jbrummel.net Blog

For our last weekend, we got a car in Arezzo, and then drove NE to Umbria to see the countryside, then to Assisi (with great views) and then to Cortona, our favorite small town.  On Sunday, we spent more time in Cortona, and then a nice drive through Tuscany.

Nice (hot) day in Pisa with the Shaffers.  Some work at trying to straighten things up, and also the (illegal) flying of the Italian flag from the tower.

Some pictures from the Duomo, and some an interesting bedbug.

On June 25th, we took the train to/from Siena, a smaller town that has a famous horse race in the town square in July.  You can see the bleachers set up in some of the pictures.

A big festival in Florence (on June 24th) celebrates St. John the Baptist, including fireworks.  After they were over, the river was very calm, and we got some neat pictures with the reflection in the river.  The Shaffers were in town for the festivities, too.

The Uffizi is the famous art gallery in Florence.  You’re not allowed to take pictures inside, but we took some pictures from inside of the buildings around the gallery.  And some pictures of the people at the gallery.

The Italian Riviera is the northern coast line, and at the southern end is a place called Cinque Terre — five little towns built right on the cliffs looking over the ocean. We spent two days there and have lots of pictures:

1. First day in Monterosso, the northernmost town, where we had a nice bed and breakfast to stay at
2. We then took the train to the southernmost town, Riomaggiore
3. Then we took the hike along the ocean to the next town up, Manarola
4. Then we took the hike along the ocean to the next town, Corniglia, but we were running out of time and did not hike up the hill into the town of Corniglia
5. Our B&B, called Casa di Limoni
6. We took the ferry from Monterosso to Riomaggiore to see all of the towns from the sea side.
7. We played on the beach for a while in Riomaggiore
8. We visited the town just south of Monterosso called Vernazza
9. Alli took lots of pictures, and they all had a certain theme

More from around Florence.  The town at the top of the hill overlooking Florence, Fiesole, was a dinner spot one night, with Lauren and Rachel.  And Alli has climbed all over the Duomo, twice up into the dome (463 steps) and once in the bell tower (425 steps).

Believe it or not, this is not all the pictures we took in Rome. This is the first day, after we arrived by train in the afternoon. Mostly the Colosseum, but other parts of ancient Rome, too. The next day we did the Vatican and more sights in Rome (and I got my wallet stolen). Those pictures will come later. Temperatures went up this week, and most days are 90+. But it gets in the 70s at night, and the cathedrals are all very cool, so we’re doing fine.

We are taking too many pictures and spending too much time going places to keep up.  Here are pictures from June 8th when we went to Pisa to see the tower, and then to the beach that is nearby.