A Little Bit of News

It snowed this week.  I'm always thrown a little when there is snow in March.  I know the first day of spring is more than a week away, but for some reason I feel we should be having warmer, not colder, weather.  I think it's the little sneak peaks of spring- one or two days of nice weather, tricking you into thinking "Ah! It's here!" and then the next day it snows.  "Just kidding.  You better get that puffy coat and gloves back out.  You put them away too soon....again!" 

Other news, we're hosting this weekend!  Michael's cousin, John, and his wife, Beth, are in route as I type this.  We're planning to visit the markets, sample/taste some local wines, and head to Venice.  I'll tell you all about it next week.  Until then, hope you have a nice weekend!  If you drink some Italian wine or eat a pizza, think of me.  I'll be doing the same!   

Toscana: San Gimignano

Rolling hills topped with Tuscan villas surrounded by vineyards and olive groves...


These are the words that come to mind for many when they think of Tuscany.  I can now say that's exactly what I think too... I can only imagine that it's even more beautiful in the spring or summer when everything is lush and blooming.

On our way back to Vicenza, we stopped in the hill town San Gimignano.  It's been described as picturesque but also a little touristy.  Luckily, we found it during the off season.  Surprisingly, it felt a little sleepy.  It's notorious for its remaining towers and great wine including Chiani and Vernacia di San Gimignano. 

We explored the cute streets and hiked up to a park surrounded by olive trees with an amazing overlook over the surrounding hills.

   

Michael even made friends with a sweet cat.

For lunch, we stopped at a lovely enotecca (wine bar), La Grotta Ghiotta.  We dined on a tasty bruschetta with pecorino cheese and olives along with some Chianti.  Afterwards, we had a lengthy tasting of San Gimignano's Chianti and Rosso di Montalcino.  We also tried some Chianti jelly smeared across slivers of pecorino.  Let me just say, it was divine!  We ended the meal with Vin Santo, a dessert wine with almond biscotti for dipping.  It was a fun experience and we drank some of the best wine we've ever tasted.  We came home with more than a few bottles...

We especially enjoyed our weekend exploring Toscana and hope we'll have the chance to visit one more time in the spring...

Toscana: Siena

We did it.  We went on another adventure!  The weather here this past weekend was wonderful- bright, sunny, and in the low 60's.  We've heard such great things about the beauty of Siena and the hill towns of Tuscany that we decided to take advantage of the early glimpse of spring and make a visit.

Saturday, we woke up super early and drove down to Siena.  We were there by lunch time and spent the afternoon wandering the medieval streets. 

I understand now why everyone raves about Siena.  The streets are small and winding, and also mostly limited to pedestrians. Everything is picturesque.   It's also unbelievably clean.  There was little to no trash or graffiti, creating very pleasant surroundings. 

The main piazza, Il Campo, is just magnificent.  The city hall and tower made me think of a gigantic medieval Lego set.  There is also a beautiful fountain.  The weather brought out many who were also lounging and socializing. We sipped glasses of Chianti and Vernaccia di San Gimignano while taking in the beautiful buildings and people.

While sipping, we gabbed about the Palio di Siena that happens twice each year in this exact square.  It was hard to imagine the square packed full of sweaty people in the heat and humidity of July and August to watch the world's most exciting horse race.  The outer ring is lined with dirt and mattresses are even put up on the walls.  There is a horse and jockey team with an animal mascot for each neighborhood.  The first horse to make it three times around the square wins.  I happened to catch some video footage from the 2005 Palio later at the hotel.  I was surprised at how emotional the people were.  It's a lively and exciting tradition that seems very personal to the people of Siena.

Later in the afternoon we visited the Duomo.  The exterior had a mix of Romanesque columns and arches and Gothic spires.  The inside and outside walls were lined with white and green striped marble.  

The she-wolf image with Romulus and Remus was present everywhere- both as sculptures and marble inlaid in the floor. Apparently, it is one of the symbols of Siena.  I found this unusual because I've always associated the she-wolf icon with Roma.

The dome in the center of the cathedral was painted with an optical illusion- it appeared 3-D and sculptured although it was simply a flat fresco.








The walls and ceiling of the Piccolomini Library (a side chapel off the main church) were beautifully frescoed. I was impressed by the 3-D effects created by the artist Pinturicchio.  The colors and gold of the paint were brightly illuminated by the natural sunlight coming in through the windows.  This room was radiant and warm and I thought there was a striking contrast between it and the darker, colder interior of the rest of the church. 

For dinner, we ventured away from Il Campo and found a wonderful osteria called Taverna di San Giuseppe.  I really loved the interior and ambiance.  It had a grotto feeling that was rustic but dressy with modern touches.  And the food- amazing!  For my primo, I had pasta with pumpkin, saffron, and leeks.  Michael had pasta with artichokes, leeks, and Gorgonzola. We even had enough courage to order a local Tuscan speciality for our secondo- wild boar!  Michael said it reminded him of slow roasted pork.  We ended the meal with the best tiramisu we've ever had.

We strolled hand in hand back through Il Campo to our hotel.  Ahhhhh.  We, too, now looooooove Siena.

Some additional photos...

The fountain in Il Campo

Duomo with Bell Tower and Dome

She-wolf sculpture plus beautiful ornate marble

A handsome tourist

Come back tomorrow for details of our visit to one of the hill towns.

London Calling

This time last year hubby and I were returning from a trip to London.  We hopped on a cheap and very short flight (2 hours, yay!) and met Eddie for a long weekend.  It was our first adventure outside of Italy and we've been addicted to exploring Europe ever since. 

Some highlights...

Westminister Abbey
Massive and beautiful, with many neat tombs and tons of history.

Big Ben

Iconic and intricate.  I couldn't help but think of the scene in European Vacation when Clark Griswald is stuck in a traffic circle and keeps calling out "Big Ben, Houses of Parliament" over and over, every time they pass them.   "Big Ben, kids!"

Trafalgar Square

Very lively square with artists, street performers, and on-lookers.  There were tons of lion statues and tourists possing with them... 

National Gallery
Free.  Unheard of for my museum experience in Italy.  Incredible art including a large exhibit featuring Picasso.  It was lit up beautifully at night with projections of his work. 

The Eye
Gigantic ferris wheel that makes one revolution every half hour.  We rode at dusk and were treated to the sunset and amazing views of London from the top including Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, and the Thames.

The Tower of London
History and medieval architecture everywhere.  The crown jewels are on display here with guards posted outside.  They are elaborate and maybe a little excessive...

Tower Bridge
Another icon of London.  We did the ultimate but fun cliche - riding over it in a red double-decker bus.

The Underground
Mind the Gap.

Many, many pubs
Beer is expensive in Italy and not so good unless it is imported, say from.... Germany.  It was nice have to "cheaper" and beter beer options.  I noted that it was very smooth and easy to drink.  The wooden beams/paneling was a classic recurring pub theme and provided that homey feeling matching perfectly with good friends and good beer.
 

Foto Solo: Bologna

 

View Larger Map

Best Hotels

So after digusting you with the worst, I feel it's only polite to share with you the best.

Trip Advisor's 2010 Travelers' Choice Awards
Ah. That's better. Much better.


Some highlights...

I've never been to Jamaica, but this place makes me want to visit! 
The Caves

Portugal anyone?
Britania Hotel

The Amalfi Coast is definitely on my travel wish list....
Pellegrino Pensione

And Prague.  I've heard great things.  Four of the ten hotels in the "luxury" category are in Prague.  Now I really want to go. 
Golden Well

Even though it didn't make the list and definitely should have, the boutique hotel Casa Isabel in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico continues to receive amazing reviews.  We stayed here on our honeymoon and were completely amazed.  
Casa Isabel 
This vacation marks the beginning of my travel mania...and maybe the beginning of food snobbery...

  

Worst Hotels

For me, the thought of staying in a disgusting hotel ruins the vacation. This is exactly why I plan and research hotels soooo much. I don't need the most luxurious accommodations- just clean and not gross. Good service is nice, too. Luckily, there's Trip Advisor (and Rick Steves) to help with the process.

Trip Advisor's 2010 Top 10 Dirtiest Hotels
Ewwwwww.

(For the United States, #3 and #4 are in Virginia Beach!)

Some highlights....

Foreboding but funny review titles

• Cradle of Filth!
• UUUGGGHHH!!!
• WORST HOTEL I HAVE EVER STAYED I MEAN EVEEEER!!!
• hell

A few lines from reviews

• "Everything has a foul odor, including you once you check out."
• "My husband and I now use the title 'The Cat Pee Hotel' to refer to this place."
• "Avoid like the plague."
• "I remember sleeping on the sheets in my sleeping bag."
• "If hell has a hotel, this is it. I'm not surprised to hear it's on the dirtiest hotel list on Trip Advisor."
  
  

And these... you just have to read them. I can't even begin to summarize...UNBELIVEABLE!

Never again
"My boyfriend and i needed a quick place to stay for the night and i remembered seeing the Tropicana hotel online-the pictures seemed like a nice, clean, organized establishment. WRONG. well, we called to make a reservation & the guy at the front desk said that the computer system was down he would call us back in a few minutes confirming our reservation. We went and got dinner for about an hour and still no contact. I called back again & he said the systems were still down, however it would be back up shortly. We arrived an hour later to find the systems still down. The manager took our credit information which we were ok with & were understanding with the situation. We were then asked to sign a paper stating that we would not smoke in the hotel and so forth. HAHA. Since the computer system was down-they gave us a master key to the room instead of the usual key card. By this time, we were getting a little antsy. As we proceeded to our room, they realized they gave us the wrong key, so we can to come back down the hall to get another and proceeded to the elevator. The elevator looked like a service elevator. My own boyfriend preferred the stairs before getting on it but we took it anyway. As soon as we got off all you could smell was smoke which was funny because we both had to sign no smoking papers. It was like walking into an enclosed bar with absolutely no ventilation. We got to the door & put the key in to unlock it-i am not lying with the lock itself almost feel out the door handle....that's real comforting. I did not feel safe at all. As soon as we got into the room, we noticed mildew all over the walls, toilet, tub, vents...EVERYWHERE imaginable. Cigarette burns were all over the carpet...we had to leave. The staff was nice enough to give us a refund and they were at least helpful through the whole ordeal but that hotel either needs to be bulldozed down or needs MAJOR renovations. Even after leaving the hotel, we reeked of smoke. If you have kids and or are worried about secondhand smoke-stay as far as you can from this establishment. We ended up going to the Holiday Inn-it was a bit more pricey-but worth the expense."



Peeping Tom
"A member of the staff is a peeping tom! When we checked in, the Manager offered us a free upgrade to the 'Honeymoon Suite'. It was a set up. The 'Honeymoon Suite' had a vacant room next door that was 'under construction'. I was undressed to get into my swimsuit and heard breathing. I felt someone staring at me. I looked under the big gap under the adjoining room door. I saw eyes looking back at me! I freaked out and my husband (we were newlyweds) looked under the door and the guy was still there. We called the front desk and they send Maintenance up. Maintenance said there was no one next door because it was vacant. He knocked on the door to prove his point and, low and behold, the Manager answers! Needless to say that the Maintenance man was dumbfounded, my husband almost beat the Manager's butt and I felt violated. I had to fight to get my money back. Then I struggled to find another place, but everywhere had two night minimums. I hysterically described what happened to the 2 desk clerks at the Howard Johnson's next door. They ended up letting me rent for 1 night and told me that isn't the 1st time they've heard that the Manager at the Tropicana is a pervert!"