Our European trip part 2 - Pisa & Florence

Arriving in Pisa shortly after lunch, we took our luggage to the train station. They have a “left luggage” service and I believe for only 5 euro you can leave your bag for the day. That was really convenient. We then walked through the tiny town of Pisa (it’s mainly shops and a university), until we were suddenly in the large area that encompassed the famous leaning tower and a few other buildings. We had advance tickets to actually climb up the tower – which was a trip! It’s hard not to “lean” as you walk up the spiral steps all the way to the top. It’s a fantastic view from the top, where you can go outside on a balcony and enjoy it.

First stop in Pisa- gelato! This one is nutella flavor, oh mama.

The bridge in Pisa.

Walking to the leaning tower of Pisa through town

Narrow alleyways were off the main street

Rich and Stephanie trying on some of the street vendors' merchandise and doing some akward dance...

Here's the view from the top of the tower -beautiful Tuscany....

There’s not much else to do in Pisa, so we returned to the train station, rounded up our luggage, and hopped a train to Florence (Firenze as they call it there). It was so exciting to pull up to our unique hotel which was located in the well known Piazza della Santissima Annuziata, an ancient religious and charity site. I chose this place, Hotel Loggiato dei Serviti, from our Rick Steves book, and it was actually a former monastery. We just fell in love with the place! Our room was spectacular, with a large first floor and a loft upstairs that had to have been at least 500 sq. ft with lots of pretty furniture and its own bath. The European furnishings were delightful, they reminded me of my Laura Ashley shop days, and I just loved the large living room windows that swung open, affording us a view of the piazza below. Even our key was beautiful with a large maroon tassel hanging from it. Funny thing was, you turned your key in every time you left the hotel – different from what we do here in America with our credit card size hotel keys.

In the piazza of our hotel

The hallway of the hotel

The living room

Drew in the girls' loft bedroom - not sure why he's up there alone?

The upstairs bathroom - bidet included but no shower enclosure or curtain...

The daily breakfast that was included was lovely and quite formal. We dined in a charming room with large windows, at small tables complete with white linen and silver, and there was even a butler-type individual that brought us the most wonderful cappuccinos on earth. I can still taste the unbelievable croissants that they had in a neat little warmer compartment. The breakfast we had in Florence was a typical European morning meal, and consisted of yogurt, fresh fruit, stewed fruit, thin slices of ham and cheese, hardboiled eggs, a roll that is similar to a dinner roll, croissants, and mini packets of nutella which somehow made their way back to the room. :-) I was always quite happy with my cappuccino and croissant each morning. It was simply delightful. I guess it’s just plain nice to be served breakfast – so luxurious.

Our time in Florence was spent mostly on foot, exploring the town, market places, piazzas, and eating lots of gelato. They do not have a subway system and we took a cab only once to see a panoramic view of the city up high. We especially enjoyed the San Lorenzo marketplace (leather goods, scarves, etc) and the Mercato Centrale, a large indoor food market full of vendors where we purchased a beautiful lunch one day. Of course one of the major attractions of Florence is Michaelangelo’s David, which we didn’t actually visit, as you can see an exact replica in front of the Uffizi gallery. And, frankly, we just didn’t want to spend about $20/person to just go see a –well let’s be honest – a large naked man. There are plenty of free examples of that all over the city if that’s your thing. And, plenty of crass souvenirs too. I’ll spare you the details.

The view from Piazzale Michaelangelo above Florence.

San Lorenzo Marketplace - fun place to bargain!

Emma and the leather jacket she bargained for!

The Ponte Vecchio - a bridge over the Arno river that has shops built in.

I love the lone boat in the water. How peaceful.

Each gelateria had their own creative way of displaying their goods.

Best lunch in Italy - culinary delights from the Mercato centrale: prosciutto di Parma, salami, gorgonzola, Parmigiano, freshly baked artisan breads, and antipasti all eaten al fresco.

The outside cafe table settings were so inviting.

And they had so much charm. Just look at the building this one is housed in.

Florence was a really neat place to visit, and I’m glad we chose to spend the majority of our time in Italy concentrated there. We initially had trouble deciding where to spend our 4 days – we considered Venice as well, but after talking to friends decided on a brief visit to Pisa, 3 nights in Florence and 1 night in Rome. I think we made a good choice.

So, after our three wonderful days in Florence, we took the train to Rome, where we would stay one night before flying out to Israel. Part 3 on Rome coming soon!

Finally... our European trip part 1 - Paris

I have finally found the time to blog about our trip to Europe. I know, I’ve only been home for 6 weeks…. When we arrived home, it took me a week to get back in the swing of things and then Drew came home. Oh yeah, and I had Master’s Kids graduation, my niece’s wedding, house guests, Emma’s graduation, and throw in buying a new car. So here I am now.

I thought I’d put in some of my favorite pictures and also recap each country a little. Here goes, starting with France.

Paris is one place I’ve always wanted to go, and it was even better than I could have ever imagined. The place drips with charm! From the architecture down to the endless inviting outdoor cafes, I was thoroughly enchanted.

We decided to stay at an apartment to be able to all stay together and to have plenty of good space. With the five of us, we would have needed two hotel rooms, so I began to explore the option of renting an apartment. I came to discover that it was actually cheaper than two hotel rooms and I liked the idea of having one space for all of us to enjoy, rather than having to go back and forth between two separate rooms.

I found the apartment through our travel guide (I used Rick Steves’ Paris and the Unofficial Guide to Paris). I found a company called Parissimo, that owns and rents apartments around the city. Through their great website, I was able to actually pick out our specific apartment. It had around 1400 sq. ft., was light and airy, included two bedrooms + a loft, a kitchen, living room, dining room, and two bathrooms. It also had two balconies. There were wonderful photos and descriptions which ensured no surprises upon arrival. We were delighted when we entered, and what was also great about it was the fact that it was in a wonderful neighborhood (very upscale and similar to 5th Avenue in New York). It was also conveniently located close to a metro station, too. The building was ultra- charming, with a super cool elevator that fit only two people at a time (or one and a suitcase!) and had a wooden lattice gate for the door. It seemed a bit rickety but it did the job. There was also a spiral staircase that was in the middle of the building if you didn’t want to wait for the 3rd trip up the elevator. The views from the large windows were incredible. It was just the perfect place and I would totally stay there again.

This was the view from our living room window!

And a broader view. I couldn't get over it!

So, backing up to the beginning….the four of us (Rich, Emma, Stephanie, and I) began our journey by flying from LAX to London, with a brief layover in Chicago. The flight to London from Chicago was about 8 hours. It wasn’t bad at all. Rich took his first Ambien (sleep aid) and fell asleep shortly after take off – which was a shame because he missed the wonderful dinner. I love being served a hot meal on an airplane – it’s so throwback and it’s “fun” food! I love all the little compartments and eating on the tray! Plus it gives you something to do and eating is a favorite pastime of mine. Anyways, while Rich snoozed, the girls and I ate our dinner and read for awhile. I got engrossed in the book, Unbroken (highly recommended read –author Laura Hillenbrand) for a few hours and then distributed Benadryl tablets to the girls and myself. That helped us sleep for a few hours, and before we knew it, we were being awakened with sunlight and breakfast and then we landed shortly thereafter. It was a strange little 3- hour night and we were abruptly ushered into the next day with the 8 hour time change. It wasn’t too bad, as we were all pretty excited!

Upon landing, we retrieved our luggage and made our way through 2 quick trains, finally arriving at the Eurotrain station. We had some time, so we ate breakfast there in the beautiful train station. It was lovely. We then took our train from London to Paris. I think we all slept! Upon arriving at Paris, we took the metro to the nearest station of our apartment, and walked the rest of the way, dragging our luggage through town! That was a big luggage dragging day through all the train stations and many steps. Ugh. One of my favorite things about our arrival was walking down a street, looking down and seeing the Eiffel Tower come into view! It was like "look! there it is!!" That was a “wow” moment, to be sure!

We finally made it to the apartment, where it felt good to unpack, shower and relax a bit before hitting some dinner and making our way to the Eiffel Tower to meet Drew. He began his own journey earlier that day, leaving Tel Aviv and flying to Rome, then catching a flight from Rome to Paris. He then took a cab and met us at the tower at around 11:15 pm that evening. Prior to his arrival, we stood there for about an hour watching every cab, and when the one finally arrived with him inside, we all nearly exploded with excitement. I literally burst out in tears, feeling so relieved that he made it and feeling so happy to see him! It was a magical, unforgettable moment. We walked back to the apartment, talked for awhile and ate the gelato we had purchased after dinner and saved for the occasion!

The girls eagerly awaiting Drew's arrival at le Tour Eiffel...

The next morning we wisely planned nothing; we knew everyone would be a bit tired from our big travel day. Rich woke before all of us did (around 10:00 am) and went down to the charming street, rue Cler, where all the merchants vend their goods on the curbs of their shops. There are patisseries (pastry shops), boulangeries (bread shops), fromageries (cheese shops), fresh organic produce stands, and flower stands, mixed in with a lot of cafes. Rich brought us quiche, some wonderful cheese, strawberries, croissants, pain au chocolat, beignets (little filled doughnuts), and orange juice. He even picked up a pretty bouquet for the table. It was the best breakfast and the best time, sharing the table with Drew for once in a long time.

That afternoon, we did have something planned– which was our 4-hour private bike tour with the company Bike About Tours. We made it out into the city for a late lunch, where we found a cute sandwich shop. We then made our way to the location our tour began about 3:00 pm. We met our wonderful, English-speaking guide, Nicole, got fitted for our bikes, and off we went to explore and learn about this wonderful city. It was so fun and so worthwhile! We learned and saw so much, got a lot of insider tips, were introduced to our favorite bakery, Paul, and even got dinner reservations made through Nicole at the end. Everyone loved it, and said it was a great choice for first activity in Paris.

Lunch, beautiful lunch.

Pausing for a couple of photo ops on our bike tour. This one in front of the Louvre.

And this one on the bridge over the River Seine.

That night, we enjoyed dinner at Nicole's recommended restaurant (9:30 pm reservation – we ate so late there!), which was a darling, intimate place with delicious food. We had a leisurely meal, then made it back to the apartment for a much-needed good night’s sleep.

The last two days kind of blend together –we went to the Louvre (which is ginormous), saw the Mona Lisa (snooze…) and some other notable works. The Louvre is SO big, Nicole told us that if you wanted to see everything there you would have to be there from opening to closing every day for 2 months!

This photo cannot possibly capture the enormity of the Louvre. It is 260,000 square feet inside.

This picture is really funny. The Mona Lisa is SO ordinary and small yet everyone crowds to see it...



...yet this painting that faces the Mona Lisa in the same gallery room is spectacular and nobody even cares!

We continued to visit our beloved bakery, Paul, many times, took the Metro everywhere (so easy to use), saw other sights such as la Sainte-Chapelle (once the royal palace - completely spectacular) and the famous Notre Dame, went up in Eiffel Tower at night (climbing 3/4 of the way down!), and also climbed up the Arc de Triomphe in daylight (amazing view). I feel like we walked and walked and walked. It was absolutely delightful! And we had picture perfect weather. These photos below remind me of the good time we had.

In person, the Eiffel Tower just takes your breath away.

Just another meal at a typical cafe.

The River Seine.

la Sainte-Chapelle - all these incredible stained glass windows represent bible stories.

Walking rue Cler -the street vending beautiful food near our apartment.

The breathtaking view from on top of l'arc de triomphe. The street below is the famous boulevard Avenue des Champs-Elysees. Isn't Paris spectacular?

View from the top of the arc. See the Eiffel tower poking through on the left?

I never got tired of seeing these charming and inviting cafe tables.

Oh, and I loved using my (limited) French! I’ve never had a chance to actually use it – so fun! The kids learned some too, and it was fun to hear them greet people, or say please and thank you.

After four wonderful days in Paris, it was time to take a quick flight to Pisa, Italy…
hopefully I will get that up very soon!

WDW- Lemon Sour Cream Pie

I'm blogging from my phone right now since my boys have been working on my crashed laptop....
So this won't be too long of a post as I have little patience for my virtual keyboard!

I tried this pie recipe yesterday and absolutely loved it and just had to post. If you love lemons and are looking for a wonderful way to use them, boy is this recipe for you. We have a fabulous Meyer lemon tree that generously gives to us each winter, and tons of ripe lemons are still hanging from the branches. I strongly urge everyone to make this pie as soon as possible!! It's pretty much the best pie and the best lemon dessert I've ever had - and it's super easy to make! In fact, I'm going to go get a piece right now!

http://www.yourhomebasedmom.com/lemon-sour-cream-pie/

WDW - Cilantro-Walnut Pesto

WDW returns today with a fresh springtime recipe. I'm back to receiving my farm box on Wednesdays, and after two shipments since I've returned, I am stocked up with a ton of fresh produce right now! I love it. I have so much that today I made a list of it all and how I could use it. Both this week and last week, I received a large bunch of cilantro, and since I haven't been cooking too much yet, I decided to make pesto out of it and freeze it for later use. I didn't want all that beautiful cilantro to go to waste!

I personally love cilantro. It is a staple in many cuisines. Without it, fresh salsa would be flat and flavorless, and what would a good bowl of pho be like without this fragrant herb to add a bit of freshness? While pesto is traditionally made with basil, I have seen variations that sounded good, incorporating cilantro. So I decided to give it a try.

It's hard to grow cilantro here in southern California, as it is a cool weather crop. I had some growing this past winter, and it did fairly well, but when we had a few hot days, it bolted and that was it. So, I consider it a real treat to get a bunch in the farm box or farmer's market.

If you do buy a nice bunch, or get one in your farm box, the best way to keep it fresh is to treat it as you would fresh flowers. I grab a big mason jar and fill it about halfway with water, place the stems in the water, and refrigerate. Can you tell the difference between these two bunches of cilantro below? One is a week old, and one arrived today - but both are fresh as can be. You can see how fresh it can stay with a little T.L.C. By the way, this is also a good way to store fresh asparagus.

I basically just took my regular pesto recipe (below), substituted the cilantro, and changed out the pine nuts for walnuts. Pine nuts are so stinkin' expensive these days, I hardly ever buy them. Not to say that I don't drool when I walk by the big bag of them at Costco, but when I see the $27.00 price tag, I quickly move past them and get a bag of walnuts or almonds instead. I toasted them in a 400 degree oven for about 5-7 minutes to bring out the flavor. For the cheese, I actually used some that I brought home from Italy (*smile*) but parmigiano or pecorino would be just great.

My trusty old retro Cuisinart - still going strong after 24 years of marriage! I just dump everything in and pulverize with a little olive oil, then add more oil to desired texture.

I usually freeze my pesto in small bags or containers. If you don't have freezer containers, just tuck regular ones (like mine) into Ziploc freezer bags. That makes for easy labeling, too (you don't have to label your containers).

So, what to do with pesto, you ask? I love pesto smeared on grilled chicken, salmon, or shrimp (I have some shrimp marinating in it right now for tonight's dinner- I'll skewer and grill them). It also adds amazing flavor to grilled veggies, is fantastic drizzled over caprese salad(thin with a little lemon juice), or even spread on a panini sandwich (I like rotisserie chicken, provolone and pesto). And of course, you can always stir it into pasta if you like. The possibilities are endless...a little goes a long way ... enjoy!

Pesto Sauce

1-2 cloves garlic, peeled
¼ cup toasted pine nuts
2 cups fresh basil
½ tsp. salt
1 cup fresh Parmesan cheese
Approx. 1 cup olive oil

In a food processor, combine all ingredients except oil. Process until smooth. Slowly add oil to desired consistency.

To store, pour into freezer containers and cover with a thin layer of olive oil.

Makes 12 ozs. pesto sauce. Recipe doubles easily.

So you don't have to look at my feet anymore

I decided to put up a post today so you won't have to look at my feet anymore. I was rather mortified myself when I saw them full screen (they looked kind of cute on my iphone screen).

WE ARE HOME!!!

It. Was. Amazing.

I hope to blog soon about each individual city. I am waiting for Emma to sort through the 3500+ pictures she took, and then I will post pictures and stories from our time. It may take some time...

I'm glad I was able to blog a little bit from my iphone in Paris and Florence. Once we got to Israel, Blogger was in Hebrew, and it was a lost cause (it was in French in Paris, and Italian in Italy, but I was able to muddle through.) And in London, we had trouble connecting with wifi every place we tried. I think the UK is incompatible with our iphones. That's okay, as you know we were quite busy going to the Royal Wedding and all.

This week, I'm just laying low, easing back into life, and dealing with a little jet lag. At night, I'm sleeping like a baby - waking up every two hours!! Benadryl = my middle of the night friend. :-) Hopefully soon my body will realize I'm back on California time.

Meredith & Jonathan (our friends & house sitters) left our house *sparkling* clean and in order so I had no housework upon returning. Even the sheets and towels were washed - our bed was ready to fall into. I can't tell you what a blessing that was after our 11 hour flight and the time difference. Not only that, but Jonathan surprised us by doing all the yardwork, and Meredith left flowers in all the vases, darling cupcakes and a welcome home sign on the kitchen table, and she filled all our candy dishes full! Yah, I have some rockin' friends. :-)

Yesterday, Rich took the day off and we unpacked and hit Trader Joe's. I also got all the laundry done, and we caught up on our Tivo'ed episodes of American Idol!! I'm loving my bed and my shower and the treat of wearing clean, unworn clothes. God blessed us tremendously on our trip, but there's no place like home and living for the Lord here in Shadow Hills.