Rome

After three relaxing nights in Positano, it was time to head to the final destination on our trip: Rome.

Today, Rome is a bustling, modern city, but what really fascinated me about Rome was the incomprehensible amount of rich history--layer upon layer--everywhere. For example: This square is important, and it commemorates a certain significant event. And did you notice the obelisk in the middle of the square? Did you know Augustus had several of these brought to Rome after he conquered ancient Egypt? And did you know the fountain in the middle of the square was created by one of the greatest Italian sculptors in history? Beyond that, you have to wonder what lies under the square (or lied there before they built it). Today, no building project or public works project in Rome is expected to be completed on time because everywhere they dig, they find items or structures of historical significance, and then they must halt work to allow the archeologists to study the site.

Day 1: We arrived at our apartment around 1 pm, and since we were staying near the Vatican and had half of the day left, Jen put together a plan to see that part of the city. After a quick lunch, we were off to St. Peter's Square and the Vatican Museum.

Vatican City, though entirely surrounded by Rome, is actually a sovereign nation. It has no military, but Switzerland provides guards to protect the city. The museum takes about two hours and has a great deal of important art and artifacts. Furthermore, admission to the museum also includes the Sistine Chapel, so we were able to see Michelangelo's two most famous works, David and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, within about a week.

If you get to the back of the Sistine Chapel, there are doors on both sides of you. If you have already toured the museum and want to see the inside of St. Peter's Basilica, head to the door on the right. Museum visitors can go straight into St. Peter's without waiting in the massive line on St. Peter's Square.

St. Peter's was neat to see since it is the large basilica situated within the Vatican itself, so it really is the central cathedral of the Catholic Church. It was intended to be the most ornate church in the world, and the interior is quite impressive. With all due respect, part of me wonders if the elaborate cathedrals of Europe fit into the absolute best way to carry out the Great Commission in terms of energy, focus, and use of funds, but theological questions aside, they are impressive structures. Jen and I also toured the crypt under St. Peter's, where many popes are buried. It was interesting to see the contrast between kingly tombs and humble, modest ones, like the simple slab that marks the resting place of the late John Paul II.

When we left the Vatican compound, I wanted to walk the city a bit, so we did a fun walk from St. Peter's Square to the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Venezia, and then, with a stop for a nice dinner, back to our apartment. Kind of a cool fact from our first day--both the Pope and the President were in Rome that week, and near the Vatican, we saw Benedict XVI's motorcade, followed by Berlusconi's motorcade later that evening (a large crowd had gathered outside of a state building to see him exit, and then a couple minutes after, his large motorcade buzzed by us). Thus, after a big first day, we crossed the Vatican off of our list and went to sleep.

Day 2: Day two almost epic enough to enter the annals of Roman history by itself. We left our apartment at about 10 am and did not return until well after midnight. We started by taking the jam-packed Rome metro (subway train) to the Colosseum. I knew quite a bit about the building before visiting, but I was very impressed to learn that this 2,000-year-old Roman structure held as many spectators (50,000-80,000) as today's D-1 football stadiums.

After the Colosseum, we were pretty famished, so we ventured over to Via Cavour for some lunch. I had a list of dishes I wanted to eat in Italy, and still waiting to be conquered was beef carpaccio--thinly sliced pieces of raw filet. We found a restaurant that specialized in carpaccio dishes, and I ordered a pretty classic plate--filet, arugula, and sheets of parmesan cheese. With a little olive oil and some of the house-made infused pepper oil, this dish was a lesson in simple, amazing cuisine. Add an incredible glass of Sicilian wine for €3.50, and this was one of my favorite meals of the trip. Jen ordered a very refreshing cous cous salad with tomatoes and mint leaves, and that was very tasty, as well (she loves refreshing herbs like basil and cilantro).

After lunch, we went back over by the Colosseum to see the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill. The Forum was the heart of ancient Rome, with many important temples and state buildings. Palatine hill, sitting above the Forum and the Colosseum, held many of the ornate homes of Rome's most important families. In fact, our modern word "palace" comes from this hill, not vice versa. The Forum was neat, but it's better to see in pictures, so I captioned my photos with interesting facts about the buildings.

Soon after leaving Palatine Hill, we ducked into an outdoor cafe for a quick cappuccino to avoid an impending downpour. Jen had quite a laugh at the €4 umbrella I bought while waiting for her in the rain in Venice. It was so poorly constructed that the vendor opens it for you, and the first time you close it, something breaks. Thus, half of my once-used umbrella had collapsed. (We bought a €5 replacement from a street vendor that is holding up far better.)

After a full day of seeing the sites of ancient Rome, we decided to try one of the two most acclaimed pizzerias in Rome. The pizza was actually nothing special, but the restaurant was a lot of fun. We were seated in between two other couples--an older couple from Cornwall, England and a young couple from Aberdeen, Scotland--at a table for six, and after a few minutes, all of our conversations merged together, making for a very fun British-American dinner. The older couple wrapped up before the rest of us and wished us a pleasant evening, so we stayed with the Scottish couple, Jim and Catherine, and then I invited them to join us for some gelato. The four of us walked back across the river together and then talked for another hour over a bottle of wine at a sidewalk cafe. After trading e-mail addresses, we called it a night and Jen and I walked the last few blocks to our apartment.

Day 3: For our third day, I had made a reservation for the Borghese Gallery, an appointment-only art gallery situated in a park above the Spanish Steps. The gallery does not allow photos, so I do not have any photos of its works in my album, but they have an incredible collection. This was one of my favorite museums that I have ever visited, and I would say that if you are spending two or more days in Rome, it should be non-negotiable.

When Jen and I were waiting in line to give our reservation code and pick up our tickets, we heard a voice say, "Hey, we know you guys!" I looked up to see Caleb Walder and his wife, Angela--two old friends from the University of Illinois (Caleb was my small group leader during my freshman year, and Jen was in a small group with Angela later on in school). It was pretty amazing to see them in the middle of Rome and learn that we had made an appointment for the same museum at the exact same time.

The gallery's collection is very impressive, and to me, their real crown jewels are their incredible Bernini sculptures, including David and Apollo and Daphne. These were so impressive to me that I bought a Bernini coffee table book, which showed me that many of the works that had captured my attention around the city were done by Bernini. He had an amazing talent for sculpture that captured a moment. For example, Bernini's version of David, in contrast to Michelangelo's more stoic masterpiece, shows the protagonist at the moment before the fateful stone was thrown, with the rope taut, every muscle at peak tension, and a look of utmost determination and focus on his face. The Apollo and Daphne sculpture almost has to be seen to be believed--how he worked that piece from a block of marble is bewildering. Anyway, if you go to Rome, do not miss the Borghese. Wow.

After the museum, Jen and I met up with Caleb and Angela to get a cup of coffee, and then she and I walked through a few of Rome's big squares. Right near the middle of Piazza Navona, I ran into Charles Crandall, a Berkeley Law alum who graduated a year before me, who was in Rome with his girlfriend. We caught up a bit, and Jen and I gave him some suggestions for the next couple weeks of his trip. Jen likes to say that I find someone I know in every city, and on our third day in Rome, I ran into friends from undergrad and law school.

Just off of Campo dei Fiori, we stopped for an apertivo and then planned to go back to our apartment to cook dinner, but the restaurant was opening up a table full of tapas-type dishes to anyone ordering a pre-dinner drink, and this included a lot of great vegetable dishes. We both ate a bit more than we expected and ended up pretty full, so that became a fun impromptu dinner. On our way home, we stopped into the same cafe we had visited with the Scottish couple at the end of the previous evening, and Jen and I split a piece of tiramisu (with an espresso for me). And that concluded a pretty perfect third day in Rome.

Day 4: Day four was our final full day together on the trip, but we wanted to make the most of it instead of focusing on our upcoming parting. We started out by walking to the river and then south to Rome's Jewish Quarter. We wanted to see this neighborhood and sample some of the famous pastries from its famous Jewish bakery. It was a Friday, so I thought it would be fine (the Jewish sabbath is Saturday), but I had forgotten that it was Rosh Hashanah. For future reference: don't choose Rosh Hashanah as the time to visit famous Jewish establishments. So we missed out on the pastries, but it was neat to see the neighborhood nonetheless.

Next, we took a bus up to the Vatican area for lunch, because a restaurant there features wild boar pasta dishes, and the owner even hunts some of the boar that the restaurant uses. And with that, I had achieved a very important goal for the trip--in Italy, I had eaten lamb, duck, rabbit, and wild boar.

After lunch, we took two subway lines and a bus to reach a rural area southeast of the Colosseum to visit the Catacombs of San Callisto. The Roman catacombs were very important sites for the early church. Before Christianity was legal in the Roman Empire, Christians were often persecuted and martyred. Christians, expecting the second coming and the resurrection of their earthly bodies, did not follow the traditional Roman practice of cremation. Thus, they needed space to bury bodies, but they tended to be poor and often did not own land. Thus, some wealthy families that had converted offered their land as a burial ground, and the volcanic tufo rock under their land allowed the Christians to dig out massive networks of tunnels to facilitate the burial of the dead. Many early martyrs are buried in the catacombs. Generally, the Roman soldiers would not invade the catacombs themselves, as Romans respected these areas as places of the dead, but under emperors with particular bents for persecution, there were instances when legions were sent in and people were martyred within the catacombs. (Contrary to some beliefs, the Christians never used the catacombs to hide, because the Romans knew about them. However, they did hold religious services down there at times, and this was generally safer than holding them above ground.)

Around Rome, there about 60 known sets of catacombs, and the Catacombs of San Callisto are just one of those, but these sites are huge. San Callisto alone one has four stories of tunnel networks, extending about 40-50 meters underground. In total, the site has 20 km (12 miles) of tunnels, and held the bodies of 500,000 early Christians. Like much of Rome, the site was looted and smashed by Barbarians, but some amazing things did survive, such as art from the second and third centuries. It was amazing to see frescos that were roughly 1800 years old. We were only able to access a small portion of the tunnels, since they are so extensive, but this was really neat to see. Of all the sites we saw in Rome, I think this place captured Jen's attention more than any other (good thing, too, since it took almost two hours each way to get out there and back!).

Finally, we made our way back to our apartment and made a nice, simple dinner to go with the 2001 Brunello we had bought near Montalcino.

Day 5: On the morning of our fifth day in Rome, Jen had to head back to the States. I took her to Termini and bought her a ticket for the airport express train, and then I took her suitcase onto the train and we had to say goodbye. Obviously, we were both very sad. We love being together, and our time in Italy had flown by. However, we know that every day that goes by means we are one day closer to being back together at home. My train out of Rome did not leave until 6 pm, and I knew that for the entire day, pretty much everything in Rome was going to remind me of Jen. I went back to pack up my bag and shut off everything in the apartment, and then I spent the day working on a couple more "to-dos" in Rome, most of which related to food.

For one, a coffee house near the Pantheon, Sant'Eustachio Il Caffè is said to have one of the best espresso shots in the world. I went, and it was certainly a memorable one--intense, no bite, massive amounts of foamy crema (very unusual). If you try this, just get the normal shot for €1.10, not the "Gran Cafe," which means that for an extra euro, the barrista will ruin your espresso with loads of coarse sugar. The shot is the real deal, and it's amazing. Go.

Next, I still had not tried Spaghetti alla Carbonara, which is one of Rome's signature dishes--spaghetti with bacon, pecorino cheese, black pepper, and egg yolks. The dish was delicious, but also as heavy as it sounds. Most of you know I can eat, and I could not finish my plate, even with the restaurant owner's prodding--"Finish!" However, owner did send over some lighter fare, on the house, that I could find room for. He gave me a big bowl of delicious green grapes that really intrigued me, because the grapes tasted like a glass of Gewürztraminer rather than normal green grapes. This was something I had never experienced before, but it was neat and they were delicious.

Also near the Pantheon, there is a coffee bar that makes espresso granite--bold, in-your-face coffee Italian ice. Served with a little whipped cream on top, this was the perfect way to finish lunch. However, despite being a little jittery, I would not be in the neighborhood for quite some time, and Sant'Eustachio was calling my name. I went back and had one more shot of their amazing espresso, and then I was on my way.

I still had a couple hours to kill, so I decided to walk to Termini instead of using mass transit, and this was nice because it gave me an opportunity to shoot the Fountain of the Naiads, one that we had passed several times on buses but had never walked by during our few days in Rome. It being Rome, I also peeked into a few more churches along the way.

At 6 pm, I caught my train to Florence, and in Florence I met up with Nathan again and took the overnight train to Vienna.

I had two amazing weeks with Jen, and we really enjoyed Rome. With 2500 years of history all around you, there really is nothing like it. It's hard to be away from Jen now, but we know we'll be together again very soon. You can see my Rome album here--a lot of pictures, but what are you supposed to cut out with Rome? Thanks for reading!

- R

Positano

After Pompeii, we continued on the Circumvesuviana train to Sorrento and then took a bus to Positano. The bus ride offered some really great views of the coastline and cliffs as we went up and over the peninsula to the Amalfi Coast.

Positano is a chic little beach town nestled into the steep hillsides of the Amalfi Coast. Beyond the beaches, one could spend hours perusing the town's gourmet shops, limoncello makers, ceramics stores, and art galleries. The main focus for this part of the trip was relaxing with Jen on the beach, and with the exception of a couple issues with our hotel (mainly due to lack of maintenance or will to take take care of problems), this town was perfect for that.

There really isn't a whole lot to say about this area . . . the photos speak for themselves. We just relaxed and ate some fun meals including a dinner up on the hill with a view, a lunch at a great beach cafe, and a lunch of giant panini at a local deli. Also, missing fresh fruits and vegetables, we bought a lot of tomatoes and pears (and a bit of cheese, of course) and made vegetable-heavy dinners at our hotel a couple nights while sampling the region's wines from the Amalfi Coast and the volcanic soils of Mt. Vesuvius. I challenged Italy to make a bad bottle of wine by buying the random €5 bottle of Mt. Vesuvius rosso, but it seems almost impossible for them to make bad wine in this country (a man in the wine business in North America told me about an €0.85 bottle of Italian red in a Roman supermarket that ended up being phenomenal).

In short, Positano is very nice. I would visit Croatia and the Greek Isles (and Hawaii again) before I return, and I personally preferred the rusticity of Cinque Terre, but if you want to build some R&R into a future Italy trip, it's definitely worth a visit.

- R

Pompeii (with a stop for pizza in Naples)

The next morning, Jen and I boarded a high-speed train in Florence. The train stopped in Roma Termini, Rome's main train station--dedicated to the late John Paul II--where Nathan boarded to meet up with us for two days after he and his parents parted ways. Then, it was on to Napoli Centrale.

Naples is held to be the birthplace of Italian wood-fired pizza, and the two "best" pizzerias in Italy are across the street from each other in a seedy neighborhood about 1/3 of a mile from Napoli Centrale. It was about noon, so I felt all right about it, but I would not recommend walking these streets at night. When we would ask locals to point us in the right direction, they almost invariably said, "Well, it's down there, but be careful."

Fortunately, we walked to and from the train station with ourselves and our wallets, passports, and bags all intact. The pizza was delicious--definitely the best I had in my 2.5 weeks in Italy, but I must say, I still think the Panna pizza at Delfina Pizzeria in SF is better. Could it be the best in the world? I will do my best to eat more pizza (including one from PIzzeria Bianco in Phoenix if I ever get around to it) and sort this important question out.

Napoli Centrale and the commuter train we were taking to Sorrento, the Circumvesuviana, are notorious as two of the largest pick-pocket risks in Italy. I have heard about travelers that entered Napoli Centrale on one train just to transfer to another one, and in those few minutes lost their wallets and passports. Picks work in teams, distract you, employ their small children, and have many other tricks. Our train to Sorrento had many shady-looking characters, and compounding this was the fact that when I watched them at our initial station and then on our train, they would switch between acting like they knew each other and then acting like they didn't. The biggest potential pick near us, who was pretty blatantly looking everyone over for bags and wallets, just *happened* to stand up right next to me (in between stops) the second I stood up for just an instant to shift my large pack. As soon as he saw I was sitting down right away, he realized he needed to sit down again, too. Likely, he was expecting me to load up and buckle up, at which time he would brush by me and see what he could get. We weren't too worried, because the picks in Italy are not trying to rob you, they are trying to steal passively. They typically won't become aggressive, they are just hoping you won't notice when they get something from your pocket. All of our things were fine because our passports, wallets, credit cards, cash, etc. were all in a pouch that hugs my body under my clothes. If you're going to be traveling in Europe, be sure to buy one of these. It's not worth losing your passport or cash reserves to a pick.

So, right, Pompeii.

We actually did not plan on visiting Pompeii when I planned our trip. However, we were going to shoot through Naples on our way to the Amalfi Coast, and the best way to get to Positano was by the commuter train from Napoli Centrale and then a bus from Sorrento. It just so happened that the commuter train stops a block from the entrance to Pompeii, and the ticket office has a luggage check service. Having heard positive reviews from all of our friends that have visited the ruins, we opted to spend the afternoon there on our way to Positano.

Most of you probably know the story of Pompeii. It was a thriving port town under the Roman Empire until, in 79 AD, Mt. Vesuvius, a nearby volcano, erupted. The volcano had not erupted for approximately 1200 years, so for the citizens of Pompeii, there was no knowledge that the volcano was active. When Vesuvius did erupt, it buried the prosperous town of 20,000 under falling plumes of ash, dooming thousands. The irony, however, is that because Pompeii was destroyed by Vesuvius, it was preserved for history. The ruins were incredibly well-preserved. The town was rediscovered in the mid-1700s, and it provides us with our best view of what life was like in a Roman city. The Roman Forum and the amazing ruins in Rome give us an idea of the glory of that great empire, but they provide little about day-to-day life of typical Roman citizens. This is why Pompeii is so important--it was a prosperous Roman city full of homes, restaurants, brothels, and pagan temples. The stone roads have grooves from years of chariot traffic. We can see art, frescos, mosaics, pottery, and other decorative pieces from the time.

One important thing to understand is that for a Roman citizen, life was more advanced than we would assume. 2,000 years ago, "Rome" was equated with civilization itself. You were either Roman (i.e., a citizen of the empire), or you were a Barbarian. Remember that when Paul was arrested in Acts, he asserted that he had special procedural rights as a Roman citizen. Romans diverted rivers, built aquaducts to bring fresh water hundreds of miles to their cities, had working plumbing with running water, and with the help of arches, they built structures far greater than the Greeks or any other empire before them. When the Roman Empire fell and the Barbarians sacked Rome, society actually relapsed, and in the Middle Ages, the quality of life in the western world fell far below what was known in Roman cities.

Pompeii was a pretty amazing experience. The extent of the ruins is far larger than I had ever imagined--block after block of homes, temples, and squares--and there are still large portions that have yet to be excavated. There are large pagan temples, such as the Temple of Jupiter (Zeus in Greek mythology), ruins of a large hall of justice, and homes from low-class, one-room abodes to large palatial residences. In addition, there is a Greek-style theater and a large amphitheater that likely hosted athletic competitions and gladiatorial fights.

However, some of the most striking remnants were not the structures themselves. Seeing the artwork, tilework, marble countertops, and ceramics from that time was really incredible and provided a great glimpse into the lives and homes here. Furthermore, when archeologists were excavating the site, they would fill gaps in the lava with plaster and then excavate around that. Sometimes, this would reveal the shapes of residents and household pets (the bodies, wrapped in lava, decomposed, leaving voids in the shape of the person or animal). This allows us to see the positions of people and animals at the time they met their doom, which was very striking. Some appear to be weeping or praying, laid out prostrate, or writhing in pain. (Neat pictures in the album here.)

I have always had a strong interest in history and in the Roman Empire, so I very much enjoyed this experience, but I would recommend it to anyone. In Gladiator, Marcus Aurelius asks Maximus how it is that he has such allegiance to Rome when he has never actually been there. The answer is that Rome was civilization itself--"I've seen much of the rest of the world. It is brutal and cruel and dark. Rome is the light." When you imagine the structures and cities that the Romans built thousands of years before modern engineering knowledge and equipment, the quality of life--including running water and working plumbing--the empire provided to its citizens (in contrast to "Barbarian" lifestyles), and the respect for government and law in an otherwise ruthless world, it seems reasonable to suspect that many felt that way at the time.

- R

Tuscany

After leaving Siena's city square for the last time, Jen and I walked down the hill to the Avis office to pick up our rental car. Automatics are not common in Europe, and they were quite a bit more expensive on the rental-booking websites, so I had booked a car with manual transmission, which meant that Jen would be driving (I never learned how to drive stick, which really came back to bite me when a friend offered to let me drive his F430 in Napa . . . another story). However, when we arrived, the agent offered us our original car or an automatic in the same class for no additional charge. I wanted to drive over here, and Jen likes it when I drive, so we switched our reservation. Soon after, we were skirting the outer ring of Siena, following the city walls, and then it was onto the freeway and south into the world of vineyards, castles, and hilltowns in one of the world's great wine regions, southern Tuscany.

Tuscany is beautiful. In contrast to many travel experiences, it was almost exactly how I'd imagined it from stories, pictures, and Tuscan wine labels. The weather was perfect and everything seemed idyllic. And to add to this, it was late August/early September, so there were large clumps of dark purple grapes, but it was too early for harvest and crush, so all of the vineyards were picture-perfect. It was also really neat for me to travel to Tuscany because it's my favorite wine region in the world right now. While France, California, Argentina, and Australia all produce great red wines, there is an inherent friendliness to Italian wine, which is a stark contrast to French austerity. Furthermore, Italian wine is made for Italian food, and that in itself goes a long way. But beyond all that, Italians really care about letting the fruit speak for itself, which is refreshing in contrast to California's annual "Who Can Make the Oakiest Wine?" competition. It was very fulfilling to see the places that give these wines their character and terroir.

A little over an hour after leaving Siena (with occasional stops because "We need a picture of that"), Montepulciano came into view. It was near sunset, and we were between the sun and the city, so the city of stone up on the hill took on an amazing orange glow. We neared the city, drove down a tunnel-like lane of towering trees, wound around the town's cathedral, and finally turned down a gravel road and arrived at our agriturismo.

Agriturismos are Italian farmhouses that have been converted into little B&Bs among the vineyards. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of these establishments in Tuscany, and they make for a wonderful experience. Fortunately, they are also relatively inexpensive. Our hostess was a very friendly Italian woman named Teresa, and our room was quite nice and comfortable. The property was well-manicured with flowers, vineyards, and olive trees, and our well-priced stay included breakfast and laundry (Teresa even dried and folded some of our clothes). We only stayed at our agriturismo for two nights, but I definitely could have handled a few more nights here. The area was so beautiful and peaceful, and Jen and I had a great time exploring the region's hilltowns.

Soon after our arrival, the sun faded away, and it was time to find some dinner. We drove up the hill to Montepulciano and began to look for two restaurants that good old Rick had recommended. It was about 8:30, and the first one we found, Osteria Acquacheta ("calm waters") was absolutely packed. We asked about getting in, but they said they could only seat us at 10:30, which was their closing time. We put our name in for 10:30 and tried to find another option. However, after venturing over to the town square and walking the streets around there, it became clear that the town was pretty dead at this hour and all the other restaurants were empty (save for a couple waiters just sitting around at tables). This made us think that Acquacheta was probably something special, so we opted to wait it out and eat at 10:30. This proved to be a wise decision.

First of all, Tuscany is not like Napa. It's much more rural than commercial, so prices are actually very low out there. At this restaurant, a half-liter of house wine was €4, pasta dishes were €5.50, and one of the best steaks I've ever had was about €13. The owner cuts all the meat himself, and a popular thing to do is for a family or a few friends to come in and split a 3-4 pound Porterhouse. If you order a steak here, the owner will walk to the back of the restaurant to one of the giant slabs of beef. In full view of everyone, he will take a huge knife and hack at the slab, through meat and bone, until he's cut off your piece. Then he'll walk through the restaurant, slab in hand, present it to you for your approval, and then toss it on the grill. Most of the Porterhouse steaks around the restaurant were seared a bit on the outside and literally raw almost all the way through, so I had my (smaller) steak cooked a bit more, but everything was delicious. They also had a great bruschetta dish with full slices of tomato on grilled bread that Jen and I loved. We finished with the house-made tiramisu, and walked out of our amazing meal having spent only €34.

As a side note--after taking a couple bites of my phenomenal steak, I *may* have summoned the owner to make a reservation for the next night, too . . . .

After a full day in which we woke up in Florence, toured Siena, drove to Montepulciano, and ate an incredible dinner up in town, we were ready to sleep. Both of us slept very well (it is incredibly peaceful out there), and we woke up refreshed--and an hour before my alarm--with the sunrise in our open window. We had breakfast and cappuccinos outside on the property, and then we got in the car for the drive to Montalcino.

Italy produces many great wines, but the three that really stand with the top red wines in the world are Amarone, Barolo, and Brunello di Montalcino. Brunello is made from Sangiovese grapes grown around the hilltown of Montalcino, where the clones of Sangiovese create wines of exceptional power, complexity, and age-worthiness. It's the perfect pairing for rich Tuscan food such as steaks, sausages, and hearty pasta dishes. I was not about to go to the heart of Tuscany without visiting Montalcino.

Our morning drive was picturesque, and we arrived around 10:30 am, walked the small cobblestone streets a bit, and ate some local pastries. Then it was over to a shop to do a little tasting. 2004 was a benchmark vintage for Brunello, and since Brunello must be held back for five years before release, many 2004s are still on the market, so we were able to taste quite a few. In addition, 2007 and 2008 were also great years, and those bottlings of Rosso di Montalcino are also on the market now. (Rosso di Montalcino, or "Baby Brunello," is made from the juice that did not quite make the cut for Brunello and is aged for less time in a larger barrel, so it gets less oak treatment and is meant for consumption soon after release.) This was a lot of fun, and the 2008 Rossos are looking amazing, particularly the Rosso from Casanova di Neri, one of the premier Brunello producers, which we bought.

We decided to drive south from Montalcino because a famous hilltown, Sant'Antimo, as well as many of the premier Brunello producers, lie south of the city. Just outside of Sant'Antimo, we were able to explore the 12th-century Sant'Antimo Abbey and watch a few monks conclude a service. This area also had vistas that were the exact Tuscany you see when you picture it in your mind--hills topped with rows of Tuscan cypress trees.

After eating the best grilled pork chop we'd ever had, we headed back toward Montalcino and stopped in at Fattoria di Barbi (essentially translating to "Farm of Catfish," named after the local barbed fish), a Brunello producer that can trace its roots back to the 1300s. That is one of the amazing things about this region--there are wineries here that have been in the same family for over 1000 years (one in particular since 980 AD). To give some context, almost no wineries in California have been around for 100 years, and many have sold out long before that. We were able to tour their facilities and learn a bit about producing Rosso and Brunello, and then tasted the 2008 Rosso and the 2001, 2004, and 2004 Reserve Brunellos. The 2001 was amazing, and at €25 (insanely cheap compared to what you would find it for in the US), we decided to buy one for our time in Rome.

Next, it was on to the thermal springs at Bagno Vignoni, with views of the Rocca d'Orcia.

On our way back to our agriturismo, we stopped to check out San Biagio, the church nestled up against the base of Montepulciano's hill, and then we went back to clean up for dinner.

Our second night at Osteria Acquacheta was a bit different from the first, but I loved the experience. The amazing steak had pushed me over the edge in terms of deciding to eat there again on our second night, but the only cut available on our second night was the Porterhouse, and there was no way we could handle 3-4 lb steak, so I improvised and ordered the rabbit and a house-made pork sausage. Both of these were incredible, and the sausage was probably the best I've ever had. Jen ordered a delicious four-cheese pasta (and shared a bit with me), and then we had a very inventive dessert. We actually intended to order another dessert we had seen, but something was lost in translation, so what we got was a slice of dessert with an almond-based crust (texturally similar to graham-cracker crust) with a filling that was texturally similar to a mousse or very light cheesecake but was flavored with Vin Santo (literally, "Holy Wine"), which is Tuscany's delicious, but very expensive, dessert wine. The Vin Santo element added some culinary points for me, but regardless, this was delicious. Jen and I loved it, and this was another dish we need to figure out how to make for our friends and family back at home. After dessert, our waitress came up to me and yelled, "Grappa?!" Grappa is an Italian spirit made from distilling the leftover skins and juice after crushing grapes for wine. It's strong stuff, and I don't particularly enjoy it, so I declined, but Jen had fun saying, "Grappa?!" with an Italian accent for the remainder of the trip. Add on €4 for our jug of house wine, and we were out of there for only €31.

On our third day in lower Tuscany, we had several hours before we needed to return the rental car in Siena, so we took some time to explore Montepulciano during the day. I'm very glad we did this, because we saw a totally different side of the town from our first night there when the streets were dark, quiet, and empty (add in the wind and it was downright eery at times that night). The town has some very charming streets with neat little shops and local artists' galleries. We also took some pictures of the town square, which Jen liked because Summit filmed the "Volterre" scenes for New Moon on the Montepulciano town square. (Volterre is a real Tuscan town, but they opted to film in Montepulciano for logistical and financial reasons. Interestingly, neither town square actually has a fountain, so I guess the story was all made up.) Also, if you look at my album, the rather unsightly building on the town square is actually the town's cathedral. They ran out of money while building it, so it never received its fancy marble facade.

Montepulciano is home to another one of Tuscany's great wines, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano ("Noble Wine of Montepulciano"--not to be confused with Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, which is not from Montepulciano but is made from a grape varietal called Montepulciano), so we had fun visiting a couple of the town's tasting rooms. In particular, the Redi winery was very interesting because it was buried many feet (and centuries) underground in a cold, dark, damp, catacomb-like cellar. It was neat to see a cellar that was relatively unchanged since the time America became a nation.

Finally, on our way back to Siena, we opted to stop in a small, medieval hilltown called Montefollonico, which sits across the valley from Montepulciano (we could look up at both from our agriturismo). Most of the area within the walls in the hilltowns is off limits to cars of non-residents, but this town did not have any signs limiting access, so I decided to try my hand at driving through the cobblestone streets. We were in a little Fiat, and the streets were barely wider than the car. With a bit of care, nothing happened to our faithful rental car, but it was a fun driving experience. The coolest feature in this town was its church, which was built in the 1200s but is still the town's church today. The quality masonry has allowed the church to withstand the test of time.

And with that, we cruised back to Siena at 110 km/h and caught a train to Florence. The next day we had to get up early for our Eurostar train from Florence to Naples, so we had some more delicious wood-fired pizza, shared our Rosso di Montalcino from Casanova di Neri (which blew us both away), and called it a night.

Again, our Tuscany album is available here. I think the pictures are definitely worth your time!

- R

Siena

The next morning, Jen and I caught the train from Florence to Siena, and then we made our way to the old city center.

Siena is a Tuscan city about an hour south of Florence (by train or car), and during the Middle Ages, Siena and Florence had an ongoing rivalry into which they would often drag smaller, less powerful Tuscan cities. The city walls still wrap around the entire old city, and the old city has been well-preserved and retains its historic character.

First, we found the main square, Piazza del Campo, and sat down next to some fellow Californians (a UC graduate and a start-up founder, respectively) for cappuccinos. Siena's town square has changed little over the past 500 years, and many call it Italy's greatest city square. The entire square is bowl-shaped and slopes down toward the Palazzo Pubblico (Town Hall) and its Torre del Mangia (the bell tower), which creates somewhat of an amphitheater effect. Throughout the day, locals and visitors like to sit down on the sloped floor to people-watch and eat their lunch or gelato. Jen and I really enjoyed the feel of Siena, and throughout the day we found ourselves drawn back to this square for a quick break in-between sites.

It was about this time that, at Jen's prodding, we bought the Rick Steves book on Italy. If you have ever watched his show, you know that he tends to have helpful tips and information, but his intonation is quite distinct. Naturally, Jen and I made a rule: we could only read passages from Rick Steves to each other if we did so while mimicking the man himself. This was hilarious, and we had a great time both reading the book aloud (as Rick Steves) and making up what our hero might have said about other things we saw and experienced in Italy. (Watch this clip to understand.)

Siena's cathedral offers a multisite ticket that allows you to access its baptistry, crypt, and museum, so we opted to do that. Our first stop with this ticket was the cathedral itself, and I have to say that it might be my favorite cathedral in Europe so far (and I am writing this after Spain and Italy, so I have seen a lot). The pillars featured alternating slabs of white and black marble, there were large displays of lit votive candles, and the front of the church was lined with black angels. In addition, the outer facade featured some amazing sculptural work and the common Sienese theme of wolves (coming from the mythical founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus, who were abandoned to die in the wild but were fed and protected by a she-wolf). If you visit Siena, do not miss the cathedral--I found it to be quite stunning.

Next, we ventured down into the cathedral's crypt, which itself sits above a medieval church (cool picture here, entire Siena album here).

By this point, we were quite hungry, so we took Rick's recommendation and found a restaurant in the square behind city hall. I had a delicious plate of pasta with duck sauce, and the square offered beautiful views of the countryside outside of Siena.

After lunch, we saw the cathedral museum and then climbed to the museum's rooftop for views of the cathedral and the city square. Then we relaxed on the square with some gelato and went to pick up our rental car for our adventure in the Tuscan countryside.

- R

Florence

*I know that I am a bit behind with the blog. This is mainly because Jen was here with me for two weeks, and I wanted to make the most of my time with her. In addition, it can be difficult to get an Internet connection that is good enough to let me upload photo albums and edit blog posts. I am going to do my best to make up the gap in the next few days.

After a full-night's rest and a great breakfast at our hotel in Bologna, Jen and I walked to the train station to catch our train to Florence. This was a very short ride, and we were able to drop off our bags and start on the tourist track by about 10:30 am.

Florence lies in northern Tuscany, and it is a very important city in the world of art history. Its museums, galleries, and palaces hold some of the most valuable masterpieces in the world. Our first stop was the Accademia Galleria, the home of Michelangelo's David, which is held by many to be the greatest sculptural work in the world. We waited in line for about an hour before entering the museum, and after admission, we went straight to see David. Often, pieces of art like this do not capture my attention as I feel they should, but David really impressed me. Everything about the sculpture is perfect, and it is quite large--about 2.5 times scale. It was also interesting to learn that the sculpture was worked from a giant piece of marble that the Catholic church decided it did not need in building the large Duomo nearby. Good thing they could afford to donate that giant marble block to the arts! Furthermore, an amazing thing about Michelangelo is that no plaster mock-ups (used for practice, visualization, and scale) of his works have been found for his works, meaning he may have had such remarkable skill that he could create his works without plaster trial runs and reference points. In addition to David, the gallery also holds a few marble blocks that contain half-finished works by Michelangelo.

After the gallery, we went to get lunch. I had read about Fratellini, a sandwich shop in Venice, so we went to get little sandwiches with roast pork and a variety of cheeses. Delicious.

We spent the afternoon walking by the river, eating gelato, visiting Florence's famous Duomo, peeking into a Pinocchio store (the author of the original tale was born in Florence), and embracing the custom of siesta (i.e., napping). Florence did have more museums to see, particularly the Uffizi Gallery, but we opted not to visit more for two reasons. First, after seeing so many museums in Spain, I was experiencing a bit of "museum fatigue." Second, Florence was an absolute zoo of tourists. There were massive lines and crowds for every site. Exacerbating the problem was every European traveler's favorite social phenomenon--cruise ship groups!

Cruise ship groups are quite amazing. Scholars are not quite sure when this custom first appeared in Western society, but if you are trying to spot a cruise ship group in a major European city in our modern era, simply look for someone walking backwards while carrying a small microphone and something ridiculous like a flag, an umbrella (on a sunny day), a folding fan, a giant fake flower, etc. This person will be trailed scores of other human beings, and they will be wearing fanny packs, large hats, and walking shoes. One thing Jen and I learned about these incredible miracles of tourism is that they tend to be about as large and unwieldy as a cruise ship itself. And these groups always like to stop in the most ideal places, as in, "Hey, this sidewalk is exceptionally wide, so let's take up the entire thing," or, "Hey, this hallway or gallery in the museum is quite large, so, again, let's occupy the entire thing so that no one can get around us." But be careful. Only get close to the pack if you are prepared to hear middle-aged Americans complain about walking, the heat, or the culture in the country they decided to cross an ocean to visit. But you may learn something interesting by overhearing the guide . . . or you might cringe by hearing one of your fellow countrymen asking an exceptionally ignorant question.

But I digress. Less important than the phenomenon itself was our suspicion that on that day, every cruise ship in the Mediterranean had come into port on the coast of Tuscany and sent every single occupant on coach buses to the historic area of Florence, to the celebration of €6 gelato places everywhere (it should be about €2-3). We opted to end our day with a walk by the river at sunset, delicious wood-fired pizza, and some Rosso di Montalcino. Then, with Siena awaiting us, it was time for bed. Florence is a pretty city (it's the one I chose for my blog's banner), and its art museums are very notable, but I would recommend visiting in the off-season if you can. It really did feel a bit like having the same number of tourists you see in Rome or London, only spread over fewer sites in a much smaller city center. You can view the pictures here, and I'll post Siena right away.

- R