ITALY

The last time I was in Italy was about 1974. My how things have changed. With me not with the country. I'm not the hell on wheels guy as I was in my yout. Rome is after all The Eternal City and as Rome goes so goes the rest of the country.

Everywhere you turn, you see history and beauty. Roman aqueducts run through the city and everywhere are two thousand year old structures. The food is to die for and the women are beautiful. Italian women are According to the Godfather "In Italy, the women are more dangerous then shotguns".

But who wants to live a boring life anyway? I don't. 

I am here in Rome right now with my own topolina awaiting our train to Florence. We are staying in Tuscany for two weeks at a small cottage. We plan on taking a few Italian cooking classes together, taking a 13 hour train excursion through Cinque Terre, also one day train trips to Pisa and Venice. With a little luck I am also going to enjoy some down time in the pool and letto. We are a "five minute walk" to the town and I am already an olympic class walker, which is a good thing. 

We have already taken a bus trip to Pompeii and then on to Sorrento. We spent two nights at the Imperial Hotel Tramontano. From the hotel, we took a boat to Capri to see the famous Blue Grotto. The damned famous grotto was so famous the crowd was like a swarm of locusts. We never got into the grotto. Note to self, never go to anything touristy in Italy in tourist season. 

The second day in Sorrento we took a car trip to the Amalfi Coast. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to. We are seriously considering moving there, but I am holding out until I see Tuscany and Cinque Terre in particular before making firm plans.