Northern Italy 2

Today Michael and I made the short drive north to the small town of Cloz where his great grandfather, Giovanni Pietro Floretta, emigrated from to go to work in the mines of Wyoming. The drive was amazing, as the narrow roads meandered up the mountain. We passed orchard after orchard of apples, which is the area's primary export. And each town overlooked the beautiful valley, bordered on all sides by the dramatic green mountains.

Upon arriving in the town, we noticed a small cemetery and decided to walk around and look at the tombstones. Incredibly, almost a quarter of them were Florettas! We then headed for town hall and inquired about the Floretta history. The secretary called the mayor, Maria Floretta, and she came down to meet us. She was extremely welcoming and gracious to us, and her assistants helped in the Floretta research. Though the name is very common in Cloz, they were able to track down information on Giovanni and his relatives....which even showed Michael's relation to Maria! Maria also took us to the house that Michael's family used to live in. It was a wonderful and extremely educational day.

We returned in the late afternoon to Trento. We had a delicious dinner outside in the town square at an Italian/Austrian restaurant, where we had pizza and bratwurst.

Northern Italy 1

We left the beautiful Cinque Terre this morning after our final breakfast and freshly squeezed juice on the veranda. We drove north through the Italian countryside for about 3.5 hours to reach or destination of the town Trento. This area is most popular in the winter for skiing, as the land is extremely mountainous. We are close to the Alps, and it is absolutely breathtaking here! Our hotel, Villa Madruzzo, is a beautiful old red and yellow estate perched atop a hill overlooking Trento. The room is incredible as well...it is beautifully decorated with high ceilings and a view from every window! They even had champagne and fresh fruit waiting for us.

After settling in, we drove into the town square and walked around the piazza. We finished off the evening with a delicious pizza and gelato, of which we still can't seem to get enough of.

Tomorrow morning we will drive up to Cloz, a town an hour away with a population of about 700. Cloz is where the Floretta's are originally from, and our hope is to see if we can connect with any distant relatives. We have not contacted anyone at this point, so our plan is to go to City Hall and talk to the mayor....Mary Floretta. Perhaps she can steer us in the right direction....

Cinque Terre 2

It was a perfect, sunny and warm day in Monterroso! Michael and I had breakfast and fresh juice on the veranda this morning. Already by 9am it was hot! We decided to be less ambitious than we had planned and spend the day at the beach rather than going for a hike. So literally, we spent the entire day at the beach!! And a small word of advice, really cheap Italian sunscreen is really cheap for a reason. I deduced that it is actually just all the remnants of hotel shampoo relabled and bottled. On the plus side, my giant bright red mosquito bites aren't as noticeable anymore and my skin has a nice glossy shine to it.

After a long day in the sun, we showered and decided to go for an early evening hike up to a mausoleum that is perched on the cliffs. The walk was short (thankfully) and absolutely beautiful. It was amazing to see all the differences of a town built into a cliff, such as vertically grown crops and basketball courts with a panoramic views of the ocean.

We finished the day with a fresh seafood pasta dinner and, of course, more gelato :)

Cinque Terre 1

After a wonderful time in Tuscany, Michael and I checked out of our Siena bed and breakfast this morning and drove 2.5 hours northwest to Cinque Terre. The name refers to the five towns that are built into the cliff sides of the Italian coast. We are staying in Monterosso, which is the largest of the five.... Though it is still a tiny little town!

We arrived into the small, colorful town and were immediately in awe of its beauty!! The steep, narrow cobblestone streets are alive with all sorts of eateries, vendors and shops. Blossoming vines spill over the stone walls and there is a constant chorus of chirping birds....it is absolutely beautiful!!

After checking into our hotel, we squeezed ourselves some fresh orange juice and sat on the hotel's veranda. A basketful of fresh fruit and a juicer is apparently always available for guests....which i am extremely excited about! Then we made the one minute walk to the beach to cool off (it is very hot here!).

After a relaxing afternoon of swimming and reading in the sun, Michael and I went back to the sweet little hotel and got ready for dinner. Being that we are slightly addicted to pizza at the moment, we had dinner at a little pizzeria. We sat out on one of the meandering cobblestone streets and shared yet another delicious Italian pizza.

Tuscany 2

Today was such a wonderful day! Michael and I awoke this morning at the Felsina winery to Antoinetta making us breakfast in the downstairs kitchen of the guest quarters. After breakfast, we were given a private tour of the property and the cellars at Felsina. The property is over 500 hectres, which honestly means very little to me but looked like a huge amount of land! The vineyards are divided up by 11 separate areas, each having their own house. A few of the houses, including the one in the pictures, dated back to 1000 A.D. They were built by monks and originally used as monasteries.

Following the tour, Antoinetta made us a four-course lunch to accompany the wine tasting of each of Felsina's wines. Felsina recently was given one of the highest awards in all of Italy for their wine....so in addition to the beauty of Felsina's winery, their incredible hospitality and Antoinetta's great cooking, we had the great pleasure of drinking some of the best wine in all of Italy!!

After an amazing lunch, we said our goodbyes at Felsina and made the 20 minute drive into the medieval town of Siena. Siena is a completely walled-in town consisting of steep, narrow streets and extremely friendly people. In the town's center is the Palazzo di Campo, which is a sloping town square at the base of their ancient lookout tower. The square is now bordered by small cafes and restaurants and is the gathering place for the community. In the evenings, everyone relaxes in the Palazzo and children play games in the square.

The weather is very warm, so Mike and I enjoyed a dinner outside on the cobblestone streets at one of the quaint restaurants. We walked back to our bed and breakfast through the bustling night town.....stopping twice for gelato:)

Tuscany 1

Michael and I left Rome this morning and picked up our rental car.... A darling little Fiat that I am going to try to smuggle on the plane somehow. We drove through the beautiful Tuscan hillside to the town of Orvietto. We visited Le Velette winery, which The Vintage's wine purveyor arranged for us. We toured the winery that dated back over 2000 years, and we tasted through their incredible selection of wine. The tasting and tour were done by the owner, and his son served us a wonderful selection of Italian meats and cheeses to accompany the tasting.

After Orvietto, we continued on north to the winery Felsina in the Chianti region. Felsina is a family run and award winning winery in the small town of Castelnuovo Berardenga. They had our room ready, along with two bottles of wine and the privacy of the entire guest quarters! They informed us they would be serving us breakfast tomorrow morning, along with a private tasting and tour of the grounds.

After we unpacked, we walked into town and had the best meal we have ever had at a small taverna....And this time I am really serious about the best food ever! It was house made pesto with handmade pasta, accompanied by tri-tip steak and insalata mista (mixed green salad). We almost ordered more pasta to go, but we were too embarrassed. We look forward to many more best meals ever to come!

Rome 2

Michael and I spent the day Rome-ing the streets. We started with the best pizza we've ever had at a small ristorante on the way to the Coliseum. Afterwards we made our way to the Vatican City. The first stop was St. Peter's Basilica, which was by far the most impressive architecture we have seen! (Michael is currently giving me a hard time about my writing with hyperbole....which I also just had to look up the meaning of). We continued on to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. At the end of the longest day of walking we've ever had, we decided it was time for more pizza.....which ended up also being the best pizza we've ever had. All in all, it was probably the best day ever.

Rome 1

We got into Rome around 4 in the afternoon. We checked into the hotel and were very pleased to find out that they had a washer and dryer. So the first thing we did in Rome was...our laundry! We sat on the roof of our hotel enjoying a 6 dollar bottle of wine purchased from one of the coolest vending machines we have ever seen.

Finally, we were on to dinner of pasta with Italian sausage, braised chicken, and sautéed chard. The rest of the pictures are of the night walk we took visiting the Pantheon, the Spanish Steps, Campo de Fiori, Piazza Novana, and Trevi Fountain.

Pinxtos

The first picture below has two types of pinxtos in it. The top pinxto is smoked salmon with cavier and hard boiled egg. The other two are Gilda, which we made at the cooking class and every pinxto bar has to offer. It's only a few Basque peppers, one anchovy and one or two olives on a toothpick. It is one of the first pinxtos ever and was named after the movie Gilda because they thought it was as beautiful and attractive as Rita Hayward herself. The second picture is of Rita Hayward herself. The third picture below is of a pinxto recommended to us by a local, and it is only sirloin steak with some pickled bell peppers and sea salt. The fourth picture is of the Basque sausage called chorizo and two anchovy pinxtos, one with diced bell peppers and the other with a fresh blueberry sauce. The fifth picture is of a pinxto recommended to us by one of the locals and it's simply called mini-burger. It is Kobe beef done rare on homemade tiny buns served with a few banana chips. We also had some pinxtos that were not very good (not pictured). We are also not stepping near a scale to weigh ourselves anytime soon.