When I woke up yesterday at 4am in a strangely excited moment of jet-lagged energy, I started thinking about you, dear readers, and I couldn’t wait to unleash all of the ups and the one or two downs of “Kevin and Lily’s Italian Getaway 2008: A Journey Through Time and Space” (literally). However, one day later, and one day closer to the greatest day in my 29 years of being a Philadelphian, I am feeling less inclined to scintillate you with a gut-busting narrative of our trip so in stead here are some short and hopefully humorous bullet points divided into two categories: “Highlights” and “Lowlights” (both of which I’ll be getting done to my hair this Saturday.
So we begin in Venice…
Highlights
Venice: Seeing the nowhere-else-like-it-on-Earth city for the first time since I was 8 years old. With the Grande Canal and narrow waterways – it’s like Disney World for adults. Simply amazing! Plus I finally got my gondola ride and drank some sensational coffee. The architecture Biennale was on and featured cool ass stuff by Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid, among others. Plus, saying Biennale made me think of “The Big Lebowski” and I hoped to bump into “Sandra”. And of course, surprising my father-in-law on his 70th birthday was tops.
Fivizzano: town with a totally dramatic setting amongst the mountain range known as the Alpi Apuane in northwestern Tuscany where our friend Tom has an apartment. We ate a couple of great meals in nearby (and by nearby I mean up the mountain and down and up and down again and around and backwards and down windy, windy, windy road after windy, windy, windy road and BARF – I ended up having to buy motion sickness meds. Maybe that’s a lowlight).
Portofino/Santa Margherita: Lovely Mediterranean seaside towns with beautiful scenery and lots of posh peeps. Upon disembarking the ferry at Portfino we were greeted by my friends, Mr. Vuitton, Mr. Dior and Dr. Ferragamo. It was yachty/poshy madness!
Pisa: That Leaning Tower is ridiculous! I loved it! It is just amazing to look at such a great architectural fuck-up. There was also a major demonstration by college students protesting the prime minister’s attempts to cut funding. A fab meal in a grotto-like restaurant. Plus I bought a cool new jacket.
Siena: Holy hilltop medieval city! The drive between Florence and Siena is abso gorgeo! How you imagine Tuscany to be. Vineyards, villas… loved it! Awesome restaurant and hotel – and lots of gelato. Much cooler than its mortal enemy Florence. BURN!
Rome: It wasn’t built in a day and I don’t recommend trying to see it in one either. However the Colosseum was quite a sight to behold as were the other remains from the Roman Empire. History is bitchin!
Lowlights
Venice: Totally mediocre food – like what you get served up in a school lunchroom and I don’t mean the delicacy that was the chicken patty. Also we were witness to a seagull dropping the well masticated wing of a poor Venetian pigeon. It was grosser than gross.
Fivizzano: Getting there in our royal blue Fiat Panda which was like a can of Fancy Feast cat food on wheels. However, Kevin’s driving was stellar and I could sit back and enjoy the autostrade. The church bells across the town square that rang every hour and half hour and limited our sleeping intervals to 29 minute sessions were simply terrible!
Portofino/Santa Margherita: Everybody there was like 1,000 years old.
Pisa: Like the Philadelphia of Italy: lots of colleges and other than a major attraction or two, there were dirty/ugly people everywhere.
Siena: I don’t think there is one – except I woke in the middle of the night for some reason and couldn’t fall back to sleep.
Rome: Big, crowded, dirty, pickpockets, gypsies, and the Sistine Chapel closes at 2 o’fucking clock on Sundays. Poor Kevin didn’t get to see the ET fingers touching! Shit airport but great Duty Free shopping.
There you have it. I’m sure I’ve left out some major details but I figure the pictures, once I upload them, will tell a thousand words.
Ciao bambini! xoxox
When I woke up yesterday at 4am in a strangely excited moment of jet-lagged energy, I started thinking about you, dear readers, and I couldn’t wait to unleash all of the ups and the one or two downs of “Kevin and Lily’s Italian Getaway 2008: A Journey Through Time and Space” (literally). 
5 comments:
finally after a long, long draught we here the much desired voice of cope lily! Glad you had an awes experience in Italy - funny thing about Sistine Chapel, the same thing happened to me and dan when we were there -- dan piched a hissy fit and almost got thrown in the vatican jail!
I also missed the ET fingers touching. The Sistine Chapel was closed for an unexplained reason on a Monday, our last day in Rome. "Mierda!" (as Kevin would say, always speaking Spanish).
The closest I've been to Portofino was the Loews Portofino Bay Resort Hotel at Universal Studios, Orlando, FL.
Prenotare un tavolo per due a venti?
Welcome home. Go Phils.
i was beginning to wonder if you'd fallen off the blogwagon. glad to hear your voice again sistah! sounds like you had a totes radical time, can't wait for pictures.
i hope your "highlights and lowlights" go as well for you on saturday as this here post!! glad to have you back and glad you had a fab trip!!! keep the posts coming, they make my day:)
wtf? you get me all hot and bloggered about your return and then you just dissappear into the night?!? consider this an official verbal warning. next, you get another verbal warning, then 3 written warnings, then a disciplinary action, and then i remove you from my reader.
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