For my Grandma – The Long Overdue Trip Finale :)

Look Out in Port Douglas

After numerous (probably hundreds) of requests from my Grandma and her friends, I am finishing the blog!  I may even get crazy and blog about my recent move to SF 🙂

We’ll see how detailed I can make this. After all, it has been 3 months and I have the memory of a goldfish.  We absolutely loved Sydney and wished we had more time there but it was off to Cairns and Port Douglas next!

Australia Driving aka Opposite Driving

We flew from Sydney to Cairns than rented a car to drive to Port Douglas (about a one-hour drive North).  Driving in Australia is an interesting thing – driver is on the right side of the car, car is on the left side of the road.  Basically, completely opposite to how we drive.  Oh boy.  I was in for a treat.  Mike did the driving, obviously, and I sat in the passenger seat on the verge of a heart-attack, obviously 🙂  The drive was quite beautiful actually.  The exits on the highways are round-abouts, like a traffic circle going clock-wise.  Talk about confusing.

Our Hotel/Aparment

In Port Douglas we stayed at a hotel called Peppers Beach Club.  We were on the 4th floor and there are no elevators.  Needless to say, getting our luggage up to our room was a feat.  It was worth every drop of sweat though – we had the Penthouse Suite!  It was seriously like our own apartment, and we didn’t want to leave.  The patio overlooked the pool (complete with sandy beach and all) and even had a personal outdoor grill.

Over the course of our trip we had some amazing food, but all we wanted at this point was Mexican Food!!  After seeing our grand kitchen and grill we immediately went off to the grocery store in search of some salsa, tortillas chicken and guacamole.  We savored every bite of that meal 🙂

Man and his grill 🙂

Much anticipated Mexican Dinner!

Looking out at the Look Out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the morning we took the car up to the Port Douglas “Look Out”.  There are more pictures at the bottom of how beautiful it was.  We snapped a few then returned the car and headed to the beach!  The day could not have been better.  Clear ocean, soft, sandy beach, books and bathing suits 🙂

Que the thunderstorm.  Yep.  Mike was taking a lovely siesta on the beach when the sky turned a grim shade of charcoal.  We were cracking up as we ran around Port Douglas in our flip flops in the pouring rain looking for our hotel!!

Swimmin

Unfortunately, the weather only gave us one day do get out there and do something adventurous!  Although we were looking forward to going Skydiving over the Great Barrier Reef, we could not come all the way here and not going snorkeling!

Proof!

We left super early in the morning and headed out to the boat.  It was a small group of us – probably 25 people and 3 instructors.  We all got fitted for wet suits and got on the boat.  Anyone who knows me probably knows that I was about to have an anxiety attack at this point.  I do not like oceans and I certainly do not like sea creatures.  Mike is all giddy like a little boy and helps me relax.

We are heading out to 3 different spots on the Great Barrier Reef to snorkel and after about a 5 second class we get fitted for our fins.  I find one that fits perfect and they cannot find the matching one.  No big deal, I’ll go a size smaller – I force my feet into too small heels everyday.  Although my un-pedicured toes are popping out of the top I assure myself it’s fine, I can handle it.  Then they ask us to start getting into our wet suits.  Well, mine is gone; GONE!  Mike put them both in a cubby hole in the lower part of the boat and only his is there.  My anxiety quickly goes from about a 7 to a 10+.  Of course I’m trying to not make a big deal out of it because I’m already embarrassed enough that everyone else is dressed and I’m looking around like a fool who’s lost her mind.  One of the instructors offers me the extra suit (a size 2) – I was fitted in a size 4.  I’m literally holding my breath as she tugs the zipper inch by inch until it’s finally fully zipped.  As I sit down I look around and all the children are in size 4!!  I had the smallest suit on.  Mind you, I’m 5’9″ – that was anything but comfortable.

Fin fit for a 5 year old.

Can't breathe in this wet suit

So we jump in at the first stop and Mike starts swimming off, underwater camera in hand and I start hyperventilating and drowning.  Once I got used to the breathing out of my mouth thing, we were alright.  I can actually say I genuinely enjoyed myself.  Three stops, 642 pictures, and 8 hours later, we were headed back to land!  What a day.

Nemo's Cousin

Professional Show-Off

Rugby Championship

 

We finished up the day by going to dinner, doing a little shopping and watching the Rugby Championship game.  There were masses of people packed into this large outdoor bar, drunk, face-painted and screaming.  It was quite a sight and a great way to end our Port Douglas experience.

Our 8 Passenger Fun Mobile

The next morning we rented a car (an 8 passenger mini-van was all they had!!) and headed back to Cairns for our LAST DAY 😦  We stayed at a hotel called Pullman Reef Resort and Casino.  They had a wildlife museum so of course we had check it out!  We were actually just discussing what a bummer it was that we didn’t see a Koala or Kangaroo.  Not only did we get to see (and pet) a Koala, but we met our friend Goliath the Crocodile.

Then it was off to the Casino for us!!  We spent hours in here and had so much fun!  I won on the Sex in the City game 🙂

"Samantha" Spin

Goliath the Croc

The next day(s) involved 30 hours of traveling before landing in San Francisco!  I stayed in SF for a week and we continued our trip.  The conclusion of our trip will be the next entry, which will NOT take me 3 months 🙂

I know you didn’t get enough so here are MORE photos –

Our first white-knuckled Australian Drive

Our Mini-Car

Look Out

Our beach day enemy

Cabana in the rain 🙂

Shy Star Fish

Sting Ray!

This SHARK swam right under us!!!!

The boat ride back

Pit stop for lunch during our drive back to Cairns

🙂

Mike's friend the Wallaby

Goliath

Final Airport 😦

Being a brat.

 

Best. Day. Ever. Thanks, Syd.

The title to this blog says it all. Today was our last day in Sydney, but today was deemed, by mutual decision, the winner of The Most Awesome Day Award for Excellence in Awesomeness. Here’s what made it so great:

The architectural masterpiece

We started out the day with a self-guided tour of the Sydney Opera House, which is one of Sydney’s most recognizable historic landmarks. Definitely one of the coolest buildings ever constructed, and its even cooler up close. It located next to the Royal Botanical Gardens and across the harbor from the Sydney Harbour Bridge – right in the middle of the action, and close walking distance from our hotel. The photos below don’t do it justice… It is truly a work of exceptional art and beautiful modern architecture.

You love this, huh Dad?

Side note from Samantha – (Mike completely forgot to talk about a very important part of our day… The Sydney Police and Justice Museum)… After many hours of pleading Mike agreed to go to the Museum with me.  I completely understand that most human beings wouldn’t be interested in such a thing.  I, on the other hand, think it’s brilliant and the most fascinating subject on earth.  We walked through the old courts and read about crime and punishment in the 1800’s in Australia and ASIO, which is Australia’s National Security Service.  Mike even cracked a smile once or twice in the Weapon Room!

Anyway, it was a blast. Now, here’s Mike’s version of the remainder of our day…

Yep.

Next we walked down to the IMAX Theater on Cockle Bay (*insert Beevis laugh here*), to see Born to be Wild in 3D. “But Mike, why would take time out of your trip around the world to see a 3D IMAX movie about orphaned elephants and orangoutangs?” Well, I’m glad you asked… only because this particular IMAX theater is the biggest in the entire WORLD!  So yes, this was an IMAX experience that we simply could not pass up. And it still holds the title of “Biggest IMAX  In The World” (at least for now, until Dubai builds one in a football stadium or something).

After watching a movie about animals, we suddenly had an urge to see some REAL animals. Lucky for us, the Sydney Aquarium is located 5 minutes from the theater.

Shark Attack

With only an hour before it closed, we had to tour quickly. We saw Little Penguins, weird-looking sea horses, massive sea crabs, gigantic sea turtles, sting rays, and big, fat dugongs (also known as the Sea Cow). But my favorite was the shark tank. We watched sharks from inside a big glass viewing tube. They swam all around us and right up to the glass. Some of the sharks were HUGE, and since we were inside their tank, they looked close enough to reach out and touch.

That’s it for our Best. Day. Ever. Tomorrow morning we leave for Port Douglas, Australia, where we’ll swim the Great Barrier Reef have a chance to see some of the wildlife from the aquarium up close and personal (no viewing tubes this time). And yep, you guessed it: I’m going to try to ride a giant sea turtle (Samantha just rolled her eyes)… Good night!

Loving the Architecture

Learning about architect Jørn Utzon

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Oh boy.

Busted.

Double Busted.

3D "Born to be Wild" in IMAX!

Sushi?

This one's for you Cousin Scott

A replica of the Largest shark spotted - 7.4 meters.

The Dugong (or Sea Cow, or Dolphin's Ugly Cousin as Mike calls it). Google it.

After Dinner Goodnight Kiss. Bye Sydney!

 

Planes are Like Bicycles…

Flight #1: Dubrovnik to Rome.

Once you get the hang of it, it’s a breeze; kind of…

So in order to get from Dubrovnik to Sydney, it took three planes, sixteen hours of layovers, and two tired travelers.  We woke up at dawn and had our last meal in Dubrovnik ;( and then took a cab to the airport where we hopped on our first plane to Rome.

The flight was a quick one, only a little over an hour, but here’s the rough part – our layover in Rome was TEN hours!  Our initial reaction was a positive one; we’re lucky to get one more tasty meal in Rome!  Well, that quickly backfired after we stored our luggage at the airport (costing us 40 Euro). After walking around for 30 minutes looking for the Metro we discovered there wasn’t one! Nope, Rome does not have a Metro leading to the airport, only taxis and trains. A quick look at the train schedule confirmed it wasn’t an option if we wanted to make our flight (and hang out in the Luxury Lounge for a while).  Not wanting to spend the extra cash on a Taxi we concluded we’ll just check in for our flight early and eat in the airport.  Not so much… Check-ins are only allowed 4 hours prior- we had eight to go.

Thrilled with our meal selection:Mickey D's

I think it was our destiny to eat McDonald’s right out side the airport check-in, as that was our only option left.  We made the best of it though, eating and then finding a spot to sit and read until we were allowed to check-in.

The Private Luxury Lounge (admittance included in our tickets) inside the airport was more like it – plush reclining chairs, a complimentary buffet of hor d’oeruves, and a complimentary full bar.  Now this is the way to travel 😉  On to Flight #2 – Rome to Dubai.

So sleepy after 2 flights in 20 hours!

Once we arrived in Dubai we were exhausted.  The flight was about 5 hours overnight and we were both quite restless.  We arrived in Dubai about 5:00AM where we checked-in for yet another flight and proceeded to the Lounge awaiting our 10:00AM flight.  We both ate some food then I slept while Mike got some work done.  If I could have kept my eyes open and my body moving for one more second, I would have because this Lounge was incredible.  There was a SPA and SHOE SHINER!  And no, I am not kidding!  We definitely could have spent our last 10 hour layover here, with no complaints 😉

Our seats! Notice, the mini screen in the back? It's a touch screen REMOTE for the seat recline, movies, and more!

Our flight from Dubai to Sydney was enjoyable, relaxing, and down-right fun.  It was long, about 13.5 hours, but we could’ve been on it for days.  It was like a flying movie theatre/bar/restaurant/bedroom. We watched about 3 movies each, ate everything that came our way, slept a bit, and lounged in the private bar stationed in the back of the craft.  With the time change and travel, we arrived in Sydney around 7:30AM.

Completely exhausted we caught a cab to our hotel, Quay West Suites, located in The Rocks.  This city already looks beautiful, at least the part I can see through my heavy eyelids. We were obviously WAY early for check-in so we threw on our suits and lounged around the pool until about noon.  Ready to get out and see Sydney, we headed up to our room to change, but then we both fell asleep… for 6 hours!  Oops.

Dinner in Sydney at The Cut

Upon recommendation by the hotel’s Concierge, we dined at The Cut, a magnificently decorated steakhouse (brick walls, open piped ceiling, and butcher knives thrown into the wood as door handles). It was amazing, and we were able to check off “Get Mike an Aussie Steak” from our Sydney check-list.  It was quite a late dinner though, so we headed back to the hotel.  We aren’t quite caught up with the sleeping schedule yet (dinner felt like breakfast), but we’ll get there.

Our only Full day in Sydney tomorrow will be a busy one; lots of ground to cover.

Goodnight Mates!

Bye Bye Old Town Dubrovnik. You'll be missed!

First Flight. Hoping we make it through the day alive.

Flight #3: Dubai to Sydney. Life of Luxury.

Dual Movies. One for him, one for me.

Books, Movies, Beverages.

Opera House and Harbor Bridge. View from our balcony.

Our HUGE living room!

Kitchen and Washer and Dryer

Ready to head to The Cut for some grub

Practicing the 'self-timer' on our camera 😉

Ending the night with Cheesecake. Goodnight all!

 

How Much Hvar’ther?

Coastal Drive from Split

After a big breakfast, we packed our bags and walked down to the docks in Hvar Town to take the 9:00 am ferry back to Split. Samantha’s main concern was that the ferry back to Split was considerably smaller than the jumbo-car ferry we took into Hvar. Sure enough, we were only 10 minutes on the ferry when ocean currents began rocking the boat in big up-and-down motions … I looked over at Samantha and saw that she was not a happy first mate. Despite her bout with sea sickness, she toughed it out like a rock star and one hour later we were docked in Split.

E-Ticket ride with Mr. Spiro

Our major concern at this point was the issue of our car: two days ago we were in a hurry and parked the Red Bandit in a questionable parking spot. At the time, the lady at the info booth in the ferry ticket office recommended we move it to a supervised pay-lot, but since we were running late,we decided to roll the dice and leave it there. Now, two days later, mildly seasick, fatigued, and groggy,  we both viewed the prospect of navigating the streets of Split to retrieve our car from a Croatian towing company as a  major buzzkill. But to our surprise, we turned the corner and-YES!- the Red Bandit was right where we left it! After I mentally gave myself a Top-Gun high five, we were on the road back to Dubrovnik. The 3.5 hour drive down south along the Croatian coastline was even more awesome this time around. The Red Bandit is a stick-shift, so the windy, tight roads along the ocean drive kept me thoroughly entertained… I even managed to get a few giggles out of Samantha (who is normally road sick) as she snapped landscape photos all along the ride.

Not such a terrible view of Old Town

We arrived back in Dubrovnik in record time, and after we checked into our hotel (The Excelsior… awesome location, huge room, and balcony-views of Old Towne), we spent some time on the beach before picking up a few pre-dinner snacks. We sipped wine and nibbled on cheese, crackers, and salami as we sat on our balcony and watched the sunset over Old Town Dubrovnik. Definitely one of our more favorite moments… That is until gale force winds blasted the through the harbor at 50 miles per hour RIGHT when the sun went down. Seriously, the wind speeds were insane!!!  We decided to skip our dinner plans in Old Towne to avoid falling trees and power lines (ok, I’m exaggerating slightly, but it was still pretty damn windy!), and had a nice dinner at the hotel’s fine dining restaurant. After dinner, we decided to turn in early. Another looong travel day tomorrow (our longest yet) but when it’s done we’ll find ourselves in the Land Down Under: Sydney, Australia! We’re not only excited to experience the sites, sounds, and cuisine of our neighbors  in the outback, but it’ll be nice to be back in a country where English is the predominant language so I can stop butchering the native tongue with my failed attempts at friendly conversation. G’night, mates!

Stopped in Omis (aka the Ghetto) for road trip snacks

Highway 8

😉

Welcome Back!

Squinty Face

Snack Time

Preparing for the upcoming Wind Storm!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Panorama-mania

Pre-Set

Post-Set

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hotel Restaurant, shielded from the wind

 

Did you miss us?

Bonj Les Bains in Hvar

Hi friends! We apologize we haven’t been able to blog our most recent travels. Between all the travel and moody internet connections, it was virtually impossible! Anyway, here’s what you’ve missed…

Talk about a caffeine high

Today was our first full day in Hvar.  We’ve been looking forward to vegging out and soaking up a few rays! The day started with the hotel’s complimentary buffet where Mike took a strong liking to the coffee; it actually wasn’t great coffee but the caffeine boost is a necessity at this point.

Just keep swimming, and squinting

After breakfast we went down to Amfora’s private beach (Bonj Les Bains) overlooking the stunning Dalmatian Coast. Catching up on our books and splashing around in the Adriatic took up most of our day. By the time our skin had enough salt water and vitamin D, it was around 3:30 and we were starving! Unbeknownst to us, restaurants on Hvar Island are closed from 3-6. Improvising, we made a pit stop at a local market where we picked up our favorite new ‘lunch’ – salami, cheese and crackers. Oh yes! And I thought this day couldn’t get any better!

We proceeded to get ready for dinner (in our provided plush and comfy hotel robes) and made the trek back into town to dine at Giaxa, which was referred to us by a friend. On the way, we noticed a Croatian band performance taking place in the main plaza in the harbor. Apparently it was Croatia’s Independence Day of sorts so they were having a mini-festival. As a result, the restaurant was dead (usually not a good sign), but the food and atmosphere were incredible.

Ahoy Matey

With full bellies and happy hearts we made our way back to the hotel, but not before Mike spotted a stranded ship ashore and insisted on a photo 😉

We’re up early tomorrow for a ferry back to Split. Hopefully our car hasn’t been towed!

I can’t believe it was our last day in Hvar already.  I guess whoever said ‘Time flies when you’re having fun’, wasn’t kidding.  More pictures of our last day in Hvar below.

Goodnight all!

Beach Bum

Handsome Fish

On the walk to grab 'Lunch'

Playing dress up

Dinner Time

Dinner at Giaxa

Croatian Independence Day Concert

Goodbye Hvar! ;(

 

Croatian Travel via “The Crveni Lopov” (The Red Bandit)

The Red Bandit

Here we go!

So today we have a LONG travel day to take rental car/ferry/taxi  to the island of Hvar, Croatia.  We got up early to carb-up with a big breakfast, and then said goodbye to our most luxurious hotel (The Rixos, Dubrovnik -awesome!) thus far.  We rented a car for the 3.5 hour drive up the coast (a MUST for all you future Croatia-travelers), a little red sedan that we nick-named “The Red Bandit” (or in the native tongue, The Crveni Lopov). The drive was spectacular, with sweeping views of the Adriatic Sea, the patchwork-landscaped farmlands, and the rocky, mountainous countryside. I’m not sure if it was my jerky steering or the winding roads, but Samantha turned a little green in the gills at several points during the drive. Luckily the bottled water and spicy-Croatian Pringles we picked up at the local gas station quelled her road-ailments.

Top Deck of the Ferry to Hvar

We arrived at the city of Split (the transfer city for the ferry) just in time and parked our car in a somewhat questionable spot (let’s hope it hasn’t been towed yet), only to receive some deflating news: our 2pm ferry was cancelled due to a fast-approaching storm. Bummer! We decided to tough it out and catch the 2:30pm car-ferry so we could arrive in Hvar at a reasonable hour (3pm).  Little did we know the car ferry took 2x’s as long, so we didn’t arrive in Hvar until 5:30pm (tired, famished, and, in Samantha’s case, slightly seasick).  After negotiating an above-market rate for a short cab ride from the port, we checked into the beautiful Amfora Hotel, which is located just 10-minutes on foot from downtown Hvar.  The hotel is AMAZING – a junior suite with private balcony, top floor view of the entire Dalmatian Coast, and private beach with spa/pool/gym/breakfast included.

On our way to dinner...

We walked into town for a light dinner when, halfway into our appetizer, it started raining outside. Sam, looking quite fashionable but not appropriately dressed for a torrential downpour, was promptly equipped with my hoodie and sandals for the walk back (her shoes would’ve been ruined).  I still enjoyed the 10-minute walk back to the Amfora hotel barefoot and in a t-shirt (that is, until a wood-splinter stabbed me in the foot). What a fun conclusion to an exciting day!

Tomorrow we both look forward to a little slow-motion action:  basking in the Croatian sun beams and giggle-splashing in the waves of the Adriatic Sea. But not before I take the tweezers to pull this twig out of my foot. Yay! Nighty night!

Driving along. Uh oh... the Storm is coming in!

"Love FM" was preset!

Driving through Dubrovnik...

...heading toward Split!

We drove through many tunnels

Passing Bosnia Border

Car Ferry!

The View of Split

Trying to shield the wind

Ferry Ride!

Car Rental to Delayed Ferry to Bus to Amfora 🙂

From our Balcony

On the way to dinner in town!

 

It’s Official…

Paradise, aka Rixos Libertas Hotel

Yup, that happened

 

…. We’re never leaving (gotcha, huh?)!  We had no idea what to expect upon choosing Croatia in our itinerary, but we sure are glad we did, especially this hotel.

So today is our first full day in Dubrovnik.  We are staying right outside of old town (about a 15 minute walk) and because we love our hotel so much we decided to have a relax at the hotel day!  It was a perfect day to enjoy the sun and amazing views our hotel location had to offer.  After a late breakfast, we hit the gym to sweat out all the pasta, wine and cheese we’ve been consuming the last week or so.  Then it was straight to the water!  We walked down to the hotel’s private ‘beach area’ which is more like a dock and jumped straight in; taking pride in the cool new underwater Mike purchased 😉 The weather could not have been more fitting for our day!

Enjoying our balcony, Corona commercial style

Because we have a balcony worth being jealous over, we decided to use it in all of it’s glory.  We sat there for probably 3 hours soaking in the sun, beer in hand.

Forcing ourselves to leave the room we went to the Terrace for a small snack before showering up for dinner in Old Town Dubrovnik.  This was the first time we’ve walked into the town and it is sure beautiful!

Old Town Dubrovnik

 

 

The Streets are so clean and shiny we were joking they probably spit shine them!  We walked through a few cobblestone alleyways before finding a spot to eat nestled away on the skirts of Old Town.  After some amazing lasagna and tuna gnocchi, we started the trek back to our hotel, but not before stopping for some delicious ice cream!

We honestly could not have asked for a better day!  Another transportation day tomorrow to Hvar Island; we’ve heard they are expecting a thunderstorm… stay tuned!

More photos from our lazy Croatia day below:

 

Before the jump...

After the jump...

Mike about to take flight

 

Heading to dinner

Oh this bottle... why not?

Caught red handed - cheesiest lasagna ever!

Goodnight streets of Dubrovnik... we'll be back!

 

3 Flights Later and We’ve Arrived in Heaven

From our room!

Boarding another plane with special guest - Sombrero man

I think I’ve conquered my fear of flying… well almost.  Today we took three flights in order to reach our final destination – Dubrovnik, Croatia!  We are here and this place is a dream come true.  Our hotel is to die-for! Our balcony overlooks the town and is right on the water.  We even have a motorized television that comes up from the bed mantel.  We honestly may never leave.

After arriving, we relaxed at our hotel’s bar and terrace where Mike discovered Ozujsko – his new favorite beer.  Then we showered up for dinner and walked a few short minutes to a fun little spot and now we’re calling it a night.  Tomorrow’s agenda – Swimming and Old Town Dubrovnik (and the gym!).  Until then, here’s our day in pictures –

Arriving at FCO Airport (in Rome) at 8 AM and after a 60 Euro Taxi ride - Yikes!

Airport Food

Croatian Snacks?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rising TV

A Very Happy-Hour at our Hotel

Walking (up the stairs) to dinner

View of our hotel from dinner

Goodnight all!! 😉

 

 

 

…Do as the Romans do

In the ruins at the Colosseum

Oops.

Today we got off to a late start. After nearly a week of shuffling about to different sites and monuments, we decided today would be the day we sleep in until 11:00am. We woke up famished, so we hailed a cab and crossed the river to grab some lunch at a place recommended by a friend of mine. Unfortunately it was closed, but luckily we ran into a friendly local that recommended a place nearby for “truly authentic roman cuisine.” She was right, and I enjoyed my pasta so much I decided to take some of it with me… On my white t-shirt!

Vatican

We walked up the path along the river to the Vatican, the home of the Pope and widely-visited headquarters for Catholics all across the globe. The line stretched down the street (WAY more popular than a Justin Beiber concert!) We were in line to purchase Pope-stamps (postage stamps with the Pope’s face on them) for postcards when we got recognized by a young woman from the US.  Pretty crazy getting recognized all the way out here… I wonder if the Pope watched us too?

Audio Tour - these are my favorite!

We took the Rome Metro (by the way, definitely not Sam’s favorite form of transportation) to the Colosseum, which was definitely our favorite monument so far. We picked up a  squawk-box for a self-guided audio-tour of the arena. Nearly 2,000 years ago, gladiators faced lions, bears, and each other in bloody battles to the death to entertain the citizens and royalty of ancient Rome… Just like the modern-day Superbowl, only 170 times a year and with way more fatal injuries.

Before dinner, we sat on our private patio and snacked on olives, cheese, crackers, and salami. All fresh ingredients from the local market around the corner…

The Man and his steak (more like half of a cow)

We celebrated our last meal in Italy at Tullio, a restaurant near our hotel, where we experienced a unique, warm dining atmosphere. The white truffles were rich and flavorful, but I couldn’t resist the urge to order the much-anticipated Bistecca: a giant bone-in T-bone steak (pictured below).

That’s a wrap on Italy. We leave for Croatia bright and early tomorrow morning. But not before another long travel day!

Here’s a sneak peak at more of our last full day in Rome –

Eating among the locals near the Vatican

 

Walking to the Vatican from lunch

In front of the Colosseum

Our Dinner Spot

Last night in Rome

 

When in Rome…

In front of the Pantheon

Train to Roma

We pre-purchased our tickets for the train from Florence to Rome prior to our trip so we could ensure it was set and organized.  Upon getting ready for the day we realized the train was departing an HOUR earlier than we thought.  We assumed we’d miss that train (set to leave in about 30 minutes) because we still had to check out of our hotel and the train station was about a 15 minute walk.  Much to our surprise the train was delayed 5 minutes and was departing as we walked up.  We scurried on to the train, luggage and all as the doors were closing again!  So lucky!

Taking it to the streets

Once we got to Rome we set out to find the Metro Station to take about 4 stops to our hotel (about a half mile).  Well, today was sure full of surprises – the Metro was closed due to a strike!  As a result, the taxi line was basically around the block (and taxi prices were hiked based on the high demand).  So what do you do?!  Well, our luggage got quite acquainted with Rome’s cobblestone streets as we decided to walk!  Mike was a gentleman as usual, took one of my bags. I’m so spoiled, right?

It took a while and we were sweating bullets by the time we reached our hotel – on top of the Spanish Steps!  It is a beautifully located hotel and our room even has a private patio!

After eating lunch, we set out to explore seeing the Pantheon as well at the Piazza Navona and of course Trinita dei Monti (right outside our hotel).  We are excited to do both the Vatican and The Colosseo tomorrow!  Blogging and bed time for us!

My "Holy" Salami for breakfast

Mike likes to make fun of me fore picking the fat pieces from my Salami

Our Balcony at Intercontinental De La Ville

Mike 'planking' in the hotel bed

The Roman 'planking' in front of the Pantheon

Spanish Steps

The turtle centerpiece at our lunch spot

Pantheon

Inside the Pantheon

Piazza Navona

Piazza Navona Market

Dinner at a place we found walking