Tuscany and Rome With Friends...

Ciao! Here are some pictures from when our friends from Kentucky, Danny and Laura, came to Italy to visit and spend some time with us. We picked them up from Rome and drove to Northern Tuscany and stayed in the region of Arezzo. Our days were filled with driving through tiny Tuscan towns, shopping, eating and drinking lots of cappucino's! After a couple days in Arezzo, we drove a little south and stayed in the town of Assisi, the home of St. Francis who is the patron saint of animals. One afternoon we drove to Montalcino and spent some time touring the Banfi winery, one of the largest wineries in the world. We even ran into our Chicago friends John and Kim, who were visiting Tuscany during their vacation. Talk about being in the right place at the right time! We then headed back to Rome and saw the sights and toured the city with our wonderful tour guide, Mr. Jason Zook :) We all had a great time and couldn't have had a better vacation. Hope you enjoy the pictures! We miss everyone back home and hope all is well!

Beautiful Florence

The massive Duomo in Florence

The dome of the church

Michelangelo's "The David"

The piazza in Montepulciano

Cantine Contucci Winery

The boys with Adamo, the wonderful owner

The girls with Adamo...what a ladies man!

A beautiful view of Assisi

The church that houses St. Francis's tomb. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures, but it was the most beautiful church I had ever seen.

Assisi at night

This was the view looking out from the top of our hotel

Danny and Laura in front of Castello Banfi

The Zooks sure do love their wine!

The Hutchersons

Time for a cappucino break...I believe that was Danny's third one that day!

Our Chicago friends, John and Kim

Rainy afternoon in Rome

The lovebirds in front of the coliseum!

This blog is dedicated to our sweet little friend, CeCe. This was the dog that belonged to the owner of our Agriturismo in Arezzo. Every day he would greet us and then sneak right past us and head upstairs to his favorite chair. CeCe was not allowed inside but always seemed to find a way past us and in the front door! Ciao CeCe!

Weekend in Tuscany...

Here are some pictures from our romantic weekend in Montalcino, a small, beautiful town in southern Tuscany. Jason and I wanted a relaxing weekend away, so we rented a car and drove 4 hours north to Montalcino. For all you wine lovers, this is where the fabulous Brunello di Montalcino wine comes from! We stayed at a lovely B & B, met some wonderful people, drank lots of wine and spent hours strolling through the town. Our second day there we drove through the Tuscan countryside and stopped in a few towns along the way. Enjoy the pictures!

The duomo in the town of Pienza

The piazza in the town of Montepulciano

Sant' Antimo church.

This Romanesque church dates back to the 12th century. The Sunday morning mass that we attended was emotional and quite humbling.

One of the romantic little restaurants we ate at in Montalcino!

The Amalfi Coast!

Here are some pictures from our trip to Sorrento and Capri during the Zook's visit to Italy. The drive along the Amalfi coast is amazing, and the views are stunning. We are lucky enough to live only about an hour and a half away, so hopefully these pictures will bribe some of our family and friends into coming to visit us! We stayed in Sorrento waaaay up in the mountains, and took the ferry over to Capri for a day trip. Sorrento is fun and lively, and Capri is absolutely beautiful. As we drove along the coast, we stopped in the little towns of Ravello, Positano and the actual town of Amalfi. We also took a very long, narrow, winding bus ride up into Anacapri and strolled around town. Having had the chance to see this area of Italy, I clearly see why this is the place to be! Hope you enjoy the pictures, speramo tutto bene con ognuno! Ciao!

This is the port at Capri

This is a view of the tiny row boats hitching a ride with our boat to the Blue Grotto. The blue grotto is a sea cave that is carved into the coast of Capri. Roman emperors used this grotto as a private bath.

You see that tiny little opening?...that is the entrance into the grotto! In order to get inside, you have to lie completely flat in the row boat and then you are pushed on in! All you see is that amazing blue water. Our lovely Italian row boat man was nice enough to serenade us while inside!

Amore in Italia!

La dolcezza di fare non niente

Hey! Is that pasta I see!

Us Zook ladies sure do love to shop :)