Nadia suggested that sometime during the trip we Bob and I might like to do some kind of wine tasting tour, while she and Lanie went shopping. It may have been a ploy to get rid of us for the day, but it was a suggestion that we were on board with. I found a winery tour of Chianti (the region of Tuscany that we’re in) by e-bike, and we were sold.
Bob’s post yesterday about the roads here neglected to mention the bike factor. Amongst the crowds of pedestrians and incongruous cars (and golf carts, and scooters, etc.), there is a constant stream of bikes weaving in and out. There seems to be no consideration given to lanes of any kind — the cars/bikes/people just flow in whatever direction there seems to be space. We have had bikes zooming by us everywhere we walk — but today we got to experience the other side of the equation.
Our tour started right in the city center, so we had to wind our way through town. We started out right behind our guide, Iacopo, which is just where I wanted to be. Much less chance of getting lost or making some kind of traffic mistake. After about 10 minutes of riding through the city, the landscape pretty quickly changed to quiet streets lined with greenery and stone walls — and hills. It was extremely satisfying to start struggling on a hill and then just click the magic button that turned up the electricity and let you zoom forward almost effortlessly.
Iacopo was an excellent guide — knowledgeable and funny and friendly — but he was not one to dawdle. A little way outside town we found we’d lost three members of our group somewhere along the way. Our route had had several twists and turns, and apparently they hadn’t kept up. Eventually Iacopo decided that we had to continue on without them. He sent his friend Simone (who was along for the ride and had no affiliation with the tour company at all) back to try to round them up. (“He has a map,” Iacopo declared confidently.)
The route was beautiful, winding through the hills with gorgeous views of Tuscany opening up on either side. We wound through vineyards and olive groves and the occasional town. Once in a while we’d stop to take in the views. As we were about to leave one of these stops, Iacopo began to whoop and whistle. Simone and the errant Italians had appeared in the distance. (Although Iacopo had sent Simone off to find them and bring them back to us, he was clearly astonished that Simone had actually managed to do so.)
For the rest of the trip, my main goal was to try to avoid getting behind them. Even after the getting lost incident, they didn’t seem to be in any rush to keep up with the group. One of them in particular didn’t really seem
This was a sculpture in a town famous for popularizing Italian terra cotta.
to know how to ride a bike, and when nearby I was constantly hearing the grinding of gears. I kept getting stuck behind them, watching the distance to the rest of the group grow, and then eventually having to pass. I much preferred being up front with Iacopo and the punctual Germans, where I didn’t have to worry about being left behind in the hopes that Simone would find me.
We stopped at a family winery for lunch and wine tasting. The food, as always, was delicious. The winery also makes olive oil, but apparently this is so labor-intensive that it’s not very profitable. We got to enjoy some with our lunch, though. On the way back we stopped at a couple of viewpoints with amazing views back over Florence (and very steep downhill descents). After we returned to the city we went to another bar for some more wine tasting and snacks. (We declined seconds on the wine, being mindful of the upcoming periously journey back through the city.) Even though I ended up at the very back of the line and there
Line at Zaza
were a few touch-and-go intersections, we made it back without getting lost or colliding with any pedestrians. I made ample use of my bell.
After all the excitement it was time to meet back up with the girls. Our friends the Sullivans are also in town visiting their study-abroad son, and invited us over for apertivi on their terrace. We picked up the ingredients for limoncello spritzes on the 
way over, and they were pretty good even though we accidentally bought still water instead of sparkling water.
Nadia had made a dinner reservation for us at her favorite (and apparently, everyone’s favorite) restaurant, Trattoria Zaza. We were able to swoop in past the long, long lines and enjoy a delicious dinner on their patio. Afterwards we went to Nadia’s favorite gelato shop, which had a very long line even at 10:30pm. We can only hope that the miles and miles of walking that we’re doing is burning off some of the many, many calories we’re eating and drinking.
We’re still not totally adjusted to European time, and the 8am alarm came early today. We had to be up and about to get to our 9am reservation for the Uffizi museum. Last time we were in Italy you could just pay your money and wander in to any museum you wanted, but these days you need to reserve well in advance. Nadia is in class this morning, but the rest of us managed to straggle out a bit later than planned.
arrangement — just a couple of minutes walk from the center of everything (Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio, Palazzo Vecchio) — and her room had a large open
window looking out over the river. (I will never not be jealous of these Europeans who can have wide open windows with no screens, and somehow no bugs.) Her apartment is also fairly close to the Brandy Melville store, which was a big draw for Lanie. Apparently the Brandy Melville store in Florence has different merchandise than what you can find on the Branch Melville website, or the Brandy Melville Boston store. Looking for Lanie in there was a challenge, because the store seemed to a veritable sea of little Lanies, with long straight flowing hair and white tank tops everywhere you looked.
For the afternoon Nadia joined us for a pasta and tiramisu-making class at a nearby restaurant. We learned some excellent Italian cooking tips from our very skilled and entertaining teacher, though there was also a lot of wine involved so we possibly won’t remember them. We’re not sure whether the ravioli and tagliatelle we were served at the end was actually
what we’d made, or whether they’d immediately thrown that away and given us something made by more highly skilled people, but either way it was delicious.
Cinque Terre has done its best to live up to all our expectations. The town we’re staying in, Monterrosso al Mare, has all the the tourist guides promise — towering cliffs, blue-green waters, 
colorful buildings, copious walking paths. It’s not Monterosso’s fault that we’ve been forced into being preoccupied with a less happy focus — how to reclaim Lanie’s lost luggage.
into a lemon grove. This proved to be a delightful walk along a river with frequent waterfalls, lemon trees overarching the path from the hillsides above. Eventually the path led way, way up the steep hillside, and eventually we got some nice views of Monterosso and the sea in the distance. We were hoping the path would lead back down — and possibly it did somehow — but we hit a fence and a gated road and decided to avoid a potential trespassing situation.
Throughout this time, we’d been checking approximately every 5 minutes for word from the luggage courier. But our emails and calls were going unanswered, and the day was wearing on. After
another email asking them to PLEASE give us advance warning of their arrival, we decided to hop on a train to the village at the far end of Cinque Terre, Riomaggiore. (The train runs every 20 minutes and takes only 11 minutes, so we figured we could get back pretty rapidly if needed.)
Riomaggiore was another lovely little town. There was an area down by the water where you could climb on rocks (or jump off them into the water, if you were adventurous) and take in the views of the brightly-painted buildings rising up the cliffs above. Bob and I were a little more ambitious and wanted to walk to the next town, which didn’t look to be very far. The girls decided to bail on this plan — Nadia’s shin splints were acting up from the morning’s hike, and Lanie was feeling jet-lagged — so they stayed to explore the town and take the train back while Bob and I set off down the path.
We quickly found that to walk the path required both the Cinque Terre card (which was what we’d declined to buy that morning) AND a supplemental payment for this leg of the trail, called the Via di Amore. When we heard the 25 euro per person price tag, we walked away — but then weren’t sure what else to do with ourselves, so decided to grit our teeth and pay it. It must be pretty spectacular, right?
gelato (and checking my phone for word from the luggage courier).
Today it was time to say farewell to Santa Fe, and head off for our last couple of days in Albuquerque. This was heading down in both the literal and figurative sense, as Albuquerque is a couple thousand feet lower than Santa Fe, and correspondingly warmer.
with bright fall colors had taken the place of pinion and juniper. The city itself appears fairly flat, but there are still mountains in the distance everywhere you look.
Our first stop was Petroglyph National Monument, just a little ways outside the city. There are a few different disconnected areas of this park, but we elected to go to the Rinconada Canyon section. We walked through the canyon alongside a steep hillside covered with volcanic rocks, many of which had been decorated with petroglyphs. We learned that in addition to the Native Americans, the early Spanish settlers also copied the technique — so in some cases, it’s not known which culture created a given piece of artwork.
The afternoon turned out to be my very favorite part of the trip. Just outside the city, which is at around 5000 feet, you can take an aerial tramway to the top of the Sandia mountains, at over 10,000 feet. As you can imagine, the ascent is quite dramatic. It reminded me of a similar trip we did in the French Alps, but with a very different landscape.
hike around at the top, then watch the sunset and the emergence of the city lights of Albuquerque. We didn’t get very far on our hike due to the snow, which was several feet deep here. We followed a packed-down path in the woods for a while, but eventually decided that it was becoming too treacherous. So we returned to the safe platforms and viewing areas around the tram to watch the sunset. The views, especially in the light of golden hour, were spectacular — even as the temperature plummeted. We stayed up on the mountain until darkness fell and the twinkling lights of the city emerged. After a delicious dinner at a nearby Vietnamese restaurant, we were both ready for bed.
$5, while the latter, which was larger and much more elaborate, was free.) Both were very text-heavy, so even though the information was pretty interesting, eventually we began to get a bit of the dreaded museum life-suck effect. Fortunately we were able to revive ourselves with a delicious lunch at the noodle house next door.
Turns out they also had delicious street tacos for dinner.
challenged. But we also have a secret ambition to someday compete on The Amazing Race TV show. We know that navigation will be our downfall, so tonight we challenged ourselves to walk back from the town center to our apartment without consulting Google Maps. This was not a particularly impressive feat, given that we were covering ground that we’d been over several times over the last few days, but we still had a few moments of indecision. Fortunately we persevered and arrived back home without incident.
It would be hard to imagine a greater contrast between yesterday’s Meow Wolf experience and today’s activities. The House of Eternal Return was delightful and fascinating, but also tended toward overstimulation. Today’s trip outside the city was the perfect antidote.
basically just involved going straight.)
Bandelier is less than an hour from Santa Fe, and was well worth the trip. The drive there was beautiful, winding through the mountains with a new vista around every corner. We were first to arrive in the parking lot, just as the park opened at 9am. Setting off on the main loop trail, we had the whole park to ourselves.
Unfortunately the section of the trail that is known for its long, steep ladder ascents has been closed since September due to flooding, so we didn’t get that adrenaline-pumping adventure. Instead we took a side trail that climbed steeply to the top of the canyon and through a juniper forest. The views were stunning and the silence was amazing. With only one road (the park entrance road) within miles, and very little traffic on
that, we could hear nothing except the rustle of wind and the occasional bird. It made us realize how seldom we are able to experience that kind of silence in today’s world.
By the time we got back we’d worked up an appetite. Bandelier’s cafe (at which we were the only customers) is supposedly known for having the best burger in New Mexico — the “Doug”, which comes with American and mozzarella cheeses, carmelized onions, green chilis, and a whole chili relleno on top. The lone restaurant worker recommended having the Doug made with an elk burger, so we went with his suggestion. It was delicious. (But luckily we decided to split one, along
with a few other snacks. I wasn’t even able to finish my half.)
be the same). There were two other people there soaking and we decided to go for it despite the chilly air. It was pretty amazing sitting in the warm water, surrounded by snow drifts, with a view out over the surrounding mountains and no signs of civilization. There was a cave on one side that you could barely squeeze into, and one of the guys who were there told us it was like a sauna inside. Neither of us (nor his friend) were brave enough to do more than stick our heads in, despite the chill.
No evening adventures today — we were both too tired to walk into town and didn’t feel like getting back into the car, so a quick board game, Door Dash, and an early bedtime it was.
Zoe and I are on vacation this week, belatedly celebrating her graduation last May. She had narrowed own destination down to either Ashville, NC (and Great Smoky Mountains National Park), or Santa Fe, NM. Given the recent sad events in Ashville, Santa Fe it was.
tour we’d signed up for was canceled due to lack of participation. So we decided to start out at the Botanical Gardens, a short drive south. It was a little odd being in gardens where many of the plants were dead and/or snow-covered, but it was very peaceful and serene. We saw the giant stalk of an agave plant and learned that these plants put up only one such stalk in their lifetime, after 20-40 years, and that the stalk grows several inches each day. We inhaled the fresh scent of the juniper pinion trees while strolling on a winding path through the forest. And we loved all the sculptures gracefully placed throughout the grounds.
distance from our apartment to Fort Marcy Park and the Cross of the Martyrs, a large white steel cross overlooking the city. Downhill on the other side brought us Santa Fe Plaza, the center of the tourist area of the city. Santa Fe doesn’t exactly have the feel of a city like we’re used to — no tall buildings, not a lot of traffic. There is a fair amount of sprawl, but the city center is pleasant and walkable, and full of independent shops and art galleries. We had a delicious, if decadent, lunch composed of three different types of mac & cheese (out of a menu 
featuring at least 10 types). We did a little shopping around the plaza and from the Native Americans selling their wares in an outdoor market along the edge. We checked out the Loretto Chapel, which has an amazing spiral staircase that appeared on Unsolved Mysteries because no one can figure out how it was built.
for a sunset tour with the Sky Railway. (We’d originally wanted to do the tour that involved an e-bike trip out on the rail trail and a train journey back, but were foiled due to the snow.) The train leaves right from the middle of the city. It has live entertainment and drinks, and travels out of the city through beautiful scenery while watching the sun set over the mountains. There is a “flatcar” that is basically a platform with railings, so you can stand outside and watch the scenery. That is, until you turn into an icicle. We spent a lot of time on the flatcar, with occasional forays indoors to listen to the music and thaw out.
pretty quiet at night, with not a lot of traffic and very few pedestrians — but the restaurants are somehow packed.) By the time we finished dinner and started our long-ish walk back home, we were definitely ready for bed. (Being on East Coast time is great for getting moving in the morning, but does not lend itself to late nights.)
