La Locanda Volterra

We arrived from Lucca just in time for a sublime sunset... it was like the sky was on fire!! See photos!!<br>I was a bit pooped so I opted to stay in the scoobs reading and relaxing while Kim headed into the village to scope it out. <br>Next morning started with a beautiful sunrise which was quickly replaced by some storm clouds. Fortunatly the storm passed over without parting with a drop of rain and we had sun again when we both headed ...

... room in the afternoon and played cards on the terrace and drank the last of our beer. People were gathering under our terrace to take pictures and we had the terrace all to ourselves. This place has been so friendly and wonderful. Coletta and her sister E'letta have been such help. I think I spelled the names wrong and will check when I get home. We went back to the square to have another gigantic slice of ...

Today was a wonderful day even though I know I called you Petey and I was crying again, but really it was a very relaxing easy day. We found the laundry mat for tomorrow and went to a place called St. Catherine which is where the first woman to be named a saint was in 1317. We were not suppose to take pics, but the guy in the gift shop was sleeping so I took video which you will see. When we went in the gift shop I had a camera around my neck and started ...

I hope this works, it has been hard to attach some of the video because it times out. FYI to all my not so computer literate friends and family. When you first open the video, it will start and then stop in the middle to keep reloading and then start and stop again. This can get frustrating but is necessary until it is completely ...

I have resolved to try and keep this blog more up-to-date.<br>So much has happened since late July that i wont even start writing it down, but to summarise our drive as follows:<br>Arcachon<br>Bordeaux<br>Flo rac (Ardeche)<br>Montpellier where the family ...

... is meant to be one of the better ones in the area. It is a little pricey and eclectic but it is just easy. The waiter is taken back by our order because Jennie stresses how her Risotto can have no meat in it and I order the Steak Tar tare (which the make in front of you and was amazing!!! unfortunately Jen's risotto was just basically Saffron rice with no flavor - so they bring her some ravioli). Round that out with a nice Vino Nobile from 2001 and it was ...

... if we could. We had a late dinner and went to bed around 10:30-11:00. That night we sailed to Kusidasi, , Turkey. June 12, 2007 It was Tuesday morning and we woke up at 6:00am, which was too early for us, but we were scheduled to leave on a tour. We hurriedly got ready and ate breakfast for about 5 minutes before we had to disembark at 6:45. We had signed up for a tour of the Virgin Mary's house and ancient Ephesus. This was the house that it was said that the Mary spent her final years ...

So today started out early. I was up at 7:15, and had eaten, showered, packed, checked-out and on my way to the Uffizi Museum by 8:10! So glad I got a reservation the day before, because all I had to do was go to a special booth, pick up my ticket and I was in the museum within 10 or 15 minutes. What a collection... Really intense museum. A lot of art, from a lot of different time periods. I think a lot of it went over my head (Really wish Frank had been ...

... of sculptures, paintings, architectural plans, etc. The Piazza della Signoria, where the Uffizi and the Palazzo Vecchio are located, is such a beautiful place. There were people playing jazz music, and there were people dressed up as statues who you could not even tell were real. We waited on line for about fifteen minutes, and then spent about three hours looking around. There are pieces from da Vinci, Rembrandt, Boticelli, and all sorts of other artists. The museum is set up ...