Today is our last full day in Bella Italia. As I pass the fields of sunflowers, wheat and corn fields, and the many vineyards of Tuscany on my way back to Rome, I revel in the peace and tranquility that is in the countryside of Italy. It seems as though every square inch of land bursts forth some type of vegetation that has a purpose. Along side all of these fields are century old farm houses of stucco and red tile roofs as well as towns and villages seen in the magazines or movies of a typical Italian countryside. As we drive along the autostrada, I try to soak in the sunshine that has graced this trip to the country that my grandparents called home and is the land of my roots. Right now on the bus, they are playing the movie "Roman Holiday" with Gregory Peck and Audry Heburn, who played a princess who escaped the confines of a royal life to enjoy the simple pleasures of a typical day in Rome.
Life in Italy in general is very practical. We just passed a truck carrying dairy cows and within each cow's stall on the truck there was a fan placed their for their comfort. So typical Italian.
We just are coming from our last stop on the tour which was to visit the town of San Gigimignano. It boasts to be Italy's best preserved medieval town complete with all types of shops and spectacular views of surrounding fields of sunflowers, vineyards and olive groves. It gives and excellent picture of what Italy looked like in the Middle Ages. The best gelato in Italy can be had in its town square at a place called Pluripremiata Gelateria Artigiana. I had the passion fruit and pineapple flavors and it was phenominal and deserved my ranking as the number one gelateria in all of Italy (at least on this trip!!!) What was also cool about this town is that near the top of the town, they set up an outdoor screen along with a bunch of chairs and that is their cinema. It is a one movie town!!
We stopped for lunch in Siena which is where they have the Palio which is a horse race in which all of the 17 neighborhoods of the town compete for bragging rights. I purchased a panforte which is a local delicacy sort of like a heavy one inch fruitcake. I purchased one with just figs and nuts which tasted like a crunchy fig newton.
We headed to Rome and to our hotel called the Sheraton Golf as it has one of the few golf courses here in Italy. It costs about 60 euros per round. After freshening up, the entire group drove on the bus back into the center of town for our group picture which was taken in front of the Coliseum near the Arch of Constantine. Then we headed for dinner at the Opera ristorante which had an opera singer and accordion player who entertained us while we ate our dinner of pesto cavatali with pears, followed by chicken with arugala and rosemary potatoes with lemon sorbet for dessert. Then we went across the street for some gorgeous nighttime photos of the Castle San Angelo as well as St. Peter's in the distance. After returning back to the hotel, we all gathered near the pool to share the bottles of wine and food we had purchased during the day and to say our goodbyes as it was the last day for our tour group.
From the time shared with our Italian cousins to the time spent with strangers who became our friends on the tour, I have come to learn to love the simple joys of living that exemplify life in Italy. Life in Italy centers on the three F's of food, family and friends mixed with a lot of love, a little bit of vino and a daily portion of gelato!!! Life is too short for anything less!!
As I try to savor and store in my memory bank all of what I have seen and done on this journey to Italy, I realize once again that it is in all of our differences that we are all the same. And that we all want the same things in life. As we drove passed one of the American cemeteries here in Italy from World War II, I realize that the price for our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness was paid by those who came before us and that they deserve to be remembered and appreciated for what they did for us and the world we live in today. God bless them and God bless us all!!
Life in Italy in general is very practical. We just passed a truck carrying dairy cows and within each cow's stall on the truck there was a fan placed their for their comfort. So typical Italian.
We just are coming from our last stop on the tour which was to visit the town of San Gigimignano. It boasts to be Italy's best preserved medieval town complete with all types of shops and spectacular views of surrounding fields of sunflowers, vineyards and olive groves. It gives and excellent picture of what Italy looked like in the Middle Ages. The best gelato in Italy can be had in its town square at a place called Pluripremiata Gelateria Artigiana. I had the passion fruit and pineapple flavors and it was phenominal and deserved my ranking as the number one gelateria in all of Italy (at least on this trip!!!) What was also cool about this town is that near the top of the town, they set up an outdoor screen along with a bunch of chairs and that is their cinema. It is a one movie town!!
We stopped for lunch in Siena which is where they have the Palio which is a horse race in which all of the 17 neighborhoods of the town compete for bragging rights. I purchased a panforte which is a local delicacy sort of like a heavy one inch fruitcake. I purchased one with just figs and nuts which tasted like a crunchy fig newton.
We headed to Rome and to our hotel called the Sheraton Golf as it has one of the few golf courses here in Italy. It costs about 60 euros per round. After freshening up, the entire group drove on the bus back into the center of town for our group picture which was taken in front of the Coliseum near the Arch of Constantine. Then we headed for dinner at the Opera ristorante which had an opera singer and accordion player who entertained us while we ate our dinner of pesto cavatali with pears, followed by chicken with arugala and rosemary potatoes with lemon sorbet for dessert. Then we went across the street for some gorgeous nighttime photos of the Castle San Angelo as well as St. Peter's in the distance. After returning back to the hotel, we all gathered near the pool to share the bottles of wine and food we had purchased during the day and to say our goodbyes as it was the last day for our tour group.
From the time shared with our Italian cousins to the time spent with strangers who became our friends on the tour, I have come to learn to love the simple joys of living that exemplify life in Italy. Life in Italy centers on the three F's of food, family and friends mixed with a lot of love, a little bit of vino and a daily portion of gelato!!! Life is too short for anything less!!
As I try to savor and store in my memory bank all of what I have seen and done on this journey to Italy, I realize once again that it is in all of our differences that we are all the same. And that we all want the same things in life. As we drove passed one of the American cemeteries here in Italy from World War II, I realize that the price for our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness was paid by those who came before us and that they deserve to be remembered and appreciated for what they did for us and the world we live in today. God bless them and God bless us all!!
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