We woke up early and wanted to head out to see the countryside, etc. Nanette (the bride) had volunteered to drive to Pisa (2 1/2 hours away) to pick up Lyle (a long-time friend of both of ours). We told her she was crazy and that we would do it and off we went. Scott was a GREAT driver in Italy. With a country that is not really clear on speed limits or road signs, Scotty had a blast. At one point we were going 160 (kilometer per hour) and we were still being passed by tons of cars. There are no lanes AT ALL! I had a nervous breakdown as the co-pilot trying to watch (or not watch) the roads and read the maps! I'm glad Scott was an aggressive driver, if I had driven we would still be stuck in the round about in Florence, circling just because I couldn't cut anyone off. LOL!
What a handsome, and in this picture, very serious driver! At least Italians drive on the right side of the road like Americans!
I made a joke of an attempt to get some pictures while we were driving. None of the pictures do any justice of what we actually saw. The countryside of Tuscany is indescribable. The green, green hills, the castles EVERYWHERE, the olive trees, the miles and miles of grape vineyards, I'm telling you, it was breathtaking, stunning, and impossible to capture with a camera.
So we picked up Lyle at the airport. I had not seen Lyle for a number of years and he had no idea who was coming to pick him up or when, but when we saw each other in the airport it was like meeting a friend in heaven! He is so awesome and has always been such a great supporter of Nanette and my parents through all the "pageant" years! Little did we know that he (and Nanette's sister, JaNae) would be our best travel buddies ever! After the airport we headed off to see Pisa--mainly the leaning tower. This was a cute little I don't know cathedral looking thing.
Crossing the River Arno. The water features and lakes and rivers were so peaceful and beautiful. I love water in all its varieties.
Not us crossing the River Arno, but look behind those people at those adorable little apartments along the river. This was one of my favorite things about Italy. All the apartments with adorable shutters that were open and flowers on almost every balcony.
Ooooo, I just love this picture!
And then we rounded a corner and THERE IT WAS! The flippin' leaning tower of Pisa. Something I had only seen in books! It was amazing to be standing there and looking at this structure. It is one of three things that are in the Field of Miracles (the leaning Tower, the Duomo, and the Baptistery).
Ok, so remember that this is MY blog so don't judge me. Scott cracks me up! He likes to take pictures of erect buildings in strategic places...
Do you see a theme? This was in Washington DC--obviously the Washington Monument.
Did you know? The leaning tower of Pisa is 200 feet tall, 55 feet wide, weighs 14,000 tons, and is currently leaning at a five degree angle (15 feet off). The Tower was built over a period of 2 centuries. The first stones were laid in 1173--five years later just as they finished the base someone said, "Is it just me or does that look crooked?" The base was reinforced in 1550. It was still tilting so in 1990 the Tower was closed for repairs, and $30 million was spent trying to stabilize it. What a phenomenon!
Oh ya, you gotta do the tourist thing...I took this great shot of Scotty, who looks like a giant, holding up the Tower. He looks awesome.
I, however, look like a dork...
This is Lyle and me in front of the beautiful Duomo (cathedral) in the Field of Miracles, right next to the leaning Tower.
This is the base of the Tower...it cracks me up to think that no one noticed it was leaning until it was leaning LOL!
The simple pleasure of a European vacation. Scott found that the fake, made up beer from the Simpsons was actually brewed and sold in Italy. We may or may not have purchased a souvenir Duff beer.
We ate at the adorable cafe behind me. We sat outside, had incredible pizza, smelled the flowers, the weather was perfection, etc. etc.
Gosh, I love this guy--notice the souvenir Duff beer in his back pocket!
There were the most beautiful honeysuckle bushes all in bloom that smelled like heaven. Scott picked me a little one and put it in my hair. I saved it and smashed the flower in my journal.
Beautiful greenery with really artistic graffiti.
This was on our drive back to the castle. More attempts to capture the beautiful country side.
Beautiful castle tops! This would be last photo taken before we got REALLY, REALLY lost. Like I mentioned the signs in Italy were a joke. We got on a toll road that had only rest stops and only actual exits to big cities. The signs did however offer some interesting information of what was actually at a rest stop. There was a huge blue sign with a large (and I mean "excuse me, I believe I ordered the LARGE cappuccino...HALLO" from So I Married an Ax Murder) cup of coffee, so we assumed coffee must be offered at the next rest stop. Next was a huge blue sign with a knife and a fork, so we thought hey there must be food at the next rest stop. Then there was a huge orange sign of a man in a wheelchair so naturally we thought, wtf? What was that meaning? There's a wheelchair store at this rest stop? There's a wheelchair crossing coming up? I mean it looked like a sign that warned of deer that just might jump out into the road. At one point in our driving around insanity, things got a little tense and Scott slammed on the brakes and stopped right between the middle of the main road and a rest stop. He looked over at me and said, "Where am I supposed to be going?" I, being just as frustrated looked out the window and replied, "I don't know! but there is a man in a wheelchair crossing the street!" LOW and BEHOLD there was in fact a man in his jazzy cruising across this main street. Ya know when things are a little intense, you're tired, and frustrated and the silliest thing just hits you funny? We laughed and laughed and laughed. The three of us seriously hardly could contain ourselves. It was so very hysterical! Maybe it was one of those things you had to be there for. Once we gained our composure we finally found a little bed and breakfast that actually had human life form. Lyle and I decided to go in together to see if we could either find someone that spoke English, or could at least play charades well enough to head us back in the right direction. We walked in and found the sweetest little Italian mama. I asked her if she spoke English (the only phrase I know in Italian) and she said no and then called for her son "Gino! Gino!" And it was then that Lyle and I met Gino--think of a classic Italian man and you have Gino! I asked him if he spoke English and he was a little offended and proceeded to speak to us for the next 15 minutes in Italian explaining how to get back to the castle. I only looked at Lyle once and it was a good thing we didn't make eye contact, because I just about wet myself I was laughing so hard inside. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from busting up. We got back to the car and Scott said it took us long enough that we should have some really good directions, to which I replied "I got nothin'!" Once again we laughed--I was so punch drunk on lack of sleep, lack of English, and lack of direction that I was of no help! Scott finally got us back and we were just in time for the Italian BBQ, of which I took no pictures. I barely was awake enough to eat a little something and then went right to sleep.
This is the view by night from up top by the swimming pool.
A little blurry because we had it on night mode.
Did you know? The leaning tower of Pisa is 200 feet tall, 55 feet wide, weighs 14,000 tons, and is currently leaning at a five degree angle (15 feet off). The Tower was built over a period of 2 centuries. The first stones were laid in 1173--five years later just as they finished the base someone said, "Is it just me or does that look crooked?" The base was reinforced in 1550. It was still tilting so in 1990 the Tower was closed for repairs, and $30 million was spent trying to stabilize it. What a phenomenon!
Oh ya, you gotta do the tourist thing...I took this great shot of Scotty, who looks like a giant, holding up the Tower. He looks awesome.
I, however, look like a dork...
This is Lyle and me in front of the beautiful Duomo (cathedral) in the Field of Miracles, right next to the leaning Tower.
This is the base of the Tower...it cracks me up to think that no one noticed it was leaning until it was leaning LOL!
The simple pleasure of a European vacation. Scott found that the fake, made up beer from the Simpsons was actually brewed and sold in Italy. We may or may not have purchased a souvenir Duff beer.
We ate at the adorable cafe behind me. We sat outside, had incredible pizza, smelled the flowers, the weather was perfection, etc. etc.
Gosh, I love this guy--notice the souvenir Duff beer in his back pocket!
There were the most beautiful honeysuckle bushes all in bloom that smelled like heaven. Scott picked me a little one and put it in my hair. I saved it and smashed the flower in my journal.
Beautiful greenery with really artistic graffiti.
This was on our drive back to the castle. More attempts to capture the beautiful country side.
Beautiful castle tops! This would be last photo taken before we got REALLY, REALLY lost. Like I mentioned the signs in Italy were a joke. We got on a toll road that had only rest stops and only actual exits to big cities. The signs did however offer some interesting information of what was actually at a rest stop. There was a huge blue sign with a large (and I mean "excuse me, I believe I ordered the LARGE cappuccino...HALLO" from So I Married an Ax Murder) cup of coffee, so we assumed coffee must be offered at the next rest stop. Next was a huge blue sign with a knife and a fork, so we thought hey there must be food at the next rest stop. Then there was a huge orange sign of a man in a wheelchair so naturally we thought, wtf? What was that meaning? There's a wheelchair store at this rest stop? There's a wheelchair crossing coming up? I mean it looked like a sign that warned of deer that just might jump out into the road. At one point in our driving around insanity, things got a little tense and Scott slammed on the brakes and stopped right between the middle of the main road and a rest stop. He looked over at me and said, "Where am I supposed to be going?" I, being just as frustrated looked out the window and replied, "I don't know! but there is a man in a wheelchair crossing the street!" LOW and BEHOLD there was in fact a man in his jazzy cruising across this main street. Ya know when things are a little intense, you're tired, and frustrated and the silliest thing just hits you funny? We laughed and laughed and laughed. The three of us seriously hardly could contain ourselves. It was so very hysterical! Maybe it was one of those things you had to be there for. Once we gained our composure we finally found a little bed and breakfast that actually had human life form. Lyle and I decided to go in together to see if we could either find someone that spoke English, or could at least play charades well enough to head us back in the right direction. We walked in and found the sweetest little Italian mama. I asked her if she spoke English (the only phrase I know in Italian) and she said no and then called for her son "Gino! Gino!" And it was then that Lyle and I met Gino--think of a classic Italian man and you have Gino! I asked him if he spoke English and he was a little offended and proceeded to speak to us for the next 15 minutes in Italian explaining how to get back to the castle. I only looked at Lyle once and it was a good thing we didn't make eye contact, because I just about wet myself I was laughing so hard inside. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from busting up. We got back to the car and Scott said it took us long enough that we should have some really good directions, to which I replied "I got nothin'!" Once again we laughed--I was so punch drunk on lack of sleep, lack of English, and lack of direction that I was of no help! Scott finally got us back and we were just in time for the Italian BBQ, of which I took no pictures. I barely was awake enough to eat a little something and then went right to sleep.
This is the view by night from up top by the swimming pool.
A little blurry because we had it on night mode.
This is one of the olive trees that is over 200 years old. Scott has such a great eye for things. He is really artistic.
We went off to our room for bed and fell asleep quickly, but I woke up at 2 am totally awake and starving. I ate some Italian crackers and had soda (the kitchen was right next to our room). Poor Scott woke up about 3 and couldn't figure out what in the world I was doing. I read until about 4 am and then fell back asleep. That jet lag thing...kicked my trash.
Hang on to your britches, tomorrow we go to Florence!
10 comments:
Again. I want to be you.
How amazing!!!! Can't wait to here more!!!
I too wish I was you... how fun.
I too wish I was you... how fun.
Sounds wonderful! You and Scott have the most fantastic adventures!
lucky. and I'm dying over Scott's "naughty" pictures. He is such a boy!
the pic of you scott on the side bar in Cortona Italy is beautiful!
Love it! I'm so jealous!
Oh that sunset is beautiful. I love Scott's artful pics with piza! LOL! So funny. I would love to just stroll the streets and eat at little cafes...someday!
So beautiful!!! And yes, I probably would have DIED at the wheelchair crossing gent, too. :) Oh, I love these pictures!
I think Scott may need to repent for showing my innocent eyes that vulgar and obscene pic! LOL!!! Only boys would think of that! and may I add-HE WISHES! HAHAHA!
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