Travelogue - Italy

After our couple of weeks in Spain, we departed Barcelona and flew to Milan where we met up with my daughter Gabe and her husband Mark.  They were taking a belated honeymoon and we would travel in Italy together for eight days and then they would go on to France without us.  We had a fabulous time together!  In Spain we enjoyed sun and warmth everyday - Italy, after the first two days, was mostly cloudy, some rain, and quite chilly.  So chilly that I was not prepared for it clothes wise and had to buy a couple handmade ponchos,  a leather jacket and a few scarves- dang it!  :)

Here I am following Gabe down a little passage in Portofino.  After we got together in Milan, we drove to the coast to Rapallo to find our hotel in the village of Santa Margherita Ligure.  We checked in and then we went exploring in Portofino, the beach area of Rapallo and our own little hotel's village.

 Picture taken from the balcony of our hotel.

 The beach in front of our Hotel.

 Portofino above and below

 Portofino above and below.

 Rapallo above and three below.

 If Spain was hot chocolate every morning, Italy was Orzo after dinner every night.  This is simply barley roasted over coals, ground up and brewed like an espresso (think Postum, but not that powdered, instant stuff).  Served bitter and in teeny little cups.  They would ask me every time if I wanted a little one or a grande.  Believe it or not, this is a grande.  I don't really get it; you get the same amount (like a quarter cup) but the cup size is different.  Orzo is what children or those who avoid caffeine drink in Italy.  I drink it, not because I'm either or those, I just like the taste and it's healthy enough!

We drove to La Spezia the next morning and boarded a train for the Cinque Terre; five tiny cliff hanging, colorful villages mostly non-accessible by car, just boat or train.  We visited three of the five, Vernazza, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.  We took a boat between the last two which was really fun and then the train back to La Spezia.  From there we drove to Portovenere for the evening and dinner and explored that adorable ancient town.

 I don't know how those people who live in those little isolated villages can stand all the tourists day in and out.  The train and towns were jam packed.  I realize it's the price they pay to be able to make a living there but the crowds and endless picture taking of one's windows and doors would drive me crazy.  And I was one taking pictures of windows and doors!

On our way up another tower - this was a daily thing - finding towers to climb.

Can you see those sunbathers right on the cliff?

 Watching the train from our cliff perch.

 Church inside and out.

 Following Dan :)

 Portovenere at dusk.

 Gabe going in for a dip

 Above and three below - exploring Portovenere before dinner.

Following Mark and Gabe down ancient passage ways in Portovenere.

 Dan, Gabe and Mark had after dinner gelatos; I had my roasted barley Orzo Grande.

 Portovenere at night after dinner.

Day three found us on our way to Tuscany where we would be staying the night in Siena.  We explored many towns on our route there.

 Above and below, Lucca

 Gabe on one of the seats in an ice cream shop - swings!

 We girls in our daily dresses!

 Above and two below - the Duomo in Siena

 Climbing the tower in the main piazza in Siena for a wonderful view below.  

 Looking down the stairs on our way up the tower.

 Gabe mailing her daily post cards.

 Above and below - Monteriggioni

 Below - San Gimignano at night where we had dinner.

 

 

 Below, two pics of our lodging house right outside of Siena.

 You can barely see our first stop of day four on that hilltop - Montalcino.  After, we went to the towns of Pienza, Montepulicano, Sarteano and Cortona.  We spent that night in Cortona.

 Is that a cool scene or what?  I love the absolutely bare soil and that house between two trees.

 The view from our lunch area in Pienza.  As I took this picture, I was talking to Home Depot back home about an order that had come in for some item for one of our rental properties - ha!

  Hee!  When I took that picture, I pretended to the rest that I was saying good-bye and walking to my home right there on the corner through that wooden door.

 I love laundry hanging out of windows.  In Spain and Italy, it's adorable - here in the States it would say "tenement".

 View from a Pienza roof top.

 That town in the hill top it Montepulciano.

 Gabe and I in our dresses as we came out of another church of course.

 Above and below - our hotel (Albergo) out in the countryside right outside of the town of Cortona.  That cat bit my hand after it came up to me for some petting I thought.

 Look at that villa above and its land - so gorgeous!  This is in the Chianti area of Tuscany.  We spent the day exploring as many Chianti towns as we could as we made our way to Florence where we would spend the next two nights.

 Above and several below - the town of Volpaia, way up a tortuous steep road to a mountain top.  So pretty!!

 In our dresses in the town of Volpaia.

 As soon as we got out of our car in this town, we could smell sweet grapes; the smell permeated the air and we followed the strength of the scent to an ancient stone building which housed this very modern stainless steel equipment smashing the juice from the grapes.  The smell was so heady.

 The Arno River in Florence.  We were watching that crew of rowers.

 Street artist - such talent.

 View from the top of the Duomo - Florence

 My favorite sculpture - The Rape of the Sabine Women by Giambologna in the Piazza della Signoria - the muscle detail is amazing and the fact it was carved out of one piece of flawed marble almost 500 years ago.  Back detail two pics down.

 Drinking fountain.

 Boboli Gardens

 Pecorino cheese, apples, arugula and honey with dinner - so so so delicious.  Restaurant Buca Mario.

 Mark, I and Dan in our leather jackets we bought in Florence.  It made me think of the line in "You've Got Mail", where Meg Ryan's boy friend Frank remarks about how tourists go to Europe and do foolish things like pay too much for leather coats.  We bought ours all at the same time from one vendor down an alley, not from a boutique, and he gave us a great deal we felt.

 In the city of Bologna.  We didn't spend near enough time in that city though we spent the night there.  It was a cold, dreary day which somehow made the dark, stone, medieval town even more magical to be in.  We climbed 498 stairs up the taller of the two towers after breakfast - below we are looking down at the shorter tower.

 Wooden stairs all the way up.

 Rainy square in Bologna.  Below, the whole city is porticoed and so you can walk for blocks and blocks and blocks under cover unless you are crossing a street or standing in a square obviously.

The only remaining canal in Bologna.  Looks a bit like Venice where we will be the next few days to end our trip.

 My Gabe!

 This is great toothpaste!  Mint with jasmine essential oil - your breath is both minty and flowery.

 I love empty piazzas/squares/plazas!

 The only sign of autumn in Venice.  We stopped for our cafe break here.

 Fruit stand on a boat.

 In our dresses in Venice!

 Look at the birds!

 Boat jam!

 Below - our last day in the Venice area was spent in Burano - a 45 minute water bus ride from Venice to this little gem of an island known for its seafood, lace making, linen goods and colorful houses.  I was totally enchanted.  Color just makes me so giddy with joy.

Okay folks, that's it!  Yes, lots of pictures but it was hard to just pick a few and after all, this is my journal!