Author Archives: journeywithmadonna

Le    Venice was great but we were glad to leave the crowds so took the early morning train back to Maestre to pick up our car and head somewhere although we weren’t exactly sure where.   In Venice we … Continue reading →

We were thrilled to arrive in Venice on such a warm day, 20 degrees, and even more thrilled when we arrived at our air BnB apartment and met our host Nicola. The place was  fabulous – large, clean, two bedrooms, … Continue reading →

Padua is a beautiful  city that has a very prestigious university, founded in 1222, and hosted Galileo, Copernicus, Dante and Petrarch – we are in good company!   Totally  enjoyed it here and our Hotel Pelligrino was just across the … Continue reading →

That’s because I have been walking around all day looking up, up, up!  Raveena is an amazing city of roughly 154,000 and is known mostly for its 1500 year old churches and its West Byzantine mosaics…….absolutely spectacular! It has an … Continue reading →

……..was at the top of our list of places to visit even though it’s not in Italy!   Jim came across it in the Globe and Mail, I believe, sent it on to Marilyn who quickly agreed it was a … Continue reading →

San Leo, northeast of Assisi, has a disputed population – one site said 26 and the other site said 44!   But no matter what the population, it has so far been the highlight of our trip and on that … Continue reading →

Driving in Italy is scary and I’m talking from a passenger’s perspective as I am never behind the wheel and it seems Marilyn and Jim are happy that’s the case. However Jim is usually pretty relaxed when he’s driving, but … Continue reading →

……….is a university town and a world heritage site where we stopped for a stretch and a walk following a couple of hours in the car after we left Assisi.  It’s population of 15,000 seemed to be mostly young folks, or so … Continue reading →

Jim and Marilyn enjoying the beautiful beach at Giulianova.   We had a short walk on the beach and decided not to stay here because it was really too built up and touristry, although there were not many people around … Continue reading →

Well we got a second wind once we got off the plane and headed to pick up the rental car. Our only concern was getting out of Rome alive as we had heard so much about wild Italian drivers who … Continue reading →