Last day in Italy

This was the day we reserved for the Vatican, since there are many lineups and we didn't know how long it would take us to see it all. Of course this all depends on your level of interest...it was our last day in Rome and a beautiful sunny one at that. Our hotel had this lovely rooftop terrace that we took advantage of for awhile and then Gerry stayed there and I took in an art exhibit of Georgia O'Keeffe, at the gallery nearby, so intriguing!

Pic is of the view from the rooftop terrace.

Rome 2

There is so much to see and do here in Rome and it is somewhat easy to get around, well if you can read small print on the maps, as each street changes names often, when joining a piazza, or meeting an intersection, and there are many. We got lost lots, but always found something new. People are friendly and helpful and all traffic uses the same narrow streets. Walk down the cobblestone street, but move aside when a car or scooter comes by!

Pic 1 is looking down on the street from our room. People standing eating pizza, gives you a sense of the width of the streets and the cobblestones.
Pic 2 is us at the Trevino Fountain at night.
Pic 3 is the Pantheon at night
Pic 4 is St Peters cathedral, as is
Pic 5.
The Vatican, St Peters Cathedral, the Sistine Chapel (no photos allowed), are massive. We used an audio guide for these, very enjoyable.

Rome 1

Yes, Rome was totally overwhelming, wonderfully chaotic, and the are not words to describe all the amazing art and architecture everywhere you look!
Walk down the street and you have to look behind you to see what you missed...
We stayed in a gear little hotel in the Pantheon area, from which we walked to everything.
The weather was beautiful until the rain this morning when we left.

Pic 1 is one of the smaller cathedrals around every corner.
Pic 2 is the Trevino Fountain by day
Pic 3 is the inside of the Arch of Titus near the Forum
Pic 4 is the Arch of Titus
Pic 5 is the Colisseum, where the gladiators fought.

Old, ancient and very ancient

That's Rome. Spent the last 3 days here and are pretty overwhelmed. Fly home tomorrow, Wed. Just before the Italian government topples...
Will update with pics while in Toronto for 6 hr wait!

Tuscan cooking class

Well, what a day we had with Chef Paulo Monti, and another couple from Armenia!
We made biscotti, pasta, pork, roasted potatoes, ravioli, eggplant spread, aromatic meat sauce and a liver pate. It was so much fun and we learned so much in a 5 hr session, including the eating and the wine drinking! So now we are anxious to try some of these dishes in our own kitchen!

Pic 1 is the stock making from scratch
Pic 2 is tasting the biscotti
Pic 3 is the kitchen in action
Pic 4 is us rolling out the pasta with an electric roller.
Pic 5 is all of us at the end enjoying the main course in the dining room of the hotel where the classes are held.

Driving in the countryside

We had a down day on Thurs., biked around the ramparts, shopped and gathered food - sausage, spinach ball, bread, wine.
Friday we rented a car and drove out into the countryside south of Lucca. "Driving" would be a loose term, it's more like having 4 eyes in all directions at all times and try not to hit anything as people and cars veer into your path very often, frequently making last minute changes! We had some maps, a gps would have helped, but the roads are generally well signed.

Pic 1 is the inside of the church in the walled city of Volterra, a very cool place.
Pic 2 is a nice little fish shop in Volterra, selling live Atlantic lobster, 55 euros/kg!
Pic 3 is a vineyard and olive farm we visited for wine tasting.
Pic 4 is the beautiful countryside, albeit a little dry.
Pic 5 is the towers in the even cuter walled village of San Gimignano, very classy and abundant shops and trattorias.

Day trip to Floence

Here we are in Lucca, Tuscany for 5 days, in a spacious apt we found on VRBO. Got here by train and treated our clothes to a machine wash after 2.5 wks!
After settling in and checking out the nearby walled city, we found some yummy steak and green salad, having been green deprived on our bike trip and first days in Italy! The grocery stores have everything, great fish, deli items, cheese, olives and great wines. One stop shopping.

Yesterday we did a day trip to Florence on the train.
Pic 1 is the Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore, an amazing site in the city central.
Pic 2 is the fresco painting on the ceiling of the capola in the cathedral.
Pic 3 is poor David, everyone takes his picture, no shame...
Pic 4 - one of the many shops for lunch things, and
Pic 5, the shop next door with gelato!

At the train station

I just like this picture.

Cinque Terre 2

Such an amazing area, have to do 2 posts for this. We hiked 2 days, but could not do the whole trail. My knees did not like all the up and down stairs. So we had lots of time to explore the villages, eat gelato and taste other delicacies, cook some local fare and check out the shops.

Pic 1 is Riomaggiore from the walkway up to our apartment.
Pic 2 is our apt - the green shutters on the top floor far right, yellow building. We had our own terrace overlooking the Ligurian Sea.
Pic 3- on the trail, day 2
Pic 4- us on the trail, lovely hot day
Pic 5- the view of the beautiful harbor of Vernazza, from the trail.

Cinque Terre

Here we are in the Cinque Terre (pronounced Chink wah tear a) meaning 5 lands, now 5 villages. There is an amazing trail connecting the 5 villages. Day 1 we walked the easy trail from Riomaggiore to Manorola,and explored both villages.

Pic 1 is G on the trail at the section called Via del Amore, many lovers bring locks and leave their love locked there on the trail. We did our own version, use your imagination here!
Pic 2 - who needs boat storage, just park your boat on the street below your apartment!
Pic 3 - the pretty villGe of Manorola
Pic 4- our little kitchen, preparing dinner, found a nice bottle of Glen Grant scotch we both liked.
Pic 5- the village of Monterosso from the trail above, on Day 2.

Bike trip 4

Well our bike trip has come to a an end, what fun we had, and what great people we met!
Pic 1 is on the sun deck, while sailing one day.
#2 is coming into another pretty port
3 is a little harbor we biked to
4 is the 4 erri's inboard, us and Barry & Kerri!
5 is Karen & Kerri playing scrabble in German against Vreny, Eva and Conradin on our one rainy day.

The Panagiota, our boat

Here are 3 pics of the inside of our boat, the dining/gathering room, our bunks and our bathroom.
The last pic is of the island of Scorpias (sp?), which was Aristotle Onassis' island. His daughter Christina inherited it and then her daughter Athena just sold it to Georgio Armani.

Bike trip 3

Picture 1 is Gerry biking in the white at the back, our guide Catarina at the front. You can see how high up we are at times.
Picture 2 is a building in Stavros, where we stopped for coffee. The buildings are mostly dull and unfinished like this with colorful doors and windows.
Picture 3 is the group at coffee.
Picture 4 is our other guide Lars, telling us all about Ullyses, on the island of Itaca, where we are. There is a dig going on between numbers 2 and 5 on the map, where they believe Ulysses' palace is buried. We are at #2 on the map, still at Stavros.
Picture 5 is Karen and I after the days ride, back at the Panagiota.