Birthday Celebrations

This post is for Christy - she wanted a new post, though I had no intention of posting on this when we got back to the states. Here are some pictures from my recent birthday party. It was ice cream themed as it was my 31st year. Hope you enjoy the pics Christy - wish you could have been here!

Okay, I can't figure out how to do picture layout. Oh well, enjoy anyway.

Top 10 Pictures

We haven't had a chance to post our pictures yet, but we have had a number of request. We haven't gone through all of our pictures yet, as we did a great job of being tourists and taking pictures of anything that wasn't fast enough to get out of our way in time for us to whip out a camera. So here's my top 10 pictures. Feel free to click a picture to enlarge:





#10. I'm smiling because this doorway made me feel tall. Apparently Italians in the mid-evil ages were much shorter than 5'-9".

#9. This was the best I could do when I was dying to go for a bike ride. It wasn't quite the same as the real thing.


#8. I wish I was born in this area....















#7. How do you say "Go to jail" in Italian?


#6. If this bag was any longer, he wouldn't be able to bend his knees to walk! Leave your piano at home.





















#5. No comment needed on this sign at the Metro

#4. This sign is misleading. When this gentleman came out of the doorway, I thought he was going to do cartwheels down the stairs for us.





















#3. Proof that it is not a sin to text while walking down the street. I love this picture.




#2. Is this the only house in Tuscany that we can afford?























#1. Here it is as promised, proof that some things just don't translate from Italian to English.

My favorite quote from the trip

Yesterday at breakfast as George and I were planning our day I overheard an American girl, probably about 10, say to her parents, "Do we have to do something historical today?" It made me laugh and realize how quickly we can take for granted the amazing history around us. We have just been astounded by how you can turn a corner and see something that was created by hand out of stone thousands of years ago.

For our last day in Italy we are off to go "do something historical!"

We will update with a few pictures when we get home and are relaxing this weekend. Thanks for following our trip with us. :-)

GEORGE LETTERMAN'S TOP 10 LIST

Top 10 things that I've learned in Italy (by George)

10. The people in Italy are passionate, but the mosquitoes are even more passionate.
9. At a bird sanctuary, it's illegal to "molest the hawks" (somethings just don't translate well).
8. Lots and lots of gelato does not cause you to loose weight.
7. It's a sin to take a picture in the Vatican...picture proof to follow.
6. A recent study by the Steirer Institute on a train to Monterosso found that 2 out of 2 Italian women think American speed dating is a brilliant idea and should be brought to Italy.
5. It's called the "Trevi" fountain, not the "Trendy" fountain.
4. Spell Check in Italy does not work fer English.
3. Speaking Spanish in a daze of jet lag to a butcher and then laughing at yourself only makes the butcher mad (if he thinks you're laughing at him as he doesn't understand spanish or english).
2. Ripping a piece of paper in half to tell a butcher to cut the cheese in half will not help him to understand.
1. Tuscany is beautiful

When in Rome . . .

Well, so much has happened in the last few days since I last posted and I am really sad that this computer again doesnt let me put pictures on (no memory card slot) becuase I took some pictures specifically to show you all!

We left Cinque Terre and headed south to Pisa. We thought that seeing the leaning tower would be kind of lame, but it was just the opposite! It was such a fun, iconic sight to see and we were both so glad that we did it. Then it was quite the adventure to get to the Pisa airport to pick up our rental car. We then were off on the road to our B&B outside of Siena.

George did a great job conquering the roads of Italy and staying calm as cars flew past us (at least 20 miles over the speed limit!) I tried to attempt to navigate us through towns and roads on a map that was lacking a number of roads. We made it though to a wonderful place outside of Siena.

The next day we spent the day driving around hill towns of Tuscany. We were able to see little towns, getting a taste for small town Italy and driving down roads that would be considered sidewalks in America. Then we headed into Sienna (a major town south of Florence) to have dinner. We throughly enjoyed our days in this area, but it was short lived as yesterday we headed out for the long drive to Rome.

We arrived at our Roman hotel at around 5 last night and were thrilled that we had a beautiful room in the midst of the big city. Last night we went to the Trevi fountain and had a great dinner nearby (I had the best Calzone!) Then today we headed to Vatican City and went through the museum, the Sistine Chapel and then to St. Peters Basilicalla (the biggest church in the world!)

We are taking a rest this afternoon and then off to the Spanish Steps tonight and to the Collusum and the Forum tomorrow before we head home on Friday morning. It has been a great trip, but we are also lookign forward to heading home. Cant wait to show you all the pictures soon!

R and R

Today we decided that we would relax and take it easy. We are half way through our trip and we wanted to make sure that we not only saw the sights, but also took time to relax. We sat for over an hour outside our hotel (see picture) where we watched the locals go up and down the street and ate the lunch that comes FREE every day with our hotel! I love free stuff!

We also went and got gelatto (a wonderful desert that they seem to have on every corner. Here I am buying my favorite, chocolate chip! It is a great treat and a wonderful way to beat the heat.

Our rest and relaxation day has been nice becuase it has been slightly overcast - a great break from the heat and a little reminder of home.

George also got to take out the bike today that the hotel has. He has loved being able to ride around the town and I enjoy the time to "blog."

What's on the menu?

We have been having so much fun trying out the different pastas on the menu! We have had some of the best pasta here in Cinque Terre since we have been here. (Sorry about the picture layout - I was able to put two pictures, but not sure how to make them go where I want them to.) The ravioli was from last night's meal and it was wonderful. We had a beautiful view and a great meal.




The pesto dish was ordered from a great place on the water the night before. It was delicious as well. It will be hard for places to compete when we get home. . .