Bunny Burrow

Italy: Part 4 (Capri)

Capri, Capri, Capri….!!!

Here are our Capri pictures.

Actually our next city on the map to tour was Rome but after our disappointment of Florence we all really longed just to get away and be somewhere relaxing. We researched a little bit and decided to head on out and spend a day or 2 at the island of Capri. It was described at one of the most romantic spots in the world.

We had to spend the night in a roadside hotel that was enroute to Capri. We found a hotel pretty late at night. (Do you see a pattern forming?) This is the night that Scott had a pretty bad headache and had to sit out in the car while we had a 3 hour dinner! Poor thing! So, anyway we had to tote our luggage across a courtyard where Scott promptly stumbled over his in the dark, only when he bent over the pick his up the sprinklers came on. He was screaming, “Man down!”

We got to our rooms and they were like saunas! I am not kidding you. We were sweating so bad that we woke up in a puddle of on top of our sheets. When I went to the mirror that next morning my face was greasy I had sweated so much! The bad news is that Steve and Darcella thought to open their window and they were so cold they had to put on extra blankets!

Anyway, we had to go to Naples to take a ferry to Capri. I am NOT kidding you that it took us over 3 hours to find out where to park in order to get on the ferry! It was the most confusing thing! Also, driving around in Naples was one of the scariest things I have ever endured. There are no lanes! Everyone just whizzes around you at about 90 miles an hour! When we finally pulled over once we had arrived in Naples to get our bearings, having only been inside the city limits for about 10 minutes, Steve was promptly approached by someone on a fast Vespa who sped over and offered him a used (stolen) camcorder for only $300 Euro. Steve declined and the Vespa sped off to another potential client!

We finally got on what was called the hydrafoil that carried us across to Capri. It lifted up on wings beneath the boat and sort of glided us over. When we arrived at the marina I thought I had seen the most breath-taking view I could ever have seen. THIS was the Italy I had been looking for! There are NO cars on the island of Capri! Woohoo!!

We got to our hotel and I was in awe! We stayed at the Hotel La Vega. The island was so quaint and charming and naturally beautiful. The area where we had breakfast in every morning was a place I could have lived in and been happy the rest of my life. Our rooms were overlooking high cliffs onto the water.

The first day we toured around and went to Anacapri which is on top of the island of Capri. Once at Anacapri we took a chairlift to the very summit. THAT was truly heaven. You could see everything! And here I thought our hotel view was up high and the most beautiful. We could see the city of Sorrento off in the distance. We also toured Axel Munthe's Villa di San Michele, built by a Swedish doctor and now open to visitors. It had a beautiful terraced garden but unfortunately my camera battery had gone caput on me.

The liquor, lemoncello, was invented in Capri and every time you have a meal you are served this at the end. I guess it’s kind of a traditional thing. Every shop has it in abundance in every kind of option.

The next day we took a private tour of the island on a boat. This was my favorite day of the entire trip. Did I mention this was my birthday? ;) Well, it was and the only thing that could have made it better was to have my children there.

We went inside the Blue Grotto. The day before we were told it was closed and when we actually got to go inside, I could see why. You have to lie flat inside a small narrow boat to get in and wait until the waves go down and you are pulled in by your guide tugging abruptly on a rope. Once you are in, it almost seemed you weren’t going to get out because if a large boat went by, the opening to the grotto was flooded. It was very beautiful inside, but NONE of my pictures turned out because it was so dark. The water is so blue it is unbelievably spectacular. The sun somehow mysteriously shines through the water and illuminates the cavern with its blue reflection.

We saw many beautiful and colorful grottos that day. We went to one particular grotto right before lunch where we all 4 decided to get out and swim through. We knew there was some jellyfish in the water but didn’t see any in this particular area. Once we got inside the grotto however, they were EVERYWHERE! I had a mask and saw a jellyfish in between me and Darcella and when I came up Steve was telling her not to move and she of course was hightailing it for the boat. At that instant, Scott set off a panic by saying the jellyfish were everywhere. I had swallowed some seawater and when I tried to go down and clear my snorkel and catch my breath, the water was so cold in the cave that it took my breath away. I thought I was drowning and the jellyfish were going to bring me down. Darcella tried to help me by putting her hand on my shoulder but I thought she was going to push me down so I panicked more! We all went back to the boat, except for Steve, and I was so embarrassed!

The rest of the day, I kept mentioning that I was glad to have survived that birthday because I almost drowned! ;)

We had lunch at a wonderful place overlooking the water and finished our cruise. There were people sunbathing in the nude that CLEARLY should not have been.

When we saw the marina come into view, I did not want the day to end!

I forgot to mention that earlier that morning Scott waited until I came back from breakfast and had a bag on the bed for my birthday waiting for me. I opened it to find a pair of my shoes in it. I thanked him and began to get ready for the day. Scott looked at me funny and asked if I didn’t want to him with a PILLOW??? I realized then that there was another gift bag under my pillow. Inside was a beautiful new Rolex that we had seen in a shop there in Capri a day earlier. It had a rose gold face! Who would have thought I would have gotten a pink Rolex? ;) Happy Birthday to me!

Italy: Part 3 (Florence)

HERE is the photo album for Florence.

We got into Florence, or Firenze as it’s called in Italy, once again very late and couldn’t find the hotel. We knew enough to call ahead and make reservations but the directions and the map were very confusing. We FINALLY found the hotel but it was not exactly what we thought it would be. Even though it was recommended by Frommer’s the rooms were like a furnace, and Steve & Darcella’s ‘shower’ consisted of a shower curtain hanging around a drain in the tiny bathroom floor. There was exposed wiring in the walls in the hallway as well as several scary holes. Now, does this sound like the Hotel Ritz online? No… Although we did have a good view of the Arno River and they DID have an elevator!

We had dinner not far from the hotel and nearly got ran over several times by Vespas who apparently always have the right of way.

The next morning we went to the big city square in Florence and it was extremely congested and crowded. Keep in mind, this was supposedly off-season so word to the wise: NEVER try and venture some place like this during peak travel season.

We saw the replica of the statue of David but the line to get inside was a 2 hour wait so we decided to get something to eat first.

We got lost looking for a specific restaurant but eventually found it and it was worth it the walk. If anyone ever goes to Florence you just have to go to Il Lintino. The second you sit down they begin bringing you things and I really don’t think we ever even ordered. It was one of the best tasting and inexpensive meals we had in Italy. In the beginning Scott was having a panic attack because they were bringing us courses like chicken livers on crackers and he was afraid he was going to have to pay for all the stuff he wasn’t eating. However when the dessert time came, he was all into it. Just when we thought it was over they brought us home made biscotti with sweet wine to dip it into. Okay, so we are just about to pop when they bring us a round of champagne! It was wonderful! Supposedly if you go there and there is a wait, the wait staff serves cheese and wine to those in line.

We wandered around some more and did some shopping. There is a famous bridge there, the Ponte Vecchio, the only original bridge not blown up by the Germans so we visited and took pictures.

We tried to go back and see David but the line would not have permitted us to get inside before they closed.

Scott and Steve went up to a lookout and stayed for 2 hours watching the sun go down to get just the perfect picture of Florence at night. That night we had dinner at Faggio’s which the best soup I have ever had – tomato, bread, and white bean.

The next day we went up into the Duomo of Florence, the 4th largest Cathedral in the world and is made out of white, red, and green marble which shows up beautifully even at night. There were 463 steps to get up there! Once up there though, we had the most scenic views of the city. It was hard to believe that all of this was built without the use of scaffolding.

We also visited a leather school which was attached to a monastery in Florence. I bought some leather things there and had monograms embossed. I got a purse, only they messed up on mine and of course I had got the LAST one like that and had to settle for something that was my second choice. Ughh…

After that visit, we left for Capri. This day was my Mom’s birthday but I couldn’t call her until later because of the time difference.

I have to say that I was more than a little disappointed in Florence. I have had so many people tell me that I would just love it and that I wouldn’t want to leave. The fast-paced energy in Florence was so busy that I felt like I was in the middle of downtown Dallas. I thought for some reason that Florence would be small town vintage Italy, but it was very big city to me. It seemed very touristy.

Italy: Part 2 (Venice)

After we drove through Austria we made our way to Venice or Venizia as it's called there. We arrived very late at night and once we figured out where to park our car (which is no small task) we found a water taxi and made our way around looking for hotels. Yes, we were silly enough not to call ahead and reserve one. It turns out there was some sort of film festival going on there AND there was an annual gondola competition going on this particular weekend.

HERE is the Venice photo album.

We trooped all over Venice, which is not easy much less by unfamiliar people in the dark, but finally found us a hotel for ONE night, the Hotel Savoy. We had an unremarkable dinner and finally got in bed around 3:30 am. I coughed the entire night. :(

We woke up, grabbed our stuff, and headed to Hotel Rialto which had rooms for the next 2 nights. Steve and Darcella gave us the room with the view of the Rialto Bridge since they had been to Venice once before. The room was unbelievable! It had hand-painted furniture and a Murano chandelier hanging over the bed. I forgot to mention that every room we stayed in for the duration of our trip had a bidet. Call me 'country' but I had never seen one of these before. Also, even though we had convertors I blew the fuse twice trying to use my hair dryer in this hotel so forgive my hair in the pictures! :)

We then made our way to the famous San Marco Piazza (or square, although it's not a square at all) where all of us have seen in movies (The Italian Job for one) that the pigeons swarm and light all over you, especially if you are holding a small bag of corn which is sold in stands there for $1 Euro and most especially if someone is secretly pouring corn in your hair when you are not looking -- not that ANYBODY in our little group would ever do this. Okay, who am I fooling? I walked around with corn in my hair for hours.

San Marco Piazza is also where 2 Asian men motioned to their camera and pointed to me. I thought they were asking me to take a picture of them both so I said yes. We had already been snapping pictures for people with their cameras all over the place when asked as a courtesy but I misunderstood! I found myself being surrounded by pigeons and each of the Asian men at a time while they took turns taking their picture with ME in it! My friend Darcella said they really like the blondes. I had never heard of this! I hope I don't end up on the internet somewhere with some kinky story connected to it!

We then went to the bell tower or Campanile as it is called in San Marco Piazza where the views were unbelievable! (I know! I need to use a thesaurus right about now and find some other word than 'unbelievable') I could have stayed there for hours. One interesting factoid I learned was the reason for the small sundecks on tops of the roofs. It turns out that hundreds of years ago the Italian women desperately wanted blonde hair (don't we all want something we don't have?) so they had the men build the sundecks so they could be closer to the sun with their hair full of ointments in hopes of turning into a blonde. :)

At this Scott smirked and was saying some kind of nonsense of the stupidity of the women behind it all. My response to this was to ask him who the idiots were that went up there and built the darn things. No more comments on the topic.

The next day Steve decided he was going to try and win a gold medal for the USA in speed walking and got so far ahead of us that we didn't know where he was. We met up again at the Palazzo Ducale (or Doge's Palace as it is sometimes called) and let's just say it was a somber reunion when we finally met up again!

Doge's Palace(or Palazzo Ducale) was where the "doge" or the rulers of Venice resided for their terms. It was also in San Marco's Square and connected to St. Marks' Basilica and across from the bell tower. We all had headphones and a palm pilot making our way through the darn thing. It was a L-O-N-G tour and none of us were too 'friendly' at that time. I'm glad we did it though. I was curious about the mixing of Greek mythology with the Catholic faith. I guess I am not that informed on the topic but it fascinated me. The Doge's Palace was actually attached to St Marks' basilica and so it seemed out of sorts with the Greek mythology elements -- but what do I know?

We didn't get to tour the St. Mark's Basilica but I got to peek in the doors and we saw the outside. There just weren't enough hours in the day and some of the tours had 2 hour waits. There were several weddings going on and the pictures being taken out on the piazza looked like a fairy tale.

After the tour of Doge's Palace we ate at Harry's Bar which is where the Bellini originated from and was often frequented by the likes of Ernest Hemingway. Darcella, being the clepto that she is, decided to bring home a souvenir of "Harry's Bar" bellini glasses only she was so excited she couldn't wait and busted them out of her purse right under the Harry's Bar window where everyone was looking on.

This is also the day that she decided to record some gondolas going by with the video camera and actually recorded herself saying, "Every year there is a gondola boat competition here in Venice, and we picked the year for it." We did not let her forget this the ENTIRE trip. She is not even blonde!

We got to watch most of the Rigata, the gondola boat competition, right from our hotel window.

Our last night in Venice we took our own personal gondola boat rides. It was magical. Note the absence of pictures of our gondola boat ride. At this point I was so sick my nose was twice its normal size and if I leaned my head back I choked. :( BUT I did get the traditional kiss under the Rialto Bridge. :)

I think I would have enjoyed Venice much better if I hadn't been so sick. Due to my hacking cough, it made it difficult to walk very far and you walk EVERYWHERE in Venice. Well, that is, unless you take a water taxi -- but you have to WALK to the water taxi, which is like a huge water ferry or bus that transports people around the canals. Needless to say, I was exhausted by the time we left.

The morning we were leaving Venice I ordered scrambled eggs for breakfast. I was, instead, brought 4 poached eggs in some kind of bowl. I thought it wasn't worth it to try and explain this was not what I ordered so I tried to make the best of it. However, when I tried to cut into one of the egg yellows the darn thing exploded in my eye! Everyone in the entire breakfast nook was staring at me like I had just shot a gun and there I sat with egg on my face -- literally!

The day we left we headed over to the island of Murano where Darcella ordered a chandelier and I got all kinds of goodies and trinkets for family! Most of my Venice shopping was done there. We got to watch the glassblower in action and everything!

When it was time to leave we had to pay a baggage fee or get some kind of baggage ticket to use the water taxi with our luggage. It was SO crowded and Steve, Darcella and myself all rushed on only to see Scott shuffling around in the crowd saying "Scuzi, Scuzi!" in Italian. None of us knew what he was doing and were all motioning for him to come and stand by use which he finally did and said that he had to pay for his luggage to get on the water taxi and by golly the luggage was going to get the full tour! Leave it to Scott!

Next stop: Florence

All I wanted was a good slice of pizza!

Submitted by Scott:

Well, back from Italy and while it was the trip of lifetime, the food was a major letdown. Before the trip I had predicted this would be the case, having gone to a very good Italian restaurant near downtown Dallas just before the trip, and declaring to Chana and our travel-mates that this would likely be the best Italian meal we'd have until we got back. Sadly, I was just about right -- except for maybe two or three meals during 16 days, the majority of the food we experienced was a disappointment.

Take pizza. Italy is the mother country of pizza, but the USA has far surpassed this country's efforts. Italian pizzas are never made the way you like, they only come in set combinations, such as salami and cheese, or tomatoes and cheese. Asking for a modification is like insulting the chef by suggesting a better version of their time tested recipe. After I got slapped down with dirty looks twice, I stopped trying to have pizza my way and picked from the limited choices on the menus.

And limited they always were, with the exception of only one place we visited, which had 47 combinations -- why not just list the possible ingredients and let the customer decide?!?!

Pizzas were always delivered to the table uncut, leaving it to the customer to make a mess of pizza with a butter knife. Silly, silly, silly. On one occasion I told everyone at the table I could bring that nifty little invention we have in the States -- a pizza cutter -- and sell a million of 'em!

But the main problem is that the toppings were never generous. Chana came to the realization that in Italy pizzas are a side item, and not meant to be filling on their own. In effect, Italian pizzas are akin to cheese bread. They simply do not serve pizzas heaping with meat and/or toppings of any kind. On occasion I found their pizzas to be tasty, but always feeble. I longed for a Chicago-style deep dish packed with meats and vegetables.

Also, ingredients like pepperoni, onions and spicy Italian sausage were no where to be found. The latter was a complete mystery to me, and I asked several restaurant waiters if they had big meaty chunks of spicy sausage, and only got blank looks. The only sausage topping I ever found was wurstel, a sausage indistinguishable from a hot dog. Sheesh.

And it wasn't just pizza that provided the letdown. Pastas and lasagna generally made us all shake our heads in disbelief. But to be fair, we did have several good pasta dishes, but far too many disappointed us due to lack of sauce, lack of meat (even though meat was part of the dish), or a flavor that reminded us of Chef Boyardee.

And don't think we just visited the tourist traps... we went to little non-tourist towns for several meals, or asked where the locals ate. We also went to several high-end restaurants. But it didn't seem to matter. As sad as it sounds, after the experience we had it's safe to say you're more likely to get a better Italian mean at Macaroni Grill than most restaurants in Italy.

Go there for the history. But the food will have you shaking your head in disbelief.

Author: Scott

Italy: Part 1 (Germany and Austria)

There is so much to write about and so many pictures from my trip that I am having to break it down into segments.

The first of these is the German/Austria segment. HERE are the photos.

It was a VERY long plane ride, the longest I have ever enountered. Scott, not being a good plane traveler, couldn't sleep so he ran up and down the aisles in his sock-feet. He actually woke me up to ask me how everyone found it so easy to sleep on the plane. He proceeded up and down the aisles popping eye masks and pulling off our blankets. What a joy to be around huh? Well, make that him and a baby that cried for HOURS on end a few seats over from me.

When it came time to file off the plane everyone was ready except for Scott and the crying baby -- both of whom were fast asleep.

We made our way to the Rhein River with Steve being the designated driver and reading 3 maps while maneuvering a standard on the autobahn. We visited Oberwessel, Bachrach, and St. Goar where we settled for the night at Hotel Hauser.

We saw row after row of grapes up on the mountainside and castles everywhere we looked. Some of them were just ruins at this point but they were still pretty. We bought our cuckoo clock, steins, and some wines in St. Goar and had them shipped home. We moved on out of St. Goar and saw the Burg Eltz Castle which was nice but I'm certain we would have gotten much more out of the tour had it been in English since NONE of us spoke any German.

The typical breakfast in Germany is coldcuts, cheese, cold bread and occassionally a boiled egg. Our waitress looked at me like I was ridiculous when I asked for a latte. Had they not heard of lattes over in Germany?

And one more thing that bugged me: the Christmas stores that catered to American tourists. Do the Germans not know that we have Christmas decorations here in the states? Trust me, I have enough Christmas decor to take care of a few small countries. Every year Scott threatens to throw stuff out or rent a storage space for me because I have so much junk. What's up with the German Christmas stuff?

After touring Burg Eltz we headed toward Rothenburg. We got there so late that none of the restaurants were open and we had to look and look and got lost a few times and by the time we got back to our hotel the parking lot gate was closed and locked. I tried to open it and even attempted picking the lock to no avail! The hotel we stayed in , Gasthof Goldener Greien, was over 600 years old! Which, of course, means there were no elevators to help us with our luggage after midnight up 3 flights of stairs.

That next day in Rothenburg I definitely got sick. I could NOT quit coughing and was getting worse by the minute. I had to visit the 'Farmacia' and talk to the 'Farmaciast' (Pharmacist??) to get some cough 'silencers'.

In Rothenburg we did some shopping and toured St. Jakob's (Lutheran) Church. When we left Rothenburg we went down the Romantic Road scenic route which was absolutely beautiful, only I don't think I enjoyed as much as I could have because I think all my sinus problems added to my MOTION SICKNESS. :( I have to say thought that the Austrian Alps were so beautiful they didn't even look real. I could have taken pictures all day but no picture could ever begin to capture the beauty and do it any justice.

On the Romantic Road Scott got a chance to try his hand at our standard vehicle and did alright until we hit a little bit of traffic going up hill where the car lurched and kept dying and he proceeded to yell 'TAG TEAM'!

We made it to Austria in one piece and toured the Newschweinstein Castle. This is the same castle that Walt Disney modeled his castle after. It was absolutely beautiful!

From there we traveled to Venice...

Stay tuned for part 2.

Gone to Italy

Today is the big day! I am outta here and on my way to Italy! Woohoo!!

Don't forget about me and check back around mid-September. :)

Our itinerary is being planned...

Ok, it's finally starting to sink in!

In less than a week I will be on my way to Italy, a trip of a lifetime for me. I am getting more excited every day.

Just today I went to Super Target and spent over $200 for travel stuff, and here I thought I was getting bargains!

Anyway, we are flying into Frankfurt and then driving south on something called the Romantic Road.

We'll continue heading south until we reach the area around the town of Fussen, home of the world-famous Neuschwanstein Castle (Disney Castle). We'll spend the night, probably in Reutte, a town in Austria a short distance away, then we'll tour the castles the following day. Among other things there's a luge run near there that we'll have to do! Late afternoon we'll leave the area and will most likely try to reach Salzburg, Austria for a night's stay.

After that we are taking the Sound of Music Tour and THEN we are off to Italy!

Can you believe it???