Almost Like Being There

Aloha, Chicago. Aloha, Hawaii.

Today in Chicago was the type of day -- cold and very windy -- that makes you long to be in Hawaii. Which in our case is fortunate, because that's exactly where we're headed tomorrow. Our annual Maui trip, normally in December, was delayed until March this year. It will be nice to go at a less crowded time. 

I'll try to keep this blog up with a handful of posts. But as I've discovered before, Maui doesn't lend itself to the most interesting reading. After a while, you sort of run out of things to write about. (Got up, went to the beach, read a book, ate dinner, went to bed. Got up, went to the beach, read a book, ate dinner, went to bed. Got up...)

Back in touch after tomorrow evening, when we arrive.

Good times at The Goodstone

Can we live here? Too bad a week at the Goodstone Inn and Estate costs more than our monthly mortgage. We'll have to settle for a brief splurge of a vacation.

As we approached the grounds, we noted the surroundings getting hiller and steadily more beautiful—no small feat, given the beauty of the Virginia countryside as a general rule. It's even more surprising how remote-feeling the area is, given that Middleburg is only 40 miles or so from Washington, DC, and considerably closer than that to the region's exurban sprawl. The long driveway to the property is straight up a winding hill, surrounded by old trees, and the further we drove, the more we wondered whether we were dressed well enough to check in.

We needn't have worried. The property is elegant but comfortable and not stuffy. We arrived in time for the very nice afternoon tea service. With soft jazz in the background, we had our choice of an excellent assortment of loose-leaf teas already brewed, along with a wide variety of cheeses, crackers and scones as accompaniments.

Our room, the Carlyle Jr. Suite, is one of the most expensive rooms on the property -- an extravagance we justified because we're belatedly celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary. It's extremely nice and, because it's high season, the most expensive room we've ever stayed in. The best feature is an enormous deck with a lovely view of the spacious grounds. It's nearly perfect. But.  

(When you're paying what we're paying, there shouldn't ever be a But. There should be an And.)

The room is directly above the restaurant's kitchen. We hear a constant racket when the restaurant is open, as the staff goes in and out of the kitchen. This isn't that big of a deal, and the restaurant will close early tonight, and isn't open for dinner tomorrow night, Monday. That said, this isn't something we signed up for. While I'm slightly annoyed, if this is the worst part of our stay, we'll consider ourselves very lucky.

Crowded Harpers Ferry

Breakfast this morning was as outstanding as last night's dinner -- fresh fruit, a pear crepe with maple syrup and creme fraiche, and quiche with local bacon (maybe even from the farm across the street). Truly great, and truly too much food. Neither of us could finish what was on our plates.

After breakfast, we were in search of beautiful foliage, of which there is plenty here. While we left Illinois at roughly peak fall colors (and don't expect to see many leaves left by the time we return), here we're probably a week or two from seeing the leaves at their most colorful. Even still, it's far more beautiful here because of the hills and distant mountains.

We thought of doing Skyline Drive, but given the fact that today's Sunday and the weather was absolutely gorgeous, we feared that we wouldn't be the only ones with that idea. So instead we drove through the countryside to Harpers Ferry, WV, a place I'd always wanted to visit but never made it to when I lived in the DC area. 

For most of the drive, the scenery was pretty but unspectacular. That changed as we approached Harpers Ferry, when the terrain became mountainous and gorgeous. Our logic to avoid Skyline Drive because of the crowds was sound, but it broke down with respect to our alternate plan, as Harpers Ferry was also tremendously crowded. As a national historic site, it doesn't appear to have changed much since John Brown's aborted raid in 1859, which makes it so interesting. But it also makes it an incredibly difficult place to park. We spent about 15 minutes driving through town and were ready to head to a remote lot, accessible only by shuttle bus, when we lucked upon a car leaving in the parking lot we were trying to exit. 

We spent the next 45 minutes wandering around and examining some of the sights. I was unaware that the armory seized by John Brown was burned during the Civil War, so it was slightly disappointing when we found it wasn't available to be seen. On the other hand, one thing that's particularly well done is the number of mock 19th century storefronts -- for example, period bakeries, clothing and grocery stores, along with descriptions of the ways in which they differed from their counterparts today.

Lunch was at The Town's Inn. We ended up here after it appeared to be the only place without a line to get in. (Next time we come here, we're coming mid-week and not during fall foliage season. It's crazy crowded.) While there was no line when they arrived, there might as well have been, given how slow the service was. The food was actually surprisingly good -- we both had half-sandwiches and a nice salad and enjoyed them from an outdoor table directly outside the door (a choice that seemed nice until a line eventually formed to get in, crowding us while we were trying to enjoy our lunch) -- but crazily expensive at $12 each.

Spent the rest of the afternoon taking a very pleasant walk along the river, later crossing the river over a long bridge -- part of the Appalachian Trail -- into Maryland and then back again.

On our way to the Goodstone Inn and Estate for the final two days of our stay. It looks gorgeous from the website.

Loving L'Auberge

A few months ago, when we made our plans to come to Northern Virginia, we knew the general area we wanted to be in, but we couldn't decide where to stay for our three nights -- L'Auberge Provencale or the Goodstone Inn and Estate. Our original plan was to stay at the Goodstone -- it seemed more luxurious and in a more scenic location -- but because of its cost and because of the reputation of the restaurant at L'Auberge, we ultimately decided to do one night at the former and two at the latter.

We'll see how we like our two nights at the Goodstone. But for now, we're really glad we added this first night here.

When Janene and I travel together, we're partial to staying at inns over hotels (especially those in Select Registry, a guide that has rarely steered us wrong). We like their unique personalities and quirks; often-romantic atmosphere; the nice breakfasts; and the fact that they're often well-situated in beautiful, out-of-the-way places.

That said, too many inns look like they were designed by template. If you've stayed in a few, you know the type -- a Victorian house filled to the brim with antiques and oh-so-adorable little teddy bears. We  avoid these whenever we can. It's often easier said than done.

What's so refreshing about L'Auberge Provencale is that it's a slice of France in the Virginia countryside. It's got none of the manufactured quaintness you normally see. The owners are from Provence, and the inn feels like it is as well. We stayed in a lovely room, #9, accessible by a pleasant garden. We enjoyed the gas fireplace very much, as well as the comfortable oversized reading chairs.

The true highlight of the place, however, is the outstanding restaurant, whose food received a very high Zagat's rating of 28. We concur. With a one-night Saturday stay, the five-course, largely local and seasonal meal was a requirement, but truly, this was no problem at all. We've had many memorable dinners, but this was a true standout, starting with the elegant (but not at all stuffy, even though jackets are requested) dining room and ending with one of the best desserts we've ever enjoyed - an incredible pumpkin cake with spiced apples and sweetened pumpkin seeds. So, so good.

Lunch (and rain) in Leesburg

After the most painless flying experience we've had in years (empty airport, half-full flight, on-time departure, early arrival), we headed to Leesburg for lunch. When I lived in the DC area, (too) many years ago, I was here only once, briefly. My recollection was of a historic town with quaint shops and restaurant, so it seemed like a worthwhile place to kill a few hours before checking into our room.

My impression was largely correct, though like so many picturesque, historic towns, there's less than meets the eye when you actually try to find something to do. In other words, Leesburg has many shops, but relatively few of interest to us. To be fair, we were there on a crowded, rainy Saturday with only one small umbrella we picked up at a grocery store 30 minutes earlier. In search of a bookstore, we walked about a block before deciding it was raining too hard, then ducked into a parking garage to wait out the worst of the downpour.

Lunch was a quick sandwich at Shoes Cup and Cork Club, a pleasant, atmospheric cafe/coffee shop on King Street, the main drag in town. The name reflects the space's history as an old shoe store, renovated enough to be comfortable but still retaining old signs and other reminders of times past.

A genuine trip...sans child!

Janene and I are on a plane, bound for a long weekend in Northern Virginia. It's the first time we've traveled by air since Evan came along, since five months before he was born, more than three and a half years ago. What a treat to have an uninterrupted conversation with my wife. To navigate the airport check-in process virtually hassle-free. To stroll through the airport with a relatively light carry-on (no portable DVD player!).

Yet more than any other mini-vacation we've taken, we're feeling his absence quite deeply. He's particularly cooperative and engaging these days, and fun to be around. I think we'll enjoy the time away together, celebrating a belated 10th anniversary, not to mention the 13th of our first date. But for now, we miss our little boy, who is probably having a great time with his grandparents (who no doubt are feeding him ice cream as we speak).

Time to leave already?

We're set to leave tomorrow. Unfortunately, I just wrote four paragraphs and accidentally deleted them. No time to write more, so I'll only describe this evening, which was lovely.

Dinner at Il Fico, a spot near Piazza Navona that I'd read about on the Internet. Outstanding Roman cuisine in a very informal setting. We walked back past the Pantheon and had probably our favorite moment on the trip. Sitting on the fountain steps in the center of the piazza, we read Evan a book while a street performer sang arias nearby.We finished in time to hear his final number, which Evan knows very well from one of his favorite YouTube videos. It brought a huge smile to his face, and therefore ours.

Then, gelato at Giolitti, followed by a very long walk back to the hotel. (We've been staying in the Westin Excelsior in a lovely suite, using hotel points. It's far nicer than our house, and I think they'll have to drag us out of here by our fingernails.)

In all, a very nice end to a very nice trip.

Some down time in Tuscany

Spending our third full day in Borgo Iesolana, near Bucine in Tuscany. There's much to love about this place.

Our apartment is beautiful. We chose our previous lodging, in Montàsola, for an opportunity to live like Italians for a few days. This time, we're living like Italians with more money. The apartment is spacious, with two bathrooms, a fully equipped kitchen (including a dishwasher), and an enormous patio with sweeping views of the mountains and trees. While it's been too cool to use the pool, we've got one of those too, as well as vineyards to wander through, a ping-pong table and small soccer field at our disposal, and bales of hay to touch. (There's also a resident cat, Teo, who has already taken advantage of one open patio door to make himself at home on our couch.)

On the other hand, the approach to the grounds here is about 3 km long, beginning with a narrow brick bridge. I'd call it a one-lane bridge, but that overstates it. Really, the bridge is only slightly wider than our car, which isn't that big.   The rest of the road is basically a gravel path. It takes us a good five to seven minutes to even make it to the main road—a drawback when traveling with an easily bored toddler.

Also, as nice as this place is, we feel nickel-and-dimed every time we need anything. Breakfast, which we haven't eaten since the first morning, consists of a small buffet of cereal, yogurt, juice, bread, and pastries and is 7 euros per person (even for Evan, even though "breakfast" for him consists of licking the Nutella off his toast). Internet access is 8 euros for an hour -- explaining the infrequent posting. Laundry is 10 euros to wash and dry a small load. They charge a considerable amount to change a single towel. And so on.

Still, it's been extremely pleasant to have a home base for an entire week, particularly one that's as geographically central. We began the week with a trip to the iperCOOP in Montevarchi to buy groceries. This was a memorable experience—all the glorious chaos of Italy in a single Costco-sized warehouse. You can buy seemingly anything in this store—fruit, cheese, fresh bread, televisions, mobile phones, swimming pool flotation devices (the reason we went in the first place), books, etc. It's not the sort of place to go when you've just got a few things you need because it's impossible to get in and out quickly. But it's definitely fun if you have the right attitude.

Otherwise, we've stayed fairly close to home and not been too adventurous. Our most outstanding meal was at L'Antico Borgo in Civitella in Val di Chiana, a beautiful hilltop town that Evan particularly liked for the bells that rang on the hour. Since then, he's heard bells in other towns, but none seem to compare. We also spent the morning yesterday in Arezzo, a very pleasant city about 35 minutes away from our apartment. It's got an impressive cathedral and a nice mostly-pedestrian-only main shopping street.

Yesterday, needing a quick bite to eat, we grabbed some pizza slices at Gli Svizzeri, a touristy bar with a pleasant  terrace along Via Del Corso. Only after we sat did I notice its motto on the window, Per prendere un caffè è tradire la moglie, c'è sempre tempo. To have a coffee and cheat on one's wife, there's always time. You'd expect a place this classy to have outstanding food, but sadly, it was not. Twelve euros for three slices of pizza and a bottle of water later, we were on our way.

Our first few days

 We've been off the grid since we arrived in Italy, hence the lack of any blog updates. Scusate.

It's been a nice if ultimately frustrating first few days here at Agriturismo Montepiano in Montàsola. We're about an hour and a half outside of Rome, yet we couldn't be in more of a different world.

The town is in a stunning location, a tiny, ancient hilltop castle/village with awesome views. The town itself is a true slice of Italian life. Aside from Letizia, our helpful proprietor, literally no one here speaks English. If I couldn't speak Italian, we'd be utterly helpless here. (Of course, if I couldn't speak Italian, we probably wouldn't be here at all.)

Staying here for three days has been extremely interesting. We booked our apartment thinking that we'd have the opportunity to get a sense to live like an Italian. Boy, have we. Montàsola is tiny. One restaurant, one bar, a post office, a pharmacy, a minuscule grocery store, a hundred or so residents, and...us.  

We—and especially Evan (the resident biondo, "blondie")—stand out here. Every evening, four to six residents congregate on the nearest bench to discuss the day's happenings (including, I imagine, the strange Americans that insist on dining before 9 pm).

Montàsola seems more movie setting than active town. There's next to nothing to do except stroll around and watch the locals living their daily lives. Because there's so little activity here, Evan practically has the run of the place, and he's had a great time climbing the steep hills and steps, running through the piazzette with his bubbles to blow.

At the same time, two days ago we probably exhausted everything there is to do in town. And because of the combination of jet lag, Evan's general toddler-ness, and his toothache (more on this in a moment), we aren't really able to stray too far from our home base. Which means essentially that we can't go anywhere, because there's not much nearby either. The closest town, Casperia, is nearly 15 minutes away. It's only slightly larger than Montasola—it has a gas station, a few bars, a tabaccheria, and a restaurant.

Our two-bedroom apartment, La Terrazza, is reasonably sized and comes with views worth every penny. But it lacks air conditioning, which has been a big problem at night because it's been so warm. Also making it impossible to sleep is the pack of dogs that live, unseen, below our apartment and bark in tandem at regular intervals throughout the night.

Another challenge has been Evan, who in addition to being highly jet lagged, seems to be getting his molars in. We really thought we were done with teething. He's been constantly complaining about his teeth hurting, and it's even keeping him up at night. With the combination of the heat, our canine neighbors, and Evan's crying, we probably woke up 5 times each last night. It's been difficult. We hope it gets easier soon.

Our most memorable meal so far has been at the nearest restaurant, steps away from our apartment...Quello che c'è, c'è (what is, is). (They say they're franchising in New York, but I'm taking that with a large grain of salt.) Outstanding collection of antipasti, an excellent pappardelle with wild boar, good wine, and fantastic biscotti to finish the meal. Of course, by that time Evan had had more than enough of sitting, so Janene got to enjoy hers in our apartment an hour or so later.

By the time this is posted, we'll be in our next apartment, Borgo Iesolana, in Bucine. Back soon.

Italy blogging

On Tuesday, we're off to Italy -- me, Janene, and, yes, Evan, age-not-quite 3. This is the most ambitious trip we've tried with our resident toddler. He's extremely energetic these days and careens from delightful to impossible in a shockingly short time span.

In short, aside from some good food and lots of coffee, we have literally no idea what to expect from this trip.

I'm planning to do periodic blogging, depending on internet availability and how tired we get. At the same time, blogging will definitely be lighter than in the past. I spend so much time on the computer during my normal life that I'm also going to take a vacation from typing.

So...wish us buon viaggio e buona fortuna. Next stop, Agriturismo Montepiano on Wednesday for a 3-night stay.