Morning on the Italian Riviera

HOLY CRAP! What a fantastic view out the windows of this hotel room! This has to be the best deal on the Italian Riviera, all night we could hear the waves rolling in, but didn't realize just how nice the view was going to be. There is a small port with sail boats docked below and a view of the Mediterranean as far as the eye can see. The name of the little town that Hotel Lucciola is in is Saint Stefano de Mer on SS-1.

We drove further down the coast on one of the most beautiful drives that I've ever been on. The little towns along the way were so picture perfect with little alleys and narrow streets finding their way down to the beach. We stopped in a couple little towns, most not knowing their names, one that we remember was called Alessio. Being able to park in these little towns is the trickiest part, we ended up across town, under the train tracks and up a windy little road to park the car. We walked through town and down to the beach where I went swimming then we walked further down the beach and found a pizzeria that faced the beach so we stopped to eat.

The pizza wasn't really that great, after finishing eating we went down the to beach to get a little sun. :) The weather was a bit colder than yesterday but still very warm at about 24 C.

After Alessio we decided that if we were going to make it to our B and B before night we had better start taking the Autostrada (freeway). So, we drove for about 2 hours to Torino and followed our directions to the tiny, tiny town that we were staying in, Cavagnolo (not even on any maps of Italy it's so small). We attempted to try and find the B and B ourselves, but failed so we drove back down the hill and called her like she said to and she would drive us up there. I called the house number and got an Italian woman and she couldn't speak ANY english, she kept trying to say the same thing over and over again, then just said "oh, disatero..." (it was very funnY) her husband got on the phone and gave me Cristina's cell phone number. I called her and she came and met us in the church parking lot.

We followed her up the winding road (way past where we thought it was), up, up, up the small winding road we kept going. Views kept getting better and better, the houses more authentic Italian and just plain awesome looking. Once we finally reached the crest of the hill we were driving up she stopped. The house was awesome and that was just the beginning.

Cristina opened the door of the house and we went straight to the kitchen where her mother (the one trying to talk to me on the phone), father and daughter were in making dinner. We're talking, this was the picture perfect version of Italy that everyone imagines!! Old stone house, grandmother making hand made dough for dinner, old Italian grandfather and cute Italian little 5 year old girl at the table watching her grandmother cook. This was a perfect scene.

Then she took us upstairs where she showed us the room that we'd be staying in and it has the old, white, skinny doors that open up to a TREMENDOUS view and deck overlooking the Monteferro hills. This place cannot be true, but it is and this is where we are staying for the next week! Awesome. After showing us around the house she said "Just let me know if you'd like to stay for dinner tonight," that was quickly responded to with a "two, please".

As I sit here and write this is so much like a movie, I look out the open doors to a beautiful view of the hills and village below, hear the Grandfather and Granddaughter downstairs singing Italian songs together... Oh yeah, and outside there is a small little patio that has this same view with flowers on an arbor above - looks like a great place to have a nice lunch or read a book.

See the next post about the dinner we both had tonight...

Where the hell are we? Oh yeah, the South of France... :)

Both of us woke up at 6 a.m. so we decided to book it from the flea bag motel that we were in and go down to Cannes la Bocca and go to the beach and Patisserie. We took the N-7 from Juan les Pins to La Bocca and went to the small boulangerie and patisserie that is next to the Pierre en Vaccance that I stay at for the festival. Then we walked across the street to get coffee from a small cafe. After breakfast we drove down the beach and stopped a little before we made it into Cannes itself, then we walked into town. I showed Dad all over, the Palais, the Croisette, the spot that the AmPav is usually set up and we walked all over Cannes. We stopped for some more coffee around the Forville Market, then we walked through the market. Dad was amazed that they could have awesome markets like that here on a daily basis and couldn't understand why we couldn't have them at home, of course I totally feel the same way and think that we should find a way to start something like that at home.

After walking pretty much all over Cannes and seeing all the important parts (at least to my routine in Cannes) we walked back to La Bocca and got a Demi Poulet Roti and Pommes, to the Huit au Huit to get some Blood Orange Juice and Berre Maimie Pomme Tartlets, as well as back to the boulangerie to get some bread and pastries. With our wonderful little treasures in hand we walked down to the beach to eat. No napkins, just the Mediterranean Sea to wash our hands after eating.

We both took a little post-lunch nap on the beach in the 28 C weather (which is beautiful by the way) then went on our way when a small cloud cover came by our spot. By the time we made our way back to the car the cloud cover had gone and it was nothing but clear, blue skies so we decided to indulge ourselves just a little. We ended up on the beach for at least another 2 hours, I went swimming in the Sea, got knocked over by a huge wave where I was, way out beyond the break point so I decided that I was done. Yeah, that was the strange part, the Sea is usually very calm and just rolls in the waves, this time of year they were HUGE.

Tanning session number one complete we decided to move on down the road, we ended up stopping in Monaco at Monte Carlo. Dad is just like a little kid at Christmas when it comes to all the motorcycles all over the road. It's pretty cool here, they don't have the same rules the cars do, so they just pass cars whenever they want, resulting in an almost separate lane just for the motorcycles in each direction of traffic.

We went into the casino and used their bathrooms (just to watch the toilet seat rotate as it sanitizes it - Mom will appreciate this) then we decided that we should find a hotel. Turns out it was a good thing that we left because I was thinking that we would just drive down to San Remo in Italy and find a hotel no problem, but we couldn't find a single parking spot in San Remo to even stop and ask about a hotel so we drove further down.

We found the hotel, Hotel Lucciola, and checked in just after we had both resided to the fact that we were going to have to sleep in the car if nothing came up soon. Then, we found this place as Dad said we would find a place with a light shining on it, and the freaky thing is that this place had a light shining on the sign and roof of the hotel and that's all you could see from the road. I guess you'd have to see the other hotels that we had seen to understand why this was a strange sign, its' like Dad knew where we were going to stay.

The place ended up being really nice, the guy at the front desk only spoke Italian, so that was interesting checking in, but he was still very nice. Turns out that our cheap room (67 E for a double room) has a spectacular view of the sea. Right now as a lie in bed after dinner we have the window open and can just hear the waves roll in one right after another - quite a sound to go to sleep to!

The dinner was awesome! It was everything that we were looking for, picture perfect little restaurant, Italian speaking waiters, pre fixe menu, and the room just up the stairs from the dinner table. We had been holding out drinking wine at home leading up to this trip and we had our first wine, a Rose from Italy for 10 Euros.

Dad and I had: Spaghetti with garlic, hot chile, basil and olive oil (parmesan cheese on top), DAD: Pork Scaloppine, peppers, olives (green and black, whole and sliced), capers, olive oil and vinegar. ME: Fish stew; potatoes, tomatoes, whole olives, parsley. Salad with butter lettuce and sliced tomatoes, gelato for dessert. The dinner was awesome, and the restaurant was filled with locals, that's when you know that it's good is when the Italians next to you are enjoying it.

It is now 10 p.m. and I should get to sleep so that we may get up early, since Dad is already asleep and will probably wake up before me already.

Let the adventure begin!

After being shuffled onto the tiny little plane we found our seats in the middle section of the plane. This pathetic excuse for an airplane was going to take us over the pole all the way to Germany?! There's more room on the paper airplane that you fly in from Eugene to Portland!

It was alright though, Dad actually didn't complain once, except to agree with me on how small it was. Then the true test came and the man in front of him immediately put his seat back and it literally came to his belly button! Well, enough about how small the plane was - we both tried to get some sleep in. We got to enjoy some really delicious (sense the sarcasm) airplane food, watch a couple of movies (The Lake House and Akeelah and the Bee), eat some more, sleep and arrive in Germany.

Here we sit now in the Frankfurt airport, we just paid €7,60 for two Coke Light's and a pretzel (had to get a pretzel in Germany) and we still have 2 1/2 hours until our plane leaves for Nice, France. We have now resorted to diving into the back up food supply that we brought along - Grape Nuts bars - our saving grace.

After a short delay being able to get on the flight to Nice - flight crew not there - 25 minute delay. The worst part is that the flight was only an hour and a half and it was a more comfortable so I had quickly fallen asleep only to find that it was time to wake up again. As we started to make our approach into Nice I was quickly disappointed because it was cloudy and this was the part that I was most looking forward to Dad seeing. When you fly into Nice you fly right over Cannes and the beaches so it's really too bad that we missed out on all that and landed in the rain - welcome to the South of France.

With a little adventure we found the car rental place and got the car, it turned out to be a European SUV! Ugh, thought we were coming to Europe to get a small car that's easy to get in and out of the small streets that they have everywhere.

Alright, on to the next venture - finding the hotel. That was quite a venture, I got directions off the internet but it turned out that well, they sucked. We got totally lost and just got lucky by driving though the small town, Juan led Pins, that I found a street from the directions and found the hotel. I booked a hotel off of Expedia and looked like it was going to be a nice, small, chic hotel with very urban, trendy decor, free wi-fi, and free parking. Well, it turned out to be an absolute dump, there was no wi-fi and the parking was just on the street and which I still say we were in a pay parking spot and just got lucky that they didn't give us a ticket. We checked in at 5 p.m. and slept until 6 am the next morning! We were obviously tired, no dinner, just sleep.

Taking Off!

I awoke this morning just like other mornings, but this one I was off to the airport where Dad and I took off for our journey. This will be Dad's first trip out of the US (with the exception of Whistler, BC), and my third trip this year alone to Europe. Today we're flying to Nice, France where we'll stay near Antibes in Juan-les-Pins in a chic hotel near the beach. In a few days we will be in Cavagnolo, Italy staying in a small B and B near Tornio for the Slow Food conference, the Salone del Gusto.

Currently we are in the Portland airport where on the overhead speakers they are blarring about the upcoming boarding of our flight to Frankfurt. "Good afternoon ladies and gentelmen...boarding will begin in 10-15 minutes. Please board by row number and wait for your row to be called before attempting to board the plane....flight time today is nine hours forty-eight minutes..."

When asked if I'm getting excited about the trip, I responded as always, "I'll believe it when I see the beaches of the Riviera from the last plane." When travelling on long flights like this you just kind of feel like you're going through the motions and what's waiting at the end is a long ways off - like a mirage. It's hard to realize where you're going until you can see it and touch it, that is when you get excited. I think Dad is feeling about the same way, just going along until the plane stops in Nice and we got off to the beautiful weather, palm trees and waves rolling up on the shore.

This trip will be awesome though, while in Turin we will get a chance to sample some of the best meat, cheese, bread, pastries, wine, beer, coffee, etc. All this, while enjoying the beautiful scenery of Northern Italy and taking in the sights and sounds of another country, immersing ourselves as much as possible to this new culture and surroundings. Hopefully Dad will enjoy this trip, I have every map, hotel phone number, car rental number, etc...to make the trip easier and stress-free.

Also in Turin for the conference is Alan, Bart, David and Krissy so this should be fun, there are many places that are nearby like Asti, Barbara, Barolo, Alba (during the white truffle festival!) and many others. After the conference we are flying down to Sicily to try and rent a motorcycle and drive around the island for a few days then drive back up the coastline and through Rome and Tuscany back to Nice.

Well, they are back on the intercom to welcome us to board our flight so I should go now. I will try to update this everyday, normally I keep a paper copy of a journal for my travels - now I'm going to try using a blog because I can type faster. :)

Off we go!