Italy 2007

In the summer of 2007, Lisa and Christos went on a three week tour of Italy! We started with a bike trip in the north-east (started in Vicenza and ended in Venice) before heading over to the amazing Cinque Terre for a few days followed by a visit (on a whim) to Sienna before returning taking a bus to Rome for the flight home.

On the bike trip, we visited the mountain town of Bolzano where a walk with shaded trees commemorates the Italian Partisans who died fighting the Nazis in WWII; it was very moving as each tree had a plaque with the name and age of the fighter, some also had photographs. Most of them were well under thirty when killed.

Venice was amazing! Not only a blast from the past for the history loving Christos but also filled with shopping, eating and drunken wandering. Lisa bought a lovely Silk purse from a store we subsequently could not find and we also bought a lovely piece of glassware (we call her Maria Formosa) that now graces our living room.

We also found a lovely osteria run by two brothers that we had way too much fun at (damn that cheap wine) and visited two or three times during our stay.

Of course we also visited all the historical highlights such as the Doge's Palace containing the Bridge of Sighs and a cell where the infamous Cassanova was imprisoned (and escaped from!), Saint Mark's Square and the Arsenal.

In Sienna we had the good fortune to arrive just before the Palio, an annual horse race in the center square. We watched them cover the pavement of the town square with dirt for the horse race but had to eave the day before the actual event. This turned out to be a bit of a blessing as all the hotels were booked up starting on day one of the Palio and the city becomes very crowded and crazy during this time.

While in Sienna, we quite enjoyed a show of falconry that was put on just outside the city walls. Beautiful birds that were well trained by their humans but even domesticated one could still see the hunter in their eyes.