Lucca, Italy and the island of Malta

Where has the time gone? We've been away for more than 3 weeks now, with only 1 week to go! Before we know it, we'll be sitting at our own kitchen table, back in our home town, eating normal healthy food again. With this in mind, we are enjoying every day we have here, but also realizing we have to buy some food to take home with us!

Lucca, Italy

Lucca is tiny mid evil village with narrow streets, surrounded by a completely intact wall, just North of Florence. We took a time out last week and made an over night trip by train. We arrived on Monday morning, and like the true Italian style we've grown to appreciate, the entire town was closed because it was cold. Yes, shops, stores, restaurants, you name it. Just like Tiff's favorite gelato shop in Florence has been closed for 2 weeks now because John Paul doesn't want to come out in the cold.

We gladly took advantage of the quietness of off season and strolled on top of the wall, climbed to the top of the bell tower, and ate at the only local restaurant open. It was a nice break from the constant go, go, go we have experienced here.

Malta

Malta, is a small set of 3 islands located south of Italy in the Mediterranean Sea. We were just saying how this was our first ever trip that was not island based.... well,not entirely at least! We hopped on a train, a bus, and a plane with Tiff and made our way south towards the warm tropical island; after all, we need to defrost! Now, before you get too excited, let us say that 50 degrees is WARM and tropical means rain and clouds and blue water. Well, Malta is also having their coldest, wettest winter in 40 years.

The guide books warned us, friends who lived here warned us.... DON'T RENT A CAR- THOSE MALTESE ARE CRAZY DRIVERS! Heather's answer... Adam will fit in perfect here! :) Needless to say, we rented a car. Adam drove sitting on the right hand side, in the left hand lane, with lots of round abouts, and no street signs. We never found any crazy drivers because Adam can at least keep up with their rule breaking. People always say, do what the locals do!

Malta is also home to the oldest man made structures and temples on earth (that have been found)... older than even the pyramids. We took a tour of a prehistoric megalithic hypogeum that dated back 3600 BC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypogeum_of_%C4%A6al-Saflieni

No cameras allowed. There were 3 levels of structures, with two underground that were used as burial and worship sites. They were ornate, impressive, and incredibly mysterious. Who knows what statues, paintings, and tools were used for over 5000 years ago???

There were also temples above ground that we were able to tour. These dated 3000BC.

We were disappointed to find that Malta is incredibly built up and is geared towards the sun worshipers that flock there during the summer; however, we found our own piece of paradise in the form of a small fishing village, far away from the hustle and bustle of the cities.

Are they sisters or what?

We were also lucky enough to have a day with sunshine down by the beach, overlooking the cliffs. Ahh....

And last, but not least the food of Malta! Don't worry, did you think that we would actually write an entire blog and not mention food? Surprisingly, Malta is so close to Italy, that most of it's food is at least Italian inspired, which is great when you want some Napoli pizza and pasta stuffed with crab and prawn, or a bowl of fish soup. But pastizzi's are purely Maltese. They are flaky pastries stuffed with cheese, meats, and vegetables. And they are insanely cheap, only 30-50 cents.

As we write, our west coast friends and family are just waking up, and we are finishing our bottle of wine with baguettes stuffed with salami and brie cheese...
a late afternoon snack. Tomorrow is our last day in Florence before we head to Rome and say good bye to Tiff. :( But what a wonderful couple weeks we have all had together! We are constantly thankful for our many blessings.

Happy 30th Birthday Adam!

Every day in Italy has been special so far; however, today was an extraordinary day as Adam turned 30!

The day started out by going to the market with Tiffany, ordering Cappuccinos and pastries, and enjoying the bustling sound of a day just beginning.

Afterwards, Adam and I walked around the many stalls selling fresh veggies and fruits, meats, cheeses, wines, oils, and everything else wonderfully Italian. After picking up some pastas and herbs, we headed back out to explore the Santa Maria Novella, a church that was built beginning in the 12th century.

We were very hungry again at this point, so we meandered to our favorite pizza place, Pugi's. We got our favorite, Margarita pizza, plus a Tortufo and cabbage. It sounds weird but it was amazing!

A visit to the Duomo followed. We had previously visited the dome of the Duomo and went all the way to the top to see all of Florence; but this time, we stayed on the ground floor and admired the art work, the inlaid marbled floor, and it's massive size.

The best part came when we realized there was something down below. We discovered an archaeological dig! Apparently, the Duomo was built on top of the Santa Reparata Church, whose original construction dates back to 3rd century! It even has Brunelleschi's tomb in it!

We wondered the streets for a while longer, before we met up with Tiff and grabbed some gelato. On our way home, we were a little hungry again, so being Adam's birthday and everything, we went back to Pugi's got more pizza and yummy desert cake to bring back home!


Our next stop was to Bacco Nudo Vini Sfusi...(phew! What a mouth full!)This is the wine shop owned bu a sweet old man who loves and knows Tiff (and her Italian). We unloaded the empty wine bottles from Adams backpack and chose our wines.

When you bring your bottle back it's only 2-3 euros a bottle to refill! The wines are from all around Tuscany and are delicious! They have different wines all the time depending on what's in stock.

Later in the evening we went out to dinner with Tiffany, Maggie, Janelle, and Dean (Janelle's boyfriend who just arrived yesterday from S. Ca). We "indulged" (isn't everything here indulgent?) in prosciutto and melon, pasta's, and more desserts.

Overall it was a special day for a very special husband. I love you Adam!

Buon giorno Italia!

Yay! The Domenico's are in Italy- back to Adam's roots!

We anticipated that Italy would be a little bit warmer than balmy Belgium and France; however, the Siberian winds had other plans. It's freezing, and snowy! But luckily we planned accordingly and have plenty of clothes to keep us warm on our daily outings. Today the high was 32 degrees with a 19 degree wind chill... that will be warm compared to the 7 degree wind chill predicted for Sunday! BRRRRR...

Florence does not disappoint. Lonely Planet told us it would be a living museum and were they ever right! This enchanting city is small enough to walk around, but large enough to become mesmerized. Tall layers of yellow and beige building line the cobble stoned streets. Around every corner is a wide piazza, a tower church, a sculpture or fountain. Never more in our lives did we wish we had taken an art history class because everything has a story to tell. We are fortunate that Tiffany has learned a lot about her adopted town and that her roommates are actually art history majors.

Speaking of roommates, Tiffany's roommates are amazing! When we arrived on Wednesday night, they had a pasta dinner waiting on the table for us! So sweet! They are so welcoming and hospitable, letting us take over their house for more than a week!

Pizza, pasta, cheese, salami, prosciutto, bread, wine, gelato, nutella filled pastries. Need we say more? Italy (and what we have experienced in Europe) uses fresh seasonal produce and ingredients. You eat what is available when it's available, and that's why everything is so delicious! Fresh ingredients = fresh food. Tonight we had gnocchi al Gorgonzola, spaghetti alla cabonara, tortellini al tartuffo, marinated artichokes, bread and balsamic, wine, and tiramisu. MMMM...

Did you know in Europe you must make eye contact with the person you are toasting your glass with or you will have bad luck? You also cannot cross arms while toasting across a table... or you guessed it, bad luck. We were wondering why everyone was looking at us with big googly eyes! Now you'll know why we're doing the same when we get home.

With so much of the world to explore and taste, we wonder where tomorrow will take us... and you!

Bonjour Paris!!!

Brussels was a wonderful place, filled with good friends and family, and good times. So, as difficult as it was to leave, we said au revior and "single kissed" Brussels good bye, and welcomed Paris with open arms and "two kisses on everyone's cheek"!

We quickly realized upon arrival that Paris is not a small city filled with quaint streets lined with pastry filled shops. It is huge! And that means there are more pastry shops and cafes than you could ever imagine. Seriously. Paris is the largest city we have ever been to by far, with a population of over 12 million people. However, there is so much to do, see, explore and experience.

It's hard to believe that we have only been here a week. We have seen so many things that we have only read about in history books or seen on the travel channel. We have taken metros, high speed trains, buses, boats, taxi's and plain old cars to get around.

Our friends, Jenny and Brandon, were blessed with the entire country of Belgium going on strike on Monday. What does this mean? It means that ALL transportation is shut down in the entire country.... including flights in and out. Talk about making a statement! The blessing? They got stuck in Brussels two extra days with Anne! FUN!

The Eiffel tower is the least overrated tourist attraction we have ever seen. It is simply fantastic. It's nice to look at but the magic happens as you climb the tower and the view of the city come in focus. As we descended the clock struck 6pm and we were surrounded by sparkling lights. Apparently every hour the tower lights up with a dazzling display of white lights. You can't help but be awestruck.

We made a Master card slogan while we were there... it goes something like this.

Tickets to the Eiffel Tower- $12
A glass of Champagne at the top of the Eiffel tower- $12
Your camera battery dying at the top of the Eiffel tower,
while drinking champagne- PRICELESS

Lucky for us, Jenny brought her iPhone that day, even though it didn't work,because her camera died too! Good old iPhone saved the day!

After we bid are friends farewell, we met up with Daniel and Helene, who we had first met 2 1/2 years ago in Bali... for just one afternoon. You might be asking yourself, what? You only met one time, 2 1/2 years ago and now you're going to stay with them? Well, one of the best things about traveling is getting the opportunity to meet people you never would have otherwise, and you find that you have a common bond with people no matter where they live in the world. It really was a great experience seeing how real Parisian's live. :) They invited us to stay with them in their flat and they were wonderful hosts. They met Anne, Jenny, and Brandon one afternoon and we met their friends over wine and cheese in the evening. Two worlds combined... how fun! We can't wait to see where in the world we will see them next.

Favorite things about Paris:

1.The Eiffel Tower.(We love the sparkles at night)
2.The Food (Seriously Fantastic!)Okay, you hear how wonderful the food is in France, but you don't know how amazing it really is until you eat the mouthwatering butter goodness. From chocolate filled croissants, tiramisu, creme brulee, duck, fois gras, mosaics of cheeses, breads that can be smelled from down the street, filet Mignon with caviar, crepes smothered in Nutella.... where was this going? Oh yes, the food is incredible.
3.Getting to experience it with awesome friends.
4.The wide choice of toilets. (Every single toilet we used was completely different)

As we write this we are riding in a train through the snow covered country side filled with people speaking the beautiful language of Italy, headed to Florence. We just left Milan to be exact. There is snow everywhere, the ride through the Alps was breath taking. We are looking forward to spending more time with friends and family and Heather's sister Tiffany and her gracious roommates are hosting us in there apartment for the next 10 days. Bring on the pasta... we're hungry! Ciao!