I changed my flight...so I'm not home yet!

I spent a fabulous week on the island of Malta, south west of Italy. You might ask, why Malta? Turns out this week was available through my time share and since it is so cheap to fly within Europe, why not eh? Most days were high 20's and bright sunny skies. The other days I took advantage of visiting the towns of Valletta, Mdina and Seilma. Malta's architecture leaves much to be desired, except for the outstanding Cathedrals. Everything is beige and it looks like a bomb went off. Sadly, this is exactly what has happened over hundreds of centuries. The worst were the Great Siege of 1565 and WWII....oh, and Napoleon had his meat hooks into this place too. 

St. John's Co-Catherdral: Houses the beautiful
marble tombs below and 2 works of Caravaggio

Mdina glass  - kicking myself I didn't buy any....

Here is my living room and the view
from my balcony....yes, it is a nice time share!

During my stay in Malta I got word from home that a one week course to get my golf instruction certification was canceled:( Unfortunate that I won't be able to accomplish this goal of mine. It also presents a problem with my living accommodations. I am pleased to say that my tenant is staying on in my condo while I work up north this summer. However, his girlfriend is moving in and our agreement is I am to be in the condo for half the month. Soooooo.....hmmmmm what should I do with this spare time??? Stay in Europe of course! But I want to do something productive. 

After Malta I flew to Milan and visited 2 language schools to learn Italian. Learning another language is  goal of mine, especially after traveling with so many people these past months that speak more than one language.  

It was very last minute, but there was one school that clicked with me and they had a spot in the class for one week and an apartment in my most favorite city, FIRENZE:) It was meant to be! 

So I am spending the week learning Italian and I will return home June 8th. 

The gothic Duomo of Milan

The Galleria shopping 'mall' - housing shee shee
cafe's & one of my favorite boutiques...Louis Vuitton

Monte Cassino, Italy

In my last blog I mentioned how my Dzaidzi told me about visiting the island of Capri. He has also encouraged me to visit Monte Cassino just south of Rome. Dzaidzi fought for the Polish army and survived the WWII battle of Monte Cassino.  The Germans were moving their way through Cassino on their way to Rome and were defeated. Over 1,000 Polish soldiers lost their lives and the beautiful Benedictine Monastery was destroyed.

There is now a Polish cemetery and the Monastery has been rebuilt....and OMG, what an impressive site! There are commanding views of the Monastery from the Autostrada and incredible marble work and mosaics inside the Basilica. It is located high up on a mountain (Monte) and offers the most amazing views of hills, valleys and the surrounding towns. 

Polish cemetery with artistic shot of the Polish Flags

Dzaidzi: Here is the proof I was there!

Courtyard shot on the way to the Basilica

Unbelievable views from the Monastery -
can't imagine how the troops were able to climb this
mountain in the dead of winter!

Photos were not allowed but I snuck this one from
the crypt of the coats of arms from all the Pope's

Imagine this colourful palate of marble
times a ga-gillion!!!! That is what I saw in
the alters, naves and tomb floors of
the Basilica. Jaw dropping!

So here he is! Dzaidzi and I a couple of summers ago.

Ahhhh, the Amalifi Coast....

I was trilled to arrive in the Mediterranean town of Sorrento after an "eventful" stay in Naples.  The sun was out and I spent the evening having dinner in a piazza and wandering the streets of this small, but not too small, town. I came up to a promenade overlooking the beautiful sea with the sun just starting to set...
this is when I became hooked to this place.

I also toured the town of Positano and the island of Capri. My Dzaidzi (Polish for Grandfather - and he is a blog follower!) has talked about the beauty of Capri and the Blue Grotto. So they were a must see on my list! 

First off, here are some scenes from Sorrento: an adorable restaurant, lemon trees, some new friends I met from Chicago and we watched the sun set over Sorrento.

Positano is built into a rocky cliff and is full of narrow, zig zagging streets and lots and lots of stairs to climb. I found myself wandering into many of the ceramic stores of course. The day was rather overcast, but when the sun came out it made for some stunning views.

Last but not least is Capri which is only a 45 minute ferry ride from Sorrento and it is full of tourists. Visitors come to visit the Blue Grotto and to catch a glimpse of the high life on this posh island. The cliffs here are even steeper and you need to take a funicular to get to the city centre. I went for a walk further up the the cliff to the east and got some amazing photos of the other side of the island. 

View from the North Side

View from the South side

Inside the Blue Grotto

Street scape of Capri

Here is the city centre - very much a tourist town

Naples

So I went from the serenity of Venice into the the chaos of Naples. Lots of yelling, fighting, garbage on the roads etc. I cannot say that I enjoyed my time here and at the risk of giving anymore detail and offending anyone, I am going to stop there. This is a politically correct blog afterall. 

I had 2 days to explore the ruins of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Mount Vesuvius. And what makes any visit to Naples complete is eating Margarita Pizza! I went to the most sought after place by locals and tourists, Da Michele. This is where Julia Roberts indulged in her Margarita pizza in her Eat Pray Love movie. And just like here in the movie....my pants are feeling tighter!

Crater of Mt Vesuvius

View of the coastline from Vesuvius

The worn streets of Pompeii

The Anfiteatro - 70BC

Example of some uncovered murals

Exterior of a streetscape

When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD it destroyed both Pompeii (rediscovered in 1594) and Herculaneum (rediscovered in 1709). Pompeii was covered under the burning pumice stone from the volcano and Herculaneum was buried by a river of volcanic mud. I was far more impressed with the preservation of Herculaneum - see photos below.

View of the town

A dining room in a house

One of the many Bottega's 

Archeologists at work

Building of commerce

This is a small example of what I saw
on the streets in Naples

Pizzeria - photo of Julia Roberts on left:)

Cooked in a wood fire, and I ate the whole thing!

This is the line up outside the door to get in!!!

Italia! (Venice)

My body has been a bit confused. I have moved from the cool fall season to the warm temperatures of spring, an 11 hour time change, struggling with jet lag and now some congestion after traveling for 3 days on 6 planes to 6 different countries! Remarkably, all of my flights arrived at their destinations on time, and the 6 bottles of wine I packed didn't break! I was able to spend a short night at my friends house in Zurich on my way to Italy. Katarina made dinner, I unpacked, did some laundry and repacked.

My first stop is Venice where I am meeting my good friend Chris for a few days. Chis is a chef from London, Ontario, and is working in Lake Garda, Italy for the summer. So, with his taste in food and my taste in wine, I don't stand a chance of fitting into my skinny jeans when I leave!

Venice is an unbelievable place, magical and surreal.
Therefore, once again I got snap happy with the camera:)

Views from the canals of Venice

Water taxi from airport to hotel

Di & Chris with Rialto bridge

Entrance to our hotel - the coolest
 entrance I have ever seen!

On the street side of the hotel,
there is a Burberry store in front of me:)

Dodge's Palace

Bridge of Sighs - with a
disappointing amount of advertising
surrounding it.

Prosecco & people watching in Piazza San Marco

Sunrise at St. Marks - a rare opportunity
to see the square with no people