Italy! Florence, Cinque Terre, Pisa: Michelle Take Two

Dang it, Chris, leave that building alone.

We flew to Pisa, Italy Saturday morning on the budget airline Ryanair.  This was the very first flight Michelle has had to pay for!  We tried to warn her that flying Ryanair is an experience and dang, did she get to see that first hand.  Firstly, only one tiny piece of luggage is allowed for free so we each packed for four days (including nice clothes for Florence, hiking shoes for Cinque Terre, and a big camera with its own bag) in normal sized backpacks.  Then there’s the ‘we’re being herded like cattle’ feeling that accompanies the whole boarding process.  Then, as soon as your butt is buckled into a Ryanair seat, you are a captive audience for a sales pitch that lasts exactly as long as your flight is in the air.  This flight was almost two hours and in that time we were offered (and I couldn’t make this up): hot and cold food, magazines and newspapers, hot and cold beverages, alcohol, cigarettes, smokeless cigarettes “you can smoke them right on the plane!”, phone cards, makeup and perfume, train tickets, luggage, and my very favorites: Ryanair bingo and lottery tickets that are “€2/each or an even better deal at six for €10” and the Girls of Ryanair calendar.  The reluctant salespeople formerly known as flight attendants just walk up and down the aisle yawning and sort of waving whatever they have to try to sell that minute.  Plus, every announcement was made in English and Italian so there was a constant stream of noise coming from the speakers above our heads.  On the way there we had two ridiculous children and their mother who was feigning sleep to not have to deal with them sitting directly in front of us.  (The flight home lacked the screaming children but did have a large group of drunken Italian 20-somethings who clapped and sang every time a flight attendant came near them.  We didn’t even turn the car radio on for the ride home because all we wanted was silence!)  I won’t complain anymore… we got to Italy safely and cheaply and that is what Ryanair promises to do.  

So yes, from Pisa we took the bus (about an hour) to Florence, known as the ‘birthplace of the Renaissance’.  I loved Florence a few years ago and love it even more after this second visit.  We checked into our hotel and met up with Tracy and Deana for our first amazing meal in Italy.  When Italians go to eat, it typically involves a bottle or two of wine, an appetizer (usually a cheese plate or salad), a first course (usually a pasta dish), amazing crusty bread, a main course (generally a meat dish), and dessert and/or coffee.  It is expected that the whole ordeal will last a few hours so tables in a restaurant will rarely turn over more than once a night.  It was Chris and Michelle’s first time in Italy and it was so incredibly fun to watch them experience all the amazing foods for which the area is known, including gelato (although we did come up short of our goal to average two a day), freshly made pasta of every imaginable shape, steak, pesto, prosciuttos, cheeses, and wines (mostly Chianti since the region borders Florence). The first night we ate at a tiny 6-table restaurant downtown and were well pleased!  For that meal and the ones following we shared a few starters and first courses, each ordered our own second course, and then split a couple desserts.  This let us taste so many different things! The second night, Tracy made reservations at a place Acqua that was recommended to her by friends and again, the food was absolutely amazing. 

At the markets in Florence.

Il Duomo by night.

Tracy, Chris, Deana, Michelle, me

The first morning in Florence we hiked to the top of the Duomo’s (church) bell tower to get some amazing panoramic views of the city.  The Duomo itself was closed (arg). Afterwards we met up with the Dynamic Duo and made our way to see the Statue of David, Michelangelo’s 17-foot tall marble masterpiece (he was only 26 when he carved it!) The statue represents David from the Bible’s story of David and Goliath and truly is impressive to see in person. 

From David we walked to the Church of Sante Croce which was also closed (boo).  Then we hiked up a giant hill (gelato in hand to balance any sort of caloric deficit) to Piazzale Michelangelo for more amazing panoramic views of the city.  We sat for a coffee and then explored the Boboli Gardens, where there are (mostly 15^th and 16^th century) statues on display instead of flowers.  It’s only a couple blocks from there to the Ponte Vecchio, Florence’s iconic ‘Old Bridge’ full of primo jewelry shops.  I got side-tracked with leather boot-buying and met up with Chris and Michelle about 45 minutes later J.  The three of us were exhausted by this point, and needed to get back to the hotel to meet the Duo for that amazing dinner at Acqua but were side-tracked (again) and Michelle and I both ended up with a pair of leather boots and Chris a wool jacket.  Oops!  Our trio left Italy with a new coat, four new scarves, and three new pairs of leather boots between us.  Hahaha!  That made packing our three small backpacks even trickier! 

Il Duomo by day.

Chris and Michelle with their very first gelato!

Michelle taking in the beauty of Florence.  You can see the Duomo to her right towering above the rest of the city.

This is what we do.

Boboli - a garden of statues.

The Ponte Vecchio.

The Duo were heading down to the Amalfi coast for the next leg of their adventure so we said our goodbyes after dinner, packed our things, and set the alarm to catch our super early train to Cinque Terre.  Cinque Terre, literally ‘Five Lands’, is a famous cluster of five towns clinging to coastal cliffs and connected by what is widely regarded as Italy’s most scenic walking trail.  Hiking that trail was a favorite memory from my last trip to Italy and I got Chris and Michelle excited about it, too.  I knew the area had been devastated by a mudslide and flash flood last October so did some research before we committed to that part of the trip.  The official website of Cinque Terre (and Wiki travel and everything else I saw) had a warning that one of the five sections of trail had been washed out and wouldn’t be open.  The rest of the trail, it assured, was open and there was a train or alternative hiking paths that could be used as a work-around.  Fine.  We decided it was still worth the couple-hour train ride so there we were.  We arrived into Monterosso, the northernmost of the five villages and asked the lady at the information desk to show on a map exactly what parts of the trail were closed.  She started x’ing out almost the entire thing… The only part open, she said, was the first half-mile section (the least scenic, I will add.)  WOW.  You’re kidding, right?  That was the entire reason we came!  It was like driving three hours to a U2 concert and instead of them onstage you get a boom box playing their latest record.  Yeah, you’re hearing (or in our case seeing) the same thing but the experience is what you came for.  Does that make sense?  The hotel was already paid for, so we checked in and headed to the gelato stand (don’t judge), sat on the beach, and reassessed our situation.  We decided to take the train to the first of the five towns, Riomaggiore, to at least walk the small open section of trail.  That put us in Vernazzo, the second town.  The weather was gorgeous – 75 and sunny – so we bought snacks and hiked out to the giant rocks of the breakwater to relax.  It was a great decision, for sure.  The three of us made each other laugh for a few hours and enjoyed the heck out of our €12 bottle of Prosecco. 

Michelle had never seen the sun set over the ocean, so that turned into the ‘ruined’ day’s goal. We needed some dinner first, though, so picked our way the hundred or so feet back across the rocks into town.  

Hahaha!  Train yoga.

Monterosso, Italy

Chris and Michelle on the beach at Monterosso.  Gorgeous!

Me and Michelle, same beach :)

Don't let them tell you differently, Cinque Terre's trail is CLOSED.

The trail's first, and only open, section.

FAVORITE! This is Vernazza.  See the rocks on the right?  That's where we hung out for just about the whole afternoon!

Can you tell how many hours it is until sunset by measuring how far the sun is above the horizon? 

Awwwwww :)

We sent Chris on a gelato mission :) 

There was a restaurant with great ocean views that looked perfect and luckily the owner saw us looking at the posted and came down the hill to open up for us.  “We open. You stay.  Sit anywhere!”  He helped us chose our dishes, all seafood of course.  I honestly can’t think of any better meal I’ve eaten.  We had gnocchi scampi, squid ink homemade ‘long pasta’, seafood stew with fish, squid, prawns, and mussels, and gigantic prawns with a fennel salad.  Dang.  Double dang.  If you ever find yourself in Vernazza, definitely go to Ristorante Marina Piccola. The owner even gave us tastes of grappa and limoncello to finish off the meal.   



Sitting at our perfect table. 

Best bread ever. 

Grappa.  Ew.

Yummmy food.

Cracking up.

We watched the fisherman hoist this boat up from the sea as the sun was setting. 

 Afterwards we walked back to the rocks and spent an hour watching the sun set and the sky change to pinks and purples.  Do we wish we had been able to do the epic hike instead of all that?  Yes.  Did we thoroughly enjoy our day despite the disappointment?  Definitely.

Michelle catching the sun :)

Amazing colors (no filters or photoshop!)

Tuesday we lounged in the sun on the Monterosso beach for a while, watching the mail person ride her bike from person to person (I swear half the town was chatting on the boardwalk) handing them their mail.  Around 11:00 we dragged ourselves from the beach to catch a train to Pisa.  As a rule, we love taking dumb photos, so the famous Torre Pendente (Leaning Tower) was great.  It leans way more than I imagined! We snapped some pictures and then laid in the grass at the base of the tower for an hour before heading back to obnoxious Ryanair-land.   

Michelle's awesome handstand!

Serious leaning!

I mentioned before that Michelle was involved with Carolina men’s basketball but haven’t mentioned how much of a Tar Heel basketball fan Chris has become since we started dating.   Since most games come on TV in the middle of the night Chris and I are pretty good at playing the ‘don’t find out the score until we can watch the recorded game’ game.  It’s harder than it sounds! You have to tell everyone around about the situation and keep a self-imposed social and news media blackout (no Facebook, no email, no answering phone calls, no television…) The ACC tournament was on during this Italy trip so we set up the DVR to record Sunday’s final (that’s right, we all had faith) and played ‘the game’ until Tuesday night!  See, Chris and I are used to this game but Michelle, not so much.  In fact, she may have developed a nervous tic.  And all that to watch Carolina get beat by Florida State days after it actually happened.  Boo. At least there was leftover cookie dough to eat.

Michelle observed how much of a ‘yes, let’s’ person Chris is.  Huh?  Michelle explained:  Hey, want to climb those 300 stairs for the view?  Yes, let’s.  Want to skip that entire part of the museum because I don’t love those paintings?  You want to get back to the Ponte Vecchio by sunset?  How about sitting for a coffee?  Yes, let’s. From my perspective, Michelle absolutely shares that quality.  Whether it was because all three of us have similar traveling styles or interests, we always seemed to be on the same page with what to do and when.  It was wonderful!

I think maybe the best way to judge a trip is by how much you laugh and how many experiences you take from it.  If that is the measure, we had an absolutely wonderful time.  Even with the many, many hours ‘in transit’ (busses, cars, trains, planes) and the bitter disappointment of the Cinque Terre trail being closed, we managed to accept the reality of our situations and make the very best out of them.  Michelle, you’re welcome to come back anytime!

Michelle's Trip Across the Pond - Part 1 (London, York, Farm)

Michelle Mudge is officially our very first across-the-pond guest!  Our parents live next door to each other, and although we’ve never physically been neighbors we act and feel like family.  Michelle’s dad is a pilot so, in the most fantastic of perks ever in history, she flies for free.  A couple weeks ago we promised her a fun, although likely chilly spring break and she took us up on the offer to come visit.  As a complete coincidence, Chris’ cousin Tracy who lives in Chicago and her friend Diana were starting a two-week Italy trip at the same time.  Chris and I had already purchased tickets to Florence to meet them, so Michelle hitched on to that adventure as well and so got a sort of two-for-one spring break adventure to England and Italy!  So much happened during her time here that I’m splitting this blog into at least two. 

Michelle will probably cringe, but I have to brag on her for a couple minutes.  She’s a junior at Chapel Hill which happens to be my alma mater.  She was a diver there until a back injury forced her to retire.  I find this amazing: at a time in their lives, she and her dad were both ranked #1 in the state in diving and her brother and sister were both #1 in the state in tennis. Her poor mom is super talented but they give her grief about being the only one not in that club!  Michelle is now an intern with the strength and conditioning coach for UNC men’s basketball and UNC diving.   She’s on first-name basis with all the people we see on TV and it was actually confusing to watch the Carolina game with her because she doesn’t refer to the players as Zeller or Henson, etc… it’s ‘Z or Tyler’ and ‘John’.  Poor girl, we absolutely drilled her with questions about the guys and the team!  We got to the gym a couple times while she was here and Chris tried to soak up all of Michelle’s weight-training knowledge.  After a particularly tough workout, Chris couldn’t laugh/cough/sneeze/sit up for about three days because his abs hurt so much.  I poked him in the stomach anytime I got the chance J.

The first day Michelle was here we took it easy and went for a little walk with Bailey along the River Ouse that runs near the house.  As is typical here, the sky was brooding and the wind was chilly, so we didn’t stay out too long. 

The next day we went into London to do some sight-seeing.  There’s no way to experience all of London in a week, let alone a day, so we chose a little circuit of sights that Michelle absolutely wanted to see.  We started at the famous Trafalgar Square and stepped into the (completely free) National Gallery to see Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and an impressive quantity (18 – I looked it up) of Monet paintings. The National Gallery houses one of the greatest collections of art in the world and we could’ve spent ages there if we had more time!   

Michelle in Trafalgar Square, with the National Gallery in the background.

Michelle and me in Trafalgar Square.

Michelle gives this a sense of scale!

From there we walked to Big Ben and then into Westminster Abbey.  I’ve never been into Westminster and can say it was hands-down my favorite part of this London excursion.  The building itself is spectacular, inside and out. We couldn’t take pictures in the church, so I added a few from the internet.  The Abbey is where coronations have taken place since about AD 1050 and the latest Royal Wedding happened there just recently.  It’s also the final resting place of Britain’s monarchs.  It’s a great honor to be buried there and underfoot are tiles marking graves of a variety of other important and influential historical figures! Charles Dickens, Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles Darwin (so interesting that he’s buried in a church), Isaac Newton, and Charlie Chaplin are just a few examples.   We spent a good hour inside but again, could’ve spent three times that if time had allowed.  I’d say it’s a ‘must-see’ for anyone going to London.

Michelle with Big Ben (which officially is the bell in the clock tower) in the background.

Queen Elizabeth the 1st (picture taken from http://www.westminster-abbey.org/)

Inside Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey (photo taken from http://www.westminster-abbey.org/)

From Westminster we walked through St. James’s Park to see Buckingham Palace, and from there headed by subway to the London Bridge.  We walked from there to the Tower of London, a castle in central London that seems so strangely out of place surrounded by the more modern buildings of the city! Interesting tidbits: it holds the Crown Jewels and King Henry VIII’s second wife Queen Anne Boleyn and fifth wife Catherine Howard were both beheaded there.  Yikes.  The Tower Bridge is a London icon.  It crosses the River Thames (that’s pronounced ‘temz’, not ‘thaymes’ although in retrospect it would’ve been a ton funnier to let Michelle go with her pronunciation…) alongside the castle. At one point in all this wandering we found ourselves mistakenly going down a stone staircase that led directly into the Thames – as in, the bottom stairs were underwater.  It provided one of about a hundred laughs from the day!

Buckingham Palace, London

The Tower Bridge.

London wore us out and the next day was cold and rainy so we spent the majority of our time sleeping, cooking, and running errands on base.  Oh, and I think this is the day Michelle killed Chris’ abs at the gym. 

The next day, Michelle and I took a train a couple hours north to the medieval town of York while Chris slaved away at work.  What a charming town!  It is surrounded by a medieval wall, upon which you can walk and within which are the narrow, convoluted, cobbled roads of the town.  We stumbled upon a free tour within five minutes of getting off the train and learned all about the towns tumultuous beginnings.  A super-condensed history: in AD 71 the Romans conquered the Brigante tribe who had been living peacefully in the area.  It was these Romans who started building the walls (parts of which still remain and are incorporated into the medieval wall!)  After the Roman Empire collapsed the Anglo-Saxans took over in about AD 300, then the Vikings conquered in AD 866, then various English royalty took over afterwards and the place has been relatively peaceful since.  All that learning made us hungry and since no trip to England is complete without fish & chips we stopped at a little restaurant for that and a meat pie.  We even got ‘mushy peas’… it is hard to get more British than that.  After lunch we walked the rest of the city walls and admired the York Minster.  It’s the largest medieval cathedral in all of Northern Europe and is stunning from the outside!  I’ve heard it has amazing stained glass inside but was unfortunately closed while we were in York.  We had time to grab a couple half-pints of locally brewed beer and pear cider at an ancient looking pub before having to catch our train home.  All-in-all it was a nice day that would’ve been even nicer with warmer temperatures or a little sun.  Ahh, England. 

York Minster

The saying goes that in York, "gate means street, bar means a gate, and a pub is a bar".  This is one of the 'bars' through the city walls.

Eveything is soooo old.

Michelle standing on the city walls.

Clifford's Tower, part of York Castle.

We meant to take it easy on Friday in preparation for the Italy Adventure but instead ended up having a full day of working on the farm in the morning (http://www.south-farm.co.uk/), and going to the gym and planting onions in my garden in the afternoon.  Not a typical spring break, but she got to pet some piggies, wash some veggies for the kitchen (the farm is part of a wedding venue), plant some things, and learned a ton about how vegetables grow!  As an aside, I have to say that Michelle was such an easy guest to feed – she didn’t shy away from any of the weird food I put in front of her! We exposed her to sloe gin and all sorts of fun vegetables like green garlic, celeriac, fennel, different cabbages, and parsnips.  

Washing celeriac for the kitchen.

Me weeding the garlic.

Michelle learned how to plant onions!

Saturday morning the three of us took off to Italy to experience Florence, Cinque Terre, and Pisa… but that will be in Part 2 of Michelle's Trip Across the Pond!