Paco and Me....

Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Well, it's been 8 days since I settled in Florence and I still have to pinch myself that I'm here, in person, personally....   My routine is very flexible and, for now, I really like it.   I get up late, either fix myself a nice breakfast at the apartment, or, like today, I walked over to the hotel to have breakfast.   The walk is wonderful and it's a very nice day.   After this, I'm taking the bus to the Central Train Station, where the central market is and all that fun stuff.   I will walk around, buy a little something or other, have a hot bowl of soup at Negrone's, you will see it in the pictures.  It's very famous, right inside the market, for that suckling pork, porcheta, and for florentine-style tripe, yummy, yummy....  There's also a seafood restaurant in there with the most fabulous seafood dishes... you'll see a sample in the pictures.   Then, at 3:00 om, right there in the shops underneath the train station is a manicure/pedicure place.   I will willingly submit because I sorely need both!   So, here we go with pictures of when Paco was visiting... I hope you enjoy them.  I actually learned how to stand them up now, so you don't have to do neck bends.....

Paco and I arriving at the train station in Frascati

Appetizers at the "Belvedere Restaurant" where we became good
friends with the owners, from Venezuela.  One of the best
restaurants EVER!

Porcheta anyone?

Yummy sandwiches at the train station in Rome

The back of the Santa Maria Maggiore Church in Rome

Love the outdoor cafe with the umbrellas in every chair 

The Trevi Fountain takes your breath away!

Fontana di Trevi.... bellisima

Right after we had gone to throw our coin over our shoulders

This is a hotel a few steps from the Trevi Fountain where I stayed when
I brought my godson over to Rome a "few" years ago.   It brought
great memories and it's still here!

The very famous Spanish Steps by Michaelangelo

Inside one of the beautiful churches

They have a statue of Pope John XXIII praying with a smile.

A gorgeous religious display

A lovely Madonna with her Baby

W 

Wine tasting in Santa Bennedetta Winery in Frascati

The Vatican Gardens

Beautiful sculptures of a peacock and a pineapple
in the Vatican Gardens

Very modern  sculpture in the Gardens which symbolizes the deterioration
of the Earth....interesting

Another view, it also rotates constantly

Sculpture from the Vatican Museum

Gorgeous plant, huge, look at the people

Marble sculpture of the Muse of Music

Interesting sculpture, very detailed, unknown

Now, sculpture in bronze

The gorgeous mosaics on the floor

The Hall of Greek Goddesses, all in marble

Some of the tapestries in the hallway on the way to the Sistine Chapel

The ceiling work on that same hallway on the way to the
Sistine Chapel

Another view of the ceiling, absolutely amazing!

This is a bible in pictographs for people to "read"

The Vatican Honor Guards.... and they HAVE to be gorgeous!

Map of the Vatican Complex

St. Peter's Square

Gotta have a lot of "carta higienica".... don't want another emergency!
Do you think this is enough for one day?

Butcher shop in Frascati

Everything looks so good and fresh.... in the very front is a
goat!

Appetizer at the Belvedere

Gorgeous little boy, I couldn't resist!

One of the many yummy desserts we shared

Here we are with Nelson and his wife.... lovely, lovely couple.
Nelson's mom, who is from Italy and Nelson's brother cook.
Nelson and his wife are the loveliest of hosts!

Three gorgeous chefs!

This is Nelson's pizza, it is four in one.   Each
section has different toppings.  We didn't have it but
it looked totally delicious!

These are the ladies who fixed our cappuccinos every morning
along with our croissants in Frascati 

This is the butcher and his wife.  He's the one who had
to give Paco his very own toilet paper because
we didn't have any....  EMERGENCY!

Happy to help, everything is fine now!

Rabbit, anyone?

This is Paolo who manages the Galleria Frascati
Bed and Breakfast and his friend, who also
works there.

This is the building we see when we're sitting waiting for the train
to Rome, in Frascati

This couple is German and we spent a few lovely hours with them.
They were also leaving Frascati and we all missed the train.
Their names were Julian and Juliana, so we called them J&J.
They were absolutely adorable.

Instant friendship!

Paco is fascinated by doors, so you're going to see a lot
of them.

Doors.....

More doors.....

Guess what?   More doors....  they were beautiful

The beautiful cathedral of Frascati and the lovely bells
what woke us up everymorning at 7:00 am.

Another view

Town Square in Frascati

Vineyards as seen from the train to Rome

Grapes, grapes, grapes

Now we arrive in Arezzo, which is close to Florence, about
30 km away.  

Costumes used by locals for festivities and formal occasions

Giorgio Vasari's ceiling frescoes in his home in Arezzo.
It's a lovely museum.

Always ready to mangia, mangia, mangia... with Sue and Danielle.
This is the couple we met at the hotel and then drove around
all over the place with them!   They were lots of fun!

Even the dogs are fashionable in Italy!

Too cute!

Inside the Cathedral in Arezzo

Beautiful tinted glass windows

Interesting ultra modern altar in a 400-year-old church

A small plaza in Arezzo

Sue and Danielle, happy gals!

Town Center, really lovely

Same main town square

Another view

A more complete view of the town square

Look at these interesting plates, they are one piece!

And they also sold cups and saucers and bowls like this!
I think it's very, very clever!

Street in Arezzo

Gorgeous flowers everywhere....

Can you guess what this is?

Well, can you guess?

One more guess.....

Look at that incline.   Every little street is like this.
Your legs get a fabulous workout.

You have to admit:   beautiful!

This is Perugia, in the town square.  Perugia is
famous for chocolate..... Perugina, and Baci.  Every
shop sells chocolate.   If you're a chocoholic, this is your
place!

Gorgeous building in Perugia

Town square in Perugia, that fountain is amazing!
It is totally sculpted and all symbolizing bible
and religious stories.  It's that idea again of the
pictographs so people who couldn't read would
learn about the bible.

Lovely alley in Perugia

I  loved how the sun was peeking through this archway.

Same.....

Another lovely alley way.   Look at that incline!

Charming....

A closer look at that fountain in Perugia

Entrance to the Cathedral

This is the Gay Price flag.  It symbolizes that this establishment
is gay-friendly.  

Our bathroom in our hotel in Arezzo... absolutely gorgeous
green/black marble...   Look at all that glass!

Shower and tub, all glass

All those bidets!

Gorgeous bathroom......

One of the many great meals

Chocolate, "lava" cake.....  OMG!

Need a chicken for dinner tonight?  You can even have the head!

The fabulous prosciuto!

Remember I told you it was wild boar season?
In Arizona we would call it javelina season..... believe it or not
it was very delicious.  Tasted like pork.

This is the Central Market in Florence.   Guess what these are?
Bull's testicles!

Is this what you call "spooning"?

Interesting-looking crustaceans

Dried fruits, everything you can think of!

Fresh fish.... interesting looking

Have you ever seen green beans like this?

Loooooong okras

A variety of cucumber

Another variety of cucumber

Various mysterious edibles

Totally black corn

Look at these interesting varieties of squash

Just gorgeous vegetables, so fresh!

Round eggplants

Look at the colors of these bell peppers!

People waiting in line to eat at Negrone's.  I think that's the name.

Outdoor market.   You can smell the leather from everywhere!
This is lots and lots of fun.   Lots of hustle and bustle.

You didn't think we were done with the doors, did you?

Have you ever seen this kind of plant?

Lovely greeting and cake offering when arriving at
Hotel David in Florence

Bathroom at Hotel David where the floors
are heated!

This is Bologna where we went to have the white truffles.

A gorgeous store in Bologna

Mangia pasta e zuppe!
The doctor told me eat salata e zuppe, not pasta e zuppe.
Oops, I guess I got a little confused.

You figure it out....

This is that awesome seafood plate we shared from the fish
section of the market in Florence.  This was the
best seafood plate I have EVER had!

Florence treated us with a double rainbow.   This is the
view from the Ponte Vecchio.

This is an overview of glorious Florence.

Side view of Il Duomo in Florence.  This cupula domintes
the skyline of Florence from every view.

Santa Maria Novella, another one of the many....

One of the old gates that are all around the city.
I walk right by this one every day on my way to the hotel.

Gorgeous, gorgeous.    The turquoise cupulas
belong to the Jewish Synagogue.

Another view....

This is part of the wall that once protected the city from invaders.

The wall again, nestled in a beautiful part of hilly Florence.

A side view of Il Duomo, all marble

It's difficult to describe how beautiful it is....

Side view

The entrance doors....

The famous, famous Ghiberti doors, another
book in the sculptures, all done in bronze.
Absolutely incredible.   The sculptor, Ghiberti,
actually put himself in the "book", except I
can't tell you where he is.

Breathtaking...

Ditto

We're climbing up to a little town outside of Florence where
the Medicis and friends had villas and summer homes.

The little town's name is Fiesole, and it goes back to Etruscan times.

One of the exhibits, marble muses, at the Uffizi Galleries

The ceiling of that exhibit hall, all made from sea shells.

Okay, ladies, this is the fashion I mentioned.   The lace
peeking out of the skirt.

Already salivating!  We're in that restaurant, in Bologna,
where I can genuinely say it's the best food I ever ate.
I had to bring Paco here to have the truffles!

It's not that I am fixated on bathrooms, but I must be.    This is the
bathroom in our hotel in Naples.

All brown marble and lots and lots of glass!

What do you mean, no heated floors?????

View from our hotel window in Naples

Naples town center

This is Naples!

It's very picturesque and colorful!   

We're on a lookout on top of a hill where there's an ancient castle.

Happy travelers!

How cameos are made from sea shells.

Cameo-making instruments and shells

It's an amazing process.   I had NO idea they were made from
seashells.

Napoli's harbor.   It was very overcast that day, the water
glistens when it's sunny and the color is truly spectacular.

Another view

Our guide, Pazquale

Can you tell we're having fun?

This is called the Castle of the Egg because legend has it
there is an egg inside that can predict the future.   Then
why didn't it predict that the football team was going
to lose the match?

Monument in honor of lost seamen

Another monument honoring Naples

Entrance to San Gennaro's Church, the patron saint of
Naples

Wanna see what real pastries look like?   

Cookies and cakes

Not Sara Lee!

Look at the shapes!

Colorful, AND delicious

Not Pepperidge Farm here!

See what I mean about the shapes?   They're filled in!

Beautiful coffee shop where all those pastries are sold

Name of the coffee shop

Inside the Church of San Gennaro

Ceiling of San Gennaro's church

There was a lovely chorus of young people singing.

The Church of San Gennaro

The Castle of the Egg, right on the water.   There are lovely
restaurants, very upscale, right next to it.

This lady is showing how a cameo is made.

These cameos are lamps.   Look at the intricacy of the design!

Cameo and jewelry store in Naples

Now, we're off to Pompeii

Acqueducts surrounding the city of Pompeii

A street in Pompeii

Another street

These were rooms for the gladiators.  I wouldn't give them half a star!

Lovely columns surrounding a courtyard

Amphitheatre that sat upwards of 3000 spectators

They still hold events here, mostly in spring, summer, and fall.  
Certainly now now.

This is where the town's "laundromat" was.... 

This is the main street and it was also a water conduit, so
the water would flow down to a river.

Another view of the main road.  Along the sides would have
been shops, stores, etc... sort of merchants' row.

These rocks are sporadically placed throughout the main street,
so that if the water is running, you can still cross the street.
Pretty clever those Etruscans!

These are original frescoes which let me imagine how beautiful
Pompeii must have been.  They called it the "red city".

More of the beautiful frescoes.

Los of repairs and reconstruction.

Another lovely courtyard lined with perfectly symmetrical columns.

These are some of the corpses they found after Vesuvius

Fabulous frescoes again

Another view....

Here's that penis pointing to the direction of the "red-light" district.
If you were a stranger in town and didn't know where to go, you looked
for this symbol.   Talk about GPS!!!!

The main square of Pompeii.... it's big!

Better view of the town square

More views of the town square

Our lunch in Pompeii

Singing to the tourists.....

Now we're headed on a dizzying drive of the Amalfi Coast.

Add caption

Another view of the gorgeous Amalfi Coast

Look at that view!

Again, towns all in a row in the Amalfi Coast

Sorry if they seem repetitive.  I couldn't help myself!

Another town....

Look at where some of those houses are built!

The other side of a town called Positano, probably the
most expensive place in Italy!

This was our group for the day.  Paco is freezing!

The local cemetery.   Very interesting....

A goat right on the cement guardrail!

There it is again!

I talked about this dinner in the blog....   Those long shells are
clams.   Paco says they are called "switchblade" clams.   They are truly
the best clams I have ever had. 

The books have it that pizza Margherita was named for the queen of Savoy, Margherita
when she came to visit Naples, she saw the working class eating this bread with
a simple sauce and cheese and she asked to taste it.   It wasn't acceptable, because
that's the "lowly" people's food, but she loved it.  A baker made this pizza to symbolize
the colors of the Italian flag and named it after her.   Margherita pizza is the dough,
marinara sauce, fresh mozzarella, and basil:  red, white, and green.  And, all
Italians will agree that it's where pizza was invented and that it's the best in
all of Italy!   And, it's hard for them to agree on anything!

Our whole fish, with some sea friends along.....

The island of Capri

Gorgeous

I'm at a lookout point on the very top of the island.  Had to take a
chair lift lasting 15 minutes.  It was exhilirating!

Views of Capri

This is a lookout point.  

Paco wouldn't get on the chairlift, so I went alone.  Some
other folks, Steve and Bernardette, who were fellow
tourists, took the picture.

Look at the color of that water when the sun is shining.   This
place is actually called Anacapri.   Ana means "on top of", so it's
a small city sitting on top of Capri.   We shall go down to
Capri in a little while.

Here I am going down on the chairlift.

Another view from the chairlift

And another, you can see the chairlift apparatus.

It's easy to go overboard.... it is so beautiful!

This is the perfume factory where you can have your own perfumed
created for you.   First they inventory your personality,
and then they start mixing.  They also sell other gorgeous
perfumes.  This is where Giada di Laurentis gets her personal
perfume.   Excuse me, but I'm running out of perfume,
so I have to run to Capri to get more........   :)

I finally see a school.   The end of the day!

Want blue?

More blue....

This is the lower Capri.... we're coming down to the bottom
part of the island.

If you do n't use roads, you can climb these steps.  They are
ONLY 1029 of them!

This is the most famous hotel in Capri.  Our guide, Pepe, told us
Jacquie O Kennedy stayed there when she was in Capri.
Also, Hillary Clinton was a guest there.

These are famous gardens in Anacapri.   We haven't made it
all the way down yet.

This was our walkway and it was lined with the most unique
shops, all very upscale.  This is right outside the
perfume shop, on the way back.

Remind you of anyplace we know?

We're now at the airport in Rome because Paco leaves the next day.
We're celebrating our adventure together and will have dinner at the hotel.  We
have to be at the airport at 4:00 am!

Our waiter plating the food.    Unbelievable presentation!

The very BEST pannacotta.... look at that presentation!  It
wasn't just beautiful, it was superb!

And, this is the end of the pannacotta, and the end of Paco and
Cecilia's adventure.  I miss you, Paco!