Debbie Malone Photography

Friday, July 31

2009-07-31T09:20:00.000-07:00

One last entry: Betsey; you WILL go with us the next time. I greatly missed you!!!!

Wednesday, July 23

2009-07-31T08:23:00.000-07:00

We are heading home today. I'm leaving with such mixed emotions. I honestly think I could live in Italy and be perfectly happy. If my family were there, I'd have no problems. Don't think I could be away from my children, grandchildren, parents, and siblings though. Oh yeh, my two nephews too. I don't want to be away from them. It's hard enough having my oldest daughter and her family living in MS.

I heard the door open very early and Beth leaving. She had to leave for the airport at 5:00AM. I jumped out of bed so I could tell her goodby. Although Beth is technically my husbands cousin, she is my cousin too. More important than that, she is my friend and I truly love her!! We've had many adventures together and I look forward to many more!!! Have a safe flight--

Holly and I are up at 6:00 to get ready to leave. I'm sad. She's ready to get home and I want to stay. I understand her needing to get home though. Many things happened in her family while she was gone. Mostly, the death of her mother- in -law. She'll have many emotions to deal with upon arrival back in the states!!

As we were boarding the bus to take us out to the plane, I heard someone yell Debbie. I looked over and it was Sally and Nan getting on their bus. Goodby new friends. I hope to see you again one day. And so the long flights begin. First up, Florence to Frankfurt Germany. Pretty uneventful. We sleep a while on this flight. We have about a 2 1/2 hour layover in Frankfurt. As we're walking from one terminal to another, we notice a huge crowd gathered and music. We look over as we pass by and see a group of 5 dressed alike and they begin to sing a Frank Sinatra song to karaoke!!! We bust out laughing. This airport is absolutely huge. Like a two story shopping mall. Stores everywhere. We get to our gate after going through their customs and wait. A short note regarding the Frankfurt airport. We went through security checkpoints about 5 different times. I've never seen anything like it. Of course, I ALWAYS get stopped because of my camera equipment. This time, I get a cute guard that guides me over to the "extra" security station while Holly waits, AGAIN for me. Another funny happened then. He says he's going to check out my equipment for explosives and as he looks at me, he squints his eyes and says "you're explosive". OMG----that has to be the worst pick up line I've ever heard. Well, other than my grandson saying "if you were a booger, I'd pick you!" He actually said that to a little girl. He's 7 years old!!!!!! And quite the Romeo I might add.

I passed the "explosives" test and was sent on my way.

While waiting for our flight, we encounter several strange things. A european woman was sitting behind us in a chair nursing her child. No cover-up was being used. There was an American guy who I think literally was the actor in the movie Deliverance (not really, but he looked the part) who was straining his neck to watch this taking place. Across from us was a man and his wife who were stretched out on the seats, taking up about 6 seats. I had gone to get us a bottle of water and when I got back, Holly said I missed it. The man decided to pass gas and never flinched. The three little boys sitting behind him were cracking up. I can say I'm glad I missed that. When he stood up to board the plane, I swear to God he had hair on and in his ears that were at LEAST 3 inches long. The hair curled outside his ears. I've never seen anything like it!!! I knew our last day would be eventful but not expecting this.

The flight was long, long, long!!!!!!!! Our seats were awful and we had very little room. I couldn't even set up my computer without it being right in my chest. We tried to sleep but it was very sparse. Can't wait to get off the darn plane. I'm soooo tired of flying.

We arrive in Denver and go through customs. All cleared and bags rechecked. One more security checkpoint. Damn!!! The bottles of Limoncello that we had purchased and had been carefully wrapped and marked, were being confiscated in Denver!!!! I was so mad--I had 3 bottles and Holly had 1. Guess I'll have to have my new Italian friend send me some since you can't buy that kind in the states.

We're off--one more hour and we will arrive back in OK. It's good to be home back sad to be away from my new love, Italy!!!

Thanks to all of you for reading my blog. My neighbor Lori told me it wasn't a blog, it was a novel. I know it's long but wanted everyone to experience the things that we experienced. Plus, I want to relive it over and over. I never want the memories to fade!!!!!!

---debbie malone

Tuesday, July 22

2009-07-31T07:56:00.000-07:00

Our last day in Italy!!!!!!! I think this is the first long vacation I've ever taken that I wasn't ready to go home. I absolutely love Italy. I love everything about it. The sounds, the smells, the history, the people, and the FOOD!!!!!!! I love that the people are laid back and take time to enjoy their life. They are not rushed to go from one thing to another. Meals go on for hours because people actually sit there and have conversations. They're not in a hurry to get the bill and leave. We had two goals to accomplish today. One, we had tickets to go see Michelangelo's David and the other was shopping for gifts for family. Since we had booked our tickets in advance, we didn't have to stand in line to get in. We had a time to be there, handed them our ticket and walked right in!!!! I couldn't believe that I was viewing history in the flesh!! The statue had me standing in awe. The details in it were incredible. Right down to the veins in his feet and hands---Wow!!! Statues were described to us by our guide in Rome as the way that people were preserved. Like we take photos now, they did statues or busts back then. Made perfectly good sense to me. The have the David roped off so that people can't actually touch it but you are right there looking at him.

Now off to the task of finding some lunch. We found a cute little place with sandwiches and pasta down by one of the open markets. I had bruschetta and a bottle of cold water. It was soooo very hot and we couldn't seem to get enough water. Our feet were swollen and sore from all the walking and heat but we went on. After all, this was our last day in Italy :-(

We decided to split up at the market so we could each look for what we wanted without having to wait on the other while they shopped. Great idea. We met back at the fountain in an hour or so. So many bargains!! We had a blast and felt good about our purchases. Now back to the hotel as it was evening. One stop on the way though. Louis Vuitton, here we come!!!!!

It was getting late. We wanted to get cleaned up and head out for a wonderful dinner on what was our last night in Florence, Italy. Actually, our last night in Italy period. The front desk had suggested a restaurant called Mama Gina's. For some reason, we headed in the direction that we were told but didn't seem to find it immediately. However, we did find the actual Pitti Palace where the Medici family once lived!!! So, lesson on hand, sometimes we don't always find what we're looking for the first time around. We may, however, find something that we always wanted to see!!! We saw the Pitti Palace!!!!! Around the corner and down the street was Mama Gina's. A wonderful meal we had that night. Our waiters were quite frisky and especially with three blonde women from the United States. As we were leaving, one of them said to me, "oh, you yummy"!!! We laughed and laughed and laughed. Had he been cute it would have been one thing. Not the case though. That made it even funnier. So, the term "yummy" was born.

Beth had a 7:00AM flight to catch so we packed up and headed off to our rooms for some sleep. Sleep was hard to come by for me though. I was sad to be leaving this new country that I had fallen in love with. Holly and I had to leave for the airport at 8:00. Good-night!!

Monday, July 20

2009-07-31T06:26:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry Venice but I have to leave you today! I'm leaving with regrets that I didn't get to see all there was to see. I guess that's what makes great travelers though. We know that we have to go back to get in all there is to offer.

We decided to hire a private water taxi to take us across the canal to the train station. Handling bags on a public one was a bit much. Yeah, one more move and we're finished with these stupid, heavy bags. Note to self: only pack a few essential pieces and keep alternating them with jewelry and scarves. No more of this 10 outfit stuff for me!!!!!!!!!! I should have known better as I've been to Europe many times before.

On the train and headed back to Florence for our last day and a half in Italy. We have no agenda today other than to shop and explore. Florence has many open markets where anything you could possibly want can be found and purchased. Most of all, purses and belts of all kinds!! Scarves by the millions and mens ties. I'm in heaven.

When we checked in to our hotel, we were speechless. It was an old Palace that is now a hotel. The lady behind the desk actually greeted us at the door and took us up the old elevator to the 3rd floor. When I stepped in the elevator, there was a little loveseat in there. I felt like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. "Well color me happy--there's room in here for two"---that was only the beginning. Oh my gosh! We had our own corridor where a plate of different kinds of teas were arranged and a bucket of ice. Something that europe doesn't offer unless you ask for it. Wow--she opened the doors to our suite and our mouths dropped. There was a couch, a loveseat, several chairs and a HUGE beautiful stone fireplace. Many furnishings as well. To the right was a big bedroom with a king size bed and even a treadmill kind of thing. We laughed and said it was to work off all the pasta we had eaten. This bathroom had a jacuzzi tub, double sink, and a separate shower. To the left was another bedroom with another king size bed. No tub in this bathroom though. Just a shower. Oh darn. I forgot to mention too that each bathroom had it's own bidet. I lived in Madrid Spain for almost 3 years many years ago so I was familiar with bidets. We unpacked and decided to go find some lunch (like we were starving you know). We asked at the front desk for a recommendation and they told us the little trattoria just across the street called Dante was great. We took their suggestion and headed off. We definitely were not disappointed!! I had a wonderful pasta and a lovely bottle of chianti. It was great!!!!! After lunch, we headed off exploring and shopping. Two of our friends that we met at Cooking School were supposedly staying at the Pitti Palace Hotel which was just down the street from where we were staying. We walked down there and I inquired about them at the front desk. I was told that they were not there. Hmmmmmmm-maybe they went home early or decided not to stay there. Darn--we really wanted to see them one last time. We walked back to the Ponte Vecchio and I headed off to shoot some more photos. Holly and Beth looked in some of the shops lining the Ponte which is one gold shop after another. I really wanted a gold necklace and bracelet but didn't really find one that was in my budget. Oh well, my gold lies in the photos I shoot and it was pure enjoyment for me. Carrying the camera around, however, was not!!!!!!!!

Shopped out, we head back to the hotel to relax for a bit. By now, we are totally exhausted and I think our two weeks of non-stop going is catching up with us. Once rested a bit, we head back out for a bit more shopping. Low and behold we ran in to our two friends that we had looked for earlier. Sally and Nan. They were college friends and have done several of these trips together. Both live in Columbus, Ohio. We invite them up to our hotel so they can see our room (suite). We still can't believe that that's where we're staying!!! They were in awe of it as well.

Dinner time--we tell them about the little Trattoria across the street and we decide it was so good that we'll go back for dinner. So the five of us head back to Dante's!!!! I would highly recommend this place. Everything was wonderful. Food, service, wine and location. We laugh and recall our past week at Cooking School. It's late and we're all ready for bed. We hug and vow to keep up with one another. New friends: I love making new friends!!!!!

Sunday, July 19

2009-07-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

Good morning Sunday. The streets of Venice begin very early. We don’t really have an agenda while in Venice but we decide that we would like to go out to the island of Burano. Someone had told us that it is a very photographed place with all of it’s brightly colored houses. We decide that we would like to go out there and spend the majority of the day. It’s our last day in Venice and we want to see as much as we possibly can. Not really being able to figure out the public water taxi situation (we are experts now) we decide to hire a private water taxi to take us over to Burano. It cost us 100Euros to get out to the island. They weren’t kidding when they described it as an island with very brightly colored houses. I was born in Bermuda and remember my parents talking about how the houses were painted different colors. I’m sure that Burano is very similar in that respect.

Today is the birthday of my oldest grandchild, Brayden McKenzie Sexton. He is 10 years old today and I can remember seeing him for the very first time right after he was born. He was so beautiful and still is. He’s such a caring little boy and absolutely beautiful still. Of course I’m not proud or anything. Happy Birthday Brayden. I will call him later in the day since it’s still the middle of the night for them back in the states.

From far away, we can see all of the brightly colored houses that remind me of the houses that are all attached to one another in San Francisco. When we step off the boat, we realize that this little island is totally different than the big island of Venezia (Venice, in Italian). We don’t know which direction to go first. We decide to just take off like we’ve been there many times before. Everywhere you look are houses and canals with boats filling the canal. Some locals are out on the street (or sidewalk) with their children or just out taking a Sunday morning stroll. This place is so laid back and even though there are a lot of tourists there, it is still very mild compared to the big island. My camera was in full operation on this day. I just didn’t want to miss anything and especially with all the different colors everywhere.

After walking around for a while, we decide that we are hungry. Imagine that! In Italy and hungry—gee—what to eat. We found a small local restaurant with no other Americans eating there. Our kind of place. Not a tourist trap and we were sure the food would be good. It was extremely hot and our water was being deplenished by the second so Beth and I ordered a ½ Liter of the house wine which was a rose. When it arrived at our table, we were in for a surprise (a pleasant one at that) as the wine was chilled. Just what we needed on such a hot day. We enjoyed it so much, we ordered another ½ Liter. It seemed like we sat there for a couple of hours just resting and staying under the awning of shade. Not really sure how long we were there, but it sure felt nice.

A little more exploring on the island of Burano and we were ready to leave. We decided to take the actual public water taxi back to the main island. We were so proud of ourselves as we finally figured out that they are marked with their route on the sides. If only we had discovered that before we paid the 100Euros to get over there. Oh well—it was worth it and it was fun. We felt special. Our boat driver was cute and he had on the coolest green suede Italian shoes!! White shorts, white shirt with the collar up and green shoes. Yummy! (keep your eye out for this word Yummy as you’ll see it in the last blog entry as well.)

On the way back to the main island, we passed the little separate island which houses the cemetery. We decided to take the water taxi BACK over there so we could look around. Little did we realize that it was 5:30 and the cemetery gates close at 6:00. It gave us enough time to wander around though. We noticed that there were several graves that had either greek or Russian names on them. Not sure the reason behind that. I guess I’ll have to read up on that particular cemetery. On the way back, we passed the port for the island of Murano which is known for it’s Murano glass and all of the glass factories. We thought it was mainly filled with industrial stuff but we made a mistake by not stopping there. It looked like a little artists community. Next trip I will definitely make a trip over to Murano.

Back on Venice—we make our way via the long route to our hotel for our last night there. On our way, we stumbled upon the church of John and Paul. Oh my gosh!! It was absolutely beautiful inside AND they were getting ready to begin Sunday evening Mass. This church was wonderful and the next time I go to Venice, and I WILL go again, I’ll spend more time in there. I would have loved to have spent the time to attend Mass that night but we were tired and hadn’t had dinner yet.

Back at the hotel, we get cleaned up and head out for our last supper in Venice. Our intention was to eat at a place that was listed as the number 1 choice on TripAdvisor. We really wanted to eat outside but all the tables were taken. They were able to seat us inside and so we sat. All three of us looked at the menu and decided there really wasn’t anything listed on there that sounded good. So, one by one, we all got up and headed outside without saying a word to anyone. We had a good chuckle once we were out. Our wandering began again to find a restaurant where we could sit outside AND with a decent menu AND a nice price point. We ended up at a cute little restaurant right on Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square). Our food arrived quickly and was very good. Another thing with the waiter though when he brought the bill. He says to us “the tip is not included”. You don’t tell 3 American women that a tip is not included. So we left less than what we normally would have. By the way, they DID charge a 15% fee that they call a service charge just for sitting at their table. Go figure!!

The photos of my feet come with a story: before I left for Italy, the three of us bought a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes. For Holly and myself it was our first pair. For Beth, well, for Beth it wasn't!! However, I had big ideas to photograph our shoes alone in each of the cities we visited. That didn't happen so I decided to take a photo of my shoes (foot) hanging over the banister of our room on our last night in Venice. "Hello Lover" as Carrie Bradshaw would say. And so is my obsession with shoes-----

It’s time for bed. We want to spend our last night there with the sounds and smell of Venice and the canal so we sleep with the window open. The sound of the church bells ringing is a sound I really miss. It’s just magical—Good night Venice!!

Saturday, July 18th

2009-07-27T05:47:00.000-07:00

Saturday has arrived and off we head back to Florence. It takes us an hour to get down off the mountain. The roads are narrow and windy and the drivers go whizzing by you so they can pass. To my dad if you’re reading this, it’s just like it was when we were living in Spain. They make 5 lanes out of a three lane road and that doesn’t include motorcycles (Vespa’s) or bicycles. They are free to roam in and out of traffic as they please. Probably to a normal Italian driver, it may have taken them 30 minutes to get down but I wasn’t about to go fast and downhill to boot. No sir—I’ll take it slow thank you. Once down, it was about another hour to the Florence airport to return the rental car. Thanks to my “co-navigators” we didn’t make a wrong turn once. It was the easiest check in I’ve ever done. They had you pull in a slot, get your stuff out, hand them the agreement, and take the keys. All done and halleluja I’m done with the car!! Yippee. We get in the first taxi we see and have him take us to the train station where we catch a fast train to Venice. Fast meaning a little over two hours time. I did have one exciting thing happen at the train station. As we were walking to the ramp where our train was parked, I spotted a little person. When I looked, it was Amy Roloff, the mother in the TLC show "Little People, Big World". Two of her children were with her. I went up to her and told her I enjoyed her show. She was very sweet. After I walked back over to where Beth was standing, I decided I would ask if I could take a photo. Not only did I take a photo, one of the guys on the camera crew took my camera and shot some pics of me with them. I figured my grandchildren would enjoy seeing them.

The train station sits right on the canal and when you walk outside the station, there are masses of people waiting to catch a private water taxi or the public water taxi where everyone seems to want to get off and on at the same time. That’s not too bad when it’s just you that you have to worry about. When there’s three of you and each of us with STILL too much luggage, it can become a problem. We weren’t real sure where to go once we got off and I struck up a conversation with a little man on the taxi and he said for us to follow him. He would show us where we needed to go. Only problem was, there are two hotels on Venice with similar names and he got them mixed up. No worries, one of the bell hops took some of our luggage and showed us to the correct hotel. Our room wasn’t ready when we checked in so we asked them if we could leave our luggage and wander until it was time to do so. Heaven forbid we have to lug our suitcases all over Venice until then. Not going to happen. Once outside the hotel, Beth drops a pin on her iPhone so we know exactly where we are JUST IN CASE we can’t find our way back. We were totally surprised when we found ourselves at the edge of Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square). We are taking it all in. They have these yellow chairs set up all over the Piazza and people can order a glass of wine and/or eat as well. We decide to sit down and order a glass of wine. Ha—little did we know that one single glass of wine would be 10Euros each and the waiter in his white coat, black tie and white pants, reminded us that a tip was NOT included!!!!!! Ok buddy, you just knocked yourself down from a great tip to a cheap tip for that comment.

Wine finished, we wander some more and come upon another part of the canal. This is the Grand Canal that goes out to Sea if you travel far enough on it. We are curious about the gondola rides even though none of us are in Italy with our spouses. However, it would be a shame to be in Venice and not go on a gondola ride. Beth and I head over to a little stand and inquire. We are told that tonight is the biggest celebration in Venice.

We wander the streets (streets with absolutely no cars that is) trying to decide where to get some dinner. Of all the wonderful food, we end up at the Hard Rock Café!!! I can say though that it was the only time in our 16 days that we have had American food. I didn’t miss it at all. The only thing I really missed was a green salad every once in a while.

The goldolas go out in the middle of the canal, along with literally hundreds of other gondolas and boats and yachts to watch the largest firework celebration ever!!!!! They weren’t kidding. It was 60Euros each for us and each gondola holds 6 people. We ended up in one with a lady named Ann from England that lives in Paris, a young Japanese fellow and a german lady from Munich that has an apartment in Venice. We were to be back at the Pier at 10 till 11 so we could go out and get our spot. I thought I would remember the exact spot where we paid for our ticket but apparently that didn’t happen. We had to weave our way through the crowds that reminded me of a rat in a maze. I can’t even begin to estimate how many people were there for this once a year event. We walked across the bridge to where we thought it was and I didn’t think it looked right. I told Beth it I thought it was back on the other side so off we trekked only to NOT find what we were looking for. Beth was right—it was back at the first place we went to so back we headed a second time.. Success—we got in line and quickly we were climbing into a gondola. It definitely was a first for all of us. Words could not even describe the experience of that night. Fireworks like we have never seen before, any of us!! At one point, I leaned over to Beth and told her this was nothing—they do this in Fletcher all the time. We had a little chuckle.

I tell you one thing, as soon as the show was over, it was no time and we were back at the dock to get out. They have it down to a science as to how to get people off the canal quickly. As we head back to our hotel, we walk through Piazza San Marco again. There are three different spots around the square where they have live music. Mostly classical but everyone enjoys listening to them. Families together, young and old. I could easily get used to the Italian way of living.

Ahhh-hotel room, sweet hotel room. How good that bed looks. We are exhausted and it takes us no time to fall asleep. Tomorrow is another day and we have many alleys, bridges and canals to explore. Good night Venice.

Friday, July 17th

2009-07-25T19:15:00.000-07:00

Friday has arrived and our last day of cooking school! We had the morning off before we began our final preparations for our farewell meal on Friday evening. Holly, Beth, myself and a new friend that we met named Erica decided to go into the town of Poppi to visit the castle of Poppi. You know, it really amazes me how much history there is and how well things are preserved and not bulldozed down when they are 100 years old. We spent all morning in Poppi just touring the castle and going up in the tower. Most of you that know me know that I am deathly afraid of heights. I was determined to go up to the highest point in the tower and I did so but I will also say that my breathing level changed drastically in the process. I made it—I looked around, shot some photos and decided to head back down before the rest of my group as I KNEW it would take me a while to get down. The stairs were extremely steep and very narrow. Once we were all down, we wandered around the grounds for a bit and down into the town. We didn’t have a lot of time so we wanted to make the most of it. The thing that stood out the most in my mind about the castle was the fact that there are still beautifully painted frescos (originals) still there. They were absolutely beautiful!

Back at Casa Ombuto, we arrive just in time for our lunch. Laura, our chef, has prepared a wonderful lunch for us. Beth has come down with a really bad headache and decides during the middle of lunch to go and lie down. I was worried that she was coming down with something. It was so hot that morning, I thought she may have been overheated. We couldn’t seem to get enough water.

Preparations for the farewell dinner were beginning. Each of us were making something different as our dinner was a buffet. My item was a Tarte Tatin, or an Apple Tart (French). It turned out absolutely beautiful I must say. Holly was making Tomato Farcies (stuffed baked tomatoes) and they too turned out beautiful. Beth was to help one of the other students with the lamb skewers. When she was well enough to get up, she came down and helped with the final preparation of them. Dinner was to be at 8:00 and we finished up about 7:30. Talk about having no time to get cleaned up and presentable—

We did it though; rushed back to our room, cleaned up a bit, changed and headed down to dinner. We were dining under the stars and the weather was just perfect. We thought we might get rained on as a few sprinkles came down but it held out until we were done eating. At the end of our meal, Laura got up to do the presentations to the students. Each received a diploma. She saved the best for last (in my opinion of course) and presented myself, Holly and Beth our diplomas with a little story to go along with it. She was so sweet the first night when we were sooooooooo very late arriving due to all the rental car issues that she said she felt like we had made such an effort to arrive that it was the least she could do to stay late and serve us a hot meal. She is a new lifelong friend to all of us. You couldn’t help but just fall in love with her. She didn’t think her English was very good but she did a great job. She even got in on the act of “joking” when the olive oil guy Francesco was trying to become friendly with Erica. We kidded her about that the whole rest of the trip. Laura even got in on it as well. Of course Beth was putting her up to it as well.

Dinner was over, presentations were made and it was time to take a class photo and say our farewells. I’ve never been good with them and never will be so people should know that about me up front. When people mean something to me, I cry. No, that’s not even a correct statement. Shoot, sometimes I even cry at a McDonald’s commercial!! However in this instance, these people had become new friends and I hate leaving friends. Many tears were had and many hugs and kisses. To the following people I’d like to say I truly had a wonderful time and I so enjoyed getting to know each and every single one of you:

Thomas & Ivana, Linda and Elizabeth, Nan, Sally, Erica, and Vinita, I hope to see you all again and if not see you, at least hear from you from time to time. You will forever be etched in my mind and heart. Last but not least to Laura: the most wonderful lady I think I have ever met. A person so genuine, true, caring, loving and beautiful!!! You are an inspiration to me and I’m sure to all who attended the school this week.

We have a rental car to return and a drive ahead of us back into Florence so an early evening it is for the three of us. Early by standards of how late we had been staying up all week. I believe we were in bed by midnight and we were to pull out at 7:00AM. I am feeling very sad about leaving Tuscany. Most of my adult life I have wanted to go there and I only got a small taste of what it was like. Tuscany is somewhere I will definitely return to!!! Good-bye Casa Ombuto. Ciao----.

Wednesday, July 15

2009-07-17T01:13:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a day we had. Since our cooking school is advertised as Mediterranean Cooking, Wednesday was Spanish & French day. One of the days that I was really waiting for. Our day started off early. For lunch, we were to prepare Paella Valenciana, Sangria (yum, yum) ,Gazpacho, and Crema Catalana which is the spanish version of Creme Brulee if you know what that is. For the Paella, we did everything from actually cleaning the fish and seafood, chopping the chicken and de-boning it, to cooking it!!! I'm so very proud of myself because I actually cleaned a whole squid and even learned how to pop the eyes!! Never in a million years did I think I would do that. The pictures that will be posted with this entry will show you how well we did with all of the menu. My sister Lisa and I have been wanting a great Paella recipe for a very long time so I'm excited to make it for her and the rest of my family when I return home!!!

Lunch--oh my gosh!!! How delicious!! The gazpacho was absolutely to die for but we now need our own Siesta!! That isn't going to happen as we are making French Provencal for dinner. We have about a 30 minute break before we are to begin again.

The menu for the evening meal is as follows:

Salade de chevre chaud (Baked goat cheese salad)

Loup en croute de sel (Sea Bass baked in a crust of salt)

Ratatouille (mixed Provencal vegetables)

Fondant au chocolat (Molten chocolate cake)

Glace a la vanilla (Vanilla ice cream) and we added a lavendar flower to it as well

I have to say that the Salade de chevre chaud is now one of my all time favorite salads!!! It was absolutely incredible. Everyone worked so well together--it's sad because the week of cooking is almost over and we are all now really meshing together. It was another late night as it seems we don't eat dinner until about 9:30-10:00 and by the time we drink our wine and visit, before we know it, it's 2:00 in the morning Italy time!!! Oh well, when in Rome--------

Tuesday, July 13

2009-07-14T23:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday started out very early. It was our "excursion" day and the bus was picking us up to leave at 8:45. We rushed around in the morning getting ready so we could at least go have our coffee (espresso) and small breakfast. I think the hardest part was deciding what to wear for the day. We were to visit the town of Arezzo which is an old Medieval town and a home that has been standing for centuries and is now the home of a very small winery. The family that owns the house are a husband, wife and daughter of 20 yrs old. They are all doctors. He only makes two kinds of wine and this year, he took a silver in the very prestigious wine festival in London, England. He is very proud of it and I can certainly understand why. It's so good, Beth and I both bought a case of it!!!!!!!!!! He even passed around small bits of belgian chocolate to try with the second. Yum, yum!! Just what I need--another way to drink wine. Oh well, in Italy, as in France where I've also spent quite a bit of time, they drink wine to enjoy the wine, not to get drunk as we Americans have a tendency to do. It's a whole different mindset in regards to wine.

The grounds of the home are surrounded by vineyards, italian cypress trees, olive trees, and a few orange trees. Man I tell you, it just doesn't get any better than that!

We're off and on our way to walk around the town of Arezzo. I will definitely be coming back to this region of Italy. I could spend days in Arezzo just looking at all the history and feeling as if I were going back in time. I don't think as an American we fully appreciate the truly "old" things.

From Arezzo, we make our way via our bus to a family run olive mill. What a charming little place. A table is set up outside for us and after the short tour and explanation of how the olives become oil, we sit down to a little oil tasting. They also make balsamic vinegar so I am in heaven. Small pieces of bread and pecorino cheese (again my favorite cheese) are passed around so that we may try the true taste of the products. This place was also where we were having our lunch. Thank goodness today's lunch is not really a 4 course lunch!

Back on the bus we go to our next destination. This time, it's to the town of Anghiara which is another Medieval town. It takes us a little bit but we arrive at the Busatti textile mill. It is another family run business. It seems to me that there are a lot of businesses over her that are passed down from generation to generation. The products are quite expensive and I don't think anyone purchased anything. One kitchen tea towel was E20 each!! There are other things I'd prefer to purchase---off to a walk around the once-again charming town. So much history and sooooooo much to take in. We came upon this little old man sitting in the entry of his home down one of the alleys. Of course I stopped to photograph the alley and he watched for a few moments and decided he was going to get up and tell us something. He wanted us to know and be sure to look down this certain well. He posed in a photo with me and I honestly thought he was going to hang on to me forever. Each time I tried to pull my arm out, he would squeeze it tighter. We had a good laugh about that.

Holly has been doing great on the bus. I thought I would mention that because she usually gets car sick and we have been going around some CRAZY roads that are more than just an "S" curve. She even fell asleep at one point. And you know Italian drivers!!! The word slow in regard to driving does not exist. This is another town I could spend days in just exploring. No shopping today. Just a little window shopping.

We're off to visit a sheep farm that makes cheese. We are showed how the cheese is made and once again, it's another family run business. It's actually in the back of the home of the family that owns it. They little couple come from Sardinia where according to them, are too many sheep farmers so they moved to mainland Italy! Quite a story they tell. They speak no English so our tour guide for the day interprets for us. They make three different kinds of cheese. The first I can't remember the name of but the second is riccota and the third, you guessed it, pecorino!! I'm in heaven. She takes us in to the little room in her home where she has prepared a table with all three cheeses for us to sample, along with the yogurt she has made also. For me, it was the best yogurt I've had since I was in France in 2004!! I topped mine with a little bit of honey that, you guessed it, they also prepare. It is a very light, almost white, honey. When I inquire about the color, it's because the bees are getting their stuff from white flowers. It has a totally different texture than what we buy in the states. She has also prepared a little cake with riccota (cheesecake) and another type of cake that she calls a breakfast cake which is also made with riccota. It is heavenly. She agrees to give me the recipe. I will share it on my blog when I return home from Italy. I think my new favorite dessert is small slices of pecorino cheese drizzled with honey and nuts. I will be serving it for my family I can assure you.

When we are finished, the little lady takes me around the front so I can purchase some of her pecorino cheese. I am told that you should never store cheese in a plastic bag. Always store it in a brown paper bag!!!!!!!!!! So, I am passing that information on to you.

Back on the bus for the hour ride back to Casa Ombuto. Ahhhh, home. The grounds here are so very beautiful. I can definitely see why Frances Mayes, the author of Under the Tuscan Sun, decided to move here. I would too. I'm even beginning to think I like Italy better than France and I didn't think that would EVER happen. It's just a totally different style of life. One that is definitely enjoyed and not rushed through like we do back in the states.

Once we arrived back to Casa Ombuto, we had "left-overs" on the counter waiting in case we were hungry. None of us really were but I decided that I wanted some vegetables so ate many cherry tomatoes, grown here on the grounds of course, and dipped them in the salt. So good!!!!! Later, I had one piece of pizza that was prepared for us the night before. No wine for me last night. I just drank water. Off to bed. It will be another long day for us on Wednesday as it's Spanish day and we will be making Paella. I can't wait for that lesson. Since I lived in Madrid a long time ago, I fell in love with Paella. Now I'm living out my dream!!

Afternoon, Monday July 13

2009-07-13T07:05:00.000-07:00

We had an absolutely incredible morning with a lot of cooking!! We made homemade focaccia bread, salade nicoise and a peach tart. Way too much food but hey, I'm in Italy. We had some bad news though this morning. Holly's mother-in-law passed away early in the morning. She has been sick for a very long time and although it's sad, it's the best thing for Carol. I'm sure she's in a much better place now.

Beth is still losing her glasses (imagine that), haha! I think I'll get a string and tie it from her to the glasses. I just mentioned to her that I was ragging on her and she said I shouldn't post it as that--I'm supposed to say that she keeps "finding" her glasses. At least she's finding them huh?!

We are getting ready for our afternoon class. I am extremely tired this afternoon though. I had an hour break between classes and I actually went and laid down for a bit. Couldn't sleep though--I kept seeing myself rolling out the bread dough and chopping the fresh rosemary. I am learning so much and don't want to miss a second. Gotta go for now--much to do. Probably need to help Beth find her glasses one more time before we get started. Chef Laura is resting with us as well. Yippee. A few more minutes of rest. More to come later.

The morning was our French lesson and the afternoon is to be Moroccan. What a treat. I'm having to type this particular entry the morning after so you'll have to bear with me. Today is our excursion day to a Pecorino cheese maker and an olive oil factory. I may have to finish this entry when we return tonight but it will be late.

Monday, July 13

2009-07-13T01:04:00.000-07:00

Today has begun--showered and dressed and in the dining hall for breakfast. Espresso machine is in overload today. I'm loving it!!! Today is going to be a fun day as we are learning to make focaccia bread. The wood stove outside is burning and the smell is wonderful. It's kind of funny--it's hot during the day but very cool in the evening. I've been sleeping with the windows open and wake up to the sound of chirping birds. It doesn't get any better than this.

Sunday, July 12

2009-07-13T00:29:00.001-07:00

What a day!!!!!! It actually began late for Holly, Beth and I. Once we finally arrived at Casa Ombuto late on Saturday night, we weren't ready to go to bed. So, we stayed up late, like 3:00AM late and therefore that allowed us to sleep in yesterday morning. We didn't get up until 10:00 AM and for me, I feel like half of my day was lost. Not so though once we got going. We came down to the cooking and dining area and had a breakfast of cheeses, meat and fruit. I'm loving the cheese stuff!! We have pecorino cheese every single day and that is my absolute favorite cheese!!!! We had part of the day off as our cooking lessons didn't start until 3:00. So, we walked around the grounds and took in every bit of Tuscany that we could. Just so you can understand this, right now as I'm typing, the wood firepit outside is going as we will be making pizzas today for lunch. Back to yesterday. We've already made many new friends here and they are quite diverse. That's what makes it interesting though. All are Americans with the exception of Vinita who is from the UK. We even have one young lady from MN and she is eloping next week in Positano. I'm not sure that the spelling of that town is correct but supposedly it is beautiful there. I would love to be the photographer at that simple wedding!!!

After walking around on the grounds we were called to the dining room for a lunch that was prepared for us. The menu was this:

Pasta alla Norma which was Pasta with eggplant and tomato sauce

Bistecca alla Fiorentina---Florentine steak sliced very thin and seared

Patate alle erbe aromatiche--Aromatic herb roasted potatoes

Robiolo cheese which is like a marscapone cheese with cherry sauce

I swear by the time I get back to the states, they are going to have to wheel me off the airplane!!! However, the portions are so much that I'm only able to eat about one third of everything.

The following is what we prepared in class yesterday. Probably the most exciting thing for yesterday was learning how to make homemade pasta and roll it out and everything. We made tortellini with sun-dried tomatoes, basis and mozzarella.

Stuffed veal rolls which is sliced extremely thin and stuffed with chopped ham and buffalo mozzarella cheese. It is topped with a sauce of tomatoes, onions and garlic with a splash of wine and olive oil. Yum yum.

Fresh green beans with pesto topping.

Zabaglione with strawberries. That basically is like a marscapone cheese, pureed strawberries on the bottom and topped with a few fresh berries.

I will include some of the photos from our class. It was an absolutely incredible day and this cooking school far exceeds my expectations!! I would recommend it to anyone. We are looking forward to today and what it holds. We will be cooking all day today and preparing two separate meals. Our chef and instructor is Italian and she is so much fun. Her name is Laura and just darling. After class and dinner are over, Holly, Beth and I are the last ones to leave. Laura comes and sits with us and we finish off the bottles of wine!!! Last night though, we finished off the bottle of cream limoncello. Oh my gosh, it was wonderful. I sure wish we could get that in the states. I'm even learning some Italian. Hopefully I won't need it though in regards to a rental car. Signing off for Sunday's post. I hope you enjoy your day as I'm sure I will enjoy mine.

Saturday, July 11th

2009-07-12T02:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was quite an interesting day to say the least. We woke early as it was our last day in Florence until the following week. We had several things that we wanted to do. Our little hotel was absolutely charming and we were sad to be leaving it. It was an old residence and we had the best room in the entire hotel. From one side, the windows and balcony overlooked the square and out the other side was the Duomo. It doesn't get any better than that!!!

After our breakfast we headed out on the Renaissance trail to view several points in Florence. Old churches, the Medici trail, etc. We ended up at the Ponte Vecchio. For many years that is something that I've wanted to photograph. I was in awe of it and just couldn't get enough!!!!! Along the Ponte were gold shops one after the other. Florence is known for it's leather and gold. I think before I head back to the states, I will have to purchase a beautiful gold chain.

We found a charming little restaurant that had the most wonderful pizza (imagine that) the night before so we headed back to the same place for lunch. After a great lunch with wine (of course) we headed back to get checked out of the hotel sadly. They were generous enough to allow us to keep our luggage in the lobby as we weren't leaving for the rental car agency until about 4:00. We were supposed to arrive in Tuscany between 4:00-8:00 and figured that would allow us plenty of time to get there.

We decided to wander around the Open Market----big mistake!!!! Oh my gosh--all the goodies we found and we're already griping about our luggage. Here begins the excitement for the day. Taking a taxi to the rental car agency downtown Florence, we arrive and I'm the last one checking in to pick up the car. All taken care of, they hand me the keys and point to the car. We load ALL of our luggage and literally have to pack things in around Beth in the back seat. Holly gets car sick so she has to ride in the front. I really need Beth in the front so she can navigate but not going to happen, haha! We're all "tucked" into the car and I start it up. It's a 5 speed Fiat, supposedly brand new. I try to get the car into reverse and I keep going forward. Keep in mind, I have about 12" before I hit the brick wall in front of me. Not happening--finally I get frustrated and ask an Italian gentleman walking by if he speaks English. He doesn't and I somehow make it clear what I'm wanting to do. He gets into the car and shows me how to lift up on the gear shift and get it into reverse. I at this point feel like a totally blonde idiot!! The adventure begins!!!! Getting out of Florence on streets that is supposed to be 3 lanes but they make it 6 has already stressed me out. I miss the turn-off and of course have to go around the round-about a second time. We're off and on our way. It's about a 60K trip to our destination. In a Fiat!!!!! As we're going up a mountain road, the car is getting slower and slower and we begin to smell something. I liken it to it's just a diesel car. However, black smoke is coming out of the rear and white smoke out of the front!! I get to somewhere that I can pull off the road and man is it ever smoking in the front and stinks like crazy. Oh hell--what to do now. Of course I'm standing outside the car, in a bright orange dress and on a cell phone. Thank God for cell phones!!!!! I try to contact Barbara who is the manager at the cooking school and Beth is trying to get in touch with the rental car place. Let me back up a bit. At this time, there is a little old Italian lady coming out of a path from down below. She speaks absolutely NO english but I'm able to convey to her what is going on. It was quite a scene let me tell you. Looking back on it, it's something that should have been posted on YouTube!!! Yippee, the rental car agency is sending a truck to help us. About 40 minutes later, a truck arrives, the driver knows about 30 words in english, and we figure out what we're going to do. He has to load the car on the truck, take us 10K BACK down the mountain, drop us off where a taxi will pick us up and take us BACK to Florence to the airport this time to pick up another car. All the while learning that we have to pay the taxi driver and the rental car agency will reimburse us. I'm thinking to myself at this point that I'll probably never see that money. It costs us 90 Euros to get back to Florence. By this time, we've already missed our expected arrival at Casa Umbuto AND our specially prepared dinner by our chef Laura. Oh I'm pissed!!!!!!!! Once at the airport, I'm totally amazed that they immediately give me my 90 Euros back, in CASH, and after some paperwork, they hand me the keys and point in the direction where the car is parked. By this time, I'm a nervous wreck being the driver but that quickly fades when I get to the car and see that this time it's an Alpha Romeo!!! Things are looking up for us!!! Much more space for our luggage too. Off we go. Onto the Autoban (oh my gosh) and people wizzing by me but that's okay. I don't even make a wrong turn this time. Life is good!!! Once we get off the Autoban, we have to go through a few small towns to arrive to our destination. As I approach where I had to pull over the first time, I begin to get very nervous fearing that it will happen again. No way--I pass right by it. We're going to make it this time. Our wonderful iPhones told us it was 29K to our destination. What it didn't say was that it was up a mountain and the roads were like crooked "s"s. Literally. Holly, remember, gets car sick so she's sighing the whole way up which I didn't say anything but stressed me out even more. I felt sorry for her but it didn't help my stress level any. Beth is in the back seat being the navigator and I might add I'm soooooooo thankful that she's doing that!! Thank you Beth for navigating!!!!!!!! Now the fun begins--the village

of Poppi little did we know is actually beyond the Ponte de Poppi. Our directions tell us to go to the second square and turn right. By this time, it's 10:00PM and DARK. How the heck can we tell it's the second square. After several u-turns and several round abouts, we finally find where we are to turn. We are going to make it after all. Whoops. Once we get up a little ways, our directions tell us to follow the signs. It DOESN'T say that the signs are wooden markers nailed up on trees and it's so dark we can't see any of them. Another adventure begins. We are in the middle of nowhere, following a gravel road with absolutely no signs, and beginning to feel quite lost at this point and can't even tell anyone where we are. We call Barbara. Come to find out, we've gone down the WRONG gravel road and literally no place to turn around. Beth gets out of the car and guides me BACK down the road to where the "Y' in the road is. It's dark, I'm back up in a standard Alpha Romeo, and I'm scared. Yeah, we made it!!!!!!! Holly is absolutely no help at all because she can't help guide nor can she go backwards. I finally ask her if she wants to get out of the car and walk down. Yep, she does. Poor thing--it would be awful to get that sick by some of those things! We made it and both jump back into the car. We're going to make it. I finally see the lights of the gate at the Villa and we arrive and Barbara is standing outside to greet us. We all hug and enter the kitchen where our cooking school is held with a beautiful dining room. Everyone is still sitting at the dining table drinking wine and when we enter they clap for us. Our chef comes out and introduces herself in her beautiful Italian accent. Her name is Laura and she's absolutely charming. Our 3 Course dinner is now being served. To begin with, we have squash blossoms stuffed with ricotta cheese and drizzled with olive oil. I'm in heaven. It's wonderful. Little cherry tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and basil on the top drizzled in olive oil. Yum. Did I mention wine??? Free flowing wine--I'm in heaven. White and red. Our dinner is slices of steak very rare and roasted potatoes roasted in olive oil. Dessert is a tiramisu and the best I have ever eaten. By now, we are the only ones still in the dining room and it's 11:30. Laura our chef is sitting with us and carrying on a conversation. We feel so special. It is time to be shown to our rooms and boy what a surprise we get when we walk into a room that is about 2500sq ft and it's ALL ours. Three separate bedrooms, bathrooms, a HUGE kitchen all furnished with beautiful old furniture, and a living room with the most incredible fireplace I've ever seen. I'll upload photos of that tonight but I wanted to get caught up before I feel so far behind that I would forget details. Each room has a king size bed and windows that you can open and let the wonderul Tuscany air in. I slept better than I ever have before. The only problem is, I am so excited to be here I can't go to sleep. I start looking at the photos I took in the morning and am stunned at them. So much for now--I hope you enjoy the photos. More to come either tonight or tomorrow. This place is amazing and I'm not sure I want to go home. Thank you very much to all of our families that are allowing this amazing experience to take place. Ciao---------

2009-07-10T17:27:00.000-07:00

July 10, 2009

It's 2 something in the morning here in Florence. I'm the only one awake. My mind won't shut off with all of this history surrounding me. I'm just going to upload some photos and write the blog in the morning and post. I hope you are enjoying the photos. I'm sure enjoying taking them. By the way, the red coat is something I REALLY want!!!!! It was beautiful--

Last of the Rome pics--

2009-07-10T16:21:00.000-07:00

Some more Rome photos--

2009-07-10T16:12:00.001-07:00

2009-07-10T16:08:00.001-07:00

More photos from Rome.

2009-07-10T16:02:00.000-07:00

Well--We left Rome this afternoon but before we left, I finally downloaded some of the photos. I'm adding them now from the Rome section of the trip. I hope you enjoy!

2009-07-10T01:53:00.000-07:00

2009-07-10T01:52:00.000-07:00

2009-07-10T01:48:00.000-07:00

2009-07-10T01:39:00.000-07:00

July 7, 2009

I thought this day would never arrive. It seems like we have been planning for this trip forever!!! Holly and I left for the airport a little earlier than we needed to so that we could go eat at our favorite Oklahoma City restaurant, Iguana Bar & Grill. For those of you that haven’t eaten there, it’s now on 9^th & Broadway downtown. I don’t get paid for the plug but it’s really good!!

Off to the airport—our flight was about 10 minutes late but we made very good use of our time by getting in one of those massage chairs where you could have had a full body massage by the time you kept putting coins in the slot. I’m sure people walking by us thought we were right out of the movie “When Harry Met Sally”. Need I say more?? After we arrived in Chicago, we only had about 45 minutes to kill. My plan was to find a Starbucks fill my empty bottle up with iced tea, and carry it on the plane. I’m not much of a soda drinker and I really enjoy iced tea. Wouldn’t you know it, not a Starbucks to be found!! At least in our Terminal that was. You can’t just buy iced tea anywhere. It’s like coffee, there’s a huge difference between good and bad coffee.

Well color me happy, as Julia Roberts said in Pretty Woman. We get on our huge airplane headed to Rome and I’ve got an Italian man sitting right across the aisle from me. Did I mention he smelled absolutely wonderful?? For real, I thought about moving Holly to his seat and him to hers just so I could smell him! Only problem with that is that I’m married and we weren’t sure if that was him mom or his wife with him. Oh well—it made for some pretty funny conversation the whole trip.

Frankfurt—our first European stop. Wow—this airport has certainly changed from when I was last in it. It’s very modern and HUGE!! It’s like the airport in Amsterdam where there are actual stores inside of it. Very multi-cultural as well. The guards checking passports are a little intimidating though. We passed with flying colors except for the fact that I always get checked on a list because I was born in Bermuda and have a US Passport. Oh well, I made it through and on to Rome. We are sooooooo anxious to get off the airplanes. Our long flight didn’t leave us much leg room; no, let me rephrase that. It didn’t leave us with ANY legroom and we were miserable. Holly is almost 6 ft tall and I’m only 5’4” and even I didn’t have any room. So perhaps you can understand why we were so anxious to get off of the airplanes.

Ah Rome!!!!!!! The arrival we have been waiting for. We finally get off the airplane and my phone starts receiving text messages from Beth. Beth is my cousin (who is actually my husbands cousin, but I love her like she were mine). She landed an hour before we did as she was flying in from Seattle where she lives. Betsey, Beth’s best friend, didn’t make this trip and I’m really sad! Beth, Betsey and myself went to Costa Rica together the middle of May and had a blast. I’ll save that story for a different blog and pictures. Back to Rome---------

We are to have a driver from the Hotel meet us at the airport and take us to the Hotel for free. As you know, nothing is really free, but we were glad to see him standing there holding the sign just like he said he would. Poor thing; there we are 3 American women in Rome and all three of us have a thing for shoes so we have a separate bag just for them, and he starts to pull our luggage. We took pity on him and helped out. Well, I lived in Madrid, Spain a long time ago and the drivers were absolutely crazy even then. Italy is no different. The road might be made for 2-3 lanes and they make 4-6 lanes out of it and keep in mind, the lanes aren’t even in order. They just drive wherever they want and cars are coming at you from every direction. Now throw the mix of motor scooters in there and you’ve REALLY got a mess. I just had to not watch. I guess that’s what the Type A Personality does for you.

We make it safely to the hotel and get checked in. Our hotel is called the Atlante Star Hotel and is just a block or two from the Vatican. It’s a very quaint hotel and couldn’t be located in a more perfect spot. Everything is within walking distance except for the Roman Ruins. It’s probably best to take a taxi over there.

By the time we got situated in our room, we were all starving so walked just outside the hotel and down the street to a little Café and had a really good pizza. Very, very thin crust!! Wonderful! Little did we know it was a whole pizza when we ordered it. We each had ordered a different kind of pizza!! Oh well, when in Rome, do as they do. So, we ate! Our jetlagged bodies, minds and spirits were playing havoc with us. But we knew if we were to lie down we’d not wake back up or worse yet, wake up at 3:00AM Italy time. Nope, not going to allow that to happen. So, we loaded up our gear and headed off to the Castle of Angels, which was just down the street from the Hotel. We walked and walked and walked. First just trying to figure out how to get across the darn street!! Remember how I mentioned the “lanes of traffic” earlier? Well the lanes were growing by the second. We didn’t dare cross where there wasn’t a crosswalk. The views from the top were absolutely breathtaking. You could see St. Peter’s Basilica, the wall around the Vatican, and I think we counted 14 huge churches just in the area. We walked and walked and walked. We crossed the river to some little district where there were all sorts of interesting things. The most interesting I think (really not interesting, but funny) were the boxer shorts and aprons that depicted the male genitalia in FULL detail!! Believe me, nothing was left to the imagination. We wandered around there for several hours and decided that we were getting a little hungry. We stopped at a little Ristorante of which I can’t remember the name of now and sat outside for dinner. “Would you like wine” the waiter asked? And of course we replied-----

Beth had some kind of gnocchi with red sauce and Holly and I shared a lobster spaghetti. Absolutely wonderful. Two fully lobsters were laid out on top of the platter with the spaghetti and red sauce under it. That was the first time I have ever had lobster and spaghetti in the same sentence referring to a meal but I would definitely eat it again. When we only thought we were stuffed, the waiter wanted to bring us out three different desserts so we could share. How could we turn that down? We had a pannacotta with fresh strawberries, a chocolate torte with caramel, and some kind of frozen chocolate with chocolate ice cream in the center. Now to make matters even worse, they bring out three little glasses of Limoncello!!!! We’re in Italy baby—home of Limoncello!! Drink up.

After they got a crane to get us up from the table, we did a little more walking and looking. It was probably 9:30 or so by then. There was a cute little bar just down from our hotel and we were feeling pretty good (jetlag wise that is) so we stopped and ordered wine. Not a glass, but a bottle!! We sat outside and watched the people go by, visited, and drank our wine.

It’s time for bed—it’s been an incredibly long day and a half!! Back to the hotel it was for us. I don’t think it took long for any of us to fall asleep. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow as we’re going to the Roman Ruins, the Coliseum, and the Vatican!!

Good night from Day 1--- - - - - -

2009-07-10T01:37:00.000-07:00

July 7, 2009

Good night from Day 1--- - - - - -