Only open for lunch, and packed all the time, so get there early!

The day after the trip to Lucca and Pisa, we went to a place in Florence, that is famous for it’s Florentine steaks!

At the restaurant, we met and sat with a very nice man, Victor. He lives part time in his home in Florence and part time in Florida.

We went to the famous market in the square to pick up some fresh food —-

We are in the Tuscany region of Italy, which is very famous for food and wine.

We also go to the train stations to book our train tickets to the next stop in advance.  Every time we go to a train station, I go to the book store and get a reading fix…..plus the bookstores are usually air conditioned!

Everywhere we went, there are incredible Culinary Choices — My Mom and I wish we had some of this stuff for the International Cooking Class we teach at my school!

That evening we took a bus to see amazing views of Florence from the top of a nearby hill as the sun was setting.

Beautiful Tuscany

It looks like a fairy tale!

Of course, we had our gelato for the day!

The last day, we went to the Galleria Academia.

This is the museum that has Michaelangelo’s most famous sculpture in the world, “The David”  on exhibit.

“The David”

This sculpture was meant to sit on the top of a building, so some body parts are larger, like the head and hands.

Two sculptors turned down the commission to make something out of this block of marble, because it was so difficult to work with, but Michelangelo took on the challenge.

There are other pieces of Michelangelo’s on exhibit here, too.  Remember, Florence is his birthplace.

Many of Michelangelo’s peers have their art on exhibit here, too.

There is also a fabulous display of musical instruments, which were used for teaching and by the students at “The Academy,” which was a school for artists and musicians.

This one is for you Pam!

All in all, Florence was a great place to see some fantastic history and culture, and of course, to eat and drink!

We are off in the morning on another train, to a very watery, wet place…..in Italy……can you guess where?

Another train station break!

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Hello Everybody!     We are in Venice!

The Famous Grand Canal is Behind Us

You know, the place with canals instead of roads and boats instead of cars?

This is a public water taxi and taxi stop

Our hotel was a JW Marriott which is a resort. It was really cool.

My Moms have a lot of Marriott points that we have been using for special stays on the trip, and we love it!

At this JW, they gave us a private villa with a hot tub in the yard.

The whole Marriott is on its own private island.  It used to be a huge hospital facility.

The view from my room 🙂

I Ioved it!

It was so hot, that most of the time, we just stayed at the hotel, but of course, we did venture out.

Each way we had to take the Marriott’s Water Taxi to the mainland of Venice!  It was really fun!

The first day we went up a tower used by Galileo himself! It had excellent views of the city….

and a beautiful plaza below.

Some superstitious locals won’t walk between the columns (constructed by the same architect as the Rialto Bridge) because criminals used to be executed here until the mid 18th century

Another time we went on a gondola, which is a type of boat that Venice is famous for.

Our gondalier was great and he even told us some history about the area.

He took us through small quiet canals and also onto the Grand Canal where we saw the famous Rialto Bridge.

The Rialto Bridge, which is currently under renovation

I always dreamed of being on a gondola ride in Venice.  But actually being on one was just way better than I imagined!

There is something very calming about the water everywhere.

Everyone should try it at least once in their lives.

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After the gondola ride we went to a restaurant recommended by our friends, the Pattersons.

No surprise, do you see I am enjoying pasta and clams — Again!

We were so bummed out because the Pattersons were in Venice only a few days before us, but we didn’t know it!

After dinner, we stopped by the famous square, that we saw from the tower view, Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s) and listened to live music from several different outdoor dining areas.

I think they call them feuding musicians.  Have a listen right here!

It was fun to run from one side of the plaza to the other listening to them play.

On our way back on the Marriott yacht, we met a family from New Jersey. The next day I met their kids at the pool and we had a great time ( while my Moms packed)!

I loved Venice, Italy…..and not just because I am a swimmer and love water!  The fun, the food and the lovely city all in one!

Yes, this really is all of our Round-the-World Luggage!

We took the Marriott Water Shuttle to a public water taxi back to the train station to head out of Venice.  Next stop, Switzerland!

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Chug-a, Chug-a, Choo-Choo!!

I love the train – you get to see a lot and it is very relaxing!

Yes, this time we took our first train to Florence from Rome!

See the speed these trains go? 130 Kilometers/Hr., so about 85 mph, and these are not even the high speed trains!

We are traveling on a EuRail pass during our remaining time in Europe.

Entrance to our Florence apartment

We stayed in an apartment hosted by our friends, Nada and Lorenzo.

Nada is now living in Sydney (my Moms saw her there), but Lorenzo met us in Florence.

Here is Lorenzo greeting us

Lorenzo in his friend’s wine shop. See the big jugs? She sells her wine from these and siphons them into bottles — my parents said it is great Italian wine.

Their apartment was very nice and had everything we needed, especially air-conditioning, since it was very hot in Italy.

We were located right in the center of town, and could walk just about everywhere!

The first day, we went to three nearby churches.

Each was very beautiful in its own very different way.

The most famous church that you see in all the pictures of Rome has the a large cupola, which is a dome, and was painted by Michelangelo himself, who was actually born in Florence.
Lorenzo gave us a list of things to do, restaurants to go to, and of course, their favorite gelato places!

The first night we ate in a small (but famous) bistro.  I had unbelievable pasta and clam sauce (the first of many, but not better than my Mom’s 🙂 !) My parents tried the eggplant and and pasta and the first Florentine Steak, in its place of origination, Florence — We all had to try everything — YUMMY!

….and a homemade cannoli for dessert!

The next day we went to a couple of places that Nada recommended in Lucca, a small town near Florence.

It is very beautiful and is encased with walls around the entire city.

The walls are called “ramparts.”

We ate at the pizza place which Nada suggested – and my parents had pizza — why not?

We are in Italy, after all!   Lucca is famous for their chick pea pizza, so we tried that, too.

Then we went to a very nice candy store where I had some meringue and we got some fruit bread for Lorenzo, too.

We observed a beautiful wedding…..

Did you know that Lucca is right in the heart of Tuscany and is very close to Collodi, where the puppet and story, Pinocchio originated?

Walking along the ramparts

Afterwards, we went to none other than the “Leaning Tower of Pisa!”

It was amazing! I have always seen pictures, but never imagined that I would actually go there!

It is bigger than you think, and it was at such an angle, it seemed like it would fall over any second.

Once we left Pisa, we had an incredible gelato (at least one a day)!

Which flavor today?

We figured out a very complicated train system in Italian, and got back to Florence to some very welcomed air conditioning!

The views from the train, all along the way!

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It’s an exciting day — we had a couple of things on the agenda the day after the Vatican. First, we strolled down the streets of Rome and headed to the Pantheon.

A different kind of package delivery system

First we stopped at a famous plaza,  Piazza Trinità dei Monti, and the Spanish Steps, the monumental stairway of 135 steps.  Along the climb is a house that belonged to the famous English poet, John Keats, who lived and died there.

Piazza Trinità dei Monti

Is this a car or a scooter?

I researched The Pantheon on the web, and here is what I found: “Almost two thousand years after it was built, the Pantheon’s dome is still the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome.[3] The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same, 43.3 metres (142 ft).[4] It is one of the best-preserved of all Ancient Roman buildings. It has been in continuous use throughout its history, and since the 7th century, the Pantheon has been used as a church dedicated to “St. Mary and the Martyrs” (Latin: Santa Maria ad Martyres) but informally known as “Santa Maria Rotonda”.[5] The square in front of the Pantheon is called Piazza della Rotonda.” Yes, when it rains, the water comes in to the Pantheon.

These doors were recently renovated and now can be closed by one person!

After some great Italian food, we went to to the Coliseum.  I was so excited to see this place!

And it did not let me down! Let me share my excitement and enthusiasm with you:

The Coliseum is in many pictures describing Rome.

I love pano views! I learned how to do them on the IPhone.

It is a two thousand year old arena that was used mostly for gladiators to fight to their deaths. I don’t understand why people wanted to watch this, were they cheering “Die, Die, Die!” or “Go out and die for your old man!” It was terrible.

After someone would die, they would lay sand over the blood so they could have another round of fighting. I

n between matches jugglers and musicians would entertain the crowd. Things were definitely different back then, right?

You can see down below where they would le the animals out.

Later on, humans came up with better ideas for the coliseum, like a theater.  The church put an end to the brutality.

Piazza Venezia – Vittoriano – close to the Coliseum

There are other ruins right outside the coliseum, too.  These are called “the Forum,” where there was a marketplace and government structures.  Cool, huh?  The Roman Forum!

Believe it or not, I think it’s about time to pack our bags (again) and catch the train for the next stop, Florence!

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Saying goodbye to Greece was hard, but we have many more adventures coming as we take EuRail around Europe!

Fond memories of Santorini Island and Athens, Greece

Yes, we landed here in Rome, Italy, coming from Greece!   It’s hard to believe that this is our last plane ride before heading home, because the rest of the trip we will be taking trains.

In Rome, we stayed in a Marriott, which is our family’s favorite hotel company (we all highly recommend it)!

The first day we just stayed at the hotel and explored what it had to offer.

After all, a girl has got to get some rest sometime!

and play — a lot!

They had an awesome pool and spa and I had so much fun swimming with my Mama.

I love to swim, day and night! I hope my swim team is doing great this season!

The next day, we ventured into the Vatican City, which is its own little state.

This is where the Pope usually lives, but the current Pope Frances thinks it is too luxurious, so he lives in a hotel nearby.

Tomorrow, and every Wed. the Pope says Mass and speaks to over 15,000 people.

I learned that Vatican City is the smallest internationally recognized independent state in the world by both area and population.

We signed up for a tour with Alejandro from Happy Travels and he knew a lot about the history of Vatican City.  The lines were hundreds of people long, but we avoided the lines by going with the tour.

We went to the Vatican Museum, which had many sculptures, paintings and tapestries in it. I especially like the sculpture of Apollo.

Each tapestry tells a story from The Bible

Did you know that the Romans loved Greek mythology so much that they changed the names of the Greek Gods to make Roman mythology?

For example, they changed Zeus to Jupiter and Artemis to Diana. They symbolized the same things they just changed their names and what they looked like.

They also made them more “war-like.” The only Greek God the Romans kept the same was Apollo and that is why we saw his sculpture in the Vatican Museum!

Later in history the Romans changed from Roman Gods to Christianity.

The first question this Cardinal asked us was if we were Catholic!

The vatican has “mini” museums within it and has the largest collection in the world.

From the museum, we went to the Sistine Chapel.

The artist who painted this Sistine chapel was Michael Angelo. Have you ever seen the famous painting with two men with their fingers almost touching? That painting is a part of the Sistine Chapel and symbolizes the moment when God was creating Adam.

Instead of signing his paintings, sometimes Michael Angelo would incorporate his portrait into the painting. He did this in the Sistine Chapel where he put his portrait on the face of an apostle who was skinned alive. Interesting right? I wouldn’t put my face on human skin!

After the tour, we went to St. Peter’s Basilica.  Michael Angelo was also one of the designers of the Basilica too. Wow, was he talented!

You think that you have seen the most beautiful church in the world?

Well, if you have never been here, you haven’t. Saint Peter is buried in a tomb below the Basilica and many other Popes have been buried here. The Pope gives sermons in the Basilica and in the building adjacent to the Basilica facing St. Peter’s Square.

It was a long and hot day, but worth every minute!  Tomorrow we head to the Pantheon, and OMG, the Coliseum!  I can’t wait!

Swiss Guards protect the Vatican and the Pope

Ponte Sant’Angelo —Under Pope Gregory I, the bridge took on the name Sant’Angelo, explained by a legend that an angel appeared on the roof of the castle to announce the end of the plague.

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We are back in Athens, and are glad that we just missed the euro crisis.  The demonstrations were just starting the evening before we left Greece!

Who could be a better tour guide then Anna, who toured us around Delphi.

Why are people looking at the floor? Read on…..

This time in Athens, we decided to go to the Acropolis. Before we went into the museum, we walked over to watch the changing of guards.

They change every hour, on the hour.  You can see the metal on the bottom of their shoes.

Anna, and her daughter Katerina, brought us to the Acropolis Museum, which held many ancient artifacts from the Acropolis itself.

Anna’s daughter, Katerina

The Acropolis is an ancient temple for the wisdom Goddess, Athena, who is the patron god of Athens.

You can see some of the ancient ruins below the museum floor 1 that’s why everyone was looking at the ground outside of the museum!

There were 1000 year old vases, statues, and pillars, all even cooler than the last.

The museum is fantastic, and was built to get ready for the summer Olympics in Athens.

After that, we went to the actual Acropolis itself.

The ruins were marvelous – I love all the pillars!

Look at how tall they are!

It was awesome!!!

An ancient amphitheater, which they still use today – you can see all the black speakers around in the seats.

Afterwards, we climbed down along hill which held the Acropolis. We said our goodbyes to Anna and Katerina.

We sincerely wish them the best of luck through the Greek and euro crisis.  We had discussed this with them earlier in the afternoon and understood better from the Greeks’ point of view.

We wish them luck through everything and then strolled through some of the streets, and caught a taxi back to our hotel.

See the Acropolis up high? How did they get all those building materials up there with our machines?

The taxi was quite delayed through the Parliament area because the demonstrations were just beginning, and the protesters and police were out in full force.

The Parliament Building, and the plaza were the site of the demonstrations many of you probably saw on TV.

Tomorrow we head out for our next country, an exciting destination, Italy!  We’ll be flying into Rome.

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We are by the Mediterranean Sea, for sure!

Another Sailing Adventure

Yes, we are still in Greece, but now we are heading outside of Athens towards Santorini Island.

We took a super-cool ferry that had at least 8 levels, 10 restaurants, 2500 passengers, over 200 cars, and even dog kennels (which of course, I visited!)

I have never been on a boat this big! It took us 8 hours to get there on this huge ferry, with two port stops along the way!  Look at this short video where I describe the boat!

Who knew that there are over 7,000 islands in Greece?  Wow!  Look at the approach to Santorini Island:

Have you ever seen the postcards with blue and white structures that are stunning and picturesque?

Well, that’s where we were for five days! On the way to the beach house that we were staying in, I met a girl named Agnes on the airport shuttle. She and her family are from Sweden. We met Agnes and her family the next day for swimming, and we had a blast!

Something really cool about their beaches is that the sand is black! Yep, you read it correctly! On Santorini Island, just like the big Island of Hawaii, there are black, green, red,  and white sand beaches.

The next day I met with Agnes and we had more fun in the water. That night we had a wonderful dinner at a small restaurant, and guess what? I met another friend, named Claire!

She is from Portland, and we both share a huge liking for the Percy Jackson series, which is about the Greek Gods and Godesses, and is one of the reasons we came to Greece.

While our parents chattered away, we had lots of fun running around the streets and counting cats.

…and dogs!

The day after, Claire and I met up at the beach to swim, and, the day after that, our families all went on a very scenic, tiring, and trying hike to a small town called Oia.

The hike is along the Caldera from Fira to Oia. The hike is 12K long, plus another 2K getting to the end of Oia.  The hike passes through the two villages of Firostefani and Imerovigli, with some of the most beautiful scenery across the Aegean Sea.

We timed it right to see in amazing sunset, and we all had dinner at a rooftop restaurant with amazing views.

As you will see, Claire and I were giddy after the long hike and ice cream for dessert!

We took a bus to our cars/hotel and totally crashed for the evening.

Our last day on Santorini Island was spectacular, too.  We returned to Oia, to take more photos and take in some refreshments, along with the sunset. It was lovely and the views were amazing…… ……even the milkshake was amazing!

This is the place where amateur and professional photographers come from all over the world to take photos — including my parents — pictures of the buildings, the sea, and yes, the sunsets.

You can see how popular the sunset is — it gets really crowded!

Santorini Island is so picturesque, that I thought you might like to see some more amazing photos —- Enjoy!

This dog was on top of a monastery — her Mom (a nun) was leaving.

Their grape vines are so old and ground water so high that they can grow on the ground.

Nice view from the swimming pool!

We sure did not want to leave Santorini Island, like so many places, but we know you want to learn more and follow my exciting adventures elsewhere.

We flew out early the next morning too, of course, more amazing views, on our short trip back to Athens and our hotel.

Reminiscent of Phuket because of the water and islands, but very different because of the building structures, and of course, the culture

F

Later in the afternoon, we are meeting our friend and guide Anna, and her daughter Katarina. We’ll be taking an-up-close-and-personal tour of the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum.

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Passengers, prepare for landing in Greece!

We had a very long plane ride from South Africa, but it was awesome! We flew on Emirates, the number one airline in the world!

Emirates has the youngest fleet of jumbo jets in in the airline industry

And we flew through Dubai… Wish we could have spent a little more than a few hours to see this amazing city!

I have never seen these types of lounging chairs in any airport!

Once we got to the hotel from the airport, we all totally crashed – no surprise, after sightseeing in Kruger for a half a day, driving 5 hours to Jo-burg airport, and traveling 24 hours…..but it was totally worth it!  Although we did venture out for some greek salads and gyros – Yummy!

Just amazing and breath-taking!

The next day, we took an excursion to the ruins of Delphi.

The bow and arrow is one of Apollo’s symbols.

We went to Delphi because Apollo, my favorite Greek God, the God of music, creativity, the sun, health, poetry, and prophecy, is the patron God of Delphi.

Did you notice my T-shirt? It is from Percy Jackson’s Halfbloods

In Delphi, it was believed that there was a woman who shared part of Apollo’s Spirit, and could tell prophecies to people who needed advice.

A closer look at the details of this beautiful building

It was here that we met Anna, our tour guide.  I was so excited that she knew so much about Greek mythology.  She could answer all my questions!

Anna wa a fabulous and very knowledgable guide

There was also a theater with grass sprouting through the seat because of its age.

The theater could seat many hundreds of people!

In a certain spot in the center of the amphitheater, you can say something and the sound will reverberate from all of the seats back into your ears.  It was used to hear over the loud audience and make it easier for the performers to stay in tune.  

FYI — 🙂

After the ruins, we went to the Museum of Delphi.  Anna explained many of the great highlights in the place. It held ancient artifacts from statues to war helmets.

These are some of the Greek master pieces of the time period – many were found buried under ground after earthquakes.

A model of Delphi, based on what is left of structures and historic recordings that are written in some of the walls

Once we tore our eyes away from this awesome place, we had lunch at a local family’s restaurant up in the hills about an hour and a half outside of Athens. It had beautiful views, and I had a great steak! On the way back to Athens, we stopped in a town built into the side of a mountain for a quick break. And then, we drove back to the hotel on our tour bus after a very full itinerary — yes, we had more salads and gyros.  BTW, the Greeks put their french fries in their gyros! Boy, what a day we had!

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I Love These “Gentle Giants!”

The last two days in Kruger were just as exciting as the first four days!

How many different species do you see in this photo?

We continued our game drives on our own, after two safaris with the rangers, one in Satara Camp at sunset; and, one in Letaba Camp at sunrise.

They always make us laugh – just like Hakuna Matata

Beautiful sunrise at Letaba Camp

Do you see the Waterbuk saying, “Can I have some, please? Or, oh-oh, better get out of here!”

This was a rare sighting, and we were asked to log it in the rangers’ books to help with tracking of the fish eagles.

“Good catch” – on the camera! We watched the eagle dive for the fish and bring it down to the ground, then to it’s nest – AMAZING!

I can’t help it, but every time I look at their faces, I think of my cute golden retriever, Powder, and her face!

We went to an awesome museum in Letaba dedicated mostly to the Great Tuskers, but also, they had some other great displays, too.

I’m 10!

Some of these big guys live 50-60 years!

The rangers in the SA parks are doing everything they can to protect their animals (we really appreciate that), although right now the Rhino is on the endangered list — yes, because of poachers!

It’s not all a reflection!

I wanted to share some more stunning photos and videos with my blog followers because they just never get old……and we were right there……. staring each other in the face! Yes, my parents and I, in awe, with our jaws dropping to the floor……but also, we were staring right in the eyes of the big game animals!

Another – how many species can you get at one watering hole?

We saw four of the Big Five, all except the rhino, but we feel so fortunate to have seen so much wildlife in their natural habitat.  We all agreed that we would see the rhino the next time!

But hippos aren’t so bad…..

Going on safari is an awesome experience!

It was the best birthday yet, and my parents were so excited, because these BD clouds are just like the clouds that were in the sky in Colorado the day I was born

One, two, or three? Repeat!

Many of the restaurants had views like this to view the wildlife

It’s hard to believe we are more than half way through our RTW (around the world trip)!

I’m lovin’ it!

I feel very lucky to have this safari experience and RTW trip with my parents!

Doing reconnaissance

Two Sweeties!

It says a lot, doesn’t it? You fill in the caption!

Over 500 species of birds!

This was actually our departure gate

Good to the last drop! The elephants and giraffes were our last views right before we left Kruger National Park

The end again!  🙂

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I have named my newborn lion, “Kruger!” We bought a beautiful handmade African bracelet for her collar.

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P.S.  Happy 10th Birthday, Makenna!