March 31st:
On our way once again! This time the adventure led us to Venice. My mother and I woke up early, ate breakfast at the hotel, and I was off to class. As soon as my classes were finished, we went to catch the bus and train connections to take us to Venice. This city is something that no one should miss; the spirits it inspire are unlike anything else. Due to the fact that everything was stressful up until my mother arrived, I made the reservations for our stay in Venice. I was somewhat nervous to see how the hotel turned out. It has been my experience that many hotels in Italy are very unpredictable. Luckily for me, the hotel I picked happened to be perfect. The Bisanzio (Best Western) Hotel, which I did not know was a Best Western at the time, turned out to be perfect for us. The hotel was not far from gondolas and main attractions which was helpful. We arrived in Venice later in the evening, and dropped our bags so we could find some dinner before it got too late. We asked the receptionist for a recommendation, and made a very persistent attempt to find the place. The streets in Venice are very small and never predictable, so we never did happen upon the restaurant. Instead, we found a small, very obviously local place. They were slightly skeptical to seat us, as we would be their last table of the night. When the waiter came over, I tried to speak to him in Italian but he was impatient and just told me to speak English. I was a little put off by his attitude but we had to eat and things were starting to close. As the meal went on, he relaxed a little and, I think, realized we were not going to be complicated for him. After a very well prepared dinner, we made our way back to the hotel for the night. My mother had been interested in going to see Murano while we were there, so we asked the receptionist the easiest way to get there. Murano is a large island close to Venice that is very well known for glass making. My mother was interested in a chandelier. Luckily for us, the hotel had a deal with the glass makers on the island. They would come by boat and pick up any guests of the hotel and take them over to Murano and then bring them back. My guess is that this was the best way for them to advertise.

April 1st:
So the next morning we caught the boat to see the glass making. When we arrived we were given a tour and small demonstration of how the glass was made. It was very interesting to watch, it was impossible to make the glass without at least 3 people helping, the technique was so precise. It took them almost 30 minutes to make one very small round cylinder, decorated of course.

After the demonstration, we made our way into rooms and rooms filled with beautiful glass everywhere. There was a sort of guide with us, he was in charge of showing us around and helping us should we be interesting in buying something. It was funny though, because every time we looked at a piece for too long he was right there to ask if we need the price or wanted to purchase it. Similar to a hawk, watching our every move! Now I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not, but without even knowing a price my mother is somehow always drawn to the most expensive things. I am pretty sure that every chandelier we looked at was “one of the most expensive ones we have.” We looked around there for a little while longer and then decided to explore the island a little more; we wanted to see the other glass makers on the island. As we walked from one shop to the next, she did find one that she liked significantly more than the others. However, she said that she “could spend that kind of money” without my dad seeing it.
We caught a water taxi back to Venice and still had some time left in the day to walk around and see some of the sights. When we walked into St. Mark’s square, I told my mother to look up and see the angel. I told her the story of how Dr. Webb told us all that should we get lost, just find the angel. She thought that surely all of us could find that. As silly as it sounds, that is what helped me in the end. At this point, it was mid afternoon. We had made reservations to see an opera later in the evening, but weren’t sure if we would be able to eat after. We were walking along and decided to stop in a small place to get a drink and maybe antipasta. The service and food were so good that we changed our plans while there. We just stayed and shared a meal. Since we were enjoying ourselves so much, we lost track of time.

By the time I looked at my watch, we had 30 minutes to pay get back to the hotel and then make it all the way to the opera. Tightly squeezed, and with much haste, we made it just in time. The opera was small and not at all like I would have imagined. That particular night they were doing a compilation of a few different operas all in one. It was very entertaining even though I could not understand anything they were saying. Maybe that is what made it more enjoyable, just listening to the tones of the vocals. After the show we were tired from all that we had done during the day that we went straight to bed when we got back to the hotel.

April 2nd:
Friday morning, we still had not figured out what we wanted to do for the remainder of the trip. We packed up and made our way back to Sansepolcro to plan the rest of our trip. It was funny how everything seemed to work out so perfectly even though it was all planned at the last minute.

Saturday March 27^th:

Mommy Arrives in Italy! A much anticipated day, good thing it came faster rather than slower. After a confusing and expensive situation, my mom managed to arrive in Florence. We took a group excursion to Assisi for the day and I met my mother in Florence later that evening when we got back. It took a bus and train and much eagerness before I was there. I am really enjoying Italy but it was so relaxing to see my mother, she just seems to make everything better. She has this weird way of making me level headed when all is going wrong. It’s really nice, she re-grounds me.

When I met up with her, I had been anticipating her telling me she had so much trouble she had and how everything was going wrong, but she didn’t. She managed just fine on her own in Florence, I was surprised, not because I didn’t think she could do it. I was over worrying and I think sometimes that keeps me sane. It must have been her charm and willingness to ask questions that helped her out. When I got to the train station, she called my cell phone and told me where to meet her, under a sign in the train station. I was looking but didn’t see her, but I guess she saw me because I heard her whistle. It is hard to describe this whistle, I can only say that it is an extremely familiar thing and my mom and dad can do it. I immediately could not stop smiling. We hugged for some time and then decided to get a move on. We walked for forever to get back to the hotel, Loggiato Dei Serviti.

After unpacking our bags, my mom and I went downstairs and asked the receptionist for a recommendation for dinner and headed towards his pick. We found it with no trouble; we walked into a small door that opened into a narrow room that seemed to go on forever. The room was so long, and from the look of the door it did not seem possible. We were immediately seated and brought water and white wine. As a side note: my mother never drinks…never, so this was quite a shock for me to see. We ordered antipasta of salami, cheeses, and bruschetta. I had lasagna, which was a first for me since I arrived in Italy. My mom ordered veal, she said it was good but I don’t think it was her favorite. Our waiter was very cute and spoke enough English, along with my bit of Italian. Too bad he didn’t have any family in Sansepolcro ;). My mom suggested we ask him out after he got off of work, but I quickly grew chicken feathers. We finished dinner and returned to the hotel for the evening. Waited patiently for the computer in the hotel, the Wi-Fi was not working. Made all of our necessary calls home, giving everyone the confirmation that we were still here.

Since my mom arrived in Italy, she had been trying to find anything close to American coffee. I warned her that it would not be possible to find it here, but she insisted it was possible because of all of the tourism. I told her a cappuccino was probably the closest thing she was going to find. This became her quest for the trip. Once we got back to the room, she was telling me about her first “caffe” experience. She went into a coffee shop close to the hotel and asked for coffee, he gave her espresso. She said she wanted to say “you’ve got to be kidding me.” As her story progresses I am laughing at her. She told me that the man knew she was confused with the coffee so she asked him for some milk and he made her a cappuccino. She told me that this whole time he was snickering to himself and she could help but be completely confused. At this point, I am just about falling off the bed laughing at her. I told her that I knew this would happen and told her she should have ordered a cappuccino from the get go. For once in my life, since I am rarely right, I could say “I told you so.” She just rolled her eyes at me and said she would have another go at it tomorrow. This lack of coffee was an issue because she is used to having coffee every morning. She tried caffe, caffe latte, cappuccino and a few other variations of the same drinks. It was amusing from where I was sitting; I just stuck with a normal cappuccino.

Sunday March 28^th:

Sunday morning was a later start that we wanted, which I really enjoyed. Since I have been in Italy I haven’t been able to sleep in much. It ended up working in to our benefit because the shops did not even start opening until around noon. We walked around Florence for a bit and did some light shopping. We walked by the Duomo of the Florence cathedral and just stared at it for a few minutes. It was even more beautiful than I remembered. The elaborate detail is so overwhelming; it must have taken quite a long time to complete. After wandering around the city for a bit, we made our way to the train station. I felt so empowered to be able to know exactly what I was doing, and be the navigator for my mom.

It was a nice change of roles. Once in Arezzo, we had a short wait for the bus to Sansepolcro. When we were waiting on the bus, this man passed by the bus and I knew he was getting on. I explained to my mom that he was on the 7:15 bus every time I have ever been. He must work in Arezzo somewhere, but it is funny because we recognize each other. It is almost a greeting eye contact. After all of that traveling, we were relaxing at the “Magi”; a hotel in Sansepolcro that is not too far from the Palazzo Alberti. We unpacked our stuff in the wonderfully lavish room. Took a stroll through the town and stopped into the Fiorentino to have dinner. The food was phenomenal, but I wouldn’t ever expect anything less. The Fiorentino is always a wonderful and memorable meal. We tried to get a good night sleep because I knew we would be waking up early, the street sweepers are great for that.

The Cinque Terre Cont.:
Saturday March 20:

The great adventure continues!! I am not sure why I have been perpetually waking up way too early, but I have. Once again, we met for breakfast at 8 a.m.. Luckily for Kayley and me, we arrived in time to snag the last two chocolate croissants. After a full stomach, we headed back out for another day of surprises. This time we were headed to Corneglia . The train ride lasted only a few minutes and we were there. Since we had finished there the previous day, it was back to the trail we went. This trail was more rigid and less unified than the previous two. The trail between Corneglia and Vernazza was the longest of them all, measuring roughly 4 kilometers. I now know I they were trying to ease me into the stretch with the previous “walks”. This was far from the kind of “walk” I was used to. Steeper and steeper inclines, uneven stones and the best of all… the most magnificent views; what a way to take your mind off your aches and pains. I could not have imagined that that would happen. It seems to me that this was a moment for reflection. This beautiful town was dew covered, calm and simple ( or so it appeared). It had me fooled – thank fully. As we walked, with the morning fading away, it became considerably warmer and the town became more lively and awake. This leg of our journey however took the longest time but it was worth it.

Vernazza is one of the cities of the Cinque Terre. It is one that sits at sea level unlike the others that are up in the mountains of ____. Vernazza is beautiful and quaint. We watched the waves as they powerfully splashed against the rocky shoreline. Kayley kept trying to get pictures of the waves in mid-motion. All this walking (hiking) had built up our appetites so we stopped for a little gastronomic diversion. We happened upon a foccacia shop – yummm. I had the onion foccacia though I’m not sure if it was because I was starving or not, or if it was because we were in Italy, but it was DELICIOUS. After the foccacia, it seemed only right to follow it up with gelato!! A cup of stratchatella and chocolate later… then top it off with a cappuccino (the gastronomic experience seemed to never end). All this and we were still holding out for the next city to stop for lunch. After thoroughly exploring the city of Vernazza, we moved on to our next city. To our disappointment, the path to Monterosso was closed due to recent bad weather. So, like any explorer would do, we chose a different route, via the train to Monterosso. This is another lower lying city situated right on the beach. We had worked up an appetite and Kayley’s dad had made reservations at a (Michelin Guide Book eatery ) “2 Forker”. We found the restaurant with little difficulty! RISTORANTE MIKY, fine dining at its best on the sea side. We ate like kings and queens, literally. I ordered lobster scampi, getting the unexpected! When my meal arrived, there was a small bed of lettuce under a HUGE, full lobster and four fully headed prawns. I had hoped that my lunch would be slightly less complicated but it didn’t really matter much. I greatly enjoyed the food and the companionship of Kayley and her parents. How else to top off a great meal, order dessert. We ordered crème puffs with chocolate and cherry sauce. Could eating get any better? I don’t think so. I’ve always heard it is best to take a walk after eating a great meal and this was no exception. As we walked, it was not hard to really look at the city and its beauty. I’ve never thought of myself as a particularly beach-needy person before until I didn’t have it available. This beach particularly drew me in and the rocks screamed by name. Kayley laughed at me because I kept putting rocks in my pocket. Once she asked me how many I had. There were too many in my pocket to fit in one hand! Hope the Italian government doesn’t find out that I’m taking a little bit of Italy home with me. Interestingly, walking around the city, I noticed many homes with ivy meandering its way up the walls. My impression of Monterosso was one of it being a very peaceful and welcoming place. It was not overpopulated with tourists or densely populated with residents. Everything had its place.

Inviting is the word that I would describe it to be. I would love to return again.

Around 4 p.m., we hopped yet another train on our adventure and headed back to La Spezia. We were all so exhausted from the full day we decided to have a cappuccino in the hotel bar and relax. Once back in our room, Kayley and I napped and napped. We then decided to watch some TV. While I’m not sure why, I suddenly felt a burst of energy (probably the cappuccino) and could not sit still. I begged her to do something with me…anything. She refused. We watched a little more TV. An Italian show about mermaids was on. Kayley will lie but she enjoyed it. When the show ended, I was once again bored. Never leave me alone when I’m bored. I decided to be creative and use some of the hotel shampoo and fill the sink with bubbles. Quite interesting I thought. I then took a shower cap, put it on my head and made myself into a Bubble Medusa. Kayley was incredibly impressed and laughed at me for a while. I could tell she wanted to be a Bubble Medusa too but I said NO, there is only one Bubble Medusa in this twosome. So…I then cleaned up the mess and went to bed.

I had a wonderful time with Kayley and her parents. What an adventure!!