All Roads Lead To Rome

We had two weeks in Rome, house sitting for a friend and her family while she was back visiting friends and family in Canada.  We enjoyed her hospitality before they departed, and her garden oasis to escape to at the end of our long days seeing the sights of Rome.  We caught the Metro and in a short time were in the centre of Rome.  The first trip was to see the Colosseum and we walked by the Roman Forums and Trajan's Market on our way to the impressive white marble Victor Emmanuel Monument. We went to the roof top where a very nice cafeteria provided huge misting fans to cool people off.  The heat and humidity combined were exhausting and we were lucky to find a table right under a fan.  The panoramic views of Rome were fabulous and I'd highly recommend seeing Rome from that particular vantage point. 

I'm joining Mary's Mosaic Monday again this week. 

The collage and pictures can all be enlarged by a click or two.  

Florence, Italy

 

The last time I went to Florence was in the summer of 1973.  I always dreamed of going back some day and so this summer we took the train from Camucia/Cortona and arrived in Firenze just a few hours later.  We decided to buy a "Hop On - Hop Off" bus tour for two days and our first bus trip circled the city.  We drove to Piazza Michelangelo and captured wonderful views of the Arno River and beyond.  Shortly after crossing the river we hopped off and found our way to our hotel which was in a perfect location because it was close to the major sites such as the Duomo and the Uffizi Gallery.  We took a chance and didn't pre book tickets to the Uffizi.  Instead we went 45 minutes early the next morning and entered the gallery as the 10th and 11th tourists that day.  That was an amazing feat to be sure because as we left the gallery the lineup was hours long.

There are so many wonderful paintings and sculpture within the walls of the Uffizi Gallery and we tried to beat the crowds by going first to "The Adoration of the Magi," by Leonardo da Vinci. We were able to sit in the room alone while looking at his unfinished masterpiece. Although this was terrific planning on our part, we accidentally missed the Botticelli Room and found it on the way back.  Seeing the "Birth of Venus" from behind a hundred or more people is not an ideal way to view such a magnificent work of art.  We had been in most  of the rooms in the presence of just 2 to 10 other people though, so the experience of visiting the Uffizi once more was truly amazing.
Here's a link you might enjoy if you have time for a tour. http://www.googleartproject.com/museums/uffizi
The history behind the cathedrals of Santa Maria Del Fiore (The Duomo), San Lorenzo and Santa Croce can be found here.

Because we took so many pictures I decided to make a few collages to show you some of the highlights of our visit to Florence.  All the collages will be enlarged if you just click.   If you have time pop by to see more collages for Mary's Mosaic Monday at her Little Red House.
I appreciate all your comments and look forward to catching up on all your blogs.  Thanks for visiting mine.  hope you're enjoying a great Labour Day long weekend!

Day Trip to Assisi

In Italy the train system is efficient and reasonable. One day we took a trip to Assisi and like many other Italian tourists, we enjoyed wandering through the picturesque streets.  

 The windows there were filled with delightful things to look at.  As you can tell I was fascinated by the wonderfully displayed pastries and breads.  They were beautifully wrapped and given names unique to Assisi. (Click to enlarge the pictures and collages.)

 Here are a few pictures of the places we passed by on our walk from the top of the town to the magnificent Basilica Di San Francesco. 

We arrived at the Bascilica Di Santa Chiara only to find that the massive front doors were very tightly closed.  We weren't the only ones locked out of church. 

 Finally, we arrived at the Basilica of St Francis, which is situated on the lowest slope of Mount Subasio.

The basilica complex is made up of a convent and 2 churches built one above the other in 1228 - 1230 and in 1228 to 1253 respectively.  Seeing Giotto's frescos depicting the life of St Francis, the magnificent stained glass windows by Giovanni di Bonino and Puccio Capanna and the tomb of St Francis were the highlights of of our trip to Assisi.

We enjoyed people watching in Assisi as we wandered through the streets. It was a wonderful day trip but by dinner time (8 pm in Italy),we were happy to be back in Cortona and ready to plan our next adventure in Italy. Are you getting tired of my travels in Tuscany?  Hope not!  We'll take an overnight trip to Florence next week and then travel to Rome.  Ciao, Ciao!
I'm linking to to Mary's Little Red House today for Mosaic Monday. It's always an interesting place to visit.

Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage

You might be interested in reading about the journey that our good friend Kerri, is making in honour of her father to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society of BC.  

http://www.kelnetcreations.com/roadtosantiago/index.html

We've known Kerri for over 35 years.  She biked across Canada in her 20's, through the Loire Valley in France in her 50's and we have no doubt she'll complete her bike trip across Spain. She will be cycling the 800 km Camino de Santiago in Northern Spain and has already almost doubled her target goal of raising $10,000.  Here's a link to her route.

http://www.santiago-compostela.net/frances/index_cf_en.html

Kerri has always been such a bright light in the lives of those who have known her.  We wish her the best of luck on this challenging journey.