Welcome to Italy

Laura and I have been traveling in Italy for the last week for our "summer holiday," as it is known in Europe. We started in Pisa, then trekked to the Cinque Terre, gazed at magnificent art in Florence, then visited the hill-top triumvirate of San Gimignano, Sienna, and Orvieto. Most recently, we've been seeing the sites of Rome. Pictures and more details will be coming soon, but first I'll give you my personal orientation to Italy.

Everything in Italy - particularly middle to southern Italy where we have been - exists in one (or some combination) of the following three states:

1. Disrepair
   
2. Complete abandonment
   
3. Covered in a thin layer of grime
   

As negative as all of that may sound, it all contributes to the incredible atmosphere of the country, which is frenzied and unique and friendly and (this week) blazingly hot, and yes, also obscenely beautiful. After all, how can we expect a country dotted with the remnants of "the ancients" not to be in disrepair?

We have seen the pastel buildings of the Cinque Terre clinging to hills on the oceanside, smelled the fresh lemons in the terrace groves, seen the Italian laundry wafting in the breeze from city balconies, climbed thousands of steps, eaten more gelato than should be allowed in a lifetime, walked through underground caves, stood in awe of some of the world's finest masterpieces, retraced the steps of Roman Caesars, and - most importantly - we've managed not to get anything stolen.

"Holiday" isn't the right word at all. We're on an adventure. Welcome along for the ride.

Driving through Ireland

And now back to Ireland...

After enjoying a full Irish fry for breakfast (AKA a heart attack on a plate), we were ready for more exploring. Our plan for Sunday was to slowly drive back to Dublin, stopping whenever we saw something that caught our eye.

The view of the Burren from Corkscrew Hills

We stopped for a pint at the oldest pub in Ireland (c.900 AD) in the city of Athlone

An old castle just before Bell Harbour

Matt climbing on centuries old ruins

The ruins were like our own personal castle playground!

An abbey just outside of Bell Harbour

An out building from the abbey

We stopped in Trim to see the large castle ruins in Ireland

As if one castle wasn't enough, there were ruins of a second castle in Trim just across the river in a city park

Our last stop for the day was a ruined monastery/cemetery on the outskirts of Trim

The Celtic crosses in the cemeteries were beautiful

The rest of our pictures from this day can be found here.