Day 7 – Florence and Siena

After the whirlwind of museums, churches, palaces and gardens I felt very tired and all “museumed out”. I decided to spend my last day in Florence slow and mellow. I slept in and had a nice long breakfast. After breakfast I visited the Duomo, which was finally open, had some gelato and made my way to St. Croce church, where I intended to visit the famous Firenze Scuola del Cuoio – leather artisans in the Monastery of Santa Croce, which is a workshop as well as a showroom, where they sell their works. Since Florence is renowned for it wonderful leather goods I wanted to bring a little piece of Florence home and was hoping to buy a nice leather purse. The selection of bags didn’t disappoint. I quickly had my heart set on a beautiful brown leather purse – it was a perfect size for me, had enough pockets and could be easily transformed into the backpack. The quality of leather and craftsmanship were outstanding. The prices there are really high, but the quality could not be beat. I also selected a nice leather belt for Boris. They offered a nice 20% discount if I paid in cash, so off I went in search of ATM machine. It took me some time and effort to find it but finally I was back with the cash and enjoyed watching the master engrave my initials on the inside of my new purse and Boris’s initials on the inside of his belt.

I dropped off my purchases at the hotel and headed in the direction of the train station. Before going to Siena, I was planning to see an interesting Mercato Centrale not too far from the train station. I walked through the famous St. Lorenzo street market with hundreds merchants selling leather goods, scarves and souvenirs. Mercato Centrale consists of 2 floors – on the first floor they sell fruits and vegetables, meats, cheeses, pasta, baked goods and many other groceries. The food displays looked fantastic and I enjoyed browsing and taking photos. Second floor is recently remodeled and occupied by multiple very fancy delis, that cook and serve food right there on the spot. Everything looked fantastic and oh so yummy. I decided to have my lunch there but spent quite a lot of time deciding which one to pick. Finally, I settled on a beautiful antipasti plate with artistically arranged tomatoes, eggs, olives and several slices of toasted bread with bruschetta and some other spreads. I also got a plate of steaming gnocchi with pine nuts. Everything was very delicious and I enjoyed my lunch a lot.

Finally, it was time for me to go to Siena. I walked to the nearby train station, where I boarded the bus recommended by Tomaso (turned out that Siena’s train station is far from the city center, so bus is much more convenient) and about 45 minutes later I was in Siena. My plan was to see the exquisite Duomo first, then walk around the city and see Il Campo square.  Siena’s Duomo is breathtakingly beautiful, both interior and exterior. It is probably the most beautiful cathedral I’ve ever seen. I spent about an hour admiring the Duomo, then headed to see the Il Campo. I was also hoping to eat in the Osteria Nonna Gina – when we visited in 2011 we had such an amazing gnocchi there – probably our best meal in Italy. Unfortunately, the Osteria was closed, so I had to contend myself with taking a photo of it and headed to Il Campo. It was a joy to wander around the medieval streets and see locals enjoying their evening passegiata (stroll). At this time of the year there were almost no tourists, so I had a chance to peek at the local life. Il Campo was beautiful and I enjoyed eating my favorite Grom gelato there.

I caught the same bus back to Florence and after an enjoyable dinner at the nearby restaurant Il Porcelino retired for the night.

Day 6 - Florence

     I woke up early eager to start my day. I had an Uffizi gallery tour booked with CityWonders company and was looking forward to it. My tour was scheduled for 1:30pm, so having plenty of time I decided to visit the Duomo. Unfortunately, since it was Sunday the interior of the Duomo was closed for the visitors. Oh, well, not a big problem. I was not too upset, because I knew that I would still have plenty of time to see it later. So, I walked around the Duomo, took in the beautiful exterior and marveled at the magnificent dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. Current facade of the Duomo dates late 19th century. It is designed in neo-gothic style in white, green and red marble. Right next to the Duomo, I enjoyed looking at the Florence Baptistery with its famous bronze doors, gilded with gold designed by Lorenzo Ghiberty, which were referred by Michelanagelo as doors fit to be "the Gates of Paradise".

     I still had a few hours left before my Uffizi tour, so I wanted to explore different neighborhoods. My first stop - gelateria "Perche no", recommended by Tomaso.  Their gelato was yummy but I think that Grom is better. Then, I checked out the famous San Lorenzo leather market, walked past the Medici Cappella and had a quick but delicious lunch (very good salad with ham, eggs and cheese) at Trattoria "I'cche C'eC'e", recommended by Rick Steves. It was time to walk Uffizi to meet my group for the tour. I found the place without any problems just in time. It is surprisingly easy to get oriented in Florence. All the street names are clearly marked and a regular tourist map was sufficient for me (unlike in Rome, where I had to use Google maps extensively).
     
     Uffizi is one of the oldest and greatest museums in Europe and in the whole world. I have really enjoyed visiting it in 2011 and was eager to return. Unfortunately,  I cannot say that I really enjoyed the tour. Even though the tour guide was entertaining and tried to engage the group I guess I was hoping for something a little bit deeper and more interesting than what he presented. Nevertheless, I enjoyed seeing the masterpieces - my favorite ones were "Birth of Venus" and "La Primavera" by Sandro Boticelli, the only painting on canvas completed by Michelangelo "Donni Tondo", beautiful "Madonna and Child with Angel" by Filippo Lippe and "Venus of Urbino" and "Flora" by Titian. I lingered after the 2-hour tour in the museum to revisit my favorites.
     
     After visiting Uffizi, even though I was very tired I didn't want to end my day yet. I walked to see the St. Croce church. Alas, I just missed the last entry at 5pm. Probably for the best, as I my legs were begging me for a break. In the back street by the church I found an entrance to the famous Florentine School of Leather, which I really wanted to explore with some shopping in mind. It is the best place in Florence to shop for leather. Expensive, but the quality of their work is outstanding. I made a plan to return there the next day when they are open. On the way back to the hotel I passed through the Piazza la Signoria in front of Palazzo Vecchio and saw many beautiful statues, including the copy of famous "David" by Michelangelo.
 
      Since I was totally exhausted I decided to skip dinner and enjoyed the happy hour at the hotel with a glass of Chianti and some nibbles. I went to bed around 11 pm hoping to get a good night sleep and recover my energy for tomorrow.

Day 5 - Florence

    Today I'm leaving Rome. On to my next destination - beautiful Florence! After a nice breakfast at the hotel I checked out and asked to order a taxi to get to the train station. The train station is not too far away, probably about 15 minutes walk, but Rome is not the most pedestrian - friendly city. Sidewalks are virtually non-existent and cobble-stoned streets while beautiful, do not accomodate rolling suitcase well. At the Termini station I looked to around to find the ticket office but it was not quite obvious right away. Then, I spotted the automated ticket machines. After a few minutes of trying to figure out how they work, I found an option to see the instructions in English. Unfortunately, I was not able to pay with the credit card since it doesn't have PIN. Luckily, I had enough cash (the cost of the ticket Rome - Florence was 43 Euro). I picked the train that was leaving in about 20 minutes, figuring that it should give me ample time to find my train. Not quite so! When I looked at the electronic table prominently displayed in the middle of the station not a single destination there read "Firenze". I started getting a bit worried that I won't make it to my train and started looking for some sort of Information booth. Luckily, I spotted one nearby but there was a line and it was moving very slowly. Finally, it was my turn. It turns out that Florence is almost never a final stop for the trains, hence it didn't show up on the schedule. I found out which platform my train leaves from and rushed there with only few minutes to spare. I made it to the train! In about one hour and forty minutes I arrived to Florence. I used the time on the train to write my blog entry for the previous day and looked at the beautiful scenery from the window.

    Upon arrival, I got a taxi that took me to my hotel. I was very excited to stay in Davanzati hotel, which we loved so much during our 2011 trip.  It is truly an amazing hotel located in the heart of Florence right next door to Palazzo Davanzati. It is a unique and truly wonderful family-run place. Tomaso, Fabrizio and the rest of the family are very hospitable hosts. They welcome you with the open arms, remember your name and alway ready to share information about their beautiful city and give recommendation where to eat, what to see and do. The room is extremely comfortable, the bathroom is roomy and well organized (not very common occurence in Italy!), Ipads and laptops are provided,  there are hundreds of movies to watch in the room (no extra charge). I really enjoyed the happy hour held daily in the candle-lit room with chianti, prosecco and some nibbles. It was nice to meet other travelers and be sociable (especially important when you travel alone!).

    After a quick rest and little unpacking I was ready to explore Florence. I had a very delicious lunch at the nearby restaurant "La Grotta Guelfa", recommended by Tomaso - tagliatelle pasta with truffles and mushrooms), my plan was to visit Palazzo Pitti - a beautiful Renaissance palace with lavishly decorated Royal apartments and famous Palatine Gallery containing over 500 Renaissance paintings with works by Raphael, Titian, Perugino and Correggio. It was a short and pleasant 10 minutes walk through the famous Ponte Vecchio or "Golden Bridge". I enjoyed looking in the windows of the Gold shops and seeing beautiful jewelry. I started my tour of the palace with a stroll through the magnificent Boboli gardens. The gardens are extensive and filled with sculptures, fountains and shady alleys. It was a pleasure to walk there. After about an hour and a half it was time to see the palace. My first stop was the Costume Gallery, which displays garments worn between 18th century and present day. I delighted in tracing the history of the exquisite Italian fashions. Next I saw the Palatine gallery, where I especially liked Raphael's "Woman with the veil" and Titian's "Mary Magdalene". The last part of my visit was seeing the Royal Apartments formerly used by Medici family and lived in by their successors.
   
    When I came out of the Palace, it started raining. I didn't have my umbrella with me (the rain was unexpected), so I dropped in the nearby caffe for a cappuccino and some dessert and then walked back to my hotel. I was tired but happy with how I spent my first day in Florence! I capped this great day by eating a super-delicious dinner at the charming non-touristy restaurant "Natalino". I had salad with artichokes and pecorino cheese, eggplant parmigana and an amazing cheesecake. Perfect ending to a wonderful day.

Day 4 - Rome

Day 4 – Rome

I woke up excited to start my final full day in Rome. I had a big plan today to visit Vatican and whatever else I wanted to see in Rome since the next day I was saying Arrivederci to Rome and heading to Florence.  I had an early 8:00 tour of Vatican booked with City Wonders, so after a quick breakfast I decided to take a taxi to the meeting point in front of the Vatican museum entrance. It was a quick ride, just about 10 minutes and only 9 euro, not too bad. I was there 5 minutes ahead of the check-in time of 7:55am and saw no sign of the group. After 5 minutes I started getting concerned that I was waiting at the wrong place and indeed after asking other tour guides around it turned out that my group was meeting across the street on the steps. I was still on time and all was well.

Our tour guide was a young Italian girl Laura who was 6 months pregnant. She was a good guide and worked hard but I ended up a bit disappointed with a tour for two reasons: I specifically booked this semi-private tour, which was more expensive because it promised that we will get to Sistine Chapel early before it opens to the general public. I remember that during our previous visit in 2011 Vatican was extremely crowded and I felt claustrophobic and was not able to enjoy the museum and Sistine Chapel at all.  So, I was hoping that with this tour I would enjoy and appreciate Vatican museum much more as it is one of the greatest museums on earth. I don’t know why the tour guide did not take us to the Sistine Chapel early as was promised in the tour description. Also, I did not get to see the beautiful spiral staircase, which I really wanted to see. Oh, well, there is always next time. At least I have a reason to visit Vatican again.

 The tour started in the courtyard with the most beautiful view of St. Peter’s dome.  We sat on the bench and Laura shared a lot of interesting information about Vatican and Sistine Chapel. The symbol of Vatican is two crossed gold and silver keys with the Pope’s crown above them. You can see those signs everywhere in Vatican. They symbolize that Jesus gave the keys to Christianity to St. Peter and appointed him a first Pope. Gold symbolizes heaven and silver symbolizes earth, so it is a communion of heaven and earth. Each newly elected Pope’s coat of arms includes that symbol. From the courtyard we could see the chimney of the Sistine chapel, where the Conclave (election of the new Pope) is held.  Conclave means “sealed with the key”. The cardinals who are electing the Pope are locked in the Sistine Chapel and cannot come out until the new Pope is elected. After each voting the smoke comes out of the chimney.  Black smoke means that the Pope has not been elected yet. White smoke lets the world now that the Pope was elected. 

Sistine Chapel was built by the Pope Sixtus IV as the place to hold special ceremonies and to serve as fortress. His successor Julius II decided to re-decorate it and commissioned the decoration of Sistine Chapel to Michelangelo, who at that time was already working for him. At first Michelangelo refused the commission, he was a sculptor, not a painter but the Pope insisted and made him do it anyway. It took Michelangelo 4 years to complete the frescoes on the ceiling and 6 years for the altar centerpiece “Last Judgement”, which he completed in a different period of time for the different popes. Michelangelo included many personal touches in that fresco. For example, the Pope’s master of ceremonies who was very mean to Michelangelo is shown as the bottom of hell as ugly monster squeezed by the snake that is biting off his private part. Michelangelo also included his own self-portrait  - he has shown himself as the skin of St. Bartolomeo (the saint who was skinned alive). Michelangelo probably did it for two reasons - he was very religious and probably wanted to partake in suffering of St. Bartolomeo and also, probably because working on this commission of decorating Sistine was so exhausting that he felt as if he was skinned alive. The central line of frescoes on the ceiling shows genesis. Especially amazing is the central panel depicting creation of Adam. The God’s hand reaches to Adam’s hand in order to give him a spark of light to make him alive. It is amazing how Michelangelo painted God’s hand as full of energy and life and Adam’s hand is limp and lacks energy.  Also it is fascinating to see that the God in that panel looks precisely the shape of the human brain if it was sliced in the middle. It is unlikely to be a coincidence and shows a deeper meaning.

Vatican museum consists of two main wings: Belvedere Palace and Papal Palace. We started our tour in the Belvedere Palace near the Egyptian room. We saw the Candelabra Gallery with lots of ancient Egyptian objects and two massive candelabras (hence the name). Next was the Tapestry Gallery decorated with beautiful tapestries. The tapestries on the left side were woven in Italy and depict the scenes from the life of Jesus. The tapestries on the right were woven in Brussels and show the scenes from the bible.  Afterwards, we got into the Maps Gallery. It seemed to be the longest and the most visually stunning. The frescoes on the ceiling were simply amazing. Walls on the left and right are decorated with ancient maps of Italian regions, which are pretty close to reality considering that they date from the 16^th century.  They did have some quirks such as occasional sea monsters shown in the places of unknown. It was fascinating.  We saw beautiful papal apartment (although I can hardly call them that – more like a palace decorated by Rafael), as well as the scandalous Borgia’s living quarters also decorated by beautiful frescoes. Finally, we got into the Sistine Chapel. It was crowded but not too bad and I really enjoyed seeing the Michelangelo’s masterpieces. I was able to grab a seat one of the benches that line right and left sides of the chapel. My seat was right in the middle of the room with the best view of the mid-panel showing the God creating Adam, probably my favorite fresco in this room and I spent some time just admiring and contemplating the beauty around me.

The last part of the tour was the visit to the St. Peters cathedral. Michelangelo’s “Pieta”  - his earliest and most likely his favorite work (it is the only one that he signed) is truly magical. It is protected by the glass because some time ago mentally ill men attacked it with the hammer and damaged the precious statue greatly. St. Peters cathedral is overwhelming. The baroque style is beautiful but can be over the top – too much. I guess this was the intention – the catholic church wanted to display the grandeur and its mighty powers to attract masses under its wing. I’m not surprised that the Protestant movement appeared in order to counteract all the excesses, corruption and this outrageous display of wealth and power displayed by Catholic church and bring back such quality as modesty, humility and accessibility to the bible and God.

After the tour completed I felt tired and a bit hungry. I decided to explore and get lunch at the colorful neighborhood Trastevere. At first I planned to get a taxi but was not sure how to go about it – there were plenty of taxis standing on the square but I couldn’t figure out how to go about getting one. I know, sounds a bit silly. At last I decided to walk. Google maps came in handy yet again. It turned to be about 20 - 25 minutes walk along the shady river bank. Even though I was tired, I still enjoyed my walk. Trastevere is a really colorful typical Roman neighborhood. A bit rough around the ages but trendy and charming. I found some small obscure place for lunch, which was sort of recommended by Yelp. It was tucked away on some side street and there was only one person eating there. I had my doubts but still decided to sit down, as I was really tired and hungry. The food was good – delicious home-made pasta with tomato and bacon sauce but I didn’t enjoy the atmosphere too much. There was construction work going on nearby and loud drilling sounds bothered me. Also, it was a bit chilly outside and I only had a light jacket on. After lunch I lost myself in the neighborhood (on purpose of course!). It was a pleasure to wander around hidden streets and explore. I took some nice photos – I especially like the cat sleeping in a very colorful window.

It was time to get back into the heart of Rome again. There were a few more sights I wanted to explore. After about 10 - 15 minutes walk I found myself on Campo De Fiori – famous market square with the monument to Jordano Bruno, famous heretic who was burned on this spot in 1600. Coincidentally, Campo De Fiori is the starting point of the “Heart of Rome” walk suggested by Rick Steves. Perfect! When I was looking around, trying to get oriented my gaze fell onto familiar word “Grom”. What a great coincidence! “Grom” is our favorite gelateria from the previous visit in 2011, which we discovered in Florence. We fell in love with their gelato and since then are on the Gelato quest – where do we find the best Gelato and can it be better than Grom’s .  After some deliberation (so many flavors to choose from!), I settled on Baccio and something that sounded like Coco Choco combination and savored it while resting on their comfortable couch. What a nice and delicious break!

My next stop was beautiful piazza Navona with its famous fountain “Four Rivers” by Bernini and the typical Egyptian obelisk. Rome harbors the most number of Egyptian obelisks in the world and they grace Rome’s most important piazzas (typically in they are located in the middle of the piazza in front of the important basilicas). Piazza Navona is a great people scene with street performers, artists painting caricatures and portraits, young lovers passionately embracing (although you can find those all over Rome). I sat there for a while drinking it the scene and moved on to get to my next destination – the Pantheon.

I really regretted that Alex was not with me in Rome, since he is working on the MineCraft model of the Pantheon for his Social Studies project “Night in the Museum”.  I think he would have really enjoyed and appreciated the real thing.  Oh, well, he will have to make do with my amateur photos instead. Pantheon is the epitome of Roman engineering. It is staggering to contemplate how they were able to build it without the use of modern technology – and with such perfect geometric proportion (the whole interior could fit exactly inside the cube).

After visiting Pantheon, I was ready to go back to the hotel for some much needed rest. My feet were killing me but I was happy that I have seen everything that I intended to see during this visit to Rome. I hope to come back to visit Rome again one day soon. It is an eternal city and even though it is extremely crowded, hectic and touristy it is well worth the visit time and again.

Day 3 - Rome

   I woke up at 7am  excited and eager to start my day. On my list today: Villa Borghesa. We visited it during our previous visit to Rome in 2011 and liked it so much that I really wanted to return for another visit. After a plentiful breakfast I was ready to go. Villa Borghesa is really close to my hotel, just a pleasant 10 - 15 minutes walk. I had no trouble finding it with the help of google maps and made it just in time for the 8:45am check-in with my scheduled tour with City Wonders company. We were divided into several groups, about 9-10 people each. Our group had a great tour guide named Mike, who is originally from the Southern California. He made the tour lively and fun . He did not give us too many dry facts, dates and didn't make the tour super sophisticated or academical. Rather, he told us stories about the artists and their work, fun facts, scandals, which made it juicy and lively. We sadly only had 2 hours in the museum (I would have loved to spend more time), so he didn't have time to explain all of the art there, but focused on the masterpieces. First we saw the greatest in the world collection of paintings by Caravaggio, world - class baroque sculptures by Bernini such as "Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius", "The Rape of Proserpina",  "Apollo and Daphne", "David", neo-classical sculpture by Antonio Canova "Pauline Bonaparte as Venus" and pinacoteca upstairs with more Bernini works and paintings by Titian ("Sacred and Profane Love"),  Rafael ("Deposition") and Correggio ("Danae"). All of the rooms in the gallery are richly decorated with baroque frescos on the ceilings, greek statues along the walls, ancient Roman mosaics on the floor. This is an amazing gathering of the most beautiful objects from every age and culture. This is probably my favorite museum in the world!

   Two hours at the Borghesa gallery flew by and it was time to go. We had another hour with our guide and he walked us leisurely through the park, showing secret gardens, ancient ruins (that were not so ancient, but made look like ones), field for paleo races (Borghese family was from Siena, which is famous by its annual paleo races) and sculptures. The spring is in full bloom  - I saw many beautiful blooming trees and flowers, romans sun-bathing and clutching their lovers. It was the loveliest spring day and I couldn't have spent it better. At the end of the tour Mike pointed out the ancient city wall and Northern city gate as well as beautiful view opening to the lovely piazza del Poppolo with its Egyptian obelisk and beautiful fountain and the full panorama of Rome with the prominent St. Peter coupola.  

   It was time to get lunch! I found a lovely restaurant "Babette" through the trusted Yelp. It was wonderful. The restaurant had a lovely patio on the typical roman piazzale, where I happily settled. I was their at 1pm and it was fairy empty but 15 minutes later started filling with hungry Italians really fast. I had a delicious lunch of la zuppa (compliments of the chef),  Rabbit with fried artichoke and creamy polenta and finished with their amazing Babette cake (secret recipe). It was fantastic. Oh, and of course a cappucino. I took my time as I was tired and wanted to relax. When it was finally time to go, I noticed right across the street from the restaurant a beauty spa. Voila - I needed  to freshen up my manicure and wanted to find out what it's like to do it in Rome.  The personnel was very friendly and greeted me nicely, even though they didn't speak very good English. We still managed to communicate and I got my manicure.

   Refreshed and ready for more culture I moved on to see the nearby church Santa Maria del Poppolo. It is famous by its 2 chapels with beautiful art by Bernini and Caravaggio. The Chigi Chapel  is designed by Raphael and inspired by Pantheon. 2  of the 4 statues decorating it are Bernini's works. Cerasi Chapel features  Caravaggio's "Conversion of St. Paul" and "Crucifixion of St. Peter". I enjoyed visiting the church.

   Next, I backtracked to Villa Borghese park again. I spotted some people riding Segways and really wanted to try it. I rented one for 15 euro and after the first 10 minutes of feeling unbalanced and scared on it, started riding it like a pro. I had a lot of fun zooming all over the park, stopping sometimes for photos and drinking all the scenery in. It was one of the best parts of my day!

   The perfect ending of my day was Via del Corso Passegiata. I started at Piazza del Popolo and joined a happy crowd of strolling romans and tourists. The street usually closes between 5 and 7pm for the traffic to accommodate this wonderful Italian tradition. I enjoyed people watching and the evening Rome atmosphere. Eventually I took a left turn to Vio Condotti and did some window-shopping in the trendy boutiques lining up this street.

   My dinner was as perfect as the rest of my day. I tried restaurant "Sophia" very close to my hotel, which I didn't risk going to yesterday as it was empty. I savored a glass of white house wine and seafood lasagna and enjoyed classic Tiramisu for dessert.  Wonderful ending to a great day in Rome.

Day 2 - Rome

 I woke up around 5am and could not sleep any more. After breakfast, hotel shuttle took me to Arlanda airport, my flight to Rome was departing at 10:35am. Flights with Air Berlin went well, no issues, however the jet leg finally hit me and I was feeling very sleepy around 2pm. Upon arrival, I decided to take a taxi and was told that the flat rate is 48 Euro. When I was coming our of my gate, some people, who looked like they worked at the airport and had badges started offering me a taxi with a different rate, sit down for 5 minutes and wait for other passenger to share the ride. I ignored them and went outside to the taxi stand where I immediately got on the taxi and 25 minutes later was in Rome. Traffic in Rome is just as hectic as during our last visit. Cars, scooters, bikes, pedestrians weaving in and out and it looks so chaotic that one can't help but ask the question -  how do they manage to handle it with such an ease and stay alive. I was a bit tired when I got to the hotel, so I decided to rest a bit. Once I had a little more energy I decided to go for an evening stroll. Hotel Cecil, where I stayed is located in the Northern part of Rome, close to Villa Borghese, Spanish Steps and fountain Trevi. Spanish steps is probably the closest, so I decided to take some steps in that direction. In 5 minutes I was there. I still cannot get used to the fact that Rome is so crowded! I should have been prepared, as when we visited in April 2011 it was a total mayhem. Still I was surprised to see so many people there. However, the crowd was significantly less comparing to our last visit. There is a very nice fountain at the bottom of Spanish Steps called "Sinking Boat" by Bernini (father). I enjoyed looking at it and taking some photos, the place is quite atmospheric in spite of all the tourists. After hanging out there for some time I headed to the fountain Trevi, which is nearby. To my great disappointment it is closed for restoration (not sure for how long). The sculptures are still visible and they made a wooden walk that allows you to get closer to the fountain but I didn't enjoy seeing it like that at all. Since I was quite tired I thought it would be a good idea to get some dinner and call it a night. Not so fast! My restaurant selection process took quite a while. First I turned to Yelp. There was a well recommended restaurant Sophia nearby and I headed there. To my surprise the restaurant was open but quite empty. Later I realized that this is because Italians eat dinner really late and most restaurants open only at 7:30pm - 8pm. But at the time it turned me off and I continued my quest for a perfect first dinner in Rome. I had a "Pocket Rome" book by Rick Steves with me and found that one of the recommended restaurants "Ristorante il Gabriello" is close. After about 10 minutes walk I arrived there. The interior looked inviting but they were all booked and had to turn me down since I didn't have a reservation. It seems to be a quite popular place. They suggested that I come back at 9:45pm but it was too late for me. I was very tired, hungry and a bit disappointed. Time to turn to trusted Yelp again. This time it didn't disappoint. I found a small and pleasant restaurant "Antica Osteria Brunetti" and was very happy to finally sit down. My first dinner in Rome did not disappoint. I had Proscuitto di Buffala and daily special Pappardelle al ragu bianco di cinghale accompanied by the glass of house red wine. The dessert was magical - again daily special (not on the main menu), it was some sort of chocolate cake that tasted divine - not overly sweet, intense chocolate with 2 different textures - very hard top of the cake and soft under. I immensely enjoyed it even though I was full. No space for gelato! After dinner I came back to the hotel. Google Maps prove very useful in Rome, I don't know how I would get oriented without them. Rome is not very pedestrian friendly, side-walks are either narrow or non-existent. It is a medieval city, where people have to live in the 21st century. Great to visit, but I don't think I would want to live here.  Back at the hotel I collapsed absolutely exhausted and sleepy. I made a feeble attempt to right my blog but to no avail - I fell asleep while typing!

Trip to Italy - Day 1 Stockholm

     Today is the first day of my first solo trip to Europe. I feel both excited and a little anxious. Boris took me to the Oakland airport so I could catch my 23:00pm  Norwegian flight to Stockholm. It is still hard for me to believe that I was able to snag Oakland - Stockholm roundtrip tickets for $386, that was just an unbelievable luck! One minor annoyance was the fact that they weighed and made me check in my luggage that I planned to take as a carry-on. It was overweighed by 6kg. Still, at the price of my ticket I shouldn't be complaining about this minor inconvenience. I flew on the Dreamliner B787 - the same type of jet that took us last year to Norway. It was very comfortable, sleek and had a great entertainment system that kept me happily occupied through my flight. I watched two movies: "Wild" and "The Interns" as well as played a few games (chess and solitaire). I also managed to sleep a few hours, so the flight did not feel long or tiring. Arlanda airport in Stockholm is very efficient. It took me about 5 minutes to go through a passport control and another 5 minutes to get my luggage. Also airport had a free and fast working wi-fi, nothing else to wish for. I was ready to rock-n-roll! After calling my mom and Boris to let them know that I safely landed, I ate a quick snack at the airport (plain croissant and black currant hot tea) and called my hotel Ibis Styles Arlanda to send the shuttle to pick me up. It took about 10 minutes for the shuttle to arrive. The weather in Stockholm today was cool and crisp with temperature about +5 C. I was surely glad that I had my warm ski jacket on. Ibis Styles Arlanda is a nice and convenient budget hotel near the airport. My room is small but newly remodeled, clean and functional. Wi-fi works great. I decided to rest after the flight in the room and did some restorative yoga (legs up the wall). After getting some energy back, I went to get some dinner at the hotel restaurant. The dinner there was buffet style - I had some salad, yummy Swedish bread, scalloped potatoes and chicken skewers (mango and texas style). Thanks to the free wi-fi I was able to have a nice face time chats with Boris and Alex as well as called my mom using Skype. Time for me to go to bed and get ready for the next day of my adventure. Flying to Rome tomorrow!!