Kim: Castelrotto was beautiful. We stayed in a cute little bed and breakfast with our own private patio overlooking the beautiful green valley below. We ate at a little diner called Bar Toni's where we ran into a young couple we had met in the Cinque Terre. Small world. We had spinaci dumplings, turkey and potatoes and salmon. Yum! It was great to have some meat and potatoes after so much bread and pasta. Our first full day in Castelrotto we took a ski lift up to the Alpe de Suisi, Europe's largest high-alpine meadow. Talk about absolutely breathtaking!! I felt like I was Heidi frolicking in the hills of Austria. Green rolling hills everywhere. Wild flowers, cows, streams, little mountain huts, farms, snow capped mountains, waterfalls. It was awesome! On our hike to Panorama Point, we were surrounded by cows and horses. We heard the cows and their bells coming down the mountain and before we knew it, they had us surrounded. I wish we could have gotten a picture of that :) After a few minutes we were able to maneuver between them and continue on our hike. Later horses came up to us digging in our pockets for food.

Darren: Oh yes, the "cattle incident." These cows were more than friendly, they were out to get us I swear! No lie, they wouldn't let us pass. They seriously "surrounded" us and then kept blocking any escape. I felt like we'd walked into a bad neighborhood and felt like we were about to get roughed up. :)
The town there was very interesting. It's history is a bit complicated but what resulted was a town where they speak both German and Italian and really recognize both languages everywhere you look. Every sign, brochure, menu and bus stop schedule had information printed in both German and Itialian. Seeing as how we were headed north to Austria next on our journey we started to learn and practice some German. Funny stuff just laughing at each other at how we sounded. Just ask Kim how to say "I want to buy two postcards, please" in German. It's hilarious. She learned it by memory and it sounded like she'd memorized it to the tune of "red rover, red rover, send whoever right over." Oh the laughs!
The hiking was great. Huge open meadows, sunny and breathtaking. The second day hike we did we followed alongside a creek and saw multiple waterfalls along the way.

Kim: The next day we went hiking again in the Alpe de Suisi. This time we went in the direction of Schlern mountain. We had a picnic in the meadow listening to a nearby stream. Our hike down took us by some beautiful waterfalls and some cool water fountains. It was a pretty long hike. By the time we got done our muscles were pretty tired and sore. It was way fun though. That night we ate at a restaurant where we tasted some bread that tasted like black licorice. Interesting but good.
We dedicated our last day in Castelrotto to a day of relaxation. We went swimming in the B&B pool, sat in the solarium, and took a nap. Perfect!

Kim: Our first night was spent at an agriturismo outside of Venice. Agriturismo's are basically working farms that accomodate guests in order to help themselves survive financially. That night the owners mother Lugina made us dinner consisting of raw prosciutto and salami, and meatballs and spinach. The meatballs and spinach were pretty good but the raw ham was disgusting. I swear I could taste the hay that they had the fed the dead animal. Gross!! After a bite or two we rolled the ham into the smallest ball we could so it would look like we had eaten more than we actually did. I wonder if she noticed? haha

We were supposed to stay there the entire 4 days but it ended up being further out of the city than we wanted so we found an apartment in the city and moved in. So glad we did. We had to take a valporetto to our apartment. Water taxis...so cool. We were able to find an apartment right around the corner from St. Mark's Square. We could see gondolas and hear the gondoliers singing from our window. Awesome! That night we walked around St. Marks square and listened to the dueling orchestras. We also walked across the Rialto Bridge and watched gondolas float by. Truly a sight to see.

The next day we toured St. Marks Basilica. I still can't believe the entire decor is done in mosaic. Imagine an area the size of a football field decorated with pieces the size of a contact lense. Insane! It was so pretty though. It was all done in gold leafing so the ceilings and walls looked like they were glowing. St. Mark's remains have allegedly been here since A.D. 830. We also saw the Frari Church. This church houses the tomb of Titian and also contains some amazing statues and art pieces (and of course more reliquaries, see pic below)

Darren: Kim's notes are almost identical to mine when it comes to Venice. All I can add are a few little memories. I remember getting two of the best pizza slices EVER in Venice. Also, I remember sitting out by the main canal on two the of nights we were there on some benches. There was a man playing an achordian and it made Kim and I think of mom and dad playing. I remember people feeding the pigeons in St. mark's Square and letting their kids hold handfuls of seeds for the birds. It was a mixture of kids giggling, laughing, screeming and crying that filled the square. I remember Kim ordering some produce, in Italian, at a market in the street. She did great. And I remember going to an internet cafe to check our emails and we found out that Lecia had had her baby, Hendrix, and that all was well.

Kim: One night we attended an opera, La Traviatta, in an old palace. We circulated from room to room as the opera was performed. Other than the singers/actors being oddly matched, it was a fun experience. The craziest experience was trying to get to the palace on time. It had been raining like crazy for a couple of days and when we left the apt to go the performance, St. Marks Square was flooded. Like way past my ankles flooded. The flooding would have been enough of an obstacle by itself, but add to that the twisted, maze-like streets of Venice and it was quite the ordeal. Darren did a great job at navigating and got us there with time to spare.

The night before we left, Darren took me on a gondola ride. Very romantic. We even kissed under the Bridge of Sighs in order to assure us eternal love (although we already have that :) It was just like a dream. How many movies have I seen? How many stories have I heard? And then...here I am. Riding in a gondola with the man I love down the watery streets of Venice. Absolutely perfect!! After the gondola ride we went back to St. Mark's Square to listen to the dueling orchestras one more time. We danced and made fools of ourselves. What a perfectly fun evening. :)

Kim: We stayed in a cute little apartment on the outside of Florence near Fiesole. It was in a newly renovated villa that used to be the home of some noble family back in the day. I absolutely loved the garden. Trees, flowers and vines everywhere. The apartment had wood floors, rustic furniture and cool metal work, including the headboard and light fixtures. Click HERE to see pics.

We made it to church right on time on Sunday just to find out that it was regional conference and that all members should meet across town at a completely different location. And not to mention that the meeting had started 1 hour before our arrival at the building. A little frustrating but hopefully we'll be blessed for our efforts :) We met a woman and her daughter from Utah and a girl from Washington D.C. She is a concert pianist for professional singers and was there learning Italian so she can converse with the singers better.

Darren: The place Kim picked was perfect. Far enough away f rom the city to feel like country but within a walk to the bus stop. We saw some fire flies (lightning bugs)on our walk a few of those nights and I think it was one of the first times Kim had ever seen them. Crazy little things. Missing church was a bummer, especially since we'd gotten all the way into town and found the place with time to spare only to find the note about the change of schedule. We went home and read a few conference talks in the garden though, and had some really good conversations about them.

Kim: The next day we went and saw the Duomo, the Duomo Museum, the Santa Croce Church. The one thing about the Duomo Museum that stood out to us were the reliquaries. They are basically transportable shrines that contain the remains of saints (bones, clothing, etc). It was a little disturbing. First, I would see an object that looks like a mantle clock adorned with gold and jewels and then I would move in a little closer and see a finger, jaw bone, or lock of hair from some acclaimed saint. One question...WHY? After seeing a few of these, I began avoiding those areas of the museum. The Santa Croce Church was awesome. One of our favorites of the trip. Inside are the tombs of Galileo and Michelangelo. Having defied the Church by saying that the Earth revolved around the sun, Galileo's heretical remains were only allowed in the church long after his death. The Church also houses a leather school. We stopped and watched a couple of people in the process of making leather purses, wallets, etc. Pretty cool! We then walked around Piazza della Signoria and took pictures of the statues at the nearby loggia. We saw Cellini's bronze statue of Perseus holding the head of Medusa, the fake David, Hercules killing the centaur among others.

Darren: It was funny to see Kim freakin' out about the bones and fingers and stuff in the reliquaries. Don't get me wrong, I didn't enjoy them either, just saying it was kindof fun watching her reactions. :) In Santa Croce Church there was an amazing painting of "The Descent of Christ to Limbo." We just sat in some chairs and looked for a long time. The expressions on the faces in these paintings always impress me. Some were humble and hopeful, others ashamed.

That night we'd heard that they were going to be showing the Italian world cup football (never say soccer here) game vs. Paraguay live at the stadium near our apartment. It was free for anyone who wanted to go and watch on a huge screen. We made it over for the second half and watched the game with a rowdy bunch of Italian die-hard fans. They tied that night 1-1.

Kim: Over the next few days we toured the Accademia, the Galileo Science Museum and the Uffizi Gallery. The Accademia houses Michelangelo's David among some of his other work. The statue of David was awesome (and no babe...not because he's nude). The amount of detail that went into the work is absolutely astounding. The muscles, the facial features, it's just so...real. His face shows such determination to do God's will, yet there is concern there as well. So true to form. Some of our other favorites are what they call The Prisoners. These are some of Michelangelo's unfinished sculptures. Because they are unfinished, a lot of them will have their bodies completed but not their arms or head so it looks like they have a block of stone sitting on their shoulders. They look like they are trying to lift the stone off their heads, trying to dig themselves out, to free themselves from the imposing granite. It's really cool looking.

Darren: I have to say that out of all the museums and exhibits we'd seen to this point, none struck me with the spirit as strongly as did the statue of David. It actually caused me to take out a pen and paper and begin to write down a few of my thoughts and tranfer them to my journal later. Looking into the eyes of the statue you can see the combination of emotions that Kim mentioned; confidence and concern. It shows his faith and humility all at once. It made me think back to how I felt and how I'm sure most missionaries have felt when leaving for a mission. You know you are on the Lord's errand and you know it's the Lord's work, but you worry about your own ability. You could see that David had confidence in the Lord's strength and trusted in God. There were a few other really neat statues that made me ponder that day. There was one that represented "Day." It was an amazing statue of a man and very detailed...all except for his face. The face and beard were a bit unfinished and looked out of place on this amazing statue. It made me think that each day that Heavenly Father gives to us is a gift. Each day is amazing and full of beauty. Each day, however, is unfinished and we must give our own expression to it and decide how we will live it.

Kim: The Galileo Science Museum was cool. Some of the exhibits included compasses, globes, thermometers, telescopes, clocks, pumps, medicine and chemistry. The Uffizi Gallery was awesome! It has the greatest collection of Italian paintings anywhere and features works by Giotto, Leonardo, Raphael, Caravaggio, Titian, Michelangelo and Botticelli. Room after room after room of famous paintings. It truly was an experience. One of my favorites was the Birth of Venus. It shows a woman standing on a shell with the god and goddess of wind blowing her toward shore, where a woman awaits to clothe Venus with a robe. The colors and details are spectacular!

Darren: The Galileo Museum made me think of Dad. The microscopes, pulleys, etc. all made me think back to 8th grade science. We were at the Uffizi for 2 hours and they had to shew us out at the end. Amazing artwork. My favorites were Botticelli's Primavera and Birth of Venus. I also liked Lippi's Madonna and Child with Angels, Da Vinci's Annunciation and Cranach's Adam and Eve. There was also a newer one that we both liked by Notti called Adoration of the Child.

Kim: Later that night we ate at a restaurant where we had to share a large, long table with 5 other people. We were literally sitting shoulder to shoulder with strangers. I made the comment to the lady sitting next to me that it felt like Thanksgiving dinner. While it was a little uncomfortable in the beginning, we were able to meet two ladies from NY who were there for the first time. One of them was an artist who owned an art studio in NY. She taught us about some of the different techniques in drawing and the best way to learn them. It was fun.

Florence was amazing. So much art and culture. Another place to return to someday

Kim: The Cinque Terre is a remote area of the Italian Riviera, quite different from the bustling cities of the French Riviera. No traffic, no museums. Just sun, sea, and beach. Oh the life! Direct translation is "The Five Lands", consisting of Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare. Our journey began in Riomaggiore. We stayed in a nice little studio apartment with an amazing view, our own roof-top terrace overlooking the Ligurian Sea. The only downside to this was the amount of stairs we had to climb to get to this top floor apartment, 85 steps. Doesn't sound too bad eh? Well...try that with two 50 lb suitcases, 2 backpacks and extremely narrow stairwells. F-U-N! Our first night there we ate at Ristorante la Lampara. Darren had the seafood penne and I had linguine with clams (see pics below). The food was great although a little too fresh looking. The next afternoon we went on the Via dell'Amore walk from Riomaggiore to Manarola. The story goes that due to the extremely isolated location of the towns until the last century, villagers rarely married anyone from outside their town. After the blasting of the train line in the 1920's, a trail was made between Riomaggiore and Manarola and became established as a lovers' meeting point for boys and girls from the two towns. Due to all the amorous graffiti along the path, a journalist coined the name Via dell'Amore: Pathway of Love. It is the current craze in Italy to close a padlock with your love along the path. We saw a ton of padlocks linked to railings, fencing, etc. We did not have a padlock so we weren't able to contribute (though we did find an extra suitcase lock later and decided to lock it around a fence in Hallstatt while hiking) Why not? ;o)

The next couple of days were spent in Vernazza hiking around the town and in Monterosso lying on the beach. We rented lounge chairs and an umbrella and spent two days chillin' at the beach. You can't get much better than a beach, a book and a cold drink. We even tried fresh coconut. Men walk up and down the beach selling pieces of fresh coconut. They dip them in cold water then hand you a piece to gnaw on. Good idea. Not a great taste.

The Cinque Terre was amazing. We can't wait to go back.

Darren: Yeah, my least favorite part of the Cinque Terre were the 85 steps and the less-than-impressive coconut...everything else was incedible. I liked the porthole windows in our room, shuttle boat ride between towns, pizzas by the beach, and just sitting on the rocks by the ocean at night talking. I loved sitting in our lounge chairs up on our roof-top patio, reading, writing in our journals, or just listening to the ocean while we looked at the stars. I even surprised Kim up there with a dance. No stereo, no problem. Just had her share one of my ipod earphones. Works great if you plan on standing really close. :) She likes when I try to be romantic. ;)

Next stop...

Orvieto, Italy

Kim: Orvieto was a lot of fun. It’s a town about 1.5 hours outside of Rome. It sits majestically a thousand feet above the valley floor on a big chunk of tuff (volcanic rock). We stayed at a cute B&B called Casa Selita on the edge of town. It's a cute old country house right in the middle of an orchard. Selita keeps the gardens looking so beautiful. Roses, trees and shrubs everywhere. It's nestled at the bottom of the town’s cliff which overlooks the green, rolling hills across the valley. All the rooms have their own little terrace with table and chairs overlooking the garden. So quaint! The bedroom was so comfortable. Gotta love down comforters :) Orvieto was a nice break after crazy Rome. We spent the two days wandering through the quaint, cobblestone streets window shopping and eating good food. We spent a couple of hours one day hiking the Rupe. It is a paved path that completely circles the town at the base of the cliff upon which it sits. Hiking around offered amazing views of the Umbrian countryside. After a couple of detours (due to lack of signs) and steep upward climbs, we made it all around the 3 mile loop. We spent another afternoon walking through the Duomo and various museums. The Duomo has four marble pillars carved with biblical scenes that tell the story of the world: Genesis, Old Testament, New Testament and Revelation and each pillar is topped by a bronze symbol of one of the Evangelists. Angel (Matthew), lion (Mark), eagle (John) and ox (Luke). All the Duomo's we have seen have been amazing. It’s crazy how much detail goes into each and every part. Our favorite part was the chapel on the right side, the chapel of San Brizio. It has frescoes done by Luca Signorelli. The frescoes depict scenes of the Apocalypse. Scenes include the following: Antichrist, end of the world, Resurrection, hell, Judgment Day, and heaven. The scenes were awesome. They really tell a great story. In the Antichrist picture it shows a man posing as Jesus preaching from a pedestal. The Devil is standing behind him whispering in his ear what to say next. On an another wall it shows trumpeting angels calling out to the world, and the dead climbing out of the earth to be clothed in new bodies. So interesting! We really enjoyed the chapel. Darren even helped the worker set up chairs for evening mass. He's had lots of practice :) So...conclusion, we loved Orvieto. So beautiful and so relaxing. Only thing we didn't get to do is take the bus to Civita. Supposed to be a really pretty little town. Next time :)

Darren: We really did love it here. Selita was sooo accommodating. We asked if there was access to laundry and she said for 5 Euros they’d do it for us. For anyone who’s had to do a load of laundry in a sink and hang it out to dry, you know what a bargain that is. J We found our clothes neatly stacked in our room that night all fresh and clean. AWESOME!!

One night there we tried a new plate called Nidi. Kim didn’t like it too much but I thought it was pretty good. It was like cheesy lasagna with a touch of honey. Yum.

My favorite fresco in the chapel Kim mentioned was the one of the Resurrection. It showed skeletons climbing from their graves, lifting their legs out after them and returning into perfect bodies. In the background there were people greeting each other and hugging after being apart for so long. FYI the depictions of heaven and hell were pretty convincing that you definitely want to be in heaven and not hell. J The one of hell had blue demon people with horns tugging and kicking and pulling on people. Not where you want to end up.

We watched the season finale of Lost that night. Pretty cool. My favorite of the place was just sitting out in the garden with Kim that afternoon on some lounge chairs and loving life.

Assisi, Italy

Kim: Assisi was another relaxing stop for us. We stayed at the Hotel San Rufino which is in the old town on top of the hill. The main thing we did here was tour the Basilica of St. Francis. This is the man who made Assisi famous. His remains are above the altar in a stone box and the remains of his four closest friends are around the altar in the corner of the room. The Basilica has relics from St. Francis's life and the chapels are frescoed to depict scenes from his life. We had a guide book with us and were able to read what each picture portrayed as we walked from panel to panel. It was interesting. Our last night in Assisi we ate at Ristorante Metastasio. What an amazing view! We sat outside on the terrace which overlooked the beautiful Umbrian valley below. The day we left we met a couple at the bus stop from Australia. We talked to them for a while about their travels and Darren asked how much time they had gotten off from work. Their reply? “Um...we quit our jobs so we could travel.” Awesome! This is the second couple we have met that has done the exact same thing we did. The other couple was from Boston. We compared packing and moving stories J Fun to meet fellow travelers.

Darren: The only things I could add to our time at Assisi would be that we got Kim a really cool backpack which fit well into our plan to ditch a few suitcases at the next stop and slim our luggage down a bit. The dinner with a view was spectacular. It was also the first time I’d had chicken since the states. Tasted like chicken ;) We both kicked ourselves that night for not having the camera. A storm rolling in from far away with the green valley turning dark below, beautiful! Just started to sprinkle as we left. J

Siena, Italy

Kim: We stayed in a quiet villa outside of Siena. The view was absolutely breathtaking. We kept seeing postcards with pictures of stone villas in the middle of green rolling hills and one of us would comment, "Hey! That's where we're staying. Awesome!!" The house itself was a little ancient, not gonna lie, but it was quaint. There were too many creeping, crawling things for me to enjoy it completely inside, but outside it was heaven. We enjoyed more than one evening outside in the garden, watching the sunset over the green hills in the distance. I just can't describe how beautiful it was. Absolutely stunning!

Our first day there, Darren and I both did something incredible daring. He let me cut his hair. His clippers wouldn't adapt to Italy's power conversion (without blowing up) and his hair had been getting pretty long and unruly, so we cut it :) I actually think he was more nervous than I was even though I have never cut hair in my life. I just kept thinking, "what's the worst that could happen? It turns out terrible and we go get it buzzed at the barber". Turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. We had fun and made some memories. Always the best part :)

On Sunday we went to church at the local branch. There were a lot of BYU students there doing a study-abroad program. Without all of them there the branch consisted of about 10-15 members. Crazy how small it is. Something you forget when you live in Gilbert, Arizona. It's awesome though that despite the size and location, the church is still true and is still progressing. I love that thought. After church we walked into town and spent some time around Il Campo. This is the city square where everyone hangs out. It's funny to see people lying around on the ground (bricks, dirty bricks I might add) as if they were having a picnic in the park on a nice green lawn. They lie down, take naps, have picnics, sun bathe, etc. Fascinating.

Il Campo is also the place for the famous Palio horse races done every year on July 2 and Aug 16. We learned a little bit from our landlady Miriam. Apparently there are 17 contrade (or neighborhoods) in Siena. Each contrada has a parish church, well or fountain, and sometimes even a museum. Each is represented by a mascot (porcupine, unicorn, wolf, etc) and unique colors worn proudly by the residents. Miriam and her family belong to the eagles with the dragons and something else as their allies. We witnessed some young boys from one of the contradas parading through the city streets banging on drums and twirling flags, showing their pride for their contrada. For the Palio di Siena, 10 of the 17 neighborhoods compete in several days of trial races and traditional revelry. Jockeys are paid, bets are placed on which contrada will win and which will lose. On the big day the horses are taken into their contrada's church to be blessed. It's considered a sign of good luck if a horse leaves droppings in the church. The race lasts just over a minute. And after all of this work and preparation, what does the winner get? A banner (and bragging rights I suppose). Fun traditions.

Big plus for Siena...we found a restaurant serving burritos. YES!!! The one thing I have been craving like mad. I even bought some chili sauce at the grocery store to see if I could fulfill it. It definitely helped :)

Darren: For the record, I was NOT nervous for Kim to cut my hair. I did tell her the story of when mom took a chunk out of the back of dad’s hair long ago. We had fun and it turned out great. Thanks babe!

Finding the Mexican place was a tender mercy. J It had just opened that very day. Miracles I tell you. ;) We sat in a park that afternoon to get an internet signal and we started getting wild ideas of taking a side trip to France.

The views were the best part of Siena for me. So great to wake up and look outside and see green hills and an old castle in the distance. One night we made egg, bean, cheese, chili sauce, prosciutto burritos..sounds kindof busy but it was great. We played cards that night (Shawna I think you gave it to us for a Christmas gift, “Pictureka” Thanks!! J)

Volterra, Italy

Kim: Today we awoke to a crazy rainstorm to take a bus to Volterra (after visiting the Wed morning market and buying a cute scarf) :) Volterra was super fun and soon became one of our favorite hill towns (if not THE favorite). It was one of the most random, fun filled stays of our trip. First we got to see an artist form a clump of alabaster into a beautiful, translucent chalice. Alabaster souvenirs are sold everywhere in Volterra. Some of them are so beautiful. Second, we got to witness part of the event celebrating the contradas in Volterra. We watched an elf-like medieval character dance around and sing songs to medieval instruments, ladies throwing flowers to the crowds, men and women carrying crossbows over their shoulders and contrada members competing in a game of tug-o-war. It was so fun to watch. We are so glad we were able to be there during that time. So fun!! Third, we tried Ossi di Morta cookies ("bones of the dead"), and lastly, we stayed the night in a catholic seminario. Seminario Vescovile Sant'Andrea has been training priests for 500 years, and now the 8 remaining priests rent their 16 rooms to travelers. We decided to do it 1. because it was cheap and 2. because we thought it would be fun. All I can say is, it was interesting. And definitely a little creepy. Neither Darren or I slept very well that night. Mostly because of the bed (big lump right in the middle) but party because of the long, dimly lit, echoing hallways. Just look at the pictures. There were even frescoes of popes above every door. Gotta love it. Definitely an adventure! We loved Volterra. Hope to return someday :)

Darren: Funny story. So when trying to get on one of the buses to Volterra I was trying to load our luggage in one of the undercarriage doors. I tried two of them but they were full so I walked back further towards the back tires of the bus. I opened the last one and a huge chain fell out clanking to the street. Ooops. The bus driver pokes his head out from the front and all I could say was “perdone” and look sorry. He wasn’t happy but went back and took care of it. J Kim was laughing at me about that later. Oh well.

My favorite things from the festival were the sword fighting (pretty real with guys in armor) and the flag people. I know what you’re thinking, Darren likes the flag twirlers?? But these guys were professionals. They would juggle, throw and catch 5 flags at a time using their legs and feet to juggle them around. Awesome. Check out the video!!

On our way to Pisa, Italy and Nice, France

Kim: This morning we rolled our luggage from the Volterra seminario to the bus station at about 6 am to catch a bus and train to Pisa. We stored our luggage at the train station in Pisa and took a bus downtown to see the Leaning Tower, Duomo, etc. The Tower was really cool and we were able to take some fun pics. After walking around for a while, we went back to the train station to catch a train to Nice, France. While in Siena we decided we were spending a little too much time there (we originally had reservations for a week). So we started brainstorming on a good place to side trip for a few days, and the decision? Nice, France. Why not spend a few days in the French Riviera before going to the Italian Riviera. Sounds perfect to me. On the train we met some people from Alabama. They are the ones who introduced us to Ringos. They are like Oreo’s but smaller and come in a tube. Yum!! They have some amazing cookies here. I’ve told Darren we’re gonna have to send a box of them home or find a company that ships to the U.S. I really love how how fresh all of the food is. Even the stuff in boxes aren't bad. All the crackers and breads are made with olive oil. No hydrogenated oils! Yay!! Hard to find that in the States. Another reason to love Italy (at least for someone nutritionally minded) :)

Darren: Leaning tower was really cool to see in person. After we left there we had one of the longest and sweatiest train rides ever. It took about 7.5 hours total. There were 3 changes we had to make and each train stopped at about a million stops along the way. Crazy but sooo worth the destination.

Nice, France

Kim: We absolutely LOVED Nice (sounds like “niece”). I am so glad we decided to take a side trip here. We stayed at the NH Nice (a booking we got for pretty cheap from Priceline). The first night we got here we showered and then went out to find some dinner. Since it was about 10:30 we weren’t sure we’d find anything open. As we were walking around, we rounded the corner and BAM! A ton of people eating in a piazza at 11:00 at night! What in the world!? As we would soon find out, that’s about the prime time for dinner. Most restaurants are pretty bare around 9 and then sometime around 10:00, they get full. It was not uncommon to see families with kids out meandering through the streets at midnight. We loved it!! Really fun night life with lots of people and little shops. We spent some time walking along the beach on the Promenade de Anglais. We tried some tasty gelato from Finacchios Gelateria. They are famous for their 96 different flavors (some of them crazy). The first night Darren tried rhubarb and cactus (which tasted like soap to me) and I tried watermelon (safe bet) and avocado (which was actually really good). Some of their flavors included: rose, violet, lavender, tomato basil, and chewing gum. We also tried a fresh juice slush. It was reddish in color so when I tasted it I expected some mixed berry flavor but it tasted like fresh squeezed orange juice. So good!! For dinner one night Darren went out to get us burgers and fries. As much as we love pizza and pasta, it’s been nice to have a taste of home from time to time.

Darren: Thanks to Priceline and Kim’s bid we got a 4-star place for cheap and got to sleep for real and feel really clean for the entire time in France. Loved it. Hotel was right next to the tram as well so easy access to the beach, nightlife and everything.

Kim: Our second day in Nice we spent at the beach. We rented two lounge chairs and an umbrella and spent the day looking at the ocean and getting some sun. A large part of the day was spent NOT trying to stare at the naked bodies. I had to warn Darren not to look up at certain times. Interesting how the people are so comfortable around complete strangers. I mean, as a woman, how do you just take off your top and walk down to the beach for a leisurely swim. Just different cultures I guess.

Darren: Just a quick comment on all that. Topless is not always best (older ladies). Yikes. Then again, the Speedos that some of the overweight older men were wearing were quite stylish. Perhaps I’ll invest in one. J Just wait babe!!

Kim: That night for dinner we ate at L’Ovale Ristorante. We had steak and potatoes. Both of ours were a little too rare. As we had asked for medium well were a little confused. As we found out later, there is basically medium and well done. No in-between. So a little rarer than we like, but it was really good. Funny story about dinner: they had a sign for daiquiris so I decided to see if they could make one without alcohol. You would have thought I had asked them to eat on the moon . The look on their faces was priceless. The bartender said “Um...I suppose I could but it wouldn’t be good.” So I guess that means “no.” J

Darren: Kim asking for the non-alcoholic drink was hilarious. The bartender was pretty confused...like asking for a bowl of cereal without milk or something. Good times. I was proud of Kim for diving into her steak and eating it up even though they were a bit rare. I don’t really mind them that way but knew she wasn’t pleased. I offered to ask them to cook it longer but she said she’d suck it up and give it a whirl. Good for you babe, trying all sorts of new things!

Kim: Our last day in Nice we went to church (listened to testimony meeting in French), took a nap then ate dinner on the beach at a place called Castel. Darren tried Penne with Octopus. The taste was really good but the look was not great. You could still see the suction cups on the tentacles. Gross! But the ambience was great! Candle lit tables and music right on the beach. Absolutely perfect! Thanks babe for an early birthday dinner. The morning we were leaving France, a staff member brought up a piece of chocolate cake to our room. Darren had apparently called the night before and asked them to bring it up the next morning before we left. He even brought back flowers that he had picked from a bush, since the flower market was still closed when he went out for an early mornign walk. It was so sweet of him to make such an effort for my birthday. Thanks babe. You’re the best!!

Darren: Kim failed to mention the story of how we got to church. I had gotten the directions online the night before and it looked easy enough from the last stop on the tram. It had the street names and said things like “take a right. Go 500 ft. Go to such-and-such street and then .2 miles this way and that.” My point is, it didn’t sound too bad. Um,...death march. My bad. It turned out to be alot of walking,...up hill walking,...up switchback roads walking. We did get to church but I knew Kim wasn’t too happy. Can’t blame her. Sweaty and gross is not how you want to arrive at church. I probably wasn’t too sensitive either as I’m sure I just made some comment about the pioneers and how they had it really bad ;) But we were both happy that we made it to the meeting and got to take the sacrament and feel the spirit of the meeting. We listened and understood as much as we could of the sweet testimonies we heard in French.

Our trip has been amazing so far. Stayed tuned for the Cinque Terre updates. Wow!!