Land Tour Highlights-Part Two!

Photos in no particular order! Blogger gets a little testy when you post this many photos and then try and move them around!

Sorrento, Italy, a beautiful city that resides by the sea in southern Italy...from here we toured the Amalfi Coast, earlier in our trip and also The Isle of Capri...

Mt. Vesuvius in the background. The volcano, buried Pompeii in 79AD, with ash for centuries.. in a unqiue way helped to preserve the city...Most incredible and well preserved ruins that we visited... Mt. Vesuvius is said to erupt every 50 years. It last erupted in 1944, overdue...

Padua, home of St. Anthony Basilica...saint of lost and found...facade of the church under restoration, we were blessed here as well. Relics of St. Anthony reside in the Basilica, including the un-decayed tongue of the Saint...

Photo taken from the Rialto Bridge...made famous by Shakespeare in,  The Merchant of Venice...

Venice window box...romantic photo at any turn...

Gondola ride, Venice...The Grand Canal

Milan...fashion capital of Italy... no designer flannel here...

Where there is a statue, there is a pigeon or two, or three, or...

Assisi! View from the monastery...

Duomo di Milano...Milan Italy

Chicken Dance, Venice Style, back door of our hotel...I was afraid to sneeze and possibly fall in...

June 3rd, my birthday Venice Italy...Incredible memories...the church bells began to ring and I was filled with emotion, beyond explanation...

The Isle of Capri! Simply gorgeous!

Roman Forum at twilight...photo taken from Michelaengelo Square...breathtaking...

Rome at twilight....Colosseum in the background...

I stepped from the pages and recollections of my art history text books, into the reality of Rome...OMG! OMG! OMG! 

...photo taken from Michelangelo Square...

Home one week already! We arrived safely in Boston at 6:15PM, last Sunday evening! The flight was uneventful, always a good way to fly. Our children were there to greet us and we so thrilled to see them. Up for twenty six hours straight, however! Slept for 72 hours on and off for the next three days. A sinus infection did not help matters. First stop, Burger King! Nothing like good old American grease to welcome us home! 

Almost back to normal and already knee deep in extended family drama, right up to my eyeballs! Got to love it...Thinking of calling NBC, offering them a new storyline for my soap! We both come from large families, so there is never a shortage and always plenty to go around!

I posted some highlights of our land tour visiting Rome, Florence, Pisa, Switzerland and Lake Maggiore. You can view the post here. The above photos are highlights from Milan, Venice, Padua, Assisi, Sorrento, Isle of Capri, Pompeii and finally back to Rome where we spent our final two days. 

We left Lake Maggiore on Sunday June 2. Stopping in Milan, the fashion capital of Italy. Visiting the fashion mall, then onto the Duomo di Milan. From Milan we drove to Venice. June 3rd, my birthday, we enjoyed a gondola ride, and then a great optional excursion dinner. Visiting St. Marks Square, Basilica and the Doge’s Palace, also on June 3rd. We did not take an optional excursion and decided to get lost in Venice and that we did. “To get lost in Venice is to see the beauty of Venice,” our guide said. 

From Venice we drove on to Padua, June 4th, where we visited The Basilica of St. Anthony and the church square. We were blessed by a Friar in the Basilica. This was a short stop on our way to Assisi. 

Arriving in Assisi later on in the same day, we were amazed at the beauty of this magical place. The peace and tranquility, deafening. I simply could not hike up to the castle for more spectacular, countryside views. The few that did, assured everyone that it was amazing. Enjoying a great four course meal after visiting the Basilica, we slept in a monastery, peacefully. A very good wifi connection here. I posted a few photos and a short explanation. You can view the post here. Just to darn tired to do anymore. No pictures were allowed in the Basilica, but I can assure you that is was gorgeous. The art work mesmerizing. 

Leaving Assisi on June 6th, we then drove to Sorrento.  We passed on a couple of optional excursions such as the Amalfi Coast, as we had seen the coast on the cruise ship. We enjoyed a leisurely dinner and walked about the city. Simply gorgeous! Hustling and bustling, a very popular tourist destination. Our hotel room gorgeous and roomy. It had been a very tight squeeze in Venice. 

Friday June 7th, we enjoyed a tour of the Isle of Capri. I was able to conjure up enough energy to get a post out, you can view the post here. Capri is simply spectacular. We later enjoyed an optional dinner excursion at a gorgeous restaurant. The dinner so so, I regret to say. Calamari just needs ketchup, an insult to the Italians. Not sure they know what it is. 

Saturday June 8th we drove to The Ancient City of Pompeii. The city was incredible and a highlight for hubby. Our guide Pasquale, a very knowledgeable older chap. He explained for a couple of hours, the history and legend of Pompeii. It was quite warm and we enjoyed gelato later. We then drove to Rome, arriving around 3:30PM. We enjoyed a great departure dinner at a local restaurant, saying our goodbyes and exchanging emails with our newly acquired bus family. Later that same evening we drove around the city of Rome to view it at night. 

A totally different view, very beautiful and regal. 

A good nights sleep, breakfast and then on to the airport, taking away many wonderful and lasting memories of our trip.

Interesting facts about Italy: 

The leaning tower is still leaning. More street vendors here then anywhere else we visited. A Rolex watch for 25,00 euro. Such a deal!

They don’t know what spaghetti and meatballs are. 

Must be all men here, no toilet seats in any public bath rooms or maybe just a shortage of plastic. Sometimes you even get toilet paper! 

WC, does not mean that Winston Churchill has visited here! Dah! (WC means water closet or restroom.)

They pump water in a public basin with their feet, using a foot pedal.. A five year old clued me in! 

Every bathroom is different, always a guessing game. Locked myself in a couple of times, also found myself in the men’s room. 

Their eggs have orange yolks. They have quail eggs for a pizza topping. 

If you put an A on the end of any word and flail your arms you are speaking Italian. 

We tooka the busa to Romea!

They put wine in their cheerios. Kidding! 

Olive oil instead of butter on every table. 

They ask if you want gas in your water! 

Rome is laid out in a circular pattern, yet all roads lead there. Our cab driver from the train station, needed a GPS to find our hotel.

Internet works great if you pay for it. Pasquale the technician, is always on his way to repair it, if it is free in a hotel. Miraculously seems to pick up speed at 3:00AM. 

Loved it all!