Ciao for Now

October 25, 2011

Drip Castles and Fairy Chimneys

by Anna

Cappadocia, “Land of the Beautiful Horses,” is unlike any place I’ve ever seen. Johnny and I were constantly in jaw-drop positions as we explored this other-wordly landscape, rich and unique both in its history and geology. Cappadocia’s terrain resulted from volcanic eruptions millions of years ago. Over time, the lava was eroded by weather, exposing the soft tuff left beneath the harder rocks above, thus leaving behind the phallic looking formations, dubbed “fairy chimneys” that stud the area. Also left behind were the amazing valleys and drip castle-esque rock formations that served as cave dwellings for prehistoric settlers, Byzantines, Christians, and so on as one civilization built upon the work of its predecessor through the ages.

We based ourselves in the cool little village of Göreme, which is a scenic delight in itself with cave houses dotting the rocks and lively shops and restaurants nestled along a tree-lined canal. Göreme also topped the charts with the friendliest, warmest people ever. We were already impressed by how nice and helpful Osman and his nephew were in Selçuk, and our amazing host, Mustafa, at the Arch Palace Hotel picked up right where they left off. He went out of his way to make sure we had dinner plans, rides to and from wherever we needed to go, maps of the valleys, etc. During breakfast each morning as we admired the view from the rooftop, Mustafa would move from table to table talking with all his guests and making sure everyone was happy. Every other person in Göreme was the exact same way, always making us feel welcome. By the time we left, we felt like we had friends all over the village, many of whom thought Johnny looked either like Jesus or Jake Gyllenhaal. It was a toss up.

Cave houses just off the main road in Göreme


A delicious Börek meat filled pastry at Nazar Börek Cafe	Nazar Börek Cafe in Göreme

Along the canal in Göreme

As soon as we arrived in Göreme, we bundled up since it was pretty frigid, and walked a small distance out of town to the Open Air Museum. This was our first opportunity to explore the cave dwellings and churches that date back to the Byzantine period and to take in the amazing landscape around us. We particularly enjoyed visiting the Karanlik Kilise, or “Dark Church,” which had the most beautifully preserved frescoes due to the lack of light over the centuries.

The view from our walk to the Göreme Open Air Museum, a Unesco World Heritage Site


Just passing a camel along the way…no big deal	Rocks speckled with cave houses

Other-worldly


Doorway to a cave house	Cave paintings


Karanlik Kilise	Beautifully preserved cave frescoes

Inside the Open Air Museum

That night after enjoying the sunset from the roof terrace of our hotel, we sampled our first Testi kebap. Testi kebap, you say? At first glance this might sound like a dish involving the unmentionables of some animal, but quite to the contrary. It is actually a delicious mix of meat and vegetables cooked in a sealed clay pot over an open fire. The best part, besides being crock-pot style, melt-in-your-mouth delicious, is that you get to break open your clay pot with a hammer at the table (pretty sure I ate a few pieces of clay, but it was worth it!).

Up on the roof…


Easy does it	Bam! steaming goodness is revealed

Yum

The next day we again put on our warmest layers and took a short bus ride to another Open Air Museum in Zelve. The three valleys which make up the museum blew us away with their colorfully streaked rock walls, crazy rock formations and multitude of cave dwellings and pigeon houses dating back to the 9^th century and lived in up until 1952 when they were deemed too dangerous for villagers. Unlike the Göreme Open Air Museum, we were two of only a handful of people there, so it felt like we had these amazing canyons to ourselves.

From Zelve we veered along dirt paths past grapevines and sheep till we found Paşabağı, well known for its stunning array of fairy chimneys, some of which contained former monk cave dwellings and chapels. Our walk then took us to a small village called Çavuşin. We stopped at “Ayse & Mustafa’s Place” in the old part of the village for some çay (by this point I was developing a mild addiction to Turkish tea) and lunch. Çavuşin had an incredible, massive rock face filled with abandoned cave houses, and we got amazing views after scaling up the side of it.


It was just us and the sheep	Autumn colors in the valley

The fairy chimneys also kind of look like mushrooms

More fairy chimneys


Cay in traditional tulip glasses	Refueling at Ayse & Mustafa’s Place

Çavuşin cave houses

Climbing the rock face in Çavuşin…”Where’s Johnny?”

Next we headed to what would be the highlight of the day; the Red and Rose Valleys. We had heard that you sort of just “find your way” through these valleys, as they are not really marked, and the trails veer off in all directions. The lack of detailed maps or trail markers and the lack of people definitely made for a surreal adventure exploring these pink and rusty-hued valleys. Every twist and turn took us to an even more spectacular view than the last with shapes and colors that we had never seen before. And just when we felt like we were the only people walking through what felt like another planet, we’d stumble upon cave houses carved high in the rocks, a random tea shack or old man gathering pomegranates and pumpkins. Pomegranate trees, by the way, were everywhere, and on our way out of the Red Valley, we stopped at a small tea stand and had a fresh squeezed cup of pomegranate juice. When we finally cut through the hills on our way back to Göreme, in awe of the natural wonders we had seen that day, the call to prayer echoed across the valley from the spires of the mosques, reminding us how very far away from home we were.

That night we perused the small colorful shops in Göreme (and really started thinking about buying one of those magical Turkish carpets!) and unwound/dethawed at the cozy Red Red Wine Bar.

Carpets for days in Göreme


Bright hand-painted ceramics	More carpets


Red Red Wine Bar	Red Red Wine Bar

Nighttime in Göreme

The next morning we awoke to sunshine and hot air balloons floating through the blue skies. We decided for our last day to join a small tour, called the “Green Tour” in order to see more of the region. After checking out a panoramic point of Göreme, our first stop took us to the Derinkuyu Underground City. The deepest of 36 underground cities discovered in Cappadocia, it was first built by the Phrygians in the 8th to 7th centuries BC and was expanded upon and served as a hideout for Christians in the 6th and 7th centuries. We were able to visit 8 of the 16 floors deep beneath the earth. When we arrived down the extremely narrow and low passageway to the 8th floor, we were 85 meters below the surface (approximately an entire football field length beneath the ground!). I think Johnny turned a little green at a couple points when we had to literally bend over and almost crawl to get through the narrow tunnels, but it was well worth it. The intricacy of the city with stables, homes, churches, wells, baptism pools, air shafts and classrooms was amazing, and it was crazy to imagine 10,000 people living for months at a time in this way in order to evade enemies.

Hot air balloon rides are a hot ticket in Cappadocia

The passageways got even more narrow and low than this…not a happy place for claustrophobics!


Johnny’s so excited to be eight levels below the earth	Deep and narrow stairwells

One tunnel went a distance of 15km, connecting to yet another underground city

Glad to have avoided any cave-ins, we emerged back into daylight and headed for Ihlara Valley, the 2^nd largest canyon after the Grand Canyon (fun fact). We took a 4km walk through the valley in the Melendiz river canyon which was full of fall colors, more cave dwellings and churches, and some of the most enormous ducks I’ve ever seen – I think they might have been duck-geese hybrids.


Ihlara Valley	Agacalti (under the tree) church in Ihlara

The colors were beautiful in the Melendiz river canyon


Cappadocia was also the land of cute puppies	Cave dwellings along the walls of the canyon

After lunch in Belisirma, we drove to Yaprakhisar, an area which is well known for its landscape looking like the backdrop of Star Wars. We climbed around and explored the largest monastery (Selime) in the area which was really impressive both in size and intricate details within the rock caves.

Yaprakhisar


Inside the church at Selime	Inside the church at Selime


Star Wars landscape	Yaprakhisar

After one final panoramic look out point of Pigeon Valley, we got back to Göreme around 5:30pm, grabbed our luggage and headed to the very cool Safak Cafe that we had found the day before for some last minute wine and meze before boarding our overnight bus to Istanbul!

Erciyes Dagi volcano

Pigeon Valley (pigeons were considered sacred, and their droppings were used as manure)


We were sad to say goodbye to our main man Mustafa	We loved the Arch Palace Hotel

Posted in Turkey | 3 Comments »

October 23, 2011

Time For A Kebab

by Johnny

Do you know how hard it is for a meat-eating male to travel in Europe for nearly five months without eating a kebab? It’s extremely hard. They’re on nearly every street corner, tempting you with cheap awesomeness. Did I give into this temptation? No way. I ignored these delicious hunks of meat on a stick with unrivaled willpower, determined to experience my first kebab in the world’s kebab mecca, Istanbul.

On one of our travel days a little while ago, Anna and I were watching the Istanbul episode of “Anthony Bordain: No Reservations.” He raved about this hole in the wall kebab place that made both of us drool on our computer, and I thought, “Yes…this is where I will have my kebab!” With some flimsy directions, we headed down a couple side streets, up a couple alleys, and finally made it to Durumzade. Let me just say, it was worth the wait. We ordered a spicy lamb durum (Turkish kebab wrap), which is the specialty of the house, and watched the grill master work his magic. The best part was that he would periodically smother the cooking meat with the bread, soaking up all the juice and spices. He wrapped the meat up burrito style with some tomatoes, onions and more spices and delivered it to our table. I tore into this thing like a five year-old into his first present on Christmas morning. It, like nearly every single thing we’ve eaten in Turkey, did not disappoint.


How can a place with smiley faces for U’s be bad?	Choice of meats on skewers in the window


Cooking up our lamb on the grill	All the fixin’s

One happy camper…who looks a little pooped from staying out ’til 4:00am the night before

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October 19, 2011

Ephesus

by Johnny

After over a month traveling throughout the amazing country of Italy, it was time for the Sherwood World Tour to move on. Next stop…Turkey! Our jolly B&B owner Osman picked us up at the Izmir airport in the freezing cold and drove us to the town of Selçuk, our base for exploring the ruins of Ephesus and surrounding sites. On the way to his comfy, family-run B&B, Nazar Hotel, Osman mentioned that his friend ran daily tours of Ephesus if we were interested. We haven’t been on many “tours,” but with only one full day to see the region (and because we didn’t want to get lost in the freezing cold), we figured it would be the best way to see everything. We’re definitely glad we did the tour as it provided us with a ton of insight not found in our guidebooks.

The view from breakfast at Nazar Hotel


View from our room	We ate a delicious dinner in the freezing cold at Hotel Nazar

My new Turkish friends Osman and his nephew

Our first stop was Meryemana (Mary’s House), where, as the story goes, the Virgin Mary lived her final years after she came to Ephesus with Saint John in the year 37 AD. Over 1,800 years later, a German nun named Catherine Emmerich had visions of Mary’s face in a grilled cheese sandwich she was eating. No, not really. But she did claim to have visions of Mary living in Ephesus, even though she had never visited the place or even left Germany. Using the descriptions of her visions as a guide, clergy from nearby Izmir discovered the foundations of an old house on a hillside near Ephesus. Whoa! Though the ruins have been dated to the 6th century AD, they are said to “contain some earlier elements, possibly from the 1st century.” Well, that was good enough for Pope Paul VI to unofficially claim its authenticity on a visit in 1967, making it a place of pilgrimage. Whether you believe the Virgin Mary lived there or not, it’s definitely an interesting place to check out.

Virgin Mary’s pad…allegedly


People lighting candles at Mary’s house	Prayers written on tissues at Mary’s house

The next stop on our tour was Ephesus, said to be the best-preserved ruins in the Mediterranean, if not all of Europe. According to the legend, Androclus from Ionia, under constant attack from invaders, sought the advice of the oracle of Delphi for a new place to settle his people. The oracle told him to look for three things: the fish, the fire and the boar. When Androclus and his people arrived on the shores of present-day Turkey from Greece in the 10th century BC, they cooked some freshly caught fish, which started a large fire and scared a wild boar out of the bushes. Androclus hunted down the boar and founded Ephesus in the exact place he killed it.

In the centuries that followed, Ephesus grew to become Rome’s capital in Asia Minor with a population near 250,000. Today, only 18% of the former city has been excavated, but it’s still enough to get your imagination running wild about how impressive a city it must have been back in the day. The city even had full running water (hot and cold) and sewage systems, and some statues clearly depict a round earth indicating that the Romans knew the world was round before that belief was lost during the Dark Ages. It was at Ephesus that we were definitely glad we had a guide. She told us the history of and meaning behind each set of ruins, which would have otherwise looked like a bunch of old stones to Anna and me. Some highlights were the Varius Baths (where visitors were required to clean themselves upon entry) the Trajan Fountain, the Temple of Hadrian, the men’s latrines (where many wealthy men had membership), the Curetus Way (the Fifth Avenue of Ephesus), and the Great Theater. Of course, the head honcho of all the Ephesus ruins is the Library of Celsus. In its day, it held 12,000 scrolls, making it the third largest library in the ancient world.

Curetes Way…the Fifth Avenue of Ephesus


Ancient pharmacy snake symbol at Ephesus	Lots of happy cats at Ephesus


Corinthian and Ionic columns	Pomegranates in bloom next to the ruins

The men’s latrines were the place to be


Trajan Fountain	Temple of Hadrian


Mosaic floors of the terraced houses	Where the old shops lined Curetes Way

Library of Celsus

Library of Celsus


Library of Celsus	Library of Celsus

Library of Celsus

Johnny and Anna…oh, and Library of Celsus


Harbour Street	The Great Theatre

Shredding leg guitar solo at the Great Theatre

After our tour of Ephesus it was time for some grub. We sampled some Turkish delights, çay (tea), dried fruits and nuts from the region before heading to an all-you-can-eat restaurant featuring local fare. After filling our bellies we visited the Ephesus Museum, which contains some artifacts (coins, jewelry, scales) uncovered during excavation. Then we made our way to the Temple of Artemis, one of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. When settling at Ephesus, Androclus and his people peacefully integrated with the Leleggian tribes already there, even incorporating some of the Leleggian beliefs into their own (take notes, Christopher Columbus). At the center of these beliefs and religious practices were goddesses of fertility, which evolved into the Artemis of Ephesus. Her devotees built her the largest temple in the world…larger than the Parthenon in Athens. Sadly, only one of the original 127 columns from the temple is still standing, and it’s topped by a silly looking stork’s nest, but we still got a good idea of what it could have looked like in its heyday.

A plethora of Turkish goodies

All that’s left of the Temple of Artemis…one of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

We wrapped up our tour with a visit to a local hand-made Turkish carpet shop, where we learned all about the carpet making process. It’s intense! We saw how they extract silk from silkworm cocoons using traditional methods. Then we learned about the various knots that are used to weave carpets, and how the Turkish double knot makes Turkish carpets unique. Watching the girls weave intricate patterns into these carpets one knot at a time was something to see. The girls can only work for two hours a day because the process is so physically exhausting, and sometimes it takes up to two years for them to complete a single rug.


Removing the silk cocoons from the hot water	Silk cocoons


Carpet weaving	This girl was recreating the Last Supper in a carpet

I still don’t know how they make patterns this cool


Carpets to the ceiling	Genuine fake watches!

Although we’ve only been in Turkey for a couple of days, one thing’s for sure…we’re not in Western Europe anymore. The food, the language, the people, the landscape, the buildings, the music…it’s so different from anything we’ve seen on this trip so far. While I’ve absolutely loved every place we’ve been, this is the first time on our trip it feels like we are in a faraway, exotic land. It’s almost like our vacation has ended and our adventure has begun, and we can’t wait to see what else Turkey (and soon South Africa and Southeast Asia!) has to offer.

Posted in Turkey | 5 Comments »

October 16, 2011

Thanks Mom And Dad!

by Johnny

Thanks for the most amazing two weeks! We love you and miss you lots!

Posted in Italy | 3 Comments »

October 15, 2011

Como

by Anna

The end to another beautiful day on Lake Como

Our final stop on the Sherwood Family Italy Tour was gorgeous Lake Como. Linda found us a cozy apartment through the Albergo Milano in the small town of Varenna. Varenna could not have been more charming with its colorful waterfront buildings sprinkled with elegant villas and a tiny waterfront full of the fattest, healthiest and best looking ducks we had ever seen! Our stay in Varenna was immediately kicked off with a late afternoon aperitivo at the Hotel du Lac. Upon arriving, we had intended to take a longer stroll to explore the town, but the blackboard in front of Hotel du Lac boasting fresh white peach Bellinis on its perfect lake front deck was too much for us to resist.

Varenna


On the deck of Hotel du Lac	We couldn’t resist the Bellinis!


Leaves around the lake were showing signs of autumn	Views from our daily stroll along the lake

Lake Como

After our Bellini pit stop and some more strolling through the town, we got ready to head to dinner at the Ristorante La Vista at the Albergo Milano. We were treated to the most beautiful sunset over the lake from our table on the restaurant’s amazing terrace, and figured the view would be the best part of the night, but it got even better with a delicious meal and the “hotel cat,” Sashimi, who curled up in Linda’s lap during the meal.

It doesn’t get much better than this


Sunset over Varenna	Sunset over the lake

The view just kept getting better

Luckily there was a gelato store at the end of our street!

The next day we hopped on the ferry for a quick ride over to Bellagio, “the pearl of Lake Como.” I had great memories from a trip that I took to Bellagio in college and was so excited to make a return visit! Bellagio is pretty in every way…its steep narrow streets, panoramic views of the lake and perfectly landscaped trees and flowers. After spending the morning admiring the beautiful gardens of Villa Melzi, we had yet another delicious meal at Trattoria San Giacomo on one of Bellagio’s picturesque streets and topped it off with local microbrews and white wines at Aperitivo et Al.

Riding the ferry to Bellagio

Villa Melzi


The gardens of Villa Melzi	Villa Melzi’s “front patio” is not too shabby

Monument of Dante and Beatrice by Giambattista Comolli in the gardens


Tree and flower-lined path in Bellagio	View from our lunch spot in Bellagio

Big Jay and Johnny were happy to find a good Italian microbrew

We decided that for our final night with Jay and Linda in Lake Como, we should return to our two favorite spots – the terrace at Hotel du Lac and the Ristorante La Vista. The views and food just couldn’t be beat!

A final round of aperitivos at Hotel du Lac (we grew to be very fond of bright orange Aperol Spritzs!)

The stunning view from Ristorante La Vista was a perfect backdrop for our final evening with Linda and Jay

The next day we sadly saw Jay and Linda off at the train station. We could not have asked for a more wonderful two weeks with them, and we are so grateful that they were able to join us on part of our adventure!!

We spent the remainder of the day and the following day catching up on emails and the blog and researching the upcoming parts of our trip. We also completed the “golden triangle” on Lake Como and took the ferry to the town of Mennagio for lunch. On our way back from lunch, we were almost to our hotel when we heard “Johnny!” from across the street. Believe it or not, Johnny’s friends from San Francisco, Dennis and Robyn, were waving across at us…of all places to run into friends from home! Dennis and Robin now live in London and were on a weekend getaway with their Aussie friends, Linda and Philippe. They invited us to join them for dinner, so a few hours later we were all sitting together swapping travel stories (I think Dennis and Robyn have been EVERYWHERE, so we got some great travel tips for Turkey and South Africa) and having an awesome time! What a great way to spend our last night in Italy!!


Dinner with Dennis, Robyn, Linda and Philippe	So lucky to run into friends on our travels!

**The reason why we are cracking up in the group photo is because the cutest, oldest and smallest Italian man was taking our photo. It took a few attempts to show him how to use Johnny’s high tech camera, and when he finally got the button, with flash, pushed, the camera went on automatic timer mode, so he just held the camera for 15 seconds while the camera beeped and finally took the picture. It was pretty funny…he must have thought we were crazy!

So it is time to say ‘Arrivederci’ to Italy, as we make our way east to Turkey tomorrow! Our next update will be from Ephesus!

Posted in Italy | 3 Comments »

October 15, 2011

Venezia, Ti Amo

by Johnny

I’ve been struggling with how to communicate the wonder that is Venice through a blog post. Somehow my usual “amazing,” “beautiful,” “incredible,” and “awesome” adjectives wouldn’t seem to do the place justice. Then my mom nailed it…Venice is enchanting.

We rented an apartment (Ca’ Venexiana) surrounded on two sides by canals…like the coolest corner lot you can imagine…in Venice’s lesser-traveled Dorsoduro district, a quiet area of the city we came to love. It wasn’t uncommon to be enjoying a glass of wine in the kitchen while a gondolier rode right past the window. A truly magical spot. We spent most our days wandering aimlessly throughout the city, both on foot and by vaporetto, Venice’s water bus system. With our 24-hour vaporetto passes, we were able to cruise down the Grand Canal, hop off to explore whenever we wanted, and then hop back on for more cruising. If you’re ever in Venice, I highly recommend buying a vaporetto pass for the duration of your stay…it’s a perfect way to see the city.

Venice is, well, enchanting. Every twist and turn through its labyrinth of canals offers such unique beauty. Half of the time we felt like we were transported to the 14th century. The other half of the time we felt like extras in a James Bond movie. Venice also has its own unmistakable architecture, Venetian Gothic, characterized by Gothic lancet arches combined with Moorish and Byzantine influences. Most definitely a city like no other.

The outdoor patio at our apartment

Where’s Waldo? (Hint: hanging out of our apartment)


Typical alley in Dorsoduro	Venetian Gothic


Wandering around the canals	Tiny bridges everywhere

Big Jay and Linda on Ponte dell’Accademia


Big Jay and Linda	Johnny and Anna


Ponte dell’Accademia	Piazza San Marco and Doge’s Palace from the vaporetto


Riding the vaporetto	Riding the vaporetto

You serious, Clark?

Walking home along the Zattere

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie…


Riding the vaporetto at night	Wandering the chilly streets at night

When we weren’t purposefully getting lost all over Venice and spending time in favorite piazzas, Piazza San Stefano, Campo Santa Margherita and Piazza San Barnaba, we caught some of the city’s premier sites. We spent a lot of time in Piazza San Marco, toured Saint Mark’s Basilica and rode to the top of Saint Mark’s Campanile. The Sherwoods love food, so it’s no surprise that one of our favorite places to visit was the Rialto market, where locals have been coming to buy their fish and produce since 1097. That’s a long time. We also stumbled into some delicious and noteworthy restaurants for dinner, Osteria 1518 and Ristoteca Oniga. Side note…check out the place my brother will be spending the next three months training as a chef. Villa Crespi, ooh la la.

Another highlight was taking the vaporetto to the island of Murano, famous for its glass making. In the late 1200s, all glass making in Venice was moved to the island of Murano due to risk of fires from the furnaces. Glass makers on the island who tried to leave were viewed as traitors and were assassinated to protect the secrets of their craft. Needless to say, glass making on Murano is serious business.


Doge’s Palace	Saint Mark’s Basilica

Pigeon feeding in Piazza San Marco


Piazza San Marco	At the top of Saint Mark’s Campanile

View of Doge’s Palace from Saint Mark’s Campanile

Inside Saint Mark’s Basilica


Doge’s Palace and Saint Mark’s Basilica	Piazza San Marco at night

Ponte di Rialto from the vaporetto


Grand Canal from the Ponte di Rialto	Ponte di Rialto

Rialto produce market


Rialto fish market	Rialto fish market

Murano has its own beautiful canals

Anna and I have been in Western Europe for over four months now, and I’m embarrassed to say that occasionally the “wow” factor of being here wears off. This old church looks a little like that other old church, this piazza like another piazza, this old building like that old building. But then comes a city like Venice that totally sweeps you off your feet. We’ll definitely be making a return trip one day.

Cheers Venice!

Posted in Italy | 4 Comments »

October 14, 2011

Man Oh Manarola!

by Johnny

As most of you probably know, Cinque Terre is a series of five villages located in the Italian Riviera. Anna and I both have amazing memories of Cinque Terre from previous, separate trips, so needless to say we were thrilled to go back with my parents for a couple of days. While Cinque Terre is no longer “off the beaten path” and the tourists now far outnumber the fishermen, it’s still so beautiful that you have to pinch yourself every few minutes to make sure you’re not dreaming.


Manarola	Manarola

Ciao Mamma e Papa!

We based ourselves in the picturesque town of Manarola. I’ve probably used the word “picturesque” in every one of my blog posts, but this time I really mean it. After checking into our small hotel, we set out to walk the trail between Manarola and Riomaggiore, otherwise known as Via dell’Amore or “Lovers’ Lane.” Just like the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, walkers fasten locks and tag the walls wherever they can along the path to mark their love for each other. We didn’t partake in this tradition as we were lock-less and Sharpee-less, but we did continue the new Sherwood tradition of afternoon wine and bruschetta, this time at a wine bar perched over the sea at Riomaggiore. There was an unusually large swell in the water that sent waves crashing hard into the rocks, providing an amazing backdrop. That night we were treated to an incredible sunset before a mouth-watering meal at Trattoria dal Billy. Knowing that we had some serious hiking to do the next day, we carbo-loaded with some lobster and shrimp pasta, lemon and white chocolate cake and local Limoncino.

Our wine bar in Riomaggiore


Some wine…	…and bruschetta


Some other lovers already tagged the wall for us	Locks of love

Pre-dinner sunset

Lobster pasta at Trattoria dal Billy


Walking down to Trattoria dal Billy	Real men drink Limoncino

After a quick breakfast on day two, we headed out to explore each of the five towns. We couldn’t hike between Manarola and Corniglia because of some recent landslides, so we took the train between the two towns and then hiked from Corniglia to Vernazza. The scenery could not have been more beautiful and the weather could not have been more perfect. Still nursing some sore buns from our bike ride in Lucca, we took our sweet time on the trail. We had a great lunch at Gambero Rosso in Vernazza’s Piazza Marconi down by the sea (one of Anna’s happy places) before taking the train to Monterosso. After exploring that town (read: eating gelato on the beach) we made our way back towards Manarola for one final walk down Via dell’Amore. Another perfect sunset led to another great meal, and before we knew it our time in Cinque Terre had come to an end.


Hiking to Vernazza	View from the hike


Hiking into Vernazza	Check out the olive trees down by the water

Vernazza’s Piazza Marconi


More Vernazza	Lunch time in Vernazza

Vernazza

Check out all our Cinque Terre pics here.

Posted in Italy | 4 Comments »

October 11, 2011

Lucky In Lucca

by Anna

Piazza dell’Anfiteatro

We were lucky to be in the beautiful town of Lucca for four days, but even luckier to be spending them with Jay and Linda!! We were overwhelmed with happiness to see Johnny’s parents when we met up with them outside of our beautiful little apartment in Lucca last week. The apartment was situated between a music school and an amazing garden full of cats, so we were constantly entertained by sounds of violins, pianos, flutes and harps streaming through our windows, and watching the 15 or so cats and kittens frolic in the garden below. We also had an unbelievable view of the Torre Guinigi which is easy to spot because of its tree-topped tower.

We had a private concert from the music school across the street every day


The garden out our apartment window	We had a perfect view of Torre Guinigi


Ciao!	Our neighbors were cats…around 15 of them!

I had a friend in college who was from Lucca, and he told me that it was the most beautiful town in Italy. I always thought he was exaggerating and had some serious local pride, but after spending time in his hometown, I actually think he might have been right. Lucca is a seriously picturesque spot that has a way of just making you feel good while you are inside its lofty walls.


Facade of Duomo di San Martino	Duomo di San Martino

Basilica of San Frediano

We spent our days wandering the pretty streets of Lucca, ducking in and out of stores, enotecas and gelaterias, and discovering new piazzas and churches around every corner, each more beautiful than the last. We also took advantage of the 4km wall surrounding the city. In perfect condition, the wall is like a floating park with tree-lined bike and walking paths, parks, cafes, picnic areas and breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains. The entire wall is also flanked by expanses of green rolling grass areas, complete with moats and bridges…basically a dog’s paradise.

Lucca’s tree-lined city walls


Our daily stroll along the walls	Looking down at the open market from the walls

More good times on the walls


Lunchtime at Ristorante Antico Sigillo	The lovely streets of Lucca


A view from the top of Torre Guinigi

Delicious dinner at Osteria Baralla


Salute!	Cin Cin!

After indulging in some delicious local cuisine and cruising the walls and colorful streets for a couple of days, we decided to kick it up a notch and take a bike tour through Tuscany Ride a Bike outside of town for a wine tasting and lunch at an organic farm. We met our fellow bikers from Kauai, Toronto, Houston, Louisiana and Michigan, and our Italian guide, Andrea, at around 9:30am and headed out towards the countryside. We were immediately in awe of the beautiful scenery around us as we pedaled on bike paths along a river, over bridges, past farms, wineries and small villages, finally reaching our winery, Terre del Sillabo, after a couple of hours. We were greeted by the friendly owner and plates of her fresh-baked, still warm focaccia bread and were led to the back patio surrounded by vineyards for our wine tasting.


Riding along the river	The intrepid bikers

We make it to the promise land

Terre del Sillabo Winery


Enjoying the vines	And the winery


Yum	Who needs Gatorade when you have wine?


Life is good

After three very large glasses of wine and a couple bottles to go, we hopped back on our bikes and headed for our farm, Agriturismo al Podele di Rosa. We were again warmly welcomed by the owner who showed us into his 300-year old farmhouse which was set with a family style table covered in plates of home-made local dishes made from home-grown ingredients. We spent another hour or so here, savoring every bite and every sip of wine and getting to know our fellow bikers. Needless to say, everyone was pedaling a bit slower on the way back from lunch, but luckily Andrea saved the shortest part of the ride for the way home, so we were back on Lucca’s green manicured walls before we knew it. A gelato cone on the walk back to our apartment created the perfect ending to an amazing day.

Our lunch spread at Agriturismo al Podele di Rosa


Food is a serious subject	Bike parking only at the farm

The Tour de Lucca ends on the city walls

We were sad to say goodbye to lovely Lucca, but excited to head to our next destination, Cinque Terre!

Posted in Italy | 4 Comments »

October 4, 2011

Lucca Who We Have Here

by Johnny

Reunited and it feels so good!

Posted in Italy | 3 Comments »

October 3, 2011

Bella Tuscany

by Johnny

With a few days to spare after Brian and Marisa left and before we meet my parents in Lucca, Anna and I rented an apartment in San Gimignano. A little over an hour bus ride from Florence, San Gimignano has been called Medieval Manhattan because of its tall towers located throughout the town. The towers were built as symbols of power and wealth of the city’s medieval families, and 14 of the original 72 are still standing today. Enough with the history lesson…San Gimignano is the Tuscany you see in paintings, postcards and your dreams. It’s a picturesque little town full of piazzas made for long lunches and bottles of the local Vernaccia wine perched high up on a hill with views of vineyards for miles. And in the morning before the tour buses come and in the afternoon when they leave, San Gimignano is heaven on earth.

Piazza della Cisterna at night


Piazza della Cisterna	Piazza del Duomo

Bell tower in Piazza del Duomo

Typical view in San Gimignano


Cooking in our apartment…chicken with lemon and capers	We made the meat sauce from our cooking class

View from the wine bar DiVinorum

One day when we weren’t tasting Vernaccia wine or popping in and out of San Gimignano’s numerous hand-painted ceramics shops, we went for a bike ride to the tiny town of San Lucia just a few kilometers away. The owner of our apartment, Claudio, gave us the key to his garage so we could use his mountain bikes at any time. Bonus! After a couple hours of navigating the hilly region around San Gimignano, our legs and buns were spent, but we were rewarded with some great views.

View back towards San Gimignano

The leaves are starting to change colors


Doing some laundry out in the olive grove	Resting those legs

We also took a day trip to Siena, a place Anna and I had always wanted to see. We hung out for a while in Siena’s main piazza, Piazza del Campo, which many believe is one of Italy’s best piazzas. It seems like the entire town of Siena takes their lunch break on the sloping piazza, catching up on some sun and gossip. Then we headed over to Siena’s impressive cathedral. Being on a budget, we’re pretty picky about what sights we pay to see, but immediately upon entering the cathedral we knew it was money well spent. The black and white walls and columns, the midnight blue dome and the “most beautiful floor in the world” make it a truly unique sight. Afterwards, we climbed to the Panorama del Facciatone, which is at the top of what was supposed to be the new cathedral in Siena before the plague wiped out most of the town’s population.


Piazza del Campo	Piazza del Campo

Typical street view in Siena

Siena’s cathedral and Duomo


Staring up at Siena’s Duomo	Inside the cathedral

Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!


View from Panorama del Facciatone	Rooftops of Siena

On top of Panorama del Facciatone

On our last night, we treated ourselves to dinner at Le Vecchie Mura, which has to have one of the best views in all of Tuscany. Combine the views with the best gnocchi of all time, and you have a winning combination. As it got dark and we were ready to pay the bill, we saw the longest, brightest shooting star we’ve ever seen. Naturally, I took this as a sign to get a triple scoop gelato cone. A great way to say “ciao” to San Gimignano.