It's 100% Official!

My dad drove to Lake Union Cafe and dropped off the deposit. So it's official! We are getting married December 6th 2008 at Lake Union Cafe. I've sent out the e-mail to start the Save the Dates. I've already found whose going to do those and our invitations. It's nice to have a date set as it gives me an endpoint and now I can start gathering more specifics on the wedding!

Our Wedding Cake Topper

Since we're both cyclist enthusiasts (Chuck more than I), I wanted to find a cake topper with a bride and groom on a tandem bike. I did find one but it wasn't as cute as this one. I guess we had the option to customize a cake topper, but this was very adorable. I found it on a french online shop and should be delivered to us soon. I can't wait:)




This isn't our wedding cake. Haven't thought about that one yet!

It's 99% Official!

Hilleri went to check out Lake Union Cafe and liked it a lot.  She thought it'd be a perfect place for winter wedding, very classic and with a warm feel.  From my research on-line, it got really good reviews about the service, food, and staff.  It was listed as a top-rated wedding facility for 2007 in The Knot Best of Weddings (magazine).  Plus, it was one of the lesser expensive venues on our list.  They don't charge a separate rental fee, but include it in the food charge.  And they have an option to bring your own alcohol.  Alcohol raises the price of the reception by a few thousand dollars.  So, bringing in our own alcohol will be cost effective for us.  Chuck's really happy has they have room for 2 kegs and supply the taps!  So, its almost official.  Victoria, director of sales and event manager, is holding onto the date for us until Hilleri sees it (which she did).  Now, we just have to give a deposit.  My parents are going to drop the deposit off and secure the date for us.  So by mid-week, we can officially announce our wedding date and location, The Lake Union Cafe on December 6, 2008!  Now the hard part (that's how it felt) is done and all the other planning can start!  Luckily, the Cafe does decorating for the holidays and Hill said we probably don't have to do much, if any, decorating.  That's nice.  We'll probably do a bit with floral arrangements and on each table.  Anyways,  I've talk to a few stationary places to start the Save the Dates.  I'll keep you posted on more.  Check out our wedding website  for posts as well.

Hiking at Lago Santo

Christian took Chuck and I on a hike to Lago Santo (Lake Santo) which is forty-six miles southwest of Maranello.  When we woke up in the morning, it was pretty warm and sunny outside.  When we left, around 11:30 a.m., and started driving to the mountains, the weather turned on us and started raining.  Because of the windy roads and a bike race, it took about an hour and a half to arrive at Lago Santo.  Hiking in Italy is not like hiking in the States.  At the start of the hike there was a souvenir shop and thereafter, two restaurants and a hotel.  Since we didn't eat breakfast, we decided to stop by the restaurant and wait out the rainy weather.  Plus, it was a good time as Massa and Raikkonen were about to start their F1 race at the Monaco Grand Prix.  While eating our 1st course of tortoloni (bigger-sized tortellini), 2nd course-sausage and drinking wine, we watched as Massa and Raikkonen were having a bad day at the track.  After polishing our 2nd half-liter carafe of wine and the rain stopped, we went on our hike.  It was a pretty hike.  We first stopped at Lago Santo as its next to the restaurant.  A few people were fishing for trout.  It was a gradual climb to the top of the peak.  We didn't have time to complete the full hike as we started off around 3:30 p.m., but did get halfway to the top and saw some spectacular views of mountains and valleys.  

It was a nice change from the bustling city life.  So quiet and calm.  From across this mountain peak, you could look across to two of Italy's ski resorts.  After this hike, we drove to Abetone which is 11 km from Lago Santo.  Abetone is a popular ski/snowboarding resort.  With no snow, there wasn't much going on and most of the shops were closed.  But Chuck and I found a shop and got a souvenir, a bottle of Grappa Alla Liquirizia.      

 

This is Lago Santo with snow.  Though there were a few patches of snow on the trail, it was nothing like this.  

Almost Official Wedding Plans!

It looks like we'll have a place and date finalized by the week's end!  I don't want to say yet where and when, but once it goes through I'll blog it.  But thanks so much to Hill who's going to check the place out for us.  We heard really good things about this venue and hope it works out.  It's a little later than we wanted or in the same month we wanted, but it'll be nice to have a winter wedding:)  Thanks so much Hill, I owe you one!!

Giro d'Italia

The Giro d'Italia passed through Maranello, of course, right in front of the Ferrari headquarters.  Though not as popular as the Tour de France, it is one of the most important stage races in the world.  

The road was closed at 3 p.m. yet the cyclists didn't ride through until an hour and a half later.  I walked down around 3:10 p.m. and waited until half an hour, yet no cyclists.  Since it began to rain and no cyclists, I went to the grocery store and bought dinner.  It was raining harder and so I decided to go back to the apartment and start cooking.  

I was checking periodically outside for sight of the cyclists and around 4:30 p.m.  I saw one lone cyclist ahead of the peloton.  Then a couple minutes later, the peloton arrived and it was amazing!  So many of the cyclists going ultra-fast, probably over 30 mph as its pretty flat here.  And in a flash of less than a minute, it was over.  

Though it was hard to see who's who in the pack of cyclists, I did read later that some familiars riders, Alberto Contador, Levi Leipheimer and Andreas Kloden, were in the race.  

Our Wedding Website

If there's a problem with the direct link www.mywedding.com/chuckandvalerie, just go to the home page www.mywedding.com and then type either my or Chuck's name.  It should link you to our personal website.  I really don't want to find out what's wrong with the direct link.  

The Wedding Planner

Yep, that's me right now.  And I'm already tired of it!  I'm so close to hiring an actual wedding planner.  I wasn't really thinking about it unless we pick a venue where we have to do everything ourselves.  So far, w've looked at a lot of facilities which provide the catering, tables, chairs, linens, coat check, etc.  Of course, for a price.  There's only one that I'm sure of that we have to do everything, Tacoma Union Station.  But it's a really nice venue with art work of Dale Chihuly.  Anyways, I'm in the process of contacting ten places with a list of questions and obtaining an approximate estimate.  It'll be a few days to digest all the information before making a final decision on a time and place for the wedding.  That's the biggest decision of all.  From that point forward, I'm hoping it'll be an easier process.  

I've started a new website, yes another one, and it also has its own blog.  If you want to view it, go to www.mywedding.com/chuckandvalerie.  I've recently updated it with a new blog and pictures.  As we come to finalize the details of the wedding, I'll update it more frequently.  

Bologna

On Saturday, Chuck and I went to Bologna.  Bologna is the capital of Emilia-Romagna and has a population of less than half a million people.  It's famous for its university, cuisine, traditional left-wing stance, and its beautifully preserved historic center.   Bologna is approximately 30 miles from Maranello.  It's a cheap train ride from Modena to Bologna, 4.50 euros round-trip, and a twenty minute train ride.  We walked from the train station (stazionale centrale) to the city center (centro), taking about 10 minutes.  The city center was full-packed with people, shopping and hanging out.  There was an open market, mostly of clothes and shoes.  I didn't see anything I liked, but it was nice window-shopping.  We hadn't eaten breakfast nor lunch, so we found a sidewalk bar and shared a yummy sandwich (tuna, egg, tomato sandwiched between focaccia bread) and pizza bread.  

After lunch, we walked to the Piazza del Nettuno which has many attractions.  At its center is the Fontana di Nettuno, a 16th-century fountain with bronze sculptures of Neptune surrounded by cherubs and mermaids (pictured below).  There is also the majestic Palazzo Comunale, the medieval town hall.  There was some sort of festival going on as there was a band playing and people dressed up in medieval garb.  

There are a lot of shops and a lot of  people shopping in the city center.  I couldn't resist the urge to go shopping.  I found a cute pair of lightweight capri pants and a shirt for summertime at H&M.  

Like Roma and Firenze, we'll definitely have to go back to Bologna has we didn't see as much as we wanted to see of its history, eat nearly enough of its cuisine, nor its shopping.  And it's only a short trip from Maranello.  

Roma

Chuck's computer was fixed and ready for pick-up so we had to go to Rome.  Instead of making it a day trip (making it for a very long day of traveling), we decided to stay overnight.  Though a weekend is not nearly enough time to see a lot of Rome, it made for a more relaxing trip than our previous trip.  It's very difficult to find a hotel near the city center for less than two hundred dollars and if there are any, it's probably really small, poor quality, or booked way in advance.....or I didn't spend enough time researching for decent hotels at a decent price. 

On Saturday, we arrived in Rome around noon and went to pick up Chuck's computer.  It was definitely much easier to find our way to the Apple store since we knew how to get there and we even took the bus and tram instead of taking a taxi.  It took us longer than anticipated as we missed our bus stop at the shopping center and rode the train to its last stop until it turned back around.  Oh well, I guess we got to see the outskirts of Rome.  So, Chuck finally had his computer and we headed back to the city center.

We checked into our hotel room, deposited our bags and decided to take a walk down to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum before dinner.  Unfortunately, both were closing down for the day and weren't able to go inside.  But it's an amazing view from the exterior. 

The weather was really nice.  For the entire weekend, it was really warm and sunny.  

In front of the Arch of Constantine.

One of the many historic buildings and fountains in Rome.  We are on our way to eat dinner at Kossi, a Japanese restaurant.  We were craving non-Italian food and needed our sushi fix.  

Chuck and I had miso soup, vegetable tempura, and an assortment of nigri sushi and rolls.  The fish was fresh, but they didn't have the assortment of seafood as in Seattle.  No yellowtail, tuna, mackerel, crab, nor scallops.  But we did have eel, salmon, sea bass, and shrimp.  It was a nice change from pizza and pasta.

After dinner, we went to  Trimani Wine Bar which is a very popular place to enjoy a glass of wine and choose from their very extensive selection.  After a glass of wine, we walked down to Flann O'Brien Irish Pub (pictured above) for a pint of Harp Strong beer.  It's a great place to people watch.

  

On Sunday, we woke up a little later than expected and had breakfast before heading out to St. Peter's Basilica.  Unfortunately, the Vatican Museum (thus, the Sistine Chapel) is closed on Sundays (except for the last Sunday of the month where it's free and very crowded), but we were able to see the most impressive church ever.  We took the subway to St. Peter's  and it was packed.  We didn't realize that the Pope gives a blessing at noon on Sundays and we were joining the masses to be blessed by him.

 

The Pope from his apartment on St. Peter's Square.

  

We waited in a very long line to enter St. Peter's Basilica as well as through metal detectors and getting our bags screened.  The church also strictly enforces its dress code:  no shorts, mini-skirts, nor bare shoulders or they won't let you in.  We saw a few people turned away.  In the picture above, we spotted the Pontifical Swiss Guard in their traditional uniform (very colorful and medieval-like).  

 

The atrium.  It's larger than most churches.

Looking up at the dome.

On our way up to the cupola, we stop at a balcony at the base of the dome and look down into the church interior.

Climbing inside the dome to the cupola.  

There is an elevator (seven euros) that leads to the rooftop of the nave.  Or you can take the stairs (more ramp-like) for five euros.  We opted for the exercise (plus, they couldn't break a fifty bill and we only had ten euros) and took the stairs all the way up.  Regardless of taking the elevator or not,  you still have to climb 323 steps to the cupola.  As you can see from the picture, you can't have claustrophobia!

 

The view from the top.  Rome has no modern skyline.  No building is allowed to exceed the height of St. Peter's.  

Heading back down, cautiously.

Michelangelo's Pieta, a sculpture of Mary with the dead body of Jesus.  

The Holy Door.  It was bricked  shut at the end of the Jubilee Year 2000 and won't be opened until 2025.  Every twenty-five years, the Church celebrates an especially festive year derived from the Old Testament of the Jubilee Year, which encourages new beginnings and the forgiveness of sins and debts.

This won't be the last visit to Rome as we still have so many sights to visit and explore.  But I'm glad that we started our sightseeing here with the Vatican City as I got to visit the most impressive church ever as well as caught a sighting of the Pope!

Firenze

Last weekend, Chuck and I went to Firenze (Florence) which is a three hour train ride from Modena.  Finally, we figured out our way to Modena by the bus in Maranello!  As I said in my previous post, it's easy to ride the bus without paying since the bus driver doesn't check your ticket as you enter nor do you pay as you enter/leave.  It's pretty much based on the honor system.  You have to find a ticket machine at the bus station, newspaper stand, or tobacconist shop to purchase a bus ticket before boarding.  Chuck was contemplating not using bus tickets like we did in Rome since no one usually checks them, definitely not the bus driver.  We had bus tickets from a previous travel that we didn't use (they were still good since we didn't have it stamped with the date and time yet) and I insisted that we use them as I just feel too guilty.  Chuck agreed and good thing he did because before we got to the bus stop these inspectors just came on board to check if everyone had a valid ticket!!  Unfortunate for one man who rode the bus without paying and was escorted to the police station which happened to be next to the main bus terminus.  

We arrived in Firenze during lunch time and we were starving.  We found a really cute restaurant with sidewalk seating and since it was a really nice day out (warm and sunny), we ate outside.  I love eating in Italy, especially the dessert!  We shared a bottle of red wine Lamole di Lamole Chianti Classico 2004 and my current favorite appetizer Insalata Caprese (fresh sliced buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes, and capers seasoned with salt, pepper, olive oil, and basil).  I ate spaghetti with pesto and tomatoes and Chuck ate gnocchi with a pesto sauce.  Both were very delicious.  We ended the yummy meal by sharing dessert, a very delicious tiramisu.  

After lunch, we walked around taking in the beauty of this city.  There is so much to see in Firenze and we only saw a very small snippet of the city.  We'll definitely make another longer trip here to get a better sense of Firenze.

This is the Duomo, a 19th century cathedral, at the Piazza del Duomo.  It's exterior is very impressive with its polychrome marble-green from Prato, white from Carrara, and red from the Maremma.  We didn't get the chance to go inside because there was a massive line of people and we were leery of waiting in such a long line.  So, we simply enjoyed its flamboyant exterior from a sidewalk bar, drinking a beer.  

You can climb the 414 steps of the bell tower.  

Chuck poses in front of the Battistero (baptistery), an octagonal-shaped building west of the cathedral.  It dates back to the sixth century.