The Great Italian Adventure 2008

It all started as a way for me to avoid watching my husband sign up for another Ironman. I knew in my heart of hearts that the jealousy would eat me alive. I wanted something to take my mind off the lack of racing I would be doing this summer and the fertility treatments that we've now started. Yes, we have the money, but the economy is taking a sharp downturn and the bills from the fertility treatments haven't yet started. (Nor did we know at the time of planning that we would return to discover that my husband's job will soon to be outsourced to India. Not the best news to come home to!) Nonetheless, if we're really serious about these fertility treatments, and a family really is in our future... This is the time to take a trip like this. And George W. just mailed us a check that he wanted us to spend... Albeit, not necessarily overseas, but it certainly helped.

We talked to several friends, and it was decided. Can you really put a price on travel and great memories??? We're back now and I think it was worth every penny. I teach art and I got to see Michaelangelo's "Pieta," "David," and the "Sistine Chapel." I saw the Raphael rooms at the Vatican as well as Raphael's burial. We went to a Leonardo DaVinci museum in Florence and saw countless sculptures by Bernini in Rome. I almost have to pinch myself from the disbelief that I just returned from all of those beautiful things.

All of the time I spent researching our trip prior to leaving paid out ten-fold. While not extravagant, our lodgings were all very nice for our budget. I discovered there would be a 24 hour train strike and completely revamped our trip prior to leaving.... An American couple that we ran into a couple of times in Rome didn't fare as well. They bought tickets and had them in hand but ended up surprised when they showed up one day to a closed train station. We had a glorious time. It was definitely one of those times when you're sad halfway through the trip because it's already half-over.

We had our fill of pizza. We also struggled through a dinner where we were only able to order a delicious appetizer but we couldn't seem to get past it with our waitress. We cut our losses and finished the meal at a gelato stand instead. And then of course we probably didn't eat as much gelato as we should have... (that may be one of my ONLY regrets)

When friends ask me how Italy was, I just have smile and sigh. It really was wonderful. Every town we visited was so different from the next. And I can't help but think there were so many other wonderful towns that we never visited.

It's nice to see other parts of the world. It makes me appreciate all that we have in the United States. At times it makes me embarassed, too. That's what travel does. It enlightens and humbles you.

Here's one of the few reasons I couldn't wait to get back to the United States. Our public bathrooms are in abundance... And we have a seat. It was rare (when I could find a public restroom) to have a toilet seat. Apparently women are taught early on to squat. This one came as a surprise to me. hee hee. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!

Milan

This is where our trip started. This is where all of the hours spent with books checked out from the library and countless hours with TripAdvisor.com culminated. The push through customs and the effort to find a bus to downtown Milan were pretty painless. The crazy hustle and bustle of the Milan train station were a sharp reminder that we were not in America anymore. My obsessive-compulsive controlling side was sent into flutter for a few minutes, but in the end we figured out what we needed to do.

We took the subway to the city center to see fourth largest cathedral in all of Europe. This was a priority. I had read a great deal about this. The Duomo. It took five hundred years to finish it. It was begun in the 1300's and finished in the 1800's. Its exterior is made of solid pink marble. We walked to the top and hung out on the roof. We didn't get any decent pictures of the inside, but the columns extending floor to ceiling were massive. As Greg put it, "This is the probably the most solid building I've ever seen."

We tooled around and relished the foreignness of what would be the trip of our lives. I did my spin on the bull's testes for good luck at the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle; we saw a monument to Leonardo DaVinci; and then we braved the African men that assaulted you as you entered or exited the subway with their wares. We went back to the train station. Milan was now checked off the itinerary. We had arrived!

Cinque Terre

Okay, if you've visited Italy in the last ten years, you may have heard of the Cinque Terre. If it's been awhile, this may be unknown to you. The Cinque Terre consists of five small towns (all mostly with just a main street and then some buildings on the sides.) Up until a few years ago, these towns were only accessible by water. There was no land transportation to these towns. A hiking trail connects all five of the towns, with varying difficulty levels between each. (The hiking trail is rumored to have started as a path for young lovers because it was otherwise accepted that you would only marry from your own village.) On the second day, we had to take in the famous Cinque Terre Trail, frequently stopping for pleasant swimming and site seeing breaks. We started in the morning and didn't get back home until well after dark.

A train now connects the towns to modern civilization and a road also now exists high on the hillside. (I heard from someone that the road was just put in about ten years ago.) Fortunately (or unfortunately for some) cars not allowed in the villages. If you have a car, you must park it at the top and walk down to the villages. (Prior to leaving for this trip I read many a review of people complaining about all the walking they had to do in the Cinque Terre... I knew this meant it would be perfect for Greg and I!)

We rented a private apartment from a local woman. I was supposed to call her and she would meet us when we got off the train to show us where the apartment was. Lucky for us, there were no phones near the train station... Also lucky for us, the owner spoke no English. And I don't mean to say that she spoke very little English, I mean she spoke NO English what-so-ever, not even hello, Good morning, or the necessitated "I want you to pay me now, not later." Not that I'm the type of American that demands it. I'm visiting their country, I respect that. I listened to some Italian CD's prior to leaving the states picking up some key vocabulary that I thought would help us. And it did in on a couple other occasions, but I ran my limited Italian to its end on this occasion. I could tell this lady who I was and that I had a reservation, but picking a meeting spot with her, or picking her out of a crowd was another story altogether. I couldn't tell her what I looked like, she couldn't seem to tell me anything I understood.

In the end I just kept repeating "Bar Centrale," "Bar Centrale." She gave up whatever it was she was trying to tell me. Eventually a lady timidly walked up to us near the bar and we timidly approached her hoping our backpacks gave us away... She reached out her hand and we exchanged names. It was her. Sigh.... We followed her up several narrow walkways between buildings (even with English directions, we never would have found it.) Laundry was hanging from the windowsills and excitement raged in my tummy.

Basically our apartment consisted of a narrow hallway with sink and stove that lead to a bedroom. There was no main sitting area, except for the outside terrace. Ah... The terrace. We had a view of the pastel colored buildings lining mainstreet to the left, and a view of the sea to our right. We ordered a whole pizza (one of many that we would eat throughout our travels) and a bottle of wine. We took them to our terrace and relished our first evening in Italy.

I liked the Cinque Terre because it was extremely laid back. Everyone seemed totally content to partake in the makeship beaches on the big rocks that lined the seashore. While the mid-day siesta meant that stores were closed, it did not necessitate that people moved any faster outside of siesta hours. The hiking was also wonderful. Supposedly there are also some good mountain biking in the hills. I could have easily spent a few more days lounging around the Cinque Terre.

Pisa

Pisa was on the way to our next destination, so we had to get off the train for a few hours just to see the leaning tower. I'm glad we did. While I wasn't as impressed with the city, the area that holds the tower was extremely awe inspiring.

The leaning tower sits in a grassy knoll with a lesser known cathedral and baptistery, as well as cemetery. I think I was most taken by how white the buildings were and how green the grass around there was.

Lucca

Planning a 10 day trip to Italy is hard. There's so much to see, and you just can't see it all unless you want to run yourself ragged. One of the biggies I decided not to squeeze in was Venice. I let that one go. I couldn't let the opportunity to spend a few days in Tuscany pass us by. Tuscany was a 'must do' for us. So... I settled on a city called "Lucca". Now I don't really hear about Lucca when people talk about their travels to Italy, or Tuscany for that matter, but it sounded like a perfect place for Greg and I to set up home base for a few days. And boy was I right!

Lucca is an ancient walled city between Pisa and Florence. Many, many years ago the city walls were extraordinarily fortified to keep out invaders and cannon blasts. The story holds that Napoleon took a liking to Lucca and his widow later played a part in creating a park all along the top of the walls. It now has a paved bike trail that circles the city. We figured it out and the bike trail is probably the same length as the trail that circles Wash Park in Denver. Although with all the buildings and towers, piazzas and so forth, it was really hard to imagine all of this city fitting into Wash Park. Furthermore, Lucca does not allow cars in the city center. Lucca is home to bikes, bikes, and more bikes. (Make sure to check out the stoplight in the picture below!)


Need I mention that my husband thought he died and went to heaven when we passed three bike shops in the first half mile????

Our lodging was about a half mile outside the city walls. The place was dated from the 1300's yet was remodeled in a pleasant modern way that still maintained it's old world charm without feeling, well, old. (TripAdvisor.com is such a great resource! Whatever did we do before the internet???)
One of the things we discovered about this little town--there was always something going on. When we arrived they had an old car show going on in one of the main squares. Walking around our first evening we discovered an open air movie showing. One of the main piazzas was being taken over by a concert set up. (Sheryl Crow would be there the day after we left! Bummer!) We also stumbled upon another square that was built atop an ancient Roman amphitheater. We had a ball enjoying a big talent show being hosted by a local radio station our first night. While a movie in Italian didn't draw us in, music is universal no matter what language it is in. Our nights were fully and cheaply entertained.


Being in a city of bicycles, we had to rent bikes! We took an entire day and rode all over the city, then tried our hands at the streets outside the city walls and made our way out to the beautiful Tuscan countryside for awhile. Looking at a map we noticed that there were some ancient aqueducts on the other side of the city going into the mountains. Could we ride that far on our country bumpkin bikes??? Couldn't hurt to try, right? They're just rentals! So we did!

The aqueducts were neat because not only are they a marvel of ancient engineering, it just seems like the countryside said, "Oh yeah, aqueducts. Just ignore them and leave em'." We had a blast exploring and following them all the way to the hills where they dipped into the hillside.
Lucca was what a relaxing enjoyable vacation should be for two people that enjoy bicycling. :) Greg said this was probably his favorite part of the whole trip.

Florence

We did a whirlwind tour of Florence. We only spent a day there. Sure, it would have been great to get to see more sights, but in the give and take of trip planning, one day was enough. We saw the Baptistry doors, the big cathedral, a cool museum with many of Leonardo Da Vinci's ideas and sketches created and displayed. Most importantly, we got to see the "David." (Thanks to my hubby for being brave enough to shoot the photo when cameras weren't allowed... Although I noticed he wasn't the only one.)

Michaelangelo's David... Supposedly one of the most beautiful men in world. His unfinished sculptures were pretty cool, too.

Rome

Ahhh.... Rome... My husband said he thinks Lucca was his favorite part. I'm torn. I think Rome was my favorite part, although I really enjoyed the Cinque Terre, too. Ah heck, it was ALL good!

We had been told that Rome was noisy and dirty and filled with pickpockets and we would be anxious to get out. But when you're in Italy, you HAVE to do Rome. You just HAVE to!!!! All told, we had no problems. Our room was quiet, in a clean and safe area, and we never saw the gypsies or kids that hassle you in the major areas. We walked everywhere (boy did we walk!) so we never had to deal with pickpockets on public transportation, either. Yes Rome is a big city, but it didn't feel any worse than staying in say, Chicago.

The city definitely wore us out because there was so MUCH to see, and trying to see it all is impossible and exhausting. But I must admit here... It was a good thing that I visited in my mid 30's. Had I visited while doing my European escapades in and post-college, I think I may have been tempted to stay. I loved the Italian language and if I had reason for it, I would love to pursue it (but now that we're back, there really is no reason for it.) English tour guides seemed in demand... And overall I just loved the city. My husband said he was a little surprised that I liked it as much as I did, because in his words "Rome is chaos at its best." Every turn of a street corner was a new surprise. You either had massive ruins that were just left and built around, or a beautifull piazza and/or fountain, or a magnificent church. There was always something new to be discovered! And while the Vespa and car drivers appeared to have skipped out of defensive driving school, they always seemed to unexpectantly stop and give the pedestrians the right of way.



I think part of the reason we had such a good experience in Rome was the nice lodging we had. (Thank you Trip Advisor!!!!) We stayed in a Guest House that definitely didn't fit American hotel standards, but it was perfect for us. It was in a cute, safe and clean residential neighborhood three blocks from the Colosseum. (We had to walk by the Colosseum at least three to four times each day. Rough, eh?) The Guest House was actually a handful of tiny rooms that recently had a small bathroom added to each of the small rooms making them even smaller (but hey, we had our own bathroom!) The rooms were all owned by an Italian lady and a Russian man, which was just another odd roman chaotic twist, but they were so, so, so friendly to us. They just owned a handful of small rooms on the second floor. Their building was also strategically placed between two police stations. We made the mistake of sitting on the steps of one eating gelato late one night. Apparently that's a no-no!


Naturally, one of our favorite experiences in Rome was the Colosseum. (My husband's favorite movie of all time is "Gladiator"! We also had a guide walk us through the impressive ruins of the Forum. We later realized that we could have done the walks solo and saved a lot of money, but then we also found ourselves reciting little facts that we learned on that tour during our other travels around the city. Both the Colosseum and Forum were very impressive.

Naturally, we explored as much as we possibly could in the few days that we were there, but there was just too much to see. Frantically walking across town, we got lost and arrived at the Cuppachin crypts just as they were going on mid-day siesta. We never made it to Via Appia Antica to ride our bikes, or various other spots that we had hoped to see. Luckily I did throw my coins in the Trevi fountain which supposedly grants a wish that you someday return to Rome. I can't wait!

The Vatican

The Vatican was a real treat. While I enjoyed it for all its splendor, I was happy that my Catholic husband had a chance to visit. It seems I'm always late for everything I do, so this should be no different. We were trying to fit in a few more sights in Rome in the morning, so we didn't make it to the Vatican until the afternoon. We were also hoping to get in on a pricey walking tour, but it all worked out. We saved our money by missing the tour and we got in when there were no crowds! We just walked right in! Apparently it's not uncommon to wait in line for a few hours when you arrive in the morning.

We started with the Vatican Museums. I had read somewhere that if you were disappointed in the museums in Rome, you hadn't been to the Vatican Museums yet. How true! We visited the National Museum of Rome, and I question whether they even had a curator on staff. Everything was a mish-mash of ancient antiquities that someone probably found, and it was placed in no random order. The Vatican was not so!

The Vatican had an impressive collection of Egyptian art. (Egyptian seemed quite popular in ancient Rome!)

They also had statue upon statue on hand (and unlike the National Museum, these all had their heads! In fact they had walls of just heads! Now I know where all the heads were on the other statues I had seen in Rome!)

We saw the tapestries and the Raphael Rooms. And of course we ended in the Sistine Chapel... Which was also not what I pictured. Instead of the dome that I always pictured, it was more of a rectangular gymnasium with art painted on the walls everywhere you look. I snapped this picture off and then got promptly ostracized because pictures were not allowed. Hee hee, lucky me! I got a picture of the Sistine Chapel!!!!

We then went over to St. Peter's Cathedral. Wow. The largest in all Europe, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was the largest in the world. Pictures just can't do it justice. From a non-Catholic perspective it was very, very impressive... But also a little unnerving to see how the church has had THAT much money. I really don't mean to be blasphemous. I am a Christian and I did take time to sit and pray in this awe inspiring place.

Pompei

Pompei is a place that has long been in my mind. I always remember hearing about it as a kid. It was the place that was covered by a volcano in 79 A.D. and then found 1600 years later totally preserved in its antiquity. Maybe it has something to do with the profession I would have enjoyed had I not become a teacher... An Archaeologist.

For some reason, I always pictured this place still coated in white. That was kind of silly, and the only thing I can figure is that I got that image from photos of the people I've seen. As bodies disintegrated under the ash, they formed a hollow cavity in the hardened ground. Archaeologists would fill these hollow cavities with plaster to create a cast of the body shape. I also thought these were still laying on the ground. Silly girl! Of course these were all on display in glass cases and the like. Much of the place has been stripped and excavated out, with the greatest treasures on display in local museums.

My other big surprise was the massive size of Pompei. It was a thriving town of 20,000 people. How did I manage to think it would be capable of covering in a few short hours??? It's a city!!!

Add that to the fact that they ran out of maps when we entered, so we just wandered and got lost. We got our hands on a map at the end and realized we had only seen about 1/3 of the place in the 4 1/2 hours we were there. All in all, it was very cool and I'm grateful that I had the experience.

Lake Como

Lake Como was absolutely beautiful. I read somewhere that the Milan Malpensa airport is actually closer to Lake Como than it is to Milan, so I figured we could spend our last night there instead of Milan. Good choice!!!! Como was beautiful. It was one more place that I wish we had had one more day. It looked like bike rentals and hiking abound. We could have had a lot of fun with one more day. It was also nice because we were so exhausted in Rome with the go, go, go nature of Rome. Como was a nice spot to catch our breath. Naturally, we were very sad to leave.

Swim race

Well, I did a swim only race last night. Pitiful. I only did the half mile open water course. My pace last night was slower than my Ironman pace at 5X the distance! Huh, I guess that's what happens when you do an Ironman and then don't stay on top of your swimming! Nonetheless, it was a well organized little race. I wish they were doing them last summer. You got to pick the distance: 1/2 mile, 1 mile, 1 1/2 mile, 2 miles.

Congrats to a fellow coworker of mine. Apparently she HAS been training. She said she's lost 40 pounds since January and she kicked major booty last night. 32 minutes for her mile swim!!!! Great job Kim!!!!