Archive for September, 2008
Sep 30th, 2008
Day 12-13 — Siena
We know the question you’re all asking yourselves-“Is Burnt Siena really like the crayola color?” Ken took lots of pictures, of course, to put an end to the debate. Ken’s pulling at my arm telling me to post today’s gelato flavors. Frankly, I find this daily gelato update to be a little boastful, but–as he is my travel guide–I must make him happy. Today we stopped in at a place between our hotel and Il Campo that hailed the most pleasing coffee flavor by Ken’s standards since (the elusive) Grom, which–thanks for notifying us, Jeff–can also be had in New York. So go. Go to New York. Buy your tickets now. Get Grom. Yes, now, the other flavors were some sort of biscotti mix, which Ken judiciously paired with the coffee flavor, and I had a gelati mix that I dub “the Mounds”, that’s coconut and chocolate. (And I concur with Ken’s assessment on the quality of this particular gelateria.)
With that out of the way, we can also tell of the excellent weather which we’ve had so far. The only time we saw rain was when we were on the train on our way here this morning, when we were well sheltered. Ken has done an excellent job of sheaparding us from one point to another. I highly recommend him as a guide.
My luggage is completely maxed out. I fell for the scarf and hat vendors in Firenze and now my pack is fit to burst. Our feet are properly toughened up from all the walking, and from the stairs we climbed in the Cinque Terre our calves are well-toned. Ken has also gotten over the cold that he contracted immediately after deboarding the plane to Italy. I bet he never mentioned he was contending with a cold. He’s stoic that way.
All righty. Happy thoughts. We’re well and happy.
Cheers,
Irene
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Sep 29th, 2008
Day 10-11 — Cinque Terre
Todays gelato flavors: Bacio and caramella. I’ve decided that I can no longer order cafe as they have all turned out to be sad compared to Grom. We’ve had gelato twice today, and may have it again before we’re through.
We are currently in the Cinque Terre and though this was suppose to be the relaxing part of our trip we’ve actually been very busy today. We started out this morning around 8:30 or so by hiking from Vernazza, where we are staying, to Corniglio, which is the next town down the line. It was a pretty strenuous hike at first but it evened out eventualy.
After a little wandering in Corniglia, we took the train down to Riomaggorie, where we had lunch and our second gelato of the day. We did the hike from there to the next town, Manarola, which is known as “via del amore”. It’s a light, easy, level walk.
We took the train from there back to Vernazza and spent a little time relaxing on the beach.
Tomorrow we head to Siena. And yes, I realize that I’ve completly skipped over Lucca, but I’m running out of Internet time.
Also, as I type this, I’m surrounded by cats. That is all.
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Sep 26th, 2008
Day 7-8 — Florence
Today’s gelato flavors: Sadly, we haven’t had any yet today, but when we do it will be from the place that we went yesterday, which oh my god, was amazing! So let me tell you about this place: it’s called Grom, and both Rick Steves and Let’s Go call the best place in town. It was only after we got there and I had a look at the place that I realized it’s the same place we went in Milan. The place whose cafe flavor has ruined all other, lesser cafe for me. The flavors are intense. This time I paired it with caramello which tasted like eating a spoonful of caramel with each bite. So why haven’t we gone today? Don’t worry, the day is not over. He only question is, “what will I pair the cafe with tonight.”
If it seems like this blog is focusing on gelato to much, well tough, it’s my blog.
Onward and upward (almost literally). We rolled into Florence around noon yesterday. After situating ourselves in our hotel we headed out for a bit of lunch. About a block down the street from our hotel I’d this charming litle square with about 4 or 5 different cafes. We chose one and had a very nice lunch. I must say that so far, Florence has had the best food of our trip.
So yesterday we did the RS audio renaissance (sp?) walk and then climbed the Duomo to Brunelschi’s dome to take in the view of Florence. All 436 steps of it. Really wasn’t that bad (the climb that is, the view was fantastic). Then we went to dinner, which was great.
Today we went to the Uffizi in the morning, and the Accademia in the afternon and the market between. We had an amazing sandwich, a great pasta, and an impressive salad.
We are back in that square now, but this time at the Irish pub ( there’s one in every city on earth, except for in Ireland, ironically). We are heading across the river for dinner in a bit. And tomorrow we head for Lucca.
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Sep 25th, 2008
Day 4-6 — Venice
“Ahhhhhh Venice” – Indiana Jones
Gelato flavors: Cafe (again) and caramella. Verdict: Even going to the place that Rick Steves mentions as the best in Venice, I still find the cafe flavor a bit of a dissapointment, nothing has matched the cafe gelato in Milan… It is all still very good of course, but still…
Venice is spectacular of course, and spectacularly crowded, and spectacularly easy to get lost in as well, which we did, quite a lot actually. Still, we managed to fit quite a lot in. The Doge’s Palace, The Basilica, The Correr museum… and a whole lot of walking around.
One thing I didn’t find was an open internet connection, so I apologize for the radio silence. I’ve managed to find an open connection in the square a few yards from our very charming hotel here in Florence, however, so I hope to post another update tomorrow. I’ll fill you in on the fantastic gelato coincedence we discovered today.
We have one more day in Florence and then we head for Lucca.
A domanie.
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Sep 21st, 2008
Day 2-3 — Varenna
Todays gelato flavors: cafe & crema for me, whisky and cocunut for Irene.
Review: todays gelato was a reflection of the town in which we got it (Bellagio), lovely to look at, creamy at first, but ultimately a little disappointing. The cafe was by far the weakest to date. The crema was good but couldn’t make up for the lack luster performance of it’s brother. I think Irene was more satisfied with hers. The whiskey flavor was pretty intense, in fact I think she was a little drunk by the time she was done.
The gelato we had in Varenna, on the other hand, was outstanding. The town itself is charming. Not nearly as crowded as it’s ritzy neighbor across the lake, but equally as picturesque. We’ve had a very relaxing day and a half here and should
be well rested for the madness of Venice tomorrow.
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