Florence (Part 3): Famous Art Galleries and The Perfumery of Santa Maria

The next day in Florence was a busy one. Matthew had reserved us a spot in line at both the famous Accademia (home of Michelangelo's David, the most famous sculpture in the world, among many others) and the Uffizi (the greatest collection of Italian paintings anywhere in Italy featuring all the famous artists who the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were cleverly named after).

It was a long day of ogling priceless masterpieces- think Alissa almost lost it and vowed not to set foot in another gallery on this trip. And yes, Michelangelo's David is truly amazing- totally worth it! Besides, he has such a nice bum. Alissa spent a good 10 minutes staring at it and Matthew pointed out that it looked a lot like his.

After hitting both galleries and getting our fill of renascence art we headed to something we were both eager to check out, a thousands year old, Dominican monk ran perfumery. It is called Farmacia di Santa Maria and is located on the grounds of the famous 13th century Church of Santa Maria Novella. The building and grounds where they grow the herbs for the products were brilliantly preserved. The odour in the place was hypnotic and waifed out the large wood door, down the old street, and into the night...

Florence (Part 2): Wondering the Streets of Florence At Night

After filling up on food we loved just wondering the streets of Florence. Although it was quite touristy it still retained a beautiful local feel to it, not lost in the bustle of camera toting tourists like us... Hahaha

Watching a tight group of white shirted Italian teenage boys trailing a group of sundressed-out-on-the-town teenage girls on the streets was like being in an Italian movie. The set was these narrow streets with enormous oversized wood doorways and street cafes. The girls would glace back at the boys and the boys would whistle and cat call them in return. This young romantic dance played out for a few blocks before the girls slipped into a cafe.

We were lucky enough to have a few of these wonderful nights in Florence, which was always capped off by a gelato at Grom. We, with the local Italians and some tourists, waited in line which tailed down the street for what would turn out to be the best gelato of our trip.

Florence (Part 1): Back to the Renascence

We got out of Rome the next day and headed on a breathtakingly scenic train through Tuscany to its most famous city- Florence.

We nailed a cheap room with a gorous view (this is key when traveling in Italy). It was on the third floor and overlooked Florence's Famous Cathedral Dome which is considered one of three of Italy's most famous bulidings (the other being the Colleseum in Rome and the Leaning Tower in Pisa). Also supplied a close view of the famous Medici tower and Cathedral which the window was directly above.

We got in at a good time and immediately got dressed up for a nice lunch. We landed by recommendation into the tiny little wine cellar/ bakery/ cafe of a place a few blocks from the old cathedral called Cantinetta dei Verrazzano. The food exploded our minds- we ordered the tagliere di focacce, a sampler platter of many local focaccia sandwiches, as well as a cutting board of cheeses and cured meats from the Florence region. We were well taken care of by maybe one of the most famous servers in the city named "Johnathan". He set us up good.

The wine we had there was also our first Chianti Classico. Can't remember the name of the estate but it was in the Castellina in Chianti area. The 2004 Reserva was a delectable glass of wine all for less then a glass of "house red" back in Canada- ahhh... we were here and living the life in Italy.

After gorging we just spent the afternoon wondering the Florentine streets gocking at the famous cathedral, looking at all the old artisan shops throughout the narrow streets. When turning the corner before facing the cathedral, Alissa literally let out a gasp because it is so utterly beautiful (this in compete contrast to her giggle when seeing the replica David statue in Piazza della Singoria).

Wonderful day capped by a delicious authentic Tuscany style minestrone soup and a walnut and cream sauce, hand made ravioli at a tiny restaurant called Resturante Le Fonticine. We had a bottle of Chianti Gallo Nego- wine, wine, wine, food, food, food.

After the meal we made a pact to never eat two sit down resturants in one day and to always drink at least one bottle of wine per day- a pact which we maintained throughout our Italian trip.

Rome: The Sun Setting Over the Colosseum and Getting Stuck in a Political Fundraiser

We probably had the best trans continental flight of our lives on our flight to Rome. We arrived early afternoon, took the train from the airport, found a cheap place, got all dressed up, and ready for our first night of our honeymoon. Rome was a hot place that night.

We wondered almost instictually to the Colosseum. When we turned the corner the setting sun was throwing hues of pink and orange behind the old Roman staple. We stood in awe, hand in hand, walking around the ancient structure, our minds raced to images of Gladiators battling tigers and slaughtering early Christians. It was romantic as is was mystical and surreal.

Our bellies soon grumbled and we were on the hunt for some "real" Italian food.

We found it in an unlikely place- in a large park near the Colosseum. On a stage there were tables with the typical red and white check pattern, most were filled with satisfied Italians and the food looked great!

We ordered our first Italian pastas Matt's was Mezzi bombardoni (needed the pasta list to remember that one) with a very pungent cheese and red cabbage- sounds simple but, in reality the taste defied space and time- it tasted like nothing I've ever tasted before making the taste incomparable. We can assure you that it was amazing! Alissa had a similarly mind blowing pasta with chopped octopus in it. We washed it down with a mixed varietal wine that was inexpensive but extremly good.

After dinner we found out that we were actually at a fundraiser for the Partito Democratico!

That pretty much set the tone for the trip.

The Wedding and the Honeymoon

Before we start bombarding you with posts from our Italian honeymoon, we just wanted to say that our wedding rocked.

For a nice synopsis see Jolean's posts here and here.

So how was our honeymoon you ask...

Wedding Planers Dread This...

Yeah, we have some stuff in postal limbo right now.

Wedding, Wedding, Wedding

We've spent allot of days here in our suite over the last few months planing and planing for that big day! Nice place to plan though.

NYC Day 15 (Part 1) Westside Village, Strawberry Fields, & A Cat Fight Between Barb and A Gay Man

Ahhh… NYC… this is a continuation of our series on our New York trip that took place a year from now… ahh memories!

We made a detour in the morning and Matt picked up a used 700mm Macro Lens for his camera at the wild Jewish electronics megastore B&H. You have to go here just to check out their traditional dress- it is a spectacle! We ran some errands with Barb in the morning which took us to the swanky Upper Westside. When there we checked out a few high end thrift shops (great oxymoron) scattered amongst the luxury boutiques.

In one of these shops Barb tried on a ridiculous 5th Ave outfit that was beautiful but did nothing for her. When she returned it to the flamboyant (I’m talking wearing a feather boa with sunglasses on) clerk he demanded she hang the five piece outfit properly on the hanger. Barb just shoved into his hands and walked away as he shouted lisping sarcasm our way. We ran out of that place as fast as we could!

When we got out of there, we headed down Madison Ave until we found a nice French place with a patio called Nice Matin. Still remember the "House Smoked Trout Salad" which was one of the most creative tastes we tried the last year. Alissa had the "Roasted Eggplant Panino" probably the dud of the whole trip (guess the lunch menu doesn't change much see here)

After a nice lax patio lunch we headed to the famous Dakota, the place of John Lennon's death. The building is the oldest in the area looks so proper overlooking Central Park to check out Yoko Ono’s (and what used to be John Lennon’s pad) and the Strawberry Fields Memorial. The serenity of the memorial with old men strumming their tributes to Lennon was truly a memorable moment on this busy trip.

Before heading back to the apartment we went for a nice stroll through Central Park on this particularly hot spring day. We were thoroughly entertained by the strange couples rowing about in rented row boats. The we thought we would rent boats too- but not row boats, remote controlled boats. We played like little kids again until we almost got heat stroke and had to go home.

Luna The Puppy

Luna is a seven week old female miniature Australian Shepard. Jake and Laura adopted her last week. We played with her all night- so cute, so smart.

Snow, Wind, and Tsunamis

The last month was a strange one here in Victoria.

We both had three consecutive days off in a row over spring break and planned a little get away. We were supposed to head to a secluded cabin on Quadra Island but got completely snowed in. The snow stayed on the ground for a good week. It was probably best anyways as Alissa was fighting cold symptoms the next day.

We did what we do, herbs, herbs, and more herbs.

Goodbye 27...

A walk down Dallas Road on a cloudy Spring day.

A St. Valentines Day At Home

Alissa and I decided that we were going to do a St. V-Day at home this year. It was nice. Alissa cooked up a vegetarian goat cheese lasagne and Greek Salad, it was great! We wined and dined the night away.

Desert was chocolate fondue made from a giant few pounds brick of Bernard Callebaut chocolate that was given to Matt a few days a go from a stranger who appreciated his humour. We used up all the fruit in the house and paid the price when the chocolate was gone!

We decided on a walk cause we were so full. It was such a beautiful night that we couldn't resist a drink at our new favourite place in town, The Superior. We listened to the bar tender spin jazz on vinyl as we sipped back some winter ale, a Salt Spring Island Fireside that was better than any we tried before.

Couldn't imagine a better St. Valentines Day.