If I were to write and describe everything my Dad and I did in the last 10 days, I would miss dinner tonight. So, I'm going to make a concise little list and inform everyone that we had a fabulous time at everything we accomplished! No negative experiences to report!
Here's more or less how it went:
Dad stayed in my extra bed at Maria Pia's house, which worked out just splendidly.
Day 1 (Florence, Tuesday):
- Santa Maria Novella pharmacy- Dad loved it!
- Delicious dinner at Maria Pia's.
- Pub Night at "Dexter's Laboratory" with my friends. Dad bought
everyone drinks. What a guy.
Day 2 (Florence, Wednesday):
- Galleria Palatina in Palazzo Pitti.
- Sandwiches at Antico Noe. Dad was crazy for them.
- Gelato at Vestri. Another place that Dad loved.
- Bargain shopping in San Lorenzo Marketplace.
- Dinner at Alberto and Maria's with Benedetta, Antonio and Anarita.
Antonio and Anarita wanted to see my Dad before they left for Vienna
the following day.
Day 3 (Florence, Thursday):
- A few random errands.
- Had cappuccinos on the rooftop terrace of Rinascente. Took some
great pictures of Dad "living the life."
- Bargain shopping again in San Lorenzo Marketplace.
- Mercato Centrale meat market. Fascinating and disgusting.
- Italian Literature tutoring= damper on the day. Dad shopped around for an hour in the bookstore downstairs from CLIDA.
- Lunch at Natalino. Warm and deliciously toasted sandwiches.
- Gelato at Grom. Yummm.
- Piazzale Michelangelo. It had been raining all day and then cleared up. The view was perfect.
- San Miniato church on top of the Piazzale.
- Dinner at Maria Pia's. Dad brought beautiful flowers.
- A walk around the center and a Charlie Chaplin impersonator.
Day 4 (Venice, Friday):
- Took a VERY early train to Venice and arrived around 10:30.
- Dad bought a TON of glass souvenirs.
- Used Rick Steves' tip to cut the line and see St. Mark's Basilica. (His tip: Use the free bag check that not many people know about and get a card that allows you to skip ahead of everyone else).
- Found a nice family from Wisconsin and took an amazing gondola ride through the canals. Split the price 6 ways instead of 2= very key.
- Tried to get to Murano island to see the glass museum and demonstration, but discovered that it was too far away.
- Got the last train home.
- Ate dinner at La Giostra at 9:30. OUT OF THIS WORLD, as usual. Dad loved it.
Day 5 (Florence, Saturday):
- Dad bought beautiful suede shoes. (I insisted that he buy some Florentine leather for himself)
- Boboli Gardens. We were glad to have waited because the previous two days were cloudy and rainy. This day was perfect.
- Lunch at Antico Noe, again.
- Train to Siena for an evening visit.
- Saw the Duomo and Piazza Il Campo, famous site of "Il Palio."
- Searched for about an hour for Uncle Roger's dinner recommendation and failed because Maria Pia and Andrea had misread us the information on the business card which we had left at home.
- Had a pricey, but lovely dinner right in the piazza.
- Took the train back to Florence.
Day 6 (Florence, Sunday, Easter):
- Decided to skip out on the Scoppio del Carro outside of the Duomo because we really needed to avoid sickness and get some sleep. (The Scoppio del Carro is an Easter tradition where they throw a plaster dove at the Duomo and then light off fireworks. Oxen are also involved, as I understand it.)
- Leisurely bussed into the city center around noon, got
cappuccinos, and walked around San Lorenzo.
- Met Maurizio (Alberto and Maria's son who still lives at home) who
brought us to the Easter celebration at their house.
- Celebrated Easter from 1:30 until about 9:00 at night. We ate for about 4 hours non-stop and at the 9:00 mark when we were preparing to leave, Maria was in the process of making dinner. She was confused as to why we were leaving, and we were confused as to why she was making dinner after a 4 hour meal. No hard feelings though.
Day 7 (Rome, Monday):
- Took the 9:15 am train to Rome.
- Settled in at our hotel near the Vatican.
- Found one of Paul's favorite sandwich places from his study abroad experience. The sweet lady was still there and made us some fabulous sandwiches.
- Spent a lot of time walking around. It started to pour.
- Walked to the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, and all the way to the Vittorio Emmanuele II monument.
- Soaked, we stumbled upon one of Paul's favorite bars from his study abroad experience. We went in for a drink.
- Upon emergence, the sun was shining brightly, thank goodness.
- Searched for an internet cafe (our hotel didn't have wireless) so that I could check my email on interview updates with the Citi Performing Arts center in Boston. Didn't receive anything.
- Walked all the way back to the hotel and stopped briefly.
- Walked all the way to Trastevere.
- Ate a fabulous dinner at Dar Poeta.
- Stopped for some twilight pictures of the Vatican on the way home.
- Went home, exhausted.
Day 8 (Rome, Tuesday):
- Woke up at the crack of dawn and walked to the Vatican Museum.
- Skipped the line because I had made reservations.
- Spent 3 hours touring the museum and saw the Sistine Chapel at the end.
- Broke for sustenance in the Vatican Cafe.
- The weather was perfect, so we walked to the Roman Forum.
- Almost forgot to eat lunch, so we just grabbed one of those terrible sandwiches from a cart vendor and shared it.
- Toured the Roman Forum and the Palatine Hill with the help of my trusty Rick Steves book.
- Skipped the line at the Colosseum because we had bought our tickets in the Forum (thanks to Paul's suggestion).
- Toured the Colosseum and filled Dad in on the history.
- Dragged our aching legs and feet to a Rick Steves recommended
cafe, Cafe dello Studente, and had a light snack because it was
too close to dinner for a big lunch.
- Stopped at an internet cafe. No word at that point.
- Opted for a cab back to the hotel.
- Attempted to walk to dinner, but only made it half way before running out of time and taking a cab.
- Had some incredible fried zucchini flowers and spaghetti at a spaghetteria called, Archetto.
- Took my Dad on Rick Steves' "romantic night walk." (Campo dei Fiori --> Piazza Navona --> Pantheon (where we stopped for gelato at the famous, and crowded Giolitti) --> Trevi Fountain --> Spanish Steps (where we were harassed by an Indian man selling roses).
- Took a cab home and went to bed.
Day 9 (Rome, Wednesday):
- Got up early, once again. (This time, we were incredibly tired and sore).
- Took a cab to the Borghese Gallery, whose tickets I had reserved a week before because they only allow 360 people in per time slot. What an incredible museum. Bernini is a genius.
- Walked around the gorgeously green Borghese Gardens.
- Took a cab to Basilica di San Clemente.
- Toured the Basilica and were amazed by the underground passageways and Pagan altars.
- Had lunch on Via Cavour and soaked in the sunshine.
- Found the bus near Circus Maximus and took it outside of the Roman walls and to the Catacombs of San Sebastiano.
- Toured the Catacombs. SOOOOOO COOOOL!
- Took a bus back to the center and found an internet cafe to check my email for an internship response.
- Received a rejection from Citi Performing Arts Center (thumbs down).
- Proceeded to walk towards the area of dinner, but stopped when we saw video cameras and people outside of a governmental building near Vittorio Emmanuele II.
- Discovered that Berlusconi was inside.
- Waited for 45 minutes and decided to leave, laughing to ourselves about the amount of film that had been wasted on Berlusconi-less cars with tinted windows.
- Stopped in Piazza Navona for a cappuccino.
- Became the first guests, with a 7:30 reservation, at a restaurant called Tre Archi.
- Ate a wonderful final dinner.
- Bought gelato from a gelateria that was blasting techno music.
- Walked home.
- Went to bed early.
Day 10 (Rome, Thursday):
- Got up at 6:15.
- Had breakfast with Dad and then put him in a car to the airport. :(
Now, it's back to work mode. I have a lot to catch up on.
Ciao!!
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