My 24-hour SITA bus pass was set to expire at 10:41am, so I got up for breakfast earlier than usual this morning. Tim and Tony had already eaten by the time I arrived, but another new couple came on the breakfast terrace just as I was leaving. I ended up seeing them as I was waiting for the bus on the way to Amalfi. Although the bus was late, I didn’t need to be anywhere particular at a certain time, so I didn’t mind. Crowded to almost full capacity, the Ravello-Amalfi SITA bus is popular with both locals and tourists alike. [View Full Entry]

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My alarm went off at 8:30am, and I wasn’t ready to get up yet. Breakfast hours on the terrace were from 8-9:30am, so I knew that if I wanted to take advantage of the meal included in the price of my stay, I had to get up and get ready sooner rather than later. Roberto and his niece Milly were there to greet me when I entered the kitchen. They showed me to my table on the terrace overlooking the beautiful blue water. I noticed that there was another table set for two right next to mine, so I knew [View Full Entry]

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I collected both of my check-in luggages at the Naples airport baggage claim area, without any problems. Claudio, the cousin of the owner of Punta Civita (the B&B that I will be staying at for the next week), picked me up and drove me through Naples, Ercolano, Torre del Greco, Pompeii, and then down to Ravello. Traveling along the cliffs and ridges of the coast, lemon trees abound. In the middle of the hour-long drive to the B&B, Claudio stopped off at a local Lemon Ice stand and bought one for each of us. Lemon Ice, among other lemon products, is [View Full Entry]

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Our flight was scheduled to leave at noon today, so we made it a point to set the alarm early enough for us to have a leisurely final breakfast. Yesterday, Giulio mentioned that he was expecting new guests in the other room for just one night and that they also signed up for his Pasta Experience Cooking Class. When Alex and I arrived at the dining area, we saw them sitting at the previously vacant table for two. Their names escape me now, but the couple ended up being a mother and her twenty-something year old son from Grand Junction, Colorado. [View Full Entry]

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Functioning on only 4 hours of sleep, Alex and I were like zombies at breakfast. We went through the motions, but hardly spoke or touched our food. The previous day wore us both out. Alex was understandably tired. As for me, although I sporadically slept in the car on our drives to and from the coast, my cold medication made me drowsier than usual this morning. So, we decided to take it easy on our last full day in Florence. Giulio offered to take us into the town of Bagno a Ripoli, so that we could run some errands at [View Full Entry]

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We were not able to get the early start we were hoping for today. Although this has become a recurring theme, we both agree that vacations are not meant to revolve around tight schedules anyway. Our plan was to drive to the Tuscan coast to spend the day relaxing on the beach. Both Giulio and Christina recommended that we go to the southern part of the coast, in the town where Giulio grew up as a child and where his family still owns a home, Punta Ala. Giulio estimated that the drive would take about 2 hours, however due to the [View Full Entry]

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Due to our late night, Alex and I didn’t show up for breakfast until 9:45am and our cooking class was scheduled to start 45 minutes later. We both tried to eat a small breakfast in preparation for our upcoming lesson. Donatella, our instructor for the day, arrived at 10:30a and first showed us how to make Cantucci (a type of biscotti that is usually served with a sweet, Italian dessert wine after the main course). Although Giulio provided the recipes for everything that we were going to learn how to make, I made sure to take video clips as Donatella went [View Full Entry]

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We had every intention to get an earlier start today, but no luck. It was already 10:30a when we packed the car and headed to our first destination. We followed the same route that we took on Thursday, but this time drove past Siena down towards Buonconvento. The picturesque Tuscan hills go on and on and on. Montalcino is another village south of Siena and is famous for the Brunello vineyards. It took just under 2 hours to arrive in Montalcino, and we exited the main road once we saw the sign for the first wine tasting shop. We have [View Full Entry]

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The plan was to go for a run before our day of wine touring and tasting. We surprised ourselves by waking up in time. Following Giulio outside the entrance to La Limonaia, we were shown a great but challenging running trail through the hills of Bagno a Ripoli. The first part of our route took us down narrow, gravel winding roads. On the way back, the uphill climb took the wind out of me, but the views more than made up for the intense cardio workout. For breakfast, Christina went easy on the spread per our request, so as to [View Full Entry]

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La Limonaia sits next to Bagno a Ripoli’s Catholic Church, and every hour the bell tolls one time. At 8am, I finally heard it as the sun peered through the window of the room in our villa. There is something so wonderful about not having to wake up to an alarm. Christina (Giulio’s long time girlfriend of 12 years) was busy preparing our breakfast spread. We were the only two people staying at the B&B, but she prepared a feast that would have fed an army. There were a variety of breads and pastries, cereals, yogurts, fruits, cured meats, and [View Full Entry]

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