Also, here is a link to Grom’s website. Truly the best gelato ever.

And that’s what we did today, The Vatican. We got a bit of a late start because we had to get up so early yesterday, but according to the guide books, it does you no good to get there early as it’s even more crowded first thing in the morning. So we got to St. Peter’s Bassilica around 9, and there was plenty line to get it, but fortunately it moved pretty quickly, 20 minutes tops. We did the Rick Steves’ audio tour of the place (which is enormous, they have markings on the floor to show how the next largest cathedrals would fit inside).

We decided to grab lunch before going to the Vatican museum. Here’s a tip for a cheap lunch most anywhere in Europe: donner kebab. They are large, tasty and filling and I wish someone would open a donner kebab place in our neighborhood.

When we got to the Vatican museum after lunch there was no line at all, which was very nice. Now the last time I was here it was on the free sunday of the month and was incredibly crowded. Plus we only had a limited time until it closed so we made a bee-line through the museum straight for the Sistine Chapel, not stopping at all to take in the museum. This time Irene and I had time to take it a little more slowly.

But honestly, after awhile all those greek and roman statues start to look alike. And whoever curated the modern art collection… The Sistine Chapel doesn’t dissapoint though.

So now I’m in a laundry/internet cafe and Irene is back at the hotel. We are going down to the Trastevere area tonight to poke around and for dinner.

Tomorrow is ancient Rome day, the colluseum, the forum, maybe the pantheon as well.

I can’ beleive we only have two days left. It hardly seems fair. Oh well, time to start planning the next trip, to Spain.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

After dropping off our bags at our hotel we headed out to lunch at a place around the corner. The food was fine but not remarkable.

We then headed to the duomo where we had our first gelato of the trip (that didn’t take to long, did it). I had a cafe and hazelnut cone and Irens had cafe and pistachio. The cafe was the most intensley coffee flavored gelato I’ve ever had. Delicious.

By this then it was time for our appointment to see the Last Supper.

Now we are resting in our hotel room. We’ll probably head out a bit later to take in the sights, but will most likely make an early night of it.

Tomorrow we’ll go to the duomo and then take the noon train to the lake district. That’s all for now.