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. . .

Swimming in the Mediteranian

Hello from Cinque Terre!

Yesterday we spent the day exploring. In the morning we took out the kayak provided by the hotel and jumped off to swim in the Mediteranian sea. The water was wonderful and view was beautiful. George even pulled me to shore, I got to hang on the back of the kayak while he paddled. It was great!

We then had lunch and took the train to two of the other towns. It was fun to explore and see other little towns. The plan is to see the other two today and continue to explore. We have enjoyed having one more day here as it doesn't feel like we have to continue to move and travel. We are off tomorrow though - away from the water and in to the Tuscan country.

Also, I have changed the settings so that anyone can post now - sorry I am not sure how to use the Blogger program yet. It has been fun reading the posts - thanks!

We may post one more time before we leave as we got a deal at this Internet cafe.

The view out the window

Today we spent several hours traversing the

Italy countryside by train. We took great trains that all had air conditioning! I have loved to look out the windows at all the passing scenery (I have attached one of my pictures from the train.) It has been amazing that most of the fields have been corn (not grapes and olives) and I have yet to see corn on any menu. I love seeing the way that the Italians live - some in small shacks, that remind me of my trip to China and the Dominican Republic, and some in castles on hillsides looking over a beautiful valley. This trip has been a great experience to see life from so many different perspectives.

We made it to Cinque Terre not long ago, had a snack provided by the hotel and are going to wander the town. From the little we have seen it is beautiful, we just needed to check our car reservation on the Internet, so I thought that I would say hi to you all. Can't wait to show you pictures and share stories when we get back.

The sinking city

What an amazing city! To be somewhere that is basica

lly just on top of the water. It has so many alleys and bridges, George has done a great job of figuring out the map of all the different places. There is no rhyme or reason to the order of how things are, but we were told to get lost in Venice, and so we have accomplished our goal. The picture is of us on our first Vappereto (water taxi) ride.

This morning we went to St. Marks Basilica and spent our morning wandering amongst beautiful works of art depicting so many different Bible stories. It was very fun (and Rick Steves gave us a great way to skip the lines which made it even better!)

We have spent the afternoon relaxing and eating pizza and gelato. We leave tomorrow to head to Cinque Terre. It is a long train ride, but from what everyone says, it should be worth it.

Okay, all for now. Sorry about the no appostropy thing and that there arent more pictures (I am not a true Blogger yet and cant get more than one on a post.)

Cooking class

Okay, so I dont really know what I am doing on blogger and with a different keyboard, so this was supposed to be in the last post. This was our cooking class where he was showing us homemade pasta. I dont know if you can see it, but the eggs are directly in the middle of the flour that is just on the table.

Pictures from Varenna

Here is us in Varenna (our hotel is the yellow one behind the ferry).

Adventures in Varenna

Bon journo from Italy!

After traveling for almost 24 hours yesterday we arrived in Varenna yesterday, right around 2 Italian time. We ate, showered, and made ourselves stay awake until at least 7 PM. It paid off as we seem to be adjusted to the time pretty well.

Today after breakfast we went off to a cooking class in the hills about Varenna. It was quite fun to learn recipes for a number of different foods, including Milan Risoto, homemade pasta, and roast chicken (which was interesting to watch him cut up a whole chicken.) We then had the chef (who was also our driver) drop us off a the castle ruins at the top of the hill.

It has been a great time so far in Italy. The area is BEAUTIFUL and the people are very nice. Unfortunatly the computers at the Internet Cafe that we are in does not allow for memory cards, so no pictures this post. I hope all is well for you all!

Italy - here we come!

We leave tomorrow VERY early in the morning, but we have decided that because Italy is 13 hours ahead, it will help us to start changing time early. We fly into Milan and then take the train to Varenna on Lake Como! Hopefully we can post when we get there.

We are leaving in August!

We are preparing and getting ready to leave for Europe in just a few weeks. With plane tickets purchased and hotels being confirmed we are excited to spend 13 days exploring Italy. Hopefully we can find computers to update (and my "blogging class" helped me to figure out all I needed to, thanks Richard!) as we go along. Thanks for reading!