Segway in Florence

We left one of the most fun things to the end of our trip.

Food finds in Florence

We loved, and would recommend,

(1) Rosticceria Centro Giuliano for its array of cheap yet delicious Italian food, including some killer fried chicken wings with bay leaves, olives and chili flakes. We went there twice in 24 hours !



(2) Gelato from Vestri (stracciatella and dark chocolate) [picture showing its Easter adornments] and Gelateria Santa Trinita across the Arno (fig and honey). We were so distracted by the gelato we forgot to take pictures !

(3) Baccala (salt cod) from Coco Lezzone, but only on Fridays.


(4) Tripe sandwich from Nerbone in the Mercato Centrale.

Florence and the Lungarno Suites, 26-28 March 2009

After B&Bs, country castellos, and faded palazzos, we reached our pinnacle of swanky living in Florence, right on the Arno, in a serviced apartment called Lungarno Suites which is part of a hotel chain owned by the Savatore Ferragamo company. It is the sister property of the even swankier Hotel Lungarno across the river, but it was more than fine with its designer trimmings and convenient location next to the Ponte Vecchio, walking distance to everything.

A word about accommodation costs in Italy - at nothing decent outside the Euro 120-165 range, there's only spare change left for shopping in ... outlets and H&M. Forget anything on Via Tournabourni !

Siena and the Palazzo Rivazza, 24-26 March 2009

Siena was a reintroduction back to "citylife" after 2 nights in the Tuscan countryside.

This time our hotel was in a palazzo. Think of Raffles Hotel pre-renovation, being grand in a old-world-faded-glamour way.

The view from our room was expansive as seen by the misty morning shots.


We toured the il Campo, had a great meal at Osteria Le Logge, and went shopping at The Mall where we acquired Gucci and Tod's.

La Locanda del Castello, San Giovanni d'Asso

We stayed at the lovely La Locanda run by Silvana.


The pictures show the front and back views of the hotel facade. The room was lovely and we spent significant time over dinner at the Locanda's resturant. Truffled pasta, rabbit ragu, and other Tuscan classics fortified us after a hard day's holiday.

San Giovanni d'Asso, Tuscany, 22-24 March 2009

Through our friends C&T, we came to know of the existence of this tiny hilltown that is the ideal base from which to explore southern Tuscany. In 3 days we went through Montalcino, Montepulciano, Pienza, Bagno Vignoni, Petroio, with a swing through Chianti.

We also went through a lot of wine (Avignonese Vino Nobile de Montepulciano), pasta, rabbit and pork !

Driving was not more than 2-3 hours a day, thanks to our trusty SEAT Leon hatchback manned by super driver Mr Bear who developed a headache after the 3rd day on the road, especially with Ms Bear's somewhat hazy directions on occasion. We soon learnt that routes marked green for "scenic" on the map are to be avoided as they curve and dip the long way round to your destinaton.

Montepulciano was our favourite hilltown - just the right size and mix of retail where we bought some boar (cinghiale) salami, pecorino cheese and wine after much sampling.


Pienza posed the biggest extremes from the standpoint of food. We had the worse tourist-type meal at a apparently popular joint called Latte di Luna, but it also boasted a sublime porchetta (pork) sandwich from a humble butchery where pork slices are carved off the roast to order.

Restaurant Il Drappo, Rome

Ms Bear had fond memories of a Sardinian restaurant she ate at during her first visit to Rome almost 20 years ago, and made it her mission to track down a candidate to equal her recollections of a fabulous meal.

Inspiration came by way of another blog with detailed descriptions of the treasures on the Il Drappo menu, as well as the living treasure called Valentina, who told us through her English speaking kitchen staff that she's been cooking for 28 years.

It is a jewel box of a restaurant festooned wih drapes and flowers, but the cuisine is far from delicate. My earlier memories of Sardinian cooking are now replaced by the punchy Spaghetti con Bottariga e pomodori di Pachino (i.e., dried roe) and Mr Bear had a osso buco he was impressed by. We polished those off, along with a fantastic salami platter on paper-thin bread, and some of the fried seafood morsels that Romans love.

Rome, 20-22 March 2009

Our home in Rome, after a EUR 45 (!) ride from the airport was the Ideal B&B. Ms Bear found it on the Net after much research for the perfect Roman accommodation under EUR 150, that was not a bargain because it was in the boondocks. It's walking distance from the Vatican Museum and 3 subway stops from the Spanish Steps - what more can you ask for ? And we got pampered both mornings with breakfast in bed.

Here's what an "Ideal" breakfast in our four-poster bed looked like with cappucino, juice, breads, eggs, sausages, ham and cheese toastie ...


Sure there were Ikea-type furnishings and thin walls, but it was spotlessly maintained by the Filipino in charge, who also helped tremendously with transport and sightseeing advice, and is definitely a value stay in Rome in a convenient neighbourhood.

The neighbourhood also contained the Pizzarium, an avant-garde standing-only pizzeria that sold pizza by the weight (say "piccolo" if you want a small slice about 2 inches by 6 inches). We had toppings that are infrequently encountered, in a takeaway context, such as parma ham and artichokes. As the blackboard says, the chef's a lion in his kingdom, and certainly sets his own standards.



Pizzarium is a few doors away from a Chinese restaurant called New Town that had Chinese waitresses who only spoke Italian - a bit of a culture shock for us when we ordered some comfort food after freezing our nether regions off. We had kung pao chicken without the "pow" - no dried chilis in Rome ? - but the wanton soup was passable and welcome in 7 degree weather.

We orientated ourselves during the 3D/2N stay with a couple of organised tours - an afternoon tour of the Vatican and a night walking tour, as Rome is a city made to be seen by lights - but supplemented it with our own visit to the Campo dei Fiori market in all its brightly coloured glory.



We love wondering around food shops and in Italy, where alimentaris outgun the hypermarts, there was ample opportunity to immerse ourselves in the cuisine. Sometimes it meant walking through and under large slabs of meat, prosciutto to be precise !

Italy is Pork Heaven.

Silence doesn't mean nothing is going on ...

The TwoBears were busy getting married in October 2008, which was followed by a lovely holiday in Bali at our favourite villa, Bali Pavilions in Sanur, with lots of meals at Ms Bear's Bali food obsession - Cafe Batu Jimbar with its oustanding ayam rica-rica (grilled chicken in spicy sauce). Then, 5 months later, we embarked on a Roman Holiday as our belated honeymoon ...