Day 1 - Sorrento weekend trip

We had a long weekend, so J and I headed to the south of Italy.  We had never been south of Rome, so this was a new experience for us.  We stayed in Sorrento in the bay of Naples.  Our hotel was very close to the historical center of Sorrento.  We spent a lot of time at the wonderful pool which was completely surrounded by lemon trees - what an oasis! 

After our pool-side (late) lunch and sunbathing, we strolled around and explored the town.  Sorrento is known for its lemons and lemon products.  The lemon gelato and lemoncello were really delicious!  

We ate dinner at a nice little restaurant recommended by my good travel buddy, Rick Steves.  After a long day of travel to get to Sorrento, it felt so wonderful to have a lazy day in the sun by the sea.  We certainly can't complain!

Kristine's Visit

The same day our previous guests left, J left to lecture in Amsterdam and then a few hours later, I went to pick Kristine up at the train station!  It was great to have Kristine here and to have a shopping buddy!  It was fun to be a tour guide again.  I got to see Michelangelo's David two times in three days!  How lucky is that?  

Hereis Kristine and I by the Arno.

By the Duomo.

We took a walk up to Piazzale Michelangelo.  It is such a beautiful view.

Shopping at San Lorenzo market.  I am getting much more brave at bargaining with the Italian vendors - we got some great deals!

Kristine's flight was out of Rome, so we spent a fun packed day walking around the huge city.

Here we are by the Trevi Fountain.

At Palatine Hill

And at the Colosseum.  I had been there previously with J on our vacation, but it was still so interesting to see.

Kristine and I had a great time in Florence and Rome.  Thank you Kristine for visiting!  I had to take a day to recover from all our visitors - I love it!

Our first visitors!!

Our friend from Minnesota, Jill, and her boyfriend Sean came to visit!  We had a wonderful time showing them around our city and taking them to our favorite restaurants.

Here we are climbing Giotto's tower (the bell tower).  This one was the least scary climbs I have done and as always, it was worth it! 

Up 416 steps to this amazing view of the Duomo.  

I don't think we will get sick of having pictures of us in Florence.

That evening, J received a call from a club promoter telling us that another rapper, Lil Jon, was in town and wanted us to come be VIP's for the show.  We went to eat supper with Lil Jon (and his entourage) and then went to the show with a few players from Fiorentina.  We had a great night and it was so fun to share the experience with friends!

In our VIP area!

The four of us crammed into the tiny little elevator up to our apartment...  I don't know why the sign says the capacity is for only 3 people, the 4 of us fit just fine!

We had a great time being tour guides, thanks Jill and Sean for coming!

Fiorentina vs. Roma

Fiorentina v. Roma

This was such an exciting (and very anticipated) game!

Going into the game Fiorentina was in 5th place and Roma was 6th (in Italy).  We really needed to win because we really want to end in the top 4.  Well, we didn't just win, we killed Roma! 4 to 1 - it was such an exciting and fun game!  This win put us back in 4th!

Here is a video showing the excitement and singing/chanting before the game started.  You will see that the Roma fans are secluded by cages and by empty buffer sections lined with security guards - yes, games are that crazy!

J. looking so professional in his sharp Fiorentina suit.  

After the game we went out with our friends to celebrate the great win!  This is me with my friend Cristiana.  She has been wonderful at helping us learn our way around Florence and teaching me the best stores to shop at!  I love practicing my Italian with her, and she loves practicing her English with me!

Vino Tasting: Brunello di Montalcino

Being in middle of wine country, J and I finally made it out for a vineyard tour and vine tasting.  We went to two vineyards near the beautiful Tuscan hillside town of Montalcino.  We started at the Fanti vineyard and we were brought through the whole (long) process of making the wine.  Brunello wine must age in barrels for a minimum of 5 years before it can be sold.  

It was so neat to see all the barrels lined up  - we were just imagining all the wonderful wine that was being made.  

We ate lunch at a wonderful little restaurant in Montalcino.  The town of Montalcino is up on top of a hill, it gave us an amazing view of beautiful Tuscan countryside.

Then we headed to Casanova di Neri.  We were given a tour of their wine making process followed by wine tasting. 

On the way back into Florence, we stopped at the Piazza Michelangelo to take in the beautiful city.  Firenze e molto bellissimo!

Weekend on the coast

J. and I spent the weekend away in the Italian Riviera.  We stayed in Santa Margherita Ligure, it was so so beautiful!  It was still a little chilly, so no swimming, but it was also not crowded at all.  We stayed at the Hotel Mediteraneo, the owner's wife was Finnish and she had a good time trying to communicate in Finnish with J!

When we arrived in Santa Margherita Ligure we set out to explore the beautiful seaside town.  We loved walking down by the water, it felt so good to be in the sun and breathe in the sea air.

This was so funny - and ice skating rink right next to the sea!  And people were skating almost all the time.

So beautiful!

Since it was so sunny, we decided to take a boat ride.  The boat took us to Portofino and then onto San Fruttusso.    

Portofino in the background.  

After the boat ride, we took a walk around Santa Margherita Ligure.  We looked in the lavish churches and walked around the manicured gardens.  This is us in one of the gardens with the harbor in the background.

The next day we woke up to rain.  It rained almost the whole day, but it was still fairly warm.  We decided to walk the 2.5 miles from Santa Margherita to Portofino.  It was a beautiful path with stunning views of the water.

We thought this sign was so cute.  Oh, a sweet little beach to play with your children and dogs...

This was the beach...

Not exactly the sandy fun-land pictured in the sign - ha!

All along the walk, there were beautiful beaches and places to swim.  We heard that beaches cost up to 50 euros per day just for a "piece of sand" to lay on.  I think this place is quite different in the summer then when we were there.

We were happy we remembered to pack our umbrellas!

We ate lunch in Portofino right on the harbor.  It was a really special place to eat, the ultimate "ambiance."  

Once back in Santa Margherita Ligure, the sun came out and we relaxed and strolled by the water more.  We found an Irish Pub and had a beer, sadly the "Irish Pub" didn't serve a single Irish beer, oh well!

We had a wonderful and relaxing trip in the Italian Riviera, it was a perfect get-away!

Lucca

On J's day off, we made a quick trip to Milan to get the rest of our stuff, so now we are "officially" moved!  We then decided to take a trip to Lucca, which is just a train ride away.  We arrived in the early evening and spent a few hours before supper walking around the little historical center of Lucca.  We spent the next day also walking and exploring, this was a great city to just relax in.  We didn't worry about having to stand in line, or be sure to see a particular piece of art - we simply enjoyed Lucca for Lucca.

The historical center of Lucca is completely surrounded by a wall, which was built during war to protect the city.  They city was never attacked and the wall is completely intact.  Now it is used mostly for recreation.  There is a really nice path on the top of the wall, it is 4 km around the wall.  This is me on the wall - the right side is the historical center and the left side is the city where most people live now.  

About 7,000 people live inside the wall now, driving (and especially parking) are problems that force most people to reside out of the center.  But apparently within the walls, there are 70 churches!  Crazy!  This is me in front of the Cathedral in the historical center.  

This waterway flows through the center.

I am not really sure what it is with me and climbing towers.  I hate it, yet I keep doing it!!  It must be because the views are so beautiful!  This is a picture of the the stairs in this tower, I am going down but you can still get an idea of what I am putting myself through for a good picture!

And good pictures we got...  Beautiful Lucca.

J and I rented bikes and we biked on the wall.  It was really, really nice.  Spring has arrived and it is so beautiful.  The blossoms are starting and the sun is warm.  The only problem is that my allergies arrived too...  I think I sneezed 200 times on this bike ride, J stopped "blessing me" after about my 5th one...

Even with all the sneezes, the bike ride was still quite nice and relaxing.

On our way to the train station we had to "escape" out the walls.  We literally walked in a secret passage through and under the wall, it was cool.  This is a picture of the outer part of the wall, it gives you a good idea of what it looks like.  J decided to take a little nap in the grass, see him?