Another beautiful day in Costa Rica. Spent the morning touring in our "Buggy". The tour company was "Buggy Tours" of Costa Rica. Brian was our guide. We went about 30 miles over just over 4 hours. I mapped it out with the GPS on my watch, but missed the first part of it. We saw all sorts of agriculture and nature. Pedro liked the brahma cattle. We saw 3 kinds of monkeys. Howler, spider and capuchin monkeys. The howlers were napping and not moving too much. The spider monkeys were more active and the capuchins were moving around and all over. We saw lots of birds. The big owl was very cool! I think it was a spectacled owl. Mary, you will need to correct me if I am wrong. The ride to the beach took ... read more

We spent our day enjoying time at the Casa Conde beach resort. We walked the black sand beach. Played some pool (billiards). Relaxed at the pool. Walked the beach again. Food has been excellent. The staff has been friendly and helpful. The grounds are beautiful as is the beach. It is very quiet and relaxing. ... read more

We made it back home. We got in late Sunday night. Back to work and school on Monday! We had a wonderful trip! Refreshed and ready for the Christmas season! We enjoyed the Christmas lights of Florence and Rome. The nativity at the Vatican was very special.... read more

We had a busy day touring. It was 60+ and sunny all day. We started with breakfast again at the hotel. The Coliseum was next with a wait in the lines. We toured the Coliseum viewing some of the historical information first and then we went in to tour the inside. Amazing architecture. We took the train from there to San Giovani. After a lunch of pizza we went through Chapel of San Lorenzo. It is the Church with the holy stairs that are said to be originally from Jerusalem from the hall of Pontius Pilate's palace. The stairs were closed for renovation, but there was a window to view the stairs. Afterwards we went to a cafe' nearby as we needed to have a sweet treat while we used the WiFi to look up the ... read more

We had a nice day in Pisa and Florence today. We had some morning and early day showers, but it was 62 degrees and really no wind, so it was a very comfortable day. We took the train from Rome to Florence and then switched trains to get to Pisa. We walked to the leaning tower and paid our 18 euros each to climb up to the top. Kasie was happy that we got to do the climb to the top as we did not have time on the last trip. We had lunch in Pisa after the climb. Sriracha enjoyed her meal of unique eats. We took the train back to Florence and wandered the city. Every street was lit up for Christmas. Pedro was also in his element. There was gelato on every corner. ... read more