Claude and I actually enjoy these coach rides across the country. You spend so much time in cities visiting historic sites and having cultural experiences. It is simply lovely to see what the lay of the land is like and how homes are built, and farms are laid out. These drives give a dimension to a trip that is needed to have balance in a trip.
These pictures are of the drive from Sorrento to Florence.
Vesuvius from Vico Equense, Italy.
Seiano, Italy. An orchard along the road.
Castellammare di Stabia, Italy. Along the way, Luigi played a movie for us about St. Francis of Assisi.
Cassino, Italy. Monte Cassino is a rocky hill southeast of Rome and a little west of Cassino. This white building on the top is Monte Cassino. The abbey of Monte Cassino was founded in the 6th century by St. Benedict. During the Second World War it formed a key part of the German Gustav Line. On 15 February 1944 the abbey was bombed by the Allies who wrongly believed that it was being used as a German observation post. The agreement had been to avoid bombing historic sites. General Clark ordered the bombing because of his belief it was a German observation point. Several monks hid in the basement with their wine and olive oil. When they came out, the abbey was obliterated. It was rebuilt as you see it now. General Clark was relieved of his command.
We had a rest stop and I got this picture of the front of our coach. Vincincio kept Donkey in the front window.
It was at this rest stop that one of our group left her cellphone in the restaurant where we enjoyed our lunch. Typically, with a group on schedule, the response would be, you must contact them and see if they will mail it to you. However, Luigi and Alan conferred with Vincincio. The decision was made to find and exit with an on-ramp the other direction, return and see if the cell phone was still there. This was not an easy thing as we were on a toll highway. Vincincio made the drive. Alan, Luigi, Wendy all went into the restaurant and retreived the missing cell phone. It was a source of much teasing the remainder of our trip with everyone making sure everyone had their cell phone when we left somewhere.
This is the Squib Pharmaceutical factory. How colorful is that?
Guidonia, Italy.
Mentana, Italy.
Florence, Italy. Florence and Firenzie are the same thing. Florence is English. Firenzie is Italian.The Arno River.
Piazzle Michaelanglo, Florence, Italy. Claude. Just for information purposes. A piazza has a specific shape, could be a square or a hexagon while a piazzale has no precise shape. This afforded us a grand view of Florence, specifically the old part of the city where we would roam the next day. Beautiful views. Note the covered bridge across the Arno River.
A street musician. The music was hauntingly beautiful with Florence as an amazing backdrop. My video clip is too large to upload.
Replica of The David by Michaelanglo. The original we would see the next day.
Another good view of an umbrella tree. These are so pretty.
We found our hotel and settled in for the next two nights.
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