RxSw-Part One - By Guest Blogger E.O.

Dogtown Suite, Hotel Erwin

It was officially official, RxSw (Rome by Southwest) had finally begun! At 11:30 sharp last Friday morning I had made my bed all nice for the house-sitters, triple checked to make sure I had my passport and toothbrush and walked out the door of our Haight Street apartment. Down the four flights of stairs and one hill up I went to Tess' car with suitcase in tow. I was to meet Alex and E.F. in the financial district where they were both getting off work. This ended up being the most stressful part of the trip as this car-less San Franciscan was a lot more used to being a pedestrian. The people, the traffic, all the stop lights and one-way streets made me so nervous I had to start listening to my mellow music mix just to get through it. But, I found them both and as Alex is a geography whiz; we ended up making it all the way to Los Angeles not hitting traffic once. In fact, we made such good time we decided to head straight to Silver lake to meet up with some friends for dinner.
At around midnight, we were all pretty beat so headed over to the Hotel Erwin where we were just looking forward to a comfortable room with two beds to rest for the night. Much to our surprise, when we checked-in we found that the Director of Sales and amazing friend of mine, Jairo has hooked us up with the Dogtown Suite! Our exhilaration overwhelmed our exhaustion as we were in awe over the awesome room. With its gigantic round bed over-looking the Ocean, the private roof-top deck and room decor I can best describe as quintessentially Venice Beach we were pretty stoked (also, a good word to use in Venice). The next morning, we decided on room service if only to enjoy the Suite a bit longer. But, by 11:00 or so we decided to bid the Erwin farewell and begin the 8 hour trek to Tucson, AZ. The morning before  I left on this trip I met for breakfast with a friend who had travelled extensively through the U.S. I told him that I was excited about the whole thing, but just as with the final scene from "The Graduate" it was finally here and I found my emotions to be...well not as ecstatic as what I had thought they might. His advice was to just wait until I got out of the State of California and then it will really hit you. He couldn't have been more right. Once I crossed the AZ border and especially once we made it to Tucson; I was feeling the thrill of the open-road and the excitement of exploring a new city completely. I was officially on an adventure and I was in love with it.

For our first night in Tucson, we stayed at the Hotel Congress which definitely added to the contentment level. This is one of the coolest hotels I've had the pleasure to check out. Think of the Ahwahnee, mixed with a bit of Ace Hotels, except in the Southwest. Ok, maybe that won't work for you but hopefully you'll get an idea of the place with the photos below. Our first night there we sat outside with our drinks, enjoyed the warm night air and listened to the sound of trains coming in and out of the station. It was a great feeling.
The next morning after a hearty breakfast of huevos rancheros, we headed to the Saguaro National Park. Coming from San Francisco; the desert-scape, vast amount of open space and warm weather is the exact opposite of what my life is like on a daily basis so I was reveling in the difference...we all were. We went along a few nice trails through the park and then decided it was time for lunch and then a swim at our next hotel stop the Westin, La Paloma.
La Paloma Resort is a great large resort with bus loads of groups coming in, plenty of recreational activities on-site, restaurants and lots of hotel rooms. I must admit that this "boutique hotel" kind of gal found it to be a but daunting at first. But, as I'm sitting writing this from our sunny outdoor patio with a vast view of Tucson I find that I'm easily able to adapt. Plus, the best part of this hotel is the huge pool slide which is what Alex, E.F. and I will be enjoying until we decide it's time to head to our next destination. Phoenix, AZ. More to come...

That's me! Photo courtesy of E.F. 

Pool side/Pool slide

The Mighty Guinigi Oak

In the Tuscan town of Lucca - a city surrounded by a mighty Renaissance stone wall and ramparts - you'll find the colossal Guinigi Tower on top of which are planted four oak trees, their growth stunted but their roots firmly planted. It's as if, perturbed by the fact that they couldn't see over the city's wall, the trees decided to seek higher ground and form a new utopian society. Wind-whipped and sun drenched they've watched over the city like acorn launching super heroes.

It was there amongst these four oak amici watching the sun set over the ancient homes of Lucca, as my husband snapped pictures of what he calls my "wild turkey face" (i.e. the riding all day in the Campervan gypsy look) that I realized what it is I love about this land so much - that overwhelming, all-consuming Italian desire to catch a glimpse of beauty and magic no matter the obstacles that lay in one's path.

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More Lucca snapshots...



















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Location:Siena, Italy

Cinque Reasons To Visit Cinque Terre

Nine years ago I first stepped foot in the magical Italian land stuck in time known as the Cinque Terre. Nestled on the coast with its pirate defending castles, it feels like the Disneyland of Italia - the Limoncello is at its most yellow, the mommas yell their loudest across narrow alleyways, the houses are as pastel as Easter eggs, and the smells in the air feel as if they're purposefully being pumped out of vents to lure you inside its Gelaterias and Focaccerias. If this hasn't yet caught your imagination, I offer my top five reasons to visit these five intoxicating lands by the sea.



1.) The Focaccia bread with its lovely green olives lined in neat rows is the best in Italy.
2.) Pesto - yup, still on the food kick - was invented in this region and is worth being bought by the pound.
3.) Manarola. One of the five cities I once passed over is now my and Hannes' favorite seaside gem. Just take a look at the picture at the top of the blog, taken from a lemon tree lined vineyard path, and tell me you don't want to book your flight immediately.
4.) There is no place I've found where life and travel is more easy going.
5.) Save Vernazza. After the decimating storm that passed through last October, Vernazza - one of the most charming towns in all of Italy - lost lives and a million Euros in property damage. It was sad to walk its hollowed out streets with my memories of it haunting me, but the laughter and smiles of its villagers remain as robust as ever. It's a city that wants to come to life again... And tourism dollars will help make that happen. Below, a few of the murals painted by local artists on the flooded storefronts - a sure sign hope is alive and well in Vernazza.















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Location:Volterra, Italy

From Wild Camping to Campeggio

If you've ever been wild camping - i.e. staking claim with your Campervan freely without a designated lot or campsite - you know that there are both pros and cons.

The pros: you don't have to pay a penny, you can set up your view wherever you please, no reservations to double check or need to set arrival times, if you don't like your spot you can move in an Italian heartbeat (a busy train track forced us to a new destination) and, of course, a certain adrenaline rush from doing something you're not supposed to - the threat of being caught actually makes it to both lists.

The cons: no proper toilet (especially harrowing when parked by the local lake make-out trail - thank you, giant oak tree for your shelter), no electrical charging station, no showers (washed my face with a boiled pot of water on our little stove), you have to clean your dewy windshields and keep the lights off to keep from being found out, and, lastly, you have to stay rather quiet, which is not easy when you're on your luna di miele.

Having driven through five countries our first day and arriving past the hour campsites near Lake Como close, Hannes and I were forced to try our hand at wild camping, of which mio marito is a pro. Needless to say, we survived, and enjoyed a snuggly evening by the quiet of Lago Di Varese in Gavirate, Italy. The following two nights were spent in a ghost town of a campsite, Valdeiva in Deiva Marina north on the Riviera from Cinque Terre, where we took a lot of lovely hot showers and reveled in the more civilized campeggio experience. Yet even then, the gypsies in us will treasure our first wild night of living on the edge and waking to the vision of Italian school kids rowing on the lake as their headmaster cried 'Basta!' in the fragrant and crisp Ligurian morning air.

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Our morning lake view where we sat eating cereal and yogurt in mugs and planned our Cinque Terre adventure.




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Location:La Boheme B&B, Lucca, Italy

Alex and E.F. - By Guest Blogger E.O.

Alex and E.F. in Dolores Park, San Francisco

For the first leg of my trip through L.A. and Arizona I’ll be travelling with my little brother Alex and his girlfriend Emily. For the sake of simplicity we’ll refer to Emily with what my family usually calls her which is sometimes La Dos, but mostly E.F.
Obviously, I’ve been traveling with Alex for most of my life. From Disneyland to Machu Picchu; Alex has been right there with me. For the most part, we both have positive recollections of our travels together. Alex's favorite memory happens to be when we both met up at the inauguration of President Obama in Washington D.C. I was lucky enough to have one ticket right up front but Alex had to be somewhere on the lawn about a mile away. Of course, post inauguration the city was completely chaotic with road and tunnel closures. Plus, cell phone coverage was completely non-existent with so many people about. Did I also mention that it was the coldest I’ve ever been? Never before had I felt so much like a penguin trying to huddle as close as possible to complete strangers all bundled up in their finest winter gear of which this California girl had very little.
In any case, I was a bit panicky to be in a freezing city I knew nothing about without any capability of finding my way back to our friend’s place where we were staying or connecting with Alex. Then, just as I was rounding a corner to who knows where; who do I come across but my little brother! We had been aimlessly wondering through hundreds of thousands of people and we were both in shock to have found each other. Of course, from there we still ended up walking up and down the freezing, ecstatic city for hours in an effort to get back to our friend’s house but at least we had each other.
This will be my first real trip with E.F though and I’m excited about it! She’s such a cool gal and has found this awesome R.V. Park/flea market in Quartzite, Arizona that we can’t wait to check out. We’ll also be staying with her Mom while in Phoenix and her Mom’s boyfriend who happens to be a famous Estonian accordion player. Are you intrigued yet? I certainly am and can't wait to tell you about it on upcoming posts.

Campervan Still Life

A toast of champagne,
A bite of apple gateau,
Under the spring oaks.



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Location:Kroonstraat,Brakel,Belgium

Morning Mishaps

ATM card stuck.
Tears dried by free wifi at
United Club lounge.



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Location:United Club SFO