Postcards and Coasters

3/5/11

My Favorite Italian Souvenirs...

Leather

Some of the best leather goods are designed and made in Italy. Whether it's purses, shoes, clothes or luggage leather is one of Italy's best values.

"Under The Tuscan Sun" in Cortona, Italy...

While driving through Tuscany my husband and I had just passed Cortona as I read it was the setting for the book "Under The Tuscan Sun". We quickly turned around so we could see "Bramasole", the villa Frances Mayes so beautifully writes about.

INTERNATIONAL TRIPS...

Italy...

In May of 2007 we spent a few weeks relaxing in Italy. We visited: Milan, Lake Como, Cinque Terre, Pisa, Florence, Siena, Umbria, Sorrento, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Capri and finally Rome.

Friday Photos: All you need is Tuscany...

3 Tips for Tuscany:

Grape vines growing on a slope below a farmhouse

#1...Rent a car

Hay Bales and a Farm House

#2...Take lot's of pictures

(My best photo's ever taken were in Italy)

Field of wild Poppies near San Gimignano

#3...Loose the Itinerary!

4/24/09

Friday Photo's: Laundry...

VENICE {VENEZIA}

VENICE

NAPLES {NAPOLI}

Have you ever taken pictures of laundry when you travel? Why? Is it the fascination of capturing the daily activities of others...Or is it that hanging laundry is a novelty for those of us who do it the easy way?

4/10/09

Milan's Duomo

I took a breathtaking walk on the roof of the Duomo in Milan. I've been on top of St. Peter's Basilica but this was even more magnificent. It was one of the coolest things I've seen. I couldn't believe how many statues and spires overlook the city. If you were on the ground looking up you wouldn't be able to see these amazing statues.

Mark Twain, a fan of the Duomo said: "What a wonder it is! So grand, so solemn, so vast! And yet so delicate, so airy, so graceful!

They say that the cathedral of Milan is second only to St. Peter's at Rome. I cannot understand how it can be second to anything made by human hands".

4/3/09

Friday Photo's

KID'S AROUND THE GLOBE...

Greg playing a little ball with some boy's in Italy

We found this girl begging on the street in

Lhasa, Tibet

I snapped this photo on our spring break trip in Mexico. Cash and Rex (my nephew) making his favorite face. I'm sure his mom loves that.

This is one of my favorite pictures. I was amazed by the details in her outfit. Click on the picture for a better view. Notice the striped socks and the Turquoise braided into her hair. I wanted to pinch her cheeks and take her home with me.

A Tibetan mom and son at a Temple in Lhasa

I can't imagine wearing a basket on my back with a child in it. I saw women all over China carrying their children like this.

I visited my parents in Argentina while they were on a mission for our church. These adorable children lived nearby in Feliciano.

3/20/09

Friday Photo's...

I have a little bit of an obsession with flowers on balconies! In honor of Spring I thought I'd share a few of my pictures...

Villa on Lake Como

Menaggio, Lake Como

Cortona, Italy

Varenna, Lake Como

3/13/09

Friday Photo's...

I was trying to be sneaky when I took this picture of an Italian women watching the sunset it Sorrento.

She caught me but was nice enough to let me take another picture.

CIAO!

3/10/09

Volterra, Italy... In search of the Volturi Vampires!

Towards the end of New Moon Edward and Bella end up in Volterra, Italy to visit the Volturi, a coven of vampires who enforce vampire laws and keep vampires hidden from humans.

Here's a few pictures from my trip to Volterra...

Volterra-Hill Town/Vampire Haven in Tuscany

In the past Volterra has been less touristy than it's neighbor San Gimignano, but because of New Moon Volterra is starting to make the list on the grand tour of Italy.

Palazzo dei Priori and Clock Tower

The Palazzo dei Priori is Tuscany's oldest town hall

and danger is lurking here for Bella!

Me... looking for the Volturi!

Yes, this vampire madness has gone too far!

What a Vampire ceiling looks like :)

Although New Moon takes place in Volterra, it was filmed in nearby Montepulciano. If you travel to Volterra you can pick up a free New Moon Volterra map at the information office in Pallazzo dei Priori and follow the exact route Bella, Alice and Edward took. Or you can arrange to take a walking tour "Hot on the Trail of Edward and Bella".