Last Day!

It's 12:58 a.m. right now. It is exactly 2 hours and 17 minutes before we have to wake up to get ready for our flight. We are supposed to take a taxi at 4:30 a.m. and we have one major problem: WE CAN'T SLEEP! We spent 2 and a half hours in complete darkness and silence. So, what happened? We both woke up at 12: a.m. in unison and had gelato and chocolate. Maybe we couldn't sleep because we were thinking about the sweets in the fridge. Since we couldn't sleep, we figured we'd blog.

Today was a day of "lasts," our last walk to Ponte Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria, and the Duomo, our last home-cooked meal, gelato... oh, we're sure you get it. We tried to squeeze in as much as we could without getting ourselves too tired.

We headed off towards the Uffizi Gallery and passed by Ponte Vecchio along the way. We spent time enjoying all of the sculptures and the artists selling their paintings outside the gallery. We also admired the statuary at Piazza della Signoria before making our way to the Santa Maria Del Fiore, or the Duomo. Along the way, Cindy stopped by a candy store she had been eyeing the whole month. She bought a little something that may not make it home. We entered Santa Maria Del Fiore and took in the cathedral from the inside. It does not seem as large once inside because it is sectioned off in the middle. We are so glad that we climbed the Duomo because that is really the only way one can admire the cupola by Brunelleschi. The cathedral is also a little bare because all of the sculpures and artwork are at the Museo Dell'Opera di Santa Maria Del Fiore for safe-keeping. Luckilly, we had already gone to the "Bronzes of the Baptistry" exhibit, where most of the cathedral's artwork is on display. We did discover something interesting about the cathedral though, it turns out that it is built directly above another cathedral, Santa Reparata. An archeological dig during the early 1970s uncovered this hidden treasure. We were able to walk through the church that is 8 meters below Santa Maria Del Fiore. Very interesting! We also visited Brunelleschi's grave underneath the cathedral too.

After visiting the Duomo, we stopped at the Baptistry to see"Gates of Paradise" by Ghiberti once more. The gold-gilded doors are considered masterpieces and are a must see. It is incredible to think that a city like Florence has made entire collections of artwork available to all who want to see and admire them--for free! It is the same across Europe and it makes us sad that we cannot be as fortunate in Los Angeles. We have the architecture and the beautiful parks but the majority are private. Everyone is equal here, and entitled to view the work of geniuses.

We eventually split up--but only for an hour!! Don't worry! We split up only so that Pox could buy Cindy a surprise for her birthday. Cindy went to Conad to buy some last minute things that were needed for dinner. We met up an hour later at the apartment. Pox was a little upset because the store he had gone to was already closed. Cindy was wasn't upset, she appreciated the fact that he went through all of that trouble and said that, "the intention is the gift and the best one too." She doesn't need anything else!

Cindy made dinner and served, in Pox's words, "obscene amounts of spaghetti." We enjoyed it anyway... yumm-o. After dinner, we took a walk to the train station to get some taxi information just in case we had to walk it there in the morning before our flight. We were relieved to find out that we could add international minutes to our magicJack, which makes it easier to call for a taxi. We are both happy to be going home because we miss our family and friends; nonetheless, we are also sad to be leaving this beautiful golden city. We just hope that we get to come back some day in the near future. See you all in Los Angeles!

Florence Day 21!

Today, because we knew that Giovanni, our landlord, would be coming, we cleaned up the apartment and started sorting through all our goodies. Also, we started packing. (Yes, boo hoo, whimper whimper, packing.) We cannot believe that it's all coming to an end and in Cindy's words, she's going to turn into a pumpkin again. Anyhow, back to business. After Giovanni came to check us out, we folded all of our clothes and packed it away. Soon after, we got ready to go to our last dinner out in Firenze.

We originally planned on eating across the street because it was supposedly going to rain, but since it was a beautiful day, we went to Piazza della Signoria and ate al fresco, amongst our new friends, David, Perseus, Sabine and Vecchio. (These are all staues and buildings) We had a great dinner and some music thanks to a street performer who was actually very good.

After hanging around the Signoria for a while, we headed to Piazza della Repubblica and had some gelato at Il Festival del Mondo. We walked around and gawked at the fake or stolen Louis Vuitton, Prada and Gucci bags for 10 euro. (Cindy is still not convinced, there's always tomorrow) We cannot believe that we have to leave what Cindy called "our playground". We know that one day we will come back. The six weeks that we have spent together will last in our memories for a lifetime. Undoubtedly, not everyone gets to see what we have seen and we hope that our blog has allowed everyone who is interested to experience life as a Florentine resident.

We have one more day in our beautiful city and we plan on making the most of it.

Ci parliamo domani.

Florence Day 20!

Today we went to the Pitti Palace, once home to the Medici family, to visit the Boboli Gardens. The Medici were at one point the most powerful family in all of Italy and the Pitti Palace, was once the most beautiful palace in all of Europe. You can only expect to find that the Boboli Gardens are the finest example of Renaissance landscaping, if not, the best. The Pitti building isn't all that impressive from the outside; although, the courtyard is stunning. You have a view of one of the 4 grottos and the fountain that sits right above it.

Upon reaching the entrance to the Boboli Gardens, you get a full view of the outdoor amphitheater that is filled with sculptures. Walking up towards the rest of the Medici grounds, you find the Knight's garden and the most stunning view of the Tuscan hilltops. Another area of the garden that has incredible panoramic views of Florence is the Kauffehaus, a green and white structure. As we walked through the extensive grounds, we discovered that there are sculptures in every knook and cranny of the garden (as well as kitty cats). We were able to see the island garden, a garden that is surrounded by water. The grounds are gorgeous! Pox was also excited to find some Van Dyke images at the bookstore. They are one of the first types of photos ever made. He bought 2 copies for himself.

After spending the afternoon at the gardens, we attempted to catch one last sunset atop Piazzale Michelangelo. We walked it half way, bought a pizza and drinks to go and waited for a bus. A bus arrived just in time to drop us off at the very top. We went straight for the stairs and sat down to "enjoy" our very salty pizza. We didn't even finish our first slices. Good thing Pox had bought a gian-ormous chocolate bar! We enjoyed the sunset and one of our last evenings out in beautiful Florence, "sigh."

Florence Day 19!

Today was a perfect day for shopping, that's right, shopping! We went out to the San Lorenzo markets for those last minute finds. It is a good thing we went around and looked for the best deals. It is a lot more fun that way. Little knick-knacks that we will take home will remind us of our wonderful 6-week adventure.

While shopping, we took a break in the San Lorenzo Church courtyard. We finished up our shopping and headed straight for our favorite gelato place by Mercato Centrale. The gelateria happens to be next door to an amazing sandwich place...they make your paninis to order...
On the way to our apartment, we stopped off at Conad City Market, our local grocery store for some snacks to take to the movies. Yes, going to the movies on Wednesday night became a weekly event. It has been fun to experience a different part of the Italian culture. We are not bar owls or club kids, we're foodies and art-historian geeks at heart. We love watching movies too, so why not go to the movies in Italy? Tonight's movie was, "Io Vi Trovero," or "I Will Find You." It starred Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, and Femke Jensen. All we will say, is that it was very entertaining and action-packed. Definetely 2 thumbs up!

Surely, we will miss our little haunts that have become part of our little Florentine routine...

Florence Day 18!

After a very hard walk yesterday, we were happy to see that our itinerary read "Galleria dell'Accademia". For those of you who don't know, what has been called the most beautiful statue in the world is at the Accademia,..the statue of DAVID. We've waited quite a while for just a glimpse of Michelangelo's undisputed masterpiece and today, we finally got to see it.

As we waited in line to enter the museum, we were anticipating a large collection of work. Once we entered, we realized that there was a lot to see, but the museum itself is pretty insignificant when compared to the palaces that we've been too. The outside of the museum as well, wa covered with graffiti and stupid phrases like "So and so was here in such a year from such a place". We've noticed that people, mainly tourists, have little if any respect for the historical and in some cases ancient.

Inside the museum, Cindy was impressed by the plaster cast of the Rape of the Sabine Women. This marvelous sculpture was constructed in a vortex-type-shape, without a front or a back. Every angle of it allows the viewer to see a different aspect and as discribed in the audioguide, it has no "privileged views". After a few minutes there, Pox snuck a few photos of it. (We were upset that we wouldn't be able to photograph the David)

Passing into the next room, Pox immediately starting shooting his camera shutter in complete disregard for any rules. It was pretty easy to sneak some photos of the David with his trusty zoom lens. The majority of the tourists were bunched up right in front of it and the museum docents were all focused on them. Later on, we moved closer and were amazed by the detail that Michelangelo put into his capolavoro (masterpiece). On David's hand's you can even see veins running down and the wrinkles on his knuckles. After admiring the statue for a bit, we moved along the rest of the museum and passed throught the bookshop to find that little something to bring back home.

We took time to enjoy our lunch of tuna sandwiches, tea and grapes in front of the Piazza della Santissima Annunziata. As we sat there and enjoyed the nice breeze we were straddled by the Piazza on one side and a view of the Duomo on the other side. We walked around after our lunch and bought a few more knick-knacks.

When we got home, we watched some television and had a nice dinner of ravioli stuffed with riccota cheese and spinach. It was delicious. We're starting to get sad knowing that we only have five days left in our adventure. So far these 5 and a half weeks have been amazing, let's hope that the last five days will send us off with a bang.

Florence Day 17!

Whoa, today was some day! We went to Santa Maria Del Fiore, or the Duomo, and climbed its 463 steps! The 60 steps to our apartment with no elevator is nothing compared to that! Yesterday we had mentioned that we would be climbing the bell tower but when we arrived, we decided that climbing the Duomo would probably be a lot more memorable. After all, what are 49 more steps? Our thighs will probably answer that question tomorrow...

The climb to the top was definitely memorable. It is not every day that you have the opportunity to climb a medieval structure. The stone work is fabulous and was all done by hand. You really have no idea of where you are in the structure as you are climbing. For about 80 percent of the climb you are going up a spiral staircase. The staircases are tiny too, they were not built for dozens of tourists at a time. The steps are like tiny cheese slices! There were also a series of small hallways where you would make your way to the next stairway. Thankfully, small openings in the structure provided a breath of fresh air. When you reach the dome part of the cupola (the Dome itself), you enter inside the church. You are below the stained glass windows and directly under another level--both of which go in a complete circle around the dome. The painting on the dome itself is spectacular! There is a depiction of hell, purgatory, and heaven. Observing the painting from below is one thing, but having the opportunity to see it from the level at which it was painted is a real treat! You can almost imagine yourself a painter in Brunelleschi's time, helping paint the masterpiece. It was important for us to take our time and take it all in. From the lower level of the dome, we continued up to the top of the cupola. At one point, we were actually climbed a series of stairs that were built directly ontop of the cupola itself! They were at a steep incline.

Stepping onto the top of the cupola felt great... the view was incredible. After we took a few minutes to catch our breath and to get accustomed to being that high over the city, we were able to take in the city. You get a view of everything. The climb and sweat is completely worth every step. It makes one appreciate the hard work of many innovative men. We climbed it only once. The men who designed and built it, climbed it every day until the dome's completion. How admirable. We can say that we have been given a wonderful opportunity to climb what is considered to be Florence's crowned jewel.

Once back on the ground, we decided to treat ourselves to Gelato! We walked it to our favorite place near San Lorenzo and ordered up ourselves some "heaven in a cup." We took our time and enjoyed the gelato. Then we headed to the open air market in the San Lorenzo area. We bought some goodies to bring home as souvenirs and gifts for family. We also enjoyed looking at the hand-crafted goods on sale (leather bags, coats, wallets...). We stopped by the grocery store on our way to the apartment and ordered a pizza from the restaurant across the street. For dinner we enjoyed some left over spaghetti and fresh pizza, watched some television, and relaxed. The highlight to our evening was receiving three very special phonecalls--one from Maddie (Cindy's neice), one from Pox's mom, and one from Mary (Cindy's sister)--what a nice surprise!

Special Announcement:
Happy Birthday Angela in Pasadena, Ca! Hope you get some cake (cakequito con cafe)!

Florence Day 16!

Today was a very fun day. We woke up late, as is becoming the norm, and after a delicious breakfast made by Cindy, we made our way out to "Il Bargello" or the National Museum. This is a must see for anyone intersted in Renaissance sculpture. We were very fortunate to experience first-hand one of the most important collections in the world. Although, we were somewhat disappointed with the fact that some of the museum rooms were closed. Oh well.

It was very interesting to see the exhibition of the Bronzes of the Baptistry. This collection of statues, sculpture and replicas is on display at the museum. Usually, these are either in private residences or in the Baptistry of Santa Maria Del Fiore, or "The Duomo". We saw many great works by Giambologna, Donatello, and even some Michelangelo's.

Our audioguide afforded us so much information not only on the artwork, but also on the history of the Bargello. It was actually at one point a prison. As we sat in the largest room, we discovered that it had been divided into several floors and housed 39 cells. We also became aware that some of the statues in the Piazza della Signoria are replicas and the originals have been placed in the museum for conservation purposes.

After our visit at the museum, Cindy would not keep quiet about missing Mexican food. She has kept going on and on and on and on about calabazitas, nachos, frijolitos con queso. On the other hand, Pox has learned to embrace the sometimes limited Italian cuisine. (He loves cheese and pizza so there's no problem here) So, on Cindy's subtle suggestion, we made our way to a restaurant named "Tijuana", yes you read it right, TJ. We finally got there, it just happened to be right behind the museum, what a coincidence, but it was closed and didn't open until 7:00 pm. Cindy nearly cried, in fact, a tear or two may have shed out of her love for Mexican food. By chance, Cindy knew of another Mexican restaurant nearby, so off we went in that direction. On our way there, we bumped into Michelangelo's house. Good accident. Once we got to "El Taco", Cindy passed out because it was also closed.

We decided to get a small snack and wait until seven to go back to TJ. After writing a few more postcards in front of Santa Croce, we sat on a bench for almost two hours, what seemed like an eternity to Cindy(without Mexican food). We "people-watched" and talked a little. Pox took the opportunity to take some environmental portraits (his professors said that this type of work is his forte). Cindy got upset with a little boy who was trying to whip the pigeons and Pox was distracted by all the people sitting around going about their daily routine.

Once back at TJ, we were releaved that they were open and it was HAPPY HOUR, so many items on their menu were at a lesser price. We ended up eating nachos with jalapenos and guacamole as an appetizer. Cindy had a tostada with beans, cheese, lettuce and a mountain of guacamole. Pox had enchiladas suizas with rice, beans and spicy potatoes. Everything was very good and reasonably priced. We even shared a pitcher of Piña Colada. (It wasn't very big, it was like a big gulp at 7-Eleven)

After dinner, we walked backed to the apartment and on our way home, we made a pitstop at the Arno river. Pox took some more photos and Cindy sat on the bridge patiently and admired the view. Tomorrow, we are headed up the 414 steps of the Duomo's belltower. Hopefully, we'll make it all the way to the top and back to the bottom without huffin' and puffin'. (or chaffing for that matter).

Florence Day 15!

Today we went to visit Chiesa di Santa Margherita, aka Chiesa di Dante, a small little church nestled between two buildings. It is across the street from his home. Within the church, Beatrice, the love of Dante's life, is entombed. We then spent an interesting afternoon at Dante Alighieri's house. Dante Alighieri was the famous poet of the "Divine Comedy." Not only were we able to learn about the poet, we were also able to learn a little bit of history about Medieval Florence during Dante's time. Many would not know that he was part of the Guild of Physicians and Apohecaries and that he later became a Prior before penning his famous works of literature. Dante even fought with the Florentine calvary in a battle against the Aretines (the people of Arezzo, Italy)! We learned so many facts about the poet, including that he was eventually exhiled from Florence and never returned until after his death. It is sad to think that a man who devoted his life to his city would be driven out because of feuds between Florentine citizens. There were also some very cool illustrations of Dante's Inferno, Purgutory, and Paradise--including one by Boticelli (famous for his Birth of Venus) himself!

An uplifting part of the tour (on an inspirational point) was learning more about his love for Beatrice, who was the inspiration for his poetry. Dante fell in love with Beatrice as a child but was never able to marry her. He was a victim of an arranged marriage from childhood. Nonetheless, he was still able to express his love for Beatrice in his writing and even made her the angelic figure that leads the soul to Paradise in his Divine Comedy.

After leaving Casa di Dante, we had lunch at Tutti Frutti. We had delicious mozzarella, basil, and tomato paninis with patatine (french fries). We then walked off our lunch by strolling through local shops, including the Disney Store (yes, the Disney Store) and a leather store. We window shopped at the pricier shops like Hermès (we are up the street from Louis Vuitton, Cavalli, Ferragamo, and Prada). We discovered a Church that has been sandwiched between high-end stores, Chiesa dei Santi Michele e Gaetano. We went inside after deciding not to bypass this little gem. Then, we lost track of time by shopping at Oviesse, an Old Navy equivilent, and walked away with a few good finds.

We ended our day by going grocery shopping which we could not do yesterday because Cindy had to wait for her face to heal. A spider, mosquito, or something else bit her on the lip yesterday and made the left side of her face swell. Oh well! We did need the day off to rest after our Roman Holiday...

Rome Day 3!

Our last day in Rome was just as full as the rest. We started our day off with breakfast at the bar and headed out to see Castel Sant'Angelo. On our way to the Meideval fortress, we met an Australian couple and gave them some tips on the Vatican and Rome in general.

We got to the castle with the intention of viewing it from the outside only, as our day would be cut short being that we had to be at the train station by 8:30pm. However, we decided to tour it anyway, there's no way to see all of Rome in three days, you need at least a week. After buying the audioguide, we made our way up the spiral ramp. There was also an 18th century elevator inside, amazing! The castle is built on top of Hadrian's tomb. Also, at the top of it is a Cast Iron statute of Archangel Michael. Legend has it that he appeared on top of the castle and thus a chapel, designed by Michaelangelo, was dedicated to him as well as a terrace. There were too many things inside the castle to go into detail about, but let's just put it this way, it was definitely worth visiting. The view that you get from Archangel Michael's terrace is worth the entry fee alone. It's almost a 360 degree view of Rome and a very good view of the Vatican. After several hours at the castle, we decided to walk to the Pantheon.

On our trek to the Pantheon, we made a stop at Piazza Navona. This square is unlike many others. Of course, it holds typical things like fountains, vendors and over-priced restaurants, but it also holds and obelisk and three amazing fountains. Unfotunately, the most intricate of the three was under restoration, but Pox managed to get at least one good detail photo of one of the statues.


We continued on our way to the Pantheon. Once we got there, we were dumb-struck by the ancient (125 A.D. designed by Hadrian) building, now the Chiesa di Santa Maria ad Martyres. We first walked through one of the typical, cobblestoned streets to a little gelato shop. (yes, gelato again, it's good!) We got our fix of ice-cold heaven in a cup as we sat on the steps of the fountain that gazes at the Pantheon. After wiping our faces clean, we walked inside and were, yet again, dumb-struck and slack-jawed by the magnificence of the roof and church. The building was constructed with a circular opening in the roof. It allows for light to enter the building and when it rains, the water is drained through 22 holes in the floor.


Wanting to see as much of Rome as possible, we walked to the Vittorio Emanuelle monument. It was quite a walk too. When we got there, we walked up its slippery marble steps and admired the view. We saw three armed officers protecting the tomb of the unknown soldier at the center of the second level. Athena, fully armed with a silver owl in hand, watches over Piazza Venezia on an altar on top of the tomb. We went inside the museum and in search of a restroom. After walking through a very high and ricketty scaffolding, Cindy found a restroom with a very long line. Pox went off to take photographs of the view, he got really good ones. After finishing up at the monument, we were starving. We had shared a panini almost 7 hours earlier and Cindy was still craving herself some nachos from Hard Rock Cafe. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the cafe, but we did end up eating American food. We had filet o'fish combos from McDonald's at the train station.


After our dinner, we headed to the hotel to pick up our luggage and made it back to the station on time to catch our train. We rode in a nearly empty coach for two hours and were happy to be back in Florence. We missed our little apartment. Unfortunately, Rome was our last scheduled weekend trip and there is only a little over a week left in our vacation, but it's not over yet. We'll keep you posted.

Rome Day 2!

Our second day in Rome was just as eventful as the first. We decided to head out to the Vatican to make the most of the day there.Our complimentary breakfast was not at the hotel, but at the little basement bar next door. We had American coffee, croissants, and blood-orange juice. It was delicious. Although, we kept spiling the coffee because the table was very wobbly.

As we arrived in the Vatican City, we saw a very long line and hoped that we didn’t have to wait in it. Unfortunately, the Vatican doesn’t have any kind of reservation system, so we had to bite the bullet and stand in line at the hottest time of the day, high noon. It actually moved pretty quickly, but the sun was very strong and very hot, we really were suffering. Once we actually made it inside St. Peter’s Basilica, we were so drenched that we had to just stand still for a few minutes to try to cool off and recooperate.

Inside the basilica, we saw in amazement, all of the decor, the gold, the statues,...everything! It is practically, a very large tomb, as we discovered that in the center of the church the altar sits directly on top or St. Peter’s tomb. Near the top of the ceiling, adourning all of the arches, is a gold mosaic with Latin inscriptions that circles the entire basilica. We were able to say a few prayers inside the Capella del Santissimo Sacramento, and be thankful for our families and friends, give thanks for our safe journey and prayed for a safe return. After touring the beautiful basilica, we went to visit the tombs of the Popes. Cindy wanted to visit the tomb of Pope John Paul II. It was an amazing experience to walk through such a holy burial ground. All Popes are buried within sarcophogi underneath the cathedral. We were both able to visit and pay our respects to Pope John Paul II. His grave is covered in white marble with his name carved in gold lettering. No photos are allowed in the tomb area, so we will only have our memories to remember such a sacred sight.

After walking through the cemetery, we made our way to the Vatican Mueums, which includes the Sistine Chapel. The Museum entrance is about one kilometer around the basilica, it was very tiresome. When we finally made it, all we had in mind was the Sistine Chapel. We entered and made our way up to the main corridor that holds all of the artwork, bypassing the Egyptian and Gregorian sections of the museum. We walked through one room after another, we went upstairs and downstairs, following the signs that read "Capella Sistina". We missed a lot of artwork trying to find the chapel. At one point, we had to stop in one of the many beautiful rooms because Pox began to shake out of hunger. Fortunately, we learned our lesson from the day before and with the hopes of preventing delirium packed a bag of chips as an emergency snack. We sat at a bench and Pox snuck the chips into his mouth as hoards of guided groups and tourists walked casually through the corridor, probably looking for the Sistine Chapel too.

Once Pox had eaten enough of the chippies to steady his shutter-hand, we were off again in search of the Sistine Chapel. So down we went again two flights, and up again another two. We almost missed three works by Salvador Dali. Anyhow, once we finally made it to the chapel, we were disappointed with the fact that no pictures can be taken inside. Fortunately, Pox is a little rebel and has become an expert at "stealing" photographs in forbbiden places. Cindy was very disappointed that she could not sit on the floor and mimick the famous, well-known Creation of Adam pose ( you know, the one were the naked man is pointing at the older mad, see the slideshow). After the labyrinth that is the Vatican Museum, we discovered that to exit the building, we had to make our way down a spiral walk/staircase. (So now, we have calves of steel too)

We did get a chance to enjoy the Vatican's cafeteria. However, the food was pretty bad. We ate pizza that tasted like cardboard as we were forced, yet again, to be in the presence of very roudy kids. Some of the tourists that we have been witness to have been very incosiderate and even rude. These kids were from Spain and their parents were sitting and disregarding their children whilst they ran a muck. After digesting our cardboard, we headed out to the Trevi Fountain again, during the daytime. We got our perfect picture. After, we decided to call it quits for the day. We headed back to the hotel and read some "chisme" magazines in German, Spanish and English. We had a very unhealthy dinner, Cindy had McDonald's fries and Pox had milk and cookies.

Our recommendation for anyone who plans on visiting the Vatican Museum is to eat a good hefty meal beforehand, you will walk it off without a doubt. Take some water, comfortable footwear and be ready to take it ALL in.

Courtesy of Cindy, enjoy a small video clip of the interior of St. Peter's Basilica!

Rome Day 1!

We left Florence at 8:00 in the morning and arrived at Roma Termini Station at 9:30 a.m.--talk about high-speed! The train was comfortable, so comfortable in fact, Pox tried to fall asleep and Cindy kept waking him up because he was going to miss some beautiful scenery. We had been up late the night before waiting for some of our clothes to dry...Pox forgot some chones and pants at the apartment, so he had to make due with what he had. Eww!

Arriving in Rome was exciting! Our hotel was literally just one block away from the train station. We got to the hotel before check-in, so we were able to leave our bags. We took a tour of the city on the Hop On- Hop Off bus to get an overview of the "Eternal City." We cannot really say that we were prepared for what we saw! Within the first 5 blocks of what we had the opportunity to see, we were floored! The architecture of the buildings, the colors of the buildings, and layout of the city was very reminiscent of Paris. Throw in a few cathedrals, the president's palace with an outdoor fountain and Egyptian obelisk on a hilltop, and you begin to get the feeling that you are in for something special. We were only on the bus for about 15 minutes when a revelation occured: Rome and its monuments are "gian-ormous."

Before us was the Monument to late President Vittorio Emanuelle II. The monument was grandious. Across the street from it were Trajan's Column and Trajan's Market, the world's first recorded market. Behind the monument was the Roman Forum, it is huge. A few moments later, behind the forum stood the Colosseum. Although it is nowhere near the size it was during its full glory days, a lot of the marble has been used to create other monuments over time, it was still a sight for the eyes. On the tour we also saw the Circus Maximus, Castel Sant'Angelo, the Vatican, Piazza Barberini and lots and lots of other monuments that we didn't even know about.

After the one and a half hour tour, we headed back to the hotel to check in. Once we settled in, we cooled off a little and headed out to one of Rome's major attractions, the Colosseum. Once we got there, we didn't realize until later, from the bus stop we walked all the way around counter-clockwise to the entrance when we could just walked a few meters clockwise, oh well, you live and you learn. Thankfully, we were smart enough to book our tickets in advance, we skipped a line at least an hour long, woo hoo! One cannot truly imagine how large this ancient structure is, it's only a third of its original size. It was very interesting to see all of the materials used to create such a landmark, this is probably why it's one of the seven wonders of the Medieval world( The leaning tower of Pisa is one of them so 2 out of 7 is not bad). Cindy now knows why all of the ancient statues have buns of steel, all of the steps and stones were very steep. She wonders how the women of the time could've remained graceful and fresh walking all of those steps without "glistening" (Pox calls it sweat) and huffing and puffing all the time. It was at times very dangerous, Pox kept slipping on lose stones and trenches.

After our visit at the Colosseum, we we brave or dumb enough (we haven't decided) to walk the Forum and the Roman Palatine. The Forum is a site with the ruins of numerous ancient temples, homes and even the burial site of Julius Caesar. As we walked, carefully, through all of the ruins, we saw the Temple of Julia, the Temple of Vesta, the Homes of the Vestal Virgins, the Arch of Titus, and a very well hidden tomb of Julius Caesar. (very easy to miss!) So much history, in about a three to four mile radius. After having walked so much, we were dumb enough, to climb all the way to the Roman Palatine, a musuem full of ancient Roman artifacts. On our way up, we walked through gardens and terraces that gave us a beautiful view of not only the Forum but of all Rome. Once at the top, Cindy was willing to pose for a Botticelli-esque portrait( Look at the slideshow). We were able to cool off in the museum and start thinking about dinner.

After being in the hot sun and walking, Cindy became delirious. We saw the Hard Rock Cafe on the map and were headed in that direction. At the bus stop closest to it, we started walking and saw a restaurant called "Il Peperone" (The Chilli Pepper) and decided to eat there. In our state of oblivion and delirium, we didn't notice that Hard Rock Cafe was right across the street! The food was good, but we had to pay four euro each for a can of soda, that's about six dollars! They didn't give us any ice either! For that price, we asked for some...

Once we finished our dinner, we started walking toward the Spanish Steps. The walk was very nice and it allowed us the opportunity to see the beautiful neighborhood that Fellini glorifies in his film, "La Dolce Vita." As we walked up a narrow and steep hill, we were able to see the obelisk that adorns the front piazza of the Trinita Dei Monti, the wonderful hilltop church. We made our way onto the piazza and were taken with the sight of the church, the artists that paint on sight, and with the Spanish Steps, which were filled with both locals and tourists. We went inside the church and admired the beautiful paintings by Michaelangelo and Volterra (his favorite student) and the altar. After a while, we headed out to enjoy the stunning view, especially because it was right before sunset! We made our way down the famous Spanish Steps, then up (Pox wanted to take more photos), then down again. It was simply marvelous and romantic!

The sun had already set by the time we were making our way to another famous Roman treasure, the Trevi Fountain. We found the massive fountain hidden behind a large building. The fountain is massive! Photos can be very deceiving! The front of the fountain was swamped with people trying to take their perfect picture. Others were trying to cool off with the water from the fountain, only to be dissapointed when the Carabinieri (police) blew their whistles to announce that you cannot touch the water. Others were asked to leave the fountain because they were not allowed to eat around the fountain--not even gelato! It is understandable though, such a glorious sight should be protected and kept unspoiled. Ending our first night in Rome at the Trevi fountain was amazing! It was more than enought to keep us for the long walk back up to the bus stop and the hour wait for the hop on-hop off.

Florence Day 13!

Well, what can we say, it was another relaxed day for us. This weekend has been a very sleepy one, not because we've slept a lot; rather, it was sleepy because half of the Florentines were gone on vacation. We did notice that they are coming back. Our grocery store, Conad, was actually open today--yay! We were actually able to buy some more goodies. If you remember, it too had closed for the holiday.

Before that though, we made our way to the San Lorenzo area for some light walking. We walked by the merchant stalls and did some "window" shopping. There are several stalls surrounding the Chiesa San Lorenzo that stretch out the Mercato Centrale, or Central Market. There is so much to see but we try not to stop at any one stall for too long because before you know it, the vender is trying to sell you something. When someone is trying to sell you something, it sort of takes the fun away from just looking at the merchandise. We did stop for a bit at Piazza Mercato Centrale, a nice little plaza by the Central Market that is surrounded by outdoor cafes. We ate some gelato and people watched for a bit. If you remember Florence Day 1, we ended up at the same gelateria (great prices and even better flavors)!

If you're wondering what else we did today, we did laundry too. We'll Pox did. He's getting very good at it too! That's not all, he also made dinner tonight! He made delicious gnocchi (pasta and potato dumplings) with pesto sauce. He knows how to make a girl feel very special and catered to. Wow, I'm a very lucky girl!

Il Palio!

Today we had a chance to walk around Florence at a relaxed pace. First of all, we had the opportunity to enjoy a very clean and refreshed city beacuse it rained yesterday. In fact, we had both thunder and lightning. It was also a lot cooler which made it perfect walking weather. Secondly, our walk was a lot more relaxed because there weren't any people on the streets. The majority of Florentine's have gone off to the country-side or the beach to celebrater their holiday. August 16th happens to be anational holiday in Italy, the Ascencion of the Virgin Mary. The stores close and it is not filled with tourists, so it is a perfect time to take in the city. During our walk we reached one of the main entrances to Florence, that was originally part of the fortress wall which surrounded the city. It was ginaormous, with huge iron gates that remain open for traffic to make its way through as it is on one of the main streets. We also walked along the Arno River in both directions and we were able to enjoy the sounds of the falling water, we were also happy to discovere that there are fish and geese on the Arno.

On the way back to the apartment, we picked up some provisions for our Il Palio party. If you're wondering what Il Palio is, it's a biannual celebration in the name of the Virgin Mary who ascended to heaven. It has been in practice since the Middle Ages. It is amazing, they cover the famous Siena square with almost a foot of dirt and ten of the 17 districts are chosen to race in July and in August. There is a very intricate ceremony before-hand which involves full Medieval costumes, drummers, a parade and even flag performance/presentations by every district. It is a horse race, but more than anything it is a competition between the 17 districts or "contrade" in Siena. Each is represented by an animal on their flag. This year the caterpillar or "bruco" won. It was a lot of fun to watch, but it took the jockeys basically one hour to line up. After two false starts, the race finally started, all 90 seconds of it. While Pox would've enjoed watching the race in person, we had already made our visit to Siena just last week, and if you read the post, the ticket prices are steep and it gets very crowded. It's ok, maybe next time. Instead, we watched it on the television and had a full spread of goodies.

(ALL THE PHOTOS ON THIS POST ARE CINDY'S)

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Pisa!

Today we went to Pisa, Italy, which boasts one of the most famous monuments in the world: the leaning tower of Pisa. Most of Pisa's popular attractions are all located within a main plaza, named Piazza di Miracoli. It is said that the piazza is called Piazza dei Miracoli because man can experience the 5 facets of a Catholic exsistance in one place: Birth at the Hospitale Santa Chiara, a Catholic baptism at the baptistry, comunnion, confirmation, marriage, and funeral at the Cathedral of Pisa, and burial (there is also a cemetery located within the piaza). As our tour guide Ricardo said, "If that is not a miracle for the Catholic man, I don't know what is..."We arrived at the bus depot located right next to a McDonald's, yes, you read correctly. We then walked to the Piazza dei Miracoli. On our way to the piazza, walked past all of the vendors and the"Plucci, Plendi, and other famous knock-off" sellers that were outside the city's wall. The Piazza and main portion of the town has one main entrance, as its protective medieval wall still remains intact and in very good condition. The one main entrance serves a good purpose, it builds the anticipation for what is a spectacular introduction to the marvelous and pristine piazza. The cathedral, Santa Maria Assunta, or St. Mary of the Assumption has a beautiful interior. Sixty-eight pillars that adorn the inside were each carved out from one single piece of gray marble on the island of Sardinia. Once completed, they were each sent over to Pisa by boat. The ceiling also has a great wooden carving that is covered in 24 karat gold. The inner dome has a splendid mosaic that depicts Jesus giving his blessing. The cathedral also has the body of its patron saint, St. Ranieri in a glass coffin.The leaning tower is truly a sight to see. It leans 4 meters, a little over 12 feet and has been reinforced to prevent any further leaning. The restoration of the tower has actually reversed the amount of incline that tower once had. The architects are sure that for now, it should stay in place for at least 200 years. For those of you that find themselves wondering, there is absolutely nothing inside the tower except for its marble spiral staircase. It was originally built as a bell tower. The tower is also the most expensive tower to enter in all of Italy, it costs 15 Euro, about 25 USD for the limited amount of time you are given to climb and descend-30 minutes. You also need a reservation to enter and entry is only given to 30 people at a time. As we only had one hour of free time, we did not go up the tower; however, we did admire it from the grounds. We spent the rest of our free time walking throught the vendor's stands.The drive back to Florence from Pisa was a lot better than the drive to Pisa. It was not because of the method of transportation, or the tour guide. It was because we were no longer sitting in front of the 3 ignorant and thoughtless women that talked the whole way to Pisa. They were so loud that it made it difficult to listen to the information that was given by the tour guide. They were so obnoxious and obviously didn't care about the historical facts that were being given. They were deep in conversation among themselves and were making phonecalls during the announcements. At one point Cindy had to tell them to be quiet--cave man style-- index finger to the mouth and index finger to the ear. She had to make sure they understood, as they didn't understand the stares or "shhhs." That aside, they also chewed their gum with their mouths open, ala cows. They supposedly spoke French but were not even listening to the French portion of the announcements. It was funny to see their faces when they were told by the tour guide that we would not be going up the tower! Had they been quiet long enough, they would have heard that part of the announcement and saved themselves from embarassment after demanding their tower tickets! Not sitting near them on the way back to Florence made the Tuscan scenery a lot more enjoyable.

Our day in Pisa was wonderful. The cherry on top was the delicious meal we were able to enjoy back at our apartment. Pox made spaghetti ala arrabiatta and garlic bread--yum. We have to give credit were credit is due!

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Florence Day 10!

We chillaxed today and got up super late after our trip from Venice. You'd be surprised to find out how tired you get from being on vacation, we're suffering. Basically, we washed our chones again after being gone for three days. We took some time to write out some postcards. After hanging up our clothes, we decided to go to the movies again. We saw Hellboy, it was pretty good too. Cindy didn't ask what was going on as many times as last time. Tomorrow, we're headed out to Pisa on another excursion. Hopefully, we won't have to deal with Tiziana or someone similar.

Venice Day 3!

On our last day in Venice, we were very upset that we had to leave. It honestly is more that anyone can imagine. Venice isn’t a city or a place, it’s a dream, it is so beautiful and so full of life that it doesn’t even seem real. Anyhow, after having breakfast at our hotel we headed to the vaporetto stop to take us from Lido to Venice, we wanted to see the inside of St. Mark’s Basillica. After waiting in line for about 20-30 minutes (People kept trying to cut in, but we didn’t let them, other people behind us weren’t so lucky), we entered the basillica and it was breath-taking.

We have seen so many churches now that most of them have blended together to create the idea of an “Italian church” in our minds, but this one was different because of one major element, its mosaics. All of the walls and ceilings were covered with miniscule tiles to create images of the Virgin, St. Mark (represented by a winged lion), Jesus and other religious scenes. The mosaics were intricate and resembled Byzantine works, flat figures with golden brackgrounds, all of them made with unimaginable detail. The four domes lend themselves to a Moorish or even Arabesque style. Apparently, the basillica was modeled after Constatine’s Mausoleum, which explains a lot of the Middle Eastern influence. We were also able to go up to the Loggia dei Cavalli, the Terrace of the Horses, which overlooks the square on one side and the Guidecca canal on the other. We took some time to relax and enjoy the views and to take a few shots for our album.

After the basillica, we headed back to Lido. We decided to take our last day to relax and walk around aimlessly. We headed to the beach. Unfortunately for us, we didn’t pack our bathing suits because we assumed that there wouldn’t be any time to go the famous Lido beach. It was actually quite nice for a public beach. We took in the sights from the only snack shop on the beach and had an amazing, amazing, amazing veggie wrap. It was DELICIOUS! We also got to experience, again, the European beach fashion. Women in heels, women with too much hanging out on the top AND bottom, men with too little on for any age or body, dimples everywhere, hair where there shouldn’t be any hair. However, what took the cake was the very first man-thong. WOW! We were in shock for a while. Besides the wonderful sights, we were able to pick up a lot of seashells by the seashore, while we regreted not bringing our bathing suits again. It was still very refreshing. We headed to the public, outdoor showers to wash the sand off our feet and Pox had to ask the lady collecting the one euro if it was alright for both of us to use the shower for one euro instead of two, she said it was fine. After Cindy had finished rinsing off, Pox went to use the shower and another lady turned off the shower and said, “Deve pagare un euro”. Pox told her that we had already paid the other lady, anyhow, it was hot and we just wanted to get to the hotel to pick up our luggage.

Once we freshened up at the hotel, Cindy suggested getting some more granite. Good idea. We tasted the green apple flavor and it was very refreshing. After lingering slowly, we made it to the vaporetto stop back to the train station. Undoubtedly, Venice will hold a spot in both of our hearts, it is a must see for everyone. As one of the cheesy tourist t-shirts reads, “Hurry up, come see Venice before it sinks!”



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Venice Day 2!

Our second day in Venezia was amazing. We really love this sinking city. After having a good and hearty breakfast at our hotel, (10€ for both of us, not bad) we headed out to the museums at St. Mark’s Square. After making our way through all of the chubby pigeons, we entered the Museo Correr. It held beautiful sculptures and paintings by Italian artists of various movements. We saw a painting rendering Cupid and Psyche. Also, Venere Italica, or Italian Venus, was represented in a beautiful portrait. The ceilings in several rooms were adorned with the typical gold-leaf and Renaissance-style paintings on several subjects. One room in particular included a representation of the Greek myths of several gods. Through the Museo Correr, we were able to enter the Archeological museum and the Library museum.

The archeological museum allowed us to glimpse into the past as it is home to many Greek, Egyptian, Etruscan and even some Mesopotamian artifacts. We saw many statues and busts of the Greek gods, Athena, Apollo, Zeus just to name a few. In the Egyptian room, we even saw two mummies. We were very surprised to see that in Italy, we would find Egyptian artifacts. A very interesting room included years and years of coinage from the Venetian empire dating back several hundreds of years. Some of the coins were very big, which are what lead Cindy to ask, “Is that why they used to carry sacks?” Try going to Vons with a coin the size of a personal pan pizza! A highlight of the museums included the opportunity to see the armor of the knights that roamed Italy in its past. The men must have been tiny because several of the chest-plates and waists were very small. We even had the opportunity to see a pair of metal foot protectors- very reminiscent of “Crocs,” maybe thats where they come from- the middle ages! We also had the chance to see yet another collection of Madonnas. I will leave it at that. I believe that by the time we arrive back home, we will have seen the majority of the Madonnas in Italy alone. There are really that many and they are everywhere. We were able to see the collection of busts at the Library like that of Julius Caesar among others, and several interesting sculptures such as Leda and Zeus (Zeus of course was sculpted as the goose that seduced her). We also saw some of the books in their collection.

After walking the entire museum (first and second floors), we were feeling so adventurous and lucky that we decided to walk it to La Galleria dell’Academia. We wanted to see more of Da Vinci’s works, mostly the Virtruvian Man, or the Peruvian Man (our name for him). After a granite, a slushy type drink, and a brief rest on one of the many bridges, we made it. Unfortunately for us, we only made it to the door because it was 1:30 p.m. a half hour before closing time. It wasn’t until we found out that the Vetruvian Man is off limits to the general public, that we became sad. Oh well, we cannot assume that all will work out the way we want it too, right? So, we made the most of the rest of the day and walked to the beautiful Cathedral of Santa Maria del Rosario. We were only allowed a glimpse inside because like many of the churches in Italy, there is a fee to enter. Yes, they charge to enter the house of God. We suppose it’s a good way to distinguish those who want to attend mass from tourists with fanny packs and cameras. Go figure! We decided to go to the island of Murano instead.

We made it to Murano after an hour on the Vaporetto, the boat bus. Everyone was eager to get to the island and see the famous glass blowers of Murano. We went to the Museo dell’ Arte Vetraria, or the glass museum. We saw amazing pieces dating back to the first century. It was impressive to see the raw materials that are used in the process of glass-blowing, as well as to learn about the process itself. Sadly, we weren’t lucky enough to see a demonstration of glassblowing, it does give us a reason to come back though! We were able to go into several shops and see the wonderous creations of the many artisans on the island though. It really was a treat!
After Murano, we headed back to St. Mark’s Square on Venice, where Cindy finally had the chance to do the second thing on her list (number one was the bridge of sighs), feed the pidgeons! It was a little scary because one doesn’t know where they have been. Ah, Cindy did it anyway and it was fun! Cindy fed them, and Pox took her picture and headed straight to a bathroom to wash our hands. Cindy loves animals, but has been pooped on enough by them this year. After the intense hand washing, we went to eat dinner—don’t worry, we used utencils. Dinner was at a small pasticceria, where we had light fare, Pox had a mozzarella and tomato panini, and Cindy, a veggie foccacia. We walked off our dinner by walking back to St. Mark’s, stopping by a candy store on the way, so that we could find an art vendor. We did, and we were able to buy two watercolor paintings for a great price! We left the island with two one-of-a-kind keepsakes.

Venice Day 1!

Today, we left Florence at 8:30 in the morning and got a train straight to Venice. On our way over, Pox discovered why Americans have such a bad reputation when it comes to tourism. We rode on a coach full of an American group of travelers. They were very load and obnoxious. Pox tried to catch up on sleep but couldn’t because of all of their chatter. The loud American’s aside, the train ride was pretty smooth and quick. Once in Venice, we bought our youth pass for the vaporetto, or boat bus, and took one straight to Lido, the island that we made our reservation on.

On Lido, we discovered how beautiful this resort destination really is, but we couldn’t enjoy it because we were so scared that we wouldn’t have a place to stay. Let us explain. We made our hotel reservation back in June and even got a confirmation number and e-mail. Once we arrived at the hotel, Villa Edera, Dania, the attendant at the reception desk told us that no reservation had ever been made for us and that the company that we made the reservation with hasn’t worked with the hotel for at least 2 years. The hotel was completely booked too, so we couldn’t get a room at all.The first thing that went through our minds was that we were in Venice, during holiday time, with no place to stay and that all the hotels were all going to be booked. Dania was very nice, she took photocopies of our reservation to complain to the company, as will we, and she even made phonecalls to get us a room for the same rate that we confirmed in June. We ended up at the Villa Cipro, which may even be a step up from our original hotel.

After settling in and even using the bidet (might be spelled wrong), we got on a vaporetto back to Piazza San Marco. Fortunately, the Venice card that came with our vaporetto pass gave us a discount on the museums, we got an amazing deal of 15 euro for both of us for 5 museums within 90 days, awesome! (Remember how much we paid at the Uffizi? 28 for both of us for one museum in one day). We decided to visit the Doge’s Palace (Il Palazzo Ducale) and boy was it worth it. It boasted enormous rooms, paintings on every single wall, sculptures, gold-leaf; everything you can imagine. What made it perfect for Cindy was the fact that we go to walk on Il Ponte dei Sospiri, the Bridge of Sighs. We got to tour the prisons, the armor rooms, all of the halls of their judicial system; the majority of the palace was accessible.

After the Palace, we wandered off to see the Rialto Bridge. It was very easy to find as there are signs that lead you straight to it. It was beautiful, but like a lot of the places that we have seen, it was marred with graffiti and trash that ignorrant people leave behind. Nothing took away from it’s architecture or grandure. Cindy thinks Venice is beautiful and “quite romantic”. If you really take the time to overlook all of the short-shorts (on men just as much or if not more than the women) and garbage, there are so many places to discover and fall in love with. We even saw a square from the movie, Pane e Tulipani, how fun! (Mary, you will love it when you come here)

After wandering, we decided to look for a place to have dinner. We had spaghetti and gnocchi al pomodoro in a quaint little restaurant which played nothing but Tom Jones songs. On its walls, celebrity portraits and one in particular of an old Italian man “copping a feel” of two women baring their goodies, allowed for a very romantic atmosphere. Yeah right! The food was good though and there was a restroom. Until tomorrow!

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Florence Day 9!

Today, we walked all the way across town to visit the beautiful Basilica di Santa Croce and the Museo dell'Opera. The Basilica was amazing. Unfortunately, like a lot of the structures here, it was being re-enforced and part of its interior was covered with scaffolding. It was truly a sight to see. Also, there are several tombs holding the remains of Galileo, Michelangelo, Macchiaveli and Dante Alighieri. We were able to admire all of the marble interiors in the central nave and the aisles, adorned with paintings, heading each of the tombs. It is truly remarkable that we are able to see the resting place of such talented and respected artists and writers. It is also a very meaningful experience because we have studied their works.

The Basilica also holds an impressive Museo dell'Opera. The collection includes many frescoes that still remain in good condition. There are also several tryptics and wooden panels that have all been restored to their original glory. The museum has even produced informative boards that illustrate the steps of the restoration process. To see the before and after of a painting or panel is interesting because it shows the hard work that goes into the preservation of these pieces. We also learned about the history of the Basilica and the devastating flood that threatened their art collection. It was very sad to see that some of their prized possessions, including a very large Byzantine crucifix, were nearly destroyed and have undergone dramatic restoration. To see the appreciation of such artistic talent and spiritual devotion is wonderful. It was truly an inspirational day.

What made the day even better is that because of the celebration of the Ascencion of the Virgin Mary, on August 16th, a lot of the stores are closed, which means less tourists and less people. At the church we didn't encounter a line and it was very easy to navigate inside. We even saw the "congested" freeways on the news last night, if only they could see real congestion, the Italians should try driving on any L.A. freeway during a holiday season. The ultimate plus for today was the weather, it was not too hot and not humid and we even got a good breeze today. The good weather made it difficult to come back to the apartment to prepare for our trip to Venice; yet, it had to be done. After packing, Pox made an incredible dinner for us to enjoy as we relaxed and watched some television. The dinner included bow-tie pasta with red pesto sauce and focaccia with chesse, potato, and fresh avocado. We even went a little crazy and had Bacardi Breezers (orange and pineapple flavored). Mmmm... Depending on the internet availability at our Venice/Lido hotel, we may or may not be able to post regularly. Cross your fingers!

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Happy Birthday Maggie Chávez Miller, who is celebrating her Quinceañera today, whoohoo!

Florence Day 8!

Well, we were still pooped from yesterday's excursion and decided to take the day off today. We went to bed with headaches last night and figured that our bodies would be grateful to us for a little R&R (rest and relaxation). We allowed ourselves to wake up late and decided to go to the grocery store. To minimize the amount of trips we would need to make to the store, as we walk there and do not take the bus, we took a backpack and a suitcase (to roll the heavy bottles). We encountered a little situation at 'Conad,' the supermarket, when Pox got a little crazy in the pastry aisle... he wanted to buy everything! That's what happens when you spend a lot of time with a Chávez girl! We settled on two packets of pre-packaged pastries (very Hostess), one bag of cookies, and one chocolate roll cake. Wow, we were oinkies today. Mind you, we will eat the sweets in moderation, the ice-cream too.

We came back to the apartment and did some laundry, as we are also getting ready for our trip to Venice in just 2 days! While we were waiting for our clothes to wash, we watched the opening ceremony for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Very impressive and artistic--over the top!

After the ceremony, we watched what has become a new favorite Italian game show 'Jackpot: Fate il Vostro Gioco,' or play your own game. It's very 'Wheel of Fortune' and contestants have to answer questions in order to earn money and spin the wheel. If the contestants answer incorrectly, or land on a red space on the wheel at any time, they lose half of their jackpot. Contestants then have to work their way back up. They play funny music during the show and contestants have to sing and dance, it's too much! We had fun watching it. Pox was a little anxious during the show though, he was waiting for the pizza place to open across the street. Eventually it did and we were able to enjoy our dinner of left over bow-tie pasta with pesto and pizza alla marinara, with the chocolate roll cake for desert! Mangia!


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Happy Birthday Araceli Ruiz de Tiede in Glendale, California!! Samba the night away!!

Florence Day 7, actually Siena and San Gimignano!

Today was an unbelievable day. We got to go from the cradle of the Renaissance city, Florence, to the cradle of the Middle Ages, Siena, and finished off by visiting a Meideval city with it's boundary wall still intact, San Gimignano. It started at 9:00 am as we made our way on the tour bus with perhaps the most annoying tour guide ever, Tiziana. (Imagine a bleached-blonde, very tan and leathery lady, not very tall, with a very irritating voice) She would not shut up! She thought that it was necessary to explain everything. She literally talked for an hour and a half straight, not kidding! What made it worse was the fact that she was speaking very quickly in English, Spanish and French, so quickly that it became like a background noise instead of information.

Tiziana aside, the Chianti region was a spectaluar sight. It is really what you imagine it to be, rows of vineyards and olive trees and rolling hills. Beautiful! Once arriving in Siena, we were greated by our city guide, Elisabetta. She was very informative and very nice. We got to understand about the 17 different "contrade" or districts in Siena, each represented by a different animal. Also, the Palio, the famous horserace that takes place in Siena's Piazza del Campo, became a lot clearer, as she explained that the first record of the race goes back to the 13th century. Elisabetta, lead us through Siena's streets to it's Cathedral which rivals that of Milan, according to her, and is better that Florence's. (FYI: Siena and Florence are long-time rival cities, they're always competing) After leaving us for some free time, we decided to have our lunch on the famous shell-shaped square of Siena, in the shadow of it's enormous watchtower nicknamed, Mangia. Very fun! We had some of the best gelato we have had so far, and we've had a lot. Pox was excited and wants to go back to see the Palio (not going to happen, seats go for about 250 euro and the free section is very dangerous, you have to give up your will to live in order to do it), and also for the Museo della Tortura, creepy, but very interesting, very similar to Ripley's Believe it or Not or a Wax Museum, showcasing Meideval torture devices.

After meeting back with Tiziana, unfortunately, we headed out to San Gimignano. From the tour bus, we saw fields of sunflowers and wine vineyards. As we drove on, we got a glimpse of San Gimignano, sitting on top of a hill boasting its remaining 14 towers (at one point there were 100s, every family built their own to boast their wealth). Once there, we entered through the one and only entrance through it's Meideval wall. All of its original architecture remains intact, but it is very easy to navigate, easier than Siena and Florence, as every monument is clearly marked. The panoramic views are amazing. We were able to score some good bargains on knick-knacks and other little trinckets. We would have loved to stay longer, but we were only alloted one hour and forty minutes of free time there.

On our way back, we tried to catch a few zzz's but were unable to because why? Tiziana wouldn't shut up! Once in Florence again, we stopped at the local grocer and picked up some ingredients to make pesto pasta. It turned out great. We're very tired from all the walking, but are glad that we got so many great photos and memories of two incredible cities. Soon, we're taking off to Venice and we can't wait.

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Happy Birthday Gracie-Lou Freebush in El Monte, CA! (Sweet 16!)

Florence Day 6!

We were able to relax today. We went to the post office and mailed out another batch of postcards, so for those of you reading, look in your mailboxes very soon. It may sound easy to say that we went to the post office, but you'd be surprised at the very intricate system. First, you have to take a ticket from a machine. The ticket has a four digit code; a letter followed by three numbers. This odd code indicates which window you have to go to. Very weird, but most likely very efficient.

After the post office, we walked around Piazza della Repubblica. We made our way to a "granite" vendor, pronouced grah-nee-teh, basically an ICEE or raspado for our bilingual readers. They were good. After sitting for a bit and taking in the sites, we decided to head out to Ponte Vecchio. We have been there before, but at the time all the vendors had already closed, I really doubt we would buy anything, but it's nice to experience something new. Wow! There is a lot of gold on that small bridge and by the way, it is the only bridge in Florence to have survived WWII. After window-shopping, we headed back to the aprtment to get ready to go see a movie.

We went to Cinema Fulgor, just around the block from our apartment. Unfortunately, we waited an hour outside of the theatre for it to open. The webpage said that Batman, Il Cavaliere Oscuro, was playing at 5:30 pm, however, we didn't realize that every day has a different schedule and that on Wednesdays, it only plays at 8:30 pm. So, we walked back home and waited for a bit, had some dinner and headed back to the theatre. What an experience. Pox was loving it, but Cindy kept asking, "What's going on?". The funniest thing was that during a really juicy part of the movie, the lights went on in the theatre and everyone became upset because on the screen, in big blue letters it read, "INTERVALLO". Apparently, in Italy, they still have intermission during movies. So after a few minutes, the movie came back on and we were able to enjoy the last of it. It was good, we recommend it to everyone.

Special Announcements:

Felicidades Teresita Chavez, que pronto se llamara Therese Shuvez, porque con mucho esfuerzo y determinacion, ha pasado su examen de ciudadania!! Bien Hecho!

Happy belated birthday to Sandy Chavez in Tulsa, Oklahoma!

Florence Day 5!

Today, we went to the Uffizi Gallery and brace yourselves,...it's not as great as it's made out to be. It's still a very beautiful building, and does hold some very famous works, but when compared to other museums that we have been to, it doesn't hold its own. It is definitely worth seeing the Botticelli's, the Carravaggio's, the Da Vinci's and the Reni's, but for the price you pay with a reservation, 14 euro, about 20-25 dollars, you'd expect to see more. Unfortunately, our expectations have been set really high based on hear-say and based on the fact that we have seen the Louvre, the largest museum in the world, and also, Musee d'Orsay. Also, there are way to many Madonna renditions: Madonna Enthroned, Madonna with Child, Madonna with Child and Saints, Madonna singing live at Madison Square Gardens, come on, enough with the Madonnas!! All these factors, combined with the fact that some of the rooms we wanted to see were closed, i.e, the Rubens, made it disappointing. The Michelangelo room, by the way, only has one Michelangelo work. Oh, and the worst part is that you can't take photos at all. Pox snuck a few in.

On a positive note, Il Nascimento di Venere and Primavera (Birth of Venus and Spring) were breathtaking. They're really big!! Those two works and also Carravaggio's, Medussa are worth going to the Uffizi for. We were able to see the entire Gallery in just 3 hours. Cindy was just happy to see the two Botticelli's that she came to Italy for. There is so much to see at the Uffizi, but not all of it is worth seeing. All of the corridors are lined with sculptures and perched on the ceiling are hundreds of portraits. The views of Florence are worthwhile, and if not for some of the renovations, the Uffizi was still not a waste of time. If you've been keeping up with the blog, you should've already seen photos of the Piazza della Signoria, this square right in front of the Uffizi Gallery is very misleading, they should've saved some of those sculptures for the inside of the museum instead.

After the Uffizi, we decided to have our lunch in the square of the Pallazzo Vecchio. However, since we had to throw away our water and soda bottles before entering the museum, we had nothing to drink. Pox had to walk to a grocer, in the touristy areas, everything is more expensive, a soda can was 2.50 and at the grocer a large bottle was 4 euro, still expensive, but worth the walk. With our coke in hand, we had a nice lunch in front of the beautiful police station, accompanied by leather vendors and smoking Italians. (everyone and their mother smokes here)

After a yummo lunch, we walked around and found ourselves right in front of Dante Aligheri's house and the church which he was a patron of. His house is now a museum, we'll be going to back to it soon.

Florence Day 4!

Today we went to visit Chiesa Santa Maria Novella. It is known for its beautiful marble facade, while the rest of the structure itself is made out of stone. Unfortunately, one cannot film or take pictures of its interior but Pox was able to sneak a photo in before being asked to put his camera away! The frescoes and artwork within its walls were created by some of Florence's most celebrated artists, such as Brunelleschi and Boticcelli to name a few. Many of Florence's distinguished citizens, dukes, and bishops are interred there as well. One of the most interesting parts of the visit to the Chiesa included a tour of its museum. We were able to see reliquaries that are held there. Imagine seeing the relics of patron saints, including those of Saint Ursula, Saint Dominic, and even Mary Magdalene! You don't even have to go on a pilgrimage to see them... they are there for anyone who wants to admire them.

After our relaxing and calming visit to Santa Maria Novella, we decided to visit Chiesa San Lorenzo. We only made it to its doors because it is closed the first Monday of every month. By the time we had walked it there, we had already worked up an appetite, so we didn't mind that we would have to come back another day; instead, we had lunch at one of San Lorenzo's surrounding trattorias. We ate at Il Porcospino, or the porcupine, and enjoyed our afternoon there. After our filling lunch (and dinner later on), we went grocery shopping a lugged home some very necessary items.

We ended our evening by walking to the famous Ponte Vecchio. Most of the gold shops on the bridge were already closed, so we had to console ourselves with the view of the sunset that fell over the tuscan horizon. Well, the sunset and then some gelato. Gelato can pretty much make anything better. Don't worry though, we walked it off. We made our way back up to Santa Maria Del Fiore, or the Duomo, where we walked around the basilica. Then it was back to San Lorenzo and finally, Santa Maria Novella once more. A full circle--literally!

Florence Day 3!

Today, we decided to take a leisurely stroll to the Piazza della Republicca, after having our banana and nutella sanwiches and melon for breakfast. The days here are very, very long and it's been in the mid to high 90's and it will be for the whole month. The Piazza della Republicca was the original site for the Roman Forum. It is huge. Now, it's surrounded by caffes, vendors, entertainers and even a carousel. On our little excursion, we stumbled upon the church of Orsanmichele, (Saint Michael). Unfortunately, no photographs are allowed in the church, so we can't really show you what it's like. However, they did sell postcards inside, sounds sacreligious to me. It was beautiful, a combination of medieval and gothic. It is almost unoticed, it is flanked by the Nautica and Diesel stores.

We made our way down to the Mercato Nuovo, originally a silk market, but now, full of anything you can imagine, but mainly fine leather goods. (by the way, for those of you who don't know it, Florence is famous for leather and gold) We walked around a bit and found ourselves in Piazza della Signoria, which is surrounded by breathtaking statues. Neptune, a David replica among others all grace this square. We took the opportunity to reserve our tickets for the Uffizi Gallery and saved ourselves the phone or internet fee by doing so in person. After, we walked around and stumbled upon street art. A very accurate rendition of Botticelli's, Birth of Venus, was nearly completed on one of Florence's traditional brickstone streets.

After venturing a bit further, we found ourselves in from of Santa Maria del Fiore, or Brunelleschi's Duomo. It is enormous to say the least. However, since we had walked so much, and we still have many weeks, we took a few photographs and went off to find a place to eat. After eating, we window shopped, and stole air conditioning. Soon, we walked back to our apartment.

We've found that coming back to the apartment during the hottest time of day and then going back out in the evening is very convenient. So, after resting for about and hour and a half, we were brave or dumb enough to walk to Piazzale Michelangelo. Pretty much the highest point in Florence, across the Arno River and all the way across town. The distance wasn't a problem, but climbing the stairs to the piazzale almost did us in. Cindy was tomato red and speechless after the first few steps. We waited until we caught our breath and made it all the way to the top. The view was definitely worth the excerise. Once at the top, we admired another David replica and were in the company of vendors and couple hundred spectators too. Next time we want to experience the view, we'll just take the bus that takes you right to the top. After having peaches as we sat on the steps of the piazzale and took a few photographs, we walked back to the apartment.

On our way home, we stopped at the Piazza della Republicca and had two cold coffees, very strong to say the least, and a cream puff smothered in chocolate mousse dessert. It was very tasty. We passed our little street and had to backtrack, as if we hadn't walked enough, but on our way, we found a movie theatre that we will be going to very soon.

Florence Day 2!

Today was a very relaxed day. No alarm clock, no train station at 7, no one we had to meet by a specific time. We awoke when our bodies told us we had enough sleep. Today we went to the mercato centrale to get the rest of our weekly provisions...oranges, apples, peaches, melons, and tomatoes...you get them fresh and with a smile. The vendor, Dina, was the cutest lady ever, I think we'll go back to see her again next week. After buying our fruit, we had lunch at a panini shop, where the paninis are made to order with fresh ingredients. I have to say that my eggplant, mozzarella, and tomato panini was delicious! We weren't even half way done with our paninis when we noticed a gelateria right next to the panini shop; needless to say, we made our way there once we finished eating. We walked in after we had decided to share one small one, just to get the temptation out of the way. Yeah right! The minute we saw all of the flavors, we knew that we would each walk out with our own little cup. I had the cherry and a serving of rosewater and pistachio. Pox had melon and coconut. I wouldn't even attempt to describe the creamy, fruity, luscious goodness that exploded in our mouths after each bite. It was too much of a piece of heaven to even talk about it, you'd just have to try it yourselves.

After grocery shopping some more, we walked back to our apartment and did laundry. We hung our clothes on the clothes line right outside our window. It's only day 2 and we are already doing things the Italian way!

Our afternoon included a stroll to Santa Maria Novella, which had a beautiful courtyard in front of it. It is currently being renovated and should be back to it's full glory soon. After admiring the marble facade, or fake exterior of the church, we headed toward the Arno River. The Arno is just a short walk from our apartment--just 3 blocks! We walked to Ponte (Bridge) Santa Trinita where we had a full view of Ponte Vecchio, or Old Brigde, which has a plethora of gold shops on it. From Santa Trinita, we took in the sunset and the view of the beautiful golden city. As we walked back to our apartment, we stopped across the street at Osteria Pizzeria Centopoveri (literally meaning one hundred poor people). From the looks of it, the poor people that dine there have really good taste! We ordered a Margherita pizza a'sporto (take away/out) that we shared as we watched Italian television. It's now 12:24 a.m. and we have plans to wake early tomorrow, so I'll end this post with this: "Buona notte, ci parliamo domani (Good night, we will talk to you tomorrow)."

Florence Day 1!

On our first day in Firenze, we huffed and puffed it! We took 3 trains from Cannes to get to Florence. The first one was at 7 am from Cannes to Ventimiglia, or Ventimille in French. (Ventimigila is a border city between France and Italy) In Ventimiglia, Pox had his 1st Euro bathroom experience. Basically, a hole in the floor with two steps on the floor and a string hanging from the ceiling to flush. We all know that Cindy didn't try that one. From Ventimiglia, we took a train to the luxury city of Milano. Based on all the travel books and info we read about Italy, we booked all of our train reservations in first class, mainly because second class is used by residents as an everyday means of transportation and first class is not so crowded. Well, first class or not, the a.c. didn't work in the coach that we were in, for FOUR hours. The train attendant came into our coach to offer everyone a seat in second class, their air conditioning was on at full blast. The very sharply, leopard-clad woman, sporting all the high-end designer labels imaginable responded to her with, " In seconda classe no!" (Not in second class!) A few hours later, after reading her provocative magazines, she was bored and began taking pictures of her friends cleavage with her cell phone. They were going to text them to another friend whom they were on their way to visit in Milano. Very interesting. Well, all we have to say about what we saw of Milano,...is that it's not so hot. It's was actually borderline "L.A.", if metropolitan and industrial are to your liking, then Milano is your city, for us, not so much.

From Milan, we took the train to Florence. The coach was air-conditioned and that's all that
mattered to us. What should have mattered was who we ended up sitting next to. When we made our train reservations, they sat us diagonally from each other, so Cindy ended up sitting next to an Italian man reading Giusseppe of Nazarith and humming along to his music. Very annoying. Right behind Pox, sat the spawn of the devil. They were the biggest brats ever. Undoubtedly, the most misbehaved children that we have ever seen. They were calling out the city names as loud as possible, talking to everyone that would pass them, but most importantly, yelling out "Vaffanculo" over and over. (If you have any kids reading this sorry!) Literally meaning, go f**k yourself. They were about 2 years-old, 4 years-old, and 6 years-old. We were so glad to get off the train.

Once in Florence, we found our apartment for the month of August, and were greated by Giovanni Battista Sensisni, our landlord, at the 1st of 3 doors that lead up to the 5th floor
apartment. We could not believe how many stairs we had to climb with all of our luggage.
Sixty stairs! The apartment is cozy to say the least. It is small, but nice and has all that we
need, especially air conditioning. After settling in, we went to Nilro Market on the corner and
bought some bare necessities. We got back to the apartment, cleaned up a little and Cindy made do with the ingredients that we had. She made a delicious dinner of spaghetti and coca cola. Yummo! After dinner, we slept like babies.