whirlwind tour with Gpa and Gma, part 2 (of 2).... ROME!

When in Rome...

...follow James.

James spent months in Rome as a student, and visited again as a graduate student and teaching assistant. He is both fond of and familiar with the city. Even better, since he was studying as an architect his homework was literally to study Rome's grid, buildings, map and structures. We all benefited.

He often says a lifetime isn't enough time to explore and appreciate Rome. We only had four days.

So began our tour. We landed in an apartment for a few nights, in the heart of the city. It worked well enough for sleeping six, even with its character flaws (bathroom was through all the bedrooms, the only way to have a hot bath in the bathtub was to boil 3 pots of water---no shower, who should sleep on the very short, single bed in the living room?). The location was fabulous, near a grocer for snacks/breakfast and cozy enough.

The first day we walked around the city with our fabulous guide (thanks James... can you hold that umbrella-marker higher? So we can see you?), and dined in the piazza near the Pantheon. In 3 1/2 days we saw/did the following:

1. The Pantheon
2. The Colosseum
3. Campo dei Fiori
4. Michelangelo's Moses (S. Pietro in Vincoli)
5. Spanish Steps (Piazza di Spagna)
6. Trevi Fountain
7. The Vatican
8. Saint Peters Basilica (Michelangelo's Pieta; St. Peter's Square)
9. The Sistine Chapel (breathtaking! We came home with a puzzle of the Last Judgment!)
10. DOOR to prison where Peter and Paul were chained (bummer not open, but still cool)
11. Piazza del Campidoglio (equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius)
12. Musei Capitolini  (incl famous originals of: the She-wolf, Boy with Splinter)
13. Piazza Navone
14. Great meals: near the Colosseum, near the Trevi
15. Piazza del Popolo (just James and Janelle---late night walk)
16. Roman Forum

Food treats: pastries, Nutella crepes, breakfast from the Campo dei Fiori market, dinner at Vineria Il Chianti (near the Trevi Fountain).

We also briefly saw the Circus Maximus, the Constantine Arch, the Trajan Forum and La Bocca della Verita (the mouth of truth---see picture of Grandpa with his hand in the infamous mouth!).

Here is a link to our whirlwind tour, part 1. And if you want to see even more pics of our adventures, visit this photo album.

whirlwind tour with Gpa and Gma, part 1 (of 2)

My head goes bonkers when I try to remember all the things we did, places we went, food we ate, statues we saw, domes we climbed, museums we visited, trains we caught... with grandpa and grandma during their two week visit (for a photo album of their stay---click here).

To be fair, we didn't go to each exhibit with them---some museums we have frequented; so we would drop them on the appropriate doorstep and leave them to their devices. Fortunately, our residence is only ever a few blocks from the nearest tourist attraction.

I already wrote a post on Certaldo and San Gimignano, Cortona and Greve in Chianti---4 cities we visited with grandpa and grandma near the beginning of their stay with us (no time for jet lag... time to go!). In addition to those cities, we scurried through Castellina in Chianta, watched Anthony play a [very foggy] soccer game in Chiusi, spent 4 days in Rome and soaked up impressive amounts of Florence.

They left two days ago. And for their sake and ours, I decided I better make a list of our/their feats of tourism:

In Florence:

1. The Uffizi Gallery (they loved the Dutch painters, Michelangelo's tondo and I couldn't get enough Boticelli...)
2. The Bargello (filled with famous sculptures)
3. The Duomo
4. The Duomo Museum (sometimes overlooked by tourists, but in my opinion one of the most impressive museums in town!)
5. The Baptistry (worth the sore neck from looking up and looking up some more)
6. Le Academia (houses Michelangelo's DAVID)
7. Palazzo Vecchio aka Palazzo Signoria
8. San Lorenzo Church
9. Medici Chapel/Sacristy
10. Ponte Vecchio (we walked over the bridge to have a lovely lunch in the Oltrarno; plus mom and I grabbed wine another afternoon---with a window view of this infamous bridge!)
11. Favorite Street: SS Apostoli is one of my favorite streets. An afternoon walk included a visit to a fabulous olive oil store, and a peek inside Santi Apostoli Church (which has a Robbia ceramic often overlooked but worth the find!)
12. Watching Caleb play soccer at his Firenze Club
13. Santa Croce (mom went with her college roommate---an unexpected treat!)
14. Food out: stand-up sandwich/wine lunch, trying ribollita, cerci cookies, gelato run with grandkids, regular espressi/capuccini/macchiati...
15. Food in: sangria, Cinghiali ragu on soft polenta, foccacia, mushroom risotto, pork chops with peppers (Mario), devils chicken (Mario), tuna/bean arugula salad, pasta with sausage/cream sauce, 1-2-3 chicken, homemade pizza with basic tomato sauce, pancetta wrapped raddicchio, lots of cheese/proscuitto/vino/chocolate/sambuca... we ate in a lot!

Grandpa/grandma: am I missing anything?

And then there was Rome... (next post!)

Cortona, Greve in Chianti

One of the things we love about the boys having soccer games around Tuscany, is that it forces us to rent cars and get better acquainted with Italy. Even while staying in Florence, there are times that we just feel like curling up and contributing to the concept of home-bodies. But alas games are scheduled and inevitably we rent a car, make plans and end up with more photos, stories and experiences. Even if it is cold and rainy and mishaps occur... we still never regret getting out and about.

This Sunday Anthony had a game just outside of Montepulciano. (I say this simply, but in reality stating the location of a game involves renting a car, retrieving the car via bike, phone calls in Italian, meeting up with team, going to the wrong field, depending on GPS, forgetting umbrellas, secretly venerating REI for selling Smartwool socks and undergarments, finding nearby espresso... and watching good soccer).

This past Sunday was bone-chilling cold, and impressively foggy. Which... keeps most wise tourists away. Actually, the cold and time of year means we often have tourist-laden cities to ourselves. Our visit to Cortona was nearly uncanny. It was so foggy, devoid people milling about, many shops were closed and parking was easy. We still got a great sense of the city, found soul-warming coffee and enjoyed a fabulous, cozy lunch. We visited one of the churches, found ceramic shops and walked up and down a number of streets. We saw about a third of the city, and hope to return again someday.

Greve in Chianti is a treat. It is the icon city of the Chianti Classico region of Tuscany (Chianti has 8 different regions, and the Chianti Classico region is the best-known, not only because they have fabulously marketed their wines, but they are the only region allowed to boast that fabulous black rooster motif). And Greve is tourist-ready: full of impressive shops, piled with souvenirs of the Chianti region, a world-class butcher shop (macellaria) and a line-up of restaurants worthy of a visit. We arrived a bit late to the city, but had just enough time to poke into the butcher, peek into some wine and clothing shops and get a sense of the city.

Oh, and did I mention we almost ran into a small group of wild boar? My favorite new animal to eat and adore are cinghiale. Our new family favorite animal is easily the infamous, Tuscan wild boar. They make the best salami, prosciutto, sausage, ragu, sauce... and entertainment. It was awesome to see 4 of them jet across the road in front of our little car.