italy

The Nessun Dorma Pesto Experience: An Extremely Detailed Guide

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On our recent trip to Cinque Terre with Dan’s Uncle and Aunt, we spent an afternoon in Manarola learning to make pesto at the Instagram famous Nessun Dorma’s Pesto Experience. This article provides a very detailed review of the Pesto Experience and if its worth the time and money.

Dan & I at the Nessun Dorma Pesto Experience.

RESERVATIONS AT NESSUN DORMA

The first step to enjoying the Pesto Experience is making a reservation. Reservations are complimentary and can be made on Nessun Dorma’s free phone application. You simply enter your information on the application and done! Nessun Dorma emailed us a reminder the day prior. Also, you don’t pay until the actual event, and credit card is accepted.

Nessun Dorma!

GETTING TO NESSUN DORMA FROM MANAROLA

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A 3 Day Itinerary for Cinque Terre, Italy in Late September!

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Dan and I traveled to Italy with his Uncle and Aunt from Texas in September 2024. This was his Aunt’s second time in Italy and his Uncle’s first, despite being entirely of Italian descent. Our first stop on this visit was Cinque Terre, Monterosso al Mare specifically! We had a wonderful time and ate some fantastic food. This blog post details what we did, how we got around and what we ate and drank!

The four of us in Cinque Terre!

CINQUE TERRE

If you are unfamiliar with Cinque Terre, Cinque Terre, or “Five Lands” in English, is a group of five tiny villages in Northern Italy, located on the Ligurian Riviera (a/k/a coastal Liguria or the Italian Riviera). Locals still live in Cinque Terre, but it has become terribly popular in the last decade or so, being popularized by cruise ships docking in La Spezia, Rick Steves’ travel guides, and most recently, the adorable Disney movie Luca (give it a watch before your visit). Travelers come to Cinque Terre for its beautiful villages, coastline, delicious seafood and pesto, and hiking. This was Dan and my fourth visit to Cinque Terre. And while the tourists are honestly somewhat unbearable, especially when cruise ships are in port,  Cinque Terre is still almost as magical as our first visit way back in 2008. The end of this article lists some of our top “tips and tricks” for visiting Cinque Terre, the # 1 being please stay overnight (and spend money in locally owned establishments!).

Vernazza from the Blue Trail.

A THREE DAY ITINERARY FOR CINQUE TERRE

Classic Cinque Terre. Monterosso al Mare beach.

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Fantastic Food in an Adorable Setting in Cinque Terre, Italia: L’ancora della Tortuga.

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Dan and I spent 10 days in Italy in late September/early October 2024 with Dan’s aunt and uncle, who had not really traveled extensively in Italy. Our first stop was the gorgeous Cinque Terre, and this post details our first dinner in Cinque Terre at L’ancora della tortuga!

Picture perfect Cinque Terre. This is the train from Monterosso al Mare to Vernazza, looking at Vernazza.

L’ancora della tortuga, or the Turtle’s Anchor, is located inside the sea walls of old Monterosso. L’ancora della tortuga is well regarded in the Cinque Terre and specializes in the area’s famed seafood. The restaurant also offers great gluten free options, which was necessary for one member of our group. Access to the restaurant is by literally walking down a set of stairs build into the old fortifications of Monterosso.

This is the entrance to L’ancora della tortuga.

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August 2024 Update – Airport Lounge Review: Chase Sapphire Lounge by The Club, JFK Terminal 4

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**AUGUST 2024 UPDATE**  I recently returned to the Chase Sapphire Lounge at JFK Terminal 4 on August 28, 2024, before an evening flight to San Juan, Puerto Rico. This post reviews my recent experience and updates my previous post from March 2024.

I arrived outside the Chase Sapphire Lounge around 5:00 PM on a Thursday in August (yes, just before Labor Day weekend). A small kiosk stood outside of the lounge entrance with an employee adding names to a waitlist. We waited behind two people. When it was our turn, the lounge employee asked for my Chase Sapphire card (not my Priority Pass – unclear if PP without Chase Sapphire was allowed) and took down my phone number, advising I would receive a text in about 40 minutes to enter the lounge with my guest. 55 minutes later, I received the text from Chase. Dan and I bypassed the waitlist line, which was even longer at this point (!), and checked into the lounge as normal.

The wait for the Chase lounge in August 2024… It was not pretty. The Centurion Lounge (next door) had no wait.

Totally different than my last experience, however, and which I totally appreciated, is that this time a staff member escorted Dan and me to available seats, and those were our seats for the duration of our visit. It honestly felt a bit like COVID times, ha. While this took away our ability to select an area in which to sit, it ensured that every guest had ample space and could actually enjoy the lounge without feeling totally crowded (a la the waitless Centurion lounge next door that I visited while waiting on Chase…). Food and drinks, again ordered via QR code on our phone, came out VERY quickly this visit, and all in it was a relaxing time (minus the wait). One other note for those waiting to access the lounge, Chase gave out complimentary soft serve ice cream to those waiting only (not once in the lounge), but didn’t tell anyone about this perk, LOL. I guest IYKYK. We will definitely ask for it next time – it looked good!

In any case, for those reading this for the first time, the Chase Sapphire Lounge in JFK’s Terminal 4 opened its doors in January 2024. We first visited in March 2024 en route to Nairobi Kenya for a safari! You can read the original post here. As I previously mentioned, the Chase lounge at JFK is very, very nice for a credit card lounge – tied with the Virgin Clubhouse for best lounge credit card access lounge in Terminal 4 IMO. Good food, fantastic drinks, and nice service. My only complaints are that its small (and I hear often has a wait to enter, as was the case on my recent visit in August 2024) and far from some of the “B” gates in Terminal 4.

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Spending New Year’s in Rome Rimessa Roscioli

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Dan, my mother and I spent New Years in Rome last year! This was Dan and my second time spending New Years in Rome, and was just a fabulous the second time around! To ring in the New Year, or Capodanno in Italian, Rome goes all out with fireworks, free concerts, etc. (truly the works), but many Italians spend the holiday with family eating a big meal (and wearing red undergarments for good luck!). We decided to forgo the street craziness and made New Years dinner reservations at Rimessa Roscioli in Rome, one of Roscioli’s great restaurants in Rome (this one specializing in wine).

Rome on New Year’s Eve. This is the Spanish Steps area – pure madness.

We have previously dined at Rimessa Roscioli, and it was delicious, so we were all in for Rimessa’s New Years tasting menu. I cannot recall the exact price of the tasting menu, but it was reasonable and included tons of food and wine. I do not think anyone left hungry or thirsty. We arrived at Rimessa Roscioli a few minutes before the dinner was scheduled to start and were seated at a communal table with one other family from Switzerland. They were very nice (and their two sons very well behaved)! The dinner progressed at a reasonable pace and finished just before midnight. Rimessa stayed open late and actually turned the dining room into a dance floor after midnight. We didn’t stay much longer than midnight, but it looked fun! This post reviews my New Years dinner at Rimessa Roscioli!

Rimessa’s New Years menu.

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