First day in Vernazza, Italy

From Firenze, on Monday, we made our way to the Mediterranean Coast. This is a view of a hill town we saw along the way.

We had to drive on twisty- turny roads down to the coastal town in Cinque Terra. Dada was a wonderful driver.

Grapes grown on vertical terraced sides of the rocky mountains.

Twisty-turny road...

More grapes....

Ahh.... finally made it to Vernazza. This is our view from the little pizzeria where we ate dinner.

We swam from that little beach by the piazza. 

Happy parents...hoping we will make it through the next couple of weeks without Papa and Donna.

Yummy pizza for dinner.

It was a two-gelato day. This is our favorite Gelateria. 

The man who worked the counter knew that Maia's favorite flavour is Lemone. 

Jaramie found the town playground at the top of the main street. It also had a merry-go-round. The kind outlawed in the States because they were too fun. Also, the park came with rowdy Italian boys with a broken toy machine gun. Jesse knew how to play with them.

This is Riomaggiore, another Cinque Terra town. We took the train through the mountain to get there. 

It was similar to Vernazza, although not such a big piazza, with narrower streets. The girls and I  loved the pebble beach here.

More to come about our torturous walk from Monterossa, back to Vernazza. ....

Since not having internet for almost the whole week, we were all starving from contact from the US. I had to wait my turn to get onto the laptop. I plan to blog away the afternoon when I get to our next stopover lodging...

Climbing to the top of Firenze

Today I planned two excursions. The first reason is because I wanted to do them, then the second reason is to get the kids to spend some time alone. 

 In the morning after breakfast, Jesse, Jaramie and I decided to climb Giotto's Tower, which is the tall white bell tower that stands next to the Duomo Cathedral in Florence, Italy.  

Luckily, when we arrived there was no line so we paid our ticket price (6 Euro each for Jesse and me and niente for il bambina ) and started climbing....and counting..

This is the "before" picture, when we are not tired and barely hot...

.

....still counting

View from the first window...

Here are the first views from the first landing. Pretty impressive already...

....view from the second landing....

Feeling pretty sweaty and tired so far. 

(The people we met along the way were almost all Americans like us.... no one else is stupido enough to climb 400 odd stairs in 90+ degree heat.)

The hand signals show that we're at 2 hundred 71 stairs so far...

Mama needs a rest, but Jaramie is just waiting patiently. 

I told the kids, "I need to rest and wait for my heart to stop beating..." 

Jesse promptly retorted, "Yeah, but then you'd be dead Mom."

...ahhh teenagers....

The top is only a few stairs away!....

Jaramie sure does love her brother.

1800s graffiti....

(They don't let you carve your name in the stone anymore...)

It sure is a loooongggg way down!!

Ta-dah! Here is the gorgeous view from the top of the tower.

We made it down too. But then it was time to get a gelato for the stellar climbers.

Well, the first mission of the day was a success... Tune in later to see if the second excursion had the same outcome....

Firenze, Italy

Yesterday afternoon we arrived in Firenze, Italy. (Florence) This is where Frances, Donna's best friend lives and works as an artist.










When we arrived, Papa pulled out his keys to the studio's front door, but none of the keys would fit in the lock! We were all standing out on the busy sidewalk, with our ten pieces of luggage, and we were locked out! Papa quickly found Frances by phone, and she said she'd be there in 15 minutes. Fortunately, there was a covered cafe right across the street, so we shared some cold frizante aqua minerale (seltzer) and Papa got the kids an ice cream and the bakery.



Very soon Frances arrived via her bicycle and joined us for our cold drink. Then she led us into the apartment. (Apparently, the front door lock had been changed almost a year ago.) Once inside, a list was made for the hardware store (including new keys) and the grown-ups were off on their errands, while I did some laundry.





Here is Frances Lansing, the artist, and Papa.

Jaramie and her bear "Bruno" enjoying an ice cream.

In Firenze, the new mayor, a younger man, has made great strides in keeping traffic out of the center of the city. One can still get around via Vespa motor bikes, bicycles, and of course, feet.

Organized motor-bike parking....

And regular bicycles too.

Tiny cars like these also are around and can fit into tight spaces.

This one is just Jaramie's size.

Horse drawn carriages are for us tourists only.

We all look happy hear near the Duomo though. However, the weather is VERY HOT and HUMID too. So, after we went out to the Mercante Centrale, we had a siesta back in the dark apartment.

I am trying to get in history lessons whenever possible to explain to the kids how old everything is. It is hard though. When asked for her first impressions of Florence, Jaramie said, "dirty, smelly and noisy." Well, I guess she's right... but I wish they could see the beauty too. I guess after seeing Orta, Torri del Benaco, and Venice, this is hard to compete.

At the beautiful Central Market you could buy any fresh food you wish for. Here is what is left of the swordfish.

...or would you rather the octopus?

Or, maybe a handful of squid.

Maia and I went shopping around the vendors near the Duomo, but it even got too hot for us, so we went back to the apartment soon after.

Later we went for afternoon drinks and treats at Revoire, a beautiful and fancy cafe on the piazza...

(tune in later for more pics....)