Via Francigena, Lucca to Rome 2025

  Leaving our AirBnB this morning at 6:15 Hello y’all, our Via Francigena has begun.  We left this morning at 6:15 hoping to beat the heat. 🥵. It ended up 100 degrees, 20 degrees over average temperatures.  It was relatively cool as we started out this morning, we chose to take the longer, more scenic route.  We walked out of Lucca along the aqueduct, that is no longer in use, for 3 miles or so.  We then started up into the hills, where the spring waters used to supply the aqueduct, it got amazingly cool, and we thought, maybe this won’t be so bad.  It stayed cool as we continued up and across the ridge, but as we descended, the temperature and sun became more brutal.  Another factor on the alternative route, was there would be few places to get drinks or food.  As it turned out, nothing was open, and we didn’t find a place until around 1:00(after12 miles), as the alternate route met the standard route.  We were exhausted and in need of some...

Il Duomo Cathedral   Hello y’all, since I last wrote, we spent a day in Florence and two days in Cinque Terre.  We toured Il Duomo Cathedral in Florence.  We climbed to the top of the dome, using the narrow, spiral staircase which seemed to go on forever, for someone who has a little claustrophobia.  It certainly was worth it for the view, both inside and outside the dome.                        Lower portion of the Dome Upper portion of Dome Narrow stairs The view from the top of the dome Sunset in Florence  Off to Cinque Terre, the five towns built on the rocky coasts, and connected originally by paths over rocky mountains, or what I call cliffs.  The day we arrived, we hiked the shortest, but steepest path to Riomaggiore.  This was one of the steepest, toughest hikes that I think I’ve ever done.  Wth that being said, I have a bad memory, there is currently a heat wave here, and I ...

Sometimes everyone doesn’t cooperate…..who raised these boys? Hello Y’all, Well, our family vacation / cruise has come to an end.  It was a perfect venue for a family trip.  We were able to spend so much quality time together.  We played card games whenever we weren’t on a shore excursion or being entertained on the ship.  We had plenty of laughs together, and are already looking forward to our next year’s family trip.   I don’t think Rudy and I are particularly “cruise people”, but having the boys along made it a much better time. Today, we sent Nicky off to the Airport, while the three of us went to the Acropolis today for a morning tour, some more Greek food, and more cards.  Tomorrow Steven will head back to Florida, and we will head to Rome, then on to Florence, we will do a couple more days of site seeing before we start our hike in Lucca.  That’s it for now!                     Climbing the walls...

 Hello y’all, after arriving in Germany and spending a few days in Kaiserslautern with my son Nicky, we are now on our first full day of Cruising.  Our experience with Virgin Voyages, at least for the first 12 hours has been fabulous.  Everything is top notch on this ship.  The cabin is small but well laid out, and the food so far is amazing.  I think I have underestimated the amount of weight that I will gain. Our time in Germany with Nicky was mostly visiting, eating, and playing card games.  As Rudy stated again, and we’ve said before, European towns are set up for easy living, you can walk everywhere that you need to go, and we did.  It was a very pleasant visit, and now we get to spend time with both boys on the cruise. No photos, can’t seem to attach them on the ships internet.  Sorry!