Italian Vacation Update #3

Our Italian holiday continues. On Tuesday, an Italian National holiday, as we were coming down the curvy mountain road we had a tire go flat. Luckily we had a spare donut and in no time were on the road. The journey took a little longer because we drove on slower B roads but we made it to Montepulciano, a hill town.

In Montepulciano we stumbled into an old copper craftsman. He made everything out of copper and was so charming. We bought a heavy beautiful copper frying pan and are very excited to try it out. The town is very, very hilly which made it good exercise but the climbs were worth it for the amazing views of the Tuscan countryside.

The churches, basilicas, and duomos in the country are very impressive. We have seen many treasured relics as well as burial sites of many famous Italians such as Dante, Marconi, Galileo, Michelangelo, assorted popes, and others.

Although we weren’t in Siena for long, we still saw a lot of beautiful things! We stayed in a hotel connected to a sanctuary and run by nuns. The view was amazing. We spent some time at the Piazza del Campo, where the famous Palio horse race takes place. We went to the Duomo here as well which was beautiful and unique.

In Florence, or Firenze as the locals call it, Jon climbed about 450 steps up to take photos at the top of the Duomo. It was a tough climb but worth it. In the Accademia museum we saw the famous David sculpture by Michelangelo as well as many other famous unfinished works by Michelangelo.


Italian Vacation Update #2

For the past 3 days we have been in the Umbria region. We are staying at an Agritourismo which is a working farm. Its location is very remote. It 14km up a small mountain with 78 turns to reach the agritourismo. This has been a big change from the heat and hustle and bustle of Rome. Here we figure it takes us 5 hours to eat our meals which are eaten with everyone on the farm. Below is a photos of some of the pasta we had as one of the 3 courses for lunch one day. It has been a neat experience. However the past few days it has rained constantly. This has put a damper on some of our plans but today we went to the towns of Montefalco, Assisi, Deruta, and Spoleto. While in Assisi we had a good pizza in a small typical Italian café, see the photo below of the half eaten pizza.

Our car (pictured below) is an Alfa Romeo 159 Estate with a 1.9L turbo diesel. While we are not very impressed with the low clearance of the alfa or the stereotypical Italian electrics the engine is great and the highway driving has been fine. Without the Garmin GPS it would be near impossible.



Italian Vacation Update #1

Here are a few photos from some of the sights that we have seen while in Rome. They are rough photos and so far I have taken about 800 photos just in Rome. The photos below are from the Vatican, Spanish Steps, and the Coliseum. Rome was very hot but here in Umbria it is much cooler, windy and a bit of rain. We are also loving the plentiful wine and fantastic food in the country. Keep checking the blog here and as we have time and internet access I will try and make a few blog posts with photos.



Thit Bo Xao Dau Dinner

Tonight I made Thit Bo Xao Dau a Vietnamese recipe I found on my iPod Touch using the AllRecipies application.

Link to the Recipe

The recipe was very good. I added a few carrots to it and followed the directions of the first commenter who suggested a slightly different cooking method and to use fish sauce.

Buying the fish sauce was a bit of an adventure. I went to a local oriental market. When I went in the place was just packed full of merchandise. You could barely walk around in the place, because of this I just asked where the fish sauce was and then went there. It was an adventure finding it even in the correct isle. Every type of dark brown sauce ever was there, 3/4 of it were various soy sauces and then there was many other types too. On the opposite side of the isle there was tea. Being a tea fan and being low on tea currently I tried to find something I would like. I wanted a nice black tea that I could make good iced tea out of or drink hot. After finding, White, Green, Red, and Various health teas (Very interesting everything from help with the Male bits, Love making tea, to sore throat, and general health) I found some of what I think is black tea. Tung Ting Oolong Tea I am looking forward to trying it out tomorrow.