Pisa

Tuesday must be Pisa.  Difficult for us to locate, but quite beautiful.  Tonight we have to pack up to leave the house, so I won’t write much.  Here are some photos of this excursion:

Tomorrow we head for Florence.

Venice

We took a very fast train from Bologna to Venice on Monday, May 30, 2011.  Dan was the only one in our group who had been to Venice before, and the rest of us were unprepared to be completely blown away by the beauty of the city.

When we arrived in Venice, we took the water bus down the Grand Canale to Piazza San Marco.

San Marco

This city of masks was like Chinatown on steroids, with lots of water, and nicer stuff.  Morgan made it her mission to buy the perfect mask souvenir, and we checked out many before she ultimately made her decision.

The San Marco plaza was packed with tourists and we slowly began walking through Venice, moving farther and farther away from the crowds.  We felt we found the “real Venice” after walking for some time.  Halfway to the train station, we realized that we could just keep walking through the small streets and alleys and return all the way to the train station on foot.  No small challenge, looking for water crossings in our labyrinth.  

Zillions of beautiful glass shops

E mails a postcard to her class

Cute shoes, but she didn't buy them

There was gelato procured along the way, and a stop in a beautiful (but smallish) museum.

Venice Afternoon

We had plenty of time before our return train, so we caught the water bus again and took it on a cruise just for fun for the last hour of the afternoon.  The back of the boat had seating outside for seven people, and seat by seat we moved in as vacancies appeared until our group had a private area in the shade for the entire ride back up the canale.  This was a part of the day that we each said was incredibly enjoyable.

The train ride back to Bologna provided a chance to rest up before searching out a great place for dinner.  Dan cleverly asked the wine shop proprietor to recommend a restaurant, and we were delighted with the meal we had that night.

Walking back to our giant car after dinner, we passed by the place where we had our first lunch after Nicky arrived, and our waiter recognized us.  He beamed with happiness and many hugs were exchanged.  So warm and fuzzy to feel at home in Bologna.

Sunday Morning

Sunday, everyone but Dan slept in late.  When I (Jacqueline) got up, Dan and I decided to make a run to the nearby cemetery where garbage and recycling are dropped off.

We had spotted people reading the signs near all the garbage and recycling receptacles, so we brought a dictionary as a reference in case it was as complicated as it looked.

When we parked the Pope Mobile, we were suddenly aware of how casually dressed we were.  Next to us, a carload of dressed-up people got out with flowers to visit a grave.  I pretended to take a photo of our vehicle and cleverly got the grave-visitors in my shot.

Fortunately, there were images as well as words on the trash/recycling/compost containers.  We only had to refer to the dictionary once.

After dealing with the trash, we walked in to take a peek at the cemetery.  At first, I thought all the flowers on the graves were real, and I marveled at how well-maintained everything was.  Looking closer, the flowers appeared to be plastic.  It’s the thought that counts.

Hiking Sunday 1

Getting home from the garbage-detail we eventually got everyone up & finished a late breakfast.  The older people in our group wanted to hike in a nearby national forest while the younger contingent preferred to swim and relax at home.

Dan, David and I headed out with no help from our GPS and managed to find an entrance to the forest with only minimal missteps.

The forest was beautiful.  Impossible for us to fully capture it’s beauty with our cameras and limited photography skills.  Here are some feeble attempts.

Hiking Sunday 2

The day was warm, but not too hot.  Much of the trail was shaded and it was very comfortable in the shade.

Just as we got into the best, most beautiful part of the hike, I heard my cell phone ping—indicating a text.  We checked it:

“When r u coming home we r hungry with nothing to eat”

My reply: “Not for a while.  Make sandwiches.”

Margaux’s response:  “Theres nothing left”

Me:  “Cheese is wrapped in foil.  Look in bottom drawer of fridge.  Eat cereal.”

Margaux:  “Uh fine”

About Last Night

Too bad the Sox game was rained out.  Here's hoping the weather holds for tonight's game.

Here's the assembly line of amazing food at dinner last night, we sat outside with candles to actually eat.

bread, cheeses, salami, ham, fries

Then, at the end of the night, I saw this large frog (or was it a toad) right outside our front door.  I knew Madeline would want to see the frog, and she thought her sisters and cousin would be equally enamored.  So, shortly, all the young folk were out of bed and admiring the creature.  When they finally put it down, it tried to climb the wall.

Very cute.  Madeline tried to kiss it several times, but it did not (immediately) turn into a prince.

Bologna, Part 4

Immediately after lunch, we looked in the window of a clothing shop next to our restaurant.  Margaux took a couple photos of the items on display.

The poodle dress above had a price tag of 3,370 Euros (multiply by about 1.4 to get the price in dollars!)  The shop was closed for a few hours in the afternoon, but we couldn't afford to walk inside anyway!

I know I mentioned the porticoes, for which we were extremely grateful.  Here are a few especially beautiful ones:

cousins near portico

Gorgeous portico

We found a shop for bread and one for wine, recommended by our fabulous waitress, then headed to what she said was the best gelatto shop in Bologna.

Two thumbs up on the Gelatto.  Here's one more photo of Morgan in front of a cool lamp-post:

Dinner at the house was casual:  amazing breads, incredible salami, great cheeses, pesto, ham and french fries.  Plus, the best wine we've had here so far.  Nicky and the girls (plus David) watched a major soccer match tonight.

Tomorrow will be relaxed, staying in this beautiful area.  Most places are closed on Sunday.  We've stocked up on food, and Dan has a plan...

Bologna, Part 3--Lunch

There were so many places that looked like fabulous lunch options, that it was hard to choose.  We ended up at a wonderful restaurant with the world's nicest waitress.  She completely understood our American need for ice, though she thought it comical.  When she brought our drinks, she also brought an abundance of ice:

That really got us off to an excellent start.  Then, we ordered sumptuous homemade pasta and amazing salads.  Everyone agreed that this was the best restaurant meal we have had in Italy so far.

pumpkin ravioli to die for

The setting in an alleyway was perfect.  We were in the shade, and near entertaining passersby, but not in too busy of a traffic-way.  We were so happy!

Bologna, Part 2

The blog went a little weird on me, so I closed one post and am continuing Saturday on this post.  Here are some of the sights of Bologna:

Bologna Food Shop

Cousins

More Food

Most people are able to speak English better than we manage Italian, so we've found it easy to communicate.  Dan is very helpful, and the girls are good with a few common phrases.

Lunch deserves it's own post today (and I'm not sure I can insert more than 4 images per post), so this will be continued.

Bologna for Real

First, let me say that it has been so sweet getting up in the morning and immediately checking the Sox' score.  Go Red Hot Sox!!!  It is cruel that we are not able to watch any of these games live, but we pray that our DVR is recording as instructed and we'll have a wealth of games to enjoy when we get home.  We do read all the articles on RedSox.com, and those are somewhat satisfying.  Savoring that our team is number 1 in the AL east as of today.  A full game ahead of the Yankees!

Moving on.  David, Dan, and I took a morning walk up our mountain today while everyone else slept.  Spectacularly beautiful.  This photo doesn't do the view justice:

morning walk

We got everyone up and in the Pope Mobile and drove to Bologna to spend the day.  First order of business was buying very fast train tickets for Venice on Monday.  We'll look forward to that.

Then we walked toward the center of town, appreciating the many porticoes which allowed us to be in comfortable shade much of the time.

So many beautiful shops and several outdoor bazaars were very enticing.   Did not see anything that could be considered a bargain--everything was fairly expensive.  Fun to look, but not a lot of buying.

It didn't take long to make it to the Neptune fountain, where we posed as tourists:

We've seen lots of signs for Reno around here, and snapped a photo to show how close we are to home:

Check out Reno sign on post, might need to enlarge!