Arsenal vs. West Ham

Last night we made our way to Arsenal, just a short tube ride from our hotel. We had every bit of our cold weather gear on, yet it was absolutely freezing. There had been some snow showers throughout the day. Note the snow in the picture. The Arsenal Stadium is extremely impressive as it sits right in the center of what feels like a traditional English neighborhood.

Our seats were perfectly situation right at mid fields so we had a great view. Surprisingly lots of people getting up and down and coming in late. They were are serious fans non the less, and although Arsenal had a slow start with West Ham scoring the first goal, they quickly showed their talent with 5 goals and a final score of 5-1 Arsenal. We learned the basic chant " Come on Arsenal".

More sights in London

Do you recognize this street? This is Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter films. The street is actually called Cecil Court and it is right near Charing Cross.

A quick look at Buckingham Palace. Tomorrow we will try for the changing of the guard.

London

Wow! London in January. Pros - no crowds, special attention and lots of love (customer service) almost everywhere you go. Cons - cold.......It actually snowed here the day before we arrived, a rare occurrence in London.

Travel from Heathrow - even easier than I remembered years ago. From Terminal 5 you can grab the Heathrow express and be in central London  (Paddington Station) in under 20 minutes. Our hotel was closer to Victoria and we happened to be arriving at rush hour so we opted for the tube to Victoria and a 2 minute walk to the hotel. We will take the Heathrow Express on the way back to the airport.

Hotel - we are staying at the The Rubens Buckingham Palace. Awesome 4 star hotel in a great location. Best points of the hotel: 1) Excellent staff - these people just know what service is. In a time when we all wonder what happen to great service and nice people. I found them! This hotel is part of the Red Carnation hotel group. If you ever have a chance to stay at Red Carnation property. Do it! Final note, few places really care about families and kids. The Rubens really knows how to treat kids. My 9 year old son (Lucas) received his own check-in, a kids size bathrobe and a few little gifts waiting on his bed in the room.

Sights - Despite the cold we hit the highlights that Lucas had on his list. Big Ben, Tower of London, Tower bridge and a river Cruise up the Thames and the London Eye. Tomorrow we will walk down the street to see Buckingham palace and in the evening attend a great soccer match between Arsenal and West Ham, two London club.

Soccer game - Florence vs. Napoli

We had a great outing today at the Florence Stadium watching Florence take on Napoli. The Score was 1-1 but a great match. What we learned today: 
1) You can smoke in the stadium
2) Its perfectly acceptable for young children to give the finger to opposing fans
 (yes we got this as the Naples fans rolled in via bus). 
3) Italians will tell you to sit down if you decide to pop up mid game (god forbid mid play), we of course didn't violate the code but a few Americans did.

Shopping in MIlan/Florence

"Every dog has its day", every girl has days when her shopping luck is right. I had a great day yesterday! Scored these cute little boots in Milan and then picked up the purse I had been eying in Florence.Two big sales times in Italy are January and July. Most shops have items at 20-50% off, There are a lot of American brands here, but it is fairly easy to find good products made in Italy,

Milano

We had an amazing world wind 2 days in Milan. Cristina met us at our hotel; Ibis Central - which by the way is a nice 3 star hotel with a great breakfast and very competitive rates. Despite the trip advisor reviews we found the hotel to be good.

Our first stop was the AC Milan Mega store, which had everything from your basic soccer jerseys to high end watches with the AC logo. Cristina bought Lucas a wonderful AC Milan jersey. Next stop was the historic Piazzza del Duomo which we climbed to top taking great photos along the way. The Duomo is the world's largest Gothic catherdraal begun in 1396. We then made our way to the Castello Sforzesco (the castle) one of Milan's most famous landmarks.

Our lunch stop was in the area of the stock exchange where I found my favorite sculpture. Apparently this was erected after the stock market crash of the 90's.

After lunch we wandered around Milan a bit more learning about the local history and the Roman influence in Milan. The Edict of Milan issued by Emperor Constantine in the fourth century granted Christians the freedom to worship for the first time.

Our final stop for the day included a tour of the AC Milan stadium. Complete with a locker room and museum tour. Did you know Beckham played her in Milan until around 2009?

Milano

We arrived in Milan yesterday to connect with our old friend Cristina Valentini. The high speed trains here are amazing. Travel time from Florence, just over 1 hour and 30 minutes at top speeds of 170 miles per hour. Last night we had dinner at the Valentini home, I learned a bit more Italian and it sounded to me like Pete's Italian was pretty fluent!

Neptune and Cheese Making

Yesterday was a slow paced day around Florence. In addition to our time exploring San Lorenzo market, we stopped for some pictures in Palazzao Vecchio and attended a cheese making class with the USD group. The first part of the class included a lecture about the history of cheeses and an in depth video about the making of Parmigiano Reggiano. I am now totally prepared to shop for only certified Parmigiano Reggiano. 

The chef teaching the class is also the personal chef for ACF Fiorentina, (Florence soccer club), so he shared the diet of the soccer stars with Lucas.

We finished the day off with a Gelato before heading home for the night.

San Lorenzo Market

Had a look around the famous San Lorenzo market today. Lots of clothes, leather etc. I think I will save my Euros for some of the nicer shops. A purse and boots have made it on my "must buy" list.

Day 2 - Florence

 

Climbing the Duomo’s Dome.  Today we visited the Duomo Cathedral and then made our way over to the Dome and climbed the 463 steps to the top. Lucas seemed to be taking the steps two at a time, while I paced myself with the intent to only impress myself by getting to the top! Which I did without throwing up; wish I could say the same for the little English girl who left her breakfast up there.  At the top we were rewarded with stunning views over Florence.

First Day in Florence

The apartment we rented could not be in a better location. Right off the Arno River and in the Santa Croce area. steps from the Uffizi and the Ponte Vecchio.  Apartment stays have their advantages: larger rooms, ability to cook and generally a more “at home” feeling. But be aware of the little things you might get: Saggy beds, dated furniture, hodge podge kitchen items and unreliable internet and power. (I blew the circuit within 5 seconds of attempting to blow dry my hair, so camping hair it is). But never mind  those minor things I am Florence.

Since I ‘m the tour guide for my 9 year old (while my husband teaches during the day), we have one or two items on our must see list each day. Today we hit the Galileo Museum. Loaded with the history of many scientific breakthroughs and gadgets, this was a great choice for our first day. A museum day is always good when it’s pouring rain.

Jan 12, 2013 - Great Italian Adventure

Our great Italian adventure began in Rome yesterday. Lucas and I has a long trip from San Diego on British Airways via London. Thank goodness the service on board BA was much better than the average service AA provides while trying to represent BA on 

the ground  in San Diego. Lucas' top pick for tours in Rome included the Colosseum so we opted for a guided tour (about an hour), where we had the chance to see the main, lower and upper levels. (lower and upper are only accessible with a guide). This is probably the ideal first site to hit in Rome to get you into the Roman mindset and thinking about this empire 2000 years ago.