Ari's Nails

Yup, I went ahead and did it. I got my nails done after a month and a half of sacrificing. The experience was bittersweet. I missed my usual way of getting pampered in my own house with a familiar sofa, familiar faces, and a TV. But my visit to Ari's Nails was not bad at all!

Italians are still discovering the magic of a manicure and a pedicure. Fortunately for them, they have Ari's Nails to tell them just how a manicure and a pedicure are ought to be done. Owned by Stephanie Alliman, an American, the staff speak Italian, Spanish, and English. They offer a wide array of services from your basic manicures and pedicures to waxing. I read that their clients are mostly expats and tourists, but there are Italians who come as well. To know more or to set an appointment, check out their website or their Facebook account.

All of their products are American made and most of the things they use for their clients are available for purchase. They have a wide array of nail colors. That's why it may  take a while before you start your service because it's pretty hard to decided which color you'd want.


There are 2 manicure tables in the front and the rest of the services, including pedicures, are done at the back.

When you want a pedicure done, you get to sit on an ultra comfortable Lazyboy - like chair and get pampered. But I was wearing boots that day, so no feet - pampering for me. Misozi, my manicurist/Saturday - morning - gossip - friend was awesome. We chatted about each others lives while getting my nails cleaned and polished. I know now parts of her childhood and her early career challenges. (haha) Anyway, I had her paint my unghie (nails) with special nail polish that glows under black light.

Check out my nails! From pink to "glowy blue"

Both Stephanie and Misozi were nice and very warm people. We laughed and talked about random things. Another thing I liked about the place was that they played music I liked and most especially, music I understood. If Stephanie's around, your experience will probably come with a free singing and (a bit) dancing show! At Ari's Nails, you not only get the service, but you also get that feeling of being back home and gossiping with your girlfriends... which I miss BIG TIME!

Thanks Steph and Misozi. Until our next chit-chat!

Misozi (L) and Stephanie (R)

address: Via del Sudario, 39, Rome.

My Roman Weekend

I've been staying in Rome for the past 2 weeks to learn a little Italian... Last weekend though, I set school aside and did touristy things!

From school, Friday was spent with my friend Alane exploring streets leading to the popular Piazza del Popolo. We take this route almost everyday, but that particular Friday, we took time to take pictures of interesting finds. My biggest find?! A M.A.C. store!!!!! And not only that, it was a M.A.C. store that sold M.A.C. pro products!!!! hell yeah.. unfortunately for me, Rome will only be my home for the next 2 weeks. But for the others who are interested to know where it is, you can indulge yourselves at Via del Babuini, 124. No shopping that day though. There were way too many people! (In Rome, there are always a lot of people.)

Goofing around with Alane

Since I left the Philippines, I promised myself I was going to sacrifice and not have my nails done until I go home for the holidays. But I decided, twice a month wouldn't be as bad. So, I researched and found the ONLY ENGLISH SPEAKING nail salon in the city. Some nail salons would probably have technicians who speak english, but this salon is the only one where EVERYONE speaks both english and italian. This is important because I had to make sure they'd understand my instructions on how I wanted my nails to be done.. otherwise I'd get into trouble. haha Anyway as soon as I found a salon, I booked a Saturday morning appointment right away. I went to Ari's Nails for a manicure and some proper R&R. It was just what I needed. You can read more about my trip to Ari's in the review I wrote.

The rest of my Saturday was spent exploring the rest of the city.

Piazza del Popolo was chaotic that Saturday. (Hot) Policemen surrounded the plaza in fear of a riot. There was a big demonstration against.... animal testing, I think. Music was blasting from elf trucks and people screaming "gawd - knows - what" walked around the piazza and did there thing. And this was the first time I've ever seen a lime green flare upclose! hihi Me and my shallowness...

Piazza del Popolo surrounded by riot police

On the same day, I heard anticipated mass in a church called Santa Sussana in Via 20 Settembre. I wanted to go there because I found out that all their masses are in English. It was an hour's walk from my apartment, but it was well worth - it. It was a small (relative to the other churches in Rome) but beautiful church. And the sermon felt like Sunday school-- although I never really attended Sunday school *laughing at self*. After the gospel, the priest called the children up to the altar, and he gave them a short class/homily about the gospel. Cute. It was a nice touch. Apparently, it was Sunday school-- except that this particular one was held on Saturday nights. Pffft. Go figure.

Sunday was my touristy day! I planned a whole day with a friend of mine from back home-- well, more like ex - grade school substitute teacher, Tinggay. We started off in Piazza del Popolo to take a taxi to Catacombs of St. Callixtus. Taxis are easily found in this particular piazza thanks to the taxi stand across the obelisk. For future visits, cabs would probably be the best way to go if you were more than 2 people since it saves more time and you're a lot more comfortable in your own car versus commuting. Riding the metro, the bus or the trams require a lot of transfers and a longer walk. Although, I doubt you'd mind a walk with a view. The fee was €14,00 which isn't really that bad.

The catacombs are passageways containing chapels, and burials rooms found underground. I'm not sure if the whole complex structure was intentionally made into a labyrinth, but I suggest never to separate from the group while on the tour. I was told that there was an incident where one man got lost and never found his way out. Of course, it freaked me out a bit, but then stories like these are made up every minute by parents who want to scare their children so they'd stay put and behave.

The catacombs were free that day, but normally you'd have to pay €6,00. It is a must that you go inside the catacombs with a guide and a tour group. During normal days, there are times set for a certain group to be toured. You join according to time and language spoken. That day, i joined the Spanish - speaking group. Thank god for my then functioning brain. The tour was short. I expected more from it, but the guide was funny and he told a lot of jokes which made everything more interesting. There's a small chapel where groups can hear mass by special arrangements. Catacombs of St. Sebastian is also close to the one I visited, but we had a schedule to keep.

Lunch was supposed to be at 1 after our supposed visit to the Mercato di Testaccio. This market is open  normally open from 7AM - 1PM everyday except Sundays, but for some weird reason, only s few flower shops were open that day. But Mercato di Testaccio is a good place to find food, flowers, and (Italian made) SHOES! One thing you can try, is have lunch in the market or buy lunch from any of the market stalls and eat along the sidewalks. This is the best way to save money and you'll enjoy people - watching as well.

Anyway, since the closed market crushed my dreams of market shopping, we headed straight for our lunch date at the Trattoria da Bucatino (Via Luca Della Robbia, 84. You can call them at +39 06 574 6886 ). This place is well - known for their homemade pastas. It was a good thing we arrived a few minutes after 12. We were seated at a pretty comfortable table, and we didn't have to wait for one. At around 1 in the afternoon, they were already turning customers down despite having tables outside the restaurant, in their main dining hall and in their basement!


The place wasn't fancy - shmansy. Typical family restaurant with old pictures hanging on the wall and  wine bottles displayed all around. A table that caught my eye though was the one with all their appetizers  - of the day. The choices overwhelmed me... I got too scared to order a plate! One plate cost about €5 - €8 depending on the kind you order.

Appetizers

As I mentioned, the trattoria is known for their pastas, but then every chance I get of eating something else other than pasta, I certainly jump at. Hence, I ordered me some lamb and potatoes! My lamb was perfect. It had just the right amount of seasoning and herbs. To ad to that, it was probably the most tender lamb I've eaten in my entire life. The potatoes were steamed to perfection.  Tinggay, the - normally - unadventurous - eater ordered herself some cream based seafood risotto. I'm not a fan of cream, but this was good! Reminds me of a risotto milanese with seafood taste. There wasn't any actual seafood meat (I'm guessing it was pureed or something), but it was tasty. I give this meal an 8!

Seafood Risotto (cream)

My tender lamb

To digest the meal, we walked back to the metro and headed for the Jewish Ghetto to visit their synagogue. The Jewish People have a very interesting culture, I must say-- a visit to this place is a must if you're staying in Rome for 3 days or more. The synagogue cost me €4,00 since I'm just a student, but otherwise they charge €6,00. Unfortunately pictures are not allowed at all. Security is tight and it has been this way since 1992.

The Jewish Ghetto was a 50 - minute walk to our next destination, Galleria Borghese, so we decided to be pretty signorinas and take a cab. When we arrived at the Villa Borghese, a feeling of home sickness came over me. I missed my brothers instantly... because I was reminded of our trip to Versailles in France a couple of years back. But don't get me wrong, it was a happy feeling of home sickness. hihi
Although the Villa B. is not as big and grand as the palace and gardens at Versailles.. this was one hell of a view! The Galleria Borghese is a sure MUST for visitors.

The galleria is in a compound called the Villa Borghese, which is actually a park. You can rent bicycles, segways, and other ways of transportation to tour yourself around the big garden. I was happy just sitting and, again, people - watching. I strongly suggest you stay and sit in one of the benches. This is probably also a nice spot for photo ops!

In the galleria/museum, do not miss out on:
- any of the Bernini sculptures (especially Pluto and Proserpina and Apollo and Daphne)
- the sculpture of Pauline Bonaparte byAntonio Canova
- the painting of Jacopo Zucci entitled Amor (Cupid) and Psyche
and
- Titian's Sacred and Profane Love
... they were my favorites!

And before heading home, we stumbled upon a flea market! During Saturdays, Rome has tons of these. Just research about which ones are open near your area. I hope you enjoyed!

gallery of My Roman Weekend.

Siena the Great

"Letters to Juliet" a movie starring Amanda Seyfried, made me dream of Tuscany even more. Though the movie was not spectacular, the setting was breathtaking. So in planning the trip, it was a must for me to visit Siena. Yes it was another touristy town, but I wanted to know what all the fuss was about. So, off we went.

Coming to Siena, the first thing you ought to see is the Duomo di Siena. The cathedral was intended to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest Catholic building, but unfortunately due to an epidemic that hit the town in the 1300/1400s, the project was not finished.   note: Audio guides are available inside to give tourists all the history lectures they need.. hence, I was able to give a teeny bit of history!
The Duomo's highlight is no doubt its floor-- covered entirely of marble mosaics. To preserve them, the administration does not allow flash photography and feet stepping on the mosaics. Three other things that I loved about this city's Duomo were the cathedral's dome, the Piccolomini library, and the sculpture of St. Peter (part of the Piccolomini Altar) by the great Michelangelo.

Duomo di Siena's Dome surrounded by martyrs

Piccolomini library ceiling

St. Peter by Michelangelo

Lines are normally long for the tickets to enter the Duomo, but we were lucky that day. We arrived just before the heard. €12 gets you inside the main church and the baptistry located behind the cathedral.

One thing I did not like about this visit was the horrendous number of people in the lovely Piazza del Campo. One could no longer appreciate the beauty of the buildings, the view, etc. because there were just way too many people. Walking around the tiny streets quite far from the piazza were much more pleasant than sitting in a coffee shop and people watching-- something I normally would love to do.

It was here that I discovered Homer Simpson's first love: DUFF BEER!!! Dad and I just had to order.. we shared a bottle and tried to figure out what it tasted like. I was disappointed to find out that it wasn't an Italian product... The German - made beer cost us €3,50.. damn thing was hella expensive! But at least for a moment, I was happy knowing I just tasted Homer's best friend... parang San Mig lang!

Enjoy the pictures!

The morning we left our villa...

So, I'm sitting outside the apartment with a gelato and going through the pictures of 2 weeks ago, our Tuscan tour.... I still can't get over the place we had in Radda. I made a gallery of the day we had to pack our bags and move on... click me!

The Beginning of the Chianti Region, Tuscany

Radda In Chianti

We went around the Chianti region of Tuscany. As previously advised, if you plan on going around Tuscany you'd probably have to pick certain towns as your "home" for a couple of nights then move on to another town if you want. During the trip, my parents and I discovered that you can actually make any town your home. It's just better to pick the major ones since they have more facilities... like an Internet point-- a rare commodity in this part of Italy.

One of the biggest highlights of our Tuscan tour was the apartment we rented in Radda in Chianti. It was an accidental discovery, but a beautiful one. Mom originally booked a bed & breakfast for us 3, but lo and behold, a couple of days before arriving, we were told that they were fully booked. The owner referred us to his friend who owned a pretty big land that had 4 apartments in it, 3 he was renting out. With no other choice left, we accepted. No doubts here though. I was expecting a ratty old place, but we were given a VILLA! The apartment/house rented to us had 2 rooms. on the top floor, a kitchen, and a living room on the bottom floor which had the door that led to the beautiful veranda overlooking the owner's vineyard and olive tree grove. The veranda was separated by a few bushes which led to the pool-- it was just way too cold to swim, but the water was calling to me.

The place was perfect. The veranda was our breakfast nook and our wine bar during the early afternoon. We had the view-- it was beautiful during sunrise and sunset. Kudos to you, Mr. Creator!

Check out our "villa" if you want. I also took a couple of pictures of the town.

Piccolo, Pieni, мали, Petit, Küçük!

Major backlog.. whooooops! Nowadays, I rediscovered my love for Sex and the City and watched everything again. Now I'm addicted and I have forgotten to write... Lazy Saturday afternoon in Rome, so here I go.

Monteriggioni is a town in Italy's Chianti region set atop a hill... or so I think. It's a walled city that features a 10 metre - high wall with 14 towers. The town is tiny. It's so tiny that it would really be surprising if people did not even know their neighbors. If you do not decide to eat here, 30 - 45 minutes would be enough to walk around. But the view is breath taking so I strongly suggest, you pay €1,50 euros to climb the wall and take some pictures.

The town sells the region's wines and great smelling leather goods! You can do a little shopping here if you want to.

Oh and if you're wondering about the title.. different translations of the word "small". Talk about creativity.

Badia, short for Abazzia

Badia, as my title says is short for abazzia which translates to abbey in the English language. We visited a couple of "Badias" during our Tuscan trip.  But let me talk about my most favorite one, a town called Badia di Passignano. From Lucca, you go past Florence and into the Chianti reagion... I think. haha In this trip I basically just sat at the back, listened to my parents navigate, and sleep. So directions would not be my forte in this one.

Anyhoo, we basically just took pictures and ate at one of the town's 3 restaurants. Passignano is a town whose center is an abbey, hence the name Badia di Passignano. The town is surrounded by gorgeous vineyards which the monks, in the middle ages up to when they got tired (hahaha... I'm not actually sure when they stopped) produced the wine the town used and sold outside as well.

Today, Badia di Passignano produces great wines sold all over Tuscany. The abbey (which I believe is Benedictine) is no longer open to the public because according to our waiter, the monks prefer to be left alone. This town has 3 restaurants and 15 inhabitants, 3 of which are the monks. Everybody else lives in towns a few minutes outside Passignano. Why? There's nothing to do there when you have no work.

Osteria di Passignano is the first of 3 restaurants you'll encounter in the town. Our plan was to have our aperitif here and move on to the next town. Fortunately, we were smart enough to decide to have lunch here instead. This Osteria is part of a cooking school and a wine shop. Visitors can decide to take wine tasting tours and afternoon cooking classes organized by the people running the place.

To start, visitors are given aperitif and a bread basket. Each one gets a plate of the best bread spreads in the Chianti Region. You're given 2 choices, the simple pomodoro (tomato) sauce or their very own olive butter made only from olives (DOI!!!!) without fats (daw!)... it was the best kind of non - butter, butter I tasted!

For lunch, I decided to share a Bistecca Fiorentina. I was told by many, especially my Italian teacher, to never leave the Tuscan region without trying their special bistecca fiorentina (typical tuscan cuisine)---porterhouse for normal people. This steak is supposedly melt - in - your - mouth type. It's expensive because of the part used of a certain breed of beef known as the Chianina. It's so easy to make that's why you find it in many restaurants around Italy, but finding a very good one is a difficult task. Mine, I give a 6 for the tough parts Mom was given. Dad had some Tuna carpaccio which he said was excellent. All the wines  sold are made by the people in the town.

For dessert, we all had our coffee fix and we were served a hefty variety of biscuits and chocolates!

Passignano is a simple place. You visit for the view and for the food.

Check out my gallery for the pictures.

I continue to go beyond the Tuscan sun

There are way too many places to be visited in Tuscany. To make our lives easier (note that we did not pack lightly since I have to spend a month in Rome before I finally get settled in Milan for school!), we decided to pick cities for home base. For this trip, we spent a night in Lucca, 2 nights in Radda (in Chianti) and 2 nights in Montepulciano--a special place for you vampire fans.



Lucca

North of Pisa, it'll take you another 1 hour and 25 minutes to get to this place. But because we were guided by the MOST BRILLIANT GPS system *insert sarcasm here* called the TOMTOM, it took us about 3 hours.

Horrible experience. If you do decide to visit Lucca... actually, let me change my sentence to: If you decide to visit Italy and rent a car, research well about your hotel. In small towns like Lucca, make sure you know where the nearest parking lot is. Otherwise, you'd have to drag your luggage through the cobbled streets and fight with the crazy pedestrians as you look for your bed space.

Warning about Tuscan towns--- many streets are for pedestrian only, and the streets are narrower than ever. Tips? PACK LIGHT or if impossible try the following:
- rent a small car
- be a good traveller and RESEARCH!

To cut the story short, our bed & breakfast was not in the address given to us. When we finally got in touch with the owner, he told us we had to walk 30 minutes to get to it-- no way was I doing this with 5 pieces of luggage! And there was no internet connection (a pre-req when traveling with Dad). So we found the first hotel recommended by Frommer's, Hotel Ilaria. Thank god for Frommer's.

Hotel Ilaria

Lucca's a quaint but touristy town. Main sights you have to see are, of course, the Duomo where their main cathedral is, Duomo di San Martino. Italy's known for their Piazzas or their town/city squares. Lucca has one of the best in the country. Piazza dell'Anfiteatro is worth a visit during the day and especially during the night. It's surrounded by many restaurants where you can have good food and people watch! Piazza de San Michele houses one of the most beautiful churches.. actually a basilica,  I've  seen called the San Michele. And of course, Lucca's Torre delle Ore or The Clock Tower--- nothing fancy. It's just a big tower with a clock, but old--- so pictures are a must.

Mom made reservations at the Buca di Sant'Antonio for dinner. Great pastas and wine! One of the oldest and best retaurants in town. About 12 - 20 euros per person, if I remember right. Oh and their chocolate mousse was to die for. A tip I can give is probably to suggest you be seated upstairs. Where we sat (basement) was way too stuffy! Took pictures, but the quality is not so good. whatever.. check if you're curious.

And the highlight of this stop was breakfast at the hotel's breakfast nook. I can't find words to describe it because I feel giving descriptions is not really my thing, just check out the gallery. Best breakfast yet.

Lucca and Hotel Ilaria gallery is here. 

Italy Day by Day

Before I forget, this is the book I read and will be reading for my entire stay in Italy... One of the best travel guides yet.. Frommer's Italy Day by Day includes hotels, retos, museums, shopping areas, and MAPS!!!

image from: http://blog.travelmuse.com

Beyond the Tuscan Sun

Thank you Mom for the title...

This trip has been a dream come true for me. Since the first movie I saw that was set in Tuscany, I have done nothing but dream about visiting this region-- I swear, it surpassed all my expectations.
Multiply the beauty on screen by infinity... that's Tuscany for you! + good wine + good food + good weather + parents (lol) = WOW!!!

My Dad did the planning this time. Thanks to Karen Brown's personal itinerary for us, we were able to get through our 6 days contented, happy, and 50lbs heavier!


note: her itinerary only includes the suggested places that her staff has visited. restaurants and wineries are Delgado finds and some are from books we bought.

Dad planned the trip extensively. He downloaded updated Italian maps and inputted our entire trip into his trusty GPS system. (yup, he's that psycho about traveling!)

The 6 - day vacation that was planned for at least 2 months, went by so quickly, I wish I had a rewind button!


DAY 1


From Milan, Mom and I met Dad in Florence to rent our car. Challenge #1: Our trusty GPS was left in our Amsterdam hotel!!!!!!!

Solution? I went back to Avis to rent a GPS system. The nice Italian woman said to me: I'm sorry we no have. I only give you TomTom So we drove with TomTom. (reviews on this to come)

Pisa

This place is approximately an hour and 25 minutes away from Florence. I didn't really want to visit  knowing that there would be a gazillion tourists flocking this falling building, but mother knows best!

I give the place 3 stars... because, no matter how much you hate doing the touristy stuff, you still have to do it. And the view is gorgeous! In places like Pisa where you're sure tour buses will stop--and you're on a budget (but you want good food), visit the small streets or eat away from the hoard.. get lost! It's the best way to find that whole - in - the - wall restaurants.


Pisa deserves another * for entertaining me! As I said, it is a touristy place to go and do touristy stuff.. so, I saw a lot of people doing texactly that!! 95% of the people surrounding the tower had their pictures taken as if they were leaning, catching, etc the building... the cliche Pisa picture.
Even my Mom decided to embarrass me and have one taken of her leaning on the tower! And note that this was so hard to take, because these pictures take time, but around the tower, there are just way too many people, it's almost close to impossible to take time and take a perfect one... without members of the hoard in your picture... :p

Mom doing her tourist pose

More of Pisa?

Day 1: to be continued...

And I Begin...

So...

I've been blessed to have the opportunity to travel abroad since the age of 7. And because of this, at a very early age I dreamt of 1 day being able to live in one of the most beautiful places in the world-- living their culture and expanding mine. Now, thanks to my parents, I am currently living that dream and have officially moved to Milan, Italy to study. School begins in 2 weeks. Meaning, I'm still on vacation for the next 2 weeks! Vacation first, before the real brain work begins.... :p

I spent 1 week in Florence and the North and South of Tuscany, hence the expect that the next few entries will exactly be about my days there.

That's all for now..

xo