Ah......Paris

Arriving in Paris was spectacular. I was so looking forward to my little charming apartment in the Marais, sipping coffee with other Parisians and eating to my hearts content. Once we got shuttled to the apartment, next to the Murano hotel we entered a little court yard with all sorts of apartments and studios mingling together. I kept day dreaming of the photos I saw online - cute, quaint little studio with a history of writers and artists staying there. We hauled all of our luggage (much heavier than we left due to shopping....ugh!)up 3 flights of circular narrow stairs to arrive at the big black door. The keys were held in a lock box with a secret code that the owners sent to me on line  few days before I departed San Francisco. The door flew open and my heart sank. 

What?

Is this the place?

This doesn't look like the photos on the website. Surely it must be bigger?

No, it's a mirror. Where is the couch with the spare fold out bed? 

Oh, that little tiny folded cushion on the floor? Is that it?

And what is that smell..........

Ok, so super long story short - the place was a complete dump, the owner photoshopped a cute place together and I got duped. 

There was so much black mold in the bathroom, the stinch permeated the entire studio - all 230sqft of it. The mattress was saggy in the middle and ...and....and

So, here I go to get ahold of the caretakers (the owners live in NYC) and come to find out - the one guy is stuck in Austria with no travel documents, so he can't help us. 

We try to make the best of it because

A - I paid a lot of money for it (UGH)

B - it was in the exact district we wanted to be in

C - we were tired, and it was too late to find another option

We went to the Monoprix (like Target) to get cleaning supplies and other things. 

We did a quick cleaning to see if the smell would go away (it didn't) and tried to take showers and get some sleep. 

The shower head fell off the wall (totally not kidding), the water pressure was week (like most Paris places are - but this was like spittle) and I felt like I had to shower after the shower. 

The bed felt damp and it just stunk!

When we couldn't sleep at all, we got online and found a hotel. 

It is not cheap either - but hey the other place was not acceptable at all. 

We have a perfect hotel room on Ile St. Louis, the heart of Paris. Lots of bistros, boutiques and best of all it's clean, warm and has a great staff. 

The meals are a whole other story and should be posted in the next day or so.

New Years Eve 2008 Florence

Eating out on NYE is something I've always avoided. Not only because I was usually working, but because it is over priced and filled with what I like to call, dining amateurs.  Well, being in Firenze for NYE 08 had me out and about - to a restaurant called Buca di Mario. I had passed this place on my daily walks and peeked in a couple of times. From the outside it looked small and quaint with a handful of diners and staff. You had to go through two doors and down some steps to a cellar like room to see the little entry way.  Since I couldn't get in to the other 3 places I wanted - I called BDM and got in. When we arrived for the 9:30 reso, it looked as though we'd be the only ones dining that night- the room we entered was completely empty. We were greeted by 4 different people, all smiles and up beat voices asking us to come this way.....

We rounded the corner and WHOA! It was a the HUGE place with 6 different rooms, all under the streets of Florence. Each room more impressive than the next. We were taken to a room in the back, all tables set in white tables clothes and the prefixe dinner of the night. The room started to fill with local Florentinians and the night was about to start.  

A table of 4 guys sat to our left and a table of 8 others to our right. We had a menu of 8 courses and every single one was MASSIVE and delicioso. 

An aperitif of champagne and strawberry puree to start

A plate of house made sausages and pate

A house Tuscan puree soup with white beans

Farfalle pasta with truffles and zucchini cream sauce  

Big tortellini with pork sugo 

Breaded leg of lamb chop 

Sliced filet with rosemary potatoes 

Osso Bucco with bone marrow finished the savory course

Housemade Tiramisu with a chocolate version on one side of the plate and a vanilla one on the other

Vin Santo and house made almond biscotti

Dessert champagne 

Shots of Sambucca and Lemoncello where passed around also

The owner came in at midnight and brought a cart, yes a 3 tiered cart full of champagne. Every table got one and it was being poured by one of our many servers. We all got up and gave each other kisses on the cheeks, hugs and Buon Anno was said a million times.

The guys next to us had a birthday at the table and they brought out a gigantic tiramisu with what looked like a Roman Candle on it - it was sparking fire and they turned down the lights and sang Happy Bday, Italian style. Classic! He was super embarrassed, but it was so cool. 

We walked the streets of Florence on the way back to our apartment and saw lots of people lighting bottle rocket type fire works and falling over drunk. It is a memory I won't forget. 

ROME baby ROME

Taking the bullet train to Rome was an anticipatory part of my trip.  I had not done much research on Rome - not nearly as much as Florence and I wasn't sure what to expect.  The train ride is very cathartic and had me sleeping in about 15 minutes. I did get a few photos of the Tuscan country side, but that was all over once everyone around me decided it was a great time to snooze.  The hour and a half ride seemed like 5 minutes - here I was in Rome, the Eternal city. 

Getting off the train was like stepping into a circus. The first thing I noticed where people smoking - EVERYWHERE. It was like their last chance to draw in the fumes forever. One right after the other. I had to breath in my scarf to get through it, it was so thick. The chaos started when we tried to find our hotel, advertised as being "right across the street" from the Termini Roma. Well - what street is it? The one parallel to the station or the one kinda parallel, behind some other buildings around the corner and down the street. Oh - THAT one. I got it. Thanks to all the street vendors (5) who I had to repeatedly ask - WHERE IS IT?

The Radisson SAS was huge and modern and looked like I was in Berlin - not ancient Rome. It was amazing and grand and we got to check in very early (11am). I had read (after I booked of course) that there were many problems with this hotel and I was a bit anxious about staying there. I chose it for the location and the reputation of Radisson.  Our room was like that of a futuristic SNL sketch of Nuni & Nuni. (The scenes all had "regular folks" trying to figure out how to sit on their modern furniture and how to work all of the remotes etc)

I kept finding secret compartment and all kinds of "one touch" type gadgets. You could turn on/off all the lights and tv from one remote. The bathroom light was a one touch on the wall button and the shower was in the middle of the room with frosted plexiglass.  The shades were remote and the floor was rubber. Cool - just freakin cool.

We wanted to see all the sites in Rome, but of course "Rome was not built in one day" as all the signs kept reminding me. We inquired about a day tour with the front desk and within 30 minutes - we had a private driver, Stefano at our beck and call. The day was 55 degrees, much warmer than Florence and it was sunny sunny sunny. 

I was expecting a huge charge - but for 40Euro per hour this was a bargain.  Here is what I got to see in about 3 hours - 

*St. Peters Basilica and Vatican city - totally breathtaking and FULL of people. 

*Coliseum - So incredible - you have to wait till I post the photos to get it. 

*Trevi Fountain - MY FAVORITE site to see in Rome. Incredible and about 5,000 people there

*Boca Della Verita - Legend has it, if you tell a lie while placing your hand in the mouth - you won't be able to get away, cool!

*Gianicolo Hill - 88m high and you can see ALL of Rome, the biggest city I've ever been to - killer! (again wait till I post the photos)

*Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica - There is a tale that parts of Jesus's clothes where hidden here

*Piazza Venezia - a grand scape where Musolini would speak

*Piazza Navarro - a crazy area that looked like a circus everyday with street food, dancers, booths and amazing art

*Spanish Steps - ALOT of steps, but the view was amazing and there were so many people, it took over an hour to go down the steps!

Phew! We actually did it all in one day, well most of it. I didn't want to stand in the hours long lines that we saw EVERYWHERE in order to see inside. We got to see the main parts and for one day in Rome, that was cool with us. Stefano, who spoke limited English, was gracious and always kept very close to our drop off point so we could locate him easily.  He never seemed irritated or anxious for us to leave. He was in his late 40's and had never been to the US. He said his brother was in NY for 9/11 and he never wanted to go after that, I don't blame him for that. He was happy to take us back to the steps of the hotel so we could get ready for our dinner reservation. He ended our journey with the traditional Euro kiss kiss and hugs. CIAO CIAO!

Reservation for Ristorante Maccheroni where made on the recommendation of Jamie Oliver, one of our favorite TV chefs. We hailed a true ROMAN cab driver who got us there in minutes flat. He was playing Debbie Gibson on his Fiat stereo and let us know right away - NO ENGLISH.  He took us to Via de Coppello and we saw the corner restaurant, Ristorante Maccheroni. We were early, so we sat right next door and had glasses of bubbles at a wine bar. The owner took a liking to us and gave us a antipasti platter gratis. It was delicious Bufala Mozzarella and crostini with tomato and also some chicken livers on crostini - yummy!

When we were seated at Maccheroni, our server asked us "English or Italian?" and gave us a choice of 3 rooms to sit in. I chose a table right in front of the kitchen so we could see them making pasta and searing steaks.  Another server, totally sleeved in tattoos came by and started the flirting process. He gave us the "Italian eye" and kept winking and making faces. It was hilarious! When I was shooting a photo of the chefs, he took my camera and insisted that we were much more interesting than the chefs. He asked us to hang out later - but, a'hem, we declined politely. :o)

Our meal was a started of Artichoke, lemon and mint - a traditional Roman starter. For secondi piatti, we opted for one Maccheroni Aman'tricana (a spicy blend of tomato sauce, red pepper flakes, garlic & bacon - to die for! We also got a Filet of beef with a chicory salad. The steak was prime and about 5 inches thick. Seared to perfection. Although the beef was tasty, my palette is accustomed to more salt and pepper prior to cooking. We were so full of food and flirting we headed for a walk around Rome at night. Most people discouraged this as it can be very dangerous in some areas, but we stuck to well lit areas with lots of people. We ended the night with a Roman version of Gelato. I had a mix of strawberry and one flavor I had to try, Viagra. When I asked what that was, the lady laughed and said it had big nuts in it - ok, got it. Delicious regardless of the name. 

When we got settled back at the hotel, we turned on the news and watched a little of what is going on in Gaza between Hamas and Israel.  It was hard to see and hear all the turmoil, heading into this new year, but we sent our good thoughts and headed to bed. 

About 3 am we heard 2 loud explosions. It shook me hard - I really thought there was a bomb, or some sort of protest going on. Rome has one of the biggest Jewish communities outside of Israel, so it was not an unlikely event.  When we didn't hear any police or fire engine sirens, we figured out it must be firecrackers. This shook us up so much, we ended up staying up for a few hours after, second guessing what we thought it was.  When we checked out the next day, we asked the front desk if they had heard anything. They said they got complaints from other guests, but thought it was cherry bombs - totally LEGAL. Scarry stuff!

Our train back to Florence left in the afternoon, so we walked around and shopped a bit before heading back to the station. I got a gorgeous handbag from a leather shop and Lulu got boots - to die for!  The train station was insane and totally full of people. Here we are, back where we started with everyone in tow, smoking. 

Tuesday Florence

Being in Florence has been spectacular. The people, the food (especially the food) and the culture all make you think - does America have it wrong? Things are so simple here - but efficient.  Everyone says Hello! - right when you enter a place, no if and's or but's about it.  

On Tuesday we ate at a little hole in the wall place on a side alley. No one was in there except 2 other couples, one set with a baby. It seemed like they were also tourists as they didn't speak Italian, or English. The place looked like someone's house with a kitchen opened up to see one lone man working all the stations simultaniously.  Our server was a man in his 60's, missing is front teeth and barely spoke English. We ordered the "Ribolitta" - a peasant soup made out of stale bread, kale, cabbage and carrots. Their version was topped off with house made chili oil. YUMM! I guess back in the day, you didn't let any food go to waste, (to think of what American's waste everyday is unsettling) so the peasants would keep adding bread to the soup and "reboil = ribolitta" so the flavors would intensify.  We also shared a housemade pasta with tomato sauce, garlic and Pecorino Romano. Delish! I would have ordered dessert there, but a young woman came in with 3 very loud unruly children. It was perfect though because, I had my first Florentine Gelato experience. 

Gelato here is unlike any in Italy. The consistency, the flavor choice and the SIZE. I actually stopped a Japanese tourist to shoot a photo of his gelato cone. It was about a foot tall with at least a pound of gelato on top. I couldn't get over it -  I had to have one for myself.  Besides being 30 degrees outside -I went inside the local Gelateria to sample one of these.  The flavor choices were overwhelming - but I went with my first choice, Coconut. For 4 Euro I got  a heaping portion on a thick housemade sugar cone complete with 2 pirouette cookies and a tasting spoon. We sat in the back to taste and be amazed. It was sensational!

I had to walk around a bit after the first few tastes - we were right in front of the monstrous Duomo - and I wanted to see all perspectives.  It's really hard to take it all in.