http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Beebe/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Beebe en-us Sun, 06 Dec 2009 05:11:49 +0000 Sun, 06 Dec 2009 05:11:49 +0000 Day 36 TivoliWe took a metrobus combo out to Tivoli today to visit the Villa D'Este. It was the playground of a Cardinal in the 1500s....he loved the arts and fountains...and diverted a river to run his hundreds of water features The state has renovated many of the fountains and has them running again...most are working with just the original water pressureIt was such a calm beautiful spot http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Tivoli/blog-455827.html Day 34 RomeWe got up rather late and ate breakfast across the street at Yellow a bar that is somehow connected with our hotel Hotel Romae the Groovy Hotel. Instead of getting breakfast from the hotel we are given a 7 euro credit there and they had a great vegetarian breakfast for 8 euros....It is located in an old Art Nouveau cafe...beautiful woodwork...We then walked to the ruins of http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-455306.html Day 32 Day 33 RomaOther than having to change hotels a few times but they have all been in the same block our first two days in Rome have been wonderful...the weather continues to be sunny and mild getting cool at night...We spent Saturday fist doing the Roman sights...the Colosseum the forums and a great information center on the area with some new digs right nearby...we finished the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-455094.html Day 28 SiracusaWe headed out to Archeological Museum in the late morning walking there from the hostel. The museum is outstanding it covers prehistory to Roman times and has artifacts from many sites in Sicily. We took more than 2 hours to go through even with some hurrying at the end since we wanted some time outside in the beautiful sunshine. We walked past the remains of one of Siracu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Taormina/blog-455091.html Day 26 ModicaYesterday we took the bus into Noto about and hour from here and walked around the baroque city for a few hours...everything here closes down from 100 pm to 300pm...so it's hard to plan a trip of any distance since we end up arriving just before closing time at 100 We managed to see the cathedrals and the Theater after they reopened and before our bus the last of the day...s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Siracusa/blog-453655.html Day 22 Salerno to Pompeii and the Amalfi CoastWe took a train from Salerno to Pompeii today...I slept in so we left at 900 instead of 800....So we got to Pompeii around 1000. The train we took wasn't in the guide and turned out to be a great trip...it ran on a different line than the train from Napoli surprisingly...and the views were great. We traveled through a mountain pass rather than http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Sicily/Siracusa/blog-452728.html Day 21 Naples to SalernoWe spent our last day in Napoli visiting the Archeology Museum a somewhat frustrating and quite expensive experience. The night before we had a a big thunderstorm with a lot of hail....then steady rain....We took the train to Salerno a port city with a few sights which will be our hub for the next few days...visiting Pompeii and Paestum.We walked around Salerno the fi http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Campania/Salerno/blog-452161.html Day 19 I think....Sunday NaplesYesterday we took advantage of the lone sunny day in the near future according to the forecast and hopped a boat to Capri...we had some difficulty finding the right place to catch the boat but ended up in the right place at the right time. Once on Capri we decided to hike up the little pathways to the town of Capri. We were alone on the path since the huge gr http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-451778.html But I really like Naples even in the pouring rainWe walked around the oldest part of town today then took a funicular up to the top of the hill. We visited St Martino and the fort just from the outside since each admission is between 3 and 6 euros each...and there is so much to visit and appreciated the wonderful view from there. We ate great pizza and then took another funicular this on http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-451194.html Day 15 Lucca to SienaWe arrived in Lucca in the rain and left in the rain....It took three trains to travel the relatively short distance to Siena...uneventful trip except for watching two criminal types get arrested when they got off the train...they were being held by the train police in the car next to ours.Siena is beautiful even in the rain...but I think I like Lucca even better. The cathe http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-450766.html Day 14 LuccaWe rented bikes today and rode around on the city walls 4.2 kilometers and we went around twice... in the warm sun....the city is very liveable...compact and with many nocar areas. They are beginning to take down the many many tents that cover each of the plazas put up for the giant comicgaming fair over the weekend. Hopefully some will be gone before we leave.After our bike http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Lucca/blog-450445.html Day 1112 Sanremo to RiomaggioreWe efficiently zipped around Sanremo on Saturday morning seeing the sights and liking the town better in daylight. It was overcast so we didnrsquot get in any beach time and took the noon train back down the coast to Riomaggiore one of the Cinque Terre towns. It was a five hour trip but the scenery was just as great the second timehellipwe got into Riom http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-450187.html Day 9 FlorenceWe went to the city market this morning and bought food for breakfast and lunch and set off for another day of walking...but we had little idea of just how far we'd end up walking...We visited several landmarks and then decided to walk across the river and up the hill to the Boboli Gardens. Part way up we met a Brit couple who were coming down there was no one else walking and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-449269.html Day 6 PadovaAfter spending part of the day trying to use the free city wifi to no avail but we now have a permanent membership card for the wifi and library cards from the city we visited the park where the Chapel Scogvegni 1303 is located along with the Ermitani Church 1276 which was heavily bombed in 1944. The Chapel has frescoes from Giotto which we finally decided not to see since http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-448982.html Days Five and Six Padova and VeniceWe had an uneventful trip to Padova by train except for having to ride the Eurostar which costs more than twice the price of regular trains. When we in we checked at the tourist information in the station since we had read that they could book rooms for you. this was a lucky move the woman at the desk told us all the rooms in town were booked due to a b http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Veneto/Padua/blog-448360.html Day 4 SaturdayVerona to PadovaWe had a great night's sleep...it rained all night but now the sun is out and we have had a great walk around Verona...had coffee and brioche at an outdoor cafe three tables on a narrow street next to the Dior shop.....bought cheese roasted chestnuts and a bottle of wine at the open air market....We are at the only internet cafe in town...no wifi here...The town http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Veneto/Verona/blog-447762.html Day Two Milano to BergamoForgot to say in last blog that we saw much marble being cut in the mountains coming in from Switzerland.This morning we walked in the light rain to the Duomo. On the way we stopped coffee and a chocolate brioche in very modern caf where I got locked in the bathroom We arrived at the Duomo where we paid to climb the 250 steps to the wet marble roof where one can http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Veneto/Verona/blog-447750.html Day One Geneva to MilanBut now we're in Italy....and I can't yet speak Italian...frustration againWe started this trip with a late taxi but that has been the only problem...and we still got to the airport in plenty of time...Everyone we dealt with has been extra nice from the United ticket agent to the train conductors. We've had no one bother us or ask us for anything Not even one taxi driv http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Geneva/blog-446977.html Hello EveryoneWe are off to Italy in a week...it will be a real change for us and a return to the travels of our youth. After having spent all of our travel time recently except for the trip to Canada in Hispanic or in Lynn's case Kenyan cultures this will be a different sort of trip. Of course with the heavy Italian influence in Argentina we have built in a bit of a segue....Please uns http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Washington/Skagit-Valley/blog-444478.html We had a beautiful drive to Banff on Monday...weather was good and the roads clear and almost traffic freeThe Rockies are higher and more jagged than the Cascades...The drive was beautiful...we saw a coyote an elk bighorned sheep many deer...many parts of the road are fenced to prevent road kill but you still have to be alert. We didn't see any bears...although we were in grizzly territory http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Alberta/Banff/blog-393078.html