Best Meal Yet - Antica Osteria 1 Rosso

After getting back to Florence we did a load of laundry and headed out into our neighborhood to find a trattoria, Italian small informal local restaurant.  We happened upon a gem just a few blocks away and are planning to head back that way tonight!  If you are ever in Florence go to Antica Osteria 1 Rosso.  After a string of places that resembled the food you could get at any Italian restaurant in the US, this place really impressed.  I ordered the spaghetti bolognese as I was on a mission to find world rocking spaghetti, and Amanda got a bit more adventurous with a shrimp Tagliatelle with zucchini and mushroom. I think tonight I will try their wild boar tortellini.  We decided to share desert and after some debate decided on the cheesecake with chocolate.  It was incredible, the creamiest cheesecake I'd ever had but it maintained richness.  The combination of chocolate shavings and glaze was excellent.  Enjoy the picutres below... we certainly enjoyed the meal.  If you are ever in Florence look them up, 1 block away from the Westin.

Amanda's meal.  The two un-prepared shrimp on top are just a garnish.

Absolutely delicious.  Good spaghetti is easy, great spaghetti is an art, and it was great.

Remember the name. Go there.

Was simply wonderful.

Luckiest man alive, for two reasons.

Cinque Terre & Pisa Days

...but before all that, we last left off in Florence, right before Amanda and I departed for a river cruise on a gondola.

The beautiful Florence waterfront. 

Lighting was harsh, and we were the only couple on the boat that didn't get to sit next to each other, hence the disinterested Indian woman on the right, but our guide surprised us with Champagne after we passed under Ponte Vecchio, the bridge in the background with built in small houses and store fronts.

We left Florence at 6 am the next morning for the Italian Riviera and the Cinque Terre, 5 coastal villages connected by beautiful hiking trails, all set in a national park.  This is the Lardarina, 33 flights of stairs leading from the train station to our village, Corniglia.  All in all it is 100 meters or 382 steps.

After checking in I got changed and we started our hike.  Notice the sexy hat... and our village, Corniglia, in the background.

This is us, nearing the next village on the trail, Vernazza.  

Vernazza, is obviously set at a lower elevation, right on the sea.  It had a lot of nice shops and some beautiful architecture as the town is built up on a small peninsula.  We stopped here for a refreshing drink before moving on to the next village.

Monterosso, is the final village along the path and is very beachy and resorty.  It has a beautiful coast line though and is unique in that you can see all five of the Cinque Terre villages from it.  We stopped here for a few hours, renting an umbrella, chairs, and grabbing some gelato. 

Guess who isn't thinking about work?... This guy!

Manarola, the second village along the Cinque Terre, from the terrace of our hotel.

Tan lines!

We enjoyed sunset at a local restaurant overlooking the water.  Tragically, I left behind my sexy hat. :(

The view from our hotel room window.  Notice Manarola in the center right.

We departed for Pisa and trip back to Florence the next morning.  It was much easier walking down the stairs.

We arrived in Pisa and found a new hat.  With my sexy hat power restored I felt I'd help out the cathedral for a little while and hold up the leaning tower.

I celebrated with a Birra Moretti.

We climbed the leaning tower after lunch.  Here is Amanda on the shady side of the tower looking cute.

A view of the surrounding city and mountains from the top.

And a view of the cathedral below.

After my performance earlier in the day Amanda decided to show me up, holding up the tower with just one finger.  We have no idea what the tiny Asian woman on the left is doing. 

We took a break from holding the tower up to take this photo.

We're a little worried about the tower's future, without us, but had to go.  We're now back in Florence for one more day.  Look for a final blog post and round of pictures sometime early next week.

Arrivederci Roma, Ciao Toscana

We wandered around our neighborhood and found a nice little restaurant our last night in rome.  

A cute woman with cute luggage.

And a new water bottle.

Florence

After wandering around a bit we picked up some panini, pizza, wine, and cheesecake. 

As we were out wandering Amanda kept reminding me about finding the cheesecake.

HIS ARMS GREW BACK!!!

Our first full day in Florence revolved around a bike tour of the Tuscan countryside.

Some Merlot grapes that we hopped an electric fence to try.

I asked Amanda to write something clever on my tombstone if these pictures led to an unfortunate incident.

We stopped at a local winery for lunch, a wine tasting, and tour.

Here is the winery from the outside.

Amanda's bike was named 'Tinkerbell', mine was appropriately named 'Action Man'. 

And one final stop for some watermelon. 

Piazzas, Pizzas, and Pictures Oh My!

The Day After

We didn't wake up until about 10:30 the day after the Clemson game, since we didn't really get to bed until around 6 AM local time.  We wandered around, went shopping, and ate a lot of Italian food.  More pizza, pasta, and gelato. 

Here is a group of tourists, underneath them, if you look closely, you will see the "Spanish Steps."

After spending 8 weeks in Saudi Arabia without seeing a woman I couldn't help but notice and snap a shot of this sexy long legged tourist.

Their generously large toppings make pizza hard to cut, hard to eat, but delicious.

Amanda riding the lion.  In Piazza Del Popolo.

We accidentally ran into the ancient city walls while wondering around.

For some reason I always feel more comfortable taking pictures with food in my mouth.

Vatican Day

This morning we got up early and headed to the Vatican for a semi-private tour of the Vatican Museums, with access to the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica.

Art.

I've asked Amanda if we can do something similar in our bedroom.

The ridiculous scale of some of these paintings / exhibits is just hard to capture.  This painting by Raphael takes up an entire wall.

In St. Peter's Basilica.  

Inside the dome of St. Peter's

Looking at the top of the dome.

I was starting to get hungry.

Heading up to the top of the dome.  Amanda is standing straight up.

551 steps later...

On our way back down, slightly re-energized by the Basilica Snack Bar.

Back down inside St. Peter's.  

We were up there. (Middle of the frame where there are people)

And us outside.

Tomorrow it is off to Tuscany! Expect some pictures and stories in a few days.