La Dolce Vita

Being on top of the hill means amazing sunsets

Il Salviatino

The second leg of our Italian vacation took us to Florence and the elegant region of Tuscany.  Going into this trip, Mike and I were in agreement that Florence and Tuscany would be our "splurge".  We had saved for almost a year to take this trip, and decided before leaving that we were going to spare no expense on our accommodations and excursions, so admit-idly, this was the part of the trip I was looking forward to the most.

After a brief and speedy train ride, we were met on the train platform by our adorable driver, Roberto, who took us through the city of Florence and to the outskirts of Florence...on a little hill called Fiesole.  My face was practically pressed up against the glass of our car as he took us through the grounds of the Tuscan mansion that would be our retreat for the next three days...Il Salviatino.  Upon our arrival at the hotel, we were greeted by what seemed like every member of the staff and welcomed with a room upgrade and a special glass of rose Prosecco.  It was devine.

I'm convinced our hotel room had the best view of the whole estate.  Complete with thick wooden shutters, it was like a storybook or straight out of a Disney fairytale every morning to open the window & the shutters to hear the church bells ringing from the duomo down the hill, and the subtle humming of the mopeds below.  If it wasn't my first trip to Florence, I could have stayed within the grounds of Il Salviatino for the entire trip.

But of course we didn't do that!  After our driver, Roberto, returned my husband's lost phone to the hotel concierge, we were so enamored with him, that we requested Roberto be our driver for our countryside adventure the following day.  He picked us up promptly in the morning and had an agenda already planned for us to see all the charm and nature that is so characteristic of Tuscany.

Happy Hour

When people ask about my favorite part of my trip to Italy, I really have a hard time answering, but this was definitely one of the best days I've ever had.  We were nestled in the safe backseat of Roberto's Mercedes, driving all over the countryside while he told us tales of Italian history and taught us about the different wine regions in Tuscany.  The first stop on our road trip was in Siena, a destination that was my only request on our entire Italian trip.  We were dropped off and free to explore the town for hours.  I've never seen medieval charisma like Siena.  Aside from it's medieval cityscape, it's also the home of the Palio - a horse race held around the Piazza del Campo twice a year.  It's an extremely competitive race that celebrates medieval tradition and highlights the immense rivalry between the different city wards of Siena.  Mike and I loved seeing the banners and flags from all of the different contrade/neighborhoods.   Even today, the jockeys still ride bare back and wear traditional medieval costumes!

Piazza del Campo!

After working up an appetite and a bit of a credit card bill from buying artwork, we were taken through the hills of Chianti to the Castello di Fonterutoli vineyard for what Mike & I agreed was the best lunch of the trip. We tasted 4 different wines as we snacked on beef carpaccio and wild boar bolognese.  The owner of the vineyard took us across the street to do a bit more wine tasting when our meal was finished.  Perhaps we had a few too many little sips of Chianti, because we walked out of the vineyard with a shipment of wine back to the States!  It will be such a treat when it arrives.

Our last little stop was another charming little medieval gem, and one that I had never heard of until Roberto called it "the Medieval Manhattan". From a distance, San Gimignano looks like a town of skyscrapers among rolling hills of vineyards. But when you get closer, you realize that those skyscrapers are in fact medieval towers! At this point in our day, we were ready to have another glass of white wine and climb around the towers and ruins to see some of the most breathtaking views in all of Tuscany. 

You can faintly see the towers of San Gimignano in the background

Before Roberto took us back to Il Salviatino, he drove us to Piazzale Michelangelo to see the sunset and have a bit of a romantic moment to end our adventure.  From the square, you can see the famous and majestic panoramic view of Florence. After an the adventure of a day that we had, it was so romantic to stand on top of Florence and watch the golden glow of the sunset upon the city, and hold the love of my life.  These are moments where you realize that the daily grind and the 60 hour workweeks are totally worth it.


The rest of our stay in Florence was a whirlwind of museums, duomos, shopping and of course, FOOD!  After a few hours at the Uffizi and a quick visit to the David (the real one & the fake!), Mike said that he was content at seeing the most well known works from "all four Ninja Turtles"....and there was A LOT to see in Florence.  I wont bore you with all the details of all the Renaissance paintings and sculptures we saw, but I will advise that if you do go to Florence, it's imperative that you purchase "skip the line" passes at both the Uffizi & the Academy of Art.  We bought our tickets weeks ahead of time, and still stood patiently in line for roughly 20 minutes at both!  So you can imagine how it must be for people who bought tickets day of....YIKES!


While we enjoyed the delicious cuisine right at our hotel for dinner, Il Salviatino also had excellent recommendations for restaurants that were off the beaten path in Florence.  They refused to send us to "tourist traps". Each night, we received a little red envelope with the name of our restaurant, a little map with directions, and a phone number in case we got lost.

We had two more unforgettable dinners in Florence.  On our first night, we took the shuttle down the hill to l'Parione.  The restaurant was hidden in a quiet alley and had such an authentic rustic charm.  We dined on caprese, gnocci and Mike's first Osso bucco of the trip!  In order to try more plates, Mike and I became accustomed to splitting appetizers, splitting a pasta dish, and then each getting a meat course....and it worked out fabulously!

It's pretty magical at night too!

On the Ponte Vecchio!

On our last night in Florence, the hotel recommended Peperoncino.  Outside of the delicious pastas and caprese, Florence is famous for the Florentine T-bone, and this place was KNOWN for their Florentine T-bone.  I'm not a huge fan of red meat, but this was heavenly.  The Italians traditionally drown their t-bones in olive oil and cover it with fresh ground pepper, which is a little unconventional, but it was delicious.  I was disheveled and a bit hot by the end of the meal, but I was determined to enjoy as much as my body could handle.  In Italy, it's not uncommon for the restaurants to bring out complimentary grappa or limonchello at the end of the meal, or to throw in a free dessert, even if you're too stuffed to eat it.  Our sweet little waiter sent Mike and I home with a coffee mug from the restaurant as a little souvenir. 

Limonchello...OF COURSE!

It was with heavy hearts that Mike and I left Florence and Il Salviatino.  In only 3 days I fell in love with Florence and Tuscany and I can't wait to come back with my family and spend even more time visiting all the rustic little towns and infinite number of villas and castles.  In Siena, I mentioned that we bought a gorgeous oil painting that will be arriving in the States in a few short weeks, and I'm so happy to have that as a daily reminder of the romantic and charming time we had in this region of Italy.





The final installment of the Mobley's Italian tour took us to Venice for our last two days.  Stay tuned for some more pictures, restaurant recommendations and of course Mobley adventures.  Ciao!  

When in Rome....

My people!

Just a little bit of rain on our
first day in Rome

Mike and I have just returned from an unbelievable trip to Italy.  I've been a little stressed about how to describe the amazing time we had and how to articulate what I think is a trip of a lifetime.  So I've decided to break up our trip into 3 separate entries, one for each of the different cities we visited.  This will ensure that I spare you all from a FAR too wordy blog post with an over load of pictures (I took a total of 288 over the 9 days that we were in Italy), most of which include self-taken "arm shots", and photos of gorgeous monuments with a tiny figure of myself or Mike in the foreground.  I'd like to retain the 15 readers I do have, so I won't subject you to that nonsense.

I've also decided that I wont be detailing our hourly, daily accounts of what we did every step of the way.  I can illustrate that through my pictures.  Rather, I've decided that my unforgettable experiences would best be documented by sharing with you some of the highlights and some of my favorite moments, restaurants, and sightings in each of the cities that we saw.  I'd also like to thank the members of our family, our friends, co-workers and our outstanding travel agent for all the recommendations, warnings, and advice that was shared with us prior to our trip.  I'm convinced that without all of the input (although overwhelming at times) and assistance in planning, we might have had a different experience.  So thank you to everyone, we were thinking of you all on our adventure.

Trevi Fountain

The gardens of the Vatican

St. Peter's Square

The first stop on our Italian tour was Rome.  Regardless of the fact that we slept for less than 3 hours, we were both anxious to get out and about and roam (pun intended) around one of the oldest cities in the world.  We only had 2 days in Rome, and there was quite a bit to see if this is your first time there, so after a quick shower @ the hotel & a bottle of "welcome Prosecco", we were off to the sights.  Since Rome is a relatively large city, we decided that the best way to see everything was to do the hop on/hop off double-decker bus....touristy, I know...but "when in Rome".  Honestly, it turned out to be one of the best decisions we made, and I'd highly recommend it to any future travelers, if you want to avoid ruining good shoes and/or getting blisters.  We also had a little bit of rain on our first day in Rome, so it was nice to have some cozy shelter and not have to deal with getting around a wet & soggy city.  They literally touch almost all of this churches and ruins in Rome that you could have on your "list"!

Another major highlight for us was our tour of the Vatican.   As a Catholic, this was something I wanted to invest the time in, and it was worth the money to get a tour guide.  Thankfully we were not among the seas of guides that are 30+ people all struggling to stay together as they follow a guide carrying some colored flag or pole through the Vatican.  We weren't required to wear headphones so that we could hear everything our docent explained.  Our group was an intimate team of only 6 people with the sweetest guide who was a wealth of knowledge and provided us with 4 hours of entertainment and history as we ventured through the grounds and museums of the holiest city on the planet.  She told us little nuggets of information that I'm sure you can't read in any history book.  It was absolutely awe inspiring to tour the works of some of the greatest artists in the history of the world (I usually use this phrase in jest or to exaggerate, but this time, it's relevant)!  The high school humanities and USC art history student in me was in heaven!

At the Pantheon - the stranger we asked to take this  obviously didn't appreciate the significance of getting
the actual building in the shot 

The Sistine Chapel was absolutely a sight to be seen....and more vibrant and beautiful than anything I could have ever imagined or any pictures I studied in art history books.  It was disconcerting that people violated a few of the rules intended to keep the Sistine Chapel a spiritual experience for all, so you'll notice I did not take any pictures of the ceiling. Luckily, Mike and I took our tour on a day that wasn't too crowded with fellow tourists, but the chapel was absolutely packed, and not anything like the silent, more holy experience that I was expecting. But that didn't make it any less special or any less breath-taking.

It's pretty amazing that Mike managed
to take a picture of me @ the Spanish
steps with NO ONE else in it!

Since Rome was so huge and we were there for only 2 days, we had a pretty packed agenda.  It left little time for us to fit anything in outside of the famous ruins and churches.  But on our walks in between the sights, there were monuments, ruins, churches and piazzas at what seemed like every turn.  My favorite thing about Rome was that it is so old that it feels as though everything has historical significance.  We tried navigating through the streets with a map, but ended up stumbling upon other city sights instead.  Even the most mundane buildings in Rome, like a bank, are centuries older than even the oldest stuff we have in America.  And the Forum, these are ruins from before the birth of Christ, and the ruins are just nestled in between other buildings for people to walk by every day...just like I walk past Macy's in Herald Square!  It's unlike anything I've ever experienced before in my life.  To think of all the wars, weather and time, and you can still see remnants of the Colosseum...just WOW!

Wine glasses the size of my head!

I've saved my favorite highlight for last, and I hope I can provide some recommendations for any of you who may go to Rome in the future.   Italy did not disappoint when it comes to food...I'm not exaggerating when I say that I have never been to a foreign country where I was 100% satisfied with everything I ate, but the food was unbelievable.  Everything from the little cafes with the most delicious coffee, to the piadinas you can get from a food cart in front of the Vatican, to the gourmet Italian restaurants we went to; everything was a culinary celebration.  I'm sure that it's impossible to have bad food when you're in Italy, but we ate two dinners in Rome that I think are worth sharing.

And this one was even bigger!

The first night we ate at L'Asino D'Oro, which was not too far from our Rome hotel, Rose Garden Palace.  Of the entire trip, Mike and I decided that this restaurant had the best tiramisu, which is huge for someone who rarely skips dessert, and on our first night too!  It was also the place where our love affair with Brunello wine from Montalcino started.  It wasn't traditional Italian spot, so if you're looking for pizza or a heaping plate of bolognese, I wouldn't suggest this place.  But it was a foodie's dream with unlikely pairings and unconventional dishes that left us practically licking our plates.

We opted for more traditional Italian on our last night in Rome, so we went to Casa Bleve.  After arriving, we were immediately treated to a wonderful selection of wine & complimentary snacks during our 5 minute wait for a table.  This restaurant was particular worth noting because it was here that we had probably the best buffalo mozzarella in the entire state of Italy.  If I were a more talented writer, I could go on for pages about the freshness and buttery texture, but it's making me hungry.  We were stuffed and quite tired after our meal, but if you're up for it, you should take a look at the first-century foundation below the dining room to see their wine vault!

We were so happy to start our trip in Rome, but it was definitely a trip that left our calves and feet a little achy as we did not rest until about dinner time both nights. But the introduction to Italian culture and the historical journey we experienced in Rome was something we'll never forget.  Our next adventure took us to Florence and into the countryside of Tuscany.  I can't wait to share more of our adventures, highlights and meals with you next week.  Ciao!

Vive La France

 As we are getting ready to take another trip over the Pond to Europe, it reminded me that I have yet to post about another extremely festive celebration we had this summer.  I know it's terrible, but Bastille Day was over 2 full months ago.  If there is any reason do get dressed up and celebrate something...you can count on my husband to do just that.  Mike had Bastille day blocked out on his calendar weeks before the actual date, and had recruited our equally festive friends, the Bucks, for a beret-filled evening of celebrating the French.

This was the appetizer

My husband has been begging me to go to Les Sans Culottes since we moved to New York.  In the spirit of celebration, I gave in and prepared myself for what would be a glutinous evening.  Mike was so excited to wear his new pink blazer and handkerchief with the matching beret, an outfit carefully selected for this special occasion.  Before even entering the tiny French establishment, it was mandatory that all four donned different colored berets....a French essential. 

Prior to Bastille Day 2012,  it was hard to find a reason to go to a restaurant with an unlimited selection of sausages & meats....just as the appetizer.  I was surprised that we were also given a beautiful basket with a fine selection of seasonal fruits and vegetables as part of the appetizer experience as well. With the combination of sausage and vegetables, there was a little something for everyone. 

To accompany the spread we had pre-dinner, there was a variety of other authentic dishes as the main course as well.  We had a choices of French specialties such as coq au vin, escargot, mussels, and of course as much of the most delicious baguettes you could possibly eat.  Courtney and I drank carafes of red wine while the men sipped fancy cognacs "apres diner". 

I'd would say that I would recommend this little hole in the wall for visitors and I'd be happy to make this special day a New York tradition; regardless of the fact that we did have a few Les Sans Culottes patrons ask us "what's with the berets" (doesn't everyone know when Bastille day is?)?  The most endearing this about the whole evening wasn't the berets, or the French cuisine, or even the cocktails.  It makes my heart smile thinking that we find reasons to celebrate with friends and wear costumes on what may be ordinary days to other people. I can truly say, that during our meal & our after-dinner excursion, we were the only people who even knew it was Bastille Day.  We shamelessly paraded around New York City in hot wool berets, even though it was the height of the Manhattan summer.  We scoffed at other people who questioned why we all were wearing these hats. And we kept extra berets in our purses to share with others if they wanted to join in on the fun. 

When I first met Mike, he talked about how he and Chuck base their lives around "chasing serotonin".  I laughed and thought nothing of it. But it's actually a huge lesson we can all try to learn from a little bit.  Life really is about these little unexpected holidays, and not taking yourselves too seriously.  It's these moments that ground you and remind us all that life is fun and there should always be a reason to celebrate.  But most importantly, when you have an opportunity to wear a beret....you shouls always do it!

Fight On for Ol' SC!

I miss being a car ride away from USC football.  I miss the energy of the Colosseum on Game Day.  I miss the sea of cardinal and gold during football games.  I miss how in LA, you can buy SC gear at even the tiniest of grocery stores or pharmacies.  I miss the tailgating and making random friends in the parking lots, and I miss the smell of the post game dirty dogs. Even if I can't get to the game, I miss WATCHING the Trojans on TV (damn you New York and your 3 hour time difference and lack of coverage of most West Coast sports teams).  And let's face it...I miss USC being eligible for bowl games.

When I found out that the USC Trojans were visiting the great state of New York (ok....so it's actually New Jersey) to take on Syracuse @ MetLife stadium, there was no doubt in my mind that I would be at that game.  This will be the first time I've seen USC play live since moving to New York...I've gone 2 full football seasons without watching my dear Trojans on the field.

As with any college football game, tailgating is a must.  So you can imagine my disappointment when I woke up to tornado warnings and torrential downpour.  The sky was dark and ominous all morning, and up until our commute out to the Meadowlands from the city.  As luck would have it, we didn't get a drop of rain during our entire tailgate.  My dad was in town for work, and stayed for the weekend to come to the big game with us, and my dad is a professional tailgater.  Pops got some big, fat, delicious deli sandwiches for the game and packed a cooler full of everything you could ever want for a good ol' fashioned college tailgate. We even coordinated between some out-of-towners, family friends, and fellow USC alumni, so we had quite a turnout for a USC away game...all the way in New Jersey!

Rockin' the pancho

Cardinal & Gold everywhere!

Even though we were 3,000 miles away from the Colosseum, the Trojan pride was still in full force.  Our seats were amazing and only a few rows up from the field, by the end zone in the impressive visitor's section that was saturated with cardinal and gold everywhere you looked.   During halftime, the storm returned with a vengeance.  We were all instructed to take shelter inside the while the wind & rain pummeled the stadium.  For a little over an hour, we were confined to the inside of the stadium to wait out the storm, and party with other Trojan fans. It looked like a USC home game inside MetLife during the rainstorm, I couldn't have been more proud of the Trojan family that was representing in NY!

It felt DAMN good to have a football program once again.  I'd argue it wasn't our BEST game, and I felt like the Trojans could have dominated a bit more, but our boy Matt Barkley did have 6 TDs...not so bad!  Having a little piece of the Trojan family out in New York made me a little home sick for football season at the Colosseum, but it also made me proud that I am among great alumni and students who had such an impressive showing at a non-conference game against Syracuse.  Football season in America is a very beautiful thing, and I'm so glad I was able to kick it off with a Trojan W, a family visit, and old friends.  FIGHT ON!