Napoli and the coast

From Rome we caught a short two hour train to Naples.  There we met a friend of mine who I haven't seen since high school, Amanda and stayed with her and her family for two nights.  There might have been squealing in the train station when we saw each other, I can't remember.

Not the night we met, but a good example of Napoli pizza

We stopped at a pizza place that Amanda loves on the way home to get good Napoli thin crust pizza, chicken, and several amazing caprese salads.  We didn't get home until well after 11pm and it was well past bedtime for us.

In the morning we met Amanda's two sons, Caden, age 6 and Jack, age 4 (they are adorable but sadly I didn't get any pictures of them). They are very vibrant, talkative kids full of energy and not afraid of strangers.  I was immediately set to playing dinosaurs with Jack while Caden was avoiding his homework by pointing out every picture to me within arms reach.  Amanda left to drop them off at school while Andy and I did a much needed load of laundry.

When Amanda came back we headed to the ferry station to catch a boat to Ischia.  We barely missed the 2:30 ferry so we had time to eat more Napoli pizza across the road from the ferry station while we waited.  Once on the island, Amanda had to immediately turn around and catch the next ferry to pick up her boys from school (she would have had more time if the ferry hadn't been running late).  Andy and I walked to a castle that is on an island off of Ischia, which was a gorgeous hike through this mountainous island.  After getting gelato we did a small harbor walk around the ferry station before catching the last ferry back to Naples.

Amanda picked us up from the ferry station with her two sons and we stopped at the same pizza place close to her house as the night before to pick up dinner to bring home and eat.

The next morning we met Sean, Amanda's husband.  We all spent the morning swapping stories and hanging out until Amanda, Andy and I left to drive the Amalfi Coast (the boys had a play date and we couldn't fit everyone into one car anyways).  The drive is an amazing coastal road along the mountainous edge of Italy overlooking the Mediterranean coast.

We made many stops along the way, including lunch in Positano.

The drive from the end of the Amalfi coast to Naples passed by Mount Vesuvius and if we had more time we could have driven to the top to do a little hike around.  Sadly my reunion with my high school friend was short and sweet and soon we were whisked away on a train back to Rome to catch a plane to Budapest.

The endless maze that is the Vatican museum

For our last day in Rome we all decided to see the Sistine Chapel.  It was a hard decision since the tickets are expensive and there are reports of the line being hours long to get in.  A lot of services are offered to expedite the line waiting, for an extra 4 euro per person, but we weren't keen on that idea.  After doing a little research it turns out that the entrance to the Vatican museum (where the Sistine Chapel is located) usually doesn't have a line after noon.

The awesome graffitied metro we took in Rome.

As it turned out, we didn't have to wait in line at all!  We arrived around noon, walked straight in to buy our tickets and were off to the museum.  Sweet!  Now all we had to do was walk to the Sistine Chapel, which was a lot farther than we were expecting.

One of the many painted ceilings in the Vatican museum

After being forced to walk through most of the museum through the cunning use of ropes and guards, it was an hour and a half later before walking into the Sistine Chapel.  We were all exhausted and cranky at being forced to see the entire museum just to get to the one thing we wanted.  Somehow we got seats along the edge for all four of us and rested while looking at a ceiling painted over five hundred years ago.

Look, now you don't have to go to see it yourself.

We left the museum exactly two hours after entering it and were hungry for lunch.  Walking back to the metro station we found a cute little restaurant with outdoor seating to eat lunch at.  Back around the parent's hotel we had gelato before Andy and I boarded our train to Naples, thus ending our italian adventure with Andy's parents.

Bye Mom and Dad! See you in a month!

Roma

Rome.  The last city on our trip with Andy's parents.  The first class cabin on the train had large roomy seats, free drinks and little cookies, it's nice to spoil ourselves.  Andy and I stored our bags at our hostel then met up with Andy's parent's to do a little sightseeing.

The Trevi fountain was our first stop.  It was really crowded and we didn't try to fight the mob to get down close to the water.

The spanish steps were also crowded, probably because it was afternoon and everyone was out in the city.  Jane, Andy, and I walked to the top of the stairs and into the little church at the top where mass was given in french.

The church at the top of the stairs.

Back close to Andy's parent's hotel we found a cute little restaurant and I had an amazing gorgonzola and radicchio risotto and Andy had pizza.

In the morning Andy and I conducted our own sightseeing tour while the parents were on theirs.  The Pantheon was our first stop and amazingly huge, especially since it was built in 130 AD.  The dome at the top is perfectly spherical and is still the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world.

After that we just wandered our way over to the river, passing through the Piazza Novena and quaint tiny streets.  We met back up with the parents around 1 and had lunch then took the metro down to the Coliseum.  It was mid-afternoon but only took us 10 minutes to get tickets.

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The same tickets also got us into the Roman Forum, but since we all had been walking all day, we just didn't appreciate it or spend much time wandering around.

For dinner we ate around the parent's hotel again and Andy got an amazing gorgonzola and pear risotto while I had a ravioli in red sauce.  As a bonus we all got a shot of limoncello after dinner.

Under the Tuscan Sun

Before we headed down to Rome we all wanted to see some of the famous tuscan countryside.  We discussed renting a car but in the end decided on booking a bus tour instead.  Our bus left at 8:30am and the first stop was Siena.

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Siena has a huge center square in which twice a year they hold horses races.  There are 17 neighborhoods in Siena and at each race ten neighborhoods compete.  It's fascinating because they discourage if not ban betting on the horse races because it's only for fun and glory.  To read more about it, check out the wikipedia page.

Church in Siena

Inside of the church shown above.  The columns were black and white striped.

Lunch was at an organic farm and vineyard.  We took a short tour of their wine making processes and then were sat down outside overlooking an amazing view of the surrounding area.  Lunch was a slice of garlic bread, a small bowl of pasta in red sauce, salad, slices of cheese and ham and for me an omelette as well. With lunch we were served a white wine, two red wines (chianti and cabernet sauvignon) and a dessert wine with biscotti to dip in the wine.  The dessert wine was almost sickly sweet, but the biscotti tasted really good dipped in it.

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After our delicious meal with lots of wine we stopped in San Gimignano.  The city is on a hill surrounded by a wall and the bus had to drop us off at the bottom of town outside the wall.  There is a world winning gelato place in town so, naturally, we had to try it.  It was good, although not much different from others we had tried.  After wandering around town for about an hour we were back on the bus.

The last stop, Pisa, was a solid hour and a half away and most of us napped on the bus ride over.  The leaning tower of Pisa was pretty cool to see in person but that is almost literally all there is to see in town.  Fortunately because we were part of a bus tour, we were taken on a choo choo train (tour guides words, not mine) ride through Pisa, confirming that there really isn't anything more to see in Pisa.

Our tour guide showing us how to get the iconic Pisa picture.

Back in Florence the tour guide suggested a small restaurant that served a three course meal for a set price.  It was around a twenty minute wait to get seated and for 13 euro we each received a starter, main course, vegetable side dish, and 1/4 liter of wine.

Firenze

Jane, Bob, Andy, and I all arrived in Florence (or Firenze in italian) at 1:30pm.  We separated to check in to our respective accommodations then met up to explore the city.  We walked along the river to check out the famous bridge and to get gelato.

For dinner we ate at Bocadama, which was suggested to us by my cousin Kat (Thank you Kat!).  The restaurant had tables and chairs set up outside on the side of Santa Croce piazza, the food was delicious, and the house wine excellent. At the end of dinner the four of us split a slice of apple cake and a slice of chocolate cake.

In the morning while the parents were on their walking tour, Andy and I went to climb the Duomo. Unfortunately, it's closed on Sundays and instead climbed the bell tower which was 414 steps.

Next we headed up to Michelangelo piazza on the other side of the river for more views of the city from a different angle.  It was a long walk and up even more stairs, but just look at the view:

We met up with Andy's parents and had sandwiches from a local shop before heading to the Galileo history of science museum.  There were lots of old scientific instruments ranging from the 1500's up through the 1800's (probably some newer ones too, but just to be conservative).  It was nice but not very entertaining.  We literally were just looking at instruments.  I was hoping for a more interactive museum.

Due to the amount of walking we all had done, we went back to the parent's hotel to rest before dinner which led to naps for a couple of us.  We headed back out to Santa Croce piazza to try another restaurant suggested to us by Kat (who happens to be related to the guy who owns the restaurant), Finestra (guessing at the spelling).  Dinner was again excellent with a glass of house wine.

Canals and glass blowing

Our whole purpose in stopping in Zurich was to take the scenic train through the Alps down to Italy.  It was worth it.  The Alps were gorgeous and imposing and really cool to ride through.  We took quite a few videos but no pictures (too much glare through the window).

In Venice we met up with Andy's parents who took a vacation to Italy in order to meet us on our trip. They bought a semi preplanned trip, with hotels, train, and half day walking tours of the cities set up already.  After checking into our accommodation and dropping off bags, we all wandered around Venice until we found a cute little dinner place with outdoor seating.  We all had variations of pasta dishes and then called it a night.

In the morning Jane and Bob went on their walking tour while Andy and I booked our hostels for Florence and Rome, then we conducted our own walking tour of Venice without a guide.  For lunch we all met up again and, at the recommendation of Jane and Bob's travel agent, ate lunch at Da Mamo (formerly known as Bora Bora).  It was excellent.  I had gnocchi with scallops and Andy had ravioli in a saffron sauce.  After dinner we each received a complementary chocolate dessert and a tiny chocolate cup filled with a melon spirit.

After wandering around Venice a little more, we caught a water taxi to Murano to see glass blowing.  There is a glass blowing factory that hosts free demonstrations of glass blowing.  First the glass blower makes a vase, showing one style of glass blowing where he actually blows into the glass using a large tube to form the glass.  The second technique was pulling the glass with tongs to make a horse.  It took him around 2 minutes to transform a ball of molten glass to a horse.  Just really amazing to watch.

For dinner we all made sandwiches at our hostel and then headed to Jane and Bob's hotel to hang out on the rooftop bar.  All in all a good day in Venice.

Fotodump Friday

From Broadway, England to Zurich, Switzerland:

Andy:

Katie looking at Broadway Tower.

 

Katie on her way to Hogwarts!

Our favorite (ok, only) dutch friend Brenda.

A beer in Italy. A preview of what's to come in the next few days.

Katie:

I just can't get over how cool Broadway tower is in pictures.

Andy riding a bike in Amsterdam.  Isn't he cute?

Amsterdam!

Sunset in Biarritz.

Andy sitting on some steps built 2000 years ago.  No big deal.

Good resemblance.