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Today in Rome I took a slow day.  I woke up the second time around 10 – still waking up everyday around 5 am – not sure why other than I do like the sunrises.  I need to seek out a good area for a sunrise in Rome since I am in the middle of the city it may be hard to catch a really good sunrise.

I decided to visit a couple of museums today so I went first for a nice long walk ad then visited the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.  It was beautiful inside, very ornate and large.  I paid the admission to the treasures museum which was well worth the price of admission.

I then walked around a bit more just trying to get my bearings since I had not yet replaced my Rome map.  I ended up back at the apartment to do a little more research on my computer and then went to the Doria Pamphilj museum which is another must see.  Incredible paintings, a mini Versailles corridor of mirrors and statutes and a great  audio guide.

Following the Doria museum I decided to people watch a bit.  One lady walked by me in a black asymmetrical top with red pants.  The asymmetrical (long side) was split on the side seam from front and back.  When she first approached me, I though it rather strange that it appeared the front of her top was caught between her legs however the funniest view was from the back.  The front portion caught between her legs was sticking out the back as a tail and flopping up and down as she walked.  I really wanted to take a picture but unfortunately I could not get my camera out fast enough.  As I was people watch a bird decided to join me in my endeavor.  We became a tourist attraction as people could not believe the bird was perched less than a foot from my head.  I did not realize it until people started to stop and take photos of the bird; hence the selfie I posted today.

Tomorrow I have a ticket to the Borghese museum.  I hope I will be able to take some good pictures of the gardens in addition to the museum.  I should have plenty of energy as I only walked 7.17 miles today.

 

Today I had my first day with a tour guide.  It was a very full day with a lot of information and history about Rome.  We started off with the Colosseum, Forum, Campidoglio, Piazza Venezia, Circus Maximus, Keyhole of the Maltese Order, then progressed to the Appian Way where the catacombs are located outside the city walls.  Had a wonderful lunch in a restaurant in that area, walked on what’s left of the original road to Appian, stopped at Basilica of St. Paul and San Giovanni in Laterani.  I will be meeting with Patricia again on Thursday for the Vatican, St. Peters, Sistine Chapel, Pieta, Gallery of Maps, Raphael Rooms, and Pantheon to name a few places. Luckily we hired a driver for the second half of the day to take us to all the places outside the city walls. I took several pictures but plan to go back to San Giovanni and maybe even St. Paul’s to take some additional pictures on my own.

Rome right now has two subway lines but is in the process of building a third line.  However, as they began work they realized one of the places where they planned a metro stop has significant historical remains of ancient times so work has stopped and the archeologists are excavating the site.  It may be a long time before line C is completed.

This week in Rome there is a big celebration planned for the Italian Independence so temporary stadium seating is being set up along the road from the Piazza Venezia to the Colosseum.  I believe the parade and celebration is set for Thursday which is the day I plan to be in the Vatican.  Hopefully, if everyone is at the parade the Vatican will have less tourists.

As an update on my progress to reach 400 miles during my trip, after 41 days I have recorded 377.4 miles.  I’m also showing a daily average of 22 flights climbed.  My average walking per day went down due to the time spent in the Tuscany region.  We visited a lot of villages but transportation was with a driver so the average during that week was less than 6 miles a day.

 

Francesca was kind enough to give me a map of Rome yesterday which I attempted to use once again today.  I am not sure who drew the little symbols for all of the monuments to visit or who was responsible for the map but it is the most confusing map I have ever used.  Additionally, the city of Rome is not really big on posting street signs and the streets on the map are marked in Italian shorthand.  I am shocked that I stumbled onto as many places as I did.  I should definitely clarify stumble – I was able to stay on my feet today unlike yesterday.  However, I almost took out a small Asian boy who walked in front of me while I was not paying close attention. I thought I had a clear path and looked to the left for less than a second and suddenly I’m fighting to stay upright again.  It was a close call and the shocked look on his face was priceless as he darted off in the opposite direction.

I started the day in jeans and short sleeve shirt and changed into a skirt halfway through.  It was again extremely hot and humid with very little air in most areas.  The areas which had some air flow were the most crowded with tourists.  I walked 9.85 miles today and climbed 18 floors.  I was able to take some great pictures today of the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Piazza Venezia, Piazza del Quinnale, Fontana di Trevi, Piazza Colonna, Ponte Vittorio Emanuelle II, Ponte Sant Angelo, Castel Sant Angelo, St. Peter’s Basilica from the outside, and crossed 4 bridges.

I am hoping I see a lot more tomorrow with my guide for the day.  We plan to see the colosseum in the morning and do some other sites in the afternoon.  Best part is we will have a driver so I won’t be walking quite as much.  I think last week in Radda turned me into a wimp and now anything over 5 miles a day is tiring.  I’ll have to work my way back into shape again.

I’m definitely buying a new map without the symbols for the tourist attractions perhaps I’ll be able to read it better.

 

 

 

Yesterday I arrived in Rome around 2 pm.  It was very easy to find the place I am staying because it was right above an entrance to the Metro station and only one metro stop away from the train station.  In case you are wondering Metro in Rome means underground, subway, below the STAIRS.  Yes, you guessed it – more and more stairs without of course the availability of a lift.  I always wonder why they have handicapped bathrooms in the metro stations where they don’t have lifts for the handicap to use to get up to the street level or down to the metro station.  One of those bureaucratic things I am sure similar to a men’s restroom having 7 urinals with 5 stalls and 3 sinks and the women’s restroom next door having 3 stalls and 1 sink. Sorry    – I’m off on a tangent this morning because I haven’t yet had my coffee.  Any way back to the stairs with my two suitcases and large ‘tote bag’.  I am the only person who gets off the metro train at my stop – I was of course was having flashbacks to the time in New York when I rode the “L” train to Atlantic Avenue (my New York friends didn’t even know there was an “L” train).

So I try the first set of stairs by pulling both bags stacked on top of each other up the six or seven stairs.  A lot of jostling, my arms feel like they are about to pop out of the sockets so I separate the two bags.  The smaller one I am able to lift pretty easily so I lift that one and try to pull the large bag up one at a time.  I make it about 5 steps and decide that is not going to work either so I stop.  I look up to count how many more steps I need to take the bags.  I see an Italian man – thinking in my mind how attentive they are characterized to be – hoping he will offer a hand with my bags.  No such luck!  I turn the big bag on its side and take a deep breath and lift both bags, one step at a time up the next flight of stairs.  I get to the top finally and have to make a decision to go left or right up the next flight of stairs (only about 15 more to go I repeat in my mind).  Meanwhile this Italian man is staring at me like I landed from another planet.  Okay – so I didn’t straighten my hair yesterday and it was hot and humid so I pretty much looked like an old crazy woman with her hair in every direction but shouldn’t he have felt sorry for the old crazy woman?  Even if my hair was a little wild, my  bags were nice and it wasn’t like I was wearing rags for clothes.

I then phone Francesca to tell her I am at the Metro entrance and know it is the right entrance because of the photos on Airbnb but I cannot tell which direction to go.  She says she sees me and waves me over across the street.  I get to the entrance of the apartment and she looks at me and says “Wow!! Thats a bit of luggage you have there.”  I explain I have  been traveling for 5 weeks and still have 4 more to go and considering I shipped things home from various locations I am doing pretty good. She then informs me that the flat is on the 2nd floor but in Italian terms that actually means 3rd floor and there is once again NO LIFT!!!  This is all kindly said while I am now sweltering from the heat, sweat pouring down my back from the struggle to the street level from the metro station and I am facing more STAIRS!!!!  She kindly takes the smaller bag and I struggle the large one up 40 stairs to the entrance of the flat where she has the window opened but the air conditioning is not turned on.  Now my trendy top is soaked through with sweat, I can’t stop it from rolling down my face and all I can think about while she is explaining how to turn the toilet water off if it overflows is how fast I can push her out of the flat so I can strip naked and turn on the air conditioning while I fall flat on my back on the bed.  Any way, she was a very lovely person, had some great tips on where to go and eat and truly very helpful.

I recovered from carrying the bags up the stairs and decided to explore.  I headed in the direction of the mini market so I could get a HUGE bottle of water to drink and then walked towards the colosseum.  Somehow I was above the street level of the colosseum and needed to walk down some steps to the bottom level.  Simple enough for most people, however, I take about three steps down the first flight and slip on my backside down the following 7 alongside about 5 people walking up the stairs.  All I could think about aside from being embarrassed that I had just fallen in front of all of those people was how fast I could pop back up and brush the dirt off my butt.  One of the young women stopped to check to make sure I was okay and I assured her I was as I finished brushing off my backside.  I took another two steps on the following flight and you guessed it – slid down the next 5 steps on my butt.  The young lady again rushes over to make sure I am okay and then whispers that she too fell earlier.  I am talking about steps that are no more than 4 inches in height but are marble and worn smooth at the edges.  They weren’t wet and neither was my shoes, just so smooth that a pair of shoes that were the least bit worn down would slide.  I looked at the bottom of my shoes and since I have walked over 300 miles in the last 30 days the treads were smooth as a pair of socks.  So I stand up again, brush off my butt again, now my hands are hurting because both times I tried to catch myself, they are dirty (almost black) and I still have one more flight of stairs to go to the bottom.  Or I can tempt fate and turn around and climb the stairs to the top.  I choose the bottom flight, this time turning sideways and take one step at a time.  I get to the bottom and hear a woman say “I don’t want to walk up and fall as many times as she did!”

My next mission was to find my way back to my apartment without having to deal with the same set of stairs.  It took a while, my back was still smarting a bit from one of the falls.  I wasn’t sure what I looked like from behind because I don’t have eyes back there and I didn’t want to make it obvious I was trying to look at my butt. All I knew was I wanted to go back, wash my hands, and call it a day.  So I made it back to the apartment, washed up, checked my butt in the mirror for the huge bruise I just knew I had received in one of the falls to find not even a red mark.  What a let down!  Falling down steps not just once but twice in front of no less than 20 people and not even a bruise as a badge honor.  Time to find a bar and a glass of wine!

I finished my day at a wonderful pizza and pasta place, enjoyed a conversation with a young couple that I thought was from the states.  He was actually from Portugal and she was Ireland.  They were truly lovely and their English was so good I surprised to find they were not from the US.

Today – I’m going to try again, this time taking my cameras and wearing a different pair of shoes.  Hopefully I will stay on my feet today.

 

 

Last night was the final night of the Chianti Wine in Tuscany tour with the Culture Discovery group.  It was a great last day and a most enjoyable evening.  Lorenzo who does not want to be called “Chef” was our guide on our final cooking lesson.  He is an incredible chef and most important an incredible teacher.  We learned to make pasta in the same fashion as he learned when he was 9 years old from his grandmother.  He told us that she was very happy to teach him until she saw all the white footprints throughout her home.  We made runaway meat lasagna – for those who do not know what that means; it is lasagna with no meat because it ran away.  It was made with vegetables, (carrots, zucchini, leeks, onions and celery) – truly some of the best lasagna I have ever tasted.  He also taught us how to make a stuffed turkey breast and cantucci which I can’t wait to make at home.  The smell of the cantucci is better than sugar cookies and permeated the rooms around the cooking area and kitchen.  I am pretty sure I gain 5 pounds just from the smell alone.  Also a note about the stuffed turkey breast – it was again cooked entirely on the stove top and not in the oven.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the other wonderful Chef and his mother, Francesco and his mother Franca.  They showed us how to make eggplant lasagna which was wonderful!!! (BTW – I have never liked eggplant so for me to say it is wonderful – it truly was a delight).  The best part about the cooking classes was the fact that both chefs learned their trade through their families using recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation.  Prior to our final meal with Lorenzo on Friday night we visited a farm/winery that not only produces DOCG Chianti but also raises Chianina cows for Florentine steaks and also makes their own olive oil.  We had lunch with the family which included three generations and learned to make the local pizza called ‘schiacciata’ which was of course cooked in their wood burning outdoor oven. In addition, everything we ate there was produced on the farm with the exception of the tomatoes.  Everything meaning the flour for the schiacciata, olive oil, beans, onions, steaks, pear jam, carrots and of course the wine.

I just want to say that the people at Culture Discovery truly know how to make a memorable week.  Although I have never been on a tour with any other company over the last 5 weeks I have noticed a lot of tour groups.  This is nothing like a big tour company, it truly is like being with family.  I was so blessed to have three of the most interesting people in my group,  Ben from Oxford – (who I suspect is truly one of those brainiac people who never stop thinking) and Randy and Meryl from south of Boston who are more than the typical dynamic couple.  Randy is a retired psychologist – (no I did not ask him to analyze me) and Meryl his wife who is one of those power women truly smarter than most men.  Rounding out the group was our Culture Discovery guides.  There was Charlotte who is probably one of the most seasoned travelers I have ever met (BTW – she is under 30 so to call her a seasoned traveler at her age is HUGE!). Her most memorable saying “It would be my pleasure.”  If she said that one time she said it 500 hundred times.  There was also Daniele which in case you are wondering is the Italian name for Daniel in English – he joined us midway through the week.  He is  one of those people who has their brain going 100 miles an hour always thinking ahead about the other tours they are hosting and dotting ‘i’s’ and crossing ‘t’s’.   He may have been multitasking but you would never know it.  He was there for our group and allowed us to have great laughs at his expense – (seriously his last car ‘upgrade’ had us in tears on Thursday night).  Last but not least was Spartaco who kicked off our week last Saturday making sure we all knew what to expect and set the stage for upcoming adventure.  This company searches and provides unique experiences for the traveler wanting more.  Nothing about the entire week felt like a tour group.  They provide top of the line accommodations (thank you to Ross Hotels in Radda in Chianti for a wonderful stay) to top of the line transportation (thank you to Paulo who added so much history and color during the time in the van moving from one event to the next).  If you want to visit Tuscany check out Ross Hotels in Chianti.  Top of the line, wonderful staff and once again family owned.

The best part about my experience with Culture Discovery is I get to experience another week with them on the Amalfi coast in June.  I can’t wait!!!  More fun with Spartaco at the helm, more cooking and new experiences in a different region in Italy.

 

 

Obviously I am having a great time with the tour company Culture Discovery since I have only posted pictures since May 21st and not any blogs.  It has been very busy every day but not quite as much walking as when I visited the other cities.

I started the tour on the wrong foot by going to the train station instead of the airport in Florence to meet with the van and tour group organizer.  They were kind enough to drive to the train station to pick me up otherwise the average cost for me to find my way to Radda would have been between $180 and $300 euros.  Since then however every day has gotten better.  Saturday was a slow day as the other people in the group arrived (this is a small group but they already feel like family).  There is Ben from England whose mum gave him the holiday for his 50th birthday.  His wife Jackie and two sons stayed at home in Oxford so the women in the group are making sure he is taking a nice present home to her.  Then there is a dynamic couple, Randy and Meryl, who are from New England.  Randy is retired but not really as he has said he is now busier than before retirement.  His wife, Meryl, who is an incredible speaker and is one of those power women you can’t help but admire; she is everything beautiful.  Then there are the three people from Culture Discovery who have made the past few days incredibly fun.

Since Saturday, I have been staying in Radda but have visited Montalcino, Montepulciano, Pienza, Cortona, and Sienna.  We have had two cooking classes with wonderful chefs who have graciously shared their recipes and knowledge they received from their families.  We met with a certified wine sommelier on Sunday and learned about the Chianti wines, the regulations that Italy has in place for their wine industry and learned about the black rooster which is the trade mark of a true Italian Chianti Classico.  On Monday we had two different wine tastings, one for lunch with a small Brunello winery and one for dinner with a tour of the ancient 14th century wine cellar at the De Ricci winery.  The wine cellar was truly incredible and our host there was so gracious and welcoming.  Tuesday we were in Cortona for one of the cooking classes and then some free time in the village.  Today we were first at the Radda Cashmere Goat Farm, then another winery for tastings and lunch followed by a guided walking tour in Sienna, a little free time and dinner before coming back to Radda. Tomorrow we are headed to Florence early for a very full day with food and wine tour, museum and a little free time, ending the day with a barbecue.

As you can see it has been a very busy and full five days with still two more to go with this unique and wonderful tour company – Culture Discovery.

Firenza or Florence for those in the states is truly beautiful.  The people here are very friendly and willing to give directions as the streets can be sometimes confusing.  I have really enjoyed walking around the city, there is always something new to discover.  It is definitely the capital of leather products.  There are several areas in the city where leather and cashmere vendors set up their products.  I watched last night as several of them closed up their displays.  Several of them were associated with store fronts in the train station area and simply moved their products into their stores.  However several of the vendors carts/displays are on wheels and after bagging and packing their carts they actually move them by hand to storage.

Think about this for a minute, these people everyday get up early to move their cart into position, then unwrap all of their goods and display them.  After a very long day whether the weather is good or bad they then pack it up and move it to storage again.  All I can say is I am impressed, I have thought often what a pain it has been to pack and unpack 2 suitcases and move them from location to location.  My suitcases are small in comparison to the vendor carts.  Plus they are doing it twice a day and I am packing/unpacking on average every 4 days and soon it will be every 7 days.

I was speaking to one of the vendors today and he told me there are basically 3 factories that the vendors are able to purchase stock.  Many of the high end lines also use those same 3 factories which is why you are able to get similar style bags, jackets and belts as those in the name brand lines.  One store front told me the name of three high end stores that have them produce products labeled as the stores own line.  Makes a person think twice about paying for something that is branded.

On a fashion note, the big thing in Italy is bright colored tennis shoes by the tourists.  They don’t have to go with the rest of the outfit they just have to be bright and bold.  One woman had on neon purple tennis shoes, a light blue long sweater, red top and black pants.  I saw several women with bright pink or neon orange.  Italian women for the most part do not wear tennis shoes, they wear either tailored shoes or heels. I also noticed that the Italians wear wool or leather even in 70 degree weather with the obligatory scarf around the neck.  I was told the Italians can spot a tourist by the way they wear their scarf.  I personally cannot see myself wearing a scarf in hot weather but it is a staple to most Italians.  Another fashion item I have noted are the men’s cross body bags.  Most European men use them on a regular basis, the American men are still using either the fanny pack or a backpack.  As far as pants length goes for men in Italy most hems stop above the shoe line with a cuff or if they are skinny pants they are rolled above the ankle.

It was obviously a fun day to people watch for me today.  I did not walk as far as I expected but after I calculated the number of miles I have already walked in 31 days my total going into tomorrow is 312.64 miles which is 10.08 per day.  I have decided to extend my trip by a week so I can go back to France and Provence to see the lavender fields.  So tomorrow I head to the Tuscany region with the tour company Culture Discovery.  I have been told that Wifi may be spotty so check out Culture Discovery on Facebook and their website as they will be posting pictures throughout the week.  After Tuscany it is on to Rome or as the Italians call it Roma.  Ciao!!!

So far Florence has been simply incredible.  It is such a beautiful city and I have barely started to see all of the sites.  Yesterday I arrived around 3:45 and checked into my place which is just 10 minutes walk from the train station.  The tourist information center is right across the street from the train station and has the Florence 72 Museum pass.  That is access to 72 museums or sites for 72 hours for 72 euros.  This is a great deal that comes along with a map of the city  and if you buy the plus card then you also have access to free wifi.

I walked around yesterday just to get to know the area a little before I started exploring.  I had a great dinner at Casalinga – incredible food, very casual and service was excellent.  Today I took out my map and began planning which museums and sites I wanted to see.  I was able to get hit four today – there is no way to rush the museums and cathedrals here.  As I began to pull out my camera for the first cathedral I stopped, because I knew I would not be able to capture the feeling of peace and wonder when you look at the al frescos or the marble statues.