Destination: Firenze and Pisa

We left Milan around 10am. We took a high-speed train, the Frecciarossa. While on the train, the kids were able to do their homework. I surfed the net and dozed off every now and then. This train was so fast and it’s no wonder we made it Florence in no time. Upon arrival at the station, we took 2 taxi cabs to Piazza di Santa Croce, this is where our apartment was located. It was only a 5 minute drive, and driving around Firenze for the 1st time, it felt like being in a Bourne Supremacy movie. The streets were crowded, tight…it was an organized chaos. Drivers knew what to do, and the pedestrians seemed to be cognizant of their surroundings. First impression….wow, it was just like everything I imagined it would be.

Our apartment wasn’t ready for us yet so we dropped off our stuff downstairs, and started to walk around. The cab driver mentioned Via Montanoia, a 10-minute walk from our apartment. We didn’t know where to go, but we let our eyes decide our fate.

Central Market

We entered a market and walked around and found a crowd build-up in front of Panificio. No one spoke English so it was all about finger pointing and letting our hands do the talking. We ordered lasagna, a prosciutto sandwich, a pizza, and a couple of sodas….all for $11.50 Euro….not bad…that fed the four of us. Ben ordered something similar. There were no tables, but we managed to eat in this make-shift little dining area. I’m telling you, it was just what we needed. Nothing too crazy, just a  simple lunch with the locals.

Food crawl

We had 2 hours to kill before making our way towards our apartment, so what did we do? We crawled, we tippy toed from one coffee shop to a bakery, to a pasticceria, to a few shoe stores. We watched the crowds grow and diminish in some areas. It was an easy stroll that we did. I personally loved the alley ways, and the colors of this little town. It was just picture perfect. With that said, time to check our apartment.

Don’t judge an apartment by its stairs
We entered our apartment and we were greeted by Filippo. We followed him 3 flights up. The staircase were narrow, and when you add our carry-ons and luggage, it was an out-of-breath experience. I was beginning to get very concerned. But I told myself, you’ve read the reviews, Jason, so don’t worry about it…..sure enough, once Filippo opened the doors, it was a wow moment - the hallways, lighting, the roomy bedrooms with private bathrooms, the trendy kitchen…and then bam….the views overlooking Piazza di Santa Croce. This apartment surely delivered the goods and we were happy!!!

I’ll sleep for 15 minutes

Em and Ben decided to take a nap, I hopped in the shower and asked Nancy to wake me up in 15 minutes…NOT. Darn you, Jet lag! I slept close to an hour, but it was a much needed rest. Shortly after, we all got ready and headed out for dinner.

Club Culinario Toscana Da Osvaldo

Filippo recommended Club Culinary Toscana Da

Osvaldo and that’s where we went for dinner. At first got a little lost, I found another restaurant, Ristorante Del Fagioli, which looked very enticing, but I trusted Filippo’s suggestion. When we first looked at  Club Culinario, there was hardly any guests. But we went in anyway and were led to this almost-private room. Our waiter, Lorenzo, spoke very good English, and so we started to pick from the very interesting menu. We all ordered something different, the menu was quite unique. The most memorable were Ethan’s and Janelle’s pasta with sausage and black truffles. Madison, on the other hand, had an unforgettable ravioli with spinach. She enjoyed this one sooooo much, and the very generous tried not to share…she tried…but that didn’t work with me. i got a piece of her stuffed ravioli.What a relaxing dinner, great conversation, great company, and sumptuous dinner. 

We explored the city center by walking towards Piazza de la Signoria took pictures of David outside Palazzo de la Vecchio and the Ufizi. Foodieness struck again and we found ourselves at Bar Berso for Gelato. That was a perfect way to end our first evening in Venice. The next day is planned to hectic so we needed our rest.

Leaning on Pisa

Whoever I talked to prior to this trip mentioned that we might as well go to 
Pisa when we go to Venice. So we took the 9am train out of Firenze, and headed for Pisa. We got to Pisa around 10am. Took a cab from the station directly to Pisa. At this point, I had no idea that tower was going to be right —> there! I was pinching myself. I’ve seen hundreds of pictures of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and now, there I was standing a few few feet away from it. Not long after, we found ourselves taking many pictures of the tower, oh the tourists that we are! That photo session alone took about an hour, different angles, etc….heck, this was an opportunity we never had before. By noon, we headed back to train station and made our way back to Firenze in an hour.




Is that Ponte Vecchio? Or is “that” Ponte Vecchio?

Since learning that we’ll be in Firenze, Ponte Vecchio was an attraction that was always on the top list. It’s basically an old bridge…really that’s all. Everyone else in my party did not know what to expect so they thought the other “bridges” had to be Ponte Vecchio. After convincing them that the busy market-crowded bridge was Ponte Vecchio, we all made our way on the bridge and again took dozens of pictures. The rest of the afternoon was spent walking to Piazza Duomo, the Ufizi, Palazzo de Vecchio in Piazza de la Signoria. For dinner, we went to  a restaurant I discovered by pure accident last night....Ristorante del Fagionli. Tonight, I vowed to return (against all odds). When we arrived at 8:15pm, there was a crowd waiting outside. Come to find out, I stumbled upon a Rick Steves treasure just around the corner from our apartment near Piazza Santa Croce. We were told 9:30 for our party of 8. This was worth the wait, Florentine classics, family-style, away from the touristy beaten path. That was great way of spending our last night in Firenze. This is definitely a place I'd like to visit again. Grazie, Firenze and Pisa!!!

From NYC to Milan, Italy

Leaving on a jet plane

I've flown out of JFK many times, but have never flown out of their international terminal. It's hard not to compare JFK with LAX. There were many more things to do in JFK, and the foodie that I am was surprised to see Shake Shack, a burger joint that is quite popular in NYC. I've seen Shake Shack every time I pass by 8th Ave, but have avoided it many times due to the crowd. After all, whenever I'm in NY, I'm not really there to try burgers. Well, now that it was right there near our gate, I figured that it's probably the best time to try Shake Shack. I ordered the Shack Stack Cheeseburger and a ’Shroom Burger topped with lettuce, tomato and Shack Sauce....the verdict, it was alright....I thought the cheese was quite salty. Nevertheless, I can say that I've tried it and didn't have to fight the crowd in NYC.

Flying with Emirates  If there was one thing I was disappointed with Emirates Airlines, or maybe it was a JFK-issue, it was the way they herded the cows (passengers). While each passenger had a group assignment (when to enter the 

plane), there simply was no sort of organization. The Process Improvement Engineer in me shook its head when the herd of cows piled in front of the airline steward just so we could all make our way inside). To put it “plane” and simple, it was a bit of a mess. But once we got in, the experience was extremely different. Since it was an evening flight, the lights were dimmed, and in no time, we found ourselves in a row of 4 seats. Weariness started to take over. I haven’t had enough sleep from all the activities from the day and night prior (studying, exploring NYC, etc.). After a couple of selfie pics with the family, I tuned everything out, and closed my eyes. Not long after, a flight attendant offered us warm to almost hot facial towels. I needed that!. While Ethan and Madison tuned in to their movie or TV show of their choice, Nancy and I decided to just close our eyes. We have close to 8 hours of journey up ahead.
Once we were up in the air, it didn’t take long for dinner to be served. All I can remember was the chunky chicken that was served. I don’t expect much from airplane food, but Emirates knew how to cook and serve meals. Shortly thereafter, we were knocked out, and I remember waking up 5 hours later. Why? I smelled food again. Hahahahahaha! Breakfast was served, and I had fritatta and sausage with orange juice. 

Our flight was scheduled to arrive after 11am, but the plane arrived at Malpensa International Airport shortly after 10am. I think I like Emirates!!! Going through customs was a breeze. 


Traveling lightly?  So you have to remember that we’re going to be in Europe close to 2 weeks. On top of that, I was already on the East Coast for 1 week. How in the world did I manage to just use 1 carry-on luggage and 1 back pack. To make it even more interesting, I advised the entire group that we should all travel lightly, and to my surprise, everyone did the same…all in all, we had 8 pieces of carry-on luggage, and 8 backpacks. Now, that’s progress! I am so proud of our families. Why travel lightly? Well, it’s not about the extra charges that the airlines will charge you, but I knew that we’d be walking a lot, hopping from planes to buses, to trains, to taxis. This was put to a test the moment we arrived in Milan (more details later).

My cousin’s cousin who is not really my cousin, but is now my cousin The moment we landed in Milan, I checked my iPhone and hopped on the free airport Wi-Fi. I called Gemma (using Facebook Messenger). Gemma is my cousin’s cousin who is not really my cousin, but is now my cousin. Gemma is from Milan, and she is a first cousin of my first cousin, Ate Lina (who is from Switzerland). So bam! I instantly gained a cousin :-) With the help of Facebook Messenger, Gemma and I kept in touch a few weeks ago, and from Day 1 she said not to worry and she’ll set aside time to make sure we’re taken care of. The days leading up to the trip, we talked some more, and we agreed to meet in Cadorna, a train station accessible from Malpensa Airport. I called Gemma and advised her that we arrived 1 hour early and she said she’ll be there waiting for our party.

Train Ticket woes Prior to our flight to Milan, Nancy and I made sure we had Euros with us, and that we are to only use points-earning credit cards that have no foreign transaction fees. Everything was set…until we got to Malpensa’s train ticket machines. There were 3 Trenitalia machines. From what it looked like, everyone seemed to have a hard time. There was a loooonggg line for the “cash-only” passengers. But I opted to do the self-serve. I chose all the right options, and by the time I inserted my credit card, it kept asking for a PIN code. Well, I’m not really one of those who use the credit card for cash advance so I never really had a PIN code. I tried other credit cards, still no PIN. Then I tried my debit card, and the machine did not accept debit cards. After all was said and done, we ended paying cash for our train tickets from the airport to Cadorna. The purchase wasn’t fun, but you live, and you learn.


We missed our 11:04 train, and made it to the 11:30 train instead. The ride was smooth, and took about a 1/2 hour. Most of us tried to close our eyes during this short ride. Not long after, we arrived safely in Cadorna station. Once we got off the train, I heard a voice call out my name. It was Gemma. A big hug! Even bigger surprise was to see her beautiful daughter, Sophia, who only spoke Italian. I’ll have a full section dedicated to Gemma, Sophia, Geri, and the rest of the family. 

Hey Milan, we’re here! Once we saw Gemma, we were all in business. First order of activity, purchase local train tickets. Gemma assisted with purchasing the tickets. Next up, food. Gemma, fortunately, has seen my Facebook page, so she knew that I’m not a big fan of fast food chains or franchise types of restaurants. When I’m on vacation, or anytime I’m away from home (business trip or another), it’s gotta be something with a local flair. The smaller the place, the better. The ones away from the tourist beaten path. The ones where even the locals themselves go and visit. She had the perfect one in mind…Pizza Sprontini, a 5-minute walk away from Cadorna train station. 



Back to the luggage, why the need to travel lightly  The moment we started to work our way toward Pizza Sprontini, we all dragged our luggage from escalators, to stairs to the streets…you get the picture. Once we arrived at Pizza Sprontini, everyone got their taste of dragging their own luggage through all of the crazy terrains of being in the city. I saw that coming, and I’m glad that I was able to warn everyone about keeping it all light. Ok, back to our first Italian pizza. According to Gemma, Pizza Sprontini does not boast of many different pizza choices. Instead, it only serves 1-2 different types of pizza. The one that we ordered is a margherita pizza. Not the margherita with cheese and basil, but just good ol' gob of cheese. We had a couple of choices, one was for a smaller slice, and other one was “abundante” which was served 1.5 slices. The pizza slices were served within 5 minutes. We worked up an appetite by then. What was different? It was a thick crust, typically not my favorite style. I like New York pizzas - the kind that you can fold in 1/2 and eat. But, Sprontini’s was thick - perfectly thick. It was uber cheesy. It was purely all about the cheese. In fact, there were some toasted cheese or burnt cheese that tasted even better. That was a great first lunch.


Finding our apartment on Via Brocchosi

We followed Gemma and caught a tram, We had to walk a few more blocks to finally find our apartment. Massimo, the apartment manager, was there waiting for us. I was a bit skeptical. This was our first apartment in Italy, and I wanted to make sure it had the things we needed. We rang the bell, and Massimo buzzed back and let us in. We were on the 3rd floor, but really, it was on the 4th floor (the first floor being Floor Zero). To get upstairs, we had 2 choices, walk up, or take the elevator (it was big enough to fit 2-3 people). We all made it upstairs, met Massimo, and found our home for 2.5 days. A hallway, a huge living room/dining room, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 showers, 1 bath tub, a kitchen. It was perfect for our needs. The windows overlooked the main road. Right outside of our apartment was a cafe, a bakery, and a pizza joint. We were at home, finally!


A short nap, then Duomo  Jet lag took over. Once we saw the beds, and the comfy chairs, we took about an hour nap, but decided to get ready and head out. We took a tram and found ourselves in Piazza Duomo. I’ve seen this in pictures many, many times - but nothing compares to seeing it in person. It really looked like a tower of melting candles. Of course, we took lots of pictures with the Duomo in the back drop. After Duomo, Gemma took us to Anema e Cozze, known for it’s seafood pasta. Aaaahhhh we ordered quite a few pasta dishes including pizzas. It was good to relax, talk about our crazy day, and our plans for the next day. We made it back to our apartment around 10pm. Thanks to Gemma and Sophia for guiding us that day.

More ticketing business We planned on meeting Gemma near the Duomo at 9am. We tried, we really tried. Well, we were jet lag victims to begin with, and to top it all of, Milan had its Daily Savings Time change (where we lost another hour of sleep). At 7:30am, I called Gemma and asked her if we could meet her at 10am instead. We finally got out of our apartment before 9:30 which should give us enough time to take to tram rides to Duomo. We had it all planned. Gemma gave us specific details which trams to take and where to get on and off. Murphy’s Law (anything that can go wrong, will go wrong) - while we had everything planned, well, something else happened. We got on a tram, and we were told to get off after 2 stops! What???HELP!!! Where do we go? 



Running with the bulls 
We had no idea why until we saw a herd of people running the marathon. Aaahhhh (light bulb), that’s why traffic was diverted. Ok so Plan B - call/text Gemma. We ended up meeting Gemma at a nearby stop that I remembered seeing from the day before. Victory! We finally met Gemma’s husband, Geri, and along with them is precious little Sophia. By this 2nd day, Sophia and the whole gang were already enamored by her innocent charm, and lovely looks. 

Back to more ticketing business
After meeting up with Gemma and family, we headed for Milano Centrale train station to purchase ALL of our European train tickets. This in itself was a test of our American patience. This process took over an hour. We had to take a stub, and waited for our turn. Fortunately again, we had Gemma and Geri translating for us. After 15 minutes of transaction, we were able to purchase our Euro tickets. Yes!!!


Shortly after, we also met my cousin, Lina, and her husband, Rainier. They came all the way from Switzerland. They spent the rest of the afternoon with us, first by going to Ristorante Xier (an all-you-can-eat buffet), then back to Duomo and the surrounding areas, such as Montenapoleone. At this time, it wasn’t so much about the tourist attractions, but watching all of us talk and exchange stories between each other. The last time I saw Ate Lina and Rainer was back in the late 90’s when they both visited us in California. It was a great way to catch-up, and a great way for us to also get to know Gemma and her family. Thank you for visiting us, Ate Lina and Rainier  :-)

After they left, we walked more, and more, ate this and that, gelato here and there. People watched left and right - that was all part of the rest of the afternoon. Of course, all good things can’t end without a great Italian dinner. Gemma and Geri gave us more tips how to get around on Monday morning. We will be alone, and we needed to get from our apartment to the train station. Their instructions were so specific, so we successfully made it to Milano Centrale to catch our train to Florence on the next day. Gemma, Geri, Sophia - thank you for your hospitality. What a great way to start our European vacation!!!

2015: No resolutions...just decisions

Wow, it has been a long time since I last created a blog entry. The last time was back in August 2014 - back when we spent our summer vacation in Maui. So much has happened since. I've traveled back on business to New York at the end of September, and fortunately, after a year-long of crazy back to back business trips to the East coast (from New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Washington DC, North Carolina, Pennsylvania), my business trips slowed down by the end of 2014. 

But that didn't mean the Franciscos were free from the daily hustle and bustle. Our kids were ever so busy with football (Ethan), Cross Country (Madison), Piano lessons (Caitlin and Madison), and Flag Football and Soccer (Evan), church choir for Ethan and Madison.We were non-stop. But there was no reason to complain. It was everything we thought it would be for having been blessed with a large family.

Despite our hectic schedule, we managed to squeeze in a few trips in between, a weekend in San Diego after the Thanksgiving holiday, and a mini-vacation to San Francisco and Napa Valley just before we rang in the New Year 2015.

When I turned "40 something" in November, I can still vividly remember sitting with the family in our dining room. The topic? Vacations! There was that itch to do something different or revisit a place we've been wanting to see again. One thing was for certain - we wanted to mix things up a bit, and, this time, we wanted go to back to Europe. One plan was a definite return to Paris - a place Nancy and I visited back in 2007. The other was to visit London. We knew that it was just a matter of time, when all the stars were aligned, that we'd find an irresistible deal. In 2015, we made a decision, not a resolution - a trip to Europe had to happen.

What's the Dealio?
It was on a Monday in January, I was going about my early
work day (for those who didn't know, I work East Coast hours - meaning, I start my days at 4:30am or 5:00am). I checked my emails and joined a few very early morning conference calls. I took a little break and noticed a Valentine 2-day sale that Emirates Airline had posted from New York's JFK to Milan (must travel between Feb 2015 and May 2015) !!!! What?!?!? So I read, and re-read the offer. It was not a mistake fare. It was a sale. I texted and called Nancy at work and I told her that we just had to book this special. By the time, I called Nancy, I had everything quite laid out in my mind. I had to "sell" the idea to my wife. Why? Well, first, the deal was from NY, meaning, we still had to get our airfares from LA to NY. Second, should we bring the 4 kids, or would this be just a Nancy and Jason vacation since we were approaching our 15th year wedding anniversary? Lastly, when will we travel, and will Nancy be able to take the time off.

Buy now and plan later

When deals like such are posted, and they're just way too good, I'm a believer that you should trust your instincts, go with your guts, pull out your credit card, and let it go, let it go. To answer all of the above roadblocks....the roundtrip flight from LAX-NY, I simply used my airline miles (so that was a no-brainer...close to free). We decided to bring Ethan and Madison (they're old enough to appreciate Europe), and we chose to travel around their Spring Break (end of March). As far as Nancy's work schedule, she seemed to always find a way to work that out, and we decided not to worry about it. So after an hour of contemplating, I found myself booking our trip to Milan!!!

I texted and talked to a few people, and one of them heeded to my call. I called Emily, and I jokingly said, pack your bags. She said, where are we going? I told her Milan, gave her a few details about the deal. Within an hour, she called to tell me that they booked 4 tickets for her family!!!! HA!!!! All of a sudden, we became a traveling party of 8! Europe here we come!

Let the planning begin
It took quite a few phone calls, text messages, FaceTime chats before we all decided on a plan. We had just under 2 months to plan our vacation. We had to decide where else besides Milan. So we picked a handful of places to visit, and narrowed it down to 4.  We also began endless days and nights of finding the right accommodations. While hotels would be convenient, European hotels weren't as flexible with the # of guests per room. For a family of 4, some hotels only allowed 2 per room, others charged $100 Euro per extra guest. In some cases, a family of 4 needed 2 rooms, which just didn't make sense. Therefore, we all decided to rent an apartment in all our destinations. I searched VRBO and AirBNB websites, and needed to make sure that the apartments were able to accommodate 8 of us - that wasn't easy. We required at least 2 bathrooms. Lastly, free Wi-Fi!!!  After 3 weeks of searching (looking at websites, pictures, prices, and reviews), I managed to book all our apartment stays in Europe...again, that was not easy. I was just glad that it got done!

Planning our itinerary....but

It was at the end of February when we finally booked everything. This then gave us a month to fully plan our itinerary, right? NOT!!! By the end of February, I started to travel back to East Coast again. Not just 1 trip, but it was 3 trips. I went one week, then came back home for a week, then went back another week. It was lather, rinse, repeat!!! People were beginning to tease me that I should just move back East. There were times when I drove around, or took a bus, or the train,  that I didn't even require the use of a map or GPS anymore. Scary, but true. There were times when tourists asked me questions about directions, and I was able to point them to the right way. Scarier....but still true.

Pack, pack, pack

Before leaving for Milan, I needed to be back in the East Coast for 1 more week of business trip. There was no way for me to fly back to California after my business which meant I had to pack for NJ and NY, plus Europe!!!! HELP!!!. Our trip coincided with my class and the flight from NY to Milan was scheduled on the
night of my last day at work. Nancy and the kids flew in one day earlier which allowed them to spend the day in NY. After class, I headed straight to meet them, and we were able to catch Vanessa Hudgens in Gigi, a new show on Broadway. Directly after the show, Emily, Ben, along with their kids, Janelle and Andrew, flew in from

the Bay Area. They arrived at their hotel close to midnight. It was a rainy evening in NYC. We were all starved and we were thankful that Patzeria Perfect Pizza on West 46th Street was still open and served us 12 different slices of their pizzas. We all ate to our heart's content, but I knew that I had to head back to the hotel for I still had one more day of class, and not to mention, a test! So help me, God! Thankfully, I passed my exam....vacation, here I come!

Few more hours in NY...think fast
Directly after leaving work, I headed for Newark Airport and dropped off my car rental. I then took a train from the airport to NY Penn Station (which was about a 20 minute train ride in to the city). Once I was at Penn Station, I was one subway train ride away from the hotel where Nancy and the kids were staying. It was a chop, chop, chop moment.
They were already checked out of the hotel. I was hungry...surprise, surprise. I told them to just meet me at Au Bon Pain inside the Port Authority. Ethan mentioned he needed a haircut. We still had 4 hours to kill before making our way to JFK. So, think fast, Jason. Think fast. 

I wanted to eat soup dumplings so badly in this cold NY afternoon. So, I suggested we go to Chinatown to Joe's Shanghai, and not too far from Joe's was a row of little asian barber shops and salons. After a couple train ride switches, we found ourselves in Chinatown where Nancy and I had taho, or sweet tofu. Soon after, my craving for soup dumplings were fulfilled. After devouring our late lunch, we left Joe's and took a left on a little alley way and found Yi-Fa, a barber shop. We went here last year for Father's day. Why? Well, Ethan also needed a haircut back then and on a dare, I told him to go to Yi Fa since Justin Timberlake's picture was posted outside. Look like JT got his haircut here at one point. That's why we ended here again, we were familiar with the place so E and I got our haircut. HA!!!

New York City. Friday. Rush hour.
It was the perfect recipe to make sure that we'll be late for our flight. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 10:20pm, and we wanted to be there by 7pm. We had a car service that was waiting for us and we left our hotel at 6pm, and as expected, bumper to bumper traffic. We padded enough time allowing for all the traffic, and by 7pm, we made it to JFK. Check in at the airport was a breeze, security checkpoint uneventful, and by 8pm, we met up with Emily, Ben and family. So there you go, that's the pre-Europe backstory...stay tuned for Day 1...MILANO!!!