Here's to you moms

Cheers!

Mama's Fish House

Makena State Beach

Pictures worth a few thousand words.

Coffee on our lanai

Our view. It's going to be a beautiful day.

Paradise in paradise

Yesterday, the boys had plans to watch the Bears play Monday night
football (at3p). Muzz and I opted to do something a little more
exciting.

The spa at Grand Wailea.

I've never experienced a more delightfully indulgent spa. We arrived
an hour before our massage and hung out in the aromatherapy baths, hot
tubs, waterfall showers. Private exfoliation sessions precluded our
massages. Then, we enjoyed a private lanai to watch the ocean until we
were ready to shower and rejoin the husbands.

It was outstanding. And the Bears won. It was a good day.

... and we're back

Rented a mustang convertable for the week. Now it's officially
vacation time.

You can't take me anywhere!

Day 1, 2p.

Went swimming in rocky, shallow sea. Somehow managed to catch a
seaurchin spike to the foot. Couldn't get all of the "organic
material" out, so this morning at 8a, I'm at the Kihei-wailea medical
center.

After a saline bath, a tetnus shot, some iodine and a waterproof
bandaid, I'm back in the game. I may have to wobble through Maui but
at least I didn't need surgery!

First Class

After our 2 hr delay getting out of Chicago, we had long missed our
connection. The only 4 seats remaining to get us to Maui was in first
class... And it was only a 18 minute flight. I couldn't even finish my
free beer!!

And away we go!!

Stuck in the Honolulu airport. Let the msi Tais begin.

And... We're back

On the blue line on our way back home. This is our 4rd Metro train so far today. In addition to the plane of course. And the bus we're about to board. Both of us will be happy when we stop moving!!!

Full reports on our trip to come. Just wanted to let you all know that we're (almost) home. Safe and sound.

Speaking of the us...

This bar was right around the corner.

Au Revoir Paris

Sorry for being radio silent.... The wifi in our hotel is annoying and
makes you log in each time....

So, we had a great last day in grande ol' Paris. Montemarte, Jewish
district (with the worlds BEST falafel), Bastille and one last stroll
by the Seine.

Tonight, we decided to take a stroll on our own neighborhood. It's
some place south of Latin district and below Luxemborg gardens. We had
a great dinner and then stumbled across this darling little square,
Place de la Contrescarpe... That's been around longer than america.
Um. That gives you some perspective. In the pic attached there is a
sign on the building that says "maison fundee en 1749". Our US
constitution was signed in 1776. Wow.

This place is amazing. We'll certainly be back.

Paris

Know we're in Paris and it's cold and grey. It was raining when we
arrived, but that's stopped for now.

The change in temp and the change in language has us reeling from
culture shock all over again. But we're looking forward to figuring it
out all over again. Hopefully the weather gets better....

Love from paris, l&z

Overnight train to Paris

At least we got to lay down. We thought we'de have to sit all night
like the plan ride over. Couchette beats coach anyday.

Milan

We had a stop over in Milan for long enough to catch a glimpse of the
Duomo and spin on the bull in Victor Emanual. Obviously, we weren't
the first. It's supposed to be good luck. ;)

Z doesn't want to leave Italy.

Ahhh. Vacation

Beach at Monterossa

Grande Paris

Cinque Terre was amazing. We walked around in bathing suits, met a
great couple from NYC and had an altogether great time. I'll post a
few pics.

Officially Unplugged

We have been in Cinque Terre since early yesterday and it feels like weeks.  This place is amazing and neither of us is in a hurry to leave.  We arrived in town early and enjoyed a giant plate of fresh local marinaded muscles with oil and lemon and who knows what other goodness... sopped up with fresh bread and local vini bianchi.  YUM!  Probably one of the best meals we have had yet.

Today we are going to try to do a little as possible.  Tomorrow, we hop a train to Milan to pick up our overnight connection to Paris.  Probably wont check in again before then.  xoxo L & P

I'm here too!

Hello to all, I just wanted to let all our friends and family know
that I'm on this vacation also. I've spent my time writing about our
days in our trip-journal while Leah posts to the blog. I'm alive and
well, and no, Leah didn't leave me in Rome.

I can attest that the gelato is amazing, the artwork has been
breathtaking, Michaelangelo is in-deed a master. And I will remember
for the rest of my days that tonight, I was able to watch the sun set
over Florence from a ridge in Fiesole with the love of my life. I
can't wait to see what will top this in the coming days for Leah and I.

Hello from Italy - Pietro

Buona Sera

We had a busy day. Lots to share. Now, I'll cap off the evening with
the Florence crown jewel.

Tomorrow, we're off to the birth place of pesto and foccacia, Cinque
Terre.

Have I mentioned yet today?

My feet hurt. And yes. We took a pitstop to listen to the guitarist
from the other night. Tonight's grande finale: sound of silence.

Art in action

There were three women recreating this masterpiece in chalk on the
sidewalk. It was breathtaking.

How to avoid bad gelato

Lesson 1: Ordering Gelado.

Don't even THINK about stopping someplace with it piled so high. RUN
if there are giant chunks of fake fruit decorating the mound. We went
back to our favorite GROM on Via della Oche for our finale in the
gelato capital.

Dinner in Fiesole

Back from Siena and off again to the darling little hillside Suburb of
Florence, Fiesole. We caught the bus just in time for sunset. It was
amazing.

I loved these little bubble trees among all of the Q-Tip cypress.
Below is traces of the Florence roof tops.

A pretty little side street.

Bella!!

From the top of Siena's Duomo

Il Campo and the Tuscan beyond. All from the top of an unfinished feat
of architechural integrity. They were planning on building a basilica
to rival the Vatican's St. Peters until the plague hit and wiped out
half of the population. The building was never finished an you can pay
a few €€ to climb to the top of what still stands unfinished.
Pretty amazing.

We must be on vacation...

We took a day trip to Siena today. And we decided to have a seat at Il
Campo and have a drink, watching the world go by. We soon realized, it
was barely 11:30. We must be on vacation. It was a beautiful day, nice
and breezy with a manageable heat index. I'll post a few more photos.

He is the architect of the dome

The building was built before they had the technology to build such a
wife dome. It was added on later, star trek style, once they figured
out how to span the gap.

The view from our walk home

Have I mentioned where we are staying?

One block away from Firenze's Duomo.

Giant head in Boboli

View from Boboli Garden

Another fav from pitti palace

Contraband from palatine gallery, pitti palace

View from Ponte Veccio

Ouch!!

Boy are we sore. From head to toe, the zalinski's are tired of walking
and hurt hurt hurt. After the morning in Pitti Palace and Boboli
Gardens, and the afternoon visiting every Madonna and Bambino known to
man in the Uffizi, we are beyond help. We kept alternating, trying to
get the other to carry us back to the hotel.

We visited the world famous Vivoli, AND its sister gelateria down the
street (just to make sure we had a strong representation of "the best"
in town) unfortunately, not even TWO different scoops of gelato could
save us from soreness.

Tonight, we're going to give our Italian experience a rest, in favor
of the laundrymat and a few tacos from a Mexican restaurant we found
down the street. Never thought i'd say these words, but I actually AM
getting tired of pizza and pasta at every meal.

I'll post a few photos from our day for your entertainment, coming
next.

Fwd: Part 3: Firenze after dark

Subject: Part 3: Firenze after dark

All thru dinner, we could hear a nearby italian street performer singing American pop songs from the 70s and 80s. Richard Marx. U2. Simon & Garfunkle. He was playing to the American tourists and they were eating it up, whooping and hollering and making an all around scene. It was crazy. After dinner, we walked around the corner to see what all of the fuss was about.

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Throngs of people filled the uffizi courtyard, singing along with Let It Be, the evenings grand finale. We couldn't help but get caught up in the moment.

We asked our waiter about it during dinner. Apparently, this guy has been at it since Easter. I feel bad for the locals, but the tourists were in 7th heaven.

Soon after, at 11 sharp, the restaurants and shops closed and the streets filled with happy people on their way home. All in all, it was a pretty special night.

Fwd: Part 2, Firenze after dark

Subject: Part 2, Firenze after dark

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Great dinner in the piazza della signoria, below the sculptures outside the Uffizi Gallery. Caprese salad. Amazing canneloni with spinach inside and meat ragu on top. Plus veal Marsala with the house vini. A totally Italian experience. Although, there was a bit of an American tone to the evening....

Part three to come.

Fwd: Firenzie, after dark. Part 1

For some reason, the post stopped after the photo. Below us the full part 1. I'll repost the others too. Sorry for the tech delay. 

Begin forwarded message:

Subject: Firenzie, after dark. Part 1

After a mediocre afternoon exploring our new neighborhood, we decided to get away from our steamy hotel room and see what Firenzie night life had to offer. There was no mention in our Rick Steves book (aka Our Bible) so we were skeptical.

Less than two blocks away, we stopped in for a pre-dinner gelato. And just like that, our Tuscan experience began anew.

<photo.jpg>

I indulged in a Piccolo Conni del Melone e albicocca (small cone, cantelope and apricot). It was insanely delizioso. Z had pesca e lampone (peach and rasperry). His was gone before we hit the next Piazza.

Florence is a different experience at night. The lights glitter. The piazzas are filled with people and music and life. The buildings all glow. It was a wonderful night.

Now, we're actually looking forward to tomorrow.

Part 3: Firenze after dark

All thru dinner, we could hear a nearby italian street performer
singing American pop songs from the 70s and 80s. Richard Marx. U2.
Simon & Garfunkle. He was playing to the American tourists and they
were eating it up, whooping and hollering and making an all around
scene. It was crazy. After dinner, we walked around the corner to see
what all of the fuss was about.

Part 2, Firenze after dark

Firenzie, after dark. Part 1

After a mediocre afternoon exploring our new neighborhood, we decided
to get away from our steamy hotel room and see what Firenzie night
life had to offer. There was no mention in our Rick Steves book (aka
Our Bible) so we were skeptical.

Less than two blocks away, we stopped in for a pre-dinner gelato. And
just like that, our Tuscan experience began anew.

Oops

I'm typing from my fingers. I'll make it quick this time. I hit sent
too soon on my last email.

We're in Florence.
It's still a million degrees.
We don't have A/C (we did it Roma, thank god).
We do have Wifi.
Our host doesn't speak English.
But she does speak Spanish. Gracias a dios!! I have three times the
vocabulary in Spanish as I do in Italian.

In a bit, we're off to see the David in Accademia. More later. Xoxo.

Sent wirelessly via AT&T iPhone

Trade off, Italian style

Ciao Florence!!

We almost missed our train out of Rome, but was able to sprint thru
the train station and jump on board. Mind you, it's still a million
degrees and we're now schlepping our 25 lb backpacks and a bag filled
with fresh fruit and home made sandwiches. Alora, long story short: we
made it on the train with minuti to spare.

Italia, Part due

Today was our last full day in Rome. 

 

We finally made it to the fresh market across the street from our bed and breakfast.  It was fun and exciting to interact with all of the fruit and meat vendors.  I'm glad we had three days of italian under our belt or the whole experience would have been way too overwhelming.  We walked away with some fantastic fruit, and the makings for some caprese salads and salami and cheese sandwiches.  YUM! 

 

After packing a home made lunch, we ventured out to the Borghese Gallery & Villa, followed up with a few -ah - interesting? churches (bones, weddings, etc, we'll post pictures later), then a nice relaxing stop at the Pza del Popolo.

 

We've stumbled across some more great experiences today - art exists on every corner (i.e. Church of Maria del Popolo... Bernini's and Carvevaggio's are literally HIDDEN in corners.  Plus, we had a quasi- celebrity sighting from a wine bar in the Pza del Popolo... we didn't know who the guy was, but italians were flocking to take pictures with him.  Very exciting stuff. 

 

After a little downtime, we wrapped up our Roman adventure with a night in Trastevere at a great restaurant off the beaten path.  Great food, memorable experience.  Then a walk around the hoping night life with the local Romans out on the town on a Friday night (seriously, I don't know how these women do cobble stones in such rediculous heels!!).  Now, back to home base for a good night sleep before starting all over tomorrow.

 

After three sweltering, non-stop days in Roma, we're getting ready to depart for Florence.  We have had a great time here... actually, better than I thought we would have, but we've seen what we wanted, and are ready for our next adventure.  Firenze - we're coming for you!

 

Buona Sera.  xoxo L&P

Roman Gangbusters

We have not stopped moving since we got to this amazing place. Some of it is just like I remember, other parts, I can't believe I've seen - my memories didn't do it justice.  We have powerhoused through Rome over the past 36 hours and have seen:

 

Vatican City

St. Peter's Basilica

Campo di Fiori

Piazza Navona

Pantheon

Trevi Fountain

Spanish Steps

Colusseum

Roman Forum

St. Peter in Chains

Emmanuel Monument

Capitoline Hill

 

It's crazy!  Things feel so close to eachother that we can't help but keep adding one more thing on before going home.  We've had some great food, better gelato and have altogether enjoyed eachothers company finding our way through the city.  There are free water fountains all through the city and the water is fresh, cold and tastes delish.  Good thing too because it's been a million degrees - we're both drenched in sweat, but there is nothing to do about it but wash off your face and neck at the next fontana and keep moving.  We had a close call though - the Roman Forum at high noon, without a fontana in sight.  I almost had a nervous breakdown, but alas, we found a WC offering a fresh water spout and some shade just in time to refresh, hydrate and hit the reset button to continue enjoying our day.  And all this - on another night of 3 hours of sleep.  I think I'm on 5 hours total since I woke up Tuesday am in my bed in Chicago. Tonight, I'm not taking any chances, after enjoying some downtime, we're going to enjoy a nice multi-course Italian meal, a bottle of vino, and a few sleeping pills if the mood strikes.  Buona Sera people! 

 

We love you all.  Thanks for your sweet notes in reply to our last post.  We'll stay away from the Roman Prisons, continue to enjoy ourselves, and eat as much pasta and pizza as we can stomach.

 

Tomorrow - we tackle the Mercado across the street, the Borghese Gallery and Piazzo del Popolo and whatever else strikes our fancy. 

We've arrived!

Just a little note telling everyone we have arrived safe and sound.  There was no sleep to be had on the plane.... Coach seats internationally - no good.  And no A/C!!  Poor Pietro was dying of the heat.  But we arrived into Rome without incent and found our B and B easily. Our B and B is wonderful - sweet proprietor took 20 minutes to walk through the buses we should take and the best places to visit.  We have a fresh market right across the street, the biggest in Roma, he tells us.  Now, we're off to shower, freshen up and off to Vatican City we go!

 

xoxo L and Z

It's official

I'm no longer thinking about work.  Vacation... here I come (soon)!! Now, if only I could just go home already and be on vacation already.  Sitting in this chair is killing me!

Technology is awesome

So, we're gearing up for our European Vacation, and one of those things we have to figure out is: how do we stay connected to you lovely people!! Via technology of course! We're planning on dusting off the wedding blog, and use it to post quick updates about what we're doing and where we've been - both to document it for ourselves, but also to keep you in the loop so you can follow our adventures from afar.

We've set up a few 'auto updates' that will send the posts directly to your email. If you got this post via email, you're on the list. If you'd rather not get the updates via email - let me know and I'll remove you. Updates will also be posted directly to the blog http://baker-to-zalinski.blogspot.com

Please keep in mind - if you reply to this email, it will go to my old email account. If you want me to see your email while I'm gone - send it to leah.zalinski@gmail.com instead.

Forgive the typos. You all know my spelling stinks, and to make it worse. I'm typing with my thumbs.

Look for updates starting Aug 25!! Bon voyage!