Back in Rome now, so the vacation portion of our Italian vacation is over. We may or may not have over-indulged in Siena on Sunday night, so we did not get our act together quickly enough to make it back to il Campo to see another morning of race trials before the real thing happens tonight. Instead, we ventured down for breakfast and watched it on TV. It's basically the same. And about breakfast, let me just say that I will never get tired of having meats and cheeses for breakfast, with a (couple of) cappuccinos on the side.
We wandered around Siena a bit more in the morning. Saw the Fortezza, which was kind of lame and explains why Siena lost out to Florence. As we made our way back to the square, a very young American couple approached us and asked, "Where is the town center?" After pointing them in the right direction, the girl asked, "is there a place you'd recommend for a cappuccino?" Liza and I laughed about this all day...yes, there is a place we'd recommend: Italy. Anywhere.
After a cappuccino of our own on the square, we hit the road again. Liza talked me into stopping in another Tuscan hill town (UGH, IF I MUST) about halfway back to Rome: Civita di Bagnoregio. The "ultimate Tuscan hill town" according to Rick Steves, is a tiny village accessible only by foot bridge. A very steep one at that. If the pictures look familiar it's because it's become you probably saw it as the backdrop of the made-for-TV movie "Pinocchio." You're picturing it right now, aren't you?
The walk up the foot bridge: brutal. Liza of course crushed it without problem, and now is a good time to say that one thing I won't miss when I leave is the way she shows off walking up hills and stairs. OKAY WE GET IT. We wandered around a bit, then tried to grab a snack/lunch at a cafe. CdB (not to be confused with CdP) has kind of turned into Disneyland, as most/all of the residents have fled, while their relatives and newcomers have turned it into a destination for eating and sleeping. That said, they seemed to really hate us in CdB, as we had a hard time finding a place that would pay attention to us. After many failed attempts we had some bruschetta, pecorino, questionable wine (ugh, pass the Nobiles por favor!), and two sausages. The guys at the table next to us were clearly in a band, and clearly all totally awesome as they each had on a different Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt. I looked around to see if there was a Hard Rock CdB, but no luck.
After a few awesome shots frolicking on the footbridge, ruining other people's photos, we got back in the car and made it the rest of the way to Rome without incidence. We missed one turn which didn't make us lost, but it did make us (OOPS!) accidentally run smack dab into St. Peters Basilica. I'm getting so sick of that thing. I celebrated the last portion of our road trip adventure by crushing the remnants of a bottle of Rosso di Montalcino, and when we got home we sat out on Liza's terrace having some Lo from The Hills.
For my last night we walked back up to the look out point ("you look like candy") for some photos, and then back down to Trastevere for dinner. I finally got to try some Cacio e pepe (a Roman standard dish) and we ended our meal with my first and last Limoncello of the trip to toast our good times. I'd like EOB and LJ to note that in Tuscany I purchased you both very expensive bottles of grappa, so I look forward to watching you both drink them without complaining.
Then we came home and had a dance party. Obviously.
Liza's off at work now, and I'm packing up my crap to head off this afternoon on the fourth and final stage of this vakay: LJsquared in London for some inappropriate laughs and ill-advised binge drinking. To summarize Italy: it's the best. If you want to argue with me, you will lose, mainly because I will kill you. Discussions for our 2012 vacation are already underway, even though I asked if I could perhaps have a little time to figure out how I'm paying for this one, but we both think that coming back to Italy every other year might not be such a terrible thing.
Random:
-I feel like I haven't been that funny on this blog, mainly because there have been fewer hijinx and fewer zany characters. WELL I'M SORRY. That said one person I've failed to mention is the daughter of the proprietors at La Crociana Farm: Barbara. Think "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" pre-makeover except Italian. Actually, even better, she looks like the child-catcher from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" another movie that Liza and EOB haven't seen but think has no plot.
-My other favorite zany character: meth head in CDP.
-Though navigating hasn't been my strongest suit since arriving here, it is significantly easier to drive around Italy than it is to drive around Spain. Another reason Italy wins.
-I'm really excited for the chaos of RyanAir this afternoon. I mean, really excited.
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