• Veronica Abshire
  • Gabe Abshire
mar. – maj 2023

Abshire’s Abroad

Gabe, Veronica, Andrew and Renee are spending some time traveling around Italy and hopefully visiting a few new places along the way, Læs mere
  • Lucca Day 3

    10. april 2023, Italien ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Today, we woke up and went to go rent bikes with Vitto. They were a little late, so we went to explore. When they came, we rode around the wall surrounding Lucca. The bike seats were uncomfortable, and the boys kept drifting the bikes. It was such a pretty day and the ride was really nice. It was time to take the bikes back and Vitto had to leave. We are hanging out in Lucca for the rest of the day. Dad wanted a kebab for lunch. So we had a little lunch and went back to our house to relax for a few hours. The kebab had MSG (according to my Dad) in it and he passed out. Mom wants to go back into town early to shop. Dinner was at a wonderful little restaurant called Trattoria Nonna Clara. They had zucchini flowers that my parents made me try. My parents loved them.
    Ciao,
    Renee
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  • Travel day to La Spezia, Cinque Terre

    11. april 2023, Italien ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Our day started off with a stop at Poste Italia. I was hoping for a UPS store experience but unfortunately I got a typical Italian experience. Slow…Gabe was losing his mind. We got some things packed up into a medium sized box and shipped it home. It cost $36 euros. I thought that was pretty good. We are out of room in the car. We finally got on the road to La Spezia. It’s the town we are going to sleep in for the night while we visit the Cinque Terre or the 5 towns. Cinque = 5, Terre= Towns.
    Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso
    We drove straight to Riomaggiore. Which is the 1st town . We parked and walked down 100+ steps to the marina. Gabe rented us a little boat to see the towns from the water. The boat company suggested we get here as soon as possible because the weather is going to be bad for the next few days. So we got a layered up with gloves, beanies and rain jackets. Even though it was chilly and foggy, the views are beautiful. Seeing the towns from the water is a must! We were starving of course. A family walked in front of me carrying a paper cone filled with Fritto Misto!. Shrimp, calamari, fish, fries…Yumm. I pulled out my phone and found the place. Andrew was in heaven because they had fish and chips. Renee got chicken nuggets which were pretty good. We didn’t get a photo of this. Next time…
    Our boat guide was a nice, young man from La Spezia who likes to surf. He told Andrew about surfing in the area. We pulled into the marina in Vernazza to have a little walk around. They have cute shops and lots of restaurants. This town is what the movie Luca was filmed based around.
    We got back on the boat and finished the tour down the coast line. It’s not very long. Approximately 2 miles. Lots of people hike from each town but its very hilly and there are tons of steps. It takes approx 5 hours to walk to all the towns. That’s why there is a train and its so easy. Just hop on and off. The ride back to the marina was interesting. The weather was much worse and the rain started. We did have a cover thankfully. But we all for sure got wet.
    We walked back to the car and Gabe got his first parking ticket. Oops. We drove back to La Spezia and checked into the hotel. Our suitcases would not fit in the elevator because its so small. So we had to walk up 5 flights of stairs. Oh we haven’t discussed how the floors here are 0,1,2,3…So the 5th floor is really the 6th.
    We took the boat captains recommendation for dinner and walked over around 7:30pm. I had a different version of bean soup. It was chickpea and farro. La Spezia seems to be a nice town. It’s a huge shipping port. And the Italian Navy has a base there. The ships were super cool to see docked in the harbor.

    Cinque Terre is a National Park and a UNESCO world heritage site.

    **Laundry saga - Things have been going well with the washers. I successfully washed at the townhouse and they had a laundry line outside in the yard. I still don’t want to hang dry undies and socks. Hoping to find a coin operated laundry soon.
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  • Cinque Terre, Monsummano Terme

    12. april 2023, Italien ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Check out times at hotels and Air B N b’s are super early. 10am. So we had to get the car packed before we got on the train. We are going to take the train to a couple of the 5 towns today to explore the ones we didn’t get to see. We boarded the train at 9:55am and rode the train about 13 minutes to Cornelia. It’s the smallest of the 5 towns. The train station is over 220+ steps below the town. We walked all the way up to the town. It was very small and very empty. We found lots to eat. I had a delicious piece of Formagio Focaccia. It was delicious. There are actual Focaccirea’s. Renee got a pizza version. Gabe got the pesto and cheese. They were all excellent. Then we got gelato from the place that Renee found in a Cinque Terre video. Also excellent! I had basil lemon. Soo good. The plan was to walk from there to Monterosso. But we realized that would take an hour so we decided not to. It was also raining. We rode the bus back to the train and took the train to Monterosso. It’s the largest of the 5 towns. They have some really cute beach clubs that I’m sure are fun in the summer. The weather was not good so we decided to go back to the car and drive to our next place.
    We drove about an hour and a half to Monsummano Terme. It’s a smaller town in Tuscany that’s know for their Thermal Bath / natural underground grotto. We are staying at the Marriott property that used to be Giuseppe Gusti’s palace. It sits on top of the grotto. The hotel has turned the grotto and its water into a day spa. The pool is filled and heated from the natural water coming from the ground. We brought the kids with us to the grotto. They didn’t mind the heat but they had no patience for relaxing and sitting, We went to the sauna and pools and then got dressed for dinner. We are sleeping here for 2 nights. Gabe and I are getting massages tomorrow. Yay!
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  • Monsummano Terme

    13. april 2023, Italien ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    After an underwhelming breakfast we drove into town to wash our clothes at a launderia. We needed to wash socks and things that need a dryer. This place was 100% 1st class. Digital Touch screen control panel. All our clothes fit into 1 machine. It was a “Speed Queen” laundry. While we waited we went and got a few things from the Coop grocery store. Once everything was dry we went to lunch. We had some pasta, salad and the most amazing spinach…..But its not spinach. It’s called Bietola. It translates to “chard”. It doesn’t taste like Swiss chard at all. I saw it translated on a English menu to “Beet leaves”. But I dont think that’s right either. I may find some seeds and try to grow it. We love it.
    We got back to the hotel and changed into our swimsuits and headed to the Thermal outdoor pool. It’s naturally 34’C warm or 93’ F. Its really nice. The water is not clear and it has purifying minerals in it. You are required to wear a swim cap while swimming. They also give you towels and robes. You can enter the water though an enclosed room because its cold outside. They have thought of everything. Gabe and I took a nap in our lounge chairs. The kids couldn’t sit still. So we all went to the indoor sauna and wet rooms. We had a nice relaxing day. We went into a neighboring town for dinner. We found a cute little family trattoria and had the most amazing bean soup ever! Gabe and Renee got a steak while Andrew had pasta and I had veggies. We have an early morning drive to Florence tomorrow. Time for bed. Ciao!
    *photos added 4/17
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  • Travel day to Florence

    14. april 2023, Italien ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    We were packed, loaded and in the car by 8am. We ate yogurt in the car and Gabe made sandwiches for the ride. We have to park our car and walk to the meeting spot because our tour in Florence starts at 10am. We made it on time! We used the “with locals” tour guide app in Venice and really liked our guide. So I decided to use it again and found Cristina. She is a Mom and gears her tours to kids. She was extremely knowledgeable about the art and has a vast understanding of Italian history and how art has heavily influenced Italian society. We began our tour at the Gallerie Accademia. This museum is dedicated to Michelangelos David. She told us a lot about Michelangelo himself. How he was arrogant and didn’t have any friends. He also didn’t allow students to study under him. He never let people see his work while he was creating. The man who commissioned David was allowed to see his progress. He came to the studio one day and told Mike that he didn’t like the nose. So M climbed up his scaffolding and took his chisel and pretended to chisel the nose. He let some dust fall down so the man could see that he was altering the nose. When he didn’t do anything to it at all.
    We left and walked over to the Uffuzi. We learned that the museum used to be the offices of the Medici family. The Medici family reigned over Florence for over 300 years. The paintings and sculptures inside are almost all from their collection. The only painting that Michelangelo ever painted is here. He even created the frame its in. To be clear, Michelangelo did other things with paint but they are considered frescos not like this. The Sistine chapel is a fresco. Most of the paintings from this era are on wood. We learned so much and it would take me forever to recap the day. Overall I think the kids learned something’s but it was a little too long.
    After we left the museum we were extremely hungry. After wondering and passing 4 perfectly fine restaurants, I found a 4.7 pizzeria. Once we were happy again, we went back to move our stuff into our apartment. Gabe thought it was a different apartment than the one from the photos. It wasn’t. The apartment his extremely old. It’s supposedly used to be one of the many many members of the Medici family apartment. It has been updated and things are fine. There is a washer and a dryer! I actually immediately started washing.
    We set out to explore before sunset and find a spot for dinner. Florence is a big city but much more compact than Bologna. It’s also a lot cleaner and not even remotely the same level of graffiti. The streets are wider and it makes it feel less crowded. There are a ton of piazza’s. We visited Florence for the day in 2006 on our first trip Italy. I’m so excited to be here for a few days.
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  • Florence Day 1

    15. april 2023, Italien ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    We woke up early to go into the Duomo, but quickly realized that we couldn’t, because the line was too long. Switching to plan B, we went to the bridge on the other side of the river, took some pics, and went exploring. We came across a whole street filled with jewelry stores . Mom and Dad enjoyed looking at necklaces, rings and earrings and Andrew even liked looking at the watches. However, I was starving. Dad eventually gave me some money to get Andrew and I brunch. We got paninis from a small bakery. We walked back to the other side of the river, and went into a Ferragamo store. It was surprisingly big. Then, we went under the store into a museum about the founder of Ferragamo. It was about how his wife took over the store after he died, and it is full of inspiring quotes. After the museum, Mom and Dad went into Gucci, and Andrew and I rented a scooter to ride around the square in. We somehow got separated so Dad went to get a sandwich, and I got gelato. We met back up and went to a cafe to get some pasterys. Next, we went into the church were Michelangelo and Galileo Galilei are buried. It was really big. The Church was having an event that was going on TV, so it was kinda busy. After the Church, Mom and I wanted to get home so we could get ready for our nail appointment. We got manis and pedis, we also got the same color for our fingernails! Then, we went home and relaxed until it was time for dinner. We went to an underground restaurant, which had some really good steak and chicken. After the amazing dinner, we walked into the square, where we rode the carousel that was out there, and Andrew bought a rocket copter. We were all very tired, so we immediately went home and to bed.
    A presto,
    Renee
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  • Florence Day 2

    16. april 2023, Italien ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Today is our 18 year wedding anniversary! It’s also Aunt Paiges birthday. She is in Italy as well. Tonight she is going to the opera!
    Gabe and I wanted to have a relaxing day without rushing. We started out the day at a cute shop who specialized in crepes, waffles, pancakes and bagels. I had an avocado bagel with “spreadable formaggio” it was good. Mostly because it was something different. We promised the kids we would all get on an E scooter and ride to this other part of town. It was about a 20 minute walk so the scooter defiantly helps. Since it was Sunday is was very crowded in town. we had to do lots of weaving between people walking. We wanted to go to one of the stores we like a lot called OVS. It’s a department store. They carry different brands. Renee needed to get a few things. Then we went to lunch at the Mercato Centrale. Which is a Food Hall. It was super busy but very good. We tried several different things.
    We bought some belts that Andrew and Gabe needed and then got back on our scooters and rode them back to our side of town. We dropped off our packages at the apartment and walked over to the Gucci Garden. It’s a bookstore, an exclusive boutique, a museum and where the Osteria is located. Once we arrived we found out that the museum was closed for renovation. Darn! Gelato time! We took the kids to the Lego store to get a couple of sets to build over the next week. Gabe and I went out to do some Anniversary shopping. We came back and fixed the kids dinner and got ready for our dinner at the Gucci Osteria de Massimo Botura. Recognize that name? Yes, we are going to another of his restaurants. The CEO of Gucci and Massimo went to school together for years. So Massimo agreed to be apart of the restaurant. The first one is in Florence, the 2nd in LA, 3rd in Hong Kong, and 4th is Seoul. ALL of them have 1 Michelin star. The space is very colorful and pretty. It’s much more casual environment than the one in Modena. I have been wanting to go to the one in LA for like 2 years. When I knew we were going to be in Florence I immediately went to look for a reservation. It’s one of the only things I had booked way in advance. The meal was 7 courses and there was only one really wow dish was the pasta. The rest were just good. Nothing like Osteria Francescana. The menu in LA is completely different. The chef in Florence is a female and she is from Mexico and her husband is Japanese. He was Massimo’s sous chef for many years. The experience was lovely and Gabe and I enjoyed our time together.

    **AP show UK the video.
    **Added in a few photos at the end of things from another day that wouldn’t fit.
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  • Travel day to Greve in Chianti

    17. april 2023, Italien ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Today we got up and went to Michalangelos square and that over looks the city. We took some pictures and after this we drove to a vineyard to have a picnic. We took a detour and went and saw a U.S. military graveyard. It flew the American flag and had guards outside. The people buried were from WW2.. After the detour, we drove for a little bit and then we were getting close to the vineyard. We drove for a little bit until there was a fork in the road and then we had to decide which way to go. We picked the right way and we drove for a third of a kilometer even though it did not feel like that. Once we got to the vineyard we walked to our picnic spot and had our picnic and it was delicious. We each had a bag with 3 sandwiches, strawberries and Baci kisses. The strawberries were grown at the vineyard. The picnic was in the backyard of the family’s home who own the vineyard. They dont live there all the time. One of the people who work at the vineyard gave us a short tour and explained a lot about the grape vines and how they make wine. After the picnic we drove straight to our inspirato villa. Once we got to the villa we went and explored the house. It is very big. After we sat around a while we went into town so Mom could pick up her Amazon package. She ordered our summer reading books. We also stopped at the grocery store. We went to dinner and walked in the square. I had some of the best gnoicchi I’ve ever had. After dinner we shot rocket copters out in the square for a little bit and then went home. After we got home we did find penguins and built legos.
    Ciao, Andrew
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  • Greve in Chianti Day 1

    18. april 2023, Italien ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Culture Lesson: Remember we mentioned the 20 regions of Italy. Well within the regions are more regions. They like that word, Regions. Chianti is a wine varietal that we know well. Chianti is a region in the Tuscany region. Within the Chianti region there are 11 towns that are the ONLY towns that can produce Chianti Classico wine. If you are drinking a wine and the label says Chianti its not FROM one of those 11 towns. So that wine would just be made in the Chianti style of wine making. Remember the Consortium word ? Yep, they control that also. It’s not a bad thing. It’s a little exclusive and they are trying to again help those towns out.
    The vineyard and cheese farm we visited today is not in one of those 11 towns. They are 1 mile from the border of those 11 towns (across the highway). They may be a little bitter about it. This new “policy” was put into law just last year.
    This vineyard is owned by a Swiss family who still live on the property and they all work for the vineyard in some way. The owner was an architect in Florence and decided he wanted to move to the country. So he bought this place and taught himself the winemaking process.
    They also have 600 Sardinian sheep. They produce their own cheese on site as well. Almost every vineyard also has an olive tree orchard. Which allows them to also produce their own olive oil. Farming will never not be a thing in Italy. 90% of the wine this vineyard makes in sold to the US.
    We tasted 4 wines and 5 cheeses. I didn’t really love pecorino cheese. But I had a feeling its just the kind we get at Tom Thumb. Pecorino is a sheep’s milk cheese. I tasted several today that were really good. Their ricotta was the best thing we had tho. We bought some to use in a pasta dish.
    Then we wanted to go a visit this butcher from Chefs Table. Gabe wanted to get some food for dinner tonight. We stopped for a snack on the side of the road at a food truck. This famous butcher owns the food truck so we got to sample some of their meats. At the meat shop, the butcher was there but all his meat was cryo sealed and he charged to take a photo. So we left. We went to another meat shop in our town of Greve. We had to wait 30 minutes for them to come back from lunch. Have I mentioned at most places close from 12:30-2:30pm or longer for a mid day break ?
    The kids really wanted to make ragu in the style of Bologna. We had to ask the butcher to grind the meat in that way. It’s a tri blend. We also got a whole chicken to roast. We will get the veggies at the store. Dinner was so good and it was nice to take our time. We are going to work on Legos and watch the sunset.
    Ciao!
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  • Greve in Chianti Day 2

    19. april 2023, Italien ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Today we decided to have a relaxing day at the house enjoying the views and the beautiful weather. I discovered an “all you can eat” meat restaurant owned by the famous butcher from yesterday. The restaurant is right across the street from his butcher shop in Panzano. They have 1 seating for lunch at 1pm and 1 seating for dinner at 7pm per day, 7 days a week. Gabe asked the chef and he said they are full everyday of the week. Just Gabe and I decided to go to the lunch. I actually ordered the vegetarian menu. It’s was fantastic. The tomato soup was so good. It was not puréed like you are thinking. It was chunky and warm. The tomatoes tasted almost sweet. They have their own salt blend that you sprinkle on some olive oil and dip carrots, celery, bread or fennel into. Gabe was served 3 cuts of meat. The first course was a beef tartare, a picanha and the filet. The sides were white beans in olive oil and stewed onions. I had a few bites of his and it was very good. They were grilling the meat over open flame right there inside the room. We were sitting at a long table squished with 10 other people we didn’t know. Everyone was from a different country. Germany, Brazil, South Korea and Us.
    After lunch, we came home and immediately went to sleep. Lol! After our meat coma we woke up and went for a walk around the neighborhood with the kids. Renee was busy building her Vespa lego set. Andrew finished his Bugatti this morning. Gabe and I weren’t very hungry but we had dinner reservations at 7:30. We were excited to go to this restaurant because the restaurant was on top of a nearby town, Lamole. The sunset was going to be beautiful because of their location. The owner of the restaurant has been open for 30 years and he said the sunset is different every day. Gabe order a rolled pasta stuffed with porcini mushrooms and topped with shaved truffles. It’s a TOP 3 dish of this entire trip for us. I got a very light gnocchi with fave beans and pecorino. It was an easy dinner to finish off a really heavy day of meat. For Gabe. Our dinner was fantastic! So glad we went.

    *The photo of the back and white pigs are the very special and endangered Cinta Senese pigs. Their pasture is just down the road from our villa. I got some prosciutto from these special pigs from the butcher and it was fantastic. We all really enjoyed it.
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  • Greve in Chianti Day 3

    20. april 2023, Italien ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    Ciao! Today, we are going truffle hunting! We drove to Badia a Passignano, the town where we met a man named Jacapo, and his three dogs Bianca, Pia, and Uffo. We were going truffled hunting with him. We walked into the forest, because that’s the place to hunt. Pia was the best out of all of them, Bianca was a troublemaker, and Uffo ate the truffles! There were also a lot of thorns (very painful). When we were walking back to eat lunch, we saw some really pretty flowers, purple ones! We ate at a restaurant that only served us truffle based food! It was really good. Then, we tried to get in the montestary, but it was closed. We then drove home, Mom and Dad took a nap, then when they woke up, Dad started on dinner. We had steak and mashed potatos (yum). We watched a movie called Rocky. I didn’t really understand it. We paused mid-movie to go to bed, but we will finished tomorrow.Læs mere

  • Greve in Chianti Day 4

    21. april 2023, Italien ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Gabe cooked us a nice breakfast of bacon, eggs with ricotta and toast with the best crust less bread. We sat outside for awhile enjoying the view. After a nice relaxing morning Gabe and I got dressed for a wine tasting. We are meeting Mike and Nicole Rose, Bill and Annika Bennett and another couple at a vineyard. Mike and Bill are in Gabes EO forum. They have been in Tuscany for the week. We saw them in Florence for an hour or so a few days before. They are staying in a Villa in Cortona. After being here for a few days, we realize that Tuscany is huge. Cortona is 2 hours away from us.. So we picked a vineyard to meet at in the middle We are meeting at the Colle Bereto vineyard. They are a fairly large producer of Chianti Classico for Tuscany. And 80% of their production stays in Italy! Bernardo the winemaker met us outside and started us on a history lesson. He is super passionate about the Chianti region and getting the wine to Texas. Rick Perry has been to the vineyard before and he gets wine shipped to him often. We are also having lunch in their amazing 12th century building. It was the original winery from the 70;s but they have since added other buildings to the property. They were also able to expand the underground facility to have gravity fed grapes during harvest. The owners bought the vineyard in the 70’s for nothing. The owners also own a business in Florence that makes the metal chains used for most all designer handbags. The owner uses the chains in other designs such as placemats, chargers, and candle holders. It’s really cool. Bernardo has been the winemaker for 23 years at Colle Bereto. He has received some very honorable awards he is proud of. In 2020, 3 of their wines made the top 3 spots on the wine spectator list for Chianti Classico. The day before we arrived he found out that another wine just made the list for this year. 95 points! The lunch was simple, homemade and fantastic. Fresh vegetables from their garden. Ravioli and of course wine. We tried 1 sparking, 1 white and 5 reds.
    After the tasting we are excited to get back to the house because we are having a pizza dough making class and making our own pizzas in the pizza oven. Chef Nando and his assistant Illyria are the best! They of course made everything look so easy and taste amazing. Our pizzas were so good. We were stuffed!! We even had Nutella pizza. We are so sad to leave in the morning.
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  • Travel Day to Sorrento

    22. april 2023, Italien ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    After saying goodbye to Villa Dante we started our road trip to Sorrento. It’s a long 6 hour drive so we are going to stop along the way. Our first stop is in Siena. Gabe and I came to Siena in 2006. I remember the square well. It’s very different from other piazzas. We wandered looking for a few restaurants we had picked out. But decided on a different one. We had a light lunch and went to find gelato. The square was very busy and it’s defiantly getting warmer as we drive south. Our 2nd stop is in Montepulciano for a quick snack. We hiked up to the center of town and didn’t find much to see. We were trying to remember if we had been there before. But neither of us could remember.
    I have been trying to find us a Agruiturismo to eat at. We have eaten at them with Vitto before but I hadn’t been able to find one on this trip yet. Agriturismo means “independently owned farm”. How they got started were travelers would come up to peoples homes and ask for a meal and a place to stay. Not all of them today are hotels but most are. I hadn’t been having a luck because most have a 3 or more night minimum. I was able to find one in a small town called Sarteano. They have about 20 rooms, they are a vineyard and of course a farm. The owners live on property and eat dinner with the guests every night. The restaurant has been in the Michelin guide for several years. Gabe absolutely loved the steak. The pasta they made us was amazing But I was a little disappointed there were not any vegetables. Only potatoes. And the dessert was ehh…I haven’t been feeling great the past few days so I was very ready for bed.
    *The wisteria smells so good. And looks beautiful. Am I allergic ? Or the cypress ?
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  • Travel Day to Sorento Part 2

    23. april 2023, Italien ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Today we left the hotel and drove to Sorrento. First we stopped in Tivoli to get some lunch. But we couldn’t find a parking spot and 2 restaurants weren’t open yet so Dad decided we should keep going. We got a little turned around and saw a sign for KFC. It’s inside a mall. We parked, ordered and were back on the road in 30 minutes. It was finger lickin Good. It was expensive. $34 dollars for our meal. After KFC, we got to Sorrento and we checked in at our house. We are staying about 7 minutes outside of the center of Sorrento. We got changed and drove into town. Parking was hard to find because its Sunday. We decided to get an apertivo for a snack at the hotel that P And UK stayed at. After this we walked around for a while and shopped. Once it was time for dinner we walked to dinner and dinner was not good. We all had pasta and I wanted some calamari but it tasted very dry and was hard and crunchy. After dinner we got gelato and Mom got Kennedy a limealade dress. The Gelato which was not too great but because we choose bad flavors except for Mom who got what she wanted exactly. After we walked around eating our gelato we for a lil bit we went home. Hopefully, we will have some better food tomorrow.
    Ciao, Andrew
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  • Sorrento Day 1

    24. april 2023, Italien ⋅ 🌧 17 °C

    Today we are going to Pompeii. We hung out at home most of the morning then left the apartment to go to the lunch place. I had chicken. The place had this really cool rotisserie oven. My mom had a cotoletta that I really liked also. She shared with me. After lunch, we headed to the train station to go to Pompeii. We were going to get on the 1:00 train, but we let it go. We had to wait for the 1;38pm train. It took about 30 minutes to get to the Pompeii stop. We met up with our tour guide Natalia. We got our tickets and headed into the city. It had walls all around it and had many shops. Along all the roads and inside houses, there were small white rocks. The moonlight reflected on them and illuminated the roads at night. They are called “cat eye’s”. The first room we went in was like a court room, where they would discus laws and punishments for prisoners. The second room was called the Fourm. It was used for meeting up with people and selling goods. Fun fact: People in Pompeii used urine to wash their clothes. There was also a LOT of shops. The workers of the shops slept upstairs. They were typically slaves. All of the roofs were destroyed by the ash from the volcano. It wasn’t lava that destroyed Pompeii, it was deadly ash, that could kill you if you breathed it in. People died by suffocation. But the lava did in fact destroy one town, but we didn’t go there. Next up was the theater. There were two. The big one was used for comedy and plays. The actors were played by slaves, because it was bad it be a actor. Politicians usually paid for everyone to watch for free, this was their way of saying “vote for me, I paid for this.” The small theater was where music was played. Then, the bathhouse. There was a men’s and women’s side, and they had a commons area outside, where they did exercises and talked. Then, inside, there was a cubby to hold belongings and they didn’t really have showers. There were steam rooms, and huge bath tubs. How did they get the water? They had fountains. It was coming from the aqueduct, which is like gutters we still have to this day. They also stored rainwater. There are many many fountains on the streets of Pompeii. Most still work today. I drank water from one. We explored several different houses. Inside the houses, there was a small pool in the atrium. It was open to the sky so that the rain water could collect in the pool. That’s where they stored the rainwater. In some houses, they had big living rooms that opened into an interior courtyard. The bedrooms were small and near the front door. Several houses have been restored with a roof and plants added so that we can see how things would have looked. We explored a lot for more than 2 hours. After we left Natalia, we walked up to the train station to catch the train. After we got off, we got back home and rested. Then we went to a pizza place, which had good pizza, but none of us really liked it. It was soggy Napolitean pizza. Dad went to have calls, and I watched “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” with my mom. We were all tired, so we went to bed.Læs mere

  • Travel Day to Ravello

    25. april 2023, Italien ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Today we are leaving Sorrento. We are going to make a few stops along the way to our final destination, the town of Ravello on the Amalfi Coast.
    The Amalfi coast is considered to be from the town of Positano to the town of Vietri sul Mare. Sorrento is around the peninsula from Positano. There is a town called Amalfi. It’s the main historical center of the coast.
    Our first stop is a small town, Massa Lubrense, made famous by Stanley Tucci’s show. The restaurant is called Lo Scoglio. It’s right on the water. The dish Stanley ate and loved is Spaghetti Alla Nerano. Nerano is the town where the pasta dish was created. The dish is very simple. The spaghetti are covered in a very light creamy sauce made from provolone and pasta water. It has fried zucchini slices on the top. It was amazing!!! After lunch we headed to Positano. The road along the coast is extremely windy. The kids thankfully fell asleep so barfy didn’t make another appearance. It’s Tuesday, April 25 and its Italian Independence Day. So Positano was crowded! We drove through the town and drove out. Well we inched our way in bumper to bumper traffic. We passed by Amalfi and there wasn’t anyone there. Why did all the Italians decided to go to Positano ? We made it to our hotel in Rovello and got settled into our room. We went to explore the town a little before the sun sets. I decided to go and sit by the pool and work on some emails. It’s still quite chilly here. We were sure hoping for some sun and pool time. Gabe has a local place chosen for dinner. It was run by a total Nani! She took the orders and bring kids chocolate candies. She was funny. Andrew and I both got soup. Renee wanted the hamburger but it came out without a bun. She still ate it. Like a hamburger steak. The food is different here. So far…I’m not impressed. There is always tomorrow….Ciao.
    *more photos to come…
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  • Ravello Day 1

    26. april 2023, Italien ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    After a wonderful nights sleep in our beautiful room we went downstairs to get some breakfast. Then we went into town to explore. We climbed tons of stairs to get to this amazing villa which had the best view on the island probably. The Villa is called villa Cimbrone. We walked around and saw a lot of statues, wisteria, flowers and gardens but the best part was the view. Ravello is sort of on a peninsula high above the ocean. The villa is at the very end of the town. After this we went back to the hotel and lounged by the pool for a while. The temperature was only 66 but the sun was out. It was a little windy but the pool was heated. I was trying to get a tan. We had lunch at the pool. When it was time for our spa appointment we went into the spa which was ok. The wet sauna was not great which is my favorite part about a spa. Once we were done with the spa we got ready for dinner. My parents bought some pottery at a pottery shop earlier in the day and met the owner. His name is Pascal. He also owns a hotel and restaurant. We met Pascals wife at the pottery shop and she was going to drive us to the restaurant. They make tons of different dishes in tons of patterns. They even do custom stuff. The restaurant is in the older original part of Ravello. It's next door to the first church in Ravello. The food was not to good surprisingly. After dinner we rode back to the hotel and went to bed. We are leaving tomorrow.
    Ciao,
    Andrew
    *Added more photos
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  • Travel Day to Sicily

    27. april 2023, Italien ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    We are going to start driving to Sicily and its going to take about 6 hours so we are going to break up our trip.
    Its our last morning at Palazzo Avino….so sad. We started out with an amazing breakfast. Everyone got their favorites. Pancakes for Renee, French Toast for Andrew, Eggs Benedict for Gabe and I got an omelette. Not my favorite but I decided to be different. We made a stop at the pharmacy and then went to get a few shopping items checked off our list. Gabe and I both got some linen shorts, Andrew got some Italian Birkenstocks with memory foam soles and Renee and I got custom leather sandals. We loaded up the car and started the windy drive along the coast to Salerno. We drove through Salerno to see the town and stopped to get a quick panini for the road. It’s a nice town. Would like to go back for a visit.
    We then drove to a small town called Altomonte to spend the night. The agriturismo we chose is much larger than the first one we visited. It’s called Serragiumenta Castle. They have 600 acres of land. They have their own cows, pigs, horses, make their own wine, grow peaches, apricots, figs, plums, olive oil and 3 have styles of rooms. They have a main building with standard looking rooms, they have 4 suites by the pool and then 3 glamming tents out in the vineyard. It’s a very nice property. They had golf carts, e-bikes and of course a restaurant. Dinner was fantastic. The restaurant is super cute. The chef even accommodated Gabes food request. The wine was really good too!
    Andrew wasn’t feeling well so he went to bed early.
    Ciao
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  • Arriving in Sicily

    28. april 2023, Italien ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Sleeping in the tent was interesting. We only had a canvas cover over the structure and it was zipped shut. We woke up about 2am to some dogs ? Or something making a lot of noise. Then we were awoken by lots of bird sounds and other types of animals off and on until we finally got up at 7:30am. Gabe watched the sun rise over the vineyard. Breakfast was my personal favorite. I really liked this place a lot. I was planning a wedding in my head. We started the 2.5 hour drive to Villa San Giovanni. Thats the town were we will get on the ferry to go over to Sicily. We stopped for gas and went into the store to get some water. They had some amazing looking pizza and sandwiches so we got some for the road. Gabe had them add some Calabrian chilis to his. Since we are in the Calabria region. They were super hot. I bought the ferry tickets online so we will just need the QR code to board the ship. We were the last car to board! The ferry ride is only about 20 minutes and then we are in Messina Sicily. We have a 2.5 hour drive to the town of Cefalu. Gabe’s Mom’s side of the family is from Cefalu. We are going to meet one of Mikie’s first cousins tonight. He has come to Cefalu for 23 years. His name is Gaetano or Guy for short. When Gabe started texting him about our trip he asked him where we should go on the island and what we should see. He said he has never left Cefalu. What!!! Guy told Gabe that the family isn’t going to be able to pronounce his name. Which we have noticed that ourselves. They say Gee-be. It’s strange. So Gabe is going to be Gabrielle-e. Say it with an Italian accent. Guy is very interested in my family history as well. I got my cousin Mary Jo to send me some things on our Sicilian family. Which is my grandmothers side. I’m excited to share with him. The reason we decided to start in Cefalu is because Guy is leaving to go back to Louisiana. The dinner he arranged was really nice. No one spoke much English. We used google translate to talk. The kids got pizzas. It was a little better but still Napoli style. Guy is going to give us a private tour tomorrow around the city.
    A Presto,
    Veronica
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  • Cefalu Day 1

    29. april 2023, Italien ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    After a restful night sleep, I got dressed to go to the store to pick up a few things. Gabe took the car and went to pick up Guy from his place in the country. We are going to all walk around town today. We saw the “Long Beach”, the Duomo where Gabe’s family were baptized and married, we got aranchini, some granita and cannoli. All started in Sicily.
    After our long walk around the city, we decided it was time for an afternoon rest back at our really nice apartment. Guy came and even took a nap. Gabe drove him to a birthday party before he headed to the train station. When he got back we got changed and walked over to the entrance to the climb up the mountain. There is a Greek temple high up above the city. The views are amazing, I’m sure. However the park was closed and wouldn’t let us go up. So we got our swimsuits and headed to the beach for a sun set swim. Renee said the water was colder than torch lake. Gabe stopped and got the kids some dinner from the restaurant on the corner. He and I went to a cute bistro near the Duomo for some sea bass. The food choices so far are very seafood focused. There is not many choices on the menus of dishes that don’t have seafood on it. My Mom and Dad would love all the anchovies! I may have to give them a try at least once. They have fried anchovies, and sea urchin pasta that sound interesting to me.
    Ciao!
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  • Travel day to Sciacca

    30. april 2023, Italien ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Today we are going to drive to the town where my great-grandmothers family is from. It’s called Poggioreale. We stopped at a local bar to get some sandwiches and snacks, and my Dad asked if they knew any Cangeloses. Sicilians actually spell Cangelose with an i. They said the mayor is a Cangelose! So we went to his relative’s house and then he came over. My Mom said that Aunt Paige had told her the mayor had come to Texas for the family reunion. The mayors name is Memo Cangelosi. And he remembered the reunion. He brought us a book on the history of Poggioreale. We were very grateful for the family to have us over. Their son was there and he spoke English. We all sat in the dining room and they gave us some Cokes to drink. After we said our goodbyes, we drove to Sciacca. We got to our amazing hotel and had a snack. Andrew took a bike went exploring and we got settled in our room. Mom and Dad went to the spa, The spa has salted thermal pools and a huge steam room. This spa wont let anyone under 18 go in. So Andrew and I cant go. The gym is outside and they have fitness classes. The resort has golf, basketball, tennis, pickle ball, water sports, a teen club. It’s awesome! But the weather isn’t great…..Andrew and I relaxed in our room until they got back. We then switched rooms so we could be more closer together. We didn’t make a reservation for dinner, so we had room service dinner.
    My Mom and Dad went to dinner at the seafood restaurant by the ocean. My Mom had pasta with shrimp and pistachios and my Dad had lamb chops. They of course had Bietola for a side. We asked for them to bring a dessert but they said they didn’t sound very good.
    We are hoping to do some activities in the ocean tomorrow. Buona Notte, Renee
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  • Sciacca Day 1

    1. maj 2023, Italien ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    We slept so well that we almost missed breakfast. We ate a wonderful breakfast and went to to ride the entire property on bikes. Once we were done riding bikes we got changed into our swimsuits and went to the watersports hut. We are going to be the only people/Americans in the water today. I want to try efoil and Renee wants to go on the banana boat but we may just get some sea bobs. It was really windy and the waves were really strong so we could not do either of these things. But we were able to boogie board. The water was really cold and we only did it for like 30 mins. We did wear a wet suit but our feet got cut on the rocks. Once we were done we went back to the house. We laid outside in the sun and ate lunch on our patio. I went and played basketball a couple times throughout the day and went to the gym also. Once we were done resting we went to the kids club. We made a traditional Sicilian cake as an activity. It’s a sponge cake with pistachios filled with ricotta. We got to decorate the top with an A. Mom and Dad went to the spa again. We left the club and went back to the room to get ready for dinner. Dinner was awesome. I had ravioli stuffed with peas in a Parmesan sauce with truffles. My Dad had sea bass, Renee had pasta bolognese and my Mom had lobster linguine. After dinner we went on a nighttime walk and them we got to the room and went to bed. My Dad said we have not taken very many pictures the past few days.
    Ciao,
    Andrew
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  • Agrigento

    2. maj 2023, Italien ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Today we move about an hour east to the town of Agrigento. We are going to stop along the way at the Stairs of the Turks or Scala dei Turchi. Its a white rock formation sticking out the side of the cliff. It’s get its name from the Turkish Pirates who would climb the rock to invade the town. We had a so so overpriced lunch on the beach. You pay for the views! I didn’t know much about Agrigento before we arrived. I knew there were some Greek temples to see. But that’s about it. Thankfully we had Lorenzo, our tour guide. Because we got a wonderful history lesson. He grew up in Agrigento, traveled the world, went to University in Paris and worked in London. Then he came back to Agrigento to give tours. He’s very good! We have so many good stories from him. He said that an American professor said if you want to study the Greeks or Greek architecture go to Sicily. As the Greeks were leaving Greece to escape fighting and find their own land. They sailed west towards Spain. Before they arrived in Spain they saw this island that was lush and green. Previous Greek explorers had already colonized Naxos, Syracuse and a few other cities on the East coast of Sicily. Agrigento was attractive because it has sandy beaches and very near the beach was a tall line of rocky mountains with a valley behind. The mountains would be a perfect natural defensive wall. This is were they decided to colonize the newest Greek colony, Agrigento. There were originally 10 temples dedicated to Greek gods across the natural defensive cliff in Agrigento. Today, there is 1 that is almost completely still in tact from the original build. Its called Cornelia. It’s never been destroyed. It changed from Greek, to Roman and then to a Christian church. 2 others are only partially constructed. They are the temple to Juno/Hera and the temple of Hercules. The last one that is apart of the protected national park is the fallen temple of Zeus. It was the largest temple ever built. It was 300 feet long and 30 feet tall. It was massive. Only the stairs and part of the foundation remain. What happened ? The people of Agrigento many years later used the materials to build other buildings in town!!!! I don’t think the temple of Zeus meant as much to them then as it would of today. Last year, some archeologist were digging next to Heras temple and found some small statues of Athena. When Greeks came to pray to the gods they would bring a offering. One type of offering was a figurine of the god who they were praying to. This discovery led the archeologist to go to the historical documents in the museum in Agrigento to read where it said this was Heras temple. After translating the document, they in fact discovered that the document had been translated incorrectly hundreds of years ago. Wow! THEN while they were reading the documents they found out that Hercules temple may not be Hercules. Lorenzo said they will continue to dig in June and find out more information.
    His next story was that soldiers were paid in salt. Salt was very expensive at the time. Salt in Latin is Sal and in Italian it Sale. Sale - into Salary. It’s how the word Salary originated. Agrigento the town is built high up on a hill behind the defensive wall. It has forests, a salt and sulfur mine and of course miles of land for farming. The views of the Mediterranean Sea are beautiful. We had a wonderful dinner in town and slept at another agriturismo along the sea. Ciao.
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  • Travel to Ortigia

    3. maj 2023, Italien ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    Today we had breakfast at the hotel and got on the road. Dad had gotten some sweets yesterday, so we ate them in the car. We didn’t stop for lunch. When we got to the apartment in a perfect location, in the piazza duomo. It was surprisingly good. Mom and dad went to the store and got hamburgers. My parents saw an instagram video about a smushed hamburger in a tortilla. We don’t have tortilla here, so we used panini bread. It was really good. Then, we stayed home for 5 hours. Dad got mad, so we went out. We went into flying tiger, one of the most organized stores I have ever seen. I loved it!!! I also got sour candyfloss and apple juice. We lost Dad and Andrew, so we went to find them, and they were staying by a cool boat called, My Secret. It was a tealish color, and it was big. We were all hungry now, so we were supposed to eat at home, but Mom stopped for fish and chips. Dad, Andrew and I ate pasta with tomato sauce at home. After dinner, Andrew and I watched Young Sheldon, and had a good night sleep.
    Ciao, Renee
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  • Ortigia Day 1

    4. maj 2023, Italien ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    May the fourth be with you! Mom and Dad woke up early and went to the food market. Dad got one of his favorite sandwiches of the trip. They came back home and brought us NOTHING. How dare they! We chilled for a long time because our tour was at 3:00. Mom made nachos, first time eating cheddar cheese in Italy. At 2:45, we left the house to go meet up with the lady. Her name was Carmina. She showed us a church with a replica of a famous painting by the artist Caravaggio called The Beheading of Saint Lucia. She was only 13. She is also the patron saint of Ortigia. Her feast day is this Sunday. Then she took us to a castle called Castello Maniace. Unfortunately, it was closed because it was being set up to host the Fendi Fashion Show next week. Last year, the castle hosted Dolce & Gabbana. Originally, it was the home to Emperor Fredrick II. The castle eventually stopped being a home, but became a prison, and most recently it was a military barrack, until 1979. We then went to the duomo. The most significant thing about it was when the Greeks came to Sicily, they built temples to their gods. The Greeks didn’t have walls between the columns. Eventually they left, Romans came and a bunch of different people came, but then, Christians came. The Christians put walls in between the columns and made it a Christian church. Originally, that temple was a temple to Athena, or Minerva (Romans). Then we walked to the remains of what was a Temple to Apollo. It was damaged and only a few columns remain. After we said goodbye to Carmina. We went back home to get some things, then we went to get on a boat tour. The boat took us into caves, and across the water. Andrew got to drive too! After the boat tour, Dad got some meat and made us more hamburger sandwiches and steak. It was good. Again, we watched Young Sheldon, Dad had calls and Mom was talking to Stephy.
    Ciao, Renee
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