End of Italy trip

I had a hard time finding free WiFi at our last hotels in Italy and also at the airport, so these last postings were done from home.

Wednesday November 2, 2011

Today after breakfast, we took the train to Herculaneum (see photos). We had gorgeous weather and the site was fantastic as always. We saw some lovely frescoes and mosaic tiles. The nice thing about this site is that it is much smaller than Pompeii so it is “doable” in a shorter time. When we returned to Sorrento, we ate at a restaurant on the square. Everything was delicious. The “girls” are going out again at 4 to do a bit of last minute shopping. We will have our farewell dinner at 6:45 tonight. Dinner last night was very good. We had three different types of pasta and Manuela gave us the recipes for them. It should be exciting to try them at home. Tomorrow will be a travel day. We will go by bus to Rome, stopping along the way for a side trip to Monte Cassino. We will be home Friday evening.

Thursday November 3, 2011

We got on the bus after breakfast and headed toward Rome. We stopped to see the Abbey at Monte Cassino. It was heavily damaged in World War II. It was rebuilt, but the interior is done in different colored marble and not to my taste. When we arrived in Rome, our driver took us on a sightseeing hour of the city by bus. We drove by the coliseum, the forum, the Victor Emmanuel monument (nicknamed the wedding cake), the Republican garden (where Julius Caesar was killed and where many cats of Rome reside – fed by little old ladies of the neighborhood), the Baths, and the Circus Maximus. Our hotel was out of the city center and was a huge surprise. It was very modern and huge! We had a sitting room and a bedroom as well as a huge bathroom. There was a lot of color everywhere. For example, the bathroom was all red tile, the dresser was bright yellow and there was a Jackson Pollack poster on the wall. John, Lana, and Kelly took a taxi to Trevi Fountain before our final dinner. They each tossed a coin to ensure a return trip to Rome.

Friday November 4, 2011

We got up early this morning and had a quick breakfast before our taxi ride to the airport. We spent our last few Euros on bottled water for the flight. We were a little late getting off the ground, but the pilot made up for it in flight. I sat next to a man who was in Naval Aeronautics. He had just spent the last month in Sicily at a NATO base there and was on his way home to Virginia Beach. The man next to him was an Albanian Orthodox priest who was moving his whole family to Boston to a church there. At one point, I was standing near the restroom and noticed a section of the plane that was curtained off – it was the cabin crew resting. A woman came up the aisle and tripped on something and fell into the curtain and onto a couple of the crew. She was very embarrassed and we had a good laugh, as it was so unexpected! We arrived in Boston, went through passport control and customs and then caught the bus to Providence (fortunately, Susanne spotted it – otherwise we could have had a long wait). The bad thing was that we were in Friday night rush hour traffic so it took a lot longer than usual to get to Providence. It was nice to get home and we look forward to seeing everyone soon.

Thoughts about the trip: Pinocchio everywhere, umbrella pines, cedar trees, garlic, olive oil, red wine, homemade fresh pasta, smoke in Sorrento from the burning of olive branches that had been pruned, motor scooters, Smart cars, fresh mozzarella, huge lemons and tomatoes, giant Nutella, piccolo mini, Andiamo y'all. We had a nice time . . . I wonder where we will go next?

November 1, 2011

Happy 11/1/11! Dave didn’t feel well last night so he decided to stay in bed for a while and skip the trip to Capri. The rest of us took the elevator out of San Antonio Square down to the port. We bought tickets on the fast ferry to Capri (about a 45 minute ride). Our first mission was to go to the Blue Grotto, as Lana and I are the only ones to have seen it before. We took a small boat (the Olga) out and then had to wait a bit, as there were boatloads of Japanese tourists ahead of us. Finally, we were able to get into a rowboat and into the grotto. It was a lovely blue, but maybe not as blue as the last time we were here because the sun was behind light clouds today. The blueness is determined by the refraction of the light coming into the grotto. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pictures inside the grotto as my camera was set on no flash and it took me most of the time in the grotto to figure out how to change it as it was quite dark. The good news is that Kelly and John will share their pictures and we do have some from our last trip. When we got back to port, we took the funicular up to the town of Capri. We did a little window-shopping, but noticed that many of the shops and hotels had closed for the season (see photo). We strolled around and found a garden where we could overlook the sea and some 500-foot tall rocks jutting up near the shore of the island (see photo). One of them is called the rock of love. We ate in the main square - just a small snack as we are having a pasta buffet at the hotel tonight. We took a bus up to Anacapri. The bus ride was totally awesome! We had to stand and we could look down forever into the sea – a little disconcerting, but quite a thrill! We walked around in the small hill town of Anacapri enjoying the architecture and flowers. I took a picture of a flight of stairs decorated with lovely ceramic tiles (see photo). We then eventually reversed our steps – bus and then funicular down to the port. We got back to Sorrento a little after 4 to find that Dave was feeling much better. I am going to put my feet up for a few minutes before it is time for dinner.

Monday October 31, 2011

Monday 31

Happy Halloween everyone! Another picture perfect day! We went to Stabia today. It is on a hill overlooking the Bay of Naples. It was a resort area for Roman politicians and rich merchants. A number of them built huge summer villas here. They were discovered in the mid-1700’s while digging a well. Unfortunately many of the frescoes were stolen to decorate manor houses of the time and are now in a museum, but it was great to see what was left. We went into one of the villas, San Marco, and were able to see mosaic tiled floors, original paint on the walls and some of the original frescoes that had not been taken (see photo). The part that has been excavated is awe inspiring, but there is still much more of the villa to be discovered under neighboring farms. Our guide to the villa was a young archaeologist named Maria. She was quite witty and we really enjoyed her talk. The villa had large private baths – cold, tepid, and hot – and a reflecting pool with a colonnade on two sides. Before viewing the villa we saw a short film on what the villa might have looked like before its destruction in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The whole experience was quite delightful. Coming home on the bus was another story. We got stuck in a lot of traffic – besides the normal two lanes, the motor scooters use the space between to travel. It becomes very interesting when they are weaving in and out and passing each other with inches to spare! We had a few minutes when we got back to our hotel to regroup and then get into vans for our ride to a home-hosted lunch. Our group went to visit Anna who owns a farm on a hill high over the city of Sorrento. Our driver drove like a bat out of hell on narrow roads hardly wider than the bus, but meant for two-way traffic. It was like being on a thrill ride at an amusement park! We felt a little better when we got there and found that he was Anna’s son and he drives that road every day. We were lucky our gang of six plus the two couples from Wisconsin were with Manuela. She went with us to interpret, as our hostess did not speak English. She has a 22-acre farm where she raises cows, chickens, pigs and "oysters". When Manuela told us that she raises oysters, I had visions of salt water tanks, but then she went on to say that they were mean tempered, had long necks and could bite. We laughed when we discovered that we were thinking of two different things! She knew it was something that started with an “o”. It turned out that Anna had two ostriches! There are also lemon, walnut and olive trees on the property. The harvest season for the olives is happening now and they catch the ripe ones in nets that get emptied each day (see photo). The lunch was delicious: pasta, beef, steamed chicory, salad, tiramisu. There was also homemade wine and for after dinner a liqueur that was made with chestnuts. She seemed pleased with all of her gifts that we had brought with us to thank her for her hospitality. At 5 PM we had a lecture, “My home away from home”, by an American woman who married an Italian man and the changes that she encountered being an American living in Italy. It was quite fascinating and she touched on a number of topics including education, medicine, salaries, home buying, cooking, and unemployment. We thoroughly enjoyed her talk. We went out for a light supper, as we were all still full from lunch. Dave and I had Caprese salads (sliced tomato and fresh mozzarella in olive oil and herbs. We then took a walk around town and enjoyed watching the children “Trick or Treat” the merchants. Manuela says that this is a recent phenomenon (the last 5 or 6 years). Most of the girls were dressed as witches (perhaps a Harry Potter influence). The boys seemed to prefer monsters or devils. We saw silly string (which I haven’t thought of in years) and much confetti being thrown. Unfortunately, I saw one older boy with a container of raw eggs! Tomorrow we are going to Capri on the fast ferry. My internet time may expire before we return so there may be a gap in the blog until we get to Rome on Thursday evening.

Sunday October 30, 2011

We skipped the walk today, as we knew we had an early bus ride down the Amalfi Coast. What a lovely ride. They have changed the rules since we were here last. Cars are allowed to travel both ways on the scenic road, but busses are only allowed to travel down (South). The day was perfect! Sunny and warm with fantastic views of villages carved into the huge cliffs. It seems as if the houses are built on top of each other like a pile of a child’s blocks (see photo). We stopped at a large ceramic shop for a bathroom break and also so that we could exchange seats side to side in order that everyone could enjoy the majestic views. Our first official stop was in the town of Amalfi. Most of us elected to take a 45-minute boat ride along the coast. We had wonderful views of some lovely houses that were not visible from the road overhead. We passed the house that Sophia Loren used to own and also a very excusive hotel where the Jacqueline Kennedy and Michael Jackson were guests (not at the same time!). The captain also pointed out Gore Vidal’s home. Back on land, we had an hour to walk around the town of Amalfi. I finally found a few postcards to send to the last of the grandchildren. I could make a mint designing appropriate postcards – ah, well, another life! We then went on a bit and stopped for lunch in a lovely restaurant with fantastic views of the mountains and the sea (see photo). Unfortunately, I was not crazy about either of the menu choices and the dessert was soaked in liquor so I am quite hungry now as I write and wait to go out to dinner. I had a salad, a few fried potatoes and an apple. Oh well, I have to start to lose the pounds from eating all this pasta at some point! We did get to sing Happy Birthday to one of our fellow travelers. Larry turned 66 today. Our next stop was to the garden of a villa in Rufolo. The town is known for music and they have a huge, but ugly new amphitheater for concerts. Wagner stayed here and composed some of his music while looking at the fantastic scenery. The villa gardens were lovely. They was set on top of a hill and you could look down onto the Mediterranean Sea (see photo). Because the weather is mild, there were many flowers still in blooms. Our autumn was late this year, but we are enjoying the colors of Italy. Some of the trees turn yellow and orange and the grape vines and other vines turn bright red (see photo). We had a long bus ride home. Our bus was smaller than the normal one which is a good thing for the width of the road going down the coast, but not so good for one’s legs – it was quite cramped. We arrived back at 5 PM and will go out to dinner with Susanne. Lana, John and Kelly are going to a dinner theater to see the Tarantella show.

Saturday October 29, 2011

Today the walking trio made it down to the waterfront on the small pier where the fishermen come in with their catch. We made it back in time for breakfast. Kelly is going on the optional tour of Pompeii and to the Museum of Naples. The rest of us decided to go just to Pompeii. We caught the 8:30 train and made it to Pompeii just after it opened. In fact, we saw Kelly and the rest of the group just after we entered the site. We wandered around and saw some of the same things we had seen last time we were here, but also discovered a few new places such as the botanical garden. The first photo is of a piece of original wall art in a house in Pompeii. The other is a part of the ruins with Mount Vesuvius in the background. We walked for three and a helf hours and then declared that it was time for lunch. We ate panini across from the entrance to the site and then walked a short way to the train station. We chatted with a young couple from Fort Lauderdale, Florida who are here on their honeymoon. When we came back to town, it was siesta time so we decided to rest until 4 when the shops open again. We did a little shopping and then came back to the hotel before going out again for dinner. On the way back, we ran into Kelly who had just returned from her tour. She loved Pompeii and the Museum of Naples, but agreed with us that Naples itself is a sleazy city. We may go back to the Foreigner’s Club again for dinner as Lana and John have not eaten there yet. Maybe there will be another wedding!

No wedding tonight, but a university graduation. We finished dinner just as the guests were arriving so we didn’t get to share the entertainment, but we did do a survey on what the young people were wearing. We paid particular attention to the shoes – very high heels, 5 to 6 inches, whether she was wearing a very short dress (seems to be in again) or tight jeans. We had to turn our clocks back an hour as they observe daylight savings time here also. Tomorrow we will take a ride down the Amalfi Coast.

Friday October 28, 2011

John, Dave and I walked this morning before breakfast. We walked down to the square (see photo) and on the way passed the small hotel we had stayed in previously. After breakfast, Manuela took us for an orientation walk around town (see Manuela holding an Imperial lemon - huge!). We then split off and went shopping in the old part of the city. We tried to find the little shop that Lana remembered from our last trip, but they were no longer in the same spot. We stopped to have a pizza lunch bear St. Antonio square and were serenaded by a group of men – they were playing and singing a combination of Italian, Spanish and American songs. We went back to the hotel to put our feet up for an hour and then Kelly, Susanne and I went out again (Dave had had enough of shopping – Lana and John had gone on an optional tour to made pizza). We returned after an hour or so and picked up Dave to go to dinner. We decided to go to the Foreigner’s Club, which is located on a terrace overlooking the Mediterranean Sea with Mount Vesuvius in the background. There was a small wedding taking place at the Club, but since the side of the room was open to the dining room, we were able to see what was going on. The entertainment was a troupe of Tarantella dancers – it was quite lively. At one point we heard Taps being played, but it segued into a lively tune so we knew the wedding wasn’t over as we first thought. We heard the wedding march and that prompted the entrance of the wedding cake on a rolling table. Kelly was aghast as we saw one young lady wearing a black dress, black stockings, and white shoes! Most everyo9ne was very well dressed, but we did see one young man in a tee shirt and hoodie! The dinner was very nice, but we certainly enjoyed the unexpected entertainment.

Thursday October 27, 2011

Sorry for the delay in the blog. We have to pay for internet service in Sorrento so I wanted to wait a couple of days so that I can get a few blogs on before we run out of minutes.

We had a lovely time at the farewell dinner last night. The food was excellent although, again, there was too much of it, and we had entertainment in the form of a man and woman who sang and played the trumpet. Dave and I danced to a waltz before heading up to bed.

We got our big bags out to the hall by 6:45 AM and then had breakfast before getting on the bus. We are headed to Sorrento. We stopped for a brief visit to Orvietto, a hill town that is reached by funicular and a small bus. Unfortunately, it was quite foggy this morning so we did not get the great views that you might get on a sunny day.
We walked around and took photos of narrow alleyways (see how foggy it is?) and unusual benches (see photo) scattered around town. We continued our trip and stopped for a quick lunch at a roadside café. It was a bit confusing here until we discovered that you had to pay in advance and then order what you wanted from the counter. While we were waiting to board the bus, we chatted with some high school students who were here on a field trip from a small fishing village in Northern Ireland. We said that we had been to Giant’s Causeway and one of the girls said she had never been there despite it being practically in her backyard. We arrived in Sorrento a little after 3 and very soon thereafter headed to the Laundromat. We were getting tired on stomping on our dirty clothes in the shower, rinsing and then hanging them around the room to dry. We had dinner in the hotel as a group.

Wednesday October 26, 2011

No walk this morning – it was raining and quite soggy out. After breakfast, we went to the old part of Chianciano to visit the Etruscan Archeological Museum. The Etruscans of this area were from as early as the seventh to the fifth century BC. Most of the objects that have been excavated were found in underground funeral sites. Since this is a volcanic area, there is much tufa (a soft chalky type of earth that is easy to dig). Many of the objects that were discovered were funerary urns (see photo - note that the head lifts off to insert ashes or bones). A larger funerary urn was in the form of a mother and child (see photo). It is not known whether this was to honor a mother who had died in childbirth or a princely boy who is shown in his mother’s arms. It seems to be a precursor to the Madonna and Child. We left our town and headed to Cortona, another Etruscan hill town. Unfortunately, it was still raining (hard at times) so we didn’t get to explore as thoroughly as we might have on a sunny day. We walked along the Via Nazionale, which is the only level street in the town. At various points along the street there were narrow flights of stairs going downhill (see photo). We ate lunch and then headed back to the hotel. By the time we got back the sun was out and things were beginning to dry up. Tonight we will have a goodbye dinner at the hotel with music and dancing.

Tuesday October 25, 2011

After breakfast today we headed to Assisi, which is in another district, Umbria. We met a local guide, Marco, who was a wonderful guide for the Basilica di San Francesco (Basilica of St. Francis). He was passionate about his subject and very theatrical! We went through the lower church first, which was covered in frescoes. He explained that these were early frescoes and pointed out that the people were not painted life-like, but were rather stilted. We then went down to the crypt where we could see the tomb of St. Francis. The upper church was much brighter of course and filled with frescoes which were much more life-like. There were many panels depicting the life of St. Francis. Many of these wall decorations were attributed to famous artists such as Giotto, Lorenzetti, and Martini. We saw a large number of Franciscan monks and nuns as well as other people of the church from other orders. There was much going on in the churchyard as the Pope is coming here on Thursday. In fact we were quite lucky, as the church will be closed tomorrow at 3 PM so that a security check of the church can be made before the arrival of the Pope. According to Marco, there are only 2000 people who live in the old town of Assisi and 1400 of them are religious figures. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos in the church so I can only say that the frescoes were quite beautiful, but cannot show you any of them. The upper church was damaged in the earthquake of 1997, but most of the damage has been repaired. The photo above is of the huge basilica. Note that the arches are the lower church and the main building is on top. We then had our free time and walked around the medieval streets, poking our heads into a number of shops. We ended up at the base of the hill on which the Basilica sits at the Hotel Windsor Savoie. The photo of the wall sconce is from the dining room. It is made of Venetian glass – quite beautiful. The dining rooms here were huge and it was obvious that they catered to tour groups. By the time we were eating our lunch, two of the enormous rooms were full with various groups from many countries. I could distinguish French, Italian, German, and English being spoken – a modern-day Babel. Lunch was wonderful – a choice of minestrone soup or lasagna, chicken with salad and profiterole for dessert (sort of like a cream puff with chocolate sauce). We then drove down the hill and visited St. Mary of the Angels church (see the golden statue of St. Mary), which has a beautiful 11th century chapel inside of it – quite unusual. St. Mary’s was built over the chapel and is located in the nave. Just outside the chapel is where St. Francis died. The Pope will also visit this site. On our way back to Chianciano Terme, we passed by Perugia (of Amanda Knox fame). Our guide said she was in Perugia with a different group when the ruling of her release was announced. She said the square in front of the Hall of Justice was packed and a bit rowdy. Apparently, many Italians thought that she was released under pressure from the United States and are not convinced of her innocence. We also made a stop to see Lake Trasimeno (see photo), the fourth largest lake in Italy. Ducks along the shore serenaded us as we admired the view. We came back to town and Lana, Kelly, and I meandered around the plaza area and did a bit of window shopping. Some of the items for sale were lovely, but the prices were also quite lovely so we returned to the hotel empty handed. We went across the street to a small café and had sandwiches or salads. The movie tonight was “Tea with Mussolini”. It had some wonderful actresses – Lily Tomlin, Maggie Smith, Cher, and Judy Dench. I ended up watching the whole thing – it was quite good and took place in Florence for the most part so it was fun to recognize many of the places we had been.

Monday October 24, 2011

Today we took a tour of the medieval city of Siena known for its red brick. We first stopped at San Domenico, which is a gothic church. Inside there is a chapel dedicated to St. Catherine, the patron saint of the city. Her skull is on display as well as her thumb. She is known for her many visions and for persuading Pope Gregory XI to return to Rome from Avignon, France after his many years of exile there. From there we walked to the beautiful Duomo (cathedral) located on one of the three hills of the city. One of the most spectacular aspects of the duomo was the inlaid marble floor (see photo). There were biblical scenes depicted as well as medieval astrology and alchemy. The other fascinating part for me was the Piccolomini Library full of frescoes of the life of Pope Pius II and cases full of illuminated Gregorian music pages (see photo of the ceiling of the library). The columns inside the church were striped – made of white and black marble (see photo). We walked down narrow streets to reach the Piazza del Campo; a large shell shaped “square” near the municipal buildings. Twice a year a bareback horse race takes place in the Campo (see photo of view across the Campo). Straws are drawn to see which ten of the seventeen districts of the city will be represented in the race. The winner is awarded a pennant, but the pride that goes with winning sustains the district throughout the year. Our guide said as many as 50,000 people come out to watch the race. The road around the Campo is cover with sand for the race and the spectators stand cheek to jowl in the Campo unless they are lucky enough to have a friend who has an apartment overlooking the space. We finished with our local guide and were given time on our own to explore and shop. We had a great time wandering around and stopped for a gelato, which we ate while window-shopping. Eventually we met up with Manuela and went to lunch at a local restaurant. We had wine of course, salad, gnocchi with a light spinach sauce and ricotta with huckleberry sauce – yum! The restaurant was again in a vaulted space - perhaps a storage area or wine cellar. The last photo is of beautiful flowers surrounding the door way of a bar across from the restaurant. We then followed Manuela to the bus, at least some of us did. John was following a Manuela look-a-like and veered off the path. We tried to call to him, but Kelly was able to run and catch up to him and get him back. Manuela treated us to almond cookies that she said were the specialty of Siena. They were soft inside and quite delicious. When we returned to the hotel, Dave and I decided that we would skip dinner and we were both stuffed! We walked down to the local grocery and picked up bananas and snacks to nibble on for dinner. Tonight at 8 there will be a showing of Under the Tuscan Sun in the auditorium. I may go for a while, but probably not for the whole film as I have seen it before. Tomorrow we will visit Assisi.

Sunday October 23, 2011

It is 3:30 in the afternoon and I am sitting out on our little veranda facing the Tuscan hills while writing this blog – bellissimo! Our journey today took first to the Tempio di San Biagio (see photo), a World Heritage site. It is a beautiful church in a tiny village on top of a hill dedicated to St. Biagio who takes care of sore throats. A few people on the tour seem to be coming down with colds and Manuela wanted to offer a prayer for a quick recovery. We then traveled to the small village of Pienza. This was a small medieval town that was partially rebuilt in Renaissance times by Pope Pius II because this was the town he was born and grew up in. The rebuilding was never finished as the Pope ran out of money, but what was done is lovely and this is a UNESCO World Heritage site. There were three small streets (see photo) in the town named Via Della Fortuna (street of fortune), Via Dell Amore (love), and Via del Bacio (kisses). The town itself is quite charming, but really it is the smell which grabs your attention as Pienza is known for pecorino (cheese made from sheep milk). We had time to wander the village on our own and then met in a café for a group lunch. Dave surprised me with a pendant that was made by a woman in the village. It shows cedar trees, which are made with tiny leaves – it is lovely! For lunch we had wine (Kelly and Lana had two), a zucchini and parsley salad in olive oil topped with pecorino cheese, pizi, which is very fat spaghetti (homemade of course) and an apricot flat cake for dessert. On our way back to Chianciano, we stopped in Bagno Vignoni. This is a tiny village with only a half dozen houses built around a large pool of volcanic water (see photo). It was constructed by the Medici and now there are also a few modern hotels/spas here for those people who wish to bathe in the hot sulphur water. There was an archaeological site nearby of the ruins of some grain and wool mills. The location was spectacular and we had a lovely visit before coming back to our temporary home. After resting for a bit, we started out to dinner at 6 PM. After walking all over creation and finding that all of the restaurants open at 7:30, we made our way back to the hotel and ate in the dining room since they opened at 7:00. Dinner was delicious. I had tortellini in a homemade clear broth and a salad. We will probably skip our walk tomorrow morning as we will leave early for Siena and also because we will be doing a lot of walking there on the tour.

Saturday October 22, 2011

We skipped walking this morning as we had an early bus ride and knew we were going to get plenty of miles in today as we are having a walking tour of Florence. We drove through some beautiful countryside to get to Florence – rolling hills, vineyards and lots of cedar trees. Florence is one of our favorite cities. We spent three days there on our first trip to Italy and just fell in love with the art, sculpture, architecture and friendliness of the people. Nothing has changed! We had a local guide, Marco, who met us as we departed from the bus. We walked through piazzas (squares) and narrow medieval streets until we came to the Duomo. This is the cathedral of Florence with its famous Brunelleschi’s dome. We also saw the baptistry designed by Giotto with its magnificent doors made by Ghilberti. Michelangelo was so impressed by the doors that he dubbed them “The Gate of Paradise”. We then walked down to the town hall square, Piazza della Signoria, and viewed the replica of Michelangelo’s David (see photo). The original is now inside as over the centuries, it was being damaged from the elements. We also took photos of other sculptures, which were outside the Uffizi, one of the many art museums of Florence. Our next stop was the Ponte Vecchio, which is a famous bridge across the Arno River (see photo). The butchers and tanners used to have shops along the bridge many years ago, but now it is famous for its goldsmiths and jewelry stores. There is an upper floor along the span, which was the passageway for the Medici family. Our next stop was to Santa Croce where we had lunch and were on our own for a few hours until we were to meet the bus. After lunch, we visited the gothic church of Santa Croce. We saw Michelangelo’s tomb as well as Galileo’s. There were many large paintings and frescos in the church and we had a wonderful walk around the interior and out into the courtyard. We saw three weddings today – it seems as if we see at least one whenever we are on a trip. We did a little shopping on some of the small side streets and even managed to have a gelato (ice cream) before having to meet for our walk to the bus. We had two stops on the way back to Chianciano Terme. The first was to Michelangelo’s Garden – a spot that overlooks the whole of Florence (see photo – and note the Duomo with its brick dome). We saw two Lamborghini’s in the parking lot (see photo – this is in honor of you, Dan, sorry it is not lime green, but it was pretty cool!). The other stop was to the Florence/American cemetery, where over 4000 American soldiers and pilots were buried during World War II. It was a miniature Normandy with rows upon rows of white crosses. We got back to our hotel after six and then had dinner as a group right in the hotel. We started with a large buffet of antipasto. Everything was delicious and there were so many things from which to choose! We then had a choice of white or red wine – I chose red for Kelly and Dave had white for Lana. We started to giggle during the salad course. I didn’t want oil and vinegar again so I picked up a small packet of what I thought was salad dressing. We had a really hard time opening it, but I finally discovered that it was to be torn open from the bottom of the packet. I squeezed it onto my salad only to discover that it was mustard! John finally admitted that he had done the same, but with a packet of ketchup! The rest of the dinner was hilarious – the waiter was coming around and serving pasta. I could see that the portions were larger than I wanted so when he got to me, I said piccolo (small) and he said poco (this also means small, but apparently is the proper form for a serving of something). When I repeated poco, he put an additional helping on my plate! I switched plates with Dave so that I could have a smaller one and said grande (large) indicating that he had the larger one. The water came over and put another portion on Dave’s plate. At this point, the whole table was in hysterics! We were laughing so much; we had a hard time eating! I think he knew what was going on and was enjoying himself. When it was time for the main course, sliced turkey in caper sauce, one person at the table said poco and he put a tiny piece of turkey on her plate! Of course, he gave her more when he had served the rest of us. It was really funny! Dessert was tiramisu, which I can’t eat because of the liquor so he brought be a pear and a huge kiwi. I ate what I could and passed the rest around the table. We had a great dinner with lots of laughs! When we got back up to our room, we had a hard time sleeping as someone next to us had the TV on really loud and there was a wedding across the street from the hotel with loud music. I did start to giggle in bed though when I heard the band playing YMCA – it must be the universal party song!

Friday October 21, 2011

We walked this morning in Chianciano Terme, a resort town in Tuscany known for its spas and mineral waters. It was so different from walking in Venice as there the waterfront is lit up and full of people coming off boats to get to work early and, of course, joggers. Here, there are very few street lights and we only saw one person on our walk – a little tougher walking also because the hotel is on the top of a hill so you end up walking uphill at some point in the walk. After breakfast, we boarded the bus and drove through some beautiful country to reach a small hill town from medieval times, Radicofani. The village was lovely – small narrow streets (see photo), uphill to the church where we had spectacular views of the surrounding country. Back on the bus, we headed to our wine tour at Casate Prime Donne. This winery is unique in that the woman who owns it employs only women to make the wine. She thought that women were discriminated against in this field. Most wineries only employ women in the analysis of the wine and in the accounting department. Our guide grew up in both Britain and Italy. She explained how the winery was started and also about the differences of certain wines in the type of grape, how the wine is stored and how long and what type of oak it is stored in. We then went upstairs for our tasting. We were given plates of local meats and cheeses. The cheese is eaten with fruit preserves – we had peach and plum. We were given 3 different wines to taste (Dave and I shared ours with Lana and Kelly (see photo)): Chianti Superiore 2008, Rosso di Montalcino 2006, and Brunello di Montalcino 2004. We then got to taste 3 different extra virgin olive oils – one was a blend (my personal favorite) and the others were each made with just one type of olive. We drove back to the hotel and John, Lana, Kelly, Dave and I decided to do laundry. We finally found it, but it turned out to be a cry cleaners. Unfortunately, the walk was uphill – so we marched back down hauling our dirty laundry. We stopped several ATM’s (still hauling our dirty laundry) before we found one that worked with our cards, but we were eventually successful! Dave accused us of trying to replicate the Bataan Death March! We are headed down to our lecture: Italian with and without words and then we will walk a few blocks to get dinner. We are all a bit hungry, as the light fare at the winery was not intended to be a complete lunch.

Thursday October 20, 2011

No walking today. It was raining this morning and we had to have our bags out in the hall on the early side as we are leaving Venice today. We had a quick breakfast, brushed our teeth and then donned our raincoats for the walk to the vaparetto (water bus). We traveled for 20 minutes and then reached the mainland where we boarded our bus. We stopped for a break at mid morning. There was a convenience store there that sold, among other things, giant containers of Nutella (they each must have held at least a gallon!). I had seen them on display in Venice, but I thought they were only bigger than life size models of the small jars of Nutella you can buy in the States, but no, they are meant to be sold and eaten. It would be like buying a gallon of peanut butter - wow! We stopped for lunch at a roadside cafeteria located over the highway - it was quite good, especially the foccacia, except not as good as what Nick makes on the grill! The area we traveled through was quite lovely - many hills and small towns along the way. We also saw lots of vineyards and olive groves. Unfortunately, it did rain the whole way, but better a rainy day on the bus that a rainy day while we are walking around looking at the sights. We finally arrived in Chianciano in the Tuscany region of Italy at 3:30 in the afternoon. We saw our friend Susanne in the lobby - she is traveling the rest of the way with us - she just skipped the Venice pre-trip. Apparently, their hotel in Ostia, near Rome, was flooded this morning. We were very lucky that we did not get the heavy rains in Venice although they are certainly set up for rain there (see photo of the stacked wooden walkways in St. Mark's square). We had a welcome briefing by our new guide, Manuela, and then a lecture on Renaissance Art. We then went to dinner at a lovely restaurant. The food and service were wonderful. Our table was located in what looked like an old wine cellar - brick vaulted ceilings - fantastic! I managed to publish a few of the blogs and will do some more tomorrow. I will try to stay up to date now that we have internet service. The photo of the cat was taken on Burano. He (she) looks as if he is reading the Fried Fish and Potatoes sign and wishing that he could have some too!

Wednesday October 19, 2011

The three amigos went for a walk again on the waterfront. It was quite a bit warmer walking this morning than it has been, but we could see that it was going to be a cloudy day. After breakfast, we hopped on a water bus and made our way to the island of Murano. This is where all of the class factories have been located since the 1200’s. The reason that they were no longer able to be in Venice proper is that many of the structures on the island were made of wood and they were afraid of fires from the glass making. We visited one of the oldest factories on the island. At first we were given a demonstration of glass making by George, aged 76. He made a Milleflora vase – he rolled the molten glass in a tray of small multi-colored beads (see photo) and then blew and shaped the vase. It was lovely and took him only about 7 minutes! He then made a small glass horse. It was amazing how quickly he could turn and pull the glass to make the head and legs of the horse. We then went into a room where one of factory guides explained the different kinds of Murano glass to us and how they were made. It was all very interesting. We then went into the showroom and were “allowed” to make purchases if we so desired. Some of the pieces were quite lovely, but they also had lovely price tags! The sad thing is that very few of the young people today want to apprentice to become glass blower – it takes 10 years – so I am not sure what the future holds for this industry. We then went by water bus to Burano, which is famous for lace making. Here, again, most of the women making the lace were elderly. It was interesting to see as these ladies hand sew the lace instead of using bobbins (see photo). One small piece of lace may be worked on by 15 different women – each one has a specialty stitch which they complete and then the piece is passed on to another woman who adds her special stitch. Quite an amazing and tedious process. The other interesting thing about Burano is that the houses are all brightly colored. Supposedly, this was done so that the fishermen could find their houses when they came in at dusk (see photo). We had lunch on the island and then headed back to San Marco where it was raining a bit. It had been foggy for most of the day. We went back to a few of our favorite shopping spots and then went out for dinner at the same restaurant we ate at the first night. Tomorrow we will go to the Tuscany region and meet up with Susanne. Hopefully, we can publish the blogs tomorrow.

Tuesday October 18, 2011

Dave woke up with a headache so it was just John and I for the walk this morning. We took almost the same route as yesterday, but diverted away from the water for a bit to see a different area of the city. After breakfast, Andrea took us on a walking tour across the Rialto Bridge (this is the only bridge in Venice with small shops lining the sides). We meandered around stopping in places to hear small stories of the area. One of the places we stopped was at Marco Polo’s house. He was only one of many Venetian merchants who traveled to China for spices and other exotic goods, but he is the only one who is remembered as he was once captured by Genoans and put in prison for two years. While he was in prison waiting for ransom to be paid for his release, he decided to write about his adventures. This is what made him famous. After our walk, we took the water bus (vaporetto) back to San Marco. We found the post office and bought stamps for the postcards. We stopped for lunch at a cafeteria (it was okay, but nothing to write home about) and then went back to the hotel for a short break before our next walking adventure. This time we went to the Jewish Ghetto (according to Andrea, the word ghetto was coined in Venice because the area that was used to house the Jews was originally a warehouse area that was used to make cannons and the Italian word for cannon making is similar to ghetto. We came back to the Square via vaporetto and set off to do a little more shopping and to get dinner. We again came back on the early side. We downloaded the cameras and hopefully I can get some pictures on the postings. The photos today are of the Grand Canal and a smaller canal. As you can see there is a lot of traffic on the Grand Canal - you can see gondolas and water buses, but keep in mind that there are also water taxis which hold about a dozen people and zip around both the buses and gondolas!

Monday October 17, 2011

John, Dave and I went for a walk before breakfast along the waterfront. There were quite a few people out even that early in the morning – some coming off the water taxis (vaporettos) to work, street cleaners with long straw brooms, joggers, and photographers setting up to catch the first rays of sun on the water. After breakfast (the croissants are wonderful!), we had a walking tour of St. Mark’s Square by a local guide. He took us into the cathedral, which was decorated with intricate marble designs on the floor and small mosaic beads of glass on the ceiling. Much of the glass beads had a sliver of gold imbedded – it was quite ornate inside. Venice is made up of 117 islands and there are 465 bridges connecting the islands. St Mark’s Square is the lowest point on this particular island and is prone to flooding. Wooden walkways are piled in the square to be put up in case of flooding. Last year, the area in front of the cathedral flooded 200 days! We have been lucky as the weather has been sunny, but cool. After our tour, John, Lana, Kelly, Dave and I visited the Doge’s Palace and the prison. There is a bridge between the palace and the prison called the Bridge of Sighs. The prisoners would walk across the bridge on their way to public execution in the square. We then walked across the square and took an elevator to the top of a tower to get 360-degree views of Venice. It was a perfect day and the terra cotta roof tiles made a lovely picture. We stopped for lunch and then walked across the Grand Canal to do some window shopping. Most of the shops sell jewelry – some specialize in Murano glass beads. Another popular shop is of masks – very elaborate ones that are uses in February for two weeks during Carnivale (see photo). After walking along way, we stopped and took a gondola ride (see photo). We started in the Grand Canal, but then meandered down some of the smaller canals. It was a lovely day and the ride was very relaxing. Our guide was young and explained that he was the third generation of gondola owners in his family. He took us past two gondola makers’ shops right next to the canal. It is quite expensive to own one as they are made by hand and cost 40,000 euros and that you would need two in your lifetime. They are always painted black on the outside, but each gondolier chooses the insides. Ours was black, white and silver with a blue floor. We went for dinner when we got back near our hotel – it was very good. The waiter who enticed us into the restaurant was quite charming. We got back on the early side and I spent some time blogging and writing postcards before bed. I’m still not sure when I will get to post the blogs as the WiFi in the hotel is on the blink and although we passes an internet café yesterday, I’m not sure I can find it again.

Italy October 16, 2011

We arrived safely in Italy today. We left from home early (Lana wanted to get moving) and it was a good thing we did as there was a major traffic tie-up on I-95. We had to wait for a bus when we got to Providence, but at least we were there. We checked into Logan and then had another wait for our plane, but it did feel good to finally know we were on our way. None of us slept a whole lot on the way over, but we did get a short rest. We had a layover at the Rome airport. It took forever to get to our gate – this is a huge airport and sprawls all over the place. The gate on our tickets did not match the gate on the display board in the airport so we went with the one in the airport. It was a very long and winding walk to our gate. Thank goodness John was alert – as the time for boarding neared, he noticed that there was little activity at the boarding gate. We checked the display again and the gate had changed again! We were worried about making it to the new gate in time, but it turned out to be a very short walk. We boarded with no problems and arrived in Venice less than an hour later. We were met just outside the baggage claim area and met a couple from Maine who was on the same trip. We took a mini-bus ride to the dock and boarded a water taxi to get us across to Venice proper and to our hotel. We were in one of the smaller canals when we were stopped by the police. Not knowing Italian, I’m not quite sure what the problem was, but I suspect our driver did not have a current registration on the boat. They were all talking about carte, which to me means paper. At any rate, we did dock next to San Marco Square and were met by our Venice tour guide, Andrea. We walked across the square and found our hotel. The rooms are small, but neat and I was surprised to find a double bed as most European hotels only have singles. Lana and John had gotten an email and voice mail from Kelly telling of having to reroute to Paris and then missing a connection. We were concerned as both the tour guide and the hotel thought she had checked in, but we couldn’t find her. We walked around a bit and then stopped back to the hotel, but every time, it was no Kelly. We went down to the dock to see if she was there, but no Kelly. We did see a regatta of sailing ships (America’s Cup, perhaps? - see photo) and watched them sail down the Grand Canal. We finally came back to the hotel for our welcome meeting and who walks in 10 minutes later, but Kelly. She had not been met at the airport so had taken a water taxi over, but then spent the next 2 hours walking around trying to find the hotel – what a big mix-up. We were all glad to see one another, but there will certainly be some complaints made to the tour collapse into bed. Apparently, there is a company when we get home! We went out for a pizza dinner – very good pizza – took a shower and now are ready to charge for WiFi service here so I will post tomorrow after our tour. The other photo is a bird's-eye view of Venice.