Show No Fear! DIS Exclusive Viva Italia+DLP TR Sept 2014*COMPLETE* New TR link added 7/3

[kristilew]

Great start! I'm torn about reading, since we will be doing the "non-dis" version. I don't want to get trip envy. Oh, who am I kidding, I have trip envy of every single ABD anyway, might as well read along! And I'm sure the plain vanilla Viva Italia will still be awesome!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Ok, read through your first update - what a great start!

I am sure that it was tough to leave your son but the fact he was so excited to spend time with his grandparents I am sure helped.

Glad your trip over went as smoothly as possible - and you got to experience the, um, joys of NYC area airports and the price of the food there ... it's like they are their own world completely oblivious to the price of food outside of them

and of course the first scenic thing you see is your Italian driver

So amazing to be able to walk out of your hotel room and see such amazing architecture and art! The church you stopped in in just beautiful!

Can't wait to hear more about the tour

 

[sayhello]

I want to know where the photos of the Italian Bradley Cooper are!

Sayhello

 

[DDuck4Life]

They are! They really are!

I've done six so far, and they've all been beyond fantastic!

Might I suggest Greece next? Or Scotland? Or there's an adults only Central Europe trip in early Sept next year!

Sayhello

Greece is one that we are looking at especially after seeing the photos from your TR. It's a place I would love to see but not sure if I could handle the food. If we do go I might have to pack my own food supply.

I want to know where the photos of the Italian Bradley Cooper are!

Sayhello

Unfortunately for the ladies reading this TR I was the primary photographer and Italian Bradley Cooper look alikes were not high on my list of things that needed to be photographed. Shocking I know but those photos are lacking here. Please try to forgive me for this and don't hate me too much.

 

[WebmasterMike]

Unfortunately for the ladies reading this TR I was the primary photographer and Italian Bradley Cooper look alikes were not high on my list of things that needed to be photographed. Shocking I know but those photos are lacking here.

 

[DDuck4Life]

While there are those fabulous eye candy shots out there like this one I was not the one taking the photo. DW may have some shots I'm not aware of that she can post.

 

[sayhello]

While there are those fabulous eye candy shots out there like this one I was not the one taking the photo. DW may have some shots I'm not aware of that she can post.

Sayhello

 

[sayhello]

Greece is one that we are looking at especially after seeing the photos from your TR. It's a place I would love to see but not sure if I could handle the food. If we do go I might have to pack my own food supply.

What about the food could you not handle? The Guides were amazing at arranging stuff that I could eat!

Sayhello

 

[WebmasterMike]

While there are those fabulous eye candy shots out there like this one I was not the one taking the photo. DW may have some shots I'm not aware of that she can post.

Notice that I did not take that either. My DW took that one and I think your DW was wielding a camera as well.

 

[DDuck4Life]

What about the food could you not handle? The Guides were amazing at arranging stuff that I could eat!

Sayhello

It's more the cuisine than any dietary restrictions. I'm just a picky eater. If we did go it's something I would really have to look at and see how I would do with the food. Good to know they are willing to work with you on the food choices.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Very much looking forward to following your TR. I'm interested to hear how it was changed and adjusted by the Dis. Rome is such an awesome city to walk around. It's been years since I've had the chance to walk around at night. Most recently we've stopped over just for the day on DCL cruises, but I distinctly remember how beautiful Rome is at night. Everyone's out strolling, and having a good time. The fountains and random 2000yo columns pop up around every corner. What a great city!

 

[OKW Lover]

When Val & I got to Rome two days before the official start we decided to explore the city ourselves. After all, we were in ROME!!!

We spent the afternoon of our first day walking around the area to the front and left of the hotel and got pretty far afield. It was fun to just take it all in. The next day we decided we needed to go the other way and made our way up to the Borghese Gardens, which we knew were not on our tour. Again a fantastic way to see some of Rome and get acquainted with things.

 

[khertz]

...and don't forget the pixie dust

YES! There was LOTS and LOTS of pixie dust!!!

They are! They really are!

I've done six so far, and they've all been beyond fantastic!

Might I suggest Greece next? Or Scotland? Or there's an adults only Central Europe trip in early Sept next year!

Sayhello

Wow, SIX! That's incredible!

Greece & Scotland are actually at the very top of my list of future ABD trips! I would also love to do the London/Paris trip.

Welcome to the ABD addicts club Dustin!

Laurie

I'm just so jealous and excited to read about this trip. Post as many of the thousands of pictures as you want to!!!!

Welcome, Andy! I'm totally glad you feel that way, because it's bound to happen.

Great start! I'm torn about reading, since we will be doing the "non-dis" version. I don't want to get trip envy. Oh, who am I kidding, I have trip envy of every single ABD anyway, might as well read along! And I'm sure the plain vanilla Viva Italia will still be awesome!

Welcome! The timing just happened to work out that we were able to take this special departure. However, we were also really looking forward to the regular Viva trip prior to booking this one. I think you will still really enjoy the trip! ABD does such a wonderful job, I can't imagine that they don't make the regular Vivas as awesome as possible! When is your trip?

Ok, read through your first update - what a great start!

I am sure that it was tough to leave your son but the fact he was so excited to spend time with his grandparents I am sure helped.

Glad your trip over went as smoothly as possible - and you got to experience the, um, joys of NYC area airports and the price of the food there ... it's like they are their own world completely oblivious to the price of food outside of them

and of course the first scenic thing you see is your Italian driver

So amazing to be able to walk out of your hotel room and see such amazing architecture and art! The church you stopped in in just beautiful!

Can't wait to hear more about the tour

It definitely helped that he was having such a good time. Although I didn't love that he didn't always want to talk to us when we called, it did make it easier to know that he was just having too much fun.

Holy cow, it was ABSURD! For one sandwich, some chicken wings and a bottle of water, it cost $31! And in the meantime we had passed several other places we would have liked more on our way out of the secure area, but we didn't stop because we were worried we wouldn't have enough time.

We stopped in a LOT of churches, and not once did we get tired of it. You just never knew what you were going to walk in and see! It was incredible to step out into a city that is full of modern meets historical.

Coming up!

 

[khertz]

I want to know where the photos of the Italian Bradley Cooper are!

Sayhello

I was too scared to try to sneak a picture! Ugh, I totally should have.

Unfortunately for the ladies reading this TR I was the primary photographer and Italian Bradley Cooper look alikes were not high on my list of things that needed to be photographed. Shocking I know but those photos are lacking here. Please try to forgive me for this and don't hate me too much.

Unacceptable!

While there are those fabulous eye candy shots out there like this one I was not the one taking the photo. DW may have some shots I'm not aware of that she can post.

Notice that I did not take that either. My DW took that one and I think your DW was wielding a camera as well.

No, I wish...I was waiting in the absurdly long line for the restroom at McDonald's.

 

[khertz]

Very much looking forward to following your TR. I'm interested to hear how it was changed and adjusted by the Dis. Rome is such an awesome city to walk around. It's been years since I've had the chance to walk around at night. Most recently we've stopped over just for the day on DCL cruises, but I distinctly remember how beautiful Rome is at night. Everyone's out strolling, and having a good time. The fountains and random 2000yo columns pop up around every corner. What a great city!

Happy to have you along! I will be posting about the changes as I get to them. I figured that would be a little easier than listing them all out at the beginning.

We couldn't help but fall in love with Rome. It's our kind of city! It's such a great blend of modern and ancient. I absolutely agree, that it is really beautiful all lit up at night. So charming!

When Val & I got to Rome two days before the official start we decided to explore the city ourselves. After all, we were in ROME!!!

We spent the afternoon of our first day walking around the area to the front and left of the hotel and got pretty far afield. It was fun to just take it all in. The next day we decided we needed to go the other way and made our way up to the Borghese Gardens, which we knew were not on our tour. Again a fantastic way to see some of Rome and get acquainted with things.

That was a great idea! There is just way too much to see and do for ABD to take us all over the city. We never did get to the Borghese Gardens, but that's just a reason to plan a return trip, right? P.S. Looks like you & Val are enjoying the new pool! Lucky you live in Florida so you still have a good while of warm weather to enjoy it.

 

[khertz]

Day 1 Continued: Monday September 15th

Our twilight tour of Trastevere started off at a tiny, hole-in-the-wall restaurant called Da Enzo where there were two tables set up for us outside. Anna explained that here we were going to have a popular appetizer called carciofi alla giudia, which is a deep fried artichoke.

01-047 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Along with our appetizers, we were poured glasses of Prosecco, which we were told is decidedly NOT called champagne while in Italy!

01-048 by disneymom1024, on Flickr



01-049 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We were told that the entire thing was meant to be eaten, including the stem! I wasn’t that adventurous, but I did find that the crispy fried leaves tasted the best to me. As we ate and drank, we spent some time getting to know our tablemates, Christy (MinnieGarden), her mom Joyce (MinnieOmie), and Kathy (WebmasterKathy).

Our next stop on the tour was Spirito di Vino, a restaurant and wine cellar. Anna told us that this building used to be a synagogue when the Jewish population lived in this part of the city, and there were even some remnants of Hebrew writing etched in the marble.

01-050 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


01-051 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Here, we went straight down into the wine cellar where there were some chairs set up for us to sit and enjoy the provided wine and snacks.

01-052 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


01-053 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


01-054 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


01-055 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

There was a small salad that I’ll admit, I didn’t try because I am not a big fan of salads. But there was also a little tasting of meats and cheeses. There was a small meatball that was probably one of the best meatballs I have ever had, a slice of salami on a piece of very thin bread that was almost like a cracker, and a small piece of bread and cheese along with red wine. Unfortunately, DH forgot to get pictures of the food at this stop!

While we were snacking, Anna told us a bit about the history of the building and some info about herself and how she came to end up living in Rome. She moved there to study abroad and never wanted to leave! What a life…

DH took some more pictures around the wine cellar while everyone was finishing up their wine. Neither of us are big drinkers, especially when it comes to wine, so it didn’t take us long to set our glasses aside while the rest of the group enjoyed their vino. Lol

01-057 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Soon it was time to move on, and all those folks who had been drinking that wine got a little nervous when it was time to head back up those steps…they were STEEP!

01-058 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


01-059 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

On our way to our next stop, Anna gave us an interesting tidbit of information. Remember that photo of Mary I posted a picture of that was just out on the street? We saw another of them as we were walking and Anna told us why they are there: the original surveillance system! Before there were cameras on every street corner to monitor how people were behaving in public, there was Mary out serving as a reminder that she was always watching and you’d better not do anything stupid!

01-060 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We made it to our next stop soon enough, an adorable little bakery called Innocenti.

01-061 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

The bakery is run by Stefania, who inherited it from her parents, and her children Michaela and Mossimo who operate it with her now. Their oven for baking is 16 meters long, roughly 52.5 feet! She seemed a little frazzled as she was making a bunch of little bags of biscotti for another group coming in after us. Here she is, putting them together.

01-062 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Nevertheless, she had a tray of three different types of cookies for us to try.

01-064 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


01-063 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

The first was a lemon cake kind of cookie filled with apricot in the middle. The second cookie was, in my opinion, the tastiest one, called brutti ma buon, or “ugly but good.” I don’t remember everything that she said was in it, but I do remember there were hazelnuts. Whatever was in it, it was delicious! The last cookie was a shortbread dipped in dark chocolate. They were all delicious, but that ugly but good was my favorite!

Next, we headed to a salumi (or delicatessen) called Antica Caciara run by Signore Roberto.

01-065 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Pretty fountain on the way over


01-066 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

There, we tried small pieces of Pecorino Romano, a sheep’s milk cheese that comes from Signore Roberto’s uncle’s farm. I love cheese, and this was no disappointment! It was really sharp at first when you bit into it, then you got a hit of salt at the end. It was delicious, and luckily there was plenty to go around, so I may or may not have had seconds, thirds, and fourths.

01-067 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Inside the shop


01-068 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
That’s a lot of cheese!


01-069 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Saying “buongiorno” to Signore Roberto​

Anna told us a funny story about a thief who tried to steal a pork cheek that was hanging in the doorway. Another thief stopped him, made him return it, and said, “No one steals from Signore Roberto!”

We moved on to our next location, a snack stand called I Suppli to have suppli, a fried risotto ball stuffed with rice, tomato sauce, and mozzarella cheese. Because the inside of the stand was so small, Anna went inside to get all of them and brought them to us where we waited across the street to eat them. Oh. Wow. These were little balls of fried heaven! This is where I started to be extremely happy that we took this food tour, as this was something I thoroughly enjoyed but probably never would have tried or even found on my own!

01-070 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Our suppli​

Mine seemed to be missing the hunk of mozzarella in the middle, but Christy was kind enough to offer hers up as a model for some food porn.

01-071 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 1 Continued: Monday September 15th

Before we got to our next location, we came across one of the famous Roman water fountains called nasoni (which means “big nose”) found all over the city. They are still supplied by the ancient Roman aqueducts. The water is clean and drinkable, and even cool! One of our ABD guides later told us that Disney tested water from some of the fountains and it was found to be even better than bottled water!

01-075 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

She also demonstrated the proper way to drink from most of them. You occlude the opening at the end, which pushes the water through a small hold on top and causes the water to arch the way we are used to from our regular drinking fountains. Brian decided to test it out for himself.

01-076 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

This is a random picture, but we thought it was pretty cute to see someone using a basket to pull something up to their apartment.

01-073 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Next we went to La Renella, another bakery but a savory kind where they made bread (lots and lots of bread!) and pizza.

01-077 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We were able to go in the back to watch them fire up their oven, which is from the 1800’s and is one of the oldest in all of Rome.

Their pizzas are cooked in long strips that they portion out based on how much the customer wants, and it is charged by weight. Anna told us that these are the better and fresher places to get pizza from instead of places that have it pre-sliced. Here’s some of pizza laid out in the back.

01-079 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Anna told us that instead of burning wood to get the oven going, they actually burn hazelnut shells!

01-080 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

This particular bakery bakes bread for most of the restaurants in the neighborhood. We saw baskets and baskets full of bread back there, and I swear, that is my idea of Heaven right there!

01-081 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


01-082 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Fire going strong


01-083 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


01-084 by disneymom1024, on Flickr

I was hoping we were going to get to try some of that bread, but instead, we were trying some of their margherita pizza. Not complaining! It wasn’t a hunk of bread, but it was still totally delicious. The cheese was melted just perfectly and the crust had a little bit of a crisp to it but not too much.


01-085 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

I didn’t write down the name of our next stop, and going by the website, I think it was Osteria der Belli. We were seated in the back room on their covered patio to sample some wine and pasta.

01-086 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

While it was nice to sit down for a bit, it wasn’t good for DH & I! It took a while for the pasta to come out, and in the meantime, we were finding it hard to keep our eyes open just sitting there. But eventually, the food came and it was totally worth the wait!

01-087 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

The first pasta was a ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta cheese.

01-088 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Second was a long pasta with a simple Romano cheese sauce and pepper. Simple ingredients, but absolutely delicious! My favorite of the three pastas we sampled, and our tablemate Val agreed. We both said we could eat a while pot of it!

01-089 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Last was a gnocchi in tomato sauce. I had never tried gnocchi before, but it was really good!

01-090 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


01-091 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

This was our longest stop, but eventually, we headed out of the restaurant. The second group of Adventurers was also there at a table in the front having their pasta! We were headed to an artisanal gelato shop. We passed a piazza that was pretty busy with people! The vibe reminded me a lot of New Orleans, particularly the French Quarter.

01-092 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


01-093 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


01-094 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Finally, we headed to our last stop, Fatamorgana, and artisanal gelateria. They are known for having unusual flavors like black rice & rosebuds, and chocolate with tobacco. Anna told us we could choose 2 flavors each. I didn’t go for anything too crazy, but I did spot a cheesecake with blueberries that was calling my name. I couldn’t find much that would pair well with it, so I went with crema as my second flavor, which is just vanilla. DH chose strawberry with cookies ‘n cream.

01-095 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Anna also took us to “gelato school” and told us how to spot the best real gelato. She said that gelato that is mountainous and brightly colored, it’s not good quality. It’s pumped full of air to make it so fluffy and chemicals to give it the bright colors. She said the best kind of gelato is usually flat in the containers and the colors should reflect the ingredients. For example, banana gelato should be the pale yellow or off white color of the actual fruit, not the bright yellow of the peel.

As we ate our gelato outside and sang Anna’s praises to her, she was kind enough to call a few cabs for us to get us back to the hotel. One harrowingly fast cab ride later, we were back at the hotel. Most of the group was going up to have some wine and celebrate together, but the two of us were beat.

We went up to our room to shower and get ready for bed, and found a nice little gift from ABD. It also had our menu to pre-order our food for the welcome dinner the next night and for dinner the night after that. Once we had showered, DS was just getting back from daycare with my mom, so we had a little time to Skype with him before we crashed for the night!

To wrap up, I will say that despite how tired we were that night, we are completely happy that we decided to join in for this tour! Not only was it a great way to meet some of our fellow travel mates prior to the official start of the trip, but it was also just a FUN tour! We got to explore a part of the city we might never have made it to otherwise and try lots of local flavors that we also might not have come across on our own. It was absolutely worth the money and all of the food was delicious. Anna was an excellent guide, a real wealth of information. We would both highly recommend it, especially if you are taking a Viva trip and have pre-days in Rome!

UP NEXT: Dark Rome

 

[MEK]

You food & wine adventure looks amazing! Oh that risotto ball with a hunk of mozzarella looks so yummy!

What an incredible wine cellar. I would have loved that.

And your pasta looks so lovely. What a treat to be served fresh homemade pasta. Your foodie tour looks like a great way to kick off the trip!

 

[Dugette]

Wow, that food tour was awesome!!! I want all.the.things! What a great way to see the area and the culture - and so yummy too! Is this something that's just through Disney or do they do them for other tourists? What a great idea.

 

[khertz]

You food & wine adventure looks amazing! Oh that risotto ball with a hunk of mozzarella looks so yummy!

What an incredible wine cellar. I would have loved that.

And your pasta looks so lovely. What a treat to be served fresh homemade pasta. Your foodie tour looks like a great way to kick off the trip!

Everything was really good. It was hard to pick a favorite but that risotto ball was pretty high on the list!

The wince cellar was nice, but it started getting pretty hot and humid once we were down there awhile.

The delicious pasta was one of thing main things I had been looking forward to on our trip! The pasta we had that night definitely didn't disappoint.

It really was a great way to start the trip off. Had we not planned anything that night, we probably would have ended up going to bed way too early. It was nice having something fun to do that also functioned to keep us awake until our usual bedtime. It made the jet lag a lot easier to overcome.

Wow, that food tour was awesome!!! I want all.the.things! What a great way to see the area and the culture - and so yummy too! Is this something that's just through Disney or do they do them for other tourists? What a great idea.

I knowwwwww, I want to eat all of it again! RIGHT NOW. It was delicious!! This is something Karen found online that was totally independent of ABD. It was run by Eating Italy Food Tours and anyone can book them. It was definitely a great find!