Cinque Terre

We left the paradise of the Villa Volpi for another brand of stunning... the Cinque Terre. A string of five towns on the Mediterranean Coast built into the cliffs. We chose to visit the towns by foot, by train, and by boat. We started by taking the train inland from La Spezia to the first town.


#1 Riomaggiore
The Cinque Terre is also a National Park. The hiking path starts here with the "Via dell' Amore." It is rumored that couples from the adjoining towns would meet and make sweet promises on the love path. You can see padlocks clipped onto wire netting... it is a show of devotion amongst sweethearts.



#2 Manarola
There is a great swimming hole here. People arrived early to stake their claim on a slab of rock.... topless, of course.



#3 Corniglia
Ok. Honestly, as the trail proceeds through the towns, it gets harder. Corniglia is the only non-harbor town and it is at the top of a "hill." As we Southerners say, we don't sweat, we glisten... and we were glistening a lot.



#4 Vernazza
The folks took the train from Corniglia, while I chose to risk my life on the hike. Gorgeous, yes. Chance to fall to my death, yes. I envisioned taking a swan dive into the crystal waters for relief. Did I mention... gorgeous?



#5 Monterosso
The water was too inviting to be denied any longer. Oh yeah. I walked up the street and said, "I'll take that blue two piece please." Maybe not as klassy as what the Italians were wearing, but definitely refreshing!



Back in La Spezia, we cooled off, had a walk about and another delicious meal.
Ciao!

Villa Volpi

I've been back for months, and Italy seems like years ago, but I can't get the last few days of the trip out of my head. After biking in Lucca we went to our accommodations. A dreamy villa in the hills and vineyards. Was it for real? It was.

There weren't a lot of people staying in "our" villa, but two guests were a French man and his daughter. I'm pretty sure that little girl melted my heart. She only spoke French, so I had no clue, but I my powers of observation showed me she was reading Pinocchio. sigh.

From the pool, amongst olive trees, there was a divine view. I kept staring at this church in the distance. There were churches everywhere, but this one just looked like a storybook. We trespassed later that night, around dusk, and enjoyed a quiet moon rising.

Lucca

My version of heaven looks very much like Lucca. It is a charming city with a divine wall encircling gorgeousness. When Napoleon took over Italy he was enchanted with Lucca and decided to give it to his sister - thoughtful, no? Luckily she appreciated this token of brotherly love and protected the city's charm.

The charm really starts with the wall. It is 5 km in circumference and is wide enough to drive on... but no one does that. All they do is bike on the wall. It's fantastic. I could stay up there all day. There are great views into and outside the city. And who doesn't love a little bike ride?

San Gimignano e Siena

We took some seriously wonderful side trips from Florence. We decided to hit San Gimignano and Siena in one day. It was ambitious, but utterly breathtaking. You know those typical images you see of Tuscany? Those were taken exactly where we were... I'm just sure of it.

All the towers in San Gim were pretty great. Rick Steve (the 6th member of our travel team) taught us that there was a Montague/Capulet thing in town and they feuded it out from their towers. I like to think they said, "oh yeah? you think that tower's great? well check this one out. ha! mine's bigger!" But it may not have happened quite like that. Sadly the plague of 1348 killed the town and it was essentially frozen in time.

Siena was a highlight. What a beautiful and interesting town. It has so much pride and character. The city is divided into 17 neighborhoods and they each have a crest and a flag. They're super rad... I want one. Twice a year, in July and August, there is a citywide horse race called Palio that pits the neighborhoods against each other. The winner of the bareback horse race gets the honor of throwing a party for the city and year-long bragging rights. Il Campo, where the horses race, is massive. You've seen it in the latest 007, "Quantum of Solace," but I recommend a visit in person.

We visited a lot of churches in Italy, duh, but Siena has my favorite. A black and white striped exterior and marble inlaid floors. Perfection. Apparently, they never finished the church (damn plague). But what they finished, they finished in style. Enjoy.

Firenze

After Venice, we were off to Florence to meet the rest of the fam. We packed in a lot of walking, ate delicious food, saw divine art, and even ran into my darling cousin Ryane. A little family reunion in Florence (not Alabama).

Favorites include drooling over the soaps and lotions in Santa Maria Novella Farmacia...

climbing the Duomo...

walking to Piazza Michelangelo to watch some peaceful clouds...

and our hostess Donatella's luscious, fresh breakfast feasts.

Here are a few more pics from Florence...

Venezia

Here’s a little Venice to start your week. Highlights include the Caffé Florian, the oldest café in Europe and the place where Casanova had his last sip of coffee before skipping town... traversing over canals to discover hidden gems... and there was the BEST dinner of my life at the osteria in Campo Santa Marina. Yes, that’s rosemary and lavender gelato on those berries… thank you Venice.

Yeah Yeah, I Know.

Okay, I get it. I didn't keep up with the blog. Well can you blame me? I was in freakin' Italy. Now that I'm back and managing my jet lag, I will also manage some posts.

Promise.

Dad

Okay. I swear this won’t be a blog about my dad in Italy, but he’s just so darn funny and cool! For example, we were eating gelato in the piazza in Stresa and he took a little walk, came back and wanted to sit across from mom and me on the benches. He didn’t know that he wouldn’t fit in the very small spot between the two old ladies and the man forcing them to scoot over… or that he would get yelled at by the old ladies and then giggled at by his daughter again and again and again (it really was funny – sorry Dad).

And then today he made his first friend!! Dad makes friends REALLY easily. It is one of his great gifts. But I think the mangling of the language has put him at a slight disadvantage since our arrival. Until today!

In Venice on the vaporetto, he struck up a conversation with a nice man. They had a great time for our 10 minute jaunt to the Rialto. They talked about the Canal, the architecture, and how Venice is sinking. AND the nice man even helped us find our hotel… quite a feat for first-timers like us.

Grazie nice man. Grazie new friend!

Arrivederci e Boungiorno!

So long LA… Hello Italy! Mom, Dad and I arrived all in one piece AND figured out how to get to Stresa without much trouble. Stresa is on Lake Maggiore and was a wonderful/leisurely way to start the trip. The town is a little touristy, but it’s quiet (except for the church bells outside our hotel window). Honestly, every time I laid my head on the pillow just for a quick rest - BONG BONG bong BONG... it was a whole song that went on for, like, EVER!

We visited the beautiful, Baroque palace and gardens on Isola Bella. Really gorgeous. Jet lag set in while we were wandering the island, but we soldiered on. We stopped for gelato back in Stresa and called it a day soon after.

Lovely.

Here are some pics from Isola Bella...

Prep, Pack, Plan, Potter

You've all been there... the last days before you leave town for two weeks are K-Razieee. I've reached a state of pure overload. Personal life, professional life and travel life have converged and exploded, as life always does.

See Exhibit A...

I'm SURE that I will forget to do something of vital importance, so I'm going to escape to see 'Arry Potter the first chance I get... it will be a pleasure to make myself more crazed by irresponsibly watching a movie rather than confirming my flight reservation.

Here's a preview of what you can expect when I leave my worldly responsibilities behind and attempt to blog from the great beyond.

Italian Adventure:
July 19 - fly to Atlanta (pick up mom and dad) and keep flying to Milan
*Make all friends jealous for leaving them behind

July 20 - arrive Milan, take train to Stresa on Lake Maggiore
*Visit gardens on Isole Bella

July 21 - train from Stresa to Venice
*Make effort to NOT fall into canals

July 23 - train from Venice to Florence (meet up with john and maryelaine)
*See art, eat food, climb Duomo, take side trip to Siena

July 27 - drive to Lucca
*Ride bikes, frolic amongst olive trees

July 29 - drive to Cinque Terre
*Melt into beauty, avoid hiking too much

July 30 - drive to Milan
*See "Last Supper," eat last supper

July 31 - fly to Atlanta (drop off mom and dad, possibly see laura) then reluctantly return to LA
*Cry

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday Alexa!

Guess what I got you?
That's RIGHT!!

A TRIP TO LA!

Well, sort of. It's a (digital) picture of you in my apartment. So technically, you're not really in LA, I'm just projecting.

Hope you had a wonderful day!
Love you. xoxo

4th of July

With Monro at the vet, we didn't want to mope around, so a small gathering to celebrate our forefathers was just the ticket. The desserts (sadly, not pictured) were something special, as were the, ah-hum, "active" doggies (thankfully, not pictured). How lucky were we that the neighbors decided to put on a private fireworks show... just for us?! Happy Birthday America, and Happy Birthday Hunter.

Listless

It was a tough weekend for young mister monro. Trips to the vet. A kitty sonogram. Pancreatitis. Poor thing was just not well. He is on the mend now, but it wore us out. Being a godmother is hard work.

Chasing Sidewalks

The Hollywood Bowl is a one-of-a-kind experience. Everytime I go I can't believe how lucky I am to be there. But I WAS lucky enough to be there and to see Adele on Sunday night - wow what a voice.

Go ahead, be jealous.

Switzer's

Hiking in the Angeles National Forest to Switzer Falls was hard work. Good thing we had a delicious, fresh summer dinner to help us refuel after 16 hours in the woods.

MFEO

The people in the foreground are just a ruse to get a pic of the couple behind us.

She in lime pants and shoes. He in lime shirt, socks and shoes. These two seemed to be having a great time and are totally MFEO (made for each other).

*and yes, 'sleepless in seattle' was on tv when i got home. it was a sign.

Baby Junior

Barny's shower was today for his forthcoming junior. Pizookies, pacifiers, a pair of Air Jordans, and a couple of couture onesies by moi.

Hazmat Ramsey

Delicious dinner at Brooke & Aaron's (hey, they both have double vowel names... nice!) to welcome back our dear friend Heather. Thanks for the yum!

Aaron used his new fancy iphone to voice google my name... it came up "hazmat ramsey house." Try and figure it out. It's a nonsensical brain tease.

NYC + Graduation!

Congratulations Nathan! You are the newest member of the family to earn a high school degree.

Not only did we have an excellent time at the after-gathering (doesn't every graduation have sushi and Vitamin Water?), but we also had some good old fashioned family time at various locales on the great isle of Manhattan.

New Joisey

After a delightful 36 hours in Manhattan, we headed to Newark to pick up Lex from a very foggy airport. The fog was a gentle indicator of the crappy weather ahead for our weekend at the shore. No matter. We made our own fun. And when the sun did decide to pay us a visit, we jumped outside and toasted it with mojitos.