The switch from www.lougray.com to this site caused the loss of our original postings; however, we were able to recover the content. But unfortunately, it means we have to publish all the posts under one l-o-n-g posting. The La Cantina & Zayna hat-tricks 08/22/2010 While in Lido, we ate dinner at La Cantinia 3 times in a row. First, pizza; second, awesome spicy pasta + fantastic pizzaiola; third a combination of both. We all agree the second time there was the best. Unfortunately, the long-hair-wearing-toupee (or wig?) waiter was very cold our third time there. My guess is that when we paid our bill the second time (to the owner), she stiffed him. But we gently made up for it at the end of our third dinner. We all rate it a solid 9.5. When we return to London and I’m adamant we go back to Zayna. Zoe’s open to it, Max is excited by it, and Nicky’s giving me the hairy eyeball. So we strike a fish & chips lunch bargain with Nicky, and off we go. Turns out it was so good, that we ALL agreed to come back the next night. It was rich, delicious, and we all stuffed ourselves way too much. Love that place for quality. It will be extremely hard to replicate locally. We give it a 9.75! Too many restaurants, too many miles, too little time 08/10/2010 I will update our final entry for Florence restaurants when I get my laptop connected to the internet. Nonetheless, my last two days in Florence had me shivering like a mutt and attached to the “lou” (sp?) with food poisoning. We cancelled our plans to go to Siena today because it was just too far to torture the boys with another long trip walking and sightseeing (2 hours each way). Instead, we just sat by the beach and built a sailboat made of seashells. We do want to go back to Siena — they have the highest rated food in all of Italy and it is the most interesting city visually. No daytrip to Lucca tomorrow either. Just a relaxing day at the beach and hotel (as was the plan). Btw, the UNA hotel does a nice job:lean, fresh, and easy. Here in the Tuscan Coast, we’ve had a diverse and interesting collection of restaurants. Our first night we ate at I Giusti (Nicky knows how to pronounce it better than I). It was empty, but the gnocchi with scampi was delicious and Nicky’s pizza was quite good. The starters were a bit too adventurous for us though. A quality 8.75. The second night we went to Antica Locanda Viareggio. The menu is mostly fixed and seafood oriented. The boys were able to get pasta with ragu that was very good and light. We started out with an array of curious starters that were all quite fresh and good (some unrecognizable though). Zoe and I had very good pastas (she, a seafood lasgna; me, a ravoli with scampi and mushrooms). We should have stopped there though. Instead, we had grilled sea bass and scampi that was too salty and full of bones. A good value and an 8.25. The next night we went to Lucca, which wasn’t as pleasant or memoriable as I expected. And our dinner at Trattoria Da Francesco did not live up to the billing — we had spicy pasta, roasted lamb & chicken, and some pasta that Max ordered. An 7.75 at best. Lunch in Pisa at Il Campano was surprisingly delicious and a great value. Zoe has wild boar pasta and I had wild boar stew with polenta (too salty). And Pisa was more pleasant and beautiful than I expected (go figure). A solid 9, we would go back to try more. Last night we cancelled our dinner reservations in Lucca and just ate pizza at a place near the hotel — Il Cantina. Very good. In fact, to make life easy, we’re going back again tonight. Will give a rating after. Sundials, sailboats, and the top 30 reminders 08/10/2010 There are many things we should note while they are fresh on our minds: 1. 3 weeks is indeed a full vacation — no more, no less. 2. Reservations for lunch are not required. Most of the places where we ate had plenty of room. On the other hand, reservations for dinner are a must. 3. The Tuscan Coast is crowded but strangely private at the same time. It does though have a flavor/mix of Panama City + Boca + Nice + Jersey Shore. And the Med Sea & beaches are actually more pleasant than Hawaii’s 4. Pack more underwear and less shirts. 5. Google maps works great. No need to rent “Neverlost” 6. Italy has GREAT road signs. Driving was a breeze. 7. Flying out of Pisa to London is very smart 8. The Tuscan countryside wasn’t as scenic as we expected 9. iPhonetrip + Skype work great. Didn’t really use Air Sharing as much as I expected 10. No desire to return to Florence or Rome for a while. New settings are more stimulating. 11. Italian food wasn’t as impressive as we thought it would be — I worry that the cuisine is being dumbed down by the tastes of the tourists. 12. Italian restaurant bathrooms were much cleaner than I remembered (and better than their US counterparts) 13. I would make a horrible expatriate 14. Italians are pleasant enough but somewhat fatigued by the (American?) tourists 15. Kids travel great and like the “home base” setting UNA and the apartments provided; however, they really love the beach and the quiet days most 16. We always seem to be the first ones eating at 7:30 pm (and gosh that feels late to us?!) 17. I don’t miss our possessions at all 18. ATMs that allow for a decent withdrawal are damn hard to find 19. I would LOVE to cook with some of the ingredients I saw here — next time, maybe rent a home with a pool near the beach? 20. Our Italian got better as time went on. 21. Gelata is better than ice cream 22. Where are all the vegetables? I see fruit, fish, meat, and plenty of pasta, but very little diversity of veggies. I miss my avocados and broccolini 🙂 22. Bring pepto & amodium 23. One can of shaving cream will do 24: No money wallets 25. iTranslate works well 26: Zoe: More bottoms, less tops. More great dresses for evenings, less casual clothes for day–more pants and skirts, fewer tops. More hair conditioner. No Lycra panties 27. More Lysol 28. Sugar packets and powdered creamer 29. Hotels won’t usually let you in until 3:00 30. Travel nightlight Osteria del Cinghiale Bianco — oh my goodness Buffalo mozz with truffles?! Wild boar salami AND pasta?! Delicious veal chop?! Hot coffee?! (yes, in Italy, the coffee is usually lukewarm). When you plan a trip to Italy, you dream of a place like this. It’s a meal you can’t find at home or make in your own kitchen. It was so good in fact that words cannot do justice. Suffice it to say that we are going back our last night to eat there again. A 9.5 or higher!! La Pentola dell ‘Oro, Zio Gigi, Ristorante Giannino, and Gustapizza We cancelled La Pentola last night because after further investigation, the menu looked too fancy. So we went to Giannino’s near our apartment instead (we were planning on going to them on Friday but are going back to another place we love instead). It was just ok. While Zoe had “yummy” lamb chops and Max very good ravioli, everything else was not impressive. We give it a 7.5. We had lunch at Zio Gigi, which is a very cheap place where locals eat. Everyone had pasta, and while the boys raved (mostly bc they were starving), it was a 7.0 We looked forward to having pizza the other day at a much raved about Gusta’s. Last time we were in Florence, Zoe loved a pizza place we happened upon, so we hoped to get lucky again. It was perfectly delicious but not the best we’ve ever had. It’s pretty tough to beat NY Pizza (yes, Aunt Betty, Little Vincent’s is just that good ;-). A solid 8.25 il Latini: they treat you like dirt, but back I would go 08/01/2010 My favorite restaurant the last time we visited was Il Latini. It is where hoards of tourists line up outside the doors, awaiting its 7:30 opening, each pushing forward with the “I have a reservation!” No matter, the man at the front gratituously asks for your name, screams it to the fellow across the room, and off you rushed to your seat where 2 liters of house wine in a big wicker wrapped bottle awaits you. Their goal is to feed you what they have chosen/prepared for the day and whisk you out of there (“turn & burn”). Last time we visited, we instead asked for a menu and the owner took our order and allowed us to take our time. This time, my request for a menu was met with great annoyance. Now, in Italy, you are quickly trained that ALL restaurants provide menus in English as a way to make it easy for all, but this time, when I asked for an English version (in the best Italian-speak I could muster), I got even more scorn. No worries, the waiter insulted us by translating every line (most of which we knew) . . . “and this is a p-a-s-t-a, which is a starch, that has a sauce, which is very traditional here in Italy, and comes on a plate . . .” Cruising for a bruising, I asked for an off-the-menu pasta pomodoro for me, Zoe, and Nick. With an eye roll, he said ok. When I asked for red pepper flakes, he said “there is black pepper behind you <you cretin>.” Max order ravioli (Max says “I get lucky; there are always things I like on the menu!”). Later, the waiter brought me whole chili peppers to be broken by hand — they were wonderful but that make my face burn when I wiped the sweat away with my hands. The pomodoro was phenomenal in my mind. And we also had roasted lamb that was unbelievably good. Zoe wasn’t as fond of her roasted chicken or the pasta as the rest of the table. So the meal ended and we waited for 35 minutes for our check after asking 4 times. Why? Because ONLY the owner can write your check at your tableside (half made up), and he’s a busy guy. Rude, surly touristy, crowded, but oh-so-good. Zoe’s a sport for going back again (and back again we will go). A solid 9.5 in my book. [footnote: the two tables next to us were Italian and they got horrible service too and were very upset about it, so at least the place is an equal opportunity offender] Trattoria Da Garibardi 07/31/2010 After a wonderful early am stroll and some shopping with Nicky at the huge Mercato Centrale (eggs, fresh fruit, wild boar salami, various cheeses) we had lunch in a piazza right near where we were scheduled to see Mick’s David. Nicky had a delicious margherita pizza (named after an emperor’s wife buried underneath he husband at the Pantheon). Zoe and Max had ravioli with meat sauce, I had delicious pomodoro soup mixed with bread and then pasta with cinghiale that was unusually gamey, Max and I shared some cheeses, and Zoe ordered refreshing watermelon for all. Turns out Nicky outdid us all with his pizza. A pleasant, well-run place that we give a 7.5. Trattoria Da Sergio 07/31/2010 Despite the sad news, we found the perfect, cheery, friendly place to have dinner for our first night (the last night before they closed for August). Max and I started with an unbelievable, stupendously mind-numbing bruschetta. Then Zoe, Nick, and Max shared an antipasti with the best cured meats Zoe has had to date. Then Zoe had spaghetti pesto that was fresh but too Earthy for her (Nick, as usual, has the pomodoro). Then came the Man-vs-Food-sized bistecca: That’s 1 KG of Florentine T-Bone so perfectly cooked with eight pre-slit slices halfway cut to the bone. The quality was very good in places but a bit chewy in others. Zoe had panna cotta covered in chocolate that she thought was excellent. We give it a solid 8.5. Max and Nicky (with some cone-shaping help from his stuffed mother) had mint gelato. Everyone slept long and hard. A great loss 07/30/2010 I just got the message from Andre that Mr. Wiggins died this morning after fighting cancer for the last 6 months. Words cannot express my sadness. He was a great man, friend, mentor, and confidant. So many memories from my 20s & early 30s are of spending time with him and Mrs. Wiggins. I will miss you and can’t believe you’re gone. Rome to Florence 07/30/2010 Pack, pack, pack. Pull, pull, pull. Lift, lift, lift. Sit, sit, sit. Cram, cram, cram. Wash, wash, wash. Unpack, unpack, unpack. Yet our train arrived early (a miracle by Italian standards) and the air of Florence feels fresh and spring-like. Zoe managed to get all of our laundry done at a very nice wash & dry right around the corner. And Nicky finally found the Gormiti rewards he was promised (but couldn’t find in Rome) for walking 9 miles one day & up and down St. Peters (more on that from Zoe) right around the corner too! Looking forward to our dinner and first hot meal of the day/night. The Roman blur 07/30/2010 We did so many things in so few days (Zoe to blog about that later) that it is all starting to blur, esp the restaurants. But while our minds are fresh here in Florence for the first night (*love* Florence btw), here goes the final tally for Roman restaurants in reverse order (fwiw, Nicky always has penne pomodoro ;-). Le Mani in Pasta: It was a nice neighborhood setting but a place NOT fond of Americans (perhaps for just reasons). We arrived early, and, to a bit of waiter hostility. For instance, most restaurants we go to provide “locals” with a complimentary glass of champagne (I saw this all over); however, no where did they provide it to everyone BUT us! When I told Zoe about this, she was offended for good reasons — we try to speak Italian, have two well behaved children, and are big eaters. Some of the food was great (the antipasto and the penne al’arrabiatta), some ok (Zoe’s gnocchi scampi and Max’s steak), but none of it to overcome our disdain. A flat 8.0 Da Armando al Pantheon: The wild boar bruschetta was amazing, the spaghetti with truffles was good, and Zoe’s lamb chops were too fatty but tasty. An 8.4. Piccolo Abruzzo: They just kept bringing plates of food (some from “common plates”). No menu, no stopping. All-in-all, rustic, homey, and cross-culturally friendly after a long day. Nothing blew us away, but nothing was bad either. Nonetheless, if I was with a group of guys, this is the place we would go to chow down. An 8.1 (just to put our tongue out at Le Mani). Osteria del Sostegno. This was a small but well-run family restaurant (not particularly warm to Americans). I had the tagliatelle with truffles (surprise!) that was drenched in butter (up all night kind of butter). Zoe had tagliatelle cacio e pepe (a classic Roman dish that is like an alfredo with pepper) — she loved it. The boys shared a very good steak. Max had a very delicious dessert. An 8.25. So the winner for the trip is <gulp>, Edy’s bc it is the only one the family really remembers so clearly. Me, happy to be out of Rome!! Did I mention how much we love Florence?! Edy’s, Da Fortunata, and the battle of tastes 07/27/2010 I’m all alone on this one but standing my ground. Last night at Edy’s, Zoe claims to have had the BEST pesto spaghetti, sole with butter & roasted potatoes, and tiramisu. Nicky had pasta pomodoro and Fanta, and Max had a ravioli with butter & asp-a-grass (as Aunt Betty calls it), spicy chicken, and white chocolate torte (btw, Zoe thought Max’s dessert was the best she has ever had, ever, ever, ever). I had very good lasagna Bolognese and veal stew(pid) that was so bad I was sure a dog was howling nearby at his empty food bowl. Nicky gave it another “12” (from a boy who can’t help but love every place he eats), Max gives it a 9.5, Zoe a 9.5, and I a 7.99. So 7.99 it is 🙂 We went to the Vatican today and saw the Sistine Chapel. Smaller than I thought it would be but an impressive feat of will by Mick (5 yrs upside down, in the heat, tired arms, paint in the eyes, and a heart-stopping course-correction half way though when he realized that the smaller figures were unable to be seen well by the naked eyes from the ground). Then there was Raphael’s work that he did at 25 (t-w-e-n-t-y f-i-v-e!) contemporaneous to Mick. I wonder if they ever broke for lunch together. Sure enough, as our mishap-ridden-day unfolded, Max lost my camcorder case with extra battery and Zoe (aka Rachel Steves) took us to the wrong place for lunch. So instead of Taverna Romana’s, we found a place right where we stood: Da Fortunata. It was satisfying, unmemorable good, and very pricey. This time we all agree: 8.0. Fiasco fantastico 07/27/2010 Ok, so the goal from the beginning was to find a laundry service twice a week while we were in each town. Last time we visited, Zoe spent an inordinate amount of time doing laundry and hanging it to dry. Well, in Rome, we were instructed to give it to Gianni the doorman who would take it to someone local (a friend, was the assumption) to be returned the next am. The whole cost? 30 euros. Pricey, but worth not having Zoe do it. So I brought the laundry to Gianni yesterday, handing him 30 euros and got the immediate impression this wasn’t going to go as smoothly as we hoped (I should listen to that damn inner voice more), but figured it was the “Italian way.” We got an e-mail this am that the “service” would cost 150 euros + Gianna’s vig of 30 euros, and did we want to do it before the cleaners started. Within 30 minutes we wrote back an emphatic, “NO, that’s outrageous, please just return the laundry!!!” Too late, the cleaners had already started. Exasperated, I called Daniela who brokered the whole thing originally — she “worked out a deal” for 60 euros. Ugh. The whole batch was *supposed* to be returned this am. We were now told tomorrow morning. After ranting that we were running on clothing fumes (literally), she said she would deliver them personally this evening. It amazes me that Italians were ever able to build so much beauty given their wild inefficiencies. Put another way, Dante didn’t know it at the time, but he perfectly described the labyrinth of Italian way of doing business and government when he wrote ‘Abandon hope all who enter here’. Alas, looking forward to some clean underwear. Zoe “Rachel Steves” Gray 07/26/2010 Zoe gets up every morning and plans our exact sightseeing adventures with pages torn here and there, and notes/directions scribbled about. More than once, onlookers listened in as she read to us about the Forum, the Pantheon, the Piazza Navona, the Colosseum, church, statue, ceiling, or some unintelligible obelisk. Somebody’s got to do it and she’s doing awesome at it … we’ve beat every line bc she found a way to buy a One Rome Pass that gets us in a special line for three days. Cute, sexy, and smart. A lethal combination for our tour guide. Maybe we should subsidize the trip by having her charge the onlookers?! Old Bear, Elettra, and Nerone 07/26/2010 We had dinner at Old Bear last night near the Piazza Navona. It was very good: rustic, reasonable, friendly, and very good. Zoe had delicious spinach salad, spaghetti matriciana, and tiramisu. The boys both had tasty pasta pomodoro and I had carpaccio (terrible) and truffle/mushroom lasagna (excellent). I also tried a dark draft beer called “Scotch” that was quite strong. Overall, we rate it a 9.5 — our best restaurant to date. Yesterday’s lunch was at Elettra near the train station. Empty but friendly with decent pizza and pasta arrabiata. But the salad was bitter. We give it an 8.0. Today we ate lunch at Nerone. Mostly subpar — a flat 7.0 First night dinner in Rome: La Taverna dei Fori Imperiali 07/24/2010 Let’s just say that I went a bit overboard researching and planning our dinners/lunches. On a related note, I used a excellent Italian woman I hired on oDesk to book our reservations. oDesk is fantastic and reasonable; a topic for another blog. So after our long day in from London, we raced to the La Taverna and got there just in time for our 7:30 reservation. The owner and staff were lovely and spoke better English than I. We went La Taverna because I had read about both its “pappardelle con ragu’ di vitello e tartufo” (pasta noodles with a ground veal and black truffles) and cacaprese. The latter had the freshest, tastiest buffalo mozzarella and olives ever. The ragu was, unfortunately, good but not great (and skimpy on the truffles). Nicky’s papparedelle carbonara was “too rich” for him and Zoe’s salad was drenched with dressing. We give it an 8.0 and hope tomorrow brings better. But the night wasn’t a total loss as Zoe, Max, and Nick scarfed down their choc chip gelato (fine, with a little help from Dad 🙂 London to Rome 07/24/2010 Our hotel-arranged driver got us to Heathrow in record time using backstreets. Unfortunately, our experience with London cabbies is not a good one — they joy ride the fare up. What a shame. Despite being early, our 12:40 flight was delayed and Italian baggage handlers are, well, on their own schedule. So we didn’t end up arriving to the apartment until 5:45. But Daniela, our local contact, was there waiting for us. She’s great and colorful. Thankfully, the hot spell in Italy just broke as we arrived. Max snores 07/24/2010 Max seems to be the only one really sleeping well (e.g., I’m writing this at 4:30 am after finding Zoe in the kitchen reading guide books). For the first two nights in London, Nicky woke up ~2 am bc of Max’s thunderous snoring. It is all quite cute actually. Nicky wakes, gently calls and claps for his Mommy but usually ends up getting me (I’m often stirring anyway). So I brought the snuggly little furnace into our bed knowing those days are numbered. I tried ear plugs for him the second night but they fell out of his tiny ears. We have three bedrooms in Rome, two with air conditioning. Upon arrival, Nicky immediately claimed the one without air. Nonetheless, we convinced him that the sound of the air conditioning would drown out Max (aka “Mr. STP”). So far so good! OH WAIT, here comes Nicky!! He just informed me that he and Max are up, that he slept “3/4 of the night but Max only slept 1/4” (little math boy). I fear a cranky day ahead (yesterday, it was me). No matter what, they are still best friends and you can hear them giggling and entertaining one another. London Fish & Chips 07/24/2010 Nicky LOVES fish and chips, so for the second night dinner (Friday) we went to North Sea Fish Restaurant. It was a pleasant walk from the hotel and provided us an opportunity to walk through a park where the boys ran and raced around. The restaurant was clearly a place for locals in a part of town with lots of pubs and people blowing off steam from their work week. While the service was cold, the meal was very good and traditional: whole fish – bone in – deep fried in a crunchy batter with crispy fries, vinegar, homemade tartar sauce, and ketchup. The portions were huge! The boys had halibut and loved it; Zoe and I had Dover sole (I think theirs was better but Zoe disagrees. Then the desserts came — bread pudding for Zoe/Nick and cheesecake for Max. Everyone raved. All-in-all, a 9.15 for the category (although Nicky gave it a 12 ;-). London (part 1) 07/23/2010 On our first night in London we had a GREAT dinner at Zayna’s — spicy, but a 9.25 rating 😉 We had grilled shrimp, mundu chicken, spicy lamb chops, lentils, mango salad, and sautéed spinach. Today we had a 5 hr private tour with Sarah Tree, our guide. We saw the Tower of London (and all the cool amour, crown jewels, fortress surroundings, the Beefeaters, and a royal guard). We then blew through Westminster Abbey. Unbelieveable tombs, monuments, and famous people buried there! Boys are doing great and the Hotel Montague is very nice and well located near the British Museum, which we will see upon return. The room is quiet and and three small levels (pictures to come), Thanks for setting up your billing method. Now, setup the domain for this site. This is the address where people will find your website online. Reserve your domain now or skip this step and choose it later. Top of Form Use a Subdomain of Weebly.com A great way to get your website started http://.weebly.com Checking Available Taken Register a New Domain For a more professional online presence http://www. com .com net .net org .org Checking Available Taken Use a Domain You Already Own Enter Your Client’s Domain Name You’ll setup your domain once you’re ready to publish http:// Invalid Domain File on Your Website Select an Option Inaugural post! 05/02/2010 0 Comments We’ve owned lougray.com for a while now and it sat inactive. Today, however, we officially established the site. What a pain, but here’s how: 1. After some research and a smart recommendation, we found weebly.com. It lacks many of the features I’d hoped for (e.g., font editing, easier layout manipulation, and WYSIWYG). But it is f-r-e-e and actually worked (some of the sites crashed after a decent amount of invested labor/time). 2. We linked the lougray.com domain through GoDaddy.com (weebly does a fine job explaining “how” to do this) 3. The hard part — photos. After scouring the Web, it turns out the best way to get mobile (iphone) photos to publish directly to lougray.com was to first establish a flickr.com account, create unique tags, link the weebly / lougray page to flickr, cross-link the tags to the desired pages, and download Mobile Fotos to my iphone. Phew! Now we’re off!!