Italy
Shirley and I have been to Italy twice. In May 2008 we visited Rome, Florence and Cernobbio on Lake Como. In 2013 we and four other Houston couples spent a week in Tuscany at a rural villa named Serravalle.
We arrived in Rome at the start of the May Day holiday weekend. Rome was extremely crowded, as shown by this photo of St. Peter’s Square. When I took this photograph I was still jet lagged, listing heavily to starboard.
Silhouette of Maderno’s Fountain in St. Peter’s Square.
The Circus Maximus in Rome
Tourists line the Roman Coliseum on the holiday weekend.
The ruins of ancient Rome.
The holiday crowd enjoys the Spanish Steps on a beautiful day.
The five star hotel Hassler Roma presides over the Spanish Steps.
A Monument to Pope Alexander VII, with the pines of Rome overhead.
Florence, as seen from a nearby hill. The city is dominated by the dome (the “Duomo”) of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Del Fiore.
A Duomo’s eye view of Florence on a hazy day. The cathedral is huge.It has 89,000 square feet of floor space. The dome, completed by Filippo Brunelleschi in 1436, is 375.7 feet high. Notice the tiny tourists on the dome in the upper left corner.
Giotto’s Bell Tower from the Duomo. The tower is 278 feet high and was completed in 1359.
The inside of the Duomo is painted with images of Heaven and Hell. On the climb up to the top of the Duomo, one is confronted by these gruesome scenes.
The facade of the great cathedral. Baptistry on the left, Giotto’s tower on the right, the Duomo peering over the top.
The Arno River flows through Florence and on to Pisa. The bridge across the river is filled with shops.
Many of the shops on the bridge sell gold and other jewelry.
A beautiful scene on the outskirts of Florence.
The train station in Milan during a rail strike. It took great effort and patience to get from Florence to Cernobbio on Lake Como.
Lake Como
Lake Como is lined with lovely towns nestled between the lake and mountains.
One such town is Bellagio, a mecca for tourists who like to shop.
Walking boulevard in Bellagio.
Beautiful flowers in Bellagio.
Our neighbors in Cernobbio—yellow house with blue pillows.
In 2008 I was still climbing Colorado 14ers and could not resist making my way to the summit of a mountain behind Cernobbio. That’s it down below, with the city of Como in the distance, upper left.
A last look at the gorgeous lake.
Villa Serravalle in the Chianti region of Tuscany. Our home for a week with four other Houston couples.
The view from Serravalle’s back patio.
Another day, another back yard view—early morning in Tuscany.
The villa is surrounded by vineyards and produces its own very good wine.
Rain and fog can be lovely.
We spent much of our time exploring local villages.
And getting to know the residents.
This structure was near a ceramics shop where the five women spent a considerable amount of time, while the men milled around outside growing thirsty. No scuolabus showed up while we were there.
The reputation of this shop for the beauty and quality of their ceramics products had traveled far and wide.
This statuesque (literally) young Tuscan lass stood near the door of the ceramics shop to welcome visitors.
Tools of the ceramics trade. The shop did well that week.
Gimignano, Tuscany’s “City of Towers”.
Gimignano
A broader view of the landscape.
A lovely archway in Gimignano
Home decor shop in Gimignano.
Grape vines, olive trees, fog, on the grounds of Serravalle.