April 1
Going to Venice today. We purchased our Eurostar tickets last night after dinner, by that time all the second class tickets were sold out for the early train, so we had to get first class. 78 euros for two tickets! This had better be an awesome ride!

At least the train left on time this time. The ride was about 3 hours long. First class meant we got an Italian newspaper to share and served juice and bread stick pretzels. The seats were quite comfy and lean back a few inches but it didn’t feel so special to deserve the extra 20 euros.

Venice is….breathtaking.

From the moment I stepped off the train I could see immediately how beautiful and different this city is from any other city in the world. Because of the lack of cars and scooters it’s lik the city was frozen in time. Of course the crowds are everywhere but that’s ok, we’re in Venice! Our hotel was just down the street from the station down a narrow alley.

We dropped off our stuff and went exploring with a map provided by the hotel. It only had the major streets drawn but it was good enough. Afterall, how lost can you get in Venice? For those who like to know exactly where they are at all times, street vendors were selling better, more detailed maps for 2 euros, but if you go further in the city, 1.5 euros.

We explored Venice a bit, taking side streets, narrow alleys, crossing random bridges, and tried to just get as lost as possible. By and by we came upon a small mom and pop restaurant that offered an entrée, wine or water and coffee for 8 euros. Figuring it to be a pretty decent price, we found ourselves a spot outside and ordered our food, pasta, and water. As we ate we watched people go about their daily lives and a few random dogs walking around.

March 30

Today’s a big day, well, for Jae that is. Today’s the day of the car factory tour. And by car factory we mean the factories that make cars for very wealthy individuals. The tour starts at 8:30 so we needed to be in Bologna before that. We woke up at 5 am to catch the early train going towards Milan. Bologna is the first stop in that direction, about half way north. We took the regular train instead of the Eurostar to save some money, the time difference between the two train wasn’t that different anyhow.

Our reserved seating was inside one of the booths. Both of us got window seats sitting across from each other. In the booth were 2 more passengers. One of them was from Sourth Africa and chatted with us the entire way. He was backpacking through Europe for about 2 months. He’s doing it the true backpacker way, with a big rucksack and on a tight budget. He talked to us about his travels through Italy so far, what he did for a living and where to go in South Africa if we were to ever visit.

I found his stories to be quite fascinating, especially ones about his dad. his father, who was Italian was quite adventurous. When his father was young, he traveled all over Europe on a bicycle, unsatisfied with just Europe, he decided to go to Africa. As he made his way down to Africa, he had to trade his bike for a pistol in order to scare away lions at the night. When he reached Africa, he discovered his love for the place, so he flew back to Italy got his stuff and moved to South Africa.

Like his father, our fellow traveler is just as adventurous. He instructs rock climbing on the side, loves to do extreme sports especially ones that involve falling. At age 35 he actually looks closer to 27. For this trip he is going mostly by way of the youth hostels, eating bread and traveling cheap, making the most of his money to see Europe.

His stories made the time pass by quite quickly; soon we were in Bologna and had to part for he was going to Milan.

At 8:30 our tour guide Francesco, met us at the front of the station. He took us to our first stop about 30 minutes away, the Lamborghini factory. Francesco is a pretty cheerful guy, he spoke English quite well since he had lived in Britain for a few years. The van he drove us in was clean and kept nice and cool. Jae immediately took a liking to Francesco. We chatted about motorcycles the whole trip since he was also a rider and a big fan of the Moto GP races. I knew that the day was going to be a lot of fun.

A second couple from Ireland joined us there. They had a rental cal and would be following us for the day. We started the tour in the museum showroom. For the next hour or so the guys drooled over the cars, taking pictures, looking at the rims, and wishing they had a lot more money to be able to afford such a piece of machinery. It was like a kid in a candy store, without any money J

Francesco gave us a brief overview of the history of the cars. Francesco is unique in that he has actually worked in many of the Italian factories, Lamborghini, Pagani, and Ferrari. Having worked on both F1 and production vehicles, his knowledge of these cars is deep and personal. Typically Lamborghini doesn’t give tours to just anyone that shows up, but Francesco has worked it out with them for him to do tours. Following that we went down to the factory floor itself. There we saw ho the cars were hand built from the first step to the end. The car body comes pre painted from another area, but the rest of the assembly is done here. We even saw the production of the ’07 model.

Francesco knew many of the employees there and using that network I think we were able to see a bit more than the average tour. Even for me and the other couple’s wife who aren’t really into cars, the tour was quite interesting. Francesco was quite good in pointing out the interesting events along the path of making a car. I guess you can really appreciate the price you pay for. It was too bad that you can’t take pictures in the factory. I’m sure many guys would appreciate being able to see it, but they will just have to go to Italy and book a tour with MotorStars.

Next on the list is Pagani. This factory is much smaller. They build very few cars each year but the price of one could buy you a very nice home here in the States. They had 2 cars in the showroom and in the factory, about 6 or 7 more most in different stages of development. The owner was actually there today. We saw him working, head under the hood talking to an engineer and pointing to the engine parts. Horacio Pagani himself. Jae was beside himself when we actually got to shake hands with him and have a photo taken. Talk about highlight of an already really great morning!

At around noon we made our way to the Ferrari factory area. The actual factory is off limits except to actual Ferrari owners, but we were able to explore the museum and drive around the factory area. We first stopped for a quick bit to eat at the Ferrari cafeteria. Then we spent a great deal of time in the museum. Francesco knew a lot about the displays and was very informative. He even brought articles and pictures to add to his stories. The guys were captivated.

When we left the museum to for a drive around the factory grounds, we heard the engines of Ferraris. Francesco drove us around to a spot where we were able to see the Ferrari test track. The location was great, right at a corner. We were able to see and take some shots of the Formula 1 cars as they took laps around the track. Highlight of the afternoon!

Back in Bologna, we end our tour at the Ducati factory. The tour was done by the Ducati staff, they do 2 tours daily. We made it just in time for the 4 pm appointment. The tour lasted for about an hour, we were taken around inside the factory to see the bikes being built from stage to stage. The tour ended in the Ducati museum. Afterwards the day ended at the Ducati gift shop where we bought some shirts and the Ducati pup.

Francesco dropped us off at the Bologna train station. We ate dinner at a local restaurant across the street while watching the Italian version of ‘Who wants to be a millionaire?’ before catching our train back to Florence. What a day!

We most definitely had a lot of fun with MotorStars today. Friendly and knowledgeable, I would totally recommend Francesco to be your guide to everything cars and motorcycles in Italy.

March 31

After breakfast at the hotel, we had complementary breakfast but couldn’t take advantage of it the past two days, we headed into town to see the tallest teenager in the world, Michangelo’s David. I had pre purchased tickets from the Accademia website so that we wouldn’t have to wait in line. The reservation is for 8:30 so we hurried over, we were one of the first people in line. When we got there we found out that the staff was having a meeting and won’t be opening the museum until 9:30. Apparently they didn’t mind selling tickets for times before they opened. We waited outside with a bunch of other tourists and tour groups, some with 8:15 reservations.

As we waited, the street vendors came out of nowhere, the men selling posters, the women selling scarves. One of the ladies in a tour group behind us was taking pictures of her group when one of the scarf lady walked up to her and waved her fist at the tourist, she then said something unfriendly things I’m sure. It turns out that another scarf lady was in the midst of the tourists and didn’t appreciate having pictures taken of her illegally selling in the streets. A few minutes later two cops strolled by and the vendors scattered, well, only to return 20 minutes later.

When the museum finally opened, we told the guy at the door that we didn’t bring our reservation email, he went back inside and brought out a list of reservations. He looked for our names, but couldn’t find it. Without the reservation he wouldn’t let us in because we were in t
he reservation line. I suppose we’d have to go back and get it. Heading back, we took our time and went shopping for souvenirs. By the time we came back it was almost 11. The line was gone by then, I guess there wouldn’t have been a need to pre-purchase the tickets after all.

We went up to the counter and the ticket guy told us that our reservation wasn’t valid! Seems like the website that sold the ticket wasn’t legit. It’s a good thing I bought the ticket with American Express, they’re usually really good with getting money back for fraud.

Well we bought the tickets and went on in. The main attraction was the David of course, so when we got in we found some chairs, sat and started at his front for a while and then moved to the back to stare at his rump for another while.

After lunch we wandered around for a bit and ended up at the Dodges Palace. We explored the rooms, admiring painting of people we didn’t know. We then took a short cuppachino break to rest our feet before going into the garden.

The garden was quite vast. I can’t say it was spectacular but it was quite relaxing. We stayed a few hours at the garden, looking at the view, taking pictures and admiring the vastness of this private garden. The view of the city was very nice from here so we decided not to go to Michangelo’s Plaza which would require a bus ride up the hill. Retiring back into the city center, we went looking for dinner.

We ended up at the pasta and pizza chain, Pizzarito. We had eaten here when in Rome and enjoyed the fresh pasta they offered. Since we were starving, we got greedy and ordered 2 pastas and a pizza… ultimately I couldn’t finish my meal and had to take a doggy bag.

We ate breakfast at the hotel today, our hotel offered complementary breakfast but we havn’t been able to take advantage of it the past two days since we had to leave so early.  After a meal of scrambled eggs, bread and some coffee, we headed into town to see the tallest teenager in the world, Michangelo’s David.  I had pre purchased tickets from the Accademia website so that we wouldn’t have to wait in line.  The reservation is for 8:30 so we hurried over, we were one of the first people in line.  When we got there we read on a piece of paper tacked on the door that the staff was having a meeting and won’t be opening the museum until 9:30.  Apparently they didn’t mind selling tickets for times before they opened.  We waited outside with a bunch of other tourists and tour groups, some with 8:15 reservations. As we waited, the street vendors came out of nowhere, the men selling posters, the women selling scarves.  One of the ladies in a tour group behind us was taking pictures of her group when one of the scarf lady walked up to her and waved her fist at the tourist, she then said something unfriendly things I’m sure.  It turns out that another scarf lady was in the midst of the tourists and didn’t appreciate having pictures taken of her illegally selling in the streets.  A few minutes later two cops strolled by and the vendors scattered, well, only to return 20 minutes later.When the museum finally opened, we told the guy at the door that we didn’t bring our reservation email, he went back inside and brought out a list of reservations.  He looked for our names, but couldn’t find it.  Without the reservation he wouldn’t let us in because we were in the reservation line.  I suppose we’d have to go back and get it.  Heading back, we took our time and went shopping for souvenirs.  By the time we came back it was almost 11.  The line was gone by then, I guess there wouldn’t have been a need to pre-purchase the tickets after all. 

We went up to the counter and the ticket guy told us that our reservation wasn’t valid! Seems like the website that sold the ticket wasn’t legit.  It’s a good thing I bought the ticket with American Express, they’re usually really good with getting money back for fraud. 

Well we bought the tickets and went on in.  The main attraction was the David of course, so when we got in we found some chairs, sat and started at his front for a while and then moved to the back to stare at his rump for another while.

After lunch we wandered around for a bit and ended up at the Dodges Palace.  We explored the rooms, admiring painting of people we didn’t know.  We then took a short cuppachino break to rest our feet before going into the garden.

The garden was quite vast.  I can’t say it was spectacular but it was quite relaxing. We stayed a few hours at the garden, looking at the view, taking pictures and admiring the vastness of this private garden.  The view of the city was very nice from here so we decided not to go to Michangelo’s Plaza which would require a bus ride up the hill.  Retiring back into the city center, we went looking for dinner.

We ended up at the pasta and pizza chain, Pizzarito.  We had eaten here when in Rome and enjoyed the fresh pasta they offered.  Since we were starving, we got greedy and ordered 2 pastas and a pizza… ultimately I couldn’t finish my meal and had to take a doggy bag.

March 29

For some reason, we both woke up really early today, maybe it’s the “We’re going to be leaving Rome!” panicked thought in the back of our heads. Not wanting to waste the morning we decied to visit the Circus Maximus that isn’t too far away from our hotel. The place looked pretty interesting on the map, a big oval. Of course we metroed ourselves over there, even if it was just 2 stops.

The circus… was… disappointing… it truly is a big plot of land, just like Frommers describes it. A big fairground with a little brick watch tower. Gee, what a waste of time, I didn’t even bother to take pictures. I suppose all we can do now is to walk to the colosseum right next to it and take more pictures of it! I must have dozens of pictures of this building.

Our train to Florence is at 9:30 so we had plenty of time to grab some breakfast and then check out of the hotel. By 9:15 we were back in the station waiting for the Eurostar ride to Florence. This trip is quite expensive, about 47 euros for the both of us.

Upon arriving at the station, we saw that our train was delayed for 1 hr. We bought another cappuccino so that we can sit in one of the café tables and waited. And waited. About every 20 minutes or so, the delayed time display would increase. This was frustrating since the time shown was always 45 minutes to 1 hour away which didn’t allow us to leave the station. This kept happening for over 3 hours! Apparently there was something wrong with the tracks… What sucked even more was that the 10:30 train going to the same place, Milan left 20 minutes before we did!

The train ride itself was so so, we had assigned seating so at the very least the seats were reserved. We tucked our bags between the seats (there is a large space for luggage), and tried to relax…. Kinda tough after waiting 3 hours in a train station….At least the seats were comfortable and had plenty of space. The only issue I had was that the seats are placed face to face with a table in the middle. So you end up sitting there staring at a stranger the entire trip while trying to get foot space. It’s a good thing the man sitting across from me went to the dining car for the majority of the trip. By the time we made it to Florence, it was 4pm. Maybe next time we would take the regular train instead of paying so much more for Eurostar.

Leaving the station we dropped by the tourist office right across the street from it and picked up a map. Using it we found our way to the Azalee Hotel which wasn’t far from the station. After dropping off our stuff we went out to explore the town and to find a bit to eat since we skipped lunch. All the restaurants were closed and won’t be open again until 7pm. We got a sandwich at a bar nearby. Wasn’t much, bread, paper thin salty ham and paper thin cheese. But it will do.

Since the day was almost over we decided to scout out the city and get an idea of the layout. We strolled past Santa Maria Novella, the Dumo, Uffizi and crossed the bridge at Ponte Vecchio. Florence is a pretty small city, well as far as a tourist like us is concerned. On our way back we went to a recommended restaurant, Le Mossacce for dinner. This is a pretty small restaurant with about half a dozen tables. We were the first ones there, right after they reopened for dinner. We were placed at the very back of the restaurant near the kitchen. An old Polish couple came along and they shared the table with us. They were very nice, the guy spoke English so we talked a bit about Florence.

I ordered ribollita, a thick vegetable soup which was quite yummy. Jae got the cannelloni filled with spinach and tomato and meat which he loved. The servings were rather large and we were almost full by the time our main entrée came. We had ordered steak, bisteccalla fiorentina, as recommended by Frommers. The menu said that we had to order by the grams, 3 euros per 100 grams with 50 grams minimum. We didn’t know what 500 grams were and the piece the waiter drew out didn’t look so big, about the size of any regular cut. So we ordered two. After our order the cook in the kitchen about 4 feet away from us took down this large slab of meat and started hacking away. I was afraid that pieces would come flying into my soup!

When the steak came, it was about the size of a dinner plate and about an inch and half thick! The old Polish couple that was sharing our table started to laugh when they saw the dish and our faces. Whoops. Maybe we shouldn’t have gotten that cappuccino at the bvar while waiting for the restaurant to open, and maybe we shouldn’t have ordered that side of potatoes (the potatoes were too salty to eat anyhow). Well we ate as much as we could. When we got back, all we could do was fall into bed and sleep.

March 28

The day started at 6 am. Soon after getting up we were rubbing shoulders with the morning traffic in the metro station. Using the metro is very easy, know where you want to go, look at the signs on the wall and go in the direction it points. We had bought full day passes for 4 euros the previous day. This allows us to use the metro as many times as we want. This morning, the Trevi Fountain… again…The goal of course was to get a picture of the fountain sans tourists.

We stopped by a bar to pick up breakfast to munch on our walk there, plain croissant for Jae and croissant with Nutella for me. That was really good. The bartender looked at us kinda funny when we turned down the cappuccino and said that we were taking it to go. Italians appreciate life just a bit more by slowing down and enjoy breakfast. But we were in a hurry, gotta get to the fountain! When we got there, the place was deserted. Perfect. We were truly the first persons there! We set up the tripod and snapped away. Mission accomplished.

Afterwards we went back to the metro and headed towards the Piazza del Popolo. When we exited the station we decided that maybe we should give being Italian a try. We exited the station and went into a nearby bar for breakfast take two. We ordered cappuccinos this time. All the bars/cafes serve their drinks in regular chinaware. Many Italians actually take the time to drink their coffee while eating their breakfast at the bar before heading out to start the day. The bar typically don’t have stools so most people stand but it’s ok, after all it only takes a few minutes to eat. People don’t walk around with huge cups of Starbucks. They eat, they chat, they read the newspaper, then they hurry along their way. In fact I havn’t seen a single Starbucks here. I also noticed that the main drinks served are espresso and not drip coffee. I suppose the cup is smaller so you don’t spend as much time holding the cup like we do in the states. The coffee is also typically drunk unflavored, no soy, no caramel, no shots of flavor. Just plain cappuccino, for 0.85 euros (a bit more in other places but typically under 2 euros). Our cappuccino was the best I’ve ever had, very smooth, not too dark. Yum!

Anyhow, we finished our breakfast, returned the cups and left. At the plaza we took some pictures and then got back on the metro heading towards the Vatican.

In the metro stations, ideally you’re suppose to validate the ticket in a machine, before the gate would let you through. But during morning traffic especially in congested stations most people don’t, they just walk straight through using the handicapped gate. There is very little enforcement of the tickets. It’s kinda funny since only tourists with big backpacks actually stand there trying to figure out which way to stick the ticket in while dozens of people pass right through a few feet away. Of course we didn’t want to be too touristy; we walked right along with the crowd and through the gate. Not like it matter, we did have a ticket incase they decided to check. I don’t know how many of the locals actually do though…

We headed towards St. Peter’s Square to see St. Peters Basilica. Since we were early (a bit past 8:45) the line was very short. We got through security and got our tickets to go in Michelangelo’s dome. Our 7euro ticket gave us a ride to the inside of the dome. You can buy a cheaper ticket for 4 euros if you would rather take the stairs, about 200 steps, your choice =P.

From the inside the dome was magnificent! The lighting was very dark so pictures were difficult. From the inside we climbed to the top, all 320 steps in a very, very narrow spiral staircase. I don’t know how others do it because I barely fit! It was so narrow and winding that half the time I had to walk slanted, shoulder against the inner wall. I think I cleaned part of that stairwell pretty well.

From the top is an astounding view of Rome, talk about wow!

After we came down we went inside St. Peter’s Basilica for a look-see. The place is huge, filled with so much art that there is not a single corner left empty. No pictures taken could justify it (tripods weren’t allowed).

Next came the Vatican Museums. The line wasn’t too ad and we were in after about 15 minutes. This museum is quite big and you can choose to see all of it, some of it or just head straight to the Sistine Chapel. All the paths will lead you to the Sistine Chapel as your final destination. We walked through a few rooms, marveling at the art painted on the walls, the ceilings, pretty much everywhere. Some rooms were so crowded that there was barely any breathing space. Unfortunately there is only one entrance and one exit, the rooms all lined up end to end. Can anyone say ‘moo’. Eventually we got to the Sistine Chapel, lots of people, lots and lots of people. The museum employs about 2-3 attendants to actually stand there and say “Shhhhhhhhhhhhh!” every time the murmurs get louder. Well they also say “No Pictures” but many people snuck pictures anyhow. I think this is done just so that people don’t stay as long taking pictures.

For lunch we went to Hostaria dei Bastioni, another recommendation. It is literally right outside the Vatican Museum. The food was pretty good. For 12 euros we got 2 courses and dessert. Jae had spaghetti and chicken and potatoes. I had lasagna and salmon with salad. I really like the food here in Italy. It is much lighter, made with mostly olive oil and spices. For dessert, we both traded up to the Tiramisu. That was pretty good, but yesterdays better. Second day and two Tiramisu already. Life couldn’t be better!

By now it was around 2:30 and my feet were about ready to fall off. I decided I couldn’t walk anymore so we headed back. The metro was nearby so we took it back to our hotel. Back in our room we took a short nap, promising ourselves to wake up this time to catch the sunset and eat dinner.
Around 6 we went out again. The goal, the Senator’s Plaza for pictures of the Roman Forum at dusk. My legs were still pretty sore so we took the metro again even though it would’ve been a 10 minute walk. Since the sun was still bratty high, we took a detour and went into the forum itself. The ruins are stunning up close. The thought of what it must have been back in the early days of Rome. A peasant visiting Rome for the first time must have gotten quite an eyeful and stories to tell for a lifetime. The buildings, the people, the life.

We spent the rest of the evening around the area, absorbing in the view. When the sun was down we pulled out the tripod and what a difference it made!

Metroed (my new word) back and stopped at a restaurant called Pizzarito that was just around the corner from our hotel, not a recommendation but it was close to a bed. We were starving so we each ordered a pizza and shared one order of pasta. Jae got a pizza with just sauce, no cheese. He thought it was the greatest thing. I got a pizza with ham, sausage, and artichoke. That exactly what I got, a round, very thin crust pizza with a square ham on one third, an artichoke heart split in 2 in another third and some ground pork on the last third. The crust was very thin and soaked in olive oil, it was so thin and soggy that I had no choice but eat it with a knife and fork. Very interesting =) Different but still good.

March 27

Today started early, at 12:40, about an hour after we went to bed, the phone woke us up. At first I thought it was my travel alarm, and then I remembered that the alarm was in the check bag, which I didn’t have with me. I blindly reached over and found the phone.

“There is a delivery for you,” the man said, “your bags are here.” Whoa, that woke me up. Our Bags! Our Clothes! Clean underwear! Face lotion!

“Do you want to get it in the morning?”

“Oh, NO!” I hastily replied, my heart skipping a beat. “We need it, I’ll come down right now!”

Wow, PJ’s, clean clothes, clean socks. I’ve never been happier. Our trip is back on track!

Enough excitement, back to bed.

We woke up a little before seven, got dressed, packed the tripod, camera and headed out to explore. The goal was to get to the Trevi Fountain before the crowds get there. We weren’t familiar with the streets yet so we went down the roads we traveled on last night. Along the way we stopped to take pictures of the Roman Forum ruins. By the time we went around the Vittorio Emanuele iI monument in Palazzo Venezio, it was 8:20. I remember the Coliseum opens at 8:30 and if we didn’t go early the lines would get long. At this time we were between the Trevi fountain and the Coliseum… what to do… We decided to ditch the fountain plans and went back to the coliseum.

The coliseum was awesome! I didn’t go in due to lack of time the last time I came in 2003, so this was a treat. We were able to get our ticket right away and bought an audio guide to bring with us. We spent about 2 hours in there, taking in the ruins, looking at the statues, listening to our guide and taking pictures. The sun even came out, burning away the gloomy, chilly morning. If only the ancient Romans had cameras, what a sight this place must have been in its fullest glory. They built the coliseum, why didn’t they invent the camera!

Afterwards we went in search for food. We looked in our Frommer’s guide and picked a recommend place called Hostaria Nerone. We walked up and down the streets trying to find the place. Starving, we gave up and went into the next place we saw with food. It was a little take out store with pizza and sandwiches. Looking in the glass panel, we picked out a tasty looking pizza sandwich with what looked like mushroom and thick slices of mozzarella cheese and got some water to wash it down. The slice is pretty big, about halv a medium pizza back home. It was re-toasted and cut in half for us. We picked a table outside to enjoy the view.

As I sat down, I glanced over to the place next door, and what do you know… on a small sign, neatly printed was Hostaria Nerone. Great. But at least our eatery was recommended by Rick Steves (for cheap food is my guess), as noted on a sign outside the door.

Well, food is food, and when you’re hungry it doesn’t really matter. I took a bit of my pizza and got a whiff of something fishy. I took another sniff, and it definitely has a faint fish smell. Hm… maybe it’s the sauce. Another bite and I could totally smell it; it smells like…sardines… I asked Jae if his tasted like fish. Jae hadn’t tried it yet, he doesn’t like cheese and was busy picking out the cheese. ‘You must be smelling the cheese,’ he replied, wrinkling his nose at another piece he pulled out. I don’t think its cheese, but whatever… I am hungry and it didn’t taste bad, just smell odd.

A few moments later Jae looked at disappointedly at his pizza and said, ‘ya, it is fishy’. I looked at one of the mozzarella pieces Jae pulled out and picked up what looked like mushrooms, tasting it revealed that it was fish! We had gotten sardine cheese pizza!! EW!

After breakfast/lunch, we went to the metro to see if there is a faster way around town. We bought a day ticket for 4 euros and headed down to the tracks. We took the metro to Barberina which was closest to the Trevi Fountain. After walking around the complicated road system for about 20 minutes, we found it. Apparently so had hundreds of other people. We took whatever pictures we could, and tossed a quarter each into the fountain in hopes of coming back again.
We then went to the Spanish Steps. This plaza was also packed to the brim with tourists. Unfortunately the buildings on top of the steps were under renovation and had scaffolding all over it. Doh! We sat around for a bit on the steps, resting our feet along with a few dozen people.

By now, it was a bit past noon, lunch time. Looking to Frommers for guidance we looked for a place for lunch. A place nearby called Di Fronte a … (in front of…) sounded pretty nice but alas, it was closed on Mondays like many other places in Italy.

Our next choice is a place called Maccheroni which was near Piazza Navona, our next stop. Finding this place took forever, we completely walked past it the first time and then upon back tracking we finally saw it, a small corner restaurant with a small sign over its door in funky scripture font.

We were seated immediately and provided bread. I ordered the pasta with bacon and Jae stayed ‘safe’ with the fettuccini and meat sauce. We had the house wine and bottle water with it. If you want water with your meal, all the restaurants require that you purchase water which comes in natural or carbonated. Many times a bottle of water is the same price as their house wine. After our order our waiter asked what we wanted for a second course. Second course? For lunch? Gee, how much do people eat in Italy? The items on the second course consisted mostly of meat, so I suppose most people start with a course of pasta and then a second of meat. We passed on that.

My the pasta in my dish was heavily doused in olive oil, a little bit undercooked and was very salty from the thick bacon. The bacon looked more like salted pork strips than the red crispy thin strips that I had imagined. I couldn’t finish it since it felt like I was eating salt by the spoonful. Jae’s dish on the other hand tasted pretty good. I snuck a few bites while he wasn’t looking ;P. The pasta is a little thick and tasted freshly made.

The wine was actually pretty good. We had ordered a half liter which was only 2 euros. After a glass or so I was completely flushed. Ok, no more wine in the daytime. We finished our meal with a Tiramisu which was really good and a cappuccino, which was also very good. The total bill came to be around 30 euros which wasn’t so bad.

After lunch we went to the Piazza Navona, which as expected, was packed. We took a short break there and looked at the various street painters. For street work it was kinda expensive, in the hundreds. A short walk got us to the Pantheon. It was crowded, but the sight still amazing. Jae was quite blown away with it. We stayed a while, just looking around and taking pictures.

There is a Frommer’s recommended gelotti place called Giolitte located near the Pantheon. As we approached we saw a large group of school children outside. Apparrently, all of them wanted a mid-afternoon snack. The store was literally jammed packed, everyone screaming their order at the 5 scoopers. This geletti Must be good! Jae and I bought 2 mediums and got in line. Just as we did another huge group of kids arrived. They must be from some kind of school tour. Eventually we did get our gelotti, 3 scoops of yumminess.

We got back to our room at around 5:30. We decided to take a short nap, since Italians eat dinner after 7 we wouldn’t be able to find a restaurant open until then. Well that was the plan anyhow… When we finally woke up it was 10:30! I didn’t realize just how tired we were. Since restaurants would be closed by now we decided to just sleep till morning and get an early start tomorrow.

March 25-26

The first leg of the trip was rather uneventful. We woke up around 5 am to get to the airport on time to catch our 7:30 am flight to New York. Our female pilot and copilot got us to New York a bit ahead of schedule so we had to wait a bit longer for our next flight to London. Since the flight didn’t offer any food and instead had $4 snack boxes we didn’t eat on the flight over. But I had planned ahead, in order to thwart the airline’s attempt at getting us to buy food on the plane or in the airport I packed a disposable tupperware with tuna and some bread, and made tuna sandwiches. It held us over for our next flight which offers food.

After the great start, things started to go wrong. First, we had to wait almost an hour to take off because JFK airport was under a lot of construction so all the planes had to wait in line to get on the runway. The captain tried to keep us informed. Eventually he said that we were 10th in line for the runway and would take off soon….about 10 minutes later we took off. Come to think of it, it’s kinda amazing how they can get so many planes in the air in such a short time.

The flight itself went quite smoothly. The plane was as comfortable as it could get for a 7 hr flight, and the food was so, so. We were on a 777 so each seat had its own TV set. This was nice since we could choose our own channels to watch. Many on the flight including us watched Aeon Flux… it wasn’t that good…but it made the time pass faster.

The pilot flew pretty fast and we were only about 30 minutes behind schedule by the time we got to London. But, apparently Heathrow airport was having some issues of it’s own and wasn’t ready for us to land. We were told to stay in a holding patter over London for about 45 minutes. Going in big circles we could see 4 other planes also circling… I sure hope we have enough fuel. This delay was bad news since we had another flight to catch to get to Rome. The combination of delays ate at our 1 ½ hour that we had between the flights. By the time we unboarded it was already too late. We missed our ride to Rome!

When we exited the plane we were told to go to the American airlines counter to be reassigned to another flight. Hoping to catch the next earliest flight and not knowing when it is, we rushed to get to the counter. We had to first wait for a shuttle to get to another terminal. Once at Terminal 1 we found ourselves at the end of the line for another security check. After security we stood in line for the AA counter. The wait was pretty lengthy, it seems like every large group or people with a lot of questions and requests somehow ended up in front of us! There was a school group of about 50 students, and another smaller group of friends who decided they want to be on the earliest transfer flight together and refused to go separate even though many of the flights only had a few seats.

After what felt like forever, we finally go to the ticket counter. The attendant told us that she had reserved us on another flight on British Airway in 4 hours. For the inconvenience however, she is giving us a food voucher good for 29.90 pounds. Oh and also, we need to go check in at the British Airway counter right next to the AA counter.

…. Ah, yes, of course…~sigh

We picked up our bags and went to the back of the rather long line at BA. It shouldn’t be too bad I thought, the AA counter had 4 attendants and the BA counter has 6. That is until most of them decided to go on break. We watched as 4 attendants walked away after 1 or 2 more customers. Down to 2 attendants… Eventually we checked in and got our tickets. At the very least the plane was leaving from the same terminal so we don’t have to switch.

Going downstairs, we hit a large section of the terminal that was dedicated to shops and restaurants. ‘Duty free’ the store signs scream, but it was still way too expensive. Anything in pounds is expensive to us Americans. We found a restaurant called Giraffe and made good use of 25 pounds in food, leaving the rest for tip. Food is quite expensive, 25 pounds is equivalent to like $50. 25 pounds got us 2 entrée, 1 cheesy bread, and 2 drinks…The numbers on the menu initially all look correct, 3 for a smoothie, 10 for a lunch entrée, and then when you realize that it’s not dollars but pounds it’s like, dang!

After lunch we went out to the mall, found ourselves some benches, laid down and waited. Jae took a nap, I stayed awake to guard our bags and people watched.

At last, the led flight information screen shuffled and showed the gate number of our flight to Rome.

Since we were placed last minute both of us got asile seats on the same row. Darn, I usually prefer the window seat so that I can lean against the window and sleep. But the flight was only 2 hours so it shouldn’t be too bad. The only thing that made it uncomfortable was that the lady passenger in the middle seat (plane was a 3×3 seater) was a bit on the large side. When she fell asleep her arm fell off the arm rest and onto my seat taking up about 1/3 of the already pretty small seat…. I didn’t want to have her arm on my lap or be rude and wake her, so I just scooted over to the edge which made the flight even more uncomfortable.

I was so happy when the captain announced we have reached Rome. 5 hours late, but we got there!

Off the plane we go and on to the baggage claim area. We waited at the belt for our luggage to arrive, and waited, and waited. Soon all the passengers cleared out with their luggage and the belt stopped moving. ~sigh

Jae searched out the information booth and gave the attendant the address to our hotel. She said that the bags will arrive in a later flight that evening and she’ll get the bags to us soon. I guess, on the bright side, at least they do know the location of our bags. I was thinking that maybe I should’ve bought our tickets with American Express with travel protection because I think they give you a few hundred dollars to buy necessities if your luggage ever gets lost or delayed. Oh wells, next time.

We exchanged some money and bought tickets for the train to Rome’s Termini station. 30 minutes later we arrived. A short walk later we found our hotel. The place is located on the 4th floor of a building, and seems to be family owned, they also owned a hotel on the 3rd floor. The ‘son’ I think speaks English and showed us to our room. The room wasn’t anything to brag about but it’s clean and has a bed that looks very tempting right about now.

But, we’ve already wasted most of our day so instead of resting we grabbed the camera and the map provided to us by the hotel and headed off to the coliseum. The coliseum was as majestic and beautiful as I remembered. It’s too bad that traffic seems even worse and louder than before. My tripod was in my checked bag so it was hard taking night shots. Most of them turned out blurry but it was fun anyhow. We trekked around the area, ate some gelatti and then turned in for the night.

By the time we made it back it was around 11 pm, still no bags, maybe I misheard…I could’ve swore that she said it would be delivered tonight. But Jae said that he thought it would be delivered via mail which could take days! The good thing was that at the very least we had our toothbrushes with us. I kept it in our carry-on to brush during our long flights. I suppose tomorrow, first thing is to go buy clothes, bummer. What a day.

Just a few more days, I can’t wait!! We’ve planned, we’ve packed, all we have to do is hop on the plane. The only thing I’m hoping for now is that the weather is clear and sunny throughout the week. Just as long as it doesn’t rain.

There is a few last minute items that I’ll have to take care of; do some last minute laundry for socks and other articles of clothing, clean our room, photocopy our passports and credit cards, and pack some breakfast and snacks for our long trip. Our flight makes a stop at New York and another one in London, it’ll take about 18 hours to get to Rome. Once that is done, then we’re off!

I finished booking our hotels for the trip. Using Venere.com it was very easy to find an affordable hotel. The site provided pictures and reviews from other travelers. It was great being able to review the hotel from the perspective of another traveler rather than the typical description hotels write for themselves. One restriction that I had in choosing a hotel was that Jae insisted on having a private bathroom. In some hotels that could be a 30 euro difference!!
Deciding where to stay was hard in the beginning, which part of town do I want to be near? What sights, what restaurants. In the end I decided that I wanted all the hotels to be located near the train station. I figured it would be easier to get off the train, drop our stuff off at the hotels and then go play. Venere made this very easy, you can search for hotels by areas of the city. This is made simple by a cartoonish map that showed all the main attractions within that city.

I booked 3 nights in Rome, 3 in Florence and 2 in Venice. Venice was the most expensive. Another thing I liked was that I didn’t have to pay upfront, but pay when you’re there. They do charge your reservation credit card if you don’t show up.

Searching took a few hours, I wanted something cheap, but not too ghetto, and a place that also got good reviews. Needing a private bathroom kinda guarantee a two star and above accommodation =P But in the end I was pretty satisfied with the prices I got, they range from 60-120 euros which I think was pretty reasonable for those three cities.

Planning is always the most tedious part of traveling. Maps, guide books, schedules, arg!! I have three! Three maps of Rome!! Makes me almost just want to go and get a packaged tour, to have someone that will tell me where to go, what to do. But, unfortunately this isn’t a tour, this is my trip. As must as I’d like to leave it to the winds to take me around, there needs to be some plan, some idea of what should happen on what day. So, I armed myself with pencil, pen and a handful of stickies and got to work…
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So far… I don’t have much…
I’m debating whether or not to pre-book the museum tickets. It seems like if you buy them before hand you don’t have to wait in line, you just go, pick up your tix at the time you bought it for and go in. But the problem is that first, you need to be there at the scheduled ticket time, and second, many museum tickets require you to buy through a third party vendor…. One that charges a hand and a foot to provide such a service. Should I save the money and wait in line or should I save the time so I can see more things???? Do I want to hit every museum possible?
In the end I made the required reservation for the Galleria Borghese in Rome from the museum’s site. And pre-purchase tickets for the Gallery Academia in Florence also from the museum’s site so I didn’t have to pay extra. All the other places… .I’d rather save the money =P

Museums
List of museums, hours and price of admission
RomeGalleria Borghese (Reservation only)9-7 Closed Mondays 8.5 euro
Vatican8:45-4:45 8.45 euro
Colosseum8:30-7
FlorenceGalleria degli Uffizi8:30-6:50 Closed Mondays $21
Galleria deli Accademia8:30-6:50 Closed Mondays 7.5 euro
VeniceAccademia Galleries8:15-7:15 Closed Mondays 6.5 euro
Palazzo Ducale9-5 11 euro

Packing List - Electronics
· Camera
· Camera charger
· Portable storage unit
· iPOD
· iPOD charger
· Tripod
· AC adapter
Small Flashlight

Bought tickets today! There is no going back! Jae and I will be leaving on March 25 and return April 3rd. I was able to snag the deal with taxes and everything for just a little over 1K. This was a relief because I thought I might have to spend over 2K for plane tickets. I had wanted to wait a bit longer to buy tickets but then I figured that it was very doubtful that I’d find a better deal. These tickets fly into Rome and out from Venice, so usually that costs a bit more anyhow. I didn’t want to wait and then regret it later on and have to pay hundreds of dollars to make up for it.
Now for the hard part, deciding how long to stay in each of the three cities. With about 7 days I’ll have to decide first before I can book hotels.
I”m thinking 3 days Rome, 2 days Florence, 2 days Venice. We’ll see how it goes.