Amalfi & Ravello

Gorgeous!  Went on a bus tour up Amalfi Drive. Quite an experience!  Toured a Villa on top in the town of Ravello. Saw a gorgeous church & drank limoncello, of course!  Very quaint town.  Amazing views and hotels you dream of staying at! Lucky to have spent a day here, for sure! 

Positano

Took a boat tour with Michael & Peggy to Postiano. Really fun!  LOVED Positano!  Went shopping and had limoncellos overlooking the quaint beach with our new friends! DEFINITELY WANT TO COME BACK HERE! Have a drink at the ritzy hotel called La Syranese (spelling???)  We didn't have time, but wish we had!  Great shops, restaurants, sights to see here.  We could have stayed a month here!  In Under the Tuscan Sun, where she has her romantic "interlude" with "Marcello"!  Amazing place, Positano!   

Sorrento, Capri, & Blue Grotto

Loved Sorrento. Had dinner at a great restaurant with our cruise friends. "Italo" was our waiter! What a character!  Earlier that day we toured Capri on a VESPA, and had lunch at this AMAZING cove by a lighthouse. Beautiful beach!  A PERFECT DAY!  Even earlier that day, we took a very adventurous tour of the incredible BLUE GROTTO!  Our Italian boat captain sang "Volare" inside! He was cute, too!  :)  Had very cute & pricey sandals made by a famous Italian sandalmaker too!  RENT A VESPA...Capri by VESPA is a once in a lifetime...(we hope not) experience!

Windsurf

The trip to Civitevechhia was very scenic. Met a couple, Michael & Peggy, that ended up being our good friends on the trip. Our ship was GORGEOUS...Just what we wanted...not crowded...300 people, elegant, but not stuffy. We set sail for Amalif, Sorrento, Capri, Postiano, & Spain that afternoon!  HIGHLY recommend Windstar Cruises...especially in the Mediterranean! We will be going again!

Rome & Italian Trains

Took the train to Rome from Chianti. What an experience!  We had to change trains somewhere along the way, and JUST made it with ALL our stupid luggage. (NEVER will I overpack again...) Yeah, right...Anyway, it was a pretty full train, and we boarded the wrong section! We STOOD for the next hour and a half WITH all of our luggage where two cars connected!  Scary!!!  But, we did make it. The taxi drivers in Rome aren't too happy to see you when you've overpacked either! Checked into our hotel, which was close to the Vatican and close enough to the Spanish Steps. Went out to dinner at a pub close by. Not great, but GELATO afterwards WAS!!! The next morning we walked to the Vatican & Spanish Steps, shopped a bit, and waited for our bus to take us to our cruise ship...the Windsurf!  

Cortona

Took a drive to Cortona...Took pictures by the Under the Tuscan Sun house. Had a FANTASTIC romantic lunch at Trattoria la Grotto. Lots of great shops, jewelry, butcher shops, and VIEWS. A lovely town. They were getting ready for the big Jazz concert. GOT TO GO SOMETIME!!!  Had gelato after lunch & took a snooze under a shady tree...Overlooking the sunflower fields...HAVE to come back & stay awhile!!!!

Venice

Took the train from Florence to Venice. Met a great couple of ladies...One older woman from Italy and her aide, a lady from Zimbabwe!  VERY interesting!  Toured Venice. It was SO crowded when we were there. VERY touristy...little booths, etc...Tried to get into Harry's Bar, but they were snooty!  So were the gondola guys...So we just had a great lunch & wine, of course. Did a bit of shopping. Got a Murano necklace & earrings, and visited the Ferrari store. Ended up leaving early. Want to return, but not in July. If you go, tour the off streets...Avoid the center. DO the gondola...We were just put off by the commercialism.

Florence & Siena

We didn't see much of either town, except for cappuchinos & catching the train. So much to see & too little time. We opted for the countryside this trip. Had tickets to see David, (the Uffizi & Accademia), but decided to do the picnic in the countryside instead. Glad we did!!! See Vignamaggio blog.

Villa Vignamaggio, Greve in Chianti, Picnic, & Panzano

What an awesome day we had here! Close to our Hotel Salivolpi, too.  We got a great tour of this gorgeous winery where Mona Lisa was once staying. Beautiful grounds & lovely wine!  The buffet lunch was outstanding. Met a nice couple from Germany ....a film producer & actress. 

Went back another day to this area & had a romantic picnic, after purchasing deli meats/cheeses in Greve in Chianti...LOVED that town. Bought some beautiful Italian ceramic dishes too!  We listened to Andrea Bocelli, as we ate delicious Italian olives and cheese, and drank more Vignamaggio wine. A storm crept up, with thunder & lightning. I videotaped it!!!  Afterwards, we strolled through the town of Panzano. Found a great Trattoria there, but couldn't make it there. Another trip!!!  One of our favorite couple of days.

San Gimignano

We LOVED San Gimignano...A bit touristy, but we like that!  Didn't have time for a lunch or dinner, but did have gelato in the palazzo. Lots of quaint shops, and awesome views! Be sure to visit San Gimignano!

Ballooning in Tuscany

Had to get up the next morning around 2am to find our rendevous place for hot air ballooning in Monsisi, (I think).  Wow, what wild directions he gave, BUT WE FOUND it!!!  Met two other nice couples, and took off over castles, vineyards, and villas. After our flight, we landed in a field where a shepherd greeted us! Our pilot gave him a bottle of wine, and we then had our picnic of cheeses, olives, pasta, champagne, and wine, wine, wine. Had a blast...Ended up eating gelato in town with our newfound friends. A GREAT experience!  Worth the $$$$!

Castellini in Chianti

Took a lot longer than we had planned to get to this area, after stopping in Cinque Terre.

We were a bit disappointed at the countryside along the highway through Florence and then onto the Chianti area. But, as we got to the gentle, rolling hills, we knew we were there. Summertime is not quite as green, we heard, but it was truly beautiful. Checked into our Hotel Salivolpi, which was absolutely PERFECT...We settled in for 5 days, without our LUGGAGE!  That evening, we met Janet Dunn and her art friends for dinner under the stars near Volterra. A great evening...except for the guinea pig, and BOAR sauce!!!  Chianti was GREAT!

Cinque Terre

Woke up early for the long drive to Tuscany region and the Chianti area. Wanted to first stop & see as much as we could of Cinque Terre.  LOVED this area! They have a little train and boats that run from one town to the other. We should have scheduled a couple days here. We saw two towns, Vernazza, and darn, I can't remember the other one. BOTH were so quaint and beautiful. Full of life, fishing, shops, beaches, and restaurants. The people were so friendly. We sipped Limoncello, and had lunch at one of the seaside restaurants. Had reservations for the castle restaurant, but they didn't open until later, and we were bummed that we had to leave.  Have to come back next year!  Rick Steeves was right...VERNAZZA is the place...Villa Cinque Terre looked like a great place to stay in that other town. 

Portofino, Italy

We woke up early & had our first Italian breakfast with proscuitto & croissants. Delicious! The drive to Portofino from Savignone was lovely, and not too long. The Italian Riviera is so cool. At every turn, we kept saying; "Is THIS Portofino?", then just to find another quaint town. At the end of the road, we saw a stunning, postcard picture perfect beach, then looked to the right up on a little hill, and there was our Hotel Piccolo!  We LOVED it!  After checking in, we took the 3-5 minute walk to the town of Portofino, and it's just as you could imagine!  Sitting in the small harbor, were about 8 MULTI Million dollar yachts.  The buildings/restaurants/shops were so quaint!  We had a drink on a floating bar...(total rip off $$$), then lunch after sunbathing & shopping, at a small restaurant behind the square where we sipped Pinot Grigio...After lunch, we rented a small boat, (with Italian captain, ANDREA) and he took us on a tour of the Santa Margherita area. WE WANT TO COME BACK!  

Savignone, Italy

Savignone is about 90 minutes from Milan, Italy. Gary & I arrived there by sheer luck at around 11:30pm in the dark!  After getting lost about 3 times from the airport, and paying TONS to the tollbooths along the way, we found our place for the night. Palazzo Fieschi was a gorgeous place set right in the square/palazzo of the quaint town of Savignone. There were about 4 Italian "grandpas" sitting on the steps of our hotel, as if waiting to greet us!  The manager of the place even called the local restaurant across the street, (named "Van Gogh's Pizza) and had them keep the place open for us!  It was there we had our first FINE pizza & Chianti in Italy. We were exhausted after our plane ride from San Diego to Seattle, then Seattle to London, then on to Milan!  But finally we were THERE!  Gary fell asleep in our gorgeous room as soon as his head hit the pillow!