A WORD FROM LILLI...

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ITALIAN COOKING CLASS

DAY TRIP TO LUCCA

Christmas Day Italian style

Christmas Eve in Florence (day 4)

Today we went to the Uffizi. Just as gorgeous as the art work was the actual building itself. Taking photos not allowed. Stand outs for me were the faces of the Botticelli women and children, Rosalla Camiera’s Felicita Sartori AND the walk to the toilets! Tim loved the Siennese painters, Bottelli’s ennunciation, and the views from the windows of the Uffizi. Lilli loved pictures of Mary and baby Jesus (of which there were hundreds!).


The afternoon was spent buying Christmas presents and fillers topped off with a simple dinner starting with prosciutto on baguette and then ham and fig ravioli by the fire. We awoke at midnight to church bells chiming all around us and rain on the roof. Bliss but for the bed.

Florence day 3

Apparently rubbing this boars nose will bring you back to Florence.
She  had to have a rub every time we went near.
Even asked Tim if we could "go and rub the whore's nose".

Today Tim arranged a ‘walk’ with a local – Mariangela.   We walked for about three hours and she showed us her favourite places to shop, which were mostly hand-crafted boutiques off the tourist trail.  Great for Tim and I but Lilli got a bit bored.   

One of the facts we learned on our walk was that you pay much more to sit down and drink your coffee.  The Italians have theirs ‘on the run’ standing up.

I am thinking of getting this dress for when we
renew our wedding vows.  Lilli approves.

Santa Croce

Ponte Vechio.
Once home to butchers shops and the only bridge in the area
not bombed by the Germans during the war because
of its historical value.

Mariangela left us at lunchtime and we found a trattoria, ‘Gusta’ on the Via del Presto Di S. Martino, with outside eating opposite a church.  Plenty of space for Lilli to chase pigeons and jump in puddles while she waited.  The restaurant was even more successful because it apparently has “the best pesto in the world” according to Lilli.  Tim had plump little salsiccia with fagioli (sausages and beans) and I had spagettie alla caratiettiera (chilli and tomato).  Molto benne!  Lilli’s day was made with her first gelato which we ate on the Ponte S Trinite.   

The BEST pesto pasta Lilli has ever tasted.  I was a little hurt by this.

Puddling in puddles and dog poo.

The first Italian ice cream of the holiday.

FIRENZE

Real Christmas tree decorations on the Ponte Vechio

Straight away Florence has a different feel to it than Rome. So much prettier and cleaner.  Our apartment is a 10 min walk from the station and right in the heart of everything on the via di Terme.

A short walk from train to apt.

 

Our apartment is a huge space with a kitchenette, large living area and mezzanine bedroom and a tiny ‘childs’ room. We have a tiny balcony that overlooks a courtyard with huuuge magnolia trees.

Our first quick reconnaissance walk took us over the Ponte (bridge) Vechio. The Christmas lights by night are stunning.

The beautiful Christmas street lights.

 
We found a gorgeous gourmet (for us but apparently not the Italians) supermarket.

We bought home ham, tomatoes, bread, prosciutto, gorgonzola, parmesan, sardo and wine which we ate this at ‘home’ by the fire. The very best part of the apartment is the fireplace. It feels like a REAL Christmas with the fire crackling.

 

ROME

We had an overnight stay in a little hotel near the station called The Adriana.  The room was tiny but quaint, it felt a bit like being in a nunnery. The Italians penchant for marble was taken a bit far I think by making the mattress and pillow from it – never slept on such a hard pillow in my life.  It hurt my ears! 

 

We had our first Italian breakfast at a little trattoria on the corner.  The croissant not quite up to the French standard but the sandwich – bellisima!  A lightly toasted sandwich filled with tomato, fresh mozzarella, basil and garlic. 

After breakfast we wandered the hilly streets of Rome to the colloseum.  It is SO BIG!  We had a nice chance to sit in a café opposite it and take it all in while waiting for service.  The service never arrived but we got these photos. 

Rome at lunchtime smells fab-u-lous! We were lured into another trattoria near the station for pizza and pasta.  How do they get the crust so tasty and ‘crusty’?  It’s like the very base of it has been fried as well.  The waiter was kind enough to let us know that we could leave whatever tip we wanted.

After lunch we headed back to the hotel, had a cuddle with Maria Rosa and then onto the train station to take the fast train to Florence.  The train trip was a pleasant hour and a half ride from Rome.

Italy here we come (Christmas holiday 2010 day 1)

Reading her book on the floor of the Frankfurt Airport - all seats taken.

The day started well but rapidly declined starting with sitting for 1 hour on the tarmac at Abu Dhabi. We had a stop over in Frankfurt. I hope I never see the inside of that airport again – modern and clean but a communication nightmare. Our 1-hour stopover turned into 4+ hours, 2 of which were sitting on a plane again on the tarmac. By the time we reached Rome the trains had stopped running (which we didn’t discover until we had made the long trek to the station). We paid a high taxi driver 60 euros to get us to our hotel which was probably worth it as we got a high-speed thrill ride thrown in for free. It took us 19 hours to get to Rome.

Pre-Christmas Party at our apartment, Dubai

We had a pre-Christmas party with our friends the Mazzawis and the Sears and ‘Grunty’.  The meal was Australian in flavour – pate, prawns, cold chicken and salads.  Susan made a fabulous Christmas pudding with brandy butter.  A fun day and a great way to get into the Christmas spirit. 

We got a new tree this year (thanks mum x).  So much nicer than last years, and the cats didn’t play with it at all.