Venezia - Bellissima!

It is the middle of the night and I'm waiting for the alarm to ring to walk Nancy to her 3:45 vaporetto to the airport.  Dee and I leave tomorrow mid-day.  It has been a wonderful trip and, although we couldn't throw coins in Trevi Fountain due to ongoing repair work, we hope to return to this amazing country.  I am pretty sure I have gained a few pounds - the pasta! However, it was worth it and I hope I'll be able to shed them when I get home.  Ha!
Venice is so beautiful but in the main areas VERY crowded.  It's understandable - so we spent little time in the most popular spots and wandered the smaller, less populated little alleys when possible.  There is no place like it and it's amazing to round a corner and see a small bridge with a boat or gondola going down the small canal.  Dee's son, Casey, is stationed in Vicenza and was able to meet us one day for lunch.  It was great to see him and I'm so glad for her.  She's missed him a lot!
On our last day here, we decided to go to Burano and were very happy we did.  There are different stories as to why the houses there are painted in their incredibly bright colors, but my favorite is that it was to help fishermen to find their way back to their homes.  It was beautiful, not very crowded and an hour's ferry ride from Venice.  The weather was perfect (after another huge thunderstorm AND hailstorm last night which we were fortunate enough (again) to watch from inside our room).  We had an incredible lunch in a small café and looked in shops.  The island is known for its lace and there were shops full of beautiful lace made by local ladies.  I'm sure these days much of it is imported, but it was all beautiful to look at and a bit too expensive to buy. 
We have just come from walking Nancy to the Vaporetto and sent her on her way.  In the process, we met some girls from Chicago on their way to Oktoberfest, saw five quite large rats and discovered that the middle of the night is definitely the best time to see Venice.  Coming through San Marcos Square with only two or three other people there, wandering down dimly lit alleyways and seeing the reflections in the still water are images that I will not soon forget.  I regretted not thinking to bring my camera but then, some images are best left in your memory.
So, as 'Sister Trip II' draws to a close, I feel lucky and grateful to have experienced this beautiful place with two beautiful people.  Arrivederci.

San Marcos Piazza - High Tide after Rain

Greeting Casey

Dee and Nancy on the Rialto Bridge

Lunch in Burano

Buona Sera di Firenze e Siena

This morning at 7:00 I walked the long way of 500+ stairs to the beach and sat and looked at the water, boats and Positano and the surrounding mountains from the shores of Praiano which is all like something that couldn’t possibly exist – the way the buildings are perched precariously on the cliffs and the staircases that swirl around rock formations and the boats bobbing on the water.  It’s just too beautiful.  A few hours later and a train ride from Napoli and here we are in Firenze.  And what a magical place this is.  I forget how much I love it here until I come back.  The streets are brimming over with activity:  musicians of varying types and talents around every corner, street artists (tonight we saw a sidewalk chalk painting of the Girl with the Pearl Earring and one of the Mona Lisa), vendors and then you round the corner and see the Duomo in all of its magnificence and it just simply takes your breath away. 

After we checked in, my sisters needed a break and I needed to get out and explore and finally found something I’ve looked for on previous visits but was unable to find until today – The rooftop bar with a view of the sunset from the Piazza Repubblica.  It is really spectacular AND really pretty hard to find, but I persevered and remembered instructions from a friend years ago and it was definitely worth it. (You go in through a department store’s perfume section, up 4 flights on an escalator, through housewares and up a staircase . . . . Really!)

Anyway, after gathering my sisters we ate and walked and listened to music and saw the Ponte Vecchio and walked past the Uffizi and ate gelato and talked to some people from Indiana while someone was releasing paper lanterns from Piazza Michelangelo and it was all just so lovely. 

The next morning we made it to the Accademia to see the David.  I got up early and was lucky enough to get 3 tickets for later that morning because when we got there at 11:00, the line was insane.  Spent our time taking it in and then back to the hotel to grab our bags and off for the bus to Siena.  We had no sooner gotten into our hotel when the skies let loose and it rained incredibly hard, turning into hail – enough to blanket the streets and make horribly cold puddles full of little balls of ice.  By the time we left for the bus station, it had luckily stopped raining and hailing so we had just the ‘balls of ice’ to deal with.  Ha!

Now in Siena after an easy bus ride where we met a couple from LA who are here to study Italian.  Boca Lupo!  (Good luck in Italian or literally – Wolf mouth).

Praiano Sculpture

Home on the Path to Spiaggia (beach)

Positano from the Praiano Beach

 

Sunset from the 'Secret' Terrace

Snow????

Il Campo, Siena

The Ceiling in our Siena Room

Il Campo Again

A Butcher Shop

Snuck this Photo of St. Catherine's Head - It wasn't Lit Up . . . Creepy!

From Italy . . . Buon Giorno!

Rome at Night

Sorrento at Sunset

View of Vesuvius from our Room

Cagliari from our Room

The Town of Bosa

Tema River in Bosa

Castelsardo from the Hotel Beach

Cala Golaritze After a Long Hike - Beautiful!

Wild Burros

Things are just different in Italy.  You ask, "When does the bus come?".  Some adorable Italian answers, "I don't know.  Sometimes it's late and you wait in the sun.  Sometimes it's early.".  I love it here.  Sardinia was beautiful with some of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen - including those in Thailand.  Under the water, there is an abundance of fish, but the colors are not as vibrant and there is not coral - at least from the eyes of a snorkeler.  The town of Bosa is on the only navigable river on the island and is lovely, medieval and sometimes a bit smelly due to the ancient sewage system.  I loved it despite its 'drawback'.  We drove completely around the island and stayed in lovely towns and villages and saw Nauraghe (ancient ruins of burial sites) and towers built by the Saracens and Phoenicians.We assumed our usual roles:  I drive, Dee navigates, Nancy prays.  Ha!  Sisters!
We are currently in Praiano having arrived yesterday after two days in Sorrento which is wonderful but really full of tourists with two small cruise ships in the bay yesterday when we woke up tendering hoards of people to the shore. 
Praiano is a quiet little down located between Positano and Amalfi on the Amalfi coast.  The whole coast is stunning with incredibly high rock formations behind and the sea in front and villages perched precariously in between.  Our hotel is up high, so a walk to the beach or marina involves many stairs and/or slanted and narrow roads.  I love it! 

A Fruit and Vegetable Stand on the Amalfi Coast

Positano View from our Room

Sunset from our Room

With the exception of one meal in Sorrento (never go to a restaurant in Italy that has the world 'light' in its name), the food has been exceptional everywhere with lots of seafood.  However, you have to be careful in Sardinia where horse and burro are included in the menu.  THAT'S why I ate a lot of seafood . . . Well, it's also really good!  From here we will take the Circumvesuviana from Sorrento to Napoli where we catch a train to Florence and Siena.  I'll write more from there.  Here are some photos of our trip so far.

City of Rome from the Vatican
 

       

 
 
 
 
 
Please note:  These are not in order at all.  The computer wants what the computer wants.
It does not cooperate with me - even less in Italian so the photos are not chronological.  Oh well!

And Once Again . . . Why I Like Bangkok

Here I am, staying in a nice guesthouse with a view of the canal where foodstands are set up and huge carp cause constant movement in the canal.  While I was watching from my balcony, though, a huge monitor lizard swam by, pulled itself out of the water and sunned himself on a wall! 



In the evening, I went to the Fort by the Chao Phraya River because I read it was a great place to people watch.  That was definitely true!  People were all over the park watching the river and waiting for the sun to set, but also engaged in activities.  The photo shows 3 people practicing their juggling skills: two men with pins, a man with two ropes with balls (umm - on the ropes)  and a young woman with this bar that is meant to have fire on the ends.  She needs to get much better before she uses the fire!  At 6:00 exactly, everyone stopped EVERYTHING while the speakers played the salute to the King  . . . . . and then they commenced their activities after the music ended. 

I have tried to attach a video but was unable.  Too bad because it sort of captured a bit of the strangeness that makes me like this place.  So trying to re-create - Sun is setting, a large barge is being towed upriver, people are sitting and chatting all over the park and there are speakers playing some very nice Thai music with speaker and electrical cords running all over the park and down the stairs.  It was very 'atmospheric' and lovely, but would NEVER happen in the U.S.!  (Tripping hazard among other things.)
A bit of an add-on:  I went there tonight.- my last night in Bangkok to watch the sunset and, in addition to the usual array of jugglers, dancers, yoga groups, young couples, there was an aerobics class for elderly citizens!  (I know - I should have joined in!). It was great!  Then after the sunset headed to Rambuttri Road for dinner where people tried to sell me everything from frog noisemakers to fake tattoo sleeves and to roasted scorpions and a cool laser that made sparkly lights on the ground!  Ah, ya gotta love Bangkok!

 

Ko Lanta and Khao Sok

The Mangroves

The Fish Farm in the Mangroves

Lanta ended up being an okay place; not my favorite beach but okay.  A wrong choice in accommodations has a big impact and, while it was an inconvenience not staying on the beach, I got plenty of beach time.  There is really an interesting mix of folks there with a large Muslim population.  Everyone gets around on motorbikes or tuk-tuks and it's not unusual to see a woman in traditional Muslim clothing (fully covered from head to toe) driving a motorbike in 90+ degree weather.  I don't know how they can do it.  I sweat just standing still in shorts!  You also see tuk-tuks full of young men in traditional clothing on their way to school?/worship?  It was different than anywhere else I've been in Thailand and I liked that aspect of it.

I found a great Thai/Pizza restaurant that I frequented with great food and the 72 year old cook coming out to ask me if I liked the food.  The manager was a guy in his 60’s with a constant smile and who ran around constantly trying to tend all the tables, selling gas to motorbikes in between.  My last meal there, the cook hugged me and the manager said he would miss me! 

Koh Rok was definitely my favorite part of Koh Lanta, but the half-day kayak trip through the mangroves was also pretty cool.  I loved my guide.  He was 19 and kept asking me, “You okay?”  He said I was strong because I paddled for two hours, but really we spent a fair amount of time playing with the monkeys on the shore.  He would laugh and say, “Look, the snorkeling monkeys.” Because they did stay under water for a long time and were really good swimmers!  They were cute and not aggressive – a good thing in monkeys!

Then on to Khao Sok.  I visited Khao Sok last year and loved it and I STILL love it and hope to go back again someday.  It’s a beautiful place with great jungle noises, including gibbons in the morning off in the distance. 

The smells are also amazing as are the birds, insects and some funny little tree-hopping chipmunk looking things. 

A Tree at Sunset

A Canoe Trip on the Sok River

The View from my Room

Another Karst View While Canoeing

A Hike in the Jungle

This morning I was awakened by monkeys jumping on my roof to get to the bananas near my room.  Fortunately, these also were nice monkeys with no interest in me. 

Monkey in the Park

Monkey in the Mangroves

Monkey by My Room

On the minibus to Surat Thani I met an interesting fellow from Scotland and we talked most of the way.  He’s traveling for 3 months total, has another month to go and is headed for North Thailand.  He works as a freelance nurse so can take off chunks of time he said.  One of what I think is the most difficult things (and at the same time best things) about traveling is that you meet people with whom you really connect, but it’s brief and that’s just the way it is.  No one expects that you’ll keep in touch or ever see that person again, but they make an impression that stays with you.  I’m now on the overnight train waiting for its departure back to Bangkok and winding down my trip.  It’s been a good one.  I’ve had some great experiences, met some incredible people, been to some amazing places and I am ready to head home.