All on the Same Day!

There are only 365 days in a year, so it's logical there will be days when important family events overlap … but to have 3 interesting, life-changing and noteworthy happenings all on the same day, is pretty remarkable.

First, Kelly gave notice on her job with the Utah Office of Education last week after a particularly difficult day, later texting her mom (and probably Gary, too) “no amount of money is worth this!” For the past year and a half, she has been managing the OofE’s largest computer program while we’ve watched her losing sleep and getting more and more stressed, so we weren’t really very surprised to hear she had made this decision. Tuesday, July 23 was her last day.  Not sure what she’s going to do next – other than finish up her house renovation, take a ride (or two) on her Harley Davidson and join the family next week in Island Park, ID - but she reports, “I’m at peace” and she’s been told the OofE will leave the door open for her to come back if she changes her mind.

One week later, Kelly got a call from her former boss at Hill Air Force Base (in Ogden) asking if she would consider coming back to the base.  Less money but no commuting so more time to ride and to spend time with her husband.

Also on Tuesday, July 23, Whitney said goodbye to her longtime job at Esurance for a better job with more money at e-Trade.   

Then we heard from Todd who reported at 2:19 p.m. on July 22, 2019 Todd and Naoko Sappington, welcomed their 2^nd little boy – Tyler Robert – weighing in at 8.2 pounds and joining 3-year-old TJ waiting at home and big sister Ayami, a college student living in California.  At nearly 57-years-old, Todd is elated to be the father of this beautiful family and reports he is loving being a daddy again and is happier than he's ever been.

And, for those among you who might be inclined (and you know who you are) to point out that Tyler (no word from the proud papa on whether this adorable little one will be known as Tyler or TR) was born on July 22 and Kelly and Whitney left their jobs on July 23 … let me just say, all of this interesting and exciting news happened - more or less - within the same 24 hours! 

Rick Welch is the New Chief

“I knew I shouldn’t have come to this meeting,” said our son-in-law Rick Welch about the Gunlock town meeting in which he was “thrown under the bus by my cousin” to become the volunteer fire chief.  His station will serve the Washington County communities of Gunlock, Central, Veyo and Brookside under the auspices of the Northwest Fire District. 

Gunlock has recently finished construction on a nice, new station and through a government grant, purchased a shiny, new fire truck … but the community has no other trained personnel among the approximate 110 residents and no other firefighting equipment. Luckily, they have not had any fires in the past several years.  Rick’s main responsibility will be to recruit and train his Bowler relatives, some who have owned land from Gunlock to Bigelow Ranch for generations, and others who reside in and around the town named for early pioneer Jacob Hamblin’s brother, William “Gunlock” Hamblin.  Gunlock, settled in 1857, is also the site of the annual Gunlock rodeo, held every July 4^thsince 1945 and with revenue from the event helping to support community facilities – maybe even the all new fire department?

Rick and Stacy purchased property in Gunlock – about 20 miles from downtown St. George in the northwest corner of the county – about 6 months ago after his retirement from the SGFD after 21 years.  As a retiree, he was “ordered” not to accept a position with another fire department for a year, so the residents of Gunlock waited before recruiting him to take on this assignment – since he is the only Gunlock landowner with firefighting experience.

PS:  Rick says he made Stacy promise she would “keep her mouth shut” during the town meeting but, even so, he had to elbow or knee her periodically to remind her of her promise!  Now, as Mrs. Chief, she plans to start an auxiliary for residents who would like to help make Rick’s job a little easier while he builds his program; and she is working to develop a Facebook presence for this fledgling fire department.

Another PS:  We love this guy … and have assured him his new assignment will probably make it onto my Top Ten list for 2019!!!

My Bucket List Runneth Over: Random Impressions

Random Fun Facts from Our Travels in Italy

·       Italia has more than 1200 varieties of grapes, 535 kinds of olives and many varieties of tomatoes – all deliciously sweet.  Grapes are picked in bunches … olives are picked one-at-a-time … and all are harvested only once-a-year.

·       In almost every city we saw many of our “home brands” such as McDonald’s, Burger King, Starbucks, Marriott, Holiday Inn, Foot Locker, Five Guys … and I even saw a cute, high-end boutique called “Dixie” in Cinque Terre. 

·       The world’s best ice cream can be purchased in San Gimignano with a variety of different and delicious flavors created by Sergio Dondoli, 3-time gelato world champion and a member of Italy’s Ice Cream World Championship team.   

·       Between the four of us, we pushed, pulled and in every other way, wrangled 4 very large suitcases and another 4 small “carry-on” bags through Italy on busses, taxis, trains … and if our plans didn’t work out, we simply walked for miles dragging them behind us.

·       Italian food is nothing like what we think of as Italian food at home.  We found most to be rather bland and unremarkable. However, we have found some quite good pastries … and have I mentioned gelato?

Italian oddities

·       Filmy white blouses over black bras are a seemingly popular “look” among many Italian women, just not sure why.

·       Vatican employees smoking “on campus” and shouting OMG (most often in English) to each other as they work.

·     On the topic of smoking, we were continually amazed at the number of smokers and vapers we saw in both Germany and Italy – particularly among young and beautiful women!

·       McDonalds in Germany is called the McCafe … in Italy it is called Moka Café but NONE of the food served is what we think of as McDonalds fare, even though the “golden arches” are prominent in every city.

·       People and their dogs are EVERYWHERE, in cafés, markets and on trains.

·       Many of those we talked to in our travels wanted to discuss Trump and his politics … and whether or not I like him, whether or not I think he is going to be re-elected. One lady from the UK reported he had just been to England to meet with the queen, who – it turns out – was quite taken with him.  Upon his return to the States, he reported, “she hasn’t had this much fun in 25 years!” The lady on the cruise ship said, she was pleased the Queen and Trump have such a tight friendship because it means England and the US will, too!

·       If you go to dinner in a nice Italian restaurant, they will serve you all the wine you can drink, but if you would prefer a glass of water, or – heaven forbid – a soda, they are offended so will charge an arm and a leg!

·       Cold oatmeal with apples, raisins and nuts is delicious! And, speaking of food, at least a dozen kinds of bread and/or pasta is available at every meal.

·       Restrooms (also known as water closets) in some part of our travels were co-ed!  So interesting to discover a man waiting in line, stepping out a stall … or at the sink washing his hands.

·       Graffiti, graffiti everywhere in some parts of every community.  It makes me really happy to live in a community where the SGPD works really hard to stay on top of this social nuisance.

·       We’ve heard 5 words over and over since arriving in Italy.  They are (1) Michaelangelo, (2) Leonardo, (3) Napoleon, (4) Galileo … and (5) bigliettei which means “tickets” with its companion word “biglietteria” meaning ticket office.  The need for tickets is ever-present in Italia … tickets to ride a bus, train or other form of transportation.  Tickets for admission to basilicas, museums, historic sites and everything in between.  Sometimes at the end of the day, we had 5-8 biglietteis in our pockets. 

The not-so-good about Italy:  there was a really odd and mildly unpleasant moldy, wet-dog smell when we got off the train in the center of Milan which either went away or I simply got used to it within 24 hours.  While there were amazing structures all over the country, it was obvious many of the buildings, bridges, roads and other parts of the country’s infrastructure are dangerously in need of repair. The crowds, at times, were uncomfortably close (everyone on their way to somewhere in a hurry); and, a few loud, obnoxious drunks and an angry Italian woman on a bus added a couple of memories. Tight train connections left us anxious and perspiring; surprisingly there were lots and lots of smokers among the afore-mentioned beautiful young people; frequently there was no place to sit down in most tourist sites (in one place we were even told it was “forbidden” to sit on the steps) and/or public buildings; and, everything was VERY expensive (we blew through $800 in the first five days we were in Italy), including a city tax of $10 for each day we stayed in the Michaelangelo Hotel as well as a $2 surcharge for setting a table with napkins, utensils and tablecloths in restaurants, and in a few places, to sit at a table, we had to pay.  We also had to pay to use the “public toilette” …  anywhere from .50 to 1.50 euros per person. And, there were a few Italians who are undoubtedly unhappy with their current “world-at-their-doorstep” situation, as demonstrated when they waved us away when we asked for directions or information.

The good about Italy:  there is something spectacularly artistic and/or historic to see in every direction, including, art we’ve only read about in history books; buildings, such as churches, houses, and seats of government - whose histories are measured in centuries; amazingly efficient transportation systems including 21 trains which annually carry 1.2 million passengers, the underground metro system, busses and about a “jillion” taxis.  All the high-end fashion houses are based in this country and most of the clothes are knock-out beautiful to the point, even the average girl on the street looks like a fashion model.  Another observation … I’m a pet lover, but I have been amazed the number of people traveling with dogs … in fact, when you purchase a train ticket, you are asked to designate how many adults, children or dogs you will be traveling with … and, additionally you can bring any number or size of luggage … or your bicycle!  There were also many, many kind people willing to help lost tourists – most who speak some English, learned as children in elementary school; and, if I haven’t already mentioned it, gelato is pretty darned good, too! 

And, I’m not sure if its good or not-so-good, but there was also a heavy police presence wherever we traveled in Italy (as well as in Germany) especially around the airport, train station and many other high-profile locations. Some were petite female officers on bicycles, but many had pistols and “billy” clubs, or heavy-duty artillery – semi-automatic rifles – no doubt, meant to do serious harm.

As with any vacation, we spent way too much money and didn’t even scratch the surface of things we wanted to do and see.  And traveling like this is very, very strenuous so if you have this amazing and memorable part of the Lord’s vineyard on your “bucket list” make your plans sooner rather than later!  Thanks to the Beecher’s – our wonderful traveling companions - and for all they did to plan every detail of this fabulous trip.  

But, in the end, there's no place like home ... and God bless America!

My Bucket List Runneth Over: The Keystone Cops in Italy

 Every vacation involves some interesting and memorable moments.  Sometimes they are memorable because they are kind of funny – a couple of them even “keystone cops funny” (another Google search may be needed to understand).  They're not in any particular order, but these are the experiences we probably won’t forget for awhile:

·       Ed dropped his wallet in the treni stazione in Milano.  Before and during our time in Europe, we had been warned repeatedly about pickpockets so we thought that's what had happened but, in this case, Ed apparently just missed his own pocket.  As soon as we got back to our hotel room, he contacted our credit card companies, but we were not surprised the next morning to be advised “your purchase from Amazon has been denied.”  Unfortunately, he also lost his new Utah driver license and about $80 in USD and euros.

·       We took a bus to the Michaelangelo Museum on a hillside overlooking Milan. When it was time to depart, Ed was – we thought – right behind us.  We boarded the bus, the doors closed and all three of us, at once, saw Ed running to catch the bus as it pulled away.  Of course, we got off as soon as we could and tried to make our way back, but it took at least an hour and several failed attempts to find a bus going in the right direction. In the meantime, he – like all good Boy Scouts – simply found a shady spot, sipped a cold Coke Zero and waited for us to come find him.

·       In Florence, we were trying to wrangle our luggage to our AirBnB so we jumped – as only four weary travelers could do while each dragging 60+ lbs. of luggage – onto a city bus.  Unfortunately, we had nowhere to move ourselves or our luggage, so we just had to stand near the door.  When the next passenger – an older lady who was probably a frequent rider - stepped onboard and realized she couldn’t get passed us, she became pretty irate and, no doubt, insulting (in Italian).  We had no idea what she was saying but we could tell from the look on her face, it was probably not something we wanted to hear in English.  The bus driver – who spoke some English – did her best to diffuse the situation and we apologized to all who were inconvenienced, though it didn’t do much good. Most of the other passengers seemed sympathetic to our plight.

·       Palma de Mallorca introduced us to nude beaches.  Of course, we didn’t plan to visit a nude beach, but somehow ended up there (could have something to do with our inability to understand the language). In all fairness, it wasn’t officially a nude beach – though there were some a little further down the coast line – but this beach definitely had, a few, uninhibited nude sun bathers.  It was pretty funny to watch our two priesthood brethren trying their best not to look!

·       On one of our shore expeditions we found ourselves having lunch at a winery – which, of course, involved wine tasting.  Before we got there, our host came up and down the aisles of the bus with a clip board making notes about food preferences.  Vegan? Vegetarian? Glutton-free, etc.  When he got to me, I said, “No wine.”  The look on his face was absolutely priceless.  “No wine?” he finally managed to stammer after several seconds with his mouth open.  When he finally regained his composure, he said, “I’m shocked! I’ve never known ANYONE who doesn’t drink wine.” I want to think our seating at a far away corner of the room in the direct sunshine - and with nothing to drink - had to do with too many guests and not enough table space, but I can't be sure!

·       We stayed in a very nice AirBnB in Florence which had a gate so people couldn’t come in off the street unannounced.  When it came time to leave, we gathered everything up, locked the door and headed downstairs to wait for our taxi.  When we got to the gate, we realized we were locked in – and locked out – inside the gate and outside of the apartment.  It was early in the morning, but the guys decided the only thing to do was to knock on doors until we could find someone who had a key.  I walked out into the courtyard and found a woman hanging her washing … and a man a floor above her who spoke English.  Unfortunately, neither of them had a solution and in the meantime, our taxi showed up.  The driver was pretty upset we couldn’t find a way to her vehicle and left in a huff. Finally, someone yelled down to “push the button.”  Well, duh, sure enough there was a button next to the gate which freed us from our self-imposed prison and we were able to get on our way (I'm pretty sure, at least a few of the tenants were murmuring, “stupid Americans!” as we sped away).

·       We only got seriously lost once during our month in Europe and it happened on our last Saturday in Rome.  We decided to make a day-trip to Tivoli, a small community about 19 miles from downtown Rome which has 2 UNESCO Heritage Sites.  How hard could it be?  We made it both ways but the entire trip, which started at 10 a.m. and ended at 10:30 p.m. involved 1 mini-van, 2 shuttle busses, 3 trains, and 4 metro stops.  The treni from the Rome Termini cost us only 2.60 euros apiece going out to Tivoli, but to come back it was going to cost 309 euros (no, that’s not a typo), so of course we needed to find an alternate route which dropped us at a train station in another part of Rome.  We got back safe and sound – and even got to see the inside view of the Rome’s Leonardo di Vinci Airport.  A little unnerving, but fun anyway! 

My Bucket List Runneth Over: The Rome Temple

Our one full day in Rome was positively amazing!

After driving through the busy streets filled with people, bicycles and cars, we turned a corner and found ourselves at the Colosseum, built by thousands of Jewish slaves only 84 years after Christ’s crucifixion (a fact I did not know).  It is immense and grand with the additional fingerprints of others, who recognized the importance of this iconic structure and worked to make sure it survived. In its "glory days" the Colosseum had a seating capacity of 50-80,000 (average attendance was 65,000).  In 2018, the Colosseum was the most popular tourist attraction in the world - with more than 7.4 million visitors.  It was an incredible experience just to stand in front of it for a picture!!!

From there we visited the Basilica of St. Clement, another of the dozens of churches, cathedrals, and basilicas we have seen in our travels, but this one was unique.  Coming in off the street – up the hill and about 2 blocks from the Colosseum - we were in the chapel of the present basilica.  From there we descended to another level, where we found a 4^thcentury basilica … and at still another level down, we found ourselves in the remains of an earlier, 1^stcentury building.  In 1912-14, excavation discovered yet a 4^thlevel containing the remains of other buildings, apparently destroyed by the fire of Nero in 64 A.D. (“Nero fiddled while Rome burned”).   It was fascinating … and a whole lot cooler than downtown Rome on a late June day!

Our final destination – the one we had all been waiting for – was our visit to the Rome Temple.  Unlike most of the places we have visited in Italy, the grounds were immaculate and the atmosphere was wonderfully peaceful without all the noise and confusion everywhere else we've been in Italy.  The temple is majestic and like almost all the other 162+ temples in the world, is perched high on a hilltop and can be seen from quite a distance.  

The visitor center was remarkable, with a display of the 11 ancient apostles (the 12^th figure is Paul, the beloved disciple of Christ ... also an Apostle, but not one of the original twelve).  They were half-sized compared to those at the Vatican, but the Christus is said to be 7 times life-sized.  There is also a FABULOUS stained-glass diorama, entitled “Come Unto Me,”  featuring all of Christ’s parables which the missionaries say has brought many Bible scholars to the gospel. 

A little history behind the Church in Italy and the Rome Temple:

·       Missionaries first arrived in Italy in 1850.  In 1993, 50 church missionaries were invited to form a choir to sing on Vatican radio. A temple in Rome was announced by President Thomas S. Monson in October 2008 General Conference – to which there was an audible gasp by the congregation and which rippled through the entire Church.  The temple is sadly, underused in this part of the world, but I have no doubt President Monson saw a huge future for the Church – and the temple – in Italy.

·      In 2012, the LDS Church was granted “official status” and was named a “partner of the state”! Today there are 27,200+ members in 10 stakes , which is a really big deal because, in order to become a stake there must be a strong priesthood presence to administer the ordinances and manage the affairs of the local Church. The designation of 1 stake is a big deal … to have 10 stakes is amazing! And, there are two missions in Italy.

During our afternoon at the Rome Temple, we were proxy for 10 sealings of husbands and wives (all our family names), 10 sealings of girls to their parents, then also helped seal another 10 boys to their parents and 3 marriage sealings … and all of it was done in Italian.  Still, we are assured there were many happy people on the “other side” who can be together forever through these saving ordinances.

Side note:  The three priesthood holders who officiated spoke extremely limited English … and 3 of the names they were trying to pronounce were my German uncles and many of the names were clearly not Italian … such as Pheraby Godwin, Hattie Hedwig Peipus, Adeline, Aurelia, Missouri, and Ira Sankey.  In short, it was somewhat comical to hear an Italian officiator struggling to manage the names of my Werner family and who-knows-what-else names.

Another side note:  We came out of the temple and were met by some of the other 52 members who were with us, who said, “Utah Governor Gary Herbert is on the grounds!” Gary Herbert is a Rotarian (Provo Club) and was the Lt. Governor who oversaw Volunteer Centers in the state when I was still at the VC of Washington County.  In short, he was at one time my boss so I had no hesitation in walking up to him to say hi.  It was a serendipitous experience, and proves once again, it’s a very small world in the Church.

In all, this was probably the most memorable day of our visit in Italy.  Loved it!!!

PS:  On Saturday we took a train ride to Tivoli, a small town outside of Rome where we toured Villa d'Este, a 500-year-old estate which is on the United Nations World Heritage list.  Later, our lunch was interrupted by the roar of car engines and before long the plaza was filled with Ferraris, Maseratis, Rolls Royces, Porsches on a road tour between Rome and Budapest ... and lots of people!

My Bucket List Runneth Over: Civitavecchia and Beyond

The highlights of our first few days in Civitavecchia (aka Ancient Rome) included a visit to Vatican City and St. Peter’s Basilica, it’s amazing splendor the highpoint of the day.  Vatican City, is a free-standing nation with its own government, its own security force and 600 residents, all who have a waiting list of replacements hoping to live long enough to inherit a place among the most important people in the Catholic Church.  

We were warned ahead of time, our visit to the Sistine Chapel would be very crowded and very noisy, but I don’t think any of us could wrap our arms around just how crowded and how noisy.  We had an excellent tour guide, who loved her opportunity to share her wealth of knowledge about Michaelangelo, one of the world’s greatest, most revered and multi-talented artists. The magnificent ceiling of the Sistine Chapel – which he completed in an unbelievable 4 years without help and while lying on his back - defies all description but our experience was anything but enjoyable.  We were pushed and shoved into the hundreds, if not thousands of people ahead of us by the hundreds, if not thousands, of people behind us. The amount of time we spent in the Sistine Chapel amounted to less than 10 minutes!  In addition, it was a 90+ degree day with probably 90% humidity making people around us irritable, as well!  Still, to be in the same room with one of the world’s most important works of art, was a surreal experience.

Our time in St. Peter’s Basilica was much more pleasant.  The crowds had dissipated so the volume of noise had dropped dramatically as everyone around us was taking in the grandeur of this “mother church.”  We were absolutely overwhelmed with the magnificence of the building and its incredible art, created hundreds of years ago by some of the world’s most famous artisans.  (We saw at least 250 images of the Madonna and Child, and probably 100 images of Christ on the cross, but only a handful of images of the risen Christ).

Savona, Italy was the first stop of our cruise on Costa Cruise Lines, Europe’s largest cruise company about to introduce their 16^th– Costa Esmerelda, a monster ship capable of providing amazing vacation experiences for 6000 passengers at a time.  Ours – the Costa Diadema - was somewhat smaller with only 4500 passengers. I had pretty much decided I would skip Savona and just hunker down in our cabin, take a nap, work on my blog posts and relax for the day, but at the very last minute I decided to “jump ship” and explore with Ed and some of our new best friends.  So glad I did!

The information provided by our cruise line indicated Savona had 5 “must sees” … we saw 4 of them. The first was a stroll through the city centre (wish we had been able to spend more time), a visit to yet another cathedral.  This one was obviously being renovated and was not even close to some we have seen, but it had some beautiful religious objects and art work.  Next, we walked a block or two to find the Museo della Ceramica.  It was wonderful, and filled to overflowing with amazing ceramics – some more than 500 years old, as well as some modern designs.  Loved it and definitely worth the 3 euros we paid for admission (plus, the architect did an amazing job on the design work for the museum … not to mention, it had a nice, clean – and FREE – bathroom)!

We finished our Savona adventure with a tour of the 16th century Priamar fortress,  with a breathtaking view of the harbor and the city. Without question our time in Savona was one of my favorite days in Italy – and we ended up spending only 14 euros for the whole adventure.   

We got short-changed in our time in Marseille, France.  We boarded the “hop on, hop off” bus at the invitation of the driver, but then at the next stop we had to get off to buy tickets.  The bus left before we finished the transaction.  By the time we got our tickets and got back on, we’d missed about an hour of touring time and were expected back at the ship for Sacrament meeting at 3 p.m.  Oh, well, we probably only missed another cathedral, historic ruin and the chance to take another 50 pictures.

Barcelona is a clean, beautiful, and bustling city of about 3 million people.  In our few hours there, we met up with Rex and Mary Ann Franson who were there for a month.  They were so gracious to show us around their adopted city.  We met them at the base of the Christopher Columbus monument, then spent an hour or so trying to take in the amazing architecture of the world famous Sangria Familia Cathedral (another Google search), which has been under construction for more than 130 years (and, only recently got their building permit from the City of Barcelona) and is not yet finished. There really is no way to describe it … one must see it to believe it.  We only saw the exterior because there were no tickets available the day we were there … but we were told the interior is an architectural – and artistic - marvel!  

Palma de Mallorca is a beautiful city with spectacular scenery, including crystal clear water and beaches filled with lots and lots of young and not-so-young vacationers (think Europe’s version of Fort Lauderdale). We also found a delightful taxi driver who took us to the village of Valldemossa where we visited a monastery high above the sea and walked charming village streets … oh, and where we had our daily dose of gelato.

Cagliari (the “g” is silent … aka known as Sardinia, off the coast of France) is a lovely destination but it pales as the poor little stepsister to the rest of the ports we visited.  Originally established in 200 A. D. to watch for enemy ships making their way into their beautiful bay, it has long since seen its glory days.  Still there are some beautiful sites to see, but for the overall impression is that it looks 1800 years old. Of course, we only had a few hours to explore so probably missed some of the amazing wonders we could have visited with more time! 

Now back to Rome ... and the best part of our trip!

My Bucket List Runneth Over: Italy

ITALY … in a word … does not disappoint!  It is an ancient country with a modern feel, many beautiful, beautifully dressed and beautifully thin young men and women, interesting food, LOTS to see in every direction and millions of people who want to see it at the same exact time.  

Italy can best be described as an extremely busy European version of Disneyland on the day after Christmas or New Years’ Eve!!!  And, traffic … oh, my goodness … there were bicycles, taxis (almost all were BMW’s), busses, trollies; and, it seems, at least one car for every one of the 1.2 million people who live here on the road at the same moment.  Thankfully pedestrians have the right-of-way and most drivers – no matter their means of transportation - come to an abrupt stop (sometimes dangerously so) the instant someone steps off the curb.

Our itinerary – organized by our delightful traveling companions Bob and Katie Beecher – kicked off (after settling into our hotel in downtown Milan, across from the train station) with a trip on a ferry to Bellagio, along the shores of the world famous (and rightfully so) Lake Como in drenching rain, but, oh, what amazing scenery. I’ve always said if I ever ran away from home you could look for me in Skagway, Alaska, but since our time in Lake Como, I’ve changed my runaway place.  It was too cold to be comfortable and certainly too wet, but it was an amazingly memorable day.

Our one full day in Milan included a tour of the city on a “hop on, hop off” bus, but when all was said and done, we ended up walking more than 6 miles, passing the world famous La Scala Theater and took pictures at San Marco Church (where both Mozart and Verdi attended as teenagers), until we finally found our destination – Leonardo da Vinci’s famed painting of the “Last Supper” (the real deal).  It was an awe-inspiring moment to be face-to-face with one of the world’s most beloved art treasures!  We also saw the Duomo (translated as “hell”), a spectacular kind of “crystal palace” church with an adjacent mall, including store fronts for Prada, Versace, Louis Vuitton, Armani-Menzoni, and Tiffany and Co. – with polizia on patrol and armed with semi-automatics in case anyone tried to make off with the very expensive goods. In the plaza, workers were busy setting up a stage and making ready for a concert by the Milano Philharmonic.  And, did I say, “we walked, and walked and walked aaaaaannnnndddd walked” although unlike the pioneer children, we could not find it in our weary bodies to sing!

The next day, we traveled on two trains (Milan to Verona and Verona to Venice) and a ferry (which stopped 10-12 times before we got to our destination) to be among thousands touring San Marco Basilica, followed by a tour of the Doge Palace which, through the centuries, was considered Venezia d’Lucia’s seat of government.  It was amazingly elaborate and there were many, many fascinating stories about some of the more interesting Doges. Venezia is a real tourist attraction, so it is extremely crowded, but it was exciting to be there.

Next, we spent two days in La Spezia during which time we explored Cinque Terre, the smallest of Italy’s national parks, which includes five villages, with narrow lanes, old architecture, trails and picturesque scenic overlooks of the “Italian Riviera."  Officially known as Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre, it is also on the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites.   Each village (Lavorna, Monterosso, Vernazza, Manarola, Riomaggiore, and Corniglia) where we stopped along the railway is interesting and unique but all have one thing in common: lots and lots of tourists.  We had lunch in Riomaggiore.  The ristorante we selected had a stone wall and a wood ceiling, both believed to have been constructed before the year 1100!!!  

Next, we spent two days in an AirBnB in Florence, Italy and where we had the chance to travel around this amazing city on another “hop on, hope off” city tour bus (which is in every city in Europe and is BIG business).  While in Florence we hopped on a train to Tuscany where we visited in Sienne, San Gimignano, and Pisa, home of the famous leaning tower.   

Wait ... there's more to come!