Out of the Blue

We landed in Capri last night. The blue island of Capri, off of the coast of Naples. We took a taxi from the port up to the town center because that is as far as cars can go. The driver let us out with our ever growing luggage to climb the million of stairs to our one star hotel. Not kidding. So not only were we breathless from the beautiful scenery, but also from lugging our bags up and down cobblestone steps. The narrow walls of the city only allow for two people to pass at a time on foot. The stone walls were draped with beautiful, bright flowers and were so tall that we felt like ants moving through their tunnels. Neither of us knew anything about Capri, except the mention of the famous Blue Grotto.

As we were sweating, panting, and dying past Louis Vuitton, CoCo Chanel, and Christian Dior we realized we were among what my mother likes to call "the beautiful people." Stilettoed women brushed past us with their designer handbags and as I looked down at my Chacos I remembered. They stink. Literally. We kept walking and finally made it to our dump of a hotel. Not even worth linking. But please know mom hasn't taken her shoes off since we have been here. Also, please note that this hotel claimed to have an ocean view. Well it does. From the top of the million stairs I previously mentioned. All of this is really irrelevant. Especially when we had a day like today.

We rented a private boat tour from Capri Whales di Wendy. Thank goodness we found this company on Trip Adviser. They did all that they could to make sure we enjoyed the two hour trip around the island. Even provided us with beach towels, a cooler of drinks, snorkeling gear and a champagne toast for good luck and safe travels. It was the deal of the island for sure.

Our guide Tony knew just the right spot to snorkel where we could swim through a cave and see all sorts of fish and coral on the reef. He told us all about the history of Capri and how it use to be considered a Greek Island. We saw 30 million dollar yachts with helicopters on top of them and then turned our head and saw Roman fortresses that dated back over 1,000 years.

Blue sky, blue water, and as we pack up to head out tomorrow morning... blue me.

Slowing Down a Bit

We made a stop in San Gimignano, a small walled medieval hill town in Siena, Tuscany. It was Sunday. It was our "day of rest." We planned to sit by the pool and soak up all of the Tuscan sun that we could. And that we did! We laid by the pool for hours until my skin freaked out and said it was time to go in.

We stayed at Voltrana Farm which was a very reasonably priced rental where we saw miles of olive trees, grapevines, and mountains. It was like a vacation within a vacation. A break from all the fast paced tours, and lines, and ticket fees. We walked around the property and saw horses and locals fishing for dinner. Tuscany offered a beautiful landscape for those who wanted to slow down and take it all in at a slower pace. Which is just what we needed.

For just 22 euros, we enjoyed a wonderful meal of no pizza. :) We had salad, veal, roasted potatoes, tiramisu and all you can drink wine. We sat at a long table full of people who were initially strangers, but in the end were friends. All while the Tuscan sun set perfectly on the horizon. It was a quick trip. But just enough fuel to recharge our weary bones for week numero dos.

Coca-Cola 600 in Rome

Haven’t really had a chance to digest Rome yet. Ill start by saying don’t travel to Rome in July. It is the equivalent of being at NASCAR’s Coco-Cola 600 on Memorial Day. Hot, crowded, smelly and you forget why you came in the first place. Or Myrtle Beach on the 4th of July. Or the amusement park Carowind’s the first Saturday after school is out for the summer. You get the point. The crowds made the experience very different from that of Florence.

It was like a drive by. “Quick! Look here’s the Sistine Chapel.” And then it was gone. There was no time to put the brakes on or there would be a smelly, sweaty collision that involved 100’s of undesirable people’s skin against mine. So like mom says, “we made haste.”

On a more serious note, we spent two nights in a very modern hotel that was walking distance from the Coliseum and the rest of Ancient Rome. First stop was the Coliseum where we walked around several different levels of the amphitheater where construction started only in.. oh I don’t know, 64 A.D. The structure was capable of holding around 50,000 spectators that would come to watch gladiators and wild beasts fight until death. And some people say that Christians were sent to their death as martyrs in the Coliseum.

We also stopped at what is referred to as an ancient maximum security prison, the Mamertine, where the Apostle Peter was chained and held prisoner. We saw the Roman Forum, the Arch of Titus, Trajan’s Column, Trevi Fountain, and the Pantheon. We spent several hours walking through Vatican City and the basilica where they were holding a mass and Pope John XXII was preserved in a glass coffin for all to see.

We ate pizza, and pizza, and pizza. If there is good food in Rome, we were unable to find it. We never even ordered wine with our meals because we just wanted to “make haste” and get out of the restaurants. So Rome my friend, here’s to your magnificent history! Hey, we all cant kick ass at everything.

Piggy Backin' on Mom

As Mom previously mentioned, Florence is one of her favorite cities in the world. I grew up hearing her talk about Michelangelo's, The David and Ghiberti's golden "Doors to Paradise". I even extended our stay in the city to three nights with anticipation of wanting to see it all!

But here I confess, I did no planning for our stay in Florence. No itineraries were made. No must sees were listed. No tours were booked. Much to mom's dismay, I fully planned on her being my tour guide. I was just gonna piggy back on all her knowledge, experience, and ahem... directions.

Thirty-five years removed from her favorite city, and she did damn good. She led me to the Piazza della Signoria and Palazzo Vecchio, the Duomo and Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, The Baptistery, the Campanile Bell Tower, the Ponte Vecchio, and of course the Academia which holds...THE David.

On the way into Florence, mom said "Oh my gosh, wait to you see The David! It will bring tears to your eyes." I may or may not have rolled my eyes. Only because I have never experienced how a piece of art could move me in such a way. But the moment I walked through the first doors and saw the sculpture, my breath was taken away. Pictures will never do this piece justice. It is far grander than anything I had ever imagined. The size, proportions, age and details left me sitting on a bench feeling slightly sick to my stomach. Breathless.

That one experience made this trip worth every penny that I saved to make it happen. So here's a big Italian red wine cheers to Firenze, and my tour guide. ;)

The David, and Florence

First things first, I was going to continue the "10 things we learned while in..." but Florence's list was far to long to narrow down to 10. In fact, we didn't find one single thing NOT to do in Florence. I've said too many times to count that Florence was one of my very favorite cities. It still is, and I think Hannah loves it as well. The city is rich with history, The David, architectural beauty, The David, politcal history, The David, beautiful terrain, The David, wonderful shopping, The David, the best Italian Gelato, The David, wonderful street artisans, The David, and oh so nice people. A sad thing to check off the bucket list, but a wonderful thing to add to the next bucket list. Oh, did I mention The David?

La Fattoressa

It didn't take long to fall in love with Florence. We weren't in the city limits for an hour and I was already telling mom that "Florence was the place for me."

We checked into a beautiful farmhouse outside of Florence, La Fattoressa, on Tuesday night where we were greeted by a woman from a second story window. It was just like a movie. Her shutters opened and she popped her head out, "Buonasera!" She took us to our room which had exposed beams and french doors that opened to a garden full of terra-cotta pots overflowing with geraniums, pansies and herbs. A vegetable garden and fig tree were not far from our view either.

The house sits at the bottom of a monastery and you can see the bell tower from the cobble stone driveway. And we woke up all three mornings to the bells sounding off. Breakfast was cooked and served by the owner, a pleasant, busy elderly lady, at a large table with everyone else that was staying in the six room farmhouse. When you think of an older Italian lady cooking spaghetti in the kitchen, saying, "Mama Mia!" you picture this sweet lady. On our way out the door she squished my face, kissed both cheeks, and said "ciao bella, grazie."

Coffee so strong it'd knock you into tomorrow, kept us up and moving through the city all day. There were several families, each from a different country, staying on the farm. Lots of kids. The familiar sound of children playing made us feel at home.

Everything was so perfect we hardly even noticed that there was no air conditioning.

10 Lessons Learned in Munchen

Before we leave for Italy today, a little reflection. Germany is definitely a place to add to the bucket list. Munich is a beautiful city, full of interesting history, color, energy, and excitement. Our time here has been filled with fascinating sites, great street-side entertainment, and cross-your-legs laughter. Oh, and (insert your own adjective here) food.

But before we hop the train, we thought we'd share a few helpful tidbits on how to blend in with the natives.

1. Never, never, ever walk in bicycle lane.
2. Never, never, ever stand on the left of the escalator - if you're moving on the left at the speed of light, you're OK.
3. Do not pack clothes. Pack only water.
4. Know that every German you ask if he/she speaks German will either say no or just a little. They ALL speak English better than most Americans.
5. There are no toilet handles.
6. The sun rises at 4 am. Breakfast is at 8.
7. When getting directions, 100m, 200m, and 300m are all equal distances. There are also many yellow houses.
8. When tipping, know that the server will HELP figure the amount, loudly.
9. If all else fails, look for the Golden Arches.
10. Plan on meeting very nice, helpful people.

Happy 4th of July from Munchen!

We sure did miss seeing the red, white, and blue today. No fireworks, no star bangled banners, no sparklers, no watermelon or baked beans. We certainly did think of the Ol' U.S. of A. Especially when we had been walking around for 4 hours and couldn't find water anywhere. It's amazing how different the water consumption is here. But anyway, God Bless America. We wished you were here!

Our first stop was the Justizpalast (palace of Justice). It was built in 1890 by Friedrich Ritter von Thiersch. Whoever that is. EEK. We got to walk up these amazing marble stair cases and walk into some very old court rooms. Today the building contains the Bavarian Ministry of Justice and parts of the Provincial Court.

There was a lot of reconstruction going on around the city. Including the city's most famous church, the Frauenkirche. Construction began in 1468 but the two towers were not completed until 1488. The building's famous domes on top of each tower were not added until 1525. The cathedral can hold 20,000 people.

There is also a legend that is referred to as the Teufelsschritt (Devil's Footstep), at the entrance of the church. It's a black footprint, which according to legend was where the devil stood when he curiously ridiculed the windowless church. The clever builder, however, tricked the devil by positioning columns so that the windows were not visible from the spot where the devil stood in the foyer. When the devil discovered that he had been tricked, he could not enter the already church. The devil could only stand in the foyer and stomp his foot furiously, which left the dark footprint. Everyone was putting their feet in the footprint, but Mom and I decided we didn't want to be following in the devil's footsteps. So we passed.

Then we took a break for lunch. Ate at a nice little cafe called Hofer Der Stadwirt. I ordered quiche and Mom got a ham, cheese and pineapple sandwich. We paid for water for the 1,643rd time in two days. The waitress stood over mom while she was trying to figure out how many Euros to tip. And then I took this really pretty picture of mom and made her make it her new facebook picture! :)

After lunch we walked to the Residenzstrasse, which is the former home/palace of the Bavarias's ruling family the Wittelsbarchers. It is a 130 room palace and every room was trimmed in gold or marble. Basically a large part of the palace was destroyed in WWII so the rooms that were still in the original shape were few.

We both managed to get in trouble and decided to leave. Don't use flash (which sounds like fish in Deutsch) and don't touch the marble doorways. At that point the tour got a little lengthy so we picked the pace up and headed to Starbucks.

We walked through the English Garden on our way back to the hotel for a nap. Lots of musicians stood around playing the violin or cello. Quite the picturesque scene.

Dinner... oh lord dinner. We asked the receptionist at the hotel were we could eat without having to take the subway back downtown. She gave us directions.... 300 meters, 400 meters, an Italian place on the corner, and no name. After a scary encounter with some German mob restaurateurs we ended up here...

And don't ask me how I ended up with the worlds largest McDonalds cheeseburger ever. Whatever. That menu was complicated.

Day 1: Munich

We had dinner at the Hofbräuhaus, which is one of Munich's premiere beer halls. It was exactly as we imagined. Beer steins bigger than my head, pretzels and wienerschnitzel. Mom orderred an unidentifiable item off the menu and then asked the boy next to us what it was. "Four hot dogs."

The waiters were all dressed in their traditional lederhosen and they had to be flagged down quick, otherwise it'd be 20 minutes later and his arms would be full of a dozen beer steins splashing everywhere. Large groups of friends gathered at tables and would periodically burst into song while chugging beer and slamming their fists on the tables. I couldn't help but think of Gaston from Beauty and the Beast.

We each drank a liter of beer, ate a pretzel, some wieners, a little sauerkraut and then walked back through the streets of Munich to take the subway. We passed the Frauenkirche, Munich's oldest Church from the 15th Century. The architecture was amazing even in the rain and darkness.

In the short time we have been here, we realized it is our charge to make sure that citizens around the world like Americans. At least these two Americans. We watched a street performer who was dishing out jokes across all countries. He was hysterical. But he must have known we were good sports because all the jokes came back to us. Germans and Americans, Mexicans and Americans, Middle Easterners and Americans, Dutch and Americans. It was interesting to hear that most of the American stereotypes that we are aware of hold true in Europe. I was relieved that there were no surprises. It was however slightly embarrassing when we decided to break away from the crowd, he yelled, "Hey Americans! McDonald's doesn't close until 2 a.m.!"

My Turn

Some people feel hiccups more than others. Here’s a BIG one ... Hannah flies United to Frankfurt, I fly US AIR, at different times. Hannah has no worries. No need for her to, I’m worrying for the both of us. I did have 2 extremely interesting seat mates who were both extremely talkative.

Which explains the fetal position.

The Frankfurt airport is hunormous! We’re in Germany for heaven’s sake.

There are Mercedes, Volvos, BMWs, and Audis all over the airport. I just had to ignore the Germans as they stared at me with alarm as I ran from car to car.

The word concourse was nowhere to be seen! In Deutsch it probably translate into something like dumb%^*.

Let me see - beautiful German countryside with quaint little houses or Angry Birds? Right, no contest.

My excellent German kicks in as the conductor makes his announcement. I’m certain that he directs all Munich passengers to debark and take another train.

Confirmation with man on train: Me - point out the window and say Munchen? Obviously no genius, nods yes. Or maybe he’s still laughing at the joke on the American gals.

All comical; all fun!

All Aboard

Made it to Frankfurt without any hiccups. I landed on time and went to get my luggage. The plan was to get a sim card for my phone and text Mom. But the only place to buy a sim card was at a store called O2, which didn’t open until 11. It was only 7:15. Our backup plan was to meet at the intersection of concourse A and concourse B, in front of an Audi show car. (A friend suggested it as a good meeting place.) When I left the concourse to get my luggage I was not able to return. So now mom was waiting at the Audi and I had no way of contacting her. Hiccup numero uno. So I went to the help desk and had them page her over the airport loud speaker. Welcome to Germany!

We board our first train to Munich. Mom immediately falls asleep in the fetal position. I start playing Angry Birds. Every time the train slows, she opens her eyes and either says “Where are we?” or “You should be looking at this! Look at those houses!” And then immediately falls back asleep.

(Yes, that is a piece of chocolate.)

Im carefully listening for the word Munchen on the loudspeaker when the conductor finally mentions it. Mom pops up and says, “I think everybody is getting off here. Grab your stuff.” As we are scrambling to gather our things she asks the German man next to us if he speaks English. He nods.

“Did I just hear that if we are going to Munich that we should get off this train and board train 25?”

German nods again. We exit the train.

Its really cold out by the way. An unexpected 50 degrees. We start looking around and can tell that something is fishy. We are in Ulm. Mom says “Where the heck are we?!”

We both start laughing because we know we screwed up. We’ve been traveling for 26 hours now. We are sitting on our luggage, cold and exhausted in Ulm, Germany. A train pulls up. Mom gets up and says “This is it.”

“Mom, I don’t think it is. I don’t feel comfortable.”

“I do.”

I ask a man boarding next to us, “Do you speak English?”

“Yes”.

“Is this going to Munich?”

“No.”

(We did eventually make it.)

First First Class Flight

Here’s what I have to say about first class. Free drinks! Granted my flight took off at 10:15 a.m. so I was on my best behavior. I only had one bloody mary. Seats were spacious, comfy and best of all- no one talks to you.

Normally when I fly coach, the people sitting next to me want to know my story. “Where are you from?” “What do you do for a living?” “Where is your final destination?” “What are your plans while you’re there?” I try and get my headphones in in time to avoid the small talk. But first class..... no one speaks. Ha! Ok by me.

Landed not too long ago in Washington Dulles Airport. I have about 5 hours until my flight leaves for Frankfurt. Im graciously flying with a companion pass which means i’m not guaranteed a seat. Last night, mom was checking the status of my flight and informed me that there was less than a 5% chance that I would get on board. So making it on the first flight out of Charlotte was a spirit lifter. Now lets keep fingers crossed the second leg of the trip goes just as smoothly!

Mom is scheduled to land in Frankfurt at 6:10 a.m. and I am scheduled to land at 7:10 a.m. But for now, I’m on bloody mary numero dos.

Maybe "Packing Lite" Wasn't the Best Name

We did go through everything and downsize. So imagine what the backpacks were like before! Meh. They have wheels.

Here we go!!!