Maggiore as the big mountains are no longer in view, but there was a huge castle across the way that looks like an interesting place to visit next time. From Arona, we let Ms. Garmin direct us to the Sheraton at the airport. The hotel is relatively new, so the Garmin didn't have directions to it exactly, but Guy thought it was connected to the airport. Connected indeed. It is at terminal 1, which is where we'll take off from in the morning. So Guy checked us in and we took our bags up. We came right back down to turn the car in as we left it out front. One quick roundabout to take us back to the other end of terminal 1 and that is where we turned the car in. This worked out PERFECTLY! After turning in the car we had about a 5 minute walk back to the hotel and on the way we scouted out where our gate will be in the morning so we'll know right where to go. Easy-Easy walk from the Sheraton to the gate. Perfecto! So we headed back to the room and Guy was craving a cheeseburger. The cost of a cheeseburger at the Sheraton is $20 and add $4 more dollars for cheese. Nah...we are going to walk around in the airport and grab a bite for supper. We'll have a cheeseburger in New York.

Back from our lovely dinner at the airport I thought I'd give you a visual:

I'm sure you recognize this global delicacy that Guy just enjoyed. I, however, am waiting for the USA before I eat a cheeseburger.:) I guess this means we have began to focus on home.

What can I say...this has been a glorious trip and there are not enough words to describe it properly. Guy and I know how blessed we are to have the opportunity to travel as much as we do. We are thankful to God for our safe and healthy journey. We'll be back to Italy soon I'm sure, but it is hard leaving such a beautiful place. It is about 9pm and we'll set a 6am alarm to start the process to get home. If we don't sleep well, we'll have plenty of time on the plane tomorrow. Should be in New York around 1:30pm on Sunday. And speaking of Sunday, Happy Father's Day to the two best Dads on this planet. Here is an online hug coming your way and we'll give you one in person shortly. Goodnight, peace, and love to you all.

Day 16

Today was a lazy day. We went down for breakfast around 9:30 and it was good. They had eggs and a variety of meats, cheese, breads, sweet rolls, cereals, fruit and yogurts. Plenty to choose from. We looked around for Paul so he could scramble us some eggs, but he wasn't there. :( So we filled our bellies and went back to the room to plan our day. Part of planning our day included an after breakfast nap (hey...it's vacation). So about 11:30 we walked into town and shopped a bit. I had a gelato to hold me until lunch, chocolate and mixed nut, which was new for me and very delicious. Ok...so here comes the confession, we had to buy a bag to get all our stuff home. ;) The new bag is a duffle bag we can just put all our dirty clothes in and toss them on the plane without worries. One of our carry-on bags is filled with purchases and my glass projects. This way we can keep it with us so there is no risk of it getting lost. We may have to gate check it in NY, but that is ok. Also today, Stresa had its weekly market. We walked around and looked at all the stuff. Guy stayed true to the Italians and bought a belt from an Italian vendor. I on the otherhand was weak and bought a blouse from an oriental guy. The tag on the blouse says "made in Italy", so does that count? Tomorrow our plans are to take a boat to another town across the lake that is supposed to have a huge market. That should be fun. At this point, all purchases will need to be pretty small in size to get them home. lol.

After I packed up all the dirties and purchases, I double checked all the bags to make sure I wasn't leaving any little goodie behind. Really, we haven't bought THAT MUCH stuff, and most items are small, but one item is kinda big so a pretty good sized duffle was necessary. Packing everything up was just a reality check that vacation was almost over *insert very large sad face here*. So after getting our things somewhat organized, we went up to the hotel's rooftop about 2pm for a sandwich. It was nothing fancy, just a ham and cheese on toast, but it was good and all we needed to hold us until dinner. Guy and I are betting on how much weight we've gained and he tried to count how many gelatos I've had. He thinks 30, but that is crazy (maybe more like 25 - ha ha) After lunch, Guy went to the room to take a quick nap (not feeling 100% today) and I walked to the grocery store to buy some of my favorite cookies to bring home. Seriously they are just a sandwich cookie, Oreo-ish which is nothing fancy, but I just love them and can't get them at home. I also found a lovely store that had some very unique scarves, so I picked up a few (more things to shove into the suitcase).

Currently we are back on the rooftop to enjoy what scenery we can see. All day it has been pretty warm and humid, but the sun has stayed mostly behind the clouds, but this means the haze in the distance is really thick. We know there are lots of really big mountains back there, we just can't see them. Probably our worst photo op day, but I have pics of this area already, so not too worried. I'm down to just a few shirts, which are long sleeves, so tomorrow may get a bit toasty. We'll see. The temperature on the trip has been very unpredictable from one day to the next. But we've been very lucky. The rainiest days have been travel days. - Be back in a few hours to report on our dinner. :)

We took a slow stroll to dinner tonight because it was a beautiful evening. Just cool enough that you wanted to make sure you had some sort of sweater in hand. We wanted to eat outside and we decided on the Pizzeria Mamma Mia. When we arrived the outside was full, but the doors were open to the inside and they had a table close to the doorway. The staff was really friendly and our food came out quickly. Guy started with minestrone soup and when he was finished he had to go outside and cool off a bit as we were inside enough to feel the heat of the kitchen. I ordered veal lasagna and it was just ok. The cheese, meat, and noodles were all sort of one big square of inseparable goo. Guy ordered perch, pan fried with sage and butter. He enjoyed it. I decided tonight, since it is our last night in Stresa, to have tiramisu instead of gelato. I'm not a coffee drinker, but how can I not have this traditional dessert at least once. (Although we did have a version of tiramisu at the Arabella tho, which was raspberry and tastier than tonights I must say). After dinner we strolled back slowly hoping the slower we walked the better the chance of making the vacation last longer (not sure that it is working). So we went got back to the hotel, we went to the rooftop to get one last look at the beauty of the lake at night. It was about 9:30 and not completely dark, so I got a few shots that I think will be nice. Here at the La Palma I can only get free internet on one device, so it had to be my ipad, but that keeps me from being able to Instagram or send photos from my iphone to my ipad. That is ok as my Nikon has a wireless card in it and I could upload a few from it as well.

Well, goodnight from Stresa, Italy. It is a beautiful town and I know it won't be too long before we return. It was the perfect place to wind down this fantastic vacation and take a few days to relax and breathe. Mission accomplished.

Day 15

Sigh, what can I say about today...it started off very sad, but ended up glorious. We slept in just a bit today as we didn't have to be at Miriam's house until 10, so Paul fixed us breakfast at 9. I had a bowl of cereal and Guy had eggs over easy with bacon. I also had some bread with some of Arabella's homemade jam on it. Afterwards, we packed up our car and Paul took us up to Miriam's house in his car. We all checked out my pieces from the kiln (one still pretty hot) and we went down to Miriam's main studio. It's hard to explain two things, one being her beautiful piece she has been working on for the past year, and the other is how much glass she has. She has every color of frit Bullseye makes, plus she sifts her frit to get various sizes. Amazing. It will be quite an investment to purchase a good variety of colors, but it is something that doesn't expire. She has some frit that is 15 years old. So I'll be thinking about what it will take for me to get started. - As we left Miriam's, I gave her a long tight hug and blew her a kiss as I walked away. If I were a young glass student, I'd do everything I could to do an internship with her. She is a treasure and I'm sad I only had 3 days with her. Good news is Guy is all for me taking another class with her in the future. The Arabella was perfect for us and especially him. The pool, great food, and Paul made for an excellent combination.

As we bit farewell to Paul with handshakes and hugs, we set out with a promise of keeping in touch. He gave us directions to Stresa and we headed out of his gate feeling lucky to have just met such nice people in Mornico Losana. The drive to Stresa was easy. I needed to make a potty pitstop and we waited for the next Autogrille (they crack us up). This one was the fanciest one we've ever been in. I took a picture but it will not do the place justice. The bathrooms had fancy glass doors in each stall and it had a pizzeria, they'd cook you a steak (which you could choose) or a fresh tuna steak. They had cooked goodies such as lasagnas and eggplant, and had a large selection of fresh fruits and of course dried pastas of all kinds and cookies galore. Of course I had to buy SOMETHING, so I tried a new cookie which tastes something like a fig newton only better. Not all of the Autogrilles are this nice.

We made our way into Stresa and easily found the hotel La Palma. When we arrived at 1pm our room was ready, so we carried our stuff up and went out onto our balcony for a quick look. The 5th floor makes for a wonderful view of the lake. We grabbed some cash and headed to the boat for a ride out to Isola Bella for lunch and some quick shopping. We decided to eat at the restaurant by the docks as we have been there before and knew the food was decent and the view was great. We were starving, so we headed straight for it when we got off the boat. We shared a caprese salad and a veggie pizza (which consisted of about 4 very thin pieces of zucchini ;), but it tasted good and I left Guy with the bill as I headed out for gelato and shopping. There are not many stores and they have "trapped tourist" prices, but I did manage to buy a few trinkets. We were on the island for less than two hours, but we can go back tomorrow if we think we've missed something.

There may be a chance of rain tomorrow, so we came back to the room and changed into our swimmies. The rooftop, since we were here last, has been transformed into a FABULOUS location for resort-like sun worshiping and an observation spot to watch the little boats taxi people to nearby towns. It now has an infinity jacuzzi pool with underwater seats, a full bar, lounge chairs (doubles, singles, and cabana types with the curtains) plus an area you can sit under umbrellas and have a snack or a fancy drink with an umbrella in it. I'm in a lounge chair as I type. I have a spectacular view of the lake off course, with Isola Bella just ahead, and the hazy mountains sitting off in the distance begging to be photographed. We are going to enjoy our afternoon and just relax. We'll watch the sun go down behind the mountains and consider our strategy for dinner. I'm sure it will be a walk into town and a choice on the fly - we'll let our noses choose a spot when they smell something delicious.

So we freshened up and headed out for dinner about 8:30pm. We walked into town and there are probably about 5 or 6 restaurants we've eaten at in the past. We chose the Ristorante Lo Stornello because the menu had beet pasta with beets in a sweet sauce. I was intrigued. But when it came I was expecting it to be purple, when indeed it must have been the green stems of the beets or the restaurant didn't have the right translation up. I was a bit disappointed and Guy asked me how it tasted. I said "like grass". But the more I ate the better it got. Guy however ordered the risotto and it had some kind of smokey cheese in and on it. *Ding Ding* we have a winner. His fish just barely rated a B he said, and my zucchini flan was just ok. Different, which is what I was looking for, so all is good. I saved room for gelato of course and I tried chocolate, coconut and panna cotta. Yum! Guy had chocolate chip. We listened to some music for a bit, but it was boring, so we headed back to the hotel. There must have been a gigantic tour of elderly stop in Stresa today. I haven't seen so many old people since we took the Uniworld cruise on the Rhine. You know I love old people, so I'm not being mean...but if I owned a shop in Stresa that sold canes I would be RICH! After dinner and gelato we went up to the top of the hotel roof just to look out on all the twinkling lights of the surrounding towns on the lake. Beautiful.

Day 14

Today's post will be short and sweet. The above photo is my first (and favorite) project I made with Miriam at her studio. I have a blue monotone version and a more clear version that is in the kiln as I write. I can't even begin to soak in/retain everything I've learned in the last three days. Miriam is an absolutely amazing artist. She has work in a gallery in Michigan and has done shows all around the world. I can't believe she even spent her time working with me, but part of her passion is teaching. This makes me a lucky girl. Tomorrow morning at 10am I'll pick up my last two pieces and say goodbye. I'll post a photo of us tomorrow, but at the end of today we were both exhausted and figured we'd make better photo subjects tomorrow morning when we were a bit more "fresh". :) Miriam's touch was on all my pieces, of course, as she helped me with each one. Plus she did the firing in the evenings. She explained the temperatures and times, but like Guy said, it is like me stirring up a cake mix and then handing it over to someone else to do the baking, which is a major part of the process. So when I get home, I'll have to figure out how to get the same results in my kiln. Glass is like a person. It has a personality. Sometimes it will play nicely with others and sometimes it will not. I have a good foundation of information now. I'll just need to put it into practice.

Guy spent his day by the pool (it was hot) and finished up a book he was reading. I think the past few days have been just about as enjoyable for him as they were for me, just in a different way. He has been extremely patient with me taking the class. That is nice. - So when I got home (nearly 6:30), I freshened up for dinner and we ate outside tonight. Paul made us gnocchi with marinara, filet mignon, zucchini, and potatoes baked in the oven with cream. De-lish! Dessert was an extra special treat...Crepe Suzette, mine with a side of vanilla ice cream. It was amazing as was the rest of the meal. Guy wants to move in permanently. Another guest at the Villa Arabella ate with us tonight and they are all still out there visiting as I type. Solving the world's problems I think.

Tomorrow morning I pick up my two remaining pieces from Miriam's at 10am. She wants to meet Guy, so he is going to go with me. After the pickup we are going to head to Stresa for our last two days. I'm hoping the weather will be beautiful. Tomorrow I want to go to the roof of the hotel and lay in the sun after we arrive, just to unwind after my past three very busy days. It think it is only about 2 hours from here, so we'll be having lunch there for sure. Friday I will have to shop around a bit and pick up a few things I'm sure I'll "need". We'll take a boat ride to another town or at least to Isola Bella (tiny island in the middle of the lake just off Stresa). This is the place that is the cover photo of my Facebook page, so you know how beautiful it is. Saturday night we'll stay at a hotel by the airport, but we plan on spending most of the day and evening in Stresa since it doesn't get dark til almost 10pm. We'll get in nearly 3 days there (3 weeks would be better - lol). So just a short blog today and wishing you all a good night from the Villa Arabella in Mornico Losana, Italy.

Day 13

Ahhh...last night I slept like a baby. The nice thing about the B&B is that the sheets feel soft like home, not scratchy old hotel sheets. ;) So I woke this morning feeling excited about my class since I knew what to expect. I was also excited to see the poppies I made yesterday that were in the kiln all night. Paul fixed us a delicious breakfast and like yesterday, I left the boys to go about their business while I was in class. When I arrived at Miriam's it was a warmer day, but I was prepared with socks and warmer shoes. I was chilly most of the day yesterday in her shop, so today I was prepared. We talked for about an hour this morning on how glass reacts in the kiln. She told me her "firing schedule", which were the different temperatures she used and the amount of time held on each temperature. As usual, I learned some new things. When I saw my poppies I was thrilled! They piece is better than I expected. So today I worked on another version of poppies, only this time in just a variety of shades in blue. She is not going to fully fuse this piece so I can see how frit looks with only a tack fuse. Tomorrow I'll work on another type of poppy piece - one that will add more dimension to the work. Tomorrow I'll also work a little longer on how to use black glass powder to create a persons face. It is HARD! But glad I'm learning it. She makes it look so easy.

So Miriam fixed me lunch today and we ate in her house. We had veggies topped with cheese and baked, ham, salad, toasted bread and a type of soft cheese that had mold on it. She said I could eat it or cut it off. Um...I cut it off. So after lunch we worked a bit more and she showed me how to apply a top layer of glass to my first project to give it an ultra smooth finish and more depth. She is having to fire it in a different kiln than my blue poppies as they are going to be at different temperatures. I'm not sure how many kilns she has, but I saw a medium one and a huge one in our work area. She said there are more "upstairs". So tomorrow I'm looking forward to seeing both of my pieces. She is an excellent teacher and it would be great to work with her longer. I need to bring her to SIU! - As far as Guy's day, he hung out by the pool til about 12:30, then he and Paul went on a road trip to the top of a nearby mountain and had lunch. Guy said they made homemade ravioli, which he said were tasty, but then they went downstairs to look at where made some of their goodies - ravioli, salami and prosciutto. He said from the top of the mountain he could see Milan. He had a good day as well. The Arabella has worked out well for Guy. I'm glad that he is having such a good time here.

So I left class a bit early today, around 3:45 because Guy and I were going to go on a little road trip today to an "Outlet" mall. Miriam suggested a trip to Pavia if we had time. So considering both options, we headed for the mall. It is a beautiful day today, so the road trip was fun. It only took us about 40 minutes to reach the mall. It was huge and Guy picked up a map and plotted our strategy. There were a variety of stores from crazy expensive, to very reasonable. I was really looking for a leather coat and black or brown boots. Most things in the stores now were summer and there were no sale racks in the back with winter things. We walked around and enjoyed the shopping village but didn't make a purchase. So we drove under the street to another indoor mall that had some shops and a grocery store. We didn't buy anything but an ice cream sandwich to hold me until dinner. Since we were finished shopping we headed for Pavia to check it out as it is only about 30 minutes from the Arabella. We figured as we walked around the town we'd find someplace to eat. So we set out to explore Pavia and as we entered the old part of town, most of the shops are still open. I popped in and out of a few and actually bought a blouse that was really cute. We were pretty hungry by now, so we set out looking for food. We headed for the city center as we figured we'd have some options there. We wanted to sit outside, so we found a restaurant called Bella Napoli. It has been there since 1964, so we figured it was going to be ok. Guy ordered carbonara and veal scallopini. I just ordered ravioli with mushrooms and my second plate was an order of profiteroles! Now THAT is a good second plate! They were amazing, I hate to say it but they were better than mine. I took a few pics, but some were blurry - so sorry about that :). After dinner we went around the town and I was going to shop a bit more. There were shoe stores everywhere! But, as Guy's luck would have it, all the shops were closed. So we headed for home so I could get to bed at a decent hour. It is almost 11pm now. I can't seem to get to bed early. It stays light until nearly 10pm, so 11pm sneaks up on us.

So sorry about the short blog. Busy day for me, but not necessarily all good blog material. :) Looking forward to my last day with Miriam, but sad at the same time that I can't spend more time with her. Day 13...sheesh. Italy is winding down. Sadness fills my heart....

Day 12

Didn't sleep much last night as you know how it is in a new place and I was excited about my glass class. We had the windows open last night to enjoy the cool air. I was awake to hear the church bells at 2pm, 3pm, 5pm and 6pm. Somehow I was actually sleeping and missed the 4pm. :) The alarm went off at 7am and I snoozed once. We got ready and had breakfast with Paul at 8am. He fixed us scrambled eggs and Guy had bacon (nice and crispy like he likes...it was Dutch bacon). I helped myself to some of the goodies on the table, yogurt with granola, bread with butter, jelly and fruit. It was good and then I excused myself as I needed to finish getting ready. Guy stayed with Paul to chat a bit. I came back down, Paul gave me directions to Miriam's, I said goodbye to the boys and headed out.

I got to Miriam's and wasn't sure if I was at the right place, so I asked the man walking by. He spoke no english, but understood my question and took me to Miriam's door and rang her doorbell (4 times). ;P He was friendly and seemed happy to visit with a foreigner. Miriam was welcoming and she introduced me to Antonella, a student from Argentina who was studying with her. Anyway we got into the studio and we talked for about 30 minutes on my expectations on being a glass artist. Not an easy nor cheap way to make a living. I explained it would be a hobby for now and I wanted to take the next few years to hone my skills and when I retired I would be a bit more serious, but still more of a hobby. The next hour or so was spent on learning how glass behaves with different colors, temperatures and types of glass. It was interesting and I learned so much I'm not sure I retained it all. After this we looked at some photos and I chose an image of poppies and that was my project for the day. She was great to get me started, but then left me alone to do my thing. She didn't hover, but was right by my side when I had a question, which was awesome. Antonella helped me with my glass cutting skills and gave me some tips that were helpful. Her english is impeccable and Miriam's is also excellent. So I worked on my piece for about 2 more hours and Miriam's student fixed us lunch. Pasta with tomatoes, walnuts and basil. It was good and I wasn't very hungry (student nerves I suppose). All afternoon I continued with my piece. I learned how to use a flame and melt small pieces of glass to put in my piece, which means I'm going to need to buy a little torch when I get home. I didn't do a very good job and will need to practice. By 5pm, I was overwhelmed, exhilarated, and exhausted. I had so much fun!

I made my way back to the Arabella where I honked and Guy opened the gate for me. He was anxious to hear about my day and we talked a bit, but I was cold so we went down by the pool to warm up and hear about each others day. He had enjoyed his time by the pool and read on his book. Paul fixed him a lunch of meats, cheese and bread. Guy's favorite. After our warm up and catch up, we went upstairs to freshen up for dinner. Paul recommended a pizzeria in Casteggio which was only about 5 kilometers away. We set out for the town and found the restaurant with no problems. When we got inside, no one spoke english, but Paul had called in advance and they were expecting us. When we ordered we were not sure if we ordered 2 pizzas or one pizza with two different sides of toppings. We were deciding what we were going to do with all the left-over pizza, but when it came out, it was one pizza half and half. Guy had ordered half cheese and half pepperoni, but it came out half cheese half peppers. It was a happy accident as it was delicious. The restaurant had a wood burning oven and you could watch the cook make the pizzas. It was fun and they were very nice to us. I took a few pics of the pizza as it was long and square. It was interesting because they cut it with a knife at your table and when they saw you were finished with one piece, they were johnny-on-the-spot at our table to serve us the next piece. Service! :)

Back at the Arabella I grabbed the ipad to upload my pics and start blogging. Paul asked if we'd like some chocolate ice cream. YES was the answer from both of us and he served it will little cookies. Talk about the perfect end to my day. I needed chocolate. It was fantastic (I need to learn to make gelato. I'll do that in retirement as well). - Sorry for the shorter blog today. So much happened, but my brain is tired and it is about 10:30 and I need to get some rest. Tomorrow should be good as Miriam and I will work until about 3pm and then Guy and I may head to the outlet mall if I'm not too tired. I'm going to make the poppies again only with a different technique so I can use them at home as samples of how things look when layered differently. Hopefully I'll work a bit faster tomorrow and I'm excited to see my masterpiece out of the kiln tomorrow. Miriam will explain the firing temperatures to me in the morning. It should be another wonderful day of vacation.

Day 11

We woke up early to start our day trip to Mornico Losana. We ate a good breakfast and headed down to parking lot 3 to retrieve our car and drive it back up through the town into the square to load our things. Guy asked me if I wanted a gelato for the road, but I declined as my veins are running thick with chocolate already. We hit the road about 10:30 and started our drive. Plenty of traffic on the roads and was drizzling most of the way. We planned a lunch stop in Sestri Levante, but when we arrived we didn't see the area we thought we would (a Cinque Terre type town) but drove down to the marina for a look around. By this time, it was pouring and the wind was blowing and there was no way we'd venture out into this, so we headed back for the autostrada and went to plan B for lunch.

We've driven this area before and I remembered there would be tunnels (I like to call them tubes of death) but we went through at least 30 long tunnels. The traffic was pretty heavy in this area as well, so both hands on the wheel. This area is gorgeous with mountains all along the coastline of the mediterranean with terra-cotta speckled houses dotting the hillsides. We contemplated a stop in Rapallo for lunch as we have stayed there twice before, but it is still pouring and we knew we'd be eating a large meal at the Arabella tonight. So we opted for a pullover at the Autogrille. These are the gas stations that have restaurants all along the autostrada, so we've stopped at them before. They have fresh made sandwiches and all kinds of snacks and fun pastas, etc. This ain't your ordinary Shell station. :) So we got two foccoicia bread ham and cheese sandwiches and some Cokes and headed for the car. We had a quick picnic and I forgot to get a photo of our "lunch". :) They were quite yummy.

Arriving at the Arabella, we visited with Paul outside for awhile and then took us to our room. It is really lovey. No air, but we have screens on our windows and it has been one of those drizzly cool days where the air is heavy and damp. The night air should feel good. Our room has its own bathroom, which is a new remodel at the Arabella this past spring. We are staying in the "blue room" and it has a great view. After settling in, we went down to the pool area which is going to be wonderful for Guy. It has a changing room, a tiled outdoor shower, and a kitchen. Paul will make sure Guy has some food for lunch. The road isn't safe for him to walk up to the top of the town where I will be. My class includes lunch at Miriam's house and Guy can eat lunch at the Arabella. He has plenty of books to read. Paul has offered to take him around anywhere he'd like to go. So that is very nice, but if the weather can clear up, Guy's plan is to lay by the pool. Paul did tell us there was an "outlet" mall about 30 minutes from here and they had all kinds of Italian made things for 70% off. I think my class is over by 3pm, so we may head one evening there to check it out. I'd like to find a nice pair of boots for next winter. He said they have clothes, shoes and housewares. **I'm intrigued** :)

It is 7pm and we are going to go get freshened up for dinner. Paul said he'd like us to come down for drinks around 7:30 and we'd eat at 8pm. He has been back in the kitchen working around for the past hour, so we'll see what he comes up with....Ok, back with a report on dinner. Paul made us bruschetta served with local salami. Then we got spinach gnocchi (ranking very high on my list of gnocchis I've eaten on the trip!) then we were served seabass with veggies. For dessert we had a layered raspberry tiramisu with cookies (I didn't get a photo as I dove and and ate it before I realized I fogot to take a picture!) It was amazing. Paul is quite the chef and we were impressed with our dinner tonight. What a treat! So now I'm going to bed early in preparation for my glass class for tomorrow. Fingers crossed all goes well with Miriam tomorrow. I'm a bit nervous.

Day 10

How is it possible that 10 days have gone by already. Sheesh. I'd like to put the brakes on and slow things down a bit, but I'm not sure how. A couple of days ago when we were at the il Melone hotel (they also rent apartments), there were some ladies that looked to be in their late 50s playing cards at a little table outside one of the apartments. I had a flash of retirement come through my mind, but had to push it to the side for a few more years. But when it comes, I think Italy will be in our future for longer than just 2 weeks at a time. :) Something to dream about anyway. So let's talk about today. I'm calling it a "recovery" day since there was NO driving and it involved a nap! ;)

We woke up about 8:30 to the sounds of fresh produce trucks delivering their goods to the restaurants in the piazza. It was fun to watch them work. It appeared the gelato shops were also open, but in front of the shop that is our favorite (the shop that won the area championship) an older gentleman was outside pulling stems off some kind of fruit. That makes me want gelato for breakfast. ha ha. There were a group of old local guys sitting in chairs and talking with their hands (and lips). They were fun to watch but were too far up against the building for me to get a photo of. So after looking out the window at our view and seeing that the weather was going to be gorgeous, we got ready for breakfast and went together (no, Guy didn't bring me breakfast in bed again!) The spread of food was much better than the il Melone. We had cereal, toast with jams, a sweet roll assortment, ham, prosciutto, cheese, hard rolls, soft boiled eggs and fresh melon. They also made coffee or cappuccino if you'd like. I wish I liked, but they don't make chai lattes here - and no Starbucks. We've tried to learn to like coffee, but just can't.

So we headed out for the day with map in hand. Several areas of the town we covered last night, so we hit everything else today, side streets included. We got a great feel for the town and came across a few fun sights. One guy is dressed like a priest and a lady is playing the harp. He is performing something religious but I can't tell what he is saying of course, but I saw a book that said the word "comedy" on it. So not sure what that was about. There are a group of teens in town today who are in town singing on the streets. Probably 25 or so. Some are handicapped. We thought they were on a school trip at first as they all piled in the town, but when we later came back into the square we saw them singing and dancing (like an Italian Flash Mob). Guy has it figured they are on a mission trip as he guesses the lead singer to be a nun. They were later singing their song and playing their instruments going down the streets. This was not a usual site as some of the store owners were looking out to see what was going on. Besides the kids, there were several street artists who were out selling their goods, mostly paintings and some were quite good. We also came across this guy working on a model of what San Gimignano looked like in 1300. Towers everywhere. He spoke excellent English and he and Guy talked for quite a bit on the work being done. There were 5 of them who took a year and a half to research to the best of their ability what the town looked like. Then they recreated it in 1/100th scale, each piece hand crafted out of clay. It took them one year to make it after their research. It is almost complete. He said it was a "fun project". I'll bet. So I have a photo of it today at the beginning of the blog. I was reading up on the town last night and lots of things went on here in history, but at one point families feuding would just see who could outbuild the other guy's tower. So that is part of the reason there were so many. Very interesting stuff. We ended our morning exploration with a gelato. Mine was dark chocolate and maybe some kind of cookie flavor. This was from the shop that claimed to have the best gelato in the WORLD. It was pretty good, but the shop that was the local champions may have them beat. Neither place ever has a short line.

So I don't think I mentioned today how hot it was. We walked in the shade as much as we could, but we both wanted to come back to the hotel and cool off a bit before we went to lunch. There are lots of places to eat here, so we just chose a spot that had a pretty good crowd and something on the menu that sounded different. So we went with the Trattoria Antica Macelleria because the ravioli sounded good. We had hoped to eat outside, but there were no spots open so we went inside. It looked like at one time it had been a meat store as there was a side with large hooks hanging and some kind of sliding contraption. We didn't inquire. They had 3 men cooking in the back, which I could kinda see in, so I watched. Two older guys were doing most of the work, but the other looked more like a punk kid and he was more interested in coming out and visiting with the server. The one who looked to be the owner also delivered food and mingled about. He was a bit unkept because his shirt was untucked, but he still had a sport coat on of some kind. We ordered Croustini with mozzarella and tomato. It was a combination of a caprese salad and bruschetta. But the bread had been grilled and the fresh mozzarella was slightly melted. Large slices of tomato were on top, drizzled with olive oil. It was excellent. Then the food came out. I had the ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese with a walnut and pear sauce. Not as good as Guy's last night, but was still very good. Guy had spaghetti with tomatoes and zucchini. It was just ok. The bread was good and he made good use of his bread with the left-over sauce on my plate.

After lunch I headed for the shops and Guy to the room to think about a nap. He made me promise I would not have a gelato, but I couldn't keep such a promise and headed straight for the line. This time I had caramel and pistachio. The caramel was to die for, the pistachio was good, but not my favorite. I bought a few goodies, but not too much as I'm not sure how we are going to get it all back as it is. lol. The carry-on luggage only idea is apparently going to be a one way plan. So after my adventures I came back to the room and joined in on the napping. About 5pm I peeked out the window to people watch. We have the perfect spot for it. So here comes two guys who were playing in the street. Unlike last night, they were younger, rougher looking musicians who appeared to be playing for tips. There was a guitar and violin. The violinist is frequently distracted by his phone. Then a few minutes later comes the big base, an accordion, and a clarinet! They have been playing for about an hour and they are beyond good! Wow! So of course we have our window open and are listening to the sounds from the piazza. Last night the two guys were singing songs from the US. That doesn't put you in the Italian spirit as much as these guys who are playing old Italian songs. Guy is looking out the window now and said they are packing up. Too bad, they were amazing. So now we are thinking about dinner. Last night, when we were unsure if we'd be able to get into the best restaurant recommended by the hotel, Guy booked us for tonight at 8pm. But as you know we got there last night at 9pm and was able to get a seat. So we have that standing reservation tonight that we'll probably keep. There are several restaurants here, don't get me wrong, but some have not so good comments on Tripadvisor, and some don't take credit cards. The food and the view were so good last night we'll probably go back and just try something different on the menu. We've eaten so much the last few days I told Guy tonight I'm only getting one thing. Most nights we get 2 plates each. I'll report in after dinner. Until then I'm going to people watch for a bit and enjoy our last night at the hotel Leon Bianco.

So we decided to keep our reservation tonight at the le Vecchie Mura and just try something different. We didn't get a seat on the rail tonight, but thats ok. We'll let someone else enjoy it like we did yesterday. We still got a seat on the terrace and it was a lovely evening. We got there at 8pm instead of 9, so we got to enjoy the Tuscan hillside view for our entire meal. Last night it got totally dark before we were done, but the twinkling lights of distant towns made for a lovely view as well. So we decided to split a starter and opted for the assorted bruschetta. One was the classic tomato, one was topped with marinated eggplant, and one was a mystery. However, we think we have decided it was what they call "lard". It looks like only the fat part of prosciutto, and it was interesting to try. Probably wouldn't order it again. Our meals consisted of single plates tonight. I had the lasagna and Guy tried the carbonara. We were both pleased, but I think mine was better. We decided not to have dessert, but opted for one last stop at the best gelato shop I think I've ever been to. Please don't judge me, but yes, this was my third gelato of the day. I've developed a problem and I may need an intervention. ;) It was chocolate, coconut and caramel. Guy ate one tiny bite and I polished off the rest with no problem. I'm in a miserably blissful state that only someone on a non-calorie counting vacation can experience. We walked around the piazza a bit while I ate my gelato and watched some kids play soccer, now that most of the tourists have left and they have room to run. It is a lovely evening and we've thoroughly enjoyed San Gimignano. I told Guy today he did a good job in planning because two nights was the perfect amount of time to spend here. Time to relax, yet take in the entire town without being rushed.

Tomorrow we head for Mornico Losana, a small town southwest of Milan, for my glass class starting Monday. Google maps has it taking just under four hours of drive time. There were several routes we could have taken, which could have been a northeast route where we could have seen Bologna, but we decided to take the northwest route closer to the Italian Riviera/Mediterranean coast. We've been to Rapallo before, which is beautiful, but may opt to navigate a smaller town for lunch. We'll ask the reception desk tomorrow for a smaller town on the water that still has beautiful scenery, but doesn't take us too far off the autostrada. Please keep us in your prayers tonight for safe travels tomorrow. :) I finding it fitting to end this post with another photo.

Day 9

We woke up this morning early to head for our next destination, San Gimignano. The blue sky and wonderful temperatures set the tone for a perfect day. As we said our goodbyes to the hotel il Melone, we headed toward Siena where the folks from Eurocar promised, via email, to fix our cigarette lighter so our GPS will work. (ps, I think our car smells like cannabis when you get it). So we hopped on the autostrada and when we got to Siena it was a quick turn off the highway to the Eurocar. They told us to go back to the gas station down the road and they would call and let them know what to do. If the new fuse didn't work, they'd give us a new car. We pulled into the gas station (no one spoke English much) but sure enough, the repairman put in a new fuse and Ms. GPS was on full force. So we headed out leaving the repair bill for Eurocar to handle. Siena is BIG and to think that we zipped on and off the highway and got repaired all in about 20 minutes was pretty crazy fortunate! We have been to Siena before, hence why we didn't stop at such a popular spot today. :)

So we headed toward Volterra and ran into quite a bit of traffic. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but all of the towns we have been to have not been crowded at all!! Lucky us! Tripadvisor warned about busloads of people in all these locations with streets so crowded you couldn't stir 'em with a stick. So we have counted this as a definite vacation blessing. So as we headed up for Volterra, we got behind one tractor and one RV that were going sooooo slow up the steep switchback curves that with my stick shift skills, I had to pull over twice at the first chance I got and just give them time to get ahead of me. First gear was too fast, second gear was to slow. So I was better off without slowpokes in front of me. So when we reached Volterra we parked and ventured into the city. We found an info stand and got a map. They are known for their Alabaster, so I hit every shop comparing goods and price. Every place had about the same stuff at about the same price. Some places the owners were friendly and some were not. So that helped me determine where I made my purchase. Guy scouted around for a place to eat and this is the first time I did't catch the name except "Bar Pizzeria". So the food wasn't that great, so no need to document for future reference. ;) I had gnocchi sorrentina (on the search for the best gnocchi in Italy) and Guy had veal. His veal was bland and my gnocchi was good but not homemade...I can tell because I'm a gnocchi professional. As we ate lunch I filled out a few postcards and after lunch we found a nice shop with more unique alabaster items, but it was closed until 2pm. So we walked around and took some photos of the ruins, scenic overlooks and Guy found an Alabaster "factory" that gave tours. I got a few shots of the inside. I had a gelato (chocolate and walnut) and checked out a few more shops. I had to have a Volterra Tshirt. Funny because the Twilight movie was played down quite a bit here, but played up big in Montepulciano. So we went back to the nice shop that had been closed earlier because it was nearing about 2:30 by this time. The store owner was hand painting a few items for her shop. I picked up several pieces of Alabaster jewelry and she wrapped each one in its own little package, as most shops in Italy do. She was glad we came in her store today. lol. I bought quite a bit of stuff. After this we worked our way back out of the town and headed for San Gimignano.

So we had about a 15 kilometer drive and as soon as we made just a few turns down from Volterra, you could see San Gimignano on the next hilltop...you could tell right away as it has 7 very prominate towers. Most towns have one big tower... wiki says "While in other cities, such as Florence, most or all of their towers have been brought down due to wars, catastrophes, or urban renewal, San Gimignano has managed to conserve fourteen towers of varying heights, for which it is known internationally". So go to wikipedia sometime and check out the history here. Very interesting. I tried to find a place to pull over and take a picture, but by the time we found one, we were too low for a good shot. I took one, but it isn't showing all the town. So we are listening to Ms. Garmin direct us to our hotel and we followed it. Yep, followed it right into the town...I mean right in the MIDDLE of the tiny shop lined, tourist filled streets. We were unsure if we were allowed there, but we couldn't back up, so we called the hotel. The gal at the desk asked if we followed the GPS in because it leads us in the wrong way but we could only move forward. So we drove right into the piazza and parked. She said we were good for about 15 mintues before we'd get in trouble for being there. :) So we unpacked, and took the car down to parking lot 3. We had choices of parking lots, 20 euros, 15 euros or 6 euros per 24 hours. Hmmmmm....we'll do the 6 euros. So when we drove FOREVER to get to parking lot 1, suddenly 15 euros sounded cheap. So we turned back for parking lot 3. We grabbed what we needed and walked back to the hotel. About a 15 mintue walk. No big deal but thinking about dragging our bags back to the car. We'll figure it out. Our hotel (which is fabulous) is right next to one of the piazza's towers. I'll find out which one tomorrow as we explore all over the town. Our hotel, by the way, is hotel Leon Bianco. If you ever come here, book room number 12. :) We overlook the piazza. It is in the coolest spot! The room is pretty small, but the ceilings are high and painted in gorgeous Tuscan fashion. I LOVE THIS HOTEL! The town is also quite spectacular! We grabbed a gelato at a shop that said they were the local gelato champions for several years in a row. It was probably the best I've had so far. Chocolate, chocolate chip and coconut were my 3 flavors of choice in my cup. And YES, this is my second gelato of the day, but I didn't have one yesterday and it is vacation so who is counting. ;) So as we walked on a bit, we see the next gelato shop that claimed to be the best in the WORLD! We shall see tomorrow! I also got a cookie in a bakery that I thought I may faint when I took a bite. The BEST cookie I've ever had. Chocolate on the bottom with two walnuts on each side. In the middle was a soft "filling" that was amaretto flavored I'd say. Holy cow...I can't even find a word to describe it. Ok...going to scout for a place for dinner. It is already 8:30 and Guy is giving me the "fisheye" so I'll sign off for now and report back in about an hour or so.

Ok, back from dinner. I'm having such a good time...it has been a wonderful day. Dinner tonight was at a restaurant called Le Vecchie Mura. Our hotel recommended it and it got high ratings on Tripadvisor. Guy had the hotel call and we couldn't get reservations til 9, so Guy went down to talk with them earlier. They basically said the same thing, but by the time we got there, it was 9. So it worked out great. We got one of the best tables on the terrace as it was on the rail looking over the Tuscan landscape. It was still actually daylight and we took a few pictures and ordered our dinner. I had minestrone soup (since it was a bit chilly) and venison with vegetables. Guy had walnut ravioli and cod with tomato sauce. I took some pics of course. Even tho it was all delicious, Guy won best of the night with the walnut ravioli. I think it was stuffed with cheese and spinach. Not sure how to explain it besides being nutty and richly amazing. We finished our dinner and walked back to the hotel feeling stuffed and miserable (in a good way). Outside in the piazza a duo is playing guitar and singing. We just heard them sing Hotel California...lol. There is not a large crowd in the piazza but it is alive with voices and music. We have our window open to enjoy the sounds. So long as they stop playing at midnight. ha ha. I had to laugh the other day I was in a shop browsing through some clothes and was listening to Maroon 5. :) Makes you feel more comfortable when you are so far away from home, but things are quite familiar at the same time. This is a big small world. P.S. Looking forward to not driving tomorrow, sleeping in a bit and just walking around at our leisure. I'm so excited!!

Day 8

Our day started foggy as we left the hotel and started for Pienza, which is just outside of Montepulciano. It was about an hour drive and we had skipped breakfast in hopes of a lovely bakery. When we got to the town, we drove to the top and found a place to park just outside the city. As we walked in, we were welcomed by workers who were fixing sidewalks, painting trim and other bits of construction. The Main Street was lined with shops, but the streets were small, stores more specialized and items more expensive. Several nice restaurants were throughout the town, but we were just looking for breakfast. Not much to be found in this town as far as sweets, but CHEESE was everywhere! The town SMELT like CHEESE! (I'm not kidding). So we walked in and out most of the shops and down side streets to get a few shots in the pre-noon light. It didn't take us more than an hour to cover this quaint, but lovely town. As we headed out of town I told Guy I couldn't leave until I had some cheese. There was cheese everywhere. So we stopped in a shop and the older gentleman recommended some softer cheese we could put on bread and it was made from sheep's milk from the area. Sure, why not.

As we headed back toward Montepulciano, we made several stops for photo ops. Again...not so good as it was still a bit hazy and the light just can't capture on the camera what we were seeing with our eyes. It is everything you would think Tuscany should look like. Red poppies, the tall slender trees lining the winding roads leading to stone villas, and rolling hillsides. It is hard to drive and look, but it was totally 360 degrees of beautiful. The road leading to this hilltop town was a bit steep and winding and we were grateful neither of us ever got car sick. We entered the town today from the opposite side we entered from on Tuesday and got a different view of the area, which was nice. When we got to the town we made a B-line for the restaurant we ate at on Tuesday. We wanted that fabulous cheese, honey, and walnut fondue and I wanted the gnocchi I saw a dude eating on our previous visit. The staff is very helpful and friendly, which you don't always get. They were fast with the food today as the restaurant wasn't too busy at noon and we ate quickly. After dinner I was going to get a gelato and Guy was looking for a bakery. We both struck out. Nothing tickled his fancy in the bakery and when I stopped by the gelato shop no one was at the counter. So we figured we'd get some goodies from the room and have them by the pool. So I purchased my necklaces and some post cards, took a few panoramic shots of the square and we headed for the car. This ride home was different than on Tuesday because we were heading for the hotel, not the lake. So the views were new and always interesting. All the roads we've traveled on today were paved but mostly no center line and a top speed of 60 kph (approx. 40 mph) which was fine because the slower I went the more I could look around. :)

So back at the room I gathered up the rest of our clothes that needed washed and we headed for the pool. Guy got our chairs fixed up and I set out to the laundry. I put the clothes in the rusty front-loader and headed back to the pool. I'm in the shade so I could upload pics and blog. Guy is in the sun working on his tan lines. We are contemplating switching rental cars in Siena tomorrow as we drive right through it on our way to Volterra. He has emailed the company so they will be expecting us. So after the laundry switch and dry, I gathered everything up and headed for the room to fold - we should be pretty much good to go for the rest of the trip as far as clothes go. :) So now let's talk dinner. Guy and I are both pretty zapped today. Several hard days of driving and lots of eating out has made us just want to stay in for dinner. But not at the restaurant. We had a big lunch today, so we bought some bread in Montepulciano and we have our sheep cheese. I'm going to run to the grocery story nearby and get a few other items. It will be fun. We are going to eat by the pool until the skeeters chase us in and call it a night early. Oh, yes. I forgot to mention the hotel does not have its air on. They said the first night it was still winter and if we turned on anything in our room only hot would come out.?. The desk guy told me I could open the windows because there were no bugs yet. Well, I had just smacked a big skeeter on my arm about 15 minutes earlier and Guy and I have spent several nights in Sicily with the covers over our heads to avoid the buzzing of bugs and mosquitoes, so we thought we'd just tough it out in the warm room. I think the hardness of the bed makes you forget about how warm the room is. :) I'll report in on the grocery store and dinner by the pool in a bit.

Ok, so the grocery story is blog worthy. Guy ended up leaving the pool area to go with me because it is difficult to pull out of our hotel onto the road without help (curve - fast traffic - stick shift) So luckily he brought his Kindle and read in the car because the "COOP" was fun. I bought stuff for our poolside picnic. Softer bread, another kind of cheese (just in case the sheep cheese was yucky), some balsamic, bananas, cookies, prosciutto, olive spread, bread sticks....ok, I bought too much, but it was fun. So the lines were about 6 people deep each and I was standing there with my arms full and realized I had forgotten the balsamic. So by the checkout were baskets and I put my stuff in and went to grab the handle. You didn't carry it, you rolled it! I saw someone using one earlier but thought they must have had kids or something. :) So I rolled my little basket around the store and picked up my balsamic and headed back for the register. I could have stayed in there an hour and looked at all the Italian foods. Fresh cheeses, pastas, breads, meat...very fun. The cookie isle itself had me mesmerized for about 10 minutes. So I stood in line and watched what everyone else was doing so I could do the same. People mostly had their own cloth bags, but those who didn't put the plastic bag on top of their food. I figured there was a charge and there was. About a dime each. So when I went to check out (keep in mind there is along line of people behind me who looked tired - like they just got off work) I didn't know you had to weigh the bananas before you got in line. So the cashier realized I didn't speak Italian, nicely sighed, and got up to go weigh my stuff. The guy behind me told me I should have weighed them (in Italian but not brain surgery to know what he was saying). He was nice enough and when I gave my "oh gosh I'm sorry" expression he smiled great big and all I saw were his gums...no teeth. lol So back we came to the room and Guy had to hear all the details in the car. So we washed up and went back out by the pool for our dinner. It was fun. The weather tonight was perfect and finally about 8:30 I started getting chilly so we came in. My blog is done early tonight, so hopefully I'll get to bed at a decent time. On the road tomorrow. Siena to switch out the car, Volterra, then San Gimignano for two nights. This time a hotel in the city center. Should be fun!! Woot!

Day 7

This morning we slept in just a bit and Guy barely made it down in time to grab some breakfast. We took our time getting ready since we were up late last night and about 11:30 we set out for the town of Assisi. Weather forecast is for some rain today, but when we left around 11:30 the weather was perfect. We were already familiar with part of the drive, but we hopped off the side roads and onto the highway, which was new territory. The signs were pretty good, but we had the Garmin on for fun. We have the imitation of her voice and how she pronounces the roads down pretty good. Hope she doesn't know we are making fun of her. The drive was about an hour, but the scenery was new and fun to look at, so it seemed to go by pretty fast.

When we got to the hilltop town, this one had a few more switchbacks than yesterday, but we took it all the way to the top and found a nice parking lot. Guy pulled his side mirror in since we were parked pretty close to car next to us. When he rolled up his window it caught part of the mirror and a piece of the car flew off. When he handed it to me, he said "we're gonna need that later". So I put it in a safe spot and we'll superglue it later if we have to. This car is not our best rental. When we took off from Rome (which we didn't realize until we were about a mile away, that the gas wasn't full and the mileage was off. Guy wrote it all down and emailed Eurocar. They actually emailed back and said they were sorry for the trouble and if we wanted to trade the car in for another one where the GPS would work, we could. Hmmm...not sure they know we are in "the boonies" where I'm sure there are not many car rental places. He emailed them and said we'd love to and gave them our location...we'll see what they say.

So as we entered Assisi, it had the usual tiny streets lined with shops, gelato stands and restaurants. We had almost made it to the other side of town when the rain started, so we dropped 5 Euros for an umbrella and kept going. We got to the other end and entered the church of St. Francis, the patron saint of animals amongst other important things. It was ornate inside, but no photos were allowed, so we walked around a bit inside and headed back out into the drizzle. We are now on a serious search for a restaurant. We peeked our heads in a few places and headed back the way we came in because Guy saw a possible restaurant with an overlooking view. When we got there it was closed, so we moved on and as I meandered by the shops more slowly than Guy, he walked ahead and found a nice restaurant where we could eat outside called Ristorante Mangiar DiVino. They were going to set us in a nice corner spot, but there were some skeeters or gnats flying around, so we chose another table closer to the wall and was completely uncovered. We felt confident the rain was done for a bit. So I ordered assorted bruschetta and risotto with wine and pears. Guy ordered a pizza with just cheese, but had an appetizer of prosciutto and melon. It looked really pretty on the plate and of course I got a shot of it first. My "assorted" bruschetta had 4 pieces of bread, one was traditional with tomatoes, but the other three were spreads of some kind. One I thought was black olive was actually black truffle (I had to ask) while the lighter one was a lighter colored truffle. The final one is still a mystery. I still ate it because it was tasty and I suppose it doesn't really matter. So when our entrees came, mine was purple from the wine in the broth and had pears on top. It was really hot (temperature) and tasted good because it was a bit cool outside. I would order it again even tho, like some of the other things I've had, was not overly flavorful.

I was shopping for a few particular items, but the town was of course touristy and a bit pricey, so after my daily gelato, I decided to wait until the next town for my items and we headed for a walk up to the castle. We hiked up part of the way and while panting, we asked some Germans if it was worth the walk up. They said yes, so we kept going. At the top, it cost 8 euros to get into the castle and I only wanted in to take photos from the top, but the nice man at the counter said there were better shots of the town from outside, so we went back out and took a few shots with all the cameras ;). After a few claps of thunder we headed for the car. We took a few side streets back to the parking lot that were off the beaten path and were obviously residential. They have such beautiful balconies and flowers everywhere, it was fun to walk thru smelling food cooking and hearing their TVs on, music playing, or just the voices of their Italian conversations.

Back to the car we headed down, and despite what Ms. Garmin told us, Guy navigated me back to the main road we came in on. Buzzing along the highway we had about 20 minutes to go before we came to the lake town of Passignano where we were going to pull off and walk around. When we got there, it was drizzling a bit and we drove by the lakefront looking for some shops or somewhere to pull over. As we got to the other side of the town, since it was drizzling, we decided the drive-by had been good enough and we headed for home. Back at the hotel we went to the room and checked our clothes we had hanging. Still kinda damp, so I thought I'd blog again from the laundry (yes very glamorous I know) and put our clothes back into the dryer. Guy sat with me for a bit, but we have dinner reservations at 8pm here at the hotel and he went in to start getting ready. After the clothes switch over, I came up to the room to get ready and Guy went back to the laundry. He figured out the issue with the dryer, so we don't have to babysit it anymore.

Dinner was at the hotel's restaurant called il Melone. The menu is limited, but the place was beautiful and the server was great. We ordered starters. Mine was a pea flan and Guy had ravioli with beans. Both were great but I think mine was better. Then for our main entree Guy had sirloin steak and I had pasta with Wild Boar. It was a very different wild boar than what was on Guy's pasta yesterday. This was a light clear broth on the noodles, but the meat was like tiny pieces of pot roast. VERY good!. For dessert I ordered chocolate mousse with pineapple infused wih peppers. I was hesitant about the peppers, but the waiter assured me the flavors went together beautifully. The chef made it from scratch I think I waited about 30 minutes. In fact, our waiter brought me some cookies to hold me until my main dessert came out (like I needed more food). The cookies that he brought out were twice cooked and were very hard, but you dipped them in a liquor and then ate them. I sat the liquor away from the candle on our table because I was afraid it would set the table on fire (kinda strong). Ok, now comes the sad part. My nose starts to get kinda stuffy - I have been fighting the sinus thing all week. So when my 30 minute dessert (the chef made from scratch and even delivered to my table himself) came out, my taste buds were shot. I would blow my nose and quickly eat a bite (again very glamorous). So Guy had to confirm the pepper in the pineapple, which he said worked nicely with the mousse. After the meal we did a pick up at the laundry and I'm now finishing up the blog. Going to try to get up early tomorrow to knock out a new town and swing by Montepulciano for lunch and my necklace. So I'm going to sign off since it is knocking on midnight and start uploading pictures. You won't see them all until tomorrow probably, so check them again later. P.S. It has been a great day. ;)

Day 6

Today began with beautiful sunshine coming through our windows. I slept like a rock, but needed some medicinal help. That's ok. Sometimes you just have to. So Guy let me sleep in a bit and went down to fix me a breakfast plate that I got to eat in the room. It was de-lish. Sweet croissant, a piece of cake, some yogurt, egg surprise and some juice. I ate EVERYTHING and got ready for the day. We set out for the picturesque hilltop town of Montepulciano. I packed all my camera gear today. My D7000, my D70 that shoots only infrared, my pocket size Canon and my iphone (all were used today) Once we got on the right road, it was a piece of cake to get there. The Garmin is a bust as she tells us the street to turn on but the streets are not marked and most of the time she is wrong. So Guy did it "old school" with maps and street signs. We stopped a couple of times along the way for some photo ops, but they just don't do this scenery justice. Simply breathtaking. So we made our way up to Montepulciano (I was expecting lots of switchbacks, but NONE!) We found a close spot to the town and paid for 3 hours of parking. We walked around the town taking in all the shops and smells and I took several photos from the top. I used my iphone for a panoramic photo from the top and it was really cool. Can't wait to work with some of these images. The infrared have to stay on the camera til I get home. I think I left the gadget to load to my ipad at home. It was bit hazy today, but I have software on my Mac that will clear that up. So between photos ops, I checked out several shops, but the prices are a bit high. I was eyeballing a local made necklace in a shop where the girls let me try it on. It is handmade with a landscape of Tuscany, but all made with local leaves and flowers. Ugh...I want it but I walked away! So we may be driving back by this town tomorrow and I'll go back after I ponder it overnight. :)

We chose a place for lunch called Osteria Del Borgo. It was outside and overlooked the beautiful Tuscan countryside. It was lovely and we were in full sun, which felt just wonderful. If in the shade it was a bit cool. We ate our lunch which consisted of melted cheese with honey and walnuts (we put it on bread like fondue...holy cow) then Guy had potato stuffed ravioli with wild BOAR ragu. :) It was good. I had pasta with duck breast meat/sauce. A bit more bland than Guy's but I'd order it again. Guy had to head down to the car to buy a new ticket in the parking lot because our 3 hours were up. So I paid the bill and worked my way back down thru the shops. I stopped in the shop to try on the necklace I liked and the ladies there were telling me all about the Twilight movie being filmed there. Guy and I were going to go to Volterra on our way to my glass class, but she said it was all filmed here in Montepulciano! She said in Volterra they were giving tours for 50 euros that told people the filming "might" have happened or Rob "might" have been here. So it was a rip off. I asked where the fountain was that Bella ran through. It was a hollywood prop they built. So the "church" Edward came out of was really the Montepulciano town hall. :) So I found all this out as I was walking out of the town, but I got several shots of the square just because it was cool (and looked familiar after I saw several "Edward was here" tshirts). At least I got the scoop before we went to Volterra, but she did say it was still a really cool place to visit.

So as we headed back, we went a different route to hit lake Trasimeno and a town called Castiglione del Lago. It was nice and we walked the main streets. We stopped for a gelato and I've said there IS such a thing as bad gelato, because Rosalie and I experienced bad peach gelato before, but this wasn't bad, just mediocre. Kinda frozen and true gelato should be soft and smooth. I still ate it, but definitely not the best on the trip. Then comes the clap of thunder and the cold wind began to blow. We hightailed it back to the car and decided to head for the hotel. It is already about 5:30 by this time. So we got back and I went downstairs to start downloading pics to my iPad. Guy came down and sat on the computer and surfed for a place to eat dinner. There we met two identical twin ladies from Chicago who we had actually seen the night before in the same restaurant we ate at in Cortona. Guy had told me last night the twins were in our hotel, but we got to visit with them a bit tonight. They are from Chicago and live together. They have stayed at this hotel before. We were talking about the Garmin and theirs isn't helping them too much either. So we told them we think our car's lighter socket is bad and they offered to go out into their rental car and test it. I stayed inside with Mary and Maureen went with Guy out to the car. It worked fine in their cig lighter, so it is our rental. Figures. But at least we know the problem. We decided to have dinner at the same restaurant they were going to because we heard the reception guy telling them about it. They left about an hour before us.

So we went back to the room after I had uploaded my pics and blogged a bit, and got ready for dinner. We decided to put some laundry in and go eat, hoping we were not holding anyone else up when they had finished washing. So we went to the restaurant Cantana Napoli. This was only "30 seconds" from our hotel. I counted and that was about right. We are in what we'd call a suburb of Cortona called Camucia. We got to the restaurant and it was hoppin. I sat at the table, but Guy said hello to the twins as they were just finishing up. We ordered - I wasn't starved so I ordered a calzone stuffed with mozzarella, ham, and tomatoes. Guy ordered fish with potatos. I'll attach pics when I can...uploads are slow today. Mine was cool looking, like no other calzone I've seen before, it was smiling at me. Guy's fish came whole, so the waitress beheaded it for him and took most of the bones out. Everything was really nice. Several tables of locals and several tables of tourists. We fit right in.

Back to the hotel we came to check on the laundry. Yikes, it is STILL GOING! ugh. So Guy went to the room to get my iPad and his kindle and I thought I'd just finish my blog out here and he could sit with me and read. Yeah, like it hasn't even made it to the dryer yet and it is 10:30pm. We'll be up for awhile.

Day 5

Day 5...at dinner Guy and I were trying to find just a single word to describe our day. Frustrating, exasperating, and a few other words were mentioned, but as I type at 9pm, it ended on a fabulous note. So here goes...

We woke up enjoying the final hour at our palace in the Westin. We packed up and said goodbye to all the beautiful square footage we were lucky enough to have been given. We left the hotel and caught a cab to the train station where we were to get our car. The cabbie said there was a strike today, no trains or buses, so we were lucky to be renting a car. As we got to the train station the cabbie overcharged us for the ride, but when questioned he said there was an extra charge for the bags. So be it. We went inside and stood in the lengthy line at the car rental. As I stood in line, I realized the cabbie had not just overcharged us, but he had stolen my leather jacket out of my bag. I had two shopping bags and since it was warm I had just put my coat on the top. Replaying the situation over as we stood in the car line, it was obvious what he did. I tried to help him unload, but he said no for us to stand to the side and he'd get them for us. I didn't even think to look in the shopping bag and his trunk was empty when he picked us up. So no doubt it was not an oversight. *sigh* So as we stand in the FOREVER car line I thought I'd find a restroom, but I walked by the escalators and only saw an elevator, so deciding to wait, I went back to the line. Finally after almost an hour, we were next. As we gave the nice man our paperwork, he pointed out we were at the wrong window and had been standing in vain. We went down to the correct window and no one was waiting, nor had been. So goodbye jacket and goodbye 1 hour of my life I'll never get back. So after we finished up, we asked for a map and directions on how to get out of the city. He said he didn't have a map. Really? You are a CAR RENTAL! They ALWAYS give you a MAP! So I told Guy I needed to go to the bathroom, so I went down the escalator and he stayed with the stuff. So when I found it, I needed a coin to get in, which I didn't have. So I went back up and got turned around, so when I found Guy again I made him go down with me. If you know Guy, he is very quite at this point so he does not explode. After the potty break, we went back up and asked the info center for a map. They said we'd have to find a tobacco shop. So I stayed with the bags and Guy went on the search for a map. Success. So we go to the car and we find that we are totally blocked in on three sides. So Guy went back inside to get the Eurocar dude and he came out. About that time a lady (in Italian) asked us if we were ready to leave as she had us blocked in. Um, yeah, we are ready. So after I figured out how to turn the car on, Guy plugged in the Garmin and off we went. Imagine the most insane drivers on packed, crazy tiny streets and that is downtown Rome today - because of the strike. This, and the fact that I haven't driven a stick shift in almost 2 years, and we just had a REALLY bad start to the day - I was ready for anything. I just said to myself... "we have insurance" and I pressed my foot on the gas.

Just as we made our way through the city to the Autostrada, Ms. Garmin beeps us that the charge is low. We look down and the light on the charger is not on. So we think our car's lighter isn't working as we had used the Garmin several times before the trip. Thank you God for getting us out of the city before this happened. We would not have made it out any other way. So we get on the toll Autostrada and head for our lunch destination. We turned the Garmin off to save power as we had at least 100 kilometers to go. After going for quite some time and seeing no turn off for the lake or Cortona, we realize we had gone about 25 miles too far. So we took the next exit and turned the Garmin back on, hoping we could drain the life out of it - we needed some help at this point. The Garmin was obviously telling us wrong, because we saw a sign for Cortona and she was telling us a different direction. Trusting the road signs, we headed for Cortona on some back roads. It said we were only 20 kilometers away, so we knew we'd find out soon enough if we were heading in the wrong direction. We went ahead and followed the signs and went all the way up to Cortona. It is a fantastic hilltop town but it was raining and I was driving up switchbacks on the hill going up. So needless to say, I was riding on my only remaining good nerve and it was a little one. So we get to the top and have no idea where the heck the hotel is, so we decide to pull over and call. I whip out the iphone and dial. Nothing. I tried again. Nothing. So we are lost, with a Garmin that isn't giving us any help and a phone that doesn't work. *sigh*

So we know the hotel looked as if it were in the country, so we head back down the mountain (a small one, but still..this is my blog and I'll call it what I want). We caught an advertisement for the hotel and catch the name of the road SR171. Low and behold, that was the road we were on, so we just kept going. We stopped at a hotel for directions earlier but the doors were locked *of course they were* so we pulled over at a gas station and the man told Guy it was 3 kilometers on the right. So about 3 kilometers later the heavens opened up and there was our hotel. We check in and take a few deep breaths. The guy at the front desk said he'd try to find a way to charge our Garmin AND the reason the phone didn't work just a few minutes earlier was because they had just had a thunderstorm and the phones were out. Then when we get to the room we see the address on the confirmation was not right. The zip code (or what ever they call it here) was wrong. So needless to say the Garmin wasn't going to work. So as we re-cap our day, we thought we'd just relax at the hotel and recover and have dinner here as the restaurant is supposed to be really super. Well, the restaurant is booked tonight with a private party. You could have probably guessed that one, right? So we decided that since we missed lunch and had just eaten snacks from our backpack, we'd head back up the mountain to Cortona again and sightsee and find a place for dinner. We took an umbrella because the sky was dark and found our way back quite easily. We parked and walked around for a while. The town is charming and there were several shops. I bought a few goodies, but it looked like the restaurants wouldn't open until about 7pm. It was only about 5:30. So we went back to the car and drove around a bit because when we were up there earlier we thought we saw another entrance and we were told to look for an escalator up the side of the mountain (no joke). But when we saw it, it was broken down and was blocked off. Yep. No joke. So we kept driving until we got to the other side. We figured the town was so large we couldn't have possibly seen it all and there were 2 piazzas (squares). So we parked again and went in from the other side of the town. As soon as we walked in we saw this dog...the same dog we had just seen about 15 minutes ago. Yep, we had seen the length of the town. So we walked in and looked at a restaurant. It wasn't going to open for another hour so back in the car to the other side.

Are you exhausted yet? Yeah...so I found this crazy cute chocolate shop and was looking at everything. I bought some chocolate pasta and a few other goodies. The lady there spoke perfect english, so I asked her where we should have dinner. She said I'll show you (she was on Facebook when I was checking out) so she pointed to the restaurant above her shop. We walked around and read the menu. Famished, a dried up piece of bread would have worked. So we went in. They didn't open for another 15 minutes so we waited patiently outside. They closed the door behind us - lol. Promptly at 7 the waiter opened the door and waived for us to come on. Dragging, we sat at this great table in the most beautiful little restaurant. We ordered some Cokes and food. It was truly delicious. (I took some pictures of the town and the food, so I'll spare you the details). After dinner we walked quickly because we were chilled (and I have no coat). The ride back was easy and we now have the path from the hotel to downtown Cortona down pat. I left the room to come down to the lobby area because the internet is better and our room is a bit tight (compared to the Westin where we needed walkie talkies to find each other). *sigh*

So goodnight...I'm sure I'll sleep good tonight. We are both pretty much physically and mentally drained. AND BONUS!!! the guy at the hotel found a plug that charged the Garmin! Woot Woot! We don't know where we are going tomorrow, but I'm sure we'll find it. ;)

Day 4

Day 4 started out a bit slow as sleep didn't find me much last night. We did want to get an early start, so up we got around 8:30. Leaving about an hour later we hopped a cab to the Vatican. We got there early enough to get a front row seat, but decided to shop for souvenirs. We walked through hoards of people going in as we were heading out of Vatican area. We walked to the museum gift shop, but it was closed. Not to worry, there were PLENTY along the way back. We picked up a few things and got a bite to eat. I would have shared my cookie with the Pope, but he was now going to be pretty far away as the masses have arrived. It was a BEAUTIFUL day and even a bit warm in the sun. We waited in an area where we could see a straight shot of the window the Pope would talk from, but he (the Pope) decided to speak from a different window this time. Hey, it's his house...so he can pick what ever window he wants. But now he is out of our good line of vision, but I managed to snap a photo. Feeling a bit like human sardines, we decided to leave before he was completely done and catch a cab to the catacombs before the crowd swarmed the taxi stands.

It was quite a cab ride, so it was well worth the money. Arriving at the Di San Callisto catacombs (the largest of the 16 in Rome) we were there an hour and a half before the first tour, so we were directed down a road to a small town about 6 minutes walk time. We passed a restaurant and we thought we'd check it out. It was beautiful inside and we took a seat outside in a covered area that looked like a garden. The restaurant was called Archeologia and the menu looked great from the outside menu board, but the Sunday lunch menu was apparently a bit more limited. Still ok though, they had gnocchi with shrimp and lime and we were intrigued. We saw several plates of food come out and we saw the gnocchi. Looked delicious, a healthy portion piled up in a bowl. So we each ordered it. While we waited for the food, we went to wash our hands and got to walk through the inside of the restaurant where the kitchen door was open. Peeking inside it was huge and looked very clean. The bathrooms were lovely as well and we were excited about our find. Then comes the food. We each were served a big plate with a tiny bit of gnocchi on it. Staring, we wondered where the rest was, but ate slowly, savoring each delicious bite. As we ate, the locals started pouring in, apparently after church as they were all dressed up, and they began to order. Out comes these huge bowls of gnocchi. Hmmm....*finger to chin* what the heck! Well, as most of you who have traveled to Italy know that there is often a first plate ordered, then a second plate. Portions are not huge for this reason. But when we looked around, the larger portion was just the first plate for everyone else. Theirs served in a large bowl, ours was a tiny portion on a plate. So we figured we got a little tourist treatment, but we were surprised as they seemed friendly. When we got the bill I was thinking there may have been two sizes, but nope, we were each charged 14 euros for our pasta which is about $20 US. Hmmm...*finger to chin* feeling kinda swindled. Two tiny plates of pasta, two cokes and bread (which they bring out when you sit down and bill each person $3 for it) = 42 euros. Close to $60 US. Little did they know they'd be poo pooed in my blog!! :) Don't think it will effect their business tho, I think it was mostly a place for locals.

So it is now almost 2pm and we head back for our catacomb tour. Not too much to get in - 8 euros each, and we get in line for the 2:30 tour. The gentleman standing inside the gate became my source of info, seeing if I thought I could handle the claustrophobic tombs. I did pre-medicate a bit because I didn't want to miss it, but my heart was beating really hard. He told me with his Indian accent that they were well lit, lots of air and I could leave at any time. They did have some pretty strict rules. You couldn't touch anything, no photos, you couldn't leave the group, and a few others. Bummed by not being able to take pictures I put my gear away and stood there listening to my heart beating. Every time the man walked by, he assured me it would be ok. He had me go look down into the exit to get an idea of how far it went down. So I did. Not sure that helped. So he told me he would be our guide and I should be the first in line by him. He would walk me out if I needed to leave. So off we went for the tour and the sweet man never left my side and told me exactly where to stand to be the first out. Throughout the tour he would turn and say "this is the exit". I'm not sure they were, but I think he just meant this is where we go next. The tour was fascinating. He began to tell of how the catacombs were dug out of volcanic rock below the ground to bury Christian martyrs in the 300ADs. This was when the Christian persecution was at its worst. When the catacombs were discovered by the Romans, they'd often raid it when they knew Christians were inside holding services. Sometimes they killed them, tortured them, or enslaved them for life. The Di San Callisto is the largest of the 16 catacombs in Rome and went on for 12 miles underground, with twisting turning tunnels that were anywhere from 30 to 90 meters deep. It held 500,000 Christian bodies. Through the years it had been raided and the bones were taken, but when recovered they were moved to a different location. At one time it had held the bodies of 18 popes. It had original frescos that dated back to 300ish AD. Each tomb had a marble covering with the name of the dead inscribed on it. Most marble name coverings were destroyed by the barbarians, but some original pieces remained, inscribed in Greek as that was the language of the church in the 3rd Century, before it became latin. The tombs laid empty and were forgotten for 1000 years, then in the late 1800s they were rediscovered. You were not allowed to go without a guide because it was too "dangerous" our guide told some folks standing by me. Then he turned to me and said "only because you can get lost". He figured the word "dangerous" wasn't good to say around me. But I could see why. And at one point when the walkway was really narrow he gave strict instructions to walk single file and stay really close to the person in front of you. There were so many off-shoots of rows of tombs I could see where you might get in and couldn't find your way out. That was pretty scary - 12 miles of scary. The guide said when the Romans would raid the tombs, the Christians could easily hide because of the many paths. Sometimes they'd stay hidden for an entire day. The temperature of the tombs stays consistent all year at a damp cool 51 degrees. We were taken through the oldest part of the tombs that dated back to 300AD, but obviously there were years and years of digging with picks and baskets of rock being lifted out to create such a huge tomb. The had of God was involved I would say. Later it was used as a burial spot for Christians even after the persecution, and the 5 families that owned the land the tombs were under paid for those who were too poor the cover the cost of the burial. Lots of tiny tombs of children as well. Quite fascinating indeed.

After we emerged from the tombs, I hit the gift shop for some post cards and Guy asked about transportation out. All the way there he kept saying "how are we going to get back to the city" because it was quite a cab ride there. But there was a public bus we could catch. We told the lady we still wanted to see the Appian way. The first road built leaving the city of Rome. The road that Peter was on as he left Rome. Local legend says Peter saw Jesus on this road and Peter asked Jesus where he was going. Jesus said "back to Rome to be crucified again". This is when Peter turned around and went back into the city where he faced death on the cross. So we didn't want to miss this road. The lady in the shop told us the road was walking distance. After she explained where it was, that was the road we had just walked to find lunch. It wasn't the part of the Appian Way with the original stones, but she said we were quite a distance from that area. We opted not to try to find it and were satisfied that we had at least walked a portion of this historical road. Perhaps in the future we'll seek out the little church that was built in the spot where Peter was supposed to have seen Jesus.

We hopped the 218 bus back into town and then caught the subway to the station closest to our hotel. Our legs were sore from yesterday and we were zapped, so we came back to the room, washed up and headed for the huge park across the street for some gelato and some relaxation. Well,the park was packed. Mini horse and buggies, a kiddie train, skate boarders, roller bladers, bikers, and even people on Segways. We decided to eat our gelato (not the best we have had) and head back to our room and put some chairs out on our balcony. We did just that and after it got a bit chilly, we came in so I could finish my blog and Guy opted for a nap. I wouldn't dare nap...I need to be sleepy tonight and try to get some rest. Oh yes, I forgot to mention the fabulous bakery we passed on the way back from the park where I got a cannoli, a cookie and an apple tort. The cannoli made it about 5 minutes...but the cookie is for after supper and the apple tort is for breakfast. I'm a girl with a plan. ;)

So we are still deciding where to eat supper. We'd like to try the pizza at the il Pomodorino, but hate to eat at the same place again. Guy just woke up from his nap and has decided he is hungry. So we are going to venture out for our last meal in Rome - will report back shortly. - Ok, reporting back. We went by a seafood restaurant but chose the relaxed atmosphere of il Pomodorino again. We had the most adorable waiter, an older gentleman with a great sense of humor. He joked with us about "Italian American" food. He laughed at Carmela from the Sopranos when she made chicken parmigiano. He said "there is no such thing, plus I haven't seen spaghetti and meatballs in a restaurant since I was like 7 years old". LOL Guy told him his Grandparents were from Sicily and he said "Sicily is not Italy, Sicily is like the Sopranos"! Finally after we had finished all we could eat, we had to order the profiteroles because that is our favorite dessert and this is the first place we have see them on the menu. We asked our waiter for profiteroles and he said "no" because we didn't eat all our pizza. He was funny. Then when he brought out the dessert, there was a small spoon for Guy and a giant spoon for me. He made our trip back worthwhile.

So now my belly is full and I'm SUPER sleepy tonight. I hope we get a good nights rest. This is our last night in our AMAZING suite at the Westin. We've decided all we need is a kitchen and we could live here. So farewell fast paced lifestyle of Roma and hello Tuscan countryside. Tomorrow the road trip begins. Woot!