mackie17

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)

Hagan

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!

chicgeek

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.

MonicaRichards

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.

JulieVikmanis

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.

SiobhanP

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.

KikiLee

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...

candert

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)!

KikiLee

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...

KikiLee

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.&quot 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...

KikiLee

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...

KikiLee

ttt for hazel.

Brahmama

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

KikiLee

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...