Pisa/Montecatini

We spent most of our day on the road today. We stopped in Pisa to see the leaning tower. It is realllly leaning, in fact it is amazing that is it still standing since it is 8% out from being straight.

Tonight went a vineyard in Monte Carlo for a Tuscan dinner. We were able to see the grapes growing in the vineyard and the olive trees. We had a great 6 course dinner including 3 white wines and 3 red wines from the vineyard. There was also music and dancing. What a great evening.

Venice

We met our local tour guide for the morning tour and started in the Doge Palace. The frescos and wood work in the Doge Palace is very elaborate. We also walked across the Bridge of Sighs to the Prison area. Next we went to a glass blowing demonstration and walked through the gallery. The Murano glass is amazing and also very expensive. The guided tour ended just before noon and we had the remainder of the day on our own to walk the streets of Venice.

Since it was Sunday we decided we would try to go the noon mass to be able to see St.Mark's Basilica. The mass lasted about an hour and was entirely in Italian so needless to say we didn't understand anything. It did give us lots of time to sit in amazement at all the mosaics that decorate the ceiling and walls in the basilica. The floor is done in mosaics tiles as well and is extremely uneven due to the sinking of Venice.

The rest of the day we walked around Venice, sat on some bridges watching people go by in the gondolas, and visited the Italian Army Museum. Venice is a very unique place and fun to visit but not sure I could ever live here.

Ravenna/Venice

Today we traveled from Assisi to Venice with a stop in Ravenna. Tonight we had dinner on a boat cruising around the Venice canals. We had an amazing sunset and a wonderful evening. The boat docked shortly so we could take a quick walk to St. Mark's Square before heading back to the hotel.

Tomorrow we will have all day to explore Venice!

Assisi

Today was an early start - breakfast at 6:45 and on our way to the funicula to head down to catch the boat to Naples. It was about an hour ride to Naples where we boarded our tour bus again. We are on our way to Asissi, 246 miles. The countryside is beautiful, small vineyards and cottages abound.


In Assisi, we saw the churches of St Francis and St Clare. Love walking the streets of these small towns among all the shops, gelaterias, and local residents. So much history, so little time.

We'll be posting more photos on Flickr and details on Venice in the next day or two, so stay tuned!

Capri

We arrived on the island of Capri last night by ferry and had a nice dinner with the tour group at the hotel. We are staying at the La Residenza Hotel in Capri Village. Beautiful hotel, amazing flower arrangements in every room.
There are flowers everywhere in Capri, in the hotels, shops, and on the cobblestone streets. Capri is my favorite place so far, granted we are still early in the trip.

Today we started out with a tour of the village of Anacapri from a local tour guide name Dario. His friend Luigi was the tour guide for the other Globus tour group. Dario was a great guide and very funny. Our tour started out with a roller coaster ride on a shuttle bus up the windy mountain side. In Anacapri we visited the house and gardens of Dr. Axel Munthe, a doctor/architect/author/musician who lived on the island most of his life. The house is owned and managed by the Swedish government now. The gardens were filled with lush vines and flowers. It was so peaceful.

Next we were on our way down the cobblestone streets to visit the Church of San Michele. The tile mosaic covering the entire floor of the church portrays Adam and Eve being sent out of the Garden of Eden by the archangel Michael.

Today we also took a cable ride from Anacapri to the top of the island. It took about 12 minutes to get to the top, ~1800' above sea level. We hiked around at the top for a while just enjoying the breeze and staggering views. It was an amazing view of the island from the top, we were able to see the sheer cliffs on one side of the island and Anacapri on the other side. Lots of white birds (seagulls?) flying around the cliffs everywhere.

The entire island of Capri just feels like a different world. Birds circle soar overhead all day and night. The water is deep blue, the cliffs are silvery white, and everything else is brilliant green. I'd love to spend a few weeks here just hiking around the island.

Rome/Pompeii

We arrived at our hotel (Villa Pamphili, view from room at right) just outside Rome at ~11:00am and thankfully were able to check into our rooms, which we immediately put to good use for a 5-hour nap. Our tour group had an amazing seven-course welcome dinner at Quo Vadis, a local ristorante. A local musicial group (also named Quo Vadis) kept us entertained during dinner; Giuseppe played the accordion, a soprano and flutist had a few solos, and an exhuberant showman named Enzo kept the women blushing and everyone singing.

As I write this we are driving on the tour bus to Pompeii, where we'll see the excavation of the old city destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. Then it's off to the shops at Sorrento before heading to the pier to board a boat to the Island of Capri, where we'll spend the next 2 nights.

We spent a couple hours walking through the excavation site at Pompeii. I never realized how large the city was or how much of it you can walk through; you can walk the same streets as they did before the city's destruction and see all the shops, homes, and other buildings. It's amazing that the city was covered in ash at one time.

More photos on our Flickr photo site if you want to view more.

Well, we are finally ready to leave on our trip. It is hard to believe we are starting our trip already. Seems like we have been planning this trip for so long or maybe I should say at least talking about it for over 3 years.

We will fly from Phx to Philadelphia and then on to Rome today/tonight. We will arrive in Rome the morning of the 24th. Long flight.

Bye Lily