September 14th - to Cinque Terre

Our first full day in Cinque Terre...we enjoyed a delicious breakfast on our picturesque terrace. Then onto hike the scenic trail between the five villages. It was beautiful and we took our time, stopping for gelato in Corniglia, lunch in Vernazza (delicious pesto gnocci!), and a swim in Montorosso del Mare. We took the train back to Manarola, showered, and had dinner at Trattoria Il Porticciolo.

view from our terrace
Corniglia
Chris on the trail to Vernazza

September 12th - Venice

Up early this morning and off to Padova to visit Carel's worldwide headquarters (Chris programs their control systems). Chris visited with the guys about their new technology while Krista enjoyed touring the plant and visiting with the girls. When we arrived back in Venice, we booked it to Murano, but were too late to see the glass factories in action. We did enjoy walking around the island and came upon a neat little shop where the artisan makes his own beads for his jewelry. Krista selected a pretty necklace and earrings he made. After riding along the canal for a while, we enjoyed a relaxing dinner at Osteria Naranzaria, an amazing and romantic dinner on the grand canal at the Rialto Bridge. We had the most amazing view of two rainbows right in front of us! The bridge and shops were fun to see at night, and the music in the square was pleasant. Our bags were waiting for us when we got back to our B&B - yeah!!!a relaxing dinner
one of the beautiful rainbows
beautiful, old buildings along the canal

Krista barely missed by falling meteor
the Murano artisan making Krista's necklace and earrings




Chris wants to go into the crane and/or scaffolding business in Europe!

September 13th - last day in Venice

We enjoyed our last breakfast in our Venice courtyard, then toured St. Mark's Basilica (beautiful!), and walked through the square once more before packing and running through the rain with all our bags to the train station. We took the EuroRail to Florence, but then were stuck in the station for a while since the regional trains were on strike. Thankfully they started up again a few hours later and we made it to Cinque Terre. We met a couple from Australia on the way to Florence who looked up Hurricane Ike on their computer for us so we could see how Beaumont and Houston fared in the storm.



Rialto Bridge

Our courtyard
Krista's favorite statue at the Correr Museum..."frammento di piede di statua colossale"
St. Mark's Square
view from the Accademia bridge

September 11th - Venice, Italy

We arrived in Venice late on Wednesday, September 10th, and our luggage stayed in London. We wore the same clothes today, hoping our bags would arrive that night. Our B&B, Locanda Martin, was located on a small canal and was so charming. After a delightful breakfast in the courtyard, we explored Piazza San Marco, Museo Civico, Doge's Palace (very grand and elaborate!), enjoyed lunch at Di Peschiuti (delicious, inexpensive sandwiches), and "the world's best gelato" at La Boutique del Gelato. On to the Accademia, shopping for new clothes (our bags didn't come today), and to dinner at Ristorante Pizzeria Accademia Foscarine on the grand canal. Good pizza...slow service. Every time Chris asked our waiter for the check, he just smiled and said, "thank you." We ended the day with a romantic gondola ride under the stars...View from the Bridge of Sighs
Our daily dose of gelato!

Getting lost (again) in the streets of Venice
Our evening ride on the gondola...fun and romantic!
St. Mark's Cathedral
The Grand Canal

St. Mark's by day

Doge's Palace
View from our balcony
Breakfast at our B&B

Chris with his new friend
I'm glad my employees don't leave notes like this!

September 9th & 10th - 24 hour tour of London

I love these phone booths

Krista's special seat on the tube

St. Paul's Cathedral
Buckingham Palace



We loved these little loungers on the lawn
These guys were having a grand ol time in this neat old car
Going pink London style
A cool pirate ship we wished we could bring our boys on!
These horses may bite
Changing of the horse guard
Big Ben!
Westminster Abbey - we got to go to a choral service which was absolutely breathtaking!
London Bridge - our double decker bus tour included a boat tour of the River Thames
The Tower!
One of many beautiful gardens we walked through