Ciao Italia!

We are now in Rome washing laundry ready to discover new eating experiences and riding the metro. We have planned our days simply based on where we want to eat and what art we want to see.

The trip into Rome was fabulous. We left Venice in the afternoon, as it was beginning to rain, the train stopped in Revenna, Bologna, Firenze, and then Roma. It was the most scenic 5 hours we've had.

We did come to an agreement as we road the Roman metro. . .Tuscany is beautiful, Bologna too, Venice is a mouse maze, and Rome is dirty but interesting. We will rate the food on the flight back and will have a list of restaurants to recommend (along with gelaterias).

Since our last entry we have explored new places, been chased by a family of wild boar, sat in a bath of sulfur smelling hot springs, got to see Italians in their birth suits, got hailed on, yet neither of us have been pinched. All of you who have asked or warned probably came in a much different time or we're just not that pretty.

Our feet are a little tired and we know how to order food. The best pizza we had was prepared for us by a local rancher near Ebbio (the yoga retreat we were staying at in Sienna). Ebbio had a wood burning oven (Scott this might be your next project) and the pizza came out of the oven, bubbling hot and straight into our mouths. Gabby ate like 20 slices. The whole group was impressed by her mad eating skills. If only there was a pint or two to accompany this marvelous meal. Instead we had organic wine from the local vineyard.

Yesterday we were in Bologna, the birth place of the tortellino and Mortadella. We reached our hotel after riding the EuroStar and accidentally riding first class. Our outfits and intelligent conversation helped us blend in. We reached Bologna were we were greeted by a Summer film festival in the main palazzio alongside the large, nude and well endowed Neptune sculpture (interestingly enough, it was commissioned by the Pope at the time.) We watched a Finish film in Italian. You guessed it, we ended up people watching instead because we didn't understand what was going on, it might have been a David Lynch movie for all we know. Paola is still looking for the best gelato place in Italy. She has considered writing her own book, "the Gelato Diet: How to eat and not get pudgy." We'll see what she looks like when she gets back.

Now we are in Venezia, where we have walked the streets and ate pizza to compare to Ebbios. Tomorrow we will be touring Murano and Burano. We will be looking at glass and lace makers, sailing the green Venizian waters and getting a walking tour of ghostly Venice.

Stay posted, you never know what crazy things might happen. We might run into a family of German tourists with bad outfits and multiple cameras wanting to take our picture. Oh wait, that's the Japanese. No, it's everyone in Venice!

Day # 5
We have been bitten by mosquitos but have subdude the iching by maintaning a nice flow of medicinal fluids. First in London, savoring bitters and Indian fair, and now in Tuscany with the soothing coolness of gelato and homemade wine. The vegetarian food is making us more carnivorous, but don't tell our fellow yogies, they seem to like the food. (If only they knew how magical the taste of pig really is. . . . . yup, typing while drunk!)

We've made some pretty good friends, they laugh at our jokes (ok, just Paola's sick and twisted sense of humor and Gabby's hormonal-driven laughter). So far our stomaches have gotten strechty do to over eating rather than good yoga-ing; we still have four more days to go.

Franz (now named Fred or Franco) is multilingual and looks like Roberto Benigni, with crazy, unbrushed hair and all. He has made all of our travels a pleasure with karioki style singing caravan, spanish phrases, while driving like a NYC taxi driver (Benett, now we know where you learned to drive). His wife and two kids are terrific as well (Isabella, Gabriel, and Julia).

Today we visited San Gimignano where we climed the 216 step tower, ate gelato, and had a proscuitto sandwich. We made it to Volterra (with some crazy Franz driving manuvers) where we headed to the Gelaterria and then did some exploring. Gabby did some shopping and picture taking, while I looked around for another gelateria. Yup, I'm serious about my gelato consumption!

Sunday we visted their version of the Renaissance Faire. Interestingly enough, it makes sense here, the home of the Renaissance! We saw some interesting costumes, not worn by the visitors, but rather the characters that were in charge of the faire. To end the evening we ate almond-saffron cookies while dipping them in wine and watching the sun set into various rays of JESUS light. Don't worry we shot over 100 pictures of that single sunset. You'll be watching the slide show for hours

Enough typing we have more wine to drink and you have to go back to work The boss might be watching.

We're packed and ready to head out. No the outfits were not planned, but if we do get lost at least we can remember what each is wearing.

July 4- London: visiting the city one pub at a time. Maybe we'll stop by the Tate and the National Gallery. Do they have Boddington on tap at the museum cafes?
July 5- Firenze: where we'll meet our fellow yoga-ers(?) to get all relaxed and stretchy. My goal is stretchy in the stomach to make room for yummy goodness, Florence the home of Gelato.
July 13- Bologna: home of Mortadella. Yup, pigging out, we will do some more here too!
July 14- Venezia: the waterlogged city. We'll walk the same streets that Dante and Galileo once did while licking a gelato and munching on pizza.
July 17- Roma: miles of natural water fountains and more gelato. By this time we have tasted Italian flavor, encountered some crazy German tourists with their mullets and tucked in t-shirts, and picked up some pretty useful words to get us out of trouble and get us where we want to go.
July 23- LA: back to triple digit heat and returning with fantastic stories of eating, getting lost, learning new words, and eating some more. We might have to pay for extra baggage or a couple of extra seats because of our eating journey.