Calendar Crush

I LOVE this letterpress calendar from Ilee Press--- simply gorgeous! I just received mine and can't wait to get it up in my office.

This is the third year I will have an Ilee calendar at my desk to admire. I arrange the months in a gilded 20 x 24 frame so I can get the full effect.

Italy

Last installment of the Europe trip. (three months later)

Italy: Milan – Holiday Inn Express breakfast does not disappoint – testimony meeting at the Milan 3rd ward - Cinque Terre – beautiful winding roads – Lucca – bed and breakfast at a beautifully restored monastery - walled city and towers – road signs in small print – Pisa - Centro and Palazzo – Firenze – Uffizi museum – Duomo – silk ties, paper and old prints – Siena – San Gimignano (epitomy of Tuscany) – poppy fields

And especially for Italy--- The Food: gelato – pizza in Pisa - handmade Ravioli and lasagna – gelato – produzione propria – olive oil – pizza al taglio - gelato – prosciutto – pomodoro sauce – gelato – gelato – gelato

The family went different directions for the last leg of our trip  Kelly and I went to the Tuscan region with my sister Jeni and her husband Nathaniel.  We took an amazingly scenic and winding drive down the coast and stopped at one of the five Cinque Terre towns (Monterosso).

The five cities are situated along the coast and are small enough that non-resident vehicles are not allowed in the city. We hiked in - bought gelato, walked around - and hiked back out.

Our B&B in Lucca was a restored monastary. It was a beautiful little spot. You should go to Lucca and stay at Casa Biancalana.

Lucca streets (after getting caught in the rain).



Beautiful little piece of the streets of Lucca. (I already posted these, but I thought I'd put the pictures in context.) Lucca was a beautiful, quieter city that we fell in love with. Maybe we'll name our press Lucca.

Piazza Anfiteatro in Lucca.

The leaning tower of Pisa was quite the tourist destination. EVERYONE took pictures that looked like they were holding up the tower. Now we'll be in on the joke when we see pictures like that!

The cathedral next to the tower was beautiful.

Florence!
Ponte Vecchio- bridge of shops across the Arno River in Florence. We totally have one of these at Lake Las Vegas. It's exactly the same. (Catch the sarcasm?)

Possibly the world's longest fountain at the emense gardens in Florence-- Giadino di Boboli --where we wandered for quite some time. We were just glad to find a quiet spot with somewhere to sit!

Reflected lemon trees in the gardens.

Nice texture.
These trees are straight from Where The Wild Things Are. Do you agree? They look so Maurice Sendak-esque.
Hot.

The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is the main duomo in Florence. We climbed 463 steps to the very top for an incredible view.

Inside the dome from the main floor.

View from the top.

Thanks Nano. (They have a wide angle lens- their pictures probably turned out better than the one with our camera.)

We went to a beautiful walled city in the heart of Tuscany-- San Gimignano.  We walked around the outside of the city and enjoyed the breath-taking countryside.  (I can't get this section un-underlined!)

Poppies and lavendar growing wild on our drive back to Lucca.

We saw Jeni and Nathaniel off at the Pisa airport-- and then found the restored estate that we were staying at our last night.  (It was a miracle that we found it!)

On our last day, Kelly and I did our gift shopping and made one last stop for gelato.  Then we drove to airport (twice-- darn italian freeways) and started a long trip home.