European Escapades: San Gimignano and the winery!

Seriously, San Gimignano is my favorite Tuscan city....it was when I went with Heath and it still is. It's beautiful! The views...OMG!!! Here is what it looked like when we got there...a bit foggy! Still so cool tho!

Wait a few pictures to see how it looked at the end of our visit!

Here is Holly, Molly, and Ali as we got off the bus.

And the COOL wall that surrounds the city.

And a picture that Poalo (Ali's travel buddy) took of us at the wall.

Once inside...we were the last of the group. (this is no surprise today, as we were in Lucca also. One man stopped us and asked if we were part of a photography tour...b/c there are too many big lenses us there!)  We stopped almost as soon as we entered the city walls b/c I spotted a cool little alcove with stairs...I wanted to stop and play with the self-timer on my camera. Here is the fun result!

Now, my favorite thing (or one of them) in SG is the World Champion Gelato place. I LOVE this one...starts with a Z and is some sort of wine gelato...(it's not Zinfandel), but way more Italian in name! LOL

My first 2 scoops...

And my last 3...YES, it was a FIVE scoop day!!! Seriously, it's SO GOOD!!!! (with 2 Z scoops and 1 pistaccio aka pistachio)

And, just a few of my other favorite pictures of the day...

a sidewalk cafe

my change and receipt for gelato

a cool little side street

my lunch (artichoke and tomato pizza)

an amazing view...with laundry!

another cool side street

 a fun set of doors

a cool archway near that door

me eating my lunch (don't ask me why this is out of order, but I can't get it back in order!)

me taking a picture of a side street...holding my painting under my arm! 

Oh, i just L.O.V.E. this little Tuscan city!! I want to go back and stay near here or HERE with my family...maybe one day...

And, here is the beautiful view ...from almost the same spot as when we got there. Now, the fog has lifted.

After SG, we traveled just a few miles to a winery--San Donato.

walking up to the winery

the group learning about the winery!

 wine...this way....I'm just sure that's what is says!

The bird next to the W.C. I used.

How cool are these wine bottles! 

the table

the food

Jim West, Molly, and I (this is his normal picture face, seriously.)

After 4 attempts, he finally smiled!

cheers with Birute, Heather, and Jamie

Statue posing...I'm the dog if you can't tell

Molly posing

Holly...the sleeping Lion

Molly...the roaring Lion!

Holly taking pictures

the big oak barrels of wine

The Canadians in the bathtub!  Love you ladies! You are so much fun!

Us, in the bathtub! (can you tell who'd had more to drink?!?!?!)

 

Looking out the bathroom window!

It was a good day! (that ended with a nap!)

European Escapades: Lucca and Pisa

Our first full day on the Bella Tuscany tour took us to Lucca. It was here in my first trip to Lucca, that I took my one of my favorite picture of the "bikes"...take a look...

So going into the trip, Holly, Molly, and I decided we take "collections." (bikes, doors, door knockers, food, signs, etc.)  So, keep your eyes open for them!

We didn't have a goal in Lucca, but just hoped to walk around and soak up Italy. We tried to stay with the group up to the Church, but somehow we got separated by shopping! Oops...we did run into the Stahl sisters b/c I was SUPER jealous of Jamie's fabulous orange coat (I totally saw it in the window and didn't go in b/c I didn't have room in my suitcase for a coat!!! LOL)

Fabulous right!?!?

Here are just a few other pictures that I LOVE from this day...

 In the church, we discovered that St. Zita is the patron saint of Lucca. This was especially intriguiging because Molly's mom's name was Zita (my kids' great-grandmother).

Lucca was the hometown of the great composer Puccini (Madame Butterfly). This was in a square near his home. Yes, we totally posed with the statue and cutout!

Good stuff, right!
While in Italy, Amanda Knox was acquitted. I found a paper...which was a goal for the day!

Here are a few other pictures...of our first slice of pizza, etc.

It was a good first day.

We then went to Pisa and took the regular pictures that the twenty thousand other people were doing....holding up the tower.

And, this is one of my favorite statue posings that we did the entire trip.

European Escapades: traveling thru Italy

Sorry for the delay on my European Escapades...I believe I left you last when we got to the train station in Venice! We took the train to Florence that morning, my first ride on a European train...I wouldn't say it was fast like I've heard. I'm sure those are somewhere else. When we got to Florence, we headed over to the airport to meet the rest of the Bella Tuscany tour group! We boarded the bus and took off for the resort town of Montacatini Terme. 

It is such a neat little town...originally a resort town because of the hot springs. There are spas in town, and I need to return there so I can go to one. Didn't quite get there this trip! Here are a few pics around MT.

Here is Ali Edwards...taking pictures herself! LOL

Molly and I at the taxi tree

A bike...lots of bikes everywhere, you'll see more of them in my posts I'm sure!

The train that we were supposed to wait to pass every time the bars went down...except the bars would go down for 10 minutes before the train was visible...so we often ducked under the bars...always very cautiously. (The train moved SLOWLY too!)

And here is the Papa Smurf window display...it was our landmark to turn left when we were walking back to the hotel. 

After the little tour Jim West took us on of MT, we went back to the hotel for our welcome dinner. 

Paolo was pouring Holly some juice....she didn't drink champagne like the rest of us!!! 

This was the beautiful view from the hotel restaurant! I love Tuscany!

Halloween...

I should be finishing up my European posts...and I have every intention of doing so...but I'm behind in life. I just keep adding things to my life and getting busier!!! Oh well...I still took time to enjoy my kids and friends on Halloween. Here are some of my favorite pics from last night...aren't they cute!
Madysen was a scarecrow princess. Hunter was a hunter. (Please note this is only a beebee gun. It is not loaded. My friend Syl called tonight and was wondering why the heck we were letting him carry a gun around. He DID not carry it trick-or-treating. He only had it during these photos! LOL)