Florence highlights

After a few weeks of tours and rushing around to make sure we see everything the city has to offer we decided to slow down a bit in Florence. We somewhat treated the two full days as if we in NYC. A few good restaurants, some shopping and exploring the nooks & crannies. Here are some of our highlights:

La Managere

- We came upon this restaurant by chance and couldn't have been more pleased with the atmosphere, quality of the food and the company we were with.  We met up with one of the couple on our Amalfi Coast Busabout trip, Jade & Brad, that were also in Florence. We all decided on the tasting menu - one of the dishes included hot and cold caprese salad which was basically a puréed tomato soup and a cold mozzarella cream with pesto croutons.  This has been one of Drews favorite dish of the entire trip. 

(Reference this Saveur article that was published the day after we went!) 

Florence Cathedral - also known as Il Duomo

- The facade of this cathedral is a site to see. Made up of shades of pink and green with white boarders and the level of detail is so impressive. To our surprise the inside was completely opposite leaving an empty impression. 

Santo Bevitore 

- We received this reco from our Cinque Terre tour guide. Originally we we're planning on checking out Buca Mario but our tour guide said stay away. He had a friend working there a few years back and said when the waiters put in the order they would tell the kitchen "inside" (customers are local) or "outside" (customers are tourist) - basically this referred to the ingredients the chefs use when preparing meals. (i.e an "outside" Barata got ??? cheese - you get the picture). 

This was one of the first meals we did the full "Italian" meal with all 4 courses and a bottle of wine. The meal didn't disappoint. 

Leathers and wool

- Its been so hard not to buy anything for ourselves while visiting all these wonderful cities but we decided to splurge a little.

Fake David

Basilica of Santa Croce

- Burial place of some of the most illustrious Italians - Michelangelo, Galileo, and Danti to name a few. 

Piazzale Michelangelo

- On our last night we took the bus, about 40 minutes, up to Piazzale Michelangelo which is a square with panoramic views of Florence. While sipping on Rose purchased at Capezzana, in the distance we could the see Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio, & Basilica of Santa Croce. 

Travel day: Florence to Venice - snaps from September 5th, 2015 from Ashley Habeck on Vimeo.

Florence - airbnb front door and coca-cola picture

Exactly What I Hoped, but Could Never Have Expected

September 2, 2015

Wednesday morning was another early start. Actually not really that early at all now that I'm thinking about it. We had booked a day of Tuscan Wine and Villas and we were meeting our tour guide at the Ponte Amerigo Vespucci by 9:30 am. The tour was a smaller group than Cinque Terre with a max of 8 people (As it turned out all eight of us were from the NY/ NJ area). Our guide Rebekah (Dutch with an English Accent who lived in Tuscany for 25 years) led us to the eight passenger VW van and we were off explore some of Tuscany.

Rebekah's tour that day was taking us through her favorite region in Tuscany and in her opinion one of the finest wine making regions in Italy. We were headed to Carmignano which is one of Tuscany's oldest recorded wine names and dates back to the 14th Century. It was a favorite of the Medici's and it was their fondness for this wine that led to the development of legally defined/ protected wine production zones. Both vineyards we were about to visit were within the Barco Reale (old wall that protected Medici hunting grounds).

The drive to our first stop was slightly over an hour through the burbs and then the road suddenly opened up to farmlands and vineyards. Rebekah provided some background info about the places we were headed throughout the day and the group used the rest of our time to get acquainted.

Fattoria di Bacchereto, our first stop, was 100% the exact movie set a director must picture when trying to set the scene for a Tuscan movie. After five minutes headed up a switchback gravel driveway we came to a beautiful old hunting lodge where owner/ matron of the house Rosella waited on the front doorstep. The hills were lined with varieties of grapes, olives, pears, and figs while the house dog ran laps around his newly arrived guests. The home was built in the 1700s and Rosella's family had acquired the property in the 1920s.  The house itself was of a Dijon mustard yellow and still retained all of the original features.  Their were additions that had been made in the mid 1800s and then again when Rosella's family first acquired the land, but had for the most part gone untouched since that time... with the exception of maintenance for upkeep.  Doors opened into rooms seemed set from the 1800s with wood burning stoves, stone floors, exposed beams and boards from the level above. The "basement", used for the wine making, smelled of must and old barrels... only the steel vats for white wine production served as a reminder of present day.

After a quick description of the grounds, Rosella took us on a tour of the vines and through the wine making process.  We were able to sample the grapes and she explained that the staff was getting excited as each day the grapes were getting closer to harvest. By staff she meant herself, Marco the winemaker and Alberto, mister everything and chief of the olive oil.  The property makes three wines; a white, a red and a Vin Santo, plus a delicious olive oil. After our tour it was time to sample some of the wine and we were led to a small room with a wood burning stove, a small table and some other furniture/ equipment... non of which was for decoration.

The fire had been lit sometime earlier and the embers continued to pop as we waited for our first glass to be poured. Enter Alberto... Alberto was an older man, perhaps in his late 70s, who seemed to do everything around the property.  He entered without a word and set to work on our "snack" for the day. He began to lay slices of bread on what looked like the same contraption one would use to easily grill a fish and then set them over the popping embers. After about two minutes he flipped the contraption to ensure each side was toasted and then, after removing the bread, rubbed a fresh clove of garlic across every piece. It was then time for Alberto to apply his olive oil onto each slice, followed by a shake of salt. This process was repeated for the other side of each slice before Alberto placed two spoonfuls of his homemade bruschetta topping on each slice. The topping was made with fresh tomatoes, Alebrto's olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano and basil. To say the snack was delicious would be a true understatement. I can't tell you how many pieces we all had, but Alberto made sure nothing went to waste. It was a pleasure to watch someone take some much care as they put together something so simple. It was one of those moments that can make one regret the conveniences that we have in our lives (read frozen garlic bread in a plastic case).

During our snack we were given the white and the red, followed by the Vin Santo. All were delicious and then entire group made purchases to be sent home as the vineyards yield is so low they don't really export much of their product.

Sadly we eventually had to leave Fattoria di Bacchereto in order to get to our next stop, Capezzana.

Capezzana was another picture perfect spot. Much larger in size and production, the property is owned by a Countess and her family and it too was a former Medici home (I think the main hunting large?).  The family has also owned their slice of heaven since the early 1900s and still live on premise. 

(Picture above: The Countess quarters)

Lunch, served on the terrace overlooking the hills, consisted of a salad (all greens direct from the garden below), a simple yet delicious pasta with spicy red sauce, followed by local meats and cheeses (plus an orange marmalade made by the Contessa herself) to finish it all off.  Throughout the meal we sampled wines of the house that were fantastic (apologies that I lack the palette to describe what all of these wines were like).  

As lunch came to a close, we headed off to get a tour of the grounds and more importantly the incredible cellars that were on the property. We were shown the family's private wine cellar where they had bottles from all the years of production, dating back to 1925.  Must filled tunnels led to rooms of large vats that held the wine prior to being bottled.  One of these rooms had even hid the Family Reserve when the house was occupied by the Germans in WWII.  The history of the house was truly amazing and the tour finished with one last glass of wine, a rosé, before we hit the road for our final stop (we bought a bottle to drink later and it cost under €7... a little cheaper than back home).

The last stop was the former residence of the Medici and even served as a home for the first king of Italy. The place was large and everything a Medieval palace should be, but after the beauty we had already experienced, we didn't spend to much time on the property. An interesting piece of info is that the doors are open from 4:30-4:31. If you miss the one minute window, you must wait until the next day. It is free to visit, however too expensive for the state to keep open more than about an hour.

Rebekah provided some final notes of interest on the drive back to Florence prior to dropping us back off at the Ponte Vespucci.

Ashley found this tour on a whim and we couldn't be happier that she did. The experience, the places, the guide... all were perfect. This may have been my favorite experience so far. 

Tuscany Tour - Carmignano Region - snaps from September 2nd, 2015 from Ashley Habeck on Vimeo.

Five Lands

Tuesday morning was an early start in order to meet our tour bus by 715. We were headed to the Cinque Terre with a group of about 40 people led by the Walkabout Tour group.  We passed a place called the Manhattan Cafe on the walk to the bus and figured we had to stop. It was complete with pictures of yellow cabs and the Brooklyn Bridge.

The tour started with a two hour and 45 minute bus ride the dropped us off just outside of Manarola for our first hike of the day. As with all of our trips so far the road to our destination was beautiful. We headed through Tuscany where fields of sunflowers lined the roads with massive mountains in the distance. Our guides described points of interest along the way like where they quarry for Carrera marble (can actual see the cuts in the mountains) or the town of La Spezia (something like 80% of the structures were bombed in WWII). 

Upon arrival we immediately set off on the trail and walked into town before taking a big loop into the hills for a birds eye view

It was then quickly back down to the train station to head to the next town of the Cinque Terre... Corniglia.

We arrived in Corniglia and had to walk 386 steps up to the town (each step requires about 3-4 actual steps). We of course did this with a train full of people so there was quite a large amount of foot traffic on the steps and the chatter began to die down the higher we went. This was the first test for the group to make sure we could handle the hikes to come. We continued to walk through town and further up the hill until we arrived at lunch destination, Ristorante Camere. There we were all served an assortment of seafood tapas for a starter and then a nice pasta with pesto (in this area they add sliced potatoes and snap beans). We also loaded up on water because we had quite a hike in front of us. We were off to Vernaza. 

The hike to Vernaza took about one hour and ten minutes but was beautiful all the way. The trail winds its way up, down and through the terraced farm plots where locals grow grapes, olives and nature provides asparagus, thyme, etc.  One side of the trail is the dry wall technique used to hold terraced plots in place and the other side is anywhere from a 6-10 foot drop the next terrace. Railings are used when the trail gets closer to the water and it hard not to marvel at what the locales have created in an area (and by that I mean the Cinque Terre) that was once only accessible by boat or on foot. It is said that these fishing towns were settled by pirates because they could live life as they wanted and not worry about authorities coming to bother them. The people who inhabit these hills still carry that my way fortitude in their farming. 

As we made the final turn on the trail, the brush opened up to a beautiful view of the Vernaza "port". We continued down the trail that winds through narrow walk ways, past front doors, down plenty of steps before opening up onto the main street.  We had some extra time in town so Ashley and I grabbed a drink at one of the waterside cafes (Ananasso Bar) before strolling through the tiny town. 

We met up with the group after about an hour to catch the train to our next stop, Monterrosso al Mare. The train was quick and in no time we were walking along the first real "beach" we had seen in the Cinque Terre. This was considered "new town" and we continued our stroll walking past cabanas, private areas, public spots, a few small shops and through a tunnel to get to "old town". Monterrosso had the feeling as the largest town we had been so far so we walked a bit more before settling in for a flight of wine (one for each of the Cinque Terre).  The area specializes in Whites and each glass was great in its own way. There was also a shop close by that made great cheese balls, but it was closed due to the fact the owner was harvesting grapes for wine. After the flight it was off to grab the ferry to Riomaggiorre for our last stop in the Cinque Terre. 

The boat ride was spectacular and were able to see our entire trek through the Cinque Terre from the water... what a view. The only negative was that it was too short of a ride. While in Riomaggiorre we waited to watch some kids cliff jump (never actually saw it happen) and then headed into to town to sample some fried seafood before catching the train to La Spezia and eventually the bus back to Florence. 

All in all the Cinque Terre is a beautiful place that is a must see. It is doable in one day or five. Next time we will opt for the longer version. 

Cinque Terre Hike - Snaps from September 1st, 2015 from Ashley Habeck on Vimeo.

Rome - Our 53 hour walking tour

SATURDAY, AUGUST 29th 

9am: Shuttle bus from camping Rome to the Vatican 

9:30am - 10:15am: Croissants and double espressos at a cafe across from the Vatican museum 

10:30am - 2pm: Vatican museum

2pm - 3pm: St. Peter's Basilica

3pm - 3:30pm: St. Peter's square 

3:30pm - 4pm: Walked from Vatican City to our airbnb in Campo de Fiori

4pm - 5:30pm: Unpacked and put our feet up

5:30pm - 8pm: A huge loop around the city that consisted of ...

1) Pantheon

2) Trevi Fountain

3) Spanish Steps

4) Walked down Via dei Condotti (Rome's 5th avenue) which was directly across the street from the Spanish Steps 

5) Turned right into Via del Corso (stores you'll find on Broadway in Soho) which led us to Piazza del Popolo

6) Walked south on Via di Ripette and passed Mausoleum of Augustus 

7) Took a right into Piazza Navona 

8) Walked south from there back to Campo de Fiori (with a quick pit stop for a snack at Il Fornaio. 

(Pic above: Pantheon)

8pm - 9:30pm: Showered and changed for dinner

9:30pm - 10:45pm: Dinner around the corner from our apartment at Ai Balestrari di Campo de Fiori 

10:45pm: BED!

SUNDAY, AUGUST 30TH

8am - Alarm went off

8:45am: Out the door and down the street for a free breakfast from our airbnb host 

9:00am - 9:25am: Walk to the Roman Forum

9:25am - 10:30am: Roman Forum

10:30am - 11:15am: Colosseum

11:15am - 12pm: Palatine Hill 

12pm - 12:30: Lunch 

12:30pm - 4:30pm: Rogue Historians walking tour... 

1) Circo Massimo

2) Walked by Palatine Hill

3) Basilica di San Giorgio al Velabro

4) Arch of Janus 

5) Temple of Hercules (2500 year old building)

6) Temple of Portunus

7) Mouth of Truth (The legend has it that if you put your hand in the mouth of the stone statue God will bit your hand. There is constantly a line of people there to test out their truth - 50 cent entry fee.  Turns out the stone statue is a sewer cap the Romans made to beautify the waste that was pouring into the river. When this cap was brought to the church the Priests would put rats and scorpions in the mouth to bite and trick the peasants into believing)

8) Theater of Marcellus (original Roman theater build by Augustus. Currently there is an apartment on top of the theater for sale - 29 million euros!)

9) Jewish ghetto (in front of the building doorsteps there are small metal plates of holocaust victims that once resided there. The metal plates are somewhere elevated on the sidewalk so when people stepped out of the door they would notice and be reminded) 

10) Area sacra del'Argentina (there are 4 temples in there, the use of them is unknown, but it's believed to house the location of Julius Caesars assassination. It's now a cat protected cat sanctuary)

11) Pantheon (one of the more interesting buildings In Rome. The skill and size are staggering. It's the largest none supported dome. The pillars were made in Egypt, brought in specifically built ships to Rome and put up with the support of elephants)

12) Took a brake to grab some espresso at Le Casa del caffe tazza d'oro and gelato at Il Gelato di San Crispino (try the honey flavor)

13) Sant'Ignazio (one of the best examples of illusionistic painting 

14) Piazza del Collegio Romano (former head quarters of the inquisition. Held Galileo trial - now a really nice high school) 

15) Piazza del Venezia (This is where Mucelini gave his speeches. Also home to Vittoriano, affectionately known by Roman as the wedding cake, type writer or toilet bowl... they don't really like it. 

16) Trajan column (Column commissioned by him for him detailing the victory over Dacian wars)  

17) Colosseum

(Pictured Above 1. Mouth of Truth 2. Sant'lgnazio

4:30pm - 5pm: Walked back to our apartment 

5pm - 6pm: Rewarded ourselves with a few beers

6pm- 8pm: Showered and relaxed 

8pm - 10:30pm: Walked over to grab dinner in Trastevere and ate at Il Zi Umberto. This area had the same feel as the west village in NYC but the amount of bars and restaurant of the East Village - perfect combination! 

10:30pm - 11pm: Before we walked back to our apartment there was a festival, Lungo Il Tevere Roma, along the Tiber River. If felt almost like the San Gennaro festival that takes places on Mulberry street in little Italy. 

11pm: Bed! 

MONDAY, AUGUST 31TH

9am - 11am: Woke up and packed up our belongings 

11am - 2pm: Strolled around Campo de Fiori - went into some shops, grabbed a few drinks and lunch. 

2pm - 2:30pm: Took the bus to the train station 

3:50pm: Hopped on the train to Florence! 

Travel day - Rome to Florence - snaps from August 31st, 2015 from Ashley Habeck on Vimeo.