Delgado Family in France and Italy

It has been a few days since I was last able to get on the net to send you all a message. We arrived in Rome yesterday and our trip is sadly coming to an end. It's probably a good thing since I spent every penny I have just to make it through 3 weeks here and fully enjoy all the food, wine and day trips we have been on. It's a good thing mom and dad have covered me for most of the dinners or I would have starved!

So we were in Naples for only a short time. We had a lot to cover in just 1.5 days. We needed to get to Pompei and see the Almalfi Coast. Out hotel was in the worst part of the Naples...the neighborhood was pretty scary...let's put it this way...when you see two ladies of the night walk out of your hotel alley when you arrive chances are you aren't in the best neighborhood. We took a taxi the first night to a very good restaurant called Etorre. The food was amazing. Our taxi driver recommended it. He said he takes his family there when they go out. When he dropped us off he offered to take us on a tour the next day for 300 euros...this is expensive...however they always negotiate and we got him down to 225 for the 5 of us.....he was going to take us to Pompeii and drive us to Sorrento, Positano and Almalfi. For those of you not familar with the area...this is a long trip on steep curvy roads. Most travel guides you read tell you not to even try navigating these roads, let the locals do the driving. So we took Dino (our taxi driver) up on his offer. When we got a taxi that night to take us home after dinner wouldn't you know it...he offered the same service giving us the same line Dino did..."it's my day off tomorrow and I can offer my personal services separate from the company to take you on a personal tour of the Pompeii and the Almalfi coast". This was a little concerning so we checked with the hotel staff and they said this is a common thing and it is safe to use the taxi drivers for daily trips. So we still took Dino up on his offer and met with him the next morning. The day turned out to to be wonderful. The drive along the coast was beautiful! It was worth every penny to have a reliable driver who spoke pretty good English. He was fun and entertaining. We had him join us for lunch and got to learn a little bit more about Naples from his perspective. Check out some of the photos on flickr.

Now we are in Rome and we just went to the Vatican today. If you ever come here make sure to get a reservation. The ques are long!!! We booked a tour through the Hilton so that didn't have to stand in that crazy line. Good thing. It was worth it. We made it in and out in 4 hrs. Oh yeah...the Hilton is awesome! 5 star hotel...$1000 a night...upgraded to a suite cause dad is a diamond member. Champage, chocolates and berries all in the room upon arrival. Incredible service all around. Thank Goodness he had those Hilton points to pay for the room cause you know dad...he would never pay that much for a room : )

Well folks gotta get back to the room. We check out tomorrow and make our way over to Hotel Alpi, right next to the train station. Leaving the day after that and will see all of you soon!

Nicki

Well our 1 week stay in Tuscany is about to end. It has been a very exciting week for us. Dad was almost a pickpocket victim! We took a day to go to Parma and Bologna (yes we bought cheese and we should be able to bring it back) and while in Bologna on our way back to the train station to catch our Parma train we ran into gypsies. They tried to pull the baby scam on us. They have their babies in a front sling with lots of blankets coverinf them to disguise their own arms. They come up to begging with one hand out...while they approach you they open the blanket to show you the baby to distract you while they quickly use their free hand (under the baby blanket) to get what you have in your pockets. The lady came up on me and I was able to get away because I was in the front leading mom and dad...mom saw her and moved to the side, but dad got caught in the middle...he moved away from her not realizing yet that she was going to pickpocket him...when she kept moving closer he realized she was already on him with her hands in his pocket...luckily he was quick enough to use one arm to push himself away from her and use the other to pull her hand out of his pocket. We took off as quickly as we could and got the heck out of Bologna.

The Villa, by the way, is huge! It is so peaceful. It takes 36 minutes to walk down the hill to the village. Yes a village....Rufina is tiny. Good thing we got the car. Mom and I walked down the hill and back up the hill on day 1 of our visit. It was a little difficult on the way back up...47 minutes up hill! It was a great workout, but my ankle hated me for it. It was already hurting me before we went down the hill. Today is Friday and I made the trip down the hill again, but will not be walking back up. I came into Florence on my own while they drove the 2.5hr trek (one way) to St Francis of Assisi. I didn't want to squeeze in our little car to make that long drive. Anyhow I am using the train to get back to Rufina where they will hopefully meet me at the train station to pick me up...otherwise I am to go to the town square and just start drinking while I wait for them to show up.

Oh yeah...best food we have had in this area was at a place called the Crazy Train. 20 minutes from Rufina on the way to Florence. Highly recommended it any of you make it out this way.

Gotta go run some errands. Talk to you all soon. More photos posted on Flickr.

Ciao!
Nicki

Well my dad, aunt and unlce made a very long trip back to Marsaille yesterday to get the passport situation resolved. We are good to move on into Italy. We did land up skipping Venice. While dad and went with them to Marsaille, mom and I were able to explore Menton. I found this great inernet cafe that Lonely Planet recommended. We did get caught in a light afternoon rain, but we were fine. Menton is famous for their lemons, much like Sorrento. I bought a few lemon candies for some of you to try. It was a nice relaxing day for half of our party. Gordo slept until 1:30pm and then hit the beach. Mom and I met up with him for dinner. Which we had here at the hotel again, and it was fabulous yet again....anyhow just when we were about to finish dad,uncle paul and aunt chicken showed up. We weren't expecting them until 10:30pm. They made it just on time to order another bottle of wine and some soup for dinner. Passport situation has been fixed, but they had a hell of a day working on getting them replaced.

Check out the photos I posted on flickr today Friday 10.5

Nicki

Oh yeah....went to Monaco last night and Gordo came out a winner! Dad was down, but made back his money on black jack.

I uploaded photos to flickr. Didn't have time to load them all, just a small sampling for those of you that have been asking when I would be getting around to sending them out. I think you all have a flickr acct. Get with Christy or Dan if you don't. Will work on posting some here soon.

Nicki

Uncle Paul and Aunt Chicken got their passports today. We should be ok to go to Florence on a Friday over night train. Skipping Venice. Will touch base with everyone later.

Nicki