The Beth Lists
  • Homepage
  • Little Bear's Adventures
  • Diverse Dining List
  • 90 Notable Nights
  • Happy List
  • Quilt Adventure Blog
  • Not So Happy List
  • The Texas Twenty List
  • Mom's Picnic List
  • 18+ Dance Adventures
  • 55 Strangers
  • The Barbie Bucket List
  • 60 Celebrations
  • 57 Celebrations of the Fifties!







​The Happy List

"Enchanted April" 2023

4/30/2023

0 Comments

 

Birthday & Bon Voyage Zoom

Just like the movie title, April was enchanted! Don and I spent my birthday and much of the month, in Italy! We started celebrating the night before we departed... with these special faces on Zoom!  
Picture
Our Family Zoom had one interruption. It was an explosive crash, made by our mirror, (9.5ft X 3.5ft) falling off the bathroom wall. Not a fun 3-hour clean up, but the memory is fun-ny now! 

Birthday & Easter
​
The next day we were finally on our way, to enjoy the trip we cancelled during the pandemic. Our trip was scheduled to celebrate Easter and my birthday, in the sweet town of Soriano nel Cimino. First time my birthday landed on Easter, in my 66 years!  
Picture
I celebrated one other birthday and an Easter, long ago in Italy. Those childhood celebrations were on different days, but I remember them fondly. Don and I toasted to my 2023 Birthday/Easter and to the beginning of our Italy adventure. I wore a mod paisley dress like I might have worn in 1969, when I turned 12 in Florence. I didn't have champagne back then, but I remember being bothered by the rum in my birthday cake!

​Cheers!

We did a lot of toasting on our 18-day trip. I also did a lot of camera snapping, which means I've gone overboard with the photos.
Actually, these are all iPhone pics. We packed carryon only and left the old Nikon at home. Cheers to "gallery display" (above) which allows for more photos. Just click image to enlarge. 

​​Places... Starting with Rome

We visited 7 cities/towns. Rome was the first. We arrived on Good Friday and did our best to ignore jet lag. The holidays brought crowds to Rome, but the Vatican area was fairly quiet at dusk. ​
Picture
Picture
Standing in St. Peter's Square brought back memories of my family's visit 55 years ago. We lucked out in 1969, with a sighting of Pope Paul VI, inside St. Peter's! No luck for Don and me on this trip, with less than 24 hours in the beautiful city!

Six More Stops
​
Italy's train system worked well, getting us to 6 other villages and cities. (click to enlarge)
The weather was mostly cool, with mostly blue skies! We were lucky!
​
​Climbing Rewards
​
We were also lucky with no mishaps or sprains, with all the stair climbing! We knew we'd be climbing lots of hills, especially in the Cinque Terre villages. But we hadn't realized just how many indoor and outdoor staircases we'd be climbing in all the locations.
Picture
All the step climbing usually rewarded us with incredible views. The photo above was taken after climbing a spiral staircase inside Vernazza's Doria Castle. A 360 degree view of the sea, village, harbor, terraced hills and distant mountains!

More Stairs

The pics below are just some of my ridiculous collection of stair photos.
When I was a child living in Italy for a short time, I recorded (in a small notebook) the number of steps I climbed in domes and towers. I no longer count steps, but I'm clearly still obsessed with them! 

​Thirst

Sometimes all the climbing made us thirsty.
Picture
Picture
Wine, cappuccino and Aperol Spritzes! We had a lot of those beverages!

Food

And we burned enough calories to make up for all the pasta and bread and gelato!
Picture
Picture
Picture
I lack photos of important foods. Where's the spaghetti and focaccia and lasagna? 

Sometimes we enjoyed food, on the go.
Picture
Food always tastes better in the fresh air, especially when you're famished from all the walking!

​Wandering

My favorite part of the whole trip was wandering, either early in the morning or off the beaten path.
Picture
I'm shown hiking above Vernazza and Don is exploring the overgrown gardens of Palazzo Chigi Albani, in Soriano.

Below are some of my favorite places and fun discoveries.
Even in the most touristy places, we could always find quiet places and views.

People Watching and Meeting

I enjoyed our tourist-free wandering, but I didn't mind the people watching at busier times. Most of the other travelers seemed to be Italian. I loved observing the locals and hearing the Italian language! 
Picture
Picture
Sometimes I just spotted people doing things that made me smile.
We also met some wonderful people. We had some amazing hotel hosts and delightful wait staff. We enjoyed chatting with other travelers now and then. In our Soriano hotel, we befriended a couple from England and ended up joining them for dinner.

Animals

Besides people watching, we had some good animal spotting. We saw some sweet kitties here and there. I remember when I was a kid, worrying about the Colosseum Cats, that swarmed the ruins in Rome. The cats we saw all seemed healthy! 
Picture
Picture
While wandering early, in Lucca and Riomaggiore, I had some nice animal surprises, with this horse and seagull. 

​Churches

I took more photos of churches than probably anything else on our Italy trip.
Picture
This tiny Gothic beauty, (Santa Maria della Spina) was far from the Leaning Tower crowds, in Pisa. It was sitting between the Arno River and a street, like a miniature cathedral! I wish I could have gone inside.

Exteriors & Interiors

In each city/town, we visited churches. 
(click for info)
You didn't need to know the history, (or anything about religion or architecture) to appreciate the flavor of each!

Castles and Palaces

Besides churches, we wandered through a number of castles and palaces.
In most of these, we were the only visitors, which made it easier to imagine living in these amazing structures!
​
Buono Notte!

Morning was my favorite time of day. It was quieter and I had more energy. 
 But as I look back on these photos, I think evening/night was the loveliest!

Remembering

So we're back home now and April is over. We need to get back to reality, like replacing the demolished mirror. But,  I can't get the trip out of my head.  
Picture
Our Italy trip introduced Don and me to a lot of new places, We finally experienced Cinque Terre! But the trip was also a nostalgic one for me. I spent a lot of time remembering what Italy was like, 55 years ago when I first laid eyes on tile roofs and cobblestone. I've aged a lot, but I'm glad Italy is still so much the way I remember it! 

Revisits
​
I'm so grateful that Don was enthused about visiting some of my favorite places, from childhood. Going down in Orvieto's well and visiting the 16th century Park of the Monsters was as dreamlike and magical as I remembered.
Picture
Picture
Climbing is no longer allowed, but Don and I set the camera timer, for a pose with the  Giant Mouth!

New Adventures

​Best of all, we explored new places together. I took about 2,000 photos and at least I have a handful of the 2 of us together... 
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
... only one of which is a selfie, taken from our hotel in Vernazza!
Picture
I'm so thankful we pulled this trip off without health issues or pandemics getting in the way. We came back happy and healthy and so appreciative that our knees and backs cooperated!

Ciao for Now!
​
0 Comments
    Picture

    Happy List  
    ​

    I started this blog, by thinking about the things that make me laugh and smile. My "Photo a Day" posting began on May 27, 2016.  I had just been diagnosed with Breast Cancer, and I found I could keep things positive, by sharing some of my favorite photographs. After 7 months, I stopped the daily habit and aimed for monthly posts. 

    ​Now, at the end of each month, I look back at all the things I enjoyed in the weeks before. I share some photos, along with a few words. It's a good reminder to myself, to feel grateful every day. 

    Archives

    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Homepage
  • Little Bear's Adventures
  • Diverse Dining List
  • 90 Notable Nights
  • Happy List
  • Quilt Adventure Blog
  • Not So Happy List
  • The Texas Twenty List
  • Mom's Picnic List
  • 18+ Dance Adventures
  • 55 Strangers
  • The Barbie Bucket List
  • 60 Celebrations
  • 57 Celebrations of the Fifties!