Nicole Tasker Woods

After this Italian vacation, I foresee a lot of salads and exercising in the not so distant future once I get settled back in Los Angeles. Even though we walked an average of 7 miles per day (I have the pedometer – aka – fitbit to prove it) I still believe that I ate my weight in carbs at every single meal. Yikes!

If you are planning a trip to Italy, I highly recommend a few days in Rome proper where you can enjoy the millions of restaurants and gelato bars on ever corner – as well as the never-ending nightlife of the city streets that never seem to sleep.

I also recommend the bread and wine in Tuscany – the chianti was great – as well as the olive oil and balsalmic vinegar – just divine!

The Cinque Terre was very unique. If you are interested in being in a beach town, this is definitely the place to go.

Wherever you end up, always start your meals with a 1/2 liter of wine (red or white) it doesn’t matter the brand, you can’t go wrong and you won’t go broke.

Try every different kind of pasta dish available on the menu, but after you think you’ve had them all, stick with your favorite. It is very interesting how the cooking styles differ from Rome to Sienna to Tuscany to Florence. So it’s OK to repeat a dish in these various regions because it will never taste the same.

Pasta – My all time favorite pasta meal was the homemade spaghetti with Tuscan meat sauce at the Alla Corte di Bacco in the town of Ambra (a few kilometers from the Tuscan castle we were staying in). This restaurant also had the best white wine – whatever it was – served in a 1/2 liter bottle.

Appetizer – The best pre-dinner food was the bruschetta in Rome at some tiny restaurant in an alley way. They toasted the bread perfectly and had the right amount of seasoning on the tomatoes to make it perfect.

Bread – Tuscan bread was my favorite. It had a denser, milkier texture than all the other regions.

Gelato – I can’t say I had a favorite spot for ice cream, every gelato bar had the super dark chocolate (fondente) that I love and I would pair it with coconut or mint or vanilla – whatever my fancy. I do like lemon gelato, but it tends to be a bit tart everywhere you go.

With this vacation finally at its end, I can look forward to my normal, every-day life of driving the California freeways to/from work and spending every available moment that I can with the Big A – the best son anyone could ever ask for.

Once I am back in the swing of things at work and home, I will pick up the blog again (probably about the A-man) – so until then, ‘Ciao!’

Today was our fianl full day in Tuscany. We traveled by train at 8:43am from Bucine (neighboring town) to Florence where we did some more exploring of the local street shops and churches. We took some more photos and then grabbed lunch at a spot that Carolyn has always eaten at in her past trips to Italy.

We headed back to Bucine at 4:22pm and were so tired from our full day of walking around the city of Florence. But I feel like we got the good out of it.

Tomorrow morning, we will leisurely get out of bed, load up the car and head back to Rome, which is about a 3 hour drive. At the Rome airport, we will drop off the car, check into the Hilton Hotel (which is literally connected to the airport) and then train into the city for one last dinner in Italy.

Today it rained from the wee hours of the morning until late in the evening. If any of you know me at all, you know how much I hate – hate – hate the rain. The wet weather always makes my back hurt and gives me a headache – and of course my clothes get all wet, my hair never holds up – it’s just bad all around. But I sucked it up, put on a hooded jacket and a smile on my face.

We were supposed to rent scooters today and drive around the city, but due to the incliment weather, we decided to travel by car.

Frankly, I can’t even remember the name of the town we went to. We did taste-test some excellent olive oil and balsalmic vinegar, and then I had a glass of the local chianti, which was pretty good.

Then after lunch, Clark decided he would drive the car back to our hotel. I won’t go into too much detail, but let’s just say it was a long drive home.

Today, we ventured out again from our Tuscan residence into the city of Florence. After battling the tiny streets and one-way traffic, we finally found a parking spot and then did an audio tour of the Uffizi museum. In my opinion, this museum which had the most beautiful paintings by Botticelli. I fell in love with ‘The Birth of Venus’ – simply breath-taking. Seriously, I could stare at that thing for hours.

The Uffizi also had works by da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Rembrandt – amongst other famous Italian artists.

The next stop was a church, Santa Croce Church, which was one of the few charging admission. I was curious as to why a church would charge you for admittance, especially when St. Peter’s Bascilica does not. But once we got in there (and I covered up my shoulders with my sweather and my knees with Carolyn’s sweater) I saw why.

This church had some pretty famous dudes entoumbed here including Donatello, Michelangelo, Galileo, Dante, Raphael and Machiavelli. The coolest part about seeing where these guys were entoumbed is most of them (especially the ones that were creatively gifted) actually designed their tombs before they died. Then, when they did die, their students created their masters’ tombs using their designs. Some of them were pretty ornate.

Lunch was at the very same restaurant Ryan visited when he was 13 years old. He traveled to Italy 18 years ago with his mother, sister, grandfather, and a friend from school and on one of their day trips to Florence, they also visited the Uffizi and Santa Croce Church – as well as this restaurant. Ryan kept raving that it was the best in the world and that we HAD to find it. Surprisingly, we did. And yes, the food was excellent. Ryan & I had penne bolognese, Carolyn had a spicy marinara sauce over spaghetti and Clark had ravioli with pesto.

We took in some more sights of the city and then headed back to our Tuscan home. We chose to have dinner at our residence that evening, which was a 5 course meal, each served with almost too much time in between. It was typical of all the meals we have been eating in Italy – more time to sit and visit inbetween eating. The courses were pre-empted with a bottle of the local vineyard’s wine and were followed by:

• arugula salad with prosciutto
• penne carbonara
• pork tenderloins with spinach and roasted potatoes
• gelato with fresh berries
• cappuccino

Divine!

Florence is a short ride from Tuscany so after the soccer match, we headed to a castle on the rolling hills of Tuscany, amidst olive trees and grape vines. Nestled on top of a very large hill at the end of a gravel road is where we found our castle, in which we are staying for the last leg of our trip. This castle, Tenuta Lupinari, was built in the 14th century and was recently restored to its current status as a 12-apartment retreat for tourists willing to rent a car and navigate the Tuscan country-side to actually find this hidden gem.

Between the 4 of us we have 2 appartments, each equiped with 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, sitting/living room, dining room and bedroom. Our view of the vineyard is something I can not describe with words. Once I am back in the states, I will post pictures so you can all see just how scenic and lovely it really is.

Today, we took a day trip to Sienna to see some churches, take some pictures and do some shopping. The Duomo was an impressive cathedral with beautiful stained glass windows and designs on the floors. It also housed the remains of Pope Pious II, but most notably works of art by Michelangelo.

We also stopped into another cathedral which did not have much to boast besides the actual head of St. Catherine, which has been in that church since 1383. Her body is in a cathedral in Rome (which we also visited), but after she died, her head fell off and it was then moved to Siena. So now I’ve seen all of her.

We did a bit of shopping and I found some great Euro pants and shoes. Ryan got some more soccer jerseys and scarves. Carolyn got some ceramics. Clark stood outside the stores and watched.

On Friday, Carolyn, Ryan & I drove down the coast through various towns and villages beside the sea. We were mostly looking for something of interest to fill the time before we headed to the Genoa airport to pick up Clark that evening.

After leaving the Cinque Terre, we drove through Santa Margherita Ligure and Portofino, but the odds were against us in Portofino. In this province of Genoa, we spent 20 minutes trying to find a parking spot in the world’s smallest 4-level parking garage. Not only were the parking spaces WAY too small for the boat we were driving, but the ramps that connected each level were so narrow that it took multiple attempts to enter and then finally exit. That terrible time in the parking garage cost us 5,50 Euro. Boo.

We made our way back to Santa Margherita Ligure, easily found street parking and then had lunch by the water.

The seafood in these provinces has been amazing and extremely fresh. My favorite has been spaghetti with clams and the grilled swordfish was also very good. I never had clams before I came to Italy and I probably never will because there is no way that any other restaurant in the world will produce a dish with clams as fresh as the ones I am eating in this country.

This evening we met up with Giulia & Ludmilla and both of their parents. Giulia & Ludmilla are cousins and are both from Turin, Italy. A few years ago, Carolyn randomly selected Ludmilla to be one of her yearly foreign exchange students. A year after Ludmilla came to Los Angeles and partied it up with the Woods clan, her cousin, Giulia, came for a visit. Then Giulia came again and again. Tonight was the first time we were meeting up with Giulia & Ludmilla and both of their parents, this time in their native country. We had another lovely meal by the water and enjoyed spending time together, getting to know them all better.

Tomorrow morning we say ‘arividerchi’ to the Chinque Terre as we head to Florence. We have a soccer match to make in Florence at 3:30pm and then after the game, we check in at our next hotel.

On the sixth day in Rome, we packed up our bags and took a taxi to the airport so we could pick up our rental car.

We drove in a lovely, large Fiat from Rome to Pisa where we saw the famous leaning tower. We had a quick bite to eat and were pleased to see that the food outside of the city of Rome was vastly less expensive.

Around 3pm, we got to our next stop: an abbey along the coast in the Cinque Terre (chink-ua tear-eh). Driving on the freeway is pretty easy compared to driving on city streets that are wide enough for one of these little European cars. Just BARELY big enough for the tank we were driving. We were lucky that Carolyn was a master operator on a manual car, otherwise Ryan & I would be screwed since neither of us know how to drive a stick-shift.

The abbey in which we are staying is just that: a church with an attached abbey that was transformed into a hotel. About a dozen rooms are located in the abbey, all on the second floor with an open air terrace on which I am currently sitting. Breakfast is served every morning from 8am-10am, a wide range of yogurts, granola, fresh fruit, juices, cakes, pies (for breakfast?!) and made-to-order eggs & bacon. They will also make you a cappuccino, latte or hot chocolate – all have been tested and are all delicious.

Our first full day in the Cinque Terre was spent traveling first by train and then by foot between the five towns along the coast: Monterosso, Vernazza, Cornelia, Manarola, Riomaggiore. The 2 1/2 mile hike from Monterossa to Vernazza was BRUTAL. It was some of the most treacherous hills I have ever traversed. It was mostly up hill, but with some downhill – all of it extremely rocky and it took us about 2 hours to complete. By the time we got to the next town, we stopped for lunch and then made our way to the train station to pop in at the next 3 towns.

None of the towns had as much going on as Monterosso, which is a beach-side village with a lot of sun-bathers, kayakers, bicyclists and our favorite: gift shops. We will probably return to this town to do some shopping before we leave.

Tomorrow, Clark arrives in the early evening, so we will explore more of the town where we are staying (Maneglia) and grab some dinner after we retrieve the fourth member of our traveling party.

Today we had two guided tours set up.

The first tour started at the Coliseum at 8:30am. By the end of this 3 1/2 hour tour, we got to go to through the entrance to the Coliseum, into the stands and looking out at the non-existent floor to what used to be where the gladiator games were held. The floor has since crumbled away, so when you look down, you see the “locker rooms” below, as well as the trap doors for the animals (lions, pumas, hippos, tigers, ostriches, elephants) that were led into the arena as an obstacle for the gladiators.

The second half of this first tour was of the Roman Forum, which had about a mile of ruins. You could really get a sense of what their houses, schools and palaces looked like, just by seeing the framing across the countryside.

When the first tour concluded at noon, we grabbed some lunch at the first air conditioned cafe we could find and then made our way back to our appartment.

At 3pm we had our second tour of the day at the Basilica of Saint Clemente. This church had various different levels below the ground where the original church was established in the year 300. We just kept descending further and further down into the ground. Surprisingly, the original wall paintings were still present, along with the columns that started on the very first (original) level and then were incorporated into the present day levels of the church. This church had an incredible mozaic on the present day level, illustrating the disciples, Christ, Saint Clemente, and a million other symbols. The details were simply breathtaking.

The next stop on this tour was at the Santi Quattro Coronati, another ancient basilica that dated back to the 4th century. The chapel of this basilica had stories painted on the wall that were still clear to this day. Amazing.

The last stop on this tour was Saint Giovanni in Laterano’s Basilica. This church was the original Vatican where the first Pope’s lived and preached before the present day Vatican was built. This church was constructed on the very spot where the FIRST church was built.

By the time today was at its end, our feet were sore, we were exhausted and anxious to rest awhile. However, tonight is our last night in the city of Rome. I polished off the last of the white wine in our apartment and then we were off for caprese salad, fresh olives, fettuccine bolognese, more white wine and gelato.

Tomorrow we rent a car and head to the abbey in which we are staying in the Cinque Terre and maybe a stop at the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Day 4 in Rome began with a 4 hour tour of the Vatican City, which is its own country. It even has its own radio station and postage stamps.

We got a very personalized tour with a well educated Italian woman who really knew her stuff. The tour consisted of the 3 of us and 2 ladies from Canada. Our tour guide showed us through the 20 different museums in the Vatican, which were comprised of paintings, sculptures and tapestries from every era by the most famous artists, such as Raphael and Michelangelo. The most notable work of art was the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel that Michelangelo painted, which took him over 4 years to complete.

The amount of security to get into the Vatican City was crazy. Long lines, metal detectors and a very strict dress code. While cameras were allowed, bare shoulders and bare knees were not. However, we came dressed appropriately and were not one of the few turned away at the door. There was a strong police presence in various rooms of the Vatican, including the Sistine Chapel, where they ran around shooshing everyone, as well as removing cameras from click-happy fingers because in this very sacred room, pictures are not allowed.

It was surreal to take a minute and stare up at this masterpiece, which has been around since 1512. Even though the tour felt like an eternity surrounded by foreigners pushing, shoving and unnecessarily breathing on you, Michelangelo made it well worth the wait.

The last stop on this never-ending tour was St. Peter’s Bascilica, the largest church in the world. The artwork in this church was breathtaking and it was amazing to see how many bodies of Popes, Kings and Queens are entoumbed within the walls of the bascilica (and beneath it in St. Peter’s case).

When the tour finally wrapped, we got a cab and headed towards our appartment to change into clothing that revealed our shoulders/knees and then we were off to get some lunch. We had yet another tasty appetizer of bruschetta, along with gnocchi marinara and spaghetti bolognese.

Day 2 in Rome started out with a quick cab ride to Santa Maria Maggiore and then what Ryan deemed was a necessary stops at two different soccer stores. He’s already spent hundreds of dollars on jerseys, track suits, jackets and beanies. He’s in soccer geek heaven.

I, on the other hand, found myself a very nice pair of Fendi sunglasses.

We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, enjoyed the free-refills and then did some more shopping on our way back to our appartment.

In the late afternoon, Carolyn and I made our way downstairs to the Piazza Navona where we had the freshest bruschetta and I had a half litre of white wine all to myself. By the time the last glass was poured out of the pitcher, I was feeling great.

We took another cab to dinner, which was at the Antica Pesa and sat outside on the patio underneath the stars. The Roma ambiance and the delicious food made for a wonderful evening. We shared a plate of short pasta with carbonara and a plate of thinly sliced ham with roasted buffalo mozarella on the side. Ryan had basil gnocci, Carolyn had a lamb shank and I had chicken.

Day 3 in Rome got off to a late start. Ryan and I didn’t roll out of bed until 11am. Hey, it’s a vacation, right??? When we were finally ready to go, we took a cab to the Appian Way, where we rented bikes and traveled the cobblestone pathway, which was surrounded by ancient ruins. We stopped for a few photo ops, but when we had reached the 4 mile mark, we took one last photo of the aqueducts and then made our way back down towards civilization. The Appian Way is about 7 miles in its entirety.

Now we are back in our appartment, ready to wash off the dirt from the Appian Way and then back out to the city for some more food.

Bonjourno!

After boarding a plane in Boston at 3pm yesterday, I finally stepped onto Roma ground at 1pm today.

Ryan & Carolyn had already been in Rome all day yesterday, so they were anxious for me to arrive. Once I got to our apartment that overlooks the Piazza Navona, I got cleaned up and we headed out to get some lunch. My first Roma meal was spaghetti alla carbonara made with egg and pancetta. So fresh and delicious, I could eat it at every meal!

We then proceeded to walk around the cobblestone streets of the city with a million other tourists, taking in the sights of the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps.

It was very humid today and with the large amount of people we were surrounded by, it was nice to take a break in the Piazza Navona at a cafe for some gelato.  I had strawberry and coconut, simply divine!Then it was back to our apartment for a quick nap at 5pm. When my plane landed in Rome, the pilot called it the ‘Eternal City’ and that time really didn’t matter here. After waking up from the nap at 8pm and then heading out for a late dinner, I realized what he meant. Even though it was late in the evening, there were still a ton of people out and about, shopping in the stores that were still open, dining, drinking and taking pictures of the ancient relics throughout the city.

We stopped to pick up some bottles of wine after dinner to keep at our apartment and the young woman running the store was excited to open up some bottles for us to try. I probably taste-tested about 2 glasses of 6 different kinds of wines. After picking out a bottle of red and a bottle of white, we made our way to one of the many gelato stores on every corner, this one advertising that they had 150 different flavors from which to choose.  Even though it was 11pm at night, we were not alone in this late night snack.  I went straight for the dark chocolate fondente and mint.  Again, it did not disappoint.

Tomorrow is another day of walking around the city, photo ops and shopping.

Today is my 30th birthday and I am truly feelin’ the love.

36 birthday wishes via facebook

5 flower arrangements

4 balloons

2 bottles of wine

chocolate covered strawberries

teddy bear

Elvis DVD box-set

aromatic difuser

personalized note cards

and more memories than I can count.

This weekend, my family & I are traveling to Vegas for what is bound to be an unforgettable birthday celebration. Catch you on the flip side!