Shop 'til You DROP

This past week, Paula, Maray, Kendra, and Bari, 4 of Will’s daughters, a son-in-law, Jim, and an 18 year-old granddaughter, Maryna, visited us in Italy. We were warned ahead of time that this was going to be a shopping holiday.

A shop ‘til you drop week began at the open air markets in Rome.

continued on throughout Rome, Firenze, Pisa, Cinque Terre, and Tivoli

with a fantastic show and tell every evening



Lest you think that Jim was one step behind the girls, take another look!

When we weren’t shopping, we were eating tomato sandwiches at the apartment

or pizza in downtown Rome

or trying out new yummy food at the restaurant at the end of our street

or licking a gelato daily.
Even though we all tried to push the leaning tower of Pisa over or hold it in place, Jim seemed to be the most proficient at the task.

As we waited for the boat to travel to Cinque Terre,

we enjoyed a car show that was going on in LaSpezia.


The boat ride to the 5 villages of Cinque Terre is always a treat:


When we arrived in Montorosso, the girls were anxious to dip their toes into the Mediterranean Sea

The water is soooo beautiful in Cinque Terre. We declare this the picture of the week:

Corpus Domini, a “flower petal tapestry” holiday called Infiorata is celebrated 9 weeks after Easter. The Flower Art Festival was in full swing in Cinque Terre.

Up one street, the kids were in charge of the flower carpet.

Down the next street professionals were at work making more beautiful designs with flower petals.

Picturesque Cinque Terre is always a delight
Here are Maray, Bari, Kendra, Paula


We saw the process of putting the boats into the water from high up on narrow streets of the village.

The walk along the Via deli Amore from the village of Manarola to Riomaggiore is easy and delightful.


Especially the gorgeous sunset.

Our kids spent two days in Switzerland, allowing us to get back to work at the office.
But on Friday, we visited Tivoli for a slow-down, relaxing type of day.



Then we finished off by heading downtown once again to see the Coliseum at night.

At Termini, we met a delightful 86 year-old Italian woman who attracted our attention with her rings. The “ring lady” allowed us to take our picture with her

and her rings.

No trip to Rome would be complete without being caught in a bus strike. The girls were a little concerned when at 11:00 p.m. the bus to our apartment was not running because of a strike. They had an early morning airplane to catch for home. With a little Heavenly help, we made it work, and they were able to return to their families as planned.
What a great week!