Since the keys themselves are antiques in Italy, it is customary to leave the keys at the front desk when you leave the hotel room and then ask for them when you return. Much to my surprise, the front desk was pretty good at remembering our room number when we returned to the hotel and approached the desk.
Kelly and Christal seemed to be rather entertained at us trying to navigate Venice with a carrelli of scatole. trolley of boxes These are two words that I would learn by the end of the final days in Venice and they would have come in very handy prior to the end of today.
We found a desk clerk at the post office that spoke decent English, so this wasn't as difficult as the previous day, but it was still pretty time consuming.
Our boxes contained a few delicate souvenirs cushioned by dirty clothes. One of Davin's boxes contained a Magnum of Nozzole in a wooden box along with a few wine glasses. I am curious to see how the wine glasses will look after 5,000 miles of travel.
I will return to Venice.
With all of the cameras packed away for a 4 hour train ride to the Eternal City, the pictures would be few, but we did snap a quick picture of the hilltop, medieval town of Orvieto where one of our favorite patio wines comes from.
When we arrived at the train station, we headed out to the cab station. A cabbie quickly grabbed us and helped to put Davin and Christal's luggage into a cab and they were off, then he began loading our luggage into his cab and off we went.
I have heard that the traffic in Rome is nothing short of crazy. My advice, don't ever rent a car in Rome. These are not exaggerations. The hillsides of Tuscany are nothing compared to what we were about to experience.
Here is my recollection of the cab ride to the hotel:
I estimate the trip to the hotel to be about 15 minutes...
30 seconds would be a low estimate.
60 seconds would definitely be a high estimate.
Of the 15 minute cab ride, I would estimate that we were on the correct side of the road for about 45 seconds! And that included at least one stoplight!
The cabbie simply drove on the wrong side of the road... much to the surprise of scooters that came around each corner to see a cab grill headed right at them. They simply swerved out of the way. No hand gestures and no honking that I recall.
I don't scare easily, but there were times when Kelly and I looked at each other with eyebrows raised and I have to admit that I think I that I may have taken a couple soothing breathes and closed my eyes at least once.
Not to my surprise, our cab beat Davin and Christal to the hotel and they left at least 2 or 3 minutes before we did.
Davin asked how we beat them there and I said, "Well, let me tell you!"
After checking into our hotel, we only had enough time for dinner, so we asked for a recommendation for a seafood ristorante in the area. They recommended that we try Pietro. Next, they drew directions on a map of the town for us, tore out the page, and handed it to us.
We walked a very short distance and quickly learned how small the blocks were on the map, because we almost walked by it.
First, the wine, of course.
Another common starter for the group was caprese.
And this is when I would discover langostino. langoustines
I love crab and these are FAR better than king crab, snow crab, and dungeness crab.
They are surprisingly sweet to the taste.
The food.
Truffles are incredibly expensive in the US.
I have had meals in the US where I thought the little black specs were pepper only to find that it was the truffles.
At Pietro, it is a different story.
Simone comes out with a covered platter of truffles... About $2,000 worth of truffles!
After uncovering the truffles, she begins to grate the truffles on the plate, table, etc.
In US standards, I would estimate that she puts over $100 worth of truffles on the dish!
Davin appeared to approve.
I am not a huge dessert person, but the desserts here were phenomenal.
I foresee a return trip in our future.
Go to 6/22/11
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