Last week was a blur of pasta, gelati and vespas! My best friend landed in Fontainebleau mid-way through the last blog post and together we shopped and roamed the streets of Paris and Verseilles before flying off to Rome! we spent 3 crazy days sightseeing, roaming, and eating, and 3 wonderful nights at the best budget hotel I have ever stayed in: http://www.the-beehive.com/. Our daily itinerary basically sounded like this: 1) start with a delicious, homemade, organic and vegetarian breakfast at our amazing hotel; 2) metro to the centre of town and tour the sites; 3) take a million pictures of everything, not excluding the old guys dressed up as gladiators at the colosseum; 4) stop for cappucino and/or gelati; 5) wander the streets; 6) eat an obscene amount of pasta, cheese, and bread, taste the local wine, sample the rich desserts; 7) roll back to the hotel for a snooze.
We did surprisingly well given that we are both admittedly navigationally challenged, and any time we got lost, we just stopped for cappucino or gelati! All in all it was awesome! The definitive highlights of our time in Rome were: (Bacio gelati at) the Trevi fountain, (cappucino and orange tarts and) renting bikes in the Villa Borghese, and the sunset views (and tartine with cheese and honey) at the Spanish steps!
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| Riding bikes through the Villa Borghese! |
From Rome we flew to Geneva and were both incredibly impressed with the beauty of the city! Right on Lake Geneva, the views are amazing and with mountains on one side and water on the other, we felt like we were in an older, (prettier), Vancouver! Like in Rome, we walked all over Geneva and loved all of the art studios and character-filled shops and restaurants. We also spent a fabulously large amount of time lounging over cappucinos and chocolates on the sunny cafe patios in the old city! People-watching was an amazing passtime here as every person seemed to speak in a different language. The highlights of Geneva were: (you guessed it) the chocolates! the cheese!! and the curry!! We had the best Indian meal that I have had since before we left Canada and I was so incredibly satisfied after our meal that I glowed for days (maybe it was the curry-sweats?). Aloo gobi, chicken tikka, matar paneer, naan and GULAB JAMUN! (sigh). I still remember every bite :) On our first night we decided to go for the whole Swiss experience and went to a restaurant that specialised in Fondue! We walked into the restaurant and were hit first by the smell of the place (that's the cheese?!?) and then the price (40 suiss francs per person!) For a pot of hot cheese and stale bread! While it was a nice experience, our night ended with empty wallets and indigestion.
Our last stop was Annecey (back in France!) where we spent two lovely days with Tiff's friend and her family, which included an adorable 2 year-old boy and 6 month-old baby girl. It was nice to be in a home again and we were spoiled! B and her husband treated us to a homemade Raclette dinner! I was speechless! Heated cheese over potatoes, and meat - brilliant! The children were in bed and the wine was flowing! It was close to perfection. It was also this same night that I heard that my sister had just given birth to a little angel, Sadie Elizabeth Searchfield! It was heart-breaking to be so far away, but I was just so happy and relieved to hear that she had arrived!
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| The Colosseum! |
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| The view from the Spanish Steps |
After saying our goodbyes, Tiff and I headed back to Paris and parted ways. I boarded my train to Fonty and Tiff caught her flight to Toronto :( This was the hardest part, but we already have plans in the works for our 30th anniversary trip to keep us dreaming for another 10 years! (Tuscany here we come!)
