Home at last...

Hello for the last time....

Mama, Deanna and I are home after a very long day of travel yesterday...it is nice to be back in my own house, not paying by the minute for internet service or wondering how to post photos. For those of you who were wondering, Mama did not end up giving birth, but she did gain almost 20 pounds over the course of the trip. It would have been a big baby :) I'm thankful for a wonderful trip....as I downloaded the pictures this morning I realized again how many amazing things I saw and fun adventures I had...thanks to Gretchen and D for being part if it all.

And, I must say, thanks to you all for reading along with me. There were many days when I came to the computer feeling a little homesick or missing various ones of you, and it was always great to read your comments or e-mails, or just know that you were following along...so truly, thank you.

Pictures in their entirety (a few hundred, sorted by city/location, so you can pick and choose what you might want to see) will be posted at snapfish.com within the next few days....I'll most likely send out an e-mail when they're ready. And to close, here a last few photos...

Our last supper....we ordered the "antipasti completo", which as you can see required another table to hold all of the food....16 plates in all! We had to go back and lay down for a while afterwards before we felt well enough to pack :)

Cheers!

Those popes didn't play around....

Well, actually, some of them really did, but not when it came to building massive monuments to themselves. Today, we did a tour of St. Peter's and the Vatican museums, including the Sistine chapel.

My oh my....St. Peter's is the biggest church in the world, and if not my favorite church that we've seen, easily the most impressive. You don't really realize how big it is until you see from not too far off that the people going in look like ants at the entrances. And then, once inside, there are all these tricks to make you feel like it's not as overwhelmingly big as it really is, so you don't feel so insignificant and tiny. (At least that is what our guide said. Hmm. I also noticed that they have markings on the floor that show how the world's other huge churches would fit neatly inside St. Peter's with room to spare.)

The Sistine Chapel....same experience for me as seeing David. You think you've seen it, because you've seen all those photos, but then you're there, looking up and all around, and you can't believe how beautiful it all is, and that there's nothing else even close to it anywhere. Despite the crowds, and the guards announcing sternly, over and over, for everyone to be quiet and stop taking pictures and video, there is still room for amazement and wonder at what Michelangelo did. Even better, they left a small patch unrestored, so you can see what it looked like before they cleaned it up in 1993 or so....the colors really are brilliant.

We left the tour group, climbed the dome of St. Peter's, and then back down again with shaking legs...we are pushing ourselves pretty hard. After a little pizza and restorative gelato, we're doing OK again, and ready for our last day tomorrow.

I'll write more tomorrow, for the last time!

Buona Notte,
Erin

Rome!

A not-so-ancient piece of statuary...

Listening carefully to the audio guide on the floor of the colosseum arena...

Ok. This photo illustrates many things. It was so hot, hotter than we'd been the whole trip. It was about 12 noon, and we had been wandering through the Roman Forum, trying to follow this guide from our Rick Steves book that was just impossible. There were these blocks of ruins all around, and we decided to take a much needed break in the shade. These ruins really were for public use, so despite how it looks, we were just doing what everyone else did....this kind of stuff was laying around everywhere!

Assisi photos

Look at all the yummy treats! Walking between 4 and 8 miles a day in the heat is the only thing that is ensuring that our pants still fit....

It was really, really hot. I love this picture; I feel that I have exactly captured the mood of the moment....

This is what we mentioned...the McDonalds in Assisi. Please notice the nuns' baskets with burgers and fries....and Ronald in the starring role rather than St. Francis.

Tuscany photos

This is the valley we drove through...lots of winding, dirt roads, but also many beautiful views...

My favorite picture...taken while in the pool.

One of our most successful timer photographs...camera was precariously perched on a book and a towel, and then I jumped in and got in the photo...

More photos...

Hey...here are some more photos, but for some reason the computer here is uploading them out of order....

The pool, and the view, in Pienza... (the postcard place)

Our yummy Tuscan lunch...

Leaning ladies at the leaning tower

One last view from the hike in Cinque Terre....

Photos

Some oldies in Vernazza, walking slowly up and down the main street.

Our kayak adventure....D did a good job taking this with one hand on the camera and the other on the oar.

A lovely view from our hike.

The view from our bedroom window in Vernazza.

Night soccer on the same little harbor beach.

"My pants are sticking to my legs!"

This from Deanna today, as we trudged around Assisi in near 100-degree weather. Also heard from her were comments such as, "I wish I could take off all of my clothes and jump in that fountain", and "I would be a lot more comfortable if I could just take off my pants." Those of you that know her usual degree of modesty can now appreciate how hot we were today....she would like me to include as a disclaimer that by the end of the day, she did have a little heat rash on her arms, so she wasn't just being melodramatic.

But Assisi, specifically the Basilica of St. Francis, was well worth our efforts. His message is humbling, the basilica has amazing art about Jesus and about St. Francis' life, and unlike other famous religious sites we've been to, this one seemed much more serious and sacred. The friars there actually enforced the rules of modest clothing and silence in the basilica, and there were many, many religious pilgrims there as well. But once you leave the basilica, all bets are off....the stores along the streets do serious business with the Franciscan image....including places where you can buy figurines of friars playing poker. ALSO: at McDonalds in Assisi, they have big, blown-up images covering the walls (we think from the movie Brother Sun, Sister Moon), that actually have Ronald McDonald in the picture where St. Francis should be, and the nuns are giving out hamburgers and fries from their baskets instead of rose petals. It was so jarring that we had to take photographic evidence.

So we are off to Rome tomorrow...driving in, dropping off the car at the airport, and then to our hotel. We are hoping that all goes smoothly...we'll write again from Roma!

E & D

We are in a postcard...

Literally! The place where we stayed in Pienza, the little farm, is on postcards all over Tuscany because it is so beautiful. We had to drive up a dusty, unpaved road to get there, about 2 km out of town, and it just kept getting more amazing....lots of "wows" from us in the car. Then, after we'd checked in, we went to the pool for the rest of the afternoon-evening, which is situated on a ledge that overlooks a valley filled with empty pastures with huge rolls of hay, the occasional stone house, and lone trees here and there. We took some funny self-timed pictures of us in the pool that required one of us to set the camera and quickly jump in and swim to other side so we could get the view. It was quite possibly the most peaceful place I've been in a long, long time.

Before arriving, we'd stopped in some hills towns, including Cortona of "Under the Tuscan Sun" fame. All quite as lovely as can be expected...but as we reviewed it today, we think 3 hill towns was enough...otherwise it would start to feel like they were all blending into one never-ending Tuscan landscape...and they would lose their charm.

Small note: We have come to affectionately call all of the older generation folks we see walking about arm in arm "the oldies". Often they say good evening to us as they talk in small groups, help with directions, or just peer down at us from their shutters. (People watching is very big in general here.) I've taken some surreptitious pictures of them...they're quite charming.

Other small note: We have also named our traveling companions. Which ones, you might wonder? Well, of course there is Rick (Steves), Lonely (Planet), and now Mama. Mama is my suitcase that has become so heavy she has taken on a personna of her own. "Come on, mama, time to get out of the car!" "Come on mama, you can make it up the stairs", and so on. We think she is about to give birth to a baby we shall name Duffel, and hopefully that will lighten her load.

:)
E & D

And they're off...

...in a sporty little Renault (free upgrade), Erin and Deanna are zipping across Tuscany. Today we stopped in Pisa on our way to Siena where we are staying tonight. Yes, the leaning tower leans, and the closer you get, the more alarming it looks. We did the usual touristy picture thing where I pretended to be holding up the tower....it was funny to hear all around us, in all languages, "put your hand a little higher...a little lower, no, higher, no lower...." As soon as I can post pictures you will see what I mean.

We've made it here to Siena and are on our way to the main square, Il Campo, for our evening gelato. It's quite the place to hang out of an evening....

tired tourist moment: today in the Duomo of Siena, Deanna was reading from the guidebook as we stood in front of what was described as a "vibrantly frescoed wall"....and we looked up to see a completely white marble altarpiece. Oops.

Tomorrow morning we leave for a little farm where we will spend the night, so maybe the next time I'll blog is the day after that, from Assisi. We're excited that the farm has a swimming pool; it felt like at least high 90's today...

Ciao for now!
e

Attentamente! Attentamente! Una medusa!

Imagine hearing some Italian children yelling these words, plus a bunch more, as you're slowly swimming in the harbor here in Vernazza. D and I were headed towards this shouting group and slowly realized they were talking to us, then realized there was something in the water they were talking about, and then listened carefully and figured out it was a jellyfish. Of course, we were helped in these linguistic detective efforts when we saw one of them actually pull the jellyfish out, tentacle side up, and toss it away. We turned around and headed back the way we'd come at that point, especially because next we heard them yelling about an octopus....soon we were safe back on shore.

Today was another very hot day...we left for our 3 hour hike this morning at 9, trying to beat the heat, but soon were literally dripping with sweat as we walked along. We were hiking along the coast to the next two towns, and the views were great...there are terraced olive groves and vineyards along the way, which the locals still work, mountain-goat-like. We hopped the train back, then hung around here in Vernazza, did laundry, and some shopping...which brings me to the story of the opera-singing shop keeper.

We wanted to buy a few small ceramics in a little shop we'd seen earlier...the man there was listening to opera, and moved to turn it down when we came in, but i said I liked it, so then he showed me he was listening to Figaro, by Mozart of course, and so I said I'd been to Salzburg, etc. etc. Encouraged, he showed me the words, which he'd been following along and singing, and points to where I should join in on the female part. I was shy at first, and then I couldn't figure out what to sing even though he was trying so hard to show me, but eventually I managed a few awful notes and he was so glad....said bravo, shook my hand, and we sang a little more. Meanwhile, he'd wrapped the pieces we bought without paying attention to how many, so we had to tell him how much we owed....best of all, D has most of this on video from her camera...

At night here, the harbor beach where everyone lays on the sand during the day is cleared off, soccer goals are brought out, and the local bars and restaurants field teams, complete with uniforms and coaches. Phil Cunliffe, you would love it! Everyone in town plus tourists lines the harbor square and cheers them on. Great fun, but loud when we were trying to sleep at midnight and they were still playing....

Tomorrow we leave for Siena and then more Tuscan hill towns for a few days before Rome. Happily, Siena has the same Internet point that we used in Florence to send the photos...so I will try there. Ciao for now...time for our evening gelato. They have sangria flavor and panna cotta here; got to try it!
e

The trains do not run on time....

Buona sera from Vernazza...

more about where we are in a minute, but I just want to note, (and apologize in advance for nationality stereotyping), than trains in Italy are VERY different than trains in Germany/Austria. Today coming in from Florence we waited, and waited, and waited, listening to delay announcements and shrugging our shoulders along with the other tourists. Ah well. We've learned to pad our itinerary for an hour or so just to account for these little delays.

So, tonight we are on the beautiful Ligurian Sea on the west coast of Italy, in a little town in the Cinque Terre called Vernazza. The internet point here will not let me upload pictures, so I'll try to describe....our room overlooks the harbor and little beach. The temp. today was about 92 degrees or so, maybe more, and with no humidity and a light breeze making the wavelets in the harbor sparkle, that's not so bad. We went down to the beach right away, laid out for a bit, and then rented a kayak for an hour. With unsure and slightly unsteady strokes at first, we made our way out of the harbor and along the coast. We could see our little village behind us, and high on the hills, the two villages on each side, which are reachable by a hike that we will do tomorrow. The villages cling to the hillside, with brightly-colored houses, usually a church tower and a ruined castle in each.

The streets here are amazing...you climb on their stairs rather than walk them....we went exploring after having dinner at a little restaurant underneath the castle overlooking the ocean. (The huge table of Rick Steve tour people only slightly took away from the ambience...it's a little deflating to hear discussion about downtown Oakland while on the Italian seaside....)

So more tomorrow about our hike! Hopefully the only other internet place in town will be open tomorrow and let me post photos...

ciao!
Erin

Picture Post 2

Breakfast in our room here in Florence


Florence below


The hand of Erin


At the top of the dome


Guess the Bible story...

Picture Post

The duomo


Inside frescoes of the duomo (we climbed up there!!)


D's breaking the rules...(read the sign :) [It is prohibited to walk on flowerbeds]


Gelato girls

One more thing...

I forgot, but remembered as I looked at the pictures I just sent Doug, that I wanted to write a health update:

I am taking my vitamins everyday, and have been feeling great. Plus, thanks to my lovely Dansko sandals and Merrell tennis shoes I've feel just the normal amount of tired and not hurting-every-step like last year in London. HOWEVER, there has been somewhat of a mosquito incident...in Venice, our room had mosquitoes at night, and they especially liked me. So right now, I've got something like 30 bites on my hands, arms, legs, and face...so those dots in the picture are battle wounds...but the mosquito won.

ciao!
e

Ah, Florence

Well, we have been extremely on-the-go here; yesterday we realized at 9:00 p.m. that we had only had 3 short ten-minute breaks all day :) But there is so much to see here...here are some highlights so far:

THE DOME: The cathedral (duomo) has an incredible dome (cupola) that was the first of its kind since antiquity and an architectural wonder of the day. My favorite fact about it is that the workers had to climb up at dawn, not leave till dusk, and there was a kitchen installed at the top so they would have no excuse to go back down. They worked for twenty years....but boy, is it amazing. Today we climbed the 460+ steps to the top and got to see the frescoes from very close...also, outside, on the top, you can see all of Florence's landmarks spread out below you....

DAVID: So I know those of you who've seen him have your own thoughts and impressions, but for those of you who haven't, I just want to say that he is pretty great. It's remarkable to me that something I'd seen so many pictures of over the years could still be so impressive in person. He's big, towering over viewers, and he's a masterpiece, yes, but most of all what I remember is that he looks like he's someone I'd want to have a conversation with; he looks thoughtful, and kind.


FOOD: specifically, two things: gelato, of which we've tried the following flavors...rice, orange-chocolate, peach-amoretto, coffee/chocolate chip, chocolate mousse, "cookie", and a few more I can't spell. The gelato here is simply the best. Another food highlight is a little place called "I Fratellini" (The Brothers) that serves the best little sandwiches ever with a glass of wine right on the street for 4 euro. I've had three of their sandwiches in two days...finally today one of the brothers asked me if I liked their food, and I asked how many they sold each day, and he said, with a shrug, "Not so many, but it's a good life". I think he's being modest; the place is packed every time we walk by.

There's so much more to say, but this is already long and I want to try to send some more photos. (Thanks Doug, you did a great job posting them :)

Tomorrow morning we leave for Cinque Terre, on the west coast...

much love,
Erin

More Pictures Continued Part 2

Venice


San Marco Square


D and E at rialto bridge


D and E on ponte vecchio, florence

More Pictures Continued

At the top of the ruined castle hike


Ready to luge


Neuschwanstein castle


Biking home from the castles


Best sausages ever

so...many...frescoes...

a foot-weary but happy buongiorno from firenze...

we have walked about 5 miles so far today; walking tour this morning, then all around town to various churches this afternoon. During a short break just now I successfully bargained with a street vendor for a lovely red leather bag :) he said I had a great smile, so that's why i was getting the special, special low price. hmm. maybe my bargaining wasn't as successful as it could have been...

we have seen some wonderful art, but reached saturation point at some point during the afternoon...now we're off to the accademia to see Michelangelo's David...more later...

e

More pictures

Dwarf garden, Salzburg


Sound of music gazebo


Prettiest graveyard ever, Salzburg


Salt miner outfit


Sliding into the mine

Erin: Ill upload the next set at a later date. (Gotta practice the piano) I think this size is good (300x400, it looks fine on my computers resolution. If not I can change it. Ok goodbye! -Doug

Pictures

Me and Beethoven


Prague at night


Postal museum, Prague


Yummy beer


Mauthausen