Italy: Day 1 - Bologna 9/05/05

Jennie and I landed at Bologna BLQ on-time. Thank goodness Wayne was near a computer or else we wouldn't even have the address of our hotel. Successfully, we found the "Aerobus" and got ourselves into town to the local train station. After a short moment of confusion, we found a map and was told that the hotel was not on the map. A-ha. But, it was only a short walk away. Not bad.

Our hotel, Hotel Il Guercino, was terrific. The room was small but very modern. We were located on the top floor with a door to an outdoor shared balcony.


The view over the balcony was quite dull on one side but fairly cute on the other.

First order of business, Jennie and I decided to walk towards Bologna's famous Piazza Miaggore. There stood a giant church and an interesting fountain.


The streets of Bologna were just as pretty as any street in Italy.



I found a terrific gelateria which I hope to go to again (if I can find it...). It was in a back alley somewhere near the Deustche Bank off Via Marconi, on the way back to Piazza Maggiore.

The afternoon was spent wandering the streets of Bologna in no particular fashion but only where our hearts led us. Eventually, this was to the University. Jennie needed to use a bathroom so we walked into a library, a very quiet library. A couple local girls studying were kind enough to share some tips for dinner and night drinking.

Osteria dell'Orso is a local student favorite with good eats and friendly staff. We enjoyed our dinner very much! Fantastic spaghetti with fresh mushrooms! Joining our dinner was a Swiss Medival Theology professor named Christian. Slightly strange man but friendly nonetheless. Fabio, the waiter, was not as outspoken. But his brother, and his brother's girlfriend were gems. His brother apparently wants to move to San Diego, raise his yet-to-be family there and own a Mustang. Nice. His understanding of American slang needs some help as he thought "rolling down the streeet" meant "rolling a joint while strolling down the street".



After dinner, we found our way to Piazza Gianni where the local kids hung out at night. Not a beer too soon, we found Jacob, a gay Englishman who was more than friendly. We all had a fabulous talking about everything from gay rights to politics to Hurricane Katrina.... Jacob is awesome, and damn cute too (darn).



But some stroke of luck, Jacob's hotel was a block away from ours so Jennie and I had a nice chaperone to walk us home. Thus ended our first night in Italy.

Italy: Day 2 - Gambellara 9/06/05

Jennie and woke up quite relaxed. We intended to get up at 9:30 for the included breakfast and eventually catch a train towards Verona, a city close to Gambellara where Lorenzo lives. However, setting the clock wrong had us up at 8:30, which in retrospect was a good thing. We had time to clean up and even have tea!



Around noon, we headed off to the train station, a short 10 min walk away. Jennie soon fell asleep but I was fully engrossed in the Northern Italian landscape. As the train pulled into somewhere called San Felice, I could not help but notice what a calm feeling the station exuded. A picture perfect train station with a small cafe, striped awning included. And what about those red plastic chairs?! Love them!



Before long, we were in Verona and so happy to see a familiar face! Lorenzo dropped us off at his house and what a beautiful house!



He had to return to work so we were left with his precious mother and cute cute nephew, Davide (who is, I've concluded, an animal in the sweetest sense of the word). We had to take Davide back to his house, and, man, this was even better than Lorenzo's house.



The house was built in 1410 originally as a flour mill. You can see the date carved into a stone above the kitchen sink (which, of course, was a solid block of marble).



Behind the current kitchen and closed off by a large panel of wood still stands the original grinders. Absolutely amazing.



In the backyard, all you see are green rolling hills. In spite of the serenity of the surroundings, this house was bustling with activity. Davide has a little sister, Flavia and another even smaller baby sister, I think her name is Nichole. A single moment of peace is captured in this photo of me, Davide and little Nichole.



A glimpse of chaos: Davide found a frog which he immediately put in a mason jar, closed the lid and shook feriously. Minutes later, the maid's child, about 10 years old or so, pushed the mason jar off a table. Glass shattering, children screaming and an innocent frog hopping for it's life. Davide went flying towards the other girl stepping on glass in the process. All the while, Jennie and I watched in utter disbelief. Admist the chaos, amazingly, the quiestest one was the baby. Oh, and I must have forgotten to mention the crazy Grandpa (from the other side of the family), two barking dogs and a drivable lawn mower. Still, you could see the love oozing from this house and this wonderful family.



Back in Gambellara (leaving casa di Davide was no easy feat, believe me), Jennie and I decided to talk a small walk around town. There were a bunch of old men sitting together chatting happily at the local corner cafe. A couple of co-workers of a clothing store sitting outside on the steps. Lorenzo's neighbor pumping water out of the well in her front yard to water the plants. For a little town, they had also quite a large church.



Across the church stood this statue.



Being a true Italian village, I couldn't help but try to take some artistic pictures such as this one. And thus, Jennie will attest, began my obsession of green doors.



Returning to the house, Jennie and I pretty much dropped dead into a slumber. Lorenzo did not return home until late at night. But since it was our first night together, he's such a big sweetite, he took us out for a beer at his friend's bar, Lord Byron. Luka, the bartender, was super cute. Guess which one?? Lorenzo is the handsome looking man on the left. (Sorry, Jennie, it's the only picture I have at Lord Byron.)

Italy: Day 3 - Vicenza, Venezia 9/07/05

Day three started in a little bit of chaos. Instead of having a nice sit down breakfast, Jennie and I were rushed out of the house. Lorenzo's sister (Davide's mother) was going to drive us to Vicenza where she worked for us to catch the train. Lorenzo's mom was so sweet! She packed breakfast proscuitto sandwiches for us. After getting to Vicenza (and yes, all Italians are crazy drivers), Jennie and I opted to walk to the train station. Little did we know, we walked the wrong way. Finally, we found the station but the next train to Venezia (Venice) was more than an hour away. We decided to walk towards a carnival. We had found a major shopping district and also a famous piazza.





Venezia was gorgeous as always. Jennie was blown away by St Mark's Square.





No matter where you looked was a Kodak moment.



Gondolas galore!





Skinny building.



Found a little reminder of home:



Towards the night, it started to rain. Jennie and I got a little wet. While waiting for the train, we sat at a small bar. Unfortunately, with an obnoxious English wedding party. Oh well. Upon return to Vicenza, Lorenzo was a little late and Jennie and I were getting freaked out by the strange company. But soon we were rescued.

Italy: Day 4 - Lake Garda 9/08/05

Luckily for me and Jennie, Thursday was some special local holiday. People who lived in Verona did not have to work. So, for the day, Lorenzo took us to Lake Garda where he did some windsurfing while Jennie and I sunbathed. Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy. Most of the beachcombers were German tourists. The beach was small and did not have any sand at all, only rocks that were quite painful to walk on without shoes. Not the nice smooth round rocks but jagged ones. Thank goodness we brought a chair. Jennie, however, did not mind laying down. Theraputic maybe. Windsurfing seemed to be a popular sport at the lake. Kite surfing, says Lorenzo, is also becoming a trend. Unfortunately, I did not bring my camera so I don't have pictures of the lake.

After an hour of windsurfing, Lorenzo came back ashore with blood dripping down the side of his face. Apparently, when he fell off his board, the wind picked up the sail. It swung around and smacked his noggin. He had a small gash right above his left eyebrow. Jennie and I found the local pharmacia and bought him some antibacterial wipes and the sticky tape that holds wounds close. To my surprise, there is no such thing as Neosporin in Italy. Such a shame. I've already bought Lorenzo a tube of Neosporin and will be sending it him shortly.

We drove around the lake, found some excellent gelato and then headed to Verona. By this time, Jennie and I were positively starving. We finally came to notice that Italians eat lunch around 2pm and eat dinner after 8pm, sometimes even at 9pm! This was not working well for us. Looking forward to dinner in Verona, we were surprised when dinner consisted of a calzone looking thing about four inches across while standing at a counter with Lorenzo's friend who was wearing bright green pants. Yes, bright green, like the color of Wrigley's Doublemint Gum. Our whirlwind tour of Verona did, at least, allow us to visit Juliet's (as in Romeo and Juliet) balcony. There stood a bronze statue of Juliet. The boys convinced Jennie it was good luck to rub her right breast and she did! HAHA! But, no, the rubbing of the breast for luck is well known.

After the calzone mini dinner, we had to run home for Lorenzo to change and get to football practice. When asked if we wanted to join him, of course we could not turn down a chance to watch hot Italian men sweat on the field!





This was a real treat! They were very serious about their training. The short scrimmage ensued was also quite fun to watch. After returning home for a short shower, Lorenzo finally fed us! It was nearly midnight but we found a pizzaria willing to serve us. Lorenzo got a tuna and onion pizza. I got a ham and arugula pizza. Jennie got something strange involving small shrimp. I can't say it was my favorite but definitely was good to try. Although the restaurant staff was annoyed that we stayed much past their closing time, they were generous and even offered limoncello after dinner.

Italy: Day 5 - Verona, Gambellara 9/09/05

Early in the morning Jennie and I headed off to Verona. This time, we took the train from San Bonifactio, a smaller train station closer to Gambellara. Getting to town so early meant we had a lot of time to kill. Walking towards the arena, we walked through a mass of tourists. One of the Englishwomen exclaimed, "My, I spotted myself a pair of lovely legs!"



So of course Jennie and I walked across the street so Jennie could snap a picture with this guy. For tips.

Since we'd already been there the night before, we weren't that into the town. We walked up and down the main shopping area but soon it started to pour. Our timing for lunch definitely could not have been better.

I don't remember exactly where this was but I really liked this dress.



The weather really cleared up for the afternoon. We ended up sitting at a cafe in the main square outside the arena, just people watching. I chose that cafe because unlike all the other cafes on that street, this one had orange tablecloths. Ha.



The waiter, Desi as we later learned, spoke English very well and was only minorly offended by Jennie's poor Italian. Desi was sweet. He comped our drinks. As he was getting off work, he offered to show us around. We thought we saw everything but just around the corner was this huge castle, a brick bridge and a beautiful river. Oops.



A piece on the castle wall.


A picture of us and Desi. He does a wonderful rendition of 'California girls'. "Like, OH MY GOSH, like, look at that castle! It's SO big! It's like, uh, BIG! OH MY GOSH!"






Returning to Gambellara, Lorenzo promised us a short visit to his winery which was across the street from his house.



Another green door.


The main tasting room was set up for a party, I think.


There was wine everywhere.


Zonin's official sommelier guided us through these wines. Each wine was bagged and tasted blindly. What a great experience!


Then, Lorenzo took us around the winery.




There were old artifacts like this one everywhere.


Lorenzo tried to look official in his office.


Amarone!!! Ah....wanted to take it all home.


After our little winery tour ended, we headed home to rest before joining Lorenzo and his friend for dinner at a local bar they frequent. The owner of the bar, Bruno, is a little nuts to say the least. I was forced to belt out "Happy Birthday" in Mandarin, twice, to people I didn't know. I think both Jennie and I felt a little like porcelain dolls.

Bruno.


Do you see a resemblence between the owner and his choice of decorations?


Jennie, me, Lorenzo's friend and a bunch of girls we don't know. One of them went to college with Lorenzo and his friend.


The bartender tried to teach Jennie how to make a spritz.




See Lorenzo's reaction to Jennie's spritz.


Yeah, I decided not to try it. ;)