Day 14 - Our Last Day of Vacation!

Well it had to come to an end. Part of me is more than ready to go home and part is sad to see the trip end as we had such a good time. This morning I started out at 7am and walked around the area fairly close to our hotel. The streets were almost completely deserted which was nice compared to the mega crowds that we experienced shopping today.

After breakfast, the four us set out shopping for a few hours. We came across Venice's leaning tower.

We picked up some sandwiches and drinks at a small shop and had lunch back at the hotel before going back out for the last shopping trek of the trip. It was wall-2-wall people but we made it through.

This evening was the fairwell dinner for the group. It was a great way to end our tour.

This was the view across the canal.

Tomorrow morning, we take a water taxi at 7:30 am to the Marco Polo Airport and we fly out for the US at 10:50am. We have a long 5 hour layover in Atlanta before catching our flight to Grand Rapids arriving at around 11pm ET. That will be about 22 hours of travel time but Nancy and I can sleep in since we're not working Wednesday.

Arrivederci Italy!

 

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Day 13 - On to Venice

Today we took a high speed train from Florence to Venice.

At times the train hit speeds of 280 km/h which is about 175 mph! We cruised right along and had 1st class seats.

Once we arrived in Venice, we took water taxis from the station to our hotel.

We had a nice lunch at the hotel and then went on a tour of St. Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace.

After the tour, we were treated to a gondola ride by Tauck.

Finally we walked to a little ristorante that was quite off the beaten path that a friend of Nan's at work recommended when they were here called Ristorante Al Giardinetto da Severino. Now that's a mouthful! The food and wine was delicious which I am sure is sounding like a broken record.

We walked back to the hotel by way of St. Mark's Square where there are several ristorantes with wonderful live music.

Tomorrow we have the day to ourselves to explore Venice and then have our farewell dinner. Until then... Ciao!

 

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Day 12 - Florence, Uffizi Gallery, and Shopping

This will be another low content day. After breakfast, we walked to the Uffizi Gallery which is a huge art gallery full of famous works. The only one I got a picture of was the Birth of Venus which I'm sure you'll recognize.

It was done in 1486 by Botticelli. The painting is quite large - 68" by 110". This museum was a bit odd in that some paintings were in air conditioned rooms behind a thick piece of plexiglass while other parts of the museum were not air conditioned/climate controlled at all. Our guide was really quite upset about this. It did seem very odd to me as well.

As I said, the place was huge and if you were an art history buff, you'd be in heaven in this place. This is the stuff in Italy that interests me the least I'm afraid. The tour lasted a couple of hours and afterwards Barb and Nan went shopping again. Mitch went to another museum and I headed back to the hotel to give my feet the day off. This was also our first rainy day so there would have been little I could do to take pictures outside.

I spent a couple hours reading on my ipad and then went out for a 1 hour walk. By that time, the rain had stopped and I got a few more pictures. I stopped into a gelato place and had a cone for lunch. It was delicious. I came back to the hotel, read a little more and took a little nap. Nan got back just before 5pm and is taking her own nap now. :-)

So at about 7pm, we headed out to find dinner on our last evening in Florence. We found this little ristorante.

We sat at these outdoor tables and had a wonderful dinner. During dinner, there was a man playing the flute in the piazza and it was so beautiful. Here's the piazza after dinner.

We then walked across to the other side of the river and had some more gelato. It really is better than ice cream. And finally, we came back to our hotel with the church across the river reflecting on the calm water.

Tomorrow we leave Florence and take a train to Venice for our last 2 days of our trip. Until then... Ciao!

 

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Day 11 - Florence Accademia and City Tour

Here is our hotel in Florence - the Westin Excelsior. It's right on the River Arno.

This church was right outside our hotel.

And right across the river was this structure which I'm not sure what it is but the reflective picture off the still river was nice. I got a got shot of this with my DSLR and I hope to Photoshop out the graffiti. :-)

We had a very informative art history lecture this morning at the hotel and then took a bus over to the Accademia Gallery of Florence where we saw Michelangelo's David. It's over 16 feet tall and weighs more than 5 tons.

From here we walked to see the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore which is another huge cathedral completed in the 15th century.

This was end of our guided activities for the day so the four of us stopped in a little outdoor ristorante and had a wonderful calzone for lunch.

Then we walked across the Ponte Vecchio which is covered with numerous shops selling gold and jewelry. We walked to some more shops and then Nan and I headed back to the hotel while Barb and Mitch kept on shopping for a while longer.

We had dinner this evening at Ristorante Buca Mario and it was fabulous!

After dinner we walked back to the hotel along the river.

Tomorrow we visit the Uffizi Gallery. It will be the first day since we've been here that we're expecting rain. Until then... Ciao!

 

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Day 10 - Cinque Terre and on to Florence

Not many pictures from my iphone today. We spent a good portion of the day in one mode of transportation or another. We found out this morning that the water was too rough for us to go to Cinque Terre by boat (boo!) so we were headed to the commuter train at La Spezia. On the way, we passed the mountains where Carrara Marble is mined. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrara_marble. This picture was through the coach bus window with my phone so its not too good but the white on the mountains is not snow, its marble!

We arrived in La Spezia to take a commuter train out to the 4th town of Cinque Terre called Vernazza. The train was packed including standing in the aisles. Fortunately the train ride took about 25 minutes including 3 other stops and we were then able to get off. I got this selfie of Nan and I out at the end of the pier.

I got a lot more with my DSLR that I think will be good but we'll have to wait and see. We had a couple of hours in Vernazza and then had to get back on the commuter train back into La Spezia. The train back wasn't quite as full and we actually got a place to sit this time. Once we reached La Spezia, we walked back to the coach and then motored our way to Florence. We're once again staying at the Westin Excelsior which so far appears to be very nice.

Tomorrow we get a lecture on art history and go to see Michelangelo's David. We have the afternoon and evening to explore Florence on our own. Until tomorrow... Ciao!

 

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Day 9 - San Gimgnano

We left the quaint little town of Torgiano and headed to San Gimgnano, the town with the towers. But before we left, we thought we catch a quick selfie by the grapes.

It took a few hours to arrive and then we walked up a long hill. For those who have been to Italy, you know everything is built on a hill. :-) In the piazza was this tower. It was 250 steps to the top.

Mitch and I climbed to the top for the view. It was a bit of a hike and quite warm inside even though it was only about 82 outside. Then we waited at the top because it was quite busy. They normally allowed 15 minutes up on top but today were asking people to limit it to 5 minutes because of the line. The view was great!

 

I think i got some good shots with my DSLR and wide angle lens which we'll have to wait and see after we get home. We had a wonderful slice of pizza and some gelato in the piazza. And then had a beer as we walked back to the bus to leave. Perfect!

On our way to our hotel in Viareggio, we went through Pisa and drove by the leaning tower. The tour guide explained why we they don't stop there. I guess you can't do everything in one trip.

We arrived in Viareggio to our hotel and a seaside comminuty of hotels and shops.

The four of us walked along the shops for several blocks and then back along the water to the hotel for dinner.

Tomorrow we're hopefully taking a boat to Cinque Terre which will be a highlight for me. But if its too wavy, we'll be taking the train. :-( After that, we head to Florence for 3 nights. Until then... Ciao!

 

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Day 8 - Excursion to Assisi

We awoke today to another beautiful day here in Italy. This was the view from our hotel room window this morning.

After breakfast, we loaded up on the coach bus and headed to Assisi and the Basilica of St. Francis which you can see in the distance here.

 

We had a guided tour of the Basilica which was completed in 1253. Again, the history is incredible. Our tour guide said it took her 5 years just to learn all about the 28 frescoes. They would not let us take pictures inside again but you can see the inside lower and upper basilica here: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_San_Francesco_d'Assisi

After we toured the basilica, we went into the town of Assisi. Here is an example of sidewalk art in Italy. :-) This was drawn on the road of the town square.

Barb and Mitch and Nancy then went shopping and I went exploring for pictures which I mostly took with my DSLR so we'll have to wait for those pictures. Here's one I got on my iphone of St. Clare's Basilica.

You can read more about her here: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clare_of_Assisi

Once I was done with my photo walk, it was time for dessert. :-)

We all loaded up around 2:15 and headed back to our hotel in Torgiano. The four us promptly put on our bathing suits and headed to the pool. Over the ramp going down to the pool was a trellis covered in grapes.

 

We enjoyed a couple hours relaxing and cooling off in the pool before going to another wonderful dinner.

Tomorrow, we head to San Gimgnano and Viareggio. Until then... Ciao!

 

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Day 7 - Left Rome and headed back to the country

Hard to believe it has been a week since we left home but it's true. We left Rome this morning to head to the small village of Torgiano - population about 5,000.

I must say that we saw a lot in Rome in the 3 days we were there and could have stayed many more days and still not see it all, but I really prefer the smaller Italian towns. We drove out of Rome toward our first stop of Orvieto. I tried to talk the tour guide into a slight detour through Anguillara Sabazia which is where they filmed a lot of the Everybody Loves Raymond Italy episode but to no avail.

We made a short rest stop about 1.5 hours outside of Rome at a rest area/snack bar. Behind the snack bar was this sea of sunflowers. Sunflowers are a big crop here.

From here we went on into Orvieto to tour the Orvieto Cathedral which was started in 1290 and not finished for 300 years! We had a guided tour of the inside but unfortunately, they did not allow pictures.

We had another fabulous lunch. Big surprise. And then headed on to Torgiano. We had a couple of hours before dinner. Nan went with Mitch and did some wine tasting. I put my feet up for a bit before dinner. We sat down to dinner at 7:45 pm and walked out around 10. Again, it was incredible. The portions are smaller which is a darned good thing.

Tonight was the last night of the festival Vinarelli 2014 a Torgiano. The entire village, it seems, turns out on this street in town where the have set up tables for blocks and they eat and then many artists paint with water colors using wine as the water.

Tomorrow we travel to Assisi. Until then... Ciao!

 

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