5 hours in Florence

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Kristen

We kept the last 4 day of our trip open so that we were free to wander as we desired. After looking at the map, we decided on the inspirational town of Assisi, home of St Francis and the pilgrimage … Continue reading →

Lake Como and the hunt for George Clooney

Posted on May 23, 2016 by Kristen

Lake Como sits just about an hour by train from Milan and it is a perfect day trip when you need a little sun, some cool waters and a taste of the good life. We caught an early morning train … Continue reading →

Milan

Posted on May 22, 2016 by Kristen

Our lasting impressions of Milan… CLEAN It is clean, super clean in fact. Even the metro and sotopassiagios smell fresh. IMPORTANT It’s very busy and important. The people move at a quick clip and there are few gypsies on the … Continue reading →

Venezia!

Posted on May 22, 2016 by Kristen

We took off from Cinque Terre for the other coast–and the magic of Venice. It was about a 6 hour train ride from the La Spezia station with a brief stop at a local station to change trains. Arrival in … Continue reading →

Cinque Terre

Posted on May 21, 2016 by Kristen

After a week of non-stop sight-seeing, it was refreshing to pack up our bags and head off for the jewel of Italy–the Cinque Terre. We planned 4 days on the coast selecting Manarola as our home base. Most tourists come to … Continue reading →

Water

Posted on May 20, 2016 by Kristen

Tim and I talked about the role that water play a huge role in the major cities of Europe. All great cities are founded on a river; the livelihood and survivability of a city is directly linked to its quality … Continue reading →

Greece Trip Itinerary

Tim’s completion of a year-long chaplaincy residency is the perfect time to celebrate. While Ireland still makes the top of our “Must Visit List”, the draw of sunshine, water and an oracle or two made Greece our destination for 2018. After a visit to the library to check out every Greece and Turkey travel book in San Diego County, we settled on this 2 week itinerary:

Depart LAX for Mykonos (via Athens) ………stay Mykonos for 2 days with an excursion to the island of Delos….

Next stop is Santorini, the island famous for it’s blue-domed houses and deep blue waters. We’ll stay here for 3 days

Then, on to Rhodes, which once boasted the historical Colossus of Rhodes, one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World. The monument may no longer be standing but the island is chock full cobblestone streets and fortified old towns.

From Rhodes, we’ll head over to Marmaris, Turkey. The primary draw for visiting Turkey is to get up to Ephesus but we found that taking a ferry to the southern end of the country offers a great deal on seaside resorts with rock bottom prices–so we’ll indulge in the island life for a bit. We plan to hire a private guide to tour Ephesus on one of our days in Turkey.

Finally, we’ll fly north to Athens and spend 3 days touring the crumbling landmarks of that ancient city. The Acropolis, Agora and lots of temple ruins should satisfy the inner goddess in me.