Cappadoccia is a magical region filled with cities built into the mountains and otherworldly fairy chimney formations. "...as a result of the vulcanic eruptions that occurred in the region, a large tableland formed from the vulcanic tufas and together with the erosion of the Kizilirmak river and wind over ten thousands of years there appeared the chimney rocks which are a wonder of the nature."
We toured these ancient cities built into the side of the mountains and underground. Initially they were built to protect inhabitants from wild animals and later to protect the first Christians fleeing persecution from the Romans in the 2nd century BC. These cities were made in form of rooms connected to each other. Some of the rooms were connected to each other only with the tunnels tight and permitting passing of just one person. At the access gates of these tunnels there were huge stone rollers used for closing the tunnels for security reasons.
We stayed in a beautiful renovated "cave hotel", far from roughing it or fleeing some persecution (other that the screeching children) we had a spectacular room with a "cave" for the kids to sleep in and a bed or our own (a rarity these days:). The Museum Hotel is filled with gorgeous antiques and tapestries (Turkey is known for) and is a truly special place. www.museum-hotel.com.
We had been looking forward to our week in Ravello for some time. It would be the first time we were to have a visitor from home--Denise. It was a magical week filled with beautiful scenery, making new friends and spending quality time with an old one and visiting one of the most incredible ancients sites in the world--Pompeii.
Villa Scarpiello, Ravello
We stayed at the Villa Scarpiello in Ravello. It's not technically in the town of Ravello which was 1700 steps above us, but perched literally on the edge of the earth above the pristine and achingly blue waters of the Golf of Salerno. We met two groups of people early in our stay and ended up having a wonderful time with them--we even had a party the second to last night. Rob and Gayle Macchi, Sheila and Angelo all from Boston and Rob, Tina and Madeline from Toronto. Adele and Madeline are very close in age and had so much fun together.
Isle of Capri
We actually spent the whole day in Capri with Tina, Rob and Madeline. We're so glad we did as without their encouragement we probably wouldn't have made the long journey down to the sea from the top of the Isle of Capri. But what we found at the bottom was worth every step back up. We found a delightful "beach club" complete with a restaurant with fresh seafood and pasta. It was the perfect place to while away a couple of hours with our new friends away from the maddening crowds of Capri. Despite it being overrun with tourists, we all found Capri captivating and this is the only place on the Amalfi coast we would return to.
We had tired of Tuscany (oh i know, poor us) and we decided to pop over to the Adriatic. With very little help from our beleagured gps (she sent us 200 km out of the way) we landed well after dark at a former Napoleon fort that has been converted to a hotel--Hotel Fortino. It doesn't get much cooler than sleeping where Napoleon did. Vince loved it, it was too old (ancient) for Adele.
There wasn't a tourist in site, nor a town for that matter. We spent 2 blissful days hanging out with the Italians (see pic below) and having a grand old time. Truly some of the best food in all of Italy--restaurants on the ocean serving that days catch and promoting what is known as the "slow food movement", which by the way was started in this region!
Florence is a special city--the sights, the food, the art--all one of a kind.
The pics say the rest.....
Sirmione
We arrive at our destination, Sirmione, an indescribably quaint Italian lake town at 4 pm on the last Sunday of summer. Why you ask does this matter? Well, we had to drive through impossibly narrow streets (you can touch both sides) filled with (I kid you not) thousands of human beings wondering why there was a vehicle in a pedestrian only town. Despite all the fjord and country road training Steve has had on this trip NOTHING prepared him for this. Possibly the most stressful 20 minutes of our trip was spent driving thru these medieval streets to get to our hotel at the end of point in the middle of Lago di Garda. By the time we got there, we were willing to pay any amount of money to have someone else drive our car out of there.
Sirmione is a beautiful town filled with fantastic restaurants and lots of Italians. We had many good meals and saw some awesome Roman ruins, but the weather wasn't quite warm enough and Vince had an issue with the "cuzzi". We've come to find that that the Italians like their jacuzzis cold?! WE don't. We had calmed down after our 3 day stay and got up at the crack of dawn to insure "light" pedestrian traffic for our drive out--we made it.
Real Balsalmic Vinegar from Modena and Ferraris
As most of you know, Adele is quite the connoisseur of balsamic vinegar and Vince of race cars, so we found kid heaven in Modena. We went on a personal tour of the home of one of the founders of "traditional" balsamic vinegar from Modena. I want you all to know, if it doesn't say "traditional from Modena" on it, it's not real. And you can taste the difference. What a thrill to be in the home of the matriarch of the movement to distinguish the home brewed concoction from the factory watered down version. To top off the day, we visited the Ferrari Museum. I would like to think that Vince is well rounded and would enjoy a day at the Louvre as much as looking at race cars, but not true. Vince was absolutely transfixed with these bright red vehicles. He literally sat for 1/2 an hour just staring, we finally had to peel him out of there. See pics. A great town to vist--who would have known.
Finally, it has stopped raining. That's because we are in Italy. We just so happen upon the lovely town of Bolzano to stay for a stopover on our way to the Lago de Garda--wow, what a treat. First, we have a 2 bedroom "suite" and this is more room than we've had in 3 months, secondly the cafe at the hotel we are staying at is tres chic. I realize this isn't the best place for us to start our re-entry into civilization after 3 months of camping, but we're going to shower and give it our best. The food is oh so good and we eat to our hearts content. We go to bed watching the U.S. Open, another luxury we've done without--TV-- and could not be happier.
We decided to stop by the Messner Mountain Museum, those of you fellow armchair mountaineers will know who Reinhold Messner is: first to summit Everest without oxygen, first to summit all the 8000+m mountains and the list goes on. He has created this stunning, modern museum within the confines of the grounds of the Castel Firmiano (see pics). What an amazing juxtaposition of old and new, and a great history lesson in mountaineering which goes way back in the Tyrol mountains.
Our final days in Germany were appropriately spent with our friends Jana and Mira in the tiny, beautiful village of Bühlerzell. Mira and her mother Jana lived down the street from us on Clifftop Way for a year. We stormed into their bucolic life 5 days earlier than planned. Mom had had enough of the rain and camping and begged Jana to let us come early. She and Mira were the most gracious of hostesses. They took us to truly the coolest town in Germany, Schwäbisch Hall--very artsy and hip. We started at the market where we bought the most amazing cheese, veggies and desserts. We then had a great lunch at this hip spot where the kids had there own corner upstairs to dine and we adults could actually talk.
Back at home we were treated to the most delectable meals by both Jana and her friends. It was so close to being home that I almost cried. Adele and Mira reunited as if time had stood still. They spent 4 blissful days together doing what girls their age do--sharing ipod songs, dancing, putting on "shows" and exploring the woods. Our time here was heavenly.
2 of our favorite things about Switzerland, and there are many, are the cheese and the Thermes!
I, with my nose in the air dismissed going to Gruyere, thinking it would be another touristy gimmick of a town--I couldn't have been more wrong! The old town was set within ancient walls and was filled with modern restaurants and fabulous galleries. There was a bar where the ceiling and chairs were made of bones (albeit fake, but cool nonetheless--see pic). We spent a couple of hours hanging out in this impressive town and then did the requisite cheese factory tour the next day. So glad we didn't miss this one.
If the Jungfrau is the place between heaven and earth, then the Vals Therme IS absolute heaven!! The Therme is listed as a protected building. Photos of the Therme have been published around the world: "A lesson in courage and aesthetics", "a unique archaic bathing and therapy landscape replete with quiet sensuality", "a spa such as the has never been seen before". I was on a quest to see this place, so despite the fact that Vince had a gash in his head from falling that morning and Steve's general resistance--I pushed onwards. In one of the more harrowing, we've had SO many, drives round hundreds of blind curves where numerous semis carrying Vals water were waiting for us--we made it. Oh, and was it ever worth it. Please see above quote for the sublime description and my pics below. Don't like that this is a footnote, but forgot to talk about Chateau de Chillion, truly the best castle we've seen! Check out the website for more: http://www.chillon.ch/en/NOTE: 2 Sets of Pictures
