Italy. Saturday, 6/28/14

Our last full day in Italy (this trip). A pretty easy day.  One thing that we did notice, was that Parma was smack-dab in the middle between Bologna and Milan!

Parma, of course, is famous for Parma Ham and Parmigiano Cheese.  We just had to stop there on route to Milan.  

We did a little research enroute, hoping to be able to stop and tour a farm producing Parmesan cheese but found that they are only open for tours on weekdays. The tourist industry doesn't seem to interest them at all. 

We did stop in Parma to have a look around.  Definitely an old town, much of which has been unaffected by time.  Quite an interesting place with curved streets that appear to have been built to surround the central Duomo.  We need to look more into the history… 

Stopping in a couple of meat and cheese shops, the smells were absolutely wonderful.  If only we could bring a ham and wheel of cheese as carry on's!

Off of the Autostrade for the rest of the way to Milan was considerably slower but gave another chance to enjoy the Italian countryside.  There doesn't seem to be an "urban" area anywhere in the parts of Italy that we have toured.  It's either city or farmland.  Immediately out of the city it turns instantly rural. 

We got to chatting with a couple of Ausie chaps at the hotel.  Nice guys.  We spent most of the evening talking about travels and Australia.  We were invited to get it touch with if/when we get "down under"; we extended a similar invitation.  Hope to see them again one day. 

Heading home tomorrow.  It seems like both a long time gone and a quick trip in some respects.  I think our approach to seeing Italy from Rome, north, with the guided tour and our own sight seeing worked well.  I would use that method again. 

See you soon. 

Arrivederci!

Italy. Friday, 6/27/14

We are on the move yet again.  Only from Florence to Bologna this time, however, we selected a route that took us through Maranello and Modena.  Why, you ask?  Well, that just happens to be the homes of the Ferrari factory and of Enzo Ferrari himself!  

Probably not of interest to anyone but car geeks, but to me, a big deal.  Dream car of mine since I first saw the style and understood the performance of these pieces of rapidly moving artwork.  

We toured both the factory museum and the Enzo Ferrari Museo in his childhood home, as well as take the factory and test track tour.   All in all nice, but I was thinking it would be more spectacular.  It IS a must do for a car enthusiast.  

Finally hit Bologna about 6:00 PM, found an Irish pub here too and are off to find some dinner. 

Tomorrow is our final stop.  We're heading back in Milan to the same hotel as on our tour.  It is close to the airport and will allow us to return the little Fiat we have been driving and get ready for our flight back across the pond. 

Italy. Thursday, 6/26/14

What's cooking!  This morning we took our cooking class in Florence, in the Center of Tuscany.  Very well done class. I think everyone in our class learned plenty plus we had a great meal bearing the fruits of our labor.  We were in a small group of 9, so a rather intimate group, all very interesting people. A couple from New Zealand, two ladies from Leads, England, two sisters originally from Cuba, now in Miami and Utah, a gal from California currently hiking around Europe as well as us two. 

We first met the tour company reps at a pre-arranged Piazza.  From there we were then taken to meet our chef/ instructor, Francesco.  Francesco is a passionate and knowledgable young man who has tremendous skills and was able to convey his knowledge very well.  

Close to where we met, there is a huge market that opens about 5:00AM so all of the locale establishments can buy their fresh meats, cheeses and vegetables to prepare for today's faire.  It's all organic and local.  The smells were wonderful!   Mushrooms, carrots, fruit.  Amazing smells. 

Our chef gave us an in depth tour, letting us know what a commercial chef would go through every day, looking for particular qualities in what they were buying. 

We learn some things about fish and octopus, about different meats and talked quite a bit about steaks from two different types of cows that they raise locally.  We did have samples of black and white truffles as well as olive oils and balsamic vinegars. 

We walked a bit to the cooking school and began preparing our meal. 

Our menu:

Tomato Bruschette

Fresh Egg Pasta with Ortolana Sauce

Polpettone Al. Forno

and Panna Cotta with Strawberry Sauce for desert. 

Excellent meal and a great experience.  Our dinning room was the 600 year old cellar of the building.  Things concluded around 3:00 so Janet and I took a stroll around Florence and did a little window shopping.  

By around 5:00, we found ourselves standing in front of a small Irish Pub that we had discovered the previous night. The World Cup USA vs Germany would be starting in about an hour.  After watching the US loose, we called it a night. 

Italy. Wednesday, 6/25/14

Another day, another few hundred  kilometres…

We left Genoa this morning, heading toward Pisa and finally Florence.  Pisa was only about 100 miles by Autostrade and Florence wasn't all that much further.  Easy day, no?  …not so much. 

We did have all day… Rather than take the easy way, we decided to take the surface streets through all of the towns in between us and Pisa.  Wise choice.  Pisa is in the same direction as La Spezia that we stopped short of yesterday.  Well, we didn't see it today either but we drove through most of the cities that we blasted by on the train, yesterday.  

Oh my, amazing, those towns we didn't see much of yesterday.  Roads were tons of fun too.  Some of the roads would be little more than sidewalks in the U.S.  The towns as I have mentioned, are sitting between mountainous outcroppings.  The train goes through those outcroppings where the road follows the rugged contour, just barely cut into the hillside.  Slow, but one of the most scenic and fun drives we have ever taken.  Note: Need to do this same route on a motorcycle some day. 

On the Autostrade the drive would have taken short of an hour and one half.  We spent about 5-1/2 hours driving, including giving up driving the twisties and heading to the Autostrade about 2:00ish in the afternoon so we could actually reach the destinations we have planned.  

About 1:30 we began to get a little hungry for some lunch.  The thought was to find a small market and get some bread, cheese and some of that marvellous salami they make.  We could have a bite while we traveled!  No market was obvious on the main street through the towns until we saw a sign for a "super market" (in Italian of course).  We stepped one foot inside when a very determined lady excitedly rattled off something to the effect: "getta you ass outa here, we closed for lunch. We open at 4:00."   Our mistake.  Italy does close down from about 1:00-4:00 for their lunch break.  Luckily, some restaurants remain open.  

A couple of towns down, we found a great place, right on the ocean.  A caprese salad and a seafood medially were perfect.  

Firsts scheduled stop was in Pisa to see the Museo de Piaggio.  Piaggio manufactures trucks and both Piaggio scooters and Aprilla motorcycles.  Piaggio has been around for years.  It would have been interesting to see….   The GPS did do its job well but once we reached the address, we couldn't find the museum. Although we did ask someone, and received excellent directions in "full-speed Italian", we failed to  find the sign.  That is, until we had given up and were stuck on a parkway without a means to turn around.  Oh well, this one wasn't a big deal and we might have time to come back later anyway.   On to Florence!

We took an easy route to Firenze. Average speed was just over 80, pacing traffic.  Once we descended into town, we found the familiar congestion.  Amazing how well all of this works.  I think every person, at least in the Seattle area, should be required to spend a month, in rush hour, in a typical sized Italian city before they can earn their drivers license.  

When congestion happens, which is all the time, no one sits there with a stupid look on their face, waiting for traffic to clear.  Intuitively, they find a path around, then proceed on their way.  No one gets excited unless you stop and don't go around or otherwise block someone's progress. That is, unless you double park almost anywhere and apply the emergency flashers.  Let us not forget too, that while all of this is taking place, scooters are passing you left, right and virtually over the top, from both directions, simultaneously.  Pedestrians as well.  Crossing streets without notice. You better not hit one!   Pandemonium that somehow flows beautifully.  Keeps you busy but makes you keep your eyes open too….  I rather enjoy it. 

We arrived at our first B&B.  Oddly with B but not Breakfast.  Oh well. Charming lady (Emily) owns the place.  They do have limited parking available.  First time I have ever parked a car in a garage (single car, not commercial parking garage type).

  

We have booked what should be a pretty nice cooking class tomorrow.  Navigating the thousands of streets, especially in a city of this size can be, no, IS a challenge. We thought that since we were planning on walking there tomorrow anyway, it would be a good idea to familiarise ourselves by going to the meeting spot tonight. 

Piece of cake!  Got there without a hitch and only about 15 minutes away.  By now it was getting pretty thirsty out.  As tonight's goals had been met, we headed to a pub.  In this particular case, an Irish Pub just outside the Piazza.  WC Soccer was on again so we helped the other patrons cheer on Argentina. 

Had steak for dinner tonight.  Not bad.  It was advertised on a reader board we saw, walking back.  Our waiter spoke Spanish and English very well. Probably other languages too.  I know more Spanish than Italian, so we had a little fun in Spanish. 

Italy. Tuesday, 6/24/14

We are on our way to Cinque Terra.  Today's first challenge was to get to the train station, find the correct train, purchase tickets for it and find the platform.  Include in that process too, getting off at the intended location.  

A cab ride from the hotel to the train station was fairly straight forward once we communicated to which train station we wanted to go to. 

We went to a ticket counter to purchase tickets so we could ask the questions we had regarding location, schedule, etc.  The other option would be to use the fast ticket machines if you knew what you were doing.  

The gentleman at the ticket counter was very helpful and in fact suggested we go to Monterosso rather than La Spezia as we had originally planned.  Monterosso is the first of the villages of Cinque Terra.  Though we were somewhat confused about which platform to catch the train, we did manage to board the correct train after just a short wait. 

There wasn't a tremendous amount of scenery on the way.  What we could see was beautiful.  Small towns sitting in the valleys between rugged mountainous hillsides.  About 80% of the trip was in tunnels through those mountainous hillsides.  Every once in a while you'd pop out of a tunnel and once your eyes adjusted to the light, you would either be back in the next tunnel or see a pretty little town.  The train would stop every so often. Sometimes at a station in one of those small towns or seemingly anywhere it needed to, to wait for another train to pass so they could throw a switch. 

Monterosso is spectacular.  As advertised, carved into a hillside and charming.  There are actually 2 parts to it.  A newer side and the old original side.  We hiked around the old part for a bit and finally grabbed a bite to eat. 

In looking at the ferry schedule it didn't look as though we could see too many of the 5 towns before we would need to catch our return train.  We opted to see just the next town up, Vernazza.  After all, how much charm can a person take anyway?

I hope that qualifies as me, taking Janet on a Mediterranean cruise!

Vernazza is supposed to be one of the most picturesque towns of Cinque Terra.  Sitting in a small bay and continuing up the steep hillside, colorful buildings dot the landscape.  Really very striking. 

A little hike up and around and through the town to enjoy the surroundings and appreciate how difficult it must have been to create such a place. 

Soon, on the ferry back and moments later on our train back to Genoa. 

We later learned that the boats were unable to dock at two of the cities due to the rough water so we only missed seeing one other city today. 

Back in Genoa.  We had walked a short distance down an interesting looking this morning while we were waiting for the train.  We thought we would explore more of it this evening.  Before we knew it, we were back in "old town".  A place we enjoyed last night.  Another World Cup soccer game was on so all the bars were crammed inside and out, cheering on Italy (who unfortunately lost).  We found a spot at a crooked table outside a bar and ordered up a refreshment.  

Bars commonly serve you some chips, peanuts or olives with your drinks.  Not sure if it's because of the soccer games and trying to attract more people than the bar next door or what, but the last couple of nights we have had our dinner eating the variety of snacks served with our beverages. 

Tomorrow we hop back in to the car and head for Florence.  

Italy. Monday, 6/23/14

We have been in three countries today. One of which is the 2nd smallest country in the world, Monaco.  In fact, on this trip, we have been in both the smallest (the Vatican) and the 2nd smallest countries.  We were also in France for a brief period and we find ourselves now in Genoa, Italy.  Birth place of Christopher Columbus. 

As we left Turin this morning, we pointed the GPS toward Monaco.  The thought was that since we were so close to where the Grand Prix du Monaco is held, we would go there so I could drive the streets where the actual race takes place. 

Our GPS wanted us to take the A10 tollway.  I forced our electronic travel guide to selected a different route that had us traveling the country roads, through the Mediterranean Alps, to the coast and finally to Monte Carlo.  It was an awesome drive.  Switchbacks twisting back and forth, sending us up and over the mountains and through numerous villages carved into the hillsides. Some Italian, some French.  All with their own distinct personality.  Some of the most beautiful countryside you'll ever see. 

Monte Carlo is an absolute zoo!  Some of the heaviest traffic I have ever seen, on the narrowest streets you could imagine, all in the windiest hillside with intersections coming at you from every direction.  Many even look as though you're about to turn down a sidewalk the in fact is a street.  Beautiful and all high end however. 

The GPS insisted we turn down a street that was closed due to construction, but we did manage to work our way down to where the streets of the GP are, in spite of it.  

I turned onto about the middle of the main and headed in the proper direction.   As we approached the first turn, I made sure I was in a lane close enough to the curb to turn.  Up the hill towards the casino, I took the wrong fork and soon realized we would have to add another couple of hours to our visit to Monaco if we were to try it again. We had already spent far too much time, stuck in traffic, getting as far as we did. 

We decided to head back up the hill and head toward Genova.  We had a flavor of the experience I was after and it was good enough to give us a good memory.   

It was early afternoon, well, almost mid afternoon by the time we hit the A10 to Genoa and found ourselves a little hungry.  We took a detour down to a town on the Mediterranean in search of a snack on the beach.  

San Ramo was perfect.  A well kept town with a classic beachfront area.  Not hard to find a place serving good seafood and a little refreshment.  Finished satisfying our appetites, we head to tonight's destination.  

Genova appears to have a history as old as anywhere we have been so far.  A noticeable amount of litter however.  Everywhere else had been surprisingly clean. In spite of that, so far a nice place.  Traffic as bad as, no, worse than you can possibly imagine, but not any different than any other Italian town.

Driving in it, gives you a sense of why Italians are an excitable bunch.  Lines marking lanes are merely a suggestions and otherwise meaningless.  Scooters and motorcycles by the millions dash here and there, between lanes and anywhere else that their mirrors just might squeeze by.  Cars parked, or double parked. Doesn't seem to matter. As long as traffic can soon flow, weaving around obstacles, it seems to work.  Just be sure you know where you are going because there is no time to look…just go!  

Once checked in we headed to the old part of town.  The piazza de Ferrari.   We hopped on the Metro Bus after find a little about how it works.  We bought 100 minutes of tickets each.  Now, whether that's one day or until we use the time is not clear (yet).   We found a Metro bus stop and through our dumbfounded looks and stupid questions, soon saw the appropriate bus approaching from the correct direction.  In no time we were surprised to be where we had intended to be. 

Piazza de Ferrari is hugh with stunning buildings surrounding a lovely fountain.  Just beyond the Piazza we discovered a maze of the tiniest alleyways teaming with small shops, interrupted by a church every so often.  We had a good wander around, getting a flavor of the area.  Seems to be a large mixture of ethnic groups. 

Down one alleyway we heard cheering and gaiety that only a World Cup soccer match could muster.  Behold!  We found a nice little bar with throngs of patrons cheering on Chile (against the Netherlands).  What could we do but join in and help cheer while Chile lost 0-2.  Good sports, all.  In good spirits in spite of the defeat. 

After a bit, back on the bus, headed back to the hotel.  Tomorrow we'll try to get to La Spezia and Cinque Terra. 

Italy. Sunday, 6/22/14

Our guided tour of Italy has now concluded and we have now set out on our own.  

We found ourselves up and ready early enough to catch a 7:00 tour bus ride to the airport. Hertz was to open about 15 minutes after we found their counter so it was a short wait until we were heading out of the airport, pointed toward Torino in our Fiat 500 (Cinquecento).  

A easy adjustment to driving in Italy is to begin in the countryside on a quiet Sunday morning.  We stayed off of the Autostrade for quite a few kilometers and only had to avoid bicyclists and gaze at the charming countryside.  Once we did finally join the toll road it was a pretty quick trip to our destination. 

First stop was at the Museo Nazionale Dell'Automobile (The National Automobile Museum).  Again, we arrived a few minutes before it opened. 

The museum has a beautiful display of the history of the car with an emphases of the contributions by the Italians.  Well worth seeing.  

A little lunch at a most unusual Ristorante Pizzeria run by a Chinese family. It was however patronized by locals so we thought we would give it a try.  Caprese salad and a mushroom and octopus in a light sauce.  (Obviously we didn't understand the menu so we thought we'd just give "whatever" a try…).  Both were quite good. Janet even enjoyed both!  

We arrived at our hotel for the night, in the mid-afternoon.  After checking in, I was able to catch the last half of the F1 race in Austria.  Following that we just kicked back while I caught up on the blog.  It has been so busy for the last week and a half, it feels great to slow down a little bit. 

Hopefully the problems with internet access have been solved.  We rented a Hotspot with the car so we should have access most anywhere we go. 

The hotel that we are staying in does not have a restaurant but did have recommendations for some near by places.  One highest on their list was Scannabue Ristorante.  A short walk from our hotel.  They open at 7:30PM for dinner (that are a late night bunch here!) so that's what we made reservations for.  

While we were on our way to the restaurant, a little early anyway, we walked past a cute little bar (La Choza).  Well, we didn't walk very far past until we decided a drink before dinner wouldn't be a bad thing. 

Funky little place.  Tom Waits was playing on the music system.  Tequila and Rum bottles lined the walls.  A friendly staff of 2, saw to our needs even as we butchered the Italian language.  

Finally to our restaurant, we were at a loss as to what to order.  Struggling to understand our waiter, we finally conveyed that we would like to try more local faire.  Soon we were enjoying an excellent bottle of a local wine accompanied by a "sampler plate for 2". 

An absolutely fabulous dinner that began with some steak tartare, then a dried Cod mixed with mashed potatoes on some sort of oil (truffle…?), soon raviolis (veal, rabbit and fish) topped with cheese and butter that had an aroma you wanted to put your face into.  Finally braised veal cheek with mashed potatoes.  The food may sound unusual but it was amazingly good.  A perfect dinner to celebrate our anniversary. 

We didn't see enough of Turino.  They have a historic section with the chapels and piazza's like we have seen in many cities.  The Shroud of Turin should be around here too.  It was nice to have an easy day.  We'll just have to see all of that next time.