Random pictures

 Manrolo Cinque Terre Italy     

Our last night. Arreviderci Roma

For our final evening in Rome Susan and I ended up at Piazza Navona. One of my favorite squares. Vincenzo make a reservation for us St Tre Scalini. A perfect ending to a wonderful trip 

Surprise John, Jeanne and Nancy arrived to join us for dinner 

 

 

 

Dinner in Rome with Friends

Susan and I met John on the Crystal Cruise and made plans to meet in Rome for dinner. 

Tuesday night John joined us with 2 of his travel companions at Piperno in Rome.  Great food, wine and friendship. Lovely evening 

   And then a walk along the river 

 

Nothing like the Churches in Rome

    

Colosseum in Rome

  

Throwing our coins in the fountain

 

More from Rome

 

Rome

My favorite city in the world and as always it did. It disappoint. I LOVE ROME. No matter how many times I visit I never tire of this city. It is magnificent. For the first time in 24 years I stayed at a different hotel. Poor Sue, I think o complained for 2 days. But it was a lovely hotel, just not my home away from home La Residneza. But it was time for a change so we stayed at Hotel Quirnalle. A beautiful old grand dame of a hotel with marble appointments and gracious sitting areas. 

Monday night we went to my friend Vincnezo's home

for dinner. His Mom came up from Napoli and after 24 years of friendship I got to meet her. We sat out on his beautiful terrace and had a nice leisurely dinner  

 

Our Cultural Day

So today we did culture. And it doesn't get much better than Florence. 

We had an architectural tour with 3 mains stops; Accademia, the Duomo and the Uffici Gallery. 

The Accedamia is where the famous statute of David is, by Michaelangelo. Pretty impressive.  Along with numberous other sculptures by famous artists

Then a walk to the Duomo with descriptions  of both inside and out and whom built what. The inside of the Duomo so very plain and it's pretty surprising after the sumptuous outside. 

And then a walk to the Uffici. Another high point for me. I love art museums but this is considered one of the most famous museums in the world and the works of art are impressive. I saw paintings I learned about in art history. Michaelangelo, Bottacelli, Caravageo, and many others. Amazing to stand in front of the masters like this. 

We walked and walked today. We did some shopping at the open air market, had coffee on a roof top cafe and pasta for dinner at a lovely restaurant in Piazza San Marco. As we drove home the sun was setting over the river Arno and the famous Tuscan light was turning every thing golden. It was a sight to behold. 

We finally dragged in at 9:00 PM. Another long, full day so beautiful and exciting. 

Tomorrow we get to sleep in!!! Yay

Cinque Terre

I have always wanted to see Cinque Terre, which  means 5  towns. We hired a private guide and Allessandro picked us up at 8AM sharp on Thursdsy morning. It was an hour's drive and we stopped at Pisa on the way to see the famous leaning tower. Then we headed to Cinque Terre which was another hour's drive.  We started to climb into the Tuscan hills and suddenly the sea came into view. It was a crystal clear day with perfect temperature. Susan was not cold and I was not hot - simply perfect. The dramatic cliffs and crashing waves was breathtaking.  And we climbed and climbed. Alessandro let us off and Susan and I walked down to the first village. Down to the sea, through the narrow twisting streets we went. Each turn presenting a different view. Italy is such a country of wonders. The people are friendly and happy to see you, the food is to die for. We took the train to the next village and had more amazing views.   Here we found a restaurant, Bar Gio, and had a wonderful lunch of pasta with pesto and salad Caprese. After relaxing for a bit, Susan headed off to hike to the next village, 2 kilometers and I headed for the train. Of course, the train was delayed (Italians are not much for time tables) and an hour later I rode to the next village. About an hour after that Susan arrived and we were both tired by then. 

Alessandro picked us up, I bought a pair of Italian sandles so I could get out of the sneakers, and we were off. More beautiful scenery on the way down. We went through Carrerra where the white marble is from. The view of the quarry was amazing. As you all know my son in law, Greg,  is in the tile and flooring business so I sent him pics of the quarry. I will try to post on here soon. It's not cooperating at the moment. I think I iwll need Heather (or Colton's) help to get the pictures up!!! 😘

We ended up at Lucca for a short trip around. Susan was very excited by the music festival that is there but no one was playing the day we were there. 

We retuned at 9PM. We were beat but oh, what an amazing day

Florence. (Firenze ).

So on Wednesday we took the train from Milan to Florence. We were fortunate enough to find a few men along the way to help us with our luggage. Good thing because it is sure getting heavy!!!!

The train was great. Modern, fast and very comfortable seats. 

We arrived in Florence and took a taxi to our little house. It is wonderful. Very quaint as it is from the 17th century. The owner met us and showed us how to operate everything. It's very cute and has 2 A/C units so I turn it in upstairs and Susan keeps it off downstairs so we are both comfortable. 

My bed is hard as a rock but other than that all is well 

We took off exploring and checked out the Jewelry stores on the Ponte Vechio. WOW!!! It really is beyond description. 

Some lunch, shopping, gelato, shopping, afternoon coffee, shopping and then a little shopping in between pictures. 😍😍😍

Such a beautiful city 

ITALY

I am sorry I have not posted much on here. Susan and I have been really going straight out since arriving in Italy. 

We flew to Milan on Monday after 3 great days in Amsterdam. It was 95 when we landed in Milano. Wow!! Pretty darn hot. But we checked into our hotel and hit the streets. We did the hop in hop off bus and ended up at the Duomo. Contrary to what the guide books said the cathedral was open so we did a tour. It is beautiful.  We ended up on the roof and the views were breathtaking. 

The next day we took a tour to Lugano Switzerland, Bellagio and Lake Como Italy. Just when I think I can't see any more beauty in Italy this country shows me another side. What spectacular scenery we saw. We walked around Bellagio, did a little shopping and had a great lunch. Then a boat ride in Lake Como. Of course no visit there is complete without seeing George Clooney's house 

Sadly it POURED with rain on our way back to the bus and in spite of rain coats and umbrellas we were pretty darn wet. But it was a wonderful day. 

Day at sea

We spent the day at sea. Lovely and relaxing. I even fell asleep on the deck while readung!! Unfortunately the wifi on the ship is not strong enough to let me post pics on the blog. Hoping when we get to Italy I will be able to. In the meantime I am able to get done up in Facebook

Happy 4th of July everyone. 🎉🎉🇺🇸🇺🇸

AMSTERDAM

Well the Crystal experience ended.  It was a great week. Lots of fun people and places to see. Now we are in Amsterdam. We arrived yesterday, got off the ship this morning and spent most of today exploring. We have checked into our little apartment and are now meeting Janet and another girl from the ship for dinner and an evening canal cruise.  

Newcastle upon Tyne England

We arrived here late morning and got off the ship around 11:09.  Beautiful city, much larger than I expected   We saw Hadrian's wall, beautiful Angkucan Cathedral and the Millenium Bridge. Amazing engineering feat. Lunch at a Pub a little shopping and back to the ship. We are now sailing to Amsterdam   Wonderful group if group of people we are traveling with. Lots of laughs good company. Oh and I won $350 in the casino tonight!!

Edinburg Scotland.

Beautiful city. We sailed in about 1PM. We were on the Lido deck having lunch and watched the arrival. We had to clear customs and border patrol. Very strict security here. Huge city and full of beautiful old buildings and monuments. We did a Hop on Hop off bus however the Queen was in residence and holding her annual garden tea party. As a result the traffic was grid lock. We finally gave up and got off the bus. We shopped in the old town for more treasures. 

Now headed back to the shop. Dinner tonight in the specialty restaurant Prego. Should be great. Will add pics later. 

Norway!!

So we docked in Norway at 7AM. The 3 of us managed to get of the ship by 10. Rode a mini train into town saw the cathedral and heard part of an organ recital. Then off to see the local sites and shopping. 

St Perter

St Peter's Anglican Chirch Hamburg Germany 

Dublin

The first leg of the journey is down. We are in Dublin waiting for our next flight to Hamburg. It was a great fight over. I watched the movie, The Heat, which was hilarious. I laughed through the whole thing.   Soon to be in Germany 

And we are off!!

Susan and I are at Logan Airport. Bags checked, through security and relaxing with a Starbucks. So excited to start this journey. Susan is a fun traveling companion it will be a blast 

Stay tuned.