A Lot of NRG...

I am sure you are asking what NRG is...
In this case it means two things both similar in nature but still different...
1 - Navigating Rome with the Goldens
2 - NRG, a slang way of saying Energy (and lots of it)

This blog has to do with both...
As I mentioned in the last posting, Tom's cousin (cugina) Patricia and her husband Brian were coming for a visit. They arrived in Venice and spent a couple of days roaming around one of Italy's must beautiful cities on the east coast. They then boarded a train to Rome to visit with us. They arrived on Monday late afternoon and the festivities began. We dropped their bags off at the apartment and then headed to Harry's Bar for an aperativo (a drink and a nosh).
The trip to Italy was in celebration of their 20th wedding Anniversary (actually in January) and they still act like newlyweds. Patricia and Brian are only 2-3 years younger than Tom & I butttttttttttt they have 10-20 times more energy (NRG)! Tom & I both attribute that to their 3 teenage daughters or the fact that they were on vacation without them (sorry girls). Still the level of energy was truly amazing!
First on the agenda was a marvelous anniversary dinner at Trattoria del Pantheon da Fortunato  right next to the Pantheon! We had a typical and wonderful Roman dinner, a little wine, and a lot of great conversation.

Happy 20th Anniversary!

...& the tour guides...lol

After dinner we took a little walk and continued catching up...
A few minutes later we arrived at the Trevi Fountain....yup...you got it...another photo-op!

And with the usual fanfare, Patricia & Brian tossed their coins in the fountain - insuring they would return within 2 years!

When we got home we booked tickets for Patricia & Brian to roam around the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Basilica on Tuesday. I made a simple but pleasant Pesto Pasta dinner that evening and we heard about the adventures of their day! We also introduced them to the Aperol Spritz (our favorite Italian relaxation beverage) and 'My Wine Guys' homemade red wine.

Now we get up to one of the best days of the week...Wednesday. Tom took the day off and we headed to Orvieto and Castello della Sala Winery.  Orvieto is a city in the Province of Terni (in Southwestern Umbria). The site of the city is considered one of the most dramatic in Europe, rising above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs (formed volcano rock) that are completed by defensive walls built of the same stone called Tufa. One of the cities most striking attractions is the Duomo or the Orvieto Cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin. Orvieto and the area is also very well known for its production of White Wine (the Orvieto Calssico). Let's take a look...

 Amazing...

Humongous...

& Deep...

The outside was stunning - the inside even better...

 

 

The most amazing...

...fresco's!

After searching the treasures of the Duomo we went to the attached museum - then it was time for lunch (and shopping, of course)!

Pranzo at Trattoria la Grotta

Brian & Patricia with the owner...
Thank you Fodors!











Now off to the winery for a private tour and tasting!

Welcome to Castello Della Sala

& the Welcome Tail-Wagon!

An inviting courtyard...

and the beginning of our tour...

...a little dusty but...

...I want one!

Happy 20th...

Salute! Patricia & Brian!

The four of us enjoying some wine...

The boys & our tour guide!










As we were leaving the winery, the sun was beginning to set on a lovely day of adventure, beauty, great food and even better wine!

 I have given you some of the high-lites now I will show you the blizzard of touring, shopping, drinking, talking and eating that was the rest of Patricia & Brian's stay.
We went to the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, St. Peter's Square, Piazza Novona, Piazza del Popolo, the Vittoriano, Via Condotta, a few more churches, dinner with some local friends and Shopping... I hope you enjoy as much as we did!

Shopping!

Villa Borghese

Piazza Novona



Piazza del Popolo...

...the dismount...

...from the Sphinx!

The Spanish Steps...

Piazza di Spagna...

Admiring Jimmy Choo's

Atop the Vittoriano...

St. Peter's Square...

A Birra in Piazza Novona

And because I had to save the best for last...
Patricia & Brian did something that no other guest to the BRS Europe had ever done...
You have to see it to believe it...

Yes...the Gladiator thing...

...Oh My...

Ok, as you can see we had 5 days of fun and run!
We would like to wish Patricia & Brian another Happy 20 years and another return to Italy soon!

Everything else is settling back into place and life returns to normal!
For this posting, I will leave y'all with the warmest wishes and lots of love!

Till next time...
Abbracci a tutti!
Ron & Tom

Just to keep my resolution...

Just to keep my resolution about blogging regularly, I am entering this rather short and odd posting...
Everything is moving along nicely here in Rome. Tom is working hard and I am doing pretty good (buono) with my language skills.
I no longer - well I shouldn't say  no longer - I seldom us the phrase "Non parlo bene italiano, parla inglese?" (I do not speak good Italian - do you speak English). Now in most all situations I try and use Italian (I am not very good - but I do try). Of course, food ordering and drinks are the easiest. That is where we have had the most practice - heehee.
Other than that - I have started a new project of taking all the photos from 2011 (in Italy) and creating a coffee table book out of them. The up-loading of the photos is taking forever but it should be pretty great when it is finally finished.
The weather here has finally started to cooperate. Our days have started heading into the 60s but the nights are still in the 40s. I shouldn't complain - it will soon enough be in the 90s & 100s - I will miss this weather.
The photo portion of this posting is just going to some random photos taken while I am out and about.
It will be a mix of little cars, graffiti, and Italian quirks...enjoy...

Size comparison...

Tinyist yet!

I think this is a model-kit...

This is a Alfa Romeo Spider 1.6
I got to ride in this one...fun!

Shiny coats...everywhere...
This was a shiny coat family!

Fun with fur...

Yoda & his moped...

Some of the graffitti is real good!

Ok, that is enough silliness for one blog!
Everything else is good - our first guests arrive today (Tom's Cousin Patricia and her husband Brian). Should be a lot of fun.
To end, we hope everybody is well and life is treating exactly as you deserve!
Abbracci a tutti!
Alla prossima! (Till next time)
We wish everybody love and good health!
Ron & Tom

Adventure day to Sperlonga & Anzio...

Ciao everybody - in previous postings I said I was going to share with y'all our visits to 2 beautiful Italian cities, Vitterbo & Frascati - but yesterday we took a ride to two other beautiful places and I really would like to share them with you. Don'y get me worng - Vitterbo & Frascati are both wonderful ancient walled cities and I will add them as filler into future postings.Since spring (primavera - in Italian) is on its way - we decided to take a day trip to the beach!
Our primary destination was a wonderful town called Sperlonga!

Sperlonga is a beautiful seaside town to the south of Rome. It is filled with Whitewashed houses all clustered on a steep headland. The entire town is built as a bunch of different terraces all leading down to the sea and a magnificent beach. As with all beach towns not in season - it was amazingly peaceful and quiet. Many of the local shops were not open but, of course, we found a wonderful restaurant to have a scrumptious lunch. Since we were at the beach, lunch consisted of fresh seafood, pasta, and a pleasant local white wine.

Insalate di misto mare
(mixed seafood salad)

Vino bianco di casa
(house white wine)

The restaurant was fabulous - our waitress started speaking in Italian to us and we responded in-kind. When we got to ordering the wine - she asked whether we wanted a full carafe or half carafe (in Italian) - I guess by that point she was over our attempt at Italian - without skipping a beat - she quickly repeated her question in English with a perfect New York accent. We responded to her in Italian - she walked away and we had a good laugh about it... We would like to thank Ristorante Corallo for a wonderful dining experience. The best part of the resaurant was its location (the street and the view)...

Beyond the lovely sleepy little town - there was the view. Not much I can say - so I will let the view speak for itself...

Tom & the coastline...

Ron & the city...



Great city on a hill...

and a Quiet beachline....

An amazing little place for rent...

& fresh fish daily!

After leaving Sperlonga, Tom & I decided that we needed to come back for a weekend when the weather gets better. So, today we booked a great little hotel for Easter weekend!
On the way home we wanted to drive back along the coast and started heading north...
For sunset we ended up in a little town called Anzio. A cute coastal town during WWII used as a crucial Allied landing zone. It has a major historical significance and is the home of two very important war cemetaries.
I must say the sunset was just darling...take a look...

Reflecting Sunset

Sailboat on the horizon...

While in town on the way back from sunset, Tom stopped at a local barber (Antonio) to get his hair cut. We walked back through the town and decided that it was time to head home - the sun was down and we still had about an hour drive until we were home.
All-in-all it was a beautiful day! The weather was amazing - not too cold - not too hot!
Good food, great places, amazing company - what more can someone ask for!

So, for this adventure day - we are signing off -
Until the next posting, we send our love to everybody!
Abbracci a tutti!
Love
Ron & Tom