Lucca & Pisa

The renaissance walls completely surround the city of Lucca. Because it is very flat many tourists rent bikes and ride all around the area.

Puccini's birth place. I would have loved to attend one of the many concerts held in the gorgeous churches.
A little to our surprise but one of our son's favourite groups is performing at the Piazza ( outdoor concert) in July. Move over Puccini as Dave Matthews takes over !

Tower Guinigi is well known for the trees growing on the top.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is truly leaning !!!! They finally stabilized the earth so it would not eventually fall down!
Stay tuned for more pictures we are on our way to Sicily next week.

Siena & San Gimignano

Siena is a Unesco Heritage Site full of Gothic Architecture. It was great walking the narrow streets and coming to the slopping medieval cobblestone Piazza.

In the middle of Plaza del Campo is a lovely fountain called "Fonte Gaia"......Happy Fountain.
San Gimignano is also a Unesco heritage Site and is known for the Village of Towers. At one time there were 72 which is a sign of power and wealth.

The streets were full of exquisit shops in beautiful buildings and tons of tourists.The town was named after a bishop who is said to have saved the city from Attila the Hun.
Pizza...........

...........Pasta and Wine is the main Italian diet.

Kids under 10 only blog - Pinocchio's Park

Collodi is a famous little village - birth place of Carlo Lorenzini, the writer of Pinocchio's Adventures.
Jan is in the whale's mouth..........
...while Ralph gets through to the path.

Pinocchio's Park is made up of a beautiful park and gardens full of sculptures by Emilio Greco .

This wooden statue bid us farewell!!

Frienze Italy

Florence - the magnetic romantic city - full of Art & Culture on the Arno River and
home of Machiavelli & Michelangelo.

Florence is also much about high fashion and styles. Sitting across from Salvatore Ferragamo, I could not even afford to walk into the shop ; let alone purchase any thing.
The real "David" is white marble and found in the Galleria of Accademia. No pictures are allowed so this is the copy that sits in the Piazzale Michelangelo....... He is truly breath taking.

...and overlooks the romantic Florence.

Ponto Vecchio crossing the Armo River.

.........The front panel of the Duomo e Campanile di Giotto with a combination of architectural styles. It is so unique. Just when I think I have had enough of churches..........another gorgeous one appears.

Civita di Bagnoregeo

This was a dieing village but has been restored as a tourist centre. The walkway was built over a ravine of which was quite a climb.
The village has lots of interesting pathways as these lead to caves which were used by the residence.
......A look into the past as many areas were set up in gardens, arches and caves.

A beautiful view over the garden at the top.

New friends. We had a lovely visit with Jane ( from Baltimore centre) who have made this Village a summer home, Fran (friend of Janes on the left), and Ciana (from Seattle her dad owns a restaurant in the village ) .
Jane's home was magnificent !


This was another inviting doorway! I could get use to this life style.

On the road again

Palazzo Farnese's Renaissance looking Castle in Caprarola had some of the most beautiful frescoes that I have ever seen. The grounds were complete with gardens , hunting grounds and a hidden "pleasure house" at the back of the property.

We met GianPaulo at the resort. He helped us find a Mac repair shop to get our computer up and running, and has become a great friend helping us find so many cool villages all over Italy. He recommended most of what you see in our photos.Thank you GianPaulo!!
Looking over Marta & Capodimonte on this beautiful lake, reminds us a lot of home.Heading north to Frienze (Florence) we pass through some amazing countryside. We are on our way to spend 5 days just 23 Km outside of Florence in a village called Rufina.

Orvieta is home to the 1290 Romanesque/Gothic style Cathedral. Walking into the Piazza was breath taking at its beauty. Meeting students from Arizona doing exchanges was a great way to share our lunch time before moving on.

Ceramics in Italy are gorgeous. Good thing my suitcase is full because I could be doing a lot of "expensive" shopping.

Lazio Region of Italy

We have spent the last week in the area of Lazio. It is the generally known as the centre of Italy. Viterbo, one the main cities is know as the Medieval Village of the area. Very hard to navigate around but quite beautiful.
The countryside of Lazio is stunning. My favorite place to spend the day on the back roads.( Ralph)
The tombs of Tarquina - Over 6000 tombs are in this area dating back to the 450AD. 60 tombs have frescoes painted in them. Sorry the lighting is not great but the picture is taken through glass and underground. It is Uneso Heritage Site.

Another of my favorites...... sitting in the villages sipping cappuccinos, watching the locals and viewing their homes. I love the gardens that are any place & everywhere through the villages. I wish you could see the swallows that are flying all over the roof tops of the villages.

Rome

Beautiful Rome - with so much to see. The Colosseum is the main feature, where gladiators fought till death all for the entertainment of an audience.
Gorgeous architecture.....
Basilicas...........(Santa Maria Maggiore)
Squares............( St. Peter's Square and the Vatican)
Piazzas....................... with beautiful fountains and sculptures designed by Michelangelo.
Ruins............ (Roman Forum)
............and on it goes!!!

Getting to and from Rome was a highlight: We left by train early Monday morning which was fast and easy - 45mins. Coming home that night was funny! The 45min ride turned into 2 hrs. as the train got on the wrong track out of Rome then had to find a way to get us to the station of our destination. 1hr into the trip we thought we had gotten on the wrong train and decided we needed to find out what was going on so we found someone who spoke English and they told us the story of the train taking the wrong route! We were relieved as we were getting back to our destination and not some where else in Italy.

Tues - again left in early morning with an uneventful 45min ride. Coming home we got the station a good 30mins early to find lots of empty seats. By departure the train was full and we discovered as the conductor took our tickets we were in 1st class with economy tickets. Had to move the economy section which was standing room only for 45mins. No more Rome or trains!!!

Italy

Soriano nel Cimino is 45mins from Rome by train, in the centre of Italy. The castle in the middle of the village is stunning as well as the village itself.
We booked this time share exchange wondering what we might be going to and it turned out to be one of the best places we have stayed. This Mansion was built in the 15 Century and was used as a Mansion for a rich noble. It has been converted into 18 units with much of the originals paintings you see on the walls and ceilings restored.
Very night the village square is a buzz with activity nothing really gets going until about 9Pm when they come out to eat and have coffee until the wee hours. Eating out is an experience in itself as every region has it's own speciality! Porcini mushrooms and chestnuts in Soriano besides pizza that is to die for ....not to mention the gelato ( Ice cream).
Some of the beautiful wild flowers ( poppies) growing in the fields all over the country side. It is Spring so lots of flowers everywhere.
Monster Park , believed to be built by some of Micheal Angelo's students in the 15Th Century is the most unusual area of about 50 sculptures.

Ville Lante Gardens is the typical Italian, Renaissance garden....Gorgeous!