On Sunday, November 9 we took a "Water Taxi" to the islands of Murano, Burano and Torcello. They are about 40 minutes away from Venice. Murano is famous for it's glass factories. Unfortunately because we were there on a Sunday the factories were closed but we enjoyed walking along the canals looking at shops and ate a wonderful meal. The it was off to the island of Burano which is famous for it's lace and very brightly painted houses. It is an amazing sight even in the waning light of the late afternoon when we arrived. After watching the sunset we took the boat again to go to Torcello. This is a tiny island that is inhabited by only 20 people. It was very eerie to get there after dark and walk around a completely desolate island. We didn't see a soul! The old church has some ruins in front of it that date back to Roman times. After walking around we hurried back to catch the boat. Christine who was always walking ahead of us made it on board but the rest of us got left behind. So we had to wait about a half hour for the next one and hope Christine was not "lost in Italy"! We didn't want to get stuck there since there was an transportation strike scheduled for the next morning =) Needless to say we made it safely back to Venice. Click here to see all the pics!

Visions of Venice Our next stop on the trip... beautiful Venice. We had a relaxing train ride through the countryside. There nothing like this city surrounded by water. The first thing you notice is that there is no noise coming from cars or motorcycles. It is a little more laid back. After a grueling long walk from the train station dragging our heavy luggage up and down many steps and little bridges we made it to our lodging place, B&B Corte Campana. Our wonderful amazing friendly host Riccardo was there to welcome us with a big smile. The place is beautiful and is 600 (?) years old and very close to Saint Mark's Square. After settling in we walked over to the square and and enjoyed a nice walk along the water. So many things to see this week... from the Basilica and bell tower to Doge's Palace, San Zaccaria Church to the Naval Museum our days were full of great history and awesome sights...and of course gondolas around every where. I'm hoping to get more pictures up soon. In the meantime you can enjoy some picture albums here: http://chiarapics.spaces.live.com/ Pictures of our day trips to Verona, Murano, Burano and Torcello coming soon!

Rain, rain, go away... please come back some other day. Today we spent the day all about Florence in the rain. Sometimes it was hard and other times just a drizzle. Navigating through a sea of colorful umbrellas we went early to the Duomo Museum and saw the Pieta (Michelangelo's final sculpture) along with other pieces that used to adorn the facade of the church and baptistery. It was very interesting to see some of the art pieces and columns that date back to early 800 B.C. I kept thinking how insignificant that makes our own country's 232 years seem! We caught a bite to eat on the go near the Accademia where a group of little Italian ragazzi were lining up for their field trip. Can you imagine going on a field trip to some of the major art museums when you are in kindergarden?! They were too cute in their little raincoats hlolding hands two by two. After lunch the girls went shopping while Jon did the laundry and tried to catch up on some school work. It's been another long full day in Florence... I can't believe we have been here a week already!

Today we spent the day in Siena. It was a nice ride through the countryside. Siena is unique and has a more medieval feel to it. Of course we saw the main piazza where they hold the Palio (horse racing at neck braking speed) every August. The city is divided into seventeen districts all of whom become "mortal enemies" come palio time. We visited the Duomo, baptistery and crypt. It's late and tomorrow we have lots more to see... I'll try to post some more pics soon!

In and around Firenze...

After a day in the Tuscan country side and a visit to San Miniato last night we began today by visiting Pitti Palace. It is huge and reminds me a lot of visiting the chateaus in France. Very large and ornate it is also surrounded by the Boboli Gardens. The weather has gotten warmer and the rain seems to have passed. By the time we got out it was so warm we had to go change into something cooler. After lunch we went to Santa Maria Novella and then to Santa Croce (my favorite). The leather school is adjacent to the church. It has been a good day! We are going to go out to dinner this evening to a restaurant right on the Arno River near Ponte Vecchio. Ciao!
Click here for pics

A Day in Beautiful Tuscany

I've posted some pics on Facebook. I will try to get them all up on Flicker soon!

Fantastic Firenze

Today was our first full day in Firenze. We started off our day with breakfast at a little place called Caffe Latte. I had a delicious caffe latte with a cake covered with homemade yogurt. It was very good. Then we were off to see some of the museums. We went to San Marco then to the Accademia where we saw Michelangelo's amazing David. The highlight of the day was going to the Duomo and climbing the 414 steps of the bell tower (Giotto's Campanile). The climb up was exhilarating and the view from the top was quite breath taking! You could see the city all around and the wonderful panorama. Is it possible to take too many pictures of the Duomo? All in all it was a pretty amazing day. Italian shoes, chocolate, cute guys and gelato how could you ask for more ;) Check out the pictures of our first two days here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/timonik93/

Goodbye LA, Auf Weidersien Germany and Ciao Italia!

After a very looooong day we traveled from LAX to Frankfurt (big long layover) and finally to beautiful Florence. The flight was good with not too much turbulence. Christine was very excited to get her very first stamp in her passport. After about a 6 hour layover we were on our way to Florence. We arrived around 7:30 pm local time. The weather in Florence was great unlike Germany which was freezing! (Well, maybe not "freezing" but you know me). The transition from airport to taxi was pretty effortless...no luggage lost. Our taxi cab driver was the very capable and cute Milco who despite all the rush hour traffic navigated us through the maze of minis, smart cars, yarises, and motorcycles to our hotel in the center of town, Soggiorno Magliani. It is very close to the Medici Chapel and Mercato Centrale. After getting situated at the hotel we all went for a walk around town to see Florence at night. We saw the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, walked along the Arno river and ate some amazing yogurt and kiwi gelato. Can't wait to see Florence again in the day light! I'll be posting pictures soon.

Apple Picking at Cedar Glen

Yesterday I spent a wonderful day up in the mountains near Lake Arrowhead. Megan invited me to go spend the day with her family and go apple picking. The day was beautiful and sunny and we had a great time picking many many apples. There were red, green and yellow ones. After our bags were brimming full we went back to the house. I think the last time I picked apples was when I was 8 years old... way back in the seventies!!! Later we drove to Big Bear and browsed around little curiosity and antique shops. It was a very fun and relaxing day. I'm so thankful for great friends! Check out all the beautiful pictures here: http://chiarapics.spaces.live.com/

Bocce Ball & Chick-fil-A for Lunch Today all of us bocce ball tournament participants got together for lunch thanks to the friendly folks at Chick-fil-A. Thank you Linda!