Pictures from Jen's Italy travels: Bologna, Florence, and onward...

Jen met up 6/25 in Bologna with her friends Karen, Kim, and Karen's mom Linda who planned this whole trip.

Not with them, but very much on the trip is their friend Lynne who they always planned to go to Italy with. She passed away two falls ago. They miss her very much.

Jen writes on their first night in Bologna, "We went to a fancy restaurant Zenzero and had a wonderful meal. Things like quinoa and mushrooms.
Tomorrow we go to an art museum that has a special show of street art. The museum has a lot of history of Bologna. Then Tues. we are going to Florence. Thats all I know for now -- more adventure to come!

Street art, and Dave's pics from his walk through Bologna that evening:

"We had a great day. We all slept in, and had gelato for breakfast! We visited a printmakers studio, La Tartalana, in Bologna. Daniela demonstrated her press and technique for us. We had another great dinner of course."

"Took the fast train from Bologna to Florence for the day. It was fast! Went to the Bargello Sculpture Museum, The Accademia Museum, saw Michelangelo's David. We ate gelato more than once!"

After Bologna and Florence Jen and friends trained south to Arezzo and then up into the Casentino valley nestled against the Appenine mountains, where they'll start with 3 days in the Tuscan hill town of Poppi.

Jen writes, "We just got to La Torricella and it's absolutely gorgeous. Karen, Kim and I are sharing a room which has two floor to ceiling windows that face the castle in Poppi. I can see the castle from my bed! We might go to the castle this afternoon. There is a wonderful family-run restaurant here. From our room you look across to the iconic Tuscan countryside. It's like we are in Italy now. And we had homemade gnocchi for lunch...."

"Tonight we meet and have dinner here with Antonio, a friend of Linda's. Tomorrow I think we tour the Camaldoli Monastery."

"There are  covered tables here outside with jasmine draped over them, like a canopy. We picture ourselves there reading or just looking at the countryside."

The next day, "Today we toured the Poppi castle, built in the 12th century. It houses the Rilliana Library which has hundreds of precious manuscripts. The most memorable for me is the first edition on Dante's Inferno which was on display."

On top of the world: wandering in the Dolomite alps

You never know who you'll meet on the trail. Fortunately there's no language barrier with this local, so we chatted merrily for a few minutes and then tipped our hats/bells and went our ways.
While Jen is on a long planned two-week Italy adventure with three friends, Dave headed off to the mountains.
I've been wandering for a week now in the Dolomite range on the Italy/Austria border, a land of high meadows and fantastic stone peaks. I've had serene campsites each night, just birdsong and wind and rosy sunsets and sunrises. Stayed a night at a hut high on Tierser pass, and descended one of the famous "via ferrata" (iron trails) where steel pins in the stone and cables give some measure of security as you search for footholds carved in the rock. Bathed in waterfalls and wandered through rock-bound meadows and secret valleys. Escaped a storm another night by staying with a family at the "malga" cabin they move up to each summer with their cows -- I slept in the shed. We had a nice visit while it hailed outside, with the little Italian we each knew -- they speak the local Ladin at home. 
Today I start down out of the peaks, tomorrow back down to the villages, cell reception to send this post and get email, a bus down to dinner in Bolzano and the train south to my next mountain range: the Appenines. Can't wait to get an email from Jen -- wonder what she's been up to? 

Italy: the stone coast

We had coffee & croissants with Axun & Steve in the San Sebastian airport, then flew south along the white peaks of the Pyrenees, with a clear view of the pass we crossed in the clouds at the start of our walk two months ago -- what an adventure we've had! We landed in Barcelona, then flew on east over the Mediterranean to Bologna -- the start of a month in Italy that will see Jen traveling with friends for two weeks while Dave heads off to the mountains. But first we must go dip our toes in the Mediterranean sea!
The Appenine mountains run up the  spine of Italy, then curve west and crash into the sea at the Liguria (stone) coast. From Bologna we navigated the Italian train system, very grateful to end the day strolling through medieval Levanto to Ristorante La Loggia, where Nerina keeps a few rooms overlooking a shady plaza, a block from the beach.
Ah, the sea: we swam in the early morning, and sunned and drifted among the anchored fishing boats in the afternoon. Coffee and chocolate croissants by the bay, pasta, salad and wine by the plaza. To skip the crowds in the too-famous Cinque Terre towns, we got a local map and hiked the higher rougher trails. We loved the 4-hour walk from Levanto around Punta Mesco to Monterosso al Mare: magic forests opening to sea cliffs. In the evening we walked along the harbor wall to watch the sunset colors turn to stars, and the town lights ripple across the bay.

Farewell to Spain

From Llanes we moved on to Altamira to see the cave paintings, and then back to Bilbao where the archaeological museum rounded out our picture of the last 100,000 years of human cultures in northern Spain. Bilbao was as exciting as when we first landed there two months ago: pintxo (tapas) bars at night and street performers in the day, strolling families young and old -- great people-watching!
We spent our last few days in Spain with Steve and Axun and all their family and friends in Idiazabal - so fun to be back in Basque country. Rosie and Axun threw us a party at the social hall, and Steve made us cake that mirrors the map on our blog. We visited the amazing Puppet Museum in vibrant Tolosa, and we went for walks to little hilltowns, including Altzo where the largest man in Europe came from - see us by his life-sized statue.
We've been so lucky to have Steve and Axun's warm friendship, hospitality, help, and introduction to Basque culture. And Axun's great cooking!
Farewell, adios, agur to our friends and adventures all across northern Spain -- you are in our hearts forever.