Grand Finale - Tales From Italy: April 29th, 2005

Grand Finale: Accademia, Uffizi, Dinner & Dancing
Well, we just had to make our last day an action packed day.

We started with a tour of the Accademia Gallery (gallery of sculptures) where you can see the original sculpture of David. Another awe inspiring moment. Nevertheless, it is the about the only thing impressive in the home gallery. After the Accademia Tour, we stopped at a cafe for lunch. We watched people devour a calzone the size of a small country, while we had a salad and fruit
bowl. We thought we might end up with scurvy, so we decided we had to add some green leafy veggies and a fruit or two to our carb loading, wine drinking diet.

We (or rather I) resumed the force march through the streets of Florence, looking for the elusive trinket to take home. We saw some great stores but everything was very expensive due to our exchange rate. We make a snack stop to have some gelato again. We sat on the steps of some church near the Uffizi Gallery (I can't remember the name), watched the sea of humanity pass by, admired the backside of a copy of the statue of David and wondered about the statue of some god with the head of Medusa in his hand. You could sit and watch people for hours. Unfortunately, we had another tour of the Uffizi Gallery (gallery of paintings).

Our tour guide turned out to have a Napoleon complex and went on and on about paintings no one had any interest in. We all wanted to see the Leonardo de Vinici's, (he really didn't paint that many- most famous being the Mona Lisa and that is in the Louvre), the Bottacelli's (Birth of Venus) and the Michelango's. He wasted so much time on some obscure stuff that mom and I
sat and waited till we could move on. I learned so much about why people study the paintings so much and so long. There are often illusions, hidden signatures (self portraits), and other symbolism, that you have to sit and stare and think about the paintings for a long time to get a sense or understanding of what these geniuses where trying to portray.

After the tour, I marched mom back through the city to our next final excursion - Florence by Night with Dinner & Dancing. What a hoot! We made it back to the train station (probably a mile walk from the Uffizi) and boarded a bus to the highest point in Florence - The Piazza de Michelangelo - where you can see another copy (in bronze) of the statue of David. We sat at a café and watched the sunset over Florence while drinking a glass of champagne. You could see the whole city. It was beautiful.

We then got back on the bus to go to dinner at a "local" restaurant. It was a huge tourist/tour bus trap across from a beautiful Monastery; however, we had a wonderful time. There were about 4 tour buses (ours was a mixed group, 2 buses of people from Peru, and 1 bus of young Americans). We ate, drank numerous bottles of Chianti, sang and danced. It was a great way to end the trip.

Now we have to go and pack for our return. How in the world I'm going to go back to work and not be able to have a bottle of wine with lunch. Alas.

With that, we end our trip to Italy. We hope you enjoyed the adventure with us.

Tales from Italy - Day 7, August 28th, 2005

Good Tastes of Tuscany

With only 2 more days left in the Italy Adventure, Mom and I were off to our Good Tastes of Tuscany Italian Immersion Advanced Cooking Class. All day of cooking, eating, and drinking. We were picked up at the Hotel Hell, and driven out to the 13th-century Villa Pandolfini, which is surrounded, by olive groves, vineyards and gardens.


Native Florentine Chefs Lisa Banchieri and Maurizio Moretti greeted us. After having a cup of espresso and visiting the gardens, we were presented our menu that we would prepare. Fettunta (meaning oil sliced) - an type of Toscana crostini Stracchino & Sausage Crostini Artichoke and Ricotta Ravioli Stuffed Chicken Thighs in Crust Dolce Forte - Caramelized Cipolini (Caramelized Small Onions) Tiramisu (meaning pick me up) 'Nuff said. We learned how to make everything from scratch, including making pasta and pizza crust, making a dough to cover meats, making the best tiramisu in the world and drinking a whole lot of wine. We received an apron and all of the recipes to make at home. Can you say "Dinner Party!”?

We were dropped off at the Cathedral of Santa Maria Del Fiore, called The Duomo. There is a painting of Dante with the Divine Comedy inside. We did some shopping around the plaza looking
for Fontinini statues and found a small store that sold them but not a lot of selection. Found some Murano and Venetian glass. Bought some doo dads, had another gelato and headed back for the hotel.

I thought I was going to get beat up by a street vendor for stepping on her sheet that she had laid out in the middle of the sidewalk. Mom and I ignored here as she ranted and raved about me stepping in her territory. Whatever. We arrived back at Hotel Hell to be greeted by 3 tour buses of people. Retreating to our room, I tried to order room service, but they didn't answer the phone. I ended up walking around the corner to a little booth that sold snacks. We ended our culinary adventure with two beers and a can of Pringles.

Tomorrow is our last day. We are going for the full Florence Immersion. We have a tour of the
Accademia Gallery (the art of Michelangelo) in the morning, a guided visit to the Uffizi Gallery (works of art by Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and more), and then end our day with Florence by night with dinner, music and dancing.

Tales from Italy - Day 6 - April 27th, 2005

Leaning Tower of Pisa

Today we took a tour to Pisa to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

It was much more impressive in person than anything that I have ever seen in pictures. I took a wonderful video of a guard singing in the Baptistery, which has a "perfect" echo due to the architectural design. I signed my mother and I up for a climb to the top of the Tower and she was such a trooper. Mom made it all the way to one level below the top and I of course climbed all the way to the top to touch the flag. What a spectacular view of the Cathedra, Baptistery, surrounding town of Pisa and the Alps in the background. Just plain impressive.

We had some time to kill before we had to get back on the train, so we shopped the booths along the wall - mom bought a really nice leather purse and I've added to the snow globe collection. We then decided we need a few more pounds on our body and went to the gelato stand. OH MY GOODNESS.... this was the best "ice cream" I have ever had. So good I was trying to lick the little bowl, but mom held be back and made me pace myself. That stuff they are selling in the mall IS NOT gelato. Must have more before I get back to starvation, workouts, and my personal trainer from hell.

We arrived back in Florence and did some more shopping for gifts for our friends and family so I can't tell you what I got or it would not be a surprise. After dropping off our bags in the hotel we were back out to go to a restaurant that came HIGHLY recommended call "Il Latini". When we arrived, there was a line outside that went up the block or rather piazza. Well, being the travel snobs were are - WE HAD A RESERVATION - we went right to the front of the line and I almost had to kick off the Murano walking shoes and hand my jewelry to mom in order to commence the Ass Whooping this group of ladies from NY were about to get for getting hostile about us going to the front. They DID NOT have a reservation and wanted to swear that the restaurant does not take reservations. They proceeded to tell us to get in the end of the line. I promptly let her know that I DID have a reservations, that they needed to be made IN ADVANCE (see the damn crowd idiot) and that we were staying put. Mom steps up behind me as if she has my back (she did) and put an ominous look on her face.

Obviously, the NY ladies did not realize that an angry black woman, backed up by an angry white woman is nothing to mess with. She promptly backed down.

We get in the restaurant and to our surprise there really isn't a menu. The waiter tells you what your choices are for each course and that's what you get. He gets mad and down in the mouth if you decided you don't want a course - heck, I was about to burst after the antipasti course. (Would have helped if I slowed down on the Chianti). Nevertheless, for all the hoopla, the food was okay. The restaurant was a huge tourist trap. No locals, almost everyone was American. It was entertaining, the company was good, but for all the talk I thought it was going to be more authentic. Harry's Bar was much more real (expensive) but worth it. iL Latini was cheap (50 euros for two) but average and touristy. Oh well. The Chianti bottle we killed definitely made up for it.

Tomorrow we are off for our Tuscany "Italian Immersion" Advanced Cooking Class. This should be a hoot.

Tales from Italy - Day 5 - April 27th, 2005

Traveling to Florence

It started off as a wonderful day.. We get up leisurely and go for a morning stroll and then for breakfast at an outdoor cafe. While at the cafe, we decided that Wednesday's is the day when crazy people are let out of the asylum to air out. We had several people walk by that talk to themselves, one man that stopped in front of the cafe and cursed, ranted and raved for about 10 minutes in Italian (too bad we couldn't understand a word he yelled) and you assorted unusuals. It was one of the most entertaining mornings we have had.

We loaded up our luggage to the train station, where once we were dropped off, we were completely clueless. Out ticket is in Italian and the train board is in Italian. I got the trusty HP out with the translation software on it and proceed to slowly but surely, decipher our ticket and
what platform we needed to be on. 30 mins later, I figure it out and we hustle to catch our train. We get to the front of the train and now I can't figure out which car to get on. It is not marked Coach or First Class. Looking like a deer in headlights, this seemingly kind woman takes us under her arm and escorts us to the right car, helps load our luggage, gets us to our seats all for the bargain price of 5 euros each. It was worth it. I was on the verge of a melt down.

The train ride was very pleasant and scenic. We arrived in Florence, found a taxi and arrived at the "hotel". Okay, call me snob, diva, WHATEVER. This hotel is not the Westin- not even close. We get up to our room and we can barely get our bodies let alone the luggage inside the room which consists of two twin beds, a mini bar (thank God) a bathroom that you can't sneeze in or
you'll fall into the bidet and a desk. There is about a 2ft corridor separating the desk from the bed and the bed from the wall. OKAY. I'm trying to deal. No heavenly bed. OH MY GOD - what is a diva to do.

SHOP.

I hauled mom out of the hotel and we proceed to do a two mile march toward the Ponte Vecchio which is a bridge lined with jewelry and other shops. I was so distraught I had to buy myself this
beautiful red leather jacket. After a sob story about how we were suffering and giving a couple of kisses on the cheek, we knocked off 60 euro for a nice bargain. Mom says that if I had let him touch the girls, he might of knocked of another 100. He certainly was eyeing them.

We strolled the two miles back. (I really didn't know that I was dragging mom on a four mile trek). The dogs were talking. We had two beers in the lobby, when the tour buses arrived. This place just sucks. Even the cartoon channel is in Italian. The lobby is supposed to be wifi. NOT.
Intermittent at best and they wont let you buy a computer card for the computers sitting in the middle of the lobby for more than an hour at 5 euros each. Can you say not even Holiday Inn. OKAY so we only have to sleep here.

We went next door for dinner (pizza) which was pretty good by the way, but to ruin the moment in comes 2 more 'yucky Americans' who demanded that the Italian waiter explain the entire menu to them in English. I thought I was going to die. Mom held me back from throwing the translator at them and cursing them for not even trying-no wonder they talk about us. We finished and left.

We are now killing time on the computer in the lobby so we don't have to go to our room.
Tomorrow we will be up for an all day tour to Pisa-and yes I'm making mom climb the thing.

Till tomorrow for the continuing saga of the Diva's do Italy

Tales from Italy - Day 4 - April 26, 2005

Fountains & Ancient Rome

Our last day in Rome and we technically oversleep. We woke up to the maid coming into our room for cleaning. I guess it would have something to do with the room darkening curtains and the force marches around Rome that I've been putting mom through. We jumped out of the bed (well, I did) at 10 am and I announced that we would be doing a "short" walk in our neighborhood to see the fountains. Using our "Jeanne Oelerich's Rome Walking Guide" - Map D (www.walkinguides.com), I marched mom down Via Veneto toward the Piazza Barberini where we found Bernini's Triton Fountain - pictures taken. Next we made a hard left and walked uphill on Via Quettro Fontana to the Corner of the Four Fountains where from this corner you can see the Acqua Felice Fountain (with Moses in the center), St Maria Maggiore - one of Rome's four major basilicas, the Spanish Steps with the boat fountain by Bernini, and Piazza Quirinal - the highest of seven hills of Rome - pictures taken. We made a right turn down a very narrow road ( Via Del Quirianle) past the Presidential Palace to the Piazza Quirianle - there is a beautiful statue there, the entrance to the Presidential Palace where we saw the changing of the guards, and you can see St. Peters Basilica in the background (see enclosed pics). We walked down a very steep staircase to the Trevi Fountain where you are supposed to throw a coin over one of your shoulders to be sure we return to Rome. Since we did not know which shoulder, we did
both.

As I can see that mom is about to pass out - I did not allow for breakfast - we marched back uphill to the hotel where we decided to eat at the Cafe de Paris - also known as "Il Café della Dolce Vita" - the Cafe of the Sweet Life". I'm not sure if I can come back home to a boring ham and cheese sandwich and no alcohol at lunch. It is just standard here to have a little something with a meal - it's cheaper - and it makes for leisurely people watching.

After lunch we went on the Ancient Rome tour which took us to the Roman Forum, the Colosseum, Circus Maximus, the Arch of Constantine, The Arch of Titus, and St. Paul's Basilica Outside the Walls. (see enclosed pics). We now can say we have done Rome. HOWEVER, we had to finish it off with an over indulgence of food and wine and chose probably one of the most expensive restaurants in Rome - Harry's Bar (http://www.harrysbar.it/)

Quote: Fashionable society gravitated around the "in" places along the Via Veneto such as Doney, Harry's Bar, the Cafè Strega, Carpano, the Pipistrello and, the most famous of all, the Café de Paris, exclusive haunt of pleasure-loving dandies and film personalities... Legendary Harry's Bar is the unique place that evokes the "Dolce Vita' as if it were a clip from the film, creating a vivid flashback to the golden era of the Via Veneto, when Frank Sinatra sang at the piano and all the stars made their appearance in this bar/restaurant full of glamour and style. As in the roaring sixties, you can still sip an aperitif, enjoy the live piano bar every evening and dive into the magic of the Via Veneto from the exclusive and fascinating Harry's Bar.

You can not rush dinner here. The first reservation you can get is at 8pm. We were one of the 1st people in the restaurant. You don't go to your table (even if it is ready) right away. You have a cocktail first. Once finished, you are escorted to your table where we were given a menu that has 4 courses. You also don't order wine by the glass. When you ask for wine, it comes by the bottle. Make sure you ask "quanto costo" - how much does it cost - or you could be in for a big surprise. Mom and I had all 4 courses - like the pigs were - and the final tab came to a shocking 250 euro - YOU DO THE CONVERSION. Holy cow. However, the food was to DIE for. Absolutely scrumptious. I think I was able to get a picture of the cappuccino with HB writing in the froth.

Well we are back in the heavenly beds....our train leaves for Florence at 1pm tomorrow. Moving on the second leg of the adventure.

Tales from Italy - Day 3; April 25th, 2005

Vatican & Sistine Chapel
We picked the second day in over 2 weeks that the Sistine Chapel was open for our tour. In fact, it was also the 1st day after inauguration of the new Pope. So just imagine the number of people that came out today to visit. the crowd and line was UNBELIEVEABLE. The line went around 3 walls of Vatican City and was as thick as the sidewalk was wide. We thought we had a prepaid, private tour - NOT. I wish I could have captured the look of shock and awe on peoples faces as they walked down Via Vaticano, turned the corner and realized they have almost 1/4 mile more
till they get to the end of the line.

We were entertained by street vendors working the line selling "blessed" rosaries 5 for 10 Euros (approx $13). Little wooden rosary beads on a string in a plastic case with the picture of Pope John Paul II on it. After about an hour and a half we finally made it to the entrance.

Vatican City is the smallest state in the world with the Largest church in the World - St. Peters Basilica. The Vatican Museum is the 2nd largest in the world behind the Louvre and has 4 miles of corridors to explore. The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is the 1st painting Michelangelo ever painted. He was 38 years old and it took 4 years to finish. The restoration (which was actually
only a cleaning - nothing was changed, altered or repainted) too 20 years and was finished Christmas of 1999. At 60 years old, Michelangelo was called back to paint The Last Judgment on the walls of the Sistine Chapel. It took 6 years for him to finish The Judgment.

We jostled, pushed, and strained our way through the museum, which is absolutely amazing. You are allowed to take pictures without flash in the museum, so mom and I fired off a few rolls. It was so hard to decide what to take pictures of. We finally decided that if it moved us, film it. Took almost 5 rolls between the two of us. When we got to the Sistine Chapel - you are not
supposed to take any pictures whatsoever. Now, with thousands of people shoving their way through the museum and chapel and about 10 guards the entire 4 miles, who do you think won that battle.

It wasn't the guards.
I managed to get a few good pictures in the chapel before I got busted. "No compredo Italiano" seemed to get him to just shake his head at the "ignorant American" and tell me to move on. Never mind that the instructions were given by an English speaking guide. Yeah - Whatever. Ma says I'm going straight to hell with gasoline draws on and will hang out in that middle layer of hell - Purgatory. Well, make sure none of you ask to see my illicit pictures - wouldn't want you to turn to a pillar of salt.

After the tour ended, we nearly collapsed outside the gate.

Mom followed the red rag on a stick (the tour guide), while I got us some water. We regrouped on the tour bus and decided to have the bus drop us off near the Spanish Steps again. This is the shopping district - Ferragamo, Burberry, Fendi, etc. etc. We were saved that the stores were closed today due to some type of holiday. After a perusal and orientation of the map (I am the keeper of the map), we decided to mosey over to the Piazza Augusto Imperatore where "The Best Food Piazza in Rome" is located as described by Food & Wine Magazine, May 2005.
'Gusto', Rome's only food emporium, houses a restaurant, wine bar, pizzeria, osteria ( a neighborhood trattoria), and a cheese shop. We ate at the Wine bar and had the most wonderful ham and cheese sandwich. You don't know hamand cheese till the Italians do cheese. They sure do get it right. After the wine and snack. I marched mom through the shopping district and up the Spanish Steps. At the top we ran into the street artists again and we had our portraits done. They look great and will be a nice addition to the ones we had done in Paris. After the portraits were done, we went back to the hotel for a little rest before our Dinner Cruise down the Tiber River.

Okay, this sucked.

We had to had to walk down a staircase to the river to catch the boat and almost chocked on the stench. The staircase smelled like a urinal in Port Authority Bus Station. I thought I was going to gag. We get to the boat and it is delayed a half and hour due to some "accident". While waiting we were attacked by killer knats and had to keep swatting and running away from them. The staff finally allowed us to wait on the broke boat for the dinner boat. There were a whole whopping total of 4 couples including us on the trip. Little did I know that there was no real scenery and the food would be so.

The best thing was the wine - when you think your asking for a glass you get the whole bottle. Best Part.

Worst Part - walking back up those stairs.

After a super quick ride in a Roman taxi, we made it back to the hotel and our heavenly bed.

Tales From Italy - Day 2 - April 24th, 2005

Today we went on a day long tour to Naples & Pompeii which is a two hour drive from Rome.Our tour guide picks us up and takes us to meet the group. We load up on a bus at 7:30 am and off we go. We are immediately humbled by our ignorant American status when we realize the tour guides all speak a minimum of 3 languages. One of the guides (we had 3 in total during the course of the tour) spoke English, Italian, Spanish and Japanese. It was just downright embarrassing. Most everyone on the bus spoke at least their native language and English - "ugly Americans." We ought to be ashamed that we barely can speak 1 language....Anyway...I digress.

The tour bus takes highway A1, known as the Highway of the Sun that parallels the Appennino Mountains - also known as "The Backbone of Italy." The ride was very scenic and green. Seemed as if every home had its own garden of grapes, oranges and olives. Two hours later we arrived in Naples - City of the Arts and a major port.

We were a tad deceived about the tour. I thought we would be able to walk around Naples a bit before we went on to Pompeii...NOT...a quick drive through as the guide pointed out some major landmarks and we watched the Napoli Marathon. Then we were off to Pompeii.

We stopped on the way in Torre de Grecco and learned how Cameos are really made. They are made from shells from the sea, mostly Conch shell. We watched on of the artists work on a new cameo and then went into the display area. The craftsmanship was superb. Sandy was eyeing the most expensive pieces in the cases, but after doing the conversion, we decided we could not part with 5000euros = $7000+ US Dollars. I did find a beautiful miniature cameo outlined in gold filigree to put on my charm bracelet at a significantly more reasonable price.

We moved on to Pompeii where we stopped for lunch first. The minestrone soup was excellent yet different. Clear broth, not red. The spaghetti was good but the sauce tasted kinda like spaghetti-O's. The veal was fantastic. We were partnered up with a 28 year old Australian girl named Maria Schiavello, traveling alone on "holiday" for 8 months around Europe. Mom and I were impressed with her tenacity.

Next we took a two hour walk through the excavated city of Pompeii. It is huge - 65 acres of which only 45 have been excavated. Excavation officially started in 1748, almost 150 years after Pompeii was rediscovered in 1600. Pompeii was buried under the ash from the eruption of Mount Vezuvio on 24 August 79AD.

I was in awe of how many metric tons of lava and ash had to be removed to uncover this city. The soil was moved to locations all around the mountain to make this the most fertile soil in the region. Hanging in the street market outside of Pompeii were lemons the side of your head. I've never seen a lemon so huge. They cut them in half, sprinkle salt and olive oil on them and serve
them to eat as if you are eating a hunk of watermelon. Wish I could upload these pictures.

Another 2 hour bus ride and mom and I were back in Romearound 8:30 pm. We visited the bar - AGAIN - and had a nightcap and snack.

Tomorrow we have a tour of the Vatican and Sistine Chapel followed by wandering around and a dinner cruise.

Tales from Italy - Day 1 April 23, 2005

Before I started blogging, I used to just send an email home to a few friends & family of my travel adventures. Recently, I stumbled upon the emails that I sent home from my first trip to Italy...a 60th birthday trip for my mother. I thought I'd share those emails with you over the course of the next week or so...

Tales from Italy - Day 1 - ARRIVAL IN ROME

Welcome to Italy...or so we thought. How about there is no customs in Rome. We walked off the plane, waited an hour for bags that did not arrive with us, and then just walked out of the airport without so much as a how do you do or a by your leave. Good thing we're not on the wanted list.

Our flight out of Philly left an hour later than planned, so we arrived in Paris at the same time our connecting flight to Rome was boarding. After an OJ Simpson run through the airport, we made it to the gate as the doors to the plane were closing. They let us on, but doubted our bags would make it. They did not.

So we get to Rome, and stand around with a million other people arriving in Rome to see the inauguration of the new Pope trying to find our luggage. Lots of priests and nuns from all walks of life/nationalities. While standing there waiting for the luggage, I felt a hole being burned into the side of my face by some man. I turned to look at him in hopes that he was the Italian Stallion, and found out that I was being visually molested by a priest - an American one at that. We exchanged pleasantries, but it was quite obvious that he wanted to take the collar off for a moment or two of carnal knowledge.

An hour later, no luggage and our "private car" left us. I managed to get someone to call the agency and get them to come back to get us. We then put our lives in the hands of the "holy see" as the driver took off like a bat out of hell through the narrow streets of Rome.

The Westin Excelsior is beautiful. We arrived looking appropriately exhausted and were treated to a free cocktail on the house while we waited for our heavenly beds. We finally got our room and decided to go out for a walk. We walked to the Spanish Steps where there were artists and street vendors doing paintings and portraits. We plan to go back to get our portraits done like we did in Paris.

Then we braved the Metro - which the Romans call "The Underground" and went to St. Peters Square and the Vatican. It is much more beautiful in real life than on TV. Standing in the center of St. Peters Square - which is round - was breath taking. You don't notice the beautiful columns surrounding the square on TV. The throngs of humanity was intense. People from all over the world just walking around, hoping to have a space to stand for the 1st Mass on Sunday. They had chairs set up for the VIPs. We have a tour on Monday so we didn't stand in line to go inside. We did some window shopping and mom added some Roman Soldiers to her Fontanini collection.

We mosied back to the hotel. Took longer since the travel fatigue started to kick in and we realized that going back was uphill. Do not daydream or gaze off while walking the streets of Rome or you might wake up next in the hospital. You are taking your life into your own hands in the streets here.

We arrived back at hotel - still no luggage - and had dinner in the bar where we sang along with piano guy who played all American songs. There must be some VIPs besides us staying in Westin, since there are camera crews and lots of body guard looking people hanging around.

We passed out in the Westin Heavenly beds. I managed to get my ear plugs in before mom started sawing down entire forests. We received a call at 3 am, announcing our luggage had arrived. We had some XS Energy drink explosions in our luggage but no damaged. Lost 5 cans of liquid crack. We might be able to ration - doubtful.

Well, we are going to try and go back to sleep for an hour or so before we have to get up. Off to Naples and Pompeii tomorrow. Stay tuned for the continuing saga of "Sandy & Lisa Do Italy"

Back to Rome

We were supposed to go to the Galleria del' Accademia to see Michaelangelo's David on Monday, but found out as we waited for a taxi that the museums are closed on Monday. A phone call to the tour service and "oops, we are so sorry, we will issue a refund" later and we were off to do what only a Diva can do when the scheduled plans are waylaid and she has 3 hours to kill before the train back to Rome....SHOP! We we back down to Ponte Vecchio and just window shopped our way around the city. Karen tourtured some guy with a street booth selling belts for about 30 minutes making him take buckles off, put new ones one, changing them around until she was satisfied with the 4 belts she decided on. Very nice.

We then walked through a square next to the Uffizi Gallery (also closed) and was accosted by an African selling knock off LV luggage. He followed us through the square, offering us a "special deal" on the luggage (it was like a pull duffle bag) of 200 euros. I called him a crackhead and said I'd give him 10 euros - bout what it was really worth. No No he said, best offer is 300 for both (he had 2). I told him that crack kills, stop it. 10 eruos. Give me 100 euros, best I can do. Bye! There has to be a sucker born every minute - how do these guys make it. There is no way. Karen says that there must get somebody - sometime - even a broke clock is right 2x a day. We went by a flea market and if I'll be damned - there was the same knock off LV luggage for 17 euros. Da Hell! Now I would have been REAL mad had I got suckered into spending that money and there it was for 17 euro. Well, guess what? During our shopping excursion, we ran back into that same guy and I told him about the booth with the bag at 17 euro. He says okay give me 20. WTF! Have you lost it. We just shook our head and walked away.

We stopped for the most expensive Gellati in the world. 2 came to 20 euro! It was good and she gave us goo-gobs of the stuff which we couldn't eat all of, but damn, it wasn't really that good.

We went back by Davide Cevasi's so I could try on the White leather again. I was fretting and fretting, tried on one in black and had settled on the black, but really wanted the white. He said why not get both, I'll make you a deal...and it was a really good one. DONE. He wrapped up both and we made our way back to the Westin to get our luggage to return to Rome.

We made the train and when we arrived at the Cavalieri Hilton Rome, my mouth dropped open. We went from good, to gooder, to fantastic. WOW! The hotel is beautiful, our room is awesome and our view is spectacular. Everything else would have been slumming. I am in hotel snob heaven.

Today we went on a tour of the Vatican and Sistine Chapel and our guide was HORRIBLE. I could barely understand a thing she was saying and the information she gave was irrellevant and BOOOORING. Such a beautiful place with a boring tour guide. Uggah. We leave the tour and started walking back to get some final gifts for the family and we stumble upon this ice cream show with a line amost down the block. Karen gets in line and gets us two wonderful ice creams for a total of 4 euros. The most creamiest, lucious ice cream ever that didn't almost break the bank. This shop should be on the tour: "And to the right of the Pope's Crib is an awesome ice cream shop..." At least mark it on the dang map. Delicious.

We made it back to the hotel by 6pm and were too exhausted to go out to dinner. We started packing and getting ready for our flights tomorrow. It's back to the real world.

See you next time, Italy.

Florence & Venice

We left Rome on Saturday via the train and once again it was an minor ordeal - my mother and I went through the same thing - figuring out which is your train, what track, what car, what seat. After about a half an hour of wandering around, I finally figured out how to read the board. Karen and I had a coffee and danish and waited for the train to arrive. We were standing at the platform just looking around lost and what not, trying to now figure out which train car we were supposed to get on when some man (probably a gypsie) rescued us. He looked at our tickets, grabbed ALL of our luggage, walked us to the right car, put us in our seats, and loaded our luggage. 10 euros.

We made it to Florence without anymore fuss, arrived at the Westin Excelsior Florence, had lunch and embarked on another walking journey. We were sidetracked from seeing more sights as we stumbled upon a wonderful shop that sold reversable suede & leather coats. Davide Cevasi himself worked with us for over an hour and Karen bought 2 jackets. I think I'm going back for the white jacket. I had to think about it for a minute - white and all.

We took a tour of Ponte Vecchio -the oldest bridge in Florence filled with fine jewelry shops when it started to rain. Karen and I took refuge in the Piazza della Signoria and had some dinner. Karen and I make our way back to the hotel, stopping for a gellati and got some shut eye as we had to get up early for our day trip to Venice.

Today we had a Private Tour of Venice and our driver met us at 7am to take us to Venice to meet our guide. This is definitly the way to travel. Our driver, Marzio is not only a personal driver but also a body guard. (And handsome as hell). We had a leisurely day in Venice. We met our guide in San Marco Square and after a short tour of the square, I insisted she take us to see a Murano Glass demonstration. We spent about 2 hours touring the palace and Karen bought a beautiful statue and I bought some wearable art. Roberto, our salesman, directs us to a restaurant and orders everything for us - which was delicious by the way - especially the chocolate delight he ordered and the spumante. We spent some time just walking around looking in the shops and then decide to take a gondola ride.

We took a water taxi back to meet our driver and arrived back in Florence around 9:00pm. Tomorrow we go to the Galleria Dell'a Accademia to see David and then back to Rome.

9 Hours, 37 Min, 45 Sec & 1457 Calories Later...

I walked Karen through Rome for 9 1/2 hours with only a 20 minute stop yesterday. Our adventure begain with a trek to find some coffee. We endd up at the Tea Room at the bottom of the Spanish Steps. Since finding a restroom that is decent is a rare commodity, Karen utilized the facilities in the restaurant. For the attendant, Karen leaves her Turkish coins as a tip. (She gonna get in truah-ble).

We decide to do some shopping on this rodeo drive of Rome and did some serious damage in a leather glove shop, where they have you place your elbow on the leather lined counter as they place the gloves on your hands. After an hour of pure delicious hand fantabulousness, Karen decideds that her coffee has kicked in and needs to revisit the restroom. We go back to the Tea Room, where Karen was promptly called out by the attendant about the change she left....

Attendant: Is this the money you gave me before? What is it?
Karen: (Embellishing) I don't know, but that's not mine.
Attendant: Uh Huh. Don't you just have doollars or something?

BUSTED. A scream.

We started zig zagging our way down Via Condotti with stops in Prada, Louis Vuitton, Bvlgari and more. THE HOTNESS! As I have a shoe fetish, my feet were in orgasmic heaven; Karen was diggin' the purses...we looked like two women on shopping crack. An experience in bringing sexy back....commercial deliciousness.

We had to move on as we had to meet our tour guide for our Roman Forum & Colosseum tour. The directions to meet our guide were not ideal, but after much deliberation and map wrangling we foudn the spot. The tour was long but awesome. The Forum was huge and magnificent. The tour even went over my walking limit and we desperatly needed sustainance. We stopped for some repast at a nice cafe called The Royal which had a beautiful view of the Colosseum. I woofed down a pepperoni pizza - Karean a chicken hamburger (?) and we enjoyed the view.

We commenced on our walkabout again heading back to the hotel. Stopping along the weay to purchase the picture book our tour guide used, I was accosted by Achmed (real name - Milan). I refuse to use his real name since he reminded me of Achmed- The Dead Terrorist and sounded like him too. Achmed seemed to not be able to take his eyes off my girls and offered Karen a "special price" on the book without even looking at her. He never even took his eyes off my abundance, even when he took Karen's money. Achmed offered to tak us out "all night for de dance moosic."...

Achmed: You are sooooo boootiful
Me: Well, thank you. How much for book.
Achmed: You want goo time? No probleem. I pick u up at 'otel and take you dance music. No probleem. I strong. I go all nigh long. No probleem. Give me address to 'otel, I have ca, pick you up. No probleem. 8:30?
Me: Thanks for the offer, but we have plans.
Karen: (pulling me from the breast death stare). Okay, we'll see you there. 830. No problem.
Me: (walking away) Da Hell we will, Achmed. I'll be damned if me and my girls get sold into bondage.

Why do I attract these jokers? The girls are like a dude magnet. Imma have to strap these suckers down better.

We make it back as far as the Trevi Fountain and I stop for a gelati. Tastebud Heaven. We sit on a bench and amuse ourselves with the humanity going by. But the true real life drama was watching the guys who were selling knock off handbags run from the police. I've never seen some guys snatch up a tarp of 30 bags in one fell swoop and run so fast in my life. What was really hilarious was watching these guys come back to the SAME EXACT SPOT they just got ran off from and resume business. It was like they were saying "I don't care what they say, chase me if you want, this is MY SPOT (my business location) - I will sell my ish HERE and that's that." They would lay these bags out on a tarp and start hawking their knock off Prada's. here comes some liensed vendors or the police and - SNATCH & RUN. Hilarity.

9 hours, 37 minutes, 45 seconds & 1457 calories later (yeah, Karen was wearing her heart monitor) we were back at the hotel where we promptly collapsed in a heap and relaxed for a hot second before we headed off for dinner at Harry's Bar.

Legendary Harry's Bar is the unique place that evokes tbc "Dolce Vità' as if it were a clip from the film, creating a vivid flashback to the golden era of the Via Veneto, when Frank Sinatra sang at the piano and all the stars made their appearance in this bar/restaurant full of glamour and style. As in the roaring sixties, you can still sip an aperitif, enjoy the live piano bar every evening and dive into tbc magic of the Via Veneto from the exclusive and fascinating Harry's Bar.

It was another great day!

Happy 21st Anniversary from Italy

A Day of Walking in Rome

Housekeeping woke me up this morning. So obviously I slept in. If you have to sleep in an alien bed, thenit has to be a Heavenly Bed. Pure Joy. While getting dressed, the phone rings and it's my new friend Armel, the Congo Protocol Officer. He wants to know if I've had breakfast. Nope. Armel has a little time before an 11:00 am press conference (the press is making a mess of the hotel) and watned to take me to breakfast. Free food is good food. We struggled through conversation in Spanglish & French over an omelette, strong azz coffee and mimosas.

Now this married African, whose wife is in Brussles on business (uh huh) wants to know if I'm married in the U.S. No, I'm married worldwide, I let him know. In 1/3 English, 1/3 Spanish and 1/3 French I tell him that there will no amore between mi and tu, solemente amigo's (and I prolly got that all wrong) but he got the drift. "Alas", he says, his loss. Damn skippy. A kiss on each check and I'm off on my walk about.

I headed toward the Spanish Steps and sat there for a while watching the crowd. I then headed down the most expensive street in Rome, Via Condotti, the center of Rome's fashion and luxury shopping where I promptly got my feelings hurt. I have found a shoe "salon" where I just have to have these shoes and I know that Erinwould die for, but at that moment I couldn't bring myself to drop $220 on a pair times 2. I marked the shop on my map for a return with Karen who will surley talk me out of it. RIGHT.

As I continue my trek, I stumble upon Gusto's a famous square of eateries written up in Bon Appetite several years ago and a place where my mother and I had THE best sandwich ever (well, next to the one we had on top of the Eiffel Tower). They weren't open at the time or I would have raised a glass to ya ma. I wished I could have called at that moment.

I continued on down Via Corso to the Piazza colonna where there is a huge column of the conquests of Marcus Aurelius with St. Paul on the top. I follwed the crowd to the Piazza de la Rolondo where the Pantheon is located...the oldest (27 BC) structure in Rome to survive in its entirety and contains the tomb of Victor Emmanuel II and Raphael. I stopped to have a beer and watch the afternoon crowd.

I was supposed to go out a photo class/tour at 3pm and we were to meet the guide at the Bronze Statue of Marcus Aurelius in the Piazza del Campidoglio. I make it there by 2:15 and walk through to take pictures and take in the view of the Roman Forum. By 3pm - NO GUIDE - I waited till 3:30 and decided to start my trek back to the hotel to cuss Expedia (who I booked the tour through) out. They tried to call the company, got no answer and refunded my money immediately.

Karen finally arrives and we went to dinner at this lovely restauant here at the hotel. Let the adventure begin.

Lisa & Karen's Excellent Italy Adventure Begins

Let the festivities begin. I'm off to Philly to catch my non-stop flight to Rome to meet my girlfriend Karen for our Excellent Italy Adventure. My Knight in Shining Armor called one of his friends & former business partners who started his own Executive Transportation Service (Larry Davis of LDS Executive Transportation):












Talk about totally awesome! My man Larry arrived early, got me situated in the car and we are off. This is so relaxing. So much better than having to drive myself to Philly, park my own car, haul my luggage onto a bus to get to the terminal. Sweet. I had ludded my baby. Thank you sweeting for this awesome treat for my adventure. I'm so excited, I'm about to burst.

Italy 2008

My girlfriend from the ATL asked me if I would join her in Europe for a little excursion in Italy. She is going to be in Turkey for a work related thing and decided that if she was going to be over that way, she should visit somewhere else to. She didn't want to hang by herself - SOOOOOO, who do you call when you want to travel with flair & fun: THE TRAVEL DIVA! Who else.

So we are off to Italy in June. We are going to Rome first with a side trip to either Venice, Florence or Palermo. Final details have not been ironed out yet but since I have my non-stop flight to Rome booked and reservations at the W.es.tin Ex.cels.ior Rome (I LOVE THAT HOTEL) taken care of, I guess we gotta go.

I took my mother to Italy in 2005 for her 60th birthday. We had a blast. This was before I even thought about blogging but was really doing it anyway. I emailed (yes, I had my computer with me - I don't go nowhere without it) a daily report of our adventures to my friends & family list. I kept those emails and put it together in an newsletter for my scrapbook (yeah, I do that too - gotta have memories). If you would like to read about me and mi madres adventures - click here

TALES FROM ITALY

I also put together a video slide show of our adventure. If you want to see some beautiful pictures, watch the video at this link -
http://salesdiva.neptune.com?selectedalbum=salesdiva172502

I think you will enjoy it.

Ah! Venice

I definitly believe that Venice has to have been THE best stop on this cruise next to Istanbul. The arrival was just incredible. If you are to come to Venice, you HAVE to see it as you arrive from the Bridge Deck (or anywhere at the front of the ship). It was THE most spectacular view and a navigational feat to watch as the Emerald Princess - this huge beast of a ship - navigated the main canal (I've forgotton the name) sailing right past St Marks Piazza. Just incredible.

Ron and I did a two excursions today. Once was a tour of Doge Palace & Murano Glass Demonstration (which I couldn't take pictures of the Master at work-BUMMER). The Palace was cool but we found the Murano Glass demonstration much more interesting. We watched as this man made a vase and a glass horse in the matter of less than 10 minutes. It was facinating. We (or rather Ron - cause, and I know this is hard to believe - I was bout spent out) found a glass piece that would go great in the house and ONLY cause Ron insisted, did we purchase it. Yeah Yeah. After our tours were finished, we had an evening gondola ride with serenade. It was so nice. It was one of the best days of the whole trip.

Today, we disembarked from the ship. The party is over. We are staying one more day in Venice and have dinner tonight at a restaurant that came highly recommended. After getting off the ship, we found our hotel, checked in and then went out for a little nic-nac shopping for last minute gifts for family & friends. Ron wanted to eat first (AGAIN) and just as we were about to go back out into San Marco's Square, I got the ultimate in good luck sign - I got dumped on by one of the millions of pigeons right on the top of my head. HOLY CRAP! Ron was amazed that I didn't have a total melt down and since we were not that far from the hotel, we went back so I could get the BIRD SHYT out of my hair. Only a Steptoe!

After clean up (it wasn't as bad as I thought), we ventured back out and found a cafe looking over the Grand Canal. Ron had a pizza while I enjoyed just the BEST gellatto I have ever had on the face of the earth. Yummy. Yummy (as our ship waiter would always say). We sat for a while and watched the tourists go by. People watching is absolutely fascinating. Finally, we went on another shopping trek and picked up some trinkets (Murano glass necklace for Cara's teacher and some other glass items), even picked up some Venitial Masks to add to the collection.

Ron is now taking a nap before dinner. I am writing to you as I watch the rain come down. First bit of rain I've seen in over 12 days. Tonight is our last night of our adventure. Tomorrow we board a flight home.

P.S. I was able to upgrade our seats on USAIR to business glass using our miles. Going home in comfort baby - AS IT SHOULD BE!!!

Naples & Pompeii

Arrived in Naples today. Our tour to Pompeii was not until the afternoon so Ron went to the gym and I decided to go "exploring" downtown Naples BY MYSELF for a little while. "LUCY, YOU GOT SOME SPLAININ TO DO." Yeah, Yeah. Well, I'm a tad crazy and oblivious to my surrounding on occasion, but I embarked on my expedition.


There were a few heart pounding moments as I tried to cross a street that had cars moving on it like on I95. Just step out there, just be bold. RIGHT. I waited for a native to make the move and ran with them. I make across the main highway and just start walking. I stop at a corner and look around to see if I can see some "shopping" interests. This man walks up to me...OH HELL...and asks me if I speak English - yep -"You looka like you wanna shop" Si. Bueno. You mussa go uppa that way to the dome, eh, Galleria. You finda shoppa there." Grazi, I may and hustle uppa that way to shoppa.


Beautiful atrium style mall, with gorgeous Italian designers and what not. HOWEVER, this mall was not for the thicker girls. I'm looking through these beautiful silk blouses...size 4, 6, 6, 8, 4, 0. On another rack...sm, sm, sm, sm, xsm, sm sm xxsm. Excusi, I say. Do you have a 12 or a Large. It was if I had slapped the woman in the face. No - was her clipped answer. Store after store - the same. I marched my fat ass right outta there. Shoppa uppa that way was no longer fun. I started my trek back to the ship to meet Ron for our tour and stumbled on a shop that sold all variations of Limoncello. HEAVEN on earth. The lady gave me two samples (cream and regular) that she took out of the freezer and it was great. Bought some. Mom get ready to drink & bake.


I make it back to the ship and Ron is like..."You okay?" I asked, "Baby, were you worried?" Ron replies, "Not really, I figured if you didn't come back in time for the tour, you were either chasing your mugger or hit by a bus...and our insurance is current." Thanks Dear.


We went off to Pompeii and it was very Discovery Channel and whatnot. Ron seemed to like it. We did stop at a store that did handmade sandals while you wait. I couldn't resist getting a pair made for my fledgling Diva Cara. She loves shoes at 3 years old and I got her a pair of silver and rhinestone studded sandals, made right before my eyes. She's gonna love em.

Well, off to bed. At sea day tomorrow. Pilates at 8am, Sanctuary from 9-until 2pm. Spa at 2pm. Renewal of Vows at 4:30pm and Formal Night at Sea w/Captains Champagne Party starting at 6pm. WHEW! Big day tomorrow. Girls gotta rest.

Views from Rome

Escape to Rome

Ron and I are up at 5am ready to bust out of confinement. By 6am we were in the buffet line for breakfast. We spend some time exploring the ship trying to get our bearings since we barely know where anything is, and the go to the meeting point for our "Rome on Your Own" tour. My know it all self figured that since I've been here before, I can show Ron around. What the hell was I thinking.

We go yo the gangway and stick our card iin the machine to check off the ship. Can you believe that a small alarm went off with a message about Ron and I. This burly security guard reads the message and passes us through. I guess it said we were clared of medical isolation otherwise there was going to be some major drama....even though you DO NOT want to mess with the security team on a cruise ship. On each and every cruise we have been on, the security teams all appear to be from India from some kind of warrior caste. Our TSA need to take some serious lessons from these people. Even the women look intimidating. I didn't wan to get billy clubbed by one of them.

Anyway, I didn't realize that it was gonna take 1 1/2 hours to get to the Vatican. We get to the drop off point and we have 5 hours to see the entire city of Rome. It took my mother and I 4 days. We hustle from St Peters square (Ron's comment - that's nice), to the Novana (it was under repair), to the Pathenon (Ron wants to know why there' a hole in the ceiling and what the big deal), to Trevi Fountain (Ron would not do the coin thing), finally to the Spanish Steps. We had our portrait done at the top of the steps and then we walked a few blocks over to the Westin Excelsior (we knew we could get a taxi there). Whiile standing in the lobby of this beautiful hotel we notice that Pfizer (my former employer) is having their VPMC award trip - a bit of irony.

Ron announces he don't want to see no more monuments, he wants Italian pizza. We hop a taxi back near the meeting point and have a wonderful pizza and beer. My ass is gettin broader by the very second. Alas.

I did find a small shop in a side street and bought Erin a beautiful handmade leather purse...she is gonna flip. I also picked up some items to give to my friends. Not tellin...I've got 9 more days of shoppin for my peeps AND of couse mi and mi casa. I got Jordan some new bling.

Back on the ship, we go to dinner and then club hopped to map out a party plan. After some fun in Naples, we are lined up for Ballroom Blitz (gotta work those dance lessons), followed by Motown Hour, and then finish the evening with the 80's Dance Party. Freedom has its moments.

No pictures cause the wireless is down on the ship. Until it gets back up, I have to type these notes out on Ron's crackberry.

Sent via BlackBerry from Cingular Wireless