Tuscan Towns : Cortona & Chiusi

During my last trip to Italy I was able to spend a few wonderful days in Tuscany. I shared a villa in Foiano della Chiana near Cortona with some girlfriends (and Carlos). We were required to rent a car to get from town to town to explore. We had to get one of the larger cars with trunk space due to the the requirements to hold luggage for 4 women (and 1 guy’s backpack). It proved challenging at first to try to maneuver the car around the roads but we soon got the hang of it. We made sure that enough of us got international driving permits so the driving was distributed among us and not one taking the brunt work of driving everywhere.
Trying to find our villa was very difficult. The directions were vague, and in kilometers (we are not used to the metric system). After a detour down a bumpy dirt road through someone’s farm (my friend swears we were supposed to turn down that road) we eventually find our villa. I wish I had taken more pictures, it really was a great and relaxing villa to return to after sightseeing all day.

Our first night this happens.

This guy is staying with us as well.

The villa contained 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths and a full working kitchen that we used a few nights to make our own dinners. The weather was perfect for open windows and outdoor dining. Out by the resort style pool was a magnificent view and rows of rosemary and lavender bushes in bloom. It really was blissful lounging by the pool, hearing the sounds of bees and nature in the background, and smelling lavender and rosemary while you are reading a book. I can’t think of too many better things in life….except maybe food. Food is kind of great too. I would say my only complaint was the washer that took took 2 hours to wash clothes. I didn’t mind hanging them to dry (I prefer more environmentally friendly) except we did have rain one day and all our wet clothes got more wet.
Exploring near by town of Cortona was fun.

Cortona

Chiusi

One of the day trips we took was to Chiusi. Chuisi has some of the best Etruscan tombs. Unfortunately I did not take any photos but I do have video that I will hopefully upload one day. During our visit to the city center we got to witness a day of games from the bell tower.

National Archaeological Museum

A day in Glasgow

While visting Edinburgh we decided to take a train ride to Glasgow for the day. Conveniently my friend was in Glasgow for a layover and we were able to meet up while we were there. Glasgow is full of interesting architecture. Although we did Glasgow as a day trip, I wouldn’t have minded spending the night there to explore more.

One of the highlights of the day was the tour of the Glasgow School of Art. This tour must be booked in advance. Charles Rennie Mackintosh is responsible to designing the school inside and out. He is famous for his contributions to the Art Nouveau movement. I couldn’t begin to describe the magnificent detail that went into this building. One must come visit for themselves. We couldn’t take any pictures at Mackintosh s masterpiece…. but I did snap a pic from the team room he designed (but it was already closed)

More interesting Glasgow structures.

Meeting Kerri in town!!!!!

Rio de Janeiro

When we visited Rio in 2006 it was notorious for violent robberies. While traveling we usually wander around towns with ease. In Rio we decided to play it safe and do all our sightseeing with tour guides. The two memorable trips we took were to Rochina (a favela) and a day tour called a “Carioca Tour” around Rio.

Our day started with pickup from our hostel and we first stopped at the famous Christ the Redeemer statue. Yes it is as cool as it looks in photos and you can get some great views from up there.

We then stopped at a national park and got a glimpse of a nice little water fall.

Another highlight of the tour is that we got to see the famous Selaron tiles in Rio.

He happened to be working that day and we were able to snap a photo with him. We were supposed send him tiles from Florida to help with his art but we never did. It makes me sad to discover he died in January 2013.

Finally we went to Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf mountain) to watch the sunset.

At some point in the tour we stopped a beach. It was July and winter there. A few are playing sports but the beaches are pretty much a ghost town. However if I remember correctly it probably was at least in the 70’s Fahrenheit. Cariocas have low tolerance for cool weather.

We had a safe and memorable visit to Rio.
The hostel we stayed at was Rio Backpackers.

Sardana in Barcelona

One of the most interesting cultural things we witnessed while in Barcelona was the Sardana dance. It is a dance unique to the Catalan culture. It is a dance to show their pride to their Catalan heritage. Catalans have a separate language and culture from the rest of Spain. We got to witness this inclusive dance that is done at noon every Sunday at the cathedral of Barcelona.

A day in Edinburgh

A cold day in Edinburgh walking along the Royal Mile….

Very interesting looking Scottish Parliament building…They let Scotland make some of their own decisions but not on matters of defense, or foreign policy, or taxation. This $800 million eco-friendly building was a sight to see.