sunday, march 28
a night train from barcelona to milan, an hotel on tracks. we (myself and my friend, melanie) left from estatio de francia at 7:30pm in a tiny sleeper cabin bound for arrival in milan the next morning. no airport, no ridiculous security (except for our luggage being x-rayed), and no hurry. sleeping on a train is actually a wonderful event, almost like being in a cradle gently rocking into slumber.

monday, march 29
arrived in stazione centrale 2 hours late after the train was delayed in france to arrest a traveler. most of it happened while we were sleeping and the delay into milan was nothing but a “who cares” moment. we checked in to a hotel near missori and decided to check out the city for the day. saw the duomo, hit a tiny place called luini for a yummy pizza dough “empanada” filled with fresh mozzarella and tomatoes and snacked in front of la scala and the statue of da vinci.

next some window shopping in the quadrilatero d’oro, a sight amongst the hip shoppers on their way to hermes, valentino, etc. (insert name of big fashion designer). even the bicycles were swanky

this town knows how to get around, and i am not talking about motorcycles and vespas. they were beautiful glossy black with wicker baskets that really made me miss my “il duce” cruiser. even their public bike system had nice bicycles. florence had them too, just grittier homemade painted versions.

then to navigli to check out the canals, imagine our surprise when there wasn’t any water. but we did have a great dinner in an antique pizzeria and gelato before walking back to the hotel. we wandered past san lorenzo alle colonne, sixteen corinthian columns in piazza vetra lit with coloured lights that opened out of nowhere. a nice beginner introduction to milano.

tuesday, march 30
a note about public transport in italy…after being educated on the systems of barcelona, the italian rail and milan metro are easily navigable. before we knew it we were at stazione de santa maria novella in florence. we found our hotel de la pace and walked down to the duomo to join our fellow touristas in reveling at the sights.

on a side street we found a very popular panini stand, il fratellini. wonderful fresh bread, jamon, goat cheese and ruccula. we had arrived late for lunch so they only had enough bread for one sandwich, but well worth the find, we shared the treat on the street. next piazza della signoria in front of the palazzo vecchio. i wanted to see the statues in the loggia – perseus with the head of medusa, rape of the sabine, and the plaque to savonrola’s bonfire of vanities and the fontana di nettuno.

on to mercato nuovo to try our luck at the fontana del porcellino. rub the boars nose and place a coin in its mouth. let go and see if it falls down into the well (good fortune that says you will return to firenze someday). no such luck. oh well off to the ponte vecchio to see cellini’s bust where lovers place locks on the iron fence and throw the key into the arno. all the locks had been removed (in 2006 the statue had 5500 lucchetti d’amore-love locks!) now all that remains is a notice stating 160€ fine for placing a lock. how sad all those keys settled into the silt of the arno, and no locks to stand defiantly over not opening. i was humming in my head “you got the right key but the wrong keyhole”. across the river we stopped at palazzo pitti. the weather was threatening rain unfortunately, because the long sloping piazza would have been great for a lay in the sun.

the weather- april is a strange time for tuscany. quick moving rainstorms with thunder and lightening that melted into blue skies several times a day. the wind is cold and so were the temperatures.

we continued along the arno opposite to the city center walking past piazza poggi where one of the many city gates still stand. finally crossing back over on the ponte san niccolo, we passed through piazza beccaria and pizzale donatello to make a 7km circle back to our hotel. we asked for a “close by” suggestion to eat at the hotel. Tito’s a small restaurant serving homemade pastas – the parpadella with wild boar was amazing! i watched the table next to us order a menu, first course hams and salami, next huge chunks of three cheeses, wine, pasta and then finally steak to finish. i was a bit jealous that i didn’t have the courage or the stomach capacity to order that kind of dinner.

wednesday, march 31
our first plan was to go biking through the countryside, but due to the weather and a goof up by the hotel our ideas were dashed. so where to go….siena, san gimignano, lucca, volterra? but first to find an ATM.

ATMs are not easy to find in florence despite what the guidebooks say. we asked, got wrong directions or broken bank machines. unless you are near the tourist hot spots, an ATM can be hard to find.

we decided to go to siena via regional train. the clouds seemed to part and the sun came through once we left florence. a sign that we had made a good decision. i expected siena to be smaller, i don’t know why. when we arrived at the station, we found the tourist office closed and were forced to purchase a map of the city. it was a bit confusing as to how to get to the center, by bus or walk? we couldn’t figure out how to buy bus tickets and the bus driver was talking on his mobile. we jumped on the bus anyways, ticket or not, but got back off two stops later out of guilt for not paying and because it was evident that walking was possible. siena is a beautiful walled city.

the highlight, piazza del campo, was worth the ride. it looks like a very expensive bathroom sink (guidebook lonely planet’s description not mine), it really does. a long gently sloping bowl towards the palazzo comunale. it may be that i liked this piazza because of the sunlight and the urge to lay down and sunbathe. imagining “the palio” in this plaza made my eyes water. all the viewers in the sink while men and bare backed horses race around the lip. what a sight it must be. only early by 4 months. back in florence, we found a great spot for dinner, trattoria marione. it felt like a family. papa yelling out orders and running things from behind the bar, brothers/daughters/uncles waiting tables all joking with each other. a good end of the day.

thursday, april 1
we need some wine! we decided to go on a wine tour in the region “il chianti”. travelling to a vineyard castillo di querceto, a 12th century castle owned by the same family since 1897. producing chianti and super tuscan wines. the cellars were gorgeous, holding bottles as old as 1906. we sampled bread with the vineyard’s own olive oil and tasted 3 wines. we were sitting with a group of 4 who were talking in English, so I asked where they were from. mom and daughter from chesapeake virginia. go figure. we had some good laughs.

next onto greve in chianti for a short look around. the main plaza had butcher shops with tempting local salami, and enough chianti products to ensure any wine aficionado happiness. it was brief but we said goodbye to the birthplace of machiavelli and verrazzano and headed back to florence.

the last section of the city we had not encountered was santa croce. the beautiful church in the main square where michelangelo and galileo are buried elicited more appreciation from me than the duomo. on a suggestion from our friends on the wine tour we headed to cafe italiano for some pizza. a swanky restaurant with a side door to the pizza oven with a small selection of wood tables to eat pizza and listen to the cook singing. of course the pizza portion was full, so we hesitantly wandered to the main part of the restaurant. it may have been expensive but worth it. the stewed lamb in wild flower honey and grilled artichokes was heavenly.

then the fright…melanie had misplaced her wallet and was unsure if she had gotten it stolen or left it in the hotel. yikes. on top of that we needed to walk to the train station to buy tickets for the following day to milan. we were worried about traveling on good friday with the rest of italy. 10:30 at night is not the time to walk to the train station, but we did it and tickets in hand raced back to the hotel. wallet was in the room, whew.

friday, april 2
headed home. weird day. empty anniversary (i will not elaborate). we were in florence until 3 wandering past all the familiar sites. one last look at my favourite statues in piazza della signoria. milan until 7:30 where we purchased a pizza and beers for dinner on the train. if you want to get stared at in milan don’t try wearing couture just walk around with a giant pizza box. it was a wasting time kind of day. but then came the journey home. there is something in travel by train that is romantic to me. the slow pace of time and distance that gives you time to ponder the place left and the destination. flying is like cell phones, facebook or twitter…instant gratification that leaves me empty. no real connection. on the train, sharing our cabin with 2 other girls thrown together by chance, we found connection and conversation and most important, time. time for it to develop. ease to sleep among strangers, laugh at shared victories and defeats and to leave knowing something was shared.

favourite song from my “train travel” playlist – love in vain by the rolling stones

Nov 16 2009

a giant piece of lit up pasta? in barcelona, even this doesn’t surprise me. but it did make me take a photo and go and look up the explanation…barcelona this year, along with new christmas decorations and lights on the major shopping streets, have installed sculpture pieces representing the holidays. pasta? not my first choice, but ok. well traditional catalan christmas lunch is a soup called ‘escudella de galets’. the galet is the pasta. apparently there will be other sculptures: turkeys, chickens, bottles of cava and roscones (traditional biscuits) which will be distributed around the city. i can’t wait to see them all dressed up in their electric holiday glow…

the barcelona public biking system…more often than not you will find that your bike is broken in some way, but it beats trying to find parking. plus better for the environment.

while on a recent trip driving through minnesota, land of 10,000 lakes i kept seeing caution signs for horse and buggy. wasn’t sure the reason until i passed this gentleman on the road. it is a bit reassuring that even in this electronic age that there are those that still manage to live simply.

it was a tentative process. during heating of the eggs and sugar, i hovered over the bowl terrified that i would end up with scrambled eggs. happy with my accomplishment in step one, i continued on to whisking. at home i do not have an electric mixer of any kind and usually rely on man power (or husband power) but this time i was lucky, i had a borrowed kitchen aid mixer. six to eight minutes of whisking seemed to last forever. last i gently added the flour and held my breath while i poured the butter into the mix. once in the oven i prayed to the cooking gods for a successful outcome…the cake was for a birthday. hurray! it worked. i added fresh strawberries and blueberries along with some fresh whipped cream to the center, and sprinkled icing sugar on the top. it was heavenly.

recipe thanks to www.marthastewart.com