Last of the April European Vacation posts--Kotor, Montenegro

After our overnight stay in charming Brela, we hit the highway toward our first trip into neighboring Montenegro (or Crna Gora as it's called in Bosnian and Croatian).  The drive was beautiful for the most part, hugging the rugged coastline for a majority of the way.  It took longer than we thought it would to get to Kotor, a fortified coastal town on the Bay of Kotor on the Adriatic.  Lots of people mistake Kotor to be on a fjord, but technically it is not.  But who cares?  It's really breathtaking!

After finding our hotel and resting a bit after such a long drive, we headed out to explore the little old town.  It's quaint, not very big, and after seeing so many old, fortified towns in Italy (where smoking is not allowed indoors, cough, cough!), we were a tad underwhelmed...particularly when our dinner turned out not so good.

But the next day, we were able to put all our gloomy thoughts behind us as we climbed the mountain behind the city to the top of the fortification.  WHAT A VIEW!  It was gorgeous, and a little mind boggling that people so long ago went to such lengths to build a wall up the side of a mountain to protect their city!

Can you spot my guys in these two shots?

After our hike, we had a little snack, packed up, and began the trip home.  The Griswolds ended up taking the long way home, through Podgorica (the capital of Montenegro) and along scary mountain roads that lacked guardrails.  We passed through a very sketchy border crossing, where they still use log-books and hand raised gates instead of more modern conveniences, and drove across a single lane wooden slat bridge over a gorge of rushing water to get back into Bosnia.  Needless to say, we were grateful to get home after the world's worst GPS "shortcut!"

All in all, it was a wonderful 2 weeks!  We very much enjoyed our European Vacation!

Ancona, IT and Brela, HR

Our last day in Italy was spent driving from Tuscany back to Ancona to ultimately catch the overnight ferry back to Croatia.  We arrived early enough to do a little exploring of this port city.

 Overlooking the port

Checking out the boats

Duomo di Ancona

(There have been religious buildings here since Greek times.

Excavations revealed 3rd century Greek temple ruins!)

The church is gorgeous, inside and out!

(Too bad we didn't take any inside--there must have been a sign requesting us not to.)

On the ferry--Ciao, Italy!

After our night crossing, we landed again in Split, Croatia.  We hit the road and drove to our next overnight stop, Brela, Croatia.  It is a small, tourist town, with lovely beaches and a little harbor.  We enjoyed our afternoon immensely, and our seafood dinner was pretty awesome as well!  It was VERY hard to leave the next morning, and I think we all feel that way every time we visit Croatia.  It is a beautiful country, and it has captured our hearts.  WE LOVE HRVATSKA (the official name of Croatia)!

Castellina in Chianti

For our last full day in Tuscany, we decided to drive to the nearby town of Castellina in Chianti (after spending the morning over a lingering breakfast and packing).  It was a lovely, hilly drive with many vistas.  We had a delicious pizza lunch before heading over to Castellare di Castellina, a small, local winery.  We tasted some varieties of chianti before deciding on a couple of bottles to bring home.

The rest of our afternoon was spent enjoying the grounds of our home base and learning the basic of bocce ball.

 Views of the Tuscan hills

Baby Vino

 Bocce!

Colle Val D'Elsa and Monteriggioni

On a day we decided to stick closer to home, we checked out two old fortified towns...Colle Val D'Elsa and Monteriggioni.  Colle Val D'Elsa was a charming little town!  We walked the stone streets almost by ourselves, checked out an amazing wine store that used to be an old crypt, and ate lunch (where Liam ate and ENJOYED pasta...albeit without tomato sauce.)

 The entrance

 Checking out the old crypt in the wine store

 Old fresco inside the town's church, 

and the altar

MMMMMMMM...plain spaghetti!

After Val D'Elsa, we hopped over to Monteriggioni.  Perhaps now more widely known for it's fame in the Assassin's Creed game franchise than it's reference in Dante's Inferno, this smaller fortified town provided a good hour's entertainment.  We got to go up top of two different sections of the fortifications, chase some pigeons in the town's small piazza, and have ice cream.  Today was a lovely, simple day that got us back "home" in time to enjoy the sunset and relax before dinner.

 The fortified town and a brief history

 I LOVE that people still live in these old places!

 The town's church

 A sign explaining Monteriggioni's significance on the Via Francigena

(which people still hike today--we saw several backpackers

making their way down this ancient pilgrimage)

 Views from the top--inside the town, and out!

Getting back to it! European Vacation, Florence

Remember when I said I would eventually get back to our grand European vacation this past April.  Well, 6 months later, here I am!  You MAY recall (or you may not--if not, check out the archives to the right and down), that we left off at Montalcino.  The next day was Florence!  And really, what can one say about Florence?  It's beautiful, it's historic, it was not too exciting for a 3 1/2 year old...yep, that's about it.  Here are some photos, which hopefully speak 1,000 words each.

 

The famous Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore

The dome, outside and in

How Liam spent much of the time "walking" the streets

The Palazzo Vecchio tower and palace

The Neptune Fountain in the Piazza della Signora

The Ponte Vecchio over the River Arno

Family shot on the "old bridge"