A year ago today I was in Capri

We took a morning tour of Villa San Michele in Anacapri.  To get there we had to take a shuttle bus from one side of the island to the other.  Anacapri was very nice and the people were friendly.  It felt like more of a local hangout and not so “Beverly Hills.” 

The legend is that you put your hand
on Sphinx Parapet and make a wish.

Me and my brother

This birthday boy was also our local tour guide.

The Villa San Michele had the most amazing views and was beautifully designed with Roman courtyards and marble walkways.  The gardens were lush and had beautiful flowers.  The Villa San Michele was built by a Swedish doctor named Axel Munthe.  He built on top of the ruins of Emperor Tiberius’s villa.  They both probably built here because there is no other view like this in the world.  The gardens are gorgeous and the view is of Capri, the marina, and the surrounding blue water because the villa was built on a ledge on top of the island.  There is a stunning view in every direction you look.  From what our local tour guide told us Munthe and his friends threw grand parties at the villa back in the day similar to the parties of The Great Gatsby.  Dr. Munthe was also a collector, while touring the estate we saw his collections including Egyptian artwork and a room dedicated to prayer and spirituality.      

After our tour and some shopping in Anacapri we returned to our hotel in Capri.  Then we went on a walk and climbed a hill to find a good place for lunch.  It felt like we walked forever because we were so hungry.  We also couldn’t use our families circling in technique or we may have circled ourselves right off a cliff so finding a restaurant was more of a challenge than usual and all we could do was keep walking uphill until we found "the one."  We finally found a great little place with patio seating on the hill near the shops and a few homes.  The food was delicious!  The Italian Panini and wine lunch combo is now my favorite lunch combo.  I wish this type of lunch was the norm here in America.  If I were to have this combo here and then go back to work they would start looking into 28 day programs for me and rehab because it is taboo to drink alcohol at lunch and then go back to work.  I really enjoyed this Italian tradition on my vacation.  The wine in Italy was cheaper than water and soda, so when in Rome...or Italy in general...be Italian.   

 

Me and Danielle from Australia

Real blooming tree at our hotel, bellissima!

This bull was in front of our hotel.

Our hotel balcony view

After a nice relaxing and leisurely lunch we walked around more and then went back to our hotel so we could lie in the sun and work on our tans.  It wasn’t quite warm enough to swim in the ocean and the rain clouds were coming but after sun tanning for a few hours I had a little new color.  In other words I wasn’t quite albino or pasty anymore I was a little more reddish-pink and I was praying it would turn into a tan.

After hanging out at the hotel we walked to dinner as a family rather than going with our Globus cousins/tour group, little did we know we were all going to the same place which was a funny coincidence.  Our dinner experience in Capri was entertaining because we had to deal with a snobby waiter that didn’t really like Americanos too much and we as Americans love a challenge so we decided to stay for dinner and make friends.  

We found this cute restaurant by the town meeting place so we started walking into the restaurant and the waiter stopped us and pushed us back out.  He very rudely said it wasn’t open for dinner and we had to wait outside.  He was smoking and we were pretty sure he wanted us to leave, we could tell he didn’t really like us.  So we dug our heels in and we stood there and waited.  We watched him smoke, and then we acted as the greeters when our tour group walked by to go to their group dinner at the same restaurant.  After they went inside we asked if they were finally open and the waiter begrudgingly let us in the restaurant and sat us in the back.  It was funny because we could tell he was annoyed with us and he didn’t really seem to want to work, but we were really hungry and their menu looked the best so we stuck it out.  The food was delicious!  I remember having the biggest plate of pasta I have ever seen.  The waiter that took care of us once we sat down was really nice and it turned out to be a great experience.  I remember that snobby waiter; I think it was the only time I thought anyone in Italy was snotty to us and anti-American. 

After dinner we went back to our hotel and our friend Danielle and her mum came over to have drinks with us on the patio.  We downed a few bottles of wine and some Limoncello.  We were having so much fun!  It was our family of four and our Australian friends sharing stories and comparing the differences and the similarities between our two great countries.  I had so much fun that it made me sad that this was almost the end of our trip.  I hope to visit our friends in Australia someday so I can see where they live and maybe sit on the patio and drink with them again, but drink like a Yankee not an Aussie.  I’m pretty sure they would put me in the ground before I could keep up with my Aussie friends.    

Captain Morgan!

Danielle, my brother and me in Capri

A year ago today I was in Tuscany

The Best of Italy Tour

We woke up, had breakfast and then jumped on the bus to begin our journey to Tuscany.  Our first stop on the way was Orvieto.  Orvieto is a town built on top of  volcanic rock.  To get to Orvieto we had to take a Funicular.  Once we got to the top of the mountain we took a shuttle to the Orvieto Cathedral.  It was breathtaking!  The outside of the cathedral is striped with white travertine and black basalt stone which is an amazing sight to see.  I think Orvieto may have been one of my brother’s favorite towns; it was a very impressive place.

We also got to do some shopping in Orvieto and we found a nice little café for lunch.  The food was great and we were off the beaten path so there were only a few people eating there with us. 

My only regret in Orvieto is that I didn’t buy any jewelry.  I really wanted to buy a ring while in Italy and this town had the best selection but I talked myself out of buying because I kept thinking I would find more variety in other towns, I was wrong so I never bought a ring in Italy. :-(

Orvieto

 

After our visit in Orvieto we drove through a beautiful Chianti wine area and then went to check in at our hotel in Montecatini, Hotel Montecatini Terme.  I loved our new hotel!  The rooms all had doors out to a big patio and the rooms were very nice.  The hotel had great food and right out the front door was a market with all sorts of trinkets, Italian goods, and food.  I bought my favorite table cloth at the market there, I am kicking myself for not buying a few more of them.  The charming hotel we stayed at reminded me of movies I have watched that show people in the 4os and 50s hanging out at top notch resorts and enjoying the good life sitting by the pool.  It was a very classy place.  

Hotel Montecatini Terme

After we checked in we got ready for dinner and then got back on the bus.  For dinner we went to a farm that produces wine and olive oil.  Agriturismo (tourism based on agriculture) is becoming a big trend in Italy and other tourist destinations.  Before dinner we had a tour of the vineyard and we learned how olive oil is made.  Then we had a traditional four-course meal.  Unfortunately I wasn’t feeling well so I didn’t enjoy this as much as I would have had I not been feeling sick and exhausted.  I wish that I had felt better because I know everyone else really enjoyed the experience at the vineyard a lot more than I enjoyed my time at the vineyard.    

Mia Famiglia

After dinner it was back to the hotel and off to bed, but not before I did some work for my real estate clients at the business center at the hotel.  Thank God for their slow computer with internet because I had a deal that was falling through and another deal that was moving along perfectly that I had to work on.  I hated working on vacation but I knew it was necessary, and it was nice to come home and close a deal right after vacation.

A year ago today I was on my way to Italy

Last year the theme I lived my life by was “The year of travel.”  My first big trip was to Italy with my immediate family.  I am very lucky.  My parents decided they wanted to go to Italy and they wanted to take me and my brother, which was very exciting for us because there is no way we could afford a trip like this without our generous parents helping us out. 

A year ago today my dad, mom, brother and I were at the airport as the sun came up to catch our 6:25am flight.  Our flights were supposed to take us from Reno to Salt Lake City, then to Chicago and in Chicago we would get on an Alitalia flight to Rome, Italy. 

Our flight troubles started when we left Salt Lake City about a half hour late.  By the time we got to Chicago and reached the desk where we were supposed to check in for our flight to Italy the Alitalia reps told us we missed our flight.  This really irked us because the people in line right before us were on the same plane from Salt Lake City and they somehow miraculously made the Italy flight that we somehow missed.  The Alitalia staff was rude and not friendly at all so instead of them trying to help us they handed us off to the folks at Air India.  This inconvenience turned out to be our blessing. 

Example of the Air India uniforms

To make up for the mistake the airline put us on Air India to Germany and then in Germany we caught a connector flight to Rome.  We were really mad but once we got on the Air India plane everything was great.  Air India is one of the nicest airlines I have ever flown.  The seats were practically brand new, everything was clean, the staff was very nice including the guy at the ticket desk who was hilarious, the female flight attendants wore beautiful dresses and the male attendants wore nice suits.  The other passengers flying Air India were the most polite and well-dressed people I have ever flown with, it made me feel like a “sloppy American”.  At first I was scared because there were a lot of children and we all know kids don’t do well on transatlantic flights but these kids were very well behaved.  I don’t remember one of them crying or being upset during the flight.  This was the best flight I have ever taken; it made me realize how much customer service the American airlines lack. If I ever get the chance again I will fly India Air because of their great service.

So we arrived in Frankfurt Germany, which became a little bit of a family joke.  Dad always wanted to go to Germany and I always want more stamps on my passport so we enjoyed our short layover at the Frankfurt Airport.  We especially enjoyed the customs agent that kept stamping passports without reading them and without changing the date on his stamp while the other customs agent was practically interrogating everyone that was in his line especially the old folks, you’ve got to watch out for the old folks that travel they are nothing but trouble.  After enjoying some time at the airport we got on another plane and we were off to Rome.

View over Germany

When we arrived at the Rome airport we arrived almost at the same time as the people on the Alitalia flight we were originally supposed to be on.  They got stuck on the tarmac due to mechanical problems so it turned out to be a blessing in disguise when we got bumped from our original flight.  We arrived in Rome on 5-16-10 where we found our Globus tour group and we began our big Italian adventure.

For my next few blogs I will be rehashing my trip as best as I can remember it.  Ciao!