Gelato

Hi again, folks.

By definition, gelato is "an ancient Italian frozen dessert."  To us on the HRA France-Italy trip, gelato is much, much more.  Gelato is the sustaining force that enables us to endure long bus rides and challenging hikes over varied terrain, in rural and urban settings. 

Our connection with gelato began not in Paris, but in Nice.  Since then, gelato has been our constant companion.  In each of the towns we have explored, we have found gelato easy to obtain.  This morning in Tarquinia, we discovered a square with a gelateria at three of the four points of the compass.  On the fourth was the Tyrrhenian Sea. 

The most gelato-involved of us eat gelato at least twice a day.  We have eaten gelato in the morning, in the afternoon, and in the evening.  Today, it took the place of the inedible "breakfast" we were given on the ferry to Civitavecchia--a packaged croissant-inspired "pastry" filled with a gooey substance called either "chocolate" or "orange" filling. 

Most of us prefer fruit flavors or chocolate, but a few of the more adventurous members of our party have taken walks on the gelato wild side.  Several of us swear by a flavor known as stracciatella, which is similar to chocolate chip ice cream back in the States.  Today in Tarquinia, Mrs. Joyce tried a flavor with "Etrusco" in its title.  She describes it as having a chocolaty flavor, but not as sweet, and she identified pine nuts in the mix.  It turned out to be very tasty.  I haven't been quite as adventurous; I've had strawberry (twice), raspberry, and cherry.

As strange as it seems, pine nuts aren't the weirdest ingredient we've discovered at the gelateries we've patronized.  Among the flavors none of us have been brave enough to sample:

• beer
• rosemary
• thyme
• tomato & basil
• lavender
• myrtle liqueur

The assortment was stranger in Corsica than it was anywhere else we've been.  However, most of us would agree that Italian gelato is much tastier than the French variety.  If you want the really, really good stuff, it seems like you need to go to the original source.

That's all for now.  And, no, we're not off to the gelaterie...at least not until tomorrow.

Chris & Chris

Corsica to Sardinia to Rome

Buona sera, everybody!

I'm writing from our room at the Hotel President, in the heart of Rome.  I'm sorry for the long delay between posts, but we've spent most of our time in the somewhat wilder, less settled environments of Corsica and Sardinia.

I think everyone on the trip enjoyed Corsica more than we bargained for.  We were disappointed that we didn't get to tour the home where Napoleon I was supposedly born, because it was closed on Sunday--but in exchange, we got a relaxing free afternoon at our hotel.  The beach was only a short walk down a set of stairs, and many of us spent some of our free time there, relaxing and enjoying the Mediterranean waters.  In fact, I can't think of anything we didn't like about Corsica, from the hotel to the restaurant to the boat ride we took on Monday morning.  We traveled into a large cave that had been carved from the limestone rock over the centuries--our pilot had to time his entrance just right so we could enter the cave while the surf wasn't too high.

Since I wrote last, we've spent lots of time on boats and buses.  We've taken a short (one hour) ferry ride from Corsica to Sardinia, and a long (16.5 hours) ferry ride from Sardinia to the Italian mainland.  We've toured the island of Sardinia from north to south by bus, and today we rode from Civitavecchia to Rome, with stops at the prehistoric sites at Tarquinia and the medieval city of Viterbo. 

In Tarquinia, we saw some ancient Etruscan tombs.  Several of them were "open," in the sense that we could walk down sets of stairs and view them.  It wasn't nearly as creepy as it sounds.  For several decades during the 13th century, Viterbo was the home of the papacy, and we toured the papal palace there.  Most of us also ate gelato, which has been a recurring theme throughout the last few days.  In fact, I think I'll probably blog about gelato, and nothing but gelato, before I'm through here.

This evening, we got our first sight of Rome, as our newest (and new favorite) driver Andrea piloted our bus into the city.  We ate (and ate, and ate, and ate) at a pizzeria near our hotel.  Not that we have a lot of experience (yet), but Roman pizza seems lighter and less saucy than American pizza.  I ate five slices, and I'm not nearly as stuffed as I would be if I ate that much of the American stuff.

One thing I've noticed over the last day or so:  lots of us who have pets at home are beginning to miss them very much.  We've missed our human family since we left, but now, when we see a dog or a cat, many of us say something like "I miss our dog!"  or "I miss our kitty!"  We're enjoying our trip immensely, but we are missing all of you--human, canine, feline, etc.--very much, too.

I'll probably post again tonight (it's 9:30 Rome time), and if I do, I'll include a few more pictures.  Thanks again to all of you who are following and commenting.

Chris

Sunday: Corsica

Hi, everybody!

It's been a couple nights since I was able to write an update.  The combination of a busy schedule, uncertain wireless connections, and power issues conspired to keep me off the blog since we were in Nice.

Now we're on the island of Corsica, where we arrived last night.  I know many of us hated to leave the Cote d'Azur, because we had such a wonderful time there.

Monaco is truly a magical place.  The scenery there is incredibly beautiful, and it is immaculately clean.  Many of us watched the changing of the guard at the Monagasque royal palace on Friday--an event that made it seem even more like a fairy tale kingdom.  A few of us were also thrilled to see part of the course where the famous Grand Prix auto race is held each May.

From there, we traveled to the village of Eze, a medieval town between Monaco and Nice.  We visited the Fragonard perfume factory, and most of us hiked up to the village itself--well worth the climb.

Yesterday we said au revoir to Nice, and boarded the ferry for a six-hour ride to the island of Corsica.  The sea was a little rough along the way, so we were all glad to reach land...only to discover we still had to ride a bus for over an hour through winding mountain roads!  Eric, our driver, is highly skilled, and he is apparently a fan of Whitney Houston; he decided to entertain us by playing her music over the bus's sound system.

The long journey turned out to be worth ever wave, twist, and turn.  Our hotel is located in the town of Propriano, on the southeastern coast of Corsica.  When I say it's on the coast, I mean it's on the coast.  We can see and hear the Mediterranean from our rooms.  The sound of the waves soothed us to sleep last night.

Speaking of sleep, it's 11:05 in Propriano, and I'm going to call it an evening.  I'll hopefully be back tomorrow, from either Corsica or Sardinia, which is our next destination.  I'll write more about our visit to Corsica then.

Our adventure is now about half over.  We're tired, but we're healthy and happy. 

Until next time,
Chris

The trip in pictures, so far

Finally, I have some time to post a few pictures of our adventures so far.

Unloading our baggage at Dulles Airport:  the adventure begins

Notre Dame on a rainy day

Wake up and smile! We're at the Eiffel Tower!

Oooh!  Aaaah!  The Eiffel Tower sparkles with twinkling lights along its entire height every hour, on the hour, after dark.  We caught the 10:00 PM "performance."

This is why it is called the "Cote d'Azur." The French Riviera, on the way from Nice to Monaco.

"It's COLD!"  Our first dip in the Mediterranean Sea.

It's 11:30 PM in Nice right now.  I'll hopefully write more about today's adventures in the morning.  Quick preview:  Most of the group enjoyed our journey to Monaco, Eze, and the beach at Nice more than anything else we've done so far. 

Nice

Good morning, everybody!

Today I'm writing from the lobby of our hotel in Nice.  As usual, our group is beginning our day with breakfast in our hotel which, as always, features ham.  We've decided that ham is the official meat of France; it's somewhat challenging for people who don't care for ham to find meal options for breakfast and lunch that don't include it in some way. 

Yesterday, we spent our last few hours in Paris.  We rode the Metro to the Louvre, where we had two hours to explore.  You certainly can't do the Louvre justice in two hours.  I could easily spend two weeks there and not feel like I've seen it all.  Many of our students hit most of the "high points" of the Louvre's collection:  the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, etc.

We then set off for Nice on the TGV train.  We were pleasantly surprised to discover that the train was extremely smooth, especially considering it moved at speeds up to 200 MPH.  The chance to sit down, relax, read, write in our journals, nap, and converse was a perfect change of pace from the hectic pace of Paris.  We sped through the French countryside, spotted castles and an aqueduct, and got our first breathaking glimpses of the Mediterranean.

Once in Nice, we settled into our rooms and enjoyed a delicious dinner.  A walk down the "English Promenade" and back to the hotel completed our day.

Today, we're off to Monaco, which many of us are anticipating excitedly.  Again, I'm sorry this is somewhat brief--our busy days don't leave me much time to write.

Thanks for following,
Chris

A Day (and a Night) in Paris

Hi again, everybody!

As I'm writing, we are about to bid Paris a fond au revoir.  We will be visiting the Louvre this morning (we didn't actually visit the museum yesterday--that will teach me to check the itinerary before I tell y'all where we're going).  Then we'll board the high-speed train for our journey to Nice.

Yesterday was a truly unforgettable day.  We began with a coach tour through Paris, narrated by a very knowledgeable and entertaining guide.  Roger, our bus driver, was truly a professional, amazing us with his precision driving skills throughout the tour.  I've driven in Boston, and I can tell you that I wouldn't drive a car in Paris for a million euro--even at today's exchange rate.  We saw the sights of Paris that we've all seen in movies, heard about, or read about all our lives, from the Eiffel Tower to the Arc d'Triomphe to the Louvre.

We spent the afternoon at the Musee d'Orsay, which is located in a former train station that was built around 1900.  The building itself was breathtaking, and the works of art exhibited there were even more impressive.  Everywhere we turned, there was a Monet, a Van Gogh, a Rodin, a Manet.

We next took a boat ride down the Seine and ate dinner, and took another adventurous trip through the Metro (easily our least favorite part of our Paris experience).   I'd like to say we're now seasoned Metro veterans, able to move smoothly from station to station with exquisite calm.  However, it appears that nobody--even Parisians--can manage this feat.  We all rush through the passages, up and down the stairs, and along the moving sidewalks like corks caught in a torrent.

I wish I could find words adequate to describe the experience of ascending the Eiffel Tower last night.  Several of us--myself included--were apprehensive about traveling nearly 1000 feet off the ground.  I wouldn't have missed it for the world.  The sight of Paris spread out around us as dusk fell was unbelievable. 

As we walked back to our bus, the clock turned to 10:00 PM (it was barely dark at this point).  Suddenly, the tower was covered with twinkling white lights.  We stopped to watch the lights dance up and down the tower, a display that lasted for five minutes and left us "ooohing" and "aaahing". 

I wish I had time to write more now, but in 10 minutes we'll be off to the Metro again and off to tour the Louvre.  Thanks for reading (and commenting)!  I promise to find time to add some of the pictures Chris has been taking soon. 

Chris

Paris, Day One (and Two)

Hi, everyone! 

I'm writing to you from the lobby of our hotel in Paris, as we're preparing for our first full day in the City of Lights.  We've discovered that if you want to actually see the aforementioned lights, you have to stay up late--perhaps as late as 10 PM.

Monday and Tuesday ran together for most of us, who found it nearly impossible to do more than sneak a series of short naps on our flight from Washington to London.  Once in Paris, we hit the ground running.  We checked into our hotel and, from there, set off for Sainte Chapelle and the cathedral of Notre Dame.

This expedition required us to brave the Paris Metro.  Imagine 37 sleep-deprived Americans attempting to change trains, change lines, and head off in the correct direction on the correct train.  Sound difficult?  We managed to do it without incident several times.

Sainte Chapelle and Notre Dame almost deprive description.  They are both incredibly beautiful.  Even on a rainy, cloudy day like yesterday, the stained glass windows glowed in a rainbow of colors. 

I live in Williamsburg, where it's possible to see buildings that are much older than those most Americans can see on a daily basis. The Wren Building on the campus of The College of William & Mary is over 300 years old.

Sainte Chapelle and Notre Dame are almost three times that old.

We were struck by the immense amount of loving labor that went into the construction of each of these breathtaking projects.  Does anyone, anywhere, care about anything this much any more?

I'll have to be brief for now.  In eight minutes, we will be boarding our tour bus and setting off.  The Louvre awaits us!  We should have time to post some pictures soon.

All of us are well and ready for an exciting day. 

Au revoir for now,
Chris