Colli Euganei

It’s rare that both Mateo and I have the same entire day off, let alone three days in a row! But it’s been happening lately, so we’ve been taking advantage of our time together to explore the area and towns around our house.

This weekend (yes, we actually got a WEEKEND off at that!) we explored the Colli Euganei. The hills take their name from the Euganei, a semi-mythical population who inhabited the area before the Venetians.
It’s actually a volcanic region that initially was completely submerged, then was an archipelago, and finally a hilly region as the entire regional “plate” rose and emerged from the ocean in the Quaternary period, a time when recognizable humans existed. On a side note, the Quaternary period was a really interesting time geologically speaking. During this period, the Black Sea and the Baltic Sea switched from salt to fresh and back again to salt water because of flooding due to changes in the ground level around the area. The English Channel and the Bering Strait were also occasionally flooded (as we experience today) and dried up so that at some points there was a land bridge between Britain and European mainland and another land bridge connecting Asia and North America.
Today these volcanic hills continue to be active, creating thermal hot springs and hot therapeutic mud. Despite the whole area being a regional park, there are many hotels and touristy sites nestled here and there amongst nature.

It is also a great place of wine production, a denomination of controlled origin to be exact. That means that most, if not all, wine produced from this region will have a DOC stamp or indication on the bottle. This means that the wine not only comes from a special region in Italy, but that it also meets stringent requirements including: certain soil composition, standards of grape variety, and alcohol content, but most importantly that it is created following the historical and culturally important process unique to the area. When you drink a DOC wine, you are drinking what the families of that region have been drinking for many, many regions. That glass of wine was created the same way now as it was generations ago. In some way you are helping to preserve the unique culture of that region.
While the DOC Euganei wine was on our list of things to explore this Sunday, we first wanted to work off some of the calories we stored up during our relatively uneventful summer.


First, we headed to the Valsanzibio garden. This place is beautiful! It’s supposedly named The Most Beautiful Garden in Italy, and quite possibly the oldest. Click on the underlined name, and it will direct you to their website for more pictures and information.

Throughout Europe, there aren’t very many trees. Not old ones anyway. The whole European region was covered in trees long ago that today would be impressive for their size and beauty. Unfortunately the most of them have been cut down through the years to make way for farm land and cities. This garden had some of the biggest, oldest trees I have seen in Europe. It also had a lot of water features and a maze, all done in a classic Baroque style. I can’t believe that some young girl grew up with this as her entire world. I felt like I might almost be content to stay within the boundaries of my parents’ yard forever had I a garden like this.

The garden was planned as an allegory of man's progress towards his own perfectibility or salvation. Well, we are both in need of salvation, so we started at the maze…
I must say now that Mateo is one of the worst people when it comes to directions. He can’t give them. He can’t follow them. He can’t read a map to save his life. I have a few embarrassing stories about him getting lost. (And he’s in Army!! How does that work out?) BUT, stick him in a maze and he can almost directly lead you the exit. It’s amazing! So while I might get a little angry and hopeless when we’re lost in Milan, I wouldn’t hesitate to have him as my navigational guide under weirder circumstances.
Then we navigated through the rest of the garden, stopping off for a view of Rabbit Island, which houses lots of frisky rabbits and a large birdcage. The island symbolizes The Sphere of Immanence (yeah, I had to go look up that word, too) Then we went onward to the Villa, past a statue of time and playful fountains.


Next, we decided to stop off in the town of Arqua Petrarca. It is the place where the poet Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca) lived the final part of his life and died, hence the town's name. It’s a very small, beautiful, cobblestone-paved medieval town. While we appreciate poetry, we were most interested in trying a jujube. I had no idea that these dried, red olive looking things were Jujubes (also called red dates, apparently) until an old lady with a wooden roadside cart-stand insisted that Mateo and I try some. Amazing! Certainly not my favorite fruit, but I was happy to say I’ve tried a jujube. I’d pick a candy jujube or a “real” date any day over these things, but they’re quite popular in this town. Almost every house has a tree, and there were many, many products derived of the jujube to be sampled and bought. They had jujube cakes, liquor, candy, and a curious and somehow delightful jujube jello.
Well, anyway, the fruit is touted as a great stress reducer, so we enjoyed as many free samples as possible. You know, for medicinal reasons. (you can see why we had so many calories to burn off in the maze-- we eat everything we can in the name of adventure!)

We also rested our weary feet and satisfied our endlessly hungry stomachs in a small Osteria in the town. We ate sweet & sour sardines (typical dish of the Veneto region), pumpkin lasagna, a bean and faro soup, and baccala with polenta. I was surprised to see that the town had its own dialect, and the menu was written entirely in it…on a chalkboard… outside the restaurant… and nowhere else. I made frequent embarrassing trips outside to read over the menu and walk back inside repeating the word to myself a hundred times so as not to forget it and then forget it.

We tried to finish up the night with mini golf, but got horribly lost. I couldn’t find my glasses anywhere. I only had my prescription sunglasses, so I was no help with street signs. It looked so easy on the map, but in reality, the streets are quite windy and confusing. Of course, country roads rarely are labeled anyway.
So, after some minutes of frustration we gave up on the idea and headed home.
“I’m thirsty. Quite thirsty,” Mateo said.
“I’m dying of thirst.”
So we stopped at the nearest bar: The Blues Brother’s Café.
I grabbed my purse and headed inside to realize a second too late that I still had my sunglasses on… at 9pm. And, I was walking into The Blues Brother’s Café. I’m sure they thought I was a total moron, trying to look “bluesy” with my sunglasses at night. How embarrassing and hilarious!
Then I immediately panicked. Perhaps it was a self-preservation panic as I wanted to avoid sharing the next few hours with people who had caught me walking into a bar at night with sunglasses on. I heard an awful 90s dance track and a couple of men holding hands. This is a gay bar.
I have no problem with gay bars. I spent quite a bit of time in them in Hollywood, but the terrible music and leather pants were going to be too much for me to handle at this point. I was wrong: stepping further inside I see that it was a completely heterosexual family establishment in the back and slightly more risqué out front.
To our complete surprise, a simple “tall beer” order produced a Kwak on tap in front of us. It was quite amazing! It's hard to find good beer in Italy, the land of wine. Kwak is a distinguished beer from Belgium, which is served in a fancy glass.
After his beer and some water, Mateo was less than thirsty and we headed back home to promptly pass out and sleep through all of the next day.

Three Small Towns in Colli Berici

The Colli Berici hills are located just a few kilometers south of our home. It's one of my favorite quick getaways.
The hills are made of mostly of volcanic rock, marine sediment, basalt, and limestone. This whole area, including the Dolomites, was a under sea water at some point. Now, exposed to acid rain which disintegrates limestone readily, the Dolomites and the Colli Berici hills are pock-marked with crevices and caves. Not surprisingly, the area is a fantastic place to explore caves and rock climb.

In the closest town to us, Longare, there is an interesting (although a little creepy) US Army installation that reminds me of something straight out of an episode of Lost. They call it "Pluto." There are 1970's green forts and towers nested in the disintegrating hills, surrounded by barbed wire and overgrowth. The picture shows the state of the overgrowth in 1999 (click the picture to enlarge it, for a better look).

Mateo works in one of the buildings. I have not been able to visit inside his office because I don't have the security clearance to do so, but he says it's just as creepy inside as it is outside. There are microphones hanging from the ceiling!

It's rumored that nuclear weapons used to be housed inside the hills on this small installation. I found online some references to nuclear weapons still being housed there as late as 2002.

The annual sagra (small fair) held in the grounds of the town's church is great! They serve pig spine and polenta as the specialty of the night. Yes, sounds gross, but it's actually not bad. You can also sample numerous local wines inexpensively with an animated bartender whose actually a civil engineer the rest of the year. Last year Mateo and I bought a sketch of the area from a local artist. We have yet to get it framed, of course.

The next town over from Longare was a serendipitous find for me one afternoon: Costozza. Its main road is narrow, winding, short and packed with photo opportunities: the clustering of imposing villas, an old icehouse which has been converted into a wine bar frequented by locals, a large garden, trees, a public washing area, a sign that says "Galileo slept here," and some kind of shrine.

A stop at the icehouse, which is now a wine bar

called La Botte del covolo (The Barrels of the Cave), is an absolute must for us any time we are in the area. The dome shaped building used to house the town's ice for the year. Snow was shoveled in the opening at the top, which now acts as the perfect vent for cigarette smoke.

There are caves below the icehouse that cool the bar to a consistent temperature year-round. The caves or caverns reach back far into the surrounding hills and connect to many of the oldest and grandest villas.

Inside the caverns, called cavoli, the temperat

ure doesn't drop below 43 degrees in winter and doesn't rise above 59 in summer. Central air ala 19th century!

The numerous caves in the area provide the perfect climate (cool, dry, and consistent) to age wine and grow mushrooms! And, you can get a tour below into the caverns from one of the owners! One of the tunnels/caves reaches far back into the hills of the area and is connected to the Army Installation (Pluto) which I mentioned earlier. (It's off-limits, naturally.)

Quick Italian lesson:

Due bicchieri di vino locale rosso, per favore.

Translation: "Two glasses of the local red wine, please."

Price per glass at La Botte del Cavolo: about 80 cents.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A quick jaunt down the road and you'll reach Lumignano. Their main attractions are the rock climbing routes housed behind the town church. I am certainly not Sporty Spice, and rock climbing, while it looks really impressive and somewhat appealing, is simply NOT for me. I can't do a push up or a pull up to save my life, and I would think those skills would be required minimums for successful rock climbing.

I like the area because on the first Sunday of the month, you can take a short hiking trail along the side of one of the Berici Hills and reach an old hermitage. The building is impressive. It's built right intothe side of the hill. Inside you can see its back wall is the unpainted side of the hill! It's pretty amazing in my opinion.
I don't exactly understand who originally built it and for what reason, but there is a

sign that warns you that under the floorboards there lie the bones of 8 unidentified bodies.

So, those are three small towns near our own, that are a part of the Colli Berici hills. They're just what you'd expect and hope from an Italian town: quaint, full of history, beautiful, and welcoming.

Venice, winter (part 1)

This weekend, Matthew and I went to Venice to celebrate his birthday (January 25th). His birthday happen to coincide with the first night of Carnevale!! I found a one-star hotel close to the Rialto, and we caught a 4 euro train to Venice on Friday afternoon.
The ground was already covered in confetti, but we had to wait until Sunday before we saw many costumes and masks.
That night we got terribly lost and hungry tracking down an Indian restaurant. Once we got there though, things brightened considerably and the festivities for us officially began. The cook came out after we finished our HUGE meal and chatted with us a bit. She (we think) spoke English very well, wore salmon colored corduroy pants, and was so delighted to find that I was from Hawaii.
"I was just talking to my friends at the other table about how much I want to go to Hawaii this year!"
She apparently is an avid windsurfer, and has a friend who grew up on the island of Maui.

The next day we caught a water bus to the unappealing island of Murano. Thankfully, that wasn't our final destination. During our 10 minute layover, we hurriedly looked in the windows of a few shops and figured the island was probably more interesting when it is warm in the summer and all the shops were open.
BURANO, our final destination for the day, was positively delightful! It's a small, fairly untouristed fishing island about a 40 minute water bus ride away from St Mark's square in Venice. What makes Burano so interesting is that every house is painted in different bright colors. The colors of the houses follow a specific system originating from the golden age of its development; if someone wishes to paint their home, one must send a request to the government, who will respond by making notice of the certain colors permitted for that lot. This practice has resulted in the character of the island today.
Burano is also famous for lace.

With children running home for lunch, throwing their backpacks around, and a man sawing wood in his backyard, we got a sense that this is where the real people of Venice live.
We found a vacant picnic bench at noon, overlooking the Venetian lagoon and an adjacent island (Mazzorbo). There we enjoyed a beer we bought from a small grocery store in Venice: La Putena (the whore) from the Most Serene Republic of San Marino. It was a perfect afternoon.


80% of the Venetian lagoon is mud flats, tidal shallows, and salt marshes; 11% water (canals), and near 8% land. It's the largest wetland in the Mediterranean basin. It is, however, fairly artificial! It developed naturally 6-7 thousand years ago, however, if it were not for man's continual intervention beginning in the 15th and 16th century, the whole of the lagoon would be marshland, completely absent of canals or habitable land. The island we were on, Burano (0.21 km²), is kind of special. The peculiar position of Burano in respect to winds and marshes, saved it from the decadence and from the destruction that happened to other islands. It's being detached from the mainland, Burano avoided the plague of malaria quite normal in the lagoon islands which killed hundreds. Its position was also a natural defense from invaders. The inhabitants, century after century, consolidated and raised the ground, dug canals and built bridges, transforming a swamp into a lovely island which now holds 7,000 residents.

The sun was setting by the time we returned to Venice. Exhausted from the afternoon sun, a large lunch, and long walks on Burano, we fell fast asleep at the hotel room before dinner.

above is a short video.

Driving in Italy

Italy truly does take the cake for world's worst drivers. And you thought it was the Japanese!
1. Parking car in middle of one lane road to pop into a store for a few minutes, during rush hour. "Hey! My emergency lights are on!" There is no way around them.
2. Cars driving on the wrong side of the road to pass traffic and then not be able to merge back into the correct lane of traffic when oncoming traffic approaches. So that in the middle lane there will be two cars at a stand still facing each other flashing their brights and honking.
3. Dumb, dumb DUMBass scooters.
4. Passing ME in the middle of an intersection.
5. Cars driving on sidewalks (and mopeds too).
6. Cars parked in all sorts of configurations (facing traffic, half on sidewalk, and always double parked)
7. SmartCars driving 110 MPH.
8. Driving on freeway with lane line directly under middle of car.
9. Passing on a curve.
10. Passing a passing car.
11. Driving on opposite side of median to avoid rough road on their lane, requiring me to stop until there was a break in the traffic to allow me to continue on my way.
12. Knocking down all the standup reflectors at construction site within a few days.
13. Right of way? EVERYONE has the right of way!
14. Attempting to pass on the right to only have to potential passee speed up and then you play "insistent passer-speed along the pedestrian lane and run pedestrian Coral off into the ditch."
15. Tailgate with your brights on.
16. Often times there won't be any traffic lines on very wide streets approaching large traffic circles.

I learned the following "rules" for driving in Italy before obtaining my license:
Flash your lights to let someone know you are letting them into traffic.
Flash your lights if you want the car in front of you to pull over and let you pass.
Turn on your left blinker in the fast lane of the autostrade to insist that all traffic in front of you immediately depart from lane to let you through.

On Gas:

First of all, in Italy you have three choices for gas: unleaded (mid-grade), leaded, or diesel. They are all at the same pump, so beware!

Matthew and I can buy government deal gas coupons that make it $3.48 a gallon. They are a pain in the donkey-butt to use because not all gas stations take them, and you have to go to the gas station at the correct times (not during lunch break, not on weekends, not at night).

Without the gas coupons it is $10.97766 a gallon for unleaded gas, mid-grade. How nice is that?
There is a limited number of gas coupons we can get a month.
All gas stations are 24 hour by self service. There is a machine that you insert euro into and then select which pump and ta da! I love the 24 hour machine. In fact, you get a 2 cent discount for using the machine at any hour as opposed to paying inside. Also takes credit cards.

Padova

Went to Padova and saw the preserved tongue of St Anthony at the basilica. There isn't a lot to do (so far that we've found) in Padova, but it's a beautiful city.

Naples - finding enjoyment in a REAL ghetto.

Naples really isn't a place that I would highly recommend anyone visit. However, I enjoyed myself there thoroughly. Upon arrival at night, we were accosted by a very pushy, sleazy "taxi driver" at the train station. We sought refuge in a cafe across the street. Inside a man in a blue suit with brass buttons and a matching blue sailor hat served us a beer and gave us directions to the hotel. "Piazza Mercato?" a smile I later recognized later to be "amused" came across his face.
I had an unusually heavy bag, blatantly American traveling companions, and it was night and we were tired and it was a bad neighborhood, so naturally we got lost. Around the corner we found the harbor, empty dirty streets, and a cross dressing hooker. "We need to keep moving, whatever we do. Just keep moving in a determined fashion."
Shortly thereafter I called the Albergo.
"Hi. I'm lost."
"Where are you ma'am?"
"I don't know. Oh, wait......um..uh...oh! okay, I'm by a church." Suddenly I realized what a ridiculous statement this was being in Italy. Then I became aware that I hadn't even acknowledged to the receptionist who I was. "Oh, by the way. I am checking in this evening. OH! oh. I am at the Pi....azza Mercato. Oh guys I think we're here!!!"
"Yes, ma'am. We are right in front of you." *click*
"The guy just hung up on me!"

----

We climb the 34 steep and narrow steps to the lobby of our questionably three-star hotel.

"There are only three of you. The reservation says four. Where is the fourth person?"
"Um, yeah, he had to work, so he isn't coming."
"But the reservation is for four people."

After an awkward sign-in process, we were then onto the fun stuff: food.

"Okay, now I will read a list. You tell me if you want it for breakfast."
"Toast?"
*no*
"Yogurt?"
*no*
"muesli or other grain cereal?"
Clearly Deb and I were holding out to see what all was on the list to pick the most satisfying or expensive item. I couldn't quite read the list ahead of the man, so when he looked at me impatiently I asked "Do we each pick one from the list, or can we have two?"
"No! You get whatever you want. If you want toast and grains, you can have both. You can have all!"
(he seemed surprised and frustrated that he had to start all over again, but Deb and I were suddenly enjoying ourselves.)
Ryan pipes in, "hey, can I get an American coffee?"
"Yes, for you I can make this."
"I love this guy" I whispered over to Deb. Deb nodded in acknowledgment. Our young Indian man receptionist was suddenly quite lovable in our eyes.

"Do you know any place where we can get something to eat?" I ask.
"Now?" (It was late, 10pm)
"Yes. Someplace....nearby." What I meant was "someplace safe" but I think he got what I was implying.
"You go upstairs. I will call my friend. What do you want to eat?"
"I guess pizza. We are in Naples," I said brilliantly. "Pizza is good here, right?"
"Yes, if you like pizza."
*man calls and speaks in Italian* Yes, they just got here. They want to eat. yes, now. Just pizza.
Not wanting to limit my choices I pipe in "Or, anything, really. Maybe some meats or pasta." Okay, now they say anything. yes. yes. okay. 5 minutes, okay.
"Okay, my friend will walk here and take you to the place."
Ordinarily I would flat out refuse. I mean, this is the shit they warn you about in travel guides, right? but I didn't hear anything suspicious said in Italian on the phone, so I only hesitated "Um, why don't you give directions? We can find it."
"No, it's near, but it is complicated. No. My friend walks here and takes you there."
oh fine then, I'm hungry.... "Okay." I succumb easily.

Like clockwork, 5 minutes later, along comes our handsome and totally shady looking young escort.
"Okay, we go to my restaurant."
I look at him and just kind of wide eyed stare..and laugh what the hell. if we die, we die, right?

Along the way, down a dark and impossibly dirty alley Platt tries to make conversation. "So are you from Naples?"
"No. But I live here now. I am Russian."
I glance over at Deb and say "we're gonna die."
Platt: "Oh yeah? Yeah. I'm Russian too. Well, my family is. That is, my ancestors were from Russia. They're Russian....." *silence* "And Poland too."

Miraculously we arrive alive at the BRIGHTLY lit restaurant. There is just one old man, a regular, and the family there. The regular stops watching his game show and stares at us, decides to leave. We are now left to be served by Russian Momma.
"Ha un menu?" I ask politely.
"No. I am menu" she says proudly.
"Okay guys, there's no menu so, tell me what you want and I'll order it for you." ("I am menu" was all she could say in English)
"You want the antipasto dish? It has grilled stuff, from the ocean and the forest" Momma suggests.
"no, thank you. Just pizza" I reply.
"No antipasto? It's delicious" she insists.
"No, no thank you." Clearly this is no Have It Your Way place.
Platt: "I want a pepperoni pizza." (in english, directly to the lady, of course)
"Solo pepperoni?"
"No! no. He does NOT want a pepperoni pizza.....Ryan, pepperoni means, like, green peppers. It will come with only green bell peppers on it."
"Well, I want a regular pepperoni pizza." he says.
"Okay, well, he wants salamino piccante" I order.
"Good catch," she winks at me. "But, No. He does not want that. No good." Russian Momma insists he get a white pizza with spinach and sausage. And, that is what Ryan gets.
After our awkward bargaining for our order, we eat in silence as the family watches. Russian Momma is QUITE pleased with herself for our "choices." The kids clearly want to get the hell out of there. The young ones start to put the chairs up onto the tables and Russian Momma shoos them away, giving big eyes, like have some respect for our guests. And, then she goes back to watching us eat.

After dinner we hole up into our room and fall asleep watching a horribly acted show in Italian.

--

Graffiti reads: "Fire to Rome"

The next day we walk past....... I can't even describe it, really. And, sadly, I only have Ryan's random picture that totally cuts out the best part.
Trash is littered everywhere. There were "street vendors" who literally dumped out trash cans and began to sell what they could from the can. We traversed through a dumping area where people swarmed like seagulls, picking up metal scraps and other items they hoped to sell. A person dismantling a broken TV. Stepped on a few broken glass pipes.

"There is also the problem of the Camorra (mofia), which profits extraordinarily in the endless crisis over trash, much as arms dealers thrive in war." from NY Times article on Naples and their trash.

There were drug deals. Card games. Disfigured beggars. Young trashy lovers on mopeds. And little old ladies lowering baskets on a rope from their balconies to have someone put delivered groceries in them.
We visit our bellboy-bartender in his blue suit at the cafe again. An old woman, obviously homeless and insane and badly in need of a good scrub with lye soap curses into the cafe. "I want that beer! Give me a goddamn beer!"
"Does she come here everyday?" I ask.
"Yes," the bartender replies matter-of-factly.
"I thought so."
Our favorite bartender finally gave her a beer to the annoyance of the younger partner bartender.

Then we caught the train and visited Pompeii for the day.

On our way home (to the hotel room) from Pompeii, we walked through the dump and stopped at a literal hole-in-the-wall pizza asporto (to-go) place. From which we got the best pizza, deep fried mashed potatoes and rice balls. From our balcony we ate and watched 16 year old boys and girls cause trouble in the alleys. We figured out who was the leader of the pack, the up for anything sidekick, the chubby girl, the skinny girl in love with #1, the older girls (smoking in a corner away from the group) who the #1 liked, the young chubby brother of the skinny girl, etc etc. They lit off fireworks for us, with the ashes falling at our sides still glowing. We watched them fight with other kids passing by on mopeds (someone kicked at #1's moped). And we saw a 10 year old pop wheelies on his scooter back and forth down the alley (obviously trying to impress the older girls).
A fun night.


Naples: Throughly enjoyable in that sad and totally thrilling way.

The following is a painting done by Domenico Gargiulo (alias Micco Spadaro) called The Plague (or pests) of Naples at Piazza Mercato (where we stayed). An old painting, but stills holds some relevance to today.



I mean, clearly we weren't in the touristy area. I'm sure there are some nice areas of Naples, but we didn't see it. Only person we encountered that spoke English was the receptionist at hotel and our Russian escort.

ROMA!!!

"No need for reservations. Just show up."
Become immediately suspicious if anyone ever tells you this. In fact, go out of your way to insist on a reservation and show up early.
We showed up at the train station on Sunday well slept and eager to catch an afternoon train to Rome. Surely not many people would be riding to Rome on a Sunday, it's sabbath! With all this buildup it goes without saying that the tickets were sold out for the rest of the day. This messed with everything, as we had a nice young man waiting in Rome to hand us the keys to his no-refund apartment that evening.
Humiliated and almost in tears from the sharp dissent from pure unadulterated excitement to the pits of despair, I sat down on my luggage in the middle of the crowded train station.
"I'm going to go get a slice of pizza, " Ryan exclaimed as he exited the disaster scene.
"I think he's going to get lost," Deb exclaimed as she excused herself to follow Ryan.
"Come on, honey. Let's just try." The surprisingly optimistic Matthew to the rescue!
"Yes, ma'am, there are no seats left on the train. But for the same price you can purchase a standing room only ticket."
That's a five and a half hour ride!!!!! "We'll take it," I said in desperation.


Once we got there, Rome was pretty stinking awesome. Our flat was fantastically huge, with three bathrooms and literally 7 beds (and two sofa beds). My room was the one that was set off of the patio, separate from the rest of the flat. We were two blocks from the Colosseo (Colosseum). So, yeah, pretty fantastic.

We pretty much saw everything. The most impressive thing to me was the Trevi fountain. (see above picture where I look like a man) We visited it at night, which is the only way I suggest seeing it. We bought 1 euro wine and beer, drank it on the benches, threw a coin over our shoulder to ensure a return visit, and watched all the tourists, local college kids, and the chestnut sellers mull about.

Colosseum: Matthew licked it. Victor Emmanuelle Monument: Huge bronze statue of Victor on a horse, which had disproportionately HUGE balls (which were discussed in the description plaque about the statue). Awesome view of Rome from the top. Saw a man get out of his car and chase a pedestrian (who he almost hit) to literally kick him in the ass. "You're breaking my balls!" Cesar's ashes spot. Pantheon. Caligula's palace ruins. Arch di Triumph The Sistine chapel. I got goosebumps going in there. I didn't think I was going to be impressed. The Vatican museum. Matthew bought a fake Rolex. Sent some postcards from their special post office. THE POPE. Spanish Steps. Ate the best Indian food, followed by marzipan treats and gelato. Piazza Navona Roman baths HUGE fountains Borghese Gallery (Venus statue) Hermaphrodite The Discus Thrower lots and lots of ruins, including where Julius Cesar was killed saw a woman's purse snatched off her by a passing motorist "la borsa! la borsa!" ate zucchini flowers (on my list of things to do in my lifetime, believe it or not) saw the most attractive and fashionable street cleaner ever saw a real Luigi (also street cleaner. green outfit and all) and enough Romanesque art to last a lifetime

Proud of my planning so as to maximize sightseeing and minimize effort.
Proud of use of Italian.
Proud of ability to navigate the public transportation system (taxis, buses, AND trains without the use of english once).

Proud to be kicked out of the McDonalds(!!!).

Ca Bruzzo Winery

Ryan and Deb, friends of Matt, came to visit us in November for roughly two weeks. We had a grand ol' time together, drinking and eating (in that order) like good little porky Romans. The more unusual or specific to the region the food was the better, as far as I was concerned. Granted, there were some things that were "off the table," (harharhar) like peacock tongues, which wealthy ancient Romans actually ate.

Ca Bruzzo Winery Website

First stop was at the Ca Bruzzo winery in the Berici hills (where once before drove down a hiking trail). This was one of the highlights of the trip. We got lost trying to find the place (no surprise there). We ended up driving down several different driveways and a road that looked suspiciously like another hiking trail.
We arrived before dark though, so we had some time to walk through the vineyards at sunset.
Then we headed to the cellar to drink progressively older and finer wines and pretend we were actually absorbing information.
The winery is operated by a family from California who had extended family (ie, tour guide's grandmother) in Italy. They specialize in small patches of wine, using innovative techniques. This is a family-run, organic winery- no pesticides, no fertilizer, no irrigation. French oak barrels, unusual grafting techniques, and region specific climate make for some delicious wines!
After the wine lesson, we were welcomed into their entertainment room to enjoy cheese, bread, more wine, and talk about Lord of the Rings next to a huge hearth and a suit of armor. The conversation and laughing was ceaseless until MOM came in and busted up the party. We reluctantly left with numerous bottles of wine after drawn out conversations in the driveway.
We'll have to go together when you come to visit. The wines are about 15 euro each. If you find them in the states (unlikely) you'll pay about $45.

Current Exchange Rate

1 Euro = 1.4412 U.S. dollars

Vending Machines In Italy

At one of the gas stations we use... condoms, fine chocolates, air freshener, and beer available via vending machine 24hr/day. And, don't forget to take home a movie to wifey!! Credit cards acceptable.

Asiago Hike

Here are a few photos from the hike I did in Asiago.

It was my first european snow! I, of course, was improperly dressed, so I froze my butt off until the sun warmed up everything. My feet were soaked halfway into it, but I enjoyed it.
Afterwards I bought some Asiago cheese to share with Ryan and Deb when they visit in a few days.