….. thanks to Jennifer Nicole Wells
For this week’s photo challenge Jennifer chose the word Horse. Last summer I photographed a number of horses in Italy. They were all in large public squares and were obviously working horses.
….there’s something magical about a children’s carousel
This week’s photos for the WPC were taken in Lucca, Italy.
….a beautiful Tuscan town
On a Sunday, my husband and I decided to hop on the train in Florence and do a day trip to Lucca. Sundays and Mondays are not the best days to travel in Italy. At least on one of those two days tourists will be disappointed to find that shops and attractions are closed to the public. Luckily there were enough stores, churches and caffes open to keep us busy for the day.
Lucca is a historic city with Roman and Etruscan roots. In the 15th century a wall was built around the city that still remains today. The top of the wall is a great place to walk and ride your bike.
As we walked through an opening in the wall we were greeted by narrow cobblestone streets, numerous Gothic churches, beautiful piazzas, outdoor caffes, and stages and signs for music festivals.
I just read recently that there are 100 churches in Lucca. We definitely didn’t see that many but the ones I did see were very impressive.
Our original plan was to go to Pisa as well but it wasn’t to be. We were just too exhausted to make the extra trip. I’m not that disappointed. So many people told me that Lucca would have been their first choice as a destination.
….for more Thursday Doors check out Norm 2.0
The first door is one I saw in Lucca. I was particularly drawn to the door knocker on this lovely entrance. The second door was near the university in Bologna.
….Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge can be any photo that doesn’t seem to fit into any other category
I have no idea what possessed my sister to kneel on the ground like this. I’m pretty sure she’s not praying. Her husband took this shot somewhere in Italy.
This smiling face greeted people in front of the store in the town of Lucca.
….Italy had trees that I had never seen before
We called these trees camouflage trees because of the bark. The leaves actually looked liked the leaves of a maple tree. We saw these ones in Lucca.
After doing a little research I discovered that these are sycamore trees. As always, thanks to Becca Givens for hosting Sunday Trees.
….I’ve finally returned from my trip of a lifetime to Italy
We stepped through our front door on Tuesday evening after being on an airplane for 9 hours, at the baggage carousel for at least an hour and then two hours in a car. We ended up driving to Hamilton first to drop off our daughter and Winnie. We stayed for a bit and had a much needed cup of coffee and a bite to eat. Then we packed up our dog, Frances and headed back to Toronto. By the time we got to bed we had been up for about 21 hours.
Luckily for me I managed to sleep through the night but my husband was up at 4:00 and Winnie was definitely on European time, getting up at 2:00 and 4:00 and then again at 7:00. Not only did she wake up but she stayed awake for an hour or two each time.
When I checked my emails I had over 1000. Needless to say that checking and replying to each one is next to impossible. I apologize in advance to my followers whose emails I had to delete. Even deleting emails takes time and I’m now down to 300. I’m hoping to read most of them.
I’ve managed to upload about half of my photos to my laptop. I’ve asked my family members to send me more shots, especially with ones of me in them. At the family wedding I didn’t have one photo of me in either of my cameras. Luckily my brother-in-law and nephew took lots and they promised to send me some.
So for the next couple of weeks I’ll definitely share some of my adventures and certainly many of my photos from Italy. For now I leave you with a small sampling of my 17 days in Venice, Florence, Bologna, Lucca, Assisi and Rome. Enjoy!
Mama Cormier 