My own little Cup of the World

How fitting it is that the World Cup is going on in Brazil and Germany like rocks at this game!  When Erin and I returned after two wonderful weeks in Italy (more in just a moment, photos below), we attended our first public viewing in a beer garden to watch Germany beat Portugal, 4-0.  I have never, ever seen Germans so crazy and patriotic. Yes, patriotic.  This word is not in their everyday vocabulary, but right now you would not know it by the flags on their cars and houses as well as the colors draped around their necks.  Our apartment in Leinfelden is walking distance to the beer garden, which is nice, since there is not an ounce of parking anywhere.  Also, when we walked home, the town erupted in cheers and celebration that rival that of perhaps Corvallis after they beat the Ducks.  Tomorrow, Germany plays Ghana then on Thursday, they play against the US.  It's been fun keeping up on the World Cup and I look forward to seeing what happens on Thursday.

We moved back to Leinfelden just under a week ago, exhausted from a very busy and hot weather trip.  Flying from Stuttgart to Florence was little over an hour--or the time it takes to fly from Portland to Idaho.  Florence is easy to get around, once you find the bus that takes you downtown.  If you ever fly to Florence, catch the Blue Bus at the far, far end of the airport.  For 8 Euros, it takes you to the station, right outside downtown Florence.

Once there, we walked about 15 mins straight to the Duomo and found our flat, the Michelozzo, and our host, Lorenzo Clemente.  The flat was in a very, very old building which we think was one time a large house/palace converted to several vacation flats. Ours was the largest and had the only terrace.  Although on a very busy street (literally 30 second walk to the Duomo), the terrace faced a quieter street and the apartment was deep inside the building so we did not hear a word from the outside! Tall, tall ceilings, a small kitchen, washing machine, and air conditioning, thank goodness, made this our home away from home for five days.  And just like in Italian fashion, the obligatory bidet devours valuable bathroom real estate, which attributed to the only downside of the apartment. Although the bathroom was tiled nicely in pure, pure white, the toilet was crammed between the shower and bidet and faced a wall that no one, not even Erin, could sit on without her legs being smashed up against the wall (like a really bad seat in Coach!). I suppose if you stand and do your business, you are in luck, but otherwise, we had to improvise.  Okay, I will stop here and omit further details.

Florence was Erin's first experience in Italy.  I sensed it was a bit too busy for her (like how I feel about Rome), but she did seem to enjoy the history and especially the art.  We took a cooking class and met people from Portland (and yes, we know the same Daimler people!), toured the Uffizi, walked the Ponte Vecchio and took a tour of Siena and San Gimignano on what the Italian's said was the hottest day of the year so far!  We had one day were we just hung around Florence, ate a local's favorite called ZaZa (brunch of fried eggs, asparagus, olive oil and truffle shavings), cooked our own fresh pasta and drank Chianti on our terrace.  Erin took Art History and that made my repeat Florence experience even better given she would explain artists and pieces I knew nothing about.

The day before we left for Rome, we went to Venice for the day, an easy two-hour train ride from Florence. While there, we hopped on a boat and went to Murano where they make beautiful glass artwork, jewelry, lamp shades, etc.  There is so much of it that it is overwhelming. We did view from an alleyway, two glassblowers creating a very large burgundy colored vase.  It was pushing 95 degrees outside so we could not even imagine what it was like for the glass blowers!  After Murano, we started our trek back to the station via St. Mark's Square all the way to the Rialto, finally stopping for a little something to eat.  By the end of the hot day, we were exhausted and dozed off and on during our train trip back to Florence.

The next morning, we hopped a train to Rome, about 90 mins south of Florence.  Since I have only been to Rome once, for like a day, I don't know my way around at all.  Florence was busy but Rome is ten times busier!  Our cab ride to our hotel was cheap and well worth it.  We stayed at the Hotel Fontana, directly across from the Trevi Fountain (which sadly, was under construction).  There were so many people that our driver dropped us off and pointed to our hotel, only a 100 yards or so away.  The hotel is a great location if you can deal with the crowds.  We were not thrilled with this hotel after being so spoiled in Florence. It was a typical hotel room, nothing special. The location, however, was ideal and the room rate included breakfast in a rooftop room that overlooked the fountain---nice when the fountain works!  The location was walking distance to the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, and Spanish Steps.  Great restaurants nearby (we at twice at Al Moro), but the throngs of people was too too much. It made me wish that we spent more time in the countryside in Chianti.

We toured the Colosseum and Forum as well as the Borghese Gallery and gardens. We took some time and visited St. Peter's but dismissed the crowded Vatican tours.  By the end our time in Rome, we were tired of being so hot and sweaty all the time that we were ready to come back to Germany and cool off!  The driver that took us to the airport treated us to a very special place.  He took us to this hilltop building, way outside of Rome. He told us to look through the keyhole of a very intimidating looking green door.  Looking through it provided us with a straight shot of the Vatican! It was amazing, like looking through a camera lens.  A tunnel of trees shielded any light and at the end of the tunnel was a little "picture" of the Vatican. Such a surprise and one of the unique and special things that I will remember about Rome.

For Erin's first trip to Italy, she agreed that it was a good one to have seen all the "big" stuff, but future trips may include more wine tasting in the country and more time savoring the Italian way of life.  I have done Italy both ways and I prefer the countryside way more than the city life by far.

So now, back to reality, watching World Cup and waiting for my work Visa to be approved (I get a temporary Visa on Monday so I can at least show up for work finally)!  Our apartment internet finally works as does the GPS in our little Ford C-Max (renting a Mercedes is another blog all by itself) and we now have cell phones with German phone numbers.  We have mastered the laundry room and found that we can walk to the bakery and Doner shop quite easily. Erin took her first train trip to meet friends for a day in nearby Tubingen and successfully made it home after a couple of train connections.  My German lessons are coming in very handy and Erin is picking up on the language as well.  Friends are nearby and they are making us feel right at home here in little Leinfelden...although, I woke up this morning missing my dogs...Erin rolled her eyes when I told her that.  Honestly.

Enjoy the photos and if you want to go to Italy like I did, I will send you my itinerary---I have to say, I planned this trip out pretty well and that is what made it so fun!  Ciao!