Sunday, November 28, 2010
Hiking in the Dolomites
I just realized that at the rate I've been going by the time I finish my Italy recaps, we will be back in Italy! Andiamo!
We ended up doing a few good hikes while we were staying in Castelrotto. On our first full day there we decided to do an all day hike up to a plateau that was essentially "behind" the town. When we were about 1/2 way to the top we saw the first dusting of snow...
And at 2/3 of the way up that dusting turned to a few inches...
Finally, we made it to the top.
Just in time for the storm clouds to come in...
We debated hiking back down to town, but when the snow started falling I went running towards the gondola and didn't look back.
Once we were back down at the base it was an easy walk back to Castelrotto.
The next day we decided to do a lighter hike, this time it was a half day hike that started a mile or so down the road from Castelrotto. As usual I let Brian set the route as he is one with the mountain where as I am more concerned about having enough snacks.
The hike started off easy enough as we passed by a beautiful lake an headed into the woods. We ran into less snow than we did the day before, even though I am pretty sure that we hiked higher and longer.
As usual my stomach was dictating our pace and just before noon it was telling me that it was time to break for lunch. We trudged on as there was a mountain hut not too far away that would be a good place to stop. We had heard that all of the huts were closed for the season (thank god, otherwise you can bet this blog post would be about our 3 day overnight hike to the top of the highest dolomite mountain) but when we got to the clearing where the hut was located we found it buzzing with activity! Turns out the mountain hunt that we came across is a restaurant and open longer than the average hut to accommodate hungry day hikers. We already brought our lunch with us but we stopped to enjoy the view.
Finally it was time for the final push to the top.
And boy was it worth it.
And then it was time to hike down...and down...and across...and then down some more.
Brian blames the map for not being topographical, I kept my mouth shut. We learned one valuable lesson that day...what goes up must come down, and then go up again. Every time we thought we were on the home stretch we encountered another steep climb. I was pretty sure my feet were bleeding. Tears almost ran down my face when we finally spotted the car park.
Dessert was well deserved.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Castelrotto
We arrived in Castelrotto and immediately set out trying to find a place to stay for the next few days. It seems that everywhere we looked there was another charming hotel or bed and breakfast. Awesome, this was going to be easy.
Which of course means that it was the opposite of easy. October is a funny time in the Dolomite region. Since it is in between the peak seasons of summer and winter, many hotels and restaurants close down for a month or so. That left us with a lot of empty options. We finally found a hotel that was not only open, but breakfast and lunch were included. Score.
That afternoon after we settled into Hotel Mayr we headed out for a short hike to get acquainted with the mountains and the trail system. We had our usual luck of amazing blue skys and huge construction cranes - so we knew this was going to be a good trip.
We found Castelrotto to be entirely charming and quaint - and the country side with its rolling hills, cattle farms, looming mountains and forests to be some of the most beautiful landscape we have ever seen.
That night at dinner we were totally caught off guard. We didn't really ask what was on the menu for dinner that night and were treated to a five course meal - salad buffet followed by the most amazing gnocchi pasta course. A super creamy and rich soup was next followed by roast meat and finally a banana cream torte. I die. Thank god we were going to be hiking our butts off the next couple of days!
Italy - an introduction
Two weeks in Italy. I'm not going to lie, it was pretty fantastic. We saw so many cool places and learned so many new things...and ate so much good food...and drank so much good wine...yup, fantastic pretty much describes it.
Our plan was as follows - fly into Verona in the north and rent a car. Drive further north to the Dolomites. Spend a few days in the mountains, hiking and generally enjoying the lovely scenery. Drive south towards Tuscany, possibly stop in Bologna or some other Emilia-Romana town. Spend 3 days in Florence. Drive further south through the Chianti wine region to Montalcino. Spend several days wine tasting. Head slightly west and fly back to London via Pisa. The end.
In reality? Well yeah...that was pretty accurate!
Edited photos -
recaps coming soon...
Sunday, November 07, 2010
Paris (con't)
On day two in Paris we decided to part ways.
I studied a lot of art history during my time in high school and college. Brian, studied a lot about the military (go figure). I wanted to go to the Louvre (as most people do when visiting Paris). Brian, did not. I didn't want to drag Brian along - I had seen that glassy look in his eye after only 20 mins at Musee de l'Orangerie, what on earth would the Louvre do to him??
Luckily, during our wanders the previous day, we happened to stumble upon a small building called Les Invalides...perhaps you have heard of it?
Basically this is a gold mine for Brian - it holds the Musee de l'Armee (Military museum) with lots of armor and guns and the whole history of the French military. It also holds Napoleans tomb.
BINGO - military museum for the husband, world renowned art museum for the wife. So, after a late breakfast of pain au chocolate and cappuccino (man I could get used to that) we went our separate ways.
The Louvre was amazing. Foolishly I didn't book advance tickets so I had to wait in a ridiculous line - but it was worth it (word to the wise - book your tickets ahead of time, you'll be so glad you did). Since I had limited time for my visit and wanted to make the most of that time I edited my visit to the main attractions:
- Ms Mona Lisa
- Winged Victory
- Venus de Milo
These are some of the most famous works of art at the museum - there are signs all over pointing you in the right direction and crowds of people clamoring to get a glimpse of these iconic masterpieces. To be honest, I like the two sculptures better than the Mona Lisa.
Heres the thing about the Mona Lisa (which I am sure you have heard before) - shes smaller than you would think. Shes behind glass and a rope barrier (for good reason, see photo below). At any given time there are over 100 people pushing and shoving each other trying to get a photo of her. I dont even think that they are looking at the painting and admiring why she is so famous in the first place. If it were anything else I would have just walked right by, laughing at the fools who are falling over themselves to see this painting. But...I thought that might make me the fool this time. So I too pushed my way to the front of the ropes and started snapping away.
Next up was Winged Victory and Venus de Milo
In short The Louvre was amazing. Considering I only covered about 1% of it in a couple of hours, it is easy to see how you could probably live there for a year (and by there I mean IN the Louvre, not Paris) and not see all of it.
We worked up an appetite taking in so much culture - next stop was a Paris icon...of a different sort...
Apparently Paris has a restaurant (though I use that term loosely) that is famous not for its cheese or Chateaubriand or pate. No, no. This place was famous for...
FALAFELS!!
Don't believe me? Check out the crowd outside this place (ps its called L'as du Fallafel incase you are in the 'hood)
Why are these falafels so famous you ask? One reason could be because they are cheap - even with the exchange rate this place is super affordable (especially in Paris) and the servings a generous. Or it could be because they are super fast - while you stand in line you pay for your falafel and get a ticket. When its your turn at the window, hand in your ticket and within 30 seconds you have a piping hot falafel in your hands. OR it could be because they are DELICIOUS. Thats probably the real reason. The others are just perks.
After we devoured our lunch standing on the sidewalk with 40 other hungry people from all over the world, we did some window shopping, tried to keep warm and got a snack. Then it was au revoir Paris - we were heading back to London for 12 hours to unpack and repack for our 12 day trip to Italy!
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Paris
As some of you know, Paris was the unofficial kick off to our two week vacation to Italy.
Stay with me.
Paris for 2 days - London for 12 hours - Italy for 12 days. Ok, so Italy was technically less than a two week trip. Details, people.
We took the Eurostar under the English channel early on Saturday morning. I cannot emphasis how pleasant it is traveling by train (at least on this train, that is). Going through customs is a breeze and happens before you start your journey, you only have to show up a half hour before the train leaves, and once you arrive - au revoir! No baggage claim or long transfer into the city as many airports have.
We immediately checked in to our hotel and set off to see the sites! First up - the Eiffel Tower. We had only seen it from a distance during our last trip to Paris and we were excited to visit one of the most iconic buildings in the whole world (building? monument? hmm...).
It was awesome. I think awesome is the only word that accurately describes it. And not in the "oh thats like totally awesome" high school definition of awesome. Its like "standing at the base of the Empire State Building and looking up" awesome.
Spectacular, that could work too. I should really buy a thesaurus.
After spending a couple of hours admiring and walking around the Eiffel Tower (and taking approximately 930483920854209 pictures of it with two cameras, god we are cool and dont act at all like tourists) we made our way across the river. I insisted we take in a bit of culture during this trip and managed to get Brian to go to Musee de l'Orangerie - where 8 of Monet's Water Lilies paintings are on permanent display. I had heard about the unique set up of the paintings from a friend and had to see it for myself.
The paintings are displayed in 2 oval rooms, 4 paintings to a room. There are sky lights in each room with filters over them to soften the daylight. The walls are a creamy white and there is a place to sit in the center of the rooms to admire and reflect. The paintings also curve with the walls of the oval rooms and seem to wrap themselves around you. I loved every second of it.
Except for the obnoxious tourists who kept taking photos of the paintings and getting in my way.
And then I thought, if you cant beat 'em - join 'em!
After that we were cultured out (ok, more like Brians eyes were glazing over and kept standing by the door) so we ventured out for some lunch. We decided to cross back over the river and "see what we could find". Sometimes you leave things to chance and they turn out just ducky. You stumble upon a hidden gem populated by locals. You find a wonderful bakery and eat a meal that consists of bread and cookies. And sometimes, you find nothing.
We apparently wandered into the only area in Paris that didn't have any restaurants. I will spare you the details but it included a lot of walking and two very cranky Americans.
Instead I'll skip to the good meal of the day - dinner. We asked the concierge to recommend a restaurant for dinner that the locals go to. We didn't want a tourist menu or anything fake french. We wanted the real deal neighborhood joint. Lucky for us that joint was only a couple of blocks away. We managed to snag a table without a reservation (although only barely) and dined on escargot, scallops and veal, and a delicious duo of desserts (creme brulee and chocolate mousse incase you were wondering).
Full of good food and a good bottle of wine we called it a night.
Coming up - day 2.
Où est-ce qu'on peut manger un casse-croûte?
Just kidding.
I looked it up on the internet. Pretty handy huh?
(ps - it means 'where can we get a snack' - food on the brain as usual)
Those my friends are two of the most delicious crepes I have ever had in my life.
In the back is Nutella with coconut and the one in front is Caramel Apple (you can't see it but there is nearly a whole apple inside that crepe that was all buttery and cinnamony and delicious).
And the cup in the front held the most amazing hot chocolate I have ever had (clearly this snack changed my life). YUM.
I dont really remember anything else from this snack experience as I promptly fell into a sugar coma and didn't snap out of it until we were on the train back to London. So worth it.
If youre in Paris you too can have a life changing snack experience - just stop by Creperie Suzette in the 4th arrondissement, they'll take good care of you.
Monday, November 01, 2010
Happy Anniversary!
While we were in Italy we celebrated our 2nd anniversary of moving to London.
Waaaaaa??
Two years.
Two.
Years.
How did that happen??
Stay tuned for updates on our trips to Paris and Italy. There are a lot of pictures from Italy (not only do we normally take a lot of photos, this time we had TWO cameras with us. Get ready) that I am *trying* to edit down before I post. Try being the key word here.
Teaser?
Ok, Ok...
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Bath time!
Grab your rubber ducky and towel - its time for Bath
Ha.
I'm funny.
Anyway, back to the story.
Our lovely friends Katie and Heather gifted us with a weekend in Bath as our wedding gift. We have been terrible at traveling around England and they knew it - this was a good way to "force" us to see some of the country. OK guys, twist my arm. We were only going for an overnight, and we really didn't do much research - we had heard great things about this charming town and we were excited to get out of the big city.
We arrived Saturday morning and had heard from some friends of ours that were in Bath over the summer, that there was a boat ride that you could take up the river and then walk back to Bath along the canal. We are suckers for canals (and we heard about a great pub that the boat takes you to - SOLD) so we got on board right away.
The weather started off cold and rainy, but by the time we wandered back in to town the skys were blue and the sun was out! Bath is full of shops and restaurants and we had a great time exploring the town. Saturday night we were treated to dinner at Hudsons Steakhouse (Brians favorite part of the wedding gift) and the meal did not disappoint. What did disappoint was the torrential down-pouring rain, but we got over it as soon as we were in the warm dining room.
Sunday we had heard the weather was going to be terrible (hence, the rain the previous night) but again the clouds blew away and we had blue skys! We saved Sunday to visit the bath houses - both the original Roman Bath which is now a museum and the new, modern bath spa that uses the same spring that the Roman bath was found on! We started off at the modern bath spa and enjoyed the steam rooms and rooftop pool (because the springs are naturally warm, the cool autumn temperatures didnt bother us!). After we were well relaxed we headed over to the Roman Bath and explored the museum, listened to the history of the spa and town and took in the views.
We have to give a great big THANK YOU to Katie and Heather for this amazing gift! We had a fantastic time on our trip and highly recommend it. Here are the rest of the pictures.
Next up - Paris and Italy...see you in 3 weeks!
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Sail Away...the details
Hope you liked the teaser photo from Turkey. And yes, I really do want to go back. As soon as possible actually. Is now ok?
The trip started early - like 2:30 am early - and we travelled for many, many hours (4 hour flight, 2.5 hour car ride which actually turned into a 4.5 hour car ride due to road construction. Awesome) but as soon as we stepped onto Yarim Adalie (our humble floating abode for the next 5 days) we knew it was well worth the trip. The boat was big enough to sleep 12 plus crew members, but we were only 5. Lots of extra room. Bonus.
Our crew for the trip happened to be a family. The father was the captain, the mother was the chef, the son was the deck hand and the 4 year old daughter was our entertainment. Im not sure if that last was was intentional or not, but it worked out just fine.
I dont really have too many exciting details to share about the trip - our days consisted of waking up and going for a quick swim (which Brian literally slithered out of our bedroom window right in to the sea), sat down to a big breakfast spread, set sail for a neighboring island or bay, laid in the sun, sat down to a big lunch spread, swim, lay in the sun, move to our final location for the day, have a cocktail, sat down for a big dinner spread and finally when we were pink from the sun and full of delicious food we went to bed. And repeat.
Seriously, it was pretty much heaven.
And since we had all of our entertainment and food (and drinks) on board the boat already, we didnt really see a need to join society or see other people. We mainly kept to ourselves, sometimes waving to international passengers on a passing boat (if we felt like it). On the third day we went to Simi, a Greek island close to where we were. After we docked in the afternoon we wandered around the quaint tourist town and debated having dinner in a restaurant, instead of on the boat. We took one look around at the tourists and headed straight back to the boat. Much better.
As much as we travel and go on "vacation", this trip truly was a vacation. I didnt even feel the need to read the book that I had brought on the trip, I was so relaxed. Apart from getting to and from the boat, we didnt have to deal with other people, crowds, surely wait staff or annoying tour groups. We never knew how nice it could be to truly get away from it all. And now of course we are screwed. Its the only way we want to vacation from now on.
Since that wont be possible, I guess we'll have to make due with European cities and towns. Until our next sailing trip next summer....
Photos are here - please dont hate me.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
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