I traveled for two weeks with only a carry-on and a small backpack! It took a lot of thinking and planning (and packing cubes), but I found I really like traveling light. When I got home I even removed some things from this packing list! This is having effects on my lifestyle at home, too.

I learned so many things: from Peter I learned that you can make up a great trip as you go if you have a phone with data, and that everyone needs unstructured play. I learned that I need to drink stronger coffee; thank you, Switzerland!. I saw an entire culture spending evenings with friends in cafes, restaurants and picnics with not a cellphone or laptop in sight, talking, talking, talking–and now that I am done with this blog, that’s what I want to do!

This was a sweet, sweet trip of a lifetime.

We took a train from Menton to Paris and celebrated our last evening by walking to Pont Neuf on the Seine.

Just by accident we were in Paris when France beat Croatia in the World Cup semifinals. People poured out into the streets, the bells of Notre Dame rang out for a minute, and horns and cheers blared for hours. Then we were in Menton, France for the World Cup final against Belgium (everyone was excited that it was a francophone final) and the big win!

• 

• 

After touring the Coliseum, Forum and Palatine Hill, we welcomed a long train ride through beautiful Italy to a late night arrival over the border in France, in Menton, “Perle de la France.”

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

After a day of big, big sights, we sat down for a big, big meal at Osteria Il Quattro Mori. We were told that a trattoria is a restaurant that serves local cuisine using local ingredients, but at an osteria you are eating at the host’s table and he decides what you will be served. No menu, just two choices: meat or fish, red or white. And then the food started coming and kept coming, in seven courses.

I became obsessed with beautiful Italian floors, from the Parthenon to the Vatican Museums, from our hotel hall to St. Peter’s to ancient ruins.

 

Everything is big, big, big at the Vatican, so these are big photos.

Here is the best 2,000-year-old remnant of Rome.  If this is a ransacked remnant, what must Rome have looked like in its prime?

 The oculus gives plenty of light; rain disappears into drains hidden in the marble floor.

Michelangelo captured David’s indignation and determination in his expression.

The Baptistery is green and white marble only, no flowers; the newly baptized would emerge through the Gates of Paradise to enter the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Flower, made from green, white and pink marble, with stylized flowers everywhere.

This beautiful building is topped with Brunelleschi’s famous Dome.
              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

Top off the day with Steak Florentine and chianti!