My First Ultra...The Marathon des Sables...

Smashing the Sand Barrier...4,000 kms of Desert Competition...


The Marathon des Sables was my first Ultramarathon.  How did I stumble upon this race... and why did I think I was capable of running in it after having only completed 5 marathons?  I honestly don't know...I really never gave it a second thought.  Thank God I had just moved to a new city...and didn't have any friends there.  Otherwise I'm sure I would have run into people that would have told me that I was crazy.  Most people seem to think you need to put in time...that you need to build up to big goals by taking baby steps.  No way! You just need to jump right in!  Just go for it...Seriously.....You can put off something forever and never think you are "ready".  What is that saying..."Never put off till tomorrow...what you can do today."  I have learned to listen to my heart and my intuition.  It will never steer you wrong.

I had been a television news reporter for 13 years.  My last job was working as a National Reporter for Global Television in Canada.  I had loved the job ... but toward the end I was getting burnt out.  It is a very high pressure career...with constant deadlines.  I was always on call.  I remember one time making the one hour drive to my station in Calgary...when I got a phone call that I had to head to the airport and book a flight to another province to cover a hostage taking.  I drove to the airport, purchased a ticket...caught my flight and landed a few hours later in another city. I rented a car, bought a map and drove out into the middle of nowhere to where the hostage was being held.  I followed the story for three days.  The first night I stayed at the scene filing updates from the satellite truck that had arrived, along with a camera crew.  The following day I was able to zip into town, get a hotel room and purchase some toiletries so I could brush my hair and teeth.  That was life in the fast lane!

Don't get me wrong though.  It had been a great ride...literally!  I mainly loved covering crime stories...along with anything to do with the military.  I had grown up as an Air Force brat...my father was a fighter pilot and we had travelled the world with him.  As a reporter I was able to line up a flight in an F-18.  It was the biggest thrill of my life!  I was also able to go up with Canada's elite Snowbird team for a flight...and ride in a helicopter ... and go for a bumpy ride in a tank.

I broke a few stories on the Hells Angels, covered murders and drug stings.  I went on ride-alongs with the police, visited a Regional Psychiatric Center (where they keep the really crazy criminals) and even witnessed an autopsy.  Reporting opened up my eyes to the world.  I was constantly moving...just like when I was a kid in the military.  I even put in a one year stint at NHK...The Japan Broadcasting Corporation. 

But it all came to a head.  I was done.  I was no longer having fun.  I found myself becoming stressed out, working 24 hours a day, and becoming more pessimistic with each passing day.  Speaking for myself...I just found that I was becoming more negative and more cynical.  I felt like I was being poisoned by my job.  So I quit.  I just up and quit.

So what now?  I didn't have a clue what I was going to do next.  I had always loved flying...I thought maybe I could be a pilot...or maybe a flight attendant?  I loved French and thought that maybe I could find a job in Quebec and take a French Immersion course.  I know a bit of French but have always wanted to be fluent in it.  Maybe I could be a travel agent?  I just didn't know.

Then my fiancé at the time handed me a newspaper article about a couple of Canadian guys that were going to be running in the Marathon des Sables.  Now that was interesting!  I read their story and was fascinated.  I had always wanted to go to Africa...and this adventure combined travel with my other passion...running.  I decided to follow their progress and see how they did.  I was mainly curious about how they would do in the heat.  The race is in April...which means they trained through a Canadian winter and then went directly to the desert.  Well, they loved it.  They did extremely well...and I thought...hmmm...if they could do it...well then, so could I!

The runners lived in the same province as I did, but in a different city.  I called one of them...Zac Addorisio.  I'm sure many of you have heard of him or know him.  A really super guy who has worked with Racing the Planet...and now has his own company, Runners United.  I introduced myself and told him that I had followed him in the desert and wanted to do the race.  He was very gracious in answering all of my questions...and told me he would be more than happy to help me as I prepared for the race.  I was sold.  I was going to take a year off and train for the Marathon des Sables.  I truly believed that in the process of training for this event, and competing in the race... I would find a new path that would lead me to a new calling in life.  I was ready for the journey and anxious to see where it led!

I trained for one year... from 1999 to the race in 2000.  Now keep in mind how long ago this was...going on 15 years!  I had Zac as my main source of information...and that was pretty much it!  I did not have an email address at that time...there was no Facebook...no blogs or forums that I was aware of...looking back it seemed like true isolation!  You can ask all the questions you want...but it is a whole new ballgame when you get out into the desert.

I trained through a freezing Canadian winter.  I put in long runs and slowly purchased all the gear I would need.  I registered for the race with the U.S. rep for MDS...Mary Gadams.  You may know of her now as the owner of Racing the Planet.  I do remember that 3 months out from the start of the race I started to panic.  Oh My God...what have I gotten myself into?  But I think there was more excitement than panic...along with a healthy fear of the unknown.

I had never travelled by myself to another country.  I had never camped before...I had never slept in a sleeping bag before...I had never been in the desert before and I had never run an ultra before.  I was on a very steep learning curve!

Here is what I brought for gear.  I had running shoes and socks.  I had gaiters that I found in Canada to keep out the snow!  I brought a cotton t-shirt with my sponsor logos on it.  I actually had a great pack...Moletracks...but the company went under a number of years ago.  I had a Sony Walkman with two cassette tapes to play. I also had a small camera along with several rolls of film to take pictures!  I carried massive quantities of Gatorade powder and more than enough food to feed an army. And finally, I had a 2 1/2 pound sleeping bag for comfort along with a giant blowup thermarest!!!!!!  I was set!  I think I was carrying about 30 pounds that year...no lie!  I don't even think weight occurred to me at the time...it was just stock up and make sure you have everything you might need!

I arrived in Morocco a week early to acclimate to the heat and get over jet leg.  I stayed in Marrakesh.  What a fantastic city!  I had never experienced anything like it.  I used to spend hours shopping in the old souk.  You could buy rugs, pottery, lanterns, jewellery and leather shoes.  And there was the world famous square...Jemaa el-Fnaa.  Here you could watch snake charmers and monkey trainers, listen to story tellers and musicians... and find something to eat or drink at the numerous food stalls.

 

 

 

 

 

I used to sit at the Café Argana and drink mint tea.  I don't know if it's still there or not.  In 2011 a bomb went off in the café that killed 17 people.  Dozens more were injured.  The bomb was hidden in a bag and it went off just before noon.  I was shocked when I heard the news.  Morocco was so peaceful!  It could have been me sitting there...I could easily picture it.

A night before I was supposed to hook up with the other runners I came down with dysentery.  I was up all night long retching into the toilet and convulsed with stomach cramps that led to massive bursts of diarrhea.  I ended up just lying in the bathroom all night, curled up by the toilet.  I got up in the morning, severely dehydrated, and hooked up with the other runners.

There were a series of glitches in our travel arrangements.  Our bus never showed up and we all piled into jeeps to head out to the edge of the desert.  Then we transferred into these huge trucks with benches on either side in the back.  I was in pure misery.  I had to yell at the driver over the noise of the engines to stop the convoy about every 30 minutes.  By now it was dark out...and I would squat down by the side of the truck and let loose with more diarrhea.  It just wouldn't stop.  Any modesty or dignity I had going into this race was now gone.

We arrived in camp in the middle of the night.  No one was up waiting for us.  We were told to just make our way toward the tents and find a spot to sleep.  Normally all the nationalities are assigned to the same tents in a certain zone in camp.  I crawled into a tent and tried to get some sleep.  I felt sorry for the people I joined because I was up all night getting sick.

The following morning...I met my tentmates and discovered that there were two more Canadians in my tent...the only other Canadians in the race if I remember correctly.  As far as I know...there were only 3 Canadians that had been to this event before us.  You just didn't hear about the Marathon des Sables at that time.  It was a rather obscure competition and one of a kind. 

 

They spent the day trying to convince me not to do the race.  They saw how sick I was and didn't believe I would ever make it.  After all, people that were feeling 100 percent dropped out regularly due to injuries and illness.  To start the race this sick was not a good thing.  But there was no way that I was going to drop out before the event even started.  I had trained for too long, and had travelled too far...and spent too much money...to even think about not starting.

So there I was at the start on Sunday morning...listening to ACDC "Highway to Hell"... and I knew this was going to be rough.  But I was still excited!  The countdown went down in French...Dix, neuf, huit....trois, deux, un...Go!... and we were off.  I actually made it through the first few days and started to feel better as time went on.  I was loving every minute of this experience! And then came Day Three...traditionally Dune day in the race.  This was the 15th Anniversary of MDS and organizers wanted to make this the toughest race ever.  Go figure...my first time here and it was going to be toughest ever....Quelle surprise!  Not. 

 

 

Pretty much the entire day was going to be spent in the dunes.  This is where I truly fell in love with the desert.  Waves of sand as far as the eye could see.  I felt like I was on another planet.  Every picture of me to this point in the race showed me with a giant smile on my face.  Despite being sick...this was everything I had dreamt of and more.  I was in love with the desert.  I gathered up a handful of sand from one of the dunes and carried it with me for the rest of the race...and brought it home with me. 

 

But I made a fatal mistake that day.  As we entered the field of dunes there was a final checkpoint where we were told that we had to carry two 1.5 liter bottles of water...as there would be nothing in the dunes.  I forgot my second bottle.  I was in a hurry to keep up with two other runners who were leaving and I left it behind.  I actually didn't realize it for about a half hour.  I told the others and they said I should go back and get it.  That would mean a whole wasted hour.  I decided not to go back.  After all, how bad could it get?  I had no clue about dehydration.

People started dropping out left and right that day.  Emergency flares were being shot off everywhere you looked. It was almost like a fireworks display. People were dropping like flies because it was just so hot and there wasn't enough water. Someone said it was 50 degrees in the dunes that day. We could see the emergency helicopter flying in and out of the dunes all day long...rescuing people and bringing them back to camp for the doctors to work on.  Somehow...I manged to make it through that day on half the amount of water that everyone else had.  I couldn't even tell anyone else that after awhile...because no one could believe it.  Of the 600 runners that day...100 dropped out.

 

But I paid for it the next day.  I awoke in my sleeping bag and was sick all over again. I felt completely spent and exhausted.  I was severely dehydrated and didn't even know it. But I didn't want to go to the Medical Tent because I was afraid they would pull me out of the race. Day four was the long stage...we had to complete about 80 kilometers.  Everyone had sort of been dreading this stage...but once you are through it you are home free.  You can begin to think about the finish.

I was getting slower and slower as the day progressed.  By dusk I was really dragging my ass.  I was not going to be able to make the cutoff time at this rate.  I knew I was done...but what to do?  I couldn't see anyone in front of me...and there was no one behind me.  I didn't even think about using my flare...it simply didn't occur to me.  So I kept walking and eventually I could see a Jeep coming toward me.  I started waving my arms in the air and it soon pulled up beside me.  A Frenchman with silver hair leaned out the window and asked if I was okay.  I said no, that I was very sick...je suis tres malade.  And then he said it... tu es fini?  You are finished?  The words hung in the air and I nodded and said, Yes, I am done. 

He got out of the vehicle and gave me a big hug.  I felt like my heart was broken.  And then came the shocker...right then and there he started unpinning my race bib.  I thought I was going to be sick.  I was really done.  I got into the back seat and they drove me back to camp.  They confiscated all of my race food so that I couldn't give it away to any other racers. (We were supposed to be self-sufficient) My name was written down on the notice board they had in camp for all to see.  It is where they posted the daily race results.  My name went on the sheet that read...Quitters  Nice. Then I went back to my tent to lie down.  There was nobody there yet...all my other tentmates were still out on the course.

I held my own pity party.  Why me?  I had trained so hard and had wanted this so much and had done everything right....how could this have happened?  And right then and there I knew that I was going to come back and do this race again next year.  I couldn't help it that I had come down with dysentery.  I was pretty much done before I even started this race.  This hadn't happened from not enough training or planning...this was just pure dumb luck. 

 

I felt much better after I made that decision and I spent the last few days of the race helping out my tentmates and cheering them on.  Everyone in my tent finished except for me!  I looked longingly at their medals and held on to the thought that next year I too would cross the finish and have a medal.
It was a huge lesson for me to learn.  Just because you put in all the hard work doesn't ensure that you will have a guaranteed outcome.  You may fail once or twice or many times. You aren't automatically entitled to succeed just because you made the effort.  You have to learn to pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and go after it again.  And if necessary, again and again and again.  If you have a love for something...if there is a fire burning within you...you will never give up.

And I did go back.  I took another year off and went back in 2001.  Believe it or not,  another hardship was in store for me at this race...one that literally dropped me to my knees halfway through the event.  I will post about that next week.

Marathon Blowout

The Walt Disney World Marathon was my 50th marathon.  It was supposed to be a nice little fun run,
 with Jim and my dog Dune meeting me at the finish.  Little did I know going into this event that it was going to be a total blowout!

Let me first say that it was never my goal to run 50 marathons.  When I signed up to do my first marathon back in 1994 it was my intention to run a marathon, just one marathon, and simply add it to my list of accomplishments.  I never dreamed that I would go on to run many more marathons and later, ultramarathons.

There is no particular reason why Disney was my 50th race.  I have treated most of my marathons as training runs for my upcoming ultramarathon races.  I don't taper for these races and I don't do anything special for them.  Sometimes I run with a 15 pound pack on...sometimes not.  Sometimes I put in a 2 hour run before the race, sometimes not.  Sometimes I will do a 3 hour run the day before, sometimes not.  So my times generally don't matter to me.  My best is 3:36...my slowest...5:42.

Disney just turned out to be the next race on the calendar, and coincidentally it was the 20th Anniversary of the event and so the medal was pretty nice.  I drove up to Orlando the day before the race and went to the Expo to pick up my race bib.  From there I checked into a hotel and Jim and I walked across the street to have supper at the Olive Garden.

For as long as I can remember I have had either spaghetti and meat sauce the night before the race, or lasagna.  Sometimes I will even have a glass of red wine with it.  Well, for some reason, and I have no idea why...I decided to try something different.  I broke the cardinal rule of never doing something new for a race.  I had a gigantic plate of chicken and shrimp carbonara with a glass of white wine.  It was good!  We walked back to the hotel and I watched a bit of TV and fell asleep.

Disney starts at 5am!  This is a good thing because you are done early, but man, it is hard to get up at 3am for a race!  I always bring my electric espresso maker with me and had two cups of coffee.  It was strange because I always have a bowel movement after my coffee, but not on this day.  Odd I thought.

Jim dropped me off at the Epcot entrance, and I headed off toward my corral.  It is a fair walk to get there but the weather was nice this year.  We all listened to the National Anthem, and watched all the fireworks go off and then we were on our way!  I have done Disney three times before this....2009...2010(I did the Goofy Race and a Half Challenge...the Half-Marathon on Saturday, and the Marathon on Sunday) and 2012.

The race started off all right and then it hit me.  I had to go the bathroom.  I had a bowel movement coming around and I knew it wasn't going to be good.  This was going to get ugly.  I needed to find a bathroom right now!  I was scared to death I was going to crap my pants right then and there, and it was taking all I had to hold back and pinch everything in.  Finally, a port-o-potty in sight.  I hopped around waiting for my turn, and then dashed inside.  Explosive diarrhea.  Oh my God!  It was terrible.  I had already broken a sweat from my run, and I had to deal with the mess of wiping my butt with toilet paper that was sticking to my sweaty hands and butt.  Gross.  I yanked up my tights and headed back out to the swarm of runners.

A little further down the road it hit me again.  I was on the hunt again for another port-a-potty.  I found one, and again, a massive burst of fluid.  Damn...it was that Pasta Carbonara coming back to haunt me!  As a veteran I should have known better.  Once you get to the point where you have run so many races, you can begin to become a little blase about things.  These marathons are just training runs for me, and so I can get a little sloppy sometimes in my preparations.  It was a lesson well-learned...DO NOT DO ANYTHING NEW BEFORE A RACE!  You will pay for it!!!

By mile 13 I had visited 7 port-a-potties.  Toward this point, my visits were just producing little trickles, but I certainly wasn't going to take any chances.  My sphincter was saying I am going to blow, and I would head to a toilet.  Who wants to crap their pants in a training run?  Especially in a run where there are hundreds of people passing me by now? 

Okay, so now the runs are over with but I am left with a burning ring of fire.  My butt is screaming by this point.  And then I begin to develope cramps.  Major gas pains.  I didn't want to let the gas out in case something else came out with it...so I was holding everything in.  My stomach was really cramping up on me, and I was bloated like you would not believe.  Finally, I stopped at a medical tent and asked them if they carried any gas relieving medication.  They handed me some tablets and I gratefully accepted them and popped them in my mouth.  I was having some major belches for the next hour or so...it's all foggy to me now.  It was just one long hurtfest. 

This sights...oh yeah...there were a few.  Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy...yadda, yadda, yadda.  I can always appreciate a beautiful trail...but interrupting my race to run over and stand in a line to get my picture taken with Mickey is not high up on my To Do list.  But I did pull over to get my picture with this dude!  How perfect!  I love how a total stranger can make your whole day!

The finish line finally came into sight, and hey, I was starting to feel much better!  I think I was ready to run another race!  I hadn't pushed myself for speed and my legs weren't tired or sore.  It had just ended up being a very lazy run.  My final time....hold on, let me look it up...I don't even know it one week later....OKay, I just checked....4:48:42.  Remember, this time reflects 7 port-a-potty breaks and a medical tent stop.  I like the Age Graded time better... 4:02:11.

Pretty slow!  But heck...it made for a memorable 50th!  I don't usually get roses after a race, but Jim surprised me at the finish and gave me a kiss to make everything all better!  And the medal was pretty darn nice too, so that helped take the edge off! That was last weekend...January 13th,2013. (I refuse to believe 13 is unlucky) I have this weekend off, and then I am registered for the Miami Marathon next weekend...January 27th.  You can be sure that I will be eating LASAGNA the night before the race, and I won't be doing anything different in my routine!!!

In my next blog I will post about some of the more memorable marathons I have done over the years...the weird, the wild, the wonderful... the weather!  You name it...there have been some crazy runs.  I'll tell you all about it next week.

Venice

Once you see Venice you will never forget it.  This may sound obvious, but the first time I saw this beautiful city I  was only 8 years old...and the impression it made on me as a young girl remained with me until I saw it again this year.  I remember being in awe of the canals and the beautiful buildings.  I remember buying two little treasures... glass bluebird earrings, and a tiny mauve glass fawn.  They became my most precious possessions!  I always wanted to go back and visit the city as an adult, and so on this trip to Italy, I made sure we pencilled in a day to visit this city on water.

It was everything I remembered...but for two things.  There were way more tourists than I recalled...and not as many pigeons gathered in St. Mark's Square! 

It was a long day.  We left Florence first thing in the morning and took the train to the main terminal in Venice.  As soon as we got outside, the city spilled out in front of us and was dazzling right from the start.  We wanted to do a lot of walking, as opposed to travelling on water.  First thing in the morning it isin't so bad...but the later in the day it got, the more crowded it became.  I just do not like being in crowds. 15 million people a year come here... Venice is almost like an adult Disneyland!  No rides, but lots of people!  I just wanted to absorb the sights and sounds.

We walked around the entire city.  It is made up of 117 islands and has 150 canals connected by bridges.  We enjoyed the main thoroughfairs, but also got some respite by venturing off the main walkways and getting lost in the alleys.  The architecture really is magnificent, and the canals are so clean!  Surprising, since Venice has no sewer system.  Sewage flows from homes into the canals and is swept out to the ocean with the tides.  But don't get me wrong, you didn't see any waste in the water, and there was absolutely no litter.

Venice is slowly sinking.  The level of the land has lowered, and the sea levels have risen.  Major flooding regularly occurs now between November and March.

One of the most photographed images in Venice is that of the Gondolas and the gondoliers.  There are about 400 in use today to transport visitors back and forth along the many canals.  By law the gondolas are painted with black lacquer.  They are made of 8 different types of wood and are composed of 280 pieces.  To be a gondolier you need to obtain a special license issued by a guild.  Especially noteworthy...in 2010 the first woman was licensed to become a gondolier!

 

 

 

By the time we reached St. Mark's square we were exhausted.  We just did not have the appetite to stand in line to go inside the church...but we had worked up an appetite to eat!  We were starving and ended up sitting down at a little cafe for some delicious Calamari and a glass of white wine.  It was great fun to just sit back and people watch!

 

 

 

Later I did a little shopping.  I wanted to bring home some masks.  I found out there are three types of masks...the beautiful handmade masks that are worth a fortune...there are factory made masks made in Italy...and there are Venetian masks made in China!  I thought that was a joke when I was told that...but sure enough...many of the cheap ones are made in China.  It was very easy to tell the difference between the most expensive masks and the least expensive.  The handmade ones are simply stunning works of art.  I bought a few of the factory made in Italy masks.  They were just too fun to resist!

 

What I did not know about was the history of the mask that features the long beak.  It originated in the 17th Century.  A Doctor donned this mask to treat bubonic plague victims.  The mask was white and he wore a black cloak with it and a black hat.  He wore white gloves and carried a stick to move the bodies.  It was hoped all of this would help prevent him from catching the dreaded disease. Other Doctors followed suit.  This is a modern day version of the beaked mask...I love it!

At the end of the day we were ready to go home.  We had a little time to kill so we stopped to have a drink.  Our waiter asked if we wanted a small beer or a big beer.  Jim asked for a big glass of draft ... and this is what he got!!!  Luckily the train had restrooms...or we would have been in trouble! 

This was probably the last time I will see Venice...and I am so glad we spent the day here.  It truly is one of the most beautiful cities on earth...and it may not be around forever.  The ocean may claim this jewel one day...and only divers will be able to enjoy it.

Beautiful Florence, Italy!

Florence is the city of my dreams.  I love it here!  What stands out for me?  The food, the wine, the art and the architecture. 

 

 

Ultramarathon running has taken me all over the world and allowed me to learn about other countries.  I love taking in the new sights and sounds.  I enjoy meeting the local people and learning about their customs.  I love running where no other tourists visit...and then pampering myself in the towns or cities close by.

I have actually been to Italy before this, but as a child.  My father was a fighter pilot for the Canadian forces and we were based for 2 years in Sardinia.  I think this is where I first fell in love with Italy, Italians and with the sand!  I remember playing in the sand on the beach and chasing around the beetles.  My parents took my brother and me along for a trip through Italy and we visited Venice...which I vividly remember as well.  How can the beauty of that city ever leave your memory once you have been there?

Growing up in Sardinia.  I am in the foreground...

So, I guess in a way, going to Italy was like going home!  We left Courmayeur in Northern Italy and took a bus to Aosta.  We then hopped on 2 different trains that took us from Aosta to Milan... and then transferred to a third train bound for Florence. 

Our hotel was about a 5 minute taxi ride from the train station....Hotel Kursaal & Ausonia.  We chose this place because it looked really quaint and was within a 20 minute walk of all the major sights.  Because we had moved up our dates to stay in the hotel, they had rebooked us to spend a few nights in a regular double room and then move and spend a few nights in a suite.  Once we arrived and chatted with the owner...he moved us into the suite for the entire week at the same price as a double room!

 

Our suite was beautiful.  After spending a week in Paris once in a teeny tiny room where we could barely walk around the bed without tripping over the luggage...this was luxury!  We had an entryway, a sitting room, a full kitchen (with everything needed to cook with) a huge bathroom with a jacuzzi tub, and a master bedroom.  Our kitchen window looked out into the neighborhood and we could see the Duomo in the distance.

Our first stop was the Duomo.  This is a huge gothic style structure that was completed in 1436.  It is very unusual in that the exterior of the basilica is covered in various shades of pink, green and white marble.  It features the largest brick dome ever built.  We climbed up the dome and the views of Florence were spectacular!  We could also go inside the dome and see the incredible mural painted on the ceiling.  Stunning!  I have included a picture of Jim standing in the stairwell.  Can you believe they actually have to put up signs asking people not to leave graffiti on the walls of the church?  It is revolting how people see nothing wrong about defacing a national treasure by inscribing their names.  I just don't get it.

Another incredible sight in Florence is the Statue of David which stands in the Galleria dell'Accademia.  It is the most beautiful piece of work I have ever seen.  This sculpture looks real, I mean it really looks like a living, breathing being.  The skin looks soft, the veins look like the blood is coursing through them...the muscles seem at rest, yet somehow ready and tensed to move at any moment.  It is really chilling how awesome it is.  It is 17 feet tall and weighs an incredible 6 tons.  This marble statue was sculpted by Italian artist Michelangelo in two years.  Two years!  I wonder at how an artist can see his form through the rock.

Every day we would try and take in a sight or two...but we also just enjoyed living there for a week.  Every morning we would head out to the Central Market to buy our food for the day.  Jim loves to cook and he is Italian...so this was his mecca if you will.  By the end of the week we had our favorite shops and vendors that we liked to visit and buy from. 

What can be better than wine, cheese and bread?  We shopped for olives, vegetables, pasta, herbs, fruit, mushrooms...it was absolute heaven!  There was one stand that selled Offal.  I'm sorry, but Offal to me is just awful...really.  It basically means the organs and entrails of butchered animals.  You could buy cow stomachs, brains, liver and bull penis.  Yes, if you look in the picture below those are bull penises in the top right hand corner.  Now I have eaten " prairie oysters" before (bull testicles breaded and fried) but I think I have to draw the line at penis.  I mean really, just looking at it....nope.

We would start our day off with Italian espresso along with a chocolate croissant.  We would sightsee for awhile, and then take a break and go home to have a little lunch.  We were bad!  We would have some white wine along with some tomatoes and fresh mozzarella tossed in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and fresh basil.  Decadent!  Then we would have a little afternoon nap.  Jim was still really sick with bronchitis and it didn't get any better until we got home to Florida.  Mine cleared up in a week.  We got lots of rest and ate really well to enable us to get healthy again!

I learned a lot about the foods that are revered in Italy...like Balsamic Vinegar. The finest Balsamic comes from Modena and neighboring Reggio Emilia.  You can find cheap bottles with newer batches of vinegar...to the finest Balsamic which can be aged up to 100 years and cost a small fortune.  It is literally kept in special cases and is treated like the world's best champagnes!  We saw a 100 ml bottle that was going for the asking price of  $850!

Olive oil is another treasure.  Italy, Spain and Greece are the major olive oil producers in the world...supplying 75 percent of world production!  Extra Virgin olive oil is judged to have a superior taste.  There are actually allegations that producers in Spain and Italy are passing off olive oil as extra virgin...when it's not.  Fake oil!  And in 2008, Italian police conducted "Operation Golden Oil"...arresting 23 people involved in a scheme to take oil from other countries and relabel it Italian.  Corruption, food fraud, scheming and conniving all in the name of profit in the olive oil industry.  Who knew?!!!

We would work up an appetite with our walks...(we didn't go for any runs)  The Ponte Vecchio bridge was about a half hour stroll from our hotel.  It is a famous medieval stone bridge that used to have butcher shops on it.  The butchers would dump all of their waste from the bridge into the Arno river below.  Now the shops are all high-end gold, silver and gem stores.  I didn't even do any window shopping since the only jewelry that interests me are ethnic pieces from Africa and the Middle East. 

The Uffizi Gallery contains the greatest collection of Italian paintings anywhere, along with the star piece...The Birth of Venus by Italian artist Sandro Botticelli.  This painting is said to be one of the most recognizable images in art history.  It depicts the birth of the Goddess of Love.  The God of Winds is blowing her ashore in a floating seashell ... while another goddess awaits on land with a floral robe to cover her with.  Of course I had to go into the shops afterward and purchase my fridge magnet and eyeglass cleaning cloth and umbrella ... all with Venus on it!  I'm a sucker for some of the tourist crap!

I will always remember trying to get out of that museum.  I swear I spent more time wandering around trying to get out...than I did in looking at all of the art.  At every exit there were security people telling you that you can't go out this way...and pointing vaguely down the hall to another way of exiting.  And I wasn't the only one that appeared to be exasperated...there were dozens of people wandering around...looking for a way out!  I saw one person sleeping on a bench in there...and I guessed they probably just gave up.  Might as well wait until closing and get someone to show you the door! (They could use some race flags to show the way!)


So now it was time to eat again...I swear I don't know how much I would weigh if I didn't run, because I love to eat!!!  Time for some of that wine and cheese I was talking about!  Parmesiano Reggiano is the reigning cheese of Italy.  I have always loved to buy a block of aged Parmesan and then shred it over pasta or eat small chunks with wine.  Authentic versions carry a mark with the producers registration number, along with the year and month of production.  The older the cheese, the sharper the taste.  The oldest I could find was 8 years old.

As for wine...I had to drink Chianti.  It is usually thought of as the wine in a bottle enclosed by a staw basket, which is actually called "fiasco" or "flask".  But the straw covered bottles are only used by a few wine makers now.  Chianti is Italy's largest wine region and produces 8 million cases a year!  I think I should have shares in one of the vineyards!  We loved the Chianti over our many meals of pasta!

And what better to have after dinner than Italian gelato!  In Florence we tried out the sorbet, with strawberry and mango being our favorites! Italy is the only country in the world where there is more handmade ice cream consumed than factory produced!

  One night we made the mistake of deciding to have grappa instead of gelato.  Grappa is served as an after dinner drink.  It is an Italian brandy that can range from 70 to 120 proof.  Wow!  It reminded me of my days in University when we used to drink the odd shot of Everclear!  It goes down hot and then warms up and numbs the body.  One shot was enough!

We took one day off from strolling through Florence and decided to head to Venice for the day!  What could be better than a nice leisurely day in Venice with supper at a restaurant next to one of the world-famous canals?!  That will be my next post...