Stockholm Birthday

Jim had to go to Sweden for a week for work so we decided to make a trip out of it and spend my birthday weekend in Stockholm.

He was in a small town called Orebro earlier in the week so I didn’t fly out until Wednesday night to meet him in Stockholm.

Wednesday night we had drinks with his coworkers in the hotel bar. Surprisingly, this group of men from all over the world had something in common. They all have kids and seemed so excited to welcome Jim into that new club called Parenthood. Of course, they spent the evening telling Jim about sleepless nights and business trips that ended with their wives throwing the kids at them as soon as they opened the door.

Thursday was pretty much a wasted day as Jim had to work and we were staying at a Hotel near the airport. At about 3:30, he was done for the day and we headed into Stockholm to check into our hotel.

We stayed at the Hotel Stureplan which was right in the middle of a trendy, restaurant filled neighborhood. The area felt really vibrant and was great for people watching. The TGIFriday’s even had a Deejay and the red carpet and velvet ropes at the entrance with a line out the door. .

That night, one of Jim’s coworkers from the States took us to dinner in the Old Town area called Gramla Stan. The restaurant was really good. I’ll have to look up the name and add it to the blog later. It was a great place for fresh fish.

The next day, Jim had some meetings and did work from the hotel room so I was on my own. I decided to simply wander the streets to get a feel for the city and do a little bit of shopping along the way.

On Saturday, we decided to take one of the boats to an island in the archipelago. It was another gorgeous day so was perfect for a boat trip. Although we were so lucky with the weather, the Swedish couple we met on the boat assured us that it normally isn’t so sunny and warm. It had actually been in the 40s the week earlier.

It was about a 90 minute ride to the island, Grinda. After baking on the boat for so long, we were excited to go for a little swim once we got to Grinda. However, that was before we felt the water.

The island was pretty undeveloped with only a few restaurants, a camping ground and cabins scattered throughout the woods. We spent the afternoon walking along the paths that snaked around the island hoping to find the perfect place for a dip that was never going to happen after feeling the cold, cold water.

For my birthday dinner we went to a trendy Asian fusion place that was near our hotel and always seemed busy. We went to dinner pretty early so we were able to snag an outside table. Dinner was really good and I’d definitely recommend the place. (Again, I’ll have to add the name of the restaurant at a later date as I am typing furiously trying to get up to date on my blog at 4am before flying home to the States.)

On Sunday, our flight wasn’t until 5:00 so we had time to visit the Vasa museum. I had already seen it 10 years ago when I was visiting a friend who lived in Stockholm but I knew Jim would love it. The museum is done really well. The Vasa Ship was a 17th century war ship that was intended for use in the war against Poland. However, the ship never made it out of the harbor. Two large gusts of wind blew this very top heavy ship over and it sunk to the bottom of the harbor where it stayed for hundreds of years.

The ship was very well preserved due to the low salt content of the water In the Stockholm harbor so is almost completely all original. I’d highly recommend it to anyone visiting Stockholm.

We stopped for some quick Thai and made a few clothing purchases before catching the plane back to Bonn.

Switzerland - Can we move here, please?

On our way back to Germany, we broke up the trip again and stopped in Interlaken, Switzerland. The drive through the Alps was absolutely breathtaking. It made us both really miss the mountains of Colorado and also get us excited for the Alps trip we are taking the first week of August.

I had been to Interlaken back in 1993 so wanted Jim to see it. However, I somehow remembered it differently. I was surprised to see how touristy it was. I think we both would have preferred to stay in a smaller mountain town.

Interlaken, Switzerland is located in the German speaking part of Switzerland so is cursed with the same restaurant issues Germany. We had a sub-par dinner at a place that was supposed to be a French bistro and unfortunately found a great Indian place on our walk back to Sunny Dave’s (our B&B).

The next morning at breakfast we got some sightseeing advice from Dave who was from England. We’ve started to see a theme here with the English run B&Bs around Europe. Apparently, everyone in the UK can’t wait to get somewhere with better weather and open up a B&B.

We decided to go up the Jungfrau Mountains to Stechelberg to take gondola up to the Schlithorn which apparently had one of the best views of the Swiss Alps. Unfortunately, we discovered that it would cost 90 euro each to get up there so we decided to just take the cable car up to Gimmelwald and then hike up to Murren.

Even though we didn’t go all the way to the top of the Jungfrau Mountains the views were still spectacular and hiking passed bell laden cows and wild flower filled mountain pastures was a great way to spend the morning.

The drive home was quite long. As soon as we hit Germany there was bad traffic. I’m not sure if it is that Germans are always working on their roads or that they are always leaving the country to travel but the traffic is terrible every Sunday during the summer.

Although it was nice to sleep in my own bed, waking to a slate gray and rainy German sky the next morning was definitely depressing. I couldn’t help but think, when are we going away again?

Back to the Tuscan Small Villages - Volterra and Pienza

Volterra
After a day in Florence and no bike riding, Jim was itching to get a workout in the next morning so went out for a long ride. A little too long for my taste so Jim was forced to endure an afternoon with an angry pregnant woman. I wanted to see San Gimignano as well as Volterra but we didn’t get to Volterra until 4:00 so it was going to be another one town day.

Volterra is a walled city with a large fortress towering over the city. I was hoping to tour the fortress until I found out that it was actually now a state prison.

We stumbled across the palace of an Alabaster businessman and decided to take a tour. The owner made his fortunes in South America and Asia and actually ended up being the emir of Nepal. The palace had about 9 rooms open for viewing and the tour included a tasting of regional wine with some cheese and salami. We were surprised that Rick made no mention of the palace because both Jim and I really enjoyed it and found it a worthwhile stop.

We next walked up to the Fortress and the park nearby. The archaeological park with Etruscan ruins was already closed as was the Duomo. We did get to poke our heads in just as it was closing and it didn’t look like we were missing too much.

Our next sight was the Porto all’Arco which was a 4th century Etruscan city gate made of volcanic tufa rocks. Apparently Nazi forces were going to blow it up to slow the Allied approach but the citizens of the city pulled up all of the rocks leading up to the gate and used them to block the gate.

We decided to give Rick another chance on the fine dining recommendations and went to Restaurante Enotec del Duca. It didn’t open until 7:30 so we had to kill about 40 minutes. We got a second gelato of the day and wandered on the town’s main drag.

Unfortunately the meal was disappointing. The best part about the meal was our waiter who was very nice and gave us a free plate when he found out that I was pregnant. It was also pretty entertaining to watch the waiter kill a fly on a large hunk of cured ham just as Jim finished his portion. I'm guessing Italian health codes aren't as strict as they are in the U.S.

We decided to skip dessert and go for another gelato. We enjoyed our gelato sitting on the town wall watching a great sunset.

Pienza
On our last day in Tuscany, we decided to check out a market to see how it would compare to the markets in Provence. We decided to go to Pienza. Pienza is a very small town but was one of our favorites.

We walked along the ridge of town to get from our parking spot to the old section of the town. Along the way, we realized that there was a running race going on. It was mostly older men in the race. I have the feeling that Italian women don’t do too much working out.

We stopped for a coffee and gelato before searching for the market. We were having more trouble finding the market than we anticipated so stopped in the TI office and got directions for the market. We followed the directions to an empty square. We were at a loss as to why the TI office would give us directions to the market but would fail to tell us that there wasn't a market that day. Italian logic.

After the market flop, we went to the main piazza – Piazza Pio II which was surrounded by the city hall, Duomo and the Palazzo Piccolomini. We bought tickets to tour the palazzo. The next English tour wasn’t for 30 minutes so we took that time to tour the rest of the town and the Palazzo gardens.

The palazzo was the home of Pius II (who became pope) and the Piccolomini family. The tour is only of 6 rooms but they are well preserved with all of the original 15th century furnishings. The outside of the Palazzo was surprisingly nothing special but the interior was beautiful. The crest of the Piccolomini family was a cross with five half moons signifying the 5 religious crusades they helped fund. We had seen this same crest in the Siena Duomo.

After the tour we decided to go back to a restaurant we had stumbled across on our quest for the market. The restaurant had a terrace with an amazing view. It was by far the best meal we had during the entire trip. The restaurant was called La Terrazza del Chiostro (www.laterrazzadelchiostro.it) and was also a hotel.

Jim ordered shrimp in a chickpea puree to start and I got the stuffed squid. For the main course, I ordered the black pasta with clams in a pumpkin sauce and Jim got a steak. Since the meal up to that point had been so good, Jim decided to get a desert. He ordered a molten chocolate cake with wild strawberry sauce. Although I said that I was full and would only have a bite of whatever he ordered, it was so good that I proceeded to eat half of it. Ok, maybe more than half of it. I am pregnant after all.

After our relaxing two hour lunch, we headed back to Tenuta di Lupinari so that I could hang out by the pool and Jim could go for a ride. It was the hottest day of our trip so I figured that I’d get to do some swimming.

Hanging out by the pool was incredibly relaxing. It was 4:00 so the sun wasn’t too hot and the sun loungers weren’t like any I’d ever seen before. They had a reclining shield that you could use to block the sun from your face which is much better than my usual technique of suffocating underneath my coverup or towel.

It was a great week and we were both sad to leave our little Tuscan apartment the next morning. Thankfully we’ll be back in Italy at the end of September for a week in the Amalfi Coast so it was more of a “see you later” farewell rather than a “goodbye”.

Montepulciano and Florence (a cultural powerhouse but Jim’s nightmare)

On Tuesday, Jim went for a long ride to explore some of the steep winding roads we had driven the day before while I went for a run and then headed to the pool to catch a few rays. Unfortunately, the sun spent more time behind the clouds so after a little while, I got cold and had to head in.

Walking back to our apartment I discovered a cherry tree which was covered in cherries. I picked a bunch to have with my breakfast. Normally, I don’t like cherries because they are too much work. (I’m a lazy fruit eater), but these were delicious.

In the afternoon, Jim and I went to Montepulciano. We decided to navigate ourselves since the GPS didn’t seem to like highways and main transportation routes but preferred to send us on curvy back roads. We managed to arrive in Montepulciano without any fighting; a navigational first for Jim and me.

We needed to get lunch in a hurry as it was almost 2:30. A lot of restaurants in Italy close between 2:00 or 230 and 6:00.

We decided to stop for a pizza at a small pizzeria with a plastic covered terrace. The pizzas had a nice thin crust (which I like) and the wine was cheap (which Jim likes) so we were both happy.

After lunch, we continued up the main drag looking for the Piazza Grande. Jim had a call for work so we found a café for him to settle into and I wandered around the surrounding streets near the piazza.

In the Piazza Grande was the Cathedral which Jim commented looked just like the Alamo. Unfortunately for this church, the city ran out of money after building the interior so the front marble façade was left unfinished and remains a basic building with rough stonework.

Our next stop was the San Bagio church which I spotted while Jim was on the phone. We walked down the very steep road to the church to get a closer look at the domed renaissance architecture.

The hike back up to the town was a challenging one. Now I know how Italians stay so slim while eating tons of pasta and gelato.

Before leaving Montepulciano we had try some of their famous wine so stopped at a wine store/ bar so Jim could sample the Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. After drinking some really cheap wine at lunch, Jim was shocked at what they charged for a tasting (translation – 2 little sips) of these wines.

According to Jim, they were both really good wines but he was happier with the cheap stuff so didn’t buy any bottles.

Being pregnant and travelling in Italy really has its disadvantages. Italians don’t really understand non alcoholic or decaffeinated. I spent most of the trip drinking sparkling water at all meals. It really made me appreciate the fact that every bar or restaurant in Germany has a non alcoholic beer option.

Just before getting to the car we stopped for our requisite gelato of the day. They had a panna cotta flavor which reigned as my favorite for the rest of the trip.

We decided to save our marriage by taking the train to Florence rather than attempting to drive and try to navigate a large city in Italy. It was only an hour and 15 minute train ride from Bucine and was a stress free way to get to Florence. We were even able to buy our tickets all in Italian.

Since the next train didn’t leave until 11:44, we had some time to kill. We stopped at a little café just next to the clothing market to do some quality watching.
Bucine is a small Italian town with no tourists so the market sold cheap clothing, shoes, towels, kitchen utensils and some toiletries. I am assuming these vendors buy the stuff at close out prices and then are able to sell things cheaper than a retail store.

The coffee shop was a great spot. We got 2 coffees for only 1.70 and the pastries were only 80 cents. It also seemed to be a meeting spot for the townspeople so was a great spot to witness small town Italian life.

We had reservations to see the Uffizi Gallery at 2:00 so we headed that direction upon arrival. Along the way, we were searching for a spot to grab a quick bite. I was hoping for a good thin slice o’ pizza pie but all we saw were dry looking thick crust pizza. Jim finally cracked and needed to eat pronto so bought a soggy tomato and mozzarella Panini and 30 minutes later I ended up with an equally unappealing slice of pizza. So far our day in Florence wasn’t off to a good start.

At the Uffizi Gallery, we had to stand in one line to get our reserved tickets and then in another line to actually get in. Rather than enduring Jim’s complaints about the inefficiencies of this system, I stood in line and sent him to go sit on a bench and read the Herald Tribune.

The Uffizi Gallery houses some of the most Italian works of art. It is amazing to see the works of artists you’ve heard so much about like Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. I wish I would have gotten the audio guide in retrospect. However, Jim was having trouble breathing in the museum due to the fact that he had forgotten to bring his asthma medication on our trip so I figured that we’d be going through it pretty quickly and wouldn’t have time to listen to a guide.

Once we were out of the gallery, we decided to head toward Ponte Vecchio which we had seen from a window in the museum. Along the way we stopped for some great gelato at Gelateria Carrozze (Via del Pesce 3). They had a peanut butter flavor I had not yet seen which when paired with the rich dark chocolate gelato was heavenly.

Ponte Vecchio was lined with gold jewelry stores. The stores on the bridge actually jutted out a few feet beyond the base of the bridge over the river. Apparently all of Florence was like that before they outlawed it. I guess everyone was trying to get some more real estate without actually paying for it.

We were going to check out a neighborhood across the river but I realized that the Duomo closed at 5:00 and it was already past 4:00. We rushed over to the Duomo which was a beautiful building with striped renaissance exterior. I was expecting the interior of the cathedral to be as stunning as the exterior but was sadly disappointed upon entering. Besides the sheer size of the interior of the church, it was unremarkable which was good because just as we entered the battery on my camera died.

After the Duomo we decided to wander some side streets to get a better feel for the real Florence as so far we had only been on the main tourist drags. We didn’t get very far before Jim’s blisters hurt (rookie travel move to wear new, never been worn shoes) so I dropped him off at a coffee shop for a few hours while I wandered the main market, San Lorenzo, and the surrounding streets.

While wandering I happened across a recommended restaurant in our guide book, Trattoria Za Za’s so Jim and I went back there for a quick bite before we caught the train home. It had a really nice outdoor patio with an unenthused wait staff. The simple pasta dish we ordered was quite good but didn’t top the gelato we had eaten earlier.

I wished we had more time in Florence to see more of the other sights but Jim couldn’t wait to get back to visiting the small hill towns.

Sienna - not all that

The next day we woke up to blue skies and sunshine so both went out for our own rides after breakfast.

In the afternoon we set off for Sienna. We both had high hopes for this town based on Rick’s glowing review that Sienna was Italy’s best medieval town and the main square, Il Campo, is Italy’s best square.

Our disappointment of Sienna really started at lunch. We figured Sienna would be a good town to have our “splurge” meal. Rick recommended Antica Osteria Da Divo for lunch. The cheesy Italian ballads playing in the background should have been our first sign. The other bad sign should have been that there were only other tourists in the restaurant. We did get some free vin santo after our meal because we had a Rick Steve’s book. I of course couldn’t drink it so Jim had both of them, which after a ½ bottle of wine gave him quite a buzz.

Our first stop in Sienna was the Duomo (Cathedral) and was definitely the highlight of the day. The church was incredibly ornate with large striped columns throughout the interior. Every square inch of the church was decorated, from the gigantic religious works of art on the walls, inlayed marble floors and the Michelangelo statues. Of all the churches I have seen in the last year, the Duomo of Sienna tops my list.

After the Duomo, we headed to the main square. Il Campo was a very large square with oddly no focal point. The middle of the square is slanted like an amphitheater down to a drain giving the square a barren look. The most interesting building along the square was the City Hall and its 330 ft. tower.

Jim was feeling the need for a rest and some coffee after the copious amount of wine he consumed at lunch so I climbed the tower while he rested at a coffee shop lining the square. The views from the tower were well worth the climb up the very narrow stairwell.

After rallying Jim, we wandered the streets of Sienna searching for some quaint little streets. We didn’t find any but did find some gritty, dirty streets thick with the scent of burning clutch and brakes.

We decided to head back to the car and stop for a gelato. Jim didn’t like the look of the gelato place I picked out because there were too many people and it was nicely decorated so he assumed it was expensive. He wanted a more authentic hole in the wall gelato shop. We found our hole in the wall spot and got some disappointingly icy gelatos that were the same price as the first shop. Sometimes it helps to remember that the busy spots are busy for a reason.

On the way home, our GPS took us a different back roads route that had incredibly curvy steep roads which Jim couldn't wait to ride up the next day. What is fun according to Jim is very different from most people's definition of fun. When I think of climbing steep steep roads in the hot sun, I think of pain and discomfort not "Oh that will be lots of fun".

Back at home, we cooked another dinner in. I mean, I cooked another dinner in while Jim enjoyed a glass of wine on the terrace. We had stopped at the Coop in Bucine on the way home and picked up some fresh pear gorgonzola ravioli which I paired with some caramelized onions, toasted walnuts, olive oil and parmesan cheese. Unfortunately the ravioli were pretty flavorless so it was a bit disappointing.

Where's this Tuscan Sun I've Heard About?

On our first full day in Tuscany, I woke up early and went out to explore while Jim slept in. I started walking behind our little abode in an olive grove. The trail turned into an old overgrown farm road that went straight up a steep hill. I ended up getting to a main dirt road which took me to the castle ruins we had seen the night before. I was surprised to see that people were living among the castle ruins. They had simply built houses using some of the remaining walls of the old castle.

On the way back to our apartment, I had a bit of a scare. I heard a noise in the forest and expected to see a few deer. However, I was quite surprised when I found myself right near a family of wild boars and heard the large male let out a low squeling growl.

Our plan for the day was initially to go for a ride and then head to Urbino. However, after breakfast it started to pour. We went to the main house to use the internet and check the distances to the towns we planned to visit. We quickly scrapped Urbino after discovering that it was over 2 hours away.

We settled on a visit to Cortona which was the locale for the movie “Under the Tuscan Sun”. As we drove up to the town, we couldn’t help wonder where this Tuscan sun was as the rain had still not let up.

Our first priority was lunch. We at a Rick Steve’s recommendation – Trattoria La Grotto. It was located down a narrow alley and was packed for 2:00 on a Sunday afternoon. We had a great meal there with lots of truffles. I had the best bruschetta of my life there and my pasta dish was covered in truffles. Due to the rain, we were in no hurry to get back outside and enjoyed a long leisurely lunch.

The sights to see in Cortona were mainly churches and really just the town itself. The main church, Santa Margarita, was of course at the top of the town up an incredibly steep street.

After wandering around Cortona for a few hours we headed back home.
Thankfully back at Tenuta di Lupinari the rain had stopped and the roads were dry so we went out for an evening ride.

Road Trip - Tuscany or Bust

After my mom and Stacy left, I had 4 days to get ready for our trip to Tuscany. We had rented a little apartment in the countryside on an old estate and planned to take day trips to the surrounding hill towns of Tuscany.

Since the trip down to Tuscany was about thirteen hours, we decided to break the drive up into two days. We stopped in a little town named Croce which was just outside of Menaggio on Lake Como

Our trip down was uneventful until I took the wheel so that Jim could make a call for work. While cruising down the A61, I noticed a mama duck and her little ducklings on the side of the road. When they started to cross the 3 lane autobahn I wasn’t able to swerve in time and hit the mother head on. Of course in my pregnant and highly emotional state, I started crying immediately. I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that none of those cute little ducklings were going to make it now that their mother was dead. I also couldn’t help but think what kind of mother I’d make since I was now a mother duck murderer. Jim assured me that if I hadn’t hit the duck someone else would have but it didn’t make me feel any better. Thankfully we were near a gas station so I could pull over and compose myself.

We arrived in Menaggio at about 5:30. Our hostess was sobbing when we arrived so her husband showed us to our room. We found out later that her son is manic depressive and had done something that involved the police but she didn’t give us any other details. She was a sweet woman from Scotland and after composing herself offered us some tea and coffee to have out on the terrace overlooking the lake. Unfortunately as soon as we sat down, it started raining so we moved our tea party into our room.
Initially I had planned to take a ferry across the lake to Bellagio but after the rain stopped it was too late to do that. We decided to walk down to Menaggio for some dinner and a little fresh air. However, the main road down to Menaggio was curvy, narrow and didn’t have a sidewalk. We decided that it might not be a good idea to walk on the road in the dark with blind corners and reckless Italian drivers. So for dinner, we settled on the only place still open in Croce – a gelato shop. Who says gelato can’t be dinner?

The next morning, the weather was still stormy. We attempted to visit the Villa Carlotta but our GPS system wasn’t cooperating and we finally gave up just as it started to pour.

On the drive to Tuscany, we thought we’d bypass the gas station lunch and go to a little Italian town just off the highway. We stopped at Monzuno hoping to find a cute, small town pizzeria. However, the only pizzeria in town was closed so we ended up at a café having yet another gelato for a meal. I started to think that an all gelato diet for the week might not be such a terrible idea.

Since the gelato didn’t completely fill us up, we stopped for some pizza at a gas station / rest area. The Italian gas stations are so different from the German ones. First of all, you have the good espresso in Italy, and then the food selection in Italy is much better. I’d trade greasy pizza slices for wurst any day. However, the bathrooms in Italy are definitely not as clean as the ones in Germany.

The radio stations in both Germany and Italy aren’t very good but one station we found in Italy really wins the prize for worst radio channel ever. This station put just about any song to a techno beat. Now I know that a lot of songs are remixed with an electronic beat to liven it up a bit but this station went to the extreme. They mixed Old McDonald had a farm with some killer bass beats. I was curious to hear what they might do with Hickory Dickory Dock but we lost reception for that channel.

After hitting the grocery store and stocking up for the week, we made our way to Tenuta di Lupinari (www.lupinari.com). We discovered this place through some friends who had stayed here on their honeymoon.

The road to the estate was a dirt country road lined with Cypress trees and vines. It was idyllic and exactly what you imagine Tuscany to be. The estate itself had a bed and breakfast as well as 8 independent apartments with kitchens. There was also the most amazing pool lined with flowering bushes so the air around the pool smelled incredibly sweet. The owners of the estate live there as well in the castle which was fenced off in a private area. It was an incredibly relaxing place to spend a week.

We rented La Logetta which was the most private apartment and had its own little secluded terrace. I would highly recommend it for anyone looking to spend time in the Tuscan countryside. We were only about 5 km from Bucine which was a reasonable sized city with grocery stores and a train connection to Florence.