Bellagio, Lake Como, Day One

From Cinque Terra, we traveled to beautiful Lake Como, where we stayed in Bellagio. Here we met up with my brother, David and his wife, Debbie, who had been touring other parts of Italy and Austria. Lake Como is in the form of a Y with Bellagio located at the center of the fork in the Y. Today we did a walking tour of the area and hit all of the local villeges. We had time on the tour to visit the beautiful gardens of the Villa Melzi and to have a private wine tasting at the Villa Crella. The pictures are of David, Debbie, Georgia and I with the Alps in the background, a street in Bellagio, a lakefront walkway in Bellagio, the gardens at the Villa Melzi, and our private wine tasting the Villa Crella.

Cinque Terra

After leaving Rome, we spent two lovely days in Cinque Terra. We hiked and took the train to all five villeges. One of the highlights was having lunch in a 1000 year old restaurant in Vernazza. We stayed in a lovely hotel in Monterolla with unbeleaveable views. Below are pictures of all five of the villeges.

The Vatican

On day two in Rome we visited the Vatican, which is an independent counrty, with the pope as its ruler. We can't say enough about all of the antiquities, ceiling paintings,and wall paintings in the Vatican museum, St. Peter's Basilica, and the Sistine Chapel. The ceiling paintings were very impressive. With all of the marble statues, dating back to 300 BC, we were in overload by the end of the morning. After a quick bite of lunch, we finished the afternoon enjoying the Villa Borghese museum and gardens. Pictured are a bronze fountain in the Vatican entry courtyard, one of the painted ceilings in the Vatican museum, a marble bowl in the Vatican museum, St.Peter's Basilica dome, and the entrance to St. Peter's Basilica.

Day One in Rome

Today we spent the morning touring the Basicila of St. Peter in Chains, the Forum, the Colosseum, and the Pantheon. We had read a lot about the sights in Rome, but actually seeing them for the first time makes them even more impressive. This is especially true when you consider that the City of Rome was about 1,000,000 people in those days. The Circus Maximus, where the chariot races were held, had seating for 250,000 people. Pictured are the ceiling in the Basicila of St Peter in Chains, the interior of the Basicila, the Home of the six Vestal Virgins at the Foreum, the road to the Colosseum, and Georgia & Hugh at the Colosseum.

Good Morning Novato

This morning at about 7:00 AM we had three hen turkeys in the back yard under the bird feeder. Then along came a perspective boy friend, who wanted to show off for the ladies. With the way he is acting, there are some openings on his "dance card".

Southern California Trip for Lain's First Birthday

On April 9th we left for Southern Calfiornia and Grandson Lain's first birthday. Enroute we met us with a classmate of Hugh's and some friends for some dining and wine sampling in Carmel. We left Carmel and went to Santa Barbara, where we met with some of Georgia's Pi Phi sorority sisters. On the 12th we arrived in Rancho Cucamonga to celebrate Lain's first birthday on the 12th and concluded it with a grand party on the 14th.

Pictured below are the wine samplers in Carmel, Lain eating a birthday cupcake on his birthday, Lain working on his cake eating skills at his party on the14th, and Lain opening presents with Georgia.

Grandson Cairn's 4th Birthday

On Thursday, March 15th, we travelled to Southern California to visit our daughter, son-in-law, and grandsons.  On the 15th we went to Kellen's science fair, where he won third place for his science experiment exhibit.  The next day we went to Rancho Las Palmas resort in Rancho Mirage to celebrate Cairn's fourth birthday.

Pictured are Kellen with his 3rd place science fair exhibit, Cairn's birthday celebration a Las Consuelas restaurant, Cairn opening presents, and the boys on the "Splashtopia" water slide.