Last time we talked we were leaving the Meteoras and driving across Greece to Parga, a small village on the western Greek coast. Bad weather was in the forecast and man did we get hit. A light rain was falling as we left Meteora, and as we climbed the mountains, fog and rain became heavy. About half way on the journey it started to pour, like Ore e gone rain, heavy😳

We found our Airbnb without issue (no street addresses in parts of Europe, especially here in rural Greece), and checked in during the downpour. Lovely place, three bedrooms, two baths, family room, indoor kitchen, outdoor kitchen and lovely outdoor seating overlooking the Ionian sea.

A little help on the location of Parga

It continued to pour rain all night and into the next day along with high winds, quite the storm. We decided to lay low in our wonderful Airbnb. We had stockpiled vino for emergencies 😎🍷✔️

Ok, the next day, our second here, we made the short drive to Parga. Roads were washed out, tree limbs everywhere, quite the mess😳

Parga is a resort town that basically shuts down for the winter. It was really shut down after the storm😳

Ok, today we drove to Preveza, the largest city in the area, school vacation day, lots of kids about

After a lovely picnic, we drove up to Igoumenitsa, this is where the ferry’s leave for Corfu and Italy. We were planning on visiting Corfu, but the whole process had too many moving parts for us in Greece. Things are a little disorganized here to say the least😜

We did manage to find one of the best bakery’s of our trip here👍

When we booked this leg of the adventure, we were hoping to sneak in a little beach time along with the visit to Corfu, neither happened, but we got lots of rest to push through the next legs!

On to Patra , located three hours south on the coast, forecast is low 70’s

Ciao Ciao

FYI olive trees grow wild here. They are everywhere! To harvest the olives, they simply put out a net and the olives fall down when ripe.

Also, we are celebrating our 39th wedding anniversary today! I think I’ll cook Cindy something special in that outdoor kitchen!

C

As we said yesterday, we are staying in the lovely small village of Kastraki, which is nestled in a valley with the huge rock formations of Meteora towering above it, it’s quite a breathtaking spot!

The Meteora rock formations are largely sandstone and granite mixed together. The area has been inhabited by beings for over 50,000 years. Those caves make handy hiding spots.

Cindy decided to try hiking to a monastery above the village and see how far she could go. I took a pass, I’m paying for my Turkish Bath massage on my knee😳

She made it about half way up until the trail became vertical.

After a picnic overlooking the Meteora, we decided to take a driving/hiking

tour over the top.

From 1200 until 1400 hermit monks lived by themselves in caves in Meteora. They only met to pray on Sunday and religious holidays. In the 1400’s and 1500’s, twenty-four monasteries were built by hermit monks in the Meteoras. Only six remain open, two of which are now Nunneries. They are open to the public on certain days

Today there are very few monks in each monastery, as little as one, as many as seven. The nunneries are fuller 20-30 in each. Quite the place and the views are staggering.

Ok, off on a three hour drive to Parga tomorrow, located off the northern Greek island of Corfu, for four nights. Unfortunately, it looks like our luck on the weather is changing, rain in the forecast every day 😳 Might need to sip some vino and read a book👍😎🍷

By the way, cats and dogs are everywhere here, as they were in Istanbul. Be thankful for our humane society ✔️

Ciao Ciao

After a whirlwind four days in Istanbul, it was time to return to the airport for a short hour and a half flight to Athens, Greece. Flight was at 8:30 AM, so we headed out at 5:00 AM. Our driver delivered us safely to the airport and then, the usual Turkish issues began. After well over an hour we finally checked our bags and then proceeded to security, where they decided to hand check our bags😳 We finally made it to the plane and made the short flight to Athens.

The Athens airport is very sane, after Istanbul, and we met our rental car man and were quickly on the way to Galaxidi, a three hour drive. We checked into our lovely Airbnb and went for a walking tour. Old school Greek fishing village, lovely.

The view from our balcony

The village of Galaxidi, very busy on a Saturday afternoon

Not much industry here. At one time iron mining was big, and of course, fishing they are all closed now. Tourism is everything here.

Bright and early we head to Delphi, home to Ancient Greece gods, including the Oracle of Delphi.

Just a reminder where Delphi is located.

It’s a 35 minute drive up the hill to Delphi and we passed thousands of green olive trees being harvested. I love green olives with Gin😜

Delphi was extremely important to the Ancient Greeks. It is where they consulted with the Gods and from 700 BC till around 100AD, it was sacked more times than I can say. The scenery is spectacular here, unbelievable rugged and beautiful.

Hard to believe, but Delphi was “lost” for many, many centuries. It was “rediscovered” and made into the world famous archeological area it is today over the years.

After a quick picnic overlooking history, we drove three and a half hours to Kastraki, famous for its sandstone monoliths and monasteries. The view from our new Airbnb patio

Looks like some hills and steps might be in the forecast 😳

Ciao! Ciao!

WOW, they say Istanbul Turkey is the meeting place between East and West, well it’s also the meeting place of sensory overload!

The flight from Milan to Istanbul was without issues, however, it took two plus hours to check in baggage and clear security 😳

Short 2 and 1/2 hour flight to Istanbul and away we go! Istanbul has a new airport, and it’s HUGE! Only one terminal open and it’s still one of the largest airports we’ve ever been in. When it’s completed it will be the worlds largest airport ✔️ It’s a one hour plus taxi from airport to Sultanahmet.

Some quick thoughts on Istanbul before our tour. Istanbul is the largest city in Europe with over 17 million residents! It’s the fourth largest city in the world, it’s massive.

Thousands of cats run the city and wild dogs live in the parks. You ain’t in Eagle, Idaho son! Istanbul is the cosmetic surgery capital of Europe, bandaged noses and scalp bandages everywhere. Traffic is nonstop and there are very few crosswalks, jaywalking is a way of life.

Istanbul was ruled by the Sultans until the 1920’s and is largely a Muslim country. Cindy, with all that blonde, curly hair, caught quite the stares. Turkish woman who don’t wear hijabs have black hair. Mosques are everywhere and the faithful are called to prayers five times a day over a load speaker system mounted on all the mosques. You know when it’s prayer time✔️

We arrived in the evening and checked into our lovey hotel located 200 meters from the famous Blue Mosque. Thanks to our friend, Eric, for recommending the hotel 👍The view from our hotel rooftop patio is amazing. This is where breakfast is served every morning😎

Ok, we headed out for dinner and experience Istanbul right away. Restaurants are everywhere as are carpet shops and the owners/salesmen are very, very aggressive in trying to get you into their businesses.

Food – really there are three types of food here for lunch or dinner.

Kabobs, Istanbul is known for Kabobs and the shops are everywhere

Donor bbq

Clay pot casseroles, shrimp, fish, chicken and the ever present lamb😜

Ok, walking tour time, the world famous Blue Mosque.

You can see I had to wear pants and Cindy a head scarf to respect the shrine.

Top of the Palace hill.

Istanbul has a large number of underground cisterns that were used as water tanks supplying water via viaduct to the Palace Hill beginning in Years 500AD. One has been restored and is used in movies. It’s under remodel.

Ok , more walking and exploring. Cindy’s got us walking over 10 miles a day here so she’s happy. It’s mid 70’s with 80% humidity 😓

Spice market

The Grand Bazaar, unbelievably huge and salespeople hawking everything 😳

Food is a huge part of life in Istanbul. Stands are everywhere for spices, Turkish delights, and Baklava.

Juice carts, corn carts and bakery carts are scattered throughout the city.

Two days walking the old town, what an assault on your senses

But the highlight of Istanbul for us is the Turkish Bath. It’s a century’s old tradition in Istanbul. We visit the world famous Cagaloglu Hamam.

No pictures inside, this ones from their website.

Men on one side, woman the other, never together. First, off with the clothes, on with a towel in a private changing room. Then you are led into the Hamami’s steam room, all marble built in the 1700’s. Then a hand shower with 107 degree water, then on to the heated marble slab for a salt scrub, then a bubble massage. All the while you’re looking at a 300 year old marble beautiful building, truly a lifetime event!

Wrapped in clean towels you are taken to your private sitting room with pomegranate juice, orange water and Turkish Delights, unbelievably wonderful!

Ok, back to the tour😎

Istanbul has a great passenger ferry system to move people, this also meant we would be visiting the continent of Asia which is right next door , so we spend the next day on the ferry’s visiting different parts of the huge city

One last day today to explore and one more Turkish Bath 👍😎

Tomorrow, a quick flight to Athens, where we pick up a rental car and tour mainland Greece for two weeks 😎

Istanbul is a crazy, wild, beautiful city, if you ever get a chance, visit here

Ciao! Ciao!

PS Cindy and I have worn out two pairs of shoes each😜 cobblestones are hell on shoes✔️

Wowzers! What a crazy day! We left beautiful Bellano and drove the short one and a half hours to the Milan airport to drop off our car. However, we needed to return the car full or pay €175 to Hertz to fill the tank. One problem, it’s Sunday and all service stations we saw are self service payment on Sunday 😳 wow! We finally figured that out with the help of a very nice Italian man who spoke no English. Nice people are everywhere!

Ok, drop off the luggage at the hotel by the airport, drop off the car at Hertz at the airport and grab the regional train to Milano Centrale train station. The train station in Milan is a work of art itself!

Now onto the subway to the Duomo stop, the center of Milan. Uh-oh it’s raining harder.

Great sights, it’s just pouring down rain!

We take a quick street car ride, man it’s pouring!

Quick next few stops!

Ok, back on the subway, then the regional train to the airport and a shuttle to our hotel😓

Quite a day. We asked the front desk person how early we should get to the airport for our 11:00 AM flight to Istanbul, she says at least three hours early 😳

Say a prayer for us

Ciao ciao

Wow, do you remember the old TV series, “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”, hosted by the late Robin Leach? Well, Lake Como in the northern region of Italy is the real deal. Located only a little over one hour from the money and power of Milan and bordering Switzerland, Lake Como is one of the locations for a summer home to the top 1% of Europe and the worlds rich and famous.

We are staying in the lovely village of Bellano in a lovely Airbnb right on the lake. It’s a wall of glass overlooking the lake, unbelievably beautiful.

The weather has turned into fall, cool, cloudy and quite foggy, but still beautiful. You can imagine the summer here with nicer weather and the crowds this would be a happening place. Now, it’s very quiet and peaceful, just the way we like things 👍

Ok, quick tour of Bellano. The lake area is very steep so lots of stairs🧐

Ok, driving tour around the lake takes over four hours, so off we go! The main attraction is the lovely village of Bellagio, just beautiful!

Great drive, so beautiful, but the right way to experience Lake Como is from the water. Lake Como has a wonderful ferry service, passenger ferry’s, car ferry’s and Hydrofoil ferries. We chose the hydrofoils😎

A map of Lake Como and the ferry system!

Okay, we start in Bellano, our home!

Menaggio

The beautiful city of Bellagio from the water!

Tremezzo

Lezzeno

Argegno

Brienno

Carate Urio

Pognana Lario

Moltrasio

Then Como, by far the largest city in the Lake Como area, we visited here for a couple of hours!

Ok, turn this ship around, let’s head home! Many of the same stops, but a couple of new places and some favorites!

Laglio

Bellagio one last time😎

Varenna

As you can see, unbelievably gorgeous! One more day in Lake Como today, then tomorrow we return the rental car to the Milan airport. Then, an afternoon in Milan. Monday we fly to Istanbul Turkey for five days😳

Should be interesting, we checked with the state department for travel warnings for Turkey, but none for Istanbul🧐

Remember how Robin always closed his show!

” Wishing you champagne dreams and caviar wishes” from beautiful Lake Como

Arrivederci, Ciao Ciao 😎

We had been so lucky with the weather after our return to the continent three months ago, but we left beautiful Bertinoro for a four hour drive to Piedmont on the toll highways as planned. The skies opened and did it pour! Over 1/2 inch on our drive! Luckily we arrived safe in our new home of Calosso, located in the vineyards Piedmont district of northern Italy.

We are just below Turin Italy. Ok, easy checking in to our Airbnb, it’s a villa being remodeled, we are the only guests!

The village of Calosso is quite small, as are all the villages on the largest hills in Piedmont.

The region is so beautiful, with hillside villages and thousands of acres of grapes and Hazelnuts!

Festivals and farmers markets on the weekend! Harvest and Truffle fair. These are paprika peppers, they are delicious!

Huge wine producing area. Unlike Tuscany, they produce straight vintages here, Dolcetto, Barbera, Frizzante ( sparkling white) and Asti Spumante are the biggest. Hundreds and hundreds of wineries large and small. We did our best to help the local economy!

Unbelievably beautiful area. If you love wine, and beautiful views, this is the place for you to visit. One more day today, up to Asti Spumante today for some sightseeing and tasting 😎✔️

Next up Lake Como area of Italy 👍

Arrivederci and Ciao! Ciao!

We’ve discussed before that when we were planning this adventure, we scheduled in a little down time for a rest along the way. Bertinoro is one of those R&R destinations.

You have already seen the hunting cabin we are staying in, so comfortable. Even with the beautiful weather, Cindy requests a fire✔️

Unbelievable sunrises.

I’ve received several questions on Bertinoro’s location. Here is the basic location on the map.

Bertinoro is a very small village, way off the tour bus route, fantastic vistas.

This is a pomegranate tree with ripe fruit

Of course we found the local pizza and gelato hotspots ✔️

Local winery’s ✔️

And a new friend, Vino Nobile. The local vineyard kitty 🍷

We did manage to visit a couple of neighboring city’s, remember we are right on the Adriatic Sea here. Cesenatico is a fishing port and very popular beach destination in the summer. It’s also home to a wooden boat museum. FYI Leonardo Da Vinci designed the canal and the city center.

These cabins are used for dipping anchovy’s when they run, and for drinking vino the rest of the time😜

Today we drove to Ravenna, a very famous town for its long history of poets and writers. It’s also famous for mosaic tile work, however they charge $$ to visit those so we just walked the city. Beautiful and so quiet, a real Italian city!

Great time and we feel so rested! Four hour drive tomorrow to the Piedmont area of Italy for five nights and some more rest. Then on to Lake Como.

Arrivederci and Ciao Ciao

We have been so lucky, weather wise, since returning to the continent from UK and Ireland. It’s been mostly sunny and warm (a little humid 😳) but our last night in Rome we were treated to a huge thunderstorm! Excellent viewing from the rooftop!

Ok, off on the 16th to Tuscany! Quick one km walk to the metro, then a nine stop trip on the A line to Termini Station. Then a quick 1 1/2 hour train to Chiusi, and taxi to pickup our car at Carolina and Paulo’s! Said our goodbyes to them, then two hours on the toll highways through beautiful Tuscany to our new home in Barberino Val d Elsa, a lovely small village in the hills of Tuscany!

A lovely converted stable, please note the pizza oven and the bbq, essentials in Italy 😎👍 The next day we headed to one of our favorite Tuscan city’s Montepulciano for some wine tasting and sightseeing

Cantina Crociani and our friend Roberta, a wonderful time👍🍷A quick picnic in a vineyard and off to San Gi

San Gimignano is a lovely Tuscan hillside city, wonderfully preserved!

Back to our Airbnb and let’s use that pizza oven👍😎

I fought a cold for a couple days so I decided to rest the next day, and so Cindy and Kate headed to Florence for a visit. Who did they run in to but our friends, Sam and Jean from PDX

Small world isn’t it👍

Ok, they walked ten miles in Florence, glad I wasn’t there😎

After a quick lunch back at the villa, they decided to go wine tasting in Greve in Chianti, a lovey small village. I’m deep in a Grisham book and enjoying the sunshine on the terrace 😜

Early in the AM we head for Siena, easy to visit and easy to enjoy. Lovely city

They have horse races twice a year with competition between neighborhoods! It’s called Corriere di Siena, quite the competition

Picnic in the vineyards again on our way to Panzano, it’s olive harvest time!

Panzano is a great hilltop village, we stayed here in 2013, love it!

Wonderful time with Kate, but we have to take her to the airport. She’s headed to Munich, Salzburg then onto Berlin for the next several days!

Wonderful time again in Tuscany. It’s a magical place, and fall is especially wonderful with the leaves turning colors

Our new home, in Bertinoro, on the Adriatic coast. It’s a one bedroom converted hunting lodge in the vineyards, pinch us✔️

Ciao Ciao !

“All roads lead to Rome”, that’s the most famous saying in Italy because it’s true. Rome ruled the known world for over 600 years. Read that again, Rome ruled the world for over 600 years, some people would say more like 1000 years. Think of the wealth that poured into Rome as it’s army’s conquered the world! The city reflects that past glory and more.

After a lovey visit in Tuscany, we left the car in Chuisi, and boarded the train for Rome. It’s an easy two hour trip and we disembarked at Termini Station. Termini is the main train station in Rome and it’s huge. We are staying in an Airbnb close by the Vatican on subway line A, but decided to taxi to our new home as we haven’t mastered the subway yet and are unsure where to go. The taxis GPS says 7.3 km to destination, but 35 minutes later, we are still in the taxi. Riding in a taxi in Rome is quite the experience. Just don’t look is our motto.

We arrived safe and checked into our lovely Penthouse suite, quite the splurge for us.

Checkout that balcony 😎👍

Ok, quick walk around the new hood, check out the subway, visit the local pizza guy, all good👍😎

Rome has a very limited subway system and limited trams/street cars, so cars, scooters, buses and taxis rule the world, crazy place. We take the A line into the city. Very easy and the subway is much cleaner then in 2013, our last visit. Ok, sightseeing we go!

Spanish Steps, crazy with people. They don’t let you sit on them anymore, yeah.

Plazas and viewpoints, Rick Steves says he’s been to Rome over 30 times and sees something new every time, amazing place.

Trevi Fountain.

Ok, Kate, one of our daughters, is flying in from a short stay in London tonight so we met her at the airport. And get started early the next day.

Cindy and Kate wanted to attend Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, so off they go, bright and early. We agree to meet at 13:00 for lunch. Later they email me saying something is happening at St. Peter’s Square and the Basilica is off the table so they are going sightseeing. Ok!

I get to St. Peters Square a couple hours early. It’s a zoo! Everything is closed, security everywhere, turns out they are canonizing five people as saints! Clergy and people from around the world are there, amazing people watching!

I’m standing watching mass on the big screens in the square, Prince Charles speaks, the Pope gives the Homily, cool! Then, people start going nuts, I look up, who goes by…The Pope🧐

Unbelievable! After some time the square quiets down and we take some pics, unbelievable space.

Inside St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museums over several days.

Ok, the ladies go a sightseeing, and I go home to nap!

The Pantheon and assorted sights.

Ok, third and last day of sightseeing, you know what that means… the Colosseum, Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum 😎👍✔️

You have to use your imagination at the forum to visualize the grandeur that once filled the area. Unbelievable history. Buildings from 700 BC to 300 AD.

Rome is an unbelievably beautiful city, it’s very clean and even if the crowds are huge, and they are, it’s large enough to hold them.

It’s a great city.

We are taking the train to Chiusi this AM and picking up the car for three more days in Northern Tuscany. Could be some more wine coming our way👍😎🍷

Ciao! Ciao!😜