Day 15-22: Rome (Part II)

So Week II in Rome marked the departure from the Rome Cavalieri Hotel and out to the town of La Storta about 30 minutes outside of central Rome - our destination La Casale de San Nicola. The villa was a 8-bedroom 400-year old country home still part of the "noble" family line in the area... and it quickly became a highlight of the trip.

Nevertheless - I decided to NOT repeat the Week I activities and try to take advantage of the amazing city just a few miles south... so the week started with a quick family trip to Piazza Barberini and a quick visit to the Trevi Fountain along with a fabulous lunch at La Mora (highly recommended.)

The next day was full tourist action with a new ASW friend - Janna - visiting from Mexico on her way to Madrid. The day involved the now standard "Tourist Bus" with stops at the Piazza Espana, Villa Bourgesa, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Venezia, The Coloseum and the totally unexpected The Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (various pictures of the adventure below). The day ended with a bottle of wine in Trastevere which capped off the great day.

On the next to last day of our time in Rome - I decided to dedicate the day to exploring El Vaticano. I had visited it several times in the past but always taken back by it and determined to see the Sistine Chapel (a task that had somehow eluded me in my previous visits). I'll let the pictures do the talking here... (unfortunately - no pictures allowed in the Sistine Chapel).

Day 11 to ??? - Pisa, Firenze and finally.. Rome.

Day 11 marked the first rainy morning of our trip - strangely appropriate for saying "ciao" to the beautiful town of Portofino. After breakfast - it was on the road to Firenze (aka Florence). On the drive to Firenze, we planned a quick stop in Pisa to see the infamous leaning tower. I have to admit - I found the entire concept a little funny - I mean.. its a faulty tower... its leaning for goodness sake. Tens of thousands of beautiful towers all around the world and this one gets famous for being... well... busted. Regardless, I was happy to check it off my "things to see in Italy" list and we were quickly off to the Culture Capital of the World - Firenze.

Firenze marked the spot for Hotel #6 on our Hotel Tour - The Lungarno Hotel (http://www.lungarnohotels.com/). The Lungarno is a beautiful property directly on the Arno river a block away from the infamous Ponte Vecchio. You would fear a centrally located hotel to be cramped and dark but we found this property tastefully appointed and beautifully lit with incredible views all around. I'll let the pictures do the rest.

Unlike my prior visit to Firenze, we took our two days in the beautiful city as true locals and enjoyed a few recommendations as far as drinks and food. The points of note: Drinks at the Continentale Hotel Rooftop, Lunch at Trattoria Camilla and Dinner at Armando's.

With two wonderful days of food and drink - we were off to our last stop in Italy - Rome.

"All Roads Lead to Rome" and with a little help from our TomTom GPS, we found ourselves puling up to our last hotel on the Hotel Tour - Hilton's Rome Cavalieri Hotel. The Rome Cavalieri is actually part of Hilton's Waldorf-Astoria collection and it shows as soon as you walk into the property. Gold leaf chandeliers and fresh flowers - it is clearly a flagship property for Hilton and I was thrilled to get a chance to enjoy it for a few days. The stay kicked off with the likely the gastronomic highlight of the summer - dinner at Heinz Beck's fantastic 'La Pergola' restaurant on the top floor of the Cavalieri property. A 3 Michelin Star restaurant - La Pergola did not disapoint - with fanstasic meals all around the table. Funny Highlight: Forget wine list or starters - first menu on the table was the WATER menu - with over 25 different varieties of H2O ranging from 8 Euros to a absurd 150 Euro bottle - notably from the US of A. Regardless - a fantastic meal to be remembered.

Now - I would love to say I spent Day 14 and beyond exploring Rome and visiting the multitude of museums, art galleries and cultural cornucopia exploding across the "eternal city" - but I won't. I will say that the last 4 days have been a fabulous mix of enjoying the perfect Rome weather, several Tennis matches with the fam as well as (don't faint again ) - more than 1 trip to the gym. The Rome Cavalieri is a hotel among hotels and I will give it all its due credit in making it a wonderful place to just relax and lounge - even with one of the world's most incredible cities just down the hillside. I'll let the pictures do the talking again.

Tomorrow (lost the day count.. 19 maybe?) we leave the Cavalieri for another "home in Rome" for the remainder of the trip but I will leave feeling I took full advantage of this great and unique property.

Day 8/9/10 - Picasso, Monaco and Portofino...

So a week into this adventure I find myself waking up in Baux-de-Provence to pack and get on the road towards.... if you guessed Monaco... 2 points for you. Christine and Phillipe, the owners of the absolutely wonderful "Riboto" hotel, urged us to stop at a type of art museum down the road by the name of Cathedrale D'Images before leaving town. Our decision to check it out may well be the best decision of the trip. The Cathedrale D'Images is likely like no other art gallery I'll ever see again. A stone quarry turned art installation - this gallery was featuring the works of Picasso this year. The art projections on the walls, columns and floors were complimented with music giving a art experience like I've never had before. It's pretty amazing how you can find these amazing unique art concepts in the most remote towns in Europe.

After the great visit - it was off to Monaco to our Hotel #4 in the Hotel Tour - the Hotel Monaco - Port Palace (http://www.portpalace.com/). Although ideally located and stylish - I have to admit the hotel felt somewhat out of place in Monaco. Nevertheless - the location directly on the harbor was ideal for visiting the Monte Carlo Casino and strolling past the fortune of yachts moored just outside our window. My overall impression of Monaco was a little too commercialized with swarms of tourists everywhere looking to take pictures with the miriad of Bentley's and Ferrari's around town. Nevertheless - it was worth the visit and as quickly as we had gotten there - we were off to our next destination: Portofino, Italy.

To be clear - Portofino was not originally on the itinerary as we had planned to drive directly from Monaco to Firenze, Italy. We added Portofino last minute to breakup the drive into two days and it will likely be the best decision of the trip. I will not go into the details of Portofino - I will only say it is likely the most amazing place I have visited. Our "home" for the night was Hotel Splendido (http://www.hotelsplendido.com/) - Hotel #5 on our Hotel Tour and likely the gem of the entire trip. A 56-room property built on a lush green cliff above the "Plazzeta" of Portofino - the hotel perfect the art of casual elegance. A spectacular lunch of carpaccio and pesto spagetini was followed by a walk through town and dinner in the Plazzeta below. I have to say - it was tough leaving this amazing place but it is on the "Will Return" List without question.

Day 5/6/7 - Adios Barcelona.... Bon Jour France.

Day 5 marked our second day in Barcelona and kicked off with a quick breakfast and off to the other amazing Gaudi house – Casa Batllo. This is Gaudi’s more famous residence in Barcelona and unlike Casa Mila – is representative of Gaudi’s modernistic style both inside and out. ‘Amazing’ falls terribly short in describing this work.

After Casa Batllo and with perfect weather abound – we decided to jump on the ultra popular, ultra-convenient Bus Turistic which operates a double decker open-air tour bus around all of Barcelona. Our first stop – La Sagrada Familia. La Sagrada Familia is a still-in-construction Gaudi masterpiece and his lifework obsession engulfing the last 40 or so years of his career. Even at less than 50% built – I can say it is without question one of the most fantastic structures I have ever visited. Pictures are poor representatives of the imagination and detail in this project and I only hope to see it completed sometime in my lifetime. I struggle to compare it with any other man-made structure I’ve ever seen – maybe the Vatican? I would think the Taj Mahal evokes the same awe and wonder but that is still on the travel “To Do” list for me so for now – add La Sagrada Familia to the Wonders of the World list for Luis.

Next Stop: Park Guell – another fantastic Gaudi project built on top the large hill to the west of the city. At this point – my visit to Barcelona has clearly become a personal study of the work of Antoni Gaudi and I am thrilled it has. Park Guell was just another example of taking the simple, mundane and making it extraordinary and fantastic. Pictures below.

With the late afternoon upon us – a quick trip back to the hotel was followed with some fantastic tapas before jumping on a previously planned “Nit” Tour of Barcelona. With so many amazing buildings and monuments – I could not resist the chance to see these lit up at night. (Pictures below).

The biggest (and best) surprise of the tour was the “Magic Fountain” in the less visited Plaza Espana. Think –Bellagio in Vegas meets Trevi Fountain in Rome meets Disney on their best day… and you’ll get the idea. The plaza is filled with locals and tourists alike enjoying the cool summer air and the water + color + music spectacle at the foot of the great Palau Nacional. If you visit Barcelona – make this a stop. It is often overlooked and really should not be.

The tour finished near midnight with Day 5 drawing to a close with a few last minute pictures of the Murmuri Hotel. Enjoy!

Day 6 involved saying “Adios” to Barcelona as we picked up the rest of the family at the airport and headed north to France. Our destination – a small town nestled in the middle of nowhere called Moltig-les-Bains. On our drive up the west coast of Spain – we stopped in a small town called Figueres – famed to be the birth place of a guy called – Salvador Dali. After a quick stop in the Dali Museum – we were back on the road crossing the border into France.

Moltig-les-Bains is a “nowhere” town nestled in the Pyrenees mountains about an hour drive inland from Perpignon just north of the Spain/France border. The destination – Hotel #2 on our Hotel Tour – Chateau de Riell (http://www.chateauderiell.com/). I’ll let the pictures do the talking for this property. A walk around the property was followed by a wonderful dinner – my choices escargot (first) with a mandarin glazed duck (second). Magnific! FYI – as wonderful as a night in a castle may sound – it was hard not to think – this hotel is top of list of places I’ve ever visited on the “Most Likely to be Haunted” scale. Luckily – the excellent meal and wine helped me sleep like a baby. Goodnight!

After a nice breakfast in the Russian-style “tea room” on the side of the property – we were off to Day 7 and our second destination in France: Les Baux-de-Provence. The hotel chosen for this little town was a little gamble by the name of Riboto de Taven (http://www.riboto-de-taven.fr/). Unlike Murmuri in Barcelona (Preferred Boutiques) and Chateau de Riell (Relaix & Chateau), this small property is not affiliated with any hotel company or organization. It is literally a family-owned property with a husband/wife/brother team running the entire hotel and restaurant. Driving the small streets of “Baux” I must say I was a little nervous driving up to the property – only to be pleasantly surprised by the property. Truly unique and again – I’ll let the pictures enchant.

With a few hours before dinner – we decided to walk up to the actual village of Baux at the top of the mountain steps from the hotel. Another pleasant surprise awaited us at the top with a beautiful town lost in time which by total chance turns out to be one of the top “medieval” tourist spots in southern Europe. Who knew? I was just looking for a cool hotel. (see below).

Dinner was as expected (the property was a restaurant before a hotel) amazing with the star being an artichoke and cod salad that was sans doubt – best salad of my life (and I HATE salad). It is amazing how a chef can make a simple fish like cod taste like anything he/she wants – in this case: garlic infused lobster.

An exhausting few days but truly spectacular all the same – tomorrow is a few more sights in Baux before leaving the countryside for a little more urban feel. Any guesses?