Amalfi

The Amalfi Coast

The Amalfi Coast, about two hours south of Naples, is absolutely gorgeous! The drive twisted along the edge of the cliffs on little narrow road but the views were spectacular! It was a little misty and hazy that day, but it made it a kind of magical.
This is a rock, shaped by the wind and natural elements but is known as the Virgin Mary. Pretty cool. On the way to Amalfi we stopped at two little villages
Sorento and Positano, just to take pictures. There were really cool buildings in the little towns that we passed through
Every turn was so breathtaking....the sea, the coast, the buildings built on the cliffs, it was all really beautiful. Like out of a storybook.

Can you imagine living here? it would be so pretty.

We spent most of our time in Atrani, a little town right next to Amalfi but not as well known so there were hardly any tourists there.

This is AtraniWe found the main piazza and had lunch at a little outdoor cafe.We ordered milkshakes and of course pizza!
Yum!

The Amalfi Coast

There were beautiful flowers everywhere!

The cathedral or "duomo" of Amalfi
Goodbye Amalfi!

Tuscany

Tuscany is so beautiful! Just as you would imagine, it was full of vineyards, sunflower fields, soft rolling hills dotted with tuscan villas and castles, slender cyprus trees that stood tall against the clear blue sky and little villages that haven't changed for hundreds of years. Our first stop was the town of Siena. You know the brown crayon in the Crayola box called sienna? It was named after this place. The rooftops, piazza del campo and bell tower are all Seina brown.
Siena is a hilltop province built on three hills during the Roman period. The Golden Age in Siena was from the 11th century to the 14th century. Beautiful view!

The magnificent cathedral "duomo"was build in the 13th century with a Gothic style facade. It is unique because both the interior and exterior were built with black and white marble creating stripes. It was huge!

Lance taking a break and enjoying the view.

Notice the flags, they were everywhere.setting up for the "palio"
A cute narrow street - notice the different flags The narrow streets all lead to the main square or piazza which is said to be the best piazza in all of Italy: Piazza del Campo
Every year on July 2nd the town has a bareback horse race that has been a long time tradition. Each neighborhood is represented (each one has thier own colors and flag) and whichever nieghborhood wins holds the bragging rights for the next 365 days! We missed the race by one day :( But it was fun to see all the flags up and the town getting ready for the eventful day. It is a really big deal! Piazza del CampoThe most impressive thing about the piazza was the giant bell tower, it was built without a foundation and said to be the tallest tower in all Italy!

We loved Siena! ................................................................................................

We also loved San Gimignano, in fact we wished we could've had more time there. It was so very beautiful. San Gimignano was named after the bishop that saved the city and is known for its many towers.

Originally there were 114 throughout the city but now there are only 14 that are still standing. The rich families of San Gimignano built themselves towers - a status thing, the taller the tower, the richer the family.

The towers were really cool, I can't imagine how impressive it would be if a hundred more were still standing. During the black plague, they were thought to be diseased and many were knocked down.

The city is also famous for their white tuscan wine, the best in Italy and known worldwide as one of the best white wines anywhere. We'll take their word for it. We were really in the midst of the beautiful vineyards. San Gimignano is also known for its home-made ice cream, it was really delicious! They brag that they are "world champions" for it. They had tons of little ceramics shops with beautiful hand painted ceramics - very expensive.

Tuscany was so beautiful, it was one of our favorite places in Italy!

Paintings

Last year for my birthday Lance surprised me with a beautiful painting. We were just going to get the one but couldn't resist and got a few more. They really add so much to our house, I love them! Thanks Lance.

This one of Venice, is in the front room, which fits perfect because it has a high ceiling. The painting really sets the mood for the room - calming.

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This one I love because it reminds me of the countryside in Spain. It is in our family room. It's the smallest one.

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This one is on of Barcelona and is in the entry way at the top of the stairs. It's really pretty too. It feels like you could just walk into the picture.

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Lance loves this one cause he can just picture riding his horse down the pathway. It has pretty autumn colors.