Exploring Northern Italy

MAMMA MIA!!! What a great time I had in northern Italy. I went to the Tower of Pisa and tried to help the people keep it upright but that didn't work. We may have made it worse! Whoopsie!

After staring at the tower and mimicking all the other tourists who were trying to push it back up, we went to Lucca where we jumped on bicycles and went for a ride around the walls of the old city. Since that wasn't enough, we drove through the streets on the bumpy cobblestones. I found out that there was to be a Comic-Con there and we just missed it.

Our next stop was the Cinque Terre and I had a great time exploring the five different villages. I enjoyed climbing up to different viewpoints as well as swimming in the ocean by our Levanto apartment.

We took the windy road to Bellagio on Lake Como and there we explored the town like we did five years ago. We found out that our host Fausto was a glassblower and that he created ornaments that he sold to Winners in Canada and TJMaxx in the United States. There were several other towns around the lake that we visited by ferry. Fausto also showed us where he packaged the ornaments and showed them to the buyers. He even gave us one so we will have to be careful getting it home!

We felt like we were in Switzerland when we traveled to Tyrol. There was nobody there who spoke Italian. They all spoke a German dialect that we could not understand. We spent the days driving high in the mountains and taking lots of pictures. We saw a few deer run across the road and an amazing lake that was half drained. We drove so high that we were surprised to see ski lifts all the way up there.

Our last stop in Italy was Venice and I had a wonderful time walking the streets and across the canals. St. Mark's cathedral was amazing on the inside because there were gold tiles covering the entire ceiling and the walls had mosaics on them. It was incredible to see all the ornaments and decorations on Murano and all the beautiful lace and brightly coloured buildings on Burano. The only problem was that it rained most of the time while we were in Venice. In the end I still enjoyed our time in Venice but I'd like to come back when it's not raining.

Going Back To Tavernelle

We're back! We are finally back in Tavernelle after five years to visit our friends Cesare, Adelasia, Giovanni, and Annamarie. It was also great to see the world's fattest cat Romena who always visited us every morning.

 

When we arrived in Livorno, we were supposed to have a Fiat for our rental car but Dad said it was too big so we got a Ford instead. When we drove through Tavernelle in our FORD, it was like driving around back home. We knew where we wanted to go and how to get there. There were also alot of people driving Fiats through the 'narrow' streets (not too big for them). It was fun to drive through the countryside to Siena, Florence, San Gimignano and many other small villages and towns in our FORD but it would have been better in a Fiat. I enjoyed revisiting old sights like the Piazza del Campo in Siena, the Duomo in Florence, the towers of San Gimignano, and the ruins of Volterra.

My favourite day was when we went for a walk with Annamarie and her family. Our walk took us through several vineyards to a pond where Cesare would sometimes go fishing. Afterwards we went back to their house for an Italian lunch that was delicious. Annamarie also took us to an old monastery called Badia a Passignano where we got a tour from one of the monks. My favourite part was when we went to the garden because it had big walls along it that made it look like a castle. There were also a couple of cats wandering around the garden which reminded me of Lucky back home.

On our last day Mom and I went to get haircuts. The person who cut my hair was also named Matteo. I met lots of other people like the family from the Netherlands who joined me in swimming in the freezing cold pool.

I really enjoyed our time in Tavernelle and I will miss Cesare, Adelasia, Giovanni, and Annamarie. I hope to be able to go back and see them again some day.