Saint Paul de Vence

10-13-2007. Stopped for the night in Vence en route from Cinque Terre to Provence...mostly so we could hit the tiny hilltown of Saint Paul de Vence in the morning. Vence itself turned out to be a great stopping point - the highlight being (of course) food! Had an amazing dinner in a tiny restaurant "Le Passe Muraille" including fois, some of the best snails in garlic butter to date, duck and boeuf (for Jeff of course).

So at the recommendation of NHdad and NHmom, we headed to St Paul in the morning. Arrived at just the right time to explore this quaint art-filled town as stores were opening....and got out just as the tourist busses began to swarm.

And in the interim, Melissa fell in love. No - not with the guy in the photo below - he's the artist/gallery owner. With his painting. And so now we have the perfect souvenir of our honeymoon, which will hang above the dining table in a spot that's been waiting for this exact painting for a long time.

After a lovely morning in St. Paul, we got on the (side) road toward our little cottage outside of Gordes. Along the way, we spotted a festival - so stopped to check it out. Turns out it was Rains' annual Fete de Courge. That's pumpkin-fest to you. A total blast to wander through - pumpkins everywhere, wine, cheese, a marching band....and more pumpkins.

Cinque Terre

10-11-2007.

We were a little fearful that Cinque Terre was going to be "Rick Steved" - the phenomenon of noisy Americans with blue books. But this place is beautiful. Right on the Mediteranian, five little towns nestled into the rocks. Narrow streets, steep stairs, and no cars.

Yesterday we parked the car and hit the trail, skipping the train that runs between the towns. First stop, Vernazza.

We found a little room in an "Affita Camere", basically a room in someone's very old home. Cozy, clean, and the price was right, so we set up a home base for two nights. After sipping wine on the harbor we had a wonderful dinner, including the local 'anitpasti' - mixed yummy fresh seafood. Mmmmm.

Today we walked south to visit the other three towns. We stopped along the way for pizza, gelato, gorgeous views, and a naked dip in the Mediteranian. Sorry, no pictures :^)

We're back in Vernazza tonight, looking forward to more seafood. Tomorrow, sadly, we must leave these beautiful towns behind. But we're psyched to be heading back into France, and towards Provence where we'll settle into a cottage for a week starting this Saturday. It'll be nice to slow down a little... But we'll miss you Italy!

Tusacany...

10-9-2007

...is awesome. Before rolling out of town, we went for a short hike to Lago di Santo and Lago Bacco. On the other side of the hill -- Tuscany.



Spent the day wandering toward Lucca. Jeff rode his bike part of the way while Mel drove, snapping pictures all the way. Note to honeymooners: If you separate - one on bike and one in car - and the road turns and becomes confusing....stop. Don't lose your spouse in Italy. :^)

Had done some internet searching from the road and found Dreamers B&B (they're film buffs) just outside of Lucca. http://www.bb-dreamers.toscanaviva.com/home.htm. It was awesome. Our hosts Alessandro and Barbara were incredibly gracious, dispite having come home that very day from hospital with their new baby Yael (or Ya Ya). Didn't get any pics of Ya Ya, but we did of Marguerite and Lola...two other VIPs at Dreamers.

On Alessandro's recommendation, we followed some very windy roads up to Ceru - a restaurant/albergo (tiny hotel) tucked away in the Tuscan hills. (Take a left at the fourth olive grove. If you get to the fifth vineyard, you've gone too far.) Amazing food. Amazing view. Some of the best of both we've had. Oh the porcinis!

Next day, Operation Florence. Beautiful with tons of history. But, yes, crowded with tourists. Yet we had a great day, including seeing the real David at the Academia. Which was surprisingly moving and amazing. Spent some 40 minutes staring at just that one sculpture. Totally worth the price of admission (not to mention the line) right there. Wandered to the Duomo and Mel walked to the top to catch some great views and pics.

After a pretty darn full day of non-stop touring in Florence, we headed back to (comparatively) quiet Lucca - our own "mini-Florence" - where we rented a couple bikes and rode the ramparts, the top of the giant wall encircling the city.

Lovely way to wind down the day...followed by another delicious dinner at Giulios, at the recommendation of our B&B hosts. Yum.

Padova through Emilia-Romagna

10-6-2007. Took the autostrada SW for a bit, then jumped off onto the backroads towards Tuscana. Meandered slowly, snapping pics of the beautiful countryside, past wheels and wheels of Parma cheese. Eventually decided to stop in Pievolago, a sleepy little town near a ski resort. Mel tried to go for a walk, Jeff a bike ride. Heavy thunderstorms shut us down after a beautiful day. So we headed back to the hotel to read for a bit and look out the window at the lovely valley.

Soon, hunger moved us, so we wandered away from the main drag and found a tiny restaurant where everyone spoke Italian. Amazing - Scallopine al aceto Basamico, pizza with Porchinis the size of your fist, spaghetti carbonara with gigantic regional parmesan flakes, veggies with lovely olive oil and more big parm flakes. And when it was all done and we couldn't eat one more bite, the friendly old gentleman proprietor brought over a bottle of limoncello and a peach-infused vodka to try. Mel's idea of heaven.

Oh - and did we mention the signed pictures of old school Italian cycling heros on the wall? Jeff's idea of heaven. :^)

Surgical Strike - Operation Venice

10-5-2007.

10:00am: Board train in home base of Padova.

10:45am: Arrive Venice. Board slow boat #1 and cruise the grand canal. Dodge tourists. You'd think the Americans are the worst, but no, the Italians.

12:00pm: Walk St Marks square. Sip an expresso, look out for the pigeons (a tourist attraction in and of itself, apparently).

1:00pm: St Marks Basilica. Wow, amazing murals made of tiny ceramic tiles. Pay a few extra euros for the church museum to get to the top of the Basilica. Museum items dating back to the second century. Even bigger wow!

3:00pm: Walk the streets and over canals. A little shopping. Lots of pictures.

7:00pm: Settle into a quiet spot for some dinner away from the Rialto Bridge tourist traps. Yummy creamy seafood lasagna, seafood polenta. Sip Bellinis (apparently the official drink of Venice). Mmmmm.

8:30pm: It's dark. Board our gondola. Luckily, shadowed by another gondola complete with accordian and singer for ambience. Cuddled up for the romantic Venice experience. Awww.

9:45pm: Gelato. Some more walking.

10:30pm: Train back to home base in Padova. Operation Venice a success. Glad we did it, probably won't be back soon. We're countryfolk.

Rifugio Alpe de Tieres

10-4-2007. Well, we went back to the rifugio. We stashed some luggage and headed up a different valley, another beautiful walk with some fresh views. Perfect weather, some lingering snow to coat the high elevations, cow and goat bells singing in the distance. We made it up by late afternoon in time to sip some wine and beer and read on the terrace. Dinner was again amazing. Met a cool couple from Wyoming on their umpteenth trip to Italy, and got some good pointers. We had to hike out in a little rain the next day, but we had our fill. Though it pains us to leave the countryside, we're off to try to make it into Venice...



I mean, "whaaaat"?

Dolomites

10-2-2007. Wait a second, is this still Italy? Ask anyone here, and the answer is no. Tyrol all the way. Should have brought the German phrasebook. This place is a winner, removed from the hustle-bustle we've experienced so far (apart from the drive through Bolzano, craziness). The nightlife here is for the cows. Cuisine is decidedly Austrian - dumplings (three days in a row), salads full of marinted beans and cabbage, the richest porchini pasta dishes ever, and strudel. Mmmmm.

Our day started with a bus up to the gorgeous meadows of the Alp de Suise. Screw California, happy cows come from here. And the milk and cream and cheese proves it all.

Time for a day hike, and what a day it turned out to be. We decided on a quick lift ride to pass a few folks walking up, then headed up towards Rifugio Bolzano. Rifugios are semi-rustic huts scattered throughout the Dolomites, dinner and breakfast included. Too bad we weren't out for the night. A quick side trip to the top of Mt Pez gave us a 360 view of the Valley and the Northern Dolomites.

With still some time in the day, and a somewhat ill conceived (free) hiking map that made short sections look long and long sections look short, we took off accross the ridge to make it a loop. It turned out to be a long day of walking with lots of ups and downs and very exposed sections, but we kept our spirits with the help of the views.

After a while, we came upon Rifugio Alpe de Tieres, perfectly situated on a high pass. We wish we could have stayed, but instead had to make the long walk down. If only we could get back up here for a night... Turned out to be some 20+ kilometers and 1500 meters of elevation gain, but it was worth it.