Seattle Plans in Place...now it's NYC in March

Sometimes I really do think I am not happy unless I have a trip in the works...So why not have 3! :-)

It's just days away from 2010 and I've got 3 trips definitely on the 2010 calendar and seriously considering a fall 2010 trip to Bologna, Italy! I can't stand the thought of a year going by without a visit to Italy!

Here's the lowdown on my 2010 travel plans:

January, a long weekend in Seattle with a day trip to Edmonds for a day full of travel seminars at Europe Through the Back Door. Yes, I will be going to my mecca of travel, the home turf of travel guru Rick Steves. I've got a few Seattle restaurant tips (Italian places of course!) and have made a few reservations on Open Table...I will be racking up the points!

March, a long weekend in the Big Apple...New York City. Airfares weren't great, BUT I found a fantastic deal on TravelZoo at the Affinia Shelbourne on the East Side...$139 a night...total steal for NYC! Theater tickets have already been purchased and I'm really looking forward to the shows...The Addams Family with Bebe Neuwirth and Nathan Lane...Finian's Rainbow... Lend Me a Tenor with Tony Shaloub and Anthony LaPaglia and directed by Stanley Tucci....and last but certainly not least Promises Promises with Sean Hayes and Kristen Chenoweth! Some really great revivals and a fun new show. In a few months I can start planning restaurant adventures and this trip may even see a trip to the Frick Collection/Museum.

May, 2 and a half weeks in Europe...9 days in San Sebastian in the Basque Country of Spain and 9 days in Paris. The Basque portion of the trip is with a Rick Steves Tour the Paris portion will be a do it yourself trip and we've rented a Paris Perfect Apartment...how great is that! The week after Thanksgiving airline tickets were purchased on AirFrance, which is a Delta Airlines partner (gotta get those miles) and they fly into Bilbao and San Sebastian is about a one hour drive from there. The airfare wasn't rock bottom, but it was the flights that were exactly what I wanted and all the flights are on one ticket.

Now I'm mulling over spending a week in Bologna in October...my arm won't have to be twisted too hard to make a decision on this trip! :-)

Seattle in January...am I nuts?

That's right...Seattle in January. BUT there is a perfectly good reason for this...a full day of Rick Steves' travel seminars.

Besides the travel seminars I have been wanting to see Seattle for the last 5 years, so this is the perfect reason to plan a trip there, well, that and a VERY reasonable airfare, considering I'm flying completely across the country...YAY...more frequent flyer miles!

So, I've signed up for the travel seminars, booked the flights, booked a room at the Crowne Plaza (thanks to a friends & family rate), reserved a rental car to get to the seminars in Edmonds, WA and I even booked a Savor Seattle Pike Place Market Tour for the Sunday morning I will be there. Wow...looks like all I have left to do is Seattle restaurant research.

Oh, and I probably should buy a REALLY warm coat...this week temps in Seattle have been in the 30's! YIKES...will this southern transplant survive in the Pacific Northwest for 5 days in January?

A Weekend Restaurant Romp in the Crescent City…a New Orleans Trip Report

I traveled with my mom for a long weekend in New Orleans in mid-November, taking advantage of the Veteran’s Day holiday and a pretty reasonable airfare on Delta we made it a long weekend in the Crescent City. Here is our trip report….

Wednesday, November 11th
With tropical storm Ida bringing pounding rain to the SC lowcountry we wondered if we would even be able to fly out of Savannah. The answer was YES! We left Savannah on a Delta flight at 9am and made a smooth connection in Atlanta, arriving in New Orleans 20 minutes early at 1pm.

We took a taxi from the airport ($33) to The Dauphine Orleans Hotel at 415 Rue Dauphine in the French Quarter (www.DauphineOrleans.com). Thanks to Fodorite Starrs for the hotel recommendation, we were not disappointed. It was a great location. We could walk to everything in the French Quarter and just a few blocks from Canal Street and the Central Business District with plenty of street car options for getting around. I was able to book a double room for $119 per night. The room was comfortable and clean and had everything we needed. There was free wi-fi in the room and a continental breakfast buffet was included in the price.

At about 2:30 we decided to venture out to find something to eat since we were hungry. We found our way to the Napoleon House Bar and Café at 500 Chartres Street (www.napoleonhouse.com) and stopped in to have our first taste of a muffuletta sandwich and a Pimms cup. Boy did that Pimm’s go down smoothly! We ordered a whole sandwich to share and had it heated a very tasty first dish in New Orleans.

Now we were ready to walk. We went into St. Louis Cathedral and then to the French Market to poke around. We spent some time walking along the Mississippi River taking lots of pictures.

A brief stop back at the hotel and then at 6:30pm we walked over to the newly renovated Roosevelt Hotel (definitely worth a look!) to have a glass (or 2!) of wine at the Sazerac Bar in the hotel. The place was packed, but we found a spot at the bar and ordered a couple glasses of wine.
Just before 8pm we walked about 3 steps to Domenica, a new Chef John Besh restaurant, located inside the Roosevelt hotel. The address is 124 Baronne Street and the website is www.domenicarestaurant.com

This restaurant opened in early September. We had an absolutely fantastic meal here. It’s John Besh’s version of an Italian restaurant…I hesitate to call it a trattoria, maybe a modern-ish trattoria is a good description. The interior was sleek but comfortable, a big open room with wooden tables and a nice looking bar area.

Our server, Addison, was just adorable, very good at his job, and knew the menu very well. We had a bottle of Orvieto Classico and an antipasti dish of fried eggplant bocconcini with goat cheese and aged balsamic; these were individual bite size pieces. For the main course I had a winner with the goat (yes goat!) with mushrooms, served in a casserole dish, it was so tender I did not need a knife to cut the meat. Mom had the chicken involtini, stuffed with prosciutto and fontina cheese served with garlicky spinach and we had a side order of roasted rosemary potatoes. We ended the meal with espresso served with little biscotti.

As we were finishing the espresso I noticed another table getting limoncello, so we asked Addison about it. They make their own limoncello so we decided to start our weekend off right with a digestivo…let me say that I have had some good limoncello in the past, but this…this, was nectar of the gods…so smooth, so tasty, like nothing I have ever had. And, Addison mentioned that in the summer months they make fig limoncello… hmmm…a good reason to come back to New Orleans in the warmer months! We were full and very happy and walked back to the hotel and slept like logs.

Thursday, November 12th

We had a leisurely morning and wandered over to Café du Monde (http://www.cafedumonde.com/main.html) poking into shops along the way. We each had an order of beignets and café au lait. I, of course, loved the fluffy puffs of fried dough covered in heaps of confectioner’s sugar. On a side note…there isn’t a carbohydrate I don’t love and along with having an enormous sweet tooth…I was in doughy heaven!

After our sugar and caffeine intake we walked over to the Cabildo and Presbytere. We purchased a combination ticket for both museums and went into the Cabildo first. This was a really interesting museum of the history of Louisiana and it had a death mask of Napoleon. We spent almost 2 hours here checking out all the exhibits. We then walked next door to the Presbytere where there was an exhibit on the history of Mardi Gras which included many costumes worn throughout the years in the Mardi Gras parades.

At 2pm we went to Antoine’s Restaurant, the meeting place for the French Quarter Culinary History and Tasting Tour, operated by New Orleans Culinary History Tours (http://www.noculinarytours.com/index.html). The guide, Renee, was ok, but there was some downtime during this 3 hour tour. We started at Antoine’s with a sample of gumbo, and then a sample of shrimp Regua. The shrimp dish was my favorite. The guide talked about the history of this restaurant and some of the menu items. What I found a bit awkward was walking through a busy restaurant kitchen, my sister is a chef and I’ve been around professional kitchens before, and I just felt like we were 5 intruders and honestly, this walk through the kitchen did nothing to enhance the tour.

Once we finished at Antoine’s we made our way through the French Quarter stopping at various restaurants along the way. Another favorite stop was a La Divina Café for a sample of their take on a muffuletta, it was on ciabatta bread and pressed with a Panini machine. We also stopped at Tujuane’s for their brisket with horseradish sauce, it was tender and delicious. We ended the tour with a sample of less than stellar rum cake. The tour was ok, but I would not give it remarkable reviews, and to tell the truth after 2 of the 3 hours I was ready for it to be over. If it was a larger group we probably would have bailed out, but there were only 4 of us on the tour and I felt funny about leaving early, and for $45 I kept hoping it would get better. Oh well, live and learn!

The tour ended at about 5pm and we went back to the hotel to freshen up and then went to the Hotel Monteleone Carousel Bar for drinks…what a fun place. We found 2 seats at the slow revolving bar, we were lucky to find those bar stools because just after we sat down, all the seats were taken and half the fun is sitting at the revolving bar.

2 wines later and shortly after 7pm we walked across Canal Street and hoped on the St. Charles Street streetcar and took it up the street to St. Joseph Street and walked (about 10 minutes) to Cochon (www.cochonrestaurant.com) at 930 Tchoupitoulas Street for our 8:15pm dinner reservation.

We arrived about 15 minutes early and the place was packed…and this was a Thursday night! We sat at the bar and had my favorite appertivo…prosecco! Exactly 15 minutes later the host came up to us and said our table was ready.

We LOVED this restaurant! The interior was all light colored wood with chunky wooden tables and chairs and there was the wonderful aroma of pork. We started with a bottle of vino verde (ok, we had a bit to drink this evening!) and 2 appetizers. We had the alligator bites which had a crunchy coating with a nice scallion taste. The second appetizer was fried pigs ears…these were GREAT…crispy crunchy with a fantastic mustard dipping sauce. During my pre-trip restaurant research I had read about the pigs ears and the stellar reviews…they were spot on!

I had the hamhock entrée with mashed sweet potatoes and black-eyed peas. The ham was fall off the bone tender…I did not need a knife to cut it! Mom had the Louisiana cochon which was crunchy and delicious and was served with turnips and cabbage. As if all this wasn’t enough I had the Mississippi mud pie for dessert and it tasted just like chocolate ice cream…smooth and creamy.

When we finished dinner we planned to take the streetcar back towards our hotel, but it was not running as frequently at this time of night, so we just started walking. It took about 25 minutes to walk back to our French Quarter hotel. It was another food-centric day and we were two happy and full gals.

Friday, November 13th

It was an early morning and we were out of the hotel by about 8:30am. We decided to walk to the World War II Museum (www.nationalww2museum.org) at 945 Magazine Street. It was a leisurely walk and we got to the museum around 9:30am. We picked up our museum and theater tickets and went over to the new building to wait for the 10am showing of the Beyond Boundaries movie.

This movie was produced by Tom Hanks and it was GREAT. This is a 4-D movie that had moments when I felt like I was in the action. But more important, it was incredibly moving. After the movie we spent about 2 hours going through the museum. It was really well done, the exhibits were really interesting, and I especially liked seeing real uniforms the military wore.

At about noon we left the museum and walked to Restaurant August (another Chef John Besh restaurant) at 301 Tchoupitoulas Street (www.restaurantaugust.com). After reading about this restaurant and the $20.09 pre-fix lunch on Friday’s I thought it would be a great way to experience this restaurant.

We had a 1pm lunch reservation and arrived a few minutes early, and were seated promptly in the lovely dinning room. We were in the front room with large window giving the room a very airy feel.
We were served an amuse bouche that was a frothy egg (with caviar) that was absolutely delicious. I had the wild salmon and spiny lobster roll for my appetizer and mom had the pate dish…both luscious.

For my main dish I had the dumplings with duck and mushroom broth, it was fantastic. Mom had the acorn squash mezzeluna pasta, which was another winner.

For dessert mom had the fried parmesan reggiano cheese with honey and I had the chocolate pastry fritters, everything was perfect. We had coffee and were given a little sweet plate with macaroons, peanut brittle and chocolate pieces, a perfect ending, and portions were just the right size that we were not stuffed at the end of the meal.

After lunch we stopped back at the hotel for a mini break and then decided to take a ride on the St. Charles Street streetcar to the end of the line, turn around and come back. It was a fun way to see parts of the Garden District and for $1.25 each way we couldn’t have gotten a better bang for our buck!

Around 6pm we walked to Irene’s Cuisine in the French Quarter at 539 St. Phillip Street for dinner (I believe they do not take reservations). We started with a bottle of pinot grigio, an amuse bouche of tomato and cheese bruschetta, and the pan sautéed oysters, shrimp and spinach with raspberry vinaigrette, it was light and fabulous.

Mom had the flounder with crab and shrimp special it was fantastic, the winning dish of the night. I had the cannelloni stuffed with pork, veal, and eggplant. The pasta was homemade and the marinara sauce was out of this world good.

We ended with a slice of crème brulee cheesecake served with honey and the tastiest strawberries. Of course, being an Italian restaurant we had to end the meal with espresso and limoncello. The espresso was good; the limoncello did not hold a candle to the limoncello at Domenica. It was an easy walk back to the hotel and we called it an early night.

Saturday, November 14th
It was another early start today and we went to Luke (www.chefjohnbesh.com) at 333 St. Charles Avenue for breakfast, yes, another Chef John Besh restaurant. If I didn’t know who John Besh was before going to New Orleans, I certainly knew who he was when I left!

The coffee here was the best I have ever tasted, truly, I didn’t even need to add sugar and that is not the norm for me.

They did have a breakfast buffet (the restaurant is in a Hilton Hotel), but we decided to order off the menu and boy are we glad we did!

Mom had a crab and asparagus omelet that was unbelievably light. It was served with a mixed green salad with a light vinaigrette and a gigantic cone of pomme frites that were very crunchy!

I had the croquet madam, an amazing grilled ham and cheese sandwich with a fried egg. The cheese was emmenthaler and the ham was pure goodness, it was served on a butcher block mini cutting board with a cone of pomme frites. I have never seen a sandwich so beautifully presented. We could not have been happier with this breakfast. We finished breakfast just after 9:30am and walked to the corner to catch the streetcar into the Garden District.

We were about an hour early for the Garden District walking tour but browsed in the Garden District Bookshop before the tour started. I booked this tour with Historic New Orleans Tours and was not disappointed.

The tour began at 11am and there were about 17 people on the tour. The guide, Anna was great. She definitely knew her stuff, my guess is that she worked or works in the design or architecture field and also has a hand in preservation.

The tour started in the Lafayette Cemetery and it was interesting to hear how New Olreans handles the dead and the history of how it all works. We spent about 50 minutes in the cemetery and then walked through the Garden District seeing some of the incredible homes.

The guide went about 30 minutes over the 2 hour time quoted, but she was a fountain of information. When the tour ended we hopped back on the street car and went back to Canal Street. We then stopped for an iced coffee at a nearby Starbucks and did some window shopping (ok, I did a little buying too…a fantastic art piece…a roof shingle with a colorful fleur de lis) . I thought we would be able to catch the 3pm tour of the Herman Grima House, but they were not doing the 3pm tour this day, so we walked back to the hotel for a little break.

At about 4pm we decided to go over to the Westin Canal Place for wine and views of the Mississippi…what a great lounge/lobby area…sweeping views of the river.

We went back to our hotel at about 5:30pm to meet up with Johanna to go to NOLA for the Fodor’s get together. With the planning efforts of Johanna we had a great evening at NOLA located at 534 Rue St. Louis. All the Fodorites arrived just at 6pm…exactly on time and we had a big round table where we could see all the action in the open kitchen. There were 8 of us and we had such a fun time.

The food was great here too. Mom and I had a couple glasses of chardonnay and I started with the garlic and pesto soup, it was nice and smooth. Mom had the lamb meatball starter and it was delicious.

My main dish was the braised short ribs with andouile sausage and pot au feu and cole slaw. The meat was fall off the bone tender. Mom had the roasted chicken special with garlic mashed potatoes. We ended the meal with one of the best espressos I have ever had.

By now it was about 8:30pm and 6 of the 8 of us decided to go over to the Roosevelt Hotel for drinks at the bar.

It was a fun evening of great conversation and just before 11pm we called it a night and walked back to our hotel.

Sunday, November 15th

We decided to get up early enough to have breakfast at Stanley on Jackson Square and I’m glad we did. At about 8am we walked over to Stanley at 547 St. Ann Street. Mom had the omelet sandwich with bacon and cheese it was very good. I had the eggs benedict po’boy. Both were good, but the orange juice here was phenomenal, really good.

At about 9:30am we checked out of the hotel and took a taxi to the airport. We arrived there just after 10am and went to check in, only to find out our flight had been delayed, fortunately we were able to get on an earlier flight. We were the last ones to board, literally we walked onto the plane and they shut the door. We arrived in Atlanta and had a smooth connection to our flight to Savannah and we were home by 4pm.

We had a great time with great food and great people!

Back from the Big Easy....

Been back from New Orleans a few days and getting my pictures sorted and organized. Will post a trip report soon.

But, in the mean time...if you are ever in New Orleans and are looking for a restauarant, do not hesitate, in fact, run to the nearest restauarant owned by Chef John Besh. We went to 3 and experienced a different meal at each one and they were all stellar!

Gearing up fo NOLA

Just back from Rome 3 weeks ago and now getting ready for a long weekend in NOLA. So much travel planning going on.

I've booked a New Olreans Culinary History Tour, a Garden District Tour and tickets to the World War II Museum.

Then of course there are the restaurant reservations: 2 John Besh restaurants, Domenica for dinner on our arrival day and Restaurant August for a Friday lunch. And then how can I not mention the Fodor's Get Together at Emeril's NOLA.

Of course Hurricane Ida brewing in the Gulf is not a good sign...will we even get out of the Savannah airport?

Three Coins in the Fountain...A Return Trip to Roma!

The 3 main characters in this adventure are:

Me...a 40-ish globetrotting gal who loves history, being outdoors but not necessarily "outdoorsy", adores food and is a newbie "wino";

Mom...my one and only terrific mom, a 60-ish curious explorer who loves history, art, food and wine (and can cook like a pro!) and will jump along for the ride with me whenever asked;

CL...my friend, a 50-ish intrepid traveler who will eat and drink just about anything and is always game for a laugh.

A Little Background:

Mom and I LOVE Rome. I cannot emphasize how much we really enjoy and have connected to the Eternal City. Since December 2007 she and I have been twice and I was there one extra time for 2 days at the end of a spring 2009 trip to the Amalfi Coast.

In April 2009 mom and I were discussing places to go, and per my usual travel addiction I started to keep an eye on the Delta Airlines website for any deals that might come up, we're sky miles medallion members and like to keep accruing miles with the same airline. In early April I found a fare that was "decent", well, at least it was acceptable to our bank accounts so we bought tickets to Rome for October. This trip would be mom's 3rd and my 4th to Rome in 22 months...you can see we reeeeealy like this place.

After purchasing the plane tickets CL and I were discussing my October trip to Rome and I invited her to come along, she accepted, bought her plane ticket and the players were in place. Prior to CL coming on board mom and I had discussed renting an apartment for this trip. CL liked that idea and so I got busy searching for the "perfect" Roman apartment.

I honestly can't remember how long it took me to wade through dozens of apartment rental sites but I used a reference from Fodorite TedGale (many thanks!) and checked out Rome Capital Apartments (http://www.romecapitalapartments.com/).

BINGO! I found what sounded like the perfect fit for us. The Boccaccio apartment was located on Vicolo dei Savelli, 57. This is smack dab between Piazza Navona and Campo dei Fiori in the Centro Storico. It has 1 bedroom with a double bed and a bathroom and a loft sleeping area with 2 twin beds and a bathroom and a living/dining/kitchen area. The 2 bathrooms was a stroke of genius...in my mind it was a necessity with 3 women traveling together and I was right! Here is the link to the apartment http://www.romecapitalapartments.com/apartment-dettagli/Boccaccio-140dettagli/Boccaccio-140dettagli/Boccaccio-140

The apartment is located on the 4th floor and there is a small elevator (3 people could fit in without luggage, one person with 3 small suitcases fit fine). One of the best attributes of this apartment was it's location. It was just minutes by foot from not only Piazza Navona and Campo dei Fiori, but just around the corner was Corso Victor Emmanuel where there are plenty of buses and a few blocks from Largo Argentina with even more bus and tram connections. We loved this neighborhood. Noise was an issue in the evenings when the windows were open, but once the windows were closed it was quiet, I was pretty impressed with how quiet it was with the windows closed.

There were several activities I planned for and booked in advance, they were:

1. A half day tour of Hadrian's Villa and Villa d'Este in Tivoli with Francesca Caruso.(francescainroma@gmail.com)

2. Vatican Garden Tour (http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm)

3. Afterhours Vatican Museum Tour with ContextRome(http://www.contexttravel.com/rome/)

I had a rough plan of other activities I thought would be good to see or do, but did not purchase or book anything else in advance. I considered purchasing the RomaPass, but in the end did not. We each purchased a one week transportation pass for € 16 from a ticket machine near Largo Argentina. I did this since we were in Rome for 8 nights and I thought a 7 days pass would benefit us more than the 3 days on the Roma Pass. I like having the flexibility of being able to take public transportation when I want to and not worry about needing to purchase a ticket each time I need one. In the end this worked for us, although I did not calculate a price comparison.

Day One Thursday, October 8th

In my usual style we were at the Savannah airport 2 hours before departure. I know some think that’s way too early, especially since it’s generally a breeze getting through security at the relatively small Savannah airport. But, I have the need to start every airplane journey arriving early at the airport. I have my ritual, get there early, go through security, get my Starbucks coffee and get comfortably seated at the gate and watch the comings and goings around me. I do not like getting to the gate with just minutes to spare, I get too anxious, and so the extra time sitting keeps me calm.

The flight from Savannah to Atlanta was uneventful, with just 38 minutes in the air; we arrived in Atlanta on time. I think it took us longer to taxi from the runway to the gate in Atlanta than the amount of time we were actually in the air!

We had plenty of time before our 4:30pm departure for Rome, so we enjoyed a leisurely lunch and walked to the gate area for our flight. Once a gate agent appeared at the computer terminal I made a valiant attempt to be upgraded to business class. My hopes were raised for a nano-second when the agent said, “Yes…for $5,000”…I returned to my seat in defeat…no luck this trip…my business class upgrade from last December is but a memory on this trip!

As the crowd at the gate area began to grow I took a good look around….I thought…hmmmm…not many families or children on this flight, OK, that’s reasonable, it was October, kids would be in school. What I hadn’t expected was the large number of passengers in wheelchairs. In all the time I’ve been flying I don’t think I have ever been on a flight with so many wheelchair passengers. I mentioned this to mom and CL. CL had a reason I had never thought of…they are probably cruise passengers. Lo and behold once we were on board and heard conversations around us I would guess at least 90% of this flight was cruise passengers. While we were waiting in the boarding area I counted 8 passengers in wheelchairs, that’s a first for me. This seemed, to me, to be a large number of wheelchair passengers on one flight.

This flight was jam-packed and unfortunately I was not able to secure exit row seats, like I have in the past, so mom and I were crammed into the next to last row. It wouldn’t have been so bad, except I don’t think the plane wheels were completely up when the man in front of me reclined his seat for the entire 9 hours…so yes, besides eating my airline food meal, I felt like I was eating my knees too!

The flight was quite bumpy and I made an effort to try and get some sleep. In the end I probably had my eyes closed and was in some kind of sleep mode for about 2 out of the 9 hours.

Day Two, Friday, October 9th

We arrived at FCO 25 minutes early! Since mom and I were seated in the back of the plane we were among the last ones off the flight. CL was seated closer to the front, so she was waiting for us when we reached the end of the jet way. We made our way to passport control and it was a mob scene. I have to mention that the last few times I’ve arrived in Rome it was either a day before Christmas or the day after and it took maybe 15 minutes to get through passport control. This time we waited close to an hour in a crowd of people saying “tomorrow we will be waiting in a line like this for our omelets”…just confirming the cruiser theory.

When it was our time to step up to the (handsome) passport control agent mom and I gave him a big smile and a “Buon Giorno” in our best Italian! He asked us where we were staying and when we said in an apartment he asked us to present him with the reservation confirmation, thankfully I had the printed email confirmation handy. This hadn’t happened to us before and after he stamped our passports and we walked through mom joked, “He just probably just wanted to see where you were staying”.

Fortunately we all did carry-on only and did not have another wait at baggage claim. Once through passport control I pulled out my phone to call the apartment representative. I must have entered the contact phone number incorrectly into my phone, so after I dialed the wrong number and (I’m pretty sure) woke up a nice Italian nonna, I pulled out my paperwork again and found the correct number. By now it was about 9:30am and we arranged to meet the rep between 10:30am and 11:15am.

Next on the agenda was to go out to the arrivals area and find our driver from Rome cabs (http://www.romecabs.com/index.html). We found our driver with no trouble and he whisked us away into the comfort of his clean sedan.

The drive to our apartment was smooth and the day was shaping up to be a beautiful, sunny, and humid (just like home!) day. Since the street the apartment is on is small the car could not pull up right in front of the apartment building, so we had a short walk. At the apartment there was a group of 3 travelers in front of the door. They had just checked out of “our” apartment and also using Rome Cabs…coincidence! Unfortunately, because the apartment was being cleaned we couldn’t get into it, and the apartment representative wasn’t there yet, so we waited for about 45 minutes.

While waiting I decided to take a quick walk to find an ATM to get the cash we would need for the €400 security deposit. Having found an ATM just a few blocks away I was able to make 2 withdrawals of €200 each. That done, I went back to the apartment to wait with mom and CL, however those ATM withdrawals will come back to haunt me!

The apartment representative arrived at about 11:15am and we were able to get into the apartment. In the grand scheme of things, we probably only waited about an hour, which isn’t too bad. We got a brief orientation of the apartment and paid the balance of the apartment cost. I was able to put this on my credit card, and I paid the cash security deposit that I would get back at the end of our stay if all was in order. We made an appointment for the apartment inspection the day before our departure and the representative left. The whole transaction process took less then 15 minutes.

By now we were exhausted. Mom took a nap straight away while CL and I went 5 steps around the corner to Frigidarium Gelateria at Via del Governo Vecchio, 112 (www.frigidariumgelateria.com), we weren’t too tired to have our first gelato! Thanks to Kristina I knew we would not be disappointed with our choice to go here! I had the tiramisu and CL had the hazelnut gelato and it was excellent…and almost daily trips to Frigidarium would become the norm. We then picked up some bottled water and went back to the apartment to get a few hours of sleep.

After our naps we got up and started to get ready to go out for aperitivo. While waiting I decided to check my emails and to my dismay I had an email from Bank of America saying there was unusual foreign activity on my ATM card. YIKES! I had called before leaving on this trip to notify them I would be using my ATM card in Italy, like I do every time I travel internationally, and have never had a problem before.

The email said I needed to call the bank immediately. Fortunately I had turned on my worldwide calling plan before leaving home, yes I ended up paying a premium for calls, but I like having the convenience of using my phone while traveling. When I called I was told Bank of America considered the ATM I used in the morning as “compromised” I never was given the reason the bank determined it was compromised, but I have my theory which I will mention later. Then I was told the bank stopped access on my card! YIKES again. The first person I spoke to who told me all this was not very helpful, and transferred me to a Visa representative who, once heard my story told me that any adjustments to my card had to come to them through Bank of America….ugh…they had just transferred me to you! She then transferred me back to Bank of America. Fortunately this time I spoke with a gentleman who was able to help me.

Because Bank of America had stopped access to my account with the card I had with me they would have to issue me a new card…great…but I’m in Italy…and they told me it would take 25 days to get the new card to me in Italy! I’m thinking WHAT!!!! I’ll be back home in 8 days! Ultimately the gentleman asked how much money would I need for the remainder of my time in Italy….I gave him a specific amount and he said he would allow access to my account with the ATM card I had with me for only 1 hour and for only the amount I told him.

Believe me; I never scooted out of an apartment so fast. I went to a different bank this time, just to be on the safe side and was able to make 2 withdrawals that would cover my cash needs for the rest of the trip…but good grief…what a way to start my first evening in Rome. And for what it’s worth, when I arrived back home, a new ATM card was in the mail waiting for me.

Here’s my theory…in the morning when I went to the ATM to take out the cash for the security deposit I was able to make 2 withdrawals of €200 each. And, I was able to do these 2 transactions at the same machine one right after the other. I think because I made 2 withdrawals back to back within seconds of each other that is what flagged Bank of America. I say this because CL used the same ATM machine as I did at various times during the week and never had any problems. Big lesson learned…even if the ATM allows me to make 2 withdrawals consecutively don’t do it…space them out, or find a second machine.

Now that I had cash and my blood pressure was returning to normal. We walked over to Bar Farnese and enjoyed our first aperitivo of the trip. Mom and I had found Bar Farnese when we were in Rome in 2008. There’s nothing truly remarkable about this bar/café, but we like the location. It’s in Piazza Farnese and looks out at the Palazzo Farnese and is about one block from Campo dei Fiori…great for people watching. Mom and CL had a couple glasses of wine I had a couple glasses of prosecco. We were in Rome and we were decompressing!

Before we knew it, it was just before 8pm and time for our dinner reservation at Armando al Pantheon (www.armandoalpantheon.it). The trattoria is located just steps away from the Pantheon at Salita dei Crescenzi, 31. I had been dying to try this place since our 2007 trip to Rome when I read about it in trip reports from Ekscrunchy and Kristina and finally I was going to have a meal there.

About a week before we left for Rome I emailed the trattoria and requested a reservation. I got a very quick response confirming the day and time I requested. When we walked in slightly after 8pm about half the tables were full. It was a very homey atmosphere.

We started with the buffalo mozzarella, which was recommended by our waiter and the artichokes alla romana. Both were good, but the mozzarella was incredibly good, so creamy and delicious. The olive oil served with the artichokes was top-notch.

I had the spaghetti all gricia, which had good flavor and was satisfying, but I wouldn’t say it was a “to die for” dish. Mom had the bacala and roasted potatoes special, which is a typical Roman Friday dish), it was very tasty. CL had the anchovy and endive casserole, it salty and lip-smacking good. We had a bottle of white wine and a bottle of water and 2 espressos. The total cost was €80 for cash or €88 for credit card. We paid cash and I thought that was a pretty good price for 3 of us.

After dinner we walked over to the Trevi Fountain and back to the Pantheon with a stop at San Crispino for gelato…after all, we did need to do some taste-test comparisons! I had the pear sorbetto and CL had the cinnamon and ginger. CL definitely won on her selection, but I will say the pear sorbetto tasted exactly like a fresh pear. We each got a small cup at €2.30 each.

We walked back to the apartment and called it a night. The Capitaline Museum was on the agenda for the next day.

Day Three, Saturday, October 10th

As I opened my eyes at 7am this morning I heard the one thing anyone on vacation doesn’t want to hear…thunder and then the patter of rain drops! So I promptly rolled over and closed my eyes and slept for another 2 hours.

By 10:30am we were ready and walking out the door. The sun was shining and the skies were clear blue. Since I was still getting my bearings on where things were in relation to the apartment and we were all “jonesing” for that first Roman cappuccino we walked over to Campo dei Fiori and had breakfast outside at Obika.

A little background on Obika: mom and I had been to the original Obika Mozzarella Bar at Via dei Prefetti, last year and really enjoyed it. When I was in Rome in early May this year I noticed they opened a new location in Campo dei Fiori that was open from about 8am until late. So, wanting to give CL a Campo dei Fiori experience we decided to have breakfast here. After 3 cappuccino, 3 cornetti, and 1 orange juice (about &euro:16) we were ready to start our day.

I had wanted to go to the Capitaline Museum for a couple years, but on previous Rome trips, I just simply ran out of time. Maybe that was meant to be, because just days before we arrived in Rome a MichelAngelo special exhibit had just opened at the museum.

It was about noon time when we arrived at the museum and we bought our tickets for €9each. We were able to walk right up to the ticket booth and had no line to wait in. After putting our bags in the bag check we were ready to explore. We did not purchase audio guides and looking back that is one thing I definitely would have done.

We decided to start at the top floor of the museum and work our way down. This was a smart move because the MichelAngelo exhibit was on the top floor. I am really glad we got to see this exhibit. Fortunately for us, all the pieces had Italian and English descriptions. Mom and I found this to be a really well done and interesting exhibit. Maybe because we had read a few books on MichelAngelo and his work, but to see his sketches right there in front of us, we were enthralled. Some of the sketches were as simple as a column or as detailed as a dome. If anyone has any interest in MichelAngelo’s work I highly recommend this exhibit. It is at the Capitaline for a limited time, I am not sure when it ends.

I will say that I was fascinated with this museum. As we walked through there was one incredible piece after another. But, my ultimate reason for going was to find the veranda at the back of the museum that overlooks the Forum. We had spent so much time in the museum I almost forgot this was my ultimate goal. When we got to the end of the Tabularium there was a large stairway. I volunteered to go up and see what was at the top of the stairs….and there it was….an absolutely marvelous view of the Forum. Now, maybe it was just because the weather was picture-postcard perfect at this moment in time, but it was a photographers dream, and the best part was that there were maybe 5 or 6 people there!

When we left the Capitaline Museum it was close to 3pm and we were hungry. We decided to stop at an old favorite, Pizza Re, for lunch. The pizza there did not disappoint us. We had an eggplant and mozzarella pizza, mixed salad, 2 bottles of water and one beer. The total cost for lunch was €26.

After lunch we walked over to the Campo dei Fiori area and made a reservation for dinner at Grapolo d’Oro Zampano. Then we bought our 7 day bus passes for €16. We used the ticket machine near Largo Argentina. We each slid in our €20 bill and out popped the ticket, could not have been easier, yes the machine gives change.

From Largo Argentina we squeezed on the #64 bus and went up Via Nazionale to Piazza della Repubblica. As we walked through the piazza we noticed there was some demonstration going on, but we couldn’t figure out what it was all about.

We made our way to the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria to see the (in my opinion) incredible Saint Theresa in Ecstasy sculpture. I never get tired of looking at this sculpture, although I find myself saying that about many other sculptures in Rome too…the city is just jam-packed with wonderful works of art.

We decided to take it easy the rest of the day and after seeing the church we walked back to Via Nazionale to catch a bus back to the Centro Storico area. As we waited at the bus stop a kind gentleman approached us. He pointed to the bus sign and shook his head no and made a “no” motion with his arms. After giving him a puzzled look I finally realized what he was trying to tell us, and the fact that I also then noticed no traffic on our side of the street. Due to the demonstration there were no buses running down Via Nazionale, only up the street to the Termini Station.

Ok, on to plan B. Mom and I knew this area a bit because we had stayed at a hotel here for a week back in 2007, but I didn’t know the bus system that well, so I marched us all the way back to our apartment. It was actually a pretty nice walk and took us about one hour, passing the Quirinale and into the Centro Storico from a different direction.

After a short rest at the apartment we decided to go for a glass of wine at Cul de Sac located at Piazza Pasquino, 73. This enoteca is just steps from our apartment, and I had heard such great reviews of this place, including from a co-worker who is an even bigger fan of Rome than I am! When we arrived at about 7pm some tables were taken but we had no trouble getting a table inside, all the outside tables were taken.

Mom and I each had a glass of white wine, we never did get the name of the wine, but we both really liked it. CL had a glass of red, I think it was a Montepulciano Nobile and with an order of the burata pugliese the total cost was &euro:26. This evening Cul de Sac had lived up to what I had been told, unfortunately that would change later in the week.

Just before 8pm we left Cul de Sac and walked to Grapolo d’Oro Zampano for our 8pm dinner reservation. I found this restaurant during my planning and research for this trip. It was listed in the guide book, Food Wine Rome, but it is also the sister restaurant of Ditriambo, where mom and I had dinner on our last trip to Rome. We loved Ditriambo, and thought we would give Grapolo d’Oro Zampano a try. It is located at Piazza Cancelleria, 80/84 which is conveniently across the street from Ditriambo.

We had an excellent meal here. I had the Oso Bucco, which was served with garlicy chicory, and was delicious. Mom had what they were calling a “parcel” stuffed with pumpkin, it looked like a giant ravioli and CL and the spaghetti with clams. We had a side order of the eggplant caponata…perfectly spicy. With a bottle of white wine, a bottle of water, and 2 espresso the total bill was €65.

CL and I ended the evening with a stop at Frigidarium for gelato. I had the Crema Fiorentino, it was “chocolatey and carmely”. CL had the Canolo Sicilia and cherry vanilla. We were in gelato heaven. After we licked our spoons clean we walked around the corner and up to the apartment for a good night’s sleep because the next day we would spend the day at Hadrian’s Villa and Villa d’Este with Francesca Caruso.

Day Four, Sunday, October 11th

We were looking forward to this day for a long time…a day with my favorite Rome guide, Francesca Caruso. When I was in Rome in May I met with Francesca and booked this day with her and at that time we discussed the possibility of doing something a bit off the beaten path since we had done many of the “must do’s” already. I contacted Francesca a couple months before we arrived and settled on a half day trip to Hadrian’s Villa and Villa d’Este in Tivoli.

Francesca suggested we hire a driver since getting to Hadrian’s Villa and Tivoli via public transportation (although do-able) is time consuming and not very direct. We took Francesca up on her offer to coordinate a driver for us and she chose her friend Simone D’Ambrosio.

Simone was a great driver, his mini-van was spotlessly clean inside and out, there was plenty of room for the 3 of us in the back seat. He was a cautious and considerate driver and we always felt safe in is capable hands. Along with doing day trips, Simone also does transfers from Fiumicino airport. Simone’s email address is simone.dambrosio@fastwebnet.it I would not hesitate to contact him if I ever need a driver in Rome again.

Francesca was to meet us at our apartment at 9am. Since we still had not stopped at a grocery store to pick up any breakfast supplies we took a quick walk over to Bar Farnese for cappuccino and cornetti. It was still early on a Sunday morning and we were in the bar with several local workers and some Caribineiri. We were back at the apartment at 8:30am and did some last minute coordination. At the dot of 9am we stepped outside the apartment building door to the smiling face of our friend Francesca…what a pleasure it was to see her again. Simone was waiting with car doors open at the end of the street. We all hopped in and away we went.

The drive to Hadrian’s Villa was approximately 45 minutes, being a Sunday morning there was very little traffic and the ride flew by in a blink with all of us talking and catching up with what was going on in each of our lives.

When we arrived at Hadrian’s Villa entry tickets were purchased, each ticket was €10, and Francesca gave us an introduction and history of the site as we walked up to the main area where the ruins are. We stopped at a small building that houses a model depicting what the grounds looked like at the time of Hadrian…a rather impressive place!

We toured the grounds for about an hour and a half….to think the ruins that remain there today were once covered completely with marble is mind-boggling. It was interesting to see this site and as we walked through the buildings and grassy areas I noticed that we were the only people speaking English. I asked Francesca if many people come here since it was not very crowded. She said it seems to be most popular with German and British visitors. She said the Germans really enjoy archeology and that is generally why they come and the Brits have a link to Hadrian with the wall he built in the UK. Even she had not been to this site for some time and she said it was nice for her to go off her basic tour guiding routine for a day.

After our visit to Hadrian’s Villa it was off to Villa d’Este in Tivoli. Entry fee here was also €10. The first word that came to my mind as we entered the garden area was WOW! The gardens, the fountains, the villa…all magnificent. I will admit we did not do more then simply pass through the villa itself, to get to the show piece of this site, the gardens…it really was quite impressive.

By 1pm we were ready to return to Rome and so we walked back to where Simone was waiting with the car. It was another quick 45 minute ride back to Rome. We said our thanks and it was with heavy hearts that we said our good-byes to Francesca, but we know in those hearts we will see her again…we can’t stay away from Italy for very long!

Since we had not had lunch and were going on just the cappuccino and cornetti from the morning we stopped for lunch at a little place just down the street from our apartment. The place was not very memorable, because I didn’t even bother to pick up a business card, but it satiated our hunger. We each had a salad, 1 bottle of water and 1 beer and the total cost was €36.

For the remainder of the afternoon we decided to go to the Piazza del Popolo area. I did manage to figure out a new (for me) bus route that brought us close to the piazza and our main goal this afternoon was to go into the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo. On our last 2 visits to Rome mom and I had missed seeing this church and it was high on our go to list. We arrived a few minutes before 4:30pm and had a few minutes to wait before the doors were unlocked. We and a slew of others who were also waiting outside filed in and yes, it was another beautiful Roman church!

We then decided to walk to the Spanish Steps since it was such a beautiful day on the way we popped into Gusto to relax a bit and have some wine. Three glasses of wine were €17. Gusto is a wine bar located at Via della Frezza, 23 (www.gusto.it). It is part of a large organization that operates a pizzeria, osteria, ristorante, and kitchen shop. Mom and I had been here before and have had mixed reviews of the place. The first couple times it was great and we loved it. The last couple times have been misses, but it could have something to do with our timing, we seem to always be in that neighborhood a little too early, or a little too late. Next time we will have to explore more options in that neck of the woods!

After our wine break we walked back to the apartment for a short rest and to freshen up. On the walk back we stopped at Maccheroni located at Piazza delle Coppelle, 44 (near the Pantheon) to make an 8:30pm dinner reservation. I had eaten at this trattoria in May with friends with good results; we all thought the food was great. So, I thought even though I had been here before, mom and CL hadn’t and I assumed we would have a good meal.

Once we were rested, we left the apartment at about 8pm, I wanted to try my navigational skills and walk a different route. Well, I zigged when I should have zagged and got a bit turned around, but righted myself and was at the trattoria by 8:30pm.

The meal was mediocre at best. We were seated in the lower level…my suspicion was that was where they seat most tourist because almost every table around us was speaking everything but Italian. If you can snag a table upstairs or outside, maybe the experience is different.

We started with a plate of prosciutto and brie and a carafe of the house white wine. I had the spaghetti carbonara, mom had the chicken cacciatore, and CL had the fettucini all norma. The food was OK, nothing amazing or outstanding about the meal. Mom did say her chicken was tasted good and was moist and tender. We had no coffees. The total cost was €64. The evening was not a total flop because as we walked back to the apartment we made our daily stop at Frigidarium…hmmmm…gelato!

Day Five, Monday, October 12th

Today was our Vatican morning! We were out the door just before 8am and we walked to the end of “our” street and found a bar/café for a quick breakfast. The bar is Gerri’s Bar at Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 213/215. I wished we had found this place a couple days ago; it was the perfect place for a good cappuccino and cornetti. We had 3 cappuccino and 3 cornetti for €7, that included a €1 charge for sitting at a table.

After fueling up for breakfast we got on the #64 bus, the bus stop was just a block away. We were at the Vatican by 8:30am. We walked across the piazza and then over to the Vatican Museum entrance. We arrived about 30 minutes early for our 9:30am Vatican Garden tour.

I had purchased the tour tickets on-line before leaving home, so we did not have to wait in the long line outside. I walked up to the main entrance, showed the guard my email ticket confirmation and was able to walk right in and go through security. We went to the ticket counter to get our tickets and waited for the tour to start.

Right at 9:30am the guide passed out the headsets that we would use during the 2 hour tour. There were about 30 of us on the tour and once all the headsets were deemed to be in working order we were off.

The tour was fantastic. I will mention that they are very strict about tour participants not wandering off on their own. One woman on the tour continued to walk off on her own to look at things and the guide reprimanded her several times. Apparently guides get into “hot water” if they cannot control their groups.

The gardens are enormous, 44 acres; I had no idea how large it was behind St. Peter’s Cathedral. If you are looking to see lots of flowers, this is not that type of garden; it was mostly lots of greenery, hedges, and several fountains. It was really quite lovely. And I have to admit, I know the Vatican is a city-state, but I never thought about there being a city hall building on the premises. There is a huge city hall building on the grounds and the head grounds keeper, who lives on the property, is a Vatican citizen. I just thought that was pretty interesting.

The tour ended at about 11:30am and we stopped in the cafeteria for a breather and some water. With the purchase of the garden tour, we also had entry into the Vatican Museum, however, since mom and I had been a couple years ago and we were coming back later in the week to do a Vatican Afterhours tour, we decided not to brave the huge crowds.

We took the bus back towards our apartment and had lunch at Mimi & Coco Vinoteca at Via dei Governo Vecchio, 72. We had passed this place for the last couple days and no matter what time we walked by it was always crowded. The lunch we had was good. CL and I shared a Parma Pizza and mom had the spinach & gorgonzola crepes. With 2 glasses of house white wine, 1 beer and a bottle of water the total cost was €36.

After lunch mom and I walked over to my favorite leather shop (Ibiz). We had found this shop last year when we stayed at a hotel just across the street. There are all kinds of leather goods in this shop, from belts to hand bags to briefcases. Last year I purchased a beautiful hand bag and I found another great bag this time too…of course I couldn’t leave without it! As luck would have it, as we came out of the shop it started to rain, the only real day of rain the entire time we were in Rome. We walked over to a small grocery store for a few things.

On the way back to the apartment we made a quick stop at Al Forno in Campo dei Fiori for a small slice of piazza bianca. We were dying to try this pizza since for the last 2 years we’ve heard raves about it. It did not disappoint…it was delicious! We walked back to the apartment through the rain.

At about 7pm we walked over to Cul de Sac and because it was still raining we sat inside. This was the evening we would meet Fodorite Kristina, her mom and 2 of her friends. We were able to get 2 tables, but because this enoteca is so small the tables were separated by a narrow aisle. This wasn’t the greatest set-up for conversation, but we didn’t have a choice.

Just around 7:30pm Kristina arrived and it was great to finally meet her. Kristina and I had been (what I call) traveling around in circles for the last couple years…France, Rome, San Francisco, with months of each other. We had some wine, and various tapas, and chatted about travel. Service at Cul de Sac was less than stellar this evening, but the company was great.

The evening seemed to end too soon and we all said good night and walked up the street for our evening dose of gelato! It was a fairly early evening because a trip to Orvieto was on the agenda for tomorrow.

Day Six, Tuesday, October 13th

We woke up to a perfect weather day! It was also a perfect day for a trip to Orvieto!

We stopped at Bar Gerri for cappuccino and cornetti and then hopped on the #40 bus to Termini Station. We found the ticket booth and bought 3 round trip tickets on the IC train to Orvieto. The tickets were €26 each.

The train was scheduled to leave at 10:45am. Boarding the train was a bit frantic, not for us so much, but the people with big suitcases were struggling to get their bags on the train. We found our car and compartment without any trouble…memories of my EuroRail pass college days were flooding back into my mind! Our compartment was full, when we sat down there was a young Italian couple and a young Italian woman, smiles all around and we were good to go. Once we were seated there was still a lot of commotion and a couple of women with babies strapped to their chests were walking back and forth. Another woman started yelling “this woman tried to get my money, thief”. I’m not sure what ever became of the situation, but everyone settled down and we got moving.

We arrived in Orvieto just before noon; the train ride was pleasant and quick. As we exited the train station the funicular was just across the street. We bought our tickets for €1 each and got on for the ride up.

In the upper town we walked around the fortress ruins and took lots of pictures…it was such a beautiful day. Just as we were ready to go up to the duomo a bus came by and we got on. It was a quick bus ride up to the duomo. By now it was after 12:30pm and the duomo was closing, so we walked about and poked in lots of little shops and decided to have lunch.

We walked past a few places and then choose one that looked good to me. My only concern was that there was only 1 other person inside, and that is not always a good sign. I was glad we went in anyway. This was an enoteca called Il VinCaffe. They are located at Via Filippeschi, 39. Their website is www.ilvincaffe.it . This enoteca had a nice bar, hard wood floors, wooden tables and ladder back chairs. There was big front window that looks onto the street, which is a small intersection with lots of cars whizzing by.

The proprietor could not have been nicer. The menu was all in Italian, but he answered all our questions. We started with 3 glasses of Classico since we were in Orvieto. I had the tuna carpaccio with olive oil and pistachios, the tuna was smoked and melted in my mouth. Mom had the guanicale with salad and CL had the chicken liver pate. All was excellent, but I think mom had the winner. The little wine biscuits were very tasty too. The total cost for lunch was €40.

After lunch we walked a few steps to Pozzo della Cava and for €3 each we walked through the cave and had a look at the gigantic well, the history was pretty interesting. The family that owns the site was expanding their trattoria when they found this archeological site.

We meandered back through town stopping at a few ceramic shops and then went to the duomo. I was glad we had a chance to see the duomo since my last time in Orvieto was in 2005, and the entire exterior was in scaffolding at that time. The duomo is just beautiful.

We decided to walk down the hill to the funicular and got to the train station about 45 minutes before our train arrived. The train back to Rome was on time and we arrived back in Rome just after 7pm. We took the #40 bus back towards our apartment where we had apperitivo and then went to Pizzeria MonteCarlo for dinner.

Pizzeria MonteCarlo on Vicolo dei Savelli was described to me by Francesca as the “shrine” of pizza and by the looks of the crowds she was right. We had a misti friti starter, lightly fried zucchini flowers, suppli, arancini, croquettas, and stuffed olives. It was a plate of fried goodness…crispy and light, not heavy or dripping in oil, it was great. We ordered 2 pizzas, one was a vegetable pizza the other was sausage, onion, and mushroom. The pizzas had very thin and crispy crusts. With a liter of house white wine (€6) and a bottle of water the total cost was €35.

After dinner CL and I walked over to St. Eustachio so I could have my requisite espresso…love it there! Then we walked over to La Pigna to make a reservation for the next evening. And we ended the evening taking photos at the Pantheon and in Piazza Navona. It was a nice ending to a terrific day!

Day Seven, Wednesday, October 14th

Happy Birthday to mom today!!! And it was another great weather day…sunny and cool.

We had a slow start today and after a stop at our corner Bar Gerri for cappuccino and cornetti we spent the rest of the morning at the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj museum. The palazzo is located at Piazza del Collegio Romano, 2, but the entrance is around the corner on Via del Corso. The museum’s website is www.doriapamphilj.it. The entry fee is €9 and includes the audio guide.

This museum is a definite Wow! It doesn’t seem to be on the tourist crowd path, because although there were others in the museum, there were very few. We walked right up and bought our tickets, no line at all. The audio guide is very well done and it was nice to have a Pamphilj heir do the narration and speak about when he was a young boy living in the palazzo. The apartments are really spectacular and the art collection is enormous. We spent almost 2 hours wandering around this interesting museum.

When we were finished in the museum we made a quick stop at Sant Eustachio for a coffee break. Mom and I had the cappuccino freddo…OMG…so delicious…nothing like this at my local Starbucks! We also made a stop at a scarf shop near the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva because CL was looking for scarves. I had purchased a scarf at this shop last year and they have absolutely beautiful pieces. We all ended up buying scarves and then headed back to the apartment to drop them off.

When we reached the apartment I consulted my restaurant list and found a place listed that was just down the street. I liked the description I had, especially when it said there was no sign outside. So we set out to find it. I am not exaggerating when I say that this place was less then a 5 minute walk from our apartment.

It was about 1:30pm and as I looked up at the building for the street address, the delectable aroma wafting out the door confirmed we had found Trattoria Tonino Bassetti. This trattoria is located at Via del Governo Vecchio, 18-19 and there really is no sign outside. As we approached the door I could see that there was hardly an empty table. As a matter of fact we got the second to last available table.

This was a no-nonsense place was absolutely incredible food. And the best part (in my opinion) was every table was speaking Italian. This was clearly the place full of Italian business people. The service was friendly and with my very limited Italian we managed very well…the waiter was too cute as I stumbled through my Italian, he continued to speak to me in Italian…bless his heart! The wooden tables were covered with paper table cloths and only 2 inches separated each table. It was noisy, cheery, and full of happily satisfied customers.

For lunch I had the pasta (rigatoni) alla melanzane (eggplant), mom had the pasta with peas and mushroom and CL had the pasta all amatriciano. All dishes were beyond top notch…everything was perfectly cooked and seasoned. With a half liter of house red wine the total cost was €30. The pasta dishes were generous and a steal at €7 each.

After lunch and a quick stop back at the apartment we went over to the Vatican. For mom, a trip to Rome wouldn’t be complete without a visit to St. Peter’s so, since we had booked the Context Rome Vatican Museum Afterhours tour for this evening, it made sense to us to go to the basilica in the afternoon.

There was a line to go through security and enter the basilica, but it was not that bad, it moved quickly and from the time we got on line until we walked through the doors it was maybe 15 minutes. Inside was very crowded. Our previous 2 trips during the holiday season wasn’t even this crowded. Since CL had not been here in 20+ years, we hit a few of the highlights and then were “herded” out because 4:30 mass was starting and security was moving everyone away from the altar area.

After finding our way out we walked over to the Vatican Museum entrance and waited for the start of the tour. We met our Context guide in front of a trattoria across from the museum entrance. There were a total of 11 people on the Context tour, but there were 2 guides, so we split into 2 groups, our group had 5 people. Our guide was Cecelia, who is an art historian. As we waited for the museum doors to open Cecelia gave us a brief overview of what we would be seeing and some history.

At the stroke of 6pm the giant entry door opened and we were allowed to go in. What a difference from when we have been in the museum during regular opening hours. We went through security, got our own 2 security guards assigned to accompany our group and we were off. It was thrilling to be the only ones in the museum. Because of the sheer size of the museum and the fact that we only had 2 hours we obviously couldn’t see everything, but we did see the highlight. The tapestry room and the map room were my favorites. We made our way through the various galleries and then the ultimate experience…the Sistine Chapel. We were the only ones in the chapel for a full 30 minutes and Cecelia explained each and every panel in the chapel.

This was definitely worth the price tag. About a week before we left for Rome I saw a post from ContextItaly on Facebook about a discount they were offering for the Vatican Afterhours tour that was available on October 14th. I contacted them and found out the cost was €150 per person, steep, I know, but all three of us were up for it and I booked the tour. Honestly, we all felt it was money very well spent.

When we exited the museum I had planned to catch the #492 bus and go back towards Largo Argentina, from there we could walk to La Pigna where we had a dinner reservation. Well, my map skills must have temporarily left me because after walking up a hill, realizing I was not in the right spot, we walked back down the hill, found the street we needed to walk down, which was a flight of 82 (yes, we counted) stairs, and after waiting about 10 minutes the bus we needed came rolling down the street. Fortunately the bus was empty, so we could sit down after my “forced march” up and down hills!

By now it was close to 9pm and we would be a little late for our dinner reservation, but as we entered the restaurant we were greeted like long lost relatives. This was another restaurant that had been on my “list” for the last 2 years, but since my previous trips to Rome had been during the Christmas and New Years holidays, this restaurant was always closed when we wanted to try it.

After we were seated and started looking at the menu we noticed (again) that all the patrons here were speaking only Italian. I just love that…makes me feel like all my pre-trip research really pays off. The waiter came over and began telling us the evening specials, I had to ask if he could tell us in English and he seamlessly switched to English.

We started with a bottle of Gavi di Gavi white wine; mom had a glass of this wine the other night at Gusto and liked it, so it was reasonable for us to order a bottle for the table. I had fillet with greenpepper sauce and it was delicious. Mom had the veal alla limone and CL had the evening special of veal stuffed with artichokes. Everyone proclaimed their satisfaction with this meal. We also had a side order of seasonal vegetables and punterelle. Both were good, but we’ve had better punterelle. We shared a piece of cream and zabaglione cook, mom and I had espresso and we capped it all off with limoncello. The total cost was €107.

It was a great end to a good day. We had a short walk back to the apartment and slept like logs.


Day Eight, Thursday, October 15th

Today was another great weather day, which seemed to be the norm for this trip! We had a leisurely morning and walked over to Sant Eustachio for our morning coffee. The plan for the day was a visit to the Borghese Gallery.

Earlier in the week, at the recommendation of Francesca Caruso, I had phoned and made a reservation for 1pm. There is a special exhibit of Carravaggio and Bacon paintings at the museum and tickets were booking quickly.

Based on my research it seemed we could catch the #116 mini-van/bus from the Centro Storica, just around the corner from Sant Eustchio, and take it to the Borghese Garden area. We finished our coffees and walked over to the bus stop, and waited, and waited, and waited. I think we waited 45 minutes…we ultimately figured out that if the bus that passes the designated bus stop, does not stop, it’s because all seats (there were only 3 or 4 seats) were full and the driver wouldn’t or couldn’t accept any more passengers.

As we waited a young woman was also standing nearby who seemed to be a local resident and was also waiting for the bus. After about 45 minutes we were just about to go get a taxi when and empty #116 mini-van stopped…thank goodness. We asked the driver if he was going to the Borghese Garden and with help from the young local we got an affirmative answer. It took about 30 minutes to wind through the streets of the Centro Storico, over the Via Veneto and up to the garden. The nice local woman got off, but told us to stay on and get off after 2 more stops. Sure enough we were dropped off at the end of the road in the garden that leads right up to the museum.

It was about 12:30 by now and we went in to pick up our tickets. I’m glad we called to reserve because the ticket agents were turning people away saying the museum was completely booked for the day. We also bought audio guides for €5 each. I highly recommend the audio guide it really is helpful with describing the works of art and we would have been lost without it.

At precisely 1pm we went in. I have to admit that I loved the Carravaggio paintings; however I’m still not sure what to think of the Bacon paintings. Once we let the entering crowds subside a bit, we went to see my favorite piece in this museum…Apollo & Daphne, it’s just incredible…so life-like. We spent about an hour and a half in the museum, in this case the 2 hour time allotment was plenty of time for us.

We left the museum and walked to the bus stop. After a wait, not as long as the morning wait, but long enough we decided to walk through the Borghese Gardens to the Pincio and down into Piazza del Popolo. Yes, a bit of a long walk, but the views from the Pincio were great and the reward was a stop at a café in Piazza del Popolo.

Once we were rested we walked across the street to the Church of Santa Maria di Montesanto. We would have stopped into its twin church, the Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli, but it was covered in scaffolding and we were ready to head back to the apartment.

Our luck with buses wasn’t very good today and our luck didn’t change. We waited (for what seemed like 30 minutes) for the #119 to take us down to the end of the Via del Corso, it never came and we decided to walk back to the apartment. The weather was nice, so the walk wasn’t a difficult one. After all the walking today, we will eat well tonight!

We decided to go to Tonino for dinner since we had such a great lunch there the other day. We got to the restaurant fairly early, around 7pm and there was only 1 other table, but other tables quickly filled up.

We had a half liter of the house red wine, and since it was Thursday, the gnocchi was the special of the day. Because I hadn’t really had much to eat all day I ordered the gnocchi as a first course and I was not disappointed! It was wonderful, melt in your mouth good, served in a tomato and basil sauce. Mom and CL had the rabbit which looked and smelled great…their verdict…it tasted as good as it looked. They each had a side dish, mom the fagiole and CL the broccoli. I tasted the beans and they were very good. CL said the broccoli was good. I had a second course, the roasted veal with potatoes and it was really, really tender, it was delicious. The total cost was €45.

Instead of dessert at the trattoria, we walked over to Gelateria del Teatro at Via di San Simone, 70 (just off Via dei Coronari). I had the coffee gelato and chocolate with red wine gelato, it was excellent, very intense flavors, and I would go back there in a minute.

After our gelato stop we walked back to the apartment and along the way we found Osteria del Pegno. This osteria was recommended to me by Fodorite gracie04 (Johanna) and she spoke so highly of it we took a look at the menu. We liked what we saw, so I went in and made a reservation for the next evening, our last night in Rome.

Day Nine, Friday, October 16th

Today was our last full day in Rome and it was another fantastic weather day. The apartment representative arrived just after 10am to do the check out inspection since we would be leaving early the next morning. She deemed everything ok with the apartment and gave me back the €400 security deposit.

We were out the door shortly after she left and walked over to Bar Farnese for our last Roman breakfast. It was such a glorious day, sunny and a nice breeze. We decided to sit outside at the café and had our cappuccino and cornetti, it was perfect. Almost every table was full on this spectacular morning. For 3 cappuccino and 3 cornetti the total cost was €16…yes, it was more expensive then other mornings, but we were basking in the glow of being in Rome on vacation.

We had a laid back morning and after breakfast we walked through the Campo dei Fiori area. We stopped back at my favorite leather shop, Ibiz to pick up some little key chains to bring back to friends. While there CL admired a fantastic orange leather bag and bought it.

After our retail therapy, we continued meandering and crossed over the Ponte Sisto and into Trastevere.

We walked through the streets and made our way to the Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere. Another one of my favorite churches in Rome. The mosaics in this church are outstanding. After putting some change in the illumination machine the rear of the altar with all the golden mosaics were light up and spectacular.

By now it was 12:30 and I thought I might finally get to try Pizzeria San Calisto just around the corner from the church. No luck again, it was closed. Then I started to remember something about pizzerias not being open for lunch…I can’t remember where I had heard that but it started to make sense after we found another pizzeria on my list I wanted to try and it was closed too. No worries, we ultimately found a place that was just a few doors down from my second choice and we went in and had a couple pizzas.

We had a pizza with spinach and sausage and a pizza with ricotta and cherry tomatoes. The ricotta pizza was good, but the spinach and sausage left a lot to be desired, the sausage just didn’t taste right to me. The pizzas here were also a bit more “doughy” then the other pizzas we had during the week. This place was clearly not a memorable meal for me, and I did not even pick up a business card, so don’t have an address. It was on the main street through Trastevere.

After lunch we hopped on the #8 tram and stopped back at the apartment to drop off our purchases. Since we still had not tossed our coins in the Trevi Fountain we decided to brave the crowds because it was our last day and I was not going to leave Rome until I tossed my coin in.

On the way to the Trevi Fountain we stopped at another of my favorite shops, Santa Maria Novella. This shop is full of all kinds of wonderful soaps, lotions, creams, and other neat little things. These products are made in Florence by (I believe) an order of nuns. After re-stocking mom’s supply of almond soap we were on our way towards the Pantheon.

As we approached the Pantheon I suggested going in since CL hadn’t been. It was crowded, but we could move about and I got some good pictures.

We then made our way slowly over to the Trevi Fountain making a few stops in food shops to have a look about. Mom bought a couple jars of black olive paste and cinghale paste (mom reported yesterday that she used it and it was excellent…so good that half the tiny jar is gone…she’s glad now that I insisted she buy 3 jars!)

The Trevi Fountain was packed with people (as usual) but we tossed our coins in and took pictures. It seemed all too soon we were heading back to the apartment to freshen up and do a little packing.

At about 5:30pm we ventured over to Piazza Navona for apperitivo, yes, we knew it would be expensive to sit at a café here, but I really wanted to sit, and savor our last few hours in Rome. We found a front table at Café Tre Scalini, yes, touristy, but we had a great view of everything going on in the piazza. Tre Scalini is located at Piazza Navona, 28/29. I had my last glass of prosecco, mom and CL had wine. We had 2 rounds and little apperitivo snacks. Two hours later we were starting to get a bit chilly, even with heat lamps next to us and decided to go to Osteria del Pegno for our dinner reservation.

After getting a bit turned around in the winding streets we made it to our destination, Osteria del Pegno at Vicolo di Montevecchio, 8 (www.osteriadelpegno.com). We were greeted warmly and ushered into a pretty little dining room and seated at a round table in the middle of the room. Wow…the dinning room had a big window/door that I’m sure in the summer months if opened makes a lovely setting. There was a large mural on one wall and another wall had shelves full of wine bottles, every table had fresh flowers.

The owner who greeted us in Italian began to tell us the evening specials and again we had to kindly ask if he could tell us in English and without missing a beat he launched into perfect English.

The food here was just as wonderful as the atmosphere. We had a bottle of the house white wine and a bottle of San Pellegrino water. We each had a starter. I had the tortino of eggplant and tomato parmesan, it was excellent. The eggplant was very tender. CL had the deer and boar meat plate and mom had the caprese salad, all were delicious. For the secondo mom and I had the roasted lamb with roasted potatoes, it was tender and delicious. The potatoes had a slight crunch and a great rosemary flavor. CL had the pasta with porcini mushrooms, a special of the evening, she said it was terrific.

To cap off the meal we each had a dessert. CL and I had the tiramisu, it was light and fluffy with a hint of coffee, it was one of the top tiramisu that I have ever had. But mom wins with the chocolate pear cake, a thick, dense cake with intense chocolate flavor. Mom and I had espresso and just when we thought we were finished the owner brought us each a glass of limoncello. It was incredibly smooth and the perfect finish to a fantastic meal. A big thank you goes to Johanna for recommending this place to me!

We were back at our apartment by 10pm, finished packing for our departure in the morning.

Day Ten, Saturday, October 17th

The alarm clock went off at 5:30am, we were all ready and outside just before 7am and within minutes the driver from Rome Cabs appeared and we were off to Fiumicino. Being a Saturday morning, there was very little traffic and we got to the airport by 7:30am. We paid the driver and stepped into Terminal 5. All I can say is thank God we arrived early for our 10:30am flight. I could not believe the line. This has not been my experience in the past, and like our arrival a week earlier we were surrounded by cruisers, now going home.

We went through the first line, which is a security/document check. Then we got on a second line to check our bags and get our boarding passes. Then it was another wait in a third line for security/x-ray. Once through all those lines we got a bus that took us to the other terminal where our boarding gate was located.

To my surprise the Tazza d’Oro in the terminal was closed…ugh…we needed our cappuccino! Fortunately there was an AutoGrill and so we got on line there, with everyone else in the terminal! We each had our cappuccino and cornetti and by the time we finished it was about 9am. It took us 1.5 hours from arrival at the airport to arriving at the boarding gate…just for reference, on my past trips this same process took 30 minutes.

We made our way to the boarding gate and there was not an empty seat to be had, but that was not a concern because within minutes the gate agents began boarding the plane. This was the first time for me boarding in Rome where they took us out to the plane that was parked on the tarmac, so no jet way for this flight. When we arrived at the plane we were directed to board through the back entrance, which for us was good, since our seats were the 3 from the last row.

We got settled in and had an uneventful 11 hour flight to Atlanta. We did take off about 50 minutes late, but arrived right on time. Going through customs and immigration was quick and I was surprised at how friendly the agents were, they were very chatty and wanted to know all about our trip, including wishing mom a happy birthday…he must have really looked at her passport!

Another pleasant surprise was that our bags came off the baggage carousel within 10 minutes. From de-planing to re-checking our bags and finding our departure gate for the flight to Savannah it only took about an hour.

Our flight to Savannah was on time and we landed at 8pm. We were lucky again with our bags and they were some of the first to appear. By now we were eager to get home since we had been awake for nearly 24 hours…sleeping in our own beds certainly was heavenly.

Return from Roma....

I've been back from my trip to Rome for not quite a week and it feels like I was in Rome ages ago! Guess that means another trip needs to be planned.

A trip report will be forthcoming, but first I need to sort through the 928 photos I took, delete some, edit some and label the remaining ones.

Now throw into the mix a weekend trip to New Orleans in 3 weeks and my goal of having all my Rome trip "projects" wrapped up before my jaunt to New Orleans seems pretty slim.

Be patient, stayed tuned and trip reports will be done!

Now a weekend of photo editing begins!

Vatican Afterhours Tour!

One of the many great things about Facebook is that I have become much more aware of special deals and events in my adored travel world.

About a week ago I saw a Facebook post from Context Travel that they had discounted their Vatican After hours tour. Now, this tour is not one that is regularly scheduled. The Vatican allows these after hours tours a few times a year and we just happen to be lucky enough that it is happening on the Wednesday we will be in Rome. AND...it just also happens to be the same day as mom's birthday.

Soooo, it was a no-brainer...one call to mom..."hey are you interested?" The reply..."You bet!" Then another call to CathyLee..."hey are you interested?" The reply..."You bet!"

One stroke, ok really several strokes, of the keyboard and we are booked.

October 14th we are booked for the Context Rome Vatican After hours tour. There are only 26 spots and then Context splits that group of 26 into smaller groups of 5, each with our own docent. I am beyond excited...this is going to be one heck of an experience.

Stay tuned for a trip report with all the details when I return!

Computer Restored and Packing Done!

Whew...what a weekend!

Friday I got my computer back with a zippy new hard drive and just about all of my documents were retrieved! YIPPEE! The only document not found...yup, the coveted Rome Restaurant list. Have no fear. I spent 4 hours Saturday afternoon re-typing the list and got the 24 pages down to 20 pages, and no, it's not in a size 4 font! So now I can depart for Rome with the knowledge that I have a plethora of restaurants to choose from!

The only bummer was that I did spend 4 hours of a beautiful Saturday in the house typing, but I got a big reward. In the late morning my phone rang and it was my friend Regi from Atlanta. He asks, " What are you doing?". I say, "I'm at the car wash and then heading home." He says, "I'm in Hilton Head". I say, "What?" Turns out he came down for jazz festival. We met up for wine and appetizers at Wiseguys on Saturday night, so it was a great way to end a day of monotonous typing!

Sunday was the "big pack" day. I had most everything I was going to pack already stacked and coordinated in the guest bedroom, so it wasn't a major "event", but it did take about an hour to get everything in ziplock bags and situated just perfectly in my suitcase. I'm happy to say that I am pretty much a rock star in the realm of packing. I think I even have room in case there are any last minute toss-ins. I did cull things down to the bare minimum and if there is anything I have forgotten, well, I'm sure I can buy it in Rome!

Now it's the anticipation that is killing me...it took me forever to get to sleep last night, and I still have 2 more work days to go...ugh...I am so ready to be in Roma!

And the packing has begun...

With just 10 days left until departure for Roma this was the weekend to get my packing coordinated. I have to admit I didn't spend too much time on this task. It was relatively quick, I guess I'm getting better at this packing thing! So most everything I'm taking is now piled up in the guest bedroom. Next weekend I can do the actual bag packing and then it will be off to Italia!

24 pages of Rome Restaurants almost up in smoke!

I should have known when the computer was slow, very slow. Then I should have known when the mouse was "acting funny". But I didn't think anything of it , OK, I was ignoring it.

Then "it" happened. My hard drive died! Uggh! ALL my travel research! All my travel confirmations....up in smoke...well, almost!

As my trip to Rome gets closer, last week I decided I really needed to clean up my Rome restaurant list. It was 24 pages long and I had cut and pasted entries from varies sources and wanted to clean it up and re-format the list. So, I printed out the list one night and took it with me to Starbucks the next morning to edit. I must have had a premonition, because the next day the hard drive died! THANK GOD I have the hard copy!

Fortunately I have a computer "guru" working on retrieving any documents he can save and getting a new hard drive up and running and I do have some files backed up on an external hard drive. But I have learned a valuable lesson...back up files more often and pay more attention to a slow computer!

Post #250! AND...the Official Roma Countdown Begins

Holy Cow! Can it be...this is post #250...OK, so I know it's not a huge number given the fact that I started this blog several years ago and I know there are some very spartan entries, but hey, 250 is nice round, chunky number. :)

As I went to sleep last night, way later then I should have, the thought occurred to me that in exactly 4 weeks instead of slipping into my nice crisp sheets and laying my head down on my fluffy pillow I will be squeezed into an economy seat on Delta airlines winging my way to the Eternal City....Roma!

I'm doing it to myself again...getting excited, probably waaaaay to far in advance of my trip, but I just can't help it. Now that it's only 4 weeks away I'm starting to mentally go through all the stuff I'll need to get done before going. Is it really to early to start stocking up on mini sized toiletries? Who am I kidding....I'm ALWAYS stocked up! :)

This weekend will be dedicated to wrapping up my Rome restaurant research and getting that information entered onto my "master restaurant list". Ahhh...I can smell the espresso already!

A Presto mia amici!

Idaho....it's not just potato country!

I returned last night from a whirlwind 4 day trip to the great state of Idaho and what a state it is. Who knew what I was missing...BUT...shhhh...don't tell anyone else how fantastic it is there, I want to keep it all to myself! ;)

After 4 (or is it 5?) years of continually telling my friend Katrina I would come and visit her in Boise, Idaho I took the plunge and booked a plane ticket to visit over the Labor Day weekend.

I could not have asked for:


1) A better friend to visit!


2) More fantastic weather! or


3) More fun-filled activities!




I could have asked for:



1) MORE TIME THERE!!!!

On Thursday, September 3rd I started the trek to Boise by departing Savannah at 11:30am, and I'm happy to say that with 2 connections, one in Atlanta and another in Salt Lake City I walked off the plane in Boise right on time, out the door of the airport and into Katrina's waiting car.

True to her word Katrina had my Boise State tee shirt ready and waiting and we were off to the stadium for tailgating before the Boise State vs. Oregon football game. What an introduction to the great city of Boise. After doning my tee shirt we made our way through the throngs of people and found Katrina's husband and son at the tailgate party. Once I was full of delicious barbequed ribs, corn on the cob, and pasta salad and of course a cold beer, kickoff time was near. We made our way to our seats for the start of the game.

Wow...the Boise State Bronco stadium has, get ready for this, blue turf...otherwise known as "smurf turf". The place was packed...they even set an attendance record...over 34,000 people. And it was an action packed game.

Since it was being televised on ESPN, kickoff was at 8pm so the game lasted until about midnight, by the time we got to Katrina's house it was close to 12:30am and I was ready to hit the hay! The morning would be coming soon and Katrina had us scheduled for a fun-filled Friday!

Friday morning we were up early and it's a good thing Katrina is as addicted to Starbucks as I am, because the first order of the day was to stop for our morning java. After fueling up on caffeine, we were ready and rarin' to go!

We headed for downtown Boise and parked the car and walked over to Adventure Tours of Idaho for a Segway Tour of the downtown area. Oh My God...what fun! Well, after the first 5 or 10 minutes of feeling completely "unbalanced" we had a blast. The Segway did take a few minutes to get used to, but we took a few practice laps up and down the walkway in front of the shop and then we were ready to roll (no pun intended of course!) :) We got to see the capitol building, the Basque Block and some historical points of interest along the route. I would do a Segway tour again in a heartbeat!

When we finished with the tour guide, she let us use the Segways for another 20 minutes or so on our own and we rolled down a few blocks to check out the Boise Human Rights Memorial...a very nicely done spot.

When we finished with the Segways it was close to lunch time, but we didn't have to meet Katrina's aunt and mom for about an hour so we popped into a PF Chang's for lunch. My first time at a PF Chang's and I really liked it. We sat at the bar and had a couple appetizers...the lettuce wraps and the crispy (tempura fried) green beans...both were excellent and I now have this place on my "go to" list for when I'm in other cities.

Next on our itinerary was the trolley tour of Boise. We met Katrina's mom (who I met for the first time) and her auntie (who I had met on our trip to Ireland in 2005) at the Julia Davis Park and we hopped on the trolley and had a really nice tour of the historic houses around the city as well as some other interesting sites (the penitentiary!).

The trolley tour lasted about an hour, give or take and when we were done we walked over to the Basque Block to check out the Basque Museum. Boise has a very large Basque population and the museum, although small, was very nicely put together. ($4 entry fee).

After the museum we wandered across the street to check out the Basque Market. There were all kinds of speciality foods there but the big draw was the wine. We ended up sitting there tasting a few wines and ultimately Katrina and her mom bought several bottles. I found a new favorite wine called New Age, it's Argentine (I think) and it is slightly bubbly, but it's served in a rocks glass over ice with a lime wedge...very refreshing and light! :)

When we were winding down at the Basque Market it was just about dinner time and one of my requests for something to do in Boise was to eat at Bar Gernika, a Basque bar/restaurant. This place was featured in an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network a few months back and it looked interesting.

We had a great time there! After a couple glasses of wine, and the potato omelet appetizer we were ready for our sandwiches! I had the lamb grinder which was out of this word Yummy! Katrina and auntie had the Solomo sandwich and Katrina's mom had the grilled vegetable sandwich which looked incredibly good and by all reports, tasted as good as it looked! One of the best things about this meal was the side order of croquettas. OMG...a little ball of fried chicken and cheese goodness...it was heaven, I tell you!

Things were winding down and it was time to say good-bye to auntie and mom and Katrina and I went back to her house. A good night's sleep was definitely in order because in the morning we would be taking on the rapids!

Saturday morning we were up bright and early, off for our morning coffee and then a 9:30am white water rafting adventure. Since it was fairly late in the season the water was low and the rapids were not very wild. I knew when we were getting our equipment together and getting our raft assignments that it wasn't going to be very rough since we weren't given helmets! Nevertheless, we had a great raft ride. There were 6 of us in the raft plus the guide, who was just terrific, friendly and chatty and just an overall nice guy.

We rafted for about 2 hours and when we were finished, dressed and purchased the "requisite" raft photos we hit the road towards McCall, Idaho.

Katrina has a friend who has a cabin near McCall and she let us use the cabin Saturday night. Our original plan was to finish rafting, get to McCall and bike around Lake Payette. By the time we got to McCall it started raining. Not "all out" torrential rain, but enough for both of us to say, "hey, lets just drive the car around the lake". So that's what we did and a pretty drive it was. The rain was intermittent and by the time we made it all around the lake it had stopped, but by now it was wine time.

We parked the car and walked over to Bistro 45, with a nice outdoor seating area. We ordered a couple glasses of wine and the baked brie appetizer and chatted. As the sun went down Katrina asked if I was hungry. Although not starving, we decided to walk over to one of Katrina's favorite places, Steamers for another round of appetizers and wine.

At Steamers we had an order of steamed clams and a fabulous dish of baked scallops with parmesan cheese. Along with a glass of wine it was perfect. We topped the meal off with dessert, creme brulee for Katrina, apple cobbler for me...a great way to end the evening. And we waddled back to the cabin.

And about the cabin. Katrina's friends built this log cabin entirely by themselves and it is a thing of beauty! A four bedroom custom made cabin...I was sleeping in mountain luxury!

Sunday was our designated "zip" day! We got up and went into McCall for coffee at Moxie Java, a coffee shop chain I saw throughout my visit to Idaho. By 10:30am we were at Tamarack near Lake Cascade and getting strapped into our zip lining harnesses and we were off to zip line through the mountains overlooking the lake.

WOW! This was a thrill a minute.

We did a total of 8 zips, the first 2 were really orientation zips to just get us accustomed to what we would be doing! After those first 2 we hopped in a van and were driven to the location where we would start the zip course.

The course was great, there were some zips that were ground landings, some that had ramps we could run off and some where we landed in tree stands. The longest zip we did was 1000 feet and it was 250 feet off the ground...phenomenal views! The only time I really got nervous was the zip that landed in a tree stand that was 150 feet in the air and we had to wait there for everyone to finish their zip before doing the next zip...zipping off that tree stand was wild...just one step off and there you go....ziiiiip!

We finished zipping at around 3:30pm and after stopping for a quick snack we were back on the road to Boise. We had dinner with Katrina's husband and then spent the evening on the patio with some wine and great conversation!

All too soon Monday morning rolled around and I was back on a plane heading home. Unbelievably I had no flight delays and landed right on time and was home by 9pm.

Idaho was great but the best part was seeing an old friend after too many years of only phone calls and emails!