Italy

Backpacks are packed and we’re ready to Jet set to Italy. We’re spending 10 days abroad and we’ll go to Venice, The Cinque Terre, Florence and Rome.We each are bringing a big pack and a day pack. We have a washing machine at each place so I’ve packed: two pair of light weight travel pants (REI and Prana), 1 pair of Lululemon travel capris, 3 tanks, 3 long sleeves, 2 maxis, 1 sundress, and 2 pair of shorts. Our friend Maria just moved back from Miami and is living with us for a bit so she’s watching Kemba.

VENICE

Thursday:

It’s been a long day of traveling. We left Charlotte at 2:30 pm and we are now  in Rome waiting for our 1:30pm flight to Venice. We went from Charlotte to DC (45 mins) then Charlotte to Rome should have been about 8.5 hours but they had PA system issues and we sat on the runway for almost 2 hours. With our Chase credit card we had access to an airport lounge. I took a little nap in there since I didn’t really sleep on the plane.

We then took our last leg of the trip from Rome to Venice. Dan and Kayla came a day earlier to see Dan’s brother, Anthony. Mike and I took a bus to Piazzale Roma and walked to the train station to meet the others. From there we all walked (with our packs) the 20 minutes to our apartment.

It was great having Anthony with us, our own personal tour guide! He’s in the military and lives about 40 mins away. He also was able to use google maps haha, it’s $10 a day to activate our data.

Our apartment has an a amazing view, right on the canal! It’s a 2bedroom, 1 bathroom place. Anthony slept on the couch.

After dropping off our packs, We stopped at Cantina aziende Agricola for some wine and apps. Then went to Libreta Acqua Alta- there is a sign stating that it’s the most beautiful bookstore in the world..it was indeed, pretty amazing. The owner stacks new and used books in antique gondolas, bathtubs, canoes, and barrels- he’s ready in case it floods! There is a cat that lives there too!

We then walked around Santa Maria formosa, then we went to take some pics at the Realto bridge. Men try to put roses in your hand to get you to buy them..as well as selfie sticks and other toys.

While walking around and exploring, we had our first gelato experience. Yummy!

We were exhausted, so we picked up a prosciutto pizza from Arte Della pizza to have back at the apartment. It was delicious but please note- to feed 4 get a maxi, we got a medium and that wasn’t enough for all of us.

Mike and I slept in until 9:30, which is quite a rarity but I guess that happens when you’re traveling for 21 hours.

Friday:

We stopped at the grocery store the eve before and had eggs and prosciutto for breakfast

We got up and went to the Jewish ghetto (the historic area where Jews were forced to live starting in the early 16th century), we toured the museum and got to go into 3 synagogues. They were beautiful!

One of them had the 10 commandments (in Hebrew)in gold on a red background which are the colors of Venice.  I bought a glass magnet that says “Shalom from Venice” from a shop called "David's Shop" which was special, because the last time I went to Venice was with my cousins, my Aunt Susie and my Uncle David.

There are fruit stands everywhere. We stopped and picked up some fresh fruit to snack on then met up with Anthony back at the apt and walked to the boat station. On the way we passed an art museum so we took a quick tour. The buildings architecture was truly amazing.

We took a boat to Burano and Morano. Costs €20 for a day pass to do both

We went to Burano first, a cute colorful village known for lace.We ate lunch at Trattoria Da Primo. They brought out bread and bread sticks. Mike and I ordered a seafood pasta and a pasta with shrimp and veggies to split and we all split a seafood app which had a bit of everything, and a bottle of the house white wine. The waiter even told us which order to consume as some were lighter than others.

Murano is made for its beautiful glass. I bought a few pair of earrings for gifts. Unfortunately, we got there at 5:45 and all the shops close at 6, good tip for those wanting to check it out.

We stopped for our daily gelato which wasn’t nearly as good as the previous days, but still tasty.

We then all split a 30 min gondola ride with Rudy Vignotta. It was usually €100 after 6 but he gave it to us for €80. Def a check off the bucket list. We found out that Rudy is actually a regatta champion! What a lucky find!!

We went to St Marks square to check out the night scene, lots of live music (dueling orchestras) and a great atmosphere. Skip the food and drinks as the prices are doubled in the square.

Rudy recommended a restaurant for dinner but it was booked so we made a reservation for tomorrow. When the man asked what name to put it under, we replied “Mike” he said “Mike like bicycle?” Lol

Rudy also told us that out of the 400 bridges in Venice. Ponte de Chiodo was one of two bridges with no parapet, we got some cool pics. Anthony dropped his sunglasses and the lens happened to plop right in the water, oops!

We got kebabs from Neapolis kebab (Anthony's favorite). Next door was an Irish pub where we had a spritz then car bombs..lol are we even in Italy?

We stopped for our 2nd gelato (well mike was the only one to divulge, but I had a bite and it was legit! Way better than earlier in the day. Pistachio is no doubt my favorite!

Glad we brought our own water bottles as there are water fountains all over to fill them. You have to pay for water at each restaurant. You don’t tip but there is a seating charge.

We grabbed a glass of wine near our apt and sat on the steps to one of the bridges.

Everyone is now sleeping, as it’s 2 am, hopefully my body will be adjusted to the time change tomorrow.

Saturday:
Mike and I went down to the cafe below our apt for pastries and cappuccinos. We drank them outside by the canal.

We then all walked the 15 mins to St. Marks square. Pigeons everywhere! We toured St Mark’s basilica (9:45 skip the line pass- 100% recommend) which was beautiful! If you have a backpack there is a free bag check and you have to have your shoulders covered. We spent about 10 mins in there. Rick Steve's has a free audio tour but the tour was 45 min. The interior is coated with gold mosaics and colored marble. “Imagine painting a football field with something the size of a contact lens”-rs
It was decorated with booty from returning sea captains.

We took pics with the the clock tower and in the square.

We then had a 10:45 reservation for the secret itineraries tour at the Doge’s palace. The tour was an hour and a half but give yourself at least 2 hours to tour the whole thing. Was very cool! Our guide,Aga, was great, very informative and doesn’t believe the tale of how Casanova escaped. The tour says he and another escaped through holes in the roof that they created but apparently there was no proof of any holes so she thinks a guard left the gate open and they escaped. After the tour we walked over the bridge of sighs to the “new” prison, which was built around the 1920’s.

We stopped for lunch at Osteria da Carla. I had black squid ink pasta with minced mussels, Mike had pesto pasta with vegetables and the others had tortellini with sheep cheese and clam soup. All delish!

We ate quickly because we had a 2:30 reservation to go up to the campanille. Thank goodness we got to sit down for a few min after standing for 5 hours.

We’re averaging walking 10 miles a day.

Great views of Venice! The line to get in was quick since we had a reservation but to get down, the line wrapped around the whole upper deck.

Mike stopped to reapply sunscreen and realized his wedding ring was “lost” after panicking, we found his ring safely at home. We then walked over to the Teatro la Fenice (which we couldn't tour the inside since they were performing) and saw a kid boot a pigeon “thump” then get immediately scolded by his dad.

We split up for a bit then Mike and I got a bit lost- which I feel like completed the Venice experience

We brought a “lock of love” and hooked it to one of the bridges between the Realto bridge and home. We threw the key in the water and made a wish.

We got back to the apt and mike booked 4 tickets for the early train to Cinque Terre (sadly Anthony isn’t coming with). Mike quickly realized he booked tix for the wrong day and called the company. She said she couldn’t rebook for the next day because there was going to be a strike. They told him “you must pay something to cancel...45 euros” then she hung up. We cancelled online for 10 euros and rebooked (and got to CT without any issues of a strike). 

We had dinner at Osteria al Cantinon. Franchesco was our wonderful waiter.
We ordered some scallops and eggplant with mozz and tomatoes for appetizers. Dan and Kayla split a big fresh sea bass, I got spaghetti with clams and mussels (yes, again). Mike got a filet of the sea bass and Anthony got tortellini with duck.

Franchesco came out with the full raw sea bass to show us..20 mins later came back and said “do you remember?” And showcased the cooked sea bass  to prove it was the same fish haha. For dessert, we got creme brûlée, and  limoncello but no one told me it wasn’t a shot..oops supposed to sip on it lol Dan and Anthony had grappa and Kayla had espresso.The ambiance felt like we were at a true Italian restaurant vs a tourist trap . All absolutely delicious!

Having washing machines is fantastic and only bringing backpacks was clutch, I truly cannot image wheeling a bag over the bridges.

We enjoyed our last evening in Venice splitting a bottle of wine outside our apt while sitting on the bridge

The average temp for Venice in past years was mid 70’s so that’s what we packed for. It was around 80 our entire time there.

Sunday:
We loaded up our packs and left the apartment at 6:40 am to hoof it to the train station. We had 3 transfers (4 trains) to get us to Vernazza.

Greenery and farmland engulfed us as we traveled on the train along the country side. Quite different than the stone and canals we had become accustomed to in our short bout in Venice.

Our first transfer was in Florence. We had an hour so we went out to see the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella. Then went to McDonald’s to use the bathroom vs paying in the train station. We ordered coffee and breakfast but it was such a cluster. You go to 1 area to get coffee and another to get the food..they took the receipt at the coffee place and then didn’t want to give us our sandwiches. Took forever then had to run back to catch our train.

The train was packed and I got stuck with 2 very smelly guys and a lady who had headphones in her hand but decided to watch videos without them instead. It was a long hour.

The trains are very easy to navigate as long as you know the end station of the train that your destination is on. Make sure to validate your ticket to avoid a hefty fine.

We cruised by mountains to get from Florence to Pisa. Kept hoping to get a glimpse of the leaning tower, but to no avail.

We had a quick 12 min transfer in Pisa, we had to push through and run to another platform, I quickly jumped on the train and the doors started closing without the others so I tried to jump out and the doors closed right on me. Turns out it was the wrong platform, we made it to the right one in time to find out the train was delayed. We are now en route to La Spezia

Some tix have assigned seats and times. If not you have to validate. We got on the last train of our journey and almost forgot to validate them since the previous train didn’t need validation. Mike grabbed all the tix and RAN to the machine and back, our hero 😍.

CINQUE TERRE

5 villages make up the Cinque Terre. Monterosso, Vernazza (where we stayed), Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.

I emailed our hosts saying “Dan Will have Internet and to please email him” and Mossimo wrote back with check in directions for “Shari and Will...” lol

Sunday:

We arrived in Vernazza on Sunday and checked in at a the train station. The guy we checked in with took my heavy pack and told us to follow him. We had no idea what we were in for...

A short walk and 106 stairs later we were at our apartment. Holy canolli was I thankful for him carrying my heavy bag!!
It would be near impossible (or beyond frustrating)to go to the Cinque Terre with a rolling suitcase! Backpacks are key for sure!

The apartment was above and beyond all of our expectations! We had a view fit for royalty. The most majestic scenery I’ve ever seen. We were as high up as you can be, right below the castle. Actually our hosts, Monica and Mossimo, owned the restaurant in the bottom of the castle.

We didn’t use airbnb or anything for this one, Christie stayed at a different one of her apartments previously after hearing about them from Oded- who heard about them from his boss. We found out last night that they are actually friends with Rick Steve’s and he has mentioned them (and their info)in his books to help them get business. They told us that he is actually coming to CT the day we leave, we think he’s staying in the apt we vacated. They are good friends with him and his family. We stayed in “the honeymoon suite” which is hilarious considering it was a 2 bedroom place (who goes on a honeymoon with another couple?!)but now we understand why...those views, omg!

After we checked in, we hopped back down to the tiny town and had some focaccia salami and pesto pizza followed by a caprese salad. We explored, did a wine tasting and took some pics.

Mike and Kayla went back upstairs to get mikes camera and use the bathroom. I thought mike grabbed my deodorant but saw what I figured was Kayla’s ...turns out I used dans-oops! While they were up there a stranger tried to come in to use the toilet, they thought it was part of the castle lol,  We then trained on over to Manarola and went to the most famous bar in the Cinque Terre, Nessun Dorma, it was a hike to get there but couldn’t beat the views. We all split a meat board and bruschetta. The guys got beer while Kayla and I had the traditional Aperol spritz.

We then took the train to Riomaggiore without realizing how close it was. We had dinner at Trattoria Lagrotta. Mike and I both got seafood risotto, Kayla got pesto pasta and Dan got tagelone with pork and beef.. We split a bottle of the house wine-which is only about €8 a bottle. All the restaurants have English music playing and this one even went as far as playing the Sesame Street theme song haha.

We wanted to begin our hike early, about 7am, so we needed to get our hiking passes early, which we totally forgot about until 7pm and mike had to run to the station to get them before they closed.

Monday:
We left our apartment about 7:30 am to hike from Vernazza to Corniglia. The hike was tough, LOTS of stone steps and very steep trails. It took us a little less than 2 hours with stopping for pics. Thankfully we didn’t see any snakes even though we were warned by a man saying he had just passed one. We took pics and had breakfast and coffee. Kayla with a croissant, the men with bacon and eggs and I had a caprese sandwich.

Then we took the train to Monterosso and hiked from there back to Vernazza. Just to get to the train station in Corniglia you had to go down hundreds of switch back stairs. It reminded me of Lombardo street in San Francisco.

This trail was much more populated, as it was later in the day and there were many slow large groups. There was a slow group of 20ish with bright green shirts that were older and slower. This hike has narrow trails and we had to wait for people to come down before we could go up etc. it took us an hour and a half. There were little waterfalls along the way on this one as well as so many pretty wild flowers and white butterflies. There were cool purple succulents growing from the stone walls.

We made it back to Vernazza with throbbing feet but excited that we did such an amazing hike.

We went and put our swollen tootsies in the cold Mediterranean water and felt relief immediately. Nothing like a natural ice bath after a workout.

We put our shoes back on and went to get drinks. a pineapple spritz for me, white vino for Kayla and beer for the boys. We toured the church and had some cannoli’s and gelato (pistachio and hazelnut) then split a bag of fish and chips- well just the fried fish bc we didn’t want the fries. We even tried anchovies- not really a fan.

We went into a wine shop and asked the attendant what her favorite was and she replied "oh I don't know..I drink beer" haha

We went up to shower and to wash and hang laundry. We couldn’t figure out where the clothes line was until Dan peeked around the balcony and saw it outside the window of one of the bedrooms. Mike proclaims “ohh it’s in the secret room” there was another door (which I had tried but thought it was locked) full of linens for the apartments and restaurant. Then went to dinner at Monica’s restaurant. The view was amazing and I loved every second of our meal. Their restaurant is all family owned and had a cute red carpet making anyone feel like VIP. We ordered house red wine and a cheese app while spice girls was playing in the background. I had the Spaghetti with seafood (best one yet) with all sorts of seafood in a garlic oil sauce. Dan had Pesto lasagna, Kayla had
200 g of the house fish lol and mike had penne with cream sauce. This was a very typical Italian restaurant where you have to get their attention if you want anything. It took them a long time to take our order and after we got our food they didn’t come back for a longgg time haha. Which was fine, we were enjoying our wine and company. They eventually Came by with cookies and dessert wine. Kayla looked at the menu and came back to my the table saying she would like a “slice of the bottom” meaning the cake on the bottom of the display. Lol. No one ever came back to our table so mike had to hunt someone down to get dessert. We saw people pouring their own limoncello so mike followed suit and got us for 4 shots- which I correctly sipped slowly this time.

There are stray cats (or spare cats as Kayla likes to say) everywhere! One was even in the restaurant where the employees were working and they all just stepped over and around it, one waiter picked up its two front feet and started dancing with it! (There are also dogs everywhere in Italy,but not stray- people have them on leashes but take them everywhere!)

When we checked in to our apt there was €500 from the last tenants sitting there. At dinner that night Monica said she couldn’t get in to our apartment today (yet the money was gone) and 15 mins later came back saying she went in to close our window for us hahaha. Basically saying, “I couldn’t get in but went in and closed your window”. We were out of toilet paper so when Dan went to the bathroom at the restaurant we told him to take a roll. He comes back to the table and mike (doubting him) says “where’s the tp?” To which Dan fires back, “it’s in my pocket bro” and turns around to show us a roll of tp in his back pocket.

It cracked me up as I watched Monica toss all of the leftover bread over the balcony to maybe feed the animals?

To pay for dinner you exit the restaurant and go in a room across the alley. Monica and her mother were in there and offered us cookies. Her mother doesn’t speak English but got a kick out of Kayla and Dan ripping a napkin in half to share, pointing to the napkins saying there were plenty lol. Somehow our entire dinner, drinks and dessert were only €95!

Mike and Dan did a quick 10 min night hike to get some pictures of the town at night. We went back to pack and Dan was upset we were going to bed (it was near 11 and we had to head to Florence early) I said, “We’ll have a spritz with you tomorrow night” to which he replied “ya I’ve heard that before” and Kayla said, “no..you’ve actually never heard that before in your life..” hahaha

We are leaving vernazza with a new found fondness of this adorable little town, already longing to come back soon. (To the Cinque Terre, to this same apartment and to Monica-who treated us as family) According to my apple watch we climbed 120 flights of stairs yesterday- so we are also leaving either more toned or balanced out with all the pasta, gelato and croissants we are eating.

Dan and Kayla aren’t coming to Florence so Monica invited them to have breakfast with them! She packed us juice boxes, bananas and cookies for our train! ...and we forgot them

FLORENCE

Tuesday:

Mike and I left Vernazza on a 6:30am train to Florence. We had coffee on the train and I wrote my ct blog. We got there around 9 and checked our bags in at the station.

En route to Galleria de Academia (Definitely get skip the line passes, saved us hours of standing in line) we stopped for breakfast of caprese sandwiches. Seeing the David was amazing, the detail that went in to sculpting him is truly incredible. The veins, the proportions, the muscles...just magnificent. We walked around the museum  ( allot 30 mins total) and then headed to the bank to exchange some $ to € and stopped to get stamps to mail my post cards to my family.

We had time before our 12:45 Uffizi tour so we walked to the Ponte Vecchio bridge to take some pictures. My feet are so sore and tired from pounding the pavement everyday for 9 miles.

We spent an hour and a half in the Uffizi, it was cool but long..took us through all the stages of art. Very neat seeing original pieces of art by the Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles lol (Michelangelo, Rafael and Leonardo Di Vinci.)

We then went through the Palazzo Medici Riccardi and had amazing prosciutto and mozzarella sandwiches from All’antico vinaio, there were 3 of their shops (all next to each other)and all had lines out the door. They even had a self serve 2 euro wine bar set up.

Then we walked through Florence Baptistery and Piazza San Giovanni then climbed the 462 steps to the top of the Brunelleschi Duomo.

We got back to the station just in time to grab our luggage and run to catch a 5:48 train to Rome. I then proceeded to trip on my dress while getting on the train and faceplanted into the wall (my nose was bruised for a week). lol

Love this country but hate the smoking everywhere.

ROME

We took the train to Rome then took a bus to meet Kayla and Dan back at our apartment, which was in the best location! This apartment was really big! We had 3 bedrooms and two bathrooms!

We dropped off our stuff and headed to dinner at Saltinbocca. I had a seafood pizza, Mike had some sort of beef. Kayla had Veal Escarlopa and Dan had Ox Tail. We ordered a side salad and some vegetables. At all restaurants in Italy, you have to order bottled water, they don't do tap water. You have a choice of either sparkling or still water. 

We had 5 minutes of a light rain while walking to dinner but that was the extend of our rain during our entire trip!

I woke up with a sore throat so we had a detour to the farmacia. The pharmacist was so sweet and suggested I buy something called Beactiv..which helped but not as much as dayquil.  I would suggest bringing hand sanitzer with you everywhere. (I used it and still got sick lol)

We walked through Piazza Navona then went to get chocolate dipped gelato at a place called the Frigidarium. None of us were really a fan of that...it sounds good until you realize that dipping cold icecream into a hot chocolate sauce really just melts the ice cream. 

We headed back to our apartment and couldn't get used to the teeny tiny elevator we took to get up to the 5th floor. It's meant for 3 people, you get it, close two sets of doors and push the button. You can open the doors at any point and the elevator will stop mid way up. 

Wednesday:

We all purchased Roma Passes which got us in many places for free and let us skip the line. Getting skip the line passes for everything is my biggest suggestion for anyone traveling anywhere in Italy.

We headed out the door early to get to the Vatican, which was so cool! We had breakfast there then it took us about 1.5 hours to get through the museum and the Sistine Chapel. You end at the Helix stairs which is a cool way to vacate the Vatican museum. We sent a few postcards from there then headed to grab some lunch. We had gnocci and spaghetti alla carbonara with bacon and a sicilian pizza. 

Then we stopped to get some spritz's and beer since we were early for our Scavi tour. While waiting for the tour to begin we were behind some nicely dressed individuals (including a cardinal) who were obviously dressed for church..as we were not. I don't think they realized we spoke English and one of them said, "they clearly are not here for the same thing we are.." to which another replied, "it looks like they are here for the bbq" LOL. When they called us for the Scavi tour, Kayla heard one of them say, "What's the scavi tour" and Kayla replied softly, "its the BBQ" hahaha

The tour was awesome, it took us through the excavations below St. Peter's basilica, where you can see the tomb of Saint Peter. If you're interested in booking this tour do it very early...as this books up months in advance. The line to get inside St. Peter's was hours long, so it was great that this 90 minute tour finished right inside so we didn't have to wait in line. The church was stunning! We then took the elevator up part of the dome and climbed the remaining 321 stairs to get to see the bird's eye view of Rome. 

We stumbled upon Osteria da fortunata for dinner and all had the Sciavatelli Amatraciana (pasta with pig cheek) which was recommended to us by our waiter. They had someone outside (Susanna) making the pasta on display, which was very cool to see. It was so delicious!! Mike loved the sauce so much that he pretty much licked all of our plates clean and wanted to buy their homemade sauce!

From dinner we did the Heart of Rome walking tour with Rick Steve's audio guide. We spent our evening dodging vespa's and walking through the streets to see the Pantheon, the Trevi fountain (we threw in some Euro's and made wishes) and the Spanish steps. Great evening and highly recommend.. 

Thursday:

We roamed (see what I did there?) around the Colosseum and Kayla and I came back from the bathrooms to find our husbands as Gladiators-in backwards hats (or helmets as they called them) and sword fighting with their water bottles. lol amazing. After doing a Rick Steve's audio tour of this colossal amphitheater we went to the Forum and Palatine hill. It was neat to walk in the same footsteps as Julius Caesar. 

We had a quick lunch and Mike and I went to the Roman Jewish Ghetto-which was established in 1555. "Jewish culture grew and thrived in the Roman Ghetto, but the neighborhood also witnessed one of the most heart-wrenching episodes of the Nazi occupation during the Second World War. After the German government proclaimed that Rome’s Jews would be spared deportation to the concentration camps if a gold ransom was paid, many in the city, including The Vatican, donated their gold (though there is some debate as to whether or not the Vatican’s offer was refused). Even though the Jewish community raised the required amount, Nazi soldiers entered the neighborhood on October 16th, 1943 and deported between 1,000 and 2,000 people. Only 16 survived."

We did the audio tour then went to the museum and the synagogue. We were told to stop and have some Roman fried artichokes at Nonna Betta, but we were too full from lunch.  From there, we went to see the Mouth of Truth and the pyramid. So neat!! 

We met back up with the Polizzi's for dinner at Osteria Barberini (make reservations if interested, thankful we had made one, as we saw them turn away about a dozen walk in's). They are known for their truffles, so we ordered a trio of apps which included the black truffles, eggplant and bruschetta and bottle of wine. Our waiter was Alex and he was wonderful. I had the Taglioni with lobster, Mike had a beef filet, Dan had a beef filet with black truffles and porcini mushrooms and Kayla had the Bocconcini Di Spigola (seabass). We all left very happy!

We wandered through the streets, danced to some live music then back to the Trevi fountain to make some more wishes. 

Our power went out before dinner and switching the breaker didn't help so we contacted Sergio, our host, by borrowing a strangers phone. It wasn't on 3 hours later so we ended up having to activate one of our phones to contact him again. He told us where to find a secret key to go down to the basement where there was another breaker box. 

Friday:

We woke up and headed to get coffee at La Casa Del Caffe Tazza D'oro which was definitely a hot spot! Everyone was jealous that Mike ordered a crema de caffe (basically a coffee smoothie). We then headed to see the Pantheon which was incredible to see!  From there we stopped for some smoothies and acai bowl's at Ginger. I had an immunity aloe shot to help this cold go away (didn't work).

From there we went to the Villa Borghese park and rented a golf cart to cruise around in for an hour. Shari drove the golf cart around while Mike and Dan drank beers in the back.

I saw someone with a Jaguar's hat on but when I screamed "Go Jags!" to him, he didn't even look phased...pretty sure he had no idea what he was wearing. 

rWe did some shopping, stopped to get more coffee and bought some chocolate covered espresso beans. After that we headed back to our place to get ready for dinner

We ended our trip to Italy in Rome, with dinner at Spirito Di Vino, which unbeknownst to me was once a synagogue! The 4 original walls are still present, making them the oldest standing synagogue walls in the world!! The rooms beneath the restaurant- which are now the wine cellar- was built 160 years BEFORE the colosseum, in the year 80 BC! In Hebrew, on one of the outside columns it says, "The house of G-d". I would highly suggest going there, no matter what your religion is. Walking in the old wine cellar was so cool and having dinner here was one of the highlights of my trip.

Ciao!