Final dinner in Rome

The tour ended here in Rome tonight.  We all went to an Italian restaurant where these two singers entertained us with their voices and fun.  Sad to finish but as one of our new friends said

'We have memories so that we can smell the roses in the winter- today we go home with a bouquet of memories!"

Monastry of Cassino- rebuilt since WW2

Cassino War Memorial in the most beautiful light of the late afternoon

The photos speak for themselves

These are graves of NZ soldiers who lost their lives in the battle of Cassino.  If an ANZAC type paper poppy is attached to the headstone it means one of their family or friends have visited the grave.  

A very 'moving' visit to the Cassino War Cemetry

This was our last stop on our trip and one that will stay with me forever.  

Positano village to the left of us

Positana view

The bus stopped to take this photo with the sun shining so beautifully.  The road to Positano is one way and is extremely narrow and windy but spectacular all of the way.  Some scary driving moments with the bus and other Italian drivers!

Positano- what a beautiful spot!

Off to the Amalfi Coast road

Peppers and chillies on the way!

Sunset through the hotel window

We watched the sun set here- a memory to treasure!

Tonight we came home to find an Italian wedding happening on the deck of our hotel-we all got to enjoy the music and watch the wedding.  The wedding cake was enormous and was extravagantly decorated.  Food just kept coming out to the wedding guests all night- truly the Italian way!

The farm also makes delicious lemoncello so lemons were everywhere

Mozarella farm

Rosa and her mother showed us how to make mozarella from buffalo milk at their farm.  The process was labour intensive and time consuming but the product tasted delicious!

The clearest water you can imagine!

Heading back on the boat to Capri

Isle of Capri cruise

Isle of Capri- what a day!

Today we set off on a boat to the Isle of Capri- once then we climbed aboard a smaller boat and cruised around the island.  The water was the most magical mix of blues and greens and the cliffs were  spectacular !

Positano- Amalfi Coast

Today we drove along the coast to Positana- the roads are narrow and run around the edge of the cliff- quite an experience in a big bus.  Italians drive is 'mind blowing'- they think nothing of taking the most horrendous risks!

View from our balcony- Sorrento

Swimming at Sorrento

The view from our hotel balcony- this picture does not do it justice!  Absolutely beautiful spot.  

Sorrento- ahhhhhhhhh the water!!

On arrival at our beautiful hotel on the cliffs of Sorrento Allan and I headed straight for the beach for a swim.  Not a swim like we are used to though- we climbed down a cliff that would have been over 100 metres unaware that there is an elevator to take you- believe me we too the elevator back up!

Sorrento

We left Pompei in the scorching heat of the day and drove on to Sorrento.  Lemon and orange stalls are everywhere on the way.  Some of the lemons are the size of rockmelons!

Mount Vesuvius-Pompei (not sure on spelling!)

Fascinating to see this mountain that erupted and caused such pain and loss so many years ago

Amazing pillars at Pompei

Village remains of Pompei

Pompei

We watched a video about the volcanic eruption that caused the burying of the city of Pompei 79AD and so were really looking forward to our visit there.  Temperature was 35 degrees as we stepped from the bus and hotter as we toured I am sure!

Sunflowers everywhere!!

This had to be taken out of the bus window but was a magical sight- paddocks and paddocks of beautiful sunflowers- just like in the books!!

St Francis of Assisi

Visit to Basilica of St Francis

Temperatures move up quickly in the afternoon and our visit to this marvellous sight was no exception.  Cameras not allowed inside which is a shame as the art work and stained glass windows were exceptional.

Umbria-very pretty country side

After the church visit we drove through the Apennine mountains to the city of Assisi.  Much of the country side looked green like home.  We even saw two fields of sunflowers from the bus but no time to photograph sadly!

Mosaics filled the church- truly magnificent!

Ravenna- Church of St Apollonaris

This church was filled with old, old mosaics and artefacts.

Leaving Venice.

The streets of Venice are cobbled and many of the bridges steep so our suitcases were piled high onto this taxi and went by canal to the bus.  

Burano Island- famous for its lacemaking as this lady is doing!

And more coloured houses

The wind all but took my hat from me!

So pretty to see - Burano Island homes.

Afternoon cruise to the fascinating island of Burano

This afternoon we took a cruise to this wonderful island- the houses are all multicoloured in this fishing village.  This is because there are no numbers - you just live in the purple house or the green house!  The people fish for a living so the fisherman like to be able to see the colour of their house when out in the sea!

Marionette puppets in Venice- another Pinochio!

More delicious food!

Tempting but did not try these- looked delicious through the shop window!

One of the many lanes of Venice.

See how narrow they are- no cars, just lots of people walking everywhere.

Pasta of all shapes, sizes and colours.

Nougat can be found in the sweet shops- yum!

Crossing the bridges of Venice on our walk.

Venice- a maze of streets and masks!

Venice is a very different place to be- there are no streets or cars.  Just waterways (canals) with bridges. Allan and I explored the narrow streets on our own today and got lost in the maze- a map was of little help!  Masks fill every shop - they are so varied and colourful to see!

Mosaics

In Venice mosaics are everywhere- so intricate in design.  

Murano Glass demo in Venice

Today we went to a glass blowing demo- a craftsman heated the glass in a very hot kiln and created this horse while the glass was soft- amazing to watch!

A special photo for my lovely students in Room 15

Look what was in our lobby as we walked through tonight- a murano glass picture of the  Klimt painting 'The Kiss' that we worked on for Mothers Day- I hope your Mums loved their paintings!

See you all soon!

A fabuous end to the day- St Marks Square by night

Tonight we took a cruise to St Marks Square and sat and listened to a quartet in the square- the clarinet player was truly entertaining.  The sky colour is for real- it does not get dark here until 10 and the sky slowly turns the most beautiful shades of blue before it is dark.

Alland enjoying the sights of Venice from the Gondola