hiking in Paradise

Here's our base camp for hiking the

Cinque Terre. (Sorry for the soft photo, but

I had to take this off the computer screen.)

Am seriously hoping for decent weather

for today!

and what a view!

Saw this picture in a magazine a long

time ago, and swore that if I ever made

it to the Cinque Terre, this is where I'd stay.

And I am.  Hope the weather cooperates,

because as cool as this room is, I don't

want to spend that much time in it.

Stendhal Syndrome . . .

. . . is what you get when you look at too

much art. Here's a better explanation.

We're going to risk it today by hitting the Uffizi

in the morning and the Accademia (to visit

Michelangelo's fave boy-toy) late afternoon.

Will try to ward off any ill effects from so much

gorgeous art by concentrating on fabulous 

food and vino in between.

Roman millennia

Here just for the day, so I can show David the highlights.

We'll head for the Vatican, then walk back to the train

station via Campo dei Fiore, Piazza Navona, a couple of

churches for their Caravaggios, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain,

Spanish Steps, Campidoglio for a great view of the forum . . .

(with pasta and gelato at my fave places along the way).

463 steps to the top

Heading for Florence. We'll drop the bags, head to

Trattoria ZaZa for some of those artichokes that

they marinate for about 3 months, then make the

climb up to the top of Brunelleschi's dome (so worth

the effort for the view from up there). 

I love how they placed this 

statue of him so he's always

looking up at his masterpiece.

chez Peggy

Probably going to go by Ms. Guggenheim's little

place today, to check out her nice art collection

and pay our respects at her grave (and her yappy

little dogs') in the garden. Used to come here for

cocktails back in the early '70s. Peggy would

hold court, wearing one of her hideous

housedresses. One of the American interns gave

me grief for taking this photo of the view out the

window. Felt like telling the little pisher, "I was here

drinking prosecco with Peggy before you were born!"

(But didn't.)

the doge ate my homework

Always wanted to say that (it was the caption

of a cartoon in the New Yorker). We're taking

a behind-the-scenes tour of the doge's

palace this morning. You get a real sense of the

machinations that went on in those rooms,

visit Casanova's cell up under the lead roof (hot

in summer, cold in winter), and see how he escaped.