6 Jul
We would be remiss not to thank our sponsors, aka all the generous family members and friends who made our honeymoon possible. It is because of all of you that we had the chance to relax and concentrate on nothing but each other, having fun, and planning the rest of our life together.
We will be catching up with all of you when we return home, and will have pictures of us taking part in the activity/activities you so generously gave to us as our wedding present 🙂
Much love,
Jonathan and Sally
6 Jul
First off, happy birthday to a charming little dude who just so happens to be our nephew. Carter, we love you and will see you soon!!
It’s a bittersweet day today. We’re in the Tuscan countryside, what could be more perfect? Well, nothing. It’s just sad that today is the last full day here at the Adler, and the last day of our honeymoon that is free of travel.
Today was much like the last. But it was scorching hot today, so we may stand out as the lobster North Americans at this resort. We have yet to hear a non European accent, so if we didn’t stand out before, we sure did at dinner tonight!
We had two massages today. Before each treatment, we are asked to wait for our massage therapists in the lounge area like most other spas. There’s been a running joke between us here as each time they come out to get him, he is called Mr. Powis. You see, Sally did all the bookings pre-wedding with her maiden name, and they didn’t ask for the other guests name at that time. And so, Jon has been Mr. Powis at the spa, in the restaurant for breakfast and dinner, and in the osteria at lunch. The language barrier is difficult to overcome here; we’ve tried correcting them by explaining the situation to no avail, so just gave up. Now he gets how weird (not in a bad way, in a takes-some-getting-used-to kind of way) it is to change one’s name after decades 😉
We plan to take full advantage of a night of relaxation before a busy day tomorrow. We set off with our driver to Rome first thing in the morning. We go directly to the Rome airport, fly to Vienna, have a bit of a layover, then fly to Paris. In Paris, we have the evening free, and our plan is to go for dinner, find a pub that serves the Leffe Ruby beer that we had there a week and a half ago, and wander down the Champ d’Élysées. We spend the night near CDG airport, and fly back to Canada on Friday morning.
While sad to see our honeymoon come to an end, we are giddy just thinking about starting the rest of our lives together back home, as husband and wife 🙂 Cheers!
6 Jul
Waking up here is so surreal. You look out the window and it’s like one of those classic paintings of the Tuscan countryside; in view are the rolling hills, fields of golden yellow amidst lush greenery, and the tall narrow trees in rows surrounding the few country villas and wineries in the area. Truly breathtaking.
Another day of relaxation today. Initially we debated taking one of the off-site day trips that the resort offers. But as soon as we got here we knew that wouldn’t be happening. It’s so relaxing, and we both needed it after a hectic year. So we decided to spend the rest of our time here at the Adler Thermae resort doing nothing but chatting, reading, swimming, cycling, and running… under the Tuscan sun.
Oh and we can’t forget eating. We’re doing plenty of sampling of regional cuisine here at the resort. The meals have all been fabulous. They give a full listing of the local farms and wineries from which they source meats, cheeses, milk, fruits, vegetables, wine, and even chocolate. The award-winning chefs here have made plenty of meals we’ve loved, from wild boar bites to fresh pastas in every shape and Italian word we cannot pronounce. We are also learning a valuable lesson on what constitutes ‘no, no, not right’ (in the words of one of our servers) dishes to put Parmesan cheese onto. Fish as well as pasta with mozzarella or any other type of cheese sauce already on it=no no Parmesan!
More spa treatments today. Only these ones were administered by professionals, so we weren’t fish out of water. A facial and a Brunello Ritual for two. For the latter treatment, they greeted us in the room with a fece cloth with ice chips and lemon juice, followed by a glass of organic grape juice from a neighbouring farm. Then we had a romantic wine bath, and a couples massage with wine, grape seeds, and what seemed like a vat of olive oil. While soaking in the tub they poured jugs of red wine into, we were served wine and Tuscan delicacies. Spaahhhhhhhh+yuuuummmmmmmm+true love=heavenly!
As we were getting all done up for dinner, we noticed that in the bathroom at this hotel, like all the others we’ve stayed in on this trip, there is a string attached to what looks like a light switch. So Jon pulled it. Nothing happened. So he pulled it a modest five more times. Nada. Oh, there rings the phone. Whomever could that be? Why it’s the front desk calling out of concern as the alarm for our room went off many times downstairs. Are we ok? Hehehe….
Before dinner, we had some white wine on our patio. Now, we drink the occasional glass of wine, but combine that with being in the sun all day, a massage, crazy hot steam and bath in the spa, and intense workout, and we were by all accounts drunk from one glass of wine. So we had to wait it out, or sober up, before heading to dinner. We finally made it to dinner… At 9 pm.
Tomorrow is our last full day here. We have come to one conclusion to tonight. Okay two. One: we are cheap drunks. And two: we will be back here one day.
5 Jul
Spaaaaaaah and sport day today.
We started the day with a full spread of fresh fruit, breads, meats, cheeses, cereal, you name it, for breakfast. Can’t forget the juicer. Put a bunch of people who don’t speak the same language, no instructions, a table full of any fruit and vegetable you can imagine, and a massive piece of high tech juicing machinery together and you would think it would spell trouble, but everyone made it out of breakfast alive and with all of their limbs again today.
After breakfast we lounged around the pool until our first fitness class (they have a full complement of classes, from power yoga to underwater cycling), which was an abs class where we held on to a large wooden stick throughout to maintain posture and concentrate on our core. After that, we headed out to the pool area for some sunshine. Unlike the traditional one temperature pool offering, we have a variety to choose from. There’s the pool with thermal spring water (fed by a hot spring) where water is 52C at the source, and average of 36C in the pool. The minerals in that pool are calcium, magnesium, bicarbonate and sulphate, which they report have healing effects for your bones, joints, and skin. We find it refreshing, ’nuff said. As well, there is a children’s pool, whirl pool, and sports pool (where the aqua cycling class takes place), in which the temperatures range from 26-28C. This is all in the main resort area, but there is also a lake in the back that is fed by the hot spring, where the rule is one of silence.
Beyond the pools, there is also the Artemisia (steam sauna with Tuscan herbs, 45C), Salino (Etruscan sauna with salt steam, 48C), Olivae (olive wood sauna on the lake, 80-90C), Grotta del Filosofo (steam and turkish bath in the cave, 48C), Grotta Salina (underground salt bath, 30C), and the Argillae (rasul clay bath).
All of the pools, baths, saunas and steam rooms are open to guests, other than the latter two, the Grotta Salina and Argillae. We booked those two for private sessions today (thank you honeyfunders!). We had the clay bath first, which was a DIY kind of experience. Only problem was the lady from the spa who led us to the Argillae treatment room didn’t speak english, so we weren’t too sure what to do. We had three types of mud, salt, and oil. Whether we did it in the right order… We don’t know, but we do know it rejuvenating. The clay baths is a beauty ritual that dates back to the Etruscan period. The clay is supposed to clean the skin, and have a positive effect on your respiratory system.
Before our next spa treatment we went for an hour weight session in the best hotel gym we’ve seen to date. Floor to ceiling sliding glass doors that are wide open to allow fkr a full untouched view of the Tuscan hills outside. The treadmills were right at the edge of the window, but we felt it a sin to stay indoors for a run and be teased by the view. So we went out onto the 13.1 km running trail through the countryside. The resort staff have put up mile and kilometre markers. Some were small and we missed them, but we didn’t stray too far off the path. A miserable old man whom Jon has dubbed “Captain Bread Basket” (because at our first nights dinner he snobbishly walked around the food displays with a tight grasp on his bread basket and used the basket to nudge/ram jam people out of his way) was ahead of us and took a wrong turn and ran through the river. We didn’t correct him. Don’t worry, he made it back safely, as we saw him and his white knuckle grip on a bread basket sitting behind us at dinner tonight…
Back from our run through the picturesque setting, we headed back to the spa to check in. Next up on the spa menu, the Grotta Salina. Also a DIY experience, but this time with instructions for English-speaking staff 🙂 We were led underground and instructed not to let the water get in our eyes because there was so much salt in it. That wound Jon got from the train was definitely disinfected!
We then popped open the bottle of Spumante (sparkling wine that is a combination of Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc). Mmmmm. With the fizz, things got fuzzy, but there was a delicious meal and wonderful company to finish off the perfect day!
4 Jul
Another relocation day today. We woke up and had another breakfast on the terrace. Can’t get enough of their freshly squeezed orange juice from the massive juicer contraption. An American guest at the hotel also couldn’t get enough of the OJ; the overly enthusiastic man became so enthralled with the machine that he rammed oranges down the ramp to where the oranges are sliced and crushed. As we saw his forearm disappear down the ramp, we figure we would have blood orange juice, but he made it out unscathed.
After packing (we made it safely out of Paris and Rome without shopping, not so in Florence…), we went for one last wander about the town before we headed to out next stop on our eurotrip. It was very quiet and we quickly realized it’s a Sunday in Italy, and they are still very much tied to the church calendar. We made it by the best gelato shop, which was open, without getting anything. Now that’s self restraint!
What is a holiday without a glitch. It wasn’t quite the calibre of our mishap in Hawaii last year when we booked an inter-island hop to the wrong island. No, no. What happened today is we got to the main train station in Florence looking for our train on the departures board, but had no such luck. Hmm, is there another train station in Florence, we thought aloud. Indeed, there is, a customer service agent informed us, and quickly stormed off from us. So we found another, and all she kept saying was “run, 1A, run!” as she pointed to a track at the exact opposite side of the station from us. So we did as she said, we ran our hearts out (getting ready for the half marathon next week, this is the only training we’re doing). We get to the other station, only to find out we get to sit around as our train is 80 minutes late.
A sunbathing session and episode of Modern Family later, we were on our train. We got to our cabin, and a lovely (ha, use that term loosely) older Italian mama started yelling at us in Italian. All we can deduce is that she didn’t think we belonged in first class. Saying “English” to her didn’t get the point across. She was convinced Jon was Italian and got up in his face. She wouldn’t sit and was pacing around our cabin throwing her hands in the air and speaking in a beautiful language things about us that were not so beautiful (an assumption, yes, but with some merit given the few naughty Italian words we know). It was like we were playing musical chairs and her husband followed in her shadow. Finally, 10 agonizing minutes later, we marked our territory by plunking our bags down on the racks, and sat down. Shortly after that, we noticed a massive gash oozing blood on Jon’s ankle. He didn’t want to make more of a scene, and said we should pour one for our Canadian homies (and Urijah Faber) over his ankle tonight 🙂
Finally we arrived at the Chiusi station, were welcomed by our driver, and taken to the Adler Thermae Resort and Spa near Bagno Vignoni (in the Tuscan countryside). Such a gorgeous resort in an idyllic setting. Natural hot springs heat the various pools (some are cooled for the fitness classes like underwater cycling. We jumped straight into our swim wear after picking our chins up off the floor. A cocktail hour to wake up the palate after our travels, and a 5 course dinner, and we entered the part of our honeymoon that will be characterized by one word: relaxation.
More from heaven, also known as the Tuscan countryside, tomorrow!
2 Jul
Today was our last full day in Florence before we head out tomorrow. The resounding theme for the day was arts and handcrafts.
After a nice breakfast on the hotel terrace, we headed out on our trek. The first stop was at a local artisan’s shop. At The Blue Shop, which was established in 1903, Giovanni Baccani hand makes and paints intricate Florinian design boxes, frames, and triptychs (painted wooden panels). Through the store front we got a glimpse into his shop where he does his magic.
Next stop was the group of Duomos in Florence, which are a collection of buildings in various pastel shades that looked breathtaking next to the ice blue sky. Among the buildings is the Duomo Dome. The interior of the Dome cathedral contains Uccello frescoes, and has a marble lantern at it’s peak. The Dome itself was designed by Brunelleschi in 1420. The Baptistry, on the other hand, was founded in the 6th century. That being said, much of what we and other tourists saw dates back between the 11th and 14th century.
Next we walked across the Ponte Vecchio, which is a bridge over the Arno River dating back to 1354. The bridge was once home to butcher shops until they were evicted in the 16th century. Now the bridge houses gold- and silversmiths along both sides. When not on the bridge (and at an overpriced coffee shop sipping on $23 worth cappuccino and hot chocolate=$2 a sip), you can see a corridor through windows at the top of each of the makeshift shops. That very corridor is a private route that passes between the Uffuzi Gallery and the Pitti Palace. On that note, we then went to visit the Pitti Palace on the other side of the river. The Pitti Palace was at one time a residence of the Medici family, and served as Florence’s royal home between 1560 and 1860. In the back of the Palace are the Boboli Gardens.
Last up on our artsy day we went to a family-run paper and leather shop. The shop’s name is Alberto Cozzi, and it has been open since 1908. One of the young Cozzi children who is still in the family business gave us a private tour, showing us how he bounds books in leather and imprints them with personalized notes or book names with 24kt gold leaf that looks like an unassuming gold hued ribbon before he heats it us with a small flame and stamps it into the leather (just like a cow getting tattooed, but just a little classier than that 😉 ). He also showed us how he hand paints the paper, and proudly showed numerous articles featuring his family’s business that have appeared in magazines across the globe.
A good workout and yummy dinner later, and we’re packing up for the next leg of our journey, which we set off on mid-morning tomorrow!
1 Jul
First off, happy Canada day to everyone back home!!!
Today was a day full of celebrating Tuscan cuisine. We met with our Taste of Florence tour guide, Christine (www.florenceinsider.com or http://www.tasteflorence.com/our-tours) around 10 am just outside the basilica where all the Medici’s are buried.
We started the tour by walking to Forno, which is a bakery that specializes in breads, but serves some sweets. Interesting note, most bread in Tuscany (namely Florence) does not contain salt, which goes back to a disagreement back in the day between Florence and Pisa whereby Pisa jacked the price of salt for a certain period of time and even after the price dropped, the Florinian bakers didn’t include salt in the bread out of protest. Now the rivalry is around the rival soccer teams between the cities. At the bakery with tried a traditional bread that is punched down (quite heavy) with some local cheeses in the dough. So much cheese it was like a melted cheese sandwich. Delicious!
Next shop, Pasticcieria Sieni, a historic pastry shop ran by multiple generations. we had a decadent pastry that looked something like a croissant, filled with a vanilla custard creme, with a healthy heap of icing sugar on top. Mouth watering yet? Wait till you see the hundreds of pictures of food we have from this trip thus far!
From there we were taken to the oldest market in the city, where locals go for their goods. Our first stop in there was at Nerbone, which has been in the market since 1872. The guide says it’s the best beef you can get, and we weren’t going to share our thoughts, which are that it had nothin’ on Alberta beef!
Further on into the market we reached Conti, a historic gourmet shop. Any foodie will recognize the name. The Conti family and their goods are world-renowned, featured in food magazines and gourmet food shops outside of Italy. We started with a balsamic tasting. Better than any wine tasting! We tried 30 and 12 year old aged balsamic. Next, we tried condiment balsamic vinegar, which has fewer, or less time in the barrels for aging. Also in this category is white balsamic vinegar (too tart for the tasting, but would be good with sushi or cucumber salad), and balsamic infused with cherry flavour, as well as truffle flavour. The older balsamics (30 and 12) seem to be an acquired taste. The flavour infused balsamics were too overtaken by a somewhat artificial flavour. We bought balsamic in the middle age range as it was smooth and not too musty. It was juuuuuust right 😉 .
Next we tried jellies, honeys, and chutneys atop of cheeses, paired with a crisp white wine from San Gimignano. After that, sundried Sicilian tomatoes. Then two different olive oils on bread, one which was very mild, the other with an almost nutty taste to it. Both good in their own ways. Then we had fresh apricots and massive figs, both which were sliced open and drizzled with a sweet balsamic reduction. Are you surprised-it was yummy! We left with a bag of goodies that will require the purchase of their own suitcase… Oops!
Our tour guide took us by the Duomo and to Perche’ No! Gelato, which is a gelato shop that opened in 1939, and is the only gelato shop that remained open during WWII. So if there were only apples available on a given day during war times, that’s the gelato flavor served. We, on the other hand, had 9 flavours each (4 cups, 3 with 2 flavours and 1 with three flavours). It is truly homemade gelato, with the shop being part of the slow food movement and local organization. The cups were filled with one sorbet (sugar, chunks of fresh fruit, and ice) and one ice cream (milk based with chunks of fresh ingredients). The cups were served with complementary flavors. Jon’s favorite was the peach sorbet and pistachio ice cream combo, and Sally’s was the passion fruit sorbet and white chocolate ice cream combo.
The tour didn’t end with dessert. No no, we were ushered off to a little place (so it looked from the outside!) that sells and serves wine and gourmet local food. Alessi Enoteca has the largest wine cellar in the Florence city centre. The owner doesn’t waste old barrels, bottles, corks, or cases either. He’s also a part time furniture designers. From full dining room tables made of crates with winery stamps and lamps with wine bottles as bases, to light fixtures that feature wine bottles with the bottom cut off for which you run your light through the neck, and the necks are inserted into holes drilled through curved slabs of wood that come off of old wine barrels. True works of art-only in Italy! At Alessi we had a private tasting of wines (favorite of ours was the super chianti, with it’s rich and bold flavours being able to stand alone from food), salami, cheese, bread, and olive oil.
With happy taste buds, we headed out into what can only be called the heavens opening up for a torrential downpour. We scooted to our hotel a couple of blocks away, dried up, waited out the rain, and got lost in the endless sea of streets featuring countless artisans intermingled among the designer labels.
What an awesome day. For anyone going to Florence, the Taste of Florence Tour (the original “Taste the Best” one the company offers) is an absolute must.
30 Jun
Today we had our last morning in Rome. After yummy breakfast of french toast (really jam sandwiches toss in egg batter and fried), we headed to the train station for our trip to Florence. We had an interesting lady in our cabin on the train. She had one of those freezer beer mugs and a full bottle of wine she chugged in the first half hour of the two hour ride. She told us her and Rome were in love, and that’s about all we could make out of what Ms. Mumbles had to say.
We arrived in Florence in the early afternoon. Completely different feel here as compared to Rome. Slower, cleaner, relaxed, and artsy. The presentation of meals on plates and baked goods in windows are stunning.
We’re staying at the Montebello Splendid, a quaint boutique hotel. First stop: caffeine and treatsies. We found a shop called Caffe Florian, founded in 1720. Macchiato, amaaaaazing. Starbucks will taste weak after these two weeks in France and Italy!
After our pivk-me-up, it was time to check out the Uffizi Gallery. There we were taken back to the Renaissance with the likes of Giotto, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, and Raphael. Our favorite pieces were: Birth of Venus, Roman copies of classic Greek statues, and the ceilings that were frescoed back in 1581. After that we wandered through side streets back to our hotel (of course with a pit-stop at a local grocer so Sally could investigate the local goods).
Back at the hotel we had a good workout before a very late dinner. Dinner tonight was incredible. The starter was most notable, featuring crispy baked eggplant with roasted and candied tomatoes featuring a side of parmesan ice cream. Sounds odd, but don’t knock it till you try it!
Looking forward to a full day in Florence tomorrow!
29 Jun
Cooking class part two today. This time a full Italian menu with a crazy chef named Andrea. The class, creatively dubbed “Cooking Classes in Rome” was a great cooking class. Sure, we were all scolded and cussed in Italian by the chef, but he provided us with a wealth of knowledge in terms of traditional Italian fare and wine, and the optimal cooking methods.
Main take home of the day: Fettucini Alfredo is a dish we can thank Audrey Hepburn for. She was shooting a film here in Rome and went to a restaurant where the owner made her a very simple dish of Fettucini noodles with butter, herbs, and parmesan. She went back to the states, favourite recipe in hand, and it over time became “Americanized”, ad chef Andrea put it. More and more cream, and then the blasphemous chicken was added to the dish. And don’t even get him started on Spaghetti Bolognese. He says we should throw that dish in chef’s faces because each noodle and sauce is only meant for one noodle/sauce, and needless to say, Spaghetti noodles and Bolognese sauce are not meant to marry in dish form. Well it’ll still be welcome in my kitchen!
We made: appetizer of figs (massive fresh green ones the size of oranges) stuffed with either honey and goat cheese or gorgonzola and walnuts. First course: fresh thin flat noodles we made from scratch (with Manitoba flour) tossed with duck ragu. Second course: thinly sliced pork fillet with a butter reduction, herbs, and green and red grapes. Dessert: Tiramisu with each of the students’ names written on the plates. Note: traditional tiramisu has no liquor in it like you see in much of North America. The liquor helps it stay longer with the raw eggs (3-4 days) versus the 2-3 days fresh liquor free tiramisu lasts for.
Another day of full bellies we just had a relaxed night staying in our area. Our last night in Roma, celebrated with a bottle of local red wine and pizza 🙂
29 Jun
Today was a very early start as we were picked up by a travel group to head to Naples and Pompeii. A three hour journey later and we reached the port city of Naples. This is the home of the pizza (the Neapolitan pizza). The original recipe, the Margherita Pizza, was designed to display the three colours of the Italian flag. The Margherita Pizza is a wood fire pizza with tomato sauce for the red in the flag, basil for the green, and mozzarella for the white. Yum, right? But after giving us the extended version of the history of pizza as we salivated, they gave us pasta as our dish for lunch! Homemade, so no complaints. After this we saw an artist make authentic cameo jewelry, and we were off to Pompeii!
We had an interesting guide by the name of Fabio. He decided to take us to Pompeii, the city that was buried in 79 AD by volcanic ash, right at the point in the day when the sun was at it’s hottest. But once we made our way up the small hill we were taken aback by just how advanced their civilization was – from the roads with what look like our modern sidewalk with 3-4 large rocks placed across the roadway (which were spaced perfectly so carriages could still drive over them but raised high above the road for rainy days so people weren’t stuck in puddles or sewage/waste), to a dog mosaic with the latin equivalent of “beware of dog” set in the tiles, and phallic symbols pointing to the brothels. Sally particularly liked the ancient bakeries. Now for the guide, he was entertaining the couple hours that we spent in the harsh sun with him. First, he introduced every single site in Naples and Pompeii with the following sentence “Now my family, I am going to show you the MOST important (insert ruin/artifact/viewpoint/room/home/building)”. After the first 75 “most important” sites, we thought we had seen them all, but no no, he had more. About 50 more 😉
So after some free time and a few scoops of gelato each (winner flavour of all the ones sampled today was cookies and cream, just like yesterday!) we boarded the bus home. Tonight we found an awesome Italian bar with live jazz and the friendliest staff yet! The salad and veggie pizza were sooooo good, and the tiramisu, to die for! We had bottle of moscato wine that was very nice. With that, we had a night full of good chats, and a full belly to go with it. N’night!
jonsallyeurotriphoneymoon 