SofoTravelers

A note to the reader....

2010-09-22T05:35:00.000-04:00

Blogger lists all these posts from newest to oldest, so if you want to read them in order, you will want to use the list on the right to click on each post to view them chronologically.

The Wines of Coltibuono

2007-10-03T08:37:00.000-04:00

I was a little concerned that this day wouldn't go off as planned. Originally, I had set up a wine tasting with the Abbey at 1100, followed by lunch. When we arrived, Adria (who had been immensely helpful in the planning stages) informed me that something "big" was going on, and they wouldn't be able to do the wine tasting and tour at 1100 as had been planned, and that lunch would probably be impossible as they had a big group coming in. I was crushed. I put on my saddest face, and then started reminding them, oh so subtly, of how much wine we'd purchased from them over the last year (Trattoria Sofo is proudly the largest retailer/reseller of Coltibuono wines in the area), and she started to give in, asking if we could manage to do the wine tour/tasting at 1000, instead of 1100 (wine at 10am??), and then a break, with lunch at 2pm. Lunch, she said, would have to be the same menu as the large group. I decided it would be perfect (especially in light of the alternative), so we went ahead with the new schedule.

So, at 10am, the group gathers in the courtyard of the Abbey, and we start our tour with Barbara, the most wonderfully knowledgeable guide one could have. I had also communicated with Barbara several times during the planning stages, so it was a great pleasure to finally meet her. She took us first to the gardens just outside the courtyard. A typical Renaissance garden, it sits on the south side of the 17th century addition to the original abbey, where it gets sun all day long. She told us great stories about the Monks who founded and built the abbey, and how, most amazingly, they planted thousands of pine trees on the surrounding acres to have wood to continue building. Pine trees now grow all over, in an area that has none otherwise. It makes it look, as Barbara said, as if one is in Switzerland instead of Tuscany. It's really amazing. We walked through the abbey, toured the old dining room, and saw the salt box, which was at one time, always locked. We learned that the word "salary" is originally derived from the word for salt, as it was so rare in past times that people were often paid with salt, instead of coin. We also learned that the monks lived longer lives than most people in the area, and part of the reason for that is believed to be that they had ample amounts of salt to dry meat and eat protein even during the harsh cold winters. Of greatest note, however, is that we learned of the law limiting wine consumption for the monks to a mere 4 liters per day!! Ha ha ha.

After our tour of the Abbey and the gardens, we headed into the caves, where wine is aged before bottling. Huge barrels line the walls where the wine is held until just the right time for bottling. Beyond the aging cellars, we were taken to the private cellar of the current owners, where they keep vintage wines going back to 1937.

The Abbey at Coltibuono

2007-10-02T12:58:00.000-04:00

I've decided that my first entry after the long drought will be about the Abbey at Coltibuono...for two reasons: 1) because it came right after Rome, so it makes sense, and 2) because I went out to the rue Montorgueil earlier (it's a great pedestrian street with all kinds of amazing markets) and bought a tenderloin of pork, some potatoes and green beans, a fresh block of Chevre and a baguette. The pork et. al. is in the oven, and I'm dining on some of the Chevre with the baguette as I drink the last of the Chianti Classico that's left from our shipment from the Abbey. Before we arrived in Rome, I had the Abbey ship 12 bottles of their wine to the hotel and the staff at the Hotel Canada were nice enough to put a bottle in each room before we arrived. So...as I sit here and type about the Abbey, with the smell of baked pork wafting through my little rented apartment and a bit of Chevre on my plate, I will drink what remains of the Coltibuono Chianti and try to share the story of our visit there with you.....

The day itself began kind of strangely. Carl, Jeanne and I (oh, and Shakil too), walked over to the train station to pick up our rental cars. After waiting in line behind some dork that was having "issues", we finally got to the desk to discover that two of the cars we reserved weren't available. Uh oh. There's kind of a long story about why we rented the cars we did, but I won't get into it all. Suffice it to say that Carl didn't want to drive a stick shift, so we were limited to the types of cars we could rent right from the get-go, because in Europe in general, there's no such thing as a car with an automatic transmission. Anyway...we were left with one option. A BMW Sport Station Wagon that was twice the amount of one of the cars, and the same amount as BOTH of them. Oddly, another thing a little different about Europe is that despite our complaints that they didn't have the car we reserved, they weren't willing to give us one we wanted at the same price. Go figure. So, we decided that our only option was to go with the two-car option. One 9 passenger minivan, and a 5 passenger station wagon. As we left the Hertz counter and headed toward the cars, I was crossing my fingers that 14 people AND their luggage would fit in the space those two cars had to offer. (I want to get into all the goofy detail about getting to the BMW and neither Carl nor I could figure out how to get the damn thing started...but to save ourselves the embarrassment, I'll skip it. (Note: put your foot on the break). So...off Carl and I go, speeding through Rome to get to the Minivan, only to discover that someone had double-parked next to it, and it wasn't going anywhere. So...now...you have to know that at this point, it's like 10:30, and I was adamant about leaving the hotel at 10. We'd already left John behind before on our way to the Vatican tour, so everyone was on their best behavior to make sure they were in the lobby, bags ready to go, checked-out...yada yada yada, and here we are....late with the transportation.

OK...so anyway...the dude finally shows up to move his car, and off we go again, speeding around Rome like all the rest of the maniacs that should never be licensed to drive a car. We make it to the hotel to the cheers of everyone waiting, and much to my surprise, somehow, the men managed to get every bag into the cars. It really was a miracle. If someone had brought one extra bag, it wouldn't have fit. It was perfect.

I think the pork is done...hang on.....

Oh my gosh! If you've never had farm raised pork with organically grown potatoes and green beans loaded with herbs de provence, butter, salt and pepper...you need to get on a plane and get over here in time for leftovers. And it's perfect with the Chianti. Yum!!!

OK...wow...that was good....now back to the story.....

So...we get the bags loaded, and off we go. I decided that these drivers in Rome ain't got nothin' on a good ol' American from the Midwest, so I head right out into traffic...taking no hostages. Boom! It's probably only if you've ever been in a taxi in Rome that you can appreciate how they drive over there. Apparently, there are no rules. So I just went with it. 0-60 in 4 seconds on a pedestrian filled street?? No problem. Edging your way around some loser that hesitated for half a second?? I'm in. With Kelly in the navigator's seat looking for street signs, we were off and running. Within just a few minutes, we were headed for the Autostrada, whizzing past ancient ruins, plowing over little old ladies (no disrespect intended), and hitting speeds of 80 (kph, that is) without looking back. I even honked a couple of people to the delight of all my passengers. It was a moment worth remembering.

Out of Rome and speeding along on the Autostrada, we were using directions from mappy.com to get us to Coltibuono. Here's hint number one: NEVER USE MAPPY FOR DIRECTIONS! They were so bad, we missed our first exit. That led to the first of what would become many heated discussions about where the heck we were. After zooming through about 18 little towns trying to get us back on the right course, I finally stopped and went to consult with the folks in the other car. OK..um...that wasn't pleasant, to say the least. You see, they KNEW we missed the first exit. So they were just following along behind us wondering what the HELL we were doing. Their patience was running out. I made them take the lead. Which was actually a good thing, because Carl and his sporty little BMW station wagon could take the turns a lot better than my honkin' 9 passenger behemoth of a "mini" van, and after they took the lead, wound up arriving at Coltibuono about 15 minutes before we did. Ah...but alas, 44 missed turns and a few heated moments, and we too finally arrived at the Abbey. Oh my....

I will post all of the pictures from the Abbey on the restaurant website, but these are just a few to give you an idea of how beautiful the place was. On our arrival day, we all met at the Abbey's restaurant to have a little plate of cold-cuts and some wine. After we finished, we decided that since the restaurant was full for dinner, Laurie, Bob, John and I would go in search of a market to find some food to cook, and then we'd make dinner for everyone using the kitchen that was in the apartment that John and David were sharing. So...off we go. Or so we thought. We headed into Gaiole in Chianti, only to discover after talking to a very nice woman that I nodded to several times buy didn't understand, that there was some kind of festival going on, and, it was Sunday, so apparently everything was closed. The best that came from our foray into Gaiole was a private joke for the rest of the trip that included the word "Festa" every time something was going quite like it should. Ah...but undeterred as we were, we headed off to Sienna, knowing that if we made it to a bigger city, we'd find something. Mistake number 2. We did find a huge, (and I mean, really, really big) grocery store...but it was closed. So, still undeterred and with an unrelenting drive, we did what every other red-blooded American would do in a time like this: We stopped at a Pizza place and bought 7 pizzas to go!!! Once we arrived back at the Abbey (only 45 minutes later than we'd planned), everyone met in the beautiful living room, where I tried without success to start a fire in the biggest fireplace I've ever seen, and ate cold pizza. Oh...and we had wine too. Finally, day 1 at the Abbey was coming to an end. Everyone was tired after driving, and our dinner of cold pizza just couldn't motivate anyone to get excited about too much more. So after saying our goodnights, everyone turned in.....

Catching Up

2007-10-02T10:51:00.000-04:00

Ok...so here it is on Tuesday at 5 o'clock in Paris and I haven't posted anything on the blog for almost a week. Internet access was much more difficult to find than I thought it would be, and when I could find it, it was really expensive. I paid (with our horrible exchange rate) almost $75 for four days in Rome, when I was actively updating, and then when I could find it in other places, it averaged about $8 for 15 minutes. So, alas, the blog got neglected.

I am writing today from Paris. Yesterday morning the last of the original crew departed back to the States. Mechelle and Pete and I were the last three, and we spent a pretty relaxing day wondering around Paris. Had dinner at my favorite restaurant in the world (barring Sofo's of course) called Le Petit Prince. We had an awesome meal, and it was simply perfect, as it always seems to be. Then I left them as they took their final leg on the train back to their hotel for a mid-morning pickup to head back to the states.

Now that I have some time, I will load as many pictures as I can on here to finish blogging our Italy trip. All in all, I think everyone had a pretty amazing time. We lost a few people along the way who had to leave early, so in the end, we had a few less than we thought we would, but I'm happy to say that everything turned out great, and although we missed some friends near the end, those of us that had the privilege to stay got to experience one of the most amazing trips ever.

Later this evening I will try to add some more info about the specifics. Until then, I hope everyone reading this is well, and, as we say in French....a la prochaine...until the next time.

Quick note to catch up....

2007-09-25T00:14:00.000-04:00

Hello to all happy followers of the blog. I've had no Internet access for my laptop since we arrived at Coltibuono, so I haven't been able to update anything. We are leaving in a few hour to go to Santa Margherita, where I should be able to sit down and catch everyone up. We've had an amazing time here at the Abbey, and some of us went to Florence last night for a few hours. Lots to tell and share, so as soon as I can connect my laptop and start downloading pictures and take the time to type everything, you'll have some fresh new material to read. Thanks for following along, and for posting your own comments. They are fun for everyone here to read, and we appreciate them. I'll write more as soon as I'm connected. MTF

A warning for Zack...

2007-09-22T09:33:00.000-04:00

After walking around the city for 3 days, it is the general consensus of the group that you should never bring Susan to Rome.....at every corner there is a man selling purses. At one place, just outside the Vatican, there was a large tent set up with maybe 2000 or so. As we came around the corner and the mother-of-all-purses-retail-outlet stood before us in all her glory, there was sort of a joint gasp from half the group saying...."oh....Susan would love this."

So...anyway....just a word to the wise.

Congratulations Matt & Heather

2007-09-22T09:29:00.001-04:00

Ah...modern technology is awesome. I just received a phone call from Angie letting me know that Carl's son Matt and his wife Heather have just given birth to a beautiful 9lb. 21in" baby boy!!! Another reason to celebrate in Roma!!!

Some photos

2007-09-22T05:41:00.000-04:00

John, Patty and Lance on top of St. Peter's Basilica

Bob and Laurie from a bridge with the Castelo St. Angelo in the background

Patty and Fletcher (yes, I'm smirking, and yes, I cut my hair off) at lunch somewhere in the city

Bob, Laurie, Patty and John in front of Trevi Fountain

Friday - Part I

2007-09-22T04:57:00.001-04:00

Coming soon....

Dinner at Les Etoiles

2007-09-22T04:56:00.002-04:00

Coming soon...

The SCAVI Tour

2007-09-22T04:56:00.001-04:00

Coming soon....

Thursday - Part III

2007-09-22T03:37:00.000-04:00

So...some of us head to St. Peter's Basilica, a few go off to take the private tour of the Museum (which includes the Sistine Chapel and, IMHO, is a complete crock....but I'll get to all that later), and then we decide to split up again for a little while. Good tour guide that I am, I give everyone 30 minutes to run around the basilica and oooh and aaah, see the Pieta, rub Peter's foot, admire the architecture, the paintings, the enormity of the place, etc. At the appointed time, we all regather and decide to split up again until just before the SCAVI tour at 3p.

The Dome:

John, Patty, Lance and I decide to go to the crypt and see the dead popes. So we head back down the stairs to get in the line we saw that goes to the crypt, and realize as we're joining up with everyone already in line, that the line we chose was actually the one to climb to the top of the dome, not to go DOWN into the crypts. "Well," we all collectively say..."that's cool with us." So this is the story of how getting in the wrong line can sometimes actually be a really cool thing to do.

(OK...here's another arbitrary tip: When blogging, one should think twice about taking a break to go downstairs to smoke and then walking the four flights back up to your room)

Anyway....

Jeanne, Carl, Shakil and Sue head off to find some lunch before SCAVI, and the rest of us wait in line to climb up to the Dome. It was about an hour wait for us. 7Euros includes an elevator ride to the roof top level where one enters the dome and climbs another 320 steps to get to the top. 5Euros lets you climb the full 530 steps, so we all opt to spend the extra 2Euros and take the elevator. The climb isn't too difficult, although there are some pretty narrow passages, and at one point there is a spiral staircase that's so steep and tight there's actually a rope hanging down the middle of the spiral to hold on to and help you pull your way to the top. Once you're there, however, the view is amazing. You arrive at a doorway that puts you out on the west face of the dome, overlooking all of St. Peter's Square. It is, quite simply, breathtaking. We stayed at the top for about a half an hour, simply mesmerized by the view.

Patty was our hero of the day. The place was covered with graffiti. We were all pretty struck at the lack of respect that people seemed to have for the place. As we were getting ready to head down, a guy who was next to us pulled out a marker and started writing his name on the wall. Patty yelled at him!!! It was the coolest.

Thursday - Part II

2007-09-22T03:17:00.000-04:00

Oh...by the way....all of you will be very proud to know that after "losing" John, I decided to do the right thing, and on our way through Termini, I bought the requisite tools for a tour guide in Rome....my very own red umbrella. So throughout your read here, you'll have to picture most of everything that happened as a group with me leading the way holding a (closed) red umbrella high above my head (just as any good tour guide does) to ensure all the little lambs don't get lost along the way. A shining beacon in a sea of crowded pilgrims.........

Anyway.

We found John!!!! He was smart enough to take a cab to the museum, and as we neared the end of the line, kaboom!, there he was.

OK...here's a little tip for all you would-be travelers out there:
The Cipro stop on the Metro A line in Rome is noted as the Vatican Museum stop. It is, in fact, the closest stop to the Entry Doors of the museum. HOWEVER....due to the fact that for some bizarre reason people line up for a half mile, it is much wiser to get off at the OTTIVIANO stop, which is the one usually noted for St. Peter's Square. Because, while this stop is much further from the museum's entrance, it is much CLOSER to the END of the line.

OK...where was I?? Oh yeah....so....we decide to blow off the museum and head to the basilica. We have a SCAVI tour scheduled at 3pm, so we have lots of time to kill. As we're standing together at the top of the square, there are multiple people hawking tours of the museum for around 38Euros a head. Mike F. had seen a tour advertised the day before for 50Euros so a few of our group decided the 38Euro prices was a pretty good deal....so off they went. Kelly, the Zogs, and Mike and Doreen headed off for their private tour. The guide said he could get them in without that long wait, too. (More on all that later)

So the rest of us decided to head into the basilica. (More travel hints: After you get through security, pay close attention the signs. There are 3 different lines you can join. The far left line is to go directly into the basilica. The middle line is to go to crypt where the popes are buried, and the line on the right is to go to the top of the dome. We talked to, and gave directions to, multiple people who were oblivious to this. And we even didn't realize ourselves that the line we got in to go to the crypt was actually the line for the dome. So, apparently, they're just not marked very well, although once we realized what the deal was, it seemed really obvious to us)

Thursday - Part I

2007-09-22T02:50:00.000-04:00

Well....where do I start? Yesterday morning I wasn't able to post anything because the Internet connection was down at the hotel, so I'm sorry to leave everyone hanging. Our first few days have been filled with multiple tours, tastings, food, fun, companionship and lasting memories. On Thursday morning, most of us decided to set out on a journey to see the Vatican Museum. We'd decided the night before that we'd meet in the lobby of the hotel at 10am to begin exploring, so shortly after the appointed hour, we headed to the train station to jump on the Metro and ride to the stop (Cipro) for the Vatican Museum. That was when the first of what I hope to be very, very few "oops" happened to us. I knew that Bob & Laurie decided not to go with us, but everyone else was along for the day. So, in my head, I'm thinking "there are 16 of us on the tour, so that leaves 14". We get to Termini train station to get on the Metro and I bought 14 tickets, and went back to the group and started handing them out. One, two, three....I pass out all the tickets and have two left...one for me and one for...wait a minute....who's missing??? We all look at each other and I'm counting, and I even say..."there should be 14 of us....." And then, I think it was Jeanne, says that John's not there. Uh oh!!! Somehow we'd managed to leave John behind....and NO ONE noticed. Well, nothing for it now, all we could do was go on without him and hope he found his own way...

Our first surprise.....

People who've been will tell you that the line to get into the Vatican Museum is long. I'm here to tell you that saying it's "long" is like saying that Bill Gates is "comfortable". Holy cow!!! When you first come upon the line (we arrived around 10:30), you sort of catch your breath when you look at it because you're like "wow. that's long." Then, as you continue to walk, around the first turn, the second, you begin to realize that your first impression of how long it was was just a silly conclusion in your head because there was no possible way you could even fathom how long the line actually was without walking around every turn and seeing it with your own eyes. By the time we made the last turn, I think we'd all decided to throw in the towel...in a very comical kind of way. By the calculations according to the scale on my map, the line was about 1500m long, or close to a half mile, and for the most part, people are lined up on average about 4 abreast. So, um, yeah....if you do the math, and even generously give people 3 feet of space between them at 4 abreast, that gives you about 6000 people in line. Um....we decided to pass. Ha ha ha.

Day 1 (or 2 depending on who you ask.....)

2007-09-19T16:59:00.000-04:00

At the airport in Amsterdam...at the end of this post is a link to photos from day one.

I'm going to try to make this short because I've been up for about 36 hours straight and I'm not even sure I can post anything that will make any sense!

Our trip over went off without a hitch (well...nothing major to note anyway). We all decided that Schipol Airport in Amsterdam is the most annoying place any of us have transfered planes in a long time. We actually waited for about an hour to go through a line so we could sit back down and wait for another 30 minutes to get on the plane. It was....um....dumb. But we finally boarded the flight to Rome around 10:30 and lifted off shortly after 11am to arrive unscathed in Rome on schedule at 1pm local. Stefano, with RomeCabs, and his troup of drivers were there to greet us and cart us off to the hotel without incident. The drivers were actually nice enough to give a little tour of the city before dropping the gang off at the hotel. We're staying at the Best Western Hotel Canada on Via Veneto. It's pretty close to Termini Rail Station, and I think everyone is very happy with the hotel. The rooms are great, and filled with all kinds of welcoming amenities...like slippers and bath supplies. The rooms are spotless and the hotel has gone out of their way to make us feel welcome.

After everyone had a few hours to settle in, unpack and take a peak at our surroundings, we all met in the bar for a welcome to Rome champagne toast and some wonderful appetizers the hotel put out for us. Little bite-size pizzas, pastries with meats and spinach, cheese and salami, as well as some crackers and artichokes. After a few glasses of champagne, a wonderful toast by Carl, and lots of conversation about the trip over, we headed out to dinner at La Tavernetta. None of us knew exactly what to expect. The hotel had recommended the restaurant as a place where we could all have our first dinner together, mostly because it's less than 25 yards from the front door, but also because it has a pretty good reputation for being a good place to eat. Carl and I went over early and met with Tito, the Maitre d' to plan our dinner, and put something together that we thought everyone would like. Leaving most of the details up to him, we headed back to the hotel, had some champagne, gathered everyone up, and took the short walk over to the restaurant. They put together some tables for us in the little area outside the front of the restaurant. I think most Americans would be amazed to see that a lot of restaurants here extend their patios onto the street, taking over a couple of parking spaces and expanding the business....and that's exactly where we ate. In a parking space on the Via Vicenza. Like I said, we didn't know exactly what to expect, because we'd left the details of the dinner up to Tito. So, the first course comes out....it's a simple bruschetta....hard toasts with some very ripe tomatoes. It needed a little oil to soften up the bread, but everyone thought it was pretty tasty. The next course was a cold seafood salad. Some lettuces, cucumbers, celery and a variety of squid and octopus. A little vinegary for my taste, but it wasn't bad. Then came the pasta course. A really delicious bowtie pasta in a light tomato cream sauce. It was served with a risoto in the same sauce. We all thought it was really good. We were starting to get full when they brought out the main course of pasta and seafood. Mussels, squid, clams and octopus over linguini in a tomato sauce. Most of us were already too full to eat everything they served us, leaving a lot of what they brought on our plate. It was completely in vain, however, because as they were clearing the plates and we were all moaning about how full we were, the brought out ANOTHER course!!! Yep. This was a wonderful white fish and some mysterious rounded cutlet of fish that kind of mystified all of us. It was served along side a couple of the cutest little crawfish you've ever seen! Well...as you can imagine, we were all completely stuffed already and when they brought out that course of fish, we were all looking at each other wondering how in the world we were going to eat all that food without looking ungrateful when kowabunga!!! the guy brings us a plate of salad and sits it down next to us. Now, mind you, we were all full two courses ago. And this guy sets a plate of fish AND a salad down in front of us....and we still had dessert coming!!!!! Although the fish was delicious, I'm sad to report that almost no one ate all of it....and most of the salads weren't even touched. Everyone was fat and happy. Pushing back the plates and bemoaning the fact that we'd eaten so much, the fun was just starting to begin. David W. is basically our self-appointed ambassador for making friends. Before we even started to think about dessert, he was already asking Tito if they had limoncello....fully intent on sharing it with anyone who'd take up his cause of having a REALLY good time. Most of us settled into our seats and talked with one another as David struck up a conversation with two people sitting next to our table who happened to be from California. As time went on (oh, wait...I have to back up...part of our dinner included a half a liter of wine for each person...which was way more than any of us could drink after 30 hours of travel, champagne at the hotel, and a few here-and-there glasses of wine) David, being our Good Will Ambassador, decided we should start sharing our wine with everyone at the restaurant who had an empty glass. So, Meri & Mike, our new friends from California, were the first to join us in a toast to new friends. That quickly expanded to Bill and Lenny, from NY and West Virginia, and some other totally random couple about two tables away. The double espressos started coming, dessert of coffee flavored ice cream arrived, and then the limoncello. I can honestly say I've never seen Carl Sofo's eyes water until today. One sip of that limoncello and his whole face took on a contorted shake-your-head-rattle-your-lips-make-your-eyes-round-as-saucers look and there was no going back. Some random street musician showed up and started playing old Beatles tunes and before we knew it, it was way past our bedtime. One more double espresso for your's truly, and finally we all departed (all except one) for a short walk around the block, and back to the comforts of our Roman hotel. As I sit here and write this, I am left to wonder if the one who stayed behind has returned, or if he is still practicing the art of Good Will....for as we departed, our Ambassador remained to share a final (??) limoncello with our new friends.

Visit our day one photo page to see all the pics from our first day....

We're Here.....

2007-09-19T09:21:00.000-04:00

This is just a quick post to let everyone know that we've all arrived safely, we're in the hotel in Rome. Once I get myself together, I'll post some pictures of the trip over. A welcome drink at the hotel bar is on the agenda for the gang at 6p, and then we're all off together for our welcome dinner at La Tavernetta. I'll let you know how it all goes.....

Bon Voyage Party

2007-09-18T12:15:00.000-04:00

Happy revelers join us for the Bon Voyage Party on Saturday evening at the restaurant. Carl "cleaned out the kitchen" in anticipation of our 2 week closure. Guests dined on Baked Salmon, Duck Breasts, Smoked Beef Tenderloin, Venison Pate and Penne Pasta with Portabellos and Fresh Tomatoes. The wine was a delicious Cannanau from Sardenia, and the evening was topped off with sumptuous Cherry Crepes and Tiramisu.

Coming Soon....

2007-09-07T14:42:00.000-04:00

Begining September 19, 2007, we'll be posting here to share our trip to Italy with all our friends and family. Check back often, and be sure to give us some feedback. We hope you'll enjoy "traveling" with us as we head to Italy and share our experiences.