Is that truffle in your pocket?

Well, I am finally posting after being back from Italy for three weeks. The trip was incredible- the only flaw was that it was too short! The jet lag was a little harder on me than it would usually be- the time change made me slightly nauseas – little Alf (alien life form) was quite confused by everything! I am happy to report, though, that now that I am well into my second trimester, Alf seems to be no longer trying to kill me!

Anyway, back to the trip: we had a blast exploring the hill towns of Umbria, Tuscany, and Rome. Nick’s inner Mario Andretti came out on the Autostrada, and he averaged about 160 km/hr. We saw real live Italian prostitutes- not just in Rome, but just on the side of the road in Umbria, right alongside the truffle hunters. Very random (this from the girl from Vegas)! I fared as well as could be expected without wine- Nick actually drank enough for him, me, and the baby. I also would like to say we saved a lot of money without me drinking, but since wine is cheaper than water in Italy, this would not be true.

Since being back, everyone asks us what our favorite part of the trip was, and I really can’t say. We really enjoyed the hill towns of Orvieto and Civita- not much to do in Civita, but it’s this incredible medieval town that’s built into a mountain. We spent a day visiting the Uffizi and the Academy in Florence- and because Nick was so well behaved at the art galleries, I granted him one day of wine tasting through the Chianti region. It was fun for me even though I couldn’t drink. Nick ignored all my really valid arguments as to why it’s a bad idea to purchase wine and pack it in our suitcases and we managed to get 7 bottles of wonderful Italian wines (all red!) back home without incident.

Everywhere we went we met wonderful people from all around the world. The first place we stayed, Locanda Rosati in Orvieto, was run by the exuberant Jean Pierro. We ate dinner family style on the grounds both nights we stayed, enjoying conversation with people from Holland, Australia, Italy, London, and yes, even Seattle.

In San Gamignano- the Disneyland of Italy- we got some much needed practice on our English skills. In the smaller hill towns, there are not as many English speakers, which is actually kind of nice. However, we did enjoy San Gimignano, and, as our agritourismo was a scant 2 kilometers away, we went into town for dinner on four occasions. San Gimignano at night is lovely, and the food was tremendous and quite inexpensive compared to the larger cities. The truffle gnocchi I had was so good that I am thinking I can never have it here again- certainly not the kind from the package that I make!

After leaving Locanda Rosati, I thought nothing could compare – then we checked into our room at Casanova di Pescille. By room I mean “apartment”. This place was fabulous, and we were the first guests of the seasons. This agritourismo was run by Roberto, whose family had owned the land since the sixteenth century. He, and his dog, Ettere, were quite friendly and welcoming. We loved the agritourismos and wouldn’t want to do it any other way. I am not a huge bed and breakfast fan (they’re always kind of creepy and remind me of being at somebody’s grandmother’s house), and I was worried agritourismos would be similarly creepy. This couldn’t have been further from the truth – We loved that where we stayed produced 60% of what they consumed, and the people were so friendly without being overbearing. In fact, upon returning home, Nick has made it his life’s goal that we will soon begin producing 60% of what we consumer. I told him if we could live on tomatoes, weirdly small corn husks, raspberries, and lettuce, we will be good to go. Oh, and rosemary in the winter. I won’t bore you any more with details- I could go on for days. I will just leave you with a few thoughts:

1) Europeans hate Americans for a reason: most are loud, obnoxious, demanding, and closed to change or differences;

2) Europeans LOVE Barrack Obama (except the Dutch, who inexplicably think that he will close our borders);

3) The Dutch are obsessed with Natalie Holloway, are sure Joran Vandersloot killed her, and want him out of their country;

4) The dollar is very, very weak, and Italians do not like this, as most of their tourists are American, German, or Japanese, but Americans are the only tourists who buy things.

5) The Japanese are almost universally hated by Europeans (hey, I’m just the messenger), as are the Germans. Notice that these groups go hand in hand with the highest number of tourists. I am assuming that Americans also fall into this group, but our new friends were too nice to tell us that.

6) Italians appreciate it when you at least try to speak the language, even if they laugh at your pronunciation.

7) I definitely regret not going to the Cinque Terre. Maybe on our next trip. Although, we would like to go to southern Italy too (but not until the dollar is better!)