Portland

We just got back from a great visit with Jessica and Adam in Portland.  It was Rose Festival time, and being from Southern California and growing up with the Pasadena Rose Parade, I felt I needed to go.  So we did.

Got to the Rose Parade Saturday morning, didn't even have to spend the night for  curbside view!

Llama all done up for the parade

Portland's version of white suiters--they're called Rosarians

The Rose Garden was amazing@

While we were there we went up the Columbia River Gorge to Multnomah Falls

Day 10 our last day in Italy

Our last day in Italy, I pay homage to the great things we've seen and done over the past 10 days by doing more of the same!

LOTS of Churches......

Local Farmer's Markets .....

Canals (just in Venice) ...

Houses I would live in in a heartbeat....

Incredible views from places where I had to climb a lot of stairs....

Sitting at a sidewalk cafe listening to accordion music.  Who knew that accordion music could be so cool.

A few last sights of Venice.  You don't think about it, but with no cars all transportation (not just people) is done with boats.  The Grand Canal is like a busy highway with bus boats, taxi boats, freight boats, garbage boats, people boats,....

 St. Marks

And finally, my gondola ride.... Goodbye Venice....Goodbye Italy.... we'll see you again :)

Day 9 Venice

When you think of Venice you think of canals.  I was so intrigued by the fact that canals are the main means of transportation in Venice!  And because I was so intrigued, I took lots of pictures of canals.

On the Rialto Bridge overlooking the Grand Canal

Gondolas!  Can't wait until tomorrow for our gondola ride! 

Along the Grand Canal

Line of gondolas

We were there for the Vogalonga--a 32 km race by boats that use oars.  There were all kinds of boats, 1 man modern kayaks and dragon boats and gondolas...everything.  Pretty neat to see.

We took an afternoon and went to Burano, a small fishing village about 30 min. from Venice that is famous for its brightly painted homes.  I couldn't get enough of the bright colors!

Day 8 Florence to Venice

After leaving Florence, and on our way to Venice, we stopped in Verona.  Verona is the setting for Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Here you may gather with LOTS of other tourists to see a balcony much like the one Juliet would have stood on if she were a real person and not a fictional character (many of these LOTS of people thought Juliet was a real person and she really stood on this balcony--but I digress) It is a fabulous balcony and the town of Verona boasts lots of balconies.

We saw someone getting married...

In Siena we saw the Licorice Tower (black and white striped) and here we see another striped tower  (red and white striped Lamberti tower).  No we didn't climb it.  But we could have.

And lots of beautiful architecture.

Oh, and Steve ate more pizza.  To be honest, we shared.

Verona is also home to the Roman Arena, the 3rd largest arena in Italy, and a venue still used today for theatrical performances.  

We left Verona and headed to the "Queen of the Adriatic", where all travel is done by feet and by boats in one form or another.  

We arrived in Venice via water taxi.

Then that evening took a tour of the Grand canal via motorized boat.  We were standing up in the back, looking over the top of the boat and zooming through the canals.  Not great circumstances for pictures, but if you need a visual watch the boat chase scene in The Tourist with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp.

I kept checking behind me to be sure the KGB or some bad guys weren't chasing us, shooting at us with big guns.  They weren't.

Day 7 Florence

Today we took a little side trip to the Tuscan countryside.

First we visited Siena.  This city is host to 2 horse races.  Where most cities hosting horse races would have a horse-racing facility dedicated for this purpose, the city of Siena simply clears everything out of its main square, brings in some dirt, and hosts the medieval style horse race right there.

The city also boasts quaint, narrow streets and a black and white striped licorice church!

Oh, and by the way, the people of Siena apparently love boar....

Then we headed to San Gimignano, a small walled medieval hill town.  Beautiful and quaint--I'd live there in a heartbeat.

Some people really do live there.  The yellow vehicle is a school bus dropping children off after school.  Rough life.

And we, of course, sampled the world famous gelato of Sergio Dondoli at the Gelateria de Piazza.  Pretty tasty, and keeping me on track for my gelato a day fix.

We ended the day with dinner at Vignamaggio, a winery where apparently daVinci stayed during the time he painted the Mona Lisa.