Okay, I'm gonna get through the rest of this trip today if it kills me.
We arrived in port to visit Pisa and Florence...Paulo was waiting for us. Paulo, we love you. You are such a sweetheart...(Johnnie let me say this, okay). A kiss on both cheeks to you.
Should any of you find yourself in need of a guide on an Italian tour excursion, go to www.unforgettabletuscany.com. This operation is run by Paulo who really, really helped us to fall in love with Italy. We went everywhere, saw everything, absorbed so much history, from the Medici's to Michael Angelo, from the leaning tower of Pisa to the back roads of Tuscany...such beauty...the wine vineyards, the olive trees. Ultimately we toured a beautiful castle, which was like a private hotel...wrong word, I mean museum. This is the first time I ever heard John exclaim that he would take me here on our 50th anniversary. I laughed and thought to myself, hmmm so that must mean next year, right. Let me give you the website...but the pictures on the web just doesn't do this place justice...oh well, http://www.montegufoni.eu/
I think I should rent out the lower wing that holds 8, and grab as many of my peeps as would travel that far and...wouldn't that be a blast. (Let's just pray that the economy doesn't completely tank).
Truthfully, we won a free round trip ticket to anywhere in Europe, and this would have been first on the list for this Xmas, but...I can't swing it $$$ with all of the girls right now, so John just settled on going to Amsterdam the day after Xmas to celebrate our 25th, since we were at a loss during September because of unforseeable events occurring then. The girls will be up to mischief for 4 days, but still having an adventure without us.
These private excursions were so wonderful, we got to see tons of more things than just taking the ship's tour with like 50 people being herded here and there and paying $$$much too much through them. Yes, we want to definitely come back.
FRANCE...
You know I loved Princess Grace. It seemed just like yesterday remembering her death...little Stephanie in the car with her...well Jerome came through to get us at the pier in France...http://www.rivierapremiumtour.com/ So according to Jerome, Prince Albert is now engaged to a beautiful blonde who is a great swimmer/athlete.
Oh, the French!!! You know you must be a gazillionaire to live in Monaco, yes, we saw it all. The changing of the guard... Nice was beautiful...and the most fascinating place that I tried to book for after Xmas this year (but had flight problems returning to Chennai) was called the village of Eze. This fortress was constructed in like the 13th or 14th century (I'm never good with details)..but it captivated my heart. The views into the harbor from the cliffs were so awsome. Here's a link to it: http://www.circumvista.com/chateau-eza.html
Yes, yes, the French riviera was wonderful. So now I feel the need to learn both French and Italian after I finish stumbling through my Tamil lessons. You know they say Tamil is one of the oldest languages on earth today...(and one of the hardest, if you asked me). My teacher said most other languages require your jaw to go up and down, in Tamil, it goes sideways.
We arrived back to Barcelona where the tour company emailed and said they had my cell phone and back pack. All is well, John is forgiven for leaving it...and there was peace in the valley.
So, that sums up our travels in a nutshell...but it seems like if you are following the news, chaos reins. I'm sitting here under a blasting air conditioner thinking about how hot it is now...but not really missing icy wintery weather. Ashley took Lilly over to a friend's house to play and boy oh boy did Lilly cause a raucus. So there it is...Merry Xmas everyone...no, our tree is somewhere in a box still.
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