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Cinque Terre

Ciao from Vernazza...

We have been in Vernazza in the Cinque Terre for the past week (approximately) and have been LOVING it!

We're staying with Steve's good friend Alessandro and his new wife Brittany (she's from Dallas). They got married about a month ago.

Steve met Ale on his second trip to Vernazza in 1999 and they became fast friends. How do you describe Ale? He talks to insects (mostly spiders and ants) and has a story for everything (I've been calling him Alepedia). He says he knows so much because he's had 7 past lives. He tells great jokes and, best of all, has picked a fabulous wife - Brittany. She's fabulous and has been taking excellent care of us since last Wednesday, when they picked us up at our hotel in Rapallo.

We accompanied Ale to Genova, his other hometown (he grew up between Vernazza and the MUCH larger city of Genova) and where he had a dentist appointment. Driving with a real Italian is quite the exhilarating – and terrifying – experience.

Then we drove from Genova down south to the Cinque Terre – on these super cute (and again, terrifying) windy country roads barely wide enough for one car but supposed to fit two going each direction. I asked Ale what happens when there's a car coming and he said you just stop and back up.

Anyway, we've been having such a great time in Vernazza that we don't really want to leave – but have plenty more of Italia to see. This is such an awesome town – we highly recommend it if you need to spend some time doing nothing but eating and chatting with the nicest people in the world.

Here are some pics from the past week:
Vernazza - the view from our hike to Ale's garden (he has many), which was a total adventure. We basically scaled a mountain in flip flops.

Via Reggio - where we met up with the Brasch's after they finished a three-week language course. Me and Lindsay at lunch on our first day and dancing with a local at a piano bar.

Hiking around the Cinque Terre: Monterusso, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore.

More of Ale and Brittany's (other) garden and their two adorable kitties Annabelle and her new kitten who doesn't have a name yet but we're voting for Constantino (Tino for short).

Food pics. Because we are Gianninis and we love to eat (and apparently we look it, according to the Sicilians who own the pastry shop at the top of the hill in Vernazza. But calories don't exist in Italy, right???

Our fave meals in particular have been where Ale works – Gianni Franzi's Trattoria – in the “piaza piccola” as I've been calling it. Ale and Steve tricked me when we first arrived by saying the town's “piaza grande” was about a 45 minute walk from Ale's place. There is no “piaza grande” but “piaza piccola” was about less than a 5 minute walk from Ale's terrace. That's how small this town is! Anyway, back to the food: I think I've had the Ligurian specialty pasta with pesto 5 out of the 6 nights we've been here... and Steve has only gone one day without the “fruta di mare” seafood salad. Literally right out of the ocean we're staying on... molto buonisimo!

We leave tomorrow for our next week in Tuscany. Picking up a car in Siena and driving to Montepulciano (where they filmed the Volturi scenes for Twilight New Moon!) We'll be staying at the Casa Bianca – a Tuscan villa on a vineyard with a pool and cooking classes. Can't wait!

Ciao for now!
JulieAnna & Steve (and Ale and Brittany)

Troppo Portofino and Rapallo

Day three in the Italian Riviera: more vino bianco in the square in Portofino, which is so charming and lovely. Got a great view of this massive yacht called the Quantam of Solace (apparently no relation to the James Bond film). It's for sale for a cool $27 million Euro if you're interested.

Our last night in Rapallo found us at this packed Ristorante called Neptuno (or something like that...can't remember). It was packed with locals and we soon found out why once we saw the menu – it was the cheapest place in town! Not the best food we've had so far but still an experience.

Some more photos from the Italian Riviera...

The view from the windshield of our bus from Portofino back to Rapallo. It doesn't quite do the crazy drivers' justice but hopefully you'll get the point...

Colazione (breakfast) at our favorite cafe in Rapallo – Cristallos. Yummy pastries con mela (apples) and lots of cafe.

J in Rapallo on our last night.

Next up – Vernazza!

Rapallo, Santa Margherita and Portofino: The Italian Riviera

Ciao, Ciao!

Everyone in Rapallo says things twice. Prego, Prego... it's catchy.

Day due started early (funny how at home we have no problem sleeping in but here we jump out of bed...well, Steve jumps out of bed and has to spend about 30 minutes trying to wake JA up).

After a walk around Rapallo, we checked out Cristallo's cafe for colazione (breakfast, which apparently for Italians consists of LOTS of espresso and pastries). The highlight of our walk was seeing this older signore catch a fish out of the sea... he was so happy. And drew quite the crowd. Steve said he was probably catching dinner. How cool would that be? Then I imagined this sweet man headed home with one fish, so proud, and his wife going “One pesce? What am I going to do with one pesce??) Anyway, back to Rapallo.

Then the day really began... Steve kind of tricked me into walking to Portofino from our hotel... it was very sneaky.

We had walked to San Michele on our earlier morning walk...it was only a few kilometers from here. Not bad. We had some peaches and watched construction workers “working” (they mostly just stood around talking – they were still there 2 hours later when we came back. Side note: check out this photo of a local bank's hours. Not bad, eh?)

So our afternoon walk took us through San Michele again... and up to Santa Margherita. The sidewalk borders one of the scariest roads I've ever seen – with Italian men driving their scooters crazy fast while texting and passing busses...one woman was eating a sandwich! No big deal. At times, there was no center lane. These people crack me up – everywhere we go, everyone is taking their time. Chatting, eating, sipping cafe... then as soon as they get behind a wheel, they turn into Enzo Ferrari.

Anyway, we had our dose of adventure walking from town to town along that road... at one point, the sidewalk literally disappeared and we had to walk along the road into oncoming traffic. That was super fun! ;-)

A quick lunch in Santa Margherita consisted of some Fruita di Mare seafood salad (Steve's current obsession) and Caprese... then the best pesto we have ever had. I have learned pesto is from this region and the traditional way to serve it is with green beans and potatoes. Sounds strange but SO delicious.

And wine... obviously wine for lunch is one of the best perks of being on vacation in Italy. It's totally acceptable here. And cafe. Lots of it. It's the jet-lagged traveler's best friend.

Okay, lunch is done and we're just going to walk to the next town. “It's not far, I promise,” says my adorable husband. Ha!

An hour later, we arrive in Portofino... after a similarly scary sidewalk situation. But some of the most beautiful views I've ever seen. And this waterfall and the cutest little village literally on the beach. And the promise of a gelato at the end of the journey, which totally worked.

Portofino was gorgeous and so worth the walk. I didn't get my gelato because we ended up having some vino biancho and people watching for hours. It took me a while to notice but then Dior, Louis Vuitton and Missoni (among others) began calling my name... we went to check out the bus situation (my feet, unfortunately, had decided to call it quits this afternoon) and had to jump on the bus to make it back in time for a quick siesta before dinner.

So we're headed back there today... for my gelato and some shopping. And the restaurant we were hanging out in front of serves Bellinis with Vouve Cliquot. Yes, please!

Steve will fill y'all in on our amazing dinner last night and anything else I've missed.

Ciao for now bellos & bellas!
J

From PDX to Dallas – via Denver and almost Albuquerque...

Buon Giorno from Italia!

It's about 7 am as we write this from our hotel (Excelsior Palace – it's fancy – the room has its own doorbell!) in Rapallo, on the Italian Riviera.

We made it after an interesting journey. Thunderstorms in Dallas on Friday landed us in Denver for about 4 ½ hours and almost a stop in Albuquerque. Luckily, they let us off the plane for food and water (huge fail American Airlines – not enough food OR water for the trip!)

But after a lovely fast-food meal in the Denver airport, we finally made it to our hotel in Dallas and enjoyed our last American meal with aplomb. Steaks at Morton's. Only about a block away from where JFK was assassinated, which kind of cast a creepy shadow over the evening... but we did get our own personalized menus and a lovely framed photo of us, autographed by the entire restaurant staff. That's what happens when you marry a Morton's VIP... jealous??? :)

But it was all worth it once we landed in Milano – with a crazy view of the Italian Alps (those are some serious mountains, btw). We only had to take a bus to the Milano train station, hop a train to Rapallo, all while lugging three suitcases (only 2 were ours, promise! The 3rd is for Steve's friend Alex's American wife, who happens to be from Dallas. We're bringing her summer clothes and a huge pack of Trident gum...) Steve's muscles really came in handy hauling three suitcases around the Milano train station (and getting them on the overhead luggage racks on the train!)

We're here in Rapallo - alive and happy with only a few battle scars and achy muscles from the journey. Totally worth it for the view from our hotel room (last photo).

Stay tuned for more from the Italian Riviera!

Ciao amici,
Steve and Giuliana (testing out the Italian spelling – did you know the letter J doesn't exist over here? JulieAnna's having an identity crisis...)

Pronti, partenza, via!

That means, "ready, set, go!" in Italian. Or at least according to Google Translate it does. What did people do before Google? Or iPhones? I kind of feel like we're going to be cheating using all of this technology to communicate. We have been using Rosetta Stone (thanks to Steve's lovely mom Carol) but I feel like I only know how to say things like apple, woman and rice. All really important words but I feel I may be relying on technology to communicate the important stuff like "is this on sale?" "one more scoop of gelato" and "more pasta please!"

So for those of you who we haven't seen or spoken to in the past six months, Steve and I are getting ready for our Italian honeymoon adventure - our first big adventure as Mr. and Mrs. Giannini.

It's been six months since our fabulous wedding in Cabo San Lucas (trip down memory lane with a few wedding photos...)

I honestly cannot believe how fast these six months have flown by! I guess we should get used to it. :)

So we started this blog to keep friends and family updated on our adventures in Italy. We don't have a set itinerary yet but we're hoping to cover some of our favorite regions (and some new places to visit for me - Steve's pretty much an Italian citizen at this point).

We're flying into Milan and then headed to Rapallo, on the Italian Riviera (oooh, fancy). Also on the to-do list: the town of Vernazza in the Cinque Terre region. Rome (my request) and a visit with Steve's relatives outside of Rome. The Amalfi Coast (my mom's favorite). Lake Como and the lake district. Of course, Tuscany (looking forward to the wineries and a cooking class at our hotel - should at least make for some entertaining photos and blog fodder!) And wherever else the (hopefully warm) Italian breeze takes us...

Until then, it's back to packing, cleaning up the apartment and getting organized. But we promise to take lots of photos, video and update you all via this shiny new blog throughout the next month.

Ciao amici!

The Julinninis