I journeyed to Italy by ferry from the Greek port of Patras. This is an overnight ferry that stopped the next morning at Cyprus before arriving in Brindisi, Italy.
On the ferry I met Janet & Elizabeth McKenzie from New Zealand. We decided to hang together for a few days in Italy.
After arriving in Brindisi we immediately jumped on a train to Rome. I normally skip capital cities (too touristed) but Elizabeth convinced me it would be a crime to miss Roma.
After surviving an unfortunate incident with a con-artist in the train station (lesson learned: don't arrive in a new city late in the evening) we got ourselves set up in the Rome Youth Hostel.
Here we are in one of Rome's famous sights: the laundramat down the street from the youth hostel.
Notice the authentic Chinese take-away we are eating while waiting for our laundry. When in Rome, as they say...
The next day it was off to even more glamorous sights than the laundramat, Trevi fountain.
That is me in the low-profile fluorescent lime-green t-shirt.
And the Spanish Steps.
During our couple days in Rome we saw a lot of impressive architecture. For me, the most impressive was the Pantheon and the excavation of a Roman Forum (unfortunately I didn't get pictures of either one of them).
Rome is a big, noisy city with too many scooters and tourists. Fortunately I met someone in the hostel that was heading out North. I convinced him to go to Sienna in Tuscany.
Sienna is one of the many "Hill towns" in Tuscany. The town is built on top of a hill with incredible views of the rolling green valleys and farms below them.
This is the view from my room where I stayed in a nunnary (I'm
not kidding!). In this picture you can see the new cathedral Duomo
made of alternating layers of black and white stone.
This is my entry from my journal:
Monday, Sienna (with the nuns): Such a feeling of peace, of sanctuary. My room is perfect with a view that refreshes my soul. I sit on my balcony and just stare off into the distance. The cathedral Duomo dominates the skyline on the adjacent hill. On the right the view extends down the green valley between the hills into the distance.
The simple lace curtains on the windows is enchanting (and I don't
even like lace usually). This place has so much positive energy
for the soul. Then I find the shared living room of the nuns sanctuary
and am stunned again. An oasis of tranquillity. With sunlight
through the skylights, no other illumination is necessary. The
antique tufted velvet furniture is arranged in inviting conversation
areas for the guests to sit and chat. This afternoon the only
sound to invade is the occasional soft chirping of birds outside.
The simple art on the walls (even though Christian) is far more
engaging to me than anything I saw in the cathedrals of Rome.
It may even have been painted by the nuns themselves. The monks
shown are handsome. Even the Christ in one painting is handsome
and kissable (not like those skinny, emasciated pictures they
normally paint). A large photograph on the wall shows Pope John
Paul visiting here. A small painting of Mary and the Christ child
surpasses any that I saw in the oth