Italy (north of Rome) is filled with beautiful places! And we have truly loved the experiences we have had traveling to many of them. It has been hard (until now) to pick a favorite place because each is beautiful and appealing in its own way. I love the uniqueness of Venice, the class and style of Florence, the antiquity of Rome, the pace and peace of Sardinia, the wonder of Pisa. But this weekend I discovered my favorite place of all- Cinque Terra!

It was a mistake that we even had a chance to visit Cinque Terra at all (but one we would gladly make over and over and over again if we had to). We had reservations in Florence to visit the David and other works of art but there was a strike in Florence the day we were supposed to be there and were advised not to go. We were pretty disappointed and decided to "just go to Cinque Terra instead". Wow, what a swap! I do love Florence, don't get me wrong. And the David is one of the most spectacular pieces of art I have ever seen but Cinque Terra... is my kind of place. It is a series of five small towns literally carved out of the cliffs over looking the sea. It is mountains and ocean and sunshine and seagulls and boats and cafes and steep roads and clean air and great restaurants and vineyards and cats and old people and peace and solitude and... if I ever run away (and I have been thinking about it)- you will know where to find me!If you ever come to Italy (and you know I hope you do) you have to let me take you to Cinque Terra! It is a place you will never forget!

We just got home from a trip to Venice- it was wonderful! I love Venice. I have been there in the spring, summer and now in the fall. I must admit (though it was beautiful before) Venice was even more enchanting this time around. The cool weather, cloudy sky and beautiful autumn colors were breathtaking. Our favorite thing- feeding the pigeons at St. Marks Square- remains unchanged with the season however. They no longer allow vendors to sell pigeon food to tourist at St. Mark's but that doesn't mean you can't feed them (at least that is what we discovered). Ross and Spencer gladly shared their morning trial mix with the birds in Venice. There were lots of them around to feed and they were hungry! We had a great time.

It is almost midnight and I am racing around like a mad woman trying to pack for our trip tomorrow! We are going to Sardegna for the week and we are SO excited! This is a long awaited trip for all of us and we are squeezing it in the absolute last week of summer! Anyway, I just wanted to let you know we will be gone for awhile. Look for pictures (I finally gave up hope that I would find my old camera and bought a new one) and great stories (Spencer and Ross will be with us and they are always good for a few laughs) when we return!

When I went to the Swiss Alps as a teenager, I thought hum, cool! But when we crossed over the Italian / Swiss boarder a few weeks ago and started driving through the Alps, it literally took my breath away! The mountains were way bigger and much more beautiful than I remembered.

We spent one of our days in the Alps riding gondolas and trains and hiking and exploring near a water fall. It was all so amazing! Here are a few of my favorite pictures.

This is a view from one of the the rest stops along the highway between the Italian / Swiss boarder and Bern. Hi- could we get some rest stops like this is Italy?

The view from the gondola on the ride up the mountain- it was breathtaking!

Our family at the top!

Mountains- my favorite kind of beautiful!

Here are a few pictures from Bern- one of my favorite cities in the world! Enjoy.

A view of the bridge and surrounding area that leads to down town Bern.

The place in Bern where we sat and watched the sunset.
I'll take one of those nice houses on the hill. How about you?

Down Town Bern

If I can't have the house on the hill, I'll settle for one of these on the river.


Beside being clean and beautiful, Bern is extremely posh. The is a picture of the store front display of a floral shop on the main street. Hello. Is this cool or what?

My favorite part...their store sign. Down low on the left hand side was this small plaque - surrounded by real dirt! I'm sorry but THAT is cool.

There were many other very cool shops in Bern and I am happy to say I did not have "non buyers remorse" there. I actually bought a really cool necklace that I love and will always treasure as a reminder of the wonderful week I spent in Bern.