nothing tiny, big history (parte uno)

The last four days have been interesting and exhausting. Interesting for many reasons: #1, Rome is different. Lets just say East Coast vs. West Coast. Nor cal vs. So Cal. People are abrasive, waiters pushy and food not as impressive. Mackenzie is about to use her boxing skills, but we are remembering our yoga breath.

But don't be fooled. When away from restaurants, it's been quite nice & a few good eats. The city is a really good city to say the least. Imagine New York (huge city) but you can walk everywhere. Except, by the time you get home, you are definitely dragging (but we had to take these tiny feet everywhere possible!) Metro was suggested by many people, but we wanted to see & immerse, even if we couldn't feel our toes by the end.

Sunday: We took off from our "guest house" with a map and no plan. Walked from Vatican-Prati area across the Tiber River to Spagna. Strolled down a popular shopping district and landed at the Spanish Steps (otherwise known as crowded craziness). The church, Triniti dei Montei at the top was gorgeous though! Picked up a few Peronis and sat down in Villa Borgehese to rest these feet. Imagine Central & Balboa Park mixed together, romantic hand holding and beer belching. Just kidding. But we did sit under a lovely jasmine tree and watched other lovers hold hands. Out of Borghese Gardens and blah blah, more walking, landed at the Trevi Fountain. It was so insanely crowded that we decided to come back later. Piazza Navona (ended up being most frequently visited area), failed pictures in front of beautiful fountains, small sandwiches and then home to shower up. Dinner with a pushy waiter, but good food and home to sleep.

Monday: Early morning for our Vatican tour. We met our funny little tour guide near the Vatican entrance & headed in. Old, balding, joke telling, seahorse tie-wearing, Michael led us past the crowds and hooked us up on some handy dandy audio systems. Overloaded with history, we walked through Vatican museums and landed in the Sistine Chapel. Whoa nelly! Amazing. To fathom the talent from that art era, Michelangelo mastered it. Thanks to Rick Steve's for his guidebook explaining each portion... Seriously, Michelangelo laying on his back in some rafters for 4 years, how did he even paint something like that??
St. Peter's Basilica was unbelievable. The architecture, the planning, the design, the tile work. Wow! There was a small mass going on in the front apse (area behind the main altar), very cool to hear all the singing and see people praising. This place is hard to describe in words, you must visit yourself! Heavens shining down in Piazza San Pietro, snapped a few pics, Belle got a few rosaries & we were starved up!!! Lunch with a jerk waiter, good pizza, salad & gelato. Welp, ended up back at Piazza Navona and wanted some more photos. Belle had a brilliant idea to pose like one of the fountain statues, but took a little spill instead. Nothing better than a good laugh! Long naps that afternoon and had a big meal to end the night. One of the only times we did a Primi & Secondi: pastas, followed by grilled squid (Mack) and grilled swordfish (Belle).

Nighty night!
Ciao,
Belle & Mack

 

 

 

tiny expense, big indulgence

Ciao from Rome! Tiny feet are getting tired & smelly. Two days of walking in Rome and our legs need a good massage. Resting up in our "guest house" (not exactly the bed & breakfast advertised online) before heading out to explore more and have some Roman cuisine.

But before we tell you about Rome, we want to share about the beauty & indulgences of Positano. Positano is a small town nestled into a cliff side on the Amalfi Coast. After a ridiculous day of travel last Wednesday (written about here: http://tinyfeetbigadventures.blogspot.it/2013/04/tiny-town-big-travel.html?m=1), the sun was shining and we were thrilled!

Warning: Positano's indulgence sounds more like Vegas.

Our first night in Positano was restful and delicious. After our long day, we felt we deserved a first class meal! We found the a tiny restaurant that housed eight friendly strangers. Luckily, they were kind enough to add two more really sweet girls. ;) Mussels, rigatoni with eggplant, beef fettuccine and beef brisket...and bedtime!

Our next morning was a leisurely one...a step out our double doors led to a view of the orange and red buildings, clear skies and the blue sparkling water. So very grateful for such beauty. After breakfast, we explored the hills and alleyways, admired the huge lemons, tried on the linen dresses, viewed a church (shocking) and eventually ended up by the water. The sun told us that we needed a nice glass (or three) of white wine. A few hours and a few new friends later, we made our way up, up, up to our hotel for an aperitif (and wifi). Taking in the sunset, drinking wine and chatting with our balcony neighbor (via Google translator), we decided it was time to feed the soul. Another incredible meal!

The next morning was a little less leisurely and a bit more restful (in other words, we weren't feeling too hot). Breakfast and then a nap for Mack and balcony reading for Belle. Around noon, we decided to take ourselves on a nice hike by the water's side (since we missed out in CT). Tennies on and go! Oh boy, did we earn our midday pizza, peronis & gelato! Ha, well we'd like to think we did. Not sure if it was the grease or the waterfront meal, but it was the best pizza EVER! Back up at our room we put our swim suits on (balcony wasn't a waste of space), bronzed for a few hours and caught up on some reading.

Our evening brought us back to the beach bar for more wine, more new friends and some serious giggles and self-portraits.

Aside from the new suitcases Belle bought (hooray!), expenses were minimal due to the friendly locals. All in all, Positano was a fun and beautiful stop!

Ciao!
Belle & Mack

tiny village, big hearts

Our last day in Florence, we took a day trip to Assisi. Early train ride through the Tuscan & Umbrian countryside. We had interest in staying in Umbria but decided to just day trip instead of packing up and moving to a new hotel again.
Arriving in Assisi, first things first: a morning cappuccino. To our surprise, we met the jolliest, welcoming man and his adorable son. They "whipped up" (slow and careful in true Italian form) the most beautiful and delightful cappuccinos. We shared some smiles with Angelo and were invited back for an afternoon apertif (sadly, he wasnt there later!).
We walked up the hill to Basilica de San Francesco. Assisi is an old medieval town, made famous for two popular saints: Saint Francis and Saint Clare. As we approached the Basilica, the next few moments couldn't have been more perfect. Franciscan monks exiting a nearby courtyard, entering the Basilica to find a mass occurring in the front chapel and monks singing in Latin. Blown away!
The Basilica was very unique in its design. Many of the churches we have visited have had a strong Gothic & Renaissance influence: darker, taller and more concrete. San Francesco was adorned with royal blue & gold ceilings, bright frescoes still in tact and numerous side chapels honoring various saints and holy people. The tile work around archways and detailed scenes depicting holy lives...beautiful. Downstairs, a small chapel holds St. Francis' tomb. (He's actually buried there!!) Moved to tears, Belle said a quick prayer and we ventured upstairs to look at the main altar and finish our little tour of the basilica.
Walking out, it was raining!! Oopsy, we banked on a forecast of 30% rain meaning no rain. Turns out, the drizzle made the mystery of Assisi even more real. Up, up, up via San Francesco to climb & giggle our way up a staircase to Rocca Maggiore. We didn't visit the medieval castle but, instead, took in the sweeping views of Umbrian vineyards & mountains from atop this hill in Assisi. After realizing how exhausted we were, we took our tiny feet in and out of alleyways to discover adorable sweetness and stone roads. Our favorite thing to do in every city has become just losing ourselves in the side roads & seeing what we can discover. And allowing moments for perfect silliness :)
Like Angelo told us at the beginning of our arrival, one day in Assisi is just not enough time but we were lucky with the few hours we got! Assisi offers medieval structure, fortress walls, adorable alleyways and a peaceful heartwarming ambiance.

Ciao!
Belle & Mack

 

Basilica de San Francesco

 

Alleyways & Staircases!

tiny side trip, big outlook

Last Saturday, we took ourselves out of Florence and into a darling little Tuscan hill town called San Gimignano. Cobblestone streets, porchetta heads, quiet alleyways. It was everything we wanted to "Mary Poppins" to a few days before.
We found ourselves in a lot of adorable streets, photo ops around every corner, frolicking up & down some mossy bricks, and all atop a Tuscan hill.
Over a view of green grass & vineyards, we set out on a mini mission for "lunch." Lunch in San Gimignano = a bottle of Vernaccia, local pecorino, boar salami (cinghale) and some fig panforte. Vernaccia is the local & recommended (by Emily) white wine! Found the perfect outlook..with a bench.. and some unsuspecting pigeons.
amazing!
Soaked in as much as we could...it was actually sunny!
After our lunch & bottle.. We bought a few beautiful olive wood cutting boards & some truffle infused cheese (melt my heart!!). The time in this town was cherished as we only had one day there.

Definitely an unforgettable & highly recommended Tuscan town!

Ciao!
Belle & Mack

tiny town, big travel

We are a little behind in updating from Florence but we just HAD to tell you about our travel day from hell.

Started our leisurely morning with a lovely sleep-in, bought some gorgeous leather belts and cruised toward our first class train seats for the 3 hour ride to Naples. Mid cruising we experienced Belle's suitcase handle breaking: did you already know that her back two wheels were broken?? So basically, dragging a bag of bricks down cobblestone roads. Also, today was a full sunny day (which we would normally be thankful for) causing major B.O. infused pits.

Arriving 20 minutes early at the train station, we felt calm and collected. The train arrived and the binario (platform) was announced, so we cooly walked over to our carriage. Um, closest carriage listed was 12. We were in carriage 4. So another "haul ass" down the way... We lugged these stupid suitcases on and performed he-man like dead lifts of suitcases into the first class overhead bins. Until Belle yanked one way & Kenz the other. We were stuck mid laugh with Mackenzie's suitcase extended fully overhead with absolute no energy left to push it one inch further.

So happy to sit, read, journal and relax in first class. 3 insanely quick hours later, we arrived in hell... otherwise known as Naples train station. I am sure ol' Napoli and its people & pizza are fabulous.. But train station = hell. A few moments and dragged suitcases later (thank you to kenz for carrying belle's extra bags while she scooted her suitcase along), we were on the Circumvesuviana local train. Crap hell. Admits graffiti & 17 year olds in bejeweled jackets, we experienced a few awkward run-ins with the locals.

No worries, because the hour or so went by quickly: while standing with bags and making sure we weren't pickpocketed. The bus to the Amalfi coast was only steps away from our train stop in Sorrento! Woohoo. Yes, steps away but about an hour and 7,000 unnecessary stops and turns through Sorrento before even attempting to run us off a cliff on the way to Positano. Seriously, this bus almost took out 100 cars and a few storefronts. Sick to our stomachs, we did our best to take in the amazing views of the coast. (See below for how we really felt about the ride)

Happy to be safe in Positano, this town is adorable! So quaint, so sweet. Just had an amazing dinner to mend our headaches and send us into a long nights slumber. Sunny days ahead and so much cuteness to explore. Not sure we will ever want to leave.

Note to self: next time, get dropped off directly into Positano via helicopter. This bus stuff stinks!

Ciao!
Belle & Mack

little direction, big meal

Friday in Firenze rundown:

Late start. Typical breakfast of cheese & bread & yogurt.

Torrential downpour. umbrellas. Ponte Vecchio. Browse, browse, browse. Darling nook & bench with cheese and wine.

Showered up for our 4 course cooking class. Amazing wine bar pre-class (thanks again for the recommendation emmers!)

Cooking class: lots of quick, shouted directions. Chopping, blanching, pasta making... A few hours later we had a four course meal. Yummeroo

Meal:
Eggplant Caprese
Fresh Egg Pasta with Capers & Tomatoes
Chicken amazingness (don't know name)
Crema Catalana

Attempted to "stay out" that night but the rain sent us home. We did pop into a discoteca for a quick peek, to see what it's all about. A few shoulder sways & a potty dance later, we were outta there and in our pjs.

Saturday & Sunday were pretty awesome. More to come on that later..

Ciao!

Belle & Mack

tiny stairwell, big view

Wednesday, April 3rd, an evening arrival in Firenze greeted us with an Irish Pub. We know, strange. We had our first birra Morretti paired with a sausage piadine (thick bread with melted cheese) and a shot of limoncello a gratis (on the house).

Side note: every establishment is rocking out to American music, esp dirty rap and Rhianna.

The next day was dedicated to the sights of Florence. We put our walking shoes on and made our way to the underwhelming (very brown) Arno River. Eventually, we turned toward the center of the city to find the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, otherwise known as the Duomo. As we approached, we stood in awe at the beauty and intricate detail of the architecture. Inside was even more incredible. It was so grand, vast but with an empty feel. Still absolutely gorgeous in the small details it carried...huge bronze door, hidden organ, vibrant ceiling painting and quiet corners of prayer candles.

After exiting the Cattedrale we had to determine which steps to climb; Giottos's Campinale or Cupola. Cupola won! A cold line and 8 euros later, we found ourselves climbing 463 steps in an itty bitty stairwell. Halfway up the climb we popped out right into to the painted dome above the altar. At first noticing the colors and serene angels reaching toward God. And then our eyes lowered to see sinners being dragged and tortured into hell. Talk about instilling the fear of God. A frightening yet remarkable sight! At the top, we had a 360 degree view that overlooked the terra cotta rooftops that led into the Tuscan Hillsides. We wanted to channel Mary Poppins and float with our umbrellas in to the hills.

Down, down, down to find 'David' and all his glory. We found ourselves in the longest shortest line (seriously) at the Galleria dell' Academia. We, honestly, were not thrilled with the Galleria as a whole but Michaelangelo's 'David' was definitely worth the wait. As we walked in all we could here was a voice yelling "No photo! No photo!" (Not the normal vibe of a museum) So we waited till we got around the corner to sneak a photo. It's only a side shot but it's a shot!!

Just wanting to see the San Lorenzo market, we were tempted by the smell of leather and lured in to a store front. About 20 minutes later, two girls with little feet were rocking leather jackets. The best "oops" ever! Spent...dinner and bedtime!

Ciao!
Belle & Mack