Wandering About Makes Home Even Sweeter

Ed and I have been Globe-trotting during the first couple weeks of the summer. We escorted a merry band of 20 students and 6 adults all around Italy. It was Ed's 2nd trip to that country and my 3rd. We started in Venice on June 5th and traveled all the way south to the "tip of the boot" in Capri by June 15th.

It was a great adventure and we made some wonderful memories, particularly because our daughter Gretchen was also able to travel with us. Seeing others experience a place for the very first time is a delightful thing. I will never forget watching my students' jaws drop at their first sight of the Duomo in Florence or the Coliseum in Rome!

In addition, I was able to see a couple of new things that I'd never seen as well. We got to stop on the island of Murano and see the master glass blowers at work and at Pompeii we got to see the amphitheater which is in amazingly well-preserved condition. I also stayed in a seaside town called Meta, just outside Sorrento, which made me a forever fan of the southern Italian Almalfi Coast region.

Now that I am home there are things that I find myself appreciating about life here as well. For example: our public toilets come with seats attached and you can find them easily and most come free of charge. Also, while not all American coffee is as good as cappuccino or expresso, it is FAR better than what Italians make when you request a "cafe Americano"!

Things about Italy I will miss include: lemon granita, gelato, canoli, prices that don't require the use of pennies, and the beautiful lilt of spoken Italian (complete with its often hilarious gestures!.
It is great to be home!

Ancient Theaters, Beautiful Beaches, and Volcanoes: Sicily!

Today's post is about the days we spent on the island of Sicily! What a beautiful place! Our ferry landed in the port city of Messina. From there we drove to Naxos by the sea, a beautiful resort town at the foot of Mt. Etna on the Northeast coast of Sicily.

We stayed at the Hotel Sporting Baia, very nice and RIGHT on the beach! From here we went on excursions to Taormina, an ancient Greek city with some of the oldest ruins in Sicily, and also to Mt. Etna, a VERY much still active volcano - which managed to erupt rather impressively again just 7 days after our visit. Lava was flowing and the mountain was steaming while we were there on the island. It is remarkable to me how calmly the people of the region deal with living at the foot of one of the largest active volcanoes in that part of the world! They say the mountain erupts every year, but only in a "big" way every 3-4 years! Looked pretty "big" to me... even with just a little lava oozing out!

Taormina is about 5 miles from Naxos and higher up so it afforded some great views back across the bay toward our hotel. Sicily is definitely a place I hope to return to someday. It's beautiful and the people are very friendly!

A view of Naxos from the city of Taormina. Our hotel is marked in the photo... double click
on the photo to see greater detail!

The view from my hotel window... the beach! Beautiful!

Just one of many gorgeous walkways in the the town of Taormina.

The ancient Greek theater of Taormina. At it's height this theater could seat 9000 spectators, and as you can see it's still in use today! They hold a major film festival here that rivals the one at Cannes in France!

My students climbing one of Mt. Etna's ash cones from the 2001 eruption. They are at the 6,500 ft.

level on a 11.500 ft. volcano.

Mt. Etna by day... steaming both from its cone and from a lava flow some 1/3rd of the way down the
left side of the mountain.

The lava flow glows eerily by night! This is slow moving, oozing sort of lava.. nothing to be concerned about according to the locals. However, 6 days later, Etna erupted again!

The Isle of Capri (KAH'-pree)

I provided the pronunciation for today's photo stop because the Italians get a little bit riled if you pronounce this gorgeous island like we here in the States pronounce knee length shorts! They politely tell you that the accent is on the FIRST syllable (thank you very much) and then talk for as long as you let them about the beauty of the place.

The "Arch of Love"- if you kiss (or think about) the one you love while passing under it,
you will stay in love forever. Nifty!

One of the many gorgeous vistas to be seen from the top of the island.

Check out the aquamarine blue of the water!

It's breezy and beautiful up here!

The public beach in the harbor of Capri... again, lovely, clear, and gorgeously blue!

I won't argue that point one bit. Capri was THE most beautiful place we saw in the 15 day trip. It is also inhabited by some of the world's wealthiest (and beautiful) people! We visited the shoreline town of Capri and then rode up the funnicular railway to the town at the top, Annacapri, which literally means "above Capri". I want to teach school HERE someday! Wow! Gorgeous views! We also took a boat ride excursion around the north end of the island and saw the majestic rocks that rise right out of the sea. The guides and locals have named many of the rock formations after various animals that they "see" in the shapes. All in all, a place I would LOVE to return to someday!

The City of "David"

And no, I don't mean Bethlehem.... it's Florence! Michelangelo made a huge splash of an impact on this town, which has one of my favorite Duomos in all of Italy! Everywhere you look, there is color and beauty. They even have a famous pig! The Porcellino is a sort of Florentine Trevi Fountain... water drips out of his mouth and when you stick a coin in there, if it drops directly into the grate below (money going to charity, of course) it means you will return to this artsy city once more. It worked for me 2 years ago; I hope it does again!

The famous and beautiful Santa Maria del Fiore.... or Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Little Flower. Hands down, one of the most gorgeous cathedrals in Europe!

And here's the famous Pig (Porcellino) of Florence... a wild boar actually. He sits in the middle of an open air market daring all comers to put their hands (with coin) into his mouth.

Now the Photos Begin!

I have been home for a little more than 48 hours and now I can start posting my photos. Our first city was Verona on June 6. However, it rained the entire time we were there and aside from seeing Juliet's balcony, the city was rather unremarkable. In fact, much of northern Italy was rather unremarkable except for Venice. That city is certainly worth seeing and truly a wonder! We spent a full day exploring the city and touring its major sites. Included in that , we saw how the famous Venetian glass and laces were made and we took a gondola ride. Here are just a few of the many photos I took while there!

The view from our "water taxi" as we approached the city.

The Piazza San Marco with the famous St. Mark's Cathedral. (Note the also-famous pigeons)

The gang... a.k.a. the "Staude Seven" The girls (L-R): Rachel, Sammy, Hanna, Katie;
and the guys: Marcus, Greg, and Clayton. We had a blast the entire 15 days!

A scenic shot from my gondola!

A view back towards the Rialto Bridge, one of only 3 bridges that cross the Grand Canal. Note the "hunky" gondolier.... we thought about bringing him home to work on the Missouri River!

Six of the gang in their gondola! Each gondola is worth over $30,000 Euro!

As you can see from just these few starting photos, we saw many beautiful things on the trip. Stay tuned for more as I work on getting my photos all ready for printing!

Our Adventures Continue!

Hello readers!
It has been an exciting 5 days since I was last able to post! I will take you through what we've been doing as fast as my 30 minutes online will allow... (2,50 euro for that!)
June 10 - We arrived in Assisi and we stayed in the ancient town itself. The hotel had a gorgeous view of the modern town below. This was a town that the bus couldn't drive up into so we packed little overnight bags and road up on an escalator! Visited the cathedrals and basillicas dedicated to St. Clare and St. Francis of Assisi. (each of them are buried in their respective churches! - kinda creepy!! St. Clare is encased in wax and out there for everyone to see!)
Tonight's entertainment included taking the kids strolling through the streets after dinner where Sammy, Hanna, and Katie performed impromptu dances to tunes on their iPods while we cheered them on! Fun!
June 11 - A LONG drive today towards Sorrento and the sea! Stayed in what we finally dubbed ''Camp Sorrento''. which were tiny sort of holiday cabins, VERY rustic, but the kids were troopers. Besides, the place had a pool and great air conditioning!!!
June 12 - traveled to the Island of Capri by boat! Gorgeous! Rode the tram up to the top city on the island and strolled with a guide to see all the sights. Also rode smaller boats around the island to see the grottos and rock formations. The aquamarine water is truly as unique as they say!!!
June 13 - Drove to Sicily - the longest drive of the trip! We are here in Naxos at the base of Mt. Etna which is steaming above us. We had a chance to swim in the sea on our arrival last night - it was COLD!
June 14 - Today we toured the ancient city of Taormina and saw the ancient Greek theater there and the medieval city. Very Quaint! We also rode up Mt. Etna and climbed around on the largest active volcano in Europe. It is actually flowing on one side of the mountain which we should be able to see from our room tonight as a red glow on the mountain side. The kids all climbed up a crater formed in 2004. I climbed around on a smaller one formed in 2001. It was very weird - like being on the moon or someplace similar! Tomorrow and Monday are election days in Italy.. so we are interested to see what excitement that generates here in Sicily. We will travel to Palermo tomorrow... and then hop on a ferry for an overnight ride up to Naples.

Now a ''kid report'' - all students are healthy, happy, and not yet out of money! Everyone is a great traveler and I would take them anywhere!!! Everywhere we go, people compliment me on their politeness! You can all be very proud of them!!!!

I will try to post again before we leave Italy.... Ciao everyone! We miss you but are having a great time!

Here We Are!

Hello readers!
For those of you who've been checking, all 8 of the intrepid Italian travelers are having a blast! Sorry not to have reported before this, but we've been ensconced in quaint hotels and seaside spots with VERY limited (meaning NONE) internet access.

But here we are, in Florence today, spending our freetime dodging rain in an internet cafe. Now a progress report. A little something about our shopping adventures. All of you who are loved by one of us are going to be thrilled when we arrive home. The gang of travelers has hit all the best spots.... Murano glass, Leather, lace products, the works!!! We still have many days to go but we are SURE there are more treasures out there waiting to be found.

Today's sightseeing in included the ancient city of Pisa, about an hour and fifteen minutes west of Florence. We saw the tower, the cathedral, and the baptistry. Took the classic "hold up the tower"pics and had a wonderful time.

Yesterday's adventures included the Duomo of Florence and a guided walking tour around the town. We crossed the Ponte Vecchio and saw the Porcellino (that's a big bronze Pig - that you pet, sort of the Trevi Fountain Pig of Florence!)

I wish I could post photos with this entry, but my access will not allow that at this place. We are taking TONS of photos. It will be fun to share them when we get home.

Other things to note: Yes, it has rained everyday... but only a little bit everyday. Just enough to make umbrellas a needed item. We have also eaten gelato EVERYDAY.. sometimes more than once. (hmmm.. maybe there's a connection there.) We have learned that we don't like pidgeons much... especially Hanna... there's a story there we'll let HER tell when she gets back. Everyone has been on time EVERY day no matter when we need to meet. The gang.. now known as the Staude Seven is an AWESOME bunch of travelers!!!! (Parent's should be VERY proud.) Marcus has become known as the best "navigator"in our group. No matter where we are, he knows the way back... most times without a MAP! Impressive in one so young (and male!!!)

We will continue to try to post throughout our journeys... and if possible add a photo or two as we go along. Just know that the kids are having a marvelous time. They have become citizens of the world, talking with people, trying their Italian out on locals, and making new friends. It's hard to believe that just 3 days ago they looked around Milan's airport with such big eyes and today they navigated their way to the heart of Florence without even peeking at the map. Just read the signs and strolled.

Speaking of walking: we are averaging at best guess between 6 and 8 miles per day. So when we get home you'll all have a hard time keeping up with us! Love to all of you back in the states.... Ciao ciao!!!