Napoli: November 29th – 30th

We were welcomed to Napoli with a torrential downpour yesterday afternoon. It rained all day in Napoli which was a bummer. We had a difficult time finding our hostel but when we finally arrived at Hostel at the Sun, we were content. We received a very warm welcome from Carla, the host of the hostel, and instantly felt like we were at home. The hostel was a flat with a few dorm rooms and colorful common areas. We enjoyed the rest of the day staying warm inside the hostel and getting to know the other travelers.

This morning, we woke up early and got ready for our day trip to Pompeii. Italy’s main train lines were on strike so we had to take the Circumvesuviana line (30-minute trip). When we arrived in Pompeii, it was rainy but that didn’t stop us from enjoying a day in this historic site. We saw a variety of villas, famous houses, theaters, bakeries, and temples. Walking on the rough cobble stone was the best reminder of how ancient this town really is (dating back over 2000 years ago).

When we got back to Naples this afternoon, we had the BEST pizza at Pizzeria Michel. It's been around for over 100 years and they only make two kinds, margherita and marinera. We got both and enjoyed every bite of each! We walked down one of their main streets and ordered a smaller pizza, served fresh and hot straight from the oven, from Pizzeria Matteo, the 2nd best pizzeria in Napoli! We walked around some more around town and were happy to see all the Christmas decorations and goods being sold in many stores and on the streets.

We head to Sorrento tomorrow where we will spend a couple of nights at. We plan to explore the city and the rest of the Almafi Coast. And of course, enjoy limoncello!

Updated Pictures

Please copy and paste the links to see the updated pictures of our trip! Thanks!

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More pictures from Rome!

Walking all over Rome: November 28th

We had a long day of walking in store for us so we slept in a bit and got energized with a yummy Italian meal of fresh pasta and a caprese salad we made ourselves in the hostel kitchen.

After lunch, we set off to see our first site of the day, the Pantheon, a very impressive structure that has withstood the test of time. Architects can’t seem to figure out how the dome is still standing after all these years (there are no support columns, arches or braces) – the Pantheon is simply a cement dome. Following the Pantheon, we walked a few streets over to Piazza Navona. It was a piazza filled with colorful buildings, bars, cafes, craft and food vendors, and three large fountains. Unfortunately, the middle fountain was under renovation.
We then walked towards the Vatican City to see Castel Saint Angelo. From there, we had a great view of St. Peter’s Basilica. We walked a couple more kilometers down to the Trastevere area where we had a nice view of the Basilica at dusk from one of the bridges over the Tiber River. Above us were swarms of small black birds flying all around, forming different shapes like a school of fish would. We witnessed this event the night before and were intrigued with the collective behavior of these birds. In one of the Trastevere piazzas we had the best pizza in Rome! It was the San Calisto Pizza: olives, eggplant, tomatoes, mozzarella, and mushrooms. YUM! Following our dinner we visited the Santa Maria Church that was located in the same piazza that we ate our pizza in. Santa Maria was another massive church with gold mosaic work on the back wall and above the altar.

We left Trastevere and headed towards the Vittorio Emmanuel II Monument and the Coliseum for some nice night pictures. When we got there, lo and behold, there was a taxi strike. All of Rome’s taxis were stationed around the Monument and all along Rome’s busiest and oldest road (parallel to the Roman Forum), preventing traffic from entering and allowing pedestrians to walk in the middle of the street towards the Coliseum.

After seven hours of walking we finally returned to our hostel. Who knows how many miles we logged today?!? As large of a city that Rome is, it is definitely walkable. Just remember to stretch your legs and hip flexors in the morning!

We head to Napoli next!

More Pictures from the Vatican City

Vatican City: November 27th

We got up bright and early to prepare for our full day in the Vatican City.

Our first visit was the Vatican Museum. We were fascinated with the old sculptures, marble head busts, as well with the vast and colorful wall and ceiling paintings located in many of the rooms and halls. The best part of the Vatican Museum was the Sistine Chapel. It is here where the Conclave takes place, a very important church ceremony. This traditional meeting of the Cardinals is aimed at electing the new Pope. The painters involved in this sublime work of pictorial decoration included the most respected names in the world of Italian painting, first and foremost Michelangelo. There were two frescoes starting from the altar and running along the walls on the left and right. The fresco of the ceiling was done by Michelangelo and was completed in just three years. The central part of the ceiling, divided into panels, represented scenes from Genesis including The Creation of Adam and The Creation of Eve. Around the lower part of the ceiling, 12 huge figures of Prophets were depicted. The best part of the Chapel was the amazing wall behind the altar painted by Michelangelo, The Last Judgment.

After spending a few hours at the museum, we made our way to St. Peter’s Square and Basilica. At the center of the square stood an Egyptian obelisk and it was flanked by two fountains. So you know how we mentioned that Santa Maria Major from Monday was enormous? Well…the size of St. Peter Basilica was incomprehensible. Simply put, there’s nothing like it! St. Peter must have been one HECK of a guy!

We immediately realized that we entered the largest and most grandiose sacred building in existence: a building vast in scale, décor, and inspirational effect. The Basilica displayed wonderful works of art in a splendid fusion of the Renaissance and Baroque Era. In the central nave, the venerated bronze statue of St. Peter stood (13th Century). A series of chapels opened up along the aisles. They included the Chapel of Pieta, with its famous Michelangelo statue of the dead body of Christ lying in the lap of his Mother, the Pieta (Michelangelo sculpted this at the age of 24). Up high above, we admired Michelangelo’s massive dome (120m high).
After exploring inside the Basilica, we decided to walk up the 521 steps up to the top of dome in hopes to find breathtaking views of the city. And boy were they breathtaking! The view from the top was amazing! The long and narrow trek to the top was well worth it. We had a remarkable view of St. Peter‘s Square and the Vatican Museum. In the distance we could see Villa Borghese, the Vittorio Emanuel II Monument, the Palatine, the Coliseum and the Roman Forum.

We had a late lunch at a local bar which was recommended in our guide book. We both shared a caprese salad, lasagna and pork. We thought the tomatoes in the salad and with the pork were interesting - they were green and we debated if they were ripe or not. After our late lunch, we crossed the Tiber River and had the best espresso and cappuccino (with a free splash of Bailey’s liquor) at Café Peru. We also had a nice glass of freshly-squeezed O.J. there. We walked back to the Trevi Fountain which was fortunately less crowded than our first experience. After Trevi, we returned to our favorite gelateria in Rome, Il Gelatone, and had two scoops each on a cone! Ben had pistachio and hazelnut topped with cream. Liya had tiramisu and amaretto. All were delicious!

Overall, it was a wonderful day spent in the Vatican City. Rome has definitely made our list of top cities in Europe, even with much remaining to be seen!

Rome: November 25th-26th

When we arrived in Rome early Sunday afternoon, we were immediately amazed with the size of the Termini Train Station. Anything and everything was situated in the station – grocery store, a Nike store, Sephora, Post Office, a UPIM Department Store, restaurants, bars, Tabacchi mini mart stores, etc. For our first day in Rome, we started at Piazza della Repubblica and Santa Maria degli Angeli. We’ve seen massive churches in Europe over the past two months but this was MASSIVE. Gosh…we won’t know how to describe St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican later! After Santa Maria, we made our way to the Spanish Steps and Piazza di Spagna. Even with the damp weather the Steps were packed with tourists. It was a sight to see! The sky was a gorgeous dark purple and pink color at dusk. To follow was the Trevi Fountain, also another huge tourist site. At the fountain, we made our wishes and threw coins from over our shoulders. Following the fountain, we enjoyed small cups of gelato from the famous Gelateria San Crispino. Liya had honey and cinnamon-ginger flavors while Ben had his usual, Pistacio and Hazelnut. We walked around the city for a while longer and came across another gelateria called Il Gelatone and there, we concluded, had the BEST gelato. The lady working behind the counter was kind and generous. She gave us two incredibly large scoops of gelato each on a cone for 2 Euros each (one heck of a deal!) and we were in HEAVEN. Ben had biscotti and chocolate while Liya had coconut and banana. Il Gelatone was the real deal! We went to bed that evening, two very full (of gelato) and happy travelers!

On Monday (day two) we visited Santa Maria Major, the Roman Forum, the Vittorio Emanuele II Monument and the Coliseum. We started at Santa Maria Major which was located near our hostel. Now we know we mentioned that Santa Maria degli Angeli from yesterday’s visit was massive, but Santa Maria Major was enormous and awe-inspiring! Following the cathedral was the Roman Forum. We walked for another 10 minutes and were instantly impressed with the former center of Rome. There were Roman ruins everywhere. To the left we saw the massive Coliseum and the Palatine and to the right was the towering white structure and monument dedicated to Vittorio Emanuele II. For lunch, we had a couple of tasty pizza slices at Pizza Art where pizza was priced by the kilogram. On the way back to the Forum we made our way into the Jewish Ghetto where Ben bought a few pastries, including warm challah. Back at the Forum, we were amazed with the grandeur of what ancient Rome and its civilization used to be like. Next stop of the day was at the Coliseum. Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to go inside because the lines were too long but our views of the structure from the outside were just fine. One could imagine what took place inside the Coliseum during the ancient times. For dinner, we had a free pasta dinner at the hostel which was convenient; however, it was not the best pasta. But what can we say? It was free! For the rest of the evening, we enjoyed hanging out at the hostel with other travelers and keeping it low key.

Pisa, Cortona, Perugia: November 23rd-24th

Pisa and Cortona: November 23rd

We left Lucca early Friday morning and made our way down to Pisa via train. We spent a couple of hours enjoying the Duomo and the Leaning Tower. Like all of the other tourists, we took silly pictures while holding up the Leaning Tower. From Pisa, we hopped on a train heading south towards Cortona. Ben read in one of our guide books that 2/3 of Under the Tuscan Sun was filmed in this beautiful hill town. Not only was it filmed there, but the story originated from this small town. We enjoyed the evening strolling around the streets and piazzas. We had dinner at a small ristorante where we shared vegetable soup, Ben had pasta with truffle oil and mushrooms, and Liya had pasta with wild boar sauce. It wasn’t the best pasta we’ve had but it was something new and different. The next morning we enjoyed sunny views of the country surrounding Cortona from the hill top. It was Saturday morning so that meant Market Day in the town’s main piazza.
Next stop, Perugia!

Perugia: November 24th
We arrived in Perugia early afternoon only to find that our hostel was not open until 4pm. So we situated ourselves on the steps of the Duomo, snacked on some tasty foccacia bread and drank some delicious 1997 Tuscan wine (only 6 Euros!). We still had some time to spare before checking in, so we read our books in a nearby tea room. After having some tea, we were welcomed to a ‘lovely’ downpour. We haven’t seen rain like this since last winter in Seattle! For the remainder of the evening, we strolled around the streets of Perugia and admired the old medieval buildings and arches of this lively hill town. Fortunately for us, the rain stopped and we enjoyed a beautiful sunset. Liya stopped in one of the many bakeries and bought several different pastries. Her favorite was the creamed-filled brioche – sweet, soft, and heavenly! For dinner, we cooked up a large batch of pesto rigatoni and enjoyed some nice red wine. Perugia was a lovely town with a young spirit to it. We wish we had a few more days to enjoy but…

Next stop, Roma!

Lucca: Nov. 21st and 22nd

We enjoyed a two night stay in the small medieval-walled town of Lucca. Our first afternoon in town was spent walking around the whole wall (4.2 km). This provided us great views of both inside and outside the walls of Lucca. We enjoyed the mountains surrounding the city and the colorful trees lining the walking paths. For dinner, we enjoyed a supermarket meal of apples, two kinds of pecirino cheese, parmagiano reggiano, prosciutto and green olives. Later in the evening we ventured around the city and ran into a nice fellow at a bar. Blaise (from L.A.) has been living in Lucca for the past five weeks and is an opera singer. We asked for his recommendation on a place to find good tiramisu and he brought us to his friends’ restaurant, Trattoria de Leo. The restaurant has been owned and managed by the same family for the past 28 years. Parents and children work at this fabulous Trattoria and proudly post pictures on the wall. Blaise recommended just about everything on the menu and we ended up trying their two zuppas (soups) – Ben had the fagioli (bean) soup and Liya had the verdure (vegetable) soup. Both were delicious and very hearty. For dessert, we enjoyed the homemade tiramisu. One word - WOW. The lady fingers were soaked with goodness!!! Next, we were treated to a bowl of melon and chili pepper sorbet, a very interesting but tasty combination, and small glasses of grappa and lemoncello. It was such a great meal and place to be that we promised to return the next day for a Thanksgiving feast! After our meal we enjoyed a beer at the local Irish Pub with Blaise.

For our last day in Lucca, we enjoyed window-shopping down its many shop-lined streets. For lunch, we returned to Trattoria de Leo as promised. We were sad to miss our first Thanksgiving away from home and all of the delicious food made by our wonderful family. So instead of a traditional Thanksgiving feast, we decided to do huge traditional Italian feast at the Trattoria. We don’t know how the Italians eat so much in one sitting! A traditional meal would go as follows: Vino, Bread and Antipasto, Primi Plato, Secondi Plato, Side of Veggies or Potatoes, Dolce and an expresso or a liquor to finish. OK, so we didn’t do a full traditional meal but this was the first time in Italy that we both ordered first and second courses with side dishes (we honestly felt satisfied after the first course!!!)To start, Ben enjoyed a savory dish of fresh pasta mixed with greens and sausage and Liya enjoyed a dish of risotto with pumpkin cream sauce. For our second and main course, Liya had bistecca (grilled beef steak), a dish one must apparently eat in the Tuscan region. The grill taste was very nice but she has had better steaks in the States! Ben enjoyed spare ribs with roasted potatoes in olive oil. The meat was so tender and the potatoes were to die for! For our side dishes, we ordered a slice of Vegetable pie (similar to quiche) and a plate of oven-roasted vegetables. After all of that food, we definitely did not have room for dessert! After our huge meal, we went back to our hostel for a siesta! (Just like on Thanksgiving!) The evening was ended on a high note – we had the opportunity to talk to our loved ones back home to wish them a Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cinque Terre: November 18th-20th

**DISCLAIMER** The authors of this blog would like to mention the difficultly they experienced while attempting to describe the visual treat that Cinque Terre provides the viewer. Words, and even most pictures, do not do justice in depicting what this Italian paradise has to offer. At your next convenience, please book your tickets to visit Cinque Terre.

The two hour train ride from Siena to Cinque Terre was smooth and easy. The train dropped us off at town number one, Riomaggiorre, which was our home base for the “5 lands.” Even the train station had a fabulous view of the vast and brilliantly blue Mediterranean.

A 100 meter walking tunnel took us from the train station and through the mountain to our small, colorful and humble town. Without directions we managed to easily find our hostel. Riomaggiorre has only one Via that runs uphill from the port to the top of the town. We dropped our packs off at our place and made our way up the road to see what the town had to offer. Looking down on the town from the top of the street was amazing. On either side were colorful houses jetting out of the cliffside and grape vines covering the land above. The colors of the grape leaves gave away the current season was fall. We walked towards the sea on a road that ended with a small castle that sat above the town. The view in each direction was grand. Our way down to sea level took us through ‘streets’ that are better described as steep walkways and alleys that eventually lead to doorsteps of homes. Not your conventional streets by a long shot. The port of the town was humble and made of concrete. All of the boats were wooden with no hint of the modern and wild world. The rock beach provided a lovely spot for us to watch the sun go down. Switching strokes from left to right, a local man paddled his boat with one hand while the other guided his fishing line. The ease in which he went through the water made it seem as if he had been fishing this way his entire life off of the coast of Riomaggiore.

We were glad to find out that the town did have a market to purchase groceries. We enjoyed a good meal of pasta with fresh pesto and a good bottle of wine. Some of our new roommates walked in while we were eating and this marked the beginning of a long evening with good company and conversation. While this small town is not particularly known for its nightlife, we did manage to close down the local pub. We headed home for a night of rest before the long day ahead.

The Cinque Terre hike is a total of 9km (5.5 miles) from town one to five. With our carb load from dinner the night before, we departed Riomaggiorre with our minds set on Monterosso. The first leg of the trip, from Riomaggiorre to Manorolla, is appropriately called the “walkway of love.” Smooth and flat concrete made the 20 minute stroll very easy and one to remember. As for the remainder of our hike it was not as easy, but very memorable. We saw all types of paths; concrete, dirt, rock, wide, narrow, steep and flat. Wonderful views were a constant, whether it was high above the Mediterranean, deep inside the coves with vineyards abound, or through the colorful towns themselves. Switchbacks of 286 steps got us to the hilltop town of Corniglia where a gelato reward awaited us. The local miele (honey) flavor was a fantastic treat after our journey to the top. Our travels to the next two towns (Vernezza and Monterosso) were the most demanding and intense. A new view of the surroundings from the next hill top or around the precarious bend was always incentive enough for us to continue. With an hour to go we met a couple from Olympia, WA on the trail and had a great time finishing the hike through Cinque Terre. When it was all said and done, it took five hours and 12 minutes for us to reach Monterosso. We pondered how long it would take us if we really wanted to make a race out of it. We weren’t as impressed when we thought what Lance Armstrong or even our two mountaineer friends from Issaquah could make it in. Nonetheless our hike was full of great times, great exercise, great views and most importantly, great company.

The nine minute train ride back to Riomaggiorre made us appreciate even more the technology we so frequently rely on throughout this trip. Since the pesto was so good the night before, we decided to enjoy the same again. This time we teamed up with a roommate, Kalie from L.A. and Barcelona, to make a big meal of pasta, fried potatoes, eggplant and tomatos, and vino from Montepulciano.

Day three was dedicated to seeing more of each town. With slightly sore legs we took the train to all five towns to get a better feel for what each had to offer. We stopped in Manorola to have lunch at a Trattoria that one of our roommates highly recommended to us the night before. Liya enjoyed a big plate of Batti Batti (linguinni with lobster) and Ben had a ravioli dish with a salmon sauce. Both were outrageously delicious and very reasonably priced. To close our stomachs, we had a tiramisu that made our heads spin it was so good. The remainder of the day was spent walking off our great meal through the unique towns of Cinque Terre.

Siena: November 15th – 17th

Siena – the amazing hill town where Ben’s older brother, Nick, studied for a few months as a senior at the University of Washington. We arrived early afternoon and took the bus to the outskirts of the city where our hostel was located (the only hostel in Siena too!) After checking in, we headed back down to the city center.

Once we arrived in Centro, we walked to Il Campo, a large shell-shaped piazza. Each year, on the 2nd of July and the 16th of August, the Palio horse races take place in this famous square. What a great spectacle that would be! After taking several pictures at Il Campo, we walked to the Duomo di Siena. It dominates the square with its covering of white-black marble and its Romanesque-Gothic façade. The building is decorated with statues of kings and prophets. Even the inside is a masterpiece! The floors, walls and ceilings are covered with colorful marble and the top is lined with the faces of different Popes throughout history. We really enjoyed walking through this beautiful hill town. Liya loved all the colorful shutters on the windows, the narrow and steep roads, the flowers on the window sills, and the network of colorful clothes hanging to dry from building to building.

For dinner, we enjoyed a Happy Hour (drink and buffet) at Nannini, a popular bar and bakery in town. We had a large glass of Chianti – perfecto! From the buffet, we enjoyed traditional Italian and Sienese dishes. The following were offered: Seafood mixed in vinegar and olive oil; Sautéed zucchini and mushrooms and drenched in olive oil; Proschetto-stuffed croissant rolls; Salmon and salty-cod served with large mushrooms; Coleslaw Italian-style; Pork tenderloin; Omelet; roasted red and yellow peppers with mushrooms, also drenched in olive oil. We definitely got our money’s worth- we were stuffed silly by the end of the night! This amazing HH was only 5.50 euro each! To close our stomachs (dessert) we had a couple pieces of the traditional panforte at Nannini – imagine a supped-up version of fruit cake. The original one (candied fruits, honey, almonds) had very good flavor and a chewy consistency, while the chocolate and nuts version was lacking a bit. Either would be wonderful with a good cup of tea.

Our second day in Siena was dedicated to experiencing more of Il Centro. We began our day at Nannini with a sweet brioche and a cappuccino. From there we simply wandered the streets of Siena, getting lost, then found and repeating that process. One of our highlights of the day was at a wine shop near Il Campo. The older gentleman that owned and operated this good-sized shop was friendly and welcoming. He introduced us to three of the traditional wines of the local Tuscan region – Chianti, Montepulciano, and Brunello di Montelcino. Tastings included a great Chianti Reserva and a full bodied Montepulchiano. He must have been saving the Brunello (the primo of the three) for that night’s supper or the next holiday. We also had the opportunity to taste freshly pressed olive oil from this year’s harvest – Wow! Talk about knock one of your socks off. The flavor was intense and made the bottles used at home seem like child’s play. Then came the fancy basalmic vinegar, another Chianti, and to finish….drum roll please…lemoncello! Liya’s first taste of Italy’s infamous lemon liqueur went as follows: puckered lips, open mouth to let the heat out (60 proof), and then it was all smiles. This stuff will easily knock the other sock off!

We had a late lunch at a tiny place nearby that had hand-written menus on old pieces of paper. La Chaccherio served local dishes to the locals themselves. Some vini rossi opened up our stomachs for the fresh pici with mushroom sauce (Liya’s choice), and the fresh farfalle with a squash sauce (Ben’s choice). Both dishes were light and pretty good. We enjoyed using our Spanish again with the couple from Madrid that joined us at our round table of four. We walked off our lunch and saw more of the hill town and the surrounds views it had to offer.

While our supermarket dinner was nothing fancy, it was definitely very tasty. A fresh baguette provided the foundation for fresh ricotta cheese, two local pecorino cheese, fresh pesto, fresh vine ripened tomatoes, and prosciutto. We also ordered a small wood oven pizza to share from a local and very popular pizzeria down the street. Ben said he would be satisfied with this flavorful meal any day of the week – Liya added gelato to complete our menu.

A good night of rest prepared us for the exciting days to come. Our next destination was one of high importance to visit from the beginning of our European adventure.

Cross it off of the list – we made it to Cinque Terre!

Florence: November 13th-15th

The trip from Venice was a short two hours. We arrived in the late afternoon on Tuesday. Once we stepped out of the train station we realized that we will have a really cold month in Italy. Temperature and wind-wise, Florence was just as bad as Venice! For our first night, we stayed in and hung out with other travelers and backpackers staying at the hostel. We befriended several Canadians, a Brit, an Argentinean, and a couple of fellow Americans. One was from Seattle – Hi Dylan! The hostel provided a great environment for everyone to relax and enjoy the company of fellow travelers. The only thing that irked us was one of the flags the owners proudly had hanging up in the kitchen – the Confederate Flag! We asked them if they knew the history behind the flag and their reply was “yes, and we think the design is very cool.” Well, one of the Americans and the Brit took the flag, soaked it in water and put it in the freezer - should be a lovely surprise in a few days.

The next day, we woke up to rain! NOOOOOO! It was only the 2nd time we had rain this whole trip! The temperature was in the upper 30s! Brrrrr! We spent half of the day walking through and around the Central Market. We ended the day at the Duomo which was a spectacular structure. Inside the Duomo, we were in awe of the massive painting within the dome. For dinner, we ate pasta at a local favorite, Trattoria Guelfa. It was packed with locals and had a great ambiance. We ordered a caprese salad to start. The mozzarella was delicious and this one was served with basil. The olive oil was unique – it was green and delicious – and the real deal as Ben likes to put it. For our main course, Ben had fresh rigatoni smothered with mushroom, ham and truffle sauce. Liya had risotto with porcini mushrooms and tomatoes. Both were rich in flavor and incredibly delicious. We were really impressed with our meal, finally!

For our last day in Florence, we headed into old town Florence. Fortunately for us, the weather cleared up. We walked to the large Piazza Signoria where we saw a number of sculptures, including a marble copy of Michelangelo’s David. We had lunch at another local favorite, Trattoria Anita, a hole-in-the-wall kind of restaurant. We each had the menu of the day: Ben started with the house lasagna (amazing!) and for his second course, he had a caprese salad (the mozzarella was even better than what we had for dinner the night before); Liya started with a penne with spicy tomato and garlic sauce and for her second course, she had bistecca (flank steak pretty much, a traditional Florence plate). Ben gave two thumbs up for his plates, and Liya gave one up and one down. After lunch, we headed down to Old Bridge, a creative name for Florence’s oldest bridge. It was a great sight to see the old homes build into the side of this old bridge. After making it across we trekked up to Piazza Michelangelo where we had a great panoramic view of the city. The setting sun and light at dusk turned the great view into an amazing one. Since we were still pretty full from lunch, we stopped by the grocery store to grab some delicious bottles of Spumanti Champagne (1 euro each!) and Asiago cheese. We went back to the hostel and had a great evening hanging out and drinking with the other backpackers.

Goodbye flag in the freezer. Hello, Siena!