Drive Fast, Eat Slow: Our Whirlwind Tour of Italy
 

E and I have returned from Italy. This is going to be long, so you might want to skip it if you bore easily.

General info:
4 cities, 8 days - There are those on this forum who will tell you that this is way too much, and they are probably right. However, it worked for us. E and I fully realized that we would not be able to do and see everything if we spent only two days in each city. But at this stage in my career, I cannot take more than 8 days off at a time, and I wanted to get a good overview. We're young and we don't need a lot of sleep. Next time I'll go back and spend more time in places. Pack light and keep a sense of humor and it can be a great experience. Oh, and I would only recommend this if you were planning on driving through Italy. I wouldn't want to waste time waiting around for scheduled trains.

Packing for Italy (for those who hate these discussions, please skip this part) - I don't wear shorts in NY, I wasn't going to wear them in Italy. I didn't take jeans bc they take up too much room, though many young women were wearing them with colored, Puma-styled sneakers. My one recommendation has to do with shoes - Italy is very different than Manhattan - the roads are cobblestone and there aren't taxis on every corner. I brought two pairs of stilettos and wore each exactly once. Italian women seem to have a fabulous collection of stylish evening flats.

Eating in Italy - my main problem with Italy is that there simply isn't enough time to eat everything you want. I mean, if you eat two amazing 3 course meals a day, then when do you have time (and stomach room) to eat copious amounts of gelato, focaccia, and cheese??? No, you don't have to order every course at lunch, and if you want to ever fit in your wardrobe again, you probably shouldn't. The waiters won't curse you, at least not to your face. I highly recommend lengthy 3 course dinners though. And wine with every meal. With at least one bottle of acqua frizzante. (Don't underestimate the power of drinking water. Between standing out in the sun all day and the increased wine consumption, you really need it.)

Driving in Italy - E's one request this trip was to visit Maranello and the Ferrari museum. (Lest you think him a total airhead, he has lived in Italy before, and has seen most of the major cultural sites.) So there was no way we were taking the train. Driving in Italy is an experience. Italians are excellent drivers - they pick a course of action and commit to it. And they have the most sensible practice of flashing their blinkers every time they must slow suddenly. But the autostradas are VERY fast. The local roads are VERY narrow and winding. E had the time of his life. If driving 110 mph while being passed by a German automobile is going to bother you, you probably should take the train.

Stay tuned for details on Bologna, Maranello, Florence, Monterosso, and Milan...

Welcome back...glad you had a great time. I agree with the eating and driving in Italy. I love to drive there, not on the autostrada, but on the secondary roads. What a pleasure without all the traffic (until you get to a popular town).

The autostradas are exhilerating aren't they? I would like to visit the Ferrari museum some time too, how did you like it?

Zoom Zoom......fantastic drivers and roads in Italy. Loved your brief report. Hope there is more coming. I always do the BIG cars in Italy so I can blast along. Screeching brakes to wave at the girls in the Turn-offs! I have to agree with you on the food. I think we should start at noon and continue to the morning...dessert the next day.

I like your report so far. You're right, it is way too much, but if you're up for it and know what you're getting into, it can certainly be done and be quite fun. The first time I went to Italy we did 9 cities in 18 days. All on the train. Our motto was "Sleep when you're dead." That trip was pretty strenuous, but certainly enjoyed.

Looking forward to the rest of your report....

Love your title & the report so far. This trip is right up my DH's alley. We'd love to see the Ferarri museum too! Fantastic! Can't wait for the next installment! Trish

Hi kiki,

>...there simply isn't enough time to eat everything you want.<

T'is true, t'is true, t'is pity and pity t'is, t'is true.

You just can't make up for a lifetime of deprivation in a week in Italy...... or France......or Spain......or Greece..

I have decided that the Italian government should invent a drug that will allow tourists to digest faster and thus eat more.

Wednesday:

Arrived in LIN after taking Virgin Atlantic from JFK, with a 1.5 hour stop in LHR. (Two Dramamine and a glass of wine and I was out for most of the flight.) Bad weather in London (is there good weather in London?) delayed the first flight's landing. As I had to switch terminals I would have missed my second flight had it left on time. Luckily for me it didn't. Got the feeling that this was par for course at LHR.

Found E in LIN with no problem. (E had been in France working at the 24 hour LeMans - I wasn't kidding about this car thing. He stopped to visit some friends in Amsterdam and then it was off to Italy to meet me.) Air France had lost E's luggage. Not good. We stopped by the AF counter and gave them our 4 addresses for the 8 days, knowing full well that if his luggage were ever found it would certainly never find us.

Off to Europcar to pick up the rental. (Booked through autoeurope.com.) We thought we had a free upgrade to an Alpha 147, which had excited E tremendously. Apparently, we had a free upgrade to a 147 or other car in its class. They were out of 147s. This was not shaping up to be E's day.

Into the car and onto A1. Made it to Bologna without issue, had a bit of a trouble finding the hotel, but a nice man in a salumeri explained (in classical Italian way, complete with exaggerated hand gestures - I think he would have carried us there if he could) and we finally found Hotel Guercino (84 euros a night, with another 11 for parking). We were pleasantly surprised by the hotel. It looks like the website, only nicer. It opens onto an adorable courtyard straight out of an old Italian movie, complete with climbing vines, hanging laundry, blooming flowers and children's voices floating away through open windows as they chattered away during their evening baths. I almost expected someone to appear on a balcony and start singing. Our room was quite large, and after a quick change we were off to explore Bologna.

Guercino is on the north side of the city, but it was only a 10-15 min walk to the university and shopping area. Tons of people milling about. With my blond, preppy look I don't blend with alternative college kids in the States, and I CERTAINLY didn't blend with the euro alt university students, but oh well. Had dinner at a place on Via Zamboni and tasted pasta with Bolognese sauce. Food was good but quite heavy. Finished the meal with a good moscato and a delicious liquor that tasted like honey but wasn't cloyingly sweet, whose name we promptly forgot. (Anyone have ideas?) Full and exhausted, it was off to bed.

Coming Thursday - Ferraris and my unsuccessful quest for aceto basalmico.

Thursday:

Slept late, and when we woke up E's bag was still MIA. So off to buy some underwear. E made the mistake of asking me what color he should get, which resulted in a torrent of scandalized Italian from the proprietor of the shop. Apparently, in Italy you do not discuss the color of your undergarments with a lady. E and the man spent the next 45 mins discussing the relative merits of various styles and fabrics (we were much amused by mee-cro-fee-bray) until finally he made his purchases and we were off.

The drive to Maranello was less than pleasant - we got stuck in traffic of A1 forever, and then got quite lost (well, not lost exactly, we made it but I am not certain we took the most direct route). Pulled into Maranello and heard the sounds of cars roaring by as it was apparently a testing day. The track is obviously shielded from the view of visitors, but if you walk around a bit you can get glimpses through the fence. The sound alone is quite impressive. We were going to have lunch at Il Cavalino, but it was closed so it was off to the museum. It is quite small but well designed. E was fascinated, and I finally realized why they call a V8 a "V." (I know, I know, you would think that after 5 years with E some of this would start to sink in, but nope.) All in all, we were happy we went, and I would definitely recommend a trip to serious car enthusiasts, though not to the average traveler. (And the museum's relative small size makes it bearable for the TCs of car enthusiasts!)

Off to Modena where I wanted to get some of the famous aceto balsalmico. Unfortunately, we got there during the afternoon when all of the shops were closed. I was very disappointed, but a gelato helped me get over it. (I fell in love with baci - chocolate and hazelnut, why can?t we make it correctly in the States???) Strolled through Modena, which seemed very nice, I'll have to get back there in the future. (In fact, I would love to spend an entire week in Bologna, just exploring the region.)

Back to Bologna and into town to get E some shirts, as luggage had yet to appear and he was starting to smell. Had dinner at the restaurant in our hotel - Ristorante San Luigi, which was wonderful. Décor straight out of a West Elm catalogue, and excellent food. Started with Parmesan with Modena vinegar, and it was so delicious I nearly became distraught over our failure to find it. Luckily, another course came and I was distracted. We had a bottle of Lambrusco - a sparkling red - with our meal. I tend to think any sparkling wine is fun and enjoyed it. E rates "fun" somewhat behind "complex," "balanced" or "has interesting flavors" in the qualities he desires in a wine, and was not as impressed. We stayed late as E chatted with our waitress (who had come to Italy from Poland four years ago) and I tried to follow. Interestingly, the more limoncello I drank, the easier it became...

Coming Friday - Why I want a villa...

I'm excited. You write with style.
More more...

Thanks for the kind words. I know this report is getting ridiculously long, but I am so enjoying writing it.

Friday:

A few years ago, E's parents' friends bought a villa in Compiobbi, 20 minutes outside of Florence. P was in Italy and heard we would be in town, so invited us over for lunch. The drive was great - fast autrostadas and then narrow, winding roads filled with blind turns and 170 degree curves over 100 feet drops. The villa was appropriately gorgeous. The view was breathtaking. Italy really looks like you want it to.

P took us to lunch at some little hotel on the edge of the cliff. I do wish I knew where it was, as the food was superb and the views incredible. They weren't actually open when we arrived (I think they served us as a favor to P) so we were the only people there, enjoying eating outside in the honeysuckle-scented air. (Yes, I know that it is a ridiculously romantic description, but Italy is a ridiculously romantic place.)

Pigeons in NY = flying rats. Pigeons in Italy = a fantastic lunch! So yummy on pasta. Followed by steak Florentine, which was also great, though I do think I will stick with Peter Luger's. Overall, a great lunch with great company. P was leaving that afternoon to go to Warsaw, so he invited us to stay in the villa while he was gone.

Now, here is a very important lesson: when someone invites you to stay for free at their amazing villa, in a beautiful setting, and says "eat everything in the refrigerator because it will go bad anyway, oh, and feel free to help yourself in the wine cellar," you must, absolutely, without question, say NO!!! Make up some polite excuse - you cannot get out of your hotel reservation, you want to be closer to the city, whatever... Because if you don't, upon your return home you will spend all of your time trying to figure out how you, too, can get a villa. (Preferably soon, and without any boring "scrimping and saving.")

Back to the villa to lounge, admire the vineyards, listen to the pheasants, and generally pretend we owned the place. Quick dinner at a local pizzeria, then off to Florence. Wandered the Arno, the Ponte Vecchio, the Uffizi. Had a drink at Gubellie Rossa so E could relive his semester abroad. (Service was astoundingly bad.) More gelato - baci for me and strawberry for E (for some reason he hasn't yet figured out that a dessert is only truly a dessert if it contains chocolate).

I know there are many who disagree, but I didn't love Florence. It is beautiful, yes, and I realize that it is historically and culturally significant. But it just kinda felt like Soho. We wandered the city, E showed me where we used to live, and then it was back to the car along the crazy roads (which were actually safer at night as you could see approaching cars' headlights around blind turns) and to bed.

Next installment: Garga, oh, Garga...

Hi KikiLee,

Great report with outstanding observations and insightful descriptions.

Could you elaborate on the comparison of SoHo to Florence?

Thank you,

==Mike

Very witty report, I love the driving comments. I used to to time trials, and driving in Italy is a kind of parallel thrill, IMO.
But I, too, am a little confused, and don't understand the comparison of Florence to Soho either. Soho-once a deserted manufacturing district, transformed into lofts and working spaces by artists, and galleries, then gentrified by movie stars and yuppies, now outrageously pricey and swarming with tourists. My brother still lives there, though, in spite of every thing, it's just a neighborhood.
The only parallel with Florence seems to be tourists, is that what you mean?? A nice report though!!.

KikiLee----I'm loving your report. ContinueContinue!! I also did not LOVE Florence. I loved Italy, but Florence was not my favorite-----I decided I needed to maybe become a bit more educated in the areas of art and sculpture. Altho David was quite beautiful-----as well as the other Florentine men I bumped into......:) :)

Re: Florence and Soho - I'm not sure I can explain it completely, and I certainly don't expect others to agree with me. It's just that walking down the streets of Florence on a Friday night - with its swarms of tourists, overpriced boutiques, and street performers - seemed much like walking through Soho. I know this is an exaggeration - I fully realize that I am a tourist and was walking through tourists spots and that Florence has a vibrant local culture that I didn't begin to see. (And I do hate those who judge my home city solely by their walk through Times Square.) And I realize that Florence has a cultural and artistic history (and just history in general) that Soho does not begin to match. It's purely an emotional judgment, but for me, while I thought Florence was beautiful and think that no first trip to Italy is complete without seeing it if only for its significance in the history of Italy and Western culture, future trips to Italy will likely explore other cities instead. (Limited time and money, SO many places I want to see...)

Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention in yesterday's report (I know, I know, this report is so long it is hard to believe that there is ANYTHING I forgot to mention) - when we walked downstairs to check out of the Guercino in Bologna, E's bag had arrived! Hurrah Air France! So E looked dapper and (even more) handsome for the rest of the trip. (Though I think he was secretly hoping to have an excuse to do more shopping.)

Enjoying your report Kiki. Looking forward to the next installment.

Kiki- really enjoying your report. No need to apologize for length or detail. we're traveling vicariously through you. Also, I didn't get to drive in Italy. I did not care for Florence either. I tried, but preferred other cities. Look forward to hearing more.

KikiLee -- such a delightful report. I so enjoy revisiting Italy through a first timer's eyes. Thanks for posting.

I love your style. Next time I may want to tag along with you, but I do need my sleep.

Thanks for explaining about the Florence/Soho comparison, now I get it, it must have been a passing street moment.
When I go down to Broome Street tomorrow, I'll pretend I'm on the Ponte Vecchio! (smile) Your report is alot of fun,and very funny,hope you keep writing!

KiKiLee - thanks for the great report - a great read - please continue.

(personally enjoy the shoe reference - always an issue for me as I just don't have "stylish evening flats" which really fit the bill)

Couldn't agree with you more about Florence. It was such a disappointment for us, but maybe we expected too much. We found it to be dirty, even a little tacky, but I've vowed to return someday and give it another chance, since so many people rave about it's magic. I keep thinking it must be me!

Add me to the list of those disappointed in Florence. All my life I had looked forward to someday visiting it. We were there 2 years ago, and I will admit that being there in the summer was probably the problem. It was over 100 degrees, and the lines everywhere were outrageous. The good news was that everywhere else we went in Italy on that trip was better than I had expected. We were in Italy this year, and only passed through Florence long enough to pick up a car.

My memories of Florence are horrendous noise from scooters and little to no sidewalks and traffic EVERYWHERE. Not a fan. I expected to not like Rome for those reasons and to like Florence and instead it was the reverse. This next trip to Italy we're skipping Florence.

Kiki, Great report. Great fun to read. You also seem to have struck a chord with those of us (and apparently there are quite a few) who have found Florence to be less than so many rave about. I liked it better the second time I was there but I still can't capture the rapture that so many profess to feel for it.

I like Florence but my other half really did not take to it. I think the place we stayed in the Il Perseo was gross and we had an awful Pizza in a tourist trap the first night.

After that though I loved it...we moved hotel and ate in great places. He is not an art lover so if that is not an interest for you it can get a bit boring. I should have done some hiking or explored more outside the city. I don't think I will get him there again unfortunately.

Saturday:

Woke up and puttered about the villa. An excess of puttering meant I missed my 10:00 reservation to see David, which in turn means that I will have to retract my earlier comment about not returning to Florence for awhile.

Into the car, and off to Florence. E wanted to park in the lot by the train station, which for some reason we found impossible to find. We did get a lovely 45 min tour of Florence by car. (Although I must admit that I was a bit cranky by the end. Poor E, sometimes I really am impossible but he is such a good sport.) Finally parked, we headed out toward the central market, which I adored. Meats, cheeses, wines, all absolutely lovely. Could have spent hours and hours there just wandering the aisles and inhaling the smells and admiring the colors of the produce. We finally found my vinegar from Modena, and bought a couple of excellent 21-year-old bottles. (For those who think balsamic vinegar is a thin liquid, I insist immediately that you pour it down the drain and book a trip to Italy. Failing that, head out to your nearest gourmet store and get a bottle shipped from Modena. It's thick and delicious, and will go equally well on cheese, veggies, strawberries or ice cream.)

Spent the afternoon just wandering the city, saw the Duomo, etc. Stopped for lunch at a forgettable café whose menu came in about 15 languages. (Did try a pizza with wild boar salami, which was disappointingly just like regular salami.) 4:00 reservation for the Uffizi. I will reiterate what countless people have said before: reservations are well worth the service fee. They were nice to us even though I had moronically left the reservation number back at the villa, and we had our tickets and were entering the Uffizi in less than 10 minutes, while hundreds of people waited in line. The Uffizi was everything you'd hope the Uffizi would be, though if truth be told I think E liked the marble sculptures outside the galleries better than the paintings themselves.

More wandering, more gelato, and then it was back to the villa to rest and change for dinner at Garga. Now, as is abundantly obvious from the rest of this report, I am somewhat obsessed with food. Some people love Italy for the art, or the fashion, I love the food. Fresh flavors, not processed, long meals with great conversation, no rushing in restaurants, wine that is treated as a beverage and not the subject of PHD course - for this I will return to Italy again and again. Garga, after some research, was my choice for our Saturday Night Out. It was the only place I reserved in the States (via email) and I had high hopes.

Complete dinner description in the next post...

Your report is such a pleasant read. The combination of informative and story telling is a real treat.

The best part is that you're only half through your trip (if I counted days correctly)!

Trattoria Garga
Via del Moro, 48
Tel: 055-239-8898

My first impression upon walking into Garga was not very positive. It was crowded, noisy and HOT. They spoke English to us (yes, I know English is a good bet when a blond and a redhead walk in, but E speaks passable Italian and we like to at least pretend we are locals). People were smoking (I realize everyone smokes in Italy, but I still think it dulls the culinary experience). The walls were painted with all sorts of crazy murals, which were actually quite lovely but at first glance just contributed to the overheated, chaotic atmosphere. We were seated quickly, and our waiter asked immediately if we knew what we wanted, and I just felt very rushed.

We took a deep breath, E took off his tie, and we regained control over the pace of the evening. And oh what an evening it was. Once our waiter Francesco realized that we were not the stereotypical American tourist content to order one course and jet, he was helpful, charming, and wonderful. Started with a bottle of a wonderful Tocai, which was excellent in the hot weather. We ordered a Garga salad (parmesan, pine nuts, tomatoes, and avocado) and the "Tagliatelle Magnifico" and amazing concoction of pasta, cognac, cream, lemon and orange that was rich and summery at the same time. Next came an order of carpaccio (which was nearly a quarter inch thick, delicious, and served with a truly astonishing amount of parmesan), the veal limone which was bright and wonderful, and a side of asparagus which went excellently with some of the carpaccio's extra parmesan. With the mains we enjoyed two glasses of the house red. Dessert was a cup of fresh berries with a marscapone cream (amazing) and a chocolate torte. We also enjoyed two glasses of Moscato (it was a long night). The crowd was stylish, the food was wonderful, and it was overall just a fabulous time. Also, while I don't think we paid for a single after dinner drink in any restaurant in Italy, Garga was especially ridiculous. Francesco presented me with a rose, both glasses of Moscato were on the house, and as we were leaving he gave us with a bottle of wine to take home. Full, tipsy, and very happy, I kissed Francesco goodbye and we headed back to the villa to finish a bottle of wine and watch the lights of the city below.

Next up: Off to the beach...

Sunday:

Up and into the car to drive to Monterosso. It is a long drive, but very pretty and substantially shorter than it could have been as E was fully enjoying the freedom of the Italian highways. ("But babe, 120 mph is totally not fast if there are other cars doing 130.") Stopped at an Autogrill for a snack and while certainly not the best food we enjoyed in Italy, it was miles and miles ahead of the rest stops along 95. (Besides, it is really fun to say "Autogrill" with a Terminator-style accent.) The road between La Spezia and Monterosso was just as winding and treacherous as everyone had promised, and E was a happy guy. I thought it was gorgeous, when I could bear to look.

We had decided to stay in Monterosso, and in retrospect I definitely think this was the right decision. True, Vernazza was prettier, but dining and nightlife options are definitely more numerous in Monterosso. We had reservations for the Ca du Gigante - located in the far end of the new part of town. New town is more convenient to the beach, but less charming, but it was only an easy 10 min walk to old town. It is not actually on the beach promenade, but it is only about 50 feet away.

The hotel is small and charmingly decorated (although it reminded me more of a VERY nice beach motel than an actual hotel), and Claudia was very helpful and friendly. The garden breakfast room was lovely. Rooms were pretty, but without views. They were quite small. Air conditioning (which was a must after a long day at the beach) and bathrooms worked well. All in all, I liked but did not love this hotel. While I would gladly stay there again, I think I would look around first. (Hotel Baia looked nice from a cursory glance, and they have rooms with balconies overlooking the beach. I think I remember some bad reviews though.) We paid 150 euros a night which included breakfast (which we didn't try) and parking (which was very convenient, MUCH better than trying to park in the public lot).

We spent the afternoon wandering through Monterosso, which is lovely. E (who may be the palest person alive) is not a beach person. I (the second palest person alive) adore the beach, and we compromised by hanging out on the rocks that jut into the water. The water was cold and a gorgeous turquoise blue, and perfectly clear.

Wandered back to the hotel to change before dinner at Miki, the restaurant affiliated with (but not actually located in) our hotel. We had an outside table (Gigante made our reservation) and dinner was wonderful. I highly recommend the sea bass ravioli. I knew that anchovies are the local specialty, and with some trepidation I ordered a plate of them fried. (Reasoning that everything tastes at least OK when it is fried.) I was served a plate of many little fish. Their heads had mercifully already been removed, but their tails were intact. Gathering courage, I took a bite - and found that they were wonderful! We had a bottle of Tocai, and then a bottle of the Cinque Terre DOC (very good) and finished the meal off (hey, we were on vacation) with a glass of Sciacchetrà, the local dessert wine, which was excellent.

We were seated next to an American family. Eavesdropping, I realized that the guy sitting with them was the famous Sean of RS and this board's recs. As I am not shy (especially after two bottles of wine!) we struck up a conversation. Sean is lovely (and oh-so-charming) and I highly recommend contacting him if you are interested in a tour of CT. He recommended two bars in old town (there are basically only two bars in old town, and all of the young people seem to congregate there) and we went and had another drink before calling it a night.

Coming next: Vernazza has many, many steps...

Thanks to all those who have said they are enjoying the report. Writing it is helping me avoid post-trip depression. BTN, you are welcome to tag along on any future trips. I think next year I am going to try to do southern Italy.

Monday:

Woke up and wandered around before getting some focaccia for breakfast. Mmm... bread, cheese and herbs, soooo good. Decided to take the noon ferry over to Vernazza.

The ferry is an excellent way to travel for those who don't feel like making the hike between towns. (And I may be completely wrong, but it seemed as though there were far more foreign tourists doing the hikes in CT. Most of the Italians seemed to be on the beach.) Vernazza is beautiful - picturesque and colorful, just like the photographs. We wandered around the town (it truly is amusing to see the number of people carrying the RS book) and hiked up the trail for a bit. We then returned to town and climbed up to the top of the tower. This involved many, many, many steps. In fact, most of Vernazza has an astounding number of steps. Consider adding Stairmaster to your workout routine before the next visit. The view from the top was awesome though.

Headed into town for a late lunch. I had pasta with the famous CT pesto, which was just fabulous. I found the flavors to be fresh and brighter than pesto at home. E, who doesn't normally like pesto, thought the flavors were more subtle. Whatever, we both loved it. Fed and happy, we spent some time playing on the rocks and in the water, then hopped the ferry back to Monterosso. (Warning: while scrambling all over the rocks is a lot of fun, you will cut up your knees and feets. My legs are just now recovering. Acqua socks may be a good idea.)

Spent the rest of the afternoon doing not much of anything (I love beach holidays) besides walking around and eating gelato. We did hike up to the cemetery. It takes about a half an hour and I would definitely recommend this. There were silk flowers and candles everywhere, and photographs on all of the tombs.

We had dinner at Trattoria Oscar in old town. I started with an excellent pasta with pesto. At least I think it was pasta. Neither E nor I had recognized the name when we ordered it, but I thought that would try something new. (It was called test---something, my subsequent google searches have produced nothing.) It was a flat, lasagna-like noodle. E took one look and said "Are you sure that's not tripe??" And, well, actually, I wasn't sure at all. Despite my love for all things culinary I still cannot bring myself to eat innards, and this almost ruined my appetite. But, well, it was good, so I finished it anyway... Followed the mystery primo with a plate of scrumptious anchovies in white wine and finished the meal with a LARGE glass of limoncino (which as far as I can tell is no different than limoncello, and equally as delicious).

Off to Fast Bar for a beer. E asked for large beers (meaning pint glasses rather than half pints) and we were handed two beers larger than my head! They were terrifically heavy. Really the only sensible thing to do was to drink them to lessen their weight. Sean came in and we had a few drinks with him. His friends joined us and the group headed up to the other bar (don't remember the name, but it's up a hill by the train tracks, just follow the young people wandering through the streets and it is a safe bet that they are headed to either there or Fast Bar).

Fun, rowdy times ensued. (The bartenders asked me to judge a contest as to which one of them had better abs. Really, there was no way to decide, they were all gorgeous.) Eventually E and I wandered back to our hotel, where, after the stairs, limoncino, and beer, we had a good night's sleep!

Coming Tuesday - Shopping in Milan...

ttt for hazel.

Ok, don't yell at me, but I was doing a search for Bologna And Hotel and found this amazing trip report by KikiLee. I devoured every word and was so disappointed when the Shopping Segment never did materialize.
So I thought so others might have missed it too and certainly would enjoy it as much. What has happened to KikiLee? What a delight to read. And I have some more excellent notes too.

Happy Independence Day to all the Americans. The first time I was in London (before most of you were born) I woke up early jetlagged and snuck out of the hotel leaving my friends snoring away. I was walking and gawking at the sights in Hyde Park and a very properly dressed man looked up from his paper and said "Happy Independence Day". I was so surprised! What a nice way to be welcomed to London!
Just a little nostalgia,
Carol

Carol,

Just saw this. Thanks so much for your kind words. I believe I still have my Milan notes at home, I will check tonight and, if so, add the (much belated) final chapter of the report.

Re-reading this made me laugh at some of our great memories. I'm headed back to Italy in 7 weeks, 1 day (but who's counting?) - 4 twenty-something girls take on Positano and Rome - will Italy every be the same???? The trip report should be interesting...