Day 108 - A Spain in my Ass

We woke up early today and headed back to the bus to take us to the airport. I slept the whole way, shocking. The flight was fine, even though after this experience, I will never fly RyanAir or any other rincky-dink airline again! We landed in Barcelona and it looked lovely outside. We had a bit of trouble with getting to our exact destination because the lady never gave us the right information to make it there. Then we had to use the payphone to call this guy to get into our apartment. It was a mess, but when we made it, it was really nice to be in our place.

The apartment we were renting was a block of the La Rambla, the busiest street in Barcelona. It was already too much city for my mom, I could tell. After meeting with the manager of the property and getting everything sorted out, we set out to the market.

La Boqueria is one of the largest outdoor markets I have seen. We were going to buy some items for the house for the week and for dinner that night. We decided to stay in and relax a while. What a wonderful place! I would go here everyday if I could. So many meats and cheese and veggies and fish. What a treat for the locals. I can hardly explain it all, so just check out the photos!

We also went to the supermarket up the street to buy some general items as well. We found Jamon (ham) flavored pringles and spicy curry ketchup. All in all, we did pretty well and trekked back home. We decided to stay in tonight and make dinner, hamburgers and sauteed green beans. Yum!

Attacking Spain tomorrow, time to get some travel rest.

Day 107 - Best restaurant in Paris? Oui!

We started the day by taking the metro to the station to the street market area, Rue Cler. We snapped some shots, bought some chocolates, and smelled the roses. How much I love a street market!

Then we headed back to the metro and landed just outside of Notre Dame. We walked around the corner and found ourselves right in front of Notre Dame! What a gothic and lovely sight to see. We read all about the church and the history before entering, so that we could fully enjoy the inside. What a beautiful church and presence inside. Lots of side alters and plenty to see and take in. After, we walked around to the back of the church and sat in the park for a spell, deciding our plan for the rest of the day.

We ventured to a place for lunch, and it was like the French version of Denny’s, not so good at all. But you live and learn. We were going to stray into Saint Chapelle, but the line was way long, so we strolled along the Seine river and looked and shopped the little book carts that are along it. We found some great little treats and nuggets of France there. We also stopped in front of Notre Dame, called Point Zero. This is the middle of Paris where everything else is measured from. Pretty neat!

We took the metro back and decided to pack up as we would be heading to Barcelona in the morning. After packing, it was time to eat. I was on the hunt for Coq Au Vin, a traditional French stew. And after trapsing around multiple blocks with no luck, we figured it would be better to head towards the hotel and find a place to eat. We had initally passed by a place that had a line out the door, so as we approached it again, and decided that we would check it out.

We were sat outside within 5 minutes, and the line continue to grow. Our waitress dropped of the wine & coffee list. No menu, but we figured that that would come. Well, our lovely waitress came back and asked what we wanted to drink and then how we liked our meat prepared. We let hr know and then she was off. Ok. So after not being able to decide waht to eat for dinner, someone was going to do it for us, how perfect!

Out came a green salad with walnuts and a spicy mustard vinaigrette. Tasty. Then a plate with fries and steak with pepper sauce. Holy Moly was it delicious!!! So good! Cooked perfect and flavorful. We ate it right up. Then the waitress came around with more french fries, ok, sure, I’ll take some more. Then, wait for it, more steak!!! Yup! Pretty amazing. Then we ordered two desserts, one with strawberries and tasty Chantilly cream and one like a stacked profiterole. All you have to do is choose beverage, temperature, and dessert, they do all the rest. It was amazing, and this is the only thing they serve, and there was a line out the door for the whole evening that was no less than 20 people. I need to figure out a gig like this! Ha!

The woman next to us said, this was the best restaurant in Paris, she and her family had been coming here for 15 years. I think I must agree with her, what a tasteful evening!

Ciao!

Day 106 - Paris, How I love thee

Waking up in the land of culinary tradition, croissants, and even more wine, what a delicious treat. Today was going to be a day of walking, but with the beautiful weather how could we resist. We started from our hotel towards the Arch de Triomphe. This was an Arch that Napoleon had built after winning a battle, and there was an unmarked grave and lists of soldiers names that were lost during battles. It is caught right in the middle of a giant traffic roundabout. All this history smack in the middle of modern day. It was a beautiful site!

We then headed down the Champs de Elyssee, one of the busiest streets in Paris. This street dead ends at the gardens of the Louve. The walk was lovely and there were plenty of shops and restaurants. Our lunch happened here and I had a tasty Croque Monsieur. While mom had a rather tasty Caesar Salad. Then we headed toward the gardens of the Louve.

We found a lovely bench on the way that we sat on and I took a 15 minute nap, my mom even snapped a photo, silly lady. The gardens in front of the Louve were brilliant. In full bloom, green, and lush. All the trees are shaped like squares or rectangles, even circles. The statures were pristine and even with all the people, it was rather peaceful. We decided upon entering the Louve through the glass pyramid.

There were a number of people inside and viewing the great art, such as the Mona Lisa. It was wonderful to see such beautiful and meaningful artwork all in one giant place. We ambled around through room after room, viewing the works and masterpieces. It was the perfect end to such a lovely afternoon. Back to our hotel via the metro and a quick rest before dinner.

We decided to head towards the Eiffel Tower to see it all lit up at night. What a beautiful spectacle. We could see it well before we were there and it was nothing short of beautiful. Once in the presence of it, the ironwork and lights take your breath away. The grandeur is hard to explain, but the feeling is rather overwhelming and emotional. We took some fun photos and sat in the park for a bit, in all of the tower’s wonder. Then we set out to find a meal fit for a Frenchmen.

What a treat to find a restaurant with a set menu for $25 euro a person. Mom had the rabbit terrine, veal with mushroom sauce, and chocolate cake. I had the foie gras, steak tartar, and apple tartine. Wow! Fabulousness all over the place. The flavors were perfect and presentation was divine. Give me some mo’!

To bed now, more Paris in the morning.

105 - Orvieto and Beyond

We all got up very early today and shleped to the train station for trains to Rome and Orvieto. Melaine was headed back to Rome to head home, so very sad...and Mom and I were headed to have lunch in Orvieto before heading to Paris tonight.

Once we hit Orvieto, we stopped at the intern house and dropped off our luggage, I then purchased another piece of luggage, seeing as how I had too much stuff and needed to pack even more, how awful! The only bags left were bright blue or hot pink, so blue it was. I showed mom all the Orvieto sights, it was a clear sunny day and it was perfect to see all the countryside.

We shopped a bit and then headed to the restaurant for a very tasty meal. It was so wonderful to see everyone again and share some presents with them. Peanut butter, gummy worms it’s the little things you know.

We started with the guanciale antipasto and then mom had the truffle ravioli and I had carbonara. So tasty! It was time to head out, and that damn Carlo always makes me want to cry when I leave. He is the sweetest man ever. It was time to go and it was nice to say farewell. We shleped very quickly down the hill and made our train to Rome then jumped on another quick train to go to the smaller Ciampiano airport.

We were headed to Paris, and I could hardly wait, just one problem, RyanAir, the worst airline of all time. Fee, after Fee, after Fee! But we had the whole front row of the plane to ourselves and we planned some of our visit once we were to get to Paris. After landing we had to get on another bus to the heart of Paris. After getting to the place, then we had to find the hotel.

After my mom dealt with my travel tantrum, we found the hotel, checked in, showered and went to bed. It was quite a long travel day and I was glad to have a comfortable quiet bed to end up in.

With Italy behind me and us, bittersweet, it will be time for an exciting trip to Paris.

Until Tomorrow!

Day 103 - Siena, Can I live here please?

After hitting the train and the bus, we made it to the top of Siena. This place is my favorite still. We did some window shopping then stopped in at Nanninos for a cappucino. This may be the best cup I have had in all of Italy! We entered Palazo Di’ Popolo, and soaked up all the sunshine. We also had lunch right on the square. It was a tasty meal which we started off with a cheese plate of course and then a round of pastas. Man I love a wild boar ragu!

After lunch, we made our way very slowly to the 5 major sites in the city; The Duromo, the crypt, the baptistry, the tower, and the museum. It was a very plesant visit. I think the ladies enjoyed themselves as well. After seeing all the wonderful sites, Melaine and I headed up the tower stairs for a grand view of Siena. Not to many steps, but they were definately in a circular motion, which was a bit difficult to stomach. We made it unscathed, and the view was unreal. Sunny weather a slight breeze and lots of photos. If you make it to Siena, make sure to hit up the top of the tower.

After, we stopped at the coffee shop again for another amazing cup of latte and cafe. Then shopping! Melaine and I both found a pair of shoes that we wanted, but it was a tad out of price range so we skipped it. Wishing now that I would have snaged them, they were unique to Italy and it would have been amazing to have. But alas, it was not meant to be. We took the train home a little later and headed to our homebase.

Mom had a bite to eat and hit the hay and Melaine and I skipped dinner and went and had wine downstairs at the restaurant with the real cute host, Gaetano. Melaine was so smitten, she could hardly talk when he came by. So we ordered some wine and chatted it up with him and a few of the other workers that were abound. At the end of our time, Melaine even got a little kiss from the host with the most. Ha! I LOVE IT!!!

Till tomorrow fine readers...