Eat, Pray, Eat

                                                     

These last 16 days have been etched in our brains for as long as we live or until we get Alzheimer's (whatever happens first).  What we have eaten, what we have experienced, what we have seen for the first time are all memories that will not soon be forgotten.  For example we will never forget

 Barcelona

The Tapas (Alec's favorite were the "Patatas endiabladas" a tater-tot  shaped potato with a side of a spicy mayo based sauce.  

The Bocadero Central Market.  Specially the meat section.  We saw parts of animals we never ever imagined could be edible!  We'll leave it at that.  

La iglesia de la Sagrada Familia.  

The Sangria

The smells in the streets that reminded us that we were not home.  

The Vegetarian Paella

 Venice

The small charming island with so much history will be hard to forget

But better yet in our opinion we loved the island of Burano

For its colorful homes

Their own version of the leaning tower of Pisa

Amazing picture opportunities of their landscape.  

 Florence

The churches and of course who can forget the climb to the Duomo?

The Ponte  Vecchio

The day trip to Pisa

The day trip to Sienna and San Gimignano two amazing old world towns connected by history to the present day.  In our opinion by the way they compete with Rome for the best Gelato.  

Piazza MichaelAngelo- the gorgeous view of Florence from there was incomparable!

Rome

The colosseum rates very high on our list of unforgettables .  

The different Piazza's we spend trying to catch in the short number of days we had there.  

The best gelato award would have to go to "San Crispino'. With the most exotic flavors that we have ever seen and tasted.  

Finally the language will not soon be forgotten for its similarity to Spanish we did not feel as lost as we did in Barcelona where they speak Catalan.  A mix of French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese.  

When we are about to leave we almost instinctively want to say ciao, ciao. Prego slips off our tongue pretty often as well, to say whatever we can't think of the word in English.  Finally we have caught ourselves saying Grazie to anyone that deserves a thank you,  even at a restaurant in Germany when we were at a layover.  

We suspect that it will be a while until we eat pizza again, after having it for 12 continuous days. 

Every day we got up, prayed for a blessing for our day (and no rain) and ate, walked and ate again and returned to our apartment and thanked The Lord another day of wonderful opportunities.  Eat, pray, Eat is what we did! 

Ciao Roma

                                                

On our last day in Rome we got to see the more modern side of the city, the non touristy area.  A section of Rome leading to the airport actually resembles other parts of Europe.  

We reached the airport on time but soon learned that our direct flight to Barcelona was being cancelled and we would be flying to Malaga!  A hop skip and a jump to the African continent.  Some serious diversion to say the least.  Once in Malaga there would be a 3 hour layover and we would arrive to Barcelona five hours  later than anticipated!

Sure enough, as predicted, arrived to Barcelona almost at midnight and originally considered spending the night at the airport since we would have to be back in a few hours. After settling on a seat and spending about 20 minutes sitting in one position we quickly realized that even a few hours of rest on a bed would be enough to replenish us and prepare us for our 11 hour flight in a few hours  in the morning.

So off we went to keep our previous reservation for our last night in Europe. 

Tic-toc, tic-toc, tic-toc, Our minutes of sleep are numbered....

Good night to all, 

See ya all soon, home sweet home here we come.     

72 A.D. - 2013 A.D.

                    

Today we had the Roman Colosseum,  the Forum and the Palatino as our sightseeing destinations.  All were incredible to see but the colosseum was the most spectacular.  The history of such a place is beyond what the mind can imagine occurred in that era.  At first it was intriguing how a building with those dimensions could survive so many centuries, but some enlightenment, from some knowledgeable tour guides helped us understand some of our questions.  In the Forum area, we were able to see a church built for The ancient god Romulus and another one for Antonius.  Since there were some old columns already at the site where the church was to be built, and they couldn't tear them down, they just built around the columns already in existence (pictures coming soon).

After our walking tour of Ancient Rome, under the hot blazing sun we imagined what the Romans felt like as they were surrounded by pillars, rocks, bricks as we were today.

We had a late lunch at a Jewish Roman restaurant called:  La Taverna Del Ghetto, located  in the Jewish Ghetto of the city.  

Finally we headed to Piazza Navona, according to the travel books it is the most visited  plaza in Rome Italy.  A wonderful opportunity to try one last time the recommendations for the best gelato.  The first place did not have a name,  we were just given directions, the second one was called  Ci Gustai, both pretty delightful but San  Crispino  still takes the gold medal.  As we were meandering in the Piazza we ran into a group of older ladies (including a nun) so one of us decided to ask if a picture with them would be ok.  All the ladies looked pleased but one specifically requested a copy of the photograph , so now we have homework when we get home :-) 

After 14, 743 steps we are exhausted but pleased with the knowledge received.  This  promises to be restful night

Ciao, Ciao

                            

Confessions of a sinner.

" Forgive us father for we have sinned"  We toured the Sistine chapel and clicked the picture right when it was under the most famous fresco by MichaelAngelo,  "The Creation" & "The Fall" .  Disregarding the many warning not to take photographs.  

Two famous paintings that we have seen on many walls, galleries and churches.  Interestingly enough we always thought the paintings were much larger than they appeared to be in real life.   impressive paintings nevertheless.

We were fortunate to sit under century old paintings and observe, analyze, and digest the guides description of the setting and climate of the culture surrounding the era when they were created.  

Besides the Sistine chapel we also visited the Vatican museum.  Once again many sculptures, artifacts and paintings.  Two sections that stand out we're the "vehicles"  that the popes have used to travel outside the vatican (including the one that Pope John Paul II was riding when he was shot at) the other section we liked was the one with artifacts that the Vatican has acquired from Egypt throughout the last six centuries.  

Finally we had a chance to take a few pictures in front of St. Peter's square, not many because it was about 95 F. Under hot blazing hot sun even at 5:00 P.M. 

We are back at our apartment confessing our sins of the day and praying for a restful night and relief from the soreness from walking 12,110 steps today.  

Ciao.

P.S. we look forward to going home and posting pictures for each of the days we have posted a blog, the iPad has not been user friendly with that regard.  

When in Rome

                               

We have always wanted to say " When  in Rome.... Do as the Romans do.  That's exactly what we said and did today.  A little bit of their sights a little of their food and a little of their culture.  

With regards to sights we saw a few today because we purchased tickets to the "hop on hop off" although it was sweltering hot, we managed to spend quite some time on the top deck of the bus that took us past most of the important sights in this city.  We also had a chance to toss our coin in the crowded Trevi fountain.  

After a brief breakfast across the way from the fountain we walked over to the Spanish steps.  Back to the hop on hop off and we finally got off to eat at Canova Restaurant.  An old building dedicated to building sculptures centuries ago.  We ate surrounded by busts and full body statues of some unknown and some known sculptures. 

We obviously HAD to go have some Gelato for dessert so we chose to go to a place called San Crispino.  They had too many to chose from! From basil, white fig, pear and many others... Alec had the usual that he could have had back home, caramel and chocolate Chip.  One of us had pear and melon (cantaloupe) and the other had banana and grapefruit. This was the best and most unusual gelato we have ever enjoyed!  

Our day ended with a walk to the colosseum so we could see it at night.  What a wonderful, unforgettable sight that is!  Such a rich culture for so many years.  

Today we are happy to say we did as the Romans do while in Rome and a little more perhaps.  

 

From Florence to Rome

Today we moved to our final destination before our trip ends. We are now on Rome Italy.  A chaotic, busy, loud city.  Thousands of cars and people bustling around going in every direction under the sun.  It is "cross the street at your own risk"  kind of place.
We were pleasantly surprised to find that our apartment is located within easy access to the Pantheon and the Colosseum  and other major sites to see while we are here.
Our first meal was in an area known as the Jewish Ghetto.  Very few restaurants were open because today is Shabbat, but we managed to find one "gentile" eatery open for business.  "Il Giardino Romano".
Our first stop was the Pantheon.  It almost seems incredible that a building  can withstand  over 2,000 years.  As we stood and admired the ancient building, we couldn't help but wonder what those walls would say if asked what they have seen in all those centuries of existence.  Who has entered? Who has worshiped within the confines of the building.  We were fortunate to enter the Pantheon without charge  (everywhere including public restrooms charge a fee here).  The building is now a Roman Catholic Church known as:  "Saint Mary and the Martyrs".  A mass was about to take place so we eventually had to leave,  but we consider ourselves blessed to walk though the doors of such a historical place.
After the Pantheon we walked over to the Trevi fountain, only to find a sea of people standing around.  Impossible to admire and take pictures, we will have to come in the wee hours of the morning tomorrow.
We look forward to a full and busy day tomorrow.  We plan to go to the Spanish Steps, the Roman Hard Rock Cafe' (we can't leave without our Rome cap/hat) and as much as we can see while riding the Hop on Hop off.
For now
Arrivaderci

Plaza MichaelAngelo

We had agreed that today would be the most relaxed day in Florence, spent mostly shopping for our souvenirs and taking our final pictures around our apartment.  At the end it turned out to be anything but relaxing.  We started by having a typical Italian breakfast of Panini sandwich and hot chocolate, then we walked over to the fountain of Neptune to take pictures. We squeezed in the shopping all while on a tight schedule timed by our dear son Alec.  It was a mere 60 min, then the alarm went off.
Fortunately we had time to eat some carbs (again) pizza, pasta and salad.
Our next stop was Boboli Gardens (so that's where the name comes from!).  A beautiful place to go and take pictures of the city, which means of course we had to climb quite a bit of stairs to get there.
Finally we walked up to Plaza MichelAngelo, a place also high above the city, which also meant walking up several flight of stairs.  In total Alec's Nike fuel band recorded over 14,000 steps taken today.  Compared to a typical day back home of  2,000  steps. It is clear how much we have traveled in one day.
Good Night is perhaps the best thing to say after all that  walking.
Good night,

Ciao

Under the Tuscan Sun

                                       

Thanks to the recommendation of our friend Pablo, we purchased a day trip to Siena and San Gimignano   We are happy that we followed advise and even happier that we have friends with good taste like us:-).  

Siena is a small and aristocratic town roughly about an hour away from Florence.  It is where the Il Paliotakes place every year (a horse race around the small town. Our tour guide also said it was a stop during medieval times for people traveling.  We loved Siena because it has no street vendors, no beggars and it is immaculate  clean. There are beautiful cathedrals (as there are in most of Europe) with rich history.  The road we traveled from Florence to Siena and Siena to San Gimignano  reminded us of the roads in Northern CA in Napa.  Hilly, green with many vineyards.  I would imagine that if Italians travel to Northern Ca they would be reminded of Tuscany.   

Our second stop was San Gimignano a town  that adopted it's name around 450 A.C.   It is known for its towers of which only 14 remain; however in 1300 there were at least 72.  They (the towers) are the result of competition, among the most influential families in the city, the higher the tower the wealthier.  Even though centuries have past the old world charm remains and the prestige can be observed in the beauty that has been preserved.  

We have learned much about Tuscan history today and have gotten in over 9,000 steps according to Alec's Nike fuel band.  It is definitely time to get some rest.   

Ciao, Ciao 

Buona Notte 

Two Duomos in one day.

Five years ago we when we traveled to this continent we had the opportunity to climb the 667 stairs at the Eiffel Tower.   Today it was less stairs,  463to be exact, but much more perilous and exhausting.  The stairs are more like a ladder in some parts and in others they wind and wind and wind in complete circles. So much so that we could feel the dizziness even a few hours later. The space where the stairs are contained is also significantly reduced, thus giving you a feeling of cluster phobia.  All the climbing and dizziness was well worth it once you reached the top and got a glimpse of the beauty of Firenze.  The red tile roofs of every building created picture opportunities seen from anywhere on top of the Duomo.   All would have been picture perfect had it not been for the one of us that is afraid of heights (for those of you that follow our vacation blogs, it's the same one that didn't want to go up the Eiffel Tower five years ago).  We won't name names but pictures will be the unintentional evidence.  

In the afternoon we had scheduled a day trip to see the leaning tower of Pisa.  As much as we had seen it in pictures,  calendars, textbooks, souvenirs, it was a real treat to see it in person.  We took the traditional pictures and will post them all when we get home.  

How giving these 24 hours have been, for in the course of this day we have been able to cross off two items off the bucket list.  In the spectrum of life, it's a pretty good accomplishment we would say.  

Now to give our aching, aching feet some much needed rest.  

Buona noite.   

Uffizi & Academia Museums

Our first complete day in Florence was much better than our arrival.  We got up early since we had reservations at the Uffizi museum, first thing in the morning.  This is  a museum with art dating back to to centuries before Christ (B.C.).  It would have been more enlightening if we had a walking guide to point out details about the different era's and styles the artists used in their paintings.  

In the afternoon we toured the Academia museum, where the famous sculpture The David stands.  You need not be an Art major to appreciate it's beauty.  The detail in every part of it's body is amazing (no pun intended) and what a wonderful use of a colossal piece of marble, MichaelAngelo was without a doubt gifted as an artist.  

Our final destination today was the Ponte  Vecchio,  an old bridge featured in most of Firenze's paintings, drawings and calendars with this city's best sites. It is indeed beautiful to admire.  Specially in the afternoon as the sun is setting. 

The colors of the sun reflected in the river that runs by, and all the old buildings are mesmerizing.  Florence you are an enchanting city to admire, we are overjoyed that we get more days to explore your beauty and sites.  Until tomorrow

Arrivaderci.  

Firenze

We did not do much today except travel by train to Florence.   Everything from leaving

Venice to arriving in Florence was uneventful.  Nice train, smooth ride, timely service.  Unfortunately a vacation without rain or some difficulty is not a vacation for us.  This time we eluded the rain but had difficulty tracking down the apartment manager where we were scheduled to stay.  We spent 2 hours at the train station trying to reach him from a public phone (yes they still exist in Europe).  Finally the company that made our arrangements provided some support and helped us reach him so we could get the key to the apartment we are staying in.  Although the apartment is nice and clean and with room enough for us three there is a musky smell that we can't seem to get rid of even with the entire can of Fabrezee.   Don't the Febreeze advertisements say it works on anything?  Will have to make some calls when we go back home :-) 

Tomorrow we anticipate a busier happier day.  We have reservations for the Uffizi and the Academia.  We also plan to climb the Duomo so we can get a complete view of the city of Firenze.  Hope all goes as planned.   

Murano, Burano, St. Mark Square

                                                     

Think of Italy and many things come to mind like pasta, pizza, boot shape country,  the leaning tower of Pisa. Today we experienced all except the tower of Pisa (that is coming in the next few days).  But we did see a leaning tower in the island of Burano.   Why doesn't anyone come and see the leaning tower of Burano?  Perhaps because there are so many other picture taking opportunities,   Burano is the island with the bright colored old houses.  Legend says that fishermen painted their homes in bright colors so they could identify them when they were at sea.  What a picturesque charming island It is.  We hope to share a few pictures on this blog, wi-fi permitting.  

To get to Burano we had to take the Vaporetto ( water bus, public transportation between the islands), this forced us to get off on the island of Murano and explore a little before heading to Burano.   Murano is known for it's fired glass figures, vases and other colorful artifacts that they create with much detail.  Beautiful works of art that were worth taking the time to see.  

In the afternoon we came back to Venice to ST. Mark square and to ride a gondola.  We were able to enjoy the square but the Gondolas will have to wait perhaps a decade, perhaps less but we will have to come when it does not rain like it has today.  

We could not leave St. Mark square without feeding the heavy overweight pigeons, Alec was able to hold a few pigeons on his hand and said they felt heavy, probably from all the 

food they are getting from tourist that don't obey the "do not feed the Pigeons sign"  a fun experience for anyone that enjoys that kind of activity.  

Tomorrow we leave rainy Venice and head to Florence, thunder is predicted for there, but sunny the rest of the week.  Let's just hope we have gotten our fair share, if not we are going to Africa next year.  Where it never, ever, ever, rains.  

Adios Español Bonna Sera Italiano

It wouldn't be a Leyva vacation without our destined theme:  "RAIN".   As we departed the city,  our cab driver said it usually rains less than ten days in Barcelona in a year, sometimes even not at all, but guess what?  Today was one of those torrential rare moments in Barcelona, fortunately we were leaving...goodbye Barcelona, thank you for the flood.   

Thank goodness the weather in Venice promises to be mild and perfect for our plans.  Although we have had a few drizzles here and there today.  We have not been terribly affected because today we just explored the island(s) and hope to do the bulk or our sightseeing tomorrow.  Today we just had our first meal of pizza, pasta and salad and walked around just enough to take a few pictures.  Tomorrow we

plan on visiting the islands of Murano, Burano, St.  Mark square and possibly if we have time, we will squeeze in a gondola ride in the evening.  Until then 

Ciao

"Oye Vale"

Every mayor city has one and some minor smaller ones do too.  Barcelona is definitely not the exception!  This morning we got up with the intention of experiencing Barcelona in every dimension and as many levels as possible.  So we headed to Barcelona's central market called "Boqueria".  What  a multi sensory experience that was!  We saw things we had never seen before sold in the meat cases ( to sad and gory to post the pictures on this blog for fear of being reported).  We heard Spanish, Catalunyan Spanish, a Spanish we couldn't even decifer, Indian Spanish (a large population of people from India) and many other languages we could not understand.  Oh, and lets not even address smells, because that entails another category that is also pretty gross! Let's just say water is scarce for some people and bathing is a luxury :-(
Some of the best experiences come from traveling and although we did not enjoy seeing some of the things we saw, nor did we like some of the smells.  We would not trade the experience for anything.  Including our evening dinner of Tapas, Paella (again) and Sangria (non alcoholic of course :-)
  Last year it was Aloha,  the year before it was "Pura Vida", this year it is "Oye Vale" to express a myriad of things, such as:  have a nice day,  thanks, ok, hey you, of course!  Awesome!  Etc....
So to sum it all up we can say it was a "VALE" kind of day.

P.S we thought we could post pictures but we were not able to transfer from our phones . Tomorrow we travel from here to Venice Italy and we will take pictures with the blog in mind.

Hola Barcelona!

After almost 24 hours of traveling we finally arrived at our first European destination, Barcelona Spain.   At the risk of provoking, some rain we will venture to say that we are having wonderful non "Leyva" kind of weather.  It is about 70 f.  Sunny and breezy, and best of all DRY!
The sun doesn't set until close to 9:00 p.m. It is not completely dark until 10:00 so we were fooled to believe that we could eat something light, since it wasn't "to late" . It wasn't early, and our meal turned out to be everything but light, albeit delicious.  We had a vegetarian Paella, and a side of cheese tapas.
Thursday,  was quite different, since we had the opportunity to sleep and settle before going out for the day.  We had the opportunity of visiting several famous sites like the church of  "La Sagrada familia".  The two Gaudi homes and "Las Ramblas".  The church is a church that has been under construction for the past 100 years.  The Gaudi homes were built by the famous Antoni Gaudi in the last century.  "Las Ramblas". Is a tourists corridor where're the prices are increased and then
 is done so tourist think they are getting a good deal.
Our final proverbial cherry on top was getting the opportunity to eat the traditional hot chocolate that is as thick as oatmeal, with a churro!  Enough sugar to  coat Duncan  donuts for a week!
Enough activities and enough sugar for today, for now Hasta Mañana (with a lisp).