Italia 2
Hello again from the other side of the world! Here is the second part in my wildly brief summary of our visit to Italy.
June 7: Rome. I felt immediately centered here, which surprised me. We saw: the Vatican, inculding San Pietro's Basilica (which unfotunately we did not get to climb) and the Sistine Chapel; the Spanish steps; the Pantheon; many cats and some excavations at the Sacred Area at Piazza Argentina; the Forum; the Arc of Titus; other excavations I can't list at the moment; and the Colosseum. Dinner was at a little restaurant around the corner from the Colosseum. And we got to ride the metro three times, which I realized I've missed! Much too short a time, we'll just have to come back.
Quote of the day: "I feel like I've waited a lifetime to get here."
June 8: Drive from Rome to the Naples area. A stop at the Villa D'Este at Tivoli, for wonderful gardens and fountains. Another stop at Vesuvius, which we didn't get to hike up, but which was a spectacular drive all the same. We stayed at a nice hotel on the Sorrento coast, which meant beautiful seacoast driving.
June 9: Drive from Sorrento to Panni. We stopped at Pompeii along the way, and then met up with family and members of the town foundations in Panni. The views and location are spectaular, superlative, so much more than I had expected. "Hill town" does not do it justice.
Quote of the day: "I get it now."
June 10: We were taken on a tour of Panni by the mayor, which went past several places mentioned in my grandfather's autobiography, and the plaec where his house probably had been. Evening was the event discussing his autobiography, life, and other literary works. It was in Italian and the translator was a bit overwhelmed, but wonderful and fascinating all the same.
June 11: A last walk around Panni, a drive to see if we could find the land Antonio had owned, and then driving back from Panni to Rome. Some of the worst pizza I've had in my life at the hotel bar for dinner, and then an early night in preparation for the flight home.
Quote of the day: "Italians know how to merge to their best advantage."
Guest quote of the day: "Yes, you do have hundred-mile-an-hour hair." To me by J, after I crawled back inside the car after leaning partway out to try to get the best angle on a landscape shot while we were speeding down the Autostrada.
June 12: Our plane left at 6:20, which meant, between leaving off rental cars and checking everybody in, we had to be up at 3. Six hours here in Amsterdam, and then we leave here at 3PM, to arrive at Boston at 5PM. Hopefully, we will be awake enough to drive from my sister's house home. :)
June 7: Rome. I felt immediately centered here, which surprised me. We saw: the Vatican, inculding San Pietro's Basilica (which unfotunately we did not get to climb) and the Sistine Chapel; the Spanish steps; the Pantheon; many cats and some excavations at the Sacred Area at Piazza Argentina; the Forum; the Arc of Titus; other excavations I can't list at the moment; and the Colosseum. Dinner was at a little restaurant around the corner from the Colosseum. And we got to ride the metro three times, which I realized I've missed! Much too short a time, we'll just have to come back.
Quote of the day: "I feel like I've waited a lifetime to get here."
June 8: Drive from Rome to the Naples area. A stop at the Villa D'Este at Tivoli, for wonderful gardens and fountains. Another stop at Vesuvius, which we didn't get to hike up, but which was a spectacular drive all the same. We stayed at a nice hotel on the Sorrento coast, which meant beautiful seacoast driving.
June 9: Drive from Sorrento to Panni. We stopped at Pompeii along the way, and then met up with family and members of the town foundations in Panni. The views and location are spectaular, superlative, so much more than I had expected. "Hill town" does not do it justice.
Quote of the day: "I get it now."
June 10: We were taken on a tour of Panni by the mayor, which went past several places mentioned in my grandfather's autobiography, and the plaec where his house probably had been. Evening was the event discussing his autobiography, life, and other literary works. It was in Italian and the translator was a bit overwhelmed, but wonderful and fascinating all the same.
June 11: A last walk around Panni, a drive to see if we could find the land Antonio had owned, and then driving back from Panni to Rome. Some of the worst pizza I've had in my life at the hotel bar for dinner, and then an early night in preparation for the flight home.
Quote of the day: "Italians know how to merge to their best advantage."
Guest quote of the day: "Yes, you do have hundred-mile-an-hour hair." To me by J, after I crawled back inside the car after leaning partway out to try to get the best angle on a landscape shot while we were speeding down the Autostrada.
June 12: Our plane left at 6:20, which meant, between leaving off rental cars and checking everybody in, we had to be up at 3. Six hours here in Amsterdam, and then we leave here at 3PM, to arrive at Boston at 5PM. Hopefully, we will be awake enough to drive from my sister's house home. :)