Europe Activities

We've had such a crazy week. Knowing it was the last one before we came back to Tampa, we wanted to make sure we got in all the major stuff.

We went scuba diving, drove to Eze which is famous for their perfume (and consequently spent a billion euros on beautiful scents - totally worth it), ate at a teeny weeny and very intimate 20-person restaurant and had a gorgeous dinner, slept in a castle, went to countless markets, went to Biot (the city where the glass with bubbles originated!), a botanical garden, went to a wedding, celebrated a 76th birthday, an 80th birthday, and a 53 year anniversary, had amazing family dinners (large family dinners... and I emphasize the word large here), and hiked a few mountain trails.

Get ready...


Biot


Chocolate bread is AMAZING!


Our night view from the castle apartment...


Family dinner for Adrien's grandmother's Birthday.


Villefranche


Villefranche again!

I'm sure I'm still leaving details out - we had an incredible time and some of my most memorable time spent was while I was eating! I've never had such delicious and tasty food in all my life.

After a very long and exhausting trip home and a teary goodbye at the airport, Adrien and I are back in Tampa enjoying friends and family, but looking forward to being able to go back.

I'll be around! ...talking mostly about food!

The Zoo @ Cap Ferrat

This zoo was too fun! I haven't been to many in my life, so I guess my gauge isn't that valid, but I'll go ahead and say it's one of the coolest out there.

It's very very small (the whole thing sits on 1.5 acres) but you'd never notice with all there is to see. Not only is there no shortage of animals, but you can interact with and get so much closer to them than in a regular city zoo.

We picnicked in the middle of the lion's den, gave piggy back rides to lemurs, fed monkeys, and helped a lost goat back to his little dwelling.

The crowd was small and the location was beautiful, so it was the perfect place to be.

And my love affair with food continues...

We've been having a great time since we arrived (which was only 18 days ago!) and I've been able to see, smell, touch and taste so much, yet it all adds up to only a fraction of what the riviera has to offer.

Every meal we've had at home has been superb, and surpasses most of even the nicest meals I've eaten in Donatello and Armani in Tampa. Last night we had sea bass in a tomato, garlic, and onion sauce with a side of steamed fennel and a fresh salad. On any given day, we have 10 cheeses in the fridge, all completely different and equally delicious - I only wish I could identify them for you! All I know, is what I like... which is nearly everything except anything that resembles blue cheese.
The cheese is particular to France, because unlike in the US, they don't pasteurize or process them, so they're much more aromatic and flavorful. (And here's a fun fact for you: because there's no processing, they also have a lot of probiotic bacteria, which is great for digestion.)

You just can't beat the tastes here.

And don't get me started on Fenocchio! Fenocchio is an ice cream place with 92 flavors, ranging from chocolate, cacao, vanilla bean, and coffee to rosemary, tomato basil, rose, and avocado. They have every fruit, flower, and even random flavors like vanilla with pink peppercorns. It sounds a little odd, but the flavor is so huge and real (no artificial "mango" in this place), it's indescribable.

So far I've had mango, stracchiatella (basically vanilla with chocolate chunks), lemon, peach, violet, rose, cactus, beer, nutella, lavender, hibiscus, and vanilla with pink peppercorn. Outstanding!

I'm finding that beyond the food, I'm getting more and more attached to this place as we go. There's so much beauty everywhere, sometimes I wish I could eat the scenes! It's a beautiful place, and so far I'm loving ever minute of it.

P.S. This picture to the right is a standard hot chocolate. It's basically melted fudge... and everything you imagine it to be is pretty accurate.

So, I guess I'll tell you about Milan...

It was dark.

It was gray.

It was expensive.

Men dress very well there.

... That's the jist.

SERIOUSLY! Unless I've missed the point entirely, I'm not clear on what everyone raves about here. Bottom line: Unless I have several thousand dollars I can drop idly while shopping at Prada and Chanel, I'll pass on this city! And even Duomo (the shopping/commercial center) is not drop dead gorgeous!

Oh wait, there IS a very impressive gothic church that will stop your stride, but other than that, I was unmoved.

Next?

Venice Surprise!!!

So, as you all know by now (apparently), Adrien surprised me with a trip to Venice before we came back to Nice. I was completely blown away by all the work he put into planning that, and completely in the fog before hand -- I would have never in a million years even suspected anything was awry. (And by 'awry' I mean, I had no idea a beautiful hotel, beautiful dinner, and even more beautiful dress were all awaiting me in one of the most romantic cities in the world.)

In short, it was beautiful. I never expected myself to be "one of those" tourists who'd come back to America and say, "Oh, it's so unique you just have to see it! The art! The architecture! The magic! The grandeur! ... I can't describe it." ... and yet! It was that for me. I found it extraordinary, and as everyone else who's visited will tell you, it's spectacular. It's beauty is unique and it truly is great in a way that can't be conveyed properly through my words.

Despite the feast for the senses, the amount of tourists was suffocating, and blocking them out was difficult. They visit Venice in droves and arrive by the hundreds. Venice is a natural beauty, completely romantic and everything one would hope for, but I feel upset that it's being exploited and used like a theme park.

Adrien's mom told me that as a kid she went and it was empty -- a hidden gem. It makes me a little bit sad to think that a place which was once someone's quaint home town has turned into this massive, undulating money-making machine.

BUT, despite that, its beauty is one-of-a-kind and I will definitely be back, albeit in the winter.

Vernazza in a Nutshell

SO, without giving you a complete play-by-play of Vernazza, I'll just give you the best points:

- AMAZING seafood meal at the top of a mountain overlooking the city. Our appetizer was "for two" and consisted of sardines, anchovies, octopus, tuna, and squid. It was an impressive spread, and what put it over the top in taste was that it was all caught from the coast that same morning.

Our dinner was also for two and was a seafood stew with swordfish, some of the biggest prawns I've ever seen, shrimp, and mussels. It was spectacular, completely unforgettable. The view was priceless, the meal was exquisite, and the company was perfect.

- Our host at the B&B was adorable! Once we left for the day to explore, she came up to change the linens and (to our surprise) ended up hanging up my clothes, folding Adrien's underwear (!), arranging our toothbrushes to sit 'just so' in a glass, and of course, making the bed. She made us breakfast each morning and brought it to our room's terrace that peeked onto the sea. It was so adorably quaint!

- Cheap gelatto! We're talking 1.50 euros for 2 scoops! If you've ever been to Europe you can appreciate the price of that!

I arrived in Vernazza disappointed about the amount of tourists scrambling around, but I left with such a tremendous appreciation for the city, its people and the land it sits on. It's beautiful, and despite my contempt for the obvious tourist, I can fully understand why everyone seems to flock there.

Milan tomorrow!