So two days ago I was reading the news and I saw that Venice had suffered it worst flooding in more than 20 years. I saw the pictures on the news and realized that no matter how much technology we have and how much engineering we have, we really cannot defy Mother Nature.

December 2, 2008

Tourists warned to stay away as Venice suffers worst flooding for two decades

Sirens sounded across Venice yesterday as flooding submerged 95 per cent of the city and left tourists in St Mark’s Square thigh-deep in water.

The highest water levels in more than 20 years paralysed services. Elderly residents were carried to high ground and some people took to the piazzas in inflatable dinghies.

As the water retreated it left a layer of sludge and debris. There were fears of more flooding, with another surge into the city from the Adriatic predicted today as high tides coincide with bad weather. Temperatures in the past few days have barely risen above freezing.

“Venice is completely paralysed,” one official said. “We are submerged.” Massimo Cacciari, the Mayor of Venice, advised residents and tourists to avoid moving around unless it was unavoidable. “Anyone thinking of coming should think again,” he said. “These are exceptionally high waters. Don’t venture out unless it is necessary.”

Driven by strong winds and heavy rain, the water rose to just over 5ft above sea level, the highest acqua alta since the 5ft 2in (1.6m) of 1986. The tide monitoring centre gave warning that the levels could yet reach a 30-year high.The water reached 6ft 4in above sea level in 1966, causing devastation to homes, shops and historic monuments and artworks.

Workers set up duckboards and elevated walkways, and text messages with updates were sent to those who had registered with the flood warning service. Ground-floor pumps were activated in homes and shops.

Officials said that the red alert put out yesterday at dawn remained in force. With wellington boots defeated by the rising waters some residents used fishing-style waders. Householders without pumps struggled to bail out water with buckets.

Some tourists were seen photographing each other while wading through the flooded streets and piazzas. Many said that they had been charmed by the water wonderland. “The hotel had to turn off the gas and the electricity but they made us a nice candlelit cold lunch,” said Yacob Laurent, a visitor from Paris. “They gave us boots and my wife and I went for a walk. It was a lot of fun.”

The flooding was compounded by a national transport strike, which affected the Venice vaporetto or water bus service. Giancarlo Galan, the head of the Veneto region, said that the workers had chosen a bad time to strike. “I’d like to give them a medal for their sense of responsibility,” he said sarcastically.

The entire city, founded on a collection of marshy islands in the 5th century, suffers from periodic flooding. The growing severity and frequency of the floods is attributed to silt deposits raising the floor of the lagoon and a rise in sea levels caused by global warming.

Italian meteorologists said that the entire country was being affected by bad weather, with driving rain, snow, hail and high winds causing flooding from the Alps to Palermo. Many roads in Piedmont, Liguria and Lombardy were closed and Rome was hit by hail and rainstorms, with fallen trees blocking roads and cars submerged in flooded road tunnels.

In Udine, not far from Venice, one man was killed when a wall collapsed. Another died when driving rain, wind and poor visibility were blamed for a traffic pile-up. Residents of Trieste said the main square had been flooded.

Then I thought back to the pictures of Venice that we took when we were there earlier this year….

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Post tags: st mark's square, venice at night, what to do in italy, what to do in Venice at night

11.00am: We’re checking out now, after a late night last night, and we got back in after an exhausting day of traveling and then touring. This hotel would be the best one overall in our experience so far… everything was average. There was a connection – but I had to pay for it, there was a full private bathroom – but it opened out into the girls’ area, there was breakfast – but no OJ, etc, there, so overall, this hotel was average. But it did have one really important thing: Honest Cleaning staff!!! I left my Nano back in the room, but when I came back from touring later on, it was attached in an envelope to my gear bag! A quite unexpected but welcome development.

6.37pm: Leaving Venezia now and I remember why I didn’t like Venezia the first time I came. As lovely as this place is, it is overrun with tourists, students and vendors trying to sell you everything from glasses to bags. Should be back into Rome in about 4 hours, and then I have find the Roma Conference Hotel in the EUR region. The funny thing is that the scene has not really changed in the last couple years. Hopefully, tomorrow morning when I get into the US Airways desk tomorrow, fortune will smile on me and I will get the extension to the flight I want.

Yesterday, we got into Venezia quite late in the afternoon ended up getting a nice little hotel. It was a family type room, where there was the queen sized bed and a second room with three single beds. So once we checked into our rooms, then it was off to explore Venezia, get through the Vaporeto and explore St Mark’s Basilica.

First mission was to navigate the Vaporeto. This can be highly confusing to the new traveler, since the system itself doesn’t appear to run according to a certain schedule. The water taxi system though is the main way that people get around the city, it is prohibitively expensive. The schedule ran something from 6.50 Euros for a single ride to 24 Euros for a 72 hour pass. I have to find out how the locals actually get around the place, either by walking, bus or water taxi, but there must be a combined pass or something that allows the locals to get around. There is a system of 450 bridges that connect all the small little islands together, and of course one can get around the entire set of islands by walking.

We all purchased the 24 hour ticket for 16 euros and then we were off. There are about 6 different lines that run around Venice but they are not numbered in any logical order, so typical in Italy *lol* … We ended up catching the #2 line to San Marco.

Second mission: Get to San Marco successfully. This was completed! Once we got to San Marco, it was a nice little walk down waterfront then we were in the heart of San Marco. It is another one of those legendary piazzas that evokes emotions and thoughts. Once in the heart of the square, the musicians in the square, travelers gazing, couples embracing, all help to inspire romance. There were 5 sets of musicians at different points in the square, each playing different sets of music, of course all coordinated so that they would not conflict with each other.  Once in the square, there was the usual: shoot the square from about 1000 angles and viewpoints. There isn’t really much to say about being around Piazza San Marco. The stores are the some of the most expensive and exclusive shops in the world. The people in the square are from all across the world. The Piazza itself is something right out of a movie, especially once the lights around the Piazza come on in the early evening.

9.30pm: I’m on the train here…and I remember exactly why I don’t buy second class tickets when traveling on trains in Europe: British and American High School kids, well Americans period on the trains! In the summer, it is a right of passage or something, the parents send their kids away to experience Europe, by booking some tour, where the kids go off and the parents can think to themselves that their kids are learning something. I have been on this train now in the thick of three sets of separate American kids, all non stop talking for three hours, talking about the most insipid of topics, swearing loudly and of course not believing why Italy isn’t more like the States. The Europeans on the train just pass, shake their heads, roll their eyes and continue. The Chinese guy across from me can barely hide his contempt as he raises the volume on his iPod, louder and louder just to drown these retards out. *sigh!!*

In first class seating on Eurails, I have not had to ever deal with this type of interaction, and it makes my travel experience quite lovely. I look forward to the quiet time on trains between destination as my own personal reflection time, where I ruminate on the previous destination’s events, plan my next set of milestones and more importantly get some needed sleep. I’m already thinking that the next long European trip will definitely be Scandinavia. Norway, Sweden, and Denmark with a nice little stop in Tallin, Estonia seems like a quite logical 15 day trip, it would be a bit more expensive but I think this would be a trip later on next year, as I want to go back and see more of Central and South America.

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Hey girls…btw im staying here tonight… if you read this blog before you head to the airport….got a queen room for 46 Euros.. with the upgrade!

Sheraton Roma Hotel & Conference Center

Viale Del Pattinaggio, 100
Rome, 00144
IT
(39)(06) 54531

================================================================

Anyway, too much heat, too much crowds, too much everything, too much noise.. too much!!!

Venice is always amazing but today with the crowds etc… it was just too much for me… I wanted to run the moment I saw the crowds this morning. Anyway, im hot, sweaty and tired, and looking forward to being in a great room tonight. Will write more from the room tonight, after I work out!!! OMG!! I miss the gym and lifting weights!! Seriously!!!

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Post tags: st mark’s square, venice at night, what to do in italy, what to do in Venice at night

11am: So this morning was fairly uneventful…since the girls went shopping and I slept in. I was supposed to go night shooting over the past 3 nights in Firenze, but the weather has been so dismal and miserable at night, I preferred to sleep in. In addition, I don’t know if I will be staying on here or not, if I can find a reasonable ticket change for the right price i.e. something under 200CDN, I will stay on till the end of the week and make the best use of my Europass, since I have 4 days more to use on it…and I think I will couchsurf it, if I know I can. This way I can make Portofino and maybe even tag in something cheap to Athens or Santorini or Istanbul. That would be an amazing end to this trip.

12.38pm: So we get to the train station expecting the train from Firenze to Venezia, but the train is completely booked up and the girls don’t want to risk getting booted out at Bologna (the site of horrible food except Risotto), so we decided to head to the supermarket and get some groceries. It is much cheaper to go to the grocery and make your own sandwiches rather than buy them in the cafes, (one would think this is not any big secret and it isn’t but finding supermarkets in a big city can be rather difficult in some ways). I had the deli butcher make me an awesome panini of cooked proscuitto with spicy salami on olive foccacia, it was a sick sandwich. European bread is just so much better than the rubbish we have in North America. One can get great artisan bread over here, but you have to search it out, rather than find it readily available in any grocery.

So since the train was booked up, we had to end up going on the 2.38pm train. This would get us into Venezia at 5.50pm, and have to find a hotel while we are there.

4.10pm:  Normally the only discomfort we have had on our train rides was just the 20 euro supplement for the Eurostar trains. Well this afternoon, that discomfort went to whole a new level, since we hadn’t filled out the box for the Eurail pass to indicate that we were traveling on the 31^st. The fine for doing is 50 euros each, and of course when the conductor told us, we were livid, but the girls had the pleading under control and I smartly shut up and let them plead our case. In the end, we got away with a warning about filling out the box and a disaster was averted. This shows the disparity of the interpretation of Eurail rules across the countries. In Switzerland, Holland, France, Germany, Austria and Czech Republic, the conductors would calmly use their date puncher and insert the date for you. In Italy, the responsibility is yours to insert the date accurately else they can levy this 50 euro fine on you. It is in the fine print of the pass, so we had no case in contesting this, but when conductor behavior differs across countries, it create a differential expectation, which always leads to problems and assumptions on the part of the traveler. In 5 times using the Eurail pass, the Italian job has proved to be the most troublesome using the pass, and overall, the savings in using the pass has been negligible.

Thoughts on our trip so far: Observations, Successes and Areas for improvement

Overall, this trip has been a resounding success so far. Beth, Amanda and I are still friends and in good spirits through the trials of traveling together with the different personalities on the trip. I know I prefer traveling alone in most cases, since I have the freedom to do as I please, but traveling alone is a highly selfish experience in many ways, since you don’t normally get to share your experiences and the recap of the day with your friends. Having a travelogue online though really does ease this in many ways, since the family and friends can keep track of your journeys, thoughts and feelings along the way with you.

Traveling on trips like this is definitely a test of any friendship, and more times than not, friendships are broken or damaged during trips like this, since other people see the worst sides of you. They see how you handle stress, how you treat people, how your moods can sway, whether you buckle under pressure or adapt on the fly to changing situations. Personally, I love the interactions and challenges of traveling together, even though sometimes, my worst petulant, demanding and miserable sides will come out. This is where it is important to have people that know your personality and will allow you the slack to just be in a shitty mood for a little.  

Friends will ask, “How do you know, if you can travel with someone?” My answer will encompass traits like patience, positive disposition, resilience under pressure, and most importantly, the ability to forget what happened yesterday. The last quality is more important than any other trait in my opinion, since traveling with people, is like being under a microscope and in a pressure cooker all at the same time. Every little mistake and nuance is analyzed especially, if the parties involved handle things differently. This is where a delegation of duties helps tremendously. A person who is forward and unafraid of confrontation and confident should always do the asking. When communicating in different languages, it is not as important to know the language as it is to understand and translate meta-communication. If you are unsure of what you are asking, the other person will surely be unsure of what you are asking also. Simple, precise and concise questions do wonders for traveling. Too many times, a person will try to explain their predicament, rather than reduce the situation to the most basic of questions. This has happened a couple times on this trip, where I should have taken the lead in a communicative situation, rather than defer to Amanda, especially when the result was not the optimal one, or I had to find out more information after the fact. The converse of this is that it was important that someone else do this, so that they gain this knowledge and learn this skill, my frustration did come out at times when this happened and I should be more patient with this type of situation.

As an experienced traveler going through the gamut of situations, from getting lost in the jungle to losing my wallet and having no money and going to a work engagement, there is nothing in this world that will teach you how to be resourceful in these contexts than the life experience itself. It would be beneficial to always keep this in mind.

From a personal accomplishment perspective, I am quite happy with the progress and the flexibility I catered for in the trip schedule was a good thing. I did not know I would stay in Amalfi for three nights or Florence for three nights, but the beauty of the Eurail pass was that it did allow the flexibility to travel. The terrible thing about the pass however was the fact that the additional one way supplements did add up to a significant amount of money and I am going to write a very strongly worded letter to the Eurail people and definitely spread the word that the Italian Eurail Country pass is definitely much not as good as having the Eurail pass through other countries in the EU.

A couple things that surprised me on this trip

1. The stunning beauty of the Amalfi Coast and the little islands around it, as well as the small little mountain towns. Truly something wondrous and different from anyone who has traveled the Caribbean. For all the beauty of the Caribbean Islands, seeing the Amalfi Coast, just like seeing Thailand and the small islands in Asia or Central America makes me constantly reevaluate my idea of preternatural beauty. This is one of the best things about exploring and traveling the world as best as I can.
2. The Leaning Tower of Pisa. Unlike seeing other icons, like the Eiffel Tower, Empire State Building, Westminster Abbey, Versailles, etc… for some reason seeing the Tower really moved me inside, maybe because when you see it in person, it is actually much prettier than the previous icons.

   

   

   

    

3. The overall manner of Italian people – we hear about the warmth of Italians and I for one truly believe that they are warm people but the service industry as a whole is poor and does not cater to tourists. This was my overall impression now from three different times in Italy, of course this being the longest.

Amanda Di Loreto’s tips to traveling with me:

After reading this last blog, I feel as though I just read a Users Manual on how to travel. I appreciate you “giving me a shout out” in the above paragraph regarding communication. I would like to remind your readers that I, Amanda Di Loreto, am a first time traveler, and therefore, I am not yet wise to the ways of traveling as our DEAR friend Rishi Ray. For those of you who know Rishi well, you know he has somewhat of a strong personality and enjoys doing things in a certain way, at a certain time and with a certain goal in mind. So, as Rishi has provided us with sound advice on how to travel, I will now go ahead and do the same. Below you will find several tips on what to expect when traveling with Rishi Sankar.

1. Rishi thinks he is a big deal because he has big arms. Many Europeans have been fascinated by his arms, which has increased the size of Rishi’s HEAD since leaving Canada several days ago.
2. If Rishi is eating at a restaurant that does not provide him with “pepperoncino,” the restaurant then becomes sub par, thus causing him to become cranky while he goes through his “spicy” withdrawal (Similar to when a crack head cannot find his supplier)
3. Rishi has become accustomed to a particular lifestyle, and when he is not able to maintain this particular lifestyle, he again, can become quite cranky. At this time, it is best to let him be and let him have his “moment.” This can be cured by finding Rishi a good gelato stand, at a reasonable price of course!
4. Unlike many of us, Rishi lacks a certain filter in his brain that allows him to determine whether or not what he is about to say is appropriate. If something Rishi says offend you in some way, it is best to simply smile and nod, as you should know better than to tell Rishi what you REALLY think of his comment.
5. Rishi snores. He is aware of this. He does not care if it bothers you. Learn to deal with it!!!
6. Be prepared to look at the same building/monument from 900 different angles several times throughout the day, afternoon, evening and night. Rishi does not care if it is 3am and your feet are sore. All he wants is a great photo where his arms look big!
7. If you are American, do not talk to Rishi.
8. If you are stupid, do not talk to Rishi.
9. If you smell bad, do not talk to Rishi. (By the way, Beth and I DID NOT smell bad!)
10. If you are planning on staying in a hotel where Rishi cannot be connected, be prepared for the world to end! If Rishi is not connected, he goes through several stages of withdrawal and they are as follows:
    • Anger: Rishi will be DISGUSTED that he is staying in a hotel that does not have internet access
    • Denial: Rishi cannot BELIEVE that a hotel would not have internet access in 2008
    • Determination: Rishi will become so determined that he can find a hotel where he can connect even if he has to use all his points to get it!
    • Acceptance: You will convince Rishi that he is over-reacting, In order to calm him down you will buy him gelato (NO MILK!!)      

Personally, I love Rishi like a brother. OK, an obnoxious brother, with a funny accent and over sized arms, but still, a brother. We have done a lot of great things on this trip (Blue Grotto, eating at Bruno’s, picnic in Amalfi, checking out Italian girls…etc) and I am glad that I was able to come along on this trip with him. I have learned a lot about Rishi and I am sure he can say the same about me. I think the most important thing to remember is that at the end of the day, you have to be able to laugh things off! I have refused to let any little things get to me throughout this trip. Make sure you have the ability to brush things off!!

I have yet to understand how or why people take traveling so seriously. However, I respect what Rishi does and how he does it. It is what he likes to do, and I can appreciate that. Will I travel with Rishi again? HELL NO!! But, I still love the big armed Trini!!

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Post tags: Carnival at Leaning Tower, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Pisa, Rishi Leaning Tower, Trini at Leaning Tower

Well so dinner in Bologna was ummmm… how do I say this?? Uninspired and boring and pretty much overrated! Now of course, I would hoping in the land of Bologna, we would just find some great Bolognese sauce etc, but the Tagliatelle alla Bolognese we had was pretty insipid.

Mind you, we did find a good restaurant with the white glove service and bow ties. By the way, service here…. overall in Italy, except for St Eustachio (family always gets good service), was pretty shit overall!

So the overall menu for each person:
Rishi : Risotto Marinara ( I asked for no dairy, and it came first with tons of butter… I had to send it back – oh yeah, I specifically asked for no dairy, no butter or cheese…the waiter agreed, says yes and yet it comes with butter… sigh!).

I had the Tagliatelle Alla Marinara, but this was an insipidly cooked Tagliatelle, with no Tomato or so little of it, I would have to search three plates of this stuff to find the Tomato. And the Beef, well let’s not speak of it.

Beth: read the comments about the Tagliatelle, and they should apply, but then again I can’t speak for her….but she was not impressed either.

Amanda: She had the canonelli, no wait… she had the umm I forgot.. it was stuffed pasta.

 Overall… food experience was meh…but as usual, good experience getting there. As for my love affair with Eurotrains…. It’s over with Trenitalia…..then again it never started when I have to pay supplements for the Eurostar trains…. in Italy.

As the pictures show, it wasn’t a very interesting time in Bologna….

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…..

……..

…………..

………………..in Bologna!!!!!
We’re leaving for Bologna at 6.18
Wish us luck that we get some great Bolognese sauce!!!

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So today was out first real day moving around Firenza for the cultural things. This morning we were all up bright and early, and ready to start our day, however the weather didn’t want to cooperate and was drizzling all morning. Previously we had passed the Duomo of Santa Maria Cathedral. Personally I love seeing inside churches even though I’m not religious, and kinda very intrigued by churches. So we visited both the campanile and Florence Cathedral as you can see from the pictures.

• First stop, The Duomo!
  Impressions.. outside is stunning and magnificent piece of architecture. Inside, overrated!!! Nothing really much on the inside. It is huge and has lots of space and you can climb to the top and outside of it.

   We were feeling quite fit and stupidly thought the 414 steps up to the adjacent bell tower to take in a fantastic view of the city would be a good idea. The idea was good, the effort and burning legs was not.

  

• The Palazzo Vecchio tower is another Florence cityscape standout.
• Then we walked past the Uffizi Gallery. I’m not a big museum person and while we were pressed for time, it was decided I would catch the Gallery alone in the morning. However as part of the public part of the Uffizi, the replica of David is outside. The picture below is the fountain of Poseidon, If I’m not mistaken. But I could be!
• The 14th century shop-lined covered Ponte Vecchio had the most bling and ridiculous sets of gold and jewellery I had ever seen, and that was just in the shopfronts! This is the most famous and most frequently photographed bridge in Florence and the only one that wasn’t destroyed in World War II. The bridge itself houses many goldsmiths, jeweller’s shops and medieval workshops that overhang the bridge.

Anyway, the girls are coming back, and we are heading for dinner and maybe I can finally meet some couchsurfers in Italy!

Back to the pictures

Looking at the Ponte Vecchio on the River Arno

This picture below was most interesting, since I had no idea about the locks on the bridge. The tradition is for lovers to write their names on a lock, lock their “love” to the ponte vecchio in florence, and throw the key over the bridge–securing their love forever.

Contrary to what most believe, the so-called lucchetti d’amore are not related to the origins of this practice. Michele Santini, Florentine born-and-bred, explained their origins to me and they have nothing to do with love. He explained that the tradition began when young men had to leave their home towns to do military service. They attached a lock to one of the bridges before their departure as a promise to return home, essentially a promise to survive the war.
The padlocks originated in Rome where, on the Ponte Milvio, they are even more ubiquitous than on the Ponte Vecchio. Built in the year 109 on a key route into Rome, the Ponte Milvio was the site of fierce battles in ancient times.
The act of attaching a lock to a bridge obviously symbolizes the unbreakable bonds of true love. Additional symbolism is found in the fact that they are attached to bridges, symbolically uniting two sides, and the keys thrown into the river. The fact that the tradition originated in Rome, the eternal city, further contributes to its romantic symbolism.
Love locks, however, aren’t all sweetness and love but also represent the booming tourism industry and its negative effects. As tourists now like to attach padlocks to the Ponte Vecchio and other bridges in Italy, thousands of locks have to be removed each year to prevent the deterioration of the statues and bridges, a lengthy and costly job. In 2006, in response to the protests of Florentine citizens, the city police were urged to control the Ponte Vecchio, in particular the monument to Benvenuto Cellini, and fine anyone who tried to attach a lock; a hefty fine of 50 euro.
Several procedural rules have evolved for these metallic love vows over the years. For example, couples must write their names with a felt-tipped pen, on one side of the lock, adding the date of their passage through Florence on the other side, before throwing the keys into the river. There’s a legend that tells that one of the locks once attached to the railing around the statue of Cellini, was a combination lock to the entrance to the Vasari Corridor, atop the bridge linking Palazzo Vecchio and the Uffizi with the Pitti Palace. This passage was designed as a private route for the rulers of the city. I haven’t heard of anyone opening this mysterious passageway, but maybe you will be lucky…As you can see the luccheti d’amore have symbolized many different things over the years – devotion to one’s country, teenage puppy love, the prospect of eternal love, as well as the damaging nature of tourism. Believe what you like, attach one if you must, but take care not to get fined 50 euro!

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Post tags: florence, leather in florence, uffuzi gallery, ufuzi

Going to Pisa now…. after Chinese food last night and tons of shopping.

Blog entry to follow about how I will never ever understand women!

What makes a purse nice or not, what makes a briefcase/laptop bag trendy for me, when the original sticker price is 400 euros.. like seriously?!

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We left Amalfi this morning, of course once again, the Italian concept of “I don’t know!!” came up. Beth asked about the bus to Salerno, since we wanted the earliest bus to Salerno. The guy at the counter said the earliest one was at 9am, yet we saw a bus leaving to Salerno at 8am. So in the mean time, just walked around Amalfi one more time and then hopped on the bus. The drive along the Amalfi Coast is definitely a travel wonder of the world. There are surely drives or commutes that are as picturesque in the world as the Amalfi Coast drive but there is none that is better in the world. Comparable would be Gornergrat Express through the Swiss Alps or the Express Train from China to Tibet but nothing to surpass it. Anyway, we eventually got to Salerno upon which we missed the 10.23am train to Napoli, and had to grab the 11.22 to Napoli… within that time, we looked for shoes, Beth thought an ATM swallowed her bank card and I found a semi decent salad!

Food note: I don’t know how vegetarians can travel through Italy without going mad by having only to eat Cheese, Bread and Antipasti. The salads you find on the streets or even in restaurants are either really expensive or not fresh. I have not had a great salad in Italy. The pizza, pasta and antipasto have been amazing though…as if I came to Italy for the Salad

Waiting in the Station Napoli, we decided to go back to that Sharwarma place that we got the ridiculous Sharwarma in the first place. So of course, we got…

(Beth hereJ, while Rishi is snoring away…) By ‘we’, he meant him and Amanda who got the Shawarma with fries in itJ – we even saw pizza in their display box with fries on it! I wonder what the Italians feel about that?:-) Anyha, I got the yummiest and oiliest spaghetti pomodoro – from the same Middle-Eastern restaurant that they got the Shawarma from! I have to say the portion was the biggest we had since we arrived! The guy kept piling it in the takeout box until I said ‘that’s plenty, could you give me some carrots on the side instead?’, he smiled and added some boiled carrots for me. I’m not even crazy about carrots back home but it was a treat to eat vegetables after days of eating bread and meats. The only vegetables I had in the last 7 days was some antipasti grilled eggplant, zucchini and peppers drenched in EVOOJ in Minori where I ventured to on my own after my trip back to Solerno. I also had some Tiramisu gelati there after I promised myself I would give my poor tummy a break from it for atleast 2 days. I think we’ve all been OD’ing on gelati since we arrived. Finding a decent fruit has been a bit of a challenge as well. Other than the banana I picked while we stopped off at a street fruit vendor’s on our second day in Rome, I didn’t have any fruits (or vegetables) in the last 5 days or so. That’s one of the things I announced to the guys when they got back from Sorrento – that ‘I had vegetables today!”J. After their adventurous trip to Capri and the Blue Grotto, I’m sure they didn’t care less about what I ateJ. I’m not complaining about the food in Italy by any means but it’s funny how you miss having some foods that you take for granted in TO.  Like I mentioned to Rish the other day how much I missed scrambled eggs which I rarely have in TO…

We’re on our way to Florence and Amanda and I are looking forward to finally going shopping for purses, shoes, etc. I really haven’t bought much so far except for the thick leather belt that Rishi and I had bought in Amalfi where the owner kinda customized it for us… yeah, we both like saying it – that we had it custom-made it for usJ. So Florence hopefully will be where we’re going to finally get to shop… we shall wait and see…

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Well woke up at 6 this morning, unshowered and still reeking of sea salt yeterday..bleck! Couple things are apparent…

1.   If I dont go to the gym, I feel like mush… seriously

2.   Pasta, bread and what not, while amazing here and all, doesnt not make a body good!!

3.   Sea salt and clothes don’t work together

4.   Money doesn’t grow on trees, since the Euro makes me feel poor especially after an expensive pair of sunglasses.

So we’re off to the grind again.. so we will be in Florence at about 3pm today, and then we have to find a hotel. Man, i have so much to blog right now, it aint funny! Things about the Amalfi Coast that came to mind:

·     This place while expensive, doesn’t have to be at all. There are good cheap accomodations once you get off the main drag. Typical!!

·     The food in the markets, while not cheap is amazing and high quality. Last night I had some Mushroom antipasti with a Seafood antipasti, light proscuitto and rye bread! Talk about an amazing home made sandwich!!!

·     Driving here is hazardous to your health, your car and your mind. How the bus drivers do it here, I will never know! The idea of 3 inches separating cars is a feat of driving intelligence. Seriously!!!

·     The coast line is truly one of the amazing things to see! I have seen a lot of beaches and coast lines in my life so far, the Amalfi coast line is definitely right at the top. (I refuse to say the best, since I haven’t seen all the coast lines of the world, but definitely right at the top)

·     Typical Italian nonsense does hold though : These people do not know how to say “I dont know, sorry!” It drives me insane, if I ask 4 people a question, I expect a somewhat consistent answer, not 4 completely different answers!

Anyway, getting ready and off in a bit….

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