Public service announcement for friends and family back in America: The World Cup is happening. (If your acquaintances from other parts of the world are in unusually jolly or somber moods, this probably has something to do with it.) Anyway, France had a big win against Nigeria tonight and we happened to be on the …
Turning the corner on a rainy night in Beaune, France, we were stopped in our tracks by what we saw. The town’s main cathedral, Notre Dame (always a good guess for the name of any French church), was lit up with an animated light show featuring blossoming flowers, flying birds, flowing water, and more. We …
A rainy Monday in wine-drenched Beaune, France, has offered an opportunity to briefly review the events of the past several days. It’s been a real change of pace for a couple reasons: We’ve been spending a lot of time in the car, especially the long drive over (and partially through!) the Alps from northern Italy …
Apologies for the longish post, but we’ve been without Internet in the wilds of Tuscany for the past several days and have some catching up to do… Vernazza is serious about not sleeping in. This tiny, pastel-colored jewel of the Cinque Terre is dominated by a bell tower that shatters the silence every morning starting …
Continue reading ‘Saddle sores and persistent ringing in our ears’ »
Italy is one of the most-visited places on earth, with every nook and cranny having been well documented by a multitude of travel writers and photographers. But even after nearly a month here, we regularly encounter people, places, or processes (oh, how the Italians love their inexplicably arcane processes) that surprise or confound us. Of …
Maureen’s sketch of the day, from a private watercolor lesson she took this morning with J.Isabelle Cornière, an art instructor living and working here in Florence. It was painted en plein air (that’s fancy-artist-talk for “outdoors”) in the Bardini Gardens across the Arno River from the major sights. The “plein air” here has been blazingly …
Well, that certainly went by too quickly. Two Saturdays ago we arrived by train in Venice, and now we’re on another train, headed to Florence. It’s a sad moment saying goodbye to the beautiful city that’s been our home for two weeks, but we’re also ready for the next stage of our European adventure. The …
As we near the end of our two weeks in Venice, we’ve been looking for things to see and do that we might not have gotten around to during a shorter visit. Here are a couple examples of what we’ve been up to after crossing most of the “must-see” sights off the list earlier in …
Continue reading ‘Sardines, a saint’s tongue, and Scrovegni airlocks’ »
Maureen’s sketch of the day.
Why twelve? Because there’s just no way that ten could be enough! Click through the photo album to see the dozen most vivid memories of our first week here in Venice. Meanwhile, we’ll be out collecting new memories for week number two. Click any photo for larger view and description.