AbigailinCambridge

The next day, we did another winery visit in Montalcino. Before going to the town of Montalcino, we stopped briefly in the cute little town of Piensa. It was so picturesque that they were actually filming for a movie there! We met Dad's old friend Alassandro in Montalcino, and he helped to facilitate the tour, which was good since the winemakers spoke virtually no English! Although the grapes had already been harvested, they were in the process of harvesting the olives to make olive oil. We got to have some fresh olive oil--heavenly :) After having lunch in Montalcino with Alassandro, we headed back to Valdapiata winery (where we had stayed the night before) for a tasting there. Unfortunately, our GPS got us into a little trouble. When Dad because suspicious of the directions it was ... read more

Reading Under the Tuscan Sun (a great book) has inspired me to put up my pictures of Tuscany. I warn you though, they really don’t do the place justice. I would recommend that everyone just go there themselves. I know that I definitely want to go back. It was probably my favorite part of our half-term trip. We finally got out of Rome. Late of course. The phone quest had set us back time-wise. Luckily getting out of the city wasn’t too bad. Italian drivers are crazy. That is one stereotype that I am full-heartedly willing to buy into. We had managed to get an automatic, which was a godsend, because the hills of Tuscany are not exactly the best place to be trying to re-learn stick shift. We also got a GPS, which was extremely ... read more

Today was a magnificent but crazy day. In my quest to make sure I saw ALL of the island, I rented a car. Yes, you read that right, I rented a car. I am pretty sure America is the only place where they care about you being 25 years of age (and I guess this means that I have no more birthdays to look forward to, bummer). Perhaps driving in Greece after not driving at all for three months wasn’t the smoothest move. Literally, definitely not. Probably figuratively so too. Speaking of crazy roads, there are many here. We complain a lot about the roads in Northern Virginia, and they do sometimes leave a lot to be desired, but they’ve got NOTHING on Santorini’s roads. Nonetheless, 10 minutes and 35 euros later, I drove off in ... read more

Well it is already raining in Greek island paradise. Bummer. In paradise’s defense, it was bright and sunny when I got here just a few hours ago. My room is great. I have my own balcony with a view of the water! When the sun comes back it is going to make a fab spot for reading. I already made it into the town of Fira, which is the capital of Santorini. Since it is December, it is pretty quiet. During the summer I think Santorini is pretty touristy, so right now it is a bit like a ghost town. Not to say there aren’t things open, but there do seem to be many things closed. I found a nice looking café where I wanted to eat lunch, but was told they were only serving coffee ... read more

Today we walked a LOT. Our tour guide Massimo met us at our hotel at 9am. He was very well informed and helped us to cover a lot of ground. However, he didn’t score big points for personality. He was pretty much a stale smelling old man who wasn’t all that friendly. He was also kind of sexist; for example, he didn’t seem to think I could step off of the city buses by myself. That was annoying. Anyway, we did see the Piazza del Campidoglio (I believe Nero committed suicide there), the Spanish Steps, Trajan’s column, the Victor Emmanuel Monument, Trevi Fountain, the ruins of all the forums, and the Coliseum with him. I do not think we would have been able to cover so many sights in such an organized way on our own, ... read more