last weekend our church held a fall yard sale. we hoped to meet some people from the neighborhood, serve some coffee and apple cider, and if we were lucky, make a few bucks for the church. on the day it was a bit wet and cold, so we opted for the warmer option…indoors.

we had a mish-mash of things, including a kitchen sink! one yard sale visitor even thought he found an authentic medieval chant score (which we thought was just a cheap poster). very antiques roadshow.

thanks to everyone who donated items and helped out!

our next stop was Cinque Terre, a group of five small towns on the Mediterranean coast. we stayed in Riomaggiore from where we explored the neighboring towns. there is apparently a Department of Good Taste, which keeps the paint colours looking good.

again we tried to use the local ingredients to cook every night. the local specialties were pesto, anchovies, and focaccia bread, and mom and helen would wake up early to buy fresh seafood from the local fisherman. it was soooo good.

the towns were connected by a trail, which provided terrific views.

after a few relaxing days, we took the train to Venice. there happened to be a train strike that day which complicated things, but luckily we were able to plan around it. Venice was really beautiful and although figuring out the maze of streets was a bit daunting at first, we quickly got the hang of it.

after a day of the major sights, we opted to spend the next day exploring the lagoon around Venice. we went to Murano (famous for it’s glass), and then to Burano (famous for it’s lace and colourful houses)…

…before returning to Venice for a ride down the Grand Canal. here’s one last family pic in front of the Rialto bridge.

the next leg of our trip was to siena and florence, to get a taste of tuscany. we stayed a little bit outside of siena, so it felt like we were right in the middle of the countryside. the air smelled so good…especially with the fragrance of grapes being fermented into wine.

siena is a well-preserved medieval town, centered around its main plaza, Piazza del Campo. we enjoyed some coffee and ofcourse, more gelato!

florence was only an hour and a half train ride away, where we’ve visited a lot of museums and basilicas.

i have to mention the food. we are really enjoying the italian flavours, and since we’ve tried to cook once in awhile, we’ve also been noticing the quality of the local ingredients. we found many varieties of tomatoes in just one small corner grocery stand!

our feet are pretty tired, but we’re still eager to move on to our next stop at Cinque Terre…

hello…from rome! we are here with my side of the family for a two week holiday in italy, which so far has been going well. we did have a rough start though as we witnessed a robbery on the train, so we’ve been extra careful with our pockets and belongings. one of the first things that we noticed was the large number of ancient ruins everywhere, as well as graffiti on practically every public surface.

during our first few days, we’ve seen a lot, including the famous trevi fountain where we enjoyed gelato…

…and a memorable visit to the colosseum.

those ancient romans were really quite impressive with their art and engineering. hard to believe we could still enjoy things and places made 2000 years ago. now onwards to tuscany!