The Vatican Across the Tiber River, Rome |
Piazza Trilussa Bubbles, Rome |
While
preparing for our trip to Italy, friends invariably said, “Italy, I bet you
will get some great pictures!” My snotty
response was usually, “I hadn’t thought of that. Perhaps I should bring my camera.” Funny- I seemed to have fewer friends.
Abby, Karry, Cuy and Grayson, Tuscan Sunset |
We are now about
ten days into our three-week tour, and sadly approaching the end of our six
days sharing an idyllic hilltop villa in Tuscany. We are sharing the house with our children,
their significant others and friends. We
have been so busy, dawn to bed, that I have had almost no time to process the
over 2000 images (so far) nor to write about our experiences. This evening, I am sitting on our veranda,
sipping an Aperol Spritz, overlooking the rolling Tuscan country-side, while a
local chef is preparing
Jeremy & Gina, Morning on our veranda |
dinner for the crowd.
I miss the autumn colors back home, but the food, the wine and the
constantly changing evening light is reasonable compensation. I’m trying to write, but I have decided that
my travelogue should focus on the images and not on lengthy descriptions of out
adventures. I am desperate to spend most
of the limited time available on processing and posting just a few of the pictures
that will tell a more elegant story than my poor prose. I will be editing these images for months to
come, but I’m excited to get to just a few of my favorite samples of the tour.
Roman Forum |
For this
first blog I will cover our few days exploring Rome. This is my first time in Italy, so of course,
we had to tour the Forum, the Coliseum and the Vatican. All terribly touristy places, but
necessary. Of course we had to see the
Pantheon, the Spanish steps and the Trevi Fountain.
Testaccio Window |
More fun was a food tour of nine eateries in
the Testaccio district of the city, led by a wonderfully knowledgeable local
chef, and, the next evening, a dinner in the home of “Chef Barbara”. Of course, food and drink has been an
essential part of this trip.
Vatican Dome |
After four
days in Rome, traveled by train to Florence and from there, took a rented a car
for the trip to our Villa in Tuscany.
Let me say that again, Our “Villa in Tuscany”. It was just as magical as it sounds. A lovely house, on an isolated hilltop, with
a 360-degree vista across the undulating country-side. We were here after the harvest, and the
fields revealed less vivid greens, and more plowed earth, but it was still
breath-taking. The weather was perfect
and each sunrise and sunset offered its own unique character. We spent our days wandering the narrow winding
roads and visiting the classic medieval hill towns. Beautiful, but I struggled to avoid the frequent
gaggles of tourists that tried to fill my pictures. I would frame the perfect image and then a
group would move right in front, holding their selfie sticks high in the
air. Much of my time was spent waiting
for the people to clear, but it gave me more time to appreciate the beauty,
besides, I was probably blocking someone else’s view.
Colle Bianco, Our Villa in Tuscany |
Enough talk. Enjoy the pictures. I look forward to sharing many more views of Tuscany
in my next article, as I try to find time to work through all the images. It’s a great problem to have.
In the meantime I will continue to add to the trickle of images in my Italy 2017 Gallery on my web site.
Ciao!
Jeff Newcomer
partridgebrookreflections.com
very nice and sharp edge pictures.
ReplyDeleteCanon PowerShot SX620 HS Digital Camera