Istanbul, Turkey is our destination this year. We will be staying for 5 days in the big capital.

I still have 2 weeks to plan the trip, reserve a decent hotel and decide what parts of the city I want to see.  So far, the below are a must see.

Hagia Sofia
Blue Mosque
Topkapi Palace
Grand Bazaar and the Spice Bazaar
Bosphorus Cruise

The last time we came to San Gimignano, a beautiful medieval village in the heart of Tuscany, we were in such a rush with the family rushing us and trying to do a million things in one day! We decided then that the village is definitely worth another trip. And this weekend was perfect.
We woke up late (a typical Deeb family Saturday!),  and we lazily went to S.M.N. Stazione. We picked up il treno regionale ticket to Poggibonsi F.S. (5.10EUR/person) from the automatic ticket machine. These things are truly easy; apparently not for most people though,  if you consider the guy in front of us took 8 full minutes to get his tickets!
Arriving at the Boggibonsi station, we picked up the bus to San Gimignano after a quick café at the station bar. The sights on the road up to the village (20 minutes in the bus) are simply amazing. The Chianti hills and vineyards, the scattered clouds, a few olive groves here and there, and the fields of sunflowers soon to be picked. All beautiful!
The village itself is pretty interesting. Pia’s camera (Nikon D90) was working overtime today
In her own words: “Anywhere you look there’s something to shoot!”

True! There is the wonderful scenery of the Tuscan hillside all below you and extending forever. There’s also the remaining towers of San Gimignano (most of the towers were destroyed over the years/during the world wars). The whole village is built with same stones as the towers, but in some places you can see different stone patterns/types in the same building! Italians!

Pia will post another blog later on with her own thoughts about the day. She will probably write about how she forced me to taste the wonderful gelato made by the “world champion” of ice cream makers! Or maybe about the tasty lunch we had in the park just outside the old city entrance.
We’re in the train going back to Firenze now. We picked up a couple of yogurts and resting our feet in the train. I should probably turn off the netbook and get some sleep before we arrive.

The Dancing House, Fred and Ginger, Drunk House all are nicknames of the Nationale-Nederlanden building in downtown  Prague, Czech Republic ( Rašínovo nábeží 80, 120 00 Praha 2)

Prague contains one of the world’s most varied collections of architecture: Neo-Baroque, Gothic, Cubist, Renaissance and Art Nouveau.

The two architects Vlado Miluni & Frank Gehry designed this building on a vacant space on the riverfront of the Vlatva (The previous building was destroyed in 1945) and it was completed in 1996.

The Dancing House resembles a dancing couple, and it really stands out among the old historic buildings of Prague.

We included the visit to the building in our schedule while planning for this trip. On the 19th of November 2008, the plan was to find The Hard Rock Caffe in Old Town (buying t-shirt for my brother in law),  check out the Dancing House, find a good restaurant for lunch, and have dinner at Robert’s place where we got to meet his amazing family.

It was very cold, rainy and windy and that made finding the building a difficult task.
When we got there I started taking photos from several angles, we crossed the road facing the famous building and there we were standing on a bridge  taking photos of the dancing house and the amazing Vlatva river, when we came across “Matilda”, an Italian Restaurant-Boat.

I was literally able to see my husband’s eyes light up! So we decided to have lunch there.
It was the perfect refuge from rain and cold and the perfect choice for lunch, the food was delicious and service was great.

All in all it was an amazing experience. We were able to see Prague’s Castle from the boat.  We also spent some time picking on some swans and ducks swimming in Vlatva…

We couldn’t resist ordering Pasta! Abdallah had a Tagliatelle Al Funghi.
and I had Gnocchi and Chicken dish with pancetta, basil, chicken stock and Parmesan.