The Road to Florence...

Many of you might remember that our original plan had us going to Munich for 2 days of Oktoberfest after Madrid and Paris... Well, plans change when ur on the road and we added an extra day in Paris and Madrid, which turned out to be an awesome decision... We got to know those 2 cities better with an extra day in each and didnt feel as rushed. We wouldnt have that problem on our next stop, Italy, as we're slated for a three and a half week journey starting in Cassano (40 km outside of Milano) where my grandfathers brother, Zio Enzo (Zio means uncle in Italian, conversely Zia, means aunt), and his large family lives. Thus begins the first part of our Italian trip: The Road to Florence.

We landed in Milan-Linate airport and made our way to my fam's house. Zia Giulia had a wonderful lunch ready for us and we stuffed our faces. The family had gotten bigger since my last visit as both my cousin Roberto and Sara welcomed new additions to the family; Alessandro and Asia (pronounced Ah-zee-ah), respectively.

After finishing off our lunch with dessert, coffee and limoncello, we lumbered over to a nearby soccer field to watch Roberto's team play. It was a close match and Roberto's team lost 7-5, but the highlight was when Roberto, like a true Spinelli, got a yellow card.

We went out to dinner and again, i stuffed myself. It was no surprise when i got a stomach bug the next day and was largely on the shelf for the next 2. It made for a lot of family time, hangin with cousins and my uncle and aunt. It was a blessing in disguise for Bianca, as she took the reins and sharpened up her Italian, which is far better than mine. We'd end up needing her prowess in the language throughout our jaunt.

We decided renting a car was better than taking the trains on this trip, since our plan was to hit up smaller cities throughout the country. We rented a Lancia Ypsilon, pretty sweet car... Brand new, but a stick shift and i had no option but to enroll in Biancas crash course in driving a stick. The best part about the car is that it runs on this stuff called GPL, which is like a super fuel that costs less than half as much and gets better kilometrage than gas. 18 euro will get you like 32 liters of this stuff, which runs for about 350 km... Once u do all the math and conversions, youll see how cheap it is (and that we need it in the US).

Ok, enough babble... Our first destination was Cinque Terre...5 neighboring hillside towns all along the Italian Riviera. We stopped in Genoa along the way and left within an hour... It was pretty skanky. It was getting dark and we decided we'd find a place to stay and head to Cinque Terre in the morning. Driving along the coastal hillside, wed pull over and knock on doors of a hotel/b&b, etc...Out of the second door we knocked on, in a town called Sorí, walked an older Italian man. Bianca waited in the running car as i asked the man to show me around. We walked up to the 3rd story and as soon as i caught a view of the vast oceanic panorama from the patio and our intended bedroom, i said "Ok... We'll take it and let me go get her." i knew B would be as stoked as i was. There were 4 rooms in the b&b and ours was the only one occupied. We basically had our own apartment overlooking the water and we promptly decided that we'd be there for 2 nights.... Ahh the flexibility of a three and a half week trip with an open agenda :)

The next day, after breakfast over the Italian coast, we day tripped down the riviera starting with lunch at a small town called Recco, the birthplace of focaccia (How Bianca knows this kind of stuff amazes me, but i was game). Our next stop wast Portofino; A well developed seaside town that despite the presence of many wealthy tourists, still has a lot of charm. We strolled around and then lay on the beach and took a dip in neighboring Santa Margherita. We stopped at a market on the way back and bought supplies for the first of many Italian dinners prepared by yours truly... We enjoyed a drink on the patio as we watched the sunset and knew that days like these were exactly what we quested for on this journey... We shared a feeling that we'd only come to experience again the next night :) in Cinque Terre....

We drove through a loopy road and randomly chose Vernazza (one of the five Cinque Terre) as our first destination. We walked down to the edge of the water and caught a brief glimpse of Monterosso, the furthest south of the 5 towns, but knew that this wouldnt compare to the views from the hiking paths, which stand tall in between each of the 5 towns.

We felt lile the luckiest stiffs in the world when we randomly decided to knock on a door advertising rooms for rent as we climbed the stairs towards the trail and were graced with a small apartment that boasted a terrace high above the beautiful town, with stunning views of the bustle below and ocean on the far horizon, for the reasonable sum of 70 euro. It was a good feeling to settle in and know where we would stay for the night before we started our early afternoon hike to Corniglia, another one of the towns.

The hike was awesome and being able to see each little patch of homes, shops and vines where each town rested on the mountains in the distance put the not only the area, but also our state of mind into perspective. Our trip was in full swing, with 2 weeks of travel under our belts. The road to Florence waited for us tomorrow. Our gateway to Tuscany, where we would find our little paradise and then some..... But that's another story. One that'll have to wait til next time.

And finally, id like to raise a glass of chianti classico to my pal Ryan Harrington, who just got engaged. We lived under the same roof for a shade under 3 years (actually, he lived in the guesthouse, so it was "technically" a different roof.) You found yourself a great girl in Carrie. Lots of love and nothing but the best to you both!

Still in Italy,

Adrian Spinelli, International Man of Mystery

Musical selections:

Yesterday's New Quintet - Angles Without Edges
Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
Elliott Smith - From a Bassment on A Hill
The Fiery Furnaces - The Fiery Furnaces
Grizzly Bear- Veckatimest

Biancas musical selections:
"Jay Ho" from the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack and a bunch of random Italian songs.

Reading Selections:

David Cross - I Drink For a Reason
Ernest Hemingway - The Sun Also Rises