We aren’t men!

We are… Devo? Or maybe we were catapulted into an 80s video? We can’t be sure, however, the acrobats we saw last night, who hopped and kicked spasmodically on trampolines with safety bars – like baby gym with full grown men dressed as silver Teletubbies – had us (and the other Americans in the crowd), laughing hysterically. Did I mention they failed to perform even a single flip? The highlight of the show was when one stood in the center and did the lasso-hip-thrust move.

Lost in Venice…

Actually that’s kind of the point, because you can never become truly lost. You can wander the entire city, find new, unexplored paths where it seems a tourist has never trod, and find yourself back at your hotel within fifteen minutes. While you can’t get lost here, getting turned around is another story entirely.

Venezia!

Venice is as otherworldly as you might imagine a floating city filled with people dressed in spectacular costumes to be. At one moment, we’re all alone in a long, narrow, soundless alley, that looks the same today as it did when Marco Polo walked these streets, the next, we’re surrounded by hundreds of revelers from all over the world celebrating Carnavale! We’ve already vowed to return.

Grazie!

These are the Americans we met on the train. Joe, Vanessa, and Barrett. They’re teachers in an American school in Genoa. Previously, they have taught in Columbia, Hawaii, and New York, each for about 2 years. They showed us the ropes of the Italian train system and gave us great entertainment along the way. Thanks guys, as far as we’re concerned, you’ve earned a permanent point!

Spaghetti, gelato, and train trouble…must be in Italy.

Hello from Venice!

They have a saying in Europe, “Italian trains have two speeds, dead slow and stop.” We can now vouch for that. The first leg of our train (connecting in Milan), was so slow and delayed that we completely missed our transfer. Why they have such a reputation for being late but then schedule transfers 15 minutes apart is a question for another time. Anyway, the next train was so full from all of the people that missed their transfers, that it was standing room only… for 3 hours!

However, it actually tuned out great. We met 3 American teachers who are living in Genoa and teaching in an American school there. They were much more experienced than us where the train was concerned, and seemed happy to let us follow them around all day. Also, we originally weren’t going to get all of the way into Venice and we were going to have to grab a taxi after we got off the train. Turned out after all of the shuffling that we were headed to the station we originally wanted and probably, when all was said and done, arrived at the same time we would have if everything had gone according to plan. Plus the train ride was gorgeous along the French Riviera and then through Italy so the trouble was tiny in comparison.

P.S. Enough people got off the train after about ½ an hour that we got to sit down the rest of the way.

Nice was… (insert obvious pun here).

Day before yesterday we hopped over to Nice for a day trip. It’s on the French Riviera right by Monaco and Monte Carlo. The beach was beautiful and the weather was amazing (considering it’s January). Up until 1850, Nice was actually part of Italy, so the city is sort of half Italian, half French. This provided for the perfect lunch of pasta with crème brulee for dessert. Yum! And it was on the beach, not near, but ON.. We walked by some of the hugest yachts we’ve ever seen. They all had crews busily scrubbing them and they were almost all registered in the Caymans. Shocking.

Our spectacular wine guide at Chateauneuf-Du-Pape!

Amidst dozens of wine-tasting rooms at Chateauneuf-Du-Pape, we were lucky enough to wander into Cave Du Verger Des Papes www.caveduverger.com. Located just a few steps down from the medieval castle of a former pope, in an ancient wine cellar carved into the rock, we met resident wine ninja Anne Cantineaux. She has spent many years studying wine and is an expert in the wines of Chateauneuf-Du-Pape. She’s also warm, friendly and funny, and speaks excellent English, a huge help when discussing the varied wines of this region. She made the tasting both fun and information-filled! We learned more about wine in our hour with Anne than we have the entire trip. It was easily our best tasting experience, and we recommend everyone visit her when in Chateauneuf-Du-Pape. Years from now we’ll open a bottle she recommended and remember our time here. Thanks, Anne!