Trip to Paris??

If only I could be so lucky to win a trip to Paris...
http://ohhappyday.com/2011/06/goes-to-paris

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.