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Well, I know I've waited a while to write another blog, but it's been a little busy here beginning another year! Now that we've stopped to draw breath, I thought I should catch you all up before the details become fuzzy in my dreadful memory!
Coming up to Christmas was crazy for the whole household - Rick was busy with work and travel to Europe, Bec was knee deep in exam week - a new experience for her altogether, and I was trying to get assignments and exams done before the Christmas break. We had a few celebrations, dinner at the Meritus Mandarin for the three of us to celebrate Christmas, a school parent's end of year function and even an end of year netball activity, where parents were asked to play with the girls - in the pouring rain I might add! Then it was off to the airport - Bec to fly home to her mum's for a deserved break and beach holiday with the family, and us to Italy for 10 days of touring. We missed being with the Hollands and McCarthys at Christmas, sharing in the family traditions, but we wanted to take advantage of the chance to travel to Europe whilst we're here in Singapore - as it's so much quicker and cheaper.
And Italy.....what is there to say. We landed in Rome early in the morning and had planned to go to the hotel to shower and rest a bit before heading out, but by the time we had taxied into town and seen some of the sights on the way, our appetites were whet - we dumped the bags, grabbed the cameras and off we went!The Trevi fountain was only 50 metres from the hotel and what a first sight - no one around, bitterly cold but wonderful. Then followed the Pantheon, the Forum, the Coliseum, ruins, churches and cobblestone streets. We climbed steps to the top of a hill which overlooked the whole city and even talked to a strange little man dressed in thermals and a roman centurion's uniform! We ate that night on the square at the Pantheon and watched half of Rome go about their business of Christmas shopping and dining - wonderful!
Day 2 - big day this one - The Vatican. I had high hopes for this visit, I even hoped if we called in early enough, that we may be able to pop in and have a cup of tea with the big guy - but sadly we were told he was out of town. We began the trek across town to Vatican City, but found alternate transport along the way. For a small king's ransom, we were carried in a horse and carriage on a tour of the old city and were then dropped at the Vatican. Our trusty steed "Ricardo" (I kid you not!!!) was woolly in his winter coat, and much loved by his crusty old driver. Getting up and around early really paid off in Rome, as lines are bad even in winter, but we managed to get into the Vatican quite easily. However I wanted to leave just as promptly when Rick began to have some fun at my expense. Between videoing an attempted "priest hunt" like a wildlife cameraman and blessing me with holy water, I thought the lightning bolts were about to come through the ceiling at any moment! Luckily we survived, and it really was a sight to behold - so many riches.
We were a bit church and historied out for the day, so we spent the rest of the day wandering the streets, window shopping, stocking up on essentials like woollen underwear, wine and balsamic vinegar! We ate pizza in a local corner place where English wasn't spoken much, the wine was plentiful and cheap and the Parma ham - yummy! That night we found a local restaurant who specialised in white truffle pasta, ham carved off the bone at your table and beautiful pastas - Antonio's - if anyone makes it to Rome, we will give you the details.
The next day was a little more fraught - driving in Italy. We picked up the car (after a little confusion when we lost the paperwork!), and then proceeded to make our way out of Rome, on the wrong side of the road, on the wrong side of the car and in the pouring rain! Our GPS was worth it's weight in gold as it got us out of town without too much trouble. Actually we were surprised - Italian drivers are not too bad - much more polite than those we've experienced in Asia! The most common cars were either Audis or Smart Cars - not the Fiats and Alfas we had expected.
Our next stop was a villa in the hills of Tuscany - remote and beautiful. A young couple (English/Aussie) and their little girls live on the top of the hill surrounded by the wilds of the Tuscan hills, olives and a view to Assisi on a good day. We stayed in the converted wine cellar, a two storey building of stone and old wooden beams. The drive up to the villa was hairy, but the result was outstanding - close to Perugia and Umbertide, we visited towns like Montone where we ate olives with a bar owner who had a cousin in Melbourne, Assisi where we ate weird pastries in a cafe that looked like the Renaissance had exploded in their kitchen (yikes!) and Montefalco, where we ate wild boar and truffle pastas and drank wines that tasted of the hills.
We moved from there to a villa near Cortona, where our friends were staying over Christmas. We stopped at a town called Castiglione on the way and bought salamis and cheese - where we were going to fit all this in our bags was beginning to dawn on us as Rick had already accumulated over 9 bottles of wine, four bottles of olive oil and 3 of balsamic vinegar along the way! Sam and Andrew, as well as their son William were staying in a villa called La Scuderia, a beautiful Umbrian villa which was part of an old estate, with winding driveways, slightly mouldy statues and huge twisted old trees - and yes, Italy does have creepy trees!
Christmas dinner was a 7 course masterpiece in a local Cortona restaurant. Rick is still trying to find a sword so he can take the tops off champagne bottles like the waiter did at our table - big kid! We ate, and ate, and ate and then rolled back down the hill to recover! The next day was more relaxed as we all explored, walked and then came back to make pasta with a rabbit ragout which was a knockout dish! As you can tell - our holiday involved mostly the search for and identification of potential food supplies, followed by the consumption of said foods - we will make no apologies for it - however, it may take us all this year to shift our extra kgs!!!!
After Cortona came Florence - one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. The light was different to anything I have ever come across and every corner led to another wonderful sight. We trekked out to see David at the Academia, then Renaissance art at the Uffizi Gallery and then on the Pitti Palace. I still can't believe how Rick hung in there with the hundreds of paintings and sculptures I dragged him past, but he really enjoyed it. We could have stayed in Florence for a few more days, but we were on a schedule, so it was off to Genoa, via Cinque Terre.
Cinque Terre is a series of 5 villages (hence the name) along the coast which you can walk between (if you are a mountain goat, have trained for a marathon or are insane - or all of the above) as they are perched on the side of the mountains overlooking the sea. We drove up along the top to one of the villages called Vernazza and walked down into the town - a real seaside Italian village. Fishing boats pulled up into the square due to the bad weather, a fisherman mending nets under an awning, waves crashing up over the walls and a stone church with windows overlooking the sea. They have made allowances for the tourists obviously, but as they are now protected as a UNESCO site, their way of life and produce will be protected and kept alive.
By the time we got to Genoa, we were knackered quite frankly. After much driving around to find a place to park and then find our hotel, we were told we had an apartment - very nice.....what we didn't know is that it was in another building, 10 minutes walk from the hotel and up six stories with no lift - no mean feat when you consider we now had over 60 kgs of luggage between us!!!! It was a lovely loft room however, with a fresco on the ceiling and windows overlooking the street and the museum - we just should have paid attention to where the hot water heater was......more on that soon.
Our best meal was to be in Genoa - mushroom flans, eggplant parmigiana, slow cooked pork and Barolo wines - outstanding! Our early start to Milan for our flight the next day wasn't so nice when we got up to discover we had accidently switched off the water heater and had not hot water for showers - sponge bath anyone?! The drive to the airport in Milan made us wish we had more time, we had so much more we wanted to see. But we had had a big taste of a wonderful country which just makes us want to come back - SOON!
So we are now back home. Bec has returned after a wonderful holiday and is into the swing of things at school, swimming and netball. She has a class trip to Malaysia next month and is also doing a first aid course in a couple of weeks. Rick has been home for so long now it's been great, but he will be off on his travels at the beginning of February. He has some big projects this year so will be very busy, particularly as he's studying as well. I am still studying - trying to get this qualification so I can come home and change the world, but I've also managed to get myself voted onto the board of the parents association at the school. I am redesigning their website and databases, so they can improve their communication to parents and prospective families. It's nice to use the old noggin for something business related for a change so I'm enjoying it a lot.
Happy New Year to you all! We miss you and hope you are well. Keep in touch and I hope we will see you soon either here in Singapore, or at home.
Kate, Rick and Rebecca xxx
- comments
Suse Hi Katy, Great blog & really got into your travels in Italy... Ummmmmmmmh food, wine, magnificent views, historical monuments sounds so good! Happy New Year & may 2010 be a year of love, laughter, happiness & travel for you & Rick. Much Love Suse & Adam
Bronwyn Wow...!! So great to read your ventures.. Happy New Year to you both xoxo