Pompei and OIstia Antica Rome on our Last Day in Italy - last post for Italy!!

Our last day in Italy and it all went so fast and there were so many places and people and guides and little moments that we each experienced.  It was fun and tiring and it was great.

Today we had the guide Barbara tour Pompei with us and it was beyond my expectations.  She made it a vibrant unusual place from so long ago including the brothel part which was a important part of Roman life.  The Romans had it all figured out and they wanted to keep the people happy with events in the forum and baths for hygiene and good water etc.

Ostia Antica was also great with more greenery, so it is did not seem as hot. It was a really hot day here today.  We toured on our own and missed the luxury of a trained guide to tell us the story but it was nice just to walk and try to figure things out.

Now we had our farewell supper with everyone and it was nice and the tour was happy.  On the whole it was a great trip with some minor glitches but we saw so much of Italy , it would be a great trip if one wanted to see more of in on the next trip.
As for birding I saw several birds but that' it, nothing else.  In place where there should have been birds, there were none.  Not a place for birding and tons of rock pigeons.

So we are tired and I am worried about packing up and getting it all to fit back into my suitcase.



A great trip.

Barb & Debbie

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Too much Limoncello!! and the day in Capri

Every where we went today and yesterday, whenever  we went anywhere people were giving free samples of Limoncellowo.  I like Limoncello if I would have a sore throat or something.  It is a little like  cough syrup but if one adds ice or hot water it is great.  So I have had it about 5 times so far.  They give samples in hope that you will buy it.

We started the day with a boat ride on a fast boat to the Isle of Capri.  I took Gravol, Ginger and my pressure bandages for my wrists.  All was well until it started getting rough and then I could not turn my head around.  We had a lovely hot day, with full sun and heat.

I arrived fine once I was on land.  Capri is very pretty.  We hustled over to book the Blue Grotto Trip and we did this and went on a 20 passenger boat to the Blue Grotto where we had to transfer on rough water to a row  boat, almost lying down.  From there we waited for our turn to enter the Blue Grotto.  The water was high and we had to time it and everyone had to put their head down to get through the opening which was pretty tight.  I was lying on the row boat with Selena and Jean Louis on one end and I on top and then Debbie was at the other end.  It was really fun and it was so fast you did not have time to get worried about it all.  The Blue Grotto was dark and Mediterranean Blue.  We had to time it again to get out as the sea was rough and got out without getting too wet.  According to the boatman, it had been closed for the last four days as the water was too rough.  We got into our bigger boats and then it took 1/2 hour to to get back to Capri.  We ate lunch on a park bench overlooking the main arrival square and it was lovely.  The we walked up a steep road to look at the upscale hotels and the private beach.  This was a lovely place.  A resort.  Then we went shopping and I bought some lemon soap and then we had a gelato.  I also bought some gem incrusted flip flops to go with my purchased shirt that will go with the top I brought from home.  So now I have an outfit for the dinner hours.  It was a great resort time.

Then at 1:40 were were back on the boat in the full sun.  I wanted to stay in the sun as once I get home, that will be it for the sunshine till spring.  The trip back was good, the sea was calmer than when we came and I was fine.  From the port in Naples we were picked up in a bus with a guide, Barbara, who gave us a lot of detail on the local history which was fascinating.  First we did a driving tour of Naples ( a very gritty, dirty city full of garbage and graffiti, it is as if they forgot, the structures are nice and not crumbling but there is garbage everywhere).  We then had a walking tour of the old sector and the semi old sectors of Naples.  There were packed streets on a Saturday and probably full of pick-pockets.  We had to let a pile of protesters go by and then we had some lovely local dessert, Sfrangstatello or something like that .  We already had the Baba au Rum and this other local speciality was made with ricotta sand heated up.  It was delicious.  We walked back through these congested streets to our hotel in the same grotty area (all of Naples is grotty).  It looks great from a distance.  Then a shower and shampoo and I put on my outfit and we all went our for dinner at a trattoria where I had Veal with lemon sauce and grilled vegetable and then some more Limoncello and decaf coffee.  Allison, Brenda and Jean-Louis walked the block back together to our hotel and Debbie is packing up.  I have also consolidated my stuff and hopefully I won't have to pay the $100 for the extra bag as I am dragging everything back in the cabin.  At least that is what I am hoping to do.

So another wonderful day in Italy.  Tomorrow is our last day and it is Pompei.  The last time Vesuvius blew up it was 1944, lets hope that it does not blow its top tomorrow!!  The holiday is coming to an end. 

Barb & Debbie in Naples

Naples to the Amalfi Coast and the Italian Riveria with summer temperatures - Friday October 18, 2014

Today we headed in our small bus with almost every seat taken (24 seats and there are 22 of us) to go up the Amalfi coast.  There are so many switchbacks that nothing longer than a minibus can manoeuvre these cliff roads.  It was quite the ride and I took my Gravol like I do every day on this bus trip.  I was fine until my stomach got empty and then it was not so good.  We visited Sorrento (beautiful) where we walked down (many stairs) and then this cobbled canyon road to get to the Mediterranean and then a steep stone path back up to the town and then through the shopping district.  One of the fellows said he walked into one store and there were photos of the owner with many Hollywood stars.  This is an upscale area and I guess they go to visit George Clooney and then go up the coast.  It was a beautiful old, well kept town.

So we travelled those cliff side roads  and sometimes the upcoming vehicle is smaller and they have to back up, and everyone knows, to the inch how much room they have.  We had an excellent driver also.  From there we had stops for the view and then stopped for lunch in Amalfi where we had a delicious trattoria lunch in the upper square which is just under a huge church and the whole town has Moorish-type architecture.  We had bream fish, grilled with broccoli greens and two of the girls had dessert also.  Then we walked around and there were all kinds of passageways, all whitewashed.  The place was beautiful.  The Mediterranean was kind of rough so I hope tomorrow is it tranquil as we are taking a hovercraft to the isle of Capri.  It was hot and sunny.

We then stopped in a small town where there is a lot of ceramic manufacturing and we looked in some shops.  We were back in Naples by 5:30 pm and  at 6|:30 pm we went out down the block for supper.  I had a great calamari salad dinner which was great AND a glass of wine which was good too.  We ate outside again and it was quite a summer experience.  The area around the hotel is kind o of gritty and we have a great view from our hotel room of the port and right now there are five huge cruise ships in port.   But it is not an area to stroll with all these sketchy looking dudes around.  Actually most of the Naples we have seen looks kind of gritty, it is a huge port city.

Now since I took five black t-shirts and one baby blue t-shirt with me on this trip ( I must have been thinking I was going on a birding trip or something) just so everyone doesn't think I am wearing the same thing day after day I wash the baby blue t-shirt often so I can wear it every second day or so. So today before we left in the morning I left a note for housekeeping to leave an iron in the room.  We returned at the end of the day and no iron.  The T-shirt looks OK  but I need an iron.  When we came back from supper I asked at the desk for an iron.  The fellow at the desk told me to go to the 21st floor (our room is on the 18th floor) and there the bell man showed me through the staff door and plugged in an iron for me  I asked please can I just take the iron into my room.  He said that it would not work in the room, so I went down and got my shirt and ironed it there on the 21 st floor and now I am happy that I have a ironed t-shirt to wear tomorrow!  Nothing is ever simple in Italy!!!

So it was just another great day to tour here and the landscapes just keep changing and they are beautiful.  I wonder why so many Italians emigrated to Canada, the. land of cold and ice and short summers when they have such a great country here with nice temperatures and buttery, fresh olives.  It really is a mystery.

So that is about it for news from Italy.  Another great day!

I called home and got a real voice from BB and then called Norm, Cassi and J and just left messages, so I was thrilled to talk with BB.  It is bedtime now here so won't call, but going to bed.

Barb & Debbie

Assisi to Naples - plus a long drive - Thursday October 17, 2014

We travelled about half an hour out of Perugia to Assisi.  This is a very medieval looking town, on top of a mountain.  The skies cleared up by noon and it was a beautiful blue sky and the town itself was beautiful.  We had a guide, Eduardo, meet us and take us around.  He was excellent in pointing out works of art and gave explanations of the different interpretations of the art works.  Plus we visited the lower tombs of St Clare and St Francis of Assisi at their respective churches in the town. 

After the tour we had only an hour to have a picnic lunch and then tour the streets and visit some of the tourist stores.  I looked everywhere for a St Assisi scarf and asked around and no one had one.  There is one for Rome but none for Assisi.

From Assisi we started a six hour journey to Naples where we are now.  We just had one of our special dinners as a group and we had a very tasty unknown fish.  The desert was one of my favourites, Baba au Rum.  of course today I am trying to keep up the record and working very hard on it too, to have a Gelato, but a crema one, everyday.  Such a hard job.  We had a lovely sunset coming into Naples along with a great view on Monte Casino (from WWII) and Mount Vesuvius.  Both looming large in the horizon. 

It was a warm day and it is supposed to get warmer still in as we move south.  Tomorrow it is the Amalfi coast.


Our days in Italy are slowly coming to a close soon but we are still enjoying everyday immensely.

The photo below looks fake but that's how pretty it was.

Barb & Deb

Travels across Italy from Venice to San Marino to Perugia - Wednesday October 16, 2014

On a beautiful morning we left the Venice area to travel to San Marino, a state republic with a democratic voting system for the last 1300 years.  It is a small neutral state in Italy high up in the mountains and on a good day, one can see the Adriatic Sea.  The very clean, neat and tidy state in its old town has one police officer who regulates the traffic on the entrance to the old city.

The city state is clean and upscale with notably, no crumbling structures like we have seen elsewhere in Italy.  Everything is very nice and fixed and painted and there is some reconstruction going on.  At the city top, there are three towers and on a good day the Adriatic can be viewed.  It was a warm day until the cloud cover arrived and then the town was covered in cloud.   Here there are many stores selling sunglasses, perfumes, purses and guns.  According to the guide, Sara, who took us around, these guns are plastic guns which sounds even more dangerous to own than real guns. 

We toured around the town and then had a picnic lunch.  Watched the school kids come out of school and the office workers emerge also.  It is a lovely city and in the summer one can imagine seeing the sea from the top of the hill.  Instead it was foggy cloud  We were back on the bus at 4:00 pm and did not get into our next hotel until after 8:00 pm in Perugia.  I think we drove every switchback road in Italy to get here and my stomach felt it.

Once we got into the hotel, everyone got the hotel people to turn on the air conditioning.  And then we went for supper.  We got into a little Pizzeria and waited and waited and did not even get our drinks order so we decided to get take out.  We did and the fellow gave us the Pizza in four big pizza boxes.  We were returning to eat it in one of our two rooms but instead we decided to stop at a well lit bench outside our hotel.  There we are four ladies sitting down at the stylistically lit up lamps and bench area, each of us with our huge open Pizza box munching away and we find that we are outside the main doors of the upscale restaurant in our hotel that was too expensive for us to eat at (plus we didn't find anything we wanted to eat there).  It was hilarious, people were coming to dine and looking at us four sitting there talking and eating our Pizza from our individual big Pizza boxes.  I saw some quizzical looks towards us.  We did not look poor with the big Pizza boxes, we were dressed and yet we were dining outside on a beautiful night at the door of the fancy restaurant.  We started laughing once some people who looked at us went in.  We must have been quite a sight.  We laughed hard.

Now it is time for bed and tomorrow we are on the road the again.  This is one of the few nights on the tour that we only spend one night at this hotel.  It is Assisi tomorrow.

Barb & Debbie

A day wandering around Venice! Tuesday October 15, 2014

We took the commuter bus to the commuter train to the waterbus from Ferrovia to Rialto in Venice today.  After the storms of yesterday the waters were high and not so stinky as they normally would be.  We had a guide, Elizabeth, lead us around the main areas of Venice by water bus and then on foot through the old market area, along and over the Rialto Bridge to San Marco Square, the quintessential spot we always see of Venice and it is as spectacular as it looks in pictures. 

Venice is one city I would go back to and stay in the immediate area.  Venice is so different and so lovely with NO CARS!!!  and just water transport or else on foot.  It is not steep or hilly and wonderfully built.  We visited into the evening and it was beautiful.  The only birds I saw of course were pigeons at San Marco Square and there were lots of them. 

There were crowds everywhere and we were fine with the press of people around and none of us had problems with pick pockets today.  We ate cannoli and gelato and lasagna and cold meats.  We pretty well had all day in Venice.

The buildings are very old and there are cafes everywhere.  The canals are full of boats and some of the group took gondola rides.  We thought we may try it but the waterbus was rough in spots and that was enough for me.  When you are down near the water, it is stinky and I knew I would not be able to do well on a gondola.  I told the girls to go ahead but none of them were keen to go. 

San Marco is an old church and the floor is shifting in areas and one wonders how long it will stand.  In twenty years, one wonders if Venice will still be the same.  It is built on a swampy area and many of the buildings need major repairs.

But it is a special city, and one of the best walking cities in my opinion, next to San Francisco.

We got back to the hotel after a supper by the Rialto bridge where there is a constant stream of people all of the time and the people just kept coming over the bridge.  A lovely day in Venice, sunny and warm. Truely one of the world's stunning cities!

Barb & Debbie

Bologna to an tornado in the area (we were by it) then to Mestre, Venice

It was a beautiful morning leaving the Mediterranean this morning and we were travelling cross country from the Mediterranean to the other side of Italy.  We stopped in Bologna for about four hours to tour the place.  We had a guide take us around and we visited several sites including the two precariously leaning stone towers in the middle of town.  These towers are old and huge and the ground beneath each is shifting so the two are leaning in different directions but if one goes out the other go down with it.  If this was in Ottawa, the city council would be telling the owner of the property to fix it as it is dangerous, remember the Somerset House closure of Bank Street for weeks several years ago.

I had never heard of these towers before and photos do not do these justice.  One tower was leaning over so much they took down 12 meters of this tower from 60 meters high to 48 (numbers are approximate).  We visited several churches and then had a lovely trattoria lunch in the market area.  We all had the lunch special, Lasagna a la Bolognese with a glass of house wine.  It was filling and delicious.

While eating lunch in this tiny lane there was a commotion of paparazzi. following a gent with a bodyguard.- were they looking for us??? Nope, it was explained that the Bologna Soccer Team was purchased by a NY City lawyer with an Italian last name but speaking little Italian and the deal was being signed this afternoon and the fellow went to get lunch with his bodyguard in the little trattoria across from us.  We talked with one of the waiting  paparazzi who spoke English who filled us in with the news.

Then after lunch we wandered further afield and ended up in an old monastery with a set of buildings that were easily the oldest buildings we have seen on this trip.  The first building in the monastery compound was build in 100 AD, and others in the fourth and eighth centuries.  Once one stepped through the doors of this place the bustle of the city died away and there was only silence and the resident cat.

We met up with the rest of the group and we returned to the bus and set out on the excellent highway to Venice.  About an hour away the sky turned black and it was 3:30 pm.  A big storm was rolling in from the mountains.  We stopped in a huge rest stop place off the highway for a bathroom break.  I got out of  the bus with some of the others and it was black but not raining, and walked into the place.  We found the bathroom.  Coming out of the bathroom, the rain and crazy wind in all directions was so intense one could barely see.  The wind was in all directions.  One of my tour friends photographed a funnel cloud nearby.  While we were not in the tornado, we were pretty close. 

We watched the rain from the inside of the rest stop through the windows, then the wind started pushing towards the glass with big hailstones  The hail falling was deafening.  The people in the store moved us from the window area (plate glass ) to the middle of the store.  But then water started pouring in like Niagara Falls (we had lost power just when the storm started and there was only dim light) from the ceiling, with the water coming in so quickly over all the store goods it was feared that the roof was going to be either blown off or fall down.  The wind and rain and hail continued and then we moved under the structural areas of the building.  Then light fixtures and ceiling panels started to fall from the ceiling.  The store was flooded.  The rain eased off a bit and we ran for the bus, the rest stop store was flooded and everything wet inside.  That place would NOT be reopening anytime soon.  The sky had lightened up a bit and the bus left.  The short remaining trip to the hotel took twice as long and then we heard that there were tornadoes in the area.  The storm continued throughout the evening.

While we stayed last night in turn of the century opulence, tonight it is a modern NH Grand Laguna  Hotel.  

We went out in search of some dinner and had a lovely meal with the rain falling quite hard.  By the time we were done supper the rain had stopped and the temperature had cooled a bit.  It has been summer weather each day since we arrived.

So no opportunity for pick pockets today but lots of excitment from nature instead.  We are hoping that this bad weather will clear overnight so that the weather in Venice will be perfect tomorrow.

Barb & Debbie

Cinque Terre, more pickpockets & the Leaning Tower of Pisa - Sunday October 13

We travelled to Cinque Terre today by train.  This is a series of cliff side towns that are connected by train and there are no roads between them.  For years their only connection was the sea by boat. 

The last or furthest town is a nice beach town with a small beach with beach side cafes etc.  The next village we reached by train is a cliff side with craggy rocks and steep hills with built up homes on these craggy cliffs.   From here we took the ferry.    It was beautiful to be on the Mediterranean and to view these cliff side towns from the water.  The ferry took us from town four to town two (we missed town three) and we had lunch here outside with take away, as a picnic.  I had fresh take away calamari and the some of the girls had fresh cod and chips.  After lunch we got back on the train.  Some pickpocket girls made it crowded at the entrance area of the train at the doors, so that they could slow the crowd getting  up onto the train and feel us around the waists they were pretty quick but we clued in very quickly and got by them and they disappeared into other cars in the train quickly.  These were teenage girls.  We quickly checked our bags and everything was fine.  We were quite angry and when we got to the next town, we told the Carbineri and they said "yes it is a problem" and did not do anything about it more.  At the last town we had run out of time to look around and we took the train back to La Spezia and got on our tour bus. 

From here we went to Pisa and it was quite a surprising place.  Beside the tower there is a walled area, with a huge church and then the leaning tower .  Campo Miracolo is flat and beautiful.  We did not have time to get into the church but a couple on the tour did and they said it was the most beautiful church they have seen on this trip.  But we were fooling around with taking photos of us with the tower and ran out of time and then it started to rain.  We had to move on and catch our train to get back to our bus.  It is too bad but we did have a good look around the tower but no time to climb it.  Getting off the train our tour friends  just ahead of us had to deal with a couple who were supposedly getting off the bus while we were getting on and trying to reach into purses while they were "trying" to get off the bus.  One of the men on our tour called out watch for your purses.  They know we are tourists and tourists have cash and cameras and credit cards. I thought we had left this all behind but I guess not.

For supper we went out for supper in Viareggio and had our first pizza of the trip and it was delicious with thin thin crusts and eggplant, cheeses and fresh tomatoes.  We had three different kinds of pizza and each was very tasty.  We had to wash this all down with some local wine.  You know here water is almost as expensive as a half liter of wine

and all restaurants charge for water.  So you make a choice and wine it is.

So a great day in seeing one of the world's most famous tourist sites and running into pickpockets here and there too.  One has to be so careful here....

Tomorrow it is Bologna for the day and then we head to Venice!!!!  We have seen so much and had so many sweet moments.  I saw a Eurasian Colour Dove today at the beach town.

Happy Thanksgiving to All!!!


Barb & Debbie

Our day in Florence

After breakfast this morning I took off to walk the beach and get my feet wet and walk about 10 minutes.  There were people in the water and it was very warm, not chilly at all.  According to the locals, October has been a very warm month here..  The beach is very nice and one can walk quite a distance, so this place is a really a beach town.  I had to hurry back as we were leaving at 8:15 to start our touring day.

Another early but not a early early start.  Our bus took us to Prato about a 15 minute train ride from old town of Florence.  We were warned to be careful at the train station and everywhere during the day as this place is said to be even worse with pick pockets than Rome and it is filled with tourists.  I think tourism may be Italy's #1 industry!!  There are so many people visiting here.  We started out at the Duomo (Cathedral) and Giotti's Bell Tower which is impressive.  The church here is the fourth largest church in the world and took 160 years to build, starting in the late 12th century.  It is pretty amazing.  We had Alesandra who gave us a very informative talk about the buildings and how the dome of the church was engineered way back as this final part, the dome remained unfunished until the mid 14th century. 

We also visited the outside fake David in the Piazza Publica and later we saw a flag dance in front of people dressed as nobility with lots of drumming.  From there we were led to the Ponte Vechio, the only preserved old bridge in  Florence from old times.  Hitler visited Florence six years before WW2 and viewed this bridge and toured it.  When the war came, his orders were to destroy all the bridges except this one to stop the Allied Forces from liberating Italy.  It is a medieval bridge.  From here we could see a water polo game on kayak's going on.   We had only time for a take away lunch outside in time for our 2:30 pm ticket time to get into the museum.  Again, hoards of people around.  We did not have time to visit the Academia Museum which was built to house the David.  We saw people getting married at the churches in all this chaos also.   One good thing, there are not a lot of cars around.  You can't drive a car into the centre of Florence, unless you are doing a delivery or live in the old section, but there is enough traffic and scooter traffic. 

We bought our tickets for the Uffuzi Museum with its Old Masters of Leonardo Da Vinci, Carravagio, etc.  Theere are two huge floors in the Museum and as usual we needed to be revived after the visit with Crema Gelato as we have had this every day.  There are so many Gelato places here, one around most corners and they make their own gelato.  The day was very hot, like everyday since we arrived.  We walked through the Saturday market with all of its leather goods and stuff.  Some of the girls bought stuff, Debbie bought things but I did not.

We all met up at the train station for the return journey by train then bus back to Viareggio, where a

wicked thunderstorm is happening right now, with a crazy wind that is kicking up the beach sand and bringing in the fog  It is fierce and on the BBC news they are talking about the typhoon around India, so maybe that is where the wind is coming from.  The Mediterranean is pretty rough right now.

We did not feel like a big supper after last night's very late four course big supper, so  with snacks all day, hot lemon water with a granola bar was just fine.

On the way home, in the bus, it was joke ride (last night it was singing night) and there were some really funny jokes told at the back of the bus. 

Florence is a spectacular city and ideally two days is a minimum here, just to see the main attractions, but additional time was not programmed here, too bad.  There many things that were not seen by us.

Barb & Debbie
PS - note that these photos are all Debbie's this evening.  Some of the earlier photos were Debbie's also.
The photo here is Debbie, Barb, Djchorna and Selena at the fountain in Piazza Publica in Florence today.  This is right in front of a Medici Palace and on the other side is the outside David (a copy).

Tomorrow is Cinque Terra and the Tower of Pisa. 

Getting Lost on the Road to Viareggion and seeing Firenza go by again and again and again

Well we left our hotel early this morning to visit Sienna Tuscany.  A large town built on a huge hill.  It was again dominated by a huge church, very ornate that too over a hundred years to build from the late 1200s to the late 1300s.  Again the striped motif of horizontal stripes, quite striking.  The old town was a maze of small alleyways and streets and back lanes and a huge square where twice a year they have a bareback horse races.  We ate lunch there in the square and no races for us.  It was just great to people watch.  The place was a lot like Santiago de Compostello, very old and interesting.

From here we went to the loveliest town yet, built with 14 towers still standing, San Gimignano, where it was sign of wealth and power to build a high tower.  It is quite impressive and very old, but most of the places have been fixed up inside and very trendy.  We stayed here until 5:30 pm.

From here it got interesting, the place we are staying was supposed to be an hours drive but we had to drive cross country to the Mediterranean, where we are now Viareggio about 90 km from Firenza (Florence).  We were told it was to take an hour, two hours later we were kind of lost and we sort of saw signs for Florence and Livorno over and over again.  It took so long we had to find a pit stop are everyone could no longer wait to get there.  2.5 hours later we finally got in.  On the way we had a sing song (almost everyone had something to drink before setting out).  We did the Canadian thing and sang Bus driver speed up a little bit (they have regulators here at 80 km), Four strong Winds and some Gordon Lightfoot songs along with a Louis Armstrong song.  Then 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall, some French songs and on and on.  It was a hoot.

Then we got in all sweaty and messed up and had to sit down in a grand dining room to a four course supper (which was excellent).  To round out the evening we looked for the boardwalk to move around a bit before a late bedtime but did not find the beach boardwalk, it was very dark.  We did get plenty of exercise today with the hills we climbed up and down in the hill towns we visited.  There are not many fat people around in these hills.

Italy has been great.

Barb & Debbie