We're Moving!

In the Fall of 2010 Bentley and I really started talking about building a house and had been driving around looking at neighborhoods for months. In January we really got serious about finding a neighborhood and builder. We found the perfect neighborhood for us, fell in love with a floorplan and lot and decided to put our house on the market. We listed our house on March 3rd and had an offer on April 24th. All-in-all it was a relatively painless process although at the time it seemed like it would never end.

Last weekend we moved out of our house and into an apartment. It was sad to say goodbye to our Riley house but looking forward to the future is very exciting.

Just in case our house did not sell, we signed a contingency with our builder. Luckily that was not an issue and we lifted the contingency at the beginning of May and work has already started. The lot was recently cleared and we will go to the design center next week to begin the process of designing our house! We are super excited and can't wait to get started.

Our lot!

Europe Part 5: Pisa and Cinque Terre, Italy

Day 12 - Travel to Pisa and Cinque Terre

We woke up early with little sleep from staying up to finish our laundry. Again it was sad to leave another city behind but we were very excited to get to Pisa and Cinque Terre. We hadn't completely finished packing the night before and were running late to catch our train. Once at the train station, we realized the strike from the night before was actually affecting the trains leaving this morning. We were unsure if the train we wanted to take was still there or if was even going to leave. We rushed to find our track and luck was on our side because our train was late departing and we were able to make it before it left. Thank goodness becasue the next train was not for several hours if it was even going to make it at all.

We got to Pisa by 10:30am, found the bag check station (because there was no way we were carrying our heavy bags any longer than we had to) and took a bus to the Leaning Tower thanks to unsolicited help from a somewhat scary old man. We took the typical touristy pictures of us holding us the tower and headed back to the train station. We got so lucky because as we were waiting for our bus to come a BNP (the European arm of Bank of America) was right next to us. This meant no ATM fees or currency exchange fees!! Once back at the station we picked up our bags and grabbed some pizza to eat on the train just before the train pulled out. We were barely making it onto several of the last few trains and during the strike you don't want to miss one that is actually leaving.

Bentley and the Leaning Tower

Lisette and the tower

The train ride was only about one hour to La Spezia and then we changed to a regional train that travels between the 5 villages. We wanted to stay in Vernazza but did not have reservations and were hoping to find a good deal with a sea view and balcony. This was part of our reason for getting an early start so we could make it before with time to search for a place to stay in the daylight. We walked around Vernazza for a while with no luck finding a room after asking 5 or 6 places. Starting to get a little worried, we resorted to a tactic Rick Steve's mentions in his guide book. He said to start going to various cafes and bars and asking about vacant rooms because they either have rooms or know people who do and can call for you. Lisette was in a cafe called The Blue Marlin when a guy approached Bentley and asked if he was looking for a room. Of course we were and having no other options we let him take us up to his home where we were able to check out the room (normally this would be scary but he seemed harmless). It was not on the sea like we had hoped but had a wonderful balcony and overlooked a small creek were some cute ducks and geese were swimming. After a little negotiating we settled on a price. The place was called Egi's Rooms and was mentioned in the Rick Steve's guide book (although we didn't know it at the time).

Our adorable room and its balcony (green building, second floor). You had to walk across a bridge, over the creek, to get to the building.

At this time it was about 2 in the afternoon so we changed into our bathing suits and headed to the beach in Montorosso (one town over). We found a place to put our towel and hung out for an hour or so then walked around the town a bit and got gelato. The spot we found on the beach was not sand but rocks. We scouted out a better section of the beach for the next two days of our trip. We headed back to Vernazza at about 6:00 and got ready for dinner. Most of the cafes and restaurants really got going at about 8:00 so we enjoyed our balcony for a while and relaxed in the great weather. We had also heard that there was an arts festival in town where people would be dancing, singing, bands playing and various other acts. From our balcony we could see a band warming up and getting ready to perform.

The band getting ready to perform. They were a marching/dancing band

The band dancing in the harbour/town square

Sunset #1

The harbour at night


The square at night

We had been reading about different restaurants to try and since Bentley had gotten is new job we wanted to celebrate somewhere really nice (plus his boss told us to have a nice dinner on him!!). We tried to go to the al Castello Ristorante Bar Camere Con Vista but there were no tables with a view so we made reservations for our last night around sunset so we could enjoy the amazing views the restaurant had.

For this night we decided to eat at a cafe right on the harbor. There were several restaurants all with outdoor dining and the atmosphere was great. We sat next to a couple from Tennessee and the four of us had a wonderful conversation. As with most of our other meals, we wanted to try something different so we tried their seafood spaghetti which came with clams and mussels. For our main course, Lisette had stuffed mussels which were breaded on the inside with a tomato type sauce and I had grilled swordfish and shrimp. All of the food was excellent.

We knew the next day would be tiring since we were going to hike between the 5 villages so we did the usual, got gelato, and headed to our room. We left the doors to our balcony open because the weather was great and so we could hear the stream. Little did we know the ducks and geese that we thought were so cute would be extremely loud all night. At about 1am I heard lots of loud noises outside and in my sleepy confusion I looked out the window and thought they men across the street might be robbing the bank because they had a huge ladder against the second floor of the bank. I didn't have my glasses on, could not see well and was much too tired to care. I crawled back into bed a crashed. Bentley never even heard to comotion!


Day 13 - Hike Cinque Terre


Today was the big day - a strenious hike between 5 villages with amazing views. I had been telling Bentley about this and he could sense my excitement but nothing can explain it until you actually do the hike. We got up at 7:30am so that we could do the hardest part of he hike before it got too hot. We went from Monterosso to Riomaggiore because the first two hikes starting from Monterosso are the hardest. We took the camera and a couple of water bottles with us.

The undisturbed beach in Monterosso before our hike began

The first leg of the hike from Monterosso to Vernazza was extremely difficult. There were very steep climbs with narrow passages and lots of stairs the whole way. There is not a path along the coast line so you have to climb high into the mountains. It took us about two hours to reach Vernazza. Good thing we started early because it was hot by then!

And so it begins, first of many stairs!

Narrow paths without any railing, better hope you have good balance. We saw some people doing this hike with their big bags like we have all of our stuff in. No thank you!

One of the many vineyards along our hike. They harvest the grapes and have a trolly type vehicle that goes up the steep hills on a track to collect the grapes from the workers.

Looking back to Monterosso, where the hike started and about 2 hours in

Looking down from the trail

Little bridge on the hike

Looking down from the trail onto Vernazza - spectular view

I took a picture in this exact same spot when I was here in 2002!

The harbor and fishing boats in Vernazza

Another view of Vernazza as we get closer to the end of the first trail. We bought a painting that looks very similar to this.

Almost done with leg 1

We got a banana in Vernazza and continued the hike to Corniglia. This hike was equally as hard partly because we were already fairly fatigued. This part of the hike took about 1.5 hours.

Corniglia sits up off the water and is the only town without a direct beach

STAIRS!! Since Corniglia sets up higher, the stairs connect you with the trail to go to the next town. Let me just say I am so glad we had to go down and not up!

Looking back at the massive amount of stairs

Corniglia was smaller so we simply passed through this town and headed for Monorola. This was about an hour hike to Manarola and not as difficult as the previous two. We stopped for lunch here and got some foccacia bread and pizza to eat on the boat ramp at the harbor. We contemplated on going for a swim but we didn't want to be wet and risk getting blisters for the remainder of our trip.

We ate lunch at the top of the steps heading down to the water. Great view for lunch.

The last leg was the hike to Riomaggiore. This was the shortest and easiest hike. You could have pushed a stroller the whole way it was so flat and just like a sidewalk. There were also locks all along the pathway called "Locks of Love". It is supposed to symbolize your love for someone by placing a lock on the rail and throwing the key into the water. Apparently the modern lock is the combination lock so it can be undone but we decided the only kind of lock for us was the kind with a key. Once we got to Riomaggiore it started to rain so we got on the train back to Vernazza. The whole hike took us 5 hours, 41 minutes and 51 seconds to be exact. This included stopping for lots of pictures, lunch and breaks.

Last leg to Riomaggiore

Locks of Love

The official time

Since we were so tired we decided to head to the room and take a nap. It was so peaceful with the stream minus the ducks and geese. The sunsets are beautiful over the water so we climbed up some rocks and enjoyed people watching and the gorgeous sunset. It was fairly windy by the harbour so we found a little cove in the corner with a great view (out of the wind) and bought some pizza and pasta to have our own picnic.

Sunet #2

Day 14 - Cinque Terre Relaxation

This was out last day in Cinque Terre so we wanted to spend it relaxing and not rushed, we slept in until about 9:30 and headed to the main part of town to get some coffee, juice and pastry. We ate our breakfast just beside the harbor and enjoyed the view once again. After breakfast we went back to our room and got ready for our day at the beach. We rode the train to Montorosso since they have a better beach than Vernazza including chairs and umbrellas. When we arrived in Monterosso we bought train tickets for our next leg of the journey from Vernazza to La Spezia then La spezia to Rome and finally Rome to Rome Airport.


At the beach in Monterosso we found a much sandier section and rented two beach chairs and an umbrella for the day. We were glad we did this because it was nice to have a place to lay, put our stuff and nap. Bentley really wanted to get in the water but it was so cold. It took some convincing but we both made it in and out - quickly! We laid on our chairs, read, napped and enjoyed the sounds and view. Around lunch time we decided to find something to eat and although we have had a ton of pizza, we decided once more wasn't out of the question. We just could not get enough of this Italian masterpiece! I think I want a woodfired pizza oven in my next house. All that we had planned for the afternoon was more of the same from the morning.

The afternoon flew by and it was time for us to make our way back to Vernazza. The trains in Cinque Terre are known for being very late and not sticking to their schedule at all. This was the case today and it took us a least an hour to catch the next available train. When I say this train was packed that would be an understatement. It was honestly scary how many people were on this train. We were the next stop after getting on the train and getting off proved to be an act of shere determination pushing through the crowds and making it to the door before the train left the station. Luckly, we made it off the train together and in one piece.

Tonight was our celebration dinner at al Castello Ristorante Bar Camere Con Vista for Bentley's promotion (which Ed was paying for) so we were very excited. Before the dinner we again enjoyed the sun beginning to set from the high point in the harbor and watched a guy catch fish without a fishing pole. The restaurant was high on top of the city and was known for having unique foods. We made reservations for a table with a great view and knew it would be a great night. We put on our "dressy" clothes again but luckily they weren't worried about our attire. We had a wonderful dinner with a variety of unique seafood including anchovies, ceviche, crayfish, and prawns.

Sunet #3

Fishing without a pole (or clothes!)

The restaurant for Bentley's celebration!

Although we liked the beaches in Monterosso we both decided that Vernazza is our favorite of the 5 towns and has the best square. We also talked about buying a bed and breakfast then moving here to run it. I am keeping my fingers crossed that we can make this happen someday!

Next and last stop - Barcelona, the only place neither of us had ever been.

Europe Part 4: Florence and Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy

Day 9 - Travel to Florence

It is always sad to leave somewhere that we have just started to get to know, and Paris was no exception. We had one last memorable breakfast with Fred and since no other guests were there it was just the 3 of us. We found out that Fred bakes the croissants fresh each morning (and all along we thought he was buying them each day). We are going to miss those so much. Maybe we can add that to our list of things we want to learn how to make. It was so amazing to us how people from other countries know so much about the US and how we know so little about them. Fred (and others) knew not only about our government/political issues but also various scandals, pop culture, you know name it.

Fred, the B&B owner

Being the information repository that he is, Fred told us how to get to the Orly airport in Paris. We took the RER C line from Vitry Sur Siene to Orly and then took a bus from the train station to the airport. Still a bit confusing since we don't know any French but we made it there none the less.

We arrived in Florence on time and found our hostel pretty easily, although the walk was longer that we thought it would be. It was kind of hot so the walk was pretty difficult with the bags. (We just kept telling ourselves what a great workout we were getting although with all the food we ate it was probably a wash.) Once at our hostel, we immediately made our museum reservations for the Academia and Uffizi and also for a tour of Tuscany the next day. I guess with of the other details that go into planning a trip like this it completely slipped my mind to make these museum reservations ahead of time. We paid more for the tickets but on our tight schedule we had no other choice.

That evening we took the Rick Steve's walking tour of Florence, bought gelato that was amazing but super expensive (14 euro total compared with others that were about 5 euros or less). I do have to say that was my most favorite gelato of the trip and worth every cent. We wanted to find some of the great markets that Florence is known for but they were closing up as we got there so we decided to shop the next day. One of the most romantic places in Florence is on Ponte Vecchio. It is a Medieval bridge over the Arno River and has some amazing jewelry shops open during the day. In the center of the bridge you can see out on both sides and at night the view is amazing. There was a great guitar player on the bridge that was fun to listen to. He played some in Italian and also some American music. After visiting Ponte Vecchio we found an orchestra playing near the Uffizi and sat to listen. The orchestra was terrible but because of the beautiful scenery and fun people watching we stayed for a while. When do you get to sit outside, listen to music and look at beautiful statues like the ones in Florence (like Michelangelo's David to the right of the stage)?

Piazza del Signoria - main square in Florence and has beautiful statues throughout

Ponte Vecchio - you can see the shops along the outside of the bridge

View on Ponte Vecchio

Orchestra in Piazza del Signoria (David is on the right)

One of the things we love about Florence is being able to walk through the streets at night and see so many interesting things. On this particular night there was an artist doing a huge drawing on the street, a clown performing to a large crowd (although it was funny how bad he was - maybe that was the point?) and lots of foods and drinks to taste. From there, we searched for a to-go pizza place and took it to the hostel. We could climb out the window in our fifth floor room and get to a balcony. It was beautiful weather and we could still hear the hustle and bustle going on below. No one else was on the balcony so we had a romantic dinner all alone. I don't think we could have asked for a more perfect ending to this day.

Artist drawing with chalk on the street. He draws something different each night and then it gets swept away each morning when the streets get cleaned.

The clown that was funny because he was so bad!

I was hoping he would pick Bentley from the crowd.

Day 10 - Touring Florence and the Tuscan Countryside

This was our first full day in Florence but I also really wanted Bentley to experience the beauty of the countryside. We contemplated a bike tour which sounded amazing but it was a 25 mile tour (all on bike) and we were already exhausted from the travel so we opted for a bus tour where we got off at multiple stops. We took an olive oil and vineyard tour of the Chianti region. Our bus left at 9:30am and stopped at a family plantation in the beautiful Tuscan countryside that was known for their olive oil but we also had a huge brunch in an outdoor area with different meats, cheeses, breads, fruits and olive oils. The setting was beautiful and the food was great.

Bentley at the table with our new Australian friends

The next stop on our tour was Casa Sole which was a vineyard. We learned how both wine and olive oil are made as well as tried different types. The setting almost did not seem real it was so picturesque. The countryside was gorgeous and everywhere we turned that was something more beautiful. We learned the differences between types of olive oils and why extra virgin olive oil is very different from others. We toured the entire facility and had a wonderful time meeting some new people. We met some Australians who were telling us how common it is for young working adults to take a 6+ month break and travel the world. Many of them were traveling with a company where they drop you off in a city and then pick you up 3 days later. You have the flexibility to plan your trip and it is a jump-on-jump-off system. Plus, when you take this 6 month break from work, you do get paid for a portion of your time. They want to keep you from burning out!!! Sign us up for that!

Casa Sole

Beautiful buildings at Casa Sole (Bentley and I had flashbacks of cutting down vines like this at our house)

Stunning view of the scenery

Inside the winery - these are the barrels the wine is stored in

From there we made a quick stop in an ancient town called Monteriggioni that was the setting for The Gladiator. No trip would be complete without gelato so we had one quickly and browsed through the tiny town. We only had about 30 minutes in this town and believe me that was enough because the town was so tiny.

View from inside the Monteriggioni city walls looking out to the countryside

We both napped on the way back to Florence which was great so that we were recharged once we got back. When we got back, we changed into our "dressy" clothes (which is an understatement since we didn't really bring anything nice) and went to the markets. We shopped around a bit to find the best briefcase for Bentley to carry for his possible new job. (Which he did get but we didn't know at the time). This was fun and I had a great time bargaining with the different vendors. We had decided for dinner we wanted to try a place we saw the night before while walking aroung. The restaurant was called Ristorante Osteria Dei Baroncelli and the food was absolutely amazing. When we walked in it was clear that our "dressy" clothes were still leaving us under dressed. They did let us eat there but took us to a room that no one else was in. We did have a seat by the window which was nice so it didn't bother us to eat in the "people who weren't up to dress code room". We ordered beef filet stroganoff (that had an Indian flavor) and young roster, spaghetti al a Ragu and roasted potatoes. That was one of our favorite meals of the trip.

One of the many wonderful markets in Florence

After our dinner we were exhausted but decided to return to Ponte Vecchio for more sightseeing and people watching. This is a beautiful spot at night to watch the sunset. The same guy from the night before was playing his guitar and singing Hey Jude by the Beatles. This was another perfect day and a great way to spend another night in Florence.

Beautiful view looking off of Ponte Vecchio

Day 11 - Florence Museums and Castiglion Fiorentino


This day was going to be a whirl wind and we needed to get an early start to fit it all in. We had early reservations at the Accademia and then an 11am reservation at the Uffizi (thanks to our hostel) so that we could make it to Castiglion Fiorentino by early afternoon. On our way to the Uffizi we grabbed breakfast and ate it on the road. We are pros at multitasking especially when one of the things involves food!

The Accademia is much smaller than the Uffizi but houses some amazing sculptures. This was Bentley's first time to Florence so this was all new to him. It had been since the summer of 2002 for me so much of it seemed new (or I had just forgotten). The main attraction in the Accademia is Michelangelo's David which is beautiful. The sculpture was over 17 feet tall and very polished. We were not allowed to take photos but we got a good picture of the replica in Piazza del Signoria. Rick Steve's describes the Accademia and Michelangelo's David by saying "This museum houses Michelangelo’s David and powerful (unfinished) Prisoners. Eavesdrop as tour guides explain these masterpieces. More than with any other work of art, when you look into the eyes of David, you’re looking into the eyes of Renaissance man. This was a radical break with the past. Man was now a confident individual, no longer a plaything of the supernatural. And life was now more than just a preparation for what happened after you died. Hello, humanism. The Renaissance was the merging of art, science, and humanism. In a humanist vein, David is looking at the crude giant of medieval darkness and thinking, “I can take this guy.” (David was an apt mascot for a town surrounding by big bully city-states.) Back on a religious track, notice David’s large and overdeveloped right hand. This is symbolic of the hand of God that powered David to slay the giant…and enabled Florence to rise above its crude neighborhood city-states...."

Next we had a reservation for the Uffizi at 11 am but had some extra time and quickly went to the the Cathedral of Florence or better known as the Duomo. This cathedral and its unique red dome can be seen from far away and is one of the famous Florence landmarks. It was pretty on the outside with it's green and pink marble but inside did not compare to Notre Dame or Saint Chappelle in Paris because of their intricate stain glass. While we were listening to the audioguide of the cathedral, Rick Steve's mentioned that people are paid to sit inside and "sshhh" you. Sure enough, not long after being inside we were "sshhed". That made us laugh a bit and were quickly "sshhed" again!

The Duomo

Duomo Bell Tower

The namesake - its dome

Beautiful ceiling inside the dome

For the Uffizi, we had a Rick Steve's audio guide to give us the highlights. We followed the guide to see the most important pieces and use our time efficiently. Just like we experienced in Paris, exhibits do get moved and that requires a little extra effort to follow the guide but overall they are extremely helpful. We saw Botticelli, Michelangelo, Rafael, da Vinci but many were out for restoration (this seemed to be a comical theme to our trip).

After our morning of museum tours, we were moving on to the travel portion of the day. We walked quickly to the train station, grabbed lunch to eat on the train and headed for Castiglion Fiorentino and Santa Chiara (where Lisette studied abroad while at A&M). Once there we walked up the hills to the center only to find it was closed. This would be our luck since Bentley's school in Lancaster had also been closed. We were in Castiglion Fiorentino on 9/11 so most of the students were away at a memorial. We looked through the windows, walked around the center and saw someone sitting in a room and asked him if we could come in and walk around. He graciously met us at the front door and let is in. I showed Bentley around and pointed out my old room, classroom, dining room and courtyard. Since most of the students were away no one was around. This was both a little creepy (because it is an old monastery and so quiet) and fun to be able to roam without anyone wondering what we were doing.

The street entrance heading towards Santa Chiara

Entrance to Santa Chiara

After showing Bentley around Santa Chiara we walked around the beautiful town (which if you have seen Under the Tuscan Sun you can imagine the city) and up some very steep hills. I had warned Bentley about the steep hills but I think he was pretty suprised once he walked them. It took me some time to remember how to get places in town (although it is small). We went to the main square, and Cafe Roggi (a favorite of mine when I studied there before) but were not able to eat there because they opened too late. We did play pin ball (one of Bentley's favorite games and did agree to own a pin ball machine in our home one day) at Cafe Roggi even though we could not eat there. Many European towns (especially the smaller ones) take advantage of siesta time. I like taking a siesta but it can cut into my traveling!! Finally we ended the night at Regerrios back in the square and had their amazing pizza and pasta. I do have to saw that I am so glad both Bentley and I studied abroad while in college. I think it was the best decision we made while in school.

The amazing scenery of Castiglion Fiorentino

One of the very narrow streets in the city

Main town square with some of my favorite hangouts. We ate dinner under the arches on the right side of the sqare looking over the valley.

The mini market I shopped in while living there. Not many choices!

Earlier that day when we arrived in Castiglion Fiorentino we saw a sign saying there was a train strike beginning that night and decided to take an early train back just to be safe. We literally ran to the train station just to be sure we were there on time since dinner took a bit longer than expected. If we hadn't caught the train we would have had to spend the night in Castiglion Fiorentino without any of our things or a reservation (which when I was planning our trip I could not get a reservation in town and is why we had to get back to Florence for the night). We did not get gelato but did go by Coco Palm (another one of my favorite hangouts) during our run down to the train station. There was no one on the train so we were able to sit in first class on the ride home. Our train arrived back in Florence about 10pm. The last thing on our agenda for the night was to do our final loads of laundry for the trip and to get some sleep. Goodbye Florence, hello Pisa and Cinque Terre!