Italy

Italy was a dream come true. Each city had it's own flavor and excitement. We took 10 days and saw Cinque Terre, Pisa, Florence, Siena, Rome, Tivoli, Venice, and Milan. We had a couple goals:
1- Try a regional food of each area.
2- See as many of Michelangelo's works that we can.
3- Try a different flavor of gellato each day.
It was an unforgettable 10 days!

Cinque Terre

We arrived late at night from Istanbul to Milan and got up early the next day to catch the first train to Cinque Terre. We found long train rides are survived with suckers and card games. 5 and a half hours later we arrived to the most beautiful Cinque Terre (5 villages connected by hiking trails on the Italian Riviera). We stayed in a nearby city, La Spetzia, and set out for a day of hiking, swimming, and exploring the Cinque Terre. A simple hike turned into a vigorous workout as we climbed higher and higher in the mountains. Our favorite of the 5 villages was Cornelia- a small sleepy village with acres of vineyards. We relaxed from our hiking in the layed back atmosphere of Vernazza where we enjoyed people watching in the Piattza. Mary's thoughts were- Italian men are very comfortable with their bodies (no matter the figure:0), and Elderly Italian women love to gossip. This region is famous for their pesto and a walnut sauce pasta dish- we tried both and gave the food 5 stars.

Pisa

We stopped off by Pisa in the morning and like true backpackers carried all of our luggage (in backpacks) through the city. We had a breakfast of Italian pastries and checked out a few sights- Santa Maria de la Spina, Views of the Arno river, The Leaning Tower of Pisa, and Pisa's Duomo. We though Pisa was a quieter Tuscan city with locals of all ages riding bikes with bells and baskets.

Florence

Florence was a busier city but like the books say the capital of the rennaisance. We found lots more tourists here (surprise surprise) and we preferred the atmosphere of smaller Pisa but the art was unforgettable. We saw all of Michelangelo's works in Florence except for two of his earliest which were not open. The David's magnitude can not be captured by a picture and shouts of the nobility of man to have courage to conquer adversity. My favorite of Michelangelo's works turned out to be his last unfinished Pieta- it was so tender. We hiked up to Piattza Michelangelo and watched the sunset over Florence. Tuscanny is famous for their Tortellini, and Spaghetti alla Bologna. Both were delicious.

Siena

On our way to Rome we stopped by Siena and found it to be more like a medieval city with lots of gothic architecture but very beautiful. Like Pisa we liked the smaller size and ambiance of the city. We were impressed with the huge Duomo of this city- though unfinished due to the black plaque it was more gothic style than Pisa's or Florence's. We tried the famous Sienese cookies- Panforte. Brad loved them- I prefer my sweeter gellato:)

Rome

Rome was a huge city and had the unfortunate big city atmosphere which takes away from the romanticized Rome you see in the movies. We really liked Vatican city- we climbed 500+ stairs to the cupola in St. Peters. The Sistine ceiling is stunning- and you wouldn't believe it unless you saw it but the Jonah on the ceiling looks just like my dad (grey hair facial expressions and all)! We enjoyed the watching the sunsett on the Spanish Steps and at the Fountain of Trevi where we threw our coins in the fountain so we will one day come back to Rome. We went, as Brad calls it, church hopping and saw all of Michelangelo's works in Rome. My favorite was his first Pieta he did when he was 23 years old now in St. Peters. We found the most amazing Gellateria in Rome and I found my all time favorite flavor to be Black Passion, and Brad found his to be Watermelon. Our last night I found my favorite church in Piazza Navona, the smaller St Agnes of the Agony- the marble sculpture is amazing in this church. In Rome we enjoyed Spaghettia alla Carbonara and Gnocchi alla Roma- delicious!

Tivoli

We were happy to follow my mom's reccomendation and escape the heat and city atmosphere and take a train to Tivoli. A smaller city in the suburbs of Rome. We headed straight for Villa d'Este where we enjoyed a picnic in the beautiful ancient Roman gardens.

Venice

We took a night train from Rome to Venice- an experience we will never forget- and arrived in Venice at 6:30 a.m. exhausted and unable to checkin to our hotel room until noon. In Rome we found church's offered good resting points and so we found a church that was open and sat down and we actually both fell asleep! We woke up to Mass starting, we didn't want to leave and look like we were just using the church as a resting spot so we stayed for Mass and participated kneeling on the uncomfortble wooden slat and all. I came away with indents on my legs. But what a memorable experience for my first Mass. After we checked into the hotel and rested we found Venice to be just what we needed after our fast paced lots of walking touring. Venice was more sleepy and relaxed. I loved that you did not hear any sound of cars! Venice was beautiful and so romanatic- the perfect romantic getaway. We toured around on a boat, took a Gondola ride, got lost in the maze of the city, tried authentic Polenta and Tiramisu, and just enjoyed this slow paced city.

Milan

We didn't have too much time in Milan but we did walk a bit of the city and we were able to see the Duomo of Milan and took at tour on it's roof. For our last night in Italy we had a picnic in the Piazza Duomo of an assortment of delicious pastries and our last gellato in Italy. We found Milan to be more chic aand modern. I especially was impressed with the shoes the women wore- so chic. We were pretty happy to have made it through our trip with out any catasraphes however we weren't out of Italy yet and as it turned out our plane had a mechanical problem so we were delayed in the Malepensa airport for 6 and a half hours! We did make some friends though with some American guys from Boston who we have now nicknamed the wino's. After hours of playing uno and stress and laughter and standing in the longest passport check line ever and then a 45 minute Taxi ride we made it back safe and sound. We loved Italy!