1992 Italy, Austria, Switzerlad

May | June 1992 Trip with Cindy and Bill
Italy, Austria, Switzerland

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May 26 - Tuesday
The birds and bells woke me. The bed was like a snugly nest.

We had breakfast overlooking Montepulciano. There was a cat in residence who threw up a hairball. Breakfast was a couple of sweet breads - something like melba toast and an applesauce spread along with honey.

We got off about 9:30. It was a slow ride up to Sienna. We managed to park in an underground lot and walked into town. I was disappointed. The Piazza del Campo was pretty, the fountain was pretty too. We didn't tour the town hall or tower. We went to the Duomo. It was striking - quite big and we were interested to see walls where they had planned to make it even bigger. It was zebra striped inside and out. The front was a very ornate faade. Very white with beautiful mosaics and stonework. Inside the floor was all inlaid art work. They had roped it off in some cases even covered it up entirely. It was all very intricate. The dome was spectacular too. There were only a few stain glass windows and the looked modern.

We strolled along a swanky shopping street and saw a shady restaurant. It had awnings and pink table clothes and was quiet and cool. I had past with crumbs and mozzarella and tomatoes - excellent and light. Two bottles of crisp, white from San Gimignano. Luther had bruschetta that looked spectacular - one covered with tomatoes - bright red and meaty, the other brushed with bright green olive oil. Then he had Penette with marscapone and eggplant and a bean salad. Cindy had prosciutto with melon and the mozzarella tomatoe thing and Bill just had the same past a s me.

Sienna - Duomo

Sienna Lunch

Sienna Piazza

Sienna

We then claimed our car and I drove it to San Gimignano [right & left] - maybe 30 minutes away. It was a very pretty town with tall, tall towers and narrow small streets. There were no cars and lots of tourists, many wine shops and pottery shops. We were glad we came.

We drove back - too many truck on two lane curvy roads. We had 2 hours to relax before dinner. Our hotel recommended the Restaurante 13 Gobbi in the village. I meant 13 hunchbacks. It was supposed to be local food.

We met and walked up the hill to the village. There was a double archway into the town. We walked down the very narrow cobbled streets. All the houses seemed restored and well kept. There obviously was some money in this town.

The restaurant was rustic and quaint - nicer than I had anticipated. The owner set about rapidly building the check. We fished for the bruschetta (me- tomato - one liver (2 slices of each) Then a fettucine pasta and spinach lasagna with mushrooms.

The main course has kept us talking ever since. It was supposed to be a house specialty - steaks covered with different mushrooms. One of these mushrooms had the texture of earthworms (really!) - really awful. We had 2 nice Montepulciano wines and the guys had a grappa. Cindy and I had a very sweet strawberry liquor. We managed to run up a 318,000 lira bill!

May 27 - Wednesday
We had the same breakfast and then packed and checked out of La Chuisa - a very nice place. We ran up an 800,000 lira bill per couple but it was worth it.

We headed for Roma at 9:30 - it took half an hour to reach the Autostrada and about 1 1/2 hours to reach Rome.

As soon as we got near the city the drivers got much more aggressive. We nearly had an accident on their beltway but managed to avoid it. Then we tried for 2 hours to reach our hotel. I'd honestly never seen anything like it anywhere I'd ever been before. It defied description. It was an utter chaos of cars and scooters. No rules, not even lines on the roads.

Our hotel was in just about the hardest place to reach. We finally stopped and Cindy and I walked to the hotel. We got directions and miraculously they worked. The desk clerk asked us why we'd ever thought we could drive in Rome.

We unloaded the car and followed directions to the car park. We left the car in the underground lot and walked back through a maze of tunnels to our hotel.

We went to our rooms, which were not too bad. We had 3 beds in ours. Coverlets, curtains and even the walls were covered in the same print material which was gray-green. There was a TV and minibar. It was rather dark and very noisy even though the street has few cars. Lots of vespas though.

We set off immediately for Roman Rome. The Coliseum, Forum, etc. The walking tour was not so easy since things have changed. The Forum was interesting - a jumble of stone fragments, some columns standing and partial buildings. We saw the gardens where Livia's house was and where Cicero, etc. lived.

Rome - Forum

Unfortunately the Coliseum was closed on Wednesday afternoon. We walked back and happened on the Trevi fountain which was recently restored. It was very big, cool, white and inviting. There were zillions of people there.

We decided to check out the roof garden in our hotel. It turned out to be very inviting. We took a bottle of wine up and shared it. Then we had the desk clerk make reservations at Mario's for us. It was written up in 2 articles and Michelin gave it 2 forks.

It turned out to be the sort of restaurant that you want to avoid. There were big 1.5 liter bottles-with-straw of Chianti already opened sitting on the table. We managed to convince them that we didn't want it and that we wanted to order from the wine list. I tried to order and was cut off short after my pasta. Then later he came back and took the entrŽe orders. I had Paparadella with game sauce which was very livery - too much sauce - over cooked pasta. Then veal baked with potatoes. Not good either. No one liked his or her meal. The only good thing about it is that none of us ate too much!

May 28 - Thursday
An altogether remarkable day! The most amazing thing happened to us. All week we had been trying to figure out if this day was a holiday - we knew it was a holiday in Germany. Everyone said no, it was not. The issue was that if it WAS a holiday the Sistine chapel would be closed. So we traipsed off to St. Paul's at the Vatican. It was not terribly far on foot. A metal detector checked us out as we went up to the main church. We didn't know where the entrance to the Vatican museum was so we went into the Cathedral. It was very beautiful with lots of colored marble - lots of pink. I was very anxious to get to the Sistine Chapel. There were people sitting in the pews and I figured there was a mass soon. There were also many barriers around and spectacularly dressed Swiss guards.

We went back out the front and finally asked a guard and he said it was closed. Bummer. So we went back into the other side of the Cathedral. Many people were arriving for the mass. We noticed that they all had tickets. We stood behind a wooden barrier. Not may people were where we were. We saw lots of nuns in many kinds of habits go in. Also Spanish ladies with black lace veils. Then a group of Priest - Cardinals maybe - or Bishops came in. We heard people address them as "your Imminence". They wore crimson, gold or fuchsia robes. The organ began with a beautiful chorus. I was having a great time watching the show.

Meanwhile, more people had been coming in behind me in our blocked off area. I got separated from Cindy, Bill and Luther. I was on one side and they were facing the center aisle, I was facing the back. All the Cardinals and Bishops had gone through a velvet curtain that blocked off the whole side of the Cathedral. I was facing the exit from there. The front entrance fitted with Priests in rows all wearing white and gold. Right next to me in the very corner was an Italian woman with a video camera. She talked to me a lot in Italian.

Well, I figured some big shot Cardinal was going to celebrate the Mass. Next the curtains were opened and Priests holding 4-foot tall candles walked past - all the other waiting ones walked up the aisle. Another one in hot Pink went up. Then there were maybe 12 who could count? With tall Miter hats. I was trying to figure out who was the most important. I took some pictures and then suddenly I saw him. I recognized him immediately - Pope John Paul!! I was taken totally by surprise. He had the kindest face and he held a golden cross scepter which he moved slightly in a cross blessing and he looked - right. At. Me. He was only about 5 feet from where I stood in the front row. Then he moved up the aisle. I never wanted to forget how I felt. I stepped back and took a breath - turned in a circle - folded my arms and cried in amazement or awe or something. I was stunned. In shock. I guess part of it was that I couldn't believe that I had, completely by accident, seen someone so powerful - someone so many would fight so hard to just see from a distance. Cindy, Bill and Luther weren't as close also they had figured out what was happening beforehand. But anyway, it was one of the most amazing things that had ever happened to me.

Vatican from across the Arno	Inside St. Pauls	Before Mass	Before Mass	Procession
Pope John Paul	Pope John Paul	Pope John Paul	Vatican garden

The rest of the day couldn't compare. We walked to the Pantheon and in that area had pizza for lunch. We walked to the Coliseum, which was open. We read from our new Rome Michelin guide. Another couple listened to be read and then thanked me.

Rome - Coliseum

Finally we rode back to the Spanish Steps and our nearby hotel. Time to clean up for dinner.

We went to dinner at a restaurant right across from our hotel. It had gotten 3 forks from Michelin. The food was sub-par. At least we could order wine and our food in peace. Rome didn't seem to have good food.

May 29 - Friday
We headed straight for the Sistine Chapel. It was everything I expected. The new restoration was so bright. I was really impressed with the three dimensionality. We spent at least 30 minutes staring up at it. Then we left and went to St. Peters to see the Pieta. It was much smaller than I had anticipated and, unfortunately, behind glass. This was the statue from which some idiot had broken the toe. We looked more closely at the cathedral and headed to our area, which turned out to be the big shopping area.

We had a terrible lunch. So far the best eats were at the pizza place for lunch. I think Tuscany ruined us.

After shopping - I had bought a cookbook - we rested up.

Dinner at La Grotte was a nightmare. It was so bad it was funny. The waiter came over and we asked for a white wine from the wine list. He insisted that we have the house red. After we all continued to point and say, "white" or "Bianco" he went away and came back with 2 bottles, neither of which we'd ordered. Finally another man came over and we got our wine. Next he said spaghetti with salmon to Cindy who, taken aback, said No, penette with tomato sauce. He says, "four?" No we said, "one". He says "two?" We were really exasperated. Poor Bill tried 2 soups before Minestrone was forced on him. The most fun though was trying to get our RED wine. This guy was acting lie no one had ever ordered off of the wine list! It was totally amazing. The meal was only OK quality-wise. The restaurant had a brick domed ceiling, which had the disconcerting habit of creaking loudly like a ship at sea... kind of scary really.

We did get a great laugh out of it at the end.